dogearedcopy's "Spike" List (19/S)

So, 2019 is the year I dedicate to the letter "S" ( the nineteenth letter of the alphabet!)
Sometimes the book's title will begin wi the letter "S," sometimes the author's last name, a series, subject...
Here, I will post those 19/S books that I have read that have been acquired prior to January 1, 2019.
And, of course, there will be some non-19/S books which I will also count, but for me, it's good to have a focus or theme ;-)

Introducing, "Spike," the newest member of the family! We picked him up off of some railroad tracks in a rural/remote area in Oregon last September. I'll be posting more updated photos throughout 2019 :-)

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Welcome back, Tanya. Spike is adorable! I would really love to have a cat some day. We always had cats when I was young. But since Peet doesn't want a pet in the house I will have to wait till I'm old and alone. Of course I hope that will take a long time. But it still is a dream to have one.

P.S. Don't forget to become a member of the group!

Welcome back to the ROOT group! Love that photo of Spike :D

Good luck this year!

Welcome back! (Spike seems to have disappeared though!)

>Jackie_K Yes, I just figured it out from reading another post! it appears that LT did a minor tweak over the past couple of days: To make the site more secure and eliminate the somewhat alarming "Site Not Secure" alert in the search bar, links have to have the "https" prefix rather than the "http" one. I just re-copied the picture's address over so now Spike is back :-)

Ahh, that's what was wrong. All my images disappeared from my threads. Going to solve that tomorrow.

Hi Tanya, wishing you a happy new year and happy ROOTing in 2019!

Welcome back and hello to Spike!

I picked this up in December 2018 and had planned to finish the year with it, but it spilled over into the New Year!

#01 Artifice (The Silver Ships Book 12) (by S.H. Jucha) - Alex Racine has led his expeditionary force to the edges of Federacy space to confront Artifice, an omnipotent digital entity that poses an existential threat to the Omnians. This is the twelfth installment in Jucha's family-friendly space opera and has First Contact with not one, but no less than four "alien" species! In this story, there is a lot more action and less exposition, which makes sense since, if you've come this far into the series, you know everyone by now! BUT, the technology is a bit anachronistic, the aliens more than a little familiar for being "aliens", the logic behind one of Alex's major decisions a bit obtuse, and quite frankly, the climax was paradoxically, anticlimactic. That all said, for those following the Silver Ships overarching saga, it concludes the Nu'all story arc satisfactorily (even if we do see more of them in future stories,) and sets the stage for further adventures.

I picked this copy up from my library's exchange shelf sometime last fall. The exchange shelf is a collection of books that aren't in the lbrary's check-in/check-out system. You take a book out and return it whenever you are done!

#02 A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock #1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with an Introduction by Steven Moffatt) - This is an edition published by the BBC after the first year of Sherlock (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Steven Moffat) aired and they capitalized on the series' success by plastering the modern Sherlock Holmes and Watson on the cover. However, on the inside, aside from Moffat's Introduction which is little more than a bit of a trip down memory lane, the original text resides without any sort of fanfare (no annotations or illustrations.) As for the story itself, it's about the discovery of a corpse in an empty apartment. The word, "Rache" has been painted on a wall in blood, and it's up to Sherlock Holmes to demonstrate the powers of deductive reasoning and figure who and what happened. The book is divided into two parts: The first part introduces Watson to Holmes and sets up the crime scene. The second part is a bit of backstory relating to the crime, and the resolution. ACD cheats the reader a little bit by having Holmes do some off-camera inquiries, so you don't have enough to work out how it was done on your own, but it's still a solid mystery. BTW, If you watched the series, it will be a little difficult not to imagine Cumberbatch and Moffat as Holmes and Watson respectively, but you won't have any problem making the distinction between the original story and the TV adaptation. So, really, no spoilers either way!

I really loved A Study in Scarlet. I didn't expect a story set in London would move to Mormonism in America, so that was a surprise in itself. You're right about picturing Cumberbatch, he has become our Sherlock.

This is a book in my Litsy Goes Postal OG that arrived last May sans journal! The idea behind the postal group is that every one selects a book and includes a journal. A mailing list is set up and you send the book & journal forward to the next person on the list every 6-8 weeks. Owing to some intramural drama, the book and journal have been lost, a replacement book sent forward, and a replacement journal is in a storage locker in Virginia, left behind when the last person who had it moved to Florida.) I was supposed to wait until the journal caught up, but quite honestly, I don't think I'll ever see it; So, on the recommendation of another member of the group, I wrote my journal entry on a separate piece of paper, to be included with the journal should it ever makes its way to me. I sent the actual book forward to the next person, and they will do likewise. If, after all the rounds are complete and the journal still hasn't re-surfaced, we'll figure it out then :-)

#03 Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine) - This is a non-fiction travelogue by the famed science fiction writer, Douglas Adams. He travels to six places around the world with wildlife ecologist, Mark Carwardine to see animals that are on the verge of extinction. The animals that he encounters, his epiphanies, and his humor all make this a fascinating read. The topic of endangered animals is one fraught with pessimism no less then (1988) than now thirty years later so if you're an animal lover or someone concerned about the effects of climate change, you need to brace yourself a bit.

