Tricia's Practically the Same Challenge, 2016 Edition

I'm finally ready to start a thread for my 2016 challenge. As the topic says it's very little different from my usual category challenge except for the addition of one more category to make 16. However, along with many others I'm relaxing a little and considering a category a success if there are two books posted in each one. Of course most will have considerably more than two books!

I'm also trying to prioritize books already on my shelves where possible even though the borrowed and the new will definitely make appearances. Last year 81 of the 145 books I read were from my own shelves and 61 of those were books that I had before January 1, 2015. I would like to do at least that well this year.

1. Inspired by the Time-Life series

While I still have many of this publisher's series to read, there are also numerous other softcovers in a size similar to a standard hardcover and I will therefore count them as candidates for this category.

1. The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. Tomlinson - Finished January 25, 2015 - own
2. Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean - Finished March 13, 2016 - own
3. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino - Finished March 21, 2016 - own
4. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill - Finished November 4, 2016 - own
5.The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham Smith - Finished December 2016 - own

2. History

1. More Tales of Tennessee by Louise Littleton Davis - finished January 22, 2016 - own
2. Don't Go Up Kettle Creek by William Lynwood Montell - finished July 12, 2016 - own
3. Discovering the North-West Passage by Glenn M. Stein - Finished July 18, 2016 - own
4. The Face of Battle by John Keegan - Finished September 20, 2015 - own
5. Ghosts along the Cumberland by William Lynwood Montell - Finished October 2016 - own

3. Science and Technology

1. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick - Finished January 18, 2016 - own
2. In Search of Ice Age Americans by Kenneth Tankersley - Finished February 9, 2016 - own
3. The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson - Finished April 12, 2016 - own
4. Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking - Finished May 10, 2016 - own
5. T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez - Finished September 8, 2016 - own
6. This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin - Finished September, 2016 - public library
7. Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen - Finished November 28, 2016 - own

4. Mystery & Suspense

1. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - Finished on January 3, 2016 - own
2. The Sisters by Robert Littell - Finished February 12, 2016 - own
3. Crooked House by Agatha Christie - Finished March 16, 2016 - own
4. The Edge by Dick Francis - Finished May 1, 2016 - own
5. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand - Finished May 2, 2016 - own
6. Talking God by Tony Hillerman - Finished May 6, 2016 - own
7. Bodies by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
8. Death by Sheer Torture by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
9. the Cherry Blossom Corpse by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
10. The Piccadilly Murder by Anthony Berkeley - July 31, 2016 - own
11. God Save the Queen! by Dorothy Cannell - August 1, 2016 - own
12. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie - Finished August 12, 2016 - own
13. Femmes Fatal by Dorothy Cannell - Finished August 2016 - own
14. 'E' is for Evidence by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own
15. "K" is for Killer by Sue Grafton - Finished August - own
16. The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner - Finished 2016 -own
17. Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman - Finished September 1, 2016 - own
18. A Sense of Loyalty by Jeffrey Ashford - finished September 4, 2016 - own
19. Woman Slaughter by E. X. Ferrars - finished August 2016 --own
20. Out of the Blackout by Robert Barnard - finished October 3, 2016 - own
21. Die Laughing by Richard Lockridge - finished October 2016 - own
22. Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald - finished October 2016 - own
24. "O" is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton - finished November, 2016 - recent purchase
25. The Dead Sea Cipher by Elizabeth Peters - finished November, 2016 - own

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy

1. The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson - Finished January 14, 2016 - own
2. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished March 30, 2016 - own
3. The Legend of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant - Finished April 16, 2016 - own
4. Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Janet Brennan Croft - Finished April 21, 2016 - own
5. EarthClan by David Brin - Finished May 4, 2016 - own
6. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
7. Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee andSteve Miller - May? - recent purchase
8. Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
9. Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
10. In Enemy Hands by David Weber- June? - recent purchase
11. Honor Among Enemies by David Weber- June? - recent purchase
12. Echoes of Honor by David Weber - June? - public library
13. Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
14. The Sharing Knife: Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
15. The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
16. Horizon: The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
17. 1633 by David Weber and Eric Flint - Finished July 3, 2016 - public library
18. Chanur's Venture by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
19. Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
20. Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
21. Brothers of Earth by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
22. Cuckoo's Egg by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
23. The Faded Sun: Shon'jir by C. J. Cherryh - own
24. The Compleat Enchanter by l. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt - Finished August 2016 - own
25. Fanglith by John Dalmas - Finished August 2916 - own

6. Left-overs

Books from previous years that I pulled off the shelf and sometimes even started for that year's challenge and somehow never finished and books that I meant to definitely track down and read but didn't get to ...

!. The Fifties by David Halberstam - finished January 16, 2016 - own
2. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee - finished August 7, 2016 - public library

7. YA and Younger and Even Younger

1. Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall - Finished on March 4, 2016 - public library
2. The Arrival by Shaun Tan - Finished April 8, 2016 - public library
3. Buried in Ice by Owen Beattie and John Geiger - Finished April 21, 2016 - own

8. My Virtual Library

Mostly books I read on my iPad but could include an audiobook.

1. Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters - ebook - Finished February 25, 2016 - own
2. Central Asia in World History by Peter B. Golden -ebook - Finished February 27, 2016 - own
3. The Princess Bride by William goldman - ebook - Finished April 29, 2016 - own
4. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - ebook - Finished May 5, 2016 - own
5. Proto Zoa by Lois McMaster Bujold - ebook - Finished May 7, 2016 - own
6. Simplify by Joshua Becker - ebook - Finished May 8, 2016 - own
7. 1632 by Eric Flint - ebook - Finished June - own
8. Grantville Gazette I edited by Eric Flint - Finished September 10, 2016 - recent purchase
9. The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson - Finished September 12, 2016 - own
10. No Honor Among Thieves by J. A. Jance - Finished December 2016 - recent purchase - ebook
11. Space Trap by Jaunita Coulson - finished December 2016 - recent purchase - novella
12. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold - finished December 11, 2016 - own -novella
13. Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold - finished December 12, - recent purchase - novella

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated)

1. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Danial C. Dennett - Finished February 29, 2016 -own
2. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman - Finished March 11, 2016 - own
3. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - Finished April 6, 2016 - own
4. The Listeners by James E. Gunn - John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalist (1973) - Finished August 2016 - own
5. A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak - Hugo Nominee (Novel, 1973) - Finished August 2016 - own
6. Code of the Lifemaker by James B. Hogan - Prometheus Award nominee (Novel, 1984) -Finished September 1, 2016 - own
7. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert - Pulitzer Prize (General Non-Fiction, 2015) - Finished September 21, 2016 - own

10. Short Forms.

Short stories, essays, poetry and what have you.

1. The Scientist vs. the Humanist - Edited by George Levine and Owen Thomas - Finished January 29, 2016 - own
2. Dragon's Teeth by Mercedes Lackey - Finished ~ February 4, 2016 - own
3. The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg - finished March 8, 2016 - own
4. Tangents by Greg Bear - June - own
5. Otherworld Secrets by Kelly Armstrong - Finished July 11, 2016
6. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jack Thorne - August 2016 - public library
7. My Gal Sunday by Mary Higgins Clark - finished August 2016 - own
8. The Lottery Winner by Mary Higgins Clark - finished August 2016 - own
9. Ring of Fire edited by Eric Flint - Finished September 4, 2016 -own - recent purchase
10. Ring of Fire II edited by Eric Flint - Finished September 2016 - 0wn - recent purchase
11. Grantville Gazette II edited by Eric Flint - Finished October 10, 2016 - own - recent purchase
12. borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold -November 2016 - own - anthology
13. Random Acts by J.A. Jance - December 2016 - public library - novella
14. The Highwayman by Craig Johnson - December 14, 2016 - public library - longish novella

11. Follow Me

Sequels - the next in a series

1. Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson - Finished February 10, 2016 - public library
2. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson - Finished April 2, 2016 - public library
3. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs - Finished April 9, 2016 - public library
4. Death and the Princess by Robert Barnard - Finished July 8, 2016 - own
5. 1634: The Baltic War by David Weber and Eric Flint - Finished July 10, 2016 - public library
6. The Case of the Missing Bronte by Robert Barnard - Finished July 19, 2016 - own
7. Chanur's Homecoming by C. J. Cherryh - July 2016 - own
8. Nemesis by Agatha Christie - August 2016 - public library
9. L is for Lawless by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own
10. M is for Malice by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own
11. Mad Maudlin by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill - Finished August 2016 - own
12. 1634: The Bavarian Crisis by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce - Finished October 8, 2016 ? - own - recent purchase
13. Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb - Finished October 28, 2016 - public library
14. 1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis - October 31, 2016 - recent purchase
15. Come Death and High Water by Ann Cleeves - finishe November 2016 - own
16. Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold - November 2016 -own
17. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold - November 2016 - own
18. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold - November 2016 - own
19. Memory by Lois McMaste Bujold - November 2016 - own
20. Miles in Love by Lois McMaster Bujold - public library
21. Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold - December 2016 - own
22. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold - December 2016 - public library
23. Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished December 21, 2016 - own

12. Cats and Group Reads

Especially any that don't fit neatly in another category or would go in an already over-populated one. Also any Bingo reads that don't really fit elsewhere even though I'm not really intending to search out books just for that.

1. Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham - Finished January 11, 2016 - public library
2. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham - Finished February 19, 2016 - public library
3. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan - Finished April 16, 2016 - own
4. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson - June 2016 - public library
5. Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman - July 1, 2016 - own
6. Any Other Name by Craig Johnson - July 29, 2016 - public library
7. Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson - July 30, 2016 - public library
8. Dry Bones by Craig Johnson - Finished October 1, 2016 - public library
9. The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman - November1, 2016 - own
10. An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson - December2, 2016 - public library

13. Exploration of all kinds

Not just people exploring new places but mental and spiritual explorations as well. Not to mention learning new skills or just learning in general.

