Book a Week 2018 - BW10: March footpaths from Dublin to Dorsey

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday and welcome to Week Ten in our Open Roads Reading Adventure. Greetings to all our readers and to all following our progress.  Mister Linky is available weekly on 52 Books in 52 Weeks  to share a link to your book reviews.

 

 

Time to bid February adieu as we say Dia Dhuit to March. Are you ready to walk in the footsteps of  Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Frank McCourt, and Maeve Binchy?  We're going to follow footpaths from Dublin to Dorsey, exploring both classic and contemporary authors from Ireland. We have much to celebrate this month including Women's History Month,  Irish American Heritage Month, St. Patrick's Festival, plus International French Language Day,  Forests,  Nowruz Day, World Poetry Day as well as the March Equinox.  

 

Our author choices of the month are Maeve Binchy and John Connolly who I'll talk about more next week.  Meanwhile, let's take a book tour with Ireland by the Book, Blue Book's Literary Tour, or Culture Trip's Literary Tour of Dublin with Yeats, Joyce and Swift. Learn more about Irish authors through Irish Central's Irish Authors and Writers You Should Know, or Twenty Irish Novels You Should Read Before You Die.  Also check out Goodread's Best Fiction Set in Ireland as well as Popular Irish Mystery Books. 

 

 

Our Blossomology challenge takes us back to the time of Ireland's ancient Druids.  Our flower of the month is a three leaf Clover plant commonly called a Shamrock. Not to be confused with the rare four leaf clover.  The Shamrock comes from the Gaelic word seamróg which means little clover.  The shamrock is the unofficial national flower of Ireland.  Three was an important number to the druids who considered the plant to be sacred.  St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland used the three leaves to explain the Holy trinity.  It became a symbol of rebellion when it was adopted as the emblem for the 1777 Irish Volunteers. The Nationalist's movement in the 19th century used the shamrock and harp as one of their emblems.   

 

There are a number of directions to go with this challenge. You may choose to spell out Shamrock or Clover. You may choose to spell out the word, reading one book per letter using either the title and/or the first or last name of the author.  Yes, you can mix it up.  You may read a book with the name of the flower, color of the flower in the title, or on the cover.  Another possibility is a book which takes place in the time period or flower's country of origin or has some cultural significance and/or symbolism of the flower.  The choices are unlimited.  

 

For all our Brit Trippers, whether you are on the Detective or Rebel bus or hanging out with Bertram Wooster, this week we’ll be traveling through Northamptonshire and Rutland, the English counties where George Washington’s ancestors immigrated from. More important it’s the location of Princess Diana’s childhood home.   

 

 

Rabbit trails: Peterborough Cathedral

 

Have fun following rabbit trails and see where it takes you. 

 

 

 

********************************************

What are you reading this week?

 

 

Link to Week 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Robin M]

I just finished A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis. I had a hard time it putting it down once I started reading. McGinnis's writing and characters drew me in  and played upon my emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, liked the characters, but found myself questioning how I feel about it. Does the character's plight make the end results justifiable. How do you root for someone who takes matters into their own hand and goes against the law. But then the law wasn't doing anything for her. Is it madness or justice or revenge. Which is it? Which is why this was a truly great story. It makes you question as well as bleed for the characters.

 

 

" Grace Mae knows madness. She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

 

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

 

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us."

 

 

Edited to finish thoughts on story. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Robin M

[Kareni]

Some currently free books for Kindle readers ~

 

a one day only sale on this classic:  The Bostonians by Henry James

 

The following is a 26,000 plus page collection!: BRITISH MYSTERIES boxed set

 

a mystery:  The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery  by CeeCee James

 

science fiction:  A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz

 

espionage: Chasing the Monkey King  by D.C. Alexander

 

Secret Sister  by Emelle Gamble

 

The Moon Dwellers: A SciFi Dystopian Thriller  by David Estes

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Negin]

I read From Sand and Ash - 4 Stars - This is a beautiful story based on true events in Italy during WWII. It was a complete eye-opener for me since I had no idea as to how involved the Catholic Church was in helping to hide and evacuate Jews. Some of the characters in this book are based on real people. One of these is the Irish priest Monsignor O´Flaherty who helped to save 6,500 Jews and Allied soldiers. So brilliant was he in evading the Gestapo, that he was nicknamed “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vaticanâ€. 

 

All in all, this was a lovely read. There were parts that were a bit too coincidental for my liking, but I think that’s what I may have needed most, given how caught up I was in the story!

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

 

“Fear is strange. It settles on chests and seeps through skin, through layers of tissue, muscle, and bone, and collects in a soul-size black hole, sucking the joy out of life, the pleasure, the beauty. But not the hope. Somehow, the hope is the only thing resistant to the fear, and it is that hope that makes the next breath possible, the next step, the next tiny act of rebellion, even if that rebellion is simply staying alive.â€

 

“A rejected infant will often die, even if its basic needs are met. A rejected child will spend his whole life trying to please everyone else, and never please himself. A rejected woman will often cheat, just to feel desirable. A rejected man will rarely try again, no matter how lonely he is. A rejected people will convince themselves they deserve it, if only to make sense of a senseless world.â€

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

[Kareni]

I read From Sand and Ash - 4 Stars - This is a beautiful story based on true events in Italy during WWII. ...

 

I started this some time ago but did not finish it.  I may have to try it again.

 

My favorite book by the author is Making Faces by Amy Harmon.  (If you can read it without crying, I will be amazed.)

 

I see that she has a currently free work for those who read German.  The book size is given as 59 pages; I think this is only part of the novel.  I read this book in English and enjoyed it though it's quite different from both From Sand and Ash and from Making Faces.

 

Bird and Sword (Bird-and-Sword-Reihe 1) (German Edition)  by Amy Harmon and Corinna Wieja

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LuvToRead]

I am working on "E" in rose.

R - Sidney Chambers the Shadow of Death - James Runcie

O - Out of the Ruins - Karen Barnett

S - Sisters First - Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush

E - The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble - I am currently reading

 

I am not making much progress on the road trip.

London - Death in a White Tie - Ngaio Marsh

Cambridgeshire - Sydney Chambers and the Shadow of Death

I am skipping Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire for now.  I may come back to them later.

