April AlphaKIT: S and T

Welcome to AlphaKIT for April.
The rules are... none! Use the letters however you like to choose your reads for the month. Well, okay, there is one rule: Have Fun!

April AlphaKIT letters are : S and T.

and

Please remember to update the wiki and enter books alphabetically: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2020_AlphaKIT#April:_-_Letters:_S_and_T

I am thinking of reading Crimson Snow by Jeanne Dams. I found a used copy in the Little Free Library near the grocery store. I like the historical settings of the novels in this series, especially since I used to live in South Bend, Indiana and visited some of the sites she describes. I attended a book group and a Q and A with Jeanne Dams years ago. Not sure of the "T" book yet.

Some books that I'm contemplating:

Stinger by Diana Chambers
Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
Molten Mud Murder by Sara Johnson
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Dodge City by Tom Clavin
There Will Be No Miracles Here by Gerald Casey

Thank you!

I have the following on deck for April:

The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli
My Name is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi

I currently have these planned:

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
The Bird in the Tree - Elizabeth Goudge
Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John le Carre

My book club has "Oh Dear Silvia" by Dawn French scheduled for 4 April. Whether we will actually meet in present circs is of course problematic. Some of us chime in via Skype, so we will have to consider moving the whole thing online.

For T, I am considering "The Prodigal Tongue" by Lynn Murphy

My plans for April include the latest book in one of the series by Alexander McCall S that I'm reading and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

(I can't get the touchstone to work - I know it has something to do with how I put the number in)

Planning on:

Www:Wake - R.J. Sawyer
The Time Traders - Andre Norton
The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Srtoss
Barbary Station - R.E. Stearns

For letter T, I plan to read Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell. Touchstone not showing up.

These feel like pretty easy letters, but if I don't get to them with other challenges or have extra time, ones I might like to get to:
Stay / Allie Larkin
Stuff / Gail Steketee
The Forgotten Sisters / Shannon Hale

Big Cherry Holler / Adriana Trigiani

Here's my possibles:

Columbus Affair by Steve Berry
Death by Chocolate Frosted Doughnut by Sarah Graves
Death of a Blueberry Tart
Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
Murder at Chateau Sur Mer
✔Murder in the Storybook Cottage
✔Murder with Clotted Cream by Karen Rose Smith
✔On Tuesdays, They Played Mah Jongg
✔Sauvigone for Good
✔Shredding the Evidence
Southern Double Cross
✔Southern Harm
Special Blend of Murder
Spell for Trouble
Statue of Limitations
✔Stayin' Alive
Study in Murder
✔Study In Scarlet Women

I'm not going to be able to use my usual method this month - the book on order is stuck in the now closed for the duration library. hmm.

>13 Helenliz: So are many of my choices!

>13 Helenliz:, >14 JayneCM: I am making good use of Libby (ebook library loan system) which is usually my first choice anyway. Do you have such an app?

>15 beebeereads: I just can't get used to ebooks - much prefer the real thing! Although there is one book I will have to read online as I have very few books that will fit into the ScaredyKIT. Going to read The Turn of the Screw on Project Gutenberg.

>16 JayneCM: Understood. We all have our reading preferences. My preference just happens to be convenient during this sequester. The small pile of library books that I have at home right now will not be due until the library re-opens...so there's that! Also our library book club will meet next week via Zoom so not everything has gone away, just changed. Read on!

>15 beebeereads: I do too much work on a screen to want to read on one. Also, I'm trying to avoid screens at bedtime, which is when I do most of my reading, so I tend to pass on the e-books.
Mind you, not like I'm going to run out of books any time soon, it's just I can't get the one I'd earmarked for this challenge from the library.

I'll probably read something by Scott Turow. I'm pretty sure I've got a few around the house somewhere.

This should be a good month for me, I have The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor to read for Reading 1001.
I have The House on the Strand to read for F2F bookclub
I have The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson to read for Time Travel.
And the last two are ROOTS.

I've got one identified that covers both letters: Time Storm by Gordon Dickson.

Starting The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette. Sounds as if it should be fun.

I read The Bus on Thursday for T.

Starting "The Trauma Cleaner" by Sarah Krasnostein for a double.

Just finished Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, which will also fit into the Library or Thing bingo square.

COMPLETED The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein

Starting "Smut" by Alan Bennett

Finished Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes for my first S book of the month.

