Linda Goes for the Heavy Stuff in 2025 *PART THREE*

Hi, there! You know me, right? And if you don't, I introduce myself here. Welcome to my third reading thread for 2025.

In the first quarter, I did manage to read one of the chunksters (a/k/a "Heavy Stuff") from my shelves, that being The Mirror and the Light. I failed to knock one off in the second quarter, but I am determined to get to the end of There Once Was a World, a 900 page chunkster I've been reading from for a long time.

Carrying over the blue and white china discussion from my previous thread, here is a photo of some of my pretties.

The ticker where I will keep track of my numbers, and how pitifully I fall short of my 100 book/year reading goal. (For four years after retiring, I routinely surpassed that goal. The pandemic, for some reason, plunged me back to the low 80s, which is less than I was reading those last several years when I was still working full time. I may have read a lot of children's books in those 100+ years, looking for good stuff for the littles in the family.) I actually made a list of my totals for the last dozen years, and was surprised by the consistency:

2024: 84
2023: 81
2022: 82
2021: 85
2020: 84
2019: 104
2018: 110
2017: 100
2016: 112
2015: 86
2014: 100
2013: 82

Here will be a list of the books I read in the current quarter of 2025.

I use some shorthand to help me keep track of my reading trends:

ROOT identifies a book that I have had on my shelves for at least a year at the time I read it.
CULL means I put the book in my donation box for the library book sale after finishing it, or otherwise gave it away.
DNF means I didn't finish the book, for one reason or another, usually explained in the related post.
ER means I received the book from LT's Early Reviewer program.
GN refers to a graphic novel, GM a graphic memoir This is not a category I use much.
An * asterisk indicates a library book.
LOA means I read a Library of America edition;
SF means the book was a Slightly Foxed edition, (NOT science fiction, which I so rarely read);
VIRAGO means it was an original green-spined Virago edition from my own collection;
FOLIO indicates a Folio Society edition.
AUDIO and e-Book are self-explanatory, and probably won't appear very often.
AAC refers to the American Author Challenge.
NF indicates a non-fiction read.
TR indicates a work in translation
RR means it's a re-read for me

Clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book. This is true of my reading lists for the rest of the year in posts below as well.

JULY

*46. Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero GN
47. Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson NF, ROOT
48. I Want to Go Home by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT
*49. To Save the Man by John Sayles
*50. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore AAC
51. Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson
*52. The Western Star by Craig Johnson
53. The Hedgehog's Dilemma by Toon Telegen TR
54. Lucy's Christmas by Donald Hall

AUGUST

*55. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
*56. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez AAC
*57. Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson
58. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson ROOT, AAC, NF
59. Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger
60. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey NF

SEPTEMBER

*61. Lincoln's Lady Spymaster by Gerri Willis NF
62. Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall, Il. by Barbara Cooney
*63. When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman AAC, YA
64. An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
65. Murders Anonymous by E. X. Ferrars
DNF Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey ROOT, CULL
66. dear Darwin by Jime Wimmer
67. Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley ROOT, CULL
68. Foster by Claire Keegan
69. Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery NF
70. Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri ROOT, CULL, TR
*71. Poet Warrior" by Joy Harjo NF

Earlier in the year, I read these:

JANUARY

1. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan ROOT
2. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
3. Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski CULL
4. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel Folio
5. Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey ROOT
6. All That I Have by Castle Freeman, Jr. ROOT

FEBRUARY

7. A Widow's Curse by Phillip DePoy ROOT
8. The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig NF, ROOT
*9. The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman
*10. White Nights by Ann Cleeves
*11. Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
*12. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini AAC
*13. City of Saints by Andrew Hunt
14. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin AAC, ROOT, CULL
*15. A Finer End by Deborah Crombie

MARCH

16. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
*17. Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan AAC
18. Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham ROOT, NF
*19. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
*20. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green NF

APRIL

21.The Coal Tattoo by Silas House ROOT, AAC
22. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
23. Appalachia in the Sixties by David S. Walls NF, ROOT, AAC
24. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz ROOT, CULL
*25. Time of the Child by Niall Williams
26. Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton ROOT, CULL, AAC
27. The Hour: A Cocktail Manifesto by Bernard DeVoto NF, ROOT, RR
28. I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell ROOT, AAC

MAY

*29. Who Is Government? by Michael Lewis NF
*30. Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
31. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck ROOT
*32. Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein

JUNE

33. The Horse by Willy Vlautin AAC
34. Broken Fields by Marcie Rendon
35. A Plate of Red Herrings by Richard Lockridge ROOT, RR
36. Ike's Road Trip by Brian C. Black NF
37. Death of a Tall Man by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT, RR
38. Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty CULL
*39. An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson
*40. The Dog Who Followed the Moon by James Norbury
41. Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia NF
42. Tasting History by Max Miller NF
*43. Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves
44. The Dixie Limited ed. by M. Thomas Inge NF, ROOT
45. Clear by Carys Davies

My list of new acquisitions in 2025:

1. Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski
2. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
3. The Notebook, A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
4. Life Work by Donald Hall
5. Prudence by David Treuer
6. Mountain Time by Bernard DeVoto
7. The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells
8. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
9. Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger
10. Little Snow Landscape by Robert Walser
11. Kilometer 101 by Maxim Osipov
12. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
13. The Night in Question by Tobias Wolff
14. The Stories of Jane Gardam
15. Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon
16. When Women Ruled the World by Kara Cooney
17. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
18. Conundrum by Jan Morris
19. My Grandmothers and I by Diana Holman-Hunt
20. Portrait of a Marriage by Nigel Nicolson
21. John Quincy Adams: Speeches and Writings
22. The Songcatcher by Sharyn McCrumb
23. She Walks in Beauty by Dawn Powell
24. The Paper Man by Billy O'Callaghan
25. Spencer's Mountain by Earl Hamner, Jr.
26. Ike's Road Trip by Brian C. Black
27. Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
28. Long Island by Colm Toibin
29. Foregone by Russell Banks
30 Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
31. Old Filth by Jane Gardam
32. Selected Poems of Gwendolyn Brooks
33. An American Sunrise by Jo Harjo
34. Widow of the South by Robert Hicks
35. Our Little Kat King by Patrick McDonnell
36. Amelia Bloomer by Sara Catterall
37. Northline by Willy Vlautin
38. The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet
39. Lucy's Christmas by Donald Hall
40. Elizabeth David's Christmas
41. The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chesnutt
42. String Too Short to be Saved by Donald Hall
43. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
44. The Survivors by Jane Harper
45. Personal Injuries by Scott Turow
46. Strangers in the Land by Michael Luo
47. Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
48. The Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri
49. The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri
50. The Drifter's Wheel by Phillip DePoy
51. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman
52. Exiles by Jane Harper

Sure...but sometimes one just has to sent a few off to new homes. I'll keep a list of those here as the year advances.

1. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel original copy replaced by Folio edition
2. Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski
3. The Guardians by John Grisham
4. Disturbing the Peace by Richard Yates
5. The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber
6. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser
7. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
8. & 9. Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
10. The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani
11. Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
12. 14 Great Detective Stories
13. Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton
14. America Observed by Alistair Cooke
15. Six Men by Alistair Cooke
16. Feather Crowns by Bobbie Ann Mason
17, Hank & Jim by Scott Eyman
18. An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell
19 Fear of the Dark by Walter Mosley
20. Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty.
21. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
22. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
23. His Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
24. Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri

AMERICAN AUTHORS CHALLEGE

For the second year in a row, I have asked for volunteers to host a few months of this Challenge. As you can imagine, one runs out of ideas after doing it for 10 years, even though my own enthusiasm for American literature remains high. Having someone else step up for several selections is amazing, and I'm really grateful to this year's willing contributors.

