Laytonwoman3rd Chapter the Second 2022

Many of you know me already. I've been keeping track of my reading in the yearly 75 Books Challenge for about a dozen years now. Here's a link to my last thread for 2021. You can work backward from there through my lists, or consult the links on my profile page if you have that much free time on your hands.

A brief introduction, or reminder of who I am: My name is Linda, and I am a retired paralegal. I've spent most of my life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with brief interludes for college, my husband's military service and paralegal training in Central PA, New Orleans and Philadelphia, respectively. Since giving up the legal grind, I have kept busy with volunteer work centered around libraries, cemeteries, and genealogy. I concluded a two-year term as President of the Board of Trustees of the Scranton Public Library at the end of 2021, but continue to serve on the Board, and several of its committees. I currently serve as President of the Equinunk Cemetery Association, and do as much grave-hunting and photographing as time and weather will allow for the website Find-A-Grave.com. I hope to contribute to the reclamation and restoration of a long-neglected cemetery in my local area that has recently been the subject of a lot of journalistic attention, and has spawned a robust volunteer effort. We have filed the necessary paperwork to create the non-profit Friends of Shady Lane Cemetery so we can raise money for its maintenance.

LT has been an essential part of my life since I joined in 2005, after my daughter lycomayflower told me about "this site where you can catalog your books." My response was something like, "Why would I want to do that?" HA! I simply can't imagine life without it anymore. I never knew how much I needed a reading community, until I found one. There are links on my profile page to my earlier reading threads. My goal is always to read more of the books I already own, and to acquire fewer books than I remove from the house. In past years this has been a big joke, but it has become an absolute necessity due to space considerations, and the older I get the less stuff I feel the need to keep, so not only books, but a lot of "I-might-want-that-someday" nonsense is being deaccessioned these days. In the immediate Now, this process includes downsizing my mother-in-law's (and hence, my husband's ancestral) possessions so that she can move from a 2-bedroom apartment to a senior living facility. My late father-in-law was a gifted photographer. My topper for this quarter is one of his exceptional pieces.

I've been hosting an American Authors Challenge in the 75 Book Challenge Group for a few years, and details of this year's monthly challenges can be found downthread.

And as some of you know, I'm averse to gifs and listserve-type greetings, but I LOVE visitors who comment on my reading, or on other topics introduced here. Everyone is welcome to lurk or engage, as you see fit.

Here will be a list of the books I read in the current quarter of 2022. (I usually have one thread per quarter.)
I use some shorthand to help me keep track of my reading trends:

ROOT identifies a book that I have owned for at least a year at the time I read it.
CULL means I put the book in my donation box for the library book sale after finishing it, or otherwise gave it away.
DNF means I didn't finish the book, for one reason or another, usually explained in the related post.
ER means I received the book from LT's Early Reviewer program.
GN refers to a graphic novel, GM a graphic memoir This is not a category I use much, but it is the featured theme for January 2022 in the AAC, so I hope to do 2 or 3 this year.
An * asterisk indicates a library book.
LOA means I read a Library of America edition;
SF means the book was a Slightly Foxed edition, (NOT science fiction, which I so rarely read);
VIRAGO means it was an original green-spined Virago edition from my own collection;
FOLIO indicates a Folio Society edition.
AUDIO and e-Book are self-explanatory, and probably won't appear very often.
AAC refers to the American Author Challenge.
NF indicates a non-fiction read.
TR indicates a work in translation
RR means it's a re-read for me

Clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book.

JULY

50. Upstream by Mary Oliver ROOT, NF
49. Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford ROOT
*48. City on Fire by Don Winslow
47. Openwork by Adria Bernardi ROOT
46. Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickham ROOT
*45. The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves
44. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy
43. The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy

JUNE

42. Black Pearls by Sascha Feinstein NF
41. Millville: The First 200 Years by Dean Girton NF
40. Death on the Aisle by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT, RR
39. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
ROOT, CULL

MAY

*38. Forensics by Val McDermid NF
*37. My Face is Black is True by Mary Frances Berry NF
36. Here is New York by E. B. White ROOT, NF, RR
35. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
*34. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
33. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh
32. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

APRIL

31. The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A. E. Hotchner CULL
30. Stars of Alabama by Sean Deitrich
*29. The Post Script Murders by Elly Griffiths
*28. Looking Through You; Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan NF, AAC
27. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan ROOT, CULL
26. The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp ROOT

Here is a list of books read earlier this year. Again, clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book.

MARCH

25. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
24. Hondo by Louis L'Amour ROOT, CULL
23. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
22. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew NF
21. Anna's Book by Barbara Vine CULL
20. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tns by Simon Armitage TR, ROOT, RR

FEBRUARY

19. Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery NF
18. The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad TR, ROOT, NF
17. Barnacle Soup by Josie Gray with Tess Gallagher AAC
16. The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
15. At the Owl Woman Saloon by Tess Gallagher ROOT, AAC
14. The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur TR
*13. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

JANUARY

12. Pastoral Song by James Rebanks NF
11. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov TR
*10. A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
*9. Mary's Monster by Lita Judge
8. The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan ROOT
7. Haikus for New York City by Peter Goldmark
6. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola ROOT, TR
5. Scenes From Village Life by Amos Oz ROOT, TR
*4. The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri TR
*3. A Contract with God by Will Eisner GN, AAC
2. American Indian Stories by Zitkala-SA NF, ER
1. Colored People by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. NF

For my new acquisitions

JANUARY

1. Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
2. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
3. She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer
4. There Once Was a World by Yaffa Eliach
5. The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur
6. The Literary Murder by Batya Gur
7. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
8. Haikus for New York City by Peter C. Goldmark, Jr.
9. Black Pearls by Sascha Feinstein

FEBRUARY

10. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman
11. Autumn Rounds by Jacque Poulin
12. A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
13. This is Happiness by Niall Williams
14. Barnacle Soup by Josie Gray and Tess Gallagher
15. Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan
16. Cochise by Edwin R. Sweeney

MARCH

17. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight et al., tns by J. R. R. Tolkien
18.-19. Malamud Novels and Stories of the 1940s, 50s and 60s LOA editions
20. The Penguin History of Canada by Kenneth McNaught
21. The Thousand Mile War by Brian Garfield
22. The Indian Frontier of the American West by Robert M. Utley
23. Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

APRIL

24. The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell
25. My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
26. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

MAY

27. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh
28. A History of the Black Mardi Gras Indians by Maurice M. Martinez
29. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy
30. The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy

JUNE

31. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
32. Matrix by Lauren Groff
33. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
34. Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher

JULY

35. Superior Death by Nevada Barr
36. The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

I try hard to clear out books no one in the house is ever going to want to read or read again....but this is how that usually turns out:


Here is a list of the volumes I manage to donate to library sales or otherwise hand off this year:

1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
2. Mrs. Ames by E. F. Benson
3. Miss Zukas and the Island Murders by Jo Dereske
4. Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death by Jo Dereske
5. An Irish Country Welcome by Patrick Taylor
6. Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
7. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
8. Taltos by Anne Rice
9. The Vampire Companion by Katharine Ramsland
10. Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
11. Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
12. Lasher by Anne Rice
13. Tenney's Landing by Catherine Tudish
14. The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy
15. Damned if You Do by Michael Brandman
16. I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
17. Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming
18. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
19. The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
20. Breath by Tim Winton
21. Canada by Richard Ford
22. Home to Harlem by Claude McKay (duplicate copy)
23. Anna's Book by Barbara Vine
24. The Chimney Sweeper's Boy by Barbara Vine
25. Anastasia by Peter Kurth
26. The File on the Tsar by Summers and Mangold
27. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
28. Hondo by Louis L'Amour
29-30. Children of Time, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchiakovsky
31. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
32. Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine (duplicate copy)
33. The Haunting by Shirley Jackson (duplicated in LOA collection)
34. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
35. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
36. The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
37. The Devil's Hearth by Philip DePoy
38. The Witch's Grave by Philip DePoy

Here are the selections for the 2022 American Authors Challenge:
I will post links on my current thread to the monthly threads as they go live. And I will note my own selections for each month as I read them.
The General Discussion Thread for this year's challenge is here.

