LibraryCin's 15x15 (or whatever iteration I decide on...)

I am starting my thread, but won't likely do any real planning until December. I might post a few things here and there as ideas come to me or as I have time.

Such nerve, making me wait to find out! ;P

I know. She's mean!

I guess it's time to start setting things up! Starting with my Bingo card. I will have to fill in the rest soon.

1. Play Book Tag
1. River God / Wilbur Smith. 3.5 stars
2. The Princess Bride / William Goldman. 4 stars
3. Horns / Joe Hill. 4 stars
4. The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow / Rita Leganski. 3 stars
5. From Hell / Alan Moore. 3 stars
6. Welcome to Eudora / Mimi Thebo. 3.5 stars
7. The Space Between Us / Thrity Umrigar. 4 stars
8. Burial Rites / Hannah Kent. 3.5 stars
9. The Compound / S.A. Bodeen. 4 stars
10. What Alice Knew / Paula Marantz Cohen. 3 stars
11. How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith. 5 stars
12. Tell / Frances Itani. 3.5 stars
13. The Bell Jar / Sylvia Plath. 3 stars

2. Author Author
1. Life After Life / Kate Atkinson. 3 stars
2. American Boy / Larry Watson. 3.5 stars
3. Affinity / Sarah Waters. 3.5 stars
4. The Happy Prince and Other Tales / Oscar Wilde. 3.5 stars
5. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians / Brandon Sanderson. 4.5 stars
6. Henry VIII: The King and His Court / Alison Weir. 4 stars
7. Benediction / Kent Haruf. 4 stars
8. Rebellion / Peter Ackroyd. 2 stars
9. The Haunted Hotel / Wilkie Collins. 2.5 stars
10. Touch Not the Cat / Mary Stewart. 3 stars
11. Tess of the d'Urbervilles / Thomas Hardy. 2.5 stars
12. The Gallows Curse / Karen Maitland. 3 stars
13. Scraps of Paper / Kathryn Meyer Griffith. 4 stars

3. Booktivity
1. Dissolution / C.J. Sansom. 3 stars
2. The Hour I First Believed / Wally Lamb. 3.75 stars
3. The Day the Falls Stood Still / Cathy Marie Buchanan. 4 stars
4. Of Bees and Mist / Erick Setiawan. 4 stars
5. The Outlaws of Sherwood / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars
6. Wonder / R.J. Palacio. 4 stars
7. The Concubine / Norah Lofts. 3.5 stars
8. Those Across the River / Christopher Buehlman. 3.25 stars
9. In Doubt / Drusilla Campbell. 4 stars
10. Sister of my Heart / Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. 3.5 stars
11. Chasing Fire / Nora Roberts. 3.5 stars
12. Seizure / Kathy Reichs. 3.5 stars

4. Audio Books
1. The Castle of Otranto / Horace Walpole. 3 stars
2. The Supreme's at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat / Edward Kelsey Moore. 4 stars
3. The Bonesetter's Daughter / Amy Tan. 3.5 stars
4. Mystic River / Dennis Lehane. 4 stars
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings / Maya Angelou. 2.5 stars
6. Against Medical Advice / James Patterson and Hal Friedman. 4.5 stars
7. Lady Susan / Jane Austen. 2 stars
8. Sunshine / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars
9. K2 / Ed Viesturs. 4 stars
10. The Coroner's Lunch / Colin Cotterill. 3 stars
11. Looking for Alaska / John Green. 3.25 stars
12. Riptide / Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child. 3 stars
13. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom / Christopher Healy. 4 stars
14. If You Were Here / Jen Lancaster. 3.5 stars

5. CAT Challenges
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles / Arthur Conan Doyle. 3 stars
2. I, Robot / Isaac Asimov. 3 stars
3. The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion. 5 stars
4. On the Beach / Nevil Shute. 3.5 stars
5. Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn. 4.5 stars
6. Ghosts of the Titanic / Charles Pellegrino. 4 stars
7. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs. 4 stars
8. Down With the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster / Steven Biel. 2 stars
9. The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat / Laura Lee Hope. 3.5 stars
10. Lady Susan; The Watsons; Sanditon / Jane Austen. 3 stars
11. Daughter of the Forest / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars
12. Doctor Sleep / Stephen King. 4 stars
13. No Safe House / Linwood Barclay. 4 stars

6. Oh Canada! (Canadian Authors)
1. MaddAdam / Margaret Atwood, 3 stars
2. The Outlander / Gil Adamson. 3.75 stars
3. Essex County / Jeff Lemire. 4.5 stars
4. In the Wake of the Plague / Norman F. Cantor. 3 stars
5. Frog Music / Emma Donoghue. 4.25 stars
6. The Shadowy Horses / Susanne Kearsley. 3.5 stars
7. The Little Shadows / Marina Endicott. 3.5 stars
8. An Embarrassment of Mangoes / Ann Vanderhoof. 3.5 stars
9. Sweetness in the Belly / Camilla Gibb. 3.5 stars
10. Madness, Betrayal, and the Lash / Stephen R. Bown. 3.5 stars
11. The Underwater Welder / Jeff Lemire. 3.5 stars
12. The Inconvenient Indian / Thomas King. 3 stars
13. The Custodian of Paradise / Wayne Johnston. 3 stars

7. Trim the TBR (On TBR 2+ years)
1. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress / Rhoda Janzen. 3.5 stars
2. Eye of the Crow / Shane Peacock. 3.5 stars
3. The Queen's Vow / C.W. Gortner. 4 stars
4. The Confessions of Max Tivoli / Andrew Sean Greer. 3 stars
5. Locke & Key. Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft / Joe Hill. 4 stars
6. The Unit / Ninni Holmqvist. 4 stars
7. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop / Lewis Buzbee. 4 stars
8. All He Ever Wanted / Anita Shreve. 3.5 stars
9. The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent. 3.5 stars
10. Homebody / Orson Scott Card. 3.5 stars
11. Nine Lives / Dan Baum. 3.5 stars
12. The Maze Runner / James Dashner. 4 stars
13. Nineteen Minutes / Jodi Picoult. 4.25 stars

8. Will it Ever End? (Continuing Series)
1. Calamity Jack / Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. 3.5 stars
2. Gathering Blue / Lois Lowry. 3 stars
3. Y: The Last Man. Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores / Brian K. Vaughan. 4 stars
4. Sisterhood Everlasting / Ann Brashares. 3.5 stars
5. The Lunatic Cafe / Laurell K. Hamilton. 4 stars
6. Allegiant / Veronica Roth. 4 stars
7. Messenger / Lois Lowry. 3 stars
8. Locke & Key. Vol. 2: Head Games / Joe Hill. 3.5 stars
9. The Girl Who Played With Fire / Stieg Larsson. 4.25 stars
10. Dragonfly in Amber / Diana Gabaldon. 4 stars
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth / Rick Riordan. 4 stars
12. Unwholly / Neal Shusterman. 4.5 stars
13. The Fox Inheritance / Mary E. Pearson. 3.75 stars

9. Off the Shelf (Print Books I Own)
1. Descent / Tim Johnston. 4 stars
2. Mirror Mirror / Gregory Maguire. 3 stars
3. Blood Divide / John Sadler. 3 stars
4. Joyland / Stephen King. 5 stars
5. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter / Seth Grahame-Smith. 4 stars
6. The Ruins / Scott Smith. 4.5 stars
7. Innocent / Eric Walters. 4 stars
8. The Other Typist / Suzanne Ridell. 3.5 stars
9. Playing With Fire / Gail Anderson-Dargatz. 3 stars
10. Back Spin / Harlan Coben. 3.5 stars
11. Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood / Abby McDonald. 4 stars
12. Vittorio, the Vampire / Anne Rice. 2 stars
13. Farmer Boy / Laura Ingalls Wilder. 4.5 stars
14. Land Beast / Kate Wyer. 2.5 stars

10. I'll Travel Virtually (Books Set in Other Countries - not Canada or USA)
1. The Dovekeepers / Alice Hoffman. 3.5 stars
2. The Red Tent / Anita Diamant. 3.5 stars
3. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde / Robert Louis Stevenson. 3 stars
4. This House is Haunted / John Boyne. 4.5 stars
5. The Princes in the Tower / Alison Weir. 4 stars
6. The Secret River / Kate Grenville. 2.5 stars
7. Beatle Meets Destiny / Gabrielle Williams. 4 stars
8. The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared / Jonas Jonasson. 3.25 stars
9. The Second Empress / Michelle Moran. 4.5 stars
10. Marie Antoinette: A Journey / Antonia Fraser. 4 stars
11. I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You / Courtney Maum. 3.5 stars
12. Lovesong / Alex Miller. 3 stars
13. The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway. 3.5 stars

11. Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (Animals)
1. Jaws / Peter Benchley. 4 stars
2. Prodigal Summer / Barbara Kingsolver. 4.5 stars
3. Stickeen / John Muir. 3 stars
4. Catalyst / Anne McCaffrey. 4 stars
5. Catnap / Carole Nelson Douglas. 3 stars
6. Memoirs of a Fighting Dog / Keesha Keenleyside. 4.5 stars
7. Zoo / James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. 4 stars
8. Flight Behavior / Barbara Kingsolver. 3.5 stars
9. All Creatures Great and Small / James Herriot. 4 stars
10. The Search / Nora Roberts. 4.5 stars
11. The Peaceable Kingdom / John Sedgwick. 4 stars
12. The Magician's Elephant / Kate DiCamillo. 3 stars
13. The One and Only Ivan / Katherine Applegate. 4.5 stars
14. The Animals' Santa / Jan Brett. 3. stars

12. Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Nonfiction)
1. The Poisoner's Handbook / Deborah Blum. 3.75 stars
2. Agatha Christie: An Autobiography / Agatha Christie. 4 stars
3. King Leopold's Ghost / Adam Hochschild. 4 stars
4. The Other Wes Moore / Wes Moore. 4 stars
5. Eleanor of Aquitaine / Alison Weir. 3 stars
6. Nerds / David Anderegg. 3.5 stars
7. Brothers & Keepers / John Edgar Wideman. 3 stars
8. Rasputin: The Untold Story / Joseph T. Fuhrmann. 4 stars
9. The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson. 4.5 stars
10. At Home: A Short History of Private Life / Bill Bryson. 3.75 stars
11. The Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr. 4.5 stars
12. The Freedom Summer Murders / Don Mitchell. 4 stars
13. Green Gone Wrong / Heather Rogers. 3.5 stars

13. Overflow
1. The Island / Clarissa Johal. 4 stars

HistoryCAT:
January: Myths and Legends/BCE-1CE
- The Dovekeepers / Alice Hoffman. 3.5 stars (myths/legends)
- River God / Wilbur Smith. 3.5 stars (fits theme and time frame)

February: Religion/1-500
- The Red Tent / Anita Diamant. 3.5 stars (religion)

March: Exploration and Conquest/501-1000
- King Leopold's Ghost / Adam Hochschild. 4 stars (theme)

April: Crime and Mysteries/1000-1300
- Eleanor of Aquitaine / Alison Weir. 3 stars (time frame)
- From Hell / Alan Moore. 3 stars (theme)
- The Outlaws of Sherwood / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars (both)
- The Princes in the Tower / Alison Weir. 4 stars (theme)

May: Disasters and Plagues/1300-1500
- In the Wake of the Plague / Norman F. Cantor. 3 stars (both)

June: Culture and the Arts/1500-1600
- The Concubine / Norah Lofts. 3.5 stars (time period)

July: Immigration and Migration/17th Century
- The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson. 4.5 stars (theme)
- The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent. 3.5 stars (time period)
- Rebellion / Peter Ackroyd. 2 stars (time period)

August: Medicine and Disease/18th Century
- Dragonfly in Amber / Diana Gabaldon. 4 stars (both)

September: Lifestyles of Ordinary People/1800-1850
- At Home: A Short History of Private Life / Bill Bryson. 3.75 stars (both)
- Lady Susan; The Watsons; Sanditon / Jane Austen. 3 stars (both)

October: Science and Technology/1850-1900
- The Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr. 4.5 stars (both)

November: War and Peace/1900-1945
- Tell / Frances Itani. 3.5 stars (both)
- The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway. 3.5 stars (theme)

December: Civil Rights and Equality/1945-1990
- The Peaceable Kingdom / John Sedgwick. 4 stars (time period)
- The Freedom Summer Murders / Don Mitchell. 4 stars (both)

SFFFCAT:
January: Steampunk, Gaslamp, Historical
- Calamity Jack / Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. 3.5 stars

February: Classics
- The Princess Bride / William Goldman. 4 stars
- I, Robot / Isaac Asimov. 3 stars

March: Apocalyptic, Post-Apolcalyptic, Dystopia
- Y: The Last Man. Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores / Brian K. Vaughan. 4 stars
- On the Beach / Nevil Shute. 3.5 stars

April: Fairy Tales and Myths
- Mirror Mirror / Gregory Maguire. 3 stars
- The Outlaws of Sherwood / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars

May: Girl Power
- The Unit / Ninni Holmqvist. 4 stars

June: Time Travel and Alternate History
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs. 4 stars
- Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter / Seth Grahame-Smith. 4 stars

July: Critters and Creatures
- Catalyst / Anne McCaffrey. 4 stars

August: Other Worlds
- The Battle of the Labyrinth / Rick Riordan. 4 stars
- Sunshine / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars
- The Compound / S.A. Bodeen. 4 stars

September: Slipstream and Interstitial
- The Coroner's Lunch / Colin Cotterill. 3 stars
- The Underwater Welder / Jeff Lemire. 3.5 stars

October: Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal...
- Daughter of the Forest / Juliet Marillier. 3.75 stars
- Doctor Sleep / Stephen King. 4 stars

November: Off on a Quest: Heroes, Superheroes, Puzzles, Epic Journeys
- The Maze Runner / James Dashner. 4 stars
- The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom / Christopher Healy. 4 stars

December: Award-Winning
- The Magician's Elephant / Kate DiCamillo. 3 stars

RandomCAT:
January: Character names from: Olympus Has Fallen
- Life After Life / Kate Atkinson. 3 stars

February: Movies
- The Hound of the Baskervilles / Arthur Conan Doyle. 3 stars
- The Princess Bride / William Goldman. 4 stars
- Jaws / Peter Benchley. 4 stars
- The Red Tent / Anita Diamant. 3.5 stars
- I, Robot / Isaac Asimov. 3 stars

March: Everyone has read
- The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion. 5 stars

April: Change
- Mirror Mirror / Gregory Maguire. 3 stars
- Sisterhood Everlasting / Ann Brashares. 3.5 stars
- Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn. 4.5 stars
- The Outlaws of Sherwood / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars

May: Place Name in Title
- Essex County / Jeff Lemire. 4.5 stars
- Welcome to Eudora / Mimi Thebo. 3.5 stars
- Blood Divide: A Novel of Flodden Field / John Saddler. 3 stars

June: On the Water
- Ghosts of the Titanic / Charles Pellegrino. 4 stars
- Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster / Steven Biel. 2 stars
- The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat / Laura Lee Hope. 3.5 stars

July: Let There Be Light
- The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson. 4.5 stars
- The Girl Who Played With Fire / Stieg Larsson. 4.25 stars

August: Dog Days of Summer
- Memoirs of a Fighting Dog / Keesha Keenleyside. 4.5 stars

September: How's the Weather?
- Flight Behavior /Barbara Kingsolver. 3.5 stars

October: Friend
- All Creatures Great and Small / James Herriot. 4 stars

November: Cities in Title
- The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway. 3.5 stars
- Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood / Abby McDonald. 4 stars

December: "House" or "Home"
- No Safe House / Linwood Barclay. 4 stars

BioKIT:
January: Medicine
- The Poisoner's Handbook / Deborah Blum. 3.75 stars

February: Post WWII Britain
- Agatha Christie: An Autobiography / Agatha Christie. 4 stars

March: Poverty
- The Other Wes Moore / Wes Moore

April: Medieval England
- Eleanor of Aquitaine / Alison Weir. 3 stars
- The Princes in the Tower / Alison Weir. 4 stars

May: Religious Leaders
- Henry VIII: The King and His Court / Alison Weir. 4 stars

June: Murder victims
- Rasputin: The Untold Story / Joseph T. Fuhrmann. 4 stars

July: France
- Marie Antoinette: A Journey / Antonia Fraser. 4 stars

August: Caribbean
- An Embarrassment of Mangoes / Ann Vanderhoof. 3.5 stars

September: Military
- Madness, Betrayal and the Lash / Stephen R. Bown. 3.5 stars

October: Afro-Americans
- Nine Lives / Dan Baum. 3.5 stars

November: Literary Autobiography
- The Bell Jar / Sylvia Plath. 3 stars

December: Civil Rights
- The Freedom Summer Murders / Don Mitchell. 4 stars

AlphaKIT:

Yearlong: X, Z
- Zoo / James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. 4 stars

January: J, T
- Descent / Tim Johnston. 4 stars

February: B, I
- Jaws / Peter Benchley. 4 stars
- I, Robot / Isaac Asimov. 3 stars
- Prodigal Summer / Barbara Kingsolver. 4.5 stars

March: H, Q
- Horns / Joe Hill. 4 stars
- The Queen's Vow / C.W. Gortner. 4 stars
- King Leopold's Ghost / Adam Hochschild. 4 stars
- The Hour I First Believed / Wally Lamb. 3.75 stars

April: E, F
- Of Bees and Mist / Erick Setiawan. 4 stars
- Eleanor of Aquitaine / Alison Weir. 3 stars
- From Hell / Alan Moore. 3 stars

May: R, L
- Wonder / R.J. Palacio. 4 stars
- Essex County / Jeff Lemire. 4.5 stars
- The Lunatic Cafe / Laurell K. Hamilton

June: D, Y
- The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop / Lewis Buzbee. 4 stars

July: W, K
- The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson. 4.5 stars
- The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent. 3.5 stars
- Benediction / Kent Haruf. 4 stars

August: M, V
- Sunshine / Robin McKinley. 3.5 stars
- Touch Not the Cat / Mary Stewart. 3 stars
- K2 / Ed Viesturs. 4 stars
- An Embarrassment of Mangoes / Ann Vanderhoof. 3.5 stars

September: A, O
- The Other Typist / Suzanne Ridell. 3.5 stars
- At Home: A Short History of Private Life / Bill Bryson. 3.75 stars

October: P, U
- Unwholly / Neal Shusterman. 4.5 stars
- Playing With Fire / Gail Anderson-Dargatz. 3 stars
- Riptide / Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child. 3 stars

November: C, N
- Back Spin / Harlan Coben. 3.5 stars
- The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway. 3.5 stars
- The Search / Nora Roberts. 4.5 stars
- The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom / Christopher Healy. 4 stars
- Nineteen Minutes / Jodi Picoult. 4.25 stars

December: S, G
- The Peaceable Kingdom / John Sedgwick. 4 stars
- Seizure / Kathy Reichs. 3.5 stars
- Scraps of Paper / Kathryn Meyer Griffith. 4 stars
- Green Gone Wrong / Heather Rogers. 3.5 stars

HorrorKIT:
January: Traditional/classic Gothic works
- The Castle of Otranto / Horace Walpole. 3 stars

February: Supernatural
- The Hound of the Baskervilles / Arthur Conan Doyle. 3 stars
- Jaws / Peter Benchley. 4 stars

March: Victorian Gothic
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde / Robert Louis Stevenson. 3 stars

April: Graphic Novels
- Locke & Key. Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft / Joe Hill. 4 stars
- From Hell / Alan Moore. 3 stars

May: Women and Non-English
- The Lunatic Cafe / Laurell K. Hamilton. 4 stars

June: Weird/Pulp
- Joyland / Stephen King. 5 stars
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs. 4 stars
- Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter / Seth Grahame-Smith. 4 stars

July: Hauntings/Ghost Stories
- Locke & Key. Vol. 2: Head Games / Joe Hill. 3.5 stars

August: Psychological
- The Ruins / Scott Smith. 4.5 stars

September: Southern Gothic
- Those Across the River / Christopher Buehlman. 3.25 stars

October: Slasher/Thriller
- Doctor Sleep / Stephen King. 4 stars

November: Light/Humourous
- How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith. 5 stars

December: Contemporary/Modern Gothic
- Vittorio, the Vampire / Anne Rice. 2 stars

Travel Across Canada
Con't from 2014

Alberta: The Outlander / Gil Adamson. 3.75 stars
British Columbia: Madness, Betrayal, and the Lash / Stephen R. Bown. 3.5 stars
Labrador:
Manitoba:
New Brunswick:
Newfoundland: The Custodian of Paradise / Wayne Johnston. 3 stars
Northwest Territories:
Nova Scotia: The Underwater Welder / Jeff Lemire. 3.5 stars
Nunavut:
Ontario: The Day the Falls Stood Still / Cathy Marie Buchanan. 4 stars
- Essex County / Jeff Lemire. 4.5 stars
- Innocent / Eric Walters. 4 stars
- Tell / Frances Itani. 3.5 stars
Prince Edward Island:
Quebec:
Saskatchewan: The Little Shadows / Marina Endicott. 3.5 stars
Yukon:

Nice way to organize your category reading!