Here is the list of choices for the coming year (If you'd like to check out how we got there, the planning thread is here.)


JANUARY Pacific Northwest including Western BC and Southeastern Alaska
The January Challenge thread is here.
Read several Raymond Carver short stories and one essay.

FEBRUARY-- MUSLIM AMERICAN AUTHORS hosted by @PaulCranswick
This Month's thread is here.
Finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Finished In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

MARCH STEWART O’NAN hosted by @KatieKrug
Here's his thread.
Finished Wish You Were Here

APRIL APPALACHIAN AUTHORS
Here is the Appalachian Authors Thread
Finished The Coal Tattoo by Silas House and The Appalachian Trail: Hiking the People's Path photog. by Bart Smith
Finished Appalachia in the Sixties:Decade of Reawakening collection of essays ed. by David S. Walls
Finished Where Trouble Sleeps by Clyde Edgerton

MAY Pulitzer Prize Winners in HISTORY
Here's the thread. Didn't get to anything for the category this month.

JUNE Willy Vlautin, his thread.
Finished The Horse Also read "The Kill Switch", a separate publication of an excerpt from Vlautin's next novel, which works as a short story

JULY ROMANCE hosted by @lycomayflower
Here is her amazingly informative intro to the genre.
Finished The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore and Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

AUGUST True Crime & its Fictional Offspring hosted by @Caroline_McElwee Here is the discussion thread for August
Finished The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

SEPTEMBER Alice Hoffman
Finished When We Flew Away

OCTOBER The Western hosted by @kristelh

NOVEMBER David Treuer

DECEMBER Meg Wolitzer

WILD CARD: Select from the 2016 list, which included Anne Tyler, Richard Russo, Jane Smiley, Ivan Doig, Annie Proulx, John Steinbeck, Joyce Carol Oates, John Irving, Michael Chabon, Annie Dillard, and Don Delillo. (We also did a poetry month, which is why there are only 11 names there.)

Come in, sit down, relax....share what you're reading.

>8 laytonwoman3rd: ...then THIS one is free, right?

>9 richardderus: Well, not anymore...

Happy new one, Linda. Your pic header in >6 laytonwoman3rd: has my name on it!

Happy new thread, Linda.

Happy new thread, Linda!

>1 laytonwoman3rd: >8 laytonwoman3rd: Blue and white together are the most cheerful of neutrals.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Linda!

Okay Linda, you got me with the July AAC and the admonishment (on your previous thread) not to shrug it off. Shortly after reading that yesterday I had one of those synergistic reading moments. In Jane Austen's Bookshelf there's a chapter on Frances Burney, and before getting into her novel Evelina, Rebecca Romney writes about how she "didn't read romance" but reading Evelina changed her mind.

I had to acknowledge I was guilty of the same sin. And then, a few pages later, Romney mentioned a few romances at least one of which is on Laura's excellent list, and my library has it: An Extraordinary Union. I hope to read it this month.

As I was having this little epiphany I remembered there was a time, early in my LT days, when I "didn't read mysteries." That is, until YOU nudged me towards Julia Spencer-Fleming and I realized my problem was not mysteries as a genre, but crappy formulaic mysteries.

You layton women sure are influential!

Happy New Thread, Linda. I also loved Clear. I also liked West: a Novel. Darn good writer.

>11 jessibud2: You are welcome to pilfer it, Shelley.
>12 PaulCranswick:, >13 quondame:, >14 drneutron:, >15 katiekrug: Welcome, Paul, Susan, Jim, Katie. I think blue and white is not only cheerful, but calming, summery, clean, and many other good things.

>16 lauralkeet: Awww....you are a peach. The Layton women DO live to serve, of course. And, by the way, the "challenge" this month was actually aimed at @lycomayflower, who was urged to convince ME that there was something in the genre that I would enjoy. 'Cause, y'know, I don't read romance...

>17 msf59: Hi, Mark. Yes, Davies is on my favorites list now, absolutely. But like Donal Ryan, she doesn't "click" with everyone, and I get that.

>16 lauralkeet: MUUUWHAAAHAHAHA. I mean, Welcome, dear. Come in. I have cookies.

Glad you enjoyed Clear, I did too! I didn't notice the teapot in the waves on the front cover until after I finished reading; what a treat that was.

>19 lycomayflower: Don't put no butterscotch chips in 'em, y'hear?

>20 norabelle414: Yes, it took me a while to decipher the cover too. But it was brilliant.

46. Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero A graphic re-imagining of Anne of Green Gables, where our protagonist is a red-headed gay teen-aged boy, unceremoniously dumped by his mother at his paternal grandparents' home in rural Tennessee. These people are strangers to him...they haven't seen him since he was a baby. After years of a nomadic existence with Mom, Dan finds both love and rejection in these new surroundings. His grandmother, who still mourns the loss of Dan's father at a very early age, loves Dan unconditionally, and is determined to help him in any way she can. His grandfather, on the other hand, comes across as an unfeeling stiff-necked traditionalist who can't get past Dan's flamboyant, "sissy-boy" appearance and lack of respect for "how we do things here" (Dan cooks, he wears silk shirts and an EARRING, he doesn't go to church, and he's mouthy with it). I don't deal with graphic novels very often, and when I do it's almost always because someone recommended them to me. In this case, @lycomayflower liked this one and thought I might also. It demonstrates all the characteristics I do NOT care for in the form---over-simplification, stereotypes, choppy dialogue, exaggerated facial expressions, quick scene changes without narrative transition, somewhat garish artwork (I know, I know, there are graphics that do not follow all these trends). But there is still a decent story here, and Dan's personality and character carry it forward. I love this kid, and hope he'll be OK. I just would really rather have had a non-graphic version of his story to wrap him in. If you like this sort of thing, I think you should seek it out.

(This was meant to be a Pride Month read, but my library didn't get it processed in time to get it to me in June.)

Checking in on the new thread before I lose you again!

>23 alcottacre: Oh, please don't lose me!

>24 laytonwoman3rd: I am trying hard not to!!

My re-energized reading in June (after having read only two books in May) didn't include anything by Willy Vlautin. I have a copy of The Free, but waffled. It sounded like a downer. I don't think romance going to be my July passion, either. I did read the almost overwhelming intro to the realm, but no, just not for me.

Reading Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and I may have a chance to taste another of Olga Tokarczuk book, The Empusium.

I don't know why I'm telling you this. Sorry.

>26 weird_O: You spelled "comprehensive and enlightening" wrong there, Bill. ;-)

>22 laytonwoman3rd: I'm glad to know I'm not the only graphic-novel Grinch in the group.

>26 weird_O: No need to say sorry....it's interesting to me. Vlautin's books are not generally uplifting, Romance is surely not everyone's cuppa, I really liked the Tokarczuk, and there's always the Wild Card category...
>27 lycomayflower: *giggle*
>28 richardderus: They have their place, and I think this one could be of value to young people struggling to embrace their own worth...better to read a graphic novel than not read at all. I feel a little uneasy about rating this one, since I start from a point of just not liking the form. I compromised on 3 stars. I really really don't want to discourage anyone from reading it.

>29 laytonwoman3rd: I myownself use a formula: Don't like the format/voice/structure but DO like the story/message: 3*
Think the message/meaning deserves support:+0.5*

>30 richardderus: I think something very similar happens in my head...without a conscious formula.

>31 laytonwoman3rd: If I don't codify these things, I will never, ever remember a single solitary decision about a story that I've ever made.

