October AlphaKIT: A and V

October AlphaKIT letters are: A and V



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

Good, I've got plenty of both but I'll hold off deciding till I see what the other CATS and KITS are.

Right now I'm planning on Maggie Stiefvater's All the Crooked Saints for A and E.K. Johnston's That Inevitable Victorian Thing for V.

I am planning on Think of a Number by John Verdon and 13 Ways Of Looking At A Fat Girl by Mona Awad.

I'm planning to read Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts that will hit both letters and also fits my mysteries-only AlphaKIT.

If there is time, I'll add The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri another double-hitter.

I usually tend to figure out what else I'm reading and see if anything fits. If it doesn't, I'll see what I've got for A or V!

I will probably read Murder in Grub Street by Bruce Alexander and The Caretaker by A.X. Ahmad. For V I'm thinking of The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan.

I plan to read Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri & Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. I am sure that I will find others in my ROOTs or at the library before the month is over!

I'm going to finally get around to Base Nation by David Vine for my 'V' book, and tackle Smoking Hopes by Victoria N. Alexander for my 'A' book. Book have been waiting for far too long!

I figure V will be the tougher one, so I did look that one up already to see what I might have. I have a few, but more likely ones include:

Victoria's Castles Paul Geoffrey Chamberlain
The Virgin Queen's Daughter / Ella March Chase

For RandomCAT, I may also be reading an A:
All Around the Town / Mary Higgins Clark

Here are my possibles:

✔A Deadly Éclair
✔An Echo of Murder by Anne Perry
✔Asking for Truffle
✔Breakfast in Bed by Rochelle Alers
Doom with a View
Leave it to Cleaver by Victoria Hamilton
Mind over Murder by Allison Kingsley
Murder at Chateau sur Mer by Alyssa Maxwell
✔A Murder for the Books by Victoria Hamilton
✔Murder is no Accident
the forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes
✔The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams
✔Velveteen Rabbit
✔Vineyard Victims

Will most likely read one of the following.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Vicious Circle by C.J. Box
Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Bridging the end of September and the beginning of October, and now COMPLETED, The Last of the Vostyachs by Diego Marani, translated by Judith Landry

I have started The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle and am finding it much funnier than I had expected.

I just quit attempting to read Archangel . Too romanc-y, too religious, definitely outside of my preferred book type.

>11 cyderry: ooh! The Velveteen Rabbit! Love that one, and I didn't even read it as a child. Enjoy!

I am working hard on getting older unread books off my shelves, so I'm going to peruse the titles and authors to find books to fit this month's challenge. :)

I have finished An Awkward Lie.

Starting "Volpone and Other Plays" by Ben Jonson

I changed my mind on my "V" read for the month and have now completed The Girls At the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine. I have also completed my "A" read with 13 Ways of Looking At A Fat Girl by Mona Awad.

Just finished Smoking Hopes by Victoria N. Alexander as my 'A' book. Full review written!

Finished Reading People by Anne Bogel for this challenge.

Starting "Accidental Saints" by Nadia Bolz-Weber

COMPLETED Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Starting The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

I finished The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri hitting both letters and fitting my mysteries-only alphaKIT.

I See Rude People / Amy Alkon
4 stars

There is a long subtitle to this one, which pretty much says it all: “One woman’s battle to beat some manners into impolite society”. The author is a blogger and has an advice column. She is quite outspoken when it comes to people being rude. There are chapters on people talking loudly on their cell phones (one of my pet peeves!), parents who don’t parent, telemarketers, and more.

I really enjoyed this. There was plenty of humour and I applaud her for standing up to some of these people! She goes to extremes in some cases (like with the telemarketers… or hunting down the guy who stole her car, and trying to hunt down whoever stole her identity), but good for her!

I finished Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri & The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett... Still have no V titles though...

COMPLETED The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester.

Starting "Storm in the Village" by Miss Read

I listened to Midnight Riot (Rivers of London/Peter Grant #1; by Ben Aaronovitch; narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) for the "A" part of the challenge (Aaronovitch) - After the bittersweet tone of The Dead Zone (by Stephen King; narrated by James Franco,) I needed something a bit lighter! I don't often re-listen to audiobooks, but this was just what I needed: It's fun, funny, and clever! Peter Grant is a police constable in London who discovers he has some magic skills. As a series of bizarre and extremely violent homicides grip the city, Peter relies on both magic and his limited knowledge of science to figure out what's going on. The production values in this are terrible (mouth noises, booth noises,) bu Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is cast perfectly, so much so that when I tried to read the next book in the series, Moon Over Soho it fell flat without his performance.

November thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/271008

COMPLETED Storm in the Village by Miss Read

I listened to another audiobook, this past week that qualified for this month ("A" for Axat):

Kill the Next One (by Federico Axat; narrated by Maxwell Hamilton) - This is a thriller about a serial killer and one of the most original and interesting stories I've read in a long time. I actually can not divulge more without risking spoiling the plot, but I will say that the first two sections ("cycles") may mess with your mind a little bit until the second half of the novel settles things down to manageable proportions. Maxwell Hamilton is a new-to-me audiobook narrator, and while I appreciate his clarity, he sounds too young and too "bright" for the material. So, strong four stars for the writing, and I will be generous with three stars for the narration.

Just to make sure that I got a V title in, I read A Very Private Grave. I am surprised by how many A books I have in my TBR! About to start Adam Bede in audiobook & Atonement in print.

I've started going through my audible backlog, and picked this one as it fits this month's ALPHAkit letter, "A." It was originally recommended by The GuildedEarlobe, who gave it an "A" rating on his WordPress blog, and though he loved kit more than I did, I still strongly recommend it:

American War: A Novel (by Omar El Akkad; narrated by Dion Graham) - Against a backdrop of extreme climate change and triggered by a fossil fuel ban & the assassination of a president, the US is launched into a second civil war. One family's daughter in the Red country becomes radicalized, and her actions change the course of history... In this thought-provoking near-future dystopia, Dion Graham lends a great performance, creating a varied and authentic cast of characters. Four strong stars all around. (★★★★)

Well, as happens from time to time, my plans went a bit awry and instead starting Atonement, I am reading Somerset Maugham's spy thriller Ashenden instead.

Not My Father's Son / Alan Cumming
4 stars

Actor Alan Cumming was abused by his father while growing up. As an adult, there is a mystery surrounding his maternal grandfather that he and his mother are just learning about, as well. His memoir tells about both, going back and forth in time.

I actually haven’t seen him in very many movies (or tv), but the most memorable for me was “Circle of Friends” as “creepy” Sean Walsh, so anytime I’ve heard his name in the past or have seen him, my first thought is always oh, it’s “creepy Sean Walsh”! Which is unfortunate.

I thought this memoir was very well done, though. I think (at least based on the book), I might actually like “creepy Sean Walsh” (or, at least, the actor who played him)! He manages to insert some humour into his memoir, as well, despite the horrible things he went through as a child. I found his own story more interesting than his grandfather’s. I listened to the audio, which he narrated himself, and really enjoyed it. He has a beautiful voice and I love the Scottish accent!

Just finished The Blind Assasin by Margaret Atwood for Assassin and Atwood.

I read The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone

Incredible. I've read four books this month, am on #5, and NONE have either an A or V!

I'll have to find something on the shelves that will meet the challenge, before next week.

>38 fuzzi: V is a little trickier, but funny nothing with an A for you yet!

>39 LibraryCin: I've been working on my ROOT books, concentrating on them more than the AlphaKIT...

Victoria's Castles / Paul G. Chamberlain
3.5 stars

This is a short book describing the castles in Victoria, B.C. It describes the architecture, as well as the history of the castles and the people who lived there.

I bought this book as a souvenir the first time I visited Victoria and have finally gotten around to reading it. I saw two castles while I was there (Craigdarroch Castle and Hatley Castle) and apparently there is one more still standing. I enjoyed the book, particularly the histories of the people who lived in them - some politicians, some businessmen. The book was short, and of course, included photos of the castles.

>40 fuzzi: Oh, it's just that A is a much more common letter, so I'm surprised nothing has come up for you, by chance!

>40 fuzzi: I use the AlphaKIT to decide which ROOTs to read! Or at least that is my general plan though it doesn't always work out that way...

I have finished Adam Bede & Ashenden and am working my way through A Voyage to Arcturus.

I have snuck in a reread of Artists in Crime…

>48 leslie.98: I enjoyed the Roderick Allen books a lot.

>43 leslie.98: I do that, too, frequently, but this month I went on a Christian book binge, all ROOTs, but none that matched the AlphaKIT.

>47 fuzzi: Ah, well. As long as you enjoy your books, that is all that matters.

