Sally Lou's 2016 challenge

Nothing fancy -- emphasis will be on reading books in my backlog -- only keeping a ticker to count the number of books I read. I put 80 as a goal to use on the ticker. Will be overlap of categories. Expect all (or nearly all) books for DeweyCAT to be books acquired prior to 2016.




Ticker not updating promptly; 91 titles read by end of year.

Books acquired prior to 2015 -- aiming for at least 16.

1. James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot - read Jan. 6th. -- acquired prior to joining LT (joined in 2007).

2. Sisters of the Wind by Elizabeth S. Bell -- completed Jan. 8th -- acquired prior to joining LT (joined in 2007).

3. Just Mercy: a Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson -- Christmas gift 2014 -- finished reading Jan. 30th.

4. The Annotated Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, annotated by David M. Shapard -- finished reading Feb. 7th.

5. Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf -- finished reading Feb. 8th

6. At the Rim: a Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball -- introduction by Patsy Neal -- read Mar. 2nd.

7. The Religious World of Antislavery Women by Anna M. Speicher -- finished reading Mar. 8th.

8. Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury -- finished reading May 29th.

9. East Hope by Katharine Davis -- finished reading June 21st.

10. The Last Gift of Time by Carolyn G. Heilbrun --- finished reading July 21st.

11. Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism by Susan Ware -- finished reading Aug. 16th.

12. Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: the Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park by Darwin Lambert. -- finished reading Aug. 29th.

13. Flying by Paula Helfrich and Rebecca Sprecher -- finished reading Sept. 5th

14. An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art -- finished reading Sept. 10th.

15. Pictorial History of Gone with the Wind by Gerald and Harriet Modell Gardner -- read Sept. 28 (coffee table style book)

16. Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft --- finished reading Oct. 3rd.

17. Art & Love selected by Kate Farrell -- finished reading Oct. 5th.

18. The Queen and Di by Ingrid Seward -- finished reading Oct. 9th.

19. Patsy Cline: Singing Girl from the Shenandoah Valley by Stuart E. Brown and Lorraine F. Myers -- finished reading Oct. 11th.

20. Why History Matters by Gerda Lerner -- finished reading Nov. 24th.

Books acquired during 2015 -- aiming for at least 16

1. The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett --finished reading Jan. 15th.

2. When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning -- finished reading Jan. 19th.

3. Room by Emma Donoghue -- finished reading Jan. 21st.

4. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown -- finished reading Jan. 23rd.

5. Gray Mountain by John Grisham -- finished reading Mar. 12th.

6. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson -- finished reading Apr. 20th.

7. Nora Webster by Colm Toibin -- finished reading Apr. 22nd.

8. Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County by Kristen Green -- finished reading May 5th.

9. Pretty Little Killers: The Truth behind the Savage Murder of Skylar Neese by Daleen Berry and Geoffrey C. Fuller -- finished May 17th.

10. Working Stiff by Judy Melinek -- finished May 24th.

11. Under the Sea-Wind by Rachel Carson -- finished July 28th.

Woman BingoPUP

List of books read for Woman BingoPUP:

I'm deliberately reading different books for the WomanBingoPUP and the "official" BingoDOG to have a bit more of a challenge. It can be challenging even deciding which card to list some of them on.

1. Female ruler -- The Queen and Di by Ingrid Seward -- completed Oct. 9th.
2. Women in science -- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson -- completed Apr. 20th
3. Less than 10 years old -- Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County by Kristen Green -- finished reading May 5th.
4. Short story collection: I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly, and Other Stories by Mary Ladd Gavell -- finished reading Mar. 2nd.
5. Women in non-traditional roles: Sisters of the Wind: Voices of Early Women Aviators
by Elizabeth S. Bell -- finished Jan. 9th.
6. Published before 2000: The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett --published in 1997 -- finished Jan. 15th
7. African American author: No Right to Remain Silent: the Tragedy at Virginia Tech by Lucinda Roy -- finished reading Feb. 16th. --- replaced by The Turner House a novel by Angela Flournoy July 4, 2016.
8. About a spy: Fair Game: How a Top CIA Agent Was Betrayed by Her Own Government by Valerie Plame Wilson -- finished Dec. 21st.
9. Different genre: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown -- lesbian fiction by writer of mysteries, screen plays, poetry, etc. -- finished Jan. 23rd
10. Award winner --- One of Ours by Willa Cather --- 1923 Pulizer Prize for Fiction -- finished Aug. 27th
11. Autobiography, Memoir, Correspondence -- Dimestore by Lee Smith -- finished reading June 29th.
12. Women in combat: Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan by Amber Smith -- finished Dec. 8th.
13. By or about a woman: The Religious World of Antislavery Women by Anna M. Speicher -- finished Mar. 8th (Earlier had listed Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea here, but decided to use if for "Body of Water in title in BingoDOG.
14. New to You author: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim -- finished reading Feb. 23rd.
15. Latin America or Asia: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (set in the Dominican Republic) --- finished July 12th.
16. African author: Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghanaian) - finished reading Aug. 22nd.
17. Made into a movie: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen -- finished Feb. 7th.
18. Set in Europe, Australia, or New Zealand: The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood -- finished July 14th.
19. about a female critter: Saving Sadie and Sasha by Laura S. Jones -- finished Apr. 1st.
20. author over 60: Tall Tail by Rita Mae Brown (age 71) -- finished July 8th.
21. 1920s/30s detective fiction -- Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie -- finished May 21st.
22. Author from Middle East: Gaza Kitchen by Laila El-Haddad by Laila El-Haddad (& Maggie Schmitt) - finished Aug. 20th
23. "To be read": East Hope by Katharine Davis -- finished June 21st.
24. Poetry or plays -- Sometimes the Little Town by Sara M. Robinson (poetry) -- finished May 9th.
25. Male pseudonym -- High Life in Verdopolis by Lord C. A. F. Wellesley, early pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte -- finished Apr. 25.

BingoDOG

List of books read for BingoDOG:

I'm deliberately reading different books for the WomanBingoPUP and the "official" BingoDOG to have a bit more of a challenge. It can be challenging even deciding which card to list some of them on.

1. Less than 200 pages -- Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich by Mary Frances Berry -- total book 186 p., text 148 p. -- finished reading Jan. 26th

2. Senior citizen as protagonist -- The Last Gift of Time by Carolyn G. Heilbrun -- finished reading July 21st.

3. Survival story -- Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman -- finished reading May 8th.

4. Airplane flight -- Flying, a novel by Paula Helfrich and Rebecca Sprecher -- finished Sept. 9th.

5. About a writer -- The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills -- finished reading Feb. 27th.

6. About the environment --Gray Mountain by John Grisham (about strip mining thus destroying mountains, causing pollution, black lung disease, etc.) -- finished reading Mar. 12th.

7. Author born in 1916 -- James Herriot's Cat Stories by James Herriot --read Jan. 7th.

8. Autobiography or memoir -- Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks -- memoir -- finished reading May 23rd.

9. Adventure -- West with the Night by Beryl Markham -- finished reading June 2nd.

10. One word title -- Room by Emma Donoghue -- finished reading Jan 21st.

11. Musical reference -- Patsy Cline: Singing Girl from the Shenandoah Valley by Stuart E. Brown and Lorraine F. Meyers -- finished reading Oct. 11th (might replace with Song of the Lark if I get that read)

12. Title uses workplay -- Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction by Erika Janik -- finished reading May 1st.

13. Read a CAT -- When Books Went to War -- DeweyCAT for Jan. (028) -- finished Jan. 19th

14. Body of water -- Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh -- finished reading Feb. 21st.

15. by/about an indigenous person -- Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids (edited by) Deborah Ellis. -- finished reading Dec. 15th.

16. Food is important -- Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury -- finished reading May 29th.

17. Published before your were born -- Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf -- published in 1938.

18. Features a theater -- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare -- introduction describes the theater in Shakespeare's day, etc. -- finished reading Apr. 8th.

19. debut novel (book) -- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers -- finished reading Mar. 22nd.

20. In translation: The Prince by Machiavelli -- finished reading Apr. 10th.

21. Focus on art: An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art -- finished reading Sept. 10th.

22. Coming of age story: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown for the story of Joe Rantz -- finished reading Aug. 4th

23. Graphic novel: March, Book Three by John Lewis -- read Dec. 10th.

24. Self published -- Wiping Memories from Room to Room by Joy Merritt Krystosek -- also an artist's book, hand crafted by the author

25. Protagonist's job or hobby -- Working Stiff by Judy Melinek -- medical examiner -- finished reading May 25th

List of books read for DeweyCAT:

January -- When Books Went to War: the Stories that Helped Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning. -- 028 -- finished Jan. 19th.

February -- Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf -- 172.4 -- finished Feb. 9th.
February -- Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh --- 170 -- finished Feb. 21st.

March -- Religious World of Anti-slavery Women by Anna M. Speicher -- 261.8 -- finished Mar. 8th.

April -- The Prince by Machiavelli -- 320.1 -- finished Apr. 10th.

May -- Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction by Erika Janik (363.25082) -- finished reading May 1st.
May -- Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County by Kristen Green (379.263) -- finished reading May 5th.
May -- Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman (365) -- finished reading May 8th.
May -- Expand Social Security: How to Ensure Americans Get the Retirement They Deserve by Steven Hill (368.4) -- finished reading May 11th.
May -- Pretty Little Killers: The Truth behind the Savage Murder of Skular Neese by Daleen Berry and Geoffrey C. Fuller (364.152) -- finished May 17th.

June -- 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses & Misuses by American Heritage Dictionary editors (428.1) -- This is only the second book I've read for this challenge which was not among my TBR books. I borrowed it from our public library as I did for Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh for the February challenge. I am trying to read only books I already own for this challenge. Finished reading June 29th.

July: Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson (578)--- finished July 28th.
July: When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes by Jay Feldman (551.22) - I think I would have classed this in U.S. history - finished July 31st.

August: Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism by Susan Ware (629.13) --- finished Aug. 16th --- I can certainly understand LC's classing this in 629.13 to shelve it with other books about Amelia Earhart; however, it stresses her role in liberal feminism and barely mentions science -- her flights are mentioned by not gone into in any detail.
August: The Gaza Kitchen by Laila El-Haddad (& Maggie Schmitt) (641.59) -- finished Aug. 20th.

September: An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art(759.14) -- finished reading Sept. 10th.

October: Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (823.6) -- finished reading Oct. 3rd.
October: Art & Love: an Illustrated Anthology of Love Poetry selected by Kate Farrell (808.81)

November: Why History Matters by Gerda Lerner (901) -- finished reading Nov. 24th.
November: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (92 or 920, biography) -- finished reading Nov. 26th.