1. The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin - Finished February 18, 2016 - own
2. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell - Finished March 19, 2016 - own
3. The Hero with an African Face by Clyde W. Ford - Finished August 11, 2016 - own

14. Other fiction

1. Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz - Finished January 9, 2016 - public library
2. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished February 14, 2016 - public library
3. The Black Rose by Thomas Costain - Finished March 9, 2016 - own
4. Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb - Finished March 23, 2016 - public library
5. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer - June 2016 - own
6. The Werewolf Principle by Clifford D. Simak - Finished August 2016 - own
7. Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart - Finished September 2016 - own
8. Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - reread - Finished October 5, 2016 - own
9. The Scroll of Man by John Dalmas - Finished October 20, 2016 - own
10. Downfall by J. A. Jance -finished December 2016 - public library

15. Book Bullets from anywhere

1. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - Finished January 6, 2016 - public library
2. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester - June 2016 - own - because of a favorable mention on LT

16. A Miscellany of Mostly Facts

1. Less Medicine, More Health by H. Gilbert Welch - Finished January 26, 2016 - public library
2. Field Guide to Early American Furniture by Thomas H. Ormsbee June 2016 - own
3. Field guide to American Victorian Furniture by Thomas H. Ormsbee - June 2016 - own
4. The collector's encyclopedia of depression glass by Gene Florence and Cathy Florence - reading July - public library

1. Debut - The Historian
2. Comic - Fables: Animal Farm
3. less than 200 pages - Fables: Legends in Exile
4. about a writer - Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays
5. musical reference - This Is Your Brain on Music
6. wordplay in title - Falling Free
7. you want that job or hobby - In Search of Ice Age Americans
8. body of water - The Sea and the Jungle
9. food -
10. self-published - Simplify
11. about an indigenous person - A Thief of Time
12. in translation - The Montmartre Investigation
13. read a CAT - The Feminine Mystique
14. author born in 1916 - Rose Cottage
15. theater - Die Laughing
16. one word title - Skinwalkers
17. Airplane flight - Spirit of Steamboat
18. 'Art' - Field Guide to Early American Furniture - sort of art
19. environment - The Diversity of Life
20. senior citizen - A Caribbean Mystery
21. Autobiographical - Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean
22. Adventure - Journeys on the Silk Road
23. coming of age - Miles in Love
24. published before you were born - The Black Rose
25 survival - Hell Is Empty

1.female ruler - Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
3. less then 10 years old - Brotherhood in Death
4. Short story collection - Proto Zoa
5. non-traditional roles - Fire Touched
6. pub. before 2000 - More Tales of Tennessee
8. spies - The Dead Sea Cipher
10. Award - The Historian
12. women in combat - The Legend of Banzai Maguire
13. by or about a woman - Dragon's Teeth
14. New to me author - The Scent of Shadows
15. set in Latin America - A Caribbean Mystery
19. female critter - Finding Winnie - a bear cub that inspired some famous stories
20. author over 60 - Jayne Ann Krentz - Secret Sisters
23. TBR stack - Friedan - The Feminine Mystique

DeweyCAT

JANUARY - 000 to 099: Computer science, information & general works: computers, libraries, encyclopedias, journalism, museums and rare books

The Scientist vs. The Humanist (001) & Chaos: Making a New Science (003) - Done (both)

GeoCAT

JANUARY - South America

The Sea and the Jungle - Done

RandomCAT

JANUARY -Embrace Your Uniqueness

The Scientist vs. The Humanist - has 12 copies on LT - Finished
More Tales of Tennessee - has 3 copies - Finished

Group Reads

First Quarter - War and Peace

Second Quarter - Robertson Davies Author Read

Year-Long Group Reads:
The Vorkosigan Saga
Fables by Bill Willingham - Vol 1

Hillerman/Longmire

others?

AlphaKit

JANUARY - D and U

More Tales of Tennesse by Louise Littleton Davis - Done

SFFFKit

JANUARY - Read a SFF that has been languishing on your shelves for a year or more

The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson - Done

just in case

Great to see you back! Happy New Year and best wishes for 2016!

Welcome back and happy new year! Looking forward to seeing how you fill up all those categories.

Ha! I like your challenge title. :D Mine will probably be much the same as well since I'm hoping to do better with it this time around.

Good luck!

Happy new year and good luck with your challenge!

>26 lkernagh:, >27 rabbitprincess:, >28 madhatter22:, >29 Chrischi_HH:

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone is having an enjoyable start to the new year.

Books I might read in JANUARY

Started

The Fifties by David Halberstam - finished
Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - finished
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - finished
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

For the CATs

More Tales of Tennessee by Louise Littleton Davis - Done
The Scientist vs. The Humanist edited by George Levine and Owen Thomas - Done
The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. Tomlinson -Done
Chaos:Making a New Science by James Gleick - finished

Others

In Search of Ice Age Americans by Kenneth Tankersley
The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson - finished
Dragon's Teeth by Mercedes Lackey
Fables: Legends in Exile by bill Willingham - finished

and whatever other fiction I need to leaven all the non-fiction on this list.

Welcome back! I'm going to give War and Peace a try as well. Looking forward to your thoughts on Being Mortal as my book club has that picked as one of our reads in a couple of months.

I like your set-up! I just finished Skinwalkers and it's a good one. I am also in the War and Peace group, so "go us!" :)

This morning I was just going to read one chapter of my mystery but I got caught up in the story and finished it so my first book for 2016 is Skinwalkers. I also read a couple of chapters from The Fifties covering Kinsey and then the search for a contraceptive in a pill ...

4. Mystery & Suspense #1.

1. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - Finished on January 3, 2016

From my shelves
216 pages
for the Hillerman/Longmire read
BingoDog - one word title

Skinwalkers is the seventh book in Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee series and is the first where the two men work together. This was an enjoyable story which explains the concept of the Navajo witch or skinwalker. The story begins with the cat that Chee has semi-adopted coming into his trailer in the middle of the night and awakening Chee, saving him from a mysterious and seemingly motiveless attacker. Why Chee? And how does it relate to other unsolved attacks?

Recommended.

Tricia I am so excited that you are going to give Fables, Vol 1 a try! We are currently reading a lot of the same books. I'm listening to Skinwalkers and currently reading War and Peace. I read Being Mortal in November and it was easily my favorite book of last year.

Good luck in trying to prioritise the selections from your tbr shelves. It's almost an impossible task to keep those at a manageable level. Have a good year!

Happy New Year, Tricia. I pretty much keep the same categories from year to year and just change up the overall theme. I say if it works - don't change it!

>35 luvamystery65:, >36 AHS-Wolfy:, >37 DeltaQueen50:

Thanks for stopping by.

About all I've managed to do today, besides watering my two dozen plants, is read a long section of Being Mortal - a really good book on an important topic. Also read a short section of War and Peace which is getting interesting.

Tomorrow, since I'll be in town for a dentist appointment, I'll pick up Fables from the library and maybe read it later in the week. Anyway the year has been good for reading so far.

>34 hailelib:
I just finished that one too - such a good book! I love the cat.

>39 -Eva-: I think everyone likes the cat!

Book number two was finished yesterday:

15. Book Bullets from anywhere #1

2. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - Finished January 6, 2016

From the public library
263 pages
nonfiction 362.175

Being Mortal is easy to read even though Gawande is discussing an extremely serious subject. He has filled the book with very human stories to illustrate the points he wishes to make about the ways in which life ends. This is a book everyone should read and would be particularly helpful for anyone with a serious disease, elderly parents, or those who are themselves reaching the years when severe medical problems become more and more likely. So definitely recommended.

Having finished 2 of the 4 books that I had started, I've added Chaos: Making a New Science (with a 003 classification) for the DeweyCat. The first chapter was quite interesting and seemed accessible for anyone who regularly reads popular science. The Fifties has returned to politics and so is somewhat slow going. The War and Peace is a bit slow going too, in part because of the very small print size, but interesting.

Yesterday, on looking through the Early Reviewers selections I saw two that interested me. So, checking the public library catalog they had both and I ordered them. Already have one and will pick up the other tomorrow which with the first volume of Fables makes three. What happened to sticking to my own shelves?

>40 hailelib: The library seems to have spells of diverting one from one's own shelves! The worst is when you've suspended a bunch of holds while on vacation and reactivate them too soon, so you get a whole bunch of holds in at once.

>40 hailelib: - I've heard so many positive things about that book. Looking forward to reading it later this year for my book club.

Glad to see you back! Good luck prioritizing from your shelves!

Well, I gave in and read the light fiction from the library - not what I had planned but at least it got me a Bingo square for an author over 60!

14. Other fiction

1. Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz - Finished January 9, 2016

From the public library
336 pages
WomanBingo

Secret Sisters is the most recent hardcover by Jayne Ann Krentz and is one of her contemporary romantic suspense stories sans any hint of the paranormal. While I read these whenever they appear, I generally get them from the library rather than buy them as I already have many of her books on my shelves. This particular story struck me as being about average for Krentz.

The novel opens with a scene from Madeline's childhood when she is attacked by one of the guests at her grandmother's hotel. Then we move to the present day when the caretaker at the abondoned hotel calls Madeline and says he must see her urgently. Returning to a place she had hoped to never see again, Madeline finds the caretaker murdered. While there is a romance, I found the mystery to be more prominent. In any event, I enjoyed Secret Sisters and would recommend it to anyone who reads her books.

-------

I did finish some more chapters in The Fifties and have just reached Haberstam's discussion of the Supreme Court and Brown vs. Board of Education. Also well into Chaos theory. I must admit that War and Peace was a bit neglected this weekend. Also Talk threads!

Glad your here for another yearlong challenge! I'm glad you enjoyed the Hillerman book. I've read several of them and watched the intermittent programs on PBS. I haven't tried any of the books written by his daughter, Anne, though.

12. Cats and Group Reads

4. Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham - Finished January 11, 2016

From the public library
118 pages
BingoDog - book less than 200 pages

I really enjoyed Fables: Legends in Exile. The mystery was reasonably interesting and I liked the character of Wolf. A good introduction to Fabletown and some of its inhabitants. The short story by Willingham at the end of Volume 1 was a nice addition with its backstory on Wolf and also how some of Fabletowns residents were able to escape to our world. I will definitely read some more of this series.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy

5. The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson - Finished January 14, 2016 - own

From my own shelves
367 pages
SFFFKit for January

The Earth Book of Stormgate is an anthology of short stories and one short novel by Poul Anderson published in 1978. The stories are part of Anderson's "Future History", in particular the time of the Polesotechnic League and the humans interactions with the Ythri. There is a framing story, written by one of the Ythri of Stormgate, which I also found to be of interest. I may have read some of the stories when they were first published but they all seemed new to me and I enjoyed visiting Anderson's universe.

--------
I'm still working on my other books. Today's chapters from The Fifties covered Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and the Montgomery bus boycott and then Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner and changing attitudes about sex in the U.S. in the fifties. He tends to alternate political and social topics ...

Not much progress on War and Peace however. The heavy book with tiny type doesn't work very well for bedtime reading.

My 2016 challenge turned out to be almost the same as my 2015 as well, and I decided that's OK! Good luck with your reading, I'll enjoy following along.

>46 hailelib: You've reminded me that I really need to read some more Poul Anderson. I read The High Crusade a few years ago and LOVED it!

>46 hailelib: I know what you mean about heavy books with tiny type not being suitable for bedtime reading. I'm rereading War and Peace on my e-reader and I find that's much easier to manage than my massive print volume.

>47 LisaMorr:
Thanks for visiting. So far my reading has been pretty interesting although more heavily nonfiction than most months.

>48 christina_reads:
The High Crusade is pretty good.

>49 mathgirl40:
I really need to put in some dedicated time on War and Peace this weekend so that I don't get too far behind.

I hope that everyone in the path of the East Coast storm makes it through the weekend OK. We're getting the southern edge here and have a light coating of sleet on the ground with snow forecast for later. When our son called last night he wanted to know if we had supplies in and I told him that Jim went to the store, etc. a day earlier than he had intended to beat the rush. Then yesterday after lunch he went out and cut some firewood just in case ... Doesn't look like it will be all that bad so far - just enough to give us an excuse to stay in.

And I finished a couple of books earlier in the week.

6. Left-overs

6. The Fifties by David Halberstam - finished January 16, 2016

From my own shelves
preface + 733 pages + bibliography, index
973.92

From the Left-overs category because it was started for the December HistoryCat though I didn't read much of it in December. Last weekend I decided to finish it off even if it took most of the day.

The Fifties by David Halberstam was a massive look at practically all aspects of the decade. Even though I lived through the fifties I was largely unaware of anything outside my immediate orbit until the sixties came along so I learned a great deal from this book. He began with the aftermath of WWII in the U.S. and Truman's Presidency before moving into the various events that the author felt defined the decade for the United States and then ended with the Kennedy-Nixon televised debate. The chapters on social trends and the early push for broadening the civil rights of minorities held my interest better than the ones on the political infighting and the meddling overseas in places like Central America.

