Book a Week 2020 - BW17: A Bookish Quest

[mumto2]

41 minutes ago, Robin M said:

I finished a couple cozy books --  Delayed Diagnosis by Gwen Hunter aka Faith Hunter.   Good and poor dr lynch was really put through the ringer! 

"Dr. Rhea Lynch left a suffocating life in Charleston to practice medicine in the ER of a small South Carolina Hospital. Now, Dawkins County is her home, a place that holds the only real family she's ever known. But when she returns from vacation, Rhea is shocked to discover that her best friend, Marisa, is near death and unable to communicate. The official diagnosis: a paralyzing stroke. Despite the family's attempts to keep her away, Rhea is determined to make her own diagnosis. In a surreptitious examination, a hideous truth is revealed. Then a man is brought into her ER with similar symptoms. And then another. Each one of her patients has been willfully, brutally, silenced in a most inhuman way. Desperate to find answers, Rhea must determine who she can trust, as a powerful conspiracy threatens the people she loves-and perhaps the entire community"

Also a steampunk story A Trace of Copper by Anne Renwic (new to me author) which was good but the sex scenes were a bit over the top with the descriptions.

 "New recruit to the Queen's agents, Dr. Piyali Mukherji is given a simple first assignment. Travel to the small Welsh village of Aberwyn and solve the mystery of a young woman's blue skin lesion. A challenging task, for the alarming infection is unlike anything she's seen before--and it's spreading.   Evan Tredegar, the town's pharmacist and the only man to ever capture her heart, knows more than he's telling. Despite his efforts to push her away, her touch reawakens old desires. As more villagers fall victim to the strange disease, he'll have no choice but to reveal his secrets, even if it means sacrificing his freedom.   Together they must move past broken promises, capture a rogue frog, and stop the infection before it spreads out of control."

Both of these sound good.  My library has a couple of other Gwen Hunter’s so I added them to the wish list.  I didn’t know Faith Hunter had a different pen name.  My current book to finish is Cold Reign.  I am getting close to being able to treat myself to the new Jane Yellowrock , of course the new Soulwood is coming.  So I need to read quicker!

Anne Renwick's  The Tin Rose is free right now so plan to start there.

 

[mumto2]

Continuing the Shakespeare topic of yesterday my email just delivered this free course idea .......... https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shakespeare?utm_campaign=fl_april_2020&utm_medium=futurelearn_organic_email&utm_source=newsletter_broadcast&utm_term=200429_GNL__0030_&utm_content=course05_location

This might be another interesting choice for Tudor fans.........https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-tudors?utm_campaign=fl_april_2020&utm_medium=futurelearn_organic_email&utm_source=newsletter_broadcast&utm_term=200429_GNL__0030_&utm_content=course03_location

[Junie]

Bob Jones University has recently put some of their theater productions on youtube.

They have several full-length Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Richard III.  (We have not watched these yet.)

Also available: Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations.  (I have watched both of these and I thought they were well done, especially Great Expectations.)

[Kareni]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

For children:  Time and the Clock Mice, Etcetera by Peter Dickinson

For adults:  The Maxwell Mystery by Carolyn Wells

Regards,

Kareni

[-M-]

Hello, BaWers! 'thought of our little group when I read "The Exquisite Pain of Reading in Quarantine" in The Atlantic. Sending all of you "Stay safe!" and "Stay healthy!" thoughts.

So... I’ve read 23 books since my last post, which puts me at 75 for the year, so far. Here's an annotated list.

■ Parnassus on Wheels (Christopher Morley; 1917. Fiction.) RFS
I meant to read this ten or fifteen years ago, but I’m glad I didn’t because its innocence, humor, and bookish fun were something I needed now much more than then.

p. 43
“Judging by the way you talk,” I said, “you ought to be quite a writer yourself.”

“Talkers never write. They go on talking.”

■ How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life (Seneca; ed. James Romm; 2018. Non-fiction.) RFS
■ How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management (Seneca; ed. James Romm; 2019. Non-fiction.) RFS
■ How to Grow Old: Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life (Marcus Tullius Cicero; ed. Philip Freeman; 2016. Non-fiction.) RFS
■ How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life (Epictetus; ed. A.A. Long; 2018. Non-fiction.) RFS
These four books are part of Princeton University Press’ “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers” series. I was particularly delighted by Cicero’s anecdote about Sophocles defending himself against his sons’ claims that he was experiencing age-related feeble-mindedness.

p. 49
[T]he old man then read to the court his Oedipus at Colonus, which he had just written and was even then revising, asking when he finished if it sounded like the work of a weak-minded person. After his recitation, the jury acquitted him.

