Bjace's Award-winning 12 in 12

I've never done this before. I've come up with the following topics. Some of them are awards I made up myself.

1) The Miss Marple Award--Books about the ladies who sleuth
2) The Anthony Trollope award--19th century British fiction
3) The funniest author ever award--Books by P. G. Wodehouse
4) The Trinitarian Prize--Books to enhance my Christian walk
5) The Tony Award--Twelve plays I've never read
6) The Hoosier Prize--Twelve books by authors from Indiana
7) The Truth Serum--Twelve nonfiction books
8) The Golden Globe--Twelve books by non-Anglo-American authors
9) The Wolfpack award--Twelve mysteries by male authors
10) The Doughboy award--Twelve books on WWI or WWII--fiction or nonficiton
11) The Newberry award--Twelve good children's books
12) The Agatha Christie award--Twelve mysteries written by women

So, not very original, but o.k. for my first try. I'll start 1/1/12.

On the contrary, I think your categories look very original -- and fun! Looking forward to seeing what you read!

Interesting caregories. I've also got P. G. Wodehouse as a category and Agatha Christie. I've starred your thread to keep up with your reads :)

I think your categories are great. I love Miss Marple, and I love Agatha Christie! I'll be following along.

I had a Hoosier author category in my longlist of potential categories, but it didn't make it into the final twelve. I'm looking forward to your choices for that category! (Personally, I would recommend Booth Tarkington, James Whitcomb Riley, Gene Stratton-Porter, Meredith Nicholson, Charles Major, Edwin Way Teale, and Rachel Peden. But that's just me.)

Well, I know I'll be reading a Booth Tarkington and a Charles Major. I was also thinking of one of Sarah Frommer's mysteries. I'd also like to read some Kin Hubbard--the creator of Abe Martin of Brown County. I'll probably read Murder in their hearts by David Murphy, which is an account of the murder of 10 native Americans which took place in my home county. It's said to be the first case in the U.S. where white men were hanged for killing Indians. I hadn't thought of Meredith Nicholson, but I've never read The House of a thousand candles I think I'll also read Maurice Thompson's Alice of Old Vincennes I could actually make use of whatever James Whitcomb Riley I read. I do storytelling for senior citizens groups once a month and most of them here love Riley.

Alice of Old Vincennes is great! Oh, and Charles Major also wrote When Knighthood Was in Flower under the name Edwin Caskoden. Are you going to include any Vonnegut? (I don't personally care for his work, but lots of people do.)

I don't know. I'm not Vonnegut's greatest fan either but I can forgive him almost anything for the following quote (which is more of a paraphrase): I find I trust my work most when it sounds like it was written by a man from Indiana, which is what I am.

If I read Vonnegut, it will either by Player piano or Wampeters, foma and granfaloons. I may decide to re-read Ross Lockridge's Raintree county. I've actually never read it through, so I should do that. Also on my list I find is American tragedy I've never gotten through one of Dreiser's novels, but I'd like to try.

If I can find either her history of moonshine or Wild animal shelter by Esther Kellner, I'll read that. Kellner grew up around New Castle, lived in Richmond and was a children's magazine editor and an author of several books. If you can ever put your hands on The Devil and Aunt Serena, grab it. It's about growing up in farm country in the Depression Era and it's hilarious.

I'm new to this challenge, too. Love your awards! I work in a high school library and have seen a recent revival of interest in Agatha Christie titles. I'll have to look for more for our shelves.

#1--The Miss Marple Award: 12 books about Miss Marple's sisters in crime solving

Murder with puffins by Donna Andrews--***--The usual crazy fun in off-season Maine with Meg Langslow

S is for Silence by Sue Grafton--***1/2--When the daughter of a good-time girl who disappeared thirty years before approaches Kinsey Milhone trying to find out what became of her mother all sorts of unpleasant currents are discovered in a small town. One of the better books in the series.
The girl with the dragon tattoo--***--I guess Lisbeth Salander applies--I was impressed, but all the hype was a little exaggerated
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith--***1/2--A 10-year missing person case and a pair of orphans absorb Mma Ramotswe in this gentle tale
Rules, regs and rotten eggs by H. R. F. Keating--***
Blanche cleans up by Barbara Neely--***--Blanche White, while taking a temporary housekeeper's job for a friend, is drawn into a murder/suicide surrounding a political campaign. Well-written.
The cruellest month by Hazel Holt--**1/2
Maggody in Manhattan by Joan Hess--***
Cheshire Cat's eye by Marcia Muller--**1/2
Alpine advocate by Mary Daheim--***
Agatha Raisin and the vicious vet by M. C. Beaton--**1/2
One for the money by Janet Evanovich--***1/2

FINISHED

#2--The Anthony Trollope Award--19th century British fiction

Ivanhoe by Walter Scott--****--Scott's highly romanticized story of Wilfrid of Ivanhoe and Richard Coeur de Lion. Kept my interest with its vivid characters and high good humor.
The warden by Anthony Trollope--***--Trollope's novel about morals among the clergy is by turns charming and dull.
Sir Gibbie by George Macdonald--***--Story of a holy innocent who walks the streets of a Scottish city homeless and how he affects the lives of all he touches. Macdonald's humility and holiness shine out of every page.
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson--***
Three men in a boat by Jerome K. Jerome--***1/2
Lady Susan by Jane Austen--***
Our mutual friend by Charles Dickens--****1/2--The heir to a vast fortune is murdered and a complex chain of events is set in place
Little minister by J. M. Barrie--***
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell--***1/2--Romance between a gently bred vicar's daughter, raised in the agrarian south of England, and a mill-owner of the industrial North.
Dream days by Kenneth Grahame--***1/2
Martin Hewitt, investigator by Arthur Morrison--**1/2
Plain tales from the hills by Rudyard Kipling--***

FINISHED

#3--The funniest author ever award--12 novels or short story collections by P. G. Wodehouse

Clicking of Cuthbert--****--Hilarious stories about love and golf
Blandings castle and elsewhere--***--Short stories about life at Blandings, plus several set in Hollywood.
A pelican at Blandings--****--More mayhem at Blandings with Galahad Threepwood defending Clarence, Lord Emsworth, from Alaric, Duke of Dunstable
Laughing gas--***--A Freaky Friday-type story when an English aristocrat and a child movie star exchange bodies while under laughing gas at the dentist. Mayhem and romance ensue. Slightly untypical Wodehouse, but lots of fun.
Mike and Psmith--***--The adventures of the stolid but decent Mike and the whimsical Psmith as they adjust to a school neither wants to be at.
Sunset at Blandings--**1/2
The Pothunters--***
Tales of St. Austin's--**1/2
Psmith journalist--***
Psmith in the city--***
Mike at Wrykyn--***
Mulliner nights--***1/2

FINISHED

#4--Books to help me in my Christian walk

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton--***--I found this rather impentrable, but brilliant. Chesterton's defense of the Christian faith is full of both strange turns and unexpected insights. The image of the God's joy as being His chief, hidden attribute is one I hope to puzzle over for quite a while.
Against the night by Charles Colson--***
Sit, walk, stand by Watchman Nee
Little flowers by St. Francis of Assisi--***
Journal of John Woolman by John Woolman--***
30 words by Jarrid Wilson--***
How to be filled with the Holy Spirit by A. W. Tozer--****

#5--The Tony award--Plays I've never read

Duchess of Malfi by John Webster--**--I know this is a classic and it's full of quotes, but I found this a bizarre, gory mess.
Three sisters by Anton Chekhov--***--Another classic play I wasn't crazy about. Olga, Masha and Irina are mired in a provincial town, dreaming of Moscow, while their life deteriorates about them.
Arms and the man by George Bernard Shaw--***--Shaw mocks war and nobility in this tale of a Balkan cavalry officer, his fiancee and the Swiss who comes between them. Amusing, but I think it has worn less well than most Shaw.
Cherry orchard by Anton Chekhov--**--The ruin of a rich Russian family is seen in its last stages. I had a really hard time keeping the characters straight.
Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller--****
The Tempest--***--Good, not great Shakespeare; silly plot but marvelous images and language.
Desire under the elms by Eugene O'Neill--***
Comrades by August Strindberg--**
Hamlet by William Shakespeare--****1/2
Lady Windemere's fan by Oscar Wilde--***1/2
King John by William Shakespeare--***
An enemy of the people by Henrik Ibsen--**1/2

FINISHED

#6--The Hoosier prize--Books by Indiana authors

When knighthood was in flower by Edwin Caskoden (i.e., Charles Major)--**--Bowdlerized (and Victorian) version of a real-life Tudor love story.
Alice of old Vincennes by Maurice Thompson --**1/2--Fictionalized account of the conquest of Vincennes (Ind.) by George Rogers Clark. The romance is only mildly tedious
High cotton by Darryl Pinckney--***--Partially set in Indianapolis; details the coming of age of a young African-American man. I didn't always understand where the author was coming from, but I found more in common with him than I might have suspected.
Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington--***1/2--Pretty Alice Adams, her entrepreneur manque father, social-climbing mother and weak but charming brother try to rise in society, but through a series of misfortunes fall more solidly into the working class. Well-drawn but cringe-inducing at times.
House of a thousand candles by Meredith Nicholson--***1/2
Michael O'Halloran by Gene Stratton Porter--**
A defective Santa Claus by James Whitcomb Riley--***
Brewster's millions by George Barr McCutcheon--***
Why Johnny died by Marlis Day--**1/2
Work for the night is coming by Jared Carter--****
Our hearts were young and gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough--***
Running out of time by Margaret Haddix--***

