rabbitprincess stops making sense in 2021, part 3: Wild Wild Life

The Theme of This Challenge Is Talking Heads.

Each category is named after a song by the group. Hyperlinks go to a YouTube video featuring the song.

General fiction - "Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town"
General non-fiction - "Crosseyed and Painless"
History - "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"
Mystery - "Once in a Lifetime"
French - "Psycho Killer"
Rereads - "Take Me to the River"
Audio - "Road to Nowhere"
SFF - "(Nothing But) Flowers"
Short stories, graphic novels, essay collections, etc.: "Houses in Motion"
Plays - "Found a Job"
Group reads - "New Feeling"
Planes, trains and boats - "The Big Country"

The 2021 Pool:



Tickers:

ROOTs - Read Our Own Tomes



2-for-1 TBR ticker:

General fiction - Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town

I've been to college, I've been to school
I've met the people that you read about in books

Video linked is from the Best of Talking Heads compilation that turned me on to the band's work (after 20+ years).

1. Bleeding Hearts, by Ian Rankin, aka Jack Harvey
2. The Story of a Hare, by J. C. Tregarthen (Faded Page)
3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark
4. The Gambler, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by J. C. Hogarth (Serial Reader)
5. Ashenden, or The British Agent, by W. Somerset Maugham (Faded Page)
6. The Inimitable Jeeves, by P. G. Wodehouse (Serial Reader)
7. Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson
8. A Thousand Ships, by Natalie Haynes
9. Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese
10. Blood Hunt, by Ian Rankin, aka Jack Harvey
11. Puppet on a Chain, by Alistair MacLean
12. Famous Last Words, by Timothy Findley
13. The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis
14. The Witch Elm, by Tana French
15. The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason
16. Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson
17. Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint
18. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
19. The House of Ashes, by Stuart Neville
20. A Noise Downstairs, by Linwood Barclay

General non-fiction - Crosseyed and Painless

Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to...

Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of Remain in Light.

1. On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
2. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, by Dan Harris
3. The Secret Life of Lobsters, by Trevor Corson
4. To Forgive Design: Understanding Failure, by Henry Petroski
5. Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life, by Ozan Varol
6. Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other, by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish
7. Designing Your Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness at Work, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
8. Rip It Up: The Story of Scottish Pop, by Vic Galloway
9. Dear Life: A Doctor's Story of Love and Loss, by Rachel Clarke
10. Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery, by Roger Kneebone
11. The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics, by Tim Harford
12. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe
13. The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale
14. The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science, by Sam Kean
15. The Medicine Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, by DK Publishing
16. My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir, by Katherine G. Johnson
17. Mr. Humble and Doctor Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, by Brandy Schillace
18. Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind, by Sue Black
19. Safety Differently: Human Factors for a New Era, by Sidney Dekker
20. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place, by Janelle Shane
21. The Memory Thief: The Secrets Behind How We Remember—A Medical Mystery, by Lauren Aguirre
22. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach
23. I Live a Life Like Yours, by Jan Grue (translated by Becky Crook)
24. What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri
25. Safety-I and Safety-II: The Past and Future of Safety Management, by Erik Hollnagel
26. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein
27. I Me Mine, by George Harrison

History - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I’ll be

Video linked is from the AMAZING film Stop Making Sense (my favourite version of this song).

1. Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman
2. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster, by Adam Higginbotham
3. Checkpoint Charlie and the Wall: A Divided People Rebel, by Werner Sikorski
4. Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike, by Charlotte Gray
5. The Art of Dying, by Ambrose Parry
6. Lennox, by Craig Russell
7. The Long Glasgow Kiss, by Craig Russell
8. Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise, by Charlotte Gray
9. The Deep Dark Sleep, by Craig Russell
10. Dear Miss Kopp, by Amy Stewart
11. A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome, by Emma Southam
12. The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine, by Janice P. Nimura
13. The Arctic Fury, by Greer Macallister
14. How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island, by Egnill Bjarnason
15. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer
16. Ride with Me, by Thomas B. Costain
17. Miss Kopp Investigates, by Amy Stewart
18. A Corruption of Blood, by Ambrose Parry
19. The Athenian Murders, by José Carlos Somoza (translated by Sonia Soto)

Mystery - Once in a Lifetime

And you may ask yourself: Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say to yourself: My God, what have I done?!

Video linked is the official music video, which is gloriously 80s.

1. The Skeleton Road, by Val McDermid (Overdrive)
2. Harbour Street, by Ann Cleeves (Overdrive)
3. Cold Earth, by Ann Cleeves (Overdrive)
4. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, by Christopher Brookmyre
5. The Moth Catcher, by Ann Cleeves
6. Winterkill, by Ragnar Jonasson (translated from the French edition by David Warriner)
7. Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin
8. A Better Man, by Louise Penny
9. The Girl Who Died, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Victoria Cribb)
10. The Murder at the Vicarage, by Agatha Christie
11. A Tapping at My Door, by David Jackson
12. The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
13. The Cat Saw Murder, by Dolores Hitchens
14. Ride the Pink Horse, by Dorothy B. Hughes
15. The Decagon House Murders, by Yukito Ayatsuji (translated by Ho-Ling Wong)
16. The Seven-Percent Solution, by Nicholas Meyer
17. The Conjure-Man Dies, by Rudolph Fisher
18. Wild Fire, by Ann Cleeves
19. The Dark Remains, by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin
20. The Darkness Knows, by Arnaldur Indriðason (translated by Victoria Cribb)
21. The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman
22. The Blue Hammer, by Ross Macdonald
23. 1979, by Val McDermid
24. The Terrorists, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Joan Tate)
25. The Plague Court Murders, by John Dickson Carr
26. All the Devils Are Here, by Louise Penny

French - Psycho Killer

Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Video linked is from Best of Talking Heads.

1. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
2. Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès, by Maurice Leblanc (Faded Page)

Rereads - Take Me to the River

I don’t know why I love her like I do
All the changes that you put me through

I played this song 38594850585 times before finally playing the rest of the album, which is why I selected it for this category.

Video linked is also from Best of Talking Heads.

1. Life, the Universe and Everything, by Douglas Adams
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
3. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
4. The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green
5. Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin
7. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
8. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien

Audio - Road to Nowhere

We’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere, we'll take that ride...

You’ll need a lot of audiobooks if you’re on the road to nowhere.

Video linked is the official music video.

1. A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré (read by Tom Hollander)
2. One Game at a Time: My Journey from Small-Town Alberta to Hockey's Biggest Stage, by Harnarayan Singh (read by Harnarayan Singh)
3. Lost Stories: The Fourth Doctor, by Robert Banks Stewart (Big Finish)
4. Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds (read by Geoffrey Beevers)
5. Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch (read by Gretchen McCulloch)
6. I, Davros; Innocence, by Gary Hopkins (Big Finish)
7. I, Davros: Purity, by James Parsons (Big Finish)
8. I, Davros: Corruption, by Lance Parkin (Big Finish)
9. I, Davros: Guilt, by Scott Alan Woodard (Big Finish)

SFF - (Nothing But) Flowers

This used to be real estate, now it's only fields and trees
Where, where is the town?
Now, it's nothing but flowers

Video linked is the official music video. Fun fact: this song features Johnny Marr of The Smiths on guitar.

1. Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (comic, ebook)
2. The Celtic Twilight, by W. B. Yeats (Serial Reader)
3. Doctor Who: Shadow in the Glass, by Justin Richards and Stephen Cole
4. I Am a Dalek, by Gareth Roberts
5. Tales from the Folly, by Ben Aaronovitch (Overdrive)
6. Lost Stories: The Fourth Doctor, by Robert Banks Stewart (Big Finish)
7. The English Way of Death, by Gareth Roberts
8. Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds (audio, read by Geoffrey Beevers)
9. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
10. The Thirteenth Doctor, Vol. 0: The Many Lives of Doctor Who, by Richard Dinnick et al. (comic, ebook)
11. Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll, by Terrance Dicks
12. The Thirteenth Doctor, Issue 1, by Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, and Enrica Eren Angiolini (comic, ebook)
13. The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham
14. I, Davros; Innocence, by Gary Hopkins (Big Finish)
15. I, Davros: Purity, by James Parsons (Big Finish)
16. What Abigail Did That Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch
17. I, Davros: Corruption, by Lance Parkin (Big Finish)
18. I, Davros: Guilt, by Scott Alan Woodard (Big Finish)

Short stories, poetry, essay collections, graphic novels, children's books, etc. - Houses in Motion

Tell us a little bit, but not too much

Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of Remain in Light.

Children's/middle-grade/young-adult books
1. The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
2. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
3. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
4. The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
5. Attack of the Video Villains, by Franklin W. Dixon
6. The Brain is Kind of a Big Deal, by Nick Seluk

Graphic novels / comics / art
1. Doctor Who: Ghost Stories, written by George Mann, illustrated by Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, and Dennis Calero (ebook)
2. Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
3. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
4. Spider-Gwen Vol. 0: Most Wanted?, by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez
5. Amazing Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse, by David Hine, Jason Latour, Fabrice Sapolsky et al.
6. American Utopia, by David Byrne and Maira Kalman
7. The Art of WolfWalkers, by Charles Solomon
8. Am I Overthinking This? Overanswering Life's Questions in 101 Charts, by Michelle Rial
9. Herding Cats: A Sarah's Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen
10. The Thirteenth Doctor, Vol. 0: The Many Lives of Doctor Who, by Richard Dinnick et al. (ebook)
11. Magnetic North: Imagining Canada in Painting, 1910-40, by Martina Weinhart
12. The Thirteenth Doctor, Issue 1, by Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, and Enrica Eren Angiolini (ebook)
13. Oddball: A Sarah's Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen

Short stories and novellas
1. Killer, Come Back to Me: The Crime Stories of Ray Bradbury, by Ray Bradbury (ebook)
2. A Perfect Likeness, by Richard Wagamese
3. Nonsense Novels, by Stephen Leacock

Everything else
1. The Witches are Coming, by Lindy West
2. Bicycle Diaries, by David Byrne
3. Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human Being, by Romesh Ranganathan
4. Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit, by Richard Wagamese

Plays - Found a Job

They’re inventing situations that are better than TV

Video linked is from the 2005 remaster of More Songs About Buildings and Food.

1. Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare
2. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
3. Henry VI, Part 2, by William Shakespeare
4. The Rez Sisters, by Tomson Highway

Group reads - New Feeling

I wish I could meet, every one
Meet them all over again

I wish I could commit to all the group reads and CATs, but I'm too much of a mood reader. Regardless, I like the NEW FEELING of discovering books through these challenges.

Link is to the live version from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads.

GenreCAT
✔ January (Non Fiction): On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
February Memoirs/biography My Word is My Bond
✔ March Action & Adventure (Military/spy/war/Westerns/thrillers etc.) Puppet on a Chain, by Alistair MacLean
April Literary Fiction Undermajordomo Minor, by Patrick deWitt
May Short stories/essays - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell
✔ June Historical fiction Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman
July Romance
✔ August Poetry/drama/graphic novels The Rez Sisters for drama
September Horror/Supernatural
✔ October YA/children - Attack of the Video Villains, by Franklin W. Dixon
November SFF This is How You Lose the Time War
✔ December Mysteries - hosted by me!! The Terrorists

HistoryCAT
January: The Middle Ages - Les poisons de la couronne
✔ February: Modern c.1800 to now Ride with Me (set in 1805)
✔ March: Early Modern c.1500 to c. 1800 - Kidnapped
April: Ancient 8th C BC to 6th AD Livy
May: Dynasties/Civilisations/Empires -
✔ June: Military/War/Revolution - hosted by me! - Dear Miss Kopp, by Amy Stewart
July: Social History - Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History
August: Your Own Country - This Island in Time
September: Religion/Philosophy/Politics/The Law -
October: A country/region of your choice -
November: Events - The Longest Day
December: Adventure/Exploration and Discovery -

RandomCAT
✔ January--LOL--Nonsense Novels, by Stephen Leacock
February--Fruits and Veggies--Oranges and Lemons, by Christopher Fowler
✔ March--It's a Surprise!-- The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
✔ April--Let's go to the library without leaving the house--The Witch Elm, by Tana French (shared with madhatter22)
May--Monopoly--
✔ June--What's old is new again--The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason
July--Summertime--Long Summer Day, by R. F. Delderfield
August--Travel--Himalaya, by Michael Palin
September--Winner Winner Chicken Dinner--The Diviners, by Margaret Laurence
✔ October--A book about giving--What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri
November--Fortune and Glory--The Cat Who Sniffed Glue, by Lilian Jackson Braun
December--Holiday reading

MysteryKIT
January--Featuring Water—L’Écluse No. 1
✔ February--Pastiche Mysteries—The Seven-Percent Solution, by Nicholas Meyer
March--Locked Room Mysteries--
✔ April--Senior Citizen as Detective—The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
May--Mysteries set in Europe--The Athenian Murders
✔ June--Golden Age Mysteries—Murder at the Museum
✔ July--Cops 'n Robbers--Lady Style (lady cops or lady robbers)—Dear Miss Kopp, by Amy Stewart
August--Cozy Mysteries Featuring Animals—
September--Mismatched Detectives--
October--Minorities/Diverse--
November--Historical Mysteries--
December--Detectives in Ancient Greece and Rome—All Roads Lead to Murder

Group reads
1. Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare (Litsy)

BingoDOG



✔ 1. Book less than 200 pages - The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin (182 pp. in the edition I read)
2. Time word in title or time is the subject (I'd include time travel in this square!) - Harvest of Time, by Alistair Reynolds
3. Set in or author from the Southern Hemisphere - probably a Nevil Shute
✔ 4. Book with or about magic - Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson
✔ 5. Arts and recreation - Rip It Up (Scottish pop)
✔ 6. Classical element in title (Western: earth, air, wind, fire, aether/void. Chinese: wood, fire, earth, metal, water) Air Bridge, by Hammond Innes
✔ 7. Book with the name of a building in the title - Murder in the Museum
✔ 8. By or about a marginalized group - The Rez Sisters, by Tomson Highway
✔ 9. Senior citizen as the protagonist - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
10. Suggested by a person from another generation - will take a rec from my mum
✔ 11. A book about nature or the environment (includes the sea) - Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash
✔ 12. A book that made you laugh - Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
13. Book you share with 20 or fewer members on LT - British Sea Power (shared with only one other member)
14. Book about history or alternate history - Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
✔ 15. Book with a title that describes you - Oddball, by Sarah Andersen
16. Book you heartily recommend
✔ 17. Author you haven’t read before On Risk, by Mark Kingwell
✔ 18. Impulse read! The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
✔ 19. One-word title - Ashenden
20. Book with a character you think you'd like to have as a friend - probably a Twelfth Doctor book, haha
21. Dark or light in title - Dark Horizons
22. Set somewhere you’d like to visit - Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth
✔ 23. Book by two or more authors - Amazing Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse, by David Hine, Jason Latour, Fabrice Sapolsky, Dustin Weaver, Clay McLeod Chapman, and Gerard Way
24. Book with a love story in it
✔ 25. Read a CAT or KIT - The Seven-Percent Solution

Planes, trains and boats - The Big Country

I'm tired of looking out the windows of the airplane
I'm tired of travelling, I want to be somewhere

Video linked is the live version from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (which I like a bit better than the studio version).

Planes
1. Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, by Cecilia Aragon
2. Air Bridge, by Hammond Innes
3. Vertical Reference: The Life of Legendary Mountain Helicopter Rescue Pilot Jim Davies, by Kathy Calvert
4. Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am, by Julia Cooke
5. Memoirs of a Kamikaze: A World War II Pilot's Inspiring Story of Survival, Honor and Reconciliation, by Kazuo Odachi, translated by Shigeru Ota and Alexander Bennett
6. Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight, by Amy Shira Teitel
7. Falling, by T. J. Newman
8. DK Eyewitness Books: Flight, by Andrew Nahun
9. No Man's Land: The Untold Story of Automation and QF72, by Kevin Sullivan

Trains
1. Death on the Way, by Freeman Wills Crofts
2. Death in the Tunnel, by Miles Burton
3. Vultures in the Sky, by Todd Downing
4. Bullet Train, by Kotaro Isaka (translated by Sam Malissa)

Boats
1. Le crabe aux pinces d'or, by Hergé
2. Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash (Overdrive)
3. The Loss of the Jane Vosper, by Freeman Wills Crofts
4. The PS Royal William of Quebec: The First True Transatlantic Steamer, by Eileen Reid Marcil

Taking advantage of a quiet Sunday morning to get a new thread up.

Will start it off by sharing this old episode of Soul Music, a program on BBC Sounds, where various people talk about the impact of "Once in a Lifetime" on their lives: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000qlwg

Let me be the first to wish you a happy new thread!!

Happy new thread from me too!

And me!

Once in a Lifetime is such a great song. Happy new thread! How are you feeling today?

>13 NinieB: >14 Jackie_K: >15 dudes22: >16 RidgewayGirl: Thank you all!

>16 RidgewayGirl: Not as crappy as I thought I might be. Sore arm and a bit of a headache, but the headache could just as easily be from watching movies and looking stuff up on the iPad while I'm watching. (We got our 90s nostalgia on and watched Space Jam on Netflix.)

Happy new thread. Glad that you're not feeling too rough.

The second shot is worth feeling a little under the weather.

And a new thread as well!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one! Glad the side effects were "Not as crappy as they could be".

Happy new thread, and I'm glad to hear the side effects from shot #2 haven't been too severe!

Congrats on getting your second shot, RP. Hopefully, there will be no nasty after effects.

Happy new thread! Glad to hear your second shot reaction wasn't too bad.

>18 Helenliz: >19 hailelib: >20 Tess_W: >21 charl08: >22 christina_reads: >23 DeltaQueen50: >24 VivienneR: Thank you all for the new-thread wishes and the congrats on the second shot! It is such a relief to have it, finally.

Happy new thread and congrats that there were few side effects to the jab!

Happy new thread, Princess!

Happy new thread! Glad to hear you came through the shot ok. :)

>26 MissWatson: >27 mstrust: >28 VictoriaPL: Thanks, everyone! Yes, very glad to have escaped the serious side effects.

****

OK now I finally have some books to report!

The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town ; New Feeling (June RandomCAT — what’s old is new again)
Source: Mr B’s Emporium of Bookish Delights, Bath, England
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/121627771

This was a neat twist on the Odyssey -- retelling fragments of it and changing the plot to see what happens. Makes me want to pull down my Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey, but I'll have to get at least one other long-standing book off the "currently reading" pile first.

The Cat Saw Murder, by Dolores Hitchens
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202614896

I enjoyed this early example of "the cat mystery". The cat isn't psychic or magical, and doesn't even really help solve the crime -- her importance is that she is the heir to a fortune. And bonus, the amateur sleuth is a senior citizen.

Herding Cats: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202614986

Couldn't resist following up The Cat Saw Murder with this book, the first book I picked up off the library shelves while BROWSING since the latest set of lockdowns. I like Sarah's Scribbles so naturally liked this collection.

This might be the last book finished this month, but we'll see.

