leslie.98's 2014 Category Challenge - Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my pyramid category challenge!



This is a continuation of http://www.librarything.com/topic/159437

** means off my shelves (already owned in print form)
# means already on my Kindle. € means own the audiobook




✔1. Apex Big Fat Classic:
Read 1 long classic - War and Peace# (DONE!) (finished 1/28)

✔2. Second Tier Nonfiction: read 2 nonfiction books (DONE!)
    Book #1 - On This Day in Tudor History# (currently reading)
    Book #2 - Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (done 2/17)

    Book #3 - Three Singles to Adventure (audiobook) (done 2/21)
    Book #4 - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Kindle and audiobook) (done 2/24)
    Book #5 - Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell (done 12/21)

✔3. Third Tier The Real Classics:

Read 3 works from ancient Greece -(DONE!)
    Play #1 - Agamemnon by Aeschylus (done 3/14)
    Play #2 - The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus (done 3/17)
    Play #3 - Eumenides by Aeschylus (done 3/21)

    Play #4 - Medea by Euripides (done 4/6)
    Play #5 - The Frogs by Aristophanes (done 4/27)
    Play #6 - Oedipus the King by Sophocles (done 5/23)
    Play #7 - Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (done 6/23)

✔4. Fourth Tier French Classics:

Read 4 classics originally written in French (hopefully from the Guardian's list)
- possible choices: Madame Bovary**; The Charterhouse of Parma#; Bel Ami#; Sentimental Education#; Therese Raquin# or something else by Emil Zola or something by Balzac, Guy de Maupassant, etc.
    Book #1 - The Immoralist (done 2/10)
    Book #2 - Bouvard and Pécuchet# (done 3/28)
    Book #3 - The Red and the Black#€ (audiobook & Kindle) (done 4/22)
    Book #4 - The Phantom of the Opera#€ (audiobook & Kindle) (done 6/9)
    Book #5 - Therese Raquin (audiobook & Kindle) (done 7/23)
    Book #6 - Around the World in 80 Days (audiobook & Kindle) (done 7/29)

✔5. Fifth Tier Charles de Lint

Read 5 new-to-me books from this author (hopefully in the Newford series):
-Yarrow, The Little Country
    Book #1 - Greenmantle (done 2/8)
    Book #2 - Moonheart (done 5/4)
    Book #3 - Someplace To Be Flying (done 6/1)
    Book #4 - The Ivory and the Horn (done 7/14)
    Book #5 - Forests of the Heart (done 7/27)

✔6. Sixth Tier Lymond series

Reread the 6 book** Lymond series by Dorothy Dunnett
    Book #1 - The Game of Kings** (done 1/17)
    Book #2 - Queens' Play** (done 4/3)
    Book #3 - The Disorderly Knights** (done 5/16)
    Book #4 - The Pawn in Frankincense (done 7/10)
    Book #5 - The Ringed Castle (done 10/8)
    Book #6 - Checkmate (done 12/9)

✔ 7. Seventh Tier Humor - Satire:

Read 7 satires (preferably from the Guardian list and off my shelves!)
possible choices: Porterhouse Blue**, Pnin**, Crome Yellow#, The Diary of a Nobody#
    Book #1. Nightmare Abbey# (done 1/5)
    Book #2. Vile Bodies** (done 1/26)
    Book #3. Changing Places** (done 5/1)
    Book #4. Lucky Jim** (done 6/4)
    Book #5. The Uncommon Reader (done 6/10)
    Book #6. Put Out More Flags (done 6/18)
    Book #7. Porterhouse Blue** (done 7/21)

✔ 8. Eighth Tier Science Fiction & Fantasy (ROOT):

Read 8 sci-fi or fantasy books (hopefully from the Guardian's list or off my shelves)
possible choices: Isaac Asimov's Robot series (own some); The True Game** by Sheri S. Tepper; Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series
    Book #1. The Caves of Steel (done 1/28)
    Book #2. Young Miles** (done 3/21)
    Book #3. The Naked Sun (done 5/27)
    Book #4. The Dispossessed** (done 6/23)
    Book #5. The True Game** (done 6/27)
    Book #6. The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped (done 7/1)
    Book #7. The End of the Game by Sheri S. Tepper (done 7/12)
    Book #8. Miles, Mystery & Mayhem** (done 7/19)

✔ 9. Ninth Tier Foreign mysteries:

Read 9 mysteries originally written in a language other than English
    Book #1. Outrage by Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland); (done 2/1)
    Book #2. The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch (Germany); (done 4/3)
    Book #3. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø (Norway); (done 4/19)
    Book #4. Maigret and the Black Sheep by Georges Simenon (France); (done 4/24)
    Book #5. The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Sweden); (done 4/27)
    Book #6. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark); (done 4/30)
    Book #7. The Death of Achilles by Boris Akunin (Russia); (done 6/29)
    Book #8 The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri (Italy) (done 7/23)
    Book #9. Black Skies by Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland); (done 5/7)
    Book #10. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Sweden); (done 6/19)

✔10. Tenth Tier Audiobooks (ROOT):

Listen to 10 audiobooks (that are not rereads) I already own (an audiobook ROOT category) (DONE!)



