On The Same Page discussion

I hope you enjoy Still Life. I'm slowly working through the Anne of Green Gables books and enjoying. Do you plan to continue with the series?

Bill wrote: "I hope you enjoy Still Life. I'm slowly working through the Anne of Green Gables books and enjoying. Do you plan to continue with the series?"

Probably not right away. But maybe someday. So many books....

Laurel wrote: "I shouldn't be here, procrastinating. I got my raised garden beds put together last week, and dirt is being delivered tomorrow. I need to be outside, lining them with cardboard and shredded paper a..."

Cool! I have 2 large raised beds and 2 small circular ones, and love them! I should have had dirt delivered, but I did pretty good with my composting this year.

Happy Birthday to your mom, what a blessing of 90+ years. :)

Oh, and Kudos on your reading too. LOL

#30 Murder in a Scottish Garden
3.5 pink stars

This worked better for me as an audiobook than reading the first book in print. Katherine Kellgren is an able narrator, and while I know better than to think the dialect is in any way authentic, she managed to sound Scottish enough that I wasn't put off by it. Parts of the backstory are alluded to, but I think you could get by with this as a standalone. Since this took place mostly on the Leery Estate, we didn't get as much of the atmosphere of the little seaside town, or of the knitting shop, or even of Paislee's friends and neighbors. Even DI Mack Zeffer is only a very minor character. Still this proved to be a pleasant diversion, and I am not averse to reading more of the series.

Description: In the charming Scottish shire of Nairn, sweater shop owner Paislee Shaw must root out a garden variety killer. Paislee's custom sweater and yarn business is the sole support for her ten-year-old son Brody, and also her eccentric Gramps and Wallace, their black Scottish terrier. So when her landlord, Shawn Marcus, serves her an eviction notice and then pulls a disappearing act, she'll go to any lengths to find the man and reason with him. Shawn is heir to the Leery Estate, which Brody's class will be visiting on a field trip. So Paislee volunteers to chaperone in the hopes of tracking down Shawn and killing two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, the only one killed is a man Paislee sees falling out of the hedges after being shot. It's not her missing landlord, but Lady Leery's nephew, Charles Thomson. With suspects sprouting up like weeds, Paislee may need to hedge her bets until she can determine who is trying to lead her down the garden path...

Cumulative pages: 9,499

#31 Still Life
3.5 pink stars, rounded up

This is a long-running series with a devoted fan base. So perhaps I was expecting too much. The characters are a bit stereotypical, but memorable. Like a cozy mystery we get to know the town and its residents, but this is a traditional mystery. Inspector Gamache is no amateur, but a seasoned investigator. He puts the puzzle pieces together thoughtfully and methodically, with quite a bit of reliance on psychology and understanding what makes people tick. These people are not all likeable, but they will probably get under your skin a little bit. Add in a bit of humor, philosophy, art, and Quebecois politics. One character - the rooky Yvette Nichol - I did not understand what that sub-plot was all about except perhaps to show that Inspector Gamache is not perfect - she may have had a lot to learn, but his impatience with her was unkind. Anyway, at this point I don't know if she will be a recurring character, so there may be some arc to her development, or not... I probably will read more of this series if it turns up in one of my random read lists, but I'm not rushing out to get the next one.

Description: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

Cumulative pages: 9,792

Laurel wrote: "#31 Still Life
3.5 pink stars, rounded up

This is a long-running series with a devoted fan base. So perhaps I was expecting too much. The characters are..."

I like your review. Excellent.

Bill wrote: "I like your review. Excellent. Laurel wrote: "#31 Still Life"

Thanks, Bill. It's nice to know someone is actually reading my thread....

Laurel, I was very excited about the Inspector Gamache series when it came out. I found the 2nd in the series (A Fatal Grace) much more interesting than Still Life. Over time, all of the characters began to fill out and make more sense. However, after reading the 6th in the series I stopped, and really I've not felt compelled to go back for more. So, I definitely understand your ambivalence about the series!

Karol wrote: "Laurel, I was very excited about the Inspector Gamache series when it came out. I found the 2nd in the series (A Fatal Grace) much more interesting than Still Life. Over..."

Thanks for your input! I probably will read more eventually, since I add the "next in series" of every series I start to my TBR. Actually, I have a category for "next to read in series but no interest". You never know what might come up in a random drawing or to fit a challenge or something.

#32 The Bertie Project
4 red stars.

As other reviews have stated, this wasn't one of the better books. I gave it 4 stars for old time's sake. The star is still Bertie, but it just feels so WRONG that he has to put up with his mother again. Stuart comes so close to making a brave stand, but then his general decency reasserts itself. I am glad that his mother has stayed in Edinburgh to help mitigate things. McCall Smith's spoof of feminism and political correctness run amok is getting a little old. The Bruce and Clare storyline was amusing, but I'm not sure what the point of Angus Lordie's "defenestration" was. Pat was nowhere to be seen, and there was only a very brief scene with Big Lou. So basically - nothing happens, except Irene is baaack.

Description: Bertie's respite from his overbearing mother, Irene, is over. She has returned home from the Middle East, only to discover that her son has been exposed to the worst of evils: cartoons, movies, and even carbonated beverages. But the one who should be most concerned is her unfortunate husband, Stuart, upon whom her wrath is about to descend. Meanwhile, Bruce has fallen in love with someone other than himself; Big Lou wants to adopt her beloved Finlay; Matthew and Elspeth host the Duke of Johannesburg for supper; and Bertie decides he wants to move away from Scotland Street altogether and live with his grandmother, Nicola. Will Irene and Stuart's marriage survive? Will Bruce's newfound love last? And can Bertie really be leaving home?

Cumulative pages: 10,086

Laurel wrote: "#32 The Bertie Project
4 red stars.

As other reviews have stated, this wasn't one of the better books. I gave it 4 stars for old time's sake..."

I'm still working through his No. One Detective Agency books.

#33 The Quarry Girls
4 red stars.

This was a hard book for me to rate. It's kind of a muted thriller. Yes, there are some chilling scenes, and a sense of uneasiness throughout. And it is about a serial killer. There's a lot going on, but not a lot of action, so I never got that sense of immediate danger of a thriller. But as a coming-of-age story, I think it works very well. I graduated from high school in 1973. Kids had quite a bit of freedom back then. I rode my bike all over to places 10-20 miles away without supervision. But I also remember the level of fear inculcated in all girls about being alone outside at night. I grew up pretty much believing that boys were jerks, men were dangerous, and that women were second-class citizens. You didn't let it rule your life, but that undercurrent was always there. That's kind of what this book was like, except that there really was someone preying on girls in this community. It is based on true crimes that did occur in the St. Cloud area in the 70s. And that is chilling. Some of those murders were never solved, or not until years later. The historical aspects were spot on - banana bikes, TV dinners, mood rings, ear piercing parties, etc. and evokes a certain nostalgia of that time and place.

