CBL's American journey

I'm including books I've read so far in 2009. Here's part one of my list:

1. Alabama - The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau

2. Alaska - White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones

3. Arizona - Dude on Arrival by J. S. Borthwick

4. Arkansas - Elkhorn Tavern by Douglas C. Jones

5. California - Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara

6. Colorado - The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather; The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson; Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson; Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton

7. Connecticut - Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris

8. Delaware - West of Rehoboth by Alexs D. Pate

9. Florida - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

10. Georgia - Sins of the Fathers by Patricia Sprinkle

11. Hawaii - The Last Full Measure by Hal Glatzer

12. Idaho - Blue Heaven by C. J. Box

13. Illinois - Stained Glass: A Father Dowling Mystery by Ralph McInerny; The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

14. Indiana - Life Goes On by Philip Gulley; Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait: The Federal Writers' Project in Indiana, 1935-1942 by George T. Blakey

15. Iowa - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; Dewey by Vicki Myron

16. Kansas - The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard; The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

17. Kentucky - A Deadly Shaker Spring by Deborah Woodworth

18. Louisiana - A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly

19. Maine - Site Unseen by Dana Cameron; Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier

20. Maryland - Digging to America by Anne Tyler

21. Massachusetts - Still as Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor; The Shortest Day by Jane Langton

22. Michigan - Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

23. Minnesota - Third Person Singular by KJ Erickson
; The Dead Survivors by KJ Erickson; Jelly's Gold by David Housewright; Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace; Thai Die by Monica Ferris; The Silence of the Loons; Blackwork by Monica Ferris

24. Mississippi - Mudbound by Hillary Jordan; The Help by Kathryn Stockett

25. Missouri - The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton; The Blood Ballad by Rett MacPherson; Alibis in Arkansas by Christine Lynxwiler*

*One of the three novellas in this collection takes place in Branson, Missouri. The other two are set in a fictional town in Arkansas, but neither story has a strong sense of place.

Edited to correct numbering sequence!

Here's part two of my list:

26. Montana - The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

27. Nebraska - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

28. Nevada - Death Assemblage by Susan Cummins Miller

29. New Hampshire - A Gathering of Days by Joan Blos

30. New Jersey - The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming

31. New Mexico - Dissonance by Lisa Lenard-Cook; Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

32. New York - Murder on Bank Street by Victoria Thompson; Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt*; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith; The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

33. North Carolina - Down River by John Hart; A New Song by Jan Karon; The Piano Teacher by Lynn York; In This Mountain by Jan Karon

34. North Dakota - The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

35. Ohio - Blessed Is the Busybody by Emilie Richards; Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus ; Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short

36. Oklahoma - The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell

37. Oregon - The Quick and the Thread by Amanda Lee

38. Pennsylvania - The Trouble with Tulip by Mindy Starns Clark; The Sugar Camp Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

39. Rhode Island - The Secret Ingredient Murders by Nancy Pickard

40. South Carolina - Partisans and Redcoats by Walter B. Edgar; The Silver Needle Murder by Laura Childs

41. South Dakota - The Jumping-off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely

42. Tennessee - In Search of the Promised Land by John Hope Franklin; The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb; Knoxville: This Obscure Prismatic City by Jack Neely

43. Texas - Pick Your Poison by Leann Sweeney; The Christmas Cookie Killer by Livia J. Washburn

44. Utah - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

45. Vermont - The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page

46. Virginia - Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley; The Known World by Edward P. Jones; Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin; The Devil Amongst the Lawyers by Sharyn McCrumb

47.Washington - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

48. West Virginia - Daughter of the Stars by Phyllis A. Whitney

49. Wisconsin - Blood Country by Mary Logue; Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic

50. Wyoming - Trophy Hunt by C.J. Box

51. Washington, D.C. - Escape on the Pearl: The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad by Mary Kay Ricks.

*The early part of the book (and Frank McCourt's life) takes place in New York.

Just updated my list to include my Connecticut book. I've finished reading Rosemary Harris's Pushing Up Daisies set in suburban Connecticut. A friend snagged this through Early Reviewers last year and loaned me her advance copy. I just now got around to reading it.

I'll actually be reading 51 books for this challenge. Earlier this year I bought a book of essays on the states -- State by State, edited by Matt Weiland. It's not really the sort of book you'd read cover to cover, but I decided to read the essay for each state as I complete that state's book for the challenge.

Just updated my list with my Texas book. I finished Pick Your Poison, the first in Leann Sweeney's Yellow Rose cozy mystery series.

Updated my list with my Pennsylvania read, The Trouble with Tulip by Mindy Starns Clark.

I just added yet another New York book to my list of completed reading -- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Some aspects of the book reminded me of the early chapters of Angela's Ashes, which took place in New York, but it was not as grim. I think the biggest difference is that, while the Nolans were poor, the McCourts were nearly destitute.

How well do you think that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has stood the test of time? I would like to reread it as it was a great favorite of mine when I was a teen-ager, but I've heard that it hasn't aged well.

I didn't seem particularly dated to me. Human nature hasn't really changed since the book was written, or since the era described in the book. Many of the truths it depicts are timeless, like the relationship between mothers, daughters, and sisters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, first love, etc. I think we can draw lessons from it that still apply today. I read The Keepers of the House earlier this year and it seemed much more dated to me, even though it was published 20 years later.

>4 cbl_tn:
really like your idea of reading the State by State essays along the way.

>10 detailmuse: I'm learning a lot about the states through the essays. As with any collection, some essays are better than others. They're all very different. I like the variety.

I had some catching up to do since I didn't start reading the essays until after I'd read books for several states. The Tennessee essay by Ann Patchett is my favorite of the ones I've read so far. However, the Missouri essay by Jacki Lyden is probably the one I'll remember longest. Her focus is on the Bosnian community in St. Louis. I'm fairly familiar with St. Louis, but this was new to me.

I just added a Colorado book to my list. I finished Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark. I loved the first half of the book, and was disappointed with the quality of the second half. It suffered in comparison to the first half.

Some of the action also takes place in Chicago, New York, and a canyon in Arizona.

I finished reading Sharyn McCrumb's The Ballad of Frankie Silver. Although Frankie Silver lived and died in North Carolina, I added the book to my Tennessee list because the modern part of the story is set there.

I had heard of Frankie Silver -- I'm even acquainted with one of her descendants -- but I didn't know anything about her story before I read this book. Sharyn McCrumb brought her to life, and filled in the gaps in the historical record in a plausible and sympathetic way.

That looks like an interesting book; enjoyed your review. Its CK says that it is number 5 in a series. Have you read the other books? Does this book stand alone, or is it best to read the series in order?

>14 countrylife: I've read one or two of the other books in the series, but it's been several years since I picked one up. They weren't fresh in my mind. This one would work just fine as a stand-alone. I think this series does a good job of depicting the culture and personalities of the Appalachian region of upper East Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and western North Carolina.

I added The Last Full Measure, by Hal Glatzer, as my Hawaii book. It's part of a series of mysteries set in the big band era and featuring swing musician Katy Green. I found that the series wasn't what I was expecting, so I probably won't be picking up any more books in the series.

Very little of the action takes place in Hawaii. Most of the story takes place on shipboard sailing to and from the Islands. However, the talk aboard ship is all about Hawaii and what the characters plan to do when they get there. Hawaii is definitely integral to the story.

I learned about Dissonance by Lisa Lenard-Cook in one of the threads on this challenge. It was recommended by pbadeer. I'm reading music-themed books this month, and it seemed like a good choice for a New Mexico book. I enjoyed it, and I'm grateful to pbadeer for bringing it to my attention!

I'm also going to count it for my Czech Republic book in the European reading challenge. The modern story is set in New Mexico, but it also has a historical aspect involving the Terezin concentration camp.

I added yet another North Carolina book to my list. I couldn't help comparing The Piano Teacher to the books in the Miss Julia series. Both are about widows in small North Carolina mountain towns. However, Miss Julia is childless, and Miss Wilma, the piano teacher, has a grown daughter. Part of the book deals with the strained relationship between Miss Wilma and her daughter, Sarah, and part has to do with the murder of a sheriff's deputy that coincided with the arrival of Sarah's family. I gave it 3 1/2 stars.

I added a book for Maine to my list. Site Unseen is a cozy-ish mystery (a bit on the violent side) centered around an archaeological dig in Maine. It's the first book I've read by this author. I hoped I'd enjoy it since I like books involving archaeology and academia, and it lived up to my expectations. I gave it 4 stars. This is the first book in a series, and I'll be on the lookout for more.

Finished a Massachusetts book, Still as Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor. It's the fourth book in a mystery series featuring Sweeney St. George, an art historian who specializes in funerary art. She is a professor at a Boston university, and in this book, she is the curator of an exhibition at the university's museum. Egyptian funerary art is the special focus of this series entry. I don't think this book is as strong as any of the first three books in the series, and I gave it 3 stars.

I decided to read our community's Big Read selection, so I added Bless Me, Ultima as another New Mexico book. The book is set in a small New Mexico town in the 1940s. It's the story of two years in the life of an elementary-aged boy as he struggles with the problem of evil. When he doesn't find answers to his questions in the Catholic religion, he explores other belief systems. Ultima is an elderly curandera (a shamanistic herbalist) who comes to live with Antonio's family and serves as his spiritual mentor. This isn't a book I normally would have chosen to read, but I'm glad I read it. It's not one I'll want to re-read, though.

I keep revisiting places I've already been instead of adding new locations. I finished another Colorado book, The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson. It's one of the earlier books in the series, and Davidson's mystery plotting hadn't quite developed. Even though the mystery wasn't up to par, I still found the book enjoyable. I like Goldy and her circle of family and friends, and the basic premise of the book was interesting to me -- the cut-throat competition for admission to elite universities. I gave the book 3 1/2 stars.

Seriously, how is that possible? I keep finding great books set in a single state with a strong sense of place, except they are all set in the states I already have entries for.

