sjmccreary celebrates 13 in 13

Charlas2013 Category Challenge

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sjmccreary celebrates 13 in 13

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1sjmccreary
Editado: Ene 31, 2013, 5:29 pm

For my 13 categories, I decided to pay homage to 13 years spent attending Wichita public schools. Here is my celebration of 13 years of education, together with a shout-out to some of my favorite and memorable teachers and classes:

Kindergarten - Mrs Koontz taught us to play nicely and follow the rules. I loved it. This will be the category for books that are fun and easy.

1st grade - Miss Jones taught us to read and write. Miss Jones was an amazing teacher. Our class was a combination 1st & 2nd grade, so we had to spend half the time working on our own while she taught the 2nd graders on the other side of the room. She was a very tiny woman, barely taller than the students, and a career teacher. My mother had Miss Jones for 2nd grade, and loved her as much as I did. After the public schools forced her to retire, she went to work for the Catholic schools for several years more. In thanks to Miss Jones for the gift of literacy, this category will be for books of discovery YA and children's books.

2nd grade - Mrs Whitney taught us to add and subtract. This was another combination class - 2nd and 3rd grades - and I was in there for both years. Mrs Whitney seemed stern at first, but I came to love her very much and hated going on to another teacher for 4th grade. Arithmetic was hard for me and I was very slow, so my Dad made flash cards to test me every night before dinner. Eventually I was able to complete the weekly timed tests with perfect scores. For Mrs Whitney, and Dad, this category is for books about gaining understanding.

3rd grade - Mrs Whitney also taught us how to spell. Not my favorite subject, but I got by. This category is for books that spell-it-out, and instructional books.

4th grade - Mrs Roark taught us multiplication. This time it was my Mom who quizzed me on the "times tables". We only got up to the 10's and to this day I still don't know the 11's and 12's very well. So, speaking of multiplying, this category is for series books.

5th grade - Mrs Thompson taught another combination class - 5th and 6th grade. I remember spending as much time listening to the 6th grade lessons as I did to ours. This was in 1970 and the first year of forced integration in our school district. For the first time, we had black students bused into our previously lily-white school. It was a confusing time in the nation, and in the classroom. This was the year I began to learn to think on my own and figure things out. This category is for mysteries.

6th grade - Mrs Hicks came to our school when Mrs Thompson retired. Like the new students, Mrs Hicks came from one of the "black" schools. It was the first time in my life that I had regular contact with a non-white person. It was off-putting at first, especially when she put up the posters of "prominent Negroes in American history" on the very first day of school and never took them down. We had "Black History Month" all year. We learned about the on-going civil rights movement, and other racial issues from someone on the other side, so to speak. It was an eye-opening experience. With much gratitude for Mrs Hicks, this category will be for books about the 20th century and current events.

7th grade - this was the start of Junior High in our district, and all of a sudden there were 6 teachers to face every day. Some I can't remember, some I'll never forget. One class I wish I could forget - with all the ugly posters we had to make and the never-ending worksheets onto which we copied virtually the entire textbook - was Old World History with Mrs Hurst. I didn't have a problem with Mrs Hurst personally, I just hated the assignments and wouldn't appreciate the subject until much later. This category is for foreign (non-USA) books - that is, foreign authors, foreign settings, or originally published in a foreign country.

8th grade - Mr Arnold taught math, and I had him for 2 years. Surprisingly, considering my early experiences, these were honors classes and I did well in them, and I loved Mr Arnold. Many years later, after I was grown and married, I saw Mr Arnold and his wife at church. After the service I went up to him and introduced myself. He said he remembered me and asked me, "can you balance a checkbook?". I told him yes I could, and that I had become a CPA. He stood up straight, puffed out his chest, turned to his wife and said, "I'll take credit for that!" I'm happy to give him the credit for my profession. This category is for books about professionals.

9th grade - Ms Dunlop's was the only science class I ever enjoyed. I even dissected a frog! This category is for books about science and nature.

10th grade - this year we moved to the high school - big and scary at first, but all my friends and I were together in the same English class with Mrs Calvert. I guess we must have written in there, too, but all I remember is the reading. We read tons of stuff, including 1984 and Animal Farm, which was the LAST time I read anything by Orwell! This category is for classic literature and literary fiction.

11th grade - I don't remember his name, so I'll call him Mr Regier. He was the best history teacher in the school. He was so good that I signed up to take him for US History even though I knew I would have to transfer to the worst teacher for the second semester because Mr Regier had a conflict. It was still worth it. I took Government from him the next year, too. This category is for books about US history.

12th grade - Mr Willis taught instrumental music. Before I ended up with an accounting degree, I had planned to major in music. I played piccolo in the marching band, flute in the pep band, alto sax in the jazz band, and bassoon in the orchestra and concert band. Plus, I took a class in music theory. I spent more time with Mr Willis senior year than with anyone else! He introduced me to "Bach, Beethoven and the boys" as well as Miles Davis and Maynard Ferguson, and instilled in me a life-long love and appreciation for all styles and genres of music. In honor of Mr Willis, this category is for books about music and the arts.

2mamzel
Oct 26, 2012, 3:05 pm

Nice way to honor all your teachers! I can only remember the names of my high school teachers. Happy reading!

3PawsforThought
Oct 26, 2012, 3:18 pm

Really cool way to honour some very important people in your life (can you tell I'm fond of teachers?). I remember the names of every single teacher I've ever had, but I had most of them for 3 years and it's a fair bit closer in time for me than for you.

Looking forward to reading what about what books you end up choosing.

4hailelib
Oct 26, 2012, 3:32 pm

Some great categories here!

5lkernagh
Oct 26, 2012, 5:40 pm

What a marvelous way to set up your challenge!

6DeltaQueen50
Oct 26, 2012, 9:13 pm

Hi Sandy, I think this is a lovely tribute to the teachers that have had an influence in your life. It's amazing how one remembers those stand-out (both the good and the bad) teachers for the rest of your life. You look like you are planning a full reading year and I am looking forward to following you.

7fmgee
Oct 26, 2012, 10:41 pm

wow nice categories and even nicer memory. I particularly like 2nd grade. I look forward to seeing what you read

8rabbitprincess
Oct 27, 2012, 11:42 am

Excellent theme and great categories! Love Mr. Arnold taking credit for you becoming a CPA :) Happy reading!

9ivyd
Oct 27, 2012, 3:44 pm

Love your theme and categories and the memories that go with them!

10cyderry
Oct 27, 2012, 8:00 pm

It's amazing, isn't it, that great teachers can make such an impact on your life!
I did a school theme this year and it's brought back a bunch of sweet memories!

11Zozette
Oct 27, 2012, 8:18 pm

Or how a bad teacher can also make an impact.

My grade 7 English teacher (Mrs Dallas) had a thing for dictation. I was a poor speller (due to a hearing problem) and I failed the first dictation test she gave us. She told me that I wasn't really good enough to be in her level three (highest level) class and that she would have to give me easier work to do during the year. I only managed to get a lower pass that year.

The next year I was put on probation for level three. My teacher was Miss Bennett and after a couple of weeks in her class she asked me to stay after class. I thought she was going to tell that I was being put down to level 2. She said to me "I don't know why you only got a lower pass last year, your stories are very good". I told her about my bad spelling and she answered "We can work on that". For the rest of my school life I received level 3 Higher passes. I might have got credits if it wasn't for my spelling.

But that is enough about me.

I am most interested in your 5th grade (mysteries), 7th grade (foreign) and 9th grade (science and nature) categories.

12sjmccreary
Oct 27, 2012, 8:59 pm

Thanks for all the nice comments. This was a fun way to come up with 13 categories, and forced me to think about my education in ways I'd never done before. It brought back mostly good memories. I finally remembered that Mr Regier was an English teacher (I didn't like him), but I still don't remember the name of the wonderful history teacher that I had in 11th grade.

I really don't know yet how I will organize my books into these categories, or whether I will even establish a goal for each category or overall. For now, I'm still basking in the glow of the memories of the many wonderful teachers and lessons that I had growing up.

13lindapanzo
Oct 27, 2012, 9:10 pm

Great categories, Sandy. I enjoyed reading about all the wonderful teachers you had.

Alas, when we moved from the city out to the country, for most of my grade school years, I had the same basic 3 teachers for just about everything.

14-Eva-
Oct 28, 2012, 4:44 pm

I love the categories!! I'm going to go dig up my old school-photos to see if I can go on a little memory-trip myself. Good categories too - I'm sensing there'll be bookbullets flying here... :)

15PawsforThought
Oct 28, 2012, 5:07 pm

I'm especially looking forward to reading what you come up with for your last category about music and the arts. Have any thoughts on it yet? Non-fiction, biographies or fiction? That's probably my favourite of your categories (though I like them all).

16sjmccreary
Oct 28, 2012, 7:05 pm

#11 Zozette, we must have been cross posting yesterday as I didn't see your comment until now. Thank goodness for Miss Bennett. There isn't a single subject that isn't made easier with a good teacher. I was lucky to have especially good math teachers in junior high and high school, else I might have ended up doing something entirely different with my life. Accounting really doesn't require any high level math on a day-to-day basis, but we did have to pass both calculus and statistics to earn the degree.

#13 Linda, only 3 teachers? I hope you liked them!

#14 Book bullets fly both ways, you know!

#15 I'm not very fond of biographies, so probably this will be mostly novels with some non-fictions. I'm sure I'll be very flexible in allowing books to fit into particular categories. The practical arts will also fit in here, not just fine arts.

17Tanglewood
Oct 28, 2012, 7:37 pm

Wonderful set up for your categories! My 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Wood, had a huge impact on me. Before her I'd been a mediocre student, but she helped transform me into a great student, who loved English, Social Studies, and Science. I even had one teacher who made me like math, but that only lasted while I had him!

18LittleTaiko
Oct 30, 2012, 10:31 am

What wonderful categories and stories about your teachers. They really can have a lot of impact - Mrs. Murrary and Mrs. Wilder are responsible for my love of numbers. Mrs. Watkins was my wonderful English teacher - she let me read more advanced books than the rest of the class and created separate tests.

Also - nice to have a fellow CPA in the group!

19sjmccreary
Oct 30, 2012, 11:13 pm

I'm so happy that everyone is remembering those special teachers who made a huge impact, and were probably not even aware they were doing anything special.

#18 We CPAs need a secret handshake or something - we're pretty invisible in a crowd. Do you ever get tired of people commenting on how busy you must be every March and April? I don't do taxes, so I find this especially tiresome.

20LittleTaiko
Oct 31, 2012, 11:10 am

#19 - LOL - yes, I do! I'm in the accounting department for a corporation and have absolutely nothing to do with taxes. In fact, I have someone do my taxes for me.

21cyderry
Oct 31, 2012, 4:50 pm

Before I retired, since my main area of expertise was budgets, November and December were killers for me because I had to get them set for the new year. My husband, also an accountant/CPA does do taxes but for Partnerships and corporations and his are due in October. March/April we travel.

22sjmccreary
Nov 1, 2012, 1:28 pm

#20 I do my own taxes, but that only 1040 I do. I sometimes go to tax conferences for CPE, just because I need the hours and they are affordable (when sponsored by IRS). I attend the sessions that are relevant to my own return.

#21 Cheli, you guys have the right idea. No one to pester you about tax season if you're away on vacation!

23lindapanzo
Nov 1, 2012, 2:54 pm

What?!? You guys can't do my taxes?

Actually, we (CCH) own a tax processing service so I'm good. Before I started working here, I would've been shocked to hear about CPAs who don't do taxes. Now, I know better.

24cyderry
Nov 2, 2012, 2:36 am

Mainly, the CPA for is just like the MD for a doctor. They usually specialize in a particular field, same with accountants, but you have to have that little CPA for anyone to really notice you in the accounting field. When my husband first started with the company that he's in, he said that he never did anything that needed a CPA for. It was a private company, but the CPA on his application got his foot in the door, now he's a partner. Go figure.

I never got my CPA, but figure Tim's partly belongs to me since I was the one who had to nag him to study for the test.

25dudes22
Nov 2, 2012, 5:35 am

Getting back to teachers - I had a second grade teacher, Mrs Trout, who was no taller than we were. She used to let some of her students help her grade papers and she was still driving a Model-T Ford in 1060 because it was the only car where she could reach the pedals ( as I recall). She drove that car around town until she died, I think. I have some very fond memories of some of my teachers.

Great connection to the categories you've chosen for next year and some good stories too.

26psutto
Nov 2, 2012, 1:41 pm

Fun categories, I only remember the stand out good or bad teachers I've had!

27sjmccreary
Nov 3, 2012, 12:54 am

#23 Linda, I'll do your tax return if you'll advise me the next time I have a legal issue. All lawyers go to court, don't they? ;-)

#24 Cheli, that's pretty accurate. Most accounting jobs, including tax preparation, do not require a CPA.

#25 What a great story about Mrs Trout - I can picture her, looking just like my Miss Jones, putting around in the old car.

#26 It's unfortunate that some teachers are so awful that they are unforgettable! I still can't remember the name of the excellent history teacher I had in high school, but I'll never forget that I transferred to Mr Wood's class for second semester and that my grade dropped from an A to a C as a result. He was terrible!

28sandragon
Nov 30, 2012, 10:56 am

This is a lovely tribute to your teachers. 20-30 years on, I can't remember the names of most of mine (and I ditched my yearbooks a while back in a fit of anti-nostalgia). I did have some fun ones though, especially for biology and physics.

Good luck on your challenge!

