inge87's Books of 2016, Part III: Nothing Gold Can Stay
This is a continuation of the topic inge87's Books of 2016, Part II: May Has Come at Last! .
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2016
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1inge87
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
—Robert Frost
It's November, which means that here in Texas the leaves are slowly turning brown; however, inspired by Robert Frost and Albert Bierstadt, I am setting out on my last thread for 2016. So why don't you join me?
2inge87
Currently Reading:
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
The Lion of Münster: The Bishop who Roared against the Nazis by Daniel Utrecht of the Oratory
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer
Sermons for Advent and the Christmas Season by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
The Lion of Münster: The Bishop who Roared against the Nazis by Daniel Utrecht of the Oratory
3inge87
Books Read in 2016
Well that's it for 2016! Come and see what I have in store for 2017 over here at my new thread!
Yearly Total = 278 Books Read
* = re-read
+ = owned and unread for at least a year (Mt. TBR)
^ = foreign language book
1 star = Did trees really have to die for this?
2 stars = Almost a good book
3 stars = A solid, good book
4 stars = A very good book
5 stars = An amazingly good book
Well that's it for 2016! Come and see what I have in store for 2017 over here at my new thread!
Yearly Total = 278 Books Read
* = re-read
+ = owned and unread for at least a year (Mt. TBR)
^ = foreign language book
1 star = Did trees really have to die for this?
2 stars = Almost a good book
3 stars = A solid, good book
4 stars = A very good book
5 stars = An amazingly good book
4inge87
Books Read in January
1. Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice by Eva K. Betz (4)
2. Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 by Kiiro Yumi (3)
3. Girl in Dior by Annie Goetzinger (2)
4. The Pied Piper of Peru by Ann Tompert (2)
5. Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert by Gary D. Schmidt (5)
6. The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart (3)
7. Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr. (4)
8. Murder by Candlelight: The Gruesome Slayings Behind Our Romance with the Macabre by Michael Knox Beran (4)
9. Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin (3)
10. Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions: Modern Martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church by John Sianchuk (3)
11. Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews (3)
12. B is for Bear: A Natural Alphabet by Hannah Viano (3)
13. Americanine: A Haute Dog in New York by Yann Kebbi (4)
14. Friction by Sandra Brown (3)
15. Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake (3)
16. Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky (3)
17. Survival by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
18. The Reign of Christ the King by Michael Davies (3)
19. Migration by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
20. Marked for Death: Islam's War Against the West and Me by Geert Wilders (3)
21. Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins by Jim Forest (4)
22. Quick Curtain by Alan Melville (3)
23. The Easter Chick by Geraldine Elschner (3)
24. Regeneration by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
25. The Nativity by Géraldine Elschner (3)
26. The Gentle Traditionalist: A Catholic Fairy-Tale from Ireland by Roger Buck (4)
Monthly Total = 26 Books Read
Books Read in February
27. The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World's Favorite Beverage from 7000 BC to Today's Craft Brewing Revolution by Jonathan Hennessey, Mike Smith, & Aaron McConnell (3)
28. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser (4)
29. Jackaby by William Ritter (3)
30. Beastly Bones by William Ritter (3)
31. The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution by Donald R. Prothero (3)
32. An Alphabet of Saints by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
33. A Story Of St. John Vianney by Brother Ernest, C.S.C. (3)
34. Corpus Christi: Holy Communion and the Renewal of the Church by Athanasius Schneider (3)
35. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick (5)
36. Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
37. The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon (3)
38. Saints for Girls: A First Book for Little Catholic Girls by Susan Weaver et al. (4)
39. Winterwood by Jacey Bedford (3)
40. I Sing a Song of the Saints of God by Lesbia Scott (4)
41. Wild Hearts by Sharon Sala (3)
42. Cold Hearts by Sharon Sala (3)
43. The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan (4)
44. Joseph and Chico: The Life of Pope Benedict XVI as Told by a Cat by Jeanne Perego (3)
45. A Bride's Story, Volume 2 by Kaoru Mori (4)
46. Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg (4)
47. Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr (3)
48. Just over the Mountain by Robyn Carr (3)
49. Down by the River by Robyn Carr (2)
50. The Ghost of Flight 401 by John G. Fuller (3)
51. Dshamilja by Chinghiz Aitmatov+^ (3)
Monthly Total = 25 Books Read
Books Read in March
52. Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli (3)
53. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming (4)
54. I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor (3)
55. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3)
56. Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (5)
57. A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays by Tasha Tudor (3)
58. Demeter and Persephone: Homeric Hymn Number Two by Homer & Penelope Proddow (4)
59. The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity by Taylor Marshall (3)
60. Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon (4)
61. Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-Extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things by M. R. O'Connor (3)
62. Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves (3)
63. The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove (3)
64. The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves (3)
65. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (2)
66. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (5)
67. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (4)
68. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (3)
69. You by Fulton Sheen (4)
70. Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin (4)
71. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (3)
72. Conversation with Christ: The Teaching of St. Teresa of Avila about Personal Prayer by Peter Thomas Rohrbach (4)
73. The Golden Specific by S. E. Grove (3)
74. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (3)
75. Friends of God: Homilies by Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (3)
76. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (3)
77. Mit brennender Sorge by Pope Pius XI^ (4)
78. Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
79. Saint Germaine and the Sheep by Eva K. Betz (3)
80. Saint Athanasius by F. A. Forbes (3)
81. On Pascha by Melito of Sardis+ (4)
82. St. Margaret Clitherow by Margaret T. Monro (3)
83. A Short History of the Roman Mass by Michael Davies (3)
84. The Seven Last Words by Fulton Sheen (3)
85. The Sadness of Christ by St. Thomas More+ (3)
86. Elijah in Jerusalem by Michael O'Brien (3)
87. Saint Pius V by Robin Anderson (4)
88. The House of Gold: Lenten Sermons by Bede Jarrett, OP (5)
89. Easter: The Passion and Resurrection by Géraldine Elschner (4)
90. The Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
91. The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (3)
92. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy (5)
93. Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe (4)
Monthly Total = 42 Books Read
1. Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice by Eva K. Betz (4)
2. Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 by Kiiro Yumi (3)
3. Girl in Dior by Annie Goetzinger (2)
4. The Pied Piper of Peru by Ann Tompert (2)
5. Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert by Gary D. Schmidt (5)
6. The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart (3)
7. Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr. (4)
8. Murder by Candlelight: The Gruesome Slayings Behind Our Romance with the Macabre by Michael Knox Beran (4)
9. Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin (3)
10. Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions: Modern Martyrs of the Ukrainian Catholic Church by John Sianchuk (3)
11. Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews (3)
12. B is for Bear: A Natural Alphabet by Hannah Viano (3)
13. Americanine: A Haute Dog in New York by Yann Kebbi (4)
14. Friction by Sandra Brown (3)
15. Wickedly Dangerous by Deborah Blake (3)
16. Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky (3)
17. Survival by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
18. The Reign of Christ the King by Michael Davies (3)
19. Migration by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
20. Marked for Death: Islam's War Against the West and Me by Geert Wilders (3)
21. Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins by Jim Forest (4)
22. Quick Curtain by Alan Melville (3)
23. The Easter Chick by Geraldine Elschner (3)
24. Regeneration by Julie E. Czerneda+ (4)
25. The Nativity by Géraldine Elschner (3)
26. The Gentle Traditionalist: A Catholic Fairy-Tale from Ireland by Roger Buck (4)
Monthly Total = 26 Books Read
Books Read in February
27. The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World's Favorite Beverage from 7000 BC to Today's Craft Brewing Revolution by Jonathan Hennessey, Mike Smith, & Aaron McConnell (3)
28. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser (4)
29. Jackaby by William Ritter (3)
30. Beastly Bones by William Ritter (3)
31. The Story of Life in 25 Fossils: Tales of Intrepid Fossil Hunters and the Wonders of Evolution by Donald R. Prothero (3)
32. An Alphabet of Saints by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
33. A Story Of St. John Vianney by Brother Ernest, C.S.C. (3)
34. Corpus Christi: Holy Communion and the Renewal of the Church by Athanasius Schneider (3)
35. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick (5)
36. Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
37. The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon (3)
38. Saints for Girls: A First Book for Little Catholic Girls by Susan Weaver et al. (4)
39. Winterwood by Jacey Bedford (3)
40. I Sing a Song of the Saints of God by Lesbia Scott (4)
41. Wild Hearts by Sharon Sala (3)
42. Cold Hearts by Sharon Sala (3)
43. The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan (4)
44. Joseph and Chico: The Life of Pope Benedict XVI as Told by a Cat by Jeanne Perego (3)
45. A Bride's Story, Volume 2 by Kaoru Mori (4)
46. Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg (4)
47. Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr (3)
48. Just over the Mountain by Robyn Carr (3)
49. Down by the River by Robyn Carr (2)
50. The Ghost of Flight 401 by John G. Fuller (3)
51. Dshamilja by Chinghiz Aitmatov+^ (3)
Monthly Total = 25 Books Read
Books Read in March
52. Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli (3)
53. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming (4)
54. I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor (3)
55. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3)
56. Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (5)
57. A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays by Tasha Tudor (3)
58. Demeter and Persephone: Homeric Hymn Number Two by Homer & Penelope Proddow (4)
59. The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity by Taylor Marshall (3)
60. Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon (4)
61. Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-Extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things by M. R. O'Connor (3)
62. Winter at the Door by Sarah Graves (3)
63. The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove (3)
64. The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves (3)
65. The White Stag by Kate Seredy (2)
66. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty (5)
67. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (4)
68. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs (3)
69. You by Fulton Sheen (4)
70. Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin (4)
71. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs (3)
72. Conversation with Christ: The Teaching of St. Teresa of Avila about Personal Prayer by Peter Thomas Rohrbach (4)
73. The Golden Specific by S. E. Grove (3)
74. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (3)
75. Friends of God: Homilies by Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (3)
76. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (3)
77. Mit brennender Sorge by Pope Pius XI^ (4)
78. Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
79. Saint Germaine and the Sheep by Eva K. Betz (3)
80. Saint Athanasius by F. A. Forbes (3)
81. On Pascha by Melito of Sardis+ (4)
82. St. Margaret Clitherow by Margaret T. Monro (3)
83. A Short History of the Roman Mass by Michael Davies (3)
84. The Seven Last Words by Fulton Sheen (3)
85. The Sadness of Christ by St. Thomas More+ (3)
86. Elijah in Jerusalem by Michael O'Brien (3)
87. Saint Pius V by Robin Anderson (4)
88. The House of Gold: Lenten Sermons by Bede Jarrett, OP (5)
89. Easter: The Passion and Resurrection by Géraldine Elschner (4)
90. The Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson (4)
91. The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (3)
92. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy (5)
93. Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe (4)
Monthly Total = 42 Books Read
5inge87
Books Read in April
94. The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond (4)
95. S is for Salmon: A Pacific Northwest Alphabet by Hannah Viano (3)
96. The Big Thicket: A Challenge for Conservation by Pete Gunter (4)
97. Shackleton's Journey by William Grill (3)
98. Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat'ovi Massacre by James F. Brooks (4)
99. River Marked by Patricia Briggs (2)
100. Karl I: The Emperor of Peace by Marcel Uderzo & Marc Bourgne (5)
101. I Want to Get Married!: One Wannabe Bride's Misadventures with Handsome Houdinis, Technicolor Grooms, Morality Police, and Other Mr. Not Quite Rights by Ghada Abdel Aal (3)
102. Mary's Monster by Ruth Van Ness Blair (4)
103. A Procession of Saints by James Brodrick, SJ (4)
104. Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu (4)
105. Mother Elisabeth: The Resurgence of the Order of Saint Birgitta by Marguerite Tjader (2)
106. Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare (4)
107. Books Make A Home: Elegant Ideas for Storing and Displaying Books by Damian Thompson (3)
108. Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy (4)
109. Last Poems by A. E. Houseman (4)
110. When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne (3)
111. Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators by William Stolzenburg (4)
112. California Condors in the Pacific Northwest by Jesse D'Elia & Susan M. Haig (3)
113. Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm from Scratch by Lucie B. Amundsen (3)
114. How to Converse with God by St. Alphonsus Liguori (4)
115. Now We are Six by A. A. Milne (3)
116. Perelandra by C. S. Lewis (3)
117. Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (3)
118. Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb (4)
119. Saint Colum and the Crane by Eva K. Betz (3)
120. The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown+ (3)
121. Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia by Patience Gray (4)
Monthly Total = 28 Books Read
Books Read in May
122. Strangers Below: Primitive Baptists and American Culture by Joshua Guthman (3)
123. The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis (4)
124. Song of the Swallows by Leo Politti (4)
125. The Divine Romance by Fulton Sheen (3)
126. Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th-Century Mexican Martyr by Ann Ball (3)
127. C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium: Six Essays on the Abolition of Man by Peter Kreeft (4)
128. Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs (3)
129. Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn (4)
130. The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (3)
131. Humanist Educational Treatises by Craig W. Kallendorf (ed.) (4)
132. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay (3)
133. The Walled Garden: Poems by Andrew Thornton-Norris (2)
134. Essays Ancient and Modern by T. S. Eliot (4)
135. Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows by Frank B. Linderman+ (4)
136. The Paradise Project by Suzie Andres (3)
137. The Lady in the Blue Cloak: Legends from the Texas Missions by Eric A. Kimmel & Susan Guevara (3)
138. Mexican Martyrdom: Firsthand Accounts of the Religious Persecution in Mexico 1926-1935 by Wilfrid Parsons (4)
139. South Toward Home: Travels in Southern Literature by Margaret Eby (3)
140. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers* (5)
141. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
142. Homeschool: An American History by Milton Gaither (3)
143. Dangerous Neighbors: Volcanoes and Cities by Grant Heiken (3)
144. The White Cat and the Monk: A Retelling of the Poem "Pangur Bán" by Jo Ellen Bogart & Sydney Smith (3)
145. A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat by Emily Jenkins & Sophie Blackall (5)
146. Robbery Under Law by Evelyn Waugh (3)
147. Saga of the Jómsvíkings by Anonymous+ (4)
148. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
