leslie.98's ROOTing for Success

DiskuteraROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes

Bara medlemmar i LibraryThing kan skriva.

leslie.98's ROOTing for Success

Denna diskussion är för närvarande "vilande"—det sista inlägget är mer än 90 dagar gammalt. Du kan återstarta det genom att svara på inlägget.

1leslie.98
Redigerat: dec 25, 2014, 3:51 pm




I hope that I can do more than this, but I wanted to start small. That way success is more likely ♡

I think that I will keep a summary here.

Paperbacks and hardcovers (the real deal - this is what my ticker is tracking):
1. "The Rubber Band" by Rex Stout (owned since 2006)
2. "The Red Box" by Rex Stout (owned since 2006)
3.* "Vile Bodies" by Evelyn Waugh (owned since July '13)
4. "Hamlet, Revenge!" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)
5. "From Russia With Love" by Ian Fleming (owned since 2006)
6.* "Middlemarch" by George Eliot (owned for a long time)
7. "Frequent Hearses" by Edmund Crispin (owned since 2004?)
8. "Young Miles" by Lois McMaster Bujold (owned since 2009)
9. "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Anne Schaffer and Annie Barrows (owned since 2013)
10. "Endless Night" by Agatha Christie (owned since 2013)
11. "Doctor No" by Ian Fleming (owned since 2006)
12. "Tracks" by Robyn Davidson (owned since 2013)
13.* "Changing Places" by David Lodge (owned since 2013)
14. "Lament for a Maker" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)
15.* "Lucky Jim" by Kingsley Amis (owned since 2013)
16.* "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy (owned for 20+ years!)
17.* "Goldfinger" by Ian Fleming (owned since 2006)
18. "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin (owned since 2013)
19. "The True Game" by Sheri S. Tepper (owned since 2012)
20. "The Secret Vanguard" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)
21. "Miles, Mystery & Mayhem" by Lois McMasters Bujold (owned since 2009)
22.* "Porterhouse Blue" by Tom Sharpe (owned since 2013)
23. "Vintage Murder" by Ngaio Marsh (owned since 2013)
24. "There Came Both Mist and Snow" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)
25. "The Robots of Dawn" by Isaac Asimov (owned since 2005)
26. "Appleby on Ararat" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)
27. "Thunderball" by Ian Fleming (owned since 2006)
28. "The Daffodil Affair" by Michael Innes (owned since 2006)

Kindle books:
1.* "Nightmare Abbey" by Thomas Love Peacock (on my Kindle since October '13)
2. "Dog River Blues" by Mike Jastrzebski (on my Kindle since March '13)
3. "Hot Chocolate" by Dawn Greenfield Ireland (on my Kindle since Jan. '13)
4. "The Prime Minister" by Anthony Trollope (on my Kindle since July '12)
5. "The Enchanted Castle" by E. Nesbit (on my Kindle since Feb. '12)
6. "Reginald" by Saki (on my Kindle since Jan. '13)
* "Silas Marner" by George Eliot (on my Kindle since Aug. '12)
7.* "Lorna Doone" by R.D. Blackmore (on my Kindle since Oct. '12)
8. "Cocaine Blues" by Kerry Greenwood (on my Kindle since Aug. '12)
9.* "The Island of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells (on my Kindle since Aug. '12)
10. "The Circular Staircase" by Mary Roberts Rinehart (on my Kindle since March '13)
11. "Moon Signs" by Helen Haught Fanick (on my Kindle since Dec. '12)
12. "An Appointment With Murder" by Jennifer L. Jennings (on my Kindle since Oct. '12)
13.* "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoesky (on my Kindle since Oct. '12)
14.* "Mary Barton" by Elizabeth Gaskell (on my Kindle since Sept. '12)

