AlphaKIT for February: W and H

February AlphaKIT letters are:


Please remember to update the wiki: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2017_Unofficial_AlphaKIT#February

Definitely will be reading Three Wishes as that is also my pick for the CATWomen topic as well. Most likely will be reading Hidden Figures as well.

I'll be reading a Georgette Heyer and an Edith Wharton; just haven't chosen the exact titles yet.

I know that my W book will be Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, but my G read will be a book that I pull from the shelf when I am ready to read a book by a G author - looking forward to the surprise.

>4 DeltaQueen50: Well, you do get a surprise...February is the H month, not G!

I would like to read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. I've had the Hawley book on request from Overdrive for about 6 weeks but hopefully I'll get my turn in time. The Colson book is a TBR.

I seem to have lots of W options, based on what I might read for the CATs:
When Everything Feels Like the Movies / Raziel Reid
Watermelon / Marian Keyes

and a couple options for CultureCAT, though I'm leaning toward a different one for CultureCAT, which also fits H:
Miracle Cure / Harlan Coben

My online bookclub's choice for February is Rubicon by Tom Holland. I've quite a few W's but I won't make up my mind till I see what some of the other CATs and KITs have in store.

>5 clue: LOL! I guess I better move my eyes down to the H shelf!

I just chose His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for the February RandomCAT; that ended up being a good choice!

I'm planning on reading Faithful by Alice Hoffman as my 'H' book and When Germs Travel for my W book; we'll see if I have time for more!

I plan on reading Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

I might try reading White Teeth as that works for the CATWoman as well.

Here are my possibilities:

Broken Harbour
✔Chapter and Hearse
✔Crepes of Wrath
Dagger Before Me by Heather Haven
✔ForWhom the Bread Rolls
✔Grilling the Subject by Daryl Wood Gerber
Herbert Hoover in the White House
✔High-End Finish
Malice Prepense: For the Defense by Kate Wilhelm
✔Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
✔Murder Wears White
✔The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Triple Witch
Wedding Soup Murder: An Italian Kitchen Mystery
✔ Whodunnit? Murder in Mystery Manor

So far I'm hoping to get to:

Hidden Empire Kevn J. Anderson
Where Shadows Dance - C.S. Harris

and

The Witches of Lychford - Paul Cornell
Sorcerer's Legacy - Janny Wurts

and one that fits both: Waking the Moon - Elizabeth Hand

I've got a few books on deck for this month. H = Penhallow by Georgette Heyer, The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers. W = Demelza by Winston Graham, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

I'm planning The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison that hits both letters.

I am planning to read When Winter Returns by Kathryn Miller Haines. It has both a W and H, plus is the fourth and final book in the Rosie Winter Mysteries so is perfect for my series reading personal challenge for this year.

>15 christina_reads: I've got Demelza on my February list, too. It's hard not to dive in immediately after finishing Ross Poldark!

First up for me: When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord

I usually keep two books going and I'm down to one so today I"ll start the February plan with The Orphan Mother by Robert Hicks.

I'm planning to read Axis by Robert Charles Wilson

I completed When We Were Animals a wee bit early but still counting it, heh. On to The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith.

I finished my January reading plan early and started on February a few days ago. I've been under the weather so read more than usual and finished two H books, The Orphan Mother by Robert Hicks and Chocolat by Joanne Harris.

Starting "Alexander at the World's End" by Tom Holt

I finished The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith for my first H this month.

I'm almost finished with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I read this book years ago, but had never read the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia series. I recently discovered there are audiobooks of the series narrated by some favorite actors/narrators of mine: Kenneth Branagh, Lynn Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Northam. I started a marathon of them last week. I loved the first one The Magician's Nephew.

I listened to a true crime book on audio, Homicidal. When I picked this up several years ago, I thought it was a mystery/thriller so it was a surprise to me it being true crime!

I completed The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. Humphreys has written a vignette for each time the Thames has frozen over. I loved it.

COMPLETED Alexander At The World's End by Tom Holt

Completed Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris, 6th in the Sebastian St Cyr series. Best so far I think.

Finished Dust by Hugh Howey.

I just finished a reread of Demelza by Winston Graham:

In this, the second novel in the Poldark series, the author has created real people and real situations, which draw you in and won't release you until the last page. I find myself caring for these fictional characters, wanting to reach through the cover to touch them.

Set in Cornwall in the late 1700's, the descriptions of the countryside and dwellings ring true, yet do not bog down the story, but complement it. Highly recommended.

