Max - in the library - with a book - for 2013, page 3

I'm not setting a numerical goal this year, but will surely do a minimum of 10 in each group. My other goal is to read a lot from my own shelves...my weekly tote from the library is getting to heavy to carry. - Managed to read 105 from off my own shelves!

As always there are books that won't fit into my categories, so in order to keep track of them I am starting an "Overflow" list. You can find these in 'Chapters'

Taking Part in the Christmas Group Read...




1. Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M. C. Beaton
2. The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor by Simon Brett
3. The Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page - terribly boring...
4. The White House Pantry Murder by Elliott Roosevelt

I am dumping this category~ The next three books were so boring I couldn't finish them. Two still look promising - a really short little one by Ed McBain and an Anne Perry, but I am not even going to try to do 13. Have started a historical novel...

Since this challenge is also my years reading journal I will keep adding any books I read this month.

1. Clue - The Classic Mystery Writers - DONE


1. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie - 4.5/5 stars
2. By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie - 3.8/5
3. Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie - 4.3/5
4. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey - 4.4/5
5. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - 4.6/5
6. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham - 4.6/5
7. A Shilling For Candles by Josephine Tey - 4.6/5 - library book
8. The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen - 4.8/5 - Best Read in Clue
9. Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham - 4.4/5
10. Unnatural Causes by P. D. James - 4.4/5

Did well with the goal of reading off my own shelves - 9!

2. Blondie - Lady Cops, Female Detectives and Your Basic Heroines - DONE


1. Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell - overall 3.5/5 stars - library book
2. You Might As Well Die by J. J. Murphy - overall 4.5.5
3. The Man Who Cast Two Shadows by Carol O'Connell - overall 4/5 - library book
4. A Friendly Game of Murder by J. J. Murphy - overall 4/5
5. Choke Hold by Christa Faust- overall 3.8/5 - library book
6. Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley - overall 4.6/5 - Best read in Blondie
7. A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry - overall 4/5 - library book
8. Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller - 3.6/5 - borrowed from a friend
9. Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich - 4/5
10. Calculated in Death by J. D. Robb - 4/5 - library book
11. Kindred Crimes by Janet Dawson - 3.5/5 - library book
12. The Red Queen Dies by Frankie Y. Bailey - 4/5

Only 5 here off my shelves.

3. Dick Tracy - Police Procedurals - DONE


1. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson- 4.3/5 stars
2. Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson - overall 4/5
3. The Murder Room by P. D. James - overall 4.3/5
4. Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler - overall 4.3/5
5. The Black Country by Alex Grecian - 4/5 - an ER book
6. Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara Fradkin - 3.5/5 - library book
7. It Happens In the Dark by Carol O'Connell - 4/5 - an ER book
8. Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do by Michael Brandman - 4/5 - an ER Book
9. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny - 5/5 - Best read in Dick Tracy
10. Original Sin by P.D. James - 3.7/5
11. Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd - 3.5/5

10 off my own shelves!

4. Philip Marlowe - Hard-boiled Detectives - DONE


1. No Good From A Corpse by Leigh Brackett - 4.5/5 - library book
2. Sleep With Slander by Delores Hitchens - 3.6/5 - library book
3. Black Alley by Mickey Spillane - 4.6/5
4. The Killing Man by Mickey Spillane - 3.5/5 - library book
5. The Deep Blue Good-by by John D. MacDonald - 3.7/5
6. Murder is My Business by Brett Halliday - 4/5 - Best read in Philip Marlowe
7. The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey -4/5
8. Dog in the Manger by Mike Resnick - 4.5/5
9. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - 4.5/5 = library reads
10.The Chill by Ross Macdonald - 3.8/5

6 off my shelves

5. Marrakech - Mysteries Set In Other Lands - DONE


1. The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill - overall 4.6/5 (Laos)
2. Black Seconds by Karin Fossum - overall 4/5 (Norway)
3. Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley - overall 4.5/5 (Botswana) - Best read in Marrakech
4. Maigret and the Apparition by Georges Simenon - 4.5/5 (France)
5. The Devil in the Bush by Matthew Head - 4/5 (Belgian Congo)
6. Murder in the Marais by Cara Black - 3.8 to 4/5 (France)
7. The Golden Egg by Donna Leon - 4/5 (Italy)
8. The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo - 4.4/5 (Norway) - library book
9. The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle - 4.3/5 (France) - library book
10 The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle - 4.2/5 (France) - library book

6 off my shelves

6. Target - Spies & Espionage, Thrillers - DONE



1. Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst - 4.6/5 - library book
2. The Moscow Club by Joseph Finder - 4.3/5 - library book
3. The Cold War Swap by Ross Thomas - 4.5/5
4. Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal - 4/5
5. Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal - 4.2/5
6. A Foreign Country by Charles Cumming - 4.5/5 - library book
7. His Majesty's Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal - 4.3/5
8. Sentinel by Matthew Dunn - 4.5/5 - Best spy read of Target
9. Yesterday's Spy by Len Deighton - 3.5/5
10 The Expats by Chris Pavone - 2.5/5
11 Outlaw by Mark Sullivan - 4.4/5 - an ER book
12 Runner by Patrick Lee - 5/5- Best thriller read of Target an ER book
13. The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer - 4.5/5

10 off my shelves!

7. Musketeers - Historical Fiction - DONE


1. The Murderous Procession by Adriana Franklin - 4/5 stars - library book
2. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - 4/5 stars - library book
3. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear - 4.5 stars - library book
4. Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell - 3.5/5 - library book
5. Death Called to the Bar by David Dickinson - 3.5/5
6. A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch - 3.5/5 - an ER book
7. The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers - 4/5
8. The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter van Tilburg Clark - 5/5 Best read of Musketeers
9. The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss - 4/5
10. Rose by Martin Cruz Smith - 5/5
11. 1356 by Bernard Cornwell - 4.8/5

7 off my shelves

8. The Impossible Machine - Steampunk, Sci-fi & Fantasy - DONE


1. The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma - 4/5 stars - library book
2. Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy - 3/5 stars - borrowed from a friend
3. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol I by Alan Moore - 3.9/5 - library book
4. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol II by Alan Moore - 3.9/5 - library book
5. Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon by Mark Hodder - 4/5
6. The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt - 3/5 - library reads
7. Libriomancer by Jim C, Hines - 4.4/5 - library book
8. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger - 4.6/5 - library book
9. The Doctor & the Rough Rider by Mike Resnick - 4.7/5 - Best read of The Impossible Machine
10. Stalking the Zombie by Mike Resnick - 4/5
11. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris - 4/5 - library book
12. Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer - 3.5/5

4 off my shelves

9. Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes and Flying Things - DONE


1. The Hindenburg Murders by Max Allan Collins - 4/5
2. The Proving Flight by David Beaty - 4/5
3. The Aviator by Ernest K. Gann - 4/5
4. The Take Off by David Beaty - 4/5
5. Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson - 5/5
6. Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - 4/5
7. The Four Winds by David Beaty - 4/5
8. Airman by Eoin Colfer - 3.5/5
9. No Highway by Nevil Shute - 4/5
10. Night Over Water by Ken Follett - 4/5

All 10 off my shelves!!

