Cindy/LibraryCin's 2024 Challenges

Using a similar intro to last year's thread. One thing I'll add... many others use their threads for just chatting, as well. I started doing that a little bit last year, so I'm going to try to do more of that also this year.

For anyone who doesn't know me:

I'm in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and am a librarian. I have three cats - Kells (boy) is about 13; Lainey is about 12; newly adopted Gretel (Nov 2023) is 9 years old and everyone is still getting used to Gretel and vice versa. She is mostly still in her own room (though I've started leaving the door and baby gate open more often, as long as I'm home.

Reading? There's more I don't read than do read. I'm iffy on "classics" and "literary" fiction, not a big fan of "epic" fantasy. Science fiction varies. Not a fan of romance or westerns.

Favourite genres? Lately, thrillers have overtaken historical fiction as a favourite. Nonfiction - biographies are right up there, along with popular science and history.

Ratings?
5 stars - very rare
4.5 stars - likely to be a favourite, but couldn't quite give the full 5 stars (it's hard to rate something "perfect"!)
4 stars - I really liked this
3.5 stars - good
3 stars - ok
2.5 stars - didn't like it, but there might have been ok threads
2 stars - didn't like it (this rating is becoming a bit more common for me)
1.5 stars really didn't like it (very rare)

I do use .25 and .75, usually when I really can't decide.

Challenges? Here goes...

12x12 Challenge

Play Book Tag (tags or challenges)
1. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan. 4 stars
2. The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright. 3 stars
3. Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars
4. The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry. 4 stars
5. Roses are Red / James Patterson. 4 stars
6. The Last Seance / Agatha Christie. 2.5 stars

ARCs (Netgalley, Early Readers)
1. Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic. 4 stars
2. A Call From Hell / Genoveva Ortiz. 3.5 stars
3. Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin. 2 stars
4. Killer Dead, Victim Alive. Michael Geczi. 4 stars
5. The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole. 3.75 stars

Reading Through Time
1. Before and After / Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate. 3 stars
2. The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards. 3.25 stars
3. The Sawbones Book / Justin & Sydnee McElroy. 4 stars
4. The Story of My Life / Helen Keller. 3 stars
5. Utopia for Realists / Rutger Bregman. 3.5 stars

Oh Canada! (Canadian Authors)
1. Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald. 3 stars
2. What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad. 4 stars
3. Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson. 4 stars
4. Up and Down / Terry Fallis. 4 stars

Trim the TBR (On TBR 3+ years)
1. The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham. 4.25 stars
2. Not a Drop to Drink / Mindy McGinnis. 3.75 stars
3. Arbella / Sarah Gristwood. 2.75 stars
4. Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber. 3.5 stars
5. Shift / Hugh Howey. 3 stars
6. The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman. 4 stars

Will it Ever End? (Continuing Series)
1. Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
2. Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson. 3.5 stars
3. Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs. 3.5 stars
4. Requiem / Lauren Oliver. 3.5 stars
5. Sapphire Blue / Kerstin Gier. 3.5 stars
6. Red Lily / Nora Roberts. 3 stars
7. The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell. 4 stars

Off the Shelf (Print or E-Books I Own)
1. Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King. 2.5 stars
2. North and South / John Jakes. 4 stars
3. Gallows Hill / Darcy Coates. 4 stars
4. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You / Janelle Shane. 4 stars

Is Listening Really Reading? (Audio Books)
1. The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon. 2.75 stars
2. The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
3. Victoria / Daisy Goodwin. 4 stars
4. A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain. 4 stars
5. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. 3 stars

I'll Travel Virtually (Books Set in Other Countries - not Canada, USA, or England)
1. Death Cruise / Lawrence Block (ed). 4 stars
2. The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley. 4 stars
3. The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton. 3.5 stars
4. The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian. 1.5 stars
5. Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose. 1.5 stars

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (Animals)
1. The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman. 3.5 stars
2. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach. 3.5 stars
3. A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam. 3.5 stars
4. The Mountaintop School for Dogs... / Ellen Cooney. 2.5 stars
5. Saving Simon / Jon Katz. 3.5 stars
6. The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich. 3.25 stars

Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Nonfiction)
1. Get Well Soon / Jennifer Wright. 4 stars
2. You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt. 3.5 stars
3. The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman. 3.5 stars
4. Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas. 3.5 stars
5. Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert. 4 stars

BIPOC (Authors or main characters)
1. The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh. 4 stars
2. Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke. 3.75 stars
3. Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid. 3.5 stars
4. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford. 4.5 stars
5. Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba. 3.5 stars

Overflow (doesn’t fit other categories)
1. Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng. 3.75 stars
2. Where the Forest Meets the Stars / Glendy Vanderah. 3.75 stars
3. The Scapegracers / H.A. Clarke. 3.75 stars

BingoDOG



1. Food or Cooking
2. A book with an ugly cover
3. A book with nothing on the cover but the title and author
4. Features twins. Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson. 3.5 stars
5. A topic about which you have specific knowledge
6. Published in year ending in 24. The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh. 4 stars
7. Epistolary or diary. The Story of My Life / Helen Keller. 3 stars
8. Big or little in title. Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng. 3.75 stars
9. A book from one of the libraries listed under the "Similar libraries" featured on your LT profile page
10. About friendship. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan. 4 stars
11. Three-word title. The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham. 4.25 stars
12. Paper-based item in plot. The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon. 2.75 strs
13. Read a CAT. The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright. 3 stars
14. Short story collection. Death Cruise / Lawrence Block (ed). 4 stars
15. Person's name in title. Victoria / Daisy Goodwin. 4 stars
16. Set in a city Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
17. A book with fewer than 100 copies on LT. Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic. 4 stars
18. Something written by a person of colour. Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke. 3.75 stars
19. Written by an author 65 or older
20. Featuring water. The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
21. Involves warriors or mercenaries. North and South / John Jakes. 4 stars
22. Re-read a favourite book. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford. 4.5 stars
23. Written in another cultural tradition. Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin. 2 stars
24. Something that takes place in multiple countries. Get Well Soon / Jennifer Wright. 4 stars
25. Current or recent best-seller

CalendarCAT:

January (Introvert Day):
- Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan. 4 stars

February (Black History Month, Missing Persons Day):
- The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright. 3 stars
- Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid. 3.5 stars
- The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman. 3.5 stars
- The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley. 4 stars

March (World Wildlife Day):
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach. 3.5 stars
- A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam. 3.5 stars

April (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, Earth Day):
- Saving Simon / Jon Katz. 3.5 stars
- The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich. 3.25 stars

May (Nurse's Day):
- The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian. 1.5 stars

June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
*December:

PrizeCAT:

January: Long-Running Prizes
- Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke. 3.75 stars

February: A Prize from Your Own Country
- What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad. 4 stars

March: A Prize That's New to You
- Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars

April: Women's Writing
May: Doubling Up (books that won two or more awards)
June: Book Lists
July: A Prize from a Country Other than Your Own
August: A Prize for a Genre
September: A prize winner/longlist/shortlist that also fits another CAT/KIT
October: One That Missed Out (a book on a shortlist/longlist that didn't win)
November: Children's Book Awards
December: A Prize of Your Choice

HistoryCAT:

January: North & South American Wars & Conflicts
- North and South / John Jakes. 4 stars

February: Georgian/Regency Britain
- Victoria / Daisy Goodwin. 4 stars

*March: Science & Medicine
- The Sawbones Book / Justin & Sydnee McElroy. 4 stars

April: Riots, Revolution, & Mayhem
- Requiem / Lauren Oliver. 3.5 stars

May: Middle Ages
- The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell. 4 stars

June: Historians
July: Spies
August: Byzantine Empire
September: WWI/WWII
October: Disasters
November: Ancient & Classical History
December: Religions and Religious Festivals

ScaredyKIT:

January: Psychological Thrillers
- Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic. 4 stars

February: Gothic
- Gallows Hill / Darcy Coates. 4 stars

March: True Crime
- Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas. 3.5 stars

April: Witches, Evil Spirits, and Black Magic
- The Scapegracers / H.A. Clarke. 3.75 stars

May: Graphic Novels and Short Fiction
- The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman. 4 stars

*June: Serial Killers
July: Corporeal Undead
August: Middle grade and YA horror
September: Stephen King and Family
October: Contemporary Horror
November: Things with a Bite - Vampires and Werewolves
December: Catch Up! Read Something That Fits Any Month's Theme

MysteryKIT:

January: Short story mysteries
- Death Cruise / Lawrence Block (ed). 4 stars

February: True unsolved mysteries
- The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman. 3.5 stars

March: Historical
- A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain. 4 stars
- Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas. 3.5 stars

April: Series
- Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs. 3.5 stars
- Roses are Red / James Patterson. 4 stars

May: Golden age
- The Last Seance / Agatha Christie. 2.5 stars

June: Authors new to you
July: Cross genre mysteries
August: Amateurs
September: Upstairs/downstairs
October: Not too scary mysteries
November: Noir
December: Culinary mysteries

RandomKIT:

January: Early Birds
- The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman. 3.5 stars

February: Escape or Rescue
- The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
- The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright. 3 stars
- The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman. 3.5 stars

March: World Wildlife Day
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach. 3.5 stars
- A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam. 3.5 stars

April: Enchanting Garden Visitors
- Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber. 3.5 stars
- The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich. 3.25 stars
- Where the Forest Meets the Stars / Glendy Vanderah. 3.75 stars

May: Art & Architecture
June:
July:
August:
*September:
October:
November:
December:

AlphaKIT:

January: A Y
- Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald. 3 stars
- Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
- The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman. 3.5 stars
- Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke. 3.75 stars
- You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt. 3.5 stars

February: F E
- The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards. 3.25 stars
- What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad. 4 stars
- The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley. 4 stars

March: H R
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach. 3.5 stars
- Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson. 4 stars
- Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas. 3.5 stars
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford. 4.5 stars

April: U O
- Requiem / Lauren Oliver. 3.5 stars
- Up and Down / Terry Fallis. 4 stars

May: N P
- Red Lily / Nora Roberts. 3 stars
- Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose. 1.5 stars
- The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell. 4 stars
- The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman. 4 stars
- Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert. 4 stars

June: J B
July: I S
August: M G
September: V C
October: D T
November: L W
December: K Q

Historical Fiction Challenge

1. Read a work of historical fiction set in the country you’re from
2. Read a work of historical fiction set in a different country to the one you’re from. Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson. 3.5 stars
3. Read a work of historical fiction set in your favorite historical time period to read about
4. Read a work of historical fiction set in a time period you’re less familiar with. The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham. 4.25 stars
5. Read a work of historical fiction with a speculative element. Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
6. Read a work of historical fiction about a real historical figure or a specific historical event. The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
7. Read a work of historical fiction of over 500 pages. Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald. 3 stars
8. Read a Classic work (written/published at least 60 years ago) or Bonus: Read a Classic work of historical fiction (written at least 60 years ago about a time period at least sixty years before the work was written/published)

