October AlphaKIT - N and L

The rules are... none! Use the letters however you like to choose your reads for the month.

October AlphaKIT letters are : N and L.

and

Please remember to update the wiki and enter books alphabetically: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

For L, either "Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer" by Fredrik Backman or "The Patron Saint of Liars" by Ann Patchett.

For N, I will have to see how it fits in with other challenges.

I will have to check what I've got for the other challenges first, and if N and L are not covered, then I'll pick something. Oh, who am I kidding!? I'll pick something out, anyway, just 'cause. I might want to be sure to fit it in, anyway!

I have The Night Circus (by Erin Morgenstern) for sure and quite a few Pierre Lemaitre novels that I would love to be able to get to soon!

I have some Ls I would definitely like to get to, even if they don't fit other challenges in October. Have to look a bit closer for Ns, though.

Lime Tree Can't Bear Orange / Amanda Smyth
Breaking Out of Bedlam / Leslie Larson
Lies of the Heart / Michelle Boyajian

It's early yet, but I think I'll be reading Confusion by Neal Stephenson and re-reading Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I'm planning on:
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson
Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

I'm planning on reading Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon and Now That She's Gone by Gregg Olsen.

For my adult education course in October I'll be reading Playing with Fire: the 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics by Lawrence O'Donell.

I am planning on reading Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale and The Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser.

I hope to read No Orchids for Miss Blandish and listen to the audiobook of Lyra's Oxford.

Here are some of my possibilities:

Body in the Attic Judi Lynn
A Cold Brew Killing by Lena Gregory
✔Federal Reserve and its Founders by Richard Naclerio
✔Glitter Bomb Laura Childs
✔Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
✔Into the Lion's Den
✔Lady helena investigates
Lady Risks All
✔Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder
Lion in the Valley
Murder Made to Order by Lena Gregory
✔No Grater Danger
✔Novel Art of Murder
✔Pairing a Deception byNadine Nettmann
Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig
Permanently Booked by Lisa Q. Mathews
✔Pint of No Return
✔Seven Deadly Zins by Nancy Parra
Slay in Character Lynn Cahoon
Temptation of Forgiveness: by Donna Leon

If I have time to participate I will read The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey and The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah.

The problem is that I have the new Robert Galbraith book Lethal White and I want to read it. At 647 pages it all depends on how much I can work in with it.

Ha ... maybe I'll finally get to The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri ... and "kill two birds with one stone"!

I do have other possibilities for 'L'
LIANE Moriarty's - The Hypnotist's Love Story
LISA Wingate's - Before We Were Yours (just started this one but I don't know if I'll finish it for "b" in September)

I found a Classic American Short Story that had been sitting in my audiobook queue since 2014! The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (by Washington Irving; narrated by Tom Mison) is only about an hour-and-fifteen minutes long but it deserves repeated listening: Everytime I read the story, more details emerge and I marvel that the scenes and characters are so vividly described in a short piece. Ichabod Crane, an itinerant school teacher with his eye on a local heiress, is susceptible to the folk tales of the area. When it looks like our ersatz hero might well be getting his wishes fulfilled, his romantic rival takes things in hand... Tom Mison is the audiobook narrator, and he reads the story beautifully, but I couldn't help but wonder why he was cast in this story about a Dutch town, Sleepy Hollow near Tarrytown, NY when his British accent was obvious. I guess the speaker of the story could> be British but still. 4 stars

>15 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I enjoyed the story... I should see if my library has an audio version!

Finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. For the N letter. Good book!

COMPLETED a trilogy of books by David D. Levine:

Arabella of Mars
Arabella and the Battle of Venus and
Arabella The Traitor of Mars

Starting "On the Nature of The Universe" by Lucretius.

Finished my first read of the month, fitting here with an L: The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen 4*.

I finished reading His Majesty's Dragon (A Novel of Temeraire #1; by Naomi Novik) last night/this morning :-)

Reminiscent of The Dragonriders of Pern (by Anne McCaffrey) and Master and Commander (by Patrick O'Brien,) this alt-history adventure features dragons amidst the Napoleonic War from the British side of things. This first-in-series introduces us to the dragon, Temeraire and his harnesser, Laurence. Shot through with sea- and aerial combat, humor, and sentimentality, the tale would seem to have everything one could want; but the author also expertly conveys the repressed British psyche so expertly that she kills the thrills. It's sort of like listening to Renée Fleming, the opera soprano, sing when you really want Maria Callas.

