Sally Lou's reading in 2019

I found that I liked listing my titles read by month in 2018. Therefore, I'm planning to do it again in 2019.

My challenge will, once again, be pretty free-flowing -- no fancy topics, etc. Aside from the titles read each month, I will keep track of what I read for BingoDOG, any cats/kits, and "assigned" reading such as for book clubs, class, or committee work -- plus short readings. I found that I have not maintained other categories.

Titles read in January: The titles with double numbers are full-length books.
1. (1) In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway -- short story collection for Colonnades short story class and BingoDOG short stories square -- finished reading Jan. 3rd -- 3.5 stars.
2. (2) Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman who Revealed the Real America by Elise Hooper -- LT Early review book and BingoDOG artistic character square -- finished Jan. 8th -- 4 stars
3. (3) Watership Down by Richard Adams -- BingoDOG animals square (rabbits) and Northside book group -- finished reading Jan. 14th -- 3 stars
4. Barn Burning by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 17th (printout)
5. Dry September by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 17th (printout)
6. "That Evening Sun" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 17th (printout)
7. (4) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller -- New Dominion book group and BingoDOG debut novel square -- finished reading Jan. 21st -- 4 stars
8. (5) Glass Houses by Louise Penny -- RandomCAT (Louise) and BingoDOG (part of series) square -- finished reading Jan. 23rd -- 3 stars
9. (6) Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison-- BingoDOG (siblings) finished reading Jan. 27th -- 4 stars
10. "Red Leaves" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 30th (printout)
12. "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 30th (printout)
13. "Mountain Victory" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 31st. (printout)

Titles read in February: Number in () is for total number of books read so far this year (not counting children's picture books)
1. (7) On Board the Titanic: The Complete Story with Eyewitness Accounts, edited by Logan Marshall -- February RandomCAT and BingoDOG (more than 2 people on cover) -- finished reading Feb. 2nd -- 4 stars
2. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- enjoyed
3. Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- enjoyed
4. Madeline and the Bad Hat by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- seemed very forced and preachy
5. Madeline in London by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- seemed very forced
6. (8) A Little House Traveler by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- read On the Way Home and The Road Back from it; had previously read West from Home -- finished reading Feb. 5th -- RandomCAT and BingoDOG -- 4 stars
7. (9) All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor -- SeriesCAT and BingoDOG -- finished Feb. 6th -- 4.5 stars
8. "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 6th.
9. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 12th (printout)
10. (10) The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron -- CalendarCAT (Black history month) and BingoDog (Prize winning book) and Northside book club February read -- completed Feb. 13th -- 4 stars
11. "Paul's Case: a Study in Temperament" by Willa Cather -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 14th (printout)
12. (11) Quaking by Kathryn Erskine -- BingoDOG and CFM Friendly Big Read -- finished reading Feb. 16th -- 3.5 stars
13. (12) Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi -- BingoDOG and New Dominion Feb. book -- completed Feb. 19th -- 3.5 stars
14. "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane -- Colonnades short story class -- read on Feb. 21st (printout)
15. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- Colonnades short story class and BingoDOG -- read on Feb. 21st -- a reread since I had read a few times for OLLI classes
16. The Dead by James Joyce -- BingoDOG and Colonnades short story class -- finished reading shortly after midnight morning of Feb. 26th
17 (13) The Women who Flew for Hitler: a True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry by Clare Mulley -- BingoDOG and CalendarCAT for March (women's history, read early) -- finished reading Feb. 27th.
18. "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by D. H. Lawrence -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 27th. (printout)

Titles read in March: Concussion diagnosed Sat. Mar. 2nd, no reading from books until a little starting Sun., Mar. 10th

1. (14) Liz Caile: a Life at Treeline -- collection of newspaper columns by Liz Caile assembled after her death -- had read 40% of 242 p. book prior to this year -- finished reading March 12th.
2. (15) My Body, My Choice: the Fight for Abortion Rights by Robin Stevenson -- LT Early reviewers -- finished Mar. 15th -- 3.5 stars
3. (16) Thee, Hannah by Marguerite de Angeli -- Reading through time -- still one of my favorite children's books --finished Mar. 17th -- 5 stars (reread)
4. (17) Quaker Witness by Irene Allen -- SeriesCAT (favorite author) -- finished reading Mar. 19th -- 3.5 stars (reread)
5. "The Man Without a Temperament " by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Mar. 25th
6. The Metamorphosis and other stories by Franz Kafka -- title story only -- Colonnades short story class -- reread -- March 28th
7. (18) What Truth Sounds Like by Michael Eric Dyson -- BingoDOG -- finished reading March 28th -- 4.5 stars

Titles read in April:
1. "Leves Amores" by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 2nd
2. "Bliss" by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 2nd
3. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett (title story) -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading Apr. 4th
4. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 6th
5. "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 6th
6. "Marriage a la Mode" by Katnerine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 11th
7. "The Woman at the Store" by Katnerine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first Apr. 11th
8. "Royal Beatings" by Alice Munro -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 16th
9. "Miles City, Montana" by Alice Munro -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 16th
10. (19) The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner -- OLLI Wallace Stegner class and BingoDOG -- finished reading Apr. 17th. -- 4.5 stars
11. (20) Devotions: the selected poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver -- CalendarCAT (national poetry month, U.S. and Canada) and BingoDOG (second card)-- finished reading Apr. 22nd -- 4 stars
12. "Victory Lap" by George Saunders -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 22nd
13. "Gusev" by Anton Chekhov -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 22nd
14. (21) Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, edited by Elaine Showalter -- BingoDOG -- finished reading Apr. 23rd -- 4 stars

Titles read in May:
1. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway -- Colonnades short story class -- a reread -- read May 1st
2. "Gimpel the Fool" by Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated by Saul Bellow -- Colonnades short story class -- first read May 1st
3. (22) Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner --BingoDOG (second card) -- OLLI Wallace Stegner class -- finished reading May 1st. -- 4 stars
4. (23) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens -- New Dominion Book Group and BingoDOG (second card) -- finished reading May 6th -- 3 stars
5. "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 7th
6. "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 10th
7. (24) A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles -- Northside Book Group and BingoDOG -- finished reading May 12th -- 2.5 stars
8. "The Garden-Party" by Katherine Mansfield -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 14th (reread -- studied before)
9. (25) The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear -- SeriesCAT (next to read or latest book in series) and BingoDOG (second card- series) -- finished May 15th -- 4 stars
10. (26) My Antonia by Willa Cather -- TBRCat (on shelf but not opened) -- BingoDOG (second card, made into movie) -- finished reading May 22nd -- 4.5 stars
11. "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 22nd
12. "A&P" by John Updike -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 22nd
13 (27) The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolfo -- BingoDOG -- finished reading May 23rd -- not rated since do not like genre
14. (28) A Hiss before Dying by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown -- BingoDOG (2nd card, animal in significant role) and CalendarCAT (Mae) -- finished May 26th -- 3.5 stars
15. (29) Linked Lives by Lucy Rose Fischer -- BingoDog (alliterative title), CalendarCAT (Mothers' Day (U.S.), TBRCat (looked at but put aside) -- finished reading May 27th -- 2.5 stars
16. "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" by Conrad Aiken -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 29th
17. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 29th

Titles read in June:
1. (30) Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. — Northside book group and 2nd BingoDOG card— finished reading June 6th — 3.5 stars
2. (31) At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier — BingoDOG and TBRCAT— finished reading June 8th — 3.5 stars.
3. (32) The Sound of Our Own Voices: Women's Study Clubs, 1860-1910 by Theodora Penny Martin -- RandomCAT (drawing a card, queen of clubs) and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading June 10th -- 3 stars
4. (33) Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag, translated by Lincoln Colcord and the author -- BingoDOG (translated book) -- finished reading June 18th -- 4.5 stars
5. (34) There There by Tommy Orange -- New Dominion Book Group and 2nd BingoDOG card (homophone there/their) -- finished reading June 20th (2.5 stars)
6. "Cinderella" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read it along with a history of it 6/23 -- read introduction giving history of fairy tales 6/22
7. (35) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon -- Northside Book Group (for July) and second BingoDOG card -- finished reading June 27th -- 4 stars
8. (36) Fairy Tales told by Berlie Doherty, illustrated by Jane Ray -- BingoDOG (fairy tales) -- finished reading June 27th -- 4 stars
9. "Sleeping Beauty" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
10. "Rumpel-Stilts-Kin" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
11. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
12. "Little Red Riding Hood" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
13. "Hansel and Gretel" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
14. "The Frog Prince" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
15. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hossein, illustrated by Dan Williams -- a beautiful adult picture book with a short story/prayer about a father and son refugee about to take a boat to freedom and the uncertainty of survival-- read June 29th.

Titles read in July:
1. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath -- short story read July 1st -- not rated
2. "An Adventure in Paris" by Guy de Maupassant -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 2nd
3. "Babylon Revisited" by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 2nd
4. (37) Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger by Lee Smith -- TBRCat and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading July 7th -- 4.5 stars
5. "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 8th for July 12th class
6. "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 8th for July 12th class
7. (38) The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold -- BingoDOG -- finished reading July 11th -- 4 stars
8. (39) Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani --TBRCat -- finished reading July 15th -- 5 stars
9. "Why I Like Country Music" by James McPherson -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 16th for July 19th class
10. "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading July 18th for July 19th class
11. Dream Straw by Mariflo Stephens -- pleasure -- chapbook of 25 poems -- read July 19th
12. "Great Falls" by Richard Ford -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 20th for July 26th class
13. "Matchimanito" by Louise Erdrich -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 23rd for July 26th class
14. (40) Becoming by Michelle Obama -- finished July 26th -- 5 stars
15. "A Wall of Fire Rising" by Edwidge Danticat -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read July 29th for class Aug. 2nd
16. "Guests of the Nation" by Frank O'Connor -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read July 29th for class Aug. 2nd
17. (41) Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor -- JMRL summer book program -- finished July 30th -- 3.5 stars

Titles read in August:
1. (42) The Last Girls by Lee Smith -- read for pleasure -- finished reading Aug. 3rd -- 3.5 stars
2. "The Conscience of the Court" by Zora Neale Hurston -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 4th for class Aug. 9th
3. "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 5th for class Aug. 9th
4. (43) Olio by Tyehimba Jess -- 2nd card BingoDOG -- finished reading Aug. 5th but read a lot of it in February, then stopped reading because of concussion -- in Aug., decided to finish reading -- unrated
5. (44) Whiskers in the Dark by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown -- finished reading Aug. 7th -- 3 stars
6. (45) The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson -- BingoDOG 2nd card and RandomCAT (back to school) -- finished reading Aug. 10th -- 5 stars
7. "Admission" by Danzy Senna -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Aug. 10th for class Aug. 16 which will not be attending.
8. "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Aug. 10th for class Aug. 16 which will not be attending.
9. (46) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell -- Northside book group and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading Aug. 13th -- 4 stars
10. (47) Riding to Camille by Mary Buford Hitz -- CalendarCAT and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading Aug. 20th -- 3.5 stars
11. "Death by Landscape" by Margaret Atwood -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 21st for class Aug. 23rd
12. "Letter to the Lady of the House" by Richard Bausch -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 21st for class Aug. 23rd
13. (48) Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe -- by Jenny Colgan -- SeriesCAT and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading Aug. 24th -- 2.5 stars
14. "Defender of the Faith" by Philip Roth -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 27th for class Aug. 30th
15. (49) Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear -- SeriesCAT -- finished reading Aug. 27th -- 4 stars
16. "Cannibalism in the Cars" by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 27th for class Aug. 30th
17. (50) Forbes Field by David Finoli and Tom Aikens (Images of America) -- TBRCat and 2nd BingoDOG card -- finished reading Aug. 29th
18. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 30th for Sept.6 class -- had read back in 2016 for Charlotte Goodman's OLLI class
19. "A Distant Episode" by Paul Bowles -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 31st for Sept.6 class

Titles read in September:
1. "Under the Radar" by Richard Ford -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 7th for Sept. 13th class
2. "The Country Husband" by John Cheever -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 7th for Sept. 13th class
3. (51) Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg -- Mark Spragg OLLI class -- finished reading Sept. 12th -- 4 stars
4. "The Wives of the Dead" by Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 13th for Sept. 20th class
5. "A Journey" by Edith Wharton -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 13th for Sept. 20th class -- had read back in 2016 for Charlotte Goodman's OLLI class
6. (52) Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell -- Northside book group -- finished reading Sept. 17th -- 3.5 stars
7. "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 20th for Sept. 27th class -- had read back in 2016 for Charlotte Goodman's OLLI class
8. "Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolff -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 20th for Sept. 27th class
9. (53) Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison -- New Dominion Book Group -- finished Sept. 25th -- 3 stars
10. "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" by Amy Hempel -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 30th for Oct. 4th class.
11. "How to Become a Writer" by Lorrie Moore -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 30th for Oct. 4th class.

