Threadnsong Reads and Plays in 2026

I go by Threadnsong, as I love needlework and play Irish music in the Atlanta area (non-professionally). And then there is my love of reading! There are so many books to enjoy, and using challenges has been a life-saver in choosing what book to read from my stacks, piles, bags, and shelves.

My categories for 2026 are:

2026 Group Challenges A great way to look at books and delve into their covers and words. These change from month to month, depending on what I have that fits a particular challenge.

General Reading A catch-all category for the "just because" books. This also includes other LT Group Reads.

This Will Take Some Time This category has served me well for many years, since there are some books I want to pick up, put down, and pick up again.

Series Keeps track of my series. Some are carryovers from previous years, some are new to me, and having this category also helps me decide what series to continue and when I need to move on.

The Arthurian Romance Cycle I'm sticking with some classics this year as a way to finally read the most important ones.

Gift Books To list what DH and friends have "gifted" to me in the way of books over the years.

Books in Bags For anyone who goes to festivals, craft fairs, conventions, and the like, and comes home with a couple of bags of books, this will be the category for them. Helps with de-cluttering as well.

As I did when I set up this thread, I will add pictures to these categories as I decide on them, which happens on weekends in between catching up on everyone's posts and books.

2026 Group Challenges

1) January SFFKit Challenge - Adaptations - Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
2) February DecadeCAT - the 10's - The Price of Glory by Alistair Horne
3) March CoverCAT - Green - The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and Into the Green by Charles de Lint
4) April DecadesCAT ('00's) and April SFFKit (Parallel Worlds) - Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
5) June MysteryKIT: Police Procedurals - Angels Flight by Michael Connelly

General Reading

Sometimes, I just look at my shelves and pick up a book. I used to look at this list/category as my TBR shelf. Until I realized that I had a lot of TBR's and I could use LibraryThing to hold all of my TBR's, and this category to list what I'm reading, just because.

1) The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper is written by one of my favorite sci-fi authors.
2) The Seventh Plague by James Collins for a LT group read
3) One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith was a delightfully good re-read
4) Watership Down - The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams &c was a great re-telling of this story
5) Tam Lin by Pamela Dean reminded me of an older style of written novels
6) Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip because she is one of my favorite authors, and also the Tam Lin theme
7) Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner is, despite the sword-fighting storyline, a wonderful tale and a bit of a comfort read
8) Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner is a brilliant telling of this tale? ballad? theme?

This Will Take Some Time

This is the place where I put my giant door stoppers. I tend to read these at the same time I'm reading smaller or shorter books; kind of as a continuity for a particular reading time.

Helen and Teacher by Joseph P. Lash currently reading
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright, read/finished April, 2026

Series

Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries by C.S. Harris (read as a LT group read on another thread and just fell in love with them. Also explains why they are out of order!)
What Angels Fear read October, 2023
When Gods Die read February, 2024
Why Mermaids Sing read July, 2024
Where Serpents Sleep read May, 2025
What Remains of Heaven read May, 2025
Where Shadows Dance read June, 2025
When Maidens Mourn read April, 2026
What Darkness Brings read October, 2023
Why Kings Confess read August, 2024
Who Buries the Dead read June, 2025
When Falcons Fall read April, 2026

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (received the first as a gift from a friend, and love the writing and the setting)
Maisie Dobbs read April, 2023
Birds of a Feather read June, 2024
Pardonable Lies read April, 2025
Messenger of Truth read July, 2025
An Incomplete Revenge read January, 2026
Among the Mad

Cat in the Stacks by Miranda James (I love these as a go-to cozy mystery featuring a library in a small town and a Maine Coon cat)
Murder Past Due read 2023
Classified as Murder read June, 2024
File M for Murder read December, 2024
Out of Circulation read September, 2025
The Silence of the Library read October, 2025

A Knitting Mystery series by Maggie Sefton (another cozy mystery series that I initially read out of order, and then re-read in October and November, 2025 for continuity's sake)
Double Knit Murders read November, 2023/Oct 2025
A Deadly Yarn read January, 2025/Oct 2025
A Killer Stitch read December, 2024/Nov 2025
Dyer Consequences read November, 2025
Fleece Navidad
Dropped Dead Stitch read March, 2024

The Arthurian Romance Cycle

I've read several of the more recent books that are based on King Arthur, and now it is time to tackle more of the classics.

Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, hardback edition edited by John Matthews, illustrated by Alan Lee. At one time I read through Chapter XI, but it's time to restart it.

Chrétien de Troyes, editions translated by Burton Raffel
Erec et Enide read May, 2024
Cligès read March, 2025
Lancelot
Still a goal to add the remaining 2 in the same series, Yvain and Perceval

The Great Book of King Arthur by John Matthews

Gift Books

From kind friends and DH over the years, and have begun to include the lovely gift books I received at Christmas, 2025. As before, the date indicates when I received them rather than year of publication.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell (2023)
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (2023)
Eve by Cat Bohannon (2023)
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra (2023)
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright (2023), read/finished April, 2026
The Annotated Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (2023)
Nicked by M. T. Anderson (2024)
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan (2024) read April, 2026
I Heard There Was a Secret Chord by Daniel J. Levitin (2024)
I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki (2025) read January, 2026
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi (2025)
Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito (2025)
This is What It Sounds Like by Susan Rogers (2025)
A House in the Mountains by Caroline Moorehead (2025)
Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope (2025)
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2025)
The Man Who Ate His Boots by Anthony Brandt (2025)
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Unruly Queen by Flora Fraser currently reading

There we go! I'm caught up with all of the gift book as a list of TBR (and a couple of read, and a currently reading to boot).

Books in Bags

This is a partial list of books; I will add more as I go through and clear out the clutter!

