Tess Follows the Yellow Brick Road in 2019 Part 2

Hi, my name is Tess and I'm a college professor-Western Civ, American History, and The Holocaust. I teach in real-time and also online.

I've been married to my husband for 44 years; have 2 sons and 7 grandchildren ranging in ages from 1 to 19 years of age. I live in the midwest USA, Ohio, on about 5 acres in a rural area; although a grocery is only 1/2 mile from my house.

Besides reading, I love to cook, garden and travel. I've spent 3 weeks in London (2003), 2 weeks in France (2005), 10 days in Israel (2007) and 3 months in Washington DC. I have also visited 39/50 U.S. states and will add 4 more to the list this summer when we hit the Eastern Seacoast in search of author's homes and lighthouses.

By far I prefer to read novels, historical fiction, and Gothic and Victorian literature---not so much history, because I do that for work! I don't watch TV unless there is something important--which isn't very often! I quit listening to music sometime in the 70's, so my collection is very dated.

I am deathly allergic to real cats (tracheotomy) and since our pug dog died we currently don't have a pet. I told my husband when we are both retired and staying at home then he can get another pug; but I'm pushing for a pound puppy.

Unfortunately, I suffered from breast cancer in the summer of 2018 which required 2 surgeries and radiation therapy. I made it!

I tried to do this group last year, but quickly became overwhelmed and dropped out. If I don't visit you often, it's not because I don't want to, but I teach in real life during the day and online 3 evenings per week. Somewhere in there I have to find time for the husband, grandkids, housework, laundry, cooking, the ballet (season tickets)....you get my drift.

I chose as my theme The Wizard of Oz because I just finished reading book 2 in the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz and as I was thinking of the colorful characters I thought: boy, one could get a lot of categories from this book!

I have over 600 books, both tree and ebooks to clear off my shelves so I can acquire new ones! I started on LT in 2011 and since then have read almost 1000 books! Posted now, but won't start reading the categories until 2019. I have a 20-30 minute commute each way to work, so I count audio books as "reading." I hope to read 100+ books this year.

My rating system:
1 star--waste of paper and ink
2 stars-Is this literature? -major flaws or mind numbing boring
2 1/2 stars-not so bad I had to stop reading
3 stars-average, but may still be quite enjoyable
3 1/2 fun, informative, thought provoking
4 stars-excellent read
4 1/2 exceptionally good, among my favorites
5 stars-in all ways a superior read

BEGINNING TBR: 588

Dorothy-farm girl. I love to read books about the U.S. western settlement, particularly about women homesteaders. I want to read the Willa Cather trilogy as well as the last Little House book.

Into the Wilderness
On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894
Forest Rose A Tale of the Ohio Frontier
Old Town in the Green Groves
West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915
A Wilder Rose 302 pages 5 stars
O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather 198 pages 2 1/2 stars

Tin Man-If I only had a heart.........if I could only finish a series! This category is dedicated to finishing up series I've begun.

1. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye
2. Tribulation Force by Tim Lahaye
3. Nicolae: The Rise of the Antichrist by Tim Lahaye
4. Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati 668 pages 5 stars
5. A More Perfect Union by https://www.librarything.com/topic/303948#Jodi Danard 432 pages 3 1/2 stars
6. This Was a Man Jeffrey Archer 423 pages 5 stars

Scarecrow-If I only had a brain! This category will include Big Fat Books or DNF's.

The Source
Crime and Punishment
Second Hand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Sevtlana Alexeivich
Interview with a Vampire DNF
The Woman in White by Wilke Collins 1005 pages 5 stars
Burger's Daughter DNF read 90/360 pages DNF
Alone in Berlin by Hans Falada 600 pages 5 stars
The Rommel Papers 554 pages 4 stars
The Assassin's Song 336 pages (read 180 pages) DNF 2 stars
The Inheritance of Loss 386 pages (read 56 pages) DNF 2 stars
The Illiad by Homer 604 pages 3 1/2 stars
A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith 674 pages 5 stars

Wicked Witch of the West---this category is reserved from true crime and psychological thrillers.

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
A Killer's Mind
Judgement Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders 432 pages 5 stars
The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio by Phil Reid 125 pages 2 stars
To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder by Nancy ROmmelmann 292 pages 4 stars

Glenda the Good Witch will have me reading new shiny books less than 2 years on my shelves.

1. Not Her Daughter
2. Pachinko by Ming Jin Lee
3. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
4. The Good German by Joseph Kanon 496 pages 2 1/2 stars
5. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 5 stars
6. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 379 pages 5 stars
7. Secret of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner 416 pages 4.5 stars
8. The Witch Elm by Tana French 521 pages 2 stars
9. River Bodies: (Northampton County Book 1) by Karen Katchur 300 pages 2.5 stars
10. Happy Dreams by Jia Pingwa 494 pages 2 1/2 stars
11. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 389 pages 5 stars
12. Coraline by Neil Gaiman 208 pages 2 1/2 stars
13. Heads you Win by Jeffrey Archer 438 pages 5 stars
14. Images of America Lancaster by Connie Rutter 138 pages 5 stars
15. I Was Anatasia by Ariel Lawhorn 352 pages 5 stars

The Munchkins or the "little" people. For this category I will read YA books or books under 200 pages in length.

1. Emma by Jane Austen 168 pages 3 stars
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2 1/2 stars
3. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo 176 pages 3 stars
4. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorn 17 pages 2 1/2 stars
5. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn 138 pages 4 1/2 stars
6. The Irish Crisis by Charles Trevelyan 200 pages 3 stars
7. Mont Saint Michel 27 pages 3 1/2 stars
8. Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches by Gerry Brooks 199 pages 5 stars
9. Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom 192 pages 3 1/2 stars
10. The Great Fire Jim Murphy 138 pages 5 stars
11. My Mother's Secret 138 pages 4 stars
12. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 42 pages 2 1/2 stars
13. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 96 pages 5 stars
14. Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale 96 pages 2 1/2 stars

The Wizard-- since I don't like sci or fantasy, I'm making this category books over 75 years old to represent wisdom (which of course, the Wizard was lacking). Shakespeare will also be found in this category as well as non-fiction.

1. Mein Kampf 389 pages 3 stars
2. The Education of Henry Adams 560 pages 4 stars
3. Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal 386 page 3 stars
4/ Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis 386 pages 5 stars
4. The Great Typo Hunt 269 pages 3 stars
5. I've Been Thinking by Maria Shriver 239 pages 5 stars

Wicked Witch of the East Books from this category will be from the 1001 BYMRBY DIE!

1. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole 3 1/2 stars
2. Atonement by Ian McEwan 351 pages 3 1/2 stars
3. The Time Machine H.G. Wells 88 pages 4 stars
4. The Vicar of Wakefield) Oliver Goldsmith 256 pages 3 stars
5. Summer by Edith Wharton 143 pages 3 stars
6. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson 1534 pages 3 stars
7. The History of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson 95 pages 2 1/2 stars
8. Vathek William Beckford 141 pages 2 stars

The yellow brick road is composed of many single bricks. This category will be for books that don't fit into any of the other categories.'

1. The Fig Eater by Jody Shields
2. Last Orders' by Graham Swift
3. Born Survivors by Wendy Holden
4. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
5. Bird Box by Josh Malerman
6. The Longest Ride Nicholas Sparks
7. In The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
8. Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck} 376 pages 5 stars
9. Leap into Darkness by Leo Bretholz 263 pages 5 stars
10. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 304 pages 3 stars
11. The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli 386 pages 4 stars
12. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton 308 pages 3 stars
13. The Red Prior's Legacy by Alfred H. Bill 256 pages 3 stars
14. Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis 466 pages 3 1/2 stars
14. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding 3 stars 642 pages
15.

Bingo Dog

Happy new thread, Tess. It's fun to wander through your Wizard of Oz theme again. :)

Happy new thread, Tess! I see you are making wonderful progress with your Bingo and category reading.