     Audibook #1 - The Booktaker€ (done 1/29)
     Audibook #2 - Interpreter of Maladies€ (done 2/4)
     Audibook #3 - Letter from the Birmingham Jail€ (done 2/10)
     Audibook #4 - Spy Killer€ (done 2/11)
     Audibook #5 - The Good Earth€ (done 2/14)
     Audibook #6 - An American Tragedy€# (done 3/3)
     Audibook #7 - The Raven Boys€ (done 3/8)
     Audibook #8 - Silas Marner€# (done 3/11)
     Audibook #9 - Behind the Scenes at the Museum€ (done 3/23)
     Audibook #10 - Lady Audley's Secret€# (done 4/12)
     Audibook #11 - The Red and the Black€# (done 4/22)
     Audibook #12 - Nicholas Nickleby€ (done 4/27)
     Audibook #13 - Enchanted€ (done 4/28)
     Audibook #14 - The Mysterious Howling€ (done 5/2)
     Audibook #15 - Moll Flanders€# (done 5/13)
     Audibook #16 - The False Prince€ (done 5/19)
     Audibook #17 - Carter Finally Gets It€ (done 5/30)
     Audibook #18 - Once€ (done 6/7)
     Audibook #19 - The Scarlet Letter€# (done 6/12)
     Audibook #20 - Grave Mercy€ (done 7/4)

** means off my shelves (already owned in print form)
# means already on my Kindle. € means own the audiobook

✔ 11. Eleventh Tier Mysteries off my bookcases (ROOT):

Read 11 mysteries already owned in paperback
- in particular: Michael Innes, Cyril Hare, Rex Stout, John D. MacDonald
    Book #1. The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (done 1/6)
    Book #2. The Red Box by Rex Stout (done 1/23)
    Book #3. Hamlet, Revenge! by Michael Innes (done 2/14)
    Book #4. Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin (done 3/19)
    Book #5. Endless Night by Agatha Christie (done 4/17)
    Book #6. Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes (done 5/12)
    Book #7. The Secret Vanguard by Michael Innes (done 6/28)
    Book #8. Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh (done 7/25)
    Book #9. There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes (done 8/2)
    Book #10. Appleby on Ararat by Michael Innes (done 9/28)
    Book #11. Thunderball by Ian Fleming (done 11/1)

    Book #12. The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes (done 11/19)

✔ 12. Twelfth Tier Group Reads:

Participate in at least one group read each month (includes my GoodReads groups)
✔ Jan: The Golden Notebook {GR} (done 1/18)
✔ Feb: Middlemarch** {LT & GR} (done 3/2)
✔ Mar: The Book Thief {GR} (done 3/14)
✔ April: The Poisoned Chocolates Case {GR} (done 4/5)
✔ May: Foucault's Pendulum {LT} (done 5/29)
✔ June: The Brothers Karamazov# {LT} (done 7/17)
✔ July: Mary Barton# {LT} (done 7/24)
✔ Aug: Pale Fire {GR} (done 8/29)
✔ Sep: The Silkworm {GR} (done 9/21)
✔ Oct: All Quiet on the Western Front {GR}
✔ Nov: Shirley# {LT and GR}
✔ Dec: Anna Christie# {GR}

✔13. Thirteenth Tier Plays:   
Read 13 plays (separate from those in category #3)
    Play #1. Measure for Measure(done 1/15)
    Play #2. Travesties (done 1/23)
    Play #3. A Midsummer Night's Dream (done 2/17)
    Play #4. The Real Thing (done 2/27)
    Play #5. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (done 3/9)
    Play #6. Tartuffe (done 4/24)
    Play #7. The Misanthrope (done 4/30)
    Play #8. The School for Wives (done 4/30)
    Play #9. The Learned Ladies (done 5/2)
    Play #10. She Stoops to Conquer (done 5/7)
    Play #11. Loot (done 6/20)
    Play #12. Entertaining Mr. Sloane (done 6/28)
    Play #13. What the Butler Saw (done 7/3)

    Play #14. Funeral Games (done 7/9)
   Play #15 All's Well That Ends Well (done 8/5)
   Play #16 The Imaginary Invalid (done 9/26)
   Play #17 H.M.S. Pinafore (done 10/4)
   Play #18 The Pirates of Penzance (done 10/7)
   Play #19 Iolanthe (done 10/21)
   Play #20 Ruddigore (done 10/24)
   Play #21 The Gondoliers (done 10/30)
   Play #22 Trial by Jury (done 11/5)
   Play #23 Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant (done 11/11)
   Play #24 The Grand Duke: Or the Statutory Duel (done 11/14)
   Play #25 Thespis; or The Gods Grown Old (done 12/2)
   Play #26 Anna Christie (done 12/22)

14. Fourteenth Tier Read the USA mysteries:

Read mysteries from 14 different states in the U.S.A. for my ongoing 'Read the USA' cozy mystery challenge
    Book #1. Dog River Blues (Alabama) (done 1/10)
    Book #2. Corpus Delectable (Delaware) (done 2/22)
    Book #3. Moon Signs (West Virginia) (done 6/1)
    Book #4. An Appointment With Murder (New Hampshire) (done 6/24)
    Book #5. Red Harvest (Montana) (done 7/12)
    Book #6. A Shot in the Bark by C.A. Newsome (Ohio) (done 7/28)

Total: Includes library books, rereads, and everything else!


