Threadnsong Reads and Reads in 2021

Well, while it is a bit repetitive, I did find that these categories are doing well and keeping me on track. So without more detail, I bid adieu to 2020 and start afresh in this new decade:

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe?
Category 2 - TBR pile
Category 3 - New book pile
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series (still on Vol. II)
Category 5 - Classics

January Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe?
Category 2 - TBR pile A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (re-read)
Category 3 - New book pile
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2, Chapter II, "Turambar and the Foaloke"
Category 5 - Classics

January Current Count 2
Yearly Count 2

1) January Category 2 - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
3 1/2 ***

I had no idea what to expect from this book, even what its plot was, when I put it on my list to read at the end of last year (began it this year instead). There were parts where I decided I had wasted my money, especially as what had been the fascinating descriptions of Oxford's Bodleian library became way more detailed and less and less plot. The action went from "Diana is researching these cool alchemical texts" and instead became "Diana is being watched by this group in this area, then that group in that area." Also, the only witches in this book are those who are descended from other witches, not humans interested in the neo-pagan religion. It was like the adulthood of Harry Potter's world: creatures vs. humans.

Still, I'm reading a book about witches who can start fires with their fingertips, vampires, and daemons. Somehow, it just seemed best to suspend disbelief (or maybe discontent?) and just get caught up in the story. And Harkness shows her stuff in the different periods in history and the world-building and weaves them together well.

Once the inclusion of Matthew Clairmont as a main character comes into the story, the storytelling strengthens and we are dealing less with Diana Bishop's personal angst and more with a real plotline. It is heavy on the romance side of things but Harkness also decides that in her world, pretty much anything can happen. And it does. Diana's avoidance of her magical abilities becomes a frustrating, repetitive bit of angst, lending only a little bit of insight into the origin of witches. In fact, both the vampire origins and histories as well as the explanations of the daemons are much better prepared than those of the witches. Maybe the latter will be explained better in her later books? Or maybe Harkness is making a point about earlier times?

I'll eventually pick up the second and third in this series, maybe from the library, just to see how everything works out.

2) January Category 2 - The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
5***** and a heart

OMG this book just keeps getting better as I read it. It's a re-read as a way to re-visit this book prior to reading the sequel that I received as a Christmas gift. And like reading/re-reading Lord of the Rings or Hard Times, I keep finding new enjoyment of it. This time, it was a deeper understanding of the actions between the characters and the foreshadowing of what was to come.

Still a beautiful exploration of the nature of humanity and faith, and I so can't wait to start the sequel in a couple of days.

January Category 4 - The History of Middle Earth series, Vol. II, Chapter 2, "Turambar and the Foaloke"

So this may sound strange to some, but this is my "coffee shop" book. And needless to say, there have not been a whole lot of visits to my local coffee shop to read it. But I am proud to say, I have finally finished all 75 or so pages of it and can post as non-geeky a sketch of it as possible.

What I am most struck by in this volume is that we are getting into the skeleton of Tolkien's writings. While Turin Turambar is mentioned only in passing, probably by Sam, as a long-ago friend of Elves, those of us who have read through The Silmarillion have an idea of what his story consists of: a young human boy whose father is killed in battle, taken into fosterage by the Elves, who kills in a fit of rage several times, then meets the fair Nienor. They fall in love, only to find that they are long-lost brother and sister (revealed by the evilness of the dragon Glaurung).

But here we have a writer tinkering with several elements: names. Is Turambar a Gnome? A man? And why does Mavwin entrust her fortune and her daughter (here called Niniel) to the Woodmen? More detail is brought into the guardians who escort Turambar to the kingdom of Tinwelint (Thingol), and more details about Turin's life among the Elves in Doriath warding off the Orcs from the Gnomes/Elves. And how he was goaded into killing a kinsman of the King which gets him banished (and allows the Orcs to roam more freely).

Anyway, I could go on. It seems like Tolkien really really really wanted to tell this story, but he just couldn't pull all the elements together.

February Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe?
Category 2 - TBR pile Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Category 3 - New book pile Children of God by Mary Doria Russell, The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2
Category 5 - Classics La Vendee by Anthony Trollope

Ya know, if I can finish Les Miserables Vol. 1 in February, I'll be able to check off two categories: #1 and #5! I probably have 50 (?)more pages to go and it's certainly a classic. We'll see how my weekends go.

Ed. Well, sometimes the best laid plans. Both Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies are moved to March, with Zora Neale Hurston my TBR read for this month. This latter is also a GeoKit challenge for North America so it fills 2 categories.

The good news is, I still have this entire week to start (and maybe finish?) Katherine Arden's book above.

Ed.Ed. Finished a book in Category 5 above! Go me!

>6 threadnsong: You have my never dying admiration!!!

>7 Carol420: Thank you Carol! And you have mine for your amazing number of books read along with helping our dear Andrew keep this group going.

>8 threadnsong: Andrew has been one of my very good friends since our Shelfari days. I told him that I would help him with the group in any way I could. I have much more time than he does especially with his trying to keep his school team going during this horrible virus. It's all of you that takes the time to read the books... post the reviews and takes the time to just communicate that makes this such a special group. Those of you that are not members already should join us on the Mystery and Suspense group. Andrew also started and admins that one also and I help him out.

Thank you, Carol. I do love mystery and suspense, and I could certainly up my reading stack with it. I've been meaning to re-read some Andrew Vachss from the 80's, and I've wondered where he and Burke have gone over the years. Plus, I love me some Joseph Kellerman and would like to catch up on my Patricia Cornwell. And I so have enjoyed reading your recent mystery and investigative reads.

3) February Category 3 - Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
5*****

Oh. My. I had some trepidation about reading this sequel, and while holding back for a while was a wise decision, eventually I had to know what happened to Emilio and the Jesuit-led expedition to Rakhat.

This decision was a good one, and led me to re-read "Sparrow" for the third time. And this book also covers two separate timeframes, actually three, while incorporating a whole lotta human arrogance cloaked in the guise of helping. Or concluding. Or something like that.

This book still remains in the head of Emilio and also deals with the second Jesuit voyage to Rakhat to put things right. Emilio serves as a linguist to teach the new group the languages and customs, and he also specifies the language proficiency he needs to be able to teach within a framework that will stand. He begins to heal his heart and falls for a young woman in Naples who has a young daughter. And then he is kidnapped.

