Book a Week 2020 - BW8: 52 Books Bingo - Four Seasons and Four Legged Animals

[JennW in SoCal]

1 minute ago, Matryoshka said:

Is it a sequel?  A prequel?

Neither. She said in an interview -- well now I can't remember exactly!  (Haven't had coffee or breakfast yet!) Glass House is a glimpse into other aspects of these characters, who are minor characters in this book, or perhaps it is  just alternate paths. It isn't necessarily a prequel leading into the plague and aftermath. 

[Matryoshka]

2 minutes ago, JennW in SoCal said:

Neither. She said in an interview -- well now I can't remember exactly!  (Haven't had coffee or breakfast yet!) Glass House is a glimpse into other aspects of these characters, who are minor characters in this book, or perhaps it is  just alternate paths. It isn't necessarily a prequel leading into the plague and aftermath. 

Interesting.  But it is set before the events in Station Eleven, then?

[mumto2]

8 minutes ago, JennW in SoCal said:

I actually read The Glass Hotel before Station Eleven, thanks to an advanced reader's copy I was handed at an event. It is good but not as great, and it is still incredibly evocative -- several months later and I still can feel myself in some of the scenes in the story. It would be best to read it after Station Eleven as several characters are in both. 

So I should reread  Station Eleven first?  I can’t remember how it ended other than in Kalamazoo I think.............

Station Eleven is definitely on the list.  Perhaps The Passagehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6690798-the-passage?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=6c3i7QUaRC&rank=1 and it’s sequels.

[Violet Crown]

Dh recommends Saramago's Blindness for plague reading, and something or other by somebody King. I read Blindness a few years ago and it does have very relevant quarantine content.

Brennert, Moloka'i
Mandel, Station Eleven
Camus, The Plague
Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year
Shelley, The Last Man
Saramago, Blindness

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Theory of the Leisure Class By Thorstein Veblen

 "This scathing critique of America’s preoccupation with wealth and status in the Gilded Age continues to resonate more than a century after it was first published
 
According to economist Thorstein Veblen, the leisure class produces nothing, contributes nothing, and creates nothing, yet exercises a peculiar control over American society. The shallowness of their interests—from fashion to sports to entertainment—endows the practice of “conspicuous consumption” with an undeserving air of respectability.
 
Veblen deploys a razor sharp wit to expose the pretensions of the idle rich and their disastrous influence on the national character. From ruthless business practices to the plight of women in a male-dominated culture, The Theory of the Leisure Class tackles difficult subjects with sophisticated analysis and a vibrant literary style that influenced the work of authors including Edith Wharton, Henry James, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
 
A must-read for students of American history and anyone concerned about economic inequality, Veblen’s classic treatise is timelier today than ever. "

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

3 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

This cries out for a Coronavirus Quarantine reading list. Two literary must-reads that spring to mind are Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, about the London plague of 1667 -- short and readable, and tremendously interesting -- and Mary Shelley's The Last Man, possibly the earliest post-apocalyptic fiction, in which the world's population succumbs to a plague (except the Byron figure, who naturally gets himself killed in a war).

What else? Anyone?

What a coincidence!  I have The Last Man which I picked up a year or so ago.  

[Robin M]

3 hours ago, mumto2 said:

So I should reread  Station Eleven first?  I can’t remember how it ended other than in Kalamazoo I think.............

Station Eleven is definitely on the list.  Perhaps The Passagehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6690798-the-passage?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=6c3i7QUaRC&rank=1 and it’s sequels.

Yes, The Passage and sequels are excellent.  Once book 2 and 3 came out, I read The Passage again,  then the other two.  Worth listening to or reading slowly.  

[Dicentra]

18 hours ago, Robin M said:

Oh my.  Did you see the carpool karaoke with Celion Dion in which she did the Baby Shark song?  Hilarious.  I've got the chorus of Billie Eilish's When the Party's Over rummaging around my brain today.  Another carpool karaoke exposure.

 

I did not. 😄  I think I'll forego looking that up on YouTube - I don't know if I can handle another weeks-long Baby Shark earworm. 😉

4 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

This cries out for a Coronavirus Quarantine reading list. Two literary must-reads that spring to mind are Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, about the London plague of 1667 -- short and readable, and tremendously interesting -- and Mary Shelley's The Last Man, possibly the earliest post-apocalyptic fiction, in which the world's population succumbs to a plague (except the Byron figure, who naturally gets himself killed in a war).

What else? Anyone?

