CBL Hums Along in 2015, verse 2

My 2015 categories are inspired by songs. I plan to read a minimum of five books in 15 categories, with a bonus category for free reading. I only need to read 75 books to complete my challenge, but I'll continue adding books after I reach the minimum threshold. The 2015 categories are:

Daisy Jane by America - Books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen
Mystery Lady by Billy Ocean - Books by Agatha Christie
God Save the Queen - Books by British authors for @PaulCranswick’s British Author challenge
My Country ‘Tis of Thee - Books by American authors for @msf59's American Author challenge
Old Days by Chicago - Books read for the HistoryCAT and/or Reading Through Time
In My Life by The Beatles - Family history/genealogy
Daniel by Elton John - Books about war
Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac - Borrowed books
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot - Books picked for me
Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire - Books for the SFFFCAT
Sing by Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band- Books for my Commonwealth challenge
People by Barbra Streisand - Biographies
Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson - Audiobooks
Sweet Little Mystery by Wet Wet Wet - Mysteries
New Kid In Town by the Eagles - New books& ARCs
Bonus category: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free reading

Daisy Jane (America) - Books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen

1. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick (4.5) - completed 1/3/15
2. Lovers' Vows by August von Kotzebue; liberally translated by Mrs. Inchbald (2) - completed 3/5/15
3. Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange (3) - completed 3/6/15
4. Pride and Prejudice and Kitties by Jane Austen, Pamela Jane, and Deborah Guyol (2.5) - completed 3/22/15
5. Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks by Seamus O'Leprechaun (3.5) - completed 3/14/15

Possibilities:
Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid
North by Northanger by Carrie Bebris
Jane Fairfax by Joan Aiken
A Visit to Highbury by Joan Austen-Leigh
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Mystery Lady (Billy Ocean) - Books by Agatha Christie

I'm in the middle of a years-long project to reread Christie's books in publication order.

1. Sparkling Cyanide (3.5) - completed 2/18/15
2. The Hollow (3.5) - completed 4/20/15

God Save the Queen - Books by British authors for @PaulCranswick’s British Author challenge

1. Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro (3.5) - completed 1/21/15
2. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (3.5) - completed 2/16/15
3. The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier (4) - completed 3/9/15
4. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (3.5)
5. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5) - completed 4/30/15

My Country ‘Tis of Thee - Books by American authors for @msf59's American Author challenge

1. The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (3.5) - completed 1/24/15
2. Daisy Miller by Henry James (4) - completed 2/16/15
3. The Master Butchers Singing Club (3.5) - completed 4/8/15
4. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (2.5) - completed 5/24/15

Old Days (Chicago) - Books for the HistoryCAT and/or Reading Through Time

1. In Search of a Homeland: The Story of the Aeneid by Penelope Lively; illustrated by Ian Andrew (3.5) - completed 1/2/15
2. Confessions by Augustine (4) - completed 2/28/15
3. Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Enrico Arno (4.5) - completed 3/3/15
4. The Voyage of St. Brendan - completed 3/18/15
5. Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Anthony Bacon Venti (3) - completed 3/27/15
6. Brendan by Frederick Buechner (3) - completed 3/29/15
7. The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (5) - completed 3/31/15
8. Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (4.5) - completed 4/26/15
9. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois (3) - completed 5/13/15
10. A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory (4) - completed 5/16/15

In My Life (The Beatles) - Family history/genealogy. "Some are dead and some are living, In my life I've loved them all."

1. The Porcelain Thief: Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China by Huan Hsu (3.5) - completed 1/16/15
2. The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo (4) - completed 4/26/15
3. The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble (4) - completed 5/30/15

Daniel (Elton John) - Books about war

1. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris (4.5) - WWII - - completed 1/25/15
2. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (2) - Civil War - completed 4/12/15
3. Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole (4.5) - WWI & WWII - completed 5/30/15

Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac) - Borrowed books

1. Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth (3.5) - completed 2/26/15
2. Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth (4) - completed 3/20/15
3. Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Margot Tomes (4) - completed 3/21/15
4. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (4.5) - completed 4/5/15
5. Spiced to Death by Peter King (3.5) - completed 5/10/15

If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot) - Books picked for me. I'll probably try LT's Random feature to pick a random book from my library. If I do the Bingo Dog challenge I'll need someone to pick a book for that square.

1. A Timely Vision by Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene (3) - picked by Dejah_Thoris - completed 2/8/15
2. Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson (4) - picked by Familyhistorian - completed 4/18/15

Fantasy (Earth, Wind & Fire) - Books for the SFFFCAT
1. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
2. The City & the City by China Mieville (4) - completed 3/24/15
3. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (3.5) - completed 4/10/15
4. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (5) - completed 5/4/15

Sing (Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band) - Books for my Commonwealth challenge

1. Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin (4) - Rwanda - completed 1/23/15
2. The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5) - Samoa - completed 4/14/15

People (Barbra Streisand) - Biographies

1. Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (4.5) - completed 1/12/15
2. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (3.5) - completed 1/31/15
3. Jesus Loves Me This I Know: The Remarkable Story Behind the World's Most Beloved Children's Song by Robert J. Morgan (4.5) - completed 3/10/15
4. Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy (3.5) - completed 5/24/15

Possibilities:
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy
The Black Count by Tom Reiss
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
Shakespeare by Anthony Burgess

Everybody's Talkin' (Harry Nilsson) - Audiobooks

1. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (4.5) - completed 1/31/15
2. 1984 by George Orwell (3) - completed 2/20/15
3. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (4) - completed 3/10/15

Sweet Little Mystery (Wet Wet Wet) - Mysteries

1. Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle (2.5) - completed 1/4/15
2. Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck (3) - completed 3/1/15
3. A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams (3) - completed 3/15/15
4. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris (3) - completed 4/8/15
5. Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck (2.5) - completed 5/9/15

New Kid In Town (The Eagles) - New books & ARCs

1. Beethoven's Tenth by Brian Harvey (4) - completed 1/17/15
2. Whiskers of the Lion by P. L. Gaus (5) - completed 2/21/15
3. That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore (3.5) - completed 3/14/15
4. Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman (4) - completed 4/30/15
5. Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman (3.5) - completed 5/20/15

Bonus Category: Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd) - Books I want to read that don't fit other categories. :)

1. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (4) - completed 1/1/15
2. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope (3.5) - completed 2/12/15
3. K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2.5) - completed 4/20/15
4. Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth (3.5) - completed 5/31/15

Planned reads for March:

The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
Brendan by Frederick Buechner
Edmund Bertram’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck
Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth
Trespassers in Time by Anne Patterson Rodda
A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams
Voyage of St. Brendan
Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz
Why Knox? By CS Thompson
The Brendan Voyage by Timothy Severin

Audiobooks
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The City & the City by China Mieville
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Happy new thread! Looks like a good lineup for March. Is your audio of Brideshead the one narrated by Jeremy Irons (if there are any others)? That would be a great way to read it.

>19 rabbitprincess: Thanks! Yes, it's the Jeremy Irons audio. I'm about halfway through. I was supposed to finish it in February but that didn't happen.

Happy new thread, Carrie. Looks like you have a busy reading month planned for March.

Thanks Judy! It's an ambitious list, but I do have spring break to look forward to!

Happy new thread! Looking forward to see what you think of the Miéville book - not sure I could do his writing style in audio, but The City & The City would probably be the best one to try.

Happy new thread, Carrie!

23 Thanks Eva! I've heard a couple of others say that they enjoyed the audio version of The City & the City. I hope it works as well for me!

>24 lkernagh: Thanks Lori!

Book 2 in my Sweet Little Mystery category: Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck
RandomCAT

In the wee hours of the morning, donut shop owner Suzanne Hart is surprised to see a body dumped on the road in front of her shop just as she is arriving to start making the donuts. The murdered man, banker Patrick Blaine, is a regular customer. Although Suzanne didn't see enough to identify the murderer, the killer may not know that. When it seems the police aren't acting quickly enough, Suzanne launches her own investigation with the help of retired cop George and her best friend, Grace. One possibility is that Blaine was murdered by a dirty cop, so state policeman Jake Bishop is there to both assist with the investigation and to keep an eye on the local police. It's soon clear that his interest in Suzanne is more than professional. Suzanne's ex-husband, Max, is hanging around too much for Suzanne's comfort. Is he just jealous, or could he have been involved in Blaine's murder?

I enjoyed the characters and the setting in small town North Carolina. The mystery plot had several holes. It's surprising how many people Suzanne doesn't know and vice versa in a small town where she's lived all 30-something years of her life. Some of the awkwardness may be because this is the first book in a series and the characters haven't quite gelled. I liked it well enough to try the next couple of books in the series to see if it starts to click.

3 stars

I've had a cozy evening of reading with Adrian and his friend Stella, as well as Adrian's little lamb. (Like Mary, his little lamb goes everywhere with him. He'd even take the lamb on walks if I'd let him!)

Too cute!

That sounds like a perfect evening - especially for Adrian.

>28 mamzel: I know! Stella feels at home at my house now and she fits right in with my schedule when she's there. Two dogs would be one too many for me on a permanent basis, but I do enjoy Stella's visits.

>29 RidgewayGirl: I think Adrian would prefer to have my lap to himself, but he doesn't "complain" or appear to be jealous when he has to share me with Stella.

Happy new thread. An evening with Adrian and friends sounds very relaxing.

Thanks Vivienne! The guest dog is going home as soon as I get home from work so it will just be Adrian and me tonight. He will have sole possession of my lap, unless he brings his little lamb with him.

Book 3 in my Old Days category: Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Enrico Arno
HistoryCAT

Brendan the Navigator lived long, long ago, when the Earth was divided into the Known and the Unknown Worlds and America was still a secret in the Unknown one. Right on the edge of the Unknown, Brendan was born, on the west coast of Ireland, which is as far west as a person could go in those days and still be on a map. Beyond him there was only the blue sea rolling out to meet the blue sky. And beyond that—what? Brendan, like everyone else, could only wonder and imagine.

This enchanting story of Irish Saint Brendan had me hooked by the end of the first paragraph. Author Jean Fritz tells the legend of Brendan and his voyage across the western sea to Paradise in the lyrical cadence of a born storyteller. Enrico Arno's illustrations capture both the details and the whimsical spirit of the text. The only flaw I can see is the lack of color in the black, white, and blue-gray illustrations. The book will work well as a readaloud and the story will appeal to readers of all ages.

4.5 stars

I'm still having internet problems. It went out this morning and still wasn't working when I got home for lunch. Now that the ice and snow have melted, I called Comcast to yet again schedule service. I did manage to convince the telephone support person that two different technicians have already diagnosed the problem, it's outside, and I don't need to be home when they come. He put in a special request order but even at that it will still be Tuesday before they come to fix it. I told him that the last technician said it would require a size of cable that they normally don't carry on their vans/trucks unless they know they need it and that it is a 2-person job. He noted that in the ticket. What I really don't need is a 3rd technician to come out here, make the same diagnosis, and then leave without fixing the problem. Been there, done that.

Sometimes I get impatient while I'm waiting for reports to run. While I was twiddling my thumbs waiting for a report this afternoon, I decided to see if I could find Lovers' Vows, the scandalous play that the Bertrams and the Crawfords plan to perform in Mansfield Park. I found it in one of our ebook databases and I read the first few pages as I waited for reports to run. I suppose the daring subject matter kept anyone from noticing the dreadful writing? I see that Project Gutenberg has a downloadable version so I will add it to my reading for the month. It shouldn't take long to read.

It's right at freezing here and I left work in a wintry mix. The roads were fine. However, I had to clean the car windows before I could drive home. At least my internet was working when I arrived!

Book 2 in my Daisy Jane category: Lovers' Vows by August von Kotzebue; liberally translated by Mrs. Inchbald

Lovers' Vows has been preserved from the obscurity it deserves by Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. This is the scandalous play that the Bertram and Crawford siblings rehearse but never perform. What a blessing for their audience. Most of the characters are repeatedly overcome by strong emotions, leading to frequent fainting and embracing, with occasional pauses for fortification from wine. There are a couple of mildly funny exchanges that the actors must have milked for all they were worth. The butler who insisted on speaking in rhyme reminded me of Prince Herbert in the Swamp Castle who just wanted to sing.