149. The Seasons: A Celebration of the English Year by Nick Groom (4)
150. Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb by May Hollis Barton* (3)
Monthly Total = 29 Books Read
Books Read in June
151. The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce (4)
152. Vom heiligen Bonifatius den Kindern erzählt by Georg Schwikart^ (4)
153. The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes (4)
154. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (3)
155. Cosmas, or the Love of God by Pierre de Calan* (4)
156. Viking Legacy: Scandinavian Influence on the English Language by John Geipel (3)
157. First Catiline Oration by Cicero^ (4)
158. The Curé of Ars: Patron Saint of Parish Priests by Fr. Bartholomew J. O'Brien (4)
159. Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin by Nicholas Ostler+ (3)
160. The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, & Edmund Wiener* (4)
161. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien* (4)
162. Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass (4)
163. The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle (2)
164. The Devil Knows Latin: Why America Needs the Classical Tradition by E. Christian Kopff+ (3)
165. Pastoral by Nevil Shute (4)
166. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer* (4)
167. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer* (4)
168. The Persimmon Tree and Other Stories by Marjorie Barnard* (3)
169. The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer* (4)
Monthly Total = 19 Books Read
94. The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond (4)
95. S is for Salmon: A Pacific Northwest Alphabet by Hannah Viano (3)
96. The Big Thicket: A Challenge for Conservation by Pete Gunter (4)
97. Shackleton's Journey by William Grill (3)
98. Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat'ovi Massacre by James F. Brooks (4)
99. River Marked by Patricia Briggs (2)
100. Karl I: The Emperor of Peace by Marcel Uderzo & Marc Bourgne (5)
101. I Want to Get Married!: One Wannabe Bride's Misadventures with Handsome Houdinis, Technicolor Grooms, Morality Police, and Other Mr. Not Quite Rights by Ghada Abdel Aal (3)
102. Mary's Monster by Ruth Van Ness Blair (4)
103. A Procession of Saints by James Brodrick, SJ (4)
104. Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu (4)
105. Mother Elisabeth: The Resurgence of the Order of Saint Birgitta by Marguerite Tjader (2)
106. Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare (4)
107. Books Make A Home: Elegant Ideas for Storing and Displaying Books by Damian Thompson (3)
108. Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy (4)
109. Last Poems by A. E. Houseman (4)
110. When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne (3)
111. Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators by William Stolzenburg (4)
112. California Condors in the Pacific Northwest by Jesse D'Elia & Susan M. Haig (3)
113. Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm from Scratch by Lucie B. Amundsen (3)
114. How to Converse with God by St. Alphonsus Liguori (4)
115. Now We are Six by A. A. Milne (3)
116. Perelandra by C. S. Lewis (3)
117. Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (3)
118. Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb (4)
119. Saint Colum and the Crane by Eva K. Betz (3)
120. The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown+ (3)
121. Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia by Patience Gray (4)
Monthly Total = 28 Books Read
Books Read in May
122. Strangers Below: Primitive Baptists and American Culture by Joshua Guthman (3)
123. The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis (4)
124. Song of the Swallows by Leo Politti (4)
125. The Divine Romance by Fulton Sheen (3)
126. Blessed Miguel Pro: 20th-Century Mexican Martyr by Ann Ball (3)
127. C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium: Six Essays on the Abolition of Man by Peter Kreeft (4)
128. Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs (3)
129. Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn (4)
130. The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston (3)
131. Humanist Educational Treatises by Craig W. Kallendorf (ed.) (4)
132. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay (3)
133. The Walled Garden: Poems by Andrew Thornton-Norris (2)
134. Essays Ancient and Modern by T. S. Eliot (4)
135. Pretty-shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows by Frank B. Linderman+ (4)
136. The Paradise Project by Suzie Andres (3)
137. The Lady in the Blue Cloak: Legends from the Texas Missions by Eric A. Kimmel & Susan Guevara (3)
138. Mexican Martyrdom: Firsthand Accounts of the Religious Persecution in Mexico 1926-1935 by Wilfrid Parsons (4)
139. South Toward Home: Travels in Southern Literature by Margaret Eby (3)
140. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers* (5)
141. Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
142. Homeschool: An American History by Milton Gaither (3)
143. Dangerous Neighbors: Volcanoes and Cities by Grant Heiken (3)
144. The White Cat and the Monk: A Retelling of the Poem "Pangur Bán" by Jo Ellen Bogart & Sydney Smith (3)
145. A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat by Emily Jenkins & Sophie Blackall (5)
146. Robbery Under Law by Evelyn Waugh (3)
147. Saga of the Jómsvíkings by Anonymous+ (4)
148. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
149. The Seasons: A Celebration of the English Year by Nick Groom (4)
150. Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb by May Hollis Barton* (3)
Monthly Total = 29 Books Read
Books Read in June
151. The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce (4)
152. Vom heiligen Bonifatius den Kindern erzählt by Georg Schwikart^ (4)
153. The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes (4)
154. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (3)
155. Cosmas, or the Love of God by Pierre de Calan* (4)
156. Viking Legacy: Scandinavian Influence on the English Language by John Geipel (3)
157. First Catiline Oration by Cicero^ (4)
158. The Curé of Ars: Patron Saint of Parish Priests by Fr. Bartholomew J. O'Brien (4)
159. Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin by Nicholas Ostler+ (3)
160. The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, & Edmund Wiener* (4)
161. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien* (4)
162. Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass (4)
163. The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle (2)
164. The Devil Knows Latin: Why America Needs the Classical Tradition by E. Christian Kopff+ (3)
165. Pastoral by Nevil Shute (4)
166. The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer* (4)
167. Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer* (4)
168. The Persimmon Tree and Other Stories by Marjorie Barnard* (3)
169. The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer* (4)
Monthly Total = 19 Books Read
6inge87
Books Read in July
170. The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow by B. Lynn Ingram & Frances Malamud-Roam (3)
171. Eruptions that Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer (3)
172. Merrie England: A Journey Through the Shire by Joseph Pearce (4)
173. Richard II: A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe (3)
174. Whatever Else by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
175. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney* (5)
176. American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains by Dan Flores (3)
177. The Seat of Magic by J. Kathleen Cheney* (4)
178. The Shores of Spain by J. Kathleen Cheney* (3)
179. The Seer's Choice by J. Kathleen Cheney (3)
180. Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West by James Lawrence Powell (4)
181. The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland by Nan Shepherd (4)
182. Radical Love by Toni Greaves (4)
183. With This Curse by Amanda DeWees (3)
184. Cursed Once More by Amanda DeWees (2)
185. A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt* (5)
186. On the Admirability of the Virgin Theotokos by St. Lawrence of Brindisi (3)
187. A Girl Like You by Michelle Cox (5)
188. Time of Trial by Hester Burton (4)
189. Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan L. Flores (3)
190. Von heiligen Zeichen by Romano Guardini^ (4)
191. The Wolves of Currumpaw by William Grill (4)
Monthly Total = 22 Books Read
Books Read in August
192. The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell+ (3)
193. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer* (4)
194. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
195. Venetia by Georgette Heyer* (5)
196. Shadows on the Pond by Alison Cragin Herzig (3)
197. Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart* (3)
198. Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (3)
199. Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart* (3)
200. Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child by Anthony Esolen (5)
201. After the War by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
202. Strange Gods by Annamaria Alfieri (3)
203. Log Book: Selected Poems by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (3)
204. Harrington by Maria Edgeworth* (3)
205. The Georgics by Publius Vergilius Maro (3)
206. Dieser Friede by Thomas Mann^ (4)
207. Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter (3)
208. Sir Thomas More by Anthony Munday et al. (3)
209. A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie E. Czerneda (4)
210. The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke by Rupert Brooke (3)
Monthly Total = 19 Books Read
Books Read in September
211. Rising Road: A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America by Sharon Davies (4)
212. Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine (5)
213. Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi* (5)
214. Sonya's Chickens by Phoebe Wahl (5)
215. The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden by Alain Baraton (3)
216. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (3)
217. First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3)
218. Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne (4)
219. From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East by William Dalrymple (4)
220. Nocturne for a Widow by Amanda DeWees (3)
221. The Life of Padre Pio: Between the Altar and the Confessional by Gennaro Preziuso (3)
222. The Good Comrade by Una L. Silberrad* (4)
223. Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome (3)
224. The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière by Catherine Coleman Brawer (4)
225. Dutch Bulbs and Gardens by Una L. Silberrad (4)
226. Margaret the Queen by Nigel Tranter (2)
227. Laurentius von Brindisi: Apostel auf den Straßen Europas by Niklaus Kuster^ (4)
Monthly Total = 17 Books Read
170. The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow by B. Lynn Ingram & Frances Malamud-Roam (3)
171. Eruptions that Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer (3)
172. Merrie England: A Journey Through the Shire by Joseph Pearce (4)
173. Richard II: A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe (3)
174. Whatever Else by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
175. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney* (5)
176. American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains by Dan Flores (3)
177. The Seat of Magic by J. Kathleen Cheney* (4)
178. The Shores of Spain by J. Kathleen Cheney* (3)
179. The Seer's Choice by J. Kathleen Cheney (3)
180. Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West by James Lawrence Powell (4)
181. The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland by Nan Shepherd (4)
182. Radical Love by Toni Greaves (4)
183. With This Curse by Amanda DeWees (3)
184. Cursed Once More by Amanda DeWees (2)
185. A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt* (5)
186. On the Admirability of the Virgin Theotokos by St. Lawrence of Brindisi (3)
187. A Girl Like You by Michelle Cox (5)
188. Time of Trial by Hester Burton (4)
189. Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan L. Flores (3)
190. Von heiligen Zeichen by Romano Guardini^ (4)
191. The Wolves of Currumpaw by William Grill (4)
Monthly Total = 22 Books Read
Books Read in August
192. The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell+ (3)
193. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer* (4)
194. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (3)
195. Venetia by Georgette Heyer* (5)
196. Shadows on the Pond by Alison Cragin Herzig (3)
197. Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart* (3)
198. Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (3)
199. Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart* (3)
200. Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child by Anthony Esolen (5)
201. After the War by J. Kathleen Cheney (4)
202. Strange Gods by Annamaria Alfieri (3)
203. Log Book: Selected Poems by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (3)
204. Harrington by Maria Edgeworth* (3)
205. The Georgics by Publius Vergilius Maro (3)
206. Dieser Friede by Thomas Mann^ (4)
207. Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter (3)
208. Sir Thomas More by Anthony Munday et al. (3)
209. A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie E. Czerneda (4)
210. The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke by Rupert Brooke (3)
Monthly Total = 19 Books Read
Books Read in September
211. Rising Road: A True Tale of Love, Race, and Religion in America by Sharon Davies (4)
212. Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine (5)
213. Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi* (5)
214. Sonya's Chickens by Phoebe Wahl (5)
215. The Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden by Alain Baraton (3)
216. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (3)
217. First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3)
218. Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne (4)
219. From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East by William Dalrymple (4)
220. Nocturne for a Widow by Amanda DeWees (3)
221. The Life of Padre Pio: Between the Altar and the Confessional by Gennaro Preziuso (3)
222. The Good Comrade by Una L. Silberrad* (4)
223. Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome (3)
224. The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière by Catherine Coleman Brawer (4)
225. Dutch Bulbs and Gardens by Una L. Silberrad (4)
226. Margaret the Queen by Nigel Tranter (2)
227. Laurentius von Brindisi: Apostel auf den Straßen Europas by Niklaus Kuster^ (4)
Monthly Total = 17 Books Read
7inge87
Books Read in October
228. Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette by Denis Bruna (Ed.)+ (4)
229. A Deadly Thaw by Sarah Ward (4)
230. Hope for the World: To Unite All Things in Christ by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke (4)
231. Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty (4)
232. An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis (3)
233. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (3)
234. Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus, Book 1 by Clamp (2)
235. For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton (4)
236. Evelyn Waugh: Portrait of a Country Neighbor by Frances Donaldson (3)
237. Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger (4)
238. Fame and Fortune by Horatio Alger (3)
239. Mark, the Match Boy by Horatio Alger (3)
240. Rough and Ready by Horatio Alger (3)
241. Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu (3)
242. Classical Literature: An Epic Journey from Homer to Virgil and Beyond by Richard Jenkyns (4)
243. The Frogs by Aristophanes (3)
244. A Promise is for Ever by Denise Robins (3)
245. Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes by Martin Edwards (Ed.) (3)
246. The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton (3)
247. The Sparrow in Hiding by J. Kathleen Cheney (3)
248. Positively Medieval: The Surprising, Dynamic, Heroic Church of the Middle Ages by Jamie Blosser (3)
249. Of Bells and Cells: The World of Monks, Friars, Sisters and Nuns by M. Cristina Borges (5)
250. Shakespeare the Papist by Peter Milward, SJ (3)
Monthly Total = 23 Books Read
Books Read in November
251. Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ by Anna Elissa (4)
252. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History by Brian Fagan (3)
253. Emissary by Melissa McShane (3)
254. Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele (3)
255. The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart (3)
256. Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place by Philip Marsden (4)
257. From Pillar to Post by Anne Sinclair Mehdevi+ (3)
258. A Love Letter to Texas Women by Sarah Bird (3)
259. Burning Bright by Melissa McShane (3)
260. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance (5)
261. Twilight in Italy and Other Essays by D. H. Lawrence+ (2)
262. A History of Modern Oman by Jeremy Jones (3)
263. Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam by Joseph Ratzinger & Marcello Pera* (4)
264. The Heliand by Anonymous+ (4)
Monthly Total = 14 Books Read
Books Read in December
265. Submerged by Dani Pettrey (2)
266. The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery & Anne Bikle (4)
267. How to Be a Texan: The Manual by Andrea Valdez (3)
268. My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart* (3)
269. Mary, the Second Eve by John Henry Cardinal Newman (4)
270. Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (5)
271. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang (3)
272. Saints by Gene Luen Yang (4)
273. The Vanished Path: A Graphic Travelogue by Bharath Murthy (2)