Titles read in October:
1. (54) The Fruit of Stone by Mark Spragg -- Mark Spragg OLLI class -- finished reading Oct. 1st -- 3 stars --(read most of the book in September
2. (55) The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman -- SeriesCAT and TBRCat -- finished reading Oct. 5th -- 5 stars
3. "Old Woman Magoun" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman -- assigned for Colonnades short story seminar for Oct. 11th class -- read Oct. 5th although will not be at class
4. "The Strength of God" by Sherwood Anderson (from Winesburg, Ohio -- assigned for Colonnades short story seminar for Oct. 11th class -- read Oct. 5th although will not be at class
5. (56) Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat — TBRCAT — finished reading October 13th — 4 stars
6. (57) Women and Writing by Virginia Woolf — finished reading October 15th — 3 stars
7. (58) Where the Light Enters by Jill Biden -- finished reading Oct. 22nd -- 4 stars
8. "The Little Regiment" by Stephen Crane -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 24th for class Oct. 25th
9. "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 24th for class Oct. 25th
10. "The Persistence of Desire" by John Updike -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 27th for class Nov. 1st
11. "Filthy with Things" by T. C. Boyle -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 28th for class Nov. 1st

Titles read in November:
1. (59) Skyline 2014 edited by Olivia Stowe — finished reading Nov. 9th — 2 stars
2. "Where is the Voice Coming From?" by Eudora Welty -- read Nov. 14th for short story seminar Nov. 15th
3. "Fleur" by Louise Erdrich -- read Nov. 14th for short story seminar Nov. 15th
4. (60) Ethan Frome and Selected Stories by Edith Wharton -- finished reading Nov. 15th
5. (61) A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash -- finished reading Nov. 18th -- 3.5 stars
6. "The Girl with a Pimply Face" by Wiliam Carlos Williams -- read Nov. 17th for short story seminar Nov. 22nd
7. "An Alcoholic Case" by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- read Nov. 17th for short story seminar Nov. 22nd
8. The Harvest Gypsies by John Steinbeck — read Nov. 28th -- 4 stars

Titles read in December:

1. (62) Eat First, Cry Later by Mimi Barash Coppersmith -- RandomCAT (title beginning with letter in word December) -- finished reading Dec. 6th -- 4 stars
2. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry -- December CalendarCAT -- read online December 9th.
3. (63) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner -- Jim's Colonnades literature seminar -- finished reading Dec. 11th -- 3 stars
4. (64) Hill Women by Cassie Chambers -- LT Early Reviewers -- finished reading Dec. 14th -- 4 stars
5. (65) Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden -- TbrCAT -- finished reading Dec. 17th -- 3 stars
6. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — read on December 25th— 5 stars — based on a speech she gave.

For 2nd BingoDOG card, see: https://www.librarything.com/topic/298840#6831953

Titles read for BingoDOG:

1. Debut novel: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller -- finished reading Jan. 21st -- 4 stars
2. Siblings: Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison -- finished reading Jan. 27th -- 4 stars
3. Graphic novel: The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolfo -- -- finished reading May 23rd
4. made into a movie: The Dead by James Joyce -- finished reading Feb. 26th -- 4 stars
5. part of a series: Glass Houses by Louise Penny -- finished reading Jan. 23rd -- 3 stars
6. prize-winning book: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron -- Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for 1968 -- completed Feb. 13th -- 4 stars
7. Animal in significant role: Watership Down (about rabbits) -- finished reading Jan. 14th -- 3 stars
8. Children's or Y.A.: Quaking by Kathryn Erskine (Y.A. fiction) -- finished reading Feb. 16th -- 3.5 stars
9. short stories or essays: In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway -- short stories -- finished reading Jan. 3rd -- 3.5 stars
10. artistic character: Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman who Revealed the Real America by Elise Hooper -- about famous photographer who had many friends who were artists or photographers -- finished reading Jan. 8th -- 4.5 stars
11. Eastern European author or setting: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles -- finished reading May 12th -- 2.5 stars
12. Fairy tale: Fairy Tales told by Berlie Doherty, illustrated by Jane Ray -- finished reading June 27th -- 4 stars
13. Read a CAT: All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor -- February SeriesCAT (children's series) -- finished Feb. 6th -- 4.5 stars
14. Alliterative title: Linked Lives: Adult Daughters and Their Mothers by Lucy Rose Fischer -- finished reading May 27th -- 2.5 stars
15. at least 2 human figures on cover: On Board the Titanic: The Complete Story with Eyewitness Accounts, edited by Logan Marshall -- finished reading Feb. 2nd -- 4 stars
16. LT 4+ rating: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi -- completed Feb. 19th -- 3.5 stars (4.22 LT rating by 635 raters)
17. Main title has 6 or more words: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, edited by Elaine Showalter -- finished Apr. 23rd -- 4 stars
18. Related to medicine or health: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- read Feb. 21st
19. Book bullet: The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold -- finished reading July 11th, finishes BingoDOG card -- 4 stars
20. Translated book: Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag, translated by Lincoln Colcord and the author -- finished reading June 18th -- 4.5 stars
21. Title contains homophone: The Women who Flew for Hitler: a True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry by Clare Mulley (flew/flu, for/four) -- finished Feb. 27th -- 4 stars
22. Food related title or topic: At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier— finished reading June 8th — 4 stars.
23. Author uses middle name or initial: What Truth Sounds Like by Michael Eric Dyson -- finished reading March 28th -- 4.5 stars
24. Mentioned in another book: The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner (mentioned in Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs -- finished reading Apr. 17th . -- 4.5 stars
25. Involves weather: On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- diary about trip from South Dakota to Mansfield -- continually talking about the weather and its effect on life-- finished reading Feb. 5th -- 4 stars

For readings for 2nd BingoDOG card, see: https://www.librarything.com/topic/298840#6831955

Titles read for CATs or KITs:

January RandomCAT (Louise): Glass Houses by Louise Penny -- finished reading Jan. 23rd -- 3 stars

February RandomCAT (travel): On Board the Titanic: The Complete Story with Eyewitness Accounts, edited by Logan Marshall -- finished reading Feb. 2nd -- 4 stars
February RandomCAT (travel): A Little House Traveler by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- read On the Way Home and The Road Back from it; had previously read West from Home -- finished reading Feb. 5th -- 4 stars
February SeriesCAT (book in children's series): All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor -- finished Feb. 6th -- 4.5 stars
February CalendarCAT (Black History Month): The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron -- completed Feb. 13th -- 4 stars
February CalendarCAT (Black History Month): Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi -- finished Feb. 19th -- 3.5 stars

March CalendarCAT (women's history month) and March RandomCAT European Common Market countries: The Women who Flew for Hitler: a True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry by Clare Mulley -- finished Feb. 27th, a bit early
March TBRCat (connected with special occasion:50th high school graduation reunion): Liz Caile: a Life at Treeline -- collection of newspaper columns by Liz Caile assembled after her death -- had read 40% of 242 p. book prior to this year -- finished reading March 12th.

April CalendarCAT (national poetry month, U.S. and Canada): Devotions: the selected poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver -- finished reading Apr. 22nd -- 4 stars

May SeriesCAT (newest in series): The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear -- finished reading May 15th -- 4 stars
May TBRCat (looked at on shelves but not opened): My Antonia by Willa Cather -- finished reading May 22nd -- 4.5 stars
May CalendarCAT (Mae): A Hiss before Dying by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown -- finished reading May 26th -- 3.5 stars
May CalendarCAT (Mothers' Day), TBRCat (looked at on shelves but not opened): Linked Lives: Adult Daughters and Their Mothers by Lucy Rose Fischer -- finished May 27th -- 2.5 stars.

June TBRCAT (book bullet): At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier — finished reading June 8th — 3.5 stars.
June RandomCAT (drew from cards, queen of clubs): The Sound of Our Own Voices: Women's Study Clubs, 1860-1910 by Theodora Penny Martin
June SeriesCAT (completed series): Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rolvaag -- first of a trilogy

July TBRCat (have more than 1 book by author on tbr shelves): Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger by Lee Smith -- finished reading July 7th -- 4.5 stars
July TBRCat (have more than 1 book by author on tbr shelves); Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani --TBRCat -- finished reading July 15th -- 5 stars

Aug. RandomCAT (back to school, some relation to school): The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson -- read The Odyssey at Westtown, wanted to read it again, and the version by a female translator -- finished Aug. 10th -- 5 stars
Aug. CalendarCAT: Riding to Camille by Mary Buford Hitz -- novel about Hurricane Camille in Nelson County -- 50th anniversary -- 3.5 stars
Aug. SeriesCAT (takes place in another country, England): Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe -- by Jenny Colgan -- finished reading Aug. 24th -- 2.5 stars (first book in Cupcake Cafe series)
Aug. SeriesCAT (takes place in another country, primarily England): Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear -- finished reading Aug. 27th -- 4 stars
Aug. TBRCat -- excited to buy but did not read: Forbes Field by David Finoli and Tom Aikens (Images of America), mainly pictures -- finished reading Aug. 29th

October SeriesCAT and TBRCAT (historical series and catching cover): The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman -- finished reading Oct. 5th -- 5 stars
October TBRCat (pretty covers): Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman and Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticourt

November: Good intentions but spent too much time following 2020 CATs, KITs, and BingoDOG

December RandomCAT (title beginning with letter in word December): Eat First, Cry Later by Mimi Barash Coppersmith -- finished reading Dec. 6th -- 4 stars
December CalendarCAT (Christmas): "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry -- very very short story -- read online December 9th.
December TbrCAT (book bought cheaply): Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden -- finished reading Dec. 17th -- 3 stars.

