May AlphaKIT: C and T

AlphaKIT letters for May are C and T :



Please remember to update the wiki: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2017_Unofficial_AlphaKIT#May

I triple checked to be sure I had the right letters!

At this point I think I will be reading the following in May:

The Killing Hour by Paul Cleave
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor by Patrick Taylor
Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe

I'll be planning on Things we Lost in the Fire, Cane River, and The Tea Rose. That said... The Tea Rose is long, and I started Cane River once before and then wandered away, so we'll see what happens!

I tend to lean toward using books that fit other challenges, in hopes they'll also fit here. I haven't yet figured out all the others. So far, I have one (but only if the hold comes in at the library... I've been waiting a while):

Faithful Place / Tana French

If that doesn't come in and/or if other books from other challenges don't fit, these are other options for me:
Split Estate / Charlotte Bacon
Eye of the Whale / Douglas Carlton Abrams
Jane Bites Back / Michael Thomas Ford
The Underground Railroad / Colson Whitehead (I've had it on hold a while; it looks like the audio might come in for me soon)

Right now I'm planning on Distant Land Of My Father by Bo Caldwell and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

In keeping with my mysteries only challenge, I'll be reading Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Childs that hits both letters.

Here's the list of books I'm hoping to read:

✔Banana Cream Pie Murder
Book Club Murders
✔Christmas Caramel Murder
Crushed
Cuckoo's Calling
✔Curious Affair of the Somnambulist & the Psychic Thief
✔Dead in the Water by Matthew Costello
✔Fatality in Firelight by Lynn Cahoon
✔Herbert Hoover in the White House by Charles Rappleye,
✔Hospitality and Homicide by Lynn Cahoon
Immoral Certainty
✔Killer Party by Lynn Cahoon
No Charm Intended
✔Small Great Things
✔Tightening the Threads
✔Treble at the Jam Fest

Right now I'm leaning towards City of Women and Tokyo Kill.

I have more books by C authors on my TBR than any other letter! May will be a busy month for me, but I've pulled these for May reading depending on reading time.

The Land of My Father - Caldwell
A Gentleman in Moscow - Towles
The Clancy's of Queens - Clancy
Fates and Traitors - Chiaverini
High Rising - Thirkell

Since I have an airplane trip coming up I may get a cozy in by Laura Childs.

So far, I'm looking at Conundrum by Jan Morris and Titus Andronicus, but there are a lot more possibilities.

Right now I'm thinking about Congress of Secrets by Stephanie Burgis and Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner.

Starting "Carbo and the Thief and Other Tales of Ancient Rome" by Alex Gough

COMPLETED Carbo and the Thief and Other Tales of Ancient Rome by Alex Gough.

Starting "Tales of Byzantium" by Eileen Stephenson

I have just finished a good debut thriller, Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan.

Finally finished Crime and Punishment.

I've completed my first "C" read with The Killing Hour by Paul Cleave.

Just completed Carol Berg's Transformation

The Mystery of Grace / Charles de Lint
4 stars

Grace is of Mexican descent, is a mechanic, and is covered with tattoos. John is a really nice guy, an artist. When John and Grace spend a night together, they seem to be super-connected. Imagine John’s surprise when Grace literally disappears from his bathroom the next morning! I’d like to say more about the book (much more is revealed in the second chapter), but the big reveal is not mentioned in the blurb about the book, so I will keep it to myself (but you can see it based on tags if you look; don’t look if you don’t want to see!).

The chapters were told from alternating points of view. I really liked this. Really good urban fantasy (which de Lint is so good at!). I liked both main characters and I liked Grace’s world and the friendship she made with Conchita. The mythology/superstition was interesting, as well.

Finished Cane River by Lalita Tademy--for readers interested in historical fiction that spans generations or deals with questions of slavery and/or race, I'd absolutely recommend it. It turned out to be a great read.

My first "T" read for the month was Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe. A fascinating look at what it's like to be a woman serving in the male dominated military, both at home and at war.

COMPLETED Conundrum by Jan Morris

Starting "Treachery" by S. J. Parris

I have finished the 1920s classic Topper - if you like Wodehouse, this would be a good one to try.

Completed The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury for C.