FINISHED

#7--The Truth serum prize--Nonfiction

More home cooking by Laurie Colwin--***1/2--Essays, many with recipes, on food and its relationship to well-being and family.
How to live on 24 hours a day by Arnold Bennett--***1/2
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard--***--Impressionistic writings on nature as a young writer explores her home in Appalachia. By turns luminous and pretentious. Also, the author seems to have an insect obsession, so unless you're up to reading about water bugs inhaling frogs or the various types of parasites, this may be one you want to skip.
Gastronomical me by M. F. K. Fisher--***--As much an autobiography as a book about food. Fisher covers her early developing passion for food and describes her somewhat tangled love life up to the death of her second husband. The book is frank and must have been somewhat startling in 1941, but I'm not sure that I would have liked Fisher and she does not always come off as pleasant or sympathetic.
Warmly inscribed by Lawrence Goldstone--***--Personal essays on book collecting and the book trade. The best essay is the central, title section, which describes a dealer who forged autographs in collectible books. Pleasant.
Q's legacy by Helene Hanff--***
Shadows on the grass by Isak Dinesen--***--Four essays on Dinesen's life in Africa. The first and last are the best.
Quality of courage by Mickey Mantle--**
Drive by Larry Bird--**1/2
Serve it forth by M. F. K. Fisher--***
Passing for thin by Frances Kuffel--***1/2
84 Charing Cross road by Helene Hanff--****

FINISHED

#8--The Golden Globe--Books by authors who are neither English nor American

Darkness at noon by Arthur Koestler--***1/2--a high ranking Marxist is arrested during a purge. While there, he reviews his life and commitment to Socialism. Powerful
The first Sir Percy by Baroness Orczy--***1/2
So long a letter by Mariama Ba--***1/2--Epistolary novel that examines the effect of polygamy on the lives of two women. Quiet but affecting
Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy--***--Rousing finish to the series as Sir Percy takes on Chauvelin and Robespierre
Cry, the beloved country by Alan Paton--****
Tevye's daughters by Sholem Aleichem--***
Phantom of the temple by Robert van Gulik--***1/2
The captive mind by Czeslaw Milosz--***1/2
Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress by Dai Sijie--***1/2
Chinese maze murders by Robert van Gulik--***1/2
The white stag by Kate Seredy--***
Judge Dee at work by Robert van Gulik--***1/2

FINISHED

#9--The Wolfpack award--mysteries by male authors

The Jenny by David Beasley--**--Clumsy account of the theft of rare stamps from the NYPL. The detective behaves like he's a cross between Sam Spade and James Bond.
Death at the President's Lodging--***--Novel introducing detective John Appleby; a university don is murdered by one of his colleagues.
Death after evensong by Douglas Clark--***--Masters and Green investigate the murder of a vicar who no one liked and must discover an unusual weapon wielded by an unexpected murderer.
Rumpole on trial by John Mortimer--***
City of glass by Paul Auster--**1/2
Eyre affair by Jason Fforde--***1/2--Antic adventures of Thursday Next, a literary detective, when a master criminal attempts to kidnap Jane Eyre. A little antic for my taste, but fun.
Haunted monastery by Robert van Gulik--***
Carnage of the realm by Charles Goodrum--***
Murder in luxury by Hugh Pentecost--**--When a trail of bodies begin to follow a rich woman, Pierre Chambrun of the Beaumont must determine whether she is the cause or the catalyst. Mediocre.
Murder goes to college by Robert Foster--**
Arranways mystery by Edgar Wallace--***1/2
Last bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter--***

FINISHED

#10--The Doughboy award--Books (fiction and nonficiton) about WWI or WWII

The Singapore grip by J. G. Farrell--***--The fall of Singapore seen through the eyes of British coloinists. Author injects large slices of anti-colonial polemic into the story at odd places.
Last waltz in Vienna by George Clare--***1/2
First hundred thousand by Ian Hay--***1/2--Almost jaunty account of the first year in with a Scottish regiment during WWI, ending with the Somme offensive.
Some do not by Ford Madox Ford--***1/2
Night by Elie Wiesel--****
Family and friends by Anita Brookner--***
All quiet on the Western front by Erich Marie Remarque--****
To say nothing of the dog by Connie Willis--****
The archivist by Martha Cooley--**1/2

#11--The Newberry award--Children's ficiton

Under the lilacs by Louisa May Alcott--**--An orphan boy runs away from the circus and finds help in a small Massachusetts town. Most interesting feature is a performing poodle.
The last of the Peterkins by Lucretia Hale--**1/2--Further adventures of a family of sillies.
The Gammage cup by Carol Kendall--***
Hundred dresses by Eleanor Estes--****=-When a poor Polish girl tells her classmates she has 100 dresses, they laugh and make fun of her, but there's more to the story. Charming book that teaches children to be kind without being heavy-handed about it.
Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken--***
Wheel on the school by Meindert--**1/2--Dutch school children in a small village work to bring storks back to nest and in so doing create community spirit. I enjoyed this, but it seems kind of ponderous for modern children.
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey--***1/2
Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald--***
Across five Aprils by Irene Hunt--***
Search for delicious by Natalie Babbitt***
Sport by Louise Fitzhugh--***
Granny's wonderful chair by Frances Browne--***

FINISHED

#12--The Agatha Christie award--Mysteries by female authors

What came before he shot her by Elizabeth George--**1/2--more a whydunit than anything else ; the unravelling of why a 12-year-old boy shoots a detective's wife. This is a train wreck of a book that it's hard to look away from.
Hunter's quarry by Susannah Stacey--***
Death of a kingfisher by M. C. Beaton--***--Hamish MacBeth must find the murderer of an unpleasant old woman, with lots of suspects. OK entry in the series
Gutenberg murders by Gwen Bristow--***--Set in New Orleans, a librarian is murdered and 9 leaves of a Gutenberg Bible disappears. Slightly far-fetched, but the method of murder is ingeneous
All booked up by Terrie Curran--**1/2--When rare book theft in a research library escalates to murder, a motley team of reference librarians, scholars and a rich Texan find the criminal and rescue the library. The solution is somewhat dull, but the atmosphere is spot-on. Whoever wrote this knew how libraries really work.
Quoth the raven by Jane Haddam--**1/2--While I thought the plot and story were a merry mess, I found the series detective and his milieu likable and might try the author again. Gregor Demarkian, while delivering a guest lecture at a small Pennsylvania college, is recruited to assist the police when a college secretary is poisoned with lye in the school cafeteria and strange doings are found in her department.
From doon with death by Ruth Rendell--***
Careless in red by Elizabeth George--***1/2--When a teenager is found dead at the bottom of a Cornish cliff by Thomas Lynley, the detective is called back to police work by a murder 30 years in the making. Compelling story, good milieu and a complete absence of George's most annoying stock characters.
Revenge of the wrought iron flamingos by Donna Andrews--***--Murder at a craft fair/reenactment in the midst of Meg Langslow's crazy family. Always fun.
Cable car murder by Elizabeth Atwood Taylor--***
Academic murder by Dorsey Fiske--***
Colour scheme by Ngaio Marsh--***

FINISHED

I'm sure you'll find lots of great books by reading award winners. Great idea!

Recap of January's reading
Books read: 13 (2--To say nothing of the dog by Connie Willis and Run with the horsemen by Ferrol Sams were non-challenge)

Best book read this month: (Tie) To say nothing of the dog ****, a breezy science fiction novel that bounces between the 21st Century, the late Victorian Age and WWII in England and is probably too complicated to explain, and The clicking of Cuthbert by P. G. Wodehouse, a group of 10 golf-themed love stories.

Least favorite book this month: (Tie once more) The Jenny by David Beasley, a highly improbable mystery about the theft of rare stamps at the NYPL and When knighthood was in flower, a bowdlerized version of the romance between Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon.

Overall reading month: This month I read a lot of things that had been laying around or on my list for a while. Most were not particularly satisfying. I did start to read Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, but haven't been able to devote too much time to it.

Review: Murder with puffins by Donna Andrews--***

Most good mystery series start out with a bang by introducing an attractive detective and milieu and then invite you to become more acquainted in later volumes. Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow, her charming boyfriend Michael (who is far too perfect) and their combined wacky families more than adequately fit this pattern. Furthermore, Andrews uses a different type of bird in the title of each book which also figures in the story. In Murder with puffins, Meg and Michael want some time alone, so they go to Maine in the off-season only to find most of Meg's relations there and an incoming hurricane making life more complicated. While on the island, an old flame of Meg's mother is murdered and Meg gets involved in the investigation to keep her parents from becoming the default chief suspects. Meg solves the murder, which was very anti-climatic. Quite frankly, by the end I didn't really care who'd done it and I don't remember what the motive was. I also didn't care that I didn't care. The book is light and fun, the characters are winsome and I enjoyed it very much.

Review: Tears of the giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith--***1/2

The second in the Precious Ramotswe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Tears of the Giraffe is as much about the African approach to life as anything. Just engaged to Mr. J.B.L. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe begins to contemplate the upcoming changes in her life, which become more formidable when her fiancee is maneuvered into taking in two children by the pushy head of a local orphanage. She is also challenged to find the answer to a 10-year old mystery. She finds the answers to almost all of the questions in her life and business in applying the old morality, taught to her by her father, and in trying to see things from an African perspective which considers community as an important aspect of life. Better than average entry in a gentle, good-humored series.

