Ivy's 101010 -- Part 3

Part 1 (January-May): http://www.librarything.com/topic/70734
Part 2 (June-October): http://www.librarything.com/topic/92187

1. Contemporary Fiction -- completed October
2. Series Continuation -- completed November
3. New Series -- completed July
4. Literary Giants -- completed December
5. USA -- completed November
6. World View -- completed September
7. Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales -- completed December
8. Fantasy -- completed April
9. Lucy Maud Montgomery -- completed November
10. Children / YA -- completed October

Bonus: 20 books

My rating system:
5* Perfect, or nearly so; I loved it
4* Outstanding
3* usually means: Good; I enjoyed it -- but sometimes means: I didn't like it very much, but can see literary merit in the book or why others might like it
2* I didn't like it; I have major criticisms
1* Bad (will happen rarely, since I mostly won't finish a book I dislike this much)
No rating: for various reasons, I don't feel qualified to rate the book and/or it's not that great but I was satisfied with the information it contained

My ratings of children's and YA books are a bit more nebulous. If I read it as a child, I usually give it the rating I would have given it then. If I'm reading it for the first time, the rating is a combination of how much I like it now and how much I think that it will appeal to children.

Reserved

1. Contemporary Fiction
COMPLETED October

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (January, 4 1/2*)
2. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (January, 3 1/2*)
3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (January, 4*)
4. The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran (February, 4*)
5. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (March, 4*)
6. Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg (May, 3*)
7. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (May, 4*)
8. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (July, 4*)
9. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (October, 3 1/2*)
10. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (October, 2*)

2. Series Continuation
COMPLETED November

1. Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #11) (January, 3 1/2*)
2. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #12) (January, 3 1/2*)
3. Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swensen #13) (February, 3*)
4. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache #4) (April, 4*)
5. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache #5) (April, 4 1/2*)
6. Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb (Eve Dallas #29) (April, 3 1/2*)
7. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache #6) (August, 5*)
8. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb (Eve Dallas #30) (October, 3*)
9. Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron (Deborah Knott #15) (October, 4*)
10. KnockOut by Catherine Coulter (FBI #13) (November, 3 1/2*)

3. New Series
COMPLETED July

1. In the Woods by Tana French (February, 3*)
2. The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton (March, 4*)
3. Going, Gone by Laura Crum (March, 3*)
4. Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart (May, 3*)
5. Design for Murder by Carolyn G. Hart (May, 3*)
6. The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser (Lumby #1) (July, 3*)
7. Love You to Death by Gail Bowen (July, 3*)
8. Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs (Tea Shop #1) (July, 3 1/2*)
9. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce #1) (July, 4*)
10. Gunpowder Green by Laura Childs (Tea Shop #2) (July, 3*)

Bonus:
11. Something Wicked by Carolyn G. Hart (Death on Demand #3) (August, 3 1/2*)
12. Honeymoon with Murder by Carolyn G. Hart (Death on Demand #4) (August, 3 1/2*)
13. A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch (August, 3 1/2*)
14. The September Society by Charles Finch (Charles Lenox #2) (August, 3 1/2*)
15. Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser (Lumby #2) (November, 4*)
16. Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier (Lucy Stone #1) (December, 3*)
17. An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor (Irish Country #3) (December, 4*)
18. Lumby's Bounty by Gail Fraser (Lumby #3) (December, 3 1/2*)

4. Literary Giants
COMPLETED December

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (January)
2. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (March, 4*)
3. The Histories by Herodotus (January-September)
4. The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950 by T.S. Eliot (March-October)

Shakespeare

5. The First Part of King Henry VI (September)
6. The Second Part of King Henry VI (October)
7. The Third Part of King Henry VI (October)
8. Macbeth (October, 5*)
9. The Tragedy of King Richard III (November)
10. The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII (December)

Bonus:
11. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (December, 5*)

5. USA
COMPLETED November

1. The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton (May, 4*)
2. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan (May, 4*)
3. Raintree County by Ross Lockridge, Jr (June, 4 1/2*)
4. The Glades: Sunny with a Chance of Homicide by Clifton Campbell (July)
5. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (October, 3 1/2*)
6. Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait by George T. Blakey (October)
7. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent (October, 4*)
8. The Old Fauntleroy Home by Ross F. Lockridge (November)
9. Plainsong by Kent Haruf (November, 3 1/2*)
10. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick (November, 4 1/2*)

