Familyhistorian trying to clear out those ROOTs

Trying to get to the top of ROOTs mountain!

2025 ROOTS

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My ROOTs goal is 65 once again. I thought it would be so easy to get to that number in 2024 but I was proved wrong. Maybe 2025 will be better?

ACQUIRED

Welcome back and good luck with your goal!

Welcome back, Meg! Very nice to see you here too. Better luck with the reading. Go get those ROOTs.

Welcome back, and great metaphor pic, good luck!

Welcome back! Great photo for the challenge :D

Welcome back and good luck!

I'll be rooting for you as you ascend ROOTS Mountain!

>3 MissWatson: Thanks Brigit!

>4 connie53: Hi Connie - I keep telling myself to pull books from the shelf but those library holds keep coming!

>5 detailmuse: Sometimes it feels like climbing a mountain moving those ROOTs along, MJ!

>6 Cecilturtle: Thanks Cécile!

>7 mstrust: Thanks Jennifer!

>8 Carmenere: ROOTs mountain is huge, I'll need the rooting, Lynda. (I see what you did there!

>2 Familyhistorian: yeah, some years just, well, but Best of Luck for this one

>11 AnishaInkspill: Thanks, I'm just hoping that the reading will go better than last year. Not sure about the rest of life though.

1. Random in Death by J.D. Robb



My first ROOT for 2025 was Random in Death, book 58 in the long running crime series with Eve Dallas as a Lieutenant in the NYPD in the future. In this episode random young women were being targeted by a killer and it was up to Dallas and her team to catch him.

Good luck with the mountaineering this year! I always hope I can reduce my mountain from Himalayan size to maybe Cairngorms, that feels a bit more manageable. Not going to happen though! :D

I know the feeling, Jackie. I think I'm making great headway getting books out of the house but that doesn't account for all the ones coming in. Last year 4 more came in than went out. I need to get the numbers going in the opposite directions. Good luck with your reduction efforts!

2. November Rain by Maureen Jennings



At the beginning of the month I pulled November Rain from my shelves. It was the second book in the Paradise Café mystery series which follows the cases of Toronto private detective Charlotte Frayne. I enjoy seeing depression era Toronto through Charlotte’s eyes.

3. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal



I’m reading my ROOTs but I’ve fallen behind in writing them up. I finished The Calculating Stars, a story about the space program reimagined to start in the 1950s. The earlier date because of a meteor strike that took out Washington DC and the after effects of which would hasten the end of the Earth. The plan was to start a colony on the moon but it was a struggle for women to be included. But how can you start a colony with only men?

4. The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry



I really enjoyed The Secret Book of Flora Lea, a story told in two timelines but with the same characters years apart. At the heart it was the story of a woman looking for her sister who had disappeared after the children of London were evacuated before the Blitz.

5. Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery



Love, Hate & Clickbait was a fun, sometimes funny, male to male romance of enemies forced to fake a relationship as a ploy for a political campaign.

6. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn



I enjoy the Smythe-Smith Quartet series and The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy was no exception. It was a fun historical romance with an underestimated young woman who came into her own when she found out the truth behind Sir Richard’s secrets.

7. Northern Light: The enduring mystery of Tom Thomson and the woman who loved him by Roy MacGregor



I pulled Northern Light: The enduring mystery of Tom Thomson and the woman who loved him from the shelves. Thomson books fill part of a shelf in my collection because his family ties into my own plus the mystery of his death still intrigues readers to this day. This book was an interesting one with some new theories.

8. The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson



I picked up The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England on a book shopping expedition last year. It was a fun futuristic romp into England’s distant past in which the main travelling character showed what he was truly made of.

>22 Familyhistorian: That sounds fun! I will have to see if my library has it.

>23 Caramellunacy: I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I picked it up, Donna, but it ended up being a lively story and the parts of the manual interspersed throughout were humorous given what was going on with the main character. I hope your library has it.

9. Somewhere I'll Find You by Lisa Kleypas



Somewhere I’ll Find You was a fast reading historical romance that I picked up at a little free library. It was a fun but involved story which showcased the life of theatre in early 1800s London.

10. Black River Road: An Unthinkable Crime, an Unlikely Suspect, and the Question of Character by Debra Komar



Black River Road: An Unthinkable Crime, an Unlikely Suspect, and the Question of Character came from my true crime shelf. It revealed as much about St John in 1869 as it did about the crime.

