Threadnsong Reads Thru 2020

Last year, I listed each month by author: what I read and what I re-read.

This year, I'll go through my new and TBR piles in a similar vein: what authors are known, and who are some new authors for me. I think this method will help me through reading more of books I buy because I like the author (Irene Radford, Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood) and books I buy because they sound interesting. And there's a great used bookstore that has a great selection of sci-fi and fantasy books, though sometimes I'll pull an Ann Rule true crime off the shelf, or look at the Patricia Cornwall lying and waiting to be read.

I'll organize everything in the next few weeks while I review some books I finished last year and get caught up in the starting afresh of 2020!

January new author - Ian Watson, The Book of Being
February new author - Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart
March new author - since I'm involved in an Irish-themed (for March) book challenge, along with the SFFKit challenge for March, I'm reading or re-reading known authors. And will be happy to get through them!
April new author - Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy and the Six and possibly also Lawrence Block, The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams. Because, baseball.
May new author - David Dvorkin, Star Trek: Timetrap
June new author - Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale
July new author - For right now, I think July will probably be finish up some unfinished June books. 1) Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser. 2) The Image of the King by Richard Ollard.
August non-fiction - Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon, The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
September non-fiction - Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
October non-fiction - I think I will skip this one, because my choice for October's fiction is quite large, and I have discovered John Scalzi thanks to a fantastic interview on DragonCon virtual.
November non-fiction - Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump
December non-fiction - I think this month may just be the month I stick with fiction.

January known author - Irene Radford, Guardian of the Promise
February known author - Lynn Cullen, Reign of Madness
March known author - At long last! Isaac Asimov, Foundation
April known author - Patricia Cornwell Isle of Dogs and Charles de Lint, Moonheart. Cuz things are tough and I need some familiarity and comfort "food."
May known author - Robert A. Heinlein, Friday
June known author - Still working on this one.
July known author - Well, since I didn't have an author last month, I think I'll have Juliet Marillier The Blade of Fortriu for this month. I started it in early March and things just got too complex. So I'll pick it up and start it again. It's a re-read. And added The Well of Shades because, gluttony.
August fiction - The Rowan by Anne McCaffery
September fiction - Murder of Angels by Caitlin Kiernan
October fiction - The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
November fiction - Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
December fiction - Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (need to finish this excellent book!), The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness will have to go to 2021!

Happy 2020 reading!

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

Enjoy your 2020 reading.

Happy reading in 2020!

Good luck with your 2020 reading!

Happy reading!

>4 thornton37814: >5 rabbitprincess: >6 DeltaQueen50: >7 JayneCM: >8 Tess_W: and >9 MissWatson:

Thank you so much for your good wishes, and happy reading to you!

My New Year's Resolutions always involve staying on top of my reading, and 2020 is no different. I look forward to these books and all the worlds that they bring.

Made some good headway in The Book of Being over the weekend. I just love bringing books to the mechanics for my car! Makes the waiting time less dreary. Then there was a visit to Starbucks, though I must say their muffins are mostly sugary flour with blueberries. Finished half of it cuz I just didn't need that sugar high.

Happy 2020 reading! I look forward to hearing what you think about Kushiel's Dart.

>12 LisaMorr: Thank you, Lisa! I was scanning the first part to see if I really wanted to read it for February, and the writing really gripped me.

I'm only reading it during my lunch hour so I'm not as far along as I would like to be (it's been busy at work) but I'll work on getting some chunks read. And I'll definitely report back to you on what I think!

January Known Author - Irene Radford, Guardian of the Promise
4****

A continuation of the earlier volume Guardian of the Vision, with the nearly-grown children from that earlier time who set off on adventures of their own. There are a lot of children, and while this works well at the beginning it does leave some strands caught waving in an English gale.

The book starts well, with the main/narrated character, Deirdre, taking the action with "I". She is the daughter of Father Griffin and Roanna of Scotland, and is fostered by her uncle, Donovan. Donovan is father to three children: Beth (by his first wife) and twins Hal and Griffin. So, keeping all these characters straight and with their own story arcs is one of the challenges this book faces.

What Radford does well is concentrate on the most central characters and on Queens Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as introducing a new evil element: werewolves. She's able as an author to see where a storyline might go stale and resolves that conundrum with something other than demons or (the obvious) vampires. And the werewolves here have their own social structure and a mad master, El Lobison, who controls them through their priestess, Yassimine.

Another thing I liked about this book was that Radford does not shy away from making central characters dis-likeable, while still weaving a story around them. Donovan is pretty wishy-washy and not as capable with his magic to throw off his spell-cast love for Mary. And Yassimine, who in her captivity longs to kill El Lobison, she instead realizes after many years that he has made all decisions for her and she does not wish to do so for herself.

As with others in this series, this book goes to many different locales in key moments in Western European history, such as the aftermath of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (orchestrated by El Lobison) and brings in the tensions and friction of the time (Protestant vs. Catholic). And while there are sections with fast-paced action at the beginning, introducing the key plot elements, the last third slows down to a number of years, when Deirdre and Michael are married and running their pub that helps gather information for Sir Francis Walsingham on Queen Elizabeth's behalf.

January New Author - Ian Watson, The Book of Being
3 1/2 ***

Hmmm. Well. Hmmm. It's pretty good, given that it's the only book in the series I ever read. In fact, I found it on my bookshelves over the holidays and the original sales receipt, from 1991, was still in it! So it was high time.

