CBL's 2015 Reading, Part 4

I'm Carrie, and this is my 5th year in this group. I've enjoyed forming new friendships each year, and I look forward to reading along with all of you this year.

I discovered that I could read at age 4 and I've been an avid reader ever since. I wasn't born when JFK died, and one of my earliest memories is watching the moon landing. I'll let you do the math.

My parents and grandparents were readers and I grew up surrounded by books. To no one's surprise, I became a librarian. Contrary to a popular misconception, we do not sit around and read books all day. Daily exposure to a constant flow of new, unread books can be torture for a bookaholic, but with time one gets used to it.

At home I'm "mama" to my furbaby Adrian (named for Adrian Monk), a 3-year-old Shih Tzu mix I adopted from the local Humane Society in September 2013.



My top 5 books in 2014:
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom - a reread that I loved even more as an audiobook
The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim - one of the best historical novels I've ever read
The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope - it was hard to say goodbye to the folks in Barsetshire
Joy in the Morning by P. G. Wodehouse - I love listening to audio versions of Wodehouse
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer - an inspirational memoir of a largely self-educated young DIY engineer in Malawi

Best of Thread 1:
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick (4.5) Review
Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (4.5) Review

Best of Thread 2:
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris (4.5) Review
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (4.5) Review
Whiskers of the Lion by P. L. Gaus (5) Review

Best of Thread 3:
Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Enrico Arno (4.5) Review
Jesus Loves Me This I Know: The Remarkable Story Behind the World's Most Beloved Children's Song by Robert J. Morgan (4.5) Review

Progress toward goal in 2015:




Books read in March:
40. The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (5) - completed 3/31/15

Books read in April:
41. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (4.5) - completed 4/5/15
42. The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (4) - completed 4/8/15
43. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris (3) - completed 4/8/15
44. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (3.5) - completed 4/10/15
45. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (3.5) - completed 4/12/15
46. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (2) - completed 4/12/15
47. The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5) - completed 4/14/15
48. Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson (4) - completed 4/18/15
49. K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2.5) - completed 4/20/15
50. The Hollow by Agatha Christie (3.5) - completed 4/20/15
51. Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (4.5) - completed 4/26/15
52. The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo (4) - completed 4/26/15
53. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (4.5) - completed 4/30/15
54. Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman (4) - completed 4/30/15

Books read in May:
55. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (5) - completed 5/4/15
56. Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck (2.5) - completed 5/9/15
57. Spiced to Death by Peter King (3.5) - completed 5/10/15
58. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois (3) - completed 5/13/15
59. Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks by Seamus O'Leprechaun (3.5) - completed 5/14/15
60. A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory (4) - completed 5/16/15
61. Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman (3.5) - completed 5/20/15
62. Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy (3.5) - completed 5/24/15
63. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (2.5) - completed 5/24/15

Books acquired in March:

9. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (free ebook download)
10. Lovers' Vows by August von Kotzebue; translated & adapted by Mrs. Inchbald (free ebook download)
11. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (free ebook download)
12. K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (free ebook download)
13. That's Not English by Erin Moore (Early Reviewers ARC)
14. Freud's Couch, Scott's Buttocks, Brontë's Grave by Simon Goldhill (free ebook download)

Books acquired in April:
15. A Touch of Panic by Laurali R. Wright (purchased/trade)
16. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl (purchased/trade)
17. More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl (purchased/trade)
18. The Oxford Book of New Zealand Short Stories (purchased/trade)
19. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (purchased/trade)
20. The Houdini Specter by Daniel Stashower (purchased/trade)
21. Separate from the World by P. L. Gaus (purchased/trade)
22. The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald (purchased/trade)
23. Appalachian Tales & Heartland Adventures by Bill Landry (purchased/trade)
24. Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman (March ER book)
25. Famous Baby by Karen Rizzo (bonus book from publisher)

Books acquired in May:
26. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (free audio download)
27. Dodger by Terry Pratchett (free audio download)
28. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (free audio download)
29. Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman (April ER book)

British Authors challenge

I'll list my planned reads and update as I complete them

January:
In Search of a Homeland by Penelope Lively - COMPLETED 1/2/15
Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro - COMPLETED 1/21/15

February:
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - COMPLETED 3/10/15
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - COMPLETED 2/16/15

March:
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier - COMPLETED 3/9/15
The City & the City by China Mieville - COMPLETED 3/24/15
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

April:
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - COMPLETED 4/12/15
The Trembling of a Leaf (COMPLETED 4/14/15) and perhaps The Painted Veil (COMPLETED 4/30/15) by Somerset Maugham

May:
The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble
Koba the Dread by Martin Amis

June:
Shakespeare by Anthony Burgess
An Awfully Big Adventure or The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge

July:
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

August:
The Power and the Glory or Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
Favours by Bernice Rubens

September:
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Small Island by Andrea Levy

October:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
A Spell of Winter The Lie by Helen Dunmore

November:
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
Restless or An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd

December:
Fludd by Hilary Mantel
Something Fresh by P. G. Wodehouse

American Authors Challenge

Planned reads will be updated as they are completed.

January: The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers - COMPLETED 1/24/15
February: Portrait of a Lady Daisy Miller by Henry James - COMPLETED 2/16/15
March: Richard Ford The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane COMPLETED 4/12/15
April: The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich - COMPLETED 4/8/15
May: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis - COMPLETED 5/24/15
June: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
July: Catwings by Ursula Le Guin
August: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
September: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
October: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
November: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
December: The March by E. L. Doctorow

I started a reading tour of the Commonwealth countries in 2013 and I would like to complete the tour in 2015 if possible. I'll list books here as I complete them.