29sjmccreary
Dic 11, 2012, 10:25 am

HO! I finally remembered the history teacher's name! I came here this morning to refresh my memory about my categories and begin thinking ahead to the beginning of the year. I see that I figured out who Mr Regier was (a little leprechaun of a man who taught College Reading). The history teacher, a short middle-aged white man with a bald head, was Mr Buttram. He team-taught Government with a tall younger black man named Mr Jefferson. We referred to the two of them as "Butt and Jeff". They presented a comical appearance, but they were wonderful teachers, and everyone loved their class. I still remember that my bill for the mock legislature was to abolish the electoral college. It passed!

30AHS-Wolfy
Dic 11, 2012, 3:22 pm

Sounds like you had some great teachers over the years. Had a couple of teachers on a business studies course for book-keeping and accounts that had appropriate names: Fiddler and Cook. That managed to raise a smile for a while.

31christina_reads
Dic 11, 2012, 3:43 pm

Wolfy, that is practically Dickensian.

32tymfos
Dic 17, 2012, 8:10 am

I absolutely love the theme of your challenge, Sandy! I wish I'd thought of something like that! It's so filled with meaning.

33lindapanzo
Ene 1, 2013, 3:58 pm

Looking forward to seeing what you're reading in 2013, Sandy.

34sjmccreary
Ene 14, 2013, 10:44 pm

I have some books to report!

Book #1



Kill for Me by Karen Rose

4th Grade - series books


Teenage girls are being lured away from their homes by online predators. They are abducted, sold into prostitution, abused, and killed. When investigators dig into the case, they discover that no one in sleepy Dutton, Georgia is who they appear to be. This is the third book of the Daniel Vartanian trilogy, although Daniel spends most of the book in intensive care. His partner, fellow Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Luke Papadopoulos continues working to solve the crimes with help from Daniel's sister, Susannah. Susannah is an ADA in New York and has returned home only to give a statement to investigators regarding a rape that she suffered 13 years earlier, at the hands of her other brother, Simon, and a group of other boys. Many of those same boys are also connected to the current situation, only now they are prominent local citizens - including a doctor, the mayor, and a deputy sheriff.

I like serial killer thrillers, but the body count in this book was higher than most - 15 altogether, I think. The plot was overly complex and I had trouble keeping everything straight in my mind. This was due in part to being the end of the series, and not having many refreshers of the events in the earlier books. My audio version was not very enjoyable because of the obviously fake southern accents the reader gave everyone, especially the men, and the high pitched squeaky voice she used for Luke. His voice was higher than many of the women and never stopped being annoying.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. And I love the cover art! However, I'd only recommend it if you've recently read the first two books, and only if you either read in print or listen to a different audio production (this reader was Tavia Gilbert - I've never heard of her before). 3 stars.

35sjmccreary
Ene 14, 2013, 10:45 pm

Book #2



Being Santa Claus by Sal Lizard

Kindergarten - books that are fun and easy


What a pleasing, positive little book! After the stress of the hearing last week, and packing and moving all weekend, I really enjoyed this book that I read while waiting for the oil to be changed in my car this morning. Linda P had recommended it last month, but I wasn't able to get it before Christmas. It is a collection of stories from the experiences of a professional Santa Claus, illustrating the lessons he has learned over the years about what Christmas means to different people, and the importance of Santa Claus in our society. Recommended. 3 stars.

36cyderry
Ene 14, 2013, 11:01 pm

I read this Santa book too and I thought it was great.

37sjmccreary
Ene 14, 2013, 11:11 pm

Book #3



Damnation Road by Max McCoy

11th Grade - books about US history


I chose this book just because it is a Spur Award winner - for the January Awards CAT theme. According to LT, this book is part of a series (book #8 or something like that). I've never read any of the others before, and have never heard of this author before, either. However, it works well as a stand-alone as Jacob Gamble's back-story is revealed quite completely.

Jacob Gamble has fled Kansas to the Oklahoma territory in 1898 after killing a man who deserved killing, but who happened to be the governor's brother-in-law. While in Oklahoma, he kills 2 of the 4 bounty hunters who are after him, The 3rd is killed by the 4th, but Gamble is blamed. He escapes from jail while awaiting trial in Guthrie and then enlists in the cavalry under a false name and goes to Cuba as part of the Rough Riders to escape his troubles. After the war, he returns to Oklahoma and participates in a train robbery with a younger man he met while in Guthrie. Just as he is about to get away with the payroll, after the other robbers ended up dead, he is hailed as a hero by the conductor. Then Jacob is approached by an English gentleman from the train and his niece who want him to guide them to New Mexico in search of an Apache treasure-trove.

McCoy is also a screenwriter and it shows. This has the feel of a TV series - where one thing after another happens to the hero but he is back next week for more. My favorite part of the book was all the familiar place names in Missouri and Kansas and Oklahoma. The bounty hunters wanted to take Gamble back to Kansas to stand trial in Wichita - my hometown. Other than that, it wasn't really predictable, but only because I haven't read enough of this genre to learn the usual tactics. But it still felt familiar - from watching Westerns on TV and in the movies. Entertaining. 3 stars.

38lkernagh
Ene 15, 2013, 8:49 pm

Yay for three books completed! I have to agree with your comment in your review for Kill for me: a body count of 15 seems high for a serial killer novel..... that can cause a reader - like me - to loose faith in the fictional system assigned to investigate the case. Just sayin' ;-)

39sjmccreary
Ene 16, 2013, 8:22 pm

#38 Yeah well, the brains of the outfit - Daniel Vartanian - was in the hospital for most of the book. Probably if he'd been on the job they would have solved the case much sooner!

40cyderry
Ene 17, 2013, 8:52 am

I read one late last year where there were 12 deaths in one day! How's the investigator supposed to stop that?

41sjmccreary
Ene 17, 2013, 11:07 pm

#40 The more insurmountable the odds, the greater the hero. What was the book?

42sjmccreary
Ene 18, 2013, 12:11 am

Book #4



The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

7th Grade - foreign books


The passage of a law establishing a new nation-wide police agency, known as Department Q, gives the Copenhagen homicide unit a chance to get rid of Carl Mørck - an experienced detective who is impossible to get along with. With Copenhagen homicide hosting the new department, and taking charge of its 5 million krone budget, Carl is named head of the department and given his very own, brand-new suite of offices. In the basement. And an assistant - a mysterious Syrian immigrant named Assad. As Carl begins receiving cold cases from all over Denmark, he spends most of his time napping with his feet on the desk, working Sudoku puzzles, and feeling guilty for his role in the recent shooting that left one of his partners dead and the other completely paralyzed. It is only as a result of Assad's prodding that Carl picks up the files and begins reading them.

The case that he decides to work involves the disappearance of a member of parliament 5 years earlier. She was travelling to Germany with her handicapped brother for a holiday and it was presumed that she fell off the ferry - or jumped - and was drowned. Her body was never recovered. As Carl begins working the case, he finds that the original investigation was very slip-shod which upsets him and prompts him to be even more diligent in seeking out evidence. Gradually, Carl comes to realize that Assad is more than just someone who cleans and makes coffee, and Assad begins to take an active role in the investigation, although his exact background remains unclear.

This is the beginning of a new series, and I enjoyed it very much. Carl's personal life is lousy - par for the course when it comes to fictional detectives, it seems. Assad is a fascinating character and I look forward to learning more about him. The clues to solving the mystery are revealed bit by bit, without too much being revealed at a time. Loved it. 4 stars.

43majkia
Ene 18, 2013, 7:19 am

The Keeper of Lost Causes is in my TBR. Nice to hear good things about it!

44-Eva-
Editado: Ene 18, 2013, 1:17 pm

I too have The Keeper of Lost Causes on Mt. TBR - although my edition is called Mercy for some reason. Neither is even remotely close to the original. :) Looking forward to reading it, though!

45tymfos
Editado: Ene 19, 2013, 11:57 am

Sandy, that one sounds good!

*sigh* Got me with the blue text again. Oh, my ever-expanding list . . .

ETA to add Oh! That one was already on the list! :)

46sjmccreary
Ene 24, 2013, 8:03 pm

Book #5



Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

10th grade - classic literature and literary fiction

How sweet it was to bring that coffee to her, and then deny it until she had done her morning duty. And I was such a thoughtful friend, such a passionate father, such a good pediatrician, attending to all the wants of my little auburn brunette's body! (pg 174)


Everyone has heard of this book and is aware of its basic premise of a middle-aged man who seduces/rapes a young teenage girl and maintains a sexual relationship with her for over a year. The quote I picked out emphasizes the "ick" factor that is a large part of the book. It took several days to get over the feeling of needing a shower after reading. It wasn't until I'd completed the book that it stopped intruding on my sleep by way of disturbing elements in my dreams. It is not a sexually explicit book. It is Humbert Humbert's own account of his relationship with Lolita, the young daughter of his landlady. His unending attraction to "nymphets" - the few pubescent girls whom he finds irresitable - is a constant feature throughout the book, even when he is with Lolita. He seems to acknowledge that this attraction is improper, but also revels in his enjoyment of it.

Obviously, I didn't like Humbert, or his story. However, as a work of fiction, it is very powerful. The use of language is masterful. At times I even found myself sympathizing with Humbert - his delusions are so complete, and we aren't privy to Lolita's thoughts. This is a book which is unforgettable - one that I appreciated without liking. So, despite the fact that it is the story of a despicable pervert, I am giving it 5 stars.

47sjmccreary
Ene 24, 2013, 8:04 pm

Book #6



Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security by Jean Chatzky

3rd grade - books that spell-it-out; instructional books


I found this little book in the move. I don't know where we got it - maybe as a giveaway at a conference my husband attended. He is the president of a large credit union and is active in promoting credit unions as a viable alternative to banks for most people.

Anyway, beginning with 2 overriding principles (one is "personal finance is more personal than finance") this is a list of nearly 100 very common sense rules for making all kinds of financial decisions - large and small. Things like "don't shop while angry" or sad or hungry. "Spend less than you earn." Some are less obvious - "your most important investment is your job". Most include short explanations.

I don't know how easy this is to find - our library doesn't have it. But it is well worth your time, and a few bucks, if you are able to get a copy. 5 stars.

48sjmccreary
Ene 24, 2013, 8:05 pm

Book #7



Swamplandia by Karen Russell

2nd grade - books about gaining understanding


Oh, I really didn't like this one very much. Swamplandia is the name of a family-owned alligator-wrestling attraction on an island off the coast of southern Florida. It is owned and operated by the Bigtree family - a "tribe" of 2nd generation immigrants from Ohio - who have invented a culture and history for themselves to show the tourists. They dress as Indians and put on their shows each time the ferry brings a new audience over from the mainland. When the mother dies, the family is hard hit. When a competing attraction opens on the mainland, the ferry stops running and the business is hard hit. This is the story of how the father, brother and 2 sisters each react to their changing fortunes.

I thought it was too long, rambling and wordy. I wasn't convinced by any of these characters. Some people really like the book, but it only gets 2-1/2 stars from me.

49sjmccreary
Ene 31, 2013, 2:47 pm

Book #8



A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R King

5th grade - mysteries


The second installment in the Holmes-Russell series. I liked it far better than the first. It is December, 1921 and Mary Russell will turn 21 in January, reaching her majority and receiving her inheritance. She is also preparing for her oral presentation at Oxford for her degree. Back in London for Christmas, she visits an Oxford friend who invites her to attend a service at the New Temple in God. The "preacher" there is a tiny woman who is a women's rights activist. She is intelligent but not highly educated and Mary is intrigued by her and offers to teach her the Greek and Hebrew needed to read the original texts of the Bible, so that she will become aware of the translation errors in the Authorized Version (AKA King James).

The church is enormously wealthy, despite having been founded only a few years earlier, and Mary suspects that there is something going on which is hidden from view. When a wealthy women in the "inner circle" of the church - and the sister of Mary's friend's fiance - is accidentally killed, after several others have also died in recent months, Mary suspects that something sinister may be going on. She decides to investigate and is assisted by Holmes.

I loved it. I wish I hadn't waited so long to read it. 4 stars.

50sjmccreary
Ene 31, 2013, 3:16 pm

January recap - 8 books completed, 4 still in progress

Categories read - 1 each in 8 categories. I guess my goal for the year will simply be to read as many as I read, but keeping them evenly spread throughout the 13 categories.

CATs - 1 alpha-CAT = A, 3 alpha-CAT = M, 1 Orange award, 1 Spur award, 5 random-CAT = new-to-me author. One CAT-trick = Damnation Road by Max McCoy, which was chosen just because it won a Spur award and was a nice surprise.

Best book overall = Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Worst book overall = Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

(Coincidentally, the best and worst were both 2013 Category Challenge group reads, so neither is one I would have chosen on my own.)

51sjmccreary
Ene 31, 2013, 3:22 pm

Taking a cue from my friend Linda Panzo, I think I will change my 1st grade category to be for "YA and children's books". She may also be contemplating the same change to one of her categories and asked me for the name of a book that we talked about when I met her in Chicago last summer. The book was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster which is one of my all-time favorites. I hope she will read it and enjoy it, too. And I think I might do a re-read for the new category.

52SandDune
Ene 31, 2013, 3:24 pm

#51 I'd never come across The Phantom Tollbooth as a child, but it was my son's favourite book for several years.