Description: Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games. Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears―the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate. Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger. She also knows she’s next.

Cumulative pages: 10,421

Laurel wrote: "#33 The Quarry Girls
4 red stars.

This was a hard book for me to rate. It's kind of a muted thriller. Yes, there are some chilling scenes, and..."

This looks like a good gritty book, definitely adding it to my list!

June update:
Since I just got back from visiting my mom, this seems like an opportunity to do an update. Thanks to road trips I am still 5 books ahead of schedule on my annual goal of 60 books. And that is despite all the time I have spent in the yard instead of reading. And looking at my audiobook vs. print book stats makes me think there is a definite advantage to reading one book at a time. I can't start a new audiobook until I finish the previous one. Not so with print books, which means they sometimes get paused for months because I have picked up something new. Maybe I need to change that. Or at least make a greater effort to finish the oldest ones...

My hold on the audiobook of
READ The House with the Golden Door finally came available on Libby, so that is going to bump it ahead of other audiobooks I had planned.

Also, I've started reading the posts on the Reading Through Time group (on LibraryThing), so now I have a whole 'nother list of challenges to do. Monthly as well as quarterly. I debated whether to add it to my Challenges list, which is already quite long, and decided to add it to my Book Groups (post #6). Since it is already June, I'm going to be quite flexible and not require myself to read a book in the given month, esp. for Jan-Jun so I'll just plug in whatever I've read this year that fits, and going forward at least try to START the books in the given month for the challenge. The quarterly themes may just be "all year" themes, since two of them already are - the Ancient/Biblical theme (2nd Q.) and Arthurian fiction (3rd Q.) Anyway, I figure I can do it any way I want to....

Another challenge that interest me is the Food and Lit challenge on Litsy, but I have no desire to start following posts there. Nor do I think I can add another country every month. But I might list them anyway. You never know.

Ann wrote: "A nice review of Still Life. Actually, I had a similar reaction to yours. Maybe I expect too much of super popular books. Having said that, I might try to read the second book in the ..."

Likewise, Ann, and welcome to the group!

#34 The Wild Inside
2.5 yellow stars but rounded up.

This was almost a DNF for me. But it's been on my reading lists for a long time and despite how much this dragged with endless navel-gazing by an investigator haunted by a horrific experience which killed his father when he was a teen I wanted to find out "who done it." The murdered man was a very unsavory character - a drug addict, and physically abusive to both people and animals. I will add a trigger warning here for animal abuse. All of his associates were equally unsavory, there are graphic descriptions of the remains of the victim, and a lot of bad language. With so many unlikeable characters, the reveal of the murderer was frankly sad. On the plus side, if you like character studies and psychology this might be a good book. Glacier National Park was beautifully described in its wildness and physical beauty. The grizzly bear too was a poignant and haunting character. I did like young Monty, and since he is featured in the next book, it's possible I might give the series another try.

Description: It was a clear night in Glacier National Park. Fourteen-year-old Ted Systead and his father were camping beneath the rugged peaks and starlit skies when something unimaginable happened: a grizzly bear attacked Ted’s father and dragged him to his death. Now, twenty years later, as Special Agent for the Department of the Interior, Ted gets called back to investigate a crime that mirrors the horror of that night. Except this time, the victim was tied to a tree before the mauling. Ted teams up with one of the park officers—a man named Monty, whose pleasant exterior masks an all-too-vivid knowledge of the hazardous terrain surrounding them. Residents of the area turn out to be suspicious of outsiders and less than forthcoming. Their intimate connection to the wild forces them to confront nature, and their fellow man, with equal measures of reverence and ruthlessness. As the case progresses with no clear answers, more than human life is at stake—including that of the majestic creature responsible for the attack. Ted’s search for the truth ends up leading him deeper into the wilderness than he ever imagined, on the trail of a killer, until he reaches a shocking and unexpected personal conclusion.

Cumulative pages: 10,825

#35 Her Highness' First Murder
4.5 blue stars

This was a reread, prior to continuing the series. Loved it still!

Here's my review from 2013:
A Simon & Elizabeth Mystery : Book One.
Setting: Hampstead Castle, London
Time: 1546

Main characters: Elizabeth Tudor (daughter of Henry VIII, future Elizabeth I, Queen of England) - age 13; Simon Malden, son of the court physician at Hampstead Castle, age 14; Hugh Bellows, captain of the Welsh Guard.

First paragraph, Chapter One: Simon heard the cries as they climbed the steep hill to the castle. Screams vibrated with pain and panic, fluctuating between wordless shrieks and "No, don't!" repeated several times. His father, striding ahead with his soft bag over one shoulder, seemed unaware, but Simon cringed. Despite daily encounters with people in pain, the physician's son could not become inured to it.

Favorite line: On the way home Elizabeth ignored Bess' comments on women who waved goodbye by use of a dog's paw. (p. 115)

This isn't marketed as young adult, but with two teen-aged protagonists it certainly could be. The language is simple and direct, somewhat like a cozy mystery. Although the murders are gruesome and a couple of the victims are prostitutes, there is no gratuitous violence or sex. The author has clearly done a lot of historical research and I like the way she works details into the plot about clothing, food, descriptions of places, etc. in such a way that it is easy to visualize being there. She has a subtle sense of humor that I enjoyed very much (see favorite line above). Elizabeth is mature beyond her 13 years, and the author lets us know of the queen she will become through her introspection. As a mystery, I was kept guessing. We follow the clues along with Elizabeth and Simon, and we know what they know when they know it. No sudden twist of plot or resolution that comes out of nowhere. I really look forward to reading more of this series.

Description: When headless corpses begin appearing on the streets of London, Elizabeth Tudor is as shocked as everyone else. When one of her own ladies is murdered, Elizabeth joins with new friend Simon Maldon to find the killer. Henry VIII, also shocked by the murders assigns one of his Welsh guardsmen, Hugh, to investigate, since the women are dressed as nuns and might signal new religious troubles. Suspects include a madman, a courtier, a reformer, a well-known criminal, and others, even Elizabeth's castellan. Simon, discovering that he is good at the art of disguise, plays various parts as he works at narrowing the list. Elizabeth's part in the investigation is kept secret from the king, who would certainly not approve. But it cannot be kept secret from the killer, and in the end, he turns his attention to them. Simon, Elizabeth, and Hugh face a murderer who is beyond caring how many die, as long as he gets what he wants.

