Cindy's Reads in 2021

I was just about to list my January plan in my 2020 thread without even thinking about it. Then, realized I should start a new 2021 thread!

I will also link to my challenges (in this first post) in the 2021 Category Challenge group once I have that thread set up.

I think I have most of January planned - though I have a few books that seem to fit many challenges, so I'll probably be able to fit in more than this. Most likely I'll get to at least a couple of NetGalley books.

The ones for challenges:

- Lady in Medieval England / Peter R. Coss (HistoryCAT, GenreCAT, AlphaKIT, PBT Fly the Skies?)
- The Guest List / Lucy Foley (MysteryKIT, PBT Fly the Skies?)
- Barometer Rising / Hugh MacLennan (AlphaKIT, KITastrophe, PBT Bonus tag)
- Hugo Cabret / Brian Selznik (Book club)
- New Boy / Tracy Chevalier (Reading Thru Time)
- The Passage Justin Cronin (Year KITastrophe)
- An Available Man / HW (TRIM, Classic)
- The Tattooed Witch / Susan M (PBT Trim, AlphaKIT)

Audio:
- Shadowland / Alyson Noel (ScaredyKIT)
- Furiously Happy / Jenny Lawson (RandomCAT, PBT)
- The Tao of Martha / Jen Lancaster (RandomCAT)
- The Crossing Places / Elly Griffiths (MysteryKIT)

Netgalley books:
- Good Neighbours / Sarah Langan
- Women in White Coats / Olivia Campbell
- The Drowning Kind / Jennifer McMahon
- Buses are a Comin' / Charles Person, Richard Rooker

1. The Lady in Medieval England, 1000-1500 / Peter Coss
2.5 stars
185 pages

This is a nonfiction history of “ladies” in medieval England. Ladies - not just meaning women - but upper class nobility “ladies”. It covered things like inheritance, heraldry (coats of arms, usually from the father or husband, used in women’s seals), kidnapping (aka “ravishing”!), marriage, romance…

Too academic for my liking. There were some interesting nuggets, but also a lot of big words, long paragraphs, and quotes in Middle English. When I’m bored by a book, I don’t put it down, but I tend to skim. I definitely skimmed (or just skipped) anything in Middle English, and a bit more. Otherwise, bits and pieces caught my attention, but not enough to even say it was “ok” (in my rating system). The interesting bits gave it the .5 stars above not liking it, as a whole.

Cumulative page total = 185

2. Barometer Rising / Hugh MacLennan
3.25 stars
322 pages

It’s 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Penny (a woman working at the shipyard – very unusual for the time)’s love (and cousin) has been at war and he’s missing. They all think he’s dead. So, when Angus (much older than Penny) asks her to marry him, she accepts. Only days later, the Halifax Harbour goes up in an explosion.

The book only follows just over one week. It took longer than I liked to get to the explosion. Leading up to it wasn’t nearly as interesting as the explosion itself and the aftermath, but not long after, it concluded mostly with their regular lives again. If there had been more focus on the disaster, I would have enjoyed it more, I’m sure. There was an afterword by another “classic” Canadian author, Alistair Macleod – one of those that analyzes the book; one of the ones that should never be an introduction but often is (because it gives away the story)! Luckily, it was an afterword.

Cumulative page total = 508

3. The Crossing Places / Elly Griffiths
3 stars
306 pages

Archaeologist Ruth is called in to help identify the bones of a child found. That is - how long have the bones been there? It is determined the bones have been there for a very long time, much longer than the police feared, thinking it might be Lucy, a little girl who had disappeared ten years earlier. Ruth then goes on to help the police with their investigation.

I listened to the audio. It was ok. I missed a lot of it at the start, as the audio just wasn’t holding my attention. It picked up part-way through and I was more interested, but I still missed a few things. I really didn’t like two particular characters, but it might have – in part – been due to the voices/accents by the narrator. Those accents (and/or the voices for them) really annoyed me! When they revealed who the killer was, I couldn’t even figure out who that was! Not sure when he was mentioned earlier in the book, but I obviously missed it. There was something else from the end I wanted to mention that wasn’t a spoiler, but I’ve already forgotten what it was. I don’t plan to continue the series.

Cumulative page total = 812

4. New Boy / Tracy Chevalier
4 stars
202 pages

This is a retelling of Othello. A YA version with kids in grade 6 in the 1970s. Osei is the new boy at school, and he’s black. He almost immediately has a connection with the popular blonde girl, Dee. But others aren’t impressed with that, particularly the feared Ian, the class/school bully. Ian decides to get some revenge on the new boy.

I’ve never read Othello, so I didn’t know how this was going to turn out. As awful as the racism and bullying was from the kids, I was shocked at it from the teachers! Although I really enjoyed the book (and hated Ian!), I was surprised at the abrupt ending. I didn’t like the end. Often that brings down my rating, but I decided to leave it as I thought all the way through, as I was reading. Although disappointed with the end, overall, I really enjoyed it.

Cumulative page total = 1014

5. An Available Man / Hilma Wolitzer
3.5 stars
265 pages

Edward has recently (within the past 2(?) years) lost his wife, Bee. Bee was his soulmate, though they met and married later in life. Edward is still only 63 (I think). He and his adult stepchildren are close, and those stepchildren decide to move things along by creating and publishing an ad for him on a dating site(?) (or was it a personal ad?). Luckily, they do tell him before he starts to receive replies. He reluctantly tries a few dates.

This was good, although I wasn’t sure I was going to like where it was headed for a while. Luckily, it turned out ok in the end. I also liked Edward’s relationships with his stepkids and his mother-in-law.

Cumulative page total = 1279

6. The Tattooed Witch / Susan MacGregor
3.75 stars
303 pages

Miriam’s father is a doctor. They are in a room with important priests (as a 17-year old woman, she shouldn’t be there) and the young handsome priest is dying. Miriam’s father is trying to help when the Grand Inquisitor comes in, insists the young priest needs his last rites and forces him to drink wine – wine with extra powder in it. The young priest convulses and dies. As Miriam and her father try to leave, the Grand Inquisitor accuses them of murder and locks them up. Miriam has to find a way out and she won’t leave her father behind.

That is pretty much the first chapter. I don’t want to go into too much more, as I don’t want to give anything away, but part-way through we meet another character, Joachin, who lost both parents when he was 9- and 11-years old. Joachin is looking for a priest with a scar – a scar Joachin gave him when that priest murdered Joachin’s mother. Joachin plans to kill the priest with the scar.

When Joachin was introduced, initially I wasn’t as interested in his storyline (nor the storyline of another group of people introduced a bit later), until things (and characters) started to come together. The book really picked up in the last ¼ of the book, and though I didn’t increase my rating up to 4 stars (that’s what I’d rate the last bit of the book), I pulled up my rating just that extra bit above 3.5 stars (good). This is a trilogy, so not everything was tied up at the end, as it will continue, and I will continue with the next book, as well.

Cumulative page total = 1582

7. The Guest List / Lucy Foley
4.5 stars
330 pages

Jules and Will have planned their wedding on a deserted (except for the newly created wedding “pavilion”) island in Ireland. The wedding party is expected to arrive the day before and spend two nights there, while the rest of the guests will arrive the day of. A bad storm is coming the night of the wedding. And things go horribly wrong…

It’s told from different points of view, but at the start of each chapter, we are given the name of that character’s POV for that chapter, as well as who they are. Some of them include Jules, the bride; Hannah, the plus one (her husband Charlie, is Jules’ best friend); Aoife, the wedding planner; Johnno, the best man (and long-time best friend of Will’s from way back in boarding school); Olivia, the bridesmaid (and Jules’ much younger sister).

The atmosphere is done so well – this deserted, dangerous, boggy island with a storm coming. The opening chapter starts with things going wrong during the wedding, then backs up to everything leading up to what happened at the wedding. Parts were creepy, and I was kept wanting to read. There were not very many likeable characters in this book, but there were a couple. No surprise here, but everyone had secrets.

Cumulative page total = 1912

8. Shadowland / Alyson Noel
3 stars
348 pages

I don’t want to give too much of a summary, so as to not give away the first two books in this “The Immortals” series. This won’t give away anything of the first two books: Ever is drawn to her new (very young) boss at her new job in a mystical bookstore. But she is still so in love with her soulmate.

I listened to the audio of this one. I wasn’t that excited about it. I did lose focus more often that I’d like. It did get better at the very end and I was paying better attention. Rating it “ok”, but overall, I don’t think it’s enough for me to continue the series.

Cumulative page total = 2260

9. Good Neighbors / Sarah Langan
5 stars
304 pages

The book is primarily set in 2027 (when the pertinent events happen), but it’s actually a reporter in 2042 (I believe) who is looking back on the “Murders of Maple Street”, and what led up to it. Arlo, Gertie and their kids, Julia and Larry moved to Maple Street a year earlier. They are pretty much “white trash”, but were trying to be upwardly mobile. It took a bit of time to be accepted, but after their immediate neighbour Rhea befriends Gertie, things go much smoother… until the 4th of July, when Gertie realizes everyone on the street was invited to the party except them. She’s not sure what happened for them to be excluded.

Things get more and more out of hand amongst the kids when Rhea’s daughter, Shelley, and Julia suddenly aren’t speaking (but Julia doesn’t understand why). Just before Shelley disappears into a giant sinkhole that opened up across the street, she had accused Julia’s father of something terrible. The rumors and gossip get so out of hand, and things go incredibly wrong…

This built, though part-way through I knew I would rate it quite high (was thinking 4.5 stars), but the end – I didn’t see coming! Holy crap – that mob mentality! I was angry at so many of those people! I feel like this is a slightly different take on the current thriller fad. It did remind me a bit of “Big Little Lies” with the articles and interviews (from 2042) that were interspersed, but it was still quite different from others out there (in my opinion).

Cumulative page total = 2564

10. Furiously Happy / Jenny Lawson
4 stars
329 pages

Blogger Jenny Lawson has a number of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. In this, her second book, she takes a humourous look at herself and her eccentricities, mostly in the form of anecdotes.

I listened to the audio, which she narrated herself and I thought she was really good. There were lots of times when I laughed out loud. Every so often, she’d mention that because I was listening to the audio, I wouldn’t see the photo that’s in the book to go with her current story, but listeners of the audio do get a bonus chapter at the end. It included cats. Which made me happy. Well, she mentions cats at various points throughout the book, anyway. (But that’s not why I gave it 4 stars! Cats were just an added bonus.)

Cumulative page total = 2893

For February:

- The Shoemaker's Wife / Adriana Trigiani (Reading Thru Time, AlphaKIT)
- Crazy Rich Asians / Kevin Kwan (PBT, Fly the Skies, AlphaKIT)
- Suffering Succotash / SVWL (RandomCAT)
- The Real James Herriot / James Wight (GenreCAT)
- The King's Speech / Mark Logue (GenreCAT, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT)
- The Colony / John Tayman (HistoryCAT)
- The Daughter of Time / Sarah Woodbury (PBT Trim)
- Death / Neil Gaiman (Jan ScaredyKIT)
- The Passage / Justin Cronin (Year KITastrophe)

Audio:
- The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter / Theodora Goss (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi (ScaredyKIT)
- The Stranger Beside Me / Ann Rule (ScaredyKIT)

Netgalley Books:
- The Drowning Kind / Jennifer McMahon
- Buses are a Comin' / Charles Person, Richard Rooker

11. Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine / Olivia Campbell
4.25 stars
352 pages

This is mainly a biography of three of the first women doctors in the mid- to late-19th century, but also a history of the fight for the right of women to become doctors. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in the US to earn an MD, in the mid-1800s. It took a while longer, but Lizzie Garret was the first in England. Sophia Jax-Blake was not immediately next in the UK, but she worked hard fighting for the right of women to be able to earn that designation; she did get her MD later s well, but she also helped start up two women’s medical schools – in London and Edinburgh.

Every step of the way took months and years of hard work for these women to be able to earn that MD. With the stereotypes and fears of male doctors, professors, and medical students pushing back with excuses to deny them this. Before the women’s schools were set up, these women had to take classes (many privately, and at a much higher cost), as well as find a placement for clinical practice to gain that experience; very very difficult to do when most hospitals continually turned them down. There were some male doctors (and professors) who were sympathetic and did help out as much as they could.

I’ve left out so much of the struggles! This book is nonfiction, but it reads like fiction. Very readable. Oh, the frustration, though, at the male students, doctors, and professors! They call the women “delicate” and such, but as far as I can tell, the men were the “delicate” ones with their temper tantrums (the phrase entered my head even before she used it in the book!), not able to handle that there are women just as smart and can do the job just as well as they (possibly) could (although I do wonder about some of those men!). And these men were supposed to be trusted to tend to women’s health issues!? Ugh! (Many women at the time avoided, if possible, seeing male doctors for their ailments.) Many of the women students had better grades than the men, but of course, were never really acknowledged for it.

Cumulative page total = 3245

12. Akin / Emma Donoghue
3.5 stars
340 pages

Noah is 79-years old and planning a trip to his home country, France – a country he had to leave at 4-years old due to the war. He has a set of photographs his mother took that had been in possession of his sister, who has since passed away, and Noah is hoping to find out more about them. A few days before the trip, he is contacted by social services. He has a great-nephew with no other family they are able to find/contact who needs a temporary guardian, as his father (Noah’s nephew) died, and his mother is in jail. Michael is 11-years old; he and Noah have never met.

It was good. Kept my interest, though it wasn’t terribly fast-moving. I sure did dislike the kid, though.

Cumulative page total = 3585

13. The Drowning Kind / Jennifer McMahon
5 stars
336 pages

Jax and Lexie are sisters and spent their summers growing up with their Gram, who lived in a house with a “spring” pool in the yard. The spring, for decades, was someplace where people believed there were healing powers in the water. Locals, however, also believed that if you took something from the spring, the spring demanded something back.

Jax and Lexie always knew, growing up, that their Gram’s sister, Rita drowned in that spring. But, they loved it there, anyway. As adults, Lexie was diagnosed with a mental illness, and she had bouts of mania. Jax is a social worker, but had been estranged from Lexie for about a year – for her own mental sanity, she had to stop trying to fight Lexie’s battles for her when Lexie was off her meds. When she ignores Lexie’s calls one night, Jax is devastated to learn, the next day, that Lexie has drowned in the spring. (This is not a spoiler, as it happens almost immediately in the book.)

That was the current-day (2019) storyline. There was another storyline, set in 1929, when the property Jax’s Gram lived on was once the location of a hotel, where people came to use the spring for its healing powers. Ethel and Will are a couple without kids, but they desperately want a child. They head to the hotel for a short stay, and Ethel “asks” the spring to grant her her wish… and it does.

Really really good. This is one you may not want to read by yourself, in the dark, at night. Not all of it, but there were enough parts (as I read just before bed a couple of nights!) that were creepy and chilling. The atmosphere in the book was done really well, and there are even more family issues and secrets than what I’ve mentioned here.

Cumulative page total = 3921

14. The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter / Theodora Goss
3 stars
402 pages

Mary Jekyll (Dr. Jekyll’s daughter) and some other ladies who are daughters, descendants, and/or creations of Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein, and Mr. Hyde (and more), have gathered to tell their stories, including a story of working with Sherlock Holmes to solve some murders. All these men (except Holmes) were doctors, scientists, inventors, etc, and did plenty of (human) experiments, including in some cases, on their daughters. They were part of an Alchemists’ Society. Mr. Hyde’s daughter was unknown to Mary until after both of Mary’s parents had died. Together, these women tell their own stories in addition to their story of searching for a murderer.

It was ok. For me, the idea of the story was better than the execution, but that doesn’t surprise me. I’m not a fan of Sherlock Holmes (or any of the classic characters in this book), nor have I even found any spinoffs that I really like. But I was still hoping. I listened to the audio, but I’ve heard this narrator before, so I don’t blame the narration for my “ok” rating. I did enjoy the little “breakouts” where the women would chat amongst themselves as they wrote their story; however, I will not be continuing the series.

Cumulative book total = 4323

15. Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places / Colin Dickey
3.5 stars
310 pages

This isn’t just a book of ghost stories. The author digs deeper into the history of these haunted places and the some of people who supposedly haunt them. Not only that, he looks at supernatural history, in general. For instance, in the mid-19th century, Spiritualism became popular; current day, we see the fascination via ghost hunters and reality tv. Also current day (though he doesn’t go into detail on this, as it is in the epilogue), he talks a bit about technology – smart homes/devices, and social media.

Of course, there are plenty of ghost stories included, as well. Some of the places he looks at include homes, hotels (he stayed in one with a group of people where they all had infrared cameras), brothels, prisons, insane asylums, and more.

I found this quite interesting. There was a section on haunted towns/cities, as well, and I particularly liked the part on New Orleans, because I’ve been there. I had heard of some of the other stories/places he talked about.

Cumulative page total = 4633

16. Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi
(abridged audio)
3.5 stars
~160 pages

In 1969, Charles Manson and a few of his “family” committed multiple murders two nights in a row. Vincent Bugliosi was the DA who got them convicted and sentenced to death. This book looked at the murders, the investigation, and the trials.

I listened to the audio, and unfortunately, this ended up being an abridged version of the book. As I ask in all my reviews of abridged audios – why? Why not record the entire book? Anyway, I read this when I was in high school (a few decades ago!), and it wasn’t as creepy as I remember. I can’t say for sure if the abridged version was the reason for that, but in part, I’m certain not seeing the photos was part of that. Charles Manson was a creepy creepy looking man. Since this was abridged, I still want to reread the entire thing. Overall, it appeared that the abridgement was done fairly well, though I’d much rather read the entire book.

Cumulative page total = 4793

17. The Real James Herriot / James Wight
3.75 stars
364 pages

“James Herriot” was the pseudonym of a veterinarian, James “Alf” Wight, who became an author after decades of veterinary practice in the countryside of England in the mid-20th century. This biography was written by his son. Instead of, like Herriot’s books, a focus on the animals, this book focuses on Alf and the people in his life – his family, lifelong friends, veterinary partners, and more – starting with his life in the country and his vet practice, then switching to writing books, which he also really seemed to enjoy.

I’ve only read a couple of Herriot’s books, but I’ve really enjoyed them. This biography is very good, as well, and of course, there have to be a few animal stories thrown in – not only of a few of the patients, but also of Alf’s own pets. It’s been a bit too long for me to remember the “characters” in Herriot’s books to compare them to the real life versions of those people, but I still quite liked this book.

Cumulative page total = 5157

18. The Stranger Beside Me / Ann Rule
(abridged audio)
4 stars
~100 pages

It’s hard to say how many women Ted Bundy murdered in the 1970s. Former Seattle policewoman Ann Rule was a friend of Bundy’s and it took her a long time to believe that he had actually done the things he was convicted of and put to death for. This book outlines the murders, as well as Ann’s friendship with Ted, and her realization that he did do those things.

Unfortunately, this was another abridged audio. Again, I feel like it was done well, in that I didn’t notice things that might have been missing. I just wish it had been the entire book! Like “Helter Skelter”, I did read this one back in high school, but given that that was 30+ years ago, I didn’t remember much of it. I actually hadn’t remembered the author’s friendship with Bundy at all (though the murders in Florida – the last ones he did – had stuck with me all this time, as well as other details about him). What I listened to was very good, though I’m not sure I’m a fan of Ann Rule reading her own books. Like with “Helter Skelter”, because this was an abridged version, I would still like to reread the entire book.

Cumulative page total = 5257

>20 LibraryCin: I loved that book but many people think that James Herriot was his real name but it wasn't. I did also enjoy the James Herriot book series. My mother's friend introduced them to me and I read them all when I was young.

>22 JulieLill: I will definitely be continuing with them! I hadn't even heard of him or his books until sometime in the past decade.

>20 LibraryCin: I never knew James Herriot was not his real name until now! How wonderful that his son is explaining to his fans the character of these books. >22 JulieLill: I read the first two when I was young also and they made me want to be a vet. Which I didn't end up becoming but his love for animals mirrored my own.

>24 threadnsong: I bet you'd find this biography interesting! :-)

19. The King's Speech / Mark Logue
3.5 stars
209 pages

Mark Logue is the grandson of Lionel Logue, who left Australia with his wife to move to England in the early 20th century. This was after he’d started helping people with their public speaking. When he arrived in England, he continued his business there, and ended up with the future King of England as one of the people he was helping.

“Bertie” had a stutter and was terrified of public speaking (not so good when you are royalty!). Initially, he was not meant to become king, but when his older brother abdicated, Bertie (now King George VI) was next in line. Lionel was a lifeline for the king, as Lionel helped Bertie before every speech he had to make for a very long time. They became friends, as much as the king and a commoner could.

This was good. I have seen the movie, but I don’t think much time was spent on Lionel’s life. The book actually did spend more time on Lionel than the movie did. In addition to Bertie/King George’s life. Mark used many letters between the two men to write this biography.

There was a section in the middle, describing events during WWII that I lost a bit of interest in, but I quite enjoyed it before and after (and it wasn’t all the events of the war where I lost interest, so it may just have been that I was tired when I read that part!). We also get small glimpses into (now) Queen Elizabeth’s young life, as well. The book also follows both men to their deaths – though Logue was 15 years King George’s senior, Logue outlasted the king, but not by very long.

Cumulative page total = 5466

20. Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater's Quest... / Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic
4 stars
224 pages

The author was a picky eater growing up and wanted to look into why people hate the foods they hate. As an adult, she has managed to, not only overcome her food pickiness (for most things), but she has become a foodie. In this book, she describes information from scientists on taste, smell, and how other senses affect how people taste things; she was also able to visit a taste lab. Other chapters talk about moms dealing with their picky eater children, emotions and food, eating out, and relationships, among other things.

I found this quite interesting. I am not nearly as picky as many of the people she described in her book, but I’m not very good about trying new foods, and I have issues with various textures. She did talk about textures at one point, and we agree on one item: bananas! (I also hate bacon, and the smell, but surprising to me, apparently that’s one meat that is supposedly appealing to most people, including some vegetarians. Blech!) I found the science very interesting and I found myself annoyed with some of the people in the relationship chapter! She also included plenty of humour, as well as her own stories, and plenty of 80s and 90s references, which were fun.