53sjmccreary
Editado: Feb 13, 2013, 1:40 pm

Book #9



Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

8th grade - books about professionals


Dr Jane Darlington is one of the nation's top young physicists and, at age 34, her biological clock is ticking. She wants a baby, but not a husband. She wants to avoid placing her child into the same unenviable situation she lived through - the loneliness of being highly intelligent in a sea of normal children - so she is determined to choose a low-intelligence father. After seeing Chicago Stars quarterback Cal Bonner give an interview on TV, she knows she has found her man. She poses as a call girl being "given" to Cal by his friends for his birthday, but is cautioned to lie about her age since Cal only likes very young women.

The rest of the story is highly predictable. But that is OK. This is pure brain candy, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips does BC as well as anyone. Loved it. 4 stars.

ETA - this book was a RITA winner - chosen to fit into the February awards-CAT theme

54sjmccreary
Editado: Feb 13, 2013, 4:04 pm

Book #10



Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

12th grade - books about music and the arts


I missed the group read of this (such as it was) over in the Missouri Readers Group a few months ago. Gillian Flynn is one of our favorite authors, being a local girl (Kansas City, although she doesn't live here anymore) and setting all her books in Missouri. There were some quibbles about her using a real place name for her fictional town - and locating it in the opposite corner of the state from the real town - but probably no one else will care about that.

Nick's wife, Amy, goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary and all clues point to him.

The book is told in alternating chapters between Nick's voice and Amy's and explains the history of their relationship, what went wrong. and what the truth is about Amy's disappearance. I was suckered into taking the first part of the book at face value (and, consequently, not liking it very much). Once more was revealed in the second part, then it became un-put-downable. I totally did not see that ending coming. As a psychological thriller, I highly recommend it. 4 stars.

note - I chose this category because Nick and Amy are both writers and the whole book seemed like a competition between them to tell their side of the story better than the other person - who was the better writer

55sjmccreary
Feb 13, 2013, 1:46 pm

Book #11



Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain by Ron Powers

3rd grade - books that spell-it-out and instructional books


This is the current group read in the Missouri Readers Group. We haven't had much chance to discuss it yet, so I'll just say that I wasn't convinced. I don't know much about the life of Mark Twain, so I don't have a basis for judging his conclusions, but it felt like he had an image in mind of what he wanted the man Samuel Clemens to look like and then picked out evidence from his childhood that could be pulled and stretched to fit that image. Perhaps after the discussion and hearing the input from others who are more knowledgeable than me, I might change my mind. But for now I am only giving the book 2-1/2 stars. Whether or not they were fairly presented, I did enjoy the stories of some of the incidents in Clemens' youth.

note - I chose this category because it felt exactly this way - the author had to spell out every connection, every point he was trying to make.

56george1295
Feb 13, 2013, 2:06 pm

I believe this may be the best thought out group of categories I have ever seen for this group. Excellent!

57sjmccreary
Feb 15, 2013, 9:36 am

#56 Thank you. What a nice compliment, especially considering the rest of the group.

58sjmccreary
Feb 15, 2013, 9:37 am

Book #12



Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

5th grade - mysteries


The first in a series about Sheriff Walt Longmire in a small Wyoming community. Besides introducing the community of characters, the mystery being investigated in this book involves the suspicious death of a young man. Walt immediately suspects that it may be connected to an earlier case where an Indian girl, afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, was abducted and raped by a group of white boys. Including the current victim. The earlier case went to trial and the boys were found guilty but sentenced to probation. It is a case that has haunted Walt ever since. But despite his gut feeling, there is no evidence that the two crimes are connected until another of the boys is also found dead.

One of my favorite characters - and definitely one to watch as the series goes forward - is Vic. Vic is Walt's deputy and the first-ever woman deputy on the force. She moved to Wyoming from Pennsylvania with her husband, leaving behind a whole family of cops. Her grandfather, her father, and her brothers are all cops, and so is she. She is, in fact, the "real deal" and Walt is grooming her to stand for election as sheriff after he steps down. She would be the first woman sheriff in the entire state if elected. There is also Lucian - the previous sheriff and Walt's mentor. Walt visits him every week in the nursing home and loses a game of chess while picking his brain about the current case.

Overall, a great book. Many thanks to Judy (DeltaQueen) for the recommendation. Even though I'd never heard of it before, it is evidently very popular in my local community. Despite being published in 2005, and the fact that the library owns 12 copies of it, I still had to wait more than 6 months to get it. So, don't wait to seek this one out. 4 stars.

59-Eva-
Feb 15, 2013, 12:41 pm

Judy put me up to that one too - looking forward to getting to it!!

60dudes22
Feb 16, 2013, 8:59 am

Yes - it's somewhere on the wish list for me too

61thornton37814
Feb 16, 2013, 9:25 am

I've got that first Walt Longmire book on my TBR list. I think I just put it on my short library list. (By short I mean that it might get read in the next 6 months or so!)

62DeltaQueen50
Feb 18, 2013, 1:40 am

Glad you enjoyed your first Walt Longmire, Sandy. I suspect the fact that this series was recently televised as a short series has increased it's popularity.

63tymfos
Feb 20, 2013, 4:03 pm

Gone Girl and The Cold Dish are both ones I've been wanting to read. You've made me bump them up the list!

64cyderry
Feb 21, 2013, 1:29 pm

Ouch BB!

65sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:26 am

I've really fallen behind posting here. Also read in February:

Book #13



The American Civil War: A Military History by John Keegan

11th grade - US history


I love reading about American history but have often wondered how it would read if told by a foreigner. Well, this is just that. John Keegan is an Englishman who has taught in the US. He writes the story of our civil war as though for an English audience - explaining some of the background of different events and histories of different people, and comparing them to European events and individuals. I found that different perspective to be very interesting. The analyses of the strictly military aspects caused my eyes to glaze over at times, but he also included discussions about the roles of women and blacks in the war, and of the lingering impacts the war had on society and the military into the 20th century, all of which was also very interesting. My biggest gripe was that he seemed to repeat himself several times - telling the same detail about a general's background or strategy for a particular battle in more than one chapter. Overall, I enjoyed it. 3-1/2 stars.

66sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:30 am

A February recap would have looked like this:

5 books completed (I don't know how many were still in progress then)

In February I had one book in each of 5 categories, and for the YTD I had 13 books in 10 categories.

Best book in February = Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Worst book in February = Dangerous Water by Ron Powers

67sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:31 am

Read so far in March:

Book #14



The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips

9th grade - Books about science and nature


The latest in a long line of the gardening books I love so much. This one is specifically focused on growing fruit trees using "deep" organic methods. Mere organic methods are not better if they only substitute a natural allopathic treatment for a chemical. Deep organic tries to mimic nature. Trees grow well where trees grow well, so he is focused strongly on identifying what it is about wooded areas that is so beneficial to trees, so that those conditions can be duplicated. The discussion quickly becomes very technical and I was tempted to skim over the science. However, I forced myself to slow down and work through his arguments. In short, we want to encourage our trees to be strong and healthy so that they do not easily succumb to disease and infestations - just like we want to do with our own bodies. Science aside, the concept is simple. I don't know if I buy every word he utters, but I will be purchasing the book to use as a guide. It will very soon be time to begin preparing the site where my first trees are to be planted next fall. I came away from the book feeling confident and excited to begin, so I'm giving it 5 stars.

68sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:32 am

Book #15



Blindspot by Jane Kamensky

12th grade - Books about Music and the Arts


This was a fun story about a famous Scottish portrait painter, Stuart Jameison, who fled to pre-revolutionary Boston to escape creditors. After his arrival, he sets up a studio and takes an apprentice - a 14-year old boy named Francis Easton. But Francis Easton is really 20-year old Franny Weston, the "ruined" daughter of a prominent local justice and who was impregnated by her painting master but then refused to marry him. After the baby was stillborn, or so she was told, she left home, was dis-owned by her father, and forced to fend for herself.

Jameison's debt was incurred to buy the freedom of his friend, Ignatius Alexander, a slave who was purchased and given the very highest and best English education as part of a wager between noblemen. Dr Alexander was to be sold to the colonies after the experiment ended, a fate Jamie could not bear.

In Boston, Jamie becomes acquainted with a group of local men who come to call themselves "Friends of Liberty" and who protest the oppressive taxes being imposed by parliament. While many decry the "enslavement" of the colonists by parliament, one man dares to speak out against the actual enslavement of Africans. When he is discovered to have been poisoned to death, his own slaves are charged with the murder.

Who really killed the abolitionist, will Jamie continue to elude his creditors, what will Dr Alexander's fate be, will Francis/Franny's true identity be revealed? So many questions. And they are mostly handled well. It is fun and engaging and not too predictable. My biggest complaint was that there was so much going on and that the book was simply TOO LONG. 3 stars.

69sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:33 am

Book #16



Beloved by Toni Morrison

10th grade - Literary fiction and Classic Literature


This was a challenging book on several levels, and it has taken me a while to figure out my reaction to it. It is set in Cincinnati, OH after the civil war. There are several characters, all former slaves, and each with their own stories and history to be revealed. The basic plot is that Sethe has run away, sending her children ahead of her, to join her mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, in the north. Baby Suggs had been freed earlier when her son, Sethe's husband, had purchased her freedom from their master who was a kind man. It was after Baby Suggs left that Sethe was brought onto the place to replace her, so the two women had never met before. Sethe's husband was supposed to join her but did not show up at the meeting place and she went on without him. Her youngest daughter, Denver, was born on the trip.

The book tells the linear story of the life that Sethe and Denver have in the north until Denver is a grown woman. It also flashes back to tell the histories of Sethe and Baby Suggs, and some of the other characters. The flashbacks were sometimes hard to understand since it wasn't always clear where and when the memory is from, or even whose memory it was. The book required some effort to read, to keep up with, and to understand what was being revealed.

The other challenge was an aspect of slavery that I've never had presented so clearly before. Even though their master and mistress were kind people who treated their slaves with some respect, that was not so about everyone that Sethe and Baby Suggs had encountered, or their friends from other places. As Denver becomes an adult and is struggling to understand her mother and some of the things she had done, she finally realizes, "That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn't like yourself anymore. Dirty you so bad you forgot who you were and couldn't think it up. And though she (Sethe) and others lived through and got over it, she could never let it happen to her own. The best thing she was, was her children. Whites might dirty her all right, but not her best thing, her beautiful, magical best thing - the part of her that was clean." (pg 251 of 275)

Highly recommended. 4-1/2 stars.

70sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:35 am

Book #17



Water Clock by Jim Kelly

7th grade - foreign (England)


A very good little mystery featuring Philip Dryden, a reporter for a small Cambridgeshire newspaper. When he goes to report on an accident involving a car found below the ice he sees that the detective in charge is the husband of the nurse caring for Dryden's wife, who is in a coma as a result of an accident they were involved in a couple of years earlier. The detective has professional problems of his own, and he and Dryden soon reach a shaky bargain whereby if Dryden will give him good press regarding the investigation, he will obtain a copy of the file about the accident, which has been sealed. When the submerged car is discovered to contain a nearly decapitated body in the trunk, Dryden must work hard to discover clues to feed to the detective to gain the information he wants. Another DeltaQueen recommendation, and the beginning of a series. 3-1/2 stars.

71sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 12:36 am

Book #18



The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

2nd grade - Books of Understanding


This is mostly a fascinating look at the London cholera outbreak of 1848 and the efforts of 2 men to discover the true cause of the epidemic. At that time, and for many years afterwards, most people believed that disease was caused by miasma - bad smells. Years before any knowledge of germs, there were still a few who questioned the miasma theory. Nor did they believe that susceptibility to disease was a result of social or economic class or fortitude, as were also common. Johnson walks us through the steps taken to identify and prove that cholera was caused by contaminated water. And follows that up with the progress taken by London, and other cities, to improve sanitation in the last half of the 19th century to the point where cholera is virtually unheard of in modern urban areas.

Near the end of the book, however, he veers off onto a tangent about the development of urban communities in current times and the ways that "mapping" is being developed and used in unconventional ways. If this is interesting to you, then keep reading by all means. If you are waiting for him to come back around to 19th century London and wrap everything up, then feel free to stop reading at any time. He never does. These last two chapters (labelled as "conclusion" and "epilogue") very nearly spoiled the entire book for me. I had to think about it for a day, but I realized that I still enjoyed the first 7 chapters more than I hated the last 2. Overall, 3 stars.

72cammykitty
Mar 28, 2013, 12:42 am

I love Beloved, and funny what you talk about in your review wasn't at all what I would've picked out. I don't think of it as a linear story at all. I think of it as oral history, which is told and retold and never the same twice. Shows how different a book is to different readers.

I just finished reading Kindred by Octavia Butler which is the closest cousin to Beloved I can think of.

73sjmccreary
Mar 28, 2013, 5:46 pm

#72 Well, Beloved did jump back and forth between past and present, showing something new each time of the events that happened before. So, I agree with your statement, too, about it being an oral history which illuminates the current events and the knowledge that Denver is gaining about her mother. An excellent book, however it is described!

74pammab
Editado: Mar 28, 2013, 7:45 pm

Oh, that's interesting that you'd compare Kindred to Beloved. I wouldn't have done that, though I do sometimes confused Beloved for Kindred. Beloved stands alone in my mind -- I haven't read anything similar to it.

Blindspot sounds like a rolicking read! It has a number of themes that I tend to enjoy, and if I don't find it too scattershot, I think I'd love it. Thanks for calling it to my/our attention!

75thornton37814
Mar 28, 2013, 8:02 pm

Lots of good reading here! Good luck with your tree planting.

76sjmccreary
Mar 29, 2013, 3:47 pm

#74 "rollicking" is a good way to describe Blindspot. I hope you will enjoy it.

