75 Books - Year 9 - Fourpawz2 in 2016 - Thread 2

Time and past time for another thread, I think. Have been absent from Thread Number 1 for quite a while because I was dodging getting this new thread started.

The photo above is one I took at the new Sawmill Park in the next town. That white thingy on the water to the right of center is a swan that was trying to sleep while my friend and I were viewing him/her. He/she kept raising his/her head from a sleeping position whenever we would speak and then settle down again. Probably he/she did not care for my friend's dog either who was very, very excited about our walk.

New Books to House

1. Moth by Daniel Arenson - Kindle - 1/1/2016
2. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich - thrift store - 1/6/2016
3. Me by Katharine Hepburn - thrift store - 1/6/2016
4. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton - thrift store - 1/6/2016
5. Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis - thrift store - 1/6/2016
6. Emily Davis by Miss Read - thrift store - 1/6/2016
7. Miss Clare Remembers by Miss Read - thrift store - 1/6/2016
8. An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul by William Kirkpatrick - obscure Google ebook - 2/03/2016
9. The Ladies Monitor by Charles Stuart - obscure Google ebook - 2/07/2016
10. The Vegetarian by Han Kang - ER Book - 2/16/2016
11. The Closing of the Western Mind by Charles Freeman - 2/17/2016 - bought used from amazon
12. Death of a Dentist by M.C. Beaton - thrift store - 3/10/2016
13. Weeping on Wednesday by Ann Purser - thrift store - 3/10/2016
14. Secrets on Saturday by Ann Purser - thrift store - 3/10/2016
15. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
16. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
17. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
18. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
19. 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
20. A.D. 500 by Simon Young - Mattapoisett Library Book Sale - 3/12/2016
21. In Wilderness by Diane Thomas - Early Reviewer Book (February) - 3/12/2016
22. Dimestore by Lee Smith - Early Reviewer Book (March) - 4/14/2016
23. The Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton - Kindle - 4/15/2016
24. Beautiful Jim Key by Mim Eichler Rivas - bought with birthday amazon gift cert - 6/03/2016
25. Paris in the Terror by Stanley Loomis - bought with birthday amazon gift cert - 6/03/2016
26. English Society in the 18th Century by Roy Porter - bought with birthday amazon gift cert - 6/6/2016
27. The Lost King of France by Deborah Cadbury - bought with birthday amazon gift cert - 6/6/2016
28. Life in the English Country Cottage by Adrian Tinniswood - bought with birthday gift cert - 6/6/2016
29. Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin - bought with birthday gift cert - 6/17/2016
30. People's Capital: An Inquiry Into the Nature and Future of Capitalism by Steven Bonney - Kindle - 7/3/2016
31. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Kindle - bought for CAC (July) - 7/7/2016
32. Heyday by Kurt Andersen - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
33. The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
34. Terror on Tuesday by Lois Meade - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
35. Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
36. Death of a Kingfisher by M.C. Beaton - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
37. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
38. The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
39. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
40. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
41. Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
42. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
43. In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner by Elizabeth George - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
44. By Its Cover by Donna Leon - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
45. Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
46. The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
47. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - Westport Book Sale - 7/9/2016
48. To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn - Amazon 3rd party book - September Fiction - 9/9/2016
49. The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster - ER book - 9/10/2016
50. Gunpowder Girls by Tanya Anderson - ER book - 10/07/2016
51. Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Amazon 3rd party book - October Fiction -
52. White Mischief by James Fox - Amazon 3rd party book - October Non-Fiction
53. Poldark by Winston Graham - bought at B&N with birthday gift card - 10/05/2016

Books Loaned to Me
1. The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill - from the Library for BAC 2016 (January) - 1/7/2016
2. Wanted Women by Deborah Scroggins - from the library - 1/20/2016
3. Coventry by Helen Humphreys - from the library for CAC 2016 (February) - 1/20/2016
4. The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie - from the library for the BAC 2016 (February) - 2/01/2016
5. White Mughals by William Dalrymple - from the library for the BAC 2016 (February) - 2/01/2016
6. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie - from the library for the BAC 2016 (February) - 2/11/2016
7. Tamarind Woman by Anita Rau Badami - from the library for the CAC (March) - 2/27/2016
8. Dirty Old London by Lee Jackson - from the library - a Susan Recommended Book - 3/03/2016
9. There But For The by Ali Smith - from the library for the BAC (March) - 3/17/2016
10. The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - from the library for the CAC - 3/23/2016
11. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - from the library for the CAC - 3/31/2016
12. Bad Blood by Lorna Sage from the library - a Susan Recommended Book - 3/31/2016
13. Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi - from the library for the BAC (April) - 4/7/2016
14. Galore by Michael Crummey - from the library for the CAC (April) - 4/13/2016
15. Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross - from the library - 4/19/2016
16. In These Hard Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793-1815 by Jenny Uglow - a Susan Recommended Book
17. One Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard - from the library. Couldn't not get it when I saw the title.
18. In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard - from the library for the BAC 2016 (May) - 5/12/2016
19. Plainsong by Kent Haruf - from the library - a Susan Recommended Book - 5/18/2016
20. The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay - from the library for the CAC (May) - 5/18/2016
21. Pilgrim by Timothy Findley - from the library for the CAC (June) - 6/09/2016
22. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - borrowed from a friend - 7/1/2016
23. Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett - borrowed from a friend - 7/1/2016
24. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy - borrowed from a friend - 7/1/2016
25. Favors by Bernice Rubens - from the library for the BAC - 7/13/2016
26. The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton - from the library for the CAC - 7/17/2016
27. The Secret Poisoner by Linda Stratmann - from the library - 7/21/2016
28. Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau - from the library - A Susan Recommended Book - 7/16/2016
29. White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg from the library - 8/11/2016
30. The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge - from the library - a Susan Recommended Book - 8/11/2016
31. Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson - from the library - 7/25/2016
32. The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy - from the library (Commonwealth Catalog) for the CAC (August) - 9/7/2016
33. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon
34. The Mystery of Overend & Gurney by Geoffrey Elliott - from the library (Commonwealth Catalog) - a Susan Recommended Book - 10/08/2016
35. Wicked Autumn by G.M. - from the library - 10/19/2016
36. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - borrowed from a friend - 10/26/2016
37. Rough Crossings by Simon Schama - from the library - a Susan Recommended Book - 10/29/2016
38. The Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins - given to me by a friend - 10/31/2016

Books read in 2016

1. Ru by Kim Thuy - CAC (January) - 1/1/2016
2. The Bolter by Frances Osborne - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (January) - 1/2/2016
3. The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill - BAC 2016 (January) - 1/8/2016
4. Fifth Business byRobertson Davies - CAC - (January) - 1/10/2016
5. September, September by Shelby Foote - 1/11/2016
6. Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth - BAC 2016 (January) - 1/16/16
7. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich - 1/17/2016
8. On the Beach by Nevil Shute - 1/18/2016
9. Wanted Women by Deborah Scroggins - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (January) - 1/24/2016
10. Coventry by Helen Humphreys - CAC (February) - 1/26/2016
11. The Devil in the White City - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (February) - 1/30/2016
12. The A.B.C. Murders - BAC 2016 (February) - 2/2/2016
13. The White Mughals by William Dalrymple - BAC 2016 (February) - 2/08/2016
14. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie - BAC 2016 (February) - 2/17/2016
15. 1776 by David McCullough - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (February) - 2/25/2016
16. Tamarind Woman by Anita Rau Badami - CAC (March) - 3/10/2016
17. Dirty Old London by Lee Jackson - a Susan Recommended Book - 3/14/2016
18. Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks - Early Reviewer - 3/19/2016
19. The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat - CAC (March) - 3/26/2016
20. The Englishwoman in America by Isabella L. Bird - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (March) - 3/29/2016
21. Bad Blood by Lorna Sage - a Susan Recommended Book - 4/2/2016
22. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - CAC (April) - 4/5/2016
23. Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi - BAC (April) - 4/09/2016
24. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (April) - 4/12/2016
25. Galore by Michael Crummey - CAC (April) - 4/16/2016
26. News of the World by Paulette Jiles - Early Reviewer Book - 4/19/2016
27. Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross - 4/23/2016
28. In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793-1815 by Jenny Uglow - a Susan Recommended Book - 5/1/2016
29. A Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard - 5/04/2016
30. Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (May) - 5/06/2016
31. Old Filth by Jane Gardam - BAC (May) - 5/07/2016
32. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - CAC (May) - 5/10/2016
33. In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard - BAC (May) - 5/14/2016
34. The Likeness by Tana French - 5/17/2016
35. Plainsong by Kent Haruf - a Susan Recommended Book - 5/21/2016
36. The Gilded Dinosaur by Mark Jaffe - 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (June)
37. King James VI of Scotland, I of England by Antonia Fraser BAC (June)
38. 500 Nations by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. - 6/10/2016
39. Pilgrim by Timothy Findley - CAC (June) - 6/17/2016
40. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman - 6/27/2016
41. The Orenda by Josephy Boyden - CAC (June) - 6/29/2016
42. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 7/5/2016
43. Black Flags: The Rise of Isis by Joby Warrick - 7/7/2016
44. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy - 7/10/2016
45. Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett - 7/13/2016
46. Favors by Bernice Rubens - 7/20/2016
47. The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton - CAC (July) - 8/3/2016
48. The Secret Poisoner by Linda Stratmann - 8/4/2016
49. Me by Katharine Hepburn - 8/6/2016
50. The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau - a Susan Recommended Book - 8/7/2016
51. White Trash: The 400 Year Untold Story of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg - 8/19/2016
52. Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones - BAC (August) - 8/20/2016
53. A Theme for Reason by Elisabeth Ogilvie - Re-read (#one bazillion) - 8/24/2016
54. The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge - a Susan Recommended Book - 8/24/2016
55. Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson - 8/27/2016
56. Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher - 8/28/2016
57. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - 8/31/2016
58. Let's Kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady - 9/7/2016
59. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny - 9/13/2016
60. The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy - CAC (August) - 9/16/2016
61. Behind Closed Doors by B.A.Paris - 9/17/2016
62. Homicide:A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon - 9/28/2016
63. Death of a Nag by M.C. Beaton - 9/30/2016
64. The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster - Early Reviewer Book - 10/03/2016
65. American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson - 10/06/2016
66. Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell - 10/08/2016
67. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo - 10/12/2016
68. The Mystery of Overend & Gurney by Geoffrey Elliott - 10/13/2016
69. Shade's Children by Garth Nix - 10/15/2016 -
70. Game of Patience by Susanne Alleyn - 10/18/2016
71. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet - 10/24/2016
72. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - 10/29/2016
73. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - 11/08/2016
74. James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot - 11/13/2016
75. Rough Crossings by Simon Schama - a Susan Recommended Book
76. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte - BAC (December)
77. The Vegetarian by Han Kang - Early Reviewer Book
78. Death and Judgment by Donna Leon
79. Terror on Tuesday by Ann Purser
80. The Plantagenet Chronicles by Edith Hallam
81. Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - 2016