It picks up where the original story left off. And the fact that the story line is cohesive in itself, that previous characters are discussed and developed, showed that this was a work by a good author. The protagonist, Yaleen, is newly reincarnated and discusses her installment as a priestess despite being a three-year-old. Apparently this world recognizes different incarnations and honors the spirit despite the appearance of the new body. Or its age.

Some of the conflicts involve the River and whether men can sail on it more than once, and an entity called the Godmind in the guise of a giant serpent. And the latter part of the book became a little convoluted where Yaleen partakes of a potion (?) that slows time so that a ritual can take place. It was hard for me to determine if Yaleen is crushed to death (again) and visits other souls as a spirit in an attempt to end the Godmind. And if the end of the book is the continuation of the series, and the reincarnation was a part of the ritual or just what exactly happened. Still, I enjoyed it, and I'm glad to have finally read it!

February New Author - Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart
5*****

Wow, what a fantastic book! I picked it up a few years back, intrigued by the idea of political machinations and a woman who uses her abilities as a spy while also a courtesan, and I was so totally immersed in the world I found it hard to put down. Jacqueline Carey's abilities as a writer breathe life from the first few sentences into the live of Phedre and her world (loosely based on medieval Western Europe and the British Isles). She can turn a swordfight into a song of 5 sentences, or the siege of 30,000 Skaldic warriors into a panorama of 2 paragraphs, and still I felt as though I were there. There are political intrigues a-plenty for any "Game of Thrones" fans.

The main character is born into a world where "Love as thou wilt" is woven into the fabric of Terre d'Ange (France), where a son of Mary Magdalene's tears and Yeshua's blood from the Cross is born from the Earth and Elua wanders it with His Chosen. One of them is his mistress, Naamah, the Companion of Love, and Phedre is born into this world. She is abandoned by her parents so that they may go more a-roving, and the mote of red in her eye marks her as an "anguisette" who experiences pain as pleasure.

There are some S&M sex scenes, though not nearly as graphic as vampire-does-everyone-s/he-can (they are more part of the plot than thrown in to sell books), and being a scion of one of Naamah's Thirteen Houses is seen as a calling in the way that others are wheelwrights or shop keepers. Phedre is brought up to serve and finally taken into the care of Delauney, a learned man with a household and a mysterious past. He brings up Phedre and Alcuin to serve as spies while training them at their craft of sexual pleasure. And there are strict rules in this world: for every assignation, a contract is drawn up; a courtesan has a marque tatooed into her/his back, and when that marque is complete, they are no longer under contract to a House and may choose their own assignations. In addition, Delauney guards his charges with an armed guard for their safety.

And there is royalty in and out of these pages, and an aged King, his unwed granddaughter, traitors to the crown, Universities of learning, legends of the Master of the Straits (the seas between Terre d'Ange and Alba), and raids by the Skaldi into the fertile lands. The writing is gripping, the action takes place without apology, and over it all is a worshipfulness of love in its many forms.

February Known Author - Lynn Cullen, Reign of Madness
5*****

It's five stars for a couple of reasons: the fleshing out of characters based on contemporary accounts is masterful; and once again, Lynn Cullen manages to bring an otherwise unknown woman to life. And yet, for the subject matter, it is a sad and tragic life.

Juana of Castile was an older sister to Catherine of Aragon, and the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. She was raised to be a princess and is willing to marry he-whom-her-parents-wanted, which she does with great enthusiasm when that time comes. The prince she marries is Phillippe the Good, Duc of Burgundy who starts as a caring, lustful husband and later becomes her jailer.

While the term "gas lighting" has only recently come into vogue, that is exactly what Phillippe does to her, and does to her subjects. Juana becomes Queen of parts of Spain due to older siblings' deaths, but Phillippe's machinations, along with those of her great aunt-in-law, the Dowager Margeret of England, create an environment where she turns over these titles to him. Whether she meant to, whether she wanted to, is one of the puzzles that this book delves into. Also explained are several instances that Phillippe uses to cast doubt about her sanity to her subjects and to her father; Ferdinand also has a hand in seizing her titles.

The worst part about reading this book is where it ends up: Juana spends more than 50 years imprisoned by her husband, father, and eldest son. For no crime other than just being. It gives her story a poignancy that is hard to resolve when reading the masterful characterization of this bright, beautiful young girl who, like Marie Antoinette, never inherited the spine? strength of character? that her mother wielded against her enemies.

March Known Author - Isaac Asimov, Foundation
4 1/2****

A classic science fiction book which still, despite its emphasis on atomic power and almost no women in key roles, provides insights into humanity that still hold true.

The premise is that the Galactic Empire and its home planet of Trantor are going to fall after twelve thousand years of interstellar rule, and millennia of chaos will ensue. Thirty thousand years, per Hari Seldon's psychohistory calculations. However, Dr. Seldon has devised a plan through his Encyclopedia Galactica project that will result in only a thousand years of anarchy.

And brilliantly, Asimov shows key points in the start of that thousand years, individual short histories that have bearing on one another only because each key person in those histories realizes that they are coming to a Seldon-anticipated moment: there seems to be no way out of their particular galactic situation except for one, and that would be what Seldon predicted.

I read this book in my early 20's, liked it well enough, but remember being jarred by the decades and centuries between the stories. Now, I read it with a lot more understanding of human interaction, and some measure of cynicism, which helps Asimov's originality shine through.

