Hope's 2019 Reading

This is where I will outline and post my personal reading challenge. I will keep the stakes low in 2019, since 2018 was not the year for high-stakes reading, and 2019 isn't going to start out that way, either.

Will come back and edit this, as well as add my categories and challenges underneath

How to force a touchstone:
Left square bracket + title + comma + author last name + right square bracket will usually get you close to the correct (if not correct) touchstone.

The Library, Stewart = The Library, Stewart

If it still isn't the correct touchstone you can look to the right of the "add a message" box where the touchstones display, click (Others), scroll for the correct touchstone, click the link, and ta-da...correct touchstone.

Last way to get correct touchstone: left square bracket + work number + colon + colon + title + right square bracket.

The Library = The Library

To Make a Checkmark

= & # 1 0 0 0 4

To Make a Star

= & # 9 7 3 3

Other helpful "how-to's"

http://www.librarything.com/topic/59470#

To insert a cover or other image:

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2017 Reading Pyramid

https://www.librarything.com/topic/244325

2018 Readings

https://www.librarything.com/topic/279502

2019 Reading Pyramid

1 - Home on the Range – Western
3 - What Did You Learn in School Today? - Nonfiction
5 - Here We Go Again - Rereads
7 - The Way We Were - Historical Fiction
9 - Always on My Mind – Literary Fiction &/or Classics
11 - Rhymes and Reasons - Short Stories, poetry, coffee table books, gift books
13 - What's Love Got to Do with It? - Historical Romance
15 - I Wanna Learn a Love Song - Contemporary Romance
17 - Wanted: Dead or Alive - Mystery/Crime
19 - Let Time Go Lightly - Picture Books

Part of the Plan - Bonus Categories:

Freeze Frame - Graphic novel
It was a Very Good Year – Year I was born/decades
Teenage Wasteland – YA books
Who Are You When I'm Not Looking? - Biography, Memoirs
Imagine – SF/Fantasy
Bohemian Rhapsody – Misfits and Extras

Books by Rating

Add to the TBR

Darth Heather Expanding Your Horizons Challenge

Pick A Winner - So Happy Together

1 - Home on the Range – Western

1. Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages

3 - What Did You Learn in School Today? - Nonfiction

1. The Curated Wardrobe by Rachel Nachmias - ★ ★ ★ - 68 pages

2. I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan - ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 161 pages

3. Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 352 pages

5 - Here We Go Again - Rereads

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

7 - The Way We Were - Historical Fiction

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

9 - Always on My Mind – Literary Fiction &/or Classics

1. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver - ★ ★ ★ 1/2

2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 227 pages

3. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages

4. The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 151 pages

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

11 - Rhymes and Reasons - Short Stories, poetry, coffee table books, gift books

1. Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook by Joanna Farrow - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

2. Trivia for the Toilet by Gavin Webster

3. My Heart by Corinna Luyken - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

4. When Sadness Is at Your Door by Eva Eland - ★ ★ ★ ★

5. for all the small schools by Barb and Dave Else - ★ ★ ★ - 272 pages

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

13 - What's Love Got to Do with It? - Historical Romance

1. Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh - ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 413 pages

2. Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean -★ ★ ★ ★ - 385 pages

3. Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages

4. How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe - ★ ★ ★ - 443 pages

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

15 - I Wanna Learn a Love Song - Contemporary Romance

1. Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 281 pages

2. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 527 pages

3. I Want You Back by Lorelei James - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages

4. The Wrong Man by Natasha Anders - ★ ★ ★ - 336 pages

5. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 317 pages

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

17 - Wanted: Dead or Alive - Mystery/Crime

1. Jane Doe: A Novel by Victoria Helen Stone - 267 pages

2. Dark Coulee: a Claire Watkins Mystery by Mary Logue - 231 pages

3. False Step by Victoria Helen Stone - 279 pages

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

19 - Let Time Go Lightly - Picture Books

1. That's Not My Puppy . . . Its Coat Is Too Hairy by Fiona Watt - Board Book

2. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

3. Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-flap Board Book by Rod Campbell

4. Hand Hand Fingers Thumb by Al Perkins

5. Baby Touch and Feel: Animals by DK

6. Pigs in a Blanket by Hans Wilhelm

7. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow

8. Little Red Barn by Ginger Swift

9. Easter Surprise by Roger Priddy

10. Hello, Cy! by Amy Delashmutt

11. Merry Christmas, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff

12. Piggy Paints Jim Benton

13. Good Night, Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

14. The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith

15. Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

16. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.