>26 lkernagh: Thank you! It's what I did last year, and it worked very well. I'll just list everything underneath in an edit, and I post my reviews at the bottom of my thread, with a heading that lists which challenge(s) it fit.

Dropping a star - I love your categories! I have some similar ones myself :) Can't wait to see what you read!

I have a Canadian Authors category too, so I look forward to whatever you read for your cross-Canada list!

Yay, more Canlit ideas! I really need to get back into Canlit. I didn't have a separate category for it last year (I did in my 2013 challenge) and probably ended up reading less as a result.

I will admit to keeping all the same categories I used last year. They are sufficiently broad that almost everything I read will fit into at least one of them! :-)

A few of them pertain specifically to groups over at shelfari that I am very active in, so if you're wondering what the first few mean, that's what they are referring to.

BingoDOG, 12x15 Trim

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress / Rhoda Janzen
3.5 stars

Rhoda Janzen grew up in a Mennonite community. She left, became an English professor, and married an atheist. After he leaves her for a man, Rhoda decides to head home to spend some time with her parents.

I enjoyed this. It was quick to read, there were humourous bits, and I liked the tidbits of Mennonite life. Of course, I recognize some of it, as my Dad's family is Mennonite. It's always fun to see our last name in books (pretty much only ever a book with Mennonites in it!).

Stalking you back ;), good luck

LOL! I realized that's how it sounded right after I posted! Luckily, we "know" each other fairly well!

Greetings! Wow - I like the way you've set up your categories, too. Not just the Cats themselves, but the way you've listed the Challenges. Hmmm....I may have to think about stealing that, lol.

I've thought about reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress - it sounds light and amusing. I'll keep it in mind.

>35 Dejah_Thoris: Go right ahead and steal! :-) Hope you like Mennonite in a Little Black Dress if you do read it. I have had a couple of other friends comment that they didn't like it, so I guess it varies (and yet, I considered rating it 4 stars!).

I am trying to read more books by Canadian authors so I will be following that category very closely. In fact, you have lots of categories that I am interested in!

Stopping in to say, "Hi!" and will be back to follow your reading.

>38 mamzel: Hi! :-)

>37 DeltaQueen50: I'm not sure if I have any Canadian ones coming up this month, but have one for February for sure. I chose it for my f2f book club. It's called The Outlander (a different one!!!) by Gil Adamson. I always post my reviews here, so you'll be able to find out what I thought when I'm done. If anyone is interested, I could potentially come back (if I remember!) and let you all know what the rest of the book club though, as well. Apologies for typos. One of my cats is in front of my monitor!

>39 LibraryCin: Looking forward to your thoughts on The Outlander! I read it a few years ago and really liked it.

Just dropping by to say Hi neighbour! I'm still trying to get caught up on threads here. BTW, following-up from another thread, I'm in the Kootenays, BC., not the Okanagan. I'll be keeping an eye on your reading, especially the Canadian authors.

I'll be interested in seeing what you read this year, especially for the CATs.

Nice that you liked your first book of the year.

Nicely spread categories - looking forward to following along.

12x15 Travel, BingoDOG, HistoryCAT

The Dovekeepers / Alice Hoffman
3.5 stars

In Ancient Israel in the year 73 C.E. Romans attacked a small group of Jewish people who had already been pushed from their homes and lives in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Two women and five children survived. Alice Hoffman has created a fictional account to document what happened.

The book tells the story of four women who were there and how they got there. Yael, whose mother died when she was born. Her father was an assassin and blamed Yael for her mother's death. Revka was a baker's wife. She took care of her two grandchildren, who had been completely silent since their mother died. Shirah was a witch and Aziza was her daughter, who took on the persona of a boy.

This was good. I found the stories of the younger women (Yael and Aziza) more interesting than Revka's and Shirah's stories. I also thought the last bit really picked up and that's when I really wanted to keep reading.

12x15 Series, BingoDOG, SFFFCAT

Calamity Jack / Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
3.5 stars

This is a graphic novel that focuses on Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) and Rapunzel. Jack was a boy who always got himself into trouble. When he got older, Jack got into trouble and had to leave town, so he went West for Rapuzel and brought her back. When they returned, his city was run by a giant; a giant who had been his neighbour and had always been a bully.

I enjoyed this. It was cute! I quite like the illustrations in this one, as well.

>44 LibraryCin: The Dovekeepers is one I've thought about reading several times. After reading your review I'm still not sure, lol!

>46 Dejah_Thoris: I do think it's worth reading. It's certainly something I never knew anything about. Now, this was actually read for my f2f book club. We don't meet until the last week of the month, but if I remember, I can post what some of the others think, as well. (Let's see if I remember!!!!)

Do you know what's going on with Shelfari? I was poking around the site and saw you had a list of books which is why I am asking you. The only reason I use Shelfari is for the widget I use on my library's home page. (Our library program does not support Java so I can't use the far superior LT widget.) However, when I went today to add some new books, the pages' formatting is all out of whack.

>48 mamzel: Unfortunately, shelfari has been wonky since Friday. A number of shelfarians have been emailing Amazon about the problem (all shelfari staff were reassigned by Amazon a little over a year ago, if I'm remembering correctly, so there is no longer any shelfari-dedicated staff, sadly. So, bugs go a long time without being fixed now.)

This time it's really bad/annoying, so I'm hoping they'll get it fixed sooner rather than later. Most of us who have been around for years are dreading the day it just dies altogether and Amazon doesn't bother to fix it at all. Sadly, we all expect it to happen at some point. :-(

I knew Amazon had taken over Goodreads but I didn't realize they got Shelfari as well. I'm ever so glad LT is holding fast. Thanks for the info.

>50 mamzel: Amazon bought shelfari years ago! 2008 or 2009 or something (It was sometime after I joined mid-2007). But, they let it go on as normal for a long time. Until after buying GR. Since then, they took the staff away and let shelfari be neglected. Shelfarians suspect Amazon just wants us all to move over to the more "popular" Goodreads, so they only have one site to take care of. :-(

Well, I guess I won't have a widget on my home page any more. Bummer!

>52 mamzel: Well, surprisingly enough, the site itself has been fixed of the recent major problems (though there are still little issues). Mamzel, check out the site again - you should be able to add stuff again (at least for now!)

12x15 Canadian

MaddAdam / Margaret Atwood
3 stars

This is the conclusion to the Oryx and Crake trilogy. In this one, Toby is attempting to tell the Crakers stories to fill in for Jimmy, who is ill. And we learn about Zeb's past.

It was ok. I listened to the audio and like with many audios, my mind did wander, so I missed some things, as it didn't hold my attention as much as I would have liked. The narrators were fine. There were two main narrators, telling the story from the viewpoints of Toby and Zeb. There was also a third narrator added in at the very end.

>53 LibraryCin: Done. Yay! Thanks for your help.

>55 mamzel: No problem and glad it worked for you!

12x15 Author Author, BingoDOG, RandomCAT

Life After Life / Kate Atkinson
3 stars

In this book, Ursula lives her life over and over again. She is born in 1910 and dies. She is born again (starting over in 1910), lives a different life, making different choices and dies again. Over and over making different choices and doing different things each time.

I know so many people loved this. I liked the *idea* behind the book, but I just didn't find most of Ursula's lives very interesting. Some of them were, but I was bored through others. I also liked the idea of being able to “try” different decisions and make different choices and seeing where it would lead. Overall, though, this book was merely “ok” for me.

12x12 Audio, HorrorKIT

The Castle of Otranto / Horace Walpole
3 stars

This is considered the first gothic horror novel, originally written in 1764. Conrad is found dead, just as he was to marry Isabella. Manfred (Conrad's father) then decides to divorce his wife and marry Isabella instead. Isabella is horrified and runs away with the help of a mysterious stranger...

It was ok. It started off better for me, but I was listening to the audio and as does sometimes tend to happen with audios with me, I get distracted and miss parts of the story, which unfortunately is what happened here. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd read it in print? It was set in a creepy gothic castle, so the setting was fun.

12x12 Series

Gathering Blue / Lois Lowry
3 stars

Kira is still just a girl when her mother dies. Her father died before she was born. Kira was born with a disfigured leg and in this society, usually that means the baby would be put out to the “Field” to die. Her mother fought for her, though, and she has grown up strong, and works well with her hands. She weaves as her mother did. After her mother's death, one of the villagers petitions for her to be taken to the Field, as she should have been when she was born, but she has a protector in one of the Guardians, so he takes her under his wing...

It was ok. It was cute. I didn't like it nearly as much as the first book in the series, The Giver. I will continue on with the third book in the series, anyway.

12x12 PBT, BingoDOG, HistoryCAT

River God / Wilbur Smith
3.5 stars

In ancient Egypt, Taita is a slave, eunuch, and doctor. When his mistress, young Lostris, is betrothed to the Pharoah, Taita goes with her. Lostris, however, is in love with Tanus, also a friend of Taita's, so Taita helps them steal time with each other. The time period of the book covers almost the entire lives of Lostris and Tanus, so there are also wars and travel in the book.

It was good, but long. That is, the story was good, but I can't say I particularly liked any of the characters. Taita was just way too good to be true, in fact. Not only was he a doctor, but he was a horse-whisperer, a chariot-designer and builder, a play-writer, an astronomer, a philosopher and more and he excelled at all these things. Not bad for being a slave! I didn't really like Lostris or Tanus, either, and I didn't like some of the things they did. I also didn't like the hunting scenes in the book. Now, despite this fairly negative-sounding review, I didn't really think that badly of it. I did like it, overall.

12x12 Off the Shelf, AlphaKIT

Descent / Tim Johnston
4 stars

Grant and Angela take their kids, 18-year old Caitlin and 15-year old Sean, on a holiday to the Rocky Mountains. When Caitlin and Sean go out one morning – Caitlin to run and Sean on his bike – only Sean returns...

It turned out to be really good, but it took some getting used to the style. The book jumped around in both time and point of view. It often took a few paragraphs to figure out who's point of view we were following with each switch, so I felt a little like I was “removed” from the story as I tried to figure out who we were focused on each time. However, the story was good, and it really picked up toward the end (as I would expect a thriller to!).

>61 LibraryCin: Thrillers can be hit or miss for me, but you make Descent sound interesting. Thanks!

>63 LibraryCin: I hope you like it if you give it a try. Be wary of the POV changes, though. It is a bit tricky!

I should also mention that I do tend to quite like thrillers.

12x12 Booktivity, BingoDOG

Dissolution / C.J. Sansom
3 stars

It is the 16th century in England. Anne Boleyn was beheaded about one year earlier and Queen Jane Seymour has just died after giving birth to Edward. Monasteries all over England are being closed. At one that is still open, someone has been murdered, so Thomas Cromwell sends lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, to investigate, along with his helper, Mark.

It was ok. For some reason, although I quite enjoy historical fiction and I like mysteries, historical mysteries don't always appeal to me quite as much. It took me quite a while to get into this story, and I still found my mind wandering at times. I did like the ending, though – I certainly didn't see it coming!

I've really enjoyed the Shardlake series so far. It's a shame it didn't grab you in quite the same fashion. Do you think you'll be continuing with it?

>65 AHS-Wolfy: I was thinking not, but the covers were looking appealing! :-) LOL! Not too sure...

BingoDOG, BioKIT, 12x12 Nonfiction

The Poisoner's Handbook / Deborah Blum
3.75 stars

The author looks back at the early 20th century in New York City as scientists learn more about various poisonous chemicals. She looks at various deaths (often murders, or suspected murders, but in some cases, accidental deaths) caused by the poisons. Various chemicals she focuses on include chloroform, ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, radium, cyanide, carbon monoxide, and more.

I listened to the audio, and although I was interested, I still managed to get distracted at times. I suspect it would have been a full 4 star book for me had I read it in print or ebook. Of course, the true crime aspect makes it a little more interesting, still, with “real-world” applications to the findings. Probably no surprise, but I didn't like the animal testing that was done/described. This one's nonfiction, but it reads like a novel.

>61 LibraryCin: I think you enjoyed Descent: a novel more than I did. It was well-written, but I didn't connect with any of the characters and found the story dark and unpleasant (to say nothing of the abduction), which affected my rating.

ETA Your bingo card is doing very well. Almost one line finished.

>67 LibraryCin: I saw a book with a similar subject in my library, but it wasn't too highly rated so I didn't bother checking it out. Your review - and subsequent reviews on here - look promising! I'm adding it as a BB!

>68 VivienneR: I'm sorry you didn't like it as much. Thanks about the Bingo card! I'm not doing them in any order, so it's kind of cool to see a line almost finished!

>69 skrouhan: I hope you like it when you get to it!

It's funny how the BINGO cards fill up, isn't it? I'm using the comic / GN design and I've been filling mainly the exterior spaces around the edges of the square. It's not deliberate - just chance!

>59 LibraryCin: I didn't enjoy the second and third books of the series as much as the first, but I thought the final book, Son, tied all the earlier books together quite well.

>72 mathgirl40: Thanks for that info. Someone else mentioned that about the 4th book, as well. I'm thinking at this point, I might as well read them all!

12x12 Author Author

American Boy / Larry Watson
3.5 stars

It is the 1960s. Matthew and Johnny (both 17 years old) are best friends. Matt only has his mom and they are just getting by. Johnny's dad is the local doctor and his family is very well off. Matt spends most of his time at Johnny's place. Both boys are interested in following in Dr. Dunbar's footsteps by becoming doctors. When a local young woman is found shot, Dr. Dunbar takes her home (where he also has his clinic) to take care of her and the boys, especially Matt, take a particular interest.

It started off really well, but then slowed down for me... slowed down to regular teenage boy life in the 60s. It did pick up a bit again at one point in the book, but overall, it was “good”, I thought. I have to admit that I didn't really like any of the characters. It was easy to read, though, and I'll probably try another by Watson.

>67 LibraryCin:
The Poisoner's Handbook is on my wishlist, but I have a really hard time listening to non-fiction - my audiobooks need to have lots of plot so I don't start thinking of something else. :)

>75 -Eva-: Yeah, if you read it in print, I hope you're really enjoy it!

>74 LibraryCin: I think I can skip American Boy - thanks for the review. I hope the weekend ig going well for you!

>77 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks! I actually have company this weekend. I didn't make it "home" for Christmas, so my parents are here now (with an almost-Christmas feast for me!). :-) So, it is nice. Hope you're having a nice weekend, as well.

For Larry Watson, I've seen some really good reviews of some of his other books, so I'll likely be trying at least one more.

12x12 CAT Challenges, HorrorKIT, RandomCAT

The Hound of the Baskervilles / Arthur Conan Doyle
3 stars

When Charles Baskerville is found dead at his home, his next of kin, Henry, returns home. Watson accompanies Henry in hopes of figuring out what happened to Charles. The rumours include the mysterious ghostly hound that haunts the grounds.

The book was ok. Unfortunately, I just can't say I enjoyed it any more than the Sherlock Holmes short stories I've read. I'd hoped I'd enjoy a Holmes novel more. I just couldn't really seem to focus much on the story, so I was never completely pulled in or all that interested, though parts were interesting. However, writing this review only a day after finishing, I've forgotten even the parts I was finding interesting at the time.

12x12 Audio

The Supreme's at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat / Edward Kelsey Moore
4 stars

Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean have been best friends since they were teenagers. Decades later, they still live in the same town and still hang out at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat. This is their story of friendship through the years.

I listened to the audio and really enjoyed this! The book does go back and forth in time, but it usually only took me a short time to figure out where we were in time if I missed the transition. The audio was well done.

I have fond memories of The Hound of the Baskervilles as it was my first Sherlock Holmes read. Having read the entire collection of Holmes stories during my University days - my sister had bought me a complete works book for Christmas one year - I can admit that other stories now come to mind as more interesting mysteries for me.

>79 LibraryCin: & >81 lkernagh:
I have fond memories as well, but I have to admit I've not read it for some 25+ years. It'd be interesting to see if a reread would evoke the same affection.

12x12 Nonfiction, BioKIT

Agatha Christie: An Autobiography / Agatha Christie
4 stars

Agatha Christie was 75-years old when she wrote (via dictation) this autobiography of her life. Born in 1890, she lived until 1976, so she lived through a lot and she did a lot of different things with her life. During the First World War, she was a nurse, then worked in a dispensary (pharmacy). She loved to travel and in addition to writing, she later helped her archaeologist husband at digs in the Middle East.

This was really good. I found it a little more interesting after she became an adult, but it was still interesting to read about the social customs at various points in her life - a lot of that was described really well about the early 20th century. Although I've not read a lot of her books, it was still interesting to read about where she got the ideas for some of her books and such. The edition I got from the library also had a CD included with portions of her dictation. This was recorded in the 70s, so not the best quality, but kind of neat to listen to. Not only that, as I was listening to it in the background while I wrote this review, I flipped back through the book and happened upon the same passage she was dictating; it was also interesting to see how it was slightly changed/rearranged.

>83 LibraryCin: Loved that book! I'm glad you enjoyed it too. :)

12x12 PBT, BingoDOG, SFFFCAT, RandomCAT

The Princess Bride / William Goldman
4 stars

In this book, William Goldman tells us that he is abridging the tale of The Princess Bride, originally written by S. Morgenstern. The original tale of love and adventure is then abridged (with comments added in by Goldman).

I really enjoyed this, in particular the tale of The Princess Bride. The comments/interjections, though, I thought were amusing, as well. And there is plenty of humour in the story.

The intro and the other "extras" (including a final “chapter” that is the start of an abridgement of the sequel, Buttercup's Baby) by Goldman are made to sound true, but I kept questioning it. I kept getting a bit confused and had to finally look it up on wikipedia! The interjections he adds into the "abridgement" reminded me of the grandpa reading to a little Fred Savage in the movie, as well. However, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it, overall.

That's a great book for this month's RandomCat. A true movie classic!