6. World View
this was labelled History on my first 1010 Challenge thread
COMPLETED September

Relating to Religion

Books of the Bible:
~~ "Genesis" (March)
~~ "Ruth" (April)
~~ "Esther" (July)
~~ "The Rest of the Chapters of the Book of Esther" (Apocrypha) (July)

1. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (March, 3*)
2. The Bible as History by Werner Keller (March)
3. Genesis, translation and commentary by Robert Alter (April, 4 1/2*)
4. The Gods of Eden by William Bramley (April, 1*)

British Isles

5. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (January, 3*)
6. The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd (February, 4*)
7. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (May, 2 1/2*)
8. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (September, 3*)
9. A Very Private Grave by Donna Fletcher Crow (September, 4*)

Other Times & Places

10. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (July, 3*)

Bonus:
11. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (December, 4*)

7. Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales
COMPLETED December

1. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (March, 3 1/2*)
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 1) (April, 4*)
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 2) (May, 3 1/2*)
4. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 3) (May, 4*)
5. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 4) (May, 4*)
6. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan (May, 3*)
7. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5) (July, 3*)
8. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (July, 4 1/2*)
~~ "The False Bride" (aka "The Goose-Girl"), Grimm's Fairy Tales (July)
9. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (November, 4*)
~~ "The Gold Spinner" (aka "Rumpelstiltskin"), Grimm's Fairy Tales (November)
~~ Matchless by Gregory Maguire (December, 3 1/2*)
10. The Island of the Mighty by Padraic Colum (December)

8. Fantasy
COMPLETED April

1. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin (Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) (January, 3*)
2. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1) (January, 4*)
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 2) (January, 5*)
4. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 3) (January, 4 1/2*)
5. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 4) (January, 4 1/2*)
6. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5) (January, 4 1/2*)
7. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 6) (January, 3 1/2*)
8. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7) (January, 3*)
9. Wicked by Gregory Maguire (April, 4*)
10. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (April, 3*)

Bonus:
11. The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin. (Earthsea Cycle, Book 3) (June, 3*)

9. Lucy Maud Montgomery
COMPLETED November

1. Anne of Avonlea (Anne #2) (August, 4*)
2. Anne of the Island (Anne #3) (August, 4*)
3. Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne #4) (August, 4 1/2*)
4. Chronicles of Avonlea (ca Books 1-3 of Anne) (August, 4 1/2*)
5. Further Chronicles of Avonlea (before or ca Books 1-3 of Anne) (September, 3 1/2*)
6. Anne's House of Dreams (Anne #5) (September, 4*)
7. Anne of Ingleside (Anne #6) (October, 3 1/2*)
8. Rainbow Valley (Anne #7) (October, 4*)
9. Rilla of Ingleside (Anne #8) (November, 5*)
10. The Blue Castle (November, 4*)

10. Children / YA
COMPLETED October

1. Brave Pioneers by Merlin L. Neff (The Bible Pageant, Volume 1) (February)
2. Conquering Heroes by Merlin L. Neff (The Bible Pageant, Volume 2) (March)
3. Kings and Queens by Merlin L. Neff (The Bible Pageant, Volume 3) (February)
4. Alison Dare: The Heart of the Maiden by J. Torres & J. Bone (May, 4*)
5. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (Newbery Honor Book 1997) (August, 3*)
6. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (September, 5*)
7. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Medal 1998) (October, 4*)
8. The Black Arrowhead: Legends of Long Island by Caroline Dale Snedeker (October, 3*)
9. The Giver by Lois Lowry (Newbery Medal 1994) (October, 5*)
10. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (October, 4*)

Bonus:
11. Messenger by Lois Lowry (October, 3 1/2*)

Bonus Category
Goal: 20 books
This will be for the overreads of my 10 categories. I don't really expect to complete this Bonus in 2010, but I'll see how far I get.

1. The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (Fantasy, June, 3*)
2. Something Wicked by Carolyn G. Hart (New Series, August, 3 1/2*)
3. Honeymoon with Murder by Carolyn G. Hart (New Series, August, 3 1/2*)
4. A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch (New Series, August, 3 1/2*)
5. The September Society by Charles Finch (New Series, August, 3 1/2*)
6. Messenger by Lois Lowry (Children / YA, October, 3 1/2*)
7. Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser (New Series, November, 4*)
8. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (World View, December, 4*)
9. Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier (New Series, December, 3*)
10. An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor (New Series, December, 4*)
11. Lumby's Bounty by Gail Fraser (New Series, December, 3 1/2*)
12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Literary Giants, December, 5*)

Hi Ivy: I added an overreads category for next year. I finished General Nonfiction in June so I expect it'll be filled with those types of books and cozies, too, of course.