The Black Knights by Matilda Reyes (DragonCon 2019)
Song of the Sending by Corinne O'Flynn (DragonCon 2019)read May, 2026
Brimstone by Cherie Priest (DragonCon 2019)
Hellborn by Lisa Manifold (DragonCon 2019)
A Dretchen's Tale by J. B. Garner (DragonCon 2019)
Women in Practical Armor (DragonCon 2019) read
The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker (GA Renaissance Festival 2023)
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (GA Renaissance Festival 2023)
The Burning Time by Virginia Rounding (GA Renaissance Festival 2024) read December, 2025
Blood Roses by Kathryn Warner (GA Renaissance Festival 2024)
No One Should Have All That Power by Amos Barshad (from an independent bookstore, North Georgia, 2021)

Happy and healthy 2026! Wishing you lots of great reads :)

Looking forward to following along again this year. Happy Reading in 2026!

Great blessings to you and your reading in the new year.

Looking forward to follwing along!

Happy New Year, and enjoy your 2026 reading!

I'm looking forward to following along.

Happy Reading in 2026

>13 Cecilturtle:, >14 Tess_W:, >15 beebeereads:, >16 lowelibrary:, >17 DeltaQueen50:, >18 Charon07:, >19 thornton37814:, >20 dudes22:

Thank you all so very much! And love all of your pictures for the season. They are a wonderful part of your LT friendship.

Well, it is the holiday season with a lot of time for catching up on reading. Since I had the time on NYE and New Year's Day, I decided to crack open the book Going Clear. I started it about this time last year and nope. Just couldn't get past the first 10 pages.

Now, it seems to be much more gripping. The book is told from several points of view and includes a brief history of the life of L. Ron Hubbard and how he came to create both Dianetics and Scientology (evidently they are not one and the same). It provides an interesting look at the charisma of a cult leader and the people who follow him, even as they are (by the third chapter) questioning what they see him doing (acting out with anger, strutting around on the deck of a ship) with how they feel loyal to him and his vision.

I will also be starting a re-issue of the classic I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki. I once bought this book as a general read back in the late 80's, wanting to explore outside of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. It became damaged and the lost in a move somewhere, so I'm glad it's come back into my life again as a Christmas gift.

Happy reading! I am curious about your reading of I am a Cat. It was recently (I think) translated into German for the first time, but hideously expensive, so I looked for an English version, and found it completely different in style. Which made me wonder about the original, and what its tone would be in Japanese.

Happy new reading year! I thoroughly enjoyed The Annotated Secret Garden; it gave me so much insight into the book. I hope you get to it sooner rather than later 😉

Another one that I enjoyed about The Secret Garden is Unearthing The Secret Garden: The Plants and Places That Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett by Marta McDowell. It combines biography, the novel and Burnett's love of gardens all into one book. A unique approach and so wonderful just to read about gardens.

>22 threadnsong: >23 MissWatson: I read I Am a Cat last year. My understanding is Japanese has some ways of expressing disdain (such as a cat would express) that can't really be translated into English--don't know about German--which is a challenge for translators. I think I read the most recent translation into English, and it's at least 50 years old.

I read Eve last year and really enjoyed it! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Hi, Thread! Hope you are functioning ok in this weather. Just stopped by to "check" on you since I haven't "seen" you for awhile!

>23 MissWatson: and >25 NinieB: Well . . . the translation I read of I am a Cat did a lot to address the difficulties of translation. The translator I read, Nick Bradley, was very honest in his introduction: it is very hard to translate humor from one language to another. And he stated that there would be times when he would use English humor (both the country and the language) in place of a direct translation of the words in Japanese. I really respected his choice in doing that, since he was writing for a non-Japanese speaking audience.

I also liked that he used Japanese characters (with an asterisk) to explain some of the wordplay that was going on in the original. It was interesting to see the nuance of what the characters were saying or the cat was describing to fully grasp the meaning of the phrase or the pun.

>24 kac522: Yes, I do too! I enjoyed the book as a child, especially the first part where Burnett describes the garden and Mary's and Dickens' work to uncover the plants that are still able to thrive. And the "Unearthing the Secret Garden" sounds equally wonderful.

Thank you for your good wishes and for the additional recommendation!

>26 GraceCollection: That is encouraging! I will be sure to post about it once I've read it.

>27 Tess_W: Thank you muchly! I was off-line for a long weekend spent at a knitting retreat mid-month, the kind of solitude where a walk from the main building back to one's cabin results in a complete lack of cell/internet service. But it was just the weekend I needed to sort through some old projects, receive kudos on a few, and "frog" a few that were in need of re-knitting to be what the yarn always intended to be.

We had power over both weekends, thankfully, and I'm just very, very glad that the state of Georgia took this weather seriously and got prepared. The Atlanta area was spared the worst of the snow/ice, though parts east such as Athens were pretty walloped with it.

Back and ready to post now!

So yes, it's been a minute. January seems like a long month, meaning I can squeeze things in on weekends like reading, or movies, or baking bread during a Winter Weather Event.

The thought of using our fireplace for heat is a normal one for me, though I had some nightmares about the lack of a chimney inspection before the snow/ice came in. We have plenty of wood to burn and I think I've located a chimney inspector who can come by to make sure ours is in good shape for any future weather events.

What's tricky about the Atlanta area and snow events is that the northern part of Georgia is called the Piedmont region, meaning the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. And with lots and lots of humidity, yes, we may get snow if conditions are right. But then the snow ices over when the temperature goes down, or there is rain first (that turns into ice) and then the snow starts. So trying to drive on ice is treacherous enough; combine that with hills and shaded areas, and you get terrible snow jams.

Fortunately, I was able to get some books read for January (3, to be exact), some chapters read in a couple of door stopper books, and I have reviews ready to post!

I am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki, trans. by Nick Bradley, Vol. 1 (Japan)
3 1/2 ***

Category - Gift Books

I found much to enjoy in this satire of human foibles, especially from a cat's perspective: the inanities of daily life, the main human trying to be other than he is, and how a cat prowls around and shows his curiosity.

What I did not enjoy so much was the disregard Meitei and the cat's master have for one another, and for the master's former pupil, Kangetsu-kun, as he tries to get ahead in the world. Perhaps it is the time of writing this review that makes me especially sensitive to how people are unkind to one another.