11. The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson



The Road to Heaven was the first foray of detective Patrick Bird, a young private detective in 1960’s Toronto. It kept me turning the pages.

12. Grave Expectations by Alice Bell



A scan of my mystery shelves produced Grave Expectations. The mystery was quirky as the main sleuth was aided by the ghost of her best friend but maybe I was expecting a different, more sophisticated read. Your mileage may vary.

13. Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard



Next up was a historic romance Never Met a Duke Like You which was fun even if a few details – like writing the West End was the questionable part of London – bumped me out of the story.

14. The Key to Deceit by Ashley Weaver



I enjoyed The Key to Deceit, the second book in the Electra McDonnell series in which a gang of thieves were now on the side of the angels in WWII London. It was a fun read that had me turning the pages quickly.

15. Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon



Another mystery read this month was Murder on the Red River. The sleuths in the case were a young native woman field hand and the man who believed in her, Wheaton, the local sheriff. It was touch and go whether she would solve the case or die trying.

16. Molly Miranda Thief for Hire by Jillianne Hamilton



Molly Miranda Thief for Hire was an adventure story which followed the ins and outs of Molly’s high flying life on the other side of the law. There were a lot of questionable things happening that had Molly thinking twice about her life and livelihood.

You are really doing a fast forward, Meg.

>33 connie53: I was going away for a trip so I eased up on library books for awhile and read my own books so my ROOTs totals increased, Connie. Maybe I should do that more often.

That's why I only buy books and aren't a member of any library. I only volunteer in one. (at Lonne's school)

>35 connie53: That's good planning, Connie. I'm a member of two libraries but still can't resist buying books.

17. The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths



It was a Ruth Galloway mystery with a difference. The Dark Angel took place in Italy but Ruth and Kate were there and soon Nelson showed up and, of course, there was a murder to solve. I enjoyed revisiting the series and I’ll probably get to the next one soon.

18. A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara



Another mystery from my own stacks was A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer. It was a fun if other worldly take on the murder mystery genre.

19. A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh



The continuation of the Wimsey mysteries doesn’t quite match Sayers’ works but A Presumption of Death was a good read if a bit slower paced than the originals.

20. The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood



Also a mystery of sorts was The Royal Librarian, with a young woman in the present trying to find out about a mysterious letter to her grandmother while in a separate narrative the reader was treated to the story of what happened to the letter writer back in WWII.

21. Passions in Death by J.D. Robb



I’ve been reading the in death series since it started in the ‘90s. Passions in Death was number 59 in the series and it’s not running out of steam.

22. Atonement by Ian McEwan



Sometimes reading challenges can be fulfilled by a book that has grown ROOTs on my shelves. This time the book was Atonement, the story of a family damaged by a misconstrued incident and a false but well intentioned accusation.

23. Scandal at the Savoy by Ron Base & Prudence Emery



I enjoy revisiting ‘60s London in the Priscilla Tempest mysteries. The second in the series was Scandal at the Savoy and more famous figures from that era showed up including the Krays, who were part of the city’s underworld at that time.

>42 Familyhistorian: I loved this one! The ending is so unexpected and cleverly done. The move was very well done too!

>44 Cecilturtle: Did the movie follow the book or were parts written out or changed?

24. The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray



I enjoy a good murder mystery and historic ones are even more my speed so The Murder of Mr. Wickham was one that I really appreciated.

I just realized that I haven't been posting my acquisitions on this thread so I'll have to make up for lost time.

Books acquired in January 2025

1. The Rivals by Jane Pek
2. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
3. Somewhere I’ll Find You by Lisa Kleypas
4. The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict
5. Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement by Cathleen D. Cahill
6. Boardinghouse Women: How Southern Keepers, Cooks, Nurses, Widows and Runaways Shaped Modern America by Elizabeth S.D. Englehardt
7. The Imprisoned Blogger: Real Stories of Struggle with Immigration Detention in Canada by Othman Hamdan

Books acquired in February 2025

1. This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher
2. To Kill a Troubadour by Martin Walker
3. The Runaway Orphans by Pam Weaver
4. Disaster at the Vendome Theater by M.L. Longworth
5. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

Books acquired in March 2025:

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
Murder at la Villette by Cara Black
Heart of Briarwall by Krista Jensen
The Lady Glass by Anneka R. Walker
The Making of English Towns: 2000 years of evolution by David W. Lloyd

>45 Familyhistorian: The ending was a changed but I found it did not take away from the story, on the contrary, it helped me understand the book better.