274. Confederate Night Before Christmas by Mark Vogl (3)
275. Fresh Romance, Volume 1 by Janelle Asselin (ed.) (3)
276. Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan (3)
277. Fatherland: A Family History by Nina Bunjevac (3)
278. Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins (4)
Monthly Total = 14 Books Read
228. Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette by Denis Bruna (Ed.)+ (4)
229. A Deadly Thaw by Sarah Ward (4)
230. Hope for the World: To Unite All Things in Christ by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke (4)
231. Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty (4)
232. An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis (3)
233. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (3)
234. Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus, Book 1 by Clamp (2)
235. For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton (4)
236. Evelyn Waugh: Portrait of a Country Neighbor by Frances Donaldson (3)
237. Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger (4)
238. Fame and Fortune by Horatio Alger (3)
239. Mark, the Match Boy by Horatio Alger (3)
240. Rough and Ready by Horatio Alger (3)
241. Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu (3)
242. Classical Literature: An Epic Journey from Homer to Virgil and Beyond by Richard Jenkyns (4)
243. The Frogs by Aristophanes (3)
244. A Promise is for Ever by Denise Robins (3)
245. Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes by Martin Edwards (Ed.) (3)
246. The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton (3)
247. The Sparrow in Hiding by J. Kathleen Cheney (3)
248. Positively Medieval: The Surprising, Dynamic, Heroic Church of the Middle Ages by Jamie Blosser (3)
249. Of Bells and Cells: The World of Monks, Friars, Sisters and Nuns by M. Cristina Borges (5)
250. Shakespeare the Papist by Peter Milward, SJ (3)
Monthly Total = 23 Books Read
Books Read in November
251. Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ by Anna Elissa (4)
252. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History by Brian Fagan (3)
253. Emissary by Melissa McShane (3)
254. Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele (3)
255. The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart (3)
256. Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place by Philip Marsden (4)
257. From Pillar to Post by Anne Sinclair Mehdevi+ (3)
258. A Love Letter to Texas Women by Sarah Bird (3)
259. Burning Bright by Melissa McShane (3)
260. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance (5)
261. Twilight in Italy and Other Essays by D. H. Lawrence+ (2)
262. A History of Modern Oman by Jeremy Jones (3)
263. Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam by Joseph Ratzinger & Marcello Pera* (4)
264. The Heliand by Anonymous+ (4)
Monthly Total = 14 Books Read
Books Read in December
265. Submerged by Dani Pettrey (2)
266. The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery & Anne Bikle (4)
267. How to Be a Texan: The Manual by Andrea Valdez (3)
268. My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart* (3)
269. Mary, the Second Eve by John Henry Cardinal Newman (4)
270. Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (5)
271. Boxers by Gene Luen Yang (3)
272. Saints by Gene Luen Yang (4)
273. The Vanished Path: A Graphic Travelogue by Bharath Murthy (2)
274. Confederate Night Before Christmas by Mark Vogl (3)
275. Fresh Romance, Volume 1 by Janelle Asselin (ed.) (3)
276. Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan (3)
277. Fatherland: A Family History by Nina Bunjevac (3)
278. Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins (4)
Monthly Total = 14 Books Read
8inge87
Several Centuries of Reading (adopted from Dejah_Thoris who adopted it from souloftherose)
7th Century BC Demeter and Persephone by Homer & Penelope Proddow
405 BC The Frogs by Aristophanes
63 BC First Catiline Oration by Cicero
29 BC The Georgics by Vergil
c. AD 170 On Pascha by Melito of Sardis
c. 830 The Heliand by Anonymous
13th century Saga of the Jómsvíkings by Anonymous
c. 1402-3 The Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth by Pier Paolo Vergerio
c. 1424 The Study of Literature by Leonardo Bruni
1450 The Education of Boys by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II)
1459 A Program of Teaching and Learning by Battista Guarino
1535 The Sadness of Christ by St. Thomas More
1598 The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
late 16th/early 17th century On the Admirability of the Virgin Theotokos by St. Lawrence of Brindisi
1754 How to Converse with God by St. Alphonsus Liguori
1807 Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb
1817 Harrington by Maria Edgeworth
1868 Ragged Dick & Fame and Fortune by Horatio Alger
1869 Mark, the Match Boy & Rough and Ready by Horatio Alger
1876 Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
1889 Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
1896 Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905 An Alphabet of Saints by Robert Hugh Benson
1906
1907 Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson / The Good Comrade by Una L. Silberrad
1908
1909 Dutch Bulbs and Gardens by Una L. Silberrad
1910
1911 The Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson / The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell
1912
1913 Peacock Pie by Walter de la Mare / The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919 Saint Athanasius by F. A. Forbes
1920
1921
1922 Last Poems by A. E. Houseman / Von heiligen Zeichen by Romano Guardini
1923
1924 When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne
1925
1926 Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers
1927 Now We are Six by A. A. Milne / Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
1928 The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers
1929 I Sing a Song of the Saints of God by Lesbia Scott
1930 The House of Gold by Bede Jarrett, OP / The Divine Romance by Fulton Sheen
1931 Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb by May Hollis Barton / Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne
1932 The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon / Pretty-shield by Frank B. Linderman
1933 The Seven Last Words by Fulton Sheen
1934 Quick Curtain by Alan Melville / Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg
1935 Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay / Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
1936 Thirteen Guests / Essays Ancient and Modern / Mexican Martyrdom
1937 The White Stag / Mit brennender Sorge / The Hobbit
1938 Dieser Friede by Thomas Mann
1939 Robbery Under Law by Evelyn Waugh
1940 Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli
1941
1942
1943 Perelandra by C. S. Lewis / The Persimmon Tree and Other Stories by Marjorie Barnard
1944 Pastoral by Nevil Shute
1945 You by Fulton Sheen / The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes
1946 St. Margaret Clitherow by Margaret T. Monro / The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke by Rupert Brooke
1947 The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
1948 Song of the Swallows by Leo Politti
1949 A Procession of Saints by James Brodrick, SJ / Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan
1950 The Egg Tree by Katherine Millhous
1951 The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
1952
1953
1954
1955 Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
1956 Conversation with Christ / The Curé of Ars / From Pillar to Post
1957 Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
1958 Dshamilja by Chinghiz Aitmatov / Venetia by Georgette Heyer
1959 A Story of Saint John Vianney / The Unknown Ajax / My Brother Michael
1960 A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
1961 Saint Germaine and the Sheep / Saint Colum and the Crane / A Civil Contract / An Experiment in Criticism / A Promise is for Ever
1962 The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart
1963 Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice by Eva K. Betz
1964
1965 Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart
1966 Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
1967
1968 Evelyn Waugh by Frances Donaldson / The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart
1969
1970
1971 Viking Legacy by John Geipel
1972 The Big Thicket by Pete Gunter / Mother Elisabeth by Marguerite Tjader
1973 Saint Pius V by Robin Anderson
1974
1975 Mary's Monster by Ruth Van Ness Blair
1976 The Ghost of Flight 401 by John G. Fuller
1977 A Time to Keep / Friends of God / Cosmas, or the Love of God / The Living Mountain / Mary, the Second Eve
1978
1979 Margaret the Queen by Nigel Tranter
1980 Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985 Shadows on the Pond by Alison Cragin Herzig
1986 I'm in Charge of Celebrations / Honey from a Weed / Time Enough for Drums
1987 Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr.
1988
1989
1990
1991 Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu
1992 The Reign of Christ the King by Michael Davies
1993 The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
1994 C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium by Peter Kreeft
1995
1996 Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball
1997 The Miracle of Saint Nicholas / A Short History of the Roman Mass / Log Book / A Thousand Words for Stranger / From the Holy Mountain / Twilight in Italy and Other Essays
1998 The Devil Knows Latin by E. Christian Kopff / The Life of Padre Pio by Gennaro Preziuso
1999
2000 Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr / The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan
2001
2002 The Pied Piper of Peru / Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions / Just over the Mountain / In the Bleak Midwinter / Interior Freedom / Humanist Educational Treatises
2003 The Easter Chick / Down by the River / A Fountain Filled with Blood
2004 Outwitting History / Survival / Out of the Deep I Cry
2005 Migration by Julie E. Czerneda / Shakespeare the Papist by Peter Milward, SJ
2006 Regeneration / Moon Called / The Lady in the Blue Cloak / The Ring of Words / The Silver Bough / The Gardener of Versailles / Without Roots
2007 Joseph and Chico / Blood Bound / Karl I / The Far Traveler / Ad Infinitum
2008 Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 / Iron Kissed / I Want to Get Married! / Homeschool / The Quest for Shakespeare / Dead Pool
2009 The Crucified Rabbi by Taylor Marshall / Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
2010 A Bride's Story, Volume 2 / Silver Borne / Rising Road / Laurentius von Brindisi / Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 1
2011 The Nativity / River Marked / Books Make A Home / Eruptions that Shook the World
2012 Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert / Americanine / Marked for Death / Laurus / Submerged
2013 Girl in Dior / Corpus Christi / Easter / California Condors in the Pacific Northwest / Frost Burned / Dangerous Neighbors / The Seasons / The West without Water / The Golden City / Aunty Lee's Delights / Under Another Sky
2014 Wickedly Dangerous / Missing Microbes / Jackaby / Winter at the Door / The Glass Sentence / S is for Salmon / Shackleton's Journey / Neighborhood Sharks / Encounters at the Heart of the World / Consider This / The Seat of Magic / With This Curse / Strange Gods / Nocturne for a Widow / The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière / Of Bells and Cells / Emissary / Rising Ground / Fatherland
2015 Murder by Candlelight / Black-Eyed Susans / Sweep in Peace / B is for Bear / Friction / Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins / The Gentle Traditionalist / The Comic Book Story of Beer / Beastly Bones / The Story of Life in 25 Fossils / Finding Winnie / Wild Hearts / Cold Hearts / Resurrection Science / Serafina and the Black Cloak / The Golden Specific / Elijah in Jerusalem / The Gates of Europe / The Blue Whale / Strangers Below / The Walled Garden / The Paradise Project / South Toward Home / A Fine Dessert / The Shores of Spain / The Seer's Choice / Radical Love / Cursed Once More / Life Under Compulsion / Sonya's Chickens / Classical Literature / A History of Modern Oman / The Hidden Half of Nature
2016 Dreaming Death / Winterwood / The Girls She Left Behind / Mesa of Sorrows / Locally Laid / The White Cat and the Monk / Merrie England / Richard II / Whatever Else / A Girl Like You / Coyote America / Wolves of Currumpaw / After the War / Ghostly Echoes / Arabella of Mars / First Star I See Tonight / A Deadly Thaw / Serafina and the Twisted Staff / For the Glory / Serpents in Eden / The Sparrow in Hiding / Positively Medieval / Mantilla / A Love Letter to Texas Women / Burning Bright / Hillbilly Elegy / How to Be a Texan / Fresh Romance
7th Century BC Demeter and Persephone by Homer & Penelope Proddow
405 BC The Frogs by Aristophanes
63 BC First Catiline Oration by Cicero
29 BC The Georgics by Vergil
c. AD 170 On Pascha by Melito of Sardis
c. 830 The Heliand by Anonymous
13th century Saga of the Jómsvíkings by Anonymous
c. 1402-3 The Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth by Pier Paolo Vergerio
c. 1424 The Study of Literature by Leonardo Bruni
1450 The Education of Boys by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II)
1459 A Program of Teaching and Learning by Battista Guarino
1535 The Sadness of Christ by St. Thomas More
1598 The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
late 16th/early 17th century On the Admirability of the Virgin Theotokos by St. Lawrence of Brindisi
1754 How to Converse with God by St. Alphonsus Liguori
1807 Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb
1817 Harrington by Maria Edgeworth
1868 Ragged Dick & Fame and Fortune by Horatio Alger
1869 Mark, the Match Boy & Rough and Ready by Horatio Alger
1876 Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
1889 Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
1896 Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905 An Alphabet of Saints by Robert Hugh Benson
1906
1907 Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson / The Good Comrade by Una L. Silberrad
1908
1909 Dutch Bulbs and Gardens by Una L. Silberrad
1910
1911 The Dawn of All by Robert Hugh Benson / The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M. Dell
1912
1913 Peacock Pie by Walter de la Mare / The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919 Saint Athanasius by F. A. Forbes
1920
1921
1922 Last Poems by A. E. Houseman / Von heiligen Zeichen by Romano Guardini
1923
1924 When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne
1925
1926 Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers
1927 Now We are Six by A. A. Milne / Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
1928 The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers
1929 I Sing a Song of the Saints of God by Lesbia Scott
1930 The House of Gold by Bede Jarrett, OP / The Divine Romance by Fulton Sheen
1931 Charlotte Cross and Aunt Deb by May Hollis Barton / Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne
1932 The Z Murders by J. Jefferson Farjeon / Pretty-shield by Frank B. Linderman
1933 The Seven Last Words by Fulton Sheen
1934 Quick Curtain by Alan Melville / Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg
1935 Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay / Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
1936 Thirteen Guests / Essays Ancient and Modern / Mexican Martyrdom
1937 The White Stag / Mit brennender Sorge / The Hobbit
1938 Dieser Friede by Thomas Mann
1939 Robbery Under Law by Evelyn Waugh
1940 Thee, Hannah! by Marguerite De Angeli
1941
1942
1943 Perelandra by C. S. Lewis / The Persimmon Tree and Other Stories by Marjorie Barnard
1944 Pastoral by Nevil Shute
1945 You by Fulton Sheen / The 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes
1946 St. Margaret Clitherow by Margaret T. Monro / The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke by Rupert Brooke
1947 The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
1948 Song of the Swallows by Leo Politti
1949 A Procession of Saints by James Brodrick, SJ / Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan
1950 The Egg Tree by Katherine Millhous
1951 The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
1952
1953
1954
1955 Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
1956 Conversation with Christ / The Curé of Ars / From Pillar to Post
1957 Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
1958 Dshamilja by Chinghiz Aitmatov / Venetia by Georgette Heyer
1959 A Story of Saint John Vianney / The Unknown Ajax / My Brother Michael
1960 A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
1961 Saint Germaine and the Sheep / Saint Colum and the Crane / A Civil Contract / An Experiment in Criticism / A Promise is for Ever
1962 The Moon-Spinners by Mary Stewart
1963 Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice by Eva K. Betz
1964
1965 Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart
1966 Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
1967
1968 Evelyn Waugh by Frances Donaldson / The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart
1969
1970
1971 Viking Legacy by John Geipel
1972 The Big Thicket by Pete Gunter / Mother Elisabeth by Marguerite Tjader
1973 Saint Pius V by Robin Anderson
1974
1975 Mary's Monster by Ruth Van Ness Blair
1976 The Ghost of Flight 401 by John G. Fuller
1977 A Time to Keep / Friends of God / Cosmas, or the Love of God / The Living Mountain / Mary, the Second Eve
1978
1979 Margaret the Queen by Nigel Tranter
1980 Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985 Shadows on the Pond by Alison Cragin Herzig
1986 I'm in Charge of Celebrations / Honey from a Weed / Time Enough for Drums
1987 Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr.