>85 LibraryCin: I actually meant to read it last fall. I was about to start and my Kobo conked out on me!!! I managed to fix the Kobo, but by then I'd moved on to other books and never did get back to it until now. It did work well for both RandomCAT and SFFFCAT, though!

Now I want to re-watch The Princess Bride. ;-)

>88 lkernagh: Yes, I expect I will at some point, as well. :-)

>85 LibraryCin: I haven't read The Princess Bride in years - nor re-watched the movie. Time to rectify that! I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

>90 Dejah_Thoris: Thanks! It's a long weekend for me, which is always nice. I do have a cold, though, so except for going out with a friend for lunch today, the rest of the weekend will be home, sleeping, online and reading. :-)

Sounds like a good weekend, minus the cold part of course. Hope you feel better soon!

>92 rabbitprincess: Exactly! Except for the cold, it's my favourite kind of weekend! I will do a bit of housework today and some baking, as well.

12x12 Canada, Travel Across Canada, BingoDOG

The Outlander / Gil Adamson
3.75 stars

It's 1903 and “the widow” is running from something or someone. She makes her way to the foothills of the Canadian Rockies where she tries to hide from whatever/whoever is pursuing her.

I could probably say a bit more to summarize, as the back of the book has slightly more info, but I'll leave it at that. This was pretty good. I did find the sections of the book when she was with someone to be more interesting than when she was on her own (at those times, there seemed to mostly be description). There was one question I had that was never answered. I also would have liked an author's note with more info on the Frank Slide. I know about it, but not details, so I “had” to look it up after I finished.

Hmmm....The Frank Slide (whatever that is) sounds more interesting to me than the book, lol!

>95 Dejah_Thoris: LOL! I'm not even sure how many Canadians know about it, though likely more Western Canadians do.

Frank was a small mining town just at the bottom of a mountain in Alberta. In 1903, there was a rock slide down the mountain in the middle of the night, burying part of the town. Most of the rocks are still there alongside the highway. I remember driving past it when I was a kid heading to BC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide

Well, my Georgia library system doesn't run to any nonfiction books about the Frank Slide, so it looks like I'll have to give The Outlander a try after all! Thanks for pointing this one out.

The book is one I chose for my f2f book club. One of the other members of the club just sent out another link about the Frank Slide, with much more detail about specific people during the slide, if you wanted to take a look at it:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/frank.htm

I'm not sure if there are any nonfiction books about the Frank Slide, actually. Just remember that the focus of The Outlander is not the slide itself. It's part of the story, but not a big focus.

12x12 Animals, BingoDOG, RandomCAT, HorrorKIT, AlphaKIT

Jaws / Peter Benchley
4 stars

When a girl is killed by a shark at Amity, Long Island, the chief of police, Martin Brody, wants to shut down the beach, but he is pressured by the mayor to keep it open, so as not to lose the summer residents altogether, as they keep the small town alive. Until more people start dying...

I really liked this. It was quite suspenseful. I listened to the audio (but had to provide my own Jaws theme music!) and it was done quite well, I thought. It's been too long since I've seen the movie to compare. There was one extraneous part in the middle of the story that I didn't think was necessary and wasn't really interested in, but overall, I really enjoyed it. I hate to see sharks (or any animals) vilified this way, but it was definitely an entertaining story.

Oh, your review of Jaws brings back memories! I remember reading that book and being thrilled and scared. The shark is a little over-the-top if I remember correctly but it sure was a fun read.

12x12 Travel, BingoDOG, HistoryCAT, RandomCAT

The Red Tent / Anita Diamant
3.5 stars

This tells the story of a minor character in the Bible, Dinah. Dinah is born to Leah and Jacob and is raised by four “mothers”, all Jacob's wives who also happen to be sisters. Dinah is the only girl amongst many brothers, so is treated extra-special by her mothers/aunts. The first part actually tells more of her mothers' lives, then it switches to Dinah's life as she grows and becomes a newly married adult, when something happens to change her life forever.

As much as I like historical fiction focusing on women, all the menstrual blood/flow and child birthing in the first part was a bit much for me. I realize that Dinah became a midwife later, and that's one thing, but this was more that I really didn't need to read about! The story itself (once it got going), I could have rated 4 stars, but I couldn't bring myself to rate it that high. Too much for me, though the story itself was fine.

12x12 Trim, BingoDOG

Eye of the Crow / Shane Peacock
3.5 stars

13-year old Sherlock Holmes is bullied at school and mostly skips it, anyway. When a woman is murdered and a boy arrested, Holmes is convinced the boy is innocent and goes out to find the real killer.

Well, I enjoyed this! I liked the extra background information on Sherlock Holmes – his family and his life beyond Watson and solving crimes. And it was fun getting to know some of the other characters – Holmes new friend, Irene, and the young local crime boss in the area, Malefactor. The mystery itself started off slow for me, but picked up in the second half. I enjoyed this and will read the next in the series.

I'm happy to see you enjoyed Eye of the Crow. I've read the entire series and really l liked it, as did my daughter. Shane Peacock is quite popular here in Ontario and we've seen him at local book festivals. He even did a writing workshop at my daughter's school one year.

It was so long ago that I added it to my tbr, I can't remember where I heard of the author or the book. It was only after I started reading it and was looking at the shelfari page for the book, where I could see that the book had been added to the shelf for the Canada group, so I had to look closer to discover he is Canadian! I may have known that when I added the book to the tbr, but I just don't remember!

12x12 Author Author, BingoDOG

Affinity / Sarah Waters
3.5 stars

It is 1874 and Margaret Prior is visiting a women's prison to hear some of the stories of some of the prisoners. She becomes particularly interested in one prisoner, Selena Dawes, who is a medium and was imprisoned for murdering a woman who took her in, but Selena insists it was a spirit who caused the woman's death.

The book alternated between Margaret in “present” day and Selena's perspective beginning two years earlier. I found the “present” day storyline much more interesting, though there were still parts I glossed over a bit. It's not fast-moving, but it's a good story and it did pick up at the end. I didn't think I was going to like the ending, but wow, I was in for a surprise! I do approve of the ending, after all.

>105 LibraryCin: There have been a lot of mixed reactions to Affinity - I'm not certain I want to give it a try. I enjoyed Tipping the Velvet, her first novel, but I wasn't blown away by it. I'm not certain which one to try next.....

>106 Dejah_Thoris: I'm afraid I won't be able to help you there. This is (at least so far) the only book I've read by her, so I have no suggestions! Good luck deciding!

But now I'm curious to check out the other reviews for Affinity...

12x12 CAT Challenges, BingoDOG, SFFFCAT, RandomCAT, AlphaKIT

I, Robot / Isaac Asimov
3 stars

This is a bunch of linked short stories focusing on robots and their evolution. There were characters that did span the entire book and most of the stories. It was written in 1950, and the first story was set in the '80s and it went further and further into the future from there.

It was ok. Like with most short story collections, I liked some more than others. There was one – the first one, with the robot Robbie, nurse/nanny to Gloria – that I would have rated 4 stars and the rest varied between 3 and 3.5 for me, but mostly 3. I listened to the audio, and though I had no issues with the narrator, it is easier for me to lose focus and I often did with this book. Science fiction is not real high up there for genres for me, and I really don't know much about robots. Sadly, even some of the stories I thought were good, I've already forgotten, though. To be honest, I think the only one I managed not to miss any of was the Robbie/Gloria story.

12x12 Animals, AlphaKIT

Prodigal Summer / Barbara Kingsolver
4.5 stars

Deanna is a forest ranger and has no desire to see other humans, so she has spent two years in a cabin on a mountain on her own, working and enjoying the natural world around her. City girl and bug scientist Lusa has just married Cole, a farmer, and has moved with him onto his family farm. Garnett is an old man who seems to be living decades ago (based on his attitudes).

Deanna's life is turned around when a young hunter, whom she is very attracted to, arrives on her mountain. Lusa's world changes when Cole dies suddenly only a year after they married and she isn't sure how to fit in to his family, but she doesn't want to leave the farm, either. Garnett has to deal with the hippie-like old woman living next door, with her organic farm, who refuses to let him spray even close to their property line.

I really liked this. I loved learning about all the animals and natural life in the area, and of course, I was nodding along and agreeing with the three women as they tried to protect the natural land and creatures around them. I have to admit that the last chapter confused me a bit, though. I've had a slow reading year to start (in terms of how much I've enjoyed what I've been reading) and this is the best one to date. It will make my favourites list this year.

12x12 Author Author

The Happy Prince and Other Tales / Oscar Wilde
3.5 stars

This is a short book of five fairy tales. It was cute and very quick to read at less than 50 pages. Quite enjoyable!

>109 LibraryCin: I'm glad you liked this book more than me. I found it preachy and it put my off of Kingsolver.

>111 mamzel: I guess for me, she's preaching to the choir, so... :-)

I also really enjoyed Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but others have also thought it was preachy, as well.

If you wanted to try a different Kingsolver that isn't all about the environment, The Poisonwood Bible is very good.

12x12 Series, SFFFCAT

Y: The Last Man. Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores / Brian K. Vaughan
4 stars

This is the final volume in the series, where after a plague, Yorick and his monkey Ampersand were the last two males on the planet. Yorick has been searching for his girlfriend for 5 years now, and at the same time he has had to hide from those who are trying to find him to figure out why he survived.

I really liked this one. I thought it did a really good job of wrapping up the series. This, in my opinion, was one of the better books in the series.

>112 LibraryCin: - I too enjoyed Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I thought the format with the sidebars of information very informative.

I started with TPB and was eager to try more of her books. Alas... I do intend some day to read The Bean Trees since it is part of our curriculum.

>155 LibraryCin: I've also read The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven (but out of order, not realizing one was a sequel to the other!). They were good, but so far I've enjoyed Kingsolver's environmental ones and Poisonwood Bible best by her.

12x12 PBT, AlphaKIT

Horns / Joe Hill
4 stars

26-year old Ig wakes up one day after an evening of drinking to find he has grown horns! What's even more surprising is people don't really seem to notice. Not only that, people start spilling their worst secrets to him.

His girlfriend of ten years, Merrin, had previously been raped and murdered. Now, Ig is able to learn more about what happened... and he is bent on revenge.

I really liked this. It is told from different points of view and also in flashbacks, but it's not difficult to follow, I didn't think.

Glad to see that you enjoyed Horns. I too thought it was a good one!

I've enjoyed all three I've read by him! (Also NOS4A2 and Heart Shaped Box. Off the top of my head, though, I think I've rated this one the highest.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians / Brandon Sanderson
4.5 stars

Alcatraz is an orphan and has grown up in various foster families. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to break things and so he is often sent away to live with a new foster family. On his 13th birthday, though, he is sent a very odd gift: a bag of sand. The next day, an older man who says he is Alcatraz's grandfather shows up to take him away to fight the evil librarians who have stolen the bag of sand and are trying to take over the world.

I thought this book was sooo much fun! (It may help that I'm a librarian.) There was a lot of humour, as well as adventure in the book. The chapters usually started with Alcatraz talking to the reader. The book is written as if it's an autobiography. It's just a lot of fun and I will definitely be continuing the series!

12x12 Travel, HorrorKIT

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde / Robert Louis Stevenson
3 stars

People have been wondering where Dr. Jekyll has been disappearing to and why the horrible Mr. Hyde seems to be such a good “friend” to Jekyll.

This was ok. It might have been better if I didn't know what was going on, just for having heard what the story's about. But then, maybe not. It just wasn't really holding my interest. At least it was short and quick to read.

12x12 PBT, BingoDOG

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow / Rita Leganski
3 stars

Bonaventure Arrow never made a sound from the time he was born. It was the 1950s and his mother Dancy gave birth to him only after her new husband was murdered. They moved in with her mother-in-law, as Dancy didn't really get along with her own mother, and they both tried to come to grips with William's death. But, William was still hanging around and though Bonaventure couldn't speak, he had super-hearing and did talk to his dad.

It was ok. I'm not a big fan of magical realism, so I'm sure that's part of it. It was kind of a slow-moving, though I was curious to find out the identity of William's murderer (though I did guess it ahead of time). I also enjoyed the setting, as much of it took place in New Orleans.

12x12 Trim, BingoDOG, AlphaKIT

The Queen's Vow / C.W. Gortner
4 stars

Isabella of Castile ruled Castile with her husband Ferdinand of Aragon in the mid- to late-15th century. This work of fiction follows her from when she was born until about 1492, when she granted Christopher Columbus some funds to explore and just after the Jews were expelled from Castile if they didn't convert to Catholicism.

I didn't know much about Isabella of Castile, beyond her being Katherine of Aragon's and Juana of Castile's (“Mad Juana”) mother and that she went to battle with her army. I really enjoyed this! I listened to the audio and although the narrator had a British accent, otherwise it was fine. It mostly held my interest (though I did find my mind wandering during battle scenes near the end!), but I found the rest very interesting. It seemed that – at least in some things – she was forward thinking (but not in everything). The book had her conflicted about the banishment of the Jews, but as Gortner pointed out in his note at the end (I love author's notes at the end of historical fiction!), we don't really know what she thought personally. I should also admit to not waiting till the end of the book to “find” the author's note – remember, I was listening to the audio, so I couldn't just flip ahead – and just checking out wikipedia for more on Isabella!

12x12 Travel, BingoDOG

This House is Haunted / John Boyne
4.5 stars

It is the mid-19th century. When Eliza's father dies suddenly, she answers an ad to be a governess. She is accepted on the spot, so travels out to Gaudlin Hall, where she will be the new governess to two children. Odd, though – when she arrives, their parents are no where to be found and no one will answer Eliza's questions about what's going on.

I really liked this. I thought it was very creepy and I wish I would have had longer stretches of time to read it all at once (including just before bed... when I had the time, but I couldn't stay awake – but that was nothing to do with the story!). I certainly wanted to keep reading to see what was going on! It will likely make my favourites list for the year.

12x12 Nonfiction, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa / Adam Hochschild
4 stars

In the late 19th century and early 20th century King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo as a Belgian colony. But really, he ruled it for himself, not for Belgium. The greedy man was desperate for a colony, something bigger than his own small country. When he colonized the Congo, he wanted everything he could get, initially from the ivory, then later from the wild rubber trees. He enslaved the Congolese, who were treated terribly. However, Leopold was charming and was able to hide much of what was going on there from the rest of the world. Bit by bit, a few Europeans and Americans could see what was happening while they were there, and brought that information to the rest of the world.

Wow, to compare to wider-known atrocities, I thought there were shades of both American slavery and Nazi Germany in Leopold's Congo. It was quite horrifying. I will admit to finding the start a bit slow, as it was more about Leopold and the politics of finding an African colony that he could rule. I occasionally lost interest there. But, it got more interesting as time went on and other people were finding out what was happening. It was originally written in 1998, but my ebook had a 2005 update.

12x12 Booktivity, AlphaKIT

The Hour I First Believed / Wally Lamb
3.75 stars

Caelum and his wife, Maureen, both work at Columbine High School. While Caelum is away just after his aunt dies, the shooting happens. It turns out Maureen was in the library and survived the shooting. The first half of the book focuses on the aftermath and how Caelum and Maureen deal with what happened. Unfortunately, Maureen has a lot of trouble dealing with it and has flashbacks.

I thought this was quite good. I really liked the first half, but the second half got too bogged down in Caelum's family history, which I didn't find nearly as interesting. The first half, I'd rate 4 stars, but because the second half wasn't as good, I couldn't quite give it a full 4 stars. Really, it felt like it could have been two separate books. Overall, though, I quite liked it.

12x12 Booktivity, Travel Across Canada

The Day the Falls Stood Still / Cathy Marie Buchanan
4 stars

In Niagara Falls, Ontario, in the early 1900s, 17-year old Bess comes home from her private school to find her life is about to change. Her father has lost his job, her sister appears to be sick, and she meets Tom, who helps her with her trunk at the train station. Unfortunately, Bess's parents see Tom as “below” Bess and unsuitable. It's a time when WWI is going on and, locally, hydroelectric plants are being built along the Niagara River/Falls and water is being diverted for that.

I really liked this. The setting was interesting and it was a big part of the book, but I do still wonder how much, if any, opposition there was to the hydroelectric plants. Were there really worries at the time about how it would affect the river and falls? (Tom was worried about this in the book.) Though the author note at the end didn't really address this, I did discover that Tom's character (as the “riverman”, who fishes people out of the river/falls) was based on a real person. I listened to the audio, and I must admit that the narrator did distract me a bit at first with quite audible inhalations. However, I got used to that after a short time, then mostly didn't notice. The audio still kept my attention throughout most of the book.

The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion
5 stars

Don is a professor and has only three friends. He is extremely socially awkward. He decides to start “The Wife Project” and comes up with a questionnaire to filter out any unsuitable candidates. His friend Gene goes over some of the applicants to help Don out and sends over Rosie. Don can't figure out why Rosie, as she is completely unsuitable!

I loved this! Don and his never-ending quirks... It's a fun, humourous, happy read. I did feel badly for Gene's wife, though.

12x12 Nonfiction, BioKIT

The Other Wes Moore: The Story of One Name and Two Fates / Wes Moore
4 stars

The author, Wes Moore, grew up without a father and poor. He made decisions in his life, which helped him become very successful. Somewhere along the way, he heard of another Wes Moore who grew up without a father and poor, and at one time, they'd both lived in the same city. The other Wes Moore was now in prison, so author Wes Moore wrote to him to find out more about him. With similar circumstances to start their lives, what could have caused their paths to divert so dramatically?

This was very interesting, the different situations and/or decisions one can make to have things turn out so differently. This does make me thankful for all the little advantages I guess I had growing up, as well as thankful to be living in a pretty safe city in Canada. Yes, there are drugs and violence, of course, but not to the same extent, I don't think, as some cities in the U.S. It's also not long, so it's quick to read.

I've heard of this book and I think the news show 60 Minutes did a segment on it. I think it would be interesting to read.

>130 dudes22: Oh, cool! I didn't realize that there had been a tv bit on them.

12x12 CAT Challenges, SFFFCAT

On the Beach / Nevil Shute
3.5 stars

tt is the 1960s (the book was written in 1957) in Australia. The “short war” was just over a month long. The result of that war: radiation all over the northern hemisphere that has killed everyone. That radiation is making its way south to envelope the planet.

It was good. Most of the book, I'd actually rate “ok”, but the end really picked up, I thought, as the characters knew the end was coming. What would you do with the last months, weeks, and days of your life? I didn't like two of the main characters: Dwight and Moira. Well, I didn't mind Dwight as much, but I really didn't like Moira, so I wasn't nearly as interested in them. I liked Peter, Mary and Jennifer much more. But, there seemed to be more focus on Dwight and Moira, unfortunately for me. The ending upped my rating just a touch, though.

12x12 Trim

The Confessions of Max Tivoli / Andrew Sean Greer
3 stars

Max Tivoli is aging backwards. When he was born, he resembled an old man. He knows he will die in 1941, so he is aging backwards from 70 years old. When he is 17 (but looks like a man in his 50s), he falls in love with 14-year old Alice. Of course, he can't do anything about it. He loves Alice for the rest of his life and does meet her again when they are both in their 30s. She doesn't recognize him from when she was 14.

It was ok. It was sometimes hard to follow as Max went back and forth in time from when he was writing to tell the “confessions” of his life, and the dividing line in time wasn't always clear. I certainly didn't agree with many of the things Max did or decisions he made. I did think the end “fit”.

12x12 Booktivity, BingoDOG, AlphaKIT

Of Bees and Mist / Erick Setiawan
4 stars

Meridia is unhappy at home while growing up. When she falls in love with Daniel, and seems to get along well with his family, she is happy to marry him and move into his home. Unfortunately, what she learns of his family (and especially his mother) has her very much questioning her decision.