Nonfiction - "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston.  Not high-level reading or the greatest writing but gives the story behind the origins of the Ebola virus.

Also nonfiction - Edward Jenner's writings on vaccines and his development of the smallpox vaccine:

*An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ

*Further Observations on the Variolæ Vaccinæ, or Cow-Pox

*A Continuation of Facts and Observations relative to the Variolæ Vaccinæ

*The Origin of the Vaccine Inoculation

[Lady Florida.]

7 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

This cries out for a Coronavirus Quarantine reading list. Two literary must-reads that spring to mind are Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, 

What else? Anyone?

That book has been on my to-read list for several years. I even started it a few times then got distracted. Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders was pretty good (not excellent) but I think it was already mentioned -maybe last week? I don't want to go back and check. 

For me though, I don't want to read about plagues, viruses, and sickness while hiding from a plague, virus, and sickness. Any quarantine reading list for me would be similar to a sick-in-bed reading list or a broken ankle stay off your feet reading list. I want comfort books so I'll go with all of Austen's novels, the entire Harry Potter series, some fluff historical mysteries, and maybe a good biography or two, preferably ones written by David McCullough or Ron Chernow. 🙂 

[Mothersweets]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:30 AM, Lady Florida. said:

I've been meaning to share this. Our English mystery BaWers will enjoy it. 

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village

😂😂 Loved this!

I just finished The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike. A young family moves into the perfect Tokyo apartment...or so they think. It is next to a cemetery and the spirits there aren't too happy about sharing the space. Didn't someone read this a couple weeks ago? I liked it - it was wonderfully creepy and had me turning the pages until my eyes gave out. The dialogue was a bit weird or stilted but perhaps that was because of the translation and/or cultural differences. Also, there were a few elements of the story the author brought up again and again but then didn't really do anything with. Still, I really enjoyed it and it definitely gave me chills!

Also read the second in the Weaver series, Brighton Honeymoon by Sheri Cobb South. I read this back in 2014 and have zero memory of it so it was as though I was reading it for the first time! Enjoyed it, nice fluffy story complete with a young, penniless imposter; verbal sparring at a ball; and a chase through the countryside to Gretna Green. 

Right now I'm in the middle of The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths. 

I still have the rest of the thread to read through - hope you are feeling better Kareni! 

Station Eleven is a great read! Didn't know there is a sequel. Also been meaning to read The Passage so maybe I will pick it up from the library next week. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by Mothersweets

[vmsurbat1]

Been working my way through two books on my kindle.   The first Fu Manchu book (hadn't realized there are more) and a novel set in San Francisco at the turn of the century.  

But, a question for all you Modern Mrs. Darcy followers:  I'm not familiar enough to know her style/take/life goals, etc, as I just signed up on her blog a week ago.  But, are any of you preordering her newest book:  Don't Overthink It?  Does she have any blog posts out there that would give a hint as to her writing style and what she is covering (TOC?).  I didn't see anything other than "We love what she writes!" testimonials which don't actually tell me much....  So, if any of you have thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them!

TIA,

Vicki

[Pen]

2 hours ago, vmsurbat1 said:

Been working my way through two books on my kindle.   The first Fu Manchu book (hadn't realized there are more) and a novel set in San Francisco at the turn of the century.  

But, a question for all you Modern Mrs. Darcy followers:  I'm not familiar enough to know her style/take/life goals, etc, as I just signed up on her blog a week ago.  But, are any of you preordering her newest book:  Don't Overthink It?  Does she have any blog posts out there that would give a hint as to her writing style and what she is covering (TOC?).  I didn't see anything other than "We love what she writes!" testimonials which don't actually tell me much....  So, if any of you have thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them!

TIA,

Vicki

 

This is new to me, but title sure resonates!

I just listened to Audible sample of a previous book which possibly gives a sense of her style.

 

Reading People: How Seeing the World Through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075JS4FF6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Q0MvEb2HKCSEN

 

[Emba]

I wake up occasionally with a song strongly in my head. Sometimes it has been playing in my dream immediately before waking. I find those the hardest earsorms to banish.

I have just finished The Heretic’s Apprentice, a Brother Cadfael mystery by Ellis Peters. I really enjoy the Cadfael books. I also recently finished Evidence of Things Not Seen by Elizabeth Daily. Both got off to a slow start then sucked me in. Both very clean, which I appreciate.

Teaching my DD medieval history this year has put me on sort of a kick to read novels set in the period. I started to read The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco but returned it to the library. I may check it out again and gove it another shot.