Assigned titles (book clubs, courses, committee work, etc.)
1. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway -- Colonnades short story class -- finished Jan. 3rd
2. Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman who Revealed the Real America by Elise Hooper -- LT early reviewers -- 4.5 stars
3. Watership Down by Richard Adams -- Northside book club read for January -- finished Jan 14th -- 3 stars
4. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller -- New Dominion book group read for January -- finished reading Jan. 21st -- 4 stars
5. The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron -- Northside book group read for February -- completed Feb. 13th -- 4 stars
6. Quaking by Kathryn Erskine -- CFM Friendly Big Read -- finished reading Feb. 16th -- 3.5 stars
7. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi -- New Dominion Feb. book -- completed Feb. 19th -- 3.5 stars
8. My Body, My Choice: the Fight for Abortion Rights by Robin Stevenson -- LT Early reviewers -- finished Mar. 15th -- 3.5 stars
9. The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner -- OLLI Wallace Stegner class -- finished reading Apr. 17th. -- 4.5 stars
10.Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner -- OLLI Wallace Stegner class -- finished reading May 1st. -- 4 stars
11. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens -- New Dominion Book Group -- finished reading May 6th -- 3 stars
12. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles -- Northside book club May read -- finished reading May 12th -- 2.5 stars
13. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney — Northside book group -- finished reading June 6th -- 3.5 stars
14. There There by Tommy Orange -- New Dominion Book Group -- finished reading June 20th -- 2.5 stars
15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon -- finished reading June 27th for July mtg.
16. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell -- Northside book group -- finished reading Aug. 13th -- 4 stars
17. Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg -- Mark Spragg OLLI class -- finished reading Sept. 12th -- 4 stars
18. Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell -- Northside book group -- finished reading Sept. 17th -- 3.5 stars
19. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison -- New Dominion Book Group -- finished Sept. 25th -- 3 stars
20. The Fruit of Stone by Mark Spragg -- Mark Spragg OLLI class -- finished reading Oct. 1st -- 3 stars
21. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner -- Jim's Colonnades literature seminar -- finished reading Dec. 11th -- 3 stars
22. Hill Women by Cassie Chambers -- LT Early Reviewers -- finished reading Dec. 14th -- 4 stars

Titles of short readings (individual short stories, plays, essays, etc.) -- collections would not be listed here. This would include short stories, etc. read for classes instead of being listed above. It would not include individual poems (unless they were book length).

1. Barn Burning by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Jan. 17th
2. Dry September by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Jan. 17th
3. "That Evening Sun" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Jan. 17th
4. "Red Leaves" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 30th
5. "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 30th
6. "Mountain Victory" by William Faulkner -- Colonnades short story class -- read Jan. 31st.
7. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- enjoyed
8. Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- enjoyed
9. Madeline and the Bad Hat by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- seemed very forced and preachy
10. Madeline in London by Ludwig Bemelmans -- read Feb. 5th for seriesCAT (children's but decided not to count) -- seemed very forced
11. "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 6th.
12. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 12th.
13. "Paul's Case: a Study in Temperament" by Willa Cather -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 14th
14. "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading Feb. 21st
15. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -- Colonnades short story class -- read on Feb. 21st -- a reread since I had read it for 3 OLLI courses
16. The Dead by James Joyce -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading shortly after midnight morning of Feb. 26th
17. "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by D. H. Lawrence -- Colonnades short story class -- read Feb. 27th.
18. "The Man Without a Temperament " by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Mar. 25th
19. The Metamorphosis and other stories by Franz Kafka -- title story only -- Colonnades short story class -- reread -- March 28th
20. "Leves Amores" by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 2nd
21. "Bliss" by Katherine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 2nd
22. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett (title story) -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading Apr. 4th
23. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 6th
24. "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 6th
25. "Marriage a la Mode" by Katnerine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first read Apr. 11th
26. "The Woman at the Store" by Katnerine Mansfield -- OLLI short story class -- first Apr. 11th
27. "Royal Beatings" by Alice Munro -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 16th
28. "Miles City, Montana" by Alice Munro -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 16th
29. "Victory Lap" by George Saunders -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 22nd
30. "Gusev" by Anton Chekhov -- Colonnades short story class -- first read Apr. 22nd
31. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway -- Colonnades short story class -- a reread -- read May 1st
32. "Gimpel the Fool" by Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated by Saul Bellow -- Colonnades short story class -- first read May 1st
33. "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 7th
34. "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 10th
35. "The Garden-Party" by Katherine Mansfield -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 14th (reread -- had read for three other short story classes in the past)
36. "The Enormous Radio" by John Cheever -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 22nd
37. "A&P" by John Updike -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 22nd
38. "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" by Conrad Aiken -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 29th
39. "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter -- Colonnades short story class -- read May 29th
40. "Cinderella" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read it along with a history of it 6/23 -- read introduction giving history of fairy tales 6/22
41. "Sleeping Beauty" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
42. "Rumpel-Stilts-Kin" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
43. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
44. "Little Red Riding Hood" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
45. "Hansel and Gretel" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
46. "The Frog Prince" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read last week of June
47. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hossein, illustrated by Dan Williams -- a beautiful adult picture book with a short story/prayer about a father and son refugee about to take a boat to freedom and the uncertainty of survival-- read June 29th.

Continuation of short readings.

Titles of short readings (individual short stories, plays, essays, etc.) -- collections would not be listed here. This would include short stories, etc. read for classes instead of being listed above. It would not include individual poems (unless they were book length).

Our short story class at our retirement community was put on hold in early June due to the illness of our instructor. Fortunately, it is being held again in July.

1. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath -- read July 1st.
2. "An Adventure in Paris" by Guy de Maupassant -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 2nd
3. "Babylon Revisited" by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 2nd
4. "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 8th for July 12th class
5. "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 8th for July 12th class
6. "Why I Like Country Music" by James McPherson -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 16th for July 19th class
7. "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin -- Colonnades short story class -- finished reading July 18th for July 19th class
8. Dream Straw by Mariflo Stephens -- pleasure -- chapbook of 25 poems -- read July 19th
9. "Great Falls" by Richard Ford -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 20th for July 26th class
10. "Matchimanito" by Louise Erdrich -- Colonnades short story class -- first read July 23rd for July 26th class
11. "A Wall of Fire Rising" by Edwidge Danticat -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read July 29th for class Aug. 2nd
12. "Guests of the Nation" by Frank O'Connor -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read July 29th for class Aug. 2nd
13. "The Conscience of the Court" by Zora Neale Hurston -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 4th for class Aug. 9th
14. "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 5th for class Aug. 9th
15. "Admission" by Danzy Senna -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Aug. 10th for class Aug. 16 which will not be attending.
16. "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Aug. 10th for class Aug. 16 which will not be attending.
17. "Death by Landscape" by Margaret Atwood -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 21st for class Aug. 23rd
18. "Letter to the Lady of the House" by Richard Bausch -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 21st for class Aug. 23rd
19. "Defender of the Faith" by Philip Roth-- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 27th for class Aug. 30th
20. "Cannibalism in the Cars" by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 27th for class Aug. 30th
21. "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 30th for Sept.6 class
22. "A Distant Episode" by Paul Bowles -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Aug. 31st for Sept.6 class
23. "Under the Radar" by Richard Ford -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 7th for Sept. 13th class
24. "The Country Husband" by John Cheever -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 7th for Sept. 13th class
25. "The Wives of the Dead" by Nathaniel Hawthorne -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 13th for Sept. 20th class
26. "A Journey" by Edith Wharton -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 13th for Sept. 20th class -- had read back in 2016 for Charlotte Goodman's OLLI class
27. "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 20th for Sept. 27th class -- had read back in 2016 for Charlotte Goodman's OLLI class
28. "Hunters in the Snow" by Tobias Wolff -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 20th for Sept. 27th class
29. "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" by Amy Hempel -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 30th for Oct. 4th class.
30. "How to Become a Writer" by Lorrie Moore -- Colonnades short story seminar -- first read Sept. 30th for Oct. 4th class.
31. "Old Woman Magoun" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman -- assigned for Colonnades short story seminar for Oct. 11th class -- read Oct. 5th although will not be at class
32. "The Strength of God" by Sherwood Anderson (from Winesburg, Ohio -- assigned for Colonnades short story seminar for Oct. 11th class -- read Oct. 5th although will not be at class
33. "The Little Regiment" by Stephen Crane -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 24th for class Oct. 25th
34. "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" by Flannery O'Connor -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 24th for class Oct. 25th
35. "The Persistence of Desire" by John Updike -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 27th for class Nov. 1st
36. "Filthy with Things" by T. C. Boyle -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Oct. 28th for class Nov. 1st
37. "Where is the Voice Coming From?" by Eudora Welty -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Nov. 14th for class Nov. 15th
38. "Fleur" by Louise Erdrich -- Colonnades short story seminar -- read Nov. 14th for class Nov. 15th
39. "The Girl with a Pimply Face" by Wiliam Carlos Williams -- read Nov. 17th for short story seminar Nov. 22nd
40. "An Alcoholic Case" by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- read Nov. 17th for short story seminar Nov. 22nd
41. The Harvest Gypsies by John Steinbeck — read Nov. 28th — 4 stars.
42. "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry -- very very short story -- read online December 9th.
43. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie— read December 25th
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Enjoy your reading in 2019. Listing your titles read by month is really appealing, it allows for "mood" reads as well as planned reads.

Have a good reading year.

Welcome back and enjoy your reading year! Good call to use the months as the basis for your reading -- with all the challenges floating around the group, I'm sure you'll have lots of ideas for what to read without adding more structure :)

As the saying goes,"Don't fix what isn't broke." Enjoy your 2019 reading!

Listing your reading by the month is a great idea! It keeps things simple especially when we keep track of so many challenges.

Looks like there will be some excellent reads this year!

>14 sallylou61: You've got a title with *two* homophone words: What Jane Austen Ate (Eight) and Charles Dickens Knew (New)!!

>26 kac522: For the challenge, do we need to have both words (such as ate and eight) in the title? I was thinking that was the challenge.

Looking in our public library catalog, I found some children's books with both homophone words including: Dear Deer: a Book of Homophones by Gene Barretta; Eight Ate: a Feast of Homonym Riddles by Marvin Terban and Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin (which is actually a juvenile novel). However, I like to read from my TBR books as much as possible.

>27 sallylou61: Oh, I was definitely interpreting that square to mean you just need ONE homophone word, not both! So I would think that What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew would definitely count.

>26 kac522:, >28 christina_reads: . Thanks for the clarification. Since we need only one homophone word, I have at least 10 titles which would qualify. I even have a title with 2 (out of 3) homophones: Two Paths to Women's Equality.

Happy New Year!

>30 The_Hibernator:, >31 thornton37814:, >32 Tess_W: . Thanks. Happy New Year to you too.

The first book I finished reading this year is In Our Time, a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway for a new short story class at our retirement community. The first 50 pages or so I found very unappealing since they dealt with excessive drinking and sexist comments about women. The last 100 pages or so were much more interesting although I could have done without reading about fly fishing for trout in great detail. "Nick" is a character in several of the stories. The book reflects on Hemingway's life and interests including war, bull fighting, drinking, and fishing.

3.5 stars

I have read Learning to See by Elise Hooper for the LT Early Reviewers program.

Learning to See is a fictional account of the life to Dorothea Lange, the photographer probably most famous for her photo known Migrant Mother. Ms. Lange's life was one of hardship; she had polio at the age of seven, which left her with a withered leg and foot. She limped for the rest of her life. In addition to her handicap, Ms. Lange struggled with being a professional photographer during the Depression years, including living in poverty, and being a mother. The subtitle of the book, "the woman who revealed the real America", refers to Ms. Lange's photographing the poor who were invisible in the eyes of government. Ms. Lange didn't just photograph the migrants to California including the Oakies from the midwest, but later portrayed the Americans of Japanese descent who were relocated and forced to live in concentration camps during World War II. Ms. Lange tried to make a difference.

However, Ms. Lange felt forced to send her two sons to live in other families during much of her career during the Depression. She was married twice, first to the artist Maynard Dixon and later to economist Paul S. Taylor with whom she collaborated on a book. In both marriages, the couples needed the money earned by both husband and wife to live. When the children were with the parents, both husbands expected Ms. Lange to do the bulk of the childcare. Don, the older Dixon son, created numerous problems as a teenager; Ms. Lange tried to have a positive relationship with him, but failed.