The epilogue (in rhyme) seems like a Georgian equivalent of the newsreel:

...So, of course, then, if prose is so tedious a crime,
It of consequence follows, there's virtue in rhime.
The best piece of prose that I've heard a long while,
Is what gallant Nelson has sent from THE NILE.
And had he but told us the story in rhime,
What a thing 'twou'd be; but, perhaps, he'd no time.
So, I'll do it myself—Oh! 'tis glorious news!
Nine sail of the line! Just a ship for each Muse.
As I live, there's an end of the French and their navy--
Sir John Warren has sent the Brest fleet to Old Davy.
'Tis in the Gazette, and that, every one knows,
Is sure to be truth, tho' 'tis written in prose.

Recommended mainly for readers who want to explore Jane Austen's use of this drama in Mansfield Park.

2 stars

>36 cbl_tn: A play by Kotzebue?? Okay, I need to re-read Mansfield Park now.

>37 MissWatson: Yes, although I'm not sure Kotzebue would have recognized his original in Mrs. Inchbald's translation. In the preface she admits to fairly extensive adaptations for the English audience.

>38 cbl_tn: Yes, I looked that one up on Gutenberg and chuckled a little. They were not overly particular about copyright in those days. But I also looked up Kotzebue, because the only thing I know about him is that he was assassinated. Imagine my surprise when I learned that he wrote so many plays and that Goethe produced quite a lot of them in Weimar! This could be an interesting subject for my plays category. Thanks for that idea!

>39 MissWatson: That's more than I knew about Kotzebue! You've piqued my curiosity so I'll have to look him up in Gale's Literature Resource Center and see what I can learn about him there.

I have about 75 pages left of Edmund Bertram's Diary. I hope to finish it tonight if I'm not too sleepy to read. I'd also like to finish the audio of Brideshead Revisited this weekend, maybe while working in the kitchen and doing some cleaning. I'll also see if I can finish The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier over the weekend. I like to save books that are hard to put down for weekend reading.

Book 3 in my Daisy Jane category: Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange

This retelling of Mansfield Park from Edmund Bertram's perspective got off to a slow start, but I gradually warmed to it. It lacks Austen's voice, and Grange doesn't quite pull off the diary premise. It's supposed to be a man's diary, but it reads more like a woman's diary. It worked for me as a commentary on Mansfield Park and a study of Edmund's character. In the end, it's left me with a craving for Austen's original.

3 stars

Your reading in connection with Mansfield Park sounds interesting but I think I will stick to the original since I've not yet read it. Time to pull it down for the group read.

>43 hailelib: Oh yes, you definitely need to read the original first! I'm branching out now because I've read Mansfield Park a couple of times already.

I've misplaced an hour somewhere. If anyone finds it, would you please send it back?! ;-)

I suspect you won't find it for months!

>46 VivienneR: That's what I was afraid of! On the bright side, it's another beautiful day outside so Adrian and I will go for another walk on the cross country trail. We'll both enjoy that, I think.

Book 3 in my God Save the Queen category: The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier

While traveling in France, John, an English university lecturer, comes face to face with his double. After an evening of drinking and exchanging stories, the English man awakes to find that the French man has gone and taken all of his belongings, leaving him with the French man's clothing and luggage. After a couple of feeble attempts to explain that he is not, in fact, Jean de Gué, he gives in and assumes his double's life. He speaks fluent French, so language isn't a problem. De Gué's family doesn't question his identity, attributing his strange behavior to the effects of a hangover. As John learns more about the “relatives” who share his house, he discovers that the real Jean has hurt each of them in some way, and a crisis looms.

I've read other books about doppelgangers, but this one is different. A religious motif predominates, from the devout Catholicism of some of the family members to the title of the book. I usually think of page-turners as being plot driven, but this one is very much character-driven. Just who is Jean de Gué, and what has he done that led to this crisis? Is John better equipped to avert the crisis as an outsider with no emotional baggage? Is de Gué ever coming back, and if he does, is John prepared to leave?

Set near Le Mans, the novel has a strong sense of place. The setting is integral to the plot. Although it wasn't historical fiction at the time of its writing, it will appeal to readers of historical fiction set in post-WWII Europe.

4 stars

Book 3 in my People category: Jesus Loves Me This I Know: The Remarkable Story Behind the World's Most Beloved Children's Song by Robert J. Morgan

This beautifully illustrated gift book tells the story of Susan and Anna Warner, sisters who are best known today for the children's hymn “Jesus Loves Me” that first appeared in their novel Say and Seal. While the novel has largely been forgotten, the hymn has not. It is the first song that many children learn, and tiny toddlers will sing it loudly and enthusiastically. The Warner sisters spent most of their lives on Constitution Island across the Hudson from West Point. For many years first Susan and then Anna taught Sunday Bible classes for West Point cadets and hosted a dozen or so every Saturday. When they died, they were the first civilians to be buried at West Point. The endnotes and contact information for the Constitution Island Association will lead interested readers to additional resources about these remarkable women and their beloved home on the Hudson. It's a shame that this lovely little book is already out of print. If you happen to run across a used copy in good condition, it would make a nice gift for a Sunday School teacher, a christening or baby dedication, or perhaps even a nursing home patient to rekindle memories from their childhood.

4.5 stars

For those who have been following my ongoing Internet, cable woes, I was supposed to have a "special order request" sometime today to have some faulty outside wiring replaced. I hadn't seen any evidence of a repair crew yet, so before leaving for my allergy shots, I called Comcast. The ticket for the special order request was entered on Thursday. Apparently, it was canceled on Friday because it had been entered as a new service order. Sigh. The customer service representative I talked to this time seems to be the most competent one I've spoken with. He was able to see the service history extending back to Feb. 5. Most of the others told me they didn't have access to it on their systems. He immediately brought his supervisor in without me having to request it. The supervisor is contacting our local repair/maintenance office and I'm supposed to hear from them within the next couple of hours. I think they're trying to have a repairman here by 2 p.m.

I'm seeing signs of progress. I got a telephone call from a local Comcast representative just before 2:00. He said that they will have a truck out here tomorrow after 8 to replace the drop from the pole to the neighbor's house.

Comcast customer service hasn't always been this dreadful. I've been a customer for more than 20 years because up until very recently it was my only option for cable. Until just a few years ago, I could call a local number to schedule service. A lot of the local people probably lost their jobs when the call center was nationalized (or internationalized)? I wouldn't have had to explain to a local person about the recent power outages from ice and snow. A local person would have known that. My problem needed a local solution, yet the customer service interface makes it almost impossible to speak with someone local.

Book 3 in my Everybody's Talkin' category: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh; read by Jeremy Irons

During World War II, Captain Charles Ryder is surprised to find his unit at Brideshead, a place he once knew well. Ryder recalls his friendship with Sebastian Flyte during their university days, his first visit to Brideshead with Sebastian, and his relationships with the rest of Sebastian's family, particularly his sister Julia. Unlike Charles, Sebastian's family is Catholic. Some are devout, and others are lapsed. The bonds of faith prove to be more lasting than home, family, friends, or love.

I listened to the audio version read by Jeremy Irons. I doubt there is a better narrator out there for this book. I would imagine that Irons read it more than once in preparation for his role in the miniseries, and he probably has a better understanding of it than almost anyone living. At some point I want to revisit this book in print. It is filled with symbolism – religious, architectural, and artistic – and it deserves a second, closer reading.

4 stars

Next up in audio: The City & the City by China Mieville

You have been very patient with Comcast, Carrie. You would think that having been a customer of theirs for such a long time, they would bend over backwards to get everything right. I have the same problem as we had a local cable company for both the TV and computer but they sold to a company that is headquartered in Newfoundland - on the other side of the country. Service is not the same as it now takes days to get someone out. Apparently this is the way of the future as it cuts costs for the server never mind that it's at the expense of the customer.

>53 DeltaQueen50: I miss the days when the world was smaller. Not in terms of distances, but in terms of local services. Surely the trend toward ever larger corporations has to end sometime. Companies end up too large to be effective and that can't be good for business.

Seriously. So many companies are now too big to care about their customers. And you'd think a cable company would be eager to keep people, now that it's cheaper and more convenient to get netflix or apple tv or just watch stuff on-line.

And with you being able to switch, shouldn't that make them want to convince you not to?

>55 RidgewayGirl: Well, one sure way to keep me from getting to Netflix or watching stuff online is to make sure that I can't get online! While still accepting my monthly payment, of course. I just got a bill a couple of days ago with - gasp - a $20 credit.

"While still accepting my monthly payment, of course"
Well, obviously...

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Guess who was here when I got home from work this afternoon? The cable repairman! He's a very nice man and he is doing his best to make sure my service is fixed so that I don't have to call customer service yet again.

>57 -Eva-: I know, I just stated the obvious! FWIW, the technicians seem to be as frustrated as the customers. They have to go through customer service to make contact customers too, and it's probably also pot luck for them as to which agent they get in the call center.

Just as the first technician was finishing up, a second one showed up to help. He had been trying to get here but had a job on the other side of town. It was the same one who was here the last time. He was very apologetic about not getting here the day of the ice storm. It was on his schedule but when the freezing rain hit they sent all of the trucks home. His power was out for 3 days after that, and then the technicians were only working partial days because of road conditions. He had no idea that the special request order that he had placed had been canceled and he thought someone else had taken care of it. One of the technicians gave me his business card with his local number and told me to call him if I have any more trouble with my service. I won't have to go through the call center.

Glad to see that technical assistance has been provided, and with a personal touch, too!

>60 lkernagh: It's nice to have this finally behind me. It's about time! If I never have to call their customer service line again it will be too soon.

>52 cbl_tn: I'd like to read Brideshead Revisited one day, and I'll keep the audio version in mind. I hope you'll enjoy The City and the City. This is my favourite Mieville book of the 4 I've read, and I thought John Lee's narration was perfect for it.

>62 mathgirl40: I'm still on part 1 and I like it so far. I've listened to a couple of other books narrated by John Lee and I wasn't thrilled with him as a narrator. I think he must have been a bad fit for those books. He seems to be perfect for this one.

Glad the service techs. finally arrived and that hopefully, your internet problems are solved. At least you have the phone number for a local guy if there are any more problems.

>64 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy! My reading has taken a temporary hit since I'm catching up on all the shows I missed when my On Demand service didn't work.

Book 3 in my New Kid in Town category: That's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore

Interest in language differences between British and American English, and the cultural differences they signify, seems to be unending at least on one side of the Atlantic. The U.S. has plenty of Anglophiles who consume imported British television on public broadcasting stations, read British authors, and keep up with Royal Family news.

Erin Moore's That's Not English joins a long line of books on British vs. American English. Moore is an American whose family has made their home in London. Moore has selected 31 seemingly simple words or phrases that are used differently on either side of the Atlantic. However, language isn't really the main focus of the short essays. Culture is her primary theme. Moore incorporates stories from her own experiences into each essay. In four years of living in England, I didn't pick up on some of the nuances of language and culture that Moore discusses. In my early twenties and living away from home for the first time, I was probably oblivious to some of the differences. Others may have a more recent origin. For instance, I never once heard Christmas referred to as Crimbo in the 1980s.

The first essay discusses differences in the British and American usage of the word “quite”. I certainly hadn't picked up on all of the the shades of meaning Moore highlights in this chapter, and this is the chapter I found most useful. I was both amused and slightly puzzled when Moore proceeded to use “quite” in subsequent chapters. I was never completely sure how I was supposed to interpret those passages. Was I to assume that she is American and writing for an American audience, or that she has lived in England long enough to adopt the English usage of the word?

This book won't be the best or last word on this subject, but nevertheless it's a good book that should be popular among Anglophiles for a time. It would make a great birthday or holiday gift for Anglophiles, English majors, or family or friends planning a trip to London or other parts of southern England.

This review is based on an advanced reading copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

3.5 stars

Book 3 in my Sweet Little Mystery category: A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams

Since she moved back to her home town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, Olivia Limoges has pretty much kept to herself. She is still sensitive about the childhood tragedy that caused her abrupt departure from the town. A new writer's group breaks through her barrier of reserve, but just as she begins to feel comfortable with the group, its leader is murdered. Police Chief Rawlings and his staff are very capable of investigating the murder on their own, but the Chief welcomes the help of the writer's group in deciphering the meaning behind a haiku left with the body. More murders and mysterious haikus ratchet up the stakes, and the group feels pressure to identify the unknown killer before he or she claims another victim.