The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle / Christopher Healy
3.75 stars

This is the second book in the “Prince of Leagues” series, where four “Princes Charming” have joined up to be heroes: Prince Gustav (paired with healer Rapunzel), Prince Liam (Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty), Prince Duncan (Snow White) and Prince Frederic (Cinderella/Ella). In this installment, Liam doesn’t want to marry Briar Rose, but she kidnaps him to force him into the marriage. On hearing this, the other princes (and Ella) join to stop the wedding! From there, they all end up on another adventure.

I listened to the audio (again) and Bronson Pinchot is truly amazing! So many different voices for so many different characters! The story itself I’m giving a “good” (3.5 stars) and I’m adding in an extra .25 for the audio. Despite Pinchot’s performance, I did lose focus occasionally, and I am assuming it was the story, not the performance. I did find the story picked up once the princes were together again (there was some intro where they were separate at the start of the book). Overall, though, it was still a lot of fun! I love Duncan and Snow! So funny! Well, it could be the voices Pinchot brings to them that I love… but it’s not just that! But, it helps. I also thought Briar Rose made a really good villain. I did find some of the voices were probably done more for children (the giants, trolls, and more), so I wasn’t as excited about those.

Miracle Cure / Harlan Coben
3.5 stars

Sara is a reporter. She is married to pro-basketball player Michael. Her father is a doctor, researching cancer. Friends of Sara and Michael’s are researching AIDS and, though this has been kept a secret, they think they’ve found a cure. But, some of the cured patients are turning up tortured and murdered! One of the head doctors has committed suicide (though the reader knows at the start that he was also murdered), and there are financial and political concerns for the AIDS clinic.

This was good. This is one of Coben’s earlier novels and my edition has a brief introduction by the author that he realizes it is dated, but he still likes the book. It is dated. It’s early in the fight against AIDS and gay men are more openly mocked. But, it’s still a good story. Not as good as his later books, but still good. At the start, I had a bit of a hard time figuring out some of the characters and where each fit in. But, I think I had who was who figured out by the end. I was surprised at the ending, which almost brought it up to 4 stars, but not quite.

Finished Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer.

The Go Review That Book group sent me to read 20th Century Ghosts, which had been lingering on my TBR for ages, and I'm so glad it did! And, of course, it's authored by Joe Hill, so it happens to fit in with the alphabet challenge this month also :)

(And for any of you working your way through your TBR, check out the Go Review That Book group at http://www.librarything.com/groups/goreviewthatbook )

I forgot that the other book I finished on Saturday also fits:

The Reluctant Sorcerer by Simon Hawke.

I finished Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. And while perusing my audiobook library for something to listen to in the car, I saw The Winds of War by Herman Wouk which I bought last summer - that hits both letters :)

I finished Her Highness' First Murder by Peg Herring this morning.

Finished Faithful by Alice Hoffman. It didn't quite live up to her earlier works for me, but I still really enjoyed it :)

I finished The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis. 3rd book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Not as fun as the prior two, but still an enjoyable read

I enjoyed Compton MacKenzie's Whisky Galore…

I'm reading On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins, and I'm enjoying it a lot! Higgins is probably my favorite author of contemporary romance.

I've finished Hidden Figures and Parnassus on Wheels both of which were quite good.

I finished: The Hogwarts Collection which includes: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Short Stories from Hogwarts: Of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists, and Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide

From Pottermore Presents, these are not so much short stories as biographies and vignettes about people, places and things in the world of Harry Potter. I particularly liked the information about Professor McGonnagall and the history of the Hogwarts Express and track nine and three quarters. Very, very quick reading.

I changed my mind and read Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers. It was amazing!

Also read Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty for a W book.

I started When Christ and His Saints Slept, and will be working on it for the next week, I imagine.

As always with Sharon Kay Penman, it's good from the start!

March AlphaKIT thread is up! http://www.librarything.com/topic/249043

I read Gone by Mo Hayder .

I finished another Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water.

Starting Justinian's Flea by William Rosen

I have completed The Bells of Burracombe by Lilian Harry. Should have The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead finished in a couple of days,

My W read for the February AlphaKit was Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward.

