VioletBramble's Lucky 13 for 2013 Part 2

(photo: Ivy from Dancers Among Us - by Jordan Matter

Welcome to my second thread for 2013. My first second thread ever.
My category challenge is open ended - no set numbers - so I won't be finished until Dec 31. My progress is good so far. I need to add a few more books to my Persephone category. Also, I am just 200 pages from finishing The Norton Anthology of Poetry.

THE FOOL - folly, mania, extravagance

Books with more than 550 pages
1) The Blinding Knife - Brent Weeks/ 2/10/ B AlphaCAT
2) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain - 3/13 - C AlphaCAT, group read
3) The Diviners - Libba Bray - 10/15, October RandomCAT

THE MAGICIAN - will, initiations, beginnings

Fantasy and Steampunk
1) Three Hearts and Three Lions - Poul Anderson (1/13/13)/ A AlphaCAT
2) Alphabet of Thorn - Patricia McKillip (1/29/13) / M AlphaCAT
3) Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was - Barry Hughart (2/28), B AlphaCAT
4) The Magicians: A Novel - Lev Grossman - 5/24, Kitschie Award
5) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M Valente, 6/20
6) The Apothecary - Maile Meloy - 6/23
7) The Apprentices - Maile Meloy - 6/27
8) Johannes Cabal The Necromancer - Jonathan Howard - 8/17, H AlphaCAT
9) The Wood Wife - Terri Windling - 10/28, W AlphaCAT
10) A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M Miller, Jr - Hugo Award winner

THE HIGH PRIESTESS - secrets, mystery, the future

Science Fiction
1) Doctor Who: A Big Hand for the Doctor. First Doctor 50th Anniversary - Eoin Coifer
2) Babel 17/ Empire Star - Samuel R. Delaney ---D AlphaCAT
3) Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler - P AlphaCAT
4) Doctor Who: The Nameless City Second Doctor 50th Anniversary - Michael Scott - D AlphaCAT
5) Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny Third Doctor 50th Anniversary - Marcus Sedgwick - D AlphaCAT
6) Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil Fourth Doctor 50th Anniversary - Philip Reeve - D AlphaCAT
7) Parable of the Talents - Octavia Butler - P AlphaCAT
8) Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue Fifth Doctor 50th Anniversary - Patrick Ness - 5/27
9) Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss A Melody Malone Mystery - Justin Richards - 6/12, June Brides
10) Doctor Who: Summer Falls - Amelia Williams - 6/25
11) Doctor Who: Something Borrowed: Sixth Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Richelle Mead - 6/25- June Brides
12) Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect: Seventh Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Malorie Blackman 7/30 - Travel RandomCAT
13) Doctor Who: Spore : Eighth Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Alex Scarrow - 9/16
14) The Speed of Dark - Elizabeth Moon- 9/21, LabLit RandomCAT
15) Doctor Who: The Beast of Babylon: Ninth Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Charlie Higson - 9/26
16) Doctor Who: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage: Tenth Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Derek Landy - 10/29
17) Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock: Eleventh Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Neil Gaiman

THE EMPRESS - fruitfulness, attraction, action, initiative, the feminine

Books by female authors that won't fit into my other categories
1) The God of Animals - Aryn Kyle - (1/16/13) - A alphaCAT, Spur Award winner, New to me author -- CAT trick !
2) Tomboy Style: Beyond the Boundaries of Fashion - Lizzie Garrett Mettler - (2/13/13) - B AlphaCAT
3) Introverts at Ease - Nancy Okerlund - (3/20/13) - O AlphaCAT, Book cover challenge
4) The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style: How to Wear Iconic Looks and Make Them Your Own - Kim France and Andrea Linett
5) The Faster I Walk The Smaller I Am - Kjersti A Skomsvold - (4/3) - Dublin/IMPAC 2013 longlist
6) The Summer I Learned to Fly - Dana Reinhardt - 5/13, R AlphaCAT
7) Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away - Christie Watson - 6/9, Costa Award
8) Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music - Ellen Willis - 6/12, June Brides
9) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain - 8/11, Q AlphaCAT
10) The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook - Dinah Bucholz - 8/17 - U AlphaCAT
11) Urban Pantry - Amy Pennington - 8/17 - U AlphaCAT
12) Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength - Laurie Helgoe,PhD - 9/5, I AlphaCAT
13) Insight: Reflections on the Gifts of Being an Introvert- Beth Buelow - 9/17, I AlphaCAT
14) The True Deceiver - Tove Jansson - 9/24, Hans Christian Andersen Award
15) Attitude- Robin Stevenson - 9/27
16) Allegiant -Veronica Roth

