Book a Week 2016 - BW50: Best of 2016

[Robin M]

Robin - The Bingo prize arrived! Thank you so much! Can't wait to crack open the books!

 

 

Yeah! Enjoy!

 

 

Thank you Robin!!!!

Yeah for amazon.uk. Enjoy!

[aggieamy]

I grew up on these books, reading them over and over again through my high school years. My mom recently passed on the dusty box containing her collection of old, ratty paperback versions. I think I have almost all of them. It's fun to revisit them after 20+ years, and find they are just as good! I'm trying to space them out, not binge, but it's nice to have something fluffy to grab when I don't feel like reading whatever is on my stack. 

 

 

I can't believe you guys are all reading Heyer!  I read lots every year and always felt pretty embarrassed about reporting them here.  Often I didn't bother because they were such many-times rereads and I was shy about how often I was reading one.  They are my flufferton abbey.

 

Nan

 

Did I ever mention here that I coerced my DH into reading GH?  He's read The Foundling and The Grand Sophy and enjoyed both of them.  The aren't his usual type of books at all but he gave them a try and thought they were great! 

[Robin M]

I have an idea for new year and need you all to brainstorm and tell me if crazy or doable. We're going the scientific and math route with prime numbers so figured since we have been around the world over land and sea, we can go underground with a gemology challenge with the birthstones of the month. Thinking so far, sort of like alphabetical or spell the month, spell the stone and / or read books surrounding country mined or era.

 

For example Garnet is January and used in jewelry in ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome and Europe during Middle Ages. I'll have link to more history. So read books with words starting with g in the title, then a, etc and/or read book set in the ancient time.

 

Make sense?

Edited December 13, 2016 by Robin M

[Kareni]

You can reveal yourself with the gift when you send it. Since it is such a short period of time and probably wont be surprising them with things sent over a period of time, hard to keep it entirely secret.

 

Sounds good.  Thank you.

 

**

 

Last night I finished Laura Griffin's Deep Dark (Tracers) which I enjoyed.  It's the most recent book in a series, but I think it would stand alone well.

 

"The moment detective Reed Novak steps onto the crime scene, he knows the case is going to rock his world. A beautiful young woman murdered at home. No sign of forced entry. No motive. She’s obviously not the killer’s first victim, and Reed’s instincts tell him she won’t be his last. Reed’s first clue comes via a mysterious text that links to a dating profile, but even more intriguing than the clue is the person who sent it.

 

As a white-hat hacker in the Delphi Center’s cyber investigation unit, Laney Knox sneaks into some of the deepest, darkest corners of the Internet looking for predators. Laney would prefer to stay away from Austin PD’s most recent murder case, but she can’t ignore the chilling similarities between that crime and her own brutal attack years ago. Laney offers to help the sexy lead detective, but he wants more from her than just a promising tip—Reed wants her trust. Laney resists, but as their relationship deepens she’s tempted to reveal the closely guarded secrets that could make her a key witness…or the killer’s next victim."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I have an idea for new year and need you all to brainstorm and tell me if crazy or doable. We're going the scientific and math route with prime numbers so figured since we have been around the world over land and sea, we can go underground with a gemology challenge with the birthstones of the month. Thinking so far, sort of like alphabetical or spell the month, spell the stone and / or read books surrounding country mined or era.

 

For example Garnet is January and used in jewelry in ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome and Europe during Middle Ages. I'll have link to more history. So read books with words starting with g in the title, then a, etc and/or read book set in the ancient time.

 

Make sense?

Makes sense to me. I'm willing to try. :) It might fit in well with some of my plans for next year's books. Lots of different ideas on ways to accomplish each month's goals which is ideal for our group!

 

I really want to get back to reading more history which I used to really enjoy. Thinking about either Cornwell's Last Kingdom series and/or Rutherford starting with Sarum. I have never read either author so very preliminary. ;) I also have some interesting looking Greek and Egyptian mysteries on a list somewhere which might fit in with your idea nicely.