>27 lycomayflower: Oh my! I failed; even used spell checker.

>33 weird_O: Never trust the AI, Bill.

Happy new thread, Linda. You got me with the link to this month's AAC on your last thread. Your pick for the genre looks like a good one. Even better, one of my libraries has it so it might be in the mix soon.

>35 Familyhistorian: Good! Glad you can join us, Meg.

Anti-PRIME DAY on Bookshop.org. Free shipping through July 11th.

47. Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson I "met" Marcus Samuelsson a few years ago, by watching his "No Passport Required" food/travel show on PBS. Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia. When he was about 5 years old, his mother died, and he and his older sister were adopted by a Swedish couple. He was raised in Goteberg, Sweden. He credits his Swedish grandmother with instilling the love of food and cooking in him at a very young age. This book is a memoir of his life in the restaurant business, from training in Sweden, Italy, Switzerland and on cruise ships, to becoming the youngest executive chef to earn a 3-star review from The New York Times' food critic, to becoming an entrepreneur, an adventurous chef with endless curiosity about new flavor combinations and a philanthropic ambassador for the world's food culture. I found some of the early sections dealing with the grind of working in the high-pressure environment of commercial kitchens a bit of a slog, mostly because I have already read a fair amount about how exhausting, brutal, even abusive, that can be (Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential covered that in miserable detail). But the majority of this book held me spellbound, drooling, and rooting for Marcus to succeed at everything he set out to do (which, of course, he could not possibly have done). Despite a couple complete failures, such unforeseen setbacks as 9/11, and his long-time business partner's bid to "own" the Marcus Samuelsson name, it is gratifying to learn that his dream of opening a combination comfort food and fine dining establishment in Harlem, which was just coming to fruition when the book was published, has endured for over a dozen years, and that Grandmother Helga's meatballs are still on the menu, along with classics like fried chicken, shrimp & grits, and collard greens, all punched up with Marcus's special touches. Samuelsson currently has restaurants in Las Vegas, the Bahamas, Montreal, Atlanta, and several in the NYC metropolitan area. If you'd almost as soon read about food as eat it (I said "almost"), this memoir will treat you well.

48. I Want to Go Home by Richard Lockridge This is the second appearance of Captain Merton Heimrich of the NY State Police in the Lockridge canon...he hasn't really come into his own as a character yet, having nothing but some mannerisms and insight to recognize him by for readers like me who first made his acquaintance in one of his later cases. The focus for most of the book is on a young woman named Jane Phillips, who finds herself encountering multiple obstacles on a routine trip across the country to visit her dear old Aunt Susan. Jane is a war widow, having married a young naval officer against Aunt Susan's wishes, and then having complicated the relationship further by joining the Navy herself when her husband's plane was shot down. Now that the war is over, and Jane has carried on working for the government in a civilian capacity for a few years, she decides it is time to "go home", to the big country house in upstate New York where she had such happy times before the falling out. What she does not know is that Aunt Susan is dying, the house is full of greedy unpleasant relatives, and none of them want to entertain the possibility of Jane getting back in Susan's good graces while the old lady is still competent to change her will. Told mainly from Jane's point of view, it's more a psychological thriller than a police procedural, and despite the fact that both Frances and Richard Lockridge are credited as authors, anyone familiar with the body of their work will recognize that Richard drove the buggy in this one. Incredible detail about train schedules got to be a bit much, and one character was so totally unbelievable I can't imagine Frances even read the manuscript. It's also completely lacking the humor (mad-cap at times in the North series, subtler and wry in the later Heimrich outings), and worst of all, there are no cats OR dogs--not even a gentle bull-- in it. The suspense, though, is well-crafted, and would have made a good Hitchcock film. I'm re-reading my way through the Heimrich series, and admit I can't wait for him to become a real person, as he most definitely does at some point.

>37 laytonwoman3rd: - The Wayne and I had an amazing brunch at Red Rooster in Harlem before a Yankees game a few years ago. TW still talks about the chicken and waffles he had, and I can still drool over the biscuits...

>37 laytonwoman3rd: - I LOVED the Samuelsson memoir. I listened to him read it to me on audio several years ago in his delightful lilting Swedish accent and I think that made me love it even more.

>39 katiekrug: I would want to try everything on that Red Rooster menu.

>40 jessibud2: Oooh... that would have been a treat. I do love to hear him talk.

>37 laytonwoman3rd:, >39 katiekrug:, >41 laytonwoman3rd: We went to Red Rooster several years ago, probably not long after it opened. It was great, both food and atmosphere. I've seen Samuelsson on TV too; he's an impressive guy.

>37 laytonwoman3rd: You are making me hungry describing that food! I had no idea Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia. I've only watched him a little on TV, but not enough to know much about his story.

I wish I had known he had a restaurant in Montreal when I was there in May!!! (probably out of my price range but still...)

49. To Save the Man by John Sayles It's the late 1800's, and new students/recruits/inmates/victims are arriving at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where the founder, Captain Richard Pratt, runs things on a military model. The children are met by students who have been at the school for as much as 5 years, and are given an orientation of sorts, including new names, haircuts, "american" clothing, and a set of rules many of them are unable to understand, because their native language, including signing, is forbidden here. The basics of this history are not new to most of us, but the presentation here is full of detail that may have escaped our attention. The daily lives of the students, their classes and training, sound remarkably like any other boarding school situation in history and literature, with less physical abuse and more compassionate teacher-student interaction than one might expect. That is not to say we're meant to approve of the circumstances. This was not a "reform" school in the sense of being a place designed for punishment, but the purpose was purely, and not at all surreptitiously, to save the man by killing the Indian. Captain Pratt seemingly believed that he had a compassionate solution to the "Indian problem"--a paternalistic view that since the Native way of life was "finished" (read: "wiped out"), teaching young Indians the white man's path into the future was not only kind, but obligatory. Ironically, the diversity of the student body is one of the most striking things about this story. Many tribes are represented; many of the students did know some English upon arrival; some were already well on the way to assimilation, having come from families who had adopted Christianity and sent their children previously to mission schools. Some of the older students took to the system very well. Ah, but those who did not...escaping was not difficult, but almost always ended in apprehension and return to the school. News from home reservations managed to be disseminated, and more than one student made repeated attempts to get back to where they felt they belonged. This story culminates at the battle of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, where history and Sayles tell us that a long-term student, a "Carlisle Indian", played a pivotal role. Not an easy read, either for its subject matter or its style (which I cannot begin to describe, other than to say I found it deliberately "choppy" at times). I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone who doesn't already have a pretty good basic knowledge of the massacre and what led up to it , or isn't at least willing to delve into that history. I found the fictional version compelling, but not completely coherent without the background. A cautious 4 stars.

>37 laytonwoman3rd: >45 laytonwoman3rd: Your reviews made me hungry then sad, Linda. Hope the next one is a good one!

>45 laytonwoman3rd: State-sponsored violence is nothing new. It's inexcusable, disgusting, and ought to rouse more folk to outrage than it does.

Tomorrow's NF review will feel a lot like this, only meaner.

>46 Familyhistorian: Appropriate responses to those two, Meg. But I'm sorry to have made you sad, and I do hope you did something quick about the hungry!

>47 richardderus: You're right, of course. I did feel, for a little while there, that we might be outgrowing it. Silly of me.

>48 laytonwoman3rd: Naïve, certainly. I don't know if it's ever silly to hope humanity can get better.

>37 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Linda!

>49 richardderus: Amen to that! I keep hoping against hope that man's inhumanity to man will stop at some point.

Have a fantastic Friday, Linda!