THE EMPEROR - stability, power, protection, the masculine

Books by male authors that won't fit into my other categories
1) If On A Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino- 2/18, Frosty February
2) Lotions, Potions and Deadly Elixirs : Frontier Medicine in the American West - Wayne Bethard - 5/31
3) Why We Broke Up - Daniel Handler - 6/16
4) Translation is a Love Affair - Jacques Poulin- 7/6, T AlphaCAT, Travel RandomCAT
5) Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson - 7/11, Independent Foreign Book Award, Travel RandomCAT
6) Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone - Eric Klinenberg - G AlphacAT
7) Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie - Booker Prize, 9/16
8) Cannery Row - John Steimbeck- Nobel Prize, J AlphaCAT, 10/31
9) Riders of the Purple Sage - Zane Grey - Zane Grey November
10) I Am The Messenger - Markus Zusak - Z AlphaCAT, Dec RandomCAT
11) That Deadman Dance - Kim Scott- Miles Franklin Award

THE HIEROPHANT (High Priest) - captivity, servitude, inspiration, what can be spoken, taught or published

Inspired by Persephone's captivity in Hades this category is for:
Books published by Persephone Books
1) Few Eggs and No Oranges - Vere Hodgson 6/9, F AlphaCAT
2) Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes - Mollie Panter-Downes - 7/16, G AlphaCAT
3) Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day - Winifred Watson- 10/8, W AlphaCAT
4) The Wise Virgins - Leonard Woolf - 10/27, W AlphaCAT

THE LOVERS - attraction, love, beauty

Poetry
1) Acolytes : Poems - Nikki Giovanni
2) The Talking Horse and The Sad Girl and The Village Under the Sea - Mark Haddon 7/27
3) Walking the Black Cat - Charles Simic 10/2, October RandomCAT, W AlphaCAT
4) The Norton Anthology of Poetry: Shorter Fifth Edition - edited by Margaret Ferguson
5) Songs of Love, Moon & Wind: Poems From the Chinese - Kenneth Rexroth - K AlphaCAT

THE HERMIT - seclusion for meditation, solitude, inner guidance, attainment

Books about Buddha, Buddhism, meditation
1) The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography - Tetau Saiwai - D AlphaCAT
2) Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for deep relaxation and Healing - Richard Miller, 6/19
3) Meditation for Dummies (Book and CD Edition) - Stephan Bodian - 8/31
4) Buddha: Kapilavastu - Osamu Tezuka
5) Buddha: The Four Encounters - Osamu Tezuka
6) Buddha: Devadatta -Osamu Tezuka
7) Buddha: The Forest of Uruvela - Osamu Tezuka
8) Buddha: Deer Park - Osamu Tezuka
9) Buddha Vol 6: Ananda - Osamu Tezuka
10) Buddha: Prince Ajatasattu -Osamu Tezuka
11) Buddha: Jetavana - Osamu Tezuka

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE - destiny, fortune, luck, fate, change

Memoirs, Histories
1) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating - Elisabeth Tova Bailey- 6/2, Outdoor Book Awards
2) The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family - Duong Van Mai Elliot - 8/13, Family RandomCAT
3) The Tree of Life - Peter Sis - 9/2, Hans Christian Andersen Award
4) Virgin: The Untouched History - Hanne Blank - 9/5, V AlphaCAT
5) Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music That Changed The World - Robbie Robertson

DEATH - end of situation, new beginning, destruction

Books with the word Death in the title or where a death occurs in the text
1) The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver - (1/21/13) - Orange/Women's Prize ( 1999 shortlist), New to me author
2) A Fatal Grace - Louise Penny - (3/7/13) - Agatha Award winner 2007
3) All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque - (3/14/13) - group read
4) Veronica - Mary Gaitskill - (3/26) - Morning News Tournament of Books 2006
5) The Flood - Maggie Gee
6) A Death in the Family - James Agee - 5/27, Pulitzer Prize 1958
7) Sky Burial - Xinran- 5/25, X AlphaCAT, Keeping up with the Joneses
8) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller - 6/2, Group read
9) The Death of Vishnu - Manil Suri - 9/18, V AlphaCAT

