Storeetllr's (Mary) 2015 Journey Through Bookland Part 3

Holy Moly! May 1st already? MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Stop, Time, from going by so quickly! (Or give me a little more of it so I can read more.)

A little about me: I read a lot and have a marked taste for the fantasy and mystery genres (newest favorite mystery series is DC Fiona Griffith's by Harry Bingham), and, if they're seasoned by a bit romance and/or horror, that's great too within limits. I really like Georgette Heyer-type romances and also some scifi, especially when it deals with social issues, like Louise Marley's and Sheri Tepper's does, though occasionally I enjoy space opera like the Vorkosigan series, as well as westerns like Lonesome Dove and historical fiction like Doc, the Matthew Shardlake series, and Wolf Hall. Mercy Thompson and Matthew Swift are two of my favorite urban fantasy series protags, and Mary Doria Russell's one of my favorite authors. I like themed reads too: Fantasy February, May Murder & Mayhem, September Series & Sequels, Halloween Horror October.

You will seldom see a rating of 2.5 or lower, because, if it's that unappealing or the writing itself is that bad, I won't finish it. I'm too old to suffer needlessly, so these days The Pearl Rule is ruthlessly applied! On the other hand, the books I do finish I tend to rate liberally.

5 stars - Excellent writing, enthralling story, enlightening/educative, emotionally satisfying. I'll probably read it again and high recommend it to anyone and everyone.
4.5 stars - Practically perfect in every way. I will actively push this book on my friends and family.
4 stars - A really great book in all respects with perhaps some minor flaws. Highly recommended.
3.5 stars - Better than average but with some flaws. Recommended.
3 stars - Average. An entertaining read but probably forgettable. Will not reread. Recommended for entertainment value to readers with similar interest.
2.5 stars - Not sure exactly why I bothered to finish this one. Perhaps some aspects of the story, characters or writing appealed to me, but I had a hard time staying engaged. Not recommended, unless someone needs to read it to complete an author's body of work.

These are in my current iTunes library:

The Lace Reader
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Anarchy and Old Dogs
The Cabinet of Curiosities by Preston & Childs
Catching Fire
Changes by Jim Butcher
Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
Curse of the Pogo Stick
Darkness More Than Night
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Echo Burning
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
The Glass Castle
The Help
The Hunger Games
Inside Out by Barry Eisler
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
The Last Werewolf
Leviathan
Love Songs from a Shallow Grave
The Merry Misogynist
Mockingjay
Neverwhere
The Night Circus
Relic
The Scorpio Races
Shadow Divers
Slash and Burn
Talulla Rising
Turncoat
Watership Down
Without Fail by Lee Child
Zeitoun

The following are on my computer but not currently attached to any program (i.e., iTunes):

American Gods
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Good Omens
The Book of Night Women
The Sparrow
Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb

Books Read in May

70. Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick. 3.75 stars. Historical mystery romance.
71. Heir to the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 3.75 stars. Dark fantasy. Second in the Black Jewel trilogy.
72. Fear Itself by Walter Mosley. 4 stars. Audio. Mystery. Beautifully read by Don Cheadle.
73. The Amazing Mr. Howard by Kenneth W. Harmon. 3.25 stars. LTER. Paranormal horror mystery.
74. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. 4 stars. Audio. 1st in Trilogy.
75. Tabula Rasa by Ruth Downie. 3.75 stars. Audio. 5th in Medicus mystery series.
76. Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt. 3.5 stars. Audio. 1st in Andy Carpenter series.
77. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham. 4.5 stars. Audio. 1st in Fiona Griffiths series. Reread.
78. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio. 1st in the Peter Diamond series.
79. Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio.
80. The Paladin by C. J. Cherryh. 3.75 stars. Alternate universe. Reccied by fuzzi and Roni.
81. Vicious Circle by Mike Carey. 3.75 stars. Audio. Reread.
82. Boundary Crossed by Melissa F. Olson. 3.75 stars. Kindle. Urban Fantasy. Free Kindle First Look. (Boundary Lines, second in series, is due out in October.)
83. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. 4 stars. Kindle.
84. Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher. 3.5 stars. GN.
85. Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan. 4.5 stars. Book 3 of the series.
86. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb. 4 stars.
87. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris. 3.75 stars.
88. Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris. 3.5 stars. GN.
89. A Deadly Web by Kay Hooper. 3.5 stars. Book 1 of The Bishop Files.
90. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Audio. Book 1 of the Timothy Wilde historical mysteries.
91. Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 4 stars. 3rd in the Black Jewels trilogy. (Read earlier in the month but apparently I somehow forgot to list it.)

Bolded=Highly recommended

Books Read in June

92. Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Audio. Second in the excellent Timothy Wilde mystery series.

93. Katherine by Anya Seton. 4.5 stars. Audio. Historical fiction.

94. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. 3.75 stars. 1st in Birdman mystery series. Bloody and gruesome from the first page to the very end, the story moves from NYC to Richmond to New Orleans, leaving a trail of brutally murdered bodies behind.

95. Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh. 4 stars. Audio. Latest Psi/Changling novel and maybe my fave.

96. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard. 4.5 stars. Audio. First in gothic horror steampunk series.

97. Johannes Cabal The Dectective by Jonathan L. Howard. 4 stars. Audio. Second in series.

98. The Hanged Man by P. N. Elrod. 4 stars. First in series.

99. The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman. 4.5 stars. GN.

100. The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard. 4 stars. Audio, supplemented by print. Third in series.

101. Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov. 3 stars.

102. The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Historical mystery. The third in the Wilde trilogy.

103. The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard. 4.75 stars. Audio. Fourth in series.

104. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh. 3.5 stars. Audio. 5th (I think) in the Changling/Psi series.

105. Rock with Wings by Anne Hillerman. 3 stars. Audio.

106. Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell. 4 stars. eBook. First in Thomas De Quincey historical mystery thrillers.

107. Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell. 4 stars. Second in Thomas De Quincey historical mystery thriller series.

108. The Opium Eater by David Morrell. 3.5 stars.

Bolded=Highly recommended

May/June Favorites

My May/June favorites are:

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Johannes Cabal, Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

March/April Favorites: https://www.librarything.com/topic/188442#5074817
January/February Favorites: https://www.librarything.com/topic/186192#4995442

I guess it's true that "April showers bring May flowers," because we've got a massive amount of lovely lilacs blooming out front, though some look like they're on the way out already. The peony bush out back is lush and green and full of buds, and the iris is almost ready to flower. I'll soon be planting a number of annuals in the garden and along the edges of the property: milkweed (for the butterflies), sunflowers, marigolds, nasturtiums, calendula and borage, in addition to the vegetables and herbs I plan to grow this year.

May M&M Reads:

1. Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick. 3.75 stars. Historical mystery romance.
2. Fear Itself by Walter Mosley. 4 stars. Audio. Mystery.
3. The Amazing Mr. Howard by Kenneth W. Harmon. 3.25 stars. LTER. Paranormal horror mystery.
4. Tabula Rasa by Ruth Downie. 3.75 stars. Audio. 5th in Medicus mystery series.
5. Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt. 3.5 stars. Audio. Mystery. 1st in Andy Carpenter courtroom series.
6. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham. 4.5 stars. Audio. 1st in Fiona Griffiths mystery series.
7. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio. 1st in the Peter Diamond mystery series.
8. Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio. 2nd in the Peter Diamond mystery series.
9. Vicious Circle by Mike Carey. 3.75 stars. Audio. Paranormal horror mystery.
10. Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher. 3.5 stars. GN.
11. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb. 4 stars.
12. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Audio. Book 1 of the Timothy Wilde historical mysteries.

May SFFCAT Reads:

1. Heir to the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 3.75 stars. Dark fantasy. Second in the Black Jewel trilogy.
2. The Paladin by C. J. Cherryh. 3.75 stars. Alternate universe.
3. Boundary Crossed by Melissa F. Olson. 3.75 stars. Kindle. Urban Fantasy. First in series.
4. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. 4 stars. Kindle. SciFi.
5. Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan. 4.5 stars.
6. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris. 3.75 stars.
7. Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris. 3.5 stars. GN.
8. A Deadly Web by Kay Hooper. 3.5 stars. Book 1 of The Bishop Files.
9. Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 4 stars. 3rd in the Black Jewels trilogy.

Lovely new thread, Mary!

Happy Friday, Mary! Happy New Thread! Love the waterfall topper.
Yes, it is May and I hope it brings a whole lotta warmth!

Thanks, Roni! Happy May Day!

Hi, Mark ~ Yay for Friday! Yay for May! That image is of Upper and Lower Falls, Yosemite, taken in spring of 2013 right around this time. Oh, how I wish I could be there again this spring!

