Familyhistorian's 2019 ROOTs Reads

ROOTs read




Books acquired in 2019

My name is Meg and I have a lot of ROOTs to read. All my shelves are full and no matter what I do somehow the piles of books increase. I hope to make a bigger dent in my own tomes in 2019 and also to keep up with my favourite ROOTers more frequently in 2019.

Hi Meg, glad to see you are back for another year of ROOTing!

It's good to see you back!

Welcome back and good luck with those to-be-read shelves!

>5 connie53: >6 Jackie_K: >7 rabbitprincess: Thanks Connie, Jackie and RP. I couldn't not ROOT the books would take over!

Hi Meg! Good luck with your goals and Happy 2019!
This is my first year with ROOT. I'm hoping to make an impact on my house of unread books too.

>9 mstrust: Hi Jennifer, welcome to the ROOT threads. I'm hoping to up my game in 2019 and get some of those ROOTs read and on their way out of my house as I am out of shelf space.

Good luck on your ROOTing goals. And have a great year of reading.

>11 majkia: Thanks Jean, have a Happy New Year!

Hope every one of the 65 is a winner!

>13 clue: Thanks!

>3 Familyhistorian: what an evocative drawing! Welcome back!

>15 detailmuse: I'm glad you like it but, to tell the truth, I only put it in there because I ended up with one extra box in my thread when I started it.

>16 Familyhistorian: I do! It's minimalist and then the book has some detail and then the face and head are very detailed, as if so alive with all that's going on inside thanks to the book :)

>17 detailmuse: All the important things are in detail, aren't they. It is pretty effective.

Happy New Year! Dropping a star so I can follow along with you!

>19 Miss_Moneypenny: Good to see you here and Happy New Year!

It's great to see you're back. Happy reading!

>21 MissWatson: Hi Birgit, good to see you here. Happy reading in 2019!

1. Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass

I received Lending a Paw as one of my Santa Thing books for 2017 but it wasn't on my shelves quite that long because I didn't receive it until the end of March 2018. It was a cosy mystery, the first in the Bookmobile Cat Mystery series. It was a really good start with interesting relationships and relatable characters. I like that the librarian heroine is under 5 feet. Shortness is something I can relate to.

Shortness is something I can relate to.

Me too. And congrats on your first ROOT read of the year!

>24 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer. Are you height challenged as well?

I'm 5'3", so I'm always looking at people's backs. My husband is 6'4", ha!

>26 mstrust: I'm 5'4" with a 6'1" boyfriend, whom I refer to as the top-shelf-item retriever ;)

>27 rabbitprincess: Same heights for me and my then-boyfriend ... three decades of marriage later, we're each 1+ inch shorter...!

>26 mstrust: Well, in my eyes 5'3" is not that short!

>27 rabbitprincess: There seems to be a theme of tall men and shorter women here, RP.

>28 detailmuse: Ha, I refuse to get any shorter as I age. At 5' I can't afford to lose any height!

2. No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen

I don't usually let ER books become ROOTs but this one did because of library holds. No Fixed Address was really a good YA novel about 12 year old Felix who was living with his mum in a van. The story was realistic as homelessness is a big problem in Vancouver, one of the more expensive cities in the world to live in. It was also nice to be able to picture the places that showed up in the book.

>24 mstrust: >25 Familyhistorian: >27 rabbitprincess: I too am height challenged at 5'2" but fortunately my husband is only 5'9". I did however, in college date ONCE a basketball player at 6'11" and swore afterward I was sticking to 6' and under. Funny my husband, in college, thought he wasn't tall enough, so only dated girls 5'4" and under. Lucky me!

>31 cyderry: Really 6'11", that must have been a challenge! My ex was 5'11" which seemed about normal to me as one of my brothers was that height as well.

All this height talk is interesting! I'm about 5'7", and my husband is, I think, 5'11" (he says 6' but I'm not convinced!). I've always felt pretty tall compared with many of my friends, although I know I'm probably pretty average. We're just waiting to see how tall our daughter ends up - he thinks she will be taller than me when she stops growing, but I'm not so sure. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up eyeball to eyeball though!

>33 Jackie_K: Women have been getting taller and I think 5'7" is a height that many women attain or surpass, Jackie. It's funny but being short as a woman is much more acceptable than being short as a man. I can remember once when I was younger and I met the president of the college where I was working. I was very surprised because he was under 5'7" - there's this idea that you have to be a tall man to be in charge. Height in kids is also hard to predict although pediatricians can do it pretty well. I was worried about my son's growth and the pediatrician predicted a height of 5'8" and he got that right. Sometimes it is better to be shorter as a child. My nephew was really tall at the age of 11 and people expected him to be much older and mature than he was. (He liked to stand beside me and look down and grin.)

Hi, I don't know how to turn Meters into English/American height, but I'm 1,74 meters and Peet is 1,95.

>35 connie53: Hi Connie, that means you are 5'7" and Peet is 6'3" - 6'4". I have no idea how to convert it either but Google does.

>36 Familyhistorian: I should have thought about using google! Very clever, Meg!

>37 connie53: It's just second nature to use Google with weights and measures for me, Connie. We changed over to metric sometime in the '70s, I think, but weights and measures can be in either and then, of course, we are so close to the US and get things from there as well.

3. Kissed a Sad Goodbye by Deborah Crombie

This month the ROOTs are being finished way before I post about them. I am four behind at this point. I finished Kissed a Sad Goodbye, my first Deborah Combie mystery over a week ago. I picked it up at the Little Free Library because I had seen some reviews of her books on LT. It was a really good mystery and is on its way back to the LFL.

4. Ravished by Amanda Quick

I snuck in a romance novel that I picked up at the Little Free Library. Ravished was one of Amanda Quick's older books, a straight historic romance with a hint of mystery and nothing paranormal in it. It was still good though.

5. Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly MacRae

I am doing fewer challenges this year so I have more time to get to my ROOTs, at least when the library holds are done. I read Plaid and Plagiarism the first book in the Highland Bookshop Mystery series. So another book down but then I had to order the next one in the series.

6. The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray

The next ROOT was non fiction. The Massey Murder has been on my shelves for about four years. It was the story of a murder in Toronto in 1915. Shockingly a maid shot one of the well known Massey clan. The story showed society during this era and recounted the way the murderer was treated and how the trial progressed. It was very interesting.

The Massey Murder sounds like my kind of book. BB taken!

>43 mstrust: It was a good one, the first Charlotte Gray I have read although I have many on my shelves. Hope you enjoy it, Jennifer.

7. A Killer in King's Cove by Iona Whishaw

I picked up A Killer in King's Cove because of LT. This place is definitely dangerous if you are trying to keep your book purchases at a sane level. This book is the first in a series featuring Lane Winslow, a former intelligence officer in WWII who moved to a remote village in BC to start anew. Unfortunately, life took a turn for the worse when a body showed up in her creek. It was a good start to a series I want to follow. (The second book is on order and I already have book three on my shelf. Not sure how that happens.)

8. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester

One more ROOT completed before the end of the month. It took me a while to read Krakatoa which was a very thorough account of the final explosion of the volcano. Winchester relayed the background of the area and the lead up to the catastrophe, the cataclysm and the aftermath. I love his books but they are a lot to take in.

>46 Familyhistorian: I'd like to re-read Krakatoa someday. I read it before starting to track my books online and feel like I don't remember much of it (other than that I thought it was really well done).

>47 rabbitprincess: That's the second book by Winchester that I read, RP. The other one A Crack in the Edge of the World was as good. Have you read anything else by him? I have a few more on my shelves and am looking forward to getting to them.

I'll keep an eye out for Simon Winchester's books, I've come across a few people here praising them.

>49 Jackie_K: Winchester's books are good but they are so chocked full of information they take a while to get through, Jackie.

>48 Familyhistorian: I've read Krakatoa, Atlantic, Pacific, and The Perfectionists. All of them are great, but as you say, they are so full of information that it takes a while to get through them. Pacific I had to renew three times from the library to finish!

>51 rabbitprincess: I have Atlantic and Pacific growing ROOTs on my shelves. From what you say about how long it took you to read that one, RP, it's probably good that I will be able to take my time with them!

I started out January well, with few acquisitions but that quickly went by the wayside. These I the books that have the potential to become new ROOTs:

The House on Tradd Steet by Karen White
Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Becoming Belle by Nuala O'Connor
Death in a Darkening Mist by Iona Whishaw
Scones and Scoundrels by Molly MacRae
Book Love by Debbie Tung
The Snooty Bookshop by Tom Gauld
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
The Law Enforcement Handbook by Desmond Rowland and James Bailey
The Crime Writer's Guide to Police Practice and Procedure by Michael O'Byrne
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime by Val McDermid

Ooh, I got The Snooty Bookshop for Christmas and it is a really quick read (it's 50 postcards). It's also hilarious - I love Tom Gauld.

>54 Jackie_K: I have a few Tom Gauld's on the shelf but I haven't actually delved into them, Jackie. I probably should as a couple of them are growing ROOTs.

9. A Midsummer Night's Scream by Jill Churchill

I started reading the Jane Jeffry mysteries because I found them in my Little Free Library but, like all books, many of them hung around long enough to become ROOTs. A Midsummer Night's Scream was somewhere further along in the series but I had read enough of the books to have a background and to enjoy another fast mystery read.

10. Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars by Miranda Emmerson

Library holds are the same problem this month but I am also behind in posting about my ROOTs. The next one for this month was Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars. It was based upon the search for a missing theatre actress. Her dresser wants to know what happened to the actress she got so close to and sets off to find her. There were unexpected results and an unexpectedly deep and interesting story.

11. The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

The Hypnotist's Love Story was so contemporary that the couple meet through an online dating service but there are complications, of course. Patrick not only was a widower with a son, but he also had a stalker. Ellen, the hypnotist, wasn't sure how to handle this or the other complications that ensued. A fun, feel good story.

12. The Wrong Kind of Blood by Declan Hughes

The Wrong Kind of Blood was a mystery thriller set in Ireland. I enjoyed the mystery and the setting and the thriller part of the story kept me turning the pages.

13. Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth

It took me a while to read Land of Marvels but that was not because of the quality of the writing, which was excellent. It was set in Mesopotamia, not one of my favoured locations, so I think that was a part of it but also I probably had too many other books on the go. Anyway, it is one more ROOT down.

14. The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey

I own a lot of non fiction in various topics. I am fascinated by genetics and a more recent subset of this study is about epigenetics (the thing that determines whether particular genes are expressed or just there not doing anything). The Epigenetics Revolution was good, if technical, and will stay on my personal library shelves.

In February I had an excuse for buying books (not that I have needed one before). It was my 11th Thingaversary.

Thingaversary Books

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
Good on Paper by Rachel Cantor
The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys
How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't by Lane Moore
Innocent Blood by P.D. James
Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn
The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye
Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane by Paul Thomas Murphy
A Rabble of Dead Money by Charles R. Morris
Who Killed Tom Thomson by John Little
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
Romance is My Day Job by Patience Bloom
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

I got carried away and added an extra book instead of getting 11 and one to go on with, I got 13.

Little Free Library

City of Endless Night by Preston & Child
Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs

Regular Acquistion

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

15. The Body in the Wardrobe by Katherine Hall Page

Billed as a Faith Fairchild mystery, The Body in the Wardrobe was probably pretty far along in this cosy series. It was a decent mystery but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read previous books in the series.

Happy belated thingaversary! Nice book haul, and I notice there's a new instalment of the Timothy Wilde series. I really need to get started on this.

Nice haul! Happy thingaversary!

>64 MissWatson: I have the first 2 books in the Timothy Wilde series and that one was $1 so I had no problem adding it. Now I have to finish the first one!

>65 Jackie_K: Thanks Jackie!

Happy Thingaversary, Meg!

>62 Familyhistorian: That's a great haul! Happy Thingaversary!

>67 connie53: Thanks Connie!

>68 mstrust: More potential ROOTs, Jennifer!

I am finding it hard to keep up with the reviews of the ROOTs that I have read. There is an extremely noisy fan going. The workmen working on my basement came on Monday to demolish the rest of the area that was affected by the sewer back up and left this noisy monster behind. It is in the basement and so is the computer I use to write my reviews.

16. Death on the Family Tree by Patricia Sprinkle

I enjoyed Death on the Family Tree, the first book in a genealogy mystery series, so much that I ordered more books in the series on Kobo. I don't like reading e-books but that was the only way I could get access to them.

>70 Familyhistorian: Awful! I hope it's back to normal soon.

>70 Familyhistorian: So sorry! Glad the problem and the fix are behind you, echoing the hope for normal soon!

>72 mstrust: >73 detailmuse: Thanks ladies, I hope it is all completed soon too!

>70 Familyhistorian: Sorry to hear that - it's always disruptive having work done on the house, even when it's planned, so something like that would be even more stressful. I hope you get your space back soon.

>70 Familyhistorian: I hope for everything the ladies above are saying!

>75 Jackie_K: Me too, Jackie. I am, once again, waiting to hear what the next steps are.

>76 connie53: Thanks Connie!

>53 Familyhistorian: I love the idea of thinking of new acquisitions simply as "potential ROOTS." I take it that, like me, you have more books in your house now than you could possibly read during your lifetime. Hence, "potential" rather than "future." Cheers!

>78 rocketjk: Oh yes, way more than books than I could read in a lifetime but somehow that is comforting even if a bit overwhelming at this point.

17. A Question of Honor by Charles Todd

A couple of years ago a bookshop was closing down their location in a local mall and I picked up quite a few random books due to the markdowns. A Question of Honor one of the Bess Crawford mysteries was one of the books that I picked up. I had never read one before and this entry was interesting. Has anyone else read more of the series?

>79 Familyhistorian: Same here. Far to many and still adding new ones!

>81 connie53: I'm getting a bit better, Connie. Not buying quite as many as I have run out of places to put them!