TEMPERANCE - balance

Short Stories, Essays:
1) Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger - 2/8, N AlphaCAT
2) Smut: Stories - Alan Bennett- 2/24, B AlphaCAT
3) Muse and Reverie - Charles DeLint - 3/31, March Random CAT - judging a book by it's cover
4) Earth Works: Selected Essays - S.R. Russell- 5/12, E AlphaCAT
5) Llewellyn's 2013 Herbal Almanac - various- 5/23
6) The Best of Kage Baker - Kage Baker - 6/25
7) 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - edited by Robert Dimery - 7/14
8) You Know When the Men Are Gone - Siobhan Fallon- 8/13, Family RandomCAT
9) Ship Fever - Andrea Barrett- National Book Award winner
10) I Was Told There'd Be Cake: Essays - Sloane Crosley - Thurber Award
11) Zombies vs Unicorns - Holly Black - Z AlphaCAT

THE MOON - dreams, anticipation

Graphic Novels (because I love the art on this card), Manga, Comics, Illustrated books, Art
1) Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard: Volume 1 - Brian Petersen - 1/25 - M Alphacat
2) Abstract City - Christoph Niemann - 1/26- A Alphacat
3) Will Supervillains Be On The Final?: Liberty Vocational Volume 1 - Naomi Novik, 2/8, N AlphaCAT
4) Berlin: City of Stones Jason Lutes- 2/13, B AlphaCAT
5) Berlin: City of Smoke - Jason Lutes - 2/14, B AlphaCAT
6) Building Stories - Chris Ware - 2/25, B AlphaCAT
7) Clover Omnibus Edition - CLAMP - (3/25) - C AlphaCAT
8) Dollhouse Volume 1 : Epitaphs - Jed Whedon -(4/3)- D AlphaCAT
9) The Sigh - Marjane Satrapi - 6/25 - S AlphaCAT
10) Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home - Joss Whedon - 6/25
11) Buffy The Vampire Slayer: No Future For You - Brian K Vaughan - 6/25
12) Ganesha's Sweet Tooth - Sanjay Patel - 6/25
13) Dancing at the Louvre: Faith Ringgold's French Collection and Other Story Quilts - various authors - 7/14
14) Dancers Among Us- Jordan Matter 7/27- National Day of Dance
15) Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei -Peter Sis - 7/27
16-25) Library Wars Love & War Vols 1-10

THE WORLD - voyage, change of place, what is truly desired, the inner guide

Travel books and travel memoirs
1) New York: The Big City and It's Little Neighborhoods - Naomi Fertitta - 6/9
2) Unfamiliar Fishes -Sarah Vowell - 7/3 -Travel RandomCAT
3) The Traveller's Tree: A Journey Through the Caribbean Islands - Patrick Leigh Fermor - 7/4, T AlphaCAT, Travel RandomCAT
4) Lost on Planet China - J Maarten Troost - 7/24, Travel RandomCAT
5) In The Shadow of Islam - Isabelle Eberhardt - 7/30, Travel RandomCAT
6) 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan- Cathy Davidson - 9/9, V AlphaCAT
7) A Year in the World - Frances Mayes - Y AlphaCAT

Recap for September:

Books read in 2013: 104
Books read in September: 12
Books off the shelf 2013: 69
Borrowed from Library: 10
Pages read: 27,277 ( 2619 in Sept)
Fiction: 51
NonFiction: 29
Graphic novel, art, etc: 22
Audiobooks: 1
Poetry: 2+ continue reading The Norton Anthology of Poetry
Female author: 50
Male author: 50
Dropped books: 1
Books bought in 2013: 100 (8 in Sept)

Because you can never have enough pictures of people reading or dancing; here's another Jordan Matter photo:

Planned reading for October:

W AlphaCAT:
The Wood Wife - Terri Windling ✔
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts - Maxine Hong Kingston
The Wise Virgins - Leonard Woolf ✔
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson ✔

J AlphaCAT:
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
Cannery Row - John Steinbeck ✔

RandomCAT:
The Diviners - Libba Bray ✔
Walking the Black Cat - Charles Simic ✔

New thread is looking good. :)

->16 VioletBramble:
That looks like it was taken at my old Borders, but I don't think a B&N moved in there. :)

Neat and organized and up for business!