But at this moment I have only my stash at home and what I can check out on Overdrive. Maybe I can find something related to the theme. Quite probably. I just brought home a fresh load of paperbacks from the library sale, ten cents each. I’m well-stocked in case of quarantine.

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry by W.B. Yeats

"The spirits of Ireland come alive in this nineteenth-century collection of stories, songs, and poems selected and edited by Nobel Prize winner W. B. Yeats.
 
Lose yourself in these supernatural tales of mischievous fairies, changelings, mysterious merrows, solitary leprechauns, shape-changing pookas, wailing banshees, ghosts, dangerous witches, helpful fairy doctors, and massive giants!
 
W. B. Yeats compiled sixty-four works from numerous Irish authors including William Allingham; Thomas Crofton Croker; William Carleton; Letitia Maclintock; Lady Wilde, mother of Oscar Wilde; and Yeats himself, resulting in a comprehensive and definitive collection. Each section features an introduction from Yeats to enlighten readers on the background of its mythical subjects and their role in Irish life and culture.
 
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry includes “The Fairies,” “Frank Martin and the Fairies,” “The Priest’s Supper,” “The Stolen Child,” “The Soul Cages,” “Far Darrig in Donegal,” “The Piper and the Puca,” “A Lamentation for the Death of Sir Maurice Fitzgerald,” “The Black Lamb,” “The Horned Women,” “The Phantom Isle,” and more. "

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

Tag @    People mentioning Daniel DeFoe’s  Plague Year— that was a favorite book one year in high school English.  I could see reading it again.

 

[Pen]

I finished the Paula Poundstone book.  I had quite a few laugh out loud moments with it,  Especially as she describes interactions as a single adoptive mom, which I am too, and some of the school related stuff too.  If you need something light I recommend giving it a try, though what strikes people as funny can be very different.  Or IME humor sense can even change with, get ready for this, the SEASONS, of my own life!  

(So that makes it a Seasons related book by a woman author and she has 16 cats and at least one dog for 4 legged theme!) 

 

—- I just started rereading (listening) —pretty high praise!— and I think maybe it’s 12 cats, a couple few dogs or at least one, a few other animals...and the last remaining ant from an ant farm.  

Edited February 27, 2020 by Pen

[Penguin]

I'm with Kathy @Lady Florida.. No plague reading for me! I don't like to read books about scary things that might actually happen to me. That's the reason that I doubt I will read Capote's  In Cold Blood even though I have loved the novels that he wrote, and it seems weird to read everything by an author except for that author's most renowned work. The only home-invasion-true-crime that I choose to read is about the Manson murders. I already know so much about them that I don't get scared. Which reminds me, that a couple of Manson-related new books are out that I have not yet read.

I read The Hot Zone about ten years ago. Yikes. I get chills just thinking about that book. I can read paranormal scary with no problem. 

[Mothersweets]

10 hours ago, vmsurbat1 said:

Been working my way through two books on my kindle.   The first Fu Manchu book (hadn't realized there are more) and a novel set in San Francisco at the turn of the century.  

But, a question for all you Modern Mrs. Darcy followers:  I'm not familiar enough to know her style/take/life goals, etc, as I just signed up on her blog a week ago.  But, are any of you preordering her newest book:  Don't Overthink It?  Does she have any blog posts out there that would give a hint as to her writing style and what she is covering (TOC?).  I didn't see anything other than "We love what she writes!" testimonials which don't actually tell me much....  So, if any of you have thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them!

TIA,

Vicki

I've been reading Anne's posts for years - she is always positive and upbeat and seems like a very genuine, warm person. just below the header on her home page is another set of links titled - Books & Reading, My Life, Beauty & Style, House & Home, and The Examined Life. If you click on any of those categories you can easily sift through a bunch of her previous blog posts and get a good feel for her writing style. Here is a link from under The Examined Life - Reflections  hope this helps!

just found this post - scroll down to #3 10 Things I Learned in 2019

Edited February 26, 2020 by Mothersweets
added a link

[Kareni]

Last night, I finished a new book Kingdomtide by Rye Curtis. This was an interesting and relatively quick read; it had many dysfunctional characters and an abundance of merlot ... much merlot ... megaliters of merlot.

I have a few quibbles with the book blurb, but here it is anyway ~

 "The sole survivor of a plane crash, seventy-two-year-old Cloris Waldrip is lost and alone in the unforgiving wilderness of Montana's rugged Bitterroot Range, exposed to the elements with no tools beyond her wits and ingenuity. Intertwined with her story is Debra Lewis, a park ranger struggling with addiction and a recent divorce who is galvanized by her new mission to find and rescue Cloris.