10. The Flying Dutchman - Ships On, In & Under the Water - DONE


1. The Twelfth Mile by E. G. Perrault - 4.3/5
2, A Flock of Ships by Brian Callison - 4/5
3. The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas - 4/5
4. Cold Is the Sea by Edward L. Beach - 4.4/5 - library book Best read of The Flying Dutchman
5. Greenbeard by Richard James Bentley - 3.5/5 - an ER book
6. Halsey's Typhoon by Bob Drury - 3.5/5
7. Web of Salvage by Brian Callison - 4.3/5
8. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick - 4/5
9. Red Star Rogue by Kenneth Sewell - 4.5/5
10.All Hands Down by Kenneth Sewell - 4.5/5

9 off my shelves

11. Frank's Zoo - Animals - DONE


1. Scruffy by Paul Gallico - overall 4.7/5 (a Barbary Ape) - Best read of Frank's Zoo
2. Suspect by Robert Crais - overall 4/5 (dog)
3. The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams - overall 4/5 (dogs)
4. The Best of James Herriot by James Herriot - 5/5 (cows, horses, pigs, dogs, cats)
5. The Blessing of the Animals by Michael J. Rosen- 4.5/5 (dog)
6. The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico - 5/5 (a snow goose, yeh?)
7. Thomasina by Paul Gallico - 4/5 (cat)
8. Matilda by Paul Gallico - 4/5 (kangaroo)
9. The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler - 4.5/5 (weasel)
10.The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - 4.5/5

10 off my shelves

12. Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF and YA - DONE


1. Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl -an ER book
2. The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby - overall 3.8/5
3. Maude March on the Run! by Audrey Couloumbis - overall 4.5/5
4. The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy = overall 4.6/5 - Best read JF of Duck, Duck, Go
5. The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence - 4/5
6. Black Ice by Andrew Lane - 4/5 - library book
7. The Dawn of the Sea Monster, and Other Wonders of Block Island by James Stevenson - 4/5 - Best JP Read of Duck, Duck, Go
8. The Wild Hunt by Jane Yolen - 4/5
9. The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel J. Pinkwater - 4.5/5 Best YA Read of Duck, Duck, Go
10. Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voight - 4/5 - library book
11. Fire Storm by Andrew Lane - 4/5 - library book

8 off my shelves

13. Star Reporter - Non Fiction - DONE


1. Ready for a Brand New Beat by Mark Kurlansky - 4/5 - an ER book
2. That Others May Live by Jack Brehm - library book
3. The Law of Superheros by James Daily - library book
4. The Scientific Sherlock Holmes by James F. O'Brien - library book
5. Walter Dew : The Man Who Caught Crippen by Nicholas Connell 4/5
6. Midnight in Peking by Paul French - 4/5 Best read in Star Reporter
7. On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz - 3.5/5
8. The Empire of Tea by Alan Macfarlane - 3.5/5
9. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff - 3.8/5
10. King of Heists by J. North Conway - 3.5/5

7 off my own shelves

Chapters - The Overflow


1. Crime of Privilege by Walter Walker - an ER book
2. Grandville Bete Noir by Bryan Talbot - graphic novel - library book
3. Money Shot by Christa Faust - library book
4. The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith
5. The Tiger Among Us by Leigh Brackett - library book
6. Face to Face by Ellery Queen - library book
7, The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block
8. The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block - library book
9. Burglars Can't be Choosers by Lawrence Block
10. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling by Lawrence Block
11. The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian by Lawrence Block - library book
12. The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block
13. The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block - library book
14. Double Tap by Steve Martini -

7 off my shelves

Book 100
Cargo of Eagles by Margery Allingham
Category : Clue - The Classic Mystery Writers

I don't know how much of this was written by her husband, after her death, but I enjoyed it as much as the rest of hers.

Great success so far this year!

Happy new thread and congrats on reaching 100 books! :)

Migrating over to your new thread and loved scrolling through your categories again! Congrats on 100 books read!

Thanks all for coming over! Am reading and loving a PD James right now.

Book 101
Unnatural Causes by P.D. James - 4.4/5
Category : Clue - The Classic Mystery Writers

In the end I felt that Insp. Dalgliesh has some clues that I didn't. Terribly hard to get all the fine points figured out if you don't have all the clues. Nevertheless, James is a wonderful writer.

Went I entered the new book on my 'ticker' I wound up getting a duplicate entry of my first comment. That has happened to me before, and for the life of me I can't figure out how it happens.

Unnatural Causes lead me to my next read... I'll explain that when I finish it.

I too am migrating over and adding my congrats to reaching 100 already!

Glad you made the trip!

Book 102
Walter Dew : The Man Who Caught Crippen by Nicholas Connell - 4/5
Category : Star Reporter - Non-Fiction

Walter Dew was a police detective in Whitecastle during the time of Jack the Ripper, and while he was never able to catch 'Jack' he went on to become a successful detective in other crimes. He became the lead detective in the investigation of Dr. Crippen, who poisoned his wife, cut her up into pieces, buried parts of the body in his cellar and then tried to run off to Canada with his mistriss. Dew captured Crippen.

The book is interesting and well written, having only one 'cut and paste' (probably) error that I noticed. Photographs are included.

The reason that I read this book, at this particular time, was that in my previous book, Unnatural Causes by P. D. James several references were made to the Crippen case.

Have you read The False Inspector Dew, by Peter Lovesey, which is also about the Crippen case? I wonder how it compares with the true story.

No - I'll try to find it. Since it's by Lovesey, I am guessing fiction? Have you read it? It seems that Dew took a lot of flak from the press - they blamed him for Crippen being able to leave the country. But my book pretty well indicated that he had no grounds to arrest Crippen on when Crippen fled. He followed Crippen on a faster boat so that he would arrive in Canada before Crippen, hoping that during the voyage sufficient grounds would be established for an arrest, which is what happened.

I've read it. I don't remember it all that well, but it isn't exactly a fictionalization of the Crippen case.

Book 103
Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell - 3.5/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

A nice read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as his series on Arthur.

Book 104
Midnight in Peking by Paul French
Category : Star Reporter - Non-Fiction

A very complete and factual crime store, written so compellingly you think you are reading a really good police procedural/mystery. (Especially as I was not aware of this crime and so had no idea of the who/why/etc.) There are tons of reviews for this book, I will just say that it is the story of the murder of a 20 year old British woman in Peking, China in 1937. Very well done.

Book 105
The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey - 4/5
Category : Philip Marlowe - Hard-Boiled Detectives

This was the first book in a series featuring Michael Kelly, ex-cop not private eye. A back-to-the-basics hard-boiled story complete with beautiful dames that aren't what they appear, murder, mean streets, cops. A good read.