The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202615002

I thought I'd be really creeped out by this book, but fortunately it was not so scary that I needed to put it in the freezer. So I can recommend it for those who don't mind their books a little spooky.

Going to call it quits on July, so here is the July recap.

Back into a more regular rhythm this month, with 18 books read.

A Perfect Likeness, by Richard Wagamese
The PS Royal William of Quebec: The First True Transatlantic Steamer, by Eileen Reid Marcil
The Naming of the Dead, by Ian Rankin (re-read)
Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery, by Roger Kneebone
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome, by Emma Southon
The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics, by Tim Harford
The English Way of Death, by Gareth Roberts
The Art of WolfWalkers, by Charles Solomon
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine, by Janice P. Nimura
Murder in the Museum, by John Rowland
Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human Being, by Romesh Ranganathan
The Witch Elm, by Tana French
Am I Overthinking This?: Overanswering Life’s Questions in 101 Charts, by Michelle Rial
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason
The Cat Saw Murder, by Dolores Hitchens
Herding Cats: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen
The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale

My favourite book of the month was A Perfect Likeness. I read a book by an Indigenous author on Canada Day, and both years I’ve done this, that book has been the best of the month.

I had no books below 3 stars, so of the 3-star books I’ll say the book I liked least was The PS Royal William of Quebec, because I felt like the ship’s story ended halfway through the book.

Currently reading

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott — The dust is getting thicker!
Henry VI, Part 2, by William Shakespeare — Need to get back to this one too. Maybe I’ll make that a goal to finish off this month.
Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — Reading this (approximately) every day.
The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens — Paused this on Serial Reader. I have too many other books going.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — Continuing to read this as well. I read a chapter at a time, and it contains exercises and self-tests so I am doing the exercises in pencil, directly in the textbook.
Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds — Listening to the audio read by Geoffrey Beevers when I do audio-puzzling.
Les Poisons de la couronne, by Maurice Druon — Getting back into the Rois maudits series. This has been on my on-deck pile for a long time.
Vultures in the Sky, by Todd Downing — Another book published in the American Mystery Classics imprint. This is set on a train so makes a perfect addition to my Big Country category.

August plans

I’m stacking my on-deck pile with some of the shorter, easier reads from my Pool, which I neglected rather a lot over the past few months.

Wild, wild life now that you have vaccine #2, eh?

>32 Tess_W: Oh yes! Once I'm fully double-vaxxed, I will take the bus downtown to visit my friend, and we will likely drink tea and buy books :D

Is there a date for that, yet?

>34 Tess_W: I've heard that two weeks after the second shot is when it takes full effect, so I'll be good to go as of next Saturday. Right now we have plans in place for the end of the month, when we're both on vacation.

>33 rabbitprincess: Happy book-buying!

>35 rabbitprincess: I'm 3 days after you, and also looking forward to an expanded life! Enjoy your new freedom.

Hello and happy new thread and second shot! I had symptoms after my second - slight fever, owie arm, and a feeling of such intense lethargy that took me by surprise. Glad you are back up and feeling better.

Virtual hugs to you and your friend when you see one another at long, long last!

Great reading list for July. I had thought about reading "Empire of Pain" after I heard it reviewed on the radio. Is your review of it on your previous thread?

>31 rabbitprincess: you're reading SO MANY books at once. Hats off to you!

>39 VictoriaPL: I know, right???

>31 rabbitprincess: Fabulous cover on Todd Downing's Vultures of the Sky. That would tempt me to buy it.

No touchstone, I had to force it.

>36 MissWatson: Thanks! I am looking forward to raiding my favourite used bookstore :)

>37 pamelad: Thanks, and same to you! Weirdly enough I dreamt last night that I had somehow travelled to what my dream told me was Australia. I have in-laws in Sydney, and they were in the dream, so I think that's where my dream self ended up.

>38 threadnsong: I was fully prepared for the lethargy but didn't have much of it. I credit entirely my plan to spend all of the next afternoon sitting on the couch reading. And yes, the Empire of Pain review is on the end of my previous thread, but here's the link to the actual review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202415056

>39 VictoriaPL: >40 threadnsong: A couple of those have been currently reading for much longer than I'd care to admit, haha. But I finished a different play today so I think I'm sufficiently motivated to tackle Henry VI.

>41 VivienneR: Isn't it fab? I love the American Mystery Classics covers. The one for The Cat Saw Murder is nice too :)

August's reading is off to a good start despite my playing excessive amounts of Stardew Valley.

Vultures in the Sky, by Todd Downing
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/201896574

An American Mystery Classic that the library ordered at my request. This was good but definitely more of a borrow than a buy.

Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
Category: Found a Job
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202045586

I've known of this play for years without knowing what it was actually about. Now I've read it!

>43 rabbitprincess: Our Town is often mentioned in books and movies when there is a school play in the story. Like you, I have no idea what it's about. I might have to read it sometime.

>44 VivienneR: That is true! I have seen it mentioned in quite a few other places.

>44 VivienneR: >45 JayneCM: Most of my exposure to the play came from university quiz. Playing in an American quiz league exposes one to a lot of American literature and sports, although I knew only certain key facts about it that would enable me to get the points on the question ;)

****

The Arctic Fury, by Greer Macallister
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/203008590

I've had this on my list of books to read since February -- requested it, had to return it, tried again a few months later. This time it stuck. I've read a fair bit about the Franklin expedition, so I had fun seeing where my previous knowledge slotted into the story.

Attack of the Video Villains, by Franklin W. Dixon
Category: Houses in Motion, New Feeling (October GenreCAT)
Source: Rockcliffe Park book sale
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/135780527

This is an extremely lightweight read; I think I read it in about 45 minutes. Might have taken less time if I hadn't been busy cracking up at some of the writing.

>42 rabbitprincess: - thank you for the link to your review. Utterly, horrifically fascinating tale.

>46 rabbitprincess: Ooooh, another book based on Franklin's expedition! I had no idea that such a second rescue expedition ever happened and kudos to Lady Franklin for sending a team of women to explore. Kind of like she gave them a chance, and they, at least, returned. I'll definitely have to check it out.

I saw a production of Our Town in college but the main thing I remember about it was the minimal set that consisted mostly of a stepladder.

>47 threadnsong: The all-women expedition was, sadly, fiction, but each woman in the expedition did have some sort of real adventurer serve as inspiration. My knowledge of the Franklin expedition came in more toward the end of the book, but I can't say more without spoilers :) It was a good book and I hope you like it!

>48 hailelib: Yes, there was a photo of a production on the back cover and it had that minimalist set. I liked that the play as a whole leaned very heavily on the fourth wall.

A bonanza of book reviews.

The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science, by Sam Kean
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/203238665

A new Sam Kean is always cause for celebration. The titular chapter is one of the most memorable, but I liked the chapter on "future crimes" best.

Ride the Pink Horse, by Dorothy B. Hughes
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202415463

Another good American Mystery Classic. Interesting to have read this shortly after Vultures in the Sky.

The Brain is Kind of a Big Deal, by Nick Seluk
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/203530824

By the author of Heart and Brain, this is a children's picture book about the brain, of course. I liked it but preferred The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal.

Henry VI, Part 2, by William Shakespeare
Category: Found a Job
Source: Chaptigo
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/123863531

Took me only 5 months to finish this play! Apparently starting a heavy-to-me Shakespeare play shortly before the first anniversary of the pandemic was a bad idea. Glad to have finished it.

Lots of really interesting reads!
I was listening to a podcast about Dr Freeman not long ago. Atrocious.

>51 mstrust: Especially given that he was practising in the 20th century and didn't believe in surgical hygiene. Given how many people he operated on, I shudder to think at the number of post-surgical infections his patients acquired.

****

Another memorable read. I think I ended up reading it all in a single day (Friday).

The Decagon House Murders, by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/203530620

Pushkin Vertigo has been doing a fine job translating and republishing Japanese mysteries. I really liked this one, which pays particular homage to And Then There Were None. It was just the right mix of grisly and suspenseful and not too contrived (unlike Murder in the Crooked House, which was just a bit too elaborate for my tastes).

>50 rabbitprincess: The ice pick murder sounds like a fascinating book. Might have to add that one to the list.

>53 Helenliz: It is very good, as are all of Sam Kean's other books! I hope you like it :)

>52 rabbitprincess: And that he was just so eager to perform his operations. He's someone who you wish would have taken a few days off.

>52 rabbitprincess: >55 mstrust: Something tells me I don't want to Google him.

>55 mstrust: Yes, he needed to take a permanent vacation from that job!

>56 Jackie_K: You probably don't, unless you turn on Google SafeSearch first so that it doesn't automatically show you images in your search results :-/

****

Chugging along through my week. This is my last full week of work for a while -- next Thursday I'll be on vacation for 2.5 weeks, and boy will I need it!

Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/203596317

I really enjoyed this book, which is set on the coast of British Columbia (specifically Kitamaat and environs). The characters leap off the page, and the book is rich in Haisla culture. Recommended if you're wanting more Indigenous literature in your reading. This was a finalist for the Giller Prize and nominated for a Governor General's Award.

It's too hot to think, but I managed to write a couple of reviews.

The Seven-Percent Solution, by Nicholas Meyer
Category: Once in a Lifetime, New Feeling (February MysteryKIT — Pastiche mysteries)
Source: BMV
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/112440910

I've had this on my to-read list since April 2008, so I'm glad to finally have read it...13 years later! I've added a few more of Meyer's Holmes pastiches to my to-read list and will hopefully not take another 13 years to read one.

