Betty (dudes22) publishes a 2025 List

Hi – My name is Betty and I joined LT in 2008 and I’ve been doing the Category Challenge since 2010. My husband and I live close to the coast in the tiny state of Rhode Island. Our son and daughter also live in RI so we can see them fairly often. Our grandchildren are scattered – one grandson In Maine, one in Florida and our granddaughter is in North Carolina. I like to quilt, and I have a thread over in the Needlearts Group and this year my goal is to finish 16 quilts for my great-nieces/nephews before next Christmas. If you’d like to stop by occasionally and see what I’m working on, here’s where I am: https://www.librarything.com/topic/366865#n8708391

I’d like to make some progress on my TBR pile this year and also read some of the Book Bullets I’ve taken since I’ve been on LT. There are two books I’m going make year-long reading – one is The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair and the other is The Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holde. Kac522 mentioned that she had been reading it monthly in 2024 and I thought that sounded like a good way to read the book.

2. Tickers & Covers & Book Bullets;







Book Bullet Reading Tracking:

BBs 2012: 0 of 6
BBs 2013: 0 of 7
BBs 2014: 0 of 10
BBs 2015: 0 of 13
BBs 2016: 0 of 19
BBs 2017: 0 of 15
BBs 2018: 0 of 19
BBs 2019: 0 of 51
BBs 2020: 1 of 50
BBs 2021: 5 of 80
BBs 2022: 2 of 51 (1 dup of 2021)
BBs 2023: 3 of 68
BBs 2024: 3 of 64
BBs 2025: 3 0f 35 (May)

Year-Long Reads


Currently Reading:


Recently Read

Small/Independent Publishers:



In 2024, I started following a YouTuber who talks about books from small/independent publishers. A publisher is considered a small or independent publisher if, in general, they have less than $50 million in sales or are publishing less than 10 books a year. Indie presses tend take chances on new voices and innovative writing that large houses would never consider. When I decided to use this as a theme for my RL book club for 2025, I thought I’d incorporate it here as the main focus of my 2025 challenge.

1. Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan (Grove Press)
2. The Promise by Damon Galgut, narrated by Peter Noble (Europa Editions)
3. Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie (Sort Of Books)
4. The Sound of the Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey (Algonquin)
5. Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West (Algonquin)
6. The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride by Joe Siple (Black Rose)
7. Fowl Eulogies by Lucie Rico, translated by Daria Chernysheva (World Editions)
8. Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan (Oneworld Publications)
9. Sister Golden Calf by Colleen Burner (Split Lip Press)
10. Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (House of Anansi or Catapult)
11. Ruby & Roland by Faith Sullivan (Milkweed)
12. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Europa Editions)
13. The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey (Soho Crime)

Audio Books



Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten into listening to books while I drive or when I walk. It’s allowed me to fit in another 12-13 books a year which is a good thing.

1. Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
2. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
3. When the English Fall by David Williams
4. The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
5. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
6. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Series



I have a number of series I’m reading and I’m always hoping to make progress on them. I might even binge read some this year in an effort to catch up.

1. The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon)
2. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Crime)
3. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (Random House)
4. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen (Grand Central Publishing)
5. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley (Bantam)
6. Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin)
7. Dead Lions by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
8. Aunt Bessie Enjoys by Diana Xarissa (Create Space - Amazon)
9. Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin Books)

Other Fiction



Other fiction reads which were not published by a small press.

1. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (Ballentine)
2. Long Way Gone by Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)
3. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Harper)
4. The Wife You Know by Chad Zunker (Thomas & Mercer - Amazon)
5. Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey (Random House)
6. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama (Doubleday)
7. Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (Random House)

Non-Fiction



I’m hoping to make some progress with non-fiction titles that have been languishing on my shelves and the 2 year-long reads mentioned above.

1. Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci (Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster)
2. Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes (Harry N Abrams)
3. The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts (Random House)
4. The Woman Who Stole Vermeer by Anthony M Amore (Pegasus Books)

Year-long reads:
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Claiar
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

Bingo Dog



I think the Bingo Dog has some squares that will be challenging for me this year, so we’ll see how it goes.



1. Features winged creature(s) - Fowl Eulogies
2. Features fire The Wife You Know (fire in daycare starts book)
3. Travel
4. Newly in public domain
5. Child as a main character - The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
6. Long Title (5+ words) - The Color of All the Cattle
7.Features adoption/foster care/nontraditional family - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
8. Totally random
9. Author has your or relative’s 1st or last name - My Name is Lucy Barton
10. A holiday in title
11. Nonhuman narrator
12. Originally published in a language not your own - Celestial Bodies (Arabic)
13. Read a CAT
14. A piece of furniture on the cover
15. Medical topic - The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride
16. Features a birth - The Postmistress
17. Hollywood!
18. A place you've never been - The Promise (South Africa)
19. A profession in title - The False Inspector Dew
20. The sun on cover/in title Circling the Sun
21. Oldest book in your TBR
22. Set in your favorite season
23.. Recommended by a friend or LT member - Ruby & Roland
24. Either "Library" or "Thing" in title - What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
25. Writing about writers

AlphaKit



A - Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -
G - The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen
H -
I -
J -
K -
L - The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts
M -
N -
O - Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan
P -
Q - Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
R -
S - The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
T -
U - Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
V -
W -
X - Aunt Bessie Enjoys by Diana Xarissa
Y -
Z - The Wife You Know by Chad Zunker

Challenges



I’m not sure how many other Cats or Kits I’ll do so I’ll just include this one overall category to keep track.

MysteryKit
Mar: Espionage - Dead Lions

ColorCat
Jan: Green - Vanishing Fleece
Feb: Gold - Circling the Sun
Mar: Pink - Sister Golden Calf
May: Red - Ruby & Roland
June: Yellow - Still Life With Bread Crumbs

CoverCat
Jan: Tea Party - Maisie Dobbs (hat)
Feb: Tree - The Promise
Mar: Farm Animals - Fowl Eulogies
May: Multiple Items - Ruby & Roland

RandomKit
Jan: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry - Taste: My Life Through Food
Mar: Wishes - The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride
May: Punctuation - Ruby & Roland

NatureKit
Jan: Sheep and Sheepherding- Vanishing Fleece

I saw this while reading The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass and it made me think of LT:

“We each have our own book spaces inside us, and they do not match up perfectly. Nor should they.”



Now I'm open...

Extra - just in case.

That’s a lot of BBs! I suppose it’s a good thing I haven’t been tracking mine too closely. And small presses is such a great category. I’ll be watching what you’re reading here with interest.

Good luck with it all. BBs... oh dear. I expect you'll hit me with a few.

Happy reading, Betty!

Happy reading and quilting, Betty!

Happy New Thread! I especially like the small press/indie publishers idea.

Excellent plan, it covers so much! Happy reading in 2025.

>13 Charon07: - >14 majkia: - >15 susanj67: - >16 MissWatson: - >17 LadyoftheLodge: - >18 VivienneR:: Thank you all for the kind words. It's nice to see the enthusiasm for small presses. I'm looking forward to starting the new year.

Happy reading in 2025, Betty.

Enjoy your reading in 2025!

>3 dudes22: I also enjoy reading small indie publishers. I have found some great reads hidden in there.

>20 pamelad: - Thanks, Pam.

>21 Tess_W: - Thanks, Tess.

>22 lowelibrary: - I'm looking forward to finding those gems. I'm going to go leave you a message with the YouTuber that talks about indie books in case you're interested. I'm never sure if that's something I should mention in an open post.

Great pictures. Good reading in 2025.

All very interesting categories especially >3 dudes22:. I wonder which Youtuber you found? I watch a lot of Booktube and also love finding more from independent and international publishers.

>25 JayneCM: - I've posted you a message with the name.

Making room on my shelves and Kindle for the BBs you hit me with in 2025!

>27 DeltaQueen50: - I'm sure you'll be returning the favor.