As far as Halberstam's writing goes, some chapters flowed along smoothly but others really needed better editing to take care of wrong words that got by his spell-checker and the occasional awkward sentence.

3. Science and Technology

7. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick - Finished January 18, 2016

From my own shelves
317 pages + notes
DeweyCat (003)

I suppose that this book got its classification in part because the author was a science journalist rather than a scientist and his discussions are often about the people who formulated chaos theory and their methods, their interactions with one another, and the multi-disciplinary applications rather than the mathematics involved. In fact, there is little mathematics in the form of equations but a lot of illustrations and description. At any rate, I really enjoyed Gleick's book and would recommend it to those who are interested in the subject of chaos theory or in how a new science might come into being.

Well the snow did come - about 2 inches worth and because it was well above freezing and sunny most of the day a lot has already melted. Almost a non-event here but we were on the southern edge and didn't really expect much.

Finished my RandomCat:

2. History

8. More Tales of Tennessee by Louise Littleton Davis - finished January 22, 2016

From my own shelves
175 pages plus bibliography
976.8
RandomCat with 3 copies on LT; also AlphaKit for 'D'; BingoPup for published before 2000

Like her earlier book Frontier Tales of Tennessee these are short essays about some interesting people and events with a connection to Tennessee. More Tales of Tennessee is an interesting assortment of stories but I think the first book was better. I found the one about Neill S. Brown who was the representative of the U.S. government to the court of the Czar in 1850 to be interesting for his views on Russia's global ambitions. Apparently, the Russian government of that time wanted to control the world, not just their corner of it.

Making good progress on The Sea and the Jungle and our traveler is now some way up the Amazon.

I haven't been on LT much this week but I have been reading , finishing one of my books in first the dentist's waiting room and then the eye doctor's waiting room. Then two others at various times during the week. I even managed some more of War and Peace.

So, my finished books:

1. Inspired by the Time-Life series

9. The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. Tomlinson - Finished January 25, 2015

From my own shelves
Editor's Preface + Introduction + 302 pages
travel - 918.1
GeoCat - travel to Brazil and voyaging up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers
also BingoDog using 'the Sea' as a body of water

In the fall of 1909, Tomlinson "chucked" his job at a London newspaper and signed on to the crew of the steamship Capella as purser. The ship was bound for the upper Amazon bearing a load of coal to the men building a railroad in the interior of the continent. This is his account of that journey, first published in 1912. In the beginning, I found The Sea and the Jungle a bit slow but once I became accustomed to Tomlinson's style the book picked up and I enjoyed the journey. He sprinkles his account with tales (some of the tall variety) told by his shipmates and later those told by some of the people he met after reaching the Amazon. This was worth reading for both his descriptions of life at sea and of the Amazon region as it was a hundred years ago.

Next -

16. A Miscellany of Mostly Facts

10. Less Medicine, More Health by H. Gilbert Welch - Finished January 26, 2016

From the public library
xxii + 194 pages + notes and index
health care - 362.1

I saw this mentioned on LT shortly after finishing Being Mortal and it sounded like another book in the same vein so I got it from the local library. The writing is very conversational and that makes his "prescriptions" go down easy. Dr. Gilbert makes some very very good points about how the patient-doctor relationship should be and how it rarely is. I already think that I'm being over tested and with his advice in mind I just may ask for less frequent monitoring of some things. Anyway it was worth the time I spent reading it.

One last book finished in January -

10. Short Forms.

11. The Scientist vs. the Humanist - Edited by George Levine and Owen Thomas - Finished January 29, 2016

From my own shelves
preface + 176 pages + discussion questions + short bibliography
001 with 12 copies on LT
DeweyCat and RandomCat

This book is a collection of essays and excerpts covering the ongoing debate between science and the humanities especially in regards to educational goals.This particular collection was meant to be a text for college composition courses in the '60s, hence the discussion questions. By the halfway point I was caught up in the debate and, while some of the selections didn't do much for me, it turned out that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. The Asimov story (from I, Robot) was amusing side by side with the serious essays.

Not to mention 2 Cats with 1 book!

January Summary --

I read 11 books, each in a different category.
3 gave me squares in the BingoDog and two others were in the BingoPup although I didn't pick them for the Bingo cards. Just happened.
DeweyCat - 2
GeoCat - 1
RandomCat - 2 (The Scientist vs. the Humanist worked for both Dewey and Random)
AlphaKit - 1 for 'D'
SFFFKit- 1

Owned before January 1 - 7
Public library - 4
Non-fiction -7
Fiction - 4
Pages for books finished - 3319

Group read - read the first 2 Parts of War and Peace and the Tony Hillerman scheduled for January.

Favorites for January - The Sea and the Jungle, Chaos: Making of a New Science, The Earth Book of Stormgate

I read most of my planned reading for January and I have started the others on the list so I'm pretty satisfied with the way the month went.

Books I might read in FEBRUARY -

Started -

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin - DeweyCat - 153.4 - Done
Dragon's Teeth by Mercedes Lackey - SFFFKit - Done
In Search of Ice Age Americans by Kenneth Tankersley - Done

Possibles for the CATs -

The Sisters by Robert Littell -RandomCat - Done
Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett - DeweyCat - 146.7

GeoCat:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters - ebook - Done
Central Asia in World History by Peter B. Golden - ebook

Others -

Falling Free by Bujold
Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willigham - Done
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan - Halberstam in his book The Fifties spent a lot of time on this book and made me curious.
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson - Done
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - Done

That should keep me busy ...

>55 hailelib: Glad to hear this is worthwhile. I have been wanting to read something by H. Gilbert Welch.

Looks like February should be interesting! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Organized Mind.

Good job on your January reading and lovely lineup for February! The silk road and its history fascinates me. Looking forward to seeing what you think of the Morgan and Walters book.

The Feminine Mystique was quite an eye-opener. I'll be interested to see what you think about that one if you get to it.

>59 Tara1Reads:, >60 rabbitprincess:, >61 lkernagh:, >62 LittleTaiko:

Thanks for stopping by!

I've got several books to report on.

Well, War and Peace has been neglected a bit but I do intend to get back into it. The organized Mind is about half done - some of the sections need slow reading and some thinking about. However there are five finished ones so far this month.

10. Short Forms #2

12. Dragon's Teeth by Mercedes Lackey - Finished ~ February 4, 2016

From my own shelves
563 pages
short stories
Could be SFFFKit but I've got a better one for that now. But I am using it for the BingoPup - by or about a woman although a few of the stories had a male co-author. Several had female leads though.

Dragon's Teeth is really three collections of short stories. Lackey put together an omnibus of two previous collections - Fiddler Fair and Werehunter - and added some more recent stories (all apparently from 2013) for readers who missed the earlier collections. Apparently, I'm read less of her work than I thought because practically all of these were new to me, even the ones connected to some of her novels. This was a fun collection for me with fantasy, SF, and even a horror story included. I loved the Skitty stories particularly.

3. Science and Technology #2.

13. In Search of Ice Age Americans by Kenneth Tankersley - Finished February 9, 2016

from my own shelves
240 pages
970.01
BingoDog - job or hobby I would like to have

Written for a general audience with lots of illustrations, Tankersley's book is a history of how we found out what we know about the people living in North America during the last Ice Age. It's also about the ongoing search for more sites and the science involved in dating and authenticating artifacts. His stories about both amateur and profession "bone-hunters" were very interesting. I particularly liked the ones about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George McJunkin. McJunkin was born a slave in Texas and when grown drifted further West, working on various ranches until settling as foreman on one in New Mexico. He was self-educated and particularly interested in history and also collected paleo artifacts. I found this book very enjoyable as I have always been interested in paleontology.

11. Follow Me #1

14. Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson - Finished February 10, 2016

From the public library.
309 pages
Hillerman/Longmire group read
BingoDog - survival story

I enjoyed this Longmire as much as any of the previous ones. While I've seen the TV episode loosely based on Hell Is Empty the book is even better. The close connection to Dante"s Inferno made it more than just a survival story. While not everyone approves of Walt taking off after the escaped criminals in the teeth of a blizzard, it seemed to be in character to me.

----

And now to check on the pot roast and make a salad.

4. Mystery & Suspense #2

15. The Sisters by Robert Littell - Finished February 12, 2016

From my own shelves
278 pages
RandomCat - It takes Two

At first I thought that I wasn't going to like The Sisters by Littell but it began to get interesting and at about 50 pages in it became a page turner for me because I really wanted to know what came next. Saying much more without spoilers is a bit difficult; however, the Sisters is the nickname for a pair of CIA agents who became known as the sisters of Death and Night for their work there. Another pair are the Potter and the Sleeper, a Soviet trainer of sleepers and the one he considers his last and best trainee. There are also the two "Cousins", high in the Soviet spy hierarchy, and "the Canadians", a pair of Soviet agents working out of Canada. There are conspiracies and betrayals and road trips and Walt Whitman's poetry all leading to ... and that would be a major spoiler! I think I'll put this one back on the shelf.

So, one more book to write up. It's cold here with the temperature hovering around freezing and some sort of Precipitation on the way. It's supposed to be mostly rain and with the high tomorrow warm enough to melt anything else. Hope they are right.

We are sitting in front of the fire with some music on. Right now it's Simon and Garfunkel - Jim is alternating between 60's .oldies and Big Band. (Does thet date us?) And I'm catching up my thread. The next book is a change of plans - the library got "Gentleman Jole ..." and I'm substituting it for Falling Free.

14. Other fiction #2

16. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished Febreuary 14, 2016

From the public library
340 pages
A Vicereine of a whole planet sounds like a female ruler so I'm using this for the BingoPup

A lovely addition to the Vorkosigan universe, both a romance and a story about reinventing oneself. Cordelia is still getting over Aral's death but she has reached a point where she is ready to live again and is making plans for a new and different life. Admiral Jole has also reached a point in his career and his life where he needs to decide what next. So, no space opera, spies, and little in the way of political upheavals but still a great story.

A couple more books to add -

13. Exploration of all kinds #1.

17. The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin - Finished February 18, 2016

From my own shelves
introduction(24 pages) + 383 pages + appendix + notes + index
exploring how the mind works and what that means
153.4
DeweyCat

The Organized Mind is, as the subtitle says, about "thinking straight in the age of information overload". If you are going to read just one book about thinking, planning, and making decisions this would be a good choice. He covers all kinds of things including how memory works, why trying to multitask is a bad idea, organizing ones home, how people connect to one another, making medical decisions, even what we should be teaching the children. I read this slowly since there is so much packed into the book and it would definitely be worth a reread at some point. Recommended.

12. Cats and Group Reads #2

18. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham - Finished February 19, 2016

From the public library
128 pages
Fables group read and BingoDog for comic/graphic novel

We are now introduced to more characters and The Farm where all the ones who can't pass as human have to live. When Snow White and her sister arrive to investigate why the manager hasn't checked in lately they find a revolution brewing. How this plays out leads to an adventure for each of the sisters. I found the personality of Goldilocks and her role to be interesting. Will we see her again?

------

I've started both Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Journeys on the Silk Road. Looks like some of my planned reading won't happen but that was expected.

>69 hailelib: Sounds like a book I'm going to have to buy rather than borrow!

>71 rabbitprincess: If you need another opinion, my husband has read it at least 3 times and I had to take it away from him to read it myself.