January -

The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill - Read
Sacred Hunger* - Barry Unsworth - Read

February -

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie - Read
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie - Read
White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth Century India by William Dalrymple - Read

March -

There But For The by Ali Smith - Returned unfinished to library. Not my cup of tea
The Mayor of Casterbridge* by Thomas Hardy - Reading

April -

Scenes of a Clerical Life* by George Eliot - Reading
Intimacy - Hanif Kureishi - Read

May -

Old Filth* by Jane Gardam - Read
In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard - Read

June -

James VI of Scotland, I of England* by Antonia Fraser - Read
A Candle for St. Jude* by Rumer Godden - using my wild card as I cannot read Conrad ever again - Reading

July -

A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens - Read
The Time Machine* by H.G. Wells - Reading - but it's kind of hard to finish because, thanks to The Big Bang Theory, I know what the trick is

August -

Fire and Hemlock* by Diana Wynne Jones - Read
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

September -

Ben in the World: The Sequel to the Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

October -

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
The Inheritors by William Golding

November -

The Fountain Overflows or Black Lamb and Grey Falcon* (still undecided re: this choice) by Rebecca West
Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain by Len Deighton

December -

Agnes Grey* by Anne Bronte
Gallows View by Peter Robinson

*already in my library

CANADIAN AUTHOR CHALLENGE - 2016

January -

Fifth Business* by Robertson Davies - Read
Ru by Kim Thuy - Read

February -

Coventry by Helen Humphreys - Read
Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich* by Stephen Leacock - Reading Didn't finish this one in February and not really sure when I will get it done

March -

People of the Deer by Farley Mowat - Changed to The Dog Who Wouldn't Be - Read
Tamarind Mem by Anita Rau Badami - Read

April -

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Read
Galore by Michael Crummey - Read

May -

The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant by Michel Tremblay - DNF - returned to library
Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel - Read

June -

Pilgrim by Timothy Findley - Read
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden - Read

July -

Anne of Green Gables* by LM Montgomery - Reading - but it kinda makes my back teeth ache
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton - Read

August -

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy - ordered from Commonwealth Catalog but have no idea when it will show up - Reading

September -

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
Likely will not read anything by Dany Laferreire as he is impossible to find at the library

October -

Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart

November -

The Cat's Table* by Michael Ondaatje
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

December -

Alice Munro
Rawi Hage

May take a pass on this month. Can't find anything I want to read by either of these two writers, but promise to at least try to come up with something I can read.

*already in my library

NON-FICTION READING CHALLENGE 2016

January - Biography

The Bolter by Frances Osborne - Read
Wanted Women by Deborah Scroggins - Read

February - History
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - Read
1776 by David McCullough - Read

March - Travel
The Englishwoman in America by Isabella L. Bird - Read

April - Religion
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - Read

May - Arts
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King - Read

June - Natural History
The Gilded Dinosaur by Mark Jaffe - Read

July - Current Affairs
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick - Read

There. *dusts off hands* Done. Sort of. Have about 6 books read in the past several weeks that need to be noted here. Too hot and humid to think about that now. Besides - I really ought to do something of a useful nature - like clear away some of the rubble of everyday living and maybe vacuum a rug or two. Maybe.

Looking forward to big book sale on Saturday. Have not gone for the past two years - poverty and exhaustion from cleaning other people's house interfered - but am definitely going this year. Made plans with someone and everything, thereby guaranteeing attendance.

Happy new thread, Charlotte! It's good to see you back. Love the picture at the top of the thread. How are you finding Black Flags?

Happy new thread Charlotte, good luck Saturday finding nice books :-)

>8 susanj67: - I was surprised by how well that picture turned out. Picture taking is not my forte. I need to go back there and see if I can find anything else that is picture worthy. Finished Black Flags yesterday afternoon. I thought it was very interesting and it helped me to sort a few things about this place, the people, and all that has happened there. Made me want to read more on the subject, too. Did you recommend this book? If so, I can list it as a Non-Fiction Challenge book and a Susan Recommended Book. Never had a book that I could list twice before.

>9 FAMeulstee: - Thanks, Anita! I have a list of books all tucked away in my purse that I need/want and I may add more titles to it today.

Another humid day here, but at least it is cloudy and cool. Hoping to get a few more things accomplished today. The only hard thing to know is which ones. There are always so many in the summer because the heat always destroys any desire or will to do any of them that I might have.

Those are some interesting books you're reading for those challenges :) Happy new thread.

>10 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I did recommend Black Flags, although I'm not sure whether that's what made you get it, or whether you had it on your list anyway. What's up next for you (from my list or otherwise)?

Book No. 37 - King James VI of Scotland, I of England by Antonia Fraser - Read for the BAC 2016 (June)

This was not the book I intended to read for this challenge. Originally I meant to read Marie Antoinette: The Journey, but that book was way, way down in one of the 3 ginormous piles of non-fiction books squeezed into the corner of the room where they are kept. It was quite difficult to retrieve it without demolishing at least two of the piles, so I picked this book about James Stuart, instead, as it was located much, much closer to the top of its pile.

This was a really short biography about the only child of Mary Stuart, loaded with illustrations. I only just realized that it was published as part of a series of books - Kings and Queens of England - and that likely explains why it was so very 'thin' in content. Even though I have never read another biography of King James, it was very easy for me to tell that Fraser was only skimming the surface of the man and his time. It wasn't bad; it is just that unless one knows absolutely nothing about him the reader is not going to learn anything new. To the good - I really want to hunt down a more comprehensive biography of this (to me) interesting man.

Giving this one 3.25 stars - because it tempted me to want to read more.

COVER ART - 5 of 5. Famous portrait of James VI and I that I've seen before. Not intriguing, but still there is nothing in particular to criticize about it.

Am hoping my non-fiction piles fall down so that I will have an excuse to nab that Marie Antoinette book...

Happy new thread, Charlotte. I am another pleased to see you back posting. xx

Book No. 38 - 500 Nations by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. - This book has been hanging out on the floor near the big bookcase where it is meant to live and I mostly chose to read it now in order to get it out from underfoot after the library re-organization project of last year. I've owned it for about 20 years (Christmas gift from my father) and never read it before. I actually thought that it was pretty much of a coffee table book, but it is actually a sweeping history of the Indian tribes of the US, Caribbean and some of the tribes of Mexico. For some reason or other it does not touch upon the Canadian tribes at all and I was disappointed by that. I've long wanted to read something with info about the Mi'kmaq, but found zippedy doo-dah about them here. There are a butt load of pictures in this book, but I've seen many, many of them before in other places. Likewise the history - with the exception of most of the bits about Mexico and the Caribbean - was well-known to me. A good book for someone who knows nothing about the subject and also does not mind wrestling with a 12 lb. book in the process of reading.

Gets 3.25 stars from me.

COVER ART - 6 of 10 rating. My copy does not have such a white background - it's more of an eggshell color. I've always liked this cover even though the title takes up so much room. Big book - big title.

Grey and chilly here in southeastern Massachusetts. Just the kind of weather I like.

What a mob scene at the book sale! They've been doing this book sale annually since 1961 in front of the Westport Friends Meeting House which was built in 1716 The original meeting was established in 1699. Not sure if it was at the same site.

My cousin and I got there before the opening whistle and took up a position outside of the Fiction tent which was roped off by a string of those dreadful little triangular plastic flags - the kind that used to festoon used car lots - and waited for the last ten minutes to go by in company with about 200 other slavering book fiends. If you are at all claustrophobic this is not the place for you. People circling the tables, jostling one another, snatching up books and throwing them into bags or boxes. If you are tall or have weirdly long arms you are at a definite advantage. Short (like me) does not stand a chance. I'd decided not to bring two bags - just my super large tote - and filled it with books pretty quickly - in spite of being short with normal length arms.

The Haul -

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - found a hardcover copy first, but swapped it out for tpb copy as soon as I found one
The Sound and the Furry by Spencer Quinn - I always pounce on Chet and Bernie books whenever I see them
Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie - I still need about 38 more titles before I will have all of Christie
By Its Cover by Donna Leon
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner by Elizabeth George
Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
Death of a Dreamer by M.C. Beaton
Death of a Kingfisher by M.C. Beaton
Terror on Tuesday by Ann Purser
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

Can you tell that I was trapped by the Herd in the Mystery section for a while?