>49 richardderus: No, hope is never silly. Without it, we'd truly be sunk.

>50 alcottacre: Glad to contribute to that BlackHole, Stasia. I'm sure it needs feeding!

50. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore Satisfies the July AAC Romance Challenge. A cozy, but steamy, romance novel set in a New England town that is a Stars Hollow clone--popular cafe next to a bakery next to a book store, with a cranky hunky dude and a cast of quirky characters who all know everything about everybody, and have a substantial caffeine addiction. The hunk in this one is Logan, not Luke; he's a farmer, not the proprietor of the cafe. That would be Jeanie, a refugee from the corporate world whose daffy Aunt Dot has given her the cafe to run while Dot goes off on a long-deserved holiday. Jeanie and Logan have instant chemistry, but neither wants to get involved with anyone right now, and both have serious self-esteem issues they can't stop chewing on. Small town life keeps throwing them together, though, and they begin to like each other in addition to having all sorts of fantasies about...um....chemistry. Of course we know eventually they'll end up sailing into Dream Harbor's Happily Ever After together. There's a bit of a mystery, and a couple side romances that I expect get fleshed out (see what I did there?) in other entries in this series. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, despite a couple quibbles with the style, and the main characters' inability to just get on with life and quit spending so much time in their own heads. Fair warning if sex on the page is not for you---the cover and the first two thirds of the book may fool you into thinking there isn't any of that in here. There is. It's pretty well done too. Don't give it to your granny. Unless your granny is an old hippie.

>52 laytonwoman3rd: YAY! Taking that as a full-on win.

51. Don't Trust Fish By Neil Sharpson, Ill. by Dan Santat
Now, according to my rules, this IS a book and CAN be counted, because it's between two covers (hardcovers, at that), but I'm not going to, because @lycomayflower and I are head-to-head on the book count, and she seems to think that matters, and she read this but did NOT count it, so if I do, that's cheating....and we don't cheat the people we love, now do we?
ETA: OK, she gave me permission, and anyway I was wrong, apparently, and she DID count it, so I have given it a number now. And I read it again, so I feel better about the whole thing.



A very very funny warning about what those scaly bastards are up to (who knows what they're up to, really, down there under the water, in schools...). For some reason, reading this, I kept hearing my brother's voice in my head. I could just imagine drifting down the river in a canoe with him, and being told, for no apparent reason, "You know, you can't trust fish..." There'd be more to it, eventually, and it would probably be hazardous to listen to, there on the river, especially if you happened to be trying to eat a tuna sandwich or something. Maybe you have to share our genes to find this kind of thing hysterical, but you really ought to see for yourself.

>54 laytonwoman3rd: I DID count this one, actually. There was *another* picture book I didn't count. But NO TAKE-BACKSIES.

>55 lycomayflower: SHENANIGANS!

>56 laytonwoman3rd: Perhaps I have been got at BY THE FISH!

>57 lycomayflower: Well, you sure can't trust 'em.

Just goes to show you should always count a book :-)

>59 norabelle414: So what I'm hearing is that I can legitimately claim to have finished 51 books, and am now in the lead...

>52 laytonwoman3rd: I, too, enjoyed my first foray into the romance genre (I know Jane Austen counts, but that's completely different than romance novels by contemporary authors). I think it might play a similar role as mysteries in my reading: fun, fast reads to counteract heavier stuff.

>61 lauralkeet: That's what we hope for with the challenges...somebody might find something new to add to their reading life. I'm glad this one worked for you!

>60 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, and @lycomayflower should have counted her other picture book and then you would be tied again! Always count a book!

>63 norabelle414: That's my new mantra.

>54 laytonwoman3rd: Taking note as a I have a nibling with a birthday coming up.

>65 MickyFine: It's listed as for the 3-7 years age group, if that helps you. I think some of the humor would be lost at the lower end of that range, but the illustrations should appeal to everybody.

52. The Western Star by Craig Johnson Walt Longmire, now and then... When a killer Longmire caught in his first two weeks as Lucian Connelly's deputy comes up for parole every four years, Walt is always there to help make sure the man is not released. This time, however, the prisoner is dying--any day now-- and the Governor's wife is pushing for compassionate release under one of her pet programs. Visiting the killer in the hospital takes Walt back in time to the events that brought about the man's arrest. We flip back and forth between 1972 and the present, learning some things about Walt's early post-Vietnam days, his marriage to Martha, and the foundations of his personal moral code. Gripping stuff, but in the end there are still many questions unanswered, and one big thread left dangling, which will make some readers wish they had the next installment right at hand to be going on with. THIS reader, however, having sampled some of the reviews of Depth of Winter, may just skip it and see what happens after that. As we turn the last page of The Western Star, Walt's daughter Cady is missing, and probably in the hands of the Mexican bad guy, Bidarte, who has already seriously damaged Vic and killed her brother, Cady's husband. We don't know how Walt and Martha picked up the pieces after she lost their first baby due to the viciousness of the aforesaid prisoner, and we don't know how Walt finally decided to stay on as Lucian's deputy after having serious doubts that he was cut out for civilian law enforcement. I know he's going to rescue Cady; he has to, or he will cease to exist. I don't particularly want to watch how he does it, and it seems a lot of other fans of the man and the series weren't too pleased with it, so.... I'm not through with Walt or Vic, and especially Henry. I'm just not sure where I'll pick up their adventures next.

53. The Hedgehog's Dilemma by Toon Tellegen Not to be confused with the non-fiction work of the same name, this is a whimsical tale of an introverted yet lonely hedgehog, who contemplates sending out an invitation to all the woodland creatures to visit him. Then, he spends agonizing days and nights imagining and dreaming of what could happen if those creatures (and the airborne and water-dwelling contingent as well) actually took him up on it. Oh, no good can come of any of it, surely. And what if some of them wanted to hug him...or what if his prickles all fell off just before they arrived? And what sort of cake should he have on hand that would please everybody? Too much, too much...he can't, it's all too much. We've all been there, innit? Absolutely marvelous as the author gives full distinct personality to each and every one of dozens of critters in Hedgehog's fertile anxiety-ridden imagination.

>68 laytonwoman3rd: that sounds delightful!

>69 lauralkeet: Did you mean to refer to >68 laytonwoman3rd:? If so, Tellegen was a recommendation from our late friend, Anita @FAMuelstee, although I didn't realize it when I picked this one up. I'll be seeking out more of his work. (Translated from the Dutch, btw.)

>70 laytonwoman3rd: oops, yes. And thanks for the additional info about the book too.

54. Lucy's Christmas by Donald Hall Lovely illustrated book about simple preparations for Christmas and the exciting arrival by freight of a new, "modern" kitchen range on a New England farm in the very early 20th century. Based on Hall's mother's recollections of her childhood. A Godine publishing re-issue in paperback, with their usual high quality. Companion to Lucy's Summer, which I also treasure.

Our August host for the AAC is @Caroline_McElwee, and The thread for True Crime and its Fictional Offspring is here.

>73 laytonwoman3rd: It's diabolical, first romance, now true crime, what can I do but join the AAC for another month.

>74 Familyhistorian: *rubs hands together gleefully* You've discovered my evil plan!

55. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton A multi-generational tale of women searching for their history, uncovering secrets and discovering connections hidden or just plain lost to time. A little girl is left alone, on a ship about to depart for Australia from the English port of Maryborough, by a lady she knows as "the Authoress". Despite her promise, the lady does not return to unite the child with its parents, and the ship sails off. The girl has no ticket, no one knows her name and no one claims her; she cannot or will not explain herself; she is abandoned on the wharf, where the harbormaster takes pity on her, whisks her off home to his wife, and raises her as his own. Morton is marvelous at good old-fashioned story-telling, and she can carry the reader through centuries, across oceans and deep into hidden landscapes. I did have to create a little chart for myself early on, to keep the various characters in their proper places and times as the many pieces of this story twisted and turned, much like the maze that plays an important role in all their lives. Not quite as engaging for me as The Distant Hours, but still an immersive mystery-laden goodie for lovers of this sort of thing.

>74 Familyhistorian: Doesn't one normally lead naturally into the other? Hahaha.

>77 PaulCranswick: It CAN happen...

56. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez A late addition to the AAC Romance category, this one is fairly new and popular at my library, so my hold didn't come through in time to read it in July. Delightfully real people and situations, humor that slides from low-key to laugh-out-loud, some very tough emotional stuff (dementia), family dynamics that are absolutely believable, and a darn good love story. So. Yes. I read a romance novel and I liked it. A lot.

>75 laytonwoman3rd: *oops* I forgot about July's AAC theme! I read zero romances of the ~300 or so I have a-Kindled. Deeply conflicted about true crime, as a genre, because it can re-victimize the families if not the dead victims to have their pain hashed over in public for entertainment...or it can lead to catharsis or even blame assignment at last...it's a truism that "no tool isn't also a weapon" for a reason.

>80 richardderus: We always accept late entries to the AAC, Richard. So if you read something good, please post on the thread and let us know about it.
I know what you mean about true crime---I seldom read any about recent stuff, and I prefer the long-term perspective, knowing no one is currently paying for my interest with their pain. I think I'll be reading The Devil in the White City for this month's challenge.

>81 laytonwoman3rd: - That was my first by Larson, Linda. and I love his writing. I almost never read mystery or true crime, especially, but his writing makes history alive for me and I've read a few of his other titles. My favourite, in addition to Devil, were Isaac's Storm and Thunderstruck.

>81 laytonwoman3rd: I am having trouble getting into The Devil in the White City, which surprises me. The initial set-up is just taking way too long--I frankly do not care about the minutiae of getting the architect group together, and the swapping of that story with Holmes' early "career" isn't working for me either. Sometimes the tide turns all at once with any given book, so I will decide with today's reading whether I'm going to keep on or give up.

In the meantime, for lighter fare, I've finished a Longmire adventure.

57. Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson Having skipped Longmire's trip to Mexico to rescue his daughter in Depth of Winter, I caught up with him recovering from some serious wounds but returned to work (too soon, of course, as is his wont). A dead Basque shepherd, a lone wolf of the original Wyoming pack thought to have been exterminated, a missing child, and a Cree woman who knows something about all of them give Walt plenty to think about. Two common (for me) complaints about this one---not enough Henry, and too much Walt ignoring human limitations and getting away with it. Still, I continue to enjoy this series.

58. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson For the AAC (true crime).

Larson clearly did an amazing amount of research for this book, and his writing is fine. Nevertheless, I found the early chapters quite a slog (I don't think he left anything out!) I simply don't have the interest in design and planning required to absorb the details of what went into getting ready to START building the "White City" as the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) came to be known. AND I couldn't care less about the conflicting personalities of the architects and all the ins-and-outs of getting them to get along, let alone the day-to-day personal calamities that interfered with it all. Suffice it to say that the Fair was a nearly impossible undertaking, it did not go well, and very nearly did not happen at all. (Spoiler alert--the Pygmies never showed up, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was denied a spot on the grounds.)

There were, however, sections of the book dealing with Chicago's history, the spirit of the Gilded Age, awe-inspiring elements of the Fair itself (the first Ferris wheel, electrification on a grand scale, inspiration for more beautiful cities and possibly the Lincoln monument's design) and other related topics that I did find engaging, so although occasionally tempted, I did not seriously consider abandoning the read.

Now...on to the "Devil" portion. I knew nothing of H. H. Holmes, the erstwhile pharmacist who represented himself as a doctor (among other things), and conned an uncertain number of impressionable women (mostly) to their gruesome deaths. The intricacies of HIS planning were more intriguing to me, but I felt the author teased the reader too long with bits of information lacking detail, until gearing up in the last quarter with a fairly comprehensive linear treatment of the events that ultimately led to Holmes' arrest, trial, conviction and execution. I could have been quite satisfied with that portion, and the concise summary of the long-lasting architectural, technical and aesthetic effects of the Fair that took up less than two full pages of text.

>85 laytonwoman3rd: It has been 20 years since I read this and I remember a lot of it, which says something. I ended up awarding it 4 stars when I joined LT but in hindsight I recognize all that you are saying and I also recall thinking of giving up. I would probably award it less than 4 stars nowadays.

>86 RBeffa: For a while I thought "well, this will be one for the library sale box when I'm done", but now that I AM done, I have decided to hang on to the book. I surely won't re-read it, and my husband won't take it up (he might have, if I had been more enthusiastic), but I can see referring to it at some point in the future, when some memory struggles to assert itself.

59. Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger Cork O'Connor is drawn into the search for the daughter of woman he once loved when her stepfather seeks his help. Shiloh, a popular country singer with a history of substance abuse, has gone into isolation deep in the wilderness of the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada, to work and heal. Her Ojibwe guide, a man who taught her the fundamentals of survival and served as her only contact with the outside world during her retreat, has failed to appear for a scheduled supply delivery. And, it seems there are a LOT of people seriously interested in finding her...including two men claiming to be her biological father...and not all of their motives are benevolent. A tightly crafted page-turner, with exactly the right amount of the right sort of suspense, seamless transitions between sections featuring the searchers, the stalkers, those waiting behind, and Shiloh herself. A fine piece of adventure.

60. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey This was simply one of the most beautiful reading experiences I've ever had. I'm reminded of discovering M. F. K. Fisher's food writing, or Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, or certain passages from Thoreau's Walden which I read for the first time as an impressionable teenager and have never forgotten. The set-up is this: the author, bed-ridden with a relapse of a (then) unidentified debilitating virus, and without even the energy to sit up or the concentration for reading, is presented with a woodland snail by a friend. Over the course of a year, she watches this tiny creature live its life in a large terrarium at eye level beside her bed with fascination and awe. During an extended slow recovery, she researched the subject of mollusks (malocology), as well as the surprising wealth of art and literature praising the slimy little wonders, and wrote this miraculous book. Food for the soul.

“A snail has an interesting life; its courtship is remarkable, its various natural abilities are astounding, it has a memory, and, just like humans, it likes a comfortable place to sleep and very good food.” —Elisabeth Tova Bailey

My wide wake shines, now it is growing dark.
I have a lovely opalescent ribbon: I know this."
Elizabeth Bishop, from "Giant Snail"

On Thursday I made an expedition downtown to visit two relatively new independent bookstores I just learned about through an episode of our local NPR station's Art Scene feature. Over the years, Scranton and its neighbor, Clarks Summit, have had a few marvelous book stores, but just lately it's been BAM! or nothing. There are actually 3 stores now, within a few blocks of where I used to work. The third one, which feature mostly books about art and nature as I understand it, along with the owner's own art, is only open on Fridays and Saturdays, so I will have to try that one some other time. In a spirit of collaboration, the owners of these stores, none of whom knew the others' plans in the beginning, have vowed to be friends, rather than competitors, and have even had some swag designed with all three logos.

Naturally, I binged did what I could to support this worthwhile experiment.