Hi, Linda, glad you found my new thread! I'm hoping that I won't have overreads next year, since it will probably mean not finishing the challenge! My overreads for the past couple of years have been mostly mysteries, so I have 55 slots (5 categories) for mysteries next year -- I wonder if that's too many... probably not, though there are some other books I want to read...

Or, wait, do you mean that Overreads is one of your 11 categories? That's a good idea! Then if a book from a completed category is just begging to be read, it would fit into the challenge... I'm going to have to consider that...

I think it's my bonus category. I just changed another one. Feeling the urge for an Armchair Travel category.

I've been so busy starting a new thread and playing with the TIOLI (thanks, Linda & SqueakyChu, for encouraging me to try it!) that I haven't commented on my 2 books so far read in

November

97. The Old Fauntleroy Home by Ross F. Lockridge
Category: USA

Because of my interest in New Harmony, Indiana, the Robert Owen family, and the Lockridges, I have had this book on my wishlist for quite some time. After finding out, in Blakey's Creating a Hoosier Self-Portrait, that Ross Lockridge and his son Ross Jr were working on this book during Ross Sr's tenure as director of the Indiana Writers' Project, I got ahold of a copy.

It was quite different than I expected. The Fauntleroy house is located in New Harmony, and was the home of Robert Owen's daughter and her husband, so I thought it would be a brief discussion -- more or less a pamphlet -- about the house and the Fauntleroys and perhaps a bit about Robert Owen and his sons. Instead, it is a full-length book that contains an overview of the building of New Harmony by the Rappites, Robert Owen's acquisition of it, brief biographies of many of the illustrious residents of 19th century New Harmony, and a detailed description of the Minerva society and its members. It is also a book with a purpose, written for The New Harmony Memorial Commission (of which Ross Sr was a member), and published by another member of the commission, to highlight the importance of the historic site and compliment the previous preservation and restoration effors of Miss Mary Emily Fauntleroy and the Indiana Federation of Clubs.

It's hard for me to evaluate the sufficiency of the overview of the Rappites and the Owenites, since I've already read quite a lot about them, including the written sources relied on (with one major exception, which I will get to at some point). I thought the chapter on the Rappites was fairly good, but the chapter on Robert Owen didn't really get into his vision for a utopian community -- an understandable omission when one knows the purpose of the book, since the importance of the Owenites was not in their failed experiment but in the intellectuals that they brought to the town. The brief discussions of the teachers, naturalists, artists, geologists, and social reformers who lived in New Harmony was interesting, and so was the founding of the Minerva society, which can probably be considered one of the earliest feminist organizations. The biographies of Minerva members and their writings, and the later history of the house (the 2nd half of the book), were less interesting, though the inculsion of this material is also understandable given the book's purpose.

An interesting tidbit: Frances Hodgson Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy was named in honor of a member of this family.

Do I recommend this book? Only for people who are, as I am, fascinated by this unique community. On the whole, it is adequately written, though at times choppy, repetitive and disjointed -- but there are also lovely and eloquent paragraphs and passages, which I strongly suspect were written by the brilliant Ross Lockridge, Jr. And I think that it was probably completed in a hurry to meet the needs of the Memorial Commission. Genealogical charts and a timeline would have been helpful. But since it covers such a long period of New Harmony history (1814-1939) and so many outstanding residents, it is useful as a starting point for further reading.

98. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, 4*
~~ "The Gold Spinner" (aka "Rumpelstitskin"), Grimm's Fairy Tales
Category: Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales

A Curse Dark as Gold, the story of Charlotte who inherits the family cloth mill, is based on the fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin." It's basically a romance, with a bit of magic thrown in, well-written and quite enjoyable. I don't interpret "Rumpelstiltskin" quite the way she does, but another viewpoint is always interesting.

I was interested in trying some of the modern fairy tale "re-tellings" that are currently so popular, and this is the third one I've read this year (along with Briar Rose and The Book of Lost Things). I thought it was interesting that each of them incorporated the traditional fairy tales in a very different way, and I liked all three, especially The Book of Lost Things. But, although I may very well read other books in this genre, it has not become a favorite for me; on the whole, I think I prefer the original fairy tales.

