Cindy/LibraryCin's 2024 Reading Log

Here we go...

For January, this is what I'm hoping for:

- Sorry I'm Late / Jessica P. (CalendarCAT)
- You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt (AlphaKIT)
- Death Cruise / Lawrence Block (MysteryKIT)
- North and South / John Jakes (HistoryCAT)
- Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / R.S (PBT, BWF)
- Against a Brightening Sky / J.L.M. (PBT, BWF)
- Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald (Book club)
- The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor (PBT Trim)
- Bluebird Bluebird / Attica L (PrizeCAT)

Audio
- Before and After / Judy C and Lise Wingate (RTT)
- The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman (AlphaKIT, RandomKIT)
- Get Well Soon / Jennifer Wright
- The Word Exchange / A (Steeplechase)

ARCs
- The Night of the Storm / N.P (NG, ScaredyKIT?)
- Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic (ER)
- Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin (NG, AlphaKIT)
- A Call From Hell / Genoviva Ortiz (ER)

Good Luck with your goals, Cindy, and Happy Reading in 2024! ☺️

1. The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham
4.25 stars
501 pages

This is fiction during the times of Edward II and Edward III. It is told from the point of view of Eleanor, the wife of Hugh le Despenser, who was a favourite of Edward II for a while. Eleanor was only 13 when she married Hugh, but she seemed to be completely in love with him. However, he was often away, and apparently committed piracy (among other bad things). Still, he loved Eleanor and their children. He also may have “loved” the king. Later in the book, once Edward II is gone (he was likely murdered), and a teenage Edward III is ruling, it is really his mother and Roger Mortimer (her new lover) who rule through him. But they were ruthless, and when Edward was older, he was not going to go along with this.

This was really good. I think I’ve only read one other book (nonfiction) about this time period and these kings. (The focus of that book was on Mortimer.) It took a bit to get “into” this one since I was unfamiliar with the time period and the people, so I spent a bit of time at the start figuring out who everyone was. Also, there are so many people with the same name! The author tried to distinguish most of the time, but it was still sometimes a bit confusing. But still very good, I thought.

Cumulative page total = 501

And congratulations on already finishing a book for this year, Cindy! It sounds very interesting, and what an interesting time period.

Looking forward to your reading for this year ❤️

>5 threadnsong: Thank you! Must admit, I started this one in December. It was a long one!

Just finished my first audio, as well.

2. Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them / Jennifer Wright
4 stars
336 pages

This book looks at various “plagues” (or diseases) over the years and how they were overcome. There are chapters on smallpox, the Spanish flu, polio, leprosy, syphilis, typhoid, and more. Not only does she talk about the diseases and how they affected people, but she included specific people stories for some of them, as well (“Typhoid Mary”, Father Damien at Moloka’i...)

This was published pre-COVID. I listened to the audio and although my mind did wander at times, I thought it was very good. She does pepper the book with humour. It was interesting to read about vaccines, etc, especially with COVID fresh in my mind. She does end on a positive/hopeful note, but it does make me curious about how she feels about how people have reacted to the COVID vaccine, particularly anti-vaxxers (she does talk a bit about vaccines and anti-vaxxers in her chapter on polio).

Cumulative page total = 837

3. Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan
4 stars
278 pages

The author is a “shintrovert” (shy + introvert… a word she made up). She decided she was going to try a bunch of extroverted-type things over a year. She did things like learn to talk to strangers on the street or public transit, she joined a website/app to meet new friends (like a dating app, but to meet friends), took an improv class, forced herself to do some group networking, took a comedy class (with the end result everyone up on stage to perform their comedy), travelling alone, hosting a dinner party, and probably more I’m forgetting.

Pretty sure this book will appeal much more to the introverts of the world. I am one. As a kid and teen, I was even a shintrovert, but the shyness is (mostly) gone as an adult. Obviously (based on the title), Jessica includes some humour in her story. I think there can’t help but be humour, though, in some of these situations that she puts herself though. I admire that she was able to do all those things (comedy! Improv!), and she ended up enjoying most of it.

Cumulative page total = 1,115

4. Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans... / Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
3 stars
320 pages

Lisa Wingate’s “Before We Were Yours” is a fictional account of Georgia Tann and her illegally obtaining kids and babies to illegally adopt out. With the popularity of that book, she and Judy Christie decided to reach out to many of those “kids” (now adults, of course) to hear their stories and to set up a reunion.

I listened to the audio and that may have been my downfall. Because there were multiple individual stories to this one, it was more similar to a book of essays or short stories, so (because – audio) when I missed parts, it was hard to “catch up” on what I’d missed before we moved on to the next story. It did seem like many of the adopted kids had good lives, in the end.

There was some talk at the end about one of the reunion attendees not having a great home life post-adoption and that she was heartened to find others out there with a similar story – that is, she wasn’t alone in that. But if those stories were told in this book, I missed them. The entire story (Georgia Tann) is sad, but I suspect I might have liked this more if I’d actually read it. In any case, I’m still rating it ok.

Cumulative page total = 1435

5. Fayne / Ann-Marie MacDonald
3 stars
728 pages

In the late 19th century, 12-year old Charlotte lives with her father at Fayne (in Scotland or England). Her mother died in childbirth and her brother died when she was young, as well (Charlotte does not remember her brother). Charlotte is extremely smart and her father hires a tutor for her (who is initially perturbed that he was brought to tutor a girl). She wants to attend university.

This did not turn out as I’d expected. It was very long and I’m rating it ok. There were parts I liked (more toward the beginning of the book), but whenever we switched perspectives, I felt like I was starting over (even though after the first couple of times, we were mostly going back and continuing from where the last switch left off), and wasn’t interested for the first bit (of every switch). It took time to get interested again, but just as that happened, we switched again.

So, the other perspective is Charlotte’s mother. I honestly didn’t find this nearly as interesting, overall, as Charlotte herself. Though, after a bit, I was interested (then… switch!). Clarissa (Charlotte’s aunt) was a piece of work, wow! I didn’t like her from the start. The end was a bit weird: Did Charlotte live to about 140 years old!?

Cumulative page total = 2163

6. The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh
4 stars
336 pages

Jia is divorced and raising her 12-year old son, Ishaan, who was recently in trouble at school. So much trouble that her ex-husband is threatening to take him away from her. However, the urgent issue this evening is the hurricane coming toward Houston. Told to evacuate their area Jia and Ishaan are invited to Jia’s sister Seema’s place, not too far away. What they don’t realize until it’s too late is Seema’s area was also supposed to evacuate (though Jia does question that there are so few people nearby). Seema and her husband, Vipul, have also invited Vipul’s brother, Raj and his wife, Lisa. Also in the house is Vipul and Raj’s mother and Seema and Vipul’s young daughter.

When a neighbour urgently presses the doorbell to be let in, he is injured and needs help. Although Vipul does not like Rafael at all (they have had a number of disagreements), they let Rafael in, anyway. And things go terribly wrong.

I really liked this. There were, of course, also flashbacks to what led Jia to her divorce, Ishaan’s issues at school, and other things going on with Jia (including unwanted advances from Vipul). I did find the storm/”current day” scenes more interesting than the flashbacks, but of course the flashbacks were needed to figure out what was going on, in general. There were times I wasn’t a fan of Jia, as she did do some stupid things. I almost rated it a bit lower due to more focus on these flashbacks (when I’m really interested in the storm and the murder/thriller/suspense parts of the book), but the end brought the rating back up for me.

Cumulative page total = 2499

7. Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer
3.5 stars
335 pages

It’s 1919 in San Francisco. When Delia and Gabe, Sophie and Jack (and their two kids), and Sam and Libby head to a parade, they never expected a riot to break out. Not only a riot, but then gunfire and explosions. Gabe and Jack are police so they go to help. Delia is a “spiritualist” – she can see ghosts; not only that, Sophie’s young son Connor sees them, too, but he is too young to do anything about it and they scare him. Delia does what she can to protect him. She also noticed the people who ended up rioting had something odd happen just before the riot. Once again, Delia and her friend Dora (also a spiritualist) must help Gabe solve this mystery.

I liked this. This is the third (and final, I’m guessing?) in a series. The POV changes between Gabe and Delia. Like the 2nd book, I think I liked Gabe’s storyline a bit better. I really liked the police officer, Jordan Lynch, whom they brought in from Chicago. There were a few times I really didn’t like Dora. I would continue with this series if it was to keep going (and would hope Jordan Lynch would continue to be in it, as well), but I see there aren’t (currently) more and this was published in 2015, so I’m not sure how likely another one is. It also kind of ended in a way that appears that there is unlikely to be more in the series.

Cumulative page total = 2834

8. Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson
3.5 stars
322 pages

It’s the late 19th century in New York City. Prudence and Geoffrey run an investigation business. An opera singer, Claire, comes to them to ask them to investigate her twin sister’s (Catherine’s) death. Her sister, also an opera singer, was married to Aaron who seemed to keep her from her family and, by his request, she had stopped performing/singing. Catherine had just had a baby and they are now both dead. Aaron remarried very quickly after their deaths, and now Prudence and Geoffrey worry about his new wife, Ethel (who is pregnant).

This continues to be an enjoyable series. I love that a woman is doing much of the investigating. Apparently there were a few women investigators with the famous Pinkerton investigation agency at the time, as well. The story didn’t grip me as much as the first two in the series did, but it did ramp up a bit toward the end. Definitely still enjoying it enough to continue the series. I didn’t mention it in my description, but Aaron had a photographer come take a post-mortem photograph of Catherine and their baby; I did know this happened, but only because of the Nicole Kidman movie “The Others” from the late 90s?, so that wasn’t a surprise.

Cumulative page total = 3156

9. The Genius of Birds / Jennifer Ackerman
3.5 stars
352 pages

As the title suggests, this book looks at bird intelligence. How intelligent are birds? And how do we measure this?

It’s hard to base intelligence on what humans think is smart. I think it’s similar to culturally-biased IQ tests, really. Birds don’t need to know the same things as humans. That being said, there are things that birds know or can figure out that is comparable to humans and/or other primates. They are smart, IMO. Most of us know how smart corvids (crows, ravens, etc) are, but other birds are smart, too, in different ways, including sparrows, pigeons… some birds that aren’t “traditionally” thought of as smart. Some of the things discussed in the book include songs, migration, tools, aesthetically—pleasing displays, etc. I listened to the audio, but I bet I would have taken in more had I actually read it in print or via ebook.

Cumulative page total = 3508

10. Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas / Lawrence Block (ed.)
4 stars
408 pages

These are mystery short stories mostly set on cruises.

But. Short stories so mostly not memorable by the end of the book, though I really enjoyed most of them as I read them (hence the 4 stars, which is higher than I rate most short story collections). One had a short author’s note at the end, which made me happy because I did wonder (the story took place on the Queen Mary, and there were some interesting stats and uses of the ship during WWII). Unfortunately, one of the last stories (and potentially also the longest), I didn’t like, but almost all the others I really liked. Might help that I have enjoyed the cruises that I’ve taken, so the setting is familiar and enjoyable for me.

Cumulative page total = 3916

11. Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke
3.75 stars
320 pages

Darren is a black man and a Texas Ranger. Though he is on suspension, he gets a tip that there have been two murders one county over – a black man and a white woman. Bodies found in the river a few days apart. Initially, he heads over just to see what things are looking like. Turns out there is an active chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (a modern-day KKK) in this small town where there hasn’t been even one murder in decades. When he does get the go ahead from his Ranger supervisor to help investigate, the local sheriff isn’t thrilled.

I mostly liked this, but some of the flashbacks to previous happenings didn’t completely hold my interest. I liked Darren, but didn’t like some of the other characters much. I feel like dark and gritty are good words to describe this one. I do plan to continue with book 2 at some point.

Cumulative page total = 4236

12. Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic
4 stars
237 pages

Lynn has won 5 million dollars in the lottery. But she doesn’t want to tell her abusive husband, Jimmy. She plans to donate the money to charity. She is sick and doesn’t want him getting his hands on any of the money. But then the threats start.

There are more layers to this than I’ve mentioned. I’m not sure how much I want to give away (even if much of it is revealed early on, and I think much more is said in some of the other reviews).

Lynn is a very unreliable narrator. I thought all the feelings she went through after winning (about winning) probably were legitimate, but stacked on top of that was all the abuse she’s suffered over decades. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was a surprise/twist near the end, but then it ended so abruptly, so that was disappointing, as it seems it is meant to continue in another book. If it wasn’t for the (non?) ending, I might have rated it a bit higher.

Cumulative page total = 4473

Looking at February:

- The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley (AlphaKIT, CalendarCAT)
- Gallows Hill / Darcy Coates (ScaredyKIT)
- What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad (PrizeCAT - Giller Prize)
- Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid (Steeplechase, PBT, BWF)
- The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards (Book club, AlphaKIT, RTT - water?)
- Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King (PBT Trim)
- The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright (RandomKIT, PBT)
- The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman (MysteryKIT)

Audio:
- Victoria / Daisy Goodwin (HistoryCAT)
(carry-over):
- The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor (Jan PBT Trim, Feb RandomKIT)

Carry-over:
- North and South / John Jakes (Jan HistoryCAT)

ARCs:
- Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin (NG)
- A Call From Hell / Genoviva Ortiz (ER)
- Killer Dead, Victim Alive / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole (ER)

13. You May Also Like / Tom Vanderbilt
3.5 stars
290 pages

The author looks at what people like, why we like those things, etc. Our “taste” so to speak (not the sense of taste, but our “taste” for what we like). He does, of course, discuss food, but there is also a chapter (I found this one particularly interesting) on online reviews and recommendations, etc. Other chapters include museums/art, ways to describe why we like something, and more.

Not too much to say about this. I found it (mostly) interesting and easy to read. Oddly, although I’m not really one for art appreciation, I remember that chapter a bit more than some of the others (also the online review chapter, but that may not be a surprise considering I am writing a review to post online…!).

Cumulative page total = 4763

14. The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon
2.75 stars
378 pages

It’s a little bit into the future and almost everyone uses a “Meme”, a recent handheld device that does pretty much everything, including coming up with language/words for people to use. Print dictionaries are almost at an end. Doug is working on the last one that will be printed, but when he disappears, he leaves a clue for his daughter, Anana. While she searches for him, Memes start controlling more and more of people’s language as they also need to pay for words (via “The Word Exchange”. Not only that, there is now a “word flu” making its rounds where people are not only not feeling well, they are garbelling their words.

I feel like I might have liked it better and paid better attention if I hadn’t listened to the audio. I got the gist of the bulk of what was happening, and was a little bit interested, but not completely. Hmm, in some ways (based on other reviews), maybe the audio was better? I didn’t notice too many super-big words that made it hard to understand, and I mostly didn’t have an issue understanding what people were trying to say when garbled words were coming out – that was likely easier due to hearing the “word” rather than reading it. Overall, I’m rating it just under “ok”.

Cumulative page total = 5141

15. Such a Fun Age / Kiley Reid
3.5 stars
320 pages

Emira is a black 25-year old and she doesn’t have a “real” job. She is a babysitter (not a nanny) for a white couple three days/week and a typist the other two days. Briar is the toddler she looks after, mostly because Alix (Bri’s mom) doesn’t really like Bri and wants time away (though Emira is told Alix needs quiet to write her book (despite Alix taking her baby with her)).

When there is an emergency at Alix’s house one night while Emira is our with friends, Alix calls Emira in a panic asking if she can come take Bri while Alix and her husband call the police. Alix suggests Emira take Bri to the local grocery store… where another shopper decides Emira must have stolen the little white child and reports her to security. Another shopper gets the confrontation on video until it is sorted out. Emira wants nothing to do with the video and just wants to put it all behind her.

This was good. I didn’t really like any of the characters, though. (And although I don’t particularly like kids), I did love Emira’s relationship with Bri. Alix weirded me out there when she tried to befriend Emira. At the end, I liked the way the author delved into future years with how Emira was doing and what she continued on to do after the main part of the story was done.

Cumulative page total = 5461

16. The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor
3.5 stars
398 pages

Unmarried and pregnant, Matilda is 19-years old in 1938 when she is sent across the ocean to live with a distant relative in Rhode Island, Harriet, who watches the lighthouse there.

One hundred years earlier, in England, a storm washed up survivors of a shipwreck, including Sarah. Sarah’s two young children died in the wreck. Grace Darling is the lighthouse keeper’s daughter who saw the survivors still in the water, so she and her dad went to help them. Grace become a local hero after this. (And apparently, Grace Darling was a real person.)

Matilda has a book on keeping lighthouses that she brings with her. The inscription includes one from Grace to Sarah and Sarah to (a different) Matilda.

I listened to the audio and it was good. I did lose focus at times, but I think I caught the main happenings in the book. Harriet also kept secrets and it took time for her to open up to Matilda. I liked her, though she did seem “gruff” at times. I liked all the characters, really. The women were pretty tough and self-sufficient – or certainly tried/wanted to be as much as they could in their time periods. There were a lot of characters, though, and there were times that it took me a bit to figure out which time frame and character’s POV I was listening to. It did say when the POV changed, but since I know my mind wandered some plus putting away the audio and picking it up later sometimes made it a bit tricky.

Cumulative page total = 5859

17. The Lake of Dreams / Kim Edwards
3.25 stars
397 pages

Lucy has been living abroad for a number of years, but when her mother is injured and in hospital, she decides to come home. Her partner, Yoshi, will join her later. Lucy’s family has had some quarrels (particularly her father (died a while back) and his brother/Lucy’s uncle Art), mostly over the family business and inheritance. Now, her brother is working for Art, and her mom is considering selling the house and land to Art. The land sits on an ecologically sensitive lake that Art wants to develop.

While Lucy is helping clean out the house, she comes across some paperwork that mentions Rose. It sounds like Rose is someone in the family, but Lucy has never heard of her, so she does some research to try to find out who Rose was. And uncovers other secrets along the way.

Through the first 2/3 or so of the book, I would have rated it 3 stars (ok), but I increased it just a touch, as I got much more interested in the last 1/3. I did skim parts of the first of the book, so I did miss a few things. I liked that Lucy went back to Yoshi, rather than falling in love (again) with Keegan. So many novels would go the other way. I think I liked it because the author made sure that the reader could see how much Lucy still loves and misses Yoshi via their conversations, whereas so many other books wouldn’t go into that. I also liked the ecological slant to the story (though that wasn’t explored in a lot of detail, but it still appealed to me).

Cumulative page total = 6256

18. The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright
3 stars
225 pages

This actually consists of a novella-length story, plus a nonfiction essay. The short story is the one of the title. It’s set in the 1940s(?) (that’s when it was originally written, anyway), and a black man, Fred, leaving work, just having been paid in cash, is “arrested” by the police and “questioned”/tortured. Initially not knowing even what they police were talking about, it turns out the neighbours of the people Fred worked for had been murdered in their home earlier in the day. Fred manages to escape and moves underground via the sewers from building to building for a few days.

The essay talked about how the author grew up with his very religious Grandmother and how some things from that experience related to this story.

Overall, I’m rating it ok. The essay got pretty philosophical, so wasn’t all that interesting to me. The story itself was better, but also a little bit odd while Fred was underground. I definitely did not see the end coming (but maybe I should have?).

Cumulative page total = 6481

19. What Strange Paradise / Omar El Akkad
4 stars
237 pages

Amir is a 9-year old Syrian boy who survives a shipwreck. Everyone else to be seen has washed up on shore, dead. He is on an island, but doesn’t know where he is, nor does he understand the language. When two men see him and point and shout, Amir gets scared and runs. He runs into Vanna, 15-years old and though they are unable to communicate verbally, she hides him.

The story then shifts to “Before”, which brings us up to date on how Amir got where he is. We go back and forth between Amir’s before and “After”. Much of after is told from Vanna’s POV, but occasionally we switch to the POV of a colonial who is dead set on finding Amir, the little boy who ran away.