JANUARY Graphic novels and/or non-fiction
Here is the thread for January.
Finished A Contract with God by Will Eisner
Finished Mary's Monster by Lita Judge

FEBRUARY Tess Gallagher
Link to the Gallagher thread
Finished At the Owl Woman Saloon and Barnacle Soup

MARCH Bernard Malamud
His thread is here.
Started The Fixer, but gave it up as too tough for the times. Read two short stories, which did not end well either. Enough.

APRIL Jennifer Finney Boylan
Here is her thread.
Finished Looking Through You; Growing Up Haunted

MAY 19th Century American Author of your choice
Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Will continue reading the rest of the stories in this collection


JUNE John Dos Passos Read a few selections from his travel writings and an essay about American literature that did not impress me.

JULY Gish Jen Read about half of Who's Irish story collection Got the feel of her writing, which is very good. Not being a short fiction fan, I left it at that.

AUGUST Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Finished Colored People in January
Currently reading In Search of Our Roots

SEPTEMBER Pulitzer Prize Winners

OCTOBER John McPhee

NOVEMBER Native American authors, themes and history
Finished The Reason You Walk in March I expect to read on this theme fairly regularly throughout the year.

DECEMBER Martha Gellhorn

WILD CARD SUGGESTION: A book written about or set in the state, province, city, etc. where you now live. (Or anything else you feel like substituting.) Here's a thread for posting your wild card reads.

******************
Other challenges I will participate in, sporadically:

I intend to read a few selections from the late rebeccanyc's Hope to Read Soon collection, along with others LT'ers who remember her and owe a debt of gratitude to her memory. Here's a link to the thread where we're sharing those reads in 2022.
She was one of the most well-read people I've ever encountered, and her range was amazing. Her recommendations were always welcome. I'll keep track of books that are from her list here. I will also selectively read both British Authors, and Asian works for those challenges.

REBECCA READS

1. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
2. The Saturday Morning Murder by Batya Gur (Rebecca gets full credit for introducing me to this author, although this is not the Gur title that was on her list--I assume she had read this one already, as it is the first in a series.)

British Authors Challenge
January: Gave Swallows and Amazons a try; not my thing

And now....

Happy new thread!

Hi Linda3rd, happy new thread!

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Linda!

Happy new thread, dear Linda. x

Sweet Thursday, Linda. Happy New Thread! Love the topper.

>8 laytonwoman3rd: I think that "Welcome" should have some animation. It's just so...ummm...so static. Oh, but that would require the image to be...uh...UH!...a .GIF. So sad.

Happy new thread, Linda.

Happy new one!

Happy new one, Linda!

Thanks everyone. And just for Bill,



(It's OK if I do it. Just this once.)

The April thread for the AAC is now live. We're reading Jennifer Finney Boylan this month.

Happy new thread, Linda!

>20 laytonwoman3rd: I simply cannot find any of the author's books over here. Louise Gluck turns 80 this month so I intend to read something of hers as a Wildcard.

I belong to postcrossing.com, a global postcard exchange site. I recognize your pic in >6 laytonwoman3rd: as the work of Inge Look, a Finnish artist. I have received many cards of her work and they are delightful. Some call the gals grannies, or aunties, and they are always just so joyful. Fun that you found one of her book ones.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Linda.

>6 laytonwoman3rd: This makes me smile.

I've been eying the Dos Passos month for AAC. I've been meaning to reread the USA trilogy. That might be the nudge I need.

Hi, Stasia, Hi Foggi!

>22 PaulCranswick: Paul, I would never discourage anyone from reading Gluck. But a lot of Boylan's work was published before her transition; have you tried searching for them under the name James Boylan?

>23 jessibud2: I absolutely love the "grannies" (I lovingly call them the "Crones", usually.) Here's another of my favorites:

>26 laytonwoman3rd: I want to be one of those old ladies!

>26 laytonwoman3rd:, >27 foggidawn: - Here are more images from her, I have yet to find a single one I don't love!

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=inge+look+postcards&qpvt=inge+look+post...

>26 laytonwoman3rd: Had a look again and nothing locally available, Linda, so Louise Gluck it is!

>25 BLBera: Hi, Beth. I'm looking forward to my first read of Dos Passos.

>27 foggidawn: Me too! (Maybe I AM one of those ladies some days.)

>28 jessibud2: Thanks for the link, Shelley. I'll have a good time looking at those.

>29 PaulCranswick: Well, you get a star for trying to participate, Paul.

>28 jessibud2: I love the “Two Old Friends” pictures! Thanks for the link!

Karen O

Happy new thread! I like the happy grannies too!

>26 laytonwoman3rd: Love the grannies! I am one of them, I am sure :)

Have a wonderful week!

So glad everyone loves the grannies/aunties/crones! And I've just been reading some of my own grandmother's old correspondence, saved through generations. Can't picture her under the table with her friend Stella, but I think she would have been amused by these images as well.

26. The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp I should read more of Margery Sharp...she's so wonderful in a deceptively simple way. Here we have Julia Packett, a woman who is "no better than she ought to be", but is very good at getting along without resources other than her wits and wiles. She is also, it turns out, both lucky and likeable, which is good since she's a bit overextended, and approaching an age when generous men are a bit harder to attract. When she is contacted by Susan, the adult daughter she had basically abandoned to the in-laws as an infant, things might get tricky, and there's a possibility Julia may have met her match in the gold-digger who wants to marry Susan. "I believe he's the same sort as I am!" she thought. "Now what the hell am I to do?" I had fun finding out.

Happy new thread, Linda. >26 laytonwoman3rd: Love the postcard.

>35 laytonwoman3rd: Margery Sharp! I remember reading The Innocents and feeling it had been specifically designed to cause me personally the maximum amount of angst. Then...nothing, no memories of any sort. I'm glad to get the nudge.

I've also started reading a Marian Engel novel, Monodromos. It seems to be the month for rediscovering lit'ry ladies.

>36 Familyhistorian: Hi, Meg! Thanks for stopping by for tea with the Crones!

>37 richardderus: I have a lot of Sharp on my shelves...I sort of cleared out every copy on offer a few years back when the last indy bookstore in Scranton was liquidating its stock. But The Innocents is not among 'em, unfortunately.

The only Marian Engel I've read is Bear; it was beautiful and weird and I loved it.

27. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan One of those books that's been on my TBR shelf longer than it should have been (part of a very generous Christmas swap haul in 2019 from fuzzi). Now that I've read it, I will be exploring what else Egan has written. Side-by-side stories of two protagonists whose fortunes intersect in not terribly surprising ways, but who are in no way stereotypical of their "Types" in this sort of literature. Anna Kerrigan helps care for her severely disabled younger sister, who suffered oxygen deprivation during birth. The whole family loves Lydia intensely, and father Eddie goes to desperate lengths to provide for them all, until he mysteriously fails to come home one day, leaving behind roll of cash, a bank book, but no message at all. Dexter Styles is a gangster with very nice upper crust connections and an ambition to sever his underworld connections while keeping his life and fortune intact. He knows how to use people, while Anna slowly realizes that she must develop that skill in order to survive. Set during WWII, the book takes us in great detail into the world of divers working in the Brooklyn Naval Yards, and to the extremely hazardous life aboard Merchant Marine ships. If you are at all claustrophobic, or have this reader's terror of being on the open sea (or worse still, under it), portions of this novel will be a tough go. But it IS worth it. This was a gripping, and often unpredictable tale.

>35 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Unfortunately my local library does not have a copy of any of Sharp's books.

>39 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole too. My local library actually has that one!

>38 laytonwoman3rd: Well, Monodromos is nowhere near as weird as Bear was! A young woman flies to Cyprus, then on the bubbling edge of the civil war, to help her gay ex-husband weather a crisis. Not for the first time.

It's pretty surprising stuff for 1974.

Belated Happy New Thread wishes!! Love the crones. : )

Happy weekend, Linda!