[Jane in NC]

I'm reading these too, and enjoying them. I read 'Understand' yesterday and thought it was fantastic, my favorite so far besides the title piece.

 

I read Julius Caesar yesterday. That was my first read of this play. Not much about Caesar, but a fascinating character sketch/comparison of the naive honorable man, the devious manipulator, and the pragmatic manipulator. Not to mention a good study on how crowds can be manipulated by rhetoric.  Antony's speech is a classic case of the use of irony/sarcasm for rhetorical purpose. It's probably worth deconstructing a bit and gleaning some lessons from.

 

Noteworthy: in 2004, we saw a Royal Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar set in Russia.  Blew me out of the water then, worth reprising today.

[JennW in SoCal]

I love it! And Eliana, who has been away most of the year. And a few other ladies, too.

 

Its one that gets reread every few years.

[shukriyya]

I'm half way through Gaudy Night. It's a lovely way to while away a heatwave. Except for the classist bits.

 

 

This has been on my tbr list forever. I begin it and enjoy the beginning lol and then get sidetracked. Everyone here has thoroughly enjoyed it IIRC. 

[aggieamy]

Really really off topic but ...

 

Is there a way to make it so we don't see the CURRENT EVENTS AND NEWS board?  I'm trying to be on a media blackout because I'm having a bit of anxiety and news isn't helping with it right now.  This is really the only place I come to right now but I can't do a direct link to it because we have a new thread each week.  Any ideas for someone that want to hide their head in the sand?

[Robin M]

Really really off topic but ...

 

Is there a way to make it so we don't see the CURRENT EVENTS AND NEWS board?  I'm trying to be on a media blackout because I'm having a bit of anxiety and news isn't helping with it right now.  This is really the only place I come to right now but I can't do a direct link to it because we have a new thread each week.  Any ideas for someone that want to hide their head in the sand?

I don't see a current events and news board here on WTM. Where is it and then I'll tell you how to avoid it.  

[JennW in SoCal]

Really really off topic but ...

 

Is there a way to make it so we don't see the CURRENT EVENTS AND NEWS board?  I'm trying to be on a media blackout because I'm having a bit of anxiety and news isn't helping with it right now.  This is really the only place I come to right now but I can't do a direct link to it because we have a new thread each week.  Any ideas for someone that want to hide their head in the sand?

 

What I do is to just open the main page (forums.welltrainedmind.com) that shows all the forum titles, and I navigate directly here from the notifications icon in the top right hand corner it looks like a speech bubble icon with a person icon inside, and it is in between your user name and the envelope icon. Click on that icon, and you can click onto the thread through "JennW in SoCal quoted (or liked) a post you made in Book A week 2016- BW50..."

 

I never have to see the thread titles on the chat board this way, and my head stays firmly  buried in the sand. (Til I get curious and start looking at news sites or facebook, and when that makes me anxious I shut the laptop and scold myself. Do I ever learn? No!)

[Robin M]

It's a social group. I'm sorry, I don't know how to avoid seeing social groups if they are open and not private. I'm not very good at navigating these forums.

 

 

Oh! Amy - I think the only way you see the social groups in the main forum is if you are part of the group.  I don't see any of the social group listing, except for one.  If I don't want to see it, I click the - / +  button on the right of the social groups header and it closes the whole forum. If you put your mouse in the blue section of the header, whether for Welcome, Education, or the Lounge, you'll see the little widget pop up on the right hand side.  Click on it and the forum will stay closed until you choose to open it again.  You can do the same for any of the main sections. Make sense.

[Little Nyssa]

Sadie, I'm probably not who you are thinking of, but I love, love, love Dorothy Sayers and Gaudy Night is my favorite. :)

 

Reading poems of Neruda this week.

 

Thank you all for this thread/group! I've enjoyed your/our book talk very much.