I look forward to following you again next year Betty. The BB category is a good one!

I've already told you I'm looking forward to your emphasis on small presses in 2025. I've hung my star on your thread.

>29 clue: - Thanks, Luanne. I look forward to following you too. (In case I didn't say so on your thread. I lose track of who I've visited and who I haven't)

>30 RidgewayGirl: - Hi Kay - I've been looking through my TBR pile to see what I have and what I want to read that I don't have.

Great reading plans! I really like the idea of the yearlong reads. I tried it this year with A History of Western Music and, after a good start, dropped out altogether, but I'll try again in 2025.

>32 MissBrangwen: - Thanks for stopping. I hope I can keep up with it.

I've added the link in post #1 to my quilting thread in the NeedleArts group. There's nothing much there right now but my plans for the year, but in case you occasionally want to stop by and see what I'm doing, I thought I'd post a link.

Hi Betty, just starting your thread and wishing you a Happy New Year!

>35 lsh63: - Thanks, Lisa. Looking forward to watching your reading too.

When I set up my tickers to keep track of my reading, I decided to cut back on my goals for this year. I didn't reach my goals in 2024, but that's ok. I have a rather large quilting goal for this year and I'm afraid my reading time will suffer. Sometimes I listen to books while I quilt, but sometimes I lose track and have to go back because I'm concentrating on quilting.

>37 dudes22: I do the same when I crochet. I think quilts tell a story.

>38 mnleona: - I only started audio books a couple of years ago so I'm not too good yet at remembering to listen when I'm not in the car or walking.

Happy New Year!

I have The Secret Lives of Colour on my kobo, so I'll be interested to see what you think of it. No doubt I'll pick up lots of BBs this year, as every other year, from you!

>40 cbl_tn: - Thanks, Carrie. Same to you.

>41 Jackie_K: - I've looked at the table of contents to see how I can break it up and it looks like in January I'll read all the intro stiff (which is still quite a few pages) before I start on the color groupings in February. Yes - we seem to trade in BBs. And I'm definitely going to pull your book from my TBR pile and get to it this year.

>39 dudes22: My first audio book years ago was when I drove from Austin to San Antonio to get my husband at the airport. I did not care for it as the tone never changed. Now, I do listen to the cars but since I say I get three weeks to the gallon, it takes time.
I got a lot of my audio books from an environmental store. There people drop off unused containers of paint, cleaners, etc. The county library brings their books they no longer want so I get a lot of my books there. One time they brought a lot of audio books and so I took some. No limit on books but a limit of 10 items of other things. These are free to the public in certain counties.
Sorry, this is so long. This is the reason I have so many audio books.

>42 dudes22: Oh thank you! I really hope you enjoy it when you get to it.

>43 mnleona: - Not too long. I usually just borrow from Libby from the library. A few times my loan has runout before I finished, and I couldn't renew because someone had the book on hold, so I either put myself back on the hold list or I get the physical book from the library and finish it by reading.

>44 Jackie_K: - I hope so too. 😁

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

Hope your 2025 is full of good reads!

Well, I will join the others who have already taken BB's from your intro. I can't wait to get The Secret Lives of Color. I had many books on color, copywriting and fabric in my work library, but this one was published after my retirement. I missed it. Looking forward to following along this year.
My 2025 thread is here https://www.librarything.com/topic/367017#8712413

Happy new year! Here's to a great year of reading ahead, I hope.

>46 lowelibrary: - >47 thornton37814: - >49 sturlington:: Thanks April, Lori, and Shannon.

>48 beebeereads: - I first saw this book on a quilting Youtube video where the person was making a quilt based on the colors in the book. I'll probably do a brief summary at the end of each month.

>50 dudes22: Nice! I'll watch for it.

Happy New Year, Betty.

>52 BLBera: - Thanks, Beth. Same to you.

I had posted my meme over on my 2024 thread but, since everyone is posting theirs here, I thought I'd do the same.

Year-End Meme:

Describe yourself: The Woman in the Library

Describe how you feel: I Still Dream About You

Describe where you currently live: The Lost Library

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: West with Giraffes

Your favorite form of transportation is: Slow Horses

Your favorite food is: Deadly Nightshade

Your favorite time of day is: Summer in the Garden Café

Your best friend is: The Vanishing Man

You and your friends are: The Wives of Los Alamos

You fear: Locked Rooms

What is the best advice you have to give: Walk the Blue Fields

Thought for the day: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

What is life for you: Night of Miracles

How you would like to die: Spanish Dagger

Your soul’s present condition: The Madness of Crowds

What was 2024 like for you? The Pull of the Stars

What do you want from 2025? Conviction

>54 dudes22: Great answers! I have The Woman in the Library waiting on my e-reader...might have to read it this year so I can use it at the end of 2025! :)

I love your Small/Independent Publishers category. I'll be watching to see what lands there. Such a great idea.

I love where you want to go! I think you need to keep yourself from eating your favorite food for a little while longer!

>55 christina_reads: - I hope you like it, Christina. I found I got annoyed with the characters and the story. I'll be looking to see how you like it.

>56 Crazymamie: - Thanks, Mamie. I've had more of a reaction to it than I expected. (in a positive way) I'm looking forward to it also.

>57 thornton37814: - LOL!

>50 dudes22: I saw a lady on You Tube crochet colors from a book she was reading. Great ideas.

Book 1: The Colors of All the Cattle (#19) by Alexander McCall Smith
Category: Series
January AlphaKit: “S”
Bingo Block: A Long Title (5 or more words in the title)
Publisher: Pantheon (Imprint of Knopf, part of Random House)



This series continues the story of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series. Mma Ramotswe continues to investigate in Botswana. One of her father’s old friends comes and wants her to discover who hit him and then left. Charlie is now an assistant investigator and when he comes up with a good idea, Mma Ramotswe decides to let him take the lead in the investigation.

Then her friend Mma Potokwane from the Orphan Farm comes to visit and manages to convince Mma Ramotswe to run for the city council with the intent of rejecting an application to build a hotel next to a cemetery.

I enjoyed this quiet comforting read over the hubbub of the holidays.

>68 Crazymamie: I read the first few in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency stories ages ago. I really should get around to reading some more.

>61 SandDune: - This one was #19 (I think) and I like them when I need a read that doesn't require too much brain power.

Thingaversary!

Today is my Thingaversary! I joined LT back in 2008, so I have been here for 17 years now. I originally joined just to keep track of my books, but I soon found a community of like-minded people who love to read and talk about the books they’re reading. (and other things) I’ve had some great times and loads of book bullets over the years which have led to new authors and many interesting books. Since my Thingaversary falls so early in the year, I’ve been spreading my purchases out over the previous year. I’ve been very good about not reading any – even though I was tempted. A lot of these were BBs and I’m hoping to get most of them read this year and not let them linger. Although I said the same thing last year. (And the year before)

Here are the 18 books I decided on:

Unearthing the Secret Garden by Marta McDowell
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrick Goen
Indiana, Indiana by Laird Hunt
The Orphan of Salt Winds by Elizabeth Brooks
The Last Masterpiece by Laura Morelli
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The Hummingbirds' Gift by Sy Montgomery
Fowl Eulogies by Lucie Rico
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clare
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Faint Promise of Rain by Anjali Mitter Duva
Windswept by Annabel Abbs-Streets
Orphan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
The Woman Who Stole Vermeer by Anthony M. Amore
The Autumn of Ruth Winter by Marshall fine
The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks
Sister Golden Calf by Colleen Burner

>63 dudes22: Congratulations! My anniversary is next month and I can't believe how long ago that was! I've enjoyed it so much over the years.

Conrats on your Thingaversary, Betty!

Happy Thingaversary! That’s a terrific haul of books!

Congratulations, Happy Thingaversary. Great list of books. I loved The Sentence

Happy Thinga, Betty! Lovely book haul - I loved Unearthing the Secret Garden when I read it last year.