17. Baby Beluga by Raffi

18. Disney Mickey and Friends: Scaredy-Mouse by Courtney Acampora

19. You Are My Sunshine

Part of the Plan - Bonus Categories:

Freeze Frame - Graphic novel
It was a Very Good Year – Year I was born/decades
Teenage Wasteland – YA books
Who Are You When I'm Not Looking? - Biography, Memoirs
Imagine – SF/Fantasy
Bohemian Rhapsody – Misfits and Extras

Pick a Winner - So Happy Together

So Happy Together: Hope Gets To Know Someone New:

1. English Creek by Ivan Doig
2. Dark Coulee by Mary Logue = ✔
3. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
4. News of the World by Paulette Jiles
5. Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh = ✔
6. The Shift by Theresa Brown
7. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
8. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan = ✔
9. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang = ✔
10. The Lake House by Kate Morton

Books by Rating

5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4 ½ ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook by Joanna Farrow
Jane Doe: A Novel by Victoria Helen Stone - 267 pages
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 227 pages
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages
Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages

4 ★ ★ ★ ★

Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry - 281 pages
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 527 pages
I Want You Back by Lorelei James - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages
Dark Coulee: a Claire Watkins Mystery by Mary Logue - 231 pages
Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 352 pages
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean -★ ★ ★ ★ - 385 pages
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 317 pages
Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages
The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech - ★ ★ ★ ★ - 151 pages

3 ½ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver - ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh - ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 413 pages
I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan - ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 161 pages
False Step by Victoria Helen Stone - ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 279 pages

3 ★ ★ ★
Trivia for the Toilet by Gavin Webster
The Curated Wardrobe by Rachel Nachmias - ★ ★ ★ - 68 pages
The Wrong Man by Natasha Anders - ★ ★ ★ - 336 pages
for all the small schools by Barb and Dave Else - ★ ★ ★ - 272 pages
How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe - ★ ★ ★ - 443 pages

2 ★ ★

1 ★

Did Not Finish

Add to the TBR

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
Insight by Tasha Eurich
Missoula by Krakauer
The Child by Fiona Burton
Gone without a trace by Mary Torjussen
A Life Intercepted by Charles Martin
Deadliest Sea by Thompson
Abandon All Hope by Schiller
Losing It by Carmack
Terms of Surrender by Janet Dailey
Killer of the Flower Moon
Sisterhood Everlasting - Anne Brashares
Finding Rebecca
Dennis LeHane - title?
What the dead leave behind
Then she was gine by Lisa Jewell
A Prayer Before Dawn by Billy Moore
Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart by Scott Eyman.
*Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman
The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
The Great Typo Hunt / Jeff Deck, Benjamin D. Henson
*Mary Oliver poems
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
The Five Families by Raab
To sleep with ? By Cowan
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library - Halpern
The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark by Meryl Gordon
Lies of the Heart - Michelle Boyajian
Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova
In a Dark, Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
To Sleep With the Angels: The Story of a Fire - David Cowan, John Kuenster
The Downstairs Girl by Lee
*Furious Hours (Harper Lee and the trial inspiring TKM)
Simply Dead by Kuhns
The Murmer of Bees
John Grisham
Edgar Sawtell
Words of Silk by Sandra Brown
Border Bride by Arnette Lamb
Waiting for Deliverance
Fortune is a Woman - Adler
The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo
Song for the Missing - Stewart O'Nan
Women Talking - Toews
The Winter Men - Kold
*A Killer's Mind - Mike Omer
A Prayer for Travelers
Drive your plow over the bones
She's leaving home
Playing House - Lang
Dead Zone - Stephen King
Highway of Tears - Macdarmuid?