#75 Thanks - apples and peaches to start. If all goes well, I will be making fresh pies in only 3 or 4 years!

77lindapanzo
Editado: Mar 30, 2013, 9:43 pm

Congrats to your Wichita State Shockers, Sandy!!

Wow. I saw a 20 point lead and the next thing I knew, it was only a few points so I put on the nail-biting final 45 seconds or so and watched the end.

Enjoy the Final Four!!

78sjmccreary
Mar 31, 2013, 11:47 pm

#77 Nail-biting is about right, Linda. But it just made the celebration all the sweeter when the game finally ended. Our next game is Louisville, so that will be a tough one. We could easily lose, but even if we don't win again, it's been a good run. It's a great day to be a Shocker!

As I'm sitting here on LT, my hubby is in the other chair checking out tickets and hotels in Atlanta. We might be going to the final four along with the Shockers!

79lkernagh
Abr 6, 2013, 6:47 pm

Getting caught up here and loving the reviews. Blindspot is a fun 'rollicking' read!

80tymfos
Abr 8, 2013, 8:04 pm

Just dropping by to say hi, Sandy!

81sjmccreary
Abr 10, 2013, 11:21 pm

More March books:

Book #19



All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

6th grade - 20th Century & current events


This was a group read organized by Linda P. She, and several of the other readers, had read the book in school and the insights they gained from the re-read were interesting. I'd never read it and so had no idea what to expect. I wish now that I HAD been required to read it in school.

As most of you probably already know, this is the story of a young German soldier's experiences during WWI. He and a group of school friends were encouraged to enlist by one of their teachers as soon as they finished school. One by one, men were wounded or killed. Battles were fought. Deprivations were suffered. Families endured. It was hard to remember that this man was one of the "enemy". Only passing references were made about the English or the French. The story is universal - transcending politics. War is hell. 5 stars.

82sjmccreary
Abr 10, 2013, 11:22 pm

Book #20



A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

10th grade - literary fiction & classic literature


I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this is the first Mark Twain book I've ever read! We were assigned Huckleberry Finn in high school, but I didn't finish more than about a third of it. I was expecting something different than this, I think. I, frankly, did not like the beginning and first several chapters. I thought Hank, the Connecticut Yankee, was an arrogant jerk. This was also a group read, and one of the other readers suggested that it might be more than a simple fantasy story, that Twain might have been using this book as a way of expressing his opinions about greater issues. Once I began to think beyond the plot, I enjoyed it better. Twain definitely had strong opinions of the subject of government and especially monarchies. He was also pro-USA in the areas of technological development, and innovation. Not a great book, but good enough. 3 stars.

83sjmccreary
Abr 10, 2013, 11:24 pm

Book #21



Kind of Blue by Miles Corwin

5th grade - Mysteries


The first in a series about homicide detective Ash Levine, an LAPD cop who is asked to return to the force nearly a year after he resigned rather than accept a suspension. They want him to investigate the murder of a retired police officer, and he accepts in hopes that he will be able to also investigate the case that led to his suspension. Levine's Jewishness is a major element in his characterization - complete with his stereotypical Jewish mother - and I will be interested to see what Corwin will do with that in future installments. The title comes from the Miles Davis album of the same name that Levine listens to every evening - choosing different tracks to suit his different moods. I listened to a couple of them myself while reading, just to immerse myself into the story a little more. The mystery was a good one - complete with competing street gangs, drug dealers, and possibly crooked police. 3 stars.

84sjmccreary
Abr 10, 2013, 11:25 pm

Book #22



Juliet's Moon by Ann Rinaldi

1st grade - YA & Children's books


The Missouri Readers group read for April, this book is based on true events during the civil war. Juliet is the younger sister of one of Quantrill's Raiders in western Missouri. When the Union army arrests the women of the Raiders and charges them with giving aid and comfort to the enemy, they are taken to Kansas City and imprisoned there while awaiting transfer to St Louis. When the building serving as the prison collapses, many of the women and girls are killed, others are permanently injured. (In real life, it is believed that some of the Union soldiers sabotaged the building by removing support beams. Whether it was an intentional endangerment of the structure, or whether it was just to provide more space or for use as firewood is unknown.) Juliet and a few others escape and go into hiding from the Union troops until the end of the war.

This is a YA book (or even younger) and is quick and easy to read. I enjoyed the story of an event that I wasn't familiar with. As always, it is fun to read a story set in my own town. And it was an interesting connection to another book the group read a couple of years ago that was set in the women's prison in St Louis, Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles. 3-1/2 stars.

85sjmccreary
Abr 10, 2013, 11:30 pm

March recap:

9 books completed in 8 different categories, 4 still in progress.

YTD, 22 books completed - all 13 categories have at least one completed book, 2 of them have 3 completed books.

Best book of the month: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (by a narrow margin over Beloved)

Worst book of the month: Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, mostly because of those last 2 chapters

I didn't do very well on the optional CATs this month - I had 2 that fit into the alphabetical CAT with a title or author beginning with letter C.

86cammykitty
Abr 11, 2013, 12:19 am

@74 I've got to agree - sort of. Even Octavia Butler can't touch Toni Morrison's writing when she's on.

87-Eva-
Abr 11, 2013, 6:14 pm

I'm adding Kind of Blue to the wishlist - I saw in one of the reviews that one murder takes place in San Pedro and I was just there earlier today, so I'll take that as a "sign." :)

88sjmccreary
Abr 11, 2013, 7:14 pm

#87 Yes, that sounds right. Not being familiar with LA, the specific place names didn't mean anything to me. I was mistaken about it, though. It appears that it is a stand-alone novel, not a series. (Although he could easily build a series on this character if he wanted to.) I hope you will like it. What is San Pedro like?

89-Eva-
Editado: Oct 16, 2013, 12:31 pm

San Pedro is a very fairly nice place - it used to have a booming fishing industry so a lot of the architecture reflects that, but nowadays it's a regular middle class community. And if you move a little to the west, you end up in Palos Verdes which is very affluent. The Port of Los Angeles (despite its name) is located in Long Beach and San Pedro, so a lot of people work there and fish on the weekends rather than for a living. They also have a huge Lobster Fest which is recommended should you be a fan of eating those sea-dwelling insects. :)

90tymfos
Abr 12, 2013, 5:21 pm

Kind of Blue sounds good -- and I'd love the musical references, as that was one of the first albums I bought when I got interested in jazz.

91sjmccreary
Abr 21, 2013, 10:08 pm

#89 lol at "sea-dwelling insects"! None for me, thanks.

#90 After listening to a couple of tracks on youtube, I got the CD and have been listening to the entire album on a continuous loop. Amazing. I love it.

92sjmccreary
Abr 21, 2013, 10:14 pm

Books:

Book #23



The Vegetable Gardeners Bible by Edward C Smith

9th Grade - Science and Nature


Any yet another gardening book. This one is similar to the orchard book I read a month or so ago, except that it is forcused on growing vegetables and doesn't go into such depth about the biology of why these techniques work. Still, a good reference and I'm trying to decide whether it is worth purchasing. 3-1/2 stars.

93sjmccreary
Abr 21, 2013, 10:15 pm

Book #24



The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

8th Grade - Books about professionals


A difficult book to describe. A young woman in a fictional Balkan country has followed in her grandfather's footsteps and become a doctor. As she travels the countryside, visiting small villages with her friend and colleague to give immunizations to children, she remembers the stories her grandfather told her about his youth. Especially important to him, and her, are the stories of the Tiger's wife and of the Deathless Man. Told in a rambling, oral storytelling style. The subjects of death and dying are recurring, as Grandfather's stories frequently contain references to war (Balkan Wars? WWI? WWII?) and Natalia's own past and present contain memories of the more recent Yugoslav Wars of the 1990's. This book misses its mark with me, but I'm sure others will enjoy it far more. 3-1/2 stars.

94sjmccreary
Abr 21, 2013, 10:48 pm

Book #25



Twenty Gold Falcons by Amy Gordon

1st Grade - YA and Children's books


Chosen for the April Award CAT - this book is a current nominee for the Mark Twain Reader's Award to be voted on by Missouri school children.

I love the cover, it reminds me of the old Nancy Drew covers from my youth and I was hoping the book would also be similar. If only.

A 12-year old girl leaves the farm she grew up on and moves to the city with her mother after her father dies. She hates the city, and hates her new school - a private school full of snobby and unfriendly kids. Everyone - even the teacher - calls her "Farmer Girl" because her last name is Farmer. She and her mother are staying at her Uncle's apartment. He is an opera singer and they go to watch him perform one evening. The opera hall is located in some kind of very large historical multi-purpose building (a hotel maybe?) and the elevator operator tells her about the old owners who used to set up treasure hunts for the children. (Do kids today even know what an elevator operator is?) The last treasure hunt was never completed, and the treasure was never found - 20 gold coins called falcons. At about that time, the meanest girl in school shows up - having just completed her ballet lesson - and she is also talking about the treasure hunt for the gold falcons.

All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the treasure hunt as though it were a big current event, and the teacher in school even encourages the children to report on what they would do with the money if they found the treasure. She begins searching for clues. And, oh, I don't know what all. There are far too many characters to remember. The pace is frantic. Every clue points to either birds or clocks. (So maybe the pocket watch with the falcon on it that belonged to her father is important, yes?) Everyone is somehow related to someone else. It all just fits together too neatly. Ugh - surely even 5th graders can appreciate better writing. I'll be disappointed if it wins. 2-1/2 stars.

95sjmccreary
Abr 21, 2013, 11:37 pm

Book #26



Law of Attraction by Allison Leotta

4th grade - Series Books


First in a series about a young attorney who works for the Washington DC prosecutor's office. Anna Curtis, fresh out of Harvard Law School, grew up in Flint, MI and is now working in the Domestic Violence section.

I'm having trouble deciding what to say about it. The premise was OK - Anna experienced domestic violence in her own past and now wants to work to help protect other women and children. What I didn't like about this book is the way that Anna is distracted by every handsome man she meets. First it's Nick - the defense attorney she is opposing in court. Then it's Jack - the lead attorney on a murder trial she was assigned to. Then it's Nick again after just hearing his voice. Then Jack, who is so caring and devoted to his job. Then.... Everything she does - every decision she makes - is in response to something one of these men has said or done.

I'm sure Leotta wanted to portray a strong, modern woman who has overcome a troubled childhood to become successful. What I read was just another female who is more obsessed with men than with her own life's work. I completely lost patience with her. In the climactic scene near the end, when she selflessly places herself in harm's way in order to benefit her client, I was almost hoping that the bad guy would shoot her - I was that disgusted with her by then. 2-1/2 stars.

96dudes22
Abr 22, 2013, 7:47 am

Kind of Blue sounds interesting and I love that Miles Davis
CD. On the wishlist it goes - and I'm glad it's the first and I don't have to catch up by buying other books first. :)

97tymfos
Abr 24, 2013, 3:45 pm

I completely lost patience with her. In the climactic scene near the end, when she selflessly places herself in harm's way in order to benefit her client, I was almost hoping that the bad guy would shoot her - I was that disgusted with her by then.

LOL! I've encountered characters that badly written, too. I'll definitely avoid that book. Thanks for taking one for the team!

98cyderry
Abr 27, 2013, 9:40 am

95>> Think I'll avoid this one, not like I don't have enough series to follow, right? Thanks for the warning.

99sjmccreary
Editado: Abr 30, 2013, 12:11 pm

#96 Betty, did you catch my error up above? I was wrong about Kind of Blue being the beginning of a series. It appears to be a stand alone, so you don't need to worry about buying other books at all. As for Miles Davis, this book has prompted me to listen to him again for the first time in quite a while. I'm discovering that I like his music better than ever now.

#97-98 While I still don't recommend LofA, I'm feeling guilty about being so harsh about it. Some of the reviews posted have pointed out that the character Anna is so good at her job because she understands what it's like to be the victim of domestic violence and how it warps a woman's ability to choose no relationship at all over a bad relationship when those seem like the only choices. Her being so obsessed with these two men is just a holdover from her past, something that she is trying to overcome. Many people love the book. I still don't, but felt I should be more open about what is going on. I don't want anyone to believe that I am insensitive to the problems faced by women in that situation. While I don't fully understand them, I get that people don't always do what they know is right. (I know I don't.) And I still think this book could have made that point and been better written, at the same time.

100sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 12:01 pm

More books:

Book #27



The Last Dance: The Skywalk Disaster and a City Changed by Kevin Murphy

Kindergarten - books that are easy


Lindapanzo brought this book to my attention. She is something of a connoisseur of books about disasters and she had come across this book about a disaster in Kansas City in 1981. It is a short book and, even though she had trouble finding a copy in Chicago, it is readily available here in Kansas City and I decided to read it along with her.

The disaster was straight-forward: In the summer of 1981, the brand new Hyatt hotel hosted Friday night "tea" dances, accompanied by live big-band style music. They were hugely popular. At one such dance in July, the suspended "skywalks" that spanned the lobby above the dancing crowd suddenly collapsed. More than 100 people were killed. The cause was determined to be faulty engineering of the components which attached the walkways to the steel rods hanging from the ceiling. A very sad story, and totally preventable. The critical element in the construction had been changed from the original design and it seems that no one ever examined the new design to make sure it was able to bear the load. Several engineers lost their licenses as a result. This event is still being taught to engineering students as a cautionary example.