About the author: Peg Herring is a writer of plays, mysteries, and romance who once taught high school language arts and history. In her spare time she travels with her husband of many decades, gardens, directs choral groups, and works to keep her hundred-year-old home from crumbling away.

Cumulative pages: 11,171

Mid-year update:

By all counts, I'm having a great reading year so far. 6 books ahead of schedule based on my goal of 60:
Read 35/60
Cumulative pages read 11,171 / 18,000

Pyramid goals:
12 From 12 Different Lists (9/12)
11 Historical Fiction (6/11)
10 Themes (old or new) (4/10)
9 Leftovers (2/9)
8 Next-in-Series (6/8)
7 Titles That Start With B (5/7)
6 New to me Authors (12/6)
5 Nonfiction (2/5)
4 Translated Books (not originally English) (2/4)
3 Chunky Books (over 500 pages) (1/3)
2 Welsh authors (2/2)
1 Classic (3/1)

I need to step up on the theme reads. 6 to go. I've only read one of my "Door" titles so far, although I have read the prequel for one, and the first of the series for another. I have read two "Garden" titles. I am also way behind on Leftovers - 7 to go there. I have two lists - one for titles I wanted to read in 2023 but didn't get to, and one for titles I started reading but got paused. Those are the ones I really want to clear off the lists!! Some of them actually got paused in 2022 with all the stress and panic about the farm, and then buying a house and moving! There are 8 that I am especially determined to finish this year:
READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - currently around page 400 of 650 or so. Almost two-thirds. Concurrently reading
READ Moby-Dick or, The Whale
Half through but paused so long, I may start them over...
The Summer Queen
Queen By Right
I may save those two for August, when the cover color challenge includes forest green...
Wolf Hall - may save for December when the cover color challenge includes red.
...And Ladies of the Club - given to me long ago by my grandmother who loved it. Need to add it to my schedule by September as it will take at least 4 months to read it.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - October would be good for this one when the cover color challenge is black. I don't think I need to start it over.
And finally
Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel which will get priority soon as part of RTT's 3rd quarter theme of Arthurian fiction.

Then there are some unfinished book club books and books started for challenges:
READ The Ice Swan - started in January and paused. The RTT theme for July is France, so I hope that will get me to get it read!
READ The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case - started for a book group challenge in Feb. I own the book, which doesn't help get it read (no pending due date!) but I picked it up last night again, and I should be able to finish it in a week.
DNF The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear - book club book for March - did not have it read by the meeting, and after that it loses the need to get it read. I hope to prioritize it as soon as I finish Princes. July is looking like a busy reading month!
Two more from last year (or older) that I really would like to finish:
The Evening Chorus
Miss Eliza's English Kitchen

And a bunch of books never gotten to, that are a fairly high priority just because... In fact, I'm thinking that in 2025 I may greatly scale back on the random reads (it used to be 30 books, not 200+) and prioritize some of these high interest books. I'm not getting any younger. In 25 years I'll be 95 and at ~60 books a year that's 1,500 books. My TBR is around 3,800 and I easily add about 300 books a year! Clearly I need to do some weeding and prioritizing there! These are the ones I'd still like to get to THIS year:
Tomb for an Eagle - 4th Quarter RTT (Vikings)
One for Sorrow - 2nd Q RTT (Ancient World)
READ The Rose Garden
READ People of the Wolf - 1st Q RTT (prehistoric)
The Assyrian and sequel - 2nd Q RTT (Ancient World)
The Beacon at Alexandria - 2nd Q RTT
The Road to Avalon and sequels - 3rd Q RTT
(Arthurian)
The Bordeaux Connection: A White Hart Prequel - a B title
The Crown Jewels Conspiracy and sequels
READ The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford - next-to-read in series and it's short
Her Royal Spyness - I keep adding this for every purple cover color challenge...
Bloodline and I need to reread the first two books first...
Within The Fetterlock
READ Behind Closed Doors
A Vision of Light and sequels
READ Lady Macbeth
Death at La Fenice

And that is 30 books right there! Without adding my book club books or anything else new. You see my problem!

You're having an excellent year. I like how you've plotted out the remainder. I keep getting distracted by shiny new books.

Bill wrote: "You're having an excellent year. I like how you've plotted out the remainder. I keep getting distracted by shiny new books."

Thanks, Bill. Doesn't mean I WON'T get distracted...

Plans for July:
As my previous post outlined, I need to renew my efforts to tackle leftovers. Last night I picked up
READ The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case - if I keep at it daily it'll be finished in a week. Next up will be
DNF The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear. Later in the month, I hope to resume
READ Moby-Dick or, The Whale and
READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer.

On audio, I'm about to start
READ The House with the Golden Door which came available on Libby and has 7 holds waiting so I need to read it NOW. Then I have
READ The Seven Wonders and
READ Murder, Plain and Simple (for A Good Yarn, Q is for quilt shop) lined up. After that, I hope my hold on my book club book will be in
READ The Personal Librarian. If not, I have another pick for A Good Yarn (and also a garden theme book)
The Forgotten Garden (Q is for Queensland)

On Kindle, I have just started
READ Poison, Your Grace, the next book in the Simon and Elizabeth mystery series. If I don't read it now, I might as well kiss it goodbye until next year. It also fills the cover color challenge for April (yes, I'm behind.) I am itching to start some of my Ancient Times/Biblical theme list. This was also the 2nd Quarter theme for Reading Through Time, and I haven't gotten to any of this list yet. To start off, I have
Gods and Kings followed by the sequel
Song of Redemption. I think there are more in the series. We'll see how I like them. Then I want to read
The Assyrian and if I like it, the sequel
The Blood Star. I also have
The Beacon at Alexandria lined up.

Nevermind that the 3rd Quarter theme of Arthurian Fiction has started. We have three months, so I may just use July to catch up on Ancient Times.

The monthly RTT theme is France. So somehow this month I'd like to finish
READ The Ice Swan which I started back in January and is currently paused. Maybe after Poison, Your Grace?