Book 106
The Take Off by David Beaty - 4.5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes & Flying Things

Even though I rated this book the same as the other Beaty book, I enjoyed The Proving Flight more.

This story revolves around Squadron Leader Donnington, and an anti-U-boat squadron in the north Atlantic. Each chapter is told by a different person in the squad and through their eyes you see all the varied sides of Donnington as well as the missions they flew.

Meme Fun: I couldn't resist joining in the fun.

If you could eat dinner with 7 fictional characters, who would you choose and where would they sit? (Picture a circular table where you are situated between guest #1 and guest #7)

I'm following the lead of some of you and using only books read to date in 2013: Also bows to rabbitprincess for explaining her seating arrangement!

1. Herbert His Good Horse - As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson I want to sit next to him because of all his jokes, he's a very funny man. I also think he and Insp. Kubu would be simpatico.

2. Insp. Kubu - Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley Africans are wonderful with children and I think Kubu would love Flavia and she would love him as well.

3. Flavia de Luce - Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley Flavia is next to Sallie who has tons of spunk. Horrors just thinking about all the ideas they might share.

4. Sallie March - Maude March On the Run by Audrey Couloumbis Sallie sees the crazy side of life and I think she would enjoy Stephanie.

5. Stephanie Plum - Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich

6. Bernie Rhodenbarr - The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block Bernie and Maigret would be great together, I think and I want to sit next to Maigret.

7. Insp. Maigret - Maigret and the Apparition by Georges Simenon

Sounds like a lively dinner party! Also reminds me I have to read Maigret.

Interesting dinner party. I'm going to have to give some serious thought as to who would be at mine.

I am so happy to see Flavia on your dinner guest list!

Lot of crime-fighting talent at your table, Mysterymax!

Lori - I think Flavia made almost all the lists... I really think we should have a thread for them and get everyone to copy their guest lists into it. I am afraid that I have missed some!

I could have had several lists! One for mysteries, one for other fictional characters, etc...Really would like to have had Poirot, Hastings, Holmes, and Watson together so they could chat. Would have been one hell of a conversation!

Book 107
The Expats by Chris Pavone - 2.5/5
Category : Target - Spies & Espionage Thrillers

I am having a difficult time reconciling the fact that this book has been placed in the finalists for 'Best First Novel' for the Anthony Award. The level of writing among 'first novelists' must be pretty bleak.

I am also having a difficult time with the fact that writers I respect - Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, John Connelly and Christopher Reich all have glowing blurbs for this book.

What am I missing? Pavone's method of telling the story - a section dealing with the climax day interspersed with chapters giving you the story leading up to this day is supposed to (I think) help build the suspense. For me, it did exactly the opposite; giving strong unmistakable signs of what the true story was. There was no suspense.

And there was no reason to care about the wooden characters, or the situation which I found inconsequential. It wasn't a 'spy' story. Kate had worked for the CIA, but the story is about a crime, a theft of money.

I finished the book and have put it in my spy section because the book claims to be a spy story and I need to fill the space in that category. But don't pick this one up if you are hoping for a book that will compare to the great spy/thriller writers.

>39 LittleTaiko:: Ooh, now that would be a fun party!!

I love your mystery-themed dinner party, especially the choice of Inspector Kubu!

Book 108
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do by Michael Brandman - 4/5
Category : Dick Tracy - Police Procedurals

Another really good Jessie Stone. Darn, I wish I had read this before the 'dinner party'...

The BF and I went to Monopolatte today and I thought of you! :) We played Careers (it seemed to be the 70s edition; my mum has what I think is the original 50s edition) and Ticket to Ride: Europe. They had a lot of really interesting-sounding games so we will have to go back sometime and try some more.

Glad you had a good time. Just mentioned it over on your thread, which I read first.

Book 109
Red Star Rogue by Kenneth Sewell - 4.5/6
Category : Star Reporter - NonFiction

This is a book to keep you awake nights! Very well written and researched, it is the story of a Soviet Submarine, K-19, that on the 7th of March, 1968, in waters by the Leeward Islands, approximately 360 miles from Honolulu, attempted to fire a nuclear missile on Pearl Harbor. Highly recommend.

Book 110
Black Ice by Andrew Lane - 4/5
Category : Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF, YA

Excellent addition to the young Sherlock Holmes series.

Book 111
The Dawn of the Sea Monster, and Other Wonders of Block Island by James Stevenson - 4.5
Category : Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF, YA

Can't get the touchstones to work on this title.

"Early one July morning about twenty years ago I was strolling around the empty streets of Block Island, waiting for Ernie's to open for breakfast. I was looking forward to a blueberry pancake, or two, with maple syrup, when Chris Littlefield came swerving up from the harbor on his bike. Christ was an early-riser -- he went fishing every morning around 4 1.m.
"Have you seen the sea monster?" he called.
"Sea monster?" I said, "Where?"
"Down on the dock!" he yelled, "Come on!"

And so begins a wonderful book about Block Island, RI, with all the great illustrations that has made James Stevenson on of the best children's author/illustrator around.

There's sea monsters, rust, dogs, and lots of other stuff for kids of every age, especially ones that have been to Block Island.

Purchased this book at the Block Island Historical Society, although it is available on amazon. Hopefully the Historical Society receives a portion of this delightful book. I especially loved the nine drawings of Block Island in the fog....

August is gone (OMG) - Short report

More good 'new author' reads this month. Visitors and trips really cut down on reading again this month.

Books Read - 12 - again
Categories - 9/13
New Authors (for me) - 5
New additions to series that I follow - 2

The book that kept me breathless:

The mystery that I enjoyed reading the most: The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey

Biggest disappointment: The Expats by Chris Pavone

Honorable mention: ME! for reading 3 non-fiction this month, all of which were excellent

I have ancestors who were among the first settlers of Block Island!

Winters must have been fierce. Do you still have family there?

Book 112
Death Called to the Bar by David Dickinson - 3.5/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

An enjoyable start for September's reading. A couple of places I thought, 'would they say it that way in 1902?', but since I wasn't there in 1902 I had no way of knowing and didn't let it bother me...

No. My particular line went through New York and then into West Virginia and Ohio.

No matter. Block Island appeared to me to be the kind of place that would call you their own if you wanted it too - unlike Vermont where you are a 'flat-lander' unless at least your grandparents were born here!

Book 113
The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi - 3/5
Category : Chapters - The Overflow

I read this planning to put it in my historical fiction section. After all the book jacket says the author has written several 'historical thrillers'. And, one of the 'tags' that popped up when I entered the book called it 'historical fiction'.

But it all takes place in the here and now. Yes, a large role is played by Dante's Divine Comedy text, but that doesn't make it historical in my book.