>3 laytonwoman3rd: Each time I see an image of your incredibly beautiful cat, I am tempted to bring a cat into the house. But, a dog, a ferret and then a cat may be too much. It the meantime, please continue to post images of your lovely house mate.

>44 Whisper1: Just to be clear, Lynda, that is not my cat in >3 laytonwoman3rd: above. Just an image I found on the internet. But here's a picture of my lovely Molly this morning, admiring the April snowfall. She is most definitely a sweet wonderful companion.

>45 laytonwoman3rd: Molly looks very contemplative in that photo. I wonder what is running through her mind?

>46 alcottacre: "Snow snakes! I'ma get 'em!"

>46 alcottacre: We often wonder, Stasia!

>47 lycomayflower: OH yeah.

Snowfall! *sigh* soon to come here, as well. April! This is not unprecedented but it is also unwelcome.

>49 richardderus: Indeed. I would sure love a sweet spring breeze.

It's a month with too much Real Life going on, so I don't know that I will get around to saying much about these two, but I have finished:

28. Looking Through You; Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan. This memoir covers Boylan's childhood and youth (in a haunted house) as a conflicted boy who knew he'd rather be a girl, but had no hope of doing anything about it other than dressing in his sister's clothes behind a locked bedroom door. It was just excellent. Please read it. Sneak over to the AAC thread for this month ; maybe someone else will have enough brainwaves to tell you more about it.

29. The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. Pure distraction as Harbinder Kaur investigates some seemingly natural deaths that don't feel right. Particularly interesting just now, as one of the characters is Ukrainian, and there are many references to Russian shenanigans of historical significance (pre-dating the current atrocity) and possible spy activities.

>51 laytonwoman3rd: Boylan: duly noted. I enjoyed She's Not There, as you know, and it sounds like this one is just as good.

Also, I loved the two Harbinder Kaur books and would definitely read more of them!

>47 lycomayflower: Lol, Laura!

>51 laytonwoman3rd: I wish my local library would get more than the one Boylan book that it has - and I found that one to be ultimately unsatisfying.

>53 alcottacre: Do you ever request your library to purchase a book? It works pretty well here. There's a form on line for us to do it.

Can anyone relate?

>54 laytonwoman3rd: - I have, and they did! I even remember what it was. It was a hard copy of Mira Jacobs' Good Talk. Up to that point, it was only available as an e-book or audiobook. I kindly explained that graphic novels just don't cut it as e-books (or audiobooks), since the whole point is the visual parts. They agreed and not long after that, I got a phone call telling me it was in and I could pick it up! I was impressed!

>55 laytonwoman3rd: - Yes and no. In theory, I totally relate. But in fact, I almost always use 2 bookmarks per book, one to mark where I am and one to mark the next chapter. Worst case scenario, I'd use a leaf or piece of paper (she could have removed her hat and used the peak, even!) ;-)

>54 laytonwoman3rd: As far as I know, Linda, there is no such program at my local library.

>55 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, yeah! I am constantly misplacing bookmarks.

Have a wonderful weekend, Linda!

>56 jessibud2:, >57 alcottacre: Ha! I was more thinking about the horror of dog-earing a book, than of the losing the bookmark part!

>55 laytonwoman3rd: *GASP*

...the...the very idea...blasphemy! apostasy! heresy!

I usually use a bookmark but have been known to dog-ear in a pinch. I'm not much into the fetishization of books 🤷‍♀️

>60 katiekrug: "Pinch" is exactly what it feels like to a tender little page. If you listen very closely, you can hear them scream when you do that. I'd keep out of RD's reach, if i were you.

>56 jessibud2: I used to just keep track of the page where I left, but that doesn't work so well any more and I miss the kindle % for some reason, so - I put marks at 25% then 50% then 75% and fold the closest one to mark where I stopped. Why that helps, I do not know.

>55 laytonwoman3rd:, >59 richardderus:, >61 laytonwoman3rd: I cringe every time I see one of those folds in library books (or paper-clip marks--I've seen those, too). Hey, it's not THEIR book--go do your damage to your own books that you don't care about, but leave the rest of us (and the books) in peace. I try to smooth them out, but that rarely helps much. I can't believe people can't find some tiny scrap of paper to hold their place. Or all those people so big on recording every detail of their lives on their phones, record what page you're on. Whatever. The books on my shelves are fold-free. And thank me for it.

Off soap-box, until the next poor damaged book crosses my path.

Oh to be young and possessed of memory. Granddaughter Gracie, at about 12, was reading when we were called to the table. As she closed the book, I said, "You're going to lose your place."

"I know what page I'm on," said she. Real snotty like.

I use book darts as well as paper bookmarks.

>45 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the clarity. I saw your facebook post and realized the cat in >3 laytonwoman3rd: was not yours. Molly is beautiful. Your photo is simply lovely! And, so is Molly!

>55 laytonwoman3rd: I laughed out loud when seeing this cartoon! I have many book marks, but somehow when I start to read a book, I forget to carry a book mark with me. But, I am obsessive and carry the book throughout the house until I find a book mark. I refuse to fold a page.

>63 kac522: I think people have less respect for library books than for their own. I've also heard strange tales of the sorts of things found in library books, presumably used as bookmarks.

>64 weird_O: I love book darts to mark passages permanently. And it irks me when the pages are too flimsy to support them.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: I just returned to the library a beautiful oversized and wonderfully annotated edition of Jane Austen's Emma that had cat hairs about every twenty pages. Irritating, but at least the book wasn't damaged.

I have mixed emotions about dog-earring books. I would *never* do it myself, but when I see a library book with creased corners it kind of makes me happy. Proof that the book has been loved by someone before me.

>67 kac522: I'm afraid my returned library books might have a few cat hairs in them...it's rare for me to be reading without Molly on my lap at least part of the time. I apologize to anyone who finds those, especially if they have allergies. An almost unavoidable hazard of sharing books.

>68 scaifea: I don't do it, but I'm not a fanatic about it either. Same goes for light pencil marks and notes (in my OWN books, only). As someone said, "An unmarked book is an unloved book". So, I say, (despite the cartoon above) mark at will, in whatever manner you choose, as long as the book belongs to you.

>55 laytonwoman3rd: Tee hee. I loaned a book to my sister, who with consent loaned to a friend who said 'I never would have had Caroline down as a corner turner', my sister sniffily said 'secondhand copy', hehe. I have only recently started lightly drawing with a pencil a circle around a page number and marking a dot by the line I want to revisit, barely visible, but I don't like to break reading to note a quote.

I think it was when the third of the Harry Potter series came out, and my boss at the time was so into it and no one else of our group had read any. So she brought in her books and loaned them to all of us, I think nearly everyone in our dept. ended up taking them home. When the books came to me, the were creased and used. I read them, brought them back and she gave them to someone else. But I was miffed when she casually mentioned one day that she had never pegged me as someone who fold the corners down. For some reason she had only noticed that her books had been treated badly when I gave them back to her, and I had to tell her that I had received them in that condition and would never do that. I don't write in them either. Can't.

>71 mstrust: I'd say if you're going to lend books for round-robin reading, you have to expect they will take a little battering. But there's no way I'd write in or dog-ear a book that didn't belong to me. I'll bet she didn't offer to share any other books after that, did she?

30. Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich In spite of the fact that some pretty awful things happen to a number of the protagonists in this episodic novel, it darn near qualified as a comfort read for me. Life can be hard, but there's no use taking the tragic view. Sometimes little miracles happen. A child evangelist gets "saved" from that life; a blended family including an old black man, an old white man, a seemingly abandoned baby and a destitute dying mother with two young children and not a hope in the world find life is bearable if they all stick together; a starving teenager who is part empath, part faith healer and 100% skeptic saves a few lives, and improves a few more. None of these people know each other, yet we expect that their paths will eventually cross--why else would we be following them all through their trials? We hop from one set of characters to another, with significant passage of time between sections. Boys become men, a baby girl becomes a lovely young woman...we only see parts of their journey. What may have happened to Marigold while we were working the tobacco fields with Paul, Vern and their adopted brood, we don't always know. Coot's escape from E. P. Willard's clutches is engineered by a guardian angel whose future we never learn. Yet nothing about the narrative feels fractured, or choppy. We come to know each of these people well, and love them, as it is clear the author does. There's a subtle Christianity running through the tale, without a hint of preachiness, hypocrisy or saccharine. In fact, the thread that connects the story lines together until they ultimately merge is the presence on the radio of a nationally known evangelist whose revivals draw huge crowds. It is suggested that this man, unlike the other hucksters and abusers on the circuit who claim to be offering salvation to the masses, may be acting in good faith. The novel owes a debt to Steinbeck, Fannie Flagg, and Joe David Brown, but it has its own legs. Entirely engaging.