It's even worse in my European challenge. With what I have lined up to read, I'll be stuck in England for quite a while. I guess it's like playing Monopoly, where you keep landing on property you already own instead of that one piece of real estate that would complete the set!

cbl, you could always split England up into counties and see where you get to there. ;)

Wolfy, I thought about that, but I don't think it would help much. I've mostly been in/will be in London, Oxford, and Kent. I did manage to read a book set in Cornwall earlier this year, though!

True, most of the books set in England seem to be set in the south east of the country. I had hopes for my current read but it moved out of Somerset pretty quickly but will probably return there later in the story. Whether I can use it for my own challenge is doubtful though.

I'm very mellow with this challenge, but it seems to me I won't be leaving the east coast anytime soon...

I added Olive Kitteridge as a second book in my Maine category. I'm glad I read it, but I wasn't as fond of it as most people seem to be. I grew to like Olive, but the other characters got to be a bit much for me. I don't mind spending time with one miserable person, but when they're all miserable all the time, it can be hard to take.

I finished Marilynne Robinson's Gilead on Thanksgiving Day. It was a perfect book to read during this season since blessing is one of the themes in the book. Although set in Iowa, at first it seemed to be more about Kansas because of the family's history in that state. However, it gradually became clear to me that Iowa was important as a place because it wasn't Kansas. It did have the feel of a small Midwestern town, where churches are centers of community life and individuals and families may have as much influence as the landscape on the feel of place.

This is one of those books I'll most likely re-read. It's rich with allusion and symbolism, and I don't think it gives up all of its secrets in the first reading.

Gilead is on my to-be-mooched/purchased/borrowed list, and your little review has made me even more interested. Thanks for posting!

My Arizona selection was a cozy Christmas mystery set on an Arizona resort, J.S. Borthwick's Dude on Arrival. The atmosphere was better than the mystery. There was nothing about the book to make it stand out above other cozies. It wasn't awful; it was just bland.

I made another visit to Massachusetts with Jane Langton's Homer Kelly in The Shortest Day. The mystery is focused around a fictional event, the Cambridge Revels, held held annually in Harvard's Memorial Hall. Several of the cast members suffer fatal accidents until Homer Kelly and his wife, Mary, finally put a stop to the deaths. I enjoyed the memories it brought back of my experiences in my high school's madrigal group, and our extensive practices and performances during the Christmas season. Jane Langton's style won't appeal to everyone, but her books always have a strong sense of place. This one is no exception.

I keep revisiting states I've arleady visited. I spend a lot time during the holidays reading seasonal books. Livia J. Washburn's The Christmas Cookie Killer is the third book in a series, but it is the first one I've read. It worked fine as a stand-alone.The construction of the mystery was weak, but the characters were likeable and I'm curious about what will happen to them. I'll probably read at least one or two more in this series. For a cozy mystery, it does have a good sense of place. It's set in Weatherford, Texas, a town about a half hour west of Fort Worth. I make regular trips to the Fort Worth area, and I've added Weatherford to my list of places I want to see on future visits.

I made a couple more visits to Colorado before the end of the year with Diane Mott Davidson's Sweet Revenge and Maggie Sefton's Fleece Navidad. Both are holiday mysteries. Sweet Revenge is the better of the two. It was my second Maggie Sefton, and possibly my last. I'm not interested enough in knitting to overlook the mediocre writing and mystery plotting in this series.

I added The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff for my Utah book. It's two stories in one: the story of Ann Eliza Young, one of Brigham Young's plural wives who divorced him and became a crusader against polygamy, and Jordan Scott, an outcast young man from a modern polygamous sect whose mother has been charged with his father's murder.

I was more interested in Ann Eliza Young's story than in the murder mystery, and that's a good thing, because the modern murder was the weaker part of the book. I had read Ann Eliza's own memoir, Wife No. 19, about 12 years or so ago, and loved it. It's still possible to find Wife No. 19 in libraries, and I think a reprint is available. It's also available in Google Books. I would recommend Wife No. 19 over The 19th Wife to anyone looking for a historical book for Utah.

My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/5289726/reviews/46708585

I've read a lot of reviews for The 19th Wife, but yours carries all the points I was wondering about. Love it when people post their reviews or links here in the challenge!

>37 countrylife: I'm glad the review was useful and addressed your questions about the book!

I didn't know this when I picked it up, but the latest book I read turned out to be largely about Washington, D.C. Escape on the Pearl : The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad by Mary Kay Ricks tells of a failed attempt to transport upwards of 70 enslaved persons to freedom on a schooner sailing from Washington, D.C. up the Chesapeake Bay. Although the Pearl was captured before it reached the Bay, the event drew the attention of the Northern press and helped sway public opinion toward the abolitionist cause. The plight of two teen-age sisters, Mary and Emily Edmonson, illustrated the fate of countless other young women sold away from family members and into concubinage.

Many well-known historical figures appear in the story. The slaves on the Pearl were known to many prominent Washington personalities. One of the would-be escapees was owned by former first lady Dolley Madison. Henry Ward Beecher made his first speech for the abolitionist cause at a Broadway Tabernacle fundraiser to raise money to purchase Mary and Emily Edmonson's freedom. The sisters were befriended by former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Harriet Beecher Stowe took a personal interest in the sisters' education, and she included the story of the Edmonson family in her Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, a non-fiction follow-up to her successful novel. Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key, was the prosecutor for the trials of the Pearl's captain and the man who hired the ship. Congressman Horace Mann headed the defense team.

It was disturbing to realize the extent to which monetary considerations drove actions. Many people's financial security depended on slavery. People who technically were not slave owners benefited from slave labor by hiring the services of slaves from their owners. Owners who freed their slaves often required the newly-freed person to work out their purchase price over a term of months or years. Slave trader Joseph Bruin, who purchased Mary and Emily Edmonson and several of their brothers after the failed escape attempt, was proud of his reputation as a humane trader, yet he refused to take any less for the sisters' freedom than he would receive for them in the New Orleans market. Even when their cause was taken up by influential people, the Edmonsons still had difficulty raising the large sums needed to purchase freedom for the enslaved family members.

Although this is a popular account, it is thoroughly documented. Interested readers will find plenty of references to material for additional reading and research. The well-chosen illustrations include a map of Washington, D.C. in 1848 identifying many of the locations mentioned in the text and a rare photograph of an antislavery rally from 1850, where the two Edmonson sisters and Frederick Douglass are among those on the platform. The photograph that really surprised me is an undated picture of Dolley Madison. She is so strongly associated with the War of 1812 that I had no idea she was still living in the era of photography.

Highly recommended to readers interested in the history of slavery, abolitionism, and 19th century U.S. history. The book's focus on the Edmonson family will also be of interest to genealogists, particularly those with an interest in African American genealogy. 4 out of 5 stars.

Fascinating review. Made me add this book to my wishlist. I'm learning so much more of this country's history through these threads than I ever did in school, lo those many years ago...

Thanks for your review of Escape on the Pearl. I received this book as a gift, and it has been sitting on my shelf for nearly a year. This has bumped it into my TBR-soonish pile.

>40 countrylife:, 41 It's a worthwhile read. It was slow at first because there were so many people involved in the event, and it took a while to get used to all the actors and their roles. By the middle of the book it became hard for me to put it down.

I found a new (to me) mystery series for Wisconsin. Blood Country is the first book in Mary Logue's Claire Watkins series.

After her husband's death in a hit-and-run accident, policewoman Claire Watkins and her 10-year-old daughter, Meg, move from the Twin Cities to small town Wisconsin, where Claire finds work as a sheriff's deputy. As spring progresses, Claire looks forward to learning gardening wisdom from her elderly neighbor, Landers Anderson. Unfortunately, Landers dies under suspicious circumstances before the gardening lessons begin. Claire brings experience in murder investigation to a rural community where murder is rare, so she takes the lead in the investigation of Landers' death. Meanwhile, Meg finally confides to her mother that she saw the man who ran down her father in their driveway. As this cold case begins to heat up again, Claire finds that Fort St. Antoine isn't the safe haven she thought it was.

Cozy mystery meets police procedural in this series debut. Two unrelated investigations are a bit too much for such a short novel. It was easy to see where both stories were heading since there wasn't enough page space for red herrings. However, having read a few series where the author drags a back story like Claire's husband's death over several books, it's a nice change to have it wrapped up to start with. Claire makes an interesting protagonist in a different setting and I'd like to see where the author takes her character in future books in the series.

I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

My West Virgnina book is Phyllis Whitney's Daughter of the Stars, set in Harpers Ferry. I wasn't expecting great literature, but I hoped it would be a lot better than it turned out to be. It did have a strong sense of place, though, and I know more about Harpers Ferry than I did before. I gave it 1 1/2 stars and felt generous doing so. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/94829/reviews/33795091

California

Summer of the Big Bachi, the first book in Naomi Hirahara's Mas Arai mystery series, is set in the Japanese-American community in and around Los Angeles.

When I wasn't fully engaged with this book by the time I'd read at least a third of it, I thought about abandoning it. I thought it was a genre mystery, but I couldn't figure out what genre. It's not a cozy mystery; although it has very little sex, violence, or coarse language, there is a lot of gambling and drinking. It's not a police procedural, thriller, or legal mystery. It does have an amateur sleuth. While I could summarize the plot, I'm not sure I could identify what part of it is the mystery.

The central character is Japanese-American gardener Mas Arai, somewhere in his sixties, widowed with an estranged adult daughter, and a survivor of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. Mas has spent most of his life trying to not to think about the events in his life surrounding the bombing. When he does think about the past, he remembers his relationship with his wife and his daughter's childhood years. While going about his usual routine one day, Mas encounters a person from the past he has tried so hard to forget, and despite his best efforts, he is drawn into current events with a link to the war years in Hiroshima.

Even though I was puzzled by the plot, at some point I realized that I had grown fond of the old gardener. He is conscientious about his work. His interactions with other characters in the book show him to be a loyal friend. He thinks a lot but says little, and his wife and daughter seem to have mistaken his reticence for indifference. I don't know if there will be more of a mystery in the next book than there was in this one, but I plan to read it to see if Mas will be able to repair his relationship with his daughter now that he has resolved some issues from his past.

