Prop2gether's Act I

Wow! Be two weeks late in signing up and see how much has been missed!

This is my marker for 2013 and my goal is to keep up to date on my reading this year.

Decided that an introductory note might be good here: I've been in the 75 Challenges for at least five years now, and I love coming here to read and lurk and find new authors or books. It's definitely my "social network" although my children seem bemused by it.

I'm a legal secretary in Los Angeles, living in the San Fernando Valley, a fifth generation Californian (how rare are we?), with siblings in four states and three countries. My son and his new bride (married in July 2012) live in Wisconsin and my daughter and her fiance live in Brooklyn. This holiday, my son gave me a Nook, but there are no books on it as yet. Spending all day on a computer makes books on a tablet not as fun for me. However, I do have movies and games to play for my travels.

I read almost anything, if it interests me, although I tend to be a mood reader. I love Shakespeare and theatre, movies, teen lit (which I was introduced to through LT), children's books, history, biography, mysteries, thriller, challenges, long books and short ones. Even graphic novels, although I have a hard time remembering they are no longer "comic books." I listen to some books (love Libravox!) and just recently reorganized my book piles in the living room. Maybe the cats will leave the new stacks alone, but in any event, I found three books I've been looking for to complete.

2013 - BOOKS I READ

December

Notorious Nineteen
Tono-Bungay (2013, 1001)
Holidays on Ice
Uglies
A Rumpole Christmas
Tiny Confessions
Mansfield Park (2013, 1001)
Bad Boy Brawley Brown
Knitting Gifts for Baby
The Golden Ass (2013, 1001)
Heirloom Baby Knits

November

Bloodsong
Easy Knitting for Baby
Easy Knitted Hats
Aris Returns
The Dragon in the Sea
A Blood Seduction
The Thirteenth Unicorn
Afterburn
Wolf of the Deep (2013, LT)
Wasteland
The Lost Code
The Island Part One
The Island Part Two
The Island Part Three
My Cousin Rachel (2013)
A Confusion of Princes

October

Warren G. Harding (2013, Presidents)
The Bloody Chamber (2013)
The Mysterious Island (2013)
Wool (2013)
Jacob's Room (2013, 1001)
The Horror of the Heights and Other Strange Tales (2013)
A Journal of the Plague Year (2013)
Beautiful Darkness (2013)
A Little Lower Than the Angels
Echoes of My Soul (2013)
Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 2
Touched by Fire (ER)
Gerald's Game (2013, LT)

September

Villette (2013, 1001)
A Gathering of Days
Arminius (2013, LT)
60 More Quick Baby Knits
What to Knit When You're Expecting
Grammy's Favorite Knits
The Song of Roland (2013)
Franklin Pierce (2013, Presidents)

August

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (2013)
The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies 1960-1785 (2013)
The Museum of Unconditional Surrender (2013, 1001)
Empire of the Sun (2013, 1001)
The Traitor and the Spy (2013)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (2013)
Fire and Ash (2013)
Explosive Eighteen (2013)
Justine (2013, 1001)
Youth (2013, 1001)

July

Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince (2013)
While I Live
Article 5
A Day No Pigs Would Die (2013)
Trunk Music (2013)
Brighton Beach (2013, LT)
The Man in the High Castle (2013)
Stalin's Barber (2013, ER)
Vivien Leigh (2013, ER)
Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift (2013, 1001)
60 Quick Baby Knits
Blueprint Crochet Sweaters
She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown
Existence (2013)

June

Sunstroke (2013)
Elizabeth Costello (2013, 1001)
The Rubber Band (2013)
The Red Box (2013)
60 Quick Baby Blankets
World War Z (2013)
The Breath of God (Nook)
The Far Country

May

Beautiful Creatures (2013, LT)
Cocaine Nights (2013, 1001)
The Fire Gospel
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (2013)
Storybound
Movie Monsters in Scale (2013, ER)
Angel's Ink
The Emperor's Knife
The Riddle of the Sands (2013, 1001)

April

Kat, Incorrigible (2013, LT)
Home (2013, 1001)
The Vacuum Cleaner (2013, ER)
Trustee From the Tool Room (2013, LT)
Queen of the Air (2013, ER)
The Warded Man (2013, LT)
Black Hole Sun (Nook)
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt (2013)
Bloodtide (2013, LT)
Robocalpyse (2013)
Breaking Stalin's Nose (2013)
When Things Come Back (2013)
Prisoner 88 (2013, ER)
Heroes of the Kalevala (2013)
Cooking With Fernet Branca (2013, LT)
Inside Out & Back Again (2013)
The Notorious Benedict Arnold (2013)

March

Hombre (2013)
Valdez is Coming
Black House (2013, LT)
Orient Express (aka Stamboul Express) (2013, LT)
The Demi-Monde: Winter (2013)
Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy (2013)
Music was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein (2013)
Kieron Smith, boy (2013, 1001)
The Taken

February

Under the Dome (2013, LT)
Nook Handbook (Nook)
The Ministry of Fear
Bliss (Nook)
The Dawn of ProStock (2013, ER)
Pastoral
The Abominable Man (2013)
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2013, 1001)
The Gathering (2013, 1001)
Undaunted Courage (2013)
Betrayal in Death (2013)

January

Circular Knitting Workshop
Feed (2013)
I am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies
The Real Wizard of Oz (2013)
NFL Head Coaches (2013, ER)
The Rise of Nine
How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You
The Hobbit (reread)
The Money Changers (2013)
P is for Peril (2013)
The Stalking Moon (2013)
The Wind Through the Keyhole (2013)
Death and Judgment (2013)
Fairy Gold

I've had a personal "999" list (sets of books by rather loosely defined categories) for several years now. It is always quite fun to see which categories get completed and which books/authors are constantly carried over to the new year. There are 9 books in each of 12 categories (plus the October Halloween list), so this is a pretty intensive list. It includes, however, my favorite genres plus some to stretch the reading experience. This year--I try again to complete my list, but you will only see the books I actually finish, although you will see what my personal categories are:

Unfinished 2009-2012

A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift (1001) (July)

Unfinished 2009-2012 (Part 2)

The Long Fuse by Don Cook (August)
The Golden Ass by Apuleius (December)

1001-From My Stash

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (February)
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (December)
Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells (December)
Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf (October)
Cocaine Nights by J. G. Ballard (May)
Villette by Charlotte Bronte (September)
Justine by Lawrence Durrell (August)

Books in Books

Sunstroke ("The Gentleman From San Francisco") by Ivan Bunin (Stalin's Barber)
The Traitor and the Spy by James Thomas Flexner (August)
The Song of Roland by Unknown (September)

Young Adult/Children COMPLETED APRIL

Feed by M. T. Anderson (January)
Inside Out & Back Again by Thankhha Lai (April)
The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin (April)
Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin (March)
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston (April)
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (April)
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (April)
Breaking Stalin's Nose (April)
Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein bySusan Goldman Rubin (March)

75er Recommendations COMPLETED NOVEMBER

Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub (blackdogbooks) (March)
Arminius by Clint Glenn Hummel (picnicgal) (September)
Wolf of the Deep by Stephen Fox (sgtbigg bia petermc) (November)
Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess (avatiakh) (April)
Cooking With Fernat Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson (April)
Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis (beserene) (April)
Orient Express by Graham Greene (avatiakh as Stamboul Express) (March)
Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute (TadAD( (April)
The Warded Man by Peter V. Grent (beeg) (April)

Presidents

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt (September)
Warren G. Harding by John W. Dean (October)
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger (August)

Early Reviewer COMPLETED JULY

NFL Head Coaches by John Maxymuk (January)
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (January)
Dawn of ProStock by Steve Reyes (February)
The Vacuum Cleaner by Carroll Gantz (April)
Queen of the Air by Dean Jensen (April)
Stalin's Barber by Paul M. Levitt (July)
Vivien Leigh: A Biography by Anne Edwards (July)
Prisoner 88 by Leah Pileggi (April)
Movie Monsters in Scale by Mark Glassy (May)

Mysteries: Next-In-Series COMPLETED AUGUST

P is for Peril by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone) (January)
Betrayal in Death by J. D. Robb (Eve Dallas) (February)
The Unpleasantess at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey) (August)
The Abominable Man by Maj Sjowall/Per Wahloo (February)
Death and Judgment by Donna Leon (Commissario Brunetti) (January)
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum) (August)
The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) (June)
Trunk Music by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch) (July)
Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince by Nancy Atherton (Aunt Dimity) (July)

Strikes My Fancy COMPLETED JULY

The Money Changers by Upton Sinclair (January)
The Stalking Moon by T. V. Olsen (January)
Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose (February)
Hombre by Elmore Leonard (March)
The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees (Nook) (March)
Heroes of the Kalevala by Babette Deutsch (April)
She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown by James Douglas Barron (July)
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman (May)
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (July)

Potpourri COMPLETED OCTOBER

The Real Wizard of Oz by Rebecca Loncraine (January-Biography)
The Wind Through the Keyhole (January-Fantasy)
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (May-Teen Fantasy/LT)
World War Z by Max Brooks (June-Science Fiction)
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck (July-Children's/Teen)
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (October-Adventure)
Gerald's Game by Stephen King (October-Horror, LT)
Fire and Ash by Jonathan Maberry (Rot & Ruin) (August-Teen Fantasy)

1001 Must Read/Library COMPLETED AUGUST

Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman (March)
Youth by J. M. Coetzee (August)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (February)
Home by Marilynne Robinson (April)
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (July)
Museum of Unconditional Surrender by Dubravka Ugresic (August)
Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee (June)
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers (May)
Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard (August)

Halloween Reads

The Horror of the Heights & Other Strange Tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (October)
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (October)
Wool by Hugh Howey (October)
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe (October)
Beautiful Darkness (Beautiful Creatures, Book 2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (October)

Monster Books (VERRRY Long)

Under the Dome by Stephen King (February)
Existence by David Brin (July)

Marker for books found on 75er threads (or otherwise 75er recommended)
I keep reading books from this list, but somehow this list never gets shorter! You all read so many great books!