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

One of my 2015 goals is reading retellings of or books inspired by Jane Austen's novels. I will list these books here as I complete them.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick - completed 1/3/15
Edmund Bertram's Diary by Amanda Grange - completed 3/6/15
Pride and Prejudice and Kitties by Jane Austen, Pamela Jane, and Deborah Guyol - completed 3/22/15
Pride and Prejudice, Retold in Limericks by Seamus O'Leprechaun - completed 5/14/15

Planned reads for April:

Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy (Quarterly biography read, HistoryCAT)
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (BAC, SFFF Cat)
The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham (BAC, Commonwealth Challenge)
The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (AAC)
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (Bingo Dog)
K by Mary Roberts Rinehart (Bingo Dog)
Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson
The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (SFFF Cat)

Audiobooks:
Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot (HistoryCAT)
The Hollow by Agatha Christie
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (BAC)

I chose this picture to use for Easter. I don't remember when it was taken, but it looks like my family is dressed for Easter Sunday. I don't remember wearing a hat to church often. It could have been Easter if it was late that year, so I'm calling it an Easter photo. :-) In case it's not obvious, I'm holding my father's hand and standing next to my brother, who is next to my mother.

Happy new thread, Carrie! You and your brother look so cute in that picture!

Happy new thread, Carrie! And what a great photo!

>10 susanj67: >11 katiekrug: Thanks Susan & Katie! I had never thought much about it before, but my hair was always dark. My brother's was much lighter when he was a child, but it became as dark as mine as an adult. Maybe that happened when he quit spending so much time outdoors. What hair he has is still dark. Mine is, too - with a little help from Redken. ;-)

Happy new thread Carrie! I enjoyed your foray into family history on your last thread, and the review of The City & the City (I read and enjoyed it last year).

>9 cbl_tn: That must be your Easter bonnet. Happy new thread, Carrie.

Happy New Thread, Carrie!

>13 evilmoose: Thanks Megan! Saturday I received the article about the slave trading firm that I've been waiting on so I'll have a short update later on what I learned from it.

>14 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg! I don't remember having a hat like that at all, but then, I don't remember the dress, either. I'm beginning to wonder if my parents set a plant down on a step before the photo was taken and my head was in the right position for it to look like a hat. I can't tell!

Happy New Thread, Carrie. Thanks so much for sharing your family photo.

Happy new thread, Carrie! LOVE the Easter photo! Charming!

Happy new thread!

What a cute picture. Happy new thread!
I noticed you've been foraying in St. Brendan's history. I'm curious. Any particular reason or just one of those things that come along while reading?

>17 Ameise1: >18 Crazymamie: >19 leahbird: Thanks Barbara, Mamie, and Leah!

>20 Trifolia: Thanks Monica! The Brendan books are for the 2015 Category Challenge group's March HistoryCAT. The theme is exploration and conquest and the time period is 500-1000 AD. I was just going to read Brendan by Buechner, but then I discovered a translation of the Navigatio and thought I should read it, too. The Brendan Voyage kept popping up as a source so that went on the list. While I was looking for it at the public library I came across Brendan the Navigator so I added that one, too. I started The Brendan Voyage last night and it's fascinating so far.

Happy new thread, Carrie - great photo. What a lot of great reading you have planned. I'm hoping to squeeze one more in in March, but I don't think it's going to happen.

>22 BLBera: Thanks Beth! If I want to finish another book in March I need to get busy. No reading tonight so far. I've been busy cooking and doing laundry. Now I've got the women's basketball tournament on...

40. The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin
TIOLI #10 - Part of author's last name could be a first name (Erin)

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

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

just stopping by to say, and say hi to Aiden! I like your month re-cap! I've only read three books this month - if I do a recap I guess I'll make if for the quarter! :) What a cute Easter picture! I think I have an old picture of me in my Easter hat off to church when I was 3 or 4 too . My grandma would have purchased my Easter hat and outfit, I'll bet! :)

Hi Carrie, and happy new thread! I love the Easter photo -- it's wonderful!

Great review of The Brendan Voyage -- what a fascinating subject!

>26 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! It's likely that one of my grandmothers bought my Easter dress too, unless my mother made it. She made a lot of my clothes when I was young.

>27 AMQS: Thanks Anne! My Brendan reading in March was a success. This month it will be Thomas Becket!

I was hoping to read one of the Brendan books in March, but my library didn't have any. Then it got too late for an ILL. Looks like I missed out - nice review!

>30 countrylife: Thanks! I enjoyed my Brendan reading. I think I know as much about him as I want to know now. :-)

What a sweet Easter picture, Carrie. I love it when LTers post pictures of their childhood. I have very few photos of me. We didn't take that many and I had to share them with my brother when my parents passed on. Good luck with your energetic reading plans for April!

>32 Donna828: Thanks Donna! These photos are from my father's slides, but I also have several banker's boxes of my grandmother's photos. She was the photographer in the family.

Happy new thread and Happy Easter weekend, Carrie!

Hi Carrie, I was thinking of you just now. My sister and family have spent the spring break week in Atlanta. Now, they're driving up to Kentucky and just passed through Rocky Top, TN. She mentioned that there was a song so I sent her the info. I think they stopped and she was telling me about the copyright infringement issues about the town name, the song's owner, and a theme part. I'd never heard of this before.

Interesting!!

>34 lkernagh: Thanks Lori!

>35 lindapanzo: Hi Linda! Your sister must have passed through Knoxville on I-75 then. Up until a few months ago, Rocky Top was known as Lake City, although that wasn't its original name. I'll probably always think of it as Lake City.

Nice new thread and Easter Sunday photo, Carrie!

>36 cbl_tn: I'll always think of it as Lake City too.

Hi Carrie, I wish you Happy Easter.

>37 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl!

>38 thornton37814: I think Lake City was originally called Coal Creek but that was before my time. It was renamed Lake City after TVA created Norris Lake.

>39 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! I'm afraid last night's rain will end up moving our sunrise service indoors. I don't think the ground will dry out enough today to have it at the usual spot by the river. We have to go off road to get there.

Weird to think of towns changing their names but I guess it happens.

My sister had planned to spend the night in Lexington, KY but, with all the storms and flooding, they did a few things, including visiting the university aquatic center and then drove home. I think they got in at 2 am.

>41 lindapanzo: So far this town seems to change its name every century. I wonder what it will become next?!

We had storms here last night. We were under a tornado watch all evening, but things never got too bad in my neighborhood.

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 - From 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.

Edited to add the book I left out!

