countrylife's 2016 Reading Log

Reading through a lifetime - - - Readers in blue.
The young girl: Jeune Fille Lisant by Charles-Louis Muller (1815-1892)
The maiden: The Blue Dress by Catherine B. Gulley (1908-1962)
The mature woman: Portrait de Madame Nonnotte by Donat Nonotte (1708-1785)

Hello and welcome to any who happen upon my thread. My name is Cindy and I am a middle-aged reader from the midwest part of the States. Married for 35 years, grandmother to one, and mother of five – one an E.R. doc, one an IT professional, one recent college grad, one in college, and one out in the world, finding her way – four voracious readers and one middling. BC, I was an executive secretary. I've been a member of LT for almost nine years; this is my sixth year with this group.

My reading taste runs to historical fiction, biographies and memoirs, though between the book bullets zinging throughout this lively bunch, and Madeline's TIOLIs, my reading horizons (and Mt. Toobie) have greatly expanded.

About my '75 Books Challenge for 2015' Reading List:

This is my main reading list; anything read for other challenges will be included and tallied up here. Ratings are purely arbitrary, and subject to change. I seldom return to a post to change a rating after further thought has prompted me to do so in my catalog. Discrepancies abound!

My Current Challenges in Other Groups:

2016 Category Challenge: The group and my thread.
Reading Through Time: The group and my thread.

My 2015 Book Title Meme:
Using titles from books read in 2015.

Describe yourself: Something Special
Describe how you feel: Restless
Describe where you currently live: Faithful Place
If you could go anywhere, where would you go? : Summer House
Your favorite form of transportation: Long Ships
Your best friend is: Listening Woman
You and your friends are: Among the Mad
Your favorite food is: Five Quarters of the Orange
What's the Weather Like: A Fine Summer’s Day
You fear: Death Without Company
What is the best advice you have to give: The Way Home
Thought for the Day: We are All Welcome Here
How I would like to die: Crossing to Safety
My Soul's Present Condition: Benediction

2015 Summation:

My Five-Star Reads from 2015, in order of how much I enjoyed them:

The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell

In the 75 Group this year, I plan to participate in:

Madeline's TIOLIs.
Chatterbox's Nonfiction Challenge.
The Tony Hillerman/Craig Johnson Western Mystery Project.
And the three Author Challenges - Canadian, British and American.

AMERICAN AUTHORS 2016

January: Anne Tyler
..... Searching for Caleb (3 stars) - 1/7
February: Richard Russo
..... Empire Falls (4) - 2/1
March: Jane Smiley
..... Private Life (3.5) - 3/11
April: Poetry Month
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver (4) - 4/14
May: Ivan Doig
..... This House of Sky (4.5) - 5/5
June: Annie Proulx
..... Close Range (3) - 6/17
July: John Steinbeck
..... Grapes of Wrath (4) - 7/3
August: Joyce Carol Oates
..... The Truth Teller (2.5) - 8/4
September: John Irving
..... The Avenue of Mysteries (1) - 11/18
October: Michael Chabon
..... Gentlemen of the Road (4) - 10/3
November: Annie Dillard
..... The Writing Life (1.5) - 11/5
December: Don DeLillo
..... Zero K (2) -12/11

Average 3.08

BRITISH AUTHORS 2016

Planning to read one of each month’s selected authors.

January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill (4) - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill (4) - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth (4.5) - 1/21
February: AGATHA CHRISTIE or WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
..... Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie (3) - 2/10
March: ALI SMITH or THOMAS HARDY
..... The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy (4) - 3/6
April: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
..... Adam Bede, George Eliot (5) - 4/5
May: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD
..... Old Filth, Jane Gardam (4) - 5/26
June: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD
..... Typhoon, Joseph Conrad (3) - 6/1
July: BERNICE RUBENS or H.G. WELLS
..... The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells (3) - 7/15
August: DIANA WYNNE JONES or IAN McEWAN
..... Atonement, Ian McEwan (3.5) - 8/1
September: DORIS LESSING or LAURIE LEE
..... As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee (3.5) - 12/21
October: KATE ATKINSON or WILLIAM GOLDING
..... Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (3.5) - 10/20
November: REBECCA WEST or LEN DEIGHTON
..... The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West (5) - 11/9
December: West Yorkshire authors
..... Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (3) - 12/8

3.79 average. The highest average rating for the books I read of the three author challenges in which I participated.

CANADIAN AUTHORS 2016

Planning to read one of each month’s selected authors.

January: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
..... Ru, Kim Thúy (3.5) - 1/29
February: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock
..... Coventry, Helen Humphreys (4) - 2/16
..... The Lost Garden, Helen Humphreys (3.5) - 2/19
March: Farley Mowat or Anita Rau Badami
..... Tamarind Woman, Anita Rau Badami (3.5)- 3/30
April: Margaret Atwood or Michael Crummey
..... Galore, Michael Crummey (3.5) - 4/4
May: Michel Tremblay or Emily St. John Mandel
..... Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (4) - 5/16
June: Timothy Findley or Joseph Boyden
..... The Orenda, Joseph Boyden (5) - 6/14
July: LM Montgomery or Pierre Berton
..... Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery (3.5) - 7/25
August: Mordechai Richler or Gabrielle Roy
..... The Tin Flute, Gabrielle Roy (3.5) - 8/28
September: Miriam Toews or Dany Laferrière
..... Irma Voth, Miriam Toews (3) - 12/6
October: Lawrence Hill or Jane Urquhart
..... Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill (4.5) - 10/10
November: Michael Ondaatje or Margaret Laurence
..... The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence (4) - 11/30
December: Alice Munro or Rawi Hage
..... Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro (3) - 12/4

3.73 average rating

Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016

January - Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman - 1/25
February - Hell is Empty, Craig Johnson - 2/12
March - A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman - 4/13
April - As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson - 4/1
May - Talking God, Tony Hillerman - 5/7
June - A Serpent's Tooth, Craig Johnson - 6/9
July - Coyote Waits, Tony Hillerman - 7/8
August - Any Other Name (finally came in from the library), Craig Johnson - 10/24
September - Sacred Clowns, Tony Hillerman - 9/5
October - Dry Bones, Craig Johnson - 10/27
November - The Fallen Man, Tony Hillerman - 11/1
. . . . An Obvious Fact, Craig Johnson - 11/13
December - Wait For Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories, Craig Johnson - 12/3

COMPLETED.

Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge

January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
..... Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman (memoir) - 1/5
..... A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey Ward (biography) - 1/14
February: History
..... A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor - 2/26
March: Travel
..... Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks (world visits to her childhood penpals) - 3/9
..... Dead Wake, Erik Larson (last crossing of the Lusitania) - 3/14
..... Thunderstruck, Erik Larson (Marconi's travels to establish wireless telegraphy) - 3/16
April: Religion & Spirituality
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver - 4/14
May: The Arts
..... Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan (photographic work of Edward Curtis on North American Indians) - 5/25
June: Natural History/Environment/Health
..... The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson (19th century London cholera epidemic) – 6/15
July: Current Affairs
..... none read
August: Science and Technology
..... Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing, Laura J. Snyder - 8/31
September: Philosophy/History of Ideas
..... none read
October: Politics/Economics & Business/Commentary
..... none read
November: Essays
..... The Writing Life, Annie Dillard - 11/5
December: Quirky/Who Knew?
..... none read

Finished 8 of 12.

Great to see you back for 2016, Cindy and so well organised! Of course I couldn't resist a little beam to see the BAC included above. xx

Welcome back!

Hi Cindy! I have you starred and I'm ready to follow along!

Great to see you back for another year with the group, Cindy. Love your meme answers and great organization to your 2016 reading!

Hi Cindy! You have quite ambitious plans on all those challenges. I'm just going to participate in one or two challenge reads per month so I can concentrate on books I want to read this year.

Happy new year, Cindy! Just seeing all those challenges makes me a little dizzy. You're ambitious! Good luck with the challenges and have fun reading!

Hi Cindy! Wow, love those challenges. I'm sorely tempted by Chatterbox's Non-Fiction challenge. We'll see. I'll be looking forward to following your thread in 2016.

The ladies in blue are so lovely. Thank you for reminding us that reading is a lifelong endeavor. Have a wonderful new year of doing all the things you love.

>18 Donna828: Donna, your post makes me wish we had an "up arrow" to express likes. Why don't we?

Have a wonderful bookfilled 2016, Cindy.

Greetings to all my visitors! And a happy new year of reading to us all!

JANUARY

01. Stranger Within the Gates , Grace Livingston Hill, 2.5 stars - 1/1
TIOLI #17 : first line of a book answers the question: 'When did it happen?' (They were sitting at the breakfast table when the mail was brought in, Mary Garland and her children.)
BingoDOG: 17. published before you were born (1939)
NOTES:
To begin the year with a comfort read.
College boy brings the wrong kind of girl home for Christmas.

02. Nefertiti, Michelle Moran, 4.5 stars – 1/1
TIOLI #6: 6: written by an American author but set primarily anywhere other than America (Egypt)
Woman BingoUP: 24. About a female ruler.
Reading Through Time: Month: Women in Command
NOTES:
Biographical fiction. I was never interested in the Egyptian royalty and, though the names were familiar, their stories were quite vague in my mind. Ms. Moran brought Nefertiti brilliantly to life. She uses a sister of Nefertiti's to narrate the story. I thought her story, characters and setting very well done.

03. This is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, Jonathan Evison, 4.5 stars – 1/2
TIOLI #21: tea mentioned somewhere in the text (p.13,121,157)
BingoDOG: 2. senior citizen as the protagonist
NOTES:
Elderly widow learns much about her husband and children during an Alaskan cruise.
”Like a ball bearing, your path is smoother without friction.”

04. The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill, 4 stars – 1/4
TIOLI #1: ISBN has at least one number in its correct numeric position (9781585679287)
Authors Challenges: British: Susan Hill or Barry Unsworth
Woman BingoUP: 2. female author who was over 60 years of age when the book was first published. (63 y.o.)
NOTES:
The pure in heart – a nine year-old boy is abducted; a 26 year-old severely disabled woman dies.
Second in Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series. Though I liked her first installment, The Various Haunts of Men, slightly better, this was a worthy follow-up, with the characters still developing and true to their selves.

05. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquis, 3 stars – 1/5
TIOLI # 1: ISBN has at least one number in its correct numeric position (matched read)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: South America (Colombia)
BingoDOG: 20. in translation (Spanish)
NOTES:
Spurned lover embraces sex – much, much sex – while still fixating on the object of his love for over half a century.

06. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman, 4 stars – 1/5
TIOLI #17 : first line of a book answers the question: 'When did it happen?' (A few months ago, my husband and I decided to mix our books together.)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 0-library (028)
BingoDOG: 8. autobiography or memoir
Woman BingoUP: 19. autobiography, memoir, or correspondence by a woman.
NOTES:
This lady sure has a way with words. Memoir/essays on her reading and book life.

07. Searching for Caleb, Anne Tyler, 3 stars – 1/7
TIOLI #1: ISBN has at least one number in its correct numeric position (9780307788382)
Authors Challenges: American: Anne Tyler
Woman BingoUP: 13. Any book written by or about a woman.
NOTES:
I'm still not a fan of Anne Tyler. Gave this one a 3. My only other Tyler read was A Spool of Blue Thread, which was a barely 3.5 for me. With all the other authors available, I'm done with this one.

08. Career of Evil, Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling), 4 stars – 1/8
TIOLI # 18: a book with something bad in the title (evil)
Woman BingoUP: 17. by a woman published less than 10 years ago (2015)
NOTES:
Third in the Cormoran Strike mystery series. Definitely not a cozy. Strike’s sidekick, Robin, receives a box containing a severed leg with the implication that this is a project of revenge against Strike. He deduces three potential perpetrators from his past associations, and they set out to discover which is the killer. More of Robin’s backstory is revealed in this book, which is helpful to understanding her. More of Robin’s relationship with her fiancée, too, which is helpful to getting fed-up with that piece of the story line. Otherwise, an exciting whodunit.

09. The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill, 4 stars – 1/9
TIOLI # 13: a Book where D or U starts a word in the title or an initial of the Author's name
Authors Challenges: British: Susan Hill or Barry Unsworth
NOTES:
Getting to know Simon Serrailler is part of the fun of this series. As a detective in a family of doctors, he is sort of a black sheep to his father. I’m enjoying Susan Hill’s portrayal of the family dynamics, within the story of the mystery.

10. The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel, 4 stars – 1/13
TIOLI #1: ISBN has at least one number in its correct numeric position (9780307767615)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Prehistory
Woman BingoUP: 7. female author made into a movie.
BingoDOG: 22. coming of age story
NOTES:
I never like reading in the prehistory time period because I’ve hated every book I’ve taken up. Here is an exception – I really liked this book. Notwithstanding the evolution mumbo-jumbo about eternal retained memories, it was still a 4 star book for me. Sense of place!!! Character development! Story! I’m going to continue the series for the next two months in this quarter’s Reading Through Time of prehistory. Thanks for proving me wrong, Ms. Auel.

11. A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey C. Ward, 3.5 stars – 1/14
TIOLI #13: a Book where D or U starts a word in the title or an initial of the Author's name
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: BAM (Biography, Autobiography, Memoir) – Biography
NOTES:
The title is a great summary of this book. The swindler was Ferdinand Ward. The president swindled was Ulysses S. Grant. The crash came in 1884. Son of poor missionaries, Ward cared for nothing but money and lying was his method to obtain it. His plan was to marry a rich woman and use her money to further his schemes. Time and again he was found out before it was too late for the lady. Finally, it worked on one family; they married, to her family’s eternal regret. Shortly thereafter, her father died, and Ward got his hands on his wife’s portion of the inheritance and then his mother-in-law’s portion. With the help of a willing (at first) and then ignorant bank president, his little investment company made large profits for their investors. However, there were no investments. It was a Ponzi scheme to rake in more gullible investors. Finally, his bad checks brought down the bank, the banker, his own firm, and all the people who hadn’t gotten out in time, including Grant. As he admitted in his trial, he was robbing Peter to pay Paul. He got his wife to give him her family jewels in order to live a cushy life while in prison. When she died she left the dregs of her estate which hadn’t already been plundered to their son in trust. When he got out, he kidnapped his own son for the trust money. Ward was a despicable narcissist, ruining every life he touched.

The author is Ward’s great-grandson. He worked from letters and court transcripts and did a remarkable job of painting his forbear’s character with his own words.

12. The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra, 5 stars – 1/20
TIOLI # 5: from a list of best or notable books of 2015 (NYTimes Notable Book of the Year)
BingoDOG: 21. focus on art
NOTES:
For someone like me, who has little knowledge of life in Russia during some of their hard times, this was a very interesting book. “Stories”, it says. Yet links thread through this book like tape from a cassette through a player. Linked through relationships, through one particular painting, through choices, and then those choices repeated by others. The stories start in 1937, and shoot back and forth through time – 2003, 2000, 2010, 1999, 2001, and 2011, and through location – Siberia, Chechnya, St. Petersburg. The writing is good, the pacing perfect, the humor dry, the stories grim.

I listened to the audiobook version, which was read by three narrators – Mark Bramhall, Beata Pozniak, and Rustam Kasymov. They did a great job, and it gave me a more realistic sense of place, than struggling through names and places that I find hard to pronounce.

I was very taken with this book. For a good review, go to Chicago Tribune.