Meanwhile, on Rakhat, Sophia Mendes has survived the attack on the Runa town that took away Emilio and Fr. Robineaux, and she gives birth to her and Jimmy's son. Time passes, the Runa form an enclave where they can live separate from the predations of the Jana'ata, and they begin to revolutionize their society. And Supaari finds that his new status is not what he thought it would be upon the birth of his daughter. So he leaves. And Hlavin Kitheri plots more intricately, and soon the entire Jana'ata culture is changed.

There are subtle twists and turns and plotlines, all of which lead to unexpected places. Some are beautiful, some are tragic, and all are heart-tugging in a way that I did not think a sequel could achieve.

4) February Category 2 - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
4****

I have finally, finally read this foundation book of feminist thought, the book so often mentioned as inspiring more recent authors such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. And the two voices Hurston uses in it are both full of lyricism and honesty.

We meet Janie as she comes into her own womanhood beneath a pear tree, watched by her grandmother, and introduced into her new role as wife very abruptly. Which brings the question: was her grandmother right for doing so? Born as a slaves and giving birth to the Master's son's child, one could argue that her options were limited. And on this one theme alone could there be dissertations written.

Janie is married to land-holding Logan, suddenly, and unhappily: she does not find the love her grandmother promised would come. She sees Joe Starks coming down the road in all his fineness and falls for him. They elope, and once again, Janie finds that her voice/self/wishes must be put down deep inside herself for safe-keeping. It is unfair and unequal and this gradual realization leads her to find more of her voice and self.

Finally, with Tea Cake, she finds an equal partner who idolizes her and challenges her to the adventures of farming in the Everglades and learning how to use a gun. But their lives together also end and so she tells her story to her best friend in the town where she and Joe lived.

I had no idea what to expect from this book, nor even that it had been out of print for decades since its publication, until I read the forward and afterword. Its rediscovery was revolutionary and I am grateful my copy was a much-loved and often-read one.

5) February Category 5 - La Vendee by Anthony Trollope
5****

I bought this book many years ago, started it and enjoyed it, then, yes, put it down until last year. And I'm glad I started at the beginning because there was no way I could have remembered the intricacies of the action and characters!

Written by a contemporary of Charles Dickens, this book encompasses the time period during the French Revolution and events that transpired in the "Vendee" region of Poitou and Brittany. They were monarchists who rallied against the Republicans and won several battles for their King. While they ultimately did not succeed in their aims to restore the Monarchy, this region retains a streak of independence.

And unlike his contemporary, Trollope chooses many different types of women characters, with different stories and mannerisms. They are not shrinking or teary-eyed or weeping over their menfolk. Rather, they are mothers and fierce lovers and independently choosing who will be their suitor. And the men characters are also other than "tropes" who fit neatly into a simplified storyline. The story is the richer for it.

A note to readers of this edition: don't get too bogged down in the Introduction of this edition. While it is helpful, and you can reference it later, it's far too flowery of language and accented with commas and references to Trollope's life and works to be at all helpful to a casual reader.

6) February Category 3 - The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
5***** and a Heart

I was so pleasantly surprised that this successor was as good as its predecessor! It is pleasant to read about a young woman who learns to fight, who pushes back against a male suitor, and who overcomes some, but not all, odds against her.

Vasilisa starts in the Winter King's dwelling with her stallion, Solovey, who is as loyal as he is strong. Vasya wants to see the world, much against the advice of Morozko, the Winter King, who still arms her with a sword and teaches her to use it. And gold and some provisions for her journey. Concurrent with her journey are reports of village raiders who burn the villages and steal all the young women. And yes, our Vasya, disguised as a boy, manages to rescue three girls from the most recently-raided village.

She is reunited with her brother, Sasha the Priest, and her sister Olga, who is a lord's wife and pregnant with her second child. These are not happy reunions, however, as they must all grapple with Vasya's choice to turn away from her two paths: convent and marriage, and seek her own way in the world. And when she meets the Grand Prince of Moscow, who treats her as a boy, she also begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle of who the kingdom raiders are.

These dangers do grow as they did in the first book, and not always happily. But the events are logical and brave and tragic and full of twists, and it all comes to a stunning series of events. As in, I finished most of this book in a weekend since it was so well-paced and the events were so interwoven. And the title character? I'll leave that for the next reader to decide!

March Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe?
Category 2 - TBR pile A Perfect Spy by John le Carre
Category 3 - New book pile Deception's Princess and Deception's Pawn by Esther Friesner, Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2
Category 5 - Classics

So it seemed most fitting that books about the childhood and youth of Maeve of Connacht would be a best fit for March, and here they are. I bought them a few years back but I'm still considering them "new." Also, I bought Jim Butcher's book right after DragonCon this year and it's the first book I've read of his.

And "Perfect Spy" was a GenreCat Action and Adventure challenge, and boy! Did it blow me away! It could maybe be considered a "classic" in the genre, but it's still a recent novel.

Looking forward to some coffee shop reading again to read more of Tolkien's work, and some front porch/back deck reading once the pollen count goes down to finish up some books that need finishing!

7) March Category 3 - Deception's Princess by Esther Friesner
2**

Oh. Oh my. I really think this book and its successor fell waaaay short of what it could have been.

It is a meandering tale of young Maeve of Connacht, about whom the historical record is sketchy, as she grows up in her father's household, he being the High King of Ireland and she his "spark." She is the youngest of the daughters and early on gained a lot of bardic tales when she managed to escape from her father's prized black bull. As she grows and her sisters go into fosterage, she becomes a prize to be won for any young man as she will inherit a worthy dowry.

It sounds like it would be a great book for young women, as Maeve rules her own kingdom according to "The Castle Raid of Cooley" written by early Christian monks. And I liked Esther Friesner's treatment of Helen of Troy in two previous books I read of her. And maybe it is for women whose male relatives let them down repeatedly? Or keep them under a constant, watchful eye whilst making promises only to undo them in devious ways? Maybe that was the audience? But if so, why does not Maeve learn from her experiences; why is this learning not part of the teaching tool of YA lit for this book?

This tale contains far too many events to try to prove a point, rather than tell a tale, causing it to be extremely scattered and unfocused. And there is one incident towards the end of the book that is horrendously cruel and could have been re-worked with similar results; the characters would wind up going on their separate journeys without such needless destruction.

Any author can make her characters' actions different, and I wish Friesner had done so with her dominant characters, and created a more substantial plotline.

8) March Category 3 - Deception's Pawn by Esther Friesner
2 1/2 **

Picking up with Maeve now living in fosterage, she must navigate the petty jealousies of the young women also living in the castle. And she is no longer under her father's eye and the eyes of all the young men who came to pay their respects to the High King. She is still living with other people's expectations of her and it is a burden.