Finished Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys

Faithful Place / Tana French
4.25 stars

When undercover detective Frank was 19, he’d planned to leave his family, and leave Dublin to head to London with his girlfriend, Rosie. When Rosie doesn’t show up at their planned meeting spot, he finds a note and continues on, on his own. 22 years pass, and a frantic phone message from his younger sister, Jackie (the only family member he kept in touch with), brings him back “home” to Faithful Place, and his dysfunctional family to find out exactly what did happen to Rosie.

I really liked this one. It pulled me in right away! I also “enjoyed” the interactions between Frank’s family members (well, enjoyed at first, I suppose; as we learn more about his family, they are not so enjoyable, after all!). Have to admit that I wasn’t shocked by the outcome, though.

Really enjoyed Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - it works for both letters, but I'm using it for the T.

Another "C" read completed with The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.

Finished 2001: a space odyssey by Arthur C Clarke

COMPLETED Treachery by S. J. Parris

Starting the same author's "Conspiracy".

COMPLETED Conspiracy by S. J. Parris

Starting Aegypt by John Crowley.

Completed Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac

Completed A Gentleman in Moscow by Armor Towles.

First Test / Tamora Pierce
3.5 stars

Keladry is 10-years old and it’s been 10 years since girls have been allowed to apply to be a page, in order to later become a knight. However, no girl has tried for it, until Kel. Unfortunately, the trainer of the pages, Lord Wyldon, doesn’t think girls should be allowed, so he puts her on a 1-year probation; no boy has ever had a probationary period. So, she is not only set apart from the others because she’s a girl, she is also on probation. This doesn’t bode well for how many of the other boys treat her.

I enjoyed this! It’s children’s or YA, so not “deep”, but certainly enjoyable. Kel did seem much more mature than 10-years old, but mostly I just ignored that. It’s less than 200 pages, so also a quick read. I definitely enjoyed it enough to continue the series. I’m happy to see there are only 4 books to this series (though it is also part of a larger “world” with other books focusing on other characters in that world, as well).

Just read the delightful novella (?) All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis. If a story about Christmas concerts and judgmental aliens appeals to you, I highly recommend it!

Just finished Things We Lost in the Fire, which is a wonderful, but incredibly dark, collection of short stories, all based in Argentina. Full review written.

June thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/257188

I read A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler which works for T both title and author.
I read Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola which works for C.

The Underground Railroad / Colson Whitehead
2 stars

Cora is a slave and escapes from Georgia using the (in this book, literal) underground railroad.

I listened to the audio and it never did keep my attention. Because it couldn’t hold my attention, I found it difficult to follow, as every time I started paying attention again, there would be a new group of characters (or so it seemed). I assumed each time that Cora had moved on to a different place. Much later on, though, I figured out that the book was also jumping around in time and between Cora and her mother, Mabel (possibly also Cora’s grandmother, but I’m not sure; I know there was some about her grandmother at the start of the book, but that would still have been chronological order). So, ultimately and unfortunately, this just wasn’t for me (at least on audio).

Finished Fen Country by Edmund Crispin - a collection of short mystery stories. This completes my reading of the Gervase Fen series :)

Finished Terminate (Retribution) by Natasha Deen, which I got from the LT Early Reviewer Program. A fast read, but I'm afraid it's not one I can recommend.

>39 leslie.98: I've got Frequent Hearses on my virtual TBR shelf, so 3 novels and 1 short story collection to go.

>41 Robertgreaves: Have fun! Although I think that you have already read the best one - The Moving Toyshop ;)

Finished Conflict of Honors and almost done with Tristram Shandy…

COMPLETED Aegypt by John Crowley.

Starting the same author's Love and Sleep

COMPLETED An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles

Completed Rutherford Park by Elizabeth Cooke.

I finished Reap the Wild Wind by Julie Czerneda

Finished Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005 by Robert Hass, and really enjoyed it. Full review (if a short one) written.

I have finished Tristram Shandy and the audiobook of A Canticle For Leibowitz as well...

