Familyhistorian pulls more ROOTs in 2017 3rd page

Time for a new thread, I think. I hope to keep up with my ROOTs and my fellow ROOTers better in the coming months

Goal is the same as last year - 50 ROOTs




Acquisitions




Books culled

Acquisitions for September

Little Free Library

Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
Family Life: An Inspector Starrett Mystery by Paul Charles
Babes in the Wood by Ruth Rendell

Acquisitions for September

War Plan Red by Kevin Lippert
A Murder in Music City by Michael Bishop
Really the Blues by Joseph Koenig
Lincoln's Greatest Case by Brian McGinty
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
Strangers at Our Gates by Valerie Knowles
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
The Moonstone by Wilie Collins
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life by Richard Dawkins & Yan Wong
Empire of Sin by Gary Krist
Atlantic Canada's Irish Immigrants by Lucille H. Campey
The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg
Home by Nightfall by Charles Finch
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
Glass Houses by Louise Penny

Hi Meg, happy reading - looking forward to seeing what'll be on your new thread :)

>6 floremolla: Thanks. I hope to read lots of interesting ROOTs but not so interesting that I want to keep them because I am running out of book room!

I’m not very good at the disposal malarkey either. My ROOTing has resulted in the grand total of one book being identified as a candidate for relocation. :(

>8 floremolla: I have done a bit better than one. I've culled 44 books so far this year. I have incentive to move them along because I am running out of room.

Happy new thread!

I managed to get rid of 4 books this year (for book credit, but let's gloss over that!) (I won't count the coffee table/exercise/cook books that were also exchanged/given away). It was a huge step for me, but like you I'm running out of room so need to be a bit more ruthless. I'm considering seeing if Bookcrossing is much of a thing here, for those books that Barter Books are less likely to take.

>10 Jackie_K: Four books is a start, Jackie, and I bet you didn't get credit for four books in return so you are ahead of the game. Finding a place for books seems to be an ongoing battle and moving them on to new homes is hard. I sometimes find myself looking through my books with an eye to reading something that I won't want to keep and ignoring the more interesting books. I have heard about Bookcrossing but don't understand what it is really.

Happy New Thread, Meg!

>12 connie53: Thanks Connie!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>14 Tess_W: >15 MissWatson: Thanks ladies. I am not getting to many ROOTs so far but hope to do better soon.

42. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

I am currently on a trip in Canada. I brought some ROOTs along to fill in some gaps in the challenges that I have going for 2017. One of the ROOTs was Lullabies for Little Criminals, an interesting look at a childhood lived in the sketchier areas of Montreal.

Happy travelling!

Hope you have a great time!

Hope you're enjoying your trip - are you on a genealogical investigation? I think all Scots have relatives in Canada which is a great excuse to impose on them for a holiday!

My sister has lived near Toronto for 37 years (having gone to work as a nanny 'for a year' but loved it and, inevitably, met a man....). I've visited her many times and taken trips with her. I always feel very comfortable in Canada - like I'm among good people!

I loved Canada when I went, I'd love to do a proper road trip one day (we did a mini road trip - Vancouver to Calgary via Jasper & Banff national parks, but I'd love to see the middle/east one day). I hope you're having a wonderful trip.

>18 MissWatson: >19 Tess_W: Thanks ladies!

>20 floremolla: I am in Halifax for a genealogy conference and I am doing some investigation along the way. I am also visiting with friends and family so finding out things that way. Are you in Scotland?

>21 Jackie_K: It would take ages to do a proper road trip of Canada, Jackie. It is a huge country. I went across from coast to coast once by car and it took several weeks. We did tend to stay for a while where we knew people but didn't stop to see the sights so it would probably take as long to do a proper road trip. My trip is going well so far.

Yes I am, twenty miles south west of Glasgow. Born, educated, worked and retired in a twenty mile radius - in my defence, I have travelled! :)

>25 floremolla: Living in the same area must give you a great feeling of being at home. I envy you that but don't know if I would have been able to stay in one place. There are things about every place I have lived that I miss. It is interesting to be back in Halifax. Things have changed but a lot of what I remember is still there.