Review: Blandings Castle by P. G. Wodehouse--***

In the foreward to this book, Wodehouse explains how creating both the Jeeves and the Blandings stories became something of an addiction and how he managed to deal with it at times by writing short stories. This collection contains 5 Blandings stories, 4 Mulliner stories and a Bobbie Wickham story. All are gentle and funny. My favorite of the collection is about the school treat at Blandings, when Lord Emsworth, empowered by some London children, scores off Lady Constance and ditches his top hat. The Mulliner stories present the most original material. They are set in Hollywood, where 3 of Mulliner's young relatives work for the movie industry, something Wodehouse did and would have know very well. Nothing new here; just what you'd expect.

Review: Hunter's quarry by Susannah Stacey--***

When a local celebrity (rock star) begins receiving death threats after his marriage to an American actress is announced, Inspector Bone is uneasy and his foreboding is made worse by the death of the rock star's lookalike and the rock stars disappearance. Pleasant enough characters, although I could have done without the psychic old lady with the cats.

Review: How to live on 24 hours a day by Arnold Bennett--***1/2

Not really a time management book in the modern sense, Bennett advocates making time in one's life for reflection and study. His suggestions include 'meditation' for 30 minutes in the morning to improve concentration, 30 minutes of reflection in the evening and 90 minutes three times a week devoted to the study of something. Although a writer, Bennett is not necessarily advocating reading and suggests more mundane, artistic or scientific pursuits. This short book, written in elegant prose, is old-fashioned but the ideas could easily be applied to modern situations.

Review: Last waltz in Vienna by George Clare--***1/2

George Clare (born Georg Klaar) belonged to a family of assimilated Jewish professionals (bankers and doctors) whose 100-year residence made them feel like Austrians first. As events unfold in Germany and Austria, Klaar and his parents are exposed to growing ill-treatment due to anti-Semitism. They escape, but Klaar's parents (who have settled in Paris) fall victim to the Final Solution in the end. Schmaltzy in parts and very much a memoir rather than a history, the book is all the scarier for that.

Review: Rules, regs and rotten eggs by H. R. F. Keating--***
Harriet Martens, Keating's Hard Detective, has always had a bumpy career, but after a double family tragedy, she seems spent and worn; this,coupled with an unsympathetic boss, draws her toward retirement. When she is accidentally first officer on the scene at an attempted murder, she starts up the investigation with renewed vigor, only to be saddled with an uncouth sergeant and a seemingly motiveless crime. This is a good, hard-edged police procedureal.

Review: The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall--***

When the happy world of Slipper-by-the-Sea is threatened by the evil and foul-smelling Mushrooms, five Minnipin outlaws rescue the town with courage and ingenuity. This was a pleasant fantasy which seems to me to owe a lot to J. R. R. Tolkein.

Review: The cruellest month by Hazel Holt--**1/2

I was prepared to love Mrs. Malory because a friend of mine likes these very much, but I was disappointed by this book. Sheila Malory, a widow who supports herself by writing literary criticism, comes to Oxford to do research at the Bodleian and is drawn into investigating the death of a librarian which has been ruled accidental. Her investigation reveals a thoroughly unpleasant woman with a habit of manipulating others, some of whom are old acquaintances and new friends. Despite a well-done plot, I found the character's reasons for investigating the murder specious and she came across as an officious busybody.

Review: Cry the beloved country by Alan Paton--****

Simple and beautiful, this novel is about 2 men--one black, one white--who are tied together by tragedy and who turn their pain into the redemptive healing of their society. This is a wonderful book.

Review: From doon with death by Ruth Rendell--***

When a suburban woman disappears and is later found dead, the police are mystified as to who would want to kill her. This is the first Inspector Wexford novel and the author displays a fairly light touch with the story. The twist, which is fairly easy to discover, must have been fairly shocking in 1964 but stands up. Good beginning to a great series.

Review: House of a thousand candles by Meredith Nicholson--***1/2

This is a marvelous romp. Take a beautiful but mysterious house, a beautiful and enigmatic woman of dubious loyalties, a strange will, four strong, stalwart young man and a group of resourceful toughs, then shake and stir. I raced through this one. Of all the older books written by Indiana authors, this has held up the best.

Recap of May's reading
Books read--14. 2 (Hearing secret harmonies by Anthony Powell was non-challenge)

Best book read this month: (Tie) House of a thousand candles by Meredith Nicholson, a turn of the century romp that I found just delightful and North and south by Elizabeth Gaskell, a romance set amid social change.

Least favorite book this month: (Tie) I didn't "get" The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov--I found it confusing; The wheel on the school by Meinert DeJong was a Newberry award winning novel, but I found it somewhat ponderous; and The gastronomical me by M. F. K. Fisher was a personal memoir by a woman I wasn't sure I would have liked much.

Overall reading month: Most of what I read this month I really enjoyed. I finished the last book in Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time and am getting closer to having read through Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series.

Up this month: A Scarlet Pimpernel, a Judge Dee, A Wodehouse from the Mulliner series, Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road (which I have to confess I read in Reader's Digest Condensed years ago), and many other delights. I am going to try to drag myself through 800+ pages of Dreiser's American tragedy, but we'll see.

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So glad you enjoyed North and South -- it's one of my favorites! I may also be reading 84, Charing Cross Road this month, so I look forward to seeing what you think.

Review: Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken--***

Another of Aiken's mock-Victorian children's stories takes Dido, a feisty London cockney victim of shipwreck, and puts her aboard a whaling vessel bound for Nantucket. She meets Dutiful Penitence, the timid New England daughter of the captain, and they become friends. Dido and Pen are left on a remote farm under the care of the sinister Aunt Tribulation where they foil a plot against the English King. Throw in a cabin boy, a super-gentile parrot, a German scientist with a sweet tooth and a pink whale. Aiken's novels are usually part Monty Python and part Lemony Snicket--lots of fun.

#37, Christina, I was surprised by North and South I read Cranford years ago and found it pleasant but not terribly impressive, so I wasn't especially eager to read more of her stuff. I picked up North and South at a sale when I was in the mood to buy anything that looked likely and it hung around on my bookshelves for a while. I needed a 19th century author for my 12 books challenge, so I decided to clear a little more shelf space and read the thing. The story engaged me immediately and surprised me not a little at times.

Sounds like you had a good reading month in May. I loved the Inspector Lynley TV series but have not gotten around to reading the books yet. I do plan to do that one day!

#39, mathgirl40, the books are a dangerous addiction. They start out fairly reasonably at 300-400 pages, but the later books all weigh in at 600+, so it takes a while to get through them. Also, I think they vary wildly in quality. Some are truly excellent but a few I could barely finish. I have come to truly dislike the Deborah St. James character and the books that are centered on her. Careless in red was one of the better ones.

Thanks for the warnings. I'm still very intrigued by them and will definitely try them out.

Review: Tevye's daughters by Sholem Aleichem--***

Collection of short stories set in turn of the century Russian Jewish culture. The most interesting are the stories about Tevye the dairyman and his daughters. (Yes, the material that Fiddler on the Roof was based on.) The stories are bitter, ironic and mostly sad. The story about the poor father who starved himself to feed his children made me cry.

Review: Maggody in Manhattan by Joan Hess--***

When Ruby Bee, Arly's famous cook of a mother, wins a chance to compete in a cooking contest in New York City, she and her best friend Estelle depart in high spirits, but quickly run into trouble when a naked man is found in Ruby Bee's bed. Arly Hanks, eager to escape the first meeting of Barbara Jean Buchanon's Christians aginst Whiskey committee, hurries to Manhattan to rescue them, but Arly has an easier time finding a solution to the mystery than controlling her two amateur assistants or in solving the mysterious disappearance of Dahlia and Kevin Buchanon on their honeymoon. This started slower than most of the Maggody books, but the usual hilarious situations and characters make it fun.

Review: Haunted monastery by Robert van Gulik--***

While stranded in a Taoist monastery during a violent storm, Judge Dee and his lieutenant Tao Gan investigate the murder of three young girls and prevent the sexual enslavement of a fourth. Simple story, well-told.

Chinese maze murders by Robert van Gulik--***1/2

Judge Dee and his lieutenants come to a remote provincial town to find the town under control of an outlaw with ties to enemies. They must foil him and solve the disappearance of a young girl, the murder of a distinguished general and the disputed estate of an illustrious governor. Well put together story; one of the best Judge Dee's.

Mulliner nights by P. G. Wodehouse--***1/2

Nine wonderful short stories told by Mr. Mulliner, the Sheherazade of the Angler's Rest, featuring his nieces, nephews and other hapless and sometimes inspired kin. There are plenty of strong-minded women, goofy young men and romance aplenty. Enormous fun.