Northhamptonshire - Murder at Mansfield Park - Lynn Shepherd - Currently reading

 

 

[mumto2]

I read From Sand and Ash - 4 Stars - This is a beautiful story based on true events in Italy during WWII. It was a complete eye-opener for me since I had no idea as to how involved the Catholic Church was in helping to hide and evacuate Jews. Some of the characters in this book are based on real people. One of these is the Irish priest Monsignor O´Flaherty who helped to save 6,500 Jews and Allied soldiers. So brilliant was he in evading the Gestapo, that he was nicknamed “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vaticanâ€. 

 

All in all, this was a lovely read. There were parts that were a bit too coincidental for my liking, but I think that’s what I may have needed most, given how caught up I was in the story!

 

Some of my favorite quotes:

 

“Fear is strange. It settles on chests and seeps through skin, through layers of tissue, muscle, and bone, and collects in a soul-size black hole, sucking the joy out of life, the pleasure, the beauty. But not the hope. Somehow, the hope is the only thing resistant to the fear, and it is that hope that makes the next breath possible, the next step, the next tiny act of rebellion, even if that rebellion is simply staying alive.â€

 

“A rejected infant will often die, even if its basic needs are met. A rejected child will spend his whole life trying to please everyone else, and never please himself. A rejected woman will often cheat, just to feel desirable. A rejected man will rarely try again, no matter how lonely he is. A rejected people will convince themselves they deserve it, if only to make sense of a senseless world.â€

 

 

MY RATING SYSTEM

5 Stars

Fantastic, couldn't put it down

4 Stars

Really Good

3 Stars

Enjoyable

2 Stars

Just Okay – nothing to write home about

1 Star

Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

  

 

The book sounds wonderful!

 

There is a great movie that tells the same story called The Scarlet and the Black if anyone wants to use it for high school history. One of Dh's favorite movies.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NgRxWrlMCOA

 

 

I am working on "E" in rose.

R - Sidney Chambers the Shadow of Death - James Runcie

O - Out of the Ruins - Karen Barnett

S - Sisters First - Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush

E - The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble - I am currently reading

 

I am not making much progress on the road trip.

London - Death in a White Tie - Ngaio Marsh

Cambridgeshire - Sydney Chambers and the Shadow of Death

I am skipping Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire for now.  I may come back to them later.

Northhamptonshire - Murder at Mansfield Park - Lynn Shepherd - Currently reading

Some counties are harder than others. Remember you can substitute a "wild card" book if you need to. :)

 

Congrats on spelling Rose.

[Rachel]

I finally finished a book! I read “Beartown†by Fredrik Backman (the same author as “A Man Called Oveâ€) this week. I liked it ok, but there was too much foul language and too many crude jokes for my liking. I felt like the story could have been told without going quite so far.

 

Our family also finished “The Long Winter†by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It’s a second read for me but I’m still amazed by how all the people in the town survived such a harsh winter. I’ve lived through South Dakota winters with modern heat, plumbing, and snow plows, they can be quite harsh!

[mumto2]

Thanks Robin for all the great Ireland links. I have been lost in Irish rabbit trails for the past couple of hours. I have had to reserve more books. I hope I can carry what I have waiting! I am particularly excited about a book by Erin Hart called Haunted Ground https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905451.Haunted_Ground. Thrilled the library has it.

 

I am also planning to read at least one Cora Harrison while in Ireland. She has a whole series featuring a lady judgehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1625740.My_Lady_Judge?ac=1&from_search=true. Bingo square!!!!! I can't find the first in the series but have a later book in the series reserved.

 

My Northamptonshire books will be A Long Shadow by Charles Todd https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205.A_Long_Shadow and possibly an audio version of A Glass of Time by Michael Cox. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7174668-the-glass-of-time. Let's just say I wanted backup in case jumping that far ahead in the Ian Rutledge series is too much for me! :lol:

 

Currently completely off the bus reading JD Robb's Dark in Death and listening to Chinese Sci Fi with The Dark Forest https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25332122-the-dark-forest.

Edited March 4, 2018 by mumto2

[LuvToRead]

  

 

The book sounds wonderful!

 

There is a great movie that tells the same story called The Scarlet and the Black if anyone wants to use it for high school history. One of Dh's favorite movies.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NgRxWrlMCOA

 

 

 

Some counties are harder than others. Remember you can substitute a "wild card" book if you need to. :)

 

Congrats on spelling Rose.

 

Is a wild card a book set in a fictional town?  I can't remember.  

My library is part of a fabulous ILL program, but I am still having trouble finding some titles.  Plus, it takes up to 2 weeks to get a books, so the scheduling is a bit tricky.  I am limited to 10 holds at one time (we have 3 cards, so 30 total) and I don't use history textbooks (and my youngest isn't using a science text), so most of my holds are taken up with history and science books for my girls.  

[LuvToRead]

Thanks Robin for all the great Ireland links. I have been lost in Irish rabbit trails for the past couple of hours. I have had to reserve more books. I hope I can carry what I have waiting! I am particularly excited about a book by Erin Hart called Haunted Ground https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/905451.Haunted_Ground. Thrilled the library has it.

 

I am also planning to read at least one Cora Harrison while in Ireland. She has a whole series featuring a lady judgehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1625740.My_Lady_Judge?ac=1&from_search=true. Bingo square!!!!! I can't find the first in the series but have a later book in the series reserved.

 

My Northamptonshire books will be A Long Shadow by Charles Todd https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205.A_Long_Shadow and possibly an audio version of A Glass of Time by Michael Cox. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7174668-the-glass-of-time. Let's just say I wanted backup in case jumping that far ahead in the Ian Rutledge series is too much for me! :lol:

 

Currently completely off the bus reading JD Robb's Dark in Death and listening to Chinese Sci Fi with The Dark Forest https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25332122-the-dark-forest.

 

Me too!  Ireland is the number one country I would love to visit one day.  The other country on my bucket list is Iceland.  I may get lost in Ireland this month.

[mumto2]

Is a wild card a book set in a fictional town?  I can't remember.  