13. The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth, 4.5 stars – 1/21
TIOLI #13: a Book where D or U starts a word in the title or an initial of the Author's name
Authors Challenges: British: Susan Hill or Barry Unsworth
NOTES:
Palermo, Italy, a city where many races and creeds live harmoniously side by side in the 12th century. But. The humiliation of the Franks in the second crusade left bad feelings for many, some of whom try to avenge themselves on Moslems in this peaceful city, ruled by a Norman King. Palace intrigue and power struggles between the pope and the king, between Christendom and Islam, threaten to disrupt the peace.

The story is told through the character of Thurstan Beauchamp, a young Norman who works under a highly respected Moslem Lord in one of the palace departments. Through Thurstan, we see what life was like in the mid-twelfth century. Very good historical fiction.

14. Hens and Chickens, Jennifer Wixson, 2 stars – 1/23
TIOLI #10: an Early Reviewer/Member Giveaway/Santa Thing book you received prior to January 2015 (Aug 2012 ER)
NOTES:
I wanted to like it. I adore gentle country stories. This one, though, didn't do it for me. Too cutesy philosophical. Not enough "story". I'm sorry to say so, but it was a bit of a slog to get through.

15. Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman, 4 stars – 1/25
TIOLI #16 : a book as part of a group read of either the author or the title (Western Reading Project 75ers)
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

16. The Accidental Empress, Allison Pataki, 4 stars – 1/27
TIOLI # 11: a novel about real events, about which at least one other novel has been written (Imperial Waltz by William S. Abrahams)
Reading Through Time: Month: Women in Command
Woman BingoUP: 10. By or about women set in Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. (Austria)

17. Ru, Kim Thúy, 3.5 stars – 1/29
TIOLI #1: ISBN has at least one number in its correct numeric position (matched read)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
BingoDOG: 1. with less than 200 pages

18. Patty Gray’s Journey, Caroline Wells Healey Dall, 1 star – 1/30/15
Woman BingoUP: 1. By a New-to-you" female author (Patty Gray’s Journey-1/30)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Unique (only copy on LT)
Notes:
Didactic fiction. Unitarian lady telling the little children about her journey to Baltimore where there are “colored children”.

”I went, because I had long loved the colored people, and I was anxious to see what they were doing, and what they most needed. I saw everything but the Sunny South.” p.v

A lot of preaching-down-to, disguised in the voice of a little girl, Patty Gray, who is so good that she asks for a whipping when she knows she’s been bad. On the other hand, though, the descriptions of houses and yards were interesting.

Hi Cindy - I've put together the ANZAC challenge so you're welcome to take a look at the Jan/Feb thread - http://www.librarything.com/topic/211011

Wow! You're off to a great start!

I like your taste in books! I have been meaning to go back to Ex Libris for a re-read, one of these days....

Love in the Time of Cholera, I probably read around the same time as Ex Libris. I adore magical realism, but tend to prefer the women authors, like Isabel Allende, over GGM.

Cindy, you are off and running! What a beginning line-up to start off your reading year. The Evison book is already on my radar. Nefertiti also looks enticing. I've read several of the others; I liked the Marquis book more than you did! I think he might be an acquired taste.

Look at you go with your Jan TIOLI reading!

Good to see that you are again adding the BAC to your repertoire of splendid reading, Cindy. xx

JANUARY READING RECAP

Books read: 18
Breakdown: audio books-8, eBooks-4, paper-6
Average rating: 3.6
Pages read: 6,336
Total shared TIOLIS: 4



Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
January: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
..... Ru, Kim Thúy – 1/29

BRITISH AUTHORS
January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth - 1/21

AMERICAN AUTHORS
January: Anne Tyler
..... Searching for Caleb - 1/7



Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
January - Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman - 1/25



Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
..... Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman (Memoir) - 1/5
..... A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey Ward (Biography) - 1/14

Favorite Book from JANUARY
The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra

Great month of reading, Cindy!

Wow! An impressive amount of reading as always. You did far, far, far better than I did on the challenges.

>29 countrylife: You did really well in January -- 18 books is impressive!

Love the layout of your thread, Cindy - the more facts and figures the better for me of course.

18 books in January is a more than solid start.

FEBRUARY

19. Empire Falls , Richard Russo, 4 stars - 2/1
Audiobook, audio-4.5 stars
TIOLI #5: a word in title can be an action (fall)
Authors Challenges: American: Richard Russo
NOTES:

”Some sins trail their own penance.” (Speaking of divorce.)

I started this book two and a half years ago, getting midway through before it went back to the library. I’d forgotten about it until Richard Russo showed up as the American Author for this month. So well-drawn were the characters and so memorable the story line, that when I picked it up again, the story simply continued its flow right along from where I left off.

This is a slice of small town life, an economically depressed small town, whose main industry is now closed. Miles Roby is just getting by running a restaurant owned by the widow of the town bigwig. His relationships with family, customers, neighbors, school and church are the stuff of real life and each of those characters and their involvements with each other are perfectly nuanced. Empire Falls is mostly character driven and Richard Russo is a wonderful driver.

.

20. The Valley of Horses, Jean M. Auel, 3.5 stars – 2/2
ebook
TIOLI #8: Animal, Bird or Reptile in Title
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Prehistory
Woman BingoUP: 8. About a female critter (alien, animal, fantasy creature, mineral) – (horse)
NOTES:
This is the second in the Earth’s Children series. I was impressed with the first. The second started off well, but ended up way too steamy for me. Ways and means for living in the stone age was well researched and intriguingly interpreted into the novel. The descriptions of the sex scenes didn’t seem to fit, didn’t flow with the descriptions of life in the rest of novel. It was a disappointment, though I still intend to read the next book in the series to wrap up the prehistory time period for the Reading Through Time group challenge.

.

21. In the Unlikely Event, Judy Blume, 3.5 stars – 2/3
Audiobook, audio-4 stars
TIOLI #6: set in or on a means of conveyance
BingoDOG: 4. about an airplane flight
NOTES:
Historical fiction about the multiple plane crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the early 1950s. The plane crashes are the backdrop for this coming of age story. I generally like historical fiction, but this one didn’t resonate with me. I’m not sure why. It felt like the treatment of the characters was rather shallow. The two stories – the teenagers coming of age during that time and the stories of the crashes – seemed to fight against each other in the book.

.

22. News of the World, Paulette Jiles, 4 stars – 2/5
paper book
TIOLI # 13: a book in which the newspaper "The Times" is mentioned (p73,89,135)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Two/A Pair
NOTES:

A 72 year-old ex-soldier and a 10 year-old returned Indian captive on a Texas-sized adventure.

Captain Kidd read carefully and precisely. His eyeglasses were round and rimmed in gold over his deep eyes. He always laid his small gold hunting watch to one side of the podium to time his reading. He had the appearance of wisdom and age and authority which was why his readings were popular and the reason the dimes rang into the coffee can. When they read his handbill men abandoned the saloon, they slipped out of various unnamed establishments, they ran through the rain from their firelit home, they left the cattle circled and bedded beside the flooding Red to come and hear the news of the distant world. (page 60)

Captain Kidd makes his living by buying newspapers and then reading articles of news to citizens of small Texas towns. In the winter of 1870, after his reading in Wichita Falls, he accepts a charge from Britt Johnson to bring a returned Indian captive to her remaining relatives near San Antonio. And so begins their adventure. During a perilous four hundred mile journey through a landscape inhabited by ruffians loose from the recently-ended Civil War, skittish “law” men taking advantage of state-wide political unrest and lawlessness brought about by reconstruction, and roving bands of Comanche and Kiowa, and with no shared language, the two form a bond of necessity.

I did enjoy this tale, but do not think that it’s up to par with Ms. Jiles’ other books. Exploration of the characters was not as deep. In her previous books, the insertion of historical events and people flowed more smoothly along with the story; here it felt forced in, as if the story was not full enough to accept the intrusion.

The lack of quotation marks in the dialogue bothered me only in the very beginning.

Ms. Jiles’ writing, as always, captivates me – I just wish there had been more of it in this book. For instance, coming upon a burned-out homestead, the captain thinks,

”Here were memories, loves, deep heartstring notes like the place where he had been raised in Georgia. Here had been people whose dearest memories were the sound of a dipper dropped in the water bucket after taking a drink and the click of it as it hit bottom. The quiet of evening. The shade of the Devil’s trumpet vine over a window, scattered shadows gently hypnotic. The smell of a new calf, a long bar of sun falling into the back door over worn planks and every knot outlines. The familiar path to the barn walked for years by one’s father, grandfather, uncles, the way they called out Horses, horses. How they swung the bucket by the handle as they went at an easy walk down the path between the tree, between here and there, between babyhood and adulthood, between innocence and death, that worn path and the lifting of the heart as the horses called out to you, how you knew each by the sound of its voice in the long cool evening after a day of hard work. Your heart melted sweetly, it slowed, lost it edges. Horses, horses. All gone in the burning.” (p.170)

.

23. Season of Storms, Susanna Kearsley, 3.5 stars – 2/7
eboook
TIOLI #18: with a four-corner-letter-word on page 20 or 16 (ebook VIII p16, hone)
NOTES:
Written in the 1980s, but not published until 2001, this represents an early work by the author. Though not as full and nuanced as her later books, I still enjoyed this story of historical fiction.

Set in the 1980s, an actress from London is called to work at a private theatre on an estate in Italy. Though not related, the actress happens to have the same name as the woman who was mistress to the owner of the estate in the 1920s. To me, the interesting parts of the book were about the Fourth Crusade of 1204 and the role Venice played in the sack of Constantinople and the burning of her libraries.

”…looking at the rare and lovely items the Crusaders had carried out of Constantinople – ancient glass goblets with dainty gold rims; bowls and vases and chalices; censers and swords – all gleaming in the strong lights in their floor-to-ceiling glass displays. ‘Of course the great tragedy . . . is what they destroyed in the process of getting all this. So much went in the fires. The museums, the libraries – think of the manuscripts that must have been lost. Medical teachings and histories; plays…did you know . . .that Constantinople till then had a copy of every play by Euripedes, Sophocles…just think of it. Over a hundred plays by Sophocles alone. For fourteen centuries they’d managed to survive, and then –‘“

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24. Arthur and George, Julian Barnes, 3.5 stars – 2/7
Audiobook, audio-5 stars
TIOLI # 14: a "leap" in the title or text. It could be the actual word "leap" or leaping could be a key part of the book (leap-78,79,238,257,334)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Two/A Pair
Reading Through Time: Month: Author as Character
BingoDOG: 5. about a writer (fiction or nonfiction) (Arthur Conan Doyle, biographical fiction)
NOTES:
I thought it too long and rambling, but essentially enjoyed this biographical fiction of Arthur Conan Doyle and his efforts on behalf of George Edalji.

>34 countrylife: I'm confused by your rating of Empire Falls in the post. Your review sounds pretty positive, so where do 2.5 stars come from? Is it a typo, perhaps? That's a pretty low rating.

Cindy, You are really clipping along at a fast pace. Congratulations on reading so many books thus far this year.

>35 tymfos: : Thank you for noticing my mistake, Terri! (Now fixed.) I got it right on my spreadsheet and on my copy of the book (4 stars!), but how I could make a 4 into a 2.5 typo is beyond me!

>36 Whisper1: : Thansk, Linda! I enjoyed reading about your recent meet-up.

25. My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout, 4 stars – 2/10
Audiobook, audio-4.5 stars
TIOLI #3: a work of fiction that has reached number one on NY Times bestseller list during the 2010s (January 2016)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Two/A Pair (mother and daughter)

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26. Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie, 3 stars – 2/10
TIOLI #12: written at least 50 years ago (1934)
Authors Challenges: British: Agatha Christie or William Dalrymple
Woman BingoUP: 14. Mystery by a female author from the Golden Age of Dectective Fiction (1920's & 1930's)

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27. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, 4 stars - 2/11
TIOLI #5: a word in title can be an action (run)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Central Asia (Afghanistan)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 01-Philosophy (DDC-145)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Two/A Pair (two boys/friends)
BingoDOG: 19. debut book

NOTES:

I'm late to the party of people who loved The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Well, maybe not "loved", but I liked it enough to give it 4 stars. I thought it was very well written for a debut book, and the story held my attention. He evoked a strong sense of place, especially in the Afghanistan portions of the book, and engagement with the characters.

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28. Hell Is Empty, Craig Johnson, 4 stars – 2/12
TIOLI #11: part of a series that has been (or is about to be) adapted into a television show
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project
NOTES:
I also lack the background of Dante's Inferno, but wondered, too, whether there was a parallel.

Loved “the book lists that the extended members of the Absaroka County Sheriff’s Department made up for Saizarbitoria”, which Johnson listed in the appendix. The choices so well fit their characters. I also thought it was funny that, with each person to have made a 10-item list, Ferg had less, Ruby and Dorothy each had exactly 10, and everyone else listed more. That also followed their personalities.

The best thing about Craig Johnson’s writing, for me, is still his dry wit.

”I couldn’t die – I had too many women who would kill me.”

“I thought about the cell phone and what the chances were that it still had battery power – Slim to None: The Walt Longmire Story.”

“I was lying on my steamer chair swaddled in my battered sheepskin coat, the tactical jacket I’d grown fond of, and a few quilts, despite the direct rays of sunshine cascading down. The only part of me that was free to move was my right arm, which I was exercising by doing twelve-ounce curls in an attempt to balance my electrolytes. Cady thought I was balancing my electrolytes too much and wouldn’t allow me to have a cooler on the deck anymore. . . “

The more I read, the more I enjoy this series.

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29. Blackout, David Rosenfelt, 4 stars – 2/14
TIOLI #2: a word in title suggests damage

”I’m already realizing that life is all about memories; it’s the way we keep score. It doesn’t matter if the tree makes a sound when it falls in the forest; it only matters if anyone remembers it.” P.45

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30. Coventry, Helen Humphreys, 4 stars – 2/16
TIOLI #9: first line answers the question, 'Where did it happen' (above the cathedral)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock
BingoDOG: 10. one-word title

NOTES:

November 14, 1940 – The bombing of Coventry. Ms. Humphreys tells the story through three main characters – a WWI widow, a young man who was posted on the cathedral rooftop as a firespotter, and his mother. It was a heart-wrenching story, what that city suffered that night. The author was very descriptive of the destruction, without being overly gruesome. But the line that I want to share doesn’t speak about the bombings, but is a memory from one of the characters.

"She remembers the smooth of the ivy leaves that grew up the stone wall of the house and how, at the end of the day, they were warm from the sun when she put her face to them." p.107

As I read that, I was back in my mind to my grandmother's stone house with ivy growing up the walls, sitting on the screened porch with my book, shaded by the ivy as it made faintly rippling shadows in my private nook. With the sun shining through the green ivy which sprawled across the screens, it was a feeling of being in a secret, under-water sanctuary, with cool shade and the occasional warm breezes blowing through the screens. I had an idyllic childhood, and summers at my grandmothers' houses were a big part of it.

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31. The Lost Garden, Helen Humphreys, 3.5 stars – 2/19
TIOLI #18: with a four-corner-letter-word on page 20 or 16 (p.16 beat)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock

Notes:

Gwen Davis is a plain child born to a narcissistic woman.

”My mother locked me outdoors and her love denied became my profession. The garden became my home. . . . Every day weather blows in and out, alters the surface. Sometimes it is stripped down to a single essential truth, the thing that is always believed, no matter what. The seeds from which the garden has grown.
My mother was beautiful.
I ruined her life.” p.120

Gwen goes on to work for the Royal Horticultural Society, then is sent to oversee a group of young women in the Women’s Land Army at an estate in the country for the purpose of producing potatoes for the war effort. There she finds the forgotten garden and tries to piece together its meaning.