Still, I found Maeve's scattered nature one that I don't really enjoy in the heroines, of adult and young adult literature both. I had to continually ask myself how she is going to manage her own kingdom and its machinations. Several of the plotlines are resolved from the previous book, and its depiction of the times and customs are probably valid.

9) March Category 2 - A Perfect Spy by John le Carre
5*****

I never in my life would have thought I would enjoy this book as much as I did. It is a classic of spy literature and rightfully so. And it's also not so much the cloak and dagger type of thing, the "I saw my contact across the street with a newspaper and we had a conversation about such-and-such country" but rather what it takes for someone to become a perfect spy.

The events happen and are explained, and then referred back to again and again until the entire narrative and its missing parts come together. The mastery of writing that this takes is not to be overestimated; I've recently left reviews of books that seem to jump all over the place without a firm plotline. But this book is different.

It starts with the grandfather, a notable MP, then Rick the father establishing himself as a good talker, and Pym taking in the adoration of his father while painting a fuller picture of a con-man. What is another constant theme are the people who get caught up in plots and cons and who really pays the price.

Pym's life is haphazard at best, teaching him that nothing is stable and to believe no one. His first love, Lippsie, is one of Rick's chief assistants and probably his mistress, who is his bright and shining light in Pym's horrible boarding school. Through overheard conversations between her and Rick, Pym begins to learn that words like "thief" belong to his dad.

While I wanted to results of the central investigation that are the central plot of this book to play out differently, le Carre creates a shattered soul who reaches out to a kindred spirit. The human costs of con artists become front and center with Pym and Axel and the countries they serve.

10) Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
3***

I really, really wish I liked this book better. I know the Dresden Files get a lot of stars and Jim Butcher is a very popular author. I love me some supernatural mystery urban fantasy, but this book seems to fall short. Maybe it's all the explanation as an action or plotline gets started? Maybe it's Harry Dresden's haplessness no matter what? I dunno. But at least I've read him and can say as much.

April Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe? The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally, Chapters 29 and 30
Category 2 - TBR pile Guardian of the Freedom by Irene Radford
Category 3 - New book pile Poetic Edda, The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2
Category 5 - Classics

And with spring comes warmer weather, and once again, I'm looking to enjoy what looks to be a lovely spring in ATL! Hilary Mantel's series is just begging at me from the shelves, and the "Poetic Edda" is just such a classic and a reference to so many fantasy pieces.

Plus, having longer weekend evenings means I can most certainly read a few more chapters of Les Miserables or The Great Shame. Especially with the latter, I just. want. it. done.

11) Bring Up the Bodies by Hillary Mantel
5*****

Still an incredible book, with Mantel's style and re-telling of the downfall of Anne Boleyn from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell.

I re-read it as a prelude to the final book in the series, "Mirror and the Light" so that I could feel more up to speed in the detailed events and intrigue. And because Hillary Mantel's narrator voice just gets into my head and stays there, in a delicious way.

April Category 1 - The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally
Chapters 29 and 30!

Chapter 29 - "The Fenian Whaler"
Chapter 30 - "Perth Regatta Day"

These two were so closely tied together that they are basically one great big adventure story that started in the previous chapter with the decision by members of Clan na Gael to outfit a whaler and use it to bring Fenian prisoners from Western Australia to the US.

So by Chapter 29, the Catalpa is outfitted with Captain George B. Anthony at her helm, a crew of whalers, and coded messages to be sent to Perth and Fremantle where the contacts are to help the prisoners escape. John J. Breslin is one of the main contacts who has to make his way to Western Australia with an alias (Mr. Collins) and a cover story for why he keeps hanging around the area. Fremantle is where the prison is located, and it's his job to convey to a select group of prisoners who will leave, and how, then wait for future orders.

And the whaler does finally arrive, by way of the Canary Islands with several deserters, a few new crew members, and a whole bunch of lumber that has to come on board for the eventual quarters of the escaped prisoners. Except it's a top-secret plot and Capt. Anthony has to maintain discretion so that the authorities in Perth are not alerted to this plan. And, yes, it's a whaling vessel, so that.

Chapter 30 goes into a continuation of the adventures of sneaking this transport of Irish convicts out of Fremantle, cutting the telegraph wires (but not too early), Easter weekend, storms at sea, and whether an English vessel will travel north or south from Perth and thus interfere with the rescue. (It travels north.) With all of these delays and changes in plans transmitted by telegraph, messages are sent and received at the very last moment, till the convicts are able to escape and make their way to the whaleboat waiting at Rockingham. Once the escape is discovered, the steam-and-sail English ship, the Georgette used by the British colonial authorities, does catch up with the Catalpa with the convicts on board, but the orders are not to board an American whaling vessel without express permission of the Captain.

This is the final transport of escaped Irish convicts from Australia, and the latter part of the chapter describes the lives and in-fighting that occur even before they land in New York. Once again, Keneally's research is brilliant and thorough.

12) April Category 2 - Guardian of the Freedom by Irene Radford
4****

The final volume in Irene Radford's "Merlin's Descendants" series accomplishes a lot. It ends in a good spot in her storyline, incorporating as it does the political machinations of King George III and his Ministers, and the primary movers of the American Revolution. There is also the Demon of Chaos who attaches itself to one of the central characters, and a sort of splitting of the line of the Pendragon among two female heirs of the line.

In the mid-1700's young girls do what they are told, even if they are descended from lines of magicians and don't wish to wear skirts. Young Georgina, sister to the current Pendragon, decides she will seek her own fortune. She uses her swordfighting skills and moves to the Continent, where she meets with Casanova. And before you start thinking of "hot and steamy" with that name, be assured that her encounters with the great swordsman and lover take place mainly off-stage and in the past. Georgie, the mercenary (whose batman is also a woman disguised as a man!) is able to use her magickal powers during several battles in Austro-Hungary.

There is some repetitive-ness that does happen in Radford's books, mainly Dr. Marlowe who wants to re-animate his dead son by using books from the Pendragon archives and will stop at very little to access them. Including using his medicine to drug Georgina's brother Drake into senselessness for several years, and also uses arcane powers to summon the above demon.

In the Colonies, Radford's ability to weave history with storytelling moves to the forefront, and we see from Georgina's eyes (and other characters' to some extent) the conditions of slaves, women, and the desire for a Revolution. The events leading up to it, including those that are barely hinted at in schoolbooks, are well told.

Again, I'm glad she ended her series where (and when) she did, and I'm glad she wrote them as well.