[mumto2]

Amy, I control looking at the main board by keeping the "items I have participated in" selected on the left hand side. That way I can refresh with the view new content if I need to and just look at threads I have already participated in. Each Sunday I try to post early on the new BaW thread using Robin's link to find the new thread. I only look at the main board when I feel like it.

[Violet Crown]

Late late late late....

 

Finished Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (recommended for Wodehouse fans), Shusaku Endo's A Life of Christ (dated and disappointing), and the Arabic Infancy Gospel (6th century; weirdly amusing). Currently reading Flannery O'Connor's short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find (even better with age [mine]).

[Mom-ninja.]

I have an idea for new year and need you all to brainstorm and tell me if crazy or doable. We're going the scientific and math route with prime numbers so figured since we have been around the world over land and sea, we can go underground with a gemology challenge with the birthstones of the month. Thinking so far, sort of like alphabetical or spell the month, spell the stone and / or read books surrounding country mined or era.

 

For example Garnet is January and used in jewelry in ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome and Europe during Middle Ages. I'll have link to more history. So read books with words starting with g in the title, then a, etc and/or read book set in the ancient time.

 

Make sense?

Or simply read a book with the birth stone in the title. That would not necessarily mean it would be mathy or sciencey. 

 

Quick google search showed: Garnet's Story, The Garnet Dagger, Miss Garnet's Angel, Corpse with the Garnet Face, Garnet Hart, Garnet's Queen

 

 

That might make for an interesting way to chose a book to read. 

[fastweedpuller]

Really really off topic but ...

 

Is there a way to make it so we don't see the CURRENT EVENTS AND NEWS board?  I'm trying to be on a media blackout because I'm having a bit of anxiety and news isn't helping with it right now.  This is really the only place I come to right now but I can't do a direct link to it because we have a new thread each week.  Any ideas for someone that want to hide their head in the sand?

Sadie, I make a new bookmark every week of this particular section of the forum.  BaW50 is on my bookmark tab, and then when it shows up I navigate to "go to first unread post".  But I only come on here with my computer; not sure if navigation is stranger or more convoluted by other means.  Hugs though!

[fastweedpuller]

I am quite shocked by how many books on my list were from 2016!  It goes to show how powerful is the E-book...I would never be able to get them otherwise, either by the paltry offerings of our wee library or the paltry offerings of my empty checkbook.  Ahem.

 

My two fave books thusfar this year were put out in 2015; they were Patti Smith's M Train and William Finnegan's Barbarian Days, both are memoirs so I suppose these fall into both the fiction and nonfiction camp?  If they do, I claim them both because they stick with me.

 

Other 2016: Fiction:  The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel; Innocents and Others by Dana Spiotta; Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld; My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Stroud; The Vegetarian by Han King; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; The Mothers by Brit Bennet; The Mandibles: a Family, by Lionel Shriver; Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson.  Nonfiction:  Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli; Dark Money by Jane Mayer; Evicted, by Matthew Desmond; White Trash, by Nancy Isenberg; The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnick; How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, by Rosa Brooks; American Girls:  Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales; Girls and Sex by Peggy Ornstein.  Memoirs:  Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance; Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.  And my abandoned books contain 3 2016 publications:  Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer; Originals by Adam Grant; and Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich. 

 

So happy I found BaW!  quite a few of the above, as well as the other books (sheesh, 61 so far!) on my list are thanks to all of YOU.  :grouphug:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Woo! We just had a little earthquake - 4.7 - located close by. Anybody else in No Cal feel it? It was centered near Cobb. It was definitely a noticeable shake.

 

Anxiety, yes. I am stressed by a new bout of parental drama that hit yesterday. It's always around the holidays. It's so hard, I'm feeling anxious enough and I'm really trying not to get spun out on this. My dd is feeling a lot of anxiety too, she woke me up in the night freaking out and I didn't fall asleep again for a long time. I pulled Nothing Special by Charlotte Joko Beck off my shelf and maybe it will help with centering. Deep breaths.  Just keep swimming.  

