Mstrust Is In Touch with Her ROOTs

Hi, I'm Jennifer in Phoenix. I think this may be my 5th year in ROOTs. I keep things simple, my goal every year is to end up with at least 50% of my reads being ROOTs. I made it in 2024.
You can also find me in the 75 Challenge and the Category Challenge. I also have a Substack called Autumn Lives Here where you'll find articles on true crime, horror and short stories. https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/
Drop by often, I'm pulling books off the shelf (or the Kindle) as fast as I can. Good luck, everybody!

2025 ROOTs

1. Food To Die For
2. Make Your Backyard Bloom
3. Foods That Made History
4. I Have A Bad Feeling About This
5. The Tasting Menu
6. The Beatles Lyrics
7. Good Housekeeping Best-Loved Desserts
8. Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction
9. Japanese Farm Food
10. Murder in the Bookshop
11. Luby's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection
12. Cacti & Succulents for Modern Living
13. The Haunted Forest Tour
14. The Murderess: A Novel
15. The Eyes Are the Best Part
16. Maid
17. Marshmallows, Mystery & Mischief
18. Jellybeans, Jack-O'-Lanterns, and Jitters
19. Slewfoot
20. Mud Season
21. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
22. The Book of Cold Cases
23. Seeds of Murder
24. The Philosophy of Punk
25. The Cases That Haunt Us
26. Murder By the Book
27. Family Man
28. Sour Cherry
29. The $64 Tomato
30. Truth Truth Lie
31. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport
32. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
33. Twentieth Anniversary Screening
34. This Wretched Valley
35. So Many Books, So Little Time
36. Heaven
37. The Halloween Moon
38. Haint
39. Blood Will Out
40. Life Among The Savages
41. Ring
42. A Good Month For Murder

Good luck and happy reading!

Thanks, Cheli, same to you!

Good ROOTing in 2025

Hi Jennifer. Starred your thread and look forward to follow your readings.

Had to giggle seeing your photo on top! Very funny.

Good luck, Jennifer! I'm Rooting for you!

>4 Robertgreaves: Thanks, Robert, and to you!

>5 connie53: Hi, Connie! Isn't that topper perfect?

>6 Carmenere: Hey, Lynda! I'm ROOTing for you too!

Glad you have returned! Happy 2025 reading.

Thanks so much, and good ROOTing to you!

1. Food To Die For: Recipes & Stories From America's Most Legendary Haunted Places by Amy Bruni

A beautiful hardcover with brooding food pics of dishes and cocktails. You get Lizzie Borden's meatloaf recipe, "Villisca Cornbread", "Odd Fellows Apple Pie" " "Mary Todd Lincoln's White Almond Cake" and "Nutraloaf", a meal served to inmates at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia as punishment.
The recipes come with essays about the haunted establishments that they came from, which includes the White House and many old hotels.
This was a Christmas gift. I think I'll be making the Peanut Stew accredited to the Farnsworth House Inn in Gettysburg.

>10 mstrust: Oh I definitely have to tell my bestie about this: food and horror are his two passions - lol!

Then this will fit the bill! I didn't even know that the author is on one of those ghost hunting shows, I just think it's a spooky, well-done book of history and recipes. And the peanut soup is very good!

Autumn Lives Here is ringing in the new year with teen murder and new book releases!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

Welcome back and happy ROOTing!

Thank you, Birgit, and happy ROOTIng to you!

2. Make Your Backyard Bloom by DK Publishing

I had to use a pic from the internet as nothing about this book came up for LT. It's a 550 page British book full of ideas for creating a better garden that includes tips for veg, fruit, herbs, trees and cacti. There are lots of good ideas for unusual containers, including starting seeds in the plastic cups used for iced drinks, and created trellises.
As it's a British book, some of the stuff doesn't apply to my area, but it's made me look at making the most of my space.
I do wish DK would credit an author for their publications. 4

Good luck with your 50% ROOTs goal, Jennifer!

Thanks, and good luck with yours! I made it last year pretty easily, but I was gifted with a Kindle over Christmas and it comes with 3 months of free Kindle Unlimited, so I've been trying to knock out as many of those as I can.

Welcome back, Jennifer! Your topper gave me a good laugh, thanks. Good luck with your ROOTing goal.

Hello, Irene, and thanks! I love Anne Taintor's humor and often turn to her for smartassery.
Good luck with your ROOTs!

This week, Autumn Lives Here delves into the Genovese murder. Yes, that one. It's intense.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

3. Foods That Made History by Rafael Agam

This stories behind Chateaubriand, Pavlovas, Lobster Newberg, Oysters Rockefeller, Daquiris, Victorian sponge and more classics. It also includes the stories of the chefs, usually French but sometimes Italian, who created the dishes, and the person they were named for, which was usually royalty or opera singers. Recipes for most are included.
Lots of interesting backstories to fancy concoctions that were on the menus of high end restaurants 50 years ago, but I love stuff like this.