13) April Category 3 - The Poetic Edda, translated by Harry Bellows
4****

This is a fantastic book on so many levels. The explanation of the translations of the poems is well done, the translations are well-crafted and follow the meter of the original, and the footnotes are more important than I first thought. In other words, it was not a quick read through ancient Icelandic poetry! It was worth reading to gain an understanding in this work that is important to music, Tolkien, and mythology in general.

All that said, this translation is from 1926, long before Wagner became problematic. But it's also from 1926, so there were few (if any) women writing about this subject matter and comparative mythology was in its infancy. Bellows compares his translation of the material with other translators, and gives justification for why he chose to include a line or change the order in a stanza. He also gives detailed notes of the movement of a poem's final written format, gathering information about whether it originated in Northern Germany (mentions of the Burgundians and Attila the Hun are key here) or whether it came from more northern countries. All of that information is necessary to a greater understanding of these poems.

What I would like to see now is women's research on this same subject matter, especially since the oldest poem in the cycle, Guthrun's Lament, involves the repeated telling in the other poems of Guthrun's life. She is wife, sister, mother; in one cycle she is originally married to Attila the Hun (yes, really, that Attila) while in another he is a later marriage and it is he, and not her brothers, who betray her beloved Sigrun (Siegfried). Is she one of many betrayed women? Or was she a famous queen in her own right about whom tales have sprung no matter their original subject matter (think: King Arthur)?

Worth reading, though, especially for those with an interest in Tolkien, or early poetry, or Scandinavian/Icelandic history.

May Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe? The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally. Have one last chapter to read!
Category 2 - TBR pile The March by E.L Doctorow, Eleanor of Aquitaine by Regine Pernoud
Category 3 - New book pile Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir (kinda new)
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 2. Now that I can read in (really, outside of) coffee shops again, I started the chapter on Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin
Category 5 - Classics Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Vol. 1

Yes! I spent some time this afternoon reading at a coffee shop! It was so nice to have the time and focused intention of reading this early, early work of J.R.R. Tolkien's, especially after reading The Poetic Edda last month. This chapter is long but mostly just story instead of notes and footnotes.

And some time reading "Les Miserables" has been well-spent. My French is coming back to me (and Hugo is fairly easy to read), so I may, just may, finish this book this month.

And holy cow! "The March" is hard to put down. The historical part of the battles feels just like listening to teachers in elementary school. Which brings up some interesting thoughts about what I was taught and by whom: how many of them were proud Daughters of the Confederacy?

14) May Category 2 - The March by E. L. Doctorow
4****

This is overall a good book. Growing up in Atlanta I heard, from as far back as I remember, the telling of Sherman's March to the Sea. From schoolteachers and older adults as well as from my Savannah relatives, who told that Sherman gave Savannah to Lincoln as a Christmas present. And this well-researched book fills in many of the gaps.

The lives of everyone who were in the path of this march were affected: slaves, plantation owners, townspeople, and soldiers on both sides of the war. Doctorow makes each affected group live through individuals, into whom he breathes a history and a life, decisions and thoughts and dreams. There is a wide-ranging cast of characters and he melds them well.

What I didn't know growing up was that the March did not stop in Savannah: it continued up the eastern seaboard to through Charleston and ended at Raleigh. While it is hard to visualize without maps where the battles and skirmishes were fought, there is great detail in the struggles of human and horse and mule, wagon and cavalry and foot soldier that lends humanity to the history.

June Reading Log

Category 1 - Finishing, maybe? The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally. Have one last chapter to read!
Category 2 - TBR pile Eleanor of Aquitaine by Regine Pernoud
Category 3 - New book pile Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir (kinda new); The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth series, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2. Have not visited coffee shops this month, but there will be time this summer.
Category 5 - Classics Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Vol. 1

Well, this was a fine and noble month to be reading, and unlike previous June's, not one where I had much more than time to read and no time to post!

I was asked to play for a neighborhood event, plus there was a class recital to prepare for, and so the "song" became more a part of my life than the written word.

But it all worked out! I read two biographies, simultaneously, of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and really, that was the way to do it. To compare and contrast how two different women writing in the modern era detailed her life made her exploits? adventures? life? all the richer because each biography filled in gaps that the other one left blank.

15) Eleanor of Aquitaine by Regine Pernoud
4****

A very well-written biography of this extraordinary woman and her long, adventurous, difficult life. I first read it as a teen and the locations and many, many names made understanding it all very difficult. I remember, though, the first time I saw "The Lion in Winter" I dashed to this book to find what was historically accurate in that movie. (Hint: the movie is fantastic with great actors, and should be viewed as such!)

There is much detail about side events, such as the sinking of the White Ship of England that resulted in the drowning of William Atheling, heir to Henry I of England and husband to Matilda, future Abbess of the Convent of Fontrevault, and the attack on the baggage train and members of the Second Crusade. Also present in this book are snippets from Troubadours' songs at the start of each chapter that tie in Eleanor with this aspect of her court.

Mme. Pernoud's depiction of the main characters is for me more of a "fleshing out" of these historical personages than a romanticizing of their historical nature. Her biographical sources include the medieval Pipe Rolls to depict the events of the time rather than, as she states, literary sources that formed earlier biographical descriptions of Queen Eleanor. Kudos go to her for delving into these dusty tomes to bring this woman back to life!

16) Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir
4****

A very detailed, historically deep biography of this remarkable woman's life. Told with a great deal of background on Eleanor's lineage, such as the House of Anjou and the Houses of Blois and Champagne (and with family trees to help make sense of it all) as well as great detail on both Louis VII and Henry II. Those details pull in the importance of Eleanor's land holdings and power in a way that make her remarkable life even more captivating.

Ms. Weir also goes into great detail about the battles her sons waged, especially Richard I, "the Lionheart," on her/their territories in Blois, Aquitaine, and other kingdoms of modern-day France. And she also points out that Richard I was the King of England with only 10 months spent in his kingdom. Just 10 months!

But on to Eleanor. She managed to survive 16 years as a prisoner of her husband (having spent last year in lockdown I can appreciate her sanity a whole lot more), and was taken prisoner because she had the brains and guile to counsel her sons to fight for their own kingdoms. And the Second Crusade? She had the audacity to come along and bring other Cruisaders' wives and their courts along with her. Sadly, at the end of the Crusade, many were left to starve or die of Plague because they did not have the wealth to buy transit on the ships back to Aquitaine/Blois/Anjou.