It took a while for me to warm up to Olivia. She comes across as snobbish and rude early in the book, but her growing friendship with the writer's group reveals a caring personality underneath her reserve. I love dogs, but her perfectly trained poodle who accompanied her everywhere is a bit too much. He'd be more realistic if he misbehaved every once in a while. Olivia has what seems to be the required two potential suitors to choose between in the owner of the town's new bookstore and the widowed police chief. I liked most of the secondary characters from the beginning, and I'll give the series another chance to see if it develops into one that will have me eagerly anticipating the next book.

3 stars

>67 cbl_tn: I liked that one a bit better than you.

>68 thornton37814: The main character's personality reminded me of Miss Zukas, who has Ruth for balance. Captain Haviland is too much like her. I think I would have liked it better if he was more of a free spirit like Ruth.

>67 cbl_tn: One of my favorite series...

>70 lindapanzo: I'm glad to hear it! I will definitely give it another try. Sometimes it takes a couple of books to get the right chemistry among the characters and setting.

>71 cbl_tn: So far this month, I've read 4 mysteries...one in each of my top 5 favorite cozy series. Except for the teashop series. No new ones there for awhile.

I don't think of the Troy Soos or the Louise Penny mysteries in this category. They're on a separate list.

>67 cbl_tn: - I've only read the first one in that series too and I found Olivia hard to like at the beginning also. I have book 2 in my TBR but haven't been in a hurry to get to it.

>73 dudes22: I'm not in a rush to buy book 2, but if I find it in the library or a used book sale I will probably pick it up.

Most of my reading over the past couple of days has been family history related. I've been reading through Virginia Chancery Court documents regarding the estate of my 3rd-great-grandfather's uncle and father-in-law. (My ggg-grandfather's first wife was his first cousin.) Uncle Stephen had ten children, including my ggg-grandfather's wife, Betsey. When Uncle Stephen died in 1820, the inventory of his personal property included 5 slaves. They were a 33-year-old woman named Barbara and her four children. Uncle Stephen's will, written in 1817, names Barbara and her oldest two children by name and says that they were to be given their freedom upon his or his wife's death, whichever came last. The youngest two children, twins Jim and Cindy, were born after the will was written but before Uncle Stephen died.

By the time Uncle Stephen died, several of his children and their spouses, including my ggg-grandfather and his wife/cousin Betsey, had been living in Indiana or other states for almost a decade. Two of Uncle Stephen's sons who still lived in Virginia contested the will on behalf of all of the heirs. The case eventually ended up in chancery and it dragged on for several decades. At one point, one of the brothers-in-law had loaded Barbara and her children into a wagon, intending to take them to Tennessee and out of the Virginia court's jurisdiction, when he was stopped by one of the other heirs. (Not out of any moral scruples - he just wanted to make sure he wasn't cheated out of his share.)

As Barbara's suit dragged on, the attorney originally hired by two of the brothers to contest the will became a judge. In the Chancery court that heard Barbara's case. Barbara was able to hold off the sale of Jim and Cindy for more than 15 years, but one of the Virginia heirs (cousin Jonathan) sold them to a slave speculator without the knowledge or consent of the other parties. One of his brothers-in-law had defaulted on a $200 debt and moved out of state leaving Cousin Jonathan responsible to pay the debt. The creditor was none other than the former attorney who was now the Chancery Court judge. The slave speculator happened to be a business partner of his current attorney. The cards were stacked against Barbara from the beginning.

Although I haven't finished reading all of the files, I have a strong suspicion that Cousin Jonathan wasn't really representing all of the other heirs as he claimed. He was only concerned about himself. Other than one brother who was initially involved with the contesting of Uncle Stephen's will, the litigants appeared to be limited to Cousin Jonathan and the administrator of the estate, who was also the husband of one of Uncle Stephen's daughters. Another son-in-law who had initially attempted to get control of the slaves had long since moved out of state. In the 2/3 of the papers I've examined, I haven't seen any proof other than Cousin Jonathan's word that he had purchased the shares of anyone other than his brother William. The administrator/brother-in-law also claimed that William had sold his share to him. None of the documentation they presented was notarized, and all of the witnesses were relatives who certainly were not neutral. The commissioner appointed to examine the accounts believed that both men had been liberal/excessive in their expense reports and he reduced their expense claims by about half. These men didn't trust each other, and I question anything they've claimed without supporting evidence. I am beginning to doubt whether any of the brothers and sisters who had moved out of state (including my Indiana ggg-grandfather) knew anything about the legal proceedings, let alone agreed to reimburse Cousin Jonathan for their share of the legal expenses.

I'm more interested in Barbara's story than in the lives of my cousins. Barbara Day was born a slave in about 1787 and she died a free woman, possibly between 1840-1850. She probably did not live long enough to see all four of her children free. If twins Jim and Cindy survived the Civil War they would have been in their late 40s. I hope they did live long enough to see freedom. They may have never seen their mother again, but they were old enough at their separation to remember how hard she fought for them.

Wow, Carrie, that's quite a story.

>76 RidgewayGirl: I really wish it was a novel. I like novels. It's engrossing reading, but also terribly sad because I know that Barbara and her children were real, living, breathing people who did not deserve the kind of life they were forced to live. It's also sobering to see what slavery did to the owners. There is no evidence of family affection among them. All I see is greed, mistrust, and dishonesty.

------------------------------------------------------------------

On another note, I had a recall notice for my car's airbags so I made an appointment to have the work done this morning. I went in expecting to be there the hour they estimated it would take to do the work. I was surprised to be told that they had found that my water pump was leaking. I'm not sure why they were looking at it when they were supposed to be fixing the airbags. My guess is that the mechanics are told to look at everything and find something that needs fixing. I've taken my car to this dealer before for recall work and they've sent me home without finding additional work necessary. (I'm sure they looked then, too.) I don't usually have the dealer's service department do anything other than warranty or recall work since they charge more than other places. However, I was there and they had the part in stock so I told them to go ahead and fix it. They sent me home with a rental van, which was surprisingly fun to drive. Hopefully there won't find anything else to fix while they're replacing the water pump and I'll have my own car back this evening.

I didn't get as much reading done this morning as I thought I would because I wasn't there as long as I expected to be. I do hope to finish Farewell to the East End today, though. But first I want to finish reading the Virginia Chancery documents...

Book 4 in my Old Days category: The Voyage of St. Brendan translated by J. F. Webb
HistoryCAT

The Voyage of St. Brendan is a translation of a medieval manuscript about an Irish saint's westward journey to unknown lands. The original was probably written in the 8th century, about 200 years after Brendan's death. It's a fascinating legend. I had already read Jean Fritz's retelling. Now that I've read a translation of her source document, I can confirm that Fritz's retelling retains the essence of the original while removing some redundancies. Fritz's imagination isn't constrained by the necessities of translation so her version is more lyrical and spell-binding. This translation is essential reading for academic study of Brendan's life and legend. Other readers may find Fritz's retelling sufficient to satisfy their curiosity.

4 stars

Book 2 in my Second Hand News category: Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth

Jennifer Worth concludes her memoir trilogy with Farewell to the East End. She seems to have exhausted most of her own extraordinary childbirth experiences in her first book. The second book focuses more on home health care rather than midwifery. This one gets back to midwifery, but recounts experiences of Worth's fellow midwives, Cynthia, Trixie, and Chummy. I liked this one better than the second book, but not as well as book one. This is mostly a second-hand account of things that happened in the 1950s and it's difficult to tell how much accuracy has been lost in the retelling. Worth refers to events that she related in her first two books so it would be better to read those books first.

4 stars

>75 cbl_tn:
That is quite a story indeed! So much so that I was wondering what the title of the book was and then reread the first part and realized you weren't talking about fiction. Such a sad fate.

>80 -Eva-: Yes, sorry to say it's a true story. I'm trying to get a copy of an article about the firm of slave traders that Cousin Jonathan sold Jim and Cindy to. I hope that it will give me some leads on where they might have ended up. Right now I think Tennessee or Alabama are the most likely places, and New Orleans is also a possibility.

Book #3 in my Second Hand News category: Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Margot Tomes
HistoryCAT (theme)

This biography of Christopher Columbus for a juvenile audience summarizes all of the major events in his life, not just his 1492 voyage. It celebrates his achievements without covering up his flaws. This isn't dull historical writing that discourages young people from studying history. Fritz's lively, descriptive writing interjected with humor makes history come to life. Fritz's style is so appealing that some young readers will pick up her books for pleasure and not of necessity. I do question the use of unnumbered endnotes. There aren't any cues in the text to prompt readers to look at the endnotes for additional information. Many readers won't discover them until they've reached the end of the book.

4 stars

Book #4 in my Daisy Jane category: Pride and Prejudice and Kitties by Jane Austen, Pamela Jane, and Deborah Guyol

”Netherfield Park is marked at last.”

The news caused much romping at the Bennet household for, as every cat knows, a handsome young tom in possession of his own territory must be in want of a mate.

So begins this retelling of Pride and Prejudice using cats instead of humans. It's an entertaining diversion for cat-loving Janeites, but it won't be for everyone. In order to appreciate the parody, readers need to be familiar with the characters and main plot points of Pride and Prejudice. Readers who pay full price for the book may be disappointed. Borrow it from a library or look for it at yard sale.

2.5 stars

I had to cut Adrian's walk short this afternoon. There was a snake in the road. A snake. In the road. And it's just barely spring according to my calendar.

Are snakes a 'usual' occurrence during the summer months, then? Not a snake fan but curious to learn if there is a season when you have a higher probability of encountering one.

>85 lkernagh: Snakes can be out any time during warm weather. I tend to see them more in spring and fall. I'm not sure why.

>86 cbl_tn: I wonder if they are trying to get maximum sun exposure, being cold-blooded, in the spring and fall, whereas in the summer the air is warm enough to keep them going with no special effort? Just speculation; I'm not a herpetologist (nor do I play one on TV).

>87 casvelyn: Good theory! I'm not a herpetologist either, for obvious reasons. It would be at the very bottom of my career list.

Sadly, there is one less snake in the world today. Although that's not a bad thing in my world, unfortunately the carcass is still on the road where he was sunning himself yesterday. Adrian insisted on walking that direction this evening, when I made the grisly discovery.

Here in California we are aware that young rattlers are being born at this time of the year and even though they are smaller than their parents, they are no less lethal and are more likely to strike without warning.

>90 mamzel: I don't think rattlers are as common here as other kinds of snakes. We have more copperheads and water moccasins to watch out for. There's a ridge known as Copperhead Ridge just down the road from my house.

Book 2 in my Fantasy category: The City & the City by China Mieville
SFFF Cat
RandomCat

When the body of an unknown woman is discovered, Inspector Borlu must first identify the woman before he can investigate her murder. As the investigation progresses, Borlu is increasingly convinced that the murder has an international angle that will greatly complicate things. Borlu lives and works in Beszel, and clues keep pointing to Ul Qoma – a different city in a different country that occupies the same geographical space as Beszel. Each city's citizens have been raised from childhood to see only those buildings and people that are in their own city, and to “unsee” anything that is in the other city. Has the murderer found a way to use the complex boundaries between the two cities to his or her advantage?

This would be a pretty average police procedural if not for its science fiction/fantasy context. I don't often read science fiction or fantasy. I didn't care for The Yiddish Policemen's Union when I read it a couple of years ago, and this one seemed like it might have some similarities. It turned out to be less similar than I feared. I enjoyed the complexity of the separate cities superimposed on each other. Mieville made it seem like a real place that I could visit. I'd just have to decide which city I want to see, because I'd have to “unsee” the other one while I'm there.

I listened to the audio version read by John Lee. I think that enhanced my reading experience. Although Lee isn't my favorite audiobook narrator, I thought his voice was perfect for this book. His strong, confident narration make the fantastic plot elements seem real.

4 stars

Next up in audio: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Just last week I was telling a friend about my 7th grade chorus teacher, who was one of my favorite teachers from my school days. Miss Brown was an excellent musician and conductor, and she was an outstanding teacher. Her rehearsals were both demanding and fun. In elementary school we sang in unison. We learned to sing in parts in middle school. Miss Brown's chorus was the beginning of several very happy years of chorus membership for me.