My library is part of a fabulous ILL program, but I am still having trouble finding some titles.  Plus, it takes up to 2 weeks to get a books, so the scheduling is a bit tricky.  I am limited to 10 holds at one time (we have 3 cards, so 30 total) and I don't use history textbooks (and my youngest isn't using a science text), so most of my holds are taken up with history and science books for my girls.

 

A wild card is what we decided to call books that are set in fictional towns. There are quite a few of these series. Seriously read the books set in England that you enjoy and have access to. This is fun. We want everyone to be able to participate who is interested. If you end up with extra books set somewhere real they can be wild cards if needed. There are counties where there are so many great books available and others with almost none. We totally understand the need for wild cards. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when the detective in Cambridge Blue went to interview a suspect in Bedford! It became my Bedford mystery instantly! :lol:

 

Also don't worry if you end up late or early because of the library. Both Amy and I guarantee this will happen to us while Brit tripping.

[LuvToRead]

A wild card is what we decided to call books that are set in fictional towns. There are quite a few of these series. Seriously read the books set in England that you enjoy and have access to. This is fun. We want everyone to be able to participate who is interested. If you end up with extra books set somewhere real they can be wild cards if needed. There are counties where there are so many great books available and others with almost none. We totally understand the need for wild cards. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when the detective in Cambridge Blue went to interview a suspect in Bedford! It became my Bedford mystery instantly! :lol:

 

Also don't worry if you end up late or early because of the library. Both Amy and I guarantee this will happen to us while Brit tripping.

Thank you so much!  I have a tendency to get bogged down in the "right" way to do it. I feel I must read all the counties and in order.  Some people are very good at being carefree and spontaneous.  I am not but I am working on it!  

[JennyD]

This week I read two memoirs:

 

Rhoda Janzen, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: English professor who grew up Mennonite returns to her family home after her bipolar husband leaves for her for a man AND she gets into a terrible car accident.  Janzen is a lively writer and I learned a bit about the Mennonite culture, but otherwise not a particularly memorable read.

 

Roz Chast, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: Graphic memoir about the author's experience with her 90+ year-old parents' decline and deaths.  I've only recently started to appreciate graphic books, but I've seen Chast's cartoons over the years and have been meaning to read this for a while.  Absolutely searing and very depressing.  

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by JennyD

[Matryoshka]

Only managed to finish one book this week, though I did also waste time on a book I decided to abandon (Corazón tan blanco).    :glare:

 

20. Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty - for my scifi book club.  Cloning oneself has become a route to virtual immortality.  Five clones are chosen to man a generation ship that will take about four centuries to get there (they have all the supplies to re-clone themselves a number of times, along with a bunch more clones whose minds are in storage).  They're all criminals who have been promised their crimes will be forgiven when they get to the new planet - and as part of that no one knows what anyone else's crime was.  Only a relatively short distance in, however, they wake up in new bodies with no memory of what happened on the ship that got them all killed, although it's obvious from what happened to their old bodies it was one (or more) of them themselves. Oh, and whoever did it damaged the cloning equipment so if they get re-killed, it's for good.  This was a fairly fun book.  Murder mystery with clones in outer space.  But it does make clear that cloning ourselves into immortality is a really stupid idea.  3.5 stars.

 

Currently reading:

 

- The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama (audiobook) - I'm quite enjoying this.  It has a very meditative feel.  I'm starting to get annoyed by some overlooking of germ theory.  Main character is recovering from tuberculosis.  He befriends a bunch of lepers in leper colony, but is assured there's no health risk from touch through intact skin.  But then they share meals.  Now, both leprosy and tuberculosis are hard to catch and typically only infect people predisposed or those in prolonged contact (family members or caregivers), but both are spread by droplets, so NOT non-contagious.  And would someone else with a chronic disease and obviously somewhat immunocompromised not be just the kind of someone it might be spread to, especially when they're sharing uncooked food like sushi and tea in cups that weren't sanitized? (that would go both for tuberculosis guy catching leprosy and the lepers catching tuberculosis...)  This is pre-antibiotics, no cure for either.  And where do the lepers get the fresh raw fish for sushi, halfway up a mountain?  Supposedly only one outside person has been visiting them the past 30 years or so - does he buy all their food and all the materials to build the entire village himself on his gardener/housekeeper's salary?  And all of everyone's furniture? And guy with tuberculosis helps fight a fire but doesn't seem particularly set back by all the smoke inhalation, just has sore muscles? Okay, suspending disbelief again, because apart from that I'm liking it.   :001_rolleyes:

 

- The New Spaniards by John Hooper - I picked this up because I'm going to Spain in April, and I knew that there must have been a lot of change since I lived there only 10 years post-Franco.  I have to say this is a very interesting, well-written, and readable book so far.  I'm learning a lot, and I've read a lot about Spanish history, but haven't kept up as much with real-time.  Highly recommend to anyone who's interested in Spain.

 

- Inés del alma mía / Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende - This is historical fiction about the real figure Inés Suárez who in the 1500's traveled by herself to the new world, fought for the conquest of Chile and helped found the city of Santiago. I'd never heard of her, but she has quite the interesting and colorful story.  If I ever get my BaW Bingo act together this year, this would fit the 16th century square. :)

  

 

Coming up:

 

Have The Sparrow out of the library, also for SF book club.  I know a bunch of people here have read it, with some mixed reviews if I recall, so hope I like it!  Doesn't it have some Jesuits conquer the aliens theme?  Might end up having some overlap with Inés?  Next audio will likely be Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo or Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, whichever comes off Overdrive hold first - I'm first in line for both.  I'm getting close to the top of the ebook queue for We Were Eight Years in Power and Swedish Death Cleaning, so one of those might come up soon...

[Violet Crown]

Finished this week

 

20. Urban Holmes, Daily Living in the Twelfth Century

21. Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts - An expressionist novel from the '30s; cheerless and depressing in just the right way.

22. John Clare, Bird and Animal Poems (selections from The Rural Muse plus others) (Northamptonshire)

 

Currently reading more Child's Ballads (Robin Hood! Nottinghamshire!), and a very strange novel by Gregor von Rezzori, An Ermine in Czernopol.

[MamaBearTeacher]

I finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.  It was mostly a light read with nice characters.