A lovely, sad little story.

Great comments regarding The Kite Runner Cindy. I am currently listening to the audiobook read by the author and you hit on a lot of what I find good about this story: it is well written for a debut book; I am finding it to be a compelling read that keeps my attention and there is a strong sense of place.

Love that you read both Coventry and The Lost Garden. I really like Coventry and I struggled a little bit with The Lost Garden... I had difficulties trying to discern the nuances of the subtler details of that story.

32. The Serpent’s Tale, Ariana Franklin, 4 stars – 2/22
Audiobook, audio-4.5 stars
TIOLI #8: Animal, Bird or Reptile in Title
Woman BingoUP: 22. About women in science. (forensics in 12th century England)

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33. Ugly Ways, Tina McElroy Ansa, 3 stars – 2/23
Paper book, library
TIOLI # 14: a "leap" in the title or text. It could be the actual word "leap" or leaping could be a key part of the book (literal or figurative leaps are fine!) ("forced herself to leap out of bed”, p205)(Also, a leap in their understanding of their mother.)
Woman BingoUP: 25. female African American author.

NOTES:
From the back cover, “In life, Mudear ruled her house and raised her daughters with an iron hand. Consequently, the sisters had a love-hate relationship with their mother. And though the selfish, manipulative Mudear may be dead, she is not gone. As the emotionally scarred Lovejoys prepare for her funeral, Mudear’s spirit hovers above them, complaining about her daughters’ “ugly ways” in death as she did in life.”

Three sisters are coping with the death of their mother, and their feelings and memories of her. “Mudear” had grown to hate her husband, and denigrated him, and men in general, to her daughters continually. When her oldest daughter was old enough to help around the house, Mudear decided to declare her freedom. “ . . . at first Mudear hadn’t dumped everything in the house on her girls. She just, bit by bit, let go of what she didn’t feel like doing. And the girls picked it up. . . . Until the time when everybody in the household seemed to look up and discover that Mudear didn’t do a damn thing in the house.” No cooking, no cleaning, no leaving the house to shop or pay bills. Her eleven-year-old daughter, Betty did it all, and then gradually trained her sisters to help, too. Mudear would sit at her command post in another room and tell them what they were doing wrong. Betty put herself through beauty school, opened her own salon, then a second, acquired a beautiful house, always taking pictures to show her mother, since Mudear wouldn’t leave her house. In return, she got, “God, daughter, your butt sho’ look big in these pictures.”

Because their father and mother had such a bad relationship, they never knew that he could have been an ally in the strangeness of their childhood. He always thought they were tight with their mother and did not interfere, even after his wife died.

Emotionally rent, the girls finally talk about their mother and to her corpse. “Was being free, like you always said, Mudear, was that the most important thing? Being free. Shit, what did that mean? Did it mean you were free to hurt us, your own children, to abandon us?” . . . “So, we gonna put you in the ground tomorrow, Mudear, And we’re gonna try and bury lot of pain and hurt and being mad with you.”

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34. Joe and Azat, Jesse Lonergan, 3 stars – 2/24
Paper book, Inter-Library Loan
TIOLI # 7: set in a country/planet that you’ve never read a book about/set in before
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Central Asia (Turkmenistan)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Two/A Pair (two friends)
NOTES:
Two friends from different cultures - Turkmenistan and American. Graphic novel portrays the differences in culture.

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36. The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally, 5 stars – anticipated 2/29
Audiobook, audio-5 stars
TIOLI #2: a word in title suggests damage (mar)
Authors Challenges: ANZAC
NOTES:
Two sisters in Australia join the nursing service and are posted to Gallipoli during WWI. Strong sense of place and personality. Sense of place is outstanding, especially Gallipoli, and on ship. Sense of culture too - Australia, military/nursing, and foreign lands, all. Character portrayal, as well, especially the sisters. Excellent book. And the reader is 5 stars.

35. A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor, Director of The British Museum, 5 stars – 2/26
Paper book, library
TIOLI # 9: first line answers the question, 'Where did it happen' (“When I first came through the doors of the British Museum in 1954, at the age of eight…”)
Chatterbox’s 75ers Nonfiction Challenge: History

NOTES:

One hundred objects from the collection of The British Museum shown in exquisite photography, each with a 3-5 page description, explanation of its significance to history, and quotes from authorities on that period. Whoever conceived of this work must be extremely pleased with its realization. It is a fascinating and beautiful book. Robust, too - 658 pages of the 100 objects and their text. Twenty-six pages of Contents, Preface, and Introduction. The remaining pages are given to Maps showing where each object was found, a List of Objects shows their dimensions and inventory number, a Bibliography for each item, References to quotes from the text, Picture Credits, Acknowledgements, and an extensive Index, for a total hefty book size of 707 numbered pages. Divided into twenty Parts, each grouping of five items falls within that Part’s time period and subject.

1. Making Us Human: 2,000,000-9000 BC
Mummy of Hornedjitef, Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool, Olduvai Handaxe, Swimming Reindeer, Clovis Spear Point.

2. After the Ice Age: Food and Sex: 9000-3500 BC
Bird-shaped pestle, Ain Sakhri Lovers Figurine, Egyptian Clay Model of Cattle, Maya Maize God Statue, Jomon Pot.

3. The First Cities and States: 4000-2000 BC
King Den’s Sandal Label, Standard of Ur, Indus Seal, Jade Axe, Early Writing Tablet.

4. The Beginnings of Science and Literature: 2000-700 BC
Flood Tablet, Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, Minoan Bull-leaper, Mold Gold Cape, Statue of Ramesses II.

5. Old World, New Powers: 1100-300 BC
Lachish Reliefs, Sphinx of Taharqo, Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel, Paracas Textile, Gold Coin of Croesus.

6. The World in the Age of Confucius: 500-300 BC
Oxus Chariot Model, Parthenon Sculpture: Centaur and Lapith, Basse-Yutz Flagons, Olmec Stone Mask, Chinese Bronze Bell.

7. Empire Builders: 300BC-AD10
Coin with Head of Alexander, Pillar of Ashoka, Rosetta Stone, Chinese Han Lacquer Cup, Head of Augustus.

8. Ancient Pleasures, Modern Spice: AD1-500
Warren Cup, North American Otter Pipe, Ceremonial Ballgame Belt, Admonitions Scroll, Hoxne Pepper Pot.

9. The Rise of Faiths: AD 100-600
Seated Buddha from Gandhara, Gold Coins of Kumaragupta I, Plate Showing Shapur II, Hinton St Mary Mosaic, Arabian Bronze Hand.

10. The Silk Road and Beyond: AD 400-800
Gold Coins of Abd al-Malik, Sutton Hoo Helmet, Moche Warrior Pot, Korean Roof Tile, Silk Princess Painting.

11. Inside the Palace: Secrets at Court: AD 700-900
Maya Relief of Royal Blood-letting, Harem Wall-painting Fragments, Lothair Crystal, Statue of Tara, Chinese Tang Tomb Figures.

12. Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders: AD 800-1300
Vale of York Hoard, Hedwig Beaker, Japanese Bronze Mirror, Borobudur Buddha Head, Kilwa Pot Sherds.

13. Status Symbols: AD 1100-1500
The Lewis Chessmen, Hebrew Astrolabe, Ife Head, The David Vases, Taino Ritual Seat.

14. Meeting the Gods: AD 1200-1500
Holy Thorn Reliquary, Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, Shiva and Parvati Sculpture, Sculpture of Huastec Goddess, Hoa Hakananai’a Easter Island Statue.

15. The Threshold of the Modern World: AD 1375-1550
Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent, Ming Banknote, Inca Gold Llama, Jade Dragon Cup, Durer’s Rhinoceros.

16. The First Global Economy: AD 1450-1650
Mechanical Galleon, Benin Plaque: The Oba with Europeans, Double-headed Serpent, Kakiemon Elephants, Pieces of Eight.

17. Tolerance and Intolerance: AD 1550-1700
Shi’a Religious Parade Standard, Miniature of a Mughal Prince, Shadow Puppet of Bima, Mexican Codex Map, Reformation Centenary Broadsheet.

18. Exploration, Exploitation and Enlightenment: AD 1680-1820
Akan Drum, Hawaiian Feather Helmet, North American Buckskin Map, Australian Bark Shield, Jade Bi.

19. Mass Production, Mass Persuasion: AD 1780-1914
Ship’s Chronometer from HMS Beagle, Early Victorian Tea Set, Hokusai’s The Great Wave, Sudanese Slit Drum, Suffragette-defaced Penny.

20. The World of our Making: AD 1914-2010
Russian Revolutionary Plate, Hockney’s In the Dull Village, Throne of Weapons Credit Card, Solar-powered Lamp and Charger.

FEBRUARY READING RECAP

Books read: 18
Breakdown: audio books-7, eBooks-3, paper-8
Average rating: 3.8
Pages read: 5,866
Total shared TIOLIS: 6

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
January: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
..... Ru, Kim Thúy – 1/29
February: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock
..... Coventry, Helen Humphreys – 2/16
..... The Lost Garden, Helen Humphreys – 2/19

BRITISH AUTHORS
January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth - 1/21
February: AGATHA CHRISTIE or WILLIAM DALYRUMPLE
..... Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie – 2/10

AMERICAN AUTHORS
January: Anne Tyler
..... Searching for Caleb - 1/7
February: Richard Russo
..... Empire Falls – 2/1

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
January - Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman - 1/25
February – Hell is Empty, Craig Johnson – 2/12

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
..... Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman (Memoir) - 1/5
..... A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey Ward (Biography) - 1/14
February: History
..... A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor – 2/26

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Favorite Book from FEBRUARY:
The Daughters of Mars, Thomas Keneally

You didn't say much about The Serpent's Tale. I assume from the rating that you enjoyed it. I've had it on my shelf for ages, and even loaned it to someone for a while. I don't know why I never get around to reading it.

>43 tymfos: : I did enjoy it, Terri. Although this is only the second book of hers that I have read, I love the author's writing, her mysteries, and the time period. I find I don't keep up well with doing reviews, but listening to audiobooks enables me to at least keep up with reading!

MARCH

37. The Mammoth Hunters, Jean M. Auel, 3 stars – 3/1
Ebook
TIOLI #19: in which pulses are eaten (p.29-groundnuts)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Prehistory
BingoDOG: 3. survival story

NOTES:
Third in the Earth’s Children series set in the ice age. This could have been good. Her writing, for the most part, is good. Day to day living in a glacial world is well researched, thought out and portrayed. But, what? Was she in a contest with herself to see how stinking many times she could write sex scenes with phrasings that were not quite exactly the same? And how many scenes did she invent (should’ve kept track!) to show the guy and the gal misunderstanding each other?

“They stared at each other, wanting each other, drawn to each other, but their silent shout of love went unheard in the roar of misunderstanding, and the clatter of culturally ingrained beliefs.”

Why doesn’t he, why didn’t I . . . . over and over and over . . . The sheer repetitiveness of the sex scenes and misunderstanding scenes completely ruined what could have been a good story.

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38. The Bridge of Sighs, Olen Steinhauer, 3.5 stars – 3/1
Audiobook, Audio-3 stars
TIOLI # 3: with an embedded word in title (ridge)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Europe & Russia (Eastern Europe

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39. The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway, 4 stars – 3/4
Audiobook, Audio-4 stars
TIOLI # 18 : a title word describing a place one could live (Sarajevo)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Europe & Russia (Bosnia)
BingoDOG: 11. title contains a musical reference

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40. The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy, 4 stars – 3/6
Audiobook, Audio-4.5 stars
TIOLI #18 : a title word describing a place one could live (Casterbridge)
Authors Challenges: British: Ali Smith or Thomas Hardy

“And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen, when the one to whom such unbroken tranquility had been accorded in the adult stage was she whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.”

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41. Alone, Lisa Gardner, 3 stars – 3/6
Ebook
TIOLI # 3: with an embedded word in title (lone)

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42. Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks, 4 stars – 3/9
Ebook
TIOLI #3: with an embedded word in title (reign, respond)
Authors Challenges: ANZAC
Woman BingoUP: 11. Different genre than you normally read by author who wrote in different genres. (Might be the genre the author has written most of her books in if you tend not to read that genre.)(memoir/historical fiction)
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Travel

NOTES:
I love Geraldine Brooks’ historical fiction writing. This memoir is very interesting for seeing the girl who became the author. From her home life in Sydney, where she took up pen pals to broaden her world, to her uni years , then working at a local newspaper and striking out as a journalist and then foreign correspondent, where she got to see that wider world first hand. Getting married to a non-Aussie, her father’s declining health, then death, when she went home to sort things. Finding that her father kept her old pen pal correspondence, she determines to travel to seek each one of them out.

The interesting thing to me was Ms. Brooks’ introspection into her background and youthful feelings, and into those of her pen friends, remembering how they were, and what they became.

>45 countrylife: Cindy, I am pleased that The Mayor of Casterbridge was well received. I haven't read that for a long time and may go and re-buy it soon for a re-read.

Have a good weekend.

43. The Party Dress, Alexandra Black, 3 stars – 3/11
Paper Book
TIOLI #14: author's initials form a word
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Celebration

NOTES:
Lovely photographs of party dresses - formals, bridals, red-carpet, cocktail, garden party - don't even remember what all, but definitely clothing for celebrations! Also a little about the wearers and the designers.

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44. Private Life, Jane Smiley, 3.5 stars – 3/11
TIOLI #19: in which pulses are eaten (p.91-baked beans)
Woman BingoUP: 18. By or about a woman/women from your "to be read" pile (since 2010)
Authors Challenges: American: Jane Smiley

NOTES:
On my wish list since 2010, I was glad to get to this one via the American Authors Challenge. This was an inside look at an unhappy marriage. Jane Smiley perfectly captured the nuances from first blush through realization.

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45. Dead Wake, Erik Larson, 4 stars – 3/14
TIOLI #9: author's first or last name starts with the letter "L"
Reading Through Time: Month: Discoveries / Innovations (diesel electric propulsion for submarines)
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Travel (trans-Atlantic ocean liners)

NOTES:
Dead Wake is the story of the sinking of the Lusitania.

”The track lingered on the surface like a long pale scar. In maritime vernacular, this trail of fading disturbance, whether from ship or torpedo, was called a “dead wake.” . . . The smoothness of the sea presented some passenger with a view of the torpedo that was startling in its clarity.”

The Lusitania’s passenger list is not just dry facts; Larson fleshes out many of the passengers from the memories of survivors and from their own journals. He brings a bit of the story of President Wilson – his wife’s death, his subsequent courting of another, and his new marriage – into the history of WWI, and without saying so explicitly, how his personal life interfered with the country’s needs.

A crucial part of the story of the catastrophe was the work of Room 40 in England, a secret corner of British Naval Intelligence, where they would receive 20,000 intercepted U-boat messages during the war. They knew their paths, their quadrants, their codes, each commander, and his kills. They knew U-20 was directly in the path of the Lusitania, that it had already sunk 3 other ships that day, and that 23 other merchant vessels had been torpedoed and sunk by U-boats in the previous 7 days along that portion of the coast.

A message was sent to many ships to use the safer northern passage, which was free of U-boats. But it was not sent to the Lusitania.

The head of Cunard ship lines rushed to the Admiralty after reading about the 3 sinkings that day, requesting that they do everything in their power to keep the Lusitania safe. In war time, he was not able to give orders to his own ship; the Admiralty was in charge. They sent two conflicting messages to the ship, neither of which was to the point.

There were naval destroyers nearby, but they were not summoned to escort the ocean liner, even though the crew expected it.