>17 threadnsong: a BB for me! But I guess I will hunt for book 1 in the series, first!

>19 Tess_W: Happy hunting, Tess, and let me know what you find!

April Known Author - Charles de Lint, Moonheart
5***** and a heart

Where do I begin with this review of one of the most influential books in my life? It is splendid. I have read and re-read it for (literally) decades, and I always find something new in it. Whether it's the explanation of the magick that resides in music, to the idea of an Otherworld that exists next to our own, the chance finding of magical items, there are elements that continue to draw me in.

The basic premise is a house in Ottawa built by the grandfather of the current owner that is massive and takes up one entire city block. It houses Jamie Tams and his orphaned niece, Sara. They have an inheritance and run a little flea market where Sara finds some interesting artifacts in a box in the back. Concurrently, the local RCMP are running an operation looking into the paranormal, but behind those scenes is a rich, evil business man who craves absolute power.

Woven into this tale of music and mystery is the feud between the Welsh bard Taliesin, the druid he cast into stone before being set off across the Atlantic in a coracle, and the mythical beings who inhabit the New World, a seemingly ageless sorcerer's apprentice, and the Ottawa folk music scene, and the tale-telling abilities of a master story teller, and you have a classic urban fantasy.

April New Author - Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six
5*****

Had this not been a gift from a friend, I don't know if I would have treated myself to it. And if I hadn't, I would have regretted my choice. Because it is an amazing, wonderful book. I was just on the young side of many of the supergroups from the 70's: I could enjoy their music on the radio but I was not old enough to attend many of their concerts. Still, it's the music I grew up with and it influence my life choices.

Reid captures the feel of a band in this gem of a book: the talent, the personalities, the struggles, and the interactions. It's not enough to just say "egos," it's also the interactions that take place under the stress of touring together with the high of playing in front of a live audience. She structures the book as a series of interviews with the members, manager, sound tech, and all those associated with a fictional 70's band. It is a brilliant way to bring this story to life in a way that is authentic to rock music of this era. Highly recommend it to appreciators of any music genre, especially those of use who lived through these times (or wondered about what it was like to live through them).

On a LT note, I've been catching up on several starred pages on this group and found that everyone is posting about COVID and quarantine and how it is affecting their lives. So here's my story.

in early March, DH went into the hospital for what we expected was a quick, hour-long, in-and-out surgery. Then I didn't hear from the Doc, and I began to get very, very worried. Very quickly. I had brought 2 books to the waiting room: Foundation by isaac Asimov and Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier. Both are favorite authors, though from different genres. And I had to keep reading "Foundation" because for the first time, I couldn't get into Marillier's world. Her language is rich but it was too rich for me at that time.

DH ended up being at the hospital for 4 more days, and thank goodness work was fine with me being out. No questions, just tell us how you're doing. I work with a good group. And we kept wondering out loud to the nurses how this new virus was going to affect them and they didn't seem too concerned about it.

Fast forward a fortnight and suddenly we are all working at home, cities and later states are being "shut down" and I begin to realize I need to read books that are easy to digest. Irish folk tales for one group, easy reads, that sort of thing. I do notice that I'm able to read a lot more because no commute, no evening activities, just close down my work laptop and get dinner ready.

Then in early April DH needs to go back to the hospital. I take him to the ER in the overnight hours, and there are signs up: "No Visitors." I see him through the hospital room doors but can't go in to see if he's OK or if there's any paperwork to be filled out. Nope, nada. Within a month, hospitals have changed that drastically. Masks, concerns, gloves, worries, all are now a part of the day-to-day lives of healthcare professionals. It didn't used to be this way.

So now, he's home after the third and (hopefully) final hospital stay. Our unspoken conversation was "I hope he doesn't get COVID in the hospital." And the hospital had that conversation, too, and they kept him in a separate wing. But when I read/hear about nursing homes and the conditions under which their workers operate, my heart breaks. And I feel a bit of survivor's guilt.

I am, thankfully still working. His unemployment checks are coming through, though we are still waiting for our paper checks (haven't e-filed in a while, it's a long story). We have our house, we have good friends, we have a neighborhood that is healed by the gifts of food we bring one another, live solo performances played at driveways or on lawns (where I play weekly), and waves across our street. We don't bang pots and pans but on calm evenings at 7:00 I light blue candles on my front porch railing.

My thoughts are with so many people: healthcare workers, sanitation workers, electrical folks, water maintenance workers, everyone who is able to go out, day after day, in difficult or impossible conditions and do their jobs. And yes, I feel for everyone who is not gainfully employed. Remember - do something during this down time. If you have to bag groceries or work part-time at an essential business, it is still work. I've been in your shoes and it sucks. Ask for help, as it seems as though you will get it.

We live in a time with an amazing communication situation brought by the internet. And sites are sticking to their decisions to limit mis-information about this virus. People are posting that they need food, and neighbors bring bags of it. People need their yards mowed, and neighbors step in. People decide they're going to play music on their front lawn, and people stop for a moment, just a moment, to be healed. We joke about not knowing what day it is. We do, though, have more ability to learn about what's the latest news than the 1918 Spanish Flu, or the Black Plague, or any other pandemic in human history. Cities are looking to the homeless and hotels are offering rooms. Restaurants are fixing food for health care workers. We have water and soap and toilet paper. Mostly!

Keep reading, everyone. I'm catching up on easy-to-read now, and grateful to this LT community for keeping me connected.

