Amber's (scaifea) 2018 Category Challenge #2

Hi, everyone!

I'm Amber, and I've been thinking about joining this group for a long while, because I think it will suit my reading style really well since my reading choices are governed almost exclusively by lists. Plus, I've heard great things about this group and the folks who inhabit it. I don't know that I'll set any particular goal for my categories, but instead just list the books I read in each one and see how many I get through in a year.

I love the idea of an overall theme for the categories, and many of you have such great ones! I had a hard time coming up with one, so forgive me if it's kind of silly: I've decided to make a Mixed Tape for my categories, using only songs that can be found in my iTunes account. I'll try to give a little explanation for my choices if I think they need it, along with my description of the category itself.

Okay, so, um, thanks for having me (as if you had a choice - ha!)! I'm pretty excited about the challenge and being a part of a new group!

Currently Reading:

-Crime and Punishment (CAT#19: Book-A-Year Challenge)
-Viking's Dawn (CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up)
-(waiting for my friend to catch up to me) (CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners)
-Carpe Jugulum (CAT#21: Discworld read)
-Eugenie Grandet (CAT#24: Audiobooks)
-The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (CAT#22: Charlie's Bedtime Books)

ETA:

Adding CAT, KIT, & DOG lists here:

BingoDOG:



1. Famous person in title: Lincoln in the Bardo
2. Published more than 100 years ago: War and Peace
3. Originally in a different language: The Housekeeper and the Professor
4. New-to-you author: We Are Okay
5. Relative name in the title (aunt, niece, etc...): Hogfather
6. Money in the title - any form of currency, type of payment, etc...: A Kid for Two Farthings
7. Book published in 2018: Opal
8. X somewhere in the title: Light Boxes
9. Fat book - 500 plus pages: Andersonville
10. Book set during a holiday: Greenglass House
11. LGBT central character: Postcards from No Man's Land
12. Book on the 1001 list: Ivanhoe
13. Read a CAT (middle square): Ribsy
14. Number in the title: 84 Charing Cross Road
15. Book that is humorous: Enormously Foxtrot
16. Book bought in 2017 that hasn’t been read yet: Cinderella, Necromancer
17. Title contains something you would see in the sky: Witches Abroad
18. Related to the Pacific Ocean: In a Sunburned Country
19. Book that fits at least 2 KIT’s/CAT’s: Essential Teachings
20. Book with a beautiful cover (in your opinion): Charming Billy
21. Autobiography/memoir: Almost Interesting
22. Poetry or plays: Bright Moon, White Clouds
23. A long-time TBR/TBR the longest: The Smartest Kids in the World
24. Story involves travel: The Year of the Quiet Sun
25. Rank in the title: The Worst President

ColorCAT:
January/Black: Einstein's Dreams
February/Brown: Andersonville
March/Green: Essential Teachings
April/Yellow: The Final Solution
May/Blue: The Antelope Wife
June/Purple: Bite Me: A Love Story
July/Pink: The Housekeeper and the Professor
August/Grey: The Shipping News
September/Metallic: The Magic Misfits
October/Orange: Perdido Street Station
November/Red: Hogfather
December/White: The Fry Chronicles

RandomCAT:
January: - Theme: Ack! I've Been Hit - The Ever Dangerous Book Bullets: Lincoln in the Bardo
February: - Theme: Laissez les bons temps roulez: Kneeknock Rise
March: - Theme: Ripped from the Headlines: On Tyranny
April: - Theme: April Loves Books: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
May: - Theme: Spring Is All Around (Flowers on the Cover): Unraveled
June: - Theme: Unusual Narrator: Bunnicula
July: - Theme: Outside Your Comfort Zone: Charming Billy
August: - Theme: Let's Go to the Mountains: Cast On, Kill Off
September: - Theme: Happy Birthday: Red Sails to Capri (Weil's birthday is in August, as is mine)
October: - Theme: Playing Cards: Wild
November: - Theme: It's All about Money: Close Knit Killer
December: - Theme: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

AlphaKIT:
Yearlong Letters: X and Z: Zlateh the Goat & Sky Burial (by Xinran)
January: - Letters: V and M: Greenglass House (by Kate Milford) & A Solitary Blue (by Cynthia Voigt)
February: - Letters: P and J: The Planet of Junior Brown & Light Boxes (by Shane Jones)
March: - Letters: F and I: Stephen Fry's Incomplete & Utter History of Classical Music & The Illustrated Man
April: - Letters: Y and U: The Sound of Waves (by Yukio Mishima) & Uprooted
May: - Letters: Q and K: The Snow Queen & Orphan Train (by Christina Kline)
June: - Letters: G and R: Trigger Warning (by Neil Gaiman) & Doc (by Mary Doria Russell)
July: - Letters: S and A: Sacre Bleu & All the Light We Cannot See
August: - Letters: O and D: Cast On, Kill Off & Boy (by Roald Dahl)
September: - Letters: B and E: Bright Moon, White Clouds & Ethics for the New Millennium
October: - Letters: N and L: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe & You're Never Weird on the Internet
November: - Letters: T and H: Hogfather (by Terry Pratchett)
December: - Letters: C and W: The Fry Chronicles & We Have Always Lived in the Castle

SFFKIT:
January: Read an SFF you meant to read in 2017, but never started/completed: Witches Abroad
February: Urban Fantasy: Our Lady of Darkness
March: Off World: Gateway
April: Time Travel: Soul Music
May: Rise Up!: The Amulet of Samarkand
June: Series: Just One Damned Thing After Another
July: Cyber/Techno Punk: Software
August: Makes You Laugh: Maskerade
September: Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales: The Sleeper and the Spindle
October: Historical/Alt-Historical: The Lost Books of the Odyssey
November: Creatures: Hogfather
December: How It Ends: Station Eleven

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett



1. 100 Banned Books
This list comes from 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature.

1. Andersonville

Thursday's Child - David Bowie



2. Newbery Honor Books
I'm officially (sort of) a Newbery Nut - I've read all of the Newbery Medal winners, and now I'm working through the Honor books. I started this project, oh, gosh, 10 years ago, when I was pregnant with my son, and I've loved working through these kids' books. There are some stinkers, but I've also met up with some pretty amazing books along the way, too, many that I really wish I'd read when I was little!

1. A Solitary Blue
2. Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories
3. Like Jake and Me
4. Kneeknock Rise
5. The Planet of Junior Brown
6. The Headless Cupid
7. Long Way Down
8. Piecing Me Together
9. The Apprentice of Florence
10. Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe
11. Honk the Moose
12. The Hundred Penny Box
13. Dragonwings
14. 26 Fairmount Avenue
15. All Sail Set
16. Whittington
17. Everything on a Waffle
18. Whistler's Van
19. The Golden Basket
20. Catherine, Called Birdy
21. The Watsons Go to Birmingham
22. Joey Pigza Loses Control
23. Pictures of Hollis Woods
24. Carver: A Life in Poems
25. An American Plague
26. Surviving the Applewhites
27. Al Capone Does My Shirts
28. Show Way
29. Hitler Youth
30. After Tupac & D Foster
31. One Crazy Summer
32. The Wednesday Wars
33. Savvy
34. Splendors and Glooms
35. The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo
36. Phebe Fairchild
37. Red Sails to Capri
38. The Runaway Papoose
39. New Land
40. Mountains Are Free
41. Queer Person
42. Winterbound
43. Pecos Bill
44. The Codfish Musket
45. Bright Island
46. Nino
47. "Hello, the Boat!"
48. Nansen

Lullaby in Rhythm - Dave Brubeck Quartet



3. 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
List from the book of the same name. I've been working on this one for as long as the Newbery project has been going on. I'm getting there.

1. Postcards from No Man's Land
2. Brendon Chase
3. The School for Cats
4. The Wind Singer
5. Troy
6. Finn Family Moomintroll
7. Across the Nightingale Floor
8. Mister Monday
9. A Kid for Two Farthings
10. Private Peaceful
11. Hobberdy Dick
12. Keeper
13. Minnow on the Say
14. The Amulet of Samarkand
15. The Horse without a Head
16. The New Policeman
17. Warrior Scarlet
18. The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It
19. Me, the Missing, and the Dead
20. Foundling
21. Winter's End
22. Come Hither
23. The Story of the Treasure Seekers
24. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin
25. Stig of the Dump
26. Just William
27. The Little Grey Rabbit Treasury
28. Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain
29. All about Doggie and Pussycat
30. Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf
31. The Wonderful Farm
32. Italian Folktales
33. Old Mrs. Pepperpot

Magic - The Cars



4. 1001 Fantasy Books You Must Read Before You Turn Into a Newt
This one comes from the list curated in The Green Dragon group a few years ago and captained by Morphidae.

1. The Gods of Pegana

The Authority Song - John Mellencamp



5. The Presidential Challenge
There's an LT group somewhere around here for people reading biographies of all the U.S. presidents. I'm so far behind the group that I haven't really visited over there in a long time, but I'm still plugging along with the challenge.
As for the song choice, well, I was born and raised in Indiana, so John had to show up here at some point...

1. The Worst President: The Story of James Buchanan

Atom Bomb - Fluke



6. Hugo, Nebula, and other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
My best friend and I are working through a *very* long list of sci-fi and fantasy award winners. He's the Keeper of Keys and Grounds with this one, so I couldn't even tell you all of the different awards he's included. I just know that it's LONG.
I chose Atom Bomb because, well, it seems sci-fi-ish, and also it's super catchy.

1. The Year of the Quiet Sun (Campbell Award)
2. Our Lady of Darkness (World Fantasy Award)
3. Somewhere in Time (World Fantasy Award)
4. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (Hugo & Locus Science Fiction Awards)
5. Gateway (Nebula, Hugo, Locus SF & Campbell awards)
6. The Jonah Kit (BSFA Award)
7. The Snow Queen (Hugo & Locus SF Awards)
8. The Antelope Wife (World Fantasy Award)
9. Software (PKD Award)
10. The Alteration (Campbell Award)
11. Dreamsnake (Nebula Award)
12. Perdido Street Station (Clarke Award)
13. The Fountains of Paradise (Nebula Award)

Passage to Bangkok - Rush



7. Agatha Christie - All The Books!
I started this challenge *years* ago (she has more than a few, dontchaknow). I *love* her stuff.
About the song selection: Well, yeah, I know. It's the Thailand Express, not the Orient one, but, Rush has been my jam since high school and had to make the list somewhere.

Language - Suzanne Vega



8. Stephen Fry - All The Books!
I love Stephen Fry with a love that burns brighter than a thousand suns. I mean, JEEVES, folks. And his stuff makes me feel so very not very intelligent at times, but he has a fabulous way with language, and I just love him so much.

1. Stephen Fry's Incomplete & Utter History of Classical Music
2. Revenge
3. The Fry Chronicles

Sunny Side of the Street - The Pogues



9. John Boyne - All The Books!
Boyne is one of my favorites, so I need to Read. It. All.
Musical selection is because, well, he's Irish, and also because his work is beautiful but generally not considered to be demonstrably, um, sunny.

Tea in the Sahara -The Police



10. Neil Gaiman - Also All The Things!
I started reading Sandman in college, as it came out each month, and just fell in love with Gaiman's sense of storytelling and his own love for mythology. So, all the things.
Song: More association than anything else for this one; at the time that I was reading Sandman in college, I was also going through an I Only Listen to The Police and Tori Amos and Also NIN phase. So, yeah.

1. Trigger Warning
2. The Sleeper and the Spindle

Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants



11. Christopher Moore - One More All The Things!
Funniest stuff on paper. Love him.
Music: TMBG seemed like a suitably whimsical match with Moore.

1. Bite Me: A Love Story
2. Sacre Bleu

Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra



12. National Endowment for the Arts Timeless Classics
This may well be the first book list I ever acquired. I don't remember where it came from, but I know that I got it at some point in high school, in the form of a tri-fold pamphlet. I didn't start working through it, though, until around the same time as I started the Newbery winners and the 1001 Children's Books list.
Music: It doesn't get much more timeless or classic than Frank.

1. The Illustrated Man

Top of the World - The Carpenters



13. National Book Award for Fiction
This one seems clear on its own, I guess.
Musical choice: I would think that, were I to win the National Book Award, I may feel thus geographically inclined.

1. The World According to Garp
2. Charming Billy
3. The Shipping News

You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You - Dean Martin



14. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Another awards list.
Music: You're nobody til somebody gives you a Pulitzer.

1. All the Light We Cannot See
2. The Shipping News

Hotel California - The Eagles



15. Unread Books from my Shelves
I have books on my shelves that have been there, unread, for YEARS. I need to work on that.
Musical selection: My bookshelves are a bit like the Hotel California; books can check in, but some of them probably feel like they'll never be read.