alcottacre: My Wars are Laid Away in Books
blackdogbooks: all the rest of Stephen King
......The Wind Through The Keyhole (January)
......Under the Dome (February)
......Black House (March) (with Peter Straub)(
TadAD: Random Harvest
TheTortoise: Who Moved My Blackberry?
mamachunk: Triangle
alcottacre: The Climb
ThePam: Now the Drum of War
TheTortoise: Heavy Weather
dfreeman2809: Click.....
missylc: Book of Lost Things
aethercowboy: The Mac is Not a Typewriter
Severn: Dancing in a Distant Place
LisaLynne: The Spanish Bow
Cait86: Hitler's Willing Executioners
fannyprice: The Anglo Files
TadAD: Three Day Road
nancywhite: The Elegance of the Hedgehog
kiwidoc: The Grass Arena
kiwidoc: Kate's Klassics
mlake: Never Heave Your Bosum in a Front Hook Bra
ronicats: Speed of Dark
paghababian: The Lost Painting
TadAd via drneutron: Holmes on the Range
rebeccanyc: The Book of Chameleons
porch_reader: A Thread of Grace
drneutron: Ending an Ending
TheTortoise via kiwidoc: Oscar's Books
fannyprice: The Female Malady
Kat32: The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even
Awilkins: Brighton Rock (July)
fantasia655: A Girl of the Lumberlost
kiwidoc via kidzdoc: A Journey Round My Skull
LisaLynne: Down to a Sunless Sea
lindsacl: The Road Home
Kat32: Real Vampires Have Curves
Kat32: High Stakes
gregtmills: The Ayatollah Begs to Differ
sanddancer: The Boy Who Kicked Pigs
rebeccanyc: Freedom From Fear
kethonna: Luna
enheduanna: Thus Was Adonis Murdered
kidzdoc: Mishima's Sword
Pummzie: The Mischief
cjji955: The House on the Strand
shewhowearsred: Predictably Irrational
mckait: Society of S
mckait: Skeletons at the Feast
drneutron: The Various Haunts of Men
gregtmills: Catapult: Harry and I ....
tokyoadam: The Forever War
seasonsof love: Dying by the Sword
Deedledee: Every Man Dies Alone
RebeccaAnn: The Lies of Locke Lamora
amarie: The Box...
Trystorp: Pandora's Star
kiwidoc: The Great Crash
kidzdoc: Golpes Bajos
kidzdoc: The Fat Man and Infinity
kidzdoc: Plants Don't Drink Coffee
laytonwoman3d: In the Fall
meanderer: If Pirate I Must Be
FlossieT: The Gone-Away World
TadAD: Cooking with Fernat Branca (April)
tututhefirst: Plato and a Platypus Walk...
LT: Mistress of the Art of Death
Bridget770: The Plague of Doves
TadAD: Battle Cry of Freedom
whisper: The Adoration of Jenny Fox
aquascum: The Very Bloody History of Britain
sjmcreary: Code Black
avaitakh:Bloodtide (April)
SqueakyChu: What the Deaf-Mute Heard
Landshark5: Red Thunder
laytonwoman3rd: The Hero's Walk
tiffin: Georgiana....
loriephillips: Little Bee
mamachunk: Our Guys
davidw: Epileptic
saraslibrary: While You're Down There
sgtbigg via petermc: Wolf of the Deep (November)
porch_reader: The Rope Walk
saraslibrary: Frankenstein Moved in on the Fourth Floor
RebeccaAnn: Captain Francis Crozier
daddygoth: The Infected
gregtmills: An Utterly Impartial History of Britain
TheTortoise: Lincoln's Melancholy
drneutron: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer
Banoo: Salmonella Men on Planet Porno
whisper1: The Day the Falls Stood Still
booksontrial: The Brain That Changes Itself
boekenwijs: Never Hit a Jellyfish With a Spade
kiwidoc: Skating to Antarctica
laytonwoman3rd: Jenny Wren
torontoc: Galore
drneutron: The Book of William
alaskabookworm: The Magicians
alaskabookworm: Emily's Ghost
Loosha: Dancing With Rose
Banoo: Magnetic Fields
booksontrial: Losing My Virginity
suslyn: Gremlins Go Home
laytonwoman3rd: The Bird Artist
avatiakh: Dear Alison
judylou: The Year of the Flood
marise: The Incredible Charlie Crewe
snat: The Order of Odd Fish
judylou: After the Fire, A Small Voice
cyderra: His Majesty's Dragon
womansheart: The Earth Hums in B Flat
avatiakh: Tender Morsels
girlunderglass: Dawn of the Dumb
cushla: The Dark Room
TadAD: Children of the New World
TadAD: The Ivankiad
lbucci3: Wolf Hall
jbeast: The Phoenix and the Carpet
jbeast: Miss Happiness and Miss Flower
beeg: The Warded Man (April)
beserene: The Sorceress of Karressc
ALK982: Tough Guide to Fantasyland
stanleybalsky: The Boy Who Would be Shakespeare
bohannon: Majestie:....
susanj67: Wedlock . . .
GeorgiaDawn: Beautiful Creatures (May)
bell7: My Reading Life
tututhefirst: Room
drneutron: Atlantic: The Biography
TadAD: From the Land of the Moon
TadAD: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy
beserene: Mr Chartwell
beserene: Reckless
beserene: Pale Blue Eye
beserene: Kat, Incorrigible (April)
TadAD: So Long a Letter
TadAD: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine
TadAD: Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill
TadAD: Wedding of Zein
TadAD: Dogs of the Perimeter
TadAD: Henrietta's War
TadAD: Random Violence
TadAD: Trustee From the Toolroom (April)
TadAD: Richard Kadrey series
TadAD: Saving Savannah
TadAD: Dervish House
TadAD: Autumn Rounds
avatiakh: Stamboul Train (March) read as Orient Express
aviatiakh: The Night of Wishes
beserene: Hounded
dk_phoenix: Plugged
dk_phoenix: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
lunacat: The Guide to Women's Country
lunacat: Shards of Honor
arubabookwoman: Viper's Tangle
drneutron: Bad Glass
arubabookwoman: Pierre and Jean
Esquiress: White Lines
beserene: Me Who Dove Into the Heart of the World
beserene: The One and Only Ivan
drneutron: The Mole People
dk_phoenix: Tigana
beserene: Jumping the Scratch
Esquiress: Gertrude & Claudius
Esquiress: The Gilded Chamber
drneutron: Ex-Heroes
arubabookwoman: The Issa Valley
avatiakh: A Journey to the End of the Millennium
beserene: The Princess Curse
avatiakh: The Orphan Master's Son
beserene: Horns and Wrinkles
drneutron: Hood
drneutron: Mind's Eye
avatiakh: Drama
avatiakh: Cloud Hunters

Welcome back!

Well, to keep me on track (since I so dismally dropped the back in the last third of 2012--here is the first of my January reads:

Circular Knitting Workshop by Margaret Radcliffe
Feed by M. T. Anderson
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies by Pittacus Lore
NFL Head Coaches by John Maxymuk
The Gunseller by Hugh Laurie
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore
How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Money Changers by Upton Sinclair
P is For Peril by Sue Grafton
The Stalking Moon by T. V. Olsen

Circular Knitting Workshop by Margaret Radcliffe was a present to me from me with about every hint and trick for circular knitting. Since I deal with a lot of hats, scarves, cowls, etc. because my son and his wife are in Wisconsin and my daughter and her fiance are in New York, I figured anything would help. This is a very comprehensive work on a specialized topic--for knitters only.

Feed by M. T. Anderson is one of the most scarifying novels, young adult or adult, I've read recently. Told by a young man who, along with all his friends, was outfitted with a "feed" when he was a very young child. The feed is designed to make you a perfect target for the corporate marketeers who send data on a constantly updating basis for young consumers to buy, buy, buy. (If you want a picture of this, think of the scenes in Minority Report where Cruise's character is walking by shops where he is identified by name and urged to buy--same thing here). This is a uniquely American phenomena and it has created a generation of young adults who don't know history or literature (although they can figure out their debit/credit card balances fast enough). This is what happens when one young man meets a young woman who was implanted in later childhood--and things start to go wrong.

I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies and The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore are the next in series for the Number Four series. Nicely presented, the young alien Loriens who are trying to join together and save the Earth continues. I was surprised to read that one of the original authors (Pittacus Lore) is actually James Frey (of the "I lied to Oprah" fame about his memoirs), but this is an engaging series.

NFL Head Coaches: A Biographical Dictionary by John Maxymuk is exactly that--a biographical dictionary of every single NFL head coach, including every statistic a football fan could ever want about a coach. It was an Early Reviewer book and I know it will be one of my son's most referred to books. I found some fun facts about coaches I remember, which is way back for Robert, but interesting for what is designed to do.

The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie was originally found on a list of drneutron, long, long ago. I got an Early Reviewer edition on disk, narrated by Simon Prebble, and it was as entertaining as promised--comic take on the soldier of fortune story.

How to Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman was a gift to a friend, who insists my cat is trying to kill her. It's a collection of comic adventures (with a week's worth of comic in the middle which I did not care for) showing how to tell what those kitty moves really mean.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien was a long overdue reread of the novel after watching Jackson's first installment of the movie series. It was just as much fun as I remembered (there are whole section of The Lord of the Rings which I found tedious!) and I almost remembered all the names of the traveling party by the end.

The Money Changers by Upton Sinclair is an amazingly current 1908 novel about stock swindles and bank collapses orchestrated by powerful men for petty reasons. I really enjoyed this short novel and its current applicability was startling.

P is for Peril by Sue Grafton is my next-in-series Kinsey Millhone mysteries. I like Kinsey and, while this outing is a bit convoluted, her adventures are always entertaining.

The Stalking Moon by T. V. Olsen is a Western which has been reprinted as part of a series of books which were converted to noted movies. Frankly, I can't see Eva Marie Saint as "Sara," but Gregory Peck would have been a great Sam Vetch. I know I've seen the movie, but now I will try to seek it out to watch again.

Reading and researching about fairies and steampunk for my daughter's wedding. . . . really.

>6 Prop2gether:: I haven't seen The Hobbit, yet. Every time I'm about to go, someone tells us how much it was padded and just a special effects show. I really should get over it and just see it before it leaves the big screen! I guess I'm more worried about it than I was over TLOTR because I liked The Hobbit more than the longer book.

What is Grafton up to now? I read up to about "O" or "P" and then picked up one or two out of sequence—I think "R" and "U". Has she finished the alphabet, yet?

