CBL's 2024 Categories

Hi, I'm Carrie, and I live in Seymour TN with my 12-year-old furbaby, Adrian. Last year I didn't keep up with the group very well. I'm hoping to find a better balance this year. We'll see. In addition to reading, I also enjoy family history research, music (I play the piano for church), and knitting. When the weather is warmer and the days are longer I spend a lot more time outside walking for exercise and helping to maintain the flowers at shrubs at our subdivision entrance. I work full time, and I'm also the president of our HOA, which is more active than some because it's a condo development. Some days the only reading I manage is audiobook listening on the way to and from work.

I'm keeping my categories simple again this year with a primary focus on the challenges in this group and in the 75ers group.

My thread wouldn't be complete without a photo of my reading buddy, Adrian. Here he is buried in the blankets on the sofa, where he's usually snoozing right next to me.

American Author Challenge

JANUARY
Mark Twain - Life on the Mississippi (4) - completed 1/28/24

FEBRUARY
Susan Sontag - Illness as Metaphor (4) - compelted 2/11/24

MARCH
Truman Capote - In Cold Blood (3.5) - completed 3/17/24

APRIL - Nonfiction
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (3.5) - completed 4/27/24

MAY
William Maxwell - Ancestors: A Family History (3.5) - completed 5/19/24

British Author Challenge

JANUARY
Joan Aiken - Black Hearts in Battersea (4) - completed 1/6/24
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Poison Belt (2) - completed 1/26/24

FEBRUARY
Ronald Firbank - Caprice (2.5) - completed 2/28/24

MARCH - Welsh authors
Half a Crown by Jo Walton (4) - completed 3/5/24

APRIL
Barbara Pym - Less than Angels (4.5) - completed 4/13/24

MAY - Portal fantasy
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (3.5) - completed 6/2/24

Nonfiction Challenge

JANUARY - Prize winner off the beaten track
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5) - completed 1/24/24
Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award

FEBRUARY - Women's work
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (4) - completed 2/21/24

MARCH - Forensic sciences
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson (4.5) - completed 3/9/24

APRIL - Globalization
Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook (4) - completed 4/20/24

MAY - Wild wild west
Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel (4) - completed 5/31/24

HistoryCAT

JANUARY - North & South American Wars & Conflicts
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5) - completed 1/24/24

FEBRUARY - Georgian/Regency Britain
Jane Austen's England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins (4.5) - completed 2/29/24

MARCH - Science & medicine
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson (4.5) - completed 3/9/24

APRIL - Riots, revolution, & mayhem
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke (3.5) - completed 5/3/24

MAY - Middle Ages
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (3.5) - completed 5/9/24

PrizeCAT

JANUARY - Long-running prize
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5) - completed 1/24/24
Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award

FEBRUARY - Prize from my own country
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (4) - completed 2/21/24
Merze Tate - Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award - American Political Science Association

MARCH - Prize new to me
Maybe by Morris Gleitzman (4) - completed 3/2/24
KROC: Kids Reading Oz Choice Award
Deep Sea by Annika Thor (3.5) - completed 3/25/24
(Nils Holgersson-plaketten)
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (4) - completed 3/26/24
(RSL Christopher Bland Prize)

APRIL - Women's writing
Home by Marilynne Robinson (5) - completed 4/23/24
(Orange Prize for Fiction)

MAY - Books that won 2 or more awards
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4) - completed 5/31/24
(Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award)

CalendarCAT

JANUARY
The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins (3.5) - completed 1/29/24
(Collins born Jan 8, 1824)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts (5) - completed 1/31/24
(Takes place on a day in January)

FEBRUARY
Wake: the Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez (4) - completed 2/3/24
Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope (3.5) - completed 2/10/24
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (4) - completed 2/20/24

MARCH
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell (3.5) - completed 3/24/24
Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson (4.5) - completed 3/31/24

APRIL
The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray (3) - completed 4/5/24
(Autism Acceptance Month)

MAY
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4) - completed 5/31/24
(Author born in May)

Reading Projects:
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts (5) - completed 1/31/24
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (4) - completed 2/20/24
Skellig by David Almond (4) - completed 3/5/24
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (3.5) - completed 3/17/24
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2.5) - completed 3/23/24
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (3.5) - completed 4/27/24
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (2.5) - completed 4/30/24
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke (3.5) - completed 5/3/24
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4) - completed 5/31/24

Agatha Christie
Ordeal by Innocence (3) - completed 2/29/24
Cat Among the Pigeons (4) - completed 4/12/24
The Unexpected Guest (3) - completed 4/20/24

Jane Austen
Jane Austen's England by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins (4.5) - completed 2/29/24
The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray (3) - completed 4/5/24

Rex Stout
Too Many Women (3) - completed 1/3/24
Trouble in Triplicate (4) - completed 5/23/24

Group Reads

So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon (3) - completed 1/6/24
The Girls Who Fought Crime by Mari K. Eder (3) - completed 1/14/24
The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten (4) - completed 1/23/24
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez (4) - completed 2/3/24
Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope (3.5) - completed 2/10/24
Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis (4.5) - completed 2/11/24
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson (3.5) - completed 3/15/24
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell (3.5) - completed 3/24/24
Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson (4.5) - completed 3/31/24
The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten (3.5) - completed 4/7/24
Mischievous Creatures by Catherine McNeur (4) - completed 5/14/24

Everything Else

Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (4.5) - completed 2/11/24
All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny (4.5) - completed 2/16/24
Tevye the Milkman by Sholem Aleichem (5) - completed 4/19/24
The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear (3.5) - completed 4/27/24
The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (4) - completed 5/17/24

I always look forward to the end of year memes. Here's my 2023 meme, using titles of books I read during the year!

Describe yourself: The Confessor

Describe how you feel: All Passion Spent

Describe where you currently live: A Chateau under Siege

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Brick Lane

Your favorite form of transportation is: 4:50 from Paddington

Your favorite food is: What She Ate

Your favorite time of day is: Night Rounds

Your best friend is: Daughter of the Morning Star

You and your friends are: Wise Gals

What’s the weather like: The Coldest Case

You fear: Catching Fire

What is the best advice you have to give: Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

Thought for the day: Thanks to My Mother

What is life for you: No Longer at Ease

How you would like to die: Not Quite Dead Enough

Your soul’s present condition: Meditations

What was 2023 like for you? The Ardent Swarm

What do you want from 2024? Great Short Books

Here's an alternate meme with a dinner party theme. I think I managed not to repeat any books used in the other meme.

What would you call the event? The Hunger Games

How did they find their way? The Mystery of a Hansom Cab

How did they know they'd arrived? The Knowledge of the Holy

Any special activities? The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown

Did your guests stay over? For Her Own Good

Were there servants to help? Women in White Coats

Was there turn down service? Where There’s a Will

How were the guests greeted? Deborah Calling

Was dinner held for later comers? Over My Dead Body

And dinner was? The Silver Pigs

Afterward? Grandma Gatewood’s Walk

Welcome back, Carrie (and Adrian)!! Have a great reading year. Per your end-of-year meme, I wish you many short books :) Agatha Christie should be good for that!

>13 rabbitprincess: Thanks, RP! It's good to be back!

Short Adrian story. A couple of weeks ago, I grabbed something from my closet just before heading out the door for work. When I came home for lunch, I found Adrian in the closet. I hadn't realized that he had followed me in earlier. I thought he was in another room eating his breakfast. He seemed to take it in his stride, and I'm thankful for that. I think it upset me more than it did him!

Good to see you and Adrian back! Sorry to hear Adrian got locked in the closet but he probably thought the new location was a treat.

Thanks, Vivienne! While he was in there, he cleared out the dust bunnies from under the dresser, so he was helping his mom!

Stopping by to say hello to you and Adrian.

Great to see you and Adrian set for another year of the Category Challenge!

>15 cbl_tn: Hope Adrian enjoyed his adventure. My mama cat is always being locked in the garage due to sneaking by me. Enjoy your 2024 reading.

>18 hailelib: >19 DeltaQueen50: >20 lowelibrary: Thank you all for dropping by! I hope you have a great reading year!