“… the question remains, why was the ship left on its own, with a proven killer of men and ships dead ahead in its path?”

“...naval historian, the late Patrick Beesly, who, during World War II, was himself an officer in British naval intelligence. . . . ‘As an Englishman and a lover of the Royal Navy,’ he said, ‘I would prefer to attribute this failure to negligence, even gross negligence, rather {than} to a conspiracy deliberately to endanger the ship.’ But, he said, ‘on the basis of the considerable volume of information which is now available, I am reluctantly compelled to state that on balance, the most likely explanation is that there was indeed a plot, however imperfect, to endanger the Lusitania in order to involve the United States in the war.’ . . . No matter how he arranged the evidence, he came back to conspiracy.”

A fascinating story of that piece of history, engagingly told.

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46. Thunderstruck, Erik Larson, 4 stars – 3/16
TIOLI #9: author's first or last name starts with the letter "L"
Reading Through Time: Month: Discoveries / Innovations (wireless telegraphy)
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Travel (trans-Atlantic ocean liners)

NOTES:
Thunderstruck is the story of the invention of wireless telegraphy.

With excellent pacing, Larson tells how Marconi became the one credited with this invention; the tedious steps through which he blundered or researched his way from the beginning of his quest to its fulfillment.

Within the larger story of wireless telegraphy, lies the story of a crime, with the capture of the murderer clinching the public perception of the usefulness of the Marconi system in 1910.

Larson is an excellent story teller!

Have a wonderful Easter.

Thanks, Paul. I love that picture.

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47. A Confession, Leo Tolstoy, 3 stars – 3/17
Paper Book
TIOLI # 6: a title word beginning with the letters "Co"
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Europe & Russia
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 02-Religion (DDC 230)

NOTES:
” I returned to a faith in that will which gave birth to me and which asked something of me; I returned to the conviction that the single most important purpose in my life was to be better, to live according to this will. I returned to the conviction that I could find the expression of this will in something long hidden from me, something that all of humanity had worked out for its own guidance; in short, I returned to a belief in God, in moral perfection, and in a tradition that instills life with meaning. The only difference was that I had once accepted all this on an unconscious level, while now I knew that I could not live without it.” Page 75 of a 95 page book.

Starting with the question, “What is the meaning of life?”, Tolstoy manages to reason himself into “life is evil”, may as well commit suicide. The tortuous twists of reasoning to get to such an answer seemed UNreasonable to me. But it’s HIS confession, so be it. Only in the last pages does he get to the part of his life where his reason leads him to faith. Interesting to look into the great mind.

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48. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah, 4.5 stars – 3/20
Audiobook
TIOLI # 8: about the homefront during a war or military deployment (WWII France)
Woman BingoUP: 16. About a woman/women in non-traditional roles. (a particular role in the French Resistance)

NOTES:
Historical fiction set in WWII France, with sisters bearing their different roles. One a mother, whose husband is a soldier away, has a Nazi billeted in her house, while she tries to keep her daughter and her Jewish friend’s family safe. The other sister also lives in danger in her role.

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49. Tamarind Woman, Anita Rau Badami, 3.5 stars – 3/30
Paper book
TIOLI # 3: with an embedded word in title
Woman BingoUP: 6. By or about women set in Latin America or Asia (Indian-born author, set in India & Canada)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Farley Mowat or Anita Rau Badami

NOTES:
Mothers and daughters missing much in translation of the generations. Mother from her Indian culture to her daughter, having escaped it, living in Canada. Characters were well written.

MARCH READING RECAP

Books read: 13
Breakdown: audio books-6, eBooks-4, paper-3
Average rating: 3.6
Pages read: 4,872
Total shared TIOLIS: Oh, my goodness – 0!

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
March: Farley Mowat or Anita Rau Badami
..... Tamarind Woman, Anita Rau Badami – 3/30

BRITISH AUTHORS
March: Ali Smith or Thomas Hardy
..... The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy – 3/6

AMERICAN AUTHORS
March: Jane Smiley
..... Private Life, Jane Smiley – 3/11

And, because I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I’m ducking into the ANZAC challenge now and again.
ANZAC AUTHORS
March: Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks – 3/9

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
March – Still waiting on my book from the library

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
March: Travel
..... Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks – 3/9
..... Dead Wake, Erik Larson – 3/14
..... Thunderstruck, Erik Larson – 3/16

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Favorite Book from MARCH:
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

Hi Cindy, found and starred your thread!

I have a lot of catching up to do on threads, and on listing my reads, but before I even start - - - pictures! I’ve been away for the better part of a month, visiting my son and his family in Germany, my first time off my own continent. While there, they took me around to show me some sights.

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Trier, Germany; in the Moselle Wine Valley Region. “Founded as Augusta Treverorum in 16 BC during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, Trier is Germany's oldest city.” This is the remaining city gate. The scale of this thing is just massive. Picture 3: Very high up in a castle on the Rhine River, another lovely German wine valley. And some very nice wines were had to go with our journeys.

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1. Haarlem, Netherlands – the Corrie ten Boom house. I re-read The Hiding Place before our trip there.
2. Delft, Netherlands – lovely old city; we had such fun walking around here, plus I got a piece of authentic Delft Blue.
3. Bruges, Belgium – the view from our early morning breakfast table on the market square, where I had my first Belgium waffle (but not my last). The most beautiful of all the cities I got to see!

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Keukenhof Gardens, South Holland, Netherlands – “The Most Beautiful Garden in Europe”. Imagine 32 hectares, with over seven million bulbs. It was stunning! Lots of tulip fields, too! Plus – my granddaughter!

The tulips are lovely!

Look at you - sneaking out of the country when no one was paying attention :)
Love the pictures! Beautiful images from your trip and your granddaughter is adorable!

I had a lovely vacation, and while I read my books in the evenings, and enjoyed my books, I took nary a single note. So here are my April reads, just listed:

50. As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson, 4 stars – 4/1
eBook
TIOLI #2: title starts with APRIL (rolling)Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Europe & Russia
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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51. The Quality of Silence, Rosamund Lupton, 3.5 stars – 4/1
Paper
TIOLI #4: flower in the title or author's name
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Islands, Water, Polar (Arctic)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Earth Day (fracking)

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52. A Sudden Light, Garth Stein, 3 stars – 4/3
Audiobook
TIOLI #6: a book that in some way honors the writing of Jim Harrison (natural world {PNW forests})
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Earth Day (logging)
BingoDOG: 6. about the environment/nature

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53. Galore, Michael Crummy, 3.5 stars – 4/4
Ebook
TIOLI #16: a book by one of the eight authors featured so far on the Canadian Author Challenge
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Margaret Atwood or Michael Crummey

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54. Adam Bede, GEORGE ELIOT, 5 stars – 4/5
Audiobook
TIOLI #12: by an author you love but someone else hates, or at least hates one of the author's works - name the class of hater (a fellow LT'er-wanda)
Authors Challenges: British: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
Woman BingoUP: 4. female author using a male pseudonym.

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55. A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin, 3 stars – 4/7
Ebook
TIOLI #11: "coffee" in the second chapter (p.17)
Woman BingoUP: 21. short story collection by a woman
75 Group Read

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56. The Story of My Tits, Jennifer Hayden, 3 stars – 4/8
Paper (graphic novel)
TIOLI #19: 2+ consecutive embedded words of 2+ letters each in title (hest, or)

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57. Cover of Snow, Jenny Milchman, 3 stars – 4/10
Audiobook
TIOLI #11: "coffee" in the second chapter (Ch.2, p8 - I'll make you some coffee.)

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58. A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman, 4 stars – 4/13
Paper
TIOLI #19: 2+ consecutive embedded words of 2+ letters each in title (at,hi)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 300 - 354: sociology, anthropology, statistics, political science, economics, law, and public administration (tagged anthropology)
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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59. So Cold the River, Michael Koryta, 3.5 stars – 4/13
Audiobook
TIOLI #9: a book that is somehow connected to the idea of ValHalla (large trees, drink, dead)

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60. Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver, 4 stars – 4/14
Paper
TIOLI #6: a book that in some way honors the writing of Jim Harrison (nature/poetry)
Authors Challenges: American: American Poets
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Religion & Spirituality
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Earth Day (nature)
Woman BingoUP: 15. Poetry or plays written by a woman.

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61. Two Old Women, Velma Wallis, 4 stars – 4/16
Paper
TIOLI #18: 1 letter repeated at least 3 times in author's name
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Islands, Water, Polar (Alaskan Arctic)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 300 - 354: sociology, anthropology, statistics, political science, economics, law, and public administration (anthropology tag)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Earth Day (indigenous people living off the land)
BingoDOG: 15. about/by an indigenous person

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62. The Girl from Ithaca, Cherry Gregory, 4 stars – 4/20
Ebook
TIOLI #9: somehow connected to the idea of ValHalla (warriors)
Reading Through Time: Month: Women and War (sister of Odysseus at Troy)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Ancient / Biblical

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63. A Secret Wish, Barbara Freethy, 3.5 stars 4/21
Ebook
TIOLI #18: 1 letter repeated 3 times within author's name
BingoDOG: 24. self-published

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64. Circles, Ruby Standing Deer, 2.5 stars – 4/23
Ebook
TIOLI #3: author with a triple-barrelled name

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65. Sarai, Jill Eileen Smith, 3.5 stars – 4/29
Ebook
TIOLI #3: author with a triple-barrelled name
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Ancient / Biblical

APRIL READING RECAP

Books read: 16
Breakdown: audio books-4, eBooks-7, paper-5
Average rating: 3.6
Pages read: 5,360
Total shared TIOLIS: 3

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
April: Margaret Atwood or Michael Crummey
..... Galore, Michael Crummey – 4/4

BRITISH AUTHORS
April: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
..... Adam Bede, George Eliot – 4/5

AMERICAN AUTHORS
April: American Poets
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver – 4/14

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
March – A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman (FINALLY came into the library) – 4/13
April – As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson – 4/1

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
April: Religion & Spirituality
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver – 4/14

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Favorite Book from APRIL:
Adam Bede, George Eliot

Wow! Lovely photos, sweet grandchild. Glad you had a good trip!

>52 countrylife: What great, happy photos!

Hi Cindy! I am taking advantage of sub par weather this weekend to get caught up with some threads. Love the pictures of your visit to the EU. Awesome job on the reading front!

Your Europe pictures are stunning Cindy; thanks for sharing them.

Have a great weekend.

I adored your pictures, Cindy, especially the one with Avery. What a cutie! You were brave traveling with a toddler but I know she also made the trip even more fun. I was married in Germany and Holland was one of the few countries we were able to visit. It is such beautiful country.

Dead Wake is coming up in my Book Group for July so I didn't read your spoiler. I usually enjoy Larson's books and am looking forward to this one. Also looking forward to reading The Nightingale. Your 4.5 rating tells me I will probably like it. A few friends who aren't big readers enjoyed it so I wasn't sure what to expect. I am a big fan of good historical fiction.

I think you will like Dead Wake -- I know I did!

66. The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom, 4 stars – 5/1
Ebook
TIOLI # 4: at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet

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67. Hothouse Flower, Margot Berwin, 3.5 stars – 5/2
Audiobook
TIOLI #5: title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 (Scrabble points) 4,1,1,4,1,1,1,1 4,1,1,4,1,1 = 26
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (Mexico)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 355 - 399: military science, social services, criminology, education, commerce, transportation, customs, etiquette, and folklore (Mexican rainforest folklore)

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68. The Daring Ladies of Lowell, Kate Alcott, 3.5 stars – 5/4
Audiobook
TIOLI # 5: title where one of the letters is worth at least 4 points and the total number of points for all letters is at least 15 (Scrabble points)(35)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America , US, Massachusetts)
Reading Through Time: Month: labor/unions/working class (textile mills)

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69. This House of Sky, Ivan Doig, 4.5 stars – 5/5
Ebook
TIOLI # 17: first chapter contains a reference to a grandmother, grandma, gram, or any form of that relation (grandmother,p10)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America, US, Montana)
Authors Challenges: American: Ivan Doig
Reading Through Time: Month: labor/unions/working class (ranching, sheep herding)

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70. Talking God, Tony Hillerman, 4 stars – 5/7
Audiobook
TIOLI # 4: at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America, US, New Mexico)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 355 - 399: military science, social services, criminology, education, commerce, transportation, customs, etiquette, and folklore (Navajo customs and folklore)
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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71. The Vows of Silence, Susan Hill, 4 stars – 5/7
Ebook
TIOLI # 11: a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published (18th novel)
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem

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72. The Secret Place, Tana French, 3.5 stars – 5/10
Audiobook
TIOLI #11: a book that is at least the 5th book its author had published (5th bk)
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem

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73. Hell to Pay, Garry Disher, 4 stars – 5/12
Ebook
TIOLI #12: title's first letters spell Murders and Mayhem (rolling challenge)
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem
Authors Challenges: ANZAC
NOTES:
I read my first Gary Disher - Bitter Wash Road, which, when I got ahold of my copy, was titled Hell to Pay. Mystery, police procedural, police corruption, great sense of place. Loved it!

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74. The House by the Fjord, Rosalind Laker, 3 stars – 5/15
Ebook
TIOLI # 14: title contains the word "water" or any form of water
BingoDOG: 14. a body of water in the title

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75. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, 4 stars – 5/16
Audiobook
TIOLI # 3: title and/or author's name includes at least 2 "M"s and an "I"
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America, Canada, Toronto and US, Great Lakes region)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Michel Tremblay or Emily St. John Mandel
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem
Woman BingoUP: 12. award winner by a woman writer (Arthur C. Clarke Award-2015)

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76. The Means of Escape, Penelope Fitzgerald, 3.5 stars – 5/18
Paper
TIOLI # 4: at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet
BingoDOG: 7. by an author born in 1916

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77. The Revenant, Michael Punke, 4 stars – 5/21
Audiobook
TIOLI # 7: a character on the cover is wearing a head covering
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America, American West)
75 Theme: May Murder and Mayhem

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78. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan, 4.5 stars – 5/25
Audiobook
TIOLI #7: a character on the cover is wearing a head covering
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North America, including Mexico (North America)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 355 - 399: military science, social services, criminology, education, commerce, transportation, customs, etiquette, and folklore (North American Indian customs)
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Art (photography)
NOTES:

“Curtis insisted that for all the other work he intended to do, in the main his great undertaking would be a picture record – using only the finest and costliest finishing processes – of the daily lives of the first Americans. And, of course, it was art as well, a subjective look, by the very nature of how and where he pointed the camera." (p87)

Having "always" known about the Curtis photographs, I’ve found it very interesting to read about his beginnings in Seattle, how he ended up becoming an Indian photographer and everything he went through in order to make this great work happen. From his first Native American photograph of Princess Angeline in Seattle, through his journey of getting this work completed, it was an arduous process, both in terms of geography, funding, acceptance by the tribes, and rebuff from "Indian experts" who had never met an Indian. Fascinating story.

Although I was “reading” an audiobook, I enjoyed looking at the pictures as they were discussed.
Here is a very informative site for the Curtis Indian photos. There is a list of plates in each volume, with links to each photograph. You can also browse the tribes by their name or region, or do a keyword search. His prints are wonderful!