Meanwhile, I finished another good book, this one for the GeoCAT -

8. My Virtual Library # 1.

19. Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters - ebook - Finished February 25, 2016

From my own shelves.
338 pages
909.09821
GeoCAT - Central Asia and the Silk Road
BingoDog - adventure

While Journeys on the Silk Road is (mostly) about Aurel Stein and his travels in Turkestan in the early 1900's, most of these journeys were in what is now Western China. For the expedition that took a major part of the book, Stein traveled over the mountains from Kashmir to Kashgar and from there headed east along the southern Silk Road route to Dunhuang. This city was the gateway to China for the traders who connected East with West up until sea routes made the dangerous journey unnecessary. In Dunhuang he was able to acquire some ancient scrolls from a sealed chamber in The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Among them was a dated scroll from 868 C.E. which is considered the oldest printed book for which we have a verified date, printed in China with woodblocks. It is known as The Diamond Sutra. Stein then explored part of the northern route before making a mad dash across the Taklamakan Desert back to the southern route and eventually back to his base in India after any number of adventures.

Although much of "Journeys" is about Stein and his explorations, there is also much about Buddhism and its travels from India to China across Central Asia and its prominence there before the arrival of Islam in the region. Apparently both religions along with Manachaeism, Nestorians, etc. co-existed amicably along the Silk Road for a long time judging by the manuscripts and other artifacts that have been discovered in the area.

The authors also discussed the studies that have been made of Stein's discoveries and concerns about preservation and, more recently, concerns about who owns ancient artifacts. There is also a link to a great site (idp.bl.uk) where many of these manuscripts have been digiitzed and can be viewed, including the Diamond Sutra. The bibliography is also a good source for further reading.

Well, I really need to catch up on February since I finished another two books.

8. My Virtual Library #2

20. Central Asia in World History by Peter B. Golden -ebook - Finished February 27, 2016

ebook on iPad
193 pages
958.
GeoCAT - Central Asia

Golden's book is a fairly good overview of the history of Central Asia from prehistory to modern times. However, it is very compressed so new names and events crowd the pages and I would have liked more maps. Still, it's a place to start in order to understand the region as it is today.

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated) #1.

21. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Danial C. Dennett - Finished February 29, 2016

From my own shelves
511 pages + extensive notes + extensive biblography
146.7
DeweyCAT
1995 National Book Award Finalist

Dennett is a philosopher with interests in evolutionary biology and cognitive studies. Since I haven't read much philosophy and only a little of the evolutionary studies he cites, this book was a slow and sometimes difficult read. I do feel that he was persuasive that he is on the right track but he cheerfully admits that not everyone in the field agrees. Dennett argues that evolution is a done deal and that there are no 'skyhooks' (supernatural elements) needed to get from just formed earth to men asking questions about how they got here. He can also inject humor into his dialog with the reader.

February Summary --

I read 10 books, over several categories.
4 gave me squares in the BingoDog and two others were in the BingoPup although I didn't pick them for the Bingo cards. Just happened.
DeweyCat - 2
GeoCat - 2
RandomCat - 1 (The Scientist vs. the Humanist worked for both Dewey and Random)
AlphaKit - 3 for 'J'; 1 for 'B'
SFFFKit- 1

Owned before January 1 - 7
Public library - 3
Non-fiction -5
Fiction - 5
Pages for books finished - 3173
Pages for year - 6492

Group read - only read a little of War and Peace (need to return to it) and the Longmire scheduled for January plus one for the Vorkosigan series.

Favorites for February - The Organized Mind; Journeys on the Silk Road; Hell Is Empty; Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

Possibles for March -

I'm keeping the ones not read in February as they still look interesting.

Started -

War and Peace - hope to read more than in February but it was always meant to be a long term book.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino - Done
Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean - GeoCAT - Done
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman - Done
The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove & Martin H. Greenberg - SFFFKit - Done
Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales by Ray Bradbury - RandomCAT - ebook - started
The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain - an Englishman sets out to visit Cathay and the court of Kublai Khan - pulled off the shelves after reading my Central Asia books - Done

Others planned -

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - GeoCAT - Started
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell - DeweyCAT - Done
Finding Winnie - a Caldecott book - I like to see what the recent winning picture books are about. - Done

Left-overs from last month -

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - started
Falling Free by Bujold - Done
The Feminine Mystique - moved to April

You've got a full reading schedule planned! I'm finding having sixteen categories is really keeping me busy, I think I have finally reached my limit and there is no way I will have seventeen categories next year!

>76 DeltaQueen50:

Judy, I think you are right. We've gotten to the point where there will have to be creative ways to participate. I keep thinking about 10 categories with 7 in each for next year.

I am being surprised by how many of the CATs I've been able to pull from my own shelves. Now if I can just ignore most of the book bullets ... A lot of our books that I've been ignoring for a long time turn out to be really good so the public library isn't seeing much of me right now. I will be going to the Friends sale on Sunday though. Gotta scratch that book buying itch occasionally.

------

7. YA and Younger and Even Younger #1

22. Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall - Finished on March 4, 2016

From the public library
52 pages
Based on true story, 2016 Caldecott Medal, picture book
WomanBingoPUP
AlphaKit - L

Finding Winnie is a great story about the bear cub that inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh books and how a North American bear ended up in the London Zoo and became friends with a boy named Christopher Robin Milne. Definitely recommended, especially if you have children or grandchildren who love the Pooh stories. Would be a good read aloud book for young children.

So, we did make it to the library sale and came home with 12 books for $16 US all in pretty good condition.

Hardcover:
The Measure of All Things - I read and really liked this some years ago - as a library discard it may be the actual one I read.
The Rabbi's Cat - graphic novel
Murther & Walking Spirits -Davies
Welcome to Havana, Senor Hemingway - Alfredo Jose Estrada - my husband thought it looked interesting
A Body in the Bathhouse - Falco
Diary of a Bad Year -Coetzee
The Keeper of Lost Causes - Adler-Olsen
The Forest House - Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Masque of the Black Tulip - Willig
A Thousand Spendid Suns - Hosseini

Paperbacks:
The Count of Monte Christo - Dumas
The Legend of Banzai Maguire - Susan Grant

The interesting thing about this selection is that before LT and the Category Challenge only two or three of these would have come home with me. I would have bought just as many but they would have been very different.

Excellent haul! The Keeper of Lost Causes, The Rabbi's Cat, and The Count of Monte Cristo are all favorites of mine.

Great selection of books from the sale!

12 for $16 is not shabby at all! Enjoy!

That many books for $16.00 is an excellent deal. Enjoy your books!

Excellent haul!

Love the library book sale haul!

>79 -Eva-:; >80 RidgewayGirl:; >81 VictoriaPL:; >82 DeltaQueen50:; >83 rabbitprincess:; >84 lkernagh:

I could have brought home more but restrained myself in light of the 32 I bought at their bag sale in October for $10 which are mostly unread by me although my husband has read several of them!

Meanwhile I've finished three books and made progress on some others.

Comments coming after I charge up the laptop - left it on the sofa yesterday and it'll be out of 'gas' soon.

Been gone longer than I expected - so way behind on reviews and on reading threads! Catching up is definitely in order.

Anyway here goes with some short comments since my first tries disappeared just before LT went offline -

10. Short Forms #3.

23. The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg - finished March 8, 2016

From my own shelves
427 pages with Introduction
SFFFKit

The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century is a nice collection of stories, many by authors which were new to me. There is even one novella which postulates the South winning the War Between the States. I very much enjoyed reading these stories and thought that this volume would be a good introduction to the Alternate History subgenre.

14. Other fiction #3

24. The Black Rose by Thomas Costain - Finished March 9, 2016

From my own shelves
500 pages with a very short author's note about the sources he based the book on.
BingoDog - published before I was born (just barely!)

The Black Rose is a long historical novel set during the reign of Edward the First of England. Walter of Gurnie, also sometimes called the Bastard, is a scholar at Oxford as the book opens. Walter and a new friend, Tristram, run afoul of the authorities and need to leave England for a while. Walter had recently heard Roger Bacon speak and, inspired by his remarks on the Far East, Walter pawns his inheritance from his father and the two set off to Cathay and the court of Kublai Khan to make their fortune. This is the story of their journey there and back again with plenty of adventure and even some romance. I had read this many years ago and I found that I still enjoyed the story very much.

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated) #2

25. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman - Finished March 11, 2016

From my own shelves
258 pages + map + short bio of author
Hillerman/Longmire group read
BingoDog - about indigenous person

Another enjoyable mystery featuring both Leaphorn and Chee. An archaeologist goes missing and their are apparently one or more people digging illegally at Anasazi sites and selling to collectors. Not to mention the theft of a flatbed trailer and a backhoe ...

A couple of days ago we watched the movie made from this book via Netflix. There were some changes but overall a good production with Native American actors playing all the Navajo roles although most of them are actually from other tribes.

BB taken for The Black Rose!

>89 lkernagh:

I don't know how easy it is to find Costain's novels these days. My copy is a very old paperback circa 1961. There's also a movie with Tyrone Power and Orson Welles but I don't think I've ever seen it.

More Books!

1. Inspired by the Time-Life series #2

26. Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean - Finished March 13, 2016

From my own shelves
550 pages + Editor's preface (7pages) + Introduction by Charles W. Thayer (7 pages) + index
GeoCAT -Eastern Europe and Russia
BingoDog - memoir
940.54

Eastern Approaches is MacLean's account of his exploits from about 1936 through the last days of World War II in Europe. Having joined the British Diplomatic Service after University he found himself in Paris which most young men would have found a perfect posting. However, having grown bored with the social round and becoming convinced that more knowledge of the Soviet Union was essential, he applied for a posting to Moscow and was duly assigned there. The first section of the book concerns his observations of life there and particularly of the purges and the state trial of Bukharin and others of the Old Guard. But, in between events in Moscow, MacLean also travel extensively throughout the U.S.S.R. even though such travel was discouraged by the government. Rather than asking permission he just boarded trains and went. At various times he managed to get as far east as the border with China and, on another trip, across the border to Afghanistan. Of course all these trips featured a couple of N.K.V.D. agents trailing behind.

With the start of the War MacLean managed to resign from the Service and enlist in his home regiment (rising to Brigadier by the end of the war) by running for Parliament - even though he told everyone that if his regiment was sent to the front he would go with them he won. Assigned to a special force in North Africa he was part of several raids behind enemy lines and the second section of his book deals with this part of his life.

With the desert war winding down, Churchill's attention turned to the Balkans and MacLean was chosen to enter Yugoslavia (by parachute) and contact the Partisans. His orders were to find out who was killing Germans and help them kill more. So began his association with the group led by Tito and this forms the longest section of the book. The activities there and the explanation of some of the region's history helped me understand how the Balkans got to where they are today.

Eastern Approaches would be an excellent read for anyone interested in the Soviet Union in the 30's, in World War II, or the rise of Tito's government towards the end of the war.

4. Mystery & Suspense #3

27. Crooked House by Agatha Christie - Finished March 16, 2016

From my own shelves
200 pages
read between chapters of my next book

One of Agatha Christie's stand alone books and set in a multi-generation country house near London. A good mystery from the late forties told in the first person by Charles Hayward, who hopes to marry into the family of the recently deceased patriarch, Aristide Leonides. It kept my interest and I liked the twists in the story.

13. Exploration of all kinds #2

28. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell - Finished March 19, 2016

From my own shelves
337 pages + Preface + notes, bibliography, etc.
DeweyCAT - 291.13 or 201.3

There are several good reviews of The Hero with a Thousand Faces so I will be brief. Campbell takes us on the hero's journey or quest through all its stages with examples at each step of the way and his explanation of its meaning. The stories he tells are from every inhabited continent and help make his point that all mythologies tell much the same story. Many of these myths and folktales were new to me and I enjoyed encountering them. This is not really an easy book but one to make the reader think.