December: First Women: the Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower (973.09) -- finished reading Nov. 30th (a day ahead of the month)
December: Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan by Amber Smith (956.7044) -- finished Dec. 8th.
December: Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids (edited by Deborah Ellis) (970.3) -- finished Dec. 15th.

List of books read for other CATS and KITS.

1. RandomCAT for January -- Sisters of the Wind -- in collections of 6 others -- finished Jan. 9th.

2. AlphaKIT for January -- Upstairs Girls: Prostitution in the American West by Michael Rutter -- finished Jan. 26th.

3. RandomCAT and AlphaKIT for February -- The Annotated Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. -- finished Feb. 7th. (
4. RandomCAT for March -- At the Rim: a Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball with an introduction by Patsy Neal -- read Mar. 2nd. (Celebration)

5. RandomCAT for April -- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson -- finished Apr. 20th (Ecology)

6. GeoCAT for May -- Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction by Erika Janik -- finished reading May 1st. (mainly U.S.)

7. All 3 CATS for May (cat trick) -- Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County by Kristen Green -- finished reading May 5th. (Color)

8. All 3 CATS for May (cat trick) -- Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman -- finished reading May 8th. (Color)

9. RandomCAT for June (topic was marriage) -- Louisa: the Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams by Louisa Thomas (talks a lot about her marriage) -- finished June 16th.

10. Both GeoCAT and RandomCAT for July: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez (Dominican Republic, Time) -- finished July 12th. (Time)

11. RandonCAT for July: The Last Gift of Time: Life beyond Sixty by Carolyn G. Heilbrun --- Finished July 21st. (Time)

12. GeoCAT for August: Changes: a novel by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)

13. RandomCAT for August: Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: the Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park by Darwin Lambert. (Camping)

14. RandomCAT for September --- translations: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann -- read two translations, those by Stanley Appelbaum and David Luke.

15. GeoCAT for December -- Western Europe -- The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck -- finished Dec. 6th

List of assigned reading -- which includes reading for courses, book clubs, and early reviewers.
1. Blood of the Tiger by J.A. Mills -- Nov. LT ER -- finished Jan. 10th.
2. The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett -- January Northside Library Book Group selection -- finished Jan. 15th.
3. Room by Emma Donoghue -- January Friends Book Group selection -- finished Jan. 21st.
4. Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich by Mary Frances Berry -- Dec. LT ER -- finished Jan. 26th.
5. No Right to Remain Silent by Lucinda Roy -- Feb. Northside Library Book Group -- finished Feb. 16th.
6. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers -- finished reading Mar. 22nd for both book clubs and the Big Read.
7. Julius Caesar bu William Shakespeare -- finished reading Apr. 8th for my Shakespeare course.
8. Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare -- finished reading Apr. 18th for Shakespeare course.
9. Nora Webster by Colm Toibin -- finished reading Apr. 22nd for Friends Book Group (April selection).
10. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare -- finished reading Apr. 30th for Shakespeare course.
11. Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction by Erika Janik -- finished reading May 1st for LT ER.
12. Expand Social Security Now by Steven Hill -- finished reading May 11 for LT ER.
13. Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks -- Friends Book Group for May -- finished reading May 23rd.
14. West with the Night by Beryl Markham -- for Northside Book Group -- finished reading June 2nd.
15. Louisa: the Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams by Louisa Thomas -- for Northside Books Sandwiched in committee -- finished June 16th.
16. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown for Northside Book Group August read -- finished Aug. 4th.
17. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin for Friends Book Group August read --- finished Aug. 8th
18. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape by Jessica Luther --- LibraryThing Early Reviewers --- finished Aug. 24th
19. The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy -- Friends Book Group September read -- finished Sept. 1st.
20. Sula by Toni Morrison -- for Northside Library Book Group September read -- finished Sept. 4th.
21. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka -- reread -- for class Sept. 15.
22. Siddharta by Hermann Hesse -- OLLI German lit in translation class -- finished Sept. 18th.
23. Waking up White by Debby Irving -- for upcoming workshop on white privilege -- finished Sept. 27th.
24. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, translated by Mark Musa -- for my Pirandello class on Nov. 8th.
25. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates -- Northside Book Group -- finished reading Nov. 15th.
26. So It Is (If You Think So) by Luigi Pirandello, translated by Mark Musa -- for my Pirandello class on Nov. 29th.
27. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance -- Northside Books Sandwiched in Committee assignment -- November.
28. First Women by Kate Andersen Brower -- Northside Books Sandwiched in Committee assignment -- November.
29. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck -- Friends Book Group for December -- finished reading Dec. 6th.
30. Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello, translated by Mark Musa -- for my Pirandello class on Dec. 13.

Short stories and essays mostly read for OLLI classes -- when complete compilation not read



1. "The Gift of Good Land" --essay by Wendell Berry -- read Feb. 16th for OLLI Berry class
2. "Rip Van Winkle" -- short story by Washington Irving -- read Feb. 19th for OLLI Short Stories class
3. "The Thanksgiving Visitor" -- short story by Truman Capote -- read Feb. 20th.
4. "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- short story by Edgar Allan Poe -- read Feb. 20th for OLLI Short Stories class
5. "Ghost in the Mill" -- short story by Harriet Beecher Stowe -- read Feb. 22nd for pleasure.
6. "The Paradise of Bachelors" and "The Tartarus of Maids" -- read Feb. 23rd for OLLI Short Stories class
7. "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewell -- read Feb. 25th for OLLI Short Stories class.
8. "The Middle Years" by Henry James -- read Feb. 27th for OLLI Short Stories class.
9. "The Storm" by Kate Chopin -- read Feb. 27th for OLLI Short Stories class.
10. "The Hurt Man" -- short story by Wendell Berry -- read Mar. 3rd for OLLI Berry class
11. "Pray without Ceasing" -- short story by Wendell Berry -- read Mar. 5th for OLLI Berry class
12. "Old Woman Magoun" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman -- read Mar. 5th for OLLI short stories class
13. "A Journey" by Edith Wharton -- read on Mar. 5th for OLLI short stories class,
14. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- reread Mar. 8th for OLLI short stories class.
15. "A Death in the Desert" by Willa Cather -- read Mar. 10th for OLLI short stories class.
16. "That Evening Sun" by William Faulkner -- read Mar. 10th for OLLI short stories class.
17. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway -- read Mar. 10th for OLLI Short stories class.
18. "That Distant Land" -- short story by Wendell Berry -- OLLI Berry class -- read Mar. 10th
19. "The Boundary" -- short story by Wendell Berry -- unassigned reading for OLLI Berry class -- read Mar. 10th.
20. "Don't Send a Boy to Do a Man's Work -- short story by Wendell Berry -- read for pleasure Mar. 10th.
21. "Red-Headed Baby" by Langston Hughes -- short story (thought he was only a poet!) -- read for pleasure Mar. 21st.
22. "The Man who was almost a Man" by Richard Wright -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 22nd.
23. "The Country Husband" by John Cheever -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 22nd.
24. "Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 22nd.
25. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 26th.
26. "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 26th.
27. "How to Become a Writer" by Lorrie Moore -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 26th.
28. "Heat" by Joyce Carol Oates -- OLLI short stories class -- read Mar. 26th.
29. "Memoirs of a Novelist" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read Apr. 6th.
30. "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read Apr. 12th.
31. "Kew Gardens" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read Apr. 19th.
32. "Mrs. Dalloway in Bond Street" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read Apr. 30th.
33. "Nurse Lugton's Curtain" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- pleasure -- read Apr. 30th.
34. "Lappin and Lapinova" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read May 2nd.
35. "The Legacy" by Virginia Woolf -- short story -- OLLI Virginia Woolf short fiction class -- read May 9th.
36. Emma by Charlotte Bronte -- only first two chapters since this was all she wrote of that novel before her death
37. "The Abortion" by Alice Walker -- short story for JMRL summer reading, July sheet - read June 23rd.
38. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann -- read two different translations, those by Stanley Appelbaum and David Luke for an OLLI class --- finished 2nd Sept. 7th.
39. "Second Inaugural Speech" by Abraham Lincoln -- discussed in Leadership class Sept. 8th.
40. "The Judgment" by Franz Kafka -- for class Sept. 15th
41. "Before the Law" by Franz Kafka -- for class Sept. 15th
42. "On the Question of the Laws" by Franz Kafka -- for class Sept. 15th.
43. "Poseidon" by Franz Kafka -- for class Sept. 15th.
44. "Farewell Address" by George Washington -- for Leadership class on Sept. 15th.
45. "Speech before the Circuit Court in the Sentencing of Susan B. Anthony, June 19, 173 and also Letter from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton dated Nov. 5, 172 -- both for Leadership class on Sept. 22nd.
46. Letter from Eight Alabama Clergymen followed by "Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. followed by his "I Have a Dream speech -- for Leadership class on Sept. 29th.
47."Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We ..." by Heinrich Boll for class Sept. 29th.
48. "At the Bridge" by Heinrich Boll for class Sept. 29th.
49. "Too Many Trips to Heidelberg" by Heinrich Boll for class Sept. 29th.
50. "My Father's Cough" by Heinrich Boll for class Sept. 29th.
51. "Rendezvous with Margret" by Heinrich Boll for class Sept. 29th.
52. "Inaugural Address" by Gerald R. Ford for leadership class October 6th.
53. Pardon of Richard M. Nixon speech by Gerald R. Ford for leadership class Oct. 6th.
54. "Tuesday, September 27" by Christa Wolf for German lit class on October 13th.
55. "What Remains" by Christa Wolf for German lit class on October 13th.
56. Read entries for 17 years in Gunter Grass's My Century for German lit class on Oct. 20th.
57. "A Character's Tragedy" by Luigi Pirandello for Pirandello OLLI class on Nov. 1st.
58. "Mrs. Frola and Mr. Ponza, her Son-in-Law" by Luigi Pirandello for my Pirandello OLLI class on Nov. 15th.
59. "Think It Over, Giacomino" by Luigi Pirandello for my Pirandello OLLI class Dec. 6th.

Looks like you and I have similar ideas about tacking our TBR piles. Will be following along for your CAT and KIT reads.

Like you, I am hoping to read predominantly from my TBR piles of books. Great setup!

Here's to another great year of reading!

Great to see you here and all ready to go! :)

Great idea - I'd like to have a little crack in time and space, so that I can slip in and get working on my book backlog. :)

Thanks to everyone who replied. I think that a lot of people are going to try to clear out their "to be read" piles in 2016. Hoping that there were be another ROOTs group.

Oh those darn TBR mountains...

Great way to tackle your tbr. I hope you have lots of fun (and success)!

Looks like some great reading!