Ms. Hooper occasionally jumps from the story she is telling to Ms. Hooper's dealing with her son, Don, many years later in the 1960s. Some of these later episodes occur even before we learn the source of the problem -- the sending of the boys away and later their parents' divorce. This felt awkward; I would have preferred not to have had the story interrupted.

As I was reading the book, several times I wanted to see the photographs being discussed. I didn't realize until I finished the book that there were small pictures of a relatively few photographs at the end of the book.

4 stars

For my book club, I've finished reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, a type of book which I do not usually read. It is an extremely long novel about talking rabbits. I tried reading a minimum number of pages in order to finish it by my book club meeting; however, today when I became very involved in the adventure and read nearly a third of the book. One of the aspects which I enjoyed most was Mr. Adams explaining what rabbits normally did.

3 stars

>36 sallylou61: I have tried to read that book twice and could not finish. The last time was about 20 years ago. Maybe I should try again?!

>36 sallylou61: I really enjoyed that book. It was on my Christmas wish list a couple of years ago and my mother-in-law gifted me her copy. It was one of her all time favorite books so it made the gift extra special.

>37 Tess_W:, >38 LittleTaiko: . Although we have not had our book club meeting yet, several of my friends have already told me how much their husbands or fathers enjoyed it. I will be interested in hearing the reactions of the members of the club themselves.

>36 sallylou61: I love Watership Down! I would say, give it another try.

>37 Tess_W:, >38 LittleTaiko:, >40 JayneCM:. One of my book club members was reluctant to read Watership Down until her husband told her he had had to read it for some leadership conference. She read it looking for examples of leadership style, and found it interesting doing that.

Although I did not particularly enjoy the book and have enough other reading to do, I might read it again sometime from that viewpoint. Also, several of our book club members had read it previously, and said they had gotten a lot more out of it each time they read it.

Watership Down is a favorite at our house and our copy is likely to come apart after another read or two.

For my other book club, I've finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, which I enjoyed although I found the end a bit unsatisfying. The narrator is Patroclus, a relatively minor character in the Trojan War, and the story revolves around the relationship of Achilles and him. It has been a long time since I've read anything about this war.

4 stars

>43 sallylou61: - I had a similar experience when I read The Song of Achilles. Great story, but that ending....

For the RandomCAT (Louise) and BingoDOG (part of a series square), I read Glass Houses by Louise Penny. This is the third book I've read by her, and did not like it as much as the others. I felt that jumping around so much in time got confusing.

3 stars

>43 sallylou61: & >44 lkernagh: I'm about halfway through The Song of Achilles and enjoying it so far. Now I'm wondering about the ending…

>46 VivienneR: . I just felt that one of the last stories was cruel and did not need to be told.

For pleasure I read a book that fit the siblings square in BingoDOG. It is Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison. The book was very well researched, and particularly interesting in the stories of Jefferson's two white daughters who survived to adulthood: Martha (Patsy) Jefferson Randolph and Mary (Maria) Jefferson Eppes. I particularly appreciated reading about Maria Eppes who I didn't know so much about since she died in young adulthood and has not received the coverage Martha has.

I was disappointed in the coverage of Harriet Hemings, the daughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Very, very little is known about her, and much of the story is conjecture. Ms. Kerrison went in at some length in her efforts to establish Harriet's life after she was permitted to leave Monticello, and went to Washington, DC, to live as a white person. Ms. Kerrison did not really establish who she was; she wrote about a number of women who could have been her, and why she did or did not think that particular Harriet was the right person.

I would have preferred to have Ms. Kerrison write about the two white daughters and Sally Hemings, who was their mother's half sister. Martha (Patsy), Maria, and Sally were all around the same age, and they had a lot of contact with each other with Sally's accompanying Maria to Paris when both of them were still children. Martha and Sally both lived at Monticello much of their adult lives since Martha moved back to Monticello with her large family of children sometime after her marriage. Sally does appear prominently in the book, but I think that she would have been a more suitable person to be featured than Harriet.

Although very interesting, the book could have been better edited. Ms. Kerrison tends to use long sentences, sometimes with meaningless words thrown in.

4 stars

I've just read On Board the Titanic: The Complete Story with Eyewitness Accounts, edited by Logan Marshall. This book is "Unbridged republication of The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters: Thrilling Stories of Survivors; with Photographs and Sketches, originally published by John C. Winston Company, Philadelphia, 1912." T.p. verso.
This was an interesting account in that it featured stories by people who were actually involved in the event -- either as survivors of the Titanic or people on the Carpathian, the ship which picked up the survivors. The book covered practically all aspects of the story: the construction of the ship, life on board, the accident and the rescue of the survivors by the Carpathian, the actions of the crews of both ships, the arrival at New York, and the U.S. Senate investigation into the tragedy. Also included were early lists of survivors and those lost at sea. One short chapter briefly described other marine disasters with loss of life from 1841 thru September 1911; that chapter seemed extraneous and a bit confusing since a number of disasters were mentioned in the text followed by a list of over 50 other disasters not mentioned.

The main points made concerning the unnecessary loss of life included: (1) inadequate number of lifeboats for all the passengers, and (2) not filling the lifeboats before they left, (3) taking the shortest root across the Atlantic, which was a Northern one where icebergs were a hazard, (4) ship going too fast for conditions, and (5) ships not being required to have morse code operators on duty around the clock (there were ships closer than the Carpathian, such as the Californian and others which did not heed or did not hear the distress signals of the Titanic).

4 stars

A Little House Traveler by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- read On the Way Home and The Road Back from it; had previously read West from Home -- finished reading Feb. 5th.
A Little House Traveler contains the three titles mentioned above. Part 2 of On the Way Home is a diary which Laura kept on the 1894 trip from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, where she and Almanzo lived the rest of their lives. Laura discusses the landscape, the weather, and the kind of people they encounter along the way. Many are fellow migrants moving from one place to another having experienced hardships, primarily due to the weather. Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, wrote parts 1 and 3 about their life in South Dakota prior to the move (and why they moved) and about their early life in Missouri finding the land where they would build their farm, etc.
The Road Back is Laura's diary of a trip she and Almanzo took back to South Dakota in 1931; their first trip back after moving to Missouri. Laura kept track of the amount of money they spent each day. While in South Dakota she describes seeing her two surviving sisters and a few other people they knew back when they lived there.

4 stars

I've read All-of-a-Kind Family, the first book in her All-of-a-Kind Family series, by Sydney Taylor for the SeriesCAT and BingoDOG "read a CAT square." I had read this book as a child many years ago, and enjoyed rereading it. It is about an immigrant Jewish family living in the Lower East Side of New York City around 1912; many Jewish customs are explained. Although the family was poor, they were rich in love for each other.

>51 sallylou61: I love these books!

>52 JayneCM: I'm glad I reread this book. I think as I child, I read at least two of them, but I don't remember which one I read besides All-of-a-Kind Family.

I just finished reading The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron for my book club meeting next week. This book also fits the CalendarCAT challenge (Black History Month) and the BingoDOG square for Prize winning book (1968 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction). This historical novel is Mr. Styron's description of the man Nat Turner as imagined by Styron and of the institution of slavery. Nat Turner himself is the narrator. The story goes back in forth in time between the life of Nat Turner as a slave and his time in jail. Nat Turner is portrayed as a very intelligent man who becomes a skilled carpenter and a preacher who very well versed in the Bible. Turner becomes a dangerous religious lunatic who wants to kill all the white people in the Southampton, Virginia, region, and leads a relatively few slaves in an insurrection.

4 stars

>54 sallylou61: a BB for me!

I've just finished reading Quaking, a young adult novel by Kathryn Erskine. I think that Ms. Erskine in this debut novel tries to tackle too many problems: adjustment of teenage girl who has been in a number of different family situations to a new peaceful Quaker family that has a severely handicapped child, bullying both by other teenagers in her school and by a teacher, and a school situation in which both that teacher and the principal stress that to be patriotic one must be in favor of fighting the war in Iraq, and the destruction of various places of worship that practice peace. Moreover, Sam, the father who is very good with dealing with people, does not have a high school diploma, went to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War, and cannot find permanent, full-time work tries to be the main breadwinner; his wife, Jessica, who is a trained lawyer, primarily stays at home and takes care of the handicapped son instead of having Sam be the principal caretaker and Jessica the main breadwinner.

The story starts out with Matt, the teenager being very negative and hostile; the first forty or so pages are extremely depressing. However, after that the story picks up in interest, especially as Matt stands by her principles and truly becomes a part of the family.

3.5 stars

For my book club meeting on Saturday I've read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, which also qualifies for the BingoDOG square LT rating of 4.+ (being rated 4.22 by 635 raters as of 2/19/19) although my personal rating is below 4. This is a story of two black families, one living in Africa and the other primarily in United States, from the 18th century to the new millennium. This amounts to a number of stories of key people, with those in Africa and those in the United States in alternating chapters. Some of the stories end rather abruptly although we sometimes find out more about the person in a later chapter. Important topics are covered such as the slave trade in Africa, descriptions of different tribes of people in Africa, the results of the Fugitive Slave law in the United States, economic conditions of blacks in the United States following the Civil War, and the use of convicts working under terrible conditions in such industries as coal mining.

3.5 stars

For the Title contains homophone BingoDOG square and the March CalendarCAT (slightly early) I've read The Women who Flew for Hitler by Clare Mulley. This is the story of two female pilots who flew for the German cause during World War II: Melitta von Stauffenberg and Hanna Reitsch. Both of the women were courageous, adventurous, enjoyed flying and testing aircraft even under dangerous conditions, and were working in a male environment. However, the women were dissimilar in background and beliefs. Melitta von Stauffenberg, who was from an upper class family and married into another upper class family, flew for Germany but not necessarily for the Nazis; she believed that Germany was greater than the Nazis. She was well educated (with a PhD) and an engineer; in addition to testing planes she did research for improving the airplanes. Moreover, prior to the war, she discovered that she had some Jewish ancestors. She was even involved in a plot with her brothers-in-law to assassinate Hitler although in the end, she was not involved in the action. Hanna Reitsch came from a middle class background and became a passionate Nazi. She met with high Nazi officials (including being in Hitler's bunker prior to his death), and did not question anything which the Nazis did. Even when shown evidence of prison conditions she refused to believe that the holocaust occurred -- an opinion she held throughout her long life. Hanna died in 1979, many years after the war ended; Melitta was killed when her plane was shot down during the war. Hanna also spread untrue stories about Melitta.

In addition to telling the stories of these women, Ms. Mulley evaluates their characters and the contributions they made during their lives. She also provides a considerable amount of information about the war, especially the air warfare.

4 stars

I am severely limiting my time reading and using the computer. Concussion diagnosed Sat. Mar. 2nd, no reading from books until a little starting Sun., Mar. 10th

Liz Caile: A Life at Treeline: Columns by Liz Caile.

Liz Caile was a classmate of mine at a Quaker boarding school in the greater Philadelphia region. She lived most of her life in Colorado, but came east to our school for 10th thru 12th grades. When we were planning our 50th reunion in early 2011, and were researching information about Liz to include in our biographical pamphlet, we discovered that shortly after her untimely death at the age 53, Claudia Putnam, Kate Readio, and Kay Turnbaugh collected what they considered to be some of Liz's finest columns for the weekly newspaper, The Mountain-Ear (published in Nederland, CO), and assembled them into a book. Over the years, I had read some of the columns, but read most of the book in the last few days when I wanted to read short pieces. The majority of the columns are directly related to living in the high mountains of Colorado; they mentioned places and conditions with which I am unfamiliar. Of course, they were directed to a different audience. However, Liz was excellent in describing nature, including the colors she saw. She advocated living simply, and was deeply saddened with the way modern culture is ruining a lot of natural resources. She also wrote about more general topics such as the abolition of the death penalty, home schooling, and the legalizing of marijuana for medicinal purposes. I particularly enjoyed reading her columns -- some of which were character sketches -- about her relatives. Unfortunately, Liz died of a brain tumor; her condition was misdiagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis!