 

As Cloris wanders mountain forests and valleys, subsisting on whatever she can scavenge, her hold on life ever more precarious, Ranger Lewis and her motley group of oddball rescuers follow the trail of clues she's left behind. Days stretch into weeks, and hope begins to fade. But with nearly everyone else giving up, Ranger Lewis stays true until the end.

 

Dramatic and morally complex, Kingdomtide is a story of the decency and surprising resilience of ordinary people faced with extraordinary circumstances. In powerful, exquisite prose, debut novelist Rye Curtis delivers an inspiring account of two unforgettable characters whose heroism reminds us that survival is only the beginning. "

 

And here is a link to an author interview ~  US Represented: Interview with Rye Curtis, Author of Kingdomtide

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I also recently finished Hello Forever by Sarina Bowen which is a contemporary romance; I enjoyed it. (Adult content)

 "A basketball game changed both their lives.

When they were only teenagers, Axel and Caxton were caught making out in the woods at church camp. And afterward, Cax disappeared from all the youth group activities.

Six years later, Axel is astonished to spot his first love’s face in the crowd of a college basketball game he’s watching on TV—at a school which has just offered him a job. It’s a thousand miles away, in a tiny rural town. But suddenly, he can’t wait to get there.

Cax can’t believe his eyes when Axel appears in the same Massachusetts town where he now lives. And he’s still just as drawn to Axel as ever. But he can’t let himself go there again, because loving Axel will mean giving up everything else he holds dear.

Both men have so much to lose. But as far as their love is concerned, it's Hello Forever."

 **

I also enjoyed the historical romance novella Transformation by Kim Fielding. (Adult content)

"Orris Spencer is an abomination. At least that was what his father said in 1886 before banishing him from their Fifth Avenue mansion and sending him across the continent to Oregon. Now Orris must try to find a place for himself on his brother’s farm. His studies did little to prepare him for pioneer living, and when he’s called on to help protect the livestock from a predator, he’s not at all certain he’s up to the task. Then he meets Henry Bonn, a strange and intriguing man who lives in a cabin in the hills. Orris’s attraction to Henry may not be an abomination—but it may prove to be a greater danger than banishment."

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Some bookish posts ~

7 Books With Reality-Bending Settings

https://electricliterature.com/7-books-with-reality-bending-settings/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 021120&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

Why Is Historical Fantasy Great for Romance? by Constance Sayers

https://frolic.media/why-is-historical-fantasy-great-for-romance-by-constance-sayers/

The Cover Story: Why You Rarely See British Cookbook Covers on American Shelves

British cookbooks covers are innovative and distinctive. So why do U.S. publishers change them? BY CHARLOTTE DRUCKMAN

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/british-vs-us-cookbook-covers-article?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Today in Books&utm_term=BookRiot_TodayInBooks_DormantSuppress

SIX NONFICTION BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ THIS FEBRUARY

https://crimereads.com/februarys-best-crime-nonfiction-2020/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CYS - 021820&utm_term=BookRiot_CheckYourShelf_DormantSuppress

Regards,

Kareni

[Dicentra]

20 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

I just finished The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike. A young family moves into the perfect Tokyo apartment...or so they think. It is next to a cemetery and the spirits there aren't too happy about sharing the space. Didn't someone read this a couple weeks ago? I liked it - it was wonderfully creepy and had me turning the pages until my eyes gave out. The dialogue was a bit weird or stilted but perhaps that was because of the translation and/or cultural differences. Also, there were a few elements of the story the author brought up again and again but then didn't really do anything with. Still, I really enjoyed it and it definitely gave me chills!

That was me. 🙂  Glad you liked it!  Yes - the dialogue was definitely different and I wasn't sure, either, if it was a stylistic thing or a translation thing.  But I totally agree with the "wonderfully creepy" statement!

Speaking of creepy... 🙂  Has anyone read The Elementals by Michael McDowell?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22461751-the-elementals

Also wonderfully creepy.  Southern Gothic, I think (if I understand the genre correctly).  It was published, like The Graveyard Apartment, in the 1980s.

[Junie]

I finished several books this week.  And we made another trip to the library, so more books to try to get through in the next three weeks.  :)

Artemis Fowl -- This was enjoyable story that I had heard of, but knew absolutely nothing about.  And my dd17 actually liked this.  She is super picky about books.  She will read almost anything, but most books fall flat for her.  I guess I need to look for more books about criminal masterminds...  Lucky for us, this book is a series.  :)  I also saw recently that there is a movie coming out this spring.  