Dream days by Kenneth Grahame--***1/2

Five orphaned children, being raised in the British countryside by aunts, uncles and servants but mostly by each other, experience the joys of a country childhood. Book is written entirely from a child's point of view--adults are The Olympians, who swoop down, make changes and never understand. Book is a series of sketches, lyrically written. The fractured fairy tale, the Reluctant Dragon, is part of one chapter. Sequel to the even more delightful Golden Age

Academic murder by Dorsey Fiske--***

When an unpleasant Cambridge don is poisoned by vintage port, Inspector Bunce of the Cambridge police must try to unravel a case involving rape, a recently discovered Shakespeare manuscript and a lot of professional envy. The plot is pleasant and entertaining until the last few chapters. The detective is easy to like and the Cambridge don who helps him is very nice, but the solution is very politically incorrect.

It's a shame that the Fiske book isn't better. I normally like murders with the academia element. The ratings don't seem to be all that high here (although there are only 2) or at Amazon. There's only one rating at Goodreads too, and it's a 3 as well. I think I'll skip it.

The book is . . . homophobic. It had two gay characters who were presented in a highly unflattering light. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been written in 1940, but it was written in 1980. Most of the other characters are charming in various eccentric ways.

The author wrote another book featuring the same Oxford don and he was so likeable that I may try to find it and see if the author was able to do better.

City of glass by Paul Auster--**1/2

When a damaged writer is approached by an attractive woman and asked to protect her husband, horribly abused as a child, from his abuser, the writer begins a disturbing journey into his own deconstruction. Along the way there are side trips into Paradise lost and Don Quixote, homelessness and children raised in silence. The author also introduces himself (or a character with his name) into the story, a convention which I found irritating. Actually, despite a compelling style, I found the story mostly pointless and annoying. I read the narrative rather than the graphic version, so perhaps the addition of images helps the story makes more sense. I know this one won an Edgar Award, but this comes across as politically correct noire, which I don't find very attractive.

Q's legacy by Helene Hanff--***

Pleasant but slightly disorganized memoir. Hanff recounts how she learned to love good writing through the writings of Arthur Quiller-Couch (the Q of the title) and then goes on to tell how she came to write 84 charing cross road and how it changed her life. It doesn't really say much but it's amusing and fun.

I loved 84 Charing Cross Road when I read it and I have The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street waiting on my TBR bookcase. Q's Legacy is a new one to me. I may consider reading it whenever I get around to The Duchess.

I haven't read Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and will need to find it. I'm also curious about her first book Underfoot in Show Business

Recap of June's reading
Books read--14

Best book read this month: (Tie) Tirra Lirra by the River, an insightful last-act-of-life novel that hit me where I was; 84 Charing Cross Road which is mostly about the bridges that books make between those who love them; and Death of a salesman, which I expected to hate but which mightily impressed me.

Least favorite book this month: City of glass by Paul Auster. I know it was nominated for an Edgar award, but I found it banal and highly unpleasant.

Overall reading month: Two Helene Hanffs, two Joan Hess and two Kenneth Grahames. Always fine. I decided not to read Theodore Dreiser, but other than that did well.

Up this month: The last Blandings, two very different religious memoirs--Journal of John Woolman and Little Flowers of St. Francis, A Gene Stratton Porter, and maybe some Norman Mailer.

Sunset at Blandings==**1/2

This novel was half-finished in 1975 when Wodehouse died. Rather than employ someone to finish the novel, Wodehouse's publishers included his notes. The story is the usual Blandings nonsense, thinner than usual, of thwarted lovers and imposters. I was sorry that the portrait of the Empress was never painted. For fans only. Still, flashes of the old Wodehouse magic are still there.

Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald--***

Sequel to the better Princess and the Goblin; Curdie the miner's son is called by the magical Queen Irene to save the King and his daughter from the evil around him. Has several images that are redemptive, but it doesn't stand on its own well without the original.

I didn't know (or didn't remember) that there was a sequel to The Princess and the Goblin! I was quite fond of that story when I was young. Sorry to hear the followup is not a winner.

VictoriaPL, it's a good book, but the P&thG is somewhat better. They're both a lot of fun to read.

Little minister by J. M. Barrie--***

A young minister, on his first assignment at a church of a strict Scottish sect call Auld Licht (Old Light), falls in love with the most unsuitable woman possible. Gavin Dishart is more mature than Tommy Sandys or Peter Pan (more typical Barrie heroes) and he is a witness to the power of romantic love, but (to his credit) Barrie sets it up in a fairly inobtrusive way. Charming and less heavy than expected.

Comrades by August Strindberg--**

In Strindberg's world, the woman is always wrong. She is a double-dealing schemer whose only desire is the emasculation and humiliation of any man foolish enough to waste a second thought on her. Comrades is set in the art world of Paris (although the characters are a bunch of Swedes) and shows the marriage of Axel and Bertha, who have tried to develop a partnershp on an equal basis, though Axel is far the superior artist. There is a double-dealing friend, who encourages both parties to think ill of each other. Even poor Bertha's attempts at compassion are flawed. She gives a large sum of money to a woman who tells her a story about marital betrayal and begs money to support her children. As it turns out, the children in question are a gaggle of prostitues and she has been blood-sucking her former husband for years. By the time Axel walks out on the marriage (and hooks up with a new woman who will be a wife not a comrade) Bertha's life is in shreds. Interesting in a repulsive way.

Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress by Da Sijie--***1/2

Two young Chinese, children of doctors, are sent for re-education to a remote mountain village. They steal a suitcase full of forbidden Western novels from another child of intellectuals, which fires their imagination and enables them to survive the harsh coinditions and intellectual purgatory of their situation. They share the books with a beautiful mountain girl, who teaches them a lesson in the effects of literature on the human soul. The book is slight and magical. It's almost impossible for a Westerner to imagine the type of closed and repressive society that views all outsider ideas as suspect and dangerous, so the story streched my experience.

Nice review of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. I enjoyed it very much myself.

Cheshire Cat's eye by Marcia Muller--**1/2

The murder of a master house painter and colorist in circumstances made to look like an accident take Sharon McCone into the world of historic preservation and restoration. The most interesting thing about this novel is the custom-made Tiffany lamp which turns out to be a clue. I didn't find Sharon McCone a particularly engaging character and she carried on in a manner that no private investigator would. Story was confusing; didn't much care for the characters.

Carnage of the realm by Charles Goodrum--***

Sequel to the delightful Dewey decimated. Edward George returns to the Werner-Bok to research the effects of automation on libraries but a chance encounter with a scholar leads him into the investigation of rare coin thefts and murder. George is always delightful, but this book leaves his sidekicks Steve Carson and Crighton Jones without much to do. The plot is slightly confused, but the characters are pleasant.

Sport by Louise Fitzhugh--***

Simon "Sport" Rocque, Harriet the Spy's best friend, finds his life changes dramatically when his penniless novelist father re-marries and his enormously rich grandfather dies. Sport inherits a lot of money and his new-found wealth brings him into contact with his mother's family, whose attempts to control his life are frightening and clumsy. Despite a few improbable plot elements (such as the Plaza Hotel hiring junior high school-aged bellboys), this is an interesting story and a nice finish to the trilogy.

Colour scheme by Ngaio Marsh--***

Set at a small New Zealand spa during WWII, Inspector Alleyn goes undercover to find a spy who resorts to murder. The story is pleasant if somewhat pedestrian (as is the romance.) I more or less figured out who the murderer was halfway through. Marsh has a little sly fun with one of the mystery novel's conventions (the character who fakes his death to escape.)

Cable car murder by Elizabeth Atwood Taylor--***

Little flowers of St. Francis--***

Presents the lives of St. Francis and his brothers in the Franciscan order. Apart from the information about Saints and monasticism (which, as a Protestant, I haven't much interest in), the two outstanding themes of the book are the importance of humility in the life of the believer and the personal devotion to Christ that set apart Francis. Left me with a few things to think about.

Sport sounds fun. I only knew about Harriet the Spy.

Cammykitty, I enjoyed it very much. The long secret, which is the second book and centers on Beth Ellen Hansen, is better than Sport Also, Harriet is a major character in LS, whereas she's only a minor character in Sport. Both books are similar in that Sport and Beth Ellen both have rich socialite mothers.

Brewster's millions by George Barr McCutcheon--***

GB McCutcheon is now chiefly known for this book, probably on account of the Richard Pryor movie based on it made in the 1980s, although he had a ton of best sellers in his day and created Graustark, a Ruritania-like European country where he set several banal romances. I found this novel far more pleasant than expected. Montgomery Brewster, already a millionaire by inheritance, is charged with spending that money to get a much larger fortune. The conclusion was sort of forgone, but the characters were pleasant. There is one incident with an Arab which grates on modern ears, but basically this is a fun read.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Epistolary novel about a manipulative woman who spreads misery around her. Susan Vernon is one of Austen's most unpleasant characters. The conclusion, which pairs Lady Susan off to a ninny with money and opens the door to her daughter's marrying a much superior man, is written in a slightly cynical vein, which makes me think that Austen enjoyed this exercise in writing about someone totally undeserving. Fun.

Both the Long Secret and Lady Susan go on the WL. I've never heard of Lady Susan and I thought I'd heard of every novel JA ever wrote. I like the idea of her getting snarky as an author.

Cammykitty, not only is it Austen, but it can be read in a couple of hours. It's quite short.

Super cool! Quick snarky Austen. :)

Drive by Larry Bird--**1/2

I went through two periods of intense Boston Celtics love--in the late 60's with the Bill Russell-John Havilceck-Sam Jones team--and the 80's with Larry Bird--Robert Parrish--Kevin McHale and this book allowed me to relive a little of that latter feeling. Also, as an IU basketball fan, I've always wondered how Larry Bird would have worked out on Bobby Knight's team. I enjoyed this look at Larry Bird's great career, despite the awkward prose.