Middle school is a challenging age bracket. (For those of you outside the U.S., middle school students range in age from about 11-14.) When I was in middle school, chorus wasn't required, but the majority of students took it. I think the students who didn't take chorus had a study hall. Miss Brown managed a choir of 150 or so 7th graders (12-13 years old) on her own. (I don't recall any teacher's aides, but there might have been an accompanist.) She kept us in line by threatening misbehavers with 40 lashes with a wet noodle. Miss Brown was promoted to an administrative position between my 7th and 8th grade years, and we missed her greatly the next year. She would drop in occasionally in her new role and we were always thrilled to see her.

This morning as I looked at today's paper, I saw an obituary for Miss Brown. I'm sorry I never got to tell her what a positive influence she had in my life.

I love reading everyone's reviews for The City & The City! I have to admit, as much as I love other Mieville stories I have read, I am having a really difficult time slipping into The City & The City. Maybe I am just too distracted these days for reading...

>94 lkernagh: It does seem like those of us who haven't read Mieville really like The City & the City, while a lot of you who have read several of his works aren't as enthusiastic about it.

--------------------------------------------

My book club is meeting here in a few minutes. I was in the kitchen getting some things ready and Adrian was sitting on the floor looking bored. I told him that Stella (his doggy friend) is coming with her mommy in a few minutes. He jumped to attention and ran to his spot on the back of the sofa in front of the picture window. Now he's watching for Stella. He is such a smart dog!

Book #5 in my Old Days category: Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Anthony Bacon Venti
HistoryCAT

This book is exactly what the title implies – short biographies of explorers in the hundred year span between Henry the Navigator and Magellan. In addition to the explorers named in the title, Fritz includes Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Juan Ponce de Leon, and Vasco Nunez de Balboa.

I didn't enjoy this book nearly as well as the other two books by Fritz that I've read this month. The witty, somewhat humorous tone of the first two is largely missing from this book. The difference may be the succinctness necessary for profiling ten explorers in a single book. This book also has the unnumbered endnotes without textual cues that I found so annoying in Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?. If I had started reading Jean Fritz's books here, I might not have been tempted to pick up another one.

3 stars

Adrian is at his first appointment with a new groomer. I needed to find a new one after he was diagnosed with an anal gland infection just days after his last grooming. His anal glands obviously hadn't been expressed. The new place had been recommended by someone at work who has Shih Tzu, and I made the appointment in person so I could look at their facility. As I was leaving this morning, my high school best friend and her husband arrived to drop off their dogs. I learned that the owner is their neighbor. I went in with them while they dropped off their dogs and we visited for a while inside because it was cold outside (in the 30s F). The owner & her daughter (chief groomer) now have me associated with their neighbor. I feel very comfortable leaving Adrian in their hands now. They also board dogs so I now have an option I'll be comfortable with if Stella's family isn't able to keep Adrian when I need to travel.

One other nice thing is that we were able to reminisce about our recently deceased 7th grade music teacher, Miss Brown, and the influence she had in our lives. Both of us were in 8th grade ensemble, girls chorus our freshman year of high school, mixed chorus our sophomore-senior years, and madrigals our junior and senior years. My friend was also in pop ensemble her sophomore year. Neither of us were sure that we would have done any of that if we hadn't had Miss Brown as a music teacher in 7th grade.

Book 6 in my Old Days category: Brendan by Frederick Buechner
HistoryCAT

This novel tells the story of 6th century Irish Saint Brendan. What is known of his life is as much legend as fact. Buechner imagines plausible explanations for some of the miraculous legends about Brendan, while leaving open supernatural explanations for others. Buechner's Brendan has feet of clay. He spends his youth living out the expectations of Bishop Erc and his tutor Ita, then spends his mature years bitterly repenting his earlier choices and their consequences.

The book is narrated by Brendan's friend, Finn, who seems not to have taken holy orders despite spending most of his life at Brendan's side. The exception is the section describing Brendan's first voyage, which seems to be a retelling of the Navigatio and is supposedly Brendan's journal from the voyage. Finn's dialect is similar to that of Appalachia, using “was” in place of “were”, “come” instead of “came”, etc. It seems like an odd choice. The shift in narrator from Finn to Brendan's journal, then back to Finn, didn't work well for me either. This is the second of Buechner's books that I've read. Godric is the better of the two, but I didn't like the way the central characters were portrayed in either book. It may be that Buechner's style just doesn't suit my reading tastes. I'm not sure I'll try any more of his work.

3 stars

Book 7 in my Old Days category: The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin
HistoryCAT

Could Irish monks in leather boats have reached North America before the Vikings? That's the question Tim Severin and his crew set out to answer in the summer of 1976. Mining the text of the Navigatio sancti brendani and other medieval sources for clues, Severin built a curragh of the same wood, leather, and flax that were used in early medieval Ireland. As they followed a northern route across the Atlantic, they discovered that the Navigatio is based on more than legend. Both their nautical experiences and the geographical features along their route bore too much resemblance to the text of the Navigatio to be coincidence. The re-creation of a medieval voyage will appeal to history lovers, while the exhilaration and dangers of the ocean journey will appeal to adventure and survival enthusiasts. Highly recommended.

5 stars

March recap

Daisy Jane by America - Books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen – 4/5
Lover's Vows by August von Kotzebue, translated by Mrs. Inchbald (2)
Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange (3)
Pride and Prejudice and Kitties by Jane Austen, Pamela Jane, and Deborah Guyol (2.5)

Mystery Lady by Billy Ocean - Books by Agatha Christie – 1/5

God Save the Queen - Books by British authors for @PaulCranswick’s British Author challenge – 3/5
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier (4)

My Country ‘Tis of Thee - Books by American authors for @msf59's American Author challenge – 2/5

Old Days by Chicago - Books read for the HistoryCAT and/or Reading Through Time – 7/5
Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Enrico Arno (4.5)
The Voyage of St. Brendan (4)
Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Anthony Bacon Venti (3)
Brendan by Frederick Buechner (3)
The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (5)

In My Life by The Beatles - Family history/genealogy – 1/5

Daniel by Elton John - Books about war – 1/5

Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac - Borrowed books – 3/5
Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth (4)
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Margot Tomes (4)

If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot - Books picked for me – 1/5

Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire - Books for the SFFFCAT – 2/5
*The City & the City by China Mieville (4)

Sing by Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band- Books for my Commonwealth challenge – 1/5

People by Barbra Streisand – Biographies – 3/5
Jesus Loves Me This I Know: The Remarkable Story Behind the World's Most Beloved Children's Song by Robert J. Morgan (4.5)

Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson – Audiobooks – 3/5
*Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (Read by Jeremy Irons) (4)

Sweet Little Mystery by Wet Wet Wet – Mysteries – 3/5
Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck (3)
A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams (3)

New Kid In Town by the Eagles - New books& ARCs – 3/5
That's Not English by Erin Moore (3.5)

Bonus category: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free reading

*Audiobooks

Best of the month: The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin
Worst of the month: Lover's Vows by August von Kotzebue, translated by Mrs. Inchbald

Physical books – owned: 4
Physical books – borrowed: 10
Ebooks – owned: 1
Audiobooks – owned: 1
Audiobooks – borrowed: 1
ARCs: 1

>92 cbl_tn:
That's quite impressive. I'm not sure I could do Miéville on audio, I'd need to stop the recording all the time to look up words in the dictionary.

Hi Eva! The place names were the only difficulty in the Mieville audio. I was able to figure everything else out from the context. I had to look up spellings for the place names to write the review.

Lori (thornton37814) and I went to McKays this morning (huge used bookstore). I brought several books home with me:



In case you can't read some of the titles, here they are from top to bottom:

A Touch of Panic by Laurali R. Wright - 6th in a mystery series set in British Columbia that I discovered through the Canadian reading challenge
Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl - There are few things I love more than lists of books!
The Oxford Book of New Zealand Short Stories - because my mother loved New Zealand and her brother's family lived there for several years
A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce - Because Rumpelstiltskin was the story my grandmother always told us at bedtime
The Houdini Specter by Daniel Stashower - Because my father was an amateur magician
Separate from the World by P. L. Gaus - My favorite Amish mystery series
The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald - A book I didn't own by one of my favorite authors
Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures by Bill Landry - Local history

I got rid of more books than I brought home, and I still have a bit of trade credit left over for my next shopping trip.

Nice haul! I look forward to hearing about the BBs you get from Nancy Pearl ;)

>104 rabbitprincess: I'm almost afraid to look!

There's a McKay's in Greenville near my house. It's a lot of fun to root around and I once found a book that had been on my wishlist for ages on sale for $1. It was even a pristine hardcover. I think they had no idea what they had, as it was a Canadian book. I have A Curse as Dark as Gold on my TBR, but I left it behind in storage so I can't read it for this month's SFFFCAT.

Glad you've found a good groomer for Adrian.

>106 RidgewayGirl: A shared read would have been fun. I do hope to read it this month so I'll let you know what you have to look forward to! And it feels good to have found a groomer I'm comfortable with for Adrian. He liked the other place and he was always excited when I dropped him off. I hope he feels the same about the new place.

I was afraid that Friday night's heavy rains would cause our sunrise service to be moved indoors, but the ground was dry enough to have it at our usual spot by the river this morning. It was pretty but cold. The service was short, but we stood around for at least 15 minutes past the starting time waiting on stragglers to arrive. I made coffee cake last night to have for breakfast this morning. Lunch was lamb chops, asparagus, and sweet potato pudding. The sweet potato pudding isn't typical Easter fare, but it's one of my favorite dishes and it used up the other half of the pint of buttermilk left over from baking the coffee cake. I spent more time than I wanted to trying unsuccessfully to unclog the garbage disposal. The other side of the sink still drains perfectly so it's not a dire emergency. I will have to call tomorrow to get someone to take a look at the disposal. I've already exhausted my limited mechanical knowledge. I finished the last two episodes of Broadchurch season 1 this afternoon. Now I'll see if I can finish Al Capone Does My Shirts before Call the Midwife.

Book 4 in my Second Hand News category: Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Bingo Dog

Moose Flanagan is twelve when his family moves to Alcatraz Island, where his father will work both as an electrician and a prison guard. His excitement at being in close proximity with famous criminals like Al Capone is tempered by his increasing responsibility for his older sister, Natalie, who is developmentally delayed. Moose's parents are counting on Natalie's admission to the Esther P. Marinoff school with its track record of success with children like Natalie. However, things don't work out exactly as planned.

This story is nearly perfect. It has a great cast of children, including tiny, big-hearted Theresa, Moose's classmate and fellow baseball player, Scout, and the warden's obnoxious daughter Piper. Although middle grade readers are the target audience for the book, it will appeal to many adult readers. The only flaw for adult readers are the somewhat flat adult characters. They're not as bad as the adults in the Charlie Brown TV specials (wah Wah wah wah Wah wah), but they're not fully developed, either.

4.5 stars

It's been a busy week so far. And a rainy one. I don't have anything that absolutely has to be done this evening so I think I'll read. I have about 75 pages left in The Master Butchers Singing Club and I've loved it so far. I don't have any idea where it's going, though. I hope the ending doesn't ruin it for me. I'm nearing the end of the audio version of Real Murders so I may try to finish it tonight as well.

I don't have anything that absolutely has to be done this evening so I think I'll read.

Sounds like a perfect evening to me!

>111 RidgewayGirl: It was a pretty good evening!

Book 4 in my Sweet Little Mystery category: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

The members of Lawrenceton, Georgia's, Real Murders Club share an interest in true crime. Librarian Aurora Teagarden is looking forward to making a presentation at the club meeting until she discovers the body of club member Mamie Wright. Roe is horrified when she realizes that Mamie's murder parallels the Wallace murder that was to be the topic of the evening's discussion. It isn't long before more murders with historical parallels are discovered. Could the murderer be a member of Real Murders with more than an academic interest in the subject?

The murder plot and its investigation are about average for the cozy genre. The characters, setting, and true crime hook will be enough to distract most readers from any deficiencies in the plot. I love books with librarians as characters so I plan to continue with this series.

3 stars

Carrie, I remember taking a lot of hits from both the Book Lust books, so be sure to have a pen in your hand when looking at these.

I read A Curse Dark As Gold last year and remember quite liking the story although it is on the dark side.

>114 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy! I have been keeping the public library's catalog open and adding to my wishlist there as I go through the Book Lust lists.

I think the fairy tales with happily ever after endings have been sanitized. Many of them were originally darker. I don't think that will bother me in a retelling. At least, I hope it won't!