Lovely book haul! I will be most curious to learn what you think of A Curse Dark as Gold, when you get around to reading it.

>44 lkernagh: I may read it for this month's SFFF CAT since the theme is fairy tales and myths. Stay tuned!

>43 cbl_tn: Very intrigued by The Oxford Book of New Zealand Short Stories! I brought several books of myths home with me when I studied abroad there ::gasp:: 10 years ago, but I don't have anything in the way of contemporary stories other than The Whale Rider. I might have to search this one out.

Carrie had much better luck than I did. I'm trying to be good and stick to only things not available in the library and that are higher priority reads. I had a list of 19 books and found none of them in stock. I did pick up a songbook and DVDs of 2 seasons of a TV show I'm collecting. I still have tons of credit there. I'm sure I'll be taking more books for trade also. I need to go through the books they didn't take for credit and try to figure out what they are not accepting. I think most were trade paperbacks or non-fiction that I'd hoped they would take. I will take those books to our library and either put them on the paperback rack or in the book sale.

>46 leahbird: I found it in the bargain section for $1.50. I figured if I didn't buy it today I might not see it again!

>47 thornton37814: I tried to talk myself out of most of the ones I bought, but they insisted on coming home with me.

Hi Carrie - Nice haul. The Appalachian and New Zealand stories look interesting and I don't know Betty McDonald, so I'll look for your comments. Hooray for getting rid of more books than you bought!

Happy Easter.

>43 cbl_tn: How I would have loved to have been the thorn between two roses!

Have a lovely Easter, my dear. xx

>43 cbl_tn:, Wow, what a nice Easter present you gave yourself, Carrie. Much better than chocolate. And I must admit I also find it very hard to resist books with book-lists. I'm trying very hard not to give in to buying a brand new one recently published in Dutch by Pieter Steinz (Steinz gids voor de wereldliteratuur), but it's already on the wishlist so it probably won't be long before I surrender...

>49 BLBera: Thanks Beth! I like Betty MacDonald's books for adults, especially The Egg and I, a humorous memoir about chicken farming in the Pacific Northwest as a newlywed. Her neighbors included Ma and Pa Kettle. She is also the author of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books for children. Scout might enjoy those.

>50 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul! I think you would enjoy McKays. They provide shopping carts to facilitate Cranswickian shopping. ;-)

>51 Trifolia: Thanks Monica! I do enjoy chocolate, but I'm making do without. I checked Book Lust out from the library a couple of years ago so I've been through it once. I started working my way through More Book Lust last night.

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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.

41. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
TIOLI #3 - Narrator is the opposite sex from the author

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.

42. The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
TIOLI #4 - Occupation in the book's title or author's name

At the close of the Great War, young German butcher Fidelis Waldvogel marries his dead friend's fiancee, Eva, and emigrates to the United States. Fidelis eventually owns his own butcher shop in small town Argus, North Dakota. Meanwhile, Delphine Watzka, daughter of the town drunk, returns home with her partner from a traveling acrobatic show. When Delphine meets Eva in the butcher shop, she sees in Eva the mother she's been longing for all her life. Their relationship is cut short by tragedy, but Delphine continues to be drawn into the Waldvogel's family circle.

I loved the experience of reading this book, and I didn't want it to end. Now that I reflect on it, I'm not sure I understand what Erdrich was trying to do with this book. Death is a recurring theme; burial even more so. The dead are buried. The living are buried alive. Bones are buried. Emotions are buried. Secrets are buried. The things that are buried don't always stay buried. I liked this book more than The Plague of Doves, but I think Erdrich can do better than this.

3.5 stars

43. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
TIOLI #11 - Title includes a 4-letter word

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

I just came across a book with maybe the best subtitle ever: Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority.

ETA: I will try saving this again when I can get the touchstone to work. For some reason it didn't save.

Hi Carrie - The best Erdrich is the early stuff: Tracks is my favorite with Love Medicine and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse coming in second. Talk about long titles...

I enjoyed the Aurora Teagarden mysteries when I read them. She wrote those before the vampire stuff, which I've never been able to get into. I also love books with librarians.

It is a great subtitle.

Just stopping by to say hi, Carrie! Nice haul from the second hand bookstore. I remember reading A Touch of Panic by L.R. Wright, as we knew her here. They a fun series to read, since she lived on what is called " The Sunshine Coast" of B.C. , which is where my husband came from. That was a while back - like 20 years ? I think she died of breast cancer and it was so kind of sad - though I never met her.

>58 BLBera: Hi Beth! I will keep those titles in mind the next time I try Erdrich. I like her writing style so I'm sure this one won't be my last.

I listened to one of Harris's Lily Bard mysteries with a Christmas setting in December and I liked it even more than this one. I'll keep reading those two series while avoiding the vampire one.

>59 vancouverdeb: Glad you dropped by! I read the first two books in the Sunshine Coast mysteries for the Canadian reading challenge and I enjoyed them both. Maybe one of these days I'll get to visit the area. It sounds like an interesting place!

Morning, Carrie! I have finally caught up with my thread, and I just had to run over here to see which book had a murdered Mamie in it. I have not read those books by Harris, but I loved her Sookie books, so I will give it a try. I mean, who can resist a murdered Mamie?!

>61 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I listened to the One Click Audio version from the public library. The reader is good, and it's worth a try in that format if it's available from your library.

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.

Every time I see people with pet mini pigs all dolled up I start imagining Coco dolled up and break out into uncontrollable giggles. Like I did just now. ;)

>64 leahbird: I imagine Coco is probably a lot bigger than Barbie?

Forgot to mention that Barbie is house trained. She uses puppy pads.

>65 cbl_tn: She is! She's over 400 lbs. ;) She's basically pony sized.

>66 leahbird: now I'm picturing a 400 pound pig in a muddy tutu. :-)

That's if she didn't eat the tutu!

"Barbie Q" for a pig?! Oh my! Poor little pig.

That's a nice book haul in post 43! The author of A Curse Dark as Gold was a member of a stitching forum that I used to visit. It was pretty exciting when she sold the book. There was a sequel, I think, or maybe I just mean a second book.