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte - have this on my kindle already, but I thought I might prefer a real book
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal - on the wishlist
Never Cry Wolf - by Farley Mowat
Heyday by Kurt Andersen - Been on my wishlist for 7 years. I don't know as I was hungering for it exactly, but I remembered it was there
The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies

And - as per usual - I bought books that I already have. Death of Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton and The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. In my defense the first was not crossed off on my list that I brought with me (however Jane did not write the list, so I suppose - to be truthful - I have no excuse) and the second was a different cover from the one I own and have not read yet. I think it is a better cover than the one I have and that is why I messed up. Not much of a defense I have to admit. Anyway it was fun. I think next time I'll wait for an hour and a half or so after opening to go. Maybe I'll even go to the Non-Fiction tent. Never been there, not once.

Happy new thread, Charlotte!

>17 scaifea: - Thanks, Amber.



Book Number 39 - Pilgrim by Timothy Findley - Read for the June CAC 2016.

I found the idea of the man who calls himself Pilgrim kind of intriguing. He is a 4,000 year old man who cannot die and has repeatedly tried to kill himself over the years with no success. For a while he will appear to be dead, but always comes back to life. Down through the centuries, he is not always the same person - he lives the lives of men and women, sometimes as a famous person and some of the time he has been quite ordinary. In the late 19th century (the time period of this book) he is a man who checks into a Swiss sanitarium (brought there by a dear female friend) after killing himself yet again, ending up under the care of Karl Jung, the famous psychiatrist.

I did wish that Jung had not been brought into the story. I did not care for the distraction of Jung's personal life, his wife, and where their marriage went off the rails. I didn't see why the psychiatrist had to be a person who actually existed. Especially when I am pretty sure that Jung never treated any people with Pilgrim's problem. Seeing as how Pilgrim is the main character and his problem was a thousand times more interesting than anything Jung had going on in his life I think that a fictional psychiatrist character would have been a better choice. In my view the story should have been 90% Pilgrim and 10% psychiatrist instead of the 50/50 ratio Findley gave the reader.

Giving this one 3.5 stars. Interesting in many spots, but could have been better.

COVER ART - 3 of 10 rating. Did not do anything for me.

Don't ever seem to catch up with posting my books. I'm always about 5 books behind.

>12 susanj67: - I find that my next you-recommended book - To Hell or Barbados - is not available right now through Commonwealth Catalog (maybe later), so I've moved on to the next one on the list The Keepers of the House. That one is available locally so I should have no trouble getting it. And today I have started Truth & Beauty and The Time Machine. I started Walking to Gatlinburg a few days ago, but as it is not a part of any challenge it's kind of just sitting there right now. I'm kind of thinking that I might take a break next year from the author challenges as I've got a terrible number of books around here that are not getting read. The piles are so high that I am afraid of Jane getting crushed if one of them should topple over when she happens to be nearby.

Many idiots in cars racing up and down the avenue outside my house beeping their horns and yelling about something - am guessing that Portugal has won their soccer match??

Book Number 40 - The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman

This one has been hanging about for the longest time. Apparently I'd started it at some point or other, but put it aside, so I had to start all over at the beginning. In this book there is a different view of the American Revolution - a lot of it focusing on naval action and all of it from a British point of view. The Caribbean figured prominently in this book and there was also a good bit concerning incompetence amongst a number of the admirals who were in charge of the Navy at one time or another during this time period - most of it stemming from their advanced age and their having been away from the action for a while. Tuchman writes a lot about an Admiral Rodney, who I was unfamiliar with, a man who was not decrepit and seemed to be an all around talented sailor.

Normally I love Tuchman's books - this may be the next to the last one I have not read before - but this one seemed not to flow as smoothly as the others I've read. Still - it was interesting and I learned a thing or two. Did not know that the little island of St. Eustatius is notable for having been the first place to salute an American ship sailing into its harbor.

Giving it 3.25 stars

COVER ART - This cover gets a 5 of 10 rating. There's nothing wrong with it - it's what you would expect - an 18th century sailing ship.

>16 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I am tall with long arms! Maybe I should come over one year, and you could point and I could reach over the other people :-) That looks like a great haul, and reminded me that I need to continue with the Chet and Bernie mysteries. I paused because there was only one that I hadn't read, and I didn't want to run out. But it looks like there are now three I haven't read.

Portugal did win Euro 2016, which I think was unexpected. Thank goodness it's over, though - there was so much hooliganism and bad behaviour. The Russian fans seemed to be bad this year, which really ticked off the English fans, who like to think that they are the world's best football hooligans.

Happy new one, Charlotte! Your topper is lovely. And nice haul from the sale.

Happy new thread Charlotte! Glad to see you got some good books at the library sale!

>15 Fourpawz2: Good review on 500 Nations, Charlotte. I have that one sitting on my shelves to help in my research about, you guessed it, Canadian First Nations most particularly the mi'kmaq. Out of 500 nations I thought they would cover at least some of the eastern Canadian ones.

>20 Fourpawz2: I haven't see that one about before Charlotte but as a major fan of Tuchman's I should go and seek it out. Have a lovely weekend.

>22 Crazymamie:, >23 souloftherose: - Thanks - I thought so too.

>24 Familyhistorian: - Guess we will both have to look elsewhere for info re: the Mik'maq, Meg. I just wish I knew where.

>25 PaulCranswick: - Hope you give The First Salute a try, Paul. It was worth reading.



Book Number 41 - The Orenda by Joseph Boyden - read for the CAC (June).

Read this one in preference to Three Day Road which I've had on my wishlist forever. It is the Historical Fiction story of Snow Falls, Bird, Gosling, Father Christophe and other Jesuit priests dispatched from France to Christianize the Huron/Haudenosaunee in 17th century Canada. It is a tale of war, multiple massacres, torture - both ordinary and extreme - and typical for the Iroquois (the Hurons' resolute enemy) of this time. I was certainly expecting the extreme torture and Boyden does not hold back. Did not care for this book for about the first 100 pages, but then it gets rolling and finishes very, very strong.

Very much recommended. Another book, borrowed from the library, that I need to acquire.

Giving it a full 5 star rating.

COVER ART - Only a 3 of 10 rating for this one. It is one of those bits of art that, to me, looked like something completely different. Really, I thought it was a person in a full headdress, until one day when I saw that it was supposed to be a representation of a crow. Either way it is not a cover that would entice me to pull the book of the shelf.

Hello Charlotte! Stopping by to admire your lovely new thread -- and admire your impressive haul from the book sale. Well done, my friend! And a big FIVE star review on Orenda! Sounds like you're having a good Summer.

>26 Fourpawz2: I have a few books on my shelves that should give more information about the Mik'maq, if the indexes are anything to go by. I haven't read them so I can't comment on any more than the index. The books are The Indians of Canada by Diamond Jenness (first published in 1932, mine is a reprint of the 7th edition), Native Peoples: The Canadian Experience edited by R. Bruce Morrison and C. Roderick Wilson and I Have Lived Here Since the World Began: An Illustrated History of Canada's Native People by Arthur J. Ray.

>26 Fourpawz2: The best book I have read in a good while Charlotte. So pleased to see you concurred on its merits.

Have a great weekend.

>28 Familyhistorian: - Thanks for the titles, Meg. I'll add them to the bajillion books that I mean to read soon.

>29 PaulCranswick: - It was awfully good, Paul. It's now time, I can see, to read some more of Boyden's stuff. Hope you have a good weekend, too.

Ok - I'm tired of piddling around with posting my books and intend, this afternoon, to just get them all down here with minimal fuss and then figure out afterward what, if anything I want to say about them.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - loan to me by a friend.

Gets 4.5 stars from me.

COVER ART - 6 of 10 rating - like the way St. Malo looks on this cover.



Book Number 43 - Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick - Read for the June 2016 Non-Fiction Challenge (Current Affairs)

Gave it a 4 star rating

COVER ART - an 8 of 10 rating. For some reason the title juxtaposed over the unfocused face of this particularly nasty terrorist really creeped me out. For that reason I thought it was effective as a cover that could make a person want to see what it was all about and so take it down off the shelf.



Book Number 44 - Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy - loaned to me by the same friend who loaned me book number 42 (and book number 45).

Gave this one 4 stars

COVER ART - a 9 out of 10 rating. Very effective, I thought.

Hi Charlotte :-) You missed me up there at >21 susanj67:, but funnily enough, shortly after I posted about being tall with long arms, I was in a supermarket and a tiny elderly lady said "Excuse me, you're tall", and asked me to get something for her from a top shelf. Fun fact: When Lee Child was looking for the name of his protagonist, he was shopping with his wife and did something similar. She said that if the writing didn't work out, he could always be a reacher in a supermarket. And Jack Reacher was born :-)

The US Black Flags cover is horrible! Publishers should not be giving any more publicity to these dreadful people. I wouldn't have borrowed that one, except that, of course,I did it for the Pulitzer challenge. I might have had to import a different cover if that had been all that was available here. Or wait for the ebook.

Book Number 45 - Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett - My friend said it did not matter in which order I chose to read these two books, but I think I chose the right order. They should definitely be read together.

Gave this one a slightly higher rating - 4.5 stars

COVER ART - 8.5 out of 10 for this one. Love the egg in a box on a blue background (although at times the egg looked like a bar of expensive soap to me, which appealed to me too, because I love expensive soap). I suppose it must mean something, but I don't know what. Like it very much, just the same.



Book Number 46 - A Five Year Sentence (aka Favors) by Bernice Rubens - Read for the July BAC 2016

Giving this 4.5 very well deserved stars.

COVER ART - 7.5 out of 10 rating for this cover. Liked this old fashion cover very much. This is exactly what I think that weasel Brian would look like!

Have been reading The Arctic Grail for the past 2 weeks (as well as Anne of Green Gables, The Time Machine, The Keepers of the House and The Secret Poisoner), and am really liking it. You'd think that a book that is just loaded with ice, snow, glaciers, frostbite and other chilly stuff would provide some kind of buffer between my mind and the wretched heat. Most of the time it has, but yesterday and the day before the heat won and not a single, mingy word was read. Temperature is better today and I am back at it. It's a terrific book and one that I need to have for myself.