April Other New Author - Lawrence Block, The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams
4****

This was a really funny book. And you know, I know people like Bernie Rhodenbarr, with his strange, cynical sense of humor. They are good people and I think if I did not know real people, I may not have enjoyed this book as much as I did. And while it is one of a series, it works very well as a standalone.

It's NYC in the mid-90s so it is a slower paced world with people who make phone calls from pay phones and no internet. Bernie is a reformed burglar who is making a living off his low rent bookstore until his new landlord steps in. And lo and behold, the low rent is now going to be upped by $10K per month.

And then Bernie's burgling itch starts up that evening over drinks with his good friend and fellow small business owner, Carol. He really doesn't mean to, but he eventually winds up in an apartment where the rich older couple is in Europe for a while, and things happen. Like, jewelry and cash and, wait, why is this door locked? Oh. it is, and there's a dead guy in it. But the door only locks from the inside (an interesting look at burgling and the tools and the folks who are able to enter locked doors and drawers) and how did he get dead?

A cast of characters that border on the all-money-but-no-brains category ensures that I had to keep guessing who was doing what. Oh, and some of them were related to one another for an interesting plot twist. Then there was the stolen baseball card collection and the reasoning for some cards being more valuable than others, and you get a funny and strangely twisted story of burgling and mayhem and a very strange ending. I will say it did not go at all the way I expected.

Thanks for sharing your story, best wishes to you and your husband for health and safety.

>23 threadnsong: - Oh wow. As you have stated, it is amazing how quickly our lives have changed. Hoping you and DH are keeping safe and healthy and thank goodness for the escapism offered through reading.

>25 DeltaQueen50: Thank you so much, DeltaQueen. It felt right to share, and I'm very glad I did. And thank you for your continued postings and observations on life!

>26 lkernagh: Thank you also. Yes, the change in our lives is very striking; what used to be "science fiction" has quickly become the norm. And yes, we are staying safe and healthy, thanks for checking, and I hope you are as well.

April Other Known Author - Patricia Cornwell, Isle of Dogs
4****

A quietly, darkly humorous take on the usual Dr. Kay Scarpetta investigative murder mysteries. And while most of the humor is not the "laugh out loud" variety (until Trip, the seeing-eye mini-horse comes on the scene), this book and its characters throw out many humorous instances even in the dark parts.

As is usual with Cornwall's books, there are several threads going around: a string of unsolved murders and mayhem; a psychopath or several; a woman at the top of the Police Department; and a political player who works every angle to secure his position.

Add to this the arrangement of a young police/investigative officer who has gone on an extended leave of absence in order to research subjects for a proposed "Trooper Truth" website (as was common in the early days of the internet), a nearly blind governor whose intestines are riddled with discomfort, and the independently-minded folk of the Island of Tangiers, right off the Virginia coast, and you have ingredients for a wry look at mayhem and the impossible happening just the way we always hope it would.

May New Author - David Dvorkin, Star Trek: Timetrap
3 1/2 ***

It is a solid three stars for me. The usual characters are explored, and by this point the "canon" of Star Trek books has become solidified and this one is #40 in the series (just before "The Next Generation" starts its run).

The Enterprise finds itself in the same part of the galaxy where "The Tholian Web" took place and a similar jump through time occurs. This time, though, Kirk finds himself not in and out of the Enterprise but solidly on board a Klingon warship with a crew of strangely garbed Klingons. They are gentle and thoughtful, and tell him that he has jumped forward 100 years through a space-time disturbance.

As time passes, both onboard the Enterprise, on Earth, and on the Klingon new/old ship, bits of things start to occur that make the plot really start to evolve. Kirk, who has fallen in love with a Klingon woman, finds that she is out of consciousness for a while and his host is getting more short-tempered. Further, there are gaps in the history of which he is supposed to play a part. Spock finds strange occurrences between high-ranking members of the Federation and parts of Earth (and other planets) that were utterly destroyed, and a brilliant scientist is becoming unglued. These final plot twists really saved the book for me and helped it be out of the ordinary.

May Known Author- Robert A. Heinlein, Friday
3***

It's a good read, and probably representative of Heinlein's later, well-rehearsed voice. His polyamorous families are very much in play in virtually any family gathering set of episodes, and trigger alert: there is a rape scene at the beginning.

The basic premise is that Friday is an Advanced Person whose status in society is below that of "real" people. She is physically indistinguishable from a human female, including having Cherokee features. One thing that impressed me about Heinlein is that in her EnnZed family (New Zealand in this book), Heinlein confronts the endemic racism of the white family when a daughter marries a Tongan. As in Africa. They are not averse to Friday's AmerIndian bloodlines, nor are they averse to the Maori peoples; their rationale is that both groups are "first peoples." But for their daughter to marry a Tongan! She is instantly disowned. Friday risks it all, and loses, when she demonstrates her AP self.

The space flight and transportation makes my head hurt, and the continued sexcapades with all of the people she picks up are a bit much. But Friday does struggle with acceptance into humanity and her story is reasonably well told.

June New Author - Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale
5*****

What a fantastic gem of a book! It takes place in the frozen, snowy depths of Russian in the time long before the Revolution, when Czars were jockeying for position and each land-holder was in charge of his own lands and his own people. Into this land comes a young woman who does not quite fit into the Royal Court and who instead finds deep, passionate love with Pyotr and travels to his home.