Hope's Best Attempts at Expanding her Horizons in 2019:

A book with more than 1000 pages
A book with less than 100 pages
A book with a number in the title
A book with a one-word title
A book with a color in the title
A book with an antonym in the title
A book that became a movie or play
A book based on/made into a tv show
A book published this year
A book published the year you were born
A book more than 100 years old
A book with more than one author
An author’s first book
A book by a new author
A new book from a favorite author
A book by an author with your initials
A banned book
An award-winning book
A nonfiction book
A book based on a real person
A romance
A humourous book
A mystery or thriller
A book that begins a series
A book that ends a series
A graphic novel or pictorial
A book of short stories
A book set in Africa
A book set in Arctic/Antarctic
A book set in Asia
A book set in Australia
A book set in Europe
A book set in North America
A book set in South America
A book involving a sea voyage
A book set in the future
A book set in the past
A book with nonhuman characters
A book involving books
A book with a love triangle
A book with magic
A book that scares you
A book recommended by a friend
A book assigned in grade school
A book you’ve read before
A book that made you cry
A book borrowed or received as a gift
A book you started but never finished
A book at the bottom of your TBR
A book that got bad reviews

Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook by Joanna Farrow
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

It is wonderful to have a friend who really gets you - and my friend Linda really gets me! She gave me this book as a Christmas present, and I love it! I may never make anything from it - although Cassandra looks very easy - but I love the concept and the cleverness used in naming the recipes. One section, featuring a Dalek, is called "Eggs-Stir-Mix-Bake" - say it real fast . . .

I appreciate the fact that the early Doctors were not forgotten, and neither was Doctor 9, who is frequently overlooked. I took off 1/2 a star because so many of the recipes require advanced cake decorating skills. I'll probably never try those, but they are fun to look at!

Jane Doe: A Novel by Victoria Helen Stone
267 pages - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

Stone (romance author Victoria Dahl's name she uses for darker psychological suspense) did it again - an original, dark novel - this time about revenge. Jane is a sociopath. She takes leave from her job as a lawyer, and settles in at a data entry job in Minneapolis so that she can scope out the man she holds responsible for Meg's death. Meg was her college roommate and the only person she really cared about in life. While at this job, the meek, mild, deferential Jane attracts the attention of manager Steven Hepworth. But the real Jane is lurking underneath, waiting for the opportunity to destroy him.

Excellent - drew me in right away. Jane is a memorable character and this is an excellent story.

>17 Hope_H: Love it! Just finished staring at the wall saying "Eggs-Stir-Mix-Bake" and just about dropped my laptop I was laughing so hard!

>19 threadnsong: I know - right! One of my 8th graders said he has the cookbook and his mom made Cassandra pizza. Love it!

Suddenly You by Sarah Mayberry
★ ★ ★ ★ - 281 pages

A cute contemporary romance. Pippa White, single mom to baby Alice, is broke, and the last thing she needs is her car to break down on the freeway. Her ex's best friend (Harry Porter) spots her and comes to her rescue. When he finds out how her ex Steve has been treating her, he steps in, trying to get Steve to step up and provide for Alice. Harry starts stopping by Pippa's crappy rental house to make repairs, which leads to a relationship between Harry and Pippa.

This was a really good romance - believable plot and characters.

Trivia for the Toilet by Gavin Webster
★ ★ ★

Hmm - interesting trivia, but there is no structure to the book - just trivia facts on each page. There's not theme or over-arching organization to the book or to the facts. It serves its purpose.

The Curated Wardrobe by Rachel Nachmias
★ ★ ★ - 68 pages

Another "Hmmm." I bought it on kindle after it kept showing up as a Facebook ad. A lot of examples of Nachmias's clients. Not a lot of new information on curating a closet, but there were some interesting tips.

I bought this because I've been slumming it in the wardrobe department for the past few years and need a boost. I also need to dress for the body I have - not the one I wish I had.

>23 Hope_H: So, were you successful in the dress department? Wish designers would make dresses for real women's bodies, not those of the tall and skinny model-types.

>24 threadnsong:. I used to be one of those tall skinny people! Now I'm tall with broad shoulders and waist and hips to match! I did get rid of a lot of things so I can see what I have that will work, so I'm calling that a win!

>25 Hope_H: Congrats on at least culling out what you don't need and making room for the new.