 

I also read The Attack by Yasmina Khadra.  This is about suicide bombings and not a light read but has depth and good writing.

 

I started The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton which I am enjoying for it's mystery aspect.  It's nice to read a book that is mysterious but does not involve crime (at least from what I've read so far.  No spoilers please.)

 

To add to our homeschooling reading we started The Chosen by Chaim Potok and we are enjoying it so far.

[tuesdayschild]

Thank you so much!  I have a tendency to get bogged down in the "right" way to do it. I feel I must read all the counties and in order.  Some people are very good at being carefree and spontaneous.  I am not but I am working on it!  

You could just compartmentalise it as hopping on the bus with the Rebels - we'd all love the company - you can leap off at the next stop :)

[Violet Crown]

In honor of Northamptonshire week, here's John Clare's "Clock a Clay." While not as famous as "The Thrushes Nest" or "'I Am,'" it's the one I know best as it's included in our favorite children's poetry collection and I've read it aloud a hundred times. A clock-a-clay is a ladybird.

 

Clock a Clay

 

1

In the cowslips peeps I lye

Hidden from the buzzing fly

While green grass beneath me lies

Pearled wi’ dew like fishes eyes

Here I lye a Clock a clay

Waiting for the time o’ day

 

2

While grassy forests quake surprise

And the wild wind sobs and sighs

My gold home rocks as like to fall

On its pillars green and tall

When the pattering rain drives bye

Clock a Clay keeps warm and dry

 

3

Day by day and night by night

All the week I hide from sight

In the cowslips peeps I lye

In rain and dew still warm and dry

Day and night and night and day

Red black spotted clock a clay

 

4

My home it shakes in wind and showers

Pale green pillar top’t wi’ flowers

Bending at the wild wind’s breath

Till I touch the grass beneath

Here still I live lone clock a clay

Watching for the time of day

 

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Clare wrote this while incarcerated, poor man, in the Northampton General Lunatic Asylum. If parts of the poem sound vaguely borrowed ("In the cowslips peeps I lie"), it should be remembered that Clare believed he was, or had been, Shakespeare. And Lord Byron.

[tuesdayschild]

Audiobooks count for 80% of my literary input as working on our self-build is gifting me with a good deal of free headspace, but little time to sit and read.  Any physical books mentioned below are being read in very, very, small bites.

 

I'm working on 52 books in 52 weeks, and the Brit Trip challenge - both seem to be going well.

With Robin mentioning Ireland, now seems a good time to slip in the Overdrive audio version of a Celtic mystery she mentioned a while back (thanks, Robin).  Saint Brigid's Bones ~ Philip Freeman (County Kildare, Ireland) I wasn’t going to listen to this until my Brit Tripping was over.

 

Audiobooks Completed:

An Accidental Death: A DC Smith Investigation Series, Bk 1~ Peter Grainger  (4 stars)  (Norfolk) 

I enjoyed this book.  DC Smith is delightful.  Extra detail for others that like to know things like this too; there is cursing in this book, no f-bombs though.  The main characters beloved spouse has just died. A teen is murdered/drowned.  Grainger euphemistically refers to a previous, violent, case against young girls, and, a young couple commencing a sexual relationship at the end of the book (no steamy, sensuous scenes). 

 

A Pattern of Lies: Bess Crawford Mystery #7  ~ Charles Todd  (3 stars) (Kent) 

Now completed books 1 to 9.  Despite extreme hardships,  Bess’ character doesn’t seem to have developed much in nine books.

 

Books just started:

The Remains of the Day ~ Kazuo Ishiguro   (Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall)

Despite only managing to read one to two pages of this a day, I am enjoying Ishiguro’s writing style and the story surrounding this very British butler.

 

An Overdrive hold became available, so I’m trying to add that to my book basket for the next few weeks too:

First, Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking ~ David Veart

 

Audiobooks being played:

Switching from printed format to audio, First Lady:  The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill ~ Sonia Purnell   (Buckinghamshire)

Dh is listening to this too and we’re both finding it well written, and an interesting listen ……  I am so thankful that neither Clementine’s nor Winton’s mother was mine  :ohmy:

 

Persons of Interest: DC Smith, Bk4 ~ Peter Grainger  (Huntingdonshire & Norfolk)  I skipped ahead to this book as the themes in books 2 & 3 didn’t appeal. I’m hoping DC does not start an affair with Jo, that’ll wreck the book for me L

[Violet Crown]

A question about Rebel Ranks. Five counties completed is required for Wilfrid Owen rank, but also for JK Rowling rank. How does that work? Also, JK Rowling rank requires reading a Harry Potter book, which is constitutionally impossible. Is there an alternative? Like poking myself in the eye with a stick?

 

ETA: Also, early medieval Northumbria included Edinburgh. Any chance we can count Edinburgh? There's this book of dh's I've been waiting to read....

Edited March 5, 2018 by Violet Crown

[Mothersweets]

The Bees by Laline Paull. I liked this so much! It reminded me of Watership Down but with bees. It followed a worker bee named Flora 717 and the ups and downs of life in the hive. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33831800-the-bees

 

and I'm in the middle of reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart and should finish in a day or two. 

 

I've been enjoying all the links - last week's too :)

[ErinE]

I haven't been in the right mindset for much reading, other than my bedtime book - I must read for at least 30 minutes before I can fall asleep. Books finished last week:

• The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives by Lisa Servon. Finance. A business professor explores how Americans are meeting the challenge of restricted banking services for the poor and middle class. It's filled with interesting anecdotes, yet I would have preferred more in-depth analysis.
• The Silent Tower by Barbara Hambly. Fantasy. A computer programmer is brought to another world where magic is real, dangerous, and disappearing. Not as good as Dragonsbane or The Unschooled Wizard but it still an enjoyable read. It was published in 1986 so there's floppy discs, Cray supercomputers (they still exist!), and DOS command prompts. No mention of a dot matrix printer. It ends on a cliffhanger so maybe there will be one in the next book. I wanted to share it with my son, but I felt he might think it too dated.
• The Truth by Terry Pratchett. Fantasy. When the invention of printing press leads to the rapid spread of information, a journalist discovers people aren't interested in the truth. I missed Lord Vetinari (a benevolent despot) in this one even though he plays a central role in the narrative. It is one of the better Discworld books, with Pratchett's satire focused on journalism and politics.