I rated it 3 out of 5 stars.

North Dakota: A Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

This book was different than I expected from the summaries I'd read. Louise Erdrich is a talented writer. I liked a lot of things about the book, such as its emphasis on history, family, and music. I was fascinated by the way the author constructed the story with multiple narrators. None of the narrators knows the full story, but the reader is able to piece it together from what each narrator reveals.

There were some aspects of the book that I didn't enjoy because of my personal taste, not because of poor writing. I rated the book 3 out of 5 stars. My review is here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/4672195/reviews/47931012

What a thoughtful review!

>47 countrylife: Thanks!

Kentucky: A Deadly Shaker Spring by Deborah Woodworth

This is a Depression era historical cozy set in a fictional Shaker village in Kentucky. I thought it was better than the average cozy, and I'll be reading more in this series.

In her acknowledgments, the author mentions the members of her writers' group. The group includes Mary Logue, a new-to-me author I first read and enjoyed just last month. I thought that was an interesting coincidence!

I gave the book 3 1/2 stars. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/423946/reviews/48236016

Minnesota: Third Person Singular by KJ Erickson is set in Minneapolis and its suburbs. I'll be making a trip to the Twin Cities in a few weeks and wanted to read something set in the area before my trip.

When the body of a young woman is discovered on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, Special Detective Mars Bahr of the Minneapolis PD is assigned to lead the investigation. It doesn't take long to identify the victim, a pretty and multi-talented high school senior from the suburbs. Despite the investigative team's best efforts, the search for her killer stalls. There is a lack of physical evidence and the most likely suspects have airtight alibis. Months later, information about a similar murder in a different location launches the investigation into high speed. Will Mars and his team find enough clues, not just to identify the killer, but to put him away for good?

This is one of the best police procedurals I've read in a long time. I went through it quickly because I couldn't bear to put it down. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. The author provides clues at the right time for readers to figure out the killer's identity and motive at the same pace as the investigators, and I experienced the ups and downs of the case right along with them.

The main character does have some personal problems -- he's a divorced workaholic -- but he has few vices. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke (although he does carry a pack of cigarettes), and he swears only occasionally. He has a good relationship with his ex-wife, and he's a good father to his eight-year-old son, Chris. He's a thorough investigator, a strong leader, and is respectful of his superiors. I especially enjoyed the scenes with the son, Chris, whose favorite Saturday morning activity is shopping garage sales for kitchen equipment. I think this series will have crossover appeal for cozy mystery readers. I already have the next book in the series on my TBR shelves, and I'm sure it won't stay there for long!

I don't know that I've ever read either a police procedural or a cozy mystery, but this review makes me ready to dip my toes in!

>50 cbl_tn:, 51 The book mentions quite a few Minneapolis locations, including local eating places. The main character goes to Matt's Bar for Jucy Lucys (I found pictures on Wikipedia), and he breakfasts with his son at The Modern. The body is discovered near the Pillsbury A Mill. The Mississippi River is an important part of the story. The book makes a useful travel guide!

Another Virginia book: Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin. The author will be speaking at a conference I'm attending in a few weeks, and I wanted to read some of her work before hearing her speak.

This is the first book in a Christian historical fiction series with a Civil War setting. The book's heroine is the abolitionist daughter of a Richmond slave owner. It was engrossing while I read it, but like a lot of Christian fiction, it appeals more to the emotions than to the mind. I think my memory of it will fade pretty quickly. I gave it 3 stars. My full review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/20007/reviews/58886867

I've not read Lynn Austin. But I had a similar experience with another Christian fiction writer. Looking for a book for the Canada challenge at our little library, Janette Oke's Heart of the Wilderness was one of the few at hand, and having gotten a positive impression of her somewhere along the way, I took it. From Alberta, she was really good at writing the setting. And her characters seemed realistic to their time and place. Overall, though, in my review it was 'lightweight fluff'/3 stars. And, like yours, fade-able.

I don't think I'd enjoy the Candle in the Darkness. I want my historical fiction to be true to its time, and don't enjoy reading about a modern mentality transplanted to live in the past. I'm glad when well-done reviews help me to make up my mind. (Thanks for that!)

>54 countrylife: I think the setting was historically accurate, but I'm not sure the dialogue was. I did check to make sure that the Scripture quotations were from the King James Version rather than from a more recent translation! (They were.)

The heroine made some difficult decisions. Once she acted on her decisions, she never seemed to second-guess her actions, even when the consequences weren't what she expected. How realistic is that?!

Illinois: Stained Glass: A Father Dowling Mystery by Ralph McInerny

Media reports indicate that the Chicago Diocese is thinking of consolidating several parishes. Father Dowling's St. Hilary's is rumored to be on the list of potential closures. Jane Devere, matriarch of the Devere family who donated St. Hilary's Menotti stained glass windows, is doing everything she can to preserve the church and its windows. The murders of several people connected to the Devere family eventually turn the attention from church politics to crime investigation.

The story has its weaknesses, including a convoluted plot and way too many characters to keep track of, yet I still found it an absorbing read. I liked the discussions of theology and church politics. I have a few Father Dowling mysteries that belonged to my grandmother that I'll read before I make up my mind whether or not to track down any more books in the series.

3 stars. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/work/8894406/reviews/58202742

Another Minnesota book: The Dead Survivors by KJ Erickson.

I couldn't resist the lure description on the back cover: a murder that looks like suicide, with a motive apparently connected to the Battle of Gettysburg and a current controversy over a regimental flag. It sounded like the perfect book for an amateur genealogist like me. I was favorably impressed by the first book in this series when I read it a few weeks ago, and I was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately the second book in the series didn't live up to the promise of the first one.

I admire the author's creativity in coming up with the concept for the murder and its historical anchor. I just wish it had been better executed. I couldn't get past the flaws in the research process the characters used to find vital statistics for 19th century individuals. In the book, a team of researchers sat in front of computers and used online databases to look up birth and death dates for men who fought at Gettysburg. If only it were that easy in real life! Most of the databases referred to in the book either don't exist or don't provide the kind of results the characters in the book found. Although more and more records are being digitized and made available online, many more are available only in historical archives, county record offices, church offices, or other places that must be visited in person. The author doesn't appear to have included archivists, professional librarians, or genealogists in her acknowledgments list, any one of whom could have helped the author to better understand sources of information for 19th century individuals and how to access them.

2 1/2 stars.

Another Minnesota book: Jelly's Gold by David Housewright. It has a strong sense of place in the Twin Cities.

When Rushmore McKenzie's friend, Ivy, and her boyfriend, Josh, ask McKenzie to help them hunt for 1930s gangster Frank "Jelly" Nash's cache of gold bars, it sounds like fun. The task is more intellectual than physical, and it promises a potentially big pay-off. It soon becomes apparent that other people are after the gold, and things turn violent. At first the St. Paul police have little interest in helping their former colleague investigate a cold case, but their attitude changes when the pursuit of the forgotten gold leads to murder.

The success of a treasure hunt mystery depends on the plausibility of the circumstances through which the treasure was forgotten, uncertainty about the characters involved in the treasure hunt, and the location of the story. Many of the Prohibition/Depression era gangsters met violent ends, so it's not beyond imagination that one of them would take the secret of his hidden gold to his grave. McKenzie's use of libraries, archives, and public records to research events from the 1930s is realistic. None of the other players in the treasure hunt are above suspicion. The action travels all over the Twin Cities, so readers who live in or who have visited the area can have fun recognizing familiar places.

The plot reminds me of something you'd see on Magnum, PI, Remington Steele, or Moonlighting. Readers who enjoyed those TV series will probably like this book.

4 stars

New Hampshire: A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos.

The story of Catherine Hall, a young New Hampshire girl in the 1830s, is told through her diary entries. Catherine's mother died several years before the diary begins. Catherine and her younger sister, Matty, live with their father on his farm. Their closest neighbors, the Shipmans, are a source of support. Mrs. Shipman advises Catherine about housekeeping matters, and Mr. Shipman and the Shipman boys assist Catherine's father with his farming work after their own is done. Cassie Shipman is Catherine's best friend. They often do their chores together, and they walk to school together when it's in session.

Catherine's diary chronicles many changes in her life over an 18-month period. The school teacher stirs up controversy by reading from Boston abolitionist newspapers during class time. For Catherine, the question of slavery isn't abstract when she encounters a mysterious stranger, probably a runaway slave, who asks for her help. After several years as a widower, Catherine's father decides to remarry, and Catherine must adjust to a new stepmother, stepbrother, and a new position within the household. In their early teens, Catherine and her friends are on the brink of womanhood. Catherine faces the loss of two childhood companions, one to death, the other to the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Catherine led a much different life than modern teenagers. Farm families like Catherine's had to work hard year-round to make sure they had adequate clothing, household goods, and food to last through the bitterly cold winters. She writes in her diary of visits from peddlers and weavers, of picking berries, of trips to Boston to sell farm products and to purchase supplies, and of community events like the opening of the roads after the winters snows and of maple sugaring in the spring. While Catherine's daily activities were very different from the modern teenager's, she faced many of the same issues, like adjusting to a blended family and dealing with the loss of friends. I can't think of a more enjoyable way to learn about daily life in a different century. Highly recommended.

5 stars

Another Minnesota book: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

Almost-five-year-old Betsy Ray is thrilled when a family with a girl just her age moves in across the street. After Betsy's mother invites Tacy Kelly to Betsy's fifth birthday party, the girls become fast friends. They go on picnics, go to school together, play paper dolls, play house in an old piano box in Betsy's back yard, climb trees, play dress-up, and take imaginary trips to exotic Milwaukee. When Tacy's baby sister dies, Betsy knows exactly what to do and say to comfort her friend. Likewise, when a new sister replaces Betsy as the baby in the family, Tacy knows just what to say to help Betsy feel better about the new arrival. The girls pass a large chocolate-brown house with a tower and beautiful stained glass windows on their way to school. The house holds a pleasant surprise for them!