Roundtuits/(Classic) Trim the TBR
(3+ years on the tbr)

1. Stay / Allie Larkin
2. Sea of Slaughter / Farley Mowat
3. The Perfect Ghost / Linda Barnes
4. Something About Sophie / Mary Kay McComas
5. The Sister Season / Jennifer Scott
6. The Incredible Journey / Sheila Burnford (own)
7. The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich
9. The Collector of Dying Breaths / M. J. Rose
12. No Way Down / Graham Bowley (openlib)
13. No Kidding: Women Writers on Bypassing Parenthood / Henriette Mantel
14.Thousand Words / Jennifer Brown
15. Benazir Bhutto: Favored Daughter / Brooke Allen

1. The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham. 4.25 stars
2. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan. 4 stars
3. The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman. 3.5 stars
4. You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt. 3.5 stars
5. The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon. 2.75 stars
6. Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid. 3.5 stars
7. The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards. 3.25 stars
8. Not a Drop to Drink / Mindy McGinnis. 3.75 stars
9. Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King. 2.5 stars
10. North and South / John Jakes. 4 stars
11. Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson. 4 stars
12. A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam. 3.5 stars
13. Arbella / Sarah Gristwood. 2.75 stars
14. The Sawbones Book / Justin and Sydnee McElroy. 4 stars
15. The Mountaintop School for Dogs / Ellen Cooney. 2.5 stars
16. Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs. 3.5 stars
17. Saving Simon / Jon Katz. 3.5 stars
18. Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba. 3.5 stars
19. Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber. 3.5 stars
20. Shift / Hugh Howey. 3 stars
21. Red Lily / Nora Roberts. 3 stars
22. The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman. 4 stars
23. Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert. 4 stars

PBT Trim the TBR

1. Sea of Slaughter / Farley Mowat
2. Still Life / Joy Fielding
3. Finding Frankie / Maeve Binchy
4. Everything She Ever Wanted / Ann Rule
5. Bet Me / Jennifer Crusie
6. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox / Maggie O’Farrell
7. Deliverance From Evil / Frances Hill
8. Runaway / Alice Munro
9. The Lost Girls of Paris / Pam Jenoff
10. Born Bad / Heather Burnside
11. The Taster / V. S. Alexander
12. We Bought a Zoo / Benjamin Mee
13. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
14. Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King. 2.5 stars
15. A Newfoundlander in Canada / Alan Doyle
16. Seal Wars / Paul Watson
17. On This Day / Nathaniel Bellows
18. Arbella / Sarah Gristwood. 2.85 stars
19. Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III / Michael Hicks
20. Cry Rape / Bill Lueders (openlib)
21. Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba. 3.5 stars
22. Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids / Lynne van Luven
23. Fostering Sustainable Behavior / Doug McKenzie-Mohr
24. The Autobiography of an Execution / David R. Dow

PBT Books With Friends

January: HISTORICAL
- Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
- Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson. 3.5 stars

February: AUTHORS
- Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid. 3.5 stars

March: COMING
- Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars

April: FANTASY
- The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry. 4 stars
- Sapphire Blue / Kerstin Gier. 3.5 stars

May: CRIME
- Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose. 1.5 stars

June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:

PBT Steeplechase

Spin 1 (2. Nonfiction). Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come / Jessica Pan (tagged 401 times). 4 stars (Finished Jan 9)
Spin 2 (+8 = 10. Technology). The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon (tagged 13 times). 2.75 stars (Finished Feb 1)
Spin 3 (+4 = 14 Race). Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid (tagged 631 times + matches month tag “Authors of color”). 3.5 stars (Finished Feb. 4)
Spin 4 (+5 = 19. Drama). The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards (tagged 13 times). 3.25 stars (Finished Feb 10)
Spin 5 (+7. +2 from #14 tagged w/ monthly tag = 28. True Crime). The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman (tagged 250 times). 3.5 stars (Finished Feb 17)
Spin 6 (+6 = 34. Fairytale). Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier. (tagged 14 times + matches monthly “coming of age” ). 3.75 stars (Finished Mar 8).
Spin 7 (+6 +1 from Leap Day review = 41. Gothic). The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton (tagged 45x + matches monthly tag “coming of age” (19x)). 3.5 stars (Finished Mar 18).
Spin 8. (+3 +1 from Leap Day review = 45. Coming of Age). Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford.(tagged 116x + matches monthly tag “coming of age” (116x) 4.5 stars (Finished Mar 30).
Spin 9. (Apr 1). +10 (+2 from matching tag) = 57. Police. Roses are Red / James Patterson (tagged 27x). 4 stars (Finished Apr 21).
Spin 10. (Apr 21). +9 = 66. Hollywood. Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert. 4 stars (tagged 7x). 4 stars. (Finished May 31)
Spin 11. (May 31). +6 = 72. Mermaids.

PBT Fall Flurries

October:
November:
December:

Travel Across Canada

Alberta:
British Columbia:
Labrador:
Manitoba:
New Brunswick:
Newfoundland:
Northern Canada:
Northwest Territories:
Nova Scotia:
Nunavut:
Ontario:
- Up and Down / Terry Fallis. 4 stars
Prince Edward Island:
Prairie Provinces:
Quebec:
Saskatchewan:
Yukon:

Play Book Tag

January: Historical Mystery
- Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer. 3.5 stars
- Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson. 3.5 stars

February: Authors of Color
- Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid. 3.5 stars
- The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright. 3 stars
- What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad. 4 stars

March: Coming of Age
- Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars
- The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton. 3.5 stars
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford. 4.5 stars

April: Fantasy Romance
- The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry. 4 stars
- Sapphire Blue / Kerstin Gier. 3.5 stars

May: Crime
- The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole. 3.75 stars
- Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose. 1.5 stars
- The Last Seance / Agatha Christie. 2.5 stars

June: Europe
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:

Reading Through Time

January: Janus
- Before and After / Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate. 3 stars
- Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald. 3 stars

February: Aquarius & Amethyst (water)
- The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor. 3.5 stars
- The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards. 3.25 stars
- What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad. 4 stars
- Not a Drop to Drink / Mindy McGinnis. 3.75 stars

March: Medicine & Epidemics
- The Sawbones Book / Justin & Sydnee McElroy. 4 stars

April: Characters with disabilities
- The Story of My Life / Helen Keller. 3 stars

May: International Labour Day
- Utopia for Realists / Rutger Bregman. 3.5 stars

June: Wonders of the World
July: Vive la France
*August:
September: Royal to the Bone
October: Adultery
November: Biographies & Memoirs
December: Reader's Choice

Looks like you are going to have a very busy reading year, Cindy. I'm bracing myself for all the book bullets!

>32 DeltaQueen50: As always (busy)! I am one short of my "goal" for 2023, but oh, well. I finished my last book (an audio) this afternoon and that review will come over in that thread.

Good luck with your 2024 reading goals. I will be back to pick up some more BBs.

Looking forward to seeing what you'll be reading in 2024.

Happy reading in 2024!

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Good luck with your 2024 reading---it looks very ambitious!

Happy new year and good luck with your reading! Always happy to hear news about Kells, Lainey, and Gretel.

Thanks, everyone! Happy New Year all! I still need to start visiting other people's threads (I know, many of you started yours months ago!).

News of my cats. Gretel is still having a hard time with mine, but she's (slowly) getting better. Lainey used to stay back/out of the way, but she's becoming more forceful, I suppose, and isn't thrilled herself. Kells is still so good and patient and wants to be "friends" (or at least is curious about her and has no ill will indicated).

Gretel had an ear infection before Christmas. She had some ear drops and I need to take her back today to see if it's gone. I had no idea, but we were there for a checkup just after adopting her and the vet saw it. Since I had no idea it was there to begin with, I have no idea if the meds got rid of it, so they said I could bring her back and they'll check, no charge.

The bulk of the rest of today, New Year's Day, I will have a friend by and we'll be playing board games.

>40 LibraryCin: Sending good vibes for Gretel's check-up and for the kitties to start enjoying each other's company.

Have a good time with all those categories.

Happy reading in 20924, and I hope Gretel is doing better now.

Thanks, everyone.

Unfortunately, Gretel's infection was still there, but too deep for anything any drops I give her can help with, so they gave her something at the vet's and I need to take her back again tomorrow to see if it's now gone.

We went backwards with introductions the other day, so I've moved her to a different room (temporarily), so hopefully my cats will come investigate "her" room while it's "safe" to do so. She has become very territorial in her room, though (except Lainey has had some recent trouble with her) she is mostly doing well outside her room. I'm not sure when I'll let her back out to "mingle" again. Kells is now scared of her. :-(

12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, Hist Fict Ch, BingoDOG

The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham
4.25 stars

This is fiction during the times of Edward II and Edward III. It is told from the point of view of Eleanor, the wife of Hugh le Despenser, who was a favourite of Edward II for a while. Eleanor was only 13 when she married Hugh, but she seemed to be completely in love with him. However, he was often away, and apparently committed piracy (among other bad things). Still, he loved Eleanor and their children. He also may have “loved” the king. Later in the book, once Edward II is gone (he was likely murdered), and a teenage Edward III is ruling, it is really his mother and Roger Mortimer (her new lover) who rule through him. But they were ruthless, and when Edward was older, he was not going to go along with this.

This was really good. I think I’ve only read one other book (nonfiction) about this time period and these kings. (The focus of that book was on Mortimer.) It took a bit to get “into” this one since I was unfamiliar with the time period and the people, so I spent a bit of time at the start figuring out who everyone was. Also, there are so many people with the same name! The author tried to distinguish most of the time, but it was still sometimes a bit confusing. But still very good, I thought.

>44 LibraryCin: Oh no, I hope Gretel will be better soon and your cats will finally get used to each other! It is so worrying when pets are ill!

>45 LibraryCin: This sounds very interesting and I don't think I have read anything so far about these two Edwards.

>45 LibraryCin: - I can definitely see that title being one for the meme next year for a few of the prompts.

>47 dudes22: Ha! Yup. I forgot to do that meme one for 2023, but I do enjoy doing those! Sigh... if only I had more time off work! Maybe I'll still find time to back up and do it for last year, too.

>46 MissBrangwen: Thank you! The infection is still a little bit there, but apparently it looks somewhat better. But more meds to hopefully finish it off and I'll take her in again in maybe a month or so to recheck.

I'm likely going to contact the rescue I adopted her from to see if they have a behaviouralist or something to help with more suggestions on hopefully getting her to not be so territorial!

12x12 Nonfiction, BingoDOG

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them / Jennifer Wright
4 stars

This book looks at various “plagues” (or diseases) over the years and how they were overcome. There are chapters on smallpox, the Spanish flu, polio, leprosy, syphilis, typhoid, and more. Not only does she talk about the diseases and how they affected people, but she included specific people stories for some of them, as well (“Typhoid Mary”, Father Damien at Moloka’i...)