The genre challenge for July is fantasy and that would pair well with Arthurian fiction. Maybe I can carry that into August.... we'll see how I'm doing mid-month and add titles then. I can't think about adding any more right now. Also, the cover color challenge for July is burgundy and/or pale gold. Actually, some of the above will fit that... I'm still playing catch up with April, May and June:
READ Behind Closed Doors would give me lavender for June. Another lavender/yellow that also fits the fantasy genre is
The Fall of Atlantis - that should have been another leftover listed in my last post, but I forgot it.

Goodness knows how I am going to manage all of this! Which 5 or maybe 6 books out of that dozen am I going to finish?

July Log

Finished:
The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case - finished July 8
The House with the Golden Door - finished July 13
Murder, Plain and Simple - finished July 19
The Seven Wonders - finished July 31

Currently reading:
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - restarted on Jan. 8
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - restarted on Jan. 8
The Ice Swan - for the Jan. cover color challenge - started on Feb. 23
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear - started on Mar. 6
A Faraway Island - started June 3
Poison, Your Grace - started June 30
The Door to Camelot - started July 15

Next up:
Gods and Kings
Song of Redemption

Possibly Pending:
Stormbird (reread) - audiobook
Behind Closed Doors
The Assyrian and sequel The Blood Star
A Vision of Light random pick from my lists by a coworker
The Beacon at Alexandria

New Acquisitions:
Daughter of Fire: A Novel - Amazon first reads
In Any Lifetime - Amazon first reads
The Wild Hunt - Kindle
Shield-Maiden: Under the Howling Moon - Kindle, free
The Door to Camelot - Kindle purchase
The Irish Princess - Kindle purchase
Dark, Witch & Creamy - Kindle, free

Still might read:
The Running Grave - purchased on Audible.
Within The Fetterlock - purchased print copy on Amazon
The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford - March cover color challenge

Good luck, Laurel

#36 The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case
4 red stars.

I have been fascinated by the story of "The Princes in the Tower" since I was a teenager spending hours after school every day researching the genealogies of the royal families of Europe. I have never believed that Richard III murdered the boys, though this has been the prevailing story ever since Henry VII assumed the throne. So put me firmly in the Ricardian camp. Nor did I believe that Henry VII would have done such a thing. I poured over those genealogies trying to figure out who might benefit. Now we have the benefit of Philippa Langley's extensive research into all of the principals involved. The book was a slog at times, just because of the volume of information presented, but also the fact that it was organized like a cold case report, so it was difficult to keep track of the overall timeline. It would be nice to have more of a narrative report, but I'm sure this was aimed at historians and serious researchers, not the general public. The idea that the boys survived and were smuggled out of England is not a new theory, but what Philippa does is to present all of the available evidence and reinterpret it in a different way. Nothing here provides definitive proof, and the research continues to look for new evidence. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will scoff at her ideas. The most interesting bit of speculation was buried in one of the appendices - the evidence pointing to the idea that Edward V survived the battle of Stoke, and was taken to Coldridge in Devon where he was given a new name, John Evans, and lived out his life in secret as the deer parker. Can we hope that Philippa might be able to find DNA evidence to support this theory?

Description: In the summer of 1483, Edward V (age 12) and his brother Richard Duke of York (age 9), disappeared from the Tower of London. For over five hundred years, history has judged that they were murdered on the orders of their uncle, Richard III. Following years of intensive research in British, American, and European archives, Philippa Langley has uncovered astonishing new archival discoveries that radically change what we know about the fate of the princes in the Tower. Established by Langley in 2016, "The Missing Princes Project" employs the methods of a cold-case police inquiry. Using investigative methodology, it aims to place this most enduring of mysteries under a forensic microscope for the very first time.

Cumulative pages: 11,667

#37 The House with the Golden Door
3.5 pink stars, rounded up. Caution: there are spoilers below...

I didn't like this quite as well as the first book, but I have still given it 4 stars. It's a compelling emotional story with complex characters. Amara has won her freedom in the last book, but here she seems to be in many ways even more constrained in her life. She manipulates people in order to maintain a very precarious position, and yet she engages in some extremely risky behavior in her search for love and happiness. She puts herself in debt to her former owner in order to help at least a couple of her friends from the brothel. I loved the focus of her relationship with Britannica, the Celtic slave woman who wants to be a gladiator. On the other hand, her relationship with Victoria disintegrates into a heartbreaking betrayal. And then there is Philos. As things become ever more precarious, Amara resorts to becoming ever more cold and calculating. Her determination will help her to land on her feet, but at what cost? There is much to be resolved yet in the third book. I will be reading it.

Description: The life of a courtesan in Pompeii is glamorous yet perilous. At night in the home her patron bought for her, the house with the golden door, Amara’s dreams are haunted by her past. She longs for her sisterhood of friends—the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind—and worse, finds herself pursued by the cruel and vindictive man who once owned her. To be truly free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is. Amara knows her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.

Cumulative pages: 12,139

Mid-July update:

Wow! How did it get to be mid-July already? That went fast! I've not made as much progress as I would have liked. Only two books finished this month. Oh, I'm still 5 books ahead of schedule, but I was really hoping to polish off maybe 8 titles this month. Some of that can be attributed to needing to work on the garden, but some of it is that I'm trying to finish books I don't really want to read, or that are too long to read quickly and make room for other reads. I am enjoying
READ Poison, Your Grace but it is long, and it is a book I own, so no harm if I pause it temporarily. I may continue to pause
DNF The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear or I may eventually decide it is a DNF. I don't know yet. It's a 3-star book at best for me, and I'm not terribly invested in it.

On audio, I'm about to start
READ Murder, Plain and Simple. I don't really need another Q book (quilt shop location) for A Good Yarn, but a short cozy might be just what I need right now to clear the palate, so to speak. It has a hold on Libby and is due back in 4 days, so I either prioritize it or let it go. It wasn't on any of my lists and I chose it only for the Q location, so not likely to read it later if I let it go. I'll give it two hours tonight and see if it grabs me...

The two July challenges that I haven't met yet, are the Reading Through Time monthly theme (France) and the On the Porch Swing monthly genre challenge (fantasy).
READ The Ice Swan which I started in February and then paused fits the France challenge. So right now I think I will prioritize it over Poison. I'm about 1/4 in and I don't need to start it over. Although maybe I will.

Now then - fantasy. A quick sort of my 2024 "shelf" shows
READ The Door to Camelot is the shortest at 172 pages. And it is $3 on Kindle, so accessible. It is also one of my "theme" reads, and the RTT quarterly theme right now is Arthurian fiction. I do need to prioritize my "leftovers" list, and there are two there that I do intend to read, hopefully this quarter:
The Fall of Atlantis which I have started several times and it has been on my TBR forever. It is marginally Arthurian - part of the Avalon series that includes The Mists of Avalon. The other one on my leftovers list is
Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel and both of those books are quite long (502 pages and 415 pages). So The Door to Camelot it is. Perhaps I can even finish it in a few days.