I'm working tomorrow so I had most of the day off today after a morning meeting. I had a hair appointment this afternoon. While I was waiting for my stylist to finish the client before me, the mother of one of the other stylists dropped by with her miniature pot belly pig, Barbie Q. She had just had her ears pierced and had diamond studs in them. (I hope they are really cubic zirconia!) She was wearing a cute harness with pink and white daisies and she had her nails painted pink. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a picture. I did get to pet her. She's cute, but not nearly as soft and cuddly as Adrian. I think I'd get tired of the squealing pretty quickly too.

>116 cbl_tn: - I get dressing a pet up in an outfit - so long as the animal isn't offended by the whole experience - but my mind is having a bit of difficulty appreciating the ear piercing. ;-)

>117 lkernagh: The harness has a practical purpose. They take the pig outside on a leash. I don't think the ear piercing bothers pigs. Pigs raised on farms often have tags in their ears.

I will not be buying a pot belly pig any time soon!

Book 3 for my Fantasy category: Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
SFFF Cat

Unlike her older sisters, twenty-something Becca has always loved the story of Briar Rose as it was told by her grandmother “Gemma”. Just before Gemma died, she told Becca “I am Briar Rose.” Gemma extracted Becca's promise to find the castle and the prince. After Gemma's death, her family realized how little they knew about her background before she arrived in the United States. They weren't even sure of her name. With the encouragement of her editor. Becca puts her journalistic skills to work as she tries to discover Gemma's origins. Her search takes Becca to some surprising places and uncovers some harsh truths.

Although the subject matter is heavy, Yolen doesn't lose sight of her YA audience. The “light at the end of the tunnel” is in view even in the darkest parts of the story. It wouldn't be a fairy tale without the possibility of “happily ever after”! The novel loses its momentum during Josef's story. It takes 3 ½ chapters to get to the point where he met Gemma. I had grown impatient by then. While the Nazi persecution of groups other than Jews (Josef was homosexual) will be of interest to many, that isn't Gemma's story. The shift in focus seems out of place.

3.5 stars

I have a friend who does pot belly pig rescue because so many people think they won't grow and then want to get rid of them. But she doesn't dress them up!

We had a neighbor years ago who had two large dogs and a pig. They would all line up on their hind legs at the fence when I walked my dog as dog, pig, dog. The neighbor was looking for a new home for the pig, because when she was at work he would invariably walk into the bathroom and in turning around, shut the door on himself, thus locking him in for the day.

>120 dudes22: This one's mother was 18 pounds and the father was 22 pounds. The family is hoping for a similar size.

>121 RidgewayGirl: That must have been some sight! I'm not sure that I would leave a pig loose in the house when I'm not home. I don't even do that with my dog!

-----------------------------

I have an extra dog today. Stella's family has taken their llamas to the Great Llama Race downtown. I have to work and I'll be leaving shortly, so I won't have a lot of time to enjoy Stella's company. I do get to come home for lunch so I'll be able to take the dogs out for a while then.

>118 cbl_tn: - Good point. Somehow, I missed the harness bit and just imagined a pink and white daisy outfit, like a dress. There was a coffee shop we used to frequent during our coffee breaks where a biker couple with two small dogs would sit outside with their dogs and the dogs were always dressed up in different outfits from sailor suits, etc.

>123 lkernagh: I dress Adrian in cold weather so he doesn't get chilled. He doesn't mind unless I put something on his head. I think he enjoys all the attention he gets when he's wearing his sweaters in public places.

>120 dudes22: Stella's "mommy" just came to pick her up and I told her about the miniature pot belly pig I saw yesterday. She has a dog, cats, chickens, llamas, and alpacas, and I think she needs to add a pig. She's going to look into the rescue network. She is involved with llama rescue already.

Book 4 in my God Save the Queen category: The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
SFFF Cat

This collection of short stories grounded in fairy tale and myth is both repellant and oddly fascinating. The horror they evoke is possibly closer to the mood engendered by fairy tales and myths in earlier centuries. They weren't like Disney movies. They're filled with ogres, witches who eat children, wolves who eat children, evil spells, and other frightening creatures. Carter's interpretation includes graphic sexual elements. While I could appreciate the outstanding quality of Carter's writing, the graphic elements exceeded my comfort zone.

My pick from the collection is “The Lady of the House of Love”, a story incorporating vampire lore. Its commentary on the First World War resonated with me because of my emphasis on World War I in last year's reading list.

3.5 stars

Book 2 in my Daniel category: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The only reason I listened to the audio version of The Red Badge of Courage is that it's a classic of American literature. I wasn't impressed. I don't know if it's because I am not a fan of American literature in general, or if it's because the book has been overrated. Throughout the book, Crane refers to his protagonist, Henry, as “the youth”. Was he afraid that readers were going to forget how young some of these soldiers were if he didn't continually remind us of it? The almost exclusive focus on Henry's youth at the expense of other aspects of his character worked to distance me from Henry. I would have abandoned the book early on if I hadn't had a personal reason for wanting to finish it. It's the book my father taught when he did his student teaching. I don't know if he chose the book or if it was assigned. I wish my father was still here to talk with me about this book. If anyone could help me get anything positive out of it, he could have.

2 stars

Next up in audio: The Hollow by Agatha Christie

The Great Llama Race sounds great. I do love me some llamas!

>127 -Eva-: Hi Eva! Adrian loves the llamas, and they seem to like him, too. The last time I took him over, the llamas came over to the fence to greet him.

Book 2 in my Sing category: The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham

This collection of short stories, mainly set in Samoa, was my introduction to the works of W. Somerset Maugham. If this is representative of the quality of his writing, I have much to look forward to. Although the stories are almost a century old, the issues and emotions they explore are timeless. They explore clashes of culture, social conventions, religion, and race. Maugham's descriptive prose is refreshingly original, as a couple of my favorite passages illustrate:

Self-sacrifice appealed so keenly to his imagination that the inability to exercise it gave him a sense of disillusion. He was like the philanthropist who with altruistic motives builds model dwellings for the poor and finds that he has made a lucrative investment. He cannot prevent the satisfaction he feels in the ten per cent which rewards the bread he had cast upon the waters, but he has an awkward feeling that it detracts somewhat from the savour of his virtue. (From “The Fall of Edward Barnard”)

The place seemed to belong not to the modern, bustling world that I had left in the bright street outside, but to one that was dying. It had the savour of the day before yesterday. Dingy and dimly lit, it had a vaguely mysterious air and you could imagine that it would be a fit scene for shady transactions. It suggested a more lurid time, when ruthless men carried their lives in their hands, and violent deeds diapered the monotony of life. (From “Honolulu”)

Highly recommended.

4.5 stars

Book 2 in my If You Could Read My Mind category: Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson

Although author Buzzy Jackson writes from the perspective of a beginning genealogist, this isn't a how-to book for would-be genealogists. Nor is it a history of Jackson's family, although readers will learn a lot about her heritage in its pages. Jackson addresses the “whys” of genealogy – why is genealogy such a popular American hobby? Why do we start out on this never-ending quest to find our ancestors? Jackson's book is part memoir and part a behind-the-scenes look at the world of genealogy. Readers will accompany Jackson to meetings of her local genealogical society, on visits to interview older relatives, on a genealogy cruise, through the complexities of DNA testing, on a visit to an ancestral home town and its cemetery, and on a research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Newbies to genealogy may be encouraged by Jackson's experiences, while experienced genealogists may enjoy being reminded of their own early research experiences.

4 stars

The Maugham book sounds fantastic. I'll look for a copy.

>131 RidgewayGirl: I downloaded my copy from Project Gutenberg.

Book #3 in my Free Bird category: K by Mary Roberts Rinehart

18-year-old Sidney Page is eager to break free of the Street that defines her life. Taking in a boarder with a mysterious past gives her the freedom to enter nurse's training. She can live in the nurse's quarters knowing that the reliable K. LeMoyne is looking after things at home. K. is both encouraging and protective in his friendship with Sidney. Soon everyone on the street begin to turn to K. in a crisis. Meanwhile, Sidney catches the eye of handsome young surgeon Dr. Max Wilson, younger brother of the doctor who lives across the Street from Sidney. Will Sidney's love for Wilson survive the revelation that her hero has clay feet?

This 100-year-old romance is very much a product of its time. The social structure that is so important in the novel no longer exists. While this is a didactic novel, the tone is not “preachy”. Both K. and Sidney exhibit sympathy for others, particularly women, who break the moral code of the street, such as the middle-aged spinster in love with a married man unable to divorce his insane wife. The characters and plot are forgettable. Readers wishing to learn about social life in a lower middle class neighborhood of a century ago will get the most out of this book.

2.5 stars

I've started today with another headache. It's probably allergies or the low pressure, or a combination of the two. I plan to take it easy today and read in between naps. Neither of my current books appeal to me this morning so I think I'll pull out The Fiddler on Pantico Run. I've been looking forward to this one for ages.

Hope the headache clears up soon! Not a great way to spend the weekend.

>135 rabbitprincess: Thanks RP! I'm afraid headaches are par for the course at this time of year. It comes with spring allergies. This one isn't as bad as the one I had last Saturday.

Bavarians attribute these headaches to the Fön (literally: hair dryer), a wind that blows from the Alps and is pretty much responsible for anything bad that happens in Spring.

>137 RidgewayGirl: I like the idea of having the Fön to blame. It's even better than holding "the government" responsible!

>137 RidgewayGirl: I like the idea of having the Fön to blame. It's even better than holding "the government" responsible!

ETA Carrie, I hope your headache improves. Having the same malady, I sympathize greatly.

>137 RidgewayGirl: It's windy here today. Maybe that's the problem!

>138 VivienneR: >139 VivienneR: Thanks Vivienne! It seems there are a lot of us out there. I feel better after the long nap I took after church. I actually came home after Sunday School because I felt so bad.

>140 cbl_tn: One bad thing about having to work Sunday afternoon is that you can't take those Sunday afternoon naps.

This is a bad time of year for my allergies as well, Carrie. I am so disappointed, my husband brought me a huge boquet of lilacs, one of my favorite flowers, but it seems to be one of the culprits. Didn't want to hurt his feelings so I moved the boquet into a room that I don't go in very often.

>142 DeltaQueen50: I'm allergic to lilacs too. I love to look at them, but I can't be in the same room with them.

>141 thornton37814: Sorry you missed your nap today.

Book 2 in my Mystery Lady category: The Hollow by Agatha Christie

Poor Hercule Poirot. He can't get away from murder, not even at his weekend cottage. His neighbors at the Hollow, the Angkatells, are having a weekend house party, and they've invited Poirot for Sunday lunch. He arrives to find his hosts and their guests gathered around a body by the swimming pool; apparently his hosts have planned a murder game to entertain their guests. Poirot soon realizes that the scene is no game. One of the guests, Dr. John Christow, has been shot. The doctor's wife, Gerda, is holding a pistol, with the other guests surrounding her. Did Mrs. Christow shoot her husband? No one who knows her believes her to be capable of murder. If she didn't do it, who did? His mistress, the artist Henrietta? Edward Angkatell, who's in love with Henrietta? Poor cousin Midge, who's in love with Edward? Or maybe Veronica Cray, a woman from Dr. Christow's past who just happens to be renting a nearby cottage?

Christie fills a typical country house party with stock characters (a doctor, an actress, an artist, a brooding student, and a poor relation), but she still manages to find a new twist for the murder. Poirot's best cases are behind him at this point in Christie's publishing career. This is a solid mystery, but not a particularly memorable one.

3.5 stars

Book 8 in my Old Days category: Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot
HistoryCAT

Servant of God has chance of greater sin
And sorrow, than the man who serves a king.
For those who serve the greater cause may make the cause serve them,
Still doing right: and striving with political men
May make that cause political, not by what they do
But by what they are.

The drama opens with the return of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket from exile in December 1170. He is welcomed by the people of Canterbury and three priests, then visited by four tempters. He predicts his imminent martyrdom in his Christmas sermon. A few days later, four knights find and kill Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral.

After the murder, the four knights draw the audience into the event through a direct appeal. They present their justification for the murder as if addressing a jury before dismissing the audience. However, the knights don't have the last word. The priests speak, and the chorus concludes with a corporate confession and plea for mercy.

I listened to an audio production (the Old Vic Company with Robert Donat) while reading the text. It was a moving experience, akin to the best of Shakespeare. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Angevin history or church history.