To get my mind organized for finishing the challenge:

Series Continuation: completed 11-7
KnockOut by Catherine Coulter -- done 11-7

Literary Giants: completed 12-1
Richard III -- done 11-24
Henry VIII -- done 12-1
~~ also finishes The Complete Works of Shakespeare

USA: completed 11-17
Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick -- done 11-17
Plainsong by Kent Haruf -- done 11-11

Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales: completed 12-5
The Island of the Mighty by Padraic Colum -- done 12-5

Lucy Maud Montgomery: completed 11-22
Rilla of Ingleside -- done 11-17
The Blue Castle -- done 11-22

Double post

Whenever I see the name "Fauntleroy" I think of Donald Duck. That's his middle name.

Nice to see a way forward and get your mind organized for finishing. I keep feeling almost like I'm already finished, since I know which books I plan to read to finish. I'd hoped to finish by Thanksgiving weekend but may still be reading what's likely to be my last book, a bio of President Millard Fillmore.

99. KnockOut by Catherine Coulter (FBI #13), 3 1/2*
Category: Series Continuation -- CATEGORY COMPLETED!!

Catherine Coulter is a marvellous storyteller, and she kept me quickly turning pages the entire way through this quite long detective thriller.

The setting of KnockOut is again on the Eastern seaboard -- Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia -- and two separate stories are woven together, one involving a woman and her daughter fleeing danger and the other about bank robbers. The two plots have little to do with each other, except that Savich is peripherally involved with the first plot and fully involved in the bank robbery.

There seems to be a trend in the past few years for established writers to toy with paranormal, psychic phenomena, ghosts, etc. Although I believe that there is a great deal that we don't know about these realms, I usually dislike the overstatement, sensational treatment, or facile solving of a plot problem. Although I would prefer that Ms Coulter stayed away from the paranormal, I do think that she dealt with it quite well.

>21 lindapanzo:

re Donald Fauntleroy Duck: I didn't know that!

Everytime I saw the book on my list of books about New Harmony, it made me think of Little Lord Fauntleroy, but I had no idea that there was an actual connection. I wonder if there's also a connection to Walt Disney... one of the Fauntleroys ended up on the West Coast and was quite prominent...

#23 I love trivia. If pressed to do so, I could probably name all of Snoopy's siblings, though I tend to think of them as the chubby one, the fuzzy one, the one with the bow in her hair etc.

100. Plainsong, by Kent Haruf, 3 1/2*
Category: USA

Plainsong, set in Colorado probably late 20th century (time is not specified), is a story about a high school teacher, his two 9 & 10 year old sons, a pregnant high school student and two 50-something bachelor ranchers.

I've had this book for well over a year, and I don't now remember why I wanted to read it, what or who prompted me to buy it. The cover says that is was a National Bestseller and a National Book Award Finalist.

From a literary standpoint, this book perhaps deserves a higher rating than I've given it. It is, on the whole, well-written in a sparse, understated style; the characters are well-realized through glimpses of their actions and interactions; the small town setting is succinctly and well described; the theme of birth/rebirth is carried throughout; there is growth / change throughout the book, which carries the story along to a logical conclusion. I can easily imagine a literature professor rhapsodizing about this book.

I didn't enjoy it very much, though. I felt some sympathy for and understanding of the characters, but I did not emphathize; although I was curious about how they would work out the situations confronting them, I didn't much care whether the result was good or bad. And there were parts that I found... perhaps "uncomfortable" is the best word; for instance, I would have been very happy to live the rest of my life without knowing exactly how ranchers check to see if their cows have conceived.

I don't think that characters have to be likeable, and I perfer show (vs tell). But I do want some overriding truth, some insight... something to make the book worth reading. And I didn't find it.

101. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, 4 1/2*
Category: USA -- CATEGORY COMPLETED!

"In the American popular imagination, the nation's history began with the Pilgrims and then leapfrogged more than 150 years to Lexington and Concord and the Revolution."

I've encountered numerous references, particularly when I was involved in genealogy, to King Philip's War, yet I had only the foggiest idea of what it was about (English vs Indians) and knew nothing of its causes or even the actual events of the War. According to Philbrick, English casualties were approximately 8% of adult males, and the Native American population may have been reduced by as much as 60-80% through fighting, starvation, being sold into slavery and voluntary relocation outside New England. This was a major war!

I'm sure the title, Mayflower, is more marketable than King Philip's War or English/Native Relations in New England 1620-1676, but it is something of a misnomer. Although the book begins with a brief history of the Pilgrims in England and Holland, their voyage in the Mayflower, and their initial settlement and disastrous first winter, the focus of the book is the relationship established between the Pilgrims and and Native Americans; the tenuous peace, accomodation and assistance that existed for the next 50 years; and the causes and course of the disastrous King Philip's War in 1675-76.