>14 lkernagh: >13 DeltaQueen50: TY

31. The Irish Crisis by Charles Trevelyan (no touchstones). I usually don't put my work reading on LT, but since I read an entire book (where I usually only read original documents, letters, diaries, etc.) I thought I would post---it took me a LONG time to read this book. Included in the World History text I'm using for college freshman this year was 1 line about the Irish Famine, stuck at the end of the chapter on the Industrial Revolution and 19th century society. I thought wow, that appeared to be tacked on so nobody could complain that the Irish famine was skipped over. So..............I started doing some research and did indeed find some good letters between the Irish clergy and Trevelyan and then from Trevelyan to several other Lords, but the one(s) I focused on was Lord Monteagle. Trevelyan is trying to get the British lords to see that it is time to educate the Irish on what types of crops to plant, how to care for them, etc., and not to have so many children. He does not believe that they should ignore starvation this time, but believes that this education must come before the next blight. Trevelyan does mention that the British government is extremely limited in dealing with such a "social evil" of this magnitude. I feel that this was overkill, for me, as I did not need to know 95% of this material; I have no idea what compelled me to read further. I'm sure if I read such a book from the Irish point of view, I would be better educated. 200 pages 3 stars



CAT: The Munchkins (books under 200 pages)

32. The Good German by Joseph Kanon is the story of Berlin in 1945 during the Potsdam Conference. This was an audio book I listened to and while the reader was good, the sentences were short and clipped. Problems with this book: lines not attributed to a speaker, too many characters to keep track of, improbable escape scenes and too long! Perhaps some of the aforementioned problems would have been solved had I read a hard copy. There is a movie of this out starring George Clooney--it also did not get good reviews so not sure if I'm going to watch or not! 482 pages 2 1/2 stars



CAT: Glenda the good witch (books less than 2 years on my shelf)

Happy new thread, Tess! I hope the next book is better!

Happy new thread!

>15 Tess_W: Doesn't sound like the book (or Trevelyan) was of much value. There are so many worthwhile contemporary books on the topic - although the reader should be aware that many are banging the drum for modern politics.

33. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. This was a novelized form of the true tale of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew who is transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. While there it is discovered that he speaks 5 languages so he is made to the be the camp's tattooist. While tattooing meets a trembling young woman, Gita, prisoner 34902. Using his "privileged" position Lale steals jewels and trades them for food morsels which he doles out to others. This is a story of hope and humanity even in the darkest hour. One of the best Holocaust books I have read. 288 pages 5 stars



CAT: Glenda the good witch (books less than 2 years old)

>18 VivienneR: I can only use primary sources, which means letters, documents, diaries, etc; in my history classroom--so can't use anything modern on this topic! I was able to use 3 letters contained within this book, so for a historian, that is a good find!

34. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. This is a novella about a time-traveller who firstly embarks to about 8270 AD (?) to the world of flesh eating Morlocks and peace-loving Eloi. I liked this book much better than The War of the Worlds as I think it has withstood the test of time a little better. I loved the vocabulary of Wells, much larger than today's writers and I even had to look up a few words to add to my word journal. Sci-fi is really not my genre at all (I usually despise it), but due to the writing and the short length of this book, it kept by rapt attention and I read it in one sitting. 88 pages 4 stars



CAT: Wicked Witch (1001 BYMRBYD)

Note to self: FINISH Mein Kampf I've been reading it off and one for a year.......but I must persevere! No school today due to bad weather (ice).....so I could finish it..........be he rambles!

>21 Tess_W: Glad that you enjoyed The Time Machine, Tess. I actually preferred The War of the Worlds over The Time Machine but there's no denying how creative and imaginative this author was!

>21 Tess_W: I've not got to that one yet. I loved The War of the Worlds but probably as I grew up listening to the Jeff Wayne concept album.

35. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was a great novel that took place on the North Carolina coast from 1950's-1970's. Racism is still blatant (but that's not really the"story") but more towards the "marsh girl" than the "coloreds" that live on the other side of the tracks. This book is a coming of age story as well as a murder mystery. This book is painful to read but the imagery it evokes is beautiful. 379 pages 5 stars



CAT: Glenda (new/shiny)

36. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. What can one say? There are certainly bits of brilliant deductions contained within; there are also bits of lunacy. To say that Hitler was a Machiavellian and he believed that the ends justify the means is an understatement. I found parts of the book to be fairly interesting (especially at the beginning) and other parts the rambling of a mad man. If I evaluate the content of the book; it is at least average. If I evaluate the writer, now that we know him from history; that is another rating. I believe after reading this book I do understand the mind of Hitler better. I'm glad I read this book as I now think I understand all of European history a little bit better from 1918-1945; and just not from the Allied perspective. 389 pages 3 stars CAT: The Wizard (books over 75 years old and non-fiction)

>25 Tess_W: I'm glad to see your review on this one Tess. There has been so much hype around it I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it although it looked like a book my book club would like.

I just checked my library and all six copies are out with 16 on the waiting list and the ebook will be available in 6 months! I know many people dislike Amazon but at a time like this I love it.

>27 clue: Amazon and Audible are my friends! I don't have time for the library and there are no used bookshops within 25 miles of me.

So my grandmother was a book club member for many years--the 1930's-1960's. She must have gotten a book of the month club, I'm unsure and she's passed for many years. While cleaning out her attic I took the books as my sister was in the military and had no space. Since the 1990's these books have occupied 1+ bookcase (doublestacked). This week I made a pact with myself to either start reading them or get rid of them. They are all leather bound and tight; but the pages are so yellow and the font so small that it is difficult to read some of them. Some of the corners of the pages crumble when turned, no matter how careful I am. All I know that is that they were published by Little White and Ives Publishing Company, most in the 1930-1940's. They are not numbered as in being a set and the authors vary from Edith Wharton to Adolf Hitler to Rudyard Kipling. These books do not have ISBN's, which didn't start until 1967. Since there were no ISBN's when they were first published, there is no catalogue on which to look them up--so I have to choose later editions to post in LT. (Unless I want to enter manually, and I don't!) I hope to uncover some great reading here. If by some chance, Amazon has published a free ebook of the same title, I will probably d/l that and read it, for the eye's sake! My first read was Mein Kampf and I'm currently working on The Education of Henry Adams. I'm thinking they are the type of books that I will want to pick up 1-2 times per week and not binge read. Took me 3 months to read Mein Kampf.

>29 Tess_W: - Wow, you grandmother's book collection sounds amazing!

>30 lkernagh: Most of them aren't really the types of books I would read. There are biographies, non-fictions, philosophy, etc. But I'm going to try to start at least each one and hopefully read most of them.

36. The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams. This is an autobiography by the grandson of John Q. Adams. Henry Adams, being of a well to do family from Boston grew up with all life's opportunities possible. He graduated from Harvard, yet felt the education there was a joke. He constantly ridiculed the boys from Virginia because they could not debate nor did they read newspapers. He had been to the White House to see all presidents since John Q. Adams and felt at home there. He also writes that he was astounded at the lack of education of Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant. Mr. Adams served as his father's secretary whilst his father was U.S. Ambassador to England, on and off for 10 years. Adams always believed education equaled power; but after 40 years of "education" he surmised he had been mistaken as he had seen uneducated persons come to political power and others having power over the economy. I liked the stories of his youth, his family, his time at Harvard and his visits to the White House. Most of the rest of it, not so much--he just seems to bemoaning his privilege, to me. I was surprised that this book won the Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography. While it was good, not sure it was great! The writing was of the time period, so "dense." His vocabulary and sentence structure certainly put him in the educated category. 560 pages 4 stars

CAT Wizard (non fiction)

Real disappointed in myself. I was going through my ereader today and saw books that I didn't know that I have. I always try to post books on LT as soon as I buy them. However, obviously I haven't done this ........I found 15 books I didn't have logged. May make the difference whether I see the TBR pile go down this year or not. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

>33 Tess_W: I probably have several not entered as well. I try to go through at least quarterly to add things I may have missed.

>33 Tess_W: I think I'm in the minority in that I only add books once I am about to start reading them. I keep thinking that having a complete catalogue on LT including all the unread ones would be really useful in case of a disaster (fire, flood etc), but it's a daunting task!!

>35 Jackie_K: I spent about 3-4 hours going through all my books, tree and ebooks to make sure I have everything cataloged. It was all good, I dusted shelves and straightened as I went. Everything is entered by those books from my grandmother, many, probably I won't read. (Not much on reading philosophy!)

