November AlphaKIT: T and H

The rules are... none! Use the letters however you like to choose your reads for the month.

November AlphaKIT letters are : T and H.

and

Please remember to update the wiki and enter books alphabetically: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

At the moment I'm looking at "The Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guangzhong and Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon

I'm definitely going to be reading Red River by Lalita Tademy since that's also my ColorCat book. I'm still debating on 'H', but thinking of going with either The House by Christina Lauren or The Only Good Lawyer by Jeremiah Healy.

I have A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara for this one. It's not a little book though...

I am planning on Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor by Patrick Taylor and The Library At the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

I usually find things that fit other challenges that also fit here, so I'll have to look a bit further before committing to something. I will likely still pick a few options that don't necessarily fit other challenges, particularly ones that have been on my tbr longer.

I have a few titles immediate at hand, though admittedly I’m not that thrilled about them right now. I’ll have to wait and see what mood I’m in when the time comes:

• Hellboy: An Assortment of Horrors (by y various)
• ‘Trapeze’ (a.k.a. The Girl who Fell from the Sky by Simon Mawer)
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (by Jules Verne)
• The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (by Ayana Mathis)

Oh .. .I think I'll finally get Tony Hillerman's Listening Woman read, and cover both T & H!

I have November covered (provided I finish) with The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomes Hardy.

>10 Kristelh: good timing! I was just thinking about what classic to tackle in November...and realized I've never read anything by Thomas Hardy.

>11 fuzzi:, I really like Thomas Hardy, so hope you enjoy!

I've got 2 books picked out that cover both T & H: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay and A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey. I'm also planning on reading the first in the Charles Todd Bess Crawford series, A Duty to the Dead.

Looks like I'll be reading:
- H. H. Holmes: The True History... / Adam Selzer

and
- Into the Storm / Reed Timmer

I have a long list of books still to be read this year but I narrowed down November to these: (I did stretch a few with "the" in a few spots)

✔Bah! Humbug!
Hair of the Dog
✔Harvest of Secrets
✔Just in Time
✔Lion in The Valley
✔Murder at Harbor Village
Murder by The Book
✔Murder Made To Order
✔Poppy Harmon Investigates
✔Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
✔Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon
✔Tart of Darkness
The Hour of Death
The Lady Risks All
The Little Shop of Found Things
Thread Herrings
Vintage Death by Mary Ellen Hughes

My latest Early Review win will be my T choice: Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan, which is absolutely wonderful!

For H, I hope to read Imperium by Robert Harris and The house in Charlton Crescent by Annie Haynes.

I've got a lot of books planned that will fit in here. The first is finished: Days of Panic by Jack Hunt. Full review written if interested, but there's some ranting involved...

>17 whitewavedarling: I love a good rant! :-D

My first two November reads fit here: First Test by Tamora Pierce and Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley. Really enjoyed both of them.

>18 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, they can be cathartic!

Meanwhile, this next one didn't bring up a rant, but it wasn't all that great. Nevertheless, review written, and book finished. It was a very fast read, so I'll give it that. Count me done with Darkness Begins by Harley Tate.

Starting "Chronicle of the Russian Tsars" by David Warnes

Finished The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy.

I'm currently reading Tawny by Thomas Hinkle, a two-for-one this month!

Finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

>24 Kristelh: Ooh! I read that last year and loved it! I even bought a Blu-Ray copy of Casablanca just so I could watch "that scene." I've watched it a couple times since and I still get a little thrill when Rick does "that thing!" ;-)

Two for One!
Tony Hillerman wrote Listening Woman
3***

Book three in the Joe Leaphorn mystery series begins with Listening Woman trying to perform a cleansing / healing ritual for Hosteen Tso, an old man who refuses to divulge all he knows. The blind healer leaves Tso’s side for a few moments, during which time he is murdered. About six months later, Joe Leaphorn is nearly run off the road by a mystery man with a large dog in his car, there are reports of missing Boy Scouts, and people have reported seeing a helicopter (or helicopters) in the area.

I like Leaphorn; he’s smart, determined, physically and mentally strong, quick to respond to a threat but also deliberate and cautious. It took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of this mystery. The convoluted plot didn’t help much, and my attention wandered. Once Leaphorn got caught up in the chase, however, I was fully engaged and fairly flew through the second half of the book.

Into the Storm / Reed Timmer
4 stars

Reed Timmer is a meteorologist and storm chaser. (Apparently, though I didn’t know this before I picked up the book), he also hosts a tv show on Discovery Channel called “Storm Chasers”. He grew up in Michigan, but being the weather geek he was, he moved to the middle of “Tornado Alley”, Norman, Oklahoma, to go to college to become a meteorologist. While there, he became fixated on chasing storms, mostly tornadoes, but he also went after a couple of big hurricanes (including Katrina).