4.5 stars

Book 2 in my In My Life category: The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo

L.A. Times journalist Joe Mozingo's discovery that his last name is African triggered a desire to learn more about his family history. As he contacted other Mozingo researchers, he learned that virtually all of the Mozingos in the U.S. descend from Edward Mozingo, an African indentured servant in mid-17th century Virginia who became a free man after a 28-year indenture. Edward's wife, Margaret, was white, and after a few generations, many of their descendants were identified as white in census records and other documents. The white descendants lost all memory of their African forebear.

Mozingo followed his family's trail from the Northern Neck of Virginia through the Cumberland Gap to Kentucky, through southern Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, to California. He read Faulkner's Light in August on his travels, seeing parallels between his mixed race ancestors and Faulkner's Joe Christmas. When Edward still seemed out of his reach, Mozingo realized that he needed to go to Africa to see the place where his ancestor's captivity began.

Although genealogy is at the heart of Mozingo's story, this isn't a standard genealogy/family history. It's part memoir, part a history of slavery, and part a sociology of race. It's a surprising story, and a hopeful story. On one of his trips to Virginia, Mozingo visited a white Mozingo cousin whose grandchildren are all mixed race. Reflecting on this meeting, Mozingo writes:

More than three centuries after whites and blacks were forced to stop mixing in this part of Virginia, they were blithely doing it again. It struck me that America, finally easing away from its cursed preoccupation with race, was looking forward to some grand moment to proclaim the battle was over, when really it might finally just sputter out like this, quietly, family-by-family, with a shrug.

4 stars

>136 cbl_tn:
I don't have allergies, but during spring even I get a little sinus-y sometimes with all the pollen flying around. Not fun.

>137 RidgewayGirl:
I didn't know fön was the German word for a hairdryer - it's the same word in Swedish.

>137 RidgewayGirl: >148 -Eva-: The hairdryer was actually named after the wind.

>148 -Eva-: If I ever go to Sweden or back to Germany I'll know how to ask for a hairdryer!

>149 MissWatson: Interesting! I've always loved etymology.

I changed to Revolution for Adrian's monthly heartworm medicine because it's supposed to control ticks (and also because he started resisting Trifexis). It's not as effective as I hoped it would be. I pulled three ticks off of him this morning. Two came off easily, but one was very stubborn. I pulled a tick off of myself a few days ago. I woke up and felt something stuck to my face right below my eye. When I pulled it off and looked at it, it was a tick. What a way to wake up! The eye is still a little puffy. I haven't tried putting any kind of medication on it because it's so close to the eye.

Adrian was in a foul mood yesterday - very unusual for him. I've decided it was probably the ticks irritating him. He's behaving normally now that the ticks are gone.

My husband bought a nifty little gadget a couple of years ago for taking ticks off the dog. It has a handle and is shaped like a "V". You slide it under the tick and rotate it and it gently pulls the tick off. I was always worried about not getting the whole thing out. This works great!

>152 dudes22: I need one of those! Maybe Amazon carries them. Off to check!

>151 cbl_tn: AAAAGGGGHHHH!!! I hope both you and Adrian are not bothered by any more ticks! Especially near the eye. Yuck.

Murder in the Cathedral sounds like it would be a great audio production!

>153 cbl_tn: - I'll ask my husband if he remembers where it came from when he comes in from the yard.

>154 rabbitprincess: Pulling a tick off your eye is not a good way to wake up in the morning! And Murder in the Cathedral is a wonderful audio production, except that it was recorded in the 1950s and the digital reproduction has some scratching and hissing from the original analog recording. I can only imagine how much more powerful it would have been in person. I think it would be a religious experience for many with a Christian faith, either Catholic or Protestant since the historical setting predates the Protestant Reformation.

>155 dudes22: I ordered this gadget since it had lots of positive reviews and is available for prime shipping. I hope I won't need to use it, but I fear that I will.

>151 cbl_tn:

Adrian was in a foul mood yesterday...

Was he ticked off?

Yep, I went there.

>157 casvelyn: Well, something sure was bugging him!

Yes, I just joined you!

>156 cbl_tn: - my husband said ours came from the local tack and feed store, but I looked and the Dr Foster and Smith web site has the one we bought here

ETA: in case the other one doesn't work.

>159 dudes22: I should have thought of Dr Foster and Smith! I've never ordered from them, but my cousin and his wife do.

I'm at home today with an upper respiratory bug. I haven't noticed any signs of infection so it's probably either allergies or a virus. Maybe the change in the weather. It's turned cool again this week and I've had to turn the heat back on. Hopefully a 3-day weekend with plenty of rest will do the trick. I started Doomsday Book last night and I'm enjoying it, but perhaps a book about the Black Death isn't the best thing to be reading when you're sick...

Carrie, I hope you feel better soon. It might just be me, but reading Doomsday Book while ill sounds perfect. Follow it up by watching The Seventh Seal and feel better in comparison!

Hope you are soon feeling better, Carrie. Uh, yeah, a book about the Black Death - maybe it will make you feel better simply by comparison!

Book 5 in my God Save the Queen category: The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
RandomCAT

Having been spoiled by her mother because of her beauty, Kitty is in no hurry to marry one of her many suitors. She makes the mistake of waiting too long to accept one of them. Faced with the prospect of her younger sister's marriage, Kitty reluctantly accepts the proposal of Dr. Walter Fane, a quiet fortyish man she doesn't love. After their marriage, Kitty accompanies Walter to Hong Kong, where he works as a bacteriologist. Kitty soon begins an affair with Charles Townsend, a colonial official. When Walter discovers the affair, he offers Kitty a choice: either go with him to mainland China, where he will manage a cholera outbreak, or he will file for divorce, ruining both Kitty and Charles's reputations. Kitty resigns herself to accompany her husband, where she expects to die from cholera.

Maugham writes from Kitty's perspective. Although Kitty is vain and shallow, her unconscious naivety makes her sympathetic, as does her growing self-awareness and gradual transformation in the isolation of the cholera epidemic. With her mother's encouragement, Kitty cultivated her physical appearance while neglecting her character and intellect. Crisis forced her to take stock of her weaknesses and reevaluate her priorities. The novel doesn't feel dated since it is character-driven. Readers who enjoy character-driven fiction, either historical or contemporary, should give this a try.

4.5 stars

Next up in audio: Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

Book 4 in my New Kid in Town category: Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman
RandomCAT

Fifty-something Barbara Blumfield emerged from a troubled adolescence to build a happy family life with her husband, Sam, and teenage daughter, Lili. Her adult life is very different from her childhood, which was centered in an Orthodox shul in Milwaukee. An invitation to participate in the tahara – a ceremonial washing of the dead – for her mentor, Mrs. Kessler, brings back long-buried feelings and memories. Barbara's ties to the shul and her best friend, Tzippy, had been severed at the same time as her relationship with her mother,and Barbara still mourns their loss. Barbara needs to resolve her anger before Alzheimer's renders her mother incapable of answering Barbara's questions.

Barbara's story alternates between her coming of age in 1973-1974 and the present day (2009). In the beginning, the teenage Barbara and the fifty-something Barbara seem secure and happy in their lives – the teenage Barbara in the rhythms of Orthodox practice and the adult Barbara as a wife, mother, and professional, but no longer practicing Orthodox Judaism. It's evident that Barbara didn't gradually drift away from the Orthodox life. Something momentous happened, and the memory of it is still powerful enough to threaten the life Barbara has built. The meditative pace and the alternation of the troubled teenaged Barbara with the healthy adult Barbara keep her story from becoming too depressing to read. It's a beautiful, moving exploration of relationships – mothers and daughters, friends, mentors, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and lovers. It is well-suited for book clubs since it raises so many issues worthy of discussion - religion, depression, illness (both physical and mental), aging, shame, and belonging.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

4 stars

April recap

Daisy Jane by America - Books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen – 4/5

Mystery Lady by Billy Ocean - Books by Agatha Christie – 2/5
*The Hollow (3)

God Save the Queen - Books by British authors for @PaulCranswick’s British Author challenge – 5/5
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (3.5)
*The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5)

My Country ‘Tis of Thee - Books by American authors for @msf59's American Author challenge – 3/5
The Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (3.5)

Old Days by Chicago - Books read for the HistoryCAT and/or Reading Through Time – 8/5
*Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (4.5)

In My Life by The Beatles - Family history/genealogy – 2/5
The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo (4)

Daniel by Elton John - Books about war – 2/5
*The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (2)

Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac - Borrowed books – 4/5
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (4.5)

If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot - Books picked for me – 2/5
Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson (4)

Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire - Books for the SFFFCAT – 3/5
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (3.5)

Sing by Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band- Books for my Commonwealth challenge – 2/5
The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5)

People by Barbra Streisand – Biographies – 3/5

Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson – Audiobooks – 3/5

Sweet Little Mystery by Wet Wet Wet – Mysteries – 4/5
*Real Murders by Charlaine Harris (3)

New Kid In Town by the Eagles - New books& ARCs – 4/5
Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman (4)

Bonus category: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free reading
K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2.5)

*Audiobooks

Best of the month: The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham
Worst of the month: The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

Physical books – owned: 3
Physical books – borrowed: 3
Ebooks – owned: 2
Ebooks – borrowed: 1
Audiobooks – owned: 2
Audiobooks – borrowed: 3

>161 cbl_tn: I got pretty sick from allergy crud Wednesday night and then it even was bothering me pretty badly Thursday morning at work. In fact, I didn't think I would be able to eat what I had brought for lunch. Alison ended up getting me a baked potato at Wendy's when she went out for lunch. I ate it with just a little butter, and it agreed with me. Fortunately I was feeling better today. Still, I'm looking forward to a restful day tomorrow.

Well, you and Lori are in an allergy wonderland! Greenville scores high on having too much of the wrong kinds of pollen, too, but my allergies are so much worse here in Bavaria.

There's a movie version of The Painted Veil that is stunning. Naomi Watts and Edward Norton do an amazing job, too, of making the couple feel like real, complex people. I love that movie.

>167 thornton37814: This seems like a worse allergy season than we had last spring.

>168 RidgewayGirl: I seem to remember lots of trees in Bavaria. You're pretty close to the Black Forest, aren't you?

I've already added The Painted Veil to my Netflix queue!

For fans of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder will air on Hallmark Movie Channel tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. I'm not sure about the casting. Alison Sweeney certainly looks like she'd fit right in in Minnesota with her blonde hair and blue eyes, but I think Hannah is a redhead in the books.

I haven't posted a photo of Adrian in a while. He went to the groomer's today and I took a picture of him when I picked him up:



We stopped at the pet store on the way home and he reveled in the attention from the employees and the other customers. He knows how to work a crowd. :)

Adrian is really cute. Thanks for the picture.

>172 sallylou61: Thanks! I am so blessed to have him. He has a wonderful temperament and he adds so much joy to my life.

Just pulled a tick off of Adrian with my new tick tool. It works! It took a couple of tries to get it positioned correctly, but once I did the tick came right off!

Sorry to read about the allergy sickness, Carrie. I never tire of the Adrian pics!

I'm finally feeling better today. I hope it continues! I'll try to keep the Adrian pics coming!

Book #4 in my Fantasy category: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
SFFF Cat
HistoryCat

It's December 2054. Oxford history student Kivrin Engle will be spending her Christmas holidays in a nearby village...in the year 1320. Kivrin thinks she's prepared for any eventuality. That doesn't prevent her former tutor, Dunworthy, from worrying. He doesn't fully trust Gilchrist, who is acting head of the history department while the head is on a fishing vacation somewhere in Scotland. As it turns out, Dunworthy was right to worry. Things begin to go wrong in Oxford almost as soon as Kivrin goes through the net to the Middle Ages, and the Christmas holidays further complicate a situation that grows worse by the minute. Kivrin has growing worries of her own, particularly after she discovers that she landed not in December 1320, but in December 1348...when the Black Death reached Oxford and its environs...

The story alternates smoothly between past and future. While the time travel aspect still feels futuristic, unfortunately the pandemic scenario does not with the recent Ebola outbreak reaching all the way to Europe and the United States. Telecommunications technology is the most glaring anomaly in the future section of the novel. Telephones include video, but they're all landlines. Mobile phone use wasn't nearly as widespread when this book was first published as it is more than twenty years later, but it did exist then, and I would have thought anyone imagining the future at that time would anticipate its growth, if not its explosion within the next decade.