>35 Jackie_K: That's one of the reasons I joined LT, to have a record of the books I owned in case of disaster. And the number has grown considerably since that day...

>36 Tess_W: This sounds like an amazing find, like a window into the past.

37. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. This book is a Victorian "mystery" told by multiple narrators. It is a great read, albeit long. 1005 pages 5 stars



CAT: The Scarecrow (BFB)

>38 Tess_W: Ah, I have that on my TBR pile. I bought it for a real-life book group read some years ago but then never managed to actually get round to it that month. I do remember the group really liking it though.

>38 Tess_W: - I loved that one when I read it!

February Summary:
Books Read: 11 (6 audio, 5 ebooks, 1 tree book)

Best Read: Where the Crawdads Sing
Worst Read: Interview with a Vampire DNF

>38 Tess_W: Like Lori, I too enjoyed The Woman in White!

38. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters is billed as a paranormal YA fiction. Paranormal, yes, young adult, not so much. This was the author's first book, and while it was good, nothing made it great. The year is 1918 and Americans are in The Great War as well as suffering the Spanish Influenza. Mary Shelly and her aunt are trying to escape the flu and at the same time Mary is " seeing" her boyfriend, who was killed in France; or was he? The book would rate a 4 for historical fiction, but the paranormal is far-fetched as well as the obvious bad-guys. On second thought, teens might like this book! One annoying grammatical error which occurred numerous times was the use of the word "snuck." 398 pages 3 stars

My walking plans have taken such a big hit for the last 2 months due to the horrendous weather. However, yesterday I did 2 miles on my treadmill so I have an additional 5 miles (steps above the normal 10,000 daily). Since I'm virtually "walking" the length of my state, the next stop is the Cincinnati Museum Center. Prior to WWII, Cincinnati, Ohio, was a main shipping center, especially for pork. It was also a hub for Amtrak and the passenger trains. Following WWII, when auto production resumed, Amtrak passengers were almost non-existent. Cincinnati railroads fell on hard times and Union terminal was partially closed and re-sold a multitude of times. Fast forward to 2018, after being closed for 2 years for extensive renovation, the Cincinnati Museum Center is once again open to the public. It houses one of the world's largest pipe organs (5000 pipes) in the Rotunda. This 1920's Deco Arts building also houses traveling museum exhibitions. I saw the Shackelton exhibit here. It also has a 4 story movie-screen. When I was there they had a movie about the Khalahari Desert, and there were people holding on to their seats and arms of their chairs because it was if you were really there going that fast during a stampede. There is a small railroad museum contained within as well as Duke Energy Museum that has interactive exhibits for younger children. Admission to the building is free, but there are additional fees if you want to see the movie or attend the traveling museum exhibition (which is why most people go). The current exhibit is on the Egyptian Pharoahs, but I've already seen this where I live. I live 2 1/2 hours from Cincinnati.

Great job making use of the treadmill on bad weather days! Art Deco architecture and a Shackelton exhibit would entice me to visit the museum center in person!

That's a very interesting looking building and it sounds as if they bring in some great exhibits.

39. Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner is a novel about the evacuation of children during the London Blitz. 90% of the story takes place in London and seen mostly through the eyes of two sisters who lose their mother and their father (s). I'm not sure why the title of the book; as I didn't see that either sister lived a charmed life, except they weren't killed in the blitz. I'm back and forth about this book--it was a great read; I learned information about the blitz that I had never heard before. At times the book was a bit slow and predictable, but all in all a great read (listen!). 416 pages 4.5 stars



CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (less than 2 years old) and RTT: City

>47 Tess_W: This sounds like something I'd enjoy -- I'll have to check it out!

My next stop on my walk is only 10 minutes from the Cincinnati Museum Center (see #44). I can walk across the Ohio River on the Purple People Bridge and end up at the Newport Levee. The walk on the bridge has the best views of Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Newport (Kentucky) on the Levee run into each other. There are restaurants and shops on the Levee, but the main attraction is the Newport Aquarium. They have a shark tunnel, among other things where the fish are above you and it is just the coolest thing. They also have a child's "petting" tank where children can touch turtles, mantas, and other non-stinging/biting sea creatures. It is expensive to get into the aquarium, but it's an entire day's visit. The shark tunnel picture is not mine and the other two are several years old. Now I can start heading north!

The shark tunnel looks amazing! And a bit scary, too.

40. A Wilder Rose by Susan Witting Albert is a fictionalized biography of Rose Wilder (Lane), the only child of Laura Ingalls Wilder. This was a great book that provided background to the Little House Books and Rose's part in them. Rose was a very educated and interesting woman in her own right and also a prolific author. 302 pages 5 stars

>50 MissWatson: Actually, there were children crying because they were so scared that their parents had to take them out of the shark tank.

There's a tunnel at the aquarium in North Queensferry (near Edinburgh) too, it does have some small sharks but it has loads of other sea creatures too, so the sharks take some spotting! We went there for my daughter's 4th birthday, and she kept wanting to go back through the tunnel. Although that might have been because of the moving walkway through it as much as for the fish!

41. The Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck. It just doesn't get any better than Pearl Buck writing about the Orient. This was a more historical story than most of Buck's works; well researched for the time. This book was based on the Empress Cixi, the last Empress of China. Court intrigue, fashion, art, drama--all contained within! Really liked this one! 376 pages 5 stars CAT: Yellow Brick Road (misc)

>41 Tess_W: I am pretty sure that I have read Imperial Woman but I don't clearly remember it - perhaps a reread at some point is in order.

42. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith. This is the story of a humble, guillible Vicar who lived the life of Job. I listened to this on an audio book as well as reading along. I felt the reader had a very false voice that was in excess. The story was very slow moving and almost unbelievable, but had a few amusing spots. I persisted! The novel is billed as a satire; but evidently I didn't "get it." This book is mentioned in Austen's Emma, so this will count on the Bingo Dog as a book mentioned in another book as well as the 1001 book list. 256 pages 3 stars (just barely!)

>56 Tess_W: I've not read this one, but have just picked up another Victorian classic to start - Vanity Fair (it's a chunkster, thank goodness for ereaders!). Hopefully it won't be too much of a slog - I'm not great with the classics!

>56 Tess_W: I read that one in the 1980s or so. I don't remember much about it other than I was disappointed in the vicar's depiction.

>57 Jackie_K: Vanity Fair is on my radar as I've never read anything written by Thackeray.

>58 thornton37814: unremarkable? That's how I feel about the book!

43. The Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer was a real stinker! It could have been a great story set in South Africa during apartheid. However, the author's style made it more than a struggle to read. She jumped from 1st to 3rd person frequently, she didn't use quotation marks so sometimes I could not figure out if this was a thought or an actual conversation. She also moved from the past to the present and in between within the same page. I was lost! I didn't know if the main character was remembering a person or actually right there talking to them. I love it when an author writes a great story. I don't like it when the author tries to make a story great by using unconventional grammar. I read 90/363 pages and I quit! DNF 1 star I assume this was a Nobel book because of the topic?

CAT: Scarecrow (DNF)

44. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (translated by Michael Hofmann) was a spellbinding and compelling novel about WWII Berlin. This story is rich in details of the Party, the resistance, the culture, and society. A very unassuming couple take on the Nazis by writing postcards with anti-Nazi information contained upon them. They then place them all around Berlin where they will be found. They eluded the authorities for three years before they were caught and finally executed. Even the afterword about the author's life and the real-life case this book was based upon was excellent. Counting the afterword and all the original documents (from the Nazi files) the book is 600 pages. 5 stars

CAT: Scarecrow (BFB's)

45. Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders was the story behind the murders of a beloved husband and wife, both professors at Dartmouth College in 2000. It was shocking that these murders took place because two seemingly "normal" high school students were bored. This was a true-crime read. 432 pages 5 stars

CAT: Scaredy Cat March Read, Wicked West of the West

46. O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather was the story of French/Bohemian immigrants to the American West in the late 19th century. I have read much about western settlement and this book did not live up to it's hype. This was mostly a book about interpersonal relationships and not about actual settlement. By this time they had mechanized farming (except tractors) and telephones; not really pioneers, in my mind. This certainly was not on the level of The Little House Books or Sara Donati books. This was my 2nd (and last) Cather book I've read that really wasn't interesting. 198 pages 2 1/2 stars

CAT: Western Settlement, RTT (Wide Open Places)

>61 Tess_W: That sounds really interesting!

