Lori's (thornton37814) Cincinnati Tribute - thread 1

Attribution: Ynsalh, Cincinnati Skyline from Devou Park, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

My 2022 reading will mainly focus on my TBR list which includes books from the library and books from my print and electronic stashes.

Those who follow me will know mysteries will always outweigh all other reading. I also love historical fiction, and I've recently been drawn to Amish fiction--partly because of my own Amish ancestry and partly because it is just clean, wholesome, and pure escape reading. I sometimes read literary fiction and will also read poetry, drama, and maybe even a few essays this year.

As far as non-fiction, you'll most often find me picking up history or social history books, books on Christianity and the Christian faith, and cookbooks. I occasionally pick up travel books, craft books, books on nature, and whatever else strikes my fancy at the time.

Each year I struggle to come up with a theme for the year's reading. Since the focus was on making a dent in my reading lists, I thought about using a cleaning theme. I even came up with potential categories, but it never felt right. I've grown pretty nostalgic about Cincinnati over the last few months, so I decided to create my categories featuring all things Cincinnati.

2022 Cincinnati Themed Categories

1. Great American Ballpark - First in series mysteries
2. Paul Brown Stadium - Second or third in series mysteries
3. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park - Fourth to seventh in series mysteries
4. Taft Theatre - Eighth and beyond in series mysteries
5. Kings Island - Children's or YA literature
6. Busken Bakery - Amish fiction
7. Skyline Chili - Cookbooks or other culinary books
8. Music Hall - Historical fiction
9. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden - Other fiction & literature
10. Holy Cross Monastery & Church - Christianity
11. Cincinnati Museum Center - History & Social History
12. Cincinnati City Hall - Other non-fiction
13. Cincinnati Public Library - Shiny & new books that grab my attention
14. Fountain Square - Book Club Picks & Group Reads
15. Findlay Market - Impulse Reads
Abandoned Category: Cincinnati Subway

I'll try to provide info on each landmark as it is introduced below.

Attribution: redlegsfan21, Great American Ball Park, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Great American Ballpark is the home of the Cincinnati Reds. When I lived in Cincinnati, the Reds still played at Riverfront Stadium. Since the Reds always want to play in the World Series, I knew this had to go with one of the series categories. I still have my shirt from when the Reds won the 1990 World Series, sweeping the Oakland A's.

Great American Ballpark (First in series mysteries)

1. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany - completed 3 February 2022
2. Crossed by Death by A. C. F. Bookens - completed 31 March 2022

Attribution: JonRidinger, Paul Brown Stadium interior 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Paul Brown Stadium is home to the Cincinnati Bengals. Although it was under construction when I lived in Cincinnati, it did not open until the year after I moved to Tennessee.

Paul Brown Stadium (Second or third in series mysteries)

1. The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleeves - completed 23 January 2022
2. 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost - completed 28 January 2022
3. Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait - completed 26 February 2022
4. Sleight of Paw by Sofie Kelly - completed 11 March 2022

Attribution: Greg5030 at en.wikipedia, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Playhouse in the Park is located in Eden Park which is one of my favorite city parks. It's a great place to catch a musical or other play.

Playhouse in the Park (Fourth to seventh in series mysteries)

1. The Resistance Man by Martin Walker - completed 24 January 2022
2. A Market Tale by Martin Walker - completed 30 January 2022
3. The Children Return by Martin Walker - completed 11 February 2022

Attribution: Warren LeMay from Cincinnati, OH, United States, Taft Theatre, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Taft Theatre was the main place one went to watch theatre arts events during my time in Cincinnati. The Aronoff Center opened a few years before I moved away and many of the off-Broadway plays moved to it. Today the Taft houses many of the plays designed for juvenile audiences.

Taft Theatre (Eight and beyond in series mysteries)

1. Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs - completed 4 January 2022
2. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny - completed 14 January 2022
3. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie - completed 10 February 2022
4. The Shadow Dancer by Margaret Coel - completed 18 February 2022
5. Unto Us a Son Is Given by Donna Leon - completed 8 March 2022
6. Buried in Secret by Viveca Sten - completed 20 March 2022
7. Blood at the Root by Peter Robinson - completed 24 March 2022

Attribution: Jeremy Thompson from United States of America, Paramount Kings Island, 1996, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Kings Island was featured on an episode of The Brady Bunch back in the 1970s. The park is known for its roller coasters. I purchased a season pass most years so I could go whenever friends wanted to go.

Kings Island (Children's or YA literature)

1.

Attribution: Yelp, Inc., Yelp @ Busken 8708, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/, via Flickr

Busken Bakery makes some of the tastiest baked goods in the Cincinnati area. It is local but offers several locations. They also sell to some stores such as Jungle Jim's.

Busken Bakery (Amish fiction)

1. The Bake Shop by Amy Clipston - completed 5 March 2022

Attribution: Derek Jensen (Tysto), Skyline Chili location on Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati, 2009, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Skyline Chili is my go-to chili. When I first arrived in Cincinnati, new friends took me to Skyline almost immediately. I was not quite sure what to think of that first bite. It was unlike any other chili I'd ever eaten. It grew on me. Today it's my favorite chili of any variety. This is the Skyline nearest the Cincinnati Public Library. Whenever I spend a long day researching there, this is where I usually eat lunch.

Skyline Chili (Cookbooks or other culinary books)

1.

Attribution: Cincinnati Music Hall 2002a, Uploader has written permission to license as GNU-FDL., CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Music Hall is the home of the musical arts in Cincinnati. It houses the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops, the Cincinnati Opera, and the May Festival Chorus. The building first opened in 1878.

Music Hall (Historical fiction)

1. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk - completed 16 January 2022
2. Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March - completed 19 February 2022
3. Granada by Radwa Ashour - completed 29 March 2022

Attribution: Kabir Bakie, Orangutan, Cincinnati Zoo, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden houses some great animals as well as gardens. It is the U.S.'s second oldest zoo and is located in the Avondale neighborhood.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Other Fiction & Literature)

1. Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America's Poets Respond to the Pandemic edited by Alice Quinn - completed 4 January 2022
2. King Lear by William Shakespeare - completed 12 January 2022
3. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning - completed 9 February 2022
4. The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe; illustrated by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner; introduction by Frank Durham - completed 23 February 2022
5. Shakespeare's Comedy of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare; edited by William J. Rolfe - completed 26 February 2022
6. The Mayor's Tale by David Pickering - completed 27 February 2022

Attribution: Photo by Greg Hume (Greg5030), Holy Cross Monastery, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Holy Cross Monastery & Church is located on Mount Adams. While the buildings have been converted for other use now, they are on the historic register. During my Cincinnati days, I always admired the buildings when I went to eat in the nearby historic Rookwood Pottery.

Holy Cross Monastery & Church (Christianity)

1. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament by Frank Viola - completed 9 January 2022
2. Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You by John MacArthur - completed 23 January 2022
3. What the Amish Teach Us: Plain Living in a Busy World by Donald B. Kraybill - completed 30 January 2022

Attribution: Greg Hume, Union Terminal, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Cincinnati Museum Center is housed in the historic Union Terminal. It houses the Cincinnati Historical Society and its collections of artifacts and books. The building housed the train center in its former life.

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal (History & Social History)

1. The Inclines of Cincinnati by Melissa Kramer - completed 1 January 2022
2. The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood by Tristram Hunt - completed 11 January 2022
3. The Habsburg Empire: A Very Short Introduction by Martyn Rady - completed 16 December 2022
4. Hamilton County's Green Township by Jeff Lueders - completed 30 January 2022
5. The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura - completed 13 March 2022

Attribution: EEJCC, Cincinnati City Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Cincinnati City Hall houses part of the city's government offices. Construction was completed in 1893. I think it is a beautiful building.

Cincinnati City Hall (Other non-fiction)

1. Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling through the Land of My Ancestors by Louise Erdrich - completed 23 January 2022
2. Kentucky Quilts & Their Makers by Mary Washington Clarke - completed 28 January 2022

Attribution: Valereee, Main Branch, Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County (Ohio), CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Cincinnati Public Library (aka Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County) housed one of the top ten genealogical libraries in the country during my Cincinnati days. The main branch occupied an entire block during my days but has now expanded across the street. They had other great collections, and I discovered some of my favorite books while browsing its shelves. While I used some branch locations, I used this main library the most because I went there to do genealogical research or use their other collections for research while pursuing a second master's degree.

Cincinnati Public Library (Shiny & new)

1.

Attribution: Niagara66, Cincinnati Tyler Davidson Fountain, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Fountain Square's trademark feature is the Tyler Davidson Fountain dedicated in 1871. It was relocated from its original location several years after I moved away, and it always seems like it is in the wrong place when I visit the city now.

Fountain Square (Book Club Picks & Group Reads)

1. A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs - completed 6 February 2022
2. Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life by Sherwood Anderson - completed 9 March 2022

Attribution: Wholtone, Findlay Market East Entrance, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Findlay Market is the historic farmer's market located in Over-the-Rhine. While it contains more flea market stuff than produce nowadays, it remains an important feature in the Cincinnati landscape.

Findlay Market (Impulse Reads)

1.

Attribution: Jonathan Warren, Cincinnati Subway, Race Street Station, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Cincinnati Subway is probably the most famous abandoned feature in the city. The subway is only a little over two miles in length. Let's hope the list of books in this category is as short as the system!

Cincinnati Subway (Abandoned Reads)

1. Shylock Is My Name by Howard Jacobson - abandoned 9 March 2022

Category notes:

1. Great American Ballpark - First in series mysteries

The books in this category are the first in their series. In some cases I may have read later installments, but I want to go back to the beginning. I intend for all these books to be on my existing wish list.

2. Paul Brown Stadium - Second or third in series mysteries

The books in this category are either the second of third books in their series. All of these should be series in progress. In most cases I will have read the first in the series. In some cases I may have read later books in the series. These books will not be new on my radar.

3. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park - Fourth to seventh in series mysteries

The books in this category fall somewhere between the fourth and seventh installments in the series. They are series that I've liked well enough to continue. These will be comfortable friends.

4. Taft Theatre - Eighth and beyond in series mysteries

The books in this category are old friends. I've liked the series well enough to stick with it to this point!

5. Kings Island - Children's or YA literature

I suspect most of the books in this category will be children's picture books, but I sometimes get the urge to read books that are a little longer and designed for elementary school, middle school, or high school readers. This category is not restricted to things already on my TBR list.

6. Busken Bakery - Amish fiction

I want to read from series in progress or books that are on my Kindle or on my TBR list for this category. If it's brand new, it will go in the "Shiny & new" category. I might even find something that is an "Impulse read" that isn't on my list.

7. Skyline Chili - Cookbooks or other culinary books

I have lots of unread cookbooks and culinary books in the house, on my Kindle, and on my wish list. I'm going to other ones in "Shiny & new" or "Impulse reads" and leave this to the ones already on my radar.

8. Music Hall - Historical fiction

I'm generally going to use this for historical fiction that is non-mystery but that is already in my possession or on my radar. New works can go into "Shiny & new." Some older works might go into "Impulse reads."

9. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden - Other fiction & literature

I have several non-series mysteries, fiction that doesn't fit one of my other categories, and things like poetry and drama on my radar. Essays could also fit here. Shakespearean works read for the ShakespeareCAT will go here. I'm sure some things will go into "Shiny & new" or "Impulse reads" that might otherwise fit here.