Several characteristics of this book will appeal to readers who normally don't read science fiction or fantasy. Many historical fiction fans will like the focus on the Middle Ages. YA readers will identify with Kivrin and 12-year-old Colin, who has a prominent role in the story. Readers whose interests lean more towards literary fiction may appreciate the imagery and themes woven throughout the book that provoke reflection on religious faith and doubt, research and medical ethics, and culture.

5 stars

Great review of Doomsday Book! This is my favourite of the Connie Willis books I've read, and indeed, one of the best time-travel books I've ever read.

>164 cbl_tn: I'm planning to read The Painted Veil too for this challenge. I read it a long time ago and now is the time for a re-read. I've always enjoyed Somerset Maugham.

>171 cbl_tn: Wonderful photo of Adrian. He really is a sweetie. Sorry to hear you and he are having tick problems.

>178 mathgirl40: Thanks Paulina! It reminded me a bit of The House on the Strand since they both involve time travel to the Middle Ages.

>179 VivienneR: The audio version by Kate Reading might be a good way to revisit it. She does an outstanding job with the book.

>180 cbl_tn: I have audio, ebook and print versions so if one doesn't work for me, another will. Thanks for your recommendation, the audiobook might win out.

>181 VivienneR: Kate Reading is one of my favorite readers. I wonder if that's her real name? It certainly fits her profession!
-------------------------------

I thought earlier that I might have to go to the ER so my cousin came over to spend the night. It seems that the tick bite I got a couple of weeks ago may be making me sick. My doctor called in an antibiotic so I hope to be feeling better by Monday. I'll stay home tomorrow to give the antibiotic plenty of time to kick in.

Oh, I hope the antibiotics kick in and you are feeling better! Good idea to have your cousin come spend the night.

>183 lkernagh: Thanks! I feel OK as long as I don't try to do anything. I've been worried about Adrian getting sick from a tick bite but it didn't occur to me that I might be the one getting sick.

Carrie, I hope you are feeling better with no lingering effects of that tick bite.

>185 VivienneR: Thanks! If it's the tick bite then I've caught it early. I don't feel like reading anything I already had in progress so I'm going with a cozy mystery today - Fatally Frosted. The only problem is that it's making me hungry for donuts but I don't have any on hand!

Book #5 in my Sweet Little Mystery category: Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck

Suzanne Hart is both excited and nervous about demonstrating donut making during the April Springs, North Carolina, kitchen tour. Suzanne will be cooking in Marge Rankin's newly refurbished kitchen. Suzanne's demonstration ends as soon as it begins, with the discovery of event organizer Peg Masterson's body in the garden outside Marge's home...with one of Suzanne's partially-eaten donuts next to her. Since she is one of the prime suspects in the murder, Suzanne is determined to clear her name by finding Peg's real killer.

I didn't find the setting quite as charming as it was in the first book of the series. The mystery isn't well developed, either. This may be a case of “sophomore slump”. The author is still using Suzanne to carry the weight of the story instead of letting the supporting characters share the load. I would still like to see more of Suzanne's assistant, college student Emma, but she had an even smaller role in this book than in the first one. The excerpt from the next book sounds like it has the potential to involve more of the secondary characters, so I'll keep going with the series.

2.5 stars

The antibiotic seems to be working. I've felt pretty good all day and I didn't crash in the late afternoon/early evening. A friend came by and took Adrian for his evening walk so I don't have to get out in the heat. I'll stay in again tomorrow to make sure I'm rested up before going back to work on Monday.

I read the first several chapters in Spiced to Death this afternoon, then watched several episodes of Father Dowling Mysteries and the last streaming episode of Death in Paradise. I finally got around to watching A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The movie is a little different from the book, but I loved it almost as much. It's one I'd like to own.

I'm glad you're feeling better, Carrie. Here it's still very much Spring, so that on the nicest days, I can have dinner outside if I bring a cardigan, but there's still lots of rain and cooler weather. I'd like a really hot day, but not more than once a week.

>189 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! Your weather sounds perfect to me. We seem to get very little 60 and 70 degree weather. We move pretty quickly from winter cold to summer heat and vice versa. I tend to wilt in heat and humidity.

I feel almost normal today. I took Adrian for a short walk this afternoon. I didn't want to push it, plus I'm not supposed to be in direct sunlight while I'm taking this antibiotic. I will go back to work as usual tomorrow but I'll plan to take it easy in the evenings until I'm sure I'm not going to have a relapse.

Book #5 in my Second Hand News category: Spiced to Death by Peter King

The London-based “Gourmet Detective” has been called upon by an old acquaintance to authenticate a rare spice that was thought to have been extinct for 500 years. The “Gourmet Detective” (I'll call him G.D. since he's never named) expects to stay in New York no longer than two or three days. However, his stay is unexpectedly extended when, first of all, the newly-authenticated spice disappears, and then his colleague is murdered. Since he is one of the few people who know what the spice looks like, G.D. agrees to help the police find the missing spice and the killer.

This is a typically formulaic cozy with perhaps a few too many suspects. However, the setting, the food history, and the descriptions of international cuisine nudge it above average. It has the feel of an episode of Murder, She Wrote, so it's not surprising that this series has been adapted for television movies on the Hallmark Movies and Mystery Channel.

3.5 stars

Not much reading going on this week. I made a visit to the doctor Tuesday and left with a different antibiotic. Yesterday was horrible and last night even worse. I woke up during the night with difficulty breathing. I called some friends who took me to the ER. they gave me a breathing treatment, a bag of fluids, took a swab to rule out flu, and took chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia. Viral bronchitis is the diagnosis, and that would explain why a week on antibiotics hasn't helped. It kept me from getting pneumonia, but didn't address the symptoms. I came home with prednisone and a codeine cough syrup. I started feeling better by mid-afternoon and I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep tonight despite the prednisone.

I did manage to finish a book yesterday but haven't had the energy to review it yet. I also read the delightful Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks on a friend's Kindle this evening while she was walking my dog.

I'm glad that you finally found out what was really wrong, and hope that you get completely well soon. It's no fun to be sick.

>193 sallylou61: Thank you! I feel better today, but weak and tired. I'm glad I'll have the weekend to recover before going back to work.

You have been through the mill, Carrie. I recommend plenty of pampering as well as giving yourself lots of time to recover completely.

>195 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy! I'm taking it easy today. TCM has showed a couple of my favorite movies. I just finished watching North by Northwest. Now I'll try to read for a bit and then maybe I can nap, although the prednisone is making it hard for me to sleep. I had chicken soup for lunch and I think I'll microwave a baked potato for dinner.

Hope you feel better soon! Glad to hear the ER was able to give you the correct diagnosis.

>197 rabbitprincess: Thanks RP! I am feeling much better. Just weak and tired. I'll have to gradually ease back into normal activity levels. I took Adrian on a very short walk this evening and it tired me out.

Book #9 in my Old Days category: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
HistoryCAT
Bingo Dog

At the end of a forty year career teaching math at a San Francisco boys' school, professor William Waterman Sherman looks forward to a year of solitude traveling the world in a hot air balloon that he's built for the purpose. He sets out over the Pacific Ocean on August 15, 1883, only to be found weeks later barely alive and floating in the Atlantic Ocean. How did he get there? Professor Sherman will tell his story...but only after San Francisco's Western American Explorers' Club members have heard it. The nation waits with great anticipation as the professor convalesces and then makes his way across the continent to San Francisco, where he is greeted by a great crowd. He has an amazing story to tell the Explorers' Club of an unusual society an island believed to have been uninhabited. Professor Sherman arrived there just in time to experience one of the world's greatest disasters.

This imaginative story of a Victorian society living on top of a volcano was a delightful diversion at a time when I lacked the concentration for anything but lighthearted and/or comfort reads. I loved the creative details and the author's illustrations, but the delivery lacks sparkle. Most of the book is supposed to be a speech delivered in the style of a Victorian orator. I'm not sure how many of today's young people in the book's target age group would have enough patience with the style to finish the book, but it's one that I could see my brother and his friends enjoying in their upper elementary and middle school years. (My brother and his best friends all went on to earn engineering degrees.) Potential readers should be aware that the book includes a few racial terms and stereotypes that are often found in older works but are generally considered offensive by today's standards.

3 stars

Book #5 in my Daisy Jane category: Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks by Seamus O'Leprechaun

This work is exactly what its title says it is. Each chapter of Pride and Prejudice is summarized in a humorous limerick. A couple of days ago a friend came to walk my dog since I was sick. Before she took him out, she handed me her Kindle and said “Here, read this while we're gone.” I did, and I had plenty of time to finish it, only pausing to chuckle from time to time. It will appeal to many Janeites, and it might also be useful to literature students as a review tool before an exam on Pride and Prejudice.

3.5 stars

Book #10 in my Old Days category: A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory
HistoryCAT

Strange things are taking place in the fall of 1348 at Michaelhouse, one of Cambridge's colleges. First the Master took his own life in a very unusual way. Then an elderly former teacher dies after warning of evil and sin afoot in the college. Physician and teacher of medicine Matthew Bartholomew suspects murder upon his examination of the body. Bartholomew learns that there are secret factions operating within the University and within his own college, but he doesn't know which side his friends and colleagues support. The safest course is to keep his suspicions to himself and keep his eyes and ears open. Then the plague reaches Cambridge, and Bartholomew and the handful of other physicians have their hands full. Surely this will put an end to the murders and intrigue...except it doesn't. Bartholomew's survival may depend on his ability to discern which of his friends and colleagues he can trust, and which ones are wolves in sheep's clothing.

I got off to a slow start with this book. For the first 50 or so pages I had to constantly refer to the maps at the front of the book since geographical and spatial details are important to the plot. At some point I became familiar with the book's landscape and the book became a page-turner. Bartholomew is perhaps a bit unrealistic since his methods are so different from most medical practitioners of the era. For instance, he insists on cleanliness and refuses to use leeches. However, he is as puzzled as the rest of the medical and religious community as to why some people became sick with the plague and others didn't, and why some people survived and others died. There are a few too many subplots for everything to resolve neatly. However, this is a very strong start for a series that should appeal to most historical mystery fans.

4 stars

Book #5 in my New Kid in Town category: Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman

In this brief autobiography, actress Cindy Williams recalls incidents in her life from childhood through the end of hit TV series Laverne & Shirley. Williams reminisces about her studies with classmates including Sally Field and Michael Lembeck. Her early successes included roles in Travels with My Aunt with director George Cukor and star Maggie Smith and George Lucas's breakthrough film American Graffiti in which she worked alongside Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford. She describes chance meetings with celebrities from Jim Morrison to Cher, and she talks of her friendships with celebrities including Ed Begley, Jr., and Andy Kaufman. There is no salacious Hollywood gossip here. Williams is generous in her praise for her show business colleagues and temperate in her criticism of others. She seems to have many friends and few enemies, and the friendships she formed early in her career have endured to the present.

This short book can be read in a single sitting. It will have nostalgic appeal for the generation that grew up watching Laverne & Shirley and baby boomers who came of age with Ron Howard, Sally Field, and others of that generation.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

3.5 stars

Carrie, I'm glad you have friends around you to help you through! I hope you are on the mend, but don't do too much at once. Old movies sound like the best occupation until you're feeling healthy again.

>203 RidgewayGirl: I would be in sad shape without my friends. Recovery is slower than I would like, but I am slowly getting better.

i seem to be well on the road to recovery. YesterdAy was the first day in a while that I didn't need to use my inhaler. Hopefully the progress will continue and I'll be able to restart my allergy shots next week.

I need to finish the biography of Thomas Becket this weekend since I'm out of renewals. I'd also like to finish Castle Rackrent and Main Street so that I can finally begin The Peppered Moth. The banana bread I made earlier in the week is almost gone so I believe I'll bake brownies sometime today.

>205 cbl_tn: I made brownies Thursday night to take to the library yesterday. I took some ice cream and chocolate syrup too. Yummy!

>206 thornton37814: Brownies are in the oven. I used cocoa instead of unsweetened chocolate, and I think I must have only used 2T instead of the 3T I was supposed to use. The batter seemed lighter than usual. I guess they'll be milk chocolate brownies. I'll blame the audiobook for my distraction...

>207 cbl_tn: I used to make my own brownies until I discovered Ghiridelli Double Chocolate Brownie mix. They were better (and much richer) than my own. I loved them, but you know me -- I'm a chocaholic!

I'm better off making them from scratch so I can avoid allergens. These just don't have enough chocolate taste. I may have to try again tomorrow.