I'm sorry I missed out on this book in my childhood, but I'm glad I've discovered it now. The characters seem real - probably because they're based on the author's own family and childhood friends and neighbors. Girls who enjoy the American Girl series will probably like the Betsy-Tacy books with a late 19th/early 20th century setting in small town Minnesota (a fictionalized version of Mankato). Highly recommended!

5 stars.

I'm so glad you reviewed A Gathering of Days and posted it here; bringing it back on my horizon. I thought I had it on my wishlist. Well - it is NOW!

I've been enjoying catching up on your thread. Some really good books on here. Thanks for all the reviews. I haven't been doing much on this challenge, but it's good to see all these recommendations for when I get busy again.

Still another book set in Minnesota: Thai Die by Monica Ferris.

Doris Valentine, one of Crewel World's Monday Bunch, returns from a month-long trip to Thailand with lots of colorful fabric and silk floss, and, tucked into a corner of her suitcase, a replica of an unusual Buddha statue she's been asked to deliver to an antique dealer in St. Paul. Soon after Doris delivers the statue, the dealer is murdered, and Doris's apartment is trashed. Doris continues to be a target of an unknown person, but amateur sleuth Betsy Devonshire can't figure out what Doris has that this person is after. This case will try the limits of Betsy's sleuthing abilities.

This book is one of the weaker efforts in this series. The mystery is convoluted, and the plot seems to get away from Ferris at some points. Readers familiar with the series will enjoy seeing more of the Monday Bunch in this book, and may also like the connection with a much earlier book in the series. There are better books in this series, and readers new to the series shouldn't start with this one.

3 stars

I've now added a Kansas book to my list thanks to Early Reviewers: The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard.

Jody Linder is stunned to learn that the man convicted of murdering her parents has been released from prison. Jody was just three years old when her parents were murdered, and her grandparents, uncles, and aunt have spent the the last 23 years sheltering her from many of the circumstances surrounding the murder. With Billy Crosby's imminent return to their small Kansas town, Jody begins probing the memories of family and friends, and what she learns causes her to question everything she thought she knew.

The combination of characters, place, and atmosphere made this a difficult book to put down. Even though I've never been to the western part of Kansas, the author described it so well that I could picture it. The dialogue merged seamlessly with the narrative passages. I particularly admired Jody's grandmother, Annabelle, who, when she saw how Crosby's wife and son had been ostracized by the community, treated them with dignity and grace, knowing that the rest of the community would follow her lead.

This book was good enough that I was disappointed with the resolution of the central problem and the tensions between and within the characters. To borrow imagery from the book, huge thunderclouds loomed, but the storm dissipated into a soothing rain. I kept wondering how one of the characters was going to confront an awkward situation. The author solved it by removing the situation rather than allowing the confrontation that seemed inevitable. I also felt a bit cheated that the romance hinted at throughout the book develops outside of the story. The reader is told about it, but isn't allowed to experience it. Disappointments aside, I was favorably impressed by my first experience with this author's writing, and I'll be looking for more of her works. (I own one other that I haven't yet read.)

3 1/2 stars

That book was badly publicized, with it being marketed as "literary fiction meets mystery" which made me think of Case Histories or The Church of Dead Girls or Sharp Objects or the like, where something new is done with the genre and the writing is just...better, I guess.

I read it awhile ago, and kept waiting for it to go somewhere new and different, but in the end it should have just been advertised as "a novel of romantic suspense" and be done with it.

Idaho: Blue Heaven by C. J. Box

In rural North Idaho, children Annie and William are in the wrong place at the wrong time and see something that no one was intended to see: the murder of a man by his three companions. The children run for their lives and finally encounter an adult who might be able to protect them. However, the odds are against them since the three murderers and a fourth accomplice are retired from the LAPD and, by insinuating themselves with local law enforcement, are leading the search for the missing children.

The area of North Idaho around Coeur d'Alene has drawn quite a few retirees from the LAPD, and the author uses this phenomenon as the basis of his novel. He describes a community in transition, with newcomers having different values and long-term residents behaving in new ways as they adapt to new conditions. Place and character combine into a convincing page-turner filled with suspense. The story seems like one that would adapt well for television or movie screen. I'd love to see what a talented screenwriter might do with it.

4 stars

Another Virginia book: The Devil Amongst the Lawyers by Sharyn McCrumb, set in Wise County in Southwest Virginia.

Sharyn McCrumb's latest Ballad novel is a sort of prequel for the series. In earlier series novels, Nora Bonesteel is an older woman whose gift of The Sight often helps to steer Sheriff Spencer Arrowood to the solution of a crime. In The Devil Amongst the Lawyers, readers learn that Nora's assistance in investigating a crime was sought long before Sheriff Arrowood's birth. In the midst of the Depression, Nora's cousin, Carl Jenkins, has the opportunity of his young life. His Johnson City newspaper sends him to cover a sensational murder trial in the small Southwest Virginia town of Wise. Sensing that he may be in over his head, Carl calls on 12-year-old Nora to use her sixth sense to help him sort out truth from fiction in the gossip surrounding the trial.

One of the strongest appeals of the Ballad Novels for me is their Upper East Tennessee/Southwest Virginia setting. I like reading about familiar places, and Sharyn McCrumb excels at portraying place and people accurately and sympathetically. The local characters and settings work well in this book, but I can't say the same for the outsiders -- the journalists sent by national papers to cover the trial. The purpose of these characters seems to be to depict the source of the stereotypes of the Appalachian region and people. Ironically, these journalists themselves seem more like stereotypes than real characters. When these characters are alone with their thoughts they seem more like real people, but the group scenes and their conversations among themselves fall flat. The journalists talk too much about the story being more important than the truth. I think a subtler approach would have made the point more effectively.

This novel is fictionalized account of a real murder trial in Wise County, Virginia, in 1935. The trial and defendant are often overshadowed by sub-plots and other characters, so true crime readers may prefer to read the non-fiction account of the trial. Fans of the Ballad Novels won't want to miss seeing Nora Bonesteel as a child. I'd suggest that readers new to the series get to know Nora first in one of the books published earlier in the series.

This review is based on an advanced readers' copy provided by the publisher through the Early Reviewers program.

3 stars

One more Minnesota book: The Silence of the Loons, a collection of short stories by The Minnesota Crime Wave.

There's something about Minnesota that inspires crime writers. Maybe it's something in the lake water. Thirteen Minnesota crime writers contributed short stories to this anthology. For added fun, the writers were challenged to incorporate at least four clues from a list of eight into their stories. A few stories didn't appeal to me as much as the others. I might have been tempted to skip a story or two if not for the hook of the "mystery" clues and my curiosity about the way each writer would work them into his or her story. I had managed to identify only seven of the eight clues by the end of the last story.

I had read novels written by some of the writers, I was aware of other contributors although I hadn't previously read any of their work, and some contributors I'd never heard of before. At least two of the authors used characters from their series books. Mary Logue's story featured Claire Watkins and her teen-age daughter Meg, and Monica Ferris's story featured supporting character Jill Cross from her needlecraft series.

I had a couple of reasons for reading this anthology. I liked several of the contributors and hoped I might be introduced to some new writers I might also enjoy. A short story collection seemed perfect for a month when my schedule was busier than usual, including a week-long trip to Minnesota. This collection met my expectations, and I recommend it for crime fiction readers looking for something a little different.

3 stars

Another Pennsylvania book: The Sugar Camp Quilt, part of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series.

Long before Elm Creek Quilts opened for business, quilting played a role in local history. Schoolteacher Dorothea Granger and her parents live on her uncle's farm after the failure of their utopian farm venture. Dorothea naively believes that all of Creek's Crossing's polite society shares her family's social ideals, including abolitionist views. As the events of the book unfold, Dorothea learns just how mistaken she has been.

The Runaway Quilt is my favorite of the Elm Creek Quilts books I've read so far, and I looked forward to revisiting some of the characters who were introduced in that book. Set in about 1850, the events of The Sugar Camp Quilt precede The Runaway Quilt by a few years. I didn't love The Sugar Camp Quilt quite as much as The Runaway Quilt, but it was still an absorbing read with its mixture of danger and romance. Jane Austen's readers will immediately recognize where the romance part of the story is headed.

This book is tied to the Elm Creek Quilts series primarily by location. It can easily be read as a stand-alone and, with its historical setting, it may appeal to a broader range of readers than do other books in this series.

3 1/2 stars

Another South Carolina book: The Silver Needle Murder by Laura Childs.

A film festival in the recently renovated Belvedere Theatre in Charleston's historic district is the occasion for this mystery. A famous director is murdered during the opening night festivities. Who was desperate enough to attempt murder in front of hundreds of potential witnesses? Was it a rival director? An angry film editor? A jilted lover? Or someone else connected with the film industry? Theodosia will be in close contact with the suspects between catering several of the week's events and standing in as a festival judge.

This is a 2-star mystery in a 4-star setting. I would love to see many of the short films with the catchy titles described in the book. Tea master Drayton and baker Haley are in top form. The descriptions of a variety of teas and pastries had my mouth watering. I could almost smell the exotic floral arrangements decorating the tables at each event. However, the mystery is weak and suffers from too many suspects with too little character development. The bizarre ending came without warning. I had guessed who the murderer was early on, not from any clues (there were none), but because I've watched so many episodes of Murder, She Wrote that the author's least-likely suspect is usually my most-likely suspect. The minimal explanation for the motive for murder was unsatisfying, and it didn't explain some of the other mysterious events.

It's worth reading the book just for the food and the festival atmosphere and, of course, the recipe collection at the end of the book. However, readers new to the series shouldn't start with this one.

3 stars

Arkansas: Elkhorn Tavern by Douglas C. Jones

The Civil War comes to the Hasford family's home in a secluded Arkansas valley. Father Martin Hasford is off somewhere with the Confederate army, leaving behind wife Ora and a teen-aged daughter and son. Confederate-leaning Ora lives by the philosophy that "when you're decent to folks, it always comes home." That philosophy is tested by the Battle of Pea Ridge, fought around their home, and by armed raids by both bushwhackers and jayhawkers leading up to and following the battle.