10. Holy Cross Monastery & Church - Christianity

I enjoy reading books that enrich my faith or books about church history. I have a huge TBR list for these. I have enough books on my TBR list or downloaded on my Kindle or in my personal library to restrict this one to those titles.

11. Cincinnati Museum Center - History & Social History

I own so many unread books in this category that I really want to focus on those. However, I do have a lot on my TBR list as well. Either will work for the category, but I would like to read what is on hand.

12. Cincinnati City Hall - Other non-fiction

This is where my eclectic taste in books takes over. I have a lot of books on TBR lists as well as some owned print and Kindle books that fit here.

13. Cincinnati Public Library - Shiny & new books that grab my attention

I know I won't be able to resist some shiny & new books! This is where 2021 and 2022 copyright books can fall if they are not on my TBR list or owned.

14. Fountain Square - Book Club Picks & Group Reads

I participate in a faculty book club at work that reads one book per semester spread out over the semester. I'm also taking part in a book discussion with a group of Christian librarians. We'll finish up sometime in spring. Then I belong to an online book club that general reads women's social history or sometimes historical fiction with a good dose of social history or genealogy infused. I'll also put LT group reads in this category except the Bruno and Brunetti ones which I'll put in the mystery categories.

15. Findlay Market - Impulse Reads

I know I'll get a book bullet or two from you all. The ones with copyright dates prior to 2021 can go in this category. This will be for books not on my TBR lists or in my possession.

Abandoned Category: Cincinnati Subway

As stated earlier, I hope this is a short list of Abandoned Reads!

I look forward to participating in ShakespeareCAT.

January - King Lear
February - Much Ado about Nothing
March - a book based on a Shakespeare play. I think I have one book in the Hogarth Shakespeare series remaining and will probably read it.
April - Hamlet
May - Shakespeare's Kings - not sure whether I'll read several or just one
June - Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus - will read at least one
July - Measure for Measure, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice - will read at least one
August - Lesser Known Works - Not sure yet how this one is being define.
September - Shakespeare's sonnets or poems. (I'm hosting this one.)
October - Macbeth
November - Books about Shakespeare or the Globe Theater (fiction or non-fiction) - not sure yet what I'll select
December - A Winter's Tale

I'll probably dip in and out of the other two CATs. I'll try to post some options as I go through my TBR lists.

CATWoman

Jan - Biography/Autobiography/Memoir by women
Feb - Women in translation
Mar - Women pioneers
Apr - Women of color
May - Classics by women
Jun - Books set in cities or about cities by women
Jul - Women and crime
Aug - children's/YA/graphic novels
Sep - Women during war
Oct - Women in science
Nov - Issues as seen through women's eyes
Dec - Prize winner by a woman

AuthorCAT

Jan - Indigenous writers
Feb - 19th century authors (I'm hosting this one)
Mar - Authors first published at age 40 or later
Apr - debut authors
May - authors from your own country
Jun - non-fiction authors
Jul - Asian authors
Aug - prize-winning authors
Sep - African authors
Oct - authors in translation
Nov - authors who set their books against real events
Dec - favorite authors

Reserved for musings about the KIT challenges.

MysteryKIT

Jan - Series
Feb - Cold case crimes
Mar - Small towns, big secrets
Apr - Noir/Hard-boiled (Hoping I can find one on my TBR list; otherwise I'll probably skip it)
May - Detectives in translation
Jun - Historical fiction mysteries
Jul - Golden Age
Aug - Technothrillers (may not read anything this month)
Sep - Animal mystery
Oct - Mysteries featuring food
Nov - Gothic
Dec - Holiday mysteries (I'm hosting this one.)

Paul's Asian Challenge (75 group)

Jan - Europe of Asia - Turkish Authors
Feb - The Holy Land - Israeli & Palestinian Authors
Mar - The Arab World - Writers from the Arab world
Apr - Persia - Iranian writers
May - The Stans - There are 7 states all in the same region all ending in "Stan"
Jun - The Indian Sub-Continent - Essentially authors from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
Jul - The Asian Superpower - Chinese Authors
Aug - Nippon - Japanese Authors
Sep - Kimchi - Korean Authors
Oct - INDO CHINA PLUS - Authors from Indo-China and other countries neighbouring China
Nov - The Malay Archipelago - Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian Authors
Dec - The Asian Diaspora - Ethnic Asian writers from elsewhere

Next is yours

That is a great theme, Lori. I hope you end up with zero books in that scary subway!

Great thread! Go Cincy!

>21 MissWatson: That would be a miracle!

>22 majkia: You know, it would be kind of nice to see the undefeated underdog Bearcats win the BCS Bowl Series, but I doubt it will happen.

Lovely theme, Lori! Happy reading!

Happy reading in 2022!

Excellent theme! Hope you enjoy your 2022 reads!

>25 VivienneR: Thank you!

>26 pamelad: Thanks!

>27 Jackie_K: Glad you like the theme!

Abbreviated list of options for my Great American Ballpark category (First in series mysteries):

1. Ngaio Marsh / A Man Lay Dead
2. Edward Marson / The Railway Detective
3. Ellery Adams / Murder in the Mystery Suite
4. Lynn Cahoon / Who Moved My Goat Cheese?
5. Ann Cleeves / A Bird in the Hand
6. Ann Cleeves / A Lesson in Dying
7. Vicki Delany / Elementary, She Read
8. Sarah Fox / The Crepes of Wrath
9. Victoria Gilbert / Booked for Death
10. Maureen Jennings / Season of Darkness
11. Ragnar Jonasson / Snowblind
12. Karen MacInerney / Killer Jam
13. Elizabeth Edmondson / A Man of Some Repute
14. Sarah Ward / In Bitter Chill
15. Erika Chase / A Killer Read
16. Nicholas Rhea / Constable on the Hill
17. J. R. Ellis / The Body in the Dales
18. Ann Granger / A Rare Interest in Corpses
19. Faith Martin / Murder on the Oxford Canal
20. Joanna Cannon / They Rang Up the Police

I have many more on the list, but it gives you an idea of a few things I might use in that category. In some cases I've read later installments but not the first in series.

Abbreviated List of Options for Paul Brown Stadium category (2nd-3rd in series mysteries):

1. Dan Waddell / The Blood Detective
2. Margery Allingham / Mystery Mile
3. Vicki Delany / Murder in a Teacup
4. Amanda Flower / Premeditated Peppermint
5. Nathan Dylan Goodwin / The America Ground
6. Lyn Hamilton / The Maltese Goddess
7. Victoria Hamilton / Muffin but Murder
8. Betty Hechtman / By Hook or By Crook
9. Charlotte Hinger / Lethal Lineage
10. Anna Lee Huber / Penny for Your Secrets
11. Julie Hyzy / Eggsecutive Orders
12. P. D. James / Unnatural Causes
13. Bruce Alexander / Murder in Grub Street
14. Iona Whishaw / Death in a Darkening Mist
15. Dana Stabenow / Dead in the Water
16. Steve Robinson / The Last Queen of England
17. Erica Ruth Neubauer / Danger on the Atlantic (due out 3-29-2022)
18. M. J. Lee / The Somme Legacy
19. Sofie Kelly / Sleight of Paw
20. Catherine Lloyd / Death Comes to Kurland Hall

Once again, the "potentials" list is much longer.

Abbreviated List of Options for my Playhouse in the Park category (4th-7th in series mysteries):

1. Jenn McKinlay / Dark Chocolate Demise
2. Kwei Quartey / Gold of Our Fathers
3. Karen Rose Smith / Murder with Cherry Tarts
4. Jacqueline Winspear / The Mapping of Love and Death
5. Donna Andrews / Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
6. Cleo Coyle / French Pressed
7. Vicki Delany / A Cold White Sun
8. Victoria Gilbert / A Deadly Edition
9. Maggie Sefton / Dyer Consequences
10. Ann Cleeves / Silent Voices
11. Sheila Connolly / Cruel Winter
12. Mark de Castrique / Hidden Scars
13. Miranda James / Out of Circulation
14. William Kent Krueger / Blood Hollow
15. Sue Henry / Deadfall
16. Laurie Cass / Pouncing on Murder
17. Ellis Peters / Saint Peter's Fair
18. Tim Myers / Room for Murder
19. Tasha Alexander / Tears of Pearl
20. Vaseem Khan / Murder at the Grand Raj Palace

Again the list of potentials is longer and includes others in the same series. I could potentially read a few of these this month in which case I'd move to the next in series.

Abbreviated list of options for my Taft Theatre category (8th or beyond in series mysteries):

1. Peter Robinson / Dead Right (or Blood at the Root)
2. Victoria Thompson / Murder on Fifth Avenue
3. Nevada Barr / Winter Study
4. Andrea Camilleri / The Paper Moon
5. Laura Childs / Twisted Tea Christmas
6. Margaret Coel / The Shadow Dancer
7. Deborah Crombie / The Killing of Innocents
8. Jeanne M. Dams / The Gentle Art of Murder
9. Monica Ferris / Darned If You Do
10. Joanne Fluke / Red Velvet Cupcake Murder
11. Eva Gates / Death by Beach Read
12. P. L. Gaus / The Names of Our Tears
13. Louise Penny / The Madness of Crowds

I'm probably missing a few here. I need to go back through my card file to see if there are others. I've read some later installments in a few of these series than the one mentioned. It's possible I'll finish one or two of these this month and be "caught up" so that the next in series will be the one read.

Abbreviated list of options for Kings Island category (Children's & YA literature):

1. Annika Thor / Deep Sea (I've had trouble finding this 3rd one.)
2. Annika Thor / On Open Water
3. Jennifer L. Holm / Turtle in Paradise
4. Clare Vanderpool / Moon Over Manifest
5. Jean Van Leeuwen / Bound for Oregon
6. Laura Lee Hope / The Bobbsey Twins in the Country
7. Laura Lee Hope / The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore
8. Aranka Siegal / Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary, 1939-1944 (if my public library doesn't discard its copy)
9. Lindsay Currie / What Lives in the Woods

I'll end up with others here, but these are a few I spotted on my list or on my Kindle.

Abbreviated list of options for Busken Bakery category (Amish fiction):

1. Jennifer Beckstrand / The Amish Quiltmaker's Unexpected Baby
2. Wanda E. Brunstetter / The Hope Jar
3. Linda Byler / Christmas Visitor
4. Amy Clipston / The Forgotten Recipe
5. Amy Clipston / The Bake Shop
6. Suzanne Woods Fisher / Mending Fences
7. Kathleen Fuller / The Teacher's Bride
8. Rachel J. Good / Amish Teacher's Gift
9. Rachel J. Good / An Unexpected Amish Proposal
10. Tricia Goyer / Beside Still Waters
11. Shelley Shepard Gray / A Perfect Amish Romance
12. Ruth Hartzler / The Way Home
13. Kelly Irvin / Mountains of Grace
14. Molly Jebber / Hannah's Courage
15. Naomi King / Rosemary Opens Her Heart
16. Beverly Lewis / The Stone Wall

I'm certain I have a lot more on my Kindle or TBR list.