Happy Friday and happy new thread, Mary! Love the infusion of spring flowers on your thread. They are wonderful and so colourful. Here's to another thread of excellent readings. :)

I have never been to Yosemite. Sad face.

New thread with a pretty photo!

>13 msf59: I've never been there either, Mark. :(

Have a great weekend Mary!

You're off this week, Mark. We should go! ROAD TRIP!!!

Okay, sorry, I got a little excited there for a moment. Really, if you EVER get a chance to visit Yosemite, do it! It's one of the most beautiful places on earth. I especially like it in spring and winter, but autumn is wonderful too. Summer's a bit hot and overcrowded for my taste, but I'd still go if I had the chance.

Thanks, Joanne. (You're included on the road trip thing.)

Oops, Val, I missed you up there. Sorry. (Got too excited over the thought of an LT meetup in Yosemite. :)

Thanks! Spring and summer are my favorite seasons, not in the least because of the growing things. Even when I lived in So.Cal. and had greenery all year, spring was special because of new growth.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy new thread, Mary! Lovely photos!

"You're off this week, Mark. We should go! ROAD TRIP!!" OMG, wouldn't that be great? LOL.

Hope you have a great weekend, Mary.

>7 Storeetllr: Gorgeous flowers. Ours are nothing like this yet - almost hoping for some more rain!!

Mary, I loved your Mayday message about the passage of time. I am reading Being Mortal which makes me acutely aware about how little time is left. Remember I am a year older than you!

I like the route I've chosen for my Golden Years...read as much as I can, get out in nature as much as I can, and spend as much time as I can with my grandkids. Now I must add a trip to Yosemite to the mix. I can't think of a better bunch of people to travel with...you, Mark, and Joanne! Maybe we can pick up some other LTers along the way!

Your lilacs are beautiful. That was a great picture of Dylan and the bouquet on your last thread.

Haha..Mary, I'd probably lose sight of myself as well in the excitement of a road trip. There are SO many places I would love to visit in your beautiful country one day!

We've had some excitement around here yesterday and so far today, with a full house of "guests," so I haven't been online at all. Baby ("I'm not a baby anymore; I'm a big girl") D stayed overnight. My sister's girls (two from Frisco and one from Littleton) were also here, along with all three of their dogs. Nickel keeps insisting on making the squeaky toy noise when she sees the dogs, which must be confusing for them and stressful for me and my nieces who are sure one of the dogs is going to lose it and lunge. So far, it's all good, but I'm keeping the door to the basement closed so none of them can sneak down when no one's looking.

Ah, the joys of having a complete food chain in the house!

>17 scaifea: Hi, Amber! Glad to see you here!
>18 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Hope you're enjoying your staycation! And that the weather is behaving itself.
>19 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte! Lilacs are my favorite, though they do come and go so quickly!
>20 Donna828: I like the route you've chosen too, Donna! Books, nature and grandkids ~ perfect!
>21 jolerie: Your boys will be big enough soon to take them on road trips, Val, and I hope you do take them to visit some of the wonderful places in the U.S. ~ Yosemite, Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula, Sequoia and King's Canyon Parks, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Badlands, the Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky Mountains, New Orleans, the Everglades are some of the places I've been to and love, and I'm looking forward to visiting Yellowstone and the Anasazi ruins, among others.

Sounds like you are having a great time with your family, Mary! Enjoy! And tell Nickel to behave.

>22 Storeetllr: Ah, the joys of having a complete food chain in the house!
LOL!

Haha, Mark, tell Nickel to behave. As if.

It's the truth, Roni! :) Although one of the dogs, Nash (a big golden retriever) gets very excited when he sees Nickel, Frenchie (a rescued mutt) ignores her and Frankie (who I think is a min-pin) is terrified of her.

Nice new thread, Mary! Enjoy your time with your family.

Thanks, Darryl! We had a great time with our visitors, but now they've all left (even my sister, who works today), and now I'm enjoying the solitude.

So, here are the books I've read so far in May, with brief "reviews" of all:

70. Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick. 3.75 stars. Historical mystery romance featuring Ursula, who runs a secretarial agency and is investigating what she believes is the murder of one of her employees, and Slater, reputed to be slightly mad after being abandoned for a year on a deserted island when he was thought dead after a cave-in. Fun light reading. Just what the doctor ordered to lighten my blue mood. NOTE: This is one of the Early Review choices, on audio! If you like light romantic thrillers/mysteries, I recommend this one. Depending, of course, on who the reader is.

71. Heir to the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 3.75 stars. Dark fantasy. Second in the Black Jewel trilogy. Chronicles Jaenelle's experiences from her recovery through adulthood; Saetan's and Lucivar's experiences trying to keep Jaenelle safe; and the machinations of Hekatah and the other villains. More sexually predatory male and power hungry female villains, more timidity from the good guys about using their immense power for good until something terrible happens and they "lose" it.

72. Fear Itself by Walter Mosley. 4 stars. Audio. Mystery. Paris Minton reluctantly agrees to help his best friend Fearless Jones figure out where his employer, "The Watermelon Man," has disappeared to after a lovely single mother approaches him to find her husband. Paris is reluctant because he knows this is going to turn ugly, and he is the opposite of Fearless in that he's afraid of conflict and terrified of getting hurt. I love Mosley's writing, and I love reading about what the black experience of the 50s and 60s was (and, apparently, still is). Beautifully read by Don Cheadle.

73. The Amazing Mr. Howard by Kenneth W. Harmon. 3.25 stars. LTER. Paranormal horror mystery. Mr. Howard, a college professor and self-proclaimed psychic, is called upon by the police to help locate a young girl who has gone missing before she ends up dead. But things are definitely and very much not what they seem. Some of this novel was enjoyable, but there were portions of it that were so graphically icky that I found them difficult to take, plus there were sex scenes that I thought unnecessary and gratuitous. I also found most of the characters unlikable to the point I was actually rooting for the villain, who in some ways was the least icky. And, though it was set in Colorado (where I also am currently set), there wasn't enough about the area to make the setting meaningful; I mean, it could have been set in Arizona or Rhode Island, for all the locale seemed to matter. Finally, there were a number of questions that never got answered, like why doesn't Mr. Howard have a first name, and how could he have such a loving relationship with his wife and children after what happened with his mother, and why did it happen in the first place? Competent writing, an interesting premise, and the desire to know how it ended kept me reading, but it was just a bit too much and all-over-the-place. If this turns into a series, I'll probably check out the second book, if only to see if any of those questions are answered.

Thanks for visiting my thread. Looks like you've been busy reading, despite the visitors?

I can imagine Don Cheadle would be the perfect narrator for a Walter Mosley. I've not come across this one, but am keen to get through his back catalogue - definitely a convert (as I've probably said several times around the threads, sorry! ...).

Mary, I saw the video of all the hail in Colorado Springs yesterday and wondered how you fared. We are having RAIN today and, believe it or not, snow in our local mountains!

Don Cheadle reading Walter Mosley. Sounds intriguing. Added to the list!

>22 Storeetllr: Nickel is a brave little bird!

>30 ronincats: We should have snow here on our lawns for Mothers Day. Yay.

>28 Storeetllr: I think that Amanda Quick one was in the order I placed for the library the other day. If it's her newest one, I know it was.

>29 charl08: Hi, Charlotte! Thanks for the return visit! Yes, very little stops me from reading, even if I have to stay up late in the night (or, you know, ALL night) to get my reading fix in. Yes, Don Cheadle is amazing reading the Mosley mysteries. Mosley's wonderful, isn't he. Having lived in L.A. for many years, his Easy Rawlins and Fearless series speak to me on many different levels.

>30 ronincats: I saw that you did pretty well at the last farmers market, Roni. Glad you had a good day! And, may I say, I'm not at all surprised you sold the red bowl! It's beautiful! Anyway, weather. I know you guys need the rain (and snow). Wish I could send some to you. We didn't get any hail here in Centennial, but it's been cool and rainy here for the past few days. Rain I'm good with, especially in the spring. Gives the garden a good fresh start, you know? But it's supposed to snow tomorrow, on Mothers' Day. Seriously? We had a huge snowstorm last Mothers' Day too. I hope it's not going to be an annual event. Hope you're staying dry.

>31 Copperskye: Oh, yes, Jo ~ I think you will really love Mosley on audio read by Don Cheadle. I like the Easy Rawlins series best, but the Fearless mysteries are growing on me. Nickel, brave? Haha, you wouldn't say that if you'd been here to see her squeal like a piglet and leap from the top of her cage to land in a heap (and get a cut on her breastbone), all because one of the robins that are nesting in the eaves of the back deck flew a little too close to the window. I'm keeping the blinds on that window closed until she heals and the robins leave the nest, or until I move her cage to the other side of the room where there are no windows.