No NPR Top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy reads finished this week though I've started Shadow and Claw the first half of Book of the New Sun. I knew of Gene Wolfe but this is actually the first book I've read by him. One article compared his writing to Herman Melville's. Since I'm also listening to Moby Dick, is it any wonder I'm in a reading slump? I have a stack of library books by my bed, including a history of Holland, more sci-fi/fantasy, and Death of a Red Heroine, which sounded interesting in Jenn's review.  

[ErinE]

 

Have The Sparrow out of the library, also for SF book club.  I know a bunch of people here have read it, with some mixed reviews if I recall, so hope I like it!  Doesn't it have some Jesuits conquer the aliens theme?  Might end up having some overlap with Inés?  Next audio will likely be Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo or Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, whichever comes off Overdrive hold first - I'm first in line for both.  I'm getting close to the top of the ebook queue for We Were Eight Years in Power and Swedish Death Cleaning, so one of those might come up soon...

 

 

I read The Sparrow and found it a powerful, disturbing book. It explores cultural misunderstandings, the nature of belief and faith, the horror of suffering, and so much more. I cannot say I enjoyed it, but it has stayed with me.

[ErinE]

Books just started:

The Remains of the Day ~ Kazuo Ishiguro   (Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall)

Despite only managing to read one to two pages of this a day, I am enjoying Ishiguro’s writing style and the story surrounding this very British butler.

 

 

 

This is one of my all-time favorite books (Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is the other). I hope you enjoy it!

[PeacefulChaos]

Ok so I'm almost done with Chrysanthemum, finally, and I've started on Rose.  Luckily, Rose won't take long and I'm also starting to work on Clover, too... ha yeah....

 

So first, Chrysanthemum:

C: The Crucible

H: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

R: The Residence

Y: You Shall Know Our Velocity

S: The Secret Keeper

A: .... .... ..... .......  OH NO I DON'T HAVE AN A ANYMORE SINCE I DECIDED TO PUT THE ARTIST'S WAY ASIDE!!!!  UGH!

N: Never Let Me Go

T: Too Small to Ignore (which I WILL remember to move over with the rest of my currently-reading books so I can finish it!)

H: Hyperbole and a Half

E: .... So the only E ones I want to read I had to reserve.  So.  I'm waiting on those.  :svengo:

M: Men Without Women

U: currently reading  Uncle Tom's Cabin

M: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

 

Rose:

R: currently reading  Rosemary's Baby

O:   .... I have The Ocean at the End of the Lane sitting and waiting to be read 

S: Silence

E: ... also on hold.  

 

aaand Clover:

C: 

L: currently reading   The Little Book of Hygge

O: 

V: 

E: 

R:

 

 

I'm still okay, I can still catch up.  :lol:  :D

[Robin M]

Glad you all are enjoying all the links. I followed so many rabbit trails while writing up the post. Really tested my no buying ban. Getting harder this month but I’m bound and determined to make it though April. Have Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes on the shelves as well as Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net in my virtual shelves.

 

Negin and Mum, the book Scarlet and the Black is also excellent. Well worth reading as well as watching the movie.

 

Keep on swimming Kara, I know you can catch up.

 

Didn’t get much reading done today but I did finish writing another chapter for my latest wip. Woot woot!

 

Jumped off the train and the bus and dove into a paranormal Nightlife by Rob Thurman, new to me Author.

 

💋

[LuvToRead]

You could just compartmentalise it as hopping on the bus with the Rebels - we'd all love the company - you can leap off at the next stop :)

 

You are right, I should be a rebel!  

[mumto2]

A question about Rebel Ranks. Five counties completed is required for Wilfrid Owen rank, but also for JK Rowling rank. How does that work? Also, JK Rowling rank requires reading a Harry Potter book, which is constitutionally impossible. Is there an alternative? Like poking myself in the eye with a stick?

ETA: Also, early medieval Northumbria included Edinburgh. Any chance we can count Edinburgh? There's this book of dh's I've been waiting to read....

In consultation ..........

 

 

The Bees by Laline Paull. I liked this so much! It reminded me of Watership Down but with bees. It followed a worker bee named Flora 717 and the ups and downs of life in the hive. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33831800-the-bees

 

and I'm in the middle of reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart and should finish in a day or two. 

 

I've been enjoying all the links - last week's too :)

Bf loved The Bees and now you love it. I need to read this!

[Lady Florida.]

Yesterday I finished my reread of News of the World, just in time for tonight's book club meeting. I didn't think I'd enjoy the reread as much as I did, having just read the book a year ago. Also, except for the Harry Potter series, the books I reread tend to be classics. I might have to rethink that. 

 

I think I'm trying to read too many books or perhaps too many serious books at one time, and I say that as someone who usually has 3-4 books going at one time. Often I have a non-fiction and two fiction books either on Kindle or in print, and an audio book. It's not a matter of keeping up with different story lines or non-fiction topics - I don't have a problem with that. I just feel like I'm not making much progress in any of them. My current reading -

 

-Death of a Red Heroine - enjoyable but slow. The author actually wanted to write about changes in China in the nineties and felt that the detective genre was the best way to get it across. I'm learning a good deal about life in China just after Tiananmen Square. 

 

-Flies in the OIntment: Essays on Supplements, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (SCAM), Mark Crislip. Crislip writes for the Science Based Medicine blog (which I read regularly) plus has his own blog. This is a compilation of several of his blog posts, polished for a book version.

 

-Before the Dawn: Recovering the History of Our Lost Ancestors - recommended by Erin

 

-We Were Eight Years in Power, Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

-Emma - a reread. Most people don't like Emma (the character, not the whole book) but I do. I think she's a decent person but is just immature and lives in a bubble. By the end of the novel she both gains maturity and learns to come out of her bubble and look around at the real world. This is probably my second favorite Austen, after Persuasion. 

 

-Footsteps in the Dark, Georgette Heyer - audio book, and my first Heyer mystery

 

I'm way behind on the Shakespeare in a Year challenge because Titus Andronicus slowed me down. I didn't care for it at all. Next it's on to Richard III. 