Happy reading in 2024!

>22 MissBrangwen: Thank you! The same to you!

Reading Projects
Too Many Women by Rex Stout

Nero Wolfe’s latest client is a Wall Street engineering firm where a rumor is circulating about the death of a former employee. The authorities are satisfied that the death was an accidental hit-and-run, yet a member of the firm insists the man was intentionally murdered. Archie goes undercover in the firm to find out if the rumor is true. It’s a perplexing case that almost stumps Wolfe, until a last-ditch effort flushes out the truth.

This book was less satisfying than most of the other series books I’ve read to date, mainly because so many elements of the murder were withheld until an information dump at the end of the book. Wolfe usually figures out what must have happened before the police or anyone else has a glimmer of understanding, and then he collects the evidence that proves it. In this case, Wolfe spent most of his time trying to persuade suspects/witnesses to tell him what they know, and he was less impressive than I’ve come to expect.

3 stars

>24 cbl_tn: Hope your next read is better than your cousin's book!

>25 thornton37814: Me, too!

Happy reading, Carrie!

>27 MissWatson: Thank you! The same to you!

Group Reads
So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon

Venice’s Commissario Brunetti and his colleagues investigate the death of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. The case is more personal than some for Brunetti because he had spoken with the victim just a day before his death. With very little information to go on, it would be easy to justify quickly moving on to other cases, but Brunetti doesn’t do that. He gives it his full attention.

Brunetti, his family, and his colleagues feel like old friends after 32 novels, and spending time with them is comfortable. I’m having a hard time identifying any other reason to recommend this book. The pace is so slow that my mind wandered to other things while I was listening to it, and I hadn’t missed any important details that made it necessary to rewind the audio to pay closer attention. I was mildly interested in the case’s connection to Italy’s Red Brigade kidnappings in the late 1970s and early 1980s since I recall those because of family members who were stationed in Italy at about that time. The subplot about officer Alvise is superfluous. It isn’t connected to the case Brunetti investigates in this book, but maybe Leon is setting up a plot for a future installment. If I had been this book’s editor, I would have cut large parts of that section.

3 stars

British Author Challenge
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken

Orphan Simon arrives in London looking for his friend, Dr. Field. Although he follows Dr. Field’s instructions to a boarding house near the Thames, Dr. Field appears to be unknown there. Simon finds the art school where Dr. Field arranged for him to study and bides his time while he watches for clues to his friend’s whereabouts. Simon is delighted to find his old friend and fellow orphan, Sophie, who is now the companion of the Duchess of Battersea. Simon, Sophie, and several new-found friends must band together to save the duke and duchess and the king from a Hanoverian plot.

What’s not to like about this fun adventure filled with villains, heroes, and mistaken identities? It’s a perfect way to spend a cozy afternoon and evening bundled up against the winter cold.

4 stars

>29 cbl_tn: I agree with you about the Alvise part. I still haven't really figured out why it was included.

>31 thornton37814: I'm glad it's not just me!

What I'm Knitting



My office freezes in the winter, so I knitted myself some fingerless mittens to keep my hands warm while leaving my fingers free to type. This was my first attempt to knit in the round and it wasn't as difficult as I expected.

>33 cbl_tn: Yay!

>34 thornton37814: I was determined to get them done so that I can use them in the office this week!

>33 cbl_tn: Nice! They look like they'll go with everything. I wasn't thinking of that when I knit myself a pair of bright green fingerless gloves ;)

>36 rabbitprincess: The color doesn't show up well in the photo, but they're a really pretty lavender. It's a fairly universal color. I wear a lot of black and gray so it will go well with those colors. Not so well with red, but that's OK!

>37 cbl_tn: Ah OK, I thought they were grey! Lavender would be nice.

>38 rabbitprincess: Alpaca wool, too! I actually made three. The first one was my "trainer" and I knitted it according to the pattern. Then I made adjustments for a better fit. I have short hands and I found out that I'm not a "most" of the "one size fits most".

>39 cbl_tn: I am the same. Most mitten patterns I need to make smaller or use a child's size pattern! They look wonderful.

>40 JayneCM: I am so glad I got them finished before the cold wave hits us next week! My current project is a hat to match the scarf I made for my brother for Christmas. His birthday is the end of next month, so I should be able to finish it in time to get it shipped.

Group Reads
The Girls Who Fought Crime by Mari K. Eder

The Girls Who Fought Crime explores the history of women in the New York City police department largely through the life of one female officer, Mae Foley. This account presents Mae as a larger-than-life character who bent the world to her will. It seems that there were few people, men or women, who could say “no” to Mae when she had her mind set on something.

Mae’s voice and the voices of other women who served alongside her add value to 20th century women’s history. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this work due to the liberties the author seems to have taken in the telling of Mae’s story. She adds colorful details that no one could possibly know unless Mae had kept a detailed diary or wrote about the conversation in a letter. For instance, the author quotes a conversation that Mae had with her husband John:

”Hmm.” John was reading the newspaper. “Says here there’s a Liberty Loan parade coming up on October 25. They have a real German U-boat in the parade. Now that ought to be a sight to see. You want to go, Mae? Take the girls?”

“John Henry Foley, are you listening to me? I’m talking about runaways.”

John tried again. “Okay, if you don’t want to go to the parade, the city is going to park the U-boat in Central Park. Right there in the Sheep Meadow. You can tour it if you buy war bonds. What do you think?” John looked up, made eye contact. It was a mistake.

“Right there in the Sheep Meadow? John, there are young girls out there right now, far from home and getting into trouble.” Mae stomped her foot for emphasis. As a parent, she knew how to talk to the excitable young girls who thought their trip to New York was all a big adventure. In the back of her mind in every encounter was the thought of her own two girls at home. “What would you do if Florence tried something like this?”

John got the message. He folded the newspaper and looked up.

What source does the author have for this conversation? How does she know that John read this article in the newspaper and that he had a conversation with Mae about it? How does she know that Mae “stomped her foot for emphasis?” How does she know when John looked up at Mae, and when he folded the newspaper? There are no sources referenced for this conversation, so I can only conclude that the author embellished the narrative. This type of technique is used in creative nonfiction, which is the genre that best fits this work. Perhaps creative nonfiction is the best the author could do given the dearth of records documenting the early years of the NYPD. This book gives readers a glimpse of what life might have been like for a woman police officer in the NYPD in the first half of the 20th century. However, it will frustrate readers who want to go beyond feelings to facts.

3 stars

Group Reads
The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten

Irene Huss and her colleagues in Göteborg’s murder investigation unit must unravel the complex circumstances surrounding related murders. The murder victims are all connected by business and/or family ties to an internet company that crashed when the dot com bubble burst, enriching its founders at the expense of its investors. One survivor knows more than she is telling, and Irene and her partner search for a way to persuade her to talk. Meanwhile, Irene is distressed by some personal news shared by her partner and best friend, Tommy.

In some ways, this is the best book in the series so far. Irene’s domestic life didn’t distract from the murder investigation. Her husband, twin daughters, and dog made limited appearances in this book. The audio reader does a nice job with the narration and dialogue. I wish my library had more of this series available in audio format. There were some enjoyable scenes in a hospital near the end of the book. My other favorite in the series had a hospital setting, so perhaps the medical scene is a familiar one for the author. The ending is spoiled when the tension peaks to early and the investigation concludes with a long briefing (i.e. information dump) from an FBI officer.

4 stars

Nonfiction Challenge; HistoryCAT; PrizeCAT
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer

The back cover describes this book as “the first complete history of the War of 1812 written from a British perspective.” The treatment seems balanced rather than weighted toward the British involvement. Latimer challenges the perception of the War of 1812 as a draw, claiming instead a British victory because the United States achieved none of its stated aims. Perhaps in time the perception will shift, but Latimer is pushing against centuries of entrenched attitudes toward the war and its outcome.

3.5 stars

British Author Challenge
The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle

Professor Challenger gathers his companions from The Lost World and their oxygen supply at his home to await together Earth’s passage through a belt of ether that seems destined to poison most of the Earth’s inhabitants. From a window in the professor’s home, the group observes the ether’s effects. Will they survive, and if they do, what will post-apocalyptic life be like?