>32 thornton37814: Hi, Lori! I hope you enjoy Garden of Lies! I think it's her latest, because they're so much fun that I usually snatch each new one up as soon as it comes off the press.

Mary, I got a laugh out of Nickel making the squeaky toy noise when she sees the dogs. She sounds like quite a tease! Company is fun but it can wear one out. Enjoy your solitude while it lasts.

I remember some snow plow days in the summertime in Colorado Springs. Hail is quite common there and wreaks havoc on gardens. We've been getting some rain the past few days. It looks like the Emerald Isle around here except for the places (in the front yard, naturally) where DH got confused with his chemicals and sprayed part of our lawn with something lethal. He loves to spray and mow but I can't get him excited about weeding!

Hi Mary! What lovely lilacs! Our lilacs have taken a beating with our heavy rain, but our Korean lilacs are about to positively burst. Hope they survive the SNOW WE ARE CURRENTLY GETTING okay. *sigh*

You are so close to 75 books already -- wow! So glad you enjoyed Gilead. Such a lovely book.

Happy Mother's Day, Mary! I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Annual Happy Mothers' Day greeting from Mother Earth to Colorado!


Front yard (My poor lilac bushes!)


Back yard (My poor pear tree!)

>34 Donna828: Hi, Donna! Hope you are having a lovely Mother's Day! Nickel's quite a tease, you're right! She teases me by coming over to where I am and lowering her head, then when I reach out to give her a head skritch, she scurries over to the other side of the case (or perch, whatever). I hope your front lawn recovers from the misspraying. I'd rather weed by hand, but some places (like the cracks in the driveway) are impossible to do by hand.

>35 AMQS: Happy Mother's Day, Anne! The lilacs were on their way out when the rains (and then the snow) hit, but they really took a beating last night with all the heavy snow we got. Maybe 6" around here. Hope yours did okay. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Gilead.

>36 msf59: Hi, Mark! Thanks for the Mom's Day wishes. My daughter texted once and called me twice today in honor of the day. The older she gets, it seems, the more thoughtful she becomes. Hope you are having a good weekend too!

Oh now...well that's not very considerate of Mother Nature to give you such a gift for Mother's Day. Wishing you a wonderful day regardless of all that white stuff. I hope it melts away soon and you are back to spring like weather.

Oh. Holy. Moly.

I'm sorry (not sorry) to say that I'm happy I don't live in Colorado right now.

What? You can't save everyone.

*snork!*

I do like the idea of Don Cheadle reading Walter Mosley's Fear Itself. Did you know Don Cheadle played Mouse in Devil in a Blue Dress, based on the Moseley book? He was terrific. Denzel Washington played Easy Rawlins.

Hi Mary, I sure hope that snow didn't stick around too long! We had some snow last week when we were driving through the Rocky Mountains, but it seemed appropriate to the scenery and the road stayed clear. Now that we are home we are getting lovely summer weather.

I am really enjoying Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop, so, (sigh) another series to read!

>37 Storeetllr: That snow would have melted in about 1 minute here today. It was hot outside.

Oh no, snow on Mother's day. I hope your lilac bushes survive.

Lovely photos! What a mess! I'm glad you didn't have too much damage. We have a huge tree branch in our back lawn. We can't budge the bulk of it without a chain saw. On the whole, we were lucky that it wasn't worse.

>39 jolerie: Haha, she's quite the jokester, Val. Snow's all gone, but the damage to trees, bushes and *sob* irises remains.

>40 scaifea: Yes, you're right about that, Amber. It was an "Oh. Holy. Moly." kinda storm. We did have warnings, though, so it wasn't a shock.

>41 jnwelch: I'd heard about Cheadle playing Mouse, Joe, but haven't seen the film yet. I was just telling my sis the other day that we need to watch it, but she needs to read the book first. Not sure how long it will be before she gets around to it, but she said she loves Denzel so might jump on it.

>42 DeltaQueen50: So glad you're enjoying the Anne Bishop! I didn't hate it, but I'd just finished reading the first couple of her The Others series, and I absolutely loved that one, so by comparison wasn't as excited about the Black Jewels series. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the Louise Marley novel, which I loved.

>43 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori. Thanks so much! *grins* It's still cool here, and I expect it will be for another week or so, but then we'll be joining you in the heat. I figure by August I'll be wishing for a nice snowstorm to cool things down a bit.

>44 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda ~ The lilacs weathered the storm fine. It was the pear tree, the linden bush and the *sob* irises that suffered the worst damage. Well, they've lived here on the Front Range for many years, so I imagine they'll recover okay.

>45 Copperskye: Hi, Joanne ~ Glad you didn't have worse damage! Though a tree-sized branch in the back yard isn't a small thing. I'm getting ready to go out and plant the vegetable/flower/herb garden today, though it doesn't look spring-like enough for me to feel excited by it. Still, they need to get in sooner rather than later, and I am betting that was the last snow of the season. *crosses fingers and touches wood*

Another batch of mini-reviews:

74. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. 4 stars. Audio. This slow-paced, thoughtful book ~ about faith and hope, love and death, friendship and forgiveness ~ was a nice change of pace for me. The Rev. John Ames, much older than his wife, is dying, so he writes a love letter to his 7-year old son whom he knows will have to grow up without his guidance and companionship and may even forget all about him in time. I liked how he could poke gentle fun at himself and his religion without ever descending into cruelty; how he struggles with honesty and forgiveness; how he talks about his small town and shows his love of it and the prairie upon which it sits. Much of the past that Ames writes about reminds me very much of my own family background ~ one of my great-grandfathers was a Disciples of Christ preacher who traveled around the country back in the late 1800s. From some of the family stories, I think I wouldn't have liked him as much as I liked Ames, though. I mostly like his interaction toward the end with Jack Boucher. That may have been my favorite part.

75. Tabula Rasa by Ruth Downie. 3.75 stars. Audio. 5th in Medicus mystery series. Set in Britannia at an outpost near Hadrian's Wall, Ruso and his native wife Tilla become embroiled in local unrest after the Romans confiscated some of their farms to make way for the building of the wall, as well as the kidnapping of a local boy connected with a rumor of a body buried in the wall. Enjoyable; less mystery and more political adventure, but good historical background.

76. Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt. 3.5 stars. Audio. 1st in Andy Carpenter series. Set in Patterson, NJ, featuring irreverent, flippant and very-lucky-not-to-be-slammed-with-contempt-charges-by-the judges-he-appears-before criminal defense lawyer Andy Carpenter who has, at the behest of his prosecutor father, taken on the appeal of a black death-row inmate convicted of the murder of a young, white reporter seven years earlier. I enjoyed it, though some of the coincidences were a bit over-the-top, and will be looking forward to the second in the series. Reccied by Joanne.

77. Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham. 4.5 stars. Audio. 1st in Fiona Griffiths series. Reread. Fiona is a young constable with the Cardiff police. She's usually given the most boring desk work, like searching through financial records, phone records, and the like, but is assigned part-time to a sensational murder investigation where her strange condition (Cotard's Syndrome) helps her identify with the dead and see connections other investigators miss. Highly recommended.

78. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio. 1st in the Peter Diamond series. Set in Bath, Diamond is a Superintendent assigned to investigate the murder of a former soap opera star whose nude body is found in a nearby lake. At first, I didn't like the novel much. Diamond is abrasive, grouchy and resistant to new technology, and the shifts in viewpoint was a bit offputting, but by the time I was 1/3 of the way in, it started getting its hooks into me. True, the courtroom scenes toward the end were a bit melodramatic and unrealistic, and I hated the ending (because it was sad), but I ended up liking Diamond much more than expected, and I enjoyed the Jane Austen connection.

Hi, Mary! Nice flurry of mini-reviews. Sorry, Gilead wasn't a 5 star read. I wonder if listening to it and reading it in print, would make any difference? I am glad you, at least, gave it 4, so I hope you continue with the other 2 books.

Thanks, Mark. 4 stars is not a bad rating! To get a higher rating, a book pretty much has to be not only excellently written and tell a compelling story but give me GREAT pleasure while reading and affect me so strongly I can't stop thinking about it. I don't give out a lot of 5 star ratings, though I do give a lot of 3.5-4.5 ratings. (I seldom give 2.5 or below because, if it's not good enough for a 3, I don't usually finish it, and 3s are a toss-up.)