I read my first complete book of the year this evening -- an enjoyable, quick read. It is James Herriot's Cat Stories which has been on my TBR shelves prior to my joining LT in late 2007. Having had it so long, it is a ROOT -- also it fits the Author born in 1916 of the BingoDOG. I felt like reading something light since so far this year I've been primarily reading "assigned books" -- 2 for book clubs, neither of which I'm enjoying and a ER that is really tedious to read.

Herriot's collection of cat stories centers on neighborhood cats who were his patients over the years plus three stories about two wild cats whom he and his wife fed and tried to tame.

4 stars

I have finished my first BingoPup book. Sisters of the Wind: Voices of Early Women Aviators by Elizabeth S. Bell discusses 15 women who were involved in aviation in the 1920s and 1930s and who wrote about their experiences. These women were primarily European (particularly British) although three American women are covered -- including two of the most famous, Amelia Earhart and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Some of the early women in the 1920s were passengers rather than pilots. Several teams of women working together as pilots and technical people are included. Ms. Bell evaluates how being a woman impacted each woman; many of them faced discrimination by the male pilots. Sometimes, they were patronized. For example in the 1936 Benedix Race which was open to women for the first time, "the founder of the race offered a $2500 award 'for the female pilot who finishes first regardless of her position in the race itself'" -- only to have Louise Thaden win the whole race (p. 171).

4.5 stars

>20 sallylou61: I love James Herriot's stories! I'm not sure I have the collection of cat stories, but I've discovered that sometimes those are excerpts from the All Creatures Great and Small books.

I read an interesting biography a couple of years ago for the AwardCAT local award month. Daughter of the Air is a biography of Cornelia Fort, a Nashville debutante who became a pilot and joined the WAFS in WWII.

"it fits the Author born in 1916 of the BingoDOG"
Ooooh, I thought the only one I had in my library for that bingo square was Roald Dahl. Good to know I have another option. :) I loved the TV series made from his books, but I've never actually read him.

>22 cbl_tn: It has been many many years since I have read any of the All Creatures Large and Small books although I enjoyed them when I read them. I don't know whether any of these stories appeared in them, but all the stories seemed new to me.

>23 -Eva-: I just discovered that James Herriot was born in 1916 when I looked up important people born in that year on the web. I knew I had this book and read it for some light reading as a break from some of my other reading. I would recommend anything written by Herriot (although I have not read everything he wrote).

I plan to read James Herriot for that square as well. I have The Best of James Herriot, Every Living Thing, and James Herriot's Animal Stories.

I have finally finished reading my November LT ER -- Blood of the Tiger: a Story of Conspiracy, Greed and the Battle to Save a Magnificent Species by J. A. Mills. Tonight I plan to write a review, which is not a pleasant task because it will be an unfavorable review. Lot of detailed talk about expensive international meetings where not much gets accomplished, some very dull reading (although some parts are interesting), lot of people in competing instead of cooperating organizations, lot of acronyms without a glossary in the back identifyling the organization, lack of pictures of horrifying conditions, etc.

If I had done by homework better, I would have realized that this is a paperback edition of a book whose hard edition got some negative reviews, and thus not requested it through LT ER.

2 stars

I've finished reading the book which our local public library book club will be discussing next week -- Ann Patchett's The Magician's Assistant. This book took me a while to get interested in since the first part occurs in Los Angeles, which is not a city of particular interest to me, and I have never particularly cared for magic acts. However, especially by the time the scene moved to Nebraska, I had gotten much more interested in it, and actually had a hard time putting it down toward the end. I was a bit disappointed at the ending.

This book also fits into the Woman BingoPUP square for "published before 2000" since it was published in 1997.

3.5 stars

>27 sallylou61: Your group might be interested to know that Patchett's Bel Canto has been made into an opera, currently being performed by the Lyric Opera of Chicago: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/arts/music/review-bel-canto-opera-arrives-at-a...

I read When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning, which is an excellent book, for the January DeweyCAT challenge. It discusses the paperback books which were sent to the soldiers in World War II, and their impact; the books provided an activity that soldiers could do anywhere. Soldiers, who had read very seldom prior to the war, read them enthusiastically, and some became lifelong readers. Books of all kinds were sent to the soldiers. This is contrasted to the banning of books and book-burning done by the Nazis.

5 stars

I've finished reading the selection for a book club meeting next week -- Room by Emma Donoghue. I haven't decided whether or not to try to see the movie sometime. I found the book much more interesting beginning with the escape from the room; prior to that, it was rather monotonous, which was appropriate for the story.

For the Woman BingoPUP challenge I read Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, a lesbian novel by a writer probably primarily known for mysteries although she has also written poetry, screen plays, and nonfiction. Rita Mae Brown is a local author; I purchased this book last year when she was honored at its republication; it was originally published in 1973. I enjoy Ms. Brown as a speaker more than I enjoyed this book, which has a lot of graphical sex in it and some dirty language. Part of the story was interesting, especially when the protagonist Molly Bolt was growing up. However, her experiences in New York City as an adult in her 20s were rather distasteful.

3 stars

For the January AlphaKIT, I read Upstairs Girl: Prostitution in the American West by Michael Rutter. At this point, I'm not using it for the Woman BingoPUP since it is by a male author although it is about women. I may change my mind about this.

Upstairs Girls begins with a history of prostitution in the West. The different classes of prostitution are explained; although prostitutes were looked down upon, there were different classes of them. The book ends with short biographies of 14 prostitutes -- these stories include both the madams who owned or managed the houses of prostitution, and the common prostitutes. The book includes a helpful glossary of terms in addition to a bibliography and index. This book is a popular rather than a scholarly history; although there are quotations, the book lacks footnotes/endnotes, and the works some of the quotations are attributed to do not appear in the bibliography.

3.5 stars

I have finished reading my LT ER book from the December batch -- Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying an the Corruption of Democracy by Mary Frances Berry. In my opinion the Preface, first chapter, last chapter and Conclusion were the most interesting. The middle chapters dealt too much with Louisiana (3 chapters) and Chicago (1 chapter). The other parts talked more about various places in our country and the Conclusion discussed ways to greatly reduce vote buying.

I have not yet written the review.

3.5 stars

I just finished reading a very powerful book, Just Mercy: a Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson, a lawyer for the Equal Justice Initiative which he helped found, tells stories of people unjustly incarcerated who have been his clients. The book focuses on Walter McMillian a black man who was framed for murder and put on death row, his eventual release, and how his experience on death row impacted his life afterwards. Alternating with chapters about McMIllian's story are stories of injustices including the imprisonment of juveniles tried in adult courts, the handicapped, the poor -- especially poor blacks, etc.

Mr. Stevenson may have chosen to emphasize the story of Walter McMillian because the murder took place in Monroe County, AL, the locale of Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The towns people took a pride in that; they even presented local plays based on the book. However, although Mr. McMillian had the support of the black population, the white court system and whites in town were not concerned about putting a real (opposed to fictional) black man to death for a murder he did not commit.

Although this is a very moving book, I encountered some problems with it. I personally would have preferred having it divided into two sections: one giving the story of Walter McMillian and the other all the other types of cases Mr. Stevenson describes. At first interspersing the stories gave relief, but then it became very annoying. Also, Mr. Stevenson provides approximately 17 pages of end-notes, which all refer back to specific pages of the book. However, in the text, he does not provide any mechanism for letting the reader know that there is an end-note for a particular passage. Moreover, although this is a nonfiction book dealing with many topics and people, it does not contain an index. Thus, it is hard for the reader to know where a particular topic is discussed.

Bryan Stevenson is scheduled as a main speaker at the Virginia Festival of the Book this coming March.

>34 sallylou61: - A friend mine has raved about that book. Sounds like it could be a very powerful book.

I have finished reading The Annotated Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, annotated by David M. Shapard for the February RandomCAT, February AlphaKIT, and the Woman BingoPUP putting it in Made into a Movie square; many years ago I saw and enjoyed the movie.

I enjoyed this novel; my current list of Austen novels as I like them go from top to bottom: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park (the last of which I did not like much). I have not yet read Emma.

4.5 stars

Just finished reading Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf for the DeweyCAT (172.4 which is probably not the number I would have assigned to it). This is also a ROOT (I've had it since before I joined LibraryThing in 2007) and I'm counting in BingoDOG as a book published before I was born (it was published in 1938). I could have fit it into the Woman BingoPUP, but will be reading many other books to put there.

The reason I would not have chosen 172.4 is because it is about the ethics of peace and war -- although these essays talk about peace, they are more directed toward the place of middle class women (the daughters of educated men) in English society in the late 1930s. Virginia Woolf justifies giving one guinea each to a building fund for a women's college, a society promoting the employment of professional women, and a society -- run by males -- to help prevent war and protect culture and intellectual liberty. Ms. Woolf links these three causes.

4 stars

I have reread No Right to Remain Silent: the Tragedy at Virginia Tech by Lucinda Roy for a book group discussion tomorrow evening. I had recommended this book to the group, and rated it a 5 when I read it in 2014. I still think it is a very well written book, but would rate it lower, either 4.5 or perhaps even 4. Ms. Roy, a woman of color, was the English Department head at Virginia Tech when Cho was so disturbing in a poetry class taught by Nikki Giovanni that he had to be removed from the class. Ms. Roy herself tutored him. This is Ms. Roy's account of her attempts to work with Cho and more importantly, get him the counseling help that he so desperately needed, in a very rigid administrative system -- and of the shootings at Virginia Tech and the follow-up. Ms. Roy discusses the cover-up; the failure of the administration to explain what occurred the day of the shootings. She decided on The title, No Right to Remain Silent, because of the silence of the administration and how it made the situation more difficult. She also discusses ways to try to prevent such shootings in the future at any kind of school. (This book was published prior to the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut.)

4.5 stars

In memory of Harper Lee who passed away yesterday, I read "The Thanksgiving Visitor" by Truman Capote. This short story is dedicated to Lee (probably Harper Lee), who is the basis for a minor character, Ann "Jumbo" Finchburg, according to the Washington Post, 2/20/16. Ann "Jumbo" Finchburg only appears in one paragraph in which she is portrayed as "the other town bully" who won a skirmish against Odd Henderson, the town bully, who is a main character in the story. This story takes place in rural Alabama and is probably partially autobiographical; it tells the story from the viewpoint of Buddy, a seven-year-old boy who was continually picked upon by the twelve-year-old Odd.

5 stars

After discovering that Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh qualified for this month's DeweyCAT I borrow it from the local public library and read it. I read the 1975 edition, which has an update, "Gift from the Sea Re-opened giving Ms. Lindbergh's comments twenty years after she initially wrote the book. I have discovered that this is not the most current edition; a 50th anniversary edition was published. I was particularly interested in the first essays about the discontent of women in the 1950s before Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique and the 1975 update; the sections about relationships in mid-life were not as meaningful to me.