>18 -Eva-: Is it a good thing you can tell it's a B&N just by the color of the signs??

Happy new thread! Congrats on it being your first second thread :)

Migrating over to your lovely new thread, Kelly!

>16 VioletBramble: Because you can never have enough pictures of people reading or dancing...
:)

You got me on your last thread with Virgin, luckily my library has it too. Sorry Midnight's Children didn't work out for you, I invested a lot in that book last winter and it paid off for me.

Shiny new thread!

I like your new digs! And congrats on your first second thread!

Hello Eva, mamzel, rabbitprincess, Lori, Megan, Christina and Laura !! Thanks for visiting my new thread. I've been a very bad participant this month. October is kicking my bum. I've been getting out of work hours late on a daily basis, plus had two extra work responsibilities this week. I feel like I've hardly read anything this month. Note to self: go back to grad school and get a new profession.

I'm just adding this lovely picture of George Harrison to make my thread pretty:

105) Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day - Winnifred Watson
Fiction, Persephone books, W AlphaCAT
Category: The Hierophant
Pages: 256
Rating: 4 stars

Miss Pettigrew, a 40 year old spinster, is sent out by a employment agency for a job as a nursery governess. She is accidentally sent to the flat of Miss LaFosse, who is looking for a maid. Miss LaFosse is a young, beautiful singer/actress who is juggling three men. Her life and her flat are a mess that Miss Pettigrew helps to straighten out. Miss Pettigrew also helps Miss LaFosse's friends out with their relationship problems. Along the way she is pampered, dressed, dined, looked up to and loved for the first time in her life. The events take place over one day.
Years ago I saw the movie version of Miss Pettigrew. I was expecting the same depressing ending to the book. I was pleasantly surprised that at the end of the book Miss Pettigrew is not discarded by her new friends as in the movie. I prefer the book ending.
Recommended.

106) Walking the Black Cat: Poems - Charles Simic
Poetry, October RandomCAT - Black, W AlphaCAT
Category: The Lovers
Pages: 96
Rating : 3.5 stars


I bought this book years ago for a TIOLI challenge and never read it. (The challenge was to read a book written by an alumnus of your university) I choose this book for the October RandomCAT because of the word Black in the title and because the book jacket promises that Simic delivers startling new visions of the haunted landscape. This is the first time I've read the poetry of Charles Simic. Simic is the 1990 winner of the Pultizer Prize for Poetry.
These poems are strange, dreamlike things with a lot of classical references throughout. They're short, written in accessible language and a little bit creepy. I liked them- well, most of them.
Here are some examples specifically for October:

OCTOBER LIGHT

That same light by which I saw her last
Made me close my eyes now in revery,
Remembering how she sat in the garden

With a red shawl over her shoulders
And a small book in her lap,
Once in a long while looking up

With the day's brightness on her face,
As if to appraise something of utmost seriousness
She has just read at least twice,

With the sky clear and open to view,
Because the leaves had already fallen
And lay still around her two feet.

LONE TREE

A tree spooked
By it's own evening whispers,
Afraid to rustle,
Just now
Bewitched by the distant sunset

Making a noise full of deep
Misgivings,
Like bloody razor blades
Being shuffled,

And then again the quiet.
The birds too terror-stricken
To make their own comment.
Every leaf to every other leaf
An apparition,
A separate woe.

Bare twig:
A finger of suspicion.

107) The Diviners - Libba Bray
Fiction, Occult, 1920s, October RandomCAT
Category: The Fool
Pages: 592
Rating: 4 stars

