September AlphaKIT: M and E

Welcome to AlphaKIT for September.
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!

August AlphaKIT letters are : M and E.

and

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

Me! Me! Me! 😁

My book club's September choice is "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles.

I have quite a few choices for E, so I will wait and see how/if they fit in with other felines.

>3 Robertgreaves: A Gentleman in Moscow was a delightful book - enjoy!

M will be easy for me as I read so many mysteries - I am sure I must have a dozen unread books which start with the word 'Murder'!

I'll have to think about E...

I have a long time TBR (2013) that will meet both letters, A Barn in New England by Joseph Monninger. I have two friends who converted barns to houses so it will be fun to compare Monninger's experience with theirs.

I'm planning on reading Assumption by Percival Everett and Paradise by Toni Morrison.

My September plans include Boone's Lick by Larry McMurtry and Kissing the Demons by Kate Ellis, part of her Joe Plantagenet series.

I've got:
• Magic of Recluse - L. E. Modisett
• Unconquerable Sun - Kate Elliot
• Playing for the Ashes - Elizabeth George
• Age of Swords - Michael J Sullivan
• Lines of Departure - Markos Kloos

Looks like I already have an E that will work for RandomCAT. Just need to check on M.

Educated / Tara Westover

Definitely reading Execution in E by Alexia Gordon and most likely will read Tomorrow in the Battle Think of Me by Javier Marias.

I've got The Piccadilly Murder on deck for M, and I'm hoping to find a copy of either Deadly Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly or The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters for E.

Sure Hope I can get some of these done!

✔Bidder End
✔Craks in a Marriage
✔Devious Lot by Ellery Adams
✔Fatal Fabrege by Ellery Adams
Larceny and Old Lace by Tamar Myers
Little Bookshop of Murder
Mahjong Murder Club
✔Marshmallow Malice
✔Matchmaking Can Be Murder
✔Mums and Mayhem
Murder at Chateau sur Mer
✔Murder at Rough Point
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard
Murder in the First Edition
Murder in Waiting
Murder Makes Scents
Murder Once Removed
✔Special Blend of Murder
Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison
✔Study in Murder
✔Wine Tastings Are Murder

My choice is Mousse and Murder by Elizabeth Logan. This book is set in Alaska and has been waiting for me!

I've requested A Girl is a half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride from the library, conveniently combining both letters into a single book. >:-)

>13 cyderry: I love that list!!

This would be a good time to read Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, I also am interested in A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, picked that up at the library today.

>16 EBT1002: I foresee a lot of Murder in my future next month!

I'm reading Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. The first two stories are excellent. The second one is a sort of inventory of all the people with whom the narrator has slept but the real timeline is the end of the human race due to a pandemic. Beautifully written and hauntingly timely (written and published before Covid-19, of course).

Although I read it years ago, I started a re-read of Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. Love it when I get a double-hitter.

I finished Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell for M.

This morning I finished My Name is Mary Sutterby Robin Oliveira

I couldn't resist reading the first Ed McBain 87th Precinct story, Cop Hater.

First book in September is read, and it fits this challenge:


Milo Talon by Louis L'Amour

The title protagonist finds himself in a missing person mystery, recruited to help locate the heiress to her grandfather's fortune, all the while other shadowy characters try to dissuade Milo in his quest. Good entry in the Talon/Sackett series of books though not as entertaining as The Man From the Broken Hills.

A few books read so far:

Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson
Murder on Lexington Avenue by Victoria Thompson
Execution in E by Alexia Gordon

Mew is for Murder / Clea Simon
3.5 stars

Theda is a reporter and has an idea for a story on cat hoarders after she comes across an older lady in her neighbourhood who seems to have an abundance of cats. She may or may not be a hoarder, but the neighbour sure doesn’t like the woman or her multiple cats. When Theda comes around again, she discovers the woman dead. The police think she just fell, so it was an accident, but Lillian (the old woman)’s young friend and helper (and musician) Violet, doesn’t agree. She insists Lillian must have been murdered.

30-some years old and Theda’s still a bit of a partier, so I wasn’t crazy about that (I thought she acted way younger than her age). Wasn’t as interested in the bar hopping and the music, but loved the cats! So, it was up and down for how interested I was in certain parts of the book, but overall, I liked it enough to look into the next in the series. If it has more focus on animals, I’ll continue; if it’s more focus on music, it’s unlikely. (Another one with a cat title, so I will continue on.)

Since I read Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado for M, I dedicated The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste to the E category. Set in Ethiopia in 1935, it is a story of women in war. A tough but worthwhile read.

Read a mercy by Toni Morrison for another M, title and author.