Tad--I liked The Hobbit and I didn't feel it was padded as much as it must have been for three films to be made. There was some introductory stuff with Frodo and the older Bilbo which is set just before the LOTR ensues for audiences who saw the LOTR and there's an interlude in Rivendell and a meeting with Galadriel. Most of the "extra" comes from other writings of Tolkien expanding on his world and it blends rather seamlessly into the story. The backstory of Thorin Oakenshield was probably the longest single instance of that type of thing. I forgot about the length. Of course, I also went to the LOTR marathon the week before where all three of the expanded versions of those films were shown. Must be a glutton for this type of thing.

As for Kinsey, I think the latest venture is "V," but I still have a ways to go to catch up. There were a couple of "eh" novels in the series, but generally I've enjoyed riding along with Kinsey as she works and I figure to keep going.

So - was your cat plotting to kill you?

Of course! Aren't all cats? My mother had a great-aunt who had been a lion tamer in a circus in the early 1900's who warned my mother to never, ever trust a cat, no matter how friendly it seemed to be--there was a wild thing in head.

Hi there, Prop2gether!

Someone mentioned I should check you out, because we have a lot of books in common. I see you've read Feed this month. I think I read that a few years back, and I thought it was very interesting. I wanted to know more about why the world was the way it was, which Anderson didn't give me... but there had to be a reason for not doing so, right?

Anyway, I really liked what you had to say about it.

Have you ever read Ready Player One? That's my biggest recommendation to people right now. I reviewed it over on my thread.

-Esquiress/ kcrisell

Glad to see you back with us again!

Thanks for the good wishes. Here are my next January books:

The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Death and Judgment by Donna Leon
Fairy Gold: A Book of Classic English Fairy Tales Chosen by Ernest Rhys

The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephan King is the "interim" book in the Dark Tower series that was released last year. It's a novella with two sub-stories in it, and it is a very nice interstitial filler between books 4 and 5. It reminds me more of The Eyes of the Dragon in style and I enjoyed it.

Death and Judgment by Donna Leon is the next-in-series (for me) of the cases of Commissario Brunetti, a detective in Venice. Corruption, pornography, and murder all mixed in with the loving descriptions of Venice and Brunetti's family life were an exciting read.

Fairy Gold: A Book of Classic English Fairy Tales as chosen by Ernest Rhys and illustrated by Herbert Cole. There are some wonderful color prints in this edition, published by Dover Press, but the stories are so delightful, it was a real pleasure meeting up with Sir Gawaine, Dick Whittington, and others again. It's been years since we were together.

Currently reading Under the Dome and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, so may be including them in January as well.

I was just saying to Tui that I think it's getting close to time for another Leon book. I'm not sure what the next one for me is but, when I finish what I've got going now, that's next.

> 13

What do you think of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency? My husband started it and didn't like it, so I've been a little hesitant to pick it up myself.

Esquiress--I'm in a mixed state of mind about Adams and his work. I enjoyed the first of the Hitchhiker series (inventive, off-the-wall, and all that), was okay with the second, bored with the third, and never finished the fourth book in the trilogy (yeah, well, Adams made another joke here). I'm trying Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for a couple of reasons: some time has elapsed since my last readings of Adams and because it is on the 1001 Must Read list, and maybe this one is like the first Hitchhiker book--I'll let you know.

I spent the last four days of January and this morning's commute finishing Under the Dome by Stephen King--so close to including it in January's reading--but, alas!

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Under the Dome by Stephen King is one of his recent novels, and I am so glad he has returned to story telling over scatological characters and blunt horror. What scares us can be really quite simple, as, for instance, when a small Maine town which is shaped like a sock suddenly finds itself cut off from the world around it by a "dome" which inexplicably just drops into place. The dome is deep in the earth and miles high, and almost nothing can permeate it. Some air gets through, but life inside the dome is its own creation. There is no weather to speak of (except for the growing heat); the town council is run by a bullying used car dealer; two wildly different pastors and congregations; and a police department which would be effective if the correct man was in charge. Into the muddle created by the dome, King uses an Iraq vet who's now a short order cook, a newspaper editor, a couple of skateboarding teens, among others, to face down the one man who is determined to take over the town "for its own good."

Because of the boxed-in situation and the goal of getting the dome down or out of the dome, I was reminded of the Twilight Zone episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" which featured William Windom as a solder. The five characters were in a circular room with high walls, no doors, and no apparent
"top."

I recommend this King, to non-King fans as well, and the number is pages is highly deceptive. This is a fast read because the pace is fast. There's a fun cross-reference to another author's character lead as well. Just saying.

Well, I have an e-book reader--my son gave me a Nook for Christmas. I warned him I will not be giving up books on paper for this, but he's concerned about the all-day travel it takes to visit him or his sister (he's in Wisconsin and she's in New York). So he purchased the extra memory chip and a folding cover, so I can watch movies, and we downloaded about three in regular mode (not the more expensive HD mode) and they are great. His suggestion was not to load "thinking" films, but action and animation because it's easier to travel with films you can break into viewing segments. I'm delighted with this aspect of future travel. More delightful, the Nook comes with cloud storage, which is automatic, one-hour of free reading in a Barnes and Noble bookstore, and a slew of crossword puzzles which get updated weekly.

And the salesman bookmarked the Nook Free Friday blog which has one book available at no charge to download. I've skipped one romance, but downloaded a children's book and a history to see if I get to them. In the meantime, I decided I really should read the manual and did that this weekend. That's my weekend book.

>18 Prop2gether:: I love my Nook simple touch with glowlight. I'll have to get back to looking at the Free Fridays, as I haven't been doing so lately.

I'm slowly reading the books I downloaded, but still prefer the "old-fashioned" variety for everyday reading. That said, I've finished The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene, one of his "entertainment" novels (as opposed to what he considered his real novels). It's another case of an innocent who blunders into a serious situation--here, a man with an immense amount of guilt over his wife's death (which he perpetrated, but there were extenuating circumstances), happens on what we in the US call a street fair late in the day. It's supposed to be for a charity, doesn't appear well-attended, so he enters, has his fortune told and wins a cake. Only it seems he shouldn't have been the winner of the cake. Everyone at the fair tries to dissuade him from taking the cake, but after all, it's wartime, and the cake was made with real eggs. That's the beginning of the mischief. There's attempted murders, espionage, love, guilt, war, and all wrapped up nearly neatly by Mr. Greene. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Almost half-way through Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and it is certainly Adams at work here. Also reading Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and Clark expedition plus my "free Friday"children's book from a couple of weeks ago on my Nook.

The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene (see #20)
Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood
The Dawn of Pro Stock by Steve Reyes
Pastoral by Nevil Shute
The Abominable Man by Maj Sjowall/Per Wahloo

Just to catch up for the past week's reading:

The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene is reviewed above--I just list it here in my "normal" fashion. LOL!

Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood was a Free Friday download for my Nook and I figured a children's book would be a good way to check out my propensity for actually reading a book on my new toy. I wish the story had been half as entertaining as it promised to be from the download blurb. A family of children whose parents run the local bakery and (only occasionally use a little magic) are left alone to run the business when the parents are caught in an emergency. An "aunt" mysteriously shows up who's well aware of the magic propensities of the shop, but the eldest daughter is not sure her aunt is on the level. The children find the magic cookbook and ingredients and experiment with best intentions and horrific results. It's all been done before and I wasn't sure whether the author was writing for an elementary age audience or middle school. It was okay, but the ending promises a sequel, and I think I will avoid that.

The Dawn of Pro Stock by Steve Reyes is a pictoral history of early pro stock car racing. My daughter-in-law is related to a professional stock car racer, so I figured if I received it as an Early Reviewer book, I'd check it out. The problem is that the book is literally crammed: crammed with pictures, captions, text, and it is easy to see why fans would love having all this historical data at hand, but for the casual reader? No. There's just too much on every page. There's no "white space" for your eyes to find the chapter text (which, incidentally, is scattered and snuck into any slot where a picture didn't fit) or fully appreciate the many remarkable photographs which are printed. If the book had been better designed visually, it would have been a treat to read. That said, if you're a fan, you will want to check this out.

Pastoral by Nevil Shute is an early WWII novel about an aviator in England and the lady officer he meets. Actually, it's more about the aviation crews and how they worked together during the early days of the war, with a romance thrown in for interest. Shute is a writer whose work I very much like, and this was a somewhat lighter story than several of his better-known works, but I enjoyed it.

The Abominable Man by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo is the seventh in the Martin Beck series of police/detective stories. They are acknowledged to have created the form of police procedural we get from most modern writers, and this is one of the fastest paced novels in the series. A police inspector is murdered in a hospital in a brutal and gruesome manner, and Martin Beck and his associates must find the connection between the history of a "bad" policeman and the murderer before they are also victims.

Just finishing up Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency today and nearing the end of Undaunted Courage as Lewis and Clark have started the return from the Pacific. Started The Gathering by Anne Enright this morning. It will be an interesting close to the week.

>21 Prop2gether:: I read Shute's Requiem for a Wren last year, also about World War II, and found it so heart-wrenching that I'm almost hesitant to read another on the same topic. Of course, the year before I read Pied Piper, also World War II, and found it wonderful, so I guess I'll just get over myself and try Pastoral.

Hey Tad, I find I really enjoy Shute's writing. Pastoral isn't very long, either in storytime or pages, and it took a bit to get going, but it was very nice read. I think you'll enjoy it.

So my final reading for February includes:

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (2013, 1001)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (2013, 1001)
Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose (2013)
Betrayal in Death by J. D. Robb (2013

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams is another 1001 Must Read by the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. With the Hitchhiker series, I enjoyed the first novel, read the seond, barely made it through the third, and haven't even touched the fourth in the trilogy (yes, trilogy), so I was somewhat reluctant to read about Dirk Gently. However, while it took nearly one-third of the book to gather the pieces of the story and nearly half the book before you, as reader, actually meet Dirk Gently, I enjoyed this romp through time, history, and space. You just have to stay the course and it nearly all neatly wraps up. I will read the sequel to this story, but I'm still not sure about the fourth Hitchhiker book.