>13 Tanya-dogearedcopy: That book is on my TBR, along with the sequel, by Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry, Last Chance to See: In the Footsteps of Douglas Adams. When I eventually get to them I intend to read them one straight after the other, which I'm sure will be pretty enlightening, but also possibly a bit depressing.

>14 Jackie_K: I watched the 6-part BBC documentary series with Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine after reading the Douglas Adams book and loved being able to see things in color! But it must be said, no matter how clever or charming you may find Stephen Fry, he would be the very last person I would ever take on an adventure like that! :-D

#04 This may be stretching the idea of "TBR" a bit as this is a book I deliberately bought late last year with the intention of reading it this year but I'm running with it anyway!

King John (by William Shakespeare) - In the chronological order of monarchs, this is the first of the British monarchs represented in Shakespeare's canon. William the Conquerer's great-grandson, John succeeds to the throne but the claim is disputed, the noblemen are fickle in their loyalties, the French threaten, the women are ambitious and catty, and the Church is stirring things up.... I've seen many people cite this play as their least favorite of the Bard's, but I found it fascinating for what it contained inasmuch as what wasn't there! From the outset, Richard I's bastard son ( o_0 ), the portrayal of King John as a sort of Protestant prototype in his dealings with the Pope, the lack of intense antipathy being represented from the people over heavy taxation made me wonder how King John had actually been received contemporary to his time, and at Shakespeare's time. Now, of course, John has been branded the villain thanks to eighteenth-century Romanticism (Robin Hood) but a quick assay reveals there is very little about him to be gleaned from the thirteenth century, much less from his reign, in terms of public perception. Interestingly, the play does not mention the Magna Carta either. This make me wonder of there are lost "bits" that didn't make it into the collections of folios... Ah! If only I had the time and temperament to be a Shakespeare scholar! Anyway, this the first of the Histories I plan on reading this year. Onward! The next one is Edward III :-)

#05 Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation (by Octavia Butler, Damian Duffy and, John Jennings) - Last December, in anticipation of receiving the novel, Kindred (by Octavia Butler for the postal book group I belong to, I read my own copy of the 1979 time travel story. The idea was that as soon as the book group package came in, I could write in the journal enclosed and turn the whole thing around to the next person quickly. Unfortunately, there was a hiccup in the relay and I won't be getting the book until later this week. But I didn't want to re-read the novel, so I picked up a copy of the graphic novel adaptation instead, with the idea of refreshing my memory before I started writing a journal entry.

So, why didn't I want to re-read it? The first time I read it, I thought it was okay. The story goes quickly but it didn't get under my skin. Or maybe it would be more correct to say, I found myself unable to get under its skin. The story itself certainly had merit: Dana, an African-American woman living in L.A. during the 1970s, finds herself inexplicably thrown back to antebellum Easton, Maryland, on the plantation of her ancestors. Octavia Butler makes much about how a modern Black woman was startlingly able to accommodate herself to the slave culture but the message didn't resonate with me to any degree of power. More than anything else, I was simply struck but just how hard life was for everyone: Accidents, disease, illnesses could all have fatal consequences (more often than not) and; treatments were medieval. This was not the life of Scarlet O'Hara at Tara!

The graphic novel was surprisingly true to the novel and included a lost of details from the story. I can't say I was anymore impressed with the story itself, but I definitely appreciated the GN a bit more: The choice of style, and color in particular are bold with think lines and blocks of ochre and violet ink. At the end of the book, there is an interview in which they explain the choices they made.

I give the original story 3.0 stars and; the GN 4.0.

#06 Saga, Volume 1 (by Brian K. Vaughan) - I've had this in my stacks for a couple of years now, but when I saw it on my postal group's reading list, I waited until it was "my turn" to read it! This is Science Fiction/Space Opera graphic novel featuring two star-crossed lovers, Alana and Marko who are fleeing the ravages of war with their newborn baby, Hazel. The war is being waged between Landfall denizens (terra-based forces) and the soldiers of Wreath (moon-based forces) and both sides have placed a bounty on the family. There is a Robot aristocracy, fantastic, sentient beings, and Horrors that are not what they might seem to be... The artwork is vibrant with splashes of magenta and algae green threading their way through the panels. I loved the story band have already ordered the next volume, but a word of warning: This is an adult comic, a graphic graphic novel if you will with sex acts explicitly rendered.