>56 Tess_W: I've read many of the classics but this one never appealed. Kudos for completing it!

>61 Tess_W: that sounds like a very intriguing read.

47. The Rommel Papers by Erwin Rommel, edited by B.H. Hart-Lidell. These were the letters and field notes of Erwin Rommel, "The Desert Fox" primarily during his campaign in North Africa. I was surprised at his constant complaints of the lack of supplies as well as his frequent mention of "the superior enemy." To me, Rommel sounded as if he was right on top of things as he wrote in his notes, after inspecting the western front fortresses from Denmark to the Bay of Biscay: "What I found was depressing.....Josef Goebbels’ impregnable fortress existed only in the overactive imagination of the propaganda minister." The world knows that Rommel was accused by Hitler as part of Operation Valkyrie and was forced to commit suicide to save his family. I would bet given the right command and supplies and equipment that he would have been a superior commander. He also did not have any idea about the death camps while in Africa and only learned about them when he returned home to Germany to recuperate after being strafed . Rommel found the idea ludicrous and repugnant. (This from another paper) Very very long, tedious read, but worth it to a historian. The last chapter of the book was written by Manfred Rommel, his 15 year old son who was also serving in the military. His father had confided to him on the day of the suicide what he felt he must do. 621 pages (including 2 forwards and an introduction) 4 stars

48. The Witch Elm by Tana French. The tone of this book reminded me a lot of Tart's The Goldfinch, which I did not care for.
Story: The story of a privileged young man who is severely beaten and never recovers physically or mentally.
Form: This was a very slow moving book; mind-numbingly so. It wasn't until page 200 that we find out a crime has been committed. 90 pages of this book is senseless dialogue between the protagonist and his cousin--nothing of substance. The word fock and shyte were used at least 1000 times and did not add to the story.(We were as tired as fock, we were as hungry as fock) Come on Tana, vocabulary expansion!
Audio: As this took place in Ireland I'm sure the reader had an Irish accent. But they spoke so quickly that I had to turn the audio down to 90% speed to understand what was said (in English, mind you). The range of sounds, which is normally a good thing, was so vast that on the normal setting you couldn't either hear the whispers or you were blasted by the yelling.

All in all, this was just one horrible, long experience! 528 pages 2 stars
CAT: Munchkins (less than 2 yrs. old), Scaredy-Kit (Modern Thrillers/Chillers) Also a book bullet for the Bingo Dog Card

>68 Tess_W: Yikes! I thought I wanted to read that one. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe it's one to read instead of listen to.

49. Mont Saint Michel by Marc Deceneuux was a short little book sitting on my shelves since 2005. I brought this back after visiting the Mont when I went to France. It was good to go back and revisit, if only in my mind one of the things I did while in France. When I was there the Mont was in "emergency" mode as the beaches were being reclaimed by plants as water had been diverted for years by the Dutch. I tried to read online but didn't get anything definitive as to if this has gotten any better or not. Anyway, a great place of history, myth, and religion. Beside the book are a couple of pictures I took while there. 27 pages 3 1/2 stars (probably wouldn't want to read about it unless you've been there are are going there)

CAT: Munchkins (books under 200 pages)

>70 Tess_W: I see you're catching the "tourist souvenir" read fever. I've been on a run of them because of a gift collection we received. I finally made my way through the remainder today so I'll slow down. Those photos look lovely though.

>70 Tess_W: We went to Mont St Michel on a family holiday a million years ago (would have been in the 1980s), I'd love to go back, it was so beautiful. I loved that you could see it from miles and miles away - we walked there from our campsite (some miles away) and it looked just as far away however much we walked, until we were pretty close!

50. The Mystifying Murder in Marion, Ohio by Phil Reid. I only purchased this book because I grew up in Marion, Ohio. Of the 125 pages contained within the book, about 90 of them were repetitive. It could have used a good editor as there were many spelling and grammar errors.
2 stars

CAT: wicked witch of the west (true crime)

>73 Tess_W: It's always disappointing when a book about "home" falls short. I had the same experience with one set near my hometown last month. At least mine was fiction instead of true crime.

51. Leap into Darkness by Leo Bretholz. There are two reasons why this book was such a joy to read: 1) it was extremely well written 2) I spent a week in the presence of the author and his beautiful wife, Flo, in 2005. Leo was 16 when he started fleeing the Nazi's; sometimes legally and sometimes illegally. One of his most harrowing escapes was jumping from the train that was carrying him from Drancy (France) to Auschwitz. If one can enjoy a Holocaust book; this would be it---although it doesn't lack the horrors (the author's family were all murdered), it tells of one young man's courage in the face of death and his lack of bitterness or the need for revenge. Leo was a kind and compassionate man. I am sorry I did not read this book until now. My signed copy will stay on my shelf to be revisited. 263 pages 5 stars CAT: Yellow brick road (misc)

52. The Assassin's Song by M.G. Vassanji. This could have been a good book but there were so many foreign words (in some cases 1 per sentence) (Hindu) that one could not get in the context of the story and so many characters that I could not keep track of that I did not finish this book. There were no helps in this book as in family tree, Hindu religious organization, or even a map. I could find no helps online. I read 50% of the book and decided life is too short to struggle this much with fiction. Read 180/336 pages. DNF 2 stars

I really haven't been faithful in logging my miles, but I know for a fact I've walked at least 30 miles in the last month. That takes me from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Lebanon, Ohio, Ohio's oldest hotel. I'm not sure if the restaurant contained within is Ohio's oldest or not, there is some dispute. The Golden Lamb was so named so that the illiterate could recognize the sign. It's architecture is colonial and it was built in 1805. It has been visited by 12 presidents and each room, done in 1805 grand style, is named after a president. Some other famous people to visit: Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Daniel Webster. I've been here to eat twice, once in the 1970's and found it amazing and once in the 1990's and found the food so-so. I have stayed there once (just to say that I did) and sadly discovered that there is no air conditioning in the hotel rooms--they are truly period correct! They do provide you with a fan but it was still too warm to be comfortable. As all the hotel rooms are upstairs, and no elevator, one has to drag the suitcases up some fairly steep stairs. (Haven't been there since the 1990's, so this could have changed). These are not my pictures.

>77 Tess_W: I've been to the restaurant. I wasn't overly impressed either. It was about the same time frame you said you found it so-so.

Whenever I see the words "stream of consciousness" I run very very fast in the opposite direction; I do not pass go and do not collect $200.

53. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. This was only my second Christie read and much better than the first. (And Then There Were None). I will say that I had to play close attention to how the characters on the train were related to the Armstrong family--there were 12 of them and sometimes I was a bit confused. This book did not really excite me nor did it turn me off from possibly another Christie at some time in the future. 304 pages 3 stars

CAT: Yellow Brick Road (Misc)

>68 Tess_W: - So happy to see I am not the only one that found The Witch Elm to be too long and slow moving. Definitely the worst of all Tana French novels I have read.

54. Summer by Edith Wharton. This is my 3rd Wharton and it is in the middle with Ethan Frome being at the top and The Age of Innocence being at the bottom. This is classic Wharton, high society versus lower social classes; high society courts low society, leaves her in a lurch to marry his own kind. 144 pages, 3 stars. CAT: Wicked Witch of the East (1001 books) Bingo Dog: A weather word in the title

55. To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder was an audio/ebook read for me. This is the true story of Amanda Stott-Smith who threw her 2 young children off a bridge. Very well written and also read by the author. The only complaint I have is that just a couple of times the story was disjointed..she interviewed somebody 10 years after the crime after just relating Amanda's behavior as she was imprisoned. Perhaps I wasn't listening close enough? 292 pages 4 stars CAT: Wicked Witch of the West (true crime)

I've done another 10 miles in walking and would now be in Mason, Ohio. Mason's claim to fame is King's Island Amusement Park and Great Wolf Lodge. "The Beast" is a wooden roller coaster which several years ago was called the longest, fastest wooden roller coaster in the world. I know it's almost 8,000 feet in length and gains speeds up to 65 mph. During certain times of the year the wait to ride the beast can be almost an hour. (Not my picture)

>84 Tess_W: Well, at least that is one line-up I wouldn't have to suffer through. Roller Coasters make me very nervous so I have a policy of total avoidance!