This is the first book in a series. Seventeen year old Evie is sent to NYC to live with her Uncle Will. She's being punished by her parents for having told everyone at a party that the son of the richest man in town has gotten a chambermaid pregnant. See, Evie has a special skill. When she touches an object she can find out the secrets of the objects owner. Also, Evie drinks a lot of alcohol for a teenager. But, it's the 1920s, Evie is a flapper and she just wants to have fun. So, of course, her parents ship her off to New York City in the care of a bachelor uncle who knows nothing about raising children. What could happen to her there?
Uncle Will is the owner of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition and the Occult. (aka The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies) The police ask Uncle Will to help them with a murder case that has occult elements. Evie touches a buckle on the victims shoe and sees the murderer. That murderer is a serial killer called Naughty John. The problem is that Naughty John was hanged for murder 50 years earlier. Evie, Uncle Will, his assistant Jericho, Sam (a con artist who weasels his way in), and Evie's friend Mabel investigate Naughty John's past and the members of his cultish religion, The Brethren.
There are so many characters in this book I can't even mention them all. Many help with the investigation of the occult happenings. Many have their own special powers - some use those powers for good and some for evil. By the end of the book every characters history has been covered. I'm impatiently waiting for the sequel just to see what's happening with the characters.
Warning -- if you are easily scared or suggestible I'd recommend not reading this book at or near bedtime. Naughty John is a nasty, creepy villain. Other than that - I highly recommend this book.

Books bought in 4th quarter:

101) Hallowe'en Party
102) Unexpected Night
103) Allegiant
104) Doctor Who: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage: Tenth Doctor: 50th Anniversary
105) The Signature of All Things
106) Ghost Girl
107) Crown of Weeds
108) October Mourning : A Song for Matthew Shepard
109) Tender Morsels
110) Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
111) Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock: Eleventh Doctor: 50th Anniversary (Doctor Who Digital)
112) 11/22/63
113) The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook

Yay, George! I miss him.

Me too, rabbitprincess.

108) The Wise Virgins - Leonard Woolf
Fiction, England, Persephone
Category: The Hierophant
Pages: 336
Rating: 3 stars

Leonard Woolf's possibly semi-autobiographical tale of disaffected middle class suburban British youth in the early 1900s and their limited choices outside the domestic sphere. This was just okay. I think I expected too much. Also, I kept trying to figure out if one of the women was based on Virginia Woolf.

109) Doctor Who: The Mystery of the Haunted Cottage: Tenth Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Derek Landy
Fiction, Series, Time travel, Doctor Who
Category: The High Priestess
Pages: 54
Rating: 3 stars

The tenth Doctor and Martha land on an Earth-like planet. Martha recognizes the scenery and the people they meet as characters in the children's mystery book series The Troubleseekers. The Doctor and Martha set out to discover the real secret concealed beneath the lame children's mystery. When they get too close to the truth the Being in control tries to kill them using memories from every book Martha has ever read.
Initially I thought this was too close to series 5 of the TV show: Amy's childhood memories are brought together to create a new reality. But then when scenes from Stephen King and JK Rowling books started appearing I thought "This is great". What can I say, I'm an easily swayed fangirl.

Loved this quote from the book: You have no idea the power generated each time somebody is told a story. When a conscious, sentient mind willingly ignores what is real, what is fact, and instead chooses to invest in people and places that never existed...

Hopefully I'll be able to complete Cannery Row before the end of October. It's been a bad reading month.

Incoming!! Book bullet headed my way!

I still haven't gotten around to any of those 50th Anniversary Who - maybe the holidays would be good for that...

LA12 and Eva - the 50th Anniversary books are fun - and short. I edited post 33 to add a quote I liked from the book.

110) The Wood Wife - Terri Windling
Fantasy, W AlphaCAT
Category: The Magician
Pages: 320
Rating: 3 stars

This is one of the books in the Brian Froud Fantasy Series. In this series an author partially bases a book on one of the fantasy paintings by artist Brian Froud. This book is loosely based on Froud's The Wood Woman. See below for an image of the Wood Woman.
Maggie Black moves to the Arizona desert after the death of her friend Davis Cooper. Cooper is a famous poet. They have never met in person. They have been corresponding by letter for years. When Cooper dies he leaves Maggie his home and properties in Arizona. Maggie moves into Coopers home hoping to go through his collected papers, find his last unpublished poems and write a biography about the man. Strange things start happening right away. Animals break into the house and make a mess and steal things. Maggie starts to see humanoid animals. Maggie actually meets beings of folklore who are able to take human form. These beings are able to show her what happened to her friend Cooper.
The story starts out based in reality and becomes more magical as it goes on. Although part of a fantasy series I would consider this book more of the genre magical realism. Magical realism is not really my thing (I suffer from Jonathan Carroll over-load). However; this book is about nature, poetry, music and folklore -- all things I love -- so I was willing to put up with some magical realism. I'm giving this book three stars, but I think anyone who likes magical realism would rate it higher.