It’s no secret that I am an abiding fan of synthesis / serendipity / synchronicity: We had tickets to Court Theatre’s now-rescheduled production of The Gospel at Colonus. Of course, then, Oedipus at Colonus was in my reading plan for April. How neat to have this tie-in.

■ The Bookshop (Penelope Fitzgerald; 1978. Fiction.) RFS
When I added Parnassus on Wheels to my Goodreads, this came up as a suggestion — another book I had meant to read a long time ago. The ending broke my heart, but I loved The Bookshop. Lively, whose Moon Tiger (1987) I greatly admire, is a wordsmith.

■ The Haunted Bookshop (Christopher Morley; 1919. Fiction.) LIB
This was nowhere near as beguiling as Parnassus on Wheels.

■ Chemistry (Weike Wang; 2017. Fiction.) RFS
I’m not certain I am actually the audience for this book about a young woman who experiences personal crisis after her partner proposes, but I thought it was terrific — smart and bittersweet. Check out this interview with the author.

■ The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes; 2011. Fiction.) RFS
Most folks read this years ago, when Barnes nabbed the Man Booker Prize. Again, this was just the book I needed now. It’s exquisite… perfect.

p. 65
Later on in life, you expect a bit of rest, don’t you? You think you deserve it. I did, anyway. But then you begin to understand that the reward of merit is not life’s business.

p. 104
How often do we tell our own life story? How often do we adjust, embellish, make sly cuts? And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our life. Told to others, but — mainly — told to ourselves.

p. 115
Sometimes I think the purpose of life is to reconcile us to its eventual loss by wearing us down, by proving, however long it takes, that life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

■ The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (Jonathan Gottschall; 2012. Non-fiction.) RFS
Naturally, this fan of synthesis / serendipity / synchronicity appreciated hearing an echo of Barnes’ narrator in Gottschall’s exploration of narrative and psychology.

p. 161
We spend our lives crafting stories that make us noble — if flawed — protagonists of first-person dramas. A life story is a “personal myth” about who we are deep down — where we come from, how we got this way, and what it all means. Our life stories are who we are. They are our identity. A life story is not, however, an objective account. A life story is a carefully shaped narrative that is replete with strategic forgetting and skillfully spun meanings.

■ Oedipus at Colonus (Sophocles; 406 B.C. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald; 1969. Drama.) RFS
See above.

Scene IV
OEDIPUS:
I am perfectly content, so long as you
Can neither wheedle me nor fool these others.

CREON:
Unhappy man! Shall it be plain that time
Brings you no wisdom? that you shame your age?

OEDIPUS:
An agile wit! I know no honest man
Able to speak so well under all conditions!

■ Truth and Beauty (Ann Patchett; 2004. Non-fiction.) RFS
This complemented Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face (1994), which I read last month.

■ The Lost Books of the Odyssey (Zachary Mason; 2007/2010. Fiction.) RFS
April may prove to be the month of perfect books. Boy, was this fabulous. Reviews here and here.

p. 83
Finally, I saw myself, how my wit exceeded that of other men but gave me no leverage against fate, and how in the time to come it would avail me nothing but possibly an understanding of the full scope of my helplessness.

■ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling; 1998. Fiction.) RFS
■ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling; 1998. Fiction.) RFS
I had expected that returning to these would prove too bitter… but it was sweet comfort.

■ Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery (Richard Kolker; 2013. Non-fiction.) RFS
After watching a trailer for a new movie of the same title, I headed to the shelves where this terrifically written entry in the unsolved mystery / true crime genre has awaited me (for *shhh* seven years). Review here.

■ The Tempest (William Shakespeare; 1610. Drama.) RFS
Years ago, when I first read The Tempest, I noted that Miranda was homeschooled. As I wrote elsewhere those many years ago, Prospero the schoolmaster serves his own needs at the expense of his student’s; and his dubious classroom management skills coupled with his troubling use of “wench” as term of endearment irritated in both that first reading and this most recent. Yet, when nearly every kid in the United States is “suddenly homeschooled,” rediscovering Shakespeare’s take on homeschooling provided another dose of synthesis / serendipity / synchronicity.