>46 majkia: Me too - I am slowly revisiting them and finding I like them just as much this time around.

I have finished A Voyage to Arcturus. Now reading (finally!) Atonement…

I kinda went nuts and got sucked up into The Dagger and the Coin series by Daniel Abraham. Just finished the last in the series. Wow.

>48 leslie.98: that's the important thing!

Though I could probably get away with listing A Gentleman in Moscow (by Amor Towles) for the title and author's first name alone, the reason I really wanted to include it this month is that every single chapter title in the book starts with the letter "A"! There are lots of clever bits like this, allegories, insights, and engrossing historical fiction throughout the novel (look for the number "3" in all its permutations) that make this a highly engaging story :-)

A Gentleman in Moscow (by Amor Towles; narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith) - This is the story of a Russian Count who ends up under house arrest at the Hotel Metropol Moscow for thirty-two years. More than half of the novel seems a bit slow, even maddeningly digressive at times even though the nostalgia-tinged stories are entertaining, but the last third to a quarter of the plot gels, and all I can say is, "Wow." I loved this story and after finishing, I was left with a bit of book "afterglow." I listened to the audiobook edition, but if I were to re-read this, I would go with the print. Nicholas Guy Smith is a British narrator and one who sometimes adds an "r" to the ends of words that end with vowels, and I would have liked a more Russian flavour to the audio as well as a better facility with the foreign phrases as they appeared in the book. Five stars for the book, (★★★★★), (★★-1/2) for the audiobook narrator.

I know what you mean by book "afterglow", but I never have heard it described so well!

Got one! It was sitting there on my TBR shelf:

James Herriot's Animal Stories

A delightful collection of stories previously published in the author's other books, but lovingly illustrated with watercolors. Worth reading and keeping, even if you have already read them before.

Finally finished Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut for my V read. I was starting to think I'd never actually get it finished in October.

On the spur of the moment, I got the audiobook of Arabella from Hoopla -- I have read my print edition many times but thought it might be relaxing to listen to it. Ended up not being able to tear myself away and listened to it all day long...

I finished Base Nation by David Vine today, and although I don't normally post reviews on the alpha-cat threads, I'm going to go ahead and post it here because I feel like the book is that important, and deserves some notice.

Full Review:

This is an impressive book, and although Vine's perspective is clear, there's also a careful and constant effort to show the issues objectively and with an eye to what needs to be considered when talking about closing or expanding bases, changing policy, or maintaining the status quo.

First, it's important to note that the research isn't just extensive, but presented clearly and without bias; Vine is open about the things which can't be known for sure, and about the biases felt on various sides of the issue. Where interviews are presented, there's an effort to read between the lines while being true to the nature of each interviewee's response, and attention paid to context and background. Importantly, there are interviews with military officials, American and foreign officials/politicians, average military men and women, and also non-military citizens of foreign countries who live around and work in American bases. At all moments, Vine goes out of his way to show multiple sides of a particular corner of the debate about American bases, and although the statistics and titles are sometimes overwhelming as a reader attempts to take them in (because the numbers and stats are, truly, astounding), everything is presented in such a way that a reader feels as if they're being shown the facts and offered a choice, rather than told what to think.

In truth, the greatest failing of the book may be its title, which gives the impression that the book is far more biased and argumentative than it actually is.

For me, many moments in the book were gut-wrenching, to where I literally felt sick to my stomach--and I'm not sure I can say that this happened to such an extent for any book I've read in the past. Much as I've read about history and politics, and despite the fact that have a graduate degree, much of the history surrounding American bases was new to me, and Vine presents the history in such a plain and straightforward fashion that I had a hard time not being horrified, over and over again. Certainly, other readers won't find as much to surprise them. My husband, who was a history major, was rarely even surprised by some of the things I felt a need to repeat to him; yet, I feel fairly sure that a lot of Americans know about what I did about this issue and the debate surrounding American bases, if not less. Personally, I wish every American would read this book; I'm sure not everyone would come out on the same side of the issue, which is a testament to Vine's careful work here, but the book has such import that it's hard to believe it hasn't gotten more attention, so far as I'm concerned.

If you have an interest in America's bases and/or well-being, or in America's foreign policy or domestic progress, I have to think that you'd find the book worth reading. Obviously, I absolutely recommend it.

I forgot to report The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle, which I am counting for V. I didn't get an A that month. I'll update the wiki if it ever comes back. :-(