I have two possibilities as to what to tackle next:
• The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Trilogy #1; by Patrick Ness) or;
• The Country of Ice Cream Star (by Sandra Newman)

Evermore / Alyson Noel
4 stars

16-year old Ever is in a car crash with her family and their dog; she is the only survivor. She has since gone to live with her aunt in California. She can also suddenly see people’s auras and hear people’s thoughts. Not a fun situation. Though she used to be popular and beautiful, she now hides behind a hoodie and plays loud music to drown everything else out; she’s a freak. When a gorgeous guy starts school, she cannot figure out if or why he might be interested in her.

I really liked this. There were shades of Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse, each for various reasons. I liked both the storyline with Damon, the boy at school, and the one with her ghost sister, Riley.

I read the prequel to Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking Trilogy, "The New World" (Frustratingly, I can find the title when I search but I can't find it to add to my library, nor can I find the touchstone for it.) Anyway, it turns out to be a short story featuring a family selected to be the advance team that heads down to a planet where other settlers had landed decades before. It's apparently a bit of a back story for a character in The Knife of Letting Go and I was intrigued enough to start the first-in-series earlier this evening. The novel starts off with a boy who lives in a tiny town of men who can all hear each other's thoughts. Todd, out in the swamp, manages to hear something, or more like a nothing...

Second L book finished for the month, Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. Excellent read, 5*.

COMPLETED On the Nature of the Universe by Lucretius.

Starting "The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking.

COMPLETED The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking

I have completed my L read with Savage Season by Joe R. Lansdale.

I went straight from reading "The New World" (Chaos Walking prequel) to the first-in-series, The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Trilogy #1 by Patrick Ness.) I can see why people love this book: the original concepts, the use of language and typeface, the thrill of the chase, and the overall suspense; And for these things, this YA Dystopian Bildungsroman about a boy named Todd (the last boy in Prentisstown) and Violet (the strange, quiet girl he finds in a swamp,) it will earn a four-star rating from me; BUT this isn't really my kind of story: There is a bit of cheap emotional manipulation which I resent, a cliff-hanger ending that annoys me, and the overall vocabulary is very low-level, more middle school than YA. Most of the disappointment is my fault as I generally avoid YA and cliffhanger novels, and had purchased this title with blind faith on the recommendation from a friend :-/

November thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/297519

See You in a Hundred Years / Logan Ward
4 stars

Logan and his wife, Heather, decided to leave their jobs and lives in New York City and take their 2-year old to Virginia to buy and live on a farm. Not only that, they were going to renovate the house to make it so that they would be living in the year 1900. They wanted to live this way for a full year.

I find these so interesting! There was a British tv show (which gave Logan and Heather the idea) called The 1900 House. Not long after, in Canada, there was a tv show called Pioneer Quest that took two couples and did pretty much what Logan and Heather did, except they went back a few years earlier to the 1880s, and they had to build their homes from scratch.

That being said, I found this really interesting. At the same time, considering the tv I’ve seen with similar topics, I wasn’t surprised at how difficult it was, as well as a huge reliance on (unpredictable) Mother Nature. It was nice to see the community and neighbours come together to help them out. The only thing is that I would have liked more in the epilogue – how much of hat they did/learned during that year did they continue with when they returned to the current day?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow / Washington Irving
Reread on audio this time:
3.75 stars

I’ve read the story a couple of times before, but when I saw someone else post a review for the audio, I thought this would be a good time of year to listen to the audio if my library had one available. Lucky for me, it did! Not only that, the one I borrowed was read by Anthony Heald (Giles from Buffy!). I really enjoyed his narration of the story. I feel like I even caught a few things that I might have missed in reading it. It still has a lot of description and you really do need to pay attention, but I did well with this audio. I think my older reviews kept the story at “good” 3.5 stars, but I’m giving the audio an extra .25 stars.

>30 LibraryCin: There seems to be a liitle mixup: Anthony Head is the British actor who played Giles on BTVS; Anthony Heald is an American actor/narrator who now works at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I suspect you got the version narrated by the latter, but I would die to have anything narrated by the former! 🙂

Finished listening to Born a Crime (written and narrated by Trevor Noah this morning. It was offered as a free dnload to Audible members at the end of 2016. Oddly, I couldn't find it in my library, but by searching for it in the app, I was able to locate it and play it through that.

It's the autobiography/memoir of a boy/man who lived though post-Apartheid South Africa, and a testament to his mother, a strong, independent woman who was the defining influence in his life. Born a Crime is an exposition on racism, the nuances of which I was unfamiliar with as pertaining to South Africa (it's much, much more than just black vs white.) Hearing the Xhosa clicks and Noah's facility with language (he's a polyglot) was fascinating; but if you're looking for something about his celebrity life (as the successor to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show) you won't find it here. Still, a solid four-stars and very much an important book.