 

:grouphug: to all who are stressed by the holidays or anything else. Thank you all for creating this peaceful place.

 

[mumto2]

I am quite shocked by how many books on my list were from 2016! It goes to show how powerful is the E-book...I would never be able to get them otherwise, either by the paltry offerings of our wee library or the paltry offerings of my empty checkbook. Ahem.

 

 

The huge variety of books that I can have at the press of a finger amazes me.

 

Stacia and Kathy?.....a copy of Gnarr just arrived as a Christmas gift for dc's friend who has a huge fascination with all things Iceland. I started reading it and dh took it away because he has another possibly less perfect copy coming. Used books and availability are pretty amazing these days too, I believe there were 2 used copies for 1p each. We ordered both, the one that just arrived is new. I've bought new books that were less perfect. Go figure......

[Kareni]

I just finished reading  Dream Man by Linda Howard which is a book I first read years ago.  It was enjoyable but interesting to see how dated some things now appear; the book was first published in 1994.  (Trigger warnings for violence, physical and sexual.)

 

"Had she finally met the man she longed for...or was she dreaming?

 

Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the knowing -- the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened -- had been destroyed in the nightmare of her past. Then one night it returned with a vengeance, and she desperately needed to find someone to make it stop.

 

Detective Dane Hollister of the Orlando police department had never met anyone like Marlie. He had doubts about her clairvoyance, but there was no doubt how much he desired her. Her soft, sweet scent set his blood afire, and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and chase the sadness from her eyes. To Marlie, Dane was all heat and hard muscle, and he made her body come alive as it never had before. But not even she could foresee where their passion would lead: a hungry quest for the elusive, dreamy ecstasies of love...and a dangerous journey into the twisted mind of a madman who would threaten their happiness and their lives...."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[aggieamy]

Late late late late....

 

Finished Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (recommended for Wodehouse fans), Shusaku Endo's A Life of Christ (dated and disappointing), and the Arabic Infancy Gospel (6th century; weirdly amusing). Currently reading Flannery O'Connor's short story collection A Good Man is Hard to Find (even better with age [mine]).

 

Yes!  One of my favorite books of years gone by.

 

And :001_wub:  to your comment about your husband.  You crazy kids! 

 

 

:grouphug: to all who are stressed by the holidays or anything else. Thank you all for creating this peaceful place.

 

The anxiety sucks.  I feel like those of us going through it should have a text ring so when we wake up at 3 am with our thoughts racing when can text message and try to calm each other down.  I'm assuming I'm not the only one with the 3 am unexplained anxiety wake up?!?!? 

[aggieamy]

Finished:

 

Death in Cyprus by MM Kaye - A cozy murder mystery from a series I hadn't read before.  A bit dated but overall enjoyable and fun.  The narrator was horrible though.  The American woman sounded like the worst stereotype of an American accent possible and all the rest of the woman characters sounded like 12 year old girls.  I liked MM Kaye's writing style though and plan to read more books by her.

 

Talking about Detective Fiction by PD James -  You know when you start a book and you thought it was going to be a completely different book?  That's what this one was.  I thought it was going to be PD James talking about her writing but it was an overview/study of mysteries.  It was a very broad overview and I think I would have liked it better if it went more into detail.  My mystery to-read list grew exponentially after reading her book.

[aggieamy]

I totally love the Year in Review that Goodreads does.  If anyone is not friends with me on Goodreads then feel free to friend me!

 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/5684259

 

[JennW in SoCal]

I totally love the Year in Review that Goodreads does.  If anyone is not friends with me on Goodreads then feel free to friend me!

 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/5684259

 

I clearly don't keep my book list current on goodreads. My year in review says I've read only 28 books, meaning there's almost 50 books I haven't bothered to list! 