Given that it’s (primarily) from a 9-year old’s POV, it took a bit to figure out what was going on through much of the story. I am still not sure I understand the ending. But it was a “good” (powerful) story, even so.

Cumulative page total = 6718

20. The Cold Vanish / Jon Billman
3.5 stars
341 pages

When Jacob Gray disappeared in Olympic National Park in Washington state, his dad Randy would not give up looking. Luckily, Randy had the stamina and money to be able to continually look for his 22-year old son. The author, Jon Billman, was often along to help out. This book is primarily Jacob’s search story, but the author also brings in many other missing persons cases (missing in the “wild”/in nature) in the U.S. and Canada, some who were found and others not.

I don’t personally know anyone who has gone missing and not been found, but I know someone whose brother has (and my brother does know him – the one who went missing). I couldn’t help but think about him at various points while reading this. That’s beside the point of what I thought of the book, however.

Some of the stories peaked my interest more than others, but with as many as there were, it’s hard to remember them when a short time was spent on many (as opposed to the bulk of the book on Jacob’s case). The book also highlighted differences in the types of searches, for how long they last, etc, depending on where a person goes missing; much of that comes down to cost. It included stats and went into a few various “oddball” theories like Bigfoot and UFOs (Jacob’s father Randy insisted on following any and all leads, no matter how “out there”).

Cumulative page total = 7059

21. Not a Drop to Drink / Mindy McGinnis
3.75 stars
312 pages

There is not much water left in the world. 16-year old Lynn lives with her mother in a rural area and they have been able to protect their source of water. Lynn has been very sheltered during her life and has never really known much about the real world or any other people, but she does know they have a neighbour her mother has helped a little bit. Just before her mother decides it’s time for them to leave, she is killed. Now, Lynn is on her own. Lynn has been taught how to protect their home and pond, but she and her mother knew there were people not far away, based on the smoke from their fire.

I listened to the audio and it took a little bit before I was fully paying attention, but it got better and better as the story moved along, I thought. I actually didn’t like Lynn much at first, but she learned and changed.

Cumulative page total = 7371

22. The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley
4 stars
363 pages

Jess is headed to Paris to visit her half-brother Ben in his new apartment. When he isn’t there to pick her up, she makes her way to his place, but he’s not there. He knew she was coming and when and said he’d be there. What’s going on? Once she finally manages to get into the apartment, no one is around, but something feels “off”.

Wealthy Sophie and Jacques live in the penthouse; introverted 19-year old Mimi and her outgoing roommate Camille are on the 4th floor; Ben’s apartment is on the 3rd; Ben’s friend Nick lives on the 2nd floor, and alcoholic Antoine and his wife, Dominique are on the 1st floor. An older woman, the concierge, lives in a shack on the property.

POV switches between many of the different characters. The book “grabbed” me from the start. It was hard to tell who was telling the truth and who wasn’t, as well as who might be an unreliable narrator. Everyone had a secret. Had a twist at the end, as well as one about half-way through. As with Foley’s other books that I’ve read, I really liked this.

Cumulative page total = 7734 pages

23. Garment of Shadows / Laurie R. King
2.5 stars
270 pages

A woman wakes up in a place she doesn’t know. Nor does she know how she got there, nor even who she is. She appears to have been hurt and is wearing men’s clothes. She is able to get up and leave and follows a mute boy. Meantime, Sherlock Holmes, in Morocco, is looking for his wife, Mary Russell. She was there to shoot a film(?) and has disappeared.

I enjoyed the book more when it focused on Mary and the amnesia. I wasn’t as interested in what was happening in Morocco, nor in Holmes and what he was up to. Oh, near the end got a bit more interesting, as well. A bit of tension/suspense at that point made it a bit better. Overall, though, I’m not a fan. I think I picked up this book in a Little Free Library, not realizing it was #12 in a series; when I learned that, I did back up to read the first in the series (I don’t believe I was super-excited about it, either, but still wanted to read this one, anyway).

Cumulative page total = 8004

The (hopeful) list for March:

- ?The 57 Bus / Dashka (PrizeCAT)
- Fuzz / Mary Roach (RandomKIT, CalendarCAT, AlphaKIT)
- The Sawbones Book / Julie McElroy (HistoryCAT, RTT)
- Sea of Slaughter / Farley Mowat (HistoryCAT)
- Sons of the Shadows / Juliet Mariller (Steeplechase, BWF, PBT)
- Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea P (MysteryKIT)
- Hell's Half Acre / Susan J (ScaredyKIT)
- The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton (PBT, BWF)
- Warlight / Michael Ondaatje (PBT, BWF)
- Arbella / Sarah Gristwood (PBT Trim)
- Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng (Book club)
- Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson (AlphaKIT)

Audio:
- A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain (MysteryKIT)

ARCs:
- Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin (NG, AlphaKIT)
- Killer Dead, Victim Alive / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole (ER)
- That Night in the Library / Eva Jurczyk (NG)

24. North and South / John Jakes
4 stars
812 pages

This is set in the decades leading up to the American Civil War. It focuses on two families: the Hazards, living in Pittsburgh, and the Mains, who own a plantation (and slaves) in South Carolina. George Hazard and Orry Main become best friends when at military school in the early 1840s(?). They fight together in the Mexican War, then retire from the military. George does marry, but Orry falls for a woman who is marrying a brutal slave owner.

Years later, George’s youngest brother, Billy, and Orry’s young cousin, Charles, head to the same military school together (though they have known each other through the families’ friendship for a while now)… but now the school is much more divisive along North/South lines with slavery/politics being the issue.

Orry’s brother, Cooper, is very much against owning slaves and he marries a woman from the North. George’s sister, Virgilia, is a staunch abolitionist and gets in Orry’s face whenever the Mains visit. Billy has fallen in love with Orry’s youngest sister, Brett, though he had a brief flirtation with a sister, Ashton, just slightly older. Brett really is the marrying type vs Ashton’s flirtatious ways.

There is a lot going on in this long book and a lot of North/South mixing between the families and their friends/acquaintances. It’s not often I rate a book this long (over 800 pages) this high, but I really liked this one all the way though (though it was a bit tricky at the start to get a handle on who was who!). There is even more going on (and more characters) than I’ve detailed in my summary. This is the first in a trilogy. I assume the others are also very long, so it might be a while before I get to the next, but I will definitely read it at some point. I’ve never seen the miniseries, but would like to; I hadn’t realized Patrick Swayze is in it!

Cumulative page total = 8816

25. Gallows Hill / Darcy Coates
4 stars
384 pages

Margot was sent away from her parents and her home when she was a young girl, and really doesn’t remember anything about her old house. When both her parents die suddenly at the same time, she inherits not only the old house (on Gallows Hill), but the very successful wine business her ancestors have run for generations (she learns this when she returns). But the house (and things inside it) is pretty creepy and a bit of a maze; there is something very wrong here. But the staff of the business (many who live on the property) appear to love it there.

Like the other books I’ve read by this author, I thought this was very good. Very creepy. Enough that I decided early on to (mostly) not read it at night! As a horror book, I feel like that’s what it should do – scare me enough to want to only read it during the day! It did its job.

Cumulative page total = 9200

26. A Call From Hell: The True Story of Larry Gene Bell... / Genoveva Ortiz
3.5 stars
80 pages

In South Carolina in the 1980s, 16-year old Shari was kidnapped from in front of her house just after she arrived home and was checking the mailbox. Her car was left running. Shari also needed medication that she did not have with her. The kidnapper then continually called her family, talking to either her mother or sister. They were tormented while trying to keep him on the phone so the police could trace the calls, in hopes of finding Shari alive. Not long after Shari was found (dead), a 9-year old little girl was also kidnapped. It was these last two that finally led police to Larry Gene Bell, and there was a list of other missing girls/women from the ‘70s and ‘80s that he is/was the main suspect in, as well.

This was good. I’ve read others in the series and I know they are short, but it would have been nice to learn more about the other missing women, as well. The author included many of the conversations Larry had with Shari’s family and wow, he was garbled and didn’t make sense much of the time. I’m assuming the author used transcripts, so the confusing statements were legitimately what he said.

Cumulative page total = 9280

27. Victoria / Daisy Goodwin
4 stars
432 pages

This is a fictional account of Queen Victoria from right around when she turned 18 years old (just before she became queen) until she got engaged to Prince Albert, only a year or two after she became queen. So, it focused initially on her (strained) relationship with her mother (in part, due to her mother’s involvement with power-hungry Sir John Conroy). When Victoria became queen, the prime minister at the time, Lord Melbourne, advised her, despite his reputation with women and people worried that he would influence Victoria politically. The story then shifted to her meeting her cousins Ernst and Albert.

I listened to the audio and thought this was very good. In the past few years, I’ve read some about Victoria, so I don’t think anything in this book came as a surprise, but it was interesting and I feel like the author’s writing style is easy to “read” (or, in my case, listen to!).

Cumulative page total = 9712

28. Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng
3.75 stars
347 pages

Reread. Originally read as an audio in July 2022 (Rating at that time: 3.25 stars).

Photographer Mia and her teenage daughter, Pearl, move around a lot. Now, they have rented the upstairs of a house from the wealthy Richardson family. The Richardsons have four teenage children. Pearl and Moody become good friends, and Pearl spends a lot of time at the Richardson’s place. Meantime the youngest Richardson, Izzy, seemingly not well-liked by her parents or siblings, takes a liking to Mia and wants to learn about photography from her. Things become heated between the families when a friend of Elena Richardson’s (the mother) adopts a Chinese baby, and Mia knows something about this baby and her biological mother.

I had forgotten the bulk of the book, and I only read it again for my f2f book club. I did prefer the ebook to the audio, for sure, although like with the audio, I still found the first half of the book moved very slowly. The second half picked up for me quite a bit. There is a pretty big moral issue in the second half of the book that made things a little more interesting.

Cumulative page total = 10,059

29. Son of the Shadows / Juliet Marillier
3.75 stars
462 pages

This is book 2 in a trilogy. It’s been a very long time since I read book 1, but it’s not really necessary to have read it, as it’s the next generation that is followed in this book vs the 1st. I remembered nothing from the first book, and I don’t think it mattered.

Liadan and Niahm (pronounced Nee-av – have to say I was happy to have the glossary and pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book!) are sisters. When Niahm falls in love with a druid and disgraces herself by giving herself to him (all in secret), her family hurriedly marries her off to the older man they want to make an alliance with. Liadan accompanies Niahm part-way to her new home, but is kidnapped on her way back. She is a great healer and has been asked to help some “outlaws” heal one of theirs. While there, Liadan becomes friends (and more with one) with them, and hates to leave, but needs to go home to her dying mother.

It took a bit at the start for me to get into this. I’m not always “into” fantasy (Liadan also has a “sight” of a kind), and difficult to pronounce words (thank you, glossary!) also make things harder. But once Liadan was kidnapped, the story really picked up for me. There were a few times I kind of lost interest, but there were many happenings that made the book “enjoyable” for me. I’ve never been a fan of a “story within a story”, and this one does contain a bunch of those (oral storytelling is popular in Liadan’s family). On rereading the review of the first book, I wasn’t sure if I would continue the series (obviously I did), and I do plan to continue on from here. It looks like it was originally meant to be a trilogy, but has expanded beyond that.

Cumulative page total = 10,521

30. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law / Mary Roach
3.5 stars
298 pages

In this book, Mary Roach takes a look at wild animals and their “relationships” with humans, primarily breaking human laws (like attacking them, breaking into houses, stealing, etc.). She talks to and follows along with fish and wildlife officers, and other scientists that study these animals (oh, and trees and plants, too!) and their interactions with humans (and how humans are trying to mitigate these interactions).

I liked this. Despite being about animals, I didn’t like it as much as I like some of her other books, but it was still interesting. I don’t think there was as much humour in this one as some of her others, either, but there were bits of it, too.

Cumulative page total = 10,819

31. A Murder in Time / Julie McElwain
4 stars
512 pages

Kendra is a profiler with the FBI. She is injured in a shoot out that involved one of her own as a traitor; someone else died. (I missed a bunch of activity, then) suddenly she wakes up in the early 19th century where a teenage girl is found murdered. For the brief time Kendra has been here, she’s been pretending to be a servant. She can tell right away this murder is the work of a serial killer and he will kill again, but how does she convince the aristocracy to believe her so she can help find the killer? They mostly tended not to think women were terribly smart at the time, and how could she know some of the things she knows?

I really liked this. I listened to the audio and except for the present day stuff (I did miss a bunch at the very beginning and had a hard time focusing at the very end when we were back in current day), the entire rest of the book was interesting and appealing to me. I liked that the current-day investigator was unable to rely on many current-day technologies, and

Cumulative page total = 11,331

32. Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson
4 stars
307 pages

Lady Elizabeth is in her early 20s(?) and has not had a real education, although she would have loved that. She is expected to marry, be a wife, and mother. When her brother’s friend, Robbie from university, visits, “Lilly” is swept away. But he is far below her “station”, and her mother sends him packing (with a lie Lilly doesn’t know about). Lilly thought they were getting along very nicely and was very disappointed Robbie left without a word.

WWI arrives, and Edward (Lilly’s brother) heads to war, and Lilly learns that Robbie is a doctor and has gone to France to perform surgeries on wounded soldiers at the front. Lilly wants so badly to help, but is forbidden by her mother. She finds a way to secretly learn to drive, and when things blow up with her parents, she leaves to live with her former tutor in London. From there, she manages to get a job driving an ambulance in France to help shuttle soldiers from when they were wounded to the makeshift hospitals.

This was also a romance, which is not usually my thing, but I got swept away in this one. I really liked it. I really liked both Lilly and Robbie. And it was interesting to learn about the women ambulance drivers in the war. The author’s father was a historian with an interest in the two world wars.

Cumulative page total = 11,638

33. The Miniaturist / Jessie Burton
3.5 stars
435 pages

It’s the 17th century. Nella is newly married and travels to Amsterdam to live with her new husband (whom she’s barely met), a somewhat well-to-do merchant. She is young and he is much older. She is “greeted” by Marin, who seems pretty rude, and turns out to be her new sister-in-law. There are two servants in the house – one is a black man! – and her husband is away. No one is particularly welcoming.

When her husband buys a cabinet that is a small version of the very house they are living in as a wedding gift, there is a miniaturist who will make tiny things to add to the house, but the miniaturist starts sending things Nella has not ordered. Nella’s husband is often away on business, and she has a hard time fitting in. And weird things happen in this house.

This was good. It took a short bit to get going for me, and I suppose it is slow-moving in its entirety. I did get more interested and the story moved on, though. There are definitely some (big) surprises. I do think the cover is beautiful. (Though that wasn’t why I chose to read it – it was a gift.) And I see there is a sequel. I will read it.

Cumulative page total = 12,073

34. A Beautiful Truth / Colin McAdam
3.5 stars
305 pages

Walt and Judy want children, but are unable to have any. When Walt sees a chimpanzee at a circus, he decides he will get one for his wife, in place of a child. They love Looee very much, like a son, but as with all wild animals, as he ages, he is too much to handle.

There is a chimpanzee sanctuary where people are studying the chimps’ behaviour. In the story, we alternate between Walt/Judy/Looee’s perspectives, and the perspectives of the people and chimps at the sanctuary.

I listened to the audio and at first, particularly when we switched to the sanctuary, I had some trouble initially figuring out what was going on. It was interesting to see things from the chimps’ perspectives at times, though. And heartbreaking. I also had trouble getting “into” the book at the start knowing Walt and Judy had done a terrible thing treating a wild animal as a child; There was no way it was going to end well for Looee. I felt like the book didn’t fully end, but it’s possible I missed something (audio), or maybe the author wanted “life” to just sort of continue on.

Cumulative page total = 12,378

35. Arbella: England's Lost Queen / Sarah Gristwood
2.75 stars
563 pages

Arbella Stuart was the great-granddaughter of Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII’s oldest sister). She should have been a possibility to be queen, but was bypassed. Both Elizabeth I and James I kept her at bay, and wouldn’t even allow her to marry (in the line of succession, you need permission to marry since they will likely want a politically advantageous marriage). Eventually, she just gave up and chose who she wanted to marry and married in secret (to the great-great-grandson of Mary Tudor (Henry VIII’s youngest sister)). It wasn’t long before they were found out and imprisoned.

This was nonfiction and felt a bit dense through much of it. As I tend to often mention in my reviews of historical biographies of women, even if they were royalty, there often seems to be little information on them, so much of the “action” is actually what’s taking place around them. Arbella’s marriage and attempt to escape the Tower were the most interesting part (and likely where there was the most information to use for this biography). I feel like a fictional account of her life might make things a bit more interesting.

Cumulative page total = 12,941

Plans for April:

- Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs (?ScaredyKIT?, MysteryKIT)
- Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber (RandomKIT)
- Up and Down / Terry Fallis (AlphaKIT)
- ??? (PrizeCAT)
- The Scapegracers / H.A. Clarke (ScaredyKIT)
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jaime Ford (Book club)
- Saving Simon / Jon Katz(CalendarCAT)
- The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry (PBT, BWF)
- Calligraphy of the Witch / Alecia Gaspar de Alba (PBT trim)

Audio:
- Requiem / Lauren Oliver (HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Shift / Hugh Howey (MysteryKIT)
- The Story of my Life / Helen Keller (RTT)
- Sapphire Blue / Kiersten Gier (PBT, BWF)

ARCs:
- Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin (NG)
- Killer Dead, Victim Alive / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole (ER)
- That Night in the Library / Eva Jurczyk (NG)

36. The Sawbones Book: The Hilarious, Horrifying Road to Modern Medicine / Justin & Sydnee McElroy
4 stars
216 pages

You might guess from the subtitle that this is a humourous look at the history of medicine. The authors are a family doctor, and her husband, a layperson. The book appears to be based on a podcast (I have no clue about this podcast). Some of the topics they look at include: opium, charcoal, mercury, radium, arsenic, honey, chocolate, and vinegar. Also, weight loss, the Black Plague, erectile dysfunction, spontaneous combustion, phrenology, lobotomy, poop, the dancing plague, homeopathy, bloodletting, polio, and more.

This was funny! I’ve read a number of medical history books that look at many of these things, so some of the stories are repeats, but it’s still nice to get the reminders, since often with books like this that include so many different topics, it’s easy to forget. There were some fantastic illustrations, and little side-notes of the authors dialogue between themselves about the various topics. Even though some of the topics can be pretty disgusting (though it didn’t bother me), this is a good way to read about it with the humour mixed in.

Cumulative page total = 13,157

37. Hell's Half-Acre / Susan Jonusas
3.5 stars
339 pages

The Benders were a group of four people, an older couple known simply as Ma and Pa, and a younger couple. No one knows if the younger were siblings or married. They moved to a plot of land in Kansas in the 1870s and stayed for a few years. The younger woman, Kate, called herself a “spiritualist”. They sold groceries (or had a sign out to do so, anyway), and attracted travellers with food and a place to stay. Unfortunately for some of those travellers, the Benders were also serial killers. When some of the locals were suspicious when the local doctor went missing, the Benders up and ran. No one ever found them. As the locals started looking around, the bodies were piling up on the homestead. There were at least 11 people killed, mostly men, mostly travellers, but one 18 month-old baby buried with her dad (they think the baby was buried alive).

I read a shorter account of this somewhere, I’d like to say not long ago, but it may be longer than I’m thinking. This was an expanded version of the story. Only about the first 1/3 of the book told of them coming to the area until they ran. The next bit of the book followed them to the wilds of Texas, where there were a lot more outlaws and places to hide, and people to help them hide. Beyond that, no one knows where they ended up. The last bit of the book was when, 16 years later, someone thought they’d found Ma and Kate; there were trials to determine if they really were the Benders or not. There is an extensive note section at the end, as well.