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 480 pages

Hmmm - I'm not sure if this is my fault or the fault of the book. It took me five months to read this. I think because nothing really grabbed me, i just didn't make it a priority to pick up and read.

Unemployed journalist Willa and her professor husband move into a family home left for them by Willa's recently deceased mother. The house is falling apart, as is Willa's family. Her son's significant other has committed suicide, leaving Zeke and his son Aldus to retreat to Willa's home. Her daughter Tig has recently returned from Cuba with a broken heart. Willa spends her time researching someone she thought may have lived in her house - scientist Mary Treat.

Treat and her neighbor Thatcher Greenwood, living in Willa's neighborhood 140 years prior, find solace in each other's company. Greenwood's house is falling down on him, his socialite wife, her mother and her sister. He teaches at the Vineland school, but science is not valued, and he is challenged in his support of Darwin.

A good read - thoughtful - but not up to Kingsolver's usual standard.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 227 pages

Teenager Cadence Sinclair Eastwood spends her summers on her grandfather's private island off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. We start the story in the Summer 17, but most of the action goes back to Cadence's 15th summer. She suffered a tragedy, but can't remember anything about it. She tries, with the help of her cousins and her cousin's friend Gat.

What she knows is there are rules to being a Sinclair. Her grandfather pits his three daughters against each other and discourages Cady's growing relationship with Gat. What she doesn't know is how being a Sinclair caused her accident.

Good story - I wasn't prepared for the last section where Cady remembers what happened. I usually don't like stories set in the elite world of private schools and old money, but this one was good.

Read as a buddy read with Joscelyn.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
★ ★ ★ ★ - 527 pages

Rachel Chu, an economist at NYU, agrees to go with her boyfriend Nick Young, an NYU history prof, to Singapore for his best friend's wedding. Nick grew up in Singapore and his family is there. What he hasn't mentioned to Rachel is just how rich his family is, how old the family money is, and that he is one of the most sought after men in Asia.

I read this for my "Pick a Winner - Make a Friend" April challenge. I liked it - but I got very tired of the shallow character of most of the players. My favorite character was Astrid, Nick's cousin, followed by Peik Lin, Nick, and Rachel. There are two sequels, so I'll read those eventually.

>27 Hope_H: I guess I'm not sure what I think about Kingsolver. The Poisonwood Bible was so great but I haven't found any of her others to measure up. I kind of liked The Bean Trees and Animal Dreams. Maybe it is the settings that grab me more than the stories.

>30 Darth-Heather: Did reply to this already? I had reply in my head . . . but I don't think I replied on the site!

I loved The Poisonwood Bible. I also really liked Prodigal Summer. I liked The Bean Trees. I think I've read one more, but I'm not sure - it was pre-Shelfari, apparently, and tracking my reading. Unsheltered definitely did not measure up to The Poisonwood Bible, but I'm not sure anything will.

I Want You Back by Lorelei James
★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages

Jaxen Lund, retired hockey player and bad boy, has returned to Minneapolis. He's trying to decide if there is a place for him in Lund Industries, and he's trying to show his ex, Lucy, that he has changed.

A good addition to the Lund Collective.

Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh
★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 413 pages

Camille is featured in this second novel in Balogh's "Westcott" series. Raised as an earl's daughter, she turns her back on her family when her parents' marriage was declared invalid. She is quite prickly, but after the initial shock wears off, she applies to teach in the orphanage where her half-sister Anna Snow was reared and taught. She also meets Anna's friend Joel. Camille's journey of self-discovery and independence is a believable one. Joel's journey is a little far-fetched, but an interesting one, none-the-less.

The Wrong Man by Natasha Anders
★ ★ ★ - 336 pages

Lia McGregor, the middle sister, falls for bad boy Sam Brand.

I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan
★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 161 pages

A very quick read. Sheridan has collected humorous vignettes from her own experiences as a librarian and others from online about the trials and tribulations of working in a public library. Most of the stories are funny, a few are touching, and a few are "ewww."