Just finished Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell. Apparently this was published under the title The Girl Savage which I like a lot better!

BTW, The Spaceship Next Door is terrific. Funny, and imaginative.

COMPLETED Smut by Alan Bennett and Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Starting "The Prodigal Tongue" by Lynne Murphy

Completed The Time Traders by Andre Norton. Starting A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro...

I needed something very silly today, so I read The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss. I especially liked the story about the empty green pants, since I am rather a scaredy-cat sometimes too. Most of what I fear is in my overactive mind. (Triple letter "s" for this challenge!)

Yesterday I read on my Kindle, Blame it on Texas, Lone Star Cowboys by Tori Scott

I just read a cute little e-book, The Last Single Girl by Bria Quinlan, for "S."

Starting Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns. Space Pirates!

>35 majkia: Ooh, space pirates! Sounds fun :)

I finished The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith. (touchstone not working)

I finished Sakina's Restaurant and Taken at the Flood. Touchstones are apparently still down :(

I'm going to read The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss to cover both letters with one book.

Finished Time Storm - a very different kind of time travel book.

COMPLETED The Prodigal Tongue by Lynne Murphy and The Secret Dead by S. J. Parris

So, am rereading The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi and planning to go on to the follow on books. I'd forgotten just how much I'd loved this book on first listening to it. It also helps that Wil Wheaton is reading it. He makes the humor in the book so much better. :)

Currently reading Jody Taylor's Just One Damned Thing after Another for "T."

I needed a cheerful book so I am rereading via audiobook She Stoops to Conquer, the 18th century play by Oliver Goldsmith.

It occurs to me that my most recent completed book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, would work well for S.

I've read A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd for T.

So far this month I have read the following "S" and "T" books:

Threads: A Depression Era Tale by Charlotte Whitney
Why Mermaids Sing by C.S. Harris
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
Where Serpents Sleep by C.S Harris

Finished a couple more S books:

Molten Mud Murder by Sara E. Johnson
A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber

May thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/318917

Finished The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson for my S.

Finished Fleishman Is In Trouble for T.

Just started Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
YA is not a genre I read often. This was a book club choice so I blasted through it. It was good for discussion, but I couldn't rave about it. Very popular with younger members of our group though. Satisfies my T and S for this month. :-)

I have finished up a couple more for this KIT:
Soul of the Sword (4/18)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard (4/18)

A few more S & T books:

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
Stinger by Diana Chambers
Oishinbo a la carte: Japanese Cuisine by Tetsu Kariya

Finished The Siege, my second book to fit this month.

And one more that fits: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.

I finished The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss, which could of course count for both or either. I gave it 4.5 enthusiastic stars.

Just finished In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.

Finished The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Michael Stanley 3.5★

Kubu has been called in to investigate two deaths at a tourist camp in Botswana. However, one of the murdered men is identified as having died years previously. Kubu is a charming character, nicknamed Hippo because of his large girth.

Throughout the story Stanley obligingly includes information about the history and culture of Botswans and its relationship to South Africa and Zimbabwe.

It's a good mystery but if it had been shorter it would have gained a higher rating. I'm always left wondering why an author believes they have to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.

I've finished The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

>61 dudes22: What did you think of it?

Sacred clowns by Tony Hillerman
Dance of the dead by Tony Hillerman

These were both rereads of installments in the Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn series.

COMPLETED Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

>62 Dejah_Thoris: - You can see my comments here. That was supposed to take you directly to the post, but I must have done something wrong because it only takes you to my thread. It's in post #178.

>65 dudes22: Thank you! I think I can wait a little longer before I get to that one. And thanks for your review.

Several more finished:

Trio for Blunt Instruments by Rex Stout
Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart {reread}
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older (audiobook)
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe

This is sad. S and T should be really easy. I've not read a book this month for a different challenge that fit either of these common letters! I've just finished a T, and I'll be lucky to finish my S before the month ends - and they were both ones I had to pick, specifically!

Anyway, here's my T

Big Cherry Holler / Adriana Trigiani
3 stars

This is the second book in the series. Marginal *****SPOILER***** for the first book . Ave Maria and Jack have now been married for 8 years. They have a daughter, Ella, and lost a son 3 years ago. Jack is a coal miner, but he comes home one day to let Ave know that the mine will be shut down and he is out of a job. Put that together with the continued grief from the loss of their son, this puts an additional strain on their marriage.******END SPOILER******

It was ok. Not as good as the first one, in my opinion, particularly the first half. It picked up a bit in the second half, but I was annoyed with both Jack and Ave for much of the book. I am undecided on whether or not I’ll read the 3rd book... I probably will, anyway.