1. Einstein's Dreams
2. House of Leaves

Sabotage - The Beastie Boys



16. Books from my Read Soon! Shelves
I have a couple of shelves full of books that I really want to get to soon.
Song: I feel like all those other unread books on my regular shelves probably feel thrown under the bus by this group of books.

1. The Smartest Kids in the World
2. Wishtree
3. Light Boxes
4. On Tyranny
5. The Final Solution
6. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
7. The Sound of Waves
8. Uprooted
9. Orphan Train
10. Doc
11. Bunnicula
12. Just One Damned Thing After Another
13. The Housekeeper and the Professor
14. Boy
15. Bright Moon, White Clouds
16. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
17. The Lost Books of the Odyssey
18. Wild
19. Honeyvoiced
20. Sky Burial
21. In a Sunburned Country
22. Cinderella, Necromancer
23. We Have Always Lived in the Castle
24. Station Eleven

Happy - Pharrell Williams



17. H. H. the 14th Dalai Lama - okay, one more All The Books
I'm a secular Buddhist, although there are days during which I'm not great at it. I'm working on getting through this bibliography, and learning tons along the way.

1. Essential Teachings
2. Ethics for the New Millennium

Red Balloon - Charli XCX



18. Books on Buddhism
I've put together a list of recommended books on buddhism from various sources. Working on that being a good buddhist thing.
Song choice: This one's about being happy, too.

1. The Art of Power
2. Siddhartha

Pretty Good Year - Tori Amos



19. Book-A-Year Challenge
A couple of years ago, I made a list of books by year, just to see both how far back my reading goes and where/when there are gaps. I'm now working on filling in the gaps, so that I'll have read a book from every year for as far back I can go.

Fever - Peggy Lee



20. Shakespeare
I'm doing a full-on reread.
Music selection: I had trouble with this one, so apologies. There *is* a link, though, sort of.

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Öyster Cult



21. Discworld
I'm working my way through the series.
Song Selection: Death is, so far, my favorite character.

1. Witches Abroad
2. Small Gods
3. Lords and Ladies
4. Men at Arms
5. Soul Music
6. Interesting Times
7. Maskerade
8. Feet of Clay
9. Hogfather
10. Jingo
11. The Last Continent

22. Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
I'll list here the books my 9-year-old and I read out loud at night.
Music: Charlie saw me making up this thread, and when I explained what I was doing, he wanted to pick his own song for this category. Seemed fair enough to me. Prince is one of his favorites.

1. Ribsy
2. Upside-Down Magic
3. Dog Man and Cat Kid
4. Beezus and Ramona
5. Ben and Me
6. Just Add Magic
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
8. The Terrible Two
9. Camp Foxtrot
10. I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake
11. Greenglass House
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
13. Wishtree
14. Over Sea, Under Stone
15. The House with a Clock in Its Walls
16. The Children of Green Knowe
17. The Figure in the Shadows
18. Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning

I'll Fly Away - Alison Krauss



23. Books I Read with My Mom
My mom and I have a few series that we're reading together. She likes cozy mysteries, so we're working through Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, Jenn McKinlay's Library Mystery series, and Maggie Sefton's Yarn Shop Mystery series.
Song: Since Charlie chose his own song, I thought I'd give Mom one of her favorites, too.

1. Unraveled
2. Cast On, Kill Off
3. Close Knit Killer

The Things We Said Today - The Beatles



24. Audiobooks

1. Lincoln in the Bardo
2. The World According to Garp
3. The Art of Power
4. Ivanhoe
5. The Fall of the House of Usher
6. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
7. The City of Ember
8. A Boy Called Christmas
9. Starry River of the Sky
10. Almost Interesting
11. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
12. The Wizards of Once
13. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
14. Talking as Fast as I Can
15. The Trials of Morrigan Crow
16. Hard Times
17. Remembrance of Things Past
18. The Maltese Falcon
19. Thank You, Jeeves
20. Bob
21. Casanova
22. Sherlock Holmes' Rediscovered Railway Mysteries
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God
24. The Big Sleep
25. I, Robot
26. The Killer Inside Me
27. The Story of the Treasure Seekers
28. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin
29. Stig of the Dump
30. Just William
31. The Talented Mr. Ripley
32. Casanova: The Venetian Years
33. The Woman in Black
34. Tom Jones
35. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
36. You're Never Weird on the Internet
37. Becoming
38. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Happy second thread, Amber. As always a great variety of books!

>26 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy!

Happy new thread! Got the Shakespeare reference ;)

Also *sighs* at those cute young Beatles!

Happy new thread!

>28 rabbitprincess: Ha! Excellent!

And yes, weren't they *adorable*?!

>29 -Eva-: Thanks, Eva!

Happy new thread, Amber!

>31 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

Happy new thread, Amber. I am so impressed with the look of your Bingo card, almost full!

>33 MissWatson: Thanks! I know, right? I'm pretty excited to get a bingo soon!

Howdy Amber!

>35 luvamystery65: Hi, Roberta!

61. Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music
CAT#8: Stephen Fry: All the Books!
March alphaKIT:F
Stephen Fry walks his reader through classical music, from a cave painting in France to John Williams' Harry Potter score.
I really appreciated this one for the timeline aspect; I've never been good at remembering who came when in this field, and generally I just assume that Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff et al. were all kicking around in the 1750s (DON'T JUDGE ME!). So, yeah, this was a good read for me. My only tiny little quibble - because I love Stephen Fry with all my heart and in general think that he can do no wrong - is that I can't quite figure out how to handle the tone. It's flippant and jokey all the way through and after about 1/3 of the book that started to wear a bit and I felt bad that it was starting to wear a bit because, again, I love Stephen Fry. So much. I suspect that it would be easier to take in an audio version, especially, of course, if Fry read it himself.

>37 scaifea:
Doesn't seem as if there is an audio version of it (yet at least). That's a shame.

>38 -Eva-: And surprising, to be honest, because it seems to beg for one. Weird.

>37 scaifea: I would totally listen to an audio version, but I will add the print one to my TBR list in the meantime. :)

>40 rabbitprincess: I am really surprised that he's not done an audio version. But yeah, the print version is still worth it.

62. Gateway
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
March SFFKIT: Off World
By means of alternating chapters, this sci-fi award winner follows Robinette Broadhead through a series of psychiatric sessions with a computer-simulated therapist and also through a recounting of his time serving on Gateway. The Gateway is a giant-corporation-owned portal to unknown areas of the universe, the discovered relic used by the mysterious HeeChee, an alien race long gone and little known. Working on Gateway means risking one's life to board ships going who knows where and into unseen dangers with the possible outcome of earning one's fortune, if you manage to discover something the corporation decides is worthwhile. In Broadhead's case, he's risked both is life and his sanity and come back with both very nearly intact.

I haven't completely decided how I feel about this one. The Gateway itself and the story behind it is imaginative and pretty cool, but Broadhead (and essentially all of the other characters, too) never really invokes my sympathies, and the ending was so abrupt and dissatisfying that it felt like reading a hastily slapped together conclusion to a mediocre student's essay. So, *sigh,* meh, I guess.

63. Hobberdy Dick
CAT #3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Hobberdy Dick is the hobgoblin who protects Widford Manor and has for countless years. The house has changed hands and no longer belongs to the original family, and Dick isn't too keen on the new owners. He does take a liking to the older son, though, and also a young maidservant, who, it so happens, is the only living relative to the original inhabitant and therefore the rightful heir to the riches buried in the old stable...

I started this one without high expectations, to be honest - I assumed it would be another children's book from the '50s that hasn't aged well - but I was very happily surprised. You can't help but love Dick and his well-meaning antics, and the young protagonists are very easy to root for. I also loved the keeping up of old traditions and beliefs, as lovingly told by the author as they are respected by the manor's working folk. Definitely recommended.

64. Honk the Moose
CAT #2: Newbery Honor Books
A funny little story about a moose who comes to stay in a town barn for the winter and is befriended by three young boys.
Short and sweet, but nothing spectacular.

65. The Hundred Penny Box
CAT #2: Newbery Honor Books
A glimpse into the relationship between a young boy and his great-great aunt, and the tense emotions that come when an older family member comes to live with her descendents.
I wanted to like this one more than I did. I appreciate the care with which the relationship between boy and aunt is crafted, but the story is too staid for me, and the ending is more frustrating than poetic.

>45 scaifea: As a single person, I know it will be my nieces and nephews taking care of me when I get old. Maybe I should read that one.

>46 thornton37814: Hm, maybe you shouldn't... Ha!

>43 scaifea: You got me with a book bullet for Hobberdy Dick -- sounds like a sweet old-fashioned read.

>48 christina_reads: Oh, yay! It's wonderful and I hope you love it as much as I did!

66. The Illustrated Man
CAT#12: National Endowment for the Arts Timeless Classics
March alphaKIT:I
A collection of short stories, all linked by the idea that they are each represented by one of the magical tattoos which cover the body of the eponymous man.

I'm a bit sad that I'm disappointed in this one. I had read The Veldt as a kid and really liked it, and in general I love Bradbury's stuff, but the rest of these stories were way too grim and unsettling for me.

67. Opal
bingoDOG #7: Published in 2018
A short story that fits into the Raven Cycle world.
Any opportunity to dip into this world is an absolute treat. One of my very favorite series in the history of ever, and this story is just as fabulous as all the rest.

And with that one, I have my first bingoDOG bingo! Woot!

Congrats on your BINGO!

>52 MissWatson: Thanks!!

>51 scaifea: Ooh, I liked the Raven Cycle a lot but didn't realize that short story existed!

68. You're Welcome, Universe
(no category - I read it because it won a Schneider Award this year)
A high school girl gets expelled from her School for the Deaf when she's caught for creating graffiti on the school gym wall. She struggles at her new school, with her new interpreter, and with her ex-best friend, with her potentially new best friend, at her job at McDonald's, and with herself as she tries to decide whether she should continue to risk it all for her graffiti art. And then someone starts calling her out by painting on top of her tags, and she nearly loses it all trying to figure out how to negotiate this art war and discover who this new enemy is.

It took me a little while to warm to Julia, but overall I liked this story. I can't speak to the way in which the struggles of a deaf girl in a 'normal' school are portrayed, but from my uninformed perspective, at least, it seems realistic and not overly played or too dramatic, and the mystery of the other graffiti artist is really well woven.

69. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
CAT#24: Audiobooks
A young English rogue (Monty), his best friend (Percy, with whom he is desperately in love), and his prickly, too-smart-for-a-young-lady sister (Felicity) set out for their tour of the continent, intent on having a riot of a good year away from strict and abusive fathers and as-yet-still secret ailments. But one disastrous trip to a royal French party, which sees Monty streaking through the crowd after being caught in flagrante delicto and after stealing what seems to be a harmless little puzzle box, and then a run-in with some apparent-but-not-really bandits, has them separated from their tutor, penniless and on the run. While trying to solve the mystery of the box and its importance, they all learn tons about each other and themselves of course, and learn alternately to battle and befriend pirates along with their own fears and demons.

The story of the puzzle box and the trouble it causes is okay, I suppose, but not fabulous. I was much more interested in the story of Monty (whom I didn't really care for at all until suddenly deciding that I did) and Percy (whom I adored from start to finish), which played out most satisfactorily and made me quite happy in the end.

70. Men at Arms
CAT#21: Discworld read
Captain Vimes of the Night Watch is just about to retire and get married, but not before he, Corporal Carrot, et al. (plus the new recruits representing the weird and under-represented of the city - a dwarf, a troll and a woman (who is also a werewolf)) stumble into a beast of an unsolved crime: theft, murder, assassins, and clowns, plus a Patrician who wants the coppers to keep out of it (maybe).

Just another zany day in Ankh-Morpork, just another zany Discworld novel.

71. The Wizards of Once
CAT#24: Audiobooks
In a long-ago England when the forests were still dark and dangerous and full of magic, the wizards were the Hatfields and the iron-wielding warriors were the McCoys. Zar is a wizard prince without magic; Wish is a warrior princess with a magical pet spoon. They stumble into each other in the forest, get tangled up with really evil and supposedly extinct witches, and all sorts of heck breaks loose.

A fun story with interesting characters, but the very best part is the narration by David Tennant. Fabulously funny and deliciously creepy in turn and where it counts; he could read the tax form instruction booklet and I'd be seduced into applying for a job with the IRS.

72. Just Add Magic
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
Three girls find a magic cookbook in the attic and start trying out recipes, only to discover that the Rule of Returns applies in a big way.
This is a case of the (Amazon) show being much better than the book, I'm afraid, and the show is quite a bit different, too. The girls in the book are borderline mean and only feel repentant, it seems, because they suffer consequences and not because they actually feel bad about any hurt they've caused. Plus, neither magic nor the backstory for the cookbook itself is nearly as interesting here.