The Gathering by Anne Enright is one of the few new additions to the 1001 Must Read list in 2008. A very Irish story told by the nearly youngest of the daughters in a large family (twelve children survived birth), it is ostensibly the story of the gathering of the family for the funeral of one brother who literally walked into the sea to drown. As his closest companion, our narrator fetches the body and relates the family story and secrets for the past two generations. It's not a clean story in that she is often not exactly sure what she knows as fact, what she believes to be true, and what is her fantasy life. It's extremely well-written, but but achingly slow and confusing at times, especially when she narrates a family happening, and then states she doesn't know if it is true or not. Recommended, but again, you have to stay the course.

Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose is his paean to Meriwether Lewis. Ambrose relates the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore, map, and report on the Louisiana Purchase territory north of St. Louis. Searching for a Northwest Passage by water for Jefferson, dealing with various native nations, and literally walking and canoeing through vast unknown regions, the expedition is all the more amazing in light of what we know of the regions now. None of the details of the various passes, rivers, or countryside was known to the American president or Congress which purchased the land. Jefferson had Lewis trained in various scientific methods and essentially gave him a blank check to cover expenses of the trip. Lewis selected Clark as his co-captain (never recognized as such by the U.S. government) and they were an umatched team. I had markers in various of the maps to follow the detail of the text, much of which is drawn directly from the men's journals in uncorrected form, so the harsh winters and the incredible flora and fauna described was more easily followed. I did enjoy this one very much.

Betrayal in Death by J. D. Robb is the next-in-series for me about the cases of Lieutenant Eve Dallas in the not-so-distant future. This one revolves around murders and an auction at one of Roarke's hotels, and it was brain candy to read. I like the series and you'll probably find the next couple of books in my line-up this month.

Accidental duplication of my last report. *sigh*

Okay, I did it twice. *sigh*

Already nearly ending the first quarter of the year--where did the time go? Ah well, I've finished two rousing westerns by Elmore Leonard, while reading Black House and Kieron Smith, boy on my lunch and commuting time:

Hombre by Elmore Leonard
Valdez is Coming by Elmore Leonard

Westerns for me are a bit like historical romances are for some--entertaining, fast reads with action and heroes. Both Hombre and Valdez is Coming were turned into successful films, although Hombre is the one I remember.

In both, misunderstood men, raised either by Apaches or in Apache territory, are outsiders who rescue others who are not always worthy of the salvation. Both are anti-heroes in the best sense--they have strong senses of self-worth, don't lie, are excellent shots, and only want to get rid or or out of the immediate dangerous scenario. I enjoyed these.

Oh my gosh... first quarter of the year already? Ugh. At this rate, I probably won't get to 75 even if I power up :)

Three more for March:

lBlack House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Orient Express by Graham Greene (aka Stamboul Express)
The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub is the sequel to The Talisman which I read earlier this year. Not as strenuous as the first book, this takes place over twenty years after the events of the first with a character who has worked at forgetting what happened to him as a child. It's set in Wisconsin (actually not too far from my son's home), so maybe I was also charmed by the description. I did enjoy this story and I'm glad I'm finally moving forward again through King's bibliography.

Orient Express by Graham Greene was a find from avatiakh's thread, only she read the version titled Stamboul Express. It's Greene's first popular work, an "entertainment" involving multiple strangers on the Orient Express (showgirl, businessman, nasty newshound, murdering burglar) with politics thrown in for good measure. The "action" didn't really start until about half-way through, but there were some fascinating character studies in this group. I really enjoyed the reading.

The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees was a Free Fridays download on my Nook. Supposedly steampunk, it's set in a computer world which was created for the purpose of testing combat situations. The "dupes" are all copies of real-life people, with the leaders all being the nastiest historical leaders of all time (a world jumbled with Henry Tudor (okay, he's dead at the beginning), Nazi leaders (but no Hitler--he was toooo evil), Joan of Arc, Lucrezia Borgia, and others--separated into areas by either interest or ethnicity (women-centered; Mediterranean-types; Warsaw Ghetto populated with both nuJews and Poles; and so forth), and the method of commerce is blood among peoples who do not bleed. There's a special vocabulary for this world where words are arbitrarily respelled or MidCapitalized for EmPhaSis. It's annoying enough, but the lead characters include a whiny First Daughter, a lady named Trixiebell turned freedom fighter (and stone cold murderer), a Shade (who is really a person sent into the world to rescue the whiny First Daughter). The men are either handsome, daring, and a bit devilish or evil incarnate. And just when you think the four extant storylines will resolve--the book just ends. Period. It ends. That's because you're supposed to read the sequels. Sorry--but I've been introduced to much better work of this type by readers here at LT, and I'm not going back for more!

I need to read Black House - The Talisman is a fave and I've never read the sequel!

Doc, I enjoyed Black House but it is an older, somewhat wiser protagonist here (although his memory is locked up for some time), and it is, in some ways, a gentler story. Nonetheless, it fills some holes in the Tower series and it was a satisfying read.

I closed out March with the following:

Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin
Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman
The Taken by Vicki Pettersson

Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin is a wonderful history of the events leading up to and following the infamous Triangle fire which killed so many workers, most young, female, and immigrant. Written specifically for teen readers, it's chock full of pictures, sidebars, and personal narratives, and it was a fascinating read about an era when women's rights, the garment industry, and unions were in high gear. Absolutely recommended.

Music Was IT" Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin is a children's/teen biography of the man who was a music prodigy who wrote, played, and conducted for nearly all of his life. I grew up watching the "Young People's Concerts" on television where Bernstein introduced music to children, and was so enthusiastic about what he was doing, it made "classical music" seem exotic. I have strong memories of the "Peter and the Wolf" presentation, and even today I hear certain instruments and know which character was represented by them. In Los Angeles, the Philharmonic is conducted by Gustavo Dudamel with the same exhuberance and joy and it is only a treat to go to a concert he conducts (even if it is a "difficult" presentation). This biography is simply written and is a study of the boy to man of 25 and his first concert conducting experience. There is an afterword about his later life and lists of recordings, works, and papers which I read almost as extensively as the text. This biography was an absolute treat to read.

Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman is the second in my 2013 list of 1001 Must Read books from the public library. In 2008, several books replaced others on the earlier published list, and Kelman's was one of those replacements. It's highly praised in the blurbs and online reviews, but I found it extremely difficult to read. First, it is a stream-of-consciousness style, which can be tedious at times. Second, it is basically the journal of a young Scot from about the age of five or six to his early teens. Third, it is written in dialect as well, and, for the first few sections, I had trouble figuring out if the obviously Celtic lad was Irish or Scottish. The entire novel is about family, friends, the Church (Proddy or RC), and school. There is nothing earth-shattering or particularly extraordinary about Kieron's coming of age. However, it was written by a craftsman and was interesting, if not always compelling. I'm not that sure it was "better" than any book it replaced, but it was comparable with several that are currently on the list.

The Taken by Vicki Pettersson was a Free Friday Nook download, and, while I've been disappointed in the first two Free Friday books, I did enjoy this thriller. The title refers to those who have died violent deaths who are "taken" or escorted to their future habitats by angels. This is the first in a series (Celestial Blues) and I might find the next-in-order because I found the characters nicely drawn and the "mystery" intriguing enough to read the book through and through.

That ends March, but so far in April I've completed Kat, Incorrigible, and am reading another Nook book, an Early Reviewer book, another 1001 Must Read, plus a recommendation from another LT member. Which book depends on where I am during the day. Must be going now. . . .

Hi Laurie. In general, how are you finding the 1001 list? I admit, I was pretty turned off by all the comments talking about how wrong the list was, so I haven't really pursued it. Are those comments generally right or wrong?

Tad, it's like any other list--some good, some bad, some fabulous, some horrific. What I specifically like is the varied possibilities. I read Tarzan of the Apes by Burroughs and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Spark because they were on the list and I found two authors I knew about but had never read. I ended up reading most of Spark's work over a two-year period because I love her style. There are a lot of novels which are "classics" on every whatever list, but there are also lots of writers I would never, in a million years, have known about.

I really enjoy Ackroyd's work (after first struggling through Hawksmoor) and Peter Handke's novels; I still dislike Beckett (Worstward Ho is self-explanatory as far I'm concerned); Dashiell Hammett's Glass Key and Red Harvest were more interesting than The Thin Man; I discovered I loathe Bret Easton Ellis and much of Philip Roth's later works; I never would opened A Hero of Our Times or Uncle Silas or The Vicar of Wakefield except they were on the list and I looked them up.

So--I try to read at least one book from the list each month, usually in an era or style I haven't tried (let me tell you, the first Pelevin novel I read was both the shortest and the hardest to read, but I did enjoy it.)

Right or wrong? I wouldn't agree with some choices (there's way too much DeLillo, Roth, and Banville for my tastes, but I would never have discovered John Wyndham without it. I also opt to use the "full" list of books which includes some which have been "deleted" for newer diversity choices. So I guess I use it as a tool to find authors mostly and it works for me.

In April so far, I've read:

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
Home by Marilynne Robinson
The Vacuum Cleaner: A History by Carroll Gantz
Trustee From the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus by Dean Jensen
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
Black Hole Sun by David MacInnis Gill

coming back with reviews. . . .

Oooh! Can't wait to hear what you have to say about Black Hole Sun. It's one of those I haven't gotten to yet, but I hear such good things!

>34 Prop2gether:: Trustee from the Toolroom :-)

Actually, I reviews nearly completed here yesterday and they got blown into whatever oblivion exist for snips of texts. *sigh*

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis was discovered on beserene's thread, and I had fun with this tomboy discovering her inner witch in an Austen period adventure. While obviously the first of a series, it was entertaining, especially for its intended audience, which is somewhere between late elementary and middle/junior school level. It would be somewhat lame for Twilight teens, but it was nicely done for its level.

Home by Marilynne Robinson is an 2008 addition to the standard 1001 Must Read list. In the spirit of full disclosure, I never got past the first 20 pages of Gilead, and this novel is set in Gilead. The blurbs say it's entirely separate, but I wouldn't know. It's basically a story of family, a prodigal son, two preachers, and the youngest sister of a large (mostly unseen) family who spend a period of time together. There's religion, politics, family, and, as one LT reviewer commented, lots and lots of coffee and gardenwork in this novel. I don't know that it's a "must read" but it was certainly readable. If you like Robinson, you will probably love this work.