Memoirs of a Kamikaze: A World War II Pilot's Inspiring Story of Survival, Honor and Reconciliation, by Kazuo Odachi, translated by Shigeru Ota and Alexander Bennett
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202742866

This was an interesting look at the life of a pilot who was assigned to Japan's kamikaze pilot squad and by the luck of the draw survived when many of his friends didn't. I'm trying to read more history about Asia in general, and this book fit the bill.

I'm on vacation starting now! Two and a half weeks of what I hope will be lots of reading. To start things off, here's a review of a book I finished last weekend.

Nonsense Novels, by Stephen Leacock
Category: Houses in Motion, New Feeling (January RandomCAT)
Source: library book sale (April 2016)
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/129465685

I set this aside way back in January for the RandomCAT (theme: LOL), and it delivered abundant laughs. At least my second favourite Leacock; I'd have to re-read Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town to decide the winner.

Hooray for vacations - and for having lots of books to read!

>59 rabbitprincess: So. Jealous. I'm heading into my busiest time of year at work.

>60 DeltaQueen50: Yes! I'm hoping I'll be able to tackle some of the long-standing reads or ones that might require more concentration (historical fiction always seems to be this sort of book for me).

>61 NinieB: I am sending you strength! And I hope you're able to take time off soon.

****

Day 1 of vacation is going well. This will probably be my book of the month, which is appropriate because I've been reading it for most of the month.

The Medicine Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, by DK Publishing
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202243546

This was an impulse request from the library. It's part of DK Publishing's Big Ideas Simply Explained series, which feels to me like a grownup version of DK's Eyewitness Books. The book is really well laid out and very easy to dip into a bit at a time. I'm not sure how much I'll retain, because I wasn't taking notes, but I will definitely be reading more books in this series: the ones on classical music and philosophy have particularly caught my eye.

>59 rabbitprincess: Sunshine Sketches is hard to beat!

Have a terrific vacation with lots of the three Rs (Rest, Relaxation and Reading).

Enjoy your vacation!

>63 VivienneR: >64 hailelib: Thank you both for the vacation wishes!

****

A rainy Sunday is perfect for staying indoors and reading, and catching up on reviews.

The Conjure-Man Dies, by Rudolph Fisher
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202243574

This falls under "almost liked it, but not quite". I found it a bit slow going and nearly skipped to the end to find out whodunnit. But still, a noteworthy mystery so I don't regret reading it. It was the first crime novel published by an African American author.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
Category: Take Me to the River, New Feeling (April MysteryKIT - Senior citizen as detective)
Source: probably a gift (I’ve had it forever)
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70476194

Just what I needed for a lazy weekend. I enjoy this series a great deal and hadn't read this particular installment in years. A series where the first book hits the ground running, so I can recommend it ;)

>65 rabbitprincess: After reading Clue's review of The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax I have picked up a copy and now I am looking forward to fitting it into the reading schedule.

>65 rabbitprincess: I've not come across Mrs Pollifax, sounds intriguing. I'll have a look for a copy.

>66 DeltaQueen50: Hurray! I hope you like it :)

>67 charl08: I hope a copy finds its way to you!

****

I've had this out from the library long enough and finally read it over the past couple of days.

My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir, by Katherine G. Johnson
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202415002

If you've read or seen Hidden Figures, you should check out this memoir. Katherine Johnson tells her story in her own words (with the assistance of two of her daughters). And what a story it is.

>68 rabbitprincess: On my WL that goes!

>69 Tess_W: Hurray!

****

August is over already, which is astounding. Here is my August recap.

Nearly as many books read this month as last month. I read 17 books in August:

Vultures in the Sky, by Todd Downing
Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
The Arctic Fury, by Greer McAllister
Attack of the Video Villains, by Franklin W. Dixon
The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science, by Sam Kean
Ride the Pink Horse, by Dorothy B. Hughes
The Brain is Kind of a Big Deal, by Nick Seluk
Henry VI, Part 2, by William Shakespeare
The Decagon House Murders, by Yukito Ayatsuji (translated by Ho-Ling Wong)
Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson
The Seven-Percent-Solution, by Nicholas Meyer
Memoirs of a Kamikaze: A World War II Pilot's Inspiring Story of Survival, Honor and Reconciliation, by Kazuo Odachi, translated by Shigeru Ota and Alexander Bennett
Nonsense Novels, by Stephen Leacock
The Medicine Book, by DK Publishing
The Conjure-Man Dies, by Rudolph Fisher
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman (reread)
My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir, by Katherine G. Johnson

My favourite book of the month was The Medicine Book. It was so well put together, and I feel like I learned a lot (but don’t ask me to recall any of it!). I’m definitely going to find more books in DK’s Big Ideas Simply Explained series.

I had a few books that were rated 2.5 stars, so for the book I liked least, I think I’ll go with Attack of the Video Villains, because it was pretty cheesy and not really in a good way.

Currently reading

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott — I’m going to try reading a bit more of this today.
Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — Just got caught up with the last few days of August today!
The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens — Still paused. May have to abandon it.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — I’d like to dip into this a bit more while I’m on holiday.
Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds — Listening to the audio read by Geoffrey Beevers when I do audio-puzzling. It feels like a LONG book, though, holy cow.
Les Poisons de la couronne, by Maurice Druon — I’ve made a bit of progress on this but need a bit more brainpower than I have at the moment.
Ride with Me, by Thomas B. Costain — Historical fiction from my Pool. Of course I already have a bunch of historical fiction on the go, so why not start more! This one is set during the Napoleonic Wars.
How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island, by Egill Bjarnason — An impulse request when browsing the new titles in the library catalogue. I love the cover!

September plans

I’m off for nearly half of September (back at work on the 13th), so I hope to get a lot of books on my on-deck pile read! One of them is Andy Weir’s latest, Project Hail Mary, and another is Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, which is a favourite of one of my RL friends. It would also be nice to get one of the longer-standing current reads off the pile (looking at you, Ivanhoe).

>70 rabbitprincess: enjoy your time off! A friend was just telling me about Project Hail Mary last night at dinner.

>70 rabbitprincess: I hope you enjoy The Sparrow -- I thought it was great! It does take a while to get going, just to forewarn you. :)

>70 rabbitprincess: - I'm with your RL friend - The Sparrow is a great book.

>71 VictoriaPL: It's been a great time off so far, although I'm going to have to start adjusting my sleep-wake schedule to something closer to my regular work schedule, because it's become really messed up.

>72 christina_reads: >73 dudes22: I'm looking forward to reading it!

****

Somehow Christmas knitting has attracted my attention -- I have a lot of red and green yarn, and Christmas ornaments seem like nice manageable projects -- so I've been doing that for the past couple of days. I've also been reading, of course...

How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island, by Egill Bjarnason
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204354302

The voice in this book was delightful. I laughed a lot at the bad jokes ;)

Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds (audio, read by Geoffrey Beevers)
Category: Road to Nowhere, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: ripped from CDs
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/103374983

I liked this fine but found it a bit tiring to listen to a single voice throughout. I like my full-cast audio dramas!

Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, by Brandy Schillace
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202534443

Content warning: this book describes in detail experiments performed on animals. It's hard reading. I persevered because it followed on thematically from my earlier reading of The Icepick Surgeon.

The Iceland book sounds like fun.

>75 Helenliz: It was fun indeed!

****

Knocked out a couple more books.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204601300

This was a lot of fun, and I stayed up late to finish it. Shares enough similarity with The Martian that if you liked that book, you will probably like this one -- but they are different enough that it still feels fresh.

Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind, by Sue Black
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204601407

This was fascinating and gross in equal measure; "squirm-inducing" is how I would describe the level of detail. I really liked Sue Black's first book, All That Remains, so if you liked it too, you'll like this one.

As my vacation winds down, so does my reading.

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204781084

I was expecting this to look way more like a travel guide than it did, which was disappointing. The content was fine, although I did skip most of the last two chapters because I was racing against the clock to take this back to the library.

>77 rabbitprincess: Sorry that one was disappointing. I really enjoyed it when I read it, but I approached it more from a social history perspective, looking for ways to incorporate the information into genealogical narratives. I made some comments about the perfect timing of the read when I reviewed it.

I've added My Remarkable Journey to my list.

You did get in some good reading so far this month.

>78 thornton37814: Oh yes, it would be a perfect book for that perspective. I liked the content well enough, but I was expecting it to be packaged in a different way and that mismatch in expectations plus rushing to finish it didn't help for me. I would still read his other books in this vein (about Elizabethan and Regency England).

>79 hailelib: Excellent, hope you like it! And yes a strong month so far :)

>80 rabbitprincess: I liked Mortimer's book because of the format. I loved just browsing through it. But I can understand the rush when the due date looms.

The Sparrow looks good! I'm off to have a better look.

I'm late to the party, but you've written some really nice reviews recently. The one for Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty especially caught my attention.

I'll also add my voices to the set of people appreciating The Sparrow (I'll add a note that although it's excellent, it's not a particularly happy book).

>81 VivienneR: Oh Vivienne, even this fiction-phobe thought The Sparrow was amazing. One of the few books I've felt bereaved finishing.

>81 VivienneR: I never learn from the due-date-looming madness! Was doing pretty well for a while and the books are catching up to me again :D

>82 pammab: Thanks, Pam! :) Empire of Pain was one I had the time to sit with, which was good. I learned so much from it.

>83 Jackie_K: I'm very excited to read it, because I've loved all the other Mary Doria Russell I've read.

****

It's Bloody Scotland weekend! I haven't had a chance to "attend" all of the events yet, but I do have a digital pass for my amusement.