I thought the start and end were the more interesting. The middle part, as the Benders made their escape, was less interesting as we focused on a few of the other criminal element who helped them along their way (one of these people talked to police while he was in jail later on, so that’s how some of this is known). Overall, I’d say this was good. Certainly a lot of research went into it.

Cumulative page total = 13,496

38. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet / Jamie Ford
4.75 stars (average over two reads)
291 pages

It’s 1986 and, after losing his wife to cancer, Henry Lee and his son have a slightly strained relationship, similar to the one Henry had with his father. When Henry passes the Panama Hotel, and sees that someone has found boxes of abandoned things in the basement, it brings back memories of 1942. Henry was 12 years old, and going to a white kids’ school, where the only other non-white was a Japanese-American girl, Keiko. They strike up a friendship, until her family is sent away to the internment camps. It moved back and forth in time, between Henry patching up his strained relationship with his son, Marty, in 1986, and back to the war years and his time spent with Keiko and his struggles with his father over their forbidden friendship.

2010 read:
5 stars
Loved this book! Wow! What an emotional roller-coaster! This was Jamie Ford’s first book and I do hope he’ll be writing more.

2024 reread:
4.5 stars.
It was slower-moving through the book than I remembered. And there was a lot I’d forgotten. I really only remembered the gist of the book and how much I liked it. It was a difficult topic done in a nice way. I liked all the mixes of races (at least amongst the main characters, and that they all managed to be friends.) But Henry’s father sure was hateful (full of hate, himself, and easy for the reader to dislike).

Cumulative page total = 13,787

39. The Mountaintop School for Dogs... / Ellen Cooney
2.5 stars
304 pages

Evie has travelled to work (or volunteer?) at a dog rescue at the top of a mountain. However, she lied and said she had experience training dogs. Meanwhile, she looks things up online to help herself out. She is delayed for a while at the bottom of the mountain where she meets Mrs. Auberchon, who is in charge of the lodge she is temporarily at, and “Giant George”, a teenager who also works/volunteers at the rescue. And she meets a few of the dogs on their way to the rescue.

I listened to the audio. Although I liked the idea of the dog rescue and some of the issues that the book brings to light as to some of the awful ways dogs are sometimes treated and why they might end up at a rescue, I wasn’t impressed with this rescue – seems to me this is a pretty disreputable place. They let Evie go straight in and start training without training her themselves? They stole at least one dog (the new Evie and teenager George were sent to do this), probably more. I didn’t really like Evie, and I wasn’t interested in her background, so I mostly tuned that out. The 2.5 stars is for the dogs and the general information about dogs included in the book.

Cumulative page total = 14,091

40. Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin
2 stars
352 pages

Jingwen is a dancer in Shanghai in the 1930s. Her grandmother, who raised her, is a doctor… and works for one of the local high ranking gangs. Jingwen does errands for her grandmothers to make extra money; this is dangerous as these errands often involve gangsters. She dances in the evenings where men buy dance tickets to dance with the girls, and during the day, she is learning a routine with a group of dancers (none have had formal dance training) so they are not well-known nor particularly sought after.

An American doctor-turned-businessman dances with Jingwen one night and charms her (and/or vice versa?)), but at the dance, there is a horrifying scream. One of the other dancers is crying on the floor and when she turns her face up, they see her lips have been cut off.

The next day, the building and dance company Jingwen is dancing with during the day has been bought and she, herself, is going to be the next star of the company. They are switching from ballet to traditional Chinese dancing (this type of dance is new to all the dancers).

There is a lot going on! It does all end up meshing together, with Chinese mythology and fantastical elements weaved in, as well. The mythology was told like a story-within-a-story (which I’m not a fan of), so I kind of skimmed that. Also not a big fantasy fan, so the fantasy stuff didn’t peak my interest, either. The book was very dark. I like horror, so the “type” of darkness in a book doesn’t always bother me, but dark mysteries, for example, are not always appealing to me. The darkness in this book also didn’t “do it” for me. I really didn’t like any of the characters in the story, either. So, this one is definitely not for me.

Cumulative page total = 14,443

41. The Amaranth Enchantment / Julie Berry
4 stars
219 pages

Lucinda is 15-years old and living and working with her aunt and uncle. She is an orphan and was taken in by them, but her aunt (not the blood relative) hates her and does not treat her well. Her aunt and uncle run a jewelry store where she helps and has two unusual customers in a row. One is a woman who brought in what is obviously an expensive jewel, and the next turns out to be the prince. Lucinda is very charmed by him. When Lucinda’s uncle dies, though, her aunt accuses her of stealing and throws her out. Where to go now?

I really enjoyed this Cinderella-like story, with a few extra things thrown in. It was a very fast read with short chapters. I also loved Dog (a goat!). And Peter (a thief turned friend) was fun, too. Lucinda was very very quick to become best friends with Beryl and to fall for Gregor, but oh, well. It was still fun.

Cumulative page total = 14,662

42. Bone Crossed / Patricia Briggs
3.5 stars
287 pages

Mercedes (Mercy) is a mechanic and a shapeshifter, more specifically a coyote. She was raised by werewolves, so has a foot in that culture. She is also friends with at least one vampire. Her vampire friend, Stefan, appears as an almost “dead” blob on her floor one day. It takes a bit to bring him back. Some things have happened with the vampires (in other books earlier in the series), so they are not on good terms with Mercy (except Stefan). When Mercy is asked by an old college friend to come to Spokane (from Tri-Cities where Mercy lives) to help with a ghost in her house who is bothering her 10-year old son, everyone thinks it’s safest for Mercy to be away for a while. Spokane has only one (very territorial) vampire. Of course, somehow Mercy is unable to avoid him. And things escalate…

I liked this, though it took a while to remember the characters. There was some refresher on what had happened in the previous book (this is the 4th in the series), but I still found it tricky to remember the characters, who they were, or how they related to Mercy and others. It got better in second half, right around when Mercy headed for Spokane. I found the ghost story most interesting of the entire book (and the lead-up to the end). I wonder if this is because I used to like werewolf/vampire stories more than I do now, plus I’ve gotten more interested in ghost/haunted house stories.

Cumulative page total = 14,949

43. Saving Simon / Jon Katz
3.5 stars
170 pages

Simon was a donkey close to death in a tiny enclosure with no shelter when he was rescued. Jon Katz had a small farm and offered to take Simon in and, along with his wife, bring Simon back to health and happiness. Jon indicates in this book that he also benefitted from having Simon, learning about compassion along the way.

I really liked the parts about Simon and the other animals on Jon’s farm (and neighbouring animals, particularly the 101-year old’s elderly blind pony, Rocky). When he philosophized about compassion, though, I didn’t agree with him. Yes, I am more compassionate toward animals than (some) people; I feel like animals are more like kids or babies, in that they are dependent on humans and aren’t always able to change their circumstances, whereas humans are more likely to be able to have the power to do that for themselves (or they can ask for help). He doesn’t address this when he insists that we should still be compassionate towards the humans who abuse animals. He did tend to repeat himself at times, though I think that’s a small thing. The stories about the animals were great, though, and that really was the bulk of the book.

Cumulative page total = 15,119

44. Requiem / Lauren Oliver
3.5 stars
391 pages

This is book 3 of (I believe) a trilogy. The gist of this dytopian trilogy is that people are “cured” of a disease with a surgery when they come of age. That disease is love. They will no longer feel love. They are then paired with someone to marry. But there is a group of people who don’t want this to happen, at least to them. This book follows Lena and Hana, once best friends. Their points of view alternate.

Possible spoilers for previous books: Lena is living with a group of people in the “wilds”; she has not had the surgery nor does she want to. Hana has had the surgery and is slated to marry Fred. Fred’s father was the mayor, but he died in an uprising and Fred is now mayor. He emphasizes how much he despises the uncured. He was married previously to Cassie, but Cassie seems to have disappeared.

I listened to the audio and this was good. Once again, it took a bit for me to figure out who many of the characters were (though I knew the main characters). It was interesting to see Hana’s and Lena’s different viewpoints, given where they each were at this point in their lives. I found Hana’s POV a bit more interesting than Lena’s. I did like how it ended.

Cumulative page total = 15,510

45. Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba
3.5 stars
373 pages

Conception is brought from Mexico to Massachusetts as a slave in the late 1600s. But on the ship on the way there, she is raped over and over. Once in New England, she has a baby, but the couple who bought her want a second child and haven’t been able to. So, while Conception tries to teach her daughter Spanish and some of her own culture, Rachel takes it upon herself to turn the child against her mother, and eventually takes Hanna (or Jeronima, depending if you ask Rachel or Conception). In a town not too far away, people are being accused of being witches, including Conception’s friend, Tituba.

This was good. There were parts that were a bit slower to read (literally), when Conception was writing letters, as the font was changed to look like handwriting. It does make me wonder if younger people will be able to read those parts of the book at all (if kids are no longer being taught cursive). It’s a tough book to read, though. I saw someone use the word “gritty”. Good way to describe it. Hanna/Jeronima drove me nuts sometimes! But I guess it’s hard for me to understand how easy it is for a child to be “brainwashed”, and that’s really what it amounted to.

Cumulative page total = 15,883

46. The Story of My Life / Helen Keller
3 stars
240 pages

This is Helen Keller’s autobiography (for about the first half). Then, it includes some of the letters Helen wrote to various people. Helen, of course, was both blind and deaf in the late 19th century as a child when she and a teacher had a breakthrough as her teacher, Annie Sullivan, was trying to teach her to communicate. Helen grew up to become very educated and published more than one book.

I listened to the audio, and it was ok, but I did lose focus more than I would have liked. It turns out Helen loved books and reading, which was interesting. It was kind of repetitive between the biography portion, then much of what was in the letters had already also been mentioned in the autobiography. Helen Keller was a pretty impressive woman.

Cumulative page total = 16,123

>46 LibraryCin: I just visited her house museum this year and it was neat to see. They had all of her awards and videos of her speeches, the water pump where she had her breakthrough, typical house stuff like furniture and clothes. Worth a visit if you're ever passing through like I was.

>55 genesisdiem: Oh, that does sound really cool!

47. Up and Down / Terry Fallis
4 stars

David used to work in Ottawa, but moved to Toronto to be closer to his dying mother, who has been mostly taken care of by his sister. His new job is with a PR firm and he is thrown into the fire immediately to help with a NASA campaign. Some love, some don’t, his idea of a “citizen astronaut” campaign. People can enter to randomly be selected to go up to space, as long as they can pass the training requirements. But the people at NASA who matter love the idea and it’s on. There will be one winner from the US and one from Canada. But someone (in the DC office of the PR firm) have specific ideas about who they think should win the “random” draw. And the random person in Canada? Definitely not what anyone expected!

This was fun! Fallis’ books are humourous and this was definitely that. And I loved L Percival, Canada’s winner. There were interesting “side” stories for both David and L Percival. The PR guy in DC was horrible! But, I suppose, for the humourous slant of the novel, it makes sense to have some over-the-top characters. I really should read more of Fallis’ books (I’ve already read the political ones with Angus, but no others -- yet.)

Cumulative page total = 16,397

48. Back on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber
3.5 stars
432 pages

Lydia runs a knitting store on Blossom Street and often runs classes. She is currently renting the upstairs of the store to Colette, who has recently started working closeby at the flower shop. Colette seems to have plenty of secrets and seems wary of opening up. Alix is recently engaged, but her “adopted” mother/friend and soon-to-be mother-in-law have taken over the plans and won’t listen to what Alix and Jordan actually want (though Jordan seems to not be bothered too much, either way). Lydia’s sister, Margaret works with Lydia, but when Margaret’s daughter is caught up in a carjacking, and is injured, Margaret is in full-on revenge mode and won’t stop until the carjacker is found and pays for what he’s done.

Some of the characters have returned from earlier books in the series, but I don’t think you need to read them in order; I leave so much time in between, I never remember the previous books, anyway. I found Colette’s story the least interesting, but they all rose above the 3.5 star “good” rating temporarily, but then it all ended up very (possible) sickly sweet and tied up in a way-too-perfect bow for my liking. Overall, though, it was a good story. I will continue to the next book.

Cumulative page total = 16,829

49. The Homing Instinct / Bernd Heinrich
3.25 stars
368 pages

Not just about birds, but butterflies, bees, insects, other critters, humans, even trees… and home. What makes a home and compels critters to create that home and either migrate to/from or just want to “cocoon” and stay there?

I found some of the info more interesting than others. Of course, it started off with birds and other critters that migrate and how they manage to find their way to/from. But the book expands far beyond, even speculating on humans and home. I have to agree with others that I could have done without the hunting chapter. Even though this wasn’t an audio book, I did lose interest at times, though, which is why the rating somewhere between “ok” and “good” for me.

Cumulative page total = 17,197

50. Sapphire Blue / Kerstin Gier
3.5 stars
368 pages

This is the 2nd book in a trilogy, featuring a secret group of time travellers. Gwen discovered that the gene in her family passed to her (though everyone thought it had passed to her cousin, Charlotte), so she is woefully unprepared for the world of time travelling, and must learn from one of the others in the society and from Charlotte. Charlotte is not thrilled with this twist in her life. Meanwhile, Gwen has fallen for Gideon, who also has the gene and is travelling with her (most of the time).

I listened to the audio, so I did lose focus at times. This is also the 2nd book in a trilogy, so the story moves forward but nothing comes to any kind of conclusion at this point. I did enjoy the parts I paid attention to. I do enjoy the relationship between Gwen and Gideon; I also enjoyed the interactions between Gwen and her younger grandfather from years ago.

Cumulative page total = 17,565

51. Roses are Red / James Patterson
4 stars
400 pages

While a bank is being robbed, the manager’s family is being held hostage. If they don’t get their money in a set amount of time, the family will be killed. They get their money, but within a minute the family is killed, anyway. Alex Cross is working with the FBI on this one. Then it happens again, but this time, bank employees are killed and the family is left alive. Someone called “The Mastermind” is behind it, with the help of others (who mostly don’t last long themselves).

This is a really good series. It is dark and violent, though. I am often not as interested in the sections/chapters (in most books) from the “bad guy’s” POV, but this one was good. Maybe the psychology of it made it more interesting to me? Parts of Alex’s personal life was interesting and other parts I wasn’t as concerned about; in any case, there was some forward movement on that part of his life, as well. And yup – the end was definitely a surprise!

Cumulative page total = 17,965

52. Where the Forest Meets the Stars / Glendy Vanderah
3.75 stars
324 pages

Jo is a Ph.D.(?) student studying bird nests and is renting a place beside a forested area. When a little girl with bruises appears in her yard and refuses to go home, or even tell Jo her name or where she belongs, the girl says she came from the stars, from another planet. She eventually gives her name as Ursa Major. Whenever Jo tries to call the police to help get the girl home, the girl runs away. Ursa manages to wrap her finger around Jo (and their neighbour, the “Egg Man” Gabe), as Jo and Gabe try to figure out how to figure out where she came from and get her home again.

I loved the bird information in the book. And the astronomy info. I guess most of that was nearer the beginning of the book. (There was also plenty of Shakespeare mentioned.) I wasn’t sure what I’d think about this child from the stars, or another planet, thinking there might be some magical realism in the book (not my thing), but I ended up really liking it. I also quite liked Jo and Gabe’s relationship, and Jo’s best friend, Tabby, was fun, too. I took a ¼ star off for the far too unrealistic, happy, everything-tied-up-with-a-ribbon ending.

Cumulative page total = 18,289

53. Killer Dead, Victim Alive / Michael Geczi
4 stars
293 pages

Keith Victor is a serial killer who has never hidden who he is – kidnapping, then killing his (so far) six victims. Law enforcement knows his name and more about him, but haven’t (yet) been able to find or stop him. When he kidnaps Chrissy Weeks, though, he has gotten in over his head.

(This is not a spoiler, as it happens at the start of the book): Chrissy walks into a police station right around the same time Keith Victor’s body is found. He has been shot in the head. She gives strange and confusing answers to the police’s questions.

I really liked this. It was a very different take on a mystery. One thing that I found a bit confusing, though, was sometimes referring to characters by first name and sometimes last name. Especially the police and FBI – there were quite a few of them, so it got a bit confusing to remember who was who. The author did look into the personal lives of some of law enforcement, as well. I did (mostly) enjoy those stories, too. There was a cliffhanger ending, though, so this means I will “have” to read the next book (whenever it comes out – hope I remember!).

Cumulative page total = 18,582

These are the likely candidates for May:
- No Way Down / G. B. (AlphaKIT)
- The Perfect Ghost / Linda B (AlphaKIT)
- The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian(CalendarCAT)
- The Sandman: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman (ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT)
- The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell (AlphaKIT, HistoryCAT)
- Schultz and Peanuts / David M (RandomKIT)
- Utopia for Realists / R.B. (RTT)
- Spanish Fly / Will Ferguson (MysteryKIT)
- Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert (Steeplechase/Hollywood)
- Murder on Black Swan Lane / A.P. (PBT, BWF)
- The Boy From the Woods / Harlan Coben (PBT, BWF)
- Deliverance From Evil / Frances Hill (PBT Trim)

ARCs:
- That Night in the Library / Eva Jurczyk (NG)

Audio:
- Saving Ceecee Honeycutt / Beth
- The Last Seance / Agatha Christie (MysteryKIT)

54. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You / Janelle Shane
4 stars
252 pages

The author is a scientist and blogger. The book takes a look at Artificial Intelligence (AI), how it works, and some of the humourous outcomes (the title is a unique AI pick-up line).

This was quite enjoyable. There is plenty of humour (from pick up lines to cat names to recipes to ice cream flavours). Also some very cute illustrations of AI (AI itself is illustrated as a box with eyes and stick arms). And of course, interesting information on how it works. A couple of things I will remember: it works better if the focus is quite narrow; it also has very little in the way of memory. Now, I should add that the book was published 5 years ago, so pre Chat-GPT and other more current versions of AI that have come out for widespread use, so I don’t know how much improvement there has been since the author wrote the book.

Cumulative page total = 18,834

55. Shift / Hugh Howey
3 stars
579 pages

This is the 2nd book in a dystopian trilogy. It is the future and people are living underground in silos. This is all in the future, but there is some back and forth in time for about the first half (before time catches up). In the earlier time frame, Donald is one of the people planning and building the underground silos. In the later time frame, Troy is newly on shift (for 6 months), in a higher responsibility position than he thought he’d have. He is pretty much responsible for making sure everything remains running smoothly (I think). If something goes wrong in a silo, it is simply shut down (and people fend for themselves). Later in the book, one of the silos has been shut down and a boy, Jimmy, is trying to stay safe and alive.

I’m not making this sound very interesting and I’m only rating it “ok”. I did manage to miss parts of it because I was listening to an audio. There was a big thing I missed in the middle, unfortunately. I figured out what had happened; I just missed how we got there. Parts of the second half got a bit more interesting with Jimmy trying to survive in the shut down silo.

Interesting, as I read some of the other reviews, it turns out this is a prequel. I had no idea. But then, it’s been 6(?) years since I read the first one, and I really have no memory of it, anyway. Despite my lukewarm reception to this one, I do plan to read the 3rd book, as well.

Cumulative page total = 19,413

56. The Devil's Tapestry / Barbara Cole
3.75 stars
416 pages

This book is based on some real people discovered during the author’s genealogical research. It follows a few families from the early 1800s to just into the early 1900s (the bulk is during the 19th century). There is a historical note at the end that talks about some of what really happened.

(Early 1800s): Rachel and Joseph are in love and want to marry when Joseph tells Rachel that he is leaving to go to war. Rachel is devastated. She eventually marries someone who abuses her and her life ends up in jeopardy.

(Later 1800s): a few generations later, drunkard Jacob Marks (a descendant of Joseph) successively marries three women, each younger than the last. His first wife, Mary, falls down the stairs and dies; His second wife, Bess, disappears; his third wife, Tilda(? Or Thirza… these are two very similar names in the book and I can’t remember which one was Jacob’s third wife), is “lucky” enough to have close family nearby who start asking questions when she, too, disappears.