This is probably my highest rated book of magical realism, as I'm not usually a big fan. However, I really enjoyed this one (though the parts where the magical realism came into play, I wasn't as interested in). But, I was very interested in the main storyline and finding out what was going on in Daniel's family. And I certainly can't disguise my absolute hatred of his mother!!!

12x12 Audio, BingoDOG

The Bonesetter's Daughter / Amy Tan
3.5 stars

Chinese-American Ruth is sometimes annoyed by her always-complaining immigrant mother, LuLing. It is tough on everyone, though, when LuLing is diagnosed with dementia. The story goes back in time to Ruth growing up, as well as further back to LuLing growing up in China and making her way to the U.S.

The story is told from both Ruth's point of view and LuLing's. I preferred Ruth's story/point of view/modern day to LuLing's, but LuLing's story got more interesting as it went on (though, listening to the audio, I missed some of start of LuLing's story just due to losing focus). And that name, “Precious Auntie”, drove me nuts! Silly thing, but it just grated on my nerves! But really, overall, I did enjoy the book. I just couldn't rate it as high as 4 stars due to my lack of interest at the start of LuLing's story.

12x12 Off the Shelf, SFFFCAT, RandomCAT

Mirror Mirror / Gregory Maguire
3 stars

This is Maguire's retelling of Snow White, set in the early 1500s. Bianca lives with her father on top of a mountain. When a brother and sister, Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, come, they send Bianca's father away. Lucrezia promises to take care of Biana while her father is away, but after a few years, Lucrezia sends Bianca into the woods to be killed. From here, the story most of us recognize as Snow White begins.

It was ok. I really wasn't very interested in Cesare and Lucrezia, the politics, the descriptions, and feeling like the book was too smart for me (thinking back – though I didn't describe it that way, it was a similar feeling as I had when reading Wicked). That took up about the first two-thirds of the book. I did enjoy the last third of the book - the recognizable Snow White part with her dwarfs. Overall, though, I can't rate it any higher than “ok”. I did find the author's note at the end interesting: apparently Cesare and Lucrezia were real people. So, in addition to a retold fairy tale, there were also elements of historical fiction.

12x12 Trim, HorrorKIT

Locke & Key. Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft / Joe Hill
4 stars

After a guidance counsellor is murdered, his family moves to another state, to the house where the man had grown up. The three kids begin to discover the secrets of the house. The youngest boy, Bode, has discovered a key to a door... when he goes through the door he becomes a ghost and when he comes back through the door, he goes back into his body. There are also secrets in the well, more sinister secrets.

I really liked this. I was pulled in from the start, though at the beginning because there was a lot of back and forth in time, it took me a bit to get a handle on what was happening and who was who. The artwork (it's a graphic novel) was very well done (it is graphic, with blood and violence). I will definitely continue with the next in the series.

12x12 Nonfiction, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT, BioKIT

Eleanor of Aquitaine / Alison Weir
3 stars

Eleanor of Aquitaine lived in the 12th century. She was initially wed to King Louis VII of France, but when they only produced daughters, they went their separate ways and Eleanor then married King Henry II of England. The two of them went on to produce many children, both boys and girls. Their marriage eventually went sour and Eleanor was imprisoned for a while. She was later released and she fought for her sons (who were fighting amongst themselves, as well) to retain the lands she wanted to pass on to them.

It was ok. It is nonfiction, so was somewhat dry in parts. Alison Weir was trying to write the book using primarily contemporary sources, but there were a lot of gaps when there was nothing written about Eleanor, so I found that a good portion of the book focused more on Henry and their sons, which was unfortunate. I would have liked more on Eleanor (though I understand that there's just not that much out there, so from a nonfiction standpoint, probably impossible).

>137 LibraryCin: Glad you enjoyed you first trip to Keyhouse and that you will be continuing the Locke & Key series. It really is a very good one.

>139 AHS-Wolfy: Ditto.

>137 LibraryCin:
Happy to see more love for Locke & Key - it's a great series and kept the quality up to the very end, I thought.

12x12 Series, RandomCAT

Sisterhood Everlasting / Ann Brashares
3.5 stars

The “girls” are all now 29 years old and have spread out. In fact, Tibby and Brian are now in Australia. When the other three get plane tickets to Greece from Tibby to meet up for a reunion, they are all excited. However, tragedy strikes and the girls are each left dealing with things in their own ways.

I enjoyed this. I'm not sure that they really seemed much more grown up, but I still enjoyed the story.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT

Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn
4.5 stars

Amy Dunne, Nick's beautiful wife, goes missing on their 5th anniversary. The police, more and more, come to the conclusion that Nick killed her, but he continues to insist he didn't.

This is a crazy, twisted book! But, it certainly kept me wanting to read and wanting to know what happened. The book alternated chapters between Amy and Nick. I had read in reviews previously, that the characters were unlikable, but certainly at first, I just didn't see it. Twist after twist and part-way through, things really changed. But, oddly, I still – at various times - couldn't help but feel badly for them. But, the end... seriously twisted! I will repeat: crazy, twisted book!

12x12 PBT, HorrorKIT, AlphaKIT, HistoryCAT

From Hell / Alan Moore
3 stars

This is a fictional graphic novel, suggesting one Jack the Ripper theory.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. It was ok, but there was a lot of info that had me wondering what it had to do with anything. I got bored during some of these parts. I also wasn't crazy about the artwork. There were some panels with no dialogue and it was hard to tell what was supposed to have been happening. I was impressed with the very extensive/detailed author's note at the end, though. Overall, I'm rating it ok.

>144 LibraryCin:
Agreed, I wasn't too happy with the art of that one either because it was so hard to figure out what was going on. The Appendix helped enormously, of course, but it sloooowed down the reading a lot to go back and forth the whole time.

>145 -Eva-: I never even thought to go back and forth! I just read it all in order!

>146 LibraryCin:
I meant to read it that way too, but I had such a hard time figuring out who the characters were and what was going on that I didn't really feel I had a choice. It was, like I said, very slow, but at least I didn't lose the plot. :)

>147 -Eva-: There were extra "characters" who I didn't know, but the main people I knew, simply due to all the other Ripper stuff I've already read.

12x12 Booktivity, HistoryCAT, SFFFCAT, RandomCAT

The Outlaws of Sherwood / Robin McKinley
3.5 stars

When Robin Hood accidentally shoots and kills a man with an arrow, he runs and hides in the forest. While the Sheriff of Nottingham sets out to find him, many others want to join Robin's “band” in the forest.

I enjoyed this, and found it picked up in the second half. The first half wasn't nearly as interesting, I didn't think. Overall, enjoyable, though.

12x12 Travel, HistoryCAT, BioKIT

The Princes in the Tower / Alison Weir
4 stars

In the late 15th century in England, two heirs to the throne, Edward IV's sons, disappeared after having been kept in the Tower (supposedly for their protection) by Edward's brother, Richard III, who had taken the throne for himself. Most think that the boys were murdered by Richard. Weir agrees and goes through what she thinks (mostly based on contemporary/primary sources) happened.

The preface, with a summary, pulled me in right away. But then, with a lot of background information needed and “introductions” to let the reader know who's who and to fill in circumstances, it was a little harder to focus. However, after about the first one-quarter to one-third of the book, we came to the main “event”, and it really picked up again for me for the rest of the book. I've not read a lot about the two princes (but a little bit). I'd be surprised if it wasn't Richard who murdered them. It might not be a bad idea to read something with the opposite view, though, just to see what they have to say.

>148 LibraryCin:
That must help a lot. My knowledge of the Ripper is fairly basic - I know the basic story, but not the players in detail.

12x12 Nonfiction

Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them / David Anderegg
3.5 stars

This was written by a developmental psychologist, and the focus is on middle school kids. What is the definition of a nerd and why do kids fear being one so much?

I thought this was interesting, and also amusing in parts. I don't know that it will stay with me, though. But it was quick to read.

12x12 Travel

The Secret River / Kate Grenville
2.5 stars

It is the early 1800s and William Thornhill is a convict in England and is sent to the penal colony in Australia, where he is joined by his wife and young son. In Australia, he is able to take over some land to build a new life. Of course, the Aboriginals are already there on that land.

The premise of the book sounded interesting to me, but the execution wasn't my kind of thing at all. It is very literary and has won awards, which is appealing to some, but not necessarily my thing. I was bored through the first 2/3 of the book, but it did pick up for me in the last 1/3, once there was interaction with the Aboriginals (hence, the extra ½ star). The use of italics for dialogue also drove me a bit nuts (and the author admitted in her note that some people might not like that; see my hand go up...). I did find that note at the end interesting.

>153 LibraryCin: I liked it better than you did.

>154 thornton37814: It's a book club book (f2f), so I'm hoping others did like it more than I did!!!

12x12 Booktivity, AlphaKIT

Wonder / R.J. Palacio
4 stars

August is 10-years old and has always been homeschooled, but his parents think it's time he went to a real school. The scariest part of this is that August was born with a facial deformity and he knows it's bad.

I really enjoyed this. Sure, there were parts that weren't realistic, but overall, it was an enjoyable story. It was told from a number of different viewpoints (though I don't think there were any adult viewpoints included). It was very quick to read.

12x12 Audio

Mystic River / Dennis Lehane
4 stars

Dave, Jimmy and Sean were all friends when they were kids. When they were 11, while playing outside, Dave was kidnapped. He managed to escape a few days later, but the three friends weren't the same. Now, they are grown-up. Sean is a police officer and must investigate the murder of Jimmy's 19-year old daughter, Katie.

I really liked this. It took a bit to get into it, with so many characters to get used to. I was listening to the audio, so that made it a bit trickier, still. But, once I started figuring out who was who, I thought it was really good. It is quite dark, though (just as a warning.)

12x12 Trim, SFFFCAT, BingoDOG

The Unit / Ninni Holmqvist
4 stars

When women hit 50 years old and men hit 60, if they have no children, they are considered “dispensable” and are taken to live in the Unit. Here, they are put to use by being test subjects for various experiments and also by donating organs to people on the outside. When Dorrit arrives at the Unit, she makes some friends and even falls in love.

Wow, this was really good, I thought. Shades of Unwind, but for adults. Somewhat horrifying - what the dispensable people were put through. I wasn't sure I liked the end, initially, but on thinking about it, I do think it's what Dorrit would have done, so I sort of understand it.

Glad to see you found The Unit to be a good read! I keep on meaning to see if I can find any more books by Holmqvist... your review has reminded me to search again.

>159 lkernagh: Good luck finding more! I thought I saw (wikipedia, maybe?) where she has two or three other books.

12x12 Canadian, RandomCAT, AlphaKIT, Travel Across Canada

Essex County / Jeff Lemire
4.5 stars

Lester is living on a farm with his Uncle Ken. Lou and his brother Vince played hockey when they were younger. Now, Lou is deaf and elderly and can't take care of himself on the farm, anymore; he is thinking back on all the memories. Anne is a nurse in Essex County. They each have their own stories in this graphic novel collection set in Essex County in Southern Ontario.

I really enjoyed this. It was quick to read, despite it's length, and, I thought, very Canadian. I hope it will appeal to non-Canadians, as well, though. The rural farming community was familiar to me; though I didn't grow up on a farm, I lived in a small town - a farming community. The stories all come together as you read through them. There were a couple of short stories added at the end that were originally going to be part of the main stories - I didn't find them quite as interesting. There were also bonus materials including early drawings, and promotional material that was interesting to see.

12x12 Series, HorrorKIT, AlphaKIT, BingoDOG

The Lunatic Cafe / Laurell K. Hamilton
4 stars

Vampire hunter, Anita Blake, is dating werewolf Richard. While they try to sort out their relationship, Anita is called to alpha werewolf, Marcus, to help find out about some missing werewolves.

I am really enjoying this series (at least for now – I know that will change later). It does remind me a lot of Sookie Stackhouse (though I know Anita Blake actually came first). This book didn't seem as dark (that is, gory) as the others have been (to be honest, I don't remember them real well, but I took a look back at my reviews for a reminder), but there was plenty of action (especially at the end) and I am enjoying Anita and Richard trying to figure out where they are going.

12x12 Audio

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings / Maya Angelou
2.5 stars

This book looks back at African-American author Maya Angelou's childhood and teen years. Maya and her brother Bailey were mostly raised by their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, but they did also spend time with their parents at times, as well.

I listened to the audio (narrated by Angelou, herself), but maybe it would have been better if I'd read it in print or ebook. It just (mostly) couldn't hold my attention. There were a few stories/anecdotes that did, but mostly they didn't. It seemed more like anecdotes or stories than a chronological biography, but then that may also have to do with me losing focus and missing many parts of it. Maya called her grandmother “Momma”, so I sometimes got mixed up as to whether or not she was talking about her grandmother or her mother. I'm giving it the extra ½ star for the three stories (two of them at the very end) that did hold my attention.

12x12 Author Author, BioKIT

Henry VIII: The King and his Court / Alison Weir
4 stars

This book is not only a biography of King Henry VIII, but it also takes a close look at the culture of the royal court in 16th century England.

I really liked this. Often, Weir's nonfiction books read like fiction and I would say this is one that did. I really enjoyed all the extra behind-the-scenes look at court life. This included detailed information on all the people at court, their positions, their pay, as well as the design of the palaces, food, fashion and probably more that is just not coming to mind as I write this review. I will say that it can be tricky to remember who's who sometimes; I've read enough of this time period that I'm mostly ok with it, but at the end of Henry's reign it got a bit trickier. What made it tricky for me is when someone's title is used rather than their name. I do mostly remember names, but sometimes remembering titles is a bit more difficult (especially, when those titles “move” from person to person sometimes!).

Overall, though, this is a really good biography of Henry that includes many behind-the-scenes details of court life and culture.

12x12 PBT, RandomCAT

Welcome to Eudora / Mimi Thebo
3.5 stars

In the small town of Eudora, there is only one doctor. He is fairly new, young and single. When he and Lottie, the owner of the stationery store in town meet, sparks fly immediately. However, things change when Dr. Emery goes to visit his mother in the hospital in the city and he brings home a wife. Jim is the owner of the movie theatre, but only plays movies when he's feeling up to it. The mayor is ready to retire. There is a large Mexican population who work at the quarry, but the quarry might be in trouble.

There is lots going on in this small town. I quite enjoyed it. It might help that I grew up in a small town, but in this book, I really felt the sense of community. I liked how the author almost made the town itself seem like a character, as well. I did find the start and end more interesting and the middle slowed down a bit, but overall, I enjoyed this book.

12x12 Canada, HistoryCAT

In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death & the World It Made / Norman F. Cantor
3 stars

In this book, Cantor looks at the Black Death that hit Europe in the mid-1300s. It is mostly attributed to the plague, but Cantor suggests it might not only have been the plague; there might have been some anthrax at the same time. In the book, he also looks at people (individual and groups of people) who were affected in some way or another and how and how it changed history.

I liked his writing style – that is, it was informal and easy to read. But, for some reason, I will still losing focus at times. It felt like he was going off tangents a lot, though he did bring things back to the Black Death, but it just seemed a bit disjointed, I guess. Overall, I'm going to give it an “ok”, as I thought the topics he presented were interesting; I just wish I could have stayed more focused while reading.

12x12 Oh Canada

Frog Music / Emma Donoghue
4.25 stars

It is the late 1800s. Blanche is a dancer/prostitute. She came to San Francisco from France with her lover, Arthur. When Jenny, who dresses like a man in trousers, literally runs into Blanche on a bicycle, they become friends and things change for both women forever; soon after, Jenny is murdered. Blanche thinks the murderer meant to kill her.

The book starts with Jenny's murder, then backs up to one month earlier when Jenny and Blanche met. The book goes back and forth between the time following Jenny's murder, when Blanche is trying to find out what happened, and it leads up to the murder.

I really liked this. I was hooked right away. I can't really say I liked Blanche much, but I kind of liked Jenny. She maybe wasn't a super-likable character, but there was still something likable about her. I listened to the audio, and the narrator did a really good job with all the different accents (French, Irish, American?), so the extra ¼ star is for the narrator.

12x12 Travel

Beatle Meets Destiny / Gabrielle Williams
4 stars

18-year old John Lennon is nicknamed “Beatle”. He has a twin who was born a couple of months after he was (this is explained). When he meets Destiny, he falls for her instantly (and she for him), but he already has a girlfriend, Cilla. Cilla is also Beatle's twin sister's best friend, which makes it all even more complicated.

I actually really enjoyed this. It was a fun, cute read. There were chapters that were cute snippets of twins discussing their lives that kind of reminded me of the snippets of couples in When Harry Met Sally, so that was kind of fun, as well.

12x12 Off the Shelf, RandomCAT

Blood Divide: A Novel of Flodden Field / John Saddler
3 stars

In 1513, while Henry VIII was invading France, James IV of Scotland (who was married to Margaret Tudor, Henry's sister) decided to invade England from the north. This resulted in a battle at Flodden Field.

Overall, I'm rating the book “ok”. I really like historical fiction, but I do tend to prefer stories from the points of view of women. This book was from a few different points of view (including one woman), which included POVs from both the English and the Scottish sides of the war. There were a lot of characters I had trouble figuring out, unfortunately; there were also multiple “I”s in the book, which made it harder, still (but there were headings for each section, so if you get a better handle on who's who than I had, it might be easier to follow). I did prefer the last 1/3 of the book and I did enjoy the one woman's POV a bit better. Sadler is a military historian, so he knows his stuff and he did provide a historical note at the end.

>157 LibraryCin:
I enjoyed that one too, although it is, as you say, very dark.

>161 LibraryCin:
Ah, more mentions of that one - it's heading toward the top of the wishlist, for sure.

12x12 Audio

Against medical advice / James Patterson, Hal Friedman
4.5 stars

Cory Friedman was only 5 years old when he began having ticks and was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome. He had a tough life as a kid with all his weird gestures and no friends. He went from doctor to doctor and tried medication after medication. School was tough, but with the unwavering support of his parents, he persevered. Cory was later also diagnosed with OCD and anxiety disorder. The book is in his own “voice” and follows him until he is 17 or 18. His father wrote a preface and epilogue for the book.

Wow, how difficult would that all have been to go through!? Amazing story! I listened to the audio and was drawn in to the story right away – my mind rarely wandered. The narrator did a very good job, I thought. Cory's father read his own portions of the book.

>170 -Eva-: I hope you enjoy Essex County. Even though it's fat, it's real quick to read!

12x12 Truth is Stranger

Brothers & Keepers / John Edgar Wideman
3 stars

John Edgar Wideman is black and became an English professor. His 10-year-younger brother, Robby, robbed and murdered someone in 1975 and is in prison for life. The author decided to write Robby's story, including visits to the prison and how it all affected John himself.

I originally liked the author's writing style at start of book (he is apparently normally a fiction writer) – at that point, it was more focused on himself and how Robby's actions affected him. However, I didn't like Robby's story as much (though it seemed like it might have been the more interesting of the stories here) – it was written more in Robby's “voice”, I think, so it may have been the style. But, I wasn't as interested again later with the author trying to figure out Robby and maybe bringing in some philosophical stuff. I did get more interested again in Robby's story later in the book while John was visiting him in jail. I also found interesting the descriptions of the jail and what was happening there. So, a bit of a mixed bag for me for this one.

12x12 Audio, BingoDOG

Lady Susan / Jane Austen
2 stars

This story was written as letters between various characters. Lady Susan is a widow and is trying to match her daughter, Frederica, up with one man, but Frederica is in love with another.