Audiobooks:
1. "The Booktaker" by Bill Pronzini (owned since June '13)
2. "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri (owned since Dec. '13)
3. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. (owned since July '13)
4. "Spy Killer" by L. Ron Hubbard (owned since March '13)
5. "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck (owned since sometime in 2013)
6.* "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser (owned since June '13)
7. "The Raven Boys" by Maggie Stiefvater (owned since July '13)
8.* "Silas Marner" by George Eliot (owned since Aug. '12)
9.* "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" by Kate Atkinson (owned since Nov. '12)
10.* "Lady Audley's Secret" by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (owned since Nov. '13)
11.* "The Red and the Black" by Stendhal (owned since May '13)
12. "Nicholas Nickleby" by Charles Dickens (owned since May '13)
13. "Enchanted" by Alethea Kontis (owned since July '13)
14. "The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Woods (owned since '13)
15.* "Moll Flanders" by Daniel Defoe (owned since Aug. '12)
16. "The False Prince" by Jennifer A. Nielson (owned since July '13)
17. "Carter Finally Gets It" by Brent Crawford (owned since June '13)
18. "Once" by Morris Gleitzman (owned since July '13)
19. "Whodunit: Murder at Mystery Manor" by Anthony E. Zuiker (owned since '13)
20. "Grave Mercy" by Robin LaFevers (owned since July '13)

audiobook ticker:



* means the book is on the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Should Read list

2majkia
dec 31, 2013, 10:09 am

great!

3connie53
dec 31, 2013, 10:44 am

Welcome to the club.

4cyderry
dec 31, 2013, 11:18 am

great you are here! Don't forget to copy your ticker to the ticker thread!

5leslie.98
dec 31, 2013, 12:41 pm

Thanks everyone - I have already added my ticker to the ticker thread, but figured it was time to start my own thread :)

6rabbitprincess
dec 31, 2013, 2:05 pm

Welcome aboard! Good luck with your challenge :)

7ipsoivan
dec 31, 2013, 9:44 pm

Yes, best of luck!

8rainpebble
jan 1, 2014, 1:52 am

Hello Leslie and best of luck with your challenge.

9leslie.98
jan 2, 2014, 6:40 am

Thanks -- at the moment I am still finishing up some library books from December, but hope to start my January books soon!

10MissWatson
jan 6, 2014, 5:23 am

Welcome. I'm looking forward to see what you pick off your pile!

11leslie.98
jan 6, 2014, 9:57 am

Thanks MissWatson! I have started with a Rex Stout mystery - I have a lot of them which I hope to get through this year. First one of the year is #3, The Rubber Band… (as I don't have #1 and already read #2)

12MissWatson
jan 6, 2014, 6:07 pm

Ah, Rex Stout. Read him ages ago because my best friend was a fan. I think I must revisit him sometime.

13leslie.98
jan 7, 2014, 12:24 am

Finished my first paperback for this challenge, The Rubber Band. Although this has only (only!!) been languishing on my shelves since about 2006, it has been in my family since 1968!! This is from one of several boxes full of books that I acquired when my parents moved to a smaller place...

14Merryann
jan 7, 2014, 12:37 am

Congratulations on finishing The Rubber Band! (Such a cool name for a book.)

15leslie.98
jan 7, 2014, 12:43 am

Thanks Merryann! It also worked out as my book for the MysteryCAT for January - always nice to get multiple challenges with the same book!

16Merryann
jan 7, 2014, 1:07 am

Oh yes, I agree! And great fun, too, to find a way to make one book work on three different challenges.

17connie53
jan 7, 2014, 10:42 am

I agree with both of you, leslie and Merryann. I will try that every time when I'm searching for a new book in my bookcases.

18tymfos
jan 7, 2014, 12:52 pm

Happy reading this year! You're off to a good start. And I love it when one book works for multiple challenges.

19leslie.98
jan 7, 2014, 7:07 pm

Thanks Connie53 and tymfos, for the encouragement :)

20leslie.98
Redigerat: jan 8, 2014, 2:54 pm

summaries have been moved to first post...

21ipsoivan
jan 7, 2014, 9:15 pm

Oooo, how was Nightmare Abbey? I think Ive had that on the shelf since the late 80s.