4 stars

>40 sallylou61: - I must have read the same edition that you did - with the extra chapter. I found some interesting tidbits to think about, but thought some of it was a bit dated.

>41 dudes22: I agree that some of it was outdated, and was surprised to see an even newer edition with an update by Reeve Lindbergh (I think it was) on one of the tables in Barnes and Noble. The next time I'm there, I plan to look to see when it was published.

I enjoyed reading The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, a SantaThing gift, which I'm using for the "New-to-You" Author square in the WomanBingoPUP. This was a rather short, light novel about the adventures of four British women who share a rented castle in Italy for the month of April. All the women are dissatisfied with some aspects of their lives and are trying to get away on a peaceful holiday.

4 stars

>43 sallylou61: I have this one on my TBR shelves. I don't think I have seen a negative review of it on LT yet.

>43 sallylou61:, >44 Tara1Reads: On my TBR, too! One of these days...

I read the controversial book, The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills, both in memory of Harper Lee following her death and for the "about a writer" square in BingoDOG. It was more a book about the author's experiences with interviewing and interacting with Harper Lee, her sister, Alice -- and various friends of theirs -- than about the Lee sisters themselves. Ms. Mills spent a considerable about of time over several years with one or the other of the Lee sisters, but after the book was published Harper Lee claimed that she had not cooperated with Ms. Mills.

No footnotes or bibliography. Overly long with some repetition -- does not include much info about Harper Lee not already reported elsewhere.

I borrowed both this book and Go Set a Watchman, which I read last year, from the local public library. I think it was wrong to publish the novel but am not so sure about Mills' book; she was careful to include only material she thought was approved.

3.5 stars

I have just finished reading a delightful collection of short stories for the "Short Story Collection" thread of the WomanBingoPUP: I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly, and Other Stories by Mary Ladd Gavell. This collection was first published in 2001 although the author died in 1967 at the age of 47. Ms. Gavell wrote her stories on a wide range of topics; only two have any of the same characters. She is particularly skillful at portraying elderly women although she was not elderly herself. All except one of the stories have women as the central characters.
Most of the stories are set in Texas although one is set in the Washington, DC area and one in New England.

I received this as a 2015 SantaThing gift.

4.5 stars

For the RandomCAT challenge, I read and examined the picture in the coffee table type book, At the Rim: a Celebration of Women's Collegiate Basketball published in 1991. A long description of it is on the March RandomCAT thread,
http://www.librarything.com/topic/219204#5496495

3.5 stars

For the March DeweyCAT challenge, I read The Religious World of Antislavery Women by Anna M. Speicher (261.8). She examines the religious beliefs of Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Lucretia Mott, Abby Kelley Foster, and Sallie Holley and how these beliefs contributed to their reform activity -- especially antislavery efforts and to a lesser extent women's rights and other 19th century reforms. All of these women except Sallie Holley were Quakers at some point in their lives although only Lucretia Mott remained a Friend all her life. Ms. Speicher shows how these women used their religious beliefs to justify their speaking in public. Often they used religion as an argument for justifying their positions concerning antislavery and women's rights.

4.5 stars

I finished reading Gray Mountain by John Grisham which fits into the "about the environment" square for BingoDOG since it is about strip mining in the Appalachia including its effect on the environment: destroying mountains, causing black lung disease, polluting water, etc. The reason I read it now is because I'm going to a reception next week at the Virginia Book Festival for Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy who will be a key speaker at the festival. The reception, is being hosted by John and Renee Grisham. Although he is a local author, and has written numerous books, the only other one I had read by him is Calico Joe, a baseball book. Mr. Grisham will also be the moderator for the Stevenson program.

3.5 stars

>50 sallylou61: Thanks for the review of Gray Mountain. My family is from Harlan Co, Kentucky and they were coal miners. My grandfather died from black lung. My father fled that area as soon as he could get on his feet and I grew up far removed from that environment. I'll be sure to check this one out, give me some perspective.

>51 VictoriaPL: Gray Mountain is a page-turning book about two different approaches to fighting the big coal industry -- (1) a male lawyer who cuts corners (cheats) since the coal industry guys cheat and who tries to get the biggest possible settlement for the poor people he is representing even though a smaller amount would be a great help to these people and getting a name for himself and (2) an all female group of lawyers and their staff who provide free legal services for these people, many of whom are victims of big coal. The reason I read this of Grisham's numerous novels involving lawyers is because my husband is from West Virginia, and, although his family was not involved in coal, he grew up in a badly polluted area.

>52 sallylou61: I look forward to it!

I attended the first day of the annual Virginia Festival of the Book today. The session I went to tonight was a poetry reading held in a continuing care retirement community. I purchased and have read a beautiful self published and hand crafted book: Wiping Memories from Room to Room by artist and poet Joy Merritt Krystosek (which does not yet have a touchstone). These are poems which she wrote when dealing long distance with her mother who had Alzheimer's. Ms. Krystosek read some of the poems at the program. The room was silent as she read her beautiful heartfelt poetry.

5 stars

I just finished reading Carson McCullers' debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, which is both the Big Read book this year for our public library and the monthly book for both book clubs I belong to. It took me a long time to get interested in it, but I found it very engrossing near the end. The story seemed kind of choppy at first, going from one set of characters to another.

3.5 stars

I loved The Heart is a Lonely Hunter!

I just finished reading Saving Sadie and Sasha by Laura S. Jones for the WomanbingoPUP. Plan to write more about it some other time. My husband is trying to get to sleep in a motel room we are sharing.

For my OLLI Shakespeare class, I just finished reading Julius Caesar which I had not read for many years although I'm familiar with several passages from it. Most of my OLLI literature classes this semester have been studying short stories, which I have listed in message 10 instead of listing in separate messages.

For the DeweyCAT challenge and the translated work square in BingoDOG, I have read The Prince by Machiavelli, translated and edited by Peter Constantine. I had not read this since high school (if I read it then; I remember a high school teacher's talking about it). I was interested in seeing that Machiavelli emphasized be prepared for and fighting in wars so much. Of course, at the time he wrote it, Italy was not yet unified. Machiavelli was in prison and was trying to ingratiate himself to the Medici family; he was unsuccessful.

3.5 stars

For my Shakespeare class, I have finished reading Antony and Cleopatra, a play which was assigned to the fall semester class. However, I did not take that class, and needed to read it since we are comparing Antony in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, along with many other topics in class.

For the RandomCAT challenge this month and Woman Scientist in Woman BingoPUP, I have finished reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Although a lot of the scientific studies she mentions are very old, the basic points which she makes about conserving the earth and the balance needed in nature are still very relevant. This book, which had a direct impact on the starting of Earth Day, is still important. Includes considerable discussion of science explaining how things work.

3.5 stars

You've been reading some great books lately. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of my favorites. Amazing that it was her first book and she was only 23 when it was published.

I just finished reading Nora Webster by Colm Toibin, which is a book club selection. Unfortunately, I will probably not be able to attend the club meeting since I have an adult education class that evening. It took me a while to get involved in the story, but after about 100 pages, I had a hard time putting it down.

3.5 stars

Reading in honor of the bicentennial of Charlotte Bronte's birth, I just read High Life in Verdopolis, one of the Glass Town Sagas which Charlotte and Branwell Bronte wrote as teenagers (while Anne and Emily were writing their Gondal stories). This fantasy was recently published (around 1991) for the first time. The edition I read was introduced and edited by Christine Alexander and published in 1995 by the British Library. Ms. Alexander's notes show how Charlotte was influenced in her early fantasy writing by authors such as Lord Byron, Walter Scott, and
Shakespeare. Charlotte wrote this using her first pseudonym, Lord C. A. F. Wellesley, and the title page from her manuscript appears at the beginning of the text of the story. Included also are illustrations by Charlotte Bronte and a few facsimile pages of the manuscript in miniscule writing. This work is very different from Jane Eyre; it is about an imaginery place, full of characters who would not be the class of people Charlotte experienced in her own life, and includes several scenes with numerous people and a lot of pageantry.

3 stars (not my type of story)

>64 sallylou61: I'm interested in seeing some of Charlotte's artistry. I just finished The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte and while fiction, the author does make mention of her drawing ability.

>64 sallylou61: Here's a Guardian article about Glass Town:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/21/the-secret-history-of-jane-eyre-cha...

They also have a Charlotte Bronte quiz.

>66 kac522: Great article!

>65 VictoriaPL: If you click on the link in message 64 on the cover you should see a rather poor copy of plate 10 in the book, labelled "watercolour by Charlotte Bronte, c.1834, after William Finden's engraving of Byron's "Maid of Saragoza"; a source of inspiration for the Angrian heroine, Mina Laury." Charlotte apparently nearly copied other people's art work upon occasion. Mina Laury was one of the most important women in the story I read. The picture should be of a lovely dark haired young woman on a yellow background.

>66 kac522: Thanks for the reference to the article, which was very interesting, and the quiz. Although I guessed at some of the answers, I got all except the last question right.

>68 sallylou61: Whoa, good job! I think I only got about half of them right!

I have just finished reading Measure for Measure for my Shakespeare course. We will be discussing it during three class periods. I was not nearly as familiar with it as with many of his other plays, but enjoyed it.

I have finished reading Pistols and Petticoats: 175 Years of Lady Detectives in Fact and Fiction by Erika Janik, a LT ER book which fit into both the May DeweyCAT and GeoCAT. I read most of the book in April but finished it today. It dealt with American policewomen in addition to women detectives.
I enjoyed the book which covered a lot of history in less than 200 pages of text although the citations in the footnotes left something to be desired. There was no separate bibliography. Still need to write the review which I plan to do tonight or tomorrow.

3.5 stars.

I just finished reading Something Must be Done about Prince Edward County: a Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle by Kristen Green, which qualifies as a CAT trick (North America, 379.263, and author's surname is a color) plus the published within the last 10 years (2015) for the WomanBingoPUP.

This is both a history of the closing of the public schools in Prince Edward County to avoid integration, the effect that this event had (and still has) on the community of Farmville and the entire county, and the author's coming to grips with the knowledge of her family's involvement. Ms. Green, who was born in the 1970s, grew up as a sheltered white girl, and attended the Prince Edward Academy, the all-white private school which was set up to educate the white students. She left Farmville to go to college, and never returned to live there year round. (She rented a house in the summers while researching this book.) Ms. Green discovered that her grandfather had been one of the leaders of the group responsible for closing the schools, and had been instrumental in starting the Academy where her mother and other relatives were on the staff. The family (both her grandmother and mother) had the same black maid who came in once a week, but never really inquired about how the situation impacted her or her family. (She sent her daughter to New England to live with relatives to go to school.) Ms. Green tells the stories of many blacks who were involved in the struggle, and attempts to find out the reasoning of the whites. This book is part memoir/biography as Ms. Green and her multiracial husband decide where to live with their multiracial daughters and the kind of school they should attend. It is a story of the changing racial picture/understanding/relationships.