I thought this was really good, but for a while it went back and forth in time (which usually doesn’t bother me too much), and what was trickier was figuring out all the people and how they were related. There is a cast of characters at the front of the book, but even when I referred to it, I still had trouble figuring things out. That’s what took it down a ¼ star for me. However, I thought the storyline was very good.

Cumulative page total = 19,829

57. Red Lily / Nora Roberts
3 stars
384 pages

This is the third in a trilogy. Hayley is a single mom and has been staying and working with Roz since just before having baby Lily. She is head over heels in love with Roz’s son, Harper. There is also a ghost living in the house, Amelia. Amelia seems to love children and will sing to them, including Lily. But she can be nasty otherwise. Not only that, it’s not long before she appears to periodically be possessing Hayley!

This was ok. I see that I was more interested in the ghost story (than the romances) in the first two books, but even Amelia’s story didn’t appeal to me all that much this time around. It was ok, but nothing more for me.

Cumulative page total = 20,213

58. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt / Beth Hoffman
3 stars
320 pages

CeeCee is 12 years old when her mother dies and her usually-absent father decides to send her to live with her great-aunt in Georgia. CeeCee, even though her father is usually away, is still hesitant to leave, but once she arrives in Georgia she becomes great friends with Aunt Tootie’s cook(?).

I listened to the audio. This was pretty slow-moving, but an ok book. Not a whole lot really happened. I did find it odd that CeeCee was really only making friends with women much older than she is. She did make one friend her age, and I assume – had the book continued into the school year – she and her new friend her own age would have been the story at that point. Anyway, this one was ok for me.

Cumulative page total = 20,533

Utopia for Realists / Rutger Bregman
3.5 stars
316 pages

People with a basic income. No stings attached money for poor people. 15 hour workweek. These are some of the things suggested by the author to make life better for all. There are studies to back him up and, though we have been conditioned to think differently, it does not cost more to just give poor people money to do with as they will and they don’t (the vast majority) spend it on drugs or alcohol. In fact, for the most part, they do use it to better their lives in an ongoing way.

These are just some of the things the author talks about. Of course, I already agree with much of this, but there are economic reasons, too – reasons we wouldn’t immediately think.

Cumulative page total = 20,849

60. The Sandcastle Girls / Chris Bohjalian
1.5 stars
321 pages

Current day – an author (?) is investigating some family history of her grandparents that included the Armenian genocide in 1915.
1915 – a couple of storylines. Elizabeth and Armen in Syria. Also a little orphan girl and someone who tries to help her.

Sad summary, I know. I just never got interested, so I really didn’t care or pay attention to what was happening in the book. The author’s note tells me he is Armenian.

Cumulative page total = 21,170

61. Murder on Black Swan Lane / Andrea Penrose
1.5 stars
340 pages

A minister (reverend? clergy of some sort) is murdered. A woman named Charlotte (?) has been looking after (in a way) two boys and trying to teach them to speak “the King’s English”, as well as some manners. A second murder happens partway through. There is some society called “The Ancients”.

Second book in a row where I was not interested enough to really pay attention to what was going on nor did I really care. I was curious about the two boys, but it wasn’t enough to know what happened in the book. This is the first in a series and I obviously won’t continue.

Cumulative page total = 21,510

62. The Price of Blood / Patricia Bracewell
4 stars
433 pages

Emma of Normandy became queen of England in the early 11th century. Aethelred was her husband, the king… much older than Emma was and they rarely got along. In fact, Emma was attracted (and it was mutual) to Aethelred’s oldest son, Athelstan. Aethelred had many children from his first wife, many close to Emma’s age. When one of the top nobles is murdered in 1008, his daughter (Elgiva), fearing for her life, runs. She ends up marrying the heir to the Danish throne. The Danes and Vikings are teaming up to attack England. Emma wants to keep her toddler son close, but Aethelred wants to keep her away from him, so sends him to be raised by his daughter and her husband, who is Aethelred’s closest advisor… one who really doesn’t have Aethelred’s best interests in mind.

This is the second in a trilogy, and I didn’t even remember the first book (or that there was one) until I looked it up after finishing (though it wasn’t that long ago – 3 years – since I listened to the audio). Given that, I’d say you don’t need to read the first one to read this one. This is a time period I don’t think I’ve read anything else of, but I really liked Emma’s strong character. Elgiva was also a strong character, but she wasn’t a terribly nice person. Now, all that being said, in reality, there isn’t much known about these women, so their roles in history, as portrayed in this book, are fictional. Luckily, there is a good cast of characters at the beginning of the book (also luckily, I wasn’t listening to the audio, so it was easy to refer to), since many of the characters have names starting with E or AE! There is also a glossary, and an author’s note at the end.

Cumulative page total = 21,943

63. The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country / Neil Gaiman
4 stars
160 pages

In this 3rd volume of Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, there are four separate short stories presented, though they all involve dreams and the characters Death or Dream in some way. One was about an author with writer’s block, who acquired the muse Calliope to help him out. One was a cat who told a story trying to get other cats to dream with her to become more powerful than humans. The third was Will Shakespeare and his son Hamnet, travelling and performing for one patron “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The last one involved some kind of supernatural creature who cannot die who is lonely and desperately wants to find a way.

I quite liked this one. I don’t always like short stories, but I think I like them better in graphic novel format. I like Death portrayed as a woman, as it was on the last story, but the first story was my favourite. Included at the end of the book is Gaiman’s script on how one of the stories (Calliope, my favourite one) should be drawn and formatted. That was interesting to see how he writes his graphic novels (though he specifically explains that not everyone does it the same way).

Cumulative page total = 22,103

64. The Scapegracers / H. A. Clarke
3.75 stars
400 pages

Sideways is at a party and “plays” a little bit with magic. Three other girls from school are willing, and they recruit one more from a neighbouring school. But it’s dangerous. Sideways is not sure what happened when she wakes up the next morning. One of the girls is missing, and they find her at the bottom of an empty pool with three dead deer arranged closeby. Despite the danger and not knowing exactly what happened or how, the girls love the attention they get out of it and want to do more with magic.

I mostly liked this, though none of the characters was terribly likable (except Sideways’ two dads). It is quite graphic at times, as well (this is just an fyi… graphic doesn’t usually bother me, and it didn’t this time). Also a lot of profanity, which I disliked more than the graphic-ness. And it doesn’t quite finish, so not sure how long the series is (or will be) or if there is just one sequel or if it’s a trilogy, but I’ll read the next one.

Cumulative page total = 22,503

65. The Last Seance / Agatha Christie
2.5 stars
368 pages

This is a collection of horror short stories, written by Agatha Christie. Apparently they hadn’t before been collected into one anthology until more recently.

I listened to the audio, which was maybe a mistake… between it being short stories + Agatha Christie. Sadly, most of what I’ve read by her, I’ve not been terribly excited about. Short stories are often not my thing, either + on audio… if I get distracted at all, there isn’t as much time to catch the storyline later and fill in the blanks. I had hoped to like it better because these ones involve the supernatural, and there were a few stories that I liked better than the others, but overall, I still can’t rate it very highly.

Cumulative page total = 22,871

66. Prairie Tale / Melissa Gilbert
4 stars
384 pages

Melissa Gilbert is best known for playing Laura Ingalls Wilder in the tv show “Little House on the Prairie”. This is a memoir she has written. She was adopted at about 24 hours old, and was very overprotected by her mother. Despite this, they were quite close. Her parents did divorce, but tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids; sadly, her father passed away when she was only 11-years old.

As she grew up, she went through a succession of on-again, off-again relationships, her first (that lasted quite a few years) with Rob Lowe. She later married (twice) – her first husband, Bo, was a piece of work, but she had a son with him. There were plenty of bumps along the way with her second husband, Bruce, as well, but they love each other and came through. Melissa also battled with alcoholism. (Just looked her up and see there was more to her story after the book was published.)

I quite liked this. I learned a lot about her that I didn’t know. There was a short bit, as she described her time as president of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) that I was less interested in, due to the business nature of what she was describing. She did, of course, have a wonderful relationship with Michael Landon, which was nice to read about.

Cumulative page total = 23,255

Plans for June:

- Race to the Polar Sea / Ken McCoogan (HistoryCAT)
- The Wars / Timothy Findley (PrizeCAT, CalendarCAT)
- Amuse Bouche / Anthony B. (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT - Openlib)
- Two Days Gone / Randall Silvis (MysteryKIT)
- Lady Sings the Blues / Billie Holiday (CalendarCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Stonehenge / Rosemary Hill (RTT)
- Lone Wolf / Jodi Picoult (book club, AlphaKIT)
- By Chance Alone / Max Eisen (PBT, BWF)
- Resistance / Jennifer A. Nielsen (PBT, BWF extra, AlphaKIT)
- On This Day / Nathaniel Bellows (PBT Trim, AlphaKIT)

Audio:
- The Finders / Jeffrey Burton (ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Dark Roads / Chevy Stevens (ScaredyKIT, RandomKIT)
- An Inquiry Into Love and Death / Simone St. James (Steeplechase "spooky")
- The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot (July book club)

Carry overs:
- That Night in the Library / Eva Jurczyk (ARC - NG)
- Schultz and Peanuts / David M (RandomKIT)
- Deliverance From Evil / Frances Hill (PBT Trim - May)

ARCs:
- Guilty Creatures / Mikita Brottman (NG, AlphaKIT)
- The Naturalist's Daughter / Tea Cooper (NG, MysteryKIT)
- This Cursed House / Del Sandeen (NG)
- A Chef on Ice: Living and Working As a Chef in Antarctica / Sebastien J.M. Kuhn (ER)
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)

67. That Night in the Library / Eva Jurczyk
3.5 stars
288 pages

Seven people, mostly university students including some who work in the library/archives, sneak into the basement of said library on their last night before graduation (those working there will no longer be except for one). Davey has a ritual planned and invited the others to come. In fact, they are locked in the basement for the night; they cannot get out. And when the lights go out, one of them dies. The others try to figure out who did it, while keeping themselves safe.

I like the idea of the story, and I am a librarian, so I liked the library and archives references. But none of the characters were likable, in my opinion. Maybe it’s because they all (except one) took acid at the beginning of the night (part of the ritual) that made them not likable. The POV shifted between a few different characters and I do think that worked well for the reader to see different sides of what was happening. But I did get some of the characters (who were “related” in some way) continually mixed up – there was a dating couple, one was a professor; there was a childhood friend; and a fourth person in that mix somewhere, but I kept getting mixed up as to who was who in that group of four. Overall, though, I’m rating it “good”.

Cumulative page total = 23,543

68. The Finders / Jeffrey B. Burton
3.5 stars
288 pages

When a dog is left behind and almost dies at a crime scene, dog-trainer Mason adopts her and names her Elvira, or Vira for short. The type of training Mason does is for cadaver dogs – to find human remains. Vira is exceptional at this, and is able to pick out the perpetrator from quite a ways away, so is recruited to help with a current case.

I listened to the audio and was hopeful this one would really hold my attention. It did… until we heard from the killer, “Everyman” he called himself. I am rarely interested in the killer’s POV in any book, and it’s just way too easy for me to lose where I am in an audio book, so put the two together... It flipped back and forth too often and without warning, unfortunately. I loved the dogs, though… not just Vira, but Sue (a male dog… “A Boy Named Sue” – Mason liked to name his dogs after songs), as well (and there were a few other dogs, too). I’m rating it “good” and do plan to continue the series.

Cumulative page total = 23,831

69. By Chance Alone / Max Eisen
4 stars
284 pages

Max Eisen was a teenager in Hungary with three younger siblings when his Jewish family was ordered to pack up and leave in 1944. Apparently they were one of the last Jewish communities in Europe to be taken to the concentration camps. It turns out his mother, aunt, and siblings were all immediately sent to the gas chambers on arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He, his father, and uncle all worked in labour camps for a while, and eventually, Max was the only one left. He managed to survive along with two cousins (one on each side of his family). Lucky for him, he ended up working in one of the surgery rooms at Auschwitz, which did help him survive. He was part of the “Death March” that came as the war was wrapping up and it wasn’t easy to figure out what to do with himself after or where to go.

This was very good. There are plenty of books on the Holocaust, but of course everyone had a slightly different experience and there are always new things to learn from all those experiences. Max’s promise to his father was that he’d tell people what happened there, and he also tours and talks about his experience (or he did – he was eighty-something when this book was written and/or published in 2016). He ended up in Canada, married, and had two sons.

Cumulative page total = 24,115

70. Lone Wolf / Jodi Picoult
4 stars
496 pages

Luke and his 17-year old daughter, Cara, are in a car crash. Luke ends up on life support. He and his wife are divorced, and their adult son, Edward, has been in Thailand for six years. Luke’s doctors have given him a poor prognosis (he is extremely unlikely to ever wake up), but someone needs to make the decision on what to do. Cara is too young, so Edward comes home. Edward wants to let him go, but Cara refuses, so they head to court to decide who will make the decision.

Luke studies wolves and I loved all the parts about his integration with the wild wolves in Quebec. I easily sided with Edward on this decision, as hard a decision as that must be (it’s hard enough with my cats…). Like many of Picoult’s books, there are multiple points of view. There are also a few surprises along the way.

Cumulative page total = 24,611

71. Resistance / Jennifer A. Nielsen
4 stars
388 pages

Chaya is a 16-year old Jewish girl in Poland in the early 1940s. She is a “courier” that is helping Jewish people in the ghettos. Mostly she smuggles in food and fake identification papers. She looks Polish so is easily able to fit in outside the ghetto, as well. As time goes on, though, things get more and more dangerous. Especially as the resistance fighters start planning bigger events.

I don’t know if I knew about the various uprisings in some of the ghettos during the war. If I did, I’d forgotten. There were a couple of big ones, particularly one in Warsaw, where the resistance fighters got into the ghetto and between themselves and some of the others in the ghetto fought back. Although the main characters in this story were fictional, there is an author’s note that mentions specific people, higher up in the resistance, who were real people; some were minor characters in this story. I have one complaint about the cover of the book, though. Chaya is pictured with a dark-coloured braid down her back, but she was able to easily fit in as Polish, in part due to her blond hair.

Cumulative page total = 24,999

>83 LibraryCin: Sounds good!

72. Stonehenge / Rosemary Hill
2 stars
228 pages

This is all about Stonehenge. Historiography, lots of Druids, some Romans, archaeology, astro-archaeology, tourism, and more I just skimmed over. I found this very dry. It got a bit more interest from me when we hit the archaeology (20th century) and tourism (21st century) sections, but overall, I just found this very dry.

Cumulative page total = 25,227

73. Dark Roads / Chevy Stevens
4 stars
384 pages

Teenaged Hailey is an orphan, and she has recently been living with her Aunt Lana her aunt’s husband, Vaughn, and their son. Vaughn is a police officer and pretty much forbids Hailey to do much of anything outside the house. She does not like him at all and tries her best to avoid him. They live in a rural community in British Columbia along a highway where a number of girls and women have been murdered or gone missing over years. They think it’s not only one person who have done the murdering, but that there has been more than one person responsible over time. When Hailey finds something on Vaughn’s computer, she has to get away. Not long after, her new girlfriend, Amber, is found dead.

Yes, this was based on the famous “Highway of Tears” in B.C. where a number of women and girls (many First Nations) have been murdered or gone missing. The author changed the name of the highway and made up the town where it took place, but it’s recognizable and she does mention it in a note at the end.

I listened to the audio and was mostly able to pay attention to what was happening. When Amber’s sister, Beth, from Vancouver arrives to try to find out what happened to Amber, the POV switches between Beth and Hailey. I mostly didn’t find Beth’s story as interesting as Hailey’s but it did come together at the end. Have to admit, I also though Beth did a supremely stupid thing near the end. I also ended up really not liking Hailey much – at least at the end of the book. No surprise here, but I loved Hailey’s dog, Wolf.

Cumulative page total = 25,611

74. Race to the Polar Sea / Ken McGoogan
3 stars
346 pages

Elisha Kent Kane travelled from the US to the Arctic in search of Franklin’s lost expedition in the mid-1800s. This covers not only this “trip” (where he and his crew were trapped for a couple of winters), but the bulk of Kane’s life, as well. He studied to become a doctor, but found he wanted to sail to the Arctic (despite being prone to seasickness). He loved a woman whom his family did not think was “good enough” for him, and things did not go well for the two of them, though she loved him, as well.

It took a long time for me to get interested in this (I have no explanation as to why this was). I was more interested in the second half of the book. The author looks at multiple sources detailing the expedition, as some of the crew did not think highly of Kane and others had no problem with him. The author did look at some of these specific sources at the end of the book to discuss.

Cumulative page total = 25,957

75. Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida / Mikita Brottman
4 stars
288 pages

In Tallahassee, Florida, Mike and Denise & Brian and Kathy were all friends in high school and continued that friendship beyond once Mike and Denise were married, as well as Brian and Kathy. They were fairly religious Baptists. It was only on (or near) Mike and Denise’s 6th anniversary in 2000 when Mike disappeared while on a hunting trip. Not long after, Brian and Kathy divorced and Brian and Denise began seeing each other. It seemed pretty obvious – Brian and Denise likely had something to do with Mike’s disappearance (death? murder?). After years of Brian and Denise’s marriage, things started to crumble.

I knew nothing about this, but I found it quite interesting. And kind of crazy that Brian and Denise could do such a good job of convincing themselves they’d done nothing wrong. God-fearing and all… sure. I was focused when reading and was happy to just continue reading; it was unfortunate when I had to put the book down. But, life…

Cumulative page total = 26,245

76. The Wars / Timothy Findley
2.5 stars
226 pages

Robert is a young Canadian who decides to enlist in the army to head to Europe to fight in WWI.

This started off better, but I had zero interest in the “love” story parts of the book. Told by the younger sister of Barbara, the female side of that love story, they were long and not in the least bit interesting (at least to me). The war and the fighting were of interest, and there were war situations I’ve not read about before (at least not that I recall). The book also jumped around quite a bit.

Cumulative page total = 26,471

77. An Inquiry into Love and Death / Simone St. James
2.5 stars
368 pages

In the 1920s, university student Jillian’s Uncle Toby fell off a cliff while he was ghost hunting in a small town and she is the only one able to go pack up his things. She can immediately tell there are ghosts where she is staying. There is also a young detective from Scotland Yard who is there to investigate Toby’s death.

I listened to the audio, so I suspect it’s (at least in part) why I missed “half” (or more) of what was going on. Not sure if I would have liked it better in print or not. I’ve really liked other books I’ve read by this author, so this was disappointing. (And I have listened to at least one other of hers.) I definitely missed a lot of the “reveal” at the end. I would hear something and think – who is that? What is this about? How did this tie in? And I have no idea. And I still don’t even really know how it wrapped up, though I got to the end of the book.

Cumulative page total = 26,839

78. Two Days Gone / Randall Silvis
3.5 stars
400 pages

Writer/professor Thomas Huston has disappeared and his wife and three kids (one a baby) have been murdered. The baby was stabbed and all other three had their throats slit. Sargent Ryan DeMarco thinks there is more going on than meets the eye. But is his friendship with and admiration for Huston clouding his judgement? Meanwhile, the reader is following Huston in the woods as he tries to hide, while at the same time, dealing with immense grief. What actually happened in that house?

I liked this. It is also quite dark. I liked the discussion with the author at the end comparing literary fiction (more focus on character-development and less on plot) vs genre fiction (the opposite). He has written literary fiction in the past and in this novel (and presumably the series – this is the first in the series), he does a very good job of combining these. DeMarco himself is dealing with the loss of his own baby a few years previous, which led to his wife also leaving him. I will continue the series.