Hi Tanya, just popping in to see what you are reading.

#07 The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with an introduction by Martin Freeman) - In this novella, Mary Morstan comes to Holmes seeking help in determining who has been sending her a pearl every year after her father's presumed death. The case unfolds as a story of hidden treasure, greed, intrigue, and murder set against the backdrop of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the environs of London. As with A Study in Scarlet, I was more fascinated with the story of the crime and less so with the solving of the crime mystery but I admit that when Sherlock and Holmes were in hot pursuit, there was the thrill of the chase!
In 1890, the original text of this novella was published, and this edition was published in 2012 in conjunction with the BBC series. The cover sports Cumberbatch and Freeman and; the introduction is written by Martin Freeman. The celebrity introductions don't really add any significant insight or value to the work, but for the hardcore fans of the BBC show it's a nice perk.

#08 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock #3 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with and introduction by Mark Gatiss) - The first two novellas in the Sherlock Holmes canon are actually a story arc each; but this is a collection of shorts featuring the famous Victorian-era detective. In the very first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we meet "that woman," Irene Adler and I was excited to think there would be more of her in the stories that followed. But these are all self-contained cases with only passing reference to others. Still, it's fun: We see Sherlock's genius at work through the eyes of his friend, John Watson-- who chronicles the adventures (the narrative conceit) and, the whole of it is prefaced by Mark Gatiss (who wrote for and acted in the show, Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch.) At first reading, the prefaces for these editions (which feature Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman on the covers) seem like throwaway passages, each very similar in describing their respective first encounters with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation and, how modern and timeless the stories are. But I get their point: The stories hold up well so much so, that the fussy Victorian veneer is gone, the 21st-century iterations comfortably seating themselves in my mind as their 19th century originals run through the streets of London in pursuit or, sit by the fireplace in their flat reading newspapers. :-)

This is a book that's been off and on my TBR lists over the years: I would get a copy, then time would pass and I would think that I wasn't going to read it so I would purge it from my stacks, then I would get another copy.... Finally I tackled it (and discovered in shelving the read copy that, of course, I actually have two copies with all this back and forth!)

#09 The Shadow of the Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) - I just finished this around midnight last night and am still basking in a sort of "book afterglow" today! Daniel is a young man who is coming into his own: falling in love, fascinated by a book and its author, building friendships, and being measured against enemies (within and without, seen and unseen.) But this not merely a bildungsroman: There is intrigue, mystery, and something of a thriller. This is a very atmospheric novel set in Barcelona in the mid-1950s. Barcelona is a city haunted by its bloody past and it is a landscape of shadows, soot, and ruins. Very Spanish Gothic (not really a term but it fits.) Four solid stars, probably five if I were to sit down and re-read this even more carefully.

>22 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I thought that was a great book too! Now I still have to read the next installments that have been on my shelves since forever.

>22 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Just to be the awkward squad, I really struggled with that book, and I'm not sure why. I never got beyond the first 20 pages or so. I've put it back on the shelf to give it another try sometime, but if I experience the same thing then it'll be off the shelf and hopefully away to someone who will appreciate it more!

I very infrequently read Regency Romances, so I was surprised to find this one on my e-reader yesterday as I was organizing my stacks in the Kindle and Nook apps. I had actually purchased it in October 28, 2018-- which deepens the mystery as to how/when I got it I was then starting a new job which sucked all the free time out of my life (so I can't even imagine when I had time to breathe, much less browse Kindle offerings and decide on a Regency Romance!) Anyway, I decided to tackle it last night:

#010 Lord of Chance (Rogues to Riches #1; by Erica Ridley) - Hoping to escape a scandalous past and find her father, Charlotte Devon heads north into Scotland where she finds herself accidentally marries to an English rakehell, Anthony Fairfax. All the bones for a good story were there: a credible plot, researched cultural norms, character development, descriptive language that painted a clear picture of where you were and the moods... but somehow it all fell flat for me. All the things did not add up to more than a superficial treatment of the characters and story (never felt like I was transported to the the time or place, nor did the characters get under my skin.) And too, the was a distinct lack of sizzle to the Charlotte and Anthony's relationship. Not only was there a noticeable lack of chemistry, the intimate scenes were very few and very bland. Nice effort, but can only give it two-and-a-half stars.

I originally got this old paperback off the Boothbay (Maine) Library porch a few years ago, so I probably paid a quarter for it at most! I admit that I was attracted to the cover which features a femme fatale (wearing red and holding a lit cigarette) as much as anything else!