>22 mstrust: Sounds delicious! There are a couple of French films that came out, inspired by real stories:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicious_(2021_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taste_of_Things (a combination of chefs; the story itself is not real, but it was carefully researched)

It's an interesting book that dispels a few myths, such as the history of Dom Perignon. It could have benefited from better editing in the punctuation.
Thanks for the links!

I'm hosting February's ScaredyKit and it's all haunted houses/haunted locations. Join us!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/367665

4. I Have A Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand

Best friends Henry and Randy are sent to a two week survival camp for boys to learn how to be tough. Henry has no interest in being tough, or in anything other than video games, which is why his parents have sent him. Joining three other teen boys and their instructor, a snarling, sarcastic ex-military guy who doesn't mind making someone an example. Max does impart a lot of survival training on the boys, and that comes in handy when three killers show up at camp.
A comedic survival story of boys who unexpectedly learn how to fight for their lives, with each chapter ending with a wilderness survival tip, like:
If you're caught in the coils of a boa constrictor, don't panic. Just think to yourself Awww, this snake is giving me a great big hug! This won't save your life, but it may stop you from panicking, and if you're going to get squished to death by a snake, you at least don't want your friends to see you being a big baby about it.

That last sentence made me smile!

>27 connie53: I agree. Thanks for the laugh.

>27 connie53: >28 mnleona: My work is done! But it's a funny book throughout, and available on Kindle.

This week's Autumn Lives Here is a short story about January and her sheety attitude.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>22 mstrust: this sounds interesting to learn the history of well known foods.

>31 ritacate: This may be slightly off task. Have you ever watched a cooking show on you-tube- titled "Tasting History", with host Max Miller? He covers some unique food histories. I've never been a big you-tuber- but this is part of how I am occupying my brain, now that I am reading less. (preferable to cat videos-which I haven't tried, yet)

>32 EGBERTINA: After the morning news, I watch You tube for a variety of shows. I will check on the is one for the history. Thanks for the information.

>32 EGBERTINA: thank you for the suggestion. I don't You Tube much at home due to limited data, but I'm traveling to see my grandchildren soon and will check it out at their house.

Glad to see you roaring through your ROOTS.
Yes! Haha January is the Sheetiest of months.

>31 ritacate: It is, though be aware that they tend to be dishes that are rarely seen in restaurants nowadays.

>32 EGBERTINA: I'd never heard of that one, so thanks for the rec. I'll have to check it out. I did watch "A Taste of History" with Chef Walter Staib on PBS for years, it's where I got the recipe for mushroom bisque that I've used many times.

>35 Carmenere: I am doing surprisingly well so far, ha!
January really takes a beating in that story, and on the current news. Can't get any love when you're so bitter.

5. The Tasting Menu by Stuart MacBride
The story of three long-time best friends- a recently retired police detective, a writer of gangster stories, and a small time criminal- who are gifted with a few days at an exclusive island hotel. The draw is the restaurant with its rare delicacies and high-end wine cellar. When the criminal disappears and the detective gets suspicious, they find out the lengths these foodies will go to in sources their ingredients.
This was the first I've read from the author. It's labeled as a Kindle short story, but at 127 pages, it's a novella. 4

>37 mstrust: sounds delicious!

The crime writer called the ribs the best he'd ever had!

And just a reminder that February is coming up fast. Join us for the ScaredyKit haunted house month!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/367665#n8737742

6. The Beatles Lyrics by Hunter Davies

Journalist Davies was a friend to The Beatles from the beginning, was present in the studio for many recordings, helped out when lyrics were being discussed, vacationed with Paul and their families, and had countless conversations with the band. So he's in a unique position to talk about the backstories of the albums and individual songs, talking about what was going on in personal lives and discounting myths about what the lyrics mean.
I learned a lot, as I'd always assumed that "We Can Work It Out" was Paul talking to John, but actually it was written about Jane Asher. "Taxman" was written by Harrison (I'd always thought it was Lennon) because they were being taxed an astounding 95% on their earnings. This chunkster sat on my coffee table for nearly a year, but I finally buckled down and finished.

This week at Autumn Lives Here, resolutions and shrunken heads!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

7. Good Housekeeping Best-Loved Desserts
More than 250 recipes that cover cookies, ice cream, cake, tarts, pies, strudel, crepes and more. Each recipe has a photo and the recipes range from something as easy as Blueberry-Mango Compote to the more labor intensive Pumpkin Pie with Pecan-Caramel Topping. BH&G recipes are fantastic 99% of the time.

8. Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Burns

From the Very Short Introduction series, which runs into the hundreds, this volume was written by an Oxford Professor of Psychiatry. It includes types of mental illness, their history of treatments and the current treatments. There is a history of asylums and hospitals, and the types of treatments, including drugs, that have been tried and that are in current use.

Written with the layperson in mind, it's a clear and very interesting history of illness and treatments that brings us up to current methods.

This is my eight out of a total of thirteen reads, so doin' fine!

>44 mstrust: When I first heard about the VSI series, I thought they would be a fun series to collect. At that time there was about 180 so it was doable. Now I think they are approaching the 800s and I still have less than 100.

The number of titles is incredible, and includes topics such as Rivers and Rocks. Some subjects are just so big and some are quite niche.

This week at Autumn Lives Here, a short story about the horrors of being a romantic.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

9. Japanese Farm Food by Nancy Singleton Hachisu

The author is a Californian who married a Japanese farmer and has lived in Japan for 35 years, where she's part of the slow food movement. This book, at nearly 400 pages, seems written for either a Japanese cook or someone who is immersing themselves in the culture. The recipes are fairly simple, it's just a matter of getting the ingredients.
You'll find lists of ingredients that are a mystery even to someone with some familiarity with Japanese cuisine (me), but it's aimed at the more rural home cook. Vegetarian dishes are prevalent, and lots of pickled dishes. There's a substantial chapter on dipping sauces, and a dessert section that includes seasonal produce, like fig ice cream or granita made of shiso leaves, which are a common herb that I'd never heard of. So I learned something.

This week, Autumn Lives Here has a true crime glossary and the story of the most infamous executioner in British history.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

10. Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davidson

Hanna has just taken over the running of her aunt's London bookshop. As WWI rages, Hanna needs to make the shop profitable, and she starts by sacking Monty, the shady store manager.
The next day, Hanna finds that her best friend has been murdered in the shop, which makes Hanna the prime suspect. She and her lively Aunt Violet begin investigating to clear Hanna's name and unravel the dark, secret lives of those nearest to them. 3

This week at Autumn Lives Here, it's witches, Shakespeare, and more witches. Cackle cackle.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

11. Luby's Cafeteria 50th Anniversary Recipe Collection

If you've lived in the South or Southwest, you might be familiar with Luby's, the cafeteria chain that's been around since the 1940s. They have specialized in dishes that you wouldn't expect from a cafeteria restaurant, liked squash casserole, Haddock Almondine, Spaghetti Salad, and Mississippi Mud Cake.
This cookbook has lots of the most requested recipes, and most of the recipes are Luby's unique take on things like Pina Colada pie or chicken enchiladas. It was disappointing that a recipe for their famous Mystery Pie isn't included. 3.5

>52 mstrust: I remember them well.

My mom and sister would get so excited about the Mystery Pie :-D

>54 mstrust: I googled "Luby's Mystery Pie" and it comes up a couple of times as Ritz Cracker Pie. Perhaps Luby's couldn't put it in the cookbook because it came off a box of Ritz crackers and it would be some kind of infringement.

My mom said she has a recipe for it that calls for Ritz, but that Luby's used saltines. She was naming the ingredients and it really sounds like something created during the depression with crackers, eggs, sugar... she and Julie always got it when we went to Luby's but I always got chocolate pie.

>51 mstrust: I now have that theme tune playing in my head

Memorable, isn't it?

12. Cacti & Succulents for Modern Living

Published in 1976, this is full of color pics of plants by family with the specifics for that particular variety. Soil, light, temperature and watering preference, along with pics of the other cacti or succulents that are related, make this a good guide.

13. The Haunted Forest Tour by Jeff Strand and James A. Moore

The Haunted Forest sprung up across a barren New Mexico town in just an hour, destroying the town and killing the citizens. It was a horrifying massacre, but it didn't take long for an entrepreneur to start a company giving tourists tram tours through the thick pine forest, and for a tourist town to grow on the outskirts.
In custom-built trams that are virtually indestructible, driver Eddie and guide Barbara start off as usual, but the tram breaks down deep in the forest, something that's never happened before. With no radio or phone communication, the crew and passengers are just a delicious meal waiting to happen unless they can make it out of the forest.
This is one wild story, horrifying and funny, with a battle between good and evil.

14. The Murderess: A Novel by Laurie Notaro

In 1931, Winnie Ruth Judd killed her two best friends. She left their bodies in the small Phoenix house they shared and probably would have gotten away with a double murder if she had stayed away, but being the bizarre and temperamental woman she was, she returned and spent a lot of time curling one woman into a steamer trunk and dismembering the other to fit into smaller luggage. Then, for no good reason, she took this luggage on a train to L.A., where the contents were quickly discovered and the city hunted for Judd.
This is a novelized account. The author, who began her career in Phoenix, has dug into Judd's past, along with that of the victim's and her family, adding in dialogue. It adds up to a highly detailed life story of a woman who was unbalanced, constantly ill, and had spent her life barely scraping by. At nearly 400 pages, this book could have been much shorter.