My main gripe with this book is the off-hand dismissal of two facets of Eleanor's life and influence: the Courts of Love and the historical background of Robin Hood. The first is described at length as nothing more than a fabrication by a chaplain at the court of Marie de Champagne, leaving all the other centuries' worth of historical and biographical references of Eleanor presiding over this rich artistic lineage as nothing more than made up stories. For the Robin Hood legend, dismissing the evidence of the historical Robin Hood as "sparse and confusing" and belonging to the 16th Century is troubling in the context of her otherwise strong insistence of historical research and accuracy.

17) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
4****

A deceptively simple book with a journey of self-discovery that resonates on many levels. Young Santiago is perfectly content to graze his sheep along their yearly path through Andalusia, and he yearns after a merchant's daughter whom he plans to marry. He thinks that his life will go as he has planned, and then he meets the old man.

From the wisdom and the riddle of the old man, he takes the fork that leads him to further adventure which also includes some difficulties. How many of us have done something so bone-head stupid that we look back and shake our heads at our lack of understanding? When we don't listen to our intuition, even when it is telling us something in a language we may not understand?

Yet Santiago finds a way out of his dead-end through keeping the dream of his Personal Journey alive despite the odds against him. And as expected, this opens new paths and choices that he had never expected as he journeys to the Pyramids. He learns that oases are grander than he thought and Alchemists are not just those with book-learning, and war and love and reading the vast desert.

July Reading Log

Category 1 - YES!!! I finished it!!! The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally.
Category 2 - TBR pile American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Category 3 - New book pile Ghostwriter by Noreen Wald, The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 I'd really like to finish the chapter on Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin, depressing as it is.
Category 5 - Classics Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Vol. 1. Still only a few chapters to go.

Well, July has started up well. I finished a cozy mystery (review pending below) and am really getting into "American Gods." I mean like, really getting into it. And it may be next month before I finish "Mirror and the Light" because it is an enormous book! But oh, how I love Mantel's writing style!!

Now that our little corner of the world is back to being open, I'm visiting with friends and spending weekends with them. So if I finish some of these chapters I will be happy; if not, there are months to come. Gonna cut myself some slack here.

18) Ghostwriter by Noreen Wald
3***

Well. It sounded interesting. And it started off interesting: a 12-Step Group for Ghostwriters, those unsung heroes and heroines of the publishing world who write without their own names. And it could have been a look into a cozy mystery whodunit for bibliophiles.

Sadly, though, it began to fall into a guidebook for New York City (does everyone take taxis??), its different streets in the borough: "that walk from 71st and First to 59th and Third" is a typical bit of information that really doesn't seem to matter to the plot, only to the guidebook style that bugs me. And the amount of time spent with Jake, our heroine and sleuth, as she frets with her make-up and hair made me do too many eyerolls.

There were interesting characters, though too many to make an effective plot, and lent the plot an air of being scattered. The mystery is solved, but it was too sloggy for my taste.

19) July Category 1 - The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally
5*****

I really, really have to give this book five stars. It is densely packed with personal stories, history, background, and so many different continents that anything less would not do it justice.

Kenealy turns his brilliance in storytelling and research to his own Irish ancestry, and this is no "Danny Boy" warbled in a Boston pub. This is the gritty, realistic shame of the British penal system that sent rebellious Irish off to colonies in Van Diemen's Land (modern Tasmania) regardless of marital status (Keneally's married ancestors never saw one another again) or whether they had a reason for their actions. There were many rebellions and many transports, and the "Great Shame" of the book is manifold: the Irish who were never able to flourish in their own country, the treatment of the Irish by the British government, and the achievements of many of the transported Irish in their new countries.

There were landholders in the burgeoning Tasmanian and Australian Outback posts, including Perth, Civil War leaders (yes, on both sides), a Governor of Montana, and the rise of such movements as the Fenians. And these many stories, continuing with the Young Irelanders, is what makes this book so dense. As Keneally's ancestor lived in Van Diemen's Land, Keneally weaves in the life of other Irish conscripts forced to make a new life in a new land far from their homeland. Then he moves to Australia, prisoner escapes and the details it took to get them smuggled onboard ships, their reception by the Irish in San Francisco, their rise to prominence in New York and New York's politics, and he does not stint in the details. Some of the men were good, and some not so much: one Young Irelander became a Tennessee slaveholder, not seeing the parallels between his oppressing of other humans and his own oppression in Ireland.

I found it necessary to read a chapter at a time; others may be able to read this book at one sitting, and I salute them. It was worth the time and effort, though, that went into this book.

August Reading Log

Category 1 - I guess I can move Les Miserables up here now.
Category 2 - TBR pile American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Category 3 - New book pile The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 "Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" All that's left are the Endnotes!
Category 5 - Classics A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

Having finally, finally finished Thomas Keneally's amazing work, I will re-order these categories in 2022. I may also change the first category to a "Challenge" category, since I find that these challenges help me focus on what to read next in my reading stack. Sort of like a list!

The "Classics" book here is definitely a classic of sci-fi/fantasy, and is part of the SFFKit challenge for the month of August, books by a woman author. Which is a great category for me in part because most of my books written by women are fantasy where feminist thought was given free rein. Sort of putting the ideas into action and demonstrating how it could work to have women in charge.

20) August Category 2 - American Gods by Neil Gaiman
5*****

Spectacular book! I read it because I've loved other Neil Gaiman books, but procrastinated reading it as well because, well, could it really be that good? And it is. The recommendations from strangers and from friends were well-earned and trustworthy.

Where to start? There's Shadow, newly released from prison early when he learns of his wife's death, in a car, with his best friend. Grief on multiple fronts. Then there's Wednesday, and for any of us with any knowledge of Norse Mythology (thank you, Neil Gaiman!), we know immediately who we're dealing with. And the Anansi Brothers, the first novel by Gaiman that I "read" as an audio book (highly recommend with the accents). And Mr. Ibis. And a mention of Gwydion. And the stories of how these dieties got here: from a shipload of Norse explorers, to an Irishwoman who knows her body is her coinage. To the West African slave trade and the people caught within those terrible chains.

Yes, the storyline does flip from place to place, but there's a reason for it and it's very, very well done. The time on the road, the card tricks, the time spent at Lakeside, all make a tangible contribution to a modern mythology of ancient and new Dieties.

21) August Category 5 - A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle
5*****

What a phenomenal book that still holds up, even decades later. This was the first Madeline L'Engle book I read and it is still my favorite. Written in the mid-70's with a teenage woman as the protagonist, and a scientist as a mother, and the family doctor as a woman, it was as revolutionary in its characters as it was in its concepts. Cellular biology was getting a boost, and along comes the idea that the powerhouses of our cells, mitochondria, have something that powers THEM, called farandolae.