Last night the festival announced the winners of the McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime novel and best debut Scottish crime novel:

Best Novel - Hyde, by Craig Russell
Best Debut Novel - Edge of the Grave, by Robbie Morrison

Very happy with both these results. Mum and I both love Craig Russell's Lennox series (a Canadian private eye in 1950s Glasgow is peculiarly tailored to our interests), and I've had my eye on the Morrison book because he is my favourite writer of Twelfth Doctor comics (he really "gets" Twelve, in my opinion).

>84 rabbitprincess: I've been seeing Bloody Scotland tweets and stuff in the local news, and was thinking of you! Glad you are experiencing it digitally, which is better than nothing!

>85 Jackie_K: Yes! I hope this digital festival thing continues even when the world returns to something closer to pre-pandemic times. It opens things up for so many more people :)

****

Finally got around to reviewing this book, which I finished on Tuesday.

Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204959397

I am 100% here for this new wave of retellings of Greek myth that centre the women who have traditionally been sidelined. This is another good one, and I will happily read more in this vein by Jennifer Saint. Her next book, Elektra, is due out in 2022.

I've taken a BB for Edge of the Grave - sounds like the start of an interesting series. I am already a fan of Craig Russell and Lennox!

>87 DeltaQueen50: Hyde is a stand-alone, but I know it will be a cracking read because of the author!

****

I've been slowly catching up with some Bloody Scotland events, which are available on demand for pass holders until 30 September. So far I've watched the following:
- Ian Rankin's panel about finishing the William McIlvanney novel The Dark Remains
- the discussion between Linwood Barclay and Stephen King
- the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers' concert (featuring Val McDermid on vox; Mark Billingham, Chris Brookmyre, and Stuart Neville on guitar; Luca Veste on bass; and Doug Johnstone on drums)

A picture of the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers' setlist I saw online promised the Talking Heads song "Psycho Killer", but unfortunately the sound cut out on the video for that song :( I could TELL they were playing it, but I couldn't get the sound to work. I will just have to hope I get to attend another Bloody Scotland where they do a set.

Over the next few days I'll watch some more panels, and probably add to my TBR list at the same time :)

****

A couple more reviews.

The Thirteenth Doctor, Vol. 0: The Many Lives of Doctor Who, by Richard Dinnick et al.
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers, Houses in Motion
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/179425577

I needed a quick read, and this fit the bill. Doctor Who comics are lovely little treats to slip in between larger books. This one introduces the Thirteenth Doctor nicely by going through her past lives (including the War Doctor yay!).

Safety Differently: Human Factors for a New Era, by Sidney Dekker
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: bought new from the publisher
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/183784868

This is for hardcore safety nerds only ;) It took me over a year to really read this; I started it last summer, put it down for "a bit", officially reshelved it back in January, then picked it up again this week.

Unpopular opinion time... sorry, everyone who loves this book :( (especially my RL friend, yikes)

The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: library
Rating: 2.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204354281

I couldn't finish this. The dual timeline gave me too much information about how the story would end, and I had become so attached to the crew when they all became friends that I couldn't bear to read what would happen to them. (Although really, would I have been happier with a single timeline that would have bludgeoned me with this information at the end, especially the deeply upsetting mutilation of Emilio's hands and his being sold into sexual slavery?)

****

I got on better with this book.

Magnetic North: Imagining Canada in Painting, 1910-40, by Martina Weinhart
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/202615033

I liked this book a great deal, especially for the added Indigenous perspective. I wasn't wild about the font, though. The way the r's and t's curled made it physically hard to read.

>86 rabbitprincess: tempted, I'm a sucker for a good retelling.
Touchstone is pointing to the wrong book though.

>89 rabbitprincess: OK, maybe we need to have words... (not really! It'd be very boring if we all just loved the same books!). Emilio is my biggest literary crush, and what happens to him in The Sparrow is the reason why I still haven't dared pick up the sequel, Children of God. It's been years since I last read The Sparrow, but I'm still heartbroken.

>90 Helenliz: Oops! Fixed touchstone! Thanks for pointing that out :)

>91 Jackie_K: Hahaha I actually sat on this review for three days because I knew you loved this book so much and I didn't want to disappoint you! I can see why you love Emilio! And really I did like him too because I couldn't bear to read in more detail about what happened to him. I just think the structure of the book didn't really work for me. I thought the afterword in the 20th anniversary edition was really interesting, because Russell talks about what she got right and what she didn't predict about the future. Reading books set in a future I've already lived are fun little time-travel experiences.

>89 rabbitprincess: Oh yes, The Sparrow is dark dark dark, deeply disturbing on many levels. For me that's part of why I liked it! I'm also deliberately choosing books with an eye to their lightness when I can these days, and I wouldn't want to have been caught by The Sparrow without a bit of warning, I think. I'm sorry it wasn't an enjoyable balance for you!

>89 rabbitprincess: What's worse than spending time reading a book that you are not enjoying? Having to tell the person who recommended it.

Every time I give a book a low rating or bad review I cringe as I know I'll offend somebody, somewhere.

>93 pammab: In a way it did warn me, I guess, because of the foreshadowing from the dual timeline. But yeah, I've become a lot more squeamish reading about torture these days, so this is definitely a case where my "it's not you it's me" tag on LT gets a workout ;)

>94 VivienneR: Yep, I'm going to hope that my RL friend forgets I was reading this and won't ask me what I thought...

>89 rabbitprincess: FWIW, I read The Sparrow a few years ago and found it highly derivative of a 19th century science fiction Classic (The Time Machine) and, unfortunately not as engaging character-wise as you do. I gave it a low rating and decided not to bother with the sequels.

The person who recommended it to me? It’s one of those litmus tests books for them— a friendship may rise or fall depending on whether or not you love the book— so I’ve been avoiding the topic with them for eight years. I think by now they suspect something! 😂

Dropping in to say good morning, Princess!

>96 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Ha, I am impressed you managed to avoid the topic for eight years! I think in future I'll just not mention to RL folks when I'm reading a book they like until I know for sure that I like it ;)

>97 mstrust: Morning, Jennifer! We got our Fall on yesterday by buying apples, cider donuts, and cider at my favourite local orchard. Hope you're getting some comfortable temperatures today.

I have had some Fall. Today is raining and dark, which is very nice. It's brought the temps down 30 degrees from just a few days ago.
I've had my third pumpkin haul from Trader Joe's and, if you've been to my thread, you see that I'm plowing through my Autumn/Halloween books at a sharpish clip.

>99 mstrust: Excellent! Another sign of fall here: we took out the window air conditioner this morning.

****

I spent much of the past few days bingeing on Stardew Valley, so this review dates from Sunday.

Wild Fire, by Ann Cleeves
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/204011789

I've finally finished the Shetland series! Now I can watch the TV show, haha.

Someone is running a very noisy bit of machinery outside as I post this review and wrap up my reading for September.

The Rez Sisters, by Tomson Highway
Category: Found a Job, New Feeling (GenreCAT for plays and poetry)
Source: Pickwick Books, Waterdown, ON
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/188404006

This was a chance find at Pickwick Books. I'd heard of Tomson Highway but had never read any of his works. This has a grain of Les Belles-soeurs in it but is very much its own story.

September recap

Knitting and Stardew Valley cut into my reading time somewhat this month, so I’m here with 13 books read for September.

How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island, by Egill Bjarnason
Harvest of Time, by Alastair Reynolds (audio, read by Geoffrey Beevers)
Mr. Humble and Doctor Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul, by Brandy Schillace
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind, by Sue Black
The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, by Ian Mortimer
Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint
The Thirteenth Doctor, Vol. 0: The Many Lives of Doctor Who, by Richard Dinnick et al. (ebook)
Safety Differently: Human Factors for a New Era, by Sidney Dekker
The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
Magnetic North: Imagining Canada in Painting, 1910-40, by Martina Weinhart
Wild Fire, by Ann Cleeves
The Rez Sisters, by Tomson Highway

My favourite book of the month was Project Hail Mary. It was so much fun.

No books below 3 stars this month, so I will say with reluctance that The Sparrow was my least favourite of the bunch, because I couldn’t finish it.

Currently reading

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott — I should really just abandon this. I must have been in a really good headspace when I last read it, to give it 4 stars!
Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — I’m taking my time with this, as intended.
The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens — Haven’t officially abandoned it yet, but should.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — This keeps getting buried by other books on the coffee table.
Les Poisons de la couronne, by Maurice Druon — This also keeps getting buried on the coffee table.
Ride with Me, by Thomas B. Costain — I’ve been working most actively on this one in between library books.
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch — I read this in print and am re-reading it in audio. The author reads this book herself.
The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien — Another re-read. My copy is the 75th anniversary paperback set.

October plans

I have a lot of exciting books out from the library: new Thursday Murder Club, new Kopp Sisters, new McIlvanney, new Hollow Kingdom! Really looking forward to getting into those.

>101 rabbitprincess: Someone is running a very noisy bit of machinery outside as I post this review and wrap up my reading for September.
Sorry, that's us still renovating the house. Didn't know the noise would carry so far.
You did so well with your September reads!

>103 mstrust: Ha! I hope the renovations are going well.

****

First read of October could be considered scary.

The House of Ashes, by Stuart Neville
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5 (adjusted 07 October; it's not a 5 because I wouldn't consider getting my own copy for re-reading)
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205740649

This is one of those heart-in-throat books that keeps you turning the pages to make sure everyone's OK. It makes effective use of dual timelines, and it shows that the scariest monsters are human beings. It is an intense book though, so you may want to try The Ghosts of Belfast first to see if you like Neville's writing style.

>104 rabbitprincess: Oh that's a BB for sure!

