April ColourCAT - Brown

We last held ColourCAT in 2018 and, in February that year, I fell in love. I read Religio Medici by Sir Thomas Browne and it was a meeting of minds. It takes a lot to get 5 stars from me, but this won that coveted prize.

You don't have to read him (but I'd love it if you did). There are any number of authors with Brown in their names, Dan Brown is but one. There seem to be multiple authors called Craig Brown and Sandra Brown has written 76 NYT best sellers (and I'd never heard of her until I started trying to write this!) There are tons of others, I am sure.
Or you could go for poetry and try Elizabeth Barret Browning or Robert Browning, both of which have an embedded brown.

Or go with the title or character. Father Brown or Encyclopedia Brown might appeal, or Christie's The Man in the Brown Suit.
There are brown things that might be in titles or on covers; bears and chocolate being but two.

I'm not going to get started on shades of brown, of which there are many, many different ones. If you fancy reading a book with a shade in the title or author's name or on the cover, go right ahead!

I've long been meaning to read Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game, and the cover is presented almost entirely in shades of brown, so that's my plan for the month...

I have two Sandra Brown's in my TBR. Both bought at library book sales. One has been on my shelf 5 years and the other 4. I don't want to rush things, but I'll probably read at least one of those.

I'm thinking of reading The Dead Ringer by Fredric Brown, a 1940s mystery.

I may read a book by Amy Tan (light brown??); I have 2 that have been on my TBR shelf forever: The Hundred Secret Senses and Saving Fish from Drowning.

The cover of The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett has a brown background

Due to their brown covers, I am planning on reading Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie and Goldilocks by Laura Lam.

I'm going to read Across the Plains in 1884. The cover is brown. This will also work for CoverKat which requires a road.

I think I'll be reading Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh which has a brownish cover.

The cover of my copy of Villa Mirabella features a brown road, brown leaves on trees, and the house and archways are brown brick. I plan to finish this book that I started months ago.

I've got one:

Bodies and Battlements - the doors on the cover are Brown!

I will be reading Teepee Tales of the American Indian by Dee Brown.

I’ll be reading, or, I suppose, looking at The Arrival by Shaun Tan. I picked it for its brown cover:



but I guess it counts for the author’s name as well.

Since this feels like cheating, as there aren’t any words to read, I’ll also start The Count of Monte Cristo, though I doubt I’ll actually finish it in one month. The cover of my copy is brown:

I found a brown cover in one of my TBR piles - Death of a Chimney Sweep. It also gets me a bingo square for a profession in the title.

I'll see about maybe reading Brown Girl in the Ring, something that's actually on my high-priority to-read list!

I just got The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown from the library, so I may be reading this in April.

>15 ngoomie: I read Brown Girl in the Ring years ago, and liked it. I like Nalo Hopkinson in general, and this was excellent.
Hope you enjoy it.

I have brown on the cover Treasures of Castle Rowley by Matilda Lockwood I an reading now. A win from LT.

Starting Hunger by Knut Hamsun

I finished The Arrival by Shaun Tan (cover in >13 Charon07: above). It is beautiful and moving, and I heartily recommend it.

I’ve also started The Count of Monte Cristo, which I probably won’t finish this month.

I read The Flames of Hope by Tui T. Sutherland. My book has the title in brown

I finished Skirmishes

I have completed Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie.

I read the short, but beautifully illustrated Nina Hamnett by Alicia Foster. The edging / background is a kind of mushroom brown colour...

COMPLETED Hunger by Knut Hamsun

I just read The Dream Gatherer by Kristen Britain, which has many brown tones on the cover, specifically on the house and ship:

Here's the link to the wiki, if anyone needs it: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/ColourCAT#April:_Brown

I read The Dead Ringer by Fredric Brown.

>27 LibraryCin: Sounds interesting, I've thumbed your review. I like the way the new system makes it so much quicker to do that.

The way you describe the author considering the impact of other cultures, reminded me of a book I read about witch trials, which considered that the uncertainty due to relationships with the communities who had been on the land before them played a big role.

I finished The Silence of the Sea, a very short novella that was published in France during WW2. My cover is a kind of reddish brown. Although the story itself is short, this translation came with the original French text (I skimmed this), a discussion of the history surrounding it and a literary discussion. I was most interested in the historical discussion, which talked about the way the author was involved in printing for the resistance, and the message of the story around collaboration.

>31 charl08: I hope you like it if/when you get to it! Do you remember the title of the book you were reminded of? I'd be interested in taking a look. Thanks!

>32 LibraryCin: It was The ruin of all witches by Malcolm Gaskill. A good read!

>33 charl08: Thank you! I'll take a look.

I read Cluny Brown by Margery Sharp. Delightful, until the ending threw me for a loop.

Finished The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown. Magic books, timetravel, gruesome murders. I think it was his first novel, and it showed a bit. Not terribly bad, but not very good either.

The May thread is posted: https://www.librarything.com/topic/370091

London Calling by Edward Bloor
A young American boy is able to travel back to the Blitz in 1940 London through an old radio in this YA novel.

I finished Rental House which has a brown chair on the cover.

I have completed Goldilocks by Laura Lam.

>15 ngoomie: Only just started reading Brown Girl in the Ring yesterday, hopefully I'll be able to get it done before the end of the month?

Starting Fascism: A Very Short Introduction by Kevin Passmore

COMPLETED Fascism: A Very Short Introduction by Kevin Passmore

I read Asunder by Kerstin Hall.

Starting Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger

The figure on the cover is holding a brown fan and the giant ampersand in the title is also brown.

68. Teepee Tales of the American Indian by Dee Brown ★★★

Magic is the word for these stories of heroes and heroines, of ghosts and monsters who played tricks on people, of animals who lived as equals with human beings, of daring deeds, mystery, humor, and suspense. These are memory stories of the American Indians, passed on from storyteller to storyteller through generations of tribes before there was writing or books. Around campfires, in tepees, wigwams, and wherever else groups might gather, the tale spinners tried to make their listeners shake with laughter, shiver with terror, or sit breathless with suspense. Only stories that held their audiences survived through the oral tradition. The best of these from more than two dozen tribes are included in this collection. (description from book blurb)

This collection of stories are not the common well-known tales found in most collections. Some were interesting, but most did not translate well to the written form.

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption



When I saw this book's title, I knew I had to find a copy. At its core this book is a memoir looking at the author's life as a Black adoptee, who was adopted and raised by white parents, reconnected with her white birthmother in her late teens, and discovered around that time that her Black father had died when she was a child; and at the same time, it is also a 'speculative memoir' of how her life may have been different if her birthmother had kept and raised her. Full review on my thread. Loved this one.

My choice for this month was The wisdom of Father Brown, a collection of short stories.

COMPLETED Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger

Finished Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (looks like touchstones aren't working for me right now?)

My second for this CAT this month. Made of Rivers

I’m reading TORN THREAD by Anne Isaac’s which has a brown cover.

Thank you all for joining in. Hope you found something to love.