I think I made an error in judgement in choosing the audio, as classics are already “iffy” for me (though I generally like Jane Austen) and audios are already harder to hold my attention, so I think it was a bad combination, as this one definitely didn't keep my attention. I had trouble through most of it figuring out who was related to whom and how (it was only close to the end that I figured most of that out). There was an introduction that said that it was unfinished, but there was a conclusion, so I'm not too sure what that's about. (Also, wikipedia says it was an “early complete work”.) Because I lost interest so much, at least the introduction told me the plot (although, again, near the end, I was “getting” some of it), but I think I missed what actually happened the end (based on what wikipedia tells me, anyway!).

Oh, the audio... I liked how the audio was done, initially. There are different people voicing different letters, depending who wrote them. I did (originally) like Catherine's narrator, particularly, but she got kind of whiny for me later on (though that, I believe, was when Catherine was “imitating” Lady Susan... but it went on and on!!). It also would have been nice to have narrators with English accents. Only the man who read the intro, conclusion and title for each letter had an English accent.

12x12 Trim, AlphaKIT

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop / Lewsi Buzbee
4 stars

This is a history/memoir. Lewis Buzbee has been a customer, an employee and a sales rep for bookstores. He talks about all these experiences in this book, along with a history of the book and booksellers.

I really enjoyed this. I especially found the history interesting. He intersperses his own experiences with the history information. The book was written in 2006, so e-books were really just taking off in popularity, so he only says a little bit about them, but not much. People who love bookstores would really enjoy this, I think, but also others who are interested in the history of books.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT

Ghosts of the Titanic / Charles Pellegrino
4 stars

Charles Pellegrino is an archaeologist (amongst other things) and has travelled to the bottom of the ocean to investigate the Titanic. Not only does this book talk about his expeditions, but he also tells the stories of what happened on the Titanic.

I really enjoyed this. Some of the science was a bit detailed for me, but overall, it wasn't too bad. I did find some of the information on “rusticles” (what most people see as mineral deposits forming on the ship, Pellegrino and his fellow scientists call rusticles (like icicles), and they are not mineral deposits, but they are “alive”!), quite interesting.

Of course the best parts of the book for me, though, were the stories of the people on the Titanic and the play-by-play of what happened that night. One thing I've probably read about before, but I'm not sure if I got as much info from what else I've read, and found incredibly interesting (and horrifying) was the reaction of the crew on the nearby Californian, as they watched what was happening, but did nothing to help.

There were also some nice illustrations throughout the book. Initially, they were of artifacts found, but later there were some of the ship and minute-by-minute as it was filling up with water and where that water was, and more.

12x12 Off the Shelf, HorrorKIT

Joyland / Stephen King
5 stars

In 1973, when Devin's girlfriend breaks up with him in the summer between years at university, he is crushed. He takes a job at an amusement park, Joyland, and tries to forget Wendy. A few years earlier, at Joyland, a girl was murdered and her ghost is said to still haunt the ride where she was killed. The murderer was never found. Devin makes some good friends at Joyland and one of them helps him try to figure out what happened to the murdered girl.

This one is actually pretty short for a King novel. Even so, Stephen King is so good at characters and atmosphere. Right from the start, I was pulled into Joyland. King does an amazing job describing it all and we even learn some of the carny vocabulary while we're at it! Most of the first half of the book does not actually focus on the mystery of the murdered girl, but introduces us to Joyland and the characters and gives us some background. The mystery becomes more of a focus in the second half, but I really enjoyed all of it.

12x12 Series

Allegiant / Veronica Roth
4 stars

I don't want to say too much about the plot, as I don't want to spoil anything from the previous two books. I'll just say this: Tris and Four and some of their friends escape to outside the city. There, they are in for a shock.

I quite enjoyed this last book in the trilogy. I'm very glad that there was some recap of the previous book(s), as it's been a while since I read book two and I hated that book two had absolutely no recap of book one. I was surprised at the end! (But, I didn't hate it like some others did.)

12x12 Series

Messenger / Lois Lowry
3 stars

This is the 3rd book in The Giver series. It brings together some of the characters from the second book (Gathering Blue) with one of the characters from the first book. Matty has settled in Village, living with Seer (a blind man and Matty's friend (Kira)'s father). Kira is still living in their old village, but when the people of the previously welcoming Village decide to close their doors to newcomers, Matty makes a trip to get Kira and bring her so she and her father can be reunited.

I probably shouldn't have listened to the audio. The narrator has a low gravely voice, and I did lose focus. It was ok, but nothing special. It was also extremely short. I was going to give up on the series, but I must admit that I liked the way it ended and it did make me slightly curious about the next book. We'll see.

The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of The Window and Disappeared / Jonas Jonasson
3.25 stars

Allan Karlsson walks out of his nursing home on the day he turns 100 and disappears. From there, he manages to get into trouble (stealing things and worse) and he collects people along the way as they continue on the run together. There is also a look back at his 100 years of life, mostly as an explosives expert as he travelled the world and met many world leaders.

It was ok. I preferred the current-day storyline to looking back on his life. There were some amusing parts, but I found a lot of it just silly.

12x12 Nonfiction, BioKIT

Rasputin: The Untold Story / Joseph T. Fuhrmann
4 stars

This is a biography of Gregory Rasputin. Born a peasant in Siberia, he became religious and powerful as he befriended Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. He was often manipulative and many people hated him. He was murdered shortly before the revolution when the Romanovs were murdered themselves.

This was very good and seemed to be well-researched. The author apparently was able to get to some documents and files that had not before been released. It's an interesting story, as a whole, and while parts of the story do focus on Nicholas and Alexandra, where Rasputin was, what he was doing, and his influence on the Romanovs was what the book was about. There were a few less interesting parts for me – mostly the politics – but overall, I thought it was very good and well worth reading for anyone interested in the Romanovs.

12x12 CAT Challenges, SFFFCAT, HorrorKIT

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children / Ransom Riggs
4 stars

Jacob's grandfather used to tell Jacob fairy tales when Jake was a kid, but he presented them as being real. His grandfather, as a (Jewish) child, was sent away from Poland at the start of WWII to a home for children on an island in Wales, where he would be safe. After his grandfather dies, due to some things he said to Jacob as he was dying, Jacob feels he must get to Wales to find this orphanage his grandfather lived at.

I really enjoyed this. I love that it was based on real old photographs and I loved that they were included in the book (a bit dark in the ebook, but I could make them out). I loved the creepiness of the old house when Jacob first comes upon it. It's not action-packed (though there's more of that at the end), but I really liked the story, overall.

>180 LibraryCin: - I gave up on this one. Just wasn't enjoying it so kudos to you for finishing.

>182 LibraryCin: - This one surprised me. Loved the photographs and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

>183 LittleTaiko: The 100-Year Old Man was for my f2f book club, so I would have finished, anyway. However, I am one (I know - there aren't many of us!) who has a hard time giving up on a book, anyway! I think there have been many two books in my entire life that I gave up on!

Miss Peregrine - yes, I am also looking forward to reading the sequel!

12x12 Booktivity, HistoryCAT

The Concubine / Norah Lofts
3.5 stars

This is a fictional account of Anne Boleyn from the time she came back to England from France (where she grew up) and met Henry VIII to just after she was beheaded.

It was good. It (probably no surprise) picked up in the last 1/3 of the book once Henry turned his attention to Jane Seymour and was looking for a way to get rid of Anne. Anne's not my favourite of Henry's wives, but I do feel badly for how it all ended for her. I wonder, though, if I'm getting tired of reading about the Tudors, or if I just need to read more about some of the Tudors I've read less about. Anne is probably who I've read the most about. It was still good, overall, though.

12x12 CAT Challenges, AlphaKIT, RandomCAT, HistoryCAT

Down With the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster / Steven Biel.
2 stars

This book isn't so much about the Titanic itself, as about the effect the sinking of the ship had on culture after the disaster. It looked at such things as gender, class and race; also, songs and poems written about the Titanic; also, the books, tv, and movies that came about (this was published before James Cameron's movie, however).

I wish I would have noticed the subtitle before requesting it from the library (or even before putting it on my tbr... did I? It was too long ago). It just wasn't what I was interested in. I skimmed though a lot of it. Probably the most interesting chapter to me was the one that mainly focused on William Lord's book (written in the 1950s), A Night to Remember. Overall, though, it just wasn't interesting to me.

HorrorKIT, BingoDOG, SFFFCAT, 12x12 Off the Shelf

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter / Seth Grahame-Smith
4 stars

This is the story of Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter. As a boy, when he learns both his grandfather and his mother were killed by vampires, he vows to hunt every vampire in America down and kill them. When he meets a vampire who is willing to train him, he becomes the best vampire hunter in America.

I really liked this. I will admit that I don't know American history very well, so what I know about Lincoln is only the very basics. I do suspect much of what was in the book did really happen (but I can't say for sure) – except, of course, all the stuff about vampires! I didn't find it fast-paced, as it followed him on his travels for both work and vampire-hunting, but I really enjoyed it.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT, BingoDOG

The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat / Laura Lee Hope
3.5 stars

The Bobbseys have two set of twins. Bert and Nan are 9-years old and Flossie and Freddie are 5. When they find out their father has bought a houseboat, they are excited to go on a trip! Shortly before they leave, they meet Will, a boy who works for a farmer a little ways away.

This was cute and fun! (And quick, at less than 100 pages.) I'm sure I read a book or two about the Bobbsey twins when I was younger; I believe my grandma had one or two books. There is a situation in the book that makes it a little more interesting beyond the day-to-day playing the twins do on land and on the houseboat. It's amazing that this book was written 100 years ago this year. I think this series (or at least this book, and likely the series) really holds up to the test of time.

12x12 Animals

Stickeen / John Muir
3 stars

In this memoir, it is the late 1800s and the author is exploring Alaska with a dog, Stickeen. They are hiking through glaciers and end up in a bit of a scary spot.

It was ok. It really didn't get “exciting” till over half-way through. It was written in the late 1800s, so a different writing style from today. A lot of description that I wasn't always as interested in. It did get more interesting once they got onto that glacier and had to figure out how to get back. Overall, a little disappointing, though, as I expected more about the dog.

12x12 Travel

The Second Empress / Michelle Moran
4.5 stars

When Napoleon's wife hasn't produced boys as heirs for him, he divorces her and chooses to wed an 18-year old Austrian archduchess, Maria-Lucia. Maria-Lucia is not happy about this, but does her duty, moves to France and marries him. Napoleon's sister, Pauline Borghese, is jealous. She wants power just as much as Napoleon. She also wants her brother to herself.

I really liked this. Napoleon is another historical figure I've not read much about. As usual, though, I tend to enjoy history and/or historical fiction from the point of view of women. This story is told from three different points of view: Maria-Lucia, Pauline and Pauline's chamberlain, Paul. I did prefer the POVs of Maria-Lucia and Pauline. Wow, Pauline was... wow – vindictive, crazy, there are many more words that could describe her. Though this was fiction, Moran took much of what she learned and put in the book from primary sources (including some actual letters written by Napoleon, his ex-wife, and others). I have to say that Michelle Moran sure does know how to tell great historical fiction!

12x12 Series, HorrorKIT

Locke & Key. Vol. 2: Head Games / Joe Hill
3.5 stars

Luke, who supposedly died 30 years ago, is recognized by a few people, looking just like he did then. He is pretending to be a cousin to the woman who was once his girlfriend. Bode Locke has discovered another key – this one opens up his brain, where he can look at and pick out memories. Unfortunately, the older Locke siblings trust Luke and he learns of this key...

It was good, but I didn't like it as much as the first one. It ended on a “cliffhanger”, but I was already planning to read the next one in the series, anyway. The illustrations are very well done. There is a section at the back where the illustrator explains his process, which was kind of interesting. It ends with a beautiful gallery of illustrations, as well.

12x12 Animals, SFFFCAT

Catalyst / Anne McCaffrey
4 stars

This book encompasses all of: universal domination, catnapping, telepathy, space travel, disease... When Janina's valuable pregnant kitty Chessie, trained in helping out on space ships... as will be all of her progeny, is kidnapped, Janina must find her! While Chessie is away from Janina, she is sheltered in a barn with another pregnant cat, and the kittens get to know the kidnapper's young son, Jubal, and one of the kittens (Chester) ends up with an amazing bond (seemingly telepathic) with Jubal. Unfortunately, they later become separated, as well and while the government worries about and works to eliminate a disease amongst animals that could threaten everyone, Jubal insists he must find Chester.

I really enjoyed this. I waffled between 4 and 4.5 stars, but am going with 4. Science fiction is not always my “thing”, but the cats did it for me in this one. I do suspect, though, that this one is not going to be all that appealing to someone who isn't a cat person. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and there's no question I'll be reading the next book.

12x12 Trim

All He Ever Wanted / Anita Shreve
3.5 stars

In 1900, when Nicholas van Tassel meets Etna Bliss, he falls head over heals in love. Though she admits to not loving him, she agrees to marry him, anyway. Nicholas is looking back on his life with Etna long after she is gone.

Nicholas is an academic and sounds very snooty. I'm not sure if that was the way he is written and/or the way the narrator of the audio makes him sound. I suspect some of both. Either way, I enjoyed the book. The audio was able to hold my attention. It's not fast-paced, but I thought it was a good story.

12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaKIT, HistoryCAT, RandomCAT

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration / Isabel Wilkerson
4.5 stars

Primarily between 1915 and 1970, “coloured” people migrated in masses from the American South to the North. However, even the North wasn't all it was cracked up to be. This book looks at the overall migration, but it also focuses on three specific people who migrated.

Ida Mae, in the late 1930s, moved from Mississippi to Milwaukee, then Chicago; George, in the 1940s, moved from Florida to New York; Robert, in the 1950s, moved from Louisiana to California. All three moved to escape the Jim Crow laws and the treatment of coloured people in the south.

This was really good. I did find it helpful (especially towards the start of the book) that the author usually did a quick little recap for each of our main characters as she went back and forth between them. She also interspersed more general information about the mass migration, as well as adding in smaller anecdotes of other migrants and their stories. Wow, she did a lot of research for this book, not only “book” research, but lots of interviews, not only with the three main people she focused on (as well and their families, friends, and acquaintances), but also initial interviews with over 1000 people to decide who to mainly focus on. Very impressive!

>191 LibraryCin: I too enjoyed the gallery of illustrations at the end of the Locke and Key books!

12x12 Series, RandomCAT

The Girl Who Played With Fire / Stieg Larsson
4.25 stars

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist hasn't seen Lisbeth Salander for a couple of years. His magazine, Millennium, is planning to run an issue and publish a book about sex trafficking, but shortly beforehand, the journalist who is writing the book and his wife, who is doing a thesis on the same topic, are murdered. Police think Lisbeth is involved, but Mikael is convinced she would never do such a thing.

Like the first book, this took quite a while to get going (longer than the first book, I thought). It really picked up (after the first bit of background information, which really is needed) about a third of the way in. But once it picked up, I really liked it. And it picked up even more at the very end. One thing I did have some trouble with was keeping all the people straight – probably a combination of so many characters, plus the Swedish names (and they are almost all referred to by their last names). Overall, though, I really liked it, just not quite as much as the first book.

>196 LibraryCin: - The next book picks right up where this one ends and I liked it the best of the three. I had trouble keeping the characters straight to some degree also. Also the place names.

>197 dudes22: Good to know. I guess I should probably try not to put off the next one too long (and I was wondering if that might happen, as there was so much fast-paced stuff happening right at the end of this one!).

ETA: That not putting it off too long is easier said than done for me! I can go a long time in between books in a series, depending what fits various monthly challenges! Also, with longer books, it's sometimes tougher for me to fit them in (and I feel like I've read a bunch of longer books lately!).

I waited a year between each book, reading one each time we were on vacation when I could read as long as I liked without interruption. There is a brief recap of book 2 (or at least the end of book 2) fairly early in book 3 so even if you don't get to it right away, you'll be able to get into it.

>199 dudes22: Thanks! I should be ok with a quick recap! :-)

12x12 Trim, AlphaKIT, HistoryCAT

The Heretic's Daughter / Kathleen Kent
3.5 stars

Martha Carrier was one of the women accused and put to death for being a “witch” in late 17th century Salem, Mass. This book is a fictional account of the happenings, as told by her daughter, Sarah, who was also imprisoned at the time.

It was good. I listened to the audio and the first 1/3 or so (mostly set-up... before the accusations started) was not enough to hold my interest, so I often lost focus. It did pick up for me once the accusations began, however. Because the rest of it was more interesting, it was enough for me to rate the book “good”. As I sometimes do, I wonder if I might have enjoyed it better in print or ebook.

12x12 Author Author, AlphaKIT

Benediction / Kent Haruf
4 stars

“Dad” Lewis is diagnosed with cancer and goes home with his wife Mary to live out his days. Their daughter Lorraine comes home to help out, but they all miss the fact that their estranged son (and brother), Frank, is not there with them. Berta May is their neighbour and her granddaughter, Alice, has come to live with her, after her daughter's death. The new reverend in town does not last long when people are upset at some of what he has to say at the pulpit one day; his son has also had a hard time fitting into the small town of Holt, Colorado.

As usual, Haruf's books are not fast-moving. This is another book set in the small town of Holt, and some of the characters from previous books are mentioned only in passing. But, Haruf does a really good job of keeping the reader interested in what is going on with the characters' lives. Most of interest to me was Dad and his family. I also enjoyed Berta May and Alice's storyline.

Marie Antoinette: A Journey / Antonia Fraser
4 stars

As a little girl, Marie Antoinette was an Archduchess of Austria. She later married Louis XVI, the future king of France. They ruled France in the late 18th century, but that came to an end via the French Revolution. They had to run for their lives, which in the end, they both lost. This is her biography, so it's nonfiction.

This was very good. I must admit to not knowing a lot about her, the time period, or the other people involved, so I learned a lot. Because I don't know as many people, at times there were a lot of people to try to keep straight, but I think Fraser did a pretty good job of at least keeping clear the main “players”. It's a long book, but it was very good. And I think it's the first I've read by Fraser. I'm sure I'll pick up more and I'll likely read more about Marie Antoinette, as well.

12x12 Travel

I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You / Courtney Maum
3.5 stars

Richard is an artist and has been cheating on his wife for seven months, when his mistress decides to leave him and marry someone else. He is devastated. Meanwhile, when his wife finds out, Richard decides he doesn't want to lose her, either, so he tries to win her back.

I didn't think, at first, that I'd like the book, because I hated Richard so much right away. However, the book got more interesting as it went along, and I was amazed to find myself, later in the book, sort of rooting for the guy. Maybe that's because it was from his point of view? Or did the author write it that well? Or both? I don't know why, but in the end, I'd rate it a “good” book.

12x12 Canadian

The Shadowy Horses / Susanne Kearsley
3.5 stars

Verity heads out to rural Scotland for a job interview on an archaeological dig site. Little does she know, it's kind of an unofficial site. The head man running it, Peter, believes that there was a specific purpose to the site, but no one else really agrees that that is the case. Peter is said to be “mad”. She takes the job, anyway, and discovers that Peter's belief is based on the “sight” of a psychic 9-year old boy... a boy who talks to the resident ghost he calls The Sentinel.

I quite enjoyed this. It took a little bit to get into it and it's not a fast-paced book, but I liked (most of) the characters and I also liked the little romance that developed for Verity (though it was pretty low-key - till the end, anyway).