>68 leahbird: Now I'm picturing a 400 pound pig with a tutu splayed out of its mouth. ;-)

>69 susanj67: You know the author?! Now I'm looking forward to it even more!

>70 cbl_tn: It was a pretty big forum :-) But I remember a discussion about the name of the book (I think there was an issue about whether "curse" might disadvantage it in the US market) and about the cover art - it was interesting to see the process of publication.

>71 susanj67: I love the cover art on my copy, and it never crossed my mind that "curse" might be off-putting to American readers. I think it's more confusing to have different titles in the same language. I'm glad they kept the same title for the U.S. market.

44. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
TIOLI #14 - A book that reminds me of an Old Yardley scent (Red Roses)

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

Hi Carrie, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>74 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! I do have to work today, but I was off most of yesterday and managed to get my grocery shopping and most of my laundry done.

Happy weekend Carrie. Too bad you have to work today, but having weekdays off is kind of fun...So it's a trade off, isn't it?

>73 cbl_tn: Love Jane Yolen

>63 cbl_tn: Wow. I've never heard of piercing the ears of pets. That must be some pig. But not very humble. :)

>63 cbl_tn: 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 am speechless.

>63 cbl_tn: My jaw dropped.

Mine, too!

>76 The_Hibernator: I do like having the occasional day off during the week. It seems like I get more done on a weekday than on a Saturday.

I don't think the ear piercing hurts the pigs. Many farm animals (including pigs) have ear tags.

>77 kidzdoc: >78 Carmenere: >79 Crazymamie: :-) I heard about the pigs last time I had an appointment so it wasn't a complete surprise to me.

45. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
TIOLI #4 - Author's name is an occupation (carter)

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

46. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
TIOLI #10 - One of 20 or fewer books I share with a Legacy Library (David Foster Wallace)

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

>81 cbl_tn: I've only read the first two stories thus far. I guess we'll see.

>82 cbl_tn: I'm thinking we read that one around 7th or 8th grade I don't really remember a great deal about it except for the soldiers. It wasn't really my cup of tea then as I really didn't like war stories that much, and your review doesn't make me inclined to re-read it.

>83 thornton37814: Once in a lifetime is enough for The Red Badge of Courage, I think!

I agree with Lori - once was enough for me, too, with the Red Badge...

>85 scaifea: I'm glad it was short!

I concur - once is enough. I read that one last year.

Wow, how did it become such a classic - no one seems to like it!

>87 Crazymamie: >88 scaifea: They didn't ask any of us, that's for sure!

>89 cbl_tn: *snork!* Yeah, how did I miss that survey?!

>90 scaifea: Here's your chance!I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the ten most boring classics that Granny Next has to read before she can die.

I'm wondering if this is a "boy book" thing - I'm seeing a lot of girls answering here! :)

(And of course, if it's a boy book it is automatically important and must stay on the curriculum in perpetuity...)

>92 lyzard: I tend to like a lot of books considered "boy books" (like Huckleberry Finn) so I think it may be more than that. I think I'd have found it more interesting if Crane was a Civil War veteran, but he wasn't born until several years after the war ended.

I read it in high school and thought it was pretty good back then. My tastes have changed over 40+ years though.

>91 cbl_tn: Oh now, see, here's my craziness coming out: I can't vote against it - I'd feel bad doing so. Ha!

>94 lindapanzo: I may have started it with an unfavorable bias when I realized that Stephen Crane wasn't born until 1871, several years after the Civil War ended. I didn't think it could have the authenticity that a book like All Quiet on the Western Front has because of the author's experience in the war he wrote about.

>95 scaifea: You're allowed to abstain!

>96 cbl_tn: Whereas I read it as a high school freshman and didn't ever even think about something like that.

>97 lindapanzo: I doubt I would have thought of that in high school either.

>93 cbl_tn: I'm a "boy book" person too.

Happy weekend Carrie!

>99 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Happy weekend to you, too!

Hi Carrie, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

>101 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara!

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

I've had a splitting headache all day and it shows no sign of easing up. In between naps I've been reading Shaking the Family Tree. I have a couple of chapters left and I hope to finish it this afternoon.

Get well soon, Carrie.

>103 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! The headache is beginning to ease up now that it has started to rain.

47. The Trembling of a Leaf by W. Somerset Maugham
TIOLI #2 - Title has something to do with green (leaf)

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

48. Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson
TIOLI #2 - Title & cover have something to do with "green"

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

Nice review of The Trembling of a Leaf, Carrie.

I hope that your headache has started to dissipate by now.

>107 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl! I chose The Trembling of a Leaf because it also fit my Commonwealth Challenge. I'm very glad that it was my first Maugham. I will be listening to The Painted Veil as soon as I finish my current audiobook.

The headache is finally gone this morning. Headaches are rare for me since I started getting allergy shots a year ago. Either the shots or the corresponding lifestyle changes seem to have made a difference.

I'm glad to see that the headache is gone this morning, Carrie!

Hi Carrie - I hope your head feels better. Nice comments on The Trembling of a Leaf. I love Maugham's stories.

>109 scaifea: Thanks Amber!

>110 BLBera: Thanks Beth! I think I'm already a Maugham fan. I'll certainly be seeking more of his work.

Carrie, I'm sorry to hear about the headache. How great that the allergy shots have made such a difference, though. I hope you're all better now. I might have to seek out this Red Badge of Courage book so I can have an opinion on it :-)

>108 cbl_tn: That was going to be my recommendation for your next Maugham! The Painted Veil is wonderful. Surprisingly the movie is just as good with only a very minor plot change at the end (which I liked slightly better). Happy reading!

Nice review of Trembling of a Leaf, Carrie - adding that to my list by him to seek out. I recently finished listening to the Painted Veil, and it was very good. I look forward to reading more by him.

Glad to hear that your headache has dissipated - I get really bad headaches with big changes in weather. It has been a lovely day of steady rain here, making for a cazy Sunday. Hoping that yours was also lovely.