>59 sallylou61: Sometimes you've got to do what you have to do. Take care of yourself and I wish you a speedy recovery.

>59 sallylou61: So sorry to hear you suffered a concussion. You have my sympathy. Take care.

>59 sallylou61: Take good care of yourself!

Take it easy and I hope the recovery goes well.

I hope your recovery went well and you are again reading up a storm!

I hope you are doing better now.

Yikes on the concussion! Take care of yourself and I join the others in hoping that the recovery goes well.

Joining in with everyone wishing you well. Here's to a full recovery and a return to reading. Take care of yourself.

So sorry to hear of your injury.....can you listen to books?

>60 AHS-Wolfy:, >61 VivienneR:,>62 MissWatson:,>63 rabbitprincess:, >64 RidgewayGirl:, >65 hailelib:, >66 lkernagh:,>67 DeltaQueen50:,>68 Tess_W: . Thanks for your concern. I have been doing some reading this past week. I'm trying to do reading that is not too taxing, i.e. that needs to take a look of thinking to comprehend (such as poetry printed in unconventional format (such as in Olio by Tyehimba Jess or looking at details in pictures described in the text such Still Philadelphia by Fredric Miller and others, both of which I planned to read this month). Also, my book club book is printed on cheap paper which increases my bronchitis, which I now have (after having been diagnosed with a bad cold (head and chest) since a few days after my concussion diagnosis). I'm really trying to recover in time for the Virginia Festival of the Book which starts on Wednesday -- one of my favorite annual events. However, I think my participation will be limited. Fortunately, my doctor has cleared me for the event; he says my bronchitis is the bacterial kind connected with asthma which is not contagious. Still I do not want to be coughing during the event.

I've read My Body, My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights by Robin Stevenson for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Review posted at: https://www.librarything.com/work/22542873/reviews/166498487

3.5 stars

I reread one of my favorite children's books, Thee, Hannah by Marguerite de Angeli for the Reading through time challenge. This time I read the paperback edition published in 2000 instead of my original hardback published in 1940 so that my allergies would not "act up." This later publication includes "new" introduction by Harry de Angeli which introduces "Aunt" Hannah Stevens whose stories about her childhood became the basis for Thee, Hannah -- new information which I found very interesting. Upon this reading, I really noticed how the underground railroad was mentioned throughout the book. I knew that Hannah finally understands the meaning of her Quaker bonnet when an escaping slave says that is why she asked Hannah for help, but I had not remembered it as such a theme of the whole book.

Still 5 stars

>69 sallylou61: I can't think of much worse than being unable to participate fully in a favorite book festival! And also a cough is a terrible thing and I hope you are taking care of yourself.

>72 RidgewayGirl: . Thanks. I am taking it easy. Also, the last two books I've read have been rereads of books I've enjoyed in the past, which makes for easy reading. I'm still not reading books which require a lot of concentration as mentioned in >69 sallylou61:. I've heard that sometimes it takes up to 5 or 6 weeks to fully recover from a concussion, and yesterday marked 3 weeks for me. I didn't help my recovery any by waiting so long (5 days) before getting medical attention after hitting my head.

I'm trying to read books I already own for the SeriesCAT challenge (although I'll occasionally make exceptions). Since I don't have any books by my favorite current authors I hadn't read recently, I decided to reread Quaker Witness by Irene Allen, an author who wrote 4 books in the 1990s featuring Elizabeth Elliot, a Quaker who became involved in the detection of murders. At the time, I was sorry that Ms. Allen did not write more in this series although I had found the first two books stronger than the last two. However, upon rereading Quaker Witness, the second book in the series, I found that although I enjoyed reading the book as a whole, reading about Ms. Elliot's various aches and pains became rather tiring. Also, I discovered that, according to the ratings in LT and in Amazon, this series has not been very favorably received. Therefore, I'm not surprised that this series was not continued.

Quaker Witness deals with the cut-throat life in the fictional Paleontology Department at Harvard University. A paleontologist who is well regarded for his academic work but not for his treatment of female students is found dead, and the suspicion falls on Janet Stevens, the only female student in the department who has, after many unwanted encounters, recently filed sexual harassment charges against him. As a whole, the males, both faculty and students do not care about the treatment of Janet. Ms. Elliot believes that Janet is innocent, and does her own investigating in addition to being supportive of Janet.

3.5 stars this time

I read What Truth Sounds Like by Michael Eric Dyson, a book which I bought last week at the Virginia Festival of the Book. Mr. Dyson discusses the meeting Robert F. Kennedy held in his New York City apartment in the spring of 1963 at which he invited the author James Baldwin to come and bring some other blacks. Those accompanying Mr. Baldwin included entertainers Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and activist Jerome Smith, a Freedom Rider who had been beaten up. The meeting did not go as RFK expected; the blacks talked and Kennedy was forced to listen. The blacks clearly stated that the Kennedy brothers were not doing enough concerning civil rights; they described what it was like to be black. Mr. Dyson follows the discussion of this meeting with roles black artists, intellectuals, and activists (including entertainers and sports figures) played during the 1960s and how they should be actively working to improve the racial situation today. In his discussion, Mr. Dyson names blacks in various fields who are being active concerning civil rights issues. Since black ministers have been known for working with whites in politics, he does not talk so much about them; he focuses on others.

An index would have been helpful, especially since so many people are discussed, often in more than one chapter.

4.5 stars

>75 sallylou61: I'll keep an eye out for this book. I read his previous book, Tears We Cannot Stop, and found much to think about in it.

>76 RidgewayGirl: . There is also a lot to think about in What Truth Sounds Like. Dr. Dyson is not afraid to say when he thinks well-meaning blacks approach the problems in gaining respect and equality in a way which he feels will result in unforeseen setbacks. He was disappointed that President Obama did not do more for blacks. Dyson emphasizes that blacks must speak out and be heard.

Last week I finished reading The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner for a Wallace Stegner OLLI (adult education) class which begins this week. Being over 600 pages, this is a much longer book than I prefer to read. However, I enjoyed this autobiographical novel of approximately 30 years in the life of a family. The father who had a cruel childhood and little education, running away from home as a teenager, is cruel to his family. The family continually moves around the upper midwest U.S. and Canada and western U.S. and with the father's trying to find "greener pastures," hoping to make considerably more money elsewhere. Usually he is obtaining and selling liquor, which is against the law. I particularly enjoyed the last sections of the novel written from the viewpoint of the youngest son, who is modeled on Mr. Stegner himself.

4.5 stars

I've finished reading Devotions: the selected poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver for the CalendarCAT (national poetry month, U.S. and Canada), and in honor of the poet who died earlier this year. This collection was selected by Ms. Oliver herself from her published work throughout her career. The majority of these poems are about nature and the poet's enjoyment of being outdoors in it. Some of the poems, especially those from Thirst published in 2006 are religious poems, mentioning God or Jesus. However, most of the nature poems could be considered spiritual poems; being in nature appeared to be a spiritual experience for Ms. Oliver.

4 stars

For the Title has 6 or more words square in BingoDOG, I read Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates, edited by Elaine Showalter. This book is more than just the short story; it also includes two essays on the background of the story and nine critical analyses (commentaries) of the story and/or the movie Smooth Talk which was based on it. The commentaries showed how differently readers can interpret the story.

4 stars

Yesterday I finished reading Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner for my OLLI Wallace Stegner class tomorrow. This book is divided into three sections: Personal which describes Stegner's life and pays tribute to his mother, Habitat which discusses the West and some of its characteristics and especially the harm man has done to it, and Witness which describes some of the authors who have written about the West and their writings. The last section would have been more enjoyable for me if I was more familiar with the authors discussed. I particularly enjoyed the first two chapters which were very closely connected to Stegner's The Big Rock Candy Mountain which I have already read for the class.

updated 5/3 to correct spelling of Stegner's name which I accidentally misspelled one place.

4 stars

I have read two "assigned" books this month, one for class and one for my book group. Their titles both begin "Where the ... sing{s}, being Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It's probably statistically rare for this to happen.

I know that Where the Crawdads Sing is a very popular book now but I found its story to be very improbable. The main character, Kya grows up in a North Carolina swamp almost completely on her own after being abandoned by her mother, then her siblings, and finally her abusive father. She only attends school one day in her life, and does not learn to read or count until a boy, approximately four years older and a friend of her brother, teaches her these skills. She subsists on a very poor diet, and has almost no human contact.

Moreover, I did not like the style the story was written in. Ms. Owens keeps switching back and forth in time between the time of the murder and the trial of the accused (1969 and 1970) and what happened earlier (early and mid 1950s, then mid and late 1960s). Near the end of the book, she even switches between the murder investigation and/or trial and what is happening shortly before then, which is awkward. I did like Ms. Owen's use of very short chapters.

3 stars

For my other book group which meets this coming Wednesday evening, I read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. This is not something I would have read otherwise. Almost the whole book tells about Count Rostov, who is held under house arrest in the Metropol, a hotel in Moscow, for political reasons. Although there are some interesting parts including some Russian history and Count Rostov's relationships with a few people, the book drags on for over 450 pages.

2.5 stars

>83 sallylou61: Sorry you didn't like A Gentleman In Moscow. I really liked it!

>84 Tess_W: When we had our book club discussion Wednesday evening, one of the members, a man of Russian descent who had often been to that hotel, kept saying what a bad book it was. That, although it is fiction, it is not authentic. A person convicted would either be killed or sent to Siberia, not to one of the best Moscow hotels. Most of the other book club members enjoyed the book; one other woman and I were the only other ones who did not like it.

For the SeriesCAT (latest in a favorite series) I've read The American Agent, a Maisie Dobbs novel by Jacqueline Winspear. This novel took part mainly in London during the World War II Blitz when the Germans were constantly bombing that city. Many of the same characters who have appeared in recent Maisie Dobbs novels were included in this one. In addition to this being a murder mystery, Maisie is still trying to adopt Anna, a little girl whose relatives have died, and is also falling in love with the American agent. I enjoyed this story.

4 stars

For the TBRCat I just read My Antonia by Willa Cather. I think I put off reading it because I was a bit disappointed with The Song of a Lark which preceded it in the frontier life on the Great Plains trilogy. I really enjoyed this book, which was narrated by one of the main male characters, Jim Burden, who tells the story of growing up with Antonia Shimerda and their friend families and friends in frontier Nebraska. Many of the families were immigrant farmers, primarily from Bohemia and Scandinavia. Most of the story is told from Jim's memory of life 20 years earlier although in the end, he travels back to Nebraska and visits Antonia and her large family.

4.5 stars

>83 sallylou61: I have this book on the shelf but for some reason it hasn't appealed to me. Now that I've read more about the book it appeals even less. Your Russian book club member mention in >85 sallylou61: has a point. I think this book will be donated back to the FOL booksale where I found it.

For the graphic novel square of BingoDOG, I read The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini, illustrated by Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolfo. This is only the second graphic novel I have ever read, and the first fiction title. I felt that it basically covered The Kite Runner, but hardly did the novel justice since the graphic version is 132 p. (and of course primarily illustrations) and the novel is over 300 pages.

Not rating this title since do not like graphic novel format.

>87 sallylou61: - Such a fabulous story! I just love Willa Cather's writing. I have yet to be disappointed by any of her books. Lovely review.

>90 lkernagh: . Thanks. I also have enjoyed all of Willa Cather's books which I have read although I thought that Song of a Lark was a little long (and the font it was printed in was smaller than I like).