One reason this book received an extra half-star was the work of the translator to describe the difficulties he had to convey humor. He was also very exact with explaining certain traits of the Japanese language to non-Japanese speakers.

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear (England)
5 *****

Category: Maisie Dobbs Series

Now this was a great installment of this series. I liked how Ms. Winspear has helped Maisie grow within her relationships, instead of keeping to the tired old tropes of on-again, off-again. Maisie is not looking back to her previous paramour, she is only looking to her true love, Simon. And wow is that a zinger.

But to the mystery: the time of the harvest of hops has come to Kent, and many Londoners move to the various farms to help with the harvest. This connection to a part of England's past was fascinating, and each family of pickers has their own preferred farm. Billy, Maisie's assistant, is no exception.

Along with the Londoners and the locals in the town are the gypsies or Rom, living in their own little campsite on the hill, and keeping themselves to themselves. Or almost - they create bouquets of Michaelmas daisies from a field where a zeppelin bombed the town during the Great War.

As is the case with a good series, we find out more about Maisie Dobbs' family in this book: her mother was from the Rom herself and what's more, was part of the waterborn Rom who traveled England's waterways. Maisie remembers some of the terms her mother taught her and the recollections of her grandmother loving on her when she was very young.

This connection helps Maisie with her investigation among the hop harvesters on an estate that is even more at odds with its tenants than one would expect. The younger brother is the only surviving heir to the estate and he is not fit for the role. We come to find out how unfit as the mystery, and the tragedy, unfolds.

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
4 ****

Category: January SFFKit Challenge: Adaptations

Strangely, I am enamored of this book. I chose it at the tender age of 17 as a replacement series for the Dragonriders series that I received for my birthday that I had already read. And I've brought it with me ever since, meaning to read it "some day." I chose now as that day, and I think that was a wise choice.

It is written in a very stilted manner, each chapter talking about a different series of intergalactic events around the doomed Foundation, with a nominal story thread between them. Once I got used to that style, that pared-down storyline, I was hooked. Asimov describes in a few words what less talented authors would take pages of conversation to get across.

Is there a plot? Well, yes, there is. It's the tale of a galaxy of linked worlds ruled by a corrupt Lord of the Universe, an even more corrupt head servant, and a power hungry general who has no qualms about conquering other planets. Along with these characters is the spirit of Hari Seldon and his psycho-history, a newly married couple, Bayta and Toran, whose journeys become the narration for much of the action, and the downtrodden Magnifico. This being is the most mis-shapen of all the humanoids, bereft of friendship except for Bayta, and is part of the enigma about Cleon II's court.

Then there is the Mule, a human who manages to evade capture despite all the efforts of the Foundation to find him. He is able to weave together an Empire (hence the name of this volume) in ways that even Hari Seldon is unable to predict. And the mystery of the Mule takes up the latter part of this volume, turning every part of the action from the first part on its head.

While the dry, terse style and flitting from one set of actions to another is not for everyone, it does weave a good story that is worth reading for enthusiasts of space, politics, and human motivations.

>28 threadnsong: >33 threadnsong: Thank your for your thoughts on this! It would seem that the Bradley translation is worth looking out for. I read The Journey to the West a few years ago, completely translated into German for the first time, and I really appreciated the translator’s footnotes explaining the concepts and allusions that were difficult to convey in German.

>36 MissWatson: Oh yes, the Bradley translation is definitely worth having. It seems to be a relatively new edition and translation.

And please don't let my "meh" review turn you away from reading it! I was more let down by the characters as portrayed by Sōseki's cat than I was by anything else. I do hope you find a copy and enjoy it to the fullest!

I finally grabbed the pile of Christmas books (with a couple of exceptions) and have added them to #7 above.

Yes! It's a long, long list. And I am so very grateful to my friends here on LT who have read and reviewed them. Your work did not go un-noticed.

Now to spending this evening catching up on the 2026 Challenge threads. It's almost as much fun as reading a book!

And to keep my categories/lists up to date, I've also updated #2, #3, and #4 with my reading challenges, my doorstopper books, and my General Reading books. I sometimes forget that while I might know what I'm reading (and why), I also need to share that information here.

The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper (future Earth and other planets)
5 *****

Category: General Reading

When I first started this book, I did not expect to give it 5 stars, except maybe for Sherri S. Tepper's amazing use of language. The picture it paints of a future Earth is dark, overcrowded, and with buildings taking over the world. Think scenes out of the Star Wars saga that feature buildings reaching to the sky and you have a general idea of what Jewel's world is like.

But there's more. The only places with greenspace and animals are rich, landed families and their estates. And the consolidated Earth governmental powers, the PPI and the ESC (I cannot keep them straight, and maybe that's the point) are looking to eliminate all non-human life. In fact, there is a radical political persona whose influence over the "down dwellers" is such that all companion animals are to join their extinct wild kin.

But Jewel is part of the arkists, those humans with a heart who seek to get all animals to safety onto terraformed worlds. And as Jewel becomes an adult, her ingenuity in navigating her obnoxious linguist brother becomes a help in aiding this endeavor. She was taught by her father how to travel through and around the buildings that occupy all land on the US by using chutes meant for packages and trash, not for human travel. And her mother's lasting legacy is a multi-media musical and pictoral work that shows her exploration of a cavern on Mars that contains frescoes of humans and dogs. On Mars.

Planetary travel is normal, colonization is normal, and the chapters are told by Jewel or by several of the other beings that use intergalactic travel: the Orskini and the Derac. They are devious and seek to gain the supremacy that the despised Zhana once held in the galaxy. Jewel's work takes her to the planet Moss with its new look at both flora and language, and she is joined by some of the dogs that are heading to the terraformed moon on this planetary system.

Stick with this book. It is long, Tepper's use of language is masterful, and while the dystopian view of a future Earth can be spirit-numbing, the ways in which Jewel and her compatriots work comes together with goodness and a dog's wet nose.

>40 threadnsong: That sounds like an interesting book, although I'm not really a fan of sci-fi!

>41 Tess_W: It is very interesting, and it is very sci fi. If you ever choose it for a challenge I would be interested to read your review of it.