I've now pulled Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion from the shelf to read next month. So far this year there has been a book each month that has led me to take down another one to add to my pile of sooner than later reading.

>90 hailelib: - I did a quick check through amazon and it looks like that it is worth holding onto your copy:

https://www.amazon.ca/The-Black-Rose-Thomas-Costain/dp/1568497016/188-7705560-04...

Always nice to see a book attracting that kind of value. ;-)

>94 lkernagh: - Apparently its been a while since his books were re-issued. That's happened to a lot of good authors of that period - they fall out of fashion.

1. Inspired by the Time-Life series #3

29. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino - Finished March 21, 2016

From my own shelves
165 pages
originally scheduled for February ...

Invisible Cities is definitely different from my usual reading but was intriguing nonetheless. There is a frame of short conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan with the descriptions of the cities interspersed. The cities seem to be fantasy cities, happy cities, desolate cities, all types of cities and some of these descriptions approach poetry. Are they different cities, all the same city, or, just ideas about cities ... A strange but interesting book that has by no means put me off of reading more Calvino.

14. Other fiction #4

30. Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb - Finished March 23, 2016

From the public library
388 pages
came in from the library much sooner than expected and short check-out time

Number 42 in a long running mystery series, Brotherhood in Death delivered just what I expected. It's about an average installment with Eve and Peabody investigating the disappearance of Dennis Mira's brother at the request of their friend Charlotte Mira. A few of the continuing characters make an appearance and Truehart has a big day. Recommended for fans but readers new to the series should start at the beginning.

>78 hailelib: Great haul! I noticed Murther and Walking Spirits on your list. In case you're interested, we'll be starting the April-June Robertson Davies group read very soon:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/219842

>98 mathgirl40: I'm adding it to the April stack but may not start til May.

Meanwhile, I did finish another book for March.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy #2

31. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished March 30, 2016

From my own shelves.
307 pages
BingoDog - title wordplay
AlphaKit - L

Something of a prequel to the Vorkosigan Saga, Falling Free is Bujold's story of the origin of the quaddies and a look at an earlier stage in the development of the galaxy as Miles knows it. I really enjoyed reading about Leo Graf and the quaddies and noticed the brief mentions of Beta Colony.

Now to put together an update.

March Summary --

I read 10 books, over several categories.
4 gave me squares in the BingoDog and one in the BingoPup although I didn't pick them for the Bingo cards. Just happened.
DeweyCat - 1
GeoCat - 1
RandomCat - choose a very long collection of short stories and read about 25% - so I didn't count it but will finish the book eventually.
AlphaKit - 2 for 'L'
SFFFKit- 1

Owned before January 1 - 8
Public library - 2
Non-fiction -2
Fiction - 8
Pages for books finished - 3184
Pages for year - 9676

Group read - only read a little of War and Peace (need to return to it) and the Hillerman scheduled for March plus one for the Vorkosigan series.

Favorites for March - Eastern Approaches, The Black Rose, Falling Free - actually they were all pretty good.

I did read a nice chunk of War and Peace and have others started so a pretty good reading month all around.

Possibles for April

Started -

War and Peace - still reading some from time to time - unlike some, I prefer the parts with the army - more than one-fourth read
The Kite Runner - pretty good so far
The Historian - finished
Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales by Ray Bradbury - also at about 25% - why am I reading three bricks?

CATs, etc.

Discovering the North-West Passage - GeoCAT - started
The Diversity of Life - RandomCAT - done
The Feminine Mystique - DeweyCAT - finally
As the Crow Flies - Longmire - Done
The Princess Bride - SFFFKit - Done

Others
The Arrival - Shaun Tan - Done
maybe Murther & Walking Spirits
Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion - Diane K. Osbon
Lois McMaster Bujold by Croft - done
Fire Touched - added and finished

You gave me a little laugh when you wondered why you are reading three bricks at the same time. I try (but it doesn't always work out) to match my chunksters with shorter books cause there is nothing more frustrating that feeling like the books you are reading will never be finished!

Checking in and noticing that you are wrapping up W&P and reading The Kite Runner and The Historian. Looking forward to finding out what you think of them!

>102 DeltaQueen50: I actually finished one of those 'bricks' a few days ago!

>103 lkernagh: Actually, I've still got a lot of War and Peace to go but I did read a long section before turning back to The Historian.

And I have reviews to catch up on ...

11. Follow Me #2

32. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson - Finished April 2, 2016

From the public library
308 pages
Hillerman/Longmire read

As the story opens, Walt is feeling rather harassed as the planning for Cady's wedding has hit a major snag - the venue chosen has become unavailable. While Henry and Walt are trying to find another suitable location on the Rez they witness a woman fall to her death. Accident? Suicide? Murder? Although out of his jurisdiction, Walt becomes involved in the investigation anyway as the new Tribal Police Chief is out of her depth and finally requests help. Another interesting episode in Walt's life and a new character in Lolo Long.

>104 hailelib: I also just finished As the Crow Flies! I hope we see more of Lolo Long.

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated) #3

33. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - Finished April 6, 2016

From my own shelves
642 pages
historical fiction about the search for the truth about Dracula
BingoDog - Debut book
BingoPup - won Quill Award

From the reviews on LT some people really like The Historian and some really dislike it. I fall into the like category. The story did take some getting into as there are multiple narrators spanning the period from 1930 to around 1972 and much of it is told in the form of long, rambling letters. However, by the time I got to Part Two (page 179) the story had caught me so that it became my only reading until it was finished. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the various places our characters visited, especially the Balkans during the Cold War in the early fifties. The Historian is in part a retracing the ground trod by Bram Stoker and in part a description of how a historian finds and follows clues to illuminate the past. I do agree that the writing was occasionally less smooth than it should have been and the ending of the main story was a little rushed but I liked the way the epilogue raised a little 'what if' question in my mind. Also, be warned that many of the reviews contain major spoilers.

7. YA #2

34. The Arrival by Shaun Tan - Finished April 8, 2016 - public library
128 pages
story of immigration told in pictures

After seeing this mentioned on LT a couple of times I found it at my local library. It's a very good story about the immigrant experience that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. The wonderful artwork depicts a strange and also wonderful city of immigrants, each one helping those who come after them.

11. Follow Me #3
35. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs - Finished April 9, 2016

From the public library
342 pages
urban fiction
BingoPup - Mercy is an auto mechanic - she also takes the lead here in several aspects of the story.

The ninth in the Mercy Thompson series, Fire Touched was very entertaining. Mercy and the Pack she is a member of by virtue of being married to its Alpha take on a troll that has appeared in The Tri-Cities. This is just the opening act of a confrontation with the Gray Lords of the Fae. We have a new character with the appearance of Aiden who asks for sanctuary and protection from the fae who are after him. Zee and Tad are back as well, having escaped from the Reservation. Can Mercy maneuver her way through the resulting complications and achieve a satisfactory ending for her friends?

I've added The Diversity of Life to the books I'm currently reading as I was ready for some non-fiction. This is for the RandomCat and I've reached the last third where he addresses the human impact on biodiversity.

3. Science and Technology

36. The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson - Finished April 12, 2016

From my own shelves
351 pages + notes, glossary, etc.
RandomCat for his advocating care of all living things
BingoDog for the environment

The Diversity of Life turned out to be a quick and, for me, fascinating read. While Wilson doesn't oversimplify the science, his book should be accessible to most people and it is well illustrated with drawings, maps, color plates, and graphs. From the first chapter the author tells us that the rate of species extinction has reached very high levels. Later, Wilson shows how humans are causing most of these extinctions and that we need to address this if we want our descendents to enjoy a biologically diverse world. Although written about 25 years ago this book is still timely in its cry for preserving the richness of the biosphere. Recommended.

So, I started The Feminine Mystique and it's going rather fast as I've finished 6 of the 14 chapters. Maybe I'll get back to fiction after this book.

We are definitely well into spring here - the dogwoods are actually past their peak. This year, so far, everything is blooming profusely and we've had a number of warm days although the nights have been generally cool. We are even thinking about traveling to Nashville, TN before the weather gets really hot ... probably going by way of Chattanooga and returning by way of Knoxville.

Finished The Feminine Mystique but not yet sure sure what I want to say about it.

Another nice spring day here.

Four books finished. Brief remarks ...

12. Cats and Group Reads #3

37. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan - Finished April 16, 2016

From my own shelves
364 pages
DeweyCAT - 305.42
BingoDog - read a CAT
BingoPup - "to be read"

The Feminine Mystique was an interesting book to read, mainly because it explained some things to me about the women I was around during the fifties and sixties. For a long time I was puzzled by one of my mother's good friends - as soon as one of her children started 1st grade she got pregnant again. Friedan's book gave me a possible explanation for that. There was something of the history of women's rights and then the post-war retreat to the suburbs and "housewifery". The author attempts to explain this and finally calls for women to get out of their homes and find a purpose that would give them an identity beyond being someone's wife or mother. This made me think about my own life choices.

However, Friedan definitely had an agenda and she also had some ideas (for instance, about homosexuality and autism) that were off base. Even so, it was important for the conversations it started and the feminist movement she helped create. Also, not all the problems she saw have been solved so that it remains somewhat relevant.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy #3.

38. The Legend of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant - Finished April 16, 2016

From my own shelves
327 pages
BingoPup - women in combat - fighter pilot

So-so. This is the first of five books by four authors set in 2176 with Susan Grant writing the first and fifth ones. Chosen because I wanted a quick, light read between more serious books and the idea of a pilot being shot down, captured, put in bio-stasis and then waking up 170 years later sounded interesting. However the book showed signs of either hasty writing or hasty editing (or both) and the romance part wasn't very well developed. Although I am mildly interested in finding out what happened next I won't actively seek out the others in this series.

7. YA and Younger and Even Younger #3.

39. Buried in Ice by Owen Beattie and John Geiger - Finished April 21, 2016

From my own shelves
64 pages
GeoCAT - Arctic exploration

I had started my book Discovering the North-West Passage about H.M.S. Investigator and its crew's search for any signs of the Franklin Expedition when I remembered this book (aimed at students from about 9 to 14 years) about the Franklin Expedition (1845), its disappearance, and the efforts of Beattie (1984) to determine just what went wrong. So it came off the shelves for a quick reading. Beattie and Geiger give us an interesting look at the known facts along with a fictional look at the crew and the events that led up to their disappearance. Over time various traces of the crew were discovered including the graves of three men on Beechey Island. Armed with the proper permits Beattie and his team exhumed the bodies and examined them for clues and believe they know why the ships failed to return home.

Buried in Ice is full of interesting facts, photos, and other illustrations. I enjoyed both the factual and fictional parts.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy #4

40. Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Janet Brennan Croft - Finished April 21, 2016

From my own shelves
198 pages + index
BingoDog - about a writer

This volume of essays begins with an introduction by Croft on why Bujold is a favorite of hers, why Bujold doesn't get the critical attention she deserves, and a little about the collection. Next, there is an interview with Bujold about her writing. The essays focus mainly on the Vorkosigan Universe but there are also interesting discussions about her other books. I found the essays enlightening about Bujold and her fiction and I definitely want to get the books I have not yet read. Also, I feel that, having read this book, I will see even more in the stories and enjoy more the reread of her oeuvre that I foresee in my future. However, one problem in this book is that a couple of the essays were overfull of social science, etc. jargon making for slightly difficult reading.