I really liked this. He does really stupid things, but hey, I’ll live vicariously through his stories! I love watching storms, and though I’m not even close to being a risk-taker, I think it would be fun to do a tornado chasing holiday one day (but with a more conservative chaser, not Reed Timmer)! The book included some photos, and as part of the footer at the bottom of the page, there were small tornado photos, as well; those stayed the same through a small portion of the book before changing to new photos. I just thought that was a nice extra touch

COMPLETED Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon

Completed My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Komie.

Finished The Hours by Michael Cunningham, was pretty good. I read Mrs. Dalloway last month so happy that this book came up in my TBR challenge over at GR Reading 1001 group.

Read Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev which was short and quite a good read. He did an excellent job of showing the difference between the younger generation who are full of plans on how they are going to change the world and the older generation who are a bit bewildered at finding their way of life called into question.

I read this last month, but in case anyone is searching for an 'H'

Heidi – Johanna Spyri
Digital audiobook performed by Johanna Ward.
4.5****

This classic of children’s literature tells the story of Heidi, a young orphan girl who lives with her gruff grandfather up on a Swiss mountain. She befriends Peter, the goatherd, and becomes beloved by all the villagers.

I’d seen the Shirley Temple movie about a million times when I was a child and absolutely loved it, but I had never read the book. It’s a wonderful story about a child who has lost much but relishes all that she has. She’s intelligent, open-minded, hind-hearted and has a great generosity of spirit. She comes across several mean-spirited (and downright nasty) people, but her cheerfulness wins over many people and she eventually prevails.

I listened to the audio performed by Johanna Ward. She does a marvelous job, with clear diction and a pace that isn’t too fast for younger listeners to absorb.

>32 BookConcierge: My mother read this to me before I could read and I loved it. I can still recall an illustration of Heidi with her grandfather. I've thought of reading it again but haven't because it might not live up to my memories.

December thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/298750

COMPLETED Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings by Jonathan Swift

Two for One!
COMPLETED A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman

Banner month for me so far, four read that match this challenge:

Tawny by Thomas Hinkle (T & H!)

Tacey Cromwell by Conrad Richter

The Radney Riding Club by Josephine Pullein-Thompson

Thundering Hooves edited by Christine Pullein-Thompson

I have completed both my planned reads for this months AlphaKit: Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor by Patrick Taylor and The Library At The Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

I've only just realised (duhhhh) The Merchant's House by Kate Ellis fits here. COMPLETED

>39 Robertgreaves: allright!!!!

True Legend (by Mike Lupica; narrated by Prentice Onayemi) - I started this short, six-and-a-half-hour audiobook at the end of October, hoping to squeeze it in for the "L" part of that month's challenge but just now wrapped it up for the "T" part of this month's challenge! It was no fault of the writer's skill or the narrator's performance, but because I started a new job that has really sucked out all the reading and listening air in the room, metaphorically speaking. I decided that this week (U.S. Thanksgiving) would be the perfect time to catch up!

This is a middle-grade book about a high school senior who has the attitude and latitude granted to a promising basketball star. Dealing with opportunists, hangers-on, his friends, and family, he finds escape on a park court at night where he meets a "playground legend." Older, but clearly with professional level ball-handling skills, the man's past come to light as he becomes involved in the boy's life. The story is clean (definitely family friendly) and edifying, but really a boy's story and/or for basketball fans. The audiobook narrator enunciated clearly and differentiates characters well in dialogue, but there is something a little formal or stiff in his overall presentation. In the end, three-and-a-half stars from me.

Starting Descartes: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Sorell.

>41 Tanya-dogearedcopy: thank you for that interesting review. I may keep an eye out for that book.

COMPLETED Descartes: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Sorell

Finished a couple more Ts and one T & H; Page by Tamora Pierce, Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi and Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. I'm working on an H, but not sure if I'll finish by the end of the month; The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

Finished Jason by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Brave New World (by Aldous Huxley; narrated by Michael York) - This is a title that, when it appears on one of those "Have You Read...?' lists, I always pause. Surely, I must have read it in high school? Or am I confusing it with Orwell? Since, I don't remember any of it, though, I suppose I can't count it. Then I saw that I had this in my audible library and thought it was the Ghost of Gutenberg to, "Get on with it!" Wow. If I did read this before, I'm shocked that I don't remember it: It's a Classic dystopian tale, a commentary on modernity and a treatise on the costs of happiness. My eyebrows were raised quite a few times when Huxley went places that seemed contradictory, prescient, and insightful. There is a story of sorts, but it's more that there are characters that serve as vehicles to drive home Huxley's points/thoughts. The recording wasn't the best: occasional sounds of booth noises and some odd pauses, but the performance itself was wonderful. Michael York was pitch perfect, delivering outrage, decorum, and bewilderment convincingly; the character delineations were distinctive; and I'm always a sucker for a British narrator ;-)