And then there's the kything with a cherubim! What a cool concept and something that fit right in with the ventures into the paranormal that were also so prevalent in the 1970s. A lot of the thinking got transformed into the New Age movement, but the idea of mind-speaking at a level beyond mental telepathy was fascinating to my 11 year old brain. And I loved Progo as much as Meg does and liked how the two of them have to work to find their connection to one another. Me, I just thought he was cool.

There were a surprising amount of adult-level conversations that Meg has to have with the adults around her: Mr. Jenkins, Progo, and Blajeny. I probably skimmed over them when I was younger, but now I am suitably impressed that no one talks down to Meg or to her brother, Charles Wallace, or even to the twins.

Glad I re-read this classic after all this time.

September Reading Log

Category 1 - Finish the book! Moved Les Miserables up here. And it's finished! Volume 1, anyway
Category 2 - TBR pile Tragedy of the Templars by Michael Haag
Category 3 - New book pile The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, The Great Mortality by John Kelly, Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 "Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin" Finished!
Category 5 - Classics

Finally, finally finished Hillary Mantel's conclusion of her Cromwell Trilogy! And the gi-normous chapter in Tolkien's work! And also a great book on the plague that I bought in May at the Rennaisance Festival and read in line at DragonCon as a sort of reminder of why we were all masked and required to be vaccinated.

And for some light reading, I'll read the next in Naomi Novik's series. I remember when I bought it, too - just after Neil Peart had died and I thought I'd grieve him and then move on. Boy was that a distant past. And this book has a pandemic that is striking down the dragons. Yikes!

It worked! This list did its magic! I finished "Les Miserables Vol. 1" over this weekend!

22) September Category 3 - The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
4 ****

Maybe on the re-read I'll appreciate this book more. And I am so sad to say that - it is a beautifully written work, full of court intrigues and Thomas Cromwell's musings and a whole lotta history. But there was a point at which the political machinations and the conversations just became too much. Too much to keep up with, the enormous cast of characters at the front was overwhelming, and because people are addressed with one title and referenced by another name, it became slow going.

But, I'm sure I'll re-read it in years to come and maybe that will make all the difference. I loved her first two volumes and hope to love this one more.

23) September Category 3 - The Great Mortality by John Kelly
4****

This is a fascinating and in-depth look of the Black Plague that swept through Constantinople, Asia Minor, North Africa, and all of Europe in the 14th Century. It seemed fitting to read it now in 2021, in part to remind myself that we've been here before, and to understand more of what went on way back then.

Kelly does a phenomenal job with explaining where the Plague came from, which rodent on the plains of Mongolia carried the flea, and how there were really two kinds of Plague: pneumonic and Bubonic. I had no idea. He also uses contemporary sources as a way to point out that what was "every living soul" in medieval writing was, in truth, closer to 30 percent or 40 percent and why. Because there were different death rates in different areas.

And how the plague spread from Mongolia through trade routes (think: bags, packs, pack animals, minimal hygiene) to Caffa on the Black Sea, and then from there to Constantinople. Again, the hyperbole of "everyone on board the ship was dead when it was in port" gets a modern historical review.

The amount of death and destruction, though, is immense. Town by town and city by city he leads us, up water routes and across land routes, and writings by those who survived and those who didn't. Also part of the history are the economic and ecological disasters that happened in different parts of Europe; England was especially hard hit with torrential rains that resulted in widespread famine 20 years before the Plague, with resulting lowered immune systems of the children who survived the famine only to die so quickly of the Plague.

What kept me from giving this book the full 5 stars was the author's commentary and interjections of "he must have thought" and occasional pulling together of threads that too jumbled to make a great deal of sense.

24) September Category 1 - Les Miserables, Vol. 1, by Victor Hugo

5***** and heart

Wow, what an extraordinary book. It operates on so many levels and addresses so many themes, many of which are in my tags above: social justice, poverty, child abuse, hunger. Hugo captures the desperation of a hungry boy in Jean Valjean who saves himself, but sadly his family for whom he stole the loaf of bread succumbs to their poverty. The priest who loans him the candlesticks? There is a marvelous passage about this priest and a dying man, who represent the two sides of the French Revolution.

And Fantine! She grieves for a cart horse while her friends and their lovers (and hers) drink and dine and carouse. Hugo's description of her demise into poverty and how a bitter Gossip traces her daughter's whereabouts causes that demise are all too true today. He goes into great detail about how she learns to eat only every other day to save money and how a thin blanket covers her night after night, and the descriptions are just so poignant. And so tragic and unnecessary.

And then there are the passages about Napoleon, where Hugo pretty much asks in today's parlance, "What were you thinking?! M. le General, why did you bring up the heavy cannons when there was so much rain on the ground? And didn't you scout out the dropoff where your cavalry was due to charge? How could you make such military blunders?" What a powerful passage, and one filled with military details that I had no idea had led to Napoleon's loss at the Battle of Waterloo.

A very, very worthwhile book, as timely now as it was then. And off to Vol. II!

September Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, Vol. 2 series, "Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin"

This is only Chapter 3, but it is by far the longest chapter in this volume. And deservedly so: there is so, so much more to Gondolin and its culture and the history of Tuor Turambar than what we read in The Silmarillion. I can also see why it became its own separate volume that is sitting on a bookshelf, waiting for me to read it . . .

As we found with Unfinished Tales, there is much more to Tuor's conversation with Ulmo of the Waters. Tuor journeys down the seaside for weeks (months?) with the added detail of shorebirds who guide him and the boat he builds along the way. His journey to the realm of Gondolin is more in-depth and involves more of Tolkien's detailed geography about the river Sirion and its waterways, and also Ulmo's powers as Lord of the Waters.

Once we get to Gondolin, though, holy cow! The descriptions of the City itself, the layout, the trading areas, the trees (here, remnants of the Two Trees of Valinor), and the vision that Idril has about Gondolin's imminent fall are very, very well fleshed out. I almost think that if this chapter were written today, it would become Tolkien's first book, but only because Tolkien really led the way in the genre of High Fantasy!

Then when we get into the final Battle of Gondolin, the depth of this chapter hit with briliance. There are Heads of the Eleven Houses of the Gondothlim with their standards, their colors, and their armor. Each House has its origins in the work that the members do, everything from the Royal Guard to the Moles, those who delve and dig. There are even musicians! And Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, makes creatures of metal and steel to aid in the attack on Gondolin. Pretty cool, steam-punky stuff there.