I've just started The lost : a search for six of six million (by Daniel Mendelsohn; narrated by Bronson Pichot.) A2 22+hours, it will be a tight fight for the month, but I think I'll (just barely!) get it in!

I have completed my "N" read with The Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser.

>31 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Ah, it actually sounded like Giles, I thought!

ETA: Looks like you're right, though. I double checked. (I think I'll update my main review and take that out about it being Giles... I'm not going to update everywhere I posted the review, though - that's just too many places!)

Starting Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida.

I completed an audio version of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (read by Donada Peters) for both an N & L.

COMPLETED Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 by Naoki Higashida

Finished one that hits both N & L, Leage of Dragons by Naomi Novik. Also finished an N, A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul and have started another N, The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian.

>39 staci426: loved the Temeraire series!

>40 cyderry: Me too! I wish there were more.

Just finished LEE Child book
Lee Child / Die Trying √ - 18Oct18

Finished White Fur by Jardine Libaire--it was beautifully written, and I really enjoyed the writer's way with language, but I wanted a bit more from the story.

Just checked and I've read a couple of L books but surprisingly no N's just yet. Read Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout and Tiny Little Things by Beatriz Williams. Both enjoyable books in their respective ways.

Escape / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

This is a straight continuation of Barclay’s first YA book, “Chase”. It picks up pretty much where “Chase” left off. I’ll just give the basics of what’s going on so as not to spoil the first book. Chipper is a dog that has been altered by “The Institute” – he is still part-dog, but also part-robot. He escapes and finds 12-year old, Jeff, whose parents passed away not long ago. The Institute is now looking for Chipper, and by extension, Jeff.

I really enjoyed these two books. They really are two parts to the same story, so I’ve rated them the same. It’s fast-paced, but it is meant for younger readers, so it is more simple than his adult books, but he still throws a couple of twists into the story, as well.

Silent Victims by Lynda LaPlante

A grim story where Jane Tennison, newly appointed head of the Vice Squad, investigates crimes against young rent boys. She discovers a public figure is her prime suspect and is instructed unequivocally on how her inquiry should proceed. After all her effort to break through the glass ceiling, her career could come to an abrupt end if she makes the wrong decision. An unpleasant reminder of current celebrities being charged with old sexual crimes.

Finished Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon, and absolutely loved it. Full review written.

Two more "L" authors read ...

Laila Ibrahim - Yellow Crocus √ - 20Oct18

L M Montgomery - Anne of Ingleside √ - 22Oct18

Ratlines by Stuart Neville, not a bad mystery but I didn't like the writing style much.

Starting Three Wrong Turns in the Desert by Neil Plakcy

Reading The Iron Heal by Jack London for the L.

Finished my L selection (I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lin Manual-Miranda):



Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ari(stotle) and Dante, two Mexican American teen boys living in 1980's El Paso, both feel like outsiders until they find each other and quickly become best friends. Ari has trouble relating to his father, is angry at his parents for not talking about the older brother in prison, and is struggling with self-hatred and finding his place in the world. Dante knows who he is and what he wants to be, but that comes with its own set of issues. Over the course of a couple of summers, the two save each other in all sorts of ways and begin to find themselves in relation to each other and the world.
Beautiful, this is. Ari and Dante are wonderfully drawn, and the issues they face are so important and relevant and so realistically handled. Highly recommended. And Lin Manuel-Miranda's fabulous job as narrator is pure icing.

Finished King of the Vagabonds by Neval Stephenson which works here and several other CAT/Kits.

Just read Lullaby, a 37 min audible original by Joanathan Maberry and read by Scott Brick. Was creepy for October but probably should not be read by parents with young babies.

>54 Kristelh: I listened to Lullaby as well this month. I agree, it was a perfect October quick listen. I also finished one more L book, God Save the Queen by Kate Locke which I thoroughly enjoyed.

COMPLETED Three Wrong Turns in the Desert by Neil Plakcy.

Starting the same author's Dancing With The Tide.