There. All caught up - sort of. Will now try to fill in the blanks with regard to books 42 thru 46.

But not right now.

>31 susanj67: - Oh - I am sorry to have overlooked you, Susan! My apologies. Yes, you should come over and I will take you to the book sale and put your long arms to good use.

"Excuse me, you're tall" - that sounds like an accusation, but I think I've said it myself in stores when I can't find any other way to get at something I really, really need. I truly believe that markets should not put things on those very top shelves. People can get hurt; I have seen more than one shopper try, literally, to climb up the shelves to get at that top shelf. This height challenge is especially true in this neck of the woods where it seems to me that a larger than normal part of the population is vertically challenged. Minnesota I can understand - for some reason I've always had the impression that people in Minnesota are very tall - but down here on the Southcoast, a lot of us are shorter than average. If I don't absolutely need and have to have whatever is lurking up top I will just not buy the dang thing.

Amusing anecdote about Jack Reacher's name. Never read any of those books. Perhaps someday I will.

The Arctic Grail by Pierre Berton - read for the July CAC.

This was a great history of the quest to find the Northwest Passage (and later on the North Pole) through the waters of Arctic Canada. For some reason, not understood by me, there were a lot of men who were obsessed with the need to do this back in the 19th century. Nevertheless it was a fascinating book with a lot of interesting characters - some of them admirable (Joseph Rene Bellot, William Kennedy, Roald Amundsen) and some of them pretty despicable (R.E. Peary, Richard Collinson, and some other man whose name escapes me just now) - and it's on the list of books I've gotten from the library that I need to acquire for myself. I love how Berton made certain to give proper credit to all the the Inuit who repeatedly saved the lives of all the European explorers who needlessly and often foolishly got themselves into very serious life-threatening fixes. These men and women were very, very rarely given even the faintest speck of credit for what they did. Berton makes sure the reader knows how much they are owed.

Giving this one 5 stars - and a big ol' recommendation. Don't be intimidated by the length of this book - reading it was really worth it.

COVER ART - 5 out of 10 - the picture of the ice berg with the interesting cut-out is too small.

>34 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, that does look good! I wasn't brave enough to reserve the 1988 edition from the library, so I found a "Very Good" one on Amazon and added it to my basket. Fortunately it wasn't the one that cost £781.43. I wonder whether anyone will buy that one?!

One of my work buddies flew over to Boston yesterday (her parents live there) so I hope your weather isn't doing anything too wacky.

>34 Fourpawz2: I will definitely look for that one Charlotte. Couldn't find any of his books available in Malaysia or the UK which is a shame really.

Have a lovely weekend.

Book Number 49 - The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder by Linda Stratmann

Library Book which was ordered on a whim

A very science-y book. There were many stories about poisoners and their victims, down through history, but it focuses mostly on the science of poison, its detection and the story of the Law's journey to catch up with it.

The 'best' (most interesting) poisoner, was a woman in England who, in trying to land a doctor, set about trying to poison his wife. When she was accused by the object of her affection of trying to murder his wife (he did not buy her contention that the poisoned chocolates Wifey ate came that way from the store where the obsessed poisoner bought them) she devoted all of her energy to trying to prove to him and the world that the shop was to blame. She bought many chocolates from the shop thereafter and purchased poison under a false identity (tricking an ignorant party into vouching for her at the chemists'). A lot of the poisoned chocolate was not sent to the doctor's wife; she was so obsessed with trying to 'prove' that the shop was selling contaminated chocolates that she would often allow perfectly innocent people - children some of the time - to eat them. Most of the other poisoners were pretty ordinary in their motives - greed was a prime motivation - but there were a few who poisoned their children because of their economic circumstances.

Gave this one 3.25 stars

COVER ART - 6 of 10 - a skull and crossbones is always eye-catching.

Book Number 49 - Me:Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn

Had loaned this book to my aunt after I found it at Savers (it is a large print copy and her eyes are not the best these days) but took it back long enough to read it as she was concerned that she was taking too long with it.

Ordinarily I don't read autobiographies as I don't think they can be trusted. I think that their trustworthiness is highly suspect as it is really, really hard to be completely honest and open about oneself no matter how hard you try.

This book really sounded as if it was written Hepburn. She seems to have been a highly optimistic woman and I bet she rarely felt sorry for herself. She uses the word 'lucky' a lot and I think she really did feel lucky. She seemed to have sincerely loved her parents and knew her own faults. Was sparing in the bits about Spencer Tracy, but it was plain that she felt very deeply for him. Came across as a genuine Yankee.

Giving this one 3.25 stars

COVER ART - No art here, so no rating. The title alone would not have been enough to make me pull it off a shelf. I think it was Hepburn's name and the large print format that made me buy it.

Still way too hot here in southern Massachusetts. Today is not as bad as yesterday, but hot enough so that I cannot bake for my aunt's birthday.

Went to New Hampshire on Labor Day weekend with my friend to visit friends who moved up there a year a half ago. Had a super good time. I can see myself living there. Will have to win the Lottery so that I can give my current house away and still have somewhere where Jane and I can live; can't imagine anyone giving me money for my house.



Book Number 50 - The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau - a Susan Recommended Book and a Pulitzer winner from long, long ago.

This is a family saga about the Howland family of the deep south. (The family name bothers me; it is a very old Massachusetts name - my grandfather's middle name - and I can't picture it being anything but an Old Yankee name.)

The story focuses on the last William Howland (there were many, apparently), his granddaughter, Abigail Tolliver and his second wife, Margaret, who is black and the mother of his three youngest children. The fact that William married Margaret is kept a secret until it escapes during the gubernatorial campaign of Abigail's husband when it is leaked by the opposition. Abigail's marriage explodes and by way of revenge, essentially she kills the town of Madison City, which was founded years before by the Howlands.

Took a chapter or two to get going, but once it did, I did enjoy it. It is harder these days to really appreciate the effect William and Margaret's marriage might have on their neighbors, but once I set my mind to it, it was not hard. Mercifully, I think that time has passed.

Gave this one 4.25 stars. Another winner, Susan!

COVER ART - OMG! This has got to be the absolute ugliest dang cover ever! Really. Am giving it a -1 of 10.

>39 Fourpawz2: Yay! Glad you liked it, Charlotte. I agree about the cover though :-)

Sorry you're melting. I assume New Hampshire was a bit cooler, and it must have been nice to get away.

The Secret Poisoner looks interesting. That author seems to have written lots of crime books, many of which are available as ebooks through the library, but I've wishlisted that one in hard copy. My weekend reading has been a bit disrupted by having to read The Odyssey for a course I'm doing, but I suppose I could count it if I read it all!

>40 susanj67: - It was cooler at night. I was told that some coyotes made a kill in the woods right outside the house during the first night, but as I sleep like a stone I didn't hear a thing.

You should count the Odyssey, Susan. I bet you can finish it in no time.



Book Number 51 - White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg - I forget where, exactly, it was that I saw this one and put it on my list of books to be gotten from the library. I thought it would focus on all of the poor whites across the country, but it seemed to focus primarily on Southern poor white society. The history was interesting, but it was no surprise to me that people have long wanted to get rid of the lowest of the low since forever. First they got rid of people by shipping them over from England and then once here, they became an American problem that everyone wanted to dispose of. I've pretty much always believed that this is not possible. Interesting.

Gave it 4 stars -mostly for the early history bits.

COVER ART - 5 of 10. Nothing special.

I have White Trash sittig here on my tablet - I think it was from Net Galley. I started it a couple times and didn't get very far. Good to have another perspective. I expect I'll get around to at least browsing through it soon.

>41 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I thought that cover was from a really old book, but I see from the book page that it's brand new! It sounds great. America has done well from such an unpromising start :-) I hope it becomes available here, but I might have to remember it for a Better World Books order at some point.

>42 tututhefirst: - It wasn't an amazing read, Tina, but it did have some interesting bits in it.

>43 susanj67: - I hadn't realized just how much like an old book White Trash looks in that photo, Susan. Doesn't look quite that way in real life.

Many books to note here -



Book Number 52 - Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones - Read for the August BAC

Kind of a children's fantasy, I thought. A girl - Polly seems to have lost her memories of an earlier time (or replaced them with others) when she met Thomas Lynn at Hunsdun House (located near her grandmother's home) where she gate-crashed a funeral. The balance of the book concerns her true memories.

I thought it was a little slow and draggy until near the end. Could have been a little sharper. Perhaps the problem was the target audience.

Fire and Hemlock is the title of a painting that Thomas Lynn gives to Polly at the funeral. It is a painting that speaks to her, but it did not make that big an impression upon me. Also, the relationship between Thomas and Polly is a little weird. She is quite young when they meet, but she seems attached to him the way a teenager might be. Jones deals with this by having Polly realize, years later, that Lynn is much younger than she originally thought he was, but it still seemed a little off to me.

It was okay. Giving it 3.25 stars.

COVER ART - gets a 6 of 10 rating because all of the elements are there. Thomas looks much older than Polly eventually decides he is, and I would like it better without Polly's face, front and center. Her face, alone, probably would have kept me from pulling this one off the shelf.

Book Number 53 - A Theme for Reason by Elisabeth Ogilvie - This one was a re-read - I've probably read this one about 15 times before. (Confession - a friend lent me this book back in the 70's and I never returned it to her. I think that makes me guilty of book theft even though she never asked me for it. Still though - I should have returned it. Shame on me.)

Always loved this story - Alix, a portrait painter in NYC loses Shane - a university professor and the love of her life - when he has a heart attack and dies at his eldest daughter's wedding. They have been carrying on a love affair for 9 years, going so far as to buy most of a little island, Tiree, off the coast of Maine where they spend their summers together. Shane is married, but his wife, a staunch Catholic, won't give him a divorce, so this and the occasional winter get-away are the only times when they can be together. With Shane dead, Alix plans to return to Tiree, get rid of the things that are most personal to them and then kill herself. However suicide is not easy when a whole boatload (not literally) of characters turn up and get in the way of her plans.