73. Keeper
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
The South American goalkeeper who has just led his team in winning the World Cup tells his life story to the most famous South American sports writer in an exclusive interview, but Paul (the writer) gets so much more than he bargained for in El Gato's story, and the keeper has his own motives for telling all of his secrets.

I honestly didn't think I'd like this book, because I couldn't imagine enjoying any book about any kind of sport. But this one is about so much more than soccer. It combines a deep-set love of the game with a coming-of-age story wrapped in magical realism and with a healthy dose of environmental consciousness. In short, it's a winner.

74. The Final Solution
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
April colorCAT: yellow
Michael Chabon takes on Sherlock Holmes with this excellent mystery involving a young boy who doesn't speak, his stolen parrot (who whispers seemingly random numbers in German), the murder of one man who tried to steal it, and the search for the man who succeeded in the theft.

I love Doyle's Holmes stories with an enthusiastic and enduring adoration, and normally I won't touch remakes, as it were, of favorite stories or characters. But I also absolutely love Chabon, and I'm very glad that I made an exception for this little gem. Chabon's sketch of Holmes in his beekeeping old age is perfectly wonderful.

75. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
April randomCAT: April Loves Books! (published in April 2015)
Krakauer delves into the college town rape culture by recounting and dissecting two high profile court cases held during a four-year period of sexual assault scandal that deeply involved the Missoula football team.

Much of what this book discusses doesn't surprise me: the epidemic-level rate of sexual assault on a college campus; the doubt that comes in waves from police and, of course, rabid football fans; the hero cult and resulting culture of entitlement surrounding the football players; the "boys will be boys" attitude. It's all there, everywhere. What made me most nauseous as I read Krakauer's account of the trials was the actions and attitude of the Missoula County prosecutor, Kirsten Pabst, who oversaw all charges of rape, dismissing most of them as unwinnable, and then standing as a character witness (*reels from another wave of disgust and nausea*) for one of the football players at a campus trial for rape.

What I find at least slightly comforting, though, is Krakauer's admitting his former ignorance of just how prevalent sexual assault is in this country, and then deciding to try to do something to spread awareness. This book came out before the #MeToo movement started, but it's part of a trend that is, at least, encouraging in some respects. At any rate, it's an important read.



76. Dragonwings

A young boy from China is sent to live with his father in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, where they work in a laundry service, washing clothing and linens for the demons. Moon Shadow learns how to negotiate the dangers of walking the demon streets as an Asian, makes unlikely friends with an older woman and her niece, and helps his father follow his dream of learning to fly, Wright Brothers style.

I liked this one okay, but the story seemed a bit scattered and the characters not as fully sketched as I wanted them to be. Yep tries to work some magical realism into the story (the father believes that he is a dragon who is being punished by being reborn as a human), but it doesn't quite seem to mesh well enough with the main story of living in early 1900's San Francisco as an Asian and the difficulties that brings.



77. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
Not my absolute favorite of the HP books, but the ending still packs a pretty good wallop.

>75 MissWatson: I agree with you wholeheartedly on this! I think most people (except the rabid fans) would be horrified to learn what the players get away with. I saw the case load of a U of Miami player and laughed until I peed.

>63 mamzel: Yep. In my 7 years of teaching Latin to college kids at a Big 10 school very well known for its football team, I only had one football player ever enroll in one of my classes. And it was a bit of a nightmare when I didn't just automatically give him a passing grade...

>63 mamzel: and >64 scaifea:, I have this book on my to-read list, but I do want to say, SO MUCH depends on a particular school. I taught a lot of athletes over five years at Clemson, many of them football players. The football players were actually great students--they were expected to do well, and attention to classes was really pushed by athletic and support staff. The student athletes on campus also had a lot of support services (tutoring and etc.), but the athletes were actually the students I could depend on to come to me with problems. That said, it depended some on particular sport, too. I loved having baseball and football students--the baseball players were actually some of the smartest kids I ever taught. On the other hand, the basketball and golf team students were insanely lazy and problematic (to the extent, with basketball, that I still don't like the sport). I never got pressured to change a grade, though, or to do anything for them that I wouldn't have done for other students--we had to fill out quick progress reports for them once or twice a semester, but it took no time at all.

>65 whitewavedarling: I also taught for seven more years at Kenyon College and had several football students in my Latin classes there. They were all excellent students, but, as E. L. Doctorow said, "“Poetry was what we did at Kenyon, the way at Ohio State they played football,” so, yeah, it's not surprising that schools that prize academics over football programs have players who are also actually serious students.

>66 scaifea:, That's why I wanted to say something. I feel like Clemson is usually grouped into those schools that put athletics first, especially now that their football team has had such success, but they don't fit into the same category as some of these school programs that we're starting to hear so much about in this regard. And, I know they're not alone :) Obviously, Clemson prizes engineering and sports over poetry, but the athletes were still, largely, amazing students. I've just had such a good experience with athletes in a big program, I can't help talking about it. I've met so many teachers (and others) who assume that ALL of the big/known schools are alike in their protection/easiness on athletes, but it's not the case. A lot of them are, heaven knows, but not nearly all :)

>67 whitewavedarling: It's good to hear that that's the case at least in some places. I think it requires the cultivation of a certain attitude by faculty and administration, namely that academics and learning to be a good citizen of the world takes precedence over other things, and that can be a hard sell for a lot of Big 10 schools, where the sports teams bring in so much money.

78. The Sound of Waves
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
April alphaKIT: Y
Shinji, a young fisherman on the island of Uta-Jima, falls in love with the lovely Hatsue. But she's the daughter of a wealthy ship-owner, and Shinji and his mother are poor. So, he despairs of ever being chosen as Hatsue's husband. His rival for her affection, Yasuo, is boorish and lazy, and even though Hatsue loves Shinji as well, her father seems primed to choose the richer suitor.

Hm. I tried to like this one, thinking that I was mistaking the lackluster story for some sort of quiet method of storytelling, or that maybe the plot was secondary to the language. But I kept fighting off the desire to skim ahead and just be finished already and with no evidence that the language was the key character, so unless it lost a great deal in the translation, this one is just not very interestingly told.

79. Revenge
CAT#8: Stephen Fry: All The Books!
Fry's modern-day version of The Count of Monte Cristo, with a young Oxford student in the part of Edmund Dantes (now Ned Maddstone).

I read The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time last year. Going into it (I have to be honest here), I thought I was likely in for a bit of a slog, but boy, was I wrong. I LOVED it, and as long as it is, I was still sad when it was over. I'm also a long-time and devoted fan of Stephen Fry's work, and I picked this one up without knowing anything about it, not needing to know because I knew it would be amazing. And it is. So. Amazing. Fry does a fantastic and clever job of translating the story and the characters into a modern setting. It's a bit harsher is places, and Ned is less romantic and much more troubled, but that only makes the transition to the modern world even more believable. I loved it. LOVED it. If you haven't read Dumas' chapbook of a story (and why not?! it's fabulous!), you won't be lost here, but a knowledge of the original will help out with Fry's little nods here and there, which are lovely.

>70 scaifea: The touchstone leads to the wrong book, but never mind that. You hit me with a BB, because Monte Cristo is one of my favourite books.

>71 MissWatson: Gah. Fixed. I can't stand touchstones, to be honest, but I do like the lovely blue letters...

>72 scaifea: I love to satisfy my curiosity instanteously with the touchstone. Of course, more often than not it results in bookbuying.

>73 MissWatson: Ha! You know, I never click on touchstones on other people's threads. I just click over to my Amazon tab and search for the book there... Ha!

>74 scaifea: Ooh, an even more dangerous clickpath!

>75 MissWatson: I know, right? I don't mess around.

80. The Stars Beneath Our Feet
(doesn't fit a category - I'm reading it because it won the Steptoe Award this year)
Lolly is growing up in projects in Harlem and dealing with the myriad obstacles that this life sets for him: he's working through a depression brought on by the gang-related death of his older brother while trying to stay out of the gangs himself. When his mom's girlfriend brings home two garbage bags full of legos, he finds a release and an escape, but others are interested in his building project, too, and he needs to learn how to cope with unexpected new friends, all while negotiating life in the streets of Harlem and his own coming of age.

It took me almost half of the book before I could get into this one - I seriously contemplated abandoning the effort several times. But I stuck with it, and it does get somewhat better in the second half. Still, not - for me at least - as earth-shattering as something like Thomas' The Hate U Give or Reynolds' The Long Way Down.

>55 scaifea: You're Welcome, Universe sounds like a take-off on the ABC Family (some other name now) teen drama Switched at Birth... which features deaf kids, ASL, and a whole plot arc involving other people painting atop your tag art and how to make sense of it and the world. Surprising similarities -- I can't decide whether I want to read the book to see if it's thinly veiled fanfiction, or whether I just want to let it be even though it sounds like it would hit on some fun thematic elements for me.

>78 pammab: I'd never heard of that show, but yes, that sounds really familiar. The book won some awards (I read it because it won the ALAYMA Schneider Award, which makes me think it must be more than just fanfiction, though.

>70 scaifea:
I have that one on my Mt. TBR (under its other title The Stars' Tennis Balls) and I am a huge fan of Monte Cristo - I didn't know of their relation. Definitely will try to read this one soon.

>80 -Eva-: Yay! I hope you love it as much as I did!

81. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
CAT#24: Audiobooks
11-year-old Malcolm Polstead, son of the keepers of the Trout Inn, along with his trusty canoe, La Belle Sauvage, and a village girl named Alice, find themselves the protectors of the baby Lyra. Unwanted by her mother (the Big Bad of both series) and kept away from her father, Lyra is being hunted and pursued by more than one group for various unsavory reasons. Malcolm and Alice rescue her during a supernatural flood and travel in La Belle Sauvage to London in search of her father, encountering all sorts of strange people (both good and bad) and places along the way.

La Belle Sauvage starts off a parallel series to His Dark Materials, and it was so wonderful to be pulled back into that world of daemons and Dust, anbaric cars and alethiometers. A world that's sort of like ours and still very much not, along with Pullman's amazing ability to create characters who within the length of a page become your lifelong friends, make this series - just like the first one - already one of my favorites.

82. Uprooted
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
April alphaKIT: U
Every ten years The Dragon comes down from his tower into the valley and chooses a young woman to take back to the tower with him for the next ten years. Agnieszka never thought she'd be the girl - she's too messy and clumsy and uninterested in how she looks. The Dragon (the name of the valley's wizard, not an actual dragon) seems irritated at his decision at the choosing ceremony, too. And so they're thrown together just at a time when The (local and, of course, evil) Wood starts acting up more than it has in a very long time.

Okay, so there are a significant number of elements to this book that are tropey, to say the least: young girl heroine whose clumsiness and lack of fashion sense make her an unlikely pick for anything, but of course she isn't aware of just how attractive she really is or how much power she has inside; tall, dark, broody, and (of course) very old leading man (in this case a wizard and not a vampire, but the odds were 50/50, you know), who teams up with said girl to form an unlikely ship sort of thing. But. BUT. It's good. So. Good. It's just the right mix of good characters and an original story mixed with old-school fairy tale elements that I don't give a hoot about the tropiness.

>82 scaifea: & >83 scaifea: Totally agree with you on both of these. I can't wait for the next Pullman to come out.

>84 virginiahomeschooler: Isn't Pullman the best? I just love that world so much. And the Novik was such a treat, too.

83. Minnow on the Say
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
After a flood, a boy (David) finds a canoe at his family's landing, and then finds a new friend (Adam) in the discovered owner. The two of them spend a glorious summer in the canoe (The Minnow), looking for Adam's family's long-lost treasure in an attempt to save Adam and his poor aunt from selling their house and moving away to live with cousins for lack of money. It's a race again time (the end of the summer holidays) and also against a wicked relative (Mr. "Smith"), who is also trying to find the hidden riches.

This one was wonderful. David and Adam and their river adventures, the mystery and suspense of the search for the treasure, and the lovely characters who fill the small villages where they live make for a happy and cozy read. I enjoyed it no end.

84. Soul Music
CAT#21: Discworld read
SFFKIT April: Time Travel
Pratchett gives us Discworld's version of the birth of Rock & Roll and The Day the Music (almost) Died.

Death (and his granddaughter) play a big part in this one, and as he's my favorite Discworld character so far, it's not surprising that this is one of my favorites of the series so far.

>70 scaifea: I had a Stephen Fry category for my very fist category challenge back in 2009 and this was my favourite of his books without a doubt. Although I think I prefer the UK title of The Stars' Tennis Balls.

>88 AHS-Wolfy: I haven't not absolutely loved anything of his I've read. I love him.

>82 scaifea:
Excellent to hear more good words - it's on Mt. TBR!