The Nightingale / Kristin Hannah
4.5 stars

Vianne and Isabelle are sisters, but are not close. Vianne is married and has a daughter and lives in rural France, while Isabelle prefers Paris. Vianne’s husband goes to fight in World War II, and Isabelle goes to live with Vianne. The sisters are opposites. Vianne wants to not rock the boat and just wait for Antoine to come home. Isabelle is furious and wants to help stop the Germans, so she gets involved with some underground resistance. In fact, Isabelle is very involved and it is very dangerous. Meanwhile, Vianne’s home is “confiscated” by the Germans when the town is invaded and a German soldier stays with them. This is dangerous for everyone…

The book goes back and forth between 1995 and 1939-1945. I think I’ve only read one other book (that comes to mind, anyway) that is set in France during the war (Sarah’s Key), so between the two books, I am learning more of what happened in occupied France. At first, I found Isabelle’s story more intriguing (we also went back and forth between what was happening with each sister), but as time went on, things were happening on both ends. Despite the length of the book, it was a fast read for me. Very, very well done and very interesting and heartbreaking, at times.

I finally got one that fits, The Nix by Nathan Hill. 2016, debut novel, part of 2017 ToB.

Until I Say Goodbye: My Year of Living With Joy / Susan Spencer-Wendel
3.5 stars

The author was in her 40s when she was diagnosed with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease). ALS eats away at muscles until a person can no longer walk, talk, or do pretty much anything for themselves. There is no cure and it is terminal. She was married and had three children. She quit her job as a court reporter, and spent time with her friends and family doing something she loved: travelling. In that time, she also met her biological mother (she was adopted) and found out her biological father had already died, but she went to Greece to meet his family, as well. She simply wanted to enjoy the time she had while she could still do things.

Susan had a great attitude and plenty of determination, as she wrote much of this book on her iPad, hunting and pecking the letters with one thumb. The book wasn’t nearly as sad as I thought it might be, but I’m sure that was due to her attitude. Of course, there were a few times where I teared up, anyway. I did know someone with ALS, though I hadn’t been in contact with her for a few years. I heard that she was also very positive and tried to enjoy life as much as she could for as long as she could, so I imagine she had a similar attitude to Susan. For anyone who likes inspirational stories, this is definitely it.

COMPLETED Justinian's Flea by William Rosen

Read Bleak House by Charles Dickens and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Finished The Essential Rebecca West: Uncollected Prose by Rebecca West.

I read Hunting the Eagles by Ben Kane and the Tying of Threads: A Woody Creek Novel for my H and W. the Woody Creek book is the 6th and final book in this Australian series and I am going to miss reading about them.

Finished When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics that have Invaded America and the Fears they have Unleashed; this was a fascinating book honestly, and as much about immigration (and fact vs. myth) as it was about disease. If you're looking for a read for the Culturecat next month... In any case, full review written, and I'm adding it to the wiki now...

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think / Brian Wansink.
3.5 stars

This book explains why so many of us eat mindlessly, without thinking about how much we are eating, resulting in weight gain. Portion sizes are a big one, including packaging and plate size. But, there are plenty more reasons than that. The author describes plenty of studies that explain this and includes tips on how to cut back.

I thought this was very interesting, though much of it makes sense when you think about it. The nice part of this book is that he has the studies to prove these things. I would love to be able to do some of the things he suggests. I actually wish I owned the book, so I could refer back to it later. I didn’t even go into the book looking for ways to lose weight, just to read some interesting information! I listened to the audio, read by the author, and he did a fine job.

I listened to the audiobook of The Winds of War by Herman Wouk and loved it so much I plunged right into the sequel War and Remembrance. Wouk is an amazing writer as he took a topic I am not much interested in (WW2 & military strategy) and made me race through almost 2000 pages in a few weeks!

Finished The Mother's Recompense by Edith Wharton, which also fits this month's RandomCat. Loved it.

Watermelon / Marian Keyes
3.5 stars

The day Claire has her first baby, her husband James tells her he’s been having an affair and he is leaving Claire. Devastated, Claire moves back to Dublin from London to live with her parents and two younger sisters while she tries to figure out where to go from here. Her youngest sister, Helen, is in college and one day brings home a friend, Adam.

Have to admit, I didn’t like Claire all that much, but there were humourous bits to the story and it was still enjoyable, overall. Actually, I’m not sure there were any characters I really liked much. Maybe Adam. Close to the end, it was a bit… odd and took some figuring out (as Claire was also figuring it out!). I did enjoy the book enough to put the next Walsh family book on my tbr.

I finished The Blackbirder by Dorothy B. Hughes and started Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, so I'm going to get all H's but no W's this month.

No, I take that back. I forgot I got a W early on!

No W's, but I did get two H's this month:

His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A Shocking Assassination, by Cora Harrison

I finished Haunted Tree last night. The title is misleading, but I did enjoy it :)

I finished Howards End yesterday - very good!

I finished Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton on Monday; that's 3 H's and no W's for February.