I often hesitate before reading things that I loved way back when - too often they do not retain the magic that they had for me. This is an exception. I always loved Ogilvie's descriptions of Tiree, the little cottage she and Shane shared, painting, the sea and Alix's state of mind - her reasons for choosing death - and none of that has changed in this reading. Ogilvie has been dead for 10 years now and I don't think many people read her. But I guess I will always love this book.

Used to have this one rated at 4 stars, but because I still loved this book after this reading have decided that, because it hasn't lost anything, it needs a better rating, so 4.5 stars for it this time around.

COVER ART - 7 of 10 - Pretty good. Would have given it a better one if that figure of a man in the background (a man who lives on the portion of Tiree that Alix does not own) was not there. It's too romance-y and ATfR is not what I consider to be a typical romance novel.

Book Number 54 - The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge

A Susan Recommended Book

A history of the First Crusade (begun in 1096 and ended in 1099) from the time of a proclamation in 1095 by Pope Urban II through to the final battle in Ascalon. Asbridge gets it all - motive, the Crusade as it began to move across toward the Holy Land from Europe, Pogroms in eastern Europe, Byzantium, battles, relic cults, atrocities, clashes of personalities and all in only 339 pages.

Have long wanted to learn about this event in history and this was a great way to start. Now I need to find books covering the subsequent crusades.

Another winner, Susan.

Giving this one 3.5 stars.

COVER ART - Only a 5 of 10 rating - mostly because it was very expected. Have seen this sort of thing used a lot for books covering this time period.

Book Number 55 - Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson - was picked out on impulse at the library when I was returning book number 54.

I'm not sure how to categorize this one which is about Attorney Sally Baynard, who is appointed to represent the interests of Beatrice - a cat - and the beneficiary of a trust. There is no mystery and it isn't Southern fluff. A lot of it is taken up with Sally's life and problems (the guy she is sleeping with who, though nice is still not quite the one and her Alzheimer-afflicted mother who lives with her and is a problem). I guess it could be called a Light Novel.

Gave this one 3.25 stars. Held my interest and I might read the first one Lawyer for the Dog. Am guessing there is going to be another book by Robinson along these lines. I suppose she will move on to different animals although I would suspect that after she gets the reader past horses and rabbits and chickens and ducks that it will get harder to keep an audience. But maybe not.

COVER ART - 7 of 10 rating. Clearly an eye-catching cover and the cat looks just like Beatrice.

Book Number 56 - Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher - Historical Fiction about the American Civil War.

One of those books that is just filled with crazy characters. It's kind of a non-fantasy quest novel - which for me is not a good thing. I found a distinct resemblance to Cold Mountain. I'm not sure if I will be keeping this book.

Only 3 stars.

COVER ART - Though I am not a fan of this book I really liked the cover and am giving it an 8.5 of 10 rating. Seen on a shelf, I definitely would have pulled it off which is why I should not be allowed to wander around book stores without a plan. I have bought a lot of books based on the covers alone and I surely would have fallen for this one - and been sorry afterward.

Book Number 57 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Pure Science Fiction

A clever story. A child, Ender, (6 years old at the start of the book) is schooled with the object of being The Savior Of Humanity. Schooled and fooled.

Did not find Ender believable as a child. And I had a hard time dealing with the super military setting and people. I expected Peter Wiggin (Ender's brother) to be more of an evil presence. That was disappointing.

Gave this one 3.25 stars. I think that I would read further in the series, but I think I will get the books from the library instead of buying them.

COVER ART - 1 of 10 rating. Don't like it at all and would not have taken it off a shelf - ever.

Book Number 58 - Let's Kill Uncle by Rohan O'Grady

A quirky little book about an island in Pacific Canada, two visiting children (Barnaby and Christie), the island's inhabitants (especially Sgt. Coulter of the RCMC), and Barnaby's homicidal uncle who intends to murder Barnaby for his ten million dollar fortune. The children know this and plot to kill him first.

Very clever and entertaining.

Giving it 4.5 stars

COVER ART - an 8 of 10 rating. Quite pleasing.

Book Number 59 - The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny

High time I read the next in the series.

A woman named Madeleine Favreau is 'scared to death' during a seance at the old Hadley House by means of ephedra coupled with her cancer treatment damaged heart. As per usual Gamache and company come to Three Pines to get to the bottom of things. But more important than this murder is the ongoing Arnot Affair and the secret efforts by individuals in the police force to discredit Gamache and his family. Truthfully, I had no memory of Arnot in any of the previous books, so I think I will have to re-read books one and two.

Gave this one a well-deserved 4 stars

COVER ART - an 8 of 10 rating. Really liked the pre-storm view of Three Pines.

Book Number 60 - The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy

Read for the August CAC

French Canada, Spring 1940. This story revolves mainly arond the extremely poor Lacasse family. Their poverty comes partly from the father, Alzarius Lacasse's inability/unwillingness to keep a job. Rose Anna, his wife is pregnant for the 12th time. She loves Alzarius and works like a dog, keeping the family together, keeping them fed, keeping the house clean, finding new houses to rent annually. Life is very hard. Part of their poverty is endemic to the Ste. Henri District of Montreal where they live. WWII just having started some of the men of Ste. Henri enlist primarily for the money their families will receive.

Their daughter, Florentine, is in love with Jean Levesque and gets pregnant by him. He does not love her and really does not hide it, but Florentine has made up her mind that he is the one. (As my great grandmother Sylvia used to say, "Love will go where it's sent - even it's to a cow flop.") This is a real problem in 1940 and Florentine needs a solution.

Really good book. Enjoyed it a lot and have given it 4 stars.

COVER ART - The book I got through the Commonwealth Catalog came from Anna Maria College and was almost 70 years old. Naturally there was no dust jacket - so no rating for it. There is now, however, a little pinprick hole in it, on page 119. Thanks, Jane!

Book Number 61 - Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris - Lent to me by a friend. (Wow, is this ever a popular title for books. I didn't count them but there are a lot of books with this same title on LT)

Brutality and suspense abound in this one. Evil Jack Angel marries Grace just so ....

That's about all I am going to say about this one. It was easy for me to figure out from the get go that Jack is a stinker ( and I think it is very simple for about 90 percent of all readers of this one), but I'd hate to spoil any of the rest of the story for anyone. Someone has bought the movie rights for this one and I can see why. It's 351 pages long and I started it at 12:46 PM and finished it at 11:52 AM the next day, taking time out for life.

Gave this one 4 stars

COVER ART - 5 of 10. Not interesting to me and the type of door was mis-leading.

And finally ...



Book Number 62 - Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon - a Susan Recommended Book

Old, but not irrelevant. It is exactly what the title says it is - one year (1988) spent in the company of Homicide Detectives of the Baltimore Police Department. Simon writes about crime scenes, victims, suspects, detectives with complete honesty. It's horrible and depressing (and grimly funny in some spots) and wonderful. Well worth reading and the month I spent on it.

When Susan recommends a book, she knows what she's doing.

5 stars for this one.

COVER ART - 5 of 10.

Hi Charlotte! I am delighted to see that two of my recommendations worked out so well :-) Some of the others look good too. It's good to see you back - what's next on your reading list?

Hi Susan! I'm finishing up Death of a Nag (needed something light and short after Homicide) and I'm about 1/3 of the way through The Trials of the King of Hampshire. After I'm done with DoaN I'll see what's on the top of the under-the-coffee-table pile. Am waiting for something to come in from the Commonwealth Catalog (forgot what I ordered). It's either for the BAC or the CAC.

Book Number 63 - Death of a Nag by M.C. Beaton - haven't read a Hamish Macbeth book in a while and it seemed like time for another.

In this one Hamish wants to get away from Lochdubh (and memories of his former fiancee, Priscilla) and decides to go on holiday at a cheap boarding house - 'The Friendly House' - in the town of Skag, that he finds advertised in some publication. It is a truly awful place with a diverse group of paying guests. Most of the guests are not too terrible, but Bob Harris - who turns to be the Nag - is a drunken, wife abuser and generalized miserable human being. It is not long before everyone at The Friendly House is wishing that someone would murder him and eventually someone obliges.

Of course Hamish solves the murder (I was kind of hoping that the murderer was someone else because I liked this person pretty well) and returns happily to Lochdubh.

Gave this one 3.5 stars

COVER ART - 3 of 10 rating. The title text is much too big and annoying, but even it weren't there, I don't think, from what I can see of it, that would like the actual cover art very much.

I've dug out Marrying Mozart from under the coffee table. High time as I have owned it since July of 2010. Liking it pretty well so far.

Have finished another book, but am not ready to write about it yet and am now reading Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell and American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson. MM is really a nice little bit of Historical Fiction which I was not expecting and AoP is also a surprise - mostly because I don't expect anything from autobiographies. Trying to decide which books I should buy this month for my fiction and non-fiction books that I am allowing myself to purchase. I'm almost settled on Blue Mars for the fiction purchase, but the NF is not decided upon. NF is harder because I always buy used books from amazon (usually) and the prices of non-fiction used books is often higher than those of fiction. Not a lot, but I still would like to keep it down as close to $4 apiece as possible. Gone (sob!) are the days of spending like a drunken sailor on books.

Weather here is cool and sunny - all a person could want of October in New England. I bet NE north of me is really pretty right now, but it's pretty nice here on the coast, too. Am so glad we are not going to have to host Hurricane Matthew and am sorry that they've got to go through that in Florida and S Carolina. I'm not fond of big snowstorms, but I prefer them over hurricanes. Feel free to bring this post up in February when I am bellyaching about the snow - which I expect will be considerable this coming winter. (The snow and the bellyaching.)