In addition to my pyramid challenge, I have a few miscellaneous challenges for 2014:
A. Finish reading the Palliser series by Anthony Trollope (DONE!)- the series consists of:
      Can You Forgive Her? ✔
      Phineas Finn ✔
      The Eustace Diamonds ✔
      Phineas Redux ✔
      The Prime Minister ✔
      The Duke's Children✔
B. Finish reading the Barchester series by Angela Thirkell (DONE!)
C. Read at least 25 books from the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list which I haven't read before (DONE!)

     


Guardian list books
Nightmare Abbey
The Child in Time
The Golden Notebook
Vile Bodies
War and Peace (audiobook)
The Immoralist
Middlemarch
An American Tragedy (audiobook)
The Third Man
Silas Marner (audiobook)

Lorna Doone
Behind the Scenes at the Museum (audiobook)
Bouvard and Pécuchet
My Cousin Rachel
The Poisoned Chocolates Case
Lady Audley's Secret (audiobook)
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Red and the Black (audiobook)
Changing Places
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (audiobook)

Things Fall Apart
Little Dorrit (audiobook)
Middlesex
Foucault's Pendulum
Crime and Punishment (audiobook)
Lucky Jim
Kim (audiobook)
The God of Small Things
The Uncommon Reader
The Scarlet Letter

Put Out More Flags
Goldfinger
The Brothers Karamazov
Red Harvest
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Remorseful Day
Malice Aforethought
Porterhouse Blue
Therese Raquin (audiobook)
The Day of the Triffids

Around the World in 80 Days (audiobook)
Mary Barton
Empire of the Sun
Pale Fire
The Red Badge of Courage (audiobook)
The Westminster Alice
New Grub Street
A Town Like Alice (audiobook)
Black Mischief
All Quiet on the Western Front

Shirley
The Odd Women (audiobook)
The Blue Room
Delta of Venus (DNF)
You Only Live Twice

Something that I have been doing over at that other bookish website...

2014 A-to-Z Challenge      Progress: 26/26 done

I think that I will try this again this year... As with last year, mysteries will be in bold, but this year I am only using titles (not authors' names).

A = An American Tragedy (audiobook) (3/3) or The Abominable Man (4/27)
B = The Booktaker (audiobook)
C = The Cruelest Month (2/7)
D = Dog River Blues (1/10)
E = Enter A Murderer (3/7)
F = From Russia with Love (2/21) or Frequent Hearses (3/19)
G = The Game of Kings (1/17) or Goldfinger (6/20)
H = Hot Chocolate (1/26)
I = Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (audiobook) (2/24)
J = The Jewel That Was Ours (3/12)
K = Knots and Crosses (2/4)
L = Lorna Doone (3/18) or The Long Divorce (3/30)
M = Middlemarch (3/2) or Maigret and the Black Sheep (4/24)
N = Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (2/17)
O = Outrage (2/1)
P = The Prime Minister (2/5) or The Poisoned Chocolates Case (4/5)
Q = Queens' Play (4/3)
R = The Rubber Band (1/6)
S= Spy Killer (audiobook) (2/11) or Speedy Death (5/1)
T = Twelve Drummers Drumming (1/9)
U = Unsolicited (7/20)
V = Vile Bodies (1/26) or Vintage Murder (7/25)
W = The Wench Is Dead (2/19)
X = X Y Z by Anna Katherine Green (8/5)
Y = Young Miles (3/21)
Z = The Zurich Conspiracy (9/8)

Ideas for books starting with X welcome!!

Yeah for new thread! Sadly, I have no recommendations for X books.

Apart from The Devotion of Suspect X, I don't have any ideas (and I wouldn't be surprised if you'd read that one already). Happy new thread!

>12 lkernagh: & 13 Yes, I think I might be stuck on X for a while! U and Z are not so bad...

Thanks for the welcome :-)

>11 leslie.98: Xenocide? Unfortunately, it's the third in a series. An X-men graphic novel?

>15 ELiz_M:. I have never read a graphic novel - maybe this will be a good excuse to try one!

CAT #6: Lymond series
2nd book in the series - Queens' Play   

4 stars. Very well done historical fiction. Francis Crawford has agreed to help prevent an assassination attempt on 7 year old Queen Mary, who is living in the French court of her affianced husband, the Dauphin. Throughout this story of Scotland and France runs the story of England and Ireland.

Shifting allegiances, spies, opportunists, pragmatic politicians all play a role in this most opaque novel of the Lymond series. And it is because of its opacity that this is the book in the series I like least. The main plot is more intricate, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there is less exposition on its details and less straightforward adventures to carry the reader along. There are adventures or escapades, but they almost all have a hidden motivation. For example, the race across the rooftops was exciting, but we don't learn until almost the end of the book that Lymond had deliberately chosen that night as a way to keep Oonagh and Robin from communicating to d'Aubiney that Cormac O'Connor had arrived in France!

On this rereading, I found that I had forgotten many of the details but remembered the big picture - I was more concerned with the Irish part this time and found that aspect of the book made more sense to me than it had in the past. However, I was more annoyed by O'LiamRoe than I recall.