Recap of July's reading
Books read--19

Best book read this month: Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress

Least favorite book this month: August Strindberg's Comrades Strindberg is the most repellent chauvinist author I think I know. None of the women in his plays are very likeable, but most of his characters are vile anyway.

Overall reading month: I really couldn't settle down to anything much and read mostly detective stories. Fun, but it didn't get me too far on my empty categories.

Up this month: An Edgar Wallace, a novel about WWI by Ford Madox Ford, a Louise May Alcott collection, two historical works and an early P. G. Wodehouse. That is, if I don't get lazy and just grab whatever happens to be handy

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Have to agree with you there. "Repellent" describes Strindberg quite nicely, but for some reason, he kept finding women. ??? What on earth did they see in him. I know he was a product of the times, but the women who fell for him were always intelligent "modern" women who could've done much better. I was wondering if they saw him as a challenge that they could tame.

#80, Cammy, I first read Strindberg as part of a college class entitled Women's Liberation in the literature of Strindberg, Ibsen and Shaw. You can imagine what we made of him.

A complicated trail of theft, arson and blackmail culminates in murder at the Coat of Arms roadhouse and T. B. Collett, the crack Scotland Yard detective, must cope with a cast of stock company suspects and an incompetent local detective. This is a dandy story with all the Golden Age mystery elements. Wallace is so skillful that he snuck one in on me without my suspicion. I knew who the murderer was, but had no idea why until the end. Lots of fun.

The Arranways mystery by Edgar Wallace--***1/2

Journal of John Woolman by John Woolman--***1/2

John Woolman was one of America's earliest abolitionists. (He died 3 years before the American Revolution began.) This journal, which covers his life from young manhood to just before his death, makes it clear that his entire social conscience was derived from his love of Jesus Christ and a concern to share that love with the world. Woolman would not have been popular in this day and age. He opposed all frivolity and ornamentation and espoused living in simplicity in order better keep one's mind and energies for God. However, his concern for native Americans, American slaves and the poor was admirable. The style is not difficult to follow, but the journal is oddly impersonal. (Woolman mentions his wife perhaps 5 times and never talks at all about how he feels about her or how she feels about his religious convictions.) Anyone concerned with social justice will find much to interest and inspire.

Michael O'Halloran by Gene Stratton Porter--**

This novel about an Indiana orphan boy who finds and cares for a crippled and abused child has not worn well. It's syrupy, preachy and full of awkward dialogue. The title character is engaging and rises about the mess and there are some interesting nature scenes, but I had to force myself to finish this.

@81 - I wish I'd read Strindberg in a course like that. I had to read Miss Julie complete with introduction for a general lit/drama class. I was so steamed by the intro that I could hardly focus on the play, and then had to write a paper on it and prof was male and couldn't understand why he was reading seething rage rather than careful analysis. - clearly your prof included him so you could "know thine enemy."

& I see Michael O'Halloran is from 1915 - I can see why the writing of that time on that subject could get syrupy. How did you come across it?

I read Michael O'Halloran last year and also couldn't hardly finish it. Then I ended up citing it in a paper on the experiences of Hoosier farm women in the twentieth century, so it moved up a bit in my estimation.

#85, cammykitty, I'm a librarian from Indiana and Gene Stratton Porter is much revered here. I didn't read her books growing up, so I've been picking them up periodically to see what the fuss is about. I did my Indiana authors category this time because I realized there were so many Indiana authors I'd never read and we get asked questions about them periodically.

As for the class, it was fun. I went to a small private college and we used to have something called January term between semesters. You took one class (which usually lasted 2-3 hours every day) for 3 1/2 weeks. I had never heard of Strindberg and of course we all thought he was outrageous.

#86, casvelyn, I think Porter's attitude about women and the farm is interesting. Despite all of her carefully cultivated nature worship, she was also a big fan of modern conveniences. One of the few interesting points that Michael O'Halloran makes is that, on the farm at that time, there was a transition to labor-saving devices for men's work while women were expected to go on doing things the "good old way" which wore down their energies and wasted their time.

My next Indiana author item is going to be a short collection of poetry by Jared Carter which I predict I won't have to force myself to finish.

>87 Bjace: The part about gender inequalities in technology was what I cited in my paper, because Stratton-Porter wasn't just making it up as a plot point; that really did happen for a lot of rural women, Hoosier and otherwise. It was partly because there was only so much money to spend and farm machinery meant an increased income the following year, partly because in most families the men controlled the finances, and partly because some men truly didn't realize what their wives had to put up with in their housework. Also, lack of rural electrification meant that the latest in electric amenities were not useful to most rural dwellers.

Did you go to college in Indiana? Might I ask which one?

What was then Anderson College and is now Anderson University.

Desire under the elms by Eugene O'Neill--***

"God is hard and lonely" So says Ephraim Cabot who has, in his 76 years, married 2 wives, begat 3 sons and wrested a fine New England farm out of a rocky soil. Ephraim, who occasionally makes Puritan-like noises, worships himself and his strength and energy. He takes a third wife, who immediately begins scheming to take the farm herself and then decides she would rather have her youngest step-son. Their ill-conceived love results in a child and in heinous sin. This play exuded a sort of creepy fascination, but I can't imagine wanting to be entertained by this in a theater.

@87 Aahh - Yes, every region has their own stars. I was wondering, partly because I'd seen casvelyn had read it recently too. Sometimes there's a story on how a book finds a person.

& yes, Strindberg was outrageous - I think even in his own time period. I remember reading one play where his "character" rants about the wife complaining about money spent on necessary books, which would perhaps should make a bookaholic laugh, but it was filled with vitriol and it was too easy to think of his wife Siri, who had to keep the finances, trying to keep his spending under control during the time period where his writing wasn't making any money.

>89 Bjace: Okay--I know some people who went there. I attended a small private high school, and most of my classmates ended up at one small private college or another.

>91 cammykitty: I read it for more or less the same reason. I'm trying to work through the Stratton-Porter canon specifically. Some of her books are markedly better than others, though. (Freckles is my personal favorite thus far; I found Girl of the Limberlost to be overrated. Her Father's Daughter would be excellent, but is marred by an extremely racist subplot.)

Oh, and I've done some volunteer work at a couple Hoosier historic sites, and the last site I was at was Gene Stratton-Porter's first home in Rome City. So I have the dubious honor of being able to say that I've washed and waxed Stratton-Porter's floors...

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey--***1/2

Published in the middle of WWII (odd, actually, that's there's no mention of the war), Homer Price is a children's book from a simpler time. Homer is a small town boy whose enterprise and ingenuity make him sought out by the adults around him to solve small problems. While the world that Homer Price lived in has all but vanished, I doubt that boys have changed much, so they'd probably still like this. Lots of fun.

Work for the night is coming by Jared Carter--****

Reading this was like a walk in a refreshing spring rain. Carter, who comes from my home county in Indiana, references a dying rural and small town culture and it's helpful to know a little about that. One poem, which is about peonies, is about decorating graves. (Peonies are a traditional memorial day grave flower.) Three of the poems are called tintypes and are about historical Indiana figures (Sam Bass, Oliver Morton and John Dillinger.) I love poetry and I don't know why I don't read it more often. I certainly enjoyed this one.

I can imagine what Homer Price is like. I group up with his Make Way for Ducklings. It was my parents' favorite, so of course I've got a soft spot for it still.

If you like McCloskey and run across a copy, the illustrations from One morning in Maine are really lovely.

>94 Bjace: I'm curious, what did Carter have to say about Oliver Morton? I've written two papers on him, but I can't imagine anyone writing poetry about him.

Oliver P. Morton

I was being shaved by old Jake Dunn
The morning the news came:
Morgan and 2,500 men and horses
Across the Ohio, heading north. I decided
to have Jake give me a haircut, too.
Think of war. Think of armies marching,
Of chimneys belching the smoke
Of iron and munitions, of rails,
Of cannon and ships, of Old Glory
Snapping above the columns of blue.
Why, in a matter of hours
I mobilized 30,000 old men and boys
To go chasing around after Morgan;
Who was, of course, a joke.
Telegrams outrun horses any day.
There are callow historians
Who spend lifetimes in dim libraries
Writing about that silly raid.
Let them. Morgans come and go.
No matter how appropriate some might deem it
My monument is not an iron statue
For pigeons to spatter on the statehouse lawn.
No, it is my spirit that endures.
A century later, how many Hoosiers give a damn
If black men and women are oppressed?
But in a matter of hours you can scare up
Any number of men and boys in the state
To go out and try to kill somebody.--Jared Carter, Work for the night is coming

>98 Bjace: Thanks! I kind of like it (I'm not generally a poetry person). I find Morton a fascinating character, mostly because he did so many illegal or shady, sketchy things while governor, but I don't think he was truly a bad person--just someone who would do whatever it took to accomplish a goal in which he believed. I suspect he was also one of those "rules are for lesser men" sort of people.

There are callow historians
Who spend lifetimes in dim libraries
Writing about that silly raid.

Yes! Dear historians everywhere: Morgan's raid wasn't all that exciting or eventful (except perhaps for the people involved), and the state capital was never in serious danger. Please stop beating the dead, gone, and buried horse and find something else to write about.