They have several children, and before she dies she gives birth to her youngest, Vasya, who has her mother's magic in her eyes. As Vasya grows she confers with the household dieties: the domovoi who lives in the giant oven that also serves as the family bed; the vazila, who lives in the stable and sees to the health of the horses; and the sly rusalka who lures unwary men to their watery deaths.

Into this family comes Anna from the Court, Pyotr's new wife, who also sees spirits but sees them as demons, and Konstantin, the overpious Priest from Moscow. Their conflict with Vasya's Sight, and their own demons that they invoke, play against a Russian fairy tale of the Winter King and his brother, the One-Eyed Bear. When the Bear gains domination, fear grips the heart; when Konstantin prays against demons, the people of the village stop feeding their little spirits of their household and instead whisper against Vasya and her magics.

I will admit to worrying over and over about Vasya's fate, to the point where I snuck a peek at the end of the book. But where her story takes her is beyond anything I could have dreamed, and is completely absorbing in its intensity.

>32 threadnsong: - Great review! I have had my eye on that book for some time now. I must think about moving it closer to the top of my "to read" list.

>32 threadnsong: I love that book! The second and third books in the trilogy are just as good, so I highly recommend them if you want to keep following Vasya and her adventures!

Thank you both!

>33 lkernagh: I could not believe how incredibly good it was, and I spent several evenings on the back deck just reading huge chunks of it. I almost recommend reading it while it's warm? I'd love to read your review when it does move from TBR to Currently Reading status!

>34 christina_reads: Oh, good. I'm always a little worried with trilogies (or multiple book series) that the later works won't be as good as the first one. Juliet Marillier's "Sevenwaters" trilogy turned out to have an excellent Book #2; hers was another I could not believe had a good sequel to Daughter of the Forest.

>35 threadnsong: I totally agree about the Marillier series as well! I think I've only read the first two, though -- I should definitely change that!

>36 christina_reads: Oh my yes!

Finished from June: Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

This is an absolutely extraordinary book that sheds light on this famous woman whose girlhood so many people know. It answers the questions of what happened to her after those first four years of marriage and how did she get to be "there" in the first place?

I heard about this book through a BookTV broadcast, and I was especially struck by how Fraser addressed what I had found as questionable when I read the first two in this series last year. In fact, Fraser does not start with Laura: she starts with the four Dakota tribes and their nuances (one was hunting, one was the visionary tribe), and their betrayal by white settlers. There were instances where the lands promised by the government to the Dakota were empty since the tribes were on their annual hunt. And just like Pa, the settlers moved in and took over. The war that broke out, the 1862 US-Dakota War, resulted in more US casualties than other, more famous battles in the West and led to a general feeling of mutual hatred.

A wealth of details leads up to the tales we know, going back to Ma and Pa's ancestors, where they settled and when, drawn from letters, pamphlets, land sales, and eventually Census records. Fraser turns the same research on to Laura's life and does not hold back on shining the truth about the Ingalls family's poverty.

Finally, the adult Laura and her daughter, Rose, are presented as complex human beings fraught with conflict and gifts. Rose was an experienced writer in the field of yellow journalism (extending to biographies of Jack London and Herbert Hoover), and it was she who urged her mother to write. Laura wrote her memories though often the historical aspect is changed or eliminated by both women.

There! Now my list fits in with my year.

I've been wondering how to keep up with my goals from earlier this year (was it only 6 months ago??) when I looked at my shelves of TBR and saw several books, fiction and non-fiction, that were calling to me.

And since they are all authors who are unknown to me, I decided to go with what works and change my categories to "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction."

July will still be "finish from June" but I find it interesting that all 3 books I'm set to finish are non-fiction. So I'm gonna go with that theme and see where that path leads me.

Read on!

Also finished from June: The Image of the King by Richard Ollard
3***

I will start this review by saying it is an extraordinarily researched book. I am also not the intended audience: it is written for a reader or scholar well-versed in the time period of Charles I, Cromwell, and the Restoration. On the other hand, it gives a good foundation for a casual reader, even if the references to the Battle of Edgehill, for example, are brief. It provides the necessary moments in time and persons involved to pique interest.

Ollard's basis for this book is drawn on the different portraits of father and son, provided in different sections, and what those forms and figures say about the men. Charles I's assumption that he need not learn statehood, until the death of the Prince of Wales, is examined from portraiture as well as from history. Then there is the flamboyance of Charles II upon his return, after exile, from the court of Louis XIV. I find that mesh of research materials intriguing: how does the King present himself as a painting subject, given what we know from his historical record?

While I usually give high marks to a well-researched and innovative historical work, the circular language in here, the multiple "he's" in a sentence when there are multiple subjects, and the meandering sentences made it a difficult read. Hence only 3 stars.

July Known Author - Juliet Marillier, Blade of Fortriu
5*****

A re-read for me, and below is my original review:

Original review: Wow. I didn't think it could happen. A part of a trilogy that brings other, minor characters into the fore and fleshes them out. But here you have that twist, in the hands of a master writer, who keeps both lines of a story going a la Two Towers.

Still building his kingdom and dealing with the problems of the Gaels in the West of his country is new king Bridei with his wife Tuala at his side and a young son. The battle scenes are well-written and what I would imagine war on horseback with weapons to be: all the blood, pain, and sudden turns of change.