Abbreviated list of options for Skyline Chili category (Cookbooks or culinary books):

1. Dann Woellert / The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili
2. Polly Campbell / Cincinnati Food: A History of Queen City Cuisine
3. J. Wayne Fears / The Lodge Book of Dutch Oven Cooking
4. Karen Hulene Bartell / Fine Filipino Food
5. Gooseberry Patch / Circle of Friends Cookbook: 25 Burger Recipes
6. Gooseberry Patch / Tailgating Cookbook
7. Gooseberry Patch / Circle of Friends Cookbook: 25 Savory Pie Recipes
8. Rosemary Scott / Bread Made Easy: Delicious and Simple Homemade Artisan Bread
9. Taste of Home Soups, Stews & More
10. The Little Women Cookbook

I have lots more on hand, but these are a few options.

Abbreviated list of options for my Music Hall category (Historical Fiction):

1. Kate Mosse / The City of Tears
2. Hazel Gaynor / The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter
3. Rhys Bowen / The Victory Garden
4. Anya Seton / The Hearth and the Eagle
5. C. Pam Zhang / How Much of These Hills Is Gold
6. Emma Donoghue / The Pull of the Stars
7. Mary Beth Keane / Fever
8. Rhys Bowen / Above the Bay of Angels
9. Amy Stewart / Lady Cop Makes Trouble
10. Amy Stewart / Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions

I'm sure I have lots more in my TBR list, but these are a few I quickly spotted.

Abbreviated list of options for my Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden category (Other Fiction & Literature):

1. Shakespeare. (Lots of it for the ShakespeareCAT)
2. John Ahrens / Trace
3. William Faulkner / The Sound and the Fury
4. John Steinbeck / Tortilla Flat
5. Antonia White / Frost in May
6. Ian Frazier / Family
7. Niall Williams / This Is Happiness
8. Lawrence Wright / The End of October
9. Jeanette Winterson / Lighthousekeeping
10. Mary Alice Monroe / Second Star to the Right
11. Kent Haruf / Plainsong
12. Chris Riddell / Poems to Live Your Life By
13. Elizabeth Bishop / Poems
14. Karen L. Kilcup / Over the River and Through the Wood: An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century American Children's Poetry
15. Lilian Harry / The Bells of Burracombe
16. Eve Houston / Secrets in Prior's Ford
17. Doris Lessing / The Grass Is Singing
18. Flannery O'Connor / A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
19. Angela Thirkell / High Rising
20. Barbara Pym / Some Tame Gazelle

I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it offers an insight into what I might select from my list.

Abbreviated list of options for my Holy Cross Monastery & Church category (Christianity):

1. M. Daniel Carroll R. / Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible
2. Lois Tverberg / Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus
3. Paul W. Meier / Praying the Gospels with Martin Luther: Finding Freedom in Love
4. Ben Witherington III / A Week in the Life of Corinth
5. Saint Teresa of Avila / Interior Castle
6. Abraham Joshua Heschel / The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man
7. Warren W. Wiersbe / Be Dynamic (Acts)
8. Warren W. Wiersbe / Be Skillful (Proverbs)
9. Tish Harrison Warren / Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life
10. God Hears Her: 365 Devotions for Women by Women (will use this as a daily devotional in 2022)
11. John MacArthur / Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the WorldWhat the Amish Teach Us

I will read many more that fit this category. I have lots on hand or on my TBR list.

Abbreviated list of options for my Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal category (History and social history):

1. Thomas Bertram Costain / The Magnificent Century
2. Alison Weir / The Six Wives of Henry VIII
3. Anne L. MacDonald / No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting
4. Winifred Gallagher / How the Post Office Created America: A History
5. Ruth Walls Herndon and John E. Murray, eds. / Children Bound to Labor: The Pauper Apprentice System in Early America
6. David L. Weaver-Zercher, ed. / Writing the Amish: The Worlds of John A. Hostetler
7. Carolyn A. Kierner / Beyond the Household: Women's Place in the Early South, 1700-1835
8. James T. Lemon / The Best Poor Man's Country: Early Southwestern Pennsylvania
9. Norman F. Cantor / In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death & the World It Made
10. Carlo Ginzburg / The Cheese and the Worms: THe Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller
11. Eric Jay Dolin / A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes
12. Edward Dolnick / The Rush: America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853
13. Lisa See / On Gold Mountain
14. Alison Weir / Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World
15. Mark Stein / How the States Got Their Shape Too: The People Behind the Borderlines
16. Paul B. Newman / Travel and Trade in the Middle Ages
17. Warren R. Hofstra / The Planting of New Virginia: Shenandoah Landscapes from Prehistory to the Present
18. Thomas G. Long / Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral
19. Olive Sharkey / Irish Country Life
20. Books on order from university presses and Arcadia Publishing (year-end sales)

Abbreviated list of options for my Cincinnati City Hall (other non-fiction) category:

1. Joan Lock / Scotland Yard's First Cases
2. Ron McMillan / Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland
3. Amber Richards / Preserve Your Family Pictures
4. Chris Pascoe / A Cat Called Birmingham
5. Yaron Reshef / Out of the Shoebox
6. Kevin Grace / Cincinnati's Literary Heritage: A History for Booklovers

I'll add to this as I explore my TBR list and on-hand print and electronic books.

I'm not creating lists for the other categories. Although I know some of the book club picks, I don't know all of them. I don't know what "Shiny & New" books will grab my attention or what "Impulse Reads" I'll have.

I'm no where near brave enough to list all my series possible. Man I miss FictFact.

That's far from all my series! I'm just putting a few of them. I have 2 card-file boxes with them alphabetically arranged by author. I know I'll never get back to some of them. In fact, some of them have notes as to why I didn't like the series so I won't be tempted to try it again.

Great to see you all set up and ready for 2022, Lori! And, you've made room for plenty of mysteries! (rubs hands with glee)

How did I not know Cincinnati has an abandoned subway?!?!?! That’s awesome!!!

You should totally read Snowblind next year. I’ve read the first three in that series, it’s a really interesting series. There’s some Agatha Christie vibes in his style that intrigued me - turns out that Jonasson has also translated several of Christie’s works into Icelandic. I did discover that the books were published in one order in Iceland and another in English-speaking countries, but Snowblind is the first either way. I’m reading them in the Icelandic order.

>44 DeltaQueen50: Always lots of room for mysteries! Just got to encourage myself to getting around to some of them.

>45 casvelyn: I loved the Hidden Iceland series. I've read the second in this one and was a bit lukewarm on it. I'm hoping it was because I'd not read the first. Somehow I can see you going to check out if the ghost rumors on the Cincinnati subway are true or not. LOL

>46 thornton37814: I totally would go down there! Although I don't believe in ghosts, so I can answer that question from here. :)

Of the first three Hidden Dark Iceland books, the first is definitely the strongest. I wasn't satisfied with some of the translation decisions in the third book, but the plot was good.

>47 casvelyn: Good to know.

>48 thornton37814: And I realized I've confused myself. My comments in >47 casvelyn: should reference the Dark Iceland series. Too many series with similar names!

>49 casvelyn: LOL - It is confusing!

Great categories, Lori. I've visited Cincinnati twice, both for weekends at the ballpark, and enjoyed it. Hot dogs with Skyline chili...yum!!

>51 lindapanzo: Those chili cheese coneys are good! I make them at home sometimes. I need to pick up some more cans at Kroger, I think. I've got to run to Sevierville Friday so I can probably stock up then.

I see some interesting possibilities in your lists, Lori. I'll be waiting for some BBs.

Great theme! I like to go to Cincy (about 2 hours from my home) as there is much to do. Been to Union Terminal many times. I also like the River Walk and cross the River to go into Newport.

Great pictures to illustrate your theme!

I'll be interested in seeing what you read for the Asian challenge as I am considering an Asian/African category for my challenge.

Great theme and lots of possibilities for the coming year!

>53 dudes22: I always get a few BBs from you too!

>54 Tess_W: There are so many things I miss about Cincinnati. There was no way to include them all as categories.

>55 hailelib: Paul has put several possibilities on his thread. I've been trying to find mystery authors from a country in the area (in translation) that will fit. I have a short list, and I'll see if I can locate them in a library. I may need to use ILL to fill a few. I don't think I want to permanently add any to my collection.

>56 rabbitprincess: Yes. It should keep me busy. I may hit a few of the books before the end of the year because I checked some out of the library before I left work yesterday.

I enjoyed your photos! Happy reading in 2022.

>58 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks! I hope it's a good year.

I very much enjoyed your photos too. I have a friend who lived here in the South for twenty years before moving about three years ago back to her hometown of of Cincin. I haven't been to visit due to Covid and your pictures make me want to go more than ever. Hopefully in 2022 I'll be able to.

>60 clue: I'm hoping to get back for a visit in 2022 myself.

Great photos of a town I have never visited. Good luck with your 2022 reading

>62 lowelibrary: You should visit sometime! I'm wearing my Skyline Chili t-shirt today.

I drove to my brother's on Saturday. Visited my home town for several hours yesterday. My brother and I went to church where we'd grown up. Then we went to eat at one of our favorite places. After that we drove around town. Jim showed me all the houses he remembered living in when growing up--and where a few of the houses that no longer exist were. We also went out to the cemetery where my relatives are buried. I need to order some flowers for the graves. The ones on them are in bad shape--which is to be expected since I think I put them out before COVID. After that, we went to visit one of our dad's first cousins who is still alive. We noticed pretty quickly her short-term memory is not good. I wonder if she is in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

Today I've been making coated pretzels. I've already told the ones receiving the ones being mailed that they'll arrive after Christmas. I'm hoping to get them to the post office this afternoon. I need to run to get some packing tape to seal the packages before going to the post office, but a relatively tiny Walmart is on the way so that should not be a problem.

This afternoon I'll make the pretzels I'm leaving with my other brother's widow for that side of the family. I think this year all her kids will probably all be at her house at some point during the holidays.

>64 thornton37814: Sounds like a nice start to your holiday. We will be just the two of us this year, but that is okay. We bought some deli salads at the grocery for Christmas Eve and will eat the prepared foods from our freezer for Christmas Day. (These are leftovers from Thanksgiving, so I am sure they will still taste good.) Looking forward to a lowkey holiday. My sisters sent us gift packages in the mail, so we will enjoy opening them too.

>65 LadyoftheLodge: I discovered I'll be going home before one of her sons makes it down. He just moved to a place that is probably less than 15 minutes off my route home. They closed yesterday. His furniture doesn't arrive until January 6, so they are using air mattresses and camp chairs. He went this morning to get a refrigerator, washer, and dryer. I'm going to stop by to deliver his pretzels and visit with them in person for a few minutes. I told them I wouldn't stay long because my 3 cats will be in the car. (They have a dog who does not do well with cats, so they won't get out.)

>66 thornton37814: I get that about the air mattresses and camp chairs! Sounds a bit like our 6 weeks in our one bedroom apartment, trying to figure out what we did with our stuff, although our apartment was furnished comfortably. I finally found some of my Christmas decorations that I wondered about--the tiny stuffed Grinch toy for sure! I was afraid he had gotten away. I am just a type-A person.

>67 LadyoftheLodge: I'm glad you're settled in now.