>82 Familyhistorian: I'm trying that too!

>83 connie53: Good luck with that, Connie. It is harder than it looks!

18. A Treasury of Victorian Murder: Compendium Vol. 1 by Rick Geary

I have a collection of graphic novels that I am slowly making my way through. I tend to keep them so there is no hurry to get them read and out of the house. This time I read A Treasury of Victorian Murder: Compendium Vol. 1 which gave an excellent overview of a few famous murder cases in the Victorian era including the well known ones about Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes. It also covered the assassination of US President Garfield and some less famous cases.

I only have Geary's The Borden Tragedy. A compilation sounds really interesting, so this goes on my WL. Thanks for the review!

>86 mstrust: I have quite a few of Geary's books, most of them about a single case. I enjoy them but it took longer to read the compendium.

19. How the Marquess Was Won by Julie Anne Long

I am about 4 write ups behind on my ROOTs with more to come as I near the end of some of my current reads. One of my recent ROOT reads was How the Marquess Was Won which was a fun historical romance and a quick read.

20. Murder by Milkshake by Eve Lazarus

Eve Lazarus writes about Vancouver and her later books are about criminal activity. I read her latest, Murder by Milkshake which was about a murder which happened in the '60s and which involved a radio personality and his wife. It was very interesting and this book will go back into my collection of books by this author.

21. Murder at the Manor by Lesley Cookman

I can't seem to keep up with my ROOTs posts this month. They are getting read its just that a lot of other things are happening as well. I read a lot of mysteries and Murder at the Manor has been on my shelves for a while. It was a fun mystery but I wished I had read some earlier books in the series when the characters were being established.

>90 Familyhistorian: I read the first five books of this series over the past couple of years. I thought they were good but not great, and I'm not planning on going any further in the series. However, tastes on this sort of thing vary, of course, and if you liked Murder at the Manor, you'll probably enjoy the earlier books as well.

>91 rocketjk: Good to know that the books to start the series are good. I am not sure why I picked up this book, probably because there was "manor" in the title which has a certain connotation. I'm not sure that I will seek any more out as I don't have any others to read as ROOTs and my shelves are full as it is.

22. The Chess Men by Peter May

It has taken me a while to get through Peter May's Lewis Trilogy. The third book The Chess Men, seeks to tie all the books together with more scenes from the hero, Fin's, past that explain his connections to the people on the island. Although that was interesting it slowed things down. But one more ROOT down and now three ready to leave my shelves.

23. Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen

My next ROOT was one of the light-hearted mysteries featuring Lady Georgian in the Royal Spyness series. These books are fun reads. I finished book seven in the series Heirs and Graces.

Reading faster than you can post -- yay!! I'm not ... I'm catching up on magazines, can't seem to do both books and mags :0

>95 detailmuse: Magazines can take a while to catch up with, especially if you read them from cover to cover. I have stacks of magazines here that are definitely growing ROOTs.

24. Fifth Column by Mike Hollow

One more ROOT to add for March. This one combines my love for mysteries with my fascination with history and for a particular time and place that I am interested in. Fifth Column was set in Greater London (East Ham, in this case) during WWII. It was a good mystery and I am always interested in finding out more about this area during the war.

I may have had a good ROOTs reading month but the acquisitions were on the high side. I took in a couple of days of the Left Coast Crime conference (crime writers) and they had a book store and also went to a genealogy seminar and they were selling books too.

These were the freebies I ended up with:

Little Free Library

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
The Automobile Saga of British Columbia 1864-1914 by G. W. Taylor

Left Coast Crime

The Devil's Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch
Don't Speak by J.L. Brown

These are the ones I bought:

The Victorian Treasury by Lucinda Hawksley
The Labours of Mrs. Stella Ryman by Mel Anastasiou
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
Fiction Can be Murder by Becky Clark
The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen
Murder in Greenwich Village by Liz Freeland
Criminology: A Very Short Introduction by Tim Newburn
The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
Montreal's Irish Mafia by D'Arcy O'Connor
It Begins in Betrayal by Iona Whishaw
An Unfinished Murder by Ann Granger
The Golden Pawn by L.A. Chandlar
Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley
A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux
Trove: Discover Genealogy Treasure in the National Library of Australia by Shauna Hicks

>99 Familyhistorian: You caught my attention with The Negative Trait Thesaurus and that whole series looks interesting.

>100 detailmuse: I have a whole section of writing books in my library, MJ. Now to put them into practice.

A crime writers conference sounds like a lot of fun. What a great haul!

>102 mstrust: The conference was fun but probably more fun for the people who stayed at the hotel and got the full conference experience, Jennifer.

The ROOTs seem to be few and far between for me this month. Too many library holds again, I think and I am trying to finish them up and get them back to the library before I go on a month long trip.

25. The Stylist by Rosie Nixon

I don't remember when I picked up the book The Stylist but it was a romp through the fashion world from the point of view of a woman who makes the celebrities on the red carpet look good. It was a fun one.

26. Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait

I'm reading ROOTs but it is taking me a long time to write them up. One of my recent reads was Tightening the Threads, a cozy mystery set in Maine. It involved complicated family ties which gave many of the people at a family gathering motives for murder. This book seems to be a part of a series but I haven't read any of the other ones.

27. Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick

I have been resorting to a few faster reads in the mix while reading more serious tomes. One of the fast reads was Garden of Lies. I enjoy the combination of mystery and romance in the novels by Amanda Quick and this story was just what I was looking for.

28. Hidden Heart by Nora Roberts

I am not sure how many ROOTs to count for Hidden Heart. It is one book but it contains two stories This Magic Moment and Storm Warning. The first story was a romantic story about a magician and a female producer. The second was a mystery with romance included. It was set in a remote inn with a storm to isolate the characters which lends urgency to the search for a killer.

I am behind on my ROOTs write ups. I had a feeling I wouldn't get to many this month but so far I have written up 4 and have 5 more to report on. So, not too bad. It had probably been helped by the fact that I suspended all my library holds and took the last of my book borrowed back to the library a couple of days ago as I am going on a trip at the end of the month.

29. Elyza by Clare Darcy

My next ROOT was one that I picked up at the local Little Free Library. Sad that I won't be able to do that any more. Someone has been torching the LFLs in my community and the community next door.

The book was Elyza and the cover blurb says “The best since Georgette Heyer”. It was worth a read, right? It was a fun regency romance but the language lacked the sparkle of a true Heyer. But it was good for a wanna be.

By torching, I assume you mean setting on fire?? I can't even guess why someone would want to do such a thing!

>111 clue: Yes, setting them on fire with books in them. I don't know why they did it but they have done it to 7 little free libraries so far.

>110 Familyhistorian: What kind of vandal would do that? I hope you enjoy your trip and can put this shock behind you.

>112 Familyhistorian: That is so sad. Such a mindless thing to do.

>113 MissWatson: We have inventive vandals here, I think. Obviously non-book loving ones too. Thanks re the trip it is getting down to the wire now as I try to get everything ready.