To return to a previous conversation, I read Freckles years ago to include in a book talk and liked it. I also found Girl of the Limberlost pleasant, but I could barely choke down Michael O'Halloran and I probably will not read any of GSP's books again. (Famous last words.)

Pothunters by P. G. Wodehouse--***

The Pothunters was Wodehouse's first published novel and is a school story set at the fictional St. Austin's College. The plot revolves around two stolen sports trophies (the pots of the title) and the school field events day. Although this is not the Wodehouse of the intricate plot and the hilarious image, there are definitely signs of what will develop and, although I care nothing whatsoever about English sports stories, I found myself enjoying this very much. I also suspect that a character named Charteris, an indifferent student who writes a underground school newsletter and had a whimsical sense of humor, may have been modelled on Wodehouse himself. The same characters appeared in a later book, Tales of St. Austin's

Some do not by Ford Madox Ford--***1/2

(I freely admit that I'm fudging a bit. I've fallen so far behind on the Doughboy category that I've decided to divide Parade's end into separate novels, which is the way they were published.)

Christopher Tietjens, youngest son of landed gentry, is England personified. The character of an English country gentleman is so hardwired into him that his perpetual correct responses are automatic. A brilliant mathematician who works for the government, his personal life is a shambles. Married to Sylvia, the quintessential femme fatale, he falls in love with Valentine, the quintessential English girl of good family. Some do not traces the developing love triangle through the beginning of the war and ends with Tietjens' departure to participate in a major offensive.

I found this book exhilirating and confusing. The story flows like a superior soap opera, but occasionally the sheer Englishness of the characters are hard for an obtuse American like me to figure out.

Splitting Parade's End isn't cheating at all. After all, would you want to count The Lord of the Ring series as one book because Tolkein wrote it that way?

I'm not sure about Pothunters because I too could care less about British school sports and wouldn't be aghast or even slightly upset over the theft of a trophy, but Tales of St Austin's sounds good. I could see Wodehouse making a rolicking good farce of a British prep school.

Murder goes to college By Robert Foster--**

Someone is plundering the rare book collection of a small Missouri college. When the thefts come to light over Easter weekend, Professor John Badger Smith, aided by his two great aunts and his fiancee, pit their wits and library experience against a thief who quickly becomes a murderer. The crime is remotely ingenious but the prose is plodding and the romance is almost annoying.

Too bad about Murder goes to callege - I have a friend who teaches at that college. (like there is only one small MO college.)

I got the book from a list on the Internet of murders that took place in libraries. I got it into my head to read them all, but that was maybe not a good idea. There've been some good ones--Charles Goodrum's Dewey decimated and Hazel Holt's The cruellest month, but most have been somewhat mediocre.

I'm sure there are tons of murder mysteries set in libraries, since writers tend to love libraries. Was The Name of the Rose on the list? I think it would be safer to do a top 10.

You know, I don't remember. I no longer have my paper copy of the list and it's available on the Net somewhere but I haven't looked for it in a while.

Quality of courage by Mickey Mantle--**

Portraits of several sports figures of the 40s, 50s and 60s all of who lives exhibit courageous behavior. This book was probably a series of after dinner presentations aimed at an audience of boys and young men. It reminded me of Joe Garagiola's Baseball is a funny game in that respect, except that those stories were played for laughs and Mantle wants to inspire. The courage is a gut-it-out, suck-it-up, don't give in variety, but Mantle can be surprisingly insightful at times. The prose is beyond awkward and some of the stories are very familiar, but it's a relatively pleasant read.

Recap of August reading
Books read: 12

Best book read this month: Work, for the night is coming by Jared Carter--What Walt Whitman might have written if he was a Midwesterner

Book I liked least this month: Murder goes to college by Robert Foster--Tedious prose isn't made any better by a ho-hum mystery.

Any reading I did this month was overshadowed by my computer DISASTER. My hard drive crashed and my TBR database (which had about 2500 titles in it) died. I have a very old version on a flash drive that I can't find. Right now my list of what I wanted to read this month (and the next and the next) is gone. In a way, I feel like the Apocalypse has happened. In a way I feel young and irresponsible.

Reading next month: I'm headed on vacation for a couple weeks. I'm just going to throw a bunch of paperbacks into a tote bag and see what I like.

:( Hope you find that flash drive. & enjoy vacation!!! If you never do find your back up TBR list, we volunteer to help you build a new one.

Thank you, cammykitty. Yes, I know--everyone here at LT is very helpful in that way and always has such good advice about what to read.

Wow - sorry to learn about your computer disaster! I can sympathize, my other half had to rebuild my computer two years ago after a crash and was only able to retrieve part of my files.... we had gotten complacent about keeping backups. Lesson learned, I started saving all my 'keep' files to a flash/thumb drive, only to discover my other half had been overwriting the files with other files, because the thumb drive was convenient when he was dealing with his own computer rebuild issues. As per norm, this discovery as made after my hard drive seized....

I NOW have my own password protected thumb drive which my other half does not have the password to and he has HIS own thumb drive! ;-) It is a bit of a hazard living with a techie... I cannot begin to tell you how many pairs of eyebrow tweezers I have gone through over the years because they have been conveniently 'appropriated' as tools to retrieve screws and other small bits that get lost in the computer.

*rolls eyes and smiles*

Enjoy your vacation!

Agatha Raisin and the vicious vet by M. C. Beaton--**1/2

Agatha Raisin, newly established in her Coltswold village, is distracted in the pursuit of her handsome neighbor, by a flirtacious veterinarian who turns out to be a thorough rotter and is murdered. Agatha and her neighbor take up pursuit in a clumsy but fairly intelligent fashion, but the murderer nearly trumps their efforts and almost puts Agatha out of the game for good. The murder is relatively clever, but Agatha is such a self-absorbed character that she is definitely not everyone's cup of tea.

One for the money by Janet Evanovich--***1/2

I resisted reading Janet Evanovich for years, but unemployed lingerie buyer Stephanie Plum, who blackmails her kinky cousin into letting her be a bounty hunter for his bail bond agency, is hard to resist. It might have been better if Stephanie had started the series with an anonymous criminal than with a man she is both annoyed and enticed by, but this was one fun romp.

Hmmm, Stephanie sounds like an interesting sleuth.

Kidnapped by R. L. Stevenson--***

I had never read any Stevenson other than Treasure Island, but this tale of young David Balfour, who is sold into indentured servitude by his wicked old uncle, has an Indiana-Jones feel to it. Set a few years after the Scottish defeat at Culloden in the aftermath of the Jacobite troubles, young Balfour is rescued by a Scottish outlaw and the two of them are pursued across the Scottish highlands by the British Army and members of hostile clans. Although it ends in something of a fizzle, it's a fun story.

Martin Hewitt, investigator by Arthur Morrison--***

I love detective stories and I have become more and more interested in the beginnings of the genre. To this end, I read a lot of Victorian detective stories. Martin Hewitt operated in the same London as Sherlock Holmes, but Hewitt is cheerful and working class as opposed to Holmes' idiosyncratic aesthete. The 8 stories in this collection are pleasant and relatively clever, but Hewitt is a fairly generic character and none of his opponents are memorably evil or terribly clever. Pleasant read, but nothing sticks much.

Wodehouse wrap up: Tales of St. Austin's, Mike at Wrykyn, Psmith in the city and Psmith journalist

Wodehouse is so well known for his tales of bumbling among the upper classes that it's easy to forget that he began his career writing about life in the English public school environment. Tales of St. Austin's and Mike at Wrykyn are books in this vein. Both have stories that are so devoted to cricket and rugby that they are well-nigh unintelligible to Americans. The books are worth reading for the wry observations about the public school culture that signal that Wodehouse is going to grow beyond this point (although greatness is not predictable yet.)

The Psmith books are a beginning in that direction. Rupert Psmith (the p is silent) is a whimsical wiseguy who is an odd combination of Bertie and Jeeves or an early version of Uncle Fred Twistleton. In Psmith in the City, Wodehouse takes an episode from his own life. Psmith and Mike are put to work in an Asian bank in London (much as Wodehouse was when he finished his school career.) Neither is temperamentally suited for a banking career and Psmith manipulates a better future for them both. Psmith journalist is an odd item in the Wodehouse canon. During a summer in New York, Psmith becomes a temporary employee of a New York weekly and he becomes involved in trying to right social ills in the face of resistance from New York's criminal element. Because it's Wodehouse, the story is mostly played for laughs and Wodehouse has fun creating a cat-loving tough and some other varied bad guys, but it's somewhat odd finding a social conscience in the midst of Wodehouse's usual foolery.

Our hearts were young and gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough--***

Cornelia Otis Skinner would eventually become a distinguished actress and Emily Kimbrough would be an editor and an author, but in the early 1920's they were both students at Bryn Mawr who decided to spend the summer in Europe. This book, written when they were middle aged women, is mildly hilarious. Their antic episodes are related from the perspective of time and punctures the pretentions of youth. Their account of lunch at the Ritz with their dogs is worth the price of admission alone. Sparkles.

Last bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter--***

When two young women miss the last bus from Oxford to Woodstock and accept a lift from a driver instead, only one of them survives the experience. A culprit is found, but all is not what it seems. The contrast of working styles between the stolid and decent Sergeant Lewis and the outwardly sardonic and inwardly romantic Inspector Morse makes the story. First in the series.