#011 How Like a God (by Rex Stout) - This is Rex Stout's first novel and is not a Nero Wolfe story but one featuring Billy Snyder as the protagonist. Well, this wasn't what I was expecting at all! What I thought I was going to read when I picked this up was a mid-century noir story but what I got was a study in psychological suspense! We watch Billy walk up the flights of stairs to an apartment he is very familiar with, and with a gun in his right hand coat pocket. We don't know who Billy plans on shooting (until the end); or even if he has the courage to do so. Each chapter is preceded by a lettered (e.g. "A," "B," "C," etc) section describing the action in the third-person omniscient; but the chapters themselves are written in POV2-- Billy addressing himself! Really interesting and unique style.

>26 Tanya-dogearedcopy: This sounds really interesting!

I've had both of these audiobooks in my audible library for years!

012 Frankenstein (by Mary Shelley; narrated by Dan Stevens) - I think this is the fourth time I've read this book, and just like every re-read in the past, I feel like it's a completely different book than I read last time! For those who have not read this horror classic, it's a far cry from the Hollywood and Halloween versions we are familiar with: Dr. Frankenstein, as a young man, obsessively pursues science and anatomy, and ends up crating a monster.Quickly abandoning the creature, he has nonetheless sets the wheels in motion that seals his fate. Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey) narrates this audiobook edition and he's okay-- nothing wrong really but I prefer the audio edition narrated by Simon Vance.

013 Dracula (by Bram Stoker; narrated by Steven Crossley, Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Susan Duerden, Katherine Kellgren, John Lee, Graeme Malcolm and, Simon Vance)Produced by audible a few years ago to critical acclaim, this audiobook edition of the classic horror story takes advantage of the epistolary format to cast A-list narrators and a couple of celebrities. The story itself is about Count Dracula's attempt to enter England and the small group of Englishmen (and one woman) who attempt to stop him. It's been years (decades!) since I've read the novel so this was really new-to-me and, not knowing who was going to live or die or "un-die" provided a measure of suspense. Also, the ending was different than I remembered-- so at this point, I'm not even considering this a "re-"read! Anyway, great story as one would expect though, I'm still bewildered as to how the Count's foes were able to travel overland from England to Transylvania! I loved most of the performances which were on point, but I'm going to kill a sacred cow right here and say that Katherine Kellgren's performance was terrible. She was so over-the-top in much of her delivery, that I couldn't understand what she was saying or what was going on in several of her sections (Still have absolutely no clue as to what happened at Whitby Beach!), and other times I found her voice just _grating_.

This was has been in my audible library for so long, that I had completely forgotten what it was about! It was a coincidence of choice that it proved to be another horror story (after having listened to Frankenstein and Dracula earlier in the week) and that it was another vampire story!

014 The Strain (The Strain Trilogy #1 by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan; narrated by Ron Perlman) - A modern-day vampire tale set in post 9/11 NYC, this hews closer to the classic Nosferatu model of vampire than the sexy/sparkly kind. In this iteration, vampirism is a virus that zombifies human hosts, and there is a laryngeal mutation that manifest as a sort of worm stinger. The writing has a Hollywood tone: It reads like a movie-- fast and action and image oriented, without much interior thought or development. Each chapter in the audiobook included a musical bit that added to the movie feel. Oddly, though I have not read this book before or seen the 4-season TV series adaptation, I feel like I've seen this movie before.

Ron Perlman was the narrator. His performance was so "one-note" -- or more accurately monotone, that I couldn't make up my mind if he was letting the text speak for itself or, he hadn't pre-read the material before recording and so had no idea how to shape the narrative and/or, he was just absolutely bored with it all.This is the first in a trilogy and while I don't regret listening to this installment, it wasn't string enough for me to want to pick up the remaining books in the series.

015 Sherlock: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock #4 by Arthur Conan Doyle; with an Introduction by Steve Thompson)

016 Hell Divers (The Hell Divers series, Book #1; by Nicholas Sansbury Smith)

017 Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (by Jonathan L. Howard)

Not only have I had this book in my stacks for a few years, I strongly suspect that I have two copies! It's a story about a necromancer who makes another deal with the Devil: The first deal was a trade of Cabal's soul for the secrets of life & death; In this deal, Johannes wants his soul back-- and the Devil agrees. For a price. This is a humorous Faustian tale set in the UK in a deliberately undefined time period.

There were a couple of nicely written and poignant moments (Ch 6, “In which Cabal Makes an Unplanned Stop and Talks About the War” and the last chapter) but overall the humor wasn‘t dark enough for me. Howard‘s writing style reminds me of Tim Robbins (w/o the sexual prurience) and while presenting interesting ideas, the “quippiness” seemed to be covering for a lack of depth— a lid on a jar if you will.

018 The Grapes of Wrath (by John Steinbeck)

I've had the paper book in my stacks for a couple of years. I was going to join in a buddy read, then I was going to read it as a part of PCS' Great American Read program last year and then, it showed up in my daughter's Summer Reading List this year! I got the audiobook edition for myself this time around!