Regarding the lending of books...

Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager collected their interviews with a dozen or more writers in The Writer's Library. Jonathan Lethem collects books as well as writing them. Asked about lending books, he said.

Well, one thing is, as a used book hound, I'm always trying to reproduce that magic moment of finding the thing I've been looking for. So I let myself copiously overbuy…I basically don't lend books: I either refuse or I give them away, and it just feels better. And it excuses my otherwise irrational behavior of buying books I already own.

I certainly relate to "the irrational behavior of buying books I already own" (though using the LT phone app is reducing that for me). He doesn't say why he doesn't lend books, but getting back a book bearing new signs of use could well be the reason.

I must say, as one whose library is largely assembled of used books, I'm pretty ambivalent about folded page corners and underlining and marginal notes.

>74 weird_O: " I either refuse or I give them away, and it just feels better. " I more or less ride that bus myself. I won't lend a book I deeply care about getting back. And there are definitely some of "mine" floating around in various places that both I and the borrowers have forgotten about.

For those who still mourn the demise of the FictFact website for keeping track of where you are in your various book series readings, I just stumbled on this site https://booksontrack.net/, which purports to let you do that. (I haven't signed up to give it a try.) And this one https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/, which does not have that feature, but replied almost instantly to my inquiry about adding it with a message saying it is in the works and hopefully will be ready for a beta launch in July.

>76 laytonwoman3rd: ooh, must explore. *goes down rabbithole*

>77 lauralkeet: I did sign up with Books on Track after posting the above. I got through a couple series, and it seems it will serve the purpose I want to use it for.

>73 laytonwoman3rd: Too bad my local library does not have that one. Into the BlackHole it goes!

Happy Friday, Linda!

>76 laytonwoman3rd: *skedaddles*

>75 laytonwoman3rd: like you and >74 weird_O: I'm exactly that way. Since tree books have become too much for my hands to manage, I cull the shelves and head for the Little Free Library every so often. But Kindlebooks, thanks to the Amazon wars, are less and less lendable. It is nauseating how greedy these capitalists are.

>78 laytonwoman3rd: I checked out Books on Track. The search facility is best when searching for an author vs. a series name. However, there are some notable gaps, like P.G. Wodehouse. Perhaps it's more focused on contemporary works? I won't abandon my spreadsheet just yet. It will be interesting to see what Book Series in Order comes up with.

>76 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda. I will check those out.

>73 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda. What a great review of Stars of Alabama. It does sound like a lot of various characters, many of whom are "far out!"

>83 Whisper1: I think you'd enjoy it, Linda.

>80 richardderus:, >81 lauralkeet:, >82 BLBera: Well, I'm glad I shared the links. I suspected I was probably putting something out there that everyone else already knew about.

31. The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A. E. Hotchner This is, I believe, A. E. Hotchner's last published work, and although I have not yet read his childhood memoir King of the Hill, I suspect this novel is something of a re-working of that, as it covers the same time period and the descriptions of the two works sound quite similar. This little novel tells the somewhat fanciful tale of a 12-year-old boy left to his own devices, in the St. Louis of the Depression, who sets out to get his father out of jail, where he is being held indefinitely as a "material witness" to a shooting in which the gunman was not caught or identified. Aaron believes he can discover who fired the fatal shot, thereby bringing about his father's release---and y'know, you have to believe right along with him. Quirky, and sometimes moving, but I have a feeling I will wish I had read the memoir first when I get around to it.

This month we're having fun with the 19th Century over in the American Authors Challenge. Join the party, why not?

>86 laytonwoman3rd: I will definitely join the party, Linda, but I am still trying to decide with what! Probably Edgar Allen Poe, James Fenimore Cooper and maybe some Emily Dickinson

32. The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage The film starring Benedict Cumberbatch brought this work to my attention. The film was quite fine, but the book is better, filling in some back story and adding perspectives that did not make it to the screen.

Two grown brothers have inherited a Montana cattle ranch from their parents, "the Old Gent and the Old Lady", who have retired (a strange concept for ranchers in the early 20th century, no?) to a luxury hotel in Salt Lake City. The older brother, Phil, has had the benefit of a university education, and has not forgotten much of it, while the younger brother, George, flunked out. George's mental exercise consists of keeping the books, and reading the Saturday Evening Post, whereas Phil likes to keep his mind more scientifically and philosophically engaged outside of working hours. The refinements of life have slipped away from both of them with the withdrawal of their parents, but they have settled into complementary roles in the management of the ranch. Phil has a mean streak, likely born of frustrations he doesn't care to examine too closely. He is prone to wry humor at the expense of his brother and the mostly illiterate hired hands; he refuses to bathe in the house, won't wear gloves to protect his talented hands while doing rough work, and needs to be better at everything than those around him. After 25 years of raising cattle, herding them to the railway once a year and shipping them off to market, neither of the brothers appear interested in a night "upstairs" at one of the saloons in town, nor have they engaged in any romantic interludes as far as we can tell. Until, that is, George takes an interest in a suicide's widow and her teenaged son Peter. Peter is brilliant, determined to be a doctor like his father, but socially inept in ways that make him an easy target for cowboys with liquor for brains, and for Phil's particular brand of toxic humor. When George marries his fragile Rose and brings her home to the ranch, the stage is set for upheaval. This novel is part classic Western, part psychological thriller, and part character study. Extremely well-done.

33. Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh A fast-paced psychological trip from the point of view of a totally unreliable narrator (even HE doesn't trust his memories, perceptions and conclusions). Ten years after his mother, a beautiful socialite trophy wife, stormed out of their home in a secluded upscale cul-de-sac neighborhood in Aukland never to be seen again, apparently taking a quarter of a million dollars from her husband's safe with her, Aarav Rai is released from a month-long hospital stay to continue recuperating from a violent auto accident he cannot remember. He has a severely fractured leg which is slowly healing, and some cognitive issues the depth of which neither Aarav, his caregivers or the reader can be sure about. When his mother's Jaguar, with her skeletal remains inside, is discovered nose down in deep underbrush not far from their home, Aarav becomes obsessed with scoping out what happened on that long-ago night that he thinks he remembers vividly. All the neighbors, a multi-cultural lot, come under his scrutiny, and sometimes his suspicion. Most of them knew his mother quite well. All of them turn out to have secrets, just as the Rai family did. None of it is pretty, but is any of it relevant? Aarav's sugar addiction is a nifty nod to the compulsion for more more more that sped me through this novel's 480+ pages in two solid sittings. Go ahead, have a piece of fudge. Just one...it won't hurt you.

Quiet in Her Bones looks interesting, Linda. >55 laytonwoman3rd: I could relate to the cartoon, gasped at the ending. Dogeared pages or ones that are written on seem like a lack of respect for the book and other readers.

>86 laytonwoman3rd: I am in the party (inadvertently as it turned out) and re-reading Two Years Before the Mast, which I am enjoying again.Thanks for hosting the American Authors Challenge, Linda!

>90 Familyhistorian: I do try to treat my books with respect, but an occasional pencil mark here and there is OK with me. On the other hand, if I'm buying a used book, I absolutely do not want to see anyone else's marginalia, underlining or highlighting...kiss of death, right there.

>91 alcottacre: I believe I read that as a teenager, but don't remember it at all. I've never been tempted to read it again, but you have planted a "maybe" in my brain now. And you're welcome!

>92 laytonwoman3rd: Yay for "maybe" plantings!