The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (which I have already devoured--see previous post)
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Louisiana's Way by Kate DiCamillo
The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
Foster by Claire Keegan
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kemmerer
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamli
Carried Away by Alice Munro
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

>90 laytonwoman3rd: very cool. I hope you enjoy Foster. A small but very good book.
>89 laytonwoman3rd: This is one I will look for.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: Congrats on your new bookstores! That's a great haul

>91 RBeffa:, >92 norabelle414: Thanks...I'm hoping they all "make it". Having had some experience as a board member of our public library experimenting with operating a combination branch and independent bookstore in a high traffic mall situation, I know the business is difficult. And we had virtually free rent for a few years, which I'm sure these hopeful young entrepreneurs do not. I intend to visit them often for as long as they keep the doors open.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: Always a treat to find a new book store!

Enjoy :)

You've read some great books! For now, I've added Lucy's Christmas, but I'll be back to add more in the upcoming days. Tomorrow I have dental surgery wherein they implant two front teeth. I'm not looking forward to this, but it will be a relief to get rid of the partial plate I am wearing.

I hope your summer was good. It certainly was a joy to meet you and spend time together. Thanks for finding just the riht spot for us to meet!

All good wishes for a Happy Fall. The flowers in my gardens are blooming and multiplying. I think I will cut back next year as it has consumed a lot of time, wherein I could read some of the many, many books on my shelves.

>8 laytonwoman3rd: I love your blue and white room, and the beautiful blue dishes!

Blue is a great color for you. You are a very soothing person.

Love

>95 Whisper1: Oh, Linda, you are such a sweetheart. I don't think many people would use "soothing" as an adjective to describe me! You will love Lucy's Christmas. There is another called Lucy's Summer, which is equally delightful. Hall also wrote Ox-Cart Man, which I haven't read yet. He was primarily a poet, but his nostalgic children's books are gems.

>90 laytonwoman3rd: Excellent Linda. Wish I could have joined you.

Going back over your past reads, i've put Clear on my wishlist. I don't know how I ever missed this!

>97 Caroline_McElwee: Well, so do I, Caroline.

>98 tiffin: I believe Lois sent me my first Carys Davies novel, West, and I just love her work.

>98 tiffin: I'll second Linda's recommendation for Carys Davies' Clear. A bookseller in our local indie shop foisted it upon me one day and I couldn't refuse. I'm so glad I bought it, it was very good. I really should read more of her work.

well, with two recommendations like that, i can't go wrong!

61. Lincoln's Lady Spymaster by Gerri Willis A nifty small history featuring Elizabeth Van Lew, a Richmond society lady with strong Unionist loyalties, who managed a ring of spies and resistance operatives from her family home. Van Lew's early efforts centered on aiding Union soldiers held prisoner in Libbey prison, but she eventually branched out into actual espionage, using information "innocently" gathered from her Confederate social contacts, who never suspected a Southern belle capable of such subterfuge. Willis covers a lot of familiar ground for anyone who has read much Civil War history, doing a fine job of using only what was necessary to put Van Lew's work into context without overburdening the reader, and her narrative flows smoothly. I enjoyed the read, learned a few things, and despite having some quibbles with editorial/proof-reading failures and one major factual blunder, I would recommend it to buffs. It is well documented with end notes which serve as a de facto bibliography.

62. Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall, Il. by Barbara Cooney Another delightful picture book from Donald Hall's nostalgic series for children. Simple tale of seasonal life in an agrarian world, with slightly primitive, utterly beautiful illustrations. For anyone familiar with Hall's original poem of the same name, note that this version is enriched with a family, which the ox-cart man in the poem did not have.

Aren't those paintings charming!

>104 tiffin: I love 'em!

63. When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman For the AAC.

Hoffman's young adult novel of Anne Frank's life in the last couple years of the family's relative freedom in Amsterdam before going into hiding from the Nazi scourge. As usual, Hoffman's writing is wonderfully descriptive, evocative, imaginative. She works symbolism into the story seamlessly, if a little more obviously than might be done in an adult novel, and her characters are alive on the page in a way that makes this particular story almost too hard to read. The author was especially effective at illustrating Anne's fraught relationships with her mother and her older sister, and her growing understanding of the complicated nature of familial love. Interspersed with the fictional narrative are short sections entitled "What We Lost", which are factual statements of the incremental thefts of Jewish rights, property and freedoms in a land they had adopted, thinking they had moved to safety. Although the fictional account ends as Otto Frank moves his family into the hiding place he has spent so much time arranging, in the hope of keeping them safe until the day when, as he believes, the Americans will come to their rescue, the last of these historical notations leaves no doubt as to the fate of Anne Frank and her family. The author's Afterword describes the effect of reading Anne Frank's diary at age 12 (when a lot of people of my generation would have read it). I confess I wonder at the effect this novel might have on young readers today. Do teenagers still routinely read The Diary of a Young Girl? Do they know the context as those of us who came of age with parents who lived through it did? Hoffman makes a case for the diary being required reading for every child throughout the world..."She was the girl we all are, lovable and exasperating and smart. She was a dreamer and a realist, but more than anything she was a girl who wanted a future. That is something she deserved, and when we remember her, and the fate of her people, we are honoring not only Anne, but all who were lost during the war. Remember us, the diary tells us, in every single line...Remember me."

For so many reasons today....

>106 laytonwoman3rd: Looks like a good read. I will add it to my list.

Hope you have a good weekend!

>106 laytonwoman3rd: - Great review, Linda. And yes, I think the diary and its message are timeless although I have no idea if kids today read it and what they might think. Given the state of the world today, in so many places, I wonder if it would be a beacon of hope or jarring in knowing its ending.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: is a very appropriate follow-up.

>108 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Figs...so nice to see you here.

>109 jessibud2: Knowing how it all came out made this a really tough read for me. And Hoffman was not trying to soften her message at all, to the point that I thought she got a little preachy, to the detriment of the story at times. Still, it can't be told often enough, and maybe this generation needs to be shown the parallels without subtlety.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: Sadly very fitting.

>111 Caroline_McElwee: Indeed.

64. An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo I've been working my way through this collection from our one-time poet laureate, and I must say, as poetry many of the selections completely underwhelm me. Much of it refers to the Trail of Tears experience, which was actual for at least one of Harjo's ancestors. That subject matter draws me to it, but often the work fails to touch the part of me that responds to poetry. This is partially due to my general reaction to much poetry---it's too personal, the images and symbols that are meaningful to the poet don't necessarily resonate with me. It is also partially due to my lack of training in poetic forms---I just don't see why a lot of it qualifies as poetry. It isn't lyrical, I don't see a form, don't sense a rhythm, and there are few, if any, rhymes (the last matters least to me), yet it clearly is not prose. I don't say it was a waste of time to read...there are short prose segments interspersed that tell some of the ancestor's story. Those are fascinating, if disturbing. There are a handful of what I absolutely recognize as poems, which do sing to me. I will want to revisit some of them. And even in those I don't "get", there is some outstanding language. I am firmly in the "Poetry matters" camp. I buy 2 or three volumes every year, and am glad that it is still possible to do so. I think it is important to keep challenging myself to read things that I don't fully understand. So this collection will remain on my poetry shelf, with a lot of other collections I have reacted to in much the same way.

I've added many books to my tbr pile. Alice Hoffman remains one of my favorite authors. Long ago, when I read her first books, I've continued to read almost everything she's written. I did not know about her 2024 YA book When We Flew Away. I'll check to see if my library has this, if not, I'll buy it!

I've added Ox-Cart Man, Clear, Lucy's Perfect Summer and Boundary Waters . Obviously, I like what you are reading!
And, yes, when meeting you, I would consider the word soothing as a reference. I certainly enjoyed your laid-back way of expressing yourself and your life.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: PERFECT!