>88 AHS-Wolfy:
Agreed, but then I'd approve of anything with a pun in it... :)

>90 -Eva-: I highly recommend the audio for the Pullman book - Michael Sheen does an amazing job.

>91 scaifea:
Alas, I pre-ordered a copy as soon as I heard about it. I should have thought of checking the reader of the audioversion before ordering, but I got too excited. :)

>92 -Eva-: Well, just imagine Sheen's voice as you're reading it...? *snork!*

>93 scaifea:
Thanks? :D

>94 -Eva-: Hey, anytime!

85. Talking as Fast as I Can
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Graham delivers tidbits about her early career, landing the Gilmore gig and life in between the two lives of the show.

Fun and fluffy, but I came away feeling that I didn't learn a ton about Graham or about Gilmore Girls behind the scenes. Still a good, quick listen, and of course Graham does a great job reading for the audio version.

86. Strange the Dreamer
(doesn't fit a category - I read it because it won a Printz Honor this year)
Lazlo Strange is an orphan who nearly became a monk but was rescued into a life as a librarian by a batch of slightly-off fish, and he has no idea where he came from or who is parents may have been. He spends his days in the dusty parts of the library, reading all he can on the Unseen City, a place no one can to get to and the name of which no one can quite remember. It all seems like fairy tales and myths until the day that the people of that city appear looking for scholars to follow them home. Lazlo is an unlikely candidate, as he's just a librarian, but he strikes their leader - known as The Godslayer - as, well, striking, and he's invited along. What he finds in that forgotten city is beyond all his imaginings, and the most surprising thing among them, a beautiful girl, who happens to be blue.

Gah. I can't do this one justice in a summary without giving stuff away (or probably even if I did give stuff away). I both loved it (it's beautifully written; the story is amazing and inventive; the characters fascinating and wonderful and sharp) and hated it (and loved hating it, both for reasons I can't indicate here). It's one of those books with certain pages that make you (or maybe it's just me) race to read to the bottom all while trying very hard not to glance down at the shocking spoiler you *know* is probably down there somewhere. So, yep, it's a good 'un, even if it did make me furiously frustrated.

>83 scaifea: A thumb for the review and a giggle for the wizards vs. vampires from me!

>98 pammab: Ha! Thanks!!

-The Jonah Kit
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
I can't really give a summary of this one, because I never could figure out what the heckin' heck was going on. There was a whale with, I think?, a man's mind in it, and a runaway boy, and some deeply unlikable other characters doing other stuff that I couldn't manage to care about in the slightest.
So this one was a big NOPE for me.

88. The Amulet of Samarkand
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
May SFFKIT: Rise Up!
Nathaniel is an apprentice magician who summons a djinni before he's technically allowed and *way* before he should be able to do so, skill-wise, but he's precocious and cocky and hell-bent on revenge. Bartimaeus is the irritable, summoned djinni, who does as he's ordered but chafes under the command of a 12-year-old boy. The narrative switches between the two, and from both viewpoints the story of the apprentice's stumbling plan for revenge-cum-saving-the-country-from-a-magical-coup unfolds.

The alternate London (one openly governed by wizards) and the intertwining stories of Nathaniel's dissatisfaction with his lot and the plot against the government are great, plus Nathaniel and Bartimaeus are both fantastically drawn (the djinni's sarcastic and witty first person narrative makes him especially fun). Definitely recommended, and I hope to get round to the read of the series soon.

>101 scaifea: One of my favs! I recommend it all the time to my kids. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the series and the prequel.

>102 mamzel: I've heard elsewhere that the rest of the series is good, too. I'll try to get round to it eventually!

89. 26 Fairmount Avenue
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A cute story of a year in the life of the author as a child, when his family was busy trying to build a new home. Fun and funny and sweet, with illustrations to match.

90. The Trials of Morrigan Crow
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Morrigan Crow doesn't have long to live, because she's one of the Cursed Children, who are born on Eventide, cause all sorts of mishaps while alive, and always die young. But then again, maybe not. Things seem not to go according to the plans of fate once Jupiter North gets involved, and he takes an interest in Morrigan, rescues and takes her to his hotel/home in a city full of magic (Nevermoor), and enters her in the trials to become an apprentice to The Wundrous Society. Her life becomes full of magic, and danger, and all sorts of doubt: what if people here find out that she's one of the Cursed Children? What will happen when they find out that she doesn't even have a Knack (which all who go through the trials must have)? And who is the monstrous Wundersmith of whom everyone in Nevermoor seems to be terrified? North is all sorts of things, but full of answers isn't one of them.

This one was fabulous. Such amazing world-building, with characters who are just as fantastic, and edge-of-seat plot twists for good measure. I can't wait for the next one!

Taking a bb for Trials of Morrigan Crow and Amulet of Samarkand.

>101 scaifea:
Bartimaeus is such an entertaining character!

>106 virginiahomeschooler: Woot! I hope you love them both!

>107 -Eva-: Isn't he, though?

>101 scaifea: Thank you. I wasn't sure what I was going to read for this month's SFFKIT so you've solved a problem for me. Would never have given this one a thought.

>109 AHS-Wolfy: You're welcome! I was a little surprised at how much I liked it, too, to be honest. I hope you enjoy it! I actually had another book lined up for this month's challenge (Red Mars), but this one fit, too, and since I finished it first...

91. The Horse without a Head
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A group of French kiddos are given a broken-down toy horse that fast becomes they're favorite pastime. But it links them to a group of robber and makes life much more interesting for them than they'd bargained for.
On the vintage children's books scale, this one leans more toward dated than charming, I'm afraid.

92. All Sail Set
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A boy gets a job with a shipbuilder and takes a trip on the maiden voyage of the Flying Cloud.
Meh. Vintage children's stories about sailing are not my favorite.

93. The Terrible Two
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
Miles moves to a new town and a new school, and wants to make his mark quickly as the school prankster, but Niles, the principal's official Helper and an all-round weird kid, gets in the way of that in some surprising ways.
Hilarious and goofy. We love Mac Barnett.

94. Camp Foxtrot
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
We love Foxtrot here at Scaife Manor, and there are lots of giggles at bedtime when Tomm reads them to us.

95. I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
I had never read any of the I Survived series, although I know that they're really popular with the kiddos at school. Meh. Neither Charlie nor I were impressed. I get that there's a need for simple chapter books to ease some kids into reading, and that it's tricky finding topics that different kids will enjoy, and I'm happy that these fill a niche for some of those kiddos, but I think Charlie and I are not the intended audience.

96. Whittington
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
There are two parallel stories here: one is about a stray cat who finds a new home in the barn of a kindly farmer, and how the cat and the other animals help the farmer's grandson learn how to read. The other is a story-within-a-story, told by the cat about his ancestor, who was the pet of Dick Whittington, the famous London trader.
Both tales are well told and complement each other nicely, and all the characters are the root-for-from-the-start sort. Recommended.

97. Hard Times
CAT# 24: Audiobooks
Dickens shows us the lives of several characters in Coketown, from a father who teaches strict belief in fact and will brook no wonder in his children, to children themselves who lead tortured lives because of this theory of education, to a blustering banker who is always too happy to brag about his humble beginnings, to a handful of the humble but good working folk of the town. Their lives intermesh in various ways over the course of several years.

Although there's barely one character in the novel whom I could think of without a good eyeroll, Dickens still weaves a tale that I couldn't resist following through to the end. I love that the wicked don't necessarily get their comeuppance, and the happiness due the good guys isn't completely pure - the complexities of the plot see to that - and despite my misgivings at the beginning, I'm glad that I stuck with it and quite enjoyed it by the end.

98. The Snow Queen
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
May AlphaKIT: Q
Tiamat is a planet inhabited by two (nearly literally) polar opposite peoples - the Summers and the Winters. They trade rule back and forth in 150-year jaunts. The story takes place during a Winter reign, and Arienrhod is the Snow Queen ruling over the entire world and who (by nefarious means, of course) has kept herself alive and young for all of her 150-year time as ruler. There is a police force, though, representing The Hegemony, a multi-world governing body, which holds power over Tiamat and holds their culture and society back for their own reasons. Moon and Sparks are a part of this world: Summers, cousins and lovers, who find themselves torn apart on many levels, fighting to find each other again, and playing more important roles in the turn of events than they would ever have dreamed.
Slow in places, but the story is a good one overall. Interesting premise, cool world building and solid characters.

99. Everything on a Waffle
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Primrose moves in with her uncle when her parents both disappear at sea. Everyone else in their small British Columbia town says they're dead, but Primrose holds on to the belief that they'll still come back. She struggles with kids at school and with the uppity, narrow-minded principal, but finds unlikely friends in the old lady who took her in before her uncle arrived and the proprietor of the local restaurant, which serves everything on the menu on a waffle.
I neat little story with vivid characters, of which Primrose is definitely the star. Bonus: recipes for several of the restaurant's offerings are included at the ends of chapters.

>117 scaifea: I haven't read many Dickens books yet, but Serial Reader helps break them up into more manageable chunks. I'll have to make sure Hard Times is in my "read later" list!

>120 rabbitprincess: Hard Times took me a little while to get into, but then it was good, so if you give it a go, I'd say give it a few chapters.

100. The Antelope Wife
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
May ColorCAT: Blue
This is a tale woven of many lives throughout several generations and how they intermingle, about Blue Prairie Woman, who fell in love with a deer, and how her life affected (haunted, really) her descendants and their own choices.
The characters and their stories, and especially how they all related to one another, were fascinating and wonderful. The book unfolds so neatly, with just the right pacing, and all the little pieces click together so well. And the intermeshing of worlds - native and other - adds another complexity that works like icing on Klaus' cake. This is the second of Erdrich's books I've read and loved, and I will absolutely seek out more of her work.

101. Interesting Times
CAT#21: Discworld Series
Pratchett gives us the Discworld version of chaos theory and the Terracotta Army. Silly and fun.

Apologies for not writing reviews for these, but I'm knackered and just don't have it in me (we've been traveling for the past few days):



102. Unraveled
CAT#23: Books I Read with My Mom
May RandomCAT: Flowers on the Cover
Another cozy entry in the series. Fluffy and comforting.



103. Orphan Train
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
May alphaKIT: K
Liked this one lots - two great interwoven stories.



104. Whistler's Van
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Meh. A bit dated and not terribly engaging.



105. Remembrance of Things Past
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Ooof. A beast, this one. There are things I loved about it (some of the descriptions of small, everyday things are beautiful; the work is famous for these and rightfully so), but also things that weren't so fabulous (there were bits that dragged, mostly).

106. The Maltese Falcon
CAT#24: Audiobooks
A womanizing, wise-cracking detective finds himself barely treading water in a case involving a damsel who may be distressed but may be faking it, a dead partner whom he wasn't fond of to begin with, coppers who want to pin a murder on him, and all sorts of shady criminal types who are all after a bird statuette.
Twisty and noiry and so much fun. Spade is so finely drawn that it seems strange that he's not real.

107. The New Policeman
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
There's never enough hours in the day, it seems, in Kinvara, Ireland, and J.J.'s mother jokes that she'd love more time for her birthday. J.J. decides to try to find it for her, and so sets off on a journey that takes him to Tír na n'Óg, the land where time stands still.
Oh, I loved this one! Magical realism, a lovely version of Faerie, and wonderful nods to Irish folklore and folk music. Plus, a cool twist at the end.

>126 scaifea: Ooh that sounds really good. Taking a BB for it.

>127 virginiahomeschooler: I hope you love it as much as I did! It's apparently the first of a trilogy; I'm hoping to get round to the other two soon.

108. Thank You, Jeeves
CAT#24: Audiobooks
I do love Jeeves, so much. And Bertie, too, of course. This little romp doesn't disappoint, abounding with miscommunications, banjoleles, and all sorts of hijinx. Impossible not to picture Fry and Laurie in the roles, and why wouldn't you want to?

>129 scaifea: I just read something in the last day or two--I think a short story--which included a reference to Wodehouse.

>130 thornton37814: Lori: Neat! Have you read any of the Jeeves books?

>131 scaifea: I've read a handful.

>129 scaifea: Fry and Laurie were perfect in those roles! I always hear Hugh Laurie in my head when I read one of those stories.

>133 rabbitprincess: I know, right?! Stephen Fry is one of my favorite people ever.

>117 scaifea:
I've been hesitant about audiobooking such long books - not sure if my attentionspan for audio lasts that long. :)

>123 scaifea:
That one is soon coming up for me!

>125 scaifea:
I've just picked up an audioversion of that one.

>135 -Eva-: Hi, Eva! I don't know that I'd recommend Dickens on audio if you're still hesitant about listening to books. The Maltese Falcon is definitely a better choice to ease yourself into listening.