>89 rabbitprincess: and >91 Jackie_K: Thank you both for your honesty! And brave rabbitprincess for offering your honest opinion about The Sparrow! Yes, it is a tough read, and the timeline can be difficult to deal with when you are in such emotion about (love it!) our mutual literary crush, Emilio.

And like you, Jackie, it took me YEARS to finally want to read Children of God. It resolves some things, and continues on with the tragic beauty of the world. I'm glad I read it because it resolved some things, but there are some things you can't un-read.

But I still love you, rabbitprincess, and I think about this thread of yours every time I hear a Talking Heads song! Thank you for your honest opinion about this book. I love the variety of reading you choose and much success with finishing both "Ivanhoe" and "Pickwick Papers."

>105 VivienneR: I hope you like it! Neville made a point of writing with a Northern Irish accent for one of the narrators, and it added a lot to the story :)

>106 threadnsong: Aww thanks! I can see why a lot of people love it, and I wanted to love it too. Ah well, at least I love MDR's historical fiction ;)

I've put a fork in Pickwick Papers for now because I was reading it on Serial Reader, and I spend too much time on screens to really enjoy e-reading, even in tiny snippets. Ivanhoe keeps getting pushed aside for library books.

>102 rabbitprincess: Ivanhoe was on my to-read list but, seeing how you're going, I'm feeling no urgency.

>102 rabbitprincess: After reading Waverly and Guy Mannering, I'm not willing to give Scott another try. I'll live vicariously through you!

>108 pamelad: >109 Tess_W: At this point I'd probably recommend the abridged version published to tie in with the classic children's show Wishbone: Wishbone Classics: Ivanhoe

>102 rabbitprincess: >108 pamelad: >109 Tess_W: I feel like I ought to try some Scott, given that I live in Scotland and all, but I have to say there's no appeal there at all for me! I'll just take everyone else's word for it that it's important literature :)

>111 Jackie_K: Maybe my pre-pandemic brain was better equipped to tackle his work!

I've been reading a fair bit this week, so let the deluge of reviews begin.

Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit, by Richard Wagamese
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library (but I’m buying my own copy)
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205824795

This is a GORGEOUS book and it's going on my Christmas list.

Ride with Me, by Thomas B. Costain
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody), New Feeling (February HistoryCAT -- 1800 to present day)
Source: pilfered from EVM
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/92648974

This took me a month and a bit to finish, mainly because my own books keep getting pushed aside for library books. It was good, but not Sharon Kay Penman good.

Miss Kopp Investigates, by Amy Stewart
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205955415

I am always happy to have a new Kopp Sisters novel to read. Fleurette gets a major role in this one, which is great.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place, by Janelle Shane
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library (but I’ll have to buy a copy for my family to share)
Rating: 5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205079197

I loved this book and know my family will love it too, so I will probably buy it for my dad as a Christmas present ;) Also, Janelle Shane's little AI cartoons are SO CUTE and I want one on a T-shirt.

Some of Costain’s novels I remember really liking when I read them years ago but I don’t remember that one at all.

>114 hailelib: Going by Wikipedia, it seems to be one of his earliest novels, published 1944.

****

Trying to have slightly less of a review backlog...

Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll, by Terrance Dicks
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: bought on a trip to Wales in 2017
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/145800021

I read this in a morning last weekend. I'll have to watch the TV serial this weekend.

Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight, by Amy Shira Teitel
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205105494

This book has some overlap with The Women with Silver Wings (and it took me a while to figure out *which* book I was being reminded of), but it's also worth reading.

Whew, finally caught up with reviews!

The Dark Remains, by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/206256183

I liked this well enough, but the book was so short that I worried it would end before we found out whodunnit. Now I want to read the Laidlaw books again.

The Darkness Knows, by Arnaldur Indriðason (translated by Victoria Cribb)
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/206256215

First in a new series, this makes references to The Shadow District but does not spoil the ending of that book, as far as I can recall. A good solid mystery.

I'm behind on reviews again, but that's OK.

The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/206515031

This was a tonic. Just what I needed. I cackled when Joyce's Instagram username was revealed.

The Blue Hammer, by Ross Macdonald
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: Wigtown, Scotland
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/109072277

The last Lew Archer novel but not the last one of his I have to read; this was the one that had been on my shelves unread the longest. Not my favourite in the series, but OK.

>116 rabbitprincess: I don't know how William McIlvanney has escaped my attention. That will soon be remedied.

>117 rabbitprincess: Can't wait to find out Joyce's Instgram username!

>117 rabbitprincess: I’m reading The Man Who Died Twice now. I love Elizabeth!

>117 rabbitprincess: I liked it even better than the first!

Just stopping in to say hi.

>118 VivienneR: Enjoy!

>119 lsh63: Me too! I'd like to think of myself as an Ibrahim but I'm probably more like Joyce.

>120 clue: I liked the first better, but probably because it was the first and I didn't know what to expect. I still really liked this one, but on a different level.

>121 hailelib: Hi! Thanks for stopping by :)

****

A bit of a grindy week, but I did manage to read two books and review three (the first is a holdover from last Saturday).

The Memory Thief: The Secrets Behind How We Remember—A Medical Mystery, by Lauren Aguirre
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205955452

I borrowed this, had to return it unread because of too many other books, then my mum borrowed it from her library and said I had to read it, so I tried again. A very good read if you're interested in memory loss and in how medical research works on a system level.

1979, by Val McDermid
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207428477

I gobbled this up in a couple of days, reading the first 100 pages in a single go. I felt the ending was a bit perfunctory, but I liked the atmosphere very much and now want to re-read Denise Mina's Paddy Meehan trilogy.

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Category: Take Me to the River
Source: bought for myself as part of the 75th anniversary LOTR box set
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/93042766

This was a somewhat random re-read, but it scratched my somewhat ridiculous itch to read long, complex books when I don't have the processing power for them (exhibit A: all the historical fiction novels that sit neglected on my on-deck pile because I can't bear to put them back on the shelf).

One last book for October, then the month-end recap!

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207007524

I always enjoy Mary Roach's books, and this one was no exception :)

****

October recap

Focusing on fun rather than what was actually due back soonest helped push me to 15 books read this month.

The House of Ashes, by Stuart Neville
Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit, by Richard Wagamese
Ride with Me, by Thomas B. Costain
Miss Kopp Investigates, by Amy Stewart
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place, by Janelle Shane
Doctor Who and the Power of Kroll, by Terrance Dicks
Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight, by Amy Shira Teitel
The Dark Remains, by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin
The Darkness Knows, by Arnaldur Indriðason (translated by Victoria Cribb)
The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman
The Blue Hammer, by Ross Macdonald
The Memory Thief: The Secrets Behind How We Remember—A Medical Mystery, by Lauren Aguirre
1979, by Val McDermid
The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach

My favourite book of the month was Richard Wagamese Selected, which I’ve put on my Christmas list because I want to own a copy.

Second month in a row with no books below 3 stars. My least favourite was probably The Blue Hammer, because it was hard to get into.

Currently reading

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott — I’m going to keep this active if only because there’s a copy at my parents’ place as well; when I visit them for Christmas I can read that copy instead and count it as a ROOT ;)
Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — I’m taking my time with this, as intended.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — Still getting buried on the coffee table.
Les Poisons de la couronne, by Maurice Druon — I’m having a terrible time with this book and not sure why, because the first two books were great. I think I’m just too tired for French books these days :(
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch — I haven’t been doing much that would enable me to read audiobooks, but I have been drawing a lot more lately so maybe I’ll listen to this while I do that.
The Terrorists, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Joan Tate) — At long last another book from the Pool has been started!
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri — Borrowed this for the October RandomCAT, which is about people who give or help in some way.

November plans

I read almost all of the library books I was excited about, and was pleased to be able to renew the new Hollow Kingdom so that I could actually read it! That’s a priority for this month. I also hope to make *some* progress on the historical fiction front — I have a day off in November so may be able to sit down for a bit and really hunker down with a book.

You had a great month! So glad to hear you enjoyed Richard Wagamese. He is one of my favourite authors so this goes on my wishlist.

You are such a fast reader and you've had an excellent reading month!

>124 VivienneR: It was such a good book!

>125 mstrust: Thanks! I feel I've had a bit of a fits-and-starts reading year, but as long as I like what I do read, that's the main thing :)

****

I Live a Life Like Yours, by Jan Grue (translated by Becky Crook)
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207250261

Found out about this book via the New York Times. It's not your traditional memoir structure, but very effective.

The Terrorists, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Joan Tate)
Category: Once in a Lifetime, New Feeling (December GenreCAT - mysteries)
Source: Friends of Library and Archives Canada book sale
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/70475011

It's taken me 16 years, but I am finally finished the Martin Beck series. Hurray! It's a good series.

>126 rabbitprincess: Congrats! Series completion is something I need to work on for sure.

>127 clue: It's a never-ending task! So many series, so little time.

****

Caught up on reviews, whew!

What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri
Category: Crosseyed and Painless, New Feeling (October RandomCAT)
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/206515077

I requested this for the October RandomCAT theme of reading a book about a helping profession. I think it fit the bill nicely. A very thoughtful book.

A Corruption of Blood, by Ambrose Parry
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207428408

And now I'm up to date with the Raven, Fisher and Simpson series! This was my favourite of the three. The series is more "historical fiction novel with a mystery woven through it" rather than "mystery grafted onto a historical setting", if that makes sense.

My library has the book by Danielle Ofri and I have put it on my list.

I'm taking a BB for Richard Wagamese Selected as I've always loved his writing. The cover image is beautiful.

>129 hailelib: Excellent! I'll have to read another of her books soon.

>130 mathgirl40: It is GORGEOUS!!