I usually don't bring up star ratings, Mary, but Gilead was one of those books that really resonated with me and I think it is one of those great American novels.

Most of my ratings fall in the 3.5-4.5 ratings too!

And you're not alone in your feelings either, Mark! I have heard a lot of people say the same or similar things about Gilead.

Congrats on blowing past 75!

Congrats on 75 Mary!!! :D

Wow, Mary. You are The Reading Queen! Congrats on the 75 milestone. I do hope you read Home and Lila which are written in the same thoughtful manner as Gilead. I love those books. It was fascinating to see how John Ames and Lila ended up together.

Seeing your lilacs bowed over like that is heartbreaking. CO springs are not easy on the vegetation!

Wow, 78 books! Congrats!

Wow, you just blew past 75! I'm impressed. I'm SO far behind you...

Thanks, Jim, Val, Donna, Jo, and Roni! I have been reading a lot this year so far, and especially in the past month or two. It's like I'm on a mission. :)

>54 Donna828: I'll read the rest of the trilogy sometime, Donna, never fear. Thanks for your condolences on the lilacs, but they seem to have recovered just fine. It's the irises that don't look like they're going to make it. :(

>56 ronincats: You had some real difficult times earlier this year, Roni. And you are a lot busier than I am, what with your gardening and pottery and jewelry making and farmers markets. Whew! Just thinking about all you do wears me out!

WooHoo! Congrats on 75!!

^Very impressive. Mary. You go girl!

Congrats on the 75. And so sorry about the snow. We have been threatened with frost, which I really hope is forecaster error...

Congrats on your first 75 for 2015, Mary! I'm coming along just behind you and hope to have 75 read by the weekend.

75! Wow, congrats.

Congratulations, Mary!

Thanks for the kudos, Amber, Mark, Charlotte, Judy, Connie and Darryl!

>60 charl08: I hope the frost is an error in forecasting too, Charlotte! I mean, it's the middle of May!

>61 DeltaQueen50: You go, Judy! I'll pop over and see what your 75th is.

So, are you getting anything there from the system that brought us our rain two days ago?

Oh, yes, Roni. We've been getting rain (or snow, or hail) every day, in varying degrees of intensity, since the week before Mothers' Day. And cool temps, too. I wish you could have kept the system awhile longer. :)

Hi Mary, and congrats on 75 books -- I'm so impressed! Stay dry. I love the green, but I wouldn't mind for spring to be... springier.

Happy Sunday, Mary! I hope you are having a great weekend and getting plenty of reading time in.

Congrats on the 75, Mary! Love the eclectic reading. And it's wonderful to see someone reading Walter Mosley, whom I'd like to see more widely appreciated. I just read his And Sometimes I Wonder About You, the new Leonid McGill mystery - excellent.

Wow, 75 already!! I'm such a laggard this year. :(

Congrats on reading 75 books!! Hope the second 75 are just as easy and every one is a good one!

I saw the sun come out today! Thank goodness I didn't blink or I'd have missed it.

My first in the Leonid McGill series turned up at the library. Very happy to be in Walter Mosley's hands again.

>67 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! I've been reading a lot of mystery and fantasy genre, which I love, so I find a lot of reading time, especially in this depressing weather we've been having. I love the green too, but it sure doesn't make up for lack of sunshine and warmth.

>68 msf59: Hi, Mark! I seem to be doing almost nothing but reading, and the state of my apartment and garden show it. Another week of this nasty stuff, and we should be headed into more seasonal weather. I hope.

>69 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! It is pretty eclectic, isn't it, though leaning heavily toward the mystery and fantasy genres (for May M&M and May SFFCAT). I've loved Mosley for a decade, ever since the book club at my then-office chose Little Scarlet for our bi-annual book. After it, I went back to the very beginning and read every Easy Rawlins mystery straight through, including Little Scarlet, and was so happy when he came out with another this year. I'm also enjoying his Fearless series, though I just got into it. As with Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Doc, Mosley's books are mysteries, true, but so much more.

>70 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! It seems all I do these days is read. :) You've been busy this year, and dealing with some difficult things, but I'm sure you'll "catch up." Though it isn't a race.

>71 Copperskye: Thanks, Joanne! I've been lucky so far ~ most of the 75 82 books I've read so far this year have been good ones! As for the sun, I saw it yesterday too, but by the time I put my shoes on to go out in the garden, it had gone. I'm beginning to despair.

>72 charl08: Hope you enjoy it, Charlotte! Leonid McGill is not my favorite Mosley series, at least not based on just the first book, but I will get back to it after I finish the Fearless books. Because Mosley is such a good writer!

So we had Baby "I'm not a baby anymore; I'm a big girl" D overnight on Monday, and yesterday, it being gloomy and rainy and cool outside, we took her to the library for the afternoon.

She had a great time, and I enjoyed sitting in the kids' play area, watching my sister doze and D play while reading the beginnings of a few books I found to take out. There were these toys, thin tiles of plastic of different shapes, called MagnaTiles, and after building a tower with them, D decided to make me a book. She put a few of the square tiles together and brought it to me. I opened it and read her a little story: "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named D, whose grandma and aunt took her to the library, and she had a good time playing with the toys and reading books in the kids' section."

So then she made another book with smaller squares and brought it over and said she was going to read it to me. She "read," haltingly and in a whisper: "Once upon a time, D and Frankendoggenstein (her family dog) and Mama Jax (her mom's nickname is Jax) went to the park and played. And then they came home."

Then she went and read it to her grandma, then sat in a corner and read it to herself.

What a kid!

Oh Mary! I love that story. When my granddaughter was little she would sometimes ask for "a story without pages" instead of a book at nap time.. I'm not very good at making stories up but my husband is so I tried to channel him and came up with a few. It was fun. Sounds like you're pretty good at it :)

I'm more impressed that she took the initiative to "make" a book out of plastic tiles and then "read" it to us. That's quite an imagination she has, I think. I mean, she's not even 2-1/2 years old yet!

I never liked to have to tell my daughter stories without reading them in books. She sometimes used to demand that I "tell (her) about when (I) was a little kid." I had a couple stories about myself as a kid (once where I went to the swamp in the early spring to hunt for tadpoles and got all wet and then came home and got in trouble for it; I don't remember the other one offhand), but when she got tired of those and asked for something new, it used to be quite a struggle to find something appropriate.

>74 Storeetllr: Love this! Kids' imaginations are just amazing things. Sounds like a good time was had by all.

Oh, we did have a good time, Charlotte! I mean, library, books and cute kids? How can it be other than fun?

Here's a photo I took of D yesterday at the library. Unfortunately, I did not get the one of her sitting in the corner "reading" the plastic tile book to herself, but I like this one because you can almost see the wheels turning.

Loved hearing about your fun at the library!

You really are a story teller!

Oh, what a cutie D is! She sounds like she's a lot like Charlie was at that age, with the imagination and the reading...

>73 Storeetllr: Oh, good for you, Mary, for going back and reading all the Easy Rawlins mysteries! I think they're remarkable. My favorite book of his, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, features an unforgettable character named Socrates Fortlow. It's not a mystery, but intertwined stories of a thoughtful and proud ex-con trying to make his way in the world.

Such a charming little vignette, with illustration!

>80 Copperskye: Glad you enjoyed the little story of our library adventures, Joanne!

>81 scaifea: Yes, I was thinking of Charlie and his sparkly notebooks for writing a book over the summer when I wrote about D.

>82 jnwelch: I read them when I lived in L.A., Joe, and they made a huge impression on me, especially because I knew the neighborhoods and attitudes, even though Easy Rawlins mysteries were set in the 50s and 60s, and I was there in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s. I haven't read Always Outnumbered yet, but it's going on my WL for sure!

>83 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! Glad you enjoyed it!

Love that story, Mary! What a lucky little niece, and lucky you to spend this time together!

Mary, I've come by to thank you so much for recommending The Terrorists of Irustan to me. I loved it. I did cry like a baby at the end and this is one book that I wish there was a sequel for. It was a 5 star read for me.

>85 AMQS: Thanks, Anne! Glad you enjoyed my library story. I am lucky to be able to spend time with my family, especially my niece, who's a real kick to be around!

>86 DeltaQueen50: I am delighted to know that you loved Irustan as much as I did, Judy! I remember crying at the end too. Might be a good time for me to reread this novel with its very timely issues. As with The Sparrow by MDR, it's another one that is so much more than the genre in which it is written. As I mentioned on your thread, another good one of Marley's is The Child Goddess. I've also read others by her, but none have reached the pinnacle of wonderfulness of Irustan.