The flight and plight of the Joads has they are uprooted from Oklahoma and head West to California is brutal, heartbreaking and relentless. There were times that I found it difficult to work through, but my talking one turtle step at a time, I was able to finish it in three weeks. It's a powerful novel, an exposition of migration, migrant workers and social justice, and worthy of being in the Pantheon of All-Time Great American Novels, IMHO.

As for the audiobook edition, three was nothing wrong with performance of the narrator, Dylan Baker per se. I just felt that there often time thsat he just didn't hit the right note.

019 Space Opera (by Catherynne M. Valente; narrated by Heath Miller)

I've had this one in my Downpour library since last October. I got it on the recommendation of a friend who loves SFF, but I really need to stop going in blind on these sorts of things! I love discovering new genres, sub-genres, new-to-me narrators, etc, but SFF humor is more of a miss than a hit for me!

This is an absurdist comedy about an intergalactic Eurovision-style competition in which the prize for not coming in last means that your planet and sentient species gets to live. This is a relatively short audiobook at 9+ hours but a third of the way in, I already was getting tired of all the "cleverness" and the slow plot drive. By the end, I had to conclude that this just wasn't my cup of tea at all: Á la Douglas Adams-style humor that just wore on you, long/boring exposition (hours and hours of rambling on and on about nothing that mattered in the end,) not enough action, and a narrator that sounded so pretentious that he sounded like a parody of a British narrator! And my final quibble, this wasn't really Space Opera. When I think of Space Opera, I tend to think of relationships struck in the crucible of adventures over time. This just didn't seem quite to fit that...

020 A Tale of Two Cities (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Anton Lesser) I just realized, as I was purging the shelves of some Barnes & Noble Classics (trade paperbacks,) that I've had this on my shelf for years! It's been so long, that I couldn't tell you when I got it exactly, other than it was in the past 12 years and that it is very dusty! As I listened to it on audio this past week, I feel comfortable in taking it off my TBR stacks :-)

This is my first experience of the Classic tale of self-sacrifice that begins with with the iconic opening phrase, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,..." Set in London and Paris during the French Revolution, it was a darker period than history books (which tend to gloss over the bloodiness of it all) or, obviously the musical, "Les Miserables" would have it. Perhaps we get too caught up in the idea of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" more than the actual slogan of the Revolution, "liberté égalité ou morte." Anyway, for others who have not read it, it is about friendship and love and fate and destiny and all the grands things of great stories. Dickens' notorious wordiness did not get in the way of enjoyment but perhaps that is because of the audiobook narrator, Anton Lesser. I wouldn't say this was his best performance (the Sally Lockhart series by Philip Pullman are amazing showcases for his talent) but Lesser's second-best is still leagues beyond next best! He flows into character voices seamlessly. And, I cried for the last two hours of listening and; have been basking in the afterglow since finishing it a couple of days ago :-)

021 The Russia House (by John le Carré.) I bought most of le Carré's novels in second-hand condition ("cabin fodder") four years ago with the intention of bing-reading them on vacation. The first year I read a few, but since then I've only read one or two every summer. And so, here we are at the eleventh novel (in order of publication.) This is a non-Smiley spy thriller set in the late 1980s during the period of glasnost and perestroika. A manuscript from the USSR has been smuggled out of; but is the the information in the document credible? Who authored it? John le Carré builds worlds so credibly that my buy-in is always immediate and absolute. Published in 1989 before the Iron Curtain fell, it shows amazing acuity or sensitivity to the issues of thawing Cold War tensions. Interestingly, there is an article in the London Review of Books about the attitudes of Cold War scientists that added a little more understanding or depth to the events that played out in the story: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n14/steven-rose/pissing-in-the-snow

Anyway, an admittedly highly-biased 5 stars from me :-D

You have almost reached your goal, Tanya! Very good job.

022 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (by Lewis Carroll; by Scarlett Johansson) - I got this has a free dnload in 2016 from Audible.com. As I collect AIW editions, this was bound to appeal but admittedly I had reservations about a celebrity narration.
I love the this 19th-century Classic about a girl who falls asleep on a riverbank, and falls into a dream (?) of chasing a talking, clothed, white rabbit down a hole into a nonsensical world. But this audio edition is fair from my favorite, giving credence that "you get what you pay for."
My first issue is with the text that was used. It included references to illustrations that are not included as a PDF with the dnload!
My second and larger issue was with the audiobook narrator herself: Her flat American voice, while expressive took away from the voice of the book. The disjunct between what was expected and what was delivered was jarring. There is a section in which she affects a British accent ("The Lobtser Quadrillle") which was actually well done, except that she mispronounces "quadrille" every single time!
Ms Johansson has made headlines lately with the argument that as an actor, she "should be allowed to play any person." I get it but I also think that if you make a statement like that, you should have the acting chops (and that includes performance skills like audiobook narration) to back it up.
Five stars for the story but 2 stars for the audio.