Have a wonderful week, Linda!

34. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr Somehow, I have never picked up one of Nevada Barr's books before. We recently caught up with Ken Burns's 2009 National Parks documentary series, in which she was one of the contributing authorities (having been a Park Ranger herself), and I wondered WHY I had not read her stuff. Miraculously, my library had the first Anna Pigeon novel right there on the shelf, so I tore in. There was nothing predictable about this tale of a law enforcement officer with the National Park Service who doesn't accept the official findings when another ranger is found dead in the desert, the apparent victim of a cougar attack. Loved the characters, loved the setting, loved the writing, and most especially loved the ending. Now we'll see how complete the library's collection is.

P.S. The cat didn't do it.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: That is a series that I have enjoyed through the years but when I went back to school, kind of dropped off my radar. I need to get back to it eventually.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: I have it on the shelves too, Linda, and must try it soon.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: I've read this one and a couple others in the series. My wife read at least a dozen of them but finally stopped because they can be pretty dark and brutal at times. I've been telling myself to read some of the ones I have not read. They are sitting here on a shelf ... I'm not a big fan of brutal and dark but I think they are good stories and settings.

By the by, I have intended joining the AAC this month to make me finally read Pointed Firs and Two Years Before the Mast. I'll get one of both done before year's end!

>95 alcottacre:, >96 PaulCranswick: Glad to provide a little nudge in Anna's direction.

>97 RBeffa: The first one was not overly dark and brutal....gritty, for sure. But I have noticed other series tend to ramp up the violence and darkness as they go along. I tend to get tired of most of them if they go on too long anyway. We'll just have to see.

>94 laytonwoman3rd: Just what I need: a new series! But ... but ... it looks like a good 'un. My library has most but not all of the books, and most notably they don't have the first one. What?!! Fortunately it's available on Kindle for a song and I've noted it as a potential vacation read.

>99 lauralkeet: HA! Another victim falls.

I loved the Nevada Barr novels. Maybe I should reread them. The settings were great. I love Anna.

>101 BLBera: Yup. I love that she doesn't seem to have too many insecurities, no dithering, no stupid mistakes. I HATE when the main character does something you KNOW is a bad idea. If I can see it, why can't they see it?

35. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield Setterfield spins an engaging tale. Three lost children, a missing pig, a stolen stash of money, mysterious movements on the Thames, and the drowned body of a little girl whose identity is uncertain even after she "comes back to life". Is she the child kidnapped from her young parents two years ago, and never surrendered even though ransom was paid? Is she the recently missing child of a profligate young man and the wife he drove to suicide? Or perhaps the reincarnation of a long-dead little girl come back to haunt the sister whose guilt is slowly stealing her own life away? Leisurely exploration of the history of three families and a few supporting players makes for good reading, but not much suspense. I really wanted to know who, and how, but there was no urgency to it. I was not inspired to race to the finish. The reading experience was more of a laid-back drift down a lazy river, unthreatening when not in flood. It took just a little too long to get to the landing, but everything came together satisfactorily at last, and the common thread should have been more obvious than it was (to me).

36. Here is New York by E. B. White A re-read, brought on by the recent death of White's stepson, Roger Angell, who wrote the introduction to my edition of this long essay -- love letter -- about the ever-changing landscape of Manhattan. White wrote the original in 1948, and added a Foreword to a 1976 edition in which he acknowledged several things he had mentioned in the essay were no longer "that way", but declined to bring it "down to date". On the 100th anniversary of White's birth, the 1999 edition in my hand was introduced by one of journalism's greatest wordsmiths, who lived to see his own 100th birthday.

PLUG:
For an appreciation of Angell (and some other good stuff), check out the latest edition of the Substack newsletter, Loomings, by a pretty damned fine writer I know, who loves words and baseball and fiber and a guy named Bill and medieval literature and lots of other worthy things. Subscribe, why don't you---they'll tell you about some of those things. For free.

>103 laytonwoman3rd: I'm sorry that the book didn't get to that sweet spot for you. In an old-fashioned sort of way, the book certainly takes its time to tell the story. I was somewhat seduced by it at some point and just let the river take me where it was going.

>105 RBeffa: It was a solid 3 star read for me, Ron. On my scale that means it was worth reading, and I never felt inclined to abandon it. It just didn't take charge of me, and insist I pick it up and READ RIGHT NOW. As you point out, and as the author herself points out, you really do have to just relax and let the current take you. That's not a bad thing.

37. My Face is Black Is True by Mary Frances Berry A scholarly examination of the early efforts to persuade Congress to grant reparations to ex-slaves in the form of pensions. The essentials of the struggle could be summed up this way: In the late 19th century, an organization called the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association began efforts to petition the US Congress to legislate pension funds for the benefit of former slaves and their descendants. A subscription to the Association entitled members to various forms of aid from its own funds, as well as paying for the expenses associated with lobbying Congress to pay the debt the country owed to its formerly enslaved citizens. An early plan to grant freedmen plots of land confiscated from Southern plantation owners had been clobbered by President Johnson; in fact land that had been granted to some former slaves was taken back and returned to its original owners. Large numbers of freed slaves, many of them elderly and infirm, had no resources whatsoever, and were scarcely able to perform any work sufficient to support themselves.

A woman named Callie House was a driving force of the Ex-Slave Pension movement, which was perceived as such a threat that the Postal Service entered a fraud order against the group, cutting off its access to the US mail, and asserting that House and other officers were deceiving people, taking their money and using it for their personal benefit. No "due process" was involved. The rationale was that Congress was never going to grant the group's petition, so continued attempts to raise money to advance the cause were fraudulent.

The movement changed tactics, and attempted to pursue monetary damages through the Federal Courts, by suing the Treasury Department for funds that had supposedly been set aside from a cotton tax collected during the Civil War. This effort, too, was doomed to failure, but served to attract more supporters and to keep the cause alive well into the 20th century, despite the fact that many middle class black leaders (including Booker T. Washington) were dismissive and distanced themselves from it.

In 1917 Mrs. House was indicted for fraud, based on the use of the words "of the U.S.A." in the name of her organization, the government alleging that she misled people into thinking she had the backing of the U. S. government. She was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail. Following her release, she returned to domestic service and was no longer actively involved in the fight for reparations, but others stepped in to continue efforts, which continue to the present day.

This book illuminates an important aspect of race relations in this country, and it taught me several things I did not know (and reminded me of a few I had forgotten). It was not a particularly engaging read, however, being packed with names, dates, facts and figures. The author made no effort to bring Callie House to life. Because the same things kept happening over and over, reading got a bit tedious. As history, this is essential reporting. As narrative, it doesn't cut it.

For AAC participants, the June thread featuring John Dos Passos is up.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: That's incredibly evil. Just disgustingly evil. Greedy scum, going after her just to...well, what, pile up More? *ugh*

Waving hi, Linda. Trying to catch up on some threads. You’ve added The Power of the Dog to my list.

>109 richardderus: And 100 years later...different scum, same evil.

>110 NanaCC: Hi, Colleen. Good to see you, and glad to be of service!

38. Forensics by Val McDermid Val McDermid turns her considerable narrative skill to a non-fiction history of the development of forensics, from the days of Jack the Ripper to the 21st century. It's almost as gripping as one of her novels. Each chapter deals with one branch of forensics (Toxicology, DNA and Blood Spatter, Facial Reconstruction, etc.) and how it has come to be essential to crime scene investigators, prosecutors and defense attorneys. "The courtroom is the anvil on which scientific evidence is struck. With a well-prepared lawyer playing the part of the hammer, forensic techniques are either strengthened or broken, according to their merit." McDermid uses some classic cases, both unsolved and resolved, to illustrate what can be proven in a court of law (and equally what sometimes cannot be known for certain). The details of some of them were already familiar to me, but her perspective on the scientific evidence was still worth reading about. Comparisons of procedures in the US and the UK were often surprising, and who knew how much the insect world has to contribute to interpretation of a crime scene!

>112 laytonwoman3rd: Fascinating. Will add that to the list. I may actually have on Kindle. I know she and several other crime writers financially support Forensics specialist Sue Black's lab, as she helps them with their research.