 

Looking over this list I see that I have three heavy non-fiction books and I think that's the problem.

[Butter]

Me too!  Ireland is the number one country I would love to visit one day.  The other country on my bucket list is Iceland.  I may get lost in Ireland this month.

Ireland is a beautiful country and the people are so kind.  We spent a month in Ireland in 2013 and my husband and I are getting ready to go back for a week or two probably before the end of the year.  My MIL (the one from Northamptonshire) lives in the southwest of Ireland now.

 

A question about Rebel Ranks. Five counties completed is required for Wilfrid Owen rank, but also for JK Rowling rank. How does that work? Also, JK Rowling rank requires reading a Harry Potter book, which is constitutionally impossible. Is there an alternative? Like poking myself in the eye with a stick?

Could you substitute another book by her?  She also uses the pen name Robert Galbraith.  Under that name she writes the Comoran Strike books.  I think they are PI/mystery/thriller type books.

 

I'm currently working on finishing Fellowship of the Ring.  I can see why people love Tolkien.  His world-building is amazing.  I'm pre-reading it for Cameron for school.  I'll finish it today or tomorrow.  I read India for Children by Shalu Sharma.  I pre-read that for Adrian.  It's packed with information on India.  I learned quite a bit myself.  I read A Night at the Animal Shelter by Mark J. Asher to the boys as a bedtime story.  It was pretty much an attack on people who don't adopt pets from an animal shelter or leave animals at one.  There were two instances of bad language.  After reading it I went back and checked if it was really aimed at kids like I thought.  It was.  8-12 was the range given.  The story was cute, but the language and heavy-handed lecturing were really not appropriate.

[aggieamy]

Is a wild card a book set in a fictional town?  I can't remember.  

My library is part of a fabulous ILL program, but I am still having trouble finding some titles.  Plus, it takes up to 2 weeks to get a books, so the scheduling is a bit tricky.  I am limited to 10 holds at one time (we have 3 cards, so 30 total) and I don't use history textbooks (and my youngest isn't using a science text), so most of my holds are taken up with history and science books for my girls.  

 

Yes, that's exactly what a wild card is. Feel free to jump on the Rebel bus for a week or read ahead to a county or do a fictional county. Lots of Agatha Christie books are wild cards since they are fictional locations.

 

Roz Chast, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?: Graphic memoir about the author's experience with her 90+ year-old parents' decline and deaths.  I've only recently started to appreciate graphic books, but I've seen Chast's cartoons over the years and have been meaning to read this for a while.  Absolutely searing and very depressing.  

 

Two or three years ago a bunch of us on here all read it. (Must have been a year it won an award.) I consider it a must read for anyone who has aging parents.

 

 

A Pattern of Lies: Bess Crawford Mystery #7  ~ Charles Todd  (3 stars) (Kent) 

Now completed books 1 to 9.  Despite extreme hardships,  Bess’ character doesn’t seem to have developed much in nine books.

 

That's the same problem I have with her Ian Rutledge series. Will you read on in the series?

 

A question about Rebel Ranks. Five counties completed is required for Wilfrid Owen rank, but also for JK Rowling rank. How does that work? Also, JK Rowling rank requires reading a Harry Potter book, which is constitutionally impossible. Is there an alternative? Like poking myself in the eye with a stick?

 

ETA: Also, early medieval Northumbria included Edinburgh. Any chance we can count Edinburgh? There's this book of dh's I've been waiting to read....

 

We've discussed and are ready to rule on the case.

 

Edinburgh will count as Northumbria since English counties are historically wonky (technical term) and have shifted so much.

 

Now for the ranks. Those are just for fun and aren't cumulative. (ie At the end of the game you can claim that rank but don't have to move up as you go.) If you would like to try and earn them all then we will allow an alternative for Harry Potter. Put the stick down! We have voted to allow Robin Hood as a substitute as it was considered a previous generations HP. 

 

Or since the JK Rowling and Wilfred Owen ranks are exactly the same you make pick the one that is less offensive to your sensibilities. Warning - you will be judged harshly by me if you can't stomach even one Wilfred Owens poem as I like his poems. Not that I think that warning is necessary for you ... 

Edited March 5, 2018 by aggieamy

[Critterfixer]

The Bees by Laline Paull. I liked this so much! It reminded me of Watership Down but with bees. It followed a worker bee named Flora 717 and the ups and downs of life in the hive. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33831800-the-bees

 

and I'm in the middle of reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart and should finish in a day or two. 

 

I've been enjoying all the links - last week's too :)

Love that book!

[aggieamy]

Ok so I'm almost done with Chrysanthemum, finally, and I've started on Rose.  Luckily, Rose won't take long and I'm also starting to work on Clover, too... ha yeah....

 

So first, Chrysanthemum:

C: The Crucible

H: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

R: The Residence

Y: You Shall Know Our Velocity

S: The Secret Keeper

A: .... .... ..... .......  OH NO I DON'T HAVE AN A ANYMORE SINCE I DECIDED TO PUT THE ARTIST'S WAY ASIDE!!!!  UGH!

N: Never Let Me Go

T: Too Small to Ignore (which I WILL remember to move over with the rest of my currently-reading books so I can finish it!)

H: Hyperbole and a Half

E: .... So the only E ones I want to read I had to reserve.  So.  I'm waiting on those.   :svengo:

M: Men Without Women

U: currently reading  Uncle Tom's Cabin

M: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

 

Rose:

R: currently reading  Rosemary's Baby

O:   .... I have The Ocean at the End of the Lane sitting and waiting to be read 

S: Silence

E: ... also on hold.  

 

aaand Clover:

C: 

L: currently reading   The Little Book of Hygge

O: 

V: 

E: 

R:

 

 

I'm still okay, I can still catch up.   :lol:   :D

 

Ahhh! You're leaving me in the dust. I have all the books I need sitting on my nightstand but am way behind. Okay. More time reading. Less time taking care of my family. That's my plan for the week.