>135 -Eva-:/>136 scaifea: I've read Dickens on audio book. It worked for me when I was commuting ~ 10 hours per week by car, such that I'd be listening to a good sized chunk each time I traveled. Now I've changed job, my commuting has reduced, so that I'm now listening to short stories instead. I can have at least 5 days between journeys now I'm not traveling everyday and I found that simply too long to be able to remember where I'd got to. So it can work, but I'm not sure it works for everyone.

>137 Helenliz: It definitely does depend on how frequently you listen and what you're doing when you are listening, for certain. I've been painting our basement walls lately (one of my very least favorite things to do in the universe) and so I needed something light and fun to listen to - the Jeeves worked really well, but I don't think I would have enjoyed the Dickens along with my painting. I tried listening to To Have and Have Not this weekend while painting and that one got a big NOPE from me. Some other time it would have been okay, but it's too dark and unsettling to listen to while doing something you're not fond of doing, I think. So, I switched over to the Hamilton soundtrack and that worked a charm.

109. Greenglass House
CAT#22: Charlie's bedtime book
I read this one earlier this year and knew Charlie would love it, so we read it together aloud at bedtime. And I was right - he did love it.

Traveled to Indiana this weekend to visit family and finished a few books - sorry, no energy at present to slap together mini-reviews:



110. Bob
CAT#24: Audiobooks



111. Casanova
CAT#24: Audiobooks



112. Sherlock Holmes' Rediscovered Railway Mysteries
CAT#24: Audiobooks



113. Warrior Scarlet
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up

>140 scaifea: Haha I love that they used the same Benedict picture for both of those books. There is NO shortage of handsome photographs for them to choose from!

I enjoyed the Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and, now that I've read them once, I will sometimes listen to them when I just want a soothing voice in my ear.

>141 rabbitprincess: I know, right?! So funny. And I agree that his voice is very soothing.

114. The Golden Basket
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A sweet little story about two little sisters staying with their father in a hotel in Paris and the adventures they have there. Madeline even makes an appearance, which is frosting on the gâteau.

115. The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
The story of an Australian teen working through normal teen stuff: trying to feel comfortable with herself enough to try out for the school play, suffering through the preparations for her obnoxious sister's wedding, and crushing hard on the gorgeous rich kid while not really recognizing her feelings for the Bad Boy Who Lives on the Other Side of the Tracks and Who Also Has Feelings for Her. A fun story with some nicely-handled serious bits as well.

116. Doc
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
June alphaKIT: R
The story, in novel form, of Doc Holliday, his time in Dodge, and his friendship with the Earp brothers.
So fabulous. So wonderfully written. Russell is amazing.

117. Bunnicula
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
June randomCAT: Unusual Narrator
A family dog narrates this story of the new pet rabbit, its peculiar eating habits, and the zealous cat who is determined to rid them of the threat it may or may not pose.
Cute, but nothing extraordinary. I think this one definitely needs to be read as a young 'un.

118. Catherine, Called Birdy
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Catherine is a girl of marriageable age in medieval England, and she demonstrably doesn't want to. Get married off to some oaf, that is. So, she plays all sorts of pranks on her suitors and gets up to other shenanigans, all while worrying about her pregnant mother and avoiding her embroidery.
Another spunky female character born out of her time, and I was disappointed in the ending, which fizzled and didn't really follow with how her character had been drawn throughout the narrative. *shrug*

>145 scaifea: Oh, I loved Doc! Glad to see you also enjoyed it. The sequel, Epitaph, is also great!

>148 christina_reads: Yes! It's amazing! I love Russell so much. I hope I can get round to the sequel soon.

119. Me, the Missing, and the Dead
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A London teen whose father left years ago decides to rescue an urn (with the ashes of an old lady) from a cab company shelf. The more he learns about who she was, then more he learns that his missing father maybe isn't worthy of the hero worship he's been giving him.
The plot is fun and interesting, but I never warmed to the main character. *shrug*

120. Their Eyes Were Watching God
CAT#24: Audiobooks
The story of Janie, a black woman in the 1930's South, living through three marriages, finding and losing love, and struggling to be the strong, independent person she was born to be.
The story is fascinatingly told, and the very best thing about the novel is the writing: beautiful throughout, and in parts full of absolutely breathtaking turns of phrases.

121. Just One Damned Thing After Another
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
June SFFKIT: Series Read
The first in a series about an historical research facility, St. Mary's, and the high jinks the time-traveling historians get up to.
What a hoot - I love the characters, the laugh-aloud moments, the seat-edge twists, and the little plot puzzles to solve along the way.

122. The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery Honor Book, 210 pages) - 8/10 = B
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
About a black family in Flint, Michigan traveling to Alabama one summer, and the culture shock of the deep south experienced by the children, as told through 4th-grader Kenny's point of view.
Curtis is a great storyteller and his characters are so vivid. This one, though, didn't strike me as much as some of his other books. Still, a good read.

123. Joey Pigza Loses Control
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Joey goes to stay with his estranged dad for the summer, hoping to form a relationship with him, but his mother's warnings about how wired and weird his dad can be may prove too true, and Joey is also still learning a new balance of meds to help with his own excess of wired energy.

This is a Newbery Honor Book and has one other acclaims, but I can't seem to figure out how to appreciate Gantos' stories. I've tried other of his books, and for some reason he's just not my cuppa. I'm happy that others appreciate his work, though.

124. Trigger Warning
CAT#10: Neil Gaiman Also All the Things!
June alphaKIT: G
So many good stories in here. Gaiman is reliably fabulous.

125. Bite Me: A Love Story
CAT#11: Christopher Moore: One More All the Things!
June colorCAT: purple
The third in Moore's vampire series, this one is a big a hoot as the first two. A pair of newbie boyfriend/girlfriend vampires, their goth girl teenage drama queen minion and her Asian science nerd boyfriend, a wary detective and his big gay bear partner (partner as in cop partner, not big gay bear partner), a clan of stoner Safeway night shift workers/kitty vampire hunters, the Emperor of San Francisco, and a plot that throws them all together = zany hilarity. No other author can make me snork right out loud like Moore can, and I love him for it.

>156 scaifea: Glad to see you enjoy the series. I've read a few of his novels but haven't got around to those ones yet but they are waiting on the tbr shelves

>157 AHS-Wolfy: Hi, Dave! I've loved every one of Moore's book that I've read. His brand of humor is right up my street. I particularly like this series, because San Francisco itself is a key character, and I'm a fan.

126. The Big Sleep
CAT#24: Audiobooks
I really wanted to love this one, because I've always thought that I'd love Chandler's books. But, well, I couldn't get past the misogyny and the homophobic language. There's enough of that business as it is right now; I don't need it in the books I read, too.

127. Foundling
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Rosamund is a foundling, a stray child, who has been raised in a foundlingery (an orphanage, of sorts) to become a sailor, but is instead hire out as a lamplighter. This first book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series tells the story of his adventure-filled journey from the orphanage to his new job, during which he meets monsters, a monster-fighter, wicked sailors, a brave postman, and a scary and mysterious guy who wears a box on his head.
The world-building in this first book is amazing and so intricate - so much so that there's an extensive glossary and set of appendices at the back to help the reader navigate so much new information. I like Rosamund a great deal, and I'll definitely come back to the series to learn more about the world Cornish has created.

128. The Housekeeper and the Professor
CAT#16: Books from my Read Soon! shelves
July colorCAT: pink
bingoDOG#3: Originally in a Different Language
A housekeeper is assigned to a mathematician, who, after a car accident years ago, has a short-term memory that only lasts eighty minutes. The housekeeper and her ten-year-old son become very fondly attached to the professor, and the professor to them - although his fondness is reborn every day - and they learn how to navigate the difficulties of being a part of his world, while also falling in love with the beauty of numbers through his enthusiasm and devotion to his subject.
Such a quietly lovely book. Ogawa makes you feel so tenderly toward these characters, and I was charmed from the first word. Definitely recommended.

>161 scaifea: - That was a lovely book, I still remember it quite fondly.

>162 LittleTaiko: Isn't it a good one?

129. Winter's End
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Dystopian YA in which the children of the leaders of the past revolution are kept in prison-like boarding schools. Some escape and aid in the overthrow of the evil regime.
Meh. It's not bad, but it also doesn't add much to the genre, and the story could have been fleshed out a bunch more.

130. Pictures of Hollis Woods
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A girl looking for a family has trouble not running from her foster homes, until she finds a family in which she feels she belongs. But even then she ends up running, but this time to keep them happy, or so she thinks. The story shifts between remembrances of the family she loves and life with her current foster parent, whom she grows to love as well, and these two parts of the plot are woven together very well, with both stories unfolding at the perfect pace.

131. Carver: A Life in Poems
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Does just what it says on the tin - tells Carver's life story in verse. It takes a particular kind of poetry to grab my attention, and this isn't it, but I willingly admit that that's my own shortcoming and no fault of this book.

132. An American Plague
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
I nice middle-grade history of the 1793 yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia. Not too graphic, but not too dry, either.

133. Surviving the Applewhites
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Jake, a boy who keeps getting himself into trouble and seems to enjoy being called a problem kid, is sent to stay with the Applewhite family, who live on a woodsy couple of acres in rural North Carolina, homeschool their children, and are comprised of all sorts of 'free spirits' - artists, writers, craftsmen. Only one of them - E.D. (a girl about Jake's age) - has any sense of schedules and responsibilities, and she is not pleased to see Jake become part of their family. Her father, a self-centered (not that that sets him apart from any of the other characters, to be honest) Broadway director, takes on the job of directing a local community theater production, and soon the entire family, including troublemaker Jake, are involved.
Meh. The characters were too stock-like (the artsy ones were way too hippy-dippy, Jake was too one-sidedly a wannabe-rebel,...), and I'm not a fan of homeschooling, so that part didn't endear me to the story, either. Just not really my thing, I think.

134. Al Capone Does My Shirts
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Moose's family moves to Alcatraz when his father gets a job as an electrician for the prison and so that his autistic sister can have the chance to go to a special school in San Francisco. At first Moose hates living on the island and things are tense between him and his family. He also comes into conflict with one of the other kids there - the warden's sneaky daughter. Things seem completely unfair to Moose, but he grows to like living there, and learns just how special and helpful a part of his family he is.
Such a neat and unique story, well told. Definitely recommended.

135. Show Way
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A gorgeous picture book about several generations of African American women in the same family, passing down quilting skills and knowledge and love, from slaves in the south through the author and her own daughter. I love Woodson's work - her books are always beautifully written and carry powerful and important messages of strength and hope. Highly recommended.

136. Hitler Youth
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A brief history of the Hitler Youth building up to, through, and after WWII. A horrifying subject at any time, but made even more terrifying for its similarities to what's happening now in this country.

137. After Tupac & D Foster
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Three friends grow into their teen years learning about each other and how to navigate life as a person of color in a country in which Tupac is shot and tried and shot again.
As always, Woodson has delivered an important story packaged in wonderful writing. Recommended.

138. One Crazy Summer
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
In the summer of 1968, three young sisters travel on their own, sent by their father from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to visit their mother, who walked out on them when Delphine (the oldest, now 11) was only five. They spend a month trying to get to know this woman, who frequently reminds them that she didn't ask for them to visit and won't stand for them to disturb her peace and quiet while she writes poetry. So they spend their days at a community center run by the Black Panthers, coloring protest signs, handing out political flyers, and learning what it means to be empowered.
I love how the two parts of the story - the sisters struggling to come to terms with their mother against the backdrop of Oakland in the late '60s - are woven together so well. It makes a compelling story, made even better by the lively characters of the the three sisters.

139. Software
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
July SFFKIT: Cyber/Techno Punk
Robots living on the moon have rebelled against their enslavement to humanity and are now planning to 'incorporate' them by chopping up their brains and 'taping' their memories. They offer immortality to their creator, Cobb Anderson, in the form of a robot body with his own taped memories, but there's a a sub-group of robots who want to rebel against the rebellion...
The story was interesting enough, but none of the characters were even slightly likable. So, not really my thing.

140. The Wednesday Wars
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Holling Hoodhood thinks his new 7th grade teacher hates him, and he recounts all the little things she does that convinces him this is so. But he gradually realizes that Shakespeare isn't necessarily the horrible punishment he first thought, that bullies aren't always one-sided evil beings, that parents can be flawed but still good, and that first impressions of 7th grade teachers are not always completely accurate. All this within the background of the Vietnam War, the fate of MLK and Bobby Kennedy, and a sister who wants to be a flower child.
Matilda meets A Christmas Story. I enjoyed this one immensely.