This week, I've got an eerie new short story on Autumn Lives Here. Are you lost?
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

15. The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

When Ji-won's father abandons the family for another woman, her mother can barely hold it together. Just a few months later, it's a surprise to Ji-won and her younger sister when Umma is suddenly in love with a White man, George, who has brilliant blue eyes and an Asian fetish. Ji-won quickly learns that George sees women as interchangeable and nothing more than servants.
His arrival coincides with Ji-won's sudden taste for fish eyes, the luckiest part of the fish. Trying to deal with Umma's blind devotion to a horrible man, her sister's anger, her own danger of failing her freshman year of college, and a stalker classmate, Ji-won decides that the men who have made her life so miserable shouldn't have underestimated her.

This was on my Kindle for a few months.

This week at Autumn Lives Here, I've got poisons, toxins and The Lawnmower of Death!
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

>64 mstrust: Is that a flying lawnmower?

It is! Well, really, it's a radio controlled airplane fitted to look like a lawnmower. There used to be mail order kits for them.

16. Maid by Stephanie Land

By now, everyone knows about this book and the Netflix series based on it, so I'm glad that Land was able to pull herself and her child out of poverty. This book is about the years Land spent as a housecleaner and landscaper, being paid so little that she couldn't provide a home or food for herself and her baby without government assistance of just about every kind.
While I understand the stress and unhappiness of her financial situation, having spent years myself working two and three jobs at a time to barely get by, halfway through this book I got really tired of her incessant "poor me" tone, and of telling the reader over and over how much she loved her kid and just wanted to be with her all the time. The facts that I couldn't forget were that Land kind of went out of her way to screw up her life, thereby making her daughter's life so much more chaotic than it should have been.
3

17. Marshmallows, Mystery & Mischief by Kathleen Suzette

Sisters and Pumpkin Hollow candy shop owners Mia and Christy are a little freaked out when a woman dressed up as a witch stands around their shop staring daggers at them. It's the day of the Halloween parade, though, and nearly everyone is in costume, but this witch starts hissing at the customers and won't go away until she's threatened with the cops. Mia and Christy would swear she isn't a local because they don't know her.
The woman is a local though, and some citizens have always believed she's an actual witch, and that makes her murder all the more interesting to citizen detectives Mia and Christy.

The fourth volume in the Pumpkin Hollow series, it includes lots of talk about Halloween costumes, the parade, and candy making. Every business in town has a Halloween theme, so it's a light, fun little series.

I'm hosting April's MysteryKIT: https://www.librarything.com/topic/369239

18. Jellybeans, Jack-O'-Lanterns, and Jitters by Kathleen Suzette

The fifth book in the Pumpkin Hollow series sees cousin Charlotte arriving and looking for family during her divorce. A mail carrier is murdered during the Halloween Walk event, leaving many suspects who had issues with his difficult personality.

I've enjoyed this series with all its Halloween costumes, events and candy-making. They go down easy and the murder victims are always someone the town loves to hate. I noticed some stiffness in the dialogue of the last book, but the stilted, repetitive dialogue really stood out in this one. I strongly suspect that this series is either AI-assisted, if not generated, so I'm done. 1

19. Slewfoot by Brom

Abitha has arrived in Puritan America as a mail order bride, but she's lucky to have a kind husband in Edward. That kindness is a weakness when it comes to Edward's older brother, Wallace, who manipulates Edward into signing a contract that almost guarantees that Wallace will end up with Edward's farm. And then Edward is killed, deep underground, by the evil creatures of the forest.
Unable to work the farm alone, Abitha turns to the ways of her cunning mother, creating spells and charms for a little money. She believes that's all it is, but as her hate for Wallace grows, her powers become stronger, and she finds a great ally in a horned monster from the woods. While Abitha has to wonder if she really is a witch, she and her friend are also unsure about whether or not he's the devil. 3.5

This week at Autumn Lives Here, the legend of La Llorona and the true story of the guy who tried to ruin Halloween. I also have an announcement for my readers who always said, "yeah, but how do I know the paywall isn't just hiding a blank screen?"
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

On Autumn Lives Here, I have a new short story about a Final Girl. Drop in, it's free and fun.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