#38 Murder, Plain and Simple
4 red stars

I found this book to be an enjoyable cozy read - pretty typical of the genre with a bit of humor and a potential love interest for future installments. The author is not Amish, but does live in or near Amish country. I can't vouch for her portrayal of the Amish, but it was refreshingly humanizing. They weren't portrayed as saintly or ultra-religious. Her portrayal of the tensions between the Amish of the community and the "Englisch" seemed authentic. And the tourists! There were enough plausible suspects to keep one guessing about the murderer, but neither was the reveal surprising. I liked the chemistry between Angie and Sheriff Mitchell, and found it amusing that Angie seemed stuck on the idea that he thought she was the killer. The book apparently contains "tips for quilters" at the end. The audiobook did not. The narrator did a good job, and I would listen to more of this series.

Description: When Angela Braddock inherits her late aunt’s beautiful Amish quilt shop, she leaves behind her career and broken engagement for a fresh start in Holmes County, Ohio. With her snazzy cowboy boots and her ornithophobic French bulldog, Angie doesn’t exactly fit in with the predominantly Amish community in Rolling Brook, but her aunt’s quilting circle tries to make her feel welcome as she prepares for the reopening of Running Stitch. On the big day, Angie gets a taste of success as the locals and Englisch tourists browse the store’s wares while the quilters stitch away. But when Angie finds the body of ornery Amish woodworker Joseph in her storeroom the next morning, everything starts falling apart. With evidence mounting against her, Angie is determined to find the culprit before the local sheriff can arrest her. Rolling Brook always appeared to be a simple place, but the closer Angie gets to the killer, the more she realizes that nothing in the small Amish community is as plain as it seems....

Cumulative pages: 12,486

Wow. Where have I been? You've been killing this list.

I really loved Moby Dick; but i'm kinda odd anyway. I hope you get back into. If not, there is always The Caine Mutiny. LOL

Thanks, Alondra. I've read Moby Dick before. So this is a reread for me. Yeah, parts of it are super boring and gruesome, but parts of it are just brilliant and delightful. I will finish it. It's just taking a lot longer than I would like. Right now I'm dealing with a clogged kitchen sink. Waiting for a plumber to call me back.

#39 The Seven Wonders
4 red stars

Perhaps a tad generous, especially if you are coming to this series after the Roma Sub Rosa series about the older Gordianus "the Finder." But I like to read books in internal chronological order, so this is my introduction to Steven Saylor's books. There are four books in the "Ancient World" series, and I guess these could all be considered prequels to the later series. Not sure if they should also be considered young adult or not, but that is kind of the vibe of this one - Gordianus is goofy, awkward, and naive. I found it quite entertaining. It felt like being on a bus tour (no buses in 92 B.C., I know) with a chatty tour guide (or in this case, various local characters) expounding on the history of each of the Seven Wonders of the World, and various aspects of Roman, Greek, or Egyptian culture and history as we go. And it brought to mind a memory from my childhood playing "school" with my sisters - I was the teacher, of course, being the oldest, and I had a little booklet of facts all about the Seven Wonders that I used for my "lessons." I remember it very vividly. Yes, I loved history even then, and I was a very nerdy, scholarly child. So anyway - this book is like a collection of short stories. At each location, Gordianus gets to solve some little mystery, and have some kind of romantic/sexual encounter (not explicit). Technically, this predates the Roman "Empire", but Rome (like Gordianus) is certainly on the cusp of what it will become.


Description: The year is 92 B.C. Gordianus has just turned eighteen and is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: a far-flung journey to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Gordianus is not yet called "the Finder"―but at each of the Seven Wonders, the wide-eyed young Roman encounters a mystery to challenge the powers of deduction. Accompanying Gordianus on his travels is his tutor, Antipater of Sidon, the world's most celebrated poet. But there is more to the apparently harmless old poet than meets the eye. Before they leave home, Antipater fakes his own death and travels under an assumed identity. Looming in the background are the first rumblings of a political upheaval that will shake the entire Roman world. Teacher and pupil journey to the fabled cities of Greece and Asia Minor, and then to Babylon and Egypt. They attend the Olympic Games, take part in exotic festivals, and marvel at the most spectacular constructions ever devised by mankind. Along the way they encounter murder, witchcraft and ghostly hauntings. Traveling the world for the first time, Gordianus discovers that amorous exploration goes hand-in-hand with crime-solving. The mysteries of love are the true wonders of the world...

Cumulative pages: 12,807

Laurel wrote: "Thanks, Alondra. I've read Moby Dick before. So this is a reread for me. Yeah, parts of it are super boring and gruesome, but parts of it are just brilliant and delightful. I will finish it. It's j..."

Same!! I've read it at least 3-4 times since I was a tween. I reread it every decade to try and find why folk hate it so much, but just end up enjoying it more.

I hate plumbing issues. That's how we ended up with a new ceiling and furniture! 😩😭😭

Making plans for August and beyond:

First of all, how is it August already? The garden is doing its thing for now, and I haven't had to pay too much attention. A good thing, because it has been too hot to want to be outdoors much. I'm still postponing the rest of the planting, and those perennials and things can just wait until cooler weather in the fall. But it seems I haven't been reading that much either. I barely finished four books in July. I can afford to be lazy, or busy, whatever the excuse is, since I am still 4 books ahead of schedule on the annual goal. But I feel like I'm behind, because there are so many books I want to read for the various monthly challenges that I feel perpetually behind.

This is why I have been thinking about changing my whole approach next year and focusing only on leftovers. Going back to previous years' lists and not doing any new "random reads" lists, but filling them with those titles that are still begging to be read. But I can never resist new themes, and this last week or so I have gotten a doozy of an idea, thanks to J.D. Vance.... I'll call my thread something like Laurel's Crazy Cat Lady Chronicles.... I've already filled notepads with all the cat titles in my TBR ocean. There's at least 40. Then I started writing down all the cozy mystery series that feature cats. There's another 30 at least. This is perfect for my alphabet challenge, because I'll be doing titles that start with the letter C next year. Other themes that spring to mind: Castles. And Chronicles. OMG, I have over 50 titles in my TBR in a series with Chronicles as part of the name of the series. So this is going to be interesting, but I still have 5 months to figure out how to structure it.