The author describes in detail the family, their home, the hard work necessary to maintain their subsistence-level farm, the soldiers, the partisans, and the battle, yet these description never slow the pace of the story or the building dread of the inevitable crisis. Since I'm interested in family history and 19th century migration patterns, I liked the way the author incorporated the Hasford's German roots into the story. I was fascinated by the ethnic diversity of the characters, including people from German, Jewish, Native American, and African American backgrounds. It's not a book I'm likely to read again, but I'm very glad I've read it once. Warmly recommended to readers of historical fiction, western fiction, and Civil War aficionados.

4 stars

Elkhorn Tavern is definitely going on my wish list!

>72 DeltaQueen50: It's currently out of print, but it appears there are plenty of copies in libraries. It's scheduled to be reissued in November so you might see it in bookstores toward the end of the year.

Georgia: Sins of the Fathers by Patricia Sprinkle

Several weeks after her house was broken into and trashed, Katharine Murray is spending most of her time seeing to repairs and shopping for new furnishings. Katharine hates shopping, so it didn't take much persuasion for her to agree to accompany her friend, Dr. Flo Gadney, to one of Georgia's islands to research her family history. The island's owner has plans to develop the island, but needs to move the graves in an old family cemetery. One of the graves may be the burial place of Dr. Flo's grandfather, and Dr. Flo may be a long-lost cousin. Just one problem. The Bayards are white, and Dr. Flo is not. How far will the Bayards go to keep Dr. Flo from digging into her family roots?

I liked the genealogy aspect of the story, but it wasn't strong enough to carry the whole book. The story got off to a slow start, spending more time than necessary on Katharine's frustration at having to shoulder most of the responsibility for putting her home in order while her husband spends his work weeks in Washington, DC. The "old boyfriend who recently moved to town" storyline is an unnecessary distraction from the mystery plot. Eventually a murder occurs, as well as further violence. There are several suspects on the island, but their characters are not developed, nor is the motive adequately explained.

I love this author's Thoroughly Southern mystery series. So far this Family Tree series hasn't grabbed me.

2 1/2 stars

Douglas Jones was from my hometown and I'm so glad that you enjoyed Elkhorn Tavern! I have hoped people would continue to read his books, he won the Western Writers of America award numerous times and captured the Civil War and post Civil War era so well.

>75 clue: How interesting! Did you ever meet him? I can see why he won so many awards. While I was reading, I felt like I was right there with all of his characters in the middle of the Civil War.

Michigan: Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

In the course of researching my family's history, I've discovered some secrets in some branches of the family. I've also discovered that these secrets are often unknown only among immediate family members; more distant relatives generally know the secret. This is the sort of family secret Steve Luxenberg writes about in Annie's Ghosts. His mother, Beth Luxenberg, kept her institutionalized sister's existence a secret after she married and left home, but she was unable to keep the secret after her death. In his quest to learn more about his newly-discovered aunt and to understand his mother's reasons for keeping her sister's existence a secret, Luxenberg interviews his older relatives on both sides of the family, his mother's girlhood friends, and his grandparents' neighbors. Since Luxenberg's aunt, Annie, was both physically disabled and mentally ill, he delves into the history of psychiatric care, psychiatric institutions, education of children with disabilities, and the attitudes toward people with disabilities and/or psychiatric problems in the early to mid-twentieth century.

Luxenberg uses the professional skills of a journalist to research his family history. Genealogists and family historians might pick up some useful tips to add to their toolboxes. His approach to interviews particularly struck me. When framing questions, he takes care not to influence the recollections of his interviewees by his suggestions or expectations.

I read an advance reading copy loaned to me by a friend. I thought the photographs included with each chapter in the ARC were well chosen and nicely complemented the story. This book will appeal to a wide readership, including those with an interest in family history, the history of treatment of people with disabilities, mental illness and psychiatric institutions, early 20th century Jewish immigration, the Holocaust, and Detroit history.

4 1/2 stars

Another Mississippi book: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is a great story. Its civil rights era Mississippi setting has a strong emotional impact. Its characters are, for the most part, wonderfully drawn, with my favorites being the spirited maid, Minny, and the villain Hilly Holbrook. How I wanted to see her knocked off her perch as the self-appointed head of local society! However, I kept noticing minor flaws as I read, and there were enough of them to weaken the book's impact for me.

A good book that, with a little more editing, could have been great.

3 1/2 stars. Full review here: http://www.librarything.com/work/8019757/reviews/57601713

Another Iowa book: Dewey by Vicki Myron

I hadn't planned to read this book. I'm not a cat person. I don't dislike cats. I just come from a long line of dog owners. My mother's family always had dogs, and I can name many of their dogs who lived and died long before I was born. The only pet I've ever had was a dog. If I ever have another pet, it will be a dog. My father's family had cats on their farm. They were working cats, not pets. They lived outdoors, and kept the mouse population under control in the barn and fields. They didn't have names, but would respond to "Here, kitty!"

A friend, who also is not a cat person, read this book and gave me her copy to read. So I read it, reluctantly at first. I soon realized that this is more than a cute animal story. It's the story of a community, and a biography of librarian Vicki Myron. I was completely hooked when the author mentioned that one of the library employees commuted to work from Estherville. It became personal then. I've never been to Iowa, but I've heard stories about it all my life. My grandparents lived in Estherville for several years during the Depression. My uncle was born there. My grandmother often spoke of the Iowa winters, when snow would pile as high as the roof of the house, and she would have had a lot of sympathy for a small kitten left to fend for itself during a bitter Iowa winter night.

Dewey has plenty of cat tales for all of the reading cat lovers out there. It will be equally interesting to readers who enjoy non-fiction about small towns and the Midwest. Warmly recommended.

4 stars

I replaced my Florida book with Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God since the whole book took place in Florida, while the other one was set in multiple locations.

Although I was mentally engaged in this book very quickly, it never engaged my emotions. I felt like an observer rather than a participant in the life of the protagonist, Janie. Maybe it's due to the way Janie narrates her own story. At the point in time that the narration occurs, Janie has moved somewhere beyond her initial emotions about the events of her life to reflection and acceptance. I didn't know until after I finished the book that Hurston was an anthropologist, so perhaps her intent was to appeal more to the mind than to the emotions.

I was surprised that race wasn't more of a factor in the book. Race was always there in the background, but Janie's main conflict was with her role as a wife, not with her lot as an African American. The reader learns fairly early that Janie was the first generation in her family born in freedom, yet Janie wasn't allowed to define freedom for herself. For Janie's grandmother, Nanny, freedom meant that Janie could live the life of ease that Nanny dreamed of. For Janie's first two husbands, freedom meant that the husband would do his wife's thinking for her. None of them thought of asking Janie what she wanted. Although Janie was outwardly cooperative, she withheld her affection from those who crushed her spirit. Janie finally began to experience freedom as a widow.

I liked this book, but didn't love it, so I'm not likely to discover the richness of meaning that would come through multiple readings. It's a book that will stimulate discussion, making it a great choice for the NEA's Big Read program.

4 stars

Another Maine book: Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier

An arsonist is at work in the small town of Tinker's Cove, Maine. Just before Halloween, a summer resident dies in a fire in her supposedly empty home, conveniently for her philandering husband. Could the fires be covering up murder? Or does the arsonist have a different purpose in mind? Mom of four Lucy Stone fits some sleuthing into her already hectic schedule.

The culprit wasn't difficult to spot, although the author did provide several plausible suspects. For the most part, the situations that allow Lucy to snoop arise naturally. Rather than going out of her way to look into the fires, she takes advantage of the opportunities that arise as she goes about her daily activities. Lucy and her family make pleasant companions when I'm in the mood for something cozy. I'm just getting started with this series, so I have several more holiday treats in store for me.

3 1/2 stars

Another Indiana book: Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait:The Federal Writers' Project in Indiana, 1935-1942 by George T. Blakey

I picked this up hoping to discover new resources to explore in my family history research. My mother's family has lived in Indiana for 200 years, so Indiana is the focus for a lot of my research activity. This book is definitely for readers who have a strong interest in the topic rather than for the casual reader.

Another Kansas book: The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, set in Depression-era Harveyville.

How did women endure the hardships of farm life in Depression-era Kansas? The women of Harveyville, Kansas had the Persian Pickle Club for support. Sandra Dallas's novel shows the strength of the bond of friendship among club members as that bond is stretched to its limits by a newcomer.

I thought it odd that the women weren't particularly religious. Although the women all seemed to be members of the same church, no scenes took place at church. The meetings between the women happened only in their homes. The pastor's wife was purposely excluded from the club, and the unwritten code of behavior for the club seemed to trump Christian ethics. I wasn't alive during the Depression, but I have dozens of relatives who lived in the Midwest in that era. I can't see any of them fitting into the community described in this book.

The only date mentioned in the book is in the acknowledgments, where the author references her parents' experience of the summer of 1933 as the inspiration for the book. I began reading with that date in mind. However, several cultural references (Porky Pig, Gang Busters) require a date of 1935 or later.

The book is part women's fiction, part historical fiction, and part mystery. The mystery aspect was the most appealing to me. The mystery doesn't dominate the book, so readers who don't like the mystery genre shouldn't avoid it on that basis.

3 1/2 stars

re 82
Where in Indiana? My parents moved to the SE corner (really just greater Cincinnati) when I was 12. I moved out and went back to civilization when I went to college though (Can you tell I was bitter about moving there at that age!).

>82 cbl_tn: Central Indiana, scattered through the area between the north side of Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. My gg-grandparents and ggg-grandparents on one side of the family moved back and forth between Tipton and Howard counties. The other side of the family settled in Marion and Hamilton counties.