Probably my last title for this month's challenge: It took me a little while (about ten days) to listen to it all, but I finally finished listening to The Lost: The Search for Six of Six Million (by Daniel Mendelsohn; narrated by Bronson Pinchot.) This is a non-linear narrative, in the Ancient Greek style of storytelling, about the author's search for six people who "were killed" by the Nazis." Combining Biblical exegesis, the untangling of family lore, the hard hunt for facts, and the problems of interpretation, this presents a powerful picture of how history works in our lives and the hidden costs of human annihilations. There is a postscript in this version that it is not in earlier editions of the book that provides an emotionally devasting note to the whole of the work which left me a little breathless. Bronson Pinchot narrates the audio with intelligence and emotion. My only quibbles are that the middle of the narrative bogs down a bit, and there are no pictures in pdf attachment or otherwise (and you really do want to see the pictures that are referred to.) I'll definitely be adding a hardback to my collection as well.

I just started True Legend (by Mike Lupica narrated by Prentice Onayemi,) a middle-grade book I got when my daughter was in OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books.) Unfortunately, she just wasn't interested in it in either print or audio so it's been sitting in my listening queue for a couple of years! I came across it while looking for something short (it's less than seven hours long) though I'm still not sure I'll finish before the end of the month. If not, I'm still in luck as it qualifies for the "T" part of November's challenge! Anyway, so far it's it's about a high school basketball player, a star in the making, with the attitude and latitude of all that entails.

One more! I finished all of the Night Shift (by Stephen King) last night! For the past few years, I've been listening to a Stephen King audiobook every October. It's been novels so far but this year I saw a copy of the short story anthology, Night Shift (narrated by John Glover) in the library and decided to listen to one every day or so. There are sixteen shorts in the collection but it is also worth noting that while the audio is labeled "An Unabridged Production," (which may have been true in 1994 when the audio was produced,) it does not include "I am the Doorway," "Trucks," "Children of the Corn," and "One for the Road" which are in the 2011 print edition. So I guess I'm saying you need to get both the print and the audio editions for the completed Night Shift experience! Anyway, as to the audio itself, the stories range from the horrific ("Jerusalem's Lot") to the sad ("The Last Rung in the Ladder") and from the artful and sublime (again "Jerusalem's Lot") to the corny/lame ("The Lawnmower Man" and "The Mangler.") John Glover rises to the occasion of each story, his performance style sometimes echoing Rod Sterling, other times Maine locals... The stories are dated ('Night Shift' was published in 1976) but each is well crafted and well narrated. I read the four shorts mentioned above over the weekend and was glad I hadn't blown them off. "One for the Road" is another story in the Jerusalem's Lot universe and is more closely related to the novel, 'Salems Lot (which I listened to a couple years ago, narrated by Campbell Scott and which I really liked.) The only stories that I thought weren't that great in both the audio and print were the ones that dealt with possession of "things": "The Mangler" (a steam and pressing unit at a clothes cleaners,) "Trucks," etc. but that's probably saying more about me than the writing as it's undeniable that the elements of the short are all well done in this anthology.

Finished The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This novel of Good and Evil, guilt and revenge, the Individual and Society, can't possibly be the same book as that boring one I read in high school 50 years ago, can it? What a difference a half-century makes...

Finished Force of Nature by Jane Harper. I liked Harper's first book The Dry better. This one dragged a bit.

I got two "L" books read this month:

The Warrior's Path by Louis L'Amour

My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

Finished Now That She's Gone by Gregg Olsen--I really do love his thrillers! Full review written :)

I got in only one book that fit this month's KIT:

McNally’s Chance, by Vincent Lardo

I surprised myself by getting seven titles in for this month's challenge:

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (by Washington Irving; narrated by Tom Mison)
The Lost. A Search for Six of Six Million (by Daniel Mendelsohn; narrated by Bronson Pinchot)

Born a Crime (written and narrated by Trevor Noah)
His Majesty's Dragon (Tremaire #1 by Naomi Novik)
The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking Trilogy #1; by Patrick Ness)
The New World (Chaos Walking Trilogy Prequel; by Patrick Ness)
Night Shift (by Stephen King; 16 shorts from the anthology in the audiobook edition narrated by John Glover)

Disappointingly, I've had Country of Ice Cream Star (by Sandra Newman) going for three weeks now and it looks like I won't finish until well into November; and I've got True Legend (by Mike Lupica; narrated by Prentice Onayemi) started as well, though that will carry over into November's challenge nicely for the "T" part :-)

I started a new job mid-October and it's wreaking havoc on my reading/listening time. Hopefully, things will get sorted out soon and I can get back into my reading groove!

I had an okay AlphaKIT reading month, although all fit in as "L" Reads (no "N" books):
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson
Road Ends by Mary Lawson
Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow
The Weeping Books of Blinney Lane by Drea Damara