>112 susanj67: Thanks Susan! The Red Badge of Courage is at least short so you won't lose much of your life to it! ;-)

>113 leahbird: Thanks Leah! I didn't know there was a movie so I'll have to look for that after I finish the audiobook.

>114 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! Before I started the allergy shots a year ago I would get a headache with every low pressure. Rainy days were the pits. It's been raining off and on all day here and I'm headache free. I just took Adrian for his afternoon walk and it was pleasantly fresh and cool outside. If only it could stay like this all summer! (Minus the tree pollen, of course.)

I've discovered a new series on Netflix that's been eating up some of my reading time. Death in Paradise is a crime drama set on a small island in the Caribbean. I'm also trying to resist buying the second season of Broadchurch and just wait for it to show up on Netflix. It's not easy...

>115 cbl_tn: I take it you don't get BBCA? I have been TiVoing Broadchurch so that my mom could watch it after she finished the first season on Netflix but the TiVo is out to get me and has decided NOT to record some of my programs lately with no reason or warning. I missed episodes 2.5 and 2.6 and had to get them OnDemand which only stays on your TiVo for 2 weeks I believe. Mom better start watching faster!

>116 leahbird: I do get BBCA! I don't think about checking it because it always seems to have reruns of Star Trek Next Generation or something like that.

Oh man, BBCA is my life right now. Broadchurch, Orphan Black, Doctor Who, the new show Tatau... I love BBCA. They do, as you say, show Star Trek reruns at a lot of weird hours though.

>115 cbl_tn: I am totally with you on season two of Broadchurch - I WANT! I will have to check out that other show that you mentioned. We have been watching our way through all the seasons of Castle in the evenings, so I have lost a chunk of my usual reading time. I won't mention how many times we have watched our way through all of the seasons...

>118 leahbird: I will have to pay more attention to BBCA!

>119 Crazymamie: I have watched my way through all of the seasons of Castle several times in the last couple of years. I never get tired of that show! I love the format of Broadchurch with a whole season focused on a single case. The final episode of season one was so well done. I was not expecting that at all.

>106 cbl_tn: You liked Buzzy's book better than I did. I enjoyed her keynote at the conference better than I did her book.

>121 thornton37814: Since I didn't hear her speak I didn't have any expectations before reading the book. Maybe that's the difference.

I finished a couple of books today - K by Mary Roberts Rinehart and The Hollow by Agatha Christie - but the reviews will have to wait until tomorrow.

49. K by Mary Roberts Rinehart
TIOLI #7 - Book published in 1915

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

Hi Carrie, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

>125 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara!

I've started today with another headache. It's probably allergies or the low pressure, or a combination of the two. Tree pollen gives me problems every year, and this year seems to be a little worse than normal. 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.

Happy Saturday, Carrie! Sorry to hear that you are under the weather. Your plan sounds like a good one - hoping that the headache goes away soon.

>128 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie! This one isn't as bad as the one I had last Saturday. I hate allergies. :(

Me, too!

My headaches have been pretty constant lately too with the same triggers. I've been relying on this essential oil blend we sell at the store, Chill by Honey Dew Naturals. It's a rolly stick that you just roll on your temples and behind your ears. It helps take the edge off and to head off headaches before they get too strong.

I'm sure you can find it other places as well but feel free to come by Bohemian Baby on Kingston Pike and pick some up!

I'm sorry to hear about your headaches, Carrie. Hopefully you'll feel better after the approaching front passes us.

>132 kidzdoc: Thanks! I really wish I wasn't a human barometer. I seem to be turning into my grandmother, although her problem was arthritis.

No storms here yet. It looks like we may be OK here until late tonight. I'll have to make sure the weather radiomis where I can here it so I'll wake up if there's a warning.

>131 leahbird: Oops! Sorry I missed you! I haven't tried essential oils, but some ladies from church have invited someone to speak about them on Monday evening. I hadn't thought about going, but maybe I should.

Bath and Body Works used to sell a peppermint-based creme that you could rub into your temples. It was wonderful. I have no idea if they still have it or not. It was in their Aromatherapy section.

>134 cbl_tn: No worries! I've not gotten totally on the essential oil bandwagon but I swear by this one now. All of us at work have been keeping it in our pockets round the clock to deal with the pollen and it even helps with fatigue, stress and tension headaches. It's coconut oil, vit E oil, and essential oils of peppermint, rosemary, lavender, and eucalyptus.

I'm VERY sensitive to fragrances but none of these bother me at all and my headaches do seem to respond to using it.

Oh!Sorry to see that you had a 2.5 star read. That is always disappointing! I hope that your headache(s) are lessening!

Howdy, Carrie! I'm in the Red Badge of Courage camp too but then again I also read it, like, 30 years ago.
Hope you're getting some relief for your headache. I think the allergy season is off to a roaring start. My eyes are itchy and watery and with asthma I feel like those commercials with an elephant on my chest.

>135 thornton37814: I love the smell of peppermint. I can see how that might work.

>136 leahbird: You've just about talked me into trying it. I'm sensitive to fragrances, too, and it's encouraging that it doesn't bother you.

>137 vancouverdeb: Even though I gave it a 2.5 rating, I'm still glad I read it for its glimpse at social life in its era. I also recently learned that my great-grandmother went through nurses training sometime before she married my great-grandfather in December 1908. Her experiences during her training could have been similar to Sidney's.

>138 Carmenere: I'm glad to know that some readers like it! The headache is better today, but the asthma is bothering me a little. The humidity seems to be making it worse. I ended up leaving church after Sunday School because of the humidity in the sanctuary. These days I have a very low tolerance for heat and humidity.

Just two acquisitions to report this week. I received my March ER book, Washing the Dead, and the publisher also sent a bonus book, Famous Baby.

I finished a couple of books this evening but the reviews will have to wait until tomorrow.

Carrie, while I enjoyed your comments on The Red Badge of Courage, I rather liked the book. I read it for the American Lit class I took a few years ago. I think the professor did a good job of making it a worthwhile read for me. I have just finished The Good Soldier which I might nominate for the dullest classic ever. The LT comments are mostly favorable, though, so I obviously missed something in the reading...