The Vacuum Cleaner: A History by Carroll Gantz was an Early Reviewer and it is exactly what it says it is: a history of the vacuum cleaner. For a couple of chapters, you will learn more about dirt in your home and rugs than you might wish, and you will certainly learn more engineering and mechanics of vacuums than you ever thought about, but I had fun seeing and learning about that old Electrolux of my grandmother's and why my Hoover upright of some fifty years now is as reliant as it is. Not for the browser, but a great resource.

Trustee From the Tool Room by Nevil Shute was found on TadAD's thread. I enjoy Nevil Shute's writing very much, and this novel, his last published, is somewhat gentler than some of his earlier work. The story of a man happy in his life, an engineer and mechanic who writes about how to make miniatures for a small magazine, whose wife works in a shop, it shifts ground when his sister and her husband die in a tragic boating accident not far from Tahiti. Their daughter has been left in his care as the "trustee," and only he knows that the financial inheritance for their daughter is on the wreck of that ship. Determined to do right by his niece, he starts for the South Pacific on almost literally a wing and a prayer, not sure about how he'll be able to pay for any of the trip. When his readers and correspondents learn of his trip, help comes in many forms. It is in many ways a remarkable story about an unremarkable man. I loved it.

Coming back to finish the list.

Continuing . . .

Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus by Dean Jensen is the story of the greatest aerialists of the early 20th century and was an Early Reviewer book. That said, it was chockful of printing errors and did not have all "29" photos promised on the cover blurb, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am terrified of heights, but I love watching aerialists perform, especially when it is obvious that they are doing what they love to do--perform in the air amazing tricks. It is also the story of the "family" of the circus, especially in that era when there was no television, there was no internet, there were no telephones to speak of, and the circus was the most fascinating thing to come to town for a few days or weeks. Leitzel and Codona are not familiar names to today's readers, but they were greater stars in their day than most of their contemporaries and their stories are a great read.

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett was originally found on beeg's thread, and is, once again, the first of series in design. Three young people are followed through years of growing from children to adulthood in a world where demons come out at night and slaughter humans. Each develops a singular skill which can be used in fighting this enemy, specifically wards or spells through marks which protect the users. One becomes a healer, one a juggler/musician, and one becomes a man covered with wards, hence, a warded man. The writing was pretty good for this type of story, although the eventual meeting up of the three seemed to take forever. I did enjoy following Arlen, Leesha, and Rojer this far in their journeys.

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnus Gill was a Nook Free Fridays book. It's a dystopian/science fiction adventure set on Mars, featuring a young man (Durango) and his crew for hire. They accept a job to protect a mining colony from the cannibalistic Draeu and the action is pretty much non-stop. I've read comparisons to Firefly but you can toss in lots of other written and visual stories--this story feels derivative. The good news is that the story flows nicely, the characters are fun (Durango has his dead former commander's identity fused into his consciousness and she is flip and funny and almost always absolutely on the money), the dialogue is sarcastic and funny, and I didn't put it down before I finished it.

More to come later this week. . . .

Okay, over a week later. . .

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Prisoner 88 by Leah Pileggi

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston is from the prize-lists and it is literally, a scrapbook story of young love in the early 1920s. It was a fascinating approach to a rather tepid story, and I loved the look of the book.

Bloodtide by Melvin Burgess was found originally on avaitakh's list, and is a retelling of the first part of the sage most of us know as the Wagner Ring operas. I knew I was in trouble with the novel itself when I despised one of the major characters within the first 20 pages, but it is an tribute to the writer that I found myself also caught up in the story. Relocated to London, it is a story of politics, war, and family--most of it quite nasty in concept and fascinating in the absolute convictions of the characters.

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson s from one of those prize lists for teen books. I loved this novel, even though entire plot lines and characters are derivative; there's a bit of Terminator, 2001, and any other "machines taking over the world" fiction, but I found this novel to be entertaining.

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin is from one of the prize-winning lists for children and it is worth the considerations. Yelchin wrote and illustrated this tale of a child whose father has an important job for Stalin. The boy is scheduled to join the youth organization and is absolutely sure of his loyalty to Stalin (because of his father), but his father is arrested the night before the ceremony. Life at home and school becomes confusing and frightening. It is a tale of growing up and the illustrations, especially the last several pages, are very much part of the story. Recommended for older elementary children.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley is one of those books I select from various ALA and other young adult prize winners each year. This is a two-pronged story which eventually reconciles the narratives, but it seemed long in the telling. A young boy disappears from his small town home about the time an extinct woodpecker is claimed to be seen. The two storylines have slightly different narrative voices, but until the final resolution, it is not clear what the common thread is supposed to be for the reader. Others have loved this story and it has won multiple prizes, but it wasn't as memorable for me.

Prisoner 88 by Leah Pileggi is an Early Reviewer "based on a true story" novel about a ten year old boy sentenced to prison in the "wild West." Written for elementary level readers, it is nicely done, told by the boy himself, from the day he finds himself on the train to prison to his release. It's probably a happier version of "Jake's" incarceration, but the story is still a harsh one--a boy sent into a secured prison on an arbitrary verdict.

I've been wanting to read Robopocalypse since it came out. Glad to know it entertained.

I cannot believe that Black Hole Sun was a Nook FF! I got the hardcover not long after it came out and *still* haven't gotten to read it!

I loved the reading of Robopocalypse and immediately passed on my library copy to two others to read. One commented that this telling seems "more real" because the machine takeover is slow but steady. Indeed.

Heroes of the Kalevala by Babette Deutsch
Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson

Heroes of the Kalevala by Babette Deutsch and illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg practically jumped into my hands at the library when I was looking for something else. My heritage is Finnish and the Kalevala is a great part of that history. However, I've tried to read the saga at various times and it's difficult because the stories are really not one long story--they are tales strung together in a somewhat arbitrary fashion. In English, the poetic meter is downright sleep-inducing ("Hiawatha" is the best English-language poem set to this rhyme scheme), so it's been a struggle to find a version which I can absorb before I try the real deal again. This book is exactly that. Written in prose for elementary age children, it still manages to give order to the chaos of myth. I am thrilled to have found this book and will be looking for copies to send to family.

Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson is all over LT, but I first found a refrence on TadAD's thread, and I loved this satiric novel set in Italy's Tuscan region (but NOT under the Tuscan sun). The narrative is two-pronged, male and female versions of what each sees in a neighbor who is annyoing, interesting, ridiculous, lying--whatever, it is a fun-filled romp through music, politics, and food.

Still have a couple of days left in April and a couple of books to go. However, my main goal before month-end is to locate a mother-of-the-bride dress that is not strapless, one-shouldered, in black, white, pink, or navy, is either knee or tea length and has sleeves. It's a challenge!

Hi.

I note your comments regarding Where Things Come Back. I totally agree with you.

I went back and found my review:

This is a 2012 Michael L. Printz award for excellence in Young Adult literature. I can honestly say I'm not on the same page as the judges. I finished the book hoping there would be a redemption. Alas, 228 pages later, I shook my head and wondered the sense of it all.

The story, told from the perspective of Cullen Witters whose beloved 15 year old brother is missing was way too complicated in plot and changing of characters from chapter - chapter. I grew weary of trying to remember the names and stories of the characters. I waited for the capture of angst, of grief, of longing to find Gabriel. The parents and Cullen seemed robot like. Cullen seemed more worried about finding a significant relationship than in finding his brother.

Chapter after chapter was filled with randomly scattered, difficult to follow thoughts. If there is a connection, I missed it.

In my opinion, the first few chapters are well written but after that, it was a slow, tedious, out right waste of time meandering into nothingness.

Well, you were stronger in your review than I was and I did like parts of the story, but honestly, I don't get why it's such a crowdpleaser for award juries. Oh well. :)

Hey, Laurie. I finished Pastoral yesterday. I liked it...sweet and simpler than some of his books but I enjoy his writing no matter what.

Hello Laurie! I just stumbled across your thread and peeked in. Your "book bullet" list is itself a huge source of book bullets to the rest of us! So, thanks for that. I may have to steal your idea for keeping tabs of who/where you were hit.

Tad, I'm adding Pastoral to the tbr pile

Pastoral was a treat and I'm with you, Tad, I enjoy his writing--no matter what. Enjoy it, Linda.

#45-UnrulySun--hi! Not sure what my "book bullet" list is, but if it's the LT references, then enjoy. I've been noting books when passing through 75er threads for years, and found the only way to remember why I was looking for books was to note the thread where I found the reference. Sometimes I note a book because the reader didn't like or was passive about the book, but I was intrigued by what wasn't liked. Sometimes it's because the writer was so enthused. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that the beginning of that list is around five years past. Still I can't complain about having "nothing to read." :)

The last two books of April:

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin

Both books were found on teen/children award-winning book lists, and this time, I agreed with judges.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai is a fictional memoir of a young Vietnamese girl who escapes from the fall of Hanoi to find herself and her family in Alabama. It is written entirely in verse and is, quite simply, captivating. There are good moments, bad moments, and some coming of age here, all wrapped up in beautiful poetic imagery.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin is a middle school/high school biography of the man most remembered for betraying his county during the American Revolution, but who was also responsible for keeping the fight going in difficult times. He is brash and rude and clever, and complimented and ignored. Sheinkin gives one of the best pictures of the complete man and his family. The closing "episode" involving Tallyrand is most revealing. It is not a complicated or overly-burdensome biography, and it is written for its audience, but it is worth a look/read.

Oh my, running through May to my daughter's wedding, and I've got a lot of catching up to do. But most of the reviews will have to be AFTER the June 21 event.

OMG! Has it been TWO months since I dropped in, and May since I reviewed? Blame a wedding, sick all July, and two grandbabies coming in the new year. Here are my May (?!?) reviews:

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is a find from GeorgiaDawn’s thread some time ago. I enjoyed this fantasy much more than I thought I might, and it’s made me interested in the movie as well. Ethan finds himself greatly attracted to Lena who, besides being the new girl in town with a very strange family, has been showing up in his dreams. A pastiche of themes and storylines ranging from Romeo and Juliet to the darkest Gothics around, it was highly entertaining.

