Kristel's 2024 Reading Journal, 4th Quarter

Reading: I am reading or trying to participate in the following:
Reading 1001 Books (all editions)
Reading Booker Winners
Reading Pulitzer
British Author Challenge
American Author Challenge
The War Room

I am in 2 bookclubs in real life;

On-line presence; Goodreads, Library Thing, Litsy

My Tickers:
2024 75 books read

Reading 1001
1001 books. It's probably not accurate but close enough.

1001 Books Read in 2024
January
Dangling Man - Saul Bellow
Gösta Berling's Saga - Selma Lagerlof
The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen
February
Memento Mori - Muriel Spark
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Salman Rushdie
March
He Knew He Was Right - Anthony Trollope
The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi
Home - Marilynne Robinson
Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem
Call it Sleep - Henry Roth
April
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte
Book of Illusions - Paul Auster
Under the Net - Iris Murdock
May
The Years - Virginia Woolf
The Well of Loneliness - Radclffe Hall
The Names - Dan DeLillo
Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Saw There - Lewis Carroll
All Souls Day - Cees Nooteboom
June
One, None, and One Thousand - Luigi Pirandello
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Anita Loos
Molloy - Samuel Beckett
Mason & Dixon - Thomas Pynchon
July
Man with the Golden Arm - Nelsen Algren
Burmese Days - George Orwell
Indigo or Mapping the Water - Marina Warner
August
Mao II - Don DiLillo
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec
Chess Story - Stefan Zweig
September
The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Blindman With A Pistol
Old Devils
October
The Thinking Reed
The Victim
How the Dead Live
November
The Story of Lucy Gault - Wm Trevor
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway
The Melancholy of Resistance
Black Dogs - McEwan
Storm of Steel
The Ghost Road
December
Sister Carrie
Miramar
The Comfort of Strangers
After the Death of Don Juan -Townsend Warner

Booker and International Booker

Booker's Read in 2024
2022, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilakaurns
2019 Girl, Woman, Other Bernardino Evaristo
1979 Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald
1986 The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
1987 Moon Tiger - Penenlope Lively
2024 -Orbital by Samantha Harvey

1. 1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - Own
2. 1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member - OWN
✅. 1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) -OWN
✔4. 1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
5. 1972: John Berger, G. - OWN-K
✔6. 1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
7a. 1974 ✔ The Conservationist and
7b. Holiday - Stanley Middleton
✅ 8. 1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust -
9. 1976: David Storey, Saville
✔10 . 1977: Paul Scott, Staying On read 2021
✔11. 1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea READ
☑ 12. Fitzgerald, Offshore - 2024 Read
✔13. 1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
✔14. 1981:Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
✔15. 1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
✔16. 1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K READ
17. 1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - OWN
18. 1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
☑. 1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - 2024
☑20. 1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger -
✔21. 1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda OWN
✔22. 1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day READ
✔23. 1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
✅24. 1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
✔25a. 1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient READ
25.b Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
26. 1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha OWN
✔27. 1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late READ 2021
☑28. 1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
✅29. 1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
✔30. 1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
✔31. 1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
32. 1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - OWN
✔33. 2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin READ
34. 2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang-
✔35. 2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi READ
36. 2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
✔37. 2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty READ
✔38. 2005: John Banville, The Sea- READ
✔39. 2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss OWN
✔40. 2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - OWN COMPLETED 3/22
✔41. 2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
✔42. 2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
43. 2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
✔44. 2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
✔45. 2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - COMPLETED 3/2020
46. 2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
✔47. 2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
✔48. 2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
✔49. 2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
✔50. 2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo READ
✔51. 2018: Anna Burns Milkman READ
✔52. 2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, READ or
☑️Girl, Woman, Other Bernardino Evaristo read 2024,
✔53. 2020. Shuggie Bain Douglas Stewart COMPLETED 3/24/22
54. 2021, The Promise by Damon Galgut
☑. 2022, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilakaurns 2024
☑56. 2023 Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
☑57. Orbital - Samantha Harvey
45/59 READ