Cumulative page total = 5690

21. Crazy Rich Asians / Kevin Kwan
3.5 stars
527 pages

Rachel is a Chinese-American professor in New York. She has been dating history professor, Nick, for two years. Nick grew up in Singapore and was educated at Oxford. Although he is ridiculously wealthy (or his family is), he has told Rachel nothing about this, nor about his family. Rachel is in for a shock when she travels with Nick for the summer (and for Nick’s best friend (from elementary school… also ridiculously rich)’s wedding. The wedding is front page news in Singapore.

Unfortunately for Rachel, Nick has also told her nothing about his snobby, gossipy family. The family (especially his mother) who gets in their heads before they even meet Rachel that Rachel is a gold-digger, and the family will do everything they can to make sure the two never marry.

Ok, the first few chapters left me reeling and confused. There were so many characters and I never did really figure out who was who in many cases, or how they were related. Though – for most – I did figure out who the nicer friends/family were and who the horrible snobs were. Once we were introduced to Nick and Rachel, though, it got better. And some of their nicer friends I liked. In the end, I liked it, and I will continue the trilogy.

Cumulative page total = 6217

22. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World / Laura Spinney
3 stars
332 pages

The subtitle pretty much tells you what the book is about. I listened to the audio. The male British narrator is always a warning for me, and that warning “fit”. My mind wandered in and out, and it was interesting in parts. In addition to a broader outlook, the author looked at different countries around the world and how it affected those countries. I think I lost interest a bit more looking at the countries individually than looking at the pandemic in a broader sense. It sure was interesting to see the parallels to today – one of those parallels being the health measures that governments try to take with varying results of compliance.

Cumulative page total = 6549

23. The Shoemaker's Wife / Adriana Trigiani
4 stars
496 pages

It’s around 1900 in Italy. Ciro and his brother are only about 5 and 6 years old when their mother, who has just lost her husband (the boys’ father) and just can’t cope, drops them off at a convent. She tells them to be good, help out, and she’ll be back in 6 months for them. Well, she doesn’t come back. At 15-years old, Ciro is hired out to dig a grave for a little girl, when he meets Enza, that little girl’s oldest sister. There is an instant connection. But, something happens soon after and they are kept apart.

Some time later, they both separately arrive in America – New York City, to be exact. Ciro is a shoemaker’s apprentice, while Enza is working as a maid (very ill-treated), and also finds a job as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera. We follow their lives as immigrants in the US in the early 20th century.

I really liked this. It didn’t move fast, but I really enjoyed the story, and was rooting for Ciro and Enza. I liked the characters and their relationships. The author’s note at the end tells us that this is based on Trigiani’s grandparents’ lives.

Cumulative page total = 7045

In March:

- The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw / Christopher Healy (GenreCAT)
- Uprooted / Naomi Novik (AlphaKIT, RandomCAT)
- Madame Tussaud / A Life in Wax / Kate B (HistoryCAT)
- Nightmares and Dreamscapes / Stephen King (ScaredyKIT)
- The Escape Room / Megan (MysteryKIT)
- Woman in the Mists / Farley Mowat (PBT)
- The Figgs / Ali Bryan (MP Book Club)
- The Dreams of Ada / Robert Mayer (PBT Trim #7)

Carryover:
- The Daughter of Time / Sarah Woodbury (PBT Trim #8)

Audio:
- The Richest Woman in America / Janet W (AlphaKIT)
- Bloody Jack / L.A. Mayer (Read Thru Time, HistoryCAT, GenreCAT)
- A Piece of the World / Christina Baker Kline (BH Book club for April, Fly the Skies)

24. Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider / Charles Person
5 stars
304 pages

In 1961, a small group of people, both black and white and of a variety of ages from the author at 18 years old up to a retired white couple, got on a variety of buses, planning to head from Washington, DC to New Orleans. The idea was to test what would happen when they sat at various places on the bus, front or back, regardless of their colour. They also (black and white), in some cases, sat together. Supreme Court Decisions in the 1940s (before Rosa Parks) and the 1950s said that anyone should be able to sit anywhere on interstate buses, and that anyone should be able to sit anywhere, use any washroom, order from any food place, etc. inside the depots.

Wow… what an amazing group of very brave people! Granted, some of them didn’t realize how bad it would get (including Charles, though he had grown up in Georgia… but Georgia wasn’t the worst), but this was the first group of “Freedom Riders” that set off a chain of others to continue when they were unable to finish their trips. It’s crazy to me how the KKK was still alive and well in the deep South, and even police were involved. Obviously, this book includes violence (though the Riders themselves had vowed to be nonviolent), and some awful subject matter. It was heart-wrenching at times.

The first chapter tells of the climax of the trip, but then backs up to tell us about Charles’ life growing up. In May 1961 for those two weeks that the first Freedom Ride was happening, he was at the tail end of his first year of college. He had previously been involved in some protests in Atlanta with other college students regarding the segregation of blacks and whites in restaurants and cafes. But this was something else. When I finished, I “had” to check a few videos on youtube.

Cumulative page total = 7349

25. Death: The High Cost of Living / Neil Gaiman
3.75 stars
98 pages

Sexton is 16-years old and thinking about killing himself. He is writing a note when his mother interrupts him and asks him to leave so she can do some spring cleaning. While out, Sexton meets Didi… who it turns out is Death personified, though she does “remember” her young teenage life as Didi. She appears to be a teenager like Sexton, so they spend a day and night just “hanging out” doing normal teenage things (while still aiming to do an odd errand – there is a 250 year old woman who has asked Didi to find and retrieve her heart for her).

This is a graphic novel, highlighting the character Death from the “Sandman” series.. I liked it better than the ones I’ve read from the Sandman series. The introduction by Tori Amos was odd. I also though the “afterword” comic on sex and AIDS was odd, but it was published I 1993, so I guess he was trying to get some factual info out there. But I liked the character who is Death, and her kind-of friendship with Sexton. I also loved her “look” – dark and goth.

Cumulative page total = 7447

26. The Tao of Martha / Jen Lancaster
3.5 stars
335 pages

In this memoir of Jen’s, she looks back at 2012, when she made an effort to emulate her idol, Martha Stewart. She wanted to get organized around her house and throw great parties…

The memoir included more than Martha Stewart… it included other happenings that year, such as the loss of her beloved dog Maisie. That was the toughest part of the book, in my opinion, but it certainly hit my heart. The other memorable part, for me was her mammograms. Other bits of it were off and on funny. I’m not a Martha Stewart fan, personally, so that wasn’t a draw for me at all. I listened to the audio, narrated by Jen herself, and she did fine with the narration.

Cumulative page total = 7782

27. Daughter of Time / Sarah Woodbury
3.75 stars
335 pages

Meg has a toddler daughter, Anna, and just recently buried her abusive husband, who she’d been trying to leave. When Meg and Anna are driving one night, an accident spins their vehicle, but when they wake up, Meg thinks someone is playing a prank. They have woken up in the 13th century, and the man taking care of her is the Prince of Wales (when Wales was still its own country). At this time, the Prince, Llywelyn, has made a tentative peace with the Prince (King?) of England, but still has people coming after him, including his own traitorous brother, Dafydd.

I quite enjoyed this time travel/historical fiction/romance. The chapters alternated points of view between Meg and Llywelyn. I did prefer the chapters from Meg’s POV, likely due to a. being a woman, and b. being able to “picture” how one might react shifting in time from present day to the 13th century! I liked the pronunciation guide (for Welsh) at the start of the book. Apparently this is a prequel to a series, but I haven’t (yet) read any of the rest of the series (though I plan to continue now!)

Cumulative page total = 8117

>27 LibraryCin: Your touchstone brings up Josephine Tey's 'The Daughter of Time', Cindy.

>36 Sergeirocks: Ack! Thank you. I'll change that. I try to watch for that (and I think I got it most of the places I posted).

ETA: Fixed!

Hi, Cindy. I only noticed because I wanted to check what I gave the book (0.5 of a star, 😧). 🙂

>38 Sergeirocks: Whoa! Wow!

28. The Escape Room / Megan Goldin
4.25 stars
368 pages

When four co-workers are brought together last-minute on a Friday night, no one expects this. They are meant to do an escape room – is this team building? No one really knows why they were asked to come, but the prestigious financial firm where they work has been laying people off, so Vincent (team lead), Jules, Sylvie, and Sam don’t feel that they can decline. Their escape room has them locked in an elevator, solving clues. But they don’t seem to be able to get out no matter what they do…

I’ve done a lot of escape rooms and they are fun, but this is terrifying! In a real elevator, not having the safety features of a set-up room, and not even knowing who set it all up. None of the characters are especially likable. The chapters actually alternate between the four in the elevator, and backing up in time to another character, Sara Hall, who once worked with them, so her chapters go over her time at the firm. Despite disliking the characters, I certainly wanted to keep reading!

Cumulative page total = 8485

29. The Richest Woman in America / Janet Wallach
2 stars
304 pages

Hetty Green was born in 1834 and, despite being a girl, learned about money and investments from her father (hmm, on reading the blurb, this may not have been where she learned this – at least not directly). She also seemed quite litigious and took offense when inheritances she thought should go to her didn’t. She was a very wealthy woman.

I listened to the audio, and though the narrator didn’t appear to have an accent, she did pronounce some vowels oddly, which distracted me. Combine that with really being kind of boring and I wasn’t impressed. Because of being somewhat boring, I may not have the summary exactly right, as I wasn’t paying attention to parts of the book. And I didn’t particularly like Hetty. In some ways, she was obviously before her time.

Cumulative page total = 8789

30. Nightmares & Dreamscapes / Stephen King
3.25 stars
692 pages

I’ve had this book since university and I can’t remember if I read it back then or not. I decided to (re)read. As with all short story collections, I liked some better than others. There were a few I really liked in the first half and I was debating about rating this higher than other short story collections I’ve read in the past, but some of the stories in the second half brought my rating down a bit.

I think something I’m not crazy about with short stories is the energy it takes to move from one to the other so quickly. I always knew that I often didn’t like how short they were because I’d just be “getting’ into the story, when it would end and move on to the next. It was reading this that it occurred to me it takes “energy” to start with a new story so often – you have to get to know new characters and a new plot.

Some of the stories I really liked included Dolce’s Cadillac, Chattery Teeth, You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (if I hadn’t read this one before, I had definitely heard about it), Rainy Season, Sorry Right Number (this was more of a screenplay, but I quite liked it). His last “story” was more of a diary/journal (nonfiction) about his son’s Little League baseball team and a successful season they had. He included an interesting note at the end with a bit of information behind some of the stories.

Cumulative page total = 9481

31. The Dreams of Ada / Robert Mayer
4 stars
512 pages

In 1984, in the “town” of Ada, Oklahoma, Denice Haraway left her job at a convenience store/gas station with a man (they simply looked like a couple). When the people who saw them leave went inside, the clerk (Denice) was no where to be found. It appeared that the place had also been robbed. It was only later that they realized the woman they saw leaving was the clerk.

When composite sketches brought Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot to the attention of the police, they were brought in and questioned. When both confessed on camera, that pretty much sealed the deal. It wasn’t long before they recanted – said they thought their confessions (given under pressure) would easily be exposed as lies. But, despite a LOT of inconsistencies in those confessions, the two were arrested and charged.

I didn’t know the outcome of this. I may have when I heard about the book, but by the time of reading it now, I didn’t remember. I don’t want to say too much if anyone wants to read the book to see what happened and not find out things ahead of time. Even behind my spoiler tag, I haven’t specifically said, but I expect one might be able to figure it out, so you are warned!

Wow, I couldn’t believe it! Wow, I’m appalled! And to this day… Ugh! There were parts in the book that were a little more dry – sections that included things written by Tommy (he’s not very literate), and other legal details – but overall, it was interesting, particularly once they had the private investigator on the case. And suspenseful during the trials. This was originally published in 1987, but a new edition (with a new afterword) was published in 2006; the 2006 is the one I read.

Cumulative page total = 9993

32. A Piece of the World / Christina Baker Kline
2.5 stars
325 pages

I listened to the audio and missed much of the first half of the book, so the summary will be sparse. Christina was born with some kind of deformity in her legs, and as she gets older it’s harder and harder to walk. Oh, she grows up on a farm in Maine. That’s all I’ve got!

The book flips back and forth in time from when she is a child in the early 1900s to the mid-1900s as an adult, but the earlier storyline catches up with the later one. I finally did get some interest towards the end of the book, but by then, I didn’t know who some of the characters were – Sam? At one point, I thought he was a brother, but I’m not sure. Learned toward the end that Al is a brother. I also got mixed up with an early love interest, as I thought he was a later-on artist who used Christina as a model, but apparently they were two different people/characters.

Oh, and surprise (to me)! As I peruse some of the other reviews, I had no idea this was based on a real painting by a real artist, so presumably the artist in the story goes by the real artist’s name? Since I thought the love interest and the artist were the same person (other reviews reminded me his name – the love interest – was Walton), obviously I have no idea who this artist is, though it finally did occur to me that they were two different people when I realized, later on that the artist’s name started with an A (but after finishing the book, I can’t remember – apparently it’s Andrew). You can see I’m not much into art! Throughout most of the book, I was considering rating it 2 stars, but as I did finally get interested at the end, I upped it to 2.5.

Cumulative page total = 10,318

33. Eat to Beat Diabetes / Diabetic Living Editors
359 pages

Cumulative page total = 10,677

The Figgs / Ali Bryan
3.5 stars
228 pages

June has just retired, but with her and Randy’s three adult children still living at home (though they’ve been trying to get rid of them for a while!), there’s not much time to relax. When she is trying to get her kids to help her clean the basement, her youngest son, Derek, gets a phone call. He needs to go to the hospital because Marissa is having her baby. Who is Marissa, June wonders, but they pile in the car to be there with Derek. Soon, Derek is home with a baby he’d only found out a week or so earlier that he was the father of. Daughter Vanessa seems to have a much older girlfriend – who new Vanessa was a lesbian!? Not June, nor Randy. Both June and Randy also have their own family issues going on at the same time…

This was a whirlwind! I liked it, but I’m sure happy to live alone. All that activity was crazy and would drive me insane! I like my quiet life. There was humour mixed in here and there, as well. This is a local author to me, so it’s always fun to read about places I know in my city.

Cumulative page total = 10,546

The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw /Christopher Healy
3.5 stars
298 pages

This is the third (and final – sniff!) installment of the “Hero’s Guide” series, which follows the “League of Princes”. The League of Princes consists of four Princes Charming (which is not the real name of any of them!): Duncan, Liam, Frederic, and Gustav. Although the princesses (Snow, Rapunzel, (Cinder)Ella) have been involved in all adventures in the series, in addition, this time around, they (as well as an additional character Val Jeanval, and Lila, Liam’s younger sister) give themselves a name (which Snow shortens to ffff… though I can’t remember what exactly it stands for! But I liked Snow’s shortened version!).

Anyway, in this one, all our heros are “WANTED” for the murder of Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty), though they don’t even realize it initially! There are bounty hunters on their tail, looking for the “untold riches” that are promised to those who bring them back alive.

As usual, this was fun! I listened to the first two on audio, which I think added to the “ambiance”, though I do recall that I did occasionally lose interest, but Bronson Pinchot was the narrator and with all the accents and voices he can do, what fun! With the ebook this time around (the library did not have the audio for this one), I do think I was able to keep more focus, though I did miss those voices and accents! I am sad that the series is finished.

Cumulative page total = 10,844

Trying to sort out April...

- All My Patients Kick and Bite / Jeff Wells (AlphaKIT)
- The Devil's Making / Sean Haldone (Reading Thru Time)
- The Other Side of Night / D.A. Butler (KITastrophe)
- In One Person / John Irving (GenreCAT)
- I Do Not Come to You By Chance / A.T.N. (GenreCAT, AlphaKIT)
- A Barricade in Hell / Jaime Lee Moyer (ScaredyKIT)
- File M For Murder / Miranda James (MysteryKIT)
- What the Dead Leave Behind / Rosemary Simpson (RandomCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Far From True / Linwood Barclay (RandomCAT)
- A Prayer for the Dying / Steward O'Nan (PBT)
- In the Mood for Peace / Phyllis Wheaton (PBT Trim)

Audio:
- The Valley of Horses / Jean Auel (HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT)
- The Witch Elm / Tana French (PBT, AlphaKIT)
- Mexican Gothic / (PBT)
- When Breath Becomes Air / Paul K (May Book Club)

Netgalley (if I get to these!):
- The Last Thing He Told Me / Laura Dave
- Local Woman Missing / Mary Kubica
- The Clover Girls / Viola Shipman

Bloody Jack / L.A. Meyer
3.75 stars
304 pages

At the end of the 18th century, Mary thinks she was about 8 years old or so when her parents died and she was literally put out on the street and left to fend for herself. She managed to join up with some other homeless kids and they begged and stole and did what they could for money and food. When she was a few years older, Mary decided to dress like a boy and she managed to get on a ship as a ship’s boy. But no one knew she was really girl as they went about their adventures on the sea.

I listened to the audio and loved the accent. I think it was a Cockney accent (had to look that up!). I quite enjoyed this and it gets the extra ¼ star for the audio. The story was fun, too. It’s odd, but whether I listen to or read adventure, I tend to not pay as much attention to the adventure parts. Odd, I know. But I still quite liked the story and I will be continuing the series.

Cumulative page total = 11,148

37. Woman in the Mists / Farley Mowat
4.5 stars
376 pages

Dian Fossey was chosen by Louis Leakey (the same man who sent Jane Goodall to study chimpanzees) to study gorillas. Dian did not have a degree in a related field, though she loved animals. She started in the 1960s until she was murdered in her cabin in 1986. She fell hard for some men (though she never married), but she also did not get along with a lot of people, including some of the students who came to work with her. There was a lot of friction as different people had different ideas about how Karisoke (where she ultimately ended up studying the gorillas in the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda) should run.

The gorillas (and other animals there) were often targeted by poachers and the area also had farmers who allowed their cows into what was supposed to be a protected park area. Dian took it upon herself, in order to save the gorillas, to do (and train others to help… plus she used her own money to pay people since the park rangers didn’t appear to do anything to help) what she called “active conservation”. That is, destroying the snares/traps, rescuing as many animals caught in those traps and by poachers as possible, and catching the poachers. She didn’t agree with bringing tourists to visit the habituated gorillas, though she later relented as long as they were small groups, but she still wasn’t overly happy about it.

Farley Mowat took much of this book from Dian’s own journals/writings, and changes the font in the book to indicate when/where he is using Dian’s words. He fills in the rest. I read “Gorillas in the Mist” years ago. It focuses more on the gorillas themselves, whereas this (though it includes some of the gorillas) focuses more on Dian and the politics and relations with the various people involved. I also read a book by two of Dian’s former students who she didn’t get along with, but I don’t recall all the animosity (but it was so long ago, I may not be remembering, or maybe they left out some of the political issues). In any case, it would be a dream for me to study wild animals in the wild! So, I really enjoyed this. Frustrating at the people who weren’t helping Dian more with her “active” conservation, though I’m not sure I would be brave enough to confront poachers with guns and machetes, either!

Cumulative page total = 11.524

38. Uprooted / Naomi Novik
4 stars
438 pages

Every 10 years, the Dragon comes to the valley to select a 17-year old girl to go with him. She is not seen again for the next 10 years. The people allow this because the Dragon makes sure the evil in the Wood that surrounds them stays at bay. Growing up, Agnieszka (and everyone else) always knew it would be her smart, beautiful best friend, Kasia, who is chosen. Possible spoiler, though it happens in the first couple of chapters: But, it’s not Kasia who is chosen. It’s Agnieszka.

I really enjoyed this. This one has (Baba) Jaga mentioned – she’s not a character, as she is long-dead, but she is mentioned and her effects are felt. Many know that I am not always a fantasy fan (depends on the type of fantasy), but I do like fairy tales. This one had a lot going on – not all at once, but one thing after another. Lots of adventure in this one.

Cumulative page total = 11,962

39. What's a Dog For? / John Homans
4 stars
272 pages

In this book, the author looks at various aspects of the history of dogs and dog-human relationships. Some of the topics include evolution, dog behaviour (also compared to other animals), breeds, rescues, etc.

I quite liked this. Despite being an audio book, I was kept interested (though apparently, I don’t have much to mention in my review!).

Cumulative page total = 12,234

40. Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax / Kate Berridge
3 stars
336 pages

Madame Tussaud was taught by her “uncle”(? Not sure if he was really her uncle, or just the man her mother worked for) to form wax models. She also turned out to be a pretty good marketer and businesswoman. She lived through the French Revolution, then took her wax figures with her to England. From there, she travelled through Scotland and Ireland. Meanwhile, her husband and one son (the other son was with her) stayed in France (until the younger son was in his early 20s, at which time he joined his mother and brother). A man she had gone into business with when she went to England and her husband took advantage of her brilliant head for business (and the money that came from it).

Most of what people know of the early part of Marie Grosholtz’s (Madame Tussaud’s) life came from her own autobiography. This author tries to verify (but has a hard time doing so) much of what Marie wrote about her own life. It seems that there may have been a lot of exaggeration, particularly during the French Revolution, when she created wax figures out of decapitated heads during the “Terror”. It was easier to verify her life (as she became more well-known) once she moved to England.

The book was ok, but a few too many parts of it were kind of dry reading. All I knew about her was from Michelle Moran’s book, but her book pretty much ended when Marie moved to England. I hadn’t realized she had done as much travelling as she had – to promote her show and her wax models. She really does seem to have had a good head for business, but much of her money was taken by a bad deal with the man she went into business with in England (until she untangled herself from him) and her dud of a husband in France.