Then you have the primary plot of Faolan, the spy and trusted companion of Bridei, who is to escort the young Ana to her betrothed, Alpin, in distant Briar Wood. Both characters are mentioned as minor details in a larger tapestry in Well of Shades; here they have the central stage of events in the story. Such a deviation from the normal method of storytelling helps the history of Fortriu move forward while still keeping the reader's interest.

Again, there are plot twists that keep you alert and guessing and interested in every character's outcome. Even the bad ones: are they going to get their just desserts? And what is going to happen to one group of individuals or to another?

The writing is still more terse than Daughter of the Forest (whose writing is on par with Guy Gavriel Kay and Patricia McKillip), but I think that style adds to the difference in plot between the two. And landscape and culture and history.

Note: re-reading it when life was not in sudden upheaval was a great decision. Not only did I finish it in 10 days (all 500+ pages!), but I understood it better this better this time, the plot flowed a lot smoother, and it left me wanting more. So as soon as I finished it, I started the third and final in this series, The Well of Shades.

July Known Author - Juliet Marillier, The Well of Shades
5***** and a favorite

From my original review, and with additional notes:

Oh, wow. Oh really, really wow. Finally, Faolan's thoughts begin to turn back towards the light, and the history of his life becomes the forefront of this book. Oh, and remember Drustan's guard from Blade of Fortriu? Well, now we learn more, much more about him.

This is a dark book, as the principle female character, Eile, is a victim of childhood rape by her stepfather and has a three-year-old daughter. Her dealing with the world is right on, and while her healing may be a little fast for reality, it does fit in with the pace of the story.

And then you have more character development with Tuala (yes, really), and the druid Broichan. Interestingly for our times, there are two young women in positions of power who have received harsh punishment as children. As a result, they both grow into chaotic monsters who see others as playthings for their whims, and no real consequences to their actions up till these events.

Note: So yes, I was a glutton. As soon as I finished #2, I jumped into the same world with #3. Because I needed the comfort and familiarity of these stories, re-reads, and I just love her writing. It had been about 8 years since I read these. With the number of times I re-read books as a child and teenager, I think that would have been about 3 months in between re-reads. Time does flow differently when you're older.

Stiger: Tales of the Seventh, Part One by Marc Alan Edelheit
4****

My friends, this is what happens when it's the final day of a sci-fi convention, you're in the dealer's room, and there is the booth with the books. And the authors. Who describe the books they've written and the worlds they've built. And if I buy all X of a series, they'll throw in the prequel for free. And if I spend $X, they'll include a canvas bag to hold all of my books. So I have a huge stack from last year that I am going to make my way through this year (since everything is virtual this year), and this was the first book from this stack.

This was a good book, and that statement coming from someone who is not always a fan of the Roman Empire nor someone familiar with Edelheit's larger series. His writing was well done for both internal struggles and external place descriptions (even I could envision the cattle crossing scene and what the land looked like!), and his character, Stiger, came across as realistic. And he didn't devolve into his angst or his trials, either.

Instead, he reads the men both above him in the chain of command as well as under his command, and uses his knowledge and learning to navigate the various situations he is thrown into. Edelheit also writes about campaigning as though he had been in the armed services or was close to other who had been; the language was authentic.

This book is a prequel to his larger series, and I bought it on a whim at the book selling booth at DragonCon. Glad I did. It is based on the Roman Empire's style of government and Army, though set in the fictional world of Istros. Which I'm OK with.

I'm finding that this year has been a year of re-reads for me. I'm craving them more and actually acting on said cravings. Probably a reaction to everything that's going on.

>44 rabbitprincess: I totally hear you. I have been seeking re-reads or more familiar/easier themes. I've ventured into some more challenging or new themes, though, just in August. Though Anne McCaffery is a longtime favorite author and I'm really, really glad I read her to get some comfort from the heavier themes of August.

August Non-Fiction The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
5*****

This is a very, very good book and one that I will re-read at some point to re-capture the details that escaped on the first go round. And it was also delightful to read a weather geek explain the phenomenon that caused this catastrophic blizzard: high pressure, low pressure, and how they work. Maybe someday I'll understand that aspect!

Laskin does a phenomenal job researching the lives of the families caught up in this push into the Western US plains. He researches the history and places where 5 or 6 families originated, their customs, reasons for making the voyage, experiences to get to their ports, and other similar stories from the time. So we get to know some families, know that they had stories similar to other people from the same region or on the same transport, and they were not plucked up and placed in the Dakotas or Nebraska out of thin air.

There is a great deal of research into early American weather forecasting, especially what worked and what didn't. And the Signal Corps and Lieutenant Woodruff, who was an active duty soldier in charge of the weather forecasting and relaying messages East from the various points in Montana and the Great Plains, interpreting them, and drawing them on a map ready for the telegraph machines.

When the storm hits, Laskin again goes into detail about the snow and ice and crystals, as well as what extreme cold does to the human body based on survivors' stories and medical evidence. It is also important to know, and I didn't, that there were survivors who lasted the night, only to die the next morning when the blood from their freezing limbs began to circulate around their hearts.

So it's a heart-wrenching historical account, very similar to "Isaac's Storm" and tales about the Northwest Passage, of people who left one land and set of difficult circumstances for hope of a better life, only to have that life changed so tragically.

>46 threadnsong: I had that book at sometime, but somehow I think it got left at school when I retired, and I've never yet read it! Thanks for reminding of this book, I'm putting it on my wishlist.