>114 Jackie_K: Most of the LFLs affected were new ones just put up last year as a community program by one of the cities. It seemed like a way to give back but has now been taken away. Unfortunately, the vandal got a taste for setting them on fire and also took out my local one which had been there for years. Very sad.

30. The Escape by Mary Balogh

I have been reading my way through Mary Balogh's survivor series and The Escape was the next on my list. It was a good historical romance set in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

31. A Nose for Death by Glynis Whiting

I am not sure where I picked up A Nose for Death, but it has been on the shelf for a while. It was an interesting mystery. As it was billed as a Nosey Parker Mystery, I went looking for a series but it appears that this was the only book written. Too bad, because I wanted to find out more about what happened to the main characters. It was a good mystery.

So sad about the fires.

>118 mnleona: It is, but on an up note I was able to find an LFL that was still in operation yesterday but it is one where I deposit books and very rarely find anything to take away in return.

32. Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings by Jean Manco

My personal library is predominantly filled with books about history. I am slowly reading my way through them. A recent read was Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Venturers to the Vikings It was a very modern history which incorporated recent findings and was excellent.

>120 Familyhistorian: That does sound really interesting!

Hope you have a good weekend, Meg.

>121 Jackie_K: It was a good book but not a page turner, Jackie. It gave a very good overview of the movement of peoples in history backed up by recent discoveries.

33. Dark in Death by J.D. Robb

For a change of pace I read Dark in Death, one of the long running series featuring Eve Dallas and crew. I think I've notice a pattern in my reading. I tend to pick up a J.D. Robb book shortly after I've read one by Nora Roberts.

>120 Familyhistorian: Happy to see your review and be reminded of my interest in this :)

So sorry about the LFLs! Hoping that a security camera on a home or business catches images of the perpetrators soon.

>124 detailmuse: It was very interesting. I love books like that. Thanks re the LFLs. I hope they find the culprit soon and, hopefully, stop the problem.

34. Only a Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy and Its Aftermath by John Philip Colletta

As a family historian myself, I find accounts of history based on genealogical research very interesting. Only a Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy was a very good example of one of those histories.

35. Death Comes Silently by Carolyn Hart

The ROOTs keep coming this month. Probably because I took all my library books back to the library. For a change of pace, I read Death Comes Silently, one of the middle books in a new-to-me series. That happens a lot when you pick things up at used book sales and LFLs. It was a good one and I wouldn’t mind reading another book in the Death on Demand series when I come across it.

36. These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore

I finally finished These Truths: A History of the United States. It was a group read which pulled me through. A well written and thought-provoking history, it was still hard to get through because of the length.

I'm going to do my list for April acquisitions today as I will be on the road tomorrow. These are my new books for April:

Genealogy Online by Elizabeth Powell Crowe
Genealogy Standards
The Complete Guide to Article Writing by Naveed Saleh
Death in Provence by Serena Kent
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Arrowood by Mick Finlay
The Mister by E L James
The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick

Reading about LFL's on fire! That's criminal!

I hope you have a good trip!

>130 connie53: It is criminal and the police are involved but no one has been caught yet. The trip is going well so far, Connie.

37. Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

ROOTs reading is slow this month. I have been busy seeing Dublin and then was on a cruise where activities were getting in the way of reading. I managed to finish Season of Storms which combined a present day mystery romance with connections to a mystery in the past that happened in the past

38. The Hangman's Row Enquiry by Ann Purser

Another ROOT done. The Hangman’s Row Enquiry was a cozy mystery in a village full of quirky characters.

39. Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen

Not an ebook but this is the only one I found.

Queen of Hearts one of the Royal Spyness series was my next ROOT for the month. As usual a good installment.

40. The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh

This book definitely called to me many times! In The Wages of Sin, Sarah Gilchrist was a medical student investigating a murder and not only is Gilchrist one of my family names so is Welch which is similar to the author’s name. Perhaps that’s why I have three copies of the book, the latest acquired on my trip. I am counting this as a ROOT based on the two I have at home which I can now move along.

I hope you're enjoying your travels!

>136 Jackie_K: Thanks Jackie. I'm in Leicester now which is a change of pace from London. Still a week left of my trip. I don't think I could do it for much longer!

So I am back home now and actually fit more books into my suitcase than I realized. My haul for May included:

Under the Wig: A Lawyer's Stories of Murder, Guilt and Innocence by William Clegg
Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac
The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall
Murder by the Book by Claire Harman
Viking Britain: A History by Thomas Williams
East End Suffragettes by Sarah Jackson and Rosemary Taylor
Ancestors on the Move: A History of Overseas Travel by Karen Foy
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Then there were the ones that I bought there and they stayed there.

Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
Murder in the Merchant City by Angus McAllister
So Much Life Left Over by Louis de Benieres

41. Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story by Peter Bagge

Now that I am back home, I can concentrate on my ROOTs reading. I need to do something because books are threatening to take over my bedroom.

Margaret Sanger had a full and controversial life which would probably make for a long biography. The author/artist for the GN Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story distills the known episodes of Sanger’s life down to the highlights to fit them into to a graphic novel. He did a good job, too!

42. Braking for Bodies by Duffy Brown

I usually enjoy cozy mysteries but, for whatever reason, Braking for Bodies, the second in the Cycle Path Mystery series didn’t work for me. On the plus side, one more ROOT done and ready to leave.

43. Two of The Talented Thomsons by John A. Libby Fine Art

I read a book that has been in my Thomson collection for a long time. Two of The Talented Thomsons was about two Thomson siblings, George and Margaret, who were also successful painters but did not achieve the fame of their brother, Tom.

44. Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Graphic novels are a good change of pace and Drama was a fun one. It was aimed at the middle school market and told the story of the staging of a musical and the lives of its cast and crew. They were a lot more open about exploring their orientation than when I was that age!

45. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

I picked up Hidden Figures just after I saw the movie. It took me a while to read this ROOT because I inadvertently picked up the young readers’ edition. I am not sure that I got the whole story that the adult edition told.

>143 Familyhistorian: Wow happy though -- to see it made accessible to younger ages when it can inspire interests!

>144 detailmuse: I've noticed a few books with young reader's editions since I picked that one up. That is definitely a good one to inspire the women of the future.

Yesterday, I went for a walk. I was walking around Lafarge Park, which is close to my home, and was on the sidewalk at the edge of the upper part of the park when a car started honking on the busy roadway beside me. I looked and then I knew the driver was probably trying to warn me because the cars stopped for a minute for the two black bears running across the road towards the park. They crossed the sidewalk a few yards behind me and I could see that their angle would take them to a rougher, more natural area at the corner of the park. The area was fenced off and they were kind of baffled by that (they were juveniles). I didn't stop to take pics as I wasn't sure if they would come up the fence line toward me. At that part of the park the sidewalk goes around a corner as it runs beside the cross street to the one that the bears had run across. I decided to cross that road in case the bears figured out how to get over the fence and made a bee line across the rough area and emerged on the sidewalk.