>84 Tess_W: - Wow, that is one impressive roller coaster! I tend to avoid amusement park rides like roller coasters, the Zipper, etc, but I would probably stand near by and just take in the engineering marvel it is (all wooden, you say?)

>84 Tess_W: Wow. When I was a teenager/early 20s I'd have been all over that. Now, just looking at it is making my stomach tie itself in knots!

>84 Tess_W: - That is quite a ride! Not something I ever see myself trying but it would be fun to watch others enjoying it.

I'm SO bad! Even though I have about 400+ books on my ereader and bookshelves to read, I only went to Amazon to buy ONE.........I'm an addict and I don't think there is a cure! My haul:

Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches by Gerry Brooks I follow this guy on youtube--just hilarious! This was the only book that I was going to buy, promise!

The Price of Paradise

Paper Wife

The Victory Garden

The Parisians (this one was free)

I was just looking over the books I've read this year and it would appear that my focus thus far (accidentally) has been on occupied France. I didn't set out to read about WII this year, but that's how the cookie has crumbled!

>90 Tess_W: It is interesting to see where our reading whims will take us!

56. The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli. This was a great book about a female reporter in Vietnam from 1965-1975. It was fictionalized but I recognized a lot of the places and events that I have previously studied. This was Soli's debut novel and the writing was languid, flowing, and soulful. My only complaint was the last page--the ending was abrupt and tied up with a neat little bow--as I know this war wasn't. 386 pages 4 stars CAT: Yellow brick road (misc)

57. Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches by Gerry Brooks These are many short stories about school--everything from being a kindergarten lunch monitor (very funny) to being a bus driver (rather sad and poignant). Mr. Brooks makes all laugh with satire and cry for the lives of the little ones. I highly recommend this book. I follow this guy on Instagram (gerrybrooksprin) and pre-ordered this funny and readable book. 191 pages 5 stars CAT: Munchkins (books less than 200 pages in length)

58. River Bodies: (Northampton County Book 1) by Karen Katchur was a free Kindle ebook in October, 2018. It was listed as a psychological thriller--it really missed it on that point. If was clear from page one who the killer was both the first and the second time. This was more of an elementary love story than any type of thriller. I still don't understand the purpose of the last 3-4 chapters. 300 pages 2 1/2 stars. CAT: Glenda the good witch (books on shelf less than 2 years)

May hopefuls:

I've walked another 10 miles which takes me further outside the Cincinnati metropolitan area to Hamilton, Ohio. Hamilton used to be Fort Hamilton, then Fairfield, then finally arriving at the current name Hamilton, in honor of Alexander Hamilton. Today, Hamilton has been swallowed up by the city of Cincinnati. Hamilton is really unremarkable and not much different than small cities of it's day and age in the early 1800's. As far as I know the only thing to see in Hamilton is the Ancient Sculpture Museum at Pyramid Hill which contains nearly 10,000 sculptured artifacts from the Greeks, Romans, Etruscan, Syrian and Egyptians. Sadly, Hamilton is often in the news for racial violence. P.S. I'm not walking in a real straight line...I've deviated, especially due to the I-71/I-75 split. From now on I can just follow I 71 north to Cleveland for the most part.

>84 Tess_W: Wow, that is an impressive structure. I avoid rollercoasters myself, but the rest of my family loves them.

59. Happy Dreams by Jia Pingwa is the story of Hawa "Happy" Liu who along with his friend, Wufu, travel to the city to be trash pickers. It really is a very mundane story of 2 men sorting through a city's trash. The words are short and clipped (maybe due to translation) and full of scatology. There just wasn't much good to say about this book. It could have been the topic as Happy and Wufu's life was depressing and as hard as they worked there was nothing they could do to better it. The entire last chapter of the book was the author describing where he got the ideas for much of his book and on whom the characters were based. From this last chapter I inferred that this story is supposed to tell of the plight of the country residents during China's industrialization. Besides being too long, I really can't say I learned anything from the book or that it entertained me---so I would not recommend it. 494 pages 2 1/2 stars CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (books less than 2 years old)

It was a short walking week as it rained almost daily. I think I only did about 15 miles in 10 days. That will get me to the next town as I walk the State of Ohio, Springboro, Ohio. Springboro is an affluent suburb of both Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. It is in the Miami River Valley. There isn't much to see in Springboro except maybe the Wright B. Flyer Museum. It would certainly be a beautiful day to walk around that place today as they also have outside airplane exhibits!

>99 Tess_W: - The Wright B. Flyer Museum would be a must see for me if I ever find myself in the area.

>99 Tess_W: There used to be a really good Chinese restaurant in Springboro. There was also a dinner theater there. I used to enjoy both of those when I lived in Cincinnati. Just checked and La Comedia, the dinner theater, is still open. I can't remember the name of the Chinese restaurant. The owner used the American name "Suzie" so we used to just say, I'm going to "Suzie's," but that wasn't the name of the restaurant.

>101 thornton37814: Thanks for the tip! Springboro is about 90 minutes from my home and the dinner theater might be a good day trip!

60. Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal by Harold Schecter was the story of Alfred Packer, a person suspected to have eaten (after he killed) 5 men to stay alive in the Colorado mountains in 1893. Packer was wily and his story was full of inconsistencies, as was the prosecution, which was nothing but conjecture. Packer was incarcerated for 20 years. Besides being Packer's story, the author throws in a few other suspected cannibals, from Jamestown to the 1960's. Those were thrown in to add to the page numbers, because they certainly added nothing to the story nor were they in detail. There were lots of court reports and letters contained within this book. All in all, it was fairly interesting and an average read. 373 pages 3 stars CAT: Wizard (non-fiction)

>102 Tess_W: It was called Miami Valley Dinner Theater when I lived there, but it appears to be the same building. May just be new owners.

>104 thornton37814: TY TY TY I believe it is now called La Comedia Dinner Theatre. Ad says been there for 36 years. It's on my list to try!

>105 Tess_W: Yes. It used to be lots of fun so I hope you enjoy it when you go.

Memorial Day in the U.S., thank you to all who have died so that we may be free. My favorite poem is by Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen

61. I really wasn't planning on reading this series, Left Behind (and I won't read all 13 books), but my granddaughter asked if I had read them and I said no and so she gave me the first 3 that she had read and said she loved them. I think it is a good novelized story of the Book of Revelation. I didn't find anything that was anti-Biblical; although many liberties were taken by the authors to fill in the blanks; but nothing that changes Scripture. I found this first book to be compelling enough to read book 2--which I did immediately following this book. This book begins with the rapture and most of the story is about those who aren't raptured and also about the U.N. who now run the G.C. (global community). 483 pages 4 stars CAT: Series: Tinman

62. Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind by Tim LaHaye is book #2 in the Left Behind series. This book focuses on the main character(s) Buck, who is a news reporter and a pastor of a church who was "left behind." They get together to try to figure out where all the missing have gone. As more and more events occur, it becomes obvious to the pastor what has occurred; so his small band of left behind followers get seriously into the study of Revelation. The anti-Christ, Nicolae, also becomes prominent. My favorite part of this book was the 2 "figures" at the wailing wall who were there for 1,260 days prophesying and when anybody approached their words became fire and would be "attackers" could not come close. They were unable to be killed. Revelation specifically mentions these 2 prophets (thought not by name). This book moved a little slower than book 1, hence 3.5 stars. 487 pages CAT: Tinman (Series)

63. Book 3 in the Left Behind Series, Nicolae: The Rise of the Antichrist is the last one I will read, most of Biblical prophecy has unfolded (except the Battle of Megiddo (Armageddon and the return of Jesus). This book mainly focuses on the rise of the Antichrist and the demonic powers that he has. Nicolae strategically begins WWIII and with the help of the U.N. (now called the G.C.=global community} now has control of the world's food and fresh water supplies. The small tribulation force in book #2 takes on suicide missions in hopes of stopping the antichrist; but are unable to do so. While I did enjoy this series, I'm burned out on it; but I would recommend it to readers who want to know more about the Biblical Revelation in a novelized form. There were lots of battles and political machinations in this book and I found it the least enjoyable of all three that I have read. 449 pages 3 stars. CAT Tin man (series)

June reading plans:

1. Finish May read-The Song of Achilles 63% complete
2. Find an read a techno read for Scaredy-Kit
3. Read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store for RTT group
4. The Soul Catcher by Alex Cava

>111 Tess_W: Ooh, I've just started Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store too! (I'm reading it for the TBRCat this month) I'm only a few chapters in but like it so far!