[Kareni]

A currently free book for Kindle readers ~

 

a one day only sale on this classic: 

The Battle of Dorking  by George Tomkyns Chesney

 

"Britain is under attack, and winning at Dorking is the only way the empire can be saved

It is the late nineteenth century, and a country much like Germany is on the move in Europe. It has already beaten its rivals on the continent and mobilized to the Netherlands, provoking the fear of British citizens. Then the nation strikes. Its powerful weapons destroy the Royal Navy, and invasion cannot be far behind.
 
Written as a hypothetical exercise to raise awareness among average British citizens about the potential danger that a resurgent Germany could pose, The Battle of Dorking earned its place in literary history as the forerunner to the invasion-novel genre, predating The War of the Worlds by almost twenty years. The novel’s drama, which culminates in a fight that will change the course of history forever, thrilled audiences when it was originally released as a serial, and it maintains its power today."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Figured you all could use a good giggle now and again.   The Bloggess - Someone get me a Monkey.  Don't read while eating or drinking.  :tongue_smilie:

 

We need more books - really!   30 books for Americans' 10 most visited countries. 

 

Cool -- Australian National University researchers discover lost literary treasure trove

Actual site - To Be Continued

 

:wub:

[aggieamy]

Figured you all could use a good giggle now and again. The Bloggess - Someone get me a Monkey. Don't read while eating or drinking. :tongue_smilie:

 

:wub:

From the article: "The monkey grinds the organ, right? (Ew…phrasing.)"

 

Hahaha.

[RootAnn]

Generous DD#3 loaned me her Kindle Fire over the weekend so I could finish the Half-Drowned King. In the end, I enjoyed the viking tale enough that I looked up the sequel (out in August 2018). I saw that SWB's Medieval History book was in her consulted books section at the end.  :drool:  I tried ordering that one from WTM Press's tattered/battered sale early this year, but caught them on the eve of a huge snowstorm and my order never charged or shipped. Guess it wasn't meant to be!

 

I'm currently working on reading/editing DD#2's third horse book. It exhausts me enough that I don't have energy for much other reading.

DH has consented to a replacement Kindle Paperwhite for me.  :hurray: I'll be working on my Audible titles for a bit as I don't have to use my brain as much when I listen.

[PeacefulChaos]

I finished Rosemary's Baby today and I loved it lol... is it insane that I knew NOTHING about it before reading it?  Never saw the movie, never read the book, never had even really heard anything about it.  

 

So yeah.  :lol:  I noticed after I reviewed it a previous reviewer said something along the lines of 'this review doesn't have spoilers bc if you don't know at least some of what Rosemary's Baby is about, shame on you' or something like that.  I was like  :001_cool:  :smilielol5:

[Negin]

 

I started this some time ago but did not finish it.  I may have to try it again.

 

My favorite book by the author is Making Faces by Amy Harmon.  (If you can read it without crying, I will be amazed.)

 

I see that she has a currently free work for those who read German.  The book size is given as 59 pages; I think this is only part of the novel.  I read this book in English and enjoyed it though it's quite different from both From Sand and Ash and from Making Faces.

 

Bird and Sword (Bird-and-Sword-Reihe 1) (German Edition)  by Amy Harmon and Corinna Wieja

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Kareni, I looked into some of her other books very briefly. I think that most were YA. I don't particularly care for YA,but I will look into these again. Thank you for the titles. 

 

  

The book sounds wonderful!

 

There is a great movie that tells the same story called The Scarlet and the Black if anyone wants to use it for high school history. One of Dh's favorite movies.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NgRxWrlMCOA

 

I'm going to look into "The Scarlet and the Black". Thank you!

 

I haven't been in the right mindset for much reading, other than my bedtime book - I must read for at least 30 minutes before I can fall asleep. 

 

Negin and Mum, the book Scarlet and the Black is also excellent. Well worth reading as well as watching the movie.

 

Erin, I have to read before sleeping also. Most days, that's about all the reading that I get to do. 

 

Robin, yes, I'm adding "The Scarlet and the Black" to my list. Thank you!

[Negin]

Although the prices of these Kindle books are not as reduced as I would like them to be, they're still discounted.

 

Now They Call Me Infidel

 

 

Sister, Mother, Husband, Dog

 

 

The Case for Peace

 

 

 

[marbel]

<snip>

 

My Northamptonshire books will be A Long Shadow by Charles Todd https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205.A_Long_Shadow and possibly an audio version of A Glass of Time by Michael Cox. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7174668-the-glass-of-time. Let's just say I wanted backup in case jumping that far ahead in the Ian Rutledge series is too much for me! :lol:

 

<snip>

 

Did you read The Meaning of Night, which came before A Glass of Time?  I'm not sure it's really a sequel.   I picked up The Meaning of Night from the Library, but now am dubious about it.  Amazon compares it in some ways to the novel Perfume, which I couldn't read.  Too... icky... for me.  :-)

 

 

I didn't get too much reading done last week, but am progressing slowly in everything.  I'm really enjoying The Sunne in Splendour, and have sped up on that a bit. I was planning to read all the Josephine Tey novels but discovered that I put down A Shilling for Candles and never picked it back up. I saw it under a pile of tax papers yesterday, whoops!  My mother loved those books but I'm finding that one difficult to keep up with. I feel a bit disloyal about it. LOL my mother is the last person to be offended by someone not liking one of her favorite books. 

 

Also listening to Unnatural Death which is seeming very familiar so I'm guessing I started it once before and put it down.  The narrator is Ian Carmichael, who plays Lord Peter in the TV show.  I don't like his narration nearly as much as Nadia May's.  Oh well, free listeners can't be too picky!

 

So enjoying the Brit Tripping, even if I am never sure which bus I am on!  Maybe that's part of the fun of it. :-)

Edited March 6, 2018 by marbel

[Lady Florida.]

I finished Rosemary's Baby today and I loved it lol... is it insane that I knew NOTHING about it before reading it?  Never saw the movie, never read the book, never had even really heard anything about it.  

 

 

 

Oh wow! I've mentioned here that I used to sneak books from my mother's bedside because I was disappointed in what passed for YA when I was a teenager. Rosemary's Baby was one of those books. There was a lot that went over my head at the time. I should probably reread it.  :lol:

[Lady Florida.]

dp

Edited March 6, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[RootAnn]

Loving the comments on Rosemary's baby. My mother is named Rosemary, so there were a lot of allusions to that book (and movie) when I was growing up. I know what it is about, but never read it.