1988
1989
1990
1991 Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu
1992 The Reign of Christ the King by Michael Davies
1993 The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
1994 C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium by Peter Kreeft
1995
1996 Blessed Miguel Pro by Ann Ball
1997 The Miracle of Saint Nicholas / A Short History of the Roman Mass / Log Book / A Thousand Words for Stranger / From the Holy Mountain / Twilight in Italy and Other Essays
1998 The Devil Knows Latin by E. Christian Kopff / The Life of Padre Pio by Gennaro Preziuso
1999
2000 Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr / The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan
2001
2002 The Pied Piper of Peru / Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions / Just over the Mountain / In the Bleak Midwinter / Interior Freedom / Humanist Educational Treatises
2003 The Easter Chick / Down by the River / A Fountain Filled with Blood
2004 Outwitting History / Survival / Out of the Deep I Cry
2005 Migration by Julie E. Czerneda / Shakespeare the Papist by Peter Milward, SJ
2006 Regeneration / Moon Called / The Lady in the Blue Cloak / The Ring of Words / The Silver Bough / The Gardener of Versailles / Without Roots
2007 Joseph and Chico / Blood Bound / Karl I / The Far Traveler / Ad Infinitum
2008 Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 / Iron Kissed / I Want to Get Married! / Homeschool / The Quest for Shakespeare / Dead Pool
2009 The Crucified Rabbi by Taylor Marshall / Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
2010 A Bride's Story, Volume 2 / Silver Borne / Rising Road / Laurentius von Brindisi / Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 1
2011 The Nativity / River Marked / Books Make A Home / Eruptions that Shook the World
2012 Martín de Porres: The Rose in the Desert / Americanine / Marked for Death / Laurus / Submerged
2013 Girl in Dior / Corpus Christi / Easter / California Condors in the Pacific Northwest / Frost Burned / Dangerous Neighbors / The Seasons / The West without Water / The Golden City / Aunty Lee's Delights / Under Another Sky
2014 Wickedly Dangerous / Missing Microbes / Jackaby / Winter at the Door / The Glass Sentence / S is for Salmon / Shackleton's Journey / Neighborhood Sharks / Encounters at the Heart of the World / Consider This / The Seat of Magic / With This Curse / Strange Gods / Nocturne for a Widow / The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière / Of Bells and Cells / Emissary / Rising Ground / Fatherland
2015 Murder by Candlelight / Black-Eyed Susans / Sweep in Peace / B is for Bear / Friction / Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins / The Gentle Traditionalist / The Comic Book Story of Beer / Beastly Bones / The Story of Life in 25 Fossils / Finding Winnie / Wild Hearts / Cold Hearts / Resurrection Science / Serafina and the Black Cloak / The Golden Specific / Elijah in Jerusalem / The Gates of Europe / The Blue Whale / Strangers Below / The Walled Garden / The Paradise Project / South Toward Home / A Fine Dessert / The Shores of Spain / The Seer's Choice / Radical Love / Cursed Once More / Life Under Compulsion / Sonya's Chickens / Classical Literature / A History of Modern Oman / The Hidden Half of Nature
2016 Dreaming Death / Winterwood / The Girls She Left Behind / Mesa of Sorrows / Locally Laid / The White Cat and the Monk / Merrie England / Richard II / Whatever Else / A Girl Like You / Coyote America / Wolves of Currumpaw / After the War / Ghostly Echoes / Arabella of Mars / First Star I See Tonight / A Deadly Thaw / Serafina and the Twisted Staff / For the Glory / Serpents in Eden / The Sparrow in Hiding / Positively Medieval / Mantilla / A Love Letter to Texas Women / Burning Bright / Hillbilly Elegy / How to Be a Texan / Fresh Romance
9inge87
LC Classification Spread My reading according to the Library of Congress Classification System.
BF The Ghost of Flight 401 (1)
BL Demeter and Persephone (1)
BM The Crucified Rabbi (1)
BR Saint Athanasius (3)
BT The Reign of Christ the King (6)
BV Conversation with Christ (3)
BX Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions (21)
CB C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium (1)
D Dieser Friede (1)
DA Merrie England (4)
DB Karl I (1)
DJ Marked for Death (1)
DK The Gates of Europe (1)
DL The Far Traveler (1)
DS From the Holy Mountain (1)
E Mesa of Sorrows (3)
F The Big Thicket (4)
G From Pillar to Post (1)
GR The Seasons (1)
GV For the Glory (1)
HD Locally Laid (2)
HQ I Want to Get Married! (2)
HV Murder by Candlelight (1)
LA Humanist Educational Treatises (1)
LB The Abolition of Man (1)
LC Homeschool (2)
NA The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière (1)
NK Books Make A Home (1)
PA First Catiline Oration (5)
PE Viking Legacy (1)
PF The Heliand (1)
PG Dshamilja (2)
PL Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 (3)
PN Essays Ancient and Modern (3)
PQ Girl in Dior (3)
PR The Moon-Spinners (61)
PS Black-Eyed Susans (47)
PT Saga of the Jómsvíkings (1)
PZ Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice (58)
QC The West without Water (2)
QE The Story of Life in 25 Fossils (3)
QH The Living Mountain (1)
QL Resurrection Science (4)
QR The Hidden Half of Nature (1)
RM Missing Microbes (1)
SB The Gardener of Versailles (2)
TC Dead Pool (1)
TP The Comic Book Story of Beer (1)
TT Fashioning the Body (1)
TX Honey from a Weed (1)
Z Outwitting History (1)
BF The Ghost of Flight 401 (1)
BL Demeter and Persephone (1)
BM The Crucified Rabbi (1)
BR Saint Athanasius (3)
BT The Reign of Christ the King (6)
BV Conversation with Christ (3)
BX Blessed Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky, C.SS.R. and Companions (21)
CB C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium (1)
D Dieser Friede (1)
DA Merrie England (4)
DB Karl I (1)
DJ Marked for Death (1)
DK The Gates of Europe (1)
DL The Far Traveler (1)
DS From the Holy Mountain (1)
E Mesa of Sorrows (3)
F The Big Thicket (4)
G From Pillar to Post (1)
GR The Seasons (1)
GV For the Glory (1)
HD Locally Laid (2)
HQ I Want to Get Married! (2)
HV Murder by Candlelight (1)
LA Humanist Educational Treatises (1)
LB The Abolition of Man (1)
LC Homeschool (2)
NA The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière (1)
NK Books Make A Home (1)
PA First Catiline Oration (5)
PE Viking Legacy (1)
PF The Heliand (1)
PG Dshamilja (2)
PL Library Wars: Love & War, Volume 1 (3)
PN Essays Ancient and Modern (3)
PQ Girl in Dior (3)
PR The Moon-Spinners (61)
PS Black-Eyed Susans (47)
PT Saga of the Jómsvíkings (1)
PZ Saint Martin de Porres and the Mice (58)
QC The West without Water (2)
QE The Story of Life in 25 Fossils (3)
QH The Living Mountain (1)
QL Resurrection Science (4)
QR The Hidden Half of Nature (1)
RM Missing Microbes (1)
SB The Gardener of Versailles (2)
TC Dead Pool (1)
TP The Comic Book Story of Beer (1)
TT Fashioning the Body (1)
TX Honey from a Weed (1)
Z Outwitting History (1)
11harrygbutler
Happy new thread, Jennifer! I very much like your thread-topper.
I noticed you're planning to read The Heliand for TIOLI this month — that's great, as I certainly didn't expect a shared read on that one! I had hoped to get to An Experiment in Criticism last month but didn't manage it.
I noticed you're planning to read The Heliand for TIOLI this month — that's great, as I certainly didn't expect a shared read on that one! I had hoped to get to An Experiment in Criticism last month but didn't manage it.
13susanj67
Happy new thread, Jennifer! I'm going to take a piece of cake for later, as it's only 9am here :-)
14PaulCranswick
Too late for cake over here but not too late to wish you a happy new thread, I guess.
15inge87
>11 harrygbutler: I've actually had a copy of The Heliand on my shelves for several years now, but never gotten around to reading it. I did German and Classics in undergrad, so it's very much a "me" book, and this seems as good an excuse as any to get it off the TBR pile.
>12 drneutron:, >13 susanj67:, >14 PaulCranswick: Thanks!
>12 drneutron:, >13 susanj67:, >14 PaulCranswick: Thanks!
17inge87
>16 Kassilem: I've always admired Bierstadt's use of color. He clearly knew what he was doing.
Mount Adams, Washington (1875)
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (1863)
California Spring (1875)
Mount Adams, Washington (1875)
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak (1863)
California Spring (1875)
18brodiew2
Good morning, Inge87! Such a magnificent topper! I love the color in the forefront and the looming clouds and darkness in the background. The Frost poem and the Bierstadt painting compliment each other well.
>2 inge87: What can you tell me about From Pillar to Post?
>17 inge87: Beautiful Bierstadt!
>2 inge87: What can you tell me about From Pillar to Post?
>17 inge87: Beautiful Bierstadt!
19inge87
>18 brodiew2: Thanks! From Pillar to Post is basically a series of essays/stories about the author's life as she tries to raise a family while following her diplomat husband around the world in the late 1940s. It looks like they were all published individually in the "New Yorker" first and then later collected in book-form. The author writes in a very nice conversational style and is a natural storyteller. I'm around 2/3 done, and so far I'm enjoying it.
What's amazing to me in 2016 is how unconcerned she or anyone else is about the fact that she's a good Kansas girl married to an Iranian Muslim and raising at least nominally Muslim children (although she does joke about it in regards to some Mexican nuns). That certainly wouldn't be the case if she were writing these stories today.
What's amazing to me in 2016 is how unconcerned she or anyone else is about the fact that she's a good Kansas girl married to an Iranian Muslim and raising at least nominally Muslim children (although she does joke about it in regards to some Mexican nuns). That certainly wouldn't be the case if she were writing these stories today.
20inge87
Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ by Anna Elissa
Source: me (10/16)
Recommendation: NLM
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: BX 1970.25 E55 2016
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ is a brief, readable introduction to the reasons why Catholic women veil. The reintroduction of veiling is one of those grass roots trends that seem to be based more on word of mouth or the internet than from the pulpit. As such, this is, I think, the first real book I've bumped into on the subject, even though I've encountered women veiling at almost every mass I've been to over the past couple of years, ordinary and extraordinary form. I honestly think some priest would prefer it not happen, that it's an unnecessary throwback. But Elissa's book shows why it may be a good spiritual practice for many women. She discusses the Biblical basis as well as the different reasons women choose to veil. Also interesting is the window the book opens on Indonesian Catholicism, something I knew little about. The end of the book is a collection of testimonials collected online from various Catholics, lay and religious, about their opinions on veiling. Most are Indonesian, but there are some foreigners as well, so the range of opinions is good, even if they are not always particularly profound.
An excellent resource on one of the more underground trends in modern Catholicism. Highly recommended.
First Line: A little more than one year has passed since I wrote my online testimonial about the chapel veil.
Source: me (10/16)
Recommendation: NLM
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: BX 1970.25 E55 2016
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Mantilla: The Veil of the Bride of Christ is a brief, readable introduction to the reasons why Catholic women veil. The reintroduction of veiling is one of those grass roots trends that seem to be based more on word of mouth or the internet than from the pulpit. As such, this is, I think, the first real book I've bumped into on the subject, even though I've encountered women veiling at almost every mass I've been to over the past couple of years, ordinary and extraordinary form. I honestly think some priest would prefer it not happen, that it's an unnecessary throwback. But Elissa's book shows why it may be a good spiritual practice for many women. She discusses the Biblical basis as well as the different reasons women choose to veil. Also interesting is the window the book opens on Indonesian Catholicism, something I knew little about. The end of the book is a collection of testimonials collected online from various Catholics, lay and religious, about their opinions on veiling. Most are Indonesian, but there are some foreigners as well, so the range of opinions is good, even if they are not always particularly profound.
An excellent resource on one of the more underground trends in modern Catholicism. Highly recommended.
First Line: A little more than one year has passed since I wrote my online testimonial about the chapel veil.
21inge87
The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 by Anna Elissa
Source: new work
Recommendation: I've enjoyed other works by the author
Year of Original Pub.: 2000
LC Call #: QC 989 A1 F34 2002
Rating: 3 stars / 5
The Little Ice Age documents the effects of climate on Europe during the period that has come to be known as the "Little Ice Age". It was not all ice, but instead a period of great instability dominated by intermittent crop failures and famines, freezing winters and hot summers—and even years without summers (thank you, volcanoes!). Fagan shows how this instability affected the stability of entire countries, both politically and socially. Weather is much more important than one would think, especially if the country is already living on the edge. But if it brought chaos, it also brought innovation, as people struggled to come to terms with their situation and improve their lives. It is only now that we are beginning to return to the temperatures of the Medieval Warm Period, but climate change promises to introduce a new period of instability, whatever or whoever is causing it. After not having a major flood in over twenty years, my city experienced four major flooding events in a one-and-a-half year period. The only thing we can do is learn from the past to achieve our futures, and Fagan's book marks an excellent starting point. Highly recommended.
First Line: The fog lies close to the oily, heaving water, swirling gently as a bitterly cold air wafts in from the north.