Cumulative page total = 12,570

41. El Deafo / Cece Bell
4 stars
240 pages

Cece Bell grew up in the ‘70s. Just before kindergarten she became sick and lost her hearing. She was horrified to have to go to school (not including her first year when she was in a school with other deaf kids) with a hearing aid and a case (the “Phonic Ear”) strapped to her chest. The case worked with a microphone she had her teachers speak into so she could hear. Well, she could hear without it, but it wasn’t clear enough for her to understand. She found that she could hear her teachers, with the microphone, even when they weren’t in the classroom! Although she had a hard time making friends and was often lonely, she tried to consider her hearing loss (and the resulting use of the hearing aid) her superpower! This is a graphic novel depicting her childhood.

I enjoyed this. This is a story meant for kids. There were a lot of up and down emotions in this one, and she sprinkled in some humour at times, as well.

Cumulative page total = 12,810

42. All My Patients Kick and Bite / Jeff Wells
3.5 stars
244 pages

This is a set of stories/essays, in the vein of James Herriott, about a vet and his interesting cases. Dr. Wells also includes some personal information in some of the stories, as well. Dr. Wells is in Colorado.

I enjoyed this. I’m not sure if there are more in his series of stories, but if there is, I will continue reading them.

Cumulative page total = 13,054

43. The Devil's Making / Sean Haldane
3 stars
367 pages

Chad Hobbes went to law school in England, but never wrote the bar exam. In 1868, he has come to British Columbia, a British colony, but not yet part of Canada (which was just recently formed in the east), but without having written the bar, he cannot practice as a lawyer, so he gets a job as a constable in Victoria. When an American “alienist” (psychiatrist - I had to look it up!) is found murdered in a very gruesome way, everyone assumes it’s the First Nations people who are closeby who killed him. One is arrested and it is assumed he will soon hang for it. Hobbes, though, doesn’t think he (nor any of the other natives) did it, and he sets out to find who really did it. In the meantime, Hobbes finds himself attracted to the sister of the man who was arrested.

Be warned: this was quite gruesome in the details. Also, there was a lot of investigation into sexual things. There is definite racism here, primarily against native people. Overall, I’m rating this ok. There were parts that just didn’t interest me, so I kind of tuned out, but other parts were fine and I followed without an issue. I’m thinking maybe the writing style? The odd thing is that I love historical fiction, I also like mysteries (though some types more than others), but oddly, more often than not, historical mysteries don’t interest me as much. I have no idea why.

I did like the Canadian background in this, though. I’ve been to Victoria a couple of times, so I could picture some of the places mentioned. There was an odd (I thought) twist and I felt like the end was a bit too much all tied up – except for one thing. That one thing wasn’t a happy one (and it was apparently a real event). The brief afterword also explained that many of the people were real people.

Cumulative page total = 13,421

44. I Do Not Come to You By Chance / Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
3 stars
329 pages

In Nigeria, Kingsley’s father is very sick, and to pay for his hospital bills, Kingsley must go to his rich uncle for money to pay for his father’s care. Uncle Boniface (more well-known in the community as Cash Daddy) shamefully (to the rest of the family) gets his money from 419 email scams. Kingsley has an engineering degree but is unable to find a job. This eventually forces him to work for his uncle.

This was ok. I’m not sure there were many characters I particularly liked, and it was a bit slow in the first half. The end also confused me a bit, as I’m not exactly sure what happened there. I had briefly considered upping my rating a bit until the end.

Cumulative page total = 13,750

45. A Prayer for the Dying / Stewart O'Nan
2.5 stars
195 pages

In a small town in Wisconsin in the 19th century, “you” (Jacob) is a preacher, an undertaker (and apparently, a sheriff, which I missed). An illness has come into town and people are dying. Not only that, there is a wildfire nearby.

It’s a short book. Right off the bat, I wasn’t liking the second-person narrative, so I didn’t like the writing style. It wasn’t easy to follow, and for a while there were a couple of people who I wasn’t sure whether or not they were dead or still alive, after all. I appear to be in a minority, but I’m not a fan of this one.

Cumulative page total = 13,945

46. The Diabetes Code / Jason Fung
378 pages

Cumulative page total = 14,323

47. The Witch Elm / Tana French
4 stars
517 pages

When Toby’s house is broken into, and Toby confronts the burglars, he is beaten pretty badly. After some time in the hospital, it is decided that he should go live with his uncle (who is dying of cancer) in the “Ivy House”. It’s a house where Toby and his cousins spent a lot of time when they were growing up. Not long after Toby arrives, his cousin’s kids are playing in the yard and discover a skull in the giant tree in the garden! This leads to some interesting confessions amongst the cousins…

I really liked this! I listened to the audio. Have to admit that some of the parts (especially near the beginning), I lost a bit of interest, but that was just mostly Toby with his buddies. The story got much more interesting after Toby and his girlfriend Melissa moved in with Uncle Hugo. Really, the narrator was just fine. The last 2/3 of it definitely kept me interested and though a few things weren’t necessarily twists, there were a few of those thrown in, as well.

Cumulative page total = 14,840

48. A Barricade in Hell / Jaime Lee Moyer
3.5 stars
331 pages

It’s 1917. Delia sees ghosts, and lately there have been a lot of them following her detective husband Gabe around. Gabe is now investigating what looks like a ritual murder. As Gabe and his partner/friend, Jack, continue in their investigation, they discover more and more people who have disappeared. Sometimes Delia and her mentor/friend Dora are brought in to help Gabe and Jack with their cases, and this appears to be needed this time around.

This is the second book in a series. The chapters alternate between Delia and Gabe, and in this one, I found Gabe’s murder investigation more interesting than Delia’s ghosts. In my opinion, this wasn’t nearly as good as the first book. It’s been a few years, so I can’t compare directly, but the first one did make my favourites that year. This one – there was a lot going on – a lot of action – and I’m usually interested in ghosts, as well as murder mysteries, but this one didn’t pull me in as much. I’m still rating it “good”. There is currently one more book in the series (I’m not sure if it ends at a trilogy, or if she’s writing more for the series) and I will be reading it.

Cumulative page total = 15,171

49. In the Mood for Peace: The Story of the Izzy Doll / Phyllis Wheaton
4 stars
186 pages

The Izzy Doll is a small knitted/crocheted doll that Canadian peacekeepers have been giving out to kids in war-torn countries, or just poor kids in countries where they are posted. It started with Mark Isfeld, who died in Croatia in 1994 while serving a peacekeeping mission there. He was trying to clear landmines at the time. Previous to his death, though, he told his mom back in Canada how much he wanted to give these kids something to call their own. She started making these little dolls and shipping them to her son to hand out. This has since grown into a much much larger project, where people all over the country (and some in the US) help knit/crochet these little dolls to bring smiles to those kids’ faces.

The book is also a biography of Mark, and both his parents, and it also looks at peacekeeping and peacekeepers, as well as landmines and the attempt to rid the world of them, as they are so dangerous long after conflicts end. There is also some memoir added in as Phyllis travels and talks to various people she focuses on in the book (the Isfelds and others).

I had never heard of the Izzy Doll before Phyllis, the author of the book (and an acquaintance of mine!) gifted a copy of the book to me. As sad as it was for the soldier whose idea it was to have died not long after he started handing them out (and both his parents died within months of each other in 2007), it is absolutely an uplifting book. The book is also peppered with photos of the Isfelds and more.

Cumulative page total = 15,357

50. Mexican Gothic / Silvia Moreno-Garcia
3.25 stars
320 pages
Noemi has gone to see her recently-married cousin, Catalina, who married suddenly and is now living in a remote large house with her new husband’s family. Noemi’s father is worried about some letters Catalina has written, as it sounds like she is very ill, so he wanted Noemi to go see how Catalina is doing and see if she can help. Catalina’s husband, Virgil, and his entire family is very odd, to say the least… and it seems quite apparent that they don’t want Noemi there.

The book is slow moving. I listened to the audio, which was fine, but not a whole lot happened until about the last quarter of the book. It did pick up, but not enough for me to raise my rating very much (the extra .25 is for when it finally picked up). I’ve seen this compared to “Rebecca” as a Mexican Rebecca, and Rebecca also started very slow, but there was something about the atmosphere in Rebecca and the story that had me like it better, overall. The atmosphere was done well in this one, too, but one thing I didn’t like were the odd, kind of psychedelic, dreams Noemi was having. Those were just...weird. That did put me off some. Overall, 3 stars for me is ok, and I added the little extra for the pick up at the end.

Cumulative page total = 15,677

51. When Breath Becomes Air / Paul Kalanithi
3 stars
229 pages

The author was only 36 years old, and hadn’t quite graduated yet to become a neurosurgeon/neuroscientist, when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. At one point, he considered an English degree, so he set to putting his story down in a book.

It was ok. It (rightfully) felt short and he seemed to skip through large amounts of time. I know it’s because he tried to write it all when he had a limited time left, and in the epilogue, written by his wife Lucy, she specifically said he didn’t finish his book. I was more interested in his life events over the theology/philosophy discussion he added in at times. I listened to the audio, which was fine. I did like that they brought in a female narrator to read the epilogue written by Lucy.

Cumulative page total = 15,906

52. What the Dead Leave Behind / Rosemary Simpson
4 stars
356 pages

It’s March 1888 in New York City. The day a huge blizzard blows in (this was a real event), Prudence’s fiancee (Charles, a lawyer) is out walking with a couple other men. One of them decides he can’t go on, but Charles goes on with his friend and fellow lawyer, Roscoe. Roscoe gets further ahead, and when Charles stops to rest, he is knocked out and dies in the cold.

Prudence has also only recently lost her own father (a judge). She is now living with her hated stepmother, Victoria (Victoria and Prudence’s father had only been married a couple of years), and unfortunately, Victoria is trustee to Prudence’s inheritance until she turns 31. The trusteeship was supposed to have transferred over to Charles when they married in only 2 weeks.

Prudence and Charles’ best friend Geoffrey (also a lawyer) work on trying to figure out what’s going on, and how to help Prudence get her rightful inheritance out of her stepmother’s grasp.

I was very impressed with the descriptions of the snow storm. I also loved that Prudence was treated so well by her father; they were very close and he treated her more like a son… as in, he taught her a lot of lawyer-ly stuff that a woman, at that time, would never normally have learned. Prudence is smart and I like how the men/lawyers she is working with (Roscoe, in addition to Geoffrey) accept that she is capable. We have an idea what happened early on, but spend the book trying to figure out how it all happened. There were a lot of characters, though, so I did tend to forget who was who at times, and it was a bit of a tangle/maze even once it was revealed how everything happened. I have no issues with how things ended and I will continue with the second book in the series.

Cumulative page total = 16,262

For May, here is the hope/plan:

- The Invited / Jennifer McMahon (ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Victoria's Daughters / JMP (HistoryCAT)
- Headhunters / Jo Nesbo (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Orphan Train - Christine Baker Kline (RandomCAT, Fly the Skies?)
- Hallucinations / Oliver Sacks (GenreCAT)
- Vanishing and Other Stories / Deborah Willis (GenreCAT, PBT)
- Late Nights on Air / Elizabeth Hay (Read Thru Time, Fly the Skies?)
- Herbert Has Lots for a Buck / EM (PBT Trim, GenreCAT?)

Carry overs:
- The Other Side of Night / D.A. Butler (KITastrophe)
- File M For Murder / Miranda James (April MysteryKIT)
(audio) - The Valley of Horses / Jean Auel (April HistoryCAT)

Netgalley (I hope to still finish at least one, if not two, of these before the end of April):
- The Clover Girls / Viola Shipman
- Such a Quiet Place / Megan Miranda
- The Other Passenger / Louise Candish

53. The Last Thing He Told Me / Laura Dave
4 stars
320 pages

Hannah has been married to Owen for two years. Owen had a daughter previously, Bailey, who is now 16-years old. One day, Owen just doesn’t come home again. He sends a note to Hannah that just says “Protect her”. As Hannah hears on the news, the owner of the company Owen has been working for has been arrested and charged with fraud.

This was really good. Another one that pulled me in right away and kept me wondering. I definitely didn’t expect the ending. Told from Hannah’s point of view, some chapters backed up in time to see the relationship (and some earlier events) between Hannah and Owen.

Cumulative page total = 16,582

54. Local Woman Missing / Mary Kubica
5 stars
352 pages

11 years ago… a woman with a baby waits for her husband to come home. It’s late but she heads out for a “run” – or so she tells her husband. She is actually cheating on him (but to be “fair”, it seems he is also cheating on her). Now… Delilah lives in a dark basement. She doesn’t know how old she is or how long she’s been there, but she knows she’s outgrown her shoes and clothes. There is nothing in the basement except a toilet, Delilah, and Gus, who came some time after Delilah had been there a while. 11 years ago (May)… we follow Kate (Delilah’s neighbour), as Delilah’s dad knocks on the door on a rainy night, not knowing where his 6-year old little girl, Delilah, is or his wife, Meredith. 11 years ago (March)… we follow Meredith, Delilah’s mom, a doula, and yoga instructor, as she wonders where the threatening texts she’s been receiving are coming from…

Those are snapshots from the start of the book. The book does go back and forth in time, and switches perspective (each chapter tells you the time and whose perspective it is, so it’s easy to follow), but it pulled me in immediately and kept me wanting to read! I didn’t want to put down the book, though there are a couple of parts that had me nervous: reading at night at home by myself, not wanting to turn the lights out for bed! Some great twists in this one, and it had me scared a couple of times. Adds up to 5 stars from me.

Cumulative page total = 16,934

55. The Clover Girls / Viola Shipman
3.5 stars
416 pages

Em(ily), Rachel, V(eronica), and Liz met at summer camp in 1985 and became life-long friends (or so they thought). They spent the next four summers together and they called themselves the “Clover Girls”. Unfortunately, that last summer, there was a rift that pulled them apart. Em tried to keep in touch with everyone, but mostly they went their separate ways and had their own lives.

Liz had a family, then divorced, and in current day, is a realtor and watches over her mother in a care home (her kids and grandkids never visit); V became a model, then married and gave up her career for her husband and kids; Rach was an actress for a while, then went into politics… well, I’m not sure what exactly she is, but she works for a very conservative politician and she seems to do some kind of damage control (in the form of being in the spotlight to explain things, mostly things with regard to policies around women).

When they each get a letter out of the blue from Em, she is already dead. She wants them to revisit the camp to spread her ashes, and of course, to come together again.

I enjoyed this. I loved all the 80s references! Starting with friendship pins (remember those!?), then of course, the music and movies… What brought the rating down a bit for me was that there was a bit more gushi-ness than I would have liked. Maybe it’s because I’m really not a gushy person (at all! Probably the opposite), but it didn’t seem real to me. It was too much for me. Also, one thing near the end… I felt like a couple of the women acted very childishly in that one event. They didn’t act like adults. Overall, though, I still liked the book. Liz and Em (easily) were my favourite characters, and I did like Liz’s storyline. There is also a book club guide at the end; I hadn’t thought of it as a book club book but there were some good questions included.

Cumulative page total = 17,350

56. Braiding Sweetgrass / Robin Wall Kimmerer
3.25 stars
400 pages

The author is an Indigenous woman who studied botany, so she learned our white scientific ways to study and research. But she combines that with everything she learned while growing up Indigenous – the traditional “ways of knowing”, specifically with regards to trees, plants, nature.

I love the philosophy that nature is so much more than white people (and scientists) give it credit for. I can’t even explain, but I really did agree with most of what she described. I listened to the audio (read by the author) and I did lose focus at various parts, so I did miss some of it. But there were plenty of other interesting things mentioned/explained that I enjoyed listening to.

Cumulative page total = 17,750

57. Vanishing and Other Stories / Deborah Willis
2.75 stars
288 pages

A book of short stories… I’ve said it before – I’m not usually a fan of short stories, and I wasn’t here, either. There was one that I liked; there were a few more that were ok – I wouldn’t say I liked them, but at least they held my attention; the others, I just wasn’t interested in and didn’t even manage to follow.

I hate writing a bad review about a book by a Canadian author, but I’ve actually also met this author a couple of times (and my book is a signed copy). I did like that some of the stories were set, not only in Canada, but in my city (Calgary – where the author lives, or did the last I knew), and in another city I’ve visited a couple of times (Victoria), so it’s always nice to recognize the places mentioned/described.

Cumulative page total = 18,038

58. Victoria's Daughters / Jerrold M. Packard
3.75 stars
354 pages

This is a nonfiction book about Queen Victoria and her daughters. Of course, there is info about her and her entire family, but the focus is on her five daughters: Vicky, Alice, Helena (known as Lenchen), Louise, and Beatrice. They all had very different personalities. Of course, Victoria wanted to keep one of her girls with her all her life – someone to be there and take care of her, particularly after she lost her husband, Albert, quite young.

3.5 stars for enjoyability – that is, it was good – but I gave it that little extra because of the sheer amount of information included. I do feel like this is a really good source to find information about Queen Victoria’s daughters. There were a few parts where I lost interest, mostly with German/Prussian politics, but I can see why it was included with Vicky married to a future Kaiser, so it absolutely affected her life.

Being Canadian myself, I was interested in Louise and Lorne’s years in Canada; also of interest were where a couple of the province and city names came from. I did find it started to get confusing when the focus started being on Victoria’s grandchildren. Partly because of the common, repeated names, but also just because there got to be so many! Luckily, the author did find ways to refresh my memory. I found it interesting at the end as the generations passed on to the next monarch(s) – something we usually don’t think about – those sisters became further and further away from the crown every time it passed on.

Cumulative page total = 18,392

59. File M for Murder / Miranda James
3.5 stars
247 pages

Archivist and rare book cataloguer Charlie Harris’ adult daughter, Laura, has come “home” for a semester to teach acting at the local college. Unfortunately, the distasteful playwright Connor Lawson is also in town. He just rubs Charlie the wrong way! Not only does Connor happen to be working with Laura, Charlie finds out Laura once dated him, and he does not want to take no for an answer. It’s not long before Laura gets some threatening mail. And a bit later… someone is found murdered.

I do enjoy this series! As a librarian (and a cataloguer), I like the library tidbits included (the author is a library cataloguer). There’s some fun interaction between Charlie, Laura, and Charlie’s son, Sean (and a couple of boarders at Charlie’s house), too. And I have to mention Charlie’s smart Maine Coon cat (all 36 lbs of him!), although I do feel like Diesel wasn’t as much in this one as the others, but it’s been a while, so I might not be remembering. The murder doesn’t actually happen until about 1/3 of the way into the book, as the first bit is introductions to the characters. I really do enjoy this series and will be continuing.

Cumulative page total = 18,639

60. Late Nights on Air / Elizabeth Hay
2 stars
277 pages

This story revolves around people who work at a radio station in the mid-1970s in Yellowknife, NWT. Dido and Gina are fairly new to Yellowknife and the radio station. All the men seem to be attracted to Dido.

Wow, this was boring. There were a couple of mildly interesting things that happened – thee was debate on a new pipeline that a company wanted to put in and a woman disappeared in winter. But, overall, pretty slow and boring. And I didn’t see one likable thing about Dido, who seemed to just go back and forth between the men. In fact, I don’t think I really liked very many of the characters… maybe Gwen, but then I skimmed so much of the book in the end, so hard to say if she really was likable.

I’m not sure why I added it to the tbr… looking now, I see it was either nominated for or won the Giller Prize, which should have been a red flag waving me away, but if the story initially sounds interesting, I will still often try them. I see the GR description also says “Written in gorgeous prose…”, which should also be a warning to me.

Cumulative page total = 18,916

61. The Valley of Horses / Jean M. Auel
3.25 stars
560 pages

A continuation of “The Clan of the Cave Bear”, I won’t say too much about how it happened, but in this book, Ayla is on her own, trying to survive, and looking for what the Clan call “the Others” – that is, people of her kind. She finds a nice spot to settle and manages to tame a horse, and raise a lion cub! Meanwhile (and I missed the circumstances around it), two brothers, Jondalar and Thonalan are travelling. Thonalan becomes injured, so they find a group of people to stay with while he improves.

I listened to the audio, so I did miss some things. Overall, I liked the story (I preferred Ayla’s chapters), but (and I will use terminology I found in other reviews), I didn’t think the “caveman porn” was necessary (though there was less of it than I expected, based on reviews). I could have done without the majority of it, though. I do hear it gets worse as the series goes on, but I think (for now), the story is interesting enough for me to continue to the next book. I also thought, for a prehistoric man, Jondalar was maybe a bit too contemporary in his attitudes toward women. Not everything was contemporary, but certainly more than I expected, although I guess we don’t really know what prehistoric culture was like. I did enjoy learning about the making of fire, tools, and the survival strategies and I loved Ayla’s animal companions. ¼ star was taken off for the caveman porn aspect.

Cumulative page total = 19,476

62. Orphan Train / Christina Baker Kline
4 stars
294 pages

In 2011, teenaged orphan/foster “child” Molly is in trouble and has to do some community service. Her boyfriend’s mom works for a rich old lady and gets her an interview with the lady to help her sort out her attic as her community service. While helping Vivian, Molly learns more about Vivian’s life as an orphan/foster child – starting in the 1920s – and as she grew up. Vivian started life in Ireland as Niamh (pronounced Neev), and came to New York City with her family. It wasn’t long before she was on her own and was sent on a train heading west with other orphans. This is a train that brought orphans to families who “wanted” them (or wanted free labour), and she was shuffled around a bit more.

I really liked this. I thought Vivian’s story was more interesting than Molly’s, though I did like the friendship that developed between them. I did know about these trains, as I’m sure I’ve read another book on the topic. (Looked it up, similar situation with the British Home Children who were sent to Canada…) My edition of the book has an author’s note, reading guide, etc, which included some photos of some of the real “orphan train” children.

Cumulative page total = 19,770

63. Hallucinations / Oliver Sacks
3.25 stars
234 pages

Oliver Sacks is a neuroscientist, and this book includes essays on the topic of hallucinations. There were chapters on blindness, Parkinsons, epilepsy, drugs, migraines, narcolepsy, and a lot more, as well as a couple of chapters on auditory and smell hallucinations.

It was mostly interesting, but some parts did lose my interest. His books are like that for me (well, the few that I’ve read).