>47 Tess_W: Yay! I hope you get a chance to do so, Tess. It's fantastic, well-written, and he totally geeks out on weather.

August Fiction The Rowan by Anne McCaffery
3***

A good, strictly sci-fi Anne McCaffery with some well-written women lead characters. The Rowan, of course, is our main protagonist, and we see her from childhood through into adulthood. The story takes place in a future time when Earth's inhabitants have colonized planets and move not through engine power but through the vast abilities of telepaths.

She is found after a mudslide because her mind will not stop shouting, and the Prime (the primary telepath of her planet) insists on rescuing her. This Prime is also a doozy of a character and is created for that purpose: not every female character can be likeable! Contrast her with the Rowan's primary caregiver, and some snippy cousins, and you have a good human basis for this sci-fi story.

Once the Rowan grows into adulthood, however, the story navigates in and around and through this interstellar travel, an invasion by an alien species, and a love story between equals. I did have to shake my head at McCaffery's /the Rowan's statement that she "never felt more womanly" than after she gave birth, but there you have it. Definitely a good and decent read and insight into a future of possibilities.

August Non-Fiction Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon
5*****

Wow. I grew up in the South, among very educated folks and those not quite so (as in, good ol' Southern culture), and I had no idea. Just none. I am horrified and saddened and it now changes how I see the world.

Blackmon does an excellent job with tracing what must have been horrifying stories about how Reconstruction fell apart, how the Northern states decided that the Southern states had best "tend to their own affairs" when it came to re-enslaving African-Americans, and how both Northern and Southern industrialists (read: railroad and steel barons) benefitted from ghastly practices.

It's set mostly in Alabama, though there is a chapter on Atlanta and Georgia re-enslavement. Basically, a black man could be picked up for vagrancy, theft, bearing a firearm, or any number of charges, sent to prison, his fine is paid, and the person who pays his fine gets to use his labor to pay back the fine with interest. Then he is sent to coal mines or forced to work in and around coke ovens till his debt was paid or he died. That practice sheds light on current discussions about cash bail and court costs as further causes of poverty in poorer, African-American communities.

It's gripping, hard to read, and brilliantly written. Definitely deserving of a Pulitzer.

>49 threadnsong: I used to own The Rowan and I'm not sure what happened to it. Your review makes me think it went in my eyeballs and right back out, because it doesn't feel at all familiar, and my interest is piqued again!

>50 threadnsong: Horrid. Something I learned recently (apparently I was under a rock when this all blew up) is that "made in America" usually means "made through prison labor" -- so it turns out my attempts to work within capitalism to create markets for locally-produced objects were actually supporting companies that use highly controlled labor. Sigh. Very clear & direct review; I'll have to keep an eye out for Slavery by Another Name and take that on when I next feel ready.

>51 pammab: Thank you for your posts and feedback, Pam! I am very glad that I piqued your interest in "The Rowan" and I have found that some of my favorite books are ones that I go back and re-read and think "Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that!"

And yes, I also have learned that the "Made in America" label is often reserved for products made under horrible, slave-like conditions. And it's really hard to balance where your dollars can go to do the most good. And again, I do hope you find a copy of "Slavery" because it is well-worth reading.

September Fiction Murder of Angels by Caitlin Kiernan
3***

A truly unexpected novel, and not the ghost story I thought it would be. There is the trauma Daria and Niki face when they live through a mass suicide/bad drug trip a decade ago, there is their love story fraught with Niki's schizophrenia and Daria's touring as a rock bassist, and then there comes the tale of the after life. All melded together with descriptive, flowered writing full of imagery and telling a story.

My rating of a 3 is a combination of my likes and dislikes of this book. For the writing alone, the crafting of the love story and Niki's illness and Daria's life, I would give it 4 stars. The imagery Kiernan creates and brings the reader to is a gift. But her pulling in an even more complex after life, and the influence from other beings who have their own agenda on this world, I give it 2 stars. There seemed to be no true, clear path to a resolution, only a lot of imagery and re-naming and journeying to an end that seemed more convoluted than story.

September Non-Fiction Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes du Mez
5*****

What a timely, well-researched, fascinating, gripping book Du Mez has written. It traces the rise of white Christian evangelicalism from a small and fringe group to the powerhouse that dominates huge swaths of commerce, politics, and education. And how this group's view of Jesus is not that of the gentle, robed man who advocated "love thy neighbor," but instead a warrior whose mighty sword will swiftly kill millions of enemies.

The myth of the heroic warrior male in American history starts with Teddy Roosevelt, a short, high-voiced man who chose the cowboy persona and became President and patron of the West. But it didn't stop there, and morphed from Teddy Roosevelt to John Wayne to Ronald Reagan to Trump. None of these men were evangelical, but that does not seem to matter to this movement: they are brash, swaggering, and insistent that women stay in their appointed places. Boys are bullied into being men, girls are brainwashed into total submission, and any difference from these norms, including sexual assault, are the victims' fault. And her father's, because he did not protect "his" daughter/property well enough.

It is a quick read by a professor who has done an extraordinary amount of what must have been difficult research, and documents how we came to be where we are now.

October Fiction The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
4****

I bought it because of the interview earlier this year that John Scalzi did on NPR, in part because of the political intrigue and in part because most of the main characters are women. And the snark is just the right amount without being cynical.