>25 floremolla: I'm the same, I've lived in the same place all but 3 years of my life but like you have traveled a lot. One of the things I like about that is having long time friends around me. I don't necessarily see them often but there're always close at hand if I do want to see them or if we need each other's support.

I'm a bit of a homebody.....lived in same area till I was 18 and then moved only 60 miles away and have been there for the last 40+ years. Don't want to leave my 7 grandchildren! But I have traveled much and even spent 3 months living away from home about 5 years ago and it was fun!

>27 clue: Friends that you have had since you were a child are priceless. I don't have anyone like that in my life but don't know that I would have if I stayed in one place either. Sometimes the connection is just lost when you go separate ways even if you were close early on.

>28 Tess_W: I can't imagine that. Most of the neighbourhood that I grew up in moved so there is no home base. It gives me a better idea of what some immigrant groups went through as the neighbourhood moved due to language laws in Quebec - so movement because of an outside pressure.

As Meg surmises, I did have a loss of connection with childhood friends, maybe best described as a 'lifestyle gap' - I went on to do a degree and have a profession while my friends settled down in the town and worked part time in shops or factories.

My closest friends are the ones I met through our children being at local primary school together - we socialised as families to save on getting babysitters and now the kids have flown the nest my four 'amigas' are there for fun times (coffee and Pilates) and support through the bad times. They're all hard workers and high achievers and I think we bonded on the juggling of careers and kids!

>31 floremolla: I'm not sure, Donna, but I think (after discussion and observation) that most people have a loss of connection with childhood friends mostly due to lifestyle, for lack of a better word. I don't see even one of my childhood friends, yet live only about an hour away. I made new friends who had the same interests as I did, just as you, when our children grew up together. Unfortunately, two families we really bonded with moved light years away due to their hubby's job. But the best friends that I have made were my colleagues at school and university. Several quit/retired years ago and we still see each other on a regular basis.

>31 floremolla: Having kids of the same age makes for strong bonds and coinciding life styles that change as the kids age. I joined a group for ladies in midlife (about 15 years ago) and that commonality created strong bonds within the group so we continue to get together.

>32 Tess_W: Coworkers make good friends as well. I will keep in touch with my coworkers that I have close connections with even though I just retired.

>32 Tess_W: >34 Familyhistorian: my husband and I were coworkers once upon a time, so yes, some strong connections can be made there! ;)

>35 floremolla: :) So I see!

43. The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe

Another challenge book done and another ROOT for this month. This time it was The Englishman’s Boy. It was not quite what I was expecting but it was an interesting story of early Hollywood interspersed with a story of the old West. The stories converged in the end in a very effective denouement.

44. The Lost Island by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

For a change of pace and to get another ROOT off the shelves, I read The Lost Island by Preston & Child. I read thrillers in small doses and this was a good one. Part of a series, I think, as it says it is a Gideon Crew novel but this is the first one of those that I read. It was good for whiling away time on a long flight.

October has been a very bad (or good depending on your point of view) month for acquisitions. I travelled to London, Ontario and Halifax. There was a book store just across the street from my hotel in Halifax and I also visited other places where there were books. While in Nova Scotia I picked up:

Scotland's Last Frontier by Alistair Moffat
Foul Deeds by Linda Moore
The Halifax Poor House Fire: A Victoria Tragedy by Steven Laffoley
Nova Scotia in your pocket by Stella McNeil
Anna's Secret by Margaret Westlie
On South Mountain by David Cruise & Alison Griffiths

The friend I stayed with for part of the time also gave me a book, Dragon Springs Road but I think I am ahead in the book giving department because I left 3 books behind with my brothers.