My cousin has started a book club that will meet later on in the month. Am very excited about it as it is my very first book club. Apparently we are supposed to take turns bringing dinner. Am a little nervous about this because I don't cook for other people. Baking is not a problem, but cooking is something else. Think that when it is my turn I will do a chili and bring along some corn bread. Who doesn't like chili? And maybe I can learn to make one of those thousands of Portuguese dishes with codfish...

Knitting is coming along - am in the middle of knitting a new sock (had to take the first effort apart) and am at the point of turning the heel which, for some some reason I am finding intimidating. Have a feeling of impending failure...

>59 Fourpawz2: Oh, no, don't be intimidated by heel-turning! It's much, MUCH easier than it sounds, and it's so much fun. You can do it!

>59 Fourpawz2: Not able to comment or advise meaningfully on knitting issues or make a wisecrack that would leave you in, erm, stitches.
I do want to wish you a lovely weekend though, Charlotte.

Hope the book club goes well - it sounds like fun. I would be lining up for chilli seconds, for sure. What are you going to be reading for the group? Or don't you know yet?

Charlotte, I hope the heel worked out. Listen to Amber's wise words of advice! Cooking for a group would be a challenge for me too, I think, but chilli sounds like a great idea, as does the corn bread. Also pretty portable, I would think.

Book Number 64 - The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster

It was pretty much impossible for me to categorize John Charles Wallop, 3rd Earl of Portsmouth and the story of the struggle by his family and others to keep him under control for all of his life, going so far as to have this titled aristocrat adjudged insane in a public proceeding that, at the time, obsessed the kingdom. Insane? Sane, but slow? Just peculiar? Normal as blueberry pie? At various points in the book, I think each description of this man, except for the last one, seemed correct to me. Most definitely there was something different about JCW.

Above and beyond his odd behavior in childhood (complete incontinence, his backwardness, speech problems, fear of aggression from others to the point where he would dissolve into tears), all of his life Wallop must have been a handful and a distinct problem to everyone. He was obsessed with funerals (which he called ‘black jobs’) and routinely asked after the health of anyone he heard of who seemed in parlous shape, obviously hopeful that they would die and that he would have a chance to participate in the funeral, up to and including the tolling of the bells at the church. He tried to barge into the home of one of his laborers where the family’s young daughter was dying in hopes of observing the actual death of the child and when her father would not let him in stood upon the doorstep, refusing to move. The householder had to stand at the door in order to keep him from invading his daughter’s final moments and so could not be with his child when she died. He loved having the horses whipped, but would run away in terror should the animal kick and show upset and being beaten. He also participated in the slaughter of cattle, torturing the poor beasts before the slaughter. (I decided at this point that Wallop was a raving lunatic and a pretty cruel one, too.) And then there was his obsession with the process whereby people were bled for their health. For some reason, in his mind, this practice was linked with sex, which he really had not a clue about sex even though he was married twice. Yes - normal was not a word one could use in order to describe the earl.

Foyster did a really good job with the Earl of Portsmouth’s story - a story that was pretty notorious at one time, but that is mostly unknown these days. Nobody comes out of it looking very good - his younger brother, Newton, whose primary motivation seems to have been the securing of the title and wealth for himself, his mother, Urania, who moved heaven and earth to keep the world from finding out what her eldest was really like (and also to keep the world from finding about all of the other ‘not quite right’ family members), Mary Ann, JCW’s second wife who was cruel, brutal and a harlot, her father John Hanson, seemingly the loyal family solicitor, but actually scheming to marry off his daughter to this man who he knew to be unfit to marry anyone. Really the only decent people involved with Portsmouth were a number of the laborers on the estate and Grace, JCW’s first wife.

Enjoyed this one a lot and now I know a lot about Lunacy Commissions and how they worked.

Kind of miss the use of the word ‘lunatic’. So much more interesting that the phrase ‘mentally ill’. Mentally ill is beige and bland whereas lunatic is a bright crimson kind of word.

Giving this one 4 stars. Recommended.

COVER ART - Bleech! Gets a 2 of 10 rating. I think that I dislike the font as much as anything.

Wish this book had not been an ARC for as such there is no index. I hate it when there is no index. I understand why there is none in this book, but I still wish there was one.

>64 Fourpawz2: Great review, Charlotte! I saw this in the Guardian reviews on Charlotte's thread over the weekend and wishlisted it. I love stories about eccentric English aristocrats and dark family secrets. Bingo!

>65 susanj67: - Glad you liked it Susan. There are tons more things about JCW in the book - he was one really weird dude! I love this kind of book and I'm sure you will like this one, too. That book that I was waiting to get from the library was not for the BAC or the CAC, but is a you-recommended book - The Mystery of Overend & Gurney. I'm really enjoying reading your recommended books and it is the main reason why my CAC and BAC reading has sort of come to a standstill. Shame on Charlotte!

>60 scaifea: - I'll try not to be intimidated, Amber. I just have to remember that if I mess up it's not a big deal to start over; after all I've already gotten past the other two stages so I can do it again.

>61 PaulCranswick: - You might not have wanted to leave me in stitches, Paul, but I laughed anyway!

>62 charl08: - I don't know yet what we are going to be reading. I think the first meeting is so we can get acquainted (although I think I am the only one who doesn't know anyone other than my cousin) and discuss the choice for November. First meeting is next week. I've been trying to think of what I would like to read, but I can't seem to settle on anything. Probably will try to come up with a firm 10 titles or so by the weekend. Nothing too current because I would like to get whatever we choose from the library, but we shall see.

>63 susanj67: - The heel turning hasn't happened yet - too many other things to do so far this week - painting the house foundation, applesauce making, laundry, ( why, when I am the only one in this house who wears clothes, is there always so much laundry), sewing, reading (one of life's necessities), grocery shopping, errand running and a dozen other bits and bobs. Maybe Friday. It may rain tomorrow night and I know I won't want to paint the rest of the foundation if it's wet.

I've been really bad this year about posting books read. Seem to prefer spending my time reading books rather than doing my duty here.



Book Number 65 - American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson - I always liked Ferguson - used to watch his late night show frequently even though I should have been asleep. For some reason though, I expected not to like this book. But I did like it - it sounds just like him - and though I usually do not read autobiographies because I do not trust them I did think that he was as truthful in this book as a person can be, unsparing in his self-criticism.

Gave this one 4 stars

COVER ART - A 4 of 10 rating. It's eye-catching, but oh, how I hate that kilt. Not all kilts - just that one. I think that I do not like flag-motif clothing.

Book Number 66 - Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell - Historical Fiction focusing on the Weber sisters - Josepha, Aloysia, Constanze, and Sophia - who were friends of Mozart's in Mannheim, Munich and Vienna. Mozart has not yet achieved any fame through most of the book. Primarily it deals with his friendship with the girls and his romances with Aloysia and Constanze and the sisters' relationship with one another and their very difficult, domineering and quarrelsome mother.

An unexpected four stars for this book.

COVER ART - 9 out of 10 rating. It is virtually perfect and the only reason I am not giving it a 10 rating is because I am always hoping for something even better. In addition to the cover I really liked the small size of the physical book - it fits perfectly in the hands - which for some reason I always find very pleasing.

>68 Fourpawz2: I see what you mean about the cover......I would so like to see her other eye.

Have a lovely weekend, Charlotte.

>69 PaulCranswick: - Actually, Paul, she wraps around the back of the book and her other eye is there. I should have mentioned that.

>70 Fourpawz2: Then yes, it is a 9/10!

I've been trying to have a lovely weekend, Paul, but the weather seems to be against me. Went out to Home Depot - with 50 thousand other people - in order to be a responsible homeowner. I was in search of some anti-mouse steel wool to stuff into the spaces around my kitchen sink drainpipes and some foam pipe insulation for the hot water pipes in my cellar and then, with that accomplished, I went over to the grocery store to get some bread and milk, so as not to run out before the next market day. I nearly drowned (slight exaggeration) in a tropical downpour (which has no business being in New England in October. The rain is currently raising hell with the pretty leaves outdoors.

I am annoyed.

You've been reading lots of interesting books. The comments on the covers are good too. I will keep a closer look at why I pull books from the shelves based on their looks. I haven't really thought of that before.

>73 Familyhistorian: - Thanks, Meg. I started keeping run of the covers at least partially because I know I have a great susceptibility to cover art when it comes to buying books - except when I am buying them used, online. Those purchases mostly come from LT recommendations or are books bought to fill out a series. I've bought a lot of books that I shouldn't have on account of that weakness that I have for good cover art. I'm the sort of sucker that book marketing people must love.

>72 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, sorry to hear about the 50,000 people at Home Depot, but you made it! And even survived the near-drowning :-) I've been out today and it was also pretty crowded, at least till I got to a bit where I could weave through side-streets. Then it was better.

Downright chilly here today and even more so yesterday. Supposed to be snowing a bit in the Berkshires right now, but it is only supposed to rain like crazy down here. I bet all of the beautiful orange-red, orange and yellow leaves will fall off the maple tree that is in front of my house. Its leaves never used to do much more than turn a pale kind of yellow before falling off, but in the last few years it has been quite lovely.

The Book Club started last night - my first one ever. It's a very small group, but I think we all get along quite well. One of them lent me her copy of Commonwealth which she had just finished and loved so much she brought it along to the meeting.

Because the next meeting is only 3 weeks away, the next host chose The Girl on the Train - we thought it would be a quick read. It's my turn after that, but we are skipping December because all the scheduling craziness so for January - as there will be a lot more time to read - I have picked Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, which is, I am told, a pretty long book. Of course it's impossible to get TGotT from the library (I'm #76 in the queue), but I may have a lead on a copy that I can borrow. If not I'll guess I'll have to actually break down a buy a copy. Oh well.

It isn't cold at all here, Charlotte and I am starting to wish for the cooler Northern air.

Have a lovely weekend.