Act I, Scene 2
PROSPERO:
Now I arise:
[Resumes his mantle]
Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow.
Here in this island we arrived; and here
Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit
Than other princesses can that have more time
For vainer hours and tutors not so careful.

■ Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (Viktor E. Frankl; 1946. Non-fiction.) RFS
This was the fourth or fifth time I’ve read this book.

p. 56
Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain (they were often of delicate constitution), but the damage to their inner selves was less. They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom.

p. 68
Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation. It is well known that humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds.

p. 122
We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

■ Give Me Your Heart (Joyce Carol Oates; 2010. Fiction.) RFS
It was a bit of a chore to work through this one.

■ Viktor Frankl: A Life Worth Living (Anna S. Redsand; 2006. Non-fiction.) RFS
A suitable introduction to Frankl for middle-school students.

■ American Predator (Maureen Callahan; 2019. Non-fiction.) RFS
Related link here. This was one that made me check the window and door locks. Again. And again.

■ Flatland (Edwin A. Abbott; 1884. Fiction.) RFS
Trippy blend of satire, math, and physics. Related link here.

■ Measure for Measure (William Shakespeare; 1603. Drama.) RFS
The Shakespeare Project of Chicago hopes to move its production of Measure for Measure to next season.

Act I, Scene 4
LUCIO:
Our doubts are traitors
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.

Act II, Scene 2
ISABELLA:
So you must be the first that gives this sentence,
And he, that suffers. O, it is excellent
To have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.

—————————————
ATY Acquired this year
LIB Borrowed from library (including Hoopla and Overdrive)
OTH Other
RFS Read from shelves

Edited April 29, 2020 by Melissa M

[JennW in SoCal]

Oldest books on my shelf? I have 2 books from my dad's childhood (he was born in 1920),  one of which is a paperback One Hundred and One Favorite Poems, printed in 1928 and apparently re-gifted to my dad as it has two handwritten inscriptions. The other has no copyright but I assume is also from the 1920s. It is Rudyard Kipling's Wee Willie Winkie, and it has the softest suede-like cover. I've got 2 of my mom's high school texts from the 1930s, one a Handbook of Composition by Woolley, Scott & Tressler, and the other is Hamlet. 

The oldest book on my shelves is Longfellow's Evangeline, a tale of Arcadia printed in the 1860s. I have no idea how this came to be on my shelves!!

I've got a few books from the 1950s that were part of my and my older brothers' childhood. And several of my own books, from Land of Oz to Nancy Drew to paperbacks I got from Scholastic. I even still have one or two college text books. 

I also have the 1927 and 1928 high school year books of my husband's grandmother. The paper in those is such excellent quality -- nothing printed today feels as nice. 

Or were you just challenging us to find the oldest in our teetering, dusty TBR stacks?!  

 

[mumto2]

37 minutes ago, JennW in SoCal said:

Oldest books on my shelf? I have 2 books from my dad's childhood (he was born in 1920),  one of which is a paperback One Hundred and One Favorite Poems, printed in 1928 and apparently re-gifted to my dad as it has two handwritten inscriptions. The other has no copyright but I assume is also from the 1920s. It is Rudyard Kipling's Wee Willie Winkie, and it has the softest suede-like cover. I've got 2 of my mom's high school texts from the 1930s, one a Handbook of Composition by Woolley, Scott & Tressler, and the other is Hamlet. 

The oldest book on my shelves is Longfellow's Evangeline, a tale of Arcadia printed in the 1860s. I have no idea how this came to be on my shelves!!

I've got a few books from the 1950s that were part of my and my older brothers' childhood. And several of my own books, from Land of Oz to Nancy Drew to paperbacks I got from Scholastic. I even still have one or two college text books. 

I also have the 1927 and 1928 high school year books of my husband's grandmother. The paper in those is such excellent quality -- nothing printed today feels as nice. 

Or were you just challenging us to find the oldest in our teetering, dusty TBR stacks?!  

 

My father was also born in 1920..........

I had no idea Scholastic ever published Nancy Drew’s in paperback.  I was pretty intent on buying old versions with brown covers so I may have just ignored them.  One of my mom’s friend’s daughter had all 50 brand new.........so I was allowed to borrow from her.  She actually had a much older sister so suspect the collection was actually both girls combined.  I was so impressed.  I do still have my Nancy Drew’s, Cherry Ames, and Trixie Beldon’s.

[Pen]

I finished Spillover, about zoonotic diseases.  

Now what? 