The day after I got back from my trip I attended the Vancouver Writers' Festival. Of course, there was a bookstore there. I ended up with:

Seeking Refuge by Irene N. Watts
Cold Earth by Anne Cleeves
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

I was only at the writers' festival for two days so the damage wasn't bad. I went on Wednesday and Thursday last week, on Friday the Surrey International Writers' Conference started. They had books there too and I ended up with:

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen
night, night, sleep tight by Hallie Ephron
The Truth of Memoir by Kerry Cohen
Fearless Writing by William Kenower
The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing by Zachary Petit

That's quite a pile! It's strange how some months can go by with no or few acquisitions, and then you go over the top completely. Enjoy them!

Great haul - seeing my acquisitions had outstripped my reads I'm trying to be more 'thoughtful' about buying but you can't go on trips, or to writers' festivals, without acquiring books - that would be unthinkable!

I've had a very acquisitive September and October too. I like how you put it: "a very bad (or good, depending on your point of view) month for acquisitions". Maybe I need to flip round how I look at these things :)

>42 MissWatson: Ha, that's only the ones that I brought home from special events. There are more that just acquired during the month. I really need to start reading the books on my shelves and moving them along.

>43 floremolla: Oh, I totally agree with you about you can't go on trips, or to writers' festivals, without acquiring books - that would be unthinkable! Maybe I should go to less places where there are books on offer?

>44 Jackie_K: In my case I think it is bad, Jackie. They are doing some work on my strata and had to get into my attic so I had to clear this out of the way.



Those are double stacked and it is just one small part of my walk in closet. I need to come up with a plan to read and recycle my fiction asap.

45. Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick

I have a large amount of Regency romances on the shelf. One of my favourite authors is Amanda Quick (Judith Krantz). Her book Otherwise Engaged introduced a new heroine and, therefore a new couple. I don't know if this couple will continue to be the focus in her next books. I will have to read on and find out.

46. On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle

I am working my way through a few hefty tomes at the moment so a cozy mystery helped to lighten the load. On What Grounds is the first in a cozy mystery centred around a Manhattan coffee shop. There are a lot of coffee related references and lore as well as recipes for coffee drinks in the book.

>46 Familyhistorian: I often travel to historical sites and I can't even visit them without purchasing a book about the site or something related!

>46 Familyhistorian: no, you must go to your happy places!

Ooh, an Alastair Moffat book! My mum has one or two of his books. Possibly that one. Great haul!

>50 Tess_W: Well, of course, buying a book related to the historical site is part of the whole experience, isn't it Tess?

>51 floremolla: Maybe I should find more happy places without bookstores?

>54 Familyhistorian: good luck with that! Any venture outdoors is fraught with book-buying possibilities...

>55 floremolla: LOL, you got that right!

>52 rabbitprincess: I meant to reply but I got distracted by checking out the Alistair Moffat books I have in my collection. I have a few but he has written a lot more. I may just have strayed on to Amazon after that - oops.

47. Who Do You Think You Are? You're My Henry Allbones by G B Hope

I am in Salt Lake City with a group of fellow researchers so there is less reading on this trip. I managed to finish one ROOT. It’s genealogy related so appropriate but I started it before and couldn’t get into it. There is a lot of people sleeping around and some fighting, so not your usual genealogy mystery. Who Do You Think You Are? You’re My Henry Allbones was ok but not one that I will keep or recommend.

>58 Familyhistorian: Enjoy!

Thanks Tess, but tonight is my last night here. I return to Vancouver tomorrow and I hear that it is cold!

Now that I am home again, it is time to list the other books that I acquired in October. These are from the Little Free Library:

The Best of Roald Dahl
Killer Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson
The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Battles in Britain Vol 1 by William Seymour
Battles in Britain Vol 2 by William Seymour
My Several Worlds by Pearl S. Buck
Old Square-Toes and His Lady: The Life of James and Amelia Douglas by John Adams

I happened upon a Friends of the Library book sale at the Vancouver Library. This is the haul from there:

The Merchant Class of Medieval London by Sylvia L. Thrupp
Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood by Wayson Choy
Civil War Soldiers: Their Expectations and Their Experiences by Reid Mitchell
The Whiskey Trails: A Traveller's Guide to Scotch Whiskey by Gordon Brown