Another North Carolina book: In This Mountain by Jan Karon

It took me longer to warm up to this book than to any of the other books I've read so far in the Mitford series. I struggled to keep going through the first half of the book. It felt like a rerun of some of the earlier books in the series. For example, Father Tim's health was a major plot point in one of the earlier books in the series as well as in this book. Been there, done that.

I stuck with it and was rewarded by the last half of the book, which typifies what I love so much about this series. The characters resemble the people I encounter daily at work, at church, at the bank, at the mall. Their problems, both physical and spiritual, are realistic, and, just as in real life, they are not neatly resolved. Father Tim's struggle in this book to distinguish his will from God's will reminded me of this passage in Philippians:

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Although the time frame for this books spans from spring to early fall, it turned out to be a timely read for the Thanksgiving season. Father Tim's sermon on I Thessalonians 5:18 is a wonderful meditation on thanksgiving in all circumstances. It's food for the soul.

3 stars

Montana: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

October, 1909. The all-male Milliron household is getting by a year after losing their wife and mother. A chance newspaper advertisement brings excitement into their lives in the form of a housekeeper from Minneapolis – a housekeeper who “can't cook but doesn't bite.” Typically for a small community, the Milliron's new domestic arrangements spill over into the three brothers' school life. Decades later, the oldest Milliron brother, Paul, recalls the events of this pivotal year in the lives of his family and of their rural Montana school. It's clear that the newcomers will be catalysts for change, but it's not clear whether the changes will be for better or worse.

The Whistling Season will provoke nostalgia in many readers – for family and community, for the carefree days of childhood, for simpler times that exist only in memory. However, this is much more than a sentimental, “feel good” book. Doig is a master story teller – dramatic without being melodramatic, and very witty. No detail is unimportant, yet the details don't weigh the story down. If readers haven't already identified with Paul, they'll be hooked by his description of his part of a shared bedroom: My books already threatened to take over my part of the room and keep on going. Mother's old ones, subscription sets Father had not been able to resist, coverless winnowings from the schoolhouse shelf—whatever cargoes of words I could lay my hands on I gave safe harbor. I think book lovers everywhere will recognize that room! Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Oklahoma: The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell

While noirish mysteries aren't my usual cup of tea, I was tempted by this one because it involved a German prisoner of war camp in small town Oklahoma. Both of my parents grew up in small towns in the Midwest, and both told stories about the prisoner of war camps in their neighborhoods.

I didn't like this book. At first I thought I was just the wrong type of reader to appreciate it. However, I gradually became aware of structural problems that would probably bother even readers who regularly read in this genre.

The story started out all right, but it became more and more unbelievable as it went along. The story doesn't seem to follow a chronological pattern. Time is important at some points in the story, yet references to its passage are missing. Important details that would have made sense of some dialogue were absent, while some irrelevant details were included and even repeated.

The main character, Hook, lost one arm in an accident and has a hook for a prosthesis. His disability disqualified him for military service, so he found work in rural Oklahoma as a special investigator for the railroad. We're told at the beginning of the book that “he was neither trained for nor inclined to law enforcement”, yet at one point in the book he instructs the military officer in charge of the prison camp in the tactics for an operation in response to an emergency.

Another character, Runt, has been physically deformed since birth, and is called Runt because of his very short stature. Both Hook and Runt are aggressively pursued by beautiful women without any awkward interactions regarding either man's disability. Runt's short stature is frequently referred to, yet at the end of a date, he walked his date to her door and she “lifted on her toes and kissed him”.

Not recommended.

1 1/2 stars

Oh, my! I just took a peek at your first two posts and see that your 50 states are filling up! I don't think I've even kept up with updating my list. (But I know that your last read won't land there!)

I've got this one in the Oklahoma slot for now, but if I come across a better book (which surely can't be too difficult!) I'll replace it.

Yay! I just noticed that your review just hit Hot Reviews. Since it was a new review and already had one thumb, I was hoping mine would send it soaring. It's funny. You just don't see as many negative reviews thumbed as positive reviews. Yet both kinds can be helpful and well written.

Maryland: Digging to America by Anne Tyler

A chance meeting at an airport arrival gate leads to a cross-cultural friendship between two adoptive families. One family is typically American, and the other is Iranian American. Both families have adopted Korean babies who arrive on the same flight. Each year the Donaldsons and Yazdans celebrate their daughters' adoptions with an elaborate Arrival Party. Each year's party is viewed from the perspective of a different family member.

This was my first Anne Tyler novel. I didn't know what to expect when I started the book, and it was a pleasant discovery for me. I identified with most of the characters. Like the Yazdans, I've lived in a culture as an outsider. Like Maryam, I found it was easier to become friends with other cultural outsiders, even when we didn't share the same cultural background. Like the Donaldsons, I've helplessly watched the decline of a parent and grandparents caused by cancer. As a child, I was part of a welcoming party for an adopted cousin. I know several families who have adopted internationally and/or inter-racially. Reading this book reminded me of those relationships and experiences and how they have enriched my life.

Although I liked this book very much, I'm not sure it's one I'll read again. I think a lot of its impact came from the gradual revelations of character as the book progressed, as well as a few surprises along the way. I don't think a re-reading would have the same effect since I would know what's coming. Even though I won't be re-reading this one, I will be adding more of Tyler's work to my TBR list.

4 stars

>92 cbl_tn: I guess I never knew what the book was about but from your review it sounds very interesting, especially the rotating narrators. I've only read one by Tyler (Back When We Were Grownups) and it was okay. Onto the wishlist.

Tyler uses an omniscient 3rd person narrator, but the perspective changes in each chapter.

It didn't have as strong a sense of place as I expected, so I may look for another book to fill the Maryland category. I'll leave it there for now, though.

Another Ohio book: Blood of the Prodigal by P. L. Gaus

When a 10-year-old Amish boy disappears, his grandfather, the bishop of their Old Order Amish community, doesn't contact the police. Instead, he turns to Pastor Cal Troyer, the only English person who has the community's trust. Troyer has to leave in a few days to attend a conference, so he calls in his long-time friend, college professor Michael Branden. With help from his wife, as well as whatever information he can get from the local sheriff (also a long-time friend) without breaking his promise to the Bishop, Branden sets out to find the boy. First, he must find the boy's father, who had been shunned by the Bishop a decade ago.

I often feel like books are longer than they need to be, but I had the opposite reaction to this book. I felt like important details were missing. It's the first book in a series, but it seems like a middle book. I felt like I was missing information about some of the characters that had been revealed in earlier books that I hadn't read. I never understood why the professor, a specialist in Civil War history, was acting as a private investigator. The book mentions that he's conducted about a dozen earlier investigations, but never explains why. Most of the action takes place in June. Does he spend the summer between semesters working as a P.I.? Cal Troyer's character doesn't seem necessary. He is around for the first few chapters, leaves for a conference, and shows up again at the end after the tension has been resolved. Why not have the Bishop go directly to the professor for help instead of using a middle man? It also seems like parts of conversations are missing. One of the characters will have an “aha” moment, and start to tell another character something, but they don't include the reader in their conversation.

This appears to be the author's first mystery novel, so the shortcomings I noted may be less of a problem in later books in the series. To his credit, the author successfully disguised a clue that gave away the culprit. I usually can spot those clues, but not this time!

I'm always on the lookout for mysteries set in unusual locations, so I find a series set in Holmes County, Ohio's, Amish community appealing. I've got the next two books in my TBR stash. I'll be curious to see if the books improve as the series progresses.

A decent mystery with a strong sense of place. 3 stars.

I really enjoy reading books with an Amish connection, so I have added this one to my wishlist. It sounds interesting.

Another New York book that will appeal to fans of historical mysteries: The Dutchman by Maan Meyers

I liked this historical mystery for the atmosphere rather than the mystery. Its setting is 1664 New Amsterdam. The Dutch colonists expect an English invasion at any moment. Pieter Tonneman, the schout (sheriff), has more than the invasion to worry about. He suspects that several recent deaths weren't accidental, and that they might be connected to a conspiracy with the English.

The descriptions of sights, smells, and activities drew me into the world of the Dutch colony, and the detailed map worked well to orient me to the streets of New Amsterdam as they existed in the 1660s. Fictional characters seemed just as real as historical figures like Pieter Stuyvesant and John Winthrop. The characters reflect New Amsterdam's cosmopolitan nature; in addition to the Dutch and English, there are Jews, Native Americans, Portuguese, and Germans. The emphasis on the Jewish community reminded me of David Liss's books. Racqel, the Jewish woman whose father taught her about medicines and healing, reminded me just a bit of Adelia in Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series.

The identity of two of the three conspirators is revealed to the reader as soon as they are introduced. Although there is an attempt to shield the identity of the third conspirator from the reader, I think even infrequent mystery readers will quickly figure out which character it is. Even though the mystery was somewhat disappointing, I liked the characters and setting well enough to seek out more books in the series. I've already ordered a mystery anthology that includes a short story featuring some of the same characters.

3 1/2 stars

Nebraska: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

O Pioneers! is a love story with a twist. While Alexandra Bergson has great affection for her family and neighbors, the love of her life is the Nebraska prairie farmland settled by her Swedish immigrant family. Alexandra's spirit is as expansive as the land, while her two oldest brothers are small-minded and unimaginative. Alexandra finds kindred spirits in her youngest brother, Emil, her neighbor, Carl Linstrum, and her neighbor, Bohemian Marie Shabata. Cather's writing has a timelessness that conveys the enthusiasm of youth, and the both the hope and risk of homesteading. I listened to this one on audio, and I thought it enhanced my experience of the book. The reader's precise, unrushed delivery perfectly matched Alexandra's personality. Highly recommended.

4 1/2 stars

Rhode Island: The Secret Ingredient Murders by Nancy Pickard

A short trip to Rhode Island to visit family becomes and extended visit for rancher Genia Potter. Her late husband's friend, Stanley Parker, convinces her to stay and help him compile a Rhode Island cookbook. Each recipe included in the cookbook must contain a secret ingredient. Genia is to host a dinner party at her rented home, with a guest list provided by Stanley. Each guest will supply a recipe for the cookbook. One by one the guests arrive, but Stanley never does. Finally, word arrives that Stanley's body has been discovered.