Booker International
✔ 2016- The Vegetarian - Han Kang South Korea, READ
✔ 2017- A Horse Walks Into a Bar - David Grossman - Israel. READ
2018 - Flights - Olga Tokarczuk - Poland OWN
2019 - Celestial Bodies - Jokha al-Hearth - Oman (Hoopla)
2020 - The Discomfort of Evening - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - Netherlands
☑2021 - At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop - France OWN
2022 - Tomb of Sand - Geetanjali Shree - India (Hoopla)
✔2023- Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov - Bulgaria READ
2024- Kairos - Jenny

4 of 9 read

Pulitzer Winners
Read in 2024
Breathing Lessons - Anne Tyler
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
Trust - Hernan Diaz
Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips
The Town
Alice Adams
Demon Copperhead
So Big - Edna Ferber

Pulitzer
1. 1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
✔2. 1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington Hoopla, 11/20/22
3. ✔1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
☑4. 1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
5. 1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
6. 1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
☑7. 1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
8. 1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) library
9. 1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
10. ✔1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
11. 1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
12. 1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge Own
13. 1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
14. ✔1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
15. 1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
16. 1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
17. ✔1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson 5/27/21
18. 1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
19. ✔1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell
20. 1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
21. 1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
22. ✔1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
23. 1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
24. 1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
25. 1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
26. 1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey
27. 1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren
28. 1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
29. 1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
30. 1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
☑31. 1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
32. 1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
33. ✔1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
34. 1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
35. 1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
✅. A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee
37. 1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
38. ✔1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury 3/27/21
39. ✔1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
40. 1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
41. 1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
✅. 1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau OWN audible play 3/23
43. 1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter READ some
✔44. 1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
45. 1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
✅. 1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday, Nov 2023
47. 1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford (audio/Hoopla)
✅. 1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner OWN 2/11/23
49. ✔1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty
☑50. 1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara
51. ✔1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
52. 1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
53. 1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever Read some
54. ✔1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer
55. ✔1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole
56. ✔1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
57. ✔1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker
58. 1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy OWN
59. 1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie
60. 1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry
61. 1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
62. ✔1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison
67. ☑ BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler OWN
68. 1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos70.
69. 1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
✔70. 1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley OWN 4/20/21
71. 1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
72. ✔1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
73. ✔1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
74. 1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford
75. 1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser
76. ✔1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
77. ✔1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
78. 2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
79. ✔2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
80. 2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo
81. ✔2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides
✔82. 2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
83. ✔2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
84. ✔2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
85. ✔2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
86. ✔2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz
87. ✔2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
88. 2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
89. ✔2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
90 ✔2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson OWN
91. ✔2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
92. ✔2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr
✔93. 2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen
94. ✔2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead
95. ✔2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer READ 12/22/21
✅. 2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers OWN
97. 2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead OWN
✔98. 2021 The Night Watchman (hoopla, audio) COMPLETED 1/3/21
99. 2022 The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
100a. 2023 ☑ Trust
100b. 2023☑Demon Copperhead
101. 2024☑Night Watch

Read in 2023
Angle of Repose 4/11/23
The Overstory 4/23/23
The Keeper's of the House 3/25/23
House Made of Dawn (1968), 11/2023
Death in the Family (1958)

British Author Challenge

Wildcard: Blast from the Past https://www.librarything.com/topic/356165
1. Mary Renault from 2022
2. Bernard Cornwell from 2021
☑3. . Bernardine Evaristo from 2020; Girl, Woman, Other Read May 19
4. Peter F. Hamilton from 2019
5. Zadie Smith from 2019
6. Simon Schama from 2017
7. AS Byatt from 2017
☑8. Hanif Kureishi from 2016 Buddha of Suburbia read March 8
9. Andrea Levy from 2015
☑10. Salman Rushdie from 2015 The Ground Beneath Her Feet read February 27

January: Joan Aiken & Arthur Conan Doyle
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356166
The Haunting of Lamb House

February: Emma Newman & Ronald Firbank https://www.librarything.com/topic/357893#
Planetfall - Emma Newman

March: Welsh Authors https://www.librarything.com/topic/358824
The Man From St. Petersburg - Ken Follett

April: Barbara Pym & Anthony Trollope https://www.librarything.com/topic/359637
Prudence and Jane
The Warden