This was published pre-COVID. I listened to the audio and although my mind did wander at times, I thought it was very good. She does pepper the book with humour. It was interesting to read about vaccines, etc, especially with COVID fresh in my mind. She does end on a positive/hopeful note, but it does make me curious about how she feels about how people have reacted to the COVID vaccine, particularly anti-vaxxers (she does talk a bit about vaccines and anti-vaxxers in her chapter on polio).

>47 dudes22: The title I just posted in >49 LibraryCin: might make a good one, too!

12x12 PBT, Steeplechase, CalendarCAT, BingoDOG, Roundtuits

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan
4 stars

The author is a “shintrovert” (shy + introvert… a word she made up). She decided she was going to try a bunch of extroverted-type things over a year. She did things like learn to talk to strangers on the street or public transit, she joined a website/app to meet new friends (like a dating app, but to meet friends), took an improv class, forced herself to do some group networking, took a comedy class (with the end result everyone up on stage to perform their comedy), travelling alone, hosting a dinner party, and probably more I’m forgetting.

Pretty sure this book will appeal much more to the introverts of the world. I am one. As a kid and teen, I was even a shintrovert, but the shyness is (mostly) gone as an adult. Obviously (based on the title), Jessica includes some humour in her story. I think there can’t help but be humour, though, in some of these situations that she puts herself though. I admire that she was able to do all those things (comedy! Improv!), and she ended up enjoying most of it.

>51 LibraryCin: I am always slightly wary of these types of books, unless the author was happy to be trying these things. Sometimes it seems like they feel like they 'should' be more extroverted, rather than actually wanting to, and then just end up feeling like a failure as they don't enjoy it. It sounds like, in this case, her experiment was a success.

>52 JayneCM: It was and she chose to do it. She was in a "new" city where she didn't have any friends and she wanted to meet people and make friends.

>45 LibraryCin: I love that author so this is going on my WL!

>54 Tess_W: I don't know if I've read anything else by her!

12x12 RTT, Read Thru Time

Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans... / Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
3 stars

Lisa Wingate’s “Before We Were Yours” is a fictional account of Georgia Tann and her illegally obtaining kids and babies to illegally adopt out. With the popularity of that book, she and Judy Christie decided to reach out to many of those “kids” (now adults, of course) to hear their stories and to set up a reunion.

I listened to the audio and that may have been my downfall. Because there were multiple individual stories to this one, it was more similar to a book of essays or short stories, so (because – audio) when I missed parts, it was hard to “catch up” on what I’d missed before we moved on to the next story. It did seem like many of the adopted kids had good lives, in the end.

There was some talk at the end about one of the reunion attendees not having a great home life post-adoption and that she was heartened to find others out there with a similar story – that is, she wasn’t alone in that. But if those stories were told in this book, I missed them. The entire story (Georgia Tann) is sad, but I suspect I might have liked this more if I’d actually read it. In any case, I’m still rating it ok.

12x12 Oh Canada, AlphaKIT, RTT, Hist Fict Ch

Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald
3 stars

In the late 19th century, 12-year old Charlotte lives with her father at Fayne (in Scotland or England). Her mother died in childbirth and her brother died when she was young, as well (Charlotte does not remember her brother). Charlotte is extremely smart and her father hires a tutor for her (who is initially perturbed that he was brought to tutor a girl). She wants to attend university.

This did not turn out as I’d expected. It was very long and I’m rating it ok. There were parts I liked (more toward the beginning of the book), but whenever we switched perspectives, I felt like I was starting over (even though after the first couple of times, we were mostly going back and continuing from where the last switch left off), and wasn’t interested for the first bit (of every switch). It took time to get interested again, but just as that happened, we switched again.

So, the other perspective is Charlotte’s mother. I honestly didn’t find this nearly as interesting, overall, as Charlotte herself. Though, after a bit, I was interested (then… switch!). Clarissa (Charlotte’s aunt) was a piece of work, wow! I didn’t like her from the start. The end was a bit weird: Did Charlotte live to about 140 years old!?

12x12 BIPOC, BingoDOG

The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh
4 stars

Jia is divorced and raising her 12-year old son, Ishaan, who was recently in trouble at school. So much trouble that her ex-husband is threatening to take him away from her. However, the urgent issue this evening is the hurricane coming toward Houston. Told to evacuate their area Jia and Ishaan are invited to Jia’s sister Seema’s place, not too far away. What they don’t realize until it’s too late is Seema’s area was also supposed to evacuate (though Jia does question that there are so few people nearby). Seema and her husband, Vipul, have also invited Vipul’s brother, Raj and his wife, Lisa. Also in the house is Vipul and Raj’s mother and Seema and Vipul’s young daughter.

When a neighbour urgently presses the doorbell to be let in, he is injured and needs help. Although Vipul does not like Rafael at all (they have had a number of disagreements), they let Rafael in, anyway. And things go terribly wrong.

I really liked this. There were, of course, also flashbacks to what led Jia to her divorce, Ishaan’s issues at school, and other things going on with Jia (including unwanted advances from Vipul). I did find the storm/”current day” scenes more interesting than the flashbacks, but of course the flashbacks were needed to figure out what was going on, in general. There were times I wasn’t a fan of Jia, as she did do some stupid things. I almost rated it a bit lower due to more focus on these flashbacks (when I’m really interested in the storm and the murder/thriller/suspense parts of the book), but the end brought the rating back up for me.

12x12 Series, BWF, PBT, AlphaKIT, BingoDOG, Hist Fict Ch

Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer.
3.5 stars

It’s 1919 in San Francisco. When Delia and Gabe, Sophie and Jack (and their two kids), and Sam and Libby head to a parade, they never expected a riot to break out. Not only a riot, but then gunfire and explosions. Gabe and Jack are police so they go to help. Delia is a “spiritualist” – she can see ghosts; not only that, Sophie’s young son Connor sees them, too, but he is too young to do anything about it and they scare him. Delia does what she can to protect him. She also noticed the people who ended up rioting had something odd happen just before the riot. Once again, Delia and her friend Dora (also a spiritualist) must help Gabe solve this mystery.

I liked this. This is the third (and final, I’m guessing?) in a series. The POV changes between Gabe and Delia. Like the 2nd book, I think I liked Gabe’s storyline a bit better. I really liked the police officer, Jordan Lynch, whom they brought in from Chicago. There were a few times I really didn’t like Dora. I would continue with this series if it was to keep going (and would hope Jordan Lynch would continue to be in it, as well), but I see there aren’t (currently) more and this was published in 2015, so I’m not sure how likely another one is. It also kind of ended in a way that appears that there is unlikely to be more in the series.

12x12 Series, BWF, PBT, BingoDOG, Hist Fict Ch

Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson
3.5 stars

It’s the late 19th century in New York City. Prudence and Geoffrey run an investigation business. An opera singer, Claire, comes to them to ask them to investigate her twin sister’s (Catherine’s) death. Her sister, also an opera singer, was married to Aaron who seemed to keep her from her family and, by his request, she had stopped performing/singing. Catherine had just had a baby and they are now both dead. Aaron remarried very quickly after their deaths, and now Prudence and Geoffrey worry about his new wife, Ethel (who is pregnant).

This continues to be an enjoyable series. I love that a woman is doing much of the investigating. Apparently there were a few women investigators with the famous Pinkerton investigation agency at the time, as well. The story didn’t grip me as much as the first two in the series did, but it did ramp up a bit toward the end. Definitely still enjoying it enough to continue the series. I didn’t mention it in my description, but Aaron had a photographer come take a post-mortem photograph of Catherine and their baby; I did know this happened, but only because of the Nicole Kidman movie “The Others” from the late 90s?, so that wasn’t a surprise.

12x12 Animals, RandomKIT, AlphaKIT, Roundtuits

The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman
3.5 stars

As the title suggests, this book looks at bird intelligence. How intelligent are birds? And how do we measure this?

It’s hard to base intelligence on what humans think is smart. I think it’s similar to culturally-biased IQ tests, really. Birds don’t need to know the same things as humans. That being said, there are things that birds know or can figure out that is comparable to humans and/or other primates. They are smart, IMO. Most of us know how smart corvids (crows, ravens, etc) are, but other birds are smart, too, in different ways, including sparrows, pigeons… some birds that aren’t “traditionally” thought of as smart. Some of the things discussed in the book include songs, migration, tools, aesthetically—pleasing displays, etc. I listened to the audio, but I bet I would have taken in more had I actually read it in print or via ebook.

12x12 Travel, MysteryKIT, BingoDOG

Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas / Lawrence Block (ed.)
4 stars

These are mystery short stories mostly set on cruises.

But. Short stories so mostly not memorable by the end of the book, though I really enjoyed most of them as I read them (hence the 4 stars, which is higher than I rate most short story collections). One had a short author’s note at the end, which made me happy because I did wonder (the story took place on the Queen Mary, and there were some interesting stats and uses of the ship during WWII). Unfortunately, one of the last stories (and potentially also the longest), I didn’t like, but almost all the others I really liked. Might help that I have enjoyed the cruises that I’ve taken, so the setting is familiar and enjoyable for me.

12x12 BIPOC, PrizeCAT, BingoDOG, AlphaKIT

Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke
3.75 stars

Darren is a black man and a Texas Ranger. Though he is on suspension, he gets a tip that there have been two murders one county over – a black man and a white woman. Bodies found in the river a few days apart. Initially, he heads over just to see what things are looking like. Turns out there is an active chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (a modern-day KKK) in this small town where there hasn’t been even one murder in decades. When he does get the go ahead from his Ranger supervisor to help investigate, the local sheriff isn’t thrilled.

I mostly liked this, but some of the flashbacks to previous happenings didn’t completely hold my interest. I liked Darren, but didn’t like some of the other characters much. I feel like dark and gritty are good words to describe this one. I do plan to continue with book 2 at some point.

12x12 ARCs, ScaredyKIT, BingoDOG

Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic
4 stars

Lynn has won 5 million dollars in the lottery. But she doesn’t want to tell her abusive husband, Jimmy. She plans to donate the money to charity. She is sick and doesn’t want him getting his hands on any of the money. But then the threats start.

There are more layers to this than I’ve mentioned. I’m not sure how much I want to give away (even if much of it is revealed early on, and I think much more is said in some of the other reviews).

Lynn is a very unreliable narrator. I thought all the feelings she went through after winning (about winning) probably were legitimate, but stacked on top of that was all the abuse she’s suffered over decades. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was a surprise/twist near the end, but then it ended so abruptly, so that was disappointing, as it seems it is meant to continue in another book. If it wasn’t for the (non?) ending, I might have rated it a bit higher.

12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaKIT, Roundtuits

You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt
3.5 stars

The author looks at what people like, why we like those things, etc. Our “taste” so to speak (not the sense of taste, but our “taste” for what we like). He does, of course, discuss food, but there is also a chapter (I found this one particularly interesting) on online reviews and recommendations, etc. Other chapters include museums/art, ways to describe why we like something, and more.