Who wants to understand the poem
Must go to the land of poetry
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

111) Cannery Row - John Steinbeck
Fiction, Nobel Prize winner, J AlphaCAT
Category: The Emperor
Pages: 208
Rating: 4 stars

I love Steinbeck. This is one of his short novels. This book tells the story of the residents of Cannery Row in Monterey, California. There are the people who work at the cannery who come and go as the boats arrive with their catches. There are the sailors who work on the boats. Then there are the people who live there-- Doc, who works and lives at The Western Biologic Laboratory, Dora, Alfred and the ladies of the local whore house, Lee Chong who owns the only grocery store, the homeless men of the Palace Flophouse and Grill ( Mack, Hazel, Eddie, Hughie and Jones) , a married couple who lives inside a large discarded boiler and an old Chinaman who leaves the Row at dusk and returns at dawn every day. Steinbeck's writing is so descriptive you can sense - with all your senses- what it would be like to be on Cannery Row. The story - told in short, interconnected vignettes - is both funny and heartbreaking. No matter what happens or who is at fault you can't help but feel bad for everyone involved and their misunderstandings.
This book is wonderful. Did I mention that I love Steinbeck? Oh yes, I did. Recommended.

Recap for October:

Book read in 2013: 111
Books read in October: 7
Books off the Shelf 2013: 73
Borrowed from Library: 10
Pages read 2013: 29,139 (1862 in Oct)
Fiction: 57
NonFiction: 29
Graphic novels, art, etc: 22
Audiobooks: 1
Poetry: 4 + cont The Norton Anthology of Poetry (only 50!! pages left)
Female author: 52
Male author: 55
Dropped books: 1
Books bought in 2013 : 104 (4 in Oct)

Planned reading for November:

Hugo Award--A Canticle for Leibowitz
National Book Award- Ship Fever
Zane Gray November - Riders of the Purple Sage
Y AlphaCAT- A Year in the World
K AlphaCAT and November Random CAT -- The Ends of the Earth: An Anthology of the Finest Writing on The Arctic and Antarctic
Steampunk Group read - The Affinity Bridge and The Windup Girl

I have Cannery Row planned for later this year. I can't wait!

I'll be joining you on Riders of the Purple Sage! I've started it but am not very far in.

#40 paruline- I hope you enjoy Cannery Row. Steinbeck is wonderful.

#41 rabbitprincess - I hope you're liking it more than I did.

Well, thanks to an incident at a near-by construction site I had no internet/cable/home phone since last week. The phone is still out. Time to catch up.



112) The Norton Anthology of Poetry: Shorter Fifth Edition - edited by Margaret Ferguson
Poetry anthology
Category: The Lovers
Pages: 1424
Rating: 4 stars

I've been reading this in sections since the start of the year. I was able to finish it earlier than planned thanks to my lack of cable and internet last week. I have previously read large portions of a Norton Anthology of Poetry 30 years ago in university. Most of the content remains the same - classic poems. The section in old English was difficult to get through. The newer section with modern poetry is very small compared to the amount of pages devoted to the classics. As a fan of modern poetry I wanted more. While I was happy to see that some poets I love had been included - Li Young Lee, Donald Hall - it bothered me that Allen Ginsberg was the only Beat poet included. (I prefer Ferlinghetti)
Recommended.

113) Ship Fever- Andrea Barrett
Short stories, 1996 National Book Award winner
Category: Temperance
Pages: 254
Rating: 4 stars

Beautiful short stories set in the 19th century. Most are about some field of science, the Irish potato famine and immigration to Canada. Recommended and I will be looking for more by Barrett.



114) Riders of the Purple Sage - Zane Grey
Western, Zane Grey November
Category: The Emperor
Pages: 328
Rating: 2.5 stars

Set in Utah in 1872. Jane, a young Mormon woman, is first seen rescuing her male, gentile friend from being lynched by a Mormon mob. Jane lives alone on the isolated property left to her by her father. The male members of the church don't like her being friendly with anyone who isn't Mormon. The bishop, who is leading the mob, is especially agitated. He's upset that Jane won't agree to becoming one of his wives. Its not that the bishop loves Jane. Jane owns the largest parcel of land and has the largest herds of cattle. Jane also controls the water supply for the area. The bishop is interested in the money and power that he would obtain by marrying her. Jane likes being in control of her own life. The elders in the church are not willing to let that situation continue. Jane also befriends a gun man, Lassiter, who has a reputation as a Mormon hater and killer. As the men in town try their best to give Jane problems she realizes that she needs to get out of town and away from the Mormon church.
This is the first time I'd read a western. I enjoyed the descriptions of Utah, the lonely desert, the sunsets, and the overall mood of the book. I felt that the book was too slow, it took a long time for very little to happen. Also, I thought it took way too long for Jane to realize that she would never be safe on her own in that town.