023 The Strangler Vine (Blake and Avery #1; by M. J. Carter; narrated by Alex Wyndham) - This is a historical fiction novel with elements of mystery and adventure. Set in 1837 when the British East India Company held sway over the Southeastern continent, a young Company officer is assigned to accompany (and spy on) another Company man as they set out on a mission of political intrigue, danger and, exotic landscapes. Alex Wyndham, the audiobook narrator has his moments and overall lends credibility to the narrative. I'd be perfectly willing to listen to the next book in the trilogy.

024 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark Twain; narrated by Grover Gardner) - I read this story in print almost ten tears ago but when I saw it sitting in my audible queue (a free dnload years ago) and, I decided to give it a listen. I was extremely surprised that I had forgotten so much! This is the Classic American tale of a mischievous boy, written by satirist Mark Twain. Perhaps it's blasphemy to the Book Gods but I found I don't really care for this one (vs The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.) Instead of finding Tom funnily endearing, I thought of him as lying and manipulative. I know, I know, context is everything and when it was written in 1876 and firmly into the twenty-first century, it will remain a favorite but I really wonder at it's relevancy anymore. It lacks the timelessness of Candide (by Volatire) or even Tom Jones (by Henry Fielding.)

025 I made it! My twenty-fifth TBR title of the year! :-) I've had this in my audible library since 2016:

We are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #1 by Dennis E. Taylor; narrated by Ray Porter) - Well this is fun! Bob in the twenty-first century is killed in Las Vegas and, per his wishes is cryogenically frozen. Fast forward three hundred years and he wakes up on a lab table-- not quite himself ;-) This is a science fiction romp through space, time and, pop culture references as Bob becomes legion. Ray Porter, the audiobook narrator, nails it :-)

Congrats on reaching your goal! And with a fabulous book as well!

026 According to Audible, I picked this one up on June 7, 2015! I have no memory of picking it up, much less why; but as I couldn't sleep last night, I ended up listening to Northanger Abbey (by Jane Austen; narrated by Juliet Stevenson) until dawn! This is a Classic tale that satirizes the sentiments of novels of early nineteenth century novels. The main character is Catherine Morland, a seventeen-year old girl who loves novels but whose imagination runs away with her as she navigates the social whirl of Bath and, later at Northanger Abbey. Told from Jane Austen's POV, the narrator's voice adds meta-irony into the story. The audiobook narrator's voice is that of Juliet Stevenson, noted British actress who delivers a performance with warm tones and the appropriate level of snark.

027 "A Case of Identity: A Short Story from Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Dozen" (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; performed by John Gielguld, Ralph Richardson and, Orson Welles) - Mary Sutherland makes an appearance at the Baker Street apartments, begging Sherlock to find out what happened to her fiancé. Mary suspects foul play as the intended groom had boarded a closed carriage headed to the church; but when the doors were opened at the destination he wasn't inside! This is a radio play with Gielguld as Sherlock and Richardson as Watson. Welles presents but I'm not immediately finding out who played Mar. Vintage stuff and entertaining, though not one of my favorite Sherlock cases as the resolution is a bit too absurd! This was offered as a free download from Audible a few years ago and, though it's still in my library it does not look like it is still available.

028 Mad Mouse (John Ceepak Mysteries #2; by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman) - Taking place a few weeks after the events in Tilt-a-Whirl and over the Labor Day weekend, this follows Danny, the junior partner to Police Officer John Ceepak as they do their duty by the citizens and tourists of the resort town of Sea Haven, NJ. Someone is sniping at Danny and his friends with paint gun pellets and real-live bullets! Though Ceepak and Danny race against a deadline to discover who and why, this isn't really a Whodunnit. Light character development: We begin to see more of Ceepak as other than a cardboard cut-out figure and, Danny starts to mature. Jeff woodman narrates as Danny with ease though there are times he can't quite make up for some of the awkward writing. I picked this one up in an Audible sale nearly six years ago and, when I was still a participating member of a Yahoo group that loved this series. Perfect beach read/listen :-)

029 Alien: River of Pain (Alien #3 or #4 depending on which index you consult) by Christopher Golden; performed by Anna Friel, Philip Glenister, Colin Salmon; Alexander Siddig, Marc Warren, Michelle Ryan and William Hope) - This is the back story of Newt-- so there wasn't much of Ridley in this installment of the Alien series. The Alien series is a trilogy of books that serve as interstitial tales between the movies. In this one, the colony on LV-426 is caught up in the fight for survival on a hostile moon and the corporation that has undue influence with the whole operation. Now, a Pandora's Box of xenomorphs has been opened... This audio drama is not as cleanly produced as the first one Audible Studios produced: A couple of odd pauses, alien sounds that don't quite terrify, Newt's brother inexplicably having an Irish accent, not being able to distinguish characters in a couple of places and, overall the pacing seems a bit off. I was so excited to pick this up a couple of years ago, dnloading it s soon as it was available! I was waiting for another book in the Alien series to be produced as an audio drama, but quite frankly lost track/interest. Doesn't matter as this works as a stand-alone (though familiarity with the movies is recommended.)