I may not have taken a pic of the bears but, because I was on the other side of the street I saw the red dresses hung in the trees at Douglas College to raise awareness of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.



This is one of the dresses.

46. The Earl's Mistress by Liz Carlyle

Another romance to boost the ROOTs read, The Earl’s Mistress was readable but it is time that it was rehomed.

>146 Familyhistorian: Oh my goodness, what an eventful walk!

>148 Jackie_K: It wasn't as relaxing a walk as I had planned, Jackie.

Wow! Exciting AND interesting to learn about the red dresses.

>150 detailmuse: I was surprised to see the red dresses hanging in the trees and had to find out from google what that was all about.

47. An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley

The latest ROOT that I finished was from my GN collection and it will go back there among a small run of Lucy Knisley’s books. I really enjoy her art and stories and An Age of License: A Travelogue was no exception.

I got a bit carried away in bookstores in June since I didn't have to worry about stuffing my purchases into a suitcase. This is the damage:

The Bulldog and the Helix: DNA and the Pursuit of Justice in a Frontier Town by Shayne Morrow
The Plantagenets by Ben Hubbard
Eleanor and Hick by Susan Quinn
The Lazarus Files by Matthew McGough
Life in a Medieval City by Frances Gies & Joseph Gies
A Sorrowful Sanctuary by Iona Whishaw
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
Armada Boy by Kate Ellis
The Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy Ace
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
A Deceptive Devotion by Iona Whishaw
The Essence of Malice by Ashley Weaver
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography by Rick Geary
Mayhew's London
Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink by Anthony McCarten
The Acadians Before 1755 by Regis Brun
A History of Courtship by Tania O'Donnell
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Plague by C.C. Humphreys
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies editor Debbie Parker Wayne

Enjoy your haul!

Ooh, you had a book buying fit!

>154 MissWatson: Thanks Birgit!

>155 mstrust: Ha, more like a month long series of fits, Jennifer.

48. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

There was a lot of LT buzz about Magpie Murders soon after it came out and I got it fairly early on but then it sat and grew ROOTs. It was a really good and innovative mystery and I am glad I read it.

Ever since I joined the ROOTs group, I have tended to do that. I will bring a book into the house and then not read it for a year because it isn’t a ROOT yet and won’t count. This is counterproductive as books sit languishing on the shelves until they are old enough that I can count them and some get forgotten – just what is lurking in back of those shelves where the books are stacked in front of each other in three rows?

In an effort to whittle down the stacks I am going to start counting pre-ROOTs too because how else am I going to start making any headway – not buying books is just not an option!

>157 Familyhistorian: Glad you liked this one! :)

>158 rabbitprincess: Thanks, RP. It was a good one!

49. Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn

Obviously bought at some sale or other, maybe a book store closing, Night of a Thousand Stars was a fun, adventurous romp through the middle east of the 1920s which involved spies, deception and romance.

>146 Familyhistorian: To meat bears on a walk. That must be so scaring. And something that could not happen in the Netherlands. A fox might be scariest beast you can see here. Although there are wolves now too.

>161 connie53: I met a bear on a walk in Canada - it was scary, but we were surprisingly calm too! We stood very still and didn't look it in the eye, and in the end it just sauntered off (probably about a minute later, but it felt like hours!), and we walked very very very fast back to the start of our walk. Luckily we were only a few minutes away from the visitor centre. The first thing we did when we got back, apart from warn other people there was a bear nearby, was have a cup of tea to calm our nerves - so British!

No bears near me, though we'll be hiking in Canada this Autumn, so you never know... I've come across coyotes and a rattlesnake when hiking near my home though.

>161 connie53: Bears can be scary, Connie, but better to meet a bear than a cougar which have been known to be seen around here too. How did the wolves come back?

>162 Jackie_K: Hopefully it was a black bear, Jackie, which it sounds like it probably was. It's the grizzlies that you really have to watch out for. I'm glad your bear encounter turned out so well. The cup of tea nerve calmer made me smile.

>163 mstrust: It depends where in Canada you will be hiking, Jennifer, although I think there are coyotes in most places in Canada but not all of them have bears.

50. The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths

I managed to squeak in a ROOT between all of the library books. The Outcast Dead was the sixth book in the Ruth Galloway series. Like the other books, it was an absorbing read that I got through quickly. Of course, the crime was solved but it was the interrelationships between the characters that really brought the story to life.

51. Road Through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move by Mary Soderstrom

And now, from my nonfiction shelves, I read Road Through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move which looked at travel from early humans to present day. This ROOT will probably go back on my nonfiction shelves, although I am debating that.

>157 Familyhistorian: I still have the Magpie Murders on the TBR along with The Word is Murder. I'm going to make the change of counting any book I own next year too. I thought I might do that this year but didn't. I've bought more this year by this time than last year and I've only read a few. Sometimes I'll read a new book and feel guilty...how ridiculous! I may set a goal like reading 3 of my books to one library book or something of that nature.

>169 clue: I felt guilty reading books that I had just bought too. I still have to talk myself into reading something new right away rather than letting it sit for a year or two! Reading 3 own books for every library book sounds like a good plan.

>169 clue: & >170 Familyhistorian:

I have a rule that every other book I read has to be from my giant TBR stack. Then I can go out and buy a book and read that. That seems to work for me.

>171 rocketjk: Ooh, you are doing good if you can keep to that rule and I can see how it would keep your book numbers down.

52. Arrowood by Mick Finlay

Arrowood was billed as the Sherlock Holmes for the down-and-outs of society. It was an interesting mystery set in Victorian London which had its share of criminals and dodgy police as well as grinding poverty to set the scene.

I want to get to some of the new books in this month's acquisitions sooner rather than later so I listing them now. I am also glad to report my closest little free library is back. It's no longer the cute yellow box up thread but this one actually has a clasp on the door so hopefully the glass in the front will last longer.

LFL Books

Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz
Willful Behavior by Donna Leon

Regular Acquisitions

Vancouver Noir edited by Sam Wiebe
The Runaway Daughter by Joanna Rees
The Black Dahlia: A Crime Graphic Novel by James Ellroy, David Fincher Matz and Miles Hyman
Walking New York National Geographic
Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth by Holger Hoock
The Thirteen Colonies by Louis B. Wright
American Colonies: The Settling of North America by Alan Taylor
Family Tree Factbook: Key Genealogy Tips and Stats for the Busy Researcher by Diane Haddad
The Family Tree Problem Solver by Marsha Hoffman Rising
The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island by John Osborne Austin
The Writer's Guide to Beginnings: How to Craft Story Openings That Sell by Paula Munier
Writing What You Know: How to Turn Personal Experiences into Publishable Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry by Meg Files

This looks like a good haul! Enjoy!

>174 Familyhistorian: That's a big haul. Good job!

>175 MissWatson: >176 mstrust: Thanks ladies, I look forward to diving into those soon.

>174 Familyhistorian: Nice haul.

>178 connie53: Thanks Connie.

53. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

I haven’t been reading very many ROOTs this month. I finally clocked in my first one, How the Light Gets In, the eighth book in the Inspector Gamache series. It was a good one, with some permanent changes for the main character.

Along with my book addiction, I have an addiction to magazines, mostly genealogy ones. I was reading my way through the June/July issue of Internet Genealogy and found Sue Lisk's article "Finding the Perfect Fit: Genealogy Blogs that Suit Your Fancy". The first blog was one of my favs - Genealogy a la Carte, there were other interesting looking entries as well but then I turned the page and there it was A Genealogist's Path to History, my blog and it was written up in a magazine! I was gobsmacked!!

>181 Familyhistorian: Fantastic, and what a great surprise, congratulations!

>181 Familyhistorian: Thanks, it was quite a surprise!

>181 Familyhistorian: Wow! That's great! :D

>181 Familyhistorian: Oh how fantastic!

Congratulations! How exciting!

>181 Familyhistorian: How awesome!

>184 rabbitprincess: >185 Jackie_K: >186 mstrust: >187 MissWatson: Thank RP, Jackie, Jennifer and Birjit! It was quite a surprise!

54. The Fig Eater by Jody Shields

I finally gave up on a book and actually put it in the Little Free Library. Maybe someone else will give it a home. I think this is the first DNF that I haven't left moldering in some stack somewhere so I am going to count it.

55. Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

I have been reading and got some ROOTs in too but writing my reads up has been harder to get to. I finally read the first book in the Amory Ames series Murder at the Brightwell which has been sitting on my shelf for a while. I think that I bought it because of the cover, love that ‘30s look. The mystery was good too so I think I will follow up with the next one in the series. Looks like my library has this series so I probably won’t be writing about any more of this series as ROOTs.

>190 Familyhistorian: That's a great cover!

>191 Jackie_K: I love the '30s look of it, Jackie.

56. An Old, Cold Grave by Iona Whishaw

Another ROOT read, this time it was one of the Lane Winslow mystery series, An Old, Cold Grave. It was an interesting mystery involving a cold case in Lane’s small community. The mystery was interesting and the story in the main series plot was moved along.

57. The Corpse with the Diamond Hand by Cathy Ace

My next ROOT was another mystery The Corpse with the Diamond Hand. The story was set on a cruise ship going from Hawaii to Vancouver, so getting close to home waters for me. It was an interesting mystery with a captive bunch of suspects.

58. Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley

Every Secret Thing was part thriller, part historical novel. The action kept me turning the pages and the history interested me even more.

I am falling behind in my ROOTs write ups. I have two more that I will write up tomorrow which will get me to 60 ROOTs read. I also have a few on the go and almost finished. I wonder if I will be able to meet my goal by the end of the month?

59. A Brief History of Tea: The Extraordinary Story of the World's Favourite Drink by Roy Moxham

I have a large collection of non-fiction books which are putting down deep ROOTs. I’m slowly getting some of them read with a view to hopefully culling some from my collection. But I am of two minds about A Brief History of Tea: The Extraordinary Story of the World’s Favourite Drink. I was an interesting story and about my favourite drink too.

60. Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

There is nothing like a visit to with the ton of Regency London to add light touch to my reading. Romancing Mister Bridgerton was a romance that took care of the love life of yet another of the Bridgerton clan.

61. love in lowercase by Francesc Miralles

I picked up love in lowercase as I was intrigued by the slim volume and the sticker that said it was an international bestseller. It was an odd story of a man trying to make sense of his world and the attraction he feels for a woman. He has a few adventures as he expands his lonely world to include others.

62. The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy by Micheal F. Patton and Kevin Cannon

I have a collection of Graphic Novels which I am gradually reading my way through. Some of them are so good that they become a part of my permanent collection. The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy was one of the keepers. It was a really good introduction to philosophy and laid out in such a way that it will actually be a good reference book.

63. 'Til Death Us Do Part by Amanda Quick

I love the books by Amanda Quick. I race through them loving the history, romance and mystery combination. ‘Til Death Do Us Part was on my shelves for a while because anticipation lends a certain spice.

>181 Familyhistorian:. Wow, wow, wow. Congrats on that!

>181 Familyhistorian: Adding my wow to the chorus, and in my mind I can see you reading the article and gradually recognizing that it's your work being recommended!

>202 connie53: Thanks Connie, it was quite a surprise!

>204 Familyhistorian: I kind of realized that it was my blog as the title was prominent but it was on the second page of the article. It was a shocker when I turned the page!

64. Witch Hunt by Shirley Damsgaard

My goal this year is 65 ROOTs and Witch Hunt is number 64. Almost there. (Well, actually I am a few books over but behind in posting about them.) This was a cute cozy involving psychics and bikers. The description may not sound that much like a cozy but believe me, it was one.

>206 Familyhistorian: Congrats on meeting your goal!

My sister reads romances and I've decided to give her some Julia Quinn for Christmas, I'm pretty sure she hasn't read those, and so many people on LT like her it looks like a good choice.

>207 clue: Julia Quinn is a good choice. Apparently the Bridgerton books are doing so well they will be made into a Netflicks series.

65. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

I started to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time before seeing the stage production but didn’t finish it before I saw the play. I finally picked the book up again and polished it off. It was a very important book and I was amazed at the theatrical production.

I didn't think I was doing too badly with acquisitions in August but the stack for the month is high and I am going to separate them into fiction and non fiction. These are the fiction books which came into the house in August:

The Ventriloquists by E.R. Ramzipoor
Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
The Little Clan by Iris Martin Cohen
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
Connections in Death by J.D. Robb
The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton (LFL book)

Now for the non-fiction:

Learning to Paint in Oil - Barron's
All About techniques in Illustration - Barron's
Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England from 1811-1901 by Kristine Hughes
A Brief History of the English Civil Wars by John Miller
The Soul of Place by Linda Lappin
The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective by Susannah Stapleton
Tracing Your Ancestors Using DNA by Graham S. Holton
Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach
They Call Me George by Cecil Foster
Displacement by Lucy Knisley
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal

Congratulations on reaching your goal, Meg! Job well done!

Hooray for meeting your goal! And nice haul :)

Congrats on meeting your goal! And wow, you got a lot of books in August!

>212 connie53: >213 Jackie_K: >214 mstrust: Thanks Connie, Jackie and Jennifer. And, yes, I always end up with a lot of books!

Congratulations on meeting goal!

>the stack for the month is high and I am going to separate them into fiction and non fiction
I love this :) !

Hurray for meeting your goal! :D

>216 detailmuse: >217 rabbitprincess: Thanks MJ and RP!

66. Mesmerized by Candace Camp

I don’t read romances as much as I used to so I have a few growing long ROOTs on my shelves. One of these was Mesmerized by Candace Camp. It was an historical romance with paranormal elements, one that was fraudulent, one maybe not so much.

67. Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb

The “in Death” series is one of my favourites. Leverage in Death had grown ROOTs on my shelves. I let it age as I anticipated the pleasure of reading it and it met my expectations.