>50 Cecilturtle: Nice when the film adaptation is able to add to understanding rather than change the story and/or meaning the author was trying to convey.

25. The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor



My ROOTs reading this month has slowed down as my library holds have gotten out of control again. I read The Cottingley Secret for a challenge. It was an account about the Cottingley Fairies paired with a modern day storyline both of which kept my attention.

26. Two Dead Wives by Adele Parks



The library holds are coming in quickly so pulling ROOTs off the shelves is becoming harder but I did manage to fit a few in. Two Dead Wives was a fun mystery told in multiple POVs and apparently, now that I’ve read the Spoiler Alert at the end, the continuation of another story, Woman Last Seen.

27. Steeped in Evil by Laura Childs



I like checking into the world of the Tea Shop Mysteries every once in a while. My latest was Steeped in Evil and, strangely for the series, the latest murder happened in a winery. Theodosia was soon on the case.

28. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine



Sometimes I pick up books from Little Free Libraries because I know they will be handy sometime to meet reading challenges. That was the case with Fairest, a new take on a fairy story. It was a fun remix.

29. Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce



I chose Dear Mrs. Bird to read from my stacks of WWII novels. It was a heartwarming story of London during the blitz with a plucky heroine who wanted to do the right thing although she often went about it the wrong way.

>56 Familyhistorian: I read Dear Mrs. Bird earlier this year and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I've gone out and bought the second book in the series, which I intend to read sooner rather than later.

>57 rocketjk: It was a good read but I had no idea there were more in the series until I was informed by other LTers. I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series.

I forgot to add a post about the books I acquired in April of 2025. They were:

1. And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake by Elizabeth Boyle
2. Always Remember by Mary Balogh
3. Letters from the Dead by Steve Robinson
4. Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany by Rebecca Brenner Graham

I picked up the Elizabeth Boyle book at a Little Free Library because I’ve taken many workshops with her at SIWC but have never read any of her books.

30. Ticket to Ride by Winona Kent



I pulled Ticket to Ride out of my stacks of mysteries and was treated to an interesting story of a band on tour which provided a glimpse of English towns. It also provided a mystery as the band was being targeted and it appeared that the intent was deadly.

31. And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake by Elizabeth Boyle



Romances are quick reads for me. The novel And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake was no exception. It was the story of an unlikely couple drawn to each other although their families had a long standing estrangement. I picked it up at an LFL because I’d never read anything by the author but have attended a few of her writing workshops.

32. The American Candidate by M J Lee



I’m always on the hunt for genealogical mysteries and found the Jayne Sinclair series to have interesting stories. The latest I read was The American Candidate in which Jayne was retained to look into the background of a potentiate candidate for the US presidency. His background was more than a bit dicey as were the people backing him.

33. Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances PerKins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany by Rebecca Benner Graham



On occasion I have to buy books for some of my book clubs. In this case it was Dear Miss Perkins, the story of Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor appointed by FDR. Interesting story and enlightening as I had no idea that the US government had elevated a woman to this kind of post back then. It was a fraught time to be in charge of that part of governance as Labor at that time included immigration.

I'm not reading my ROOTs as quickly as I'd like but at least I'm not accumulating ROOTs as fast as I once did. New acquisitions in June were:

Die Trying by Lee Child
Looking for Miss America: A Pageant's 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood by Margot Mifflin
A Gentleman Fallen on Hard Times by Grace Burrowes

34. Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed by Jo Beverley



I’ve been looking through my stacks of ROOTs and pulled a fast reading romance off the shelves. Lord Wraybourne’s Betrothed was the story of a strictly brought up woman finding her way in the ton of Regency England after her parents accepted an offer of marriage for her.

Hi Meg, You might have noticed that for the last few days I'v been trying to get up to date with all threads. I started with the oldest post in the list and working my way. So now I'v reached your thread and hope you are doing well. The reading is going strong, I can see that.

35. The River Knows by Amanda Quick



I’m slowly reading my way through books that I kept to reread later. Among them are a run of novels from the days when I read mostly romance/suspense, comfort reads when I’m going through hard times. The first of these books was The River Knows, in which the investigation of a series of crimes brought the male and female sleuths together.

>66 connie53: Hi Connie, thanks for the visit. I have been very remiss at visiting the ROOTs thread this year. I should probably follow your lead.

36. Disaster at the Vendome Theater by M.L. Longworth



Mysteries can be a good way to visit different places. Disaster at the Vendome Theater took place in Aix-en-Provence showing the way of life in that city as well as introducing the reader to amateur theatre. The mystery was pretty good too.