Philbrick draws on an astounding number of sources to present this very readable story of Pilgrims and Indians. He has integrated primary sources -- letters, diaries, contemporary accounts -- and secondary sources on a variety of subjects -- including weather, geography, legends, archeology and psychology as well as commentary on the events -- to create a cohesive and interesting account.

Although Philbrick's opinion of certain people and of the equities of the war are discernable, I thought he was surprisingly even-handed in detailing the mistakes, character flaws, and deliberate injustices and cruelties -- and the less frequent nobility, honor and wisdom -- of both sides.

I wish I had read this book years ago. Or, more accurately, I wish it had been written years ago and that I had read it then.

#26 Not my usual area of interest but that's one I've wanted to read.

btw, I just finished Stealing Lumby over lunchtime today. Wonderful. These characters feel like old friends. It was 6 months or so since I read the first one but it's doubtful I'll wait another 6 months til I read the next one.

It's not my favorite time period (at least not now; in the 1980s I was quite interested in the Pilgrims), but Mayflower certainly filled in some blanks in my knowledge. I do recommend it.

102. Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables #8), 5*
Category: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Chronologically the last book in the Anne of Green Gables series (but not the last book written), this book features Anne's youngest daughter Rilla, who is just turning 15 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in June 1914. Since this is Canada, involvement in WW I is immediate and continues for almost 5 years.

Rilla of Ingleside is a coming-of-age story, and it is probably the most moving, most touching story I've ever read about the women left at home when all the young men -- sons, husbands, lovers, brothers -- have gone away to war. Given the execution of wars in our lifetimes, it is easy to forget, and often hard to understand, the completely pervasive and overwhelming effects of WW I and WW II.

Ms. Montgomery was wise, perceptive, insightful, and had a superb talent for making her characters real. Although she never avoided mistakes, disappointments, or tragedy in her books, this is by far the darkest book in the series. Not that it is lacking in humor -- another of Ms Montgomery's talents was laughing (without unkindness) at foibles and eccentricities -- but the overall tone of the book was quite somber. It is, however, in my opinion, the best book in the series after the initial Anne of Green Gables.

#29 Ivy, I need to read one of these, sometime.

This is a topic I was just thinking about. I've been hearing a lot of radio commercials/pleas for help for the USO. Talking about how spouses/family members try to cope (and their loneliness) when their family member is deployed.

>30 lindapanzo: Linda, Anne of Green Gables is clearly a children's book, but there are very few literary characters as charming and delightful as Anne. Having read the book (several times) at the ages of 9-12, I wasn't sure what an adult view of it would be. However, I was thoroughly charmed when I re-read it last year, and I believe that Zoe, who hadn't read it as a child, also found it delightful.

Rilla of Ingleside is far more sophisticated, and except for Rilla being a teenager, I would view it as an adult book. For whatever reason, my home town library didn't have this book, so I had never before read it. I think it might work as a stand-alone book, since Anne is definitely in the background, but Ms Montgomery has a habit of pulling in characters from previous books without giving the background, and having just read the whole series, I'm not certain whether or not that would be a problem.

I've often wondered what it was like for my grandmother and her sister, who between them had 4 sons away in WW II, one of whom didn't come home. She would never talk about it, but this book probably came close to explaining it.

As for now, in some ways it almost seems a bigger problem for military families, since the majority of people just want to ignore it. A young woman whom I'm close to had a very hard time when her husband was deployed to Afghanistan, in part because almost everyone she knew had no idea what she was going through. She used the time well, by finishing her doctoral dissertation, but it was a very lonely and scary time for her.

103. Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser (Lumby #2), 4*
Categories: New Series, Bonus

It's always a treat when the "next in the series" is better than the previous one, and I think this one is.

Re-visiting old friends from The Lumby Lines, meeting new ones, and unravelling the mystery of a stolen masterpiece painted at Lumby 50 years earlier -- entertaining, engrossing, delightful!

I have a new baby granddaughter! She's 2 weeks early, but everyone is doing great!

Congrats, Ivy. How wonderful. What's her name?

Oh, congratulations on the new arrival. There's no better gift than a new grandbaby!

>34 lindapanzo: & 35 Thank you!

My husband keeps saying that grandchildren are God's gift for having raised our children.

Her name is Genevieve.

That's such a pretty name.

Congrats! New additions to the family are such a joy. Glad to here everyone is doing great!

Congratulations! What a wonderful start to the holiday season!

Congratulations!

Thanks, everyone!

I added some pictures to my profile.