Not too much to say about this. I found it (mostly) interesting and easy to read. Oddly, although I’m not really one for art appreciation, I remember that chapter a bit more than some of the others (also the online review chapter, but that may not be a surprise considering I am writing a review to post online…!).

12x12 Audio, Steeplechase, Roundtuits, BingoDOG

The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon
2.75 stars

It’s a little bit into the future and almost everyone uses a “Meme”, a recent handheld device that does pretty much everything, including coming up with language/words for people to use. Print dictionaries are almost at an end. Doug is working on the last one that will be printed, but when he disappears, he leaves a clue for his daughter, Anana. While she searches for him, Memes start controlling more and more of people’s language as they also need to pay for words (via “The Word Exchange”. Not only that, there is now a “word flu” making its rounds where people are not only not feeling well, they are garbelling their words.

I feel like I might have liked it better and paid better attention if I hadn’t listened to the audio. I got the gist of the bulk of what was happening, and was a little bit interested, but not completely. Hmm, in some ways (based on other reviews), maybe the audio was better? I didn’t notice too many super-big words that made it hard to understand, and I mostly didn’t have an issue understanding what people were trying to say when garbled words were coming out – that was likely easier due to hearing the “word” rather than reading it. Overall, I’m rating it just under “ok”.

12x12 BIPOC, PBT, Steeplechase, BWF, Roundtuits, CalendarCAT

Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid
3.5 stars

Emira is a black 25-year old and she doesn’t have a “real” job. She is a babysitter (not a nanny) for a white couple three days/week and a typist the other two days. Briar is the toddler she looks after, mostly because Alix (Bri’s mom) doesn’t really like Bri and wants time away (though Emira is told Alix needs quiet to write her book (despite Alix taking her baby with her)).

When there is an emergency at Alix’s house one night while Emira is our with friends, Alix calls Emira in a panic asking if she can come take Bri while Alix and her husband call the police. Alix suggests Emira take Bri to the local grocery store… where another shopper decides Emira must have stolen the little white child and reports her to security. Another shopper gets the confrontation on video until it is sorted out. Emira wants nothing to do with the video and just wants to put it all behind her.

This was good. I didn’t really like any of the characters, though. (And although I don’t particularly like kids), I did love Emira’s relationship with Bri. Alix weirded me out there when she tried to befriend Emira. At the end, I liked the way the author delved into future years with how Emira was doing and what she continued on to do after the main part of the story was done.

12x12 Audio, PBT Jan Trim, BingoDOG, RandomKIT, Hist Fict Ch, RTT

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor
3.5 stars

Unmarried and pregnant, Matilda is 19-years old in 1938 when she is sent across the ocean to live with a distant relative in Rhode Island, Harriet, who watches the lighthouse there.

One hundred years earlier, in England, a storm washed up survivors of a shipwreck, including Sarah. Sarah’s two young children died in the wreck. Grace Darling is the lighthouse keeper’s daughter who saw the survivors still in the water, so she and her dad went to help them. Grace become a local hero after this. (And apparently, Grace Darling was a real person.)

Matilda has a book on keeping lighthouses that she brings with her. The inscription includes one from Grace to Sarah and Sarah to (a different) Matilda.

I listened to the audio and it was good. I did lose focus at times, but I think I caught the main happenings in the book. Harriet also kept secrets and it took time for her to open up to Matilda. I liked her, though she did seem “gruff” at times. I liked all the characters, really. The women were pretty tough and self-sufficient – or certainly tried/wanted to be as much as they could in their time periods. There were a lot of characters, though, and there were times that it took me a bit to figure out which time frame and character’s POV I was listening to. It did say when the POV changed, but since I know my mind wandered some plus putting away the audio and picking it up later sometimes made it a bit tricky.

>68 LibraryCin: Years ago, on Friday's after work some of the staff used to go to a pub called The Grace Darling, so it's good to know where the name came from.

An aside. One evening a bewildered English tourist approached us to check on the pub's name. She didn't speak Australian and had been wandering up and down the street looking for The Grey Starling.

>69 pamelad: Oh, that's pretty cool!

And LOL! Easy mistake to make, though, I think!

12x12 RTT, AlphaKIT, Roundtuits, RTT, Steeplechase

The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards
3.25 stars

Lucy has been living abroad for a number of years, but when her mother is injured and in hospital, she decides to come home. Her partner, Yoshi, will join her later. Lucy’s family has had some quarrels (particularly her father (died a while back) and his brother/Lucy’s uncle Art), mostly over the family business and inheritance. Now, her brother is working for Art, and her mom is considering selling the house and land to Art. The land sits on an ecologically sensitive lake that Art wants to develop.

While Lucy is helping clean out the house, she comes across some paperwork that mentions Rose. It sounds like Rose is someone in the family, but Lucy has never heard of her, so she does some research to try to find out who Rose was. And uncovers other secrets along the way.

Through the first 2/3 or so of the book, I would have rated it 3 stars (ok), but I increased it just a touch, as I got much more interested in the last 1/3. I did skim parts of the first of the book, so I did miss a few things. I liked that Lucy went back to Yoshi, rather than falling in love (again) with Keegan. So many novels would go the other way. I think I liked it because the author made sure that the reader could see how much Lucy still loves and misses Yoshi via their conversations, whereas so many other books wouldn’t go into that. I also liked the ecological slant to the story (though that wasn’t explored in a lot of detail, but it still appealed to me).

12x12 PBT, PBT, CalendarCAT, RandomKIT, BingoDOG

The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright
3 stars

This actually consists of a novella-length story, plus a nonfiction essay. The short story is the one of the title. It’s set in the 1940s(?) (that’s when it was originally written, anyway), and a black man, Fred, leaving work, just having been paid in cash, is “arrested” by the police and “questioned”/tortured. Initially not knowing even what they police were talking about, it turns out the neighbours of the people Fred worked for had been murdered in their home earlier in the day. Fred manages to escape and moves underground via the sewers from building to building for a few days.

The essay talked about how the author grew up with his very religious Grandmother and how some things from that experience related to this story.

Overall, I’m rating it ok. The essay got pretty philosophical, so wasn’t all that interesting to me. The story itself was better, but also a little bit odd while Fred was underground. I definitely did not see the end coming (but maybe I should have?).

>68 LibraryCin: I posted a message on another thread (RandomKIT?) because you reminded me of when I was in grade school with the Grace Darling mention. She was (probably still is) a well-known hero. And the RLNI (Royal Lifeboat National Institute) is having their 200th anniversary this year so your book was well-timed.

I just checked and my library doesn't have it but I'll keep a lookout for it.

>73 VivienneR: Good luck! I hope you can get your hands on it at some point.

12x12 Travel, PrizeCAT, AlphaKIT, PBT, RTT

What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad
4 stars

Amir is a 9-year old Syrian boy who survives a shipwreck. Everyone else to be seen has washed up on shore, dead. He is on an island, but doesn’t know where he is, nor does he understand the language. When two men see him and point and shout, Amir gets scared and runs. He runs into Vanna, 15-years old and though they are unable to communicate verbally, she hides him.

The story then shifts to “Before”, which brings us up to date on how Amir got where he is. We go back and forth between Amir’s before and “After”. Much of after is told from Vanna’s POV, but occasionally we switch to the POV of a colonial who is dead set on finding Amir, the little boy who ran away.

Given that it’s (primarily) from a 9-year old’s POV, it took a bit to figure out what was going on through much of the story. I am still not sure I understand the ending. But it was a “good” (powerful) story, even so.

12x12 Nonfiction, CalendarCAT, RandomKIT, MysteryKIT, Steeplechase

The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman
3.5 stars

When Jacob Gray disappeared in Olympic National Park in Washington state, his dad Randy would not give up looking. Luckily, Randy had the stamina and money to be able to continually look for his 22-year old son. The author, Jon Billman, was often along to help out. This book is primarily Jacob’s search story, but the author also brings in many other missing persons cases (missing in the “wild”/in nature) in the U.S. and Canada, some who were found and others not.

I don’t personally know anyone who has gone missing and not been found, but I know someone whose brother has (and my brother does know him – the one who went missing). I couldn’t help but think about him at various points while reading this. That’s beside the point of what I thought of the book, however.

Some of the stories peaked my interest more than others, but with as many as there were, it’s hard to remember them when a short time was spent on many (as opposed to the bulk of the book on Jacob’s case). The book also highlighted differences in the types of searches, for how long they last, etc, depending on where a person goes missing; much of that comes down to cost. It included stats and went into a few various “oddball” theories like Bigfoot and UFOs (Jacob’s father Randy insisted on following any and all leads, no matter how “out there”).

12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, RTT

Not a Drop to Drink / Mindy McGinnis
3.75 stars

There is not much water left in the world. 16-year old Lynn lives with her mother in a rural area and they have been able to protect their source of water. Lynn has been very sheltered during her life and has never really known much about the real world or any other people, but she does know they have a neighbour her mother has helped a little bit. Just before her mother decides it’s time for them to leave, she is killed. Now, Lynn is on her own. Lynn has been taught how to protect their home and pond, but she and her mother knew there were people not far away, based on the smoke from their fire.

I listened to the audio and it took a little bit before I was fully paying attention, but it got better and better as the story moved along, I thought. I actually didn’t like Lynn much at first, but she learned and changed.

12x12 Travel, CalendarCAT, AlphaKIT

The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley
4 stars

Jess is headed to Paris to visit her half-brother Ben in his new apartment. When he isn’t there to pick her up, she makes her way to his place, but he’s not there. He knew she was coming and when and said he’d be there. What’s going on? Once she finally manages to get into the apartment, no one is around, but something feels “off”.

Wealthy Sophie and Jacques live in the penthouse; introverted 19-year old Mimi and her outgoing roommate Camille are on the 4th floor; Ben’s apartment is on the 3rd; Ben’s friend Nick lives on the 2nd floor, and alcoholic Antoine and his wife, Dominique are on the 1st floor. An older woman, the concierge, lives in a shack on the property.

POV switches between many of the different characters. The book “grabbed” me from the start. It was hard to tell who was telling the truth and who wasn’t, as well as who might be an unreliable narrator. Everyone had a secret. Had a twist at the end, as well as one about half-way through. As with Foley’s other books that I’ve read, I really liked this.

>78 LibraryCin: - I'm not sure I actually have this yet, but I'm pretty sure I have it on a list. somewhere.

>78 LibraryCin: Your review makes me curious about this book, it sounds like a great read!

>78 LibraryCin: I read The Guest List a few months ago and enjoyed it a lot. Taking a BB for this one.

I hope you all enjoy it (for those who do decide to read it!). I've also really liked all the books (I think this was the 3rd?) I've read by Foley.