Cumulative page total = 20,004

Hopes for June:
- The Sleeping Beauty / Mercedes Lackey (RandomCAT)
- Roots / Alex Haley (GenreCAT)
- The Women of the Cousins; War /Philippa Gregory (HistoryCAT)
- The Silver Linings Playbook / Matthew Quick (PBT Trim, PBT)
- Shopaholic Ties the Knot / Sophie Kinsella (PBT)
- The Constant Rabbit / Jasper Fforde (Reading Thru Time)
- The Last Runaway / Tracey Chevalier (AlphaKIT, GenreCAT)
- My Sister, the Serial Killer / OB (ScaredyKIT, PBT, Fly the Skies)

Audio:
- The ABC Murders / Agatha Christie (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Mrs. Mike / Benedict Freedman (GenreCAT)

Carry overs:
- The Other Side of Night / D.A. Butler (KITastrophe, AlphaKIT)
- Such a Quiet Place / Megan Miranda (Netgalley)
- The Other Passenger / Louise Candish (Netgalley, AlphaKIT)

64. Ordinary Grace / William Kent Krueger
4 stars
312 pages

It’s summer, 1961 in small-town Minnesota. Frank is 13-years old; he has an 11-year old younger brother Jake, and an older sister, Ariel (17 or 18). Their father is a minister. At the beginning of the summer, another boy Frank’s age died on or near the train tracks. It’s only a few days later when Frank finds another dead body near the same area. With the “nameless itinerant” (as he is called througout the rest of the book), Frank and Jake see a Native man, but they sense no harm from him, Warren Redbird, so they talk with him a bit. I don’t want to say too much more, but there is a mystery in the book and it kind of is a summer of death. The back of the book says “it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.”

I really liked this. It was slow moving, but I still enjoyed it. The pace did kind of pick up, maybe half way through the book. I was a bit concerned about how it would end, but it turned out as I “hoped” it would.

Cumulative page total = 20,316

65. Shadow on the Crown / Patricia Bracewell
3 stars
416 pages

In the early 1000s, Emma of Normandy was chosen by her mother to travel to England to marry the older king. She was more the age of his eldest son, but she was also ambitious. The agreement was that she would be made queen (the king’s previous wife and mother of his many sons was never made queen). Things get dangerous for Emma when the Danish king attacks England, even though Emma’s mother is Danish.

Although I’m only rating it “ok”, I will add the second book to my tbr. I don’t think I’ve read anything (or if I have, it’s very little) about this time period, so I’d like to know more. I listened to the audio, so I’m certain that’s why I missed things. It did pick up for me in the middle. There were a few other perspectives in the book, but it took me a while to “catch” this.

Cumulative page total = 20,732

66. Headhunters / Jo Nesbo
3 stars
217 pages

Roger Brown is a headhunter, pretty much the best. He is married to Diana, but can’t really afford the lifestyle she wants. She runs a small art gallery (that he paid for). When the former head of a tech company in Amsterdam comes to Norway, he is the perfect candidate for a big tech company in Oslo. When Roger meets him, he also discovers that he has a rare piece of artwork. Far too tempting for the sometimes-art thief/forger! And things go very awry…

It took me a while to “get into” this. Even when it picked up, unfortunately, my mind was a bit elsewhere, but I did get my mind back on what I was reading after a bit. At first, the twist at the end confused me a bit, but it was explained. It’s kind of one of those things where it’s tempting to go back knowing what you know “now”, at the end of the book, to see how you had been led astray in your thinking. I’m rating it “ok”, but I feel like if my mind had been paying better attention at the moment it picked up, I “should” be rating it good.

Cumulative page total = 20,949

67. The Invited / Jennifer McMahon
4.25 stars
368 pages

In the early 20th century, Hattie was seen as a “witch” because she saw things before they happened. In 1924, she warned people not to send their children to school because it was going to be burned down. She was right – three kids died and the townspeople hanged Hattie for it. (This was the opening chapter, so not a spoiler.)

In 2015, Helen and Nate bought the land that Hattie had lived on. They lived in an old trailer while they built their dream home. Helen had been a history teacher, so she loved to research the history of the land they bought, so she learned more and more about Hattie and her descendants as she went. She brought in antique pieces to build into their home. But, Helen was also seeing Hattie, who seemed to be trying to communicate… Nate, a science teacher with a love for the local wildlife on their land (they live beside a bog), was drawn toward a white doe he catches glimpses of, but can’t seem to get a photo.

Next door, a young Olive, whose mother disappeared a year earlier (she apparently ran off with a man), doesn’t want Helen and Nate living on Hattie’s land. Olive and her mother were convinced Hattie had left a treasure and they were on the hunt to find it. Olive still planned to find it.

The chapters mostly went back and forth between Helen and Olive in 2015. There were only a few flashback chapters to traumatizing incidents. This is another really good book by Jennifer McMahon. She is very good at creepy. It would have been more so if I’d read more at night (tried to, but I fell asleep a couple of times – not due to the book, however!). I found following Helen more interesting than following Olive, but of course the stories do come together with a surprise end (though I guessed it only a few pages before it was revealed).

Cumulative page total = 21,317

68. Herbert has Lots for a Buck / Elizabeth McLachlan
4 stars
176 pages

This book looks at twelve small towns on the Canadian Prairies, four towns in each of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. These are towns that have reinvented themselves to come back from dying out completely. One chapter for each town tells us the history of the town and what they’ve done to keep the town alive.

I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan, so I found this really interesting. It might have helped that I know some of the towns (and I know about Rosebud, AB and Vulcan, AB and their “claims to fame,” so to speak); however, I really do think the stories of these towns could be interesting to anyone. The author really does write the stories of the towns very well. The book reminded me a bit of CBC’s “Still Standing”, except the book includes more town history, in addition to the current situations in the towns.

Favourites of mine were Craik, SK (now an eco-village) and Neubergthal, MB (done up as a historical Mennonite village). My Dad’s background is Mennonite, so that might also have helped with the interest there. Other towns (you can guess what Vulcan is famous for): Rosebud is for the dinner theatre in town; Warner, AB for a world-class women’s hockey program; Elbow, SK for their marina, Beacham, SK for the artists in town; Inglis, MB for their “elevator row” (historical grain elevators). The title really drew me to the book, as I have family in Herbert, SK. The author did not include Herbert as one of the essays, but she mentioned a bit about it (and the title) in the epilogue.

Cumulative page total = 21,493

69. Naked and Marooned / Ed Stafford
3 stars
320 pages

The author decided he wanted to maroon himself on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific (I believe in Fiji) for 60 days with nothing, including no clothes! Now, because he got a tv deal, he did have to take a camera and microphone, and there were daily “checks” (via note), if needed; also the drop place for the notes was also meant to replenish batteries. The notes were not to include anything to motivate.

This was interesting. I listened to the audio, though, so as is often the case, I did lose interest at times. I had a real hard time listening to how he hunted and killed, though. (Even the tv show did not air one of his (more brutal) kills.) The book not only looked at how he survived, but also he reflected on his mental state being so isolated.

Cumulative page total = 21,813

70. The Constant Rabbit / Jasper Fforde
3.25 stars
370 pages

It was in the late 1960s that the “Event” happened. The Event caused rabbits (and a few other animals...though not nearly as many as the rabbits) to become anthropomorphized. It’s decades later and many people are leporiphobes. Peter Knox (who works for the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce, sort of tracking down specific rabbits, I think) discovers a long-ago college friend (and rabbit) Connie has moved in next door, along with her husband.

My summary might not be exactly right, as I found the first half-ish of the book quite confusing. I ended up quite enjoying the second half, though, once I (kind of) figured out what was going on… though I don’t want to say too much more in my summary so as not to give anything away. So for the first bit of the book, I kept thinking – ok, Fforde is way too smart for me because this is over my head. I did like the second half-ish, though. At that point, there seemed to be more of a plot and things happened, and I understood what was happening. Anyway, this all made me unsure how to rate it, so I went with 3.25, between ok and good. It seems there was a bunch of “deep” satire that went over my head, but once there as a plot, I liked it!

Cumulative page total = 22,183

71. My Sister, the Serial Killer / Oyinkan Brathwaite
3.5 stars
197 pages

Korede is a nurse in Lagos, Nigeria. Her younger sister, Ayoola, has managed to murder each of her last three boyfriends and Korede is always there to help her out. But when Ayoola sets her sights on a doctor Korede works with… a man Korede has a crush on herself, she needs to figure out what to do.

This was good. Short chapters and a short book overall, so fast to read. But I was certainly interested. The book also looks back in time at the sisters’ relationship with their father (who died ten years earlier).

Cumulative page total = 22,380

72. Mudlark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames / Lara Maiklem
3 stars
235 pages

The author is a collector of sorts. “Mudlarking” is collecting items/artifacts that are washed up and found in the mud along the banks of the Thames River, and apparently a lot of people do this. Some of these items are hundreds of years old. Some of the items, she is able to restore herself, and some she sends away for restoration. The chapters are organized by the area, and each will give a bit of history of the area (as this can affect the types of items found there), combined with some of the items she has found and the history of those items.

I found some chapters more interesting than others – the one at Greenwich, which looked at some Tudor history (the Greenwich Castle was one of Henry VIII’s favourite residences), along with animal bones and utensils found (and thus meals and utensils used during Tudor times). Oddly, the other chapter that held my interest more than others was the one of current day garbage. Overall, I’m calling this one ok. I had hoped to like it more – the premise is something I feel like I am interested in – but for some reason, it just couldn’t hold my interest all the way through.

Cumulative page total = 22,615

73. Mrs. Mike / Benedict and Nancy Freedman
3 stars
320 pages

In the early 1900s, Katherine (Kathy) is sent to Calgary, Alberta to live with her uncle due to her health, where she meets RCMP Mike. Although Kathy is only 16, they get married and move further north – where there aren’t many white women, and life is much more primitive than Kathy is used to.

Apparently this is based on a real person – I only found that out by looking at a few other reviews. I listened to the audio, which wavered in and out on holding my attention (or not). It was ok. Some parts I liked, but overall, ok. Had a hard time with a couple of parts about injured animals. I’m not sure I particularly liked any of the characters. Except for one secondary character (due to the unusual name), I tended to get those secondary characters mixed up. One of the good things, though, were descriptions of hardships encountered: loss, fire...

Cumulative page total = 22,935

>88 LibraryCin: This book was so popular with the girls in grade school about 50 years ago and I remember loving this book. I think I read one of the other books she wrote. Too bad it hasn't held up.

74. The ABC Murders / Agatha Christie
(BBC Dramatization)
3 stars
~150(?)

So, when someone is killing people starting with the beginning of the alphabet, they bring Poirot in by sending letters hinting at the next murder to come. So, the first person to die had both initials start with A and the town she was in started with A; then B, then C…

I listened to the BBC Dramatization (though I didn’t grab it on purpose), which is usually better for me than the books. I’ve found that many of these “golden age” (and earlier) mysteries just aren’t my thing. I liked the premise behind it, but this one still (even the dramatization) didn’t hold my attention well enough to follow everything. It may have been better (for me) than reading the actual book, though.

Cumulative page total = 23,085

75. Roots / Alex Haley
3.5 stars
814 pages

In the mid-18th century, Kunta Kinte grew up in “The” Gambia, Africa. When he is about 17 “rains”, he is kidnapped and taken on a boat across the “big water” and finds himself in a strange new world; he doesn’t even understand the language. He tries to escape multiple times, but the 4th time, he is caught and punished severely. The book follows not only the rest of his life, but the lives of some of his descendants. Next up, his daughter, Kizzy; one of her sons, who later becomes known as “Chicken George”, as he raises and fights roosters; George’s son Tom becomes a blacksmith…

It’s starts of as fiction, but the last few chapters chronicle Alex Haley’s genealogical research and findings. I know there was controversy, but Haley even says himself that the people are real and as many situations as he could find in his research as possible are real; obviously specific conversations, etc. are fictionalized. I’ve added tags for historical fiction and biographical fiction, but also memoir for the last chapters. This had nothing to do with my rating, though.

3.5 stars for me is good. I liked it. It’s also very long. I don’t often rate really long books much higher than 3.5 stars. I think that it’s hard to sustain “really good” in a book over 800+ pages! (And keep in mind, I’m generally a tough rater, anyway.) I admire that this was a groundbreaking book at the time it was published, and it reached a wider audience with the tv mini-series. I only watched the movie as an adult (I was a kid when it would have originally aired on tv). There was a longer section in Africa than I’d expected. I wasn’t crazy about the cockfighting (though, obviously it happened – and sadly, still does). Overall, though, good book. I’m glad I finally read it.

Cumulative page total = 23,899

76. The Sleeping Beauty / Mercedes Lackey
4 stars
384 pages

The godmother of the kingdom Eltaria, Lily, has been the Fairy Godmother there for about 300 years. Rosa is the current princess, and The Tradition is trying to morph Rosa’s life into a fairy tale (and mixing the fairy tales up in the process). When Rosa’s mother dies, Lily convinces Rosa’s father that he and Lily should marry in order to keep the kingdom safe. To keep up appearances for The Tradition, Lily acts as the Evil Stepmother to Rosa, particularly after the King dies.

At this point, in order to protect the small, but rich, kingdom from invaders, Lily (aka Queen Sable) invites princes from the neighbouring kingdoms to come vie for Rosa’s hand. To do this, Lily and Rosa (with the help of Lily’s magic mirror) come up with “trials” for the princes to compete in. One of the princes (in actual fact, a Hero), Siegfried is big and more of a fighter than anything, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Also competing are Siegfried’s new friend Leopold and the charming and handsome Desmond.

I really enjoyed this, especially from about half-way through (maybe a bit earlier) when the trials began. The trials were fun. I also loved Siegfried, who has a wonderful way with animals. He also added some great humour into the book. Rosa and Lily were strong, tough women, which I also really liked.

Cumulative page total = 24,283

77. I Hunt Killers / Barry Lyga
4 stars
378 pages

Jasper (aka Jazz) Dent’s father, Billy, is a serial killer (with over 100 murders to his name). His mother disappeared a while ago, and his father is now in jail. Jazz lives with his senile grandmother (Billy’s mother). Although it’s more Jazz taking care of her than the other way around. Jazz is in high school and is afraid, due to how he was raised, that he will turn out like Billy. When there is one murder in town, Jazz is convinced it’s a serial killer, but the police won’t listen because it’s only one and there has to be at least three before they are considered serial. But Jazz not only knows, he is able to predict the next murder… That’s when the police start listening to what Jazz has to say.

I listened to the audio and this was good. Quite a different perspective on a serial killer novel. In addition to the murder mystery aspect of the book, Jazz was dealing with doubts about himself, and not knowing/worrying if/that he might turn out like his dad. I did find it a bit unbelievable that the cop would go to Jazz with details of the murders, but I guess he was hoping Jazz could help. Overall, though, I really liked this; it is a series and I will continue.

Cumulative page total = 24,661

78. The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost / Daniel Allen Butler
4.25 stars
279 pages

This is a book about the sinking of the Titanic, but more from the points of view of two of the closest ships that night. In fact, one of them – the Californian – was within sight distance and saw the distress rockets go up… and the captain, Stanley Lord, didn’t do anything. He was a very authoritarian captain and his subordinates didn’t feel that they could go against him. Further away (unfortunately a full 4 hours or so), was another ship – the Carpathia – whose captain, Arthur Rostron, immediately set sail as fast as the Carpathia had ever gone in her life to get to the Titanic as soon as possible. It was the Carpathia who plucked as many survivors as she could out of the lifeboats to safety.

This was really good. I’m sure I must have read snippets about these other ships in the other Titanic books I’ve read, but I don’t recall details from those books, though I knew the names of the ships. This was very detailed from those points of view. Leading up to the disaster, this also looked at brief biographies of the captains and a bit of history of the ship/cruise and wireless industries. There was also a close look at the inquiries afterward, both in the US and in Britain to get to the bottom of what happened that night

Cumulative page total = 24,940

79. The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, The Queen, and the King's Mother / Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, Michael K. Jones
3 stars
312 pages

This is a biography of three women during the time of the Wars of the Roses (once called “The Cousins’ War”): Elizabeth Woodville (Edward IV’s wife, and the mother of the two “princes in the tower”), Jacquetta “Rivers”(?) (Elizabeth’s mother), and Margaret Beaufort (Henry VII’s mother). Each author writes about one of the women, plus Philippa Gregory writes an introduction on women and history – why you won’t find as much information about women in history and more.

As mentioned in the (quite interesting, I thought) introduction, it’s hard to find information about historical women. Because of that, it’s hard to write an interesting biography, I think. Jacquetta seemed to have the least amount of information to work with. For all three (but especially Jacquetta), there was more about the war and what the men were doing and the big events than about the women themselves, and I’m not as interested in the wars, the fighting, and the politics. So, I tended to skim over those parts, unfortunately, and that’s why I kept my rating to 3 stars, ok.

I did learn a bit, though. Although I’ve read a little bit about the Wars of the Roses, I couldn’t have told you who Jacquetta was. I also get Margaret Beaufort mixed up with Margaret of Anjou (and I’m still not entirely certain who Margaret of Anjou is, although she was around at the same time and was mentioned in this book).

Cumulative page total = 25,252

80. The Silver Linings Playbook / Matthew Quick
3.5 stars
289 pages

30-year old (he thinks) Pat has just come home with his mom from the “bad place” – the mental institution – where he has been for a while. He doesn’t (initially) realize it’s been actually been years. Pat is convinced he and his wife Nikki will come together after their “apart time” because he trying really hard to better himself, with exercise and choosing to be kind (instead of being right). He, his father, and his brother are all huge football fans of the Eagles. Pat and his brother bond fairly quickly, with the help of the Eagles games, but Pat’s father is having a harder time connecting with Pat. Pat’s best friend Ronnie introduces Pat to Ronnie’s sister-in-law, Tiffany, but Tiffany is just odd. And Pat still loves Nikki and plans to reconcile with her as soon as possible.

I liked this! There way maybe more football than I liked, but still, overall I liked it. I really liked Pat’s therapist. I did see the movie I-don’t-know-how-many-years-ago and remember liking it, too, but I remembered very little about it. I believe it is why I decided to read the book, though. It is a very quick read.

Cumulative page total = 25,541

Hopes for July:

- Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands / Chris Bohjalian (book club)
- Hana / Lauren Oliver (RandomCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Angry Weather / Friederike Otto (KITastrophe, AlphaKIT)
- A Night Divided / Jennifer A. Nielsen (Read Thru Time)
- Caste / Isabel Wilkerson (HistoryCAT)
- Strange Bedpersons / Jennifer Crusie (GenreCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Honolulu / Alan Brennert (PBT Trim, Fly the Skies)
- The Midnight Bargain / C.L. Polk (PBT)
- Pride & Prejudice & Kitties / Pamela Jane (PBT)

Audio:
- The Sun Down Motel / Simone St. James (ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT)
- The 9th Judgment / James Patterson (MysteryKIT)
- Maisie Dobbs / Jacquiline Winspear (MysteryKIT)

Carry overs:
- The Other Passenger / Louise Candlish (Netgalley)
- The Last Runaway / Tracy Chevalier (if the hold comes in at the library)

Netgalley:
- Never Saw Me Coming / Vera Kurian

81. Such a Quiet Place / Megan Miranda
4 stars
352 pages

Set in a close-knit neighbourhood with a pool, and beyond that, woods and a lake, Harper lives alone after her fiance cheated, then left, and her roommate, Ruby, was arrested and put in jail for killing two of the neighbours – the couple next door. All the neighbours have an online chat where they discuss things, then immediately delete. Ruby was in jail for just over a year before she is let out on a technicality and to everyone’s surprise, she comes back and walks into Harper’s house like nothing had happened! To no surprise, this puts everyone on edge. Harper had, at least, testified in Ruby’s defense, but she was never really sure whether or not Ruby had done it.

I thought this was really good. It kept me reading and wanting to continue reading. Everyone has secrets. There were creepy parts. There was a map at the start of the book to show the layout of the neighbourhood and where each of the main “players” lived on the block, which I thought was a nice addition.

Cumulative page total = 25,893

82. The Other Passenger / Louise Candlish
4 stars
400 pages

Jamie and Clare are Gen Xers and become fast friends with Kit and Melia (in their late 20s/early 30s) in January of 2019. Clare and Melia work together. Kit and Jamie start taking the public transit boat on the Thames together. Just before Christmas, Kit disappears; Jamie was the last person to see him, as far as the police know.

This started off slow, but really picked up about half-way through, then again with about a quarter of the book left. Because of the slow start, I wasn’t sure I’d rate it as highly as I did, but the second half pulled me in more, and there were some good twists! I don’t think any of the characters were particularly likeable, though. The book opens with Kit’s disappearance, then backs up as Jamie tells his story. That first half (while it’s still a bit slow), is mostly snippets of each month leading up to Christmas.

Cumulative page total = 26,293

83. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands / Chris Bohjalian
3.75 stars
288 pages

Emily (grade 11) was at school when it happened. There was just a couple more days until the end of the school year. Both her parents worked at the nuclear plant in town. The kids at school only knew that sirens were going when they were loaded on to buses and taken away. Emily kept overhearing things about her parents, about how her drunk father had caused this. She needed to disappear. She didn’t want anyone to know she was their daughter, since they were being blamed for the meltdown.

Emily, who since changed her name to Abby, is telling the story in hindsight, and going back and forth in time, and she does jump around, as it’s kind of a conversational tone. There is one dividing line that makes it easier to tell when in time you are as you read: B.C. and A.C. (Before Cameron and After Cameron). Cameron is a young runaway boy that she takes under her wing, as they are both homeless on the streets of Burlington, Vermont.

The book is rough as it shows the life of a homeless teenage girl. I did cry a few times, usually in reference to Maggie, the dog Emily had left behind in the radioactive zone (not that she had a choice). I had to laugh at the “connection” between Emily Dickinson’s poems and the “Gilligan’s Island” theme (and then I sang the poems as they came up in the book)! I quite liked this and it got just a bit more interesting toward the end, but I’m not sure I liked it as much as others I’ve read by Bohjalian.