22leslie.98
jan 7, 2014, 10:15 pm

>21 ipsoivan: - I really liked it! I thought that it would be Gothic horror but it actually is a satire of such books (as written in the late 1700s/early 1800s so you might need to refer to a dictionary!). I laughed out loud several times :)

23connie53
jan 8, 2014, 10:36 am

Ohh, like summaries! I don't know for certain but I think you beter put everything in your first post. Just copy/paste. Everything will be in one post and easy to find for yourself and for your followers (We!!)

24leslie.98
jan 8, 2014, 2:52 pm

Good idea connie53! I will copy it over.

25connie53
jan 8, 2014, 5:28 pm

I sometimes have my moments ;-))

26leslie.98
jan 23, 2014, 9:38 am

Book #2 done - another Rex Stout mystery, The Red Box… a tad predictable but still enjoyable.

27Merryann
jan 23, 2014, 11:51 pm

Congratulations on ROOT 2, Leslie!

28connie53
jan 24, 2014, 9:39 am

Yes, you're doing great.

29leslie.98
jan 24, 2014, 12:23 pm

Thanks Merryann & connie53 :)

I am having a harder time resisting library books than I expected!

30connie53
jan 25, 2014, 6:33 am

I'm batteling the New and Shiny Ones! So I understand the pressure.

31leslie.98
jan 25, 2014, 11:03 am

The problem with library books is the built-in deadline - so my own books get postponed...

32leslie.98
Redigerat: jan 26, 2014, 5:04 pm

Book #3 done - a satire this time, Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. Too, too amusing! I acquired this last summer and then couldn't find time to read it. Glad that I finally made time for it!

33rabbitprincess
jan 26, 2014, 5:17 pm

I need to reread Vile Bodies sometime (and re-watch Bright Young Things). Glad you liked it!

34connie53
jan 27, 2014, 4:20 am

Well done, leslie!

35leslie.98
jan 29, 2014, 10:39 am

First audiobook ROOT done today - The Booktaker has been on my iPod since last summer. This is a short mystery novella, a fun and easy listen.

36leslie.98
feb 4, 2014, 11:07 am

Second audiobook ROOT finished - Interpreter of Maladies just barely squeaked in as I bought it in Dec. '13, but I couldn't wait to listen to it. These short stories were lovely, and I could see why Lahiri won the Pulitizer for this book. However the editing of the audiobook could have been better. I would suggest reading this in print or ebook form...

37VivienneR
feb 4, 2014, 7:37 pm

It sounds like a book I would like. Thanks for the tip to try the print/ebook version.

38leslie.98
feb 11, 2014, 6:58 pm

I have knocked off a couple of short audiobooks: Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr. & narrated by Dion Graham. 5 stars This is short, as you might expect from a letter, but King's powerful prose is worth reading (the text is available online at several sites). Dion Graham does a great job with the narration.

Then I listened to an Audible freebie I picked up last spring, Spy Killer by L. Ron Hubbard. Surprisingly enjoyable pulp fiction. 3 stars

39Merryann
feb 13, 2014, 1:35 am

Congratulations on all that reading!

I love audiobooks. I have a goal this year to take walks while listening to books on audio, but so far I'm not making it out the door. Today's problem: the ice storm and power outage. If it's not one thing, it's another (excuse for me) lol.

40leslie.98
feb 13, 2014, 1:09 pm

That is a good resolution Merryann - I may adopt it too when spring comes! In the meantime, audiobooks are great to listen to when cooking. I listened to a good part of my current audiobook The Good Earth while making bread and soup today while the "snow mist" continues outside... I don't mind the snow so much but this is supposed to be followed by sleet then rain then more snow -- it will be a mess to shovel :(

41Merryann
feb 14, 2014, 1:34 am

All of ours melted today, which is good because I don't even own a snow shovel.

I bet The Good Earth is a lovely book to listen to while baking!

42leslie.98
feb 14, 2014, 8:57 pm

Finished The Good Earth audiobook, narrated by Anthony Heald. Excellent book, although some of the attitudes of 1920s China are upsetting to a modern American woman.