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (not originally written in English)
The Hangman's Daughter (German)  
2nd book in this category

3 stars
While I liked the historical fiction aspects of this mystery, the mystery itself was only okay. I figured out who was behind the killings by halfway through. I also thought that the novel would have been improved by some trimming - the story could have been told (and in my opinion improved) in 100-150 pages less.

I also was annoyed with the clerk Lechner repeatedly claiming that if only the midwife would confess to being a witch and let them kill her, everything would go back to being fine. Only an idiot or an ignorant superstitious person could believe that. Lechner is supposed to be clever and yet he repeats this idea even at the end when the truth is known. I could perhaps buy that argument for a single murder but that is clearly not the case here, especially after the second boy is found murdered and then a girl disappears.. So that character didn't seem believable to me.

On the plus side, I thought that the hangman Kuisl and his friend the physician's son Simon were very well done and I liked the way the various practices of healing were shown. The misogynistic view of midwives was a bit upsetting even though it was probably historically accurate.

CAT #12: Group Reads
The Poisoned Chocolates Case {GR}

4½ stars. A terrific Golden Age mystery! Brief background (no spoilers, so don't worry!): Sir Eustace, a womanizing cad, received a box of chocolates at his club with a solicitation from the firm to test their new flavors. He didn't want them, so Mr. Bendix took them home for his wife. After eating some, Mr. Bendix was taken ill and Mrs. Bendix died. The police are stymied, so they don't object when Roger Sheringham proposed that his 'Crime Circle' try solving the case. Each of the 6 members worked independently and then presented their solution to the club.

Not only was it a great mystery, but it was fascinating to see the different methods used by each of the 6 amateur sleuths (a playwright, a modern author, 2 mystery writers, a barrister, and a fan). Because so many of the 'Circle' were authors, we get to see the various approaches commonly used in mystery novels critiqued.

I thought that I had guessed the solution early on but the actual killer was a big surprise!! I did feel some pride though that my solution was one of the ones proposed...

Doesn't Trollope always have the perfect descriptions?

Substitute tea for coffee and I agree completely! (Coffee makes me jittery.) :)

>20 leslie.98: Hits the nail on the head, precisely.

Finally caught up and able to say congrats on new pretty thread! You got me with The Poisoned Chocolate Case. After enjoying the Miss Fisher Mysteries series I think I would enjoy it.

>21 rabbitprincess: I like tea too! I didn't really get into the coffee thing until I was in my 30s so I think that I am making up for lost time :)

>22 MissWatson: Yes, indeed.

>23 mamzel: Thanks! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

>19 leslie.98: I loved The Poisoned Chocolates Case as well! I also had a theory that was proposed by one of the club members, but it wasn't the actual solution. The book is such a unique take on the detective novel!

Sorry to hear that The Hangman's Daughter was only a 3 - I had some high hopes for that one.

>26 -Eva-: You may like it better than I did. For me, a 3 star book is a good book but not a great one (or to put it differently, I liked it but didn't love it).

CAT #10: Audiobooks
ROOT #10
Guardian's list

Lady Audley's Secret    

4 stars. This was quite an exciting Victorian melodrama thriller/ mystery. I call it a mystery as Robert Audley spends a lot of time trying to find out where his friend George Talboys is and what may of happened to him. but this is not a traditional mystery trying to find "whodunit". It is more similar in style to a suspense novel - the cast of characters is fairly small and suspicions abound but the truth is uncertain until the last part of the book.

Braddon writes with great descriptive flair and the interior monologues for Lady Audley as well as Robert Audley enhanced the suspense for me. Nicola Barber did a good job with the narration, although at times it felt a bit strange hearing Robert Audley's thoughts in a female voice.

>28 leslie.98: - Ooooohhhh.... Victorian melodrama thriller/ mystery. Sounds delightful!

CAT #11: Mysteries off My Bookcases
ROOT #10, 5th mystery

Endless Night   

3 stars. This probably deserves a higher rating, as it is very well written, but it wasn't what I had expected. This novel felt more like a Mary Stewart than an Agatha Christie and I kept waiting for the 'mystery' to start.

I am a bit surprised to find that I had never read this before - I had assumed that I had (perhaps under some alternative title). However, once I started reading it, it was immediately clear that this was a new one for me, so I am happy to have read it now.

A fun little quiz here - this one was my favorite:

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (not originally written in English)
April MysteryCAT: Nordic Mysteries (Norway)

The Redbreast    

3 stars While longer than I typically like in a mystery, this Norwegian thriller/mystery kept me engaged and guessing right up to the end and did so without drowning me in depressing grit and gore so common in many contemporary mysteries.

So why didn't I rate it higher than 3 stars? Primarily because of the fact that after 500+ pages, certain aspects of the plot were left unresolved and I don't like that in my mysteries. To be specific, I HATE the fact that the author has told us that Tom Waaler is a corrupt cop responsible for the death of Harry's former partner Ellen and then left that in the wind. No suspicions, nothing. Why show this to us then? To make sure that we read future books? It wasn't strictly necessary for this book...