12x12 Oh, Canada, Travel Across Canada

The Little Shadows / Marina Endicott
3.5 stars

It is 1912. Aurora, Clover and Belle are sisters and their father is gone. Their mother used to work in vaudeville, so she decides to teach the girls and set up an act so they can all make a living. The girls are 13, 15, and 16 and their mother, at the same time as teaching them to perform, is also trying to protect them as they travel and try to find theatres to perform in. The book follows them up to 1917.

I liked this, but it didn't quite live up to what I expected. There was a lot of vaudeville detail that probably didn't need to be there. I did read it, in part, because of the vaudeville, but it was a lot. Overall, though, I did enjoy it and I wanted to keep reading and wanted to be reading when I wasn't. It was a long book, but didn't feel long to me (despite all the extra detail).

12x12 Author Author, HistoryCAT

Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution / Peter Ackroyd
2 stars

This is a political history of England in the 17th century.

I hadn't realized it was going to be all politics. There was a lot of conflict between the monarchy and the Parliament. It probably didn't help that it was on audio, which is always trickier to hold my attention. I guess, in addition to the politics, there was some religion, but that doesn't make it much (any?) better for me, either. My attention focused in brief intervals, but it wasn't enough to enjoy it or even rate it “ok” for me. I had hoped to learn about a new group of people, but it just wasn't interesting enough for me.

12x12 Animals

Catnap / Carole Nelson Douglas
3 stars

Midnight Louie is a cat, living in Las Vegas. When he discovers a dead body at the American Booksellers' Association convention, he must help figure out what happened. Temple is a PR person, working at the convention and was the first human to discover the body. She also wants to find out what happened. In the meantime, Baker & Taylor, the two cat mascots for the company of the same name, have disappeared. Temple is trying to keep this quiet and find the cats at the same time.

It was ok. I wasn't crazy about Temple at the start of the book, especially, though I guess she wasn't so bad later. I did like Louie (who had the occasional chapter to himself, from his point of view); that part of the book was cute. I don't think it's enough to keep me reading the series, though.

12x12 PBT

The Space Between Us / Thrity Umrigar
4 stars

Bhima has worked (as a servant) for Sera for years. Sera treats her well and they are also, in a way, friends. Bhima has raised her granddaughter, Maya, and when Maya comes home from college (paid for by Sera) pregnant, Bhima must figure out what to do.

I really liked this. This is the second book I've read by Umrigar and she does a really good job with character relationships, which is really what her books seem to be about. The book also goes back in time to follow both Sera and Bhima's lives (and Maya's) to explain how they got where they are now.

12x12 PBT

Burial Rites / Hannah Kent
3.5 stars

Agnus was convicted of murder, along with another woman (a teenage girl, really) and a man, in the early 19th century in Iceland. Agnus and the man will be executed, but they need someplace to keep Agnus until then. She will stay with a family in rural Iceland. There, she talks to a local priest and the family she is staying with also gets to know her before it's time.

This was based on the true story of the last woman executed in Iceland. It was good - heartbreaking as we learn more about what happened, but good. It wasn't fast-paced, as the story came out slowly, along with Agnus's daily living alongside the family she is staying with.

12x12 Series, HistoryCAT

Dragonfly in Amber / Diana Gabaldon
4 stars

This continues where Outlander leaves off, with a separate intro from the 1960s. Claire is “back” and has a grown-up daughter, Brianna. Frank has passed away. Claire brings Brianna to Scotland, intending to tell her about Claire's having travelled back to 18th century Scotland. Claire also finds someone, Roger, whom she needs to fill in on something. She tells them her story, continuing from where Outlander left off, with Claire and Jaime heading to France.

I really liked this one. I liked the story with Brianna and Roger, as well as Claire and Jamie's continuing story. I would actually say I liked this better than Outlander, but that is most likely because I listened to the audio for Outlander, but read this one, instead. The books are so long, it's easy to lose focus with the audios, so reading in print or ebook seems to be the way to go for this series for me.

>209 LibraryCin: Thanks for this review, this sounds like exactly my cup of tea and goes on the "to read" list.

>212 Chrischi_HH: I hope you like it. Have you read anything else by her? I've read one other and really liked it, as well. It's called The World We Found and is about 4 women who were friends in the 1970s in university, but they went their separate ways and it's set in the current day.

>213 LibraryCin: No, she is a new-to-me author. The World We Found sounds interesting, too. Thanks a lot for the recommendation, I will certainly keep this in mind. :)

Homebody / Orson Scott Card
3.5 stars

When Don buys a run-down, falling apart home to restore it, he is surprised to find a squatter living there. He learns more about the house from the squatter and the neighbours and things don't quite go as planned.

I enjoyed it, mostly, but I was hoping for creepy and I really didn't find it creepy. I can't say I liked the end, either. Hmmm, my comments don't make it sound like I enjoyed it, but really I mostly did!

12x12 Series, SFFFCAT

The Battle of the Labyrinth / Rick Riordan
4 stars

With the worry that Camp Half-Blood will be attacked, Percy and his friends (led by Annabeth) must go on a quest inside the labyrinth that is located (but moves around) underneath America.

These books really are a lot of fun! I think I do better to read them than to listen, though. There is a lot of action in these YA books and it keeps me wanting to read.

12x12 Audio, SFFFCAT, AlphaKIT

Sunshine / Robin McKinley
3.5 stars

Rae (“Sunshine”) works at a bakery and is kidnapped by vampires, but manages to escape. No one escapes from vampires! She had a bit of help from another vampire who had also been kidnapped. The two of them end up teaming up to bring down the vampire who had kidnapped them.

I enjoyed this. I was listening to the audio, though, so I did miss parts. I read somewhere that this was meant to be an adult book by McKinley, but the narrator sounded young (though she did do a good job), so it was hard to get out of my mind that it wasn't YA. There were some humourous bits, like wondering whether or not vampires ever needed to pee (how does their digestive system work?) and there were a couple of other similar amusing thoughts that just aren't coming to me at the moment. Definitely enjoyable!

12x12 Author Author, Author Author

The Haunted Hotel / Wilkie Collins
2.5 stars

Mr. Ferrari has disappeared and right around the same time, Lord Montberry has died of an illness. Lady Montberry is having a hard time dealing with things and Mrs. Ferrari is worried about her husband.

There did actually seem to be a lot of activity in the book and it initially seemed like I was going to enjoy the writing style, but I got lost early on with so many characters and I had trouble figuring out who was who. It temporarily picked up for a bit in the second half, as the hotel was opened and the haunting(s?) happened. But then, I sort of lost interest again as the story wrapped up.

The main plotline above IS the main plotline, which is what I remember, but being worried I was missing something, I looked it up after I finished reading, only to discover I missed some of the wrapup at the end (though I was happy I did catch the main plot)! I caught some of it (the wrapup), but missed some of the important bits. Most classics for me are hit or miss. This one sounded intriguing, but unfortunately it was a miss for me.

12x12 Author Author, AlphaKIT

Touch Not the Cat / Mary Stewart
3 stars

It's the 1970s. When Bryony's father dies, his house and land will not go to his daughter because she is a woman, but she does have a say in if or when it is sold. Her cousins also have a stake in it. Bryony also has a kind of telepathy, or at least a connection with someone – she's not sure who – where they can read each others thoughts. She enjoys this and is certain it's someone in her family, but would like to find out for sure.

Ok, I hated that she called the voice in her head “lover”! Ugh! She thinks this is family (but apparently there aren't taboos against relationships with cousins at this time? It seems kind of current for that to be the case, though?)! However, the storyline was ok. At first, I wasn't very interested and tended to skim things, but it did pick up for me in the second half, so that was much more interesting. I did think the end was tied up a little too neatly. Overall, though, it's an “ok” read for me.

12x12 Off the Shelf, HorrorKIT

The Ruins / Scott Smith
4.5 stars

When four friends take a holiday in Mexico, they meet a few others and decide to go after their new German friend's brother, who has followed a girl out to an archaeological site. What they find at that site, however, will leave them fighting for their lives.

Wow, definitely creepy! I was on the edge of my seat for most of it, wanting to know what was going to happen, so I wanted to just keep reading. I was happy to finish the 500 page book in two (weekend) days.

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

Memoirs of a Fighting Dog / Keesha Keenleyside
4.5 stars

As the title says, this is a fictional memoir of a dog who was forced to fight for his life over and over and over again in the brutal world of dog fighting.

It was a very difficult book to read, but luckily, we know from the very start that the dog (now named Sombre) has survived and been rescued. It shows the horrible world of dog fighting where dogs are trained to kill each other for human sport/entertainment/money. I was in tears throughout a good portion of the book. It is violent and a horrible horrible life for those poor dogs. The author says the money raised from the book will support animal charities. It was self-published and my one complaint was that it could have used a good editor: there were grammar, spelling and punctuation errors, which did sometimes jolt me out of the story. The story itself, though: powerful and heartbreaking.

12x12 Audio, AlphaKIT

K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain / Ed Viesturs
4 stars

Mountaineer Ed Viesturs takes a look a the history of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, but the most deadly for climbers.

It was interesting to hear about the various excursions and adventures on the mountain, from the 1930s to 2008. I was listening to the audio, so my mind did wander occasionally, and for some reason, a little more in the second half, but overall, I quite enjoyed it. Because it was the audio, though, it was tricky sometimes to figure out which year's excursion I was listening to if I missed it! Some of the history was interesting, as well, as you get to hear about how some of the gear has changed over time.

12x12 Oh Canada, BioKIT, AlphaKIT

An Embarrassment of Mangoes / Ann Vanderhoof
3.5 stars

The author, Ann, and her husband, Steve, decided to take two years to sail to and around the Caribbean. This is a memoir of their journey.

I enjoyed this. There was a little too much discussion of local food (with recipes included) for me, but I'm sure there a lots of people who would enjoy that. It does help with describing the culture of all the various places/islands they visited. Along the way, they also met plenty of other cruisers and locals. At the end of the book, I would have liked to hear a bit about how they got over what must have been some culture shock coming back home. They did go back to visit in the Caribbean a few years later, though, so we did get a few updates of some of the local people they'd met.

12x12 PBT, SFFFCAT

The Compound / S.A. Bodeen
4 stars

When Eli is only 9-years old, he and his family (minus his Gram and twin brother, Eddy), run to their underground compound and manage to escape the nuclear bomb outside. After six years in the compound, their food supply begins to run low, even though the original planning and stocking took into account 15 years. Eli's billionaire father has some odd ideas about what to do next, and Eli discovers a few surprises.

I really enjoyed this! I did figure out some of what was going on before it was “revealed”, but I was still reading on the edge of my seat to find out what would happen next.

12x12 Off the Shelf, Travel Across Canada

Innocent / Eric Walters
4 stars

It is the 1960s. Betty is an orphan, raised at an orphanage. Shortly before her 18th birthday, when she would be released from the orphanage to make it out on her own, the orphanage catches on fire and burns down, so Betty (and the other older girls) are to set off on their own a bit early. The orphanage fire is the premise behind the Secrets series, all written by different authors, and to be released at the end of this month (I'm reviewing an ARC of this one). This book focuses on Betty and the others focus on the other older girls.

Betty is sent to Kingston to work for a rich family. When she is released, she is given a bit of information about her biological parents: it turns out her father murdered her mother when she was just 4-years old. She was born in Kingston, and surprisingly, the family she is now working for knew her parents, so she is able to find out more.

I really enjoyed this. I was interested to find out more about Betty and her parents and what happened there. It is YA, though, so it did move faster than I would have thought – that is, she found out the information really quickly and it didn't seem too difficult to find things out. I guess I was skeptical at all the coincidences that made it so easy. But, still, I was interested and really did enjoy reading it. I will plan to read more of the series.

12x12 Booktivity, HorrorKIT

Those Across the River / Christopher Buehlman
3.25 stars

When Frank and Dora inherit a house in rural Georgia that's been in Frank's family since plantation days, even though they are warned away from moving in, circumstances dictate that it's the best plan to just move in. But when the town decides to stop offering a sacrifice to whatever it is that's across the river, whatever it is isn't happy...

It started really slow for me. The entire first half was merely ok, so I did seem to skim over some of it, since it wasn't holding my attention. However, the second half really picked up and did hold my interest. It still wasn't quite enough to increase my overall rating to “good”, however, so I'm giving it that ¼ star that it wouldn't have gotten if I didn't end up liking the second half.

I've had Those Across the River on my Halloweeen Reading List for some time now, not sure if I will get to it this year.

>227 DeltaQueen50: I hope you're able to get into it quicker than I did! The second half, I was reading at home (versus on public transit), so there was less to distract me.

12x12 Audio, SFFFCAT

The Coroner's Lunch / Colin Cotterill
3 stars

It is the 1970s in Laos. The country has recently become communist and many people have fled. Siri is one of the few doctors left and at 72 years old would really like to retire. However, he is still able to contribute, so despite not having any experience, he is appointed as a coroner. Usually it's pretty quiet, but when a woman comes in, he and his team (a female nurse and an assistant with Down's syndrome) must investigate. Not only that, more bodies come in that seem suspicious. As he figures out more and more, his own life seems to be in danger.

It was ok. I listened to the audio, so I did miss parts here and there. I did like the occasional humourous one-liners that popped up here and there and I did like Siri and his team and their relationship. Overall, though, the story just didn't pull me in. It is the first in a series, but I am not planning to continue.

12x12 PBT

What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James & Jack the Ripper / Paula Marantz Cohen
3 stars

Professor of philosophy/psychology, William James (author Henry James' brother) lives and teaches in the United States but is asked to come to London to help with the Jack the Ripper case. Henry also wants to help, as does their invalid sister, Alice, who is confined to her home.

It was ok, but anytime there was any focus that wasn't on Jack the Ripper, I got bored. The dialogue seemed very pretentious or maybe just too intellectual for me or something. I also had trouble getting past William being able to bring bits of evidence home to show Henry and Alice for discussion. Although I have at least one more fictional Jack the Ripper book on my tbr, I'm thinking the nonfiction is actually more interesting to read about than the fictionalized versions.

12x12 Animals, AlphaKIT

Zoo / James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
4 stars

Worldwide, any and all animals are acting strangely and attacking and killing humans. Oz didn't quite finish his degree, but as a scientist, he has been studying this behaviour for a few years and calls it HAC (Human-Animal Conflict). As things escalate, he joins forces with Chloe as they try to convince the world of what is going on and try to stop it...

This was really good. There is now a tv show based on the book, but it is very different. The premise is the same and the two characters, Oz and Chloe, are the same, but that's just about where the similarities end. I like that Patterson writes in the short chapters he uses, as it spurs me on (of course, in addition to the plot!) to want to keep reading. I was really trying to figure out how the novel was going to end, and I think it was... fitting, probably realistic (if such a situation was to be “realistic”, the way they ended it certainly was).

12x12 Oh Canada

Sweetness in the Belly / Camilla Gibb
3.5 stars

Lilly was born to an English father and an Irish mother, but her parents were nomads of a sort, so she grew up in Morocco, at least until both parents died. From there, the person who was taking care of her brought her to Ethiopia. This was the 1970s, before a revolution in that country. In the 1980s, Lilly is living in London, England, along with an Ethiopian friend. The two of them are helping Ethiopian refugees find family, friends, and relatives, and both hope to one day find and be reunited with the man they each love.

It was good. I mostly didn't like Lilly, though, especially in the 1980s as she pined away for Aziz so many years later and wouldn't let anyone else in (nor did she even decorate her apartment...she just couldn't move on). I had a bit of trouble getting “into” the book at first, though. It was a bit tricky, also at first, as the narrative jumped back and forth between Ethiopia in the 70s and London in the 80s, as I tried to follow along and figure out who everyone was. Overall, though, the story still turned out to be a good one.

12x12 Canada, Travel Across Canada, BioKIT

Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver / Stephen R. Bown
3.5 stars

Captain George Vancouver served the British Royal Navy in the late 18th century. He initially did some exploring with Captain James Cook, and was later assigned to lead his own exploration to document/map the Pacific Northwest and to look for a Northwest Passage. No one yet had explored this large territory. Unfortunately for him, he was a stickler for rules and made some high-powered enemies (subordinates based on navy rankings, but high-powered back home in England) on this multi-year voyage. At the same time, he was very congenial towards the people they met along the way.

Overall, this was good. There were parts where I had trouble focusing, though, so I did end up skimming a bit of it. I debated between an “ok” rating (3 stars) or a “good” rating (3.5 stars), but decided on 3.5 (though I more often tend to round down when I'm having trouble deciding). However, the end of the book really picked up for me, and I felt badly for Captain Vancouver and how he was treated after the voyage was over. He was already ill and I felt he was being bullied. He was very strict, but it sounds like for the time, he was within his rights to be as strict as he was. I was very impressed with his dealings with the natives he came across, as well as the Spanish explorers they met along the way.

>229 LibraryCin:
I think the audioversion of that series suffers from the most tedious reader ever. Such a shame, the series itself is quite good.

>225 LibraryCin: I've enjoyed several of Eric Walters books, and we've used some of them for our parent-child book club. My favourite of his is We All Fall Down. Innocent sounds interesting. I like the fact that it's set in Kingston, which is a city I always enjoy visiting.

>234 -Eva-: Thank you. That's good to know. I am mixed about the reader. I'm not sure why - sometimes - I do find him appealing. I also recently listened to another (LONG!) one he read. A history one by Peter Ackroyd and the title has completely escaped me at the moment. I was sort of the same about that reader when listening to the Ackroyd book, as well.

>235 mathgirl40: I'll take a look at that one. Thank you! I've not read anything else by him.

12x12 Booktivity

In Doubt / Drusilla Campbell
4 stars

Donny is in a program for “troubled” teen boys, run by Roman and his wife, Iva. When Donny's mother comes to take him out of the program and bring him home, he is very upset to have to leave and really doesn't want to. Shortly after, the state governor, Maggie, is speaking in a park and is shot by Donny. There is no doubt about this; many people saw it and Donny didn't resist immediate arrest. His lawyer, Sophie, wants to dig further to try to figure out why Donny would shoot Maggie, as he's not talking.

Although I had a bit of trouble right at the start, with so many characters and trying to figure out who's who, once the story really started, I really liked it. I wanted to know what was going on and I wanted to keep reading. I felt badly for Donny and everything he'd been through. There were a couple of side-stories that weren't wrapped up, but that didn't bother me. I suppose that opens the door to more books about those characters or it's just more realistic. There was also an author's note at the end that was interesting to read about as she explained why she writes about the kinds of people that she does. This is the first book I've read by Campbell, and I will likely read more.

12x12 Oh Canada, Travel Across Canada, SFFFCAT

The Underwater Welder / Jeff Lemire
3.5 stars

Jack is an underwater welder who works on an oil rig off the shore of Nova Scotia. His wife is 9 months pregnant. His father died when he was only 10 years old, doing a dive while drunk. While diving for work one day, something odd happens, and Jack is then distracted from anything and everyone else.

At first, I was a little confused and it seemed a little odd. Some of the illustrations were a bit tricky to figure out, as well, which didn't help. The illustrations got easier to read as I went, however. And I did end up liking the book. As mentioned in the introduction (by one of the producers of the tv show, Lost), it was Twilight Zone-esque, so that was kind of appealing, as well.

12x12 Off the Shelf, AlphaKIT

The Other Typist / Suzanne Rindell
3.5 stars

It is the 1920s in New York City. Rose is a typist at a police precinct. When a new typist, Odalie, is hired, Rose becomes a bit obsessed with Odalie. They do become friends and Rose moves in with Odalie, at which point she finds out more about her new friend. Something is going on with Odalie and Rose is being more and more drawn into it.