37. The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths



From the mystery series that I follow, I picked The Stone Circle to read recently. A Ruth Galloway mystery, an ancient mystery intrigued as did the present day relationships of the regular characters.

>69 Familyhistorian: I love reading books where you get to visit new cities. Always so nice to explore through pages.

>71 Caramellunacy: Visiting new cities through books is fun but so is visiting cities you know where you can really picture the streets because you've been there.

Before August gets too advanced, I should add in my July acquisitions. New last month were:

The Impostor Heiress: Cassie Chadwick the Greatest Grifter of the Gilded Age by Annie Reed
Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb
The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Not Safe After Dark by Peter Robinson
The Cost of a Hostage by Iona Whishaw

38. Hearts of Briarwall by Krista Jensen



Many of my ROOTs are romances including the “Proper Romance” Hearts of Briarwall which I picked up in Salt Lake City. It was a good one.

39. The Knife Slipped by Erle Stanley Gardner



I have a few “Hard Case Crime” books on my shelves. One of them is The Knife Slipped but, although it was by Erle Stanley Gardner, the usual crime fighters weren’t featured. This was a Cool & Lam mystery. It was good and short.

40. Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts



I must have picked up Heart of the Sea in a Little Free Library somewhere. It is the last book in a romance trilogy, the Irish trilogy, but readable as a standalone.

41. Second Sight by Amanda Quick



I’m reading my way through my collection of Amanda Quick books so that I can send them on their way. Second Sight was the first book in the Arcane Society Novels and a quick read.

Nice to read about your last read books, Meg.

>78 connie53: Thanks Connie. Nice to have you visit.

42. Die Trying by Lee Child



I picked up Die Trying, one of the Jack Reacher books, at my Little Free Library. I was reading it a bit at a time until it got really interesting and I had to find out what happened – the sign of a well written thriller!

>73 Familyhistorian: Is it me, or are you acquiring fewer books than you were? That's got to be some sort of a win, right?

>81 Jackie_K: Good eye, Jackie. I have cut down on the acquisitions mostly because I'm running out of room! I really need to do something about all the reading material I've acquired. It's starting to take over.

Your thread is very dangerous for me. Almost everything listed since March (where I started catching up) looks appealing to me. And not a single book is on my own shelves!

>83 ritacate: Oh oh, sorry about that but at least you've found some appealing new reads.

43. American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson



One of the true crime books on my shelves is American Sherlock, which looks at the history of detecting crimes through Edward Oscar Heinrich, who ran a private enterprise analyzing the evidence left at crime scenes. It was interesting, if a bit dry.

>85 Familyhistorian: I read this in 2023 and gave it 3.5/5. Interesting for sure.

>86 rabbitprincess: Nice to have you visit RP. It was a good read but I enjoyed the author's Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog and the Strangling of a City more. But maybe that was because I have a closer personal connection to the story.

My acquisition numbers seem to be dwindling. I added one book in August which was:

Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin

44. Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick



The next of my reread stash was Wicked Widow in which Madeline seemed to be haunted by her dead husband who aimed to have her and her aunt join him. She enlisted the help of Artemas Hunt and they not only solved the mystery but ended up together.

>85 Familyhistorian: That's one that I've been wanting to read because I listen to her podcast, however, I had about the same results as you with her previous book Death in the Air. Fascinating subject that somehow became dry.

>90 mstrust: I didn't find Death in the Air dry but maybe that's because I had a skin in the game as it was a part of my family's history. On the other hand, for American Sherlock, I was interested in early scientific investigation in the US but it didn't directly affect my family as it was based in the US.

45. Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick



Continuing on with my reread of the Amanda Quick novels in my collection, I read Don’t Look Back. The murder of a female mesmerist and the theft of a priceless bracelet sent Lavina and Tobias on the hunt for the killer and the jewelry.

46. Funerals are Fatal by Agatha Christie



While rearranging my books I found a small collection of Agatha Christies. Among them was Funerals are Fatal. It was a Poirot mystery but he doesn’t show up until nearly the end of the story which was set in a village and involved living arrangements which were common a few generations ago. It was those living arrangement which brought unrelated people into proximity with each other which provided the author with many of her murder mysteries and the surprising perpetrators.

47. The Imposter Heiress: Cassie Chadwick the Greatest Grifter of the Gilded Age by Cassie Chadwick



For an online book club I read The Imposter Heiress: Cassie Chadwick the Greatest Grifter of the Gilded Age. It was amazing what she got away with in a less sophisticated age.