Source: new work
Recommendation: I've enjoyed other works by the author
Year of Original Pub.: 2000
LC Call #: QC 989 A1 F34 2002
Rating: 3 stars / 5
The Little Ice Age documents the effects of climate on Europe during the period that has come to be known as the "Little Ice Age". It was not all ice, but instead a period of great instability dominated by intermittent crop failures and famines, freezing winters and hot summers—and even years without summers (thank you, volcanoes!). Fagan shows how this instability affected the stability of entire countries, both politically and socially. Weather is much more important than one would think, especially if the country is already living on the edge. But if it brought chaos, it also brought innovation, as people struggled to come to terms with their situation and improve their lives. It is only now that we are beginning to return to the temperatures of the Medieval Warm Period, but climate change promises to introduce a new period of instability, whatever or whoever is causing it. After not having a major flood in over twenty years, my city experienced four major flooding events in a one-and-a-half year period. The only thing we can do is learn from the past to achieve our futures, and Fagan's book marks an excellent starting point. Highly recommended.
First Line: The fog lies close to the oily, heaving water, swirling gently as a bitterly cold air wafts in from the north.
22PaulCranswick
I am thankful Jennifer that you are another in the group that is able to show that it is possible to read over 250 books a year and still be a warm and interesting individual. xx
23inge87
>22 PaulCranswick: Thanks!
24inge87
Emissary by Melissa McShane
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: It sounded interesting
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: PS 3613 C7536 E43 2014
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Emissary is the tale of a priestess of the god of death and her bodyguard as they arrive in an ancient land and quickly find themselves in way over their heads. Exorcising ghosts should be nothing, but the ghosts here are unlike any they've ever seen before. Just what is going on? The answer lies buried in the mystic past, and only our heroes can get to the bottom of it—if they live that long.
A fun bit of fantasy adventure with just the right touch of romance.
First Line: Zerafine had only a moment's warning before the ghost was upon her.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: It sounded interesting
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: PS 3613 C7536 E43 2014
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Emissary is the tale of a priestess of the god of death and her bodyguard as they arrive in an ancient land and quickly find themselves in way over their heads. Exorcising ghosts should be nothing, but the ghosts here are unlike any they've ever seen before. Just what is going on? The answer lies buried in the mystic past, and only our heroes can get to the bottom of it—if they live that long.
A fun bit of fantasy adventure with just the right touch of romance.
First Line: Zerafine had only a moment's warning before the ghost was upon her.
25inge87
Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: It was a wet, miserable evening, and this was the best-looking book on the take-one-leave-one cart
Year of Original Pub.: 1980
LC Call #: PR 6069 T4454 T87 1980
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Turbulent Covenant is the drama-filled story of a marriage of convenience between a pilot and a stewardess who don't like each other—or do they? All they have to do is stay married long enough for his father to recover from an illness and then it's off to get an annulment. But a year is a very long time, and all kinds of things can happen in the interim.
It's a very retro romance novel. If you like that kind of thing it's fun, if not, well, look elsewhere.
First Line: It had been a good flight.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: It was a wet, miserable evening, and this was the best-looking book on the take-one-leave-one cart
Year of Original Pub.: 1980
LC Call #: PR 6069 T4454 T87 1980
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Turbulent Covenant is the drama-filled story of a marriage of convenience between a pilot and a stewardess who don't like each other—or do they? All they have to do is stay married long enough for his father to recover from an illness and then it's off to get an annulment. But a year is a very long time, and all kinds of things can happen in the interim.
It's a very retro romance novel. If you like that kind of thing it's fun, if not, well, look elsewhere.
First Line: It had been a good flight.
26inge87
The Wind off the Small Isles by Mary Stewart
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: I love Mary Stewart thrillers
Year of Original Pub.: 1968
LC Call #: PR 6069 T46 W56 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
The Wind off the Small Isles is a short novella set in the Canary Islands. Travelling as a writer's companion, the heroine meets a handsome man and gets into trouble (What else would you expect from Mary Stewart?), only to accidentally discover the answer to an almost century-old mystery. Fun stuff, even if it felt a bit rushed. If you like Mary Stewart's other thrillers, you'll want to pick this one up to complete the set.
First Line: She knelt on the window-sill, looking out over the sea.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: I love Mary Stewart thrillers
Year of Original Pub.: 1968
LC Call #: PR 6069 T46 W56 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
The Wind off the Small Isles is a short novella set in the Canary Islands. Travelling as a writer's companion, the heroine meets a handsome man and gets into trouble (What else would you expect from Mary Stewart?), only to accidentally discover the answer to an almost century-old mystery. Fun stuff, even if it felt a bit rushed. If you like Mary Stewart's other thrillers, you'll want to pick this one up to complete the set.
First Line: She knelt on the window-sill, looking out over the sea.
27inge87
Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place by Philip Marsden
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: DA 670 C8 M34 2015
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Rising Ground is a combination memoir of the author's moving and then renovating a house and his rambles around Cornwall. He's trying to understand the history of the land, the things that make Cornwall, Cornwall. There's a particular focus on the neolithic that I found very interesting, but you also end up learning about more modern things like the china clay trade. If you've liked Marsden's other books or have an interest in Cornwall, this would be worth picking up.
First Line: In the village where I grew up, on the edge of the Medip Hills, a lane ran up from the church and near the top, it forked.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: DA 670 C8 M34 2015
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Rising Ground is a combination memoir of the author's moving and then renovating a house and his rambles around Cornwall. He's trying to understand the history of the land, the things that make Cornwall, Cornwall. There's a particular focus on the neolithic that I found very interesting, but you also end up learning about more modern things like the china clay trade. If you've liked Marsden's other books or have an interest in Cornwall, this would be worth picking up.
First Line: In the village where I grew up, on the edge of the Medip Hills, a lane ran up from the church and near the top, it forked.
28inge87
From Pillar to Post by Anne Sinclair Mehdevi+
Source: me (11/15)
Recommendation: WomanBingoPUP & DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 1956
LC Call #: G 464 M33 1956
Rating: 3 stars / 5
From Pillar to Post is a series of episodes about the author's life as she tries to raise a family while following her Iranian-diplomat husband around the world in the late 1940s. It looks like they were all published individually in the New Yorker first and then later collected in book-form. From Mexico, to occupied Vienna, to the Spanish Isles, the author goes wherever her husband's career takes him. But sometimes home may be the most foreign place of all.
What's amazing to me in 2016 is how unconcerned she or anyone else is about the fact that she's a good Kansas girl married to an Iranian Muslim and raising at least nominally Muslim children (although she does joke about it in regards to some Mexican nuns). That certainly wouldn't be the case if she were writing these stories today.
The author writes in a very nice conversational style and is a natural storyteller, so if you like interesting mid-century stories of travel and domesticity, you may want to try and dig a copy up.
First Line:
Source: me (11/15)
Recommendation: WomanBingoPUP & DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 1956
LC Call #: G 464 M33 1956
Rating: 3 stars / 5
From Pillar to Post is a series of episodes about the author's life as she tries to raise a family while following her Iranian-diplomat husband around the world in the late 1940s. It looks like they were all published individually in the New Yorker first and then later collected in book-form. From Mexico, to occupied Vienna, to the Spanish Isles, the author goes wherever her husband's career takes him. But sometimes home may be the most foreign place of all.
What's amazing to me in 2016 is how unconcerned she or anyone else is about the fact that she's a good Kansas girl married to an Iranian Muslim and raising at least nominally Muslim children (although she does joke about it in regards to some Mexican nuns). That certainly wouldn't be the case if she were writing these stories today.
The author writes in a very nice conversational style and is a natural storyteller, so if you like interesting mid-century stories of travel and domesticity, you may want to try and dig a copy up.
First Line:
29inge87
A Love Letter to Texas Women by Sarah Bird
Source: Austin PL
Recommendation: Impulse grab from the new arrivals section
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: PS 3552 I74 L68 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
A Love Letter to Texas Women is a letter-essay from transplanted-Texan Bird to all the Texas women out there telling them what she loves about them. In the process we learn a lot about Bird and some of her early Texas experiences, we meet a lot of interesting Texan women and get to enjoy a lot of Texas. It's a very short, quick read, less than 100 pages of larger-sized font. My only issue is when she gets a bit political at one point towards then end and defines Texas women in such a way that does not in fact match many Texans I've met (but does match up with a kind of mythical Austin woman of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s). But it's a fun read, and if you're a Texas (wo)man (or know someone who is), you may want to seek it out.
First Line: Me and the Texas Woman, it was not love at first sight.
Source: Austin PL
Recommendation: Impulse grab from the new arrivals section
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: PS 3552 I74 L68 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
A Love Letter to Texas Women is a letter-essay from transplanted-Texan Bird to all the Texas women out there telling them what she loves about them. In the process we learn a lot about Bird and some of her early Texas experiences, we meet a lot of interesting Texan women and get to enjoy a lot of Texas. It's a very short, quick read, less than 100 pages of larger-sized font. My only issue is when she gets a bit political at one point towards then end and defines Texas women in such a way that does not in fact match many Texans I've met (but does match up with a kind of mythical Austin woman of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s). But it's a fun read, and if you're a Texas (wo)man (or know someone who is), you may want to seek it out.
First Line: Me and the Texas Woman, it was not love at first sight.
30inge87
Burning Bright by Melissa McShane
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: can't remember, it was on one of my Amazon lists and sounded interesting
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
Series: Extraordinaries (1/?)
LC Call #: PS 3613 C7536 B97 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Burning Bright is a fun Regency-set fantasy in a world where people have "talents" (magical powers) and the strongest of these are known as Extraordinaries. Elinor has come to terms that she is not going to manifest a talent, when at 21 she accidentally sets her bed on fire and then puts it out. This marks her not only as a scorcher, but as an extraordinary scorcher—and a prime prize on the marriage mart in the eyes of her father. To escape an unwanted match, she volunteers her services to the Royal Navy instead and thus begins an adventure that will completely change her world.
A fun, adventurous romp across the Atlantic. We watch Elinor grow in her knowledge of her talent and herself. Plus, there are pirates. Who could say no to that? Highly recommended for fans of historical fantasy, particularly the Napoleonic Wars period.
First Line: Elinor dreamed of fire, the unseen ground beneath her burning and the air white with heat, and woke to find her dream a reality.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: can't remember, it was on one of my Amazon lists and sounded interesting
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
Series: Extraordinaries (1/?)
LC Call #: PS 3613 C7536 B97 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Burning Bright is a fun Regency-set fantasy in a world where people have "talents" (magical powers) and the strongest of these are known as Extraordinaries. Elinor has come to terms that she is not going to manifest a talent, when at 21 she accidentally sets her bed on fire and then puts it out. This marks her not only as a scorcher, but as an extraordinary scorcher—and a prime prize on the marriage mart in the eyes of her father. To escape an unwanted match, she volunteers her services to the Royal Navy instead and thus begins an adventure that will completely change her world.
A fun, adventurous romp across the Atlantic. We watch Elinor grow in her knowledge of her talent and herself. Plus, there are pirates. Who could say no to that? Highly recommended for fans of historical fantasy, particularly the Napoleonic Wars period.
First Line: Elinor dreamed of fire, the unseen ground beneath her burning and the air white with heat, and woke to find her dream a reality.
31brodiew2
>30 inge87: I really like the cover on this one.
32inge87
>31 brodiew2: It is a nice one, isn't it?
33susanj67
Jennifer, there are always so many interesting books on your thread! I've put a copy of From Pillar to Post in my Amazon basket, and tried (but failed) to find anything by Melissa McShane at the library. Amazon has lots as ebooks though :-) I also like the look of the ice age book. How is your new job going?
34inge87
>33 susanj67: Thanks, things have been a bit crazy, but overall it's going well. From Pillar to Post was a happy surprise; I hope you enjoy it. McShane is one of those authors where e-book is the primary format, which is annoying for people like me who prefer print as their primary format and also makes her very difficult to find in libraries. But she's fun and e-books are cheap.
35inge87
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: Vance's commentary on the recent elections was one of my great online discoveries of 2016
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: HD 8073 V37 A3 2016
Rating: 5 stars / 5
Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir of growing up poor in Ohio but also a family history of the author's Scotch-Irish Kentucky family. Unlike many relatives, he managed to make it out—first to the Marines and then to Yale Law School. Having managed to succeed in the face of poverty, addiction, and low expectations, he also looks at why his people are suffering the way they are and how some of them have managed to escape the poverty, addiction, and dysfunction that might have otherwise seemed their predestined fate.
This book resonated with me immensely. As a woman of Scotch-Irish descent but of the Texas variety, I could see some of my family history reflected in Vance's story. My father only had the middle class upbringing he did because his paternal grandmother found religion like Vance's father and his maternal grandfather had aspirations beyond being a blue-color cotton oil worker. As we see in Vance's work, it is these kinds of choices that mark those who overcome their background from those who don't. I also had the out-of-body experience that is going to an elite New England college without the right background. I always joke that it's where I learned that "summer" was a verb. The isolating feeling of being othered due to class and regional background is very much a thing. Not that any of the north-easterners noticed that. Vance's commentary on the recent elections was one of my great online discoveries of 2016, so I was excited to pick up his book over Thanksgiving. This book was probably made for me, but I think it is also an important read for those who are not like me, so that they can learn about a world that exists both incredibly nearby geographically and yet ideologically so very far away. Highly recommended.
First Line: My name is J. D. Vance, and I think I should start with a confession: I find the existence of the book you hold in your hands somewhat absurd.
Source: me (11/16)
Recommendation: Vance's commentary on the recent elections was one of my great online discoveries of 2016
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: HD 8073 V37 A3 2016
Rating: 5 stars / 5
Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir of growing up poor in Ohio but also a family history of the author's Scotch-Irish Kentucky family. Unlike many relatives, he managed to make it out—first to the Marines and then to Yale Law School. Having managed to succeed in the face of poverty, addiction, and low expectations, he also looks at why his people are suffering the way they are and how some of them have managed to escape the poverty, addiction, and dysfunction that might have otherwise seemed their predestined fate.