There is actually a reunion for this person's descendants that I'd love to attend sometime. I think it was held in Newport this past year and that they had a tour of Block Island scheduled for those who wanted to go either before or after the conference. I would have loved to go, but I just couldn't work it into my schedule. I do want to go there sometime!

My thought - take your car, or plan on renting a moped. Get out of the port and see the rest of the island!

Good grief - I just got back from another library booksale - 28 books! What's wrong with me?! No self control - well, not really true, there were about five or six that I thought about getting, but didn't. One should concentrate on the positives right? Am going off to enter them now...

I too am anticipating the fall library sales. With restraint - of course.

Someone had donated a group of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and other great stuff. Three of my 28 were to upgrade from a paperback to a hardcover copy, but the rest are all "newbies"! Now I just have to find the time to read them!

One is supposed to have self control at a library booksale... or any booksale for that matter?! Ooooh, I don't think so, because that kind of defeats the purpose of it being "A Sale". ;-)

Book 114
Dog in the Manger by Mike Resnick - 4.5/5
Category : Philip Marlowe - Hard Boiled Detectives

Mr. Resnick, I hope you never tire of writing Eli Paxton! A new hard-boiled detective you just have to love. Thanks also for the short story - it puts 'Marlowe' into a perfect relationship with Eli. I was worried that maybe he was going to go soft with Marlowe around, but I can see it will work out perfectly.

Woo! Excellent work! We have a big book sale two weekends from now and I am looking forward to it. This despite having ordered books off Abebooks recently and putting in a Chapters order yesterday (to use up a gift card from my birthday). Restraint? What's that?

I've got a book sale coming up too...and I am choosing that over attending my 10-year high school reunion! :)

Absolutely -no choice there. :)

Maybe it's a good thing, but the book planets align the week of 9/23 here. Our local bookstore is offering an Educators' Night where they recommend books to us and give us a hefty discount, our local public library is holding a book sale AND the San Francisco Public Library has their positively enormous book sale. Check this out!

Ooooh.... I see book heaven! Where..... When ..... darn it, I can't go!!!! *Whimpers*
I will just have to live vicariously through your book sale adventures. *sniffle*;-(

Oh - I am sooooo jealous!

Oh.... shopping carts! Take me! I can fill a shopping cart with books...no problem. What heaven. Any idea what the prices are like?

Whooooooa that looks like an amazing sale!

Hardcovers - $3.00
Paperbacks - $2.00
DVDs, CDs, etc. - $1.00
They also have a section of rare books.

Big city prices! LOL

On the last day - everything is $1.

It's a good thing I'm not there!

Ooh, that'd be dangerous to visit... I love that they supply carts!! :)

> 72 - I see the prices are the same as my local annual book sale offers, except ours is only books, no CDs, DVDs or others such items.... Bargain City!!!!!

We live in a smaller area, so most of the library sales are $1 for HC, 50 cents for mass-market paperbacks, 75 cents for the larger paperbacks. A couple of the bigger libraries have $2 for HC. We also have a section of 'specially priced' books. And while the prices are good, we certainly don't have the variety that the bigger libraries get. We also, usually, have audio books, movies, puzzles and games in the mix.

Whether it's $1 or $2 or $3 - how can you go wrong? Library book sales RULE!

I love how, after pushing aside all the Pattersons and Kings, you can fine the most unusual books that you've never heard of.

So true, my "best" find on Saturday was a 1936 copy, in wonderful, wonderful condition of an Agatha Christie 'Murder at the Vicarage'. I also found a big book - Murder Ink - which is full of fun stuff.

Book 115
A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch - 3.5/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

This was my August ER book. I had not read any of the previous entries in this series and it was easy to see why Lenox is a popular character. The mystery was light, everyone was charming, and Lenox is everything a hero should be.

But I like my detectives a bit flawed, a bit on the rough side. Mind you, this is also a historical mystery and heros in the Victorian era needed to be 'gentlemen'.

A nice easy, enjoyable read.

Book 116
The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers - 4/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

This is not a Charlie Chan mystery. This was a romantic mystery, quite thrilling actually, set at the onset of WW I. And here I should add that while most definitions for the genre of historical fiction indicate that the time period needs to be, at least, before the writer was born. However, for the purposes of my challenge - historical is anytime before WW II.

The agony column was what we might call the 'personals' and through the use of the column our young man 1) communicates with the young woman he has fallen for after seeing her in a restaurant and 2) relates to her the story and solving of a murder. Excellent twist. Totally enjoyed this short novel.

Taking a book bullet on The Agony Column!

I hope you enjoy it!

Book 117
How the LIght Gets In by Louise Penny - 5/5
Category : Dick Tracy - Police Procedurals

The best so far. Perfect. If you haven't been reading this mystery series, start at the beginning and work you way up to this one. You'll enjoy every minute.

How the Light Gets In arrived at our library today. I've got it for the weekend.

Glad to hear that the latest Louise Penny is good! I love this series and plan to read How the Light Gets In soon.

I'm next in line for a copy! Goodie, goodie, goodie!

I'm only up to book 3 (which I still need to get) but am enjoying the series so far - Good to know it's still good.

I've been trying to wait to read How the Light Gets In, but may have to start now based on your review.

Why wait? Have you read the others in the series?

Oh yes - I've read and loved all of them. I suppose I was waiting since it will be another year until the next one and I wanted to drag this one out. However, I did start it during the last hour and don't think I'll be able to put it down for too long. Well, sleep will be necessary but other than that...

I started it just before the lights went out here during a vicious electrical storm with rain and thunder... lit the oil lamps and read 141 pages, before calling it a night. 7 hours later the lights came on and woke me up! What a night.

Whoa, crazy storm! But reading by oil lamp could be fun.

Speaking of Louise Penny, tonight CBC is airing an adaptation of the first book, Still Life.

Finished it and loved it! So nice to spend time in Three Pines again. Glad you nudged me to start reading it now.

I'm crazy, but my favorite person in Three Pines is Ruth and I t hought it wonderful that in the end she (and Rosa) saved the day (more or less). What do you think will happen to the series now?

Book 118
The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter van Tilburg Clark - 5/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

A classic. Excellent. An up-close and personal look at how mob violence can take over. Very tense. Wow is all I can say. If you have a western category to fill be sure to add this to your list.

I agree though, Ruth is one of my favorites! I'd love to have the whole group over for dinner.

Not sure what will happen now. Am hoping for more Three Pines stories but that may be stretching things.

I'm attending Left Coast Crime in March where she is one of the honorees. Maybe she'll share some details of what's up next. One can hope!

I should check the attendees list for Bouchercon, see if she is coming to that. Will do that tomorrow. (I am on my way to bed!)

I read The Ox-Bow Incident last year and had much the same reaction. A great read.

I'm reading another one for my historical category, but won't get to it much for a few days, tomorrow am before the sun comes over the mountain we are on our way to Bouchercon, in Albany! I'm taking my ipad so I will try to keep you up to date on what's going one.

Have a great time!!