>141 Donna828: I might have appreciated it more if I had lectures or discussions to help with it.

50. The Hollow by Agatha Christie
TIOLI #16 Title includes the name of an island (Low)

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

51. Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot
TIOLI #One of 20 or fewer books I share with a Legacy Library (Katharine Hepburn)

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

52. The Fiddler on Pantico Run by Joe Mozingo
TIOLI #8 - Book suggested by a recent discussion about race

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

Great reviews of Murder in the Cathedral and The Fiddler on Pantico Run, Carrie!

>146 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl! I looked forward to reading both and I'm glad they lived up to my expectations!

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.

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...

53. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
TIOLI #11 - Book with a 4-letter word in the title

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

54. Washing the Dead by Michelle Brafman
TIOLI #9 - Book published by a small press

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

Hi Carrie! I loved Doomsday Book! That was one of my favorites when I was a teen. I hope that you feel better soon. Have a good weekend!

>152 The_Hibernator: Thanks Rachel! I'm enjoying it so far! I'm not in nearly as bad shape as the people in the story so I'm pretty sure I don't have the plague. ;-)

April Recap

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

Feel better, Carrie!

I hope you feel better soon. Having a tick so close to our eye must have been pretty darn annoying and scary.

>155 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>156 Whisper1: The tick was scary, especially when I wasn't quite awake. The dog is going to the groomer tomorrow. I like to keep his coat very short during tick season so I can spot the little creatures.

I spent $60 for flea and tick medication -- little tubes that you put on the dog from head to toe. I bought this last year. Alas, when I opened the sealed tube to place it on Lilly, it was empty. I wasted quite a bit of money for nothing.

>159 cbl_tn: Oh no! Did the tube spring a leak? I was hoping that Revolution would work better than this for ticks. I don't think I can use a tick collar while he's on it. I bought a tick removing gadget that I can carry on a key ring so I'll be ready next time.

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. :)

>161 cbl_tn: Hi Adrian!

>162 thornton37814: I told him you said hi and he looked all over the room for you! :)

ETA: Now he's looking out the window to see if you're coming!

>163 cbl_tn: Awww! I guess we shouldn't tease him!

>144 cbl_tn: he sat there for quite a while looking for you.

Hi, Carrie - aww, Adrian is gorgeous! :)

Actually stopped in to say that the thread is up for the Castle Rackrent group read - here - no hurry about starting, though! :)

>161 cbl_tn: What a handsome devil!

>161 cbl_tn: Gorgeous Adrian photo. Thanks for sharing it. I wish you a lovely Sunday.

Loved your last two reviews! I enjoyed The Painted Veil in video a couple of years ago. Didn't realize it was from a W. Somerset Maugham book, but just judging from your review, it sounds like it was fairly faithful to the book. It portrayed her gradual transformation very convincingly.

>166 lyzard: Thanks! I found and starred the Group Read thread. I just need to finish Doomsday Book first.

>167 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg! I think so, too!

>168 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! A happy Sunday to you as well.

>169 countrylife: Now I'm even more eager to watch the movie! Soon...

>161 cbl_tn: What a handsome fellow!

>171 Whisper1: Thanks Linda! I think he's adorable!

We took Lilly to a local pet store where they had bathing stalls, complete with shampoo, towels and blow dryer. Lilly did not like it at all, but today, after I brushed her winter coat away, she shines.

Great reviews here, Carrie. I'm intrigued by Washing the Dead.

I'm hoping the new week will find you feeling better

Oh, and Adrian is adorable.

>173 Whisper1: I haven't tried that with Adrian because he's cooperative when I bathe him at home. My friends with the Cairn terrier have taken her to a pet store bathing area and it worked well for them. Does Lilly like being brushed? Adrian loves it. My SIL is afraid of dogs so I had her spend time brushing him when they came to visit during the holidays. He loved it and it helped her become comfortable around him.

>174 Matke: Thanks Gail! I'm so glad I requested Washing the Dead on my second pass through the ER list. It's not my usual type of book, but I had read and loved books written by several of the authors who provided blurbs. And I am finally feeling better today!

55 Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
TIOLI #9 - Book started but not finished in April

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

Nice review of Doomsday Book, Carrie. Onto the list it goes.

Great review of Doomsday Book, Carrie!

>177 BLBera: >178 kidzdoc: Thanks Beth & Darryl!

Hi Carrie.

>161 cbl_tn: Lovely picture of Adrian looking very smart :-)

>176 cbl_tn: And nice review of Doomsday Book. I also loved that one although I agree the lack of mobile phones seemed quite odd.

>180 souloftherose: Hi Heather! Adrian has been acting like a diva this evening while I've had visitors. I will try Bellwether next since I've already read To Say Nothing of the Dog.

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.

>181 cbl_tn: Oh dear. Sorry to hear you've had a bad reaction to the tick bite. I hope the antibiotic works and you start to feel better soon.

Sorry to hear about your tick bite. I had one five years ago and the antibiotic did help but made me tired very much. Sending you healing vibes.

>182 souloftherose: >183 Ameise1: i feel OK as long as I don't try to do anything. When I move around a lot I soon feel achy and tired. My books in progress all seemed too heavy for my level of concentration so I've picked up a cozy mystery, Fatally Frosted. I'm alternating reading with movies on TCM. They seem to be showing movies filmed in Rome today.

Hi Carrie, I wish you a speedy recovery.

Carrie, I'm sorry to hear the tick bite has made you fee so poorly. I hope the antibiotics work and you're soon back to normal. If you need any fluffy romance recommendations for some lighter reading, you know where to come :-)

>185 Ameise1: >186 susanj67: Thanks Barbara and Susan! The late afternnon/early evening hours seem to he the worst. I'll have to keep that in mind as I plan my day. I have a friend who has been taking Adrian on his evening walk.

I think I'll keep going with cozy mysteries today. i just have a couple of chapters left in Fatally Frosted. I think I'll pull out Spiced to Death next. When I get tired of reading, I remembered that I have season 3 of Father Dowling Mysteries on DVD that I haven't watched yet.