The Price of Glory by Alistair Horne

Category: February Decade CAT: the 10's

Yowza. It is a doozy. Reading this book takes a lot of courage? insight? foolhardiness? and it's best to read it in a few weeks rather than pick up and put down. But gosh how rewarding it is to read it again.

It was originally assigned in my freshman year of college and I only made it through the seizure of Fort Douaumont before I stopped. Could not handle the deaths and the description of the devastated landscapes, and those only got worse as the war progressed.

Re-read it in 1990-91 and just mourned the horrendous loss of life that happened day after day during this longest battle of World War I. I had also visited one of the smaller soldiers' graveyards in Verdun as a result of this book and that certainly changed me.

This book was written with great insight into the thinking on both sides, German and French, and how the generals' flawed way of viewing warfare as a way to settle scores or to reclaim their nation's past glory was what led to a this ten-month long battle.

For the Germans, General Falkenhayn's indecisiveness lost several chances for successful German victory during key advances. The idea of l'Attaque à l'outrance of Colonel de Grandmaison was the drumbeat the French side: to attack without a care for the munitions on the other side, let alone one's own life, as a way to purge the shame the French retreat in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.

Alistair Horne wrote this detailed book in 1962 and added to it in the early 1990's after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The details he brings to his research span from the French HQ at Chantilly and the disconnect of the generals from the trenches, to the letters home from soldiers detailing the harsh conditions under which they lived during the 10 months of fighting.

There were times I would take a moment from reading and think about 40 shells falling in that minute or two of respite, such as happened on 21st February on the first day of fighting. Then there were the runners who could maybe advance 300 yards before enemy shells killed them or they found shelter in a shell hole full of water and corpses. Descriptions of the aftermath included finding remains of 3 people in the undergrowth, even as late as the 50's and 60's: a wounded soldier and his two stretcher bearers killed by a shell. Horne does not hold back from describing the realities of war, nor should he.

The maps were key to understanding what and where, and I can only wish there were more authors and publishers who would add them to their works.

What we can learn from The Great War is vast. This book is one of the pillars of that study.

Well, a busy month it has been - my last review is from February reading! Part of it has been a group read: I've finished the book but it will be next weekend before I review it, since I like to provide several book reviews at a time. And the other 2 are still in process.

And part of it has been time I've spent preparing for a group performance for last Sunday's service at a friend's church for St. Patrick's Day. I know, it's not the actual day itself, but a group of fellow Irish music students was asked to play at his church 2 years ago, when St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday, and they've asked us back every year since then. We rehearsed last Saturday and it took us all sitting around playing together to develop the ear that we needed for our performance. It's one thing to practice by oneself in preparation for a class, or for a session with other Irish musicians (i.e., the mistakes don't matter), it's another thing entirely to prepare for performing for an audience. We got all the kinks out, though, and played for the service and did a great job.

So, my review of Alistair Horne's brilliant book is up, and I've been working on two for the CoverCAT Challenge for this month: The Healer's War and Into the Green. I had bought both a while back, probably read the Charles de Lint as soon as I came home. But "Healer's War" deals with a Vietnam War nurse, as Elizabeth Scarborough was, and for all my reading about the Great War, I have struggled mightily with reading books or commentaries about Vietnam. Probably because I grew up with images of soldiers in the jungle on the evening news, Time and Life magazines, and the stories the veterans told when they came home. So I'm sure I bought it, started to read it, and couldn't finish it. Until now, and it's a good one. The magic/fantasy element is very, very subtle and fits in with the main character's healing skills as a nurse.

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring (or fall) weather, depending on your hemisphere! We've got pollen galore now and I figure I'll wash my car in another month. My car is red, but you'd never know it. I'm looking forward to a bit steadier weather though so that I can get some flowers in their new beds.

>43 threadnsong: I'm in awe of you making it through this book; I don't think I could endure it, even though I am interested in WWI. I recently found John Keegan's The First World War at a library sale, but I'm not sure I have the stamina for it. I think particularly with all the war images we're seeing right now, I'm shying away from those sorts of books for the time being.

>44 threadnsong: Your Irish music class sounds fun--what instrument do you play? We were just at our favorite Irish pub on Friday evening--they have sessions on Sunday afternoons. Hard to tear my spouse away from fall football and now March madness, but maybe in the summer we'll get to one....

>43 threadnsong: Sounds like a great read--on my WL is goes. I've taken several WWI graduate history classes and Verdun is always a major topic. The two most used phrases by my profs were "bleed France white", and "although Verdun was not a really strategic locale, it was psychologically important to the French." In fact, the current Western Civ I textbook I now use makes the same statements.

>44 threadnsong: I had checked out The Healer's War from the library, but after reading the jacket and several reviews, it was the fantasy bit that turned me off. I thought something so serious and deadly should not be intertwined with fantasy. As a historian, I can't quite read much fantasy. I'm glad that you report the fantasy was subtle and that made you enjoy the book.

Irish music. You are so very talented!

Your St Patrick's Day service sounds great! I hope you have a good reading month in April.

>45 kac522: Thank you - I could not read it when it was assigned reading in college, and I've kind of made up for it ever since. It's a tough read, and I think I'm drawn to it now because it gives a lens through which the current events can be seen. Not as a comparison so much as "We've been here before, here is what happened."

Hope you get to enjoy a session at your favorite Irish pub once March madness is over! Maybe during the World Cup? I play a hammered dulcimer and I haven't done sessions in quite a while. What helped me was having a small amp and a pick-up so that the other musicians can hear me. A mic works well and it's what I used at the church (the church had them). In the meantime, I have classes once a week and busk when the weather allows.

>46 Tess_W: I had never known the phrase "bleed France white" existed until I read this book. Horne does a great job detailing the reasons for choosing this site, and the mistakes and moments of bravery that were there. What helped reading it this time was that I read it within a month. The historical persons were not known to me so when I would pick it up and put it down (in large part because of the subject matter), I got lost.

If you ever do read "The Healter's War" I would be interested in a historian's perspective!