Cumulative page total = 26,581

84. Maisie Dobbs / Jacqueline Winspear
2.5 stars
304 pages

In 1929, Masie Dobbs is opening up a detective agency and gets her first case. It’s not long before she solves this one, then the book takes us back in time to when she was younger and had to take a job as a servant, where she was not only treated well, but she was helped with an education. Then WWI hit, and she became a nurse.

This might not be a great summary, as I listened to the audio and missed much of it. I was interested at the start, then sort of missed the going back in time (although it did say the year at the start and I sort of wasn’t thinking, as I do – vaguely – recall hearing the new date). From there to the end of the book, what I paid attention to was patchy.

I was somewhat interested again for part of her time during the war. There were very few characters that I remembered who they were when mentioned again later in the book, though. I did like Simon and Maisie’s relationship with her father, Frank. They are pretty much the only other characters I remember (oh, and Lady Rowan – Maisie’s employer when she was a servant). I got the idea that there was another mystery at the end of the book, but I really had no clue what was going on there – apparently (based on other reviews), there was a murder – I had no idea! See how much I missed!? Although it’s considered a mystery, there is next to no time spent on a mystery in the book. Needless to say, I will not be continuing the series.

Cumulative page total = 26,885

85. Honolulu / Alan Brennert
4 stars
431 pages

Named “Regret” by her parents, this little Korean girl so wanted an education but it was forbidden. As a teenager, though, she managed to get permission to travel to Hawaii as a “picture bride”. Immediately upon arrival, along with four other Korean girls she met on the ship, and now self-named Jin (meaning “Gem”), they married their new husbands before being allowed entry into their new country. Jin’s hope had been that her husband would be able to get her an education in Hawaii, but she was sorely disappointed (to put it mildly), not only with this, but with many other things, as well.

I really enjoyed this. I not only learned about the life of a picture bride, I learned about Hawaii in the early 20th century, and about Korea and the interactions with Japan that I really knew nothing about. I was impressed with how many real-life people Brennert brought into the story.

Cumulative page total = 27,316

86. A Night Divided / Jennifer A. Nielsen
4 stars
246 pages

Overnight, one night in 1961, a barbed wire fence went up in the middle of Berlin. It was the beginning of the Berlin Wall, which of course, was built up as a concrete barrier in later months. Gerta is only 8-years old, and her father and middle brother were in West Berlin at the time. They have no way back. When Gerta is 12, she sees her brother on the other side of the wall as she is walking to school. When she sees her father a few days later, he tries to signal something to her: he wants her to dig her way to escape.

This was really good. I have to admit I really knew very little about the Berlin Wall (beyond that it came down in 1989) or the politics surrounding it, so this was interesting to learn. And heartbreaking for those families who were separated. In an interview with the author at the end of the book, it seems that most families were eventually reunited, but the exceptions were those people who were “dissidents” (as Gerta’s father is in the book) – those who were known to not agree with how things were being run.

Cumulative page total = 27,562

Hana / Lauren Oliver
3.5 stars
46 pages

This is a short story in the Delirium series. Hana is coming up to the time she will be “cured” – that is, she will not be able to love. In the months leading up to that time, however, she has discovered an underground of young people who have not yet been cured. They party, dance, and love before they will no longer be able to.

This was good. Very short, but a quick capture of one of the characters in the series. I have read the first in the series and there are more short stories following different characters, as well as at least two more full-length books in the series.

Cumulative page total = 27,608

88. Strange Bedpersons / Jennifer Crusie
3 stars
158 pages

Tess and Nick broke up a while back. When Nick shows up at Tess’s door, he needs a favour. In order for a big promotion at his work (he’s a lawyer and his work (and money) has always been his priority), he needs someone to pose as his fiancee for a weekend event and he’s hoping Tess will help him out. They never had much in common beyond a wild attraction, and although Tess hesitates, she agrees. Not only that, she convinces her best friend to accompany Nick’s friend/fellow lawyer (Park) to the same weekend gathering, although she really can’t stand Park.

This was ok. Romance is not usually my “thing”, but sometimes the chick lit has enough other in it that it can be fun and light and enjoyable to me. There were attempts at humour that didn’t really make me laugh in this one, and I’m not sure I really liked any of the characters. There was a secondary plotline that was kind of interesting with a bit of a twist in it, which I liked. This was short and will be forgotten fairly soon, I’m sure.

Cumulative page total = 27,766

89. The Midnight Bargain / C.L. Polk
3.5 stars
411 pages

Beatrice wants to spend her life learning magic, doing magic, and becoming a mage. With this, she wants to help her merchant father. Unfortunately, society (and her father) have other plans for her: marriage and children. And as soon as a woman is married, on goes the collar to stifle all magic because it might hurt any forthcoming children. So, women don’t get to do magic (only men) until they are beyond childbearing years.

In a bookstore, as Beatrice hunts for grimoires (textbooks) to help her learn magic, she runs into a brother and sister from a wealthy family who could have an influence on her father’s business. The sister, Ysbeta, wants the same grimoire Beatirce has her hands on. Playing peacemaker, Ysbeta’s brother suggests Beatrice and Ysbeta learn together, but Ysbeta buys the book and walks out without providing an invitation/calling card for Beatrice to meet her to study. In the meantime, it is bargaining season when the eligible men come to woo the eligible daughters and/or bargain with their fathers.

This was good. Fantasy can be hit or miss for me, depending on the type of fantasy. This was urban fantasy, so more my “thing”. There is also a romance mixed in, but not too much romance for my liking, either. Overall, I liked it.

Cumulative page total = 28,177

90. The Sun Down Motel / Simone St. James
4 stars
336 pages

In 1982, Viv arrives in Fell, New York, and starts working the night shift at the Sun Down Motel. It’s not long before she learns of the visitors (some alive, some not) to the motel. As she learns more about the murders (and deaths) that happened in the previous few years, she does some investigating and comes up with a theory about what happened. But, not long after, Viv herself disappears.

In 2017, Viv’s niece Carly arrives in Fell. Carly has a fascination with true crime, and with her mother (Viv’s sister) recently passed away, Carly feels like she can investigate what happened to Viv. Following in her aunt’s footsteps, Carly also starts working at the Sun Down Motel… only to discover some of those same visitors to the motel.

I listened to the audio. There were two different voices for each of the main characters. It didn’t hold my attention 100%, but I was interested enough that plenty of times, I “rewound” to hear what I’d missed. There was some good atmosphere, with some creepy happenings.

Cumulative page total = 28,513

91. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents / Isabel Wilkerson
3.75 stars
585 pages

In this book, African-American author, Isabel Wilkerson, argues that the United States has a caste system with African-Americans at the bottom. She makes comparisons to the caste system in India (with Untouchables at the bottom) and with the Nazi regime in Germany. Caste is a bit different from social class in that you are born into your caste and you can never get out of it.

This was interesting. I was particularly drawn in by the Nazi comparisons, and I think that’s what I will remember the most of this book. I have to admit I unlikely to remember the list of “pillars” of the system (she did a chapter on each). I’d like to say the first half (which included those pillars) wasn’t as interesting, but it just depended on what she was talking about at the time. She has plenty of anecdotes through history, including her own. She also discusses politics, particularly the 2016 election, as well as the elections that brought Barack Obama to power. Of course, there is a lot about slavery, the Jim Crow laws, and the Confederacy, as well. She does do a really good job explaining and making the comparisons. This is – most definitely – well worth reading.

Cumulative page total = 29,098

92. The 9th Judgment / James Patterson
3 stars
369 pages

There is someone out there killing mothers and their babies. Also, there is a thief robbing people; after a high profile robbery (an actor), the actor’s wife is murdered and it appears that the robber is also the murderer.

I listened to the audio and overall, this was ok. It seemed like every time there was a focus on the women’s personal lives, it was all about sex. Ugh! Did they even meet up beyond the one time at the end of the book? I’m at a point where it may not be worth it to continue on. The audio had my attention sometimes.

Cumulative page total = 29,467

93. Angry Weather / Friederike Otto
3.5 stars
245 pages

Scientists are now able to study (some? most?) weather events and be able to determine how much more likely that event was made by climate change (or if climate change even made it more likely at all)! That is, they do it quickly, before the event fades from people’s memories and other events have happened in the meantime. This is unusual, since for scientists, peer review is important before publishing results of studies, but this can take months to do.

This book explains how they do that, primarily using models. There is a very small group of scientists worldwide who are currently doing this; the author is one of those scientists. She also looks at a few specific weather events and explains how they came up with their findings.

I thought this was good. There’s more to it than I’ve mentioned in my summary, and I can’t explain it well, but I did find it interesting. It may have been particularly interesting because about a month ago, there was an extreme heat wave where I am in Alberta, as well as in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. I had actually heard a couple of weeks ago that they had determined that this heat wave WAS more likely due to climate change and that it was 2C warmer than it would otherwise have been without climate change; when I heard that, I had no idea that a book I’d planned to pick up this month was going to look at that very thing! And, checking online, it was this group of scientists who came up with that.

Cumulative page total = 29,712

In August:

- The Meat Racket / C. Leonard (Reading Through Time)
- The Terror / Don Simmons (ScaredyKIT)
- The Wicked Deep / Shea Ernshaw (ScaredyKIT)
- Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs / Blaize Clement (MysteryKIT)
- Grey Matters / Clea Simon (MysteryKIT)
- The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England / Ian Mortimer (RandomCAT)
- Paper Girls / Brian K. Vaughan (GenreCAT, AlphaKIT)
- The Donnelly Album / Ray Fazakas (HistoryCAT)
- The Horseman's Graves / Jacqueline Baker (PBT Trim)
- We Have Always Been Here / Samra Habib (PBT, Fly the Skies)

Audio:
- Before We Were Yours / Lisa Wingate (Book club)
- The Virgin Queen / Ella Mae C (AlphaKIT)
- Chop Suey Nation / Ann Hui (PBT)
- The Romanov Empress / C.W. Gortner (PBT)

Netgalley:
- The Most Precious Substance on Earth / Shashi Bhat

Carry over:
- The Last Runaway / Tracy Chevalier (if the hold comes in at the library)

If I have time:
- Eight Cousins / Louisa May Alcott
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Elizabeth George Speare

94. The Almost Sisters / Joshilyn Jackson
3 stars
357 pages

When 38-year old graphic novel writer/artist Leia discovers she is pregnant, she is not unhappy. But she is single and this is the result of a one-night stand with someone she knows only as “Batman”, whom she met at a comic convention. Before she gets a chance to tell any of her family, she discovers her brother-in-law has been cheating and has left her sister, AND her grandmother is in bad shape with dementia. She must go see her grandmother, Birchie. Birchie is a rich woman who lives in a town that bears her family name and her best friend Wattie has been living with her for a long time, taking care of her.

I listened to the audio and it was ok. It held my interest more the further I got into it. The author herself read it, and she did a good job. I could have done without the entire plot of Leia’s graphic novel, though; that bored me, and there was too much of it. But overall, I’m calling this one “ok”. Nothing overly exciting or special, but it wasn’t bad.

Cumulative page total = 30,069

95. Never Saw Me Coming / Vera Kurian
4 stars
384 pages

Chloe is a psychopath. She will be attending university in Washington, D.C. She chose this school for two reasons: 1. she was able to get into a program where a resident academic/psychologist (or psychiatrist?) is studying psychopaths, and her tuition is paid; 2. Will goes to school there. Chloe needs to find Will, and she is counting down from 60 days to what will happen once she’s found him…

Andre is also in the program, but actually managed to fake his way in! He is not really a psychopath, but had other psychological issues when he was a bit younger (that, in many cases, does lead to a later diagnosis of psychopathy), and he applied as a joke. When he was accepted, it was hard to turn down the free tuition. There are five other psychopaths in Dr. Wyman’s program.

I’ve been reading a lot of mystery/thrillers lately (it has overtaken historical fiction as my current favourite genre), but many of them blend together a while after I finished. What I liked about this one is it’s a bit different with multiple psychopaths running around. The main viewpoint is Chloe’s, but Andre’s POV is followed, as well as a few others as the story goes on. I didn’t quite believe that someone would be able to fake their way in to the program with someone who has studied psychopaths for decades, but I put that aside to “enjoy” the story.

Cumulative page total = 30,453

96. Pride and Prejudice and Kitties / Pamela Jane, Deborah Guyol, Jane Austen
3 stars
208 pages

This is a (partial) rewrite of “Pride and Prejudice” with all the characters as cats.

It was cute; it was silly; it was ok. There were some parts that made me smile or laugh. It’s a short, fast read. There were cat photos included with subtitled phrases from the book to fit the photo; the photos were taken specifically for the book (and they thanked the people and cats in the acknowledgments at the end; I thought one of my cats had an unusual name, but it was kind of fun to see one of the photographed cats also has his name: Io.) Some of the actual text of P&P was included, as well. It went back and forth between the characters as cats and the actual text (which didn’t take away from the characters as cats – that is, it still “fit”). The text of the original is in italics, so easy to tell.

Cumulative page total = 30,661

97. The Marrow Thieves / Cherie Dimaline
3.5 stars
234 pages

It’s sometime in the future, and Indigenous people are being hunted by non-Indigenous for their bone marrow, as there is something in it that helps people dream, and Indigenous are the only ones who are now able to dream. Frenchie, a 16-year old(?) Metis boy, has lost both his parents and his older brother, so he’s on his own until he comes across a group of Indigenous people travelling north.

This was good. I had a bit of trouble getting into it at the very start, but it only took a couple of chapters. I didn’t like one of the decisions Frenchie made near the end of the book, but that ended up working out better than I’d expected. I also thought the very end was unrealistic, but it was good up to that point. It’s a pretty fast read.

Cumulative page total = 30,895

98. The Most Precious Substance on Earth / Shashi Bhat
3.5 stars
272 pages

Nina is an East Indian girl, growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is mostly vignettes of her life, starting in grade 9 in the 1990s and continuing through high school and beyond, as she becomes a teacher and navigates online dating.

I thought this was good. I liked Nina’s parents, and I liked many of the pop culture references. I was a bit confused that there was something at the beginning that never seemed to be tied up, though. I kept wondering if it would resurface later in the book, but it didn’t – unless I missed it.

Cumulative page total = 31,167

99. Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs / Blaize Clement
3.75 stars
216 pages

When pet sitter Dixie is at the vet’s to pick up one of the pets she is caring for (parrot Big Bubba), a girl and her stepfather come in. There’s something odd about the two of them, but Dixie’s friend, Hetty, offers the girl, Jaz, a job helping take care of the service dog Hetty is training. Not long after, three young thugs enter Big Bubba’s home while Dixie is there, looking for Jaz! A bit later, still, Dixie’s high school friend comes by, desperate for help, as her rich husband has been kidnapped and is asking for a $1 million ransom payment.

This is the 5th in the series, and it’s not entirely implausible Dixie’s friend would come to her, as she used to be a cop. I am still really enjoying this series, and in this one, I liked the additional info provided about parrots (even though they didn’t have much to do with the storyline). I also felt like this one was a bit different from the usual murder storylines in cozy mysteries.

Cumulative page total = 31,383

100. Before We Were Yours / Lisa Wingate
3.75 stars
384 pages

In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society was seen as a positive thing for adopting out poor orphans to wealthy families. It was only discovered in 1950 that many of those kids had families who wanted them. Many of those kids were kidnapped and kept in orphanages, abused, and finally sold.

This fictional account follows 12-year old Rill and her four siblings who were taken off their parents’ boat to live in an orphanage, then to be adopted out. There is also a present day story where Avery is trying to figure out something her grandmother Judy didn’t want anyone to know, as a stranger has a letter for Grandma Judy, but the letter isn’t allowed into anyone else’s hands except Judy, whose mind is no longer well.

I listened to the audio and I thought it started off pretty slow, so it took me a bit to get “into” it, and I might have missed a few things at the start (that may or may not answer a question I had near the end). It did pick up, though, and I found myself more engaged. I actually ended with a couple of questions, though; I have a guess as to the answer to one of them, but if it was outwardly answered, unfortunately, I missed that, too. My questions and the slow start are why I couldn’t bring my rating up to 4 stars, but the bulk of the book was engrossing enough that it almost could have been there. I was glad there was an author’s note at the end with more of the true story of the Home Society.

Cumulative page total = 31,767

101. The Horseman's Graves / Jacqueline Baker
2.5 stars
370 pages

This is set near the Sand Hills in Saskatchewan near the Alberta border. It starts in 1909, but quickly moves on to the next generation. I wouldn’t have known it from the story, but the majority of the farmers living nearby are German immigrants, (I think) via Russia.

All these things should have been more interesting to me with a German (via Russia) family background, and I grew up in Southern Sask and have been to the Sand Hills.

I feel like 2.5 might even be a bit generous. There was one storyline that was (somewhat) interesting, but mostly this was boring. I wasn’t all that interested, and I was confused by who some of the characters were and how they related to the story. Well, they were all in the same town/area, but otherwise… Drove me nuts the one character was simply called “the boy”. Seriously? He doesn’t have a name? Come on!

Cumulative page total = 32,137

102. We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir / Samra Habib
3.5 stars
190 pages

Samra Habib was still a girl when her entire family came to Canada from Pakistan. They were a part of a minority group of Muslims who were discriminated against in their own country. As she grew up, she knew she didn’t see things the same as her parents and she did not want to marry her cousin in the arranged marriage that had been planned. In fact, she wasn’t interested in men at all, and thought she may be asexual. As an adult, she came to realize that she was, in fact, queer. And she learned how to reconcile that with her Muslim faith.

This was good. It did move quickly and it felt like it skipped forward fast in some cases. It was interesting to read about, though.

Cumulative page total = 32,327

103. The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business / Christopher Leonard
5 stars
351 pages

This book looks at the meat industry, with more of a focus on the chicken industry: the way factory farming built up, the history of it. It started with the chicken industry first via Tyson Foods in 1929 with Jim Tyson. His son, Don, later took over and continued to grow the business, eating up all the different steps in the process, in addition to most of the smaller competitors. They control every step of the chicken business and have incredible power over the farmers, who are often driven to bankruptcy. But the banks continue to fund more farmers to take the places of the bankrupt farmers, because the banks get their money back on those defaulted loans from a federal program (that was not originally meant for this purpose!).

While reading the book, it hadn’t occurred to me to rate it as high as I am, but I feel like my reaction to the book warrants it. The anger, the swearing at the book, the emotions the book brought out it me, I think, warrants the 5 stars. It did make me angry and frustrated that things are going this way, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to stop it… unless the government gets some teeth and stops bowing to the corporate lobbyists for the good of the regular people, the good of the farmers. Well worth the read for anyone who wants to know (and even those who don’t!) what is going on with our modern-day food (or, at least meat) industry.

Cumulative page total = 32,678

104. Fairest. Vol. 1: Wide Awake / Bill Willingham
3 stars
160 pages

This is a spinoff of Wilingham’s “Fables” series. It focuses on Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) and Ali Baba. Ali Baba finds himself a bottle and when an imp comes out of it instead of a genie, he is sorely disappointed. However, the imp explains that Ali Baba needs to find the sleeping princess and wake her with “True Love’s Kiss”. When he finds her, though, there are two sleeping women – and he doesn’t know whom to wake, so he wakes them both – Briar Rose and the Snow Queen, who then chases after them to capture them.

This was ok. Maybe I would have liked it more if I’d read it closer to when I was still reading “Fables” and at the point where this one made more sense? As always, the colour illustrations were very nice, but the story left something to be desired. I will not be continuing this spinoff series.

Cumulative page total = 32,838

105. Paper Girls. Vol. 1 / Brian K. Vaughan
3.5 stars
144 pages

It’s the late 1980s. 12-year old Erin is doing her paper route in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, so there are still people wandering about in costumes from Halloween. When a group of boys starts harassing her, three other girls (also delivering their papers – but they are doing so together) come to Erin’s rescue. They stick together the rest of the night, but there are weird things going on… from something that looks like the spaceship from War of the Worlds to other creepy looking monsters roaming about outside. Not only that, the girls’ parents (at least the two whose homes they went to) seem to have disappeared.

I liked this. Nice illustrations (it’s a graphic novel) and I liked the 80s references. It did end on a bit of a cliffhanger and I definitely plan to continue, but it might take me a while to get to the second volume.

Cumulative pages = 32.982

106. The Romanov Empress / C.W. Gortner
3.5 stars
448 pages

This is the story of Maria Feodorovna (aka Minnie), the mother of Nicholas, the last Tsar of Russia. She was a princess in Denmark before she moved to Russia to marry Alexander III, (later) Tsar of Russia. Minnie comes to love her adopted country Russia, has many children, marries them off, and tries to advise her children, even as they become adults. Nicholas, however, in marrying a woman Minnie never wanted him to marry, Alexandra, is more influenced by Alexandra (who, in turn, eventually is influenced by Rasputin, much to Minnie’s aggravation).

Once again, I listened to the audio, and once again, it took me some time to get “into” it. It actually took me a while to figure out exactly who Minnie was! It was also a bit trickier because I don’t know most of the people (though I know more about Nicholas and his family) in this story. I have to admit, once I figured out who some of the people were, it got more interesting, though there were always people throughout the book whom I couldn’t place. In most cases (likely all), I either missed it when the person was introduced, or I simply forgot. It didn’t help that many people had the same name and/or there were very similar nicknames for some (Alecki vs Aleksi (mother? son?– sp? I listened to the audio, so not sure of the spelling… add to that, Alix, who was Minnie’s sister!).

Certainly, it got more interesting with the conflict between Minnie and Niki’s wife. Alexandra when Alexandra was fawning over Rasputin. (But even before Rasputin, they really didn’t get along.) I do think there was a lot of historical detail to the book; it seemed it was well-researched.