And if anyone has any suggestions for clean/not graphic books about criminal masterminds, let me know. :)

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch -- This book was kind of slow, but it was a good story and well written.  It's a Newbery winner that I had somehow never read before.  Because the book is written as fiction, I didn't figure out until about the third chapter that this book is a biography of a real person.  I guess we'll categorize this as narrative bibliography.

The Bridges of Madison County -- This was the first book I had actually read for myself in a while.  Since I am still actively homeschooling five kids, most of my reading is still child-oriented.  I had seen the movie a long time ago; it seems like the movie was a really good adaptation of the novella.  I really related to Francesca in some ways.  No, I've never had an affair, but I think anyone who has been married for a good while can see how the temptation can occur.  Marriage and parenting are wonderful, but tend to get monotonous.  And danger can occur when we look for happiness outside of ourselves and our circumstances.  

Till We Have Faces -- I finished this book this morning and immediately wanted to read it again.  I know that this is a twist on the story of Psyche, but I am really not good at remembering mythology.  I think that I need to brush up on the story before I read through this one again.  C.S. Lewis was a thinker and I know that there is more to this story than I can grasp in the first reading.

Edited February 27, 2020 by Junie

[Dicentra]

9 hours ago, Penguin said:

I'm with Kathy @Lady Florida.. No plague reading for me! I don't like to read books about scary things that might actually happen to me. That's the reason that I doubt I will read Capote's  In Cold Blood even though I have loved the novels that he wrote, and it seems weird to read everything by an author except for that author's most renowned work. The only home-invasion-true-crime that I choose to read is about the Manson murders. I already know so much about them that I don't get scared. Which reminds me, that a couple of Manson-related new books are out that I have not yet read.

I read The Hot Zone about ten years ago. Yikes. I get chills just thinking about that book. I can read paranormal scary with no problem. 

In Cold Blood is excellent. 🙂  I know - not helping.  But it is excellent.

1 hour ago, Seasider too said:

 

Thanks for this rec, I love Southern Gothic, though I think traditionally the genre is more about haunting by the consequences of past history and poor decisions than real paranormal elements. I’ll put this one on my library list. 

 

The Elementals does have some elements of what you describe above.  Plus paranormal elements.  It's hard to describe. 🙂 But a FANTASTIC read!

[Dicentra]

Finally finished another book! 😄  I think I'm too easily distracted and will often choose to start a new book instead of make headway on current books.  I do eventually finish the vast majority of books I start, though, even if it takes me awhile. 😉

Crooked River is the latest installment in the Pendergast series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (the same Douglas Preston who wrote The Lost City of the Monkey God and whose younger brother, Richard Preston, wrote The Hot Zone).  It was fast-paced, pretty formulaic for Preston/Child, and a fun read. 🙂  I gave it 4 stars.

Books read in 2020

6. Crooked River (Pendergast #19) by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child  *Mystery/Thriller – 4 stars

5. Village School by Miss Read  *Historical fiction - 4 stars

4. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike  *Horror - 5 stars

3. Daughters of the Grail by Elizabeth Chadwick  *Historical fiction/romance - 4 stars

2 1/2.  Extraction (Pendergast #12.5) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child  *Fiction (short story) - 4 stars  (I didn't think that a short story would count but I did finish it 🙂 )

2. The Case of the Chocolate Cream Killer: The Poisonous Passion of Christiana Edmunds by Kaye Jones   *Nonfiction (history) - 4 stars

1. The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick   *Historical fiction/romance - 3 stars

[vmsurbat1]

11 hours ago, Mothersweets said:

I've been reading Anne's posts for years - she is always positive and upbeat and seems like a very genuine, warm person. just below the header on her home page is another set of links titled - Books & Reading, My Life, Beauty & Style, House & Home, and The Examined Life. If you click on any of those categories you can easily sift through a bunch of her previous blog posts and get a good feel for her writing style. Here is a link from under The Examined Life - Reflections  hope this helps!

Thank you!  This does help. 🙂  I'll be checking it out this weekend.

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

Under Fire by Henri Barbusse

"The original translation of one of the first World War I novels—at first criticized for its harsh realism but now celebrated as a classic.