Traci Peterson writes clean books. I read one about Minnesota and how they carved ice blocks from the frozen lakes. My husband, who was from Minnesota, said he remembered they did it. I am from Texas and never saw a frozen lake until I moved here.

>69 mnleona: Christian fiction is a genre that is still safe as far as being "clean." Unfortunately the poor quality of writing in many of them drives me nuts.

Lori, I love your theme - great images! I did not do well with keeping up with the threads last year, but I am hoping to do better in 2022. Dropping a star.

>71 LadyoftheLodge: Thanks!

>72 Crazymamie: Thanks! I got progressively worse at keeping up with threads last year myself. I'll be visiting and starring threads tomorrow. I just got in from a trip that was made longer by two huge delays of undetermined origin because whatever was causing it was gone by the time I arrived. It was already taking a little longer because I made a stop by my nephew's new home. He is in between his Air Force retirement and the start of his new job. He's arrived at his new house, and his furniture arrives January 6. He tells me that it's on a pod in a warehouse just 30 minutes away. They bought air mattresses, a folding table, and camping chairs and are making the best of it. They bought appliances locally so they'd start with new ones.

Year-end meme based on 2021 reads:

Describe yourself: The Woman in the Mirror
Describe how you feel: Bowled Over
Describe where you currently live: Orley Farm
Your favorite time of day: The Nine
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Where the Heart Takes You
Your favorite form of transportation: The Tombigbee River Steamboats
Your best friend is: The Bookstore Cat
You and your friends are: Brabbling Women
Describe your job: The Family Tree
What are you eating: Murphy's Slaw
What's the weather like: The Mist
You fear: The Devil's Cave
What is the best advice you have to give: Magnify His Name
Thought for the day: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name
How you would like to die: Sleeping Murder
Your soul's present condition: Anchored in Jesus: Holding on to Truth in a Drifting World
What is life for you: The Sweet Flypaper of Life
What do you want from 2022? Rediscovering God in America

Runners-up:
Describe yourself: A Real Southern Cook or The Only Woman in the Room
Describe how you feel: Bathed in Prayer
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: A Dance in Donegal
Your favorite form of transportation: The Happy Camper
You and your friends are: Fishing for Trouble
Describe your job: Lila Lou's Little Library
What's the weather like: Snow
What is the best advice you have to give: Read It and Weep
Thought for the day: All the Devils Are Here
How you would like to die: Unnatural Causes
Your soul's present condition: Near to the Heart of God
What do you want from 2022? All That's Good

I first began doing the main year-end meme in 2011. I thought it would be fun to accumulate all my answers. I'm not going to bother with touchstones for this post. Some questions were not on earlier versions, and I kept doing the same ones until I figured out I was missing some new questions.

Describe yourself:

2011: Plum Gorgeous
2012: Maphead
2013: Daughter of the Loom
2014: The Girl of His Dreams
2015: Walking a Literary Labyrinth
2016: Waiting
2017: The Dream Stalker
2018: Keri Tarr, Cat Detective
2019: The Family Tree Problem Solver
2020: Sugar and Vice
2021: The Woman in the Mirror

Describe how you feel:

2011: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
2012: Southern Discomfort
2013: Rotten to the Core
2014: Love So Amazing
2015: Restless
2016: Sorrow without End
2017: Separate from the World
2018: Flat Broke with Two Goats
2019: Plum Tea Crazy
2020: Full of Beans
2021: Bowled Over

Describe where you currently live:

2011: The Land of the Smokies
2012: Town in a Lobster Stew
2013: The Family Mansion
2014: Where Memories Lie
2015: The Strange Library
2016: Appalachia
2017: City of Secrets
2018: My Life in a Cat House
2019: Glass Houses
2020: The Mountains Wild
2021: Orley Farm

Your favorite time of day:

2019: The Darkness
2020: The Enchanted Hour
2021: The Nine

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

2011: Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast
2012: Let's Go Camping
2013: The Most Beautiful Country Towns of England
2014: The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion
2015: Choosing Charleston
2016: Beneath the Book Tower
2017: The High Mountains of Portugal
2018: Over the Hills and Far Away
2019: The Library at the Edge of the World
2020: Off the Grid
2021: Where the Heart Takes You

Your favorite form of transportation:

2011: Parnassus on Wheels
2012: The Excursion Train
2013: Hearse and Buggy
2014: Killer Cruise
2015: Locomotive
2016: Gone Camping
2017: A Cruise to Die for
2018: Steering the Craft
2019: The Long Flight Home
2020: The Hidden Ways: Scotland's Forgotten Roads
2021: The Tombigbee River Steamboats

Your best friend is:

2011: Remembering Knoxville
2012: Homer, the Library Cat
2013: The Postmistress
2014: Nora Webster
2015: Daisy Miller
2016: Anne of Green Gables
2017: Somebody at the Door
2018: The Ice Princess
2019: Sworn to Silence
2020: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
2021: The Bookstore Cat

You and your friends are:

2011: Birds of a Feather
2012: Kindred Souls
2013: Mad as the Dickens
2014: The Forgotten Girls
2015: The Hurricane Sisters
2016: Tailing a Tabby
2017: Common People
2018: Friends in High Places
2019: The Chosen
2020: The Innocents
2021: Brabbling Women

Describe your job:

2020: Ancestry Quest
2021: The Family Tree

What are you eating?

2020: The Coroner's Lunch
2021: Murphy's Slaw

What's the Weather Like?

2011: A Dark and Stormy Night
2012: Hurricanes in Paradise
2013: Winter Chill
2014: The Summer Wind
2015: Clouds without Rain
2016: Reading Up a Storm
2017: Thin Air
2018: Rain
2019: The Dry
2020: Fog Magic
2021: The Mist

You fear:

2011: The Haunted Bookshop
2012: The Czar's Madman
2013: Lotions, Potions, and Deadly Elixirs
2014: The Curse of the Pharaohs
2015: Creepy Carrots
2016: A Fatal Winter
2017: War and Turpentine
2018: A Shot in the Dark
2019: Wild Fire
2020: A Killer in King's Cove
2021: The Devil's Cave

What is the best advice you have to give?

2011: A Praying Life
2012: Sunday Is for God
2013: Books Can Be Deceiving
2014: Go Tell It on the Mountain
2015: A Prayer Journal
2016: To Live Is Christ: Joining Paul's Journey of Faith
2017: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
2018: Anything Is Possible
2019: Grow Your Own Herbs
2020: Keep Calm and Carry On, Children
2021: Magnify His Name

Thought for the Day:

2011: If God, Why Evil?
2012: Who Do You Think You Are?
2013: Dead Men Don't Crochet
2014: Who's Picking Me Up from the Airport
2015: Why Was the Partridge in the Pear Tree?
2016: Things Fell Apart
2017: The Fish Can Sing
2018: Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful
2019: The Grave's a Fine and Private Place
2020: Owl Be Home for Christmas
2021: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name

How I Would Like to Die:

2011: Shaking the Family Tree
2012: Quietly in Their Sleep
2013: Buried in a Book
2014: Out of the Blue
2015: Read and Buried
2016: Sudden Death
2017: Death Overdue
2018: Dying in the Wool
2019: Assaulted Caramel
2020: Murder with Cinnamon Scones
2021: Sleeping Murder

Your Soul's Present Condition:

2011: Book Lust
2012: A Darkly Hidden Truth
2013: Silent in the Sanctuary
2014: The Ponder Heart
2015: Journey
2016: Hand in Hand: Walking with the Psalms through Loneliness
2017: Dark Night of the Soul
2018: Gardenlust
2019: A Sea of Troubles
2020: Guiltless
2021: Anchored in Jesus: Holding on to Truth in a Drifting World

What Is Life for You?

2019: Tracing Your Ancestors in Lunatic Asylums
2021: The Sweet Flypaper of Life

What Was 20XX Like for You?

2020: Garden of Lamentations

What Do You Want from 20XX new year?

2020: Year of Wonders
2021: Rediscovering God in America

This is another meme someone introduced a few years ago.

Did you have guests during the holidays? Answer the questions with titles of books you read in 2021.

What would you call the event? A Plain & Simple Christmas
How did they find their way? Kitten and the Night Watchman
How did they know they'd arrived? Curiosity Thrilled the Cat
Any special activities? Bruno and the Carol Singers
Did your guests stay over? Darned If You Do
Were there servants to help? The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill
Was there turn down service? The Quilt
How were the guests greeted? The Robin's Greeting
Was dinner held for late comers? Pies and Prejudice
And dinner was? The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor
Afterward? Journeys Home

Best & Worst of 2021

Best

5 stars
1. Home for Christmas: Stories for Young and Old compiled by Miriam LeBlanc; illustrated by David G. Klein
2. The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

4.5 stars
1. All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny
2. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
3. The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman
4. Jesus in Me: Experiencing the Holy Spirit as a Constant Companion by Anne Graham Lotz
5. Colonial Mississippi: A Borrowed Land by Christian Pinnen and Charles A. Weeks
6. The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha; illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

Worst

1 star
1. Murder by Milk Bottle by Lynne Truss

2 stars
1. Murder on Cape Cod by Maddie Day
2. What Though the Field Be Lost: Poems by Christopher Kempf
3. The Stolen Letter by Paige Shelton
4. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester
5. If I Were an Evil Overlord edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Russell Davis
6. In the Teeth of the Evidence: and Other Mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers
7. The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
8. Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope

6 other books were abandoned.

My cats were concerned that I'm staying up too late. They failed to remember I always stay up to see the new year in! I guess I had better obey them and go to bed now that it's 6 minutes into the new year.

I did my part to make 2022 successful.

>79 thornton37814: Glad you "took one for the team!"

>80 Tess_W: LOL

Book 1. The Inclines of Cincinnati by Melissa Kramer

Date Completed: 1 January 2022

Category Cincinnati Museum Center

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Cincinnati once boasted five incline railways. The inclines included Mount Auburn, Price Hill, Mount Adams, Bellevue, and Fairview. Many of them operated under variant names or were known as something else. In all the years the inclines operated, there was only one accident resulting in passenger fatalities although several workers died on the job. This mostly photographic book contains enough text that a reader becomes acquainted with the inclines, their operation, and the reasons for their demise. Most photographs came from private collections although a few came from historical societies pertaining to the incline's community or to the transit authority. I can't help but wonder what treasures the author missed by not visiting Cincinnati Public Library, Langsam Library's special collections at University of Cincinnati, or the Cincinnati Museum Center. She did mention consulting with librarians at University of Cincinnati's DAAP (Design, Art, Architecture, Photographs library), but no illustrations from there were included. Still it was an interesting collection.

>82 thornton37814: What great info. I was unaware that Cincy had ever had any inclines, but makes sense.

>43 thornton37814: I love this...

Did you ever see the film The Missionary with Michael Palin and Maggie Smith? The fiancé loved to file everything 😁

I am enjoying your theme. Cincinnati is where I was born, specifically in Mariemont. I don't remember it at all, I was three when we moved east.

>83 Tess_W: Where I worked was very near the Price Hill incline. I heard stories of the inclines from some of the professors and various church members or others who remembered them.