At least half of the teams in the Women's College World Series will be from the SEC. Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama are in, and either Florida or Kentucky will have a spot depending on which of them wins their super-regional. LSU is a win away from becoming the 5th SEC team in. Missouri will have to win twice to earn a spot.

>208 thornton37814: - if you're going to use a mix, that's the one to use.

>209 cbl_tn: - I like the King Arthur recipe which uses cocoa powder if I'm making them from scratch.

>211 dudes22: I use the Indian Bars recipe from one of the Farm Journal cookbooks. I'll have to check out the King Arthur recipe.

Book #4 in my People category: Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy

While this biography of Thomas Becket covers his entire life from birth to martyrdom, its heaviest focus is on the church and state dispute between Thomas and Henry II. I learned more than I really wanted to know about criminous clerks and ancestral customs. Thomas was Henry II's chancellor when Henry appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry expected Thomas to fill both positions. Thomas, I think rightly, decided that “no man can serve two masters” and resigned the chancellor's position, opening a rift in his relationship with Henry that would never close. Henry never forgot Thomas's middle class origins and he couldn't forgive Thomas for his “ingratitude” in opposing Henry's will.

Although historian Guy admits in his acknowledgments that he is a specialist in the Tudor era, he more than competently handles medieval sources. His primary sources include the letters of Thomas Becket and John of Salisbury, 12th century chroniclers, and the lives of Becket written within the first decade after his death. One of the two appendices identifies the authors of these early biographies and Guy's assessment of the reliability and objectivity of each account. Guy's biography would be a good choice for nonspecialists seeking a thorough summary of Thomas Becket's life and legacy.

3.5 stars

Book #4 in my My Country 'Tis of Thee category: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Carol Milford, college graduate and librarian, thinks very highly of herself and her abilities. When she receives a proposal from Dr. Will Kennicott of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, she accepts since it will allow her to fulfill her aspiration of being a big fish in a small pond. She plans to single-handedly “improve” the small Midwestern town to fit her image of beauty and refinement. To her surprise and dismay, the town resists all of her efforts.

I had little sympathy for Carol. She thinks so highly of herself, yet she behaves as a dilettante. She tries to force her will on her husband and neighbors without making an effort to get to know them as individuals. Her only admirable quality is her acceptance of other outsiders in the community. If only she could have extended the same generosity to her husband and his friends. In the end, it isn't the town that changes. It's Carol. I wouldn't call this conformity or resignation. I'd call it maturity.

Lewis's characterizations seem exaggerated and heavy handed, and the tone is too “preachy” for my taste. Lewis seems to treat his readers the way Carol treats the citizens of Gopher Prairie, trying to force them to accept his view of the world without respecting any opinion but his own.

2.5 stars

Just got back from major grocery shopping. I had friends who picked up a few things for me while I was sick. It has been a while since I've been in a store myself. I stocked up on a lot of things, especially drinks since it's so important for me to keep hydrated. I get tired of water after a while. I tried to keep impulse buys to a minimum, but this Dry Lavender sparkling water somehow fell into my basket. It sounded refreshing.

Since it's my birthday (tomorrow), I splurged on a roast which I'll cook this afternoon since I'm off work today. I can't eat cake* so I'll try the brownies again this afternoon. This time I'll measure the cocoa before I do anything else to make sure I use enough!

*Actually, it's the powdered sugar in the icing that's a problem.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Carrie. Is it also your Thingaversary? If I remember correctly, these two events of yours are pretty close together in time.

>213 cbl_tn: My Thingaversary is June 13 so it's not far away. It was my mother's birthday

Happy B'day! Can you drink ice teas? There are some great flavor combinations to be had. Celestial Seasonings has some yummy ones.

>218 mamzel: There are a few I can drink, but I have to avoid high fructose corn syrup and Splenda. That cuts out most of them. I also need to avoid caffeine any later than about 2 p.m.

Make your own and there won't be any sugar in them at all. I like to combine decaf black tea with spearmint. The mint flavor tricks me into believing there is sweetener in it. I like using those big glass jars with the tap at the bottom. They're pretty reasonable this time of the year in the summer section of stores like Target. I cut the strings off the tea bags (they block the tap open), fill it with hot water and let it steep in the refrigerator. Next day, best iced tea ever!

>220 mamzel: That sounds delicious! I love spearmint. I'll give it a try this summer.

>220 mamzel: - if you're ever in Boulder, CO, you should do the Celestial Seasonings tour - they have a mint room that is amazing!

>222 LittleTaiko: I'll have to remember that the next time I visit family in the Denver area.

Just as dinner was ready I noticed that Adrian had blood on one side of his mouth. He had run into the wall when he was playing a while earlier but he had seemed to be OK. I wiped it off as well as I could and decided it gad come from his mouth. Maybe he bit his tongue. It didn't seem bad enough to warrant a trip to the emergency vet. I fed him some crushed ice and that seemed to take care of it. I haven't noticed any more blood.

Hope Adrian is ok, Carrie. I noticed over on the 75ers that it's your birthday today so I decided to bring some of the party over here! Have a wonderful day.

>225 DeltaQueen50: Thanks Judy! Adrian seems to be back to normal today. He did disappear for a while. I found him in my office with his tag caught in the lace on the quilt I keep on the futon in there. He didn't do anything to get my attention. I guess he figured I'd eventually come looking for him!

I had a great day today. We had two birthday girls at dinner. The other birthday girl saw one of her distant relatives at another table and went to speak to her. It turned out that the man with her also had a birthday today. That was a funny coincidence!

Happy birthday, Carrie! It sounds like you had a great day and I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. :)

>227 Chrischi_HH: Thanks! It was a very good day. I'm feeling better every day and I'm glad to have the worst behind me.

Last night I dreamed that I had a weather app on my iPad that would change my local weather to match the weather somewhere else. I had changed my weather to Texas weather where my brother lives but had to change it back before a storm hit.

My brother and SIL called for my birthday last night and thy mentioned that a storm was rolling in as we ended the conversation.

My brother chose this week to drive cross country and timed his drive through Texas and Oklahoma perfectly. He said it was raining so hard, there'd be no way to even see a tornado until it was on top of him, so I'm glad he made it through well enough to complain afterwards.

I talked to my brother and SIL two or three weekends ago when they were having tornadoes. They had gone to a friend's graduation in Abilene and were driving back to Fort Worth along the storm track. They stopped once or twice to let the storm get ahead of them, but they kept catching up to it. This was a storm that spawned at least one tornado. My brother was a little worried about damage from the hail they had driven through but he thought that it probably wasn't large enough to dent the car.

I'm just catching up Carrie. Glad you are feeling better and that Adrian is doing well too. Belated wishes for your birthday. Sounds like you had a lovely celebration.

>232 VivienneR: Thanks Vivienne! I did have a lovely day.

Lori took this picture with Adrian last night. Adrian likes Lori! :)

Adrian told me he wanted a selfie!

>234 cbl_tn: Aww! Great photo! I wish this post had a "Like" button. :)

>236 rabbitprincess: Consider it "liked"! Adrian looks pleased with himself, doesn't he?!

Hope you three had lots of fun together.

>238 RidgewayGirl: We had a nice evening. Lori and I enjoyed a concert after dinner. Adrian tried to go with us. I give him a treat when he gets in his crate. I forget that I need to close the crate before I give him a treat when I have company. Otherwise Adrian gets in his crate, waits for his treat, and then makes a break for it before I can get the door closed. He did that while Lori was here.

He just didn't want to miss any fun!

>240 hailelib: That's my Adrian!

Book #3 in my Daniel category: Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
RandomCAT
Bingo Dog

American college student David Graham likes a volume of poetry so much that he writes to its author, Elspeth Dunn. Elspeth, who lives on the Scottish island of Skye, responds to David's fan letter. David and Elspeth continue to correspond, and they eventually fall in love. Their relationship is complicated, first by the fact that Elspeth is a married woman, and then by the First World War. The letters between David and Elspeth alternate with letters between Elspeth's daughter, Margaret, and Margaret's fiance, Paul, in the early years of the Second World War. Readers learn from Margaret and Paul's correspondence that Margaret was raised in Edinburgh by her single mother. What happened to Elspeth's husband and to the American, David Graham? Why did Elspeth leave Skye? Why doesn't Margaret know anything of Elspeth's life before Edinburgh?

This love story in letters will appeal to readers who have enjoyed books like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. This good story becomes something special in the ensemble narration of the audio recording.

4.5 stars (extra half star for the outstanding audio production)

Book #3 in my In My Life category: The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble

In this novel, Drabble examines the lives of three generations of women over the course of the 20th century. Bessie Bawtry is born in the early 20th century in Breaseborough, a mining town in the industrial north of England. Bessie eventually “escapes” from the provincial north. By the end of the 20th century, Bessie's daughter, Chrissie, lives in Oxfordshire and Chrissie's daughter, Faro, lives in London. However, their Yorkshire roots extend beyond recorded history. They may be genetically related to a man who lived thousands of years ago whose skeletal remains have recently been unearthed. Faro and Bessie's sister Dora, now a very elderly woman, have just contributed DNA samples to a research project seeking living descendants of the ancient man. (Or more exactly, living people who share a common maternal ancestor with him. The researcher will use mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from a mother to her children, to identify living relatives.)

Drabble explores questions raised by genetic and evolutionary science. To what extent is the shape of a person's life determined by their genes they've inherited from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and unknown generations? Is it possible for later generations to change their destinies by adapting to new environments? The unusual narrative voice may alienate some readers. The style reminds me of the narration in newsreels of the 1940s and 1950s. Drabble reveals in an afterword that Bessie Bawtry is based on her mother, whom she describes as “harsh, dismissive, censorious”, and she states that she “went down into the underworld to look for {her} mother.” Perhaps Drabble used a distant narrative voice to deflect some of the pain she relived while she wrote this novel.

4 stars

Book #4 in my Free Bird bonus category: Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth

Thady Quirk, aged retainer of the Rackrent family, recounts the family history in typically Irish style. The Quirk family's association began with Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin, who changed his name to Rackrent as a condition of inheritance from a childless cousin. The story concludes with the last of the Rackrents, Sir Conolly, and his loss of the estate. Edgeworth had an ear for dialect. Unfortunately, the flow of Thady's story is interrupted by footnotes and endnotes. Even the footnotes have footnotes.

Edgeworth was a contemporary of Jane Austen. Austen referred to Edgeworth's novels in her own novels. Readers who have read their way through Austen's novels might enjoy branching out into works by an author that Austen herself read.

3.5 stars

May Recap

Daisy Jane by America - Books by, about, or inspired by Jane Austen – 5/5
Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks by Seamus O'Leprechaun (3.5)

Mystery Lady by Billy Ocean - Books by Agatha Christie – 2/5

God Save the Queen - Books by British authors for PaulCranswick’s British Author challenge – 5/5

My Country ‘Tis of Thee - Books by American authors for msf59's American Author challenge – 4/5
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (2.5)

Old Days by Chicago - Books read for the HistoryCAT and/or Reading Through Time – 10/5
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois (3)
A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory (4)

In My Life by The Beatles - Family history/genealogy – 3/5
The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble (4)

Daniel by Elton John - Books about war – 3/5
*Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole (4.5)

Second Hand News by Fleetwood Mac - Borrowed books – 5/5
Spiced to Death by Peter King (3.5)

If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot - Books picked for me – 2/5

Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire - Books for the SFFFCAT – 4/5
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (5)

Sing by Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band- Books for my Commonwealth challenge – 2/5

People by Barbra Streisand – Biographies – 4/5
Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy (3.5)

Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson – Audiobooks – 3/5

Sweet Little Mystery by Wet Wet Wet – Mysteries – 5/5
Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck (2.5)

New Kid In Town by the Eagles - New books& ARCs – 5/5
Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman (3.5)

Bonus category: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free reading
Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth (3.5)

*Audiobooks

Best of the month: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Worst of the month: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Physical books – owned: 3
Physical books – borrowed: 5
Ebooks – owned: 1
Ebooks – borrowed: 2
Audiobooks – borrowed: 1

>239 cbl_tn: He's a party animal.
*Groan*

You're so good at spreading your reading evenly through your categories.

>246 mamzel: Party animal! Ha! He sure is!

Part of my "success" at spreading my reading evenly is due to the fact that many of my reads could fit in more than one category. When I have a choice, I usually choose the one that needs it most.