4.5 stars

I've read my second CAT trick for the month (after not having any for several years probably). Of course, it helps having North America as the geographic region. I've read Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman about her prison experience (Dewey 365) in three "correctional" institutions although most of her time was in the women's prison in Danbury, Connecticut. She found a community of women -- from various socio-economic levels, ethnic groups and races -- who often helped each other adapt to life there in the prison in Connecticut -- something she did not find in her short experiences in Oklahoma and Chicago. I'm also listing this memoir in the "survival" square in the BingoDOG. It could have also gone in the Autobiography/Memoir squares in either BingoDOG or WomanBingoPUP, but I'm not putting the same book in both the Bingo challenges (which, of course is inconsistent since I'm listing them under more than one CAT).

4.5 squares

>72 sallylou61: I've heard an extensive interview with Kristen Green which made me put the book on my wishlist. Glad to know that it's good!

>74 RidgewayGirl: I heard her speak about her experiences about writing the book at the Virginia Festival of the Book in March. I had seen the book before then, and received it as a gift in January.

I have finally finished reading Sara M. Robinson's Sometimes the Little Town. Although I usually enjoy Sara's poetry, I was disappointed with this book. Sara's father was Hobby Robinson, a famous local (Elkton, Virginia) photographer. Sara took a number of his photographs, and wrote poems to accompany them. Many of the photographs and poems are about local townspeople from around the 1950s. I would have liked to have a bit more info about the people, and which ones Sara knew and which ones she wrote imaginary poems about looking at the photographs. (Sara had said during a program at the Virginia Book Festival in March that she had not been able to find information about some of the people.) Also, some of the photographs, especially those of groups of people, were printed so small that the details described could not easily be seen. I know that Sara worked hard on this book since she talked about working on it during some adult education classes she taught the last couple of years. Also, I really enjoyed hearing her read poems from this collection during her program mentioned above; then she gave background information about the person which added considerably to the listening experience.

I used this poetry collection for the poetry or plays square in the WomanBingoPUP, which gives me a bingo on the fourth vertical row.

3.5 stars

My April LT ER book is Expand Social Security Now: How to Ensure Americans Get the Retirement They Deserve by Steven Hill. Mr. Hill's thesis is that Social Security is the only retirement system that many Americans have, and does not pay enough for many of our seniors to live on. Of the three legged stool for retirement -- social security; pensions and employer retirement plans; and home ownership and savings plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and IRAs -- only social security is a viable option. Many employers no longer provide pension plans; many people do not have enough money to pay into IRAs, etc.; and home ownership is no longer a positive investment with many people owing more in mortgage than their houses are worth. Mr. Hill advocates doubling the Social Security payments of everyone, and demonstrates how this can be done by making taxes more fair, etc. His formula is TAX FAIRNESS = RETIREMENT SECURITY = ECONOMIC STABILITY. Mr. Hill also discusses 9 myths about Social Security and shows why they are myths. The book is repetitious, but contains a strong argument for increasing Social Security (and showing why Social Security is not in danger).

4 stars

This book also fits into this month's DeweyCAT (368.4)

I have read four books for the DeweyCAT this month -- an unusual number for me. This last book read is Pretty Little Killers by Daleen Berry and Geoffrey C. Fuller (364.152), a true crime story about two teenage girls who murder one of their best friends. I heard the author speak at the Virginia Festival of the Book last year, and found her talk interesting. One of the reasons I bought the book was because it takes place in West Virginia, and my husband is a West Virginian. The book dragged a bit, but so did the time it took the police to find enough evidence to arrest the two high school girls. The weakest part of the book was that the authors unsuccessfully tried to determine why the crime was committed; why the girls killed their friend. The authors included an appendix giving a list of signs for parents to watch for to prevent future tragedies.
3 stars

For the WomanBingoPUP 1920s/30s detective fiction I just read Agatha Christie's Murder at the Vicarage, her first book featuring Miss Marple. I enjoyed it but felt that Miss Marple did not become actively engaged soon enough. She was mentioned as a meddlesome woman early on, but was not taken seriously and did not seem to really be trying to solve the mystery very early. Also, I was interested to see that the narrator of the story was male. This is the first Agatha Christie book I've read for many years.

3.5 stars

I've just read a book for pleasure which does not fit into any of my categories for reading for this challenge. It's Stabbing in the Senate by Colleen J. Shogan --- a first book in a Washington Whodunit series. Ms. Shogan was the mystery author sitting at our table at a detective brunch during the Virginia Festival of the Book this past March; she is also on the Library of Congress staff in the Congressional Research Services. I think that she is planning to write a series of murder mysteries occurring in DC as Margaret Truman did many years ago. I enjoyed this mystery featuring an amateur detective and her buddy who aided in solving the murder of their boss, an influential senator.

3.5 stars

I've finished reading a book for my book club meeting this week -- The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks. This book about raising sheep in the Lake District of England is not something I would have otherwise read. After a slow start (in which the author says that he never liked school), I found the book to be very interesting. Mr. Rebanks describes the sheep raising as a family event, which has stayed in some families for generations. He learned from his grandfather, and now his children are learning for both their grandfather and father. This farming, much of which has not changed over the years, is a different culture from that of most of England. He describes working in all kinds of weather --- the sheep and the land come first before his comfort. He mentions Beatrix Potter who was a sheep farmer in addition to being a children's author and illustrator. Now I'm beginning a biography of her; the introduction talks about her farming as being an aspect of her life.

4 stars

For the Want the Protagonist's Hobby or Job square in the BingoDOG I read Working Stiff, a memoir by Judy Melinek of her two years training to be a medical examiner in New York City. This is a very interesting book describing doing autopsies, communicating with families of the deceased, being an expert witness in legal trials, etc. Dr. Melinek's fellowship was for 2001 and 2002 so included working on the remains of victims of the 911 Twin Towers tragedy and the crash of American Airlines flight 587 the following month.
Although this work sounds fascinating (and very high pressure), it would not be a suitable field for me professionally since I lack scientific talents.

4 stars

>82 sallylou61: And that's another for the TBR list!

I have just read Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers by Deborah Cadbury. Although her father was not in the chocolate business, Ms. Cadbury is a member of the Cadbury family which founded and headed the Cadbury company for nearly 150 years. Ms. Cadbury focuses on the Cadburys and their company, but discusses the competition and attempted mergers of the various chocolate companies. The companies, which were primarily chocolate companies, were primarily in Britain, and to a lesser extent, United States and other countries in Europe. However, the chocolate business was worldwide with the cocoa beans being from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa -- and chocolate products being marketed practically worldwide. The British chocolate companies were primarily run by Quakers, who provided good working conditions, housing, entertainment, etc. for their employees, and Milton Hershey who founded the Hershey Company in Pennsylvania followed these same practices. These chocolate companies had to struggle against being taken over by larger companies such as Nestles and Kraft Foods. These British companies are no longer independent companies; they have been bought out by larger corporations. The book ends with the hostile takeover of Cadbury by Kraft.

Unfortunately, although Ms. Cadbury provides a bibliography (and index), she does not indicate the source of specific information and quotations.

4 stars

I have finished reading West with the Night by Beryl Markham for one of my book clubs. I'm also counting this interesting book for the adventure square in BingoDOG. It is a memoir, originally published in 1942 when the author was approximately 40 years old. Ms. Markham grew up in British East Africa (now Kenya), went on boar hunts as a child (even though females were not supposed to do this), helped deliver a horse (which her father gave to her as a gift), trained race horses as a teenager, and became an early female commercial pilot. Most of Ms. Markham's interactions were with men; few women are mentioned in her story. The title, West with the Night, refers to Ms. Markham's solo flight from England to Nova Scotia, the first time any pilot had flown over the Atlantic in that direction alone. It is described at the very end of the book.

In her introduction to the book, Sara Wheeler points out that this is a very selective memoir; Ms. Markham does not discuss any of her husband or lovers or her son. Moreover, according to Ms. Wheeler, some of the stories that Ms. Markham tells never happened. However, Ms. Markham writes very inspiring stories.

4 stars

>84 sallylou61:
That one goes on the wishlist for me. Sounds fascinating!

I have finished reading Louisa: the Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams by Louisa Thomas for a public library committee I'm on. This is a very interesting biography of a remarkable woman. It is a long book (455 pages of text not counting the endnotes, bibliography, index, etc.). I found the narrative to drag a bit toward the end, especially during the difficult time of John Quincy Adams' presidency. Louisa's struggles with the issues of slavery and women's rights was particularly informative.

A major defect of the book was the lack of a family tree, especially since the same names were repeatedly used.

4 stars

>84 sallylou61: I love chocolate and I love Cadbury's - on the wishlist it goes!

>88 Chrischi_HH: Hope you enjoy the book. It's unfortunate when small companies are taken over by the huge conglomerates.

For pleasure I read a novel, East Hope by Katharine Davis, about a middle aged recently widowed woman and a possibly slightly younger man whose marriage was falling apart. Both of these people left urban life (Washington and the Philadelphia then New York area) to spend the summer in Maine, where they ended up staying for the winter. These two became friends. The book ends with the possibility that they might become a couple.

The novel had too many unresolved questions for my taste.

Ms. Davis was one of many authors who participated in the 2009 Virginia Festival of the Book. I purchased this book then, and finally got around to reading it.

3.5 stars

To my surprise, I really enjoyed reading Dimestore: a Writer's Life by Lee Smith. I had heard her speak several years ago at the Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, and found the experience rather depressing because she was talking about depression and mental hospitals. Dimestore is a memoir written in the form of essays or short stories. Although she had a history of mental illness in her family with both her parents being in institutions from time to time and her son's being seriously ill, Lee is able to deal with these problems in a beautiful way. Her description of her son's illness and death is particularly beautiful.
However, much of the book deals with more pleasant topics. Lee tells about growing up in small town Grundy, Virginia, and its Appalachian culture, which she learns to appreciate after leaving home. (Unfortunately, Grundy has dramatically changed and is no longer the charming town of Lee's childhood -- a change which Lee describes) The title, Dimestore, commemorates her father's store which was central to her life as a child.
Lee also describes her adult life, particularly as it relates to writing, both hers and the writing of other authors who influenced her. Lee taught writing for many years, and an elderly woman, Lou Crabtree, was one of her students. Lee describes what became her friendship with Lou.
A charming book, which wants me to read some of Lee's novels -- and a few of the books, by other authors, which she found moving.