These are the regular books that I bought online or in a store in October:

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
The Way to London by Alix Rickloff
City of Sedition: The History of New York City During the Civil War by John Strausbaugh
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin
An Edwardian Season by John S. Goodall
Written Off: A Mysterious Detective Mystery by E.J. Copperman
Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do By Wallace J. Nichols
Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London by Liza Picard
The Year Canadians Lost Their Minds and Found Their Country: The Centennial of 1967 by Tom Hawthorn

>63 Familyhistorian: ooh interesting -- The Organized Mind -- but admit I'm conflicted about Levitin. The first two (music-theory) chapters of his This Is Your Brain on Music were life-changing for me but I remember the rest being tedious. Look forward to when you get to this.

>64 detailmuse: I haven't cracked the covers yet. I hope that there are no tedious chapters.

Nice haul !

>66 Tess_W: Thanks Tess. Now to find the time to read them.

Hi Meg. 54 unread posts is to much to read, so I just skimmed them. I will try to keep up this time.

Hugs for you from the Netherlands.

>68 connie53: Good to see you here, Connie. I am way behind on all the threads this year. I hope to keep up next year, after all, I'm retired now. Shouldn't that mean I have more time?

>69 Familyhistorian: Yes it should but no, it doesn't. Speaking from experience here.

>69 Familyhistorian: Sad to say I said the same thing when my kids were grown up and gone; but didn't work out that way!

>70 clue: I had a sneaking suspicion that was the case. The retirees that I speak to say that they are busier than ever.

>71 Tess_W: Ha, well I knew that wouldn't make a difference, Tess. Hmm, well my kid many have grown up but he hasn't gone and actually he is more of a help than a time user. I did notice that I had more time when I separated from my husband though - just sayin'.

>73 Familyhistorian: LOL to the husband! I would agree! And right now my 17 year old grandson is staying 5/7 nights with us because he college and work is 5 minutes from our house as opposed to 35 from his parents. He is also more of a help than a hindrance.

>74 Tess_W: Hmm, maybe they are more useful when they are young? LOL

48. No Word From Winifred by Amanda Cross

In No Word from Winifred, Professor Kate Fansler combined her knowledge of literature with her amature detective skills to find out what happened to the titular Winifred. It was an interesting search for an unsual woman which, at times, took Kate out of her comfort zones in how she related to people as well as how she perceived a well-lived life.

>70 clue: Really!!???? I will have to keep working then!

>77 connie53: Ah, but it's a different kind of busy, Connie.

49. The Lost Ancestor by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Another one done for the month. The Lost Ancestor is the second book in the series involving forensic genealogist, Morton Farrier. Morton has a knack for disturbing the living while digging up the truth about the past. The reader is presented with the story of the past intertwined with the tale of Morton's search including the criminal attempts to halt Morton in his tracks. This was a good one.

I hope you're having a good weekend, Meg! Looks like you've acquired some good books recently! (trying to stay positive here, lol)

>80 Jackie_K: Thanks Jackie, hope you are having a good weekend and better weather than we are. It is, once again, pelting down rain.

There appear to be lots of good books in my recent acquisitions and they will all be ROOTs as soon as the new year comes! (Definite positive note there.)

>79 Familyhistorian: looks like a BB for me!

>82 Tess_W: It's part of a series, Tess. The first one Hiding the Past, which Karen (karenmarie) just reminded of the title of on my other thread, is also very good.

50. Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings

I enjoy mysteries and have a few of the Murdock mysteries by Maureen Jennings on my shelves. Let Loose the Dogs was a good mystery and slightly different from the TV episode which used the same story.

And that makes 50 books, Meg. Congrats on reaching your goal!

>85 connie53: Thanks Connie!

Yay, congratulations on reaching your goal!

Well done, Meg! :)

Congrats!

Woo hoo for reaching your goal!

Congratulations!