Cocaine Nights by J. G. Ballard is listed on the 1001 Must Read list and was absolutely fabulous. Charles Prentice goes to the expatriate settlement of Estrella del Mar to find out why his brother Frank has pled guilty to starting a fire that killed five people. Investigating the crime and confession, Charles finds himself involved in a web of conspiracies and chilling behavior with the people who know Frank best—and know him to be innocent of the crime. Very much recommended.

The Fire Gospel by Michael Faber is another of the Myth Series, in which contemporary writers reinvest myths, legends, folk stories, and fairy tales. Using the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods for mankind as an outline, Faber’s Theo is a totally unremarkable scholar/writer who accidentally discovers a fifth gospel of the life of Jesus. He works very hard to get it published, only to find that the curse “be careful what you wish for” rebounding on him. I enjoyed this offering in the series and do recommend it.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman is another in the Myth Series. Here, Pullman makes an interesting proposition about the duality of the man “Jesus” also known as “Christ.” It made for a fascinating read, but to say more about the story is to tell too much.

Storybound by Marissa Burt was a Free Friday Nook book for children. In Story, children learn to be Heroes or Villains or Sidekicks, based on existing storybooks for young children. To say this is derivative is be generous. It received many rave reviews, but, even if aimed at a juvenile audience, it sounds a lot like poor Cornelia Funke or a book version for middle schoolers of the Disney film “Sky High.” I had to struggle to finish it, and then found it’s the first in a series.

Movie Monsters in Scale by Mark C. Glassy was an Early Reviewer book, text and pictures about the models which Mark Glassy has created of movie monsters. He warns in his introduction that he does not discriminate “good” monsters from “bad” because he loves all monsters in the movies. The models are all handmade, some quite impressive, and there are a fair amount of pictures from Glassy’s collection. It’s a book for fans, but it was pretty well laid out and while there were far too many photographs of a limited number of models (I would have preferred the same number of photos which included more of the collection), it was fun for what it offers to the reader.

Angel’s Ink by Jocelynn Drake is another Free Friday Nook offering, this one a paranormal (wizards and tattoos—which is a mixture of some interest) romance and thriller. It was fun, again for what it is, and because it doesn’t promise more than it delivers to the reader. I liked it.

The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams, another Free Friday Nook offering, again the first in a series, about a fantasy realm in which a plague is driving people mad as it covers their skin with markings. Three young people, each extraordinary individually (of course they are—it’s a teen paranormal thriller!), find themselves reluctantly working to save the Empire. I enjoyed the read and will look for the sequel.

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers is the “first” spy thriller written in the early 1900’s and which is on the 1001 Must Read list—and its author was executed by a firing squad! Two English yachtsmen work together to discover and try to confirm a German plot to invade the British Isles from the Danish/Dutch shoreline. It’s chock full of sailing jargon and maps are essential to the understanding of the tides and so forth, so it may slow for modern readers of the genre of Fleming and Clancy. However, as with Moby Dick, if you stick to it through the sailing lessons, the importance of the invasion theory stands out quite starkly. It was worth the read.

Now on to June. . .

Here comes June:

Sunstroke by Ivan Bunin is a collection of short stories including “Gentleman From San Francisco” which was mentioned several times in Stalin’s Barber, an Early Reviewer book I read. These stories were absolutely some of the best I’ve ever read—most are simply single episodes “of the moment” in any given day. They are beautifully told and a couple were breathtakingly heartbreaking. The “Gentleman From San Francisco” was merely one of the marvelous collection, and I intend to find other collections or works by Bunin.

Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee is on the 1001 Must Read list, and, while I enjoy most of Coetzee’s works I have read, this one was not as engaging for me. It’s a biographical novel told is segments consisting of interviews or short pieces, and it just didn’t work for me.

The Rubber Band by Rex Stout and The Red Box by Rex Stout are the next-in-series mysteries about Nero Wolfe and his intrepid assistant, Archie Goodwin, and staff, who solve cases together. I enjoyed the novels, but initially had a difficult time finding a copy of The Rubber Band and since both novels were in order in a reprint of the series, they both were read. Great fun here.

60 Quick Baby Blankets edited by Sixth & Spring Books—I’m actually going to be making baby stuff for six or seven months. My son and his wife are expecting in mid- to late-January, and my daughter, who was married in June, is expecting in March. So I figured I’d read about patterns. These are beautiful, relatively fast, and I’m looking forward to the adventures.

World War Z by Max Brooks was chosen because I was interested in the movie (which, incidentally, after reading the book, I’ve given a “pass for now” because it HAS to deviate from the written version!). Besides, this seems to be a year or two for zombie and apocalyptic stories. This was engaging and multiple POV stories enhanced that feeling. I do plan to watch the film, but for now it will wait.

The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small (Nook) was another Nook Free Friday download, about a professor seeking tenure, who is determined to find the material he believes exists to prove what Jesus did between those earthly miracles as a child and the many years later when he preached. Of course, finding the source material, keeping it safe, and letting the world know about his discovery—well, that’s what the adventure is all about here. It was long, but kept focused and I was glad I read it.

The Far Country by Nevil Shute, set in England and Australia just after the end of WWII, is a romance and adventure. Shute is obviously upset by the new National Health program just starting up in England and lets his characters reflect that POV. However, Australia is gloriously open, even if the “new Australians” are not always welcomed by those who have been there a generation or longer. No matter, it’s Shute, it’s well-written, and I enjoyed the read.

And now there's still July to go!!!!

I jumped off the tracks here in June because of my daughter's wedding, and then got horribly sick at the beginning of July. So lots of things went on hold for the past six weeks. Hopefully (after my latest visit to the doctor's), we'll get this cough in order and move on.

Here is July's set of reading--there was more because I stayed home to try to get this cough cleared up, but I'm still working on that!

JULY
Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince by Nancy Atherton is simply the next in the adventures of Lori Shepherd’s life in Finch. This time she is following clues to a lost prince which she was told by a little girl in her charity’s shop. Gentle, but entertaining.

While I Live by John Marsden is the first Marsden novel I have not enjoyed reading. It appears to be a new series start which was built on an earlier teen series and maybe that’s part of the problem. I usually enjoy Marsden’s work, mostly because he does not lower his standards to write to teens, but I found myself wandering through this story. Perhaps if I read the earlier series, …

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons is a debut novel set in a not-too-distant future United States, where morality is the guiding principle for all government and law. I found it distinctly derivative of The Handmaid’s Tale with girls being shuttled into homes to learn to be obedient, etc., and stratified. However, it is, of course, the first in a series, so maybe Simmons will push beyond that level in her story. It is well written, but I did not find it terribly original.

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck is an award-winning tale, sometimes found in children’s and sometimes found in teen/young adult sections. It belongs in the latter, but is a fascinating look into a farm life that barely exists these days. It earns every award it has received and telling too much about this coming-of-age story would ruin the enjoyment of first reading.

Trunk Music by Michael Connelly is the next-in-order Harry Bosch mystery/thriller series for me. It was nice to get back to Harry and this installment was good reading.

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (2013, 1001, and LT recommendation-Awilkins) is another of Greene’s “entertainments,” stories he considered lesser works. In fact, not true, as each of his entertainments is a self-contained look at society through a slightly tilted lens. Here, the story is set in Brighton Beach, where Brighton Rock (a type of rock candy) is sold, and Pinkie is a young gang leader set on proving his leadership. He commits a murder and then sets out to make sure he is not discovered as the murderer, only to find he is being doggedly pursued by a woman who met the victim only once. Once again, I was fascinated with Greene’s story and writing, and recommend the book.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick is his first validated work as a master of science fiction, telling of a United States that lost the war to Japan and Germany and has been split between the powers (ala Berlin in many respects). This is not the first work of Dick’s I’ve read, but curiously, it is the one that least interested me while I was reading it. Much of the story seemed forced to fit into conceptions, and I found myself stalled at several points. It is a very highly rated book by others and, if you are a fan, well worth the reading. It just didn’t work that well for me.

Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift (1001) is the first of Swift’s acknowledged works, a satire of the three main religious sects of England, told by a narrator in sections and tales intertwined. I probably would have done better with this one reading it in a group or class, but when the “tale” was being told, it was quite amusing to follow. Otherwise, due to language and political history which was current for Swift, but not for modern readers, there were parts of the narrative which were excruciatingly difficult to work through while reading.

Stalin’s Barber by Paul M. Levitt (2013, ER) was an Early Reviewers novel with a curious note in the author’s commentary about how much difficulty he had in locating a publisher for historical fiction. The novel was fascinating in its premise—a Jewish Albanian barber ends up in Moscow, assigned as a barber to Stalin. Or is it Stalin? Is the man he attends a substitute for the leader or is he the real thing? The barber’s family is a blend of types and stereotypes, all of them seeking escape in some way from the horrors of the life around them. Religion, military service, smuggling, artistic expression, are all part of the mix. At times, like the multiple characters get in the way of the story and slow it down, but the novel ends on an interesting note. There have been some challenges to the authenticity of the events in the novel—but, hey! It’s a novel, and therefore, at least mostly fiction. I’ve passed it on to a friend to see what she thinks about it—I haven’t quite decided if I liked it or not.

Vivien Leigh: A Biography by Anne Edwards (2013, ER) is actually a reprint of a biography published decades ago, and not updated. Nonetheless, except for the photo section which was horribly tangled up (captions and pictures do NOT match), it is still a fascinating study of one of the most beautiful actresses to be seen on film.

60 Quick Baby Knits edited by Sixth and Spring Knits and Blueprint Crochet Sweaters by Robyn Chachula are two more “craft” books I bought. The first is because I think my son and daughter both expect something more than baby blankets from me in January and March. The second I saw on the B&N shelf and fell in love with the look and construction of the garments. They are resources now.

She’s Having a Baby and I’m Having a Breakdown by James Douglas Barron is a “guide” for new to-be fathers and I’ve sent it on to my son-in-law. He sounds proud but totally bewildered by all this stuff. The book was written some time ago, but most of the suggestions are just plain practical and I hope he enjoys it.

Existence by David Brin (2013) is the latest opus of David’s about the world around us and what the future bodes. It’s very long, with lots of subplots and characters, but it is typical Brin with occasional puns and jokes at his own expense as well as mini-sermons about our lives. I like his work, but I sometimes wish it could just a bit more condensed.

OMG--I've made to August. Next entry should be current in my reading.