COMPLETED When God Spoke Greek by Timothy Michael Law.

Starting "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles

duplicate post deleted

Completed Where the Light Enters for my first E
This was second in the Waverly series by Sara Donati. 4* for me although I liked the first one a bit better. I am looking forward to the next installment and willing to wait. She writes long and well-researched books.

I have completed both my AlphaKit reads for September. I switched out Larry McMurtry for Val McDermid and read Northanger Abbey for my M read and I read Kissing the Demons by Kate Ellis for my E read.

I started off with Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man (narrated by Joe Morton but it just wasn't for me! So I picked up another audiobook in my queue, The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1; by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langton). Years ago, I had borrowed the ebook up from Scribd and had to return it unfinished... but as I neared the last quarter of the book, I realized I must have borrowed the whole trilogy as one volume all those years ago and read just the first book in the set! This means the audio is a "re-read" insofar as covering the material goes, but I think I'll use my next credit to get the next book in the series (which I'm pretty sure I haven't read). 'The Map of Time' is a historical fiction novel set in the Victorian Era and contains three sections with interlocking plot lines. It's fun, with nods to H.G. Wells, Jack the Ripper, Dracula and time travel... It's not easily categorized though I see it's ranked on Amazon as "Historical Fantasy" and "Historical Thriller". The whole of it starts off with a young aristocrat who sets out to commit suicide eight years after his paramour has been ruthlessly murdered. What follows is something of a giant magic trick with other sleights of hands nested within! I'm not crazy about the audiobook narrator (I prefer Old School British narrators like Anton Lesser and Simon Prebble) but I've gotten used to him!

COMPLETED A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Starting Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Finished Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

>33 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I have the Map of Time I won that is on my bookshelf. I had forgotten about it.

I ended up reading another M book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

I just realized that a title I picked up off of Audible+ last week also counts! Murder by Other Means (by John Scalzi; narrated by Zachary Quinto) is a short audio follow-up to The Dispatcher. The mysteries are set in a near-future time when murder victims are inexplicably resurrected , naked but fully intact back in their homes regardless of where they were killed. For short stories, Scalzi deftly packs in a lot of information without overtly expositional passages. Quinto is perfect as the audio narrator. I gave the first book 5 stars and the second 4 stars. Why the one-star markdown? Somehow, I didn't feel like the material nor the narration were quite as strong in the sophomore effort. Perhaps the novelty had worn off? Maybe the Irish mobster in the second book sounded a bit too bland? Not sure but I enjoyed both nonetheless!

I just finished Mousse and Murder by Elizabeth Logan. It was a fun read, first in a new series and set in Alaska, which made it interesting for me. (We were supposed to visit Alaska in June, which would be our third visit there, but. . . .).

I've started The Map of the Sky (Trilogía Victoriana #2; by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langton). This involves H.G Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, aliens and arctic expeditions so far and I'm only a. couple hours into a 22+ hour audiobook! I'm really enjoying it though and can't wait to see wheat's going to happen next... :-)

COMPLETED Nine for the Devil by M. E. Mayer

Starting A Cursed Inheritance by Kate Ellis

I just finished Deadly Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly, and now I've begun Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis.

COMPLETED A Cursed Inheritance by Kate Ellis

Starting the same author's "The Marriage Hearse"

COMPLETED The Marriage Hearse by Kate Ellis.

Starting the same author's The Shining Skull.

COMPLETED The Shining Skull by Kate Ellis

Educated / Tara Westover
4.25 stars

In this memoir, Tara Westover primarily recalls her childhood, growing up in a Mormon family in Idaho. Her parents didn’t believe in education, or public health, or anything government-related. Her father sold scrap metal from his junkyard, and enlisted all his kids to help, including his youngest, Tara. As she and her siblings grew up with no education, a few of them decided to leave to get that education they’d been missing. Tara was left at home along with her extremely abusive brother, Shawn, until she was able to get away, as well.

It started off a bit slow, but it built and built, I thought. It was hard as the book continued on – even as Tara left TO get that education she missed out on while growing up – to watch how hard a time she had cutting ties with her abusive family. I guess – it’s her family. Even as she grew to know how they were just wasn’t right, they were still her family.

Hit both letters with South African mystery The artful egg by James McClure.

I completed A Barn in New England by Joseph Monninger for both letters.

COMPLETED Murder on the Mountain by Jamie Fessenden

I am recommending my "E" read:


#79 Jonathan Blair: Bounty Lands Lawyer by William Donohue Ellis

I bought this book at a library discard sale on a whim, based upon the cover. This time the cover method actually worked!