>63 dudes22: Happy Thingaversary, great haul of books.

>63 dudes22: Happy Thingaversary! I enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

>64 clue: - >65 DeltaQueen50: -.>66 Charon07: - >67 BLBera: - >68 Crazymamie: - >69 lowelibrary: - >70 christina_reads: - Thank you all. I've already started one of them.

>63 dudes22: Happy Thingaversary! Of your list I've read two, and really enjoyed them both: The Shepherd's Life and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.

>72 Jackie_K: - I'm hoping to read The Shepard's Life this month.

Happy Thingaversary Betty! I recently read The Autumn of Ruth Winters and enjoyed it .

Happy Thingaversary! My 18th is coming up in March, so 19 books. Perhaps I should count the book I ordered today as the first one?

>74 lsh63: - I'm glad to hear that, Lisa.

>7 dudes22:- Oh, I think so!

It is so nice to hear so many kept with LT so long. I need to check how long I have been here.

>77 mnleona: - In some ways it feels like just yesterday.

Happy Thingaversary, Betty! I bet time just flew by...

>79 MissWatson: - Thanks, Birgit.

Book 2: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, narrated by Rita Barrington (Soho Crime)
Category: Series
Cover Cat: Let’s Have a Tea Party – hat on cover
Book Club: February – Soho Crime
Publisher: Soho Crime (Independent Publisher)



This is a reread for me of the 1st book in the Maisie Dobbs series. This will be the book for our February book club meeting as Soho Crimes is an independent publisher. I’m much further along in the series but enjoyed this look back at the first book. Since it is the first book in the series, the author spent a lot of time developing the characters in the book which I probably noticed more this time than I did when I first read it.

A new client comes to see Maisie to ask her to find our where his wife is going every week, fearing she is seeing another man. After some investigation, Maisie discovers that she is visiting the grave of an old family friend who had some injuries from WW I and had committed suicide. The book then spends time developing the backstory of Maisie from when she was a child thru WWI.

And then it returns to 1929 as Maisie pursues an investigation into The Retreat, a place for soldiers to recuperate from the effects of the war. A “feeling” has convinced her that all is not as it seems.

I listened to this as an audio this time and liked it for the most part. The narrator didn’t always do enough to differentiate between characters, particularly the male voices.

>81 dudes22: I read that one a few years ago and really enjoyed it, and then for some reason I never continued with the series. I should do something about that...

>82 scaifea: - "Yes, Amber, you should", she said, pointing and shaking her finger. (Although, I admit to being a bit behind myself.) I often think that I should pick an author each year and make sure I read one of their books every month.

>83 dudes22: *snork!* Sometimes I need a good finger wagging in my direction, and I love your one-a-month plan!

I finished the Maisie Dobbs series last year, and overall, it was a really good series. I do have a soft spot for the first one.

Happy Thingaversary! What a great list of books!

>63 dudes22: What a great Thingaversary haul!

>84 scaifea: - I've thought of it before, Amber, but never followed through. Although I was listening to the Andrea Camillari Inspector Montelbano series until I reached one that Libby didn't have. SO now I have to read a couple before I can go back to listening.

>85 BLBera: - I like the series too, Beth. That's one I could read one after another.

>86 MissBrangwen: - >87 cbl_tn: - Thanks.

Hubby and I went with friends this afternoon to see the Westerly Community Chorus performance of "A Celebration of Twelfth Night". This is not the play by Shakespear, but a "play" about the Christian festival recognizing the end of the twelve days of Christmas. WCC is recognized as the largest community chorus composed of both children and adults (according to an article in a recent magazine). There are 190 members. Children can join starting at age 7 and their oldest member is currently 87. Anyway, the performance was outstanding. The costumes in particular were amazing. Here's a picture from the Christmas show:


from RI Monthly

And here's a link to the recent article about the chorus from Rhode Island Monthly magazine.

https://www.rimonthly.com/why-the-chorus-of-westerly-is-a-noteworthy-affair/

I wanted to put a picture that was in the paper yesterday showing the dragon from the play, but I couldn't grab it.

Book 3: Taste: My life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Category: Non-Fiction
RandomKit: January – Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Publisher: Gallery Books, division of Simon & Schuster



Although I’m not the biggest fan of memoirs in general, once I had seen the docuseries that Tucci did about traveling and eating in Italy, I decided that I would read his book. I already admired him as an actor and his role in Julie & Julia is one of my favorites. His book is a nice combination of memories of growing up revolving around food, travel and restaurants about food, and recipes about food. (Food..food…food – see what I did there?) And it’s written in a breezy, chatty style like you’re talking to a friend. My only problem with the book is that I’m so incredibly jealous of the restaurants he’s eaten at that I won’t ever get to eat at (because many have closed for one thing), and the food he has gotten to eat in circumstances I won’t ever be in.

Happy Thingaversary, Betty! Congratulations on 17 years. I joined in 2008 also and it has zipped by like the blink of an eye.

>91 VivienneR: - I know, Vivienne.

>89 dudes22: That sounds lovely, Betty. Thanks for sharing.

And Happy Thingaversary.

>93 BLBera: - Thanks, Beth.

>63 dudes22: Belated congratulations on your Thingaversary. That book haul looks amazing!

Book 4: Ocean State by Stewart O'Nan.
Category: Independent Publishers - Grove Press
AlphaKit: Jan - "O"



The book starts with a murder and although we know who did it from the beginning, this was just an ok book for me. Part of it was probably that teenage angst and romantic triangles just aren't my thing.

For me, the best part of this book was the location. Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State and the town of Ashaway is only 10 miles from where I live. Many/most/all of the places mentioned in the book exist (or did when it was written). His residences here are LT mention both Mass and Conn so it's possible he spent some time here.

Book 5: Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in AMerican Wool by Clara Parkes
Category; Non-Fiction
Publisher: Harry N Abrams
January Color Cat: Green cover
January NatureKit: Sheep and Sheepherding
Book Bullet: Laura (laurakeet) 2023



I took a BB in 2023 from Laura (NeedleArts and 75 groups) for this book. Since I'm not a knitter, I wasn't aware of Clara Parkes but Laura said she's well-known among knitters/fiber artists and has published other books related to knitting. Ms Parkes bought a 676 pound bale of sheep wool to research how it gets made into yarn. She divided it onto four groups and researched different ways of spinning and dying the wool. She visited multiple mills and dyers and saw various ways of producing yarn. I would have benefitted by a few illustrations of the machines that might have made the descriptions more easily understood. Some of them seemed to be the same.

Although published in 2019, Parkes bought her bale of wool in 2012, so this book is about a decade old, but I can't imagine that things have gotten better for the industry.

Book 6: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, narrated by Kimberly Farr
Category: Series -#1 Amgash
Publisher: Random House
AlhpaKit: Jan - "S"
Bingo Block: Author has first/last name self or relative - Elizabeth



This was a reread for me. I want to catch up on the Amgash series and thought I would go back and reread this and then try to do one a month to catch up with these books before going on to some others of hers.

I can't say I really took to this book although I've liked other books by Ms Strout. Most of the book is the remembrances that Lucy has while she is in the hospital for nine weeks. Her husband calls her mother and asks that she come and visit Lucy in the hospital even though they've been estranged for many years.

I just never really saw any point in the book. Maybe I missed something.

>98 dudes22: I had a similar reaction to Lucy by the sea, it simply didn’t speak to me.

>99 MissWatson: - Glad to hear I wasn't alone.

Year-Long Read: Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden – January

In 1906, Edith Holden, then 35, started a year-long diary. Besides diary entries, she recorded poems and other favorite writings. She had attended art school and illustrated her diary with animal and plant life. January’s entries include poems by Burns and Wordsworth and entries about yews and daisies.

Year-Long Read: The Secret Lives of Color by Kassie St Clair – January

”Colors, therefore, should be understood as subjective cultural creations..”