The book, however, fell flat. It was published as a 30th anniversary commemorative fundraiser for a memorial to be installed next to the hotel. Perhaps as a result of that, it falls short of the in-depth story-telling Linda informs me makes for the best disaster books. There is no personal connection between the reader and any of the victims or rescue workers or anyone else involved. In fact, you can get nearly as complete a look at the facts by reading the wikipedia article on "Hyatt Regency walkway collapse". I think I enjoyed the book (if that is an appropriate word) slightly more than Linda simply because it is a local event to me, and I recognized many of the names and places mentioned, and I remember the coverage the disaster had in our local news for weeks after it happened. Still, though, after sharing our reactions and comments, I decided to reduce my original rating from 3-1/2 down to 3 stars. Seriously, skip the book and just look it up on wikipedia.

101sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 12:04 pm

Book #28



Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff

3rd grade - Books that spell-it-out, and instructional books


This is the book that Labwriter (in the 75 books group) keeps mentioning as the inspiration for many of the fabulous dishes she makes with produce from her garden or farmer's markets. The really great thing about this book is that she includes recipes of dishes to make which use some of the preserved foods that she just explained how to prepare. That, and the fact that nearly everything in there is drool-inducing. Strawberry jam that tastes like strawberries? Instead of the strawberry-flavored sugary sweet stuff the grocery stores sell? Sign me up. 4 stars.

102sjmccreary
Editado: Abr 30, 2013, 12:33 pm

Book #29



Kanthapura by Raja Rao

6th grade - 20th Century and current events


First published in 1938, this book tells the story of how a small village in southern India reacts to Ghandhi's campaign of non-violence in the Indian Independence movement. Which is something I know shamefully little about.

The novel is short, less than 200 pages, and is told in an oral storytelling style. I've seen reviews on Amazon which mention some editions that have end notes that explain some of the terms and references and traditions that are mentioned in the book. My book doesn't have that, and I wish it had. I felt as though I never really understood what was happening, like a kid watching a grown-up movie. Even though I was able to enjoy the action and the exchanges between characters, I never really knew WHY they were doing those things, or what they were really talking about. This would be much better with a more complete understanding of Indian history and culture. However, it has opened my eyes to an historical event that I was mostly ignorant of and has made me curious to learn more, so I am glad I read the book.

My favorite quote, spoken by Moorthy, the young man who became a follower of Ghandhi when he was in the city and has now returned to the village and is introducing the local people to Ghandhi's concept of non-violent opposition:

"And remember always, the path we follow is the path of the Spirit, and with truth and non-violence and love shall we add to the harmony of the world. For, brothers, we are not soldiers at arms, say I; we seek to be soldier saints." (pg 131 of 190)

103sjmccreary
Editado: Abr 30, 2013, 12:30 pm

April recap:

7 books completed during the month, with 3 still in progress.

Best book of the month: Kanthapura by Raja Rao (as opposed to the book I enjoyed the most which was Canning for a New Generation)

Worst book of the month: Law of Attraction by Allison Leotta

At the end of April, I've completed 29 books. I've read at least 2 books in each of my 13 categories, and 3 categories have 3 books. So far I'm meeting my goal of keeping my books spread evenly among the categories.

I think I only had one CAT book - Twenty Gold Falcons for the award CAT challenge to read a book from a local award list. However, I hope to do better on the May CATs - I have several books on the short stack that should count for one or more CATs.

ETA - I hate to admit this, and I don't believe I'm the only one, but yesterday I realized that I was already thinking about categories for a 2014 challenge.

104lindapanzo
Editado: Abr 30, 2013, 1:15 pm

I've also been thinking about 2014 categories. For the most part, I love my 2013 categories and was thinking more or less of a tweak for 2014, along with a new one. Possibly along the lines of ER books (counting ER books as any I won or asked for).

I was also thinking about your comments re the KC skywalks disaster. I'd be inclined to like a book about Chicago disasters more than the average person, particularly if I have a connection to it.

Thankfully, I've never been in a disaster except for an occasional blizzard. Oh, and I saw a tornado once, off in the distance, about 15 years ago. However, the 1958 Our Lady of the Angels fire, while a few years before I was born, has a closer family connection than say, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Even a mediocre book about the OLA fire is sure to tempt me.

105thornton37814
Abr 30, 2013, 1:14 pm

I haven't had time to think about 2014 categories yet. I'll probably look through my catch-all category to determine what the 14th category would be if I kept something similar to the current ones. I have definitely had some mysteries that don't quite fit the amateur sleuth or the police procedural. What do you do about Private Investigators and Fire Investigators? There have also been some that would normal fit the cozy that didn't quite fit because the police really did more of the investigation than the amateur sleuth. However, there may be a need for something else.

106sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 1:23 pm

#104 Even a mediocre book about the OLA fire is sure to tempt me. I think that is what I felt about the KC book. Reading about an event or a place or person we know, even if the book isn't well written, gives us a connection to the bigger world. Or something. I wouldn't say I've ever been in a disaster, either. I've seen 2 tornadoes, both in the distance, only a few weeks apart more than 20 years ago when we were still living in southern Kansas. They were part of a big tornado outbreak we had that year. Maybe you've heard of the Andover tornado that hit a mobile home park outside Wichita and killed several people? That was the same year. In fact, the same night as the Andover tornado - and it might have even been the same tornado - southern Wichita was hit and several houses were destroyed. Also hit were some of the buildings on the Boeing campus (where I worked, but my building was not hit), and several buildings at McConnell Air Force Base which is right next to Boeing. One of the buildings destroyed at McConnell housed the credit union. My husband worked at Boeing credit union then and he spent the entire weekend (the storm was on a Friday night as I recall) working with the McConnell CU people to get them set up in the Boeing CU office. It was a great opportunity to practice a disaster recovery operation. Monday morning, McConnell CU was open for business without a hitch, and they operated out of the Boeing CU office for several months until their new facility was built on base. So, yeah, I'd pick up a book about that storm in a heartbeat - even if it was awful. (I've already watched all the TV shows about it!)

107sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 1:25 pm

#105 Lori, I often think we, as a group, get a much pleasure from thinking about our books as we do from reading them!

108lindapanzo
Abr 30, 2013, 1:29 pm

I like hearing about people's disaster experiences. Mine is not too big a deal. I think it was a couple of weeks before my sister's wedding (and she's about to celebrate her 15th anniversary next month).

Mom and I were looking out the front door and I said something like "wow, I've never seen a cloud that looked like a pencil before." After a few minutes, we realized it was a minimal tornado. It touched down about a mile away as the crow flies, though across the lake. One or two houses on each street from W/NW to E/SE suffered some damage.

When I was in college in Green Bay, my aunt's friend was on a private plane that crashed near the Green Bay airport, but it was over Christmas break, I think. Some people died and some didn't. My aunt's friend survived and it was interesting hearing about it, via my aunt.

109lindapanzo
Abr 30, 2013, 1:33 pm

Sandy, one other thing. In that skywalks disaster book, they talked about a KC tornado. Can't remember the year but I'd never heard of that either.

Tornadoes don't seem to garner as much attention, bookwise anyway, as other types of disasters though I did enjoy reading that book about the Wichita tornado.

I heard something about Wichita today and thought of you but my mind is a total blank as to what it might've been. Phooey.

110sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 2:10 pm

#109 I remembered most of the events the book listed from the years leading up the the Hyatt disaster. Was the tornado what caused the roof of Kemper arena to collapse? I remember they mentioned that in the book. That was KC's biggest event arena until just a few years ago when they built the Sprint Center downtown. It was empty at the time, but it would have been a big deal since the repair would have taken time and some events might have have been cancelled possibly.

Do you mean the book about the Topeka tornado, in the 60's?

I did a quick Google check for news in Wichita and didn't find anything going on there today that should have shown up on your radar, so I'm not sure what you might have heard. Nothing bad, I hope.

111lindapanzo
Abr 30, 2013, 2:17 pm

Okay, I was confused. You're from Wichita and the tornado was in Topeka. Or is it the other way around? No wonder I got a blank look awhile back when I was telling a woman I know who lived in Kansas for awhile about that book about the tornado. (I think she went to Kansas for undergrad and law school).

Aha, it wasn't news about Wichita. During the Cubs game last night, I saw several SW Airlines commercials that they're now flying from here to Wichita.

112sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 2:58 pm

I'm from Wichita, the tornado was in Topeka. University of Kansas is in Lawrence, between Topeka and KC (about 30 minutes from either one). When we're being snarky, we accuse them of not knowing Wichita even exists, so that is why she might have been confused - you were talking about someplace she's never heard of!

Ah - that makes sense. And the Wichita people are happy to have SW Airlines so they can actually go places. And the KC airport people not so much, because lots of Wichita people fly out of KC.

113lindapanzo
Abr 30, 2013, 3:06 pm

I need to look at a map of Kansas, Sandy. I am geographically-challenged when it comes to that state, though I follow along ok when the Weather Channel talks about tornadoes there.

About 10 years ago, maybe, back when we flew on Midwest Express wherever we wanted to go (out of Milwaukee), I think our plane to SF stopped in KC. About all I remember was that we could get off but, if we needed to use the restrooms, we'd have to come back through security again to get to the plane.

Now that I think about it, at one point, we were thinking of a real KC visit (not just a stop at the airport) and were torn between staying near the ballpark and staying at a big hotel near the Crown Center (is that right, or is it Crowne Center?) and taking the Royals Express. We decided the CC was closer to museums and BBQ. In the end, we didn't make that trip.

114sjmccreary
Abr 30, 2013, 6:28 pm

A big hotel near Crown Center would have either been the Westin or the Hyatt (the same one we just read about). Yes, our airport is quite different from any other, with the gates literally only a few feet from the sidewalk. They want to tear it down and build a new one, but people love it. They have fixed it so there are a few rest rooms inside the secured area now, but not many. There is BBQ in literally every neighborhood in the city, I think, but some aren't so well known as others, and some look a little scary - especially after dark. I hope you'll plan another trip here soon so I can show you around like you did me in Chicago last year.

The states I'm most geographically challenged about are Texas and California - I think because they are so big and I can't wrap my brain around the distances between different cities there.

115dudes22
mayo 1, 2013, 6:27 am

Sandi - According to Fantasticfiction.com, Kind of Blue is a series - another book was published last year.

BTW - that canning book - is a lot of it by pressure cooker or water bath? Sounds like a good book.

Oh - and I've already got my theme and am planning my categories and choosing pictures for 2014. Yes we do like thinking and planning our reading.

Off to work - I'm late!

116sjmccreary
mayo 1, 2013, 10:34 am

#115 That's good news about KOB being a series. I liked it. The canning book is water bath, so all the recipes emphasize the acidity of the food. So, no green beans, but you won't miss them.

Have a good day at work !

117lkernagh
mayo 2, 2013, 9:49 am

My understanding of Ghandi's campaign is rather sketchy. You caught my attention with Kanthapura - both for the cover and your thoughts on the book. Adding it to the books I try to keep an eye out at the library and the used book stores I frequent.

..... I just checked and my local library has a copy!

118sjmccreary
mayo 2, 2013, 12:00 pm

#117 lucky you! My library doesn't have it, so I had to get it via ILL. I hope the copy you find is the annotated edition, or else that you have a better understanding of Indian culture and customs than I do. My copy didn't have that exact cover, but this is the closest I could find among the available LT covers. Mine was more blue and less yellow. I hope you will enjoy the book.

119sjmccreary
mayo 2, 2013, 1:33 pm

Book #30



Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King

6th grade - 20th Century and current events


Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer for general non-fiction (and a CAT book for May)

This is an in-depth look at a 1949 case in Groveland, Fla where 4 black men were accused of raping a white woman. Of course, no rape occurred. At least not by these 4 men. But that didn't stop the local sheriff, prosecutor, and judge and jury from beating confessions out of them, charging them, trying and convicting them, and sentencing them to death. The NCAAP provided a legal defense for the men, appealing the verdict all the way to the US Supreme Court - twice. Only one of the 4 men are still living. Two didn't survive the trials. The fourth didn't survive a trip back to town for a funeral shortly after his parole from prison in 1969. The details are incredible - I won't even try to summarize as I won't do justice to the impact they have. Suffice to say, even though I knew this kind of thing went on in the South, I still was shocked by the brutality and inhumanity of the "system". And the Sheriff, Willis V McCall, was nothing short of a monster who claimed as late as 1994 that "I never hurt anyone ... or killed anyone who didn't deserve killing" (pg 357). Amazingly, he was re-elected to his office 8 times, narrowly losing in 1972 only because he couldn't devote sufficient time to his campaign. He had been suspended from office pending legal actions that stemmed from allegations that a mentally-challenged black man had been kicked to death while in McCall's custody. (McCall was acquitted.)

But I'm digressing. The book isn't about Sheriff McCall, it is about Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was head of the NCAAP's Legal Defense Fund, which provided representation to black defendants in cases all over the south. Initially, his primary focus was the desegregation of schools, and he was preparing Brown v Board of Education to be presented to the US Supreme Court at the same time Groveland was also in appeals. But increasingly, the NCAAP provided defense in cases where blacks were being deprived of their full legal rights in criminal matters. Eventually, as we all know, he was appointed to the US Supreme Court by President Johnson, the first African-American to receive that appointment. However, this isn't a biography of Marshall's life. It is a look at his role in changing America, with Groveland as the featured case in point.

I've heard many people complain about the excessive rights that defendants receive, to the detriment of the rights of victims and other law abiding citizens, or so it seems. I've expressed the same sentiment myself. However, this book has opened my eyes and shown me the reason those rights are so important. There was a time, in the not-too-distant past, when a large portion of the population had virtually no rights as defendants. Regardless of the constitution. It came as a result of the work by Thurgood Marshall, and others like him, who overcame hardship and extreme risk to their personal safety, to insure that every American is given the opportunity to receive a fair trial.