The last book completed in April -

8. My Virtual Library #3

41. The Princess Bride by William Goldman - ebook - Finished April 29, 2016

From my iPad
465 pages
SFFFKit for April

I thoroughly enjoyed The Princess Bride, possibly as much as I enjoy watching the movie. While the way it is written, with interjections by Goldman as to what he left out and (fictional) bits about his personal life, may not be for everyone, I was often laughing and reading late into the night to see what came next. There were also some story elements that didn't make it into the movie, for instance the back-story on Fezzik, that were interesting.

I did start my April GeoCAT book, Discovering the North-West Passage, but it was slow going because of all the detail and so on. Thus, I have temporarily set it aside but mean to get back to it soon.

I've gone through a bunch of fiction since the first but I need to do an April summary before posting those. Maybe tomorrow.

April Summary --

I read 10 books, over several categories.
4 gave me squares in the BingoDog and four in the BingoPup although a couple worked for both.
DeweyCat - 1
GeoCat - 1 but didn't finish my longer one.
RandomCat - 1
AlphaKit - 1 for 'H'
SFFFKit- 1

Owned before January 1 - 7
Public library - 3
Non-fiction -4
Fiction - 6
Pages for books finished - 3189
Pages for year - 12,865
Group read - only read a little of War and Peace (need to return to it) and the Longmire scheduled for April

Favorites for April - The Historian, As the Crow Flies, The Diversity of Life, Lois McMaster Bujold- essays about her writing

I did read a nice chunk of War and Peace and have others started so a pretty good reading month all around. But the later half of May will need to be catch up time since so many from previous months are started but have a ways to go.

After completing an Annual Report on my father's finances around the 1st I immediately began doing nothing but reading mysteries and space opera for a few days. There are a lot of books to report so I'm skipping reading plans and just getting down to short comments on items already read ...

In no particular order we have

4. Mystery & Suspense #4, 5, & 6

42. The Edge by Dick Francis - Finished May 1, 2016

from my own shelves
313 pages plus map
GeoCAT - Noth America

I like to read a Dick Francis mystery from time to time and this one takes place in Canada. Most of the story takes place on a special train for race hose owners that travels from Toronto to Vancouver with races planned in Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver and a two day stopover at Lake Louise. There's lots of scenery and lots of the inner workings of the railway with our detective traveling as a waiter in the special owner's dining car. A typical Francis novel buy with one of his more unusual settings.

43. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand - Finished May 2, 2016

From my own shelves
172 pages + Preface (H. R. F. Keating) + Introduction (Otto Penzler)
RandomCAT

First published in 1944, Green for Danger} takes place in a WWII military hospital in Kent. The mystery is good as is the description of how people coped or didn't cope with the war.

44. Talking God by Tony Hillerman - Finished May 6, 2016

From my own shelves.
338 pages
Hillerman/Longmire read for May

A good story with both Leaphorn and Chee taking themselves to D.C. separately only to find their cases are connected. I enjoyed the book in print much more than the audio I listened to in 2014. Some narrators just don't work.

We are in the process of getting ready for a trip - driving tomorrow to Chattanooga, then Nashville, then Knoxville and back home over the mountains. So very short listings of finished items.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy #5.

45. EarthClan by David Brin - Finished May 4, 2016

From my own shelves
983 pages
SFFFKit - Space Opera

An omnibus of Startide Rising and The Uplift War. I loved it.

3. Science and Technology #4.

46. Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking - Finished May 10, 2016

From my own shelves
175 pages
RandomCat for Black

Interesting but a little repetitive. A collection of essays spanning two decades.

More later if have time.

8. My Virtual Library #4, 5, 6

47. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - ebook - Finished May 5, 2016

From my iPad
528 pages
SFFFKit - space opera

The Liaden Universe. Pretty good.

48. Proto Zoa by Lois McMaster Bujold - ebook - Finished May 7, 2016

From my iPad
99 pages

Early short stories by Bujold. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" is something of a prequel to the Vorkosigan universe and "Aftermath" is at the end of most editions of Shards of Honor. For completists.

49. Simplify by Joshua Becker - ebook - Finished May 8, 2016

From my iPad
46 pages

Mostly an overview of the author's brand of minimalism. Mostly taken from his blog.

>122 hailelib: Fledgling was my introduction to the Liaden series, and for some reason, it's still my favourite of the ones I've read. I really like the young Theo as a character.

Yes, I know, I've hardly been here for quite a while!

A sort of mid-here status report - the original plan was to have at least two books in each category to give me a lot of flexibility. So far, here is where I am:

1. Inspired by the Time-Life series

1. The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. Tomlinson - Finished January 25, 2015 - own
2. Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean - Finished March 13, 2016 - own
3. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino - Finished March 21, 2016 - own
_____

2. History

1. More Tales of Tennessee by Louise Littleton Davis - finished January 22, 2016 - own
2.
_____

3. Science and Technology

1. Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick - Finished January 18, 2016 - own
2. In Search of Ice Age Americans by Kenneth Tankersley - Finished February 9, 2016 - own
3. The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson - Finished April 12, 2016 - own
4. Black Holes and Baby Universes by Stephen Hawking - Finished May 10, 2016 - own
_____

4. Mystery & Suspense

1. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - Finished on January 3, 2016 - own
2. The Sisters by Robert Littell - Finished February 12, 2016 - own
3. Crooked House by Agatha Christie - Finished March 16, 2016 - own
4. The Edge by Dick Francis - Finished May 1, 2016 - own
5. Green for Danger by Christianna Brand - Finished May 2, 2016 - own
6. Talking God by Tony Hillerman - Finished May 6, 2016 - own
7. Bodies by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
8. Death by Sheer Torture by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
9. the Cherry Blossom Corpse by Robert Barnard - June 2016 - own
_____

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy

1. The Earth Book of Stormgate by Poul Anderson - Finished January 14, 2016 - own
2. Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished March 30, 2016 - own
3. The Legend of Banzai Maguire by Susan Grant - Finished April 16, 2016 - own
4. Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Janet Brennan Croft - Finished April 21, 2016 - own
5. EarthClan by David Brin - Finished May 4, 2016 - own
6. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
7. Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee andSteve Miller - May? - recent purchase
8. Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
9. Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - May? - recent purchase
10. In Enemy Hands by David Weber- June? - recent purchase
11. Honor Among Enemies by David Weber- June? - recent purchase
12. Echoes of Honor David Weber- June? - public library
13. Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
14. The Sharing Knife: Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
15. The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
16. Horizon: The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold - June? - recent purchase
17. 1633 by David Weber and Eric Flint - Finished July 3, 2016 - public library
_____

6. Left-overs

!. The Fifties by David Halberstam - finished January 16, 2016 - own
2.
_____

7. YA and Younger and Even Younger

1. Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall - Finished on March 4, 2016 - public library
2. The Arrival by Shaun Tan - Finished April 8, 2016 - public library
3. Buried in Ice by Owen Beattie and John Geiger - Finished April 21, 2016 - own
_____

8. My Virtual Library

1. Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan and Conrad Walters - ebook - Finished February 25, 2016 - own
2. Central Asia in World History by Peter B. Golden -ebook - Finished February 27, 2016 - own
3. The Princess Bride by William goldman - ebook - Finished April 29, 2016 - own
4. Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - ebook - Finished May 5, 2016 - own
5. Proto Zoa by Lois McMaster Bujold - ebook - Finished May 7, 2016 - own - recent
6. Simplify by Joshua Becker - ebook - Finished May 8, 2016 - own - recent
7. 1632 by Eric Flint - ebook - Finished June - own
_____

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated)

1. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Danial C. Dennett - Finished February 29, 2016 -own
2. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman - Finished March 11, 2016 - own
3. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - Finished April 6, 2016 - own
_____

10. Short Forms.

1. The Scientist vs. the Humanist - Edited by George Levine and Owen Thomas - Finished January 29, 2016 - own
2. Dragon's Teeth by Mercedes Lackey - Finished ~ February 4, 2016 - own
3. The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg - finished March 8, 2016 - own
4. Tangents by Greg Bear - June - own
_____

11. Follow Me

1. Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson - Finished February 10, 2016 - public library
2. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson - Finished April 2, 2016 - public library
3. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs - Finished April 9, 2016
_____

12. Cats and Group Reads - if not elsewhere

1. Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham - Finished January 11, 2016 - public library
2. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham - Finished February 19, 2016 - public library
3. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan - Finished April 16, 2016 - own
4. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson - June 2016 - public library
5. Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman - July 1, 2016 - own
_____

13. Exploration of all kinds - physical and mental

1. The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin - Finished February 18, 2016 - own
2. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell - Finished March 19, 2016 - own
_____

14. Other fiction

1. Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz - Finished January 9, 2016 - public library
2. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold - Finished February 14, 2016 - public library
3. The Black Rose by Thomas Costain - Finished March 9, 2016 - own
4. Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb - Finished March 23, 2016 - public library
5. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer - June 2016 - own
_____

15. Book Bullets from anywhere

1. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - Finished January 6, 2016 - public library
2. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester - June 2016 - own - because of a favorable mention on LT
_____

16. A Miscellany of Mostly Facts

1. Less Medicine, More Health by H. Gilbert Welch - Finished January 26, 2016 - public library
2. Field Guide to Early American Furniture by Thomas H. Ormsbee June 2016 - own
3. Field guide to American Victorian Furniture by Thomas H. Ormsbee - June 2016 - own
4. The collector's encyclopedia of depression glass by Gene Florence and Cathy Florence - reading July - public library

===============

A total of 73 books so far which is about right.

Also, my Bingo cards are filling up nicely - I'll almost certainly have a full card for the BingoDog by the end of the year and a respectable number of squares filled in the other one.

So even though real life intervened and my reading plans for May and June didn't happen I'm happy with where I am.

===============

Main goal for July - go back and finish the books I've started so far this year and left hanging and the ones I had planned for April and May that didn't get started. Then Ill see about getting back to the CATS, etc.

Welcome back! Enjoy your book tidying (as I call it when going back to books that have been left unfinished). :)

We did go on our trip mentioned in >121 hailelib:. Spent two nights in Chattanooga with our one day there spent walking around the part of the city near the Aquarium. There was one used bookstore in the area that appears to be winding down or maybe transitioning to a yarn shop and run by an elderly woman. Not much there but Jim found one moderately interesting book and I found one. They were probably overpriced but we purchased them anyway.

Then on to Nashville where we spent most of the week going through the storage lockers where the contents of my Dad's house were put nearly five years ago. Everything was in surprisingly good shape - climate controlled is the way to go. Arranging to ship back the stuff that my mother wanted me to have went pretty smoothly and I would definitely recommend using ReLo cubes for moving things. You can hire labor on each end if needed which we did since there were three large pieces of furniture. And I was able to eliminate one of the storage lockers.

On our last full day we visited a specialty bookstore called Elder's. He has a lot of Civil War and Tennessee history, classics, and old children's literature. I purchased two books there but Jim didn't find anything he wanted. Then we went across town and visited my Dad and checked out the place he is in now. My brother actually picked a good facility - better than I expected. Dad has definitely failed some since last December but he is still able to use a walker to go short distances.