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79. Old Filth, Jane Gardam, 4 stars – 5/26
Paper
TIOLI # 6: a book that has something to do with spring cleaning (matched)
Authors Challenges: British: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD

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80. Sky of Red Poppies, Zohreh Ghahremani, 3.5 stars – 5/30
Ebook
TIOLI # 4: at least two letters in the title or author's name are next to each other in the alphabet
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Color
Woman BingoUP: 5. female author from the Middle East (Iran)

MAY READING RECAP

Books read: 15
Breakdown: audio books-7, eBooks-6, paper-2
Average rating: 3.8
Pages read: 4,579
Total shared TIOLIS: 5

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
May: Michel Tremblay or Emily St. John Mandel
..... Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel – 5/16

BRITISH AUTHORS
May: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD
..... Old Filth, Jane Gardam – 5/26

AMERICAN AUTHORS
May: Ivan Doig
..... This House of Sky, Ivan Doig – 5/5

ANZAC AUTHORS
May:
..... Hell to Pay, Garry Disher – 5/12

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
May – Talking God, Tony Hillerman – 5/7

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
May: Art
..... Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan (photographic work of Edward Curtis – North American Indians)

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Favorite Book from APRIL:
This House of Sky, Ivan Doig

Congrats on blowing past 75!

75!!!!! And then some. Congrats!

81. Typhoon, Joseph Conrad, 3 stars - 6/1
Audiobook (audio-2 stars)
TIOLI # 7: something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
Authors Challenges: British: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD

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82. The Improbability of Love, Hannah Rothschild, 3.5 stars - 6/3
Ebook
TIOLI # 13: a book for which you have a specific reason to read it
BingoDOG: 16. food is important
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
NOTES:
Peopled with caricatures, this was nonetheless a fun little story which involved a chef, an artist, and a lost masterpiece, which the author tied all together in a cute little improbable bow of a tale.

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83. Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson 4 stars - 6/4
Audiobook (audio-3.5 stars)
TIoLI # 6: author's first or last name begins with a letter that is one of your father's initials
Reading Through Time: Month: Realistic school fiction/nonfiction

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84. In Need of a Good Wife, Kelly O’Connor McNees, 3.5 stars - 6/5
Audiobook (audio-4 stars)
TIOLI # 14: title contains something about SUMMER (go)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
NOTES:
Enjoyed this one more than I expected. When a civil war widow in Manhattan overhears a letter from the mayor of a small town in Nebraska lamenting their dearth of wives, she organizes a group of single volunteers willing to marry and begins correspondence with the mayor and their potential husbands. What could go wrong?

85. Eagle in the Snow, Wallace Breem, 4 stars - 6/7
Paper Book
TIOLI # 8: fiction or non-fiction about a historical event with a 'round number' anniversary this year (406 - 1,610 years ago : the crossing of the Rhine by barbarians into Gaul)

NOTES:

“Eagle in the Snow” is a historical novel set in the part of Germany that was under Roman control in the 5th century. I found this a fascinating story of “…how the last of the Eagles was destroyed by a river of ice.” (From the prologue.)

The Roman Empire is on its last legs, with its legions too reduced and scattered to be effectual anywhere. Paulinus Gaius Maximus is the Roman general entrusted with keeping the barbarians out of Gaul. His front line is the 78 miles of the Rhenus River (now Rhine) from Confluentes (now Koblenz, Germany) to Borbetomagus (now Worms, Germany), and the territory between the Rhine and the Mosella River (Moselle) to Augusta Treverorum, Gaul (now Trier, Germany). Previously a job for 80,000 men to keep this triangle of land, and especially the line at the river, Maximus has only one legion (6,000 men) with which to work.

From the summer of 405 AD until January 16 of 407, Maximus recruits, trains, builds, plans and battles to keep the line. Except for the prologue and epilogue, Maximus narrates the story. The author does a fine job of getting you into the time, seeing what the Romans thought was necessary to keep the peace, and how they went about doing their jobs, part of their problem being the political intrigue of the time.

Most interesting to me, because I have been there and could picture the characters in these settings, were the parts of the general’s story which took place in the Basilica and the city Gates of Augusta Treverorum.

You can see an interesting animated map on Wikipedia, which shows the buildup of the empire until 405, when this story takes place, and its fast decline thereafter.

Sense of time and sense of place were very well done. This was a four-star read for me.

86. A Pearl in the Sand, Tessa Afshar, 3.5 stars - 6/7
Audiobook (audio-3 stars)
TIOLI # 14: title contains something about SUMMER (sand)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Ancient / Biblical
NOTES:
The story of Rahab, imagined through the years to her first child. Very nicely told.

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87. A Serpent’s Tooth, Craig Johnson, 3.5 stars - 6/9
Ebook
TIOLI # 7: something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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88. The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty, 3.5 stars - 6/10
Audiobook (audio-5 stars)
TIOLI # 11: the letter "U" in the title
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
NOTES:
Three husbands, three secrets, and their family’s lives intersect. Some tough issues covered, but I liked this one very much.

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89. The Shadows in the Street, Susan Hill, 6/12
Audiobook (audio-5 stars)
TIOLI # 5: a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana (feel guilty)
NOTES:
Still loving the Simon Serrailler series!

90. The Orenda, Joseph Boyden, 5 stars - 6/14
Ebook
TIOLI # 3: in which mushrooms play a part in the plot
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Timothy Findley or Joseph Boyden

NOTES:
I was already a huge fan of Joseph Boyden, but I think this is his best yet.

The Iroquois maiden: “We are the people birthed from this land. For the first time I can see something I’ve not fully understood before, not until now as these pale creatures from somewhere far away stare down at us in wonder, trying to make sense of what they see. We are this place. This place is us.”

The Jesuit: “In matters of the spirit, these sauvages believe that we all have within us a life force that is similar, if you will, to our own Catholic belief in the soul. They call this life force the orenda. That is the fascinating part.”

The Huron warrior: “The Crow knows how to offend without trying.”

I wish I could give words to how good this book is. The interplay of relationship, the maturing of conscience, the brutality of Indian life in the 1630s, the complexity of the relations between various tribes and newcomers – all of it so well written. By the natives, the Jesuits were called “crows” for their flapping robes and cawing speech, and the Indians, by the missionaries, “sauvages”. Boyden gives due to each group of peoples, being frank with both their good points and bad, with what they think they have to do to either co-exist or to maintain their own way of life.

Superb.

91. Ghost Map, Steven Johnson, 4 stars – 6/15
Audiobook
TIOLI #7: something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Natural History/Environment/Health

NOTES:
Subtitled: the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world. Very well told story about solving the cholera mystery in London in the 1800s.

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92. Close Range, Annie Proulx, 3 stars – 6/17
Paper
TIOLI #5: a word or phrase on page 70 that refers to some aspect of marijuana (grass)
Authors Challenges: American: Annie Proulx

NOTES:
“The country appeared as empty ground, big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, intricate sky, flocks of small birds like packs of cards thrown up in the air, and a faint track drifting toward the red-walled horizon. Graves were unmarked, fallen house timbers and corrals burned up in old campfires. Nothing much but weather and distance, the distance punctuated once in a while by ranch gates, and to the north the endless murmur and sun-flash of semis rolling along the interstate.”

There's no joy, or when it does come, it's flawed and fleeting. In her stories, the characters live a miserable existence, and those who do manage to leave, return broken or dead. I thought her writing bore an outstanding sense of place.

In her acknowledgements, she writes, “In Wyoming not the least fantastic situation is the determination to make a living ranching in this tough and unforgiving place.” And that’s exactly how she’s painted every story in this collection. Both the land and its people in her stories are tough and unforgiving.

If that was her goal, she did a great job with it. But such unrelenting misery did not make a good reading experience for me. I much preferred Ivan Doig’s This House of Sky with its toughness AND joy, in a very similar setting.

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93. The Pursuit of Lucy Banning, Olivia Newport, 2 stars – 6/22
Audiobook
TIOLI #1: with 1 happy individual on the front cover
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Wedding / Marriage
NOTES:
A romance set during the Chicago World’s Far. Betrothed to the wrong guy who’s rich, and falling for the right guy who’s not. Clichéd.

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94. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester, 4 stars – 6/24
Paper
TIOLI #7: something in the title that makes you go "Oh, no!"
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 400: Language: linguistics, sign language, languages (DDC 423)
NOTES:
The making of the Oxford English Dictionary. This was a fascinating story (if you’re in to that kind of thing).

Oh my goodness, how did I drop the star on your thread? Just finding you and scrolling through. You and I have very similar reading tastes. Of your 90 so far this year, I've also read 19, and have added about 7 other BB's. Too many to list.

Your pictures of the trip to Europe are gorgeous. So glad you had a good time. I find travel is such a companion to reading. I love seeing new places, and then reading about them, and I love reading about a setting, dreaming about going there, and then finally getting to go to see if my reading brain has painted an accurate picture. Certainly keeps the brain alive.

Wow, you've done a lot of good reading!

Hi Cindy. Finally catching up here! The pictures from Europe are lovely. My favorite is the one with your granddaughter. That one is priceless! I'm so envious that you got to visit Corrie ten Boom's house. She is one of my heroes.

I just finished The Orenda last night and loved it. I'm sure it will be one of my top 5 reads for the year.

Hello to my visitors!

Tina - I love your thoughts about travel and reading. Currently, I'm enjoying reading books set in my travel destinations. After the fact, it's fun to envision the characters inhabiting a place I can now vividly picture.
Terri - Hi!
Carrie - I am SO glad you liked The Orenda as much as I did. I know the violence is a deal-breaker for some readers. But the STORY! And the story telling! I'm sure it'll gain a lot more fans as time goes on.

95. Wintering, Peter Geye, 4.5 stars – 6/27
Audiobook
TIOLI #10: a graduate in the story, or "graduate" in title
NOTES:
I’ve loved every Peter Geye book I’ve read, with his first, Safe From the Sea, being my favorite and a 5-star read for me. With this outing in northern Minnesota, he brings us descendants from his second book The Lighthouse Road. Though knowledge of the previous story added richness to this tale, it would stand alone quite nicely.

Parallel stories
It is the autumn of 1963. Gus has graduated from high school, and is preparing to leave for college, when his father asks him to go on a trip. With minimal equipment, these two begin their journey into the boundary waters in the deep fall. The harsh realities of wintering in the north woods make for exciting adventure reading. But the heart of Peter Geye’s story telling is his characters. He is a master of the character-driven novel.

Fast forward to the present time and Gus is a married father worried about his own sick father’s disappearance. As he discusses the various possibilities of his father’s whereabouts with Harry’s friend, Brit, the story of that long-ago disappearance into the wilderness is told.

And there you have it. With Peter Geye you get rich layers of character-driven story served up with a sense of place so evocative, you’ll feel as if you’re there, too. I eagerly await each new book from this author!

96. Dinner With Edward, Isabel Vincent, 3.5 stars – 6/29
Paper
TIOLI # 9: a food memoir
NOTES:
Two vulnerable people come together during a hard time in each of their lives and are strengthened by their bond. Ninety-four year old Edward has lost his wife to cancer. His daughter, Valerie, asks her friend, Isabel, who lives near him, to stop in and see him. Edward asks her to come to dinner, and a comfortable friendship begins, with these dinners as the fulcrum. Edward has something to live for, so doesn’t follow his wife to the grave as he longed to do. Isabel has a sustaining friendship to bolster her as her marriage disintegrates.

Isabel tells the story of their friendship around the meals that Edward cooks for them, with each chapter headed by a menu. This is one:

Beef with Sauce Bordelaise
Pan-Fried Potatoes with Gruyere
Salad of Mixed Greens with Homemade Vinaigrette
Apple and Pear Galette
Malbec

I confess that it drove me crazy with the “homemade” in front of every salad dressing. What kind of cook would serve anything else? At that rate, she should also have said “Homemade Beef with homemade Sauce Bordelaise” and “Homemade Apple and Pear Galette”. I found the “homemade” label completely ridiculous.

The story rather read like it was trying to be a deep, philosophical read.

The story itself was bittersweet – the marriage doesn’t improve, the old gentleman ages more. The sustaining friendship, though, endures.

This was an enjoyable food and friendship memoir.

JUNE READING RECAP

Books read: 16
Breakdown: audio books-9, eBooks-3, paper-4
Average rating: 3.6
Pages read: 5,090
Total shared TIOLIS: 1

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
June: Timothy Findley or Joseph Boyden
..... The Orenda, Joseph Boyden – 6/4

BRITISH AUTHORS
June: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD
..... Typhoon, Joseph Conrad – 6/1

AMERICAN AUTHORS
June: Annie Proulx
..... Close Range – 6/17

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
June – A Serpent's Tooth, Craig Johnson – 6/9

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
June: Natural History / Environment / Health
..... The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson (19th century London cholera epidemic) – 6/15

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Favorite Book from JUNE:
The Orenda, Joseph Boyden

MID-YEAR SUMMARY



AMERICAN AUTHORS 2016

January: Anne Tyler
..... Searching for Caleb - 1/7
February: Richard Russo
..... Empire Falls - 2/1
March: Jane Smiley
..... Private Life - 3/11
April: Poetry Month
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver - 4/14
May: Ivan Doig
..... This House of Sky - 5/5
June: Annie Proulx
..... Close Range - 6/17

BRITISH AUTHORS 2016

Planning to read one of each month’s selected authors.

January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth - 1/21
February: AGATHA CHRISTIE or WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
..... Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie - 2/10
March: ALI SMITH or THOMAS HARDY
..... The Mayor of Casterbridge - 3/6
April: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
..... Adam Bede - 4/5
May: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD
..... Old Filth, Jane Gardam - 5/26
June: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD
..... Typhoon, Joseph Conrad - 6/1

CANADIAN AUTHORS 2016

Planning to read one of each month’s selected authors.

January: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
..... Ru, Kim Thúy - 1/29
February: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock
..... Coventry, Helen Humphreys - 2/16
..... The Lost Garden - 2/19
March: Farley Mowat or Anita Rau Badami
..... Tamarind Woman - 3/30
April: Margaret Atwood or Michael Crummey
..... Galore, Michael Crummey - 4/4
May: Michel Tremblay or Emily St. John Mandel
..... Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel - 5/16
June: Timothy Findley or Joseph Boyden
..... The Orenda, Joseph Boyden - 6/14

Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016

January - Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman - 1/25
February - Hell is Empty, Craig Johnson - 2/12
March - A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman - 4/13
April - As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson - 4/1
May - Talking God, Tony Hillerman - 5/7
June - A Serpent's Tooth, Craig Johnson - 6/9

Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge

January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
..... Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman (memoir) - 1/5
..... A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey Ward (biography) - 1/14
February: History
..... A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor - 2/26
March: Travel
..... Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks (world visits to her childhood penpals) - 3/9
..... Dead Wake, Erik Larson (last crossing of the Lusitania) - 3/14
..... Thunderstruck, Erik Larson (Marconi's travels to establish wireless telegraphy) - 3/16
April: Religion & Spirituality
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver - 4/14
May: The Arts
..... Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan (photographic work of Edward Curtis on North American Indians) - 5/25
June: Natural History/Environment/Health
..... The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson (19th century London cholera epidemic) – 6/15

Oddness. This message showed up on my profile:

LibraryThing has handed out another round of badges and medals, and you got some new ones:
Cover Uploading for uploading covers other members can use (501)

Checking my tags, I see that I've uploaded 773 covers from the web, and 722 that I've scanned and uploaded, for a total of 1,495 uploaded covers. Makes me wonder when they actually started keeping track.

Who knew that LT is another Big Brother? Haha. Thanks for uploading those covers, Cindy. I noticed when I posted my review that we had similar thoughts about Wintering. What a great book. I love Peter Geye and his stories.

Hi Cindy

I am in awe at the number and quality of books you read. I've added Wintering to the tbr pile. One of the best things of recovery from surgeries is that I can rest and read.