Highly recommended. 4-1/2 stars.

Note - This book would fit into several of my categories. However I am putting it in this category in honor of Mrs Hicks, my 6th grade teacher. As I shared in msg #1, up top, she was a black teacher who came to our white school, along with busloads of black students, when our school district began forced racial integration in the early 1970s. She exposed us to the lives and accomplishments of black Americans, right alongside those of whites. While she did not discuss anything as violent or disturbing as the events in this book, I know she was very aware of them. What she did do, was to be sure we were given a view of black Americans as Americans who happen to be black. Americans who have every capability of being as outstanding in their chosen fields as any other. I will always remember her.

120lindapanzo
mayo 2, 2013, 1:35 pm

Devil in the Grove is going right onto the wishlist, Sandy. Sounds excellent!!

121sjmccreary
mayo 2, 2013, 1:47 pm

Linda, I thought about you as I was finishing the book and wondered if you already knew about it. I hope you will like it.

122lindapanzo
mayo 2, 2013, 2:07 pm

General nonfiction, which is where I would put this, is my laggard category so this would work well.

I've got a few for this category in May, including one of my current reads, the Roger Ebert memoir, but I'd love to get to this in June or July.

123tymfos
mayo 3, 2013, 8:51 am

Devil in the Grove sounds like a fantastic book, Sandy. Great review! It's going onto my List.

124lindapanzo
mayo 5, 2013, 5:55 pm

Fire in the Grove just won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for this year, I see.

125sjmccreary
mayo 29, 2013, 7:13 pm

Catching up the May reads:

Book #31



Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

2nd grade - books of understanding


A Florida teen learns too late that the fantastic stories his grandfather told him about an orphanage of "peculiar" children in Wales during WWII might have been more than a fanciful way of referring to Jewish refugees who had been sent to safety away from their homes in Eastern Europe. And his talk of fighting monsters might not have been figurative, either. The book is surprisingly "rich", and (for a fantasy story) amazingly believable. Not at all my usual thing, I'm glad I read it. 3-1/2 stars.

126sjmccreary
mayo 29, 2013, 7:14 pm

Book #32



A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

4th grade - series books


First in a series about a detective from New Scotland Yard and his new sargent. Duncan Kincaid was hoping to get away from murder and mayhem for a week when he accepted the use of his cousin's time share at a nearby resort. But before the first evening was over, the assistant manager was found dead, and that is the end of the relaxing vacation. Very entertaining - I'll be continuing with this series. 3-1/2 stars.

127sjmccreary
mayo 29, 2013, 7:14 pm

Book #33



Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

7th grade - foreign


I think this was the 3rd or 4th time I've read this book about a young bride who is taken back to her husband's estate, Manderley, only to discover that it is filled with the presence of his first wife, Rebecca. Even knowing the end, the book is still full of tension and suspense.

I love this book - it is one of my "desert island" books. 4-1/2 stars.

128sjmccreary
mayo 29, 2013, 7:16 pm

Book #34



Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

1st grade - YA and children's books


Until about a year ago, the only Rudyard Kipling book I'd ever read, or cared to read, were the Just-So Stories. My Grandma had a set of illustrated children's books containing the stories that I loved to read when I went to her house. Then last year I read Kim and enjoyed it. So now, Captains Courageous.

Quite a departure from Just-So and Kim, in that the story does not take place in India, or feature an Indian boy. This is the story of a spoiled rich American boy who fell overboard into the Atlantic while on a voyage to Europe with his mother. He was rescued by a fishing boat near the Grand Banks and offered a wage in exchange for work by the captain, who refused to listen to the boy's demands to be taken back to shore immediately or to his stories about a millionaire father. So, he stayed on the boat and worked. And learned - about fishing, and about working, and about people. When the boat finally returned to port, he cabled his father who came from California in his private rail car to meet him, and who was pleased to see how much the son had matured.

The story is very moralistic, which I guess would have been appropriate for its intended youthful audience. It is very much a product of its time - containing casual racist and sexist remarks - but it still a very entertaining adventure story. 4 stars.

A note about my cover: I purchased this volume at the Johnson County (KS) friends of the library sale last fall. They had a whole set of Kipling books, but I bought just this one. The most recent date I can find in it is 1917. It is a beautiful volume. The pages are very heavy, twice as thick as modern book pages, and I kept trying to separate what felt like stuck sheets. The paper is textured and even has a watermark in the last sheet. The white circle on the cover is embossed with an elephant head in profile and a small swastika. My copy has faded to a dull brown, but in certain light, you can still see the remnants of the dark red it used to be. This set must have been a tremendous luxury when it was new, and it was still a wonderful reading experience even in its current faded and dusty condition.

129sjmccreary
mayo 29, 2013, 7:16 pm

Book #35



The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Kindergarten - books that are fun and easy


I've never read any of the Chronicles of Narnia books before. We've had a box set of paperbacks for years - previously belonging to my brother, it was handed down to my kids by my mother when they began reading.

A fantasy story of 4 children sent to the country to escape the WWII bombings in London who discover an old wardrobe in an empty room which is a gateway to another world. The White Witch has enchanted the entire land so that it is eternally winter, but never Christmas. The children, assisted by a helpful faun and a beaver couple, travel to meet Aslan, the lion king, who has returned to overthrow the witch. Meh. 3 stars. (But I'm going to read the next book anyway.)

130mamzel
mayo 30, 2013, 4:25 pm

Sounds like Duncan Kincaid suffers from Cabot Cove Syndrome - someone dies where ever he goes!

131sjmccreary
mayo 30, 2013, 5:10 pm

#130 LOL!

132LittleTaiko
mayo 30, 2013, 5:35 pm

I love the Deborah Crombie series - it is one that just gets better and better!

133dudes22
mayo 31, 2013, 6:01 am

I've got some of those in my TBR but am trying to get the first few before I start. Maybe one of the library sales this summer will yield some.

134-Eva-
Jun 1, 2013, 8:48 pm

->119 sjmccreary:
Sounds amazing. Not sure I could handle it, though. I'll keep it on the list for when I think I can.

->127 sjmccreary:
I've never read Rebecca, but it's definitely on the to-read list!

135thornton37814
Jun 2, 2013, 8:00 pm

Glad you enjoyed Duncan and Gemma. The series gets better. It's one of my favorites.

136cyderry
Jun 3, 2013, 3:58 pm

BB hit me for Devil in the Grove - finally finding time to catch up and all I'm doing is adding to my wishlist!

137sjmccreary
Jun 8, 2013, 11:23 pm

Book #36



The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva

8th grade - books about professionals


The first in another new (for me) series. This book is about retired Israeli intelligence agent Gabriel Allon who is called back for one more operation - find and kill the Palestinian terrorist responsible for the assassination of an Israeli diplomat in Paris.

I used to love these kinds of thrillers and read several different series, but never this one. I wish I had. This one is different. Gabriel Allon is more than just a tireless testosterone-infused killing machine. He learned art restoration as a cover during his active duty days, and has turned to that work full-time in his retirement. He loves the work and pines for it during this operation - the slow, methodical, patient work of revealing the original beauty in an old painting. He also pines for his wife and son, victims of a car-bomb during one of his assignments in Vienna many years earlier. He has a history with the current target, which is why "The Office" has called him back - or so they say. Couldn't put it down. 4 stars.

138sjmccreary
Jun 8, 2013, 11:25 pm

Book #37



Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

12th grade - books about music and the arts


One last quick book before the end of May. I found this during our recent move. It belonged to my son, along with another Shel Silverstein book. He bought these at a Scholastic book fair at school, I think, in about the 5th grade. This one must have been his favorite, as it is falling apart and has water-stained pages. He marked several of the poems with stars - I guess a kind of rating system. One star, two stars, three stars, five stars, and a single 6-star poem:

TRUE STORY

This morning I jumped on my horse
And went out for a ride,
And some wild outlaws chased me
And they shot me in the side.
So I crawled into a wildcat's cave
To find a place to hide,
But some pirates found me sleeping there,
And soon they had me tied
To a pole and built a fire
Under me - I almost cried
Till a mermaid came and cut me loose
And begged to be my bride,
So I said I'd come back Wednesday
But I must admit I lied.
Then I ran into a jungle swamp
But I forgot my guide
And I stepped into some quicksand,
And no matter how I tried
I couldn't get out, until I met
A water snake named Clyde,
Who pulled me to some cannibals
Who planned to have me fried.
But an eagle came and swooped me up
And through the air we flied,
But he dropped me in a boiling lake
A thousand miles wide.
And you'll never guess what I did then --
I DIED.


I had forgotten what a jewell Shel Silverstein was. His children's poems are clever and intelligent and are never condescending to the kids. But they are often silly as well - just the way kids like. I'm going to save the other book and read it later - but what a fun hour it was remembering the joy my son used to get from this book. 4 stars.

139sjmccreary
Jun 8, 2013, 11:29 pm

May recap:

8 books completed, 2 still in progress.

Best book of the month: A tough choice, but I'm going with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Worst book of the month: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis

37 books completed year-to-date - 3 in each category but 2

May CATs - 2 alpha-CATs, 1 award-CAT, and 2 random-CATs. No CAT-tricks, though.

What I'm looking forward to in June: The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and the second book in the Deborah Crombie series, All Shall be Well.

140sjmccreary
Jun 9, 2013, 12:22 am

Book #38



Twenty-Seventh City by Jonathan Franzen

8th grade - books about professionals


"This story is set in a year somewhat like 1984, and in a place very much like St Louis." - author epigraph

At one time in its history St Louis had been the 4th largest city in the US. By 1984 it was only the 27th largest, and its unique legal status in relation to St Louis county meant that it would never grow larger unless drastic measures were taken.

"In early June Chief William O'Connell of the St Louis Police Department announced his retirement, and the Board of Police Commissioners, passing over the favored candidates of the city political establishment, the black community, the press, the Officers Association and the Missouri governor, selected a woman, formerly with the police in Bombay, India, to begin a five-year term as chief. The city was appalled, but the woman - one S Jammu - assumed the post before anyone could stop her." (pg 5)

And so the stage is set. Jammu proceeds to pretty much do whatever she wants to do - with no one able to stop her. What does she want to do? and why? That is the story. Despite the fact that her official post is the chief law enforcement officer, Jammu immediately inserts herself into the economic development of the city, influencing politics in the city, and also in St Louis County. She manages to force business leaders throughout the metropolitan area to fall into line with her schemes. Within months of taking office, she has single-handedly stopped the economic development of the affluent suburbs in the county and created a real estate boom in the city's poverty-stricken, and overwhelmingly black, north side.

The cast of characters is huge, consisting of prominent business leaders and their families, Jammu and her staff, and Jammu's henchmen. And the large influx of Indian immigrants who came to St Louis almost immediately after Jammu's appointment. Is that a coincidence? Probably. But maybe not.

The action centers around Martin Probst - a well-respected construction contractor who built the famous gateway arch. He had just begun work on an upscale housing development in a wealthy western suburb when Jammu's machinations caused the project to be abandoned, at great financial cost to Martin. Part of Jammu's plan is to get Martin on-board as a supporter for her projects, but he is seemingly incorruptible. Money doesn't sway him, nor power or prestige. So Jammu calls her "assistant" Singh, an old friend from her youth, to find a way to bend Martin to her will. Singh is an unscrupulous man who stops at nothing to succeed. He methodically breaks down Martin's sense of well-being, beginning with the intentional death of Martin's dog, and then attacking his family life by alienating his wife and daughter.

It is a big book, detailed and rambling. At times it seemed rather pointless and with only 75 pages left, I still had no idea where it was headed or whether I was enjoying it or not. It was hard to keep track of all the characters, and it was hard to follow Jammu's conspiracy. I'm still not sure what I think of it. The Missouri Readers Group will be discussing it beginning next week, and I'm looking forward to that. Until then, I am giving it a neutral 3 stars, and no recommendation one way or the other.

141majkia
Jun 9, 2013, 7:04 am

I just finished The Kill Artist as well and indeed. Couldn't put it down. And I loved the ending. Such a surprise.

142sjmccreary
Jun 9, 2013, 11:23 pm

Book #39



The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

4th grade - series books


This was the audio book I was listening to in the car at the same time I was reading Twenty-Seventh City (above) in the house. I tended to think of the pair of them as my "big head in the sky" books. While 27C left me feeling ambivalent, I was thoroughly delighted with Locke Lamora.

Locke Lamora was an orphan who was sold into a sort of indentured servitude as a child. His new master, Chains, was a thief-master who posed as a blind priest, and who trained Locke, and his other wards, to become intelligent thieves capable of planning and executing elaborate cons. After Chains' death Locke, a natural actor, eventually became the leader of the gang, known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Their cons were so convincing that they had fooled the Coppa (the local "authority" to whom all the gangs owed allegiance) into believing they were only a tiny group of small-time sneak-thieves. In reality, they had vaults full of stacks of coins and other valuables hidden away, not being used for anything. As Locke explained, the main point was to pull off the thievery, not just to acquire wealth.

This was another long book, and full of adventures by the Gentlemen Bastards. Sometimes they did outrageous things and got away with it. Other times, it seemed that they had finally, surely, reached the end of their rope. I was thrilled with each narrow escape and pleased with every clear success they had. The book is sometimes very violent and contains probably too much strong language, but I still loved it. Recommended. 4 stars.