In the introductory chapters of this book, St Clair touches briefly some general information about color: how our eyes process light to see color, Newton’s work with light, how colors were developed (in general) from the pigments available to the caveman through the industrial Revolution and it’s effect on color development. She also talks about color maps, color politics, and the language of color.

>101 dudes22: That first one looks really interesting - adding it to The List.

>102 Crazymamie: - I hope you enjoy it.

>98 dudes22: I think your review is spot on. I have read this, although not recently, and my feeling was that the characters were distant.

>104 Tess_W: - Thanks for that, Tess.

January Recap:

I’ve been working on quilt making this month and I spent a week with a rotten cold, so not as much reading done as I wanted.

Books Read – 6 (TBR pile – 5, ebook – 1, audio – 1)
Independent Publishers - 3
Books Added – 14 (8 physical, 6 ebook)
Book Bullets – 6
Best Book -Vanishing Fleece by Clara Parkes

Book 7: The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen
Category: Series
February AlphaKit: “G”
Book Bullet: 2023 - mentioned on Lauralkeet's thread
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (imprint of Hachett)



Hendrik Groen is an elderly man living in a nursing home in Amsterdam. He decides to keep a diary for a year to “give the world a little taste of the real Hendrik Groen” and put on paper things he has only thought before. So a day-to-day in life at a nursing home. It took me almost 50 pages to start enjoying the book, but then it started to grow on me.

Book 8: The Promise by Damon Galgut, narrated by Peter Noble
Category: Independent Publisher (Europa Editions)
CoverCat: Tree on Cover
Bingo Block: Place You’ve Never Been (South Africa)
Book Bullet: Kay (RidgewayGirl) 2021



The book takes place in South Africa and begins in 1986 when Amor, a young teenager, is brought home from school because her mother is dying. Before she dies, Amor hears her mother make her father promise to give the house on the farm that their cook lives in to her. But apartheid is still in exitance making this impossible at the time.

Amor is the youngest of three children, her brother Anton being the oldest and her sister Astrid in the middle. The story takes place over 4 decades with a momentous event defining each of the chapters which bring the siblings back together.

The descriptive power of the author’s writing is what carries this book. Each sentence is phased exactly right. This book won the 2021 Booker Prize, and two others of his books had been nominated before. I will definitely be seeking those out.

And my first DNF of the year - More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova. I normally love her books, but this one just wasn't catching with me. Maybe another time.

>108 dudes22: I'm taking a BB for that one. I don't really follow the literary prizes, so I haven't heard of it so far.

>108 dudes22: Adding this one to The List. I really liked Arctic Summer by that author. Your touchstone goes to the wrong book - just letting you know.

>110 MissBrangwen: - Hope you enjoy it!

>111 Crazymamie: - I thought I had fixed all the links when I noticed it was wrong, but I guess I missed this one. Thanks for the catch. But now your link for Arctic Summer goes to the wrong book.

>112 dudes22: Thanks for letting me know - fixed now. Too funny.

Book 9: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
Category: Other Fiction
ColorCat: Gold on the Cover
Bingo Block: Sun on Cover or in Title
Publisher: Ballentine Books (imprint of Random House



I saw a tag for this book of “biographical fiction” which seems like the best description. It’s about the life of Beryl Markham who was the first woman pilot to fly east to west over the Atlantic Ocean. Beryl grew up in Nairobi (now Kenya) in the early part of the 20th century, Her father raised race horses and Beryl had an affinity for them early in her life. Probably because “Out of Africa” is a movie I love, I have to admit that I saw many of the characters as they were depicted in the movie as I was reading. Beryl was not a big part of the movie but many of the other people in her life were.

In many ways her life was tumultuous. Her mother left with her younger brother when she was young, her father lost the farm, she made some ill-advised choices when it came to husbands, and she had trouble finding a place where she wanted to be. The roles that ladies had in the early part of the 20th century were not a place/mold that Beryl fit into, and it made her life somewhat hard.

Overall, I liked this book a lot. I read biographical fiction somewhat skeptically because who knows what was really said or how events actually transpired. But this was good

Book 10: Long Way Gone by Charles Martin
Category: Other Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (imprint of Harper Collins)



Charles Martin is one of my favorite authors. In this book, he puts a modern spin on the parable of the prodigal son. Cooper O’Connor has a magical voice. Always has. But his father seems to hold him back and eventually he leaves his home, stealing money, a truck, and his father’s prized guitar to go the Nashville and become a star. But lots of people come to Nashville and Cooper finds that, despite his talent, it’s not enough. And he feels he can’t go home again. Then he meets Daley Cross and when she sings one of his songs in a performance, his life takes off. But things don’t always work out.

There’s lots to this story. I think I’ll leave it there and just say – great book.

Book 11: The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts
Category: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Random House
February AlphaKit: L
Bingo Block: Travel
Book Bullet: June 2021 Book Pages



In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a 63-year-old Maine farmer who was on the verge of losing everything, decides to make a journey on horseback from Maine to California with her dog. She had been sick and her doctor wanted her to move to a county home, but instead, she bought an old horse and prepared to ride. She left in October hoping to get somewhat south before winter came. This story of her journey shows a different America than the world we live in today. The start of the interstate highway system, the changes to small towns, the proliferation of TVs, the kindness of strangers is all part o her story. There were many interesting events that took place as she traveled. And the author included a lot of interesting history about some of the places she visited and some of the things that were changing America. I liked this a lot.

>114 dudes22: I read this a few years ago. I think you liked it better than I. I think the term biographical fiction is somewhat an oxymoron!

>117 Tess_W: - You could be right. But how else to classify it? One of the things I'm not a fan of in memoirs is conversations. No one could possibly remember conversations from years ago. So. I tend to approach a read of them with skepticism.

Book 12: The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley
Category: Series
Bingo Block: Child as a Main Character



This next book in the series has Flavia and her two sisters on vacation with Dogger. While rowing down a river, Flavia hooks her fingers into the mouth of a dead person. This is how Flavia's next adventure begins. Soon she's solving not just one murder but 4 or 5.

Book 13: Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie
Category: Small/Independent Publishers - Sort Of Books



Kathleen Jamie has written a group of essays about various archeological digs that she participated in - in Alaska and in Scotland. I found them interesting. This is our book club selection for next month. I'm away from home, so this is short - just so I don't forget to post it.

Book 14: The Sound of the Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey
Category: Small/Independent Publishers: Algonquin
Book Bullet: Jackie_K 2024



Who knew snails could be so interesting? The author had an illness that kept her prostrate (long story only told at end of book). She spent a year of her illness observing a snail that a friend had dug up in the woods along with some violets and put in a pot. I now have a few more random bits of trivia with which to amaze people. LOL

>121 dudes22: I read that one a few years ago - it's fascinating isn't it!

Year-Long Read: Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden – February

February’s diary entries contain mentions of snowdrops, pussywillows, and common gorse with drawings of each among other mentions of snow and the shrew mouse.

Year-Long Read: The Secret Lives of Color by Kassie St Clair – February

The first group of colors in the book is whites. The intro to the white chapter talks about some of the history of whites – how Pliny the Elder describes the process of making lead white, the white choice of artists for centuries, despite being toxic. Thru the 18th century when zinc oxide was synthesized. The different symbolisms of white – purity, color of death for the Chinese, power. She then concentrates on 7 variations (?) of white with interesting history and facts about each - lead white, ivory, silver, whitewash, isabelline, chalk, beige.

It's unlikely I'll finish the book I'm reading so I think I'll post my February stats. This month I was away for a couple of weeks visiting fiends but still got some reading done.

Books Read – 8 (TBR pile – 2, e-book – 5, audio – 1)
Independent Publishers - 3
Books Added – 0 (Woo Hoo!)
Book Bullets – 4
Bingo Blocks: 4 (Travel, Sun on Cover/Title, Place You’ve Never Been, Child as Main Character)
Best Books: The Sound of the Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Bailey
The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts

Book 15: Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West
Category: Small/Independent Publishers
Publisher: Algonquin Press



The title of this book is taken from an old American Indian legend: A group of Crow warriors returning from a hunt finds that all of the members of their camp have died from typhoid. Believing that they will join their loved ones in the afterlife, they blindfold their ponies and ride them off a cliff.