Set in early 1916, Under Fire follows the point of view of an unnamed foot soldier in a squad of French volunteers on the western front. It combines soaring, poetic descriptions with the mundane, messy, human reality of soldiers living in their own filth. Gradually, names and features are given to the men who emerge from the mud, from the dignified leader, Corporal Bertrand, to the ebullient Volpatte and the obsessive Cocon.

Intermingled with details of how the men navigate daily life in the putrefied atmosphere of the trenches is a political, pacifist argument about this war and war more generally. Caught up in events they cannot control, the soldiers go through their daily routines: foraging for food, reading letters from wives and mothers, drinking, fighting in battle, and, in harrowing scenes for which the novel is noted, discovering dead bodies in advanced stages of decomposition. Through it all, they talk about the war, attempting to make sense of the altered world in which they find themselves.

Under Fire (originally published in French as Le Feu) drew criticism at the time of its publication for its brutal detail, but went on to win the Prix Goncourt, a prestigious literary award that Henri Barbusse—a World War I soldier who wrote from vivid, painful experience—shares with renowned authors such as Marcel Proust and Marguerite Duras. Here, the original translation by William Fitzwater Wray, which first appeared in 1917, captures both the intensity of the story and the essence of the era. A glossary is also provided. "

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I finished my Ladies of Lit spelling challenge for Mary Stewart.
 

M......The Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh

A.......Aurora Blazing by Jesse Mihalik

R.......Rock withWings by Anne Hillerman

Y........Anyone but You by Jennifer Cusie

 

S........The Chinese Shawl byPatricia Wentworth

T.........Storm’s Heart by Thea Harrison

E.........Applied Electra-Magnetism by Susannah Nix

W........The Woman In the Water by Charles Finch

A.........ABC Murders by Agatha Christie 

R.........Rose Cottege by Mary Stewart

T.........Strangers on the Train by Patricia Highsmith

[Maus]

Doing one of my Hermoine Granger, "read everything I can find on a topic" things again.  The teens from our Latter-day Saint ward (congregation) are going on Pioneer Trek this summer.  This is our own special brand of wilderness survival/pilgrimage/cosplay insanity, where one dresses in pioneer era clothing, leaves all one's tech at home, and runs around in the Wyoming or Utah desert pulling a hand-cart.  It's grueling, yet it's fun.  DD15 is super excited.  She gets along great with the other girls her age despite her autism and loves camping with them.  DS17, not so much.  He tolerates and is tolerated by the boys his age.  So when he heard about Trek, he said, "I'll go if you go, Mom."  This is not usually done.  They call adult leaders, but they are usually younger, healthier adult leaders, so they can keep up and all that.  They call them "Ma's and Pa's," and each pair is assigned about eight youth to supervise.  But like all special needs moms, I try to enable my kids to have as many of the "normal" experiences that their peers would have as is possible.  So, silly me, I approached our bishop and said, "DS17 said he'd go if I go, but not if I don't."  And darned if he didn't say I could go.  They'll call me an "Auntie," and I'll go both as a special needs aid and as a Family History expert.

So now I'm busy trying to get my 54-year-old, 80 pound overweight, generally unfit self into shape, and I'm reading all I can about the handcart pioneers and -- just because they are in the same section at my library, and I know I had two ancestors who participated -- the Mormon Battalion.

20.  "The Mormon Battalion" by B.H. Roberts. (LDS)  A very interesting account, because B.H. Roberts was a pioneer, as a ten year old boy, so other than the journal of my own 2nd great-grandfather, this is the first account I've read from someone who would have known the men involved.  He had some information I never knew, like that the Mormon Battalion were the first men to create the wagon route near the Gila river that later become the Southern Pacific Railroad, and that members of the battalion observed what I grew up knowing as "flood irrigating" as they passed through Mexican settlements, so they were probably the ones who introduced it to Utah. 

19.  "Bright, Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Austism" by Diane M. Kennedy and Rebecca S. Banks with Temple Grandin.  Well, not pioneer themed, but it popped up as recommendation on audible, and I preferred to read it.  It reflects our experience.  Schools notice the disabilities, and ignore the giftedness.  We were even looking at a charter school that specializes in Autism as a possibility for High School.  Multiple people had recommended it to us, even one person from the homeschooling community, so we applied.  DD15 was accepted, so we went in to tour it, and for testing.  I asked what they did for the gifted kids, and it was clear from their answers that they did nothing, and didn't really even believe an ASD individual could be gifted.  We stuck with homeschooling.