This third novel in the series was a little harder for me to get into, either out of sheer exhaustion or because I had not entered this world through the first two books. That said, it was still an easy book to pick up and read and not feel completely lost. The POV shifts from character to character, and again, I am amazed that any writer is able to write such complex female characters. Even the TV series "Lost" killed off three complex women characters when the writers couldn't pigeon-hole them into traditional TV roles. But I digress.

A great, complex book about the intrigues that happen when a society grows so lopsided that all food and trade goods are controlled by a few monopolies belonging to highly-placed families. Space travel is possible, but the Flow is collapsing and it doesn't seem like humanity is going to survive in their isolated space colonies. All this as our Emperox is learning how her life has changed since becoming the inter-galactic ruler of a vast, sprawling empire with great technology but a limited time for its humans.

November Fiction Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3***

My original review:

When I hear people at work talking more about the newest house fix-up or the latest couple on a bachelor program, I begin to wonder where we are in this world of books burning. When there is one bookstore chain deciding what will be displayed, and one large book distributor deciding what even gets published, it's almost like we've bypassed this future world that Bradbury so vividly describes and we've gone straight into books not even being printed, so how can they be memorized?

And people wonder why I buy books, even if I haven't read them.

Update in 2020: It is darkly dystopian, and with what this year has been the only way I finished it was that it was for a book challenge. It is so prescient, though. The writing style is definitely 1953 so it can take some slogging through stereotypes. Still worth reading.

November Non-Fiction Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump, Ph.D.
5*****

What a spectacular view of this man and the severely dysfunctional family that created him. Dr. Trump's knowledge of childhood development and her psychology background show through from the very first pages.

She documents the psychopathology of Fred Trump, Sr., and how it so severely hampered any emotional bonding with the two youngest children in the family. Add to this Donald's mother's illness (possibly a by-product of severe emotional neglect) and a lack of any repercussions for bad behavior, and you have what lived in the White House for 4 years.

And the impact on Mary's own family is also profound. Her father, Fred, Jr., was the only sibling who broke away from the family mold and pursued his passion. He seemed like a kind and caring soul whose "fatal flaw" was in needing his own father's approval, and not able to cope with the harsh reality that he was never going to get it. That damage resulted in alcoholism and both a broken marriage and a broken family.

It is as important to modern Presidential politics as any book on Watergate or the 9-11 disasters. It is also a call to action for those who care for children's welfare, be it personal or professional. Healing and love need to happen at an early age, and the sooner the intervention, the better. Here's hoping.

>54 threadnsong:
Well, I'm back at your thread and almost immediately have another book screaming my name. Jesus and John Wayne, onto the interest list you go. Your reviews are excellent and enticing.

>56 threadnsong:
Appreciate the (older) thoughts on not needing to book burn because we can skip ever publishing. Thought-provoking.

You've posted some great reviews here. I will be reading Fahrenheit 451 at some point, but I suspect I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Both Jesus and John Wayne and Too Much and Never Enough sound very intriguing and I will have to keep an eye out for them.

>58 pammab: Thank you! Wow, glad I supplied a couple of reviews that moved you! That's such a complement. Please drop me a line when you do finish reading it.

And yeah, I was at a book chain a while back. It was interesting to see the number of shelves devoted to one topic, and the dearth of shelves for others. "Womens' Studies" relegated to "Social Sciences" instead of the vast wealth of women's literature, thought, lives, and everything it has been, now not being published or displayed because, well, who's publishing it now??

>59 DeltaQueen50: Thank you! Yeah, I really had to make myself read Farenheit 451 this time around. Decades ago (!) when I first read it, I saw it in a light of "rise up and fight for what you believe!" Now, times have changed.

And I'd like to hear your thoughts on Jesus and John Wayne and Too Much and Never Enough. They are both topical and will continue to have relevance.

December Fiction The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
4****

What a great book! A friend recommended it and I am glad I took a chance on it. Set in late 1800's Essex County and London, the action takes place with the rumor of the infamous Essex Serpent who has taken up residence in the Blackwater, a tidal estuary near Colchester. Newly widowed Cora Seaborne longs to explore this town with its possible findings of paleontology and she meets with the Vicar of Aldwinter, the nearby town. He and his wife, Stella, live with their three children, and over the next few months their lives become strongly intertwined.

Part of what made this book so strong was its interweaving of themes: the idle rich and the dawn of modern surgery, spousal abuse and consumption, hypnosis and the heart's longing for what it cannot, or should not, have. Sections are divided by month, Nature is explored in all Her gaiety and glory, and even the Colchester earthquake plays a part.

December Fiction Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
5*****

Yes, another book by this great author, and one that again I mark as a favorite. And one that I took my time to read because I just love discovering what world Kay will create this time.

A very early work of his, the plot is centered around a portion of the peninsula known as The Palm (modeled around Italy's boot). Nearly 20 years before the book there was a war in which one of the invader's sons was killed. It happened to be his favorite son, and the father happened to be a wizard. So he cursed the region of Tigana and set out to be the tyrant of the Western Palm, in constant stand-off with the wizard tyrant of the Eastern Palm.

So, while this is considered "fantasy" the use of wizardry is minimal and only allowed to be used by the two tyrants. Instead, there are individuals who come together in a series of coincidences (Kay is brilliant at creating these) and they find common purpose: they wish to regain the name of Tigana for their land and renew its name in the minds of all the Palm's inhabitants. Because yeah, the name, too, is wiped from minds, not just from the earth.