And I finished my ROOT #4 with Hamlet, Revenge!, the second Inspector Appleby mystery. This is a MysteryCAT and AlphaCAT for both H and R...

43rabbitprincess
feb 14, 2014, 9:10 pm

Nice! I have Hamlet, Revenge on my "request from library" list, as the library has a copy of it in ebook format.

44leslie.98
feb 14, 2014, 9:19 pm

You can see my thoughts in my 2014 Category thread here; there are no spoilers :)

45leslie.98
feb 21, 2014, 7:08 pm

ROOT #5 done! From Russia With Love, the 5th James Bond book in Ian Fleming's series, was the best one so far! And what an ending!!

46connie53
feb 22, 2014, 5:54 am

Nice, Leslie! Happy Reading

47leslie.98
Redigerat: feb 24, 2014, 3:56 pm

Thanks Connie! If I add in my audiobooks, I have completed 10 out of my goal of 35 (which looks a lot better than 5 out of 25!).

48connie53
feb 22, 2014, 3:01 pm

I think we are on the same stage now, Leslie.
I'm at 4 out of 24.

49Merryann
feb 25, 2014, 12:54 am

You are both doing great. Happy reading! :)

50leslie.98
feb 25, 2014, 9:19 am

:) Thanks for the encouragement MerryAnn!

51leslie.98
Redigerat: mar 3, 2014, 10:46 am

ROOT #6 done!

Middlemarch by George Eliot was a bit of a struggle for me, but the story really picked up in the last 150 pages or so... This book has been on my shelf for a long time, as it was handed down to me from my mother who got it from her uncle (so the book is almost 100 years old!).

Touchstones doesn't seem to be working for me today...

52MissWatson
mar 3, 2014, 3:21 am

Congratulations on finishing Middlemarch. That must have been a nice edition if it's that old?

53leslie.98
mar 3, 2014, 10:48 am

It is a Burke's Home Library edition, but sadly in poor condition. I have looked into getting it repaired but it will cost about 5 times what the book is worth :(

54leslie.98
mar 3, 2014, 10:54 am

audibook ROOT #6 done - An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. Dan John Miller did a fantastic job narrating this but my interest in the story flagged about 2/3 of the way through.

55cyderry
mar 6, 2014, 9:41 am

I had Middlemarch on my list for the first quarter but it's lost on a shelf somewhere. I'll have to reschedule it when it reappears!

56majkia
mar 8, 2014, 8:05 am

It just marched off? Oh dear.

57leslie.98
mar 9, 2014, 10:06 am

I have finished 2 audiobooks I acquired last summer through SYNC, but as one of them (Oliver Twist narrated by Simon Vance) is a reread, I am not counting that one. The other (audiobook ROOT #7) was a young adult book called The Raven Boys - teen romance takes a backseat in this book, which is much more about the adventure.

58cyderry
mar 10, 2014, 12:22 am

56>> LOL

59leslie.98
mar 11, 2014, 12:59 pm

I listened to another audiobook (and read a bit of it on my Kindle as well, so you will see it listed under both) - Silas Marner. I have had both the Kindle book and the audiobook since August 2012, so I'm glad to have gotten to these. I found this shorter novel by Eliot more interesting than her longer Middlemarch...

60leslie.98
Redigerat: mar 19, 2014, 9:44 pm

I am really struggling to make my own books a priority... I keep getting out library books which take up too much of my reading time!

However, I did finish Frequent Hearses today, motivated by the fact that I have the next book in the series checked out from the library!

61VivienneR
mar 20, 2014, 12:33 am

I can understand your problem. Books seem to come into the house faster than I can possibly read them.

62connie53
mar 21, 2014, 3:36 pm

>61 VivienneR: Same problem here!!

63leslie.98
mar 21, 2014, 7:23 pm

ROOT #8 done with Young Miles! Such a fun sci fi!

64leslie.98
mar 23, 2014, 9:55 pm

Audiobook ROOT #9 done - I have owned Behind the Scenes at the Museum, narrated by Susan Jameson, since Nov. '12. It took me a long time to warm up to this story but I did eventually like it. A small quibble with the narration, which had pauses at places that didn't seem to be related to the content...