Night by Elie Wiesel--****

Elie Wiesel was a young teenager in 1944 when the Jews in his community were finally rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Wiesel, a religious boy, loses his faith as he watches the deliberate cruelty around him. He and his father stay together through Auschwitz, but when his father dies in Bergen-Belsen, he is almost too emotionally drained to react. Told in a deliberately unemotional tone, which is terribly devastating.

Across five Aprils by Irene Hunt--***

This historical children's novel follows 9-year-old Jethro through the five Aprils of the Civil War. While Jethro is too young to serve, he must watch his brothers and friends go off to the Army (including one brother who fights for the Confederacy) and must step up and farm like a man when his father suffers a stroke. Hunt captures the correct historical atmosphere, but she takes up far too much of the book with historical narrative which is somewhat dry. When she manages to couch her points in plot incidents, she does well and the story is quite affecting. In general, the book comes off like many of the Newbery-honored books of that time, serious and earnest.

Granny's wonderful chair by Frances Browne--***

A poor child is taken in to the royal palace, where she captivates a bored king with her storytelling chair. The atmosphere at the court is selfish and ugly and the chair tells fanciful stories that emphasize the importance of kindness and benevolence. Charming and pleasant; also quite short and easy to read.

Alpine advocate by Mary Daheim--***

When Emma Lord, single mother and publisher-editor of a small Washington newspaper, takes in one of her son's friends, she finds herself involved in a murder investigation when the son of one of the town's richest families is killed. I found Emma and her possible romantic triangle a little tedious, but I liked her sidekick, the ascerbic society writer for the paper. The plot was competently spun and I may decide to read more of the series.

I remember trying to read Across Five Aprils several times when I was a kid. I never could get through it.

I think that it's typical of the Newbery honored books from that time period. The chief criteria seems to have been worthiness. Does it teach children to be kinder, better, braver? A little stodginess is acceptable if the resultant good effect is achieved. When the author tried to present historical information by couching it as part of the plot she actually did rather well, but there were pages of straight history that were fairly dry. I probably wouldn't have gotten through it as a child.

So much for my vacation reading.

Oh, and in relation to your earlier comment: I sneered at Janet Evanovich's incredibly prolific output as it poured across the library desks and for years decided it just wasn't for me. I finally decided that I would read the first one so I could sneer more effectively at this unworthy stuff. I read it aloud for a couple of friends while we were on vacation and was suitably impressed. It had a little more profanity than I usually like, but the character is fresh and funny. So much for judging a book by either its cover or by its popularity.

not read any Wodehouse & not sure where to start but since he's loved by lovers of words (Stephen Fry, Christopher Hitchens amongst many who praise him) I feel I should try one - any tips?

Psutto, let's see. The Bertie and Jeeves stories are always good. The short stories are a good place to start, so try Carry on, Jeeves, Very good, Jeeves or The world of Jeeves which is all the stories collected. If you'd rather try a novel, try Right ho, Jeeves or Thank you, Jeeves. Right ho, Jeeves is, I think, available on Project Gutenberg and is easy to find.

There are lots of Wodehouse novels available for free in eBook. I haven't read that many of them so I can't say much. I probably wouldn't start with the school stories or the Psmith novels. You might try The clicking of Cuthbert which is a book of love stories with a golf theme. I enjoyed that very much.

P. G. Wodehouse wrote about 96 books, so if you like him well enough there's plenty out there to enjoy. I've sort of decided to read my way through the entire Wodehouse collection. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks! I'll probably add one to my 2013 challenge

Why Johnny died by Marlis Brown--**1/2

When a seventh grade student in a rural Indiana community dies tragically, two of his teachers discover that there are discrepancies in the story of what happen and decide to investigate. The plot is competent, but I found the narrator rather featureless and the narration rather bland. (I liked her sidekick, who is both more practical and zanier.) Set in small town southwest Indiana; First book in the Margo Brown series.

Recap of September's reading
Books read: 21

Best book read: Night by Elie Wiesel; his narrative of concentration camp survival.

Least favorite book: Agatha Raisin and the vicious vet by M. C. Beaton. I really love the Hamish MacBeth stories and this is my second try at Agatha Raisin who I find self-absorbed and irritating.

Best reading experience: About half of the month was spent on vacation. I tossed a bunch of mass market paperbacks in a sack (mostly mysteries) and took off. Also, my friends and I like to read aloud, so we shared several books while travelling. We had a wonderful time with Donna Andrews' Murder with peacocks and with Patrick Taylor's Irish country doctor. We also read One for the money by Janet Evanovich and liked it much more than expected.

Looking ahead to October: My reading this month was distinctly unplanned, partly because of vacation but mostly because my books database was lost when my hard drive crashed. I was able to locate an earlier version of it, but it was significantly different. As a result, I've just been reading whatever comes to hand. I need to work at my Christian book, WWI-WWII, Nonficiton and Plays categories. I'll be going back to Parade's end and working at finishing Three men in a boat, which I've been playing with on and off.

That's so cool that you have friends that you can share reading aloud to and everyone enjoys it!

The search for delicious by Natalie Babbitt--***

This fable about human nature creates a not-quite-idyllic world that is marred by human selfishness and redeemed by human kindness. A king, trying to develop a consensus definition of what is delicious, sends a young boy out to solicit the opinion of everyone in his kingdom. A villain twists this harmless query into a dangerous situation and forces the boy to work against him. The boy encounters several immortal fairy-like creatures--wood sprites, dwarves and mermaids--who are wise and good, but also mostly indifferent to human suffering. (I thought this was an interesting touch and a rather sophisticated concept for a children's book.) It's a pleasant read with more going on than most children would spot.

I still haven't read Tuck Everlasting but The Search for Delicious goes on the WL. It would fit into my fairytale category, I think. I suppose it depends on how tightly I define fairytale.

It is definitely a fairy tale and it's a relatively quick read.

Good!!! I'm going to go stick it onto my 2013 list right now.

Three men in a boat by Jerome K. Jerome--***1/2

In one of his early novels, P. G. Wodehouse constructed a complicated situational gag based on a story from Three men in a boat. It's a tip of the hat from one master to another but it's hardly necessary. Jerome is the spiritual uncle of a lot of 20th Century British humor in all its cheery, bumbling, self-deprecating spirit and it shows. This story, written in the sunny late afternoon of the Victorian Era, takes three friends up the Thames on a clumsy boat trip. Jerome throws in description and history. Pleasantly amusing rather than LOL funny.

I keep going back & forth on whether or not I want to read 3 Men. Some day when I'm feeling in for a lazy read?

Family and friends by Anita Brookner--***

I'm fudging a bit with this, but WWII happens in the middle of this and does affect the action, so I'm including it here. This is an extraordinarily visual book and reminded me of the 80's French movie Sunday in the country. The movie looks like a series of paintings by Degas and Renoir, and this book is set up to show a family in a series of family portraits. This is a story of a strong-willed woman who has specific plans for her four children. Two of them live lives which conform to her plans; two rebel; and none is terribly happy with the choices made. The war acts as a wedge, driving the errant children further away. This is a curious book. All of the action--what there is of it--is described, not shown. It's a pleasant read, but somewhat odd.

The white stag by Kate Seredy--***

Beautifully illustrated rendering of the Hungarian migration myth. The story is full of violence and of beautiful images as it tells the story of Attila the Hun (who is treated in a sympathetic way) and his forebearers.
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Running out of time by Margaret Haddix--***

When diptheria breaks out in a small Indiana village in 1840, the daughter of the local midwife is let into a terrifying secret. She is told that, in reality the year is 1996 and that the people who maintain the historic village she lives in are withholding the drugs that can save the lives of children. She is sent into the modern world with minimal instruction to get help. Haddix does very well with a terrific idea. She does a realistic job of describing the way a 19th century girl might react when instantly exposed to the 20th. Her rationale for the motives of the village managers is confusing and not well explained, especially for young people, but generally this is a very good thriller for young teens and older elementary students.

Thanks for the review of Running out of time. Some of the kids I work with might like it.

That sounds like an incredibly interesting book!

The prose is a little awkward and the end is a little clunky, but it's a nifty premise and a good execution.

All quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque--****

The lives of a group of German foot soldiers through two years of war on the Western front (in France) during WWI. Just schoolboys when the war began, they have endured the soul- and body-destroying trench warfare which has destroyed their ambitions, sensibilities and emotions. The story is told in an emotionless, matter-of-fact way that makes it all the more devastating. Remarque dedicated his book to a generation which was destroyed by war, whether dead or alive. One of the most powerful anti-war books ever written.

Recap of October Reading
Books read: 14

Best book read: All quiet on the western front--one of the greatest anti-war novels ever written.

Worst book read: I liked everything I read this month, but Enemy of the people by Ibsen was depressing though powerful and insightful.

Up in November: I really need to finish SOMETHING. I spent a bunch of time planning my 2013 reading and I have several books in various stages of completion. I also am planning to finish off a few series--the Rumpole books by John Mortimer and the Judge Dee books by Robert van Gulik--this year.