Have a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Bouchercon 2013 ~ A Short Report

I am very happy, but totally exhausted. We decided to miss the final morning, as I was so tired I couldn’t move and we have been driving back and forth.

It’s a wonderful event and I am so glad that we went. Already we are putting future Bouchercons on our calendar -

Good stuff ~

Wonderful panels, with authors discussing topics from noir mysteries to romantic ones. In each 55 minute time slot there were six panels to choose from so you had wonderful exposure to all sorts of discussions. The ones that made my favorite list:

She’s Got a Way: Methods of murder with Meredith Anthony, Matthew Clemens, Chris Ewan, Helen Smith and Sarah Weinman. Chris Ewan is one of my favorite mystery writers with his fun series The Good Thief’s Guide to ______name your city.”

Code of Silence: In Fiction you can spill the secrets with George Easter, Matt Coyle, Dana Haynes, Patrick Lee, Mark Sullivan and Keith Thomson. I will admit that I had not read any books by these authors, but I will! I immediately went to the book room and bought one of Dana Haynes books. He made me fall in love with his female character and I haven’t even read the book yet. Patrick Lee is one of the funniest men I have seen in ages, so I have to get one of his. Mark Sullivan has been writing books with James Patterson and I have read one of those, but I am now on the look-out for some that he has done alone.

Somewhere Along the Line: Guess the true first line was so much fun. Run like a game show the panelists had made up new first lines to mysteries and they tried to stump the audience. Funny, funny ladies that included Deborah Crombie, Hallie Ephron, and Julia Spencer-Fleming.

And So It Goes: Beyond Doyle and Holmes had Lyndsay Faye, author of Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson, as a member of the panel. Ms Faye is very knowledgeable about the Canon and clearly has great affection for Dr. Watson. It was an interesting 55 minutes.

There were other panels I attended – from noir, hard-boiled, to female characters, but it’s all too much to mention them all.

Meeting and talking with your favorite authors!

I had a chance to meet and talk with Julia Spencer-Fleming, Frankie J. Bailey, Cara Black, Dana Haynes, Stanley Trollop (the Stanley in Michael Stanley author of the Detective Kubu series, Chris Ewan and others.

Book Give-aways and Book Buying ~ As you checked in the registration desk you were given a BIG bag stuffed with books, and there were some wonderful book sellers present, so all in all I lugged home over 40 books!

Awards: Being present at the Private Eye Writers dinner and awards night on Friday – got to meet Robert Randisi, who writes those fun Rat Pack mysteries amongst lots of other stuff. They announced the Macavity, Berry and Shamus awards, and then on Saturday the Anthony Awards were announced. A Life Time Achievement Award went to Sue Grafton, It was joked that it might be pre-mature since she hasn’t finished the alphabet yet, but promised she would. She also assured all her fans that nothing bad (or fatal) would happen to the characters that everyone has come to know and love.

Steve Hamilton – writer of Alex McKnight – one of the men I would want at my front door if I were in real trouble – was a wonderful Toastmaster throughout the event.

It was a GREAT three days.

WINNERS! I forgot to mention who won what!

ANTHONY AWARDS PRESENTED

Best Mystery Novel
* The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny review

Best First Mystery
* The Expats by Chris Pavone review

Best Paperback Original
* Big Maria by Johnny Shaw review

Best Short Story
* "Mischief in Mesopotamia" by Dana Cameron
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November 2012

Best Critical Nonfiction Work
* Books To Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke

BARRY AWARDS PRESENTED

Best Novel
* The Blackhouse by Peter May review

Best First Novel
* A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller review

Best Paperback Original
* Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal review

Best Thriller
* The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva

MACAVITY AWARDS PRESENTED

Best Mystery Novel
* The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny review

Best First Mystery Novel
* Don't Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman review

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
* Books To Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke

Best Mystery Short Story
* "The Lord Is My Shamus" by Barb Goffman
Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award
* An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd

SHAMUS AWARDS PRESENTED

The Eye Award Loren D. Estleman

Best P.I. Novel
* Taken by Robert Crais

Best P.I. Paperback Original
* And She Was by Alison Gaylin review

Best First P.I. Novel
* Black Fridays by Michael Sears review

Best P.I. Short Story
* "Ghost Negligence" by John Shepphird
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Best Indie P.I. Novel
* White Heat by Paul Marks

Sounds like a lot of fun! Enjoy reading through your book haul! :)

What an excellent event!! And, yes, enjoy the book haul!

Always love Bouchercon. Yea for Louse Penny winning and jealous that you met Julia Spencer Fleming. Glad that you had a great time!

Both those ladies are amazing. Read through the book haul???? Are you kidding??? It will take me days to even get them entered in my collection! Oh, yes, and besides all the mysteries I also managed to get a bunch of Kate Griffin books.

So So Jealous.....Good book haul.

67 - at the same time I am both sad and happily relieved that I am not able to visit that book sale!

Book 119
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss -4/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

Joan Maycott's story begins in the summer of 1781 and Ethan Saunders story begins in1792. In 1791 their stories begin to collide and these two people, both of whom love their country, find themselves on opposite sides in a struggle for the country as Alexander Hamilton seeks to establish a firm banking system.

There is lots (over 500 pages) of love, betrayal, suspense and even murder.

David Liss has written four other books that I have enjoyed and this one makes the list five.

Liss is another one of those authors I keep on meaning to read and just haven't gotten around to yet. Good to know that you enjoy his books!

They aren't fast reads, there is enough information about the financial/stock/banking stuff that you can understand what is going on (no small feat) but I have found them enjoyable.

I have a few of Liss' books on Mt. TBR and I really want to get to them, but they are quite dense. Hmm, the winter holidays, perhaps... :)

I've had that book on my TBR pile for a few years. Thanks to your review, I'll really make an effort to read it next year.

I read The Coffee Trader a couple of years ago and have a couple more of his on the TBR although not this one. They are involved and long to read but I thought had a ton of information.

Book 120
Web of Salvage by Brian Callison - 4.3/5
Category : The Flying Dutchman - Ships In, On and Under the Water

This was one tense read! An ocean-going salvage tub receives a Mayday call and rushes to the aid of the doomed ship. On arriving at the co-ordinates they realize that the Mayday call was sent hours before the ship hits the rocks and runs aground. Damaged ships, danger, murder, storms... excitement. A "can't put the book down" read....

Book 121
Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson - 5/5
Category " Uncle Wiggiley's Airplane Game - Planes and Flying Things.

1918 and Goshawk Squadron is in France. Their CO, Woolley, believes the only way to keep his pilots alive is to train them to be ruthless killers in the air. This book captures the stupidity of war, the effect of war on those who take part in it. The book is scarey, sad and in a great many moments very funny.

I won't finish the book I am reading now as I will be at the library all day so here is September's - Short report

A good month for reading as I have given 5/5 stars to 3 different books and 3 others were great so I am happy even though my total read is still low.