>78 LibraryCin: We read this in my RL book club last year. I liked it a lot. I tiptoe around the thriller genre, but think I may lean into it more.
>81 lowelibrary: Perhaps The Guest List will be next for me. Bullet!

>83 beebeereads: A wedding party on an island. Very reminiscent of And Then There Was None.

12x12 Off the Shelf, Rountuits, PBT trim

Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King
2.5 stars

A woman wakes up in a place she doesn’t know. Nor does she know how she got there, nor even who she is. She appears to have been hurt and is wearing men’s clothes. She is able to get up and leave and follows a mute boy. Meantime, Sherlock Holmes, in Morocco, is looking for his wife, Mary Russell. She was there to shoot a film(?) and has disappeared.

I enjoyed the book more when it focused on Mary and the amnesia. I wasn’t as interested in what was happening in Morocco, nor in Holmes and what he was up to. Oh, near the end got a bit more interesting, as well. A bit of tension/suspense at that point made it a bit better. Overall, though, I’m not a fan. I think I picked up this book in a Little Free Library, not realizing it was #12 in a series; when I learned that, I did back up to read the first in the series (I don’t believe I was super-excited about it, either, but still wanted to read this one, anyway).

12x12 Off the Shelf, (Jan) HistoryCAT, BingoDOG, Roundtuit

North and South / John Jakes
4 stars

This is set in the decades leading up to the American Civil War. It focuses on two families: the Hazards, living in Pittsburgh, and the Mains, who own a plantation (and slaves) in South Carolina. George Hazard and Orry Main become best friends when at military school in the early 1840s(?). They fight together in the Mexican War, then retire from the military. George does marry, but Orry falls for a woman who is marrying a brutal slave owner.

Years later, George’s youngest brother, Billy, and Orry’s young cousin, Charles, head to the same military school together (though they have known each other through the families’ friendship for a while now)… but now the school is much more divisive along North/South lines with slavery/politics being the issue.

Orry’s brother, Cooper, is very much against owning slaves and he marries a woman from the North. George’s sister, Virgilia, is a staunch abolitionist and gets in Orry’s face whenever the Mains visit. Billy has fallen in love with Orry’s youngest sister, Brett, though he had a brief flirtation with a sister, Ashton, just slightly older. Brett really is the marrying type vs Ashton’s flirtatious ways.

There is a lot going on in this long book and a lot of North/South mixing between the families and their friends/acquaintances. It’s not often I rate a book this long (over 800 pages) this high, but I really liked this one all the way though (though it was a bit tricky at the start to get a handle on who was who!). There is even more going on (and more characters) than I’ve detailed in my summary. This is the first in a trilogy. I assume the others are also very long, so it might be a while before I get to the next, but I will definitely read it at some point. I’ve never seen the miniseries, but would like to; I hadn’t realized Patrick Swayze is in it!

>86 LibraryCin: I loved the trilogy and the miniseries. Patrick Swayze as Orry, James Read as George, and Kirstie Alley made a perfect Virgilia.

>87 lowelibrary: Oh, and Kirstie Alley, too! I'd really like to see the miniseries.

12x12 Off the Shelf, ScaredyKIT

Gallows Hill / Darcy Coates
4 stars

Margot was sent away from her parents and her home when she was a young girl, and really doesn’t remember anything about her old house. When both her parents die suddenly at the same time, she inherits not only the old house (on Gallows Hill), but the very successful wine business her ancestors have run for generations (she learns this when she returns). But the house (and things inside it) is pretty creepy and a bit of a maze; there is something very wrong here. But the staff of the business (many who live on the property) appear to love it there.

Like the other books I’ve read by this author, I thought this was very good. Very creepy. Enough that I decided early on to (mostly) not read it at night! As a horror book, I feel like that’s what it should do – scare me enough to want to only read it during the day! It did its job.

12x12 ARCs

A Call From Hell: The True Story of Larry Gene Bell... / Genoveva Ortiz
3.5 stars

In South Carolina in the 1980s, 16-year old Shari was kidnapped from in front of her house just after she arrived home and was checking the mailbox. Her car was left running. Shari also needed medication that she did not have with her. The kidnapper then continually called her family, talking to either her mother or sister. They were tormented while trying to keep him on the phone so the police could trace the calls, in hopes of finding Shari alive. Not long after Shari was found (dead), a 9-year old little girl was also kidnapped. It was these last two that finally led police to Larry Gene Bell, and there was a list of other missing girls/women from the ‘70s and ‘80s that he is/was the main suspect in, as well.

This was good. I’ve read others in the series and I know they are short, but it would have been nice to learn more about the other missing women, as well. The author included many of the conversations Larry had with Shari’s family and wow, he was garbled and didn’t make sense much of the time. I’m assuming the author used transcripts, so the confusing statements were legitimately what he said.

12x12 Audio, HistoryCAT, BingoDOG

Victoria / Daisy Goodwin
4 stars

This is a fictional account of Queen Victoria from right around when she turned 18 years old (just before she became queen) until she got engaged to Prince Albert, only a year or two after she became queen. So, it focused initially on her (strained) relationship with her mother (in part, due to her mother’s involvement with power-hungry Sir John Conroy). When Victoria became queen, the prime minister at the time, Lord Melbourne, advised her, despite his reputation with women and people worried that he would influence Victoria politically. The story then shifted to her meeting her cousins Ernst and Albert.

I listened to the audio and thought this was very good. In the past few years, I’ve read some about Victoria, so I don’t think anything in this book came as a surprise, but it was interesting and I feel like the author’s writing style is easy to “read” (or, in my case, listen to!).

>91 LibraryCin: That's a BB for me! Although I don't know when I will get to it - I already have so many books about the Royal family that I still have to read!

>92 MissBrangwen: LOL! I will often take years to get to something added to my tbr. Generally it depends what fits a monthly challenge theme and I try (though it doesn't always go this way) to get to the ones that have been on the tbr longer.

12x12 Overflow, BingoDOG

Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng
3.75 stars

Reread. Originally read as an audio in July 2022 (Rating at that time: 3.25 stars).

Photographer Mia and her teenage daughter, Pearl, move around a lot. Now, they have rented the upstairs of a house from the wealthy Richardson family. The Richardsons have four teenage children. Pearl and Moody become good friends, and Pearl spends a lot of time at the Richardson’s place. Meantime the youngest Richardson, Izzy, seemingly not well-liked by her parents or siblings, takes a liking to Mia and wants to learn about photography from her. Things become heated between the families when a friend of Elena Richardson’s (the mother) adopts a Chinese baby, and Mia knows something about this baby and her biological mother.

I had forgotten the bulk of the book, and I only read it again for my f2f book club. I did prefer the ebook to the audio, for sure, although like with the audio, I still found the first half of the book moved very slowly. The second half picked up for me quite a bit. There is a pretty big moral issue in the second half of the book that made things a little more interesting.

12x12 PBT, PBT, Steeplechase, BWF, PrizeCAT

Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier
3.75 stars

This is book 2 in a trilogy. It’s been a very long time since I read book 1, but it’s not really necessary to have read it, as it’s the next generation that is followed in this book vs the 1st. I remembered nothing from the first book, and I don’t think it mattered.

Liadan and Niahm (pronounced Nee-av – have to say I was happy to have the glossary and pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book!) are sisters. When Niahm falls in love with a druid and disgraces herself by giving herself to him (all in secret), her family hurriedly marries her off to the older man they want to make an alliance with. Liadan accompanies Niahm part-way to her new home, but is kidnapped on her way back. She is a great healer and has been asked to help some “outlaws” heal one of theirs. While there, Liadan becomes friends (and more with one) with them, and hates to leave, but needs to go home to her dying mother.

It took a bit at the start for me to get into this. I’m not always “into” fantasy (Liadan also has a “sight” of a kind), and difficult to pronounce words (thank you, glossary!) also make things harder. But once Liadan was kidnapped, the story really picked up for me. There were a few times I kind of lost interest, but there were many happenings that made the book “enjoyable” for me. I’ve never been a fan of a “story within a story”, and this one does contain a bunch of those (oral storytelling is popular in Liadan’s family). On rereading the review of the first book, I wasn’t sure if I would continue the series (obviously I did), and I do plan to continue on from here. It looks like it was originally meant to be a trilogy, but has expanded beyond that.

12x12 Animals, CalendarCAT, AlphaKIT, RandomKIT

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach
3.5 stars

In this book, Mary Roach takes a look at wild animals and their “relationships” with humans, primarily breaking human laws (like attacking them, breaking into houses, stealing, etc.). She talks to and follows along with fish and wildlife officers, and other scientists that study these animals (oh, and trees and plants, too!) and their interactions with humans (and how humans are trying to mitigate these interactions).

I liked this. Despite being about animals, I didn’t like it as much as I like some of her other books, but it was still interesting. I don’t think there was as much humour in this one as some of her others, either, but there were bits of it, too.

12x12 Audio, MysteryKIT

A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain
4 stars

Kendra is a profiler with the FBI. She is injured in a shoot out that involved one of her own as a traitor; someone else died. (I missed a bunch of activity, then) suddenly she wakes up in the early 19th century where a teenage girl is found murdered. For the brief time Kendra has been here, she’s been pretending to be a servant. She can tell right away this murder is the work of a serial killer and he will kill again, but how does she convince the aristocracy to believe her so she can help find the killer? They mostly tended not to think women were terribly smart at the time, and how could she know some of the things she knows?

I really liked this. I listened to the audio and except for the present day stuff (I did miss a bunch at the very beginning and had a hard time focusing at the very end when we were back in current day), the entire rest of the book was interesting and appealing to me. I liked that the current-day investigator was unable to rely on many current-day technologies, and

12x12 Oh Canada, AlphaKIT

Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson
4 stars

Lady Elizabeth is in her early 20s(?) and has not had a real education, although she would have loved that. She is expected to marry, be a wife, and mother. When her brother’s friend, Robbie from university, visits, “Lilly” is swept away. But he is far below her “station”, and her mother sends him packing (with a lie Lilly doesn’t know about). Lilly thought they were getting along very nicely and was very disappointed Robbie left without a word.

WWI arrives, and Edward (Lilly’s brother) heads to war, and Lilly learns that Robbie is a doctor and has gone to France to perform surgeries on wounded soldiers at the front. Lilly wants so badly to help, but is forbidden by her mother. She finds a way to secretly learn to drive, and when things blow up with her parents, she leaves to live with her former tutor in London. From there, she manages to get a job driving an ambulance in France to help shuttle soldiers from when they were wounded to the makeshift hospitals.

This was also a romance, which is not usually my thing, but I got swept away in this one. I really liked it. I really liked both Lilly and Robbie. And it was interesting to learn about the women ambulance drivers in the war. The author’s father was a historian with an interest in the two world wars.

12x12 Travel, PBT, Steeplechase, BWF Extra

The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton
3.5 stars

It’s the 17th century. Nella is newly married and travels to Amsterdam to live with her new husband (whom she’s barely met), a somewhat well-to-do merchant. She is young and he is much older. She is “greeted” by Marin, who seems pretty rude, and turns out to be her new sister-in-law. There are two servants in the house – one is a black man! – and her husband is away. No one is particularly welcoming.