143clfisha
Jun 10, 2013, 8:48 am

I really enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, still waiting for the 3rd in series to be published though.

144lkernagh
Jun 10, 2013, 9:24 am

One of these days I am going to get around to reading my copy of The Lies of Locke Lamora, but now that I know we are still waiting for the third book in the series to be published, I can hold out a little longer. ;-)

145AHS-Wolfy
Jun 10, 2013, 4:55 pm

Glad you enjoyed the Locke Lamora book. (Has it really been four years since I read those books?) I think I'll have to pick up Fearsome Journeys to get a new Scott Lynch fix as it has been much too long now. He has a story in that anthology which looks to contain some other great authors too.

146sjmccreary
Jun 10, 2013, 10:05 pm

My library doesn't even have the SECOND book, so I'm not very worried about the 3rd one, yet. I honestly didn't expect to like it well enough to want to go on with the series, it's really not the kind of thing I would normally enjoy. So now I'm on the lookout for book #2.

147-Eva-
Jun 11, 2013, 11:41 pm

Darn, I have both The Kill Artist and The Lies of Locke Lamora waiting on Mt. TBR - why does it always feel like I'm way behind on my reading? :)

148sjmccreary
Jun 12, 2013, 12:44 am

Boy, I know THAT feeling!

149cyderry
Jun 12, 2013, 11:55 am

Stopping in to say hi!
Can't look at what you're reading because then by TBRs would grow!

150sjmccreary
Jun 12, 2013, 6:40 pm

Oh, come on, Cheli. Not even a quick little peek?

151cyderry
Jun 12, 2013, 7:43 pm

No, No... don't tempt me!

152sjmccreary
Jun 13, 2013, 12:29 am

That's OK, I understand. I know that feeling, too.

153DeltaQueen50
Jun 13, 2013, 1:19 pm

I'm so glad that you loved The Lies of Locke Lamora. I am on the hunt for the second book as well, for such a great series, the books aren't all that easy to find!

154tymfos
Jun 18, 2013, 10:02 am

Just stopping by with a quick hi!

*waves*

155sjmccreary
Oct 4, 2013, 12:06 am

Wow. I feel like I need to sweep cobwebs out of this place, I've been away so long. I see the last book I posted was 4 months ago. That may be a record for me for ignoring one of my own threads!

I'm not going to try to catch up on 4 months worth of reading, so I'll invite you to check out my thread in the 75 books group, where I did slightly better about posting than I've done here. http://www.librarything.com/topic/156441

To date, I've completed 60 books. For my category challenge, I've read the most books (6) in each of 3 categories: 3rd grade - books of understanding, 7th grade - foreign, 8th grade - books about professionals.

I've also completed 5 books in 3 categories: 5th grade - mysteries, 6th grade - 20th century and current events, 9th grade - books about science and nature.

Six categories have 4 books in each: kindergarten - books that are fun and easy, 3rd grade - books that spell-it-out, 4th grade - series books, 10th grade - literature and literary fiction, 11th grade - books about US history, and 12th grade - books about music and the arts.

That leaves a single category with only 3 books: 1st grade - YA and children's books.

I never set a firm goal for the year, but I think I'll be happy if I can hit 75. I'm going to continue trying to fill the categories evenly, which means I need to pick up some kid's books. However, when I look at what I've got coming up, I don't see anything like that.

currently reading:
The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart

Coming up soon:
The Last Child by John Hart
Lincoln on War by Harold Holzer, editor
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott (a month late for the group read)
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell

I'd like to get all those finished in October, but that seems unlikely. I don't know how - or even IF - these books will fit into my categories, and I have to admit to wishing it were already time to start the 2014 challenge!

156sjmccreary
Oct 4, 2013, 12:09 am

I just said I wouldn't go back and list all the books I've read in the last 4 months, but I posted my most recent 3 books on the other thread this morning, so it will be an easy thing to copy those comments here, too.

Book #58



Little Bee by Chris Cleave


A tense, unsettled, and unsettling, story about a Nigerian refugee girl who has just been released after being held for 2 years in an immigration detention facility outside London. She makes her way to the home of the London couple that she met on the beach in Nigerian shortly before she fled her homeland. The couple, meanwhile, are dealing with their own ghosts from the Nigeria trip. An excellent tale about greed, courage and forgiveness. 4 stars.

Book #59



The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn


A nonfiction look at the famous gunfight at the OK Corral, with special focus on Wyatt Earp. It introduces all the major players, and chronicles how it was that they each came to be in Tombstone at that particular time and the events that led to the 30-second battle. A detailed section follows about the resulting court hearings and testimonies, concluding with "the rest of the story" - what happened to each of the players afterwards. Informative and very interesting look at an iconic episode in the history of the American west. 4 stars.

Book #60



The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin


It took me a long time to finish this very short book written in the first person voice and narrated by Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary is nearing the end of her life and is being badgered by her keepers - anonymous men who provide her with shelter and food and visit her regularly to interrogate her about the events of her son's life and death. They keep talking to her about how he was the Son of God, and that his suffering was necessary to ensure the salvation of all people. She, on the other hand, is nothing more than a mother still grieving the death of her son.

As a Christian, the story presents an interesting alternative look at New Testament events. But, as a mom who has also lost a son, it is her grief that touched me more deeply.
It is simple. If water can be changed into wine and the dead can be brought back, then I want time pushed back. I want to live again before my son's death happened, or before he left home, when he was a baby and his father was alive and there was ease in the world. (pg 75-76)
"I was there," I said. "I fled before it was over but if you want witnesses then I am one and I can tell you now, when you say that he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it. It was not worth it." (pg 80)
Her pain and anger at what had happened, and her confusion and resignation to what was happening currently, come through on every page. Mary is presented here, not as a saint, but as a flesh and blood woman who wants nothing more than to be left alone to die in peace.

157-Eva-
Oct 4, 2013, 12:16 pm

Well, To Kill a Mockingbird has children in it and The Last Child has "child" in the title, but that probably doesn't qualify. :)

Another nudge for Little Bee - need to get to that soon!

158lindapanzo
Oct 4, 2013, 12:22 pm

The OK Corral book sounds good. I'll have to add that one to my list.

Is anyone starting a group read for that Panama Canal book? I'm thinking about reading it. Not positive, due to the length and lots of other chunksters in my near future. The Woodrow Wilson bio and the new Doris Kearns Goodwin, just to name a few.

159clue
Editado: Oct 4, 2013, 4:55 pm

Was glad to see your review of The Testament of Mary, I've been surprised that I haven't seen more postings about it. Saying that, I also have to say that I've had it awhile and after reading a few pages decided to hold it until I could give it my undivided attention, I'd like to read it at one sitting, so I haven't read it yet. One review I read comes back to me...this person wrote "this is not the Mary you know from Christmas cards". Colm Toibin is one of my favorite authors and I admire him for even attempting to write from any mother's perspective let alone Mary's. I've always thought it was amazing how well he writes from a woman's point of view but this requires even greater skill and I would think courage.

160rabbitprincess
Oct 4, 2013, 5:47 pm

Oh good, The Last Gunfight is already on my TBR :) Glad to see another positive review! The author also wrote a really interesting book about Bonnie and Clyde, called Go Down Together.

161sjmccreary
Oct 4, 2013, 11:58 pm

Eva, there was a scene in Mockingbird where the kids read Ivanhoe, so I thought I might be able to use that one for my children/YA category - assuming I ever get it read!

Linda, I think someone was asking over in the group reads thread whether there was still any interest in the book - I assumed that was a prelude to actually setting up the thread, but I haven't seen it yet. I think Cheli and I are both planning to read it - plus Lori and a couple of others. Join us! I think you'd like the gunfight book - there is quite a lot of attention given to the legal proceedings which might interest you.

clue, I've also been surprised not to see more mentions of the Mary book - especially since it was short-listed for the Booker prize. I thought I would finish it in a single day, or maybe two, but it ended up taking me more than 2 weeks. Not sure why, but I'm glad I didn't rush it. I love that comment - not the Mary on the Christmas cards. Definitely an accurate description of the book.

rp, ooh, Bonnie and Clyde sound interesting - I'll see if I can find that book, too.

162sjmccreary
Oct 13, 2013, 10:17 pm

Book #61



To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


Surely, I was the only person here who had never read this book. But, if there is anyone else, then I suggest getting on with it. Nothing to be gained by waiting. While the movie DOES stick close to the book, the book is so much richer in detail. Besides, it is a wonderful story that holds up to repeated exposure. I regret not reading it sooner.

Book #62



Pirates! by Gideon Defoe


This book was the movie tie-in edition, which I'd generally avoid, but it was the only way I could get both stories: Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (in which the pirate crew meets Charles Darwin and goes with him to London to appear before the Royal Society) and Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab (in which the pirates go searching for the great white whale).

I've seen the movie several times, and it probably spoiled my enjoyment of the book slightly. The book is definitely bawdier. Both are great fun. The Pirate Captain and his luxurious beard are wonderful. Read the book first.

163sjmccreary
Oct 13, 2013, 10:20 pm

Book #63



The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley


Ptolemy Grey is a 92-year old black man living in a dumpy LA apartment and suffering from dementia. His great-grand nephew, Reggie, who normally cares for Uncle Grey, is killed in a drive-by shooting and at the visitation Ptolemy is introduced to Robyn, an 18-year old orphan who has come to live with Ptolemy's niece. In the wake of Reggie's death, Robyn takes over the care of Ptolemy - starting with cleaning out his apartment.

From the foggy depths of his half forgotten past, Ptolemy remembers that he has something important to do before he dies. He begs Robyn to take him to a doctor who can help him get his thoughts back so that he can finish what must be done. A thoughtful look at the history of race relations in the 20th century and of the cultural changes within the black community. 4-1/2 stars.

Book #64



The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox


Written 250 years ago, this is the story of Arabella, a young woman who was raised in seclusion by her father following the death of her mother. Arabella's primary source of information about society and the world outside her village are the old romantic French novels that belonged to her mother. She devoured the novels, taking as fact all their descriptions of the behavior of polite society and the relations between men and women. When her father dies and her uncle comes to take guardianship of her, together with her cousin - Mr Glanville, whom her father wished her to marry - Arabella expects them to act as the heroes in her books do and is puzzled when they do not. They, in turn, question Arabella's sanity when faced with her outrageous speech and actions.

It was a bit of a slog at times, but sharply funny at others. Well worth the effort.

164rabbitprincess
Oct 13, 2013, 10:49 pm

Ah I loved the Pirates movie! I liked the books too, especially the Ahab one.

165clfisha
Oct 14, 2013, 5:31 am

I think my favourite is The Pirates! in an adventure with Communists but it was the 1st oen I read so.. Love the movie too! We had the ship they used exhibited in Bristol, absolutely stunning detail.

166cyderry
Oct 14, 2013, 10:21 am

Sandy, you are moving along.

167lkernagh
Oct 14, 2013, 12:12 pm

I also really enjoyed the Pirates! movie. I haven't read any of the books yet.

I have added The Female Quixote to my 2014 reading list. Having read Don Quixote earlier this year I am looking forward to reading the Lennox book.

168sjmccreary
Oct 14, 2013, 9:25 pm

Our library doesn't have any more of the Pirates stories - several versions of Scientists, and this one with Ahab, but no Communists and no Napoleon. Sad face. I guess I'll have to content myself with watching the movie again.

Hey, Cheli! Moving along, but not as impressively as some are. However, I AM still here, which is an improvement from last year! I read your thread, but I confess not have noticed how your are coming on your challenge. I mostly pay attention to the blue letters.

Lori, I have never read Don Quixote, so I'm sure I missed some of the parallels in Female Quixote. I hope you will enjoy it.

169-Eva-
Oct 14, 2013, 10:10 pm

I have a 2-in-one of Pirates! as well, which I will try to get to this year. Let's see how it goes... :)

170sjmccreary
Oct 14, 2013, 11:00 pm

Eva, I think the entire book took just over 2 hours to read. Get it out and see how long you can stand not picking it up!

171-Eva-
Editado: Oct 14, 2013, 11:13 pm

You're mean! I'm working on 1,000+ pages of George R.R. Martin so that I can finish up my challenge! :)

ETA: Hmm, well technically it was a bookbullet from clfisha last year, so it could be the one that closes out the BB category for me this year....

172sjmccreary
Oct 14, 2013, 11:51 pm

Oh, come on! You'll need a break from Martin - aren't your wrists getting tired from holding that enormous thing? Pirates is so small and light. And a nice comic interlude in the midst of denser reading. (Is it working?) And you do have that BB category to finish...

173-Eva-
Oct 15, 2013, 12:16 am

Meanie! :) Well, it's off the shelf on its way to my bedside table.

174sjmccreary
Oct 15, 2013, 11:04 am

*grin* I hope you enjoy it!

175cyderry
Oct 15, 2013, 12:29 pm

I finished my category challenge and setup a mini one for the remainder of the year - 13 categories with 2-3 books in each. Really just leftovers from the main challenge.

176sjmccreary
Oct 23, 2013, 11:21 am

Book #65



Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell


Like the other Woodrell books I've read, this is a look at an Ozarks family living in poverty. Tomato Red is so nicknamed because of her unnatural hair color. Jamalee is 19 years old and shares a cabin with her 16-year old brother. Jason is gay and is the most beautiful boy in the entire county. Next door lives their mother, Bev, a prostitute. The book is narrated by Sammy, a drifter who has wandered into town and was fired from his job almost as soon as he started it. He is discovered by Jam and Jason passed out drunk inside the burgled house of one of the rich people in town, and they decide to keep him as their "security". Jam has a plan to get out of town for good which will depend on Jason's looks and his ability to make women of all ages, um, swoon. Sammy is to the be the muscle.