****

Seems like I like to save up my reviews to write a bunch at once. Reading feels a bit slow these days. I'm doing some knitting and have been wasting a ton of time watching videos online.

The Plague Court Murders, by John Dickson Carr
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: library
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207538235

This was a properly spooky mystery. I started it on a Friday and knew I had to save it for daytime reading because I was so creeped out. Good job, JDC.

The Athenian Murders, by José Carlos Somoza
Category: This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody), New Feeling - December MysteryKIT
Source: Phoenix Books, Owen Sound
Rating: 1/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/119422363

I found the translator protagonist to be a pretentious twit and ended up bailing.

Bullet Train, by Kotaro Isaka (translated by Sam Malissa)
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207711769

This was much better. I was sold immediately on the premise, the story moves at a good clip, and Lemon cracked me up with his obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine.

>131 rabbitprincess: I laughed at your review of The Athenian Murders. I read it back in 2010 and gave it 4*, so clearly wasn't as bothered as you were by the author’s pretentiousness.

>132 pamelad: I'm glad you liked the book! Definitely a mismatch between the book and my reading mood :)

>133 rabbitprincess: It's funny, sometimes you just can't with a book. I had that recently, I got out Sweet, Sweet Revenge Ltd from the library, and was really looking forward to it (especially as I really enjoyed the 100 year old man), but I couldn't get into it at all and have returned it unfinished. I'll give it another go sometime, but it's not for me right now.

>134 Jackie_K: I had a book like that recently, The Aosawa Murders. Japanese mysteries are very much in my wheelhouse but I didn't have quite enough brain processing power for it at the moment, so I've returned it and will read it another time.

****

Another Saturday, another review dump. I did more reading in the first half of the week; the second half of the week has been consumed with the new Beatles documentary, Get Back. I've watched parts 1 and 2 and will watch Part 3 this evening. I am fascinated, especially seeing how the songs on the album took shape. I also love that a lot of the recording was fuelled by tea and toast :)

Anyway, all this to say it's taken me until now to write up this week's reviews.

Safety-I and Safety-II: The Past and Future of Safety Management, by Erik Hollnagel
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: bought from the publisher
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/185696637

In case you can't tell, I'm a huge nerd about system safety and transportation. This is a solid read and one I will have to return to. The key point is that safety as traditionally defined is the absence of bad things happening, and it does not take into account the presence of good things happening, people adjusting their performance to meet the reality they are faced with and prevent accidents from happening.

Falling, by T. J. Newman
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/207711717

A cheesy popcorn thriller that felt very cinematic. The author is a former flight attendant, so I was inclined to trust that she'd done her homework and drawn on her own experiences -- her author's note says she made it just accurate enough to be convincing but not so accurate as to be a how-to manual.

DK Eyewitness Books: Flight, by Andrew Nahum
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/208947307

I am definitely not the target audience for this book, but I liked it well enough. Giggled at the inclusion of a CD full of clip art -- only 10 years ago you could reasonably expect a computer to have a CD drive, but how many new computers actually have one now?

>135 rabbitprincess: I never thought about new computers NOT having a CD player...but yes, CD's are "out!" However, in the US almost all new comps have a DVD player and most play CD's. With streaming and such do you think DVD players on computers will also be a thing of the past shortly?

>136 Tess_W: There are probably some that still offer an external drive that reads CDs or DVDs as an option, but in my experience it has not been a common option.

We have a PlayStation 4 that can be used to play DVDs and Blu-Rays, but not CDs, which I didn't realize until after we'd set it up. Fortunately our old DVD/VCR combo player still works for that.

I think streaming has certainly taken a bite out of the physical-media industry, but I'm hoping there's still room for physical discs, because if I really like a movie, I'm going to buy a physical copy. I don't trust streaming services to keep the rights to shows and movies indefinitely.

>135 rabbitprincess: - My husband went into the safety field after he left flying, but as this was published in 2014, it's probably already somewhat outdated. And he's retired now so probably not that interested.

>138 dudes22: If he were interested in reading about the field he's retired from, he might be interested in the next book I'm planning to read in that vein, Foundations of Safety Science. It was published in 2019 so a little more up to date :)

>137 rabbitprincess: I wonder if that is a Canadian thing? I just bought a new desktop (HP) and it came standard with DVD player. My hubby bought a new laptop also this year (Sanyo) and it has a DVD player. And we made sure they were 2021 models because a friend warned us that "older" (yet new) models were in the warehouses. But now, I am forewarned!

>140 Tess_W: My most recent laptop doesn't have a DVD/CD drive (it's a couple of years old now), but then it's more notebook than big laptop. I assumed you could get DVD drives that can be plugged into the computer by USB if there wasn't one integral to the computer.

>140 Tess_W: >141 Jackie_K: It could be a laptop/desktop thing for sure. My work has moved away from desktops for years, except for people who really need them I suppose (like our multimedia specialists). We're all issued either laptops or tablets, and neither have drives to read disc media. So I keep forgetting desktop computers still exist in that environment ;)

At home I have a Mac Mini, which is a desktop computer, but it does not have a CD drive, and it's a late 2014 model. That said, Apple was a bit of an early jettisoner of CD drives.

Last book of November. Recap coming later this evening.

A Noise Downstairs, by Linwood Barclay
Category: Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town
Source: bought new from Chaptigo
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/158797971

It took me a while to actually start reading this once I'd put it on the pile, but once I got started, it was a quick read.

November recap

A slower reading month this month: 11 books.

I Live a Life Like Yours, by Jan Grue (translated by Becky Crook)
The Terrorists, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (translated by Joan Tate)
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri
A Corruption of Blood, by Ambrose Parry
The Plague Court Murders, by John Dickson Carr
The Athenian Murders, by José Carlos Somoza (translated by Sonia Soto)
Bullet Train, by Kotaro Isaka (translated by Sam Malissa)
Safety-I and Safety-II: The Past and Future of Safety Management, by Erik Hollnagel
Falling, by T. J. Newman
DK Eyewitness Books: Flight, by Andrew Nahum
A Noise Downstairs, by Linwood Barclay

My favourite book of the month was What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear. I am looking forward to reading the rest of Danielle Ofri’s work.

My least favourite book of the month was The Athenian Murders, which I DNF’d.

Currently reading

Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott — My plan from the beginning of the month still stands: I’m going to keep this active if only because there’s a copy at my parents’ place as well; when I visit them for Christmas I can read that copy instead and count it as a ROOT ;)
Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — I’m taking my time with this, as intended.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — This is now getting buried in a pile on a bookshelf instead of on the coffee table.
Les Poisons de la couronne, by Maurice Druon — Still too tired for French books :(
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch — I’ve made a bit more progress on this and may have to take a siesta this week with some earbuds. I’m really tired.
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein: Just started this today and already really liking it!

December plans

I didn’t get to the new Hollow Kingdom this month so MUST read it this month. And instead of historical fiction, I am filling my on-deck pile with crime novels and comics. Just the ticket for the holiday reading season :)

>144 rabbitprincess: When you are ready for French, the Druon book(s) is fab!

>145 Tess_W: I'll probably try it again after the holidays :)

****

Taking a few days off to decompress. So far this month I've read two books, both non-fiction.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205913673

As someone who's having a little bit of a midlife crisis regarding her career specialization, I found this book interesting and useful. I also found it validated my habit of reading lots of random books on a variety of subjects :D

No Man’s Land: The Untold Story of Automation and QF72, by Kevin Sullivan
Category: The Big Country
Source: library
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/206830258

This book relates to Range in a way, because the captain of the title flight, in which the automation failed spectacularly, drew on his skills as a former Top Gun pilot to wrestle the plane back into controlled flight and land safely. The captain is the author of this book and he tells the story vividly and honestly, and draws a parallel between this accident and road accidents involving autonomous vehicles.

Just dropping in to say hi and hoping your December is happy!

>147 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer! :)

****

Short attention span means time for comic books.

The Thirteenth Doctor, Issue 1, by Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, and Enrica Eren Angiolini
Category: Houses in Motion, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 3.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/179425658

I emphasize "Issue" 1 because this is only about 40 pages. I'll have to find the other issues that make up Volume 1 of the Thirteenth Doctor's comic-book adventures.

The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Faded Page
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/209487187

Both of the Wyndhams I've read have been very good. Looking forward to trying more.

I Me Mine, by George Harrison
Category: Crosseyed and Painless
Source: borrowed from parents
Rating: 3/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/209430429

Thanks to this book, I'm now playing "Crackerbox Palace" on an endless loop. Really liked reading about how George got the inspiration for his various songs.

>149 rabbitprincess: I've read a couple of Wyndhams, but not that one. Put on my WL!

>149 rabbitprincess: I'm planning a re-read of The Chrysalids and have also bought Chocky, which I haven't read before.

Wishing you...

I have The Chrysalids as part of a 2-volume SF anthology and I've read it more than once. I liked all the books I've read by John Wyndham.

>150 Tess_W: Excellent! I hope you like it!

>151 pamelad: I'll be interested to hear your review!

>152 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer, and merry Christmas to you as well!

>153 hailelib: I'm 2 for 2 with him so far!

****

As a taster for my 2022 category challenge, here's a YouTube playlist of Christmas songs done in the style of Beatles songs. So clever! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn7qrEzni6s&list=PLr1onqArJGAFnz1G3ZlqSYLEdb...

Christmas haul was good this year:

Murder By the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards
The Man Who Didn't Fly, by Margot Bennett
The Widow of Bath, by Margot Bennett
Hyde, by Craig Russell
The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars, by Anthony Boucher
The Widening Stain, by W. Bolingbroke Johnson
Operation Angus, by Terry Fallis

Of these books, the only book my mum *won't* borrow is Operation Angus, because she's already read it ;)

And in an unintentional nod to my 2021 category challenge, I also received the Criterion edition of True Stories.