When her husband buys a cabinet that is a small version of the very house they are living in as a wedding gift, there is a miniaturist who will make tiny things to add to the house, but the miniaturist starts sending things Nella has not ordered. Nella’s husband is often away on business, and she has a hard time fitting in. And weird things happen in this house.

This was good. It took a short bit to get going for me, and I suppose it is slow-moving in its entirety. I did get more interested and the story moved on, though. There are definitely some (big) surprises. I do think the cover is beautiful. (Though that wasn’t why I chose to read it – it was a gift.) And I see there is a sequel. I will read it.

12x12 Animals, BWF Extra, CalendarCAT, RandomKIT, Roundtuits

A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam
3.5 stars

Walt and Judy want children, but are unable to have any. When Walt sees a chimpanzee at a circus, he decides he will get one for his wife, in place of a child. They love Looee very much, like a son, but as with all wild animals, as he ages, he is too much to handle.

There is a chimpanzee sanctuary where people are studying the chimps’ behaviour. In the story, we alternate between Walt/Judy/Looee’s perspectives, and the perspectives of the people and chimps at the sanctuary.

I listened to the audio and at first, particularly when we switched to the sanctuary, I had some trouble initially figuring out what was going on. It was interesting to see things from the chimps’ perspectives at times, though. And heartbreaking. I also had trouble getting “into” the book at the start knowing Walt and Judy had done a terrible thing treating a wild animal as a child; There was no way it was going to end well for Looee. I felt like the book didn’t fully end, but it’s possible I missed something (audio), or maybe the author wanted “life” to just sort of continue on.

12x12 Trim, PBT Trim, Roundtuits, BWF extra

Arbella: England's Lost Queen / Sarah Gristwood
2.75 stars

Arbella Stuart was the great-granddaughter of Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s oldest sister). She should have been a possibility to be queen, but was bypassed. Both Elizabeth I and James I kept her at bay, and wouldn’t even allow her to marry (in the line of succession, you need permission to marry since they will likely want a politically advantageous marriage). Eventually, she just gave up and chose who she wanted to marry and married in secret (to the great-great-grandson of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII’s youngest sister)). It wasn’t long before they were found out and imprisoned.

This was nonfiction and felt a bit dense through much of it. As I tend to often mention in my reviews of historical biographies of women, even if they were royalty, there often seems to be little information on them, so much of the “action” is actually what’s taking place around them. Arbella’s marriage and attempt to escape the Tower were the most interesting part (and likely where there was the most information to use for this biography). I feel like a fictional account of her life might make things a bit more interesting.

12x12 Off the Shelf, HistoryCAT, BWF extra, RTT, Roundtuits

The Sawbones Book: The Hilarious, Horrifying Road to Modern Medicine / Justin & Sydnee McElroy
4 stars

You might guess from the subtitle that this is a humourous look at the history of medicine. The authors are a family doctor, and her husband, a layperson. The book appears to be based on a podcast (I have no clue about this podcast). Some of the topics they look at include: opium, charcoal, mercury, radium, arsenic, honey, chocolate, and vinegar. Also, weight loss, the Black Plague, erectile dysfunction, spontaneous combustion, phrenology, lobotomy, poop, the dancing plague, homeopathy, bloodletting, polio, and more.

This was funny! I’ve read a number of medical history books that look at many of these things, so some of the stories are repeats, but it’s still nice to get the reminders, since often with books like this that include so many different topics, it’s easy to forget. There were some fantastic illustrations, and little side-notes of the authors dialogue between themselves about the various topics. Even though some of the topics can be pretty disgusting (though it didn’t bother me), this is a good way to read about it with the humour mixed in.

12x12 Nonfiction, ScaredyKIT, MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT

Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas
3.5 stars

The Benders were a group of four people, an older couple known simply as Ma and Pa, and a younger couple. No one knows if the younger were siblings or married. They moved to a plot of land in Kansas in the 1870s and stayed for a few years. The younger woman, Kate, called herself a “spiritualist”. They sold groceries (or had a sign out to do so, anyway), and attracted travellers with food and a place to stay. Unfortunately for some of those travellers, the Benders were also serial killers. When some of the locals were suspicious when the local doctor went missing, the Benders up and ran. No one ever found them. As the locals started looking around, the bodies were piling up on the homestead. There were at least 11 people killed, mostly men, mostly travellers, but one 18 month-old baby buried with her dad (they think the baby was buried alive).

I read a shorter account of this somewhere, I’d like to say not long ago, but it may be longer than I’m thinking. This was an expanded version of the story. Only about the first 1/3 of the book told of them coming to the area until they ran. The next bit of the book followed them to the wilds of Texas, where there were a lot more outlaws and places to hide, and people to help them hide. Beyond that, no one knows where they ended up. The last bit of the book was when, 16 years later, someone thought they’d found Ma and Kate; there were trials to determine if they really were the Benders or not. There is an extensive note section at the end, as well.

I thought the start and end were the more interesting. The middle part, as the Benders made their escape, was less interesting as we focused on a few of the other criminal element who helped them along their way (one of these people talked to police while he was in jail later on, so that’s how some of this is known). Overall, I’d say this was good. Certainly a lot of research went into it.

12x12 BIPOC, PBT, AlphaKIT, Steeplechase, BingoDOG

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford
4.75 stars (average over two reads)

It’s 1986 and, after losing his wife to cancer, Henry Lee and his son have a slightly strained relationship, similar to the one Henry had with his father. When Henry passes the Panama Hotel, and sees that someone has found boxes of abandoned things in the basement, it brings back memories of 1942. Henry was 12 years old, and going to a white kids’ school, where the only other non-white was a Japanese-American girl, Keiko. They strike up a friendship, until her family is sent away to the internment camps. It moved back and forth in time, between Henry patching up his strained relationship with his son, Marty, in 1986, and back to the war years and his time spent with Keiko and his struggles with his father over their forbidden friendship.

2010 read:
5 stars
Loved this book! Wow! What an emotional roller-coaster! This was Jamie Ford’s first book and I do hope he’ll be writing more.

2024 reread:
4.5 stars.
It was slower-moving through the book than I remembered. And there was a lot I’d forgotten. I really only remembered the gist of the book and how much I liked it. It was a difficult topic done in a nice way. I liked all the mixes of races (at least amongst the main characters, and that they all managed to be friends.) But Henry’s father sure was hateful (full of hate, himself, and easy for the reader to dislike).

12x12 Animals, Roundtuits

The Mountaintop School for Dogs... / Ellen Cooney
2.5 stars

Evie has travelled to work (or volunteer?) at a dog rescue at the top of a mountain. However, she lied and said she had experience training dogs. Meanwhile, she looks things up online to help herself out. She is delayed for a while at the bottom of the mountain where she meets Mrs. Auberchon, who is in charge of the lodge she is temporarily at, and “Giant George”, a teenager who also works/volunteers at the rescue. And she meets a few of the dogs on their way to the rescue.

I listened to the audio. Although I liked the idea of the dog rescue and some of the issues that the book brings to light as to some of the awful ways dogs are sometimes treated and why they might end up at a rescue, I wasn’t impressed with this rescue – seems to me this is a pretty disreputable place. They let Evie go straight in and start training without training her themselves? They stole at least one dog (the new Evie and teenager George were sent to do this), probably more. I didn’t really like Evie, and I wasn’t interested in her background, so I mostly tuned that out. The 2.5 stars is for the dogs and the general information about dogs included in the book.

12x12 ARCs, BingoDOG

Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin
2 stars

Jingwen is a dancer in Shanghai in the 1930s. Her grandmother, who raised her, is a doctor… and works for one of the local high ranking gangs. Jingwen does errands for her grandmothers to make extra money; this is dangerous as these errands often involve gangsters. She dances in the evenings where men buy dance tickets to dance with the girls, and during the day, she is learning a routine with a group of dancers (none have had formal dance training) so they are not well-known nor particularly sought after.

An American doctor-turned-businessman dances with Jingwen one night and charms her (and/or vice versa?)), but at the dance, there is a horrifying scream. One of the other dancers is crying on the floor and when she turns her face up, they see her lips have been cut off.

The next day, the building and dance company Jingwen is dancing with during the day has been bought and she, herself, is going to be the next star of the company. They are switching from ballet to traditional Chinese dancing (this type of dance is new to all the dancers).

There is a lot going on! It does all end up meshing together, with Chinese mythology and fantastical elements weaved in, as well. The mythology was told like a story-within-a-story (which I’m not a fan of), so I kind of skimmed that. Also not a big fantasy fan, so the fantasy stuff didn’t peak my interest, either. The book was very dark. I like horror, so the “type” of darkness in a book doesn’t always bother me, but dark mysteries, for example, are not always appealing to me. The darkness in this book also didn’t “do it” for me. I really didn’t like any of the characters in the story, either. So, this one is definitely not for me.

12x12 PBT, PBT, BWF

The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry
4 stars

Lucinda is 15-years old and living and working with her aunt and uncle. She is an orphan and was taken in by them, but her aunt (not the blood relative) hates her and does not treat her well. Her aunt and uncle run a jewelry store where she helps and has two unusual customers in a row. One is a woman who brought in what is obviously an expensive jewel, and the next turns out to be the prince. Lucinda is very charmed by him. When Lucinda’s uncle dies, though, her aunt accuses her of stealing and throws her out. Where to go now?

I really enjoyed this Cinderella-like story, with a few extra things thrown in. It was a very fast read with short chapters. I also loved Dog (a goat!). And Peter (a thief turned friend) was fun, too. Lucinda was very very quick to become best friends with Beryl and to fall for Gregor, but oh, well. It was still fun.

12x12 Series, MysteryKIT, Roundtuits

Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs
3.5 stars

Mercedes (Mercy) is a mechanic and a shapeshifter, more specifically a coyote. She was raised by werewolves, so has a foot in that culture. She is also friends with at least one vampire. Her vampire friend, Stefan, appears as an almost “dead” blob on her floor one day. It takes a bit to bring him back. Some things have happened with the vampires (in other books earlier in the series), so they are not on good terms with Mercy (except Stefan). When Mercy is asked by an old college friend to come to Spokane (from Tri-Cities where Mercy lives) to help with a ghost in her house who is bothering her 10-year old son, everyone thinks it’s safest for Mercy to be away for a while. Spokane has only one (very territorial) vampire. Of course, somehow Mercy is unable to avoid him. And things escalate…

I liked this, though it took a while to remember the characters. There was some refresher on what had happened in the previous book (this is the 4th in the series), but I still found it tricky to remember the characters, who they were, or how they related to Mercy and others. It got better in second half, right around when Mercy headed for Spokane. I found the ghost story most interesting of the entire book (and the lead-up to the end). I wonder if this is because I used to like werewolf/vampire stories more than I do now, plus I’ve gotten more interested in ghost/haunted house stories.