>115 Whisper1: That's what I thought, Linda. Thanks.

In case anyone needs yet another reason to buy your books from ANYBODY else Fake books. And remember if you're shopping for used, abebooks is owned by the bigger A as well.

>116 laytonwoman3rd: I've seen several posts on social media from people who bought a well-known book off of Amazon and received a blank notebook with the cover of the real book printed on the cover of the notebook. And of course there was no recourse because the listing was written vaguely and the photo was of the book cover. It's a real cesspool.

>117 norabelle414: Well, I think Amazon does usually allow you to return things without much bother. But that doesn't make it right that they allow this kind of fraud under their banner. BOOKSHOP.ORG all the way, if there is no independent bookstore convenient at hand.

65. Murders Anonymous by E. X. Ferrars Ferrars has been a bit hit-or-miss with me, but I still pick up her books if they cross my path at a library sale. This one started out slowly, and except for the discovery of a dead woman in her own house by her husband, who has an unimpeachable alibi, there seems to be nothing going on for quite a while. We follow the husband as he figures out how to grieve for a woman he didn't really love anymore (and who might have been planning to leave him), but we see nothing of the investigation into her death. Then off he goes to spend some time with his sister and brother-in-law at their cottage on the coast...and things begin to get more interesting. I can't say for sure exactly when this story became un-put-downable for me, or even why it did...but the last two thirds kept me reading when I should have been doing other things. A conclusion I should have seen coming, which always gives me chagrin, but proves that the author knew what she was doing well enough to divert my attention from the clues.

DNF Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
Well, I thought maybe I'd get a jump on October's Western reading for the AAC, and put this "classic" under my belt. Does anyone know if this is where the expression "purple prose" came from? 'Cause it's definitely a contender for the PP Prize. SIX times in one paragraph he actually used the word purple. Wretched sentences, overblown descriptions, IMbelievable dialog....sounds like Radar O'Reilly trying to write like E. Hemingway (Ethel), J. Steinbeck (Jerry) and E. O'Neil (Eunice) while taking a correspondence course from the Famous Writers' School. Just could not get past the first chapter, and it's kind of a shame, because the premise of the novel is intriguing. I'd like to read the story that's promised, but not in this rendition.

>120 laytonwoman3rd: wow. I gave it 4 stars a few years ago. Yes the prose was purple. There is a good story in there and I am sorry that you couldn't get there. I think it was the first and only, so far, Zane Grey novel I read.

>121 RBeffa: " There is a good story in there " I suspected that. Has anyone made a decent movie version?

Well, the story was published in 1912 or so, one of the high points in pulp fiction era. Your Hemingway comment is not out of line, since I remember the long sentences. But didn't your Faulkner do that too? I get scared off by that sort of writing usually because by the time I get to the end of the sentence I forgot where it had started. But new riders isn't quite so bad and the history i learned in the telling made it worth it. I do like my Hemingway tho. But I also remember thie story quite well from 5 years ago, which is saying something for me these days. I have several more Zane Grey's on hand which I will try before too long.

>123 RBeffa: My reference to Hemingway was tongue-in-cheek...in M.A.S.H. the Famous Writers School used those authors' last names to deceive people into thinking they were getting advice from the Big Names, when "Ethel", "Jerry" and "Eunice" were actually the instructors. And Faulkner's long sentences were linear at least...they didn't curl around back into themselves in awkward fashion like Zane's...they just didn't quite know when to stop. (Even as a devout fan, I concede that he went overboard from time to time!) I have read Louis L'Amour with considerable enjoyment, so I think I'll stick to him for this sort of thing.

I see there have been several movies made of Riders of the Purple Sage, including one in 1996 with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan starring. I may have to seek that out.

>124 laytonwoman3rd: Our library did not have the Harris/Madigan film. I think I saw it when new since I like both the actors. I think L'Amour's early work is much more pulpy than his later novels.

Somewhere around here I have a likely first edition of that Zane Grey. I think my aunt passed it along to me from my slightly older cousin's books. Confession: probably unread, even as a kid, because I have never been a fan of westerns or western Americana.

>126 tiffin: You better find that---it could be worth a bit, I imagine. I do enjoy a good western tale. Lonesome Dove, for instance, just blew us away. And Mary Doria Russell's Doc...marvelous.

Putting in a plug here for a book I just ordered from Bookshop.org, Strangers in the Land by Michael Luo. It was promoted through the website's newsletter. Oddly, no one on LT has it in their catalog, and there is no touchstone, although it was published last April. My library doesn't have it either, so I've put in a purchase request. It seems like a work that should be on their shelves.

ETA: Strangers in the Land There is a touchstone after all.

>127 laytonwoman3rd: Lonesome Dove has been near the top of the tbr mountain for a while Linda. Maybe this Winter.

In the weird coincidence dept, my SIL texted a few minutes ago that she is in PA, Milford I think, and she is going to the Zane Grey museum in a day or two. She says her grandpa was a big fan. Zane is a Pennsylvanian.

>128 laytonwoman3rd: I do see a touchstone for Strangers in the Land, though I had to scroll down a bit to find it. A lot of books with that name! It's very popular at my library, 20 holds on 4 copies.

>131 norabelle414: Oh, good! I scrolled a bit, but gave up too soon, apparently. I'm glad your library has it. I'm sure my purchase request will be honored...they are quite good about that.

>130 RBeffa: Oh, how about that! I've been to the Zane Grey museum, but never in it. It isn't so very far from here. My daughter's high school Ecology Club took a bus trip to that location years ago and I volunteered to chaperone. The purpose was to spot eagles, as the confluence of the Lackawaxen and Delaware Rivers there is a great gathering place for them. The museum wasn't open then except by appointment, as it was November or December, as I recall. I'm sure your sister will see the famous Roebling bridge across the Delaware too.

>129 Caroline_McElwee: I hope you'll get to it when your life settles down---it's a long book, and one that begs you to get lost in it.

>132 laytonwoman3rd: it looked lovely when I googled it last night.

>128 laytonwoman3rd: Wow...and yesterday I had an e-mail telling me the book was available to fulfill my hold (when you put in a purchase request it automatically puts a hold on the book for you, should they actually buy it). Impossible for it to have been purchased and processed that quickly, so I was curious. The library clerk told me it had JUST come out of processing, so it didn't show up on the website when I searched for it but two days later it was waiting for me to come get it! I did, of course, even though I've ordered a copy for myself, because ...circulation numbers matter! It's a chunkster.

66. dear Darwin by Jime Wimmer A beautiful illustrated children's story by an author/artist who grew up in Northeast PA, got an MFA in art education from a college just a hop, skip and jump from my front door, and now lives and teaches in Savannah, GA.

Recommended for ages 6 to 10, but there is really nothing very childish about the writing or the message here. A mouse with a passion for collecting plants and for the color violet sets off on an adventure to find lavender, which he has heard about, but never seen. This takes him into the deep forest, where there are some dangers, but also many delights. The illustrations are gorgeous, and belong in company with those of Charles van Sandwyk, who I love. The vocabulary is just right for a children's book--neither overly challenging nor soppily simple, but with a potential "new" word on nearly every page. The story is sweet, but not twee, and there is a hint of magic. If you have littles in your life, use them as an excuse to get your hands on this. If you don't, heck, who needs an excuse?