>84 fuzzi: I needed a better way to track series. Good old 3 x 5 cards seemed to be the best option. I write on front and back. A few series need a second card, but only if they go over 20 or so. I suspect you would only have a few vague memories of your time there. My paternal grandparents house burned when I was two. I actually have some memories of the house. People asked me to describe it, and I did. I said I was always confused later because I had a memory of the hallway from the kitchen to the garage that had the freezer in it--and that wasn't there later. They were convinced then I did have some memories of it.

Happy 2022 and good luck with your reading goals!
I already have quite a few mystery series I'm very behind on, but this looks like the place to pick up a few more.

>85 thornton37814: Very familiar with the two inclines in Pittsburgh and the one in Chattanooga. Just surprised I wasn't aware of the Cincy ones as I live just 90 minutes from there! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

>87 madhatter22: I'm very behind on many of mine. I'm reading one at the moment that will catch me up. I have two others checked out which will catch me up on those series. Then I'll begin tackling some of the ones I'm further behind on.

>88 Tess_W: They are no longer in use. You can see remnants of some of them if you know where to look. The stations are either gone or repurposed. They were too expensive to maintain, and they didn't foresee using them as tourist attractions. If they had, I suppose the Mount Adams one might have survived--and perhaps the Price Hill one.

2. Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America's Poets Respond to the Pandemic edited by Alice Quinn

Date Completed: 4 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Compiled early during the COVID 19 pandemic, this collection of poems offers different perspectives on the strange times in which we were living. Most poems were written in free verse style. Sometimes what was offered as a poem seemed more like prose. As I read the collection, I pondered when poetry went from rhymes and meters to free verse--and why rhymes and meters are no longer favored. I enjoyed some poems more than others, which is true for almost any anthology and a reader. Some of the poems were so left-leaning politically that I disliked them; some were just so bloated and rambling I disliked them. I generally enjoyed the ones which more clearly reflected my own experiences during the pandemic.

3. Twisted Tea Christmas by Laura Childs

Date Completed: 4 January 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 4 stars

Review: It's the lead-up to Christmas, a busy time of year for the Indigo Tea Shop. When Theodosia and her staff cater a private event for the elderly Drucilla Hayward, Theodosia finds the woman dead with a syringe in her throat. A Renoir painting is missing nearby and the woman's 5 gold and diamond rings are missing from her hand. Suspects abound, and just when Theodosia about settles on one, something changes her mind. Detective Burt Tidwell is on the case. Riley is out of town--in Vermont so another detective is assisting. Will they get this one solved before Christmas Day? The food, as always, sounds scrumptious! I always wish the Indigo Tea Shop was not a fictional place. I would love to dine there and meet the staff. I found this one more satisfying than some of the recent installments and would place it among the better series installments. Yes--Theodosia does the stupid things amateur sleuths always do, but with such glorious descriptions of food and one of my favorite cities, how can I not forgive her?

Book 4. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament by Frank Viola

Date Completed: 9 January 2022

Category: Holy Cross Monastery & Church

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Frank Viola tells the story of the New Testament church, beginning with the book of Acts and inserting insights from the Epistles and Revelation. He also includes historical information from the time period. While I liked the approach, he's not a very good storyteller. Sometimes the narrative seems a bit choppy. Each missionary journey was preceded by a map, helping readers visualize apostolic journeys. I'm not sure I would say this story is "untold" as most of it is written in the New Testament; however, the arrangement makes it useful for a chronological Bible study of this portion of the Bible.

Book 5. The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood by Tristram Hunt

Date Completed: 11 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Josiah Wedgwood was a man ahead of his times in many ways. In spite of a physical disability, his remarkable ability to experiment scientifically with clays from various parts of the world and ability to market his products propelled the Wedgwood name in the pottery industry. The story itself is rather dry and academic. The author often used long quotations in telling the story. These were usually cited. However, when the author referred to records such an unspecified tax list or inventory, the citations were lacking. I found this a completely unacceptable practice. The genealogist in me wanted to remind the author that "Complete and accurate source citations" should be included to meet standards. Toward the end of the book, we meet the Erasmus Darwin. Wedgwood's daughter Susanna married Robert Waring Darwin, and they were parents of Charles Darwin. I found the family connection interesting. I received an advance review copy through LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review.

6. King Lear by William Shakespeare

Date Completed: 12 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: This full-cast audio recording tells the story of King Lear who unwisely divided his inheritance based on his perception of how much each daughter loved him. We see how this leads to a life of isolation and great tragedy within his own family. Some actors were more skilled in their role interpretations than others.

Book 7. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

Date Completed: 14 January 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Although highly unusual to be assigned to a homicide division, Gamache and his team provide security for a lecture at a university who advocates euthanasia. The event is set post-pandemic. When shots are taken, they find footage showing the shooter, but they must find how the fireworks got in. Then a murder occurs, and Gamache, Lacoste, and Beauvoir must dig deep into the past to make the pieces all come together. Suspects abound--some from the Three Pines area and some from outside it. I found this one pretty easy to put down. I suspect it was because I really didn't like the person Gamache was protecting nor many of the other new characters. I didn't get enough of the Three Pines regulars even though they were sometimes present.

Book 8. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Date Completed: 16 January 2022

Category: Music Hall

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Set during the time of the Ottomon Empire's sultans, this historical novel offers readers a different reading experience. Told through perspectives of the deceased, death, and objects as well as the suspects, their masters, and family members, a murder is unraveled. Readers know one of three men working as miniaturists committed the deed and must guess his identity before revealed in the final chapters. The novel's strengths lie in its unusual telling displaying beauty and creativity. Unfortunately that same strange beauty sometimes makes it difficult to follow and keep engaged.

Book 9. The Habsburg Empire: A Very Short Introduction by Martyn Rady

Date Completed: 16 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: This work on the Habsburg Empire provides just enough content to give readers a general overview of the empire which influenced central and Eastern Europe. Beginning with the rise of the Holy Roman Empire and continuing until the time of World War I, the author shows us the how the Habsburgs gained power and then how that influence waned. The book contained only two maps, and I think some additional ones depicting periods between those two would help readers understand some of the periods a little better.

>96 thornton37814: That was the last book I ordered from my Thingaversary in 2021. I hope to get it read this year.

>97 thornton37814: Another good book on the waning of the Hapsburg Empire is a word of fiction by Joseph Roth, The Radetsky March.

>98 Tess_W: The Pamuk book is very different. Thanks for the tip on the other book. My main interest was genealogical, and I was just wanting an overview.

After a 3-day weekend, it looks like I'll get to begin the work-week with a 2-hour delay tomorrow.

>98 Tess_W: Another on the decline of the Habsburg Empire is They Were Counted and the other two books in Miklos Banffy’s Transylvanian trilogy.

>100 thornton37814: I only teach 1 class per semester, this year on Mon/Thur from 10-:11-10:57. We were off on Monday, so make up class on Tue, which is 2 hour delay; which means my class would only be 22 minutes. Rescheduled for Wednesday. Ah...teaching winter semester!

>101 pamelad: Thanks for the suggestions.

>102 Tess_W: It does make it difficult for teachers. I'm surprised they didn't just suggest the first two hours would be "online," but I suppose that makes it difficult for people who live off campus to arrive--although realistically classes don't begin until 10:30 today as 9:30 is chapel hour.

Just catching up on your thread :)

>104 VictoriaPL: Did you all get much snow? We officially had 3 inches in Morristown, but I think it was slightly less than that at my house--maybe 2.5.

>105 thornton37814: we had 4” of snow, then sleet, then another 1” of snow. Still much of it hanging around although we did hit 50F today. The roads are still icy. We have more snow coming Friday.

>106 VictoriaPL: They aren't quite sure what we will have later in the week. They never call it correctly anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

>96 thornton37814: That one sounds interesting, I'm adding it to my TBR!

>108 casvelyn: It is memorable. Several of us read it for Paul's Asian challenge. January was "Turkey" month.

Book 10. Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You by John MacArthur

Date Completed: 23 January 2022

Category: Holy Cross Monastery & Church

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Well-known author and pastor John MacArthur guides readers in a study of twelve Biblical women. He shows how God uses each. He shows how their attitudes led them to Biblical greatness. The women included are Eve, Sarah, Rahab, Ruth, and Hannah from the Old Testament, and Mary (mother of Jesus), Anna, the Samaritan woman, Martha, Mary (of Bethany), Mary Magdalene, and Lydia from the New Testament. He often included pieces of cultural context in his biographical narratives for each women. He corrects some often-held views which do not fit with Biblical tradition. I enjoyed this study and the things we can learn and apply to our own lives from these women.

Book 11. The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleeves

Date Completed: 23 January 2022

Category: Paul Brown Stadium

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Following a party at which DS Jen Rafferty had been present, Nigel Yeo, a man who wanted to meet Jen but never approached her at the party, is found dead with a piece of his daughter's glass protruding from his neck. DCI Matthew Venn leads the investigation with the assistance of Jen and the immature DC Ross May. The investigation focuses on a circle of Venn's husband Jonathan's artsy friends and acquaintances from the Woodyard. Before solving the case, additional persons become victims. We learn a lot about North Devon Patients Together, the local health trust, an online suicide group, an artist commune in Westacombe, and about the Woodyard. Although Venn is the head of the unit, Jen seems to be the most capable investigator. This installment seemed to lack cohesiveness in its telling. Its flow made it easy to put down. I don't feel the series measures up to the author's Shetland and Vera Stanhope series. I think this installment was probably the author's attempt to draw attention to the need for mental health care reform.

Great minds must think alike! I have the MacArthur and Cleeves book on my shelf to read.

Cinci is doing great in the NFL playoffs. As an LSU fan, I've been cheering like crazy for Joe Burrow. And laughed when I saw the Geaux Joe signs.

>112 Tess_W: That's interesting! Hope you enjoy!

>113 majkia: I'm quite excited about the Bengals going to the playoffs. Joe's dad Jimmy was my hometown's star football player back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His uncle Johnny was the quarterback for part of my own high school years. His aunt Jeannie was in my class and a very good friend. His grandfather was a coach at our school when my brothers were in school but was assistant superintendent by the time I came along. I've been cheering for the Burrows all my life, so why should I stop now? Geaux Joe!

>114 thornton37814: Oh, that's great about the Burrows. Cheer them on indeed.

>115 majkia: Yes. It's one of those neat connections.

12. Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling through the Land of My Ancestors by Louise Erdrich

Date Completed: 23 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati City Hall

Rating: 4 stars

Review: This travelogue will interest book lovers. Erdrich, an older woman, now with a young daughter when her other children are of college age sets out to visit sites important to her Ojibwe ancestors. She takes along offerings for the spirits. Erdrich describes the Ojibwe country and culture. She describes some of the extra hoops she encountered in her travel that appeared discriminatory. She also talks about books and bookstores she encountered on her travels as well as the one she owns in Minneapolis. It's not as long or as detailed as I might like, but I think that was deliberate--to leave the reader wanting more. Too many writers overdo it.

>114 thornton37814: I'm equidistant between Cincinnati and Cleveland. I'm a Browns fans for sure, but will be rooting for Cincy since the Browns are out! They are going to have a tough game next Sunday!

>118 Tess_W: I hope the Bengals win that game and the Super Bowl!

>119 thornton37814: Ditto!

>120 majkia: :-)

>117 thornton37814: I like the sound of that one! Possibly because I'm older with a young daughter too (I don't have older children, but friends I went to school with have children who are in, or even graduated, from university, so I'm definitely that old!).