115) A Canticle for Leibowitz- Walter M. Miller, Jr
Fantasy, Fiction, 1961 Winner of the Hugo Award
Category: The Magician
Pages: 338
Rating: 4 stars

No time to review. This book is brilliant -- highly recommended.

Congrats on finishing the Norton Anthology of Poetry! That's quite a feat. And I look forward to your thoughts on A Canticle for Leibowitz!

Catching up on threads...

Congrats on finishing the Norton doorstop book of poetry! I have one of those too - held together with duct tape. (I also have the anthology I used in a poetry course I took years ago.) I'd really like to read them someday too. You are inspiring.

->43 VioletBramble:
That's quite an achievement! Well done!

I'm so very far behind now. Things tend to fall apart for me in the last quarter of the year. Mostly because work is horrible at that time.
Thanks Christina, Jonathan and Eva. I may try reading some of the other chunksters on my shelves by dividing them into monthly sections. That method made TNAoP much easier to complete.
Christina - I'm not going to have time to write a proper review for A Canticle for Leibowitz but just thinking about what I had wanted to write made me increase the rating I had given it to 4 stars. At first I was a little disappointed with the book--based on hype from others -- but, as I continued to think about the book long after I'd finished reading I realized that it's brilliant.

116) Doctor Who: Nothing O'Clock: Eleventh Doctor: 50th Anniversary - Neil Gaiman
SciFi, Time Travel, series.
Category: The High Priestess
Pages: 45
Rating: 3.5 stars

The last book in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary e-book series. This was just okay. I expected more from Gaiman, esp as he had written one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes The Doctor's Wife. This one features Amy Pond early in her friendship with the Doctor -- before "we" meet Rory.



117) A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller- Frances Mayes
Travel, Y AlphaCAT
Category: The World
Pages: 448
Rating: 3 stars

Mayes and her husband spend a year traveling and staying for extended periods in various cities and towns in Europe. Mayes mainly writes about her meals, food prep and shopping for food. If you're a foodie who likes to travel you may like this book.



118) Songs of Love, Moon & Wind: Poems from the Chinese - Kenneth Rexroth (translator)
Poetry, K AlphaCAt
Category: The Lovers
Pages: 96
Rating: 3 stars

Recap for November:

Books read in 2013: 118
Books read in Nov: 7
Books off the shelf in 2013: 78
Borrowed from Library: 10
Pages read in 2013: 32, 072 (2933 in Nov thanks to TNAoP)
Fiction: 61
NonFiction: 30
Graphic novels, art, etc: 22
Audiobooks: 1
Poetry: 6
Female author: 55
Male author: 60
Books bought in 2013: 112 (8 in Nov)

119) I Was Told There'd Be Cake - Sloane Crosley
Humor, Essays, Thurber Award
Category: Temperance
Pages: 228
Rating: 4 stars

I liked this book from the first sentence... As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during the day. So true. The book is very NYC centered. Crosley often comes across in these essays as self centered and as a very bad friend - but in a entertaining way. The author is probably 15 years younger than me so I took most of the things that seemed "off" to me as generational. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it very much. I'm not sure if people living outside NYC, esp "older" people (like me), would find the book funny.

120-129) Library Wars: Love & War - Vols 1-10 - Kiiro Yumi
Manga, Libraries, L AlphaCAT
Category: The Moon
Pages : 1984
Rating: 3 stars.