Oh look, how cute. Genevieve is adorable.

I love looking at baby pictures.

Thanks, Linda! I spent most of yesterday with her (and the rest of the family, of course). Such a miracle!

104. The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery, 4*
Category: Lucy Maud Montgomery -- category completed!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, intended for an adult audience, though nothing compares to Anne of Green Gables.

I finished it night before last, and will try to get back soon with more comments -- but I've been catching up on threads, and now I have a baby to see and pies to make.

----

Note: this contains small spoilers of the first few chapters, but I find it impossible to talk about the book without them.

Valancy Stirling is 29 years old, unmarried with no prospects, mired in a boring and uneventful life with her dictatorial mother and older cousin. Her only refuge is the Blue Castle of her imagination, where she is beautiful, lives in luxury and is sought after by a handsome man (whose looks and character have changed over the years). But when she learns that she may not live much longer, she defies her mother and other relatives and determines to live the remainder of her life just as she pleases.

What Valancy chooses to do with her life is amusing and touching. The reaction of her relatives, who are superbly characterized in usual Montgomery fashion, is at times laugh-out-loud funny. The book is a romance as well, and Valancy's choice to ignore societal strictures makes a larger statement. The book is somewhat dated, since it is set in the early 20th century, when societal norms and restrictions -- particularly those regarding women -- were different than now. But the idea of ignoring the expectations of others and living just as one sees fit is a universal dream -- a Blue Castle in itself.

Re the Introduction: I read it after I read the book (as I have learned to do). It contains major spoilers. And, though there are a few interesting comments about Montgomery's life, it's mostly boring -- and I thought she missed the point of the book.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ivy!!

Thanks, Linda. We had a nice time -- I hope your Thanksgiving was great, too!

105. The Tragedy of King Richard III by William Shakespeare
Category: Literary Giants

This is a play I'd read before, probably more than once, but not for a long time. One of the fascinating things about Shakespeare is how I take different things from a play on each reading. What I remembered was how evil Richard was, but what interested me most this time through was the depiction of Richard III as having a conscience. Which, if true (and who knows?), doesn't make him a psycopath, sociopath (or whatever label is currently being used). I kept thinking that his view of himself must be similar to today's corporate executives, politicians, and financiers, who do perfectly awful things that damage other people, knowing full well that what they do is wrong, but nevertheless feel justified in pursuing that course out of greed, ambition and self-interest.

I've added some comments about The Blue Castle in msg #44 above.

November Recap

I'm midway through my last Shakespeare play and also Outlander, but I won't finish either one today, so I figured I might as well do my recap.

November was a far more usual reading month -- 9 books -- than October, but 8 of them counted for my 1010 challenge and completed 3 categories, leaving only 2 books to finish the challenge. My Bonus still needs 13 books -- unlikely, I think.

Once again, I really enjoyed all but one book: Plainsong by Kent Haruf. I think my favorites were Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery and Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.

1. Contemporary Fiction (10/10) -- completed October

2. Series Continuation (10/10) -- completed November
~~ KnockOut by Catherine Coulter

3. New Series (15/10) -- completed July
Bonus:
~~ Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser

4. Literary Giants (9/10)
~~ The Tragedy of King Richard III by William Shakespeare

5. USA (10/10) -- completed November
~~ The Old Fauntleroy Home by Ross F. Lockridge
~~ Plainsong by Kent Haruf
~~ Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

6. World View (10/10) -- completed September

7. Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales (9/10)
~~ A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

8. Fantasy (11/10) -- completed April

9. Lucy Maud Montgomery (10/10) -- completed November
~~ Rilla of Ingleside
~~ The Blue Castle

10. Children / YA (11/10) -- completed October

Bonus (7/20)

December

106. The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
Category: Literary Giants -- category completed!

An interesting view of Tudor history. Wolsey and Queen Katherine are the dominant characters; Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn are presented in a positive light, with numerous compliments to Elizabeth I and an ending accolade to James I.

It has taken me nearly 50 years (48 to be exact, since I first read Romeo and Juliet at age 14), but I have now read The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

~~ Matchless by Gregory Maguire, 3 1/2*
Category: Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales

When I ordered this book, I didn't realize it was a children's picture book (actually, I didn't know he wrote children's books as well as adult re-tellings).

Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" has to be the saddest fairy tale of all. Maguire's expansion is also very sad, though he does have a happier ending, but I didn't think that his story had the emotional pull of the original. Nevertheless, I'm not giving this book to my 6-year-old granddaughter -- and I find myself wondering who is the audience for the book? Short, simply written and illustrated, it looks and sounds like a pre-school book, but in my opinion the appropriate age level for the story would be at least late grade school.