>122 Jackie_K: It's short so you won't need to invest a lot of time. It was kind of fun.

Book 13. The Resistance Man by Martin Walker

Date Completed: 24 January 2022

Category: Playhouse in the Park

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: A man dies holding a bank note which might be attached to a legendary bank robbery. The death appears to be due to natural causes, but Bruno is curious about the note and how the man acquired it. Bruno discovers some connections that lead him to a solution for a string of home burglaries, but in the process a gay antiques dealer is brutally murdered. All the story lines converge in this cross between a cozy and a thriller. He uses friends to scope out one thing for which staffing won't permit an official search. A major development in the relationship with Isabelle occurs. I love the descriptions of the countryside and of the food. This was an enjoyable read but not the best in the series to date. I listened to the audio version.

Book 14. 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

Date Completed: 28 January 2022

Category: Paul Brown Stadium

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Holly White moved back to Mistletoe, Maine, to manage an inn for her parents. Holly selects many of the finishing touches as the contractor nears a Christmas completion date. Her parents own Reindeer Games farm which hosts lots of Christmas activities for the town. When Derek's body turns up in a bowl of holiday mints with Caroline's knife in him, Holly knows she must investigate to clear her best friend of criminal charges. Even the local investigator Evan does not believe Caroline committed the crime, but the evidence points to her so he must take her in. Evan's closed-mouth approach to the investigation just makes Holly dig a little deeper. Both solve the case about the same time, but not before Holly almost loses her life as she did last Christmas. It's a cute holiday mystery, but not great literature. It includes a little touch of magic near the end, but it probably detracts from the mystery.

Book 15. Kentucky Quilts & Their Makers by Mary Washington Clarke

Date Completed: 28 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati City Hall

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: This older book tells the story of quilts made mostly although not entirely by women in the state of Kentucky. It was written for the 1976 Bicentennial and mainly features quilts in the Kentucky Museum. A few plates are in color, but most illustrations are in black and white. Some information seemed to be repeated more often than necessary in the course of the book, but overall, it gave a good overview. Most of today's readers are more aware of the National Museum of Quilts, located in Paducah, but that museum opened in 1991--years after this book's publication. I'd love to see an updated version of this with more full color illustrations included.

>126 thornton37814: - I have this on my TBR pile too. I should take the time to read it.

>126 thornton37814: I just purchased another copy of Hidden in Plain View which is about quilts and their messages. I am not sure of the accuracy of this idea, some historians don't believe that quilts were used for messages to direct slaves to freedom. I have not read it yet. I also have a copy of The Hawaiian Quilt which I bought when we were in Hawaii. They are both interesting takes on the art form.

>127 dudes22: I picked it up during the year-end sale from University of Kentucky Press. It was 50% or 75% off. I don't remember which.

>128 LadyoftheLodge: They have an entire quilt trail in Jefferson County, Tennessee based on the notion they were. I have one on Alabama quilts, I think, and maybe one or two others that might surface during the year.

Book 16. What the Amish Teach Us: Plain Living in a Busy World by Donald B. Kraybill

Date Completed: 30 January 2022

Category: Holy Cross Monastery & Church

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Amish scholar Donald Kraybill takes a look at lessons the rest of the world can learn from the Amish. He opens and closes the book discussing the "riddles" of the Amish as they interact with the greater society--how they embrace some things or aspects of things but not others. Some lessons focus on the importance of community and living and working in a society that helps its neighbors. Others focus on the importance of the family and value of each member. Some show the effectiveness of their eighth grade educations in a society that wants more. Some focus on their selective use of technology and how it should not take over our lives, distracting us from things more important. Many of the lessons focus on their faith--how they take the Word of God to heart and can find strength and comfort knowing God is in control even in the midst of extreme difficulty. I appreciated the author's approach to helping non-Amish persons understand the "Plain people" and perhaps even gain some valuable insights into how society can function when we put faith in God first, valuing the family and the community. It makes me long for a simpler time in a more caring community although I won't be removing the electricity from my home anytime soon!

Book 17. Hamilton County's Green Township by Jeff Lueders

Date Completed: 30 January 2022

Category: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

Rating: 3 stars

Review: When I lived in Cincinnati, I lived in the most northern part of Green Township--almost at the Colerain Township line. I wanted to enjoy this book, focusing on that area in history. What I found was a book that seemed to focus mainly on the Bridgetown area with occasional glimpses into Montfort Heights--just a little south of where I lived--and other parts of the county. Only a handful of photos went as far north in the township as I lived, and other parts of the township seemed to suffer from lack of treatment as well. While I enjoyed much of what was included in the book, I felt it could have been much better. In this series, most photographs receive a credit showing the illustration's collection source. Such was not the case in this book. Toward the end a mention was made that many of the photographs came from the collection of a pictured man who lived in the Bridgetown area. No wonder the volume was so slanted toward one community instead of the entire township. I expected to see photos coming from many archival repositories in the area, but they simply were not there. Perhaps there is a need for a second volume which taps into the archival repositories to provide more even coverage of the community through the ages.

CONGRATS!!!! Geaux Bengals!

Just stopping by to say hello.

>132 majkia: Thanks! I'm so excited for the Bengals!

>133 hailelib: Hi! Thanks for stopping by.

18. A Market Tale by Martin Walker

Date Completed: 30 January 2022

Category: Playhouse in the Park

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: There's no mystery involved in this tale, but we see Bruno acting wisely to confront a sister jealous of his brother's new girlfriend. Readers who love the region and the descriptions of food will enjoy this short tale.

>130 thornton37814: That is a BB for me for sure!

>136 LadyoftheLodge: I think you will enjoy it.

Book 19. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany

Date Completed: 3 February 2022

Category: Great American Ballpark

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Gemma Doyle, formerly from England but now the co-owner (along with her Uncle Arthur) of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in a small Cape Cod town finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation when she makes a hotel visit to talk with a woman who left a potentially valuable magazine in her bookstore. Gemma has remarkable attention to detail and an uncanny ability to make deductions. When her ex-boyfriend began the investigation, he recognized her innocence but when another detective became the lead investigator because of his previous relationship with Gemma, she rises to the top of the suspect list. Determined to prove her innocence, she begins investigating with the help of her friend Jayne, half-owner of the tea shop attached to the bookstore. The solution screamed at me from the time the magazine first appeared in the shop, but the author gave readers an entertaining pursuit of the mystery's solution with several red herrings. Although the author achieved well-developed characters, she did so by overdoing it in some instances, making it less interesting. I listened to the audiobook.

>138 thornton37814: This sounds like a BB for me, although maybe I am getting jaded with cozy mysteries (gasp!). The plotlines are sounding too familiar to me across the different cozy series.

>139 LadyoftheLodge: I actually read a later one before this one in the series. I generally like Vicki Delany's books. I like her Constable Molly series better, I think, but it's still at least a little different than most of the ones out there.

Book 20. A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs

Date Completed: 6 February 2022

Category: Fountain Square

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Author Allyson Hobbs tackles the topic of what it was like to be a black person with skin light enough to pass. Some chose to do so even with the risk of discovery. Those discovered often lost jobs and social position. "Passing" meant they could not associate with other black people, and the inability to interact with friends and family sometimes led them to embrace their blackness. While the author tells an important story, the book's academic writing style limits its audience. I believe the book's impact would be tremendous if written for a popular audience and with shorter sentences and more active verb choices instead of the passive tenses and "be" verbs typical of much academic writing. The author's citations demonstrate the breadth of her research.

Book 21. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Date Completed: 9 February 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

Rating: 5 stars

Review: As I read this slim volume of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets, I thought, "They don't write them like they used to." Browning's sonnets thrill readers with the language of another time and place but show her feelings and thoughts on love and also express her faith. The font on the volume I read was "set up by hand in Goudy Mediaeval type by Arthur and Edna Rushmore at The Golden Hind Press in Madison, New Jersey. Mxmxxxii." The font was as elegant as the poetry!

Book 22. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

Date Completed: 10 February 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Poirot revisits a case in which Carla Lemarchant's mother received a conviction some sixteen years earlier. Carla's certainty of her mother's innocence in spite of a note that on the surface seems to incriminate her convinces Poirot to investigate. He speaks with the five suspects and comes to his own conclusions. I was happy my conclusion matched his!

Book 23. The Children Return by Martin Walker

Date Completed: 11 February 2022

Category: Playhouse in the Park

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: An autistic boy adopted by a St Denis family after witnessing the brutal deaths of family members in Northern Africa returns to France after his mysterious disappearance from a Muslim school. International authorities know him as "the Engineer," a person behind many Afghan bombings. Bruno arranges for Fabiola to examine him medically and a tribunal will determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial. At the same time a woman who survived the Holocaust thanks to the kindness of St Denis toward her and her brother offers a significant monetary gift toward the town if they can come up with a fitting memorial. The two story lines come together toward the end. Bruno finds himself cooling toward Pamela and attracted toward an American diplomatic woman who knows Isabelle. Even with a cozy setting, this series seems to lean toward the thriller genre.

Happy Birthday, Lori! I’m a day late but still within your Birthday Week.

>145 RidgewayGirl: Actually you are on the right day! You still have a little over 2 hours to go!

Well, I did miss your Birthday but I hope you had a nice day!

>147 DeltaQueen50: It was nice mainly because I was off and was able to stay home with the cats. I received two specially-ordered cross stitch fabrics in the mail too.

>143 thornton37814: I liked this one too, and my conclusion also matched up with Poirot.
>148 thornton37814: Happy belated Birthday! I seem to have been offline for a few days, mainly snowed in and working on a writing project. I did not realize you are a cross-stitcher. I used to stitch quite a lot, but have not taken up my needle lately.

Happy belated birthday!

>149 LadyoftheLodge: I have stitched off and on for years. I'm trying to be more intentional and focus on things. I'm finding it very relaxing. I tend to watch FlossTube (YouTube for stitching) while I'm watching. I've found a few channels I really like, some that I'm still trying to decide about, and one I'll likely never watch again. I occasionally get hit by a pattern bullet, but I just move it onto a list of possible projects.

>150 Tess_W: Thanks!

Oh, happy belated birthday, Lori!

Hope you had a great birthday Lori!
The Ojibwe book caught my eye.

>152 MissWatson: Thanks.

>153 VictoriaPL: I enjoyed the Ojibwe book. It's a quick read.

Another Happy Belated Birthday!

>155 hailelib: Thank you.

Book 24. The Shadow Dancer by Margaret Coel

Date Completed: 18 February 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Father's new associate priest seems to be collecting data for the provincial to close the mission at the upcoming meeting. Father John enlists the aid of a "grandfather" to be present at the meeting which will decide the mission's fate. Meanwhile a woman reports a missing Arapaho man who worked for a technology firm. She doesn't want to involve the police although Father John knows it is past time to report his disappearance. He goes to a ranch where an Arapaho who had a near death experience and came back claiming to be Orlando who was trying to revive the ghost dance religion. He discovers the man had been there and suspects he may be hidden on the ranch. He reports what he sees to chief Banner who begins investigating the man's disappearance. Meanwhile Vicki's ex-husband invites her to dinner where they get into a fight. He is shot shortly thereafter, making her the FBI's prime suspect. He'd mentioned two Lakota men who had stolen something. The story lines become linked and intertwined as the story unfolds. I enjoy the reservation setting. I really wish the author would drop the romantic attraction between the priest the and the lawyer. It's unnecessary, and the two could team up without that element in a more effective manner. I listened to the audiobook read by Stephanie Brush.