>112 laytonwoman3rd: It's the insect remark that may lead me to this book.

>113 Caroline_McElwee: She mentions Sue Black a lot in the book.

>114 quondame: Go for it!

>111 laytonwoman3rd: Yeup. Evil persists long after Good goes to bed.

Hi Linda. I loved Once Upon a River. Thanks for reminding me about that tale.

And >104 laytonwoman3rd: I clicked on the link (because I trust you) and I will indeed subscribe. I enjoyed her writing.

>117 EBT1002: Yay! Holly teaches at a small liberal arts college here in PA, and is one of my daughter's closest friends since their undergrad days. Glad you enjoyed the piece.

Hi, Linda. I hope you had a good holiday weekend. I finally caught up a bit over here. It looks like we both enjoyed The Power of the Dog. Did you see the film? Not as good as the book but worth seeing. I have had Once Upon a River on shelf forever. Maybe I can bookhorn it in later in June.

>119 msf59: Hi, Mark! We did see the film...it's what made me want to read the book. I thought the performances were terrific, but it left me with a couple questions that reading the book clarified for me.

>118 laytonwoman3rd: Hmm, which college, Linda? I know there are lots of small colleges in PA, but a colleague of mine is a finalist for a position at Haverford, so I just wondered.

>121 EBT1002: You're right about all the small colleges in this area, Ellen. Holly teaches at Lebanon Valley College, near Hershey.

>122 laytonwoman3rd: AND NOW THIS!



I knew this day would come for Holly, and I'm thrilled.

>123 laytonwoman3rd: Ain't that grand! I hope I'll get a DRC next year.

>112 laytonwoman3rd: I have the McDermid book on Forensics on my shelves. It's good to know that you enjoyed the read, Linda. I recently read All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes. Sue Black mentioned Val McDermid in her book too.

39. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss Not going to be a great reading month, I guess, as this is the first book I've completed in June. Too much real life stuff going on, and I should not have started the month with a 500 pager! Although I did enjoy reading this one, there were times when I could only keep my attention on it for 15 or 20 minutes at a stretch. It is NOT a novel about the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 in the new American Republic, but is about some of the circumstances that led to it. Mostly, it's a tale of two personal obsessions: one entangled with the "whiskey boys" seeking revenge and destruction of a bank challenging Hamilton's hobby horse Bank of The United States, and the other a quest to save the life and honor of a lost love. Both involved complicated financial scheming that I never completely understood, as well as some rollicking adventures. Both also involved very well drawn characters, whose vitality on the page kept me reading through the slightly sloggy bits. Joan Maycott and her husband were swindled by a man named Duer (a historical figure who did exist). After her husband's death, Joan made it her business to bring Duer down, by whatever means were at hand. Captain Ethan Saunders lost his reputation, his best friend and his lady love to the underhanded actions of Jacob Pearson, an associate of Duer's, and he set out to put things right by bringing them both to ruin without harming Pearson's wife (the aforesaid lady love) or children. It's all very tricky and convoluted, and I cannot say I followed it at every turn. It was also at least 200 pages longer than it needed to be. But I felt invested in both story lines, which eventually intersected in a way I did not see coming. And as historical fiction, it did shed some light on undercurrents that could easily have crippled this country before it got its legs solidly under it. We have not moved terribly far away from the sort of philosophical conflicts that plagued the founding fathers and mothers.

>103 laytonwoman3rd: I have that one sitting on my shelf for me to read. I need to get to it one of these days.

>104 laytonwoman3rd: I have a couple of White's books of essays on my shelves to read, but not that particular one. Maybe once I have actually read mine I will track down a copy. I will be checking out the Substack newsletter.

>107 laytonwoman3rd: Too bad about that one. I do not think I want to wade through the disappointing narrative to get to the history.

>112 laytonwoman3rd: Already in the BlackHole or I would add it again. I find the subject fascinating.

>123 laytonwoman3rd: Yay for your friend!

>126 laytonwoman3rd: Another author whose books I have laying around here somewhere. . .

Have a terrific Tuesday, Linda!

40. Death on the Aisle by Frances and Richard Lockridge
After taking nearly 3 weeks to complete The Whiskey Rebels, I turned to an old favorite series, and tore through a re-read of this 1942 novel featuring Pam and Jerry North, and their friend, Manhattan homicide detective Bill Weigand. On the brink of running off to marry his lady love, Dorian Hunt, Weigand gets called to the scene of a peculiar murder. The backer of an off-Broadway play has been stabbed with an ice pick while watching a rehearsal, a week before the show is to open. The cast and crew has been coming and going...any one of 15 or more people may have had opportunity. Sgt. Mullins is bewildered as ever, Pam keeps Jerry and Bill running their hands through their hair at her non-sequiturs and quirky pronouncements, and the elusive murderer isn't stopping at just one. Fun as usual, but no cat shenanigans.

>128 laytonwoman3rd: A fun, light read that made it a better day? Yes. I'm glad you had that one.

>126 laytonwoman3rd: I...admired...that book, if not loved it. I had read his Benjamin Weaver investigative novels, and this...was not that.

Have a good Humpday.

>129 richardderus: I've thought a lot about whether it was me and my hectic June, or Liss, that accounted for my not loving The Whiskey Rebels. I think I would have felt better about it had I had more relaxed reading time, but I still believe he spun his tale too fine, and could easily have chopped a third of it. I also thought that putting dates on the Maycott sections, but not on the Saunders sections, was perverse and added to my confuzzlement.

As we have discussed before, the Lockridges are always diverting, and since there were no cats in this one, it's SFR (safe for Richard).

>130 laytonwoman3rd: no Siamese? I will be sad.

>130 laytonwoman3rd: This is pre-Siamese and post-Pete (who was not). In fact, there was a passing reference to Pete's passing.

>128 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, that sounds really good! Adding it to my list. Thanks for the excellent review, Linda!

>133 scaifea: Don't know how "find-able" the Mr. & Mrs. North mysteries are nowadays...

41. Millville: The First 200 Years by Dean B. Girton
(WOW! I never expected a working touchstone for this one.) This is local history, with some familial references. Nothing much to say, except there is a lot of data in it for mining by genealogical researchers and local history buffs in the central PA region.

>134 laytonwoman3rd: They're all on Kindle, along with all the Gideon Oliver series.

*smooch*

My library system has the first book - it looks like there was a reprint of the series sometime in the 90s, at least...

>136 richardderus: Good news!
But I am not familiar with Gideon Oliver. Is there are reason you mention that series in the same breath with the Lockridges' stuff?

>137 scaifea: Two pieces of good news!
I have some of the paperback reprints from the 1990s. And some of the paperback reprints from the 1970s. And some of the pulpy ones from the 1940s and 1950s. And ALL of the mystery book club editions from the 40s through the 70s, and a couple of first editions, and....(I am NOT obsessed. I'm a serious collector.)

>112 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda, I went to add Forensics by Val McDermid to the tbr pile, but noted I already added it awhile ago. It's time to track it down and read it. Your review is great!

42. Black Pearls by Sascha Feinstein

Running off to errands this morning, but will post more on this gem of a memoir later.
ETA: It is now later!