And thank you for the complement :)

>47 MissBrangwen: Thank you so much! I'm just about to finish posting my March reads and April looks to be good as well. Much different books this month.

The Seventh Plague by James Rollins
4****

Category: General Reading

A fast-paced and intriguing drama that combined archeology, research into the possible reality of the Biblical plagues, and of course lots of action from the Sigma Force group.

This book starts in a long ago time, when a priestess is preparing for her mummification inside of a giant, human-made tomb. Only this tomb is not like one would expect: it is a sandstone replica of a human body, complete with organs and ribs buried under the sands in the Egyptian Sahara.

Meanwhile, Dr. Harold McCabe comes stumbling out of the desert near the confluence of the White and Blue Niles in a partially mummified state himself. When he is autopsied, his body releases a plague that infects the scientists performing his autopsy. And the doctor leading the medical team is known to Painter Crowe of Sigma Force and needs his help.

Part of the plot involves the journeys of Livingstone and Stanley, the friendship between Stanley and Mark Twain, and the friendship between Twain and Nikolai Tesla. To bring matters to the modern era, Tesla's exploration into engineering and self-generating power are given new life above the Arctic Circle.

What thrilled me beyond measure was Rollins' mention of one of my favorite books, "The Terror" by Dan Simmons in his Epilogue. Because yes, part of the action takes place near the famed Northwest Passage, as well as in a seldom-explored National Park on the border between Rwanda and Tanzania.

The madness of the evil scientist seems quite timely, and the desire of former child soldiers to forget their past is also a part of this story. I was glad that Gray and the members of Six Sigma, as well as the son and daughter of Dr. McCabe, acted in quite human ways and the action was more believable.

The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
4****

Category: March CoverCAT Challenge: Green

I'm giving this book a solid 4 stars. It is strongly geared towards survivors of the Vietnam War, both those who fought in it and, in my case, those who grew up seeing images of the soldiers and war dead. Which is why it has been on my shelves for so long: this war is one I have never been able to read or study. The images I saw as a child were that traumatic.

And the author seems to have written this book as a way to purge her own memories and tell the tales of the patients she served. The first part details Kitty's work on the wards as a nurse during the Vietnam War, not knowing what would happen ultimately, but being in the thick of things after the My Lai massacre. Her patients are both American GI's and Vietnamese wounded.

I applaud Scarborough for giving the stories of her Vietnamese war wounded. And my heart aches for what they went through, both as patients and after a less generous hospital commander comes on board. Scarborough writes with great feeling about the heat, the casual sexism, her thoughts about life stateside and what brought her to the battlefield, and life on base. We get a glimpse into what life as a war nurse was all about.

Kitty, her narrator, falls for a helicopter pilot and their time together has its coming together and breaking apart. But finally, when the new commander orders all of the Vietnamese wounded to go to the less sanitary and less safe Vietnamese hospitals, and what happens is what one would expect. My heart broke.

Yet she seeks assistance with her helicopter pilot to bring one young boy, who has been a less than model patient, to another base where he might be able to heal from his partial leg amputation. As she plans this, a healer among her Vietnamese patients gives her his amulet and she finds that her senses are sharpened and her gifts as a healer amplified.

The second half of the book involves Kitty, her young patient Ahn, and an American GI, William, whose aura she now sees with its various colors thanks to her amulet, as they travel through the jungles looking for Ahn's village. Or any village where he might be able to grow to adulthood and they, as the Americans, would be relatively safe.

It's dark, it's painful to read, and it's not until now that I've been able to get more than a few pages in because of the subject matter. This book is about the scars that war leaves on those who fight a war in their own country and in another's for less than ethical reasons.

Into the Green by Charles de Lint
5*****

Category: March CoverCAT Challenge: Green

Oh, did I need this book right now. It is pensive and thoughtful and kind and while there is plenty of evil, there is also a stronger good.

The book begins with a visit to young Angharad's tinker home, a visit that leaves her vaguely uncomfortable. It seems that the stranger has seen into her soul where she keeps her connection to her gift at bay. In this land that de Lint brings to life, some folk have a touch of the Green, allowing them to stay connected with Nature and feel more deeply its many paths. And also in this world are those who mistrust this gift, either in themselves or in others, and those ramifications.

Early in Angharad's life her extended tinker's family is wiped out by plague, taking with them her love, Darrow, and leaving her devastated. She tends their graves until a visit confronts her that she is among the living, still, and needs to continue with her life.

This book is truly a piece of fantasy and wonder, of self-discovery and seeing beyond what is a mundane life. De Lint keeps his descriptions brief, which helps move the story along, and Angharad's struggles and eventual triumphs at several spots along the way show her growth.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
5 ***** ❤️

Category: General Reading

I read this so many times as a child after buying it because of the Disney movie. I mean, animals! Puppies! Adventure! England! What's not to love?! What I remember are the 15 puppies, the two parents traveling through England to find them, and an elderly Cocker Spaniel feeding them toasted bread behind a fire screen from his elderly master. And the conveying of news through the Twilight Bark.

And I read this as a challenge, half dreading the thought of re-reading it because not every child's book translates well into adulthood. But lo and behold, this one did! There were even parts that I had not really understood in my 7 year old self: calling on the Splendid Vet at midnight, how Mr. Dearly earned his living, how Pongo and Missis made their travels (the Golden Retriever was particularly well-written). The honeymoons that both couples go on, and how Perdita tried to marry her beloved, Prince.

Including elements like these are what have helped this book stand up from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. I finally understood how Cruella De'Vil's need for constant warmth was indicative of her, um, origins. The change in travel plans that Pongo and Missis make during their journey lend a bit more credence to it, and the so very kind Great Dane who helps start their Twilight Bark messages was just a delight. All in all, a remembered favorite that remains a current favorite.

Watership Down - the Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, James Sturm, and Joe Sutphin
5 *****❤️

Category: General Reading

A truly great retelling of this classic story about rabbits. And their journey to find a safe place to call "warren." I am not a fan of graphic novels so enjoying this version as much as I did was a pleasant surprise. And from the back cover, "this spectacular graphic novel will delight old fans and inspire new ones, bringing the joy of "Watership Down" to the next generation of readers."