>87 MissWatson: >88 floremolla: >89 Tess_W: >90 rabbitprincess: >91 Settings: Thanks everyone! I actually reached my goal over a week ago but I am behind on the posts about my reading. There are two more ROOTs finished that I need to get to.

51. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Another ROOT to add to the group totals. I read The Thin Man as I was looking for a noir novel and this fit the bill. I knew it was a classic but it was not quite what I was expecting. It was an interesting look back to detective fiction from the '30s.

52. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The Thirteenth Tale has been on my shelves for a while even though I really wanted to get it at the time. Why do new and shiny books languish on the shelves? I read it and enjoyed it although it is not my usual kind of read.

Congrats on meeting (and exceeding!) your goal!

>95 detailmuse: Thanks. I will start listing my November acquisitions soon and you will see why reading and recycling those ROOTs even faster is my goal for next year!

53. Chapter & Hearse by Lorna Barrett

Each year I join Santa Thing. It actually keeps my book buying numbers down in December because I don't want to duplicate what my Santee picks for me. Last year I received Chapter & Hearse, a book in the cozy mystery series Booktown Mysteries. I enjoyed following up with the characters in this series and it was another ROOT read.

Ok, I will stop it there for my ROOTs reviews for November because the LT clock runs from somewhere in the Mid West and it will confuse me later when the next ROOT I have to post about shows up in December.

November was another month with a high number of acquisitions so I am going to break them down again. When I was in Salt Lake City I spent a lot of time at the Family History Library but I also found time to check out some book stores and I picked up the following:

How to Write Your Personal History by J. Malan Heslop and Dell Van Orden
Organize your genealogy: strategies and solutions for Every Researcher by Drew Smith
Breathe Life into Your Life Story: How to Write a Story People Will Want to Read by Dawn and Morris Thurston
From Family Tree to Family History by Ruth Finnegan and Michael Drake
From Family History to Community History by W.T.R. Pryce
Communities and Families by John Golby

This is November's take from the Little Free Library:

The End of the European Era, 1890 to the Present by Felix Gilbert
Farthing by Jo Walton
No Man's Mistress by Mary Balogh

And from a fellow LT member, thanks Judy, DeltaQueen50:

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkley

Then there is November's regular intake:

London Fog by Christine Corton
Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair edited by Graydon Carter
Ring in the Year with Murder by Auralee Wallace
Beloved Poison by E.S. Thomson
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung
Fifth Column by Mike Hollow
Blood of the Isles by Bryan Sykes
On the Origin of Species by means of natural selection by Charles Darwin
Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait
A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw
Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by William Strauss and Neil Howe
The British: A Genetic Journey by Alistair Moffat
The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher
The Inheritor's Powder by Sandra Hempel

54. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

I read Shades of Milk and Honey in November but left posting about it too late on November 30 when it would have showed up on my thread as being posted in December. That tends to confuse me later so I will count this as a December read. LT sometimes makes it difficult to be the last time zone on the North American continent.

I enjoyed the book which was a romance with fantasy touches. One more ROOT down.

>102 Familyhistorian: I'm at the other extreme of time zones - can post well into the night and it will still show up as the day before. Quite handy as I'm usually trying to cram something in at the last minute. ;)

>103 floremolla: That would be handy. I need to post by 9:00 pm for it to show up on the same day. It can make for a scramble to get things done in time.

55. Only Enchanting by Mary Balogh

I enjoy the Survivors' Club romances by Mary Balogh. Only Enchanting was the tale of Flavian and his unlikely bride. It was a good one.

56. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

And now for something a little bit different. I read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises for a challenge. I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. It was a look at young people in Europe post WWI, what was called “the Lost Generation”. I liked that it was short.

>56 Familyhistorian:, "I liked that it was short" is about all I can honestly claim to have liked about my various forays into Hemingway as well, so your review above made me laugh.

>107 Caramellunacy: It has been so long since I read anything by Hemingway that I thought maybe I wasn't so keen on him because it was assigned reading in high school. It seems that opinion has stood the test of time. LOL

>107 Caramellunacy: Yes it made me laugh too - damning with faint praise!