65leslie.98
apr 13, 2014, 11:36 am

ROOT #9 done with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I picked this up at last year's library sale because I liked the title and had been hearing good things about it. However, I was somewhat uneasy starting this book -- lately I have not been enjoying the newer popular books I have read. My fears were unfounded, as this lovely epistilatory novel swept me off my feet.

Although there is some bookish talk, as the name suggests, primarily this is a romance set against the background story of the German occupation of Guernsey during WW2. As an anglophilic American, I am ashamed to say that until looking at the map at the front of this book I had no idea that Guernsey and Jersey were Channel Islands nor that the Channel Islands were so close to the French coast. Both Jersey and Guernsey were familiar to me only as the names of famous types of cows. I found the information about the occupation fascinating and I loved the way the different reactions were shown in little vignettes.

66leslie.98
apr 13, 2014, 11:46 am

Audiobook ROOT #10 - Lady Audley's Secret was quite an exciting Victorian melodrama thriller/ mystery. I call it a mystery as Robert Audley spends a lot of time trying to find out where his friend George Talboys is and what may of happened to him. but this is not a traditional mystery trying to find "whodunit". It is more similar in style to a suspense novel - the cast of characters is fairly small and suspicions abound but the truth is uncertain until the last part of the book.

Braddon writes with great descriptive flair and the interior monologues for Lady Audley as well as Robert Audley enhanced the suspense for me. Nicola Barber did a good job with the narration, although at times it felt a bit strange hearing Robert Audley's thoughts in a female voice.

67connie53
apr 14, 2014, 5:07 pm

>65 leslie.98: I agree. I picked up this book because of the title too and loved it!

68Merryann
Redigerat: apr 17, 2014, 1:47 am

>65 leslie.98: Ditto the thing about the cows. This sounds like a good book!

Edited to say, "Do people still say 'ditto' when they want to say 'me too'? I've been sitting here saying it out loud because it's a fun word, and then I started wondering about that. Oh well.

69leslie.98
apr 17, 2014, 11:48 am

>68 Merryann: Well I still say ditto but then again, I also say "nifty"!

70leslie.98
apr 17, 2014, 2:14 pm

ROOT #10 done - Endless Night by Agatha Christie. Although I only gave this 3 stars, it really was very well done. Quite different in style from Christie's typical mysteries, it read more like a Mary Stewart book (except for the narrator being a man instead of a woman).

71connie53
apr 17, 2014, 2:25 pm

>68 Merryann: We say ditto too (only we say dito!)

>65 leslie.98: I knew about the islands (being European and Dutch) but I did not know about the islands and WO II. So that was surprising enough.

72leslie.98
apr 21, 2014, 1:22 am

ROOT #11 - Doctor No by Ian Fleming, the 6th book in the original James Bond series. Very enjoyable and once again I was surprised by how much more human Bond is in the book compared to the movies.

73leslie.98
apr 24, 2014, 1:51 pm

Audiobook ROOT #11: The Red and the Black by Stendhal narrated by Davina Porter. I didn't much care for this audiobook -- too uninflected for my tastes and the story was only OK. 2 stars

74leslie.98
apr 29, 2014, 5:37 pm

ROOT #12: Tracks by Robyn Davidson (owned since 2013). I was a bit disappointed by this as I thought it would be more adventure. Instead it had more soul-searching, and some scathing commentary on the way the Australian government and white population treated the native aborigines... Well done, just not what I had expected.

75leslie.98
Redigerat: maj 2, 2014, 3:38 pm

ROOT #13 - Changing Places by David Lodge. A bit disappointing that it was more about the sex lives of the 2 professors than about their professional lives, but the thinly veiled Berkeley & San Franscisco of the late 60s was enjoyable...

76leslie.98
maj 16, 2014, 1:29 pm

ROOT #14 - Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes, the 3rd Inspector Appleby book. I was put off at first by the Scots writing in Ewan Bell's narrative but the twists in this non-traditional mystery are well worth putting up with that section.