Cumulative page total = 33,430

107. The Donnelly Album / Ray Fazakas
3.5 stars
297 pages

The Donnelly family was an Irish family who immigrated to Canada in the mid-1800s. They set up in the township of Biddulph, Ontario. They were rough – they got into fights, they drank, they vandalized neighbours’ barns (including arson), sabotaged competing business… The father, James, was even convicted of murder and spent time in jail. But the entire area was rough and others did these things, too. James and Johanna had seven sons and one daughter. After decades of the violence, locals got tired of it and took things into their own hands. In the end, four of the family were murdered and burned in one house, and one of the sons murdered in another.

I’ve read a couple other books on the Donnellys, so the entire story was not new to me, but I think this book had a lot more detail and more episodes of things happening. There was a LOT of detail. In addition, there were photos – of the people, the places, letters and other primary documents that the author used in his research. There was a LOT of research that went into this, but it was also a bit dry to read at times. I wanted to give it 4 stars for the extensive research, but I’ve kept my rating just under that. 3.5 stars is still good for me.

Cumulative page total = 33,727

108. The Wicked Deep / Shea Ernshaw
4 stars
227 pages

In the seaside town of Sparrow, Orgeon, the three Swan sisters, Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel, were drowned 200 years ago, accused of being witches. But there was a curse. Every year for a few weeks leading up to the summer solstice, they return and inhabit the bodies of three teen girls. While inhabiting these host bodies, they take their revenge by drowning boys they seduce.

Penny lives on the island with the lighthouse with her mother; her father disappeared mysteriously a few years ago. Just before the big party the night they know girls’ bodies will be taken, a strange boy wanders into town, not knowing what happens there every year. He wants to get a job working for Penny on the lighthouse island. But this is really bad timing for a new boy to come to town…

I really enjoyed this! It was not even on my radar, except that it fit a monthly challenge. Primarily the story was set in current day with Penny and Bo, but there were flashbacks to tell the Swan sisters story, as well.

Cumulative page total = 33,954

109. Chop Suey Nation / Ann Hui
3.5 stars
288 pages

Ann Hui grew up in Vancouver, and later moved to Toronto where she became a journalist. In 2016, she decided to do a cross-Canada road trip with her partner while stopping at Western Chinese (aka “Chop Suey Chinese”) restaurants and talking to and learning about their owners and the history of the Chop Suey Chinese restaurants in Canada and North America. This is as she learns that her parents had run a Chinese food restaurant before she was born that she never knew about. She weaves in her father’s story, as he immigrated from China (years after his father and sisters came to Canada), grew up, married, worked in and ran restaurants, and had children.

I listened to the audio, read by the author herself, and quite enjoyed this. I was particularly interested in the chat with the owner of the Silver Inn Restaurant in Calgary (where I live), as I was only there for the first time a couple of years ago. This s where “ginger beef” was invented. (I also hadn’t realized that ginger beef is specifically a Western Canadian dish!) But, there were other interesting stories, too. I have to admit it took a while to get “into” her father’s story – I found it more interesting after he arrived in Canada. Ann Hui did a good job of reading the book. She did stumble over words occasionally, but it didn’t detract from the story,

Cumulative page total = 34,242

The hope/plan for September (how is it September already!?):

- Fangirl / Rainbow Rowell (AlphaKIT, RandomCAT, GenreCAT)
- The Fires Beneath the Sea / Lydia ... (AlphaKIT)
- The Promise / Robert Crais (MysteryKIT, Fly the Skies)
- Crow Lake / Mary Lawson (f2f book club)
- Mammoth / John Varley (Reading Through Time)
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes / Caitlin Dougherty (ScaredyKIT)
- Ruby Red / Kerstin Gier (RandomCAT, GenreCAT)
- Such a Pretty Face / Cathy Lamb (PBT Trim, AlphaKIT)
- A Knight in Shining Armour / Jude Devereaux (PBT)
- Fountaineville / C.A. Simonson

Audio:
- The Road to Jonestown / Jeff Guinn (HistoryCAT)
- Notorious RBG / I.C., S.K. (HistoryCAT)
- Where She Went / Gayle Forman (PBT, AlphaKIT)

Carry over:
- The Last Runaway / Tracy Chevalier

110. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England / Ian Mortimer
4.25 stars
319 pages

This is nonfiction. The “time traveller” in the title is the reader; the “guide” is, of course, the book. The book takes us back in time to 14th century England, and walks us through, telling about the places (countryside, cities, towns), the people (classes of people), what they wore, what they ate, how they travelled and where they might stay (inns, people’s houses, which of course are different depending on the person’s wealth and rank). Basics like languages, the calendar and time, money and measurements. There are chapters and health and hygiene, as well as the law and what people did. Some things changed between the early and late 1300s and some of this is described, as well.

I found this so interesting. There is so much detail to immerse you into this time and place in people’s daily lives. And I do like the way it’s set up, with the reader “time travelling” there. I feel like this is the setting for (or at least bits and pieces are) many role-playing games, as well as much fantasy, whether on purpose or not. It turns out this is a series! I will definitely be continuing.

Cumulative page total = 34,561

111. Eight Cousins / Louisa May Alcott
3 stars
205 pages

Rose is left an orphan and initially goes to live with her aunts and boy cousins. It’s only a bit later that her Uncle Alec, a doctor, comes along with the intention to raise her, but the aunts are not too sure, so it all starts off and a kind of trial.

It was ok, but it was pretty sickly sweet. Just too much goodness going on with these kids. I did love Uncle Alec, though.

Cumulative page total = 34,766

112. Crow Lake / Mary Lawson
4 stars
295 pages

When Kate is only 7-years old, tragedy hits her family in Northern Ontario. She and her baby sister, Bo, end up being raised by their older brothers, Luke (19-years old) and Matt (17-years old). Luke gives up his future so they can stay together, and also so Matt can finish school and continue to university (he was always the smarter one, anyway – the one expected to go to university). Kate and Matt have a bond.

Grown-up Kate, a professor in Toronto, never thought she’d fall in love, but she has. But she also has a hard time opening up to Daniel about her past and her family, even though they’ve been together for more than a year. Daniel still hasn’t even met her family.

I really liked this. It was slow-moving, but I found even the biology bits interesting. There was tension in Kate’s family, though she didn’t understand much of it when she was a kid. And the neighbours had some drama (this may be putting it lightly) going on at their place, as well. I actually read this over a decade ago, but only remembered siblings and a lake (actually it was a pond). I really didn’t remember much at all, but it was chosen as a book club book, and I’m really glad I reread it.

Cumulative page total = 35,061

113. The Road to Jonestown / Jeff Guinn
4 stars
544 pages

Jim Jones was the leader of the Peoples’ Temple. This is the group that, in November 1978, committed mass suicide in Guyana, by “drinking the Kool Aid” (it wasn’t actually Kool Aid, but a similar flavoured drink, laced with cyanide). Over 900 people died that day. This book is actually a biography of Jim Jones, so it looks at his entire life. When he was starting out, he was charismatic, he believed in a world (in the 50s) where races mixed freely, and he believed in socialism, where everyone helped everyone else. The socialism attracted some to his group, as did his so-called healing powers. As his group got bigger, he moved them from Indiana to California, and of course, later to Guyana. He was married, but had several affairs and children.

This was really good. I didn’t realize until I checked it out of the library that the author is Jeff Guinn. It was just last year that I read his book on Bonnie and Clyde and I thought it was so well-researched, as was this one. I actually didn’t know much about Jim Jones or his followers, so this was new to me (except the “Kool Aid” suicide). I can see where he would have been very charismatic and appealing with his outlook on life, initially, at least. I would have liked to know more of the aftermath and the people left behind; I suppose that would have been somewhat extraneous, though, since the book is a biography of Jim.

I listened to the audio, and I do wonder if the book might have some photos (I suspect so – his Bonnie and Clyde book did), so I may have missed out on that, but the narrator was good. It was long, so yes, I did lose interest occasionally, but not often and overall, I thought it was well done.

Cumulative page total = 35,605

114. Such a Pretty Face / Cathy Lamb
4 stars
467 pages

Stevie’s mother was mentally ill and did a bad thing when Stevie was still a child (that I don’t want to give away in my review, even though we found out at the beginning what happened there). Stevie’s grandparents had done their best to take care of Helen (their daughter; Stevie’s mother) and protect her, while also taking care of Stevie and her sister, Sunshine. As an adult, the events of the book take place some months after Stevie had bariatric surgery; she has since lost 170 lbs.

She is trying to figure out who the new skinnier Stevie is, as she tries to deal with the lawyers where she works and the case she hates helping defend; her best friend who is still very overweight seems to have changed toward Stevie; the neighbour down the street, Jake (who only moved in just after Stevie’s surgery), is just way too good-looking and Stevie is completely tongue-tied around him, so she tries to avoid him altogether; and Stevie is trying to help her cousins plan her horrible uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary…

There is a lot going on in this book, and a lot of characters, but I really liked it. There is also a huge mix of very “weighty” (pun not intended initially, but when I realized it was punny, I decided to leave it!) issues in book: mental illness, obesity, abuse, and so much more, but mixed in with the occasional bit of humour. I found myself being horrified by Helen, Stevie’s uncle, her “friend”, and the lawyer defending that case, but then the author would turn around and put Stevie in some ridiculous situation (usually trying to avoid Jake!), and I’d be laughing. I thought she did that very well. II think a bunch of very quirky characters made it “easy” to throw in the humour. At the same time, the author did a good job of showing the struggle that Helen went through with her schizophrenia.

I was surprised at the lower ratings, but on reading the reviews, I can see why they rated it what they did, but it wasn’t enough to bring my rating or enjoyment of the book down (although some of the quirky characters were a bit too quirky for me!). I think all the emotions were in this book (there was also a lot of love).

Cumulative page total = 36,072

115. Where She Went / Gayle Forman
3 stars
264 pages

Three years ago, Adam and Mia split. Mia had lost her family and had barely survived herself. She was about to head to Julliard to study the cello. Adam, meanwhile, became a famous rock star. This is told from Adam’s point of view as he and Mia meet up again in New York after one of Mia’s concerts.

I listened to the audio and I had no issues with it. But overall, I thought the story was ok. It’s been a long time since I read the first book, but I did think the author did a nice job with the recap. It seemed to fill me in on everything I needed to know that I had forgotten. I guess music stories are not necessarily all that appealing for me, nor are rock star celebrity stories. Of course, this is a YA book, so I can see where both of those things are maybe more appealing for younger people.

Cumulative page total = 36,336

116. Notorious RBG / Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik
3 stars
240 pages

The RBG in the title is, of course, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the first women lawyers in the US, and later Supreme Court judge.

She was an amazing woman who brought about a lot of good for women, but I was a bit disappointed that this wasn’t really a biography as much as a look at her work and career, and the changes she brought to US law. There were bits and pieces of her personal life, but not a lot. I listened to the audio and it was not interesting to listen to various laws being read. It was pretty short – it felt like it was abridged but it wasn’t. This was published in 2015, before her death… and also before Trump made it into office. For me, this was simply “ok”.

Cumulative page total = 36.576

117. The Promise / Robert Crais
3.5 stars
293 pages

P.I. Elvis Cole is investigating, looking for someone at a home where no one answers the door. As he is leaving, police descend and he sees someone run out of the house. He runs after, but is stopped by police officer Scott James and his dog Maggie. There is also someone dead inside and a room full of explosives. Before James ran into Cole, though, he and Maggie came face-to-face with the guy who ran. They clearly saw each other’s faces.

This was good. It’s a lot of testosterone, maybe darker than much of what I prefer in a mystery, but what brought the rating up a bit for me was Scott and Maggie. I love their relationship! I also like that we are given the same scene (or important parts of the scene) from a few different perspectives. This is only the second book that follows Scott and Maggie. It’s too bad there aren’t more, as I find them so much more interesting than Elvis Cole and Joe Pike who have far more books in their respective series.

Cumulative page total = 36,869

118. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory / Caitlyn Doughty
4 stars
209 pages

Fascinated with death since she was a child, at 23-years old, after completing her medieval history degree, the author worked at a crematorium where she learned a lot and it prompted her to go to mortuary school, though she hated embalming with a passion! But she wanted to learn what the majority in the industry were taught. In addition to stories she tells of her coworkers, and incidents and stories with the dead bodies she worked with, she looks at the history of death rituals in various places and times.

Loved some of the quirky people she worked with! I enjoyed reading about the different death/dying rituals through time and place. She does throw some humour in there – I suppose to work in the industry one must possess some humour to lighten things up. Like her, I have been wanting to have a green burial for a long time now. It was just about a week ago that a new cemetery opened in my city with a green burial option, so I’m happy about that.

Cumulative page total = 37,078

119. The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Elizabeth George Speare
3.25 stars
261 pages

It’s the 17th century. Katherine (Kit) is from the Caribbean and is now an orphan, so she manages to find passage on a ship to Connecticut, where she has an aunt. Her aunt and uncle (and cousins) take her in, but she has a hard time adjusting to the culture, and to the amount of work she is expected to help with (she is used to having slaves to do the work). She befriends the local elderly woman who lives alone, Hannah. Hannah is a Quaker, and is also considered a witch by the locals and Kit is asked not to visit Hannah, anymore.

I listened to the audio, and mostly I liked it, but it was hard to keep focus, unfortunately. I liked it enough that I often rewound to listen again to try to catch what I’d missed, but I still missed more than I would have liked.

Cumulative page total = 37,339

120. The Last Runaway / Tracy Chevalier
3.75 stars
249 pages

In the mid-1800s, Honor, a Quaker, is accompanying her sister Grace across the ocean from England to Ohio, where Grace is to marry Adam, someone they grew up with who had moved to Ohio to help out his brother in his business. Unfortunately, Grace dies along the way. Honor is so seasick on the crossing, she can’t imagine getting back on a ship to cross the ocean again to head home. But it’s a bit odd for her to live with her widowed almost-brother-in-law, and his newly widowed sister-in-law. They manage for a while.

On her way to Ohio, Honor met up with a local slave hunter. Before reaching Adam, Honor stayed a few days in a nearby town, helping Belle in her hat shop, as Honor is an amazing quilter and seamstress. Once she arrives to stay with Adam, though, she finds herself quite out of place, despite being part of a community of Quakers.

This book had a lot going on… that is, the author had to do a lot of research on a lot of different things, including Quakers, quilting, Ohio, and the Underground Railroad. I quite liked it, but I never did figure out the odd attraction she had for one character. I did love Belle! I’m not a quilter or sewer, so I found the Underground Railroad and the Quakers more interesting. It’s odd that I’ve not read much about Quakers before, but both my audio book and this one, being read at the same time included Quakers who are immigrants to the US (though the audio was set in the 17th century and this one in the 19th).

Cumulative page total = 37,588

121. A Knight in Shining Armor / Jude Deveraux
4 stars
361 pages

Dougless is on a trip to England with her partner, Robert, and his spoilt-brat daughter, Gloria. When, after a fight, Robert and Gloria drive away and leave Dougless behind at a church without even her purse, she breaks down in tears on top of a tomb – the tomb of 16th century “rake” Nicholas Stafford. When a man appears, she refuses to believe he is from the 16th century – he says he IS Nicholas. She just thinks he’s crazy! Even still, she agrees to help him, as he is obviously confused about everything going on around him (or he’s acting so, anyway). They decide to do some research to find out more about what happened to him (he appeared to Dougless only 3 days before he was scheduled to be executed) – that is, who accused him of the crime he is to be executed for.

I quite enjoyed this. I’m not a big romance fan, but I do like time travel. This one got even better with an unexpected turn of events in the middle of the book. Although, I did find Dougless to be a bit – I can’t think of a good word, but “flakey” maybe? I have no idea what she ever saw in Robert! I do feel like this was a tough one to find a good ending for, but I thought she did a good job with that. There is an afterword in the edition I read, which was apparently slightly rewritten from the original. The author said she tried to make the reader see a bit better why Dougless might have wanted so badly to marry Robert, but I still didn’t get that part of it. Despite that, however, I did love the time travel aspect of the book!

Cumulative page total = 37,949

Hopes and dreams and plans for October!

- Quackery / Lydia K., Nate P. (Reading Thru Time)
- Twelve Patients / E. M (AlphaKIT)
- The Terror / Dan Simmons (GenreCAT, Fall Flurries)
- The Last Days of the Romanovs / Helen Rappaport (HistoryCAT, Fly the Skies)
- Rasputin: A Short Life / F W (HistoryCAT)
- Secrets in the Cellar / J (ScaredyKIT)
- The Lost Dogs / Jim G (ScaredyKIT, RandomCAT?)
- Don't Turn Your Back on the Animals / BRC (RandomCAT)
- Ask the Animals / Bruce R C (RandomCAT)
- Shine / Lauren Myracle (MysteryKIT, PBT?)
- Leaving Lucy Pear / Anna Soloman (Book Club)
- Sylvia / Bryce Courtenay (PBT Trim)
- Hench / Natalie Zina Walschots (PBT)

Audio
- The Husband / Dean Koontz (GenreCAT, Fall Flurries)
- Squire / Tamora Pierce (PBT)
- Lilac Girls / Martha Hall Kelly (Nov book club)

Netgalley
- The Sisters Sweet / Elizabeth Weiss (AlphaKIT)

122. Fangirl / Rainbow Rowell
3.75 stars
312 pages

Cath and Wren are twin sisters and going to college. Not only are they leaving their dad, but Wren has insisted they not be roommates so they can meet new people. Which is fine for outgoing, party-girl Wren, but Cath is a shy nerd. A fanfiction writing nerd, obsessed with Simon Snow, the wildly popular fantasy series, and the last book will be coming out soon. Cath’s new roomate Reagan is distant, but Reagan’s boyfriend is far too friendly – with everyone. Mostly Cath leaves him in the hall if Reagan isn’t home (which is most of the time). Cath is excited to start her Creative Fiction course, though – a higher level class she needed permission to get into.

I really enjoyed the main story of Cath and the events surrounding her. For me, there was far too much Simon Snow, though. I skimmed over almost all of the Simon Snow writings in the book. This is what brought my rating down by a quarter star. I did come to quite like Reagan. I loved Luke! There were some serious topics in the book, but it’s still a lighthearted book with humourous bits thrown in.

Cumulative page total = 38,261

123. A Spark of Light / Jodi Picoult
3 stars
373 pages

This starts off with a hostage situation in a women’s reproductive health services clinic. The daughter of one of the police is in there. Along with many others.

It was good, but hard to follow – maybe more-so because I listened to the audio. Lots of characters, and all over the place in time/chronology with all the different characters made it really hard to follow. I don’t even know if the hostage situation was finished or how it finished! If it was finished off somehow, I missed it. I suppose the book wasn’t really about the hostage situation, and there wasn’t really tension with the hostage storyline at all.

There were a couple of interesting twists that I hadn’t expected. Speaking of that, there was another storyline for one of the characters that I’m not quite sure how it ended, either. Actually there was more than one, now that I think of it. I could have done without the abortion descriptions. Good parts: I learned a few things, an interesting author’s note at the end. I was going to rate it “good” at 3.5, but the end (or too many ends that weren’t tied up – or if they were, I missed them all) brought my rating down a bit.

Cumulative page total = 38,634

124. Mammoth / John Varley
4 stars
364 pages

Multi-billionaire Howard has a “thing” for elephants and mammoths. When he gets his hands on a frozen excavated mammoth, he hires elephant trainer Susan to help impregnate an elephant to create an elephant-mammoth hybrid. Also with that frozen excavated mammoth was found a Stone Age man – with a wristwatch! And a box. Howard figures the box is a time machine and he hires genius mathematician Matt to figure it out.

I really liked this. It started off fast paced, and there were plenty of other fast-paced events in the book to keep things really going. And a few surprising events. I also really liked the way the book ended. I wasn’t sure how it was going to wrap up, but I thought it was done quite well.

Cumulative page total = 38,998

125. The Sisters Sweet / Elizabeth Weiss
3.5 stars
416 pages

Harriet and Josie are twins, and when their family falls on hard times, their parents (having both worked in show business in the past) strap them together to make them appear to be conjoined twins and set about getting vaudeville work for them. They grow up doing this kind of entertainment and manage for years before 15-year old Josie simply gets tired of it, and – on stage – breaks out of the harness and runs off! They are ruined.

Josie is the one who always wanted to be a star, anyway… and she becomes one (this is not a spoiler as we know in the first chapter, before we go back in time, that she became famous). Harriet didn’t crave the limelight like Josie did, but it was all she knew. She and her parents go to her mom’s sister and husband for help.

This is told from Harriet’s point of view. I liked it, but I didn’t really find any of the characters particularly likable, including Harriet. The book did a good job of show business and the time period, I think. I definitely did not like the ending – it initially appeared to be going (kind of) where I wanted it to, then suddenly changed course. It is very possible others would like the ending more than I did, however.

Cumulative page total = 39,414

126. The Husband / Dean Koontz
3.5 stars
400 pages

Mitch is a gardener… makes less than $40,000/year. What a shock when he gets a phone call from his wife (and her kidnapper) that she is being kidnapped and they expect Mitch to come up with $2 million! And to prove they aren’t kidding around, they shoot the pedestrian walking his dog across the street from where Mitch is on the phone…

This started off really tense. It slowed down in the middle, though there were definitely some surprises thrown in there. Although the end ramped up again somewhat with a race against time, it didn’t pull me back in like I was pulled in at the start, but I’m not sure why that was. I did listen to the audio, and for the most part it kept my attention.

Cumulative page total = 39,814

>140 LibraryCin: I have a beat up old paperback copy of this in my library - it is one of the only romance novels that I really like. Of course the time travel thing is fairly common these days, but in 1989 when this book was published I hadn't encountered that plot device before and was delighted with it :) I like that the characters have normal human flaws, and seem like people you'd know.

>147 Darth-Heather: Oh, yeah. I bet it would have been a really fun read before there were as many time travel books!

127. The Terror / Dan Simmons
3.25 stars
1055 pages

In 1845, two ships sail from England looking for the Northwest Passage. The Terror and the Erebus later become stuck in ice for three years, as the men manning the ships died not only from starvation, cold, and scurvy, but there is something stalking them. Something… they don’t know what it is but it’s white, and much bigger than the white bears they have seen. It seems to appear out of nowhere to kill, maim, or maul.