>101 LibraryCin: I haven't heard of Arbella before. How interesting! Thanks for sharing the information about her.

>109 MissBrangwen: I don't believe I had heard of her until whenever it was I added the book to my tbr (that was a lot of years ago! LOL!)

12x12 Animals, CalendarCAT, Roundtuits, BWF extra

Saving Simon / Jon Katz
3.5 stars

Simon was a donkey close to death in a tiny enclosure with no shelter when he was rescued. Jon Katz had a small farm and offered to take Simon in and, along with his wife, bring Simon back to health and happiness. Jon indicates in this book that he also benefitted from having Simon, learning about compassion along the way.

I really liked the parts about Simon and the other animals on Jon’s farm (and neighbouring animals, particularly the 101-year old’s elderly blind pony, Rocky). When he philosophized about compassion, though, I didn’t agree with him. Yes, I am more compassionate toward animals than (some) people; I feel like animals are more like kids or babies, in that they are dependent on humans and aren’t always able to change their circumstances, whereas humans are more likely to be able to have the power to do that for themselves (or they can ask for help). He doesn’t address this when he insists that we should still be compassionate towards the humans who abuse animals. He did tend to repeat himself at times, though I think that’s a small thing. The stories about the animals were great, though, and that really was the bulk of the book.

12x12 Series, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT

Requiem / Lauren Oliver
3.5 stars

This is book 3 of (I believe) a trilogy. The gist of this dytopian trilogy is that people are “cured” of a disease with a surgery when they come of age. That disease is love. They will no longer feel love. They are then paired with someone to marry. But there is a group of people who don’t want this to happen, at least to them. This book follows Lena and Hana, once best friends. Their points of view alternate.

Possible spoilers for previous books: Lena is living with a group of people in the “wilds”; she has not had the surgery nor does she want to. Hana has had the surgery and is slated to marry Fred. Fred’s father was the mayor, but he died in an uprising and Fred is now mayor. He emphasizes how much he despises the uncured. He was married previously to Cassie, but Cassie seems to have disappeared.

I listened to the audio and this was good. Once again, it took a bit for me to figure out who many of the characters were (though I knew the main characters). It was interesting to see Hana’s and Lena’s different viewpoints, given where they each were at this point in their lives. I found Hana’s POV a bit more interesting than Lena’s. I did like how it ended.

12x12 BIPOC, PBT Trim, Roundtuits

Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba
3.5 stars

Conception is brought from Mexico to Massachusetts as a slave in the late 1600s. But on the ship on the way there, she is raped over and over. Once in New England, she has a baby, but the couple who bought her want a second child and haven’t been able to. So, while Conception tries to teach her daughter Spanish and some of her own culture, Rachel takes it upon herself to turn the child against her mother, and eventually takes Hanna (or Jeronima, depending if you ask Rachel or Conception). In a town not too far away, people are being accused of being witches, including Conception’s friend, Tituba.

This was good. There were parts that were a bit slower to read (literally), when Conception was writing letters, as the font was changed to look like handwriting. It does make me wonder if younger people will be able to read those parts of the book at all (if kids are no longer being taught cursive). It’s a tough book to read, though. I saw someone use the word “gritty”. Good way to describe it. Hanna/Jeronima drove me nuts sometimes! But I guess it’s hard for me to understand how easy it is for a child to be “brainwashed”, and that’s really what it amounted to.

12x12 RTT, RTT, BingoDOG

The Story of My Life / Helen Keller
3 stars

This is Helen Keller’s autobiography (for about the first half). Then, it includes some of the letters Helen wrote to various people. Helen, of course, was both blind and deaf in the late 19th century as a child when she and a teacher had a breakthrough as her teacher, Annie Sullivan, was trying to teach her to communicate. Helen grew up to become very educated and published more than one book.

I listened to the audio, and it was ok, but I did lose focus more than I would have liked. It turns out Helen loved books and reading, which was interesting. It was kind of repetitive between the biography portion, then much of what was in the letters had already also been mentioned in the autobiography. Helen Keller was a pretty impressive woman.

12x12 Oh Canada, AlphaKIT, Travel Across Canada, BWF extra

Up and Down / Terry Fallis
4 stars

David used to work in Ottawa, but moved to Toronto to be closer to his dying mother, who has been mostly taken care of by his sister. His new job is with a PR firm and he is thrown into the fire immediately to help with a NASA campaign. Some love, some don’t, his idea of a “citizen astronaut” campaign. People can enter to randomly be selected to go up to space, as long as they can pass the training requirements. But the people at NASA who matter love the idea and it’s on. There will be one winner from the US and one from Canada. But someone (in the DC office of the PR firm) have specific ideas about who they think should win the “random” draw. And the random person in Canada? Definitely not what anyone expected!

This was fun! Fallis’ books are humourous and this was definitely that. And I loved L Percival, Canada’s winner. There were interesting “side” stories for both David and L Percival. The PR guy in DC was horrible! But, I suppose, for the humourous slant of the novel, it makes sense to have some over-the-top characters. I really should read more of Fallis’ books (I’ve already read the political ones with Angus, but no others -- yet.)

>113 LibraryCin: Taking a BB for this one.

>116 lowelibrary: Hope you "like" it (though it's dark, so like is a funny way to put it!).

12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, RandomKIT

Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber
3.5 stars

Lydia runs a knitting store on Blossom Street and often runs classes. She is currently renting the upstairs of the store to Colette, who has recently started working closeby at the flower shop. Colette seems to have plenty of secrets and seems wary of opening up. Alix is recently engaged, but her “adopted” mother/friend and soon-to-be mother-in-law have taken over the plans and won’t listen to what Alix and Jordan actually want (though Jordan seems to not be bothered too much, either way). Lydia’s sister, Margaret works with Lydia, but when Margaret’s daughter is caught up in a carjacking, and is injured, Margaret is in full-on revenge mode and won’t stop until the carjacker is found and pays for what he’s done.

Some of the characters have returned from earlier books in the series, but I don’t think you need to read them in order; I leave so much time in between, I never remember the previous books, anyway. I found Colette’s story the least interesting, but they all rose above the 3.5 star “good” rating temporarily, but then it all ended up very (possible) sickly sweet and tied up in a way-too-perfect bow for my liking. Overall, though, it was a good story. I will continue to the next book.

12x12 Animals, RandomKIT, CalendarCAT

The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich
3.25 stars

Not just about birds, but butterflies, bees, insects, other critters, humans, even trees… and home. What makes a home and compels critters to create that home and either migrate to/from or just want to “cocoon” and stay there?

I found some of the info more interesting than others. Of course, it started off with birds and other critters that migrate and how they manage to find their way to/from. But the book expands far beyond, even speculating on humans and home. I have to agree with others that I could have done without the hunting chapter. Even though this wasn’t an audio book, I did lose interest at times, though, which is why the rating somewhere between “ok” and “good” for me.

12x12 Series, PBT, BWF

Sapphire Blue / Kerstin Gier
3.5 stars

This is the 2nd book in a trilogy, featuring a secret group of time travellers. Gwen discovered that the gene in her family passed to her (though everyone thought it had passed to her cousin, Charlotte), so she is woefully unprepared for the world of time travelling, and must learn from one of the others in the society and from Charlotte. Charlotte is not thrilled with this twist in her life. Meanwhile, Gwen has fallen for Gideon, who also has the gene and is travelling with her (most of the time).

I listened to the audio, so I did lose focus at times. This is also the 2nd book in a trilogy, so the story moves forward but nothing comes to any kind of conclusion at this point. I did enjoy the parts I paid attention to. I do enjoy the relationship between Gwen and Gideon; I also enjoyed the interactions between Gwen and her younger grandfather from years ago.

12x12 PBT, Steeplechase, MysteryKIT

Roses are Red / James Patterson
4 stars

While a bank is being robbed, the manager’s family is being held hostage. If they don’t get their money in a set amount of time, the family will be killed. They get their money, but within a minute the family is killed, anyway. Alex Cross is working with the FBI on this one. Then it happens again, but this time, bank employees are killed and the family is left alive. Someone called “The Mastermind” is behind it, with the help of others (who mostly don’t last long themselves).

This is a really good series. It is dark and violent, though. I am often not as interested in the sections/chapters (in most books) from the “bad guy’s” POV, but this one was good. Maybe the psychology of it made it more interesting to me? Parts of Alex’s personal life was interesting and other parts I wasn’t as concerned about; in any case, there was some forward movement on that part of his life, as well. And yup – the end was definitely a surprise!

12x12 Overflow, RandomKIT, Steeplechase bonus

Where the Forest Meets the Stars / Glendy Vanderah
3.75 stars

Jo is a Ph.D.(?) student studying bird nests and is renting a place beside a forested area. When a little girl with bruises appears in her yard and refuses to go home, or even tell Jo her name or where she belongs, the girl says she came from the stars, from another planet. She eventually gives her name as Ursa Major. Whenever Jo tries to call the police to help get the girl home, the girl runs away. Ursa manages to wrap her finger around Jo (and their neighbour, the “Egg Man” Gabe), as Jo and Gabe try to figure out how to figure out where she came from and get her home again.

I loved the bird information in the book. And the astronomy info. I guess most of that was nearer the beginning of the book. (There was also plenty of Shakespeare mentioned.) I wasn’t sure what I’d think about this child from the stars, or another planet, thinking there might be some magical realism in the book (not my thing), but I ended up really liking it. I also quite liked Jo and Gabe’s relationship, and Jo’s best friend, Tabby, was fun, too. I took a ¼ star off for the far too unrealistic, happy, everything-tied-up-with-a-ribbon ending.

12x12 ARCs

Killer Dead, Victim Alive / Michael Geczi
4 stars

Keith Victor is a serial killer who has never hidden who he is – kidnapping, then killing his (so far) six victims. Law enforcement knows his name and more about him, but haven’t (yet) been able to find or stop him. When he kidnaps Chrissy Weeks, though, he has gotten in over his head.

(This is not a spoiler, as it happens at the start of the book): Chrissy walks into a police station right around the same time Keith Victor’s body is found. He has been shot in the head. She gives strange and confusing answers to the police’s questions.

I really liked this. It was a very different take on a mystery. One thing that I found a bit confusing, though, was sometimes referring to characters by first name and sometimes last name. Especially the police and FBI – there were quite a few of them, so it got a bit confusing to remember who was who. The author did look into the personal lives of some of law enforcement, as well. I did (mostly) enjoy those stories, too. There was a cliffhanger ending, though, so this means I will “have” to read the next book (whenever it comes out – hope I remember!).

12x12 Off the Shelf, BWF Extra

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You / Janelle Shane
4 stars

The author is a scientist and blogger. The book takes a look at Artificial Intelligence (AI), how it works, and some of the humourous outcomes (the title is a unique AI pick-up line).