Tsunami: The Newfoundland Tidal Wave Disaster / Maura Hanrahan
4 stars

In 1929, Newfoundland was still its own country; it wouldn’t join Canada for another 20 years. In November of that year, under the ocean closeby, there was an earthquake, followed shortly after by a tsunami that hit the small island nation – three successive waves that hit the shores of the Burin Peninsula the worst. Many small fishing communities in that area lost food and fuel that was meant to get them through the upcoming winter, they lost homes, livelihoods, and 27 people’s lives, many women and children. The following day, as communication lines were still down, a blizzard hit the area.

The author describes people and families as they feel the tremor, wonder what’s happened, then relax when it ends... then, as the waves first arrive. Later, she follows one nurse, Nurse Dorothy Cherry, as she travels (with two local men to accompany her) through the blizzard between the small communities to offer help. Later, the word finally gets out to a wider world, and more help arrives in the form of clothes, building supplies, food, coal.

This is a disaster I hadn’t known about. This book is mostly facts, but the author does add in dialogue and even invents some background for some key people when she couldn’t find out enough. There is a note at the end of the book to explain this. Very interesting and heartbreaking, in some cases.

Starting "Trying Neaira" by Debra Hamel

Curtains of Blood / Robert Randisi
3.5 stars

It is1888 in London, England. Three prostitutes have been murdered and they say it’s likely the same guy who has done it. Bram Stoker is running the Lyceum Theatre, and Henry Irving is playing the lead in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They are approached by the police to shut down the show, as it may be encouraging the killer. Bram gets interested in what’s going on and starts doing some research for a book he might like to write. He also becomes obsessed with the killer and may be getting a little too close…

I liked this. Far fetched, but I still found it entertaining. I thought it interesting the way the author weaved in the various author characters into the story (Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde are friends of Stoker’s). To be honest, though, I’m not sure Jack the Ripper needs to be fictionalized; this is one true story that certainly holds its own as true crime.

COMPLETED Trying Neaira by Debra Hamel.

Starting "Courtesans and Fishcakes" by James Davidson

I completed The Girls by Emma Cline for my C. It may be too late for me to fit in a T this month, unfortunately.

Finished The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly--full review written.

I have finished The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain, which I didn't think as good as his more famous works. 3*

Then I tackled one of my backlog of Kindle mysteries: A Cold Day For Murder. Great setting in Alaska but a bit weighed down by lots of background information about the characters (setting up for the series). 3½*

Oh, and I reread via audiobook one of my favorite Heyer novels, The Talisman Ring. Still a 5* book for me!

The Truth About Catalogers / Will Manley
3 stars

This is a little book of humour, poking fun of library cataloguers – little stories, as well as cartoons.

I am a cataloguer and I suspect this will mostly appeal to cataloguers and maybe to librarians and library staff, in general. Overall, though, it was ok. Some were funny, others not as much. I read it over a couple of days, and maybe my mood made a difference, as I found things funnier in the second half of the book, on the second day I was reading it.

Finished Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

I'll Be Watching You / Charles de Lint (as Samuel Key)
4.5 stars

Rachel has just gotten out of an abusive relationship, but her husband doesn’t want to let go. She has a job and only a couple of good friends to help her out. Little does she know, she also has an “admirer” (a peeping tom, really) who will come to her “rescue” when she needs it. But, from his perspective, the perfectly beautiful Rachel will need to be “tested” herself.

Ok, I tried to keep that somewhat vague, as the blurb on the book doesn’t say a whole lot, so I didn’t want to give anything away. This is one of the books de Lint wrote as Samuel Key, a pseudonym he took to distinguish his darker works from his fantasy. It was told in the third person, but the reader got to know more about what was going on, as we did follow a few different characters, than the characters knew, themselves. Certainly by the end of the book, it was a page-turner, keeping me on the edge of my seat, wanting to keep reading to know what would happen! I really really liked this one!

Finished the audiobook of The Cider House Rules…

I finished Swing Time for T and A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Story About Courage in Creating a Land of Opportunity for C this month.

I have one book for T:

Travesties, by Tom Stoppard

I finished Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I'm sure I read it many many moons ago, this time listened to the audio version.

Final recap for May C and T
Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices for Christianity
Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee
Team of Rivals by Goodwin, for Team
The Story of my Teeth by Valeria Luiselli bor Teeth

I finished Who's That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane on the last day of the month (T = "That").