Congratulations for the badges and medals. Uploading 1,495 covers is quite an accomplishment.

Thanks for your kind, gentle spirit. I will always remember your phone call a few years ago wondering if I was ok because I hadn't posted for awhile. It was such a lovely thing to do. The world needs more of you.

Hi, Donna. So glad Peter Geye is getting a following, and from all the best readers, too!

Linda, it's so good to see you getting around, even though it's electronically. Reading is a balm for so many situations. I hope your healing is progressing well.

97. Southern Cross the Dog, Bill Cheng, 3.5 stars – 7/1
Audiobook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #8: a book with a type (or cousin of) a canine or feline in the title
Reading Through Time: Month: Weather (1927 Mississippi flood)

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98. Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 4 stars – 7/3
Ebook, Classic
TIOLI #7: a book that includes a long trip or voyage
Reading Through Time: Month: Weather (great depression American Midwest drought)
Authors Challenges: American: John Steinbeck
NOTES:
A classic that I never got around to reading until now. All along, I was thinking, “yes, it could very well have been so”. I believed he got much of the story right, and the conversation felt true, the characters well developed. It was a tale well told. And then the ending was so hokie, I dropped a whole star.

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99. Flight of the Sparrow, Amy Belding Brown, 3.5 stars – 7/3
Audiobook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #2: about a person or thing who is related in some way, by blood or society, to a famous person (Mary Rowlandson, captured by Indians, her story edited by Increase Mather, Puritan preacher)
NOTES:
For the most part, this was a nicely told tale about the real life capture by Indians of Mary Rowlandson from her Puritan settlement in 1676. Much of the information which the author wove into her story came from Mary’s own text. Mary’s treatment in captivity felt authentic. That Mary’s writing of her text came about the way Ms. Brown tells it, felt as though it could very well have been so. That Increase Mather could have compelled her to write her story for the purpose of using it for his own means. Sure. That he could have edited it to such a large extent as to make it a very different tale. OK. That this Puritan woman spent so much time daydreaming of a certain warrior after her return. No. I didn’t buy into that part of the plot at all. Even if that part was true, it was made much, much too much of in the author’s story line. For learning about this chapter of white/Indian relationships, I did like this book.

100. The Master of Bruges, Terence Morgan, 4.5 – 7/5
Paper, Historical Fiction (1461-1494)
TIOLI #14: On my summer vacation I am going to visit ________________

NOTES:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fun to read a story set in a city and describing places that I enjoyed visiting myself over 500 years later. The main character and first-person narrator, is the artist Hans Memling, whose work I enjoyed looking at online as certain pieces were described in the book.

I found all the references to art techniques, and portrait requests of the time to be interesting. ”The lovely face of that Madonna is composed of no more than piss, dirt and filth, and the highlights of her hair are brought out with a wash of lye and soot in more or less equal parts.” For family portraits, patrons often asked to be painted into a scene with a madonna or saints. Portraits with landscapes in the background were much more expensive. Portraits with plain, drapery or paneled backgrounds cost less because apprentices could do much of that work. In the Donne Triptych pictured below, he has the story go that there were decades between its order and the family finally being able to get the picture, and that Memling updated the patriarch’s face to reflect his advanced age, leaving the rest of the family as painted at their initial sittings.

The author has Memling enthralled by the daughter of Duke Charles the Bold, and has the duke request him to paint her in all his upcoming works as a way to advertise her so that a good match can be made. Indeed, his work does seem to use the same model many times – here are a few examples:


1. Virgin and Chld Enthroned, 1480s, Hans Memling
2.The Donne Triptych (Center Panel), Hans Memling
3. St. John Altarpiece (detail), Hans Memling

Chapter titles are interesting, too. Interspersed with the progression of the story, are short chapters about art. “On the Mixing of Colors”, “Of the Composition of a Portrait”, and “Of Perspective” find their places among chapters such as “Of the Visit of My Lord to My House (1465)”.

Adding a twist to story, we find that Master Memling is an unreliable narrator.
”To paint is to feign; it is to make an artifice. We colour our pictures in the sense that we colour a story; to put it bluntly, we lie.
We present in two dimensions that which exists in three, and yet we force the viewer to ‘see’ their three dimensions in our two, All is lies, all is artifice all is fake; and yet the viewer sees all as true. Strange, is it not?
It is all a matter of technique, of fooling the eye of turning the falsehood into something truer than truth.
The stock-in-trade of a painter is trickery, so you must be warned. Do not believe any thing that a painter tells you.”

Of the Princes in the Tower, the author has Memling as a tutor to the oldest, who is interested in his craft. He has Richard, as Lord Protector of his nephews after their father’s death, and finding himself targeted by other factions, put the oldest in a suite in the tower to protect the future king. On one of his visits, the younger brother decides to come stay with his sickly and lonely older brother.
” The words ring in my ears until this day – ‘They were dead before we got here.’ Not so, but the princes were dead from the moment Richard III fell at Bosworth. Dick underestimated the evil of Henry Tudor.”

I have not done much reading on this era of history, but it seems to me that the author’s tale must be quite different from the accepted versions. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this three-corded story of art, history and a medieval city.

101. Coyote Waits, Tony Hillerman, 4 – 7/8
Paper, Mystery
TIOLI #8: a book with a type (or cousin of) a canine or feline in the title
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project
NOTES:
“Fate,” Chee said. “Yeah. Blame it on old Coyote.”
My favorite Hillerman so far.

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102. A Desperate Fortune, Susannah Kearsley, 3.5 – 7/10
Ebook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #16: main character is away from home
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Time (time slip)

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103. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Karen Abbott, 4 - 7/11
Audiobook, Biographies
TIOLI #17: two or more characters in the title
Woman BingoUP: 23. About women in combat

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104. A Spy in the House, Y. S. Lee, 3.5 – 7/12
Ebook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #13: title includes a building or a part of one
Woman BingoUP: 20. About a female spy.

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105. The Island of Dr. Moreau, H. G. Wells, 3 – 7/15
Ebook, Science Fiction
TIOLI #10: an acronym or abbreviation in the title
Authors Challenges: British: BERNICE RUBENS or H.G. WELLS
NOTES:
In entering this book in my catalog here years ago, I gave it 3 stars for my remembrance of reading it back in the 70s. Yep. Still the same.

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106. On Folly Beach, Karen White, 3.5 – 7/21
Ebook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI# 16: main character is away from home
NOTES:
Recently widowed Emmy moves to South Carolina to run a bookstore, where she pursues a love story found written in marginalia in some of the old books.

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107. Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery, 3.5 – 7/25
Audiobook, General Fiction
TIOLI #9: a book which fits into one of the group challenges (as found on the 75ers wiki) (CAC)
Authors Challenges: Canadian: LM Montgomery or Pierre Berton
NOTES:
I really liked the old-fashioned heart-string-pulling Anne of Green Gables. The second was good, this one ok. Perhaps it was the narration. As I listened, it seemed that the reader’s inflection was all wrong. Her emphasis wrong. Everything about the reading was just wrong. I really don’t know if this book was any good – the reader spoiled it for me.

108. Bottomland, Michelle Hoover, 4.5 – 7/26
Paper, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #16: main character is away from home

NOTES:

I LOVE Michelle Hoover’s writing! How cool is it that she’s an LT author and an active member on LibraryThing, as well. Her first book was a five-star read for me. This one ~almost~ got there, too.

Again, an earthy story about ties to a place, the land, a family. And then - things beyond your control. Ms. Hoover’s characterizations are SO good you get to know her people intimately. Her writing puts me in mind of another of my favorite authors, Willa Cather.

109. Who Let the Dog Out!, David Rosenfelt, 3.5 – 7/26
Audiobook, Mystery
TIOLI #8: a book with a type (or cousin of) a canine or feline in the title
NOTES:
Grover Gardner is my favorite narrator! He does such a great job with this humorous series of crime fiction. And besides that - - - DOGS! It’s all fun.

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110. The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady, Gerald Morris, 3.5 – 7/30
Ebook, Fantasy
TIOLI #17: two or more characters in the title
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Time (time slip – they lose 7 men-years in faery land)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Arthurian Britain

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111. In the Time of the Butterflies, Julia Alvarez, 3.5 – 7/31
Audiobook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #2: about a person or thing who is related in some way, by blood or society, to a famous person, name the relationship (Rafael Trujillo, dictator of Dominican Republic)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Time
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Central America / Caribbean (Dominican Republic)

Wow! You have been reading a lot!

>90 countrylife: I can't remember if I read the Karen White book or if it is on my TBR list. Sounds like one I'd enjoy.

>92 countrylife: A Grover Gardner book! I may have to look at that one just for the narration if my library has it in audiobook format. If it's not in audio, it might be less appealing.

ETA: I added the first in the series to my audio wish list. It's checked out at the moment.

Lori - I actually listened to the first book in that series for the Fifty State Fiction Challenge. And to think I thought I wouldn't like a book with a New Jersey setting! The Andy Carpenter series has been one of my favorites! Wonderful narrator, dogs, humour! I always look forward to the next installment. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I added Book#100 to my tbr thread, but, I confess, I wanted to add so very many that it took supreme will power to resist. I am so impressed with the pace and the quality of your books.

Oh, I didn't realize Grover Gardner did the narration on the Andy Carpenter series. I just moved it up on my priority list!

JULY READING RECAP

Books read: 15
Breakdown: audio books-6, eBooks-6, paper-3
Average rating: 3.7
Pages read: 5,287
Total shared TIOLIS: 4

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
July: LM Montgomery or Pierre Berton
..... Anne of the Island, LM Montgomery – 7/25

BRITISH AUTHORS
July: BERNICE RUBENS or H.G. WELLS
..... The Island of Dr. Moreau, H. G. Wells – 7/15

AMERICAN AUTHORS
July: John Steinbeck
..... Grapes of Wrath – 7/3

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
July – Coyote Waits, Tony Hillerman – 7/8

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Favorite Book from JULY:
Bottomland, Michelle Hoover – 4.5 stars

Still reading, but SO behind in posting.

I’ve just returned from our family and friends Ladies’ Trip, which we try to do after labor day every other year. This year we chose three days in Boston and five days on Cape Cod.

1. The Paul Revere House
2. Mama and 3 of her daughters (I’m the one with reading glasses on my head) at the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, with the Old North Church steeple behind
3. Mama with The Union Oyster House behind, looking at the Holocaust Memorial
4. Some of our group in the Boston Holocaust Memorial

BOSTON!!! We would have loved to spend more time there – the history! – but our budget rather limited us. In Boston, our group of 15 ladies squished into 5 hotel rooms near the Boston Common. We got two-day hop-on hop-off trolley tickets, so we could all split off and see whatever we wanted. Some of us walked the entire Freedom Trail. Mama’s knees couldn’t take quite that much walking, so the sisters who took her around saw most of the Freedom Trail sites from the trolley.

The matriarch group did tour the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church. We spent quite some time at the Boston Holocaust Memorial; it was a pure and simple design and very moving. We had lunch at the oldest continuously run restaurant in the United States – the Union Oyster House.

1. Me, one of my sisters, and our mother enjoying our private beach
2. Morning mimosas on the dining deck
3. Waving goodbye to our beach house (yes, embarrassingly enough, we did buy a selfie stick for this trip!)

CAPE COD!!! This was our third trip to this beach house. We love this place! It is an old house with seven bedrooms, each with its own bath and deck. Fourteen of us enjoyed this leg of the trip. We had rib-hurting laughter around board games after dark, and kayaking, paddle-boarding, beach time, and exploring during the days.

1. Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, the last stop on The Freedom Trail
2. The Pilgrim Monument (behind) in Provincetown
3. The National Monument to the Forefathers, Plymouth

MONUMENTS!!! Many of the ladies are history lovers. So much to absorb and so little time to do it. Most went to Bunker Hill (and 4 of them climbed it). Most went to the Pilgrim Monument (and 6 of them climbed it). I was surprised that we only had a small group who wanted to see Plymouth Rock. “It’s just a rock.” Oh, my! To me, it’s a rock that evokes overwhelming feelings. (Wish my pictures had turned out.) But those people missed out on the most awesome monument of all – The National Monument to the Forefathers. We left in tears.

1. Washington’s Headquarters on the Hudson
2. Ma and Sis at the monument which holds his statue at Washington’s Headquarters
3. The sky was crying. Ma outside the Flight 93 Memorial
4. Flight 93 Memorial (pic from the web)

ROAD TRIP!!! Most of the group flew in. A sister, our mother and I drove up – we do enjoy us a good road trip! and Mama hates to fly. On the way to Boston, our favorite stop was at Washington’s Headquarters on the Hudson. We had an excellent tour guide, with fascinating stories. There was also a very good museum there. Homeward-bound, we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial. It was a very moving experience.

What a fantastic trip you had! I'm glad you shared pictures and stories.

Looks like you had fun. I'm overdue for another visit to New England, but I'll get around to it eventually.

Your trip sounds marvelous! Boston is one of my favorite cities -- I, too, love history -- and Cape Cod is marvelous. After Labor Day is probably the best time to go, when the summer crowds have dwindled. I'm glad you made it down PA to see the Flight 93 Memorial. I just read a very good book about Flight 93, Flight 93: The Story, the Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage by Tom McMillan

112. Atonement, Ian McEwan, 3.5 stars – 8/1
Audiobook, Historical Fiction
TIOLI #11: a title word has one more or 1 less letter than the previous book on the list
Authors Challenges: British: DIANA WYNNE JONES or IAN McEWAN

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113. Tears of the Giraffe, Alexander McCall Smith, 3.5 stars – 8/2
Ebook, mystery
TIOLI #14: both a preposition and a homophone in the title (tears, tiers-of)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Southern Africa (Botswana)

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114. The Truth Teller, Joyce Carol Oates, 2.5 stars – 8/4
Audiobook, domestic fiction
TIOLI #4: an author with a unisex given name
Authors Challenges: American: Joyce Carol Oates

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115. A Room with a View, E.M. Forster, 3 stars – 8/7
Audiobook, romance
TIOLI #7: a young person is the main character
Reading Through Time: Month: Journeys
BingoDOG: 25. main Character's job/hobby you want (idle rich!)

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116. The Charm Bracelet, Viola Shipman, 3.5 stars – 8/7
Paper book, general fiction
TIOLI #15: summer Olympic sport mentioned (swimming)

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117. The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, Gerald Morris, 3.5 stars – 8/8
Ebook, fantasy
TIOLI #11: a title word has one more or 1 less letter than the previous book on the list
Reading Through Time: Month: Journeys
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Arthurian Britain

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118. We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo, 3 stars – 8/12
Audiobook, general fiction
TIOLI #11: a title word has one more or 1 less letter than the previous book on the list
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Southern Africa (Zimbabwe)
Woman BingoUP: 3. female African author.