[Pen]

 

Healthy in Seven Days: Success through vitamin D treatment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHO7LKY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_pzDQEbAZXF148

And

Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow

 

I’d also like to find a fun cheerful fiction book.  My most recent Deborah Crombie got depressing.  

[Kareni]

Do you read fantasy, @Pen? If so, I'll suggest The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Even though it starts on a somber note, it is incredibly optimistic overall.

On a different note, I'll recommend the Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi.  It is a series of some six books about an Italian priest and his nemesis the Communist mayor; the books are set in the 1950s in Italy. The priest sometimes talks to Christ on the cross who talks back to him.  The wikipedia entry will give you a good idea of the content of the series.  The first book is  The Little World of Don Camillo; the stories were originally written in Italian in the fifties and sixties.

Regards,

Kareni

[Pen]

6 minutes ago, Kareni said:

Do you read fantasy, @Pen? If so, I'll suggest The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Even though it starts on a somber note, it is incredibly optimistic overall.

On a different note, I'll recommend the Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi.  It is a series of some six books about an Italian priest and his nemesis the Communist mayor; the books are set in the 1950s in Italy. The priest sometimes talks to Christ on the cross who talks back to him.  The wikipedia entry will give you a good idea of the content of the series.  The first book is  The Little World of Don Camillo; the stories were originally written in Italian in the fifties and sixties.

Regards,

Kareni

 

Already have read Don Camillo. Did like those. 

I once started but didn’t continue with Goblin Emperor—I could give it another try.

 

I’d like...   something like Dorothy Gilman’s The Nun in the Closet

or Jonasson’s The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, Pen said:

...I’d also like to find a fun cheerful fiction book...

What's the Worst That Could Happen (Westlake) -- situational comedy of a bumbling heist team vs. the wealthy, mean corporate guy who ripped them off
Cold Comfort Farm (Gibbons) -- 1920s English eccentrics
Bobiverse trilogy (Taylor) -- sci-fi adventure, with a cheerful protagonist, feels like Star Trek: Next Generation episodes
Terry Pratchett -- most of his Discworld books are pretty clever and funny
The Uncommon Reader (Bennett) -- light and cheerful -- but VERY short, barely a novella; more like a long short story

[Robin M]

18 hours ago, mumto2 said:

Both of these sound good.  My library has a couple of other Gwen Hunter’s so I added them to the wish list.  I didn’t know Faith Hunter had a different pen name.  My current book to finish is Cold Reign.  I am getting close to being able to treat myself to the new Jane Yellowrock , of course the new Soulwood is coming.  So I need to read quicker!

Anne Renwick's  The Tin Rose is free right now so plan to start there.

Totally forgot I had Renwick's The Golden Spider in my virtual stacks.  Steampunk seems to be fitting the 'take me away' bill right now.  

4 hours ago, JennW in SoCal said:

Oldest books on my shelf? I have 2 books from my dad's childhood (he was born in 1920),  one of which is a paperback One Hundred and One Favorite Poems, printed in 1928 and apparently re-gifted to my dad as it has two handwritten inscriptions. The other has no copyright but I assume is also from the 1920s. It is Rudyard Kipling's Wee Willie Winkie, and it has the softest suede-like cover. I've got 2 of my mom's high school texts from the 1930s, one a Handbook of Composition by Woolley, Scott & Tressler, and the other is Hamlet. 

The oldest book on my shelves is Longfellow's Evangeline, a tale of Arcadia printed in the 1860s. I have no idea how this came to be on my shelves!!

I've got a few books from the 1950s that were part of my and my older brothers' childhood. And several of my own books, from Land of Oz to Nancy Drew to paperbacks I got from Scholastic. I even still have one or two college text books. 

I also have the 1927 and 1928 high school year books of my husband's grandmother. The paper in those is such excellent quality -- nothing printed today feels as nice. 

Or were you just challenging us to find the oldest in our teetering, dusty TBR stacks?!  

Yes to the bolded but as always I'm entertained and enjoying hearing about everyone's historical finds in their shelves.  I never quite know what you all are going to come up with when I ask a question or post a mini quest.  Love it! 

I have a really old book my dad gave me. It was his grandmother's which she got in 1886 according to the note inside.  Christ in his Church: Her dogma and her saints.  Yellowing and held together with duct tape at this point.  Plus mini catholic hymnals from both hubby and my sides of the family that used to belong to grands.