5 stars

>91 sallylou61: This sounds right up my alley. I have never heard of it before. Thanks for sharing!

>92 Tara1Reads: I first learned of this book when it appeared as a selection in the LT Early Reviewers program. I requested, but did not win it. I'm not sure how my husband learned about it, but he purchased it a couple months ago.

For the DeweyCAT challenge I just finished reading 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses & Misuses by the American Heritage Dictionaries editors (428.1)-- a short book recommended by LisaMorr.

The 100 words are arranged alphabetically; this meant that some pairs of words people confuse are not always together. I would have preferred to have the words together with a reference from where one would file alphabetically.

The entries include such things as pronunciation, part of speech, definitions including using the words in sentences (often using examples from literature), origins, and how the words are misused. I found especially interesting the history of the usage which showed that sometimes unacceptable usage becomes acceptable. Also different experts have different opinions about what is acceptable.

I had been planning to skip reading anything from the 400s since I didn't have any unread books in this Dewey range in my collection, and have plenty of other books to read. However, I'm glad that LisaMorr mentioned this book in the 400 DeweyCAT thread, and that our public library had a copy available.

3.5 stars

A few of us are reading books by or about Charlotte Bronte this year since it is her bicentennial; she was born in April 1816. https://www.librarything.com/topic/220634 Unofficially, I am counting the whole year instead of just April as a time to commemorate her. I just read The Foundling which she wrote as a teenager under the pseudonym, Captain Tree. It is one of the fantasies in the Glass Town sagas which she and her brother, Bramwell wrote while Anne and Emily were writing their Gondal stories. This story is quite similar to High Life in Verdopolis since about an imaginery place (Verdopolis), full of characters who would not be the class of people Charlotte experienced in her own life, and includes pageantry and considerable violence. The Foundling also includes the supernatural with things magically appearing and disappearing, and dead people being brought back to life.

High Life in Verdopolis contained illustrations by Charlotte Bronte; The Foundling does not.

I don't plan to read any more of these very early stories since they are not a type of story I enjoy.

My comments about High Life in Verdopolis is message 64 above. I was not able to get a proper link to work.

3 stars

I enjoyed reading The Turner House by Angela Flournoy, a novel about two generations of a large black family living in Detroit spanning the mid1940s through the first decade of the 21st century. Although Francis and Viola Turner had 13 children, the focus is on the parents and 3 of the children; Cha-Cha (Charles) the oldest and the two youngest, Lelah and Troy. Different chapters feature Francis or Viola or one of the children, and the time switches back and forth between the twentieth-first century to the 1940s with occasional glimpses of times between.

Debut novel by an Afro-American author.

4 stars

For the author over 60 square of the WomanBingoPUP card, I read Tall Tail by Rita Mae Brown (age 71) and her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown (who must also be getting up in cat age). Ms. Brown is a local author, and I've enjoyed hearing her speak at the Virginia Festival of the Book several time. This mystery was enjoyable, especially since I recognized some of the places and real people mentioned. Ms. Brown interweaves two mysteries, one occurring in 1784 and the other in the summer of 2016 (which was in the future when this book was published earlier this spring).

4 stars

For both the GeoCAT and the RandomCAT as well as the set in Latin America ... square of the WomanBingoPUP, I read In the Time of the Butterflies, a novel about Mirabel sisters in the Dominican Republic. Three of the four sisters along with their driver were murdered November 25th, 1960, by henchmen of the dictator Trujillo. Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa were coming back from visiting their husbands in prison when they were attacked on a back road. The murder itself is briefly mentioned. The story of their lives, is told from the viewpoints of the four sisters, including Dede who did not go on the trip, in alternating sections. In my opinion, the story drags at first; however, it becomes compelling describing the prison experiences of Minerva and Maria Teresa and the brief time afterwards until the end of their lives.

The butterflies in the title refer to the sisters who were referred to as Las Mariposas during their revolutionary work.

3.5 stars

I just did a quick read for the Set in Europe, Australia, or New Zealand square of the Woman BingoPUP. I read The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood, a Phryne Fisher
mystery, set in Australia. (I decided to read a book which was not set in England as most of my books about or set in Europe are.)
This was an enjoyable read although the murder was not "officially" solved; the solution was alluded to. The description of and action in the Australian Alps were particularly interesting. (I had not been aware that Australia had mountains, which shows my ignorance about that continent.)

3.5 stars

For both the July RandomCAT and the protagonist over 60 square of BingoDOG, I read The Last Gift of Time: Life beyond Sixty by the feminist scholar (and mystery writer under the pseudonym Amanda Cross) Carolyn G. Heilbrun. Ms. Heilbrun wrote this book when she was in her early 70s; she committed suicide in her late 70s. Ms. Heilbrun described her feelings about various aspects of life as she experienced them in her 60s. She felt that time period was the happiest in her life; she was free from no longer being on the faculty at Columbia University. She also wrote about how some female authors, particularly May Sarton experienced old age.

4.5 stars

For the July DeweyCAT, I finished reading Under the Sea-Wind by Rachel Carson (578). It would be particularly interesting to bird watchers and people interested in what occurs underwater, especially the sea. It is the story of the life and death of marine creatures. Including plants. Ms. Carson also discusses the ocean bottom and other land under water and how it was formed. Ms. Carson also wrote about birds, especially water fowl.

Science has never been a topic of much interest to me.

3 stars

I started reading When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes by Jay Feldman almost immediately after purchasing it on a river cruise since it was classed as a science book (551.22). Although it does discuss the New Madrid Earthquakes (along the Mississippi River) with some information about earthquakes in general, much of the book discusses early 19th century Indian wars west of the Allegheny Mountains. I would have classed it in U.S. history. Mr. Feldman discusses the impact of these earthquakes on the history of country.
Incidentally, the murder mentioned in the subtitle is the murder of a slave by two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews in Kentucky. The earthquakes uncovered evidence of the murder which the nephews had hidden.

4 stars

I just finished reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown for a book club meeting this month. It was a hard book for me to put down. Although I knew the outcomes of the races before they occurred since the University of Washington men got to the Olympics, the stories of the races were still interesting. The story of Joe Rantz, the central character in the book, was really inspiring. He was abandoned as a child, managed to raise himself, and, as a member of the University of Washington crew team, learned to trust others. All the University of Washington team members were from working-class (or poorer) backgrounds; several of them were raised in poverty. When they went east every year for important races, they raced rowers from the upper classes. The book also does a good job in describing life in the United States during the depression years, and the deceptions practiced by the Nazis before and during the Olympics. The foreign participants never saw the conditions under which the Jews and other people the Nazis hid lived.

5 stars

Both my book clubs are meeting on consecutive nights this month. I read The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin -- a book I would not have read if I hadn't need to read it for a book club. I enjoyed the book, but still need to think about more about my reaction to it. One of the characters in particular was quirkier than I normally like. Also, the story was a bit disjointed. There were too many deaths for my taste --- and, one person who I thought had died appeared later; she had only been injured. However, loose ends are pulled together at the end.
Throughout the novel, there were a lot of references to literary works, and each chapter was introduced by quotes or comments about a particular book. I'll be interested in our discussion about the book.

4 (or 3.5) stars

For pleasure (not any challenge), I read Abe & Fido: Lincoln's Love of Animals and the Touching Story of his Favorite Canine Companion by Matthew Algeo. My husband bought this book when we visited some Lincoln landmarks in Springfield, IL this summer. I had enjoyed reading the author's Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure a couple of years ago. Especially in comparison to that book, this was a disappointment. Not much is known about Lincoln's dog, Fido, and most of the story about Fido in this account was conjecture. Moreover, much of the book discussed Lincoln's career 1855 and his death in 1865; many pages did not mention Fido at all. The slavery situation was probably discussed nearly as much as animals. Also, Mr. Algeo went on tangents when discussing pets, telling about other people's pets and their reactions to the pets' deaths. I learned that Mr. Lincoln loved animals of all kinds and was interested in their welfare -- in which he was before his time -- and that Mary Lincoln did not like having pets. What could have been an interesting article was expanded into 156 pages of text. Includes a bibliography and index but no footnotes.

3 stars

For the August DeweyCAT and as a ROOT, I read Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism by Susan Ware (629.13). I can certainly understand LC's classing this in 629.13 to shelve it with other books about Amelia Earhart; however, it stresses her role in liberal feminism and barely mentions science -- her flights are mentioned by not gone into in any detail. Ms. Ware places Amelia Earhart's story in the context of the 1920s and 1930s when there were no feminist movements; the vote had been won, and the second wave beginning in the 1960s was still far in the future. This was a time of individual women in various fields were expanding what women could do outside the home --- in flying, the movies, athletics, journalism, art, etc. (Ms. Ware briefly discusses individual women in the chapter "Popular Heroines/Popular Culture." In order to obtain the finances for her flying Amelia Earhart went on extensive lecture tours; when telling of her experiences flying, she tried to be a role model for women to explore outside the old boundaries. Amelia's husband, G.P. Putnam, was her full-time manager; although Ms. Ware does not use the word, G.P. was "marketing" Amelia. The unorthodox marriage of Amelia and G.P. is also discussed.

Although I'm counting this book for the DeweyCAT (and am also reading The Gaza Kitchen (641.59) for this challenge), in my opinion, it does not contain enough about airplane flights for the airplane flight square on BingoDOG.

4.5 stars

For both the August DeweyCAT and the Woman BingoPUP Author from the Middle East square I read The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey by Laila El-Haddad (& Maggie Schmitt) (641.59). Laila is from Gaza; in addition to writing this book, she is also the author of Gaza Mom which I may read sometime. The Gaza Kitchen is more than a culinary journey; it is also a journey through Palestinian politics and culture. The authors interviewed numerous people including many women who cooked and showed them how they made certain foods, and men who were farmers or in some kind of business, and employees in relief organizations. The reader obtains a history of what has happened in Gaza since the founding of Israel in 1948 during which many Palestinian refugees poured into the Gaza Strip through the the present day, and lessons in the economy of the Gaza Strip.

Although I did not try out any recipes, the authors tell how recipes can be varied, and what Westerners can use in place of specific ingredients which they might have difficulty obtaining.

Beautiful illustrations.

I know so little about this type of cooking that I'm not rating the book.

>107 sallylou61: This sounds right up my alley. Thanks for posting!

>108 Tara1Reads: You are welcome. Hope that you enjoy the book. Are you planning to use it as a cookbook, or to learn about the culture of the Gaza Strip?