I just finished a couple more "S" books, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (a cute YA contemporary novel) and The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston (most notable for its original format).

I have finished a couple more S books:
Spill by Leigh Fondakowski - an OK play about the Deepwater oil rig disaster of 2010
Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets - very entertaining & informative series of 'essays'
The Spies that Bind - prequel to YA Gallagher Girl series, fun fluff

I have completed my "S" read with The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli.

Very slow reading month for me but I finally finished up some a couple titles that had been sitting around on my e-reader for awhile and also met the requirement for a couple of challenges like this one :-)

Lies, Damned Lies, and History (The Chronicles of St. Mary's#7; by Jodi Taylor) and the two short stories that follow, My Name is Markham and The Great St. Mary's Day Out. These feature a collection of historians who observe past events in real time, using a pod that looks like a non-descript stone hut that smells like cabbage to transport themselves back to selected time periods. In the novel, a group, headed by Chief Historian, Max heads to Wales and Arthur's cave, the crossing of the Wash by King John, and spend a little time at Stonehenge too! In "My Name is Markham", the POV is from the Deputy of Security as the group goes back to find out if the story about King Alfred burning the cakes is true and; In "The Great St. Mary's Day Out", the whole company heads to the Globe Theatre to watch Shakespeare preform as the ghost in "Hamlet"! The series is fast-paced, fun, and funny and, in the past, I had to pace myself rather than binge them. I hesitated to start the seventh book for so long as the prologue seemed so... depressing; but I should have had more faith! That said, I think I'll stop here with the series. I got a peek at the eighth book and it has, as its premise something that's emotionally too much for me to deal with even in the best of times, and much less nowadays. (The main character is separated from her baby for eight years. )

Seeing Voices / Oliver Sacks
3 stars

Oliver Sacks takes a look at deaf people in this book. There are three sections. The first one focuses on history (how deaf people were treated, communicated with (if at all), etc.), the second on the brain/psychology/science, and the third on deaf culture, with a focus on a deaf university.

It was ok. I don’t know anyone who is deaf, but I was always interested in sign language, at least from high school, when a friend and I got a book out of the library to try to teach ourselves. I later (15-20 years ago) did take an actual class. But, the book itself – some parts were interesting, particularly the culture/university section, but I found other parts quite dry (the middle section). The book is short; almost half of it is Notes.

I just completed one more "T" book, Not to Be Taken by Anthony Berkeley (enjoyable Golden Age mystery but not a standout). And I think I'll have time to squeeze in a final "S" book, First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn.

Finished one final book for this KIT - A Second Home by Honoré de Balzac, a novella which is part of his Human Comedy...

I read The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor which works for the S and the T.

The Book of Joy / Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Douglas Abrams
3 stars

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams (who had collaborated with Tutu over a number of years) headed to India for the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday and to spend a week discussing joy and how to get there, and celebrating his birthday.

I’m not much into self-help books (this was a gift), but I enjoyed the relationship between Tutu and the Dalai Lama, the camaraderie, the humour. I loved the photos of them dancing, smiling, laughing. For those interested, there is a section at the back that includes meditations and ways that both religious leaders wind down and contemplate things. Overall, the book itself, for me, was ok.

Another book I will count so I can mention it here. I read The Wall by Peter Sis. I would classify this as a graphic novel because it depends so heavily on his drawings. Evidently it was written for his son to explain what life behind the iron curtain was like. I found it interesting and a good companion read for my current book Prague Spring which I will not finish in time for this month.

In April I read two books that fit S, and three that fit both S and T.

S
ATA Girl, by Gemma Page, Victoria Saxton, Helen Goldwyn, and Jane Slavin (Big Finish audio drama)
The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy (re-read)

S and T
Cop Killer, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Thomas Teal)
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol. 5: The Twist, written by George Mann and illustrated by Mariano Laclaustra and Rachael Stott (For the purposes of the AlphaKit, I am considering "The Twist" to be the main title.)
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, by Tanya Talaga

I also read The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurieer, for S.

For the S: Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
For the T: The Hymn Tune Mystery by George A. Birmingham (started in April, finished in May)