>112 Jackie_K: glad to hear that, Jackie! I'm reading it for another group for June.

64. Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati is book #3 in the Into the Wilderness series. This is the American version of Outlander. This story involved travel to Canada, escaped slaves, small pox and scarlet fever. Plan to read book 4/6 later this summer. 668 pages 5 stars CAT: Tin man (series)

65. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller was the re-telling of Achilles who first appeared in Homer's Illiad. His mother was Thetis, a sea nymph turned underwater goddess and his father was Peleus, a mere mortal. In both books Achilles' biggest feat was the killing of Hector outside the walls of Troy. I think that the biggest difference in these books is that in the The Illiad no mention is made of Patroclus, Achilles' best friend and war companion as having a sexual relationship, it's not even hinted at. (Though this would not be abnormal for the Greeks at this time). No mention is made of this sexual relationship until the retelling of the story by Aeschylus and Plato. Either way, this book was a great read and not nearly as dry as The Illiad. 389 pages 5 stars. CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (books less than 2 years old) AND--this was a free book for prime-members on Amazon!

>115 Tess_W: I loved this, always happy to see other people appreciate it.

66. Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I know this is written for children, but even knowing that, this book was still just too fantastical and yet flat at the same time. However, both of my granddaughters love it. (Ages 8 and 12) There are parallel worlds that collide and Coraline must work to get her "real" parents back. 208 pages 2 1/2 stars CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (books less than 2 years old).



P.S. I watched the movie by the same name on Netflix this evening. The story was about the same the only plus was the animation was superior!

>112 Jackie_K: Alas and alack, Jackie! I thought I had this book on my e-reader but it's on my wish list. Since I "found" 15 books earlier in the year that had not been catalogued, I don't want to buy anything new this year as I want my TBR numbers to down. Mr. Penumbra will just have to wait, but I do hope you enjoy it.

67. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai For an award winning book, I was quite disappointed. I read 6/32 (56 pages) chapters and just couldn't finish reading it when I had 11 hours and/or 330 pages to cover. I found the book plotless. There were various narrators and I wasn't sure who was telling the story at any given moment. I thought maybe it was because I was listening to the audio, but then I got the book from the library and still could not follow along. The characters were flat and I couldn't care about any of them. In two words: mundane and boring! This was a tale of India post-colonialism and the struggles that ensued.
DNF 2 stars 386 pages CAT: Scarecrow (DNF)

68. At long last! The Illiad by Homer DIfficult to rate a literary epic. However, the entire book takes place in the 10th and last year of the Trojan War. Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden Briseis, forms the main subject of this book. It seemed as if there were a lot of introductions to characters we never hear from again. The word refulgent was used dozen of times. All in all I'm glad I slogged my way through this. The novelized form of Song of Achilles was more satisfactory to me than the Illiad. I read the translation by Caroline Alexander because that's the one the library had. 3 1/2 stars 604 pages CAT: Scarecrow (BFB's)

69. Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis was a very good non-fiction book about spies and codes during WWII. This is the story of Odette Sansom and her bravery under very gruesome and cruel circumstances. She had all 10 fingernails and toenails removed by a pliers bearing Nazi in an attempt to get her to give up information; she did not. She spent just about 1 year in three different concentration camps, including Ravensbruck where she was so starved the result was irreparable heart damage, although she lived to be 86. Most of this story takes place in and near Cannes, France, from 1940-1945 during German occupation. Odette was awarded the St. George Cross. This award was not without controversy, even until the 1960's due to an adulterous affair during the time she served. A very good read with great documentation. I highly recommend this book. 384 pages 5 stars CAT: Wizard (non-fiction)

70. A More Perfect Union: A Novel by Jodi Daynard. This was the third and final book in The Midwife Series. This book was not about the midwives as the two previous, and I was disappointed. This book was about one of the midwife's sons, Johnny, whose father was an escaped slave and his mother a midwife. Johnny was born and raised in Barbados and only came to the U.S. when he won a scholarship to Harvard. Johnny passed for white and he and his mother returned to the house of his aunt, who was the neighbor of John and Abigail Adams. Adams takes Johnny to DC and they both become embroiled in the Adams vs. Jefferson controversy; which of course I had to look up and read about as an aside. I can tell you, there is nothing new in politics today that did not take place during the founding of our country. 432 pages 3 1/2 stars CAT: Tinman (series)

71. This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer. Archer is one of my favorite authors---I know he's a scoundrel, but he can surely write a book! Archer was a previous British politician removed from office by a scandal, spent time in prison, and now writes prolifically. He writes of what he knows--politics. This is the 8th and final installment of The Clifton Chronicles and I have loved every one of them. 416 pages 5 stars CAT: Tinman (Series)

72. Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom. This is about Corrie Ten Boom's missionary travels to over 3000 cities in 30 years after her release from Ravensbruck, some behind the Iron Curtain. Corrie never raised money, never asked for money for her speaking, teaching, or even for traveling expenses; she relied wholly on God for her needs. This has inspired me to go back and re-read the Hiding Place--it's been about 45 years since I first read it. 192 pages 3 1/2 stars CAT: Munchkins--books with less than 200 pages

The next major city on my walking tour is Dayton, Ohio; home of Orville and Wilbur Wright. It is also home to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is the world's foremost plane museum. They have an astounding display of planes, from the very first prototype to the penultimate Challenger. The cost to get into the museum is free and it is at least 4 hours to go through with kids but I've been known to spend 6 hours. You can go on a guided tour (which I suggest) for free or just walk around yourself. Reporters were dogging the Wright Brothers in Dayton so under the cloak of night they moved to Kittyhawk, NC, and told no one of their whereabouts. There is a mini-Holocaust museum contained within also that only pertains to Holocaust survivors/victims connected to Ohio in some way. Carillon Historical Park contains a Wright Brothers plane, 19th-century buildings and antique trains. The Packard (car) museum is also in Dayton. This is about 2 hours from my home, so when we go, we stay overnight because there are so many things to do. There are also excellent restaurants. The pictures are not mine.

I had fun catching up on your thread! I didn't know there was so much to do in Dayton; I'll have to plan a trip.

And took a few BBs for Alone in Berlin, Leap Into Darkness and Code Name: Lise.

>126 LisaMorr: Ah, you must be a WWII fan?

>127 Tess_W: I do enjoy reading about it, and you've been reading a lot of good ones lately!

73. Heads you Win by Jeffrey Archer Archer has long been one of my favorite authors (Clifton Chronicles). This book was totally unlike either one of his other writings. At first it confused me totally and I had to go to the net to see what was going on. Once I realized that these were indeed parallel stories, (one as if Sasha escaped to the U.K. and one in which he escapes to the U.S.) I quite enjoyed this book. As always, Archer has great character development and writes a first-rate political thriller. 431 pages 5 stars CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (books less than 2 years old)

>129 Tess_W: Glad to hear you enjoyed Heads you win so much, I have it on the list of books I want to borrow from the library. He is terrific at political thrillers.

74. The Great Typo Hunt is the story of 2 grammar fanatics who cross the U.S. in search of finding typos and correcting them. Most are apostrophe and spelling errors. Most of the book is quite amusing and of course the language is delightful. It does slow down for a few chapters when the friends ponder such great questions as: who created the grammar rules, why do we as a nation have to follow them, etc. But all in all it was an amusing non-fiction read. 288 pages 3 stars CAT: The Wizard (non-fiction)

>131 Tess_W: I read that a few years ago and enjoyed it as a grammar nerd, but also (like them, if I remember correctly) felt quite uncomfortable about criticising people who'd never had the chance to learn the rules.