@49 -- WOW! Congratulations on finishing the Complete Works of Shakespeare! That is an amazing accomplishment.

My goodness, Ivy, what an accomplishment that is!! Congrats on reading all of Shakespeare.

Except for a few I read in school (The Merchant of Venice springs to mind), I've not read very many. I wish I've read more but, every time I intend to, something more enticing, to me at least, comes along.

What's next?

Few people can lay claim to that! You are to be commended for your faithfulness to your task. Congratulations!

Let me add to the congratulations, quite an accomplishment!

>51 christina_reads:-54 Thank you!

My reaction is not what I anticipated when I decided, almost 4 years ago, to finish Shakespeare. I feel rather sad that there aren't any more that will be new to me. Nevertheless, the Histories are not my favorites, and now when I'm in the mood for Shakespeare's beautiful use of language and insights on human nature, I will re-read those I like better.

And, yes, other books are often more enticing (and also not as much work to read)... that's why these last few plays showed up in my challenges year after year after year...

It is quite an accomplishment, Ivy. Anytime we attempt to do/read all of something, there are always a few clunkers in the bunch, or at least some that are not the tops.

I can understand how you'd feel sad. Even though it's something that you've wanted to do, there is a sadness in the realization that you won't have a new Shakespeare. Maybe re-read them? Perhaps aim to read all of something else?

107. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, 4*
Categories: World View, Bonus

A bodice-ripper and steamy romance, but also historical fiction and time travel fantasy. I really enjoyed it, and I'm eager to read the next book in the series.

Claire is an English World War II nurse who accidentally steps through the pillars of a stone circle into 1743 Scotland, shortly before the invasion of Bonnie Prince Charlie. I could be critical of some of the elements which are more typical of Harlequin romances, of poor editing, or of the uneven quality of the writing (some of which is quite good), but Ms Gabaldon's ability to pull her reader into her world overshadows the negatives.

>56 lindapanzo: I'm sure I'll be re-reading some of Shakespeare's plays. I have a couple of favorites in mind already that I didn't read as part of my completing project, so I haven't read them for at least 4 years. As for new projects... well, I always have several going... Thucydides for 1011 is one of them.

108. The Island of the Mighty by Padraic Colum
Category: Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales

A re-telling for children of most of the tales of The Mabinogion, this book is only a marginal improvement (for that purpose) over full translations. Mr Colum has reorganized the order of the stories and omitted some of the long lists of people and other somewhat extraneous material, but has mostly reiterated the Lady Charlotte Guest translation. Using her flowery language makes the tales a bit more readable and exciting than the supposedly more literal translations, but in my opinion, once he decided to change the recorded version, he should have gone one step further and made them really good children's stories. They were, after all, meant to be recited, and the only reason we have them in the form we do is that some medieval monk without much imagination decided to write them down.

The introduction, however, briefly detailing the sources of The Mabinogion and other Arthurian tales, was excellent.

Book #108 completes my 1010 Challenge. I'll post a recap in the next day or two.

Congrats on finishing 1010, Ivy!! Good job.

Congratulations on finishing your challenge!

Hooray for Ivy! Congratualtions on completing your 1010 Challenge.

Ivy, are you going to start your History and Mystery 11 in 11 challenge right away or wait til 1/1/11?

Congratulations! I'll see you at the 11 in 11! :)

Thanks, everyone! I'm glad to be done!

I probably should start the 11 in 11 challenge now, since it might give me a better shot at completing the full challenge, and mysteries are what I want to read right now -- in the interests of finishing, I've only managed to sneak in a few in the past couple of months.

But I do like keeping track of my reading by calendar year, so I'm planning to start Jan 1. In the meantime, I'll just see how far I get on my 20 book bonus. I don't really expect to finish it, but it's just barely possible if I read a lot of mysteries and a couple of children's books that won't fit very well into my 11 in 11 challenge.

Congratulations on finishing!

Thanks! I see you finished too, Victoria -- congratulations to you!

Congratulations! Looking forward to your 11 in 11 Challenge!

Thank you, lkernagh!

Congrats, Ivy!

Thanks, pammab!

Best of 1010 Challenge

I've really liked most of the books I've read this year. There have been only a few that I didn't like, and some of those were probably largely personal taste. So I feel a bit sad for the really good books that won't make this list, but in looking over the categories, I was rather surprised to discover that that there was 1 clear "winner" in each category -- a book that I found outstanding and amazing, and really loved.