The mystery part of this cozy doesn't break any new ground. Although Pickard does a decent job of casting suspicion on several characters, I managed to correctly identify the murderer and the motive. The fun for me was the setting, and the descriptions of uniquely Rhode Island foods. I was interested enough in the food culture of Rhode Island (a state I've never visited) to add a Rhode Island cookbook to my wish list.

I also enjoyed Pickard's writing style. I enjoy cozies, but I don't often find them quote-worthy. This one is. Here are a couple of my favorite passages:

Over time...Jason had come to know the plants in the spacious greenhouse and the garden as individuals with distinct needs, appearances, and even personalities. And he reacted to them like that. Not that he would ever in a million years admit this, but he liked to spend time with the pansies, for instance, who were sophisticated and elegant, and he didn't like the petunias, who were brassy and thought entirely too much of themselves.

This passage expresses the way I feel about the cookbooks I inherited from my grandmother:

No antique cookbook worth hundreds of dollars could possibly have meant as much to her as this one. Genia couldn't count the number of times she had sat across from Stanley in the past few months, watching him scribble in this book, listening to his strong opinions about food and people and life. And it wasn't merely a cookbook, she saw as she opened it, it was also a diary of the recipes he served and to whom he served them. She found odd bits of paper stuck in it—a postcard here, a grocery receipt there, all wedged between pages...Stanley's bold, penciled notations were everywhere. They were scribbled in margins, in between recipes, written on divider pages, and in the index...He commented on ingredients, added his own inventions, listed who came for lunch.

My grandmother's cookbooks look just like this! One of the pleasures of having them is reading the notes in the margins and on scraps of paper about the occasions when my grandmother used the recipes.

Warmly recommended.

4 stars

Another Tennessee book: Knoxville: This Obscure Prismatic City by Jack Neely

Jack Neely writes a local history column for an alternative weekly paper in Knoxville. I always look forward to his columns. He writes like a storyteller about obscure events or facts in Knoxville's history. It's sort of like Paul Harvey's “The Rest of the Story” on a local scale, although the stories often involve people who made a name for themselves well beyond Knoxville. The stories in this collection feature a 19th century doctor who experimented with resurrecting the dead, a popular 19th century author who died in town under mysterious circumstances, the story of New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs, who got his start in the business at a Knoxville paper, a story about Hollywood director Clarence Brown, a story about WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle's visit to Knoxville, Hank Williams, Sr.'s last night in a Knoxville hotel, and a connection between poet Ezra Pound and protestors against the desegregation of a high school in a neighboring county.

Although there isn't anything in this book to indicate it, I think it may be a compilation of previously published material, probably from his Metro Pulse articles. I was already familiar with some of the stories, so I had either read them in the Metro Pulse or heard Neely tell them in one of his talks at a local library association meeting. Neely is a regular visitor in local libraries, particularly the historical collections, so I know how carefully he researches each story. Newspaper articles typically don't include source citations, but I wish that citations had been added to compilations like this so that others can find them years from now when Neely isn't around to ask about them.

4 stars

Another Ohio book: Death by Deep Dish Pie by Sharon Short

The Breitenstraters are big fish in the small pond of Paradise, Ohio. Their pie company is the town's largest employer. Older brother Alan runs the family business, while eccentric younger brother Cletus heads up a fireworks company on the outskirts of town. One brother plans a big announcement that will affect the town's future, while the other brother plans an announcement that will change the way the town looks at its past. Local laundromat owner and stain expert Josie Toadfern gets swept into the events. Will she be able to put things right in time to salvage the town's Fourth of July celebrations?

This is an enjoyable cozy for someone who likes local and family history. The heroine is likeable and she doesn't have annoying habits like so many other cozy heroines do. She's kind, smart, and funny, and she's tolerant of the eccentricities of her family and neighbors. I wouldn't mind spending more time in Paradise, and I'll be on the lookout for more of the books in this series.

3 1/2 stars

At least you read it just in time for the 4th of July!

That was the plan!

Another Minnesota book: Blackwork by Monica Ferris

It's nearly Halloween, and Betsy Devonshire, owner of Excelsior's Crewel World, is serving on a committee organizing a Halloween parade. Recovering alcoholic Ryan McMurphy, who will drive an antique fire engine in the parade, attends a committee meeting at a microbrewery owned by a Wicca practitioner. Ryan falls of the wagon and his drunken behavior creates problems with a number of people. A few days later, Ryan is found dead in Shelley Donohue's craft room, where Shelley and her live-in boyfriend had allowed him to stay after Ryan's wife kicked him out of their home. Local gossip soon blames microbrewery owner Leona for Ryan's sudden death, claiming that Leona, a Wicca practitioner, cast a spell on him. Betsy wants to help her friend, Shelley, as well as defend Leona from unfounded accusations, so she sets out to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ryan's death.

I learned more about Wicca than I wanted to know in this book, and I wasn't all that interested in the descriptions of the microbrewery, either, since I don't drink alcoholic beverages. The Halloween theme was fun, and I particularly enjoyed the description of the poetry party thrown by Godwin's new friend, Rafael. I also liked learning about blackwork, a type of embroidery I wasn't familiar with before I was introduced to it in this book. Ferris continues to come up with new ideas for this long-running series. The method for the murder is one of the more creative ones in the series, and I think this will end up as one of the more memorable books from the series.

Recommended for most cozy fans.

3 1/2 stars

Delaware: West of Rehoboth by Alexs D. Pate

12-year-old Edward and his mother and sister always spend their summers in West Rehoboth, Delaware. Angela has no trouble finding work as a waitress in the neighboring white resort town, and rural Delaware is a safer environment for the children than their North Philadelphia neighborhood. Edward is particularly looking forward to the summer of 1962. He is obsessed with his Uncle Rufus, who lives in an outbuilding behind his Aunt Edna's house, and who the adults refuse to discuss other than to warn the children to avoid him. Edward, an avid mystery reader, senses a mystery, and it's one he's determined to solve.

This is one of those books where the premise is more interesting than the book turns out to be. The writing is uneven and sometimes repetitive. The story has a strong beginning in the description of life in the Massey's North Philadelphia neighborhood and of the trip to Delaware. It gets weaker as Edward narrows his focus to his Uncle Rufus.

I think the author was trying to use Rufus's life as an illustration of one possible path for 12-year-old Edward's life. Life is a series of choices, and a sequence of seemingly insignificant and isolated choices can determine a person's fate. Edward senses that he is at a turning point in his life:

Everybody was constantly trying to calculate his movement into the pit of despair that the neighborhood could be or his ascension to a life of education and success. Toward safety or danger? Which way are you leaning, little black man? His mother. His friends. His father. He was measured every day.

Edward's father drives the family from Philadelphia to Delaware. Edward doesn't understand why he and his sister can never talk his father into stopping along the highway on the 4-hour journey.

But Edward didn't know that his father had grown up in the segregated South. Had never felt welcomed on the highway... Edward's father kept his stopping to a minimum. He knew anything could happen if he wandered into the wrong joint at the wrong time. Entire black families had been broken up or destroyed by such heroic acts as pulling over for a soda pop or a cone of ice cream in the old South. And Delaware, for all practical purposes, was as “Southern” as a city boy could get without going to Mississippi.

I think Edward sensed that Rufus was one of the unlucky ones who “wandered into the wrong joint and the wrong time”, and he needed to know Rufus's story in order to understand himself.

3 stars

Another Illinois book: The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

One dark night when we were all in bed
Old lady Leary lit a lantern in the shed
And when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight.

Before I read this book, that sums up about all I “knew” about the 1871 fire that destroyed most of Chicago. I found out that the little I knew was wrong. The fire did start on the O'Leary's property, but a reporter added the bit about the cow and the lantern to add some color to his story.

Murphy pieces together eyewitness accounts to tell the story of the fire, beginning with the initial alarm raised when someone noticed the flames in the O'Leary's barn. He describes several things that went wrong in the process of reporting and responding to the fire. He tells about the chaos during the fire, as people fled to what they thought was a safe place, only to have the flames catch up to them and force them to flee again. Families became separated in the crowds, and it must have been terrifying for them, not knowing if their loved ones were safe or if they would ever be able to find them again. Murphy also describes the rebuilding that took place following the fire, and the problem faced by the poorer residents of the city, who couldn't afford fire-proof building material like brick and granite.

The book is targeted for middle grade readers, but it's written in a way that readers of any age can enjoy. It would be a good choice for readers looking for a brief, non-scholarly account of Chicago's Great Fire.

4 1/2 stars

Alaska: White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones

Alaska State Trooper Nathan Active was born in a remote town to an Inupiaq mother, but was raised in Anchorage by adoptive parents. Ironically, he ends up posted to Chukchi, the town of his birth and where his birth mother still lives. He's doing everything he can to earn a promotion out of there. He's not sure whether his current case will help or hurt his chances for promotion. When two Inupiat men die within hours of each other, apparent suicides, Active's gut tells him there's something wrong. He soon learns that the men had something in common, and that's enough to trigger a murder investigation.

I found a lot to like in this series debut. I like mysteries with unusual settings, and northern Alaska qualifies as unusual. Nathan has a lot of potential as the central character of a crime series. He has a lot of confidence in his professional skills and training, but he has some insecurities in his personal life. He lives in a tension between two cultures – the Inupiat culture of his birth mother and the white majority culture of his adoptive family. He' feels a bit like an outsider in both cultures. He's also resisting his attraction to a native co-worker, since he has ambitions beyond the confines of Chukchi. I'll be looking for more books in this series to see how his life and his career develop.

4 stars

Washington: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The discovery during the 1986 renovation of Seattle's Panama Hotel of the stored belongings of many Japanese families triggers bittersweet memories for recent widower Henry Lee. He remembers the hotel when it was part of Seattle's vibrant Japanese American community. Henry was 12 years old in 1942, when Japanese Americans were rounded up and incarcerated during the U.S. war with Japan. Henry's friendship with and growing love for his Japanese American classmate, Keiko,were a source of conflict within Henry's Chinese American family. A couple of caring adults, including an African American jazz musician, provided support for Henry as he made some difficult choices. In the present (1986), Henry has as much difficulty communicating with his son, Marty, as he had communicating with his own father.