141. Savvy
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Mibs is ready to celebrate her 13th birthday when her father is in a serious car accident, which puts him in the hospital in a coma. As her mother and oldest brother travel the ninety miles to the hospital, Mibs must suffer through a horrible party put on by the self-righteous preacher's wife and attended by kids who think she and her family are a bunch of weirdos. See, something happens to the Beaumont children when they hit 13: their savvy comes into its own and they find out what sort of special and particular-to-each-person powers they inherit. As Mibs struggles to define her new powers, she, her two other brothers, and the two preacher's children (one of whom has a crush on Mibs) stow away on a bible seller's bus to try to get to the hospital and end up on a wild adventure of their own.
A neat story. The characters are great and the ending is a nice little twist.

>145 scaifea:
This one is doing its best, climbing to the top of my Mt. TBR. Always nice to hear more good words about it.

>177 -Eva-: I hope you love it when you get to it!

142. Splendors and Glooms
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
An evil puppet master who dabbles in black magic, his two young orphaned apprentices, a wicked witch with a powerful fire opal, and a girl suffering through life with wealthy parents stuck in continual mourning for their other lost children, all come together is a slightly dark, slightly creepy (in a good way) story set in Victorian London. This one was fun - the children are easy to root for and the villains are throughly (if a little campily) evil.

143. Charming Billy
CAT#13: National Book Award for Fiction
July randomCAT: Outside Your Comfort Zone
bingoDOG #20: Book with a Beautiful Cover
Framed by the narrative of the family funereal gathering for the late Billy Lynch, the novel recounts Billy's life, his early lost love, his struggle with alcohol, his never-lost charm. We're also given the lives of other members of the family and their close, everyday relationships, especially how Billy's live - and death - have influenced them. The real charmer here is the story itself, and the lovely way it is told, through the sweetness of its quotidian details, the mundane made holy, in some way. So excellently written, this one. Definitely recommended.

>180 scaifea: - It's been so long since I've read this but I remember really enjoying it. Glad that you found it worth reading too.

>181 LittleTaiko: Oh, good! I'm glad you enjoyed it, too!

144. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
CAT#22: Charlie's bed-time read
A re-read for me, but Charlie's first time. We've been working through the HP books as bedtime re-alouds for two years now, and we're a little sad to be finished with them.

145. Sacre Bleu
CAT#11: Christopher Moore: One More All The Things!
July alphaKIT: S
Part murder mystery, part homage to the French Masters (including Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Manet and Monet), part horror story, and (a really big) part comedy. Moore is, as always, hilarious, a little naughty, and a lot pure delight. I loved it, as I have all of Moore's stuff, and he remains one of my very favorite authors.

146. All the Light We Cannot See
CAT#14: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
July alphaKIT: A
Set in Europe during WWII, this novel details the story of a gifted German boy trying to escape a life in the mines by going to a military school and a blind French girl trying to survive the onslaught of the Nazi attacks. Their paths cross in several fascinating and heartbreaking ways. The concurrent story of a priceless jewel, the Nazi officer trying to track it down, and the hapless museum worker charged with keeping it safe (who also happens to be the French girl's father) is just as engrossing.
There are so many wonderful things about this book: the story is excellent, the characters have impressive depth, and the writing is superb. But the last hundred pages or so became too dark and sad for me. I recognize that this is my issue and not the book's, though, and it's still one of the better books I've read this year. Definitely worth all the acclaim it has garnered.

>185 scaifea: Glad you enjoyed it!

>186 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

147. Wishtree
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
I read this one earlier this year and Charlie wanted to read it together. He enjoyed it as much as I did!

148. The Alteration
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
An alternate history in which the Catholic church is the leading power in the world, it seems. In this world a young boy, his family, and his friends struggle with the church's demand that he has been chosen by God to have the most talented singing voice in an age and that he must serve God by submitting to an alteration (castration) so that his voice will remain as it is.
The world building is interesting, and it works well as a vehicle for discussing the abuse of power, especially religious power. A powerful - and very good - read.

149. I, Robot
CAT#24: Audiobooks
A collection of short stories about the struggles and victories in the development of robots. Most of the stories read like logic puzzles, and that part of it I really enjoyed, although I wasn't terribly keen on most of the characters or the actual stories. I think robot scifi just isn't my thing.

150. The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A collection of stories and fables that won a Newbery Honor, but has not aged very well.

151. The Shipping News
CAT#13: National Book Award
CAT#14: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
August colorCAT: grey
Quoyle, a reporter in his thirties who is fairly rotten at his job, loses his parents, his cheating wife, and nearly loses his two small daughters as well, before deciding to move back to his family home in Newfoundland with his aunt to try to turn his life around.
I'm afraid that this one just wasn't for me. The story is bleak and mean, the characters unlikable, and writing to match - too sparse and in the wrong ways.

152. Amulet #1: The Stonekeeper
(This one doesn't fit any categories)
I read this one because Charlie (my 9-year-old son) loved it so much he asked me to read it, too. A fun beginning to a graphic novel series - I'll be interested to see where the story goes.

153. Maskerade
CAT#21: Discworld Read
Pratchett takes on The Phantom of the Opera. Not as many laugh-right-out moments here, but I'm growing fairly fond of Granny and Nanny, to be honest.

154. Cast On, Kill Off
CAT#23: Books I Read with My Mom
August randomCAT: Let's Go to the Mountains
There's been another murder in Fort Connor and the folks who hang out at the local yarn shop are caught up in it again. Kelly does more sleuthing while drinking tons of coffee and all turns out well in the end.
I do like this cozy series, but this particular entry is a bit of a low point so far. The running jokes/tropes are wearing a little thin. *shrug*

>195 scaifea: You are further along than I am in it. I've been stalling around on book 5 for awhile. It's in a box somewhere. As I'm sorting through books, perhaps I'll get to it this next year.

>196 thornton37814: Lori: I'll keep going with the series, for now, but if the next one is this bad (or worse) I may just stop. It's too bad, because although it's never been bloody Shakespeare, it has been fun.

155. The Killer Inside Me
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Dexter meets 1950's Texas, which seems on the surface like it might be pretty good (if you like that sort of thing), but it just didn't click for me. I got too hung up on the misogyny and the violence, and the audio narrator wasn't fabulous, either.

>195 scaifea: I somehow ended up with book 8 in this series - I think my mom sent it to my daughter when she was really into knitting. Is it one you think you would be able to read out of order, or will I be totally lost if I jump in at That point?

>199 virginiahomeschooler: Nah, you won't be too lost - none of them require loads of mental strain, and she tends to give quick reminders of who people are in each book.

156. Boy
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
August alphaKIT: D
Dahl details anecdotes of important moments from his childhood. A sort-of memoir that reads like one of his books = fabulous, of course. I love the bits where you can see how he was inspired to write those amazing books of his. Definitely recommended.

157. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
CAT#15: Unread Books from My Shelves
A story within a story within a story, about a house that is bigger on the inside and is constantly shifting, the family that explores and documents it, a man with questionably sanity, who writes a scholarly work on the house, the family, and the documentary they create, another man on the brink of madness, who finds the first madman's work and edits it, and the physical book itself, which reflects in various ways the labyrinthine nature of the house and the stories encircling it.
In other words, this one is WEIRD, folks. But in a good way, generally. There were places where I started getting annoyed and tried not to convince myself that the whole thing was pretentious and forced. But in the end the story of the house was too good to stop reading.

>202 scaifea: My cousin had to sleep with the lights on for two days after reading that one! D:

>203 rabbitprincess: Ha! I think I avoided being too scared by it because I was looking at it through an academic lens, trying to figure out just what the author was intending with each little stunt he pulled. Took me out of the story for most of the book, to be honest.

>204 scaifea: I should suggest that to her if she ever decides to re-read it!

>205 rabbitprincess: Ha! Yes!

158. The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
September colorCAT: Metallic
Carter lives with his con-artist 'uncle' but runs away because he doesn't want to be forced to use his sleight-of-hand skills (and he's very good) to steal. He hops on a train and soon finds himself in a new small town, filled with crooked carnies and their frowny clown thugs, a magical magician, and a group of misfits kids, in whom he may just find friendship and a home.
A cute story that I think middle grade kiddos would like, especially the magic trick lessons Harris includes along the way.

159. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
CAT#10: Neil Gaiman: Also All the Things!
September SFFKIT: Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales
Gaiman takes on Sleeping Beauty and throws in for good measure the very best version of Snow White you'll ever, ever read. Gorgeous storytelling, as usual with this fellow. My love for his myth-tinkering knows no limits. And Chris Riddell's illustrations are amazing, also as usual. Just perfect all round.

Phebe Fairchild
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A sweet-enough story of a young girl sent to live with country relatives while her seafaring father takes her mother on a trip to Europe. These country relatives are quite a bit more puritan than her own parents, and it takes a bit of adjusting for her to feel that she fits in.
Cute, but not anything extraordinary.

161. Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
September randomCAT: Happy Birthday (Weil's birthday is in August, as is mine)
A boy and his family and friends, along with some visitors at his father's inn, set out to solve the mystery of a certain cove on the island of Capri, where they live.
A neat little story, even neater for being about an actual cove and it's beautiful blue cave.

162. The Runaway Papoose by Grace Moon
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A small Navajo girl gets frightened by a fight her father has with a stranger and inadvertently runs away and can't find her way home. She does find a kindly shepherd boy, who helps her find her way back to her family, but not without all sorts of adventures and mishaps along the way. A fun little story, with a nice mystery as well.

163. Come Hither by Walter de la Mare
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A collection of poetry for kiddos, from Chaucer on up. It's a nice collection, and pretty extensive.

164. The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
CAT#24: Audiobooks
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Six brothers and sisters decide to look for treasure - in their London home and nearby - when their widowed father's business falls on hard times.
A nice-enough story, although it does teeter on the edge of trite, and there are times that Nesbit seems a little too pleased with the cleverness of her boy-as-author/flawed-narrator trope.

Today's agenda:
Grocery shopping, vacuuming, bills, writing. Charlie has his first Nutcracker rehearsal tonight. And it's his birthday eve - last day of being nine! Yoicks.

On the reading front:
I started Dreamsnake yesterday, barely (I'm only maybe 10 pages in), started The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin on audio, and made a little progress with New Land.

>214 scaifea: Happy birthday to Charlie! Entering the double digits... exciting! :)

>215 rabbitprincess: Thanks! I'll pass on the good wishes!

>213 scaifea: I remember reading some of Nesbit's books way back when. I know I read The Railway Children. I think I also read The Enchanted Castle.

>217 thornton37814: Lori: I've read Railway Children and Five Children & It, too, and I'm fairly certain that Nesbit just isn't for me. I know she's beloved by many, but yeah, hard pass from me from now on, I think.

>218 scaifea: I attributed my "disconnect" with the work seeming more "dated" than some. I suppose it was more her style than anything else. Some books age better than others.

>219 thornton37814: Very true, Lori.

It's Charlie's birthday!! He's 10!! Yoicks. So, birthday French Toast has been enjoyed, presents have been opened (his favorite, I think, is the D&D Starter Kit), and this afternoon we'll go to his favorite shopping area for some bookstore browsing (he's got birthday money burning up his pockets) and lunch, his pick: Piada https://mypiada.com/

Then, for his birthday dinner, he's requested salmon and steamed broccoli. No, really, I'm not kidding. Love that weird kiddo.

On the reading front:
Yesterday I listened to a chunk of The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin while vacuuming, and it's a hoot so far. I also made progress with Feet of Clay and New Land

165. New Land by Sarah Lindsay Schmidt
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Teenage twins, Charley and Sayre, follow their widowed father, along with their baby sister, out to Wyoming during the Great Depression, to prove up on some land. They face all sorts of challenges, including dishonest folks and uncooperative nature, but make good in the end.
A bit dated now, but likely seen as fighting the good fight against stereotyping girls back in the day (Sayre works just as hard as her twin brother on the farm and against their rivals). The story itself was fairly engaging, too.

166. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
CAT#21: Discworld read
Pratchett takes on golems, the myth of nobility, and werewolf/human relationships. A fun entry into the series. Like many of the other characters, the Patrician is really growing on me, and the Watch are by this point old friends.

167. Bright Moon, White Clouds by Li Po
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
September alphaKIT: B
bingoDOG #22: Poetry or Plays
Usually poetry of the antique variety appeals to me a great deal, and I was excited to read this collection, but for some reason it just didn't click with me. *shrug*

168. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
An interesting read. I really do like some of her ideas; others I find either at the extreme end of quirky or just downright horrifying (her attitude toward books makes me shutter).

170. Under Sea, Over Stone by Susan Cooper
CAT#22: Charlie's bed-time read
I love this book and this series tons, but it didn't work out so well as a read-aloud with our 10-year-old. I'm a bit sad that he didn't enjoy it as much as I do, but maybe in a couple of years he'll revisit the series.

171. Mountains Are Free by Julia Davis Adams
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Follows a young Swiss boy who has grown up in the mountains as he becomes the page to a boorish knight, travels to a castle, meets a lovely young noble girl and her fool/guardian, travels back to the mountains and defies the wicked nobles alongside his adoptive father, William Tell.
A nice-enough story, although a bit slow in parts.

171. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin by Maurice LeBlanc
CAT#24: Audiobooks
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A series of exploits told by the gentleman burglar himself (and then retold via the narrator/his friend), in which he pulls off impressive thefts in cool disguises, cleverly eludes the coppers at every turn, and charms the heck out of everyone around him. Think Sherlock Holmes, but on the other side of the crime, and French. In other words, this one was a hoot. Definitely recommended.

172. Ethics for the New Millennium by H. H. the Dalai Lama
CAT#17: H.H. the Dalai Lama - Okay, One More All the Books
September alphaKIT: E
A call for compassion, empathy, and loving-kindness in this modern world, and suggestions on how to start making our way there.
Helpful and pretty darned important.

173. Stig of the Dump by Clive King
CAT#24: Audiobooks
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A silly little story about a boy who finds a caveman living in the local dump and has adventures alongside him, but of course the grownups don't believe that Stig (said caveman) is real.
Simple, silly, and fun.

174. Just William by Richmal Crompton
CAT#24: Audiobooks
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A sort of British Dennis the Menace. More like Meh-nace.

>233 scaifea: Ha! A pithy summary ;)

Incidentally, the UK does have a Dennis the Menace character, although his comics are referred to as "Dennis and Gnasher" in the US to avoid the obvious confusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_the_Menace_and_Gnasher

Funny that the two characters seem to have developed independently of each other. Dennis the Menace is a great rhyming name, I guess!

>234 rabbitprincess: Thanks! *grins*

That's really interesting that the two Dennis Menaces originated separately, but yeah, I guess the obvious rhyme may be the reason.

175. Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
CAT#6: CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
A post-apocalyptic landscape, in which a healer woman and her three poisonous snakes wander the lands looking for people in need of her services. When her rare dreamsnake is killed, she must find the means to replace it and faces dangers and meets new friends along the way.
After reading the first three pages I nearly put this one down (I have a snake phobia and I didn't think I could manage an entire book in which they play such a big part and are described in such detail). I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it, because it's such an excellent read. The characters are wonderfully drawn, the world is interesting and imaginative, and the story compelling and smart. Highly recommended.

176. The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
October SFFKIT: Historical/Alt-Historical
A novel that imagines there are lost fragments of Homer's Odyssey and gives us a taste of what those may have been. It reads like a love song to the Odyssey, honestly, and Mason does an excellent job writing down his imaginings into bits and pieces of what could have been. Beautifully creative, gorgeously written. Definitely recommended.

177. Queer Person by Ralph Hubbard
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A children's book with a Native American story arc written in 1930 by a white man has all the issues you think it would. And yet I couldn't help but get sucked into the story and fall in love with the characters, despite feeling uncomfortable with Hubbard's tropes. I'm glad I read it as part of my challenge to read through all of the Newbery Honor Books, but I'm afraid I can't really recommend it. Just go read some Louise Erdrich instead.

178. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Ooof, this one was a nail-biter! It took me a little while to get into it, but then I was very much sucked in to the story of Tom and his relationship-turned obsession with Dickie Greenleaf, and then the murders and the staying one step ahead of the authorities and the traipsing through Europe and, well, just, wow. It takes a great writer to get me to be both repulsed by a character's actions and also intensely rooting for him to get away with it all. Spectacularly well done.

179. Winterbound by Margery Williams Bianco
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Four siblings face their first New England winter without their parents. Meh. Not the best in the kids-on-their-own-in-the-semi-wilderness genre, but not horrible, either.

180. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
CAT#18: Books on Buddhism
Siddhartha is a young Brahmin searching for meaning, and the reader follows his journey through the denial of all pleasures to the revelry in those same pleasures, to the pain and sorrow of parenthood, to the solace of friendship, and finally to the realization of wisdom and peace. So beautifully and simply done, this novel would fit perfectly on a list of Books We All Should Read in These Troubling Times.

181. The Little Grey Rabbit Treasury by Alison Uttley
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A cross between Beatrix Potter and The Little Red Hen. Sweet without being too saccharine.

182. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
October randomCAT: Playing Cards
After losing her mother to cancer, a woman sabotages her marriage, nearly self-destructs via heroin (among other ways), then decides to self-medicate by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail alone with no actual training and never having going backpacking before.
Yeah, I struggled with this one. It was definitely an exercise empathizing with someone very different from me, and I'm embarrassed with myself that I didn't do well at it; all the while I was thinking that her circumstances in life have been so different from mine, so of course it makes sense that her choices would be different and that's okay, that's allowed, and she still gets my sympathy and support (and she does, honest), but at the same time there was that niggling little voice in my head saying, "What the heck, lady?" and, "Really?! That's what seemed the best choice there?!" and, "Oh for cripes sake, tell me you didn't actually eat that?!" I'm not proud of that voice, and although I can't exactly say that I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, I'm grateful for it pointing out to me that, as accepting as I think I am, I have work to do still. (NB: I will not be hiking any 1000+ mile trails for such self-reflection, though.)

183. The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
CAT#22: Books Read Aloud with Charlie at Bedtime
This book introduces Lewis Barnavelt, his Uncle Jonathan, and their neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman, as they try to find the source of the ticking in the walls of Jonathan's old mansion-like house and end up fighting the long-dead evil wife of a long-dead evil wizard (who happens to be the former owner of said mansion-house).
I love this series, and I'm so glad that Charlie is old enough for them now. He loved this one, too, and is excited to read the next one!

184. Casanova: The Venetian Years by Giacomo Casanova
CAT#24: Audiobooks
I picked this audiobook up because it's read by Benedict Cumberbatch, and honestly I thought I could listen to him read *anything* to me. I've been proven so, so very wrong. In fact, the bit that is essentially detailing a gang rape, but couched in words that reassure the reader/listener that Casanova and his buddies meant no harm and in fact after the first go-round the girl was pretty okay with it and actually liked what was being done to her was so much worse than its already horrendous nature would suggest because of the incongruity of it being delivered via the dulcet timber of Cumberbatch's voice. Even worse is reading/listening to this in the days of Kavanaugh et al. and letting it sink in in an even more absorbing way that this is all the Same Shit, Different Century. Cripes.

>245 scaifea: Nopeity nope nope D:

On a nicer Benedict audiobook note, he narrates The Order of Time, by Carlo Rovelli, which is probably the only reason I'm picking it up! He should narrate more physics books ;)

>246 rabbitprincess: Ha! I bought that one from Audible, too, because of Cumberbatch. Here's hoping it's much, much better.

185. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
CAT#24: Audiobooks
A young solicitor is sent from London out to the moors to settle the affairs of a recluse old lady who has just passed on. He finds the local folk reticent on the subject of the woman and her estate which leaves him bemused at first, although he soon discovers the chilly truth for himself and pays a high price for the knowledge.
Good and creepy without being actually outright scary, and I like that. Hill does a lovely job with atmosphere and suspense. A cozy little ghost story in the gothic style.

186. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Jones claims to be completely in love with one woman, but then still sleazes his way through England, sleeping with nearly every female he encounters, but oh, that's okay, he's still in love with the original young lady (who, by the way, loves him back to distraction and doesn't seem to mind his extracurriculars much at all) and after all, he's really a nice young lad and Boys Will Be Boys. Gross.

Yes, I know this is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to this 'classic,' but I'm all out of hecks to give with this sort of thing right now.

>185 scaifea: I just read this myself and fully agree.

>250 MissWatson: It gets dark at the end, doesn't it? But still so well done.

>251 scaifea: Yes, I was very agreeably surprised.

187. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Ari(stotle) and Dante, two Mexican American teen boys living in 1980's El Paso, both feel like outsiders until they find each other and quickly become best friends. Ari has trouble relating to his father, is angry at his parents for not talking about the older brother in prison, and is struggling with self-hatred and finding his place in the world. Dante knows who he is and what he wants to be, but that comes with its own set of issues. Over the course of a couple of summers, the two save each other in all sorts of ways and begin to find themselves in relation to each other and the world.
Beautiful, this is. Ari and Dante are wonderfully drawn, and the issues they face are so important and relevant and so realistically handled. Highly recommended. And Lin Manuel-Miranda's fabulous job as narrator is pure icing.

188. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
October ColorCAT: Orange
A brilliant scientist challenged by a half-man half-bird to help him fly again, the scientist's half-bug half-woman artist girlfriend and her scary mob boss client, a renegade journalist hunted by the corrupt government, a massive self-aware, self-made robot, and a pack of intensely nasty, huge moths with psychedelic wings and a taste for brain juice. They all come together in a crazy-weird quest for knowledge and justice and redemption and also, by the end, simple survival, in a cool, steampunky city partially built on the bones of a giant and disturbing-on-some-mystic-level creature. Yeah, that's the best I can do to describe this one, so I'll leave it at that, along with saying that I loved it. A weird and crazy and seat-edgy ride with excellent and intricate world-building and wonderfully created characters.

>254 scaifea: I found it almost impossible to describe when I read it as well.

>255 Helenliz: Helen: I know, right? But it's so good.

189. Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain by Edward Ardizzone
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
A sweet little picture book about a boy who wants to go to sea, does so, and finds that it's more than he expected, in both good and bad ways.

190. Pecos Bill by James Cloyd Bowman
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A gathering and retelling of the Pecos Bill legends for a young audience. S'okay, but not really my favorite genre.

>254 scaifea: Glad to see you enjoy this one. Perdido Street Station is still my favourite of Miéville's works that I've read so far. Still have a few to get to at some point though.

>259 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks! This was my first of his works, but I loved it enough to know that I definitely want to read more.

191. You're Never Weird on the Internet by Felicia Day
CAT#24: Audiobooks
October alphaKIT: N
Funny, interesting, smart, insightful, and honest-to-goodness inspiring. Reader, I loved this memoir. Day does a fantastic job with the audio version, too. Definitely recommended.

192. All about Doggie and Pussycat by Josef Capek
CAT#3: 1001 Books to Read Before You Grow Up
A dog and a cat live together and have silly adventures. Cute stories and the illustrations are nice.

193. Honeyvoiced by Jordi Alonso
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
A collection of poems inspired by Sappho's fragments. These are so lovely, so well done, so much in the spirit of the originals, but with Alonso's own voice clear and bright throughout. Definitely recommended.
Jordi is a former student of mine, and I'm actually, honestly, full-on giddy about this collection of poems. I'm very grateful to know this guy; he brings out the Professor Slughorn in me...

>254 scaifea: - So happy to see that you loved Perdido! Such a strange and yet fabulous story.

>264 lkernagh: Thanks! I definitely agree.

194. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
CAT#21: Discworld Read
November colorCAT: Red
November alphaKIT: T & H
November SFFKIT: Creatures (I think the talking Raven and the Death of Rats counts, yeah?)
BingoDOG #5: Relative Name in the Title
The Hogfather, the Tooth Fairy, and other beings from the realm of pure belief are under attack, so Death steps in to save the day by donning the red suit, driving the sleigh, and filling the stockings. Hilarity, as you may expects, does its usual ensuing. One of my favorite Discworld books so far, as I do love Death to bits, and his stint as the Jolly One is weird in all the adorably right ways. His granddaughter, Susan, is fantastic, too.

>266 scaifea: I can't help thinking this, "...I do love Death to bits..." is one of the wierder sentences to type, but I so know what you mean and entirely agree. >:-)

>267 Helenliz: Ha! So true.

195. The Children of Green Knowe by L. M. Boston
CAT#22: Charlie's Bedtime Books
A boy comes to live with his great-grandmother in the ancestral family home and makes friends with the ghosts of three children who live there, too. I love this series (a re-read for me, and Charlie's first time - this was our bedtime read for the past few weeks); Tolly is such a great character, as is Mrs. Oldknow, and Boggis, and the children, and the story as a whole is so wonderfully, quietly magical.

196. Close Knit Killer by Meggie Sefton
CAT#23: Books I Read with My Mom
November randomCAT: It's All About Money
Another murder happens close to the Lambspun yarn shop in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Kelly and her friends help to find the culprit.
I like this series, even though it's not high literature; the writing isn't fabulous, but I enjoy the characters and the books are just comfy, easy reads.

197. The Codfish Musket by Agnes D. Hewes
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
I struggled through this one and really had trouble staying focused on what was happening. The main culprits are my lack of interest in the arms trade in the 18th century United States and the dated and (therefore?) dull writing. In all, demonstrably not my favorite Newbery Honor Book.

198. Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Does just what it says on the tin: the bad wolf is dumb and the little girl is precocious. Meant for quite little ones, but also I think it hasn't aged very well.