But back to August...
For Daytimers book club, we'll be reading
READ Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom - the book we were supposed to read has too many holds to get copies this month, so I've rearranged our schedule for the rest of the year.

For Goodreads, we are doing the letter R for the next two months. I could get some more of my Roman Empire books read perhaps. Some other possibilities:
The Kremlin's Candidate (Russia)
READ The Rose Garden (a rose garden...)
Rhuddlan which I have as an ebook

The August genre challenge is humor/comedy and my coworker plunked this on my desk yesterday, so I checked it out. Perfect.
READ Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair
But looking through my TBR I also found this, I have it as an ebook
Mister Darcy's Dogs - sounds fun, and I can use some lighter reads. I've also got
READ Cockatiels at Seven lined up. One of my favorite humorous authors.

The cover color challenge is hot pink or forest green. Looking at my list of options, the only one available yesterday on audio I could start right away was
READ The Last Party - I am greatly enjoying the narrator's Welsh accent and the snippets of Welsh language.

The RTT theme for August is "The Joy of Reading." I'm still on the waiting list for
READ The Personal Librarian which was last month's Daytimers book. I'm next in line, so hopefully soon. Otherwise, Among the Janeites fits the bill.

The quarterly theme is still Arthurian fiction.

August Log

Finished:
Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair - finished August 2
The Last Party - finished August 15
The Door to Camelot - finished August 21
The Personal Librarian - finished August 23
Cockatiels at Seven - finished August 27
A Time of Love and Tartan - finished August 28

Currently reading:
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - restarted on Jan. 8
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - restarted on Jan. 8
The Ice Swan - for the Jan. cover color challenge - started on Feb. 23
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear - started on Mar. 6
A Faraway Island - started June 3
Poison, Your Grace - started June 30
Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom - started August 2
Mister Darcy's Dogs - started August 21

Next up:
The Heart of Summer
The Rose Garden and/or
Rhuddlan

Possibly Pending:

Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel


New Acquisitions:
The Moonflowers: A Novel - Amazon first reads
Wanderland - purchased hardcover
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Audible credit
The Rose Garden - Audible credit
Pendragon's Heir - Amazon purchase

Still might read:
Stormbird (reread) - audiobook
Behind Closed Doors
The Assyrian and sequel The Blood Star
A Vision of Light random pick from my lists by a coworker
The Beacon at Alexandria
Gods and Kings
Song of Redemption
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - reread, started August 28 on a road trip, but my traveling companion wanted something different, so not continuing for now.
Outlander - started Sept. 2 on road trip, knowing we would not be able to finish it. I do want to reread it, but not at this time.

#40 Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair
4.5 blue stars

Linney is quite a character. Cat owners will recognize many of these behaviors. But be warned. I laughed. And I cried. This is a lovely tribute to the older cats in our lives, and some of the trials that aging brings. If you have loved and lost a cat, the last section of the book might hit a little too close to home. +-0ooooo-*9++++++++

That last comment was added by one of my cats... Something about 9 lives maybe?

Description: What if our cats could talk? Would they ask endless questions about why we haven't given them wet food...again? Would they scream greetings at the first sign of life before the sun even rises? Linney certainly will. Have you met Linney yet? If not, prepared to be blessed! Lucy Knisley's online Linney comics are here collected for the very first time. With all-new comics, this collection shows us just how amazing, and what a true gift, all cats are.

Cumulative pages: 13,015

#41 The Last Party
4.5 blue stars rounded up

You'll have to forgive my bias, but I love everything Welsh, and this book set in a small North Wales village on the English border, has plenty of atmosphere, and enough Welsh dialog thrown in to make me happy. On the Welsh side of Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake) is the little village of Cwm Coed with all the drawbacks of small towns everywhere. And on the English side, is a new posh development called The Shore aimed at attracting wealthy English buyers, and offering nothing for the locals. Nevermind that its creator is one of their own, a local boy become a famous singer, but whose career is now waning. When he goes missing during his New Year's Eve party and then is found dead in the lake the next day, both English and Welsh detectives are brought in. Ffion Morgan lives in Cwm Coed, and much to her chagrin, the English detective assigned to the case is the man she had a one night stand with on New Year's Eve. Leo is a black officer originally from Liverpool, but now is the object of some very racist bullying from his current boss. His ex-wife is also keeping him from having a relationship with his young son. As Ffion observes, he needs to "grow a pair." She has her own secrets and it isn't long before we realize she might be somewhat morally ambiguous for a police officer. There are plenty of suspects here, and plenty of secrets. This is a slow-burning psychological thriller, and I guarantee you will not guess who-done-it. The last page delivered one final twist that left my jaw hanging. Did she really do that??! An interesting plot device is to structure the book in mirror fashion. The police investigation and the relationship between Ffion and Leo progresses chronologically, but interspersed we have the actions of the people at the party first revealed moving backwards in time, and then in the second half of the book moving forward again to the party and the resolution of the police case. I am glad there is a second book in the series. Leo and Ffion make a great team, and we hope they will see more of each other in the future.

Description: It's the party to end all parties….but not everyone is here to celebrate. On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors. But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake. On New Year's Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family―and Ffion has her own secrets to protect. With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him. In a village with this many secrets, murder is just the beginning.

Cumulative pages: 13,421

#42 The Door to Camelot
3 green stars

I should have been more careful when I purchased this last month. Because it is clearly incomplete as it stands. It isn't just that it ends with a cliff-hanger. The characters have been introduced, but not developed. What I thought was part 1 of a series is really part 1 of a novel. And why buy all three parts if you don't know if you will like it or not? Well, I liked it enough to want to give the author a fair chance, so now I have gone ahead and purchased the full novel under the title Pendragon's Heir. That was cheaper than purchasing the next two parts separately. It feels a little bit like a bait and switch, so I'm a little irritated with Amazon. As for the book itself, this is aimed at the teen market. Whether it will prove to be a coming of age tale remains to be seen. The story, so far, is an interesting blend of turn-of-the-century England with medieval Camelot after the death of King Arthur. His daughter Blanchefleur had been taken to the future to keep her safe from those who wish to see King Arthur's legacy of the Round Table destroyed. The doorway is a bit of a cliche - it's a wardrobe. No talking animals here, but the style is reminiscent of Narnia with its medieval/Christian vibe. I even wanted to revisit Malory or my Arthurian encyclopedia to refresh myself on the characters, but it seems to me they are true to type, and/or would fit in well with T.H. White. I shall save the rest of my review for the full trilogy. This "installment" cannot stand alone.