68. The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor

I was expecting a cozy mystery but The Union Street Bakery was a different story, more about family and relationships. It was so good I am contemplating finding the sequel.

69. Sully: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley B Sully Sullenberger III with Jeffrey Zaslow

Probably not the best book to bring on my travels as it dealt with plane crashes but I read Sully: My
Search for What Really Matters, the account of the pilot who landed on the Hudson in New York. It was a good one.

70. IQ by Joe Ide

I had to pick up IQ after seeing Joe Ide at the Vancouver Writer’s Festival last year. It was good and an interesting introduction to the main character. I am sure it got even better as it sat on my shelf. I can’t wait to read the sequel.

Some good books read, Meg.

>224 connie53: Hi Connie, I put my library holds on pause for a while and I have found some really good books on my own shelves!

That's were they usually are! I've discovered some gems too!

>226 connie53: I guess they should be good, after all, we chose them!

Chiming in belatedly to congratulate you on reaching your goal!

>228 MissWatson: Thanks Birjit!

71. Crime Scene by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Crime Scene was one of the books I took on my trip. It made it back home because I read it on the return journey. It was a mystery thriller interesting enough to keep me entertained on the plane ride home.

72. Blood, Sweat and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver's First Forensic Investigator by Eve Lazarus

Now for a ROOT from my non-fiction shelves. I have a small collection of books by Eve Lazarus who writes about Vancouver history. In Blood, Sweat and Fear she related the history of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s first forensic investigator. It was very interesting.

73. Calamity in Kent by John Rowland

I love a good cover and a classic mystery which is why I picked up Calamity in Kent. It was ok but showed its age somewhat.

74. The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick

Amanda Quick writes historic mystery romances. They are fast reads for me and I enjoyed The Girl Who Knew Too Much very much.

I'm in awe of how many you're reading - and enjoying!

75. Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill by Charlotte Gray

And for something more serious I rounded up the month with Sisters in the Wilderness. Charlotte Gray’s saga of the Strickland sisters in early Upper Canada. It was a good one.

>234 detailmuse: Thanks MJ. I paused my library holds for a while and am actually reading stuff on my shelves.

I had a pretty good September when it came to reading ROOTs but I also created more potential ROOTs when I brought the following books home. In fiction, I acquired:

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes
The Light Over London by Julia Kelly
Full Disclosure by Beverley McLachlin
A Necessary Murder by J.J. Tjia
The American Boy by Andrew Taylor

The non-fiction is:

Pastels by Leslie B. DeMille
Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox
Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount
Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
The Women's Land Army by Vita Sackville-West
The Second Coming of the KKK by Linda Gordon
Flight of the Highlanders: The Making of Canada by Ken McGoogan

I picked up some of the books while I was in New York. My copy of Bibliophile is stamped by the New York Public Library where I bought it. We also went to the Strand bookstore when we were there. I could have spent much longer in there but then I would have had more to haul home. I was particularly happy to find an updated version of The Women's Land Army to supplement my mum's 1944 version.

I always end up shipping a box or two home from The Strand. I have no self-control there and my husband just goads me into buying more. While I was in Vancouver I bought The Milkshake Murder from the Book Warehouse on Broadway. Parking there is miserable.

>239 mstrust: "I always end up shipping a box or two home from The Strand."

The Strand is heaven on earth. Likewise Powell's Books in Portland. I've only been to the latter once. My wife and I (we live north of San Francisco) were on a 1-night layover in Portland on our way to Croatia. Of course I had to visit Powell's, but we were on our way to Europe with bags already stuffed. While my wife and I were browsing in different sections of the store, I had the brilliant idea to ask an employee whether they would ship books. Getting an answer in the affirmative, I texted my wife, "They ship!" To which she replied, "Uh oh."

Ha! That's the definition of "mixed feelings".

>239 mstrust: Enjoy the Eve Lazarus book, Jennifer. She came to speak at my genealogy society meeting on Wednesday and had some of books for sale including The Milkshake Murder. There was no problem parking at the meeting but I can see where you would have had a problem parking on Broadway. I always take transit to get to that part of town.

>240 rocketjk: The Strand was great to see but I'm glad I showed some restraint. I don't have enough room for the books that I have although a visit to Powells is tempting and they are just to the south of me. Really shouldn't be that hard to get to. You say they ship? Hmm

76. Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen

I was madly trying to finish two library books that I had on hold in two weeks before I went away so the ROOTs weren’t getting read. But I took a few ROOTs with me on my trip so should get a head start this week. The first ROOT finished was Malice at the Palace another in the Royal Spyness mystery series. It was a good one and I want to go on to the next one but I don’t have it on the shelves so it looks like I might get it from the library – no more ROOTs from this series.

77. The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

The second ROOT that I read on my trip was The House on Tradd Street. It was a mystery with a few ghosts, a long ago disappearance and a present day mystery. It was pretty good.

78. A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux

I didn’t look at my books closely enough when I grabbed them off the shelf to take with me. A Willing Murder was too much like the last ROOT that I read so the mystery didn’t have me stumped for a moment. It was good but would have been better if there had been more of a gap between this one and the one and The House on Tradd Street.

ROOTs read is always a good thing, Meg. Now I'm just wondering about your ROOT-ticker. Is it up to date?

>246 Familyhistorian: I feel the same about books in the same genre read with no space between them. The second one is not that much of a surprise.

>247 connie53: My ROOTs ticker isn't up to date, Connie. I will fix it after I get home.

I don't mind reading books of a similar genre one after the other but in this case there were too many similarities between the plots. Both heroines were realtors with two men vying for their attention and murders that were close to home to solve.

79. Baking with Kafka by Tom Gauld

Among the books on my shelves are a smattering of humerous books; a few Calvin and Hobbes and some Tom Gauld. Baking with Kafka has grown ROOTs but I finally read this one. I cracked a smile at a few of the pages.

80. Bright Young Things: A Modern Guide to the Roaring Twenties by Alison Maloney

Bright Young Things: A Modern Guide to the Roaring Twenties was both a history and a how to book about the ‘20s; what the younger generation was into and how to imitate them if you want to have an event with a ‘20s theme.

I went to so many things in October that involved books that I ended up with a very large amount of new books.

My genealogy society, BCGS, had an author talk by Eve Lazarus at their evening meeting and I ended up with:

Sensational Victoria: Bright Lights, Red Lights, Murders, Ghosts & Gardens by Eve Lazarus

I picked up a book at the little free library:

Cold Day in July by Stella Cameron

My books from Salt Lake City included books that I bought in airports while in transit and those I bought at the book shop on South Temple Street. They are:

Still Me by Jojo Moyes
Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen
A Short History of the Railroad by Christian Wolmar
The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden

When I got back home I took in the Vancouver Writers' Festival which had its own bookstore. I picked up:

Truth Be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law by Beverly McLachlin
Cut You Down by Sam Wiebe
Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise by Charlotte Gray

I also attended the Surrey International Writers' Conference and they had books for sale. My haul there included:

Investing in Murder by E J Lister
The Corpse with the Golden Nose by Cathy Ace
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maas

Of course, there were books that came from my regular book shop visits. They are:

Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern
Singapore Sapphire by A. M. Stuart
How the Scots Created Canada by Paul Cowan
Britain Yesterday & Today by Janice Anderson & Edmund Swinglehurst
Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt
Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada by the Graphic History Collective

Excellent haul!