Sascha Feinstein’s website says he is a “poet, essayist, and editor”. Well, that’s an understated summary of the basics. The site goes on to list his big accomplishments, but without fanfare. (For a saxophonist, he’s not that great at blowing his own horn!) Feinstein is the founder and editor of Brilliant Corners, a literary journal of jazz-related poetry, fiction and non-fiction—the only national journal on that subject. He has collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa to compile two volumes of jazz poetry, and has written a fair bit about jazz himself, including a collection of interviews with artists and critics called Ask Me Now and two volumes of his own criticism of jazz poetry. He hosts a weekly radio show on the Central PA NPR outlet, WVIA/WVYA FM, called Jazz Standards. I want to praise him to the rafters, not just for his accomplishments, but for who he is. Full and fair disclosure: Sascha Feinstein is Chair of the English department at the small liberal arts college that is alma mater to me and several other members of my family; my daughter was enrolled in the Creative Writing program he co-founded there, although she never took a course from him; my husband once worked for the TV/radio station referred to above. OH, and I don’t care for jazz. Still, with total objectivity, I think this man is an American treasure. He is the only poet I have ever heard do a reading without making me wince, and I’m glad he has also written two memoirs, ‘cause I like to read those, and this one was aces.
Sascha Feinstein grew up in a brownstone in New York City. His parents, Anita Askild and Sam Feinstein, were artists, and most people would probably think “bohemian” if asked to describe their lifestyle. Although he only touches lightly on the subject in this book, Sascha’s father was also a hoarder, and whole rooms of their sprawling apartment were virtually inaccessible. Black Pearls is Sascha’s exploration of the last year of his mother’s life, and how it affected the man he grew to be. When he was 17, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Even then, music offered him solace and escape, but he was just beginning to learn his way around the jazz landscape. A visiting friend of Anita’s (having sought the advice of a record store employee as to who was “good”) brought him two Coltrane LPs picked at random from the bin-- Ascension and Black Pearls. He spun Ascension first (without reading the liner notes, which might have warned him). Finding it compelling but bewildering, he shelved it for months, and did not even take the shrink wrap off Black Pearls, thereby furnishing himself with a perfect metaphor for that difficult year. Sometime during his senior year in high school, his music teacher mentioned Coltrane, and got a lukewarm response from Sascha. The teacher sat him down to remedy the situation with a few more appropriate selections for a beginner. The rest is, well, you know. As befits the work of a jazz musician, this memoir is not a chronological narrative. It began as a personal journey to recapture lost memories, but resulted in a collection of essays that riff on a theme with heart-touching variations. Beautiful stuff, even for non-jazz-lovers.

>140 laytonwoman3rd: Black Pearl a "gem" *chuckle*

>141 richardderus: Trust you...

Filled in >140 laytonwoman3rd: above.

I'm making the rounds, post-vacation. I have no hope of catching up; rather, I'm just zipping to the bottom of threads to say hello and I'll start fresh from here.

>144 laytonwoman3rd: He's a very interesting soul, and your pleasure in making his acquaintance shines through.

43. The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy The first of DePoy's Fever Devilin mysteries. Fever Devilin (THREE syllables, please-- don't drop that first "i" like whoever designed the cover of my MMPB did) comes back to the home he grew up in, in Blue Mountain, Georgia, when his job in the folklore department of an Atlanta college gets eliminated. He finds his old friend, Deputy Sheriff Skidmore Needle on his front porch, standing watch over a dead body which turns out to be Fever's previously unknown (to him) half brother. Somebody shoots at them from the woods (might just be the Deveroe boys raisin' hell...) The girl he used to love, now a grown widow woman, comes by to see how he's doing. And then things get complicated. Eventually, the sweet folks of Blue Mountain boot Fever's butt enough to make him realize that you can too come home again, even if you are a mess. The setting -- a mountain town in Appalachia-- is irresistible for me; the characters are well-drawn and ring true to a reader who came from a similar, if slightly less isolated, place; the story unfolds well, incorporating plenty of authentic folkways and traditions. But I think DePoy was still finding his style with this one. There's just a bit too much stating of the obvious, repetition, and explaining what people's facial expressions were upon seeing or learning something unexpected. Having introduced myself to DePoy with his later Foggy Moskowitz series, and having loved it, I know he got over all that. So I plunged right in to the second Fever outing. I'm looking forward to a long happy relationship with this guy.

>145 lauralkeet: Good to see you, Laura!

>146 richardderus: I was lucky enough to talk to him for about 3 1/2 minutes once, back in my daughter's college days. I do feel like I know him much better than that brief personal encounter warrants.

>147 laytonwoman3rd: SKIDMORE NEEDLE?!

>149 lycomayflower: Yes, and his wife Girlinda. And Thresher Devilin, Shoo Walters, and a lot of women named after months and flowers. You'd love it. 'Cept for the snake handlin'. But you don't actually see any of that.

>150 laytonwoman3rd: I'm good with the months and flowers! No snake handlin' though. I'm agin it.

44. The Witch's Grave by Phillip DePoy Fever is implored by his best friend's wife, Girlinda, to find her brother Able and his lady love, Truevine Deveroe (sister of the wild boys referred to above), who have both gone missing. There's a dead body in a gully, which turns out to be a man who carried a torch for Truvy, which may have sparked an argument that led to Able whacking him so hard he fell down and died. But why is he naked? And what to do with his body, since he was the town's only mortician? Oh, and who are all those shadows creeping around the cemetery---are they living or dead? Will Andrews ever get enough to eat? Another great escape read from the witty DePoy.

>152 laytonwoman3rd: It may just be that I need to go to bed, but picture me reading this and just wheezing harder and harder with each successive sentence. BUT WHY IS HE NAKED

>153 lycomayflower: Clearly, you need to be reading these.

45. The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves I think this is No. 5 in the Vera Stanhope series. A twist on the country house murder---Vera stumbles onto the scene just after a visiting professor gets knocked off in Shakespearean style at a writer's conference, where Vera had been tracking down her missing "hippie" neighbor Joanna. Old connections between various participants come to light, but fail to illuminate the situation for Vera, Joe and Holly, all of whom have their own agendas that interfere with professionalism in conducting the investigation. I find Cleeves carries that personal "stuff" a little too far at times. None of the investigators is ever just doing the job they're paid for and it wears thin. Still, a diversion, or what passes for a "beach read" though I'm nowhere near a sandy (or rocky) shore.

Hopelessly behind, but trying to get back into the LT swing of things. Wishing you a happy weekend! And I do like Cleeves. ; )

>56 jessibud2: Hi, Kim! Glad you're feeling up to some thread-crawling. I enjoy Cleeves too, even though sometimes I'd like to give her characters a swift kick. I suppose that's part of the fun, actually--occasionally feeling like I could do the job better than they are!

46. Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickham Well, this was a hoot. Before marrying Homer Hickham, Sr., Elsie Lavendar wanted out of Coalwood, West Virginia. She did not intend to spend her life as the wife of a coal miner. So she accepted an invitation from her once-rich Uncle Aubrey to visit him in Florida, where she met a handsome young dancer with Hollywood aspirations, named Christian Ebsen. She developed quite a crush, but his intentions did not include a romantic entanglement just at that time, and he took off for New York, to seek fame and fortune, which he found. (You may have heard of him under the name of Buddy.) Elsie finished a secretarial course, and found a job in Florida, but she was lonely, and eventually she got back on the bus, ended up in Coalwood, and somehow found herself agreeing to marry a coal miner after all. To her surprise--and that of her new husband--one day the postman delivered a wedding present from Buddy Ebsen, a tiny alligator Elsie named Albert and came to adore the way some of us do our cats. A growing alligator has no business trying to live in West Virginia, however, no matter how well-loved and pampered he maybe. Elsie, and even more so Homer the Elder, soon realized that the only thing to do was to take Albert back to Florida where he belonged. Hence, this "somewhat true story" of a long journey to carry Albert Home.
Homer the Younger spins this out in a series of episodes he sets up as tales told to him by one or the other of his parents at various points in his life, explaining what-all happened on that epic road trip during the Great Depression. Like I said, it's a hoot. It features John Steinbeck, Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, bank robbers, union organizers, a hurricane, a mysterious rooster and some other fanciful stuff. Oh, and Buddy Ebsen shows up again too. If you can imagine a mash-up of Paper Moon, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Grapes of Wrath written by Fannie Flagg, you'll have the idea. But if you read it, watch out for the ending. Like Albert's tail, it could hit you a serious wallop.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: Just what I needed. One more to put on the "look for" list. I've enjoyed Hickham in the past. This one sounds great.

>159 RBeffa: You DO need this one, I'm sure of it.

>128 laytonwoman3rd: That is a call to my past. I have not read any of the North mystery series in years. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!

>140 laytonwoman3rd: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Linda!

>147 laytonwoman3rd: I would plunge in right along with you, if only my local library had any of DePoy's books.