Books Read - 12 - again
Categories - 7/13
New Authors (for me) - 5
New additions to series that I follow - 2

The book that kept me breathless: Web of Salvage by Brian Callison

The mystery that I enjoyed reading the most: How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

Biggest disappointment: A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch

Honorable mention: The 5 star books were How the Light Gets In, The Ox-Bow Incident and Goshawk Squadron but I also loved Dog in the Manger by Mike Resnick and The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers.

Book 122
Original Sin by P.D. James - 3.7/5
Category : Dick Tracy - Police Procedurals

Not my favorite. Adam Dalgliesh played too little a part, a questionable ending. Also at the ending Dalgliesh is speaking and then - "He said to Kate, 'There's something I've left in the house." But the "He" isn't Dalgliesh, it's Daniel. Editor should have caught that. Dalgliesh has gone to the helicopter, so of course the speaker is Daniel, but it still wasn't right.

I think I gave this 3.7 stars because it was by James. Otherwise it might have been a 3.5 or less. Not only was Dalgliesh not there a lot, the entire police investigation was given the short end of the stick. The story was developed through the other characters, and there were a lot of them to keep track of.

Book 123
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - 4.5/5
Category : Philip Marlowe - Hard-boiled Detectives

Our detective, Strike, isn't quite hard-boiled (at least yet) but I think he has the makings of one...including a secretary that is smart... A good read, I look forward to more in the series.

Book 124
Rose by Martin Cruz Smith - 5/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

For a while there I was rather unhappy with the books I had been reading and then last month there were some very good ones. Rose is the best yet! The coal mine, the characters, the mystery, the love story all combine to weave the most incredible tapestry.

How in the world could Martin Cruz Smith know so exactly what being in an English coal mine in 1872 would be like? Yet you can not imagine that it would be other that what he has described.

This is a book to be re-read. I highly recommend it.

Hurray for a string of good books! :)

Rose surprised me. I picked it up first because of the author. I have loved everything I have read by him so far. Then I got it for the cover, which I thought was beautiful and mysterious but gave no clues whatsoever what the book was about. I was very amazed to find that a book, even a mystery, that focused on a coal mine would hold my interest, but I could not put it down. Every character was so real.

I really enjoyed Rose as well.

Well-written characters makes it a yes for me - bookbullet taken!

I've read and enjoyed Gorky Park but haven't tried anything else by him yet. I have a number of the sequels on my tbr shelves which I keep meaning to get around to. Good to know his other books are worth checking out too.

He tells a good story. One that is usually just a degree fuller than most.

Book 125
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick - 4/5
Category : The Flying Dutchman - Ships On, In and Under the Water

It's 1819, and the Nantucket whaleship Essex leaves to hunt whales. Unexpectedly they become the hunted when a rogue sperm whale that is nearly as long as their ship attacks the ship twice, sinking the Essex in just 10 minutes. 20 men left the sinking ship in three whaleboats and three months later eight of them were rescued.

The disaster of the Essex was as well known in its day as the Titanic is to us. Philbrick recreates the event with clarity.

Due to books that didn't fit in any of my categories I will finish the number I set as my goal before I finish my categories, so I will keep going!

Three new books to enter - the James Herriot book was almost 500 pages so I treated myself with two short novellas.

Book 126
The Best of James Herriot by James Herriot - 5/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

A wonderful, fun read.

Book 127
The Blessing of the Animals by Michael J. Rosen - 4.5/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

Although a jr fiction book it is a good read for adults as well.

Book 128
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico - 5/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

This classic, lovely story is one that you can read over and over and it will never cease tugging at your heart.

Book 129
Thomasina by Paul Gallico - 4/5
Category " Frank's Zoo - Animals

Another touching story about the power of love. Thomasina is a cat, dearly loved by her little girl. There is bitterness, death, love and gentleness all rolled into one great story. By the way, if you have read Gallico's other great cat story, Jennie, we are told in the beginning of this one that Thomasina is the great-niece of Jennie.

I've reached my total number of 130, but not that of 10 each in a category so I will keep going...and going...and going!

Book 130
Matilda by Paul Gallico - 4/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

Malilda is a male kangaroo that boxes. In fact, he fights for the Middleweight Championship of the World. There's drama, the Mafia, the boxing world, the girl friend that believes in honesty above all - until it gets in the way of love - , and three guys who work one of the best cons ever, a newspaper man and a crime boss each with their own agendas, who receive some real lessons from Matilda.

Gallico is a consumate story teller and this is one of his best.

*picturing pink rabbit beating drum*

True! I realize now also that all future challenges I should have a category for ER - just got my Sept book and of course it doesn't fit in any of my blank spaces...

->136 mysterymax:
You and me both. :)

Book 131
Outlaw by Mark Sullivan - 4.4/5
Category : Target - Spies & Espionage, Thrillers

I was thrilled when I got the Mark Sullivan book through ER. I had enjoyed a panel that he was on at Bouchercon, in Albany, and I really wanted to read the book. It surpassed all my expectations. It is a well-done thriller. I now have to get the first in the 'Rogue' series.

There doesn't seem to be a touchstone for this ER book.

Book 132
Flight to Arras by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - 4/5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes and Flying Things

Although this book takes place on a flight it is far more than a "flying" book. It's WWII and France is defeated. The pilots fly sorties from which they are not expected to return. This book is a personal memoir in many ways, revealing the pilots thoughts about what he is doing, and why. And his thoughts about war, victory and defeat.

Just noticed your Thingaversary is today. Hope you are having a good one!

Oh, thanks! That kind of sprang up on me. I can't believe it has been three years, seems as if I just started.

Hurray! Happy Thingaversary! Book-buying time :D

I have a couple of new books coming, but they didn't get here in time :( But I did celebrate with new dvds - the complete Ellery Queen series and The Heat with Sandra Bullock... so all in all a good day.

Book 133
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel J. Pinkwater - 4.5/5
Category : Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF, YA

Pinkwater has to be the only "children's author" whose average reading audience is 40 years old. This is one of those laugh-till-you-cry-and-can't-see-the-page books.

The Snarkout Boys are Walter Galt and Winston Bongo. They make friends with a girl, Bently Saunders Harrison Matthews, called Rat. Snarking Out is sneaking out of your house late at night and going to the Snark Theater, which plays movies all night long, and then sneaking back into the house.

Rat invites them back to her house one night for breakfast (she is also a snarker) and during the meal her uncle disappears. They are determined to find him and are aided by Osgood Sigerson, the world's greatest detective, and his sidekick, Dr. Ormond Sacker.

Happy Thingaversary Max!

Thanks!

Happy Thingaversary!! I think DVDs may be substituted in those cases the books just don't arrive on time. :)

It seems I forgot to enter two books along the way, even though I had enter the tag... probably started and went off to make coffee and forgot to finish...

Book 134
Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd

Book 135
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block

Thanks, Eva, for the green light on the dvds!