[mumto2]

3 hours ago, Pen said:

 

Healthy in Seven Days: Success through vitamin D treatment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHO7LKY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_pzDQEbAZXF148

And

Daniel Kahneman: Thinking Fast and Slow

 

I’d also like to find a fun cheerful fiction book.  My most recent Deborah Crombie got depressing.  

I thought of this https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26722820-the-curious-charms-of-arthur-pepper?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=3Y4eehm9s6&rank=1 as I checked out the author’s latest.  I really enjoyed The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper a few years ago.

 

[Robin M]

5 hours ago, Melissa M said:

Hello, BaWers! 'thought of our little group when I read "The Exquisite Pain of Reading in Quarantine" in The Atlantic. Sending all of you "Stay safe!" and "Stay healthy!" thoughts.

Great article. I particularly liked these bits

 "Shepherd attends to her body as might a physician. The Living Mountain prescribes a philosophy of bodily thinking, in which the body is a sensorium and the senses are avenues to knowledge. In exquisite prose, Shepherd writes of and from the senses—sound, smell, touch above all—with such heightened awareness that what she describes—“a sting of life” from a cold-water current, the “juicy gold globe” of a cloudberry—feels pristine and immediate."

“For Shepherd,” Macfarlane writes in his introduction to The Living Mountain, “the body thinks best when the mind stops, when it is ‘uncoupled’ from the body.”

Yes definitely. Which is probably why some days I prefer a physical book, because the temptation to internet browse and get distracted between each chapter prevents me from getting totally absorbed into the story.  Best some days to just unplug completely.  Calgon take me away.  🙂 

Which reminds me since I did my very first zoom with the family this past weekend.  Do you all want to set up a zoom meet or read at some point?   

[Junie]

I've been finding more time to read recently, mostly at the expense of dd17 not working.  I am no longer having to drive her to and from work. 😞

What I've read this week:

The Speechwriter by Barton Swaim -- This book was written by a former co-worker of mine.  :)  The book is about his experience working for a former governor of South Carolina (not where I worked with him.)  The book had a lot of potential, but I feel like it fell flat.  (Sorry, Barton.)  I would have loved to have gotten my hands on this before it went to press.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad -- I have tried to read this before and couldn't get into it.  I thought that I was going to hate this book, but it's such a classic that I felt that I should give it another chance.  It's not my favorite book by any means, but I did enjoy the story once I got started.

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie -- I bought a lot of Agatha Christie books a while back, including a very old edition of The Body in the Library.  Agatha Christie mysteries have been kind of hit or miss for me.  Some of them (especially Murder on the Orient Express) I have really enjoyed, but most of them I feel were a waste of time.  The Body in the Library was a good one that I will enjoy reading again.

 

 

  

[Lori D.]

43 minutes ago, Junie said:

 

 

Wow! The Agatha Christie book wins the prize for cover design this week! 😄 

 

 

[Kareni]

I recently finished a couple of works.

I quite enjoyed Portrait of Death: Unforgotten by Isabel Wroth; curiously, I've previously read other books with a similar storyline. (Adult content)

 "Three years ago, I held her pink silk toe shoe in my hand, helplessly watching the cab drive away before I could give it back to her. The next morning when I stood in front of the portrait drying on my easel, I knew the beautiful ballerina would soon die. Her portrait is one of two hundred and twenty-seven. Each one of the subjects is the victim of murder, and I’ve painted them all. I’ve kept my morbid ability a secret for twenty years, terrified someday, someone would find out.

Someday has arrived, and the someone banging down my door today demanding answers is a gorgeous, irate homicide detective armed with a photo of one of my paintings right there on the front page of the most popular tabloid in the city. He peppers me with questions I can’t answer, and despite my worst fears being realized, all I can think about is painting this man, alive, and with far fewer clothes on.

Detective Callum Graham tells me the dead ballerina I painted is his sister, and she's been missing for three years. Missing, he says firmly, as though any other conclusion is unacceptable. My inappropriate thoughts of seeing him naked, vanish. How do I explain to this man, this brother desperate to find his baby sister alive, that she’s been dead for two years, eleven months, and three weeks? "

**

I also read a short story Stormfront by M.C.A. Hogarth which happens to be currently free for Kindle readers. It had a surprising twist.

"Captain Isidore Wyatt, new transfer to the Alliance Fleet from the Terran Space Navy, is still getting used to having engineered aliens for officers when he's called to investigate a possible pirate vessel. Except not everything is what it seems, and these pirates have ambitions above and beyond the norm...."