For both the African author square in the Woman BingoPUP and the GeoCAT, I read Changes: a Novel by Ama Ata Aidoo. This is the most enjoyable book I have read by an African author although I have not read many such authors. This novel features the two professional women who are best friends, and describes their experiences of working and of marriage. Their struggles and those of their female relatives in the midst of change are featured. Various viewpoints of men and women of different ages and ethnic groups are displayed in this feminist novel.

4.5 stars

I just finished reading Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape by Jessica Luther for the LT Early Reviewers program. Although Ms. Luther makes a number of good points, and I like the fact that she makes suggestions for combating the problem of sexual abuse of women by football players, the writing itself leaves much to be desired. Ms. Luther is a died-in-wool Florida State University football fan, and prominately features serious problems at that university although she discusses rapes and sexual abuse of women nation-wide. The lack of an index seriously hinders a reader who is not familiar with some of the cases; one cannot easily go back to earlier in the book where the case is more clearly explained. (I checked with the publisher, and the book I received is in its final form; there will be no index.)

This is a book which would more easily be read electronically where a person could click on a name and be routed to where it appears elsewhere.

Still thinking about the rating, and need to compose the review (much of which will be taken from the above description).

For the Award square of Woman BingoPUP I read One of Ours by Willa Cather, the Pulitzer Award in Fiction winner in 1923. This has been a controversial book; it is divided into two parts: Claude Wheeler's life on a Nebraska farm and his serving in World War I. Cather was criticized by some for writing about the war when she had not been there; some people feel that she glorified the war, which I do not agree with. Claude, who had had to come home from college to help on the family farm, felt that he did not fit into that style of life. He built a lovely small farmhouse on the family property for the woman he loved and married, but even before marriage felt that she did not love him. She ended up abandoning him. He felt more a greater sense of self-worth while at war where he bonded with some of the men, and the French countryside reminded him of home. He was killed in the war.

I think this is a beautifully written book, especially as a study of character and with lovely descriptions of settings. I did not care so much for the war story; I wondered whether the lower level officers actually had as much time off away from battle as in this story.

4 stars

>109 sallylou61: Both!

For the August RandomCAT, I have just read the only book on my TBR shelves which slightly involves camping: Herbert Hoover's Hideaway: the Story of Camp Hoover on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park by Darwin Lambert. In the pre-air-conditioning times Hoover wanted to get out of Washington at times during the summer; he had a camp built at his own expense to use as the summer White House. He had specific requirements for its placement: within 100 miles of Washington and at an elevation of 2500 feet to be above the mosquito line. He choose a site in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This book is a history of that camp where Hoover went to relax, but often ended up doing a tremendous amount of presidential work. Hoover left the camp to the government hoping that other presidents use it. FDR went there once, but never used it as a summer White House since he had to be carried to the cabin and back. Through 1983 when the book was written, only Jimmy Carter had been there (only once) although his vice president, Walter Mondale, enjoyed going there. The camp was also used by the Boy Scouts for approximately 20 years. When we visited in the early 1990s, it was still being used for some government functions. It is a lovely place.

4 stars

I have started reading for my adult education German literature translated into English course. Last night I read our first assignment, Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, translated by Stanley Appelbaum. Next week prior to class, I plan to read the translation by David Luke, which is the one the instructor recommends. (He changed his mind about the version between when the OLLI catalog needed to be printed in late spring and when he sent out the class syllabus a couple of weeks ago.) Appelbaum talked about various translations in his translation notes; it will be interesting to see the differences in translation. Our instructor recommended that we read the novella twice, and I decided to read different versions.

I think that that is an excellent idea - that when reading the same book twice to choose different translations.

For a book club meeting later this month, I read The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy. It is a series of stories or character sketches which occur between 1939 and the present (i.e. 2010) in various places, with some connection to World War II. The stories are tied together by the people who re-appear at different times in their lives. In later stories, the reader sometimes learns more about a person sketched in an earlier story. Most of the connections are understandable. I feel the weakest story is the last one which does not make clear how the character, Mr. Hugo, got his face smashed in the war.

4 stars

>116 RidgewayGirl: I found it helpful to read different translations when I read The Metamorphosis twice for class several years ago.

I have finished the reading for my other book club: Sula by Toni Morrison. I enjoyed this novel more than her The Bluest Eye which I read for an adult education class a couple of years ago.

We ought to have an interesting discussion of this book at our club meeting. I was talking to one of the other members last week before I started reading the book, and she thought it was "terrible" although she did not say why. It does contain a lot of cruelty and some graphic sex and bodily function scenes.

I found the author's foreword about the problem of being a black writer, and as such, not being taken seriously, was interesting.

4.5 stars

For my first OLLI German literature in translation class tomorrow, I have read Thomas Mann's Death in Venice in two different translations -- those by Stanley Appelbaum and by David Luke. Luke's translation is the one which were we assigned to read. Our instructor suggested that we read the story twice. I read Luke's last since we might be discussing it in detail; having read another version, I often knew what was coming. I found the ending more understandable in Luke's translation. I was particularly interested in reading the commentary in the two books, which were quite different although they covered some of the same material. Appelbaum talked more about the locale, the Polish names, and classical references; Luke more about how the story was a fictional account of a trip that Mann had actually taken. Luke also talked much more about other works by Mann since his book contained translations of six other stories by Mann. I have not yet read those stories -- maybe sometime but probably not for this class.

For both the BingoDOG and as a ROOT, I read Flying, a novel by Paula Helfrich and Rebecca Sprecher. This is a novel loosely based on their lives as Pan American stewardesses in the 1970s. It is a book about change: their change as individuals growing up in the 1950s and '60s, their flight service in the Vietnam War, and the changes in flying over the years including the end of Pan American World Airways. At first I thought that too much of the story was about staff parties, but soon much more dramatic tales including the flights themselves and the loss of airplanes with the accompanying loss of life became more dominate. The ending ties various pieces of the story together, characterwise.

4 stars

For the DeweyCAT challenge and the "Focus on Art" square of BingoDOG, I have read the text and examined the many illustrations in An American Vision: Three Generations of Wyeth Art: N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, James (i.e. Jamie) Wyeth (759.14). Although this book was published in connection with a 1987/88 international traveling exhibition of the Wyeths' works, organized by the Brandywine River Museum, it is much more than an exhibition catalog. It describes the work of each of the three artists, and is illustrated with photographs of many more artworks (primarily paintings) than were in the exhibit.

The reproductions are beautiful, but the layout of the book makes finding the artwork being discussed in the text challenging to find. The text refers only to a page number; however, in the sections of illustrations the page numbers, if they appear at all, are in the lower corner near the binding instead of being near the outer edge. Moreover, for the paintings in the exhibition, often the exhibition number is given instead of the page number.

Ten years ago my husband and I saw an exhibit of Wyeth art in Maine, and this book was on sale. I did not purchase it since already it was 20 years old, and would not be covering the more recent art by Andrew and especially Jamie Wyeth, the latter of whom was around 40 at that time (1987). However, my husband purchased it as a Christmas present for me.

I think it is wonderful to have had an international exhibit honoring the Wyeth family. However, only the male (and the more famous Wyeth artists) are included. N.C.'s daughters (and Andrew's sisters) Carolyn and Henriette are/were also artists; according to the bibligraphy, they had each had at least one exhibit by the time of this international exhibit.

4 stars

Assigned reading by Franz Kafka for my German literature in translation class: "The Judgment," "Before the Law," "On the Question of the Laws," and "Poseidon." I enjoyed "The Judgment" the most. I'm planning to reread all of these short pieces again before class on Thursday. Our instructor suggested that we read The Metamorphosis if we had time. I reread this short story (which I had read a couple of times for a course last year), and enjoyed it much more than when I first read it. Of course, I knew what to expect. The translation which I read for The Metamorphosis was by Donna Freed.

Our assigned reading for this week for my German literature in translation class is Siddharta by Hermann Hesse, translated by Hilda Rosner. This book was very different from our other reads: it was much more contemplative. I became fascinated reading about the different stages of Siddharta's life.
We should have a good discussion in class on Thursday.

4 stars

To prepare for a workshop on white privilege this Saturday, I read Waking up White by Debby Irving. She makes a lot of good points about how to approach better relations between white people (the dominant culture in the United States) and blacks in particular through telling her own story about these endeavors. She spent over twenty years following the wrong approach. It was amazing to me how a woman who was born in 1960 in a wealthy New England family could have been so very sheltered throughout her childhood through college to be unaware of the racial struggles which were occurring during that time period.

4 stars

As a second book for the DeweyCAT challenge and a ROOT, I read and examined the pictures in Pictorial History of Gone with the Wind by Gerald and Harriet Modell Gardner. This coffee table sized book covered the history of the making of the movie "Gone with the Wind" from the selecting the cast through the premiers in several cities, and a conversion to the wide screen version. The book includes various other things of interest such as a quiz about the movie, and a list of other important movies made in 1939 including "The Wizard of Oz" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and several others. The later careers of the major stars in "Gone with the Wind" are briefly discussed.

An interesting and fun book to explore.

3.5 stars

For the October DeweyCAT I read a very early incomplete feminist novel Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman (823.6) which Mary Wollstonecraft was writing at the time of her death. It emphasizes the place of women in late 18th century England: how they were "owned" by their husbands and did not have any rights of their own. The main character is Maria, a middle class woman. Much of her story is told through a journal she wrote for her daughter. Jemima, a poor woman, is a secondary character. The plight of poor women is described through her story which she tells to Maria and a male character in a private madhouse where Jemima is employed and Maria is a prisoner.

3 stars

I have read another book for the DeweyCAT: Art & Love: an Illustrated Anthology of Love Poetry selected by Kate Farrell (808.81)
This is a disappointing collection of love poetry. Ms. Farrell gives in a brief introduction how she selected the poems (ones she particularly liked) and then the artwork to accompany them. Some of the choices of artwork are logical; others are not. Although many of the poets are British, the poems and artwork are from various parts of the world. Unfortunately, the only information given about the poets and artists are their nationalities and dates -- nothing about their backgrounds, etc. Also, the translators are not provided for poems which were obviously translated.

3 stars

The book I read for the Female Ruler square of the Woman BingoPUP is The Queen and Di by Ingrid Seward. It starts out comparing the backgrounds (childhoods) and parenting styles of Queen Elizabeth and Diana and then discusses the problems created by Diana and later Fergie, and how the Queen dealt with them. Queen Elizabeth tried to help Di, often in opposition to other members of the royal family (the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, etc.). Unfortunately, Ms. Seward often uses quotes without giving their source. Bibliography and index but no footnotes or endnotes.