>187 cbl_tn: No donuts here today, but I did have Raspberry Danish. I found them on the mark-down rack at the grocery store. It has still been fresh-tasting so it was a good buy.

56. Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck
TIOLI #2 - Next book in a series

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

>188 thornton37814: Raspberry Danish sounds good too! The closest I came this morning was toast. :-/

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 to hear that you feelmuch better. :-)

>192 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! Today has been even better. I feel almost normal. 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.

57. Spiced to Death by Peter King
TIOLI #4 - Book set in a city I've never visited but would like to (New York)

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

>194 cbl_tn: I think you liked it better than I did.

>195 thornton37814: Slightly. I have been binging on Father Dowling Mysteries this weekend and it had the same feel.

Just stopping by to say hello! Apparently, I've missed your illness and have landed (thankfully) right into your recovery -- glad you're feeling better!

And, intrigued by the Peter King series. I'm coming out of a month-log slog of a read and looking for something light and fluffy to shake out the cobwebs and enjoy a week-long break from classes; that series feels like it might just fit the bill!

I've been playing with adding the Father Dowling show to my Netflix queue, hmmm.....

You know, I expect my Amazon books Wish List to explode from LT, but I never saw the impact it's had on my Watchlists coming! ;-)

Hey Carrie! Adrian looks dashing after his grooming! No wonder he's a crowd stopper.
Eeeooooo, sorry to read of your encounter with a tick. I suppose that's pretty common place for your area, yes?
Nice review of The Painted Veil. Glad you liked it too.

>197 Shutzie27: Hi! I'm still not back to normal. I managed a half day at work yesterday, but my symptoms came back yesterday afternoon. I haven't felt as bad as I did Thursday and Friday but I'm still not well. I will see my doctor again this afternoon and see what the next steps are. I don't actually have a diagnosis yet. I'm back in the recliner watching Father Dowling Mysteries.

>198 Carmenere: Yes, ticks are unfortunately abundant in my neighborhood. I brushed one off of Adrian this morning when we were out. :(

I have The Painted Veil up next in my Netflix queue. I guess I'll find out if the movie is as good as the book!

I'm sorry to see that you're still not feeling well, Carrie. I hope your doctor can figure out what to do to make you better!

>200 scaifea: Thanks Amber! He didn't think the first antibiotic was working well enough so he switched me to a different one. I woke up during the night and realized that I already felt much better! He hadn't used the first one with me before, so he went with my ne I'd had before that he knew worked for me.

Oh, yay! That's great news!

Glad to hear that you are feeling better, Carrie.

>203 Familyhistorian: Thanks! Unfortunately I feel worse this evening. But tomorrow is another day.

Don't worry, Carrie. It took me several weeks when I had it, until I was myownself. There are a lot of up and downs but it will get better.

>205 Ameise1: Thanks for the encouragement. It's much appreciated. I woke up last night short of breath and ended up going to the emergency room. They did blood work and the chest X-ray ruled out pneumonia. The flu swab came back negative. The diagnosis is viral bronchitis, which is pretty much an upper respiratory infection. They gave me a breathing treatment which helped a lot, and added prednisone and a cough syrup with codeine. The prednisone should help. It's been at least 25 years since I had bronchitis and I forgot just how bad it feels. I was a lot younger then so I bounced back more quickly.

I found out from the friend who took me that a couple of people in her work area have recently had viral bronchitis that turned into pneumonia. It makes me wonder if we're circulating a virus in our workplace.

>175 cbl_tn: Lilly likes being brushed to a point, and then, she lets me know she has had enough. She bites the brush as a signal that enough is enough!

Shelties have two coats and shed a lot. I daily have to brush her 20 minutes at least.

It is a crisp spring morning and I love seeing all the green and the buds on the rose bush that bring hope for things to come.

I'm so sorry you have bronchitis...no fun at all. Take good care of yourself and rest, rest, rest.

>207 Whisper1: Thank you for the encouraging words. Your daily battle with pain is inspiring as I have seen you slowly and steadily gaining ground. I'm glad that you're having such beautiful weather. I'm learning that an unexpected blessing of convalescing is having time to appreciate the beauties of nature.

I am keeping Adrian's hair short during the summer months. One result is that he doesn't need to be brushed as frequently, but he still enjoys it. I've been known to use a bait and switch routine when I need to do something to him that he won't like. I get out his brush and he comes running.

Carrie, how scary to have to go to hospital. I'm so glad you're OK and they've given you something for it. I haven't had bronchitis since I was a kid, but remember feeling pretty miserable then. I hope you're on the mend now.

>209 susanj67: Thanks Susan! I didn't have asthma the last time I had bronchitis so it's a different experience this time. i'm not looking forward to the side effects from the prednisone. After a couple of days I get anxious, jumpy, and irritable.

I'm stopping by to see how you are feeling today. I agree regarding prednisone. When I take it I feel like I'm jumping right out of my skin.

>211 Whisper1: Hi Linda! I started feeling much better this afternoon. The symptoms are improving and the side effects of the meds haven't set in yet. My friends have been taking good care of me, bringing me meals and groceries and walking Adrian for me. Adrian was very clingy most of the day, and I felt very peaceful curled up in the recliner with Adrian curled up next to me.

Just saw on the news that all of the allergens were extreme today - both pollens and mold. That adds another complication to my recovery, although I haven't had to spend much time outdoors today since other people walked Adrian for me.

I'm sorry to hear that you're under the weather, Carrie. We're supposed to get rain in Atlanta this weekend, and hopefully it will decrease the allergens here and in Knoxville.

>210 cbl_tn: Anxious, jumpy and irritable? I must check for this prednisone in some of my household products :-) But I'm glad you're feeling better, and that you have friends to help out until you're properly well again. I hope the side effects don't set you back.

Oh, dang, I'm sorry about the bronchitis. I had a bout of that earlier this spring (and I usually have it once a year). Nasty stuff. Get better soon!

>214 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl! I think I'm well on the way to recovery now thanks to the additional meds. While we have a chance of afternoon and evening storms through Monday, they will be spotty. Then very little chance of rain in the rest of the longterm forecast. My fingers are crossed that we get some rain here. Spring allergens are the worst of the seasonal allergens for me.