This novella hasn’t aged well. It seems obvious where the plot is headed because journalist Malone is writing in the first person, and it’s reasonable to assume that he is writing for readers outside of this small group. If this book passes the Bechdel test, it’s with a D minus, and the racial epithets would not be tolerated from a current author as they were in Doyle’s day.

One passage struck a chord with me:
You are to picture the loveliness of nature upon that August day, the freshness of the morning air, the golden glare of the summer sunshine, the cloudless sky, the luxuriant green of the Sussex woods, and the deep purple of heather-clad downs. As you looked round upon the many-coloured beauty of the scene all thought of a vast catastrophe would have passed from your mind had it not been for one sinister sign—the solemn, all-embracing silence. There is a gentle hum of life which pervades a closely-settled country, so deep and constant that one ceases to observe it, as the dweller by the sea loses all sense of the constant murmur of the waves. The twitter of birds, the buzz of insects, the far-off echo of voices, the lowing of cattle, the distant barking of dogs, roar of trains, and rattle of carts—all these form one low, unremitting note, striking unheeded upon the ear. We missed it now. This deadly silence was appalling. So solemn was it, so impressive, that the buzz and rattle of our motor-car seemed an unwarrantable intrusion, an indecent disregard of this reverent stillness which lay like a pall over and round the ruins of humanity. It was this grim hush, and the tall clouds of smoke which rose here and there over the country-side from smoldering buildings, which cast a chill into our hearts as we gazed round at the glorious panorama of the Weald.

This passage brought back memories of the days following September 11, 2001, when the skies were empty of planes and helicopters. I live and work close enough to several airports that the sound of planes and helicopters is background noise, “striking unheeded upon the ear.” The silence is one of my strongest memories from a day I’ll never forget.

2 stars

American Author Challenge
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

Before he became a famous author, Twain spent some years as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi. Twain recalls his early experiences in this memoir, with particular focus on his apprenticeship. About a third of the way through the book, Twain transitions to an account of his return to the Mississippi after an absence of several decades. Twain and his companions board a steamboat at St. Louis for a journey to New Orleans, then make the return journey from New Orleans all the way to the Twin Cities. Each landmark on the journey inspires a memory of his own experience or a story he’s heard from another. This part of the book gives the impression of vignettes that Twain has assembled for the reader’s entertainment. Twain actually got two books out of his 1882 steamboat trip. He was already working on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when he wrote Life on the Mississippi, and he includes in it an excerpt from his work in progress. Twain’s 1882 journey was time and money well spent if it revived long-forgotten memories of river life and helped Twain hone his descriptions of the river in Huckleberry Finn.

4 stars

CalendarCAT
The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins

London lawyer Philip Lefrank, under his doctor’s advice, sets sail for America to recuperate from overwork on a relative’s farm. His visit is not as restful as he hoped. He finds tension in the household, with his host’s sons and his farm manager pitted against each other and his host’s pretty niece sparking jealousy among the men. The farm manager disappears after an argument with one of the Meadowcroft brothers, and the discovery of a human bone and some personal effects in the lime-kiln lead to a charge of murder. Against all hope, Lefrank agrees to make one grand attempt to clear the accused man of murder.

Collins based this novella on a real case of wrongful conviction from the Early Republic era. Wilkie’s title is spoiler-y, as this is exactly what happens in the book – the “dead” man turns out to be alive.

3.5 stars

>47 cbl_tn: I've never heard of this one before. On the list it goes!

>48 MissWatson: It's short! The LibriVox audio I listened to was just over 2 hours long. That means it can easily be read in under 2 hours.

CalendarCAT; Reading Projects
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts

What was life like for political prisoners in Stalin era Soviet labor camps? You could read a memoir and let a former prisoner tell you. Or you could read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and let Solzhenitsyn show you. Readers follow Ivan Denisovich Shukov through a typical day sometime in January from morning to evening roll call. Shukhov and his fellow prisoners exist in the bottom tier of Maslow’s hierarchy, and it’s painful to experience even vicariously.

I’d like to think that the Soviet labor camps are a thing of the past and that what’s depicted in this book would not be possible in the 21st century. I’d like to think that, but human nature hasn’t really changed in the seventy-some years since Stalin’s death.

5 stars

January Recap

American Author Challenge
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (4)

British Author Challenge
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken (4)
The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle (2)

Nonfiction Challenge
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5)

HistoryCAT
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5)

PrizeCAT
1812: War with America by Jon Latimer (3.5)

CalendarCAT
The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins (3.5)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts (5)

Reading Projects
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts (5)
Too Many Women by Rex Stout (3)

Group Reads
So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon (3)
The Girls Who Fought Crime by Mari K. Eder (3)
The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten (4)

Everything Else

Books owned: 1
Books borrowed: 1
Ebooks owned: 1
Ebooks borrowed: 3
eAudiobooks owned: 2
eAudiobooks borrowed: 2

Best of the month: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by H. T. Willetts (5)
Worst of the month: The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle (2)

Morning, Carrie! Very nice review of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - I have added my thumb to it. I am hoping to get to that one this year - I should just read it this month, actually, as I know it's short.

>52 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie! Thanks for the kind words! It's short enough to read in a single sitting, although I spread it out over three days. Try to get the Willetts translation if you can. It's the one Solzhenitsyn authorized, and as I understand it was translated from the uncensored version.

>53 cbl_tn: Oh! Thanks for that, Carrie.

>54 Crazymamie: You're welcome!

CalendarCAT; Group Reads
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez

The graphic novel format is an unusual choice for a memoir of a historian’s research into the history of slavery and women-led slave revolts, but it works. The clear text and the black and white illustrations combine to impress on the reader the enormity of the historian’s task, the frustration arising from incomplete or missing historical records, and the anger and shame at running up against barriers to access to primary sources that might contain answers to the historian’s questions. The illustrations give form and face to enslaved persons whose names have mostly been lost to history but whose resistance to enslavement lives on in history for those who make an effort to see it.

This book would be useful for college students as an introduction to historical research. Hall describes her research question, the libraries and archival repositories she visited, the record groups she searched, and the other repositories and records the trail led her to.

4 stars

CalendarCAT; Group Reads
Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope

In a departure from his typical English or Irish heroine, Trollope presents readers with Nina Balatka, a poor Czech Catholic woman who cares for her elderly widowed father whose business failures have left them living in a house they no longer own and on the brink of starvation. The house is owned by Josef Balatka’s Jewish business partner, Stephen Trendellsohn, whose son Anton has somehow become engaged to Josef’s daughter, Nina. The prospect of an interfaith marriage displeases both families, with Nina’s mother’s relatives, the Zamenoys, determined to prevent the marriage. For the Zamenoys, the end justifies the means, and if lying and cheating will accomplish their goal, they have no scruples about it. The deed to the house occupied by Nina and her father becomes a weapon for both sides, with the Zamenoys using it to try to separate the engaged couple and Anton Trendellsohn using it to force Nina to prove her loyalty to him.

Trollope never explains how the engagement happened. Nina’s part is more understandable. When her own relatives and the church fail to provide either physical or emotional support, it’s no wonder that Nina would respond to love and kindness from someone of another faith. Anton’s motives are more puzzling given the character that Trollope develops for him.

Trollope’s description of the Jewish characters’ physical and personal characteristics reflects the antisemitism of his era. Despite this, Trollope describes synagogue worship practice in a respectful way, and his Jewish characters are better exemplars of a Christian ethic of behavior than are his Christian characters.

3.5 stars

Everything Else
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

Once again Jeeves, butler to Bertram Wooster, proves himself to be a paragon of domestic service. Not only must Jeeves keep Bertie’s household in order, he must also bring order out of the chaos that Bertie stirs up among his friends and relations. Jeeves’s matchmaking ability is put to the test at a house party given by Bertie’s Aunt Dahlia at Brinkley Court. Bertie’s friend Gussie Fink-Nottle has fallen hopelessly in love with Madeline Bassett but can’t find the courage to talk to her. A rift has developed between Bertie’s cousin Angela and her fiancé, Tuppy Glossop. Further complicating matters, Aunt Dahlia is in dire financial straits and the household’s French chef is ready to hand in his notice. Jeeves has his work cut out for him! The audio version read by Jonathan Cecil is delightful and adds to the novel’s humor.