Description: What if King Arthur had a daughter? Blanche was an ordinary girl in 1900 England...until the knight crashed through her door. Now, her guardians say she’s a princess lost in time, and her father’s enemies want her dead. Raised in the wild, Perceval has never known his father. Hoping for answers, he sets out to pledge his sword to the legendary King Arthur Pendragon. But dark forces threaten Camelot - and darker secrets fester behind the legend. Sparks fly when Perceval steals a kiss from the strange damsel he finds in the forest. Blanche doesn’t trust this brash young knight...but as assassins close in, he might be her only chance of survival.

Cumulative pages: 13,591

#43 The Personal Librarian
3 green stars

This should have been a fascinating story about a real woman, and it kept my interest for about 40% of the book. After that, it got very repetitive and same old, same old. Surely there was more to her life than the constant race angle. There isn't a lot of historical evidence that this was even an issue for her. I found the descriptions of her relationships, even with her father, to be contrived, and sorry, but the sex scenes were just cringeworthy. And the whole storyline about her lover's business dealings and "betrayal" was wholly made up. I wanted to like this book much more than I did. What I did learn about her, I found very interesting. She was well educated, shrewd, maybe even brilliant in her ability to acquire manuscripts and artwork for the Pierpont Morgan Library. I would have liked more about how the library became open to the public, and about her directorship in her later life. The authors' notes at the end of the book were more interesting. I get that this is fiction, but I think they took too many liberties, and I found myself questioning much of the story.

Description: In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

Cumulative pages: 13,932

#44 Cockatiels at Seven
4 red stars

More laugh-out-loud entertainment from one of my favorite authors for long road trips....

Description: When her old friend Karen drops by with two-year-old son Timmy, Meg Langslow reluctantly agrees to babysit “just for a little while.” But when nightfall comes, the toddler is still in residence and Karen isn’t answering any phone calls. Meg decides she must find out what’s happening, so the next morning, with Timmy in tow, she retraces her friend’s footsteps---and begins to suspect that Karen’s disappearance is tied to at least one serious crime. Has Karen been killed or kidnapped? Is she on the run from the bad guys? Or is she one of the bad guys? The police don’t seem to care, so Meg once again plays sleuth---this time with a toddler as her sidekick. As usual, Meg’s extended family adds to the complications in her life. What covert animal welfare project are Dad and the curmudgeonly zoologist Dr. Montgomery Blake working on---and will Meg have to make another late-night trip to bail them out of jail? Why does Meg’s brother keep disappearing---is he merely trying to avoid babysitting, or is he involved in something more mysterious? Will taking care of Timmy dampen newly married Meg and Michael’s enthusiasm for starting a family of their own? And are any of Meg’s relatives reliable enough to be trusted with a two-year-old---especially a two-year-old whose whereabouts might be of interest to some very dangerous people?

#45 A Time of Love and Tartan
4.5 blue stars

Perhaps generous since nothing much happens yet again, except for a decision by Irene Pollock that will have a HUGE impact on Stuart, Bertie, and Ulysses. Still I love revisiting all of these delightful characters and their lives.

Description: When Pat accepts her narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce's invitation for coffee, she has no idea of the complications in her romantic and professional life that will follow. Meanwhile, Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, attracts the attention of the police after a misunderstanding at the local bookstore. Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart's application for promotion, change is coming to Scotland Street. But for three seven-year-old boys--Bertie Pollock, Ranald, and Big Lou's foster son, Finlay--it also means getting a glimpse of perfect happiness.

Cumulative pages: 14,492

Laurel wrote: "#41 The Last Party
4.5 blue stars rounded up

You'll have to forgive my bias, but I love everything Welsh, and this book set in a small North Wal..."

I think I have this on my TBR. If not, I will remedy that!

Kudos on your progress, Laurel!! 🤗

I can't believe it is September already! Where has the summer gone? I just got back from spending a week in Pennsyvania. I was asked to teach a folk-dancing seminar at the North American Festival of Wales again this year, and since it was in Pittsburgh I added a couple of days to do some family history stuff - visiting 6 cemeteries and a little church with connections to my mother's Pennsylvania "Deutsch" ancestors. I should have finished another two books on the drive back to Minnesota, but my traveling companion wanted to listen to Outlander. Now I have no objection to rereading Outlander - it's on my list of books to reread, but there was no way we were going to finish a 32-hour book. And now that I am back, there are other things waiting for my attention.

So I'll be starting
READ The Rose Garden tomorrow. Still doing R locations for A Good Yarn book club. My other book club book is
READ The Woman in the Library My hold on Libby says "available soon." I have not gotten to the book for Perspectives and I think I am skipping that one this month.

I have made no progress on any print books in several weeks. I still would like to read
Mister Darcy's Dogs for the August genre challenge (humor) even though I did finish something else that counts for that. The September challenge is "young adult" and nothing on my lists is calling to me. I may just finish up the Pendragon's Heir trilogy, since I purchased it and the Reading Through Time 3rd quarter challenge is still Arthurian fiction. The next section of the trilogy is
The Quest for Carbonek and the 3rd is
The Heir of Logres
The RTT September theme is "Royal to the Bone". Perhaps I might finally knock
The Summer Queen and
Queen By Right off my leftovers list. Although the "bone" thing has me pondering
Essex Dogs - and it would count for the Sept. cover challenge. Oh, and I still need to finish
READ Poison, Your Grace - it could also count as Young Adult maybe... okay, Mister Darcy's Dogs may have to wait....

September Log

Finished:
The Rose Garden - finished Sept 16
The Woman in the Library - finished Sept 23
Moby-Dick or, The Whale - finished Sept 28
Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer - finished Sept 29

Currently reading:
Poison, Your Grace - started June 30
Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom - started August 2
A Game of Lies - started Sept 24
...And Ladies of the Club - restarted on Sept 26
Go Be Free: The Story of Jacob Milliron - An American Pioneer - started on Sept. 27
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey - started on Sept 30

Next up:
To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

Possibly Pending:
Ygerna: A Pendragon Chronicles Prequel Novel
The Last Pendragon
The Summer Queen
Queen By Right
The Iliad

Paused, but theoretically still reading...
The Ice Swan - for the Jan. cover color challenge - started on Feb. 23
A Faraway Island - started June 3
Mister Darcy's Dogs - started August 21

Still might read:
Stormbird (reread) - audiobook
Behind Closed Doors
The Assyrian and sequel The Blood Star
A Vision of Light random pick from my lists by a coworker
The Beacon at Alexandria
Gods and Kings
Song of Redemption

DNFThe Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear - started on Mar. 6. I've maxxed out the renewals on this library book, so I've decided to just let it go.