199. Sky Burial by Xinran
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
Year-Long alphaKIT: X
Xinran recounts, in beautiful terms, the story of a Chinese woman who spent thirty years wandering Tibet in search of her husband, a doctor with the People's Liberation Army who was reported killed in action during the invasion of Tibet. She didn't believe he was dead and spent most of her life looking for answers, never giving up hope that she would find him. A fascinating and wonderful story of love, loss, grief, and incredible strength, simply and lovingly retold. Highly recommended.

200. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
BingoDOG #14: Number in the Title
Chronicles the correspondence between Hanff in New York and the employees of Marks & Co, a bookshop in London. The friendship that develops lasts for 20 years, and it couldn't possibly be more wonderful, witty, or heart-warming. I do so love epistolary works, and this one has moved easily near the top of my all-time very especially favorite books.

>274 scaifea: Totally agree! I recently bought The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and am really excited to read it.

>275 christina_reads: Yes, I need to read some of her other stuff now!

201. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
BingoDOG #18: Related to the Pacific Ocean
Bill Bryson takes on Australia and gives us an account of his wanderings, mixed with his own fascinating version of its history. Fun, funny (laugh-out-loud hilarious in parts), clever (but in Bryson's distinctly sweet-and-humble way), and of course wonderfully well written, as always. Highly recommended.

202. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
CAT#22: Charlie's Bedtime Books
The second in the Lewis Barnavelt series. Spooky, but not scary, with loveable characters and inventive stories. We all love 'em.

203. Bright Island by Mabel L. Robinson
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Thankful Curtis loves life on her family's small island off the coast of Maine and balks at being sent to the mainland for school. She struggles through the changes that go along with adjusting to boarding school and life away from her island, but she's strong, resilient, and stubborn in all the right ways. I loved this coming-of-age story, with its strong characters and beautiful descriptions of island life. Published in the late 1930's, this one has aged very well. Definitely recommended.

>279 scaifea: I'm not sure I've ever read that one, but it sounds like one I would have loved back in the day!

ETA: Available as an e-book from both my public libraries!

>280 thornton37814: Lori: It's one of the best Honor books from the early years, for certain. I'm glad you've tracked down a copy!

204. Jingo by Terry Pratchett
CAT#21: Discworld Read
Ankh-Morpork goes to war with Al-Kali, and the City Watch, for various reasons, goes with it. Not my favorite Discworld book so far, but I do care a good deal for Vimes.

205. The Wonderful Farm by Marcel Aymé
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Two little sisters live with their parents on a magical farm, where the animals can talk and other things magical happen.
Meh. This one hasn't aged well, I think.

206. Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
Does just what it says on the tin: a collection of folktales from Italy. Fun, if you like that sort of thing (and I do).

Nota Bene: This is a big book and I can't claim to have read every single page; I've read many, many folktale collections over the years and so I admit that I skimmed some of this one and skipped over complete stories in some cases, if I had already encountered the same tales elsewhere.

207. Cinderella, Necromancer by F. M. Boughan
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
BingoDOG #16: Book Bought in 2017 That Hasn't Been Read Yet
A re-telling, with Cinderella as a somewhat nonplussed conjurer of dark magic. A fun and different take on the old story; some of her variations on the original are really inventive and very cool.

This one is LT member Dk_Phoenix's first novel! And it's really good! Definitely recommended.

Also, this read marks my completion of the BingoDOG! Woot!

208. Nino by Valenti Angelo
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
A young Italian boy spends his days in the fields with his mother and at home with his grandfather, thinking of his father, who has traveled to America.
Inventive neither in its story or its writing, this one. Another Newbery Honor Book that hasn't aged particularly well, I think. *shrug*

>284 scaifea: - That really large book is staring at me from the shelves. I have a hunch when I do get to it that I'll be doing some skimming as well.

>287 LittleTaiko: Folklore has so much repetition in it, too, so it's definitely excusable to skip and skim a bit with this one.

209. The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry
CAT#18: Stephen Fry: All the Books!
December ColorCAT: White
December AlphaKIT: C
Wonderful. I love Stephen Fry with every little piece of my intellectual-adoring heart. He ticks all the boxes for me: brilliant, handsome, has a deep and abiding love of language and a fabulous way with words, and utterly unattainable (for, well, reasons, of course). I'm grateful that he's willing to let us in on stories from his life, and his sometimes brutally honest manner of discussing that life makes me gleeful.

You got me with that one, Amber. I love Stephen Fry and I still miss his excellent hosting of the British TV show QI. :(

>289 scaifea: I agree! And strangely, I can hear his beautiful voice when I read his words.

>290 DeltaQueen50: Judy: Oh, I love QI, too!

>291 VivienneR: Vivienne: Yes, his voice is *wonderful.* I have all of the Harry Potter books on audio with him narrating. And also The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Heaven.

210. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
December RandomCAT: Book Received as a Gift
December AlphaKIT: W
Tense and suspenseful and sad and delightful and frustration-inducing and so perfectly creepy. I loved it.

211. Becoming by Michelle Obama
CAT#24: Audiobooks
This memoir is Everything. Every woman in this country should read it, to inspire in them thoughts of what is possible despite what odds we face daily, and it should be required reading for every man, too, to foster greater respect for the strong women around them. I loved her before reading this book and I love and respect her even more now that I've finished it. I'm grateful to her for sharing her life with us in such a candid and honest and loving way.
I have always made a habit of talking to Charlie about the books I'm reading, just as Tomm and I encourage him to talk to us about what he's reading. As I've been sharing tidbits from this book, Charlie has been fascinated, and has pursued in-depth discussions with me about various elements along the way. He's been keenly interested in what it must have been like for Sasha and Malia, who were at the beginning close to his age while living in the White House, and he was wonderstruck at Michelle Obama's own projects as First Lady, in particular the White House garden and her involvement in encouraging and helping students in Chicago and elsewhere. Last night he told me that he very much wants to read the book himself, and that makes me so happy. I'm doing my best to raise a young white male in this country to be aware of his privilege, to be aware of the injustices all around him, and to think about ways to use the former to help undo the latter. Stories like Michelle Obama's, I think, are so important to know, to learn from and be inspired by, and again I'm so grateful to her that she's shared it with us, so that folks like me and my son can learn from it what's possible, what's left to help get done, and how we can help do that.

>294 scaifea: - Really looking forward to that one coming in for me at the library!

>295 LittleTaiko: Yay - I hope you love it as much as I did!

212. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
(Fits into no particular category)
I love re-reading this one each year and every time I'm so grateful to Linda (laytonwoman3rd) for introducing Charlie and me to its wonders.

>297 scaifea: I just added my name to the ebook reserve list, but I probably won't get it before Christmas. I reserved it at the library where I'd be second in line. The other library had 2 copies but there were 4 people waiting per copy. That edition also had a couple other Christmas stories. The one I reserved has the same cover as yours!

>298 thornton37814: Lori: I think you'll love it!

213. "Hello, the Boat!" by Phyllis Crawford
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
Set in the early 1800s, this story follows a family moving from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati via a storeboat on the river. Think Little House on the water. A fun read with great characters.

214. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
CAT#24: Audiobooks
Welp, *that* was different from the Disney movie. And I loved it. I found the details about the cathedral and the city of Paris both lovely and a bit of a slog, if that's possible, but the story itself was fantastic, with an ending that I both loved and hated and loved to hate. The dark humor sprinkled throughout was wonderful and almost all the characters were excellently well-drawn. Esmeralda herself, funnily enough, is the only exception here, whose one-sidedness was doubly annoying - annoying for being one-sided, and also that one side of her character was itself frustratingly simple and meek. Overall, though, I'm thoroughly happy that I read this one, finally.

I’m planning on reading that one next year so am very happy to see that you enjoyed it so much.

>303 LittleTaiko: Yay! I hope you love it!

215. Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning by William Joyce
CAT#22: Charlie's Bedtime Books
Oh, this series. So, so good. I love these characters, the story, and Joyce's gorgeous prose. These books will always hold a very special place in my heart, because they helped my now-10-year-old son get through some pretty rough bedtimes when he was younger and so scared of nightmares. He found such comfort in the idea that the Man in the Moon and the Sandman and Nicholas St. North and all of them are out there protecting him and all children from the Nightmare King. And he still believes, bless him; and he believes that this version is the definitive version of these figures. He believes, he believes, he believes, and for that I am so grateful.

All the best to you and your family, Amber. Enjoy your Christmas.

>306 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy!

216. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
CAT#16: Books from My Read Soon! Shelves
December SFFKIT: How It All Ends
A deadly flu sweeps across the Earth and leaves, in a matter of days, very few survivors. This is the story of a handful of those leftover folks and their journeys in the thirty or so years after Day One. The stories are fascinating and thrilling and tender and heart-wrenching, and the thread that connects them all is intricately woven into the most delicate of tapestries and its mysteries are a delight to watch unwind. I didn't feel that I related to any of the characters very well, but the excellent way the tale itself was told more than made up for it. Definitely recommended, if you like post-apocalyptic stuff.

And with that last one, I've completed all of the CATs and KITs and DOG I participated in this year! I'm hoping to finish one or two more that will fit into my own categories, but the group stuff is complete!

>309 scaifea: Excellent! Wrapping up the group challenges with a bow :)

Congratulations, Amber!

>311 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

217. The Puppy Place: Maggie and Max by Ellen Miles
This has been Charlie's nightly read-aloud book lately and he finished it last night. Since it's sort of like an audiobook, I'mma count it.

218. The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
CAT#21: Discworld read
The wizards of the Unseen University sort of, accidentally, discover (and also sort of help create?) Australia, essentially.
Meh. Not my favorite of the Discworld books so far. The plot was muddier than usual and it sometimes took mental energy I didn't have to spar to keep up. *shrug*

219. The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
CAT#6: Hugo, Nebula, and Other SF and Fantasy Award Winners
An Elon Musk type wants to build a bridge from Earth to a space station and faces all sorts of challenges to make it happen.
Hm. I liked the story fine, when I could find it, but there's too much time spent detailing the engineering behind the bridge, the mechanical problems it might face and how to overcome those issues. Also, the side stories, which are nice in their own right, aren't tied well enough to the main plot, and the main character is the only one who is fleshed out in any significant way, so all the others fall fairly flat. I get that Clarke tries for some bigger statement about religion and science and faith, but I don't think he quite gets there.

220. Nansen by Anna Gertrude Hall
CAT#2: Newbery Honor Books
This Newbery Honor Book gives an account of the life of Norwegian hero Fridtjof Nansen, including his expeditions in Greenland and near the North Pole, and his humanitarian work after WWI. More interesting than I thought it would be, to be honest - it hasn't aged badly at all and I learned quite a bit about Nansen and his work.

221. Old Mrs. Pepperpot by Alf Prøysen
CAT#3: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up
An kind and witty old lady randomly shrinks to the size of a pepperpot and back again. There are adventures.
Meh. Not sure that this one has aged very well.

>317 scaifea: that's a shame, I have fond memories of these books.

>318 Helenliz: I suspect there's a need to have read them as a child to appreciate them fully as an adult.

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with good health and good reading.

>321 VivienneR: Thanks, Vivienne!

>97 scaifea:
I've been wanting to read some more Dickens recently, so your flag on Hard Times back in May caught my fancy. I like the idea of characters that deserve eyerolls and a complex plot!

>160 scaifea:
I haven't heard of Foundling, but your review plus its presence on 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up makes me want to add it to my list. Sounds like just the sort of ease reading entertaining adventure that I've been seeking out recently!

>245 scaifea:
Entertaining review of Casanova, and definitely not one that I'll be picking up any time soon despite my similar love for Cumberbatch's voice... Ouch.

>294 scaifea:
What a wonderful review of Becoming. I'm looking forward to getting to this book too.

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Happy new year and all the best to you and yours!

>323 pammab: I'll be getting to more Dickens soon, too - I've got Nicholas Nickleby queued up for a listen in the next couple of months, hopefully.

You're mention of Foundling made me go back to re-read my review - I really liked it, but had already pretty much forgotten about it! Yoicks. I need a better memory.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Casanova review, but yeah, I'd recommend giving it a hard pass. Ha!

And yay for Becoming! Such a wonderful book and I hope you love it, too!

I was a little surprised there wasn't a group read of a Dickens novel in January as there usually is.

>325 thornton37814: karenmarie who usually runs the group read of Dickens in January is reading A Tale of Two Cities with her book club late in the year. She did say she could possibly do a group read of David Copperfield or Oliver Twist in the spring in a message to me yesterday. Are you interested? I am going to message her back tomorrow.

> 326 I'd join for David Copperfield (I have an unread copy on the shelves) so do please keep us posted on any updates.

>326 luvamystery65: >327 Helenliz: Hi, ladies! Enjoy the group read, if it happens; I'm not very good at those, so I'll just cheer you on from the bleachers.

>326 luvamystery65: I'm game for a group read of either.