4.5 stars

Group Reads
Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis

Roman informer Marcus Didius Falco’s latest investigation keeps him close to home since it revolves around secrets that his soldier brother, Festus, might have been hiding on his last visit to Rome before his death. Falco teams up with is estranged father, Geminus, to search for the truth. Helena Justina once again provides loyal support. Davis gives a new twist to the wise-cracking private eye novel by setting the series in ancient Rome, and by the fifth book in the series I think she’s found a balance that will appeal to fans of either mystery subgenre.

4.5 stars

American Author Challenge
Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag

In what originated as a lecture series, Sontag reflects on the harmful metaphorical use of poorly-understood illnesses, tuberculosis and cancer, in literature, psychoanalytic discourse, and political rhetoric. Sontag cites example after example from works of literature, psychoanalysts/psychologists and political theorists to support her argument. Five decades later, cancer is in many ways as much a mystery as it was when Sontag wrote these essays, so their content is still timely.

4 stars

Everything Else
All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny

The Gamache family has gathered in Paris in eager anticipation of the birth of Jean-Guy and Annie’s daughter. A few months earlier, Jean-Guy Beauvoir left his position as head of homicide in Montreal for a job in a private firm in Paris. His father-in-law, Armand Gamache, resumed his former position as head of homicide. A family vacation turns into a busman’s holiday for Gamache when his 93-year-old godfather, Stephen Horowitz, is run down and left for dead on a Paris street. Gamache must figure out the real reason that Stephen came to Paris to keep the rest of his family alive.

I should have saved this one for a weekend and lots of uninterrupted reading time. It was hard to put down, maybe because it’s more thriller than police procedural. Gamache is out of his jurisdiction, and his investigative team includes of his librarian wife Reine-Marie, his banker son Daniel, his lawyer daughter Annie. At least his son-in-law, Jean-Guy, has professional experience. The story touches on a lot of themes I love to read about – libraries and archives, art, the Holocaust, and a treasure hunt-like quest. Fellow Reine-Marie fans will be happy that she’s so prominent in this book. I also love that we finally get to know Daniel, who is often mentioned but seldom seen in other books.

4.5 stars

CalendarCAT; Reading Projects
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

11-year-old Margaret’s family has just bought a house and moved from a New York City apartment to suburban New Jersey. Only child Margaret must make new friends and start a new school for sixth grade. The year is filled with even more transitions, as Margaret and her friends and classmates break in a first-year teacher and deal with the onset of puberty. Unlike most of the other children in her class, Margaret has no religious faith, and she’s beginning to be curious about religion. Without any religious instruction, Margaret develops a prayer life and talks to God about all the changes she’s experiencing.

I didn’t read this book as a tween since it was considered controversial then. Perhaps it still is. I’m not sure why. Margaret’s experiences over the course of her sixth-grade year are typical for anyone who went through middle school in the 1970s. Margaret develops good interpersonal skills as she learns that gossip isn’t always true, and as she learns to admit and apologize for her mistakes. If you enjoy audiobooks, don’t miss the audio version narrated by Laura Hamilton.

4 stars

Nonfiction Challenge; PrizeCAT
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Kiernan explores the role women played in World War II’s Manhattan Project Oak Ridge, Tennessee location. The plant and the town of Oak Ridge sprang up nearly overnight as the project went into high gear. Women were involved in every aspect of its operations, including secretarial work, human resources, statistics, chemical analysis, equipment monitoring, janitorial work, nursing, and journalism. There is some selection bias since the women profiled were still living at the time Kiernan began work on this book. Many of the women still live in Oak Ridge or its vicinity, but some of the women had moved on to other locations.

Since I’m a Knoxville native, this is local history for me. Oak Ridge has not been a secret in my lifetime. I’ve always been able to go there, either with my family or on school field trips to the children’s museum or the Museum of Science and Energy. I’ve always been curious about its secret history, and this book didn’t disappoint!

One minor quibble. Kiernan includes the story of Ebb Cade, an African American construction worker who was subjected to medical experimentation without his consent. Cade wasn’t one of the “girls” of Atomic City, nor were the doctors who experimented on him, so he doesn’t belong in this book. He deserves his own book, but it seems that it hasn’t yet been written.

4 stars

British Author Challenge
Caprice by Ronald Firbank

This novella is set in the London theatre world of the early 20th century. Sarah Sinquier feels constricted in the cathedral town where her father is a canon. She longs for the London stage, and she runs away to fulfill her true calling as an actress. Sarah quickly falls in with a theatre crowd. Most of the novel builds toward the opening night of a production of Romeo and Juliet. Young Sarah learns how quickly triumph can turn to tragedy.

Apparently, Firbank’s novels are characterized by a heavy emphasis on dialogue. I’ve always appreciated this quality in Agatha Christie’s novels. Sadly, Firbank is no Christie. A century later, most readers will not have enough context to easily make sense of the dialogue. However, I’m not sure readers of a century ago would have had enough context either, unless they moved in the same social circle as Firbank. Maybe that was the point.

2.5 stars

Reading Projects
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

The nature versus nurture debate is at the heart of this standalone psychological mystery. Jacko Argyle died in prison after he was convicted of murdering his mother by hitting her over the head with a poker. A couple of years after the trial, a new witness appears with exculpatory evidence that proves Jacko was not in the house when his mother was murdered. But if Jacko was innocent, then someone else must be guilty. The rest of the family and the household employees will live under a cloud of suspicion until the real murderer is discovered. The witness, Dr. Calgary, feels responsible for stirring up the cloud of suspicion, and he believes he has a moral obligation to solve the crime and free the innocent from suspicion.

This novel is very similar to many of Poirot’s cases, and I think it would have worked better as a Poirot mystery. It suffers from lack of an easily identifiable protagonist/detective. Sometimes Arthur Calgary works on the puzzle. Sometimes the local police superintendent works on it. Sometimes Philip Durant, the murder victim’s disabled son-in-law, fancies he can solve the mystery. Christie excelled at revealing character through conversation, and her dialogue carries her best novels. This novel focuses more on what various characters are thinking to themselves, and there isn’t a lot of dialogue. I think that’s why the pace seems to drag.

3 stars

HistoryCAT; Reading Projects
Jane Austen's England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins

Husband and wife authors and historians Roy and Lesley Adkins provide readers with insight into daily life as Jane Austen (1775-1817) would have experienced it. Each chapter looks at various aspects of life, from marriage and family life to home comforts, clothing and fashion, religious life, occupations, leisure and recreation, travel, crime and punishment, medicine, and death. Excerpts from letters, diaries and journals, and other writings of the period provide plenty of examples for readers. Besides examples drawn from Austen’s writings and writings of her family members, the Adkins also incorporate examples from the diaries of Somerset vicar William Holland, the diaries of Norfolk Parson James Woodforde, and the letters and diaries of north country governess Nelly Weeton. The volume of information makes for dense reading, but it’s never dull.

4.5 stars

February Recap

American Author Challenge
Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag (4)

British Author Challenge
Caprice by Ronald Firbank (2.5)

Nonfiction Challenge
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (4)

HistoryCAT
Jane Austen’s England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins (4.5)

PrizeCAT
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan (4)

CalendarCAT
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall illustrated by Hugo Martinez (4)
Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope (3.5)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (4)

Reading Projects
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (4)
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie (3)
Jane Austen’s England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods by Roy Adkins & Lesley Adkins (4.5)

Group Reads
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez (4)
Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope (3.5)
Poseidon’s Gold by Lindsey Davis (4.5)

Everything Else
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (4.5)
All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny (4.5)

Books owned: 2
Books borrowed: 3
Ebooks owned: 2
eAudiobooks borrowed: 4

Best of the month: All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny (4.5)
Worst of the month: Caprice by Ronald Firbank (2.5)

PrizeCAT
Maybe by Morris Gleitzman

The war is over, and 14-year-old Felix, Gabriek, and 16-year-old Anya are on their way back to Gabriek’s farm to make a new home. Things don’t work out as planned, though, and soon Felix is making plans for a new home in Australia. Maybe things will be better there. Felix must keep looking over his shoulder for the murderous gangster, Zliv, who blames Felix for his brother’s death and is determined to make him pay.

