brewergirl's ROOT list for 2017

Also see my 75 Book Challenge thread.

January ... 4 books ... see message 11
February ... 2 books ... see message 14
March ... 2 books ... see message 21
April ... 1 book ... see message 25
May ... 2 books ... see message 26
June ... 0 books ... see message 29
July ... 1 book ... see message 31
August ... 4 books ... see message 32
September ... 1 book ... see message 34
October ... 6 books ... see message 35
November ... 4 books ... see message 38
December ... 3 books ... see message 40

Good luck ROOTing this year 😊

Enjoy!

Welcome back and good luck!

Good luck with your ROOTing.

Have fun ROOTing!

Welcome back & Happy 2017 ROOTing!

Happy New Year and good luck with your 2017 ROOTs!

Welcome back and Happy ROOTing, Martha.

Good luck with your rooting!

January progress

#1: Villette by Charlotte Bronte ... Got this through SantaThing a couple of years ago and finally read it. Very good. But several times she puts some dialogue in French. My French is almost non-existent so I had to refer to Google Translate several times.

#2: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren ... A charming memoir covering science, plants, and life in general.

#3: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick ... Read this because I was interested in the TV series. I'm not sure what to think.

#4: Bird Box by Josh Malerman ... Heard about this on a podcast. Very creepy story about living in a world where you have to keep your eyes closed outside. Because one glimpse of "something" drives people insane.

>11 brewergirl: I read Villette last year and really enjoyed it. I do speak enough French to understand it, but I get your frustration. It seems like some novelists from that time expect you to know every European language and Latin, and mix in any language they choose...

>11 brewergirl: I haven't read Villette in ages, but remember very much enjoying it (more than any of the other Brontes I read) - but it certainly can be frustrating to have to puzzle out other languages in the middle of reading.

I remember reading one of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries - Gaudy Night - and there's this very intense emotional and romantic scene, but the characters started speaking Latin and I was just completely lost...

February progress

#5: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver ... I had tried to read this book a couple of times before but just could not get into it (despite it's being highly recommended by my sister). I tried this time on audio, and that got me past whatever stumbling block I had. It was much better than I remember it. But it is now setting me off on a tangent of the history of the Congo. (Time to read King Leopold's Ghost which has been on my shelf for a while ... and maybe revisit The Scramble for Africa.)

#6: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood ... This is another one I have been meaning to read for years, and I decided it was time.

>14 brewergirl: That's good to know about the Kingsolver book, Martha! It's on my shelves too somewhere.

>14 brewergirl: The Poisonwood Bible is also on my TBR pile but I haven't read it. My sister gave it to me, it was an Oprah Book of the Month. Whenever I know a book has been on there, I run away fast screaming! But I may try it.........

>16 Tess_W: I had an Oprah period! I bought every book she recommended and that was translated.

>14 brewergirl: >16 Tess_W: It's on my TBR pile too. I bought it years ago when my old RL book club was reading it, but life got in the way so I ended up not participating that month, and it's still sitting there unread. I've only read one other Kingsolver book (Pigs in Heaven) which I remember enjoying at the time, although I couldn't tell you a single thing about it now!

>14 brewergirl: I loved The Poisonwood Bible - I'm currently reading Heart of Darkness but will add King Leopold's Ghost and The Scramble for Africa to my wishlist - thanks for highlighting them. I can see my ROOTS suffering as I'm heading off on various tangents already....

>19 floremolla: That's the problem with this group - it's so enabling!! I found the only way to keep up with the tangents and BBs (book bullets) was to add them to my wishlist, rather than to keep buying.

March progress

#7: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki ... I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I really like the story line of Nao, a young Japanese girl, told through her diary ... but I was less taken with the story line of Ruth, a writer who found the diary.

#8: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi ... Very interesting stories of 2 women, born to the same mother but not knowing each other, and their descendants. One sister was married to a white British slaver trader and one was raped by a white British solder. The first sister remains in Africa, and the second sister is transported to America as a slave. Each chapter focuses on a different person, down through the generations.

>21 brewergirl: I felt the same way about Ozeki's book, I think. I enjoyed both stories, but I was definitely more taken w/ Nao's story :)

Homegoing is on one of my ever-growing read-really-soon piles... glad to hear you thought it was interesting!

Hi Martha, I'm trying to catch up on threads after being away for a few weeks. So just stopping by to see what you were reading.

>21 brewergirl: I loved the Ozeki book.

>21 brewergirl: Both books sound wonderful and onto my wishlist they go!

April progress

#9: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs ... It was nice to read this finally after seeing several film adaptations.

May progress

#10: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery ... I would have sworn that I'd read this before but apparently not. I wasn't taken with it. Maybe it's different if you read it as a young person.

#11: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell ... Another great quirky history.

>26 brewergirl: I felt the same way about Anne of Green Gables.....didn't read it till I was 60 and meh!

>26 brewergirl: I read AoGG this month too. I kind of know what you mean - it took me ages to get into it, and I put it down midway through for 3 or 4 weeks. But when I picked it up again I did get into it, despite being a crusty old cynic, and it being entirely predictable what was going to happen! I suspect you're right that it would have been a lot more meaningful and I'd have got more out of it if I'd read it as a youngster (I'm in my 40s), and I'll probably encourage my daughter to read it when she's 11-12ish. I think I will read the others in the series, but will wait until Mt TBR is a bit more manageable before getting them from Project Gutenberg.

June progress

None :(

>29 brewergirl: Oops, June is no finished yet!

July progress

#12: Red Right Hand by Chris Holm ... Heard him speak at Boston Book Festival -- plus he is local to Portland, Maine. Good thriller -- second in a trilogy.

August progress

#13: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins ... Had this on my electronic shelf for a long time and finally got around to it. It wasn't as good as I was expecting from all the hype, but it was a good read.

#14: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley ... This appeared on my shelf a few years ago but I don't recall buying it. It was a charming mystery set in an English village with a quirky family. I enjoyed it and will probably look for the other books in the series.

#15: End of Watch by Stephen King ... I finally got around to reading the 3rd book in the series (after Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers). Good as always!

#16: Little Children by Tom Perrotta ... Well written but depressing look at everyday life among a circle of friends/neighbors.

Nice progress, Martha!

September progress

#17: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn ... I've actually been reading this on and off for the last year, dipping in during quiet moments.

October progress

#18: Widowmaker by Paul Doiron ... Another great read in the Mike Bowditch series, about a Maine Game Warden.

#19: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin ... Cute read about a widower who finds a child abandoned in his book shop.

#20: Mislaid by Nell Zink ... Not sure about this one. An odd story about a lesbian who marries a gay man, and they have 2 children together. I was interested in the characters, but I didn't find it as funny and enjoyable as some reviewers I read/heard.

#21: Eleven Pipers Piping by C.C. Benison ... A cute cozy mystery set in an English village -- featuring local vicar Tom Christmas -- yes, Father Christmas. Part of a series - this is the second one I've read.

#22: Dog On It by Spencer Quinn ... Another cute mystery, this one featuring a dog named Chet. It is part of a series but it's the first one I've read.

#23: American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good by Colin Woodard ... A great follow up to his earlier book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

>35 brewergirl: Great month!

>35 brewergirl: Just seven books to go!

November progress

#24: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill ...

#25: The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood ...

#26: The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan ...

#27: The Good Neighbor by A.J. Banner ...

You are getting close!

December progress

#28: Bricking It by Nick Spalding ...

#29: Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson ...

#30: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie ...

Congrats!

You made it! Congrats!

Congratulations on meeting your goal!