By this time we were ready to get home again so we only planned for one night in Knoxville. Got there in mid-afternoon and after checking into the motel we went to another new to us bookstore: McKay's. This was the best experience of the trip! It was a Saturday and the place was packed. We went through the science books and then the paperback sf and fantasy books. By that time we had picked out over $100 of books and decided we should stop there Then the really long checkout line - even with four cashiers there was a long line. A few days after we got home Jim remarked that we really needed an excuse to go back to Knoxville so we could go back to McKay's!

Our days were pretty tiring so very little reading happened during that time. The only book I opened was War and Peace and I probably only read a little over a hundred pages the whole time.

>125 rabbitprincess: Thanks for the visit. I am reading one of them over lunches this week and enjoying it!

Great to see you posting again, it looks like your challenge is going well.

I love visiting new bookstores while travelling. McKay's sounds like a great experience!

Is that the same McKay's as in Greenville? I suspect smaller, but might be the same used bookstore chain.

>126 hailelib:
Sounds like a lovely trip! Seeing new bookstores is always worth it... :)

>127 DeltaQueen50:
I expect my posting will still be a bit erratic for a while. I was so far behind that a few days ago I went through and marked everyone's thread as already read and I am reading a few each day now though not commenting.

>128 mathgirl40:
Like I said, McKay's was a real high point of the trip!

>129 RidgewayGirl:
Don't think so. According to their website, there are branches in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, but that's it.

>130 -Eva-:
Finding a good bookstore is always a treat!

I've finished a few more books which I'll try to comment on later.

A couple of books that need to go back to the library -

10. Short Forms #5.

74. Otherworld Secrets by Kelly Armstrong - Finished July 11, 2016

From the public library.
405 pages
short stories and novellas, urban fiction

Features several characters from the Otherworld novels. I was pleased to find that this anthology only had one story that I've read elsewhere.

11. Follow Me #5.

75. 1634: The Baltic War by David Weber and Eric Flint - Finished July 10, 2016

From the public library
728 pages
alternate history; SFF

The third novel in the 1632 series started by Eric Flint. The series has become a collaborative effect with a number of people writing stories set in Flint's alternate universe. The novels are very long, detailed, and contain large doses of history although, with each novel, the Europe here diverges more and more from the one we know. This one has a great deal of flying in it as the "up-timers" continue to build an air force so I may use it for a Bingo square if I don't read something better for that slot. There are battles on land and sea as well. Not for everyone but I'm on the lookout for the next one in the series.

And

11. Follow Me #4.

76. Death and the Princess by Robert Barnard - Finished July 8, 2016

From my own shelves
183 pages
mystery

Death and the Princess is the fourth Perry Thethowan mystery that I've read since we came home. They are moderate short books published in the early 1980s and I find them mildly enjoyable and undemanding. Here a young Royal seems to have gotten mixed up in something dicey and Superintendent Trethowan is assigned to sort it out, beginning with a suspicious death that may or may not be related to the Princess.

Now, for one that was meant for a CAT -

2. History #2.

77. Don't Go Up Kettle Creek by William Lyn wood Montell - finished July 12, 2016

From my own shelves
191 pages + several appendices, etc.
started as a non-fiction selection for the North American GeoCat
976.85 Dewey Class

This is an oral history of the Upper Cumberland region that covers a number of counties in Tennessee and Kentucky. This was particularly interesting to me because three of my grandparents came from this region and a number of relatives still live there. Montell includes many of the interviews he collected in the '70s as well as a map, photos, and folklore of the region. Additionally, there is a great deal of history that I never knew about: steamboating on the Cumberland, logging, the local "gangs' creating mayhem through the Civil War, and the livestock drives.

I read about half before our trip and the rest since the Fourth and enjoyed learning a lot about this region, especially the area around Celina, TN.

2. History #3

78. Discovering the North-West Passage by Glenn M. Stein - Finished July 18, 2016 - own

From my own shelves
251 pages + about 100 pages of appendices, notes, bibliography, index
started reading for the Polar GeoCAT
910.916 Dewey Class

Another that I was reading before our trip but finished in July -

Discovering the North-West Passage by Stein is very detailed with large pages and a small font size and is not the easiest read. I think Stein was trying to put in every fact that he had discovered in his research! It is, however, a good resource for those interested in polar explorations and does have some excellent maps and a number of photos and drawings.

11. Follow Me #6.

79. The Case of the Missing Bronte by Robert Barnard - Finished July 19, 2016 - own

From my own shelves
177 pages
mystery, 1980's

Another mildly entertaining mystery featuring Superintendent Perry Trethowan of Scotland Yard. He is called on to investigate the theft of a possible lost Bronte manuscript. This was a quick read and just right for a change of pace from more serious fare.

With various things happening in real life I looked at the rest of my left-over books and wanted something else so I've been reading SF and mysteries. Maybe I'll do better at planned reading in August.

First I went through most of the C. J. Cherryh on my Shelves -

80. Chanur's Venture
81. Forty Thousand in Gehenna
82. Downbelow Station
83. Brothers of Earth
84. Cuckoo's Egg
85. The Faded Sun: Shon'jir
86. Chanur's Homecoming

Space opera with interesting alien civilizations.

For the Hillerman/Longmire read

87. Any Other Name by Craig Johnson - a case comes up just before Walt is due to fly East for the birth of his first grandchild
88. Spirit of Steamboat by Craaig Johnson - a novella that mostly takes place in Walt's past

89. The Piccadilly Murder by Anthony Berkeley - The mild-mannered Mr. Chitterwick witnesses a murder and becomes involved in the investigation. First published in 1929, I read the 1983 Dover edition. Good, although the actual murderer was a bit obvious.

And that's it for July although I have another read yesterday for my first August book.

August and I'm somewhat back to focusing on CATs, etc.

First up is a mystery -

4. Mystery & Suspense #11.

90. God Save the Queen! by Dorothy Cannell - finished August 1, 2016

From my own shelves
195 pages
British mystery, 1997

A fun book. Sir Henry announces to his family that he is going to leave the Gossinger estate to his butler who then is found dead in strange circumstances. Why did Sir Henry want to change his will? Was Hutchins death murder? Is his granddaughter in danger? I may read anther book by Cannell since I found this one to be above average even with the mystery not being very mysterious.

6. Left-overs #2

91. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee - finished August 7, 2016

From the public library. One of their uncatalogued paperbacks that don't have due dates. It's been languishing here for a very long time!
470 pages plus notes, etc.
DeweyCAT; 616.994; medicine

Mukherjee calls this a "biography of cancer"; it's full of history, science, and stories of real people who have studied cancer and who have had cancer. Even with all the discussions of medical procedures and research protocals the book was quite readable. I found it very worthwhile. Recommended.

13. Exploration of all kinds #3.

92. The Hero with an African Face by Clyde W. Ford - Finished August 11, 2016

From my own shelves.
207 pages plus map, notes, etc.
GeoCAT; Sub-Saharan Africa
299.6

Here Clyde Ford applies many of the themes from the work of John Campbell to his exploration of African mythology, concentrating on the many mythologies from Sub-Saharan Africa. He gives us many stories from the various cultures and discusses the universal themes illustrated in each. He also talks about how these explorations of myth and of African culture relate to his experience of life as an African-American. For those interested in Africa and in world mythologies.

4. Mystery & Suspense #12.

93. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie - Finished August 12, 2016

From my own shelves.
165 pages
British mystery, Miss Marple

A little light reading after the previous two books. Also a Bingo square on both cards! Now I want to read Nemesis, which is related, but it's one that I don't have so ordered from the library.

I've really been neglecting the challenge threads but I have been reading! Here are the two that need returning to the library -

11. Follow Me #8.

94. Nemesis by Agatha Christie - August 2016

A sort of sequel to Miss Marple's Caribbean adventure - she solves a mystery left to her by Mr. Rafiel.

10. Short Forms.#6.

95. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, & Jack Thorne - August 2016

OK. Probably better on stage than read.

I spent most of August alternating Mysteries and SF. And here tre the mysteries -

4. Mystery & Suspense #13. - 18.

96.Femmes Fatal by Dorothy Cannell - Finished August 2016 - own

OK, but I liked God Save the Queen! better. The humor in this one didn't quite hit the spot for me.

97. 'E' is for Evidence by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own

Probably pretty typical of this series. I enjoyed it well enough that I read some more Kinsey adventures.

98. "K" is for Killer by Sue Grafton - Finished August - own

99. The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner and translated by Lorenza Garcia and Isabel Reid - Finished 2016 -own

An interesting look at life in Paris during the early 1890s. I found the mystery only middling but some of the problem may have been the translation as some word choices were odd. Still, whenever the book began to be tedious there would be a really good description and the latter part of the book improved.

100. Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman - Finished September 1, 2016 - own

A good Leaphorn/Chee adventure. Hillerman delved into Pueblo culture in this one.

101. A Sense of Loyalty by Jeffrey Ashford - finished September 4, 2016 - own

A somewhat bleak story featuring industrial espionage and armed robbery. Ashford tells the story through the eyes of Mike Sterling, the PR director at HI Motors. After the robbery the police become convinced that the culprit is in the PR department and Sterling begins to suspect his brother-in-law. But he is intensely loyal to his sister which sets up a painful conflict for him. How can he resolve this?

10. Short Forms #7 and 8

102. My Gal Sunday by Mary Higgins Clark - finished August 2016 - own
103. The Lottery Winner by Mary Higgins Clark - finished August 2016 - own

These are light mysteries by Clark in the form of connected short stories. I enjoyed both of them with a slight preference for The Lottery Winner.

11. Follow Me #9 and 10

104. L is for Lawless by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own
105. M is for Malice by Sue Grafton - Finished August 2016 - own

More Kinsey Millhone. Time to take a break from these.

Another mystery that got into the SF stack!

4. Mystery & Suspense #19

106, Woman Slaughter by E. X. Ferrars - August 2016 -own

A hit and run in a smallish English town investigated by a woman and her estranged husband. OK, but either Ferrars isn't the author for me or this isn't one of her best.

>143 hailelib: Hi Trisha, I've only read one book by Elizabeth Ferrars, I, Said The Fly and I quite liked it, I have at least one more in the stacks, but I see she wrote over 83 books so I'm sure she had her hits and her misses.

5. Science Fiction & Fantasy #24 and 25

107. The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt - Finished August 2016 - own

An anthology of three short novels, almost novelas, featuring the adventures of Harold Shea. He and his fellow psychologists at the Garaden Institute speculate about ways to transpose themselves to another world and Harold then does it, appearing in the realm where Norse mythology is true and finding himself involved in the battles of the Asgards. Further experimentation leads to still more adventures where he has to work out the local rules for magic. Good stories with some humor and a bit of romance.

108. Fanglith by John Dalmas - Finished August 2916 - own

When their parents flee just steps ahead of the thought police, Larn and Deneen, along with their espwolf, decide to rescue them. Suspecting that their parents are bound for the almost mythical planet of Fanglith, they take off in pursuit. The myth is that F.anglith was used as a prison planet thousands of years ago and people were marooned there with no technology. Some survived and their descendents began the long road back to civilization on a planet its inhabitants now call Earth. Landing in Medieval Europe they begin the search for their parents ...

Although marketed as SF when published, today this book would almost certainly get a Young Adult label. It's a quick read and Larn and Deneen are teenagers. However, that didn't keep me from being diverted by their adventures. I particularly liked the role played by Bubba, the espwolf.

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated) #4.