Cumulative page total = 27,239

Here is what I'm planning/hoping for July:

- The Incredible Journey / Sheila Burnford (AlphaKIT)
- Sea of Slaughter / Farley Mowat (CalendarCAT)
- Science Comics: Cats / Andy Hirsch (CalendarCAT)
- Warlight / Michael Ondaatje (CalendarCAT, MysteryKIT)
- ??? (PrizeCAT)
- Cell / Stephen King (ScaredyKIT, AlphaKIT, RandomKIT, MysteryKIT)
- The Lost Girls of Paris / Pam Jenoff (HistoryCAT, RTT)
- The Librarian of Burned Books / Brianna Labuskes (RTT)
- Bet Me / Jennifer Crusie (PBT Trim)
- Women Talking / Miriam Toews (steeplechase)

Audio:
- The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot / Marianne C (book club)
- Behold the Dreamers / I M (PBT, BWF)
- Valley of the Moon / Melanie Gideon
- The Lesser Dead / Christopher Buehlman (ScaredyKIT, MysteryKIT)

Carry-overs:
- Schultz and Peanuts / David M (RandomKIT)
- Deliverance From Evil / Frances Hill (PBT Trim - May)
- On This Day / Nathaniel Bellows (PBT Trim - June)

ARCs:
- What Have You Done / Sheri Lapena (NG)
- The Naturalist's Daughter / Tea Cooper (NG)
- The Northwomen / Heather Pringle (NG)
- This Cursed House / Del Sandeen (NG)
- A Chef on Ice: Living and Working As a Chef in Antarctica / Sebastien J.M. Kuhn (ER)
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)

79. Deliverance From Evil / Frances Hill
4 stars
320 pages

This is a fictional account of the Salem witch trials. It starts off in two different states (Massachusetts and Maine). Of course, in Massachusetts, we have Salem Town and Salem Village. It is in Salem Village where Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam start the witch accusations. In Maine, in a town called York, the village is attacked by “Indians”. George Burroughs is a minister in nearby Wells, and goes to help the survivors. Included in the people he brings back to Wells is Mary; they soon fall in love and marry. Later in the Salem drama, Burroughs is accused of leading the “witches” and is arrested. Mary and George’s best friend Peter work to try to free George.

The author has written at least one (one that I’ve read) very good nonfiction book on the Salem witch trials. Into this fictional account, she has brought the bulk of the people involved in Salem along with many other real people, but the “behind the scenes” with Mary and Peter trying to free George is the fictional account. Interestingly, I enjoyed this part of the book the most – at least once George was arrested, the book really picked up for me at that point. I’m a bit sad to see the overall low ratings of this book. I really liked it.

Cumulative page total = 27,559

80. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot / Marianne Cronin
3.5 stars
352 pages

- forgot to post this one. Will come back later with the review...

Cumulative page total = 27,911

81. On This Day / Nathaniel Bellows
3.25 stars
266 pages

Warren and Joan are (young adult) siblings and orphans. Their dad, then mom, died within a short time span (although the back of the book (and the blurb) says how, I feel like it is a bit of a spoiler, so I will not mention it here). They lean on each other heavily for support as they deal with their losses, but they were always quite close. They feel like they are getting along just fine, but it’s obvious that they are having some trouble.

It is told from Warren’s point of view and it went back and forth in time. It was decent. Slow-moving, definitely not full of plot, although there was one “surprise” (I had guessed it). There were some things I didn’t like about both Warren and Joan, but they were dealing with a lot. Things aren’t fully resolved, either, but I suppose that’s more realistic.

Cumulative page total = 28,177

82. Science Comics: Cats: Nature and Nurture / Andy Hirsch
4 stars
123 pages

The “Science Comics” are a series of graphic novels aimed at young readers (middle grades?), but they all have interesting information for adults, too. This one follows a calico kitten left on the street to fend for herself, so she looks for food and finds other cats to befriend on the street. There is all kinds of information on wild cats, in addition to domestic.

I love these books. Really enjoyed this one, as well. The colour illustrations are so nice. I also love cats, and I knew the basics of much of what was mentioned, but not the details. It talks about cats’ senses, how they became domesticated, and more.

Cumulative page total = 28,300

83. Women Talking / Miriam Toews
3.5 stars
227 pages

In the mid-2000s, in a remote Mennonite village in Bolivia, several of the women (and some children) were waking up in the mornings, bleeding, sore, and bruised. They were told they were being punished for sins, etc. It was only when one of the women caught one of the men coming into her bedroom did they figure out that multiple men were drugging and raping them in the night. When one of the women attacked one of the men with a scythe, the eight accused men were sent away to jail (for their protection). But the other men wanted to bail them out and bring them back. The women would then be expected to forgive them, or they would lose their place in heaven.

This really happened. This book takes that situation and (fictionally) has the women discussing what to do while the men are away. Three options: they can do nothing, they can stay and fight, or they can leave. These are the options being discussed (at least among those who don’t want to simply do nothing). They need to decide before the men return, so there is a limited time frame to discuss and decide.

One man, a teacher who once left the community with his excommunicated parents, but did return, is in the women’s meeting to take notes. None of the women can read, they do not know their way around very far outside their own community, and they only speak Low German (not any local languages outside their community).

What a horrible situation! Their were even children who were violated. It was an interesting discussion happening among the women (though told from August’s POV, and what he was seeing and hearing during the discussions). I would have liked to know what the women really did in the end (if anything), and will likely look that up.

Cumulative page total = 28,527

84. The Lost Girls of Paris / Pam Jenoff
4 stars
366 pages

In 1946 in New York City, Grace comes across an abandoned suitcase and finds pictures of 12 young women in the suitcase. Who were these women and who does the suitcase belong to?

In 1943, Eleanor in London starts a women’s unit of the SOE (Special Operations Executive). Women are recruited and trained to head over to France to help the resistance there. They will transmit (coded) information by radio, they might even help blow up bridges. It is a dangerous mission and the women are risking their lives.

In 1944, Marie, who has recently sent her daughter outside London to live with an aunt and keep her safe, is recruited because she is fluent in French. But there is so much secrecy, it takes a while to figure out what they are asking of her.

I really liked this. Though the women weren’t spies, they were often referred to that way, with no other “good” word to describe what they were doing. It was very dangerous work, and not something I knew about before now. I enjoyed all three storylines. Of course, it was loosely based on real women who did this work (though men did it, too).

Cumulative page total = 28,893

85. Behold the Dreamers / Imbolo Mbue
3 stars
400 pages

Jende and Neni have immigrated to the United States from Cameroon with their young son. Jende is excited to soon find work as a chauffeur, something he has wanted to do for a long time. Of course, they are also in the US to make a better life for themselves and their son. Jende’s boss, Clark, is a good and generous man, and Jende is a good worker. But things get a little tricky when Jende is asked to do something he really doesn’t think he should. But he doesn’t want to lose his job.

It listened to the audio and it was ok. The narrator did a very good job with accents (at least as far as I could tell). It seems I did miss some of the goings-on in the book, but I’m pretty sure I caught the main things happening. Overall, I’m rating it ok.

Cumulative page total = 29,293

86. Cell / Stephen King
3.5 stars
450 pages

Clay is in Boston from Maine when, on the street, people start going crazy and violent! Someone rips off a dog’s ear and people start attacking (and killing) one another. Initially not sure what is happening, after a bit, Clay realizes those who went “crazy” were all on their cell phones just before it happened. Clay doesn’t have a cell phone. He meets up with Tom, who seems ok, and 15(?) year old Alice, who ran after her mom was affected. Initially they hide out in Clay’s hotel lobby with one of the staff. But Clay wants to get home to Maine to check on his (estranged? ex?) wife and son, Johnny. Sharon doesn’t have a phone, but little Johnny does, though he doesn’t use it often… but sometimes Sharon uses it.

I thought this was good. A bit slow-moving, but good. I really liked the climax of the book, but the actual end itself… I’m not too sure. It was pretty open-ended.

Cumulative page total = 29,743

87. Bet Me / Jennifer Crusie
3.5 stars
391 pages

Min(erva) is a larger woman and is self-conscious about it. When she is dumped (because she hasn’t slept with him after 2 months), she heads out with a couple of girlfriends where she sees her ex. And overhears him betting the most good-looking of the men he is with (Cal) that Cal can’t get Min to dinner that night, then to bed within a month. Prickly Min goes with Cal, anyway. Turns out Cal is a pretty nice guy…

I enjoyed this. The larger woman self-consciousness hits home, but I’m happily single, anyway. I rarely read romances, anymore, and only occasionally chick lit, but I still enjoyed this. It’s nice to think the larger woman can get the good-looking guy. There were multiple perspectives in this book, including the ex-boyfriend. There were a number of secondary characters, mostly friends of both Min and Cal; I particularly enjoyed Emilio, the restaurant owner.

Cumulative page total = 30,134

88. What Have You Done? / Shari Lapena
4 stars
322 pages

Popular 17-year old Diana is found murdered in a farmer’s field. Things like this don’t happen in small towns where everyone knows everyone!

There are multiple points of view, including a few of Diana’s friends, a teacher and principal, her mother, the suspects, and Diana’s ghost. Diana doesn’t actually remember how she died, so it’s a reveal for her, too. There are three main suspects and it could be any of them. It’s a small town, so everyone is connected in some way. It didn’t feel fast-paced, but it was fast to read, and I quite liked it.

Cumulative page total = 30,456

89. Valley of the Moon / Melanie Gideon
4 stars
416 pages

In 1975, while her son is visiting her parents, Lux goes camping for a weekend. When a fog comes up, she wanders into it… and on the other side finds herself in the 1900s! There is a very nice group of people who have been stuck on this side of the fog for years in a community called Greengage. They ended up there after the earthquake in San Francisco and know they are unable to leave. They are surprised when someone from the future comes through. One of the “leaders” of Greengage, Joseph, is enthralled by everything he can learn about the future from Lux. Luckily, Lux is able to get back to her own time, but time does funny things on both sides of the fog as Lux continues to come back and forth when the fog appears during the full moon.

I listened to the audio and there were two different narrators, depending if the perspective was Lux’s or Joseph’s. We more commonly got Lux’s perspective, as we followed her in the more recent years, as well as when she was at Greengage, whereas we didn’t follow Joseph when Lux wasn’t back in time. Things got trickier because of Lux’s young son. It was slow-moving, but I really liked it. I kind of guessed the end (not early on, but closer to it), and I think it fit the story.

Cumulative page total = 30,872

90. Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography / David Michaelis
4.25 stars
668 pages

Charles “Sparky” Schulz created the Peanuts comic strip and wrote one daily comic for over fifty years. He was born in 1922 in St. Paul, Minnesota and died in 2000 in California. His father was a barber and though friendly with his customers, he didn’t like to travel or really leave home at all. Sparky was shy and grew up to be much like his father. His mother died when he was in his early 20s. Sparky was married twice and had five children.

There is so much detail! It is almost 700 pages long, and nonfiction, so it took a long time to read. Because I had other books to get to, although it’s a very good book, I did put it down for close to two months before getting back to it again. There are plenty of Peanuts strips peppered throughout the book, as Schulz often included autobiographical stuff in his strips; there is also two sections of photographs. The book itself, I’m giving 4 stars, but for the immense amount of research (much information given with help from the family) and detail, it gets the extra ¼ star.

Cumulative page total = 31,540

91. Piranesi / Susanna Clarke
2.5 stars
272 pages

“Piranesi” is in some world where there are multiple connected Halls and there are statues everywhere. There is only one other (live) person (whom he calls The Other), but Piranesi has found bones of about thirteen other people, so includes them in his count, as well. Piranesi and The Other are scientists.

This was odd. It got slightly more interesting toward the end, but still odd. Combine some parts fantasy (and/or magical realism) and literary fiction (and maybe some philosophy?) and it’s mostly not my thing.

Cumulative page total = 31,812

In August:
- Gutenberg's Fingerprint / M (RTT, AlphaKIT)
- The Collector of Dying Breaths / MJ (RandomKIT)
- All Quiet on the Western Front / EMR (CalendarCAT, AlphaKIT BWF, PBT)
- The Taster / V.S. Alexander (CalendarCAT, PBT Trim)
- Footsteps in Time / Sarah Woodbury (HistoryCAT)
- Three Sisters, Three Queens / Philippa Gregory (HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT)
- The Relentless Moon / Mary Robinette K (PrizeCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Booked for Trouble / Eva Gates (MysteryKIT, AlphaKIT)
- Alex / Lauren Oliver (ScaredyKIT)
- White Fragility / (Steeplechase, PBT)
- Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast / John Valliant (Steeplechase)

Audio:
- Index, a History of The... / D. Duncan (RTT)
- Three Bedrooms, One Corpse / Charlaine Harris (MysteryKIT)
- Blood of My Blood / Barry Lyga (ScaredyKIT)
- Concrete Rose / Angie Thomas (CalendarCAT, PBT)

ARCs:
- The Northwomen / Heather Pringle (NG)
- Supremacy / Parmy Olson (NG)
- This Cursed House / Del Sandeen (NG)
- A Chef on Ice: Living and Working As a Chef in Antarctica / Sebastien J.M. Kuhn (ER)
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Nomadic Devil / Genoveva Ortiz (ER)
- Oh No He Didn't / Wendy Murphy (ER)

92. The Naturalist's Daughter / Tea Cooper
4 stars
368 pages

Tamsin is a librarian in the early 1900s in Sydney, Australia. She is tasked to fetch a donated sketchbook of a naturalist from almost 100 years previous, Charles Winton. But when she arrives, the woman who is planning to donate the book has died and her daughter wants to sell the book, not donate it. In addition, the book has some sketches that don’t quite “fit”, though… ones that he may not have drawn, so where did they come from? Tamsin is able to take the book back to the library to try to figure out the provenance.

Almost 100 years earlier, Rose lives with her mother and father, Charles Winton, a naturalist studying platypus. When Winton gets sick just before leaving for England to share his information on the platypus, he sends his daughter Rose, instead. But it’s not easy to get a group of scientific men to listen to a woman, no matter how credible she is.

I really enjoyed this. I liked both timelines and both women, who fought for what they were trying to do. It got a bit confusing toward the end, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book.

Cumulative page total = 32,180

93. Index, A History of The / Dennis Duncan
2.5 stars
351 pages

The title pretty much sums this one up. This is a history of the index that we usually currently find at the back of a nonfiction book that places topics from the book in alphabetical order. (Not all of these things have always been the case for an index!)

I listened to the audio and my attention waxed and waned. Some of it was interesting, but I got distracted and lost interest quite a bit, as well. I think it’s not the best book for an audio, anyway, as there were examples of indexes that had to be read out, which would be much easier to look at.

Cumulative page total = 32,531

94. White Fragility / Robin DiAngelo
3.5 stars
192 pages

The author is a sociologist and, for a couple of decades now, has been hired to train employees of companies on antiracism. DiAngelo explains that there is a difference between prejudices (held by individuals) and racism (institutions and society). In The U.S., Canada, and Western Europe where the bulk of people are white, we are raised in racist societies, and there is no way to get away from that. What we can do, though, is challenge it. Be aware of those racist tendencies that will and do happen within ourselves, and challenge it. If someone points out something racist that you’ve said or done, don’t get defensive; this what she defines as “white fragility”, and it shuts down any further conversation.

This was interesting and I don’t doubt what she’s said. It is very difficult to face your own racism and prejudices. There were many things in the book that were repeated multiple times, but in a lot of cases, it’s helpful to have that repetition, especially with such a difficult subject when people want to deny. I will read more on the topic.

Cumulative page total = 32,732

95. Alex / Lauren Oliver
2.5 stars
19 pages

This is a short story in the Delirium series, focused on Alex. In this dystopian world, love is made to not exist once teenagers get to a certain age, but some have been rebelling. They’ve had to run away. Alex is trying to run and gets caught while the girl he loves, Lena, manages to get away. This tells what Alex went though.

I think I only remember the premise of the world because it wasn’t too long ago I read one of the other books in the series. So unfortunately, it really didn’t recap much of what was going on. And it was so incredibly short, so there is not really a chance to get invested in Alex’s story.

Cumulative page total = 32,751

96. A Chef on Ice / Sebastien J.M. Kuhn
3.5 stars
273 pages

Sebastien was living in Australia and his dream was to get to Antarctica, so he jumped at the chance to apply for a job as a chef on the icy continent. He actually goes back and forth a few times via cooking jobs (except for the first time, the rest were all with the same tourism company), and a portion of the book is back in Australia (where he brought back an idea of something he cooked during his for Antarctic job, and started a booth at various farmers’ markets in between Antarctic seasons). The tourism company he later worked for was based out of South Africa, so he headed there a few times, as well.

This was good. There was more off-Antarctica than I’d expected, but it did tie in somewhat (though I was initially disappointed in this). I feel like this might be of more appeal to foodies. I am not one, but in addition to his travel adventures, the author does describe a lot of the food he cooked, as well; not only that, there are recipes at the end of the book. There were pictures included, but I was reading an ebook on a black & white Kobo; would have loved to see those pictures in colour!

Cumulative page total = 33,024

97. All Quiet on the Western Front / Erich Maria Remarque
3 stars
297 pages

World War I at the Western Front. This is told from the POV of a young German soldier (Paul, 19-years old) who joined to fight alongside his friends. Although the soldiers are German, there isn’t really any way to tell that beyond their names (until the end of the book), as the “sides” of the war aren’t obvious. It’s simply the life of the soldiers in the trenches (and when Paul is home on leave for a short time, which was also quite difficult for him). The book was originally published in 1928 in German; the author was a soldier himself, so I imagine much of it are actually things he saw and/or experienced.

I’m rating it ok. I found parts of it a bit vague as to what was going on, but maybe it was just because I periodically lost interest. Obviously, given what the book was about, there were some tough things going on.

Cumulative page total = 33,321

98. Blood of My Blood / Barry Lyga
3.5 stars
468 pages

This is the 3rd in a trilogy, YA horror. I will try not to give away much from the first two books. 17- (or 18-) year old Jasper (Jazz) Dent is the son of notorious serial killer Billy Dent. Jazz has spent his entire life trying to prove that he is not (nor will not be) like his father (despite his father trying to mold him to continue on in his footsteps!). Jazz was mostly raised by his grandmother. At this point in his life, he has a best friend in hemophiliac Howie, and a girlfriend, Connie. Jazz has, in fact, been trying to help the police find and capture his father. At the start of book three (this one), all three of Jazz, Howie, and Connie, are in precarious positions. I’ll leave my summary there.

I listened to the audio (as I believe I did for the first two books). I had a harder time “getting into” this one and had to rewind a few times to hear things I’d missed. I would have liked to have more of a recap of what had happened in the previous books; I guess a bit of one came a bit further into the book, but at the start of the book, things were moving quickly, but I couldn’t remember much of what had happened up to this point. There were a couple of twists in this one. I’m pretty sure I rated the first two higher (though, on average, this one is also highly rated by others).

Cumulative page total = 33,789

99. Gutenberg's Fingerprint / Merilyn Simonds
3.5 stars
392 pages

The author collected some stories she’d written and decided to publish them in an old-style way: hand made paper and an old-style printing press where the type is set by hand, etc. This documents that procedure along with plenty of history of paper, ink, type, the printing press, and much much more. It also looks at how she (and her son) created the ebook, and the last chapters of the book talk about the history of ereaders and ebooks.

This was interesting. It took me back to my “History of the Book” class in library school when we did field trips to learn to make paper, then we later went to a printing press where we hand set the type and printed our names on our paper that we’d already made. The modern technology was also interesting to read about. It’s not fast paced or “can’t put the book down” kind of read, but it was definitely interesting to read about all those things.