This is a mix of survival, historical fiction, and (some) horror. The horror (the “thing” out there), I found was minimal. The focus was on the survival aspect. The book is very long, and I had a hard time getting interested until the last 1/3 of the book – that last 1/3 is what brought my rating up ¼ star. And it would have been nice for the book to be much shorter. The book is told from multiple points of view at different points in time, occasionally jumping back and forth in time. By that last bit of the book where I was more interested, it was chronological.

There were a lot of men on the two ships and, although, I was able to keep what each of them did straight (at least those whose viewpoint we followed), I wasn’t able to keep straight who “belonged’ on which ship. The end was a bit vague in a couple of cases, I thought. Descriptions of the ships and workings of the ships were less interesting to me. A bit horrifying, but more interesting was the description of what happens as someone develops scurvy. Anyone looking for horror, though, this didn’t fit the bill for me at all, unfortunately. It was not scary, in my opinion.

There was a brief author’s note at the end that really just provided citations for his research. It hinted at the fact that this – the “Franklin Expedition” really happened, but I still wasn’t sure, although “Franklin Expedition” did sound familiar to me. Other reviews tell me it did, and I’ve just read a bit on wikipedia about it. That is, the two ships set out to look for the Northwest Passage and disappeared. I guess this partly explains the vagueness of the ending.

Cumulative page total = 40,879

128. Leaving Lucy Pear / Anna Solomon
3 stars
319 pages

In 1917, Bea leaves her newborn baby under a pear tree where she knows a family will find the baby. She assumes they will take her in and raise her, and they do. Ten years later, Lucy’s “adopted” mother Emma starts working for Bea, as a nurse to Bea’s uncle.

This was pretty slow. And vague at times as to what exactly was going on. I don’t think I particularly liked any of the characters – oh, I suppose I kind of liked Uncle Ira. I really didn’t care much about the characters, either, maybe because I didn’t like them very much? Initially, I thought I was enjoying the book, but I’m leaning more toward it being ok.

Cumulative page total = 41,198

129. Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything / Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen
4 stars
272 pages

The subtitle pretty much tells what this book is about. What to know all the health benefits of mercury, radium, arsenic and strychnine? That’s just the start! Of course, there is also a look at bloodletting and leeches, and much much more.

This is told with humour and plenty of fun illustrations from the past. Very interesting stuff. Some of what they look at here were things doctors actually did, but some other things were what the “quacks” were selling. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much I’ll remember. It looks at so many different things in short bursts of information, but was definitely interesting as I read it. The authors are a doctor and a journalist.

Cumulative page total = 41,470

130. Lilac Girls / Martha Hall Kelly
3.75 stars
496 pges

This follows three women during the time of WWII. Kasia was a young girl/woman in Poland who ended up in Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women where experiments were done on some of those women. Herta was a woman doctor who initially had trouble finding work, but took a job at Ravensbruck, initially not realizing what she was getting into. Caroline was a wealthy woman in the US involved somehow with orphaned children in France, and later with helping women who had survived Ravensbruck.

It took a while for me to get “into” the book. I was listening to the audio, so that may have contributed, but I did like both Kasia’s and Herta’s stories. All the stories skipped forward in time fairly quickly, and I would have liked for it not to skip so much time so fast, as I felt like things got missed.

I could have done without Caroline’s story altogether, and definitely without Paul (her married-to-someone-else French lover). He was creepy (though this may, in part, have been due to the woman’s voice narrating a man’s voice with a French accent – I’ve thought this before with a woman narrating a man’s voice with a French accent). In any case, I did not like Paul at all and found he and Caroline extremely boring. All her pining (and later his) just made me roll my eyes. Ugh! The only time Caroline’s POV was interesting to me was later in the book when she was more involved with Kasia’s story.

I also had never heard the term “rabbits” before when referring to women who had been experimented on. I looked it up part-way into the book (if it was addressed in the book, I missed it), and there is a reason that it referred only to these particular women and experiments. It is also addressed in the author’s note at the end.

Author’s note at the end: Herta and Caroline were real people (though Paul was made up). Kasia and her sister were also fictional but based on real sisters who had been imprisoned at Ravensbruck and who had been experimented on.

Cumulative page total = 41,966

131. The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg / Helen Rappaport
3.25 stars
288 pages

This book really does focus on the last two weeks of the lives of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children (4 daughters and 1 son) as they were imprisoned and later murdered. It does back up in time, though, to detail how they got where they were.

There was a lot more politics in the book than I’d expected, so that was not as interesting to me as the parts that did focus on the family itself. I will say, though, that this seemed really well researched, with a lot of primary sources being used, most notably (I think) writings by the last head guard of the Romanovs in Ekaterinburg (Yakov Yurovsky), who was also one of the main murderers. This book may have included the most detailed description of the murders themselves, likely due to the writings of Yurovsky.

Cumulative page total = 42,254

132. When Men Become Gods / Stephen Singular
4 stars
294 pages

This is a history of of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) – that is, the polygamous Mormons. It does give an entire history, but focuses on more recent events since Warren Jeffs took over as Prophet. Many women have left the FLDS in the past couple of decades due to all kinds of abuse; as well, many boys have been kicked out. The book was published in 2008, so it ends after Jeffs’ trial for accessory to rape (? something along those lines), with the main witness being Elissa Wall (who wrote “Stolen Innocence” about her life as part of the FLDS). She was the first person to bring charges against Jeffs.

I have read a lot about the FLDS already, so I’ve heard a lot of this. This one, though, gave me more insight into the behind-the-scenes investigating of Jeffs and investigating the issues with abuse (and money) within the community. As usual, when I end one of these books, I need to look up what is happening with Jeffs at the moment – he is still in jail, but he still has followers.

Cumulative page total = 42,548

133. The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption / Jim Gorant
5 stars
291 pages

This is (primarily) a look at the rescue and rehabilitation of Michael Vick’s fighting dogs.

It starts off heartbreaking as we get the background of the dogs as they were kept in Vick’s yard. And there is some discussion of the trial, etc, but moreso it follows the investigation into what happened and all the behind-the-scenes stuff as they gathered evidence against Vick and the other men who bred and fought these dogs.

But the bulk of the story follows (some of) the dogs after they are rescued. These dogs, unlike other fighting dogs before them, were not immediately euthanized, There were rescues that came to help with foster homes and sanctuaries to see if they could be rehabilitated and the vast majority of them were. Many found forever homes and some (as of the publishing of the book in 2010) were living in sanctuaries where volunteers continued to work with them. It was hard to read about one of the shelters that took some of them in right away – it’s a rough shelter with not much in the way of amenities.

There are sad parts thrown in as if it’s from one dog’s point of view, as well. Some of the work with the scared dogs reminded me of my volunteering with shy/scared cats, to be honest. The end of the book did a “where are they now?” for both the dogs and the people involved. Of course, “now” was around the time of publication over a decade ago. I realized that none of the dogs are probably living now.

Cumulative page total = 42,839

134. No One Goes Alone / Erik Larson
2 stars
263 pages

In 1905, a group of people come together to head out to an isolated house on an island where a family disappeared (I think). The people seem to be investigating paranormal activity. Part-way through, I was confused when it sounded like the group of people was shipwrecked, but I think the boat was taken or it disappeared or something, but the original intent for heading out to the island was still the paranormal activity (I think).

This was “published” as an audio book only, as Larson felt that ghost stories are meant to be told aloud. Great idea! Also great title, and (usually) great author. I was more interested in the author’s note at the end (at least it held my attention more) than the story itself.

This one, though, for me, did not hold my interest. It felt like a “classic” – slow, not much happened (I don’t think; what did happen, I missed much of). Probably the male British narrator did not help for me (for whatever reason, just that type of narration/voice will tune me out.) Like some others, it reminded me of The Haunting of Hill House, with a bit of And Then There Were None thrown in (but both of those are better – or maybe it’s because I didn’t listen to the audios of those?).

Cumulative page total = 43,102

In November - I have more books that can do double duty for my challenges, so I hope I can catch up on some ARCs and carry-overs. Well, shoot! As I type them out, there are still more than I thought...

- On Desperate Ground / Hampton Sides (Fall Flurries, HistoryCAT, KITastrophe, Reading Through Time)
- Locke & Key: Heaven & Earth / Joe Hill (ScaredyKIT)
- Ruby Red / Kirsten Gier (GenreCAT, PBT)
- The Fallout / S.A. Bodeen (GenreCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Bleed, Blister, Puke, and Purge / J.M.Y (AlphaKIT)
- The Lost Boy / Dave Pelzer (PBT Trim)
- Ask the Animals / Bruce... (RandomCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Don't Turn Your Back on the Farm / David Perrin (RandomCAT)
- Murphy's Law /Rhys Bowen (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT, PBT)
- The Play of Death / Oliver Potzsch (Mystery KIT, Fly the Skies)

Carry overs:
- Twelve Patients / E. M. (if/when it comes in at the library)
- Secrets in the Cellar / J
- Sylvia / Bryce Courtenay (PBT Trim)

Carry over/Audio:
- Squire / Tamora Pierce (GenreCAT)

Audio:
- Murder of Peacocks / Donna Andrews (PBT)
- The Last Star / Rick Yancey (AlphaKIT)

ARCs
- What Seems True / James Garrison
- The Castle / Ann Montgomery
- True North / Gary Eller

135. Shine / Lauren Myracle
4 stars
361 pages

When 16-year old Cat’s (former) best friend Patrick is beaten up and left for dead by someone – likely because he’s gay – Cat doesn’t trust that the small town police are trying very hard to find the culprit(s), so she does some digging of her own. Although, everyone knows everyone, for the past three years, Cat has pretty much shunned everyone (including Patrick), except her brother, who was also friends with Patrick, so it’s not that easy to get info out of people. While she learns some new, surprising things about the people she thought she knew, she is trying to come to grips with something that happened to her at the time she began to ignore everyone when she was 13.

I really liked this. As interesting as it was even from the start, it kept building to the end. I also liked the character from out of town who was introduced. There are some nice (mostly repeated, I think) dark illustrations between chapters, and I liked the way the scene was “set” at the start of the book, via what looks like a newspaper clipping, reporting the attack on Patrick.

Cumulative page total = 43,463

136. Hench / Natalie Zina Walschots
2.5 stars
416 pages

Anna works for a temp agency that finds people to work for villains. She doesn’t particularly like “field work”; she prefers to work at a desk, instead. When she decides to branch out and do some field work, instead, she ends up injured and on crutches for months. During this time, she does research and some calculations to figure out that heroes actually do more collateral damage (she figured out the math!) than it’s worth. So, she decides, when she can work again, she will find a way to bring down those heroes.

Ok, I’m not much for superhero stories, anyway. I had hoped to like this one more, but I think it just wasn’t my “thing”. There were parts that were interesting, but mostly I just wasn’t all that interested. I also didn’t quite agree with her hypothesis – yes, there is some collateral damage to innocents, but much of it is to the “bad guys”, anyway. The guys who are intentionally trying to do bad things to innocents! The author’s note at the end was interesting, though.

Cumulative page total = 43,879

>149 LibraryCin: Oh Cindy! I'm so sorry you did not have a good reading experience with this book! There is a whole lot going on in it, and the tragedy of the Franklin Expedition has developed its own set of explanations and myths. I find Dan Simmons a good writer with a lot of research, but there were a lot of threads.

And certainly folk music has written about this tragedy, everything from "Lady Franklin's Lament" to Stan Rogers' "Northwest Passage."

If you ever decide to do a re-read of this mammoth work, however many years from now, please consider listening to it as an audiobook. The narrator did an incredible job with the voices and accents: Northern Irish, cultured British (Capt. Franklin), and the crews and their working class, regional dialects. That made all the difference in keeping the different threads a bit more separated.

I do very much appreciate your honest review, and happy reading through November!!

>160 threadnsong: Thank you for the suggestion. It is a long book and I rarely reread, so it's unlikely. But, the good news is when I do reread a book, i do try to look for audio (if I didn't already listen to the audio the first time), and will choose the other format if it's available.

I think it's something that I might like to read nonfiction about, though.

137. Secrets in the Cellar / John Glatt
4 stars
250 pages

In 1984 in Austria, Josef Fritzl (who had already been raping his middle daughter, Elisabeth, since she was 11-years old), imprisoned her (now 18) in a dungeon under his house that no one knew existed. He had spent six years building it. He kept her there for 24 years, and fathered seven children with her (he already had seven with his wife – Elisabeth being the middle/4th one).

This book does look at all the abuses toward his daughter that just went on and on. Not only that, but previous to all this, he had a history of sexual crimes, only one of which he was convicted and went to jail for. His wife knew nothing about what had happened to Elisabeth – he told everyone she had run away (which would have been no surprise, as she had run away a couple of times previous) to join a religious cult. He took three of the children upstairs to raise them with his wife as adopted/foster children, so he could get the money for them. So, three of the children were raised in the “real world” upstairs, while three others in the dungeon, never seeing sunlight, and rife with all kinds of health issues (the 7th child only lived a few days before dying when Josef refused to get him medical help).

What a monster! Omg, don’t read this if you are at all queasy. I don’t know if I remember this case. She got out with her kids in 2008, only a couple of years after Natasha Kampusch (and I do remember that one). Maybe I don’t remember as much because the entire family ended up changing their names/identities so they could try to get some peace and try to heal. Elisabeth and her children got out of the dungeon in 2008 and the book was published in 2009. The book still managed to get in much of the aftermath, though I did look up more (the trial and to see how Elisabeth and her kids were doing after the end of the book). There is some repetition in the book, but it was well-researched.

Cumulative page total = 44,129

138. Squire / Tamora Pierce
3 stars
400 pages

This is the third in a series. Kel has been studying to be a knight for a while now, but many don’t think a girl should become a knight. However, she is determined. She is chosen as a squire to Lord Raoul – that is, she has now finished her education and is training with a real knight.

I listened to the audio, so I do suspect that had a bearing on my rating. It just didn’t hold my attention at some points, though other parts were good. Fighting is one thing that I just don’t find very interesting, especially on audio; I tend to tune out. That being said, I finished it two days ago and sadly, I have already forgotten most of it, unfortunately. However, there is one more book in the series, and I will plan to finish it.

Cumulative page total = 44,529

139. On Desperate Ground / Hampton Sides
4 stars
367 pages

This is about the Korean War. The Marines were ordered to come in to North Korea from the water, then over mountains during the coldest time of the year (in what turned out to be one of the coldest winters). There were a lot of stupid decisions made by two people higher up in the chain of command (sorry, I don’t know the military well enough to remember titles and who outranks whom), though the next in that chain knew they were stupid decisions and he did his best to follow orders, but to find ways to keep damage to a minimum.

I really liked this; it was really interesting. I know very little about the Korean War, and not only did this tell the stories of these Marines and how they (most? some? of them) got out of a bad situation, but I got a bit of insight into how the war started.

Cumulative page total = 44,896

140. The Play of Death / Oliver Potzsch
4 stars
499 pages

It is 1670. Jakob Kuisl is the hangman in Schongau, Bavaria. His daughter, Magdalena, married an almost-doctor (he didn’t quite finish his study/training), Simon, a while back. Even still, hangmen and their families are the lowest of the low in society. Simon is taking his oldest son, Peter to the next town over, Oberammergau, so he will have a better chance at a good education (which is harder for him to get in Schongau, with the prejudices toward him as the hangman’s grandson). Peter will stay with a former teacher of Simon’s, who will teach Peter at the schoolhouse there.

The morning Simon takes Peter to Oberammergau, however, one of the town’s residents is found crucified on a cross. Oberammergau has been planning and rehearsing for a Passion play, and the young man playing Jesus is the one found on the cross. One of the town’s council members (a rich man – whose son is the one who died) asks Simon to stay a while to help figure out what happened and to help out as a doctor, as Oberammergau is currently without one. In the meantime, back home in Schongau, Magdalena’s younger sister, Barbara, is finding herself in trouble.

I like historical fiction and I like mysteries, but historical mysteries don’t always pull me in. However, I really like this series. I feel like it’s gotten better as it goes along. This is actually a translation and the author discovered he actually has a hangman in his family’s history, so the series is based on that. There actually ends up being a lot more going on in this than my summary suggests. I’m happy to see that the series continues.

Cumulative page total = 45,395

141. Murder With Peacocks / Donna Andrews
3 stars
321 pages

Meg is helping plan three weddings in the same summer. Those of her best friend, her mother, and her brother. All weddings are happening in the same town so many of the people know each other. At one of the pre-wedding gatherings, one of the guests turns up dead. Meg’s father has always been interested in murder investigations, so he takes it upon himself to try to figure out what happened, along with Meg’s help at times. All the while, Meg is still trying to plan three weddings!

I listened to the audio and I’m going to rate it ok. The audio itself was fine, but there was a lot of wedding… and three bridezillas. I found some of the wedding traditions odd. I’m not sure why Meg was in charge of planning three weddings for other people; for a while, I thought maybe she was a wedding planner, but nope. There were some other wedding traditions that were different from what I know – do people actually open gifts ahead of time? (In this case, Meg opened the gifts and made a note of everything because apparently the bride and groom (to-be) were too busy. I couldn’t figure out why it needed to be done ahead of time, anyway.) Overall, it was ok. I won’t be continuing the series, however.

Cumulative page total = 45,716

142. Locke & Key: Heaven and Earth / Joe Hill
3 stars
73 pages

This graphic novel has a few short stories, mostly surrounding the house that was the centre of the Locke & Key books. Only one of the stories features the children in the main series. The last third of the book is mostly photos of the authors in places that inspired the fictional setting of the series.

I liked the short stories – the first one was the best one, in my opinion. The photos weren’t as interesting, but were ok and the book finished off with full page illustrations of the children in the series with other things in the background (the back of the book tells me these are additional covers). Overall, I’m rating it ok.

Cumulative page total = 45,789

143. The Lost Boy / Dave Pelzer
3.5 stars
304 pages

This continues Dave Pelzer’s memoirs after “A Child Called ‘It’”. At 12(?) years old, he is finally rescued from his abusive home life (particularly his mother) by a police officer and placed in a foster home. Until he turns 18, he goes through a number of foster homes, though except for the first one, through no fault of his own. None of his foster homes were bad to him.

This was good. The first chapter did back up just a little bit to give the reader a taste of what he’d had to endure previous to being removed from his biological family’s “care”, before moving on to follow him until he no longer needed to be taken care of via foster homes. He has all good things to say about foster care and the love and support he received after coming out of his previously abusive life. He talks more about this in an Afterword, as well as adding notes from one of his foster mothers, a teacher, and other people who helped him during this stage of his life.

Cumulative page total = 46,093

144. Murphy's Law / Rhys Bowen
4 stars
293 pages

It’s 1901. Molly is running from her small town in Ireland after she accidentally killed a man when he tried to rape her. In London, she meets up with a woman planning to take her children to America to meet up with her husband who is already there. Unfortunately, a medical test before they leave finds her too sick to travel. They decide that Molly will pretend to be her (Kathleen) and escort the kids to their father. Unfortunately, as they were detained overnight on Ellis Island, one of the men who had been on the same ship was murdered. Molly happened to see a guard that night in the vicinity of the men’s barracks; she had also been seen slapping the murdered man on the ship.

I really liked this one. Historical mysteries aren’t always my favourite, but I think the historical aspect of this was really well done: dealing with the hardships of arriving as an immigrant, not really knowing anyone… finding a job, so she can eat and pay for shelter. I did like her relationship with the kids she brought with her, especially the little girl. I would have liked a bit more follow-up with that, but maybe that will come in future books in the series. This might be amongst my favourite cozy mysteries, probably due to the historical setting, but that can’t be the only reason since (many) other historical mysteries don’t pull me in like this one did.

Cumulative page total = 46,386

145. The Fallout / S. A. Bodeen
3.5 stars
328 pages

Potential spoilers for book 1: Eli and his family have made it out of the underground compound without his father. They are reunited with Gram and Eli’s twin, Eddy. But it’s not easy fitting back in to a “normal” life after six years underground, especially as the well-known rich family they are as they try to hide from prying eyes. They don’t even know who they can trust.

I liked this. It did show how hard it would be to fit back in to a regular life, for Eli and the family, in addition to Eddy having to get used to this new world, as well. As I noticed at least one other review mention, the science fiction aspect of the book didn’t come into play until near the end, but that didn’t bother me, as I still thought the rest of the book was good, too. There were a couple of surprises near the end – one I’d guessed (just shortly before it was revealed), but I didn’t guess the other at all.

Cumulative page total = 46,714

146. Ask the Animals / Bruce R. Coston
3.75 stars
279 pages

This is a memoir by a veterinarian. It focuses more on his life than the animal anecdotes, but those are definitely added in, as well; that is, it the larger focus is on his life in becoming and being a veterinarian (as well as some family life and his own pets).

For the most part I liked it. I found the schooling and the anecdotes interesting. Of his home life, the pets were the best part. I was disappointed, however, to read that at least one of his cats (not sure about the others) was declawed, as was the office cat at his practice.

Cumulative page total = 46,993

147. The Last Star / Rick Yancey
2 stars
338 pages

This is the last book in a YA sci-fi trilogy where aliens have arrived to take over the planet and to destroy the majority of the humans (on a very broad level).

I should have reread my review for the 2nd book before grabbing the audio from the library. My review for the 2nd one specifically stated that I should NOT do the audio for the last book. Oops! Once again, there was very little to no recap for the previous books (or if there was, I missed it). Most of the characters have two names – their real name and their nickname, so it’s hard to remember who is who sometimes, especially when not fully engaged/interested in what I’m listening to. There were two different narrators, one male and one female, but more than two different viewpoints. Each chapter did say whose viewpoint it was, but because I missed things, I still had trouble knowing between the male or female characters whose POV I was hearing (combined with the multiple names and not really remembering their background because I couldn’t recall who was who…).

Cumulative page total = 47,331

148. Tomboy / Liz Prince
4 stars
256 pages

This is a graphic novel/memoir by someone who didn’t see herself as a girl, so dressed and acted more like a stereotypical boy. For this, she was bullied and had trouble fitting in, though she mostly managed to find a few friends in her different schools. This graphic novel relives her childhood and teen years in the 1980s and 90s.