20. Mud Season by Ellen Stimson

Stimson and her family moved from St. Louis to Dorset, Vermont because they had a vacation in Vermont and fell in love with the small town beauty and New England way of life. But Stimson, a very successful entrepreneur accustomed to steamrolling through her plans, encountered problems when she came to this small town. It started with her bringing a construction crew from St. Louis instead of hiring locals to renovate her family's new house. With all their money, they quickly bought a quaint grocery/supply store that had been owned by a local family for generations, and changed everything with the dreams of franchising. Ultimately, the locals stopped shopping there and Stimson had to sell.
This is a humorous memoir of an attempt to become a New Englander, a retail owner, and a farmer. It's also, unintentionally, a look at an outsider trying to buy a life that isn't authentic for them. Stimson sometimes shows that she sees how pushy she can be, but a lot of times the reader is questioning her odd choices when it comes to money, such as attempting to host a 4th of July celebration for the town when she's on the verge of bankruptcy. If she didn't keep referencing how well she'd done in previous business ventures the reader would wonder how this woman had a credit card in her name. She's clearly a risk-taker, and it might be brave to write a book about one's failure.

This is my 20th ROOT out of a total of 30 reads so far. With my goal being 50% ROOTs, I'm doing fine.

>20 mstrust: At first I thought you were describing a novel, which sounded as if it could be quite funny, but as a memoir it sounds absolutely infuriating.

Because of her pushiness? Yeah, I could see the locals being furious with this family that decided to try and change so much about their little town. She relays being confused about their business dropping off so much when they changed the store around, and then it got back to her that the locals were boycotting them because they had changed where the bread was shelved.

This week at Autumn Lives Here: fungus and the Cul-de-Sac Killer. It's a messy week.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

21. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

A coming of age written in diary form, this is the story of socially awkward Charlie, who starts high school and finds good friends even though he didn't expect to. Siblings Patrick and Sam take Charlie under their wings, allowing him to be himself. Through them he goes to his first party, has a first kiss and his first girlfriend, and becomes someone his family can rely on, though all the while he longs for Samantha.

I'm hosting May's CultureCat. Join us!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/370089#n8815456

33. The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
This is the story of Shea, a woman who barely speaks to anyone and spends her nights working on her true crime blog, The Book of Cold Cases.
It's also the story of Beth, a wealthy woman who stood trial for the murder of two strangers 40 years before. She still lives in the mansion her father built, which is where he died and his spirit remains. Beth's mother also died decades ago and still roams the mansions halls. But there's another spirit too, and Beth is too conniving to have not known that inviting Shea over would bring out her investigative skills.
Jumping between decades, Shea and private investigator Michael have to unravel who shot the strangers, and did the same person have more victims.

This week, Autumn Lives Here goes horror shopping and ends up at some book stores. Of course.

23. Seeds of Murder by Rosie Sandler

Steph is relieved to be hired as the private gardener on a gated estate of five mansions. She's been struggling to recover from a devastating divorce that took everything from her, and this job comes with a cottage for her and her dog, Mouse.
While some of the residents are friendly, some are standoffish, and some are too forthcoming with their problems. Steph quickly finds herself being used as a therapist, and then she begins receiving threatening notes. When the residents receive messages of blackmail, Steph is the suspect. She's given ten days to clear her name or be fired and leave with nothing.

Sure, it's contrived and the ultra wealthy residents sometimes spill their guts with deep, dark secrets in a way nobody would, but there's also a lot of gardening talk, and food talk, and the whole British locked door mystery of it. 3.5

24. The Philosophy of Punk: More Than Noise! by Craig O'Hara did something that I would have thought was impossible, in that it made punks sound boring. This thing is dry as dirt. Very little about the music itself, the author lifts large portions of essays about politics, vegetarianism and gender equality from other publications in a sort of puzzling together of his beliefs that he attempts to blanket the whole genre in.
The most interesting thing about the book, first published in 1992, was the dawning realization that the author's take on every social topic covered is a nearly exact representation for current liberal complaints, which means that either nothing has changed at all in over 30 years, or people are like broken records.

Come join June's ScaredyKit Graphic Novel month!
https://www.librarything.com/topic/370848

Drop in on Autumn Lives Here's 3rd Anniversary! There's cake, good advice and creepy stories. What else could you want?
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/

25. The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

You might recognize Douglas as the creator of the FBI's profiling and victimology systems, in which learning about the victim's lifestyle helps to connect to the killer, and by looking for patterns in a serial killer's methods, you have a better idea of who to look for.
In this book, the authors examine some famous cases, with Douglas including what he would have looked for if he were investigating. Included are the cases of Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, JonBenet Ramsey, the Lindbergh baby and the Black Dahlia. Even if you think you know these cases well, there's information here that you've likely never come across. And if you've read about the recent testing in the Ripper case that gave a clear answer as the to the killer, Douglas's profile of the likely killer (the book was published in 2000) is spot on.

This is #25 out of a total of 43 reads so far.

