Terri (tymfos) 2026 Trying (again) to Read More

Hello, it's me. Terri. Librarian, wife, mother, cat guardian, senior citizen .....

I used to read 75 books each year. MORE than 75. Then I went to grad school and became a full-time library director (all at the same time)... librarians get to read all the time, right? NOT!!! My reading should have rebounded after I finished my Masters studies but . . .

Anyway, I'm going to try to get back to more reading. And to logging what I read.

2026 Books

The Gales of November: The untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon
In the Pines: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning by Grace Elizabeth Hale
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand (audio)
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi
Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A collection of library humor by Roz Warren
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
50 States of Murder: An Atlas of American Crime by Harold Schechter
I'm Not the Only Murderer in my Retirement Home by Fergus Craig

Currently reading:
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Book #1 The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon>

I listened to this one. This author did a lot of research about the crew of the Fitzgerald -- including several who had spent time on the vessel, but weren't aboard on the trip when she sank.

I've read several books about the Fitzgerald, but I felt with this one I kind of got to better know the people involved. Which made it seem all the more tragic that she sank.

Book #2 In the Pines: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning by Grace Elizabeth Hale

This book deals with white supremacy and lynching in Jim Crow Mississippi. The author's grandfather was a sheriff, and upon researching a family story she'd heard about him, she realized that he was a perpetrator of a lynching where the facts had been covered up. She writes unflinchingly about the blatantly racist attitudes and practices that were so much a part of the culture in that place and time. I think we all know that there was segregation, and there were voting rights violations and lynchings. But the details she includes really bring the harsh reality into focus.

After those two somber reads, I'm currently reading a horror novel, Widow's Point.

New Year greetings from Kuala Lumpur. My project is at least physically completed and an addition to the city scape.

Look forward to keeping up with you in 2026, dear Terri

>6 PaulCranswick: Happy New Year, Paul! That looks beautiful!

Welcome back, Terri! I look forward to seeing what you end up reading!

Happy New Year, Terri. What a great, though sad, start to your year's reading.

Looks like you are doing well with your reading, Terri!

Welcome back, Terri!

>4 tymfos: That does catch the eye although I am sure it is a difficult read too, Terri.

Hi Terri!

My husband just finished The Gales of November and I hope to get to it soon.

Hope all is well with you, Terri.

Well, now it's April, and I haven't posted here on LT since January. Including the books I finished in January and beyond...


Book #3 Widow's Point by Richard Chizmar

OK, so the lighthouse a Widow's Point is a baaaaad, bad place. Lots of people have died here, some have disappeared from here.

The story is told in segments of video/audio from two "investigations" of the lighthouse. The first is a solo effort that ends in disaster. The next is a group investigation which includes a professor who grew up in the town.

The very ending is somewhat cryptic. It took me a few minutes to think to refer back and realize that it actually ties several loose ends together.

It's not a great book, but it kept me reading and a bit creeped out.

The book is only memorable enough to remember to post after all this time because I mentioned it in a previous post.......

Nice to see you back, Terri. Missed you around these parts. xx

Hi Terri. Thanks for visiting my thread. I added In the Pines and Widow's Point to my TBR list.

I smiled at our opening photo. I remember how your cat loved to climb high places.

Good to see you back posting, Terri. Hope the reads are treating you well.

Currently reading:
Ghosts of Lincoln: Discovering his paranormal legacy, by Adam Selzer
Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A collection of library humor by Roz Warren

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

This book is written in two timelines: that of Avery Stafford, daughter of a powerful southern political family; and 12-year-old Rill Foss in 1937. Avery discovers clues to a family secret that she feels compelled to unravel; Rill and her parents and siblings have grown up on the river, but her life is turned upside down when strangers descend upon their houseboat while her parents are at a hospital in Memphis, birthing premature twins.

This is troubling and touching book, based on a real-life scandal.

For decades, the Tennessee Children's Home Society, stole children from poor families and sold them for adoption -- sometimes by getting signatures of parents who couldn't read what they were signing, sometimes by literally taking kids off their front porch! Georgia Tann, its director, made the equivalent of at least $10 million in today's money. How the children were treated while in the society's care is even more reprehensible than the initial child stealing. It was never know what happened to many of the children -- records were altered and sealed. It is believed that as many as 500 of them may have died while in custody. And the whole scheme was enabled by powerful people who looked the other way -- often actually benefiting from the crime.

I highly recommend this book.

Hi, Paul, Linda, and Meg! Thanks for stopping by!