I just finished reading A Hiss before Dying by Rita Mae Brown (and her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown). What I enjoy most about the Mrs. Murphy series is the setting. Ms. Brown is a local author and mentions local places in her mysteries. In this novel, Ms. Brown tells two stories, one in the present (in this case 2016; the book was published in 2017), and the other in the 18th century (1780s), which she ties together at the end. Most of the main characters in both centuries also appeared in Probable Claws, the next book in the series, which I reviewed for LT early reviewers last year.

3.5 stars

Since it would also count for the CalendarCAT (Mothers' Day, U.S.) and BingoDOG (alliterative title square) in addition to TBRCat, I decided to read one of the books I have put aside: Linked Lives: Adult Daughters and Their Mothers Lucy Rose Fischer. Although it was published in 1986 and the research is out-of-date, I found the later chapters rather interesting. They included daughters who did not have children and relationships with aging parents whereas the earlier chapters primarily dealt with daughters in their upper teens or 20s, and emphasized the daughters' being mothers. Throughout the book, the samples discussed were very small, and the author kept mentioning statistics.

2.5 stars

2nd BingoDOG card -- which I will probably not complete

Readings for 2nd BingoDOG card:

1. Author uses middle name or initial: "The Conscience of the Court" -- (short story by) Zora Neale Hurston -- read Aug. 4th -- 5 stars
2. Debut novel: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens -- finished reading May 6th -- 3 stars
3. about or featuring siblings: A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash -- finished reading Nov. 18th -- 3.5 stars
4. Book bullet: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell -- finished reading Aug. 13th -- 4 stars
6. Medicine/health: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon -- finished June 27th -- 4 stars.
7. animal on cover, in significant role: A Hiss before Dying by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown -- finished reading May 26th -- 3.5 stars
8. artistic character: Women and writing by Virginia Woolf -- finished Oct. 15th -- 3 stars -- Woolf talks about many women authors and calls them artists and discusses the art of writing
9. Eastern European setting or author: "The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy -- finished reading Apr. 4
10. Children's or Y.A.: Thee, Hannah by Marguerite de Angeli (children's) -- finished Mar. 17th
11. alliterative title: Forbes Field by David Finoli and Tom Aikens (Images of America) -- finished reading Aug. 29th
12. Series: The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear -- finished reading May 15th
13. Read a CAT: Devotions : The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver (April CalendarCAT -- national poetry month, U.S. and Canada) -- finished Apr. 22nd
14. Prize winning book: Olio by Tyehimba Jess (2017 Pulitzer for Poetry) -- finished reading Aug. 5th -- unrated
15. Weather related: Riding to Camille by Mary Buford Hitz -- novel about Hurricane Camille in Nelson County -- 50th anniversary of Aug. 19th-20th, 1969 disaster -- finished reading Aug. 20 -- 3.5 stars
16. Short stories or essays: Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger by Lee Smith -- finished reading July 7th -- 4.5 stars (short stories)
17. Made into a movie: My Antonia by Willa Cather -- finished reading May 22nd -- 4.5 stars
18. Fairy tale: "Cinderella" in The Classic Fairy Tales edited by Iona and Peter Opie -- read June 23rd.
20. Title has 6 or more words: Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner -- finished May 1st.
21. Cover has at least 2 human figures: The Sound of Our Own Voices by Theodora Penny Martin -- finished June 10th
22. book in translation: The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson -- finished reading Aug. 10th -- 5 stars
23. Food related: Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe -- by Jenny Colgan -- finished reading Aug. 24th -- 2.5 stars
24. LT rating of 4 or better: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney —Rating of 4.01 as of June 8th — finished reading June 6th
25. Homophone word: There There by Tommy Orange (alliteration is supposed to be different words) -- finished reading June 20th (there, their)

5. mentioned in another book: Uncle Tom's Cabin mentioned in Charlotte Perkins Gilman --- Lord of the Flies mentioned several times in Glass Houses, also mentioned in Homegoing (p. 268, 270) and Quaking (?) -- Great Gatsby in Homegoing (p. 280) -- Souls of Black Folk in Homegoing (p.244) -- Little House on the Prairie and Green Eggs and Ham both mentioned repeatedly in Quaking -- The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar mentioned in Where are you going, where have you been in article by Brenda O. Daly, p. 146 -- many books mentioned in Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs -- Huckleberry Finn in Last Girls
19. graphic novel

You've got a good start on your second card, very impressive.

>96 MissWatson: . Thanks. I still have 4 more squares on my first card, but found that a lot of my reading for book clubs or CATs fit into BingoDO categories. I plan to finish my first card, but not necessarily this second one.

While I was on nearly a week's vacation, I finished reading two books: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney for my book club and At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier for the TBRCAT and food square BingoDOG. The first book is a novel loosely based on the life of Margaret Fishback, a highly paid (for a woman) ad writer for Macy's in New York during the early 20th century depression. I enjoyed most of the story, which switched back and forth in time between Lillian's working career and her activities as an old woman, but was disappointed that near the end the story was depressing, describing Lillian's stay in a mental hospital which had happened much earlier in time. Also, probably most of the story is fiction from what the author states at the end of the novel. One of the problems I have with biographical fiction is knowing what is factual and what is fiction.

At the Edge of the Orchard also includes two real people: Johnny Appleseed (using John Chapman his real name in life) and William Lobb. However, the story is centered on fictional characters, the Goodenough family, especially Robert Goodenough who leaves home in the Ohio swamp and travels to California where he ends up working for William Lobb collecting seeds and seedlings for redwoods and sequoia cones. John Chapman appears in the scenes with the family back in Ohio. There is violence, especially in the family scenes.

3.5 stars for Lillian Boxfish; 4 stars for At the Edge of the Orchard

For the RandomCAT challenge for which I drew the Queen of Clubs, I read The Sound of Our Own Voices: Women's Study Clubs 1860-1910 by Theodora Penny Martin. This history of women's study clubs was published in 1987, several years after the popular novel of that type of club And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer appeared. Ms. Martin covers women's study clubs throughout the United States; in the first part of the book, I felt that she was trying to cover too many clubs. However, the final two chapters are devoted to clubs in Decatur, Illinois; mostly the Art Class of Decatur which was actually a study club not using club in its name, and comparing it with the Woman's Club of that city, which was founded by an Art Class member. I thought those two chapters dragged. The study clubs were aimed at the self-education of the women; many of them were established before the women's colleges. Ms. Martin compared the women's study clubs with the women's colleges rather than with other women's organizations such as the WCTU and the suffrage movement.

3 stars

For the BingoDOG book in translation square I read Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag, translated from the Norwegian by Lincoln Colcord and the author. It is a novel about Norwegians settling on the plains in Dakota Territory in the 1870s and early 1880s. Rolvaag grew up in Norway, and came to South Dakota at the age in 1896 to help an uncle on a farm. Therefore, he was very familiar with Norwegian life. The novel describes Norwegian beliefs and values in their struggles in their little community on the prairie. These pioneers knew little English, and wanted to settle with other people from Norway with whom they shared a language. A few of the women particularly became very depressed. Part of the depression of Beret Hansa, one of the main female characters, was caused by her very strong feeling that the settlers had sinned coming to that forbidden, isolated place. Some of the difficulties described by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her Little House books are mentioned in this novel including the grasshopper plagues and the very long snowy winter of 1880-81.

4.5 stars

For my bookclub which meets this Saturday I read There There by Tommy Orange. This novel is made up of character sketches of Native Americans who have some relationship to each other by the end of the story; many of the characters are featured in several chapters. I had to push myself to get through this book primarily because in some of the chapters the language the characters used was so bad. Moreover, there were numerous characters; the twelve main ones were briefly described in the list of characters at the front of the book, but there were others not listed. I often had to go back to the list of the characters to see who the chapter was about. The book tied the characters together at the end.
(When I find out how to use spoiler alert, I will change the last sentence of the review. I was unsuccessful trying to find it in the help index.)

2.5 stars

>101 sallylou61: To mark something as a spoiler enclose the word spoiler in pointy brackets and finish with /spoiler also in pointy brackets.

(Sorry, I can't remember the correct name for pointy brackets, I think they are angle brackets. They don't show up in messages.)

>102 VivienneR: . Thanks. I had been using the pointy brackets but not the words spoiler.

For the fairy tale square in BingoDOG, I read Fairy Tales told by Berlie Doherty, illustrated by Jane Ray. This is a collection of 12 fairy tales, definitely geared for children since the editor had happy endings for all the tales with the evil characters being punished. In the illustrations, many of the main characters are people of color.

I borrowed two collections of fairy tales from our public library since I wasn't sure which one I wanted to read. I read all the tales in the Doherty book. The Classic Fairy Tales collected by Iona and Peter Opie is an adult oriented, very scholarly book which contains 24 tales; a history of the tale precedes each tale, and the Opies give a history of fairy tales in the introduction. With so many books I want to read, I read the introduction to the book and "Cinderella" including the history of that tale. I also read the tales only for six which also appeared in the Doherty book so that I could compare them. The tales in the Opie collection do not always end happily; for example, in "Little Red Riding Hood" the wolf eats both the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood; they are not rescued. In the Doherty version, the wolf eats them, but a huntsman comes along, cuts the wolf open and rescues both the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood (and they sew stones into the wolf so that he dies).

Although the Doherty collection contained 12 fairy tales and the Opie collection 24 tales, only 8 were in both collections.

4 stars for Doherty version; 5 stars for Opie version

I've just read Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom a short, horror story written by Sylvia Plath when she was a college student, shortly before her first suicide attempt, about a young girl whose parents force her on a train going to an unknown destination. Sylvia Plath's estate had this published for the first time in 2019.

Unrated -- not "my cup of tea"

I've read Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger: New and Selected Stories by Lee Smith. These 14 stories mostly involved marriage in some way; however, they were all very different in plot, and no character appeared in more than one of the stories. They ranged in length from 11 to 50 pages. I particularly enjoyed the shorter ones. Also, I thought that Ms. Smith wrote well about aging.

4.5 stars

To finish my BingoDOG card (book bullet from a review by cbl_tn), I read The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold. This is a feminist account; Ms. Rubenhold showed that these women were real people, who lived very hard lives. Usually, they came from large impoverished families. The myth is that Jack the Ripper killed prostitutes. However, there is no evidence that three of these women -- Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, Annie Chapman, or Catherine "Kate" Eddowes -- were ever prostitutes. Elisabeth Stride, who might have been killed by someone other than the Ripper, was probably not a prostitute at the time of her death. Only Mary Jane Kelly was known to be a prostitute. However, even if they had been prostitutes, there was no justification in killing these women. What the women who were killed had in common was extreme poverty and drunkenness, and three of them were homeless at the time of their deaths. Ms. Rubenhold, in her telling of these women's stories, clearly shows the living conditions of the poor in late nineteenth century London and a couple other industrial towns/cities. In the introduction, she vividly contrasted the living conditions of the rich and poor in London, titling the introduction "A Tale of Two Cities."

Four of the five women were in their 40s when they were murdered. Only Mary Jane Kelly was in her twenties. The section on Mary Jane's life is the shortest and weakest because Ms. Rubenhold found very little information about this woman, who went by a number of different names and identities in her short life.

The book contains only two maps, one of which is very unclear. Since the author talks so much about where the women, who frequently moved around, went, additional maps would have been very useful.

The book contains "A list of objects" found on the four women who were outdoors when they were murdered, bibliographic notes, bibliographical sources, and index.