>77 PaulCranswick: - Wish I could pack up a big box of cooler air for you, Paul. Of course yesterday would not have been a good day for cool air gathering as it was in the mid-60's here.



Book Number 67 - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Loved this little book - the story of a china rabbit named Edward Tulane, who at the beginning of the story lives with a little girl - Abilene - in a lovely house where he is not only dressed in beautiful clothes (including underwear), but has his very own bed and a seat at the family dining table. Abilene loves him very much and the rest of the family pretends that Edward is a real being - something more than a toy rabbit - and address him accordingly. Only one member of the household - Abilene's unusual grandmother, Pellegrina - seems to be able to see deep inside Edward and she does not approve of what she sees. Only Edward knows how Pellegrina feels about him. Only Edward hears her say "You disappoint me."

The Tulanes have planned a trip to England, traveling by ship, and of course Abilene takes Edward Tulane with her on the voyage. But then everything changes for Edward when he is thrown overboard and sinks beneath the ocean waves. This is only the beginning of Edward's journey and he comes to live with several different people over many, many years, called, in each new situation, by a new name and having many experiences - a lot of them not very good - and all the while growing and changing in ways you might not expect a china rabbit to do.

Can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. It reads out loud beautifully (I read the whole thing aloud to Jane and she appeared to like it) and the illustrations are lovely. I think it would make a great Folio Society book.

Giving this one 5+++ stars. Very much recommended.

Cover Art - 9.5 out of 10 - I wish my copy did not have the National Ambassador emblem on it, but it still does not intrude too much on Edward in a red suit walking up the big front door that is part of a dream sequence.

A great book to treasure and read over and over again!

Book Number 68 - The Mystery of Overend & Gurney by Geoffrey Elliott - a Susan-recommended book

This book concerns the collapse of the leading British discount house of Overend & Gurney in 1866. The Overends and the Gurneys were Quakers and like a lot of Friends in the US and the UK, they made a smashing success of themselves in business. O&G were all about banking at the beginning only expanding into "the banker's bank" in the 19th century. They were considered rock-solid and therein lay part of the problem in that once old Mr. Samuel Gurney died and the next generation took over, no one even considered that the men then in charge were nothing like the late Mr. G. in their approach to doing business. (The Overend family had not been part of the concern for some time.) They had no clue that O&G was about to fall apart due to bad management and worse choices. The discount house went down taking a number of concerns with them while a lot of ordinary people lost jobs and money and there was a significant panic in the world's financial institutions.

Was intrigued by Elliott's idea that changing times in the 19th century brought about a change amongst young Quakers just stepping into their role in business - a change which had never been an issue before in Quaker society. For the first time Quakers seemed to forget the discipline the Friends had always lived by and the results for the Gurney family were disastrous.

I know hardly anything about Finance, but had no trouble understanding the Overend & Gurney story. As per usual I found it particularly interesting because of the role played by wealthy American Quakers in building my town.

Yet another good one, Susan.

Giving this one 3.5 stars.

COVER ART - Gets a mere 4 of 10 rating - kind of boring to me.

>78 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, Edward Tulane sounds like a lovely read :-) I'll look out for a copy.

>79 Fourpawz2: And I'm glad my recommendations have yet again held up! I learned a lot from this one, and I agree that readers don't need a lot of background knowledge to enjoy it.

>80 susanj67: - I shall look forward to hearing what you think of it.

Well, my current you-read is another winner. I think you have the knack, Susan. So much so that when I found that My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time was not available at any library here, I went ahead and made it my November fiction purchase. The local library actually did show it as being in their catalog, but whenever I tried to add it to my holds, it wouldn't take. It's not a situation that I expect will go away as I've been trying to add it, on and off, since July. They have it? They don't have it? I don't care anymore cuz I'll have my own copy as soon as the post office delivers it.



Book Number 69 - Shade's Children by Garth Nix - a book I've had in my TBR piles for about 6 years. (My turn-around time used to be 2 years, but it's gotten a lot longer of late)

In this SF/Fantasy, all humans, 16 years of age and up, have vanished from Earth, leaving all the rest of the children to be harvested by the Overlords, stored in warehouses until it is time to use their bodies as the raw material from which to craft their creatures - Myrmidon Masters, Myrmidons, Screamers, Wingers, Trackers and (not sure about this one) Ferrets. Standing in opposition to the Overlords are a man called Shade and his minions - the tiny number of escapees from the Dormitories where all of the captive children live. Shade's children all seem to have one unusual power that helps them to fight against the Overlords and the creatures they have made and they make the best use of what they have.

Shade is not an adult - merely an A.I./Hologram who is running the Resistance - first from a submarine and later on, when he is forced to flee, from his spider-robot body which houses the computer program that is Shade. The story follows four of his child soldiers - Ella, Drum, Ninde and Gold-Eye - as they venture out into the world in order to execute Shade's missions against the Overlords.

It's not a very polished story, but it does move. And for me the best part were the multiple personalities of Shade that emerge over the course of time. This happens in the midst of the the excitement of fleeing from the Overlords - the worst possible time - and I found it very fascinating.

Gave this one a whole-hearted 3.5 stars. I want to read it again, paying particular attention to Shade and his motivations.

COVER ART - a mere 3 of 10. It's too dark to make much impact on me. I suspect that there are other editions with better covers out there somewhere.

Book Number 70 - Game of Patience by Susanne Alleyn

Historical murder mystery set in Post-Terror Paris in 1796. (I may have read this book in the wrong order. It is first with regard to publishing order, but may not be correct chronologically. Rats!)

Aristede Ravel, a police agent (commonly called a police spy) is the protagonist who works with Police District Chief Brasseur. There is a double homicide (a vile aristocratic blackmailer and a young woman from a good background) and from the first Ravel has doubts about what seems to be pretty obvious. Ravel has a great fear of accusing the wrong person, and dooming him to the guillotine as had happened very recently in Paris. As a result the sleuthing process is quite drawn out. Ravel appears, several times, to have cornered the guilty party only to have doubts that send him and Brasseur (who feels as Ravel does) onward in search of the true killer. Doubt persists to the very end, and Alleyn comes up with a very interesting twist. Really liked this one which seemed to bring Paris in this time period to life. Ravel is an interesting character and I will continue with the series - though in what order I don't know. I suppose I am committed to reading according to publication date.

One thing - there are getting to be a few European, male, fictional detectives of various eras who all look the same in my mind - Poirot, Commissario Brunetti, Armand Gamache (yes, I know he isn't European - but he is French Canadian and he seems very European-esque) and now Ravel. This does not take away from my enjoyment of them or the stories in which they appear, but it does seem strange that they all look alike to me.

I also like how Alleyne referenced some actual cases from the time period - including the wrongly accused and executed individual who preys so on Ravel's conscience.

Giving this one 3.75 stars.

COVER ART - a 6 of 10. I really like the gargoyles.

I am thankful for your presence in the group, Charlotte.

>83 PaulCranswick: - Thanks so much, Paul. However, I really don't think I've added it much to it this year. Been very lax in recent months. The reading part is fine (am currently reading books 78 and 79), but the participation part is very, very bad. Hope I reform next year.

>83 PaulCranswick: Your pals will be waiting, Charlotte. xx

>84 Fourpawz2: Congrats on reaching 75, Charlotte.
Just pop in when you feel like it, we love your presence but understand absence.

>85 PaulCranswick: & >86 FAMeulstee: - Thanks, guys. I do think that one day I'll come here and I will find that I've finally annoyed everyone so much by my long absences that there will be a "We got really tired of waiting for you to get on with it and are never coming back." message waiting for me.



Book Number 71 - Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet - This is the first book in the Max Tudor Mystery series. Read the second one last year (because I was attracted to the cover - as is so often the case when I am just browsing shelves in the store or the library) and intended to read the first in the series much sooner than this ('this' being the middle of October), but was my usual procrastinating self. Wanda Batton-Smythe, who is one of those bossy females who has to run everything and in the doing manages to tick off everyone in sight, turns up dead as this kind of woman does in cozy mysteries. Almost everyone in her women's group (I think it is the Women's Institute, but would not want to stake Jane's life on it as I finished it almost 2 months ago and at this distance I cannot be 100% certain that it is the WI) is a likely suspect because she has angered almost every one of them at some or other.

The mystery is less interesting than the story of Max Tudor who is the local vicar and sleuth working with the local Inspector to solve Wanda's murder. He was not always a vicar, but used to work for the government doing dangerous undercover type work. He has 'issues'. In both of the books that I've read in this series I can't help seeing James Norton (from the PBS Grantchester series) in my mind. I know that he is not supposed to look like Norton, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Okay series - good enough to keep on reading in order to see if the Tudor character fleshes out some more.

Gave this one 3.25 stars

COVER ART - 7.5 out of 10 for the quintessential cozy mystery cover.

Book Number 72 - Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - borrowed from a member of my RL Book Club at our organizational meeting back in October (See! I am super-bad about keeping up here.)
Really, really liked this novel about two California couples (and their children) whose lives are irretrievably changed once one husband and one wife take up with one another after meeting at a christening. Patchett has done a great job here. It was riveting. Whizzed through it in just two days. It's definitely a borrowed book that I want to get a copy of for myself. One of my best reads for this year.

Giving this one 4.5 stars. Recommended.

COVER ART - And this cover is terrific too. Giving it a 9.5 out of 10. Very eye-catching.

Book Number 73 - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Book 1 of my RL book club. In a word - meh. And 'meh' turned out to be the consensus of the members. Don't want to devote any more time to this book here except to say that I was very glad that I was given a copy of this book; I would have hated to have to spend any real money in order to get it.

Gets a scant 3 star rating from me.

COVER ART - 7 of 10. It does evoke the idea of a train rushing by pretty well.

Book Number 74 - James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot - 10 wonderful little stories about some of Herriot's cat patients. Funny and heart breaking. Had read the one about a cat named Moses before, but was very pleased to read it again. Loved each and every one of them.