I’ve grown to love Felix over the first six books in this series. He is a survivor, but not in a selfish way. Felix has a gift for friendship, and he surrounds himself with others who need his help who can also help him. This book is a reminder that, for many, suffering and hardship didn’t end with the defeat of the Nazis. Felix and his friends are better off than when they started, but they still have more challenges ahead of them. I look forward to reading the final book in the series to see what a new life in Australia has in store for Felix.

4 stars

>66 cbl_tn: Ooh, a new-to-me Austen book! Definitely going on the TBR.

I somehow hadn’t starred your thread, but I’ve fixed that now. Lovely to see Adrian looking content with his perfect life! I’ll look for a copy of Wake. I just finished a novel about resistance to the Confederacy in which the challenges of historical research are mentioned at the end (in a very odd way, that I’m not sure entirely worked, but I found it interesting).

>69 christina_reads: It seems like we'll never run out of new Austen books. That's a great problem to have!

>70 RidgewayGirl: I've somehow missed you, too! I'll see if I can find you. I think you will find Wake interesting. Our book group had mixed opinions about the artwork. I liked it, but I can understand why it didn't appeal to some of the others.

You have reminded me that I need to post a picture from Saturday's Mardi Growl event. Adrian was my date. ;-)

Adrian and I enjoyed wandering around at Mardi Growl on Saturday. It was at the World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville.

Reading Projects
Skellig by David Almond

Ten-year-old Michael faces more than a child his age should bear, with his family’s move to a house in poor repair and his prematurely born sister’s fight for life. As Michael explores the garage, he encounters a strange creature who changes his life. Is he a man, some sort of beast, or maybe even an angel? Soon Michael’s new friend and neighbor, Mina, shares in the secret.

This is an unexpectedly touching story. Michael’s intense worry for his baby sister manifests in acts of kindness toward the creature in the garage. Old soul Mina is a source of comfort for Michael and understands him in a way that only another child can. The author’s audio narration captures the innocence and awe of these children. My only reservation about this story is the occasional cursing. It would have been out of place in the home I grew up in and among my elementary school classmates.

4 stars

British Author Challenge
Half a Crown by Jo Walton

In an alternate Great Britain in 1960 where the nation made peace with Germany in 1941 and Hitler is still living, the nation is preparing to host a peace conference with representatives from Germany and Japan. 18-year-old debutante Elvira Royston is preparing to be presented to the Queen, and her guardian, Peter Carmichael, has his hands full preparing for the peace conference as head of the Watch. Elvira and her friend Betsy accept an invitation to a fascist rally at Marble Arch. Everything starts to go wrong when a riot breaks out at the Rally and Elvira is swept up in the aftermath. Does Carmichael have enough political capital to protect her without exposing his clandestine activities?

This was a page-turner as tension built around Elvira and Carmichael. The resolution was a little too quick and easy and it left some threads hanging. I wish I could say that the alternate world that Walton created in this trilogy would never really exist, but in the current state of the world, it’s all too easy to imagine such a repressive social structure developing.

4 stars

>74 cbl_tn: I had a similar response to the first book in the series, Farthing. Chillingly plausible.

>75 pamelad: I guess that's why they've been so successful!

>66 cbl_tn: The Austen book sounds good. I should keep an eye out for it.

Great that Adrian is doing well.

>77 hailelib: Thanks! I hope you find a copy!

Adrian had a rough patch several weeks ago, but thankfully he's doing much better now. It's looking like he might be allergic to chicken, and removing chicken from his diet has made a huge difference!

Nonfiction Challenge; HistoryCAT
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson

Legendary forensic anthropologist and “Body Farm” founder Dr. William Bass describes several of the cases that he’s worked on in his decades-long career. The cases highlight different aspects of forensic anthropology and the methods available to criminal investigators for identifying unknown corpses and determining cause of death. Bass is wearing his educator hat as he writes, and lay readers will come away with a basic understanding of forensic anthropology, its history, and related fields such as forensic dentistry and forensic entomology. Although Dr. Bass retired more than 30 years ago, he has continued to consult with criminal investigators. One interesting thing that this book illustrates is just how influential Dr. Bass has been in this field. Many of the professionals whose groundbreaking discoveries continue to advance the practice of forensic anthropology studied under Dr. Bass or under one of his former students.

4.5 stars

Group Reads
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson

Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire opens a can of worms when he finds an old rifle hidden on his family’s elk camp. He remembers his father’s story about an accidental shooting that resulted in the death of one of Walt’s grandfather’s hunting companions. Walt, who never got along with his grandfather, wonders if his grandfather might have been a murderer. Walt’s questions catch the attention of people in high places, for whom it seems the past isn’t really dead. Meanwhile, Walt’s relationship with his undersheriff, Vic, takes a new turn.

I liked a lot of the elements of the story – a historical mystery where family history is important, well-read characters who think it’s natural to talk about books, dogs as supporting characters. However, the plot is so convoluted that it’s hard to keep track of all the important elements. I liked that Vic is absent through a lot of the book since I prefer her in small doses due to her foul mouth. If Johnson intended for his readers to be surprised that Vic had moved into Walt’s cabin, he shouldn’t have been so heavy-handed about Walt avoiding going home. Every time Walt wondered to himself where Vic had gone, I’d tell him “She’s at your house,” but he didn’t listen.

3.5 stars

American Authors Challenge; Reading Projects In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

This is the book that seems to set the standard for the true crime genre, so perhaps my expectation was too high. The book’s construction is like many novels, with frequent shifts of scene to follow different characters and their narrative journey. Capote tells the story of the murder of four members of a Kansas family by alternately following the family’s last day, the journey of the murderers toward their crime, their travels following the murders, the investigation, the trial, and the time on death row awaiting the execution date. Capote seems particularly sympathetic toward one of the murderers, Perry Smith, to the point that it ought to raise questions about his objectivity. There are no footnotes or endnotes for readers to verify the facts of the case.

3.5

Reading Projects
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

While in Paris for a conference, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon gets caught up into a murder investigation with symbolic meaning. The Louvre’s director has died, leaving behind cryptic clues about the motive for his murder. The victim intends for Langdon to solve the clues, but instead they implicate him. It’s doubly imperative for Langdon to unravel the mystery in order to prove his innocence.

This book created a sensation upon its publication a couple of decades ago because the plot weaves in unorthodox theories of Christianity. The controversy probably generated more readers than it deserved on its merits as a thriller. I didn’t have any trouble deciphering most of the puzzles, so it seemed like I was constantly waiting for the “expert” characters to catch up. There are better thrillers, and there are better sources than a novel for learning about Christian history from both an orthodox and an unorthodox perspective.

2.5 stars

CalendarCAT; Group Reads
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

Fashion historian Chrisman-Campbell looks at the history of women’s fashion in the twentieth century through ten iconic styles: the Delphos, the tennis skirt, the little black dress, the wrap dress, the strapless dress, the bar suit, the naked dress, the miniskirt, the midi skirt, and the bodycon dress. Each chapter includes one or two black and white illustrations, plus there are 22 color plates. It’s still not enough illustrations, and most readers will need to Google images of some of the looks that are discussed that don’t have accompanying illustrations. This really needed to be a coffee table book, although it would have increased the cost and decreased its reach. I was hoping for more of a high street fashion history, which would have been of more interest to me than this history of high fashion and designer labels.

3.5 stars

>80 cbl_tn: I've been meaning to get to my next Longmire book.

>84 hailelib: Which one are you ready for?

>85 cbl_tn: The one just before, Hell and Back.

>86 hailelib: Be ready for a strange ride. I ended up liking it more than I thought I would.