4 stars

For the TBRCat I've just finished reading Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani, which I enjoyed much more than I expected to. I had begun reading her much longer novel, The Shoemaker's Wife for a book club a couple of years ago, and found it just did not appeal to me then. However, the Big Stone Gap books are popular in our community, and I bought one which I decided to read now; I wanted some light reading. Although Ms. Trigiani lives in New York City now, this first book of a series primarily takes place in her small hometown in Southwestern Virginia. I enjoyed reading about this small town in which people knew each other. The story takes place in the 1970s before the coal industry was so hard hit. One of the main male characters is a coal miner. So far for the TBRCat challenge I've read works by two regional authors from Southwestern Virginia; the other one was Lee Smith. Both of these authors were featured on a panel of very popular authors with the Virginia Festival of the Book audience at the festival last March.

I just read Becoming by Michelle Obama for pleasure. It's an excellent autobiography divided into three sections: (1) "Becoming Me" about her childhood, her early career as a high-paid lawyer in a large Chicago firm, and her meeting and early interactions with Barack Obama; (2) Becoming Us about Michelle and Barack and their family life through his first election to the Presidency, and (3) Becoming More primarily about their experiences during Barack's first term as President. The emphasis is on becoming: first developing as a person, then as a woman who was a wife, mother, and professional and balancing those roles, and finally as a First Lady in being a mother in the White House for her daughters and trying to give them as normal a life as possible, and finding her way to actively participate in developing programs to benefit children, particularly girls, in addition to doing the more traditional First Lady duties. Michelle does not talk much about their second term; she had begun most if not all of her initiatives in the first term. She comes across as a very strong, intelligent, and caring woman, who understands the value of interacting with people, especially people who feel marginalized.

5 stars

I read Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor for our local library summer reading program. I had seen the movie starring Joan Plowright right after it came out, but had never read the book. The challenge was to read the book for some title after seeing the show which I interpreted to mean movie in addition to live performance. Mrs. Palfrey is an elderly woman who goes to the Claremont Hotel in London to live out her old age. In addition to being a hotel for the elderly, it also caters to short-stay younger customers. The story is about the interactions among the elderly; many of them have some kind of family visit. Mrs. Palfrey talks about her grandson; when he never visits, she pretends that a young man who helped her up from a fall is that grandson. I enjoyed the movie more than the book.

3.5 stars

I just finished reading The Last Girls by Lee Smith for pleasure. This is the first novel by her I've read. I really enjoyed reading her autobiography Dimestore, which I thought was excellent and her collection of short stories Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, which I thought was very good. I picked this novel because it featured a reunion of sorts of 4 women who were friends in college in the 1960s and, with a group of other girls, had taken a trip down the Mississippi on a raft during their college years. These four women were making a return trip down the Mississippi, this time on a cruise ship, thirty some years later. They took the ashes of one of their friends, who had been on the original trip, to throw into the Mississippi. The book features different "girls", now women, in different chapters. We learn a little about their current lives, and a lot about their college lives through their reminiscences. I found some of the women hard to like, and the ending of the book unsatisfactory since it did not tell what happened to these women immediately after the trip. Several were tentatively planning to spend some time in New Orleans, but we don't know whether or not they did. Also, we did not learn the result of a couple of health crises raised in the book.

3.5 stars

This evening I finished reading Olio by Tyehimba Jess. Although this book won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, it is more than a collection of poems. It concerns the black experience in the United States, and includes poetry, interviews, hymns, line drawings, and a timeline of important events in black history from 1816 to 2012. At the top and bottom of some pages are lists of black churches; I think that they might be churches that have been bombed or destroyed in some way although I did not see anything in the text that said why they were listed. I purchased this book after hearing Mr. Jess read from it at the 2018 Virginia Festival of the Book; I think that for one of the selections he read, he read the names of churches and said something about bombing.

This book was a difficult read for me. Some of the poems were in two columns, and I didn't know if each column was to be read separately or not. At the end of the book, the suggestion is made to read some pieces "line-by-line, backward, forward, and diagonal-wise." (p. 213).

Not rated

I read Whiskers in the Dark by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown for pleasure. This is the latest in the Mrs. Murphy series. Again this time, there are two story lines, one present day and one from the 18th century. To really understand this book, one would have had to read Probable Claws, the preceding book in the series since it mentions a few things covered in that mystery novel. I didn't enjoy this book as much as some of the others since it was not as local, and heavily featured dogs in the current story. Also, I found the ending rather unsatisfactory.

3 stars

For this month's RandomCAT and my second BingoDOG card (translated book), I read The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson. I had read The Odyssey in high school, but not since and have wanted to read it, especially the recent translation by Emily Wilson. This is an excellent book; Ms. Wilson translated the book as poetry, the form in which the original was written. Ms. Wilson provided a long, detailed scholarly introduction in which she gave a history of The Odyssey, a critical analysis of it, and discussed the plot. She also described her process of translating. The poetry was beautiful. A very valuable feature was that Ms. Wilson, at the beginning of the notes for each book (as the chapters are called) provided a summary in prose of that book so one could tell what was happening before (or after) reading the poetry. She also provided a detailed glossary of people and places; for those only mentioned occasionally she gave the location (book number and line number).

5 stars

I have finished reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell for my book club meeting next week. This is the first novel by Ms. Gaskell which I have read. It took me awhile to get into the story, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes I found the order of the words rather awkward, but the book was first published as complete book 166 years ago in 1853; it began publication serially in 1851. The novel was primarily character sketches instead of having a plot until the end of the book.

4 stars

>114 sallylou61: I just bought this today! Looking forward to reading it.

>116 rabbitprincess:. Hope you enjoy it. I found that the reading went much faster when I read the poetry and associated notes. The introduction is very detailed, and I found it slow-going. I might have enjoyed the introduction more if I had read it after reading the translated text. However, the complete book is very worthwhile.

For the CalendarCAT and the Weather related square of my 2nd BingoDOG card I read Riding to Camille by Mary Buford Hitz. This is a novel about Hurricane Camille in Nelson County, where the hurricane ended after devastating the Gulf Coast. I particularly wanted to read this novel about this hurricane as it occurred in Nelson County since this is the 50th anniversary of the August 19-20, 1969 disaster in that rural county near Charlottesville, and several years ago I heard Ms. Hitz speak about this book. This particular novel is about a group of 8 people riding horses when the storm unexpectedly hit. I was disappointed that the hurricane came as late as it did in this short novel, in which the early part is about the forming of the party and particularly about riding horses. However, the storm part is very riveting, and is very accurate about the devastation caused by the hurricane in my opinion, especially with the hardships and the casualties suffered by the characters including horses.

(I read this book instead of rereading Stefan Bechtel's nonfiction book Roar of the Heavens which I have already read at least twice.)

3.5 stars

For the related to food square on my second BingoDOG card and this month's SeriesCAT, I read Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan. I picked it up thinking it would be a quick read for the summer, not realizing that I had read one other novel by the author, which I had rated a 2. Reading this novel, the first of a series of two (so far), was a disappointing experience. I had a hard time getting interested in the characters, especially at the beginning. The actions of the characters often did not seem very convincing, and the ending seemed very unsatisfactory. I notice that on the back cover of the book, it is called a fantasy, a genre which does not really appeal to me.

2.5 stars

I read another book which fits for this month's SeriesCAT: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. Although I have read other titles in this series, I had never read this first volume, which mainly goes into detail about Maisie Dobbs' background, and introduces some of the characters who continue to appear in later novels. I was surprised to learn that Billy Beale, who helps her solve a mystery and later becomes her assistant, was nearly six feet tall; somehow I had never pictured him as being tall. I enjoyed the first and third sections occurring in 1929, which described Maisie's detective work in solving a mystery more than the lengthy middle section covering 1910 to 1917, which gave a biography of Maisie's life before she became a detective. I had already learned quite a bit about her background through later novels. However, the description of World War I was interesting.

4 stars

For the TBRCat, I decided to read Forbes Field by David Finoli and Tom Aikens after buying a duplicate copy nearly two weeks ago when on a trip to Pennsylvania. I asked my husband whether or not we had a copy, and he said no. I discovered it as a dup when I entered it into LT and got a message of a duplicate ISBN. I'm sure I was excited when I first bought it since my husband was at library school at Pitt when the last Pirate game was played, my father used to talk about Forbes Field, and my brother and sister-in-law have lived in Pittsburgh for years. I never attended a game in Forbes Field, but several in Three Rivers Stadium, which has also be replaced. This book is in the Images of America series, and, therefore is primarily photographs with a little text (which got repetitious). It was fun to see pictures of baseball men I was familiar with as announcers, managers, etc.; they looked much younger and slimmer in their playing days.

I've just finished reading Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg for an OLLI adult education class. This is a beautifully written memoir, primarily about growing up in Wyoming. Each chapter is about some aspect of Spragg's life or thoughts. Spragg describes his growing up on a dude ranch and working with horses there. A theme throughout the book is Spragg's efforts to become a man. He had to work hard, doing a man's work on the ranch, even when he was very young. The last few chapters tell something about his adult life, particularly his relationship to his mother, her suffering from emphysema, and how he and his brother take care of her at the end of her life. The harshness of living in Wyoming with its bitter cold and snow and wind storms is described.

Spragg wrote about death a lot in this book including the deaths/killing of animals (including bears and of horses for meat to encourage bears to a specific spot where they could be shot), the risks of personal death when doing various dangerous activities, his philosophy of death and what it might feel like, and the impending death of his mother when she was very ill. (Hunters came to the ranch to hunt bear at certain times, and Spragg as he was growing up was involved in accompanying them.)

For one of my book groups I have just finished reading Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. Much of the novel takes place in Egypt at the time of the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference. I discovered I enjoyed reading the book more than I expected although I did not enjoy when the book talked about ideas concerning the conference. Also, the ending where the narrator talks from her afterlife was unappealing although hearing what happened to the main characters in the story was interesting.

3.5 stars

>123 sallylou61: I agree with you in liking the book but having trouble with the afterlife stuff. If you're interested in trying more by Russell, I absolutely loved Doc and Epitaph, even as a person who doesn't read Westerns.

>124 christina_reads: Thanks for the suggestion, but I have so many, many books on my TBR shelves I doubt I'll try another book by Russell, at least anytime soon. I'm in a short story seminar at the retirement community in which I live, and we read two stories each week. Plus, I'm taking a couple of OLLI adult education classes which require reading, and belong to two book groups which meet monthly.

For another book group I just finished reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I know that Toni Morrison was a very talented writer, but this book was a very difficult one for me to understand, particularly in the first chapter. I had to make a printout from a character list I found online, and refer to it a number of times when I was reading the book, especially to see the relationship between the characters. Although the story was complicated, it was interesting, and there were some beautiful passages in it. With a culture so different from mine, I often find reading nonfiction easier to understand.

3 stars

Today I finished reading The Fruit of Stone by Mark Spragg for my OLLI adult education course. The father of McEban, the main character in the novel seemed a lot like the author as portrayed in his memoir, Where Rivers Change Direction. This was an interesting novel about two men in love with the same woman although the woman does not actually appear much in the book after the third chapter. I did not enjoy this novel as much as the memoir. Neither Gretchen, the woman the two men love, nor Bennett, her husband (and one of the men who loves her) are very likable. Bennett is a very violent man; I found this novel more violent than my liking. Moreover, the author keeps switching back and forth from the present to the past, which I found annoying, especially since sometimes it was hard to tell which time period was being presented. As a whole, I liked the past stories better than the present ones. The novel portrayed the isolation of living in rural Wyoming.

3 stars

For this month's SeriesCAT and TBRCat, I read The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman. This is a very moving novel (and the first in the Hope River Series) featuring Patience Murphy, a midwife living in West Virginia during the 1929/30s depression. Many topics, including but not limited to, strong female characters, the birth process, poverty, race relations (both good and bad), and domestic violence are described in this novel. Earlier labor history is covered in the description of Patience's earlier life.