The illustrations are evocative of the English countryside, with great detail given to individualize the rabbits themselves. There are several nods to the animated movie in the depictions of the rabbits and what distinguishes one from the other. What makes this novel work well are the expressions of the rabbits: narrowed eyes, the suggestion of movement, and a few scars on Bigwig and Captain Holly.

With a graphic novel, of course, one has static pictures, not moving pictures. So as a reader, I saw Blackavar's torn ears, the blocked runs of the Sandleford Warren when it is destroyed, but also a view of trees or the River Enborne that I could look at for as long as I wanted.

The artists and adapters are candid about which characters they meld into one another, and for the sake of storytelling in this format it makes sense. So while I was a bit hesitant because of the format of a graphic novel, I am so very glad I took the chance and added it to my collection. And it was a good pick up and put down book, again, due to its format.

>48 threadnsong: Wow, I'm impressed--I love the hammered dulcimer--what a great instrument.

>54 threadnsong: Ha! As a kid, 101 Dalmations was the first movie that I remember seeing in a theater; we also had the Little Golden Book of the movie. I've actually never read the real book, so it's time to remedy that!

I loved I Capture the Castle and Look back with love: a Manchester childhood, which is the first book of Smith's memoirs, covering her childhood years up to age 14 in Manchester. It was a really interesting memoir, about a time long past but with so much clarity.

>54 threadnsong: I never knew that 101 Dalmatians was originally written by Dodie Smith! Your review is wonderful and makes me want to read it.

>56 kac522: Thank you! I will say that, after growing up playing piano, it took me about 2 years to wrap my head around how to play a hammered dulcimer. There was the same note, like D or A, in several different places, which is an impossible thing to do on a piano.

I loved the movie as a kid as well! I do hope you have a chance to read the original. It's as fun as the movie, though with less talk amongst the puppies. Lucky is mentioned, of course.

Thank you for the recommendations on Dodie Smith's memoirs. I learned a bit about her from her profile on LT.

>57 MissBrangwen: Yes! Yes it was, and I hope you have a chance to read it. It took me a couple of days; when I read it as a child, I remember it was a pick up and put down book. It always held my interest.

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright (California)
5*****

Categories: This Will Take Some Time, Gift Books

This was a fascinating book told from several different biographies and encompassing several different historical threads. Surprisingly, it does not start with L. Ron Hubbard's life, but rather that of one of his followers, Paul Haggis. Paul is drawn to Scientology in the midst of upheavals in his life and officially joins is in 1975. This works effectively, in that we are able to see what steps its members are asked to take by the Church and its leadership.

And through these steps, we are introduced to the belief system that L. Ron Hubbard created as well as his life history. I've certainly seen his books on bookstore shelves, TV ads for "Dianetics" as the supreme answer on everything troubling one, and Hubbard is still credited as one of the most prolific authors. Ever. He would chain smoke and type out novels on a computer hooked to an old style printer as a way to make his ideas flow into print.

And the same mania that drove Hubbard is also what created this cult-religion-drive for ultimate authority. Wright goes into detail about a portion called Sea Org when Hubbard bought several boats that were at sea for years, minus the times for landing for re-supply. How they were staffed at the beginning by young women (teenagers and early 20's) who were instructed to let Hubbard sleep until noon by making no noise, and then attending to his every need for food, listening, and instructing them on his vision for OT levels.

What I also learned from this book is how detailed the search in Scientology for a person's "levels" are, what he terms "Operating Thetan" or OT. This seems to be the basis of Scientology's religious persuasion. A reader with a strange electronic device asks the supplicant (or applicant) a series of questions to make this determination so that the supplicant can advance in the group.

And the levels of deception and abuse within this book are detailed, as are the denials that the Church has put out for each of them. Wright is clear about those as footnotes. There are members who, for whatever infraction, are sent to scrub toilets with toothbrushes for 15 hours per day, then locked back up into their group sleeping space and paid a few dollars per week. After all, they signed their (million year) contract, so why would they not live modestly?

Another aspect that is given unexpected detail is the entertainment connection, especially with the earliest days of John Travolta, Kristie Alley, Chip Corea, and of course Tom Cruise and, briefly, Nicole Kidman. It turns out, Paul Haggis was a writer on many 80's and 90's sitcoms, and he is honest when Wright interviews him about what he saw, how he used Scientology's backing to get ahead, and how he finally, finally got out. Not everyone did, or made it out unscathed.

>60 threadnsong: This book sounds very much like the one I just read, A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology by Mike Rinder.

>61 Tess_W: Yes, it certainly does. I think Mike is mentioned in this book (there are so many names!!!) and I'm glad he got out.

When Maidens Mourn by C. S. Harris (England)
5*****

Category: Series - Sebastian St Cyr

In this enjoyable installment of the Sebastian St Cyr series, we are transported to the overlapping worlds of Regency England and the life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. This young child and his older brother (whom Harris points out in her Afterward had died in infancy) are at the center of a search throughout the book. They have gone missing when Gabrielle Tennyson (fictional), their cousin and a close friend of Hero, is found floating in the moat of the site of Camelot. It had been renamed in the 1700's to Camlet Moat, in modern Trent Park, and yes, that is now a location on my bucket list!

But back to the story. Hero is learning what life with Sebastian is like and adjusting to marriage. We don't hear her thoughts on the matter, but we watch Sebastian hope to make a bond with her before their child is born, and being rebuffed. Rather than sinking into a pool of guilt or anger, Sebatian takes on the task of finding these two young missing brothers and solving the murder of Hero's good friend.

Part of his research takes him to the French officers who are prisoners in London, living in not quite squalid conditions, but who have made a gentleman's agreement to stay within a certain space. It appears that one officer, Arceneaux, was enamored of Gabrielle and she discussed her research into Camlet Moat with him extensively. Gabrielle was of the opinion that it was the site of Arthur's court of Camelot, more so than Glastonbury Abbey, and she even gained access to the British Museum's Reading Room to conduct her research.