[Ali in OR]

Hopefully I can catch up and read the thread in the days to come as things calm down here. Just thought I would update on my reading:

 

Finished American Pastoral and decided I hated it. I think Phillip Roth is a decent writer, but I hated this story, thought things were left unfinished, way too much detail. Still reading The Mysteries of Udolpho and am enjoying it even though it would be easy to poke fun at lots of stuff (way too much female fainting!). Still have half to go (long, long book and can't really skip on the kindle).

 

Dd and I listened to Neil Gaiman reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane on a road trip and enjoyed it. I have to say that I think I would enjoy listening to Neil Gaiman reading a grocery list. Such enunciation, the way he stresses words, that English pronunciation...swoon!

 

That's it for now. Back to freezing rain that we hope will become snow soon.

[ErinE]

I totally love the Year in Review that Goodreads does. If anyone is not friends with me on Goodreads then feel free to friend me!

 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/5684259

What a neat feature! For the first time, I tried to keep track of my books on Goodreads this year rather than use it for research. I liked seeing all the books at once plus the cumulative pages read.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/3592215

 

ETA: Fixed the link. For anyone else having trouble, I used the Twitter button and removed "?utm_source=twitter" from the url link.

Edited December 15, 2016 by ErinE

[Ethel Mertz]

 

The anxiety sucks.  I feel like those of us going through it should have a text ring so when we wake up at 3 am with our thoughts racing when can text message and try to calm each other down.  I'm assuming I'm not the only one with the 3 am unexplained anxiety wake up?!?!? 

 

Up at 5 am today, so you're not alone. Oddly enough, I discovered that chewing bubble gum (and blowing bubbles) seems to break the anxiety attack. At least for now ... I think it's something about the physicality of it that is re-centering. That and reading fluffy books...

[Stacia]

What a neat feature! For the first time, I tried to keep track of my books on Goodreads this year rather than use it for research. I liked seeing all the books at once plus the cumulative pages read.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016

 

Erin, this is not connecting to your page. I would love to see your list, though, if you can update the link. (Try to get a link where it has a specific number at the end of the url.)

 

Mine is here.

 

Amy, when I scrolled through yours, it looks like you read many books with faces on the cover.

 

And, I'm raising my hand to join the middle-of-the-night/early morning anxiety texting club. I'm usually up at 5am (or earlier) because of anxiety these days. Hate it. :grouphug:  to all my friends here in a similar stressful boat. Sadie, I liked your comment that this thread does not raise your blood pressure! Very true. (But I bet it increases everyone's to-read lists. :lol: )

 

Have had no time to read lately. Not sure how much reading I'll get done between now & the end of the year.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Stacia

[Stacia]

Btw, The Wee Free Men is $1.99 on kindle today.

 

mumto2, hope your friend enjoys Gnarr! I thought it was a nice, fun read.

 

 

[Violet Crown]

I'm just going to say that wee-hour anxiety waking is very correlated with perimenopause, and (particularly in my case) with a dropping body temperature, and was 100% cured for me by a full-body heating pad. https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-Heated-Comfy-Warming-Queen/dp/B00ENRCMC0

Side benefit (I suppose): attracts cats and young children.

[Robin M]

I clearly don't keep my book list current on goodreads. My year in review says I've read only 28 books, meaning there's almost 50 books I haven't bothered to list! 

Well you have me beat, because Goodreads says I've only read 3 books this year.   :lol:    I've read close to 100 which tells how much I update Goodreads.  

[Angelaboord]

I am quite shocked by how many books on my list were from 2016! It goes to show how powerful is the E-book...I would never be able to get them otherwise, either by the paltry offerings of our wee library or the paltry offerings of my empty checkbook. Ahem.

 

My two fave books thusfar this year were put out in 2015; they were Patti Smith's M Train and William Finnegan's Barbarian Days, both are memoirs so I suppose these fall into both the fiction and nonfiction camp? If they do, I claim them both because they stick with me.