030 The Lost Sherlock Holmes Story? (by Anonymous; narrated by Simon Vance) - An exercise in deductive reasoning that served as a promotional bit for a bridge opening in the early twentieth century, this short story was discovered in 2015 and speculation arose that it was written by ACD as apparently he was at the event. But no notes pertaining to the story are found in his papers. Either way, it's not much of anything and, though I adore Simon Vance, he didn't seem like the right voice for this.

Only 5 more to go, Tanya!

031 All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1 by Martha Wells) - This is the first novella in a set of four that I picked up last August (2018) when the price of the e-book dropped from 9+ dollars to 3$.99. (Be aware though that the other three novellas-- about 150-pp in length each, are running at the non-discounted rate!) Murderbot is a SecUniit-- a organic and non-organic hybrid security guard tasked assigned to a survey team on a distant planet. The thing about Murderbot that makes them unusual is that they have disabled the module the controls them. Instead of going on a murderous rampage however, they consume massive amounts if media (movies, shoes, music, etc.!) A story of mystery, action and, intrigue develops when a neighboring survey team goes radio silent. Definitely worth checking out of the library :-)

>47 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I heard good things about the Murderbot Diaries. But they are not translated (Yet).

032 Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2 by Martha Wells; narrated by Kevin R. Free)

033 Dark Life (Dark Life #1; by Kat Falls; narrated by Keith Nobbs

I finally got around to an SFF first-in-series audiobook that had been in my Audible library since April of 2016! I had originally purchased this middle-grade SFF because it was on the Oregon Battle of the Books list that year and, as my daughter was participating at the time, wanted her to have the option of the audio edition for reading reinforcement. It actually looks like an interesting story: After the collapse of the Eastern seaboard into the rising oceans, people start colonizing the ocean floor. With classic pioneer spirit, they attempt to forge a future with its unique challenges inherent to underwater life. Against this backdrop, fifteen year-old Ty loves to explore but comes across more than he bargained for-- including a Top Sider named Gemma, a dangerous outlaw who is more than he appears to be and, a political conspiracy! But overall, it was just okay. Though the settings and world-building are well-done, the plot itself does not offer any surprises.

034 Tom Jones (by Henry Fielding; narrated by Bill Homewood) - At close to 38 hors total running time, this will undoubtedly be my longest listen of the year and on I probably would not have tackled without the existence of the Read Along hosted by DeltaQueen :-) A satire of eighteenth-century mores, it's surprisingly accessible and relevant to today, though the references to Classical Greek and Roman writers was a but challenging in spots (I mostly derived the intent of the passage from the context rather than take the time out to properly research the references, so yeah, laziness on my part!) Full of snarkiness and melodrama, I enjoyed it. Bill Homewood delivered exactly the right note of condescension and sly humor to keep the story engaging. My only quibble was that there were a few places where you could here him turn/shuffle pages. 4/5 stars.

035 Redshirts (by John Scalzi; narrated by Wil Wheaton) - This is a satire of the Star Trek series: Its suspect science and technology, lazy plotting devices and, overall campiness. In a future time in a distant galaxy, five ensigns on a spaceship twig on to the fact that there's something very suspicious about the away team assignments! The whole adventure gets very meta (not the least of which is having Wil Wheaton narrate! :-D ) and is actually a lot of fun.

Hi Tanya, I think you've reached your goal! Congrats!

Congrats on reaching your goal!

036 Rewinder (Rewinder Book #1; by Brett Battles; narrated by Vikas Adam) - This is time travel book of sort in which Denny Younger, a lower caste member in an alternate universe, is brought up through the societal ranks when he becomes a genealogical researcher. The best evidence to confirm a family's history is first-hand experience and, the agency that Denny works for has the means to make that happen! They are trained to bear witness and be careful to not change history, but the smallest mistake can have huge ramifications... This is a YA/New Adult title that was surprisingly boring. Picking it apart, everything seems to be in order: interesting premise, well depicted settings and people, tension and, an exciting and clever ending ... but oddly the whole ending up being somehow less than the sum of its parts. I wasn't that thrilled with the audiobook narrator either. Most of the narrative was fine (POV1) but the women's and girl's voices sounded weird and, there were enough female characters in the story to make this problematic. Though this is a first-in-series, the story does not end in a cliffhanger-- which is just as well for me as I won't be continuing in the series. 3/5 stars.