I just realized that my short story collection this month will work for April's GeoCAT of Eastern Europe. So here it is:


Best Russian Short Stories compiled and edited by Thomas Seltzer is a public domain ebook (I got my copy from Project Gutenberg). A mixed collection - I really enjoyed Gogol's "The Cloak", Saltykov's "How a Muzhik Fed Two Officials", and Korolenko's "The Shades, a Phantasy" but disliked Andreyev's "Lazarus" and Artzybashev's "The Revolutionist". The others fell in between. This collection did give me a good sampling of classic Russian authors, including several I had never heard of before. Overall 3 stars.

For those interested, here is the table of contents:
The queen of spades -- The cloak -- The district doctor -- The Christmas tree and the wedding -- God sees the truth, but waits -- How a Muzhik fed two officials -- The shades, a phantasy -- The signal -- The darling -- The bet -- Vanka -- Hide and seek -- Dethroned -- The servant -- One autumn night -- Her lover -- Lazarus -- The revolutionist -- The outrage

Unofficial AlphaCAT for April: I
Doctor No by Ian Fleming -

3½ stars. Bond is much more interesting in the books (not that the films aren't fun too).

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

3½ stars. Very well done but too creepy for me!

Unofficial AlphaCAT for April: P
Persuasion by Jane Austen, audiobook {reread} -

5 stars. I love Jane Austen and found this Librivox recording (version 4 by Karen Savage) delightful!

CAT #4: French Classics
CAT #10: Audiobooks already owned

The Red and the Black      

3 stars for the book but 2 stars for the audiobook.
I started this classic French novel thinking that it was mostly social commentary (and indeed this does have quite a bit of social commentary in it) but really it was mostly the story of young Julien Sorel's love life. I found him fairly annoying but it was interesting to see how he and Madame de Renard viewed the same actions with widely different interpretations.

I found the post-Napoleon society interesting and you could feel the tensions which eventually led to the 1830 Revolution.

Davina Porter's voice was fine but the narration was "single-voiced" which was too uninflected for my tastes.

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (not originally written in English)
CAT #4: French Classics

Maigret and the Black Sheep (French)   

3½ stars. Solid police procedural.

My cousin sent me this asking which I have in my pile :)

I recognize all those Barnes & Noble editions!

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (not originally written in English)
April MysteryCAT: Nordic Mysteries (Sweden)

The Abominable Man   

4 stars. This seventh entry in the Swedish Martin Beck series is a compelling read. Although it was first published in 1972, so much of it could have been written in 2012 -- although hopefully the victims of police brutality now have a better chance of getting justice!

CAT #13: Plays
CAT #4: French Classics

Tartuffe by Molière, translation by Richard Wilbur

5 stars. I love Molière and Wilbur's translation is perfect -- the rhyming couplets give the play a wonderful rhythm and the meaning comes across loud and clear. This particular play is about a hypocrite (Tartuffe) whose has managed to convince a wealthy man of his devout religious principles, whilst eating him out of house and home and lusting after his wife. The play revolves around the attempts of this man's family and servants to open his eyes to Tartuffe's true nature.

I too like the Martin Beck series and have read the first six. I'm glad to hear that the seventh is a good one. I hope to get to it sometime in the next few months.

I also agree with your spoiler comment about The Redbreast. I found that aspect somewhat annoying too, though Nesbo wouldn't be the first mystery writer to do that. Clearly he does expect his readers to buy the next book. :)

I haven't had much time for updating this thread recently but I have made progress:

I've read 4 more plays for CAT #13 (now have done 10/13), Moonheart by Charles de Lint for CAT #5; the third satire for CAT #7 (Changing Places which was good but not great), and a couple more foreign mysteries (now have done 7/9). I'll try to put in more details soon...

I have had several audiobook ROOTs (CAT #10) since I last posted about The Red and the Black.

Audiobook ROOT #12: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance. Excellent! 4½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #13: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. Fun take on many fairy tales. 3½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #14: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. A YA novel which is a cross between Truffault's The Wild Child and Jane Eyre... 3½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #15: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, narrated by Davina Porter. Enjoyable social commentary on the lower classes during the late 1600s. Much easier reading than Defoe's better known classic Robinson Crusoe. 4 stars

Progress on my miscellaneous challenges:

A) Palliser series - done! Finished the last book The Duke's Children earlier this month. I much prefer the Barsetshire series, so if Trollope is an author new to you, that is where I would suggest starting.

B) Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire series - I am up to #24 of 29 so should be able to finish this series this year. Sadly, I am finding these later ones not as fun as the earlier ones.

C) Guardian list - Finished two more for this challenge (now 19/25 done): Moll Flanders (see above in audiobook ROOTs) and Things Fall Apart. Both very good (4 stars) although very different!

May MysteryCAT: Classic Mysteries

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Good mystery/suspense story. I am a fan of the Golden Age mysteries, so it isn't surprising that I liked this 1908 classic mystery. I found both the writing and the plot better than the other works of Rinehart's that I have read. 4 stars.

CAT #11: Mysteries off my shelves
Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes - The 3rd book in the Inspector Appleby series, this is not your typical police procedural (even for Innes)! Written in the style of Wilkie Collins, this mystery set in the Scottish highlands at Christmas time is full of surprises. The first section, Ewan Bell's narrative, is a bit hard to read but don't let that put you off as this story is worth reading! 4 stars.