Regards,

Kareni

[Maus]

If I can't return my library books, have I really finished them? I guess not, since it didn't even occur to me to come to the forum to report them....

Our Pioneer Trek has been postponed for a year, like all of life right now, but I couldn't get anything else from the library.

27. "Follow Me to Zion: Stories from the Willie Handcart Pioneers" by Andrew D. Olsen and Jolene S. Allphin (LDS). Each account from the trail ends with a brief follow up story about the survivors' lives after they settled in Utah.

26. "Sweetwater Rescue: The Willie and Martin Handcart Story" by Heidi Swinton and Lee Groberg (LDS).  Most of the handcart companies came to Utah without incident, but two were caught by a late departure in a year with an early winter.  When the news reached Salt Lake City, men were sent with wagons and supplies to rescue them.  This book and its companion documentary came from accounts recorded by and about the rescue groups.  It was interesting to see journal extracts from their point of view as I was also reading journal extracts from the company participants.

25. "I walked to Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail" by Susan Arrington Madsen (LDS).  

24. "The Journey of the James G. Willie Handcart Company, October, 1856" by Gary Duane Long.  This was a step by step retracing of the route taken, with maps.  Mr. Long worked for the BLM in Wyoming for many years and was able to match journal descriptions to land features he knew well as part of his job.

23. "The Heavens are Open" by Wendy W. Nelson (LDS).

22. "Born to Change the World" by Brad Wilcox (LDS).

21. "I Saw the Lord" by Kerry Muhlestein (LDS).

20.  "The Mormon Battalion" by B.H. Roberts. (LDS)

19.  "Bright, Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Austism" by Diane M. Kennedy and Rebecca S. Banks with Temple Grandin. 

18.  "More Than Miracles" by T.C. Christensen with Jolene S. Allphin. (LDS)

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]

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Crimson Circle by Edgar Wallace

 "A shadowy figure controls a cabal of criminals that could bring London to its knees

In the black of night, a gang of workmen gather in the forest of France to assemble a guillotine. They open a few bottles of wine as they work, and one hammers a nail into the wrong spot. At dawn, the nail blocks the blade, and a prisoner survives to escape his fate. Many years later, that nail will doom more than a dozen men.

In London, a ruined financier stands on the verge of committing suicide. He is contemplating a fatal dram of poison when he hears a voice behind him offering money enough to clear his debts in exchange for complete and total obedience. Thus a new member is initiated into the sprawling criminal organization known as the Crimson Circle. Its members don’t know one another, and none knows their ruler’s face—but he knows them, and he will use his power to shake Britain to its very core."

 Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Currently free for Kindle readers ~

Heart Of Fire (Legends of the Storm Book 1) by Bec McMaster

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

Currently free for Kindle readers ~

Lady by Chance by Cheryl Bolen

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

I just finished the April Spelling Challenge and went to enter it into my records and discovered March was not there which leads me to believe I never posted it.  Normally I copy it to BaW.  So here is March and I will do April in a separate post.

I was going to give a bit of a commentary regarding the best books but can’t remember much beyond these were all pretty good! 😂
 

March - Deborah Crombie

 

D.......Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

E.......A Finer End by Deborah Crombie

B...... Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

O...... Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh

R.......Golden in Death by JD Robb

A.......Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

H.......A Piece of My Heart by Sharon Sala

 

C.......Death by Chocolate by GA McKevett

R.......Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall

O.......Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer Fleming

M......Fleece Navidad by Maggie Seeton

B.......Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

I........Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews

E.......Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter

 

 

[Dicentra]

5 hours ago, Kareni said:

Today only, free for Kindle readers ~

The Crimson Circle by Edgar Wallace

 "A shadowy figure controls a cabal of criminals that could bring London to its knees

In the black of night, a gang of workmen gather in the forest of France to assemble a guillotine. They open a few bottles of wine as they work, and one hammers a nail into the wrong spot. At dawn, the nail blocks the blade, and a prisoner survives to escape his fate. Many years later, that nail will doom more than a dozen men.

In London, a ruined financier stands on the verge of committing suicide. He is contemplating a fatal dram of poison when he hears a voice behind him offering money enough to clear his debts in exchange for complete and total obedience. Thus a new member is initiated into the sprawling criminal organization known as the Crimson Circle. Its members don’t know one another, and none knows their ruler’s face—but he knows them, and he will use his power to shake Britain to its very core."