These details also help explain why there are so many references to Gondolin's importance in Tolkien's published works, why Sting is such a powerful sword, and why the line of Earendel held such status among all the peoples of Middle Earth in the Third Age.

25) September Category 3 - Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

5*****

You know, just when I hesitate to start a book in this series because how can it possibly top the last one, I read it anyway. And am still blown away by the breadth and depth of Novik's research and insight into her time period!

Of course, reading it post-2020 is a bit, well, relevant? Is that the right word? Because as the book begins, we find that there is a mysterious, contagious pandemic occurring among the dragons in the British Empire. It broke out while the events of Book 3 were taking place, so of course there are no warning signs until Laurence and Temeraire and their crews and dragons land. And Novik describes the conditions of lockdown and isolation, and the effects of the dragons' deaths both on the defense of Britain and on the dragons' handlers.

But since Temeraire does not catch this virus, events and travels become a timeline and the pieces are connected to see how it was that his previous year's journey brought him around the Horn of Africa and to a probable cure. So off to Cape Town go a crew of sailors and less-sick dragons and a ship's captain whose beliefs in the slave trade do not match with Laurence's own. Remember the time that this book takes place, and yes, Wilberforce plays a part in the pre-voyage action of the book.

Events lead everyone to the Dutch settlements in Cape Town, a cure is uncovered, but so is a dragon-centered culture in the midst of Africa who are determined to end the depredations of the slave trade on their villages and people.

And the adventures continue . . .

October Reading Log

Category 1 - Finish the book - picking back up with The Terror by David Andress (started it, put it down, gonna finish it)
Category 2 - TBR pile - either The Demon in Business Class by Anthony Dobranski or Grave Measures by R.R. Verdi. Or both.
Category 3 - New book pile - I think I'll winnow down my TBR pile this month.
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2
Category 5 - Classics Troilus and Cressida by Geoffrey Chaucer has been staring at me for some time.

i've got some musical commitments, including a performance where they're *paying me* to play so I need to be ready. This list may be overly ambitious, or maybe not.

I am giving myself plenty of "nope" this month, as I'm not sure if I really want to read about demons or ghosts, even though it's the month for it. Or if I'm ready to pick up reading about the Reign of Terror again, because it was a pretty intense book when I started reading it.

Also, I'm just about finished with Tragedy of the Templars so when it's done I'll post the review here, as a September finish.

26) Category 2 - The Tragedy of the Templars by Michael Haag
4 1/2 ****

For the scope of its work and its reach into history, this is a deeply informative book on what forces created the Knights Templar. It does not begin in 1119; rather, it begins with the spread of Christianity, in Year 1 C.E., throughout the Middle East. It incorporates the scope of invasions that took place from outlying regions, especially the Seljuk Turks, as well as the creations of the different divisions in the burgeoning Islamic faith.

At so many sections of this book I thought, "Wow, I didn't know that." I certainly had not put together the pieces of how intact Outremer was as a region, how long that had gone back throughout history. The Crusades were an attempt to right what Christianized Europe saw as historic wrongs (and the invaders into the region slashed and burned and killed, no question about it), and even the Crusades themselves are presented with full backstory.

Then we get into the Templars and their training, controversies, and intrigues. They were a disciplined body who faced strong methods from within to rush into danger and not surrender unless a call was given. Haag also gives insight into their building, the difference between the Templars and the Knights Hospitaller, and the loss of so many records on the island of Cyprus. I highly recommend this book for the curious and interested in this region, period, and topic.

27) October Category 2 - Grave Measures by R.R. Virdi
3 1/2 ***

This is a novel concept for a detective/mystery theme, and Virdi's creativity using the idea of a ghost who shares the body of a deceased person to find out "whodunit" gets it 4 stars. Where it loses half a star is the over-emphasis on hard-bitten, gritty detective tropes. A bit of help with the editor's pen may have made all the difference.

The detective wakes up in an insane asylum where the inmates have been dying unexpectedly. Vincent has to assess his new body, and he also finds that his boss, Church, has put him on this case for no reason he can understand. Which is fine - the noir detective always has that bit of grit.

Vince finds his former FBI partner from the previous book, Camilla Ortiz, an inmate in this asylum, too, and they are quickly partnering up to solve this case. And there are plenty of asides for the "geek" community in Vince's descriptions of his whereabouts that kept me highly amused and grinning.

The chaotic diety Lyshae makes an appearance here; my knowledge of Japanese mythos is sadly lacking to know if she is a real member of the ancient Japanese pantheon or simply an invented one. Either way, the idea of a chaotic neutral goddess is spot on, and the realizations that Vince has to make to ask for her help in solving this mystery are very well done.

November Reading Log

Category 1 - Finish the book - picking back up with The Terror by David Andress at some time this month or next.
Category 2 - TBR pile - 24 Days was a book I saw after reading The Smartest Guys in the Room and the "OMG!" moment of realization that it took only 24 days for Enron to collapse was my reason to snag this book.
Category 3 - New book pile - Finishing Young, Damned, and Fair and also reading The Monster Hunter Files for short and concise. And The Winter of the Witch to finish the series.
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2
Category 5 - Classics Troilus and Cressida by Geoffrey Chaucer is still staring at me, so maybe it's time?

OK, OK, so I'm pretty ambitious this month.

I'm really loving "Young, Damned, and Fair" and I cannot wait to finish and post my review. And several reading challenges have caused me to pull out a brand new book ("Monster Hunter") and a book languishing on my shelves that I just *had* to have ("24 Days").

The nights are getting darker longer, and some time is coming up for extended holiday weekends. And I'm thinking some extra reading time is long overdue!

28) November Category 3 - Young, Damned and Fair by Gareth Russell
5*****

What a truly fantastic book! Gareth Russell not only delves into the short life of this unfortunate young woman, he also describes aspects of Tudor life that are merely presented as the foundation in other books. As an example, the fosterage of young men and women. Yes, we know it happened; here, Russell explains not just the household in which Catherine sic was fostered, but how it led to her early death. It was scattered, minimally supervised, and Catherine was roomed with 4 or 5 other upper class women who were also enjoying amorous liaisons with young men surrounding the Duchess of Norfolk. Also, the petitioning of a Queen for a position in her household. How exactly did that happen? Russell provides a letter from Joan Bulmer, nee Acworth, a former "ally in mischief" in their youth, and explains the particulars of what was involved in contemplating royal service.

Also important were the physical placements of the women in Queen Catherine's household: those who allowed in guests and visitors to the main apartments, which rooms were locked from the inside or not, and which pages and women had access to the hallway to the actual private quarters. All very detailed and providing an explanation that is central to the Queen's flirtations.