77leslie.98
maj 16, 2014, 1:37 pm

I have had several audiobook ROOTs since I last posted about The Red and the Black.

Audiobook ROOT #12: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance. Excellent! 4½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #13: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. Fun take on many fairy tales. 3½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #14: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. A YA novel which is a cross between Truffault's The Wild Child and Jane Eyre... 3½ stars.

Audiobook ROOT #15: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, narrated by Davina Porter. Enjoyable social commentary on the lower classes during the late 1600s. Much easier reading than Defoe's better known classic Robinson Crusoe. 4 stars

78connie53
maj 18, 2014, 4:03 pm

Wow, you are doing great, Leslie! Almost there.

79leslie.98
Redigerat: maj 20, 2014, 7:49 pm

>78 connie53: Thanks! I am finding the audiobooks easier to get through than the print ROOTs - the siren call of the library still enchants me :)

I have decided to increase my audiobook goal from 10 to 20, since I am already at 16!

80leslie.98
maj 20, 2014, 7:53 pm

Audiobook ROOT #16: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, narrated by Charlie McWade. Another YA novel, this time a boy's version of the classic film Anastasia, only set in a fictional kingdom. Despite a fairly predictable plot, this was an enjoyable light read. 3½ stars.

81leslie.98
jun 2, 2014, 12:51 pm

Audiobook ROOT #17: Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, narrated by Nick Poedel. Good YA book but confirms my previous idea that teenage boys are rude and crude!! If that is offensive to you, then avoid this book. However it did a good job of showing the thoughts of a 14-year-old boy & felt quite true-to-life. 4 stars

82leslie.98
jun 5, 2014, 4:44 pm

ROOT #15 -- Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. While I found this more amusing than outright funny, I did enjoy it very much. Jim is a young man in his first year teaching at university, unsure of his career, his position, and his ability to fit in socially. I think that the academic side of things would have been funnier to me if I was British; some aspects just stuck me as strange/unbelievable due to the different structure of American colleges & universities. The social/romantic side was very well-done. 4 stars.

83leslie.98
jun 9, 2014, 12:46 pm

ROOT #16 -- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. While I found the language was emotive and descriptive, I also found it distracting and somewhat childish (or perhaps child-like would be a better word), which was fine when the action was in the past and the twins were children but struck a wrong chord during the contemporary times when they were adults. The story was tragic and I found the switches from past to present worked well to heighten the drama of what we know is coming. However, I found the ending too inconclusive for my tastes and was left with a feeling of "what was the point?". 3 stars

84leslie.98
Redigerat: jun 20, 2014, 1:56 pm

ROOT #17 -- Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. While I continue to find the written Bond more interesting than the film Bond (and I do love the movie versions!), late in this book Fleming gave Bond some views on women I found personally upsetting and which also seemed out of character. This partly ruined the story for me. The plot regarding Goldfinger himself though was very good. 3½ stars

85Jackie_K
jun 20, 2014, 2:22 pm

>83 leslie.98: interesting views on The God of Small Things. Most people I know who read it absolutely loved it. When I read it, although I thought it was a good read, objectively speaking, I found it really difficult to care about any of the characters, I thought they were all pretty unlikeable. Although I did think that the sex scene near the end of the book (with the twins' mum, if I recall correctly - it's many years now since I read it) was beautiful - and that's not something you can say about most sex scenes in literature, I've found!

86leslie.98
jun 20, 2014, 3:52 pm

>85 Jackie_K: I know what you mean about the characters - even the twins' mom was unpleasant at times and I found it difficult to relate to the twins themselves. I guess you are right about the sex scene as well, although I was somewhat fed up with the mother at that point so I was just anxious to finish at that point!