>109 Jackie_K: And what do you think of Hemingway's writing, Jackie?

Throwing my tuppenceworth into the Hemingway debate, I read two of his novels as ROOTs this year - The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms - both pretty much based on his own life experiences. I don't like his style of writing - hailed as being 'Modernist', I just found it irritatingly and unnecessarily difficult to follow, to the point where it distracted from the story at times. The stories themselves seemed to go on and on in a convoluted way. The ending of A Farewell to Arms is genuinely moving and Hemingway clearly had some real adventures that produced memorable imagery, but I'm less sure whether he was a genius writer than someone who caught the imagination of readers of his time.

Conversely my husband and daughter's boyfriend are big admirers, so maybe it's my own sensibilities that aren't 'getting' Hemingway because I like my novels well structured and beautifully written.

>110 Familyhistorian: I've never read any, and have no particular desire to! But it didn't stop me really appreciating your snark :)

>106 Familyhistorian: Hemingway........especially The Sun Also Rises just ugh

>111 floremolla: I find it telling that the people who you know who are big admirers are men. I think maybe that Hemingway does appeal to them more. I like more structure to my novels as well, I want things to actually happen instead of drunkenly meander to some kind of conclusion.

>112 Jackie_K: Thanks for the appreciation, Jackie. The writing just brought it out in me.

>113 Tess_W: Well, it is historic, Tess, but I understand your reaction.

>94 Familyhistorian: Loved that book!

>112 Jackie_K: I have never read any book by him too. Oh, wait. I've read De oude man en de zee when I was in high school. I really don't know what I thought about it back then.

>117 connie53: The Thirteenth Tale was a good one, Connie. I had an old copy but I noticed the other day that it was still in the bookstores.

>118 Familyhistorian: It was some years ago for me too. 2007 and ****1/2 for me.

>119 connie53: I think that was when it first came out, Connie. It must have caught some buzz from the beginning. It is good and I will take it to a Christmas meeting of my genealogy society as we have a use book sale to raise funds for the society. Someone else is sure to want to read it.

Hemingway is so emotionally withholding! He tends to be macho the whole way through and then tender at the end. I mildly liked The Old Man and the Sea and A Moveable Feast (memoir of his time in Paris between the World Wars), and disliked A Farewell to Arms and decided that's enough.

>121 detailmuse: I never noticed that pattern but you're right, that's what he did with The Sun Also Rises as well. It sounds like you gave him enough tries before you ditched him. I not sure that I will go that far.

57. Murder Between the Covers by Elaine Viets

Another mystery done, another ROOT read. Murder Between the Covers was about Helen, a woman with a dead end job in a bookstore. Things start going down hill when rumours start that the bookstore is closing. They get even worse when the bookstore owner is killed. Can Helen get to the bottom of the mystery before her neighbour is railroaded?

Hello... sorry for such a long absence! I kept seeing that "unread" number get higher and higher and was completely intimidated... Finally, I figured it's better to just stop by and say HI. :)
I wish I had time to go through these threads and read all about what you've all been doing and reading! But, alas, I very much do not. But I think of you often!! And my "hello" is heartfelt and repeated often in my own head ;)

I'm not sure how I will remain involved next year, but I will be around in some fashion!
xo

>124 avanders: Hi Ava, it's good to see you here. Don't worry about not being able to keep up and good luck keeping your hand in next year. Maybe a very small ROOT goal next year? I haven't been able to keep up with the threads myself and the long ones do look intimidating.

58. Gone to Amerikay by Derek McCulloch

The graphic novel, Gone to Amerikay was an interesting look at different eras of Irish immigration to New York. It was also one more ROOT read for December.

59. The Enclyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman's Source Book by Cailtlin & John Matthews

At times it was like trying to read an encyclopedia. It took me a long time to read through The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman's Source Book but I did it. There were stories translated from Celtic mythology so it was readable in parts, just hard to remember who was who.