Adventures ensue, discoveries happen, and Sebastian gains more respect for Hero's mind and research into the life women live during this time in history.

When Falcons Fall by C. S. Harris (England)
4 1/2 ****

Category: Series - Sebastian St Cyr

Taking place in the countryside of England, the regions of Shropshire and Worcestershire and the River Teme, Sebastian and Hero and young Simon have journeyed to this borderland near Wales to try to find more information about Sebastian's origins and the mysterious necklace she had that Hero now wears. And while they are getting their rooms ready in the Inn, a young woman named Emma Chance is found dead by the river.

Young Archie, who has just inherited his title of Squire, has heard of Sebastian's ability to solve murders and when Emma's body is brought to the Inn (where the inquest will take place, a real thing), her suicide looks less like she took her own life and more like foul play. But who would want to murder this young widow with her talent at drawing?

We are introduced to some upper class characters and families in this region who have all benefited from the Enclosures Act. I did not know this was a Thing until I read this book, but it seems that the hamlets in and around the River Teme are gone because they were worth more to the landowners than the farmers who had tended the land for generations. At least now I know why London had so many poor and desperate beggars on its streets during this time.

And Emma Chance's story becomes meshed with that of the landed gentry as well as the smarmy Rector and Sebastian's possible half-brother, Jamie. The gilded nightingale that Jamie wanted to give to his grandmother before his death is what Sebastian brings to his grandmother's house. And he meets Jamie's twin sister, Jenny, full of bitterness at the role that the Enclosures had on her life and her family.

Also making an appearance is Napoléon's brother, Lucien, who was a historical personage in Worchestershire and Shropshire at this time. His reasons for being at this locale throw the investigation into even more uncertain territory. Was Emma a friend of Lucien's? Why did Emma sketch so many faces when she told everyone she was sketching the countryside? And why are there no landscape sketches in her book?

I am glad to see that Hero and Sebastian have grown in love towards one another. And mutual respect. I also did like this book and taking a break from London's streets; what took away half a star was the lack of correspondence between the title and the events of the book.

Alright, I have some more reviews to post! And thank you to everyone who keeps up with what I'm reading and is able to leave comments.

On the non-reading personal note, I'm relieved to still have a job, though I'm also doing what had been 2-3 people's job since the recent restructuring in our department (recruiting support in healthcare). About a third of our team, my colleagues, got fired last month, the rest of us were left scratching our heads, and I've had amazing support from my manager who has done my job and understands the pressure I'm under.

The rule for overtime got lifted, at least, and DH and I went to a nice Alsatian restaurant on Friday night to help boost their bottom line and to spend the extra $$ I've been earning recently. Reading has helped me get through, as has music and yoga. I'm still here, though, with a job and hope to be helping others get a job for the next few years.

Also on the personal front, we have been planning a trip to Spain in mid-August to watch the eclipse. And planning included setting an agenda, finding hotels early (like since this time last year), and DH used one of the Chat GPT programs to help get an idea of what was where and which areas we would drive, which areas we would take the train, all the details. I made reservations at all the hotels last spring and into January, DH made the hotel reservations, and then. Whammo. TSA agents calling in sick, 4 hours delays, more bombings in the Middle East, and we just decided that the timing was wrong. We were able to cancel our plane tickets (thank goodness), and I've been procrastinating calling and cancelling hotels. All of the hotels have been very kind with calling or emailing me to say that yes, they are legit and yes, they have our bookings on their system (August in northern Spain is not the time I want to be winging it with hotel reservations!), and I'm sure we're not the only ones. But, best do this onerous task sooner rather than later to give the hotels ample time to re-book the rooms.

Categories: April CoversCAT and April SFFKIT

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
5*****

Oh, the genius of wrapping Transylvanian history and folklore around a well-loved fairytale! In this story, it is the re-telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses (here re-visioned as 5 sisters) in one of the wealthy households in a region of Transylvania. And there's also a bit of the Princess and the Frog!

The next eldest daughter, Jena, is the narrator of this story. The other sisters are Paula, who loves her lessons with the village priest; sister Iulia whose figure is approaching that of a well-formed woman; and little Stela who is only 5 and loves playing with the smallest members of the Otherworld. The eldest is Tatiana, or Tati, whose choices play a central role in this book.

The story starts when the five sisters are left alone one winter when their father must go off to warmer climates to regain his health with his faithful servant. And for many years these five sisters have kept a secret even from the household servants: they can open the door to the Otherworld at every Full Moon where they go dancing all night at the court of Ileana, Queen of the Otherworld.

This time, as the book opens, Tatiana, the eldest sister, has become infatuated with a guest of the Night People. His name is Sorrow. The Night People were invited (?!) by the Otherworld to take part in the moonlight revels, despite being aloof and having possible ill designs on Ileana's realm.

Weave into this tale Jena's work with her father's business accounts before he goes off for healing, a neighboring estate with her father's closest friend, and the death of that estate's eldest son, Costi. And there is also Jena's strange friendship with the frog, Goku, who is Jena's best friend.

Jenna recounts the events leading up to Costi's drowning with the Crone of the story who asks Costi, Jenna, and Cesar, Costi's younger brother, what their deepest wishes are. Jenna and Cezar survive the expedition on the water, yet as Cezar grows older he becomes more and more a belligerent and controlling young man. Cezar is sure of himself and his place in the world but also more abusive and denigrating of Jenna's role in her household even though he seeks to marry her; one wonders if he loves her or wants to control her.

I will say that I read ahead to try to find out what was going on with Cezar before going back to the story. His misogyny was alarming and I knew it had to have a resolution; I just didn't know what that resolution was going to be. And while it was not a happily ever after story, it was good and realistic and I loved how all the threads were woven together.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan
5 ***** (South Africa)

Category: Gift Books

I debated whether 4 1/2 stars or 5 stars, and decided that 5 stars was a worthwhile listing. And there is the element of the haunted house that are not my normal preferred reading material, though the supernatural element is.