Remarkably, this high quality book was apparently self-published by the author and her husband Mike, who is also an artist, with the aid of a Kickstarter campaign. I found it, serendipitously, on the children's shelf at a newish independent bookstore in the Endless Mountains of Northeastern PA. And that is why we need actual stores to browse in, h'aina? If you're not near to Tunkhannock, PA, or Savannah, GA, you may have to get it from WimmerStudios directly, as Amazon never heard of the book or the author (and I'm really OK with that). OR contact this store in Savannah. Create a demand!
Someone around here mentioned Patricia MacLachlan recently...Mike Wimmer has collaborated with her to create All the Places to Love.

>135 laytonwoman3rd: A+ h'aina usage!

That illustration is stunning.

>136 lycomayflower: *grins* I'm a transplant, but I can speak da langwidge.

>136 lycomayflower:: I googled this but it said it was likely a typo for hyena. So who says this and where do they live?

>138 tiffin: It's Scrantonian for "ain't it?" ("isn't it so?"), as the equivalent of "n'cest pa?", or another popular phrase around here "Am I right?" Sometimes followed by a brief pause and then "or no?"

sort of like our Eh. Tks

>140 tiffin: That's it, exactly.

Kristel @kristelh is our host for October's AAC, and The Western thread is here. Gallop on over to see her suggestions, leave some of your own...

67. Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley This has been on the shelf for a long time; in my spotty efforts to weed out books I'm never likely to read, I picked it up because I thought it might be a DNF...I seem to recall reading some not-too-complimentary reviews. Well, I did finish it, and found it worthwhile, although not as satisfying as Mosley's work usually is for me. Now I can donate it without qualms, at least.

Two boys--one black, one white--raised together from an early age by the black child's mother and the white child's father. They have all they need, and then some...parents who love them, home comforts provided by the father's successful medical career, they are both bright and promising. Tommy, the black child, has some health issues, but they are well-managed now that he has Dr. Nolan as his father; Eric, the white boy, was prone to manic episodes and tantrums as an infant, but those abated the instant Mama Branwyn entered his life. Fortune seems to have favored them both...until Mama Branwyn dies and The System declares Dr. Nolan has no legal right to decide or contest what happens to Tommy and returns him to his no-account biological father's custody. The narrative follows Eric and Tommy through the next 17 years of their lives as one fine opportunity after another falls into Eric's lap, and one monstrous injustice after another befalls Tommy. And yet, Eric feels a constant sense of guilt and dread, which keeps him from caring about anyone or anything. Tommy, on the other hand, is happy to be alive whatever that entails, communes with his dead mother whenever he needs to, and survives with his sense of wonder intact. So which one is "fortunate"? This is a fable, so well-told you can forget it is not meant to be realism. I think this is at the root of some readers' negative reactions to it, even among those who identified it as a parable, an allegory, or a fable. I will grant that the "point" was well and soundly made long before the story ended, and there was a soggy bit somewhere around 2/3 of the way through. I don't feel inclined to hang on to it, recommend it to anyone I know, or re-read it in the future, but it kept me turning pages, and I do think it warrants a 4 star rating.

68. Foster by Claire Keegan A brilliant novella about one Irish child's blessed summer in the country, a brief fine time in an otherwise classically gloomy existence. There's nothing I can say about it that makes more sense than David's Mitchell's blurb: "As good as Chekhov". Loved every word. Do yourself a favor if you haven't read this one already -- find a copy and sink in. Then go hug a bairn.

>143 laytonwoman3rd: That one was oh, so good. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it too, Linda!

>143 laytonwoman3rd:, >144 alcottacre: What Stasia said. I loved that book too.

>144 alcottacre:, >145 lauralkeet: I'm fairly sure one of you is responsible for me knowing about Foster, or maybe you get to share the credit. In any case, thank you.

69. Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery Rescuing and rehabilitating turtles of all sorts from challenges to their habitat, from hazardous highway crossings, from catastrophic encounters with speeding vehicles and other human atrocities...that is the subject of this fascinating, sometimes heart-breaking work. After reading about a third of it, I took a long break, because it just hurt me to spend so much time with these fractured endangered creatures. But having returned to it, I found I couldn't resist even the sad stories. Who would have thought people could fall in love with reptiles...admire them, sure; observe them with fascination, of course; be moved to protect, rescue and heal them, naturally. But love them? Recognize their individual personality traits? Look into their eyes and see gratitude there? I get it now, though. Thanks, Sy Montgomery, for immersing yourself in their world (literally, at times) and sharing the passion of the Turtle Rescue League and others who have made it their goal to save as many turtles as possible from the dangers of being an ancient species in a 21st century landscape.

>147 laytonwoman3rd: I'm so glad you returned to that book! The "who would have thought ..." bit was exactly what took hold of me, too.

>148 lauralkeet: I'm glad I did too, Laura. It seems the narrative got quite a lot more positive and uplifting right about where I put it down!

This is just so much preaching to the choir, but I thought I'd share this ICYMI. How To Be a Good Literary Citizen

Today is William Faulkner's birthday...

“Some things you must always be unable to bear. Some things you must never stop refusing to bear. Injustice and outrage and dishonor and shame. No matter how young you are or how old you have got. Not for kudos and not for cash: your picture in the paper nor money in the bank either. Just refuse to bear them.”

Happy Birthday William.

>147 laytonwoman3rd: I loved Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus so I promptly bought a copy of that book - and have yet to read it. Thank you for the reminder that I still need to get to it, Linda!

Have a wonderful weekend!

>152 Caroline_McElwee:, >153 alcottacre: Thanks for visiting, you two!

70. The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri Meh. I don't know if this was sub-par, or if I'm getting tired of Montalbano. (I am definitely tired of Livia, and don't know why Camilleri doesn't write her out. The cranky relationship bits are boring already.) Montalbano seems to be getting tired of his job, and even when his colleague Fazio is in dire danger, as here, he has trouble staying on top of his game. I thought there was more potential in this story than was realized, and I really have NO idea exactly what happened at the end. Is it me, or the translation, or was it really not that good? Dunno. The prose felt like it was poorly rendered into English at times. I know I gobbled up 3 or 4 of these in a row a few years back, having a wonderful time with both the serious and the amusing elements of modern Sicilian policing a la Montalbano and Company. I remember finding something hilarious in nearly every one. This time, I felt "that was probably way funnier in Italian", and couldn't always differentiate what was meant to be diverting. Well, I have a couple more on hand, and will probably read them eventually. For now, rest, Salvo...pull yourself together, eh?

71. Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo A memoir with a poetic through-line in which Girl Warrior becomes Poet Warrior through a series of life events told episodically, and occasionally in verse. Not a straight chronological narrative by any means, but insightful, spiritual and fascinating.

Ah, I see you did not get around to starting a new thread after all. Maybe tomorrow?

>157 alcottacre: I dunno, Stasia. Laura's coming home Saturday for a week, and my niece will be here also on Tuesday overnight, so there's much housekeeping/rearranging, and grocery shopping/meal planning going on. "Stuff" gets put in Laura's room out of the way so that has to find new quarters, and with both of them here the sofa bed in the living room will be called into service---I just spent the morning vacuuming the bejeepers out of that inside and out, and blankets are airing on the porch. The thread may have to wait, but I'll fit it in as soon as I can. It will make a nice break from grunt work.

72. The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer Basically this is an extended essay on the philosophy of gift economies vs. capitalism. I found it a bit repetitive, and rather short on inspiration, given how deeply entrenched the buy it/sell it model has become in the world. A few examples of how it is still possible to share our abundance with our neighbors, but nothing I wasn't already aware of, and most of which I do see happening here and there. The salvation of the planet isn't in here, but there is plenty to think about, and it was well worth the short time it took to read it. I'm putting my copy in the Little Free Library in the village. (See?)

I DID IT. The new thread is up. Follow the linkie thingie.