48. Foul Deeds by Linda Moore



A book from my travels, Foul Deeds, was an interesting mystery set in Halifax. The plot behind the mystery involved the potential monetization of Canadian water and there were also some Shakespearian references as the main amateur sleuth was involved in a production of Hamlet.

>94 Familyhistorian: That sounds right for me, so I'm taking note. Seems like no one on LT has reviewed it yet.

>96 mstrust: It was an interesting one and we had fun discussing it, Jennifer. Look in the True Crime section.

50. Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin



Another interesting mystery set in Canada that I read recently was Detective Aunty. It introduced Kauser Khan, a woman who has a habit of noticing things that others miss. When her daughter became the prime suspect in a murder, Kauser was on the case even though all her daughter wanted was some help with her household and daughters – someone to pick up the slack when she was in jail and her husband was off somewhere else.

51. The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore



Also pulled from my shelves this month was the fourth book in the League of Extraordinary Women series, The Gentleman’s Gambit. I didn’t find it quite as good as the first three but maybe that’s just me.

52. A Different Kind of Evil by Andrew Wilson



Another mystery from my shelves was A Different Kind of Evil, a reimaging of Agatha Christie’s mysteries with the writer herself as the main sleuth.

53. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Angus & Patricia MacDonald



I recently pulled one of my collection of books about Scotland off the shelf. The Highlands and Islands of Scotland was informative and included a lot of pictures of the area.

54. Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb



I can’t get enough of the in death series. This time I read Bonded in Death which was the 60th book in the series and brought in old warriors from the Urban Wars, which have been referred to as being in the past of this futuristic murder mystery series.

A few more acquisitions in September than in previous months but still not that bad. New ones are:

Disobeying Hitler: German Resistance in the Last Year of WWII by Randall Hanson
Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver
Dark London by Drew Gray

55. When Falcons Fall by C.S. Harris



I read a lot of the St. Cyr mysteries but then stopped. It was good to get back to the series that has been taking up space on my shelves. When Falcons Fall reminded me of why I liked the books.

56. A Match Made for Murder by Iona Whishaw



I just preordered the latest Lane Winslow book, (a prequel) so I thought I should actually continue on with the series. For me the next book was A Match Made for Murder which happened with Lane and Darling in Tucson while Ames had his own investigation going on back in Nelson. It was a fine addition to the series.

57. The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick



Another Amanda Quick down and destined to be recycled. This time it was The Paid Companion which involved a false fiancé, a murder investigation and the requisite amount of romance.

58. Boardinghouse Women: How Southern Keepers, Cooks, Nurses, Widows, and Runaways Shaped Modern America by Elizabeth S.D. Engelhardt



I read Boardinghouse Women: How Southern Keepers, Cooks, Nurses, Widows, and Runaways Shaped Modern America for an online book club. It focused a lot on the southern US so not really my area of interest but it was good for all that.

59. Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick



In my reread of the Amanda Quick books on my shelf it appears that I read one of a series out of order. My latest was Slightly Shady in which Lavinia and Tobias March first lock horns and how their partnership progresses.

60. My Secret Sister by Helen Edwards & Jenny Lee Smith



My Secret Sister has been on my shelves for a long time. It was the true life tale of two sisters separated at birth, the very different lives they lived and how they found each other. It was a strange story involving secrets and lies and a mother who loved drama.

Hi Meg!! I'm trying to catch up on threads again and visiting yours. Sorry for staying away that long. I hope you are doing fine. According to the books you've read, the reading was great.

>110 connie53: Hi Connie, I haven't been keeping up with the threads very well and have been remiss in visiting. Thanks for checking in. The books have been going well, life itself has been trying as I've been driving my son to hospital appointments for cancer treatments.

I missed adding my October acquisitions to this thread. Here they are.