CAT #6: Lymond Saga
The Disorderly Knights

5 stars. This 3rd book is where this series really gets going, in my opinion. The writing style is a bit easier (or to put it more accurately, it has fewer quotes in foreign languages & less abtruse vocabulary). What it does have is plenty of excitement as Lymond becomes entangled with the Knights Hospitaller of St. John. In addition to the historical battle ongoing between the Knights (and Emperor Charles of the Holy Roman Empire) and "infidels" in the form of Suleiman's army, Lymond is involved with a personal struggle (which I can't really describe without spoilers). I can't wait to reread the next one!

Nice batch of reading! I am finding audiobooks are really helping me with my reading goals this year.

>47 lkernagh: Yes, I am finding that the audiobooks really boost my reading totals!

>35 leslie.98: We were talking of The Red and the Black at work a few weeks ago. We had to read it in junior high school and I remembered having rather loved it, it was a great romance with social background. My male colleague remembered to have found it boring, too much romance. So, your review is summing-up that rather well :)

CAT #8: Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Naked Sun   

4 stars. I didn't think that this second book in the Robot series was quite as good as the first one (The Caves of Steel) but it was an excellent contrast. In the first book, Elijiah Baley investigates the murder of a "Spacer" (someone who comes from another world that Earth colonized in the past) on Earth, where there are lots of people and only a few robots. In this book, Baley has been requested to go to Solaria (one of the Spacer planets) where there are few people and lots of robots.

Having experienced Solaria in the Foundation series, it was interesting to contrast it here. The Foundation series is set millenia in the future compared to this story so some aspects of the society shown in this were clear signposts to what would evolve. However, knowing the society did lessen some of the dramatic tension of the book. Perhaps that is one reason I thoought this was not quite as good as the previous one!

Asimov writes a good story, engrossing and fun, yet with social commentary to mull over once you finish. In this one, the adaptation of humans to differing social mores (in this case, specifically to be solitary vs. to be in a crowd) is explored and the ultimate consequences of these adaptations is hinted at. I found it fascinating that even the "normal" Earth attitude
is strange to us (although crowding is a not uncommon theme is futuristic sci fi).

CAT #12: Group Reads
Umberto Eco month
May Unofficial AlphaCAT: E and U

Foucault's Pendulum   

2½ stars. Parts of this I really enjoyed and I liked the message that people will believe what they want to believe. However, there was too much cabalistic history that I really didn't get and had to just read for the sake of getting to a section that I could understand. I also found some of it ridiculous (as in a secret Templar actually wrote all of Shakespeare's work for him). The main plot, about Casaubon and Belbo, reminded me of a more erudite version of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which was the best part of the book (although I did like Belbo's reminiscences about being a boy during WW2).

I am not sure if or when I may be up to tackling Foucault's Pendulum. I think once I finish my current Eco read The Island of the Day Before, I will retire any Eco reading until next year, at which point I may give The Name of the Rose another attempt. Foucault's Pendulum can wait, I think. ;-)

>52 lkernagh: I found The Name of the Rose not only easier to read but a better, more interesting story. I would recommend trying it again :)

I found The Name of the Rose tough going at times, but I liked it more and more as I went on. The ending makes the whole book worth it!

CAT #14: Read the USA mysteries
Moon Signs (West Virginia)

3 stars. While the mystery was OK, the protagonists, Kathleen and her sister Andrea, are the real appeal of this book. It was fun to see active, intelligent older women in the main roles (even if it didn't eliminate the romance angle!). I will be reading the next book in this series...

This is only my 3rd book in this tier; I need to pick up the pace!

CAT #5: Charles de Lint
Someplace To Be Flying   

4 stars. Once again de Lint's blend of fantasy, Native American mythology, and reality of small city Newford charmed me. Whilst I wasn't quite as entranced by this as I was by Trader, it did keep me glued to its pages (and listening to the crows that live in the woods near my home!). The ending was a bit disappointing, but I am still mulling it over so may change my mind about that.

CAT #7: Humor - Satire
ROOT #15

Lucky Jim   

4 stars. While I found this more amusing than outright funny, I did enjoy it very much. Jim is a young man in his first year teaching at university, unsure of his career, his position, and his ability to fit in socially. I think that the academic side of things would have been funnier to me if I was British; some aspects just stuck me as strange/unbelievable due to the different structure of American colleges & universities. The social/romantic side was very well-done.

CAT #4: French Classics - done!
The Phantom Of The Opera   

This French classic by Gaston Leroux was originally published as a serial (similar to many of Dickens' classics). I found the audiobook, narrated by Ralph Cosham, very exciting & couldn't stop listening! I was surprised that this original version was as macabre as it turned out to be - I had assumed that the various film adaptations had been "spiced up" to appeal to contemporary audiences. 4½ stars.

CAT #7: Humor - Satire
The Uncommon Reader   

I found this novella charming and humorous. It was a quick and easy read which has a lot more to it than first appears. The more I think about this book, the more it seems to say - about the nature of reading, the effects books have on people, and on government & democracy. 5 stars

Looks like you've had a great batch of reading lately! :)

I enjoyed The Uncommon Reader when I read it. Loved the boy who introduces the Queen to the mobile library!