26. Murder By the Book by Claire Harman

The true story of the 1840 murder of an elderly English Lord, whose home was also ransacked. Investigation into the murder revealed valuables hidden away all over the home, most notably in the servants quarters. The young valet was eventually arrested.
This is also the story of the influence of "New gate novels" and the romanticized criminals who were so popular at the time, as the valet said he was influenced to commit the crime by the most popular novel of this genre.

I'd never heard of the Newgate novels and it was interesting to learn about how wildly popular they were, and how they were blamed for rising crime.

27. Family Man by Calvin Trillin

A collection of humorous essays about his marriage to the wise Alice and his experience of raising their two children in Greenwich Village.

>26 mstrust: That sounds intriguing. Wishlisted

Strand has become one of my favorites. I also highly recommend The Haunted Forest Tour.

That sounds intriguing as well, but I actually meant your no. 26 as seen in >87 mstrust:

Well that one is pretty interesting too! It's always hard to believe that an event that drew 40,000 spectators (the killer's execution) and included both Dickens and Thackery in the crowd, who both wrote about it, has been so thoroughly forgotten.

Hi Jennifer, I'm doing my rounds trying to catch up with everybody's reading and I've arrived at your thread at last. I just have a quick look at all the unread posts.

I promise to do better.

Ha, I know it's hard to catch up! Thanks for coming to see me!

28. Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou

The story begins with Agnes, an unmarried villager who has lost her baby, so takes a job as the wet nurse in the Lord's manor. Agnes loves the boy and raises him as her own even while seeing that he is strange and can be dangerous. The child's own mother warns Agnes to leave while she can, but she stays and sees the boy into adulthood, despite what she suspects about him.

Eunice becomes his wife, as his father died suddenly and the boy is now the wealthy Lord. They have a son, one that Eunice watches, always fearful that Tristan will turn out like his father, leaving dead crops and animals in his wake, being chased away with pitchforks and torches.

Richly evocative, this really is beautifully written. Even if you don't normally have an interest in horror, and this one involves a mysterious, deadly creature and the ghosts who fill the manor, the writing is closer to Proust than Stephen King.

>95 mstrust: Hi Jennifer. The link of the book above shows me a very different book with another title.
I just think you would want to know about that.

Thanks, Connie! I was having to change it as I posted, but I'll see if I missed this one.

Okay, should be fixed!

yes it did!

29. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander

Gardening memoirs are usually written with the goal of being inspiring and reflective. This is a memoir of garden battles, where anything that can go wrong does.
Alexander and his family moved from a cramped property in Yonkers to three acres and a 90 year-old house upstate along the Hudson River. He wasn't a novice gardener, but with so much room to grow the things he'd always wanted, he hired a garden designer who created grassy pathways that then developed "webworms". He planted apple trees that developed fungus and corn that fell over. He fought long battles with groundhogs, squirrels and other thieves, and he hired a bitter handyman who looked like Christopher Walken.
Through all the huge expense and failed experiments, Alexander tells the reader what ended up working, or what never worked no matter how much he tried. I'd warn that he isn't an animal lover, so his treatment of vermin can be brutal, and I don't think a publisher would be cool with a chapter on garden ornamentation titled "Statuary Rape" these days (the book was published 20 years ago, but even then...).
Overall, it is a conversational and funny memoir of becoming obsessive about one's garden, which I can relate to. 4

30. Truth Truth Lie by Claire McGowan

A group of long-time friends, along with a few spouses and children, gather on a remote Scottish Island to celebrate the 40th birthday of twins Vicky and Jonathan, whose family owned the island and luxury cabin until recently. The adults begin playing the game Truth, Truth, Lie, with one card containing threats to everyone's lives. This causes some of friends to panic. Long held resentments surface, setting off a chain of disasters and violence.

This one was on my Kindle for months. It's 30 Root out of a total of 49 reads, so I'm doing well in ROOTs.

31. The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy

Loretta Davenport has been married to her husband Pete since she was sixteen, so he has molded her into the type of wife he wants, quiet and subservient. The type of wife that reflects well on him, as he's ambitious about his job as a theology professor.
When Loretta gets through a very bad case of the flu, she begins having visions about a local missing woman, who shows Loretta what happened to her. Mustering all her courage, Loretta contacts the police and sets about secretly seeing if she really does have the ability to contact the dead. If Pete finds out that she has told people about her visions, or if he finds that she has left the house or spent money on herself, there's no telling how bad things will get for Loretta.

Set in 1950s Ozarks, this Gothic involving religion and the paranormal, along with domestic abuse, is a real page-turner.

>101 mstrust: ooo that one sounds really good! I'll check my library. It would be a great October read! ETA: I'm on the waitlist :0)

Jackpot! I hope you like it too! When I had to put it down, I got back to it as soon as I could.

32. Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House by M.C. Beaton

Agatha and her handsome new neighbor Paul are determined to find out why crabby old Mrs. Witherspoon has been saying her Tudor mansion is haunted. Unlikable as she is, Mrs. Witherspoon allows them to spend the night inside, but they're soon investigating her death at the bottom of the stairs. Was it an accident or murder, and if so, who, on the long list of people who disliked Mrs. Witherspoon, would benefit from her death?
I hadn't tried an Agatha Raisin in years, but now I'm hooked. Agatha is surly, vain and smart.

33. Twentieth Anniversary Screening by Jeff Strand

A fictional study of a fictional slasher movie from the early 90s, a cheapie that would have been long forgotten if not for the crazy guy in the audience who attempted to recreate the kills among his fellow attendees. The movie was pulled from theaters and became something that only hardcore slasher fans watched on DVD.
Twenty years later, a down on its luck theater promotes a special showing with one of the movie actors. It's a great success, ticket-wise, but this is a cursed movie.

Strand turns out some great comedy horrors, and this novella of just under 100 pages has laughs, but it does lean more towards towards the slasher action. 3

34. This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer
Clay, Dylan, Sylvia and Luke, along with Luke's dog, spend a day trekking through the wild woods of Kentucky to reach a previously undiscovered rock. Clay and Sylvia are going to use this discovery in their dissertations, while Dylan, an up-and-coming rock climber who has just gotten an equipment sponsorship, is thrilled at the chance to put it on social media, name routes, and be the first to climb it. Luke is along because he's Dylan's boyfriend.
With a forest full of weird flora and a lack of the normal fauna expected in Kentucky, the group experiences strange phenomena. Luke's dog disappears, the GPS equipment doesn't work, and attempts to backtrack to the car fail. What little they have is being vandalized at night.

I'm keeping this review vague because I don't want to give too much away, but the author has done a very good job in building an isolated atmosphere, with the group having no choice but to rely on each other, even when they shouldn't.

35. So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

I really don't like the cover of this book because, to me, it gives the impression that it's a sweet, gentle memoir of a reader who favors sweet, gentle books. It doesn't fit. While this is a memoir, it's about the books that have come into Nelson's life, and what was going on at the time that shaped how the books were received.
There was Facing the Wind, the true crime book written by Nelson's acquaintance that had her looking at her son's Little League baseball ball with anxiety. The French sex memoir that had her cringing, the novels that she unexpectedly fell in love with, and the ones she was told she'd love, but didn't. As a New Yorker living in an upscale neighborhood and working in the magazine/publishing industry, she has the opportunity to tell Calvin Trillin to his face that she's a fan of his forgotten first novel.
But there are darker elements to her reading, as she discusses her husband's sometimes explosive anger while exploring the history of Japanese-Americans and the internment camps, and helps her sister navigate the publication of her own novel.
Nelson was an editor and columnist, but it's a real shame that this 2002 release has been her only book. You'll be writing down titles and googling the people mentioned throughout.

36. Heaven by Meiko Kawakami

Set in 1991, the two 14 year-old outcasts of their class form a slow and tentative friendship, each unsure if they will find acceptance as they're both accustomed to being mistreated.
Told from the viewpoint of the unnamed boy who has suffered abuse and humiliation for years at the hands of the most popular boy in class and his friends, he watches as the girls in class abuse his only friend, and in turn, she is forced to see him being bullied without being able to help.

It's hard to recommend this. The conversations between the two main characters are possibly the most boring dialogue I've ever read. As their friendship progresses, Kojima begins to discuss her home life and we see something more than superficial reasons for why she's different from the other kids. But the abuse these two suffer at the hands of their classmates is extreme and horrific, with the male classmates appearing to be a group of psychopaths. The lengths that the abused friends go to to shield their bullies and keep any adult from learning about what's happening, even after the boy arrives home soaked in blood with his face beaten to a pulp, made me question if this was meant to be realistic.

37. The Halloween Moon by Joseph Fink
Esther loves everything about Halloween, but having just had her bat mitzvah, her parents tell her she's too old to trick or treat and that she needs to find more grown-up things to do on Halloween. But Esther is determined to never stop, so she presses her best friend into secretly trick or treating on Halloween, and they notice something really weird happening: there are no other trick or treaters and all the adults who should be handing out candy are passed out. That leaves Esther, Agustin, Esther's school bully, and Mr. Garbler, the dentist who hands out toothbrushes, to figure out why everyone is unconscious and why the moon hasn't moved all night.
This is a fun story of good vs. evil on Halloween, for ages 10 and up. It's written by one of the creators/writers of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. 4

38. Haint by Samuel Brower

Set in meth-ravaged Appalachia, a mine collapse releases the haint, a vampiric creature who had been trapped by the holler's preacher a hundred years ago. Now the preacher's descendants, consisting of the sheriff and his drug dealing cousins, have to hunt the locals who were turned into monsters themselves.
A small town horror that turns on modern problems. My only issue is that it could do with some apostrophes, and in one scene, the character names are switched. I know that because one character was already dead. Still, a pretty good vampire story.