Cumulative page total = 34,181

100. Concrete Rose / Angie Thomas
4 stars
362 pages

Maverick is 17-years old and waiting on a paternity test. When it shows he is the father, the mother walks out and leave the baby with Mav. The mother is not Mav’s girlfriend (that would be Lisa) and he wrestles with how to tell Lisa. Luckily, Mav’s mother helps out, more with advice than actually doing the parenting, and Mav turns out to be a good father. Mav’s cousin, Dre, encourages Mav to lead a clean life, but that’s hard to do when you are part of a gang and you sell drugs; not only that, what real job will pay what Mav needs to be paid to take care of himself and a baby and to also help his mom?

This was really good. A bit gritty, and you have to shake your head at the gang lifestyle and how that can seem so appealing. (At least I did, multiple times!) The book did talk about the “draw” of that lifestyle, as well (the money, the friends), but with regard to the friends, it seems to me the real friends are the ones like Dre, who realize that that life is ultimately not a good choice. It’s a tough world, but the humourous bits in the book are a nice relief.

Cumulative page total = 34,543

101. The Collector of Dying Breaths / M. J. Rose
3 stars
369 pages

In the 16th century, Rene is a perfumer for Catherine de Medici. But even before that (and he continues on with his experimenting), he collected the dying breaths of people; the idea was that the person’s soul was in that last breath, and he hoped to find a way to reanimate that soul. Rene was continuing on the work of his mentor/father-figure. In addition, Catherine managed to convince Rene to also produce some poisons.

In the current day, Jac’s younger brother has also been continuing on this tradition of dying breaths, and Jac follows a trail to continue on after her brother dies. This bring her into contact with some… interesting people as she tries to find some of the ingredients that Rene might have used hundreds of years earlier. Jac also thinks she has been continually reincarnated and has been responsible for her love dying in more than one life, so she has pushed her current love away.

This was ok. It got more interesting at the end as things heated up particularly for Jac, but I found much of it unbelievable and slow-moving. It was interesting to read the author’s note at the end that indicated that Rene was Catherine’s perfumer; the dying breath theory was possible, but it’s not known if people thought that at the time.

Cumulative page total = 34,912

102. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse / Charlaine Harris
3 stars
240 pages

Aurora (Roe) has left her library job and is trying out real estate with her mother. As she fills in while her mom is running late, she shows a brother (Martin) and sister from out of town a large house… and they find the dead body of another realtor in one of the bedrooms! Meanwhile, Roe is very attracted to this older man Martin, and they start dating while the real estate agents in town are a bit nervous.

This was ok. I listened to the audio, and it started off well, but my mind did tend to wander, as it sometimes (often?) does with audios, so I definitely missed more than I would have liked to. I do think Roe did a really stupid thing at the end (but they often do in cozy mysteries – rather than going to the police with what they’ve discovered, they do something dangerous instead). I’m undecided if I should continue the series or not. I might try one more.

Cumulative page total = 35,152

103. The Relentless Moon / Mary Robinette Kowal
4 stars
543 pages

This is the third in a series. Series summary: In the 1950s a meteorite hit the Earth and wiped out much of the US East Coast. It also caused extreme climate changes. Now in 1963, there has been a decade of of space travel and plans to send humans to the moon and to Mars to start colonizing there as the Earth becomes more uninhabitable. There are protesters, though, as everyone knows there will be only some who will be able to move to the moon or Mars – not everyone will get that opportunity.

In this book, the 3rd in the series, one of the original women astronauts, Nicole, leaves her politician husband (he is governor of Kentucky) on Earth to help set up the colony on the moon. It is difficult for both of them, as Kenneth has just announced that he will run for president; they also know that because Kenneth has a heart problem, he will never be able to leave Earth. In addition, it appears that someone is trying to sabotage these colonizing missions; the sabotage is happening both on the moon and on Earth. While on the moon, Nicole, with the help of some of her friends, try to figure out who it is and things heat up when their communication to Earth is cut off.

I really liked this one. The entire series is very good. I think I liked this and the 2nd one more than the first in the series. This one was longer than the others, but I also think there was more going on, including Nicole dealing with anorexia and a polio outbreak on the moon. There was rarely a moment when I wasn’t interested in what was going on.

Cumulative page total = 35,695

104. Footsteps in Time / Sarah Woodbury
4 stars
324 pages

Teenage siblings David (14) and Anna (17) crash their car and appear someplace unexpected. They are in a field of bodies and horses. It’s not long before they figure out they seem to have travelled back in time. Not only that, they ended up on a battlefield where they saved the life of Prince Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, who should have died in this fight with England. Lucky for David and Anna, their mother is a historian with a particular interest in 13th century Wales, so they know quite a bit about the time period. Due to their saving Llewellyn’s life, they are taken in and taken care of. Not only that, David is being trained to help out in this Welsh war. And Anna is a bit bored, since women aren’t really allowed to do much. But they make the most of it, though with David rightfully scared with a real war happening that it appears they are training him to help in!

I really liked this. I was thinking this was 2nd in a series, but it’s technically the first; I’ve just read the prequel already (I would actually recommend reading the prequel first). The time travel is really just the first part of the book, and after that, it’s primarily historical fiction (one of my favourite genres); ah, I guess the time travel does come up again a couple of times. 13th century Wales is definitely not a place nor time period I know much about, so that was definitely interesting. I also loved the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book – I did refer back to that a few times!

Cumulative page total = 36,019

105. The Little French Bistro / Nina George
2 stars
315 pages

Marianne and her husband are visiting Paris from Germany when Marianne heads into the Seine, planning to kill herself. Someone pulls her out. While Marianne is in the hospital, her husband heads home. Marianne recovers and stays in France, working at a cafe.

I was disappointed, as I thought the title was cute, but the book didn’t live up to it for me. I listened to the audio and this was boring. Slow-moving, not much really happened beyond some romances (not my thing). Oh, I do believe someone died. There were so many characters that (because I really wasn’t paying attention), I had no idea who they were or how they related to each other (except for a couple of them). I’d like to say I didn’t like any of the characters, but I probably didn’t hear enough to know if I might have had I been paying attention. From what I did hear, though, I didn’t like them. Weren’t there people cheating on other people? (I mean besides Marianne… not that her husband was a prize, either, but...)

Cumulative page total = 36,334

106. Booked for Trouble / Eva Gates
4 stars
280 pages

This is book two of a series. Librarian Lucy lives in a small town where the library is in a lighthouse and Lucy’s apartment is above the library. When Lucy’s mom (Suzanne) is visiting, Suzanne has a bad (very public) interaction with some people she knew back in high school. Later, Suzanne comes to Lucy’s book club, where both of those people also attend. Suzanne makes up with one of those people she’d earlier had a run-in with (Karen), but the next morning, Karen is found dead outside the library.

I really liked this. I love the library/lighthouse setting and I like many of the characters (though there were a number of unlikable characters, as well). Lucy does seem a bit innocent in her relationships, but even so, I like the two men who seem interested, though I might like one just a little more than the other.

Cumulative page total = 36,614

September:

- The Taster / V.S. Alexander (Aug PBT Trim)
- Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast / John Valliant (Steeplechase, RandomKIT, AlphaKIT)
- An Africa Love Story / Daphne S (CalendarCAT)
- Let Him Go / Larry Watson (CalendarCAT)
- A Face in the Crowd / Stephen King, Stewart O'Nan (ScaredyKIT)
- Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid (MysteryKIT)
- A Twist of Fate / Kelley Armstrong (MysteryKIT)
- Anne of Cleves / Elizabeth Norton (RTT)
- The Polygamist's Daughter / Anna LeBaron (PBT)
- Minding Frankie / Maeve Binchy (PBT Trim)
- Climate Changed / Philippe S (RandomKiT)

Audio:
- Sisters in Arms / Kaia Alderson (HistoryCAT)
- Anne Frank Remembered / Miep Gies(PBT)
- Passing / Nella Larson (PBT)
- The Lesser Dead / Christopher B (AlphaKIT)
- The Dressmaker / Kate Alcott (MysteryKIT)

ARCs:
- The Northwomen / Heather Pringle (NG)
- Supremacy / Parmy Olson (NG)
- This Cursed House / Del Sandeen (NG)
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Nomadic Devil / Genoveva Ortiz (ER)
- Oh No He Didn't / Wendy Murphy (ER)

107. The Taster / V. S. Alexander
4 stars
321 pages

Magda is a German girl, living in Berlin in 1943. She does not care one way or the other about the Reich or the Nazis; her mother supports the Nazis, but her father does not agree with Hitler or this war (but he needs to keep quiet about it). Her parents are worried for her safety, so they send her out of Berlin to live with her aunt and uncle. Magda’s aunt insists she work for her keep, but the only job she is able to find, with the help of her uncle, is for the Nazis. She is chosen to be a “taster” for Hitler. She, along with other girls/women, taste his food before he eats to be sure it isn’t poisoned. but she needs this job. The work gets more dangerous as time goes on (for various reasons).

Another different perspective on WWII. This is, of course, based on real events – a mishmash of real events and real people, anyway. I thought it was very interesting. Interesting to see that not all Germans supported what Hitler and the Nazis were doing (and some, in fact, tried to sabotage what he was doing), plus interesting to see the danger that civilians (including those who did not support Hitler) in Germany also faced.

Cumulative page total = 36,935

108. Sisters in Arms / Kaia Alderson
4 stars
400 pages

When the WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) in the US allows black women to join (telling them it won’t be segregated, but it most definitely is), Grace (a budding Julliard pianist) and Eliza (who wants to be a sports journalist) join and clash right away. But they become stronger as they train and eventually make their way to Europe.

I listened to the audio and really liked this. I suspect it was hard enough for women in the army, but black women? Had to be so much harder. I think something the audio missed (looks like – from other reviews – there might have been): an author’s note… and maybe some citations? I like author’s notes in my historical fiction so I know what was real and what was fictional, so I would have liked to have had that. I do realize Grace and Eliza were fictional, but I would have liked to be told what parts were real without having to find that from other reviews or looking it up after. That being said, I did really like the story and the audio was well done.

Cumulative page total = 37,335

109. The Northwomen / Heather Pringle
3.5 stars
336 pages

This is a look at the women in Viking society. The author looks at archaelogical evidence of the kinds of activities women likely did. Many are things that people do not assume of Viking women. They do include things like weaving (sails, armour, etc.) and there were slaves, but there were also women warriors, merchants, voyagers, and more.

This was good. Interesting. I’ve really not read much about Vikings. This did include some broader Viking history, but with a focus on the women and the archaeological evidence that has been found to refute the assumptions that it was men only who were the warriors, merchants, and travellers. I did find this mostly interesting, but I did also lose focus at times. Being nonfiction, it did take a bit longer to read.

Cumulative page total = 37,671

110. Passing / Nella Larsen
2 stars
141 pages

Set (and published) in the 1920s, Clare and Irene were friends and ran into each other after they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Beyond this, I had to read the summary on GR to get an idea of what was going on. They are both black women and one of them (I can’t remember which) was passing for white. Apparently (based on the summary I read), the one passing is married to a racist man who doesn’t know she is actually black.

I listened to the audio and obviously, wasn’t paying close enough attention to even know what was happening in the book. It didn’t (obviously) hold my interest at all.

Cumulative page total = 37,812

111. Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World / Parmy Olson
4.5 stars
336 pages

The subheading tells you generally what this is about, but it also includes some biographical information on two people who were working on getting AI to where it is today. They both wanted to use AI for the good of humanity and didn’t want it to be abused or used for ill. Of course, given the amount of computing power needed to get AI “ready” for the world, they both ultimately sold out to large companies, Google and Microsoft. They both tried to include restrictions (like an independent ethics board, for example) to prevent it from going sour, but here we are...

I thought this was very interesting. I found it particularly interesting to find Elon Musk so involved, particularly in the “ethics” side of things. Though there was a difference explained between AI ethics and AI safety. Elon Musk ended up promoting the “safety” side of things. I didn’t know about that part of the AI controversy, but apparently there are a bunch of people who legitimately think AI will annihilate humans in some way, shape, or form, Musk being one of them. So they formed organizations to help prevent that. On the more frustrating side was the part I did know about: the ethics – the racism, sexism, made up information/citations, etc. Frustrating in that there were (at least initially) people hired to help prevent this, but (without saying too much in my review), that just didn’t pan out. I have read a bit about AI, and at work (I’m a librarian), AI has become a big topic, so not everything was new to me.

Cumulative page total = 38,148

112. Anne Frank Remembered / Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold
4 stars
272 pages

Miep Gies worked for Otto Frank (Anne’s father) in Amsterdam when the Nazis invaded. Miep was a friend to Otto and his entire family, so she and her husband “Henk” (Anne’s pseudonym for him; his name was actually Jan) didn’t hesitate to hide them on the upper floors of their office and help them out with daily visits, food, and anything they could do to help. This book recounts Miep’s story during this time.

This was very good. I listened to the audio and only occasionally did I miss something because my mind wandered. Miep and Jan helped other Jewish friends, as well. In addition to the other family and the dentist who were in hiding with the Franks, they held on to items (as well as a neighbours’ cat) belonging to Jewish friends in hopes they would one day return and be able to get those items back.

There was biographical information about Miep herself before we got to the Franks’ going into hiding. It was interesting to see the difficulties that Miep went through to help. The “story” included updates (of many people/neighours mentioned) after the war. Otto, of course, came home, but the rest of the family did not, though it was a while before they knew the fates of Anne and her sister Margot. There were a couple of “afterwords”; the last one being a later edition just before Miep turned 100 years old.

Cumulative page total = 38,420

113. Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World / John Vaillant
4.5 stars
432 pages

Record-breaking heat, strong winds, and desert-like humidity all played a part in the wildfire that hit Fort McMurray, Alberta in May 2016. This book initially introduces the reader to Fort McMurray and its main industry, the oil patch (or tarsands, to be more accurate – that’s not just the environmentalist in me saying that; it seems that really is the most accurate term for it (vs “oilsands” – it really is tar until a lot of equipment, energy, money, etc. go into it to make it liquid)).

The next section is all about the fire, as 88,000 people evacuated the city with no notice, almost all heading out the one highway in/out that doesn’t lead to a dead end. The book then mostly followed first responders who stayed back to fight the fires.

The last section of the book discusses climate change. And the impact this has on the environment, the temperature, fires, and other major disasters that are now happening much more frequently and are stronger than ever before.

I live in Alberta and very distinctly remember the wildfire; I expect many people around the world also remember, with the images and videos that came out as people were evacuating. I remember the one person’s camera inside their house with the fish tank that recorded the fire taking over the house until the camera cut out – this is described in the book (and I went to rewatch the video – those poor fish!).

I have never been to Fort McMurray, nor do I know anyone who works in the oil patch (if I do, I don’t know them well). Of course, the fire was the main pull for me to read the book; I also am fascinated by disaster stories. But also: has anyone else heard of “fire tornadoes”!? Holy crap! New phenomenon. The first one ever occurred in Australia in 2003, then it happened in California in 2017 or 2018. Crazy! The author did provide a lot of information on fires, in general, as well, which I found interesting.

I also read a lot about climate change, and Vaillant had a lot of information in this book, including quite a bit about oil companies that knew what was happening and that humans (and the contributions from oil/gas production) were part of (that is, the main) cause of climate change this time around. It made me think of tobacco companies who didn’t want to lose their profits, so they not only do nothing, they stifle attempts to make things better.

Cumulative page total = 38,852

114. Let Him Go / Larry Watson
3.5 stars
269 pages

After George and Margaret’s adult son died, and left a wife and young son, they brought the two to live with them. But when Lorna fell for bad boy, Donnie, she moved in with him and his family in Montana, a ways away from George and Margaret in North Dakota. Margaret wants to see her grandson again, so they take a road trip, but Donnie’s (odd) family only allows about a 2-minute reunion before the little boy is shooed away to bed. There is something not only odd about this family, but it seems they are also dangerous.

It was kind of slow to start, and I somehow (initially) missed why George and Margaret were doing this road trip. But it did pick up when they met Donnie’s parents after they were invited for a meal while they waited for Lorna and Jimmy to return home for the log-awaited reunion with their grandson. Then it picked up even more…

Cumulative page total = 39,121

115. The Polygamist's Daughter / Anna LeBaron, Leslie Wilson
4 stars
320 pages

Anna LeBaron’s dad was Ervil LeBaron; he was high up in the heirarchy of the Fundamentalist (polygamist) Mormons during the 1970s. Anna, her mother, and siblings (and many half siblings) moved often and on short notice. It was later Anna found out that her dad was trying to avoid the FBI; though they mostly didn’t live with him, anyway, they were also trying to stay away from authorities. Anna did manage to get away from her mother (and the “cult”) by the time she was 13 when she went to live with a sister, her husband, and their children. But Anna’s background still had a lasting effect on her life. It turns out her father had ordered a list of people killed. Even with her father gone (after he died), life was somewhat dangerous.

Another very good FLDS biography, with a different perspective – this time it was not the perspective of a child bride, as this was before the girls who were forced to marry were really young (even for Anna’s age group, though, they were often married at 15 years old (but it got worse later on)). Not that Anna’s life was good, either. There was a lot of fear and loneliness, and knowing her father barely knew who she was, nor really cared (though she tried to convince herself with any morsel that hinted he might).

Cumulative page total = 39,441

116. A Face in the Crowd / Stephen King, Stewart O’Nan
3.5 stars
50 pages

Dean Evers is a widower and enjoys watching baseball on tv. But one day in the stands, he sees a dentist in the crowd – a dentist he hated from when he was a child. Dean is certain this dentist is long-dead, so how is he at a baseball game?

This was good. Short – it’s a super-short story, but good.

Cumulative page total = 39,491

>132 LibraryCin: oh interesting. I had read the book about the Red Sox that King and O'Nan wrote together, but I hadn't realized they did anything else. Was this short story part of a collection?

>133 Darth-Heather: No, this is a standalone. It might have been a Kindle single or something along the same lines? I'm not sure it's worth buying, though. I got a library copy, but only about 1/3 of it was the story. There were two previews of other books afterwards that took up the rest of the book. See if your library has a copy before looking to buy it.

117. The Lesser Dead / Christopher Buehlman
3.25 stars
370 pages

The narrator, Joey, was turned to a vampire when he was only 14, but he is considerably older than that now (in the late ‘70s when this is set). He lives in the subway tunnels of New York City with other vampires and their “head” vampire (the one who turned Joey), Margaret. But when a group of child vampires arrives, seemingly without ever having been taught how to control themselves (they need to control themselves somewhat, in order to avoid being discovered), Joey and a few others take the kids under their wing, but they seem very resistant to learning what the others are trying to teach.

I listened to the audio. I liked the way the narrator broke the 3rd wall and narrated directly to the reader. This was done often throughout the book. Some of the ‘70s pop culture references were fun (I haven’t thought about the tv show “Soap” for years!! Maybe decades?) Unfortunately, though, there were too many parts when I lost focus. Despite this, I would say the narrator was good (and it was apparently the author); he did some good accents, too. I did like the end, though. I heard some of it, lost focus, then (although I rarely do this when the audio isn’t keeping my attention for the most part) I rewound to hear what I missed because that was a good ending! 3 stars is “ok” and I’m giving an extra ¼ star for the end.

Cumulative page total = 39,861

118. Climate Changed: A Personal Journey Through the Science / Philippe Squarzoni
4.25 stars
481 pages

This is a graphic novel that chronicles the author as he learns about various aspects of climate change. The author interviewed nine experts in their fields, many (most?) climate experts/scientists, but also economists (with some kind of connection/knowledge of climate change), and one person who combines study of the environment, economics, and society.

I’ve read a lot about this topic, but I still learned a lot from this. It was interesting the way he did this graphic novel, where the majority of the book is providing the information, but some of it was his own musings with his partner about what he was learning. There was much about the science, the exact causes (information about the gases themselves), but also what can be done (or HAS to be done) to mitigate what we’ve done/are doing to have caused those gases to overwhelm nature and our world.