An enemy of the people by Henrik Ibsen--**1/2

When a doctor in a small Norwegian town discovers that the water supplying the town's health spa is tainted, he prepares a report and approaches the authorities to make them aware of the problem. His report at first energizes the press (who want to use it as a wedge against political enemies) and then angers everyone when it is learned how much fixing the problem will cost, at which point nearly everyone turns against him. This affects the doctor strangely; he begins to enjoy being the lone prophet crying in the wilderness and waxes lyrical about the intelligence of the electorate and the ineffectiveness of leadership, even though this begins to isolate his family. I found this interesting but depressing. I'm not sure I'd care to be either entertained or enlighted by it in a theater.

Judge Dee at work by Robert van Gulik--***1/2

Judge Dee was the Sherlock Holmes of ancient China, where the detective story was invented. These 8 stories span the Judge's career and are a wonderful window into an ancient culture. My only complaint about these is that one of the best side characters from the novels is not included.

I watched a BBC production of The Enemy of the People last year and was shocked at how timely the problems Ibsen addresses in that play still are. Like you say, depressing.

To say nothing of the dog by Connie Willis--****
Oxford Time Travel Series #2

Science fiction for history lovers. The story bounces between Victorian England, the Blitz during WWII and the future as time traveling detectives try to research and preserve items from the past without disturbing it enough to change the future. The extremely complicated plot eventually gets sorted out and the romance is a foregone conclusion, but this is a truly delightful book.

#9--The archivist by Martha Cooley--**1/2

I loved the beginning of this book, but a great deal of it affected me like fingernails on a blackboard. There are parallel stories in this book, one dealing with the main character's mentally disturbed wife and, later, a relationship he develops with a younger woman. Both women are Jewish and the Holocaust greatly affected both of their lives in complex ways. I think the latter story is handled better than the earlier.

The Archivist is a librarian-archivist and part of the plot deals with T. S. Eliot's works, which are woven throughout the book. (One thing the book does is inspire you to read Eliot, if you're at all fond of poetry.) I was particularly interested in the book because I have a similar job, but at end of the book the archivist does something so professionally unthinkable that I was appalled.

All in all, a complex read.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff--****

I first read this in Reader's Digest and was interested to find, upon reading the actual book, that RD probably shaved almost nothing from the original. This slim epistolary story details the dealings between a London bookseller and a New York writer over a 20-year period. Hanff was a warm, impulsive woman and her vital and sometimes cranky letters charmed the more reserved Frank Doel. The book is a testament to the way that books create bonds between book lovers. Utterly charming.

I loved the beginning of this book, but a great deal of it affected me like fingernails on a blackboard.

That says a lot about the book's effect on you! Nice way to describe a bad book.

@152 And it has cats. You forgot to mention cats as well as "the dog."

#156, you're right, Cammy, it does. My kittens are away from home right now because I had a friend keep them while I went away for Thanksgiving and I am missing them.

Plain tales from the hills by Rudyard Kipling--***

This was one of Kipling's first published works and is a collection of short stories about life in Simla (a station in the Indian hills.) Most of the stories are about the British stationed in India and most are also about the relationship between men and women. (As at least half end unpleasantly they can't be called romances.) The stories are easy to read and the style is sprightly, but they are mostly forgettable and are interesting more because they show Kipling's origins as a writer than on their own merits. Best story is probably His Wedded Wife, which is an account of a soldier's attempt to get back at bullies.

@157 Aw-I'm sure they're missing you too.

@ 152 -- Loved To Say Nothing of the Dog! I'm currently reading Blackout, which also involves the time-traveling historians. It's more somber in tone, as most of it takes place during the Blitz in WWII, but I'm really enjoying it as well.

For a while there I thought the archivist was the same as the archivist's story which I have on my list for next year and got very confused!

30 words by Jarrid Wilson--***

This was an Early Reader ebook that I was given. In the preface of this book, Jarrid Wilson names some of the giants of devotional literature and admits he is not one of them. His book makes a good devotional for busy people. Although there isn't much deep insight, the eternal truths of the gospel are re-stated simply and in a winsome fashion. I enjoyed reading it throughout the month. It also would make a good reference book for someone who's been asked to give a short devotion for a group.

November wrap-up: 13 books read
Am beginning to wonder if I'm going to finish this challenge. Most of what I read this month was non-challenge stuff because I'm down to books that require some concentration and I was distracted by the holidays and other unfortunate priorities. (Isn't it too bad that we have to go to work and do housework when all we want to do is read?)

Best book: Probably Judge Dee at work, a collection of mystery stories set in 6th century China. I have really enjoyed Robert van gulik's work.

Least favorite: Elizabeth Peters' Night of four hundred rabbits is a somewhat muddled mystery revolving around drugs and Mexican history.

Up in December: I need to finish 16 books to finish the challenge. I have family coming in on December 14, so it needs to get done quickly.

Isn't it too bad that we have to go to work and do housework when all we want to do is read?

*Nods emphatically in agreement*

Good luck with the remainder of your challenge! And if the crazy holiday season interfers..... well, I completely understand.... that, and the overall attraction of non-challenge stuff in general. ;-)

Passing for thin by Frances Kuffel--***1/2

Passing for thin is about losing weight, but it's unique in that it doesn't focus on the mechanics of food and eating. Frances Kuffel deals with the radical differences that a significant weight loss makes in the way the world reacts to her. This might seem pointless to a thin person, but to a woman who's dealt with the difficulties of significant weight loss it is spot-on. Her willingness to deal with things I didn't is probably why she was successful and I wasn't.

Lady Windemere's Fan by Oscar Wilde--***1/2

Lady Windemere, in love with her husband and a woman of principle, is the last to know that her husband has a mysterious relationship with a woman. This sets a chain of events into motion which brings her to the brink of ruin and reveals secrets about her past. There are the usual Wilde witticisms, but they seem a bit out of place in the heavier tone of this piece. Thought-provoking but a little uneven.

Phantom of the Temple--by Robert van Gulik--***1/2

Even though van Gulik wrote in English, he was Dutch and his milieu was ancient China. This is one of the better entries (in a very good series) about Judge Dee, a historical figure who was the Sherlock Holmes of China. In this novel (totally fiction, although some of the novels are based on old Chinese detective stories), Judge Dee solves the mystery of a missing girl, a corpse with a severed head and the theft of 50 lbs. of Imperial gold. This novel features the decadent sect of Buddhism, which was introduced into China not long before Judge Dee's life and of which Judge Dee strongly disapproved. I have really enjoyed this series.

Hamlet by William Shakespearse--****1/2

It's Hamlet; what can you say? It's great.

Serve it forth by M. F. K. Fisher--***

Essays on food by one of America's much admired prose stylists. Fisher had the good luck to live in France for several years, where she ate well and learned to develop her "powers of enjoyment" where food and drink were concerned. The book divides neatly into two types of essays--a sort of whimsical history of food (which I didn't find particularly effective) and those which celebrate food and memory (which are much better.) Her tone, which is a sort of girlish gush with sharp edges, grows on you.

A defective Santa Claus by James Whitcomb Riley--***

Long, dialect poem about Christmas on a turn-of-the-century farm. Warm and pleasing rather than clever. Riley made part of his living at chatauquas and on concert tour and I can imagine him reciting this to a group of children.

I still haven't read M.F.K. Fisher. You're making me think I should find one or two of her essays.

>171 cammykitty: You should. She's great.

I will!

My experience with M. F. K. Fisher this year was mixed. I read The gastronomical me which was a sort of autobiography with food memories. I like her best when she's writing about food; some of her autobiography made my suspect I probably wouldn't have liked her very much. Serve it forth is pleasant. I've also dipped into An alphabet for gourmets and liked those pieces.

The captive mind by Czeslaw Milosz--***1/2

This book is hard to get into, but is worth reading. Milosz lived through both the Nazi occupation and the Stalinist takeover of Poland and Lithuania and his critique of Stalinism is very educational for those of us who grew up with a Western mindset. His assertion that the Communist intelligentsia regard Westerners as idiots who simply don't get it was interesting, but he really makes his points when he insists that Westerners (especially Americans) are naive in their understanding of the Eastern bloc. Milosz then draws profiles of four Eastern writers and shows how they were each profoundly damaged by the Stalinist atmosphere in which they lived. Ultimately, although he had certain sympathy with Marxist aims, Milosz defected to the West because he was unable to bear the collateral damage that Stalinism required. Dense and difficult but it made me think.

some of her autobiography made my suspect I probably wouldn't have liked her very much. I'll keep that in mind! That's how I feel about Virginia Wolfe. I try to forget about her reputation as a cold/haughty person whenever I read one of her books.

Interesting comments on Milosz. I think of him as a poet, not a political critic but of course his poetry, and his commentary on other people's poetry is always highly political.

The first Sir Percy by Baroness Orczy--***1/2

This novel, although written in English, was written by a Polish noblewoman about Dutch history. Sir Percy Blakenley, the Laughing Cavalier of Hals' fame, was a Dutch soldier of fortune until he discovered his rich English father. Although the Spanish are still threatening the Netherlands, Percy intends to retire to England and wealth with his beautiful Dutch bride, but treachery threatens his former friends and he must remain to finish the battle with them. This is actually a dandy story. It's written in Orczy's florid and romantic style, but the characters are interesting and I enjoyed if very much.

Uncle. I am officially giving up and declaring myself unable to finish this. I have family in town who will be here through New Year's, so reading is mostly out. I will resume with my 13 on January 1.

Enjoy the time with your family, Beth! Wishing you Happy Holidays and I look forward to following your reading next year over on the 2013 group.

See you next year, next challenge.