75. The Great Fire by Jim Murphy sets the story straight about the Great Chicago Fire; and Mrs. O'Leary's cow did not knock over a lit lantern! Although the fire supposedly started in the O'Leary barn, the O'Leary's were in bed by 8pm and the fire didn't start until well after 9pm. This was corroborated by at least 2 different witnesses who were knocking on the door of the O'Leary's earlier in the evening. This book is a Newberry Honor book as well as winning nine other prestigious awards. I found this YA book more than deep enough to give me all the info I wanted on the Great Chicago Fire. 138 pages 5 stars CAT: Munchkins (books less than 200 pages in length) Will donate this book to a middle school teacher for their library.

76. Images of America Lancaster by Connie Rutter was the history of Lancaster, Ohio. I work in Lancaster so when I saw this book at the German Village Bookstore, I purchased it in March. It is a very detailed history complete with pictures. The book is divided into Government, businesses, homes, parks, school, fairgrounds, and buildings of faith. Most of the landmarks discussed were razed in the 1960's, but I was able to recognize the few remaining, namely The Sherman House. A great review of local history. 127 pages 5 stars CAT: Glenda the good witch (books less than 2 years old). I will be donating this book to the Fairfield County Historical Society.

77. My Mother's Secret by J.L. Witterick was a story of Nazi occupied Poland, based on true events and a true person. There were 6,000 Jews in Sokal, Poland, before the Nazi occupation, and only 30 remained after the Germans left. Franciszka Halamajowa was responsible for saving 15 of those 30 Jews. The writing was nothing fancy or grand, but the story was simple and poignant. 183 pages 4 stars CAT: Munchkins (books under 200 pages) I have 2 copies of this book and will be donating both to the Friends of the Library for their annual sale.

78. Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. I am not sure, but I think I saw this movie maybe in the early 70's. I can't remember anything about the movie, so the book was "new" to me, except it's one of those things that you vaguely remember but can't recall where and when. I found the book to be of an average read. It was probably more exciting in the 70's. I also found the book full of science terminology and those parts were quite boring for me. I would say the high point of the book are the many tensions which are contained within and not so much the actual storyline. 304 pages 3 stars I read this for the Scaredy-Cat-Techno Thriller for June. CAT: Yellow Brick Road (Misc)

My walking: Leaving Dayton and going north and east, the next major city I would arrive in would be Xenia, Ohio, a city infamous for the great tornado of 1974 which destroyed the town, leaving 35 dead and 1100+ injured. It was an F-5 tornado. (wind speeds 261-318 mph) Xenia is also considered part of the Dayton metropolitan area, just being 15 miles from Dayton. As to the sights to see in Xenia, not much. It is pretty much a rural area, but does have 3-4 covered bridges which are still in use and nice to stop and walk through. A second serious tornado has hit Xenia since 1974 but again, they have rebuilt. There is a story that an electric bill from a desk that was in a house that was destroyed was found lodged in a utility pole, wedged in 4-5 inches because of the force of the wind was so great. The pictures are not mine.

Since I did walk over 10 miles in just 36 hours, I will share about my real walking.....I took my 86 year old mother to Amish country. My mother is very spry and can keep up with me walking, although after 3-4 hours she has to sit for about 5 minutes (so do I!). We stayed at a beautiful Inn, complete with each room having their own private balcony. There were 3 buildings within the complex: an Inn, a restaurant (Amish) and The Ohio Star Playhouse (theatre). My mother reads Amish books like crazy so I "abducted" her for this fun overnighter. We ate way too much, shopped way too much, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. On Thursday evening we took in the Amish musical, "Stolen" which was both humorous and poignant. I wasn't expecting much but I was wowed by the storyline and the performance. While there I bought beeswax candles, homemade black raspberry jam, and some nice crocheted items; nothing real expensive. I fell in love with a quilt; but my wallet didn't. All in all it was a great 2 days with my mother, lots of walking and enjoying time spent together. The pictures aren't mine, but we did visit all the places pictured. The picture of our room is mine.

>139 Tess_W: That must have been a lovely trip, thanks for sharing.

>139 Tess_W: That sounds wonderful, and how lovely that you could spend that precious time with your mum.

>142 This-n-That: I had a piece of pie each night--butterscotch and lemon meringue. They were yummy!

79. The Red Prior's Legacy by Alfred H. Bill was the story of a young man who traveled from America to France during the time of the French Revolution to retrieve his father's legacy. The book deals with Henri's travails within France trying to determine who is friend and who is foe. I believe this was probably a YA book, but there was no such thing in 1929, when this book was published. I bought this book for 10 cents at a garage sale. It is a first edition. Sadly, there are mold spots within the book. This book will need to be pitched. 256 pages 3 stars.

CAT: Yellow Brick Road (Misc)

>139 Tess_W: I really enjoy short trips that are fun just for a quick getaway. We have an Amish community within a half day's drive with some fun stores and a farm managed the Amish way, but no inn. I wish they had one.

That sounds like a wonderful weekend getaway. I don't know what's prettier - the countryside or all those pies!

>139 Tess_W: I love that area. My ancestors lived while in the Charm area just below where the Guggisberg Cheese place is--on the opposite side of the road at that little bend. When we got the deeds and matched it to the section/township/range discovering this, my mom said, "My heart always loved this scene." I suppose it's one of those epigenetic moments--a sense this was home passed down through the descendants.

>146 thornton37814: How interesting! Small world!

80. Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis is the story of a con-man, thief, adulterer, and booze-drinking to excess man who sees the profit in organized religion. The story takes place in the 1920's amidst Prohibition. Lewis wrote this (I believe) as an indictment on both preachers and religion. The story is about hypocrisy not only in the ministry but amongst the parishioners. The story line was dated but I believe one could just insert the name of many of the mega pastors of today and the story would still be relevant. This book was so scandalous when published that Lewis was put in jail for for morals corruption. My mother told me there is a movie from the 1960's which I'm going to look up. 466 pages 3 1/2 stars CAT: Yellow Brick Road (Misc)

>148 Tess_W: Interesting - I knew the name Elmer Gantry, but didn't realise it was a novel. I have Lewis' It Can't Happen Here on my TBR.

81. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Field. This book took me months to read because I could only stomach it in small doses. It wasn't that the story or the writing was bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. The book reminded me a lot of slap-stick comedy; which I abhor and don't find comedic at all. This is the story of Tom Jones, a bastard (word used by the author), raised by a good and decent man. Tom's adopted father doted on him and that made everybody else jealous. Most of the book is about those plotting against Tom, who for all his foibles is a kind-hearted person and would help anybody from the dregs of society to Lords and Ladies. I'm rating it a 3, just barely, because it was difficult to stay focused. This book was free on Amazon. 642 pages CAT: Wicked Witch of the East (1001 books) One more chunkster to complete and then I'm going with something briefer!

>139 Tess_W: - What a lovely trip! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

>150 Tess_W: - Congratulations on finishing Tom Jones!

82. Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson was an 18th century story of Clarissa Harlowe, a young girl, who rather than be forced by her family to marry a man she despises, is aided in running away by a real scoundrel. This book is written in epistolary form with Clarissa and her best friend, Miss Howe, being the primary letter writers. Miss Howe is a true friend to Clarissa throughout the very sad story. This was a very long book and began to drag in the middle when Clarissa and her friend constantly moralize on their fates; it's very repetitive. There are some parts that are unbelievable; such as when Clarissa is moved to a lodging, which in reality is a brothel (twice) and she has no idea. Maybe naivety is supposed to be part of the story line; but from the beginning one would not assume Clarissa to be naive. 1534 pages 3 stars CAT: Wicked Witch of the East (1001 books)

Congratulations on finishing Clarissa!

>153 lkernagh: my last 3 chunksters have been a real struggle; been reading some of them since April! But I feel real good about it now!

June Summary: 20 books read, 2 books DNF. I must admit that 20 is a very large number for me for just a month. May helped me out a lot--I started 3 BFB's in May and didn't finish until June. Also, June was my first month of school vacation and I didn't do much but read. I'm going to have to do "spring" housecleaning in July--but at least I can listen to an audio book while working. Monday is taking down curtains, laundering, and ironing same and putting them back up (after I've washed the windows).

Best June read: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Wow, that is an impressive number of books for one month!

I'm impressed you've finished both Clarissa AND Tom Jones. I'm just about to tackle the latter, the former scares me. I suspect I'd be reading it for months!