This was quite enjoyable. There is plenty of humour (from pick up lines to cat names to recipes to ice cream flavours). Also some very cute illustrations of AI (AI itself is illustrated as a box with eyes and stick arms). And of course, interesting information on how it works. A couple of things I will remember: it works better if the focus is quite narrow; it also has very little in the way of memory. Now, I should add that the book was published 5 years ago, so pre Chat-GPT and other more current versions of AI that have come out for widespread use, so I don’t know how much improvement there has been since the author wrote the book.

12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, BWF extra

Shift / Hugh Howey
3 stars

This is the 2nd book in a dystopian trilogy. It is the future and people are living underground in silos. This is all in the future, but there is some back and forth in time for about the first half (before time catches up). In the earlier time frame, Donald is one of the people planning and building the underground silos. In the later time frame, Troy is newly on shift (for 6 months), in a higher responsibility position than he thought he’d have. He is pretty much responsible for making sure everything remains running smoothly (I think). If something goes wrong in a silo, it is simply shut down (and people fend for themselves). Later in the book, one of the silos has been shut down and a boy, Jimmy, is trying to stay safe and alive.

I’m not making this sound very interesting and I’m only rating it “ok”. I did manage to miss parts of it because I was listening to an audio. There was a big thing I missed in the middle, unfortunately. I figured out what had happened; I just missed how we got there. Parts of the second half got a bit more interesting with Jimmy trying to survive in the shut down silo.

Interesting, as I read some of the other reviews, it turns out this is a prequel. I had no idea. But then, it’s been 6(?) years since I read the first one, and I really have no memory of it, anyway. Despite my lukewarm reception to this one, I do plan to read the 3rd book, as well.

12x12 ARCs, PBT

The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole
3.75 stars

This book is based on some real people discovered during the author’s genealogical research. It follows a few families from the early 1800s to just into the early 1900s (the bulk is during the 19th century). There is a historical note at the end that talks about some of what really happened.

(Early 1800s): Rachel and Joseph are in love and want to marry when Joseph tells Rachel that he is leaving to go to war. Rachel is devastated. She eventually marries someone who abuses her and her life ends up in jeopardy.

(Later 1800s): a few generations later, drunkard Jacob Marks (a descendant of Joseph) successively marries three women, each younger than the last. His first wife, Mary, falls down the stairs and dies; His second wife, Bess, disappears; his third wife, Tilda(? Or Thirza… these are two very similar names in the book and I can’t remember which one was Jacob’s third wife), is “lucky” enough to have close family nearby who start asking questions when she, too, disappears.

I thought this was really good, but for a while it went back and forth in time (which usually doesn’t bother me too much), and what was trickier was figuring out all the people and how they were related. There is a cast of characters at the front of the book, but even when I referred to it, I still had trouble figuring things out. That’s what took it down a ¼ star for me. However, I thought the storyline was very good.

12x12 Series, AlphaKIT, BWF extra, Roundtuits

Red Lily / Nora Roberts
3 stars

This is the third in a trilogy. Hayley is a single mom and has been staying and working with Roz since just before having baby Lily. She is head over heels in love with Roz’s son, Harper. There is also a ghost living in the house, Amelia. Amelia seems to love children and will sing to them, including Lily. But she can be nasty otherwise. Not only that, it’s not long before she appears to periodically be possessing Hayley!

This was ok. I see that I was more interested in the ghost story (than the romances) in the first two books, but even Amelia’s story didn’t appeal to me all that much this time around. It was ok, but nothing more for me.

12x12 Audio

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt / Beth Hoffman
3 stars

CeeCee is 12 years old when her mother dies and her usually-absent father decides to send her to live with her great-aunt in Georgia. CeeCee, even though her father is usually away, is still hesitant to leave, but once she arrives in Georgia she becomes great friends with Aunt Tootie’s cook(?).

I listened to the audio. This was pretty slow-moving, but an ok book. Not a whole lot really happened. I did find it odd that CeeCee was really only making friends with women much older than she is. She did make one friend her age, and I assume – had the book continued into the school year – she and her new friend her own age would have been the story at that point. Anyway, this one was ok for me.

12x12 RTT, RTT

Utopia for Realists / Rutger Bregman
3.5 stars

People with a basic income. No stings attached money for poor people. 15 hour workweek. These are some of the things suggested by the author to make life better for all. There are studies to back him up and, though we have been conditioned to think differently, it does not cost more to just give poor people money to do with as they will and they don’t (the vast majority) spend it on drugs or alcohol. In fact, for the most part, they do use it to better their lives in an ongoing way.

These are just some of the things the author talks about. Of course, I already agree with much of this, but there are economic reasons, too – reasons we wouldn’t immediately think.

12x12 Travel, CalendarCAT

The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian
1.5 stars

Current day – an author (?) is investigating some family history of her grandparents that included the Armenian genocide in 1915.
1915 – a couple of storylines. Elizabeth and Armen in Syria. Also a little orphan girl and someone who tries to help her.

Sad summary, I know. I just never got interested, so I really didn’t care or pay attention to what was happening in the book. The author’s note tells me he is Armenian.

12x12 Travel, AlphaKIT, PBT, BWF

Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose
1.5 stars

A minister (reverend? clergy of some sort) is murdered. A woman named Charlotte (?) has been looking after (in a way) two boys and trying to teach them to speak “the King’s English”, as well as some manners. A second murder happens partway through. There is some society called “The Ancients”.

Second book in a row where I was not interested enough to really pay attention to what was going on nor did I really care. I was curious about the two boys, but it wasn’t enough to know what happened in the book. This is the first in a series and I obviously won’t continue.

12x12 Series, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT

The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell
4 stars

Emma of Normandy became queen of England in the early 11th century. Aethelred was her husband, the king… much older than Emma was and they rarely got along. In fact, Emma was attracted (and it was mutual) to Aethelred’s oldest son, Athelstan. Aethelred had many children from his first wife, many close to Emma’s age. When one of the top nobles is murdered in 1008, his daughter (Elgiva), fearing for her life, runs. She ends up marrying the heir to the Danish throne. The Danes and Vikings are teaming up to attack England. Emma wants to keep her toddler son close, but Aethelred wants to keep her away from him, so sends him to be raised by his daughter and her husband, who is Aethelred’s closest advisor… one who really doesn’t have Aethelred’s best interests in mind.

This is the second in a trilogy, and I didn’t even remember the first book (or that there was one) until I looked it up after finishing (though it wasn’t that long ago – 3 years – since I listened to the audio). Given that, I’d say you don’t need to read the first one to read this one. This is a time period I don’t think I’ve read anything else of, but I really liked Emma’s strong character. Elgiva was also a strong character, but she wasn’t a terribly nice person. Now, all that being said, in reality, there isn’t much known about these women, so their roles in history, as portrayed in this book, are fictional. Luckily, there is a good cast of characters at the beginning of the book (also luckily, I wasn’t listening to the audio, so it was easy to refer to), since many of the characters have names starting with E or AE! There is also a glossary, and an author’s note at the end.

>130 LibraryCin: I seem to come across strings of books that evoke the same sentiment. Sometimes it takes me a while to settle onto something.

>133 LadyoftheLodge: Yeah, I don't often have this happen. I was away last week, and wonder if I was just distracted, even when I took time to read.

>134 LibraryCin: Sometimes I think it is my own impatience for the story to get going when it seems to be moving slowly.

12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT

The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman.
4 stars

In this 3rd volume of Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, there are four separate short stories presented, though they all involve dreams and the characters Death or Dream in some way. One was about an author with writer’s block, who acquired the muse Calliope to help him out. One was a cat who told a story trying to get other cats to dream with her to become more powerful than humans. The third was Will Shakespeare and his son Hamnet, travelling and performing for one patron “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The last one involved some kind of supernatural creature who cannot die who is lonely and desperately wants to find a way.

I quite liked this one. I don’t always like short stories, but I think I like them better in graphic novel format. I like Death portrayed as a woman, as it was on the last story, but the first story was my favourite. Included at the end of the book is Gaiman’s script on how one of the stories (Calliope, my favourite one) should be drawn and formatted. That was interesting to see how he writes his graphic novels (though he specifically explains that not everyone does it the same way).

12x12 Overflow, ScaredyKIT (Apr), BWF extra

The Scapegracers / H. A. Clarke
3.75 stars

Sideways is at a party and “plays” a little bit with magic. Three other girls from school are willing, and they recruit one more from a neighbouring school. But it’s dangerous. Sideways is not sure what happened when she wakes up the next morning. One of the girls is missing, and they find her at the bottom of an empty pool with three dead deer arranged closeby. Despite the danger and not knowing exactly what happened or how, the girls love the attention they get out of it and want to do more with magic.

I mostly liked this, though none of the characters was terribly likable (except Sideways’ two dads). It is quite graphic at times, as well (this is just an fyi… graphic doesn’t usually bother me, and it didn’t this time). Also a lot of profanity, which I disliked more than the graphic-ness. And it doesn’t quite finish, so not sure how long the series is (or will be) or if there is just one sequel or if it’s a trilogy, but I’ll read the next one.

>132 LibraryCin: I took a BB for this, or rather for the first one in the trilogy - it is a fascinating period of time!

>138 MissBrangwen: Enjoy!

It's not a time period I've read much about. Looking forward to the next one, though.

12x12 PBT, PBT, MysteryKIT, BWF extra

The Last Seance / Agatha Christie
2.5 stars

This is a collection of horror short stories, written by Agatha Christie. Apparently they hadn’t before been collected into one anthology until more recently.

I listened to the audio, which was maybe a mistake… between it being short stories + Agatha Christie. Sadly, most of what I’ve read by her, I’ve not been terribly excited about. Short stories are often not my thing, either + on audio… if I get distracted at all, there isn’t as much time to catch the storyline later and fill in the blanks. I had hoped to like it better because these ones involve the supernatural, and there were a few stories that I liked better than the others, but overall, I still can’t rate it very highly.

12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaKIT, Steeplechase, Roundtuits

Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert
4 stars

Melissa Gilbert is best known for playing Laura Ingalls Wilder in the tv show “Little House on the Prairie”. This is a memoir she has written. She was adopted at about 24 hours old, and was very overprotected by her mother. Despite this, they were quite close. Her parents did divorce, but tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids; sadly, her father passed away when she was only 11-years old.

As she grew up, she went through a succession of on-again, off-again relationships, her first (that lasted quite a few years) with Rob Lowe. She later married (twice) – her first husband, Bo, was a piece of work, but she had a son with him. There were plenty of bumps along the way with her second husband, Bruce, as well, but they love each other and came through. Melissa also battled with alcoholism. (Just looked her up and see there was more to her story after the book was published.)

I quite liked this. I learned a lot about her that I didn’t know. There was a short bit, as she described her time as president of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) that I was less interested in, due to the business nature of what she was describing. She did, of course, have a wonderful relationship with Michael Landon, which was nice to read about.