Willow Creek, Montana is a very small town. Sam Pickett came here to escape after losing his wife. Five years later he is still hurting. Besides being the high school English teacher, he also coaches the basketball team although they haven’t won a game in over 5 years. And there’s a possibility that the school board will eliminate basketball.

When Peter Strong comes to stay with his grandmother while his parents are working out a divorce and Olaf Gustafson comes to town as an exchange student, it looks like they might be able to have a good team this year. Although they only have 6 players. (For those not familiar with American basketball, you need 5 players to even start a game.) It’s the classic story of the underdog.

The story is long (500+ pages), and perhaps some of the characters are predictable, and I’ve seen reviews that the game descriptions are too many and too long, but I loved this book. It had humor making me smile, I laughed sometimes, and I teared up occasionally. Partway through, I thought that it could have used some editing for length, but now I think it created suspense even if the ending is predictable. There are plenty of stories and movies about underdogs and how they persevere, but there was just something about the way the author created his characters that I really enjoyed.

I decided to test out the new "attach review" feature, so this is a duplicate of above.

I'm not sure how often I'll use this new review feature. I tend not to "post" reviews. Most times I don't have a lot to say about a book.

>127 dudes22: I do like how the embedded review stands out and the ability to "thumb" a review.

>128 RidgewayGirl: - Yes that does make it convenient.

Hello Betty! I've been sooo behind on LT, and tonight is a night to play catch up. The Flavia series is a favorite of mine as well, as is Maisie Dobbs, and I need to read some more of both series. Maybe a goal for this year??

Thank you for supporting indie book publishers and I had never thought that snails make sounds when they are eating. But I guess that they do!

>130 threadnsong: - Thanks for stopping by. I'm finding it hard to keep up with all the threads too. I'd like to catch up with a few of my series this year. I usually use the AlphaKit to do this, but I may not do it for all the letter this year.

Hi Betty: THe Promise is on my WL; maybe this year! Surfacing also sounds like one I would like.

I'm not sure how much I will use the review feature, either, but I guess it is convenient for those who do post reviews.

It's impossible to keep up with threads. I do a lot of lurking.

>132 BLBera: - I lurk a lot too.

I pretty much duplicate my review in my message, but I have a certain "format" that I've been using so I'm not sure how much I would use it either.

>134 thornton37814: - Yes, Lori. I find it hard to analyze a book - I always feel like I'm just regurgitating what's on the flyleaf. I'm also afraid of giving something away inadvertently. I looked at a couple of reviews for a book I'm reading (which I hardly ever do) and read something I hadn't gotten to yet.

>135 dudes22: That drives me nuts. It's like the reviewer is trying to prove that they read the entire book. Anything that would lessen some future reader's enjoyment of the book should not be in the review.

>136 RidgewayGirl: - I'm particularly aware of this when I read a book that's part of a series. Sometimes, it's really hard to say anything that won't give away things that happened in a previous book. You can't even trust the back of the cover or the flyleaf.

sup what are we talking abt

Book 16: The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride by Jo Siple
Category: Small/Independent Publishers
Publisher: Black Rose
March RandomKit: Wishes
Bingo Block: Medical Topic



On his 100th birthday, Murray McBride goes to see his doctor. Although he gets around pretty well, he’s thinking about not taking the breathing pill he takes everyday and just letting himself die. He misses his late wife fiercely and he just doesn’t care all that much about living any more. As he considers what to do with his final hours on earth, he decides to go to a children’s hospital and maybe read to a patient so the parents can have a break. When he gets to the hospital, he asks where the heart ward is and goes up to the 6th floor. There he sees a young boy who is waiting for a heart transplant playing video games and sits down to play with him (he knows nothing about video games). When the boy’s father comes to get him, Murray finds a paper with a list of 5 wishes that the boy has left behind. Murray thinks he should help this boy achieve his wishes and becomes a Big Brother for him. Obviously, the rest of the book is about how Murray does this.

There are some funny moments and also some poignant ones.

Book 17: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Category: Other Fiction
Publisher: Harper



”There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it.”

Lara, her husband Joe, and their three daughters Emily, Maisie, and Nell are spending the pandemic isolated together on the family cherry farm. Some of the usual helpers are not here to help with the harvest and so Lara and her daughters are helping. Taking place over about a week and mostly as they are picking, Lara is telling them the story of the summer she spent at Tom Lake acting in summer stock and her relationship with Peter Duke who went on to become a famous movie actor.

I had originally not been too enthused about reading a book set during the pandemic despite all the positive things I heard about it. But the pandemic doesn’t play a big role in the book. The daughters are engaging characters and their relationship with each other brings a lot to the book.

Book 18: Fowl Eulogies by Lucie Rico, translated by Daria Chernysheva
Category: Small/Independent Press
Publisher: World Editions
March CoverCat: Farm Animals
Bingo Block: Features Winged Creature



A strange but interesting book. When Paulie’s mother dies, she goes back to the family chicken farm to bury her mother and perhaps get rid of the farm. A vegetarian for many years, she can’t imagine keeping the farm, yet she finds herself drawn to the chickens and their different personalities. When she needs to kill some chickens and bring them to the farmer’s market, she decides to write a short biography of the bird to attach to the package. Eventually, her methods get the attention of a man who wants to expand her method into supermarkets.

There’s a subtext here of knowing what we’re/you’re eating and where it came from and whether you can trust what we/you’re eating.

>141 dudes22: This sounds interesting but it isn't very likely that after I had read a biography of a chicken I would buy and eat it!

Still, I'm going to check my library for it.

>142 clue: - A lot of small/independent publishers are known for publishing what might be called "experimental" fiction. I kind of feel that this would fit into that.

Book 19: The Wife You Know by Chad Zunker
Category: Other Fiction
AlphaKit: Year-long "Z"
Bingo Block: Features fire (a fire in a daycare starts the book)



When Luke's wife Ashley sees an explosion and fire at a day care, she stops and breaks a window and saves a bunch of children. Someone is taping it, and soon it's all over social media. Luke was away on business, and he rushes to the hospital as soon as he gets back. Ashley is determined that she won't speak to reporters and urges Luke to go get her daughter at the sitter's house and take her home. The next morning, he finds that his wife has left the hospital and taken her daughter and vanished. He becomes obsessed with finding her.

Once I got to this part of the book, it was fairly obvious that she was running from something/someone. One thing I had trouble with was that neither the police nor the FBI when they get involved ever look for her fingerprints to see if she's not who she seems to be. I finished reading it because I need a "Z" for the AlphaKit and I was on the beach on vacation and it's fairly short. I've read a couple of the author's other books from one of his series and thought they were ok which is why I got this when I saw it on the library sale shelf.

Book 20: Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri
Category: Series
Publisher: Penguin



Inspector Montelbano certainly solves some odd mysteries and this one is another. It starts with an extremely religious elderly couple who start shooting from their balcony. After they are subdued and taken away, an inflatable doll is found in the apartment. Soon another one, deformed in the same way is found in a dumpster. Then there's a kidnapping and a treasure hunt. It's pretty easy to figure out who the bad guy is, but it's an entertaining story anyway.

I usually listen to these on audio, but this one wasn't available through the library system I use so I got it in print. Trying to read Catarella instead of listening to him was interesting.

Book 21: Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan, translated byLisa C. Hayden
Category: Small/Independent Press
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
March AlphaKit: "A"
Book Bullet: 2021 - JayneCM; 2022 - Jackie_K



And three Apples fell from heaven:
One for the storyteller,
One for the listener,
And one for the eavesdropper."
Old Armenian Saying

I took 2 BBs for this book, so what JayneCM and Jackie_K said about it really resonated with me even though it's taken a while for me to get to reading it.