3 stars

We are downsizing since we're about to move into a retirement community on very short notice. I just finished reading a very short book, Patsy Cline: Singing Girl from the Shenandoah Valley by Stuart E. Brown and Lorraine F. Myers. I'm planning to give this book to a friend of mine whose father is mentioned in it. Although short, this book was an unpleasant read since the text is so poorly written. I learned more about Patsy Cline through the movie "Coal Miners Daughter" which I saw many years ago and through a couple of musical programs about Patsy Cline than through this book. Primarily a book of pictures.

I'm counting this for the BingoDOG square, Title has a Musical Reference, but hope to replace it with Willa Cather's Song of the Lark by the end of the year.

1 star

Good luck with preparing for the move! While entirely difficult and labor-intensive, it is satisfying to pare down and keep only what is needful or important. Don't overdo it! You'll be finding things to get rid of as you unpack in the new place. I thought I'd been ruthless in preparing for my move and there have still been a few trips to the donation center and extra full trash cans as I unpack.

And I'm impressed with your reading. I've spent the year working on reading more widely and diversely and you are far out-pacing me.

>131 RidgewayGirl: Thanks, Kay. Fortunately, we will have some time to work on the decluttering. Although we expect to move the first week of November, we will not be putting our house on the market until very early January. We want to have some maintenance done on it before trying to sell it. Therefore, we can leave things that don't fit into the cottage in our house for a while. Also, we have already rented a controlled climate storage where we have taken some of our stuff. I have a fairly large doll collection, most of which I want to get rid of and the market for dolls is very bad now. One of the companies we are thinking of hiring helps with decluttering in addition to doing the moving. We expect to get an estimate from them by early next week.

I find that I'm reading a lot of shorter books now. With so much to read, I prefer reading more widely, and generally not spending a lot of time on long books. Also, most of my OLLI courses are literature seminars for which we read short stories or poetry.

(OLLI, or Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, is a nationwide program of adult education, primarily for seniors (i.e. retired people) which is sponsored locally at many universities.)

>126 sallylou61: This book sounds interesting! I love the Gone with the Wind movie and I've rewatched it many times.

I have not reported much reading in the past week. John and I have been withdrawing as many books as possible prior to our move in less than two weeks. We had to donate them to the local library by yesterday for the upcoming book sale. (Otherwise, we would have needed to keep them until after our move since donations are not accepted around the time of the sale).
I withdrew nearly 120 books -- which includes approximately 20 cat books which we both owned. Some of these were not very substantial -- they had been gifts to us or each other at various time.

I know have more withdrawn books than books in my library in LT. Early on I deleted the withdrawn books, but now I keep them in the database to avoid buying dups.

John withdrew more books than I did, but very few of his books are in his LT collection.

My reading consisted of entries for 17 selected years from My Century by Gunter Grass for our last 20th century German lit class. That book contains a short piece concerning some event, usually relating to Germany but sometimes having an impact on the wider world, for each year in the 20th century. `

I've read Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, translated by Mark Musa for my Pirandello class tomorrow. Last week we discussed Pirandello's short short story "A Character's Tragedy" from which Pirandello developed the play. I find this seminar challenging.

I have just finished reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates for a bookclub meeting tomorrow evening. This is a powerful account of the author's life and fears which he tells his teenage son; it is a story of black life, especially black male life, in America. Part of it is an account of American history from a black viewpoint. The tone of the book changes when the author is discussing different aspects of his life.

4.5 stars

For the November DeweyCAT I just finished reading Why History Matters by Gerda Lerner (901). This is a collection of essays Dr. Lerner wrote from 1980 until the booki's publication in 1997; it continues her The Majority Finds its Past: Placing Women in History which I read in the early 1980s when I studied Dr. Lerner in a graduate level historiography class. Dr. Lerner divided Why History Matters into 3 sections: History as Memory, History: Theory and Practice, and Re-visioning History. I found the first section particularly fascinating because Dr. Lerner discusses her own experiences in a historical framework. She was an Austrian Jew who managed to escape Austria after the coming of the Nazis and immigrated to the United States. She describes her difficulties including adapting to the U.S. when she knew very little English and her feeling as an Other (an outsider) for many years thereafter. The middle section is a bit dated; one of its chapters is titled "Looking toward the Year 2000." However, that chapter is very apropos today; her description of the kind of leader needed is the very opposite of Trump.

4.5 stars

I've finished reading Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, one of my assignments for our Jefferson Madison Regional Library's Books Sandwiched in Committee. Each committee member reads at least two nonfiction books; we then discuss our books and decide which ones should be reviewed at our monthly programs. Hillbilly Elegy would not be my first choice for a book reviewed although it contains some interesting information about the culture of Appalachian hillbillies and explains why poor working whites are disenchanted with the Democratic Party and voting Republican. The book chronicles J.D. Vance's experiences of growing up in a poor dysfunctional hillbilly family, and its continuing effects on him as a college and law school graduate. The weakest part is his trying to suggest how this society could be changed.

4 stars

My second assigned book for Books Sandwiched in Committee (>138 sallylou61:) is First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower. Prior to reading it, I had suggested this book as a possibility, especially since most of our audience are elderly women who would have lived through the time these women (Jacqueline Kennedy through Michelle Obama) were first ladies. However, I am planning on not recommending the book. Although it contains some interesting information, I do not like the arrangement which is topical: political wife, sisterhood of 1600 {Pennsylvania Avenue}, motherhood, good wife, bad blood, etc. Some of the same points are made in different chapters; moreover, some of the stories do not really fit into the chapter in which they are told. Also, a lot of people are quoted, but the sources of the quotations are not given. The sources and notes at the end of the book give long lists of people interviewed and bibliographic sources for each chapter without saying where any specific piece of information is from.

This also qualifies as the DeweyCAT December read, which I finished a day early.

3.5 stars

Your committee sounds really interesting.

>140 RidgewayGirl: I would not want to have the branch head librarian, who is the chairwoman of the committee, as a supervisor. She does not give us enough notice about scheduling of the few meetings we have each year. However, I enjoy the reading and discussing which books to choose for the programs.

I just finished reading John Steinbeck's The Moon is Down, a short Allied propaganda novel about the Nazi occupation of an unnamed country. It describes the psychology and actions (way of life) of both the people in the occupied territory and of the military oppressors. The Moon is Down was "easily the most popular work of propaganda in occupied West Europe" (Introduction, p. xiii). This book fits the topic of the December GeoCAT (Western Europe) in addition to being the reading for my book club which meets next week.

4 stars

After two months of not finishing my last two squares for the Woman BingoPUP, I have finally finished the next to last one: Women in Combat. I read Danger Close : My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan by Amber Smith. I found this a particularly hard square because I'm opposed to war. I read Danger Close since I've read several books about women pilots this year. Ms. Smith describes in detail her experiences as a female combat pilot. In addition to flying many very difficult missions, she faced discrimination as a woman; she had to prove to many male pilots that she was a capable professional. When a male pilot hit her parked helicopter, she was blamed for the accident by the officials doing the investigation even though other pilots said she was not a fault.
This is an interesting account although Ms. Smith uses a lot of military jargon. Many but not all of the acronyms are given in the glossary.

This book also fits the DeweyCAT challenge since its call number is 956.7044.

3.5 stars

Although I am definitely not a fan of comic books, in an attempt to complete the BingoDOG card, today I read March, Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell for the graphic novel square. I read this volume, the final volume of a set describing John Lewis' experiences in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, since it was available in the branch of the pubic library which I use. Although this is John Lewis' story, he describes the efforts and views of the leaders of the 1960s movement. He shows that the Negro leaders (using the term used at that time) had differing viewpoints on the best way to achieve change, and that there were struggles among the organizations such as SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in which Lewis was heavily involved) and the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.). These two organizations were more frequently mentioned in the book than other organizations, partly because they were both working in the South and conflicted there. John Lewis was a member of both. Mr. Lewis also describes the roles of various other people including a few women in the struggle. Book Three covers the fall of 1963 through the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

I have heard Congressmen John Lewis speak, and found him an impressive speaker and a person who has accomplished a lot through unbelievable hardship (numerous beatings, jailings, etc.)

Did you read Books One and Two? I've read both of those and have ordered Book Three from my library.

> No, I have not read the earlier books in the series. This is probably the first graphic novel I have ever read since I never really liked comic strips, and I borrowed the only volume of March which was available in the branch library closest to where I live.

I'm much more likely to read Lewis' autobiography, Walking with the Wind than the earlier volumes of March.

For the final square of the BingoDOG, about/by an indigenous person, I read Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids (edited by) Deborah Ellis. This was an interesting book; Ms. Ellis interviewed numerous indigenous children and teenagers and told the stories of 45 of them. Since so many people are portrayed, only four or five pages were devoted to each. I would have preferred reading about fewer people but more indepth about them. The book shows that there are many, many different indigenous groups in Canada and the United States, and that different groups are different. However, they battle some of the same problems such as racism and poverty.

3.5 stars

I have just finished reading Fair Game: How a Top CIA Agent was Betrayed by Her Own Government by Valerie Plame Wilson for the "about a spy" Woman BingoPUP square. With this reading, I'm considering that I have finished by 2016 category challenge. I've read at least one book each month for the DeweyCAT challenge, and completed both Bingo cards without any duplication between the cards. I've also read all my assigned adult education course readings, and read various other books. However, I'm still planning to do some more reading.

Fair Game is a memoir by the female CIA spy whose cover was blown during the George W. Bush administration to punish her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson.

CIA employees and former employees must submit manuscripts for any books they write to the CIA prior to publication. Ms. Wilson did this, and the CIA made numerous redactions (cuts) from the material. Ms. Wilson and her publisher had to fight to get the book published. Supposedly only classified information was cut; however, many of the cuts included personal info was was in the public domain. This book contains numerous grey lines, sometimes whole pages, were info was cut. Ms. Wilson's account is followed by approximately 80 pages of text by journalist Laura Rosen filling in the account from interviews and public sources.

Ms. Wilson's account of her experiences following her betrayal, and trying to get the record set straight is particularly interesting and tells a lot about spying. It also emphasizes the importance of having a nonpartisan CIA. The book includes brief info about the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby who was found guilty on four of the five charges against him concerning his blowing Ms. Wilson's cover.

4 stars

For a quick Christmas read, I read Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber. It was a fun read, but pretty predictable.

3.5 stars.

Merry Christmas, Alison. May books feature prominently. And family, love, food, togetherness and fun. But mainly books.

My husband and I are taking another cruise over the holidays this year. I've been borrowing books from the cruise ship's very poor library. Yesterday I finished reading Fire in a canebrake by Laur a Wexler about a lynching of four black people in rural Georgia in 1946. It was a crime which was never solved. Now I'm reading Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. I'm not able to comment extensively on my reading because of the slow internet connection (We paid for a certain number of minutes) and needing to do the inputting on an I-tablet.

We're enjoying our trip.