There were dry parts, often when he was going through what some of the scientists were saying (with illustrations that only showed the scientists), but even when the focus was on the experts, it wasn’t all dry; in fact, most of it wasn’t. I also think it’s very important information. Not only do we need to stop our reliance on fossil fuels, we still need to cut back severely on over-consumption and so much more. Things many people aren’t going to want to do.

I learned more about some of the solutions being proposed (mostly by people/politicians who still don’t want to move to renewables (though even that won’t be enough to change our current trajectory, which I suspect is much worse now, as the book is 10 years old), but also by the people who profit from those industries), like hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and nuclear power (that’s only for electricity and nothing else).

It seemed to me this was very truthful discussion. Something I haven’t really read much about or heard/seen discussed much was the intersection of the economy, the environment, and society, particularly from the one expert where that is her field of study.

Cumulative page total = 40,342

This is my hope for October:
- Thousand Words / Jennifer Brown (AlphaKIT, Roundtuits)
- Old Bones / Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child (AlphaKIT)
- Arsenic & Adobo / Mia P. Manasala (MysteryKIT)
- Lessons in Chemistry / Bonnie Garmus (book club)
- Did She Kill Him? / Kate C (RTT, AlphaKIT, RandomKIT)
- Enslaved by Ducks / Bob Tarte (Steeplechase, AlphaKIT)
- Haunting of Ashburn House / Darcy Coates (ScaredyKIT, Fall Flurries, CalendarCAT)
- Alone Time / Stephanie Rosenbaum (PBT, BWF)
- Everest the Hard Way / Chris Bonington (PBT, BWF)

Audio:
- Horseman / Christine Henry (Fall Flurries, CalendarCAT)
- Runaway / Alice Munro (PBT Trim)
- A Crack in the Edge of the World / Simon Winchester

ARCs:
- This Cursed House / Del Sandeen (NG)
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)
- The Nomadic Devil / Genoveva Ortiz (ER, RandomKIT)
- Oh No He Didn't / Wendy Murphy (ER)
- Sweet Fury / Sash Bischoff (NG)
- Listen to Your Sister / Neena Viel (NG)

119. Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Discarded Bride / Elizabeth Norton
3.5 stars
288 pages

Anne of Cleves was Henry VIII’s fourth wife. She outlived him and all his other wives, though she was only 41-years old when she died. She was only his wife for about 6 months before he divorced her (or found a way out of the marriage, anyway); he never liked her while they were married (though they got along well afterward). She was well taken care of while he was still alive (though this did not necessarily continue after he died, at least until Mary became queen).

There is not as much written about Anne of Cleves as some (all?) of Henry’s other wives, though I believe I have read one other that focused on only her. I like Anne, and she was well-liked by the people of England while she was there. It is sad to read that although she was well-taken care of and Anne put on a brave public face that she was ok with everything after they were apart, she really did consider herself to still be his wife after he put her aside for the young Katherine Howard. Lots of interesting little tidbits about Anne in this book. Also a great section of pictures, some of seen before and some I haven’t.

Cumulative page total = 40,630

120. The Dressmaker / Kate Alcott
3.5 stars
384 pages

When Tess lands a job with Lucille Duff Gordon, a famous fashion designer, to serve her while on the Titanic, Tess is thrilled. She is an aspiring fashion designer herself. On board, she meets and befriends a couple of men – one first class, one part of the crew. Obviously, things go very wrong when the ship hits an iceberg and sinks. Tess and Lady Gordon both made it off the ship, but on different boats, and Tess is horrified to hear how Lady Gordon behaved on her boat – one that should hold at least 50 that went down with only 12 passengers; it was said Lady Gordon not only wouldn’t allow the boat to go back to pick up people from the water, but her husband bribed the crew to stay away. Tess wants to be loyal to Lady Gordon but doesn’t know what to believe; her attraction to the crew member (who was in Lady Gordon’s boat) makes things even more difficult when the trials begin.

I listened to the audio and was interested through most of the story. The possible romances were less interesting, and I did lose focus at times. But I do enjoy Titanic stories. I have read about the Duff Gordons’ (man and wife) behavours, and based on the author’s note at the end, what happened at the trials was very close to how she portrayed things in the book. I always appreciate the author’s notes in my historical fiction.

Cumulative page total = 41,014

121. Minding Frankie / Maeve Binchy
3.5 stars
425 pages

Noel is an alcoholic and lives with his parents, but when a girl he doesn’t even remember contacts him to tell him a. she’s dying; b. she’s pregnant; c. the baby’s his, it takes a bit to get used to the idea, but he manages to pull himself together and takes on fatherhood to his new baby girl, Frankie. He has a lot of help from family, neighbours, and (new – he never really had any before) friends. In addition his cousin, Emily, has come from the US to visit and see Ireland where her father grew up, but never went back to. Moira is a social worker keeping an eye on Frankie to make sure Noel can provide a good home, but sadly, she seems to have something against him and is constantly watching for him to mess up. And there’s more!

The book was good. But there are so many characters. All the way through, I kept forgetting who was who and how they related. I do realize many (most? all?) of them are characters from other books, as well, and I recognized some of them, but it’s been so long since I read the books that focused on those I recognized, I really didn’t remember much of them from those books, either. There was a little surprise at the end of the book. Overall, it’s an enjoyable read.

Cumulative page total = 41,439

122. This Cursed House / Del Sandeen
4 stars
384 pages

In the early 1960s, Jemma (from Chicago) has been hired by a family who live on a plantation just outside New Orleans. Jemma is a teacher and assumes that she will be tutoring. The Duchon family are all light-skinned Black people and although they say they are “proud coloured people”, they look down on Jemma’s darker skin. Jemma also has an ability to see ghosts, and there appear to be a few around this plantation. She is in for multiple surprises the longer she stays with the backwards Duchons, and only one of those surprises is what they have hired her for.

This was really good. I was pulled in early on, and the surprises continued to come. The Duchons are a piece of work, though I think the author does do a good job of showing multiple sides to a couple of them, and there are reasons why some of them are the way they are. Given the time period and place, there is some historical fiction thrown in to this horror/ghost story, as well, which I quite like.

Cumulative page total = 41,823

123. Lessons in Chemistry / Bonnie Garmus
4.25 stars
400 pages

Elizabeth Zott is a scientist – a chemist – but it’s the 1950s/1960s, so she’s not really taken seriously (and is even treated badly, at times). Except when she meets and starts dating another chemist, the famous (amongst scientists, anyway) Calvin Evans; Calvin takes her seriously. Elizabeth has no plans to marry, however (nor does she want kids), so it’s a scandal when she becomes pregnant. Unfortunately, by the time Mad(eline) is born, Calvin has died in an accident. So Elizabeth is now a single mom. She is let go at her job (as a chemist), so although she has no interest in cooking on television, she takes this job that is offered to her. But she turns this cooking show around and turns it into a chemistry/cooking show for women.

This was fun! I loved Elizabeth. She is smart, she is tough. Good for her for everything she did and tried to do. Plenty of humourous parts thrown in.

Cumulative page total = 42,223

124. Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow / Christina Henry
3 stars
336 pages

In Sleepy Hollow, Ben(de) is the granddaughter of Brom Van Brunt and Katrina Van Tassel (and was raised by them), but thinks of himself as a boy. When Ben and a friend find a dead boy in the woods, with head and hands cut off, Ben starts to wonder if he should be wandering through the woods at all. It’s not long before a second dead boy appears in the woods… this one a boy who had been taunting Ben and Ben had been seen to fight back. Even with all this going on, Ben seems to be fairly safe in the woods via some kind of protector. In the meantime, he is constantly fighting his grandmother on being too much like a boy and it’s about time he started acting like a girl and learning the things he’ll need to know as he gets older and gets married.

I listened to the audio. I liked that the author brought in a trans character. With the dead kids being found in the woods, it was a bit creepy at times. However, as often happens with me and audio, I got distracted and missed things. I did like how it ended, though. Overall, I’m rating it ok.

Cumulative page total = 42,559

125. The Collector / Nora Roberts
3.5 stars
483 pages

Lila works as a house-sitter in New York City and she enjoys watching people across from the windows where she is staying (“Rear Window” style). There is a couple she can see who often fight. When she sees someone hit the woman during a fight, then the woman is pushed out the window, she immediately dials for emergency help. Later at the police station, the brother of the man (who was also found dead – a suspected suicide), Ashton, wants to talk to Lila to find out exactly what she saw. Between the two of then, they figure out there is much more going on here than meets the eye. And it’s dangerous.

This was good. I enjoyed it. It’s Nora Roberts, so of course, there is a romance. The romance didn’t do anything for me, but that’s not unusual. I liked Lila – she is independent and tough. Have to admit I did love the pets who belonged to the people Lila was sitting for.

Cumulative page total = 43,042

126. Enslaved by Ducks / Bob Tarte
4 stars
321 pages

Bob lived a pet-free life for a long time. But when his wife decided they needed to save a rabbit (though they had no idea how to take care of one), this snowballed over the following years, so that (over time), they had a number of rabbits, cats, and many types of birds (parrots, parakeets, a canary, a dove, geese, turkeys, a number of different species of duck, and more). The geese, turkeys, and ducks lived outside in the barn and yard. They had a hard time saying no if there was a critter in need. Bob was not a handy guy, but was constantly building new fencing and other spaces to keep the critters in the yard, but to separate many of them, as well.

I really liked this. They muddled their way through taking care of many of them, as did the various vets they sought help from when there was a medical need. Most of the vets hadn’t dealt with many of these types of critters, either. There was plenty of humour in the book, but as some of the pets got sick and died (or got better), and some went missing, there were sad situations, as well. It was unfortunate that they didn’t research before bringing home the different types of pets, though, to know ahead of time what they were getting into.

Cumulative page total = 43,363

127. Runaway / Alice Munro
2.25 stars
352 pages

This is a book of short stories. Set in various parts of Canada. In the first one a woman was trying to get away from her husband. A few others (same characters) involved a woman and her daughter.

I listened to the audio and short stories make that difficult. If you lose focus, the stories are usually too short to figure out what you missed, as the percentage of the story you miss is much larger than that of a novel if you miss bits and pieces. The first story kept my attention the most, I think – where the woman was running away from her husband. The other series of stories mentioned with mother/daughter, I probably caught more of because there were multiple stories. But really, none were overly exciting where I wanted to keep listening. The first story was the closest to that. Not a fan – of short stories or Alice Munro, really.

Cumulative page total = 43,715

128. Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude / Stephanie Rosenbloom
2.25 stars
288 pages

The author travelled to Paris, Istanbul, and Florence, then back home to New York, and did a number of things solo. In Paris, much of what she did (or at least wrote about) was eating/food. In Istanbul, ???. In Florence, museums/art.

I think I added this to my tbr for the travelling solo aspect, as I have travelled solo (well, mostly on cruises), so I was disappointed in this one. Really it seemed to be more about the food (Paris) and the art (Florence) than anything else, and I just found that boring. There were parts where she brought in interesting tidbits about travelling alone, and the last chapter was the most interesting (at least for me), as that’s when she (finally!) focussed on travelling solo, in general. She did include a good “Tips and Tools for Going It Alone”, which I think could be useful.

Cumulative page total = 44,003

129. Old Bones / Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
3.75 stars
371 pages

Special Agent Corrie Swanson is a rookie FBI agent. After a few months of looking into cold cases, she finally gets a chance to investigate a current case. Someone dug up a grave, then was shot and left on top of that uncovered grave; the grave, itself, was robbed, but only the top half of the remains was taken.

Archaeologist Nora Kelly is given the chance to head out on a search for a “lost camp”. In the mid-1800s, a group called the Donner Party went missing in the mountains in California and most of them died after having cannibalized many of the others. The person who brought a diary to Nora (and her institution) with a good description of how they might find this camp is a historian and a descendant of one of the Donner Party.

Initially, these “stories” don’t seem connected, but of course, they are. Corrie has an inkling (though her superior thinks it’s a stretch) as to how they might be connected (but nothing concrete). Anyway, I liked both storylines. Both women are tough, though not always likable. I thought it was a good story, and I will continue the series. Nora Kelly has been in at least one of the Agent Pendergast books, as well, and he made an appearance in this book. I didn’t know the Donner Party was a real group, though the author’s note at the end tells us that some of the main “characters” that are part of the Donner Party in this book are fictional. I like these mysteries involving archaeology; I think it’s a nice mix.

Cumulative page total = 44,374

130. Arsenic and Adobo / Mia P. Manansala
3.5 stars
314 pages

Lila is a Filipino-American who was away for university, but returned to her hometown in Illinois to help her family with their restaurant. Her high school boyfriend is still in town, as is her best friend. She has a crush on her best friend’s brother, but has never acted on it; he is now a lawyer in town. Unfortunately, Lila’s high school boyfriend, Derek, has really changed. He writes restaurant reviews in the local newspaper and tends to come down really hard on them, Lila’s family’s restaurant included. But when he and his step-father are eating in the restaurant one evening, Derek falls face-first into his plate. He has been poisoned and it looks like Lila or someone in her family or at the restaurant has done it. Lila and her best friend, Adeena, try to figure out who might really be the culprit.

I liked this. There was more food descriptions in the book than I like, but it’s a cozy mystery and a lot of people like that in their cozies. For those who like that, there are recipes at the back, as well. There is also a Filipino glossary at the start, so that was handy. I did like the story, though. I also liked most of the characters and the little love triangle happening. This is the first in a series, and I liked it enough to continue.

Cumulative page total = 44,688

November is a bit trickier. My public library has had a ransomware attack, so technology is all down for who knows how long. Luckily, Overdrive still works, so ebooks and audio are ok, but it's not possible to use the catalogue to find anything or request anything. (Well, audios are about to get trickier for me starting mid-November, as well.) One can go in person and browse, but that doesn't work well when I have specific titles I'd be looking for. Also, Open Library (Internet Archive) had a cyberattack, as well. I use it if my library doesn't have something, but that's not currently an option, either.

So, there may be a couple of changes, but am aiming for these:

- The Missing Ones / Patricia Gibney (MysteryKIT)
- Mary Boleyn / Alison Weir (RTT, AlphaKIT)
- Julia Child / Laura Shapiro (RTT, AlphaKIT)
- Silver Borne / Patricia Briggs (ScaredyKIT)
- Thank You For Your Service / Daniel Finkel (CalendarCAT, Fall Flurries)
- Hope / Amanda Berry, Gine DeJesus (RandomKIT)
- Love, Life and Elephants / Daphne S (RandomKIT, AlphaKIT)
- ??? (PBT Trim)
- The 57 Bus / D S (PrizeCAT)
- Did She Kill Him / Kate C... (RTT October)
- The Mammoth Hunters / Jean M. Auel (HistoryCAT)
- 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act (Steeplechase)

Carry-over:
- Thousand Words / Jennifer Brown

Audio:
- Carnegie's Maid / Marie Benedict (Book club)
- Nevernight / Jay Kristoff (PBT, BWF)
- The Secrets of Vesuvius / Caroline Lawrence (HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT)
- Stars Between the Sun and Moon / Lucia Jang (RandomKIT)
- When the Moon is Low / Nadia Hashimi

ARCs:
- Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi (ER)
- Oh No He Didn't / Wendy Murphy (ER)
- Sweet Fury / Sash Bischoff (NG)
- Listen to Your Sister / Neena Viel (NG)

131. A Crack in the Edge of the World / Simon Winchester
2.25 stars
480 pages

This is a “story” of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, which spawned fires, which destroyed the city. It also talks about geology, in general, in order to explain earthquakes. Winchester also goes through a history leading up to the San Francisco quake.

I listened to the audio because it’s what my library had available. I knew it was probably a bad choice, as I’ve not enjoyed Winchester’s books in the past via audio. I feel like I should like them (based on the topics), but I really would be better off to try them in print. This one got (slightly) more interesting toward the end, as he focused more on San Francisco in 1906, rather than the science/geology, in general. I am not opposed to reading about science, so I don’t necessarily think that’s the issue. I’m not sure if I don’t like his writing style, or if it’s the audios, in particular (read by Winchester, himself), that I am not a fan of.

Cumulative page total = 45,168

132. The Nomadic Devil / Genoveva Ortiz
3.5 stars
95 pages

Israel Keyes was a serial killer. This short story/novella delves into his home life and the crimes he committed (and some that he may have committed). It is part of a true crime series that is meant to be an easy style of reading to make it more accessible to more people.

I have not heard of this guy before, but I always find these books interesting. I dislike how short they are, though. It would be nice if they could go into more detail in these books, but at the same time, I “get” what they are trying to do. These books also include a bit of a biography, as well, but I also like reading biographies, so I’m ok with that.

Cumulative page total = 45,263

133. Hunting a Cat in Dogtown / Michael Geczi
2.5 stars
298 pages

A continuation of the authors “Killer Dead, Victim Alive”, the victim from that book, Chrissy Weeks, is back and now in jail. But the people who worked on that previous case are receiving weird things delivered to them, things that they surmise Chrissy must have sent, but how? Meanwhile, there are new murders that appear to be mimicking the series of murders that were just solved.

This started well, but I think the books (at least for me) really hinge on the unstable character, Chrissy. Once Chrissy was gone, I just kind of lost interest. There were a lot of characters and I had trouble figuring out who was who, and I just didn’t pay much attention to the rest of the book. It’s too bad because I really liked “Killer Dead…” and I thought I might continue this series, but I think I’ll pass on the rest.

Cumulative page total = 45,561

134. Thousand Words / Jennifer Brown
4.5 stars
368 pages

At the urging of her friends (and after feeling ignored by her boyfriend for most of the summer before he leaves for college), a slightly drunk Ashleigh takes a naked picture of herself and texts it to Kaleb. It works (temporarily) to get his attention, but after Kaleb leaves for college, they eventually break up. And Kaleb passes on Ashleigh’s picture and it makes the rounds. Ashleigh is charged (as is Kaleb) with distributing child pornography after it has blown up and Ashleigh is doing 60 hours of community service where she has to research and write a pamphlet on sexting.

The community service bit we know from the very start of the book, and it goes back and forth in time to explain how Ashleigh got there. Wow, a (yes, huge) mistake made by a teenager and this book shows how badly it can blow up and affect that teenager, as well as her friends and family. And, of course, as we know from news stories (there was a big one in Canada maybe a decade or so ago), some kids, after the constant bullying, kill themselves, so there can be awful consequences. In the author’s note at the end of the book, she does mention that there are states where teenagers can be charged with distributing child pornography in a situation like this (and Kaleb in this book – as an adult at 18-years old – faces a lifetime “sexual offender” label). There can be (and sometimes are) enormous consequences.

Cumulative page total = 45,929

135. Carnegie's Maid / Marie Benedict
3.5 stars
342 pages

Clara Kelly has come to the US from Ireland. When she gets off the boat, she is mistaken for another Clara Kelly and ends up in a much better place than she otherwise would have been – as a lady’s maid to Mrs. Carnegie (yes, Andrew Carnegie’s mother). She quickly learns what she needs to know to make her way and falls for Mrs. Carnegie’s oldest son, Andrew. Clara, though a farmer’s daughter in Ireland, was well-read, thanks to her father, and is smart. She and Andrew have some good conversations, including business conversations and fall for each other, though Clara, especially, tries to fight her feelings.

I liked this. I listened to the audio and had no problem following what was going on. In the author’s note at the end, we learn that Clara was, of course, a fictional character, as the author wanted to imagine what might have changed him from the business tycoon he was to the philanthropist he became (paying for libraries and museums that anyone could enjoy), regardless of monetary wealth or social class.

Cumulative page total = 46,271

136. Thank You for Your Service / David Finkel
3 stars
272 pages

The author is a journalist who followed soldiers as they returned home from wars in Iraq or Afghanistan to try to fit back into their previous lives with their families, but so many of them brought back psychological trauma, whether a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some have become abusive and/or want to kill themselves. Some of them try to get treatment to varying degrees of success. The wives/girlfriends are also interviewed, and their husbands’/boyfriends’ issues take a toll on them, as well.