It's the story of an Armenian village rather cut off from other places. It's seen it's share of hard times - war, drought, famine - to the extent that there are only old people left in the village. One day Anatolia decides that it is time for her to die and makes preparations to do that. Then the story begins to tell of her history; her parents, her sisters, how she came to marry the man she did. The story moves back and forth in time and the history of various people in the village. I'll admit that I had a little trouble following the various families because of the names. But I still enjoyed the book.

>146 dudes22: What a coincidence—I just finished listening to this audiobook today! I didn’t care for it much, possibly because I listened to it instead of reading the print book, and it was hard to follow.

>147 Charon07: - I think the names alone would have made it hard to follow. Especially since it moves in time. And sometimes the opposite. We read a book for book club, and I could not follow the dialect. But I switched to audio, and it was great. You never can tell.

Book 22: Sister Golden Calf by Colleen Burner
Category: Small/Independent Publishers - Split Lip Press
March ColorCat: Pink
Book Bullet: Eyes on Indie (YouTube - December 2024)



Gloria and her sister Kit are traveling the roads in New Mexico with their mother's ashes spreading them around the state. Taught by their mother, they are also collecting and selling invisible ephemera in glass jars which they've labeled with what they've captured - "STAR DUST", "LOVE LOST", "SOMEONE ELSE'S DREAMS". Along the way they meet some interesting characters and have some interesting adventures.

Quite a different read but I'm trying to expand my reading horizons.

>149 dudes22: Taking a BB for this one.

>150 Charon07: - Interested in what you think of it.

Book 23:Dead Lions by Mick Herron
Category: Series
Publisher: Soho Crime (small/independent)
March MysteryKit: Espionage



Slough House is the part of MI5/6 where agents who have screwed up go. When Jackson Lamb who is the head of this group hears that an old Cold War-era agent is found dead, supposedly of a heart attack, he has his suspicions. Meanwhile 2 of his group have been tasked with providing protection for a Russian oligarch who is coming to "make an arrangement" with MI5.

This is the second book in the series, and I've decided it just isn't for me. Too many things that just aren't explained along the way. And seems more disjointed than I appreciate.

Book 24: Aunt Bessie Enjoys by Diana Xarissa
Category: Series
Publisher: Create SPace (Amazon)
AlphaKit: "X"

In this 5th book of the Isle of Man series, Aunt Bessie and her friends Doona, Hugh, Grace, and John attend a local fair where Aunt Bessie is given a jar of raspberry jam by the Raspberry Jam Ladies group. This small group has been making raspberry jam for decades and so Aunt Bessie thinks nothing of it. But early the next more there is an urgent knock on her door. The police want her jar of jam. It seems that one of the ladies from the jam group has been found dead - probably from poisoned jam. Aunt Bessie is soon involved in the investigation. Then a second jam lady is killed in a car accident, and it becomes obvious that someone is killing off the jam ladies.

These are light, cozy-type mysteries which I enjoy and give me an "X" for the AlphaKit.

>153 dudes22: Love those cozy mysteries! I enjoyed a bunch at the end of last year and who would have thought of jam as a plot line.

>155 threadnsong: - I have a few cozy series that I follow. This is oneof my favorites.

Hi Betty. You got me with Three Apples Fell from the Sky; that sounds like one I would like. I did love Tom Lake. You are right, the relationships really made the novel.

>157 BLBera: - I hope you like it, Beth, when you get to it.

Book 25: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea, narrated by Barrie Kreinik
Category: Audio
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co (Hatchett)
March AlphKit: “U”
Book Bullet: Kay (RidgewayGirl 2023)



Urrea has used his mother’s story of service in the Red Cross during WW II as inspiration for this historical fiction book about the “Donut Dollies” of WW II.

In 1943, Irene Woodward leaves her cushy life in New York to join the Red Cross auxiliary called the Clubmobile Corp. There she meets Dorothy Dunford and they are eventually teamed together on the truck “Rapid City”. Once in Europe, they travel to various places to make coffee and donuts and give out cigarettes and chocolates to help the morale of the soldiers, frequently going fairly close to the front lines. They even delivered coffee and mail to soldiers in foxholes. They both served on this truck until the end of the war and, although there was supposed to be a third girl on the truck, they frequently were working with just the two of them.

The author mentions that in doing research for this book, he found out that the Red Cross storage facility that housed the historical records of the Clubmobile Corp had had a fire which destroyed the records. There was an archive at Harvard that contained letters that he used, and he interviewed a few ladies and some families.

I loved the way this author wrote. I was going to call his writing atmospheric, but I went to review what Kay had said at the time I took the BB, and she used the term “cinematic” which I think is much better. Especially at the beginning, it sort of reads like a movie script. You can see the story taking place. This might turn out to be my best book this year.

>159 dudes22: I'm really glad you loved this book.

>161 dudes22: - Oh - I did! I can't wait to read more by him. I might even have another BB from you for him.

>159 dudes22: One of my favorites of last year. I thought it was amazing that he was able to find his mother's partner and he, his wife and Jill became good friends. I think very highly of Urrea because he wrote this in tribute to his mother!

>162 clue: - Yes, Luanne. I can see this being my favorite books of the year already. I always look forward to the author's afterward in a historical fiction. I feel it adds a lot to my enjoyment of a book.

>159 dudes22: I am a fan of Luis Alberto Urrea and I can't wait to read this book!

>164 DeltaQueen50: - If you listen to audio books, I can recommend the audio too. I know you recently read one of his and I was paying attention to the comments.

Year-Long Read: Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden – March

Until 1752, this was the first month in the ecclesiastical calendar and the Romans namesd it after the Roman god “Mars”. The March entry is fairly long with lots of mentions of the usual things associated with spring – birds and flowers, and lots of lovely drawings of both.

Year-Long Read: The Secret Lives of Color by Kassie St Clair – March

March’s color group is yellow and there are 10 different shades of yellow that are described. In the intro to the chapter, St. Clair mentions that Oscar Wile was arrested for carrying a yellow book once and was officially found guilty of gross indecency. Each color has something interesting to read about.

March Recap:

Hubby and I were away on vacation this month, so I’ve gotten a few books read and am making good progress this year.

Books Read – 11 (TBR pile – 3, ebook – 7, audio – 1)
Independent Publishers - 6
Books Added – 10
Book Bullets – 17 (We met a friend on vacation, so this is a year’s worth from her)
Bingo Blocks: 3 (features a winged creature, medical topic, features a fire)
Best Books: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West

Quarter Notes:

87% of my reading has come from my own TBR pile. (21 of 25)
I thought I was doing well with BBs, but then I met a friend while on vacation and she hit me with a bunch.
I’ve only added 3 more books than I’ve read.
50% of my reading has been from small/independent publishers this year.
I’ve actually listened to more books than my audio category would imply. I’ve put some of them in categories I considered more appropriate.

I really would like to pull back from some of the Cats/Kits going forward. I like to pick books from my TBR I think will fit but I think I’ll only do the AlphaKit and my book club book for now and then try to read more spontaneously.

Book 26: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, translated by Marilyn Booth
Category: Small/Independent Press
Publisher: House of Anansi or Catapult (US) -
Bingo Block: Written in language not your own (Arabic)



The book is about a family in Oman and the three daughters and the choices that they make. I read this for book club and it's the book I chose. Many of us found the story somewhat confusing to read for a couple of reasons. Even though there was a diagram showing the relationships between people, the names made it difficult to follow who was who. I know I had to keep referring to the diagram to see where the person I was reading about fit into the family. Also, the story moved around in time a lot. I didn't think it was as much about the sisters as it was about the whole family.

This book won the Man Booker International Prize in 2019 which is partly why I picked it. I did think some of the writing was great, but I can't say I enjoyed it a lot.

>159 dudes22: This has been on my list. I loved House of Broken Angels. Thanks for the incentive to move this further up my list!