109. The Listeners by James E. Gunn - John W. Campbell Memorial Award Finalist (1973) - Finished August 2016 -own

There seem to be very different opinions about this book in the LT reviews I read and I can understand why some readers were bored and some found this to be an amazing book. I, myself, found it to be interesting and thought provoking. Gunn attempts to give the reader a picture of how an organization like SETI might actually work and the length of time it might require for there to actually be a contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. How does one keep the necessary team together for decades and does one reply when a message is actually received?

An older book (c1972) than isn't overly dated.

14. Other fiction #6.

110. The Werewolf Principle by Clifford D. Simak - Finished August 2016 - own

The title is a little misleading for today's readers because Andrew Blake isn't really a werewolf although he is a shapeshifter. At the beginning of the book he has no knowledge of his past or of his shapeshifting abilities. He was found in stasis in an escape pod on a distant asteroid and brought back to Earth where he was revived. It wasn't realized at first that he was the result of a past attempt at genetically engineering the perfect space explorer. We gradually learn about his nature and his past along with Andrew. Simak includes some interesting ideas about how his future Earth would work, for instance, the flying houses. But, politics is still much the same.

11. Follow Me #11

111. Mad Maudlin by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill - Finished August 2016 - own

A fun urban fantasy with New York City's darker side, music, elves, and magic. I definitely need to read more of this series.

9. Classics and Award Winners (or nominated) # and 6

112. A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak - Hugo Nominee (Novel, 1973) - Finished August 2016 - own

Simak starts with nearly all humans having simply disappeared from the Earth one day, leaving behind a few humans and lots of robots. One group uses their vastly extended lifespan to develop mental powers, the Indian tribe returns to a way of life similar to their ancestors, Meanwhile, some of the robots continue serving Man, a few become monks studying Christianity, and most become involved in The Project. Then they find that the descendents of the disappeared are going to return.

Simak was concerned with questions about the purpose of Man, why we are here, where we are going, the purpose of religion, and so on. Lots of thinking and talking but not a lot of action. I liked it. I'm finding that a lot of these older SF books that I somehow never read are fairly good and also have the advantage of being short reads - lots of ideas packed into less than 200 pages.

113. Code of the Lifemaker by James B. Hogan - Prometheus Award nominee (Novel, 1984) -Finished September 1, 2016 - own

Published a decade later than the previous book and rather longer, but still full of interesting ideas. A probe sent to explore the outer planets and there satellites send back some disturbing evidence of alien machines on Titan and a planned large mission to Mars is diverted to Titan instead. There they find a civilization of intelligent robots just ready to leave feudalism behind for a more egalitarian and even scientific society. Naturally the reps of the corporations that sponsored the mission want to exploit the "natives", the scientists mostly just want to study them, but a few of the expedition members (mostly the stage psychic and his troupe) want to help the robeings remain in control of their planet and its resources. Lots of characters and conflicts on both sides - the human and the robeing. A pretty entertaining read for me.

3. Science and Technology #5.

114. T. Rex and the Crater of Doom by Walter Alvarez- Finished September 8, 2016 - own

A wonderfully readable book describing how Walter Alvarez and his colleagues first proved the worldwide existence of the KT iridium anomaly and then searched for and finally found the crater that fit their theory of how the fifth mass extinction occurred. A good example of scientists proposing a theory and then finding evidence to support that theory. In this case it was a truly multi-disciplinary effort. Recommended.

10. Short Forms #9.

115. Ring of Fire edited by Eric Flint - Finished September 4, 2016 -own - recent purchase

The first anthology in the Ring of Fire series the Eric Flint began in 1632. Several of the stories are by established authors including David Weber and Mercedes Lackey. Unlike a lot of shared universe anthologies, by doing this one after only two novels, Flint used them to inform the plots of several of the upcoming novels. He also planned to write some of these with co-authors. There are now numerous novels, anthologies and also editions of the Grantville Gazette which started as an online e-zine.

I enjoyed these stories and especially appreciated the background for the third novel I read from this series. Very interesting alternate History.

8. My Virtual Library #8 and 9.

116. Grantville Gazette, Volume I edited by Eric Flint - ebook - Finished September 10, 2016 - recent purchase

Contains both 5 short stories and 3 non-fiction essays about how the people of Grantville could adapt their resources and technology to their new time period. Again, some of the characters will reappear in the novels. The essays cover possiblities of radio communication with their resources, whether or not they will be able to produce any antibiotics and how the horses that came with them would conpare with the local horses. As before, great background info for the continuation of the story.

117. The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson - ebook - Finished September 12, 2016 - own

I'm a bit ambivalent about this book and don't know if I will ever seek out the next in the series. It is somewhat original for urban fantasy but it wasn't until near the end that I really got interested in Joanna's fate. The setting is Los Vegas and the Shadow Sign are killing the Signs of Light faster than they can be replaced. Joanna/Olivia is destined to be the new Archer for the light but she has both Shadow and Light in her ancestry. Thus, she is regarded with suspicion by the others. There is a reasonably worked out mythology for the world which does help.

So, I've pretty much shifted my focus to non-fiction for the moment and I am currently reading

The Face of Battle by John Keegan
This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

>150 hailelib: I have my eye on This is Your Brain on Music as something to borrow from my brother. Will be interested to hear what you think of it!

>151 rabbitprincess:

I really enjoyed the Levitin book. The first part is a primer on music, defining terms, etc. Then he gives the reader an introduction to the science of the brain. The rest of the book describes how the brain processes music and various experiments that have been done to further our knowledge. Lots of anecdotes, examples, etc. The book is about ten years years old, however, and some of the neuroscience may be a little out of date.

>150 hailelib:

I did finish all three books and really liked all three. No time to say more if I want to mention my other reading since my last post.

Three more read -

Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart - enjoyable as well as a Bingo square

Dry Bones by Craig Johnson - for the Hillerman/Longmire read - pretty good

Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold - as good as the first time I read it.

more to come ...

I've read several novels from Eric Flint's 1632 series and enjoyed them, but I've not read many of the short stories. I've read a few from Ring of Fire and will have to go back and finish the volume sometime. I'm planning to read 1634: The Baltic War for the November SFFKIT's time-travel theme.

>154 mathgirl40:

I liked that one. Lots of military movements though.

124. Ghosts along the Cumberland by William Lynwood Montell - Oral history - deathlore in the East Pennyroyal, an area in Kentucky centered on the Upper Cumberland.

125. Out of the Blackout by Robert Barnard - finished October 3, 2016 - own

A stand alone novel by Barnard about a man searching for his past. As a child he was evacuated from London and when arriving at the Yeasdon Station the name he gave wasn't on their list and he didn't know his address in London and had no memory that helped find his family. A local couple took him in and raised him and, after University, he began trying to recover his past. I liked this even better than the others by him that I read earlier.

126. 1634: The Bavarian Crisis by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce - October 2016 - recent purchase

Another intricate story in the Ring of Fire seies which I stayed up far to late to finish since I really wanted to know how the various groups we were following were going to fare. As my husband was ordering from Amazon today I added 1634: The Galileo Affair to the order. The local library only has a few of the series so I'm buying most of the ones I read.

127. Die Laughing by Richard Lockridge - finished ~ October 19, 2016

Police procedural set in New York City in the late sixties. Just OK.

128. Barrier Island by John D. MacDonald - finished ~ October 20, 2016

Published in 1986 and set in the coastal area of Mississippi, this is a non-series mystery by MacDonald that gives us shady land deals and an honest realtor who is upset by his partners involvement with a crooked developer. He is also upset at the environmental damage being caused by thoughtless development on fragile lands. Pretty good once I got into it.

129. The Scroll of Man by John Dalmas - Finished ~ October 21, 2016

A so-so science fiction/fantasy story with time-travel and a desperate attempt to save mankind from itself and the game men are unknowingly involved in. Some interesting ideas but not the best time-travel adventure out there.

This year I read my first John D. Macdonald book and then recently picked up a second. I am very impressed with his writing, he has "hard-boiled" down to a "T"!

Some more in October not already listed -

Two ebooks in the Ring of Fire series

130. Ring of Fire II - anthology of "side" stories more or less concurrent with the 1634 novels.

131. The Grantville Gazette, Vol II - anthology with some non-fiction articles for background to the series.

Still enjoying this series.

And my latest fiction book:

132. Apprentice in Death by J. D. Robb - finished October 27, 2016 - from the public library

One of the better recent books in the long-running series. The main characters are still making positive changes and a number of recurring characters make an appearance. I enjoyed this one.

Currently Reading:

Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen - about halfway through this dense 500+ pages of myth, history, and science

How the Irish Saved Civilization - about 50 pages in

Both pretty good so far.

even longer than I thought since my last post!

I've been reading a lot of books but most of my time online has been used keeping up with politics ... Also various medical stuff has taken more time than usual.

Anyway I'll just list the books and hope December works out better.

133. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill

134. !634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

135. The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman

136. "O" is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton

137. The Dead Sea Cipher by Elizabeth Peters - GeoCAT? - Takes place in late sixties Lebanon and Israel.

More:

138. Come Death and High Water by Ann Cleeves

139. Chasing the Sun by Richard Cohen - Everything one might want to know about the Sun ...

Lots of Miles Vorkosigan including

140. Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold - an omnibus
141. Borders of Infinity - anthology
142. Brothers in Arms
143. Mirror Dance
144. Memory
145. Miles in Love -omnibus

In an afterword, Bujold says that after Mile's second "birth' the stories in Miles in Love are his real coming of age as an adult so I'm using this as a Bingo square.

and last,

146. An Obvious Fact by Craig Johnson - the most recent Longmire mystery

Reading since my last post in no particular order -

147. Downfall by J. A. Jance
148. No Honor Among Thieves by J. A. Jance - novella
149. Random Acts by Jance - novella
150. Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
151. Diplomatic Immunity by Bujold
152. Space Trap by Juanita Coulson

Non-fiction

153. The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham-Smith - 941 for DeweyCAT - British military history - Crimean Was

153. Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold - finished December 11, 2016 - own -novella
154. Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold - finished December 12, - recent purchase - novella

Two short books set in the World of the Five Gods series and chronologically between The Hallowed hunt and the Chalion books, The first being about Penric "accidentally" acquiring a demon and the second one about a subsequent adventure he had. I enjoyed the first one enough that I went ahead and bought the second one right away. Thinking about getting the third one as well. Both available as Kindle books.

Currently reading The English Channel by Nigel Calder.

155. The Highwayman by Craig Johnson - from the public library - not Johnson's best story but still pretty good.

Currently reading The English Channel by Nigel Calder and Evicted

Taking the morning afternoon playing catch-up on all the threads in the group and have enjoyed getting caught up with all of your reading.

The English Channel, while interesting, is slow going and I've also started Evicted. The other books on my 'read soon' stack from the library are also likely to be slow reads so I pulled a reread off the shelf - -

156. Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold - finished December 21, 2016 - from my own shelves

Just as good on a second reading. In fact, the ending with Miles now catapulted into a new phase of his life, may have hit me even harder this time. Maybe due to the fact that Bujold subtly telegraphed it a little which I didn't catch before.

After neglecting LT for several days thought I should catch up a little this afternoon. While I've mostly given up on 2016 threads the threada for the 2017 challenge are rapidly multiplying and I have my own to make a final decision on. I keep changing back and forth between 10 and 7 topics!

Looking forward to catching up with you in the New Year over at the 2017 Category Challenge!

>
Thanks, Judy.

Well, I didn't finish another book for 2016 but I did read 156 items, many from my own shelves. Also had books in every category and filled all but one Bingo square. Not quite the reading year I had planned but still pretty successful.

Now, on to 2017. Everyone, have a happy one.