But, as with all plans, things don't go as expected. The upper levels of the local society don't want the white trash from the wrong side of the tracks anywhere near them. Each one of the main characters reacts to their poverty and oppression differently.

As usual, Woodrell's writing is extremely well done. It is a short book and easily read. He does not sugar-coat the reality of the life of poverty that is experienced by Jamalee and her family - the living conditions, the drug use, the prostitution, the lack of education, but he doesn't glorify it, either. Recommended.

177DeltaQueen50
Oct 23, 2013, 6:57 pm

First Donna's review and now yours, this book is going on my wishlist! I loved Winter's Bone and I have The Death of Sweet Mister, I can see that I will eventually have to collect all this author's works.

178sjmccreary
Nov 13, 2013, 1:06 pm

I just got home from a 2-week vacation. Even though I packed several books (of course), I didn't finish a single one of them. However, I vaguely remember that I finished one the day before we left that I never posted. I don't remember many of the details anymore, but I enjoyed the book:

Book #66



Ivanhoe by Walter Scott


Ivanhoe must have been about the ONLY character in the book who didn't make it into one of the movies!

Loved it - wish I'd read it years ago.

179DeltaQueen50
Nov 13, 2013, 1:31 pm

Hi Sandy, the fact that you did not finish a single book on vacation tells me that it must have been a great vacation! ;)

180sjmccreary
Nov 13, 2013, 1:42 pm

Hi Judy - yeah, it was OK. I guess. ;-)

181tymfos
Editado: Nov 13, 2013, 5:42 pm

Welcome back! I'm hoping you were having too much fun on your vacation for reading . . .

182-Eva-
Nov 14, 2013, 1:58 pm

Welcome back! Hope you guys had a great time on the trip!

183sjmccreary
Editado: Dic 9, 2013, 11:55 pm

Catching up on books:

Book #67



The Last Child by John Hart


A fast-paced thriller with many twists and turns about a 13-year old boy whose twin sister was abducted the year before and never found. His father abandoned the family shortly afterwards - unable to deal with the guilt of being the one who forgot to pick her up, resulting in her walking home the night she was taken. His mother has plunged into drugs and booze, and has taken up with a man who is wealthy and successful in public but mean and vicious in private. The detective who promised to find the girl hasn't been able to do so, so the brother, convinced his sister is still alive, takes it upon himself to find her. 4 stars.

Book #68



The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough


Detailed, thorough, but still readable history of the Panama Canal - the dreams of it, the plans to build it, the schemes to win financing and approval, the successes and failures, the personalities involved, the sheer magnitude of the task. Absolutely required reading for anyone planning a passage through the canal, and highly recommended for everyone else. 4-1/2 stars.

184sjmccreary
Editado: Dic 9, 2013, 11:56 pm

book #69



Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart


Second in the series about American forensic pathologist Nora Gavin and Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire who, after begnning a romance at the end of the first book, are called to the same site again when an Iron Age "bog body" is discovered. The body shows signs of having been a victim of a ritual killing. A few days later another body is uncovered, with the same signs of death, but the second body dates back only to the 1970's. A few days after that, a third body is discovered with similar signs, but freshly killed. Nora is uncertain when she realizes that Cormac has become a suspect in the killing and she is unable to prove his innocence.

Not top notch, slow-paced and rambling - very atmospheric. I took too much time with it and had trouble remembering characters and clues, and didn't enjoy it as much as I would have. 3 neutral stars.

Book #70



Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


Second in the Chronicles of Narnia series - which I never read as a child. I enjoyed this one much more than Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. The children are called back to a Narnia that has advanced many hundreds of years since they left during the first book in order to assist Prince Caspian in claiming his rightful throne from his evil, scheming uncle. 4 stars.

185sjmccreary
Editado: Dic 9, 2013, 11:57 pm

Book #71



The Vanishing American by Zane Grey


A young (Navaho?) Indian boy is kidnapped by whites and taken back east to be educated and civilized. He becomes a famous college athlete and meets and falls in love with a white girl. He returns to his native home, struggles to fit in, and writes to his girl and encourages her to join him in the desert to work with him to help his people - which she does. The "Indian problem" is disclosed to be caused by corrupt government officials and a greedy missionary. Another layer of treachery is introduced when WWI breaks out and one of the government officials, who happens to be a German, intentionally misleads the Indians about the war.

I can see that it must have been exciting and probably scandalous when it was written in the 1920s. But now, it is full of stereotypes and too melodramatic to be taken seriously. 3 stars.

Book #72



A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle


Another classic children's book that I'd never read before. A group of children - considered odd amoungst their peers - must face their fears and travel through time and space to rescue their father who has been captured by IT, the driving force behind the evil black thing that is threatening to consume earth. I had an audio production that was read by the author and was fabulous. 4 stars.

186rabbitprincess
Dic 10, 2013, 4:42 pm

My BF's parents took a cruise on the Panama Canal recently, so the group read of The Path Between the Seas was very well timed -- that's part of their Christmas gift sorted! And bonus, I will get to borrow it when they're finished ;) It sounds fascinating.

187tymfos
Dic 10, 2013, 5:42 pm

Hi, Sandy! Some quality reads here. I should read the Hart book -- I liked the other one I read by him.

188sjmccreary
Dic 21, 2013, 9:49 pm

Book #73



Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming


The latest in the Clare Fergusson-Russ VanAlstyne series. In this one, Clare is pregnant and she and Russ are stranded at a remote lake cabin by the biggest ice storm in recent memory. Meanwhile, a young girl has been kidnapped and the police department - stretched thin by the storm and Russ's absence - are scrambling to find the meth-heads they suspect of taking her and locating the girl who will die without medical treatment soon. 4 stars.

Book #74



Orphan Trains to Missouri by Michael D Patrick


Part of a series of books written for adult beginning readers about different subjects in Missouri history, this is an interesting look at the orphan trains that transported New York City orphans to the mid-west beginning in the 1870's and continuing until well into the 20th century. Heart-breaking stories about children being separated from their siblings or placed into homes where another language was spoken or faith was practiced than their own. Also some abuses of families treating the children as nothing more than cheap labor. But also many stories of orphaned children escaping a dangerous life on the streets in NYC and being raised in loving and comfortable homes in Missouri and other farm states. This was a group read in the Missouri Readers Group, and many of us were left wanting to know more about this little-known event in our history.

Book #75



The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper


My first, and probably last, time reading this "classic" author. The story was a good one - and I'm interested in seeking out the recent movie that was the source of the cover picture. But the writing was torturous, rambling and hard to follow. At least now I know I haven't been missing much all these years.

189lindapanzo
Dic 21, 2013, 9:53 pm

Congrats on book #75, Sandy.

When I was in school, I was tempted to read some James Fenimore Cooper. Less so as the years have passed though. Sounds like I haven't missed much.

190sjmccreary
Dic 22, 2013, 10:34 am

Thanks, Linda.

I knew all along that I would never read 13 X 13 = 169 books, so I've had it in mind that I would call the challenge complete at 75 books - not being sure if I would actually finish that many this year.

So, I'm done!

Here is my recap for the year - not allowing any overlaps between categories:

Kindergarten, books that are fun/easy: 5 books completed. Best book = The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson. Worst book = The Last Dance by Kevin Murphy.

1st Grade, YA and children's books: 6 books completed. Best book = To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Worst book = Twenty Gold Falcons by Amy Gordon.

2nd Grade, books of understanding: 6 books completed. Best book = Little Bee by Chris Cleave. Worst book = Swamplandia by Karen Russell.

3rd Grade, books that spell-it-out/instructional books: 5 books completed. Best book = Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff. Worst book = Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain by Ron Powers.

4th Grade, series books: 6 books completed. Best book = The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Worst book = Law of Attraction by Allison Leotta.

5th Grade, mysteries: 6 books completed. Best book = The Last Child by John Hart. Least good book (no bad ones here) = The Perfect Murder by H R F Keating.

6th Grade, 20th century and current events: 7 books completed. Best book = Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King. Worst book = Mr Bridge by Evan Connell.

7th Grade, foreign: 6 books completed. Best book = Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Worst book = The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes.

8th Grade, books about professionals: 6 books completed. Best book = The Last Surgeon by Michael Palmer. Worst book = The Twenty-Seventh City by Jonathan Franzen.

9th Grade, books about science and nature: 6 books completed. Best book = The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips. Worst book = Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart.

10th Grade, literary fiction and classic literature: 6 books completed. Best book = Baltasar and Blimunda by Jose Saramago. Worst book = A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain.

11th Grade, books about US History: 6 books completed. Best book = The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough. Worst book = The Vanishing American by Zane Grey.

12th Grade, books about music and the arts: 4 books completed. Best book = Blindspot by Jane Kamensky. (I won't name a worst book from this small group of all-good books.)

So, now I'll take a week or two off before starting the 2014 challenge: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=158355

In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my LT friends.

191rabbitprincess
Dic 22, 2013, 11:40 am

Congrats on finishing! Merry Chrismas and happy New Year to you too! :)

192mathgirl40
Dic 22, 2013, 11:43 am

Congratulations, and I enjoyed seeing your recap. Best wishes to you too!

193lindapanzo
Dic 22, 2013, 12:35 pm

Congrats on finishing, Sandy. Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

On the NFL pre-game, they were just showing them trying to knock the ice off at the KC Chiefs stadium. Did you get a lot of ice and snow? We did, though not as much snow as expected. It's sure to be a white Christmas for us.

194sjmccreary
Dic 22, 2013, 3:01 pm

At the house, we got a thin coating of ice covered by a couple of inches of snow. But in the city, I think they might have gotten more. My husband is at the Chiefs game today. He hates cold, he hates snow and he hates ice. I hope he's staying warm enough to enjoy the game!

195mamzel
Dic 22, 2013, 3:28 pm

Congrats! I think it's cool that you spread out in your categories so evenly. See you in the next challenge!

196lkernagh
Dic 22, 2013, 4:27 pm

Congrats on finishing!

197cbl_tn
Dic 22, 2013, 4:32 pm

>194 sjmccreary: I feel your husband's pain. I've braved weather like that for my team before, only to have them let me down with a loss. It's a lot easier to ignore the discomfort when the team does well.

198majkia
Dic 22, 2013, 4:42 pm

oh sorry about KC losing. My Saints lost too, sigh.

199dudes22
Dic 22, 2013, 6:06 pm

Congratulations on finishing. My team's playing now and looking good at half-time.

200cyderry
Dic 22, 2013, 6:54 pm

good job finishing!

201AHS-Wolfy
Dic 22, 2013, 6:55 pm

Congrats on reaching your goal for the year!

202hailelib
Dic 22, 2013, 7:00 pm

Great finish!

203DeltaQueen50
Dic 22, 2013, 10:32 pm

Congratulations, Sandy on completing your challenge. Wishing you the best of the season and looking forward to catching up with you when we all move over to the 2014 Challenge.

204sjmccreary
Dic 23, 2013, 12:06 am

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm getting ready to begin books that I've earmarked for the 2014 challenge - on the assumption that I won't finish them before the end of the month.

I've got a couple in progress, though, that I'm still working on. Two entirely different books, chosen for entirely different reasons - one in print, the other audio. And yet, they are so similar that I'm getting them confused in my mind. Does that ever happen to anyone else? I've got an ILL copy of Roots of Heaven in print - published in the late 1950's and translated from French, it is set in French Equatorial Africa (Chad, Cameroon, etc) just after WWI and has the hunting of elephants for ivory as a major plot element. The other is an audio version of White Rhino Hotel - a fairly recent book set in British East Africa (Kenya) also just after the end of WWI and also featuring the hunting of large game, including elephants for the ivory, as a plot element. Both books include a multi-national cast of characters and I'm having trouble remembering which characters belong to which story.

I didn't set out to read Africa books - they each just happened to show up at the same time.

Elephant Hunting in Africa for Christmas:

205clfisha
Dic 23, 2013, 5:03 am

Congrats on finishing!

206majkia
Dic 23, 2013, 8:11 am

#204 by sjmccreary> I really enjoyed White Rhino Hotel and The Cafe on the Nile is high on my list to be read in 2014. I listened to the audio version and loved the narrator's gravelly voice.

207tymfos
Dic 24, 2013, 12:18 pm

Congrats on book #75! Best wishes to you, Sandy.


glitter-graphics.com

208DeltaQueen50
Dic 24, 2013, 4:47 pm

Sandy, I am currently reading the last of Bartle Bull's African trilogy, The Devil's Oasis, I've enjoyed all three books.

As the reading similar books, I recently had to put a mystery aside as I found myself reading two at the same time and getting characters and plot elements mixed up. I usually have two books going at the same time, but have found they need to be very different in order to keep them separate in my mind.

209majkia
Dic 24, 2013, 5:11 pm

#208 by DeltaQueen50> I've got the same problem DQ. Different genres are easiest for me to deal with.

210cbl_tn
Dic 24, 2013, 6:57 pm

Just dropping by to wish you a Merry Christmas and lots of good reading in the new year!

211dudes22
Dic 25, 2013, 7:21 am

Merry Christmas Sandy!

212rabbitprincess
Dic 25, 2013, 8:48 am

Merry Christmas and enjoy your holiday armchair travelling ;)

213paruline
Dic 26, 2013, 9:46 am

Merry Christmas and congratulations on completing your challenge!