>159 dudes22: I have Good Night, Irene in audio format. I'll have to move it up the tbr list on your recommendation. Thanks for the review.

>170 VivienneR: - I really enjoyed it, Vivienne. I'm thinking of listening to more of his books once I see what's available through my library.

Book 27: Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, narrated by Amy Rubinate
Category: Audio
Publisher: Dell Press (Random House)



Fourteen-year-old June Elbus and her 16-year-old sister Greta have been going into New York City every Sunday from their home in Westchester to visit their uncle Finn who is a famous artist and is painting their portrait. He is also June’s godfather and the most important person in her world. It is also 1987 and he is dying from AIDS.

At Finn’s funeral, there is a man standing across the street which is very upsetting to June’s mother. A little later, June receives a package in the mail containing a day journal with a note to her asking her to look after Toby who happens to be the man who was at the funeral and turns out to be Finn’s boyfriend. Soon June is sneaking into the city to see Toby and she begins to learn more about her uncle.

This is a well-done coming-of-age YA story. As June tries to come to grips with losing her uncle, her sister seems to grow more and more distant. Her parents are accountants and it’s tax season so there isn’t really anyone to help her figure things out.

The author does an excellent job with the conflicting emotions that 14-year-old June is going through.

>27 DeltaQueen50: I read this in 2013 and it still comes to mind every now and then. I see that I didn't write a review and only gave the finished date as 2013. That was the year I retired, so I was busy. I spent most of the last 6 months in one of our plants in Mexico. I thought it was a terrific book, and should read it again.

>173 clue: - I think the post you're referencing is wrong. Not sure which book you're talking about.

>174 dudes22: Heavens, where did I get that number?? I meant to reference 172, Tell The Wolves I'm Home.

>175 clue: - Ok - that makes more sense. Which was what I thought, but knowing I don't always get to reading threads right away, wanted to make sure that's what you meant. I actually listened to the book and the narrator was very good. You might want to listen if you do a reread.

>174 dudes22: Confused me, too! I do have Tell the Wolves I'm Home on my shelf - need to get to it!

>177 DeltaQueen50: - It's funny how every time someone mentions a book you own, how we all say we need to get to them. Might just take a while.

>172 dudes22: This does sound like a very good book. It was a very difficult time in the 80's and 90's for people with AIDS and those who loved them, and I am glad someone published a book that reaches back to that time for a YA readership.

>179 threadnsong: - Yes, it was. And there was so much misinformation about it too.

>178 dudes22: I think I have taken too many Book Bullets over the years and now have trouble fitting everything into my reading schedule.

>181 DeltaQueen50: - oh - me too! As you can see in post #2 where I'm trying to keep track of them - I have hundreds.

Book 28: Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Category: Other Fiction
Publisher; Random House



Although I like this author and her writing, I didn't enjoy this story that much. Arthur, a recluse who only comes to town occasionally and interacts with no one, brings Emaleen back to her mother Birdie after she gets lost in the woods. Birdie works at the local lodge trying to make things work in this small Alaskan town. She becomes somewhat fascinated with Arthur and the life he lives in the woods away from the town. Way away from the town. She decides to go and live with Arthur despite being warned that this is not a good idea.

However, this was still very well written. I know because I wanted to reach out and smack some sense into Birdie. Makes it worth 4 stars.

I had a super busy April and only managed to read 3 books. I'm also massively behind in reading threads. I didn't even manage to read a little in my year-long reads. It's supposed to be a partly rainy weekend, so maybe I'll read in the year-long books so I don't fall further behind. I have a big quilting project (actually multiple quilts) that I need to finish by Christmas which is where a lot of my energy is going right now.

Book 29: When the English Fall by David Williams, narrated by Eric Michael Summerer
Category: Audio
Publisher: Algonquin Books



This dystopian novel is told in the form of journal entries by an Amish farmer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jacob is a farmer and carpenter in an Amish community. A solar storm knocks out all electricity and power which affects the English who live nearby more but the Amish community is in better shape as they don’t rely on electricity. His daughter Sadie, who suffers from what appears to be epilepsy, seems to have visions and tries to console Jacob by telling him that things will be hard, but it will be ok. The community tries to help the English by sharing what they have but soon the community hears that looting is happening more and more.

I’m not a big reader of dystopian/apocalyptic novels, but when Judy (DeltaQueen50) mentions a good one, I usually take notice. When she read this last month, I was just going to put it on my book bullet list, but the audio was available, so I decided to read it now. Good recommendation, Judy.

Book 30: The Woman Who Stole Vermeer by Anthony M Amore
Category: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Pegasus Books



This was our book club choice for this month and although many of us didn't really care that much for the book, it did produce a bunch of discussion. The book was about Rose Dugdale who was (is?) the only woman to pull off an art heist of valuable paintings. Rose was the daughter of extremely wealthy British parents and very well educated. She got her PHD from Oxford and then decided to join the Irish Revolution. I'm going to stop here for a minute and say that I've never really understood the Irish/British conflict and all the parties involved. I know that the gist of it is that the Irish people wanted to be independent of the British, but after that all the groups involved only confuse me. Rose was never really accepted by any of the Irish groups and so almost operated in her own little world of rebellion.

The first half of the book had so many names, groups, timelines, and events both of Rose's life and other people that I couldn't really follow any of it. The latter half of the book was more interesting about the events she was directly involved in and the art heist. The author is the head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts where there was a famous art heist of paintings that have never been recovered, but his writing style wasn't appealing to me. I gave it an extra 1/2 star because the part about the art was pretty interesting.

>183 dudes22: I have this on my tbr. I heard Ivey talk about this book at the Tucson Book Festival and she said that she took a lot from her own childhood in writing this book. And wanted to call it Bear, but Julia Phillips got there first.

I will temper my expectations for Eowyn Ivey's new book but I'm still pretty excited after loving her first two. I am waiting for it to become available at the library - probably in another month.

>187 RidgewayGirl: - Wow! That puts a whole new spin on it. I think I read somewhere that it was sort of a retelling of beauty and the Beast or a Russian fairytale (?) maybe.

>188 japaul22: - I'll be waiting to see what you think of it, Jennifer. Don't temper your expectations. The writing is still excellent.

>184 dudes22: Best of luck with your quilts! Yes, now is the time to be working on them. Do you ever quilt while you are listening to your audiobooks?

>190 threadnsong: - I've started to try that while doing parts that don't need as much thought or when I'm doing repetitive parts like sashing. Something where I'm not making any decisions.

Book 31: Ruby & Roland by Faith Sullivan
Category: Small/Independent Publishers
Publisher: Milkweed Press
May ColorCat: Red (Ruby)
May CoverCat: More than one element on cover (People)
May RandomKit: Punctuation (Ampersand)
Bingo Block: Recommended by a friend
Book Bullet: Nan 2020



When Ruby’s parents are killed in an accident when she is 12, Ruby is basically left alone. Although she has an aunt, her aunt is not interested in taking care of Ruby. Through some church connections, Ruby eventually comes to Minnesota to live on a farm with Emma and Henry. Ruby tries hard to make herself useful. She falls in love with Roland, the neighbor who lives across the street. When Emma asks Ruby to go across and help with Dora who is Roland’s wife and suffering from postpartum depression after the loss of a baby, Ruby decides to stifle her feelings for Roland and try to help Dora.

I ended up liking this more than I thought I would partway through. The author has made Ruby an interesting character.

Book 32: The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
Category: Audio Books - narrated by author



This book is a sequel to the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Catches you up to date with many of the characters from the first book. Bud Threadgoode is the "wonder boy" and he is now in his 80s and living in an assisted living facility. The book travels back and forth in time which didn't bother me too much even though I was listening to it and couldn't easily check the beginning of the chapter to see when it was. Makes one somewhat nostalgic about what life might have been like in small town America even if it is fiction.