May: Portal Fantasy https://www.librarything.com/topic/360372
The Wonderland Collection - Lewis Carroll

June: Kiran Millwood Hargrave & DH Lawrence https://www.librarything.com/topic/361107#
The Dance Tree
Studies in Classic Literature

July: Animal Tales https://www.librarything.com/topic/361731
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

August: KJ Charles & Winston Churchill
Death in the Spires
The Gathering Storm Grand Alliance

September: The 1980s
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

October: Gothic Fiction The Essex Serpent

November: EM Delafield & TH White
The Goshawk
The Diary of a Provincial Lady

December: Books Acquired in 2024
Western Lane
Orbital - Completed

American Author Challenge
JANUARY: Mark Twain
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

FEBRUARY: Susan Sontag
Debriefing: Collected Stories

MARCH: Truman Capote
The Grass Harp

APRIL: General Non-Fiction with host Caroline Caroline_McElwee

MAY: William Maxwell
Time Will Darken It

JUNE: Queer Authors with host Dr. Laura Koons lycomayflower

JULY: Susan Power a/k/a Mona Susan Power
A Council of Dolls -

AUGUST: Jeffrey Lent - In the Fall

SEPTEMBER: Living American authors who were born outside the US but adopted this country as their home. Claire of the Sea Light Edwidge Danticat (Haiti)

OCTOBER: Katharine Anne Porter - read some stories

NOVEMBER: Jewish American Authors
The Magician of Lubin
The Chosen
Goyhood
Poor Matza

DECEMBER: The Heartland (regional authors from the middle of the country) So Big - Edna Ferber

WILD CARD : 2015 Redux
Pick an author from the 2015 Challenge

The War Room
JANUARY - Ancient Wars (Greeks/Romans/Persians/Carthage/Egyptians/Alexander, etc) https://www.librarything.com/topic/356820s
Persian Fire by Tom Holland
History of the Peloponnesian War - Tjucudides
The Silver Branch

FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358097#n8402612
Rise to Rebellion - Jeff Shaara
Valley Forge - Newt Gingrich

MARCH - The War of the Roses : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358941

APRIL - Wars of Religion https://www.librarything.com/topic/359824#n8524265
Emma's War - Deborah Scroggins

MAY - Napoleonic Wars : https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466

JUNE - English Civil War : https://www.librarything.com/topic/361198

JULY - Colonial Wars

AUGUST - WW2
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan Libby
Peace by Richard Bausch Libby COMPLETED
The Gathering Storm

SEPTEMBER - American Civil War
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf-War, Afghanistan)
Understanding Iraq - William R. Polk

NOVEMBER - WW1 :
Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger
The Ghost Road

DECEMBER - Spanish Civil War
There Your Heart Lies - Mary Gordon
The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys

WILDCARD - Pick your own fight

Books Acquired:
January
Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem - Emilio Salgari (Kindle)
Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese, won through Bookspsin
February
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch, (Audible)
The Rest of Life - Mary Gordon, (used, Florida)
March
A Place Called Freedom - Ken Follett (used, Florida)
2001: A Space Odyssey - Clarke (book for Florida shelf) free.
28-Day Fast Start Day-By-Day (purchased)
The House of Doors - Tan Twan Eng (audible)
April
Beneath a Scarlet Sky - Mark Sullivan (Audible)
The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue, (Audible)
West with Giraffes - Lynda Rutledge (Audible)
May
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes, (B&N)
Diaries of Jane Somers - Used, Abe Books
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok, (Used, Minnesota)
Under the Yoke - Ivan Vazov, Kindle
The Quest - Frederik van Eeden, Kindle
Time Will Darken It - William Maxwell, audible credit
June
Mason & Dixon- Thomas Pynchon (Amazon)
James - Percival Everett (Cosco)
World Travel an irreverent Guide- Anthony Bourdain (Cosco)
The Devil in the Flesh - Raymond Radiguet, 1001, French author
Brotherless Night - V.V. Ganeshananthan, this author resides in Minnesota, teaches the MFA program at the UofM. Director of Minnesota Prison Writing Work. Winner of the Women's Prize.
Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, winner of the International Booker 2023. I've read this and had decided I wanted to own this book as It was a favorite in 2023.
July
London Orbital
the Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories - Bruno Schultz
Blue Zone Challenge
August
Salvage the Bones
Memoirs of Hadrian
September
Rebel With a Cause, Finally comfortable being Graham - Franklin Graham (book) Free
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West (Kindle)
The Making of Americans - Gertrude Stein (A)
How the Dead Live - Will Self (A)
October
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories
Western Lane
Lonesome Dove
November
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Tale of Genji audio book
V. - Thomas Pynchon
December
The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson
Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami
The Backyard Bird Chronicles - Amy Tan
What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking - Caroline Chambers
His Family - ERnest Poole (K)