This book resonated with me immensely. As a woman of Scotch-Irish descent but of the Texas variety, I could see some of my family history reflected in Vance's story. My father only had the middle class upbringing he did because his paternal grandmother found religion like Vance's father and his maternal grandfather had aspirations beyond being a blue-color cotton oil worker. As we see in Vance's work, it is these kinds of choices that mark those who overcome their background from those who don't. I also had the out-of-body experience that is going to an elite New England college without the right background. I always joke that it's where I learned that "summer" was a verb. The isolating feeling of being othered due to class and regional background is very much a thing. Not that any of the north-easterners noticed that. Vance's commentary on the recent elections was one of my great online discoveries of 2016, so I was excited to pick up his book over Thanksgiving. This book was probably made for me, but I think it is also an important read for those who are not like me, so that they can learn about a world that exists both incredibly nearby geographically and yet ideologically so very far away. Highly recommended.
First Line: My name is J. D. Vance, and I think I should start with a confession: I find the existence of the book you hold in your hands somewhat absurd.
36inge87
Twilight in Italy and Other Essays by D. H. Lawrence+
Source: me (11/08)
Recommendation: TIOLI / Clearing the TBR pile
Year of Original Pub.: 1997 (originally 1912-1936)
LC Call #: DG 601 L33 1997
Rating: 2 stars / 5
Twilight in Italy and Other Essays is a collection of various essays on Italy and the Alps written by Lawrence in the years surrounding the First World War. Some are more interesting than others. The problem for me readability-wise is that you get multiple versions of the same essay in a few cases, which got annoying, especially when the first version wasn't particularly interesting in the first case. However, it goes give you a feel for the evolution of Lawrence's style—in each case the second version is much more recognizably Lawrence-ian in feel than the earlier one. For those particularly interested in Lawrence and/or early 20th century depictions of the Alps and northern Italy only.
First Line: "Have you," I asked the waiter in the hotel, "any other papers beside the German ones?"
Source: me (11/08)
Recommendation: TIOLI / Clearing the TBR pile
Year of Original Pub.: 1997 (originally 1912-1936)
LC Call #: DG 601 L33 1997
Rating: 2 stars / 5
Twilight in Italy and Other Essays is a collection of various essays on Italy and the Alps written by Lawrence in the years surrounding the First World War. Some are more interesting than others. The problem for me readability-wise is that you get multiple versions of the same essay in a few cases, which got annoying, especially when the first version wasn't particularly interesting in the first case. However, it goes give you a feel for the evolution of Lawrence's style—in each case the second version is much more recognizably Lawrence-ian in feel than the earlier one. For those particularly interested in Lawrence and/or early 20th century depictions of the Alps and northern Italy only.
First Line: "Have you," I asked the waiter in the hotel, "any other papers beside the German ones?"
37inge87
A History of Modern Oman by Jeremy Jones & Nicholas Ridout
Source: ILL (TCU)
Recommendation: Choice
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: DS 247 O68 J66 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
A History of Modern Oman is a short, but dense history of the Sultanate of Oman, located on the Arabian Peninsula between Yemen and the Persian Gulf (i.e. Iran), focusing on the past 300 years. It's very interesting stuff, as the nations Ibadi Muslim majority operates outside of the usual Sunni-Shia dichotomy. However, there are just so many names and so much detail, that as someone with a good general knowledge of the Middle East, but not much in detail about Arabia besides the basics of the founding of Saudi Arabia, I got a bit lost. Someone with more background knowledge or who is looking for something specific (like Zanzibar, the country's relationship with Great Britain or Saudi Arabia, etc.) would probably enjoy it or get more out of it than I did. But if you're looking for a book specifically about Oman, this is probably the best thing out there.
First Line: What is modern Oman?
Source: ILL (TCU)
Recommendation: Choice
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: DS 247 O68 J66 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
A History of Modern Oman is a short, but dense history of the Sultanate of Oman, located on the Arabian Peninsula between Yemen and the Persian Gulf (i.e. Iran), focusing on the past 300 years. It's very interesting stuff, as the nations Ibadi Muslim majority operates outside of the usual Sunni-Shia dichotomy. However, there are just so many names and so much detail, that as someone with a good general knowledge of the Middle East, but not much in detail about Arabia besides the basics of the founding of Saudi Arabia, I got a bit lost. Someone with more background knowledge or who is looking for something specific (like Zanzibar, the country's relationship with Great Britain or Saudi Arabia, etc.) would probably enjoy it or get more out of it than I did. But if you're looking for a book specifically about Oman, this is probably the best thing out there.
First Line: What is modern Oman?
38inge87
Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam by Joseph Ratzinger & Marcello Pera*
Source: me (4/07)
Recommendation: DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2006
LC Call #: D 1055 B46 2006
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Without Roots is a collection of two essays and two letters, one by each author, about the existential crisis facing Western societies, particularly in Europe. Written by a future Pope and a President of the Italian Senate, the book approaches the major issues from both the religious and secular viewpoints. What is the role of Christianity in today's society? How dangerous is relativism? and Whither Europe? are just a few of the questions they seek to answer, and their answers are still very relevant today. With the exceptions of a few chestnuts like the European Constitution, the book has aged very well in its first decade. Those with an interest in Western civilization, moral relativism, and the roles and church and state will want to pick it up. Highly recommended.
First Line: At the beginning of his famous essay, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber raised the following question: "A product of modern European civilization, studying any problem of universal history, is bound to ask himself to what combination of circumstances the fact should be attributed that in Western civilization, and in Western civilization only, cultural phenomena have appeared which (as we like to think) lie in a line of development having universal significance and value."
Source: me (4/07)
Recommendation: DeweyCAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2006
LC Call #: D 1055 B46 2006
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Without Roots is a collection of two essays and two letters, one by each author, about the existential crisis facing Western societies, particularly in Europe. Written by a future Pope and a President of the Italian Senate, the book approaches the major issues from both the religious and secular viewpoints. What is the role of Christianity in today's society? How dangerous is relativism? and Whither Europe? are just a few of the questions they seek to answer, and their answers are still very relevant today. With the exceptions of a few chestnuts like the European Constitution, the book has aged very well in its first decade. Those with an interest in Western civilization, moral relativism, and the roles and church and state will want to pick it up. Highly recommended.
First Line: At the beginning of his famous essay, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber raised the following question: "A product of modern European civilization, studying any problem of universal history, is bound to ask himself to what combination of circumstances the fact should be attributed that in Western civilization, and in Western civilization only, cultural phenomena have appeared which (as we like to think) lie in a line of development having universal significance and value."
39inge87
The Heliand by Anonymous+
Source: me (8/12)
Recommendation: TIOLI
Year of Original Pub.: c. 830
LC Call #: PF 3999 A32 H4 1992
Rating: 4 stars / 5
The Heliand is a paraphrased synthesis of the four Gospels written by an anonymous Saxon in the Age of Charlemagne. It is a very interesting example of Christianity incorporating native Germanic traditions. In the work, Christ is portrayed as a chieftain with his earls and thanes in a Palestine that reflects the author's contemporary culture. This makes it a particularly insightful read, both for those interested in what 9th century Saxony was like and for those interested in early Germanic interpretations of Christianity. Highly recommended for anyone who thinks it sounds interesting.
First Line: There were many whose hearts told them that they should begin to tell the secret runes, the word of God, the famous feats that the powerful Christ accomplished in words and in deeds among human beings.
Source: me (8/12)
Recommendation: TIOLI
Year of Original Pub.: c. 830
LC Call #: PF 3999 A32 H4 1992
Rating: 4 stars / 5
The Heliand is a paraphrased synthesis of the four Gospels written by an anonymous Saxon in the Age of Charlemagne. It is a very interesting example of Christianity incorporating native Germanic traditions. In the work, Christ is portrayed as a chieftain with his earls and thanes in a Palestine that reflects the author's contemporary culture. This makes it a particularly insightful read, both for those interested in what 9th century Saxony was like and for those interested in early Germanic interpretations of Christianity. Highly recommended for anyone who thinks it sounds interesting.
First Line: There were many whose hearts told them that they should begin to tell the secret runes, the word of God, the famous feats that the powerful Christ accomplished in words and in deeds among human beings.
40inge87
November Round-Up!
Books Read: 14 (20 in 2013, 15 in 2014, & 19 in 2015)
Genre
Non-Fiction - 10 - 71.43%
Fiction - 4 - 28.57%
Sources
Me (this month) - 6 - 42.86%
Me (other) - 4 - 28.56%
Austin PL - 1 - 7.14%
ILL - 1 - 7.14%
Me (last month) - 1 - 7.14%
New Work - 1 - 7.14%
TBR and Rereads
TBR books - 3 - 14.67%
Rereads - 1 - 7.14%
Authors
Male - 8 - 57.84%
Female - 6 - 42.86%
Edition Language
English - 14 - 100%
Original Language
English - 11 - 78.58%
Indonesian - 1 - 7.14%
Italian - 1 - 7.14%
Old Saxon - 1 - 7.14%
Series
Stand-Alone Books - 13 - 92.86%
Series Books - 1 - 7.14%
Average Original Date of Publication with The Heliand
1912
Average Original Date of Publication without The Heliand
1995
Median Original Date of Publication
2006
Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 1 - 7.14%
3 stars - 8 - 57.84%
4 stars - 4 - 28.56%
5 stars - 1 - 7.14%
Average Rating
3.36
Discovery of the Month
Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele
First Line of the Month
"There were many whose hearts told them that they should begin to tell the secret runes, the word of God, the famous feats that the powerful Christ accomplished in words and in deeds among human beings."
—Anonymous (trans. G. Ronald Murphy, SJ), The Heliand
Best of the Month
Fiction: Burning Bright by Melissa McShane
Non-Fiction: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Books Read: 14 (20 in 2013, 15 in 2014, & 19 in 2015)
Genre
Non-Fiction - 10 - 71.43%
Fiction - 4 - 28.57%
Sources
Me (this month) - 6 - 42.86%
Me (other) - 4 - 28.56%
Austin PL - 1 - 7.14%
ILL - 1 - 7.14%
Me (last month) - 1 - 7.14%
New Work - 1 - 7.14%
TBR and Rereads
TBR books - 3 - 14.67%
Rereads - 1 - 7.14%
Authors
Male - 8 - 57.84%
Female - 6 - 42.86%
Edition Language
English - 14 - 100%
Original Language
English - 11 - 78.58%
Indonesian - 1 - 7.14%
Italian - 1 - 7.14%
Old Saxon - 1 - 7.14%
Series
Stand-Alone Books - 13 - 92.86%
Series Books - 1 - 7.14%
Average Original Date of Publication with The Heliand
1912
Average Original Date of Publication without The Heliand
1995
Median Original Date of Publication
2006
Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 1 - 7.14%
3 stars - 8 - 57.84%
4 stars - 4 - 28.56%
5 stars - 1 - 7.14%
Average Rating
3.36
Discovery of the Month
Turbulent Covenant by Jessica Steele
First Line of the Month
"There were many whose hearts told them that they should begin to tell the secret runes, the word of God, the famous feats that the powerful Christ accomplished in words and in deeds among human beings."
—Anonymous (trans. G. Ronald Murphy, SJ), The Heliand
Best of the Month
Fiction: Burning Bright by Melissa McShane
Non-Fiction: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
41inge87
Submerged by Dani Pettrey
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: Library impulse grab
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Alaskan Courage (1/5)
LC Call #: PS 3616 S83 2012
Rating: 2 stars / 5
Submerged is a Christian thriller set in small-town Alaska—a place that suddenly becomes more exciting when a plane crash brings Bailey back to Yancey and bodies begin turning up around town. Bailey has been living in Oregon, because she finds her teenaged reputation in Alaska too much to deal with even though she's changed. All she wants is to settle her grandmother's affairs and return back to the safety of her new life; however, it appears that her grandmother may be directly connected to the murders that have shaken the town to the core. The added presence of an old love-interest only raises the stakes, and the choices soon become life and death—both for Bailey and her friends in Yancey.
A fun thriller. The redemptive aspects were overdone, even for the genre, but the Alaskan setting makes them fresher than they might be somewhere more conventional. Recommended for fans of the genre only.
First Line: Never wager unless you control the stakes.
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: Library impulse grab
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Alaskan Courage (1/5)
LC Call #: PS 3616 S83 2012
Rating: 2 stars / 5
Submerged is a Christian thriller set in small-town Alaska—a place that suddenly becomes more exciting when a plane crash brings Bailey back to Yancey and bodies begin turning up around town. Bailey has been living in Oregon, because she finds her teenaged reputation in Alaska too much to deal with even though she's changed. All she wants is to settle her grandmother's affairs and return back to the safety of her new life; however, it appears that her grandmother may be directly connected to the murders that have shaken the town to the core. The added presence of an old love-interest only raises the stakes, and the choices soon become life and death—both for Bailey and her friends in Yancey.
A fun thriller. The redemptive aspects were overdone, even for the genre, but the Alaskan setting makes them fresher than they might be somewhere more conventional. Recommended for fans of the genre only.
First Line: Never wager unless you control the stakes.
42inge87
The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery & Anne Bikle
Source: me (10/16)
Recommendation: interest in the subject
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: QR 111 M66 2016
Rating: 4 stars / 5
The Hidden Half of Nature is a combination memoir and exploration of the microbiome. The authors began their journey when they bought a house and discovered that the garden they wanted was going to be next-to-impossible without soil improvements (yay, glacial till!). This would be just another gardening memoir, except the authors are actual scientists, so what follows instead is a journey through the history of man's relationship with and gradual discovery of microorganisms, as well as a history of the debate between modern chemical fertilizer and the benefits of more natural composting systems that make use of microbes. It's fun stuff, even if I sometimes wish there was a bit less of the personal and a bit more of the history. But if you enjoyed Missing Microbes and want to know more about the invisible world around you and inside of you, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
First Line: We are living through a scientific revolution as illuminating as the discovery that the Earth orbits the Sun.
Source: me (10/16)
Recommendation: interest in the subject
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: QR 111 M66 2016
Rating: 4 stars / 5
The Hidden Half of Nature is a combination memoir and exploration of the microbiome. The authors began their journey when they bought a house and discovered that the garden they wanted was going to be next-to-impossible without soil improvements (yay, glacial till!). This would be just another gardening memoir, except the authors are actual scientists, so what follows instead is a journey through the history of man's relationship with and gradual discovery of microorganisms, as well as a history of the debate between modern chemical fertilizer and the benefits of more natural composting systems that make use of microbes. It's fun stuff, even if I sometimes wish there was a bit less of the personal and a bit more of the history. But if you enjoyed Missing Microbes and want to know more about the invisible world around you and inside of you, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
First Line: We are living through a scientific revolution as illuminating as the discovery that the Earth orbits the Sun.