18.  "More Than Miracles" by T.C. Christensen with Jolene S. Allphin. (LDS)  A companion book to the movie "17 Miracles," which is on Amazon Prime.  Most of our pioneers came in wagon trains, but 10 companies came in handcarts.  Eight of those were successful, but two left later than the recommended departure date and were caught in winter conditions when an early blizzard hit Wyoming in October.  The movie combines stories from the journals of those who survived from those two companies as if they were a single company, but otherwise all the stories came from real people, and the book discusses the sources used and what is known about what happened to the people in later years and that sort of thing.

17.  "The Seven Storey Mountain" by Thomas Merton.  

16.  "Lifestyles of the Great & Spacious" by John Bytheway.  (LDS)  

15.  "How to Think" by Alan Jacobs.  

14.  "The Road from Coorain" by Jill Ker Conway.  Entry three from the Well-Educated Mind autobiography list challenge.

13.  "All Rivers Run to the Sea" by Elie Wiesel.  Entry two from the Well-Educated Mind autobiography list challenge. 

12.  "The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction" by Alan Jacobs. 

11.  "Whatever You Choose to Be" by Ann Romney. 

10.  "Five Little Pigs" by Agatha Christie.  2nd entry in the Agatha Christie challenge. 

9.  "Rethinking School" by Susan Wise Bauer.

8.  "The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax" by Dorothy Gilman.

7.  "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" by Dorothy Gilman.

6.  "A Faithful Reply to the CES Letter" by Jim Bennett.

5.  "Bamboozled by the "CES Letter"" by Michael R. Ash.

4. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou.  Entry one - the Well-Educated Mind autobiography list challenge.

3. "The Harlequin Tea Set" by Agatha Christie.   Entry one - Agatha Christie Challenge.

2. "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. 

1. "Unselfish: Love Thy Neighbor as Thy Selfie" compiled by Paul D. Parkinson.

[Kareni]

@Maus ~ I enjoyed reading your post. I hope that you and your children will have a great experience this summer. I look forward to reading the Pioneer Trek memoirs of Auntie Maus....

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

A free short story that I enjoyed ~

Sinew and Steel and What They Told   by Carrie Vaughn

@Robin Mand @6packofun, have both read books by this author.

**

And a  bookish post ~

Got Series Fatigue? Try These 10 Standalone Fantasy Novels!

Regards,

Kareni

[JennW in SoCal]

@mumto2  I just downloaded the audio for the newest Rivers of London series, False Value, and realize I cannot remember the end of Lies Sleeping. I'm busy googling in order to refresh my memory of the ending of that last book because the author seems to assume you already remember everything. Where are you in the series?

[Kareni]

2 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

@mumto2  I just downloaded the audio for the newest Rivers of London series, False Value, and realize I cannot remember the end of Lies Sleeping. 

I too have a hard time remembering how Lies Sleeping ended. Here's a review that might jog a few memories ... or not! (Read the comments, too.)

From SBTB ~ BOOK REVIEW Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

Regards,

Kareni

[Robin M]

Hi Ho!  I'm trying to avoid going on line too much during Lent so sticking with physical books for now. We'll see how long I last.  

I finished Genevieve Cogman's 3rd book in the Invisible Library series   - The Burning Page.  Irene is off and running trying to save the Library and seems she can't decide between Kai and Vale (Dragons) 

"Never judge a book by its cover...Due to her involvement in an unfortunate set of mishaps between the dragons and the Fae, Librarian spy Irene is stuck on probation, doing what should be simple fetch-and-retrieve projects for the mysterious Library. But trouble has a tendency to find both Irene and her apprentice, Kai—a dragon prince—and, before they know it, they are entangled in more danger than they can handle...Irene’s longtime nemesis, Alberich, has once again been making waves across multiple worlds, and, this time, his goals are much larger than obtaining a single book or wreaking vengeance upon a single Librarian. He aims to destroy the entire Library—and make sure Irene goes down with it. With so much at stake, Irene will need every tool at her disposal to stay alive. But even as she draws her allies close around her, the greatest danger might be lurking from somewhere close—someone she never expected to betray her..."

Dove into The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson -  I'm pretty sure I know the secret, guessed about 1/3 of the way through, but I may be wrong.  I'll find out in the next couple days. 

"Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.   When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books—now as its owner—she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store’s shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy’s last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden—and the terrible secret that tore her family apart."

I set aside Lost City of Z for now to sip from Michael Card's Luke: Gospel of Amazement which I've been meaning to read for quite some time. Enjoying so far.