Book 33: Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli
Category: Series
Publisher: Penguin Books



Another book in the Inspector Montelbano series. I had not been finding books to hold my interest, so figured a quick series book might be the way to go. I enjoy this series especially Catarella and his speech patterns. They're much better on audio (IMHO), but Libby is missing a couple in the series which I have resorted to reading.

This time, Inspector Montelbano is trying to find out why there are burglaries in homes among a certain group of rich friends.

Book 34: What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
Category: Other Ficion
Publisher: Doubleday
Bingo Block: Either "Library" or "Thing" in title
Book Bullet: April (lowelibrary) 2024



A series of short stories about 5 people who are somewhat lost in their lives. They each end up going to the local library and one of the books recommended by the librarian helps them to sort out what they need to do in their lives. The author even puts each main character as a mention in another story.

>195 dudes22: I am glad you enjoyed it.

>195 dudes22: What a great short story collection! I often feel that way when I wander into a bookstore: what book will most fit the way I feel now? What do I want to learn about or discover?

>196 lowelibrary: - I wasn't sure, April, when I started it. But I quickly changed my mind.

>197 threadnsong: - Short stories are not something I read a lot of, but I liked that there was a continuing character. I know what you mean about wandering in bookstores.

Book 35: The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy
Category: Audio Books
Publisher: Berkley Books (imprint of Penguin)
Bingo Block: Features a birth
Book Bullet: Nan 2025



There are multiple stories that all intertwine in this story. Iris James. is the postmistress in Franklin, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod. As postmistress, she knows a lot of what’s going on with people in the town. Although WW II has not yet reached America, Will Finch, a local, young doctor who has just lost a woman in childbirth, decides to go to London to help for 6 months leaving his new young wife.

In London, Frankie Bard has come from America to broadcast about the war with Edward R, Murrow. There she meets Will when they are both in an air raid shelter during the blitz.

I listen to this on an audio from Libby narrated by Orlagh Cassidy and one of the things that I really enjoyed in this book was the level of detail in each part of the story. Not just the descriptions of what’s happening but like little details – like someone is telling you a story and wants to include everything. I often wonder when I listen to a good book if it would have affected me the same if I had read it.

Book 36: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
Category: Small/Independant Publishers - Europa Editions
Book Club: June



There was a lot of buzz when this book placed number one on the New York Times Best Books of the 21st Century. It's the first of four books in the Neapolitan Novels series about two friends growing up in Naples, Italy. This first book covers the years until they are about 17.

Lots of people love this book and series. I think everyone in the book club seemed to like it too. But for some reason, it just didn't engage me in the story. And I can't really put my finger on why.

>200 dudes22: I liked it a lot but didn't finish the second one.

>201 clue: - At least a couple of people from book club went on immediately to start book 2.

Book 37: The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey
Category: Small/Independant Publishers - Soho Crime
Book Bullet: Judy (DeltaQueen50) 2022
Bingo Block: Profession in Title



In 1921, dentist Walter Baranov's wife has told him that she has decided to move to America and ask Charlie Chaplin to put her in movies. Her career in England has been fading and she thinks this will correct that. Walter doesn't want to go, and she tells him that he can stay but she is taking all her money with her. He begins an affair with a patient, and they decide that Walter should kill his wife on the boat and throw her overboard. Lots of rich people are also on the boat and there are lots of twists and red herrings right to the end.

Judy's enthusiasm for this book had me put it on my BB list and it was a good book. I will be reading more by this author.

Book 38: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, narrated by Scott Brick
Category: Audio Books
Publisher: Algonquin Press
Book Club: July



This was a reread for me in preparation for our book club next month. I decided to listen to the audio this time and enjoyed it a lot.

A.J. Fikry is the owner of Island Books, which he and his late wife had opened. One day he finds an infant who has been left in the bookstore. He adopts the little girl and constantly tries to introduce her to new books and advance her understanding. This also a love story as he gradually becomes involved with the publishing rep Amelia who comes to sell him books a few times a year.

There are lots of interesting characters who are finely drawn. I'm looking forward to our meeting next month.

I went to one of the first library book sales yesterday. I forgot to take a picture of my haul, but here's a list of what I got:

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter
The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill
Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Liar's Bench by Kim Michele Richardson
Treading Water by Belle A DeCosta
The Golden Thread by Kassia St Clair

>205 dudes22: I do like book sale season. That is a very nice and modest stack of books. I loved Hollow Kingdom and The House of Broken Angels is my favorite book by a favorite author.

>205 dudes22: Interesting selections.

>206 RidgewayGirl: - I took a BB from you for Hollow Kingdom a long time ago and kind of forgot about it until I saw it at the sale. I recently listened to Urrea's book Good Night, Irene and knew I wanted to rad more by this author. I think I will probably read this soon.

>207 lowelibrary: - This sale doesn't have the best choices - lots of the popular names you see everywhere. There's another sale at a library in a different direction this week that I might check out too.

Book 39: Still Life With Book Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
Category: Other Fiction
AlphaKit: June - "Q"
June Color Cat: Yellow



Rebecca Winter is a photographer whose life is spiraling downward along with her bank balance. She no longer sells as many photos as she used to and helping to keep her parents comfortable has put a strain on her. She decides to rent her New York apartment and rent a house in the middle of nowhere. She meets a handyman/roofer Jim when a raccoon gets into her attic who she becomes friends with. And one day while hiking in the woods, she comes finds a small cross with some memorabilia that interests her as a photographer. Soon she is finding more and her interest is piqued.

This is what I think of as a "middle" book - not heavy literature, not chick-lit. Just a good story for the porch in the summer.

What a lot of great books you've read so far, Betty. The Urrea sounds like one I would like and I do like dystopian fiction, so When the English Fall goes on my list.

>210 BLBera: - Glad you're finding good things here.

Went to another very small library sale today and picked up 4 books for me and 1 for hubby

The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart by Alice Walker
The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin
This Other Eden by Paul Harding
The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke

For Hubby:
Delaware Canal Journal by Clayton P Yoder

Enjoy your books, Betty! I loved The Mountain Between Us when I read it some time ago.

What a coincidence! I just found the Vanderbeke book at my charity shop.

>213 DeltaQueen50: - Charles Martin is one of my favorite authors so I was happy to find this one I didn't have.

>214 MissWatson: - Since it was published by an independant press, I was happy to pick it up. Hopefully I'll read it later this year.

Mid-Year Review:

I’ve read some really good books this year so far. I’ve looked at the books I have on my TBR pile, the BBs I’ve taken, and how many books I can expect to read in my lifetime, and made a decision to not feel guilty about letting books go if it’s not working for me. That said, I find that a couple of library sales in June have increased my TBR.

Stats:

Books Read – 39 (TBR pile – 28, library – 3, audio – 8)
Independent Publishers - 19
Books Added – 48
Book Bullets – 35 (We met a friend on vacation in March, so this is includes year’s worth from her)
Bingo Blocks: 15
Best Books: I’ve had some excellent reading this year and I had trouble limiting my choices to my top 5:
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West
The Promise by Damon Galgut
The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts
The Sound of the Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey

Observations:

71% of my reading has come from my own TBR pile which makes me happy.
I’ve added more books than I’ve read, but I blame that on the library sales – I love getting new to me books.
Almost half of my reading has been from small/independent publishers this year.
I’m not keeping up with my yearly reads. I’m a few months behind now.
I haven’t kept up with the Cats and Kits like I would have liked to. I may need to rethink this next year.

>217 lowelibrary: I tell myself the same thing every time I walk into a bookshop.

>217 lowelibrary: - So true! - I think I've seen this or a variation of this before, April.

>218 MissWatson: - Ha - Ha! They're just so darn intriguing!

I'm really impressed with how many books from independent publishers you've read! I tried tracking that last year and had a really hard time upping my numbers in that category.
Looking forward to the rest of your 2025 reading!

>220 japaul22: - Thnaks, Jennifer. I'm really enjoying searching them out.

I've moved to part 2 of my thread.