43brodiew2
Good morning, Inge87! I hope all is well with you.
>41 inge87: Nice review of Submerged. I'll see if I can find it on audio.
>41 inge87: Nice review of Submerged. I'll see if I can find it on audio.
44inge87
>43 brodiew2: Good morning! My campus closed for break on Friday, so it's hard to not be happy when your daily goal revolves around dogs and couches. :)
Submerged is not the kind of book I normally read—I prefer my Christian fiction a bit more subtle—but the suspense was really well done and you learn some Alaskan and Russian history in the process, which is always a good thing.
Submerged is not the kind of book I normally read—I prefer my Christian fiction a bit more subtle—but the suspense was really well done and you learn some Alaskan and Russian history in the process, which is always a good thing.
45inge87
How to Be a Texan: The Manual by Andrea Valdez
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: It seemed like a good follow-up to A Love Letter to Texas Women
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: E 391.2 V35 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
How to be a Texan is a fun guide to everything you need to know to be a Texan. A rather pan-regional homogenized Texan, but a Texan nonetheless. And any native Texan will be able to spot parts that resonate with their experiences and learn a few things about life in other parts of the state as well. The fact that Kerens, the birthplace of Big Tex, wasn't mentioned in the nonsensical pronunciation list (it's pronounced like "currens"), struck me as odd, but since the author seems to know South and Central Texas better than the rest of the state, maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise. A book meant more for entertainment than edification, it would make a nice gift for the Texas-lover in your life.
First Line: Once when I was a kid, my mother made an offhand comment that forever shaped my perspective of my home state.
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: It seemed like a good follow-up to A Love Letter to Texas Women
Year of Original Pub.: 2016
LC Call #: E 391.2 V35 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
How to be a Texan is a fun guide to everything you need to know to be a Texan. A rather pan-regional homogenized Texan, but a Texan nonetheless. And any native Texan will be able to spot parts that resonate with their experiences and learn a few things about life in other parts of the state as well. The fact that Kerens, the birthplace of Big Tex, wasn't mentioned in the nonsensical pronunciation list (it's pronounced like "currens"), struck me as odd, but since the author seems to know South and Central Texas better than the rest of the state, maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise. A book meant more for entertainment than edification, it would make a nice gift for the Texas-lover in your life.
First Line: Once when I was a kid, my mother made an offhand comment that forever shaped my perspective of my home state.
46inge87
My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart*
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: I hadn't read this one in a while
Year of Original Pub.: 1959
LC Call #: PR 6069 T46 M9 1959
Rating: 3 stars / 5
My Brother Michael is a 1959 romantic thriller set in Greece. Camilla is bored and broke in Athens, but dreaming of getting to Delphi. Imagine her surprise when a stranger hands her the keys to a car that she supposedly ordered for a "Mr. Simon" in Delphi and then disappears. Clearly it was meant to be. Only it turns out that Simon has no idea what the car was for either, not that he's going to look the gift horse in the mouth either. Michael is in the area trying to learn more about the WWII death of his brother Michael, who was working as a British liaison with the Greek partisans. What he uncovers is shocking and places both his life and Camilla's in great danger.
It's typical a Mary Stewart thriller—a beautiful young thing getting into trouble in a foreign land—but it's one of the better ones. The war-angle is also interesting with shades of Madam, Will You Talk? but without any actual Nazis. Recommended for fans of the genre or those who enjoy novels set in Greece or dealing with Ancient Greek antiquities.
First Line: Nothing ever happens to me.
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: I hadn't read this one in a while
Year of Original Pub.: 1959
LC Call #: PR 6069 T46 M9 1959
Rating: 3 stars / 5
My Brother Michael is a 1959 romantic thriller set in Greece. Camilla is bored and broke in Athens, but dreaming of getting to Delphi. Imagine her surprise when a stranger hands her the keys to a car that she supposedly ordered for a "Mr. Simon" in Delphi and then disappears. Clearly it was meant to be. Only it turns out that Simon has no idea what the car was for either, not that he's going to look the gift horse in the mouth either. Michael is in the area trying to learn more about the WWII death of his brother Michael, who was working as a British liaison with the Greek partisans. What he uncovers is shocking and places both his life and Camilla's in great danger.
It's typical a Mary Stewart thriller—a beautiful young thing getting into trouble in a foreign land—but it's one of the better ones. The war-angle is also interesting with shades of Madam, Will You Talk? but without any actual Nazis. Recommended for fans of the genre or those who enjoy novels set in Greece or dealing with Ancient Greek antiquities.
First Line: Nothing ever happens to me.
47inge87
Mary, the Second Eve: Extracts for the Times by John Henry Cardinal Newman
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: It looked good
Year of Original Pub.: 1977
LC Call #: BT 610 N48 1982
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Mary, the Second Eve is a collection of excerpts from the writings of Cardinal Newman covering the nature of the Virgin Mary, including whether or not she should be venerated, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption. Everything is either by Newman or one of the Early Church Fathers, if he is quoting, and cited so that you can find the quote in its original context. Pretty much everything is straight from the original editions, which is good, except that Newman preferred to spell Theotokos with a "c", which was a constant distraction because I kept reading it as "Theotacos" (mmm . . . tacos . . .). But the fact that that is my biggest issue with the book (at just under 40 pages long, it's really more of a pamphlet) should underscore just how useful and well-done it is. Anyone with an interest in understanding the venerable Christian tradition of honoring the Blessed Virgin or in Cardinal Newman's writings should pick this up. In fact, it would probably make a great introduction for someone wanting to try Newman for the first time, because everything is broken up into readable chunks and organized thematically. Highly recommended
First Line: . . . there just now seems a call on me . . . to avow plainly what I do and and what I do not hold about the Blessed Virgin, that others may know, did they come to stand where I stand, what they would, and what they would not, be bound to hold concerning her.
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: It looked good
Year of Original Pub.: 1977
LC Call #: BT 610 N48 1982
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Mary, the Second Eve is a collection of excerpts from the writings of Cardinal Newman covering the nature of the Virgin Mary, including whether or not she should be venerated, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption. Everything is either by Newman or one of the Early Church Fathers, if he is quoting, and cited so that you can find the quote in its original context. Pretty much everything is straight from the original editions, which is good, except that Newman preferred to spell Theotokos with a "c", which was a constant distraction because I kept reading it as "Theotacos" (mmm . . . tacos . . .). But the fact that that is my biggest issue with the book (at just under 40 pages long, it's really more of a pamphlet) should underscore just how useful and well-done it is. Anyone with an interest in understanding the venerable Christian tradition of honoring the Blessed Virgin or in Cardinal Newman's writings should pick this up. In fact, it would probably make a great introduction for someone wanting to try Newman for the first time, because everything is broken up into readable chunks and organized thematically. Highly recommended
First Line: . . . there just now seems a call on me . . . to avow plainly what I do and and what I do not hold about the Blessed Virgin, that others may know, did they come to stand where I stand, what they would, and what they would not, be bound to hold concerning her.
48PaulCranswick
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!
49inge87
>48 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Merry Christmas to you as well!
50inge87
Wishing everyone a very watchful and wonderful Christmas Eve!
"A physician is coming to the sick, a redeemer to those who have been sold, a path to wanderers, and life to the dead. Yes, One is coming who will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea, who will heal all our diseases, who will carry us on his own shoulders back to the source of our original worth. Great is the might, but more wonderful is the mercy in that the One who could help us willed to come to our assistance! Today, Scripture says, you shall know that the Lord will come."
—St. Bernard of Clairvaux, "On the Eve of the Lord's Birth: Sermon Three"
Image: Adoration of the Shepherds, St. Peter Church, Purgstall an der Erlauf, Lower Austria
"A physician is coming to the sick, a redeemer to those who have been sold, a path to wanderers, and life to the dead. Yes, One is coming who will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea, who will heal all our diseases, who will carry us on his own shoulders back to the source of our original worth. Great is the might, but more wonderful is the mercy in that the One who could help us willed to come to our assistance! Today, Scripture says, you shall know that the Lord will come."
—St. Bernard of Clairvaux, "On the Eve of the Lord's Birth: Sermon Three"
Image: Adoration of the Shepherds, St. Peter Church, Purgstall an der Erlauf, Lower Austria
52inge87
>51 Kassilem: Merry Christmas to you too!
53inge87
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Source: old work
Recommendation: graphic novel/non-fiction CAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
LC Call #: QC 773.3 U5 F47 2012
Rating: 5 stars / 5
Trinity is a very compelling graphic novel about the development of the atomic bomb. Starting with the discovery of atoms, it works its way through the Manhattan Project, to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the new post-bomb era. The author does a very good job both of making the invention exciting while also capturing the negative effects of the project and the way that many of those who worked on the bomb were troubled and conflicted about the effects of their work. One of the best graphic novels I've read this year, the art and the text are both very high quality. Highly recommended for anyone who likes interesting graphic-format non-fiction or has an interest in the atomic bomb, World War II, or the history of science.
First Line: Clearance badges?
Source: old work
Recommendation: graphic novel/non-fiction CAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
LC Call #: QC 773.3 U5 F47 2012
Rating: 5 stars / 5
Trinity is a very compelling graphic novel about the development of the atomic bomb. Starting with the discovery of atoms, it works its way through the Manhattan Project, to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the new post-bomb era. The author does a very good job both of making the invention exciting while also capturing the negative effects of the project and the way that many of those who worked on the bomb were troubled and conflicted about the effects of their work. One of the best graphic novels I've read this year, the art and the text are both very high quality. Highly recommended for anyone who likes interesting graphic-format non-fiction or has an interest in the atomic bomb, World War II, or the history of science.
First Line: Clearance badges?
54inge87
Boxers by Gene Luen Yang
Source: old work
Recommendation: LibraryJournal
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Boxers & Saints (1/2)
LC Call #: PZ 7.7 Y35 Box 2013
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Boxers is a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion aimed at the juvenile to YA market. Bao loves the spring festival until one year strangers come to town and cause trouble, marking the beginning of a series of calamities that leads to his becoming interested in kung fu and resisting the "devils" (Westerners) whom he perceives as the destroyers of his homeland. Eventually, he becomes a leader in a civil war that will demand more from him that could ever have known. But, inspired by visions of an ancient Chinese hero, he will do what he has to do, even if it leads to his own destruction.
An interesting nuanced look at a bloody conflict that manages to show the grey areas while still remaining engaging. Highly recommended for fans of historical graphic novels or Chinese history.
First Line: Spring is my favorite time of year.
Source: old work
Recommendation: LibraryJournal
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Boxers & Saints (1/2)
LC Call #: PZ 7.7 Y35 Box 2013
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Boxers is a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion aimed at the juvenile to YA market. Bao loves the spring festival until one year strangers come to town and cause trouble, marking the beginning of a series of calamities that leads to his becoming interested in kung fu and resisting the "devils" (Westerners) whom he perceives as the destroyers of his homeland. Eventually, he becomes a leader in a civil war that will demand more from him that could ever have known. But, inspired by visions of an ancient Chinese hero, he will do what he has to do, even if it leads to his own destruction.
An interesting nuanced look at a bloody conflict that manages to show the grey areas while still remaining engaging. Highly recommended for fans of historical graphic novels or Chinese history.
First Line: Spring is my favorite time of year.
55inge87
Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Source: old work
Recommendation: continuing series
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Boxers & Saints (2/2)
LC Call #: PZ 7.7 Y35 Sai 2013
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Saints is the companion novel to Boxers, a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion aimed at the juvenile to YA market. This time it tells the story of Four-Girl, whom Bao meets on two fateful occasions in the first book. That's not really her name, because as the fourth daughter of the family, she was not valued enough to be given one. Until, after a series of events she meets Catholic missionaries and receives the name of Vibiana upon her baptism. Now that she has a name, she is determined to be a hero and help her new family in the time of upheaval. Throughout the story she has visions of Joan of Arc, who acts as her guide and inspiration. Note: Her life parallels that of Joan, so do not expect a Happy Ending. Because Bao and his soldiers are coming for the mission, and secondary devils like Vibiana are no safer than their white missionary teachers.
I actually liked this one better than Boxers. It does a very good job of showing the other side of the story, how the Westerners could help Chinese people as well as hurt them. Vibiana's life is definitely improved by the acceptance and opportunities given to her at the mission, compared to the benign neglect she got at home. The ending especially is fantastic, tying up the loose ends from the end of Boxers (if you want to know what happens to Bao, you need to read it ), while also perfectly summing up the overall theme of redemption and forgiveness that is Saints. I can highly recommend the series to anyone who enjoys graphic novels about historical events.
First Line: I am my mother's fourth daughter, born on the fourth day of the fourth month, and the only one of her children to survive past a year.
Source: old work
Recommendation: continuing series
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Boxers & Saints (2/2)
LC Call #: PZ 7.7 Y35 Sai 2013
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Saints is the companion novel to Boxers, a graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion aimed at the juvenile to YA market. This time it tells the story of Four-Girl, whom Bao meets on two fateful occasions in the first book. That's not really her name, because as the fourth daughter of the family, she was not valued enough to be given one. Until, after a series of events she meets Catholic missionaries and receives the name of Vibiana upon her baptism. Now that she has a name, she is determined to be a hero and help her new family in the time of upheaval. Throughout the story she has visions of Joan of Arc, who acts as her guide and inspiration. Note: Her life parallels that of Joan, so do not expect a Happy Ending. Because Bao and his soldiers are coming for the mission, and secondary devils like Vibiana are no safer than their white missionary teachers.
I actually liked this one better than Boxers. It does a very good job of showing the other side of the story, how the Westerners could help Chinese people as well as hurt them. Vibiana's life is definitely improved by the acceptance and opportunities given to her at the mission, compared to the benign neglect she got at home. The ending especially is fantastic, tying up the loose ends from the end of Boxers (
First Line: I am my mother's fourth daughter, born on the fourth day of the fourth month, and the only one of her children to survive past a year.