It's not a fast-paced book. Rose is looking back as she tells the story of what happened, so there are clues here and there that something is going to go terribly wrong. I've not read The Great Gatsby, but I have seen the movie and this book did remind me of it. There is a twist at the end, and I'm still not sure I understand completely what happened. It's one that might make you want to go back and reread it, knowing the ending.

12x12 Nonfiction, HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT

At Home: A Short History of Private Life / Bill Bryson
3.75 stars

In this book, Bill Bryson looks at the history of domestic life, including architecture, furniture, servants, food, electricity, and much more. He goes room-by-room to address various aspects of this history.

It may not sound like much (or maybe that's just my completely inadequate description!), but it's actually pretty interesting. Even the history of some words/phrases came out of the house and though they may not make sense anymore that that's where those words or phrases came from, it makes sense when you learn what they originally meant. I listened to the audio, and though I did enjoy it, I do suspect I missed a few things I otherwise wouldn't have had I read it in print or via ebook.

12x12 Booktivity

Sister of my Heart / Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
3.5 stars

Anju and Sudha are cousins, raised by their mothers and an aunt who live together (their fathers died when they were young). As they get older, one falls in love with someone else and the other wants to go to college, but they have arranged marriages that they must go through with. Although they each have their own “trials” to deal with, they are always there for each other.

I enjoyed this. It took me a little bit to get “into” it, and I had a hard time remembering who was who (I did eventually figure it out while reading, but as I write this review, I'm already getting them mixed up again!). Overall, though, I did like the story. I did lose interest in the parts that discussed their fathers, though, I must admit (until the very end). I don't know if there is a sequel or not, but I am interested enough that if there is one, I'd love to continue the story!

12x12 CAT Challenges, HistoryCAT

Lady Susan; The Watsons; Sanditon / Jane Austen
3 stars

This compilation includes three unfinished works by Austen. I read Lady Susan earlier this year on audio, so I skipped it here. The Watsons was abandoned by Austen and she was in the middle of writing Sanditon when she died.

In The Watsons, Emma has been living with her aunt for a number of years, then returns home. Her sister, Elizabeth, describes various people whom Emma is likely to see at her first ball now that she's home. I think I would have liked this one had she finished it.

Sanditon is a place along the sea where it seems people with health issues are gathering. I just couldn't get into this one, so I pretty much skimmed through it. Averaging out the two, I'm giving it 3 stars (ok).

>242 LibraryCin:
I just found a copy of that one in one of my shelves - I'll put it back a while longer, I think. :)

I wasn't a fan of Lady Susan, either, unfortunately. It's always trickier when the book is unfinished, besides, I think. At least they don't take long to read! :-)

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

Flight Behavior / Barbara Kingsolver
3.5 stars

Dellarobia is a farmer's wife and while walking in the woods on their property one day, she sees the trees dripping with... something. It turns out to be monarch butterflies. They are supposed to winter in Mexico, but they seem to have stopped in Southern Appalachia this year, instead. A scientist comes to study what's going on here, while Dellarobia's father-in-law wants to sign a contract with a logging company to cut down the trees. They so badly need the money, but Dellarobia doesn't want the monarchs to be displaced and is enjoying helping out the scientists.

I liked this. It did take a while to get into, though, and there were still times I lost focus - mostly when talking about family stuff (though some of that was ok). I did find learning about the butterflies interesting, and have read so much on climate change that the environmental stuff wasn't a surprise to me. I liked one part of how the book ended, but didn't like another part.

12x12 Audio

Looking for Alaska / John Green
3.25 stars

Miles (Pudge) goes away to boarding school and quickly becomes friends with his new roommate, Chip (“the Colonel”) and some of the Colonel's friends, including the beautiful Alaska, who Pudge pretty much automatically falls for.

I didn't like any of the characters. And I'm not a big fan of practical jokes, which seemed to be a lot of what was going on. There was a lot of teenage boy angst. I can handle some teen angst in some books, but maybe not teen boy angst, maybe because I never was a teen boy. However, the story was ok, and even with the audio, I rarely lost focus while listening, which is always a danger with audio for me. I decided to give an extra .25 for the narrator. He did an extremely good job of distinguishing the different characters' voices, I thought.

>246 LibraryCin: One of my library's most popular books! The girls eat Green's books up like chocolate pudding.

>247 mamzel: haha! I'm not surprised! I still have to read The Fault in Our Stars. I loved Will Grayson Will Grayson on audio! I have the audio of Paper Towns, as well, though I can't say when I'll get to it. The other (and first) I read by John Green is An Abundance of Katherines. I enjoyed it, but can't recall if I rated it good (3.5) or really good (4); I know I rated it somewhere between this one and Will Grayson, though.

12x12 Trim, BioKIT

Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death and Life in New Orleans / Dan Baum
3.5 stars

The author is a journalist who was in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where he met some interesting people... people he later decided to write about. This tells the stories of nine different residents of New Orleans, starting in the 1960s and continues through and past Katrina to 2007. Some of the people include: a police officer, a doctor/coroner, a high school band teacher, a pregnant teenage girl who really wanted to go to college, a man who grew up in and stayed in the poor Lower Ninth Ward, a transgender woman, and more.

Like with short stories, I found some of the people's stories more interesting than others. It was a bit tricky to follow at first, as it went in chronological order, so it switched back and forth between all the people, plus it moved forward, sometimes years at a time, when it came back to someone we'd previously read about. Probably no surprise that I found it picked up with the hurricane about half way through the book – in some cases, I found myself more interested in some of the characters whom I hadn't been as interested in previously. Overall, though, I'm rating this “good”.

12x12 Nonfiction, HistoryCAT

The Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr
4.5 stars

In the late 19th century in France, Joseph Vacher was roaming the countryside. He mostly stuck to rural areas. He had a violent streak and definitely killed 11 people (he later confessed to these), but is actually suspected to have killed around 25 people. Because he was a vagabond, however, it took a while for someone to put together the pieces to figure out it was the same person doing the killings in all these different places.

Meanwhile, a scientist/doctor named Lacassagne was trying to put science together with the law to help convict criminals, using early forensic science.

The book alternates chapters between Vacher and Lacassagne. I found the stories compelling and interesting. The book reminded me of Erik Larsen's books where he starts with two different people or situations, then brings them together later in the book. Also like Larsen's books, this was very “readable” and, I thought, read more like a novel than nonfiction. I just wanted to keep reading.

12x12 Series, AlphaKIT

Unwholly / Neal Shusterman
4.5 stars

*****SPOILERS if you haven't read Unwind*****
Conner is running The Graveyard, where hundreds of kids who were supposed to be unwound have escaped to. Risa is there with him. Lev is under house arrest.
*****END SPOILERS*****
Starkey is a new AWOL unwind who has arrived at The Graveyard and is chomping at the bit to climb high and run the place. Cam has just woken up and is trying to figure out who he is and what's happening, while a woman, Roberta, tries to guide him through. Miracolina is a tithe who's parents decide at the last minute not to send her to be unwound, but she's believed all her life that this is her purpose and insists on going, anyway.

Starkey will meet up with Conner, Risa with Cam and Miracolina with Lev when things take a turn for the dangerous.

Wow! Another roller coaster ride, this one! I listened to the first book on audio, and it was amazing, but it was really one particular part in the audio (a very creepy thing to listen to, actually: the process of someone being unwound, from their point of view!) that made me want to find this one on audio, as well. However, after a few years, I gave up and read the hardcover. I'm actually glad I did, as there were so many different points of view to follow, I think the print did make it much easier to follow than the audio would have been. I was at a solid 4 star rating for this one, until the last quarter of the book or so, when everything hit the fan! Very exciting at that point. That upped my rating, in the end.

12x12 Booktivity

Chasing Fire / Nora Roberts
3.5 stars

Rowan is a “fire jumper”: she fights wildfires by dropping from above. Last year, there was a tragedy, and Rowan (among others) is blamed by the woman (Dolly) who was pregnant with the baby of the guy who died. This year, Dolly is still holding a grudge. Meanwhile a new group of recruits has joined those who have been fire jumpers for a while. Gull is among them. He and Ro fall for each other, even though Ro has a strict policy of not getting involved with other jumpers.

It was good, though it took quite a while to get going. It was at least 1/3 of the way in before I got interested. I was listening to the audio, and I found my mind did tend to wander more than I'd have liked, but especially during parts where they were describing the fire (though I would have expected this to be something that might interest me). Overall, though, still a good read.

I've slowed down this week. I lost my beautiful boy, Angel, on Tuesday morning. He was diagnosed in kidney failure back in December. I've not read much in print (or ebook) since Tuesday, though I have been listening to my audio.

I'm sorry to read of your loss, he certainly was a beautiful boy!

Thank you so much. Yes, he was.

>253 LibraryCin: Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about Angel.

May he purr in peace.

Thank you, everyone. It's the first time I've ever had to make that decision, though it still wasn't really pre-planned. :'(

12x12 CAT Challenges, SFFFCAT

Daughter of the Forest / Juliet Marillier
3.75 stars

13-year old Sorcha is a budding healer and has 6 brothers. When her father marries Lady Oonagh, Sorcha and her brothers can tell Oonagh is evil. There is a spell cast and Sorcha's brothers are expelled from this world except for two nights per year. Sorcha much weave a shirt for each of them out of a particular material to bring them all back, while also staying away from Oonagh, and not saying a word to anyone. In trying to stay away, Sorcha's path crosses with three Britons, sworn enemies of her people, but in saving each other, they bring her back to their land.

Ok, the summary of this one could go on and on. I quite liked this. If it hadn't been such a horrible week for me personally, I suspect it might have been a solid 4 star read, but as it is, I did find the second half more interesting, and the portion with the Britons more interesting. I have to admit, I didn't find the parts with her brothers as enjoyable. I'm undecided as to whether or not to continue the series.

Sorry to read about your loss.

>260 lkernagh: Thank you so much.

Oh no, so sorry to hear you lost a great friend. It's unbelievably hard when they have to leave us.

>262 -Eva-: Yes, it is so difficult. I miss him so much... ;'(

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America / Thomas King
3 stars

This is a history (from the point of view of an Indian non-historican) of Indians in North America. It looks at treaties, popular culture and more.

It was ok. I liked that it was very informal, with some humour thrown in. I quite enjoyed how the author interjected his wife's comments in at various points, as well. To be honest, I'm not sure how much of it I'll remember, though. Having trouble focusing on it could have been due to a personal loss just before starting the book, however.

Doctor Sleep / Stephen King
4 stars

Danny Torrence (the little boy in The Shining) is all grown up now. He still has a bit of that “shining” in him he had when he was a child, but it's not quite as strong. When Abra gets in touch with him via his mind/the shining when she's just a baby, little does he realize how dangerous this will be for them once she's a teenager.

Another really good book from King. The point of view changed between Dan, Abra and the “bad guys”. I didn't find the “bad guys” POV as interesting, but I did enjoy reading about Dan and learning about Abra and how strong her shining was and what she was able to do with it. I also liked that SK mentioned a character from one of his son, Joe Hill's, books. Not sure it's in the plans, but now I'm interested in Abra when she's all grown up!

12x12 CAT Challenges, SFFFCAT, HorrorKIT

Doctor Sleep / Stephen King
4 stars

Danny Torrence (the little boy in The Shining) is all grown up now. He still has a bit of that “shining” in him he had when he was a child, but it's not quite as strong. When Abra gets in touch with him via his mind/the shining when she's just a baby, little does he realize how dangerous this will be for them once she's a teenager.

Another really good book from King. The point of view changed between Dan, Abra and the “bad guys”. I didn't find the “bad guys” POV as interesting, but I did enjoy reading about Dan and learning about Abra and how strong her shining was and what she was able to do with it. I also liked that SK mentioned a character from one of his son, Joe Hill's, books. Not sure it's in the plans, but now I'm interested in Abra when she's all grown up!

I still claim The Shining was the scariest book I ever read. I was in my early 20's living in my first apartment and can remember that I was so scared I had to close the book because I was afraid to keep reading at times. And then I'd open it back up and keep going. Also the first King I ever read although I did read more of his. And I could never bring myself to see the movie.

ETA: Time and place in life, I think. I should go reread it and see how it strikes me now.

Posted this over on the Oct SFFF thread, but thought I was on yours so I copied it over.

>267 dudes22: Good luck with the reread.

It is what did that for me. I was in grade 9 or 10, I think and it scared the crap out of me! It may have been my first SK, I think. Though I don't often reread, I would like to reread "It" as well.

(And I check in to both threads, so I would have seen your post, either way! Maybe I'll copy/paste this reply over there, as well.)

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

All Creatures Great and Small / James Herriot
4 stars

James Herriot was a veterinarian in England, beginning in the late 1930s. This is a memoir of his first couple of years as a vet, working in a rural area as an assistant to a country vet.

I really enjoyed this. Not only does Herriot describe the animals he treated, he met and married his wife during this time and reading about their courtship was enjoyable, as well. He also describes the vet he worked for (I think he would have driven me nuts!) and that vet's brother who also worked with them. There were plenty of nice descriptions of the countryside, and you can see how much Herriot loved it there. I understand there are more books that he has written on the topic, so I do plan to continue reading them.

I loved the whole series and the BBC adaptation of them. Do continue with the series. You'll love them.

>270 mamzel: Oh, there's a tv adaptation, as well!? I had no idea!

Produced in 1978 it starred Christopher Timothy, Robert Hardy, Peter Davison (also played one of the Doctors in Doctor Who). I hope you can find it in a library or someplace. If I remember it opens with the brand new vet being called out to a calving in a cold and drafty stone barn. They showed actual calvings and other births in this series (but not his wife's).

ed - changed picture

12x12 Author Author

Tess of the d'Urbervilles / Thomas Hardy
2.5 stars

Tess is a young unmarried woman in rural England in the late 19th century. Through a series of events, she ends up with two men falling for her. I don't really want to give anything away, so this is pretty vague.

I “missed” (skimmed) the first quarter of it, as it couldn't hold my attention. I was able to figure out most of what happened later, but even later, I wasn't all that interested in what was happening. Some of it was ok, but mostly, I just wasn't interested. I didn't really care about Tess or any of the characters, though I did feel badly for her a couple of times. I was surprised at the end. The extra ½ star was for the times that I was a bit interested in what was going on.

>272 mamzel: At some point, I'll take a look for it in my library.

>270 mamzel:, >271 LibraryCin:, & >272 mamzel:
I'll second that recommendation!!

12x12 Books I Own, AlphaKIT

Playing With Fire: a Claire Abbott Mystery / Gail Anderson-Dargatz
3 stars

This is the second book in the Claire Abbott mystery series. It's also a “Rapid Reads” book, so meant as a quick read or for adult literacy learners. I have an Advanced Reader's Copy here.

Claire is a reporter in a small town. She is dating one of the firemen, Trevor, but Matt is interested in her, as well, so she decides to date both at the same time, while constantly being warned that she'll have to choose between them. There is also an arsonist in town and she is trying to figure out who it might be.

It was ok. I read and enjoyed the first in the series more. It is very simple and it took less than an hour to read. I was able to figure out the arsonist without too much trouble.

12x12 Audio, AlphaKIT

Riptide / Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
3 stars

When Hatch is a child, he and his brother head to an island owned by their father (though their father hates that island) to look for the treasure that is thought to be buried there. Over time, many people have gone to their deaths on that island, looking for that treasure. Unfortunately, Hatch's brother, Jimmy, also loses his life. When Hatch is grown up and the island now belongs to him, a businessman comes to him wanting to dig for that treasure. With some reservations, Hatch agrees...

I listened to the audio, and had trouble focusing, at least for the first half of the book or so. It did get better later, and it was a good story. I'm thinking, though, that in the future, I might be better to read Preston/Child books rather than listen, as I think I had similar thoughts about another audio by the two of them.

12x12 Off the Shelf, AlphaKIT

Back Spin / Harlan Coben
3.5 stars

Myron Bolitar is a sports agent and there is a big golf tournament in town. The wife of one of the front-runners calls Myron to get his help (he is also a....... PI, of some sort?) when her son is kidnapped.

I think this is the 4th book in the Myron Bolitar series. I was told that they don't need to be read in order, but I think at least reading the first book might have been a good idea. The story in this one was good, but I never did quite figure out Myron's background – why he does this PI-type thing he does, how his friend Win is involved, their background, etc. I do have another Bolitar book (the 8th one, I think), but I will definitely make a point of reading the first one first.

So, except for losing some interest with Myron's interactions with his friends, as I wasn't quite “getting” how they all relate, the story itself was good. Not as good as Coben's stand-alone books, though. I'd either start with a stand-alone (they are amazing!) for anyone who hasn't read Coben yet, or at least the first book in the Bolitar series. This one was a quick read.

12x12 PBT, HorrorKIT

How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith
5 stars

What would you do if you ever found yourself trapped in a horror movie? First, you must determine that you ARE in a horror movie, then determine what subgenre of horror it is (and Grahame-Smith helps with all of this). Then, he has all kinds of tips that will help you make it all the way to the end credits (then you just have to hope you don't end up in a sequel!).

This was hilarious!!! I found myself smiling, giggling, laughing, and even nodding in agreement! It's a quick read. I was reading the ebook ; there were a few cartoon illustrations here and there, and I would be curious to know if they are in colour in the print book. It would have been nice to see them a bit larger, as well, but it didn't take away from the hilarity of the rest of the book! So much fun!!

12x12 PBT, HistoryCAT, Travel Across Canada

Tell / Frances Itani
3.5 stars

It's 1919. Kenan fought in the war, was wounded, and has come home to a small town in Ontario. However, he hasn't left the house since he got back and getting used to regular life again is hard on both him and his wife, Tress. Tress's Aunt Maggie is in a somewhat strained relationship with her husband, Am, and is finding solace in music. She has always been a good singer, but has never wanted to sing in public. Am is one of the few people Kenan feels comfortable talking to.

It's not a fast paced book, but it was good. It was a “continuation” of the author's book, Deafening, which focused on Tress's deaf sister, Grania. This book has a completely different focus, however, and can be read without having read Deafening (though I liked Deafening better). Overall, though, it was good and definitely worth the read.

12x12 Travel

Lovesong / Alex Miller
3 stars

Shortly after Ken (an author) meets John, John gets to chatting about his history: the time he spent in Paris (Ken and John now live in Australia), how he met his wife, Sabiha (an immigrant from Tunisia), and their life running a cafe before coming (returning, in John's case) to Australia. There is a small side-story with Ken and his daughter, as well.

I started off liking it, and it still ended ok, but I downgraded my rating slightly because I ended up not really liking any of the characters. I really disliked Sabiha more than anyone else, but I really didn't much like anyone, except maybe Ken. I have a hard time liking a book when I don't like the characters. It's not a fast-paced book.

12x12 Trim, SFFFCAT

The Maze Runner / James Dashner
4 stars

Thomas wakes up in some sort of box and doesn't remember anything from before. Some boys bring him in, but they don't really explain much of what's going on. The next day a girl also arrives in the box. This has never happened before! There haven't been any girls before and “newbies” only arrive every month! As Thomas starts to figure out what's going on, he realizes he actually knows more than he originally thought. And he can help with getting everyone out.

It may not be the greatest summary, but I was interested pretty much from the start. Initially, I wanted to just figure out what was going on, then as we started to figure out more of that, I was rooting for them to get out. The book did keep me wanting to read and wanting to know what would happen next. It does end with an obvious way to continue the next book in the series, and there's no question I liked it enough to continue on.

12x12 PBT, BioKIT

The Bell Jar / Sylvia Plath
3 stars

Esther is a college student, there on a scholarship. While there, she dates a few different guys, and later ends up with depression and in a hospital in the psychiatric ward after attempting suicide.