60. The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

It took a lot less time to read my next ROOT. The Books of Magic is a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. There are four books brought together in the one novel, each showing a different aspect of young Tim Hunter's introduction to the world of magic at the age of 12. It was a much more fun look at the other world than my last read.

Happy Holidays, Meg!

>129 connie53: Thanks Connie. I hope you have a Happy Holiday Season!

Belated season's greetings, Meg! I'm just catching up on your thread. See you in the 2018 ROOT group I hope :)

>131 floremolla: I hope you are having a Happy Holiday season, Donna. I've already signed up for ROOTing in 2018, have you?

Still focusing on finishing four books to take my total to 100 for the year (not all ROOTs), but yes, I will be joining in next year. Got a bit carried away on the acquisition front this year, so in reality haven't made inroads on the ROOTs stats, so will start 2018 with roughly the same number as this year! On the plus side, I've read some fab books and enjoyed the banter on the threads :)

>133 floremolla: If you are starting 2018 with about the same number as you did in 2017 you are probably doing better than many ROOTers. I know you are doing much better than me!

Hi Meg! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas & Happy New Year!

>135 avanders: I hope your Christmas was special, Ava. The first Christmas usually is although the boxes are generally more of a hit than the presents.

Lol it was fun! He enjoyed the wrapping paper the most actually.... eating it (or trying to ;)).

>137 avanders: Christmas is so much more interesting when there are little ones around. Enjoy!

I have many many more books that will become ROOTs in the New Year because December brought in a bumper crop. There was a book sale at the Christmas meeting of my genealogy group. The books were 6 for a dollar. I brought in 8 for the sale but brought back 12 which were:

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes
Sully: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III and Jeffrey Zaslow
The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson
Death of a God by S.T. Haymon
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
The Waterways of Britain by Anthony Burton
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters
Kiss Hollywood Good-by by Anita Loos
The Withdrawing Room by Charlotte MacLeod
George Raft by Lewis Yablonsky
A Very Particular Murder by S.T. Haymon

61. Wicked by Gregory Maguire

I keep reading ROOTs although they aren't really needed for 2017. This time I finished Wicked an interesting take on the story of the Wicked Witch of the West who was a part of the story of the Wizard of Oz.

62. Longbourn by Jo Baker

I'm still finishing up books for the year and completed another ROOT, Longbourn which was the servants' story written to dovetail with Pride and Prejudice. It was well done.

63. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

At the same time that I read Longbourn, I read Pride and Prejudice which was a ROOT and also a first time read for me.

64. The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine T. Bettinger

One last ROOT for 2017. I finished a book that I have been meaning to get to for a while, The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. It is a very good guide and will remain on my shelves as a reference book.

WOW Meg, you are really finishing a lot of those ROOTs in the last days of the year.

Good work, Meg!

>144 connie53: >145 floremolla: Thanks ladies, I wanted to finish most of the books I have been reading before the end of the year to complete some challenges and to start off fresh in 2018. I had a lot of books on the go at the same time.

I will have a lot more ROOTs to chose from in 2018. December brought in many more books. (Well, I brought them in but there were reasons, like a books store closing etc.)

I was really good at the Little Free Library this month only bringing home:

Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding
The Changing Face of Britain by Edward Hyams

I picked up a lot more books at bookstores:

House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths
The Inheritance by Charles Finch
Murder at Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
The Confabulist by Steven Galloway
Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo
The Final Silence by Stuart Neville
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers
Only a Few Bones by John Philip Colletta
The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger by Victoria Alexander
Far East Air Operations 1942-1945 by John Grehan
American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution by Walter R. Borneman
Eavesdropping on Jane Austen's England by Roy & Lesley Adkins
Baking with Kafka by Tom Gauld

Nice Haul, Meg!

>149 connie53: Thanks Connie.

Last minute ROOTs, eh? I sneaked in a few myself ;)

>151 floremolla: Actually, I was good for the last few days of December so not that last minute but still they had to get counted so they can be ROOTs now. Love it when that happens!