Book 136
Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt - 4/5
Category : Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF, YA

A nice mystery series in the jr. fiction group.

Book 137
The Chill by Ross Macdonald - 3.8/5
Category : Philip Marlowe - Hard-boiled detectives

Unlike many of Macdonald's books, this does not take place in the world of gangsters, gunmen and their floozies but in the cold atmosphere of academia. A simple case of finding a missing wife turns into a hard crime case of three murders.

Book 138
The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler - 4.5/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

Wonderful story about love, friendship, danger and bravery. Beautifully illustrated.

Book 139
The Four Winds by David Beaty - 4/5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes and Flying Things

A story of pilots, their planes and the women they love. Beaty is great with weaving a story with characters you feel you could know and recognize.

Book 140
The Red Queen Dies by Frankie Y. Bailey - 4/5
Category " Blondie - Lady Cops, Female Detectives, and Your Basic Heroines

Looking for a good female character, a book-themed mystery (Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz), a spot-on police procedural? Here it is. Hannah McCabe investigates with her partner, Baxter, when three women are killed. What I liked most was that she really followed the police point of view and the read doesn't learn a ton of stuff that the police don't know yet. Keeps you guessing. Bailey is a wonderful story teller. This is a change from her other series.

The Red Queen Dies was an "extra". I was going to save it for next year's challenge but it called to me every time I walked by it. Dr. Bailey is coming to speak at our library so I figured I wouldn't wait. If you haven't read her books yet, you should!

My favorite month, October is gone, - a short report
Only two books this month that weren't on my own shelves, I'm very happy about that.

Books Read - 16 - some were really novellas, though.
Categories - 8/13
New Authors (for me) - 4
New additions to series that I follow - 0 - how did that happen?!

The book that kept me breathless: In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

The mystery that I enjoyed reading the most: The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel J. Pinkwater

Biggest disappointment: No disappointments this month!

Honorable mention: The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler - a book I had never heard of but bought a long time ago and it was a pure delight.

Yay, sounds like a great reading month!

I should probably add Matilda to my honorable mentions. I really enjoyed that one... Matilda is a male kangaroo that boxes - in fact he is in a title match for World Championship. It's a story of friendship, larceny, boxing, and a good con. Lots of fun.

@ 158 -- Ooh, I love friendship and good cons! :)

If you like cons and heists that are sheer fun try Old Dogs by Donna Moore. I read it a couple of years ago and still chuckle every time I think of it.

Book 141
All Hands Down by Kenneth Sewell - 4.5/5
Category : The Flying Dutchman - Ships On, In & Under the Water

Excellent account of the sinking of the USS Scorpion. Nautical category now DONE

Book 142
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - 4.5/5
Category : Frank's Zoo - Animals

This is such a gem. If you haven't read it since childhood, treat yourself!

Animal category now DONE.

Hurray, completed categories! And agreed re The Wind in the Willows. I read it for the first time this year and quite enjoyed it.

Book 143
On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz - 3.5/5
Category : Star Reporter - Non-fiction

Some chapters were very interesting, some I skipped, - I don't even want to know how to see bugs -

I love this time of year when categories start getting checked off!

I only have two categories to go...have read more than my goal in numbers, just couldn't get them in the right places!

Book 144
Airman by Eoin Coifer - 3.5/5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes & Flying Things

The flying things are hot air balloons, gliders and a heavier than air airship. The people are a gallant young man falsely accused, a royal princess, an evil Minister of State, and a blind convict. Junior fiction and a good adventure story that ends well.

Took a direct hit with On looking. The chapter on bugs sold it!

You've got to be kidding me!!! My favorite chapter was on stone. Describing stone steps that had been worn down in the center from people's steps she called it "fossilized human activity".

One of the buildings at my university has stone stairs exactly like the ones you describe. They can get rather treacherous in the winter because slush and melted snow from students' boots pools in the worn-out portion in the middle. Fortunately there is also a less-travelled set of stairs at the back of the building.

I wouldn't want to see bugs either! Paruline can keep an eye out for them for us ;)

Book 145
The Empire of Tea by Alan Macfarlane - 3.5/5
Category : Star Reporter - Nonfiction

Alan and his mother, Iris, co-wrote this. I sat down with a pot of Rose Congo tea and prepared to enjoy a good read. From the beginning, however, I had mixed feelings. Iris wrote the first chapter which was about her years living in India. I began almost immediately to be uneasy with the book. At the time she arrived there, 1938, British women did just do the 'tea circuit and don't worry about what the life of an Indian is like' routine. So I suppose she can't be held responsible for the fact that it took her ten years to realize that the people that served her and worked the tea plantations lead a much different life than she did. Once she did make a connection, she spent the next ten years trying to make some small difference, usually without any cooperation from British officials.

The rest of the book contributed even more to my unease as it dwelt with the efforts of the British to control the trade - from using opium to pay for the tea in China, to introducing plantation tea into India. By the end, I really didn't want any more tea.

The book itself would have been better without Part III. Here it wandered off from historical information and tried to convey esoteric information, most of which was widely open to interpretation.

The book, also, dwelt with tea in China and then its introduction to India by the British. It mentions in passing the efforts of the Dutch to grow tea in Java, and gave even less about tea in Japan.

Book 146
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Janff - 3.8/5
Category : Star Reporter - Nonfiction

A lovely book about her trip, finally, to London. It is the best tour book you could ask for!

Neither of these are helping finish my categories, but one was an ER book that I needed to read and the other a library book that was due back!

Book 147
Fire Storm by Andrew Lane - 4/5
Category : Duck, Duck, Go - JP, JF, YA

This was my library book. It's the 4th in the young Sherlock Holmes series. This is a great series that all Sherlock fans should follow. You really watch the young Holmes gain the qualities and skills that he has as an adult, plus they're good adventure mysteries.

Book 148
Runner by Patrick Lee - 5/5
Category : Target - Spies, Espionage, Thrillers

I was so excited when I received this ER book. Patrick Lee was on a panel at Bouchercon 2013 and I really liked him (as a writer and a person). I was eager to read the book and hoping that it would be good. Well, good doesn't begin to describe it. This is a non-stop thriller with two wonderful protagonists, Sam Dryden and Rachel, a 12-yr-old girl in a world of trouble. The book comes out in February.

Book 149 - Another category done!
King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America by J. North Conway - 3.5/5
Category : Star Reporter - Non-fiction

This is more the story of George L. Leslie, the bank robber, more than the robbery itself. It takes a good look at the city of New York in the 'Gilded Age' when 1% of the population owned 99% of the nations wealth, the division between the wealth of the 'robber barons' and the poor immigrants that populated the city, and the corruption that was rampant in both the city and the state of New York.

Leslie planned his bank heists carefully and with such care that while he was responsible for over 80% of the bank jobs during the years 1869 - 1878 he was never caught.

Yeah for completing a category!