>158 Helenliz: I may have actually read Clarissa longer...not really sure, may have started in April.

83. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson was a short, 95 page book that pondered the meaning of life. This was published in 1761 and it is dated with a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo. Of course, the ending concluded one was unable to ponder the meaning of life. Had this been much longer than 95 pages, I would not have finished it. 2 1/2 stars CAT: 1001 Book This was a book I inherited from my grandmother but it appears to have never been read. There are various editions (mostly edited by) that run anywhere from 74 pages-294 pages. My book, published in 1961, makes no mention at all of being abridged. I will say my book had font size about 7!

>160 Tess_W: I read Johnson's diary of his journey round the Highlands and Hebrides with James Boswell, and I thought he was a dreadful bore!

Congratulations on finishing two chunksters! Well done!

>160 Tess_W: Good that yours was inherited. I often pause before ordering books published in the 1970s and older because the font is always so small.

>162 VivienneR: Mostly why I read ebooks--I can adjust the font size. If I have a classic paper book and the font is small, I see if Amazon or Gutenberg has it for free d/l so I can read it without struggling. I have gradient bifocals but still struggle to see font much smaller than 11. I have been to a M.D. and an opthamologist and both claim with my glasses I have 20/20 vision (or better). However, the problem still persists with small font.

Spent the day outside (when it wasn't raining) pruning and weeding. The blackberries will all be in next week if the warm nights continue (been in the high 80's F). Blueberry bush just planted in May, so nothing this year; hope it survives!

84. I was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhorn is a great novel about the youngest and "lost" Romanov Tsaress. Being a historian, of course, there were many side tracks I had to go down to become more informed: Alexander Kerensky, Boitkin, Rasputin, The Ural Soviet, and the latest DNA testing (2007). I also tried to find out more on Anna Anderson, but I was unable. I still have many unanswered questions: 1) How did Anna know so much about the royal court? 2) Why did her physician's son (who she played with as a child) and tutor both claim Anna was Anastasia? (She told her physician's son, upon his first visit to bring his "fun" animals with him. These were funny clay formed animals that they both enjoyed together. She named specific animals.......the Dr.'s son claims nobody could have known that but Anastasia 3) Why did others claim that she was not Anastasia? 4) The deniers claim Anna was Polish. However, she spoke both Polish and German with a Russian accent. 5) Recent DNA tests on bodies found near the original grave site were tested and "scientists" confirmed that one of those bodies was indeed Anastasia. 6) A Russian scientist said the tests were done hurriedly and the results were inconclusive; but the Russian government wanted the information to be quickly disseminated and the case closed. This man is a rogue; maybe in it for the "fame." Just my rambling thoughts........352 pages 5 stars. CAT: Glenda the Good Witch (on my shelves for less than 2 years)

After swimming all day and eating well (no junk), I was craving junk! So what do I do at 9pm at night? That's right, make a batch of peanut butter cookies. I ate them warm and they were sooooooooo good!

>166 Tess_W: Mmmmmmm peanut butter cookies are so good!!

85. Vathek by William Beckford Vathek is an Arabian Caliph whose kingdom is marked by violence, even though Vathek has lived for many years in his 5 palaces; one for each of the senses. Of course, Vathek can not be happy for what he has, and he goes in search of the "dark" treasure; which is knowledge. One of the things he has to do to obtain this is to sacrifice 50 children. He does this and his people turn against him. Vathek finds out that he can not outrun his eternal damnation. This really is one of the most boring books I have read! Why did I read it? It was short and on the 1001 books list. Not recommended. 141 pages 2 stars CAT: The Wicked Witch of the West (1001 BYMRBYD)

86. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol is a short story of 45 pages. It is absurd and it is supposed to be. It's a commentary on how people say and do very silly things. Meh 42 pages 2 1/2 stars CAT: Munchkins (less than 200 pages)

87. I've Been Thinking by Maria Shriver. This is a great inspirational, common-sense book. It's good to be reminded that everybody has family problems, we can't be perfect, and the most important thing in life is kindness. 239 pages 5 stars CAT: The Wizard (non-fiction)

>165 Tess_W: I have had this on my list for a while as I love Russian history. I will definitely move it up the list now!

>166 Tess_W: I love peanut butter cookies! Yum!

Not much reading this week as I will be in our nation's capital visiting my BFF. Looking forward to the visit but not to the 100+ degree temps!

>174 Tess_W: Are you going to any bookstores? ;) There are a couple of fun ones near Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill Books is one of those claustrophobic used bookstores that's fun to dig through, and East City Bookshop is a shiny new indie.

>166 Tess_W: - Warm peanut butter cookies - yum!! Have fun in DC.

>175 christina_reads: I have been to Capitol Hill Books and I love it. But I don't think this time we'll be going. My friend is actually picking me up at Dulles and then we are off to parts unknown--they want to surprise me, but we are going south! I'm only going to be there 3 days, so not going too far south!

It's good to know about these bookstores in DC although I doubt I'll have much time to spend in one. I'll be attending a conference. Since I needed to fly in the day before the conference, I made sure to take a flight that would put me in town before lunch so I could go to the mall area and see at least one museum before the conference begins. I should have a little space for books in my suitcase, but I'm sure there will be at least one new book at the conference I want. If it gets to be too many, I'll have to use the UPS store which conferences usually arrange to be present the morning of the last day at the conference. I'll be speaking that morning and will need to leave for the airport within the hour after I finish. The airlines cancelled my original evening flight. They changed me to a flight that left too early, and I could not have spoken and made it to the airport. (I originally had all direct flights so they put me on the only other direct flight.) I called and got it changed to one where I changed planes (in Charlotte). It was the latest option they could find for me that day so I didn't have a lot of choice.

88. A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith was basically the life story of Richard III in novel form. I knew little of the Plantagenet's before I read this book which has inspired me to do a little historical research. I find this book to be competent in most of its historical assumptions; perhaps a little less so on the intertwining of Richard and his mistress, Katherine Haute; but it makes for a great story! I will definitely read more of this author. 672 pages (read and also listened to audio while driving--excellent reader). 5 stars CAT: The Wizard (BFB)

I spent the last 3 days in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia; about an hour's drive from Washington D.C. Harper's Ferry is a quaint little town that depends on tourism to support itself. Harper's Ferry is the site of the infamous raid of John Brown, an abolitionist who stormed the Federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in an attempt to arm the slaves to insurrection. This event is known as a pre-cursor to the Civil War. The raid was not successful and was put down by Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Jeb Stuart. Brown was tried for treason and hanged 2 months later. (It took us 40 minutes to find the site where he was hanged! Just a cow pasture today) The town has been recreated to look as it did before the Civil War (which leveled the town). The stores and buildings are very "rough" but period pieces. Besides being the site of the raid, Harper's Ferry was a main thoroughfare of the B&O Canal. Many locks still survive. The John Brown Museum was fabulous and added much to the narrative. This day was well spent even if it was 95 degrees! Also very close by is the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, dedicated to all correspondents who died in the course of reporting battles from the Civil War through Viet Nam. Of course, I bought a book about the raid while there---who could resist?

>180 Tess_W: Who could resist, indeed! Buying only one book shows admirable restraint!

What a great way to spend a couple of days!

89. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Why did I wait so long to read this classic? The plot of this book centers around Mary Lennox, who came to England to live with a brooding uncle who she has never met as her parents both died of cholera. She was a most disagreeable child. While there, she discovers her most disagreeable cousin who has been told he is an invalid from birth. She also meets Dicken, a Yorkshire lad who introduces the moor to Mary and her cousin. Just delightful! 96 pages 5 stars CAT: Munchkins (books less than 200 pages)

90. Since the book was short (98 pages) and I found it (!) I just sat down and read it during the course of a day, and to be honest, that is more than the time I would spend on this book. Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale by Fredrick Buechner is a small book with a small story. The author tries to bring the Gospels into everyday reality: human nature is flawed (tragedy), God's overwhelming love (comedy), and transformation through God's love (fairy tale). I didn't buy this book, don't know how I got it, but I've read it and it's on it's way to the Friends of the Library! CAT: Munchkins (books less than 200 pages), RTT (philosophy or religion) 2 1/2 stars