Book 25. Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March

Date Completed: 19 February 2022

Category: Music Hall

Rating: 2.5 stars

Review: Jim, a military hero and wanna-be Sherlock Holmes, investigates the death of two women who fell from a library tower. His relentless pursuit of the truth lands him in some unfortunate situations along the way. I know I'm in the minority, but I really did not enjoy this mystery that much. I expected to enjoy it. It was set during the Raj period in India. It was a mystery. The sleuth wanted to be like Sherlock Holmes. It even won a debut mystery award. I never really connected with Jim. I found the novel very easy to put down, and it took me over three weeks to read the 385 page book. I was determined to finish it to see why it won the debut mystery award, but the only conclusion I came up with is that it must have been an "off year" in regards to new mystery authors. The story line includes a romance, and I'm not really sure that always belongs in the mystery genre. This one featured the class difference often present in romantic suspense tales. It is not apparent whether the author intends to create a series from this, but if so it will feature a private detective living in Boston instead of capitalizing on the Indian setting.

>158 thornton37814: I read this one quite some time ago, maybe for NetGalley. I remember the business of the women falling from the library, but not much else.

>159 LadyoftheLodge: I think it will be easily forgettable.

>158 thornton37814: I have that on audio---may be awhile!

>161 Tess_W: It might work better in audio. I don't know.

Book 26. The Gold Bug by Edgar Allan Poe; illustrated by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner; introduction by Frank Durham

Date Completed: 23 February 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Rating: 3 stars

Review: This short story explores Captain Kidd's lost treasure reputed to be on Sullivan's Island. Poe uses his interest in cryptography in his solution. Poe uses Gullah dialect for Jupiter's character which makes it difficult to read in places. This falls far short of most of Poe's work. Twenty-first century readers will view the story as racist, but the nineteenth-century audience likely would not have batted an eye at the overtones which are similar to those by other period writers. The book's font and illustrations are all brown. The scenes illustrated and map depict Sullivan's Island.

I drove up to the cross stitch shop about an hour or so away in the late morning. On the way home, it began sleeting. It was still sleeting when I got home. Now it is mostly rain, but there appears to be a little bit of sleet still mixed in.

>163 thornton37814: I agree with your review, it falls very short of Poe's other works I have read.

Glad you got home safely!

>165 Tess_W: I don't think I was ever in danger of not making it home. The sleet did eventually turn back to all rain, but it was just strange when I wasn't expecting it.

Book 27. Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait

Date Completed: 26 February 2022

Category: Paul Brown Stadium

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Actress Skye West and her son purchase the Gardner mansion. She hires Angie and Sarah to see what household items can be salvaged and sold in a yard sale if she doesn't want them. Angie's needlepoint business will restore ten panels depicting local scenes. Skye came to Haven Harbor primarily to investigate what she believes was the murder of her friend Jasmine some 45 years before. She promised Jasmine's mother she would pursue it. Angie, of course, becomes involved in the investigation. Attempts are made on Skye's life before the "cold case" is solved. I loved the inclusion of the needlework in the resolution of the mystery. I listened to the audiobook.

Book 28. Shakespeare's Comedy of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare; edited by William J. Rolfe

Date Completed: 26 February 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Shakespeare's romantic comedy set in Messina, Italy features a two couples. Soldiers are arriving in town, and Don Juan makes accusations affecting one of the pairings. A lot of verbal play brings the audience to a happy ending with the second couple.

Book 29. The Mayor's Tale by David Pickering

Date Completed: 27 February 2022

Category: Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Market Hampden's local dentist goes up in a tree. No one knows why he climbs it. He refuses to come down. This comical short story was supposed to be part of a series that apparently never developed. It's really a shame because I may never know what happened in the teaser thrown out by the final paragraph. I enjoyed the setting and would really love to read more stories set there.

>157 thornton37814: I should take a look at Margaret Coel's Wind River series.

>170 hailelib: I've enjoyed it. It's a little older than some series, but not too old.

>138 thornton37814: I've been curious about this Vicki Delany series. I've been enjoying her Constable Molly Smith series set in the Rockies.

Happy very belated birthday, Lori! I know, not even the right month!

>158 thornton37814: I started this but just couldn't get interested enough, so laid it aside for another time. After reading your review, that time may never come.

>138 thornton37814: and >172 mathgirl40: I live in the area the Constable Molly Smith series are set. Vicki Delany is well-known and popular around here. The airport at fictional Trafalgar (in real life Castlegar) she calls Cancelgar, the local nickname, because so many flights are cancelled. It's in a mountain valley where there can be a lot of fog and landing is tricky in any case. That's not fiction, the city is constantly working on improving technology.

>172 mathgirl40: I prefer her Constable Molly Smith series. These don't work quite as well for me.

>173 VivienneR: I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one. I really do like the Constable Molly series, and I love the setting too! I need to grab the map and look up Castlegar. In my mind, I've pinpointed the location. I'll have to see how accurate I am.

Happy (very) belated birthday from me too!

>175 Jackie_K: Thanks.

Book 30. The Bake Shop by Amy Clipston

Date Completed: 5 March 2022

Category: Busken Bakery

Rating: 4 stars

Review: Christiana's little farmstand bake shop does a good business, but sometimes eager customers do not respect business hours and come knocking at the door in the midst of meals. When she visits her cousins who operate businesses at the Bird in Hand market, she notices a vacant booth. Her strict Amish father hesitates to allow her to operate there because they have electricity, but she convinces him she'll use a propane oven. On that first visit she spilled coffee on Jeff whose wood and leather business adjoins the vacant booth. The challenges to their budding relationship sometimes seem insurmountable. Can either of them trust the other? Will her strict Amish father allow it? The novel's theme seems to be God can help you get past your past. I listened to the audiobook. I noticed the reader slowed down a bit after the first few chapters which made its pacing move more like other readers. (It really was a tad too fast at first. I usually listen to audiobooks at 1.25x speed, and I had to pay closer attention because of the really super fast speech until it slowed down to a more normal pace.)

>177 thornton37814: I read the digital version of this story. Be sure to read the others in this series if you have not done so. They are all tied together and you find out what happens to the other cousins.

>178 LadyoftheLodge: This one was billed as #1 so I started with it. I look forward to the others.

Book 31. Unto Us a Son Is Given by Donna Leon

Date Completed: 8 March 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Brunetti's step-father asks Brunetti to look into a matter. His longtime friend and Brunetti's children's godfather wishes to adopt an adult son. This would change the terms of his inheritance. His friends like the Conte question whether the suddenness of the move and fear he might be receiving external influences. The man's background is interesting. Born in Spain, he made a fortune in South America before moving to Italy. The man falls dead in what would appear to be sudden but natural circumstances. When another person connected to the man is strangled in a hotel, Brunetti must get to the truth of the matter. My suspicions never changed and proved correct. It's not the strongest installment in the series, but David Colacci's narration always provides a few hours of listening pleasure.

Book 32. Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life by Sherwood Anderson

Date Completed: 9 March 2022

Category: Fountain Square

Rating: 5 stars

Review: I know many of my friends did not enjoy this collection as much as I did. They called the interconnected stories "depressing." I chose to focus on the glimpses of small town life and the beautiful way the author painted the picture with adjectives and other words. George Willard appears in most of the stories, and we gain lots of insights into his character through the course of the book. I found a lot of truth in the small town life depiction even a century later. While I know many will disagree with my high rating, this one resonated with me.

Abandoned Read 1. Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson

Date Abandoned: 9 March 2022

Category: Cincinnati Subway

Comments: Jacobson's modern day version of The Merchant of Venice for the Hogarth Shakespeare series falls short. He makes use of Nazis and Anti-Semitism themes in a rather raunchy tale with a modern merchant Simon Strulovitch, father of Beatrice. I do not recommend this to anyone, and I'm glad this completes my read of the series because I would not have read others including Margaret Atwood's brilliant installment if I'd read this one first.

I'm back home. I'm exhausted. It was quite the cat roundup this morning. I had to get hotel staff to help me move mattresses so I could get my cats out from under the beds. As we'd get one lifted, they'd run to another spot. I finally caught all three, but it was not easy. The first one was hissing and had his claws ready to use, although he didn't use them on me. The second one shrunk into the hardest corner to reach, but I finally managed to get him. The third one ended up being the easiest although he'd been hidden the best after he shot away from us initially. He actually came out and got on the bathroom counter and meowed for me to come get him. I think he didn't want to be left behind.

Book 33. Sleight of Paw by Sofie Kelly

Date Completed: 11 March 2022

Category: Paul Brown Stadium

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: In the second Magical Cats mystery, librarian Kathleen Paulson and her cats adopted from Wisteria Hill, Owen and Hercules, help solve the murder of a teacher who set many children on the right paths over the years. Kathleen's friend Ruby who found the body was arrested, and she and her friends all know Ruby incapable of murder. Although it suffers in the believability department, this series is a fun read for anyone who loves cats and know they all possess "magical powers" of some sort--even if they aren't quite the ones Owen and Hercules have. I listened to the audiobook and found it pleasant for a long drive.

>184 thornton37814: I liked your comment about cats having magical powers of some kind. Mine have the ability to disappear at will and then suddenly reappear, even though I searched all over the house and in every closet and under every piece of furniture.
I have read several in this series and enjoy them--found one I had not read on the library "freebies" shelf.

>185 LadyoftheLodge: Sherlock kind of did that when we were leaving Cincinnati. He was under a bed, but when we tried to get him, he ran. I could not find him anywhere. Finally after catching his brother and returning to the area where I thought he was, I walked away. I heard his meow and went and looked. There he was on the counter. He didn't want to be left behind.

Book 34. The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura

Date Completed: 13 March 2022

Category: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: While the author did a good job researching her subjects, I found Elizabeth Blackwell to be unlikable. She looked down her nose at everybody--even her own family members. She was the first female to gain admittance to a reputable medical school--but only because the students thought it was a joke. She didn't seem to enjoy practicing medicine once she became a doctor although she did fight for other women to have that right. She along with her sister Emily (who always ended up doing most of the work without the notice Elizabeth gained) founded a medical school for women in New York. The incorporation of social history was also impressive. I came away with more respect for the sister Emily who probably would not have chosen medicine as her career without her sister's influence than for Elizabeth. I suspect Emily would have chosen a career as a naturalist or something similar if she'd been left to her own devices. We can't rewrite history, but we can wonder what might have happened if she'd been willing to stand up to her sister.

I stopped to pick up food on the way to work and ate it when I arrived. I aim to arrive early to get a parking place near our building while folks are at lunch since I work late on Monday nights. I usually work on something non-work-related until it's time to officially arrive. I ended up with food poisoning from my lunch, and I made frequent use of the facilities. I let the student worker know I had food poisoning when I emerged once so she knew I'd be back in my office when I could. I knew I was better off in my office near a restroom than trying to drive home. Fortunately I was at a point I could make it home by leaving time. I'm working from home today--mostly reference chat. I still don't feel great, but I'm better than I was last night. Food does not appeal so I'll start with soup when I can. No jello in the house, so that isn't an option. I can make dry toast.