It looks like you are very close to finishing your challenge, if I checked it correctly, just a couple of books to go!

Yes, I have two aviation books to go. I am reading No Highway by Nevil Shute right now and then my final one won't get read until Christmas Eve. I treat myself to The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth every year, and I am still moved to tears each time. I'll do some 'just for fun' reads til then. Of course, every book I want to read fits in one of next years categories and I think 'oh I should put this one off..."

Aviation AND Nevil Shute? I am most intrigued. Looking forward to your review :)

I remember a movie made from No Highway with Jimmy Stewart. Neville Shute used to be a favorite author and I should reread something of his.

I will look that movie up! Hope Netflix has it. Shute is a wonderful writer/storyteller. Pied Piper is next on my list.

>178 hailelib:: Oh, I've heard of that movie! TCM showed it a couple of years ago but I (stupidly) did not tape it. Sigh. Now I really want to read the book!!

Netflix doesn't seem to have it, darn.

Amazon has it. The title of the movie is actually No Highway in the Sky.

Book 150
No Highway by Nevil Shute -4/5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes & Flying Things

Nevil Shute is such a wonderful storyteller. The story is told simply, without gimmicks, but it is a spell binding story. England has a new transatlantic airplane, the Rutland Reindeer. A scientist, Mr. Honey, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, suspects that the Reindeer's tailplane will suffer metal fatigue at around 1400 hours of flying time. His boss, Dr. Scott, becomes convinced that he may be right. One of the Reindeer aircraft has crashed in Canada and Mr. Honey is sent off to retrieve, if possible, a portion of the tailplane. He learns during the flight that the plane he is in is very near to the 1400 hrs. To tell the rest would be to give away too much. A very good read.

Listing my Christmas/Holiday themed books at the top.

Book 151 - concludes my challenge!!!
Night Over Water by Ken Follett - 4/5
Category : Uncle Wiggily's Airplane Game - Planes & Flying Things

In this book the major flying machine is a Pan Am Flying Clipper, making its last flight from Britain to New York as England declares war in Europe.

The passengers make up an assorted lot and the story follows each of them as big decisions about their lives in made during the flight. One of the passengers is a German nuclear scientist fleeing Nazi Germany and there is an attempt to down the plane and take him back to Germany.

This completes my challenge! I will let my Christmas read of The Shepherd fall into my Christmas Challenge, listed at the top of the thread.

Congrats on completing your challenge!

Congratulations!

Hurray! Congratulations!

Congratulations on your finish and sounds like a good book to finish with.

Perfect timing on finishing your challenge! You can now relax until it's time to start all over again.

Thanks everyone! Just going to indulge with Christmas/Holiday mysteries while awaiting the CAT challenges to start!

How can November be gone?, - a short report
All my books were on my own shelves, I'm very happy about that.

Books Read - 11
Categories - 6/13
New Authors (for me) - 6
New additions to series that I follow - 1

The book that kept me breathless: Runner by Patrick Lee

The mystery that I enjoyed reading the most: I only read 1 mystery ??? How is that possible? Fire Storm by Andrew Lane

Biggest disappointment: Two disappointments this month! On Looking and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street

Honorable mention: Wind in the Willows - of course.

Milestone: Finished my challenge of 10 books in 14 categories - with a few extras thrown in. And 105 of my 151 books were off my own shelves. I have been wanting to tackle those books and I did - and found some great gems.

My youngest daughter and family are coming for the holidays so reading will be hit and miss.

I blink and you finish your challenge? Yeah! Congratulations!

Practicing my sneaky moves.

Congrats on finishing!!!

"How can November be gone?"
How about June? And July? And August?..... :)

I don't even remember them arriving, never mind going...

Love the sneaky moves finish to your challenge - CONGRATS!

Thanks, Lori! It's good to have finished and can just read leisurely. There's so much to do to get ready for the holidays this year. My youngest daughter and her family are coming, the roofers would finish our roof until today, and I am trying to maintain a Zen-like calm in the midst of chaos, all the time trying to figure out how to get organized and cleaned up before the kids get here!

Let the kids clean up! That's my policy. :)

I have some major floor cleaning that can't wait till they get here... they have one rug-rat, I have a dog and two cats... Need I say more?

Great finish to your challenge, especially the ones off your shelves.

I was pleased about those, but our librarian claims I have messed up the statistics for the year! lol

EXTRA Book 152
1356 by Bernard Cornwell - 4.8/5
Category : Musketeers - Historical Fiction

Excellent story about the time, politics, and people leading up to the Battle at Poitiers. The Battle, between the English and the French was an outstanding battle in English history. The English were badly outnumber, weary, short of water and food. Yet they fought a long battle and emerged clearly victorious.

The story's main character is Thomas, leader of a group of select warriors for the English. It is a story you can't put down and even though the book seems like one bloody battle after another, all vividly described, it is a story that pulls you in and takes you along for the ride.

I didn't know that it was part of one of Cornwell's series, but now I will try to get the others as I would like to read more about Thomas. Cornwell is expert at writing historical novels.

EXTRA Book 153
Double Tap by Steve Martini - 3.5
Category : Chapters - the overflow

Good courtroom mystery. Several reviewers mentioned 'steamy sex scenes', unfortunately my copy of the book seemed to be missing them. Drat.

EXTRA Book 154
The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer - 4.5/5
Category : Target - Spies

Excellent spy novel. Modern day. Takes place in Cairo, with background in Yugoslavia. Well developed characters and complex, well-told plot. Highly recommend.

December - a very very short report

3 books read this month, two of them over 400 pages each. I was not feeling proud of that but the fact that I slept through most of the month recouping from pneumonia has a bit to do with it.

1 new author.
All 3 off my own shelves.

YEAR END REPORT FOR 2013

154 books read.

The ten I enjoyed the most - not in any order

The Chinese Orange Mystery - Ellery Queen
Speaking From Among the Bones - Alan Bradley
Runner - Patrick Lee
The Doctor and the Rough Rider - Mike Resnick
The Girl With the Long Green Heart - Lawrence Block
As the Crow Flies - Craig Johnson
Proving Flight - David Beaty
Cold is the Sea - Edward L. Beach
Scruffy - Paul Gallico
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death - Daniel J. Pinkwater

Ouch, pneumonia! Hope you're feeling better.

Hope you're better. 154 books - I'm amazed.

Take care of yourself and get well soon.

Thanks everyone, I am now considered "well" but I am so exhausted all the time. Been told that is normal, but I can't stand it. Really looking forward to the 2014 challenge! (s)

when I had pneumonia a few years ago, it took an entire month before I stopped feeling tired all the time. Just rest and get better!

Boo, pneumonia! Feel better soon. Hopefully you can rest during the holyday season. And 154 books? All I can say is 'wow!'

Don't overdo and eventually you'll be a 100% again. It just takes time. Relax and read something fun!

Relaxing and taking things easy is the best way to get better. Here is hoping you are back to 100% soon!