>35 Hope_H: This reminds me of a book I read years ago and enjoyed-
Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Dan Borchet

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages

Nikki, a daughter of Indian immigrants, distances herself from the Sikh community. When she dropped out of law school, her father was very disappointed, and when he passed away, Nikki thought he was still angry with her. Nikki needs to supplement her income, as her bartending job may be endangered. She takes a job teaching creative writing in a Punjabi community center. The women who show up there are widows and thought they were going to learn to read English. Instead, they find a book of erotic short stories and start revealing their own fantasies and desires. As more women are drawn to the class, their stories start to spread to others, including the "Brothers," a group who want to keep women repressed, and Nikki is drawn into a young wife's tragedy.

Read for my face-to-face book group (although late as usual,) I really like this novel. It gave great insight into the Punjabi community, highlighting many of the cultural obstacles the widows dealt with.

Dark Coulee: a Claire Watkins Mystery by Mary Logue
★ ★ ★ ★ - 231 pages

Second book in the series. Read for "Pick a Winner" Challenge.

Claire Watkins has been promoted to Investigator in her county's sheriff's department. She is still processing the events from the first novel, in which she learned that her husband's death had been a "hit," and that her former partner in the Minneapolis police force was dirty. When her neighbor/boyfriend Rich invites her to a street dance, she accepts and is looking forward to an evening off duty. She's back on the case, though, when Jed Spitzler is knifed at the dance and dies at the hospital. Two of Spitzler's children were there when it happened, as was his current girlfriend's ex. His late wife's former boyfriend was also in town.

There are a few twists and turns in the story, although I had most of it figured out fairly quickly. I love the setting - it is where we sometimes vacation on the Wisconsin side of the river across from Red Wing, Minnesota. Maiden Rock and a few other local attractions play a role in Logue's tales.

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines
★ ★ ★ ★ - 352 pages

In this beautiful book, decorating guru Joanna Gaines gives advice on how to create a home that reflects the owner's personality. The photos are gorgeous and the advice is good, if somewhat generic. I loved a lot of the furniture pieces Gaines used in her own home and other homes she's decorated. The biggest problem - the photos all have the same "look." Gaines could have used this book as a platform to show some variety, but instead, all show her signature industrial/farmhouse style.

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean
★ ★ ★ ★ - 385 pages

Juliana Fiori is impulsive and bold, not at all like the simpering English girls who exclude her from the highest reaches of the ton. She is also exactly who the Duke of Leighton needs to stay away from . . . but her passion for living draws him to her.

Well, halfway through the book, I realized I had read it before. I apparently had not marked it in LT. It was a quick read and brought me "up-to-date" with the family.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
★ ★ ★ ★ - 317 pages

Stella Lane is brilliant - an economist who comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases. She also is autistic /has Asperger's. She understands numbers better than she understands people. After a co-worker tells her she needs practice, she decides to hire an escort to teach her how to be better at dating and sex. She hires Michael, who escorts to pay his mom's medical bills. What starts out as a business proposition soon becomes more.

I started this book last year and couldn't get into it. I put it on my "Pick a Winner - Make a Friend" challenge and it came up as July's choice. I started it over . . . and really liked it. Given that Stella and I think a lot alike (I'm probably on the spectrum, and I'm pretty sure my daughter is, too,) I found her thinking very real. Michael was sweet, and I loved his family.

I "made a new friend" and will be looking for Hoang's next book!

False Step by Victoria Helen Stone
★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 279 pages

Veronica Bradley does a double take when she glances at the tv and sees her husband Johnny rescuing missing toddler Tanner Holcomb. Johnny, naturally outgoing, basks in the media attention his good deed brings, but Veronica is afraid all of that attention will focus on the flaws in her marriage - and on Johnny's role in the boy's disappearance.

A good mystery and psychological thriller, although I had it figured out early on. Not quite up to par of Stone's other work. Veronica spend too much time comparing herself to her philandering father. I really didn't find any of the characters likable, although i did find them quite real.

for all the small schools by Barb and Dave Else
★ ★ ★ - 272 pages

Barb and Dave Else drove around Iowa photographing many of Iowa's "forgotten" schools - schools that were closed and then repurposed or abandoned. They've combined the photos with a few pages of text (without citations) about some of the schools, athletics, lunch programs, teacher certification, etc. Many of the buildings are from the 1910-1925 era, with a few being from the early 1950's.