My heavens, I landed on the new groups design, and it's awful. There didn't seem to be any way to get a list of my starred threads! In this group, having to wade through all the threads would be really annoying. What were they thinking? Thank heavens, I found the setting to go back to the way it was.

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

The "first-ever novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House," author Elizabeth Hand shares copyright ownership of this book with Jackson's estate. I found myself wishing I'd re-read The Haunting of Hill House before tackling this book, as my memory of that book's details is quite fuzzy and likely distorted by watching movies based on, but not truly faithful to, that novel.

Holly, a struggling playwright, stumbles upon Hill House while on a drive, and sees the imposing structure as the perfect place to fine-tune and rehearse the play she has won a grant to develop. She, her songwriter girlfriend Nisa, and two actors gather there to work on the production. But eerie events commence from the very first night they spend there. The fact that her play is about a witch adds to the creepy atmosphere.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I can't say I really liked it, but I tore through it pretty quickly. I listened to this on audio, which was very well done.

>20 tymfos: I own that one and really need to get it read. Thanks for the reminder, Terri.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend, Terri. Lovely to see you over at my place. xx

<24> Hi, Stasia! I think you will like that one very much!

Wishing you a great weekend, also, Paul!

Loved Hill House, and I’ve enjoyed others of Hand’s. So a two-for!

>20 tymfos: Hi Terri. I read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate last year. Thanks for your very good review!

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

I really didn't like this one much. The characters were all just too strange.


Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi
This is a collection of four horror novellas, all featuring "books" or "stories" as a core element of the horror.
OK, so I complained that the previous novel had characters that were all too strange. Well, plenty of strangeness in this one, too, but it's horror, so that's OK!

>27 drneutron: Jim, I think you'll probably like A Haunting on the Hill!

>28 Whisper1: Hi, Linda! I'm glad you liked my review of Before We Were Yours.

I checked back at the top of my thread, and noted the two "currently reading" books listed there. One I sort of put down when I realized I'd read it ages ago.
The other one I forgot I was reading. It was a library download that got lost amid various and sundry distractions. Maybe I'll try to check it out again.

Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A collection of Library Humor, by Roz Warren

This is a re-read, though I didn't realize it when I checked it out and started reading it (again).

Much of the humor, I can really relate to. A few things don't resonate, or feel dated (such as talk about overdue fines: our library did away with them in 2020).

A mostly funny look at some of the things librarians deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Terri. I'll add Our Bodies, Our Shelves to my TBR list.

It sounds like a fun read. And, I'm sure you can relate to some of the humor.

>33 Whisper1: Hi, Linda! Thanks for stopping by. I think you'll enjoy Our Bodies, Our Shelves.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
This was an amazing book. I'll try to write more about it later


50 States of Murder: An Atlas of American Crime by Harold Schechter
I don't know why I checked this out. Schechter gives brief accounts of crimes that, typically, aren't part of the national popular consciousness, but are supposedly quite well known in the states where they occurred. There are stories from all 50 states. I guess it's a sign of how much "true crime" programming I've consumed that some of these stories from far-away locales were familiar to me. However, there were many older crimes -- some of them a century or more old -- which were totally unfamiliar to me and reminded me that there have always been killers lurking, some of them really, really twisted.

I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home by Fergus Craig

This book is as delightfully quirky as its title. Carol is a senior citizen who committed a series of murders 40 years ago, and has just managed to make a deal (show them where the bodies are!) to get paroled in her old age. She's just settling into her new retirement home, and making friends, when: 1) someone recognizes who she is and that she's a serial killer 2) someone gets murdered. The only way Carol can clear her name is -- you guessed it -- she must find the real killer!

This book caused me some embarrassment when, reading a bit while proctoring a student exam (don't worry, where I was sitting, she couldn't access any unauthorized materials without me noticing), I giggled out loud at one passage. Very undignified.

>36 tymfos: I will definitely look out for that one, Terri. What a great title and cover!

Good to see that your thread is active again, Terri. I recognize Before We Were Yours as it hung around my stacks for so long but it looks like I read it and sent it on it's way or else I probably would have read it again after your review.

I'm playing catch-up. I'm trying to avoid adding to my long list, but I may revisit to reconsider on some of the ones you mentioned.

Terri, I remember your amazement of your cats ability to get on top of high places. A few months ago, I added a calico cat to my house. Twice, I caught him doing a high wire act on top of the ledge of the loft. Fortunately, I was able to grab her as she was in a jumping position, ready to fly down two floors. She climbs on kitchen counters, desks, computer stations and just about everything she believes she can navigate.