So I did some planting of the straw bales yesterday, between long bouts of reading, and this morning I took a few pics while the sun was still shining. Here's one:



You can see others of the individual seedlings over at my gardening thread, here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/190149#5170835

I was, of course, supervised by Miss Nickel, who kept a close watch on the activities:

Happy Saturday, Mary! I hope the week went well. Go Nickel! She is such a ham!

I love how you can take your bird out into the garden with you.

I love that photo of Nickel--wonderful shot! And you must finally be getting some sunshine there as well.

Hey, Mark! Hope you're having a Last-Day-Of-Work-This-Week Day! Wish the weather were less grim there.

It's lovely, Reba, and she loves to sit in the tree and watch me work in the garden! Now that it's warmer, we'll be outside a lot more, gardening, having breakfast on the back patio, taking little walks to the mailbox. In winter, I need to put her under a full-spectrum lamp every day to keep her healthy.

Thanks, Roni! Yes, thank God, it's GORGEOUS today! And, for only the 5th day this month, NO RAIN!!!!

I saw this on FB and love it. Every time I see it, I can't help but giggle.

Happy Weekend!

>93 Storeetllr: Big Thumbs up on the above, Mary. Have a good weekend!

Congratulations on 75 Mary! I am thrilled that Gods of Gotham was a winner for you. I think you are going to enjoy the trilogy.

Happy Sunday, Mary! I love the Aphrodite cartoon. LOL.

Nice photos of your garden and Nickel, Mary!

>94 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy! It was a lovely weekend ~ first springy one of the season so far. Hope yours was good too!

>95 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberts. Gods of Gotham was indeed a winner! I've already started the second in the series: Seven for a Secret. One thing I'm loving is the social commentary, which, sadly, doesn't seem to have improved much in the 150 years since the time these books are set in.

>96 msf59: Isn't that cartoon a gas, Mark! I admit I thought of you when I posted it and figured you'd get a kick out of it, for more than one reason. :)

>97 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! So glad you've been released from hospital and back on track for your European tour, though sad you'll have to miss Barcelona. Next time?

I posted these pics ~ of the baby robins that were living in a nest under the eaves of the back deck, just outside my back door ~ over on my gardening thread, but I wanted to also share with those who don't get over to that thread:


May 30 - Four "baby" robins already as big as their parents


June 1 - Last fledgling left in nest is just not quite ready to fly


June 1 - One of the braver of the fledglings, but having a rough time getting lift, so resting for awhile on a dead branch in the corner of the back yard


June 1 - Nickel, keeping close watch to be sure I don't "adopt" the baby robin because Nickel's an "only" bird and means to keep it that way

>98 Storeetllr: One thing I'm loving is the social commentary, which, sadly, doesn't seem to have improved much in the 150 years since the time these books are set in. She captures the time perfectly, both the good and the bad. I looked forward to each of those chapter beginnings to see what would shock or surprise me. She said when she would do her research she would carry some clippings around for weeks to think about it.

>98 Storeetllr: Next time indeed, Mary. I had planned to return to Spain and visit Portugal in October, and if I do I'll spend a week in Barcelona to make up for this lost week.

>99 Storeetllr: Great photos!

Love the robins, Mary! I probably see this bird on the route, more often than any other bird. My only problem with them, is when they decide to build a nest on a front porch and dive-bomb me. Not amusing.

Good Tuesday afternoon, all! I was out weeding (darn straw bales must have been loaded with weed seeds, because grass is sprouting everywhere constantly) this morning, in the blazing sun, and wishing it were a bit cooler. Haha, last week I was whining about no sun all of May and wishing for sunshine and warm weather. I'm nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

>100 luvamystery65: Fascinating, Roberta! I just finished the second in the trilogy and loved it too. What a wild place NYC was back in the mid-1800s.

>101 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! October should be a lovely time to visit Spain and Portugal!

>102 msf59: Haha, Mark, I'd pay to see you ducking and running from a protective mama robin. I know the robin 'rents were wary of me when they first began nesting, but they left me pretty much alone when I'd come outside. Then, as time went by, I guess they got used to seeing me and realized I wasn't going to bother their babies and they pretty much ignored me.

Maybe you should carry a few worms around with you to bribe them?

So, here are the rest of my May reads, along with (in most cases) very brief thoughts on each:

79. Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey. 3.75 stars. Audio. Second in the Peter Diamond English detective series. I enjoyed it, but not compelled to continue on right away with the rest of the series, though I will eventually.

80. The Paladin by C. J. Cherryh. 3.75 stars. Low fantasy/alternate universe. Swords sans sorcery. I enjoyed the training of Taizu by Saukander, though the first person narrative by Saukander didn't appeal to me. I did enjoy the setting: a fictional country clearly modeled upon (but by no means identical with) T'ang Dynasty China. Reccied by fuzzi and Roni.

81. Vicious Circle by Mike Carey. 3.75 stars. Audio. Urban fantasy. Reread.

82. Boundary Crossed by Melissa F. Olson. 3.75 stars. Kindle Free First Read. Urban Fantasy. First in series about a woman, former army sergeant so badly wounded in Iraq she should have been dead and honorably discharged because the army isn't sure about her. Suffering from PTSD, she's thrown for a loop when she discovers she's a witch, and not the white kind either, when a bunch of vampires try to steal her baby niece. I can't say it's the best urban fantasy I've ever read, but it's good for a first novel, and I'm looking forward to reading the second in the series when it comes in the hopes it delivers on its promise.

83. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. 4 stars. Kindle. Two men, former lovers who parted after a disaster that occurred during their last diplomatic/spy mission, are brought together again to try and bring New Amazonia, a planet run by women with an almost limitless and non-polluting power source, into the ruthlessly run Coalition ~ with or without its consent. But the Coalition, under the nominal control of the AI Governors, reckons without the secrets found on New Amazonia. The writing was, at times, cryptic, the ending a bit abrupt and maybe a bit pat, and the characters at first not appealing, and the premise (warrior males under complete domination of women), I came to be completely invested in this world and the characters. I wonder if Bear is going to write a sequel about the adventures of Kii. That I would like to read.

84. Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher. 3.5 stars. GN. Nothing special ~ okay story, okay illustrations, set sometime before he meets Susan. About a family curse, a nasty goblin and nastier ghoul who is after them, a small town sheriff who wants Dresden gone, and a small town mayor with a big secret of her own.

85. Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan. 4.5 stars. Mrs. Camhurst takes off with her son, his governess, and Tom on a two-year voyage to study dragons in a number of different environments around the globe. Wish I could have listened to this one on audio as I did the first two, but it was still pretty good in print.

86. Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb. 4 stars. Another in the In Death series, and a good one too!

87. Day Shift by Charlaine Harris. 3.75 stars. Second in the Midnight series. The writing was a bit simplistic, but enjoyable nonetheless.

88. Cemetery Girl by Charlaine Harris. 3.5 stars. GN. A bit reminiscent of The Graveyard Book, except not as well done.

89. A Deadly Web by Kay Hooper. 3.5 stars. Paranormal urban fantasy. Book 2 of The Bishop Files. Okay, not the most compelling of these books.

90. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Audio. Book 1 of the Timothy Wilde historical mysteries. Another of the genre novels (like The Sparrow, Doc, The Terrorists of Irustan) that is so much more than just a mystery. Set in NYC during the influx of Irish Catholics during the potato famine of the mid-1800s. This wave of immigrants caused a huge public outcry against the Irish immigrants (substitute "Hispanic" for "Irish" to get an idea of the nativists' rhetoric) and, perhaps even more troubling, against the poor Catholics by the Protestant reform workers. Recommended by Roberta (luvamystery).

91. Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop. 4 stars. 3rd in the original Black Jewels trilogy. (Read earlier in the month but apparently I somehow forgot to list it.) Looking forward to Book 4. :)

Quick note about this month's free eBook from the University of Chicago:

"A reviewer says our free e-book for June is “thoughtful and deeply felt … intellectually and emotionally satisfying.” Prospero’s Son: Life, Books, Love, and Theater by Seth Lerer is a memoir of the fraught relationship between fathers and sons. And about a son coming to terms with his father’s other life as a gay man. About the power of books and theater, the excitement of stories in a young man’s life, and the transformative magic of words and performance."

If interested, you can get it here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html

Hi Mary, I love your robin shots.

We've had robins nest in hanging flower baskets on our front porch, and boy, could they get protective. I don't bother with hanging baskets in the front anymore because it got a little too hard to keep them watered. I loved watching the babies through the window, though.

You've had quite a reading month! The Gods of Gotham is one I've been meaning to try.