I thought this was really good. The reader gets to see some of what she was struggling with as she lived through those years as someone who refused to conform to what girls should look like or do. Though I was never a tomboy, I was certainly also not a “girly girl”, so I could see some things in her that I felt, as well. I really thought this did a good job of showing her struggles.

Cumulative page total = 47,587

149. What Seems True / James Garrison
3.5 stars
250 pages

Dan is the company lawyer for a business in Texas. In 1979, when a black supervisor is found murdered, two people – a married couple – are arrested for the murder. Dan had recently become friendly with Sheila, the wife, and can’t believe she would do something like that. Meanwhile, the union is planning a strike.

It was good, but I found the union/company stuff less interesting. The mystery itself didn’t really dig into any racism (I thought it would), though the company complained about affirmative action and having to promote the black workers, even if they weren’t as qualified as the white workers. After the book got past much of the union issues, I found it more interesting, and I thought it had a good ending – a bit of a surprise. It turns out this was based on a real murder in Texas in 1979.

Cumulative page total = 47,837

150. The Thieves of Ostia / Caroline Lawrence
3 stars
195 pages

It’s ancient Rome and the dog belonging to one of Flavia’s neighbours has been killed and beheaded. Flavia and her friends plan to find out who did it.

This is a mix of children’s lit, historical fiction, and mystery. I listened to the audio, and overall it was ok. I did lose focus (as I seem to with audios more often lately) a few times, but the story was ok. There was a short author’s/historical note at the end, though being a kids’ book, it didn’t go into detail. Even with only an “ok” rating from me, it might still be a fun series to continue.

Cumulative page total = 48,032

For December:

- Written in My Own Heart's Blood / Diana Gabaldon (AlphaKIT)
- To Fetch a Thief / Spencer Quinn (AlphaKIT, GenreCAT)
- Canada / Richard Ford (Fly the Skies)
- Beth / Nora Kay (PBT Trim)
- Frozen in Time / Owen Beattie, John Geiger (HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT, Read Thru Time)
- This Accursed Land / Lennard B (HistoryCAT, Read Thru Time)
- Murder at Monticello / Rita Mae Brown (GenreCAT)
- The Homecoming / Andrew Pyper (ScaredyKIT)
- An Unwanted Guest / Shari Lapena (Fall Flurries, RandomCAT)
- The Library Book / Susan Orlean (PBT)
- The Bachelor Brother's B&B / Bill Richardson (PBT)

ARCs
- True North / Gary Eller (Early Readers)
- The Overnight Guest / Heather G (Fall Flurries, RandomCAT, NetGalley)

Audio:
- The Library of Lost and Found / Phaedra Patrick (PBT)

151. Sylvia / Bryce Courtenay
3.5 stars
491 pages

It’s the 13th century in Germany. Sylvia was young when her mother died and her father abused her. When he died, she was driven from her mother’s home and land by the local people. As she travelled, she met up with Reinhardt, who played lovely music on his flute that often caused rats and other animals to follow him; he called himself the Pied Piper of Hamelin. They travelled together and with her angelic voice and his flute, they entertained people (and/or he drove rats away) to get food to eat and shelter. Sylvia had additional (to the singing) gifts of her own, that when combined with the fish birthmark on her back, people tended to believe she was an angel and miracles happened when she was around.

Eventually, Sylvia and Reinhardt met up with a child, Nicholas, who seemed to have a gift for preaching (at least, when he partook of the mushrooms Sylvia showed him how to consume). Nicholas drew other children to him with his preaching and he decided (well, he was told by Jesus) there would be a “Children’s Crusade” from Germany to Jerusalem.

This was good, but long. A lot of religion in this one, and it seems some of it (but what?) was historically accurate. Unfortunately, the author only included acknowledgments at the end, so the fact that some of this really happened was mentioned but not expanded on, as I was hoping. I assume what really happened was the Children’s Crusade, but I will have to look that up to find out. This is long – almost 500 pages of small font (in the physical book).

Cumulative page total = 48,523

152. Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital / Eric Manheimer
3.5 stars
505 pages

The author is a doctor and was the head of the Bellevue Hospital in New York City for 14 years, I believe. This book dedicates a chapter each to one patient. One chapter focused on himself and his own bout with cancer.

I thought this was good. He was able to sit down with some of these patients and talk to them and find out more about their backgrounds, so he provides more than the medical information about each one. He talks about their lives, and how they came to be in New York and in the hospital. Some of the patients were immigrants and some were prisoners from the nearby Rikers Prison, and there is more variety in addition.

Given that he also looks at the people’s backgrounds, there is some politics thrown in, as well – some to do with the patients’ countries of origin, some with the way the US handles immigration, and some with public health care in the US and the costs. I have to say the chapter on his own cancer scared me a bit, as he described the treatments and such; what worried me was that I live alone and wonder how I would manage if I need to go through such treatments one day.

Cumulative page total = 49,028

153. The Castle / Anne Montgomery
4 stars
215 pages

Maggie has had a tough time the past 10 years or so. In addition to being raped years ago, she more recently lost her son. She is a Park Ranger in Arizona and has just returned to work. Her best friend’s partner, Lily, runs a local rape crisis centre for indigenous women, and she decides to volunteer there despite being unsure if she is hallucinating the boy she has seen climbing the cliff. Unfortunately, it looks like Maggie is about to be victimized again.

This pulled me in right away. The first chapter felt almost like horror with the chills it brought, though I’d tend to classify this more of a thriller. Some chapters do show the POV of the new rapist in town, but we don’t know who it is until the end, though there are a few possibilities. There are stats on rape included (both within the book and as part of an afterword) that I found interesting. I, of course, also loved the found little puppy.

Cumulative page total = 49,243

154. Freedom: My Book of Firsts / Jaycee Dugard
3 stars
272 pages

This is a follow up to kidnap (and rape) survivor Jaycee Dugard’s first book “My Stolen Life”. She was kidnapped at 11-years old and imprisoned for 18 years and had two daughters when they were found. This book tells of many things she did for the first time after she was free… things like her first plane ride (though she had been on a plane when she was younger), her first shopping trip to a mall, her first horse (she also had a dog and cats – some of the cats came with her from where she’d been imprisoned), and more.

It was good, but she does sound very young, in more ways than one. I did listen to the audio, which she read herself, and her voice sounds young (she must also still look quite young, as she is often mistaken for much younger than she is). But also in the book, she uses a lot of sort of “catch phrases”. I can’t think of the correct term, but young, slang-sounding phrases/sayings.

Cumulative page total = 49,515

155. Written in My Own Heart's Blood / Diana Gabaldon
3.5 stars
1578 pages

This is the 8th book in the “Outlander” series. Keeping it broad so as not to spoil anything from the previous book… Jamie and Claire are involved in the American Revolution, while the family is mostly in Philadelphia. Roger and Bree are separated in time as Roger heads back… for a purpose I won’t reveal. He ends up further back in time than expected in 1737, and meets Jamie’s father (and others).

3.5 stars for me is good. The book was good. To give a book 4 stars, it means I “really” liked it, and that’s hard to sustain with a 1000+ page book, but there were parts I really liked. Roger and Bree’s story pulled me in immediately and kept me interested. There were parts that focused on Lord John Grey and his son William – much of which I didn’t find as interesting, though some parts were. Near the start of the book, I didn’t even find Jamie and Claire as intriguing, but their story got better as the book went along, I thought. As always, I do like reading about the medical stuff, though having had a couple of eye surgeries myself, that bit with Claire fixing John’s eye was pretty graphic!

Cumulative page total = 51,093

156. The Library of Lost and Found / Phaedra Patrick
4 stars
352 pages

When librarian Martha is left a book with an inscription appearing to be from her grandmother - who died three years before that inscription! - she must find out what is going on. Her parents had told her that her grandmother, Zelda (who never got along with Martha’s father, but she and Martha were two peas in a pod) had died. Not only that, the book consists of many stories that Martha herself had written when she younger; Martha hasn’t written since her grandmother died. This leads to the uncovering of many family secrets.

I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audio, and I thought it was done well. I did lose a bit of interest in the stories that Martha had written (but “stories within stories” tend to do that with me… not usually interested, I skim). I did find the rest of it – the family relationships and secrets interesting, though I did guess at one of them, but that didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book.

Cumulative page total = 51,445

157. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition / Owen Beattie, John Geiger
4 stars
413 pages

This book first looks at the Franklin Expedition in the mid-1800s to find the Northwest Passage. Franklin and his entire crew of 129 people and two ships disappeared. In the years following, others set out to find them or some clue as to what had happened. In the early 1980s, Owen Beattie, a forensic anthropologist, and a team of others set out to the graves of three of the expedition members on Beatty Island to dig them up to do autopsies to see if that would tell them what had happened.

Surprisingly, I found the second half more interesting than the first. I guess all of it was potentially interesting to me, but I was surprised to be more engrossed in the parts as the modern-day scientists dug up the graves to find extremely well-preserved bodies and to read the details of their testing and what they found. Be warned that there are photos of the bodies that were dug up; of course, there are other interesting photos, as well.

Cumulative page total = 51,858

I'm so glad you liked "Frozen in Time" since "The Terror" really didn't do it for you ;). I found it to be a fascinating story, and how very, very sad for those three sailors to have their last resting place so isolated.

I hope you have a continued good reading year and stay well!

>184 threadnsong: Thank you, and I agree! I'm glad this one grabbed me more than The Terror!

158. Murder at Monticello / Rita Mae Brown
2 stars
405 pages

This is the third book in this series. The pets in the series understand the humans and provide commentary amongst themselves, though the humans are unable to understand the pets. In this one, a skeleton is found, dating back to 1803, and it appears that the person was hit with something on the back of the head and murdered, so the townspeople are digging through history to see if they can figure out what happened. Part-way through the book, one of the current-day characters is also murdered.

I’m surprised I came up with a coherent summary, but I think it’s fairly accurate. That being said, I just wasn’t interested in what was happening in the book; when I lose interest, I skim and miss much of the goings-on. I assume both murders were cleared up at the end, but I couldn’t say for sure. The animals are somewhat cute/amusing, but even then, not always. I will not be continuing the series.

Cumulative page total = 52,263

159. Canada / Richard Ford
3 stars
420 pages

In 1960, 15-year old Dell and his twin sister, Berner, are effectively “orphaned” when their parents are arrested for robbing a bank in North Dakota. Berner runs away and a family friend takes Dell over the Canadian border to a small town in Saskatchewan to live with and work for her brother.

The first paragraph sets things up, telling the reader of the bank robbery and also about murders, still to come. So, it starts with a “bang”, but after that, the book moves pretty slowly. That being said, I grew up in Southern Saskatchewan and thought the descriptions were very well done. It’s also always fun to recognize places, and there were a few really small towns mentioned nearby to where I lived. Overall, I’m considering this on

Cumulative page total = 52,683

160. The Overnight Guest / Heather Gudenkauf
4.5 stars
337 pages

Current day: Wylie is a true crime writer who has left her son with her ex-husband to head to an isolated rural area where she has rented an old farmhouse to be able to better concentrate on her writing. On a cold, blizzardy, freezing-rain/snow-filled night, she finds a little boy curled up in the snow outside the house. She brings him in to warm him up, but he’s not talking as to how or why he was there.

2020: 12-year olds Josie and Becky are best friends, but tragedy strikes when Becky stays overnight one night. The farmhouse then houses two murdered people and two people have disappeared. Josie is the only one who managed to get away.

Timeline unclear initially: a mother and daughter are kept locked in a basement, with an abusive man/father coming to visit occasionally.

Wow, this pulled me in right away and I wanted to keep reading! Unfortunately, for me, I was reading before bed (twice) and especially the first night, I had a hard time getting to sleep! (Which, really, in a thriller or horror book, is a good thing!). All three storylines were appealing to me, and the author brought them together very well.

Cumulative page total = 53,020

161. Just Mercy / Bryan Stevenson
4 stars
349 pages

The author is a lawyer and lives in Alabama. He is dedicated (in part) to helping people on death row, many who didn’t have proper representation to start with, many because they are poor. He focuses on one case throughout the book that he keeps coming back to, while interspersing other cases, along with statistics. The one main case follows Walter McMillan, who was convicted of a murder in the 1980s that it was very obvious he didn’t commit. Yet, here he was on death row.

I found this really interesting, And sad. He (and others) is (are) slowly, so slowly, trying to change things to make them better, but what an uphill battle. I listened to the audio and it was well-done; it held my attention pretty much the entire way through. Initially, I hadn’t realized until looking as I write this review, but the author read it himself.

Cumulative page total = 53,369

162. The Library Book / Susan Orlean
3.5 stars
338 pages

In 1986 there was a big fire at the central public library in Los Angeles. I don’t remember how many books were lost, but I believe over 700,000 were damaged. It was an old building with lots of fire violations and was soon going to be upgraded. Investigators determined the fire was arson and everything seemed to point to compulsive liar Harry Peak. The book flips between the fire and investigation to the overall history of the library and the librarians in charge.

The book is a mix of disaster, biography, and history. It was good. I particularly found the information about arson interesting. It’s not that easy to tell if a fire is arson. There is lots of interesting info about the inner workings of a library and its services, but I’m a librarian, so that wasn’t really new to me. There were some photos included in the book, mostly of the previous librarians (and one of Harry Peak).

Cumulative page total = 53,706

163. Beth / Nora Kay
3.75 stars
455 pages

It’s the early 20th century in Scotland. When Beth is 6-years old, she meets rich girl Caroline, and they become fast friends, even though they are of completely different classes and Caroline often treats Beth as being below her. Caroline’s grandmother does not approve – at all – of this friendship. When Beth’s missionary parents leave the country two years later, Caroline’s father takes Beth in as a companion to Caroline. But tragedy strikes while Beth’s parents are away…

I quite enjoyed this! I’ve had it for years and from the cover, it looks a bit like a romance, so I just never felt like picking it up, but it’s not. Maybe Beth was a bit too “perfect” and things just seemed to often fall into place for her, but I still liked her and I liked the story.

Cumulative page total = 54,161

164. How Hard Can it Be? / Peter Wiebe, Diana Cruchley
3 stars
141 pages

This is anecdotes of Peter Wiebe’s life, as told by him to his daughter. He was a Mennonite born in Saskatchewan and later lived in British Columbia. There was nothing extraordinary about his life, but his daughter wanted his memories to be written.

Peter Wiebe was a great-uncle of mine. I don’t believe Dad ever met him. The “stories” (more anecdotes, as they range from one paragraph to five or six, mostly) are ok. They are in Peter’s words, exactly; Diana did not edit them. They are not arranged chronologically, but each chapter is a topic. There is info about Canadian Prairie history, Mennonites in Western Canada, and life in general throughout the 20th century. Given that names are often reused in Mennonite families, the names were often familiar to me, even though they they weren’t people I actually know. And I “recognized” some of the situations and stories told, as similar to other situations and stories that I’ve heard in my family. There are photos included, and any info inserted by Diana is included in the captions to the photos, as well as a short introduction.

Cumulative page total = 54,302

165. The Homecoming / Andrew Pyper
3.5 stars
368 pages

Aaron, his mother, and his two sisters, Bridge and Fanny, are brought together at an isolated lodge/acreage(?) to be read the will of their father/husband, who had a fairly secret life, of which neither his kids, nor his wife knew much about. It turns out he was worth millions, but to be able to inherit this fortune, all four must stay at this lodge/acreage for 30 days with no contact with the outside world. They agree, but there are more surprises (and scares) to come.

I was reading this often while distracted. I really feel like I would have “enjoyed” the scary atmosphere of it more, had those distractions not been there. One thing I didn’t like, though, was that not everything was revealed to the reader at the end (unless I was distracted when it was?). Not everything I read needs to be tidied up at the end, but it seemed Aaron knew about it - it just wasn’t revealed to the reader, and I would have liked to have known what that little tidbit was. There were definitely some surprises I would not have guessed at.

Cumulative page total = 54,670

166. Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast / Bill Richardson
3 stars
152 pages

50-something year old twins, Virgil and Hector, run a bed & breakfast on a small island between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. There really isn’t much to do there beyond relax and read. Yet, the B&B has plenty of guests and the brothers are kept busy. This book includes anecdotes from both brothers, as well as some of the people who have stayed with them. Also included are a few “top 10” books (and authors) with various themes.

This is a bit of Canadian humour, parts made me smile and a few even made me laugh. I was ready to rate it “good” and I (mostly) did like it, but more so in the first half. The second half felt like it got a bit too philosophical for my liking. I liked that so many of the top 10 lists included Canadian authors.

Cumulative page total = 54,822

167. To Fetch a Thief / Spencer Quinn
4 stars
307 pages

When an elephant and her handler go missing from a circus, it is cancelled to the disappointment of PI Bernie and his son, Charlie. However, since Bernie shows up before he knows about the cancellation, he chats with the police detective who is there to find out more. Later on, Bernie (and his dog Chet, whose POV the book is from) are hired by the handler’s partner (and the circus’s clown) to find out what happened, since the police are treating this as the handler simply having taken the elephant to get away from the circus.

I really liked this one. As always, it’s fun (and sometimes humourous) to read from Chet’s perspective. This one was extra interesting to me with the animal welfare/cruelty angle of circuses.

Cumulative page total = 55,129

168. Our Darkest Night / Jennifer Robson
3.75 stars
384 pages

Antonina is a young Jewish woman in Italy. Her mother is not well. When the Nazis enter Italy, her father insists she goes away and hides, even though she must leave her parents behind. She is helped by a Catholic man, Nico, who had originally planned to become a priest. They pose as married, and she goes by Nina instead. They leave for his family’s home in a rural area. Unfortunately, someone Nico knew in his seminary (they didn’t get along) who was kicked out is now helping the Nazis, and he comes to keep watch on Nico.

I listened to the audio and it was done well. I rarely lost interest (which is always a risk with audio for me). I liked this. Like many, I have read plenty of WWII fiction, but in this case, I haven’t read much set in Italy. I am waffling between 3.5 stars (good) and 4 stars (really good). I might be hesitating on the 4 stars simply due to WWII overload. Often if a book makes me cry, that will be a 4 star rating. I almost cried – one or two tears at one point.

Cumulative page total = 55,513

169. True North /Gary Eller
3 stars
388 pages

The book starts with three young unmarried pregnant girls in a small area in rural North Dakota. The entirety of the book takes place between the 1930s and 1960s. All three girls eventually all end up married and they are “related” in some way. There are feuding neighbours in the mix, and a nearby Indian reservation.

The girls: Fawn was raised by her father, extremely isolated, and had never met any other human until shortly before she became pregnant. Ida Florence – I can’t remember her circumstances at the start of the book. Leah liked a nearby boy (one of the indigenous people, I think), but her father did not. Her father was pushing for an unmarried older man, Harold, to marry Leah after she got pregnant.

There are a lot of characters and I (sometimes) found it difficult to either remember who was who and/or who was related to whom in what way(s). It took a long time for me to figure out that these three pregnant girls were not of the same generation. Similarly, I sometimes found it difficult to remember which characters were indigenous or not. There were very few likable characters. All that being said about the numerous characters, the story itself ended up being ok, but it took a while at the start to get “into” it.

Cumulative page total = 55,901

170. Such a Pretty Smile / Kristi DeMeester
4 stars
320 pages

Young girls are disappearing and turning up dead and mutilated, as if from an animal. Lila is 13-years old and didn’t have many friends at school, until Macie took her under her wing. Unfortunately, Lila begins to hear things that don’t seem to be there. Lila’s mother Caroline, an artist, has been hiding her past from her daughter. A past that involved something in New Orleans where Caroline had lived with Lila’s father, Daniel.

The story is told from the points of view of both Lila (in 2019) and Caroline (2019 and 2004), but the chapter names tell us whose POV and when, so easy to follow. I really liked this. There were definitely some heart-thumping moments, though at the same time, it was a bit tricky to picture some things. I do need to add a warning that this is horror - there are some violent and gruesome scenes.

Cumulative page total = 56,221

2021 Favourites:

My top 10 (4.25+ stars):
Good Neighbours / Sarah Langan
The Drowning Kind / Jennifer McMahon
Buses Are a Comin’ / Charles Person
Local Woman Missing / Mary Kubica
The Meat Racket / Christopher Leonard
The Lost Dogs / Jim Gorant
The Guest List / Lucy Foley
Woman in the Mists / Farley Mowat
The Overnight Guest / Heather Gudenkauf
Women in White Coats / Olivia Campbell

Honourable mentions (the rest of the 4.25 stars):
The Escape Room / Megan Golden
The Invited / Jennifer McMahon
The Other Side of the Night / Daniel Allen Butler
The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England / Ian Mortimer

Dishonourable mentions (2 stars):
The Richest Woman in America / Janet Wallach
Late Nights on Air / Elizabeth Hay
No One Goes Alone / Erik Larson
The Last Star / Rick Yancey
Murder at Monticello / Rita May Brown

Stats:
170 books
56,221 pages
= 330.7 pages / book (average)

Canadian authors: 23 out of 170 = 13.5%

Some genres (some of these will overlap, and I probably missed some, too):

Nonfiction (not including Biography/Memoir): 28 out of 170 = 16.5%
YA + Children’s: 15 out of 170 = 8.8%
Biography/Memoir: 28 out of 170 = 16.5%
Graphic novels: 6 out of 170 = 3.5%
Mystery/Thriller: 26 out of 170 = 15.3%
Historical Fiction: 30 out of 170 = 17.6%
Horror: 6 out of 170 = 3.5%

Nonfiction + Biography/Memoir: 56 out of 170 = 32.9%

Haven't compared to previous years, but I feel like I didn't read as many Canadian authors this year as previous, nor as many as I'd like.

Even though thrillers are more likely to land on my favourites lists the past few years, I see that I still read more historical fiction, overall.

I am actually not surprised to see my nonfiction (including biographies and memoirs) being about 1/2 of my overall reading.