This is #38 out of a total of 67 reads.

39. Blood Will Out by Walter Kirn

Kirn tells the true story of his one-sided friendship with a man he knew as Clark Rockefeller, part of the famous and wealthy American industrial family. The author and Rockefeller got together often beginning in the late 90s, for about ten years, with Kirn, a struggling writer with a young family and a tumbledown ranch, always having to pay, always being shortchanged, always feeling like something was off about this wealthy man who seemed almost able to read the thoughts of the person he was with and knew when he needed to change tactics.
'Rockefeller' was an imposter, a German named Christian Gerhartsreiter who studied American language and culture to such a degree that he passed as an American, taking many names and grifting for decades. In between chapters of Kirn's own interactions with his friend are chapters of Kirn sitting in on Gerhartsreiter's trial for the murder of a man whose inheritance made him a target.

Fascinating, both for the study of a psycho, but because Kirn sometimes thought of the man as a friend, but once the chinks began to appear, the author had to ask himself why he had fallen for such a terrible actor. 5

40. Life Among The Savages by Shirley Jackson
I'd read Jackson's best known books, the spooky stuff like The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery, so this memoir of her family life is truly a contrast but just as entertaining.
Receiving an eviction notice, Jackson, her husband, and their children and pets, find a rundown but previously grand house in Vermont, where Jackson has a third baby, learns to drive, takes her unruly children clothes shopping, and takes the reader through a night when the entire family is sick.
Her children had forceful personalities at a young age. When her son starts kindergarten, he comes home everyday with stories of what the worst boy in class did to create chaos. After several weeks of hearing about this little monster, Jackson goes to a PTA meeting and learns that her son is the one doing all of it.
Her howling four year-old daughter doesn't have an imaginary friend, she has an imaginary family, with seven daughters who don't brush their teeth. Jackson's stories are both hilarious, yet relatable in the amount of aggravation her family can cause.
These stories were gathered from articles she wrote beginning in 1948, the same year "The Lottery" caused such an uproar.

This is my 40th ROOT out of a total of 73 reads overall. I'm doing very well!

>112 mstrust: Congrats on your 40th ROOT. It sounds very entertaining.

Thanks, and it was! Who knew she had such a sense of humor?

41. Ring by Koji Suzuki
The teenage niece of a reporter dies suddenly, and then three of her friends too. At the same time, a cab driver tells the reporter about a young man who dropped dead in front of him. These unexplained deaths send the reporter searching for what they had in common, and leads to him ticking off the days until his own death unless he can figure out how to stop the curse.

The investigators, Asakawa and his friend Ryuji, travel across Japan and its islands searching for clues to save their lives, but Ryuji is a deeply flawed hero, as he's a serial rapist who shows clear signs of psychopathy. The story of trying to beat the clock and figure out how to survive the curse is still enthralling though. I've put off watching the original movie until I finished the book.

So this makes my 75th read of the year, and my 41st ROOT. My goal was to read at least 50% ROOTs for the year, and I've made 55%!

>101 mstrust:. That sounds like a book I will like.

I really liked it!

42. A Good Month For Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad by Del Quentin Wilber

Wilber has reported for several big newspapers, and here, he shadows several homicide squads in the Washington D.C. area, one of the most violent areas in the country. He reports on the investigations into many local murders, some made more difficult by the fact that both suspects and victims were drug dealers, making it even harder to find witnesses who will talk in neighborhoods where residents already don't want to speak to the police. A couple of the murders, however, become high-profile because the victims had nothing at all to do with crime, such as an honor roll teen who was killed by home intruders, or an elderly woman who was killed for her tv.
Wilber shows detectives who are run ragged investigating too many crimes on too little sleep. He provides the reader with an inside look at how the detectives have to be in multiple places at once, working days at a time with little rest. It's a hard life. Halfway through, we've met yet another detective described as "stocky" or "having a generous stomach", or another having to work while they're sick. Wilber is present for long interviews with witnesses and murder suspects, showing how certain interview techniques work on one detainee but not another. It's a rare insight into the job.

That makes 42 out of a total of 76 reads! My goal was 50% ROOTs and I made 55%.

Hi Jennifer, Happy Days for you and your family.

And to you, Connie! Thank you for dropping in on my thread throughout the year.
Have a Happy New Year!

Thanks!