 

Other 2016: Fiction: The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel; Innocents and Others by Dana Spiotta; Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld; My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Stroud; The Vegetarian by Han King; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; The Mothers by Brit Bennet; The Mandibles: a Family, by Lionel Shriver; Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson. Nonfiction: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli; Dark Money by Jane Mayer; Evicted, by Matthew Desmond; White Trash, by Nancy Isenberg; The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnick; How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, by Rosa Brooks; American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales; Girls and Sex by Peggy Ornstein. Memoirs: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance; Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. And my abandoned books contain 3 2016 publications: Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer; Originals by Adam Grant; and Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich.

 

So happy I found BaW! quite a few of the above, as well as the other books (sheesh, 61 so far!) on my list are thanks to all of YOU. :grouphug:

Oh - what didn't you like about Secondhand Time? I was thinking I might ask for it for Christmas.

 

I read a few 2016 books this year; more are on my TBR list, which means they might be read in a few years when everybody's done talking about them. [emoji4] More of my books this year were BaW titles!

 

-- Angela

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Lady Florida.]

I'm just going to say that wee-hour anxiety waking is very correlated with perimenopause, 

 

That was definitely the case for me. I thought it was going to be my new normal but once I crossed over into being fully post-menopausal it stopped. I rarely wake in the middle of the night anymore and I rarely have any more attacks, either at night or during the day. Just thought some of you who might be in the middle of this life event would want to know there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

 

As for Goodreads, here's my year in review.  I think I'm already friends with those of you on Goodreads who sent me friend requests, but if anyone else wants to add me, feel free. 

Edited December 15, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[6packofun]

Non fiction fave of the year - Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

 

 

 

I put this on reserve at my library the other day.  Glad to hear it's so good. "Good" seeming an inadequate word to describe it, I'm sure.

[6packofun]

Erin, this is not connecting to your page. I would love to see your list, though, if you can update the link. (Try to get a link where it has a specific number at the end of the url.)

 

Mine is here.

 

Amy, when I scrolled through yours, it looks like you read many books with faces on the cover.

 

 

 

Oh my goodness, I love this feature on GoodReads!  Here it is the end of the year and I'm kicking myself again for not keeping a written record of what I've read.  Thanks for sharing! 

[mumto2]

Up at 5 am today, so you're not alone. Oddly enough, I discovered that chewing bubble gum (and blowing bubbles) seems to break the anxiety attack. At least for now ... I think it's something about the physicality of it that is re-centering. That and reading fluffy books...

 

 

When it's really bad I drink tea. Something about the warmth helps and I actually calm down enough to go back to sleep for a bit.

 

 

 

 

I'm just going to say that wee-hour anxiety waking is very correlated with perimenopause, and (particularly in my case) with a dropping body temperature, and was 100% cured for me by a full-body heating pad. https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-Heated-Comfy-Warming-Queen/dp/B00ENRCMC0

Side benefit (I suppose): attracts cats and young children.

A heating pad is my other trick. I actually have yours but ended up switching back to the old fashioned small one because I can throw it out of bed if I get too hot. For me I freezing one minute and too warm the next. Also the full body one does tend to get a person crowded out of bed! My small version just gets stolen.....

[Jane in NC]

Jane's DH here: reporting that Jane's cataract surgery went well yesterday. Is home resting her eyes, should be back on the boards this weekend. Currently listening to a Jasper Fforde novel on digital audio.

[fastweedpuller]

Perimenopause also equals late-night anxiety bouts for me.  And if I drink anything alcoholic, even if I double up the water intake before bed, well...it's not fun.  It's an odd way to feel better, though, knowing there are so many of you up at 3am...like, telepathically, we can send each other comforting thoughts.  (It was quite worse 2 holiday seasons back, when family problems surfaced; so many sleepless nights, so I get it!)

 

Here is my Goodreads tally, I am pleased I have made a concerted effort to keep it up...