This is sad. It does jump around, sometimes without “warning” (that I noticed, anyway), which sometimes made it a bit harder to follow and to figure out who was who. Of course, the people the author focused the most on were easier to remember. It was tough to see how, not only are the soldiers, themselves, affected, but how their issues affect their families, as well.

Cumulative page total = 46,543

137. The 57 Bus / Dashka Slater
4 stars
306 pages

True story. Agender teenager Sasha was on a bus in Oakland California in Fall 2013 and fell asleep. When they woke up, they were on fire. Another teenager on the bus, Richard, saw a “boy” in a skirt and decided to light his lighter to the skirt, thinking it would just peter out, but it didn’t. Sasha had terrible burns to their legs. The author looks at both their lives leading up to the incident, and their lives during the aftermath.

The author set up the background of both Sasha and Richard – that is, their lives up to that point. Richard was a black boy, poor and though, ultimately, a good person, he hung around with a bad crowd. Next came the ride on the bus that resulted in Sasha’s being burned and Richard charged as an adult because it was a violent crime (although Sasha and their parents would have preferred he be tried as a juvenile).

There is a lot for people to learn in this book, particularly about Sasha and how they felt in their skin, initially as a boy, but then coming out as agender with their friends and parents. Sasha had been accepted and supported and didn’t have bad experiences due to their agender-ness, up until the incident on the bus. I had a (much) harder time feeling badly for Richard, despite studies about how teenagers’ brains are wired and although they know right from wrong, they can still be compelled to do things they know are wrong and do feel badly for afterward. I still had (have) a hard time getting past what Richard did, while knowing it was wrong. The book is aimed toward a YA audience, but I think there is so much in this book (particularly about gender) that adults can (and maybe should) learn, too. It’s an eye-opening book, for sure, and well worth reading.

Cumulative page total = 46,849

138. Silver Borne / Patricia Briggs
4 stars
351 pages

Mercy, a mechanic and coyote shapeshifter who grew up in a werewolf pack and is now mated to one of the alpha werewolf males in the Tri-Cities region, is also best friends with Samuel, another high ranking werewolf. When Samuel, a doctor, is suddenly his wolf, Sam, and won’t turn back to human, something is very wrong and Mercy will help and protect him until they figure out how to help him. Meantime, a bounty hunter appears at her shop, apparently looking for a wolf he has been paid to kill.

And there’s so much more. I really liked this one. It’s the 5th in the series. This might be one of the higher ranked ones (for me, anyway). I like Samuel and liked the focus on him, but as mentioned there was way more going on than just what Samuel was going through. This one had lots of action and I really enjoyed it.

Cumulative page total = 47,200

139. Mary Boleyn / Alison Weir
3.5 stars
432 pages

This is a nonfiction “biography” of Mary Boleyn. Mary lived during the first half of the 16th century, and was most likely a mistress to Henry VIII before he divorced his first wife, Kathrine of Aragon, and married Mary’s sister, Anne Boleyn.

There really isn’t a whole lot known about Mary, so the author took a lot of sources, both primary and secondary, and analyzed them to figure out what she could of Mary’s life. I expected this. She did also explain why she thought some of the sources were (likely) correct or not. So there is still much speculation, but the author did want to correct some obvious things that people think about Mary due to recent popular movies and tv shows (that, yes, I also enjoyed!).

I did learn a little bit, too: apparently, the likely affair between Henry and Mary was the same in the minds of people at the time, with regard to not allowing Henry and Anne to marry, as Henry marrying Katherine (his brother’s widow), which is what Henry used to annul his first marriage – it was considered incest, and shouldn’t have allowed him to marry Anne. But no one (at least who was willing to outwardly oppose Henry and Anne’s marriage) knew about it to bring it up.

This is, of course, a bit of a longer read, not in terms of pages, but it’s nonfiction, so a little more dense. But, still interesting!

Cumulative page total = 47,632

140. Nevernight / Jay Kristoff
2.25 stars
464 pages

Mia is a teenager who ends up at some sort of assassin training school or something. She makes friends and enemies. People end up murdered (at least one of the assassins-in-training, anyway… not sure if there were more murders or not, maybe more). There was something to do with revenge, too.

Listened to the audio. I have no idea why I added this to the tbr; I am not a fan of fantasy. Maybe the assassin/revenge theme was of interest? I don’t know. Periodically, an interesting thing would happen, but mostly I didn’t care that much.

Cumulative page total = 48,096

141. The Secrets of Vesuvius / Caroline Lawrence
2.5 stars
196 pages

This is the second in a series of children’s mysteries, this one set in ancient Italy. Flavia is our main character; she and friends are given some kind of riddle (I’m not sure why). Later on, they try to help a boy find his biological parents. Then, the volcano at Vesuvius erupts.

All of that in a very short book. I listened to the audio and, like with the first book, there was too much I missed because it didn’t hold my attention. After the first one, I had decided to give the series another try (this one), but I think I’ll stop here. Maybe I could try a non-audio, but I don’t think I will. The boy and the volcano were the most interesting, though.

Cumulative page total = 48,292

142. The Missing Ones / Patricia Gibney
4 stars
460 pages

A woman is murdered in a church. Not long after, a man is found hanging in his yard. It turns out there is a connection between the two people. Detective Lottie is in charge of the team trying to solve these murders. Despite her own family having troubles (she has three teenagers and her husband died a few years earlier), she does her best to sort out what’s going on, even as more murders pile up. In addition, there is a connection to a local former orphanage, St. Angela’s, but what is that connection, exactly?

There is a lot going on and a lot of characters, but it did make it trickier to figure out who might have done it (not that I ever – well, rarely, anyway – actually figure it out before it’s revealed, anyway!). I really liked it, though. There were short chapters that made it easy to keep going. Note that parts of this book are quite dark. This is the first in a series that I will definitely be continuing.

Cumulative page total = 48,752

143. 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act / Bob Joseph
3.5 stars
189 pages

This book goes through to explain parts of Canada’s Indian Act, originally created in 1876. Though there have been some updates, much remains. The author also includes, in an appendix, all 94 calls to action in the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Ultimately, though some (Indigenous people) are concerned about ramifications of getting rid of the outdated Indian Act altogether, the author (also Indigenous) believes it should go, and explains why.

Most people don’t know much about the Indian Act. I didn’t until earlier this year when I took an extremely comprehensive online (free!) course from the University of Alberta called Indigenous Canada (highly recommended, though it does take a chunk of time). So, I had heard (via that course) a lot of what the author mentions in this book. But that doesn’t mean a reminder wasn’t a good thing, because it is. It’s a short book; it sounds like the author did that on purpose. It’s not super-exciting reading (it’s explaining legal things), but it’s something that Canadians should read and educate themselves about.

Cumulative page total = 48,941

144. Stars Between the Sun and Moon / Lucia Jang
3.5 stars
304 pages

The author grew up in North Korea but soon learned she wanted out. She went through abusive relationships, two children (one who was sold, not by her choice), landed in jail more than once, went back and forth between China, and more. Eventually, she got out for good and made her way to Canada.

I listened to the audio. Unfortunately, that meant it was a while before I got interested. And it was interesting (and awful for her) once it was holding my attention, but I’d already missed a bunch of what was going on by that point, and I continued to lose focus at times. You could say there were some technical issues with the audio that didn’t help, but it’s hard to say if that would have made a difference in the rating or not. I actually thought I caught more than I did, but in reading some of the other reviews, I guess I missed more than I thought, even.

Cumulative page total = 49,245

145. Did She Kill Him? A Victorian Tale of Deception, Adultery, and Arsenic / Kate Colquhoun
4 stars
412 pages

In the late 1800s, Florence was an American who married James Maybrick from England, although he was 24 years older than she was. He was a hypochondriac who took a lot of “medicines”, including many with various poisons in them, including arsenic. Florence and James were having trouble in their marriage and both were cheating. He went through a time period where he was in all kinds of pain and he eventually died. Florence, along with servants and two brothers and various doctors were all trying to help him. But James’ brothers didn’t trust Florence and pointed a finger at Florence suggesting that she may have killed him with arsenic. A couple of the servants also reported things they found odd that Florence did, indicating a possible poisoning by James’ wife.

So, it seems Florence’s trial was… maybe not undertaken in the best way. The jury was (of course, due to the time frame) all men, but also all farmers and tradespeople. Not people who might easily understand a confusing array of medications and how much arsenic was or was not in each of many different bottles. Even the experts disagreed on whether or not arsenic was even what killed him. The judge seemed predisposed to find her guilty, but not because he necessarily thought she killed him, but because she was a middle class woman with loose morals – that is, he didn’t like that she had had an affair. The judge wasn’t the one to decide anything, but he did summarize for the jury… in a way that seemed somewhat biased. Anyway, this was interesting and frustrating to read about this case, well-known at the time. Fun fact: James Maybrick has been suggested as a possible Jack the Ripper (this wasn’t discussed much in the book, just mentioned, so I don’t know why he has been suspected – something about a diary… that has not been proved to be his or to be real?).

Cumulatlve page total = 49,657

Hopes and plans for December:

- Something About Sophie / Mary Kay Mc... (AlphaKIT)
- The Twelve Clues of Christmas / Rhys Bowen (CalendarCAT, Fall Flurries)
- Homicide and Halo-Halo / Mia P. M (MysteryKIT)
- Favorite Wife / Susan Schmidt (HistoryCAT)
- Pretty Baby / Mary Kubica (PBT, ScaredyKIT)
- Fostering Sustainable Behaviour / Doug M-M (Dec PBT Trim)
- The Incredible Journey / Sheila Burnford (Nov PBT Trim)
- Spillover / D.Q. (AlphaKIT Q)
- The Icepick Surgeon / Sam Kean (RandomKIT, AlphaKIT)

Audio:
- When the Moon is Low / Nadia Hashim
- Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? / Franz de Waal
- Julia Child / Laura Shapiro
- The Librarian of Burned Bridges / Briana Labuskes
- Beyond That, The Sea / Laura Spence-Ash

Con't
- The Mammoth Hunters / Jean M. Auel (Nov HistoryCAT)

ARCs:
- Sweet Fury / Sash Bischoff (NG)
- Oh No He Didn't / Wendy Murphy (ER)
- Listen to Your Sister / Neena Viel (NG)
- Shaded Grove / Oliver Seneca (ER)

146. When the Moon is Low / Nadia Hashimi
4 stars
400 pages

Fereiba falls for her neighbour but his mother matches him up to marry Fereiba’s beautiful half-sister, instead, and she is crushed. However, it turns out far better for her when she marries his cousin, Mahmoud. They are in Kabul, and though they have grown up with relative freedom (Fereiba became a teacher), the Taliban take over and more and more is restricted. To their horror, Mahmoud is arrested… and never comes home. Fereiba has three children and decides she needs to leave. The story is told partly by Fereiba and partly by her oldest son, Saleem, a teenager when they leave.

I listened to the audio. Fereiba and Saleem were narrated by different people, so you could tell easily and quickly where you were. I thought this was very good. It captured how difficult it was to get out and how they would survive while doing so, though this family did have some advantages, as Mahmoud was thinking ahead (just not enough ahead for him to be able to leave with them).

Cumulative page total = 50,057

147. The Twelve Clues of Christmas / Rhys Bowen
4 stars
311 pages

Georgie, in an attempt to get away from her dreary sister-in-law and her family for the holidays, answers a job ad to head to a small town and help a hostess with her Christmas party; but they were only willing to hire someone of a certain station, which of course, Georgie fits, as the 35th in line to the crown. Unfortunately, the day she arrives, a neighbour is found dead, hanging from a tree. The next day, someone has jumped off a nearby bridge, and things keep happening in this little town. They appear to be accidents, but there seem to be too many accidents happening all at once. Georgie is told of the local curse where bad things happen around Christmas due to a witch who was chased and hanged back in the 1400s, who subsequently cursed the town.

I really enjoyed this one. It was clever… all these things really didn’t appear to be related and the majority of them also appeared to be accidents. There is, of course, also the attempt to keep a holiday mood going. The book ended with a few traditional English Christmas recipes and games.

Cumulative page total = 50,368

148. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? / Frans De Waal
4 stars
340 pages

The author studies primates. In this book, he is looking at various studies looking at cognition in various types of animals. He also does some comparisons of studies, looking at animals, then the same study looking at children. Of course, historically, there are areas of science that have “required” scientists to not anthropomorphize animals, and there have been many definitions of what makes humans “human” or distinct from other animals. Those goalposts have moved often as those definitions are proven wrong when there are studies that show animals who can and do actually do those things that were supposedly only the domain of humans.

I have read about some of the studies mentioned here before: some when I was taking psychology and anthropology in university, and others I’ve just read about. Anyway, it’s all so very interesting to me. Many of us with pets will read this (or in my case, I listened to the audio), and think it’s obvious, but of course, with science, there does need to be more objective studies, as well. I found the comparisons with children very interesting, as the author points out that with similar studies between kids and animals, kids get an explanation as to what’s happening; obviously, we are unable to provide animals with that same explanation, so it’s automatically biased toward the kids doing “better”. Of course (similar to IQ tests in humans that are culturally biased), many tests with animals are also biased toward humans. But some scientists are trying to change that. I found this very interesting.

Cumulative page total = 50,708

149. Julia Child: A Life / Laura Shapiro
3.5 stars
208 pages

This is a (short) biography of Julia Child, though the bulk of it does focus on her career, food, and cooking. Julia, of course, learned to cook in France, and she was not a natural at it! She later wrote cookbooks and hosted tv shows. Her first tv show in the ‘50s was very popular and it catapulted her to stardom. People loved her. Though the cooking may have been more work than housewives wanted at the time (when convenience foods were becoming popular), Julia insisted her show wasn’t for housewives, anyway.

I listened to the audio, which was entertaining. The narrator did a decent job of Julia’s voice, I think. It didn’t sound exactly, but I can’t say for sure, as I’ve never watched Julia’s shows. I am also not “into” cooking, so the detailed descriptions of cooking and food might be of more interest to someone who does like cooking and/or is more of a “foodie” than I am. It was unfortunate to learn of Julia’s homophobia, although I suppose she was a product of her time (even though she and her husband, Paul, knew and were friends with gay people).

Cumulative page total = 50,916

150. The Icepick Surgeon / Sam Kean
4 stars
368 pages

This looks at various ethical issues throughout history that still advanced science in some way or another. Each chapter was a specific person or issue, including piracy, the slave trade, competition that gets out of hand, stealing bodies for research, fraud, spying, animal cruelty (this still happens, but who knew Edison was torturing dogs, horses, and cows by electrocuting them in order to discredit a competitor?), Nazi experiments, lobotomies, and probably more I’m not remembering. There is a lot going on here. And a lot of unethical (and criminal) things happened in the name of science.

This was interesting. Some stories I’d heard before (maybe just the one of the title, the “surgeon” who did lobotomies with an icepick). In the conclusion, the author looks at some things to come… and there will likely still be scientists willing to do unethical things to advance science (or, at least, their own research). I don’t think I realized the author has a podcast, so I hadn’t heard of him, but based on this one, I’d read more of his books (he has also written others).

Cumulative page total = 51,284

151. Homicide and Halo-Halo / Mia P. Manansala
3.5 stars
336 pages

In book 2 of the series, Filipino-American Lila has joined with a couple of friends to open a cafe and they are still setting things up. Meanwhile, her own family already runs their own restaurant. Lila once won the town’s beauty pageant and she has been asked to judge this year’s contest. But there have been threatening letters made toward the pageant. And it’s not long before someone turns up dead.

I enjoyed this. I like most of the characters and their stories; however, there is more food description than is my “thing”, but I’m sure would be appealing for many readers (as well as the recipes included at the end of the book). I do plan to continue the series, though.

Cumulative page total = 51,620

152. Something About Sophie / Mary Kay McComas
3.5 stars
320 pages

Sophie is in her 20s and was adopted as a baby. She was very loved by her adoptive parents and had no interest in finding her birth parents. But she is mysteriously called to the death bed of someone she doesn’t know, as there is something he wants to tell her. She doesn’t make it to him in time, but she is asked to attend the reading of the will, where she discovers he has left her his home. Meanwhile, in this small town, there are a few people who appear hostile to Sophie, and it’s not long before one of them turns up dead.

The first half was a bit slow-going, but it was good. It really ramped up in the second half, though, when the mystery really got going (at least the murder mystery, anyway! Well, Sophie’s mystery, too, as it’s all connected). Yes, there is a romance here, too, but for me the romance was secondary to the much more interesting mystery(ies) going on.

Cumulative page total = 51,940

153. The Librarian of Burned Books / Brianna Labuskes
3.5 stars
416 pages

In New York City during WWII, President Taft wants to ban a number of books from being sent to the American soldiers. Viv is part of the program that sends these books overseas and sees how much good this does. She will fight this new proposed law.

In Germany in the early 1930s, Althea is an author who has been invited by the Nazis to come to Germany and she quickly falls for Deitrich, who is a member of the party. She sees all the excitement happening as Hitler is rising to power.

I listened to the audio and found it a bit confusing, as it went back and forth in time, trying to figure out who was who, doing what in which time period. I got most of it figured out, but some characters still eluded me as to who they were and what role they played in the story. There were two speeches at an event held be Viv at the end of the book, and I loved one of them, in particular, but both speeches hit pretty close to “home” (though I’m in Canada), with some of the politics happening in the US now. (It seems I missed that there was a 3rd time period and place… I caught the character, but also didn’t catch that she was a 3rd main character, in addition to Althea and Viv… She crossed paths, more with Althea, so I just thought she was part of Althea’s story, and not a main character on her own.)

Cumulative page total = 52,356

154. Favorite Wife: Escape from Polygamy / Susan Schmidt
4 stars
473 pages

Susan Ray was only 15 when she fell in love with Verlon LeBaron, 23 years her senior. He also already had five other wives. They were part of the FLDS (the polygamous Mormons). Verlon’s brother, Ervil, tried to win Susan away from Verlon, but lucky for Susan (in a way), she realized something was “off” and went back to Verlon. Once Susan and Verlon got married, though, Verlon was rarely home as Susan tried to get along with Verlon’s other wives, tried to feed herself (and later on, her multiple children) and get (rare) time with Verlon. Verlon was also in a bit of a power struggle (within the church) with Ervil, as Ervil lured more people (including some of Susan’s family) away in order to help with his “blood atonement” (that is, murders).

The vast bulk of the book was while she was part of the FLDS. I would have liked a bit more about her life after she left, but this was really just a chapter or two toward the end of the book, but I did appreciate that she also brought the reader up to date on many of the other people she knew and mentioned in this book. I have read a few other books about the LeBarons, but they must have been long enough ago that I didn’t remember a whole lot about this part of the FLDS (Susan’s story takes place in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s; many of the other FLDS books I’ve read were later in time after the Jeffs’ family was ruling).

Cumulative page total = 52, 829

155. Pretty Baby / Mary Kubica
4 stars
416 pages

Hanna helps homeless people in her work. When she sees a young girl and a baby in the rain beside the L train a couple days in a row, she decides to help them by bringing them home. The girl tells Hanna her name is Willow and that she’s 18-years old, though Hanna is certain she is younger (but it would be illegal to not turn her in if she is younger, so Hanna just sees what she wants to see). Hanna is married to Chris and has an 11-year old daughter, Zoe. Chris works at a well-paying financial job that has him travelling a lot… often with a beautiful woman, Cassidy, whom Hanna doesn’t trust.

The book is told from three points-of-view: Hanna’s, Willow’s and Chris’s. As the story goes on, we go back in time to hear Willow’s story, as well. It’s actually pretty slow-moving through most of the book, but there are some good twists at the end, at least one I never would have guessed.

Cumulative page total = 53,245