PrizeCAT
Deep Sea by Annika Thor

It’s been four years since Stephie Steiner and her younger sister Nellie arrived from Vienna as Jewish refugees in Sweden. Stephie is in her final year of grammar school and boards in town with her friend May’s family, while Nellie still lives on the island with her host family. Stephie has many worries. She is in her last year of grammar school. Will the relief committee pay for her to continue her schooling, or will she be forced to leave school and get a job like almost all of the other girls her age? Why is her friend Vera behaving so strangely? Why has Nellie become sullen, angry, and distant? By far her biggest worry is the health and welfare of her parents, who are imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

I loved A Faraway Island, the first book in this quartet. It reminded me quite a bit of Anne of Green Gables. I became invested in then twelve-year-old Stephie’s story, and I want to see how her story ends. The books increasingly address more adult themes as Stephie ages, and this book includes themes that would be more appropriate for older teens, about the age that Stephie is in the book (15-16).

3.5 stars

PrizeCAT
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Raynor Winn and her husband Moth experienced a major financial setback that resulted in the loss of their home and livelihood. The very next day, Moth was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease with no cure. With no home and no jobs, the couple decided to walk the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Poole, passing through Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, and Dorset. Because they have no money for hotels or campgrounds, the pair plan to wild camp along the trail. Winn’s memoir tells of their adventures on the path, and of coming to terms with Moth’s illness and with their homelessness. It’s a moving reflection on life, love, aging, resilience, and the restorative power of nature and physical activity. The audio version read by the author made this an extra special experience.

4 stars

CalendarCAT; Group Reads
Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelanding Sea Captain by Margaret Willson

In a time before living memory, Icelandic women worked alongside men on oar-powered fishing boats. One woman, Thurídur Einarsdóttir, became a highly-sought fishing boat captain. She also had a strong sense of justice and compassion for those on the margins, especially women and children.

Thurídur’s story survived thanks to Iceland’s storytelling heritage. The author combed archives to find any reference to Thurídur that has survived in the writings of her contemporaries and their descendants, in letters, in legal documents, and in poetry and legend. Since this is narrative nonfiction, the author’s preface includes a general statement on the quotes and paraphrased conversations in the book, and the “narrative liberties” employed to add color to the account. Such liberties in nonfiction works annoy me when they are unacknowledged, and the author earned my trust by acknowledging them from the outset.

4.5 stars

March Recap

American Author Challenge
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (3.5)

British Author Challenge
Half a Crown by Jo Walton (4)

Nonfiction Challenge
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson (4.5)

HistoryCAT
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson (4.5)

PrizeCAT
Maybe by Morris Gleitzman (4)
Deep Sea by Annika Thor (3.5)
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn (4)

CalendarCAT
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell (3.5)
Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson (4.5)

Reading Projects
Skellig by David Almond (4)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (3.5)
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2.5)

Group Reads
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson (3.5)
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell (3.5)
Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson (4.5)

Everything Else

Books owned: 3
Books borrowed: 3
Ebooks borrowed: 2
eAudiobooks borrowed: 3

Best of the month: Woman, Captain, Rebel by Margaret Willson (4.5)
Worst of the month: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (2.5)

>90 cbl_tn: This one's going on the TBR! Looks great!

You got me with two book bullets today.

>92 rabbitprincess: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

>93 hailelib: Which ones were a hit?!

CalendarCAT; Reading Projects
The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray

Following the events at Donwell Abbey as recounted in The Murder of Mr. Wickham, Juliet Tilney has been invited to visit Colonel and Marianne Brandon at Delaford. Meanwhile, Jonathan Darcy and several of his former classmates have been invited to spend a month at Allenham Court with Mr. Willoughby and his new bride. Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney are surprised and pleased to see each other at a dinner party at Barton Park, but the evening ends in tragedy with the sudden death of Mrs. Willoughby, apparently from poison. Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney have successfully investigated a murder before. Can they do it again?

I like Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney as sleuthing partners. Jonathan has personality traits characteristic of autism or Asperger’s. Juliet accepts Jonathan’s differences, and she is very protective of him in social settings where others might not be as understanding. Even so, the book drags on too long. I listened to the audio version, and there is nearly an hour more of the recording left after the murder is solved. The author seems compelled to include all of the major characters from Sense and Sensibility, but one set of characters has a story line that is completely independent of the murder plot. Since it doesn’t advance the murder plot, it doesn’t belong in the book, and the author and her editor(s) should have resisted the temptation.

3 stars

Group Reads
The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten

When a dancer/choreographer disappears and her body is later found in the charred ruins of a fire, Goteborg detective Irene Huss is taken back fifteen years to one of her earlier cases. The current fire victim was eleven years old then, and she was the last person to leave the house where her stepfather died in a fire. Irene and her colleagues were never able to get the neuro diverse Sophie Malmborg to speak about the fire or what she witnessed. Is her death in a fire related to her stepfather’s death fifteen years ago?

Irene investigates largely on her own in this case because most of her colleagues are tied up with a gang-related murder. In some ways this made the plot tighter. Irene’s daughter, Jenny, has been featured in a couple of the earlier novels. This time around it’s Jenny’s twin, Katarina, who spends more time with Irene. Many readers will figure out the answer to the fifteen-year-old fire from the description of the dance that Sophie choreographed. The symbolism is obvious to the reader, and it should have been immediately obvious to Irene.

3.5 stars

>96 cbl_tn: I never could get into that series. I tried. I just hated the ones I read so much I couldn't continue.

>97 thornton37814: I'm sorry it didn't work for you. I'm glad you're finding books that you enjoy more.

Reading Projects
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

International intrigue comes to a girls’ school in this classic mystery with a hint of espionage. After spending a few weeks in the Middle East with her mother visiting her uncle, Jennifer Sutcliffe begins a new term at Meadowbank School for Girls. Unbeknownst to Jennifer and her mother, Jennifer’s uncle hid something in their belongings. Someone is aware of it, and this person won’t hesitate to kill to get hold of the hidden items. But who is it? One of the teachers, or maybe even one of the students? Eventually someone has the wits to summon Hercule Poirot, who quickly makes sense of all the strange events.

This is one of my favorite Poirot novels, even though Poirot doesn’t appear until very late in the book (about 2/3 of the way through, in fact). The clues are more heavy-handed than I’m used to from Christie. I am puzzled by the lacrosse sticks on the cover of the audio version, and the mention of lacrosse in the Overdrive book summary. As far as I can recall, lacrosse isn’t mentioned in the book. There are frequent mentions of tennis, however. I don’t know how you confuse the two sports, and it makes me wonder if anyone at the publishing company bothered to read the book.

4 stars

British Author Challenge
Less than Angels by Barbara Pym

Pym observes the observers in this novel populated mostly by anthropologists and anthropology students. Tom Mallow returns from two years of field work in Africa to finish writing his thesis. He resumes his live-in relationship with writer Catherine, only to soon take up with first-year student Deirdre.

This book raises the question of who is better equipped to observe and describe human nature – the anthropologist or the fiction writer? (Advantage: fiction writer. It’s obvious that Catherine understands Tom and his behavior better than Tom understands himself!) Pym gives several nods to her earlier novel, Excellent Women, with the reappearance of Esther Clovis and repeated mentions of Everard Bone and his wife Mildred. At a point of crisis, Catherine reflects that “I’m not one of those excellent women, who can just go home and eat a boiled egg and make a cup of tea and be very splendid…but how useful it would be if I were!”

4.5 stars

Everything Else
Tevye the Milkman by Sholem Aleichem

On the surface I have little in common with a 19th-century Russian Jewish peasant, yet these stories resonated with me. Tevye’s faith and his knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and teachings help him endure the hardships he encounters. Tevye’s love for his daughters reminds me of my own father. It must have been daunting to take on the job of narrating the audio version of such a well-known character. Listeners can’t help but compare this performance to Topel’s portrayal of Tevye on stage and screen. Neville Jason’s delivery far exceeded my expectation. I don’t often do rereads, but this one is worth a revisit.

5 stars

Reading Projects
The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie
The Unexpected Guest is one of Christie’s plays that wasn’t first a book or short story. Even though it’s original, it still feels like Christie has recycled past plots to create this play. A stranded traveler arrives at a remote Welsh home to find a woman holding a gun while her husband sits in his wheelchair, dead from a gunshot to the head. Did the woman kill him as she freely admits to the stranger, or is she shielding another member of the household? I listened to a BBC radio performance, and I suspect that it was abridged to fit the allotted radio timeslot. I don’t feel a need to read the full version, even though I own it in an omnibus edition of Christie’s plays. Recommended only for Christie completists.