AUGUST and it's nearly the end of September, so I'm really running late:

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger is an easily read biography of the president and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Monroe was the last of the presidents who were involved in the proceeding which created the USA and this was a great introduction to him and his work.

The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies 1760-1785 by Don Cook is a history I have had on my shelves and 999 lists for years—now I can’t figure what took me so long to actually read it. It’s a fascinating study of how the American colonies and their leadership provoked the English government into some stupendous errors of judgment. It made the history itself easy to follow and, while I get annoyed with historians who feel the need to emphasize words within the text (and then tell they did so), the history itself hooked me into the reading.

The Museum of Unconditional Surrender by Dubravka Ugrešić, translated by Celia Hawkesworth, is a 1001 Must Read and it begins by focusing on what we think we remember from the mementos we keep. Using photographs and descriptions, we are walked through the Soviet takeover of the Slavic countries (specifically Croatia), and how memories can help or usurp our lives. It’s somewhat episodic and probably not for a casual reader, but it was worth the time for me.

Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard is another from 1001 Must Read list by an author I just discovered in Cocaine Nights. This earlier novel deals with a fictionalized version of Ballard’s young life as a prisoner of war in WWII and the way a young boy would deal with things which are not fully explained or rational in his life. I saw the Spielberg film years ago, but have only a very dim memory of it, so I may try to look it up to see how the novel and the film compare.

The Traitor and the Spy by James Thomas Flexner was a reference for an earlier biography of Benedict Arnold written for teens. This is the “complete” story of Arnold, Major Andre, and Peggy Shippen Arnold in the attempt to turn over West Point to the British during the Revolutionary War. Flexner’s style is somewhat didactic, but he made the reasoning of the Arnolds and Andre understandable and the conduct of the war much easier to follow.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers is the next-in-series for Lord
Peter Wimsey and since the unpleasantness happens at the beginning with a dead body in a chair at Lord Peter’s club, there is nothing else to do but have him seek out the killer. Great fun for armchair detectives!

Fire and Ash by Jonathan Maberry is the fourth (and final) installment of the Benny Imura series about zombies and I loved every moment of this series. Well-written, fun, and funny at times, it was a nicely turned end to the series.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich is the latest Stephanie Plum adventure. Not much different about this from any other Plum adventure—two men in her life, a murder or two to solve, and Grandma. Grandma is always a treat.

Going on to September next. Is there a Halloween read? Must check that out.

Well, I'm keeping my lists current, and hope to add in all those missing reviews in the next few days. Happy Halloween!!

AUGUST

Justine by Lawrence Durrell is a 1001 Must Read, the first of the Alexandrian Quartet of novellas, all set in Alexandria, Egypt, through the 1930s and 1940s. The atmospheric conditions set the pace and “ambiance” of a rather plotless novel about a love triangle. I suppose the entire quartet would complete the picture, but there were sections where I was fascinated by the reading and others where I was barely staying awake. This style is one that many like, but it isn’t one of mine, so it’s a cautionary note here—the story is slow and languid and the ending was worth the reading, but it took a while to get there.

Youth by J. M. Coetzee is a 1001 Must Read, the second in his “autobiographical” novellas and subtitled “Scenes From Provincial Life II,” as a young adult in London, when he must make choices about his future. I have not read the earlier novel (because I couldn’t find it at the library), and although generally I have enjoyed Coetzee’s works, I suspect that full appreciation for this work is dependent on the first novel. That said, the narrator wants to be a poet but becomes a computer programmer to survive, and he remains ambivalent about much of his history and life.

SEPTEMBER

Villette by Charlotte Bronte is a 1001 Must Read and a true delight to discover. I’m trying to work my way through my rather large stash of 1001 Must Read works, and Villette was there. The last of Charlotte Bronte’s novels, I agree with the scholars who rate this as a better work. Lucy Snowe moves from England, where her last employer promised her something suitable and then suddenly dies, and settles in the small village of Villette. She speaks barely passable French, but is taken on as a teacher of English in a small school. The novel is a character study of Lucy, and the ending is a bit ambiguous as to what happens, but overall, it was fascinating, and extremely well written. I really did enjoy the time I spent with Lucy—a very modern woman for her time.

A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos is a Newbery award winner, written as a diary of one year in the life of a New England girl. The girl, great-grandmother to the reader for the story, has a best friend, Cassie, some typical and atypical childhood memories, and at the end, well, I was okay with the story, but not overwhelmed.

Arminius by Clint Glenn Hummel was written by a friend of a friend, about the Germanic general who led the first united army of the Germanic tribes against the Roman Empire. It is full of sturm and drang, about war, slavery, the Roman Empire, and oh, so obviously, the first of a proposed series. The author was amazingly good at evoking spiritual scenes involving priests and priestesses, but the battles were very long.

60 More Quick Baby Knits edited by Sixth and Spring Books, What to Knit When You’re Expecting by Nikki Van de Car, and Grammy’s Favorite Knits for Baby by Doreen L. Marquat are what they say are—books of patterns for baby stuff. *sigh* For the first time in many years, I am making garments which require assembly and patterning because both of my children will be parents in the new year.

The Song of Roland translated and introduced by Robert Harrison was a choice because it is the stated basis for the Dark Tower hero of Stephen King. It’s a hero poem and I found it remarkably readable and enjoyable, which was a very pleasant surprise. Roland is a hero, but a hero with flaws, which is presumably part of why King was attracted to the story and chose it as inspiration for his works. It is an “epic” work, meaning there’s lots of repetition and recitations of heroic deeds and villainy, but it was fun.

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt is the next in the presidential biographies I’m reading. I am not reading the biographies in any particular order, which can be confusing, but also allows me to focus on the man whose history is being documented. Pierce had more going for him than I had understood before I read this, but he did have a great deal of personal sorrow to contend with as well, leading to a confused leadership and poor rating as a President.

OMG--I'm up to October books!

OCTOBER

Since I was either too late to find or simply missed the October Read which has been here for several years, I set up my own list, and got through most of it in October (amazingly enough). I also got more organized in my reading—Nook on the bus, something for breaks, and another for lunch. Seems to have resulted in more books read than in a long time.

Speaking of the Nook, I’m noticing that many of the titles for the Free Friday selections are either “hot” romances or teen dystopian, which makes a huge amount of sense since both are popular genres. However, the self-published books are often poorly edited (despite many thanks in the author notes) and I was especially distressed by the horrible grammar errors in three I read nearly back-to-back. The self-published books are also hugely derivative of other works and authors—which is probably why they are self-published. To be fair, I have enjoyed several of these self-authored works, but it’s been a chore to find the diamonds in the coal bin.

Warren G. Harding by John W. Dean was a fascinating read. My family has a legend that my grandparents took their honeymoon train trip on the same train that Harding was on (and eventually left to die). I’m not sure that legend is, in fact, true, but this biography, written by a convicted Watergate participant, was an eyeopener. Harding’s profession was unusual for a president (he was a publisher) and he married a woman “with a past” and he was extremely popular during his term. The Teapot Dome scandal which is tied to him actually surfaced after he died and he was never directly linked to the charges. Who knew? That’s not the “history” we are taught in school, and I found myself enjoying learning about this man and his presidency.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter is a collection of stories based on fables and folk tales, as interpreted by Carter. Some were excellent, some were great, and a couple were okay. Carter manages a twist in each tale which ups the ante, and I list this as one of my October (Halloween) reads.

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne is SO very different from any of the movie versions I have read. Captain Nemo is a relatively minor character who is present through his non-appearance for most of the book, but the story of the five escapees from the Richmond prisoner of war camp by balloon was entertaining. The edition I read had an introduction by Bruce Sterling and an afterword by Isaac Asimov, both worth reading.

Wool by Hugh Howey started as a self-published short story, with additional stories added, which was finally published as a novel. This is the self-published work that defies the odds for me: it was entertaining and nicely written. As a teen dystopian story, it revolves around a series of characters who live in an underground silo where roles are defined and life is not easy. Exiting the silo is a death sentence and when a new sheriff gets too interested in the inner workings controlled by an IT group within the silo, she finds herself literally on the outside of all she has ever known. I enjoyed and recommend this novel.

And there's more to October coming. . . .

And the end of October . . .

Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf is a 1001 Must Read and her first published novel. It’s the novel which is considered her style maker, and it was interesting, but rather bland. Following Jacob in his life’s journey was never totally engaging nor was totally boring. In the commentary accompanying this edition, the author quotes Woolf’s husband as saying Jacob is more of a ghost than a participant in this story. I think he’s right. It was an interesting exercise in reading.

The Horror of the Heights and Other Strange Tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was quite simply fabulous. Deliciously terrifying horror stories mixed with “other strange tales” which, quite frankly, far outshine a lot of current popular horror mavins. I love this October/Halloween read.

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe is the tale, originally published as a memoir (Defoe was barely past toddlerhood when the plague actually hit London), about the year of the plague in London. It is graphic, it is full of facts and trivia, and it is a masterful telling of survival of the first of a type of “zombie” attacks. It was another of my October/Halloween reads.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is the second in the series. I was surprised by the first novel and how much I enjoyed the teen love story between a boy and a girl who, by all rights, can’t be together. This is a continuation of the story involving more vampiric shenanigans and witchcraft and altogether a more genial October/Halloween read.

A Little Lower Than the Angels by Geraldine McCaughrean is an award winning children’s book about a boy, apprenticed to a mason, who essentially “runs away to the circus” of his time—a traveling caravan of players who act out miracle plays. Curiously enough, it was a different point-of-view of the plague, and it is fine for the older child who is reading. Adults will probably find it somewhat stilted and repetitious, but it is considered something of a classic.

Echoes of My Soul by Robert K. Tanenbaum was a gift from the author to me. My friend works for Tanenbaum transcribing his notes into text and he gave me this true crime book, about a notorious double murder and false conviction from the early 1960s. As a piece of criminal history, it was enlightening and I may venture to other Tanenbaum works.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 2 by Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim is exactly what it says—the second volume of the graphic version of Twilight. The graphics are fine, but it is hard to distinguish between the characters at time, and, having watched the films, it is often difficult to understand why the artist strayed so far with a couple of characters in their pictorial presentation.