Thanks, Joanne! I find I'm missing the robins, which have all moved on to conquer the wide world of grubs and worms. They'll be back, though, when the raspberries start ripening.

You simply must read Gods of Gotham. I think you'll really enjoy it!

>103 Storeetllr: You may be "consistently inconsistent" but so is the Colorado weather! I remember whining a bit when I lived out there until I learned to carry lots of weather gear in the trunk of my car. I even had a rain poncho in there for those afternoon showers that pop up out of nowhere in the summer.

>104 Storeetllr: I am almost tempted by some of your last flurry of book reviews, Mary. I have a full month of reading planned but I've taken note of both The Gods of Gotham and the J. D. Robb…a series that work well on my porch swing reading plans for summer.

Bye bye, Birdies! They never stay around long enough.

Ain't it the truth, Donna! I guess I don't really mind the inconsistent crazy weather for myself. It's the destruction to my poor baby plants that hurts my heart. I was actually crying last evening when this.



I think you'd also enjoy The Gods of Gotham series. I'm breathlessly awaiting the third in the trilogy from the library, being next in line for it, after Roberta's high praise of it and my enjoyment of the first two.

Oh my goodness, Mary, you do get every kind of weather in Colorado! I hope your baby plants are ok.

Hi, Judy! Thanks for asking. No, I lost some seedlings,but most of the bigger ones made it, tho they are a bit ragged. My sis got hailed on badly on her way to her car after her shift, to the point she is talking about moving, which would make me happy. VERY happy. I miss California so much.

>111 Storeetllr: Wait, what? Moving? :(

Yeah, we are sorta the hail capital and this year's been pretty bad weather wise.

Hi, Jo. No, we're not moving. That was just a knee-jerk reaction. I'm just so over the way the weather gets so nasty without warning.

Sure was gorgeous yesterday tho, and looks to be the same today!

These are the books I've read so far in June, along with my brief thoughts on most, for what it's worth:

92. Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Audio. Second in the excellent Timothy Wilde mystery series. And another of the genre novels that are so much more. These mysteries are set in NYC during the influx of Irish Catholics to the U.S. during Ireland's potato famine of the mid-1800s. In the first book of the series (The Gods of Gotham), this wave of immigrants caused a huge public outcry against the Irish immigrants (substitute "Hispanic" for "Irish" to get an idea of the nativists' rhetoric). In this second book, the mystery revolves around the "African" issue, where slave catchers could, with pretty much absolute impunity, snatch any black person ~ freed slave, runaway slave, or freeborn ~ off the street, hold them captive (and you can imagine the conditions in which they were held) and, after a cursory court hearing where only whites were allowed to testify, usually shipped them back to the South ~ for a hefty reward, of course. The mystery itself was good, the look at historical NYC fascinating, the characters fully developed, though for me the most compelling part of the novels is the social commentary. Highly recommended.

93. Katherine by Anya Seton. 4.5 stars. Audio. Historical fiction. The story of Katherine Swynford, John of Gaunt's mistress, back in the days of Plantagenet kings of England. Long but well-worth the time.

94. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly. 3.75 stars. 1st in Birdman mystery series. Bloody and gruesome from the first page to the very end, the story moves from NYC to Richmond to New Orleans, leaving a trail of brutally murdered bodies behind.

95. Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh. 4 stars. Audio. Latest Psi/Changling novel and maybe my fave. Zaira is an Arrow, damaged beyond hope for a "normal" life - or so she believes - but Aden, leader of the Arrows, hopes for more. When they are captured by a consortium of power hungry business persons, they depend on each other to escape and cind refuge with a small Changling pack where they begin to learn trust. Aside from a few more sexual scenes than I prefer (which weren't too graphic, most of the time), I really liked this story a lot.

96. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard. 4.5 stars. Audio. First in series. Genre bending at its best. Steampunk meets horror meets mystery meets magic with often funny (both senses of the word) results as Cabal bargains with Satan for the return of his soul and agrees to a despicable wager involving a circus of horrors and with the souls of 100 humans at stake. Highly recommended.

97. Johannes Cabal The Dectective by Jonathan L. Howard. 4 stars. Audio. Second in series finds Johannes Cabal, assisted by a vengeful Leonie Barrow from the first book, working to solve a murder aboard an airship after escaping death at the hands of a particularly unpleasant war-hungry general after bringing the dead leader of a warlike country resembling Germany back to life for one last speech that will lead the country into war. Things go downhill from there. Loving this twisted series.

98. The Hanged Man by P. N. Elrod. 4 stars. First in series. Alternate history steampunk gothic horror paranormal fantasy mystery. So much fun. Miss Alex Pendlebury is a psychic with Her Majesty's Psychic Service. Called to an apparent suicide to Read the death scene, she is horrified to discover she knows the hanged man and that he was definitely murdered. Reminiscent of The Parasol Protectorate series but even better, imo.

99. The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman. 4.5 stars. GN. Tim Hunter is an ordinary 13-year old boy - or at least so he thinks - till he meets up with four very strange men: John Constantine, Doctor Occult, Mr. E, and The Stranger, who take him on strange journeys along strange paths into the worlds of Magic. There he sees the beginning and end of time, and between meets many magical folk (including a few of my very favorite characters: Dream and Death, along with some not so fave, like the Tarot Deck and Titiana and even Baba Yaga). Fascinating story. Great illustrations too!

100. The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard. 4 stars. Audio, supplemented by print. Third in series. In this installment of the adventures of the manic, snarky, amoral Johannes Cabal, he is approached by three members of The Fear Institute who want him to guide them through the Dreamlands to locate and destroy the font of all irrational fears: The Phobic Animus. Twisted humor, strange and vengeful gods, helpful if gore-loving ghouls, Bob the Skull the reanimated skull of a long-dead powerful sorcerer ~ the usual mayhem and odd goings-on, in other words. Still enjoying this series very much.

Happy Friday, Mary! How are you? I see you are churning through the books, so that is good, right?

I NEED to get my meat-hooks on Seven for a Secret.

Never heard of that Gaiman.

Oooh, I love The Books of Magic, which had a crossover with John Constantine from one of my other favorite comic series. I'm glad you liked it, too!

Mary I have Johannes Cabal the Necromancer on the short stack.

Thank you, Mark. I just happened to see that Gaiman last time I was at the library and thought it looked good. I hadn't heard of it before either. And yes, assuming you enjoyed Gods of Gotham, you do need to get your hands on Seven for a Secret!

Hi, Amber! I did enjoy it, not least for the crossover, as well as the cameos.

I think you'll get a kick out of the Cabal books, Roberta. Its nowhere near a great literary work, but it's so much fun. And there are a few literary allusions that I enjoyed as well.

Glad you enjoyed Katherine , Mary. It was long wasn't it - I thought I would never be finished but then I missed it once I was through.

Thanks, Judy! I felt much the same as you about the length, but really, the good books can't be too long, can they? And Katherine was one of those.

So, here are a couple more I finished in the past couple of days, along with my thoughts on each, fwiw.

101. Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov. 3 stars. I admit to having loved the Foundation trilogy when I was younger, and have been thinking about a reread (for which thought I can thank Roberta), so I decided to start with one I had not read back then, and now I'm wondering if I really want to ruin my pleasurable memories by continuing with the rest of the series. I know Asimov is a scifi rockstar, and, as I said, I enjoyed his work long decades ago, but I found the writing in Prelude simplistic, the dialogue stilted and unrealistic, the characters unbelievable, some of the situations unreal, and some of the behavior of the main characters eye-rollingly stupid. However, I'm not sorry I read it, to learn to origins of psychohistory and how Seldon ~ an almost godlike figure in the world of Foundation ~ came to develop it.

102. The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye. 4.5 stars. Historical mystery. The third in the trilogy featuring Timothy Wilde, a copper star and first detective (investigator of past crimes as opposed to the rest of the coppers who are charged with preventing crime, though I have to say most of those are guilty of terrible crimes themselves) in mid-1800s NYC. No happily ever afters here, but I can't think of a more fitting ending to this wonderful saga. Except perhaps if Faye were to write some books featuring Tim's reprobate elder brother Val.

>121 Storeetllr: Mary I really enjoyed I, Robot and then this year I have read Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. I'm pretty much foundationed out. I agree with your assessment of the books being simplistic and unrealistic. I am going to go back to the Robot series and try Caves of Steel. I hope I enjoy them.

Whoohoo on finishing the Timothy Wilde series. What a great trilogy it has been.

Hi Mary -- wow, you are reading up a storm! Love your baby robins. Too sweet. Hope they're all off and living healthy lives!

Looking forward to seeing you later today.

It was great to see you tonight, Mary!! It's always such fun to get together.