Jonathan Blair is what is referred to as a "Five Dollar Lawyer" by people on the northwestern frontier of the early 1800s, in what is now known as the state of Ohio. He helps the settlers with land deeds, treaties with the natives, etcetera, armed with just his three water-stained law books, doing his circuit on his unnamed bay mount. When a banker with a desire for more control tries to foreclose on the settlers, they find themselves in need of a 100 dollar lawyer, but all they have is Blair. Is he up to the challenge?

I really liked this book, definitely well-researched and full of early US/American history, but never overwhelmingly so. There's a lot of legal discussions, but I never felt bored, nor did the courtroom scenes slow down the story. And you get to know the characters, their strengths and weaknesses. The writing style reminded me of Conrad Richter and other good frontier fiction authors, but Ellis also adds just a bit of humor to keep the realities of the time from being too grim. Definitely recommended, if you can find a copy.

This month I read

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati for E
Stiff by Mary Roach for M
Leading on the Edge by Rachael Robertson for E

>50 fuzzi: Oh darn. I passed up an opportunity to buy an ugly ex-library copy a couple of years ago.

I finished A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride for my ME. This was a tough read in more ways than one.

Salt: A World History / Mark Kurlansky
2.5 stars

This is pretty much what the title says. It looks at how people have used salt throughout the world and throughout history – what they’ve used it for, how they’ve obtained it and made it useful to them, and more.

It was very long. Some parts were interesting, but much was kind of dry for me. I did learn a couple of interesting things, like ketchup was initially an anchovy sauce! Nothing to do with tomatoes! And places in England ending in “wich” in the name at some point had salt mines.

I finished up The Map of the Sky (Trilogía Victoriana #1; by Félix J. Palma; narrated by James Langton) and, if possible, loved it even more than the first-in-series, The Map of Time! H.G.Wells' novella, The War of the Worlds seems to be coming true! There's action-adventure, melodrama, Christopher Nolan-level of smoke-and-mirrors and, a truly amazing scene set in the Antarctic and Edgar Allan Poe and... so much more!Yes, I cheered, I laughed, I cried... I cannot wait to start The Map of Chaos, the third book in the trilogy-- though this one was not made into an audiobook edition so I will be reading it in print!

The Sometimes Daughter / Sherri Wood Emmons
4 stars

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes was born at Woodstock to a high hippie mother, Cassie. Cassie later becomes upset when her husband Kirk “sells out” and goes to school to become a lawyer, so she leaves Kirk and Judy when Judy is only 6-years old to live on a commune. Cassie pops in and out of Judy’s life as the years go on and as Judy grows up.

I really liked this. Have to admit this was a rare book that started stronger than it ended – at least for me. Overall, though, I’m going to keep it at the 4 star rating I was thinking throughout the first half of the book. I was a bit disappointed in some choices Judy made as a teenager. I did love the relationship between Cassie and her dad, though.

>52 NinieB: I expected it to be cheesy, but it was totally NOT.

Hey! There are many editions available on bookfinder.com, including a brand new 1999 reprint!

https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?full=on&ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_...

>58 fuzzi: Lots of copies out there! I don't feel so bad now for passing up the ex-library copy. :)

I guess I forgot to note that October thread is up and has been for some time: https://www.librarything.com/topic/324373

I have managed to read several books for this month's KIT:
Memoirs of a Geisha and Mayhem in Margaux for M
An Enemy of the People, Espresso Tales, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, Executive Orders and Evidence of Things Seen for E

Reading The Sceptred Isle Club by Brent Monahan

>60 majkia: I missed it, thanks!

Forever / Maggie Stiefvater
2.5 stars

Possible spoilers for previous books... Maggie is now a wolf; everyone thinks she is missing, but Sam knows otherwise as she is staying with him. Famous musician Cole (who has also been missing, I think) and friend(?) Isabelle also know that Maggie is still alive.. Isabelle’s father(?) is insisting on a wolf hunt to get rid of the wolves once and for all.

I missed a bit too much in the first half to give it a higher rating. As usual, a better recap would have been appreciated... but then, maybe there was one and I missed it? It did pick up for me in the second half, and I paid more attention (I was listening to the audio, so that’s always easier for me to lose focus). It’s unfortunate I never did really figure out where Cole or Isabelle fit in, nor did I like either character very much.

I am reading The Mothers which I obviously won't finish in September, but so far I am glad this category and the Reccies cat pushed this book to the top of my list.

I managed to read books by 3 "M" authors in September:

Plague City, by Jonathan Morris
The Scheme for Full Employment, by Magnus Mills
Gideon’s Night, by J. J. Marric