I listened to the audio version of the book. At first, the narrator's voice seemed a little dull, but the reader soon captivated me with his vocal characterizations. I could see Henry, Marty, and Henry's musician-friend, Sheldon, from their vocal characteristics. I grieved for Henry and Keiko – for the innocence lost to the war, for the racism they were confronted with as their growing independence took them outside the confines of their ethnic neighborhoods, and most of all for the separation that I knew was inevitable.

My father listened to several big chunks of the book while we were in the car, and it brought back memories for him. (He was in elementary school during World War II.) I was glad for the opportunity I had to hear some of his memories from the war years. The novel will appeal to many readers of all ages. It would be a great book to read and discuss with a parent or grandparent with memories of World War II. Highly recommended.

5 stars

Wyoming: Trophy Hunt by C.J. Box

Game warden Joe Pickett discovers the mutilated body of a moose while out fishing with his daughters. Then several mutilated cattle are discovered on a local ranch. The next mutilated bodies to turn up are human. Joe finds himself on a task force comprised of local law enforcement, FBI, and prosecutors, as they join forces to investigate these seemingly related crimes.

The book has some aspects of a detective novel, a police procedural, and even a cozy, but it definitely tilts toward the thriller end of the crime spectrum. The suspense wasn't enough to make me jumpy, but it was enough to make the book hard to put down. I liked the overlap between Joe's personal and professional life. His wife and daughters had significant roles in the book, and I liked the family dynamics.

I haven't read the first three books in the series. While this book works fine as a stand-alone, there are frequent references to events from the earlier books in the series. Some of these references may be spoilers for the earlier books.

This was a 4-star read most of the way through, but it fizzled out at the end. The threads of the story seemed to get tangled up, and Box didn't quite manage to smooth out the knots.

3 1/2 stars

New Jersey: The Edge of Ruin by Irene Fleming

It's 1909, and poor Emily Weiss makes the best of things when her husband, Adam, sells their home and possessions (except for his clothes) to become an independent movie producer. He signed a contract promising to deliver four one-reel films in three weeks' time. If they don't meet the deadline, they will lose everything they've risked. They're off to a good start when a man is murdered during the filming of a crowd scene, and Adam is arrested for the murder. Emily not only will have to finish the films on her own, but she must also prove her husband's innocence of the murder.

The mystery was pretty easy to figure out, and I had solved it well before the characters did. The fun was in its historical setting of the early days of the motion picture industry. As independent movie producers, the fictional couple went to great lengths to avoid Thomas Edison's men. I wasn't aware before reading this book how much control Edison exercised over the early days of film. He owned the patents for the technology used in film making, and he was zealous about enforcing them. I also wasn't aware that Fort Lee, New Jersey, where the Weisses filmed their movies, was the center for the motion picture industry before Hollywood.

Emily is a likeable heroine, but I can't say the same for her husband. He preferred to think of Emily as a helpless female, and his ego was wounded when she successfully carried on with the filming while he was in jail. However, when she was in a situation where she really was helpless, he seemed to think she ought to be able to take care of herself.

The second book in this series is due out in a few days, and I've already added it to my wish list.

3 1/2 stars

Just four more states to go!

Another Wisconsin book: Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic

A beautiful Appleton high school student, kept under close family supervision, disappears from the school one afternoon, seemingly vanishing between her classroom and the school's exit. If she was running away, she didn't get very far. Her murdered body was discovered in a secluded spot nearby. Young newspaper columnist Edna Ferber, a recent graduate of the high school, uses her familiarity with the school and its students to solve the case. She receives encouragement and insight from world-famous magician Harry Houdini, who just happens to be visiting his hometown at the time of the murder.

I found the characters to be much more interesting than the murder plot. Edna Ferber comes across as determined and strong-willed, and her prickly relationship with her mother and sister adds an interesting domestic dynamic to the story. I especially liked Edna's relationship with her ailing father. Harry Houdini's role in the story seemed awkward, like a TV cameo by a famous personality where the star seems to be repeating memorized lines rather than behaving naturally.

I believe there are other mysteries in this series set after Ferber had become a successful writer. I'd like to try one of the other books to see if I like the mature Ferber better than the teenager of this story.

This review is based on an electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

2 1/2 stars

Louisiana: A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly

New Orleans, 1833. African American musician and ex-physician Benjamin January discovers a woman's murdered body at one of the quadroon balls leading up to Mardi Gras. January was one of the last people to see her alive. He would prefer not to be involved at all, but since pinning the murder on January would solve a lot of problems for the white authorities, he must find the real murderer to keep himself from being hanged for it. His hunt for the murderer endangers both his freedom and his life.

This first book in Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series was educational as well as entertaining. It was interesting to read about the caste structure in antebellum New Orleans, and the disruption caused by the encroachment of Americans and their value system. There was a surprising plot twist at the end that seemed out of place for 1833, and it caused me to lower my rating. I still enjoyed the book, though, and I've added the next one to my reading wish list.

3 1/2 stars

Nevada: Death Assemblage by Susan Cummins Miller

Graduate student Francisca “Frankie” McFarlane is in the final stages of her geological research project in the mountains near Pair-a-Dice, Nevada. Since Frankie spends her days alone in the mountains, news of a serial killer working his or her way along I-80 toward Nevada has her on the alert, although she is so far off the interstate that she can't imagine she would be in any danger. However, a mysterious stranger shows unusual interest in Frankie's activities. Is he someone Frankie can trust? Or could he have something to do with the murders?

This book has more strengths than weaknesses. The book's main weakness is too many plot threads. The author knitted a pair of socks when she should have been knitting a scarf. On the positive side, I learned a lot from Frankie's geological research, even if some of the technical terminology was over my head. I was also impressed with the quality of the writing. This book proves it's possible for writing to be grammatically correct without sounding stilted. I've read enough poorly written and/or edited books that I really appreciate it when I come across a book that's been carefully edited.

This book would never have crossed my radar had it not been for this challenge. I discovered it when I was looking for a book for Nevada, and I'm glad I did!

3 1/2 stars

South Dakota: The Jumping-off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely

Early in the 20th century, four orphaned children from small town Wisconsin carry out their recently deceased uncle's plans for homesteading in South Dakota. Their uncle lingered long enough after a stroke to provide detailed instructions for the children to follow. To fulfill the requirements for homesteaders, they must live on the property for 14 months and cultivate at least 10 acres. Once they gain title to the claim, they can sell it and use the income from the sale to get a good start in life.

Although none of the four children are twins, the book reminded me a lot of the Bobbsey Twins books I loved as a child. The children pair up in the same way as the Bobbsey Twins. Seventeen-year-old Becky and 15-year-old Dick work well as a team to manage the family finances and household chores. Preteens Phil and Joan have chores to do, but they also have time for school and play.

The language of the book hasn't aged quite as well as the story. A couple of references to Native Americans and African Americans are typical for that era but wouldn't be used by today's authors for children. This would be a quick and enjoyable way for family historians to learn about homesteaders and homesteading in the early 20th century.

3 1/2 stars

Oregon: The Quick and the Thread by Amanda Lee

Marcy Singer allows herself to be persuaded by her best friend to leave her corporate job in San Francisco and open a needlework shop in Tallulah Falls, Oregon. Her opening day takes an unexpected turn when she discovers the murdered body of the shop's former tenant in the storeroom. He had just enough time before his death to leave a cryptic message. Even though the message makes no sense to Marcy, the fact that she's seen it puts her in danger. Will she get to the bottom of the mystery in time to save herself from becoming the next victim?

This is a promising start for a cozy series. The characters and setting are appealing. I'm partial to the librarian who is one of the secondary characters in the series. Marcy didn't do a lot of the foolish things that get many cozy heroines into trouble, and she viewed the police as allies rather than adversaries. This is a series I'm sure I'll continue to read.

Readers hoping for a read-alike for Monica Ferris's Crewel World series should be aware that needlework isn't as integral to the plot in this series.

3 1/2 stars

This completes my tour of the 50 states. I'm thinking of adding on a mini-challenge early next year, reading a book set in each of the U.S. territories. I'll start a separate thread for it when I'm ready to go.

Congratulations! I hope to join you with a completed tour next month.

Wow! Congratulations!

Interesting mini-thread idea. I've been having so much fun with this challenge, I've been thinking of expanding my version of it, too. Since historical fiction is my favorite genre, I find myself stuck there through most of the states, with much fewer contemporary fiction or nonfiction finding its way into my reads. So, I've been considering doing a triple-challenge for myself here, with one book of each per state. Don't know if I'm that ambitious, though, maybe a double-challenge with historical and contemporary fiction.

One more book to wrap up the challenge: State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey.

I read this collection of essays as a companion to the 50 states reading challenge. After I completed a book for a state, I read the essay about that state. Although it took more than two years to read the book that way, I think the pace was suited to the nature of the book. It's the sort of book you periodically dip into,rather than one you read in the span of a few days.

The book was inspired by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. The editors commissioned essays on each state, instructing the writers to “Tell us a story about your state, the more personal the better, something that catches the essence of the place...The kind of story the enlisted soldier tells his boot-camp bunkmate about back home.” The authors followed these instructions. The only similarity among the essays is their length. The content highlights the diversity that still exists in the U.S.

A few of the essays were so negative that they quenched any desire I might have had to visit that state. Other essays made me want to hop in the car and head for that state to experience what the author had experienced there. My favorite essays include “Georgia” by Ha Jin, “Missouri” by Jacki Lyden, “New York” by Jonathan Franzen, and “Ohio” by Susan Orlean.

There's enough variety in the collection that there is surely something that will appeal to every reader. It would be a great gift, especially for those hard to buy for people on your gift list.

4 stars