>188 thornton37814: I am sorry to hear about this bout of food poisoning. Having experienced this at some time or other, I know it is not pleasant. The most recent event was on New Year's Eve on a cruise ship in 2019. We had a great dinner, mine with a steamed scallop appetizer, which was apparently where the problem came in, as my husband had something else for his appetizer and did not suffer at all. Needless to say, we did not ring in the new year up on the party deck.

>188 thornton37814: - So sorry to hear that, Lori. I had it once when we were away on vacation. (undercooked chicken we figured out). At about 4 AM, my husband wanted to call the paramedics. I pleaded - "NO - I promise I'll get better". We were there for a conference and that next day was supposed to be my shopping day while he went to meetings. Instead I spent it in bed with some flat Coke.

>189 LadyoftheLodge: This was just fast food, but something--probably either the burger or the mayo--was tainted.

>190 dudes22: I'm feeling better now, but I'm still not really wanting to eat. I ate some crackers at lunch. I'm focused on keeping hydrated. I'm thinking chicken broth with some noodles in it for supper. I should be able to get back to work tomorrow, but I may not be eating the salad I'd taken to eat last night even then. I'll probably stop at the store and grab one of those microwavable soups to take with me. I can eat it, but if the coffee shop's soup d'jour is one plain enough, I can buy it and save the can for later. I did manage to arrange travel for two conferences while I was at home. I had a wonderful experience with a Delta ticket agent named Brenda. She found my credits and helped me get all set for one flight. I used the remaining credit to book the second one.

Soup is probably best for now.

>192 hailelib: That's what I'm thinking. Meat doesn't appeal at all, but I think I can handle noodles. I've got chicken stock so I can use some of that and some noodles and be good.

Sorry to hear about the food poisoning, Lori, I know that's a miserable way to spend a day. Take it easy and hopefully you will be fully recovered by tomorrow.

> 188 Even it's fast food, I hope you'll let the manager know. They need to do a review. and good luck getting back into your normal routine tomorrow.

I hope you're feeling better soon, Lori. That sounds like no fun at all.

>188 thornton37814: Oooo, food poisoning, so sorry! I had it once and it was pretty violent. Hope you are feeling better soon!

>188 thornton37814: I hope you feel better soon! Food poisoning is no fun!

>194 DeltaQueen50: Feeling much better today.

>195 clue: Definitely will.

>196 RidgewayGirl: It was not fun.

>197 Tess_W: It could have been much worse than it was.

>198 Jackie_K: I'm feeling better today.

Book 35. Buried in Secret by Viveca Sten

Date Completed: 20 March 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Nora, still haunted by a threat made by a man's brother, finds her solace in alcohol. It drives a wedge between her and Jonas. Meanwhile bone fragments found on an island near Sandhamn lead Thomas and Aram to investigate persons gone missing in the last ten years or so. Two candidates emerge--a teenage girl and a woman in a troubled marriage. Thomas and Aram believe the husband of the woman capable of murder, and his efforts to have his wife declared dead after being missing only one year only add to the suspicion. Nora focuses on the teenage girl, uncovering things useful to the investigation. However, Nora is on sick leave from the Economic Crimes Bureau and poses as a prosecutor assigned to the investigation. Will she get in trouble or get Thomas into trouble for her unauthorized investigation bordering on professional misconduct? Will Thomas and Aram report her? I like Nora less and less with each succeeding book. I hope the next book finds her in a twelve step program to deal with her alcoholism.

Hello! My friend and I have decided our "spring break" will be trip to the Rankin House. Would you recommend anything else in that general area, as we will be driving about 2 1/2 hours to get there? Also, any place around there to have a nice lunch?

>201 Tess_W: It's been far too long since I've been to the Ripley, Ohio area to make recommendations. Anything I knew there (if I could remember its name) is probably long gone. I think Grant's birthplace is not that far away.

>202 thornton37814: Grant's birthplace is somewhere we have not been! Thanks!

>203 Tess_W: Hope you enjoy it!

Book 36. Blood at the Root by Peter Robinson

Date Completed: 24 March 2022

Category: Taft Theatre

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Inspector Banks investigates a murder that has ties to a group advocating native British supremacy. On the surface it appears a group of Pakistani youth committed the crime, but Banks is not convinced. The novel also takes Banks to Amsterdam, and he returns to a suspension. Still he finds a way to keep working "behind the scenes" on the case. Banks' marital troubles also surface a lot in the story although they are not essential to the mystery. I wish the author had just kept Banks' private life out of the series. This side story weakened the plot. James Langton's audio narration was excellent as always.

Book 37. Granada by Radwa Ashour

Date Completed: 29 March 2022

Category: Music Hall

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: The novel follows the fate of a Muslim family living in Granada, Spain, during the Inquisition. Readers see the conflict in the Catholic and Muslim cultures. Many books are banned, and it is almost impossible to be a practicing Muslim in the Catholic culture of the day. While the book is very well-written, I just did not enjoy it that much.

Today is my 15th Thingaversary. I'm not doing very well in acquiring the requisite haul of 16 books. To date, I've purchased 6 books. (ETA books 5 & 6 after I got home and had access to the books which I'd failed to enter into LT.) I did update an edition on another book while I was at the Library Friends bookstore in Cincinnati, but I'm not counting that since the title was in my collection already.

1) Mount Adams: A History by Jim Steiner - This was a brand new book I located at Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati. Info about the book is here.
2) The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan - I love his elephant detective, but this is a different series. I'm willing to give it a try.
3) It's Gonna Be Good, Ya'll by Brenda Gantt - This cookbook by the YouTube Southern cooking sensation is on order.
4) Linger Around the Table, Ya'll by Brenda Gantt - She just announced this one is forthcoming, so I've pre-ordered it, since pre-ordering will be the only way to acquire one.
5) A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland (2nd ed.) by Brian Mitchell
6) Methodism: Ohio Area (1812-1962) edited by John M. Veersteeg and John D. Green
7)
8)
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10)
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12)
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15)
16)

I acquired 3 free Kindle books during the month, but I don't count freebies toward the haul (although I probably should as the required number to purchase goes up each year). The 3 freebies are:

1) Crossed by Death by A. C. F. Bookens - This one involves cross stitch and genealogy. How could I resist? I'm reading it right now.
2) Fallen Angel by D. K. Hood - Thriller/suspense with a sheriff's team investigating.
3) Catastrophe in the Library by CeeCee James - a cozy mystery featuring cats and libraries

<207 Happy Thingaversary! Mine was in February and I couldn't have guessed in 2009 that I would enjoy it as much as I have and still be using it.

>207 thornton37814: Happy thingaversary! I love Brenda Gantt!

Happy Thingaversary! I hope your day is filled with books.

>207 thornton37814: Happy Thingaversary from me too! I generally count purchases throughout the year towards my haul, but luckily my Thingaversary isn't till August, so I've always bought at least that number already.

>208 clue: Thanks! Thingaversaries are great. I really don't remember what motivated me to sign up, but I wasn't really active until after I heard Tim speak at a library conference in 2008.

>209 Tess_W: Isn't Brenda great? She usually cooks things just like we had at home--or at least at a neighbor's house or church fellowship dinner.

>210 LadyoftheLodge: I haven't "gone shopping" yet. I really want to hit used bookstores, and except for the Cincinnati trip, I just haven't gone to them much since COVID hit.

>211 Jackie_K: My problem is that I haven't been hitting the bookstores. Most of my money has gone to cross stitch this year--either patterns, fabric, floss, or finishing supplies. Maybe I should count cross stitch charts as books? LOL I probably would have purchased the A Heart Remembers from Blackbird Designs if either Keepsakes or my local needlework store (LNS) Cross Stitch & Crafts had it in stock. It's kind of a "best of" book that was a tribute to one of their beloved designers who died. It sells out as quick as they get it in. I could order it online, but I really want to see it first to make sure I want it.

For those who read the earlier message about my Thingaversary, I added to the message above the 5th and 6th books after I got home and had access to them.

5) A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland (2nd ed.) by Brian Mitchell
6) Methodism: Ohio Area (1812-1962) edited by John M. Veersteeg and John D. Green

I have 10 more purchases allowed!

Happy Thingaversary, Lori! Since my Thingaversary is in January, I spread my purchases out through the year before. Although I tell myself I won't read them until after my Thingaversary.

>214 dudes22: I'm glad to know how others are doing it. I probably just need to allow myself more time to bring in the haul.

Happy Thingaversary! I didn't buy the whole fifteen for mine in the end, so have three in reserve for later extravagances. You don't really need to buy 16 books all at once!

>207 thornton37814: Happy Thingaversary. I am a sucker for cat mysteries.

Happy Thingaversary, Lori! Have fun choosing your books.

>216 pamelad: I'll get to them eventually. I used to be able to count on the national genealogical conferences to be haul-acquisition sources, but very few book vendors come anymore so I won't be getting those.

>217 lowelibrary: I'm a sucker for all things cat! I'd never read any of that series until recently. That series isn't all that believable, but it's great fun, and sometimes that is just what you need. I usually don't purchase things available at my local public library so that keeps me from buying too much fiction.

>218 MissWatson: I'm sure I will.

Book 38. Crossed by Death by A. C. F. Bookens

Date Completed: 31 March 2022

Category: Great American Ballpark

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: I'm always afraid to try Amazon freebies, but this one caught my attention because it involved cross stitch. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Paisley Sutton operates a salvage business. She'd been granted permission by owners George and Berlinda to salvage what she could from an old country store they owned and planned to demolish. When she made her way into the attached house, she discovered a body. Over the course of the book, she and the sheriff become good friends. Paisley is a single mother who lives close enough to a good friend Mina and to her father to receive help with childcare when needed. An unexpected bonus for me occurred when Paisley's love for history sent her on a genealogical quest in search of information about the family who owned the store. Although it isn't labeled as Christian fiction, it clearly leans in that direction as one important moment occurs in a church and an ensuing conversation eventually leads towards a reconciliation. I'll likely look for the next in this series in the coming months.

Happy Thingaversary, Lori! I also spread my Thingaversary purchases out over a number of months - 15 or 16 books all at once is a tiny bit too much!

>221 DeltaQueen50: I won't feel so badly as I fill out the rest of the list. It may take me a bit of time to acquire the rest.

Getting ready to go watch the 5:00 news to see what the latest on the wildfire situation is. Will take cross stitch with me.

>219 thornton37814: I am also a sucker for cat things. Some of the series are starting to sound alike though.

>224 LadyoftheLodge: I know what you mean. I think there is only so much you can do. I think "The Cat Who" series will always hold a special place in my heart. It and the Joe Grey series came out at about the same time, but I always preferred the ones who lived in Moosetookalook!

>225 thornton37814: "The Cat Who" series is also one of my faves. I am slowly acquiring all of them again, although the final book of short stories left much to be desired. It almost seemed like they were drafts of other books or unfinished stories.

>226 LadyoftheLodge: The last few in the series, including the stories, lacked the spark of earlier ones.

>227 thornton37814: I agree the later books in The Cat Who series lacked mystery, but by that point, I was just enjoying Qwill and the cats.

>228 lowelibrary: There was that element.