87leslie.98
Redigerat: jun 23, 2014, 3:56 pm

ROOT #18 - The Dispossessed. Le Guin has explored the meaning of communism and anarchy and what being free really means in this novel. The people of Antarres, "Odonians", left their home planet of Urras about 200 years previously, and settled on the moon/sister planet to leave behind the evils of capitalism ("propertianism") and government oppression. Their society has no government, no ownership (even saying "my nose" is frowned upon -- "the nose" is preferred), no person or group in charge. However, the truth of those claims are tested when one Antarrian, Shevek, wishes to leave Antarres to go to Urras and pursue his physics research (which was not supported and even actively discouraged). Very thought-provoking. 4½ stars.

88leslie.98
Redigerat: jun 28, 2014, 5:53 pm

ROOT #19 - The True Game; omnibus of the first 3 books of Sheri S. Tepper's Land of the True Game series. Very enjoyable but not quite as good as Tepper's later books. 3½ stars

89connie53
jun 29, 2014, 5:00 am

On your list you have 20 ROOTs, Leslie. Is that correct?

You are almost there. Go, go, go!!

90leslie.98
Redigerat: jun 30, 2014, 10:26 am

>89 connie53: Yes, 20 paperback/hardcover ROOTs & 19 audiobook ROOTs! I am almost there indeed!

ROOT #20 - The Secret Vanguard by Michael Innes. This 5th Inspector Appleby book starts off like a typical police procedural mystery, with a body and a policeman. However, it quickly turns into a spy thriller somewhat similar in style to John Buchan. 4 stars

91leslie.98
jul 4, 2014, 9:42 pm

Audiobook #20 -- Grave Mercy, narrated by Erin Moon.

I am not a big fan of paranormal stories, but that aspect of this book is fairly minor. The historical fiction aspects were well done and I found the setting of 1480s Brittany fascinating.

Erin Moon did an excellent narration - I look forward to listening her narrate other audiobooks. 4 stars

92leslie.98
Redigerat: jul 19, 2014, 3:00 pm

ROOT #21 - Miles, Mystery & Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold. Omnibus gets 3½ stars. Individual stories: Cetaganda 3 stars; Ethan of Athos 4½ stars; Labyrinth 4 stars.

93leslie.98
jul 21, 2014, 11:47 am

ROOT #22 - Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe, 5 stars. Hilarious satire of the struggle between "keeping up with the times" and tradition at a Cambridge University college!

94leslie.98
jul 25, 2014, 11:40 am

ROOT #23 -- Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh. #5 in the Inspector Alleyn series, for some reason I had never read this one! Alleyn is visiting New Zealand to rest & recuperate (after being injured on the job??) but instead gets involved in another murder in a theater. Marsh kept me guessing until quite near the end! The only thing missing is Sergeant Fox... 4 stars

95Merryann
jul 27, 2014, 11:00 pm

>92 leslie.98: I love everything Miles. I wonder if Cetaganda is a little less polished (in my opinion) because, well, Miles is a little less polished. Lois McMaster Bujold is a skillful enough writer to pull that sort of thing off. :)

96leslie.98
aug 2, 2014, 5:44 pm

ROOT #24 - There Came Both Mist and Snow by Michael Innes. #6 of the Inspector Appleby series was a fun and fast read. 4 stars

97Tess_W
aug 11, 2014, 8:54 am

Almost there, congrats!

98connie53
aug 17, 2014, 2:41 pm

You go! Just one more book!

99leslie.98
Redigerat: aug 17, 2014, 7:06 pm

#25 done! The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov, #3 in the Robot series. I like Asimov's writing style but this third book seemed to be mostly filling in the gap between the earlier books in the series and his Foundation books. 3 stars

100MissWatson
aug 20, 2014, 9:40 am

Congratulations!

101Tess_W
aug 24, 2014, 8:50 am

Woo hoo! Congrats on achieving you goal!

102leslie.98
aug 28, 2014, 1:16 pm

Thanks everyone :)

103Familyhistorian
aug 28, 2014, 3:17 pm

Congratulations on making your goal!

104leslie.98
sep 1, 2014, 1:04 pm

105connie53
sep 6, 2014, 3:18 pm

Congrats!!! Good job!

106leslie.98
sep 7, 2014, 6:19 pm

Thanks connie53!