Another book read over the Christmas holidays.

All the Devils Are Here, by Louise Penny
Category: Once in a Lifetime
Source: borrowed from parents
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/209435594

I liked the Paris setting and how everyone got involved in the case, although the unravelling of whodunnit felt a bit convoluted.

Congratulations, looks like you had a Merry Christmas with that very nice haul of books!

The Fab Four recording is funny and well done. Very timely.

I liked the Paris setting too in All the Devils Are Here. It was one of my favourites in the series.

Wishing you all the best in the new year! As always, I'm looking forward to following your reading.

Excellent book haul, RP! The Fab Four brought a smile to my face and many memories to my mind!

>156 VivienneR: Thanks for the new year's wishes, and the same to you :) I'm looking forward to digging through my haul.

>157 DeltaQueen50: My first listen through the album, I was yelling "YES!" with every song because the choices were so good.

Feeling inspired to power through some short audios as the end of the year approaches.

I, Davros: Innocence, by Gary Hopkins (Big Finish audio drama)
Category: Road to Nowhere, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139865353

This is the first of a four-part story telling the backstory of Davros, creator of the Daleks. He is chilling and ruthless, and definitely gets it from his mother.

I, Davros: Purity, by James Parsons (Big Finish audio drama)
Category: Road to Nowhere, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139865368

The sound design has really impressed me on this set. It has excellent Classic Who vibes.

I also finally finished this audiobook, which has been on the go for a few months:

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch
Category: Road to Nowhere
Source: Libro.fm
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/205381749

Technically this is a re-read, but this was the first time I read the audio edition, so I'm considering it a new read for the purposes of my 2-for-1 TBR ;) I took a long time to read this because I lost a lot of reading energy. But I think Christmas put a spring back in my step for the rest of the year.

Nice Christmas book haul!

>149 rabbitprincess: I loved both The Chrysalids and Day of the Triffids. I'm hoping to fit The Midwich Cuckoos into my reading plans for next year.

>161 mathgirl40: I may have to do the same!

****

A giant book dump to close out December before I do my month-end and year-end recaps.

What Abigail Did That Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch
Category: (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/210147067

A novella set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree. I enjoyed Abigail's character and would love to see her have more cases to solve.

Oddball: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen
Category: Houses in Motion
Source: library
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/210227857

I always make quick work of Sarah's Scribbles collections and this one was no exception.

I, Davros: Corruption, by Lance Parkin (Big Finish audio drama)
Category: Road to Nowhere, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 4.5/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139865379

My favourite of the four I, Davros stories I read. This is the one where he actually becomes the Davros we know from Doctor Who.

I, Davros: Guilt, by Scott Alan Woodard (Big Finish)
Category: Road to Nowhere, (Nothing But) Flowers
Source: Humble Bundle
Rating: 4/5
Review: https://www.librarything.com/review/139865407

This closes the I, Davros storyline to great effect. That last line... perfection.

December recap

Picked up some steam in the last week of December to hit 13 books.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein
No Man’s Land: The Untold Story of Automation and QF72, by Kevin Sullivan
The Thirteenth Doctor, Issue 1, by Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, and Enrica Eren Angiolini (ebook)
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham (Faded Page)
I Me Mine, by George Harrison
All the Devils Are Here, by Louise Penny
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch (audio)
I, Davros: Innocence, by Gary Hopkins (Big Finish audio drama)
I, Davros: Purity, by James Parsons (Big Finish audio drama)
What Abigail Did That Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch
Oddball: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection, by Sarah Andersen
I, Davros: Corruption, by Lance Parkin (Big Finish audio drama)
I, Davros: Guilt, by Scott Alan Woodard (Big Finish audio drama)

My favourite book of the month was No Man’s Land: The Untold Story of Automation and QF72. I had this out from the library forever and finally got around to reading it. What a gripping story for this aviation nerd.

I read a lot of great books this month. My lowest-rated book was I Me Mine, which I rated only 3 stars (but I still liked it).

Currently reading

Toksvig’s Almanac 2021, by Sandi Toksvig — I started reading this in May 2021 so will be finished with it in April 2022.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills, by William Hughes — Still buried in a pile.
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens — I’m back to Serial Reader! Hurray!
Foundations of Safety Science: A Century of Understanding Accidents and Disasters, by Sidney Dekker — I’m taking this one slowly and making a lot of notes.
Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway — Borrowed from my brother (I bought it for him as a Christmas present one year with the full intention of borrowing it).
The Ringed Castle, by Dorothy Dunnett — After having this on my on-deck pile forever, I finally decided to make a start.

I finally gave up on Ivanhoe and Les Poisons de la couronne, at least for now.

January plans

I have a lot of great books by Indigenous authors on my library shelves, so I’m looking forward to reading those for the AuthorCAT.

From my December plans, I did start reading Feral Creatures (the new Hollow Kingdom book) but I was reading the ebook from the library and forgot to finish it in the Christmas rush, so it was returned partly finished. If I get it back this month, I’ll continue reading it.

Total books read: 167

Number of books read in each category (these will add up to more than the total number of books read because I posted a few in multiple categories)

Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town (General fiction): 20
Crosseyed and Painless (General non-fiction): 27
This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) (History): 19
Once in a Lifetime (Mysteries): 26
Psycho Killer (French): 2
Take Me to the River (Rereads): 8
Road to Nowhere (Audiobooks): 9
(Nothing But) Flowers (SFF): 18
Houses in Motion (Short stories, GNs, essays): 26
Found a Job (Plays): 4
New Feeling (Group reads/CATs): 19
The Big Country (Planes, trains, and boats): 17

In 2018, 2019, and 2020, I somehow managed to break 200 books, but this year’s total was much lower. I had two very bad reading slumps in the spring and fall in which my reading went down to single digits for more than one month. I also discovered the computer game Stardew Valley, which certainly cut into my reading time!

Breakdown of my usual categories and comparison against last year:
• I read the same amount of general fiction as last year (20 books) but slightly less general non-fiction (27 books).
• I read about the same amount of history as last year, so keeping historical fiction and historical non-fiction in the same category is still a good idea.
• I read fewer mysteries than last year (27 this year, 40 last year), but that’s probably because I read less overall. I had a lot of American Mystery Classics in my list, and I finished the Shetland series.
• I read less SFF than last year, but this is likely due to lower reading volume as well. Two Rivers of London books this year, both of which came at the right time.
• Of my miscellaneous books, my biggest category was “graphic novels / comics / art”, with 13 books.
• I exceeded my plays goal, with 4 books.
• My audiobook mojo dried up pretty badly; nearly half the 9 books I read for this category were read in the last four days of the year.
• I met my French goal, with 2 books.
• I didn’t reread that much, but I did exceed my goal of 6.
• I continued to drop out of group reads and CATs. I’m not picking choices ahead of time in 2022 and will see if I can fill the list each month by chance.
• Last year I read 21 travel-related books (about planes and boats); this year I read 17 books about trains, planes, and boats. This is obviously a good source of material for me and I’ll have to find a way to resume using this theme in future challenges.

I read 13/25 of the books in my Pool. I haven’t been motivated to pick up books from the Pool very often, so I’ll give the idea a rest in 2022.



Top books of the year (five from each quarter):

Picks of Q1 (Jan/Feb/Mar)
Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, by Tom Gauld
Falls the Shadow, by Sharon Kay Penman
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster, by Adam Higginbotham
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, by Dan Harris
Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town, by Lamorna Ash

Picks of Q2 (Apr/May/Jun)
Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese
The Girl Who Died, by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Victoria Cribb)
The Queen’s Gambit, by Walter Tevis
Dear Life: A Doctor’s Story of Love and Loss, by Rachel Clarke
The Deep Dark Sleep, by Craig Russell

Picks of Q3 (Jul/Aug/Sep)
A Perfect Likeness, by Richard Wagamese
The Medicine Book, by DK Publishing
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
The Witch Elm, by Tana French
Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind, by Sue Black

Picks of Q4 (Oct/Nov/Dec)
Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit, by Richard Wagamese
What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, by Danielle Ofri
No Man’s Land: The Untold Story of Automation and QF72, by Kevin Sullivan
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place, by Janelle Shane
The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham

Even with a slump or two, you did some good reading for the year. Now, on to a great New Year.

Another excellent reading year - now it on to 2022!

I like that Richard Wagamese appears in three of your Picks lists. Lots of BBs there.

Happy reading in 2022!

What a lot of great reading you did in 2021! And you kind of nailed my choices for the reading challenges and Cats and Kits (so now I feel less guilty - thank you!). I randomly go through SFFKit and History Kit and all, and select one challenge that fits what I want to read or have staring at me from a bookshelf. There are so many challenges it's the only way I can winnow down my piles of books ;)

>165 hailelib: Thanks, Tricia! I was glad to get that last bit of reading done at the end of the year.

>166 DeltaQueen50: Looking forward to it!

>167 VivienneR: I'm going to have to tackle the rest of his catalogue this year :)

>168 threadnsong: You're welcome! I've listed all of the CATs and KITs in my "group reads" category for 2022, but I'll just check in at the end of each month to see if I've read anything that happens to fit the parameters for *any* of the months ;)

****

This ain't no party! This ain't no disco! This is the end of my 2021 thread. Take it away, Talking Heads!

Life During Wartime (from "Stop Making Sense")

He got some moves!

>170 mstrust: I've tried many times to replicate this set of moves, and I do pretty well up to the bit where his arms are doing different things -- I just flail around and fall down on the sofa :D