 

Angela, Secondhand Time is worth it if you push yourself.  It's interviews, bunched with little explanation.  I kept getting lost in who was doing the telling.  It might be better on audio if they've got a host of different voices...

 

Two reads this week, both overlong and in need of editing:

 

City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg:  another NYC story, putative murder-mystery; everything ties up so neatly in the end.  I feel I do need to do some editing of how I choose my books, and this book is Exhibit A.  The problem with Overdrive lists is that things pop up in orders not of your choosing, so this book showed up at the same time as Donna Tartt's The Secret History which has, hah, another murder as its story.  I need to steer clear of NYC books for a while, having just tossed Here I Am, finished The Mandibles, The Interestings, The Submission, A Little Life, Fates and Furies, The Goldfinch, etcetcetc find another setting already

 

History by Elsa Morante.  This book had an interesting premise:  take an actual newspaper horror story and flesh it out into a whole book, with the omniscient narrator as reporter (complete with lines like "and I think that shop still exists").  This History is WW2 written out in the fates of one small family in Rome.  It is Elsa Morante that Elena Ferrante so admired (and I admire Elena Ferrante) so I figured I needed to give this book a go.

[Lady Florida.]

Jane's DH here: reporting that Jane's cataract surgery went well yesterday. Is home resting her eyes, should be back on the boards this weekend. Currently listening to a Jasper Fforde novel on digital audio.

 

Thank you for letting us know, Mr. Jane. :)

[Ethel Mertz]

Jane's DH here: reporting that Jane's cataract surgery went well yesterday. Is home resting her eyes, should be back on the boards this weekend. Currently listening to a Jasper Fforde novel on digital audio.

 

Glad things went well! 

 

Here's my year in books. Feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads, if you haven't already. I don't know how much more reading I'm going to get done before the end of the year. I know I probably won't win our family contest of bird species seen this year (238) versus books I've read (217 and counting), but it has been a great way to motivate DS to get out there in the field birding. 14 year old boys are so competitive!

 

This year I've been like a kid in a candy store reading everything I can get my hands on (after a very long time reading child development books and homeschooling materials). Next year I imagine will be a slower, more thoughtful, reading year. I love the idea of birthstones and have already started going through my TBR list with that in mind. Question: when choosing a title that begins with a certain letter, what do we do with articles (The, A, etc.)? My inclination is to skip the articles and go on to the second word.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Count me in with the middle of the night wake-ups, too, though mine are usually associated with raging, sweaty hot flashes, so I suspect the heating pad will not be needed. 

 

I'll toast you all with a cup of tea, although 3 am here is probably wake-up time for many of you . . . 

 

I've put aside Anna Karenina for now.  Somehow the whole "all unhappy families are unhappy in different ways" think is just bringing me down at the moment, big time.  I just read the chapter where Vronsky kills his horse and practically threw the book across the room.  Maybe in the springtime or when I don't feel like riding a horse off a cliff myself.

 

I found just the book I was looking for: Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It is excellent reading.  Y'all know what I mean by that - great writing, important subject - another book that it's hard to call "good" but easy to call Great.

[Kareni]

Jane's DH here: reporting that Jane's cataract surgery went well yesterday. Is home resting her eyes, should be back on the boards this weekend. Currently listening to a Jasper Fforde novel on digital audio.

 

Thanks for the report, Husband of Jane.  (I'm thinking of movie titles here such as Bride of Frankenstein.  Perhaps I should address you as Groom of Jane, Jane's DH, but that brings horses and stables to mind.)  Please give Jane my good wishes.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Jane's DH here: reporting that Jane's cataract surgery went well yesterday. Is home resting her eyes, should be back on the boards this weekend. Currently listening to a Jasper Fforde novel on digital audio.

Thank you for letting us know. Sending virtual hugs your way! I'm sure our queen bee will be resting like the doctor ordered and enjoying being treated with lots of tlc.