I hope you didn't run into any more rain on your way home.

The Gods of Gotham - I need to write that down!

>122 luvamystery65: I was afraid of that, Roberta. Well, I have Foundation on audio from the library, so I guess I'll give it a go and see. I read all the robot stories back then too, and remember them fondly, but again am hesitant to reread them now for fear I'll dislike them. :( Yeah, the Wilde trilogy was worthy historical mystery!

>123 AMQS: Thanks! I don't know about the first clutch, but they're having a second clutch in the same nest! I'm pretty excited to have another bunch of robin babies around soon. It was great seeing you again, Anne, and am so glad you were able to make it to this meetup!

>124 Copperskye: It was a blast ~ always great hanging with you, Anne and Kris, and wonderful to meet Jim! Didn't he fit right in! :) Just wish Donna could have been here too. No, no rain on the way home. Hope the roads were dry for you too. And yes, you'll love Gods of Gotham, I'm sure of it!

So, here's a photo of our meetup at the Tattered Cover in Littleton. I'll post a copy on the Denver meetup thread too.


L-R: Joanne (coppers), Anne (AMQS), Jim (drneutron), Mary (Storeetllr) and Kris (augustau).

I adored the Foundation trilogy in my teens--one of the first books I ever purchased for myself! But when I read them again in the 90s, it's amazing how much isn't there, how thin the story is. It just isn't written in what we have now come to expect from a novel.

ETA Ooh, you added a meet-up photo while I was writing the above. Wonderful! Lucky Jim!

There we are! What a happy, bookish bunch! And I'm happily clutching my newest Laura Pritchett book, Red Lightning. :)

>128 Copperskye: Ha! Kris and I are the only ones who got away without buying anything. I wonder where Jim hid that doorstop of a paperback he picked up. I mean, 1,006 pages and about 4 inches thick. Seriously!

Hope you enjoy Red Lightning, Jo! It looked interesting.

>127 ronincats: Oh! Missed your post, Roni. Sorry. Yes, we had a great time, and I would say, rather, lucky us that Jim was able to join us! He's a very interesting fun guy! And turns out we have the same taste in quite a few books!

I've reread a few beloved books from my youth (or tried to anyway), and only a very few held up. I was particularly disappointed in Stranger in a Strange Land when I reread it a few years ago. Not even Dune was as wonderful as I remembered it when I reread it recently.

Oh, meet-up! Love it!

Wow! Great Meet-Up photo! Glad Jim made it to town. How cool.

Anne bought more books, but got her beat on page count. I picked up a copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It'll have to go in the rolley-bag on the way home - it probably weighs as much as my laptop!

And thanks to Mary for setting up our time together!

What a great picture. So nice to "see" my Colorado friends. I would have loved being there! And Wow! Our leader Jim was there! How I would love to meet him to thank him in person for managing this wonderful group on LT. And I'm glad Kris was there. I hope we can convince her to start a thread someday.

>127 ronincats: What a lovely looking bookshop - did you splurge?

>131 scaifea: It was so much fun, Amber!

>132 msf59: Cool is a good word for it, Mark. Excellently cool.

>133 drneutron: and >134 drneutron: So glad you were able to get together with us, Jim! You may not be enjoying all the travel you have to do, but I for one am glad that it brought you to our neck of the woods and hope you make it back again soon! Don't hurt your back lugging that book around, hear?

>135 Donna828: We missed you, Donna! We told Jim that you come out about 4 times a year for our meetups, and coincidentally get see your granddaughter Hope during your trips. ;-D

>136 charl08: I didn't splurge, Charlotte, but Anne, Joanne and Jim sure made up for it! The bookstore is one of the Tattered Cover locations. TC is our independent bookstore here in the Denver area. I think there are three locations, plus one at Union Train Station and at least one at Denver International Airport.

So, I sometimes request books from Penguin Books' First to Read program. This month, I saw a couple that looked interesting, but this one especially. Anyone have any comments on Doig's fiction?

And, finally, I started listening to some podcasts (thanks, Mark) awhile back and just got around to trying The British History Podcast a couple of days ago. Been listening pretty much nonstop since (listened about 5 hours yesterday). I started with the recent ones, which talk about the 8th century, but then I decided to go back to the beginning. All I can say is I wish all history classes were taught like this. I've learned so much about British history before and during the Roman invasion that I hadn't known before, though I've read a lot about that time period. Fascinating!

Hi Mary, that's a great picture of the Denver meetup! As for Ivan Doig, I've read a couple of his books and I think I gave both of them 5 stars. I love his writing style - sparse, simple, yet he manages to convey a great deal of feeling. I would compare him to Kent Haruf in some ways as both authors write with a definite "western" viewpoint.

>138 Storeetllr: I've read a few of his books. My favorite of his novels (so far) is The Whistling Season. I recently read This House of Sky which is a memoir and tells of growing up in Montana. It is fabulous. Doig died just a few months ago.

Those podcasts sound pretty interesting!

Thanks for the Doig reccie, Judy. I think I'm going to go ahead and request it.

I was thinking about you when I saw the Doig, Joanne. Are you going to request it?

Yes, the podcast is pretty addictive so far. I haven't done any reading for two days. I'm up to just before the Anglo-Saxon invasion. I must stop and finish my library books before they're due back but I can't seem to find the fortitude. Weird.

Nice meet up photo, Mary!

Thanks, Darryl! It was another fun meetup made even more so than usual by Jim's presence. You think you'll ever get out this way?

Lovely photo of the meet-up. I hope to stop by again some day to see all of you Denver LTers. It was fun.

It would be great to see you again, Reba! I may be traveling to Los Angeles this fall and will try to get down to SD while I'm in Cali. If I do get out your way, I'll be sure to give you and Roni a heads up so we can, I hope, make a plan to meetup.

My thoughts, for what they're worth, on the last few books I've read:

103. The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard. 4.75 stars. Audio. Fourth in series. Best of the series so far, just misses a 5 by a hairs breadth, and that's an impressive feat for steampunk. This brings back another female character from an earlier book in the series who has reason to hate Cabal, and features werewolves and zombies galore, a vampire, a demon, and another circus, this time run by a bunch of female aviators in trousers. What a fun series this has turned out to be!

104. Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh. 3.5 stars. Audio. The story of Brenna, wolf changling who in an earlier book had been rescued after having been abducted and mind-raped and tortured by Santano, and Judd, renegade Arrow. Good story without too much porno until close to the end.

105. Rock with Wings by Anne Hillerman. 3 stars. Audio. Laid back and interesting for the first 4/5 of the book, the ending was completely unrealistic and made me want to throw the audiobook across the room. Which would have been an interesting proposition. Anyway, Hillerman's daughter's first effort to continue her dad's wonderful series was good; the second, not so much.

Nice meet-up picture. Thanks for sharing.

Good comments on your recent reading. I keep thinking I should try some steampunk, and I have the first Anne Hillerman book around somewhere. Good to know it's worthwhile. Maybe I'll skip the second one.

>146 Storeetllr: That would be great Mary. I hope it's late fall though because I don't expect to be back before late October.

Glad you enjoyed it, Beth! We sure did love meeting up with Jim.

If you haven't read steampunk yet, The Cabal series might be a bit much to start with, though maybe not. I think my first steampunk was either Leviathan, the first book in a really great YA series, or Soulless. On the other hand, don't let me stop you from starting with a real killer of a steampunk-ish book.

On the Hillerman book, someone else might not find the climactic scene quite so jarring, so don't let me put you off if you enjoy Spider Woman's Daughter, and the first 4/5 of the book is pretty good, so...

Hi, Reba! That's right ~ you're at Chautauqua for the summer! Have fun! Anyway, for a possible meetup, I'll keep that in mind. My SoCal girlfriend asked if I could come for Thanksgiving and stay through Christmas. *lol* We'll see ~ she might not be able to stand having me that long, especially if I bring Nickel along, which I'd have to do if I went away for longer than a week.

Great review of The Brothers Cabal! I really enjoyed the first three books in the series but haven't gotten around to placing a hold with the library for this one. I really need to remedy that oversight on my part.

Thanks, Lori! I really enjoyed The Brothers Cabal and hope you do too. And now I can't wait till the next one comes out. Are you reading them in print? I'm loving the audiobooks!

Okay, I'm P. O.ed. I was given the first Johannes Cabal book by my LT Santa. Books 3 & 4 are at the library, but do they have book 2 (or 1)? NO!! And I don't really want to buy the second one as I don't think I will keep this series after I read it.

That does suck, Roni. Have you tried finding it thru Overdrive or Hoopla? And you might be surprised. I'm thinking a reread is definitely in my future someday.