>215 susanj67: Thanks Susan! Stlll no unpleasant side effects. Maybe I'll be able to read a bit today.

>216 scaifea: Thanks Amber! I used to get bronchitis every winter when I was in my 20s. I haven't had it this bad in years. Back then my parents lived just a couple of houses down the road and my mother would take care of meals, laundry, and anything else I needed. This week I've felt her loss more than I have in years.

Not as much reading going on so far as I hoped. Today seems to be James Mason day on TCM. He was in some of my favorite movies. I got up just in time to catch most of The Prisoner of Zenda, and I have North by Northwest to look forward to this afternoon. Just what the doctor ordered! ;-)

OH! I adore North by Northwest! All those old Hitchcock movies, really. Hi, Carrie! I haven't been around much lately, and I am sorry to see that you are not feeling well - hoping that you are feeling much better very soon. I had to drop by and tell you that Rae and I checked out that mystery series that you mentioned - Death in Paradise, and we loved it. We have already watched all of the available episodes. So thanks for that!

>219 Crazymamie: I love Hitchcock too, and Cary Grant is my favorite actor. I'm so glad you and Rae both enjoyed Death in Paradise. I love that you share interests with each of your children and have special things that you do together. My father and I had a few series that we enjoyed watching together during the years he lived with me. The reruns bring back good memories for me.

I'm feeling better but very tired. I was able to sleep some last night, but not long enough. I think the steroids are keeping me awake. Maybe I'll sleep better as the daily dosage tapers off.

>219 Crazymamie: Mamie, I just realized that the North by Northwest scene with the crop duster is supposed to be in Indiana. It doesn't look anything like Indiana! The soil isn't nearly as good as Indiana farm land. It seems to have been filmed in California.

I am feeling better by the hour. The chesty cough has disappeared (although I won't be surprised if it's back in the morning). I am tired and my stamina is low. I managed a very short walk with Adrian this evening. I think the worst is behind me, but I will have to take things slowly as I resume normal activities.

I started another book with a plague setting: A Plague on Both Your Houses. The first plague book I read this month was set in and around Oxford. This one is set in Cambridge. I didn't do this on purpose!

Sending you a load of healing vibes.

>223 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara! I feel even better this morning and I think I'm well on the road to recovery! I just wish I could sleep better. I only managed about 4 1/2 hours last night. The lovely flower picture reminds me that I should have some camomile tea in the pantry. I'll try a cup at bedtime tonight and see if it will counteract the prednisone.

I've acquired three audiobooks since my last report, all free downloads from Sync's summer program:

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, read by Anna Massey
Dodger by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, read by Anton Lesser

58. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
TIOLI #3 - Book in which a volcano plays a significant role

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

59. 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

>225 cbl_tn: Two of my favourites in your audiobook haul, Carrie, and Anton Lesser is one of my favourite readers for anything. His reading of A Christmas Carol is part of my Christmas celebrations every year!

>228 CDVicarage: I've listened to A Christmas Carol read by Simon Prebble, who is also a very good narrator. I'm not sure if I've listened to anything read by Anton Lesser before. Something else to look forward to! I wish I'd had the audio of Rebecca a few months ago when Daphne du Maurier was an author of the month in Paul's British Authors Challenge.

Nice review of The Twenty-One Balloons, Carrie. Is it based on a true story?

>230 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl! The only historical basis for the story is the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. The rest is pure imagination. It has the feel of Around the World in Eighty Days, and in fact that book is mentioned in the story.

60. A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory
TIOLI #5 - Book with a sentimental dedication

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

Sorry you've had health issues, Carrie, but glad to hear you're on the mend!

Love that photo of Adrian! Oh, my, he's a handsome and adorable fellow!

>233 tymfos: Thanks Terri! I'm getting better, but not as quickly as I would like. Adrian is usually as sweet as he looks. He has his moments, though!

61. Shirley, I Jest! by Cindy Williams with Dave Smitherman
TIOLI #5 - Book with a sentimental dedication

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

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.

Hi Carrie, I'm glad to hear that you feel much better. I wish you a relaxed weekend.

>236 cbl_tn: Yay to being on the road to recovery at last!

>237 Ameise1: >238 Familyhistorian: Thanks Barbara & Meg! My energy is still low, so I think I'll stick around home today and watch the NCAA women's softball tournament. My Lady Vols already won their super regional last night and they're on the way to the world series next week. It could be an SEC heavy field.

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.

Only one acquisition this week. Shirley, I Jest! is my April Early Reviewers book. It's a short memoir/autobiography. I read it the day it arrived.

62. Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel by John Guy
TIOLI #9 - Book started but not finished in April

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

Great news that you're on the road to recovery! Respiratory irritations are such buggers. Our neighbor's teen has been battling respiratory issues for weeks. She's finally seeing the light of day and catching up on a lot of school work.l
Hoping your progress continues and doesn't ever come back!

Sorry to hear you've been so unwell Carrie, but glad to hear you're starting to feel better now.

>242 cbl_tn: Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel sounds like an interesting read. I know very little about Becket or the period.

>243 Carmenere: Thanks Lynda! I didn't sleep well while I was on the prednisone. I'm tired now that it's out of my system. I just had a 2 hour nap and would have slept a lot longer if the telephone hadn't rung. Telemarketers. Ugh!

>244 souloftherose: Thanks Heather! It took a lot longer than I expected to finish it. I set it aside while I was really sick in favor of lighter reads.

63. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
TIOLI #7 - Regional novel

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

Loved your review of The Painted Veil. I read it in April too, and had a great time with it. I'll have to try The Trembling of a Leaf too. And glad to hear you're feeling better.

Hi Carrie! Still improving? I'm so sorry you've been unwell. Hope you continue to breathe easier and easier!

>247 evilmoose: Thanks Megan! I'm glad I've found a new author to read. The Trembling of a Leaf is available free from Project Gutenberg

>248 AMQS: Hi Anne! I'm still feeling better. Just trying to get rid of the cough.