5 stars for this one. I might be prejudiced - being an animal person and all - but I don't care.

COVER ART - a 9 out of 10 for this cover. There are many lovely illustrations inside, too.

Almost at 75 - unless you have another one you haven't reviewed yet?

>91 Familyhistorian: - actually, Meg, I have 6 more to review. Was going to do a couple today, but yesterday my water heater let go and the first part of the day was devoted to having the world's best plumbers on site doing what needed to be done (and not charging me some outrageous amount of money), while a good part of this afternoon was given over to re-arranging the furniture in the living room for the 3rd time in a couple of months.

Christmas baking is on tap for tomorrow and work on Friday. Possibly, if I have not frozen completely, I will get a few words about Book 74 and 75 written on Saturday.

>87 Fourpawz2: We got really ........nah only kidding.......never!

Always nice to see you back whenever you are able to make it here, Charlotte. What's for 75?

>92 Fourpawz2: Lucky you to have the world's best plumbers at a reasonable price. Sounds like if the water heater was going to go, it was good timing.

>94 Familyhistorian: - Most definitely, Meg. One of the most striking things about the whole business was that he was concerned that I might be worried that I would be without any hot water for a day and worried about not being able to take a shower, so he told me about how I could get a day pass from the YWCA. Never, ever had a plumber think of that before.

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

Season's Greetings, Charlotte, and I'm glad that you got all the plumbing issues out of the way beforehand. What nice plumbers! A friend here had much the same opinion as yours about The Girl On The Train, so I won't rush to get that one :-) Commonwealth looks good, though.

Book Number 75 (finished way back on 11/19/16) - Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution by Simon Schama - a Susan Recommended Book

Another good one and one that I feel I would like to own. It seemed to me to be a largish book for the subject, i.e. slavery and the American Revolution, but it turned out to be more than that, covering, after the war was over and done with, certain Englishmen (primarily Granville Sharp, the idea man behind the first of those 'back to Africa' settlements) and 'the problem' of ex-slaves living in the Canadian provinces. For some reason I think that I have always thought that the ex-slaves living in Canada lived a life where they were respected, able to earn a living and be comfortably free, i.e. did not live in fear of being re-enslaved. How very, very wrong I have been about that all of these many years. They were certainly not respected and re-enslavement was an ongoing threat. I feel better now that I know the truth, but I also feel very stupid for not having known this for my whole life.

This is a jam-packed history of a fascinating and heart-breaking subject and I can not possibly go over the whole of it here. But I will say that John Clarkson, leader of the second attempt to establish a colony in Sierra Leone was an amazing individual who deserves to be better known. Very impressed by his self-sacrifice, hard work and loyalty to the people he led to Sierra Leone. And I do wish that Patrick Henry were around today just so I could boot him in the arse - very hard - for a statement made by him during the Revolution concerning the subject of slavery and why he kept slaves - namely - "I am drawn along by the general inconveniency of living without them." Really? Made me want to puke when I read that.

Giving this one 4.5 stars

COVER ART - 5 of 10. There are better covers out there.

Book Number 76 - Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte - read for the 2016 BAC (December)

Have wanted to read something of Anne Bronte's for a while now as I read Emily and Charlotte many years ago and have always felt badly that I've been ignoring Anne.

Agnes Grey is the younger daughter of a curate in reduced circumstances, who becomes a governess in order to do her part toward contributing to the support of her family. Agnes is very sober, studious, serious, religious and plain. Classic governess material.

The children of the first family she works for - the Bloomfields - are very young and wild and the parents are unsupportive of Agnes' efforts to tame them. Things do not turn out well and Agnes must move on. The second family - the Murrays - is a society family. They do not treat Agnes well; she is servant to them, to be used or ignored as they please. And most of the time it pleases all of the Murrays to treat Agnes pretty much like a piece of furniture. All is not gloom and doom however, for Agnes falls in love with Mr. Weston, the local curate.

I did like this book quite well and am giving it 3.75 stars. (Actually I liked it better than Wuthering Heights which I've read 3 times and always come away feeling that I'm missing something.) Time to buckle down and read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall now. And maybe then I'll try WH again. Maybe I'll get it this time.

COVER ART - 3 of 10. Very blah. Don't care for the color of it and the picture does not seem to jibe with the story.

>99 Fourpawz2: Charlotte, I thought that one looked really good, and wondered whether I'd read it. Then I saw that I had recommended it :-) Congratulations on reaching 75!

>99 Fourpawz2: Rough Crossings sounds very good, Charlotte. Blood and Daring covered the trial of John Anderson who escaped to Canada but who the slave catchers were attempting to get back. It was very interesting the political maneuvering that went on.

>101 susanj67: - :)
Thanks, Susan!

>102 Familyhistorian: - It was awfully good, Meg. Blood and Daring is now my first you-recommended book. Looking forward to reading it - maybe in 2017!

Book Number 77 - The Vegetarian by Han Kang - Early Reviewer Book

I must say that I found this novel in three parts (part one narrated by the Vegetarian's husband, part two by her brother-in-law and the final part by her sister) to be a little perplexing and a bit creepy as well. The Vegetarian - Yeong-hye - is the wife of a Mr. Cheong, a Korean office worker. In the grip of a powerful nightmare (one she is to have frequently) she changes everything in her marriage and in her world by becoming a strict vegetarian and compelling her husband, when he eats at home, to be one as well. It quickly becomes apparent that it is not just a change in diet that has come over her. Yeong-Hye is sinking into mental illness and her family's attitude toward the change (they see only the vegetarianism, but to them the mere fact of it seems to be a kind of mental illness all by itself) is not a good one.

This is a really good book. In the time that has elapsed since I finished it I've thought about it often. I found it repulsive to some extent - the way Yeong-hye's parents are with her and of course her husband's treatment of her, the weird artist brother-in-law and his obsession and her sister, who in part three must deal with what Yeong-hye has become - but at the same time it has just stayed with me. I must read this one again.

Giving this one 4.5 stars, revised upward from the 3.5 stars I gave it upon finishing. Recommended.

COVER ART - 8 of 10. This cover is Yeong-hye and what she evolves into by part three. Memorable.

Book Number 78 - Death and Judgment by Donna Leon - a Commissario Brunetti Mystery

For all that three men are murdered, women are tricked into prostitution and 'snuff' films are made and distributed, this is actually a novel about corruption, plain and simple. How Brunetti can continue in his job is a wonder.

Giving this one a firm 3.5 stars. I like this series a lot.

COVER ART - a 6 of 10 rating. As with the other covers of the previous books I've read, it is dark and a bit depressing, but without question it is Venice.

Book Number 79 - Terror on Tuesday by Ann Purser - a Lois Meade Mystery

Lois Meade is running her own cleaning business now from her new house in Long Farnden and is the employer of her own collection of newly hired cleaners. Her family seems to be in better order now - eldest child, Josie is no longer a behaviorial problem and having her mum move into the Meade family's large new house is helping a lot with keeping the family running smoothly, but once again Lois finds a dead body and she finds herself partnered up (sort of) with Inspector Cowgill - creeping about in the woods whenever he needs to meet with her. Of course the dead guy is a bit of a sleaze; Major Todd-Nelson is neither a major nor a Todd-Nelson, but he has most definitely been murdered.

I didn't think that the mystery itself was much and though Lois seems to get herself into situations - locked into the props room at the local theater, threatened by local criminal types - she seems to escape from the situations fairly easily. I got kind of tired of Lois going to the theater. I know she was doing it so that she could check up on one of her not quite trustworthy cleaners and on a woman who seemed involved with local criminals, but I kind of wished Lois would find some other way of spying on these people. To the good - a new, strong character - the young Hazel Reading - was introduced and I would be interested in seeing what Purser does with her in the future. For me, she was more interesting than Lois and that can't be a good sign when the star of a cozy mystery is being eclipsed just 2 books into the series.

Gave this one 3 stars.

COVER ART - 5.5 of 10. Not the greatest cozy mystery cover I've ever seen. And I don't get those calendar pages that are floating around.

Book Number 80 - The Plantagent Chronicles by Elizabeth Hallam

Have had this book for more than 20 years and have never seriously sat down to read it. It has a coffee table book quality to it - oversized with lots of pictures. Small articles (essays, presumably) appear intermittently along with the chronicles of various ecclesiastical writers as well as tons of photos. The Chroniclers are mostly tedious (truthfully I could not/did not read all that they wrote) and the essays are tiny - not essays at all. Most perplexing of all to me - if one read only this book, you would think that the Plantagent line ended with John, instead of Richard III. I think that 'Chronicles' is the important word in the title of this book. Perhaps there are no ecclesiastical chroniclers from Henry III forward?

Gave this one 3 stars

COVER ART - a very ordinary 5 of 10

Book Number 81 - Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

I bought this book after seeing an episode of PBS' American Masters series about LMA. It finally showed up near the top of one of my non-fiction piles and I happily snatched it up. Really liked this biography that - for me - succeeded in fully fleshing out Alcott. Learned a lot about her life - her terrible childhood, how she became a writer in spite of terrible poverty, her mentally ill father, her depressed mother, how she suffered from being a child of such afflicted parents and her physical illnesses in her later years. How she did it, I don't know. Even in her early childhood her family was such a burden. An amazing woman and writer who was motivated by love and duty. I don't like Little Women but I do admire Louisa May Alcott.

This one gets 4 stars from me.

COVER ART - 5 of 10. It's okay, but it wouldn't, on its own make me want to buy the book.

Phew! All caught up now. I might just possibly finish one more book before the end of the year. And then it's time to start all over again. Sure hope I do better in keeping up with things...

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Charlotte

Belated happy new year, Charlotte. I have taken book bullets for The Mystery of Overend & Gurney, Shade's Children and Rough Crossings (I do already own the latter but your comments have made me think I really want to read it).

Off to find your 2017 thread!