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119. Above All Things, Tanis Rideout, 4 stars – 8/13
Paper book, historical fiction
TIOLI #14: both a preposition and a homophone in the title (above-all,awl)
Reading Through Time: Month: Journeys
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Camping

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120. Whistling Past the Graveyard, Susan Crandall, 4 stars – 8/19
Audiobook, historical fiction
TIOLI # 7: a young person is the main character (9-1/2)
Reading Through Time: Month: Journeys

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121. The Bone Garden, Tess Garritsen, 3.5 stars – 8/25
Audiobook, historical fiction
TIOLI #3: set in the 19th century (1830s)

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122. The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre, Ann Rinaldi, 3.5 stars – 8/25
Ebook, historical fiction
TIOLI #7: a young person is the main character (14)

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123. The Tin Flute, Gabrielle Roy, 3.5 stars – 8/28
Paper, general fiction
TIOLI #6: Read a "bucket list" book
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Mordechai Richler or Gabrielle Roy

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124. The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, Billie Letts, 3.5 stars – 8/30
Ebook, general fiction
TIOLI #4: an author with a unisex given name

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125. Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing, Laura J. Snyder, 4 stars – 8/31
Paper book, non-fiction
Topics: History of science, optics
TIOLI #14: both a preposition and a homophone in the title (above-of, Eye, I, aye)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 600: Technology, medicine, health, eng., ag, mfg
75ers Nonfiction Challenge: Science, Technology, Medicine

AUGUST READING RECAP

Books read: 14
Breakdown: audio books-6, eBooks-4, paper-4
Average rating: 3.5
Pages read: 4,630
Total shared TIOLIS: 2

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
Aug: Mordechai Richler or Gabrielle Roy
..... The Tin Flute, Gabrielle Roy – 8/28

BRITISH AUTHORS
Aug: DIANA WYNNE JONES or IAN McEWAN
..... Atonement, Ian McEwan – 8/1

AMERICAN AUTHORS
August: Joyce Carol Oates
..... The Truth Teller – 8/4

ANZAC AUTHORS
August: none

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
August – not completed (book never came my turn at the library)

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Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge
August: Science, Tech, Medical
..... Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing, Laura J. Snyder – 8/31

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Favorite Book from AUGUST:
Above All Things, Tanis Rideout – 4 stars

126. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Deborah Moggach, 3 stars – 9/2
Audiobook, General Fiction
TIOLI #11: about moving house or taking a trip
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Southern Asia (India)
NOTES:
One of those few times when I can say, “The movie was better.”

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127. Sacred Clowns, Tony Hillerman, 3.5 stars – 9/5
Audiobook, mystery
TIOLI #6: the word "nine" in the title OR a 9-letter word in the title or author's name
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project
75 Theme: September Series & Sequels

128. My Lady Judge, Cora Harrison, 4 stars – 9/12
Ebook, Mystery
TIOLI #2: title whose entirety describes a woman or girl
75 Theme: September Series & Sequels

NOTES:

” Like the flowers of the field, individual men withered and died, but principles remained constant. The Brehon law was founded on confession, forgiveness and compensation and so long as she lived that law would prevail here in the kingdom of the Burren.”

"... well-drawn characters, a tantalizing mystery and an intriguing look at the surprisingly complex and liberal laws of 1509 Ireland." - Kirkus reviews

I was charmed by this little mystery set in 1509 Ireland about Mara, a judge in Burren and head of the Cahermacnaghten law school. Each chapter begins with a bit about Medieval Irish law. The main mystery to be solved is about the body left on the hillside after the rest of the celebrants of Bealtaine returned to their homes. Nobody is talking.

My Lady Judge has a nicely written sense of place and sense of culture. The writing could use more development, but I’ve been charmed into wanting to continue with this series.

129. The Ice Princess, Camilla Läckberg , 3.5 stars – 9/20
Audiobook, Mystery
TIOLI #7: a series book by an author you've never read before
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Translated (Swedish)
75 Theme: September Series & Sequels
Notes:
Well, ok, then. Hooked on another Scandi-Crime series.

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130. The Little Bride, Anna Solomon, 3 stars – 9/23
eBook, Historical fiction
TIOLI #2: title whose entirety describes a woman or girl
Notes:
Am Olam – Jewish homesteading movement. This particular story is about Jewish homesteaders in South Dakota. A father with two grown sons seeks a bride from Odessa. I was prepared to like this book, but all the characters were so unlikeable, as was their conduct. The writing was ok. I would like to find a book that tells a better story of Am Olam.

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131. The Replacement Wife, Eileen Goudge, 3 stars – 9/27
Audiobook, Romance
TIOLI #2: title whose entirety describes a woman or girl
Notes:
Too steamy for me, so I won’t bother with this author again. But I was particularly bothered by the way she wrote one character – Holly’s baby-daddy – written as being from Miami, Oklahoma, and telling people where he was from, (while pronouncing it the same as the Florida city), “but without palm trees". Obviously, she picked something off the map and made an assumption on the pronunciation. This city in Oklahoma is actually pronounced My-am-uh. The story was lame, the characters predictable.

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132. Paddle to the Sea, Holling C. Holling, 4.5 stars – 9/28
Paper Book, Children’s
TIOLI #16: author's last name can also be a first name
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 700: Arts (791)
Reading Through Time: Month: Water

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133. Parsifal’s Page, Gerald Morris, 3.5 stars – 9/30
eBook, Fantasy
TIOLI #8: cover has you seeing red
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Arthurian Britain
75 Theme: September Series & Sequels

SEPTEMBER READING RECAP

Not much reading got done this month. Three weeks away on vacation, and too busy!

Books read: 8
Breakdown: audio books-4, eBooks-3, paper-1
Average rating: 3.5
Pages read: 2,482
Total shared TIOLIS: 1
Not a single author challenge completed

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
September – Sacred Clowns, Tony Hillerman – 9/5

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Favorite Book from September:
My Lady Judge, Cora Harrison – 4 stars

Time out for some grandchild pictures!


Avery in June: in Nuremberg and at the Northern Ireland v. Ukraine Soccer match in France.


Avery in Dresden in July, and Lake Como, Italy in September.


Avery in a gondola in Venice in September, and on a beach in Portugal in October.

>112 countrylife: Avery is quite a traveler! Adorable pics :)

She's really precious!

Pictures and books read…so good to be caught up with you, Cindy. Your trip to New England looks fabulous. How cool that you can go back to the same beach house on Cape Cod. Your mother looks like she is having a fab time and still keep up with the youngsters! I hope you will both be able to meet up in Joplin the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Stasia and Terry have been talking it up on Facebook. I am planning on it.

Did Avery get to spend her summer in Europe? She is absolutely precious. Love the upside down sunglasses. I don't think she is too wowed by that soccer match!

Hello to my visitors!

Donna - my son is a doctor with the army, stationed in Germany, so the family is taking advantage of their location to see as much of their world as they can in their few years there.

>116 countrylife: Quite right too, Cindy. There are so many countries round about Germany that it would be a shame not to go and investigate.

Avery is a real cutie.

Have a splendid weekend.

134. Lady of Ashes, Christine Trent, 3.5 stars – 10/2
Ebook, historical fiction
19th century England
TIOLI # 6: in which someone experiences an unusual childhood (child found in a casket, then raised as undertaker’s apprentice.)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.6)

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135. Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon, 4 stars – 10/3
Audiobook, Adventure
10th century Azerbaijan
TIOLI #5: a 4 word title
Authors Challenges: American: Michael Chabon
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.54)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe (10th century, Azerbaijan)
NOTES:
Afterword: (read by the author)
“Adventures are a logical and reliable result . . . of the fatal act of leaving one’s home or trying to return to it again. All adventure happens in that damned and magical space, wherever it may be found or chanced upon, which least resembles one’s home. As soon as you have crossed your doorstep, or the county line, into that place where the structures, laws, and conventions of your upbringing no longer apply, where the support and approval, but also the disapproval and repression, of your family and neighbors are not to be had, then you have entered into adventure, a place of sorrow, marvels and regret.”

136. The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng, 4 stars – 10/9
Ebook, historical fiction
1950s Malaysia
TIOLI #9: a title word can be changed to different word by changing, adding, or deleting a letter (mists/mints)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Asia (Malaysia)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (823.92)

.

137. Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill, 4.5 stars – 10/10
Audiobook, historical fiction
Mid-1700s to Mid-1800s, Africa, Canada, Boston, London
TIOLI #5: a 4 word title
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Lawrence Hill or Jane Urquhart
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.54)

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138. Grave Goods, Ariana Franklin , 4 stars – 10/12
Paper book, Historical Mystery
12th century England
TIOLI #7: a one or two word title and a total of 10 letters
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (823.914)
Reading Through Time: Month: Historical Mysteries
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe (12th century England)

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139. The State We’re In, Ann Beattie, 3 stars – 10/15
Audiobook, short stories
Contemporary Maine
TIOLI #8: cover with a painted or sculpted human image (figurine)

.

140. Murder by the Book, Eric Brown, 3 stars – 10/16
Ebook, mystery
1950s England
TIOLI #2: murder in its title

.

141. Slash and Burn, Colin Cotterill, 3.5 stars – 10/19
Paper Book, mystery
1970s Laos
TIOLI #3: a main character has to decide what is true
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (823.914)
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Eastern Asia (Laos)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: What Scares You? (spirits talking to people)
75 Theme: Halloween

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142. A Separate Country, Robert Hicks, 3.5 stars – 10/19
Audiobook, historical fiction
Post-Civil War, 19th Century New Orleans
TIOLI #14: orange lettering on the cover of your edition
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.6)

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143. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson, 3.5 stars – 10/20
Ebook, mystery
Contemporary England
TIOLI #10: at least three different vowels in the title
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (823.914)
Authors Challenges: British: KATE ATKINSON or WILLIAM GOLDING

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144. I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship, Wade Rouse, 1 star – 10/21
Audiobook, short dog memoirs
Contemporary, mainly NYC and LA
TIOLI #12: a negation in the title (not, un-, isn't, etc)

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145. Any Other Name, Craig Johnson, 3.5 stars – 10/24
Ebook, mystery
Contemporary Wyoming and South Dakota
TIOLI #1: a one-word weather forecast on page 33 (snow)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.6)
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

.

146. The Assault, Harry Mulisch, 3.5 stars – 10/24
Paper book, general fiction
1945 Haarlem, Netherlands
TIOLI #15: a book by a Dutch or Flemish author
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (839.3136)

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147. The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson, 3 stars – 10/25
Audiobook, horror
1950s
TIOLI #13: a Halloweeny creature in title or story (a haunt)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.54)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: What Scares You? (horror books, spooks)
75 Theme: Halloween

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148. Dry Bones, Craig Johnson, 3.5 stars – 10/27
Ebook, Mystery
Contemporary Wyoming
TIOLI #3: a main character has to decide what is true (sheriff)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (813.6)
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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149. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho, 3.5 stars – 10/27
Audiobook, fantasy
1920s Spain
TIOLI #4: one of LT's 250 most-reviewed books (711 reviews)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (869.342)

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150. Thankful’s Inheritance, Joseph C. Lincoln, 3.5 stars – 10/28
Ebook, General Fiction
Cape Cod
TIOLI #11: a book that's been sitting in a pile for at least 6 months
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 800: Literature (810)

OCTOBER READING RECAP

Books read: 17
Breakdown: audio books-7, eBooks-7, paper-3
Average rating: 3.4
Pages read: 4,470
Total shared TIOLIS: 6
Finished 15 of 15 TIOLIs = SWEEP!

.

Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
Oct: Lawrence Hill or Jane Urquhart
..... Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill – 10/10

BRITISH AUTHORS
Oct: KATE ATKINSON or WILLIAM GOLDING
..... Case Histories, Kate Atkinson – 10/20

AMERICAN AUTHORS
October: Michael Chabon
..... Gentlemen of the Road – 10/3

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
October –
Any Other Name, Craig Johnson (finally came in to the library) – 10/24
Dry Bones, Craig Johnson – 10/27

.
Favorite Book from October:
Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill – 4.5 stars

I loved the Lawrence Hill book, too. Congratulations on your second TIOLI sweep! One of these days...

Wow, you've been reading up a storm!

151. The Fallen Man, Tony Hillerman, 3.5 stars – 11/1
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: 1996, New Mexico
TIOLI #11. fall or autumn in title
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project

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152. Jimmy Bluefeather, Kim Heacox, 4.5 stars – 11/2
Paper book, general fiction
Setting: contemporary, Alaska
TIOLI #3: a book acquired in Aug/Sept/Oct of 2016
Book bullet: streamsong
NOTES:
I loved this book! I had so many flags on the pages to capture some of the writing, it took me a long time to type it all up. But then what? I must have neglected to save the document. Now the book is already back to the library, and I’m without my notes. Skunkin’s!
Awesome sense of place, evocative writing, nice story, lovable (if not always believable) characters. Loved the old man and his memories of his people's canoe culture.

.

153. Nine Women, One Dress, Jane L. Rosen, 3 stars – 11/3
Ebook, romance
Setting: contemporary, NYC
TIOLI #14: ROLLING - title starts with letters of THANKSGIVING
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Debut book

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154. The Sanctuary Sparrow, Ellis Peters, 3.5 stars – 11/3
Audiobook, historical mystery
Setting: 1140 England
TIOLI #1: cover with a bird whose beak faces book spine
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe

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155. The Writing Life, Annie Dillard, 1.5 stars – 11/5
Audiobook, Essays
TIOLI #9: a book of essays
Authors Challenges: American: Annie Dillard

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156. The Trespasser, Tana French, 4 stars – 11/7
Paper book, mystery
Setting: 2015, Dublin
TIOLI #14: ROLLING - title starts with letters of THANKSGIVING
NOTES:
Another great outing with the Dublin Murder Squad. I’m always looking forward to the detectives du jour. Tana French does such a great job with their diverse characters.

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157. Out of the Deep I Cry, Julia Spencer-Fleming, 4 stars – 11/7
Ebook, mystery
Setting: 1920s, 1930, 1950s, 2017, Adirondacks, New York
TIOLI #3: a book acquired in Aug/Sept/Oct of 2016
Quote:
"It's funny," she said, her eyes easing into nostalgia. "During the years when you're living on macaroni and cheese and falling into bed exhausted each day from taking care of little kids, you long so for the future. And it isn't until the future arrives that you realize how wonderful it all was."

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158. The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West, 5 stars – 11/9
Paper book, general fiction
Setting: 1916 England
TIOLI #10: title completes the sentence "I am thankful for..."
Authors Challenges: British: REBECCA WEST or LEN DEIGHTON
NOTES:
Wow! What terrific writing to pack such a punch in so short a book. Perfectly measured and told. One of my favorites of the year.

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159. Skeletons on the Zahara, Dean King, 4 stars – 11/10
Audiobook, nonfiction
Setting: North Africa, 1815-16
TIOLI #5: author's first and last name have the same number of syllables
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: North Africa, Middle East
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 900 - 939: world history, geography, travel, biography, genealogy, and ancient history (916)
NOTES:
Shipwreck, slavery, starvation, survival. What these men endured. And some lived to tell the tale.

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160. The Harbinger, Jonathan Cahn, 3.5 stars – 11/11
Audiobook, Christian fiction
Setting: contemporary NYC
TIOLI #12: translated in at least one other language

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161. An Obvious Fact, Craig Johnson, 4 stars – 11/13
Paper book, mystery
Setting: contemporary South Dakota and Wyoming, Devil’s Tower area
TIOLI #15: without a photograph on the cover
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project
NOTES:
Another worthy Longmire mystery. Devil’s Tower, motorcycles, Sherlock Holmes. One of my favorites so far.

Over 160 already! Wow!

Definitely an impressive list of books!

Great pictures! I'm in love with the grand daughter in the glasses in >112 countrylife: !

I'm so glad you gave Jimmy Bluefeather a shot and loved it. It's definitely a novel worthy of more attention. I've got to wonder why it is so little known. Small publisher? Lack of publicity?

I'm currently listening to Someone Knows My Name which I see you also enjoyed.

I am thankful for your presence in the group, Cindy

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

Lovely greeting, Paul. Thank you.

162. Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure, Matthew Algeo, 4 stars – 11/14
eBook, nonfiction
Setting: travel, Missouri to Washington DC, 1953
Reading Through Time: Month: Presidents, Vice Presidents, Elections
TIOLI #2: something political in title

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163 . A Murderous Procession (The Assassin's Prayer), Ariana Franklin, 4 stars – 11/17
Paper book, historical mystery
Setting: 1178 England | Sicily
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe
TIOLI #15: without a photograph on the cover

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164 . Avenue of Mysteries, John Irving, 1 star – 11/18
Audiobook, general fiction
Setting: contemporary Mexico, Philippines
American Author Challenge for September
TIOLI #4: about or set in Mexico

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165. I Refuse, Per Petterson, 3.5 stars – 11/20
Audiobook, general fiction
TIOLI #6: title includes a heteronym or homonym

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166 . The Bird Sisters, Rebecca Rasumssen, 3.5 stars – 11/21
eBook, general fiction
Setting: contemporary Wisconsin
TIOLI #1: cover with a bird whose beak faces book spine
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167 . Things Not Seen, Andrew Clements, 3.5 stars – 11/21
Audiobook, science fiction
Setting: contemporary Chicago
TIOLI #8: one of the characters is blind or deaf

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168 . The Second Mrs. Hockaday, Susan Rivers , 3.5 stars – 11/22
Paper book, historical fiction
Setting: 1860s, 1890s; South Carolina
TIOLI #13: a book with a date on pages 11, 20 or 16 (11-August 10, 1865; 16-August 11, 1865)

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169 . A Pattern of Lies, Charles Todd, 3.5 stars – 11/25
eBook, mystery
Setting: 1916 England, France
TIOLI #7: author's initials make a recognizable short form (C.T. scan)

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170 . Shut Your Eyes Tight, John Verdon, 3.5 stars – 11/28
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: contemporary New York
TIOLI #7: author's initials make a recognizable short form (J.V. Junior Varsity)

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171 . The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence, 4 stars – 11/30
Paper book, general fiction
Setting: 20th century Manitoba, Canada
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Michael Ondaatje or Margaret Laurence
TIOLI #12: translated in at least one other language

NOVEMBER READING RECAP

Books read: 21
Breakdown: audio books-9, eBooks-5, paper-7
Average rating: 3.5
Pages read: 6,507
Total shared TIOLIS: 7
Finished 15 of 15 TIOLIs = SWEEP!

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
November: Michael Ondaatje or Margaret Laurence
..... The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence – 11/30

BRITISH AUTHORS
November: REBECCA WEST or LEN DEIGHTON
..... The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West – 11/9

AMERICAN AUTHORS
November: Annie Dillard
..... The Writing Life – 11/5
September: John Irving (playing catch-up)
..... Avenue of Mysteries – 11/18

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
November –
The Fallen Man, Tony Hillerman – 11/1
An Obvious Fact, Craig Johnson – 11/13

.
Favorite Book from November:
The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West - 5 stars

172. Nemesis, Jo Nesbo, 4 stars – 12/1
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: contemporary Norway
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Norway)
TIOLI #9: only 1 or 2 vowels in author’s name, but those letters may be used multiple times

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173. Rise the Dark, Michael Koryta, 3.5 stars – 12/1
Paper book, mystery
Setting: contemporary Florida, Wyoming, Montana
TIOLI #4: a book with a number(s) in the first sentence (for three days above six thousand feet)

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174. Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories, Craig Johnson, 4.5 stars – 12/3
Audiobook, short stories
Setting: contemporary Wyoming
Group Read: Navajo Mystery/Walt Longmire Project
TIOLI #16: “peace” or “good will” in narrative or title (peace p.4)

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175. Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro, 3.5 stars – 12/5
Audiobook, short stories
Setting: contemporary Canada
Authors Challenges: Canadian: Alice Munro or Rawi Hage
TIOLI #4. # in first sentence (Doree had to take three buses)

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176. Irma Voth, Miriam Toews , 3 stars – 12/6
Paper book, general fiction
Setting: contemporary Mexico
Authors Challenges: Canadian: (for September)
TIOLI #5: title starts with SOLSTICE, rolling challenge

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177. A Christmas Beginning, Anne Perry, 3 stars – 12/7
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: Victorian England
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (England)
Group Read: Category Challenge Group – Christmas murder mystery read.
Reading Through Time: Month: Regency or Victorian (Victorian)
TIOLI #16: “peace” or “good will” in narrative or title (peace - p.105)

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178. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding, 3 stars – 12/8
eBook, romance
Setting: contemporary England
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (England)
Authors Challenges: British: West Yorkshire Authors
TIOLI #4: a book with a number(s) in the first sentence (129 pounds)

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179. The Shape of Water, Andrea Camilleri, 3.5 stars – 12/8
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: 1993 Italy
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Italy)
TIOLI #17: a book that has nothing to do with a holiday in December

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180. The Mind’s Eye, Heakan Nesser, 3.5 stars – 12/10
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: contemporary Sweden
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Sweden)
TIOLI #18: a book written by an author from Scandinavia (Sweden)

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181. Zero K, Don DeLillo, 2 stars – 12/11
Audiobook, science fiction
Authors Challenges: American: Don DeLillo
TIOLI #7: by an author with two capital letters in his/her last name

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182. A Lesson in Secrets, Jacqueline Winspear, 3.5 stars – 12/13
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: 1930s England
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (England)
TIOLI #6: with an auto or other vehicle on the front cover

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183. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, Fredrik Backman, 4 stars – 12/17
Audiobook, general fiction
TIOLI #11 : with "eve" in the title

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184. Firefly Summer, Nan Parson Rossiter, 3.5 stars – 12/19
Paper book, general fiction
Setting: contemporary Cape Cod
TIOLI #17: a book that has nothing to do with a holiday in December

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185. The Alphabet House, Jussi Adler-Olsen, 3.5 stars – 12/20
Audiobook, mystery
Setting: 1944 | 1972, Germany | England
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Germany and England)
TIOLI #18: a book written by an author from Scandinavia

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186. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee, 3.5 stars – 12/21
Paper book, nonfiction
Setting: 1930s Spain
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Spain)
Category Challenge: DeweyCAT: 940 - 999: history of Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania and extraterrestrial worlds (946)
Authors Challenges: British: (for September)
TIOLI #3: a book you have already started and want to finish by the end of 2016

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187. The Olden Days Coat, Margaret Laurence, 3.5 stars – 12/22
Paper book, childrens
TIOLI #3: a book you have already started and want to finish by the end of 2016

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188. The Lion of Flanders, Hendrik Conscience, 4.5 stars – 12/22
eBook, historical fiction
Setting: 1302 Belgium
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (Belgium)
Category Challenge: RandomCAT: Reminds of special gift (Son’s gift of visit to Bruges. A statue in the Markt Square of Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breydel, local heroes in the Battle of the Golden Spurs, prompted my read of this book about that battle.)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe (1302)
TIOLI #16: “peace” or “good will” in narrative or title (good will, p195)

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189. The Siege Winter, Ariana Franklin, 4 stars – 12/28
Paper book, historical mystery
Setting: 12th century England
Category Challenge: GeoCAT: Western Europe (England)
Reading Through Time: Quarter: Medieval Europe (12th century)
TIOLI #16: “peace” or “good will” in narrative or title (good will, p185)

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190. The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko, Scott Stambach, 4 stars – 12/30
Audiobook, general fiction
Setting: 2005 Belarus
TIOLI #5: title starts with SOLSTICE, rolling challenge

DECEMBER READING RECAP

Books read: 19
Breakdown: audio books-11, eBooks-2, paper-6
Average rating: 3.5
Pages read: 5,514
Total shared TIOLIS: 7
Finished 10 of 18 TIOLIs

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Author Challenges Progress:

CANADIAN AUTHORS
December: Alice Munro or Rawi Hage
..... Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro – 12/5

BRITISH AUTHORS
December: West Yorkshire Authors
..... Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding – 12/8

AMERICAN AUTHORS
December: Don DeLillo
..... Zero K – 12/11

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Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016
December –
Wait for Signs, Craig Johnson – 12/3

.
Favorite Book from December:
The Lion of Flanders, Hendrik Conscience – 4.5 stars

Cindy, you're a reading machine!

Wrapping up the year, these are the challenges I've completed:

AMERICAN AUTHORS 2016

January: Anne Tyler
..... Searching for Caleb (3 stars) - 1/7
February: Richard Russo
..... Empire Falls (4) - 2/1
March: Jane Smiley
..... Private Life (3.5) - 3/11
April: Poetry Month
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver (4) - 4/14
May: Ivan Doig
..... This House of Sky (4.5) - 5/5
June: Annie Proulx
..... Close Range (3) - 6/17
July: John Steinbeck
..... Grapes of Wrath (4) - 7/3
August: Joyce Carol Oates
..... The Truth Teller (2.5) - 8/4
September: John Irving
..... The Avenue of Mysteries (1) - 11/18
October: Michael Chabon
..... Gentlemen of the Road (4) - 10/3
November: Annie Dillard
..... The Writing Life (1.5) - 11/5
December: Don DeLillo
..... Zero K (2) -12/11

COMPLETED. Average 3.08 stars.

BRITISH AUTHORS 2016

January: SUSAN HILL or BARRY UNSWORTH
..... The Pure in Heart, Susan Hill (4) - 1/4
..... The Risk of Darkness, Susan Hill (4) - 1/9
..... The Ruby in Her Navel, Barry Unsworth (4.5) - 1/21
February: AGATHA CHRISTIE or WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
..... Parker Pyne Investigates, Agatha Christie (3) - 2/10
March: ALI SMITH or THOMAS HARDY
..... The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy (4) - 3/6
April: GEORGE ELIOT or HANIF KUREISHI
..... Adam Bede, George Eliot (5) - 4/5
May: JANE GARDAM or ROBERT GODDARD
..... Old Filth, Jane Gardam (4) - 5/26
June: LADY ANTONIA FRASER or JOSEPH CONRAD
..... Typhoon, Joseph Conrad (3) - 6/1
July: BERNICE RUBENS or H.G. WELLS
..... The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells (3) - 7/15
August: DIANA WYNNE JONES or IAN McEWAN
..... Atonement, Ian McEwan (3.5) - 8/1
September: DORIS LESSING or LAURIE LEE
..... As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, Laurie Lee (3.5) - 12/21
October: KATE ATKINSON or WILLIAM GOLDING
..... Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (3.5) - 10/20
November: REBECCA WEST or LEN DEIGHTON
..... The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West (5) - 11/9
December: West Yorkshire authors
..... Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (3) - 12/8

3.79 average. The highest average rating for the books I read of the three author challenges in which I participated.

CANADIAN AUTHORS 2016

January: Robertson Davies or Kim Thúy
..... Ru, Kim Thúy (3.5) - 1/29
February: Helen Humphreys or Stephen Leacock
..... Coventry, Helen Humphreys (4) - 2/16
..... The Lost Garden, Helen Humphreys (3.5) - 2/19
March: Farley Mowat or Anita Rau Badami
..... Tamarind Woman, Anita Rau Badami (3.5)- 3/30
April: Margaret Atwood or Michael Crummey
..... Galore, Michael Crummey (3.5) - 4/4
May: Michel Tremblay or Emily St. John Mandel
..... Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (4) - 5/16
June: Timothy Findley or Joseph Boyden
..... The Orenda, Joseph Boyden (5) - 6/14
July: LM Montgomery or Pierre Berton
..... Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery (3.5) - 7/25
August: Mordechai Richler or Gabrielle Roy
..... The Tin Flute, Gabrielle Roy (3.5) - 8/28
September: Miriam Toews or Dany Laferrière
..... Irma Voth, Miriam Toews (3) - 12/6
October: Lawrence Hill or Jane Urquhart
..... Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill (4.5) - 10/10
November: Michael Ondaatje or Margaret Laurence
..... The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence (4) - 11/30
December: Alice Munro or Rawi Hage
..... Too Much Happiness, Alice Munro (3) - 12/4

COMPLETED. 3.73 average rating.

Walt Longmire & Tony Hillerman Group Reads 2016

January - Skinwalkers, Tony Hillerman - 1/25
February - Hell is Empty, Craig Johnson - 2/12
March - A Thief of Time, Tony Hillerman - 4/13
April - As the Crow Flies, Craig Johnson - 4/1
May - Talking God, Tony Hillerman - 5/7
June - A Serpent's Tooth, Craig Johnson - 6/9
July - Coyote Waits, Tony Hillerman - 7/8
August - Any Other Name (finally came in from the library), Craig Johnson - 10/24
September - Sacred Clowns, Tony Hillerman - 9/5
October - Dry Bones, Craig Johnson - 10/27
November - The Fallen Man, Tony Hillerman - 11/1
. . . . An Obvious Fact, Craig Johnson - 11/13
December - Wait For Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories, Craig Johnson - 12/3

COMPLETED.

Chatterbox Non-Fiction Challenge

January: Biography/Memoir/Autobiography
..... Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman (memoir) - 1/5
..... A Disposition to be Rich: how a small-town pastor's son ruined an American president, brought on a Wall Street crash, and made himself the best-hated man in the United States, Geoffrey Ward (biography) - 1/14
February: History
..... A History of the World in 100 Objects, Neil MacGregor - 2/26
March: Travel
..... Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks (world visits to her childhood penpals) - 3/9
..... Dead Wake, Erik Larson (last crossing of the Lusitania) - 3/14
..... Thunderstruck, Erik Larson (Marconi's travels to establish wireless telegraphy) - 3/16
April: Religion & Spirituality
..... Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver - 4/14
May: The Arts
..... Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Timothy Egan (photographic work of Edward Curtis on North American Indians) - 5/25
June: Natural History/Environment/Health
..... The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson (19th century London cholera epidemic) – 6/15
July: Current Affairs
..... none read
August: Science and Technology
..... Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing, Laura J. Snyder - 8/31
September: Philosophy/History of Ideas
..... none read
October: Politics/Economics & Business/Commentary
..... none read
November: Essays
..... The Writing Life, Annie Dillard - 11/5
December: Quirky/Who Knew?
..... none read

Finished 8 of 12.

2016 IN REVIEW

Books Read:
audiobooks – 84
eBooks – 54
paper books – 52
total books = 190

Pages Read:
60,993

Genres Read:
historical fiction – 48
mystery – 47
general fiction – 42
BAM (biographies, autobiographies, memoirs) – 13
other nonfiction – 12
romance – 10
science fiction/fantasy/horror – 9
short stories - 6
YA – 3

My Top Twelve Reads of 2016:

The Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West
Adam Bede, GEORGE ELIOT
The Orenda, Joseph Boyden
This House of Sky, Ivan Doig
The Lion of Flanders, Hendrik Conscience
The Master of Bruges, Terence Morgan
The Ruby in Her Navel, BARRY UNSWORTH
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Someone Knows My Name, Lawrence Hill
Wintering, Peter Geye
Jimmy Bluefeather, Kim Heacox
Bottomland, Michelle Hoover

(Six of these were read solely because of the author challenges.)

My 2016 Book Title Meme
(Using titles from books read in 2016.)

Describe yourself: The Truth Teller
Describe how you feel: Too Much Happiness
Describe where you currently live: A Room with a View
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?: The House by the Fjord
Your favorite form of transportation: The Mind’s Eye
Your best friend is: A Thief of Time
You and your friends are: A Lesson in Secrets
Your favorite food is: Dinner with Edward
What's the Weather Like?: Cover of Snow
You fear: A Serpent’s Tooth
What is the best advice you have to give: Speak
Thought for the Day: And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
How I would like to die: As I Walked out One Midsummer Morning
My Soul's Present Condition: The Pure in Heart

Wow, that's a lot of challenges!

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Cindy