>60 rabbitprincess: Yes, I have had a string of good books lately! Of course, not every book I read shows up here...

>61 lkernagh: Yes, and I thought it was great that he directed her towards gay books!

>59 leslie.98:
It is a lovely story, isn't it. I love the image of her in a cardy and carrying a book.

CAT #8: Science Fiction and Fantasy
June Female Authored Fantasy Month
The Dispossessed   

Le Guin has explored the meaning of communism and anarchy and what being free really means in this novel. The people of Antarres, "Odonians", left their home planet of Urras about 200 years previously, and settled on the moon/sister planet to leave behind the evils of capitalism ("propertianism") and government oppression. Their society has no government, no ownership (even saying "my nose" is frowned upon -- "the nose" is preferred), no person or group in charge. However, the truth of those claims are tested when one Antarrian, Shevek, wishes to leave Antarres to go to Urras and pursue his physics research (which was not supported and even actively discouraged). Very thought-provoking. 4½ stars

CAT # 13: Plays
Loot   

Hilarious satire of British cops & robbers; Catholics & Protestents. Orton cited Richard Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, and Oscar Wilde as his influences, all of whom I love, so it is not surprising that I loved this too. This play has a very similar sense of humor but is less of a comedy of manners & more of a farce. 5 stars

Here is a book for my challenge that I read a few weeks ago and forgot to add here.

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries
Roseanna (from Swedish)   

This first Martin Beck book is a true police procedural, and as such, isn't as exciting as some of the later books in the series. However, it is by no means dull! I am glad that I backtracked and read it, but it isn't necessary to read this to enjoy the series. 3 stars

Another one I forgot to post about...

CAT #7: Humor - Satire
Put Out More Flags   

Evelyn Waugh's look at the first year of Britain's involvement in WW2 revolves around Basil Seal. Seal and his friends & family are typical Waugh characters and his depiction of the Ministry of Information was hilarious! It is an interesting look at how many Brits felt at the beginning of the war, an attitude easily forgotten in the events that followed... 4 stars

CAT #14: Read the USA Mysteries
An Appointment With Murder (New Hampshire)   

The murder plot was good but nothing special. I thought that the main character/narrator was pushed into a romantic situation that didn't really fit, as if the author felt that the book wouldn't sell without some sort of romance. There were a few minor typos or other editing errors, the most noticable of which was the fact that every time the word "blank" was used as an adjective, the word itself was missing and a blank space was there instead! 2½ stars

I had to chuckle at the "blank"/blank mixup! That's pretty bad.

CAT #8: Science Fiction and Fantasy
ROOT #19
June Female Authored Fantasy
The True Game   

Omnibus of the first 3 books of Sheri S. Tepper's Land of the True Game series (Kings Blood Four, Necromancer Nine, Wizard's Eleven). Very enjoyable but not quite as good as Tepper's later books. 3½ stars

CAT #11: Mysteries off my shelves
ROOT #20
The Secret Vanguard   

This 5th Inspector Appleby book starts off like a typical police procedural mystery, with a body and a policeman. However, it quickly turns into a spy thriller somewhat similar in style to John Buchan. 4 stars

CAT #13: Plays
Entertaining Mr. Sloane   

Amusing play about a young man (something like Mr. Ripley from Patricia Highsmith's classic) who is lodging with a woman whose whole family is trying to make some kind of claim on him. The homosexual aspect was probably risqué back in the 1960s when it was first performed, but what I found both funny and sad was the sexual competition between brother and sister. 3 stars.

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (finished!)
The Death of Achilles (Russian)   

I like the hero of this series, Fandorin, and his Japanese servant Masa. I didn't care for the structure of this book though -- it is divided into 3 sections or "Books". By far the longest is the first part, which was a straightfoward narrative of Fandorin's investigation into the death of "Achilles", the popular Russian general Sobolev. Then, the second section breaks the train of the narrative and tells the history and background of the killer, leading up to the point at which the first section broke off. The third section then continues with the action. I found this second section disrupted the flow and although interesting, it was unnecessary to the story. Perhaps the publisher told Akunin that the book wasn't long enough so he added this section to pad it out.

Otherwise this is a fun historical fiction mystery & Andrew Bromfield's translation is excellent. 3 stars.

CAT #8: Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped   

This second trilogy in Sheri S. Tepper's Land of the True Game series goes back in time to give us, as the title says, the chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped (Peter's mother). Not quite as enthralling as the first trilogy but it does show the beginnings of a more feminist viewpoint which was the hallmark of many of Tepper's later works. 3½ stars.

CAT #13: Plays (done!)
What the Butler Saw   

Reminiscent of a French farce or an extended Monty Python sketch... I found it hilarious but some may find the jokes about rape in poor taste. 4 stars

Congratulations on finishing a category!

>76 MissWatson: Thanks!

Joe Orton was not your everyday guy, was he?! :)

>78 -Eva-: I was completely unfamiliar with him until he was recommended to me recently. I am enjoying his sense of humor but wish I could see them performed...

>79 leslie.98:
If you're interested in his life, there is a great movie where Gary Oldman plays Orton (it's very graphic, be aware!) called Prick Up Your Ears.