>158 laytonwoman3rd: My local library has that one. I am going to have to check it out.

Have a wonderful week, Linda!

>161 alcottacre: I started reading the North mysteries in high school, and have been hooked on them to the point that I spent several years working hard to collect each and every one of the Lockridges' many titles -- the Norths, Capt. Heimrich, stand-alones, children's books and a couple non-fiction books about cats, and an "intimate portrait" of General Eisenhower from one of his soldiers, co-written (or mostly written, I suppose) by Richard Lockridge. The latter is the only one I haven't read yet, and I have re-read almost all the mysteries the way you re-read the In Death series. They are very good friends and have lifted me out of any number of reading slumps.

I'm sorry you can't get your hands on DePoy. His Foggy Moskowitz series is great too. tiffin introduced me to him.

For those of you with Kenyon connections (you know who you are), and everyone else too: the newest issue of Holly Wendt's "Loomings" newsletter

>163 laytonwoman3rd: I read it this morning!! I love that she spent a week there. Kate did their Young Writers Workshop (for rising high school juniors and seniors), which of course was a big influence on her ultimately deciding to attend. I felt the same magic in Holly's newsletter.

47. Openwork by Adria Bernardi The older I get, the more I favor a straightforward narrative over "artistic" story-telling. Too much of that stuff they must teach in MFA writing courses usually results in a good story spoiled. And yet...this often brilliant, occasionally bewildering multi-generational novel really drew me in, with its time shifts, narrator changes, POV swaps, and conversations without context, all of which you need to be paying very close attention to. It challenged me just right, and I loved it. It all begins in the mountains of Italy, in the early 20th century, where Imola Bertolai has agreed to transport an infant --a friend's third and unsupportable child--on a treacherous journey to an orphanage where a new set of parents await. Imola is gifted with a needle, and works elaborate openwork designs into wedding linens, tablecloths and other special items, supplementing her wandering husband's income to provide for her own three children. Along the way she begins to share her skill with Desolina, a young girl who is meant to be helping her manage the baby and Imola's own infant son, whom she could not bear to leave at home.

Imola's brothers have all left Italy in search of a better life---to France, to Africa, and to America where poverty can turn to affluence given time, perseverance and patience. In Colorado, New Mexico and Chicago, we meet her brother Egidio and his friend Antenore (who is destined to marry Desolina one day); follow their divergent paths as miners and stonemasons toward assimilation or destruction; meet their fully American descendants and watch the circle close as a fourth generation seeks to connect with the past their immigrant ancestors strove to leave behind a century before.

There is beautiful writing here, and not one bit of “telling” where there should be “showing”. The women are both strong and fragile; the men absorbed in pursuits outside the home, yet heart-shreddingly tender with their wives and children when life’s walls come tumbling down. This one has been languishing on my shelves for a decade since a good friend sent it to me; it will probably warrant another read one day. It’s an intricate tapestry whose individual threads create a picture that is a little hard to appreciate fully at close range.

>165 laytonwoman3rd: The needlework connection caught my attention. Then the "telling".

>166 quondame: I almost want to start over right away. I can count a few books that have affected me like that, and they were all winners. (Song of Solomon comes to mind.) This one has been under-served here on LT, and from that I surmise it didn't reach a wide audience. Let me know if you seek it out.

>167 laytonwoman3rd: I put in a library request for a paper copy since none of my libraries have e-copies.

>163 laytonwoman3rd: Aw, yay for Kenyon! And yay for Holly! I know lots of folks love their time in that prestigious workshop.

>164 lauralkeet: I really want Charlie to apply for that program when the time comes. He would *love* it, I know.

>170 scaifea: I have a feeling Charlie would fit right into a program like that. Maybe right now!

48. City on Fire by Don Winslow I'm not sure what to do with this one. I'm tempted to give it 2 stars and chuck it. But I rarely finish a book that only warrants two stars, and I tore through this one. There really isn't any "story" here...it's just the Irish and Italian rival mobsters dealing and double-crossing each other over and over again in Providence, RI, in the 1980s. There's the whole "do we or don't we deal drugs" issue, there's some lamenting the loss of old school "ethics"--we don't go after men's families, don't shoot cops, honor our promises, etc.; there's the guy who wants out, and thinks he has a plan (this, of course, being the main plot line, such as it is.) AND, there are attempts to make this world epic with allusions to Greek tragedy. Sorry, but this world can't even aspire to early 20th century Sicilian tragedy. It's just grim and bullet riddled. Too many deaths, not enough narrative thread. (aLSo...what's with the omniscient narrator using bad grammar when showing us things from Danny's POV? OK, maybe, if it was consistent, but it seemed to interrupt the flow something fierce without adding anything.) I realize this is the first book in a trilogy, and to some extent it's setting the stage for future drama, but I'm not much interested in how Act Two plays out. Two and a half reluctant stars, I guess.

>172 laytonwoman3rd: That's the issue with series-starters...do you care enough, after reading this one, to pick up another? If no, then job done...I'm guessing you'll be a long time before committing to Winslow again?

>173 richardderus: I'm certainly not going to try any of his other stuff right now. (Drug cartels don't draw me in, in any case.) Will I give No. 2 in this series a chance when it comes out? I don't know. I'll let it perk and see if I miss Danny Ryan and his possibly-rehabilitated sister enough to want to see what they get up to.

>174 laytonwoman3rd: Sounds more than fair to me.

49. Red Sky at Morning by Richard Branford OK, where have I been all this book's life? I feel I have known of it forever, but known nothing about it at all, even though it's been right there on a shelf in "the library" (once lycomayflower's room--it's her book, if I'm honest) for yonks.

The label "coming of age story" is plastered all over the blurbs and reviews of this beautiful novel published in 1968. That label is not wrong, exactly, but it is deceptive, because it leaves a good deal out. Josh Arnold certainly grows up a lot in his 17th year, which happens to be the last year of WWII, the year his father moves the family from Mobile, Alabama, to the safety of their summer home in New Mexico, while he sails off to a naval command. But Josh is no innocent when we meet him, and even with his smart mouth and cocky teen-aged attitude, he is already more mature and self-aware than his spoiled, sheltered mother who is so out of her element that she regularly retreats into boredom and booze. The steel in the magnolia is notably absent. Mrs. Arnold is also a superficial, put-upon, unpleasantly class-conscious bigot. She could have been a sympathetic character since some of what's wrong with her isn't entirely her fault, but neither her son nor the author seem to have much compassion where she is concerned, nor do they make excuses or allowances for her behavior. Josh, in fact, sees and respects the humanity in almost everyone his mother detests. He doesn’t learn it as the story develops, it’s part of who he is already. There is a heartening embrace of diversity among his friends, even when they encounter the ugliness of Us vs. Them. I am reminded of how I felt about the world at Josh's age (at about the same point in history)---there was bad stuff in it, some of it might come my way, but it would be the exception, not the rule, and we. could. change. it. I haven’t been blessed with a 5 star read in a while, but this one made up for the drought.

Happy Saturday, Linda. I caught a BB with Openwork. I am not quite tired of the MFA style yet. Richard has been done with it for years. I have read Red Sky at Morning but it has been decades and I do not rememeber much about it. A revisit is in the books...

>176 laytonwoman3rd: You got me with Red Sky at Morning! Onto my TBR it goes!

Good weekend to you!

Karen O.

>177 msf59:, >178 klobrien2: I'm thrilled to have hit you both!

It's almost August, when I hope everyone will be reading something by our AAC Author of the Month: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

50. Upstream by Mary Oliver I love Mary Oliver's deceptively simple poetry, and this collection of essays proves that she can make prose as poetic as verse, particularly when musing on the natural world. As a further benefit, there are pieces on Wordsworth, Poe and Whitman as succinct and downright useful as anything I have ever read. Oliver has lived with Whitman since she was a teenager, much as I have lived with Faulkner. Her loving, unacademic approach to his complexities has encouraged me to give Leaves of Grass another go with her observations to guide me.

I've started a new thread, and I stupidly did not use the continuation feature, so, here's the link.