I was especially interested in the photo of the old Geneseo school. My mom taught there for years and I attended junior high there. I loved that old building - it smelled like duplicating fluid and chalk. The faculty used to have a few potlucks during the year, and my brothers and I, along with the Schelp kids and B Monroe would explore all of the nooks and crannies of the building.

A few disappointments of the book: a lack of in-depth analysis about why these schools closed - declining rural populations, asbestos, high heating and cooling costs - or any other topic. Citations for the limited facts used would have been useful, as would have been an index. A few schools are missing, as well. I wanted to see the Clutier school, in particular, and it wasn't in there. It is a coffee table book - not really a reference book, though.

Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 - 295 pages

Gideon Fry and Johnny McCloud are best friends, growing up on the Texas prairie before WWI. Each of the boys is in love with Molly Taylor. Gid is moral, upright, and hard-working. Johnny is more lackadaisical - he wants to be a cowpuncher, not a rancher. Molly wants freedom - rejecting the social mores of the time. The emotional novel traces the three friends from the late 1910's to the early 1960's, from a hardscrabble life on the plains to a more modern life. Gid tells the first section, declaring his love for Molly. Molly tells the second section (1940's.) Johnny tells the third section (early 1960's.)

I am definitely reading more McMurtry. Gid, Johnny, and Molly's lives paralleled the lives of my grandparents, going from horse-and-buggy to the space race. A fascinating time period to me.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
★ ★ ★ ★ - 400 pages

Lady Henrietta Sedley declares her twenty-ninth year her own - she intends to claim her business, fortune, and future. Ignored by the ton because of her size (too tall and chubby,) she wants to inherit her father's shipping business. Her younger brother, though, has endangered that plan by getting involved with an enemy of the Bareknuckle Bastards, the leaders of Covent Garden's underworld. Whit, one of four illegitimate children of a duke who were forced to battle each other for the title, is one of those leaders. He winds up tied up and unconscious in Hattie's carriage. Finding themselves rivals in business, their lives become enmeshed. Hattie longs to prove herself capable, but Whit feels the only way to keep her safe is to keep her away from the docks.

The second entry in MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards series, this is Whit's story. Good plot, fun read. A few problems with the story: We see several characters from MacLean's other novels. (Really - it's been a while since I've read some of them, so there wasn't any "cute" factor there.) The other problem . . . I am so tired of tall women (especially in romances) being described as "warriors." I guess I should be grateful she wasn't described as "Amazonian." :(

How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe
★ ★ ★ - 443 pages

Four short stories, each involving a duke and some shortbread . . .
The first story, by Tessa Dare, is probably the best of the bunch. "Meet Me in Mayfair" features Louisa Ward, who must marry well in order to save her family, who are being cast out of their home by the Duke of Thorndale.
The second story, "The Duke of Christmas Present" by Sarah MacLean, was somewhat disappointing. Lady Jack Mosby returns to London after twelve years of traveling with her aunt to find that childhood friend Eben, the Duke of Allryd, is still pining for her. Too many "looks" that were supposed to convey characters' feelings . . . and seriously - who's waiting twelve years for someone?
The third, "Heiress Alone" by Sophie Jordan, features Annis Ballister and her neighbor, a surly duke who tries to protect her from robbers. I kept rewriting this one in my head.
The fourth story, "Christmas in Central Park" by Joanna Shupe, had a different twist. Set in the Gilded Age of robber barons in New York, Rose Walker writes a household advice column for the Duke of Havermeyer's newspaper. When he insists she host his board at a Christmas party, she must find a husband, a mansion, and a cook, all within a few short days. This was probably the most interesting story of the four.

The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech
★ ★ ★ ★ - 151 pages

A young couple, Marta and John, awake one morning to find a young boy curled up on a chair on their porch. He doesn't talk, but taps out rhythms with his fingers and feet. After a day or two, the boy produces a note, imploring them to take care of Jacob. They care for Jacob, encouraging his musical abilities and artistic talents. They also make subtle attempts to locate his family, but are unsuccessful. The dog, who had once been a stray, and a cow, also a found animal, develop a special bond with Jacob. But Marta and John fear the day his family returns to claim him.

A sweet, gentle story. Very good!