3 stars

39. Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World by Timothy Brook

Historian Brook uses the Delft of Johannes Vermeer as the reference point for examining the expansion of globalization in the seventeenth century. Brook identifies objects or persons in 17th century Dutch artworks that link Delft with the wider world. Since Brook specializes in Chinese history, it’s not surprising that most of the paths he follows lead to China. While the term “globalization” may have entered common usage only in the late 20th century, it’s clear that its effects have been visible since at least the seventeenth century.

4 stars

PrizeCAT
Home by Marilynne Robinson

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.

After twenty years of estrangement and exile, Jack Boughton returns to his childhood home in Gilead, Iowa. Jack’s widowed father, a retired Presbyterian minister, is in failing health. Jack’s sister, Glory, the youngest of the eight Boughton siblings, has returned to the family home after a failed relationship. As the siblings care for their father’s needs, their kindred wounds and vulnerabilities form them into a unit apart.

Jack, and to a lesser extent Glory and their father, first appeared in Gilead in relation to his namesake, the Congregational minister John Ames. Home gives readers a different perspective on the fraught relationship between Jack and Reverend Ames.

I could point to Jack’s story as an explanation for why I am not a Calvinist. Reverend Boughton has worried about the state of Jack’s soul for his son’s entire life, and he holds out hope that Jack will accept God’s grace. He doesn’t see that Jack’s problem isn’t unbelief, but belief. Jack believes he is a reprobate and not one of God’s elect. He is unable to see himself as worthy of his family’s love. There isn’t a balm in Gilead for Jack Boughton.

5 stars

>104 cbl_tn: I have had this on my short stack to read soon for years now. You've really reminded me of how much I loved Gilead. And I am with you on the Calvinism. I can't understand the concept of a loving God assigning people who love Him to Hell before their birth.

>105 RidgewayGirl: It has been at the top of my TBR list for more than a decade. I'm not sure how I let it sit that long!

It seems that Marilynne Robinson is one of my favorite authors. I've read three of her novels and all three have been 5 star reads for me. I don't rate many books that highly.

Everything Else
The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs has her hands full balancing work and family life with her adopted daughter. Her routine has her spending the first part of the week in London, juggling her private investigation business and her war work for an intelligence agency, assessing the psychological fitness and readiness of agents being trained to infiltrate occupied France. Her latest investigation crosses over into her intelligence work. A young boy who works as a courier for the government has witnessed a murder while delivering a message during an air raid, and he turns to Maisie for help. The trail leads to members of the French resistance.

The plot relies on too many coincidences, and the murder takes a back seat to intelligence operations. The developments in Maisie’s personal life are the highlight of the book. Maisie consoles her daughter, Anna, and her best friend, Priscilla, as they face the loss of those dear to them, and Maisie and her beau, American diplomat Mark Scott reach a crossroad in their relationship.

3.5 stars

American Author Challenge; Reading Projects
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Author and humorist Bill Bryson writes about his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail in the mid-1990s. This tale has been charming readers for nearly three decades, but it fell a bit flat for me. Unlike Grandma Gatewood, whose walk I read about last year, Bryson didn’t actually hike the entire trail Also, I didn’t appreciate the slightly contemptuous, condescending tone Bryson assumes toward the Southern Appalachians and especially Gatlinburg, a tourist spot for many, but also a stomping ground for locals like me. Bryson bemoans the fact that of the fifteen Gatlinburg tourist attractions he listed in his The Lost Continent, published nearly a decade earlier, only three of them were still there when he returned on his Appalachian Trail journey. I can tell you that at least three of them weren’t in Gatlinburg a decade earlier, either, because they were actually several miles away in Pigeon Forge. I’ve been to Bonnie Lou and Buster’s music theater, although not for the Bonnie Lou and Buster Country Music Show, and it was most definitely in Pigeon Forge. So was Carbo’s Police Museum and the Irlene Mandrell Hall of Stars Museum and Shopping Mall. Bryson claims the missing attractions had been replaced by new ones such as Hillbilly Golf, which was already there the first time he visited Gatlinburg. I guess he just missed it. When I was a child and eagerly anticipating a trip to Gatlinburg, Hillbilly Golf was the landmark that indicated we had arrived. It makes me wonder about what else Bryson missed in places that I’m not familiar with.

3.5 stars

Reading Projects
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

“When will this bad dream end,” the woman thought as the faded star’s voice droned on and on about the big fish that pulled the old man and his boat through the blue water. “This is as bad as A Farewell to Arms but at least it is not as long.” The woman woke from her daze as the small dog licked her hand. The dog’s eyes said to her “I am still here, and I want to go out.” The woman rose from her chair, hooked the dog to his leash, walked out into the bright sun and the green grass, and shut the door.

2.5 stars

April Recap

American Author Challenge
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (3.5)

British Author Challenge
Less than Angels by Barbara Pym (4.5)

Nonfiction Challenge
Vermeer’s Hat by Timothy Brook (4)

HistoryCAT

PrizeCAT
Home by Marilynne Robinson (5)

CalendarCAT
The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray (3)

Reading Projects
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (3.5)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (2.5)
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (4)
The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie (3)
The Late Mrs. Willoughby by Claudia Gray (3)

Group Reads
The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten (3.5)

Everything Else
Tevye the Milkman by Sholem Aleichem (5)
The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear (3.5)

Books owned: 2
Books borrowed: 1
Ebooks borrowed: 2
eAudiobooks owned: 1
eAudiobooks borrowed: 5

Best of the month: Home by Marilynne Robinson (5); Tevye the Milkman by Sholem Aleichem (5)
Worst of the month: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (2.5)

>109 cbl_tn: I loved this review.

>109 cbl_tn: I am a fan of Hemingway's and your review was perfect.

>111 lowelibrary: Thank you!

>112 RidgewayGirl: I am not feeling it for Hemingway so I think this is it for me. I am glad that he has his readers, though! And I did love his Key West house and the six toed cats!

>109 cbl_tn: Another fan of this review! (But not a fan of Hemingway, though Old Man and the Sea is my least-disliked of his books.)

>114 Charon07: I guess that's true for me as well. I actually liked the parts of the book where the old man wasn't in the boat fishing.

I went to the Friends of the Library book sale this morning and came home with a stack of books, because I need more books. You know how it is. NOw I have to find room on my shelves for:

The Names of Our Tears by P. L. Gaus
The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
Whispers of the Dead by Peter Tremayne
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas
Run Afoul by Joan Druett
Two for the Lions by Lindsey Davis
The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis
Under Occupation by Alan Furst
Broken Harbor by Tana French
Under Orders by Dick Francis
Comeback by Dick Francis
Field of Thirteen by Dick Francis
Knit Scarves & Shawls Now

>116 cbl_tn: Nice haul!

>117 RidgewayGirl: I wasn't expecting such a large haul. I didn't find much that interested me last year. I'm never able to make it until the last day of the sale because of my work schedule, and it's usually pretty well picked over by then.

HistoryCAT; Reading Projects
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke

British philosopher Edmund Burke’s critique of the French Revolution could be summed up with the adage “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” As events progressed, Burke could have followed this up with “See, I told you so!”

3.5 stars

ETA: I left out a word!

>118 cbl_tn: When I was still in Greenville, and a short drive from the Really Big, Really Great book sale, I would wait to go until Sunday, reasoning that others should have first dibs. But when a big book sale involves a long drive to St. Louis, I went on the first day. There's another book sale, a mere hour's drive away in Springfield on the 18th, and I plan to go early then, too. And to stop by the Prairie Archives bookstore, a large used bookstore in downtown Springfield. I had better get reading.

>109 cbl_tn: Brilliant!

>120 RidgewayGirl: I will have to add Prairie Archives to my list of places to go. I have an aunt in Springfield, but I rarely get to visit.

>121 pamelad: Thanks!