Thanks -Eva-, I'll think about that. Typically I am less interested in the authors than in their works but Orton does seem, as you said, not your everyday guy!

CAT #5: Charles de Lint
The Ivory and the Horn   

This collection of short stories came together to mean more to me than the individual stories did, adding to my picture of Newford. I was pleased to greet some old friends, Jilly in particular. 4 stars

CAT #6: Lymond series
Pawn in Frankincense   

This fourth in the Lymond series takes us to northern Africa & Turkey at the height of the Ottomon empire, during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. I think the main reason I don't give this 5 stars is that I find the battle between Lymond and Gabriel using the children as pawns so emotionally difficult. 4½ stars.

CAT #14: Read the USA Mysteries.
July MysteryCAT: Noir and Hard Boiled Mysteries
Red Harvest (Montana)   

This 1929 private eye story, the first of the Continental Op series, is one of the founders of the hard-boiled school of crime fiction. This type of crime fiction is not my favorite (in fact, I absolutely hate much of it such as the Mickey Spillane books), but I found this book well written and gripping. There is still a lot of violence (huge amounts!) but it isn't graphic and that makes a big difference for me. 4½ stars

CAT #12: Group Reads
The Brothers Karamazov   

I finally finished this and have to admit that Dostoevsky is just not my cup of tea. I found it easy to read but I couldn't get interested for large sections. The story did pick up about 2/3 through but not enough to retrieve this book for me. 2½ stars

CAT #7: Humor - Satire
Porterhouse Blue   

5 stars. Hilarious satire of the struggle between "keeping up with the times" and tradition at a Cambridge University college! I particularly liked the poor research fellow who had an unwanted fascination for his bedder & dies in a freak accident!.

CAT #8: Science Fiction and Fantasy
Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem   

This third omnibus of the Vorkisogan series was more of a mixed bag than the first two were. My individual ratings are: Cetaganda - 3 stars; Ethan of Athos - 4½ stars; and Labyrinth - 4 stars. Overall I give the omnibu 3½ stars

CAT #9: Foreign Mysteries (originally written in a language other than English)
The Terra-Cotta Dog (Italian)   

This second Inspector Montalbano mystery is pleasantly convoluted -- in addition to Mafia gun-smuggling, the shooting of known fugitive only hours after his arrest, Montalbano is also trying to solve a 50-year-old murder of two young lovers.

I love the way Montalbano loves his food & his walks on the beach, his attempts to focus on his girlfriend Livia when his mind in on a case, his colleagues at the station... 3½ stars

Although I have completed this category, this is the 8th language to be included. So far I have lots of Scandinavian (Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and the rest of Europe (France, Germany, Russia, and now Italy). One more language would really finish the category properly!

Misc. Challenge B: Angela Thirkell's Barchester series
Never Too Late (#25 in the series)   

This late entry in Thirkell's Barsetshire series has much of the light humor of the earlier books & a little less of the complaints that life isn't what it used to be. Although the romance in this novel doesn't center on Edith Graham, Lady Graham's youngest (and only unmarried) daughter, she is in it a great deal and has grown out of some her more annoying characteristics of her pre-teen years. I look forward to seeing with whom she will finally fall in love! 3½ stars.

CAT #5: Charles de Lint -- done!
Forests of the Heart   

This entry in Charles de Lint's Newford series didn't sweep me away quite as much as the others I have read. I liked the main character, Bettina, who is a curandera raised in southern Arizona. But somehow the battle between the Irish Gentry versus the local manitou was not a battle between those two at all & I didn't care for the direction the book took. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it at this time...3½ stars.

CAT #11: Mysteries off my shelves
Vintage Murder   

Enjoyable outing with Alleyn in this fifth entry in the series.

Alleyn is in New Zealand, where he is on holiday recuperating from surgery (injured on the job?? I'll have to go back and look at #4!). On the boat from England, and then on the train in N.Z., he travelled along side a group of actors, including Miss Susan Max. The manager of the group is murdered after a performance one evening while Alleyn is there (amongst others) to celebrate the birthday of the leading lady (who is also the manager's wife)... 4 stars

CAT #12: Group Reads
Mary Barton   

An exciting blend of social commentary, romance, and murder somewhat reminiscent of early Dickens. 4 stars

CAT #12: Group & Buddy Reads

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov   

Unusually structured satire - the book is written as a literary commentary of a poem (even including a detailed index!) while really telling the story of 2 (or 3) men... (read as buddy read on GR) 4 stars

I forgot to post this one, although I did put it in my ticker!

CAT #11: Mysteries off my shelves

There Came Both Mist And Snow   

#6 in the Inspector Appleby series is a fun fast read -- this is a mystery that may be thought to break the rules (if you believe in such things)... I refrain from saying anything else as it is difficult to comment without spoilers. 4 stars.

I had stopped updating here at LT but was still working on this challenge. I ended up completing everything except CAT #14 (sadly only got 6/14 done in that one).

Congrats on completing so much of your challenge! :)

Thanks! It was fun, so I will be doing this again next year -- hopefully I will keep up with posting better.

I wouldn't be disappointed with that total! Well done and congrats - see you in 2015!

You did very well, congratulations!

Glad you came back and let us know how well your reading went...

Happy New Year!