A note about my ratings: When I rated The Help last January, I was annoyed by the unnecessary minor anachronisms and gave it 4 1/2*. Along about August-September, I realized that I was subconsciously rating every other book in comparison to that book, thus making most of my ratings from January to August about 1/2* lower than they should be. I thought about going back and changing them, but it seemed like a monumental and confusing task, so I didn't.

1. Contemporary Fiction (10/10)
~~ The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2. Series Continuation (10/10)
~~ Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

3. New Series (15/10)
~~ The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton

4. Literary Giants (10/10)
~~ Macbeth by William Shakespeare

5. USA (10/10)
~~ Raintree County by Ross Lockridge, Jr

6. World View (11/10)
~~ Genesis, translation and commentary by Robert Alter

7. Myth, Legend, and Fairy Tales (10/10)
~~ The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

8. Fantasy (11/10)
~~ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

9. Lucy Maud Montgomery (10/10)
~~ Rilla of Ingleside

10. Children / YA (11/10)
~~ The Giver by Lois Lowry

This is great, Ivy. I need to do the same.

Thanks, Linda! I hope you do -- I'll be interested in seeing which were your favorites!

I've posted mine, Ivy.

Bury Your Dead was a category favorite. The Help was one of my favorite books this year but I didn't read it for 1010 so it's not showing up here.

I haven't picked my top 10 reads for the year since we've got a few more weeks left.

This is a great idea. I'm not finished yet and I only read 5 in each category, but I think I'll do this too when I finish.

>76 lindapanzo: & 77 Linda, I enjoyed your list! And looking forward to yours, dudes. It's always so interesting to see the favorites.

I haven't posted the last 2 books I've read, both Christmas books:

109. Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier (Lucy Stone #1), 3*
Categories: Bonus, New Series

I enjoyed it, and will probably continue this series at some point. I thought the mystery was rather weak, though, and hope that they get better as the series progresses.

110. An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor (Irish Country #3), 4*
Categories: Bonus, New Series

I really liked this book. Not a whole lot happens, but it's pleasant and uplifting, set in a small town with interesting characters. There are authors who project kindness toward people and their foibles and mistakes, a belief I think in the intrinsic goodness of people, and Patrick Taylor is one of them. I definitely will be reading the other books in this series.

Ivy, I was aiming to read the next Irish Country book this year but may hold off on it til 2011. Maybe read the next Lumby this year, after all.

>79 lindapanzo: I'm almost certainly not going to get to the Irish Country books until next year (this was my first one, so I need to backtrack to the first 2 books in the series). But I already started the 3rd Lumby last night!

Maybe I'll take the Lumby book with me downtown as my "just in case the Kindle doesn't work" book.

111. Lumby's Bounty by Gail Fraser (Lumby #3), 3 1/2*
Categories: Bonus, New Series

Another enjoyable book in the Lumby series. The second book, Stealing Lumby, is my favorite so far, partially because I was more interested in the artist theme than in the hot air balloon theme of this book, but I nevertheless enjoyed this one a lot and am looking forward to the next one.

And speaking of art, I love the folk art illustrations of Gail's husband. I wish there were more!

Besides the Christmas short stories, the Lumby book might be all I feel like getting to, this week.

It's doubtful I'll read that Abigail Adams mystery til 2011 though.

>83 lindapanzo: I don't think I'll get to Abigail Adams this year, either. But the TIOLI challenge does make me curious about the cat on the cover.

I've still not quite finished reading A Christmas Carol, but we've been having fun watching and comparing 3 movie versions (1951, George C. Scott, & Disney).

Merry Christmas to everyone! "God bless us every one!"

Merry Christmas, Ivy!!

We're having a beautiful white Christmas. An inch or two of snow today and again on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas Ivy!

Merry Christmas! Hoping for a white Christmas here in Tennessee, which doesn't happen often. There's a chance of snow tomorrow!

Thanks, Linda, lkernagh, cbl! I hope your Christmases were as lovely as mine. And I'm envious of the snow -- we had rain, rain, rain here.

112. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 5*
Categories: Bonus, Literary Giants

I think I was in high school the last (and only) time I read the full Dickens text of A Christmas Carol.

Dickens wrote wonderful stories with unforgettable characters and memorable phrases and passages. I thought that reading this might entice me into reading or re-reading some other Dickens. But I still have the same opinion that I did long ago when I read several of his books: I just don't like his style. I wish I did.

I nevertheless enjoyed reading the original of this classic Christmas story. I might read it again sometime.