 Regards,

Kareni

I like the looks of this one!  Sadly, not free in the Canadian Amazon.  But I might get the sample to see if it's worth paying for. 🙂  Thanks for sharing, Kareni!

[mumto2]

April - Elizabeth Hunter

 

E......Head Over Heels by Evie Snow

L......Agony of the Leaves by Laura Child’s

I........The Inheritance by Charles Finch

Z.......Not My Type by Anna Zarlenga

A.......Matchmaking Can Be Murder by Amanda Flower

B.......The Wayward Bride by Anna Bradley

E.......Earl Not Taken by AS Fenichel

T.......The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth

H......Curse on the Land by Faith Hunter

 

H.......Null Set by SL Huang

U.......A Useful Woman by Darcie White

N.......Taming Natasha by Nora Roberts

T........Serpant’s Kiss by Thea Harrison

E........The Chase by Elle Kennedy 

R........The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James

 

This includes a couple of recent finishes that I know I haven’t posted about.  Charles Finch’s The Inheritance which I think both @aggieamy and @Lady Florida have on their tbr lists was perfectly acceptable but not as good as many in this series.  Think I gave it a three star.  It was one of those books in a long running series which caught you up on everyone and then there was the mystery.......fwiw the mystery part was good in the sense it made sense and I didn’t guess it.
 

I also read Serpents Kiss by Thea Harrison in a series @Kareni enjoys.  It was good but not great if I am honest.....I think I prefer the books with more Pia and Dragos.  I will keep going but maybe move these into my to read as audiobook stack as I have an easier time reading beyond parts I find a bit boring when I am sewing.😉

[Lori D.]

Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
Sigh. I was looking forward to this one, but it barely escaped being a total dud. I almost stopped halfway through, but made myself finish it. I know it is only meant as light fluff entertainment, so I'm not holding it up to classic levels, but still... I wanted to be entertained, not bored, by the first half of the book. The only interesting bits happen in the last half of the book (and by that time I totally didn't care about the 2-dimensional characters. I just found the plot, once there was a plot, somewhat interesting). There is absolutely no character development or real, believable world building -- the first half of the book seemed to be about trying to throw at the reader as much techno-babble, random futuristic items, and passing mention of aliens and alien worlds as possible as a substitute for any kind of believable substance or depth. And waaaayyyy too many 4-letter words for no good reason. Seriously, if you're going to make up techno-babble words for every item on the ship, can't you take 10 seconds to come up with some interesting (or at least different) curse words as a replacement for f*** and s*** -- Shazbot! What the frak is with that! it can't be *that* hard...😉

Edited May 2, 2020 by Lori D.

[Kareni]

3 hours ago, mumto2 said:

I also read Serpents Kiss by Thea Harrison in a series @Kareni enjoys.  It was good but not great...

I wasn't overly impressed with books two and three in the series either; however, the next book, Oracle's Moon, ties with Dragon Bound as my favorite in the series. So, Sandy, definitely read that one!

Regards,

Kareni

[mumto2]

4 minutes ago, Kareni said:

I wasn't overly impressed with books two and three in the series either; however, the next book, Oracle's Moon, ties with Dragon Bound as my favorite in the series. So, Sandy, definitely read that one!

Regards,

Kareni

I just went and read the description for Oracle’s Moon and will definitely read it as I liked the brief appearances by both characters in Serpent’s Kiss.  It also has an O which is one of the letters that my current stack does not have in it for May’s spelling challenge which is a bonus.

[Robin M]

On 5/1/2020 at 11:49 AM, Maus said:

If I can't return my library books, have I really finished them? I guess not, since it didn't even occur to me to come to the forum to report them..

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it happen   😉   

 

[Robin M]

@mumto2  Woot Woot!  Wonderful job with the spelling challenges.

 

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[Negin]

Kindle book on sale today. I'm not sure if I should get it or not, since it's probably singing to the choir. I'd read it if it was free, but with today's economy, I'm not sure if I want to spend $5.

[Ottakee]

46 minutes ago, Negin said:

Kindle book on sale today. I'm not sure if I should get it or not, since it's probably singing to the choir. I'd read it if it was free, but with today's economy, I'm not sure if I want to spend $5.

I just checked and out library system has this as an audio book and Kindle....there is a wait but not too long.  Thanks for sharing 

[Robin M]

Week 18 is live - please join me in the new thread.