56inge87
The Vanished Path: A Graphic Travelogue by Bharath Murthy
Source: Irving PL
Recommendation: library impulse grab as part of my attempt to complete my graphic novel/non-fiction CAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: PR 9499.3 M878 V37 2015
Rating: 2 stars / 5
The Vanished Path is an account of a journey the author took with his wife to various places related to the life of the Buddha. Through his eyes, we view the sites as they are now, as well as life as a modern traveler to India. But we are also treated to bits of the Buddha's life story related to each site, which form the best parts of the book. It should have been good, but parts of the travel story seemed a bit random, and I had some issues with Murthy's artwork that take the book from potentially great to merely mediocre. But if you are interested in modern Indian Buddhists, what it would be like to travel to ancient Buddhist sites in India, or the life of the Buddha, you may want to pick this up—otherwise, skip it.
First Line: Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One
and, on arrival, having bowed down to him,
sat to one side.
Source: Irving PL
Recommendation: library impulse grab as part of my attempt to complete my graphic novel/non-fiction CAT
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: PR 9499.3 M878 V37 2015
Rating: 2 stars / 5
The Vanished Path is an account of a journey the author took with his wife to various places related to the life of the Buddha. Through his eyes, we view the sites as they are now, as well as life as a modern traveler to India. But we are also treated to bits of the Buddha's life story related to each site, which form the best parts of the book. It should have been good, but parts of the travel story seemed a bit random, and I had some issues with Murthy's artwork that take the book from potentially great to merely mediocre. But if you are interested in modern Indian Buddhists, what it would be like to travel to ancient Buddhist sites in India, or the life of the Buddha, you may want to pick this up—otherwise, skip it.
First Line: Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One
and, on arrival, having bowed down to him,
sat to one side.
57inge87
Confederate Night Before Christmas by Mark Vogl
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: library impulse grab off the Christmas picture book display
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: PZ 7 V655 Con 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Confederate Night Before Christmas is a picture book retelling Clement Moore's poem The Night Before Christmas in a Confederate army camp during the American Civil War. It sounds crazy (and my Dad was amazed/incredulous that it had actually be published last year instead of fifty-plus years ago), but it's actually kind of cute and original. Instead of Santa, we are treated to a visit by Stonewall Jackson on his way to help Robert E. Lee give veterans, widows, and orphans some much needed food for Christmas. There are lots of nice period references in the text and a glossary at back to explain what various words, like saber, mean and who General Beauregard was. If you have a child in your life with an interest in the Civil War, this would be a perfect gift, and it's fun enough that it would probably also be appreciated by Civil War aficionados of all ages.
Since it involves the Confederacy, I should note that there is no mention of slavery in the book, and the only African-Americans shown are dressed in Confederate grey and driving a wagon in the background of the last page. That part of the war is very much out of sight in this book.
First Line: 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the camp
Only a sentry was stirring; it was dark, cold, and damp.
Source: Corsicana PL
Recommendation: library impulse grab off the Christmas picture book display
Year of Original Pub.: 2015
LC Call #: PZ 7 V655 Con 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Confederate Night Before Christmas is a picture book retelling Clement Moore's poem The Night Before Christmas in a Confederate army camp during the American Civil War. It sounds crazy (and my Dad was amazed/incredulous that it had actually be published last year instead of fifty-plus years ago), but it's actually kind of cute and original. Instead of Santa, we are treated to a visit by Stonewall Jackson on his way to help Robert E. Lee give veterans, widows, and orphans some much needed food for Christmas. There are lots of nice period references in the text and a glossary at back to explain what various words, like saber, mean and who General Beauregard was. If you have a child in your life with an interest in the Civil War, this would be a perfect gift, and it's fun enough that it would probably also be appreciated by Civil War aficionados of all ages.
Since it involves the Confederacy, I should note that there is no mention of slavery in the book, and the only African-Americans shown are dressed in Confederate grey and driving a wagon in the background of the last page. That part of the war is very much out of sight in this book.
First Line: 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the camp
Only a sentry was stirring; it was dark, cold, and damp.
58inge87
Fresh Romance, Volume 1
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: somewhere on the internet
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Fresh Romance (1/?)
LC Call #: PS 3601 S745 F74 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Fresh Romance, Volume 1 is a collection of stories from the first six issues of the "Fresh Romance" comic series. The goal was a throwback to old fashioned romance comics of the mid-twentieth century with modern twists, so here we have a story featuring magic and romance at high school prom, the first part of an unconventional Regency romance, a matchmaker who thinks love is a mathematical equation, and a meditation on love in the form of a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast". The quality is a little uneven, but the stories and art are all good, whether it is the start Japanese woodprint-inspired "Ruined" or the Alphonse Muncha-eque "Beauties". If you have an interest in comics created by and for women, you may want to seek this out. The comic series recently found a new publisher and they are currently re-publishing one of the stories as a free webcomic.
First Line: You remember your lines?
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: somewhere on the internet
Year of Original Pub.: 2012
Series: Fresh Romance (1/?)
LC Call #: PS 3601 S745 F74 2016
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Fresh Romance, Volume 1 is a collection of stories from the first six issues of the "Fresh Romance" comic series. The goal was a throwback to old fashioned romance comics of the mid-twentieth century with modern twists, so here we have a story featuring magic and romance at high school prom, the first part of an unconventional Regency romance, a matchmaker who thinks love is a mathematical equation, and a meditation on love in the form of a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast". The quality is a little uneven, but the stories and art are all good, whether it is the start Japanese woodprint-inspired "Ruined" or the Alphonse Muncha-eque "Beauties". If you have an interest in comics created by and for women, you may want to seek this out. The comic series recently found a new publisher and they are currently re-publishing one of the stories as a free webcomic.
First Line: You remember your lines?
59inge87
Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: the internet
Year of Original Pub.: 1949
LC Call #: PR 6007 U522 M87 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Murder for Christmas is a fun holiday house party mystery, in which a joyous celebration turns out to be not so joyous at all. After all, when someone has murdered Father Christmas and stolen all the presents, it's pretty hard to feel much Christmas spirit. Luckily, an amateur detective and murder magnet was invited this year, and is more than happy to help police get to the bottom of things. And with a house full of guests, there are lots of things to get to the bottom of, so the author will keep you guessing until the very end. Recommended for those who enjoy golden age mysteries, Christmas mysteries, or house party mysteries.
First Line: 'I believe,' said Denys, 'it really is!'
Source: me (12/16)
Recommendation: the internet
Year of Original Pub.: 1949
LC Call #: PR 6007 U522 M87 2015
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Murder for Christmas is a fun holiday house party mystery, in which a joyous celebration turns out to be not so joyous at all. After all, when someone has murdered Father Christmas and stolen all the presents, it's pretty hard to feel much Christmas spirit. Luckily, an amateur detective and murder magnet was invited this year, and is more than happy to help police get to the bottom of things. And with a house full of guests, there are lots of things to get to the bottom of, so the author will keep you guessing until the very end. Recommended for those who enjoy golden age mysteries, Christmas mysteries, or house party mysteries.
First Line: 'I believe,' said Denys, 'it really is!'
60inge87
Fatherland: A Family History by Nina Bunjevac
Source: old work
Recommendation: Kirkus or LibraryJournal
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: PR 9199.4 B86 F38 2014
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Fatherland is a graphic memoir of the authors childhood in Canada and Yugoslavia, as well as an attempt to understand her father, a Serbian nationalist, who was accidentally killed by his own explosives. We experience first her mother's attempts at escape, which culminate in her fleeing back to Yugoslavia with their daughters (he wouldn't let her take their son). We then flash back to her father's difficult childhood, which included being orphaned during the Second World War, and the events that soured him against the Yugoslav government and forced him to seek exile in Canada. He's never a truly sympathetic character, and—if the author's depiction is true—he was probably a psychopath; however, we do come to understand him a bit. And understand why his wife was so desperate to get her family away from him. But in the process of telling her family's story, Bunjevac also tells the story of Yugoslavia and the peoples united under its flag. Highly recommended for those who enjoy graphic memoirs or have an interest in the history of the Balkans or southeastern Europe.
First Line: The food supply is scarce yet in high demand as there are just too many mouths to feed . . .
Source: old work
Recommendation: Kirkus or LibraryJournal
Year of Original Pub.: 2014
LC Call #: PR 9199.4 B86 F38 2014
Rating: 3 stars / 5
Fatherland is a graphic memoir of the authors childhood in Canada and Yugoslavia, as well as an attempt to understand her father, a Serbian nationalist, who was accidentally killed by his own explosives. We experience first her mother's attempts at escape, which culminate in her fleeing back to Yugoslavia with their daughters (he wouldn't let her take their son). We then flash back to her father's difficult childhood, which included being orphaned during the Second World War, and the events that soured him against the Yugoslav government and forced him to seek exile in Canada. He's never a truly sympathetic character, and—if the author's depiction is true—he was probably a psychopath; however, we do come to understand him a bit. And understand why his wife was so desperate to get her family away from him. But in the process of telling her family's story, Bunjevac also tells the story of Yugoslavia and the peoples united under its flag. Highly recommended for those who enjoy graphic memoirs or have an interest in the history of the Balkans or southeastern Europe.
First Line: The food supply is scarce yet in high demand as there are just too many mouths to feed . . .
61PaulCranswick
Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Jennifer
62inge87
>61 PaulCranswick: Thanks! Happy New Year to you as well.
63inge87
Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins
Source: Irving PL
Recommendation: It was the last book I needed for my CAT challenge
Year of Original Pub.: 2013
LC Call #: DA 145 H54 2015
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Under Another Sky is a blend of ancient history and travel memoir, as the author travels around the Island of Britain exploring the lingering traces of Rome that can be found there. From settlements and villas in the south to the wilds of Scotland in the north, there is seems there is nowhere that the Romans did not reach, in spite of the fact that Britannia was one of the most remote outposts of the Roman Empire. In the process, we learn a lot about Roman life in Britain, from the first landings somewhere in Kent to the final departure sometime in the fifth century. The greatest impression though is of how little we actually know of life in Roman Britain and how much of what we know is guesswork based off of a few meager clues and or a few lucky finds.
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Roman Britain or travel memoirs that focus on history.
First Line: If you stand at the end of the modernist concrete pier in the Kentish town of Deal, you can lean into the sea breeze, as fresh to the face as a dousing of cold water, and look back to the shoreline, where coffee-coloured waves crackle against the pebbled beach.
Source: Irving PL
Recommendation: It was the last book I needed for my CAT challenge
Year of Original Pub.: 2013
LC Call #: DA 145 H54 2015
Rating: 4 stars / 5
Under Another Sky is a blend of ancient history and travel memoir, as the author travels around the Island of Britain exploring the lingering traces of Rome that can be found there. From settlements and villas in the south to the wilds of Scotland in the north, there is seems there is nowhere that the Romans did not reach, in spite of the fact that Britannia was one of the most remote outposts of the Roman Empire. In the process, we learn a lot about Roman life in Britain, from the first landings somewhere in Kent to the final departure sometime in the fifth century. The greatest impression though is of how little we actually know of life in Roman Britain and how much of what we know is guesswork based off of a few meager clues and or a few lucky finds.
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Roman Britain or travel memoirs that focus on history.
First Line: If you stand at the end of the modernist concrete pier in the Kentish town of Deal, you can lean into the sea breeze, as fresh to the face as a dousing of cold water, and look back to the shoreline, where coffee-coloured waves crackle against the pebbled beach.
64inge87
December Round-Up!
Books Read: 14 (15 in 2013, 14 in 2014, & 21 in 2015)
Genre
Non-Fiction - 7 - 50%
Fiction - 7 - 50%
Sources
Corsicana PL - 4 - 28.57%
Work - 4 - 28.57%
Me (this month) - 3 - 21.44%
Irving PL - 2 - 14.28%
Me (other) - 1 - 7.14%
TBR and Rereads
TBR books - 0 - 0%
Rereads - 1 - 7.14%
Authors
Male - 7 - 50%
Female - 7 - 50%
Edition Language
English - 14 - 100%
Original Language
English - 14 - 100%
Series
Stand-Alone Books - 10 - 71.43%
Series Books - 4 - 28.57%
Average Original Date of Publication
2003
Median Original Date of Publication
2013
Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 2 - 14.28%
3 stars - 7 - 50%
4 stars - 4 - 28.57%
5 stars - 1 - 7.14%
Average Rating
3.29
Discovery of the Month
Mary, the Second Eve by John Henry Cardinal Newman
First Line of the Month
"Nothing ever happens to me."
—Mary Stewart, My Brother Michael
Best of the Month
Fiction: Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Non-Fiction: Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Books Read: 14 (15 in 2013, 14 in 2014, & 21 in 2015)
Genre
Non-Fiction - 7 - 50%
Fiction - 7 - 50%
Sources
Corsicana PL - 4 - 28.57%
Work - 4 - 28.57%
Me (this month) - 3 - 21.44%
Irving PL - 2 - 14.28%
Me (other) - 1 - 7.14%
TBR and Rereads
TBR books - 0 - 0%
Rereads - 1 - 7.14%
Authors
Male - 7 - 50%
Female - 7 - 50%
Edition Language
English - 14 - 100%
Original Language
English - 14 - 100%
Series
Stand-Alone Books - 10 - 71.43%
Series Books - 4 - 28.57%
Average Original Date of Publication
2003
Median Original Date of Publication
2013
Ratings Distribution
1 star - 0 - 0%
2 stars - 2 - 14.28%
3 stars - 7 - 50%
4 stars - 4 - 28.57%
5 stars - 1 - 7.14%
Average Rating
3.29
Discovery of the Month
Mary, the Second Eve by John Henry Cardinal Newman
First Line of the Month
"Nothing ever happens to me."
—Mary Stewart, My Brother Michael
Best of the Month
Fiction: Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Non-Fiction: Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
65inge87
That's it for 2016, so come an join me on my new thread for more fun in 2017!
inge87's Books of 2017, Part I: A Year of Beauty
inge87's Books of 2017, Part I: A Year of Beauty