New Acquisitions:
This Small Corner of Time - purchased at author talk
Flame in the Mountains - Williams Pantycelyn, Ann Griffiths and the Welsh Hymn
A View Across the Valley: Short Stories by Women from Wales, 1850 - 1950
Welsh Music Studies: Bearers of Song
The Last Pendragon - free on Amazon
Welsh in 12 Weeks - a friend got a copy of this on a trip to Wales recently and showed it to me. I teach Welsh, so I'm always looking for new materials, and I liked how the grammar was presented, so it will make a good complement to other books I am using.
Go Be Free: The Story of Jacob Milliron - An American Pioneer - a short story about one of my ancestors. I bought 2 copies to give one to my mom...

DNF The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
2 yellow stars

I made it halfway through this book before stalling out. I have maxxed out my renewals on the library book, so I think it is time to throw in the towel. This promised to be such an interesting and important story. But I found the writing style a bit stilted, old-fashioned, and maybe even pretentious or self-righteous. I would love to know more about Elizabeth Packard, but I just didn't want to take the time to finish this book.

Description: The year 1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of 21 years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened - by Elizabeth’s intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum. The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: They’ve been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line - conveniently labeled “crazy” so their voices are ignored. No one is willing to fight for their freedom, and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose....

Not counting toward my books read or cumulative pages.

Five days later, and it's already time for my mid-Sept. update:

I've added
READ To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn - waiting for hold at library. Sept. group read for the Goodreads group Tudor History Lovers. Fits the royalty Sept. challenge and the Sept. cover color challenge.

Another group is reading Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey. I'd like to read The Iliad first. This would finally jumpstart my Odyssey theme which has been pending for at least 5 years now... BUT FIRST - I really, really need to finish my reread of
READ Moby-Dick or, The Whale and
READ Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
so I have moved those back into the currently reading column and will prioritize getting those done by the end of the month.

Finally, I have added a few books purchased at the North American Festival of Wales in Pittsburgh to my log above. One of these,
This Small Corner of Time
was purchased from the author at her talk on the After Cilmeri series, which imagines what if someone went back in time and somehow prevented Llewellyn the Last from being murdered. It's a non-fiction companion to the series. I have a number of Sarah Woodbury's books on Kindle or Nook but haven't yet read any of them. Which series to start first? Maybe the Pendragon series since I'm still on the RTT 3rd quarter Arthurian challenge...
The Last Pendragon

Whoa! So much progress since I last visited!! LOL

Yeah, September is already halfway gone and I am not sure how I feel about that. Ugh

#46 The Rose Garden
3.5 pink stars

I enjoyed this. It just could have been "more." Character development was kind of shallow. We never really learn that much about Eva, except that she is grieving the loss of her sister. The romance aspect was also pretty light. Why is she drawn to Daniel and to the past? We aren't really given any reason, except that only a very few people connected to the old house experience time travel. I didn't feel any kind of emotional connection between these characters. The time travel presented some interesting dilemmas, though it was never really explained why she had no control over going back and forth. So, put this in the light and fluffy diversion category. I will read more of this author, but I hope her later books might have a little more meat to them.

Description: After the death of her sister, Eva Ward leaves Hollywood and all its celebrities behind to return to the only place she feels she truly belongs, the old house on the coast of Cornwall, England. She's seeking comfort in memories of childhood summers, but what she finds is mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time. Soon Eva discovers that the man, Daniel Butler, is very, very real and he draws her into a world of intrigue, treason, and love. Inside the old British house, begins to question her place in the present, she realizes she must decide where she really belongs: in the life she knows or the past she feels so drawn towards.

Cumulative pages: 14,968

#47 The Woman in the Library
4 red stars
This mystery within a mystery ends up being a bit of a mystery itself. The ending left me feeling like maybe there is more to this story still untold. The basic premise is that we start out with an Australian writer, Hannah, getting correspondence from a long-time colleague/fan? named Leo in the US. She sends him her work in progress, and he replies with his suggestions regarding plot, characters, location, Americanisms, etc. As Hannah incorporates his suggestions into her work we see the results in her story about four people (one being the author's alter-ego, Winifred, who is in Boston writing a book on a fellowship grant) who meet by chance in the Boston PL reading room. With each chapter our assumptions about the characters is forced to keep shifting. And the relationship between Leo and Hannah gets creepier and creepier. To complicate things, Leo appears as a character in both stories. Is Hannah's story the real one, or is it possibly Winifred? For that matter, Leo is also a writer... In the end, I have no idea what is what, but I enjoyed the journey with these characters.

Description: Ned Kelly award winning author Sulari Gentill sets this mystery-within-a-mystery in motion with a deceptively simple, Dear Hannah, What are you writing? pulling us into the ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library. In every person's story, there is something to hide... The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer.

Cumulative pages: 15,260

#48 Moby-Dick or, The Whale
Reread. Still 3 green stars.

My 2012 review: Long, rambling, and something of a sea monster of a book. Called by one early critic "a chowder of a book," I would have to agree. At times it is brilliant, laugh out loud funny, thought-provoking, philosophical, and I can certainly appreciate all the historical detail. It's just not a subject I have any great interest in, or affinity for. Is it the greatest American novel ever written? It is certainly iconic, and I am glad that I have made the effort to finish the whole thing. Repeated exposure would probably raise my rating quite a bit, but I don't plan to revisit this one.

2024 update: Well, 12 years later I did revisit this using two online resources: http://www.powermobydick.com/ and https://www.mobydickbigread.com/
The first one is the full text with many (very colorful) annotations. The second one is Moby Dick with each chapter read by a different person (men and women). Some I had heard of - most not. There is also artwork accompanying each chapter. It was an interesting experience!

I decided to reread this because I was revisiting my "Moby Dick" theme on the 10th Anniversary of my creation of this theme a couple years ago, and one of the books I never finished from that list was Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer. It seemed to me that it might be interesting to read them simultaneously (more on that in my next post...)

Cumulative pages: 15,980

Laurel wrote: "#48 Moby-Dick or, The Whale
Reread. Still 3 green stars.

My 2012 review: Long, rambling, and something of a sea monster of a book. Called b..."

It's seems to me I gave up many many years ago on Moby Dick after just a page or so..

I finished Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer, but I'm visiting my mom for a few days and it is impossible to concentrate on my review right now. So look for that maybe on Friday, and I will also do my October plans then.