037 Whack A Mole (by Chris Grabenstein; narrated by Jeff Woodman) - This is the third title in the John Ceepak series wherein Ceepak and his partner, Danny Boyle solve cases in the seaside resort town of Sea Haven, NJ. The previous two books were what I considered great Summer beach reads-- not too graphic, light banter, but this one took a much darker turn in style and tone. Ceepak's hobby of metal detecting on the beach turns up a charm bracelet from the 1980's and, he looks into the story of how it might have gotten there. What follows develops into a case involving a serial killer of a particularly gruesome bent, a touch of religious fanaticism and mental instability. The story is told form Danny's POV and his usual light heartedness and turned into sarcasm and cynicism. Jeff Woodman did a great job as always. I'm giving third 3.5 out of 5.0 stars though because one of the plot points didn't make sense in terms of following up a lead. Not a huge deal, but one that stuck out in my mind and made the story a little less credible.

This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us (by Edgar Cantero; narrated by January LaVoy) - This a parody of the detective noir genre and features twins who are co-mingled genetically in the same body. It's all so weird and bizarre that I'm honestly a little uncomfortable when I laugh (am I supposed to find this or that part funny?) I just don't know what to make of the plot, the characters, the design and tone of the narrative.. so I'm not going to rate it for now. I do know that I am hesitant to pick up another book by this author so there's that strike against it. But on the audiobook side of things, January LaVoy!

EDIT: Argh! As I was cataloguing this in my library, I realized that I bought this in April if this year-- so it doesn't count! I'll keep the entry up though, but adjust the count back down.

038 The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1; by John Scalzi; narrated by Wil Wheaton) - This is the first in a series about the collapse of something called The Flow, an interstellar tide of sorts that enables ships to to cross space in better-than-real-time. The Empire is based on commerce so when it looks like The Flow is falling apart, it threatens the collapse of the empire. I really like Scalzi's writing: It moves quickly with clearly depicted characters and settings without the heavy exposition. This is a space opera that has truly engaging intrigue, action, tension, and satisfying comeuppances! It has the right dash of humor and humanity, some interesting ideas about future tech and society and the pacing of the plot is just right. It does end on something of a cliffhanger though, which instead of having me want to dnload the next one, had me sighing in disappointment. Wil Wheaton seems to be his choice of narrator and it works! The narrator gets Scalzi's sense of humor and sarcasm.

039 The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock #5; by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Introduction by Benedict Cumberbatch)

>56 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Did you reach your goal? Just wondering because your ticker doesn't show you did.

>59 connie53: No, I'm one shy of the goal! It turned out a book I read/listened to, This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us (by Edgar Cantero; narrated by January LaVoy) was purchased this year and so I backed it off the ticker. I'm sure I can get at least one more TBR book in before the end of the year though (In fact I'm working on it right now... :-) )

I'm currently reading Fast Food Nation (by Eric Schlosser) which has been off and on by TBR stacks for years! I would get a copy, give it away unread, pick up another copy... The copy I have now is from 2002 (no updated material) and, I promised myself that if it felt dated, I would stop. Granted, I'm only a couple chapters in but so far it's still relevant. I'm hoping to get this one finished by the end of the month and reach my final goal. I'm pleased that I was able to up my goal from the original 25 titles that I had set, but I honestly don't think I have it in me to up the count again! :-)

>60 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Thanks for explaining. But I'm sure you can squeeze in one more!

040 I did it! I finally finished Fast Food Nation (by Eric Schlosser) and met my final goal for 2019!

The book is an expository non-fiction work covering the history and business practices of fast-food franchises, the farms and ranches that supply the fast-food restaurants, and the people behind the counters and corporate desks. Despite this edition being nearly twenty years old, there is a lot that hasn't changed and will definitely make you think before you order another Big Mac!

Alongside an article I read about animal cognizance*, and another about an animal rights group** (which led me down a metaphorical rabbit hole of videos,) I've made some changes in my life: No more fast-food restaurants, and less meat overall in my diet. There may very well be a point in which I become a total vegetarian, but I'm not quite there yet: I still eat seafood/shellfish and I had pepperoni on my pizza the other day, but other than that, I've been pursuing more vegetarian options. Luckily, my DH who does all the cooking in the house is very supportive despite his own prediction for a carnivorous diet :-)

* https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/what-the-crow-knows/580726/
** https://www.wired.com/story/direct-action-everywhere-virtual-reality-exposing-fa...

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congrats on meeting your final goal!

Congrats on meeting your goal, Tanya!