5 stars

>128 sallylou61: I read Midwife of Hope River and really liked it, also. I haven't gotten to purchase or read the others in the series yet.

>129 Tess_W: . My husband is a West Virginian, and we usually visit that state once or twice a year. I purchased the book last year at a gift shop near the Elkins train station; we were there for an excursion train ride. I had never read anything by Ms. Harman before. I would like to read more in the series and also Ms. Harman's memoirs. However, there are so many books to read, I don't know if I ever will.

We were on vacation October 9th thru 19th, and I have not described what I have read since leaving for it. All this calendar year, I've been reading short stories for a weekly seminar which we have at our retirement community. However, we used selections large anthologies for those seminars. I have only read three collections by individual authors.

I’ve read Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, a collection of her stories either set in Haiti or with Haitian characters who immigrated to the United States. A few of the characters from early stories reappear briefly in later ones. I purchased this collection after reading her “A Wall of Fire Rising” for our retirement community’s short story seminar several months ago. (description used for short stories year-long read) 4 stars

Also on the trip I read Women and Writing by Virginia Woolf, a collection of essays and reviews selected by Michele Barrett and published in 1979. The collection is divided into two sections: essays about women and society in history, and essays or reviews of selected works by famous female authors. In the reviews, sometimes it was hard to tell what was really a review of the work and what was Woolf's analysis of the author herself. I found the essays/reviews of the authors more interesting for those with whom I was familiar (which is not surprising). In my opinion, this book does not measure up to Woolf's A Room of One's Own. 3 stars

I also read "Ethan Frome" and "The Pretext" from Ethan Frome and Selected Stories by Edith Wharton selected by Kent Ljungquist. I had read "Ethan Frome" many years ago in high school, but did not remember much about it and wanted to read it again. Although Edith Wharton wrote many stories about upper class people in New York City, neither of these stories was set there. Ethan Frome is a story about poor people in rural Massachusetts; it is a story about isolation and an unhappy marriage. It was intriguing since it kept referring to an accident involving Ethan, but the accident itself was not described until near the end of the story. It is also a story of surviving an accident but having an unfulfilled life after it. "The Pretext" is set in a Massachusetts college town and is about a married woman having an affair with a young English graduate student who returns to England, and its effect on her life (and the life of the student). I'm still planning to read the other three stories in this collection.

Since getting home, I have read Where the Light Enters by Jill Biden. This is a memoir in which Ms. Biden emphasizes the importance of family. She relates the family traditions which she had growing up and those of the family she married into and the ones she and Joe and their children established, and then shared with their grandchildren. Her extended family plays an important part in her life. The book also deals with a number of losses, particularly by death. Jill married the widower Joe Biden who had lost his first wife and daughter in an auto accident; he wanted to remarry partly so that his sons would have a mother. Ms. Biden mentions losing other family members and friends. The book ends with the brain cancer death of Beau Biden, their oldest son. (Although Ms. Biden was not the birth mother of Joe's two sons, the family never used the word "step."). Ms. Biden also describes how she dealt with having a family and also a career, and then being second lady but continuing to teach full-time at a community college. The book goes back and forth in time rather than being in chronological order. Moreover, it is noncritical description of the family's life.

4 stars

I’m on another cruise and just finished reading Skyline 2014 edited by Olivia Stowe. This is an anthology written by authors who live in Central Virginia, which I purchased at a small bookstore in Crozet, Va., shortly after it was published. It is divided into 4 sections: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and advice about publishing. Some of the works earned prizes in 2013; others were solicited. Although I enjoyed a few of the works in each section, as a whole I found the collection disappointing. The prize winners were apparently judged by only one person per category. It appears that this might be part of an annual serial. If so, I have no desire to read others.

2 stars

On a cruise in October, I read "Ethan Frome" and "The Pretext" from Ethan Frome and Selected Stories by Edith Wharton selected by Kent Ljungquist. I had read "Ethan Frome" many years ago in high school, but did not remember much about it and wanted to read it again. Although Edith Wharton wrote many stories about upper class people in New York City, neither of these stories was set there. Ethan Frome is a story about poor people in rural Massachusetts; it is a story about isolation and an unhappy marriage. It was intriguing since it kept referring to an accident involving Ethan, but the accident itself was not described until near the end of the story. It is also a story of surviving an accident but having an unfulfilled life after it. "The Pretext" is set in a Massachusetts college town and is about a married woman having an affair with a young English graduate student who returns to England, and its effect on her life (and the life of the student).

In November, I read the other three stories. I enjoyed "Xingu" about a snooty women's literary club which invited a fictional famous author to one of their meetings, which turned into a hilarious disaster. The other two stories, "Afterward" which featured ghosts and "The Legend" featuring a prominent theorist in disguise were less to my liking.

Overall rating of 3.5 stars: 4 stars for "Ethan Frome," "Afterward" and "Xingu;" 3 stars for "Afterward" and 2 for "The Legend"

Today is my 12 year thingaversary. Although it is customary to purchase the number of books of the anniversary plus one to grow on, I'm going to skip this (unless I can easily find a short story collection with 12 or 13 stories in it. I already have too many books in my tbr collection, and my birthday is in two days. My husband always gives me a book or two as a gift.

Happy thingaversary!

Happy thingaversary and birthday!

>136 MissWatson:, >137 Tess_W: . Thank you both.

Happy Thingaversary! Do you you have any recent acquisitions that you could claim for the celebration? That's what I did—made them seem a little more special!

>135 sallylou61: Happy Thingaversary!

Happy Thingaversary! May you enjoy many more!

Happy Birthday and Happy Thingaversary!

>139 NinieB:, >140 AHS-Wolfy:, >141 RidgewayGirl:, >142 DeltaQueen50: . Thanks to all of you.

>139 NinieB: . I have only one book that I bought close enough to my Thingaversary to consider it for the celebration: Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan, which I bought on a cruise between Chattanooga and Memphis earlier this month. One of our ports was Florence, AL, and I purchased this book at the gift shop at the Rosenbaum House. John and I had not been aware that there was a Frank Lloyd House in Alabama; we enjoyed touring it.
Since I have such a large backlog and am trying to downsize, I have been trying to cut down on book purchases; I only purchased one in September and two in October out of 57 purchased so far this year. Last year I bought 67.

I read A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash for a book club meeting. It took me a while to get into the book, but after the first chapter, I enjoyed reading it until the end, which contained too much violence in my opinion. I liked having three narrators who sometimes described the same events showing their viewpoints of them. Also, I liked the way the backgrounds of the main characters were portrayed at different times in the novel. The novel shows how a charismatic evil character, using religion, can get others to unquestionably follow him.

3.5 stars

I've read a very short nonfiction work, The Harvest Gypsies: on the Road to The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. This was a book bullet from tess_schoolmarm in the November thread of the Reading Through Time Group. This is a series of 7 short essays which were originally published in The San Francisco News in October 1936, along with a rather long introduction by Charles Wollenberg. A special treat is the inclusion at the end of some photographs by Dorothea Lange and others. The essays vividly describe the plight of the Okies who came to California as a result of the dust bowl in the mid-West at which time they lost their farms or small businesses. Steinbeck's final essay makes suggestions about solutions to the migrant problem. Steinbeck showed great sympathy for the Okies, and was keenly interested in solutions to the plight of the migrant workers, most of whom worked temporarily on large farms owned by farmers connected to large corporations, going from farm to farm as harvesting of crops needed to be done. Some of the material he later used in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

4 stars

For the initial letter e in a book title for RandomCAT I have read Eat First, Cry Later: The Life Lessons of a First-Generation College Graduate, Penn State Alumna and Female CEO by Mimi Barash Coppersmith. This book is a memoir of sorts by a female leader in the State College, PA, and Penn State communities. She has been a fixture in the State College area most of the time since her graduation in 1953. Mimi, with the help of her daughter, Carol, who she does not acknowledge as a co-author, describes her challenges as a business woman, community leader, Jew, and mother. She is well known locally particularly for the monthly publication, Town and Gown, for which she was featured in "Lunch with Mimi" in which she interviewed a local person over lunch. Mimi lost her first husband, and business partner, Sy Barash, who was the father of her daughters when her daughters were young children. She struggled as a single mother trying to run the advertising business which her husband and she had founded. Later she married State Senator W. Louis Coppersmith and was again widowed. Her third marriage ended in divorce.

The book contains 43 very short chapters in which Mimi describes a challenge or an accomplishment, and what she learned as the result of the experience. The lessons she learned are numbered and in bold type. Mimi admits at the end of the book that she was "a better businesswoman and community leader than mother" (p. 212)

I felt that particularly in the first part of the book, Mimi was doing a lot of name dropping of important people she knew. However, this was interesting to me since I recognized a many of the names, having grown up and lived in the State College area for many years although not recently.

4 stars

For a literature seminar I'm taking at our retirement community, I've just finished reading As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. This is the first novel I've read by Faulkner although I've read a few of his short stories. I found it easier to read after I made a printout from the internet which briefly identified the characters. Sometimes I had a hard time telling what character was being referred to; a number of times that was identified in the next chapter or "dialogue" as our instructor, a Faulkner expert calls the sections of the book. The book contains 59 dialogues in which a different character is the narrator. We began our discussion last week with the instructor asking us about the main characters, and then looking at various passages in the first half of the book. I'm looking forward to continuing this discussion.

3 stars

I just finished reading an LT early review book, Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains by Cassie Chambers. This story is primarily a memoir Ms. Chambers' life although it also features the women in her family: her grandmother, mother, and Aunt Ruth. Although Ms. Chambers stresses the poverty of Owsley County, the poorest county in Kentucky, where her mother was raised, her grandmother and aunt lived, and Ms. Chambers herself spent much of her childhood, she emphasizes the importance of the women in the life of the community and the importance of family and of hard work.

The book is divided into three sections: (1) Cassie's childhood years which describes the lives of her grandparents and parents with particular attention to the women, (2) Cassie's education which occurred outside of Kentucky including New Mexico, Wellesley, Yale, London, and Harvard Law School, and (3) her return to Kentucky to work as a lawyer helping very poor people, especially women.

During the time Ms. Chambers was going to school away from Eastern Kentucky, she was living a life with generally more wealthy people. She was trying to find herself; she worked hard on her studies but also had a social life. When she got to law school, initially she thought she was not cut out to be a lawyer until she started working at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a student run law firm which aided low income people; then she realized she could do that kind of law. After law school she returned to Kentucky to work with the very poor, primarily victims of domestic violence, mostly women but also a few men. She tells stories of her experience doing this work, and describes concrete ways the legal system is injurious to the poor. She mentions extra challenges working for the poor in rural areas which are not present helping the poor in more urban areas with more resources. However, she describes small victories where she and her clients were able to get something improved. She is hopeful, but also realistic. Following Trump's election, she became involved in Democratic Party politics in Kentucky.

Although Ms. Chambers considers Owsley County her real home, and uses it as an illustration, she also describes the poverty and living conditions in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky. She covers the collapse of the tobacco and coal industries which in the past employed many people, and mentions the opioid crisis. Occasionally, I feel that she used too many statistics which will quickly go out of date.

4 stars

For the TbrCAT, I read Promise Me, Dad: a Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose by Joe Biden. The year is late 2014 through 2015 when his son, Beau, the former attorney general of Delaware, was fighting for his life; he died of a vicious form of brain cancer in late May 2015. Many parts of the book are very moving, especially when Biden talks about his family, and his helping people less fortunate than he is deal with serious problems. However, as Vice President, Biden was heavily involved in foreign affairs, and he goes into much too much detail concerning this aspect of his career for my tastes. Biden also writes about his life during the six months or so after Beau's death and the decision he finally made not to run for President in 2016.

3 stars

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