I found a first-edition first-run hardback copy of China Miéville's novella, This Census-Taker at the Dollar Store! It's the story of a boy who witnesses one of his parents killing the other. Maybe. It's a little bit of a mystery, dark and unsettling in tone and set in a Gaiman-esque "other" world that may be post-apocalyptic. It took me a long time to feel the shape of the story: I didn't know what was going on until nearly the end when it all fell into place. And even after I had finished it, I had to go back to a few passages to get some clarity. This probably deserves better than the 2-1/2 star rating I've given it here on LT but with the odd way of the MC referring to himself as a boy in the third person, the enigmatic symbolism, and the overall bewilderment on my part for most of the book, it's hard to see my way clear to more stars.

Covering BOTH T & H for Author TONY HILLERMAN


Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman
3***
Book three in the Joe Leaphorn mystery series begins with Listening Woman trying to perform a cleansing / healing ritual for Hosteen Tso, an old man who refuses to divulge all he knows. The blind healer leaves Tso’s side for a few moments, during which time he is murdered. About six months later, Joe Leaphorn is nearly run off the road by a mystery man with a large dog in his car, there are reports of missing Boy Scouts, and people have reported seeing a helicopter (or helicopters) in the area.

I like Leaphorn; he’s smart, determined, physically and mentally strong, quick to respond to a threat but also deliberate and cautious. It took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of this mystery. The convoluted plot didn’t help much, and my attention wandered. Once Leaphorn got caught up in the chase, however, I was fully engaged and fairly flew through the second half of the book.

T for TRENTON (author first name)


The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Digital audiobook read by Del Roy

4****

From the book jacket: When the peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious mind-bending tests. But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

My Reactions
A fun adventure story of friendship and loyalty. Reynie, Kate, Constance and Sticky (real name George) are quite the team. They’re chosen for the mission based on their intelligence, creativity, determination and courage. And they definitely have to use all those attributes, as well as other talents to thwart the evil Mr Curtain’s scheme for taking over the world.

I can certainly see the appeal for middle-grade readers. There are issues common to all children (and adults) here – what makes us afraid, bullying, learning to get along, tolerance for other people’s difference. The scenarios are somewhat ridiculous, but that’s all part of the fun, and will certainly get the reader’s imagination fired up.

Del Roy does a marvelous job reading the audiobook. He set a good pace, quick enough for the adventure to come through, not so quick as to lose the listener. The characters really come alive in his narration as well.

Fort T I have read Transcription by Kate Anderson.

Working on a double-dipper, Time For the Stars by Robert Heinlein, both T and H!

Last night I picked up Hate Notes (by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward,) a contemporary romance novel set in the corporate world of property management headquartered in NYC. I was in the mood for something light, and this seemed like it would fit the bill with the promise of a rom-com. It started out well enough but this may be a case of "too many cooks": The narrative became bogged down with a morass of sub-plots, the promised "hate notes" didn't really develop into anything (more attention was paid to the main characters' bucket lists,) and the comic elements quickly gave way to serious issues. I did like the some of the focus on happiness independent of others, and on a superficial note, I thought the cover was hot and had the added bonus of actually looking the character inside. IN the end howver, I felt like I had read a mishmash of novels forced together.

Finished How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire--full review written :) It was a lot of fun, though I admit that I had higher expectations because of reading more recent work by Kerrelyn Sparks. I think I would have enjoyed it even more otherwise.

H.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil / Adam Selzer
4 stars

H.H. Holmes, born Herman Mudgett, did more than murder women in his “hotel” during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. He was all about money and not shy about committing fraud to gain it. He had a number of alias’s, and he lied all the time. He was “married” to three women, but only legally married to the first, since he never divorced her. He eventually wrote a “confession” with more lies, as he confessed to killing people he couldn’t have. He was only convicted of murdering one person, Ben Pitezel, though it’s fairly certain, he also killed three of Ben’s children. There were a few women who worked for/with him in his “hotel” who were most likely murdered by him.