ETA wtf is wrong with libraries that do that? Infuriating.

>153 ronincats: Roni I have a copy, but I haven't read it yet. I'll PM you.

>152 Storeetllr: - The first two books in the series I listened to the audiobooks - such fun! My local library didn't have The Fear Institute as an audio read so I had to settle for reading it. Luckily, I already had Johannes' clipped, disdainful snobbery voice in my mind so I was still able to 'audioize' - as opposed to 'visualize' - his verbal digs and comments. ;-)

>153 ronincats: - Joining you in being miffed your library does not have book two in the series. If your library is like my library, they may have and book two at some point in their catalogue but is now missing or damaged and they haven't bothered to replace it. Of course, that is assuming that they have/had book one. I cannot imagine starting to carry a series in mid-stream.

That's great, Lori. I've had to do that with series when the library has all but a few of the books on audio. And why do libraries do that anyway? It's almost as maddening as not carrying all the books in a series, like Roni is dealing with.

I'm a huge proponent of e-audios from Overdrive and Hoopla. So much easier than dealing with actual CDs borrowed from the library. I've also bought some e-audios from Audible when they haven't been available anywhere else.

>157 Storeetllr: And why do libraries do that anyway?

It's not always the library's fault. Sometimes they are stolen or returned unusable.

Good point! But don't patrons have to pay for replacements if books are lost or damaged? I know I lost a book many years ago and had to pay a fee in addition to the late fine. Of course, if the patron never shows up again, there's no way to collect either fee or fine. (Where are the library police when you need them?)

Just discovered a wonderful new (to me) historical mystery thriller series based on true life events and people:

106. Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell. 4 stars. eBook. First in Thomas De Quincey historical mystery thrillers. Set in Victorian London in the mid 1800s, someone is committing copycat serial murders, and De Quincey aka the infamous Opium Eater is somehow involved. Excellent start to the series, based on true events and featuring real historic persons and with such depth of detail it's like being there.

107. Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell. 4 stars. Second in Thomas De Quincey historical mystery thriller series. Set in Victorian London about 8 weeks after the events in Murder as a Fine Art, the Opium Eater and his daughter, along with their police detective allies, race to discover the identity of the man (or men) who appear to intend to assassinate the queen.

108. The Opium Eater by David Morrell. 3.5 stars. Short story set in the same world as the Thomas De Quincey historical mystery thrillers. De Quincey tells the sad story of how a poor couple died in a winter storm and the aftermath of those deaths, including how those deaths caused a ripple effect, and how his own life was changed with the death of the poet Wordsworth's little daughter. Interesting background, all based on true events.

The last time I completed a library survey, I mentioned how annoying it is that they cull earlier books in series, making it difficult for patrons to start a long running series. It's a pet peeve of mine, especially when the amount of books in the stacks at the libraries I frequent seem to be shrinking all the time. It seems like there's plenty of space.

Good for you discovering a new series!

I haven't noticed that as much, Jo, tho it is frustrating when older books aren't available anymore. I do a lot of my borrowing thru online methods so I probably wouldn't be as aware of that. What annoys me is when a half dozen copies of a book by a famous author are sitting unread on the shelves of one library but there's only one copy of a hot book by a less famous author and that one's only available by reserving it. I know it's not possible to know every book that's going to be in demand, just that it's annoying for me.

Could some of the reason be lack of adequate funds? So that libraries have to depend on used book sales more? And so they can't take the chance on less well-known authors' books?

Ooooohhhh..... the De Quincey series does sound like a good one! I don't know if I should be happy that my local library only has the first book in the series, or if I should be pouting about it. The last thing I need right now is another series to suck me in.

Mary - The De Quincey series sounds great. I love the library discussion. It IS annoying when earlier books in a series are not available; it seems that the only early series books the library keeps are the mega best sellers.

Well, as the fiction purchaser at my small town library, I have a few ways of dealing with series. I like to have them all too, and especially for short series, I rely on patrons to tell me when one or two are missing and "fill in the blanks" so to speak.

Why might we not have a book? Maybe the last person buying them missed some when they came out, but now the series is popular and we have to go back and purchase backlist titles. Maybe one went missing or stolen and no one told me when they deleted it. Maybe they did, but it's out of print and I can't replace it.

So there's a lot of things that go into deciding about series... When I go through and weed I try to be mindful of what's in a series, and how many of them do we own? Have some circulated enough that I should give another try to the ones languishing on the shelves, or should I delete the whole bunch? Does it matter if they're read in order or not (for Discworld, for example, I only keep a few... the older titles would never go out, and usually just a couple of years after a new book comes out, it doesn't go out again - my town population is not full of fantasy readers). Or - heaven forbid, but sometimes with long ones I must - should I keep just the first couple and the most current, and have people request the rest because of shelf space?

I also don't know every series out there, so sometimes I make mistakes either in deleting a book or in suddenly purchasing a book later in a series. I did this... well, actually I did this on purpose with Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger. It got some great reviews, I think it was on the bestseller list briefly... and it was the 14th in a series. Every couple of months, I've been adding a book or two to my purchases to "fill in," but at the moment I think I only have the first four and the 14th.

As far as new books, my library purchases multiple copies of bestsellers to try to keep up with demand (we had five copies of All the Light We Cannot See and when it was put on the high school reading list this summer we purchased 10 more - not that you would know it, because they're still all checked out), as well as mid-list authors. Aside from the multiple copies, this means something like 55 new hardcover fiction titles a month give or take, and mileage may vary for libraries with different size budgets.

Apologies if that was overly long :)

Just dropping by to say, Hi Mary and I'm trying not to look at the new series you are warbling about although I am a big sucker for historical mysteries!

>163 lkernagh: I think you'll enjoy the De Quincey mysteries, Lori. I think it's better to have the first in the series available so you'll know if you like it before you spend any time trying to find a copy of it. If you see what I mean.

>164 BLBera: I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it, Beth. As far as the library problem discussion goes, I love the library and am 100% sure that most of us LTers do too, even if occasionally we get a bit frustrated over not finding the book we are looking for.

>165 bell7: >166 bell7: No, that was perfect, Mary! It's good to know "straight from the librarian's mouth" some reasons a series might not be complete or a book by a lesser known author might be understocked, not that I (or any of us) truly thought librarians were doing it just to make us crazy. :) Joanne, Roni and I at least all live in really big cities with a lot of branches, tho, and maybe we are spoiled but I know I kind of expect to find complete series available at least to put on reserve.

>167 DeltaQueen50: You really must try the series, Judy! I really think you'd love it!

>165 bell7: Thanks for jumping in there, Mary! It's good to hear from an insider!

My library has a copy, so I added it to my wishlist. It was nice to hear from a librarian; I imagine it is a challenge to decide what to keep and what to discard.

Glad to know I didn't put my foot in my mouth ;) And no, I didn't take it to mean that you thought the librarians were just trying to make you crazy - I will say, though, it never hurts to mention a title in a series is "missing" and see if they can order it.

I'm fortunate enough to live in an area where we have a lot of small libraries and a couple of larger city libraries all a part of the same consortia, so I am spoiled in being able to get books from other libraries. Weeding/collection development is always a challenge, but it's one I relish and I take great pride in my fiction collection. :)

>169 Copperskye: >171 bell7: What Joanne said!

>170 BLBera: Yay!

>171 bell7: Arapaho County is part of a consortium of libraries too. I've borrowed books from libraries as far away as Wyoming! I think it's a great idea to pool resources like that.

>144 Storeetllr: I think the best chance of me coming to Denver would be if there is a pediatric conference there, which is moderately likely.

>172 Storeetllr: I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, Darryl! I know I've had a couple of visitors who were attending conferences in their disciplines at the Boulder campus, which seems to have a lot of that kind of thing going on. We love Boulder!

Wow! July already! How quickly the year is passing. As usual, at my time of life anyway.

So, here are my favorites from May and June:

May/June Favorites

My May/June favorites are:

The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Johannes Cabal, Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

Other great reads from May and June:

Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (reread)
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Katherine by Anya Seton
Seven for a Secret and The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye
Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman (GN)
The Brothers Cabal by Jonathan L. Howard

Honorable Mentions:

Murder as a Fine Art and Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell

I read 22 books in May and 17 in June, for a total of 39 books. This includes:

7 historical mysteries
8 mysteries
19 fantasies (paranormal, horror, urban, steampunk)
1 historical fiction
1 literary fiction
2 science fiction
1 short story historical mystery

I know I haven't reached 200+ posts yet, but I started a new Summertime thread and hope you'll pop over and say hey!