This story starts with young Sana, a young girl who moves into Akbar Manzil on an island off the coast of South Africa with her grieving father. He misses his wife and Sana's mother, though he brings himself into the residents of this dilapidated old house with fresh vigor.

In several chapter we learn Sana's story as she fits into this house; in other chapters, we learn of the house through the eyes of the djinn. And also through the life of Meena, impoverished worker in the factory of Akbar, a dreamer who has built his mansion and fallen in love with Meena.

One of the problems is the role of the caste system in East Indian society (all of the characters are originally from the Indian continent) and how their caste and their wealth influence their decisions. Another is the role of a second wife in Akbar's family, which is Meena's role. And how Akbar has fallen in love with Meena in a way that leaves his first wife resentful and vengeful, and her mother is happy to push her along.

And even though we only know of the djinn through his thoughts, rather than through anyone encountering him, we learn of his grief and his hiding when Sana encounters his "clutter" in the east wing of Akbar Manzil. For this great house has been subdivided in the worst possible way into apartments that do nothing to hold onto the beauty and grandeur that its creator once envisioned for his legacy.

Part djinn story, part love story, and a large part tragedy that grows as the story grows, there is no happily ever after. But there is resolution, and sometimes that's all we can find. It's not "enough" but it is a resolution.

>65 threadnsong: I'm so sorry that you had to cancel your trip! Would you reschedule perhaps next year or were you going almost exclusively to see the eclipse?

Thank you. We were going exclusively to see the eclipse, so it made sense to decide to postpone it. The eclipse would have lasted about 2 minutes, at sunset, and the effort to get to Spain, with telescope, was just weighing on both of us as not the right time.

>69 threadnsong: Best to go with your gut feeling, it's most usually correct!

>70 Tess_W: Yes indeedy deed. I'd rather go on a vacation where there is less pressure and more enjoyment.

So, I finally got some reading time late in May and up through last week. Reviews are below!

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

Category: General Reading

Still at 3 *** stars, and for much the same reasons: the story is told with the final culmination in the final 10 pages, while the first 3/4 of the book is taken up by details of Janet's freshman year in college and her roommates. And their boyfriends, who are part of the entourage of the Fairy Queen, including Tam Lin.

Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip

Category: General Reading

Still at 5*****, though I'm less inclined to think of this book as a direct re-telling of the Tam Lin story this time around. I think it is more of a branch from Tam Lin's rose bush that climbs the wall on its own. Wikipedia mentions that this book is McKillip's re-telling of the Tam Lin myth. After all, Rois meets Corbett when she is drinking from the hidden well covered by wild roses. He comes by and asks her what she is doing, which is several lines re-envisioned from the Tam Lin ballad itself. And the Winter Queen causes the women around Rois (her sister Laurel, her late mother) to pine for Tam Lin, almost as if the Queen is playing with their lives in an amoral way.

Here is my earlier review which is still my opinion of this book:

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Category: General Reading

Still a 5***** read for me, and once again I understood even more of the intrigue and social underpinnings than I did the first few times I read it. Perhaps because I read it in the evenings over a week's time, the characters were more distinct and clear-cut (no pun intended) than earlier reads. And like some reviewers mention, the M/M partnership between Richard St Vier and the mysterious Alec was very matter-of-fact.

This time around, it was a much-needed comfort read and very, very enjoyable.

My earlier review:

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner

Category: General Reading

Another 5***** for me, and I found myself just falling into a deep, deep pool of language and story and the multiple sections that Kushner masterfully narrates by the different main characters: Gavin, Thomas, Meg, and Elspeth. This time reading it, I understood much more deeply the voices of Gavin and Meg, an older, married couple who observe (or not) the world around them in all its daily chores and details.

My earlier review mentions Tam Lin; I now see that Thomas the Rhymer is a much different cycle of story. So feel free to skip over that section of my review!

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly (California)
5*****

Category: June MysteryKIT: Police Procedurals

Part of an ongoing series that was easy enough to pick up the thread. On a transit system called "Angels Flight," on the very last run, a woman and a man are found shot to death. Harry Bosch is called to take over the investigation and he learns that the woman was an innocent passenger but the man was a lawyer who often sued the LAPD for racially motivated justice.

Bosch and his team begun their investigation under the command of Deputy Chief Irving who wants them to finish and quickly. But there is more to this investigation than Irving would like to see: the manner in which Elias was killed, the motive behind the killing, and (of course!) the suspect is not who Irving would like it to be.

In Bosch's personal life, his Las Vegas marriage with Eleanor is falling apart: she has picked up her addiction to gambling and uses her addiction as a way to cope with marriage to a cop. So that does not sit well with me. And Harry's pain as he tries to show his new wife his love for her contributes to his difficulties with this investigation.

This book was a page turner in the police procedurals. The who and the why were not what I expected, and Bosch's team investigates like a good, cohesive unit.

Alright, that's it for this round of reviews! I'm still on a Riverside kick, and I just learned that I need to read Privilege of the Sword next, followed by The Fall of Kings. I mean, I don't have to, but as LT lists them, "Privilege" is #2 and "Kings" is #3. This seems like a time of comfort reads and going back to places that are familiar.

I've also begun reading The Unruly Queen by Flora Fraser, the daughter of Antonia Fraser of many, many biographies. I asked for this book a couple of years ago for Christmas, as I had become intrigued with the Prince Regent and what led up to his failed marriage due to the Sebastian St Cyr series. It's as full of detail as one would expect from Antonia Fraser, and daughter Flora spent many, many years researching this member of England's royalty: a late-in-life marriage, a rather erratic personality due to an isolated upbringing, and, now, that she is married, life with a husband who would rather have married his mistress than his wife. It's all rather sad, and Flora is sympathetic to Queen Caroline.

>77 threadnsong: I enjoyed Angels Flight too! Connelly is one of those rare authors with an extensive series who has avoided becoming repetitive.

>79 VivienneR: Thank you for dropping in, and glad to hear this! There is nothing more discouraging than starting in on a series and finding the same old, same old slog.

>78 threadnsong: I have the Fraser book right here on my TBR pile!