>116 cbl_tn: My historical fiction book group read Some Danger Involved & really liked it. Especially me.

>123 ReneeMarie: That's good to hear! I've been meaning to try this author for quite a while, but I haven't managed to work him in yet.

>122 cbl_tn: The next time you do go visit your aunt, let me know and I'll drive down so we can browse the bookstore and grab a cup of coffee.

>125 RidgewayGirl: That would be wonderful!

>109 cbl_tn: That review is great!

>109 cbl_tn: I LOLed at that review!

>109 cbl_tn: Great review! Thank heaven you have Adrian to pull you to a better place.

>127 MissWatson: >128 christina_reads: >129 DeltaQueen50: Thank you all! I am pretty sure I am done with Hemingway. I've tried twice and he's just not for me.

HistoryCAT
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

Prior Robert of Shrewsbury Abbey convinces his fellow monks that they need the bones of Welsh Saint Winifred as a relic for the Abbey. Several of the brothers are selected to go to Wales to retrieve Saint Winifred’s remains, and Brother Cadfael is chosen because he speaks Welsh. The Shrewsbury party meets with some opposition from Rhisiart, an influential landowner, and then Rhisiart is killed. Brother Cadfael believes there is more to the murder than meets the eye, but he must tread carefully in his quest to unmask the killer lest his efforts cause more harm than good.

I started reading this series with the second book, One Corpse Too Many, because it was the first one that came into my hands. I was told by other LT members at the time that this was probably a good thing, because this first book lacks some supporting characters who make their first appearance in One Corpse Too Many. Having finally read the first book, I now know that the advice I received was spot on. This turned out to be a great way to experience this series – start with book #2 and treat book #1 as a prequel to pick up somewhere along the journey.

3.5 stars

Group Reads
Mischievous Creatures: The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science by Catherine McNeur

Historian McNeur rescues two nineteenth-century women scientists from undeserved obscurity. Sisters Elizabeth and Margaretta Morris spent most of their lives in their mother’s home in Germantown, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The family was prosperous enough that Elizabeth and Margaretta were able to pursue their interests in the natural world, with Elizabeth focused on botany and Margaretta on entomology. The women’s social circle included prominent names in the sciences such as Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, William Darlington, and Thaddeus William Harris. The sisters regularly published in scientific journals, although often anonymously or using initials to disguise their sex. Margaretta Morris was among the first women elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Both women made discoveries in their fields only to have doubts raised by male scientists who questioned the accuracy of their observations, and usually with credit for their discoveries given to male scientists.

This is a particularly timely read for me since one of Margarette Hare Morris’s discoveries is a species of seventeen-year cicada. I live in a county where Brood XIX of the 13-year cicadas are expected to emerge this spring.

4 stars

>131 cbl_tn: That is a very lovely cover, too!

>132 cbl_tn: I'm in an area that is expected to see two broods hatch and I'm looking forward to it.

>133 MissWatson: I think so, too!

>134 RidgewayGirl: Be sure and get photos! You will probably look forward to them leaving, too, if they're as loud as they were the last time we had them here.

Everything Else
The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

When author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz is approached by a police consultant to collaborate on a true crime account of a murder investigation, Horowitz’s curiosity overcomes his initial reluctance. Just hours before the murder, the victim, mother of a famous actor, had visited a funeral home where she planned and paid for her funeral. Did she suspect that someone wanted her to die? Daniel Hawthorne, the former police officer turned private detective, gets under Horowitz’s skin, and to be fair, most people find Hawthorne highly annoying. But Hawthorne is brilliant, and the unlikely pair make a 21st century Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

The line between fact and fiction blurs in this novel. Horowitz drops tidbits throughout on his real life projects, particularly Foyle’s War. Arthur Conan Doyle did it first with his fictional Dr. Watson as the first-person narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Horowitz gives it a new twist by inserting himself into the story. I think it’s fun. YMMV.

4 stars

American Authors
Ancestors: A Family History by William Maxwell

Novelist and long-time New Yorker editor William Maxwell’s family memoir tells of his childhood and his family’s long connection to Lincoln, Illinois. Maxwell and my small town Illinois-born grandmother were contemporaries, so the setting interested me. Several generations of Maxwell’s family belonged to the religious movement now known as the Stone-Campbell Movement, which includes the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Maxwell digs deep into the history of the Stone-Campbell Movement in order to understand his family and the way that their faith shaped them.

Maxwell’s memoir wouldn’t pass muster as an example of genealogical methodology since it’s undocumented. However, this doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be useful to genealogists and family historians. Maxwell views his ancestors through the lens of a fiction writer and gets to the heart of the personalities, motivations, and individual decisions that make up his family story. Many families with Midwestern roots likely had at least one branch that belonged to the Stone-Campbell Movement. Maxwell’s memoir offers a good starting point for readers with an interest in this movement since he includes references to several standard histories. Maxwell references Haynes’s History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois, 1819-1914, which I’ve consulted for my own family history research.

3.5 stars

Reading Projects
Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout

These three Nero Wolfe novellas all have one thing in common: Wolfe’s client is murdered in each one (although technically he didn’t accept the victim as a client in the second novella). The novellas are out of order since the middle one takes place during World War II while Archie is in the army and assigned to Wolfe, while the first and last are set shortly after the war. The novella length works well for Wolfe stories. It’s long enough to allow the reader to consider multiple suspects for the murder, and the pace suits first-person narrator Archie’s repartee.

4 stars

PrizeCAT; CalendarCAT; Reading Projects
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever

For the most part, the stories in this collection are character studies of individuals facing a moral dilemma or a psychological crisis, and they left this reader feeling unsettled. They make you wonder what is going on underneath the surface presented by strangers and casual acquaintances, and maybe even one’s close friends. The stories seem to be a product of their time, written over the decades of the mid-20th century from post-World War II through the mid- to late 1970s. In a way, they seem like the literary equivalent of mid-20th century television shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. Many of the stories evoke the same kind of atmosphere as these television shows.

4 stars

Nonfiction Challenge
Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel

What was the journey like for the women who migrated west to Oregon and California in the mid-19th century? Historian Lillian Schlissel analyzes diaries, journals, letters, and memoirs of dozens of women who made this journey to form a picture of the journey from a woman’s perspective. Most of the women were young adults, quite a few were pregnant during the journey, and most were less enthusiastic about the journey than the men in their family. Schlissel breaks down her account by decade, allowing readers to see how the experience changed over time as the later travelers benefited from more settlements and sources of support along the trail than the earliest travelers. The book includes dozens of illustrations (photographs and maps), transcriptions of four representative diaries, and a table categorizing each of the women whose diaries are referenced by date of travel, age during the journey, marital status, number and ages of children, etc.

4 stars

April Recap

American Author Challenge
Ancestors: A Family History by William Maxwell (3.5)

British Author Challenge

Nonfiction Challenge
Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel (4)

HistoryCAT
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke (3.5)
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (3.5)

PrizeCAT
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4)

CalendarCAT
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4)

Reading Projects
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke (3.5)
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (4)
Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout (4)

Group Reads
Mischievous Creatures by Catherine McNeur (4)

Everything Else
The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (4)

Books owned: 1
Books borrowed: 3
Ebooks owned: 1
Ebooks borrowed: 1
eAudiobooks borrowed: 2

Best of the month: Mischievous Creatures by Catherine McNeur (4)

British Author Challenge
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter is back for his second year at Hogwarts (despite a bit of trouble getting there), and mysterious things are happening at the school. Students are being attacked, just as they were decades earlier when the mysterious Chamber of Secrets was opened. The Heir of Slytherin is said to have the ability to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash its horror, and many at Hogwarts suspect that Harry may be the heir. Harry, with the help of Ron and Hermione, will need to find the narration real heir of Slytherin in order to acquit himself.

The setting and characters are the stars of the story rather than the plot. I guessed where things were headed fairly early on, although there were a couple of twists that surprised me. Despite the by the outstanding Jim Dale, my mind would wander, and I would find that I hadn’t missed anything important. The house elf, Dobby, became a sentimental favorite for me because my grandparents had a dog by that name when I was a child, long before Harry Potter’s creation.

3.5 stars