There is so much misinformation out there. Adam Selzer went to primary sources to write this book. Even many of those are not reliable, but Selzer does his best to sift through all the information and try to come up with the most plausible story of Holmes. It was good, and for enjoyment of/interest in the book, I’d actually give it 3.5 stars (good), but I really want to give it an overall of 4 stars for all the detailed research. I feel like this should be the primary book on Holmes, with all the research that went into it. Selzer also looks at other books/articles written about Holmes and looks deeper into where the information came from for those works to determine how legitimate the information is (including Eric Larson’s “The Devil in the White City”). Well worth the read for anyone interested in learning more about Holmes.

Read Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber which is the second in the Verity Kent series. Enjoyable but I prefer her other series more.

Starting "Off The Beaten Path" by John Lewis Taylor

I've just finished Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire. And I've just started The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

I somehow managed to read books for both letters this month! For "H" I read Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer, which was a total delight! And for "T" I read Season for Temptation by Theresa Romain, which was a fine but unexceptional Regency romance. (I'll likely read the next in the series, though!)

COMPLETED "Off the Beaten Path" (no touchstone) by John Lewis Taylor

Starting "Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction" by Michael Inwood

I'm reading Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. It's pretty good so far.

COMPLETED Heidegger: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Inwood

Starting "Agatha Raisin and the First Two Tantalising Cases" by M. C. Beaton

I hit a bonus title in my stacks, "H" for the title and "T" for the author! :-)

The Hobbit (by J.R.R. Tolkien; narrated by Rob Inglis) - I first read this and The Lord of the Rings trilogy many, many years ago, probably when I was in high school. The quest, the journey, the fantastical bests that Tolkien created made a huge impression on me and I have always held the story with some reverence in my mind. I picked the audiobook up a few years ago for my daughter, who was struggling a bit with the print edition, but it wasn't until this year that I listened to it myself. I was surprised at how much I had remembered and how much I forgot! I was also unexpectantly caught up with some of the tension of the story.

However, I think if I were to re-read this again, I would go back to the print. The audio was recorded in 1991 and, at the time I'm sure the audiobook publishers were very excited to have a musical score written for the audio edition and to have the narrator sing the songs in the book, but the narrative style wasn't to my taste, and I wasn't that keen on the singing either. The audiobook narrator seemed to be forcing his voice into false registers to create character voices, and many of the characters had the same voice. The scene with Gollum was nearly unintelligible.

And finally, I wasn't happy on the style/tone of the performance either. I know the book is often on the shelves of middle school libraries, but I had always thought of it as a book for all ages. The audiobook narrator used a patronizing voice I associate with Kindergarten teachers (and before you jump all over me for that, I have nothing against Kindergarten teachers. Except when they talk to me like I'm one of their students!)

So yeah, overall, still love the story but wasn't happy with the audiobook edition and won't be returning to the audio (same narrator) for The Lord of the Rings.

November has been profitable!


Tawny by Thomas Hinkle


Tacey Cromwell by Conrad Richter


The Radney Riding Club by Josephine Pullein-Thompson


Thundering Hooves edited by Christine Pullein-Thompson


Jump-shy by Joan Houston (reread)


Time For the Stars by Robert Heinlein


One Day Event by Josephine Pullein-Thompson

I think I'm going to finish one more for this challenge, as I'm about 3/4 though my current read, another juvenile SciFi Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein. In the past I've mainly read Heinlein's older works, but am now enjoying his so-called juvies, which have the same interesting storylines and possibilities but without some of the more (ahem) "adult" situations.

Unless it falls apart in the last few chapters, this one is going to be on my recommended list.

Unexpectedly finished one more for the month. The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg was a very quick read, sweet yet predictable.

>64 fuzzi: Time for the Stars is one of my favourite Heinleins, though I don't remember if any horses were involved :-)

>66 Robertgreaves: hahaha, nope. Funny how I had so many unread pony books...

I surprised myself by getting five books read/listened to this month for this challenge! Of course, none of them were on the list that I posted at the beginning of the month!

True Legend (by Mike Lupica; narrated by Prentice Onayemi)
Brave New World (by Aldous Huxley; narrated by Michael York)
This Census-Taker (by China Miéville)
Hate Notes (by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward)
The Hobbit (by J. R. R. Tolkien; narrated by Rob Inglis)

Three were taken from my TBR stacks/TBL queue (True Legend, Brave New World, and The Hobbit,) and that last one also worked for the SFFkit challenge of the month ("creatures.") So onward to December!

True or Poo?, by Dani Rabaioitti and Nick Caruso
A Brief History of Time Lords, by Steve Tribe
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy (translated by Constance Garnett)
MacGregor's Gathering, by Nigel Tranter

Hamlet, Revenge!, by Michael Innes
Hope Never Dies, by Andrew Shaffer
Let's Go Exploring: Calvin and Hobbes, by Michael Hingston