I've had time to kill while my son is in treatment (chemo and dialysis, both long appointments) and since the hospital is about a 40 minute drive except during rush hour when that time stretches besides which parking spots at the hospital fill up so quickly that empty ones are often nonexistent so if you have one your car is parked there for the duration, I've had time to kill many miles away from home base. But there is a shopping mall in walking distance. After scoping out the stores I discovered there is actually a book store in that mall. Meaning more acquisitions in the last while. They are:

Globe: Life in Shakespeare's London by Catharine Arnold
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
The Sleeping and the Dead by Ann Cleeves
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley
Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck by Eve Lazarus

Forgot two:

Sweet Success: How Industry, Immigrants, and Working Women Shaped a Town by Barbara Pagni Denton
A Season for Spies by Iona Whishaw

November saw me spending more time in that bookshop in the mall with a similar number of books acquired. They were:

The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
Make (Sneaky) Art by Nisant Jain
Valentine in Montreal by Heather O'Neill
The Armor of Light by Ken Follett
Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths

61. Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood



The second Marlow Murder Club mystery, Death Comes to Marlow was a good one but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t watched the TV adaptation in the summer. I tend to forget murder plots quickly but not that quickly.

>112 Familyhistorian: I just finished reading The Blue Castle and was enchanted. I hope you enjoy it, too.

>111 Familyhistorian: O that's really sad, Meg. I hope the treatment will do what it is supposed to do.
My brother has cancer too and I know it is heavy on the whole family.

Love and hugs for you and yours.

I'm very sorry to hear that your family is going through this. Good wishes to you.

>115 MissWatson: Good to know I'll have a good read to look forward to.

>116 connie53: Thanks Connie, there has been some progress which is encouraging. Thanks for the hugs!

>117 mstrust: Thanks for your good wishes. We never have enough of those!

>118 Familyhistorian: I am so very sorry, Meg, to hear of your son’s illness. I wasn’t reading attentively enough. All my best wishes that treatment will help.

>121 MissWatson: No problem, Brigit. We all do that skim/read thing when trying to keep up with the threads. Thanks for sending your best wishes!

An early December visit to bookshops upped my acquisitions. Maybe this will be it for the month?

Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

What about Christmas presents? No books on the wishlist?

>124 MissWatson: I don't usually get book presents, Brigit. Do you?

>125 Familyhistorian: Yes, but then I always provide a wishlist from which my sisters can choose. And vice versa.

I am sending hugs and prayers.

>126 MissWatson: Ah, nice to have sisters. I hope you get the books on your wishlist.

>127 mnleona: Thanks, all hugs and prayers gratefully accepted.

62. A Lethal Lesson by Iona Whishaw



Strangely, my next read in the Lane Winslow mystery series was A Lethal Lesson which all took place in snowy BC just before Christmas. It was a riveting whodunit as well as being appropriate to the current season.

Meg, I'm so sorry to learn about your son's treatment, I pray for its effectiveness. And that your transportation logistics are manageable -- I recently read about how much "care time" adds up when considering everything peripheral to the actual appointment time.

>131 detailmuse: Yes "care time" is a huge time commitment. His treatment seems to be effective so far.

63. Always Remember by Mary Balogh



I managed to add another ROOT read. This time an historical romance, Always Remember which featured the forbidden romance between Lady Jennifer, a disabled young woman who has schooled herself to not complain about her lack of mobility, and Ben Ellis, the bastard son of an earl. It was a good one.

Hi Meg. Despite the worries for your son I hope you had a nice Christmas. All the best for 2026 and I do hope the good news will keep on coming!

64. Sweet Success: How Industry, Immigrants, and Working Women Shaped a Town by Barbara Pagni Denton



I read Sweet Success: How Industry, Immigrants, and Working Women Shaped a Town, for an online book club. It was well done but ultimately, a history of an area that is not really of great interest to me.

>134 connie53: Thanks Connie, it was a quiet Christmas but that was to be expected. My son continues to make progress in the right direction.

This year it was a struggle to get to my ROOTs goal. I usually read a lot of my own books when I travel but, as I had to cancel my trip in September this year I didn't get to take those ROOts along that I would have read and left along the way. But I'm about to post write up about the ROOT that got me to my goal.

65. Home Sweet Homicide by Craig Rice



I chose classic crime fiction to reach my ROOT goal. Home Sweet Homicide featured three young sibling sleuths intent on solving a local murder as well as promoting a match between their author mother and the lead police detective investigating the case.

I picked up three more books in December, one from a little free library and the two others from a bookshop close to the hospital when my son was in treatment. They are:

Unnatural Causes by P.D. James
Standing in the Shadows by Peter Robinson
Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin

Strangely, the Robinson and the Rankin both have the main hero towards the end of their lives/careers.

>139 Familyhistorian: There was a time I read a lot of P.D. James but it was long ago. She's one I would like to revisit.

So glad to hear of your son's progress. And congratulations on meeting your ROOT goal!

>141 detailmuse: Thanks MJ!