These were difficult times in which to live and the end of the book describes not just Queen Catherine's beheading and the mutilations and deaths of her paramours, but also the casualness with which Henry VIII condemned to death anyone who displeased him. A well-written and sympathetic biography of a tragic figure in Tudor history.

29) November Category 3 - The Monster Hunter Files ed. by Larry Correia and Bryan Thomas Schmidt
3***

While there were some stories written by favorite authors, and others by authors I have always intended to read, there was much that turned me off of this collection. I think the over-emphasis on heavy guns and ammo in several, including teenagers with assault rifles, were too over the top for me.

I appreciated the variety of what are considered monsters by the authors: not just gangs of trolls living underground and nasty werewolves, but also Imhotep and an encounter with Dippel's Oil by Benjamin Franklin. The Monster Hunters International (MHI) Organization is kept intact by all of the authors, although there do seem to be competing factions within the monster hunting world.

But, I will steer clear of this series. The idea of blowing away "Others" by great firepower is just not my thing.

30) November Category 2 - 24 Days by Rebecca Smith and John Emshwiller
4****

A really good book that covers the stories written by these two Wall Street Journal reports over the course of October through December 2001. I did enjoy "The Smartest Guys in the Room" and when I saw this one, that describes the fall of Enron as happening in only 24 days, I realized I had to have it.

There is a lot of business talk in this book. I was not a business major, nor do I fully grasp how debt is anything but something to get rid of as quickly as possible. The idea of "leveraged debt" is an oxymoron in my (many) books! But all kidding aside, the fact that Enron created such complicated balance sheets and explanations for what they did was part of the problem. So was the complicity of rating agencies - they fell for guys in power who charmed their way through quarterly stock updates instead of asking the tough questions.

This book is along the lines of "All the President's Men," in that it involves the lives of the journalists who uncovered the lies and asked the right questions. And it is fascinating to remember that a couple of tough questions, and a couple of tips shared, began the questioning process that led to the collapse of this industry behemoth. In only 24 days.

December Reading Log

Category 1 - Finish the book - realized that I had no memory of the previous chapters of David Andress' The Terror so I'm re-reading it during quiet time this month.
Category 2 - TBR pile - I looked around on my shelves and found The Hunter's Moon which was absolutely fantastic.
Category 3 - New book pile - starting The Night Watchman for a F2F next month, and also Wintering, a gift from a friend
Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth, The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 - it's perfect Coffee Shop time, isn't it?
Category 5 - Classics Troilus and Cressida by Geoffrey Chaucer

It's been quite a month with two weekends of performances (paid!) and hours of practicing after work to cover them.

And one thing I've realized in looking at my list this year, and low numbers, is that I need to do more light-hearted reading. I guess I've been processing the modern plague and troubled times with reading heavy books. Yes, I've learned a lot about the world, and I need to relax more. So look for more fiction, SFF, and even some cozy mysteries. Plus, I'm dipping my toe back into a F2F book club sponsored by my local library.

31) December Category 2 - The Hunter's Moon by O.R. Melling

5*****

This is one of the best Young Adult novels I think I have ever read. It discusses the Land of Faerie in all its amoral glory, and introduces us to the King of the Fae, Finvarra. And let's not forget the many fairy rings and hills and legends in modern Ireland, even today.

In good storytelling, there is a pair of cousins, one daring and one not so much, who decide to take the summer to travel Ireland. And the daring one chooses that they sleep in a Fairy Mound, and yes, she gets taken by the King as his next paramour.

What makes this book especially interesting are all the ways in which the Fae of Ireland provide hints of themselves. It is up to young Gwen to learn the ways of her helpers and trust her encounters to lead her to her goal: that of returning her cousin to the modern world.

December Category 4 - Tolkien's History of Middle Earth Volume 2 series, Chapter IV, "The Nauglafring"

This is such a fascinating adventure. Here is the journey of the Silmaril, which we know was set into a necklace and is part of both the Beren and Luthien story, and the animosity between the Elves and the Dwarves. Yet in the original writings, albeit first and second drafts in pencil or pen, we see just how involved the story was.

I won't belabor the changes in names, nor whether the characters were Men or Elves originally. That was Christopher Tolkien's role and he explains all of these details, admirably. Instead what we see is a more cursed gold hoard, a king who succumbs to greed and twisted anger, and a much darker kingdom.

The most crucial element for me was Tinwelint's episodes of cruelty: holding a hostage for the 7 months that the Dwarves were given to forge the Nauglafring, whipping each Dwarven crafter when he asked for his fair share of reward, and denying them their full and just wages for this glorious work. And it wasn't just the Necklace of the Dwarves: they crafted a carcanet of gold for Tinwelint, goblets and plate and knives full of wondrious workmanship. I remember Thingol being greedy and overcome by the beauty of the Silmaril, but not this level of cruelty.

Also discussed here is a greater degree of difference between the tribes of the Dwarves, both in location of their homes and in their animosity between one another. For me, this falls into the category of world-building, where the world creator takes a good long look around and decides not to be wedded to one strand, but instead choose another strand for their world.

32) The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
4****

A handy little book that is full of wisdom. It is a quick read, or a slower one if you want to read and absorb, and even journal about, the chapters. There is a lot of information about living your best self and deepening your life's journey, and bringing happiness back into it. Definitely worth a re-read.

33) December Category 1 - The Terror by David Andress
3***

This book is incredibly well researched and the writing style leaves a lot to be desired. One of the areas that Andress does well is to document the vast numbers of people caught up in making of The Terror and what drove them. Danton, Robespierre, Saint Just, Marat were all men who got a grip on power and held onto it, no matter the cost. The September Massacre in 1793 was just the start, and by 1794 the numbers of people per month in the different towns who were guillotined were rising. They were arrested and held in prisons, and by the end to be accused was enough to find them guilty and sentence them to death.

But the details and the asides and the parenthetical sections are enough to just pull this book down. The subject matter alone is difficult, and add to that a break in the sentence to reference an incident or person, all create a wall of confusion instead of a clear narration of events.

What is fascinating is to see how the in-fighting resulted not in justice for the French, bread for the hungry, a new government that dealt with the ideas of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. As an example, Robespierre was not interested in governing, per his own words. He had an idea for what justice and an end to the Ancien Regime should look like, and friends to help him put it into place. And he spoke well and had the charisma to bring others to follow him, while knowing how to hold onto the reins of power to wrest it from his political enemies. But he had no conscience when it came to protecting the innocent or any sense of true justice for the accused.