Touched by Fire by Irene N. Watts is an Early Reviewer book, written for elementary age children, about a young girl who came from Europe to New York and worked at the Triangle Factory. She is the narrator, so she survived the fire, but the closing chapter is told in an entirely different voice by a new character. It was jolting and feels like there were another two or three chapters which needed to be included to finish the story. For the audience it is aimed for, however, the basic story is just fine.

Gerald’s Game by Stephen King is the latest in the “to be read” of King’s works for me. This novel was easier to read than some, but very disturbing in its depiction of a sex game gone horribly wrong. Certainly one of the master’s better works for me, but that’s one opinion here.

End of October just in time for November---

NOVEMBER

Bloodsong by Melvin Burgess is the sequel to Bloodtide which I read earlier this year. The first novel I was so angry with the lead character by her second appearance that mentally I was urging her enemies to succeed in killing her off. The plot, based on various mythic legends, was confusing and it ended as an all too easily seen first in a series. This novel I found much more together—perhaps because it takes place a generation after the first. I can’t recommend the series, but I was glad I read the sequel.

Easy Knitting for Baby by Doreen L. Marquat and Easy Knitted Hats compiled by Amy Palmer are simply two more of the books of patterns I’ve been using for the new year. Have lots to make for children and coming grandchildren.

Aris Returns by Devin Morgan is a Nook Free Friday selection is yet another vampire story, part of a series, about a psychologist who takes on the treatment of a young adult offender (because a friend asks her to do so) in whom, as it happens, a vampiric being has taken up residence. It was pretty decent writing, but I’m not sure I’d return to the series.

The Dragon in the Sea by Frank Herbert is a reread for me that was totally fresh because I frankly don’t remember reading it at all. I love most of Herbert’s work outside of Dune (and Dune is a favorite), and this one is a “closed set” mystery set aboard a small submarine in some future setting where the government is stealing oil under the sea. I loved it again and, when I returned the book to the library, the librarian (who is several many years younger than I) was positively gleeful because he had read and enjoyed it.

A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer is a Nook Free Friday selection, again a series start (Vamp City), this one again with vampires, in which a young woman finds herself traveling back and forth between Washington DC and Vamp City. The latter is a recreation in which vampires and assorted things of the night live their lives. The worry is that the juncture between the two worlds will close and no more innocent humans dragged through to become slaves. Since our heroine is rescued by a handsome (is there no other?) vampire while she is looking for her brother, and because she seems to escape in the end only to have cryptic comments exchanged between her master and his friend—well, it goes on. It was a fun fast read but not anything wildly new or different.

There's more and I may get to enter all of them before the end of the month.

The Thirteenth Unicorn by W. D. Newman is a Nook Free Friday selection which was derivative, long, poorly edited, long, for children, long—it was an exercise to see if I could actually finish this terribly trite and truly badly edited book. It’s received some glowing notices, but if you enjoy some of the greats in children literature, then my suggestion is to stay far, far away from this one.

Afterburn by Dave Watson is a Nook Free Friday selection, more of a novella or long story, about a group of people who find themselves flying out of London as the airport is blasted apart by a bomb. The theme of the story is fairly common—a group of strangers find themselves thrown together by circumstance and they must figure out why they are where they are. Think of Christie’s Ten Little Indians (And by the way, see the original film version called “And Then There Were None” with Barry Fitzgerald and ignore the later versions). There is also a strong resemblance to Outward Bound (again, best filmed originally as “Between Two Worlds”) in which a group of travelers sailing on a liner discover their true destinations. And, while the theme and basic story of Afterburn are not new, I did enjoy this story as it was told.

Wolf of the Deep by Stephen Fox was recommended some time ago by sgtbigg via petermc. I got about halfway through it two years ago and came back to finish the story of the Confederate naval hero who almost singlehandedly won the American Civil War on the seas. It’s a fascinating study of the man, his crew, and the times, and should be read by those who want a more complete picture of the war.

Only a couple left to do--yea!+

And just because I've sooooooo inattentive most of this year, and don't know if anyone actually reads my commentary, I figure I'll also post my favorite movies of the past month:

"Gravity" starring Sandra Bullock (and for a short while George Clooney) was stunning. Visually, it was an absolute treat. Acting? Sandra Bullock has very rarely done better work than she does here. I saw it as most of the reviews recommended in 3D (which for me is a chore because I wear glasses), and I was amazed.

"Thor"--the second one where Hemsworth is using his own hair (so much better) as the Asgard hero, Tom Hiddleston is charming and oh, so clever, as Loki, and we got the American team back into the action. It was loud, fun, and boisterous.

"Ender's Game" was visually stunning, and I found that the adaptations (Ender's age was upped to 12) didn't bother me in the least. I loved the book when I read it years ago, and I loved the movie. The child actors were able to stand toe-to-toe with some of the heaviest of movie heavyweights and it all worked. It definitely should be seen on the biggest screen you can get to. That way you get to feel like you are part of Ender's team as he plays his game.

"Catching Fire" has certainly upped the ante for this series. It is obvious there was a bigger budget for this one, but the storyline was tight and while the ending was a bit Matrix Reloaded, it works to move you toward the concluding films (yes, two of them for one short book).

I also saw a trailer for "Divergent" which looked promising.

Here's the rest of my November reading:

Wasteland by Susan Kim and Lawrence Klaven is a Nook Free Friday selection, another teen dystopian novel designed to be a series, where Esther is a rebel in Prin, and spends time with an outcast girl roaming the ruins of the town and avoiding her “job.” I am somewhat amazed it took two authors to get this story together. It’s not wildly original or intense and I was somewhat amused by how many characters have Biblical or religious names. It’s an extremely easy read and thus, for reluctant teen readers, probably a good choice. I have no plans to complete the series, but I’ve learned not to say “never” where sequels are concerned.

The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson is a Nook Free Friday selection and certainly a stronger contender for future books in the series of teens who have developed abilities outside the norm—they are part of the lost Atlantis heritage and apparently vital to the future. It ends in a predictable fight and flight of the main characters and a future which seems foreboding.

The Island (parts 1, 2, 3) by Michael Stark (the links did not include these works) were three Nook selections of a five-part novel. These three were free, and the final installments cost money. I enjoyed the sections which feature a loner waiting for the end of days who sails to an island, only to discover he wasn’t the only one with that idea. The horrific virus that is killing the world doesn’t appear to be stoppable at this point. I’m not sure if I want to pay for the ending, although I found the introductory sections fairly readable. I may return to The Island once I get some fabulous literature read and I’m again ready to wing it with more casual reading.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier has been on my lists for several years, the “unresolved” mystery of whether Rachel killed Ambrose in Italy for his money or not. I recall the film featuring Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton as being intriguing and I was drawn into the suspicions of a young man who is fiercely loyal to his uncle, and also in love with his “cousin” Rachel. Very, very enjoyable. Was there murder here? Intriguing to discuss.

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix was a delightful return to a favorite teen writer—this story and characters have been compared to a separate series, but I enjoyed the standalone aspects of a young man who was raised as a prince and then discovers exactly what he doesn’t know can really hurt him in the world. It was a fast read, entertaining, and I recommend it.

And here's December so far:

DECEMBER

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich is the next-in-order Stephanie Plum misadventures. There needed to be more Grandma Mazur here, as she was integral to the plot resolution, but barely there. Once again, Stephanie has a burning car, fleeing FTAs, and romantic challenge. Fun, very non-challenging read.

Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells is a 1001 Must Read and the best surprise to me? I really enjoyed this novel by Wells, where I’ve found his “classics” often stultifying to read. When, after several early misadventures, George decides to work with his uncle in promoting a tonic called Tono-Bungay, he finds his life taking some fascinating turns. The tone of the novel, told by George, is conversational and very chatty, but entertaining all the while.

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris is a collection of essays and stories published in other works which relate to the holiday season. The first, and best, is a hilarious discussion of working as an adult elf in the New York Macy’s Santaland. The others range from entertaining to various degrees of “snarky” overtones, which is typical of Sedaris, but the collection was a good holiday starter.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is the first in his series about teens who are about to transition from “uglies” to “pretties” by means of cosmetic surgery. The process and theme reminded me of various Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes, but the action and attitudes were definitely current adolescence. I was entertained enough to include the sequel on my reading list.

And closing out December. . .

A Rumpole Christmas by John Mortimer—what a delightful set of Christmas stories involving Rumpole and She Who Must Be Obeyed. I enjoyed every story and highly recommend it.

Tiny Confessions by Christopher Rozzi is a stocking stuffer cutie sent by my daughter. The author painted various breeds of dogs, cats, and other interests, adding witticisms. It’s a fun read.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen took me quite an effort to finish. It is my least favorite of Austen’s work, and that may be because I loved the “freely adapted” movie version. In the film, Fanny Price was more dimensional than she is in print, and, while still someone very prim, she is more easily seen to be the iron fist in the velvet glove in her cousins’ home. I really enjoy other works by Austen, especially Persuasion, so this was something of a disappointment. However, it is a must for Austen fans, and many, many, many more think it is her best work.

Bad Boy Brawley Brown by Walter Mosley is the next-in-series for me of the detective work of Easy Rollins. I enjoy Mosley’s character, although this story seemed to be a “holding” work to keep the storyline going for future volumes. Nevertheless, if you are a fan, and reading in order, this is part of the growth of Easy, his family, and his work.

Knitting Gifts for Baby by Mel Clark and Heirloom Baby Knits by Deborah Newton are just what they say—patterns and pictures of some truly gorgeous baby knits. I do personally get annoyed about the bent toward “natural” only fabrics (i.e., wool, angora, etc.) because I have problems working with those yarns (allergies!) and there are some magnificent plant-based and artificial yarns out there now, but these patterns and outfits are just great.

The Golden Ass by Apuleius, as translated by Jack Lindsay, is another tale that took me some time to finish. Lucius, the nominal “hero” of the work, turns into an ass by his own device (although he was tricked by a sorceress and did not because the animal he thought he might). Lucius then has adventures, hears stories, and generally travels the path to redemption with the gods by submitting (even if he is not particularly gracious about it) to his destiny. I can’t say why I dropped the book a couple of years back, although the episodic nature may have allowed too many “just one book” readings to interrupt, because read through, it is a fun narrative. The stories he hears all have moral lessons to be learned, and it’s a bit like reading Aesop’s fables with annotations. I am glad I read it through.

So I move forward to a new year! See you there.