[Robin M]

3 hours ago, Kareni said:

A free short story that I enjoyed ~

Sinew and Steel and What They Told   by Carrie Vaughn

@Robin Mand @6packofun, have both read books by this author.

 

Yes, I read all of her Kitty Norville series and have Discord's Apple in my virtual stacks.  

[Robin M]

This is so weird, my body clock changed already. Guess it's because it used to change late February instead of March.  Except I'm getting up two hours earlier and ready to go to bed by 10 instead of staying up with my night owl husband.  Oh well, I'm getting more done which is a benefit. 

Will pm the email / address postcard / book swap list Sunday. 

Pm me with your address and/or email and/or birthday if you want to be added to the list:  @Negin, @SereneHome @Maus,  @Pen, @Lori D. , @Junie

Edited February 29, 2020 by Robin M

[Pen]

14 minutes ago, Robin M said:

This is so weird, my body clock changed already. Guess it's because it used to change late February instead of March.  Except I'm getting up two hours earlier and ready to go to bed by 10 instead of staying up with my night owl husband.  Oh well, I'm getting more done which is a benefit. 

Will pm the email / address postcard / book swap list Sunday. 

Pm me with your address and/or email and/or birthday if you want to be added to the list:  @Negin, @SereneHome @Maus,  @Pen, @Lori D. @M - -, @Junie

 

I think I missed the original post explaining this!

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

@mumto2  I just downloaded the audio for the newest Rivers of London series, False Value, and realize I cannot remember the end of Lies Sleeping. I'm busy googling in order to refresh my memory of the ending of that last book because the author seems to assume you already remember everything. Where are you in the series?

 

52 minutes ago, Kareni said:

I too have a hard time remembering how Lies Sleeping ended. Here's a review that might jog a few memories ... or not! (Read the comments, too.)

From SBTB ~ BOOK REVIEW Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

Regards,

Kareni

So I did a re-listen last year.....2018/2019...... to the entire series before reading Lies Sleeping which made it very much a tying things up book from my perspective.  I honestly thought it was the end and Aaronovitch was going to focus on other characters in that London with little glimpses at Peter, Beverly and the Baby..........positive I knew about that.  False Value is of my purchase requests on Overdrive, so I am giving them a couple more weeks.......unless I need it for plague entertainment !😉   

[Kareni]

I finished a couple of books yesterday ~

I'd been slowly reading   Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence Book 1) by Max Gladstone  over the past two weeks. The world in the book is complex with magic, gods, gargoyles, and law firms. It's definitely not this world which made the presence of vodka, cigarettes, and business cards rather anachronistic. I may continue on with the series at some point.

 "A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart.

Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.

Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable crisis of faith.

When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb's courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb's slim hope of survival. "

**

I enjoyed Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore which is a historical romance set in Victorian era England. I'll happily read more in the series. (Adult content)

 "England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring...or could he?

Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke.... "

Regards,

Kareni

[Negin]

On 2/27/2020 at 10:37 PM, Pen said:

 

I think I missed the original post explaining this!

Me too. 

[Kareni]

Death of an author ~

Clive Cussler, Best-Selling Author and Adventurer, Is Dead at 88

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I spent yesterday reading a couple of shorter novella length books.  The Christmas Carmel Mystery by Joanne Fluke was short and so filled with recipes it had very little story but it was next in the cozy series and I picked that series to read for my “whimsical” Bingo off one of the links couple of weeks ago......I plan to read the next full length one also.  Ilona Andrews published Sweep with Me as a reader Christmas present on their blog.......I started reading it as blog entries but forgot to go back and read the final blog posts , it showed up on Overdrive so I read it i n one convenient book! 😉 I am a fan of The Innkeeper series and was not disappointed!

I decided to rejoin my favorite Hobbit today and managed to finish Bilbo’s journey.  Lori’s notes made the book all the more enjoyable, so Thank you again @Lori D..  It really was quite a journey for Bilbo, the ultimate homebody, to make and really thrive on.  Some of my favorite minor parts......Roac the Raven charmed me this time through even though I never thought about him before......I think that might be due to reading Lori’s notes first!😂 I remain a fan of Beorn and enjoyed his character again.  I love the image of him shadowing his ponies as the dwarves and Bilbo ride them.  The Gollum just was a part of the book this time instead of a highlight......I think the movies may have ruined that section for me In terms of he is no longer my Gollum that my mind created but a picture someone else put there.  Not sure about my reading previously and the movies but it is possible that I haven’t read since the movies were made.

[Robin M]

Week 9 is live - please continue conversation in new thread