It was ok. It kept my interest, but I found Esther really odd and didn't find myself caring all that much what happened to her. Some parts I found difficult to figure out what was happening, as it was kind of vague at times.

>282 LibraryCin:
I started watching the movie, but it didn't hold my attention - the story sounds good, though, so I'll probably try the book instead.

>282 LibraryCin: - I just posted on the Nov SFFF thread that I just got this from the library and plan to start it later today. Good to know it's a good story.

>284 -Eva-: I haven't read the movie, so I can't really compare.

>284 -Eva-: and >285 dudes22: I should also say that I have seen a mix of reviews, so some people really liked it (like me) and others, not as much, so it can vary. Good luck! I hope you both enjoy it!

12x12 Travel, HistoryCAT, RandomCAT, AlphaKIT

The Cellist of Sarajevo / Steven Galloway
3.5 stars (2015 reread)

It is 1992 and a time of war in Sarajevo. 22 people who were simply standing in line for bread were killed when a bomb hit. A cellist saw it happen from his apartment across the street and decides to play on the street at the same time each day, for 22 days – one day for each of the people who died. The book actually follows three other people more closely: Arrow, a sniper; Kenan, who has a family and must make a potentially deadly trip every few days to retrieve water; and Dragan, who works at a bakery, and is able to eat for free at that bakery.

(2010: 3 stars). I can’t say I’m overly excited about the book. It was o.k., but not much really happened. I guess it kind of gave me a look at day-to-day life in a war zone. I found I couldn’t really connect with the characters, though. It often felt sort of surreal, like the characters themselves were watching a movie; it didn’t feel to me like they were living it, and I think that’s why I couldn’t connect. But, it was fast to read and it was interesting to learn in the afterword, that there really was a cellist in Sarajevo who played for 22 days in remembrance of the people in the bread line who died.

2015 Reread for my book club: 3.5 stars.

I originally read this five years ago and was underwhelmed. Maybe my expectations were too high from so many people loving it so much, I'm not sure. Back then, I rated it 3 stars (ok). I'm upping my rating slightly this time to “good”. I agree with my original review that not much really happened, but that it is a good look at regular people having to live in a war zone. I think I was able to “connect” with the characters a bit better this time. Or maybe my expectations just weren't as high.

>283 LibraryCin: I was never able to warm up to the character. It was probably very wrong of me but I couldn't feel sorry for any of her "problems".

>288 mamzel: Agreed! I'm glad I'm not the only one! :-)

12x12 Author Author

The Gallows Curse / Karen Maitland
3 stars

It is the early 13th century and Eleanor of Aquitaine's son, John, is on the throne of England. Elena is young and unmarried when she becomes pregnant. While pregnant, Elena dreams of murdering her baby.
****POSSIBLE SPOILERS****
After the baby is born, when she is accused of actually murdering him, she flees with the help of Raffaele.
****END SPOILERS****
Unfortunately, from there, things go from bad to worse for Elena. Then even worse, still...

I listened to the audio, and although I thought the narrator was very good with various accents and voices, there were just too many times where my interest waned. I missed more than I would have liked to. Overall, though, I'll still rate it ok. Always hard to tell ahead of time, but I might have enjoyed it more if I'd read it instead of listened.

12x12 Animals, AlphaKIT

The Search / Nora Roberts
4.5 stars

Fiona has three dogs, and all are trained in Search and Rescue. She also runs a dog training business. When Simon moves to the island she lives on, and comes for training with his puppy, of course, they fall for each other. Fiona has some scary stuff in her past, though. She managed to escape from a serial killer, who was later imprisoned. Now there seems to be a copycat killer out there, killing in exactly the same way and it's not only bringing back memories, it's hitting too close to home.

I really enjoyed this. Not only did I love the dogs, the Search and Rescue and dog training stuff, but the serial killer storyline was really good, I thought. Simon, I could take or leave, but the rest of the book as definitely enough for me to rate this one of the highest I've read by NR (the other also involving animals: Black Hills).

12x12 Off the Shelf, RandomCAT

Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood / Abby McDonald
4 stars

Hallie and Grace are sisters. Their father has just died, so they and their mother are forced to find a new place to live, so they move to L.A. to live with family there. The overly dramatic sister Hallie wants to be an actress so it excited to be in L.A. The serious sister, Grace, has to leave the boy she has fallen for.

This was an ARC I obtained a couple of years ago. It has, of course, been published since, so I'm not sure what – if anything – was changed. I enjoyed this. It was light and fluffy YA/chick lit. The book alternated viewpoints between Hallie and Grace, and given that Grace was so much more like me, I enjoyed her sections more, but Hallie did (somewhat) grow on me – or at least her storyline did!

12x12 Audio, SFFFCAT, AlphaKIT

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom / Christopher Healy
4 stars

The collective Prince(s) Charming are all different princes. Prince Frederick (Cinderella's prince) grew up coddled and not allowed to do anything, so he is afraid of adventure. Prince Gustav (Rapunzel) is a burly guy and the youngest of 16 princes. Prince Liam (Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty) seems well-adjusted and most “hero”-like of all four princes, but Briar Rose is a horrible person, so Liam breaks it off with her. Prince Duncan (Snow White) is pretty laid-back and easy-going and is the only prince who has actually married his princess.

This was a lot of fun! If you want to continue on with the “ever after” part of the various stories and see all the princes work together, this is a great book. Bronson Pinchot was the narrator of the book and was (probably no surprise) amazing! Not only does he do amazing accents, but all the different voices – you would never know it's one person! I am definitely continuing the series and as long as Pinchot continues to read it, I'll likely be looking for the audios.

12x12 Trim, AlphaKIT

Nineteen Minutes / Jodi Picoult
4.25 stars

Peter and Josie were friends when they were little. Things changed as they grew up; Peter was bullied and Josie became part of the popular crowd. Alex, Josie's mom, is a judge. As a teenager, Peter comes to school one day and starts shooting. After it's over, 10 people are dead and more wounded.

The book starts with the shooting, then goes back and forth in time to when Peter and Josie were born and goes through the years and months leading up to the shooting, but also comes back to “present” time in the book, following the shooting. It is told from many different points of view. This is another page-turner by Picoult. I wanted to keep reading. It would have been 4 stars, but I added in the extra ¼ star for the twist at the end.

I've read a number of her books where, while I was reading them, I couldn't see how any ending was going to be satisfactory. And yet, somehow, she always wrote an ending that fit the story and seemed reasonable to me. Not too convoluted, in other words. This was one of those books - nothing was going to bring Josie back to life - yet I was satisfied with the end, twist and all.

>295 dudes22: You're right! With all the moral stuff going on in her books, how in the world would you come up with a satisfactory ending, but she does really well, I think! (Though, at this point, I've still only read a few.)

12x12 Animals, AlphaKIT, HistoryCAT

The Peaceable Kingdom: A Year in the Life of America's Oldest Zoo / John Sedgwick
4 stars

This book takes a look at the Philadelphia Zoo and all the goings-on for a year in the mid-1980s. Not only do we meet some of the animals and learn their stories, but we meet many of the staff, as well as other people (including the “Wolf Lady”, who came every day to watch the wolves). Other events were included, such as the planning and building of a new building, then moving the animals into said building.

I really enjoyed this. Of course, I love animals, so it would have been surprising for me not to. It was interesting to get behind the scenes. You could see in the book where things were much better than they had been for zoo animals (moving from concrete/barren (i.e. sanitary) enclosures to more natural ones), but at the same time I hope other things have changed still (they were still using bull hooks on the elephants...). Of course, my favourite parts were stories of the animals, but I enjoyed “meeting” some of the people, as well. I think the author did a good job wrapping up the book, though the lives of both the people and animals go on.

12x12 Oh Canada, Travel Across Canada

The Custodian of Paradise / Wayne Johnston
3 stars

Sheilagh Fielding grew up without her mother and her father insisted he wasn't really her father. As a teenager, she became pregnant and gave up her twin children. As she got older, she received letters from someone who called himself her “Provider”. He seemed to know all her secrets.

It was ok, but in my opinion, the author has much better books. I really wasn't all that interested in Sheilagh (though I was mildly curious about this “Provider”), and I really didn't like her all that much, either. Much of the book is told in diary form or letters as she thinks back on her life. Normally, that doesn't bother me much, but for some reason, I tended to skim through the letters and such more than the “regular” text of the book.

12x12 Animals, SFFFCAT

The Magician's Elephant / Kate DiCamillo
3 stars

Peter was orphaned as a child and his sister was stillborn. When a fortuneteller tells him his sister is, in fact, alive and an elephant will take him to her, he holds onto hope.

This is a quick little book, and it was ok, but nothing special for me. In fact, I found parts of it a little odd. I read the e-book and there were illustrations, but I bet the illustrations would have been nicer in a physical book.

12x12 Booktivity, AlphaKIT

Seizure / Kathy Reichs
3.5 stars

After the events in book 1 of the series, the “Virals” (as they call themselves) are scared they will be separated after the research center/island their parents work at/on will be closed. They still don't quite understand the changes that are happening to themselves and desperately want to stay together. When Tory learns of a pirate treasure that has never been found, she insists this will be what they need to keep the research center open. So, off they go to try to find the treasure!

I enjoyed this. I listened to the audio, so probably lost focus more than I otherwise would have, but it was still enough for me to like the book. It's definitely far-fetched, but still kind of fun to be following them looking for a pirate treasure.

12x12 Nonfiction, BioKIT, HistoryCAT

The Freedom Summer Murders / Don Mitchell
4 stars

In 1964, two young white men (civil rights workers), headed down to Mississippi from New York to help register black people to vote. Andy Goodwin and Mickey Schwerner, along with a 21-year old black man, James Chaney, were murdered by local KKK (including local law enforcement). It made headlines throughout the U.S.

It's scary to read about the kinds of things that were happening in the South at the time; apparently Mississippi was the worst place to be. At the same time, it's heartwarming to read about the civil rights workers who went there, knowing what it might be like and that they were putting their lives at risk, to do the right thing. If they were all black men, it would never have made headlines like it did. It took years to bring some of the men who committed the murders to justice. This book also looked at little bit at the lives of the three men, in general, and what brought them to where they were. As this book is apparently marketed toward young adults, it was a quick read and it was populated with many photos of the people involved, their families, and the events.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT

No Safe House / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

This sequel to No Time for Goodbye takes place 7 years later. Terry and Cynthia are having a few bumps in their marriage and Cynthia periodically moves out to sort things out for herself. Their daughter Grace is now 14-years old, and though her mother tries to protect her a little too much, she still manages to get herself in trouble one night when she is out with her boyfriend, Stuart, whose father is involved in various crimes. While what Stuart and Grace are doing is not overly serious (but still illegal), things take a turn for the worse when someone gets shot!

This was another fast-paced read from Barclay. It's been quite a while since I read No Time for Goodbye, but from what I remember, this one's not quite as good. But that's just a comparison – this one is still really good. The book does alternate viewpoints (most commonly from Terry's), and I have to admit (and this is usually the case) that I tend not to find the viewpoint from the “bad guys” as interesting... at least until things start coming together at or toward the end. And this one had multiple “bad guys”. But, as usual, it all came together at the end with a little twist thrown in.

The One and Only Ivan / Katherine Applegate
4.5 stars

Ivan is a silverback gorilla, but there are no other gorillas around. He is kept in a small cage in a mall “circus”. His friends include an elephant and a stray dog that stops by to visit. He actually seems fairly content, but feels badly for his elephant friend, Stella, who is forced to do tricks many times per day. When the owner of the mall/circus brings in a baby elephant, since Stella is getting older and is injured, things start to change.

I loved the animals (and a couple of the human characters are fine, too) in this book! It's told from Ivan's point of view, which I also loved. It is a YA book, so it's not terribly graphic with how the animals are or can be treated in captivity. The end isn't perfect, either, but it's a big improvement. It's a quick read – the chapters are very short (gorillas aren't as “wordy” as humans!) and there are some nice illustrations throughout. It is based on a real gorilla's story.

12x12 Animals

The Animals' Santa / Jan Brett
3 stars

It's Little Snow's (a rabbit's) first Christmas, and he wants to know who the “animals' Santa” is, so the animals speculate and try to find out.

It's a cute kid's picture book with a Christmas/winter theme for this time of year. There are illustrations not only for the main portion of the book, but there are borders, styled like Native American quillwork, which is quite pretty.

12x12 Series

The Fox Inheritance / Mary E. Pearson
3.75 stars

This is the second book in a series. Locke and Cara have been “asleep” for 260 years. They were in a car crash with their friend Jenna that many years ago, and although Jenna's father was able to bring her back at the time, using 10% of her brain, Locke and Cara weren't woken up until 260 years later. After about a year of the doctor/scientist who brought them back getting them up to speed on life now, Cara and Locke figure out that he'll never let them go, as they are “floor models” to selling the technology. They need to get out and find Jenna, who is still alive...

I listened to the audio and it did a good job of keeping my attention. I quite liked this. It's been way too long since I read the first one to remember anything about it, so I can't really compare. Things didn't go as I expected when they met up with Jenna. Definitely worth continuing the series for anyone who has read the first one, I think. I'll continue on, as well.

Getting caught up with all of the reading you have been doing since I last stopped by your thread.

>293 LibraryCin: - That one sounds fun! I just downloaded my local library's audiobook copy of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. Sounds like the perfect holiday audioread to me. ;-)

>306 lkernagh: It really is a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy it!

12x12 Off the Shelf, HorrorKIT

Vittorio, the Vampire / Anne Rice
2 stars

Vittorio is telling a tale of his life 450ish years ago, in the mid-15th century in Italy, before he was turned into a vampire. His family was slain, but he was left to live by a beautiful vampire, Ursula.

Not great. Initially I thought it might be ok, but with the angels and such, boring. In fact, I kind of missed when he became a vampire (that is, I thought he had before he actually did). Between this and Memnoch the Devil, I think I'm finished with Anne Rice. At least it was quick and I can get the book out of my house.

>307 LibraryCin: - I am already on chapter four and loving it!

>309 lkernagh: Glad to hear it!! :-)

Wishing you a very happy holiday and all the best for 2016!

>311 rabbitprincess: Thank you so much!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate today!

12x12 Author Author, AlphaKIT

Scraps of Paper / Kathryn Meyer Griffith
4 stars

Abigail moves into a small town and buys an old house to live in. The previous owner has recently died, and Abigail finds out that the owner's sister and two children had disappeared from the house about 30 years earlier, never to be seen again. As Abigail starts fixing things up, she finds papers written on by the kids that make her think that something very wrong happened here.

I really enjoyed this mystery! I enjoyed the characters and found the mystery interesting. Though I was able to guess at part of the ending, there was one small twist in there, as well. I plan to continue reading the series.

12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaKIT

Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy is Undermining the Environmental Revolution / Heather Rogers
3.5 stars

In this book, the author assumes that global warming is happening. What she is looking at, here, is some of the things we have been trying to do to mitigate global warming, so our intentions are good, but those things are being “twisted” in some way or just really aren't useful in doing what we want them to do, after all.

The book is divided into three sections: Food, Shelter and Transportation. Organic food standards are so watered down and small farmers (who we really think of as being organic farmers) are not able to get the official certification due to hoops and cost. There are villages/areas in Germany where houses were built so that everything is meant to be green/sustainable. When it comes to transportation, she looks at biofuels (forests are being clearcut to make way for monocropping for biofuels), hybrid and electric vehicles, and carbon offsets.

Very interesting. Some is stuff I've heard about, some not. A bit disheartening, though, when we are trying to do right by our planet. She does, however, end with ways that everyone (governments, businesses, NGOs, farmers, people in general) can work together to make things happen to help.

12x12 Overflow
On the second-last day of the year, I have the first book that doesn't fit into any of my categories!

The Island / Clarissa Johal
4 stars

Emma's grandmother disappeared from her private island 7 years ago. Emma and her father have finally decided to clean up the place to sell it, but her father has had an injury so Emma heads out to the island on her own to do the clean-up. There are rumors that the island is cursed. As Emma soon finds out, there really are weird things going on on that island...

I really enjoyed this. It pulled me in right away and I wanted to keep reading until I finished. It was short enough (under 200 pages) so that I was able to finish in one day. There are a couple of side stories with Emma's friend Paisley and with a budding romance, but I enjoyed those, as well. I thought the “secondary” characters were well done.

12x12 Audio

If You Were Here / Jen Lancaster
3.5 stars

Mia and Mac are married and desperately looking to buy a house and get out of their rental. When they are surprised to come across the mansion that Jake Ryan (the character from Sixteen Candles) “lived” in in their price range, Mia insists on jumping on it. Of course, it's a wreck, so the book follows the trials and tribulations of trying to get the mansion livable + dealing with snobby neighbours + Mia trying to write another book.

I enjoyed this. It is Jen Lancaster's first novel, and yes, Mia and Mac sound very much like Jen and her husband, Fletch. I didn't find it as funny as some of her memoirs, but I still enjoyed it. I listened to the audio and I thought the woman who was narrating did a good job – that is, she sounded just like I felt like Mia (or maybe even Jen!) might sound.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Farmer Boy / Laura Ingalls Wilder
4.5 stars

Laura Ingalls' future husband, Almonzo, grew up on a farm in New York State in the late 19th century. This book fictionalizes Almonzo's life on the farm with his family (parents and three siblings) when he was 9-years old. He loved animals (horses, especially) and enjoyed working on the farm. He didn't like having to attend school.

This is such a great series! I'm not sure I'm saying much different about this book versus the others in the series I've read in the past couple of years, but once again, it is so interesting to read all the detail of how things worked at the time, in this case, primarily how things were run on a farm. Because she does explain things in detail. Not only how to do things, but the descriptions (seasons and such) are amazing. Of course, there are also some nice clear illustrations spread throughout the book.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Land Beast / Kate Wyer
2.5 stars

This is a “story” told from the point of view of a rhinoceros. Her horn was taken and her daughter is gone, as well. But, she lived.

I hadn't realized when I ordered this book that it's written more like poetry. I do appreciate that the proceeds of the book went to charities. In the author's words (in an interview with her included at the end of the book): “I write really long poems that look like stories.” The pages on the right side are the text (written in a poetic fashion) and on the left side are (very artistic.... almost abstract, in my opinion!) illustrations. I love the story that is trying to be told here and I think it's important, but really the way it was done is not my “thing”. If I didn't know what it was supposed to be about when I read it, I'm sure I would have been lost. So, the extra ½ star is more for the idea of the book.

>318 LibraryCin: Ha! Last book of the year and I can't remember how to make the touchstone work when it's not coming up on its own...

My top 10 (5 + 4.5 stars):
The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion
Joyland / Stephen King
How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith
This House is Haunted / John Boyne
Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn
The Second Empress / Michelle Moran
The Ruins / Scott Smith
Memoirs of a Fighting Dog / Keisha Keenleyside
The Search / Nora Roberts
Farmer Boy / Laura Ingalls Wilder

Honourable mentions (the rest of the 4.5 stars):
Prodigal Summer / Barbara Kingsolver
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians / Brandon Sanderson
Essex County / Jeff Lemire
Against Medical Advice / James Patterson and Hal Friedman
The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson
Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr
Unwholly / Neal Shusterman
The One and Only Ivan / Katherine Applegate

Dishonourable mentions (2 stars):
Lady Susan / Jane Austen
Down With the Old Canoe / Steven Biel
Rebellion / Peter Ackroyd
Vittorio the Vampire / Anne Rice