[Kareni]

There was much discussion of Shirley Jackson some months ago.  I saw this article on the Tor.com site and thought it might interest others here:

 

Shirley Jackson’s Haunted Houses and Haunted Psyches  by Leah Schnelbach

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Stacia]

Glad to hear that Jane is doing well. Hope Fforde is providing some good chuckles while she recuperates! Thanks for letting us know, Jane's dh.

 

Ethel, your Goodreads link of your year in books is not working for me. (Make sure your url has a specific number at the end of it, rather than just the generic year in books link.)

 

I feel like returning all my books to the library. There are just too many things going on right now, people will start arriving from out of town next week, etc.... No time to read & yet I look longingly at my books when I pass by them. But, I'm also too scatterbrained right now to really concentrate on anything novel-length right now.

 

A fun list (imo):

32 Of The Most Beautiful Book Covers Of 2016

[Kareni]

I read with pleasure  Well Read, Well Fed; A Year of Great Reads and Simple Dishes for Book Groups  by Marcia F. Brown.  I'd recommend this book to readers who are not in book groups as well as those who are.  It has some good book recommendations as well as a dozen appealing recipes.

 

"Well Read, Well Fed celebrates the monthly book club gatherings that are as much about sharing food, wine, and catching up, as the books read. It embraces both a love of good books and good food, and the pleasure of sharing them with like-minded friends. A go-to kitchen staple for book club hosts with recipes that are simple to prepare, this book features inspiring lists of book titles and authors for book clubs to explore. The twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, contain informal essays about books and reading, recommendation lists and a short food essay with recipes for simple, healthful main dishes and light accompaniments. Most dishes conform to vegetarian diets with some seafood recipes as well as options for meat-eaters. This is the perfect book to insure that your book club is a relaxed yet stimulating get together for both the host and the participants."

**

 

I also read and enjoyed Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh.  (Significant adult content)

 

"Ex-surfer-turned-businessman Liam Mallaney moved back to Holkham, Norfolk, to mourn the loss of his husband. Grief and loneliness keep him a solitary figure, and he likes it that way. There’s no room in his broken heart for anything else.

Rentboy Zac Payne left London and most of his demons behind, but he still only knows one way to make a living. When he spots Liam in a club one night, it seems he’s found his mark. But Liam proves nicer — and their connection far deeper — than he’d bargained for.

Their arrangement quickly becomes too complicated for Zac, who has other things on his mind: namely his BFF and wayward flatmate, Jamie. Zac owes Jamie the world, and even as Jamie’s drug addiction destroys all they have, Zac won’t leave him behind.

Besides, Liam knows nothing of Zac’s home life, too caught up in his own head to think much beyond the crazy heat he and Zac share. But when trouble comes to Zac’s door, putting his life in danger, Liam must set his grief and anger aside to pick up the pieces of Zac’s shattered heart and his own."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[JennW in SoCal]

 

I feel like returning all my books to the library. There are just too many things going on right now, people will start arriving from out of town next week, etc.... No time to read & yet I look longingly at my books when I pass by them. But, I'm also too scatterbrained right now to really concentrate on anything novel-length right now.

 

A fun list (imo):

32 Of The Most Beautiful Book Covers Of 2016

 

The bolded is far too true for me, too. I told someone I've got a bad case holiday induced ADHD!

 

Those are some beautiful book covers, but I'm not looking any further.  Too many books, too scattered a brain...

[Ethel Mertz]

Glad to hear that Jane is doing well. Hope Fforde is providing some good chuckles while she recuperates! Thanks for letting us know, Jane's dh.

 

Ethel, your Goodreads link of your year in books is not working for me. (Make sure your url has a specific number at the end of it, rather than just the generic year in books link.)

Ah - Hopefully, this will do it.

[Stacia]

Cool. Thanks, Ethel. It works.

 

I love seeing everyone's lists...