DH has consented to a replacement Kindle Paperwhite for me.  

... And ds#1 fixed my Kindle some point in the last 12 hours.   :w00t:  I deregistered it yesterday (again - as that was one of the things I'd tried when attempting to fix it). He asked if he could have it and came to me this morning with it fixed.  :thumbup1:  He's 10. I think this bodes well for his future in a tech world.

[Lady Florida.]

From the article: "The monkey grinds the organ, right? (Ew…phrasing.)"

 

Hahaha.

Way off topic but 1. That was funny. I hadn't read her blog in a long time but it always gave me a laugh when I did.

 

2. No actually, the monkey doesn't grind the organ. The organ grinder does and the monkey does tricks. How do I know this? Well, we all have our family skeletons don't we. :D My Uncle Tony (actually my mother's uncle) was an organ grinder, first in NYC, then in LA. He even was on Groucho Marx's quiz show. According to my mother the Italian accent was part of his act. Though both of his parents were immigrants, he was born and raised in NY and had the same Brooklyn accent my grandfather (his brother) had. 

 

I don't expect anyone to watch the whole video. I didn't and he's my relative.  :lol:

 

He comes out at 1'25 and brings out his organ and monkey at around 7:00

 

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ugt04

[aggieamy]

Way off topic but 1. That was funny. I hadn't read her blog in a long time but it always gave me a laugh when I did.

 

2. No actually, the monkey doesn't grind the organ. The organ grinder does and the monkey does tricks. How do I know this? Well, we all have our family skeletons don't we. :D My Uncle Tony (actually my mother's uncle) was an organ grinder, first in NYC, then in LA. He even was on Groucho Marx's quiz show. According to my mother the Italian accent was part of his act. Though both of his parents were immigrants, he was born and raised in NY and had the same Brooklyn accent my grandfather (his brother) had. 

 

I don't expect anyone to watch the whole video. I didn't and he's my relative.  :lol:

 

He comes out at 1'25 and brings out his organ and monkey at around 7:00

 

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ugt04

 

That made my day! Awesome!

[Kareni]

... And ds#1 fixed my Kindle some point in the last 12 hours.   :w00t:  I deregistered it yesterday (again - as that was one of the things I'd tried when attempting to fix it). He asked if he could have it and came to me this morning with it fixed.  :thumbup1:  He's 10. I think this bodes well for his future in a tech world.

 

Yay!  And kudos to your son. (I now know who to contact in the event that my Kindle does likewise.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[tuesdayschild]

 

- The New Spaniards by John Hooper - I picked this up because I'm going to Spain in April, and I knew that there must have been a lot of change since I lived there only 10 years post-Franco.  I have to say this is a very interesting, well-written, and readable book so far.  I'm learning a lot, and I've read a lot about Spanish history, but haven't kept up as much with real-time.  Highly recommend to anyone who's interested in Spain.

The book looks interesting.   Hope you have a wonderful visit to Spain next month!!!!

A question about Rebel Ranks. Five counties completed is required for Wilfrid Owen rank, but also for JK Rowling rank. How does that work? Also, JK Rowling rank requires reading a Harry Potter book, which is constitutionally impossible. Is there an alternative? Like poking myself in the eye with a stick?

 

ETA: Also, early medieval Northumbria included Edinburgh. Any chance we can count Edinburgh? There's this book of dh's I've been waiting to read....

Grin.  Nodding in empathy.  Sorry to those for whom Harry Potter is a literary friend ...... one go through of a H.P book was enough for me.

 

This is one of my all-time favorite books (Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is the other). I hope you enjoy it!

I'm really enjoying it.   (I'll hunt up the SoS title you mentioned)

 

 

Yesterday I finished my reread of News of the World, just in time for tonight's book club meeting. I didn't think I'd enjoy the reread as much as I did, having just read the book a year ago. Also, except for the Harry Potter series, the books I reread tend to be classics. I might have to rethink that. 

genre was the best way to get it across. I'm learning a good deal about life in China just after Tiananmen Square. 

 

-Footsteps in the Dark, Georgette Heyer - audio book, and my first Heyer mystery

Thanks to the BaW participators News of the World is a now a favourite book for me ... not sure about rereading it though (I don't want to ruin the first read feeling).

 

Looking forward to seeing what you thought of Footsteps in the Dark . That and Why Shoot a Butler? are two of Heyer's mystery titles I really like.

That's the same problem I have with her Ian Rutledge series. Will you read on in the series?

 

Now for the ranks. Those are just for fun and aren't cumulative. (ie At the end of the game you can claim that rank but don't have to move up as you go.) If you would like to try and earn them all then we will allow an alternative for Harry Potter. Put the stick down! We have voted to allow Robin Hood as a substitute as it was considered a previous generations HP. 

 

Or since the JK Rowling and Wilfred Owen ranks are exactly the same you make pick the one that is less offensive to your sensibilities. Warning - you will be judged harshly by me if you can't stomach even one Wilfred Owens poem as I like his poems. Not that I think that warning is necessary for you ... 

Book 10 is due out in September (?) and if Bess' personal life finally starts to move significantly forward I think I will read on.  Otherwise, I'll wait until the authors get Bess running a hospital/engaged/married, read that title and then count the series as completed.

 

QUESTION:  So to achieve a rank closer to the top we would need to complete all of the 'just for fun' things listed beneath that rank, as well as the one relating to it?  (Hope that makes sense.  I know sometimes my kiwi-speak can be a challenge to decode.  :tongue_smilie: )

[Rachel]

I finished Rosemary's Baby today and I loved it lol... is it insane that I knew NOTHING about it before reading it? Never saw the movie, never read the book, never had even really heard anything about it.

 

So yeah. :lol: I noticed after I reviewed it a previous reviewer said something along the lines of 'this review doesn't have spoilers bc if you don't know at least some of what Rosemary's Baby is about, shame on you' or something like that. I was like :001_cool: :smilielol5:

I’ve never heard of it, now I’m wondering what I’ve missed out on.