Ooh, I'll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Murdered Midas! That one will probably end up being my mum's Christmas present.

Wow, that's a lot of new books in one month, lol! Good job!

That's an impressive haul, enjoy!

>253 Jackie_K: Thanks Jackie!

>254 rabbitprincess: Hi RP, Charlotte Gray was one of the authors I saw at the Vancouver Writers' Festival and she read from Murdered Midas. The mystery surrounding his death and what she told us about his life meant that I had to have the book. I think it is a great choice for a Christmas present.

>255 mstrust: The book stack did look fairly large but what could I do with so many bookish events in one month?

>256 MissWatson: Thanks Birgit!

81. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

Well, if it didn’t take me so long to get around to posting about my reads, this book would have been one of the final twelve before the group goal. Well, actually it should probably have been included in last month’s total. I was just too lazy or overwhelmed to write about it. Things have slowed down a bit now which means that I have a ton of stuff to do but I am lollygagging instead. Anything to put off all my writing deadlines.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays was about a young woman who is left a failing bookshop by her estranged uncle. How she unpuzzles her family’s past and changes her future make for a heartwarming story.

>258 Familyhistorian: I would have liked to find a translated version of this book. But it isn't. I love reading about bookstores!

>258 Familyhistorian: I've had a lot of positive LT reaction to this one, Connie. I think it's all the books on the cover. Too bad it isn't translated for you.

82. The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

Continuing my bookish ROOTs reads, I read The Library at the Edge of the World which was set in a remote area of Ireland. It was where the main character came from and retreated back to after the end of her marriage. It was a heartwarming story.

>261 Familyhistorian: Another bookstore/library book! Nice. (and not translated ;-( )

>262 connie53: Not that one either? That's too bad, Connie.

>263 Familyhistorian: I think I will survive it ;-) . I have lots of books on the TBR to choose from

>264 connie53: I thought you might, Connie!

Let's be honest, I think most of us have enough to choose from already! :D

>266 Jackie_K: Maybe some even have too many!

83. The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam

Finally, a nonlibrary related ROOTs read as I finished The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House. This mystery was set in two different time periods, the ‘60s and the ‘20s, both related through people and through Castaway House. It was a bit of a slow read for me.

All the library books coming into my house haven't stopped me from buying books. November's acquisitions included:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
The Guardians by John Grisham
The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag
The Billionaire Murders by Kevin Donovan
Junk DNA by Nessa Carey
Upper Canada: The Formative Years by G.M. Craig
The Irishman by Charles Brandt
The Great Escape: The Untold Story by Ted Barris
The Scottish Clearances by T.M. Devine

Hi Meg, its ages since I popped in to your thread and I'm glad to see you're as active as ever in reading and acquiring an amazingly diverse range of tomes. And you've reached your goal - well done!

I've also bought a copy of Tom Devine's The Scottish Clearances - I feel I can call him Tom ;) since my daughter and I had a lovely chat with him following an author's event at which he spoke. Fascinating and impressive - and when I admitted to him that I hadn't studied history in high school he admitted he hadn't either - he discovered his love for it a bit later in life. Given it has led to a brilliant academic life, being a well-respected writer and a knighthood, he's done pretty well out of it! On my TBR for 2020.

Enjoy the rest of your reading month!

>270 floremolla: Hi Donna, I'm glad to have you pop in. How wonderful that you met and talked to Tom Devine. I have a number of his books on my shelves as I discovered an interest in Scottish history later in life when I started my family history. It seems that we tend to stick with the subjects that we find on our own rather than ones crammed down our throats in high school. Looks like he took that to the nth degree and did very well out of it!

Have a great rest of the year!

>272 floremolla: thanks, Meg, for your good wishes, here and on my thread.

I do agree with you about finding your own areas of interest in history. I've recently begun my own family tree - so far only back to late 1700s - they're mostly Irish or Scots and I want to understand the context of their lives. Yet another excuse for acquiring books - the ROOTing never ends!

>272 floremolla: You are fortunate if they didn't move around too much. I've been doing my family history research for decades and the amount that those people moved around has resulted in many, many ROOTs on my shelves. My books on London alone take up the better part of a bookcase!

84. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Once again, the library holds are keeping me from my own books. I managed to fit one in, The Gods of Gotham, an historic mystery set in early New York which took me forever to read. I finished it – yay!

>274 Familyhistorian:. Yes another ROOT down!

>275 connie53: Thanks Connie. It's taking me a long time to get through my ROOTs. I hope to read more of my own books next year.

We all do. Good luck next year!

>277 connie53: Same to you, Connie. I hope you have a wonderful festive season!

You've done really well with your ROOTs. This has been my first year ROOTing, and it's been so great for reminding me of those books way back on the shelves.

>279 mstrust: ROOTing really helps clear the shelves. I hope that you are ROOTing again next year, Jennifer.

85. Ring in the Year with Murder by Auralee Wallace

My one last ROOT for 2019 was Ring in the Year with Murder. It was a fun cozy set at a Great Gatsby themed New Year party, a great way to end off the year.

I think my acquisitions are done for 2019 unless my Santa Thing books show up. This where I start totting up the damage done in December. First there was the used book sale at my genealogy society meeting. At 6 for a dollar it encourages me to pick up more. After I got them home I realized one is probably a duplicate. The titles are:

The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth
Prized Possessions by L. R. Wright
Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert K. Massie
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie by Richard Hack
Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

I was lucky enough to win ER books in October and November. My October book came the Friday before last and the November book on the following Monday. Sometimes I just don't understand the mail around here. They are:

It Began with a Page by Kyo Maclear
The Italian Cure by Melodie Campbell

I went to put the last ROOT I read in the Little Free Library today, so of course, two books followed me home. They are:

The tyranny of story: Audience Expectations and the short screenplay by Ric Beairsto
Archaeology: A Brief Introduction by Brian M. Fagan

When I separate them out the ones that I bought in a bookstore don't look too bad, well except for the tomes that I bought today which are a bit thick. (They are the first two.) My bookstore acquisitions are:

The Plantagenets: The Kings who Made England by Dan Jones
Jerusalem by Alan Moore (1262 pages of story, bought for group read)
Poppy Harmon Investigates by Lee Hollis
Yorkshire: A Lyrical History of England's Greatest County by Richard Morris
Stories of Women in the Middle Ages by Maria Teresa Brolis
Beyond the Northlands by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclugh
The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth L. Cline
A Diminished Roar: Winnipeg in the 1920s by Jim Blanchard
Reconstruction: A Concise History by Allen C. Guelzo
Canada's Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests by Peter H. Russell

The Plantagenets was great! Enjoy!

>286 rabbitprincess: Thanks RP!