A manga series aimed at young girls. In a future Japan the government starts to ban reading materials it finds dangerous. (The Media Betterment Act) Libraries put into place The Library Freedom Act -- so that they are able to acquire and circulate all materials and guard patron privacy. They are also against censorship. In order to defend this act the libraries form The Library Forces. The Library Force is a military part of the library that hopes to prevent the government from limiting access to the written word/ information.
The main character is a young recruit named Iku Kasahara. She's the first female in the Library Forces. She both loves and hates her drill instructor, Dojo. She doesn't recognize him as "the hero" who inspired her to join the Library Forces. The books consist mainly of issues surrounding this relationship, the fact that Iku's parents do not know that she is in the Library Forces and occasionally a mission to save books/information.
Kinda cute, but predictable, and the story moves slowly. I would read more from this series if it continues

130) I Am The Messenger- Markus Zusak
Fiction, Z AlphaCAT, December RandomCAT
Category: The Emperor
Pages: 357
Rating: 3.5 stars

Ed is a 19 year old cab driver and a slacker. Ed and his three mates, Ritchie, Marv and Audrey, are in the bank one day while it's being robbed. Ed accidentally helps capture the bank robber. After that Ed begins receiving playing cards in his mail box. Each card has three addresses, names, etc. Ed has to figure out the clues, and what he is expected to do about them. Ed starts to get involved with the lives of the people he meets because of the cards. When the clues start to lead to Ed's mother and his friends he realizes how little he knows about the people in his life. Of course, the big mystery in the book is: who is sending these cards and why. The answer was disappointing. However, the book was a real page-turner up until the end and it's overall message -- to get involved with life and other people - overcomes the bad answer to the mystery.

131) Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music That Changed the World - Robbie Robertson, Jim Guerinot, Sebastian Robertson, Jared Levine
Music, Biography, Early Reviewers
Category: The Wheel of Fortune
Pages:128
Rating: 4 stars

An introduction to some of the musical legends of Rock, Jazz and Blues meant for older children and young teens. Twenty-eight artists and bands are featured. Each artist gets four pages that include a beautiful full color illustration, a short biography of their work and discussion of their musical style and contributions to music. Artists featured include Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Billy Holliday, Carole King, The Beach Boys, James Brown and Bob Dylan. Included with the book are two CDs with a hit song from each of the artists. (I'm so happy to finally know the artist responsible for Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby? and to own a copy of the song)
While the book is meant to be marketed to young people I think music lovers of all ages would enjoy this book and most would discover facts about these legends that would be new to them.

132) That Deadman Dance - Kim Scott
Fiction, Australia, Miles Franklin Award winner
Category: The Emperor
Pages: 368
Rating: 3 stars

133) Zombies vs Unicorns - Holly Black, Justine Larbalestin - editors
Essays, Z AlphaCAT
Category: Temperance
Pages: 432
Rating: 3.5 stars

last book of the year:



134) Allegiant - Veronica Roth
Young adult, dystopia, series
Category: The Empress
Pages: 544
Rating: 3.5 stars

The final installment in the Divergent Trilogy. I put off reading this one because all my friends who read it were angry at the ending. Really angry. After reading this I can only assume we have different expectations of dystopian novels. While not as good as the first two books it was still an exciting , fast paced read. I had no problem with the ending or the multitude of bad guys in this one. My only issue was that in this one Roth alternates (somewhat) chapter narrators - between Tris and Tobias. Unfortunately their "voices" are nearly indistinguishable. I sometimes had to go back to the start of the chapter to see which name was at the top, having forgotten who was speaking. A moderately good ending to the trilogy.

Recap for December and 2013:

Books read in 2013: 134
Books read in Dec: 16
Books off the shelf in 2013: 92
Borrowed from Library: 10
Pages read in 2013: 36,113 (4041 in Dec)
Fiction: 65
NonFiction: 32
Graphic novels, art, etc: 32
Audiobooks: 1
Poetry: 6
Female author: 68
Male author: 63
Books bought in 2013: 113 (1 in Dec)

>53 VioletBramble: I love the cover of that one! Looks like you have read some really interesting ones since my last visit here.
Next year I am aiming to remember that a lot of books I have bought wowed me when I got them, and to read them before being wowed by new amazing books. We'll see how that goes...

Happy New Year!

Hi Megan! Happy New Year!! Every year I start out with a long list of books from my shelves, determined to read only those books and clear shelf space. But those darn new books are so shiny and make me want to read them first. This year was probably my best year - out of 134 books read 92 were on the shelves since 2012. 42 new. That's more than 2:1. AND.. I read more books than I bought.
I'll be over to check out your thread in the 75ers...