Books started and yet not finished
Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson (started 2019)
The Melancholy of Resistance - Laszlo Krasznahorkai (January 2024) COMPLETED
The Diaries of Jane Somers - Doris Lessing, June 2024 COMPLETED

*Favorite books by author/country.
Afghanistan
*A Thousand Splendid Sun (this author is now in US) Khaled Hosseini
The Patience Stone (this author is in France now) - Atiq Rahimi
Albania
*Broken April - Ismail Kadare
Algeria
*The Plague - Albert Camus
Andorra
Angola
A General Theory of Oblivion - Jose Eduardo Agualusa
Antigua and Barbuda
*Annie John - Jamaica Kincaid
Argentina
Jorge Luis Borges - Fictions
*Fever Dream - Samanta Schwebin
Santa Evita - Tomas Eloy Martinez
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Armenia
Australia
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Deep Road to the North - Richard Flanagan
*Remembering Babylon = David Malouf
Austria
*Old Masters - Thomas Bernhard
The Piano Teacher - Elfriede Jelinek
Wittgenstein's Nephew - Thomas Bernhard
Correction - Thomas Bernhard
Azerbaijan

Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Svetlana Alexievich Secondhand Time not read
Belgium
The Lion of Flanders - Hendrik Conscience
Fear and Trembling - Amelie Nothomb
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Chronicles - Ivo Andric (not read)
Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andric (not read)
The Death and the Dervish - Meša Selimović (not read)
Botswana
Brazil
* Posthumous Memoir of Bras Cubas - Machado de Assis
Dom Casmurro- Machado de Assis
Devil in Pay in the Backland - Joao Guimaraes Rosa
Paulo Coelho
Brunei
Bulgaria
* Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov
Auto de Fe - Elia Canetti
Burkina Faso
Burundi

Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
*Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Alice Munro
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Cape Verde
Central Affrican Republic
Chad
Chile
Robert Bolano
*Of Love and Shadows - Isabel Allende
China
*Monkey King: Journey to the West
Half a Man is Woman
Columbia
Our Lady of Assassins - Fernando Vallejo
One Hundred Years of Solitude -
*Love in a Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Comoros
Congo, Democratric Republic
Congo, Republic of
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Slavenka Drakulic, want to read If I am Not There
Cuba
*The Lost Steps - Alejo Carpentier
Cyprus
*The Maidens - Alex Michaelides
Czech Republis
*Closely Watched Trains - Bohumil Hrabel
Milan Kundara

Denmark
*Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Høeg
Djibouti
Dominica
Phillis Shand Allfrey - The Orchid Housee (not read)
*Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Dominican Republic
* The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao - Junet Diaz
The Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
*Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz
* Woman at Point Zero - Narwal El Saadawi
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
* Professor Martens' Departure - Jaan Kross
Ethiopia
*Cutting for Stone - Abraja, Verghese
The Shadow King - Maaza Mengiste (not read yet)
Fiji
Finland
The Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinna
Purge - Sofi Oksanen (not read yet)
France
*Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec
Raymond Queneau, Guy de Maupassant, Honore de Balzac

Gabon
The Bambia
Georgia
Germany
*Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann
The Safety Net - Heinrich Böll
Ghana
Greece
*Deadline in Athens - Pétros Márkarīs
Nikos Kazantzakis
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
*The Dark Child - Camara Laye
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana

Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
László Krasznahorkai
*Embers - Sándor Márai

Iceland
Independent People - Halldór Laxness
India
The Great Indian Novel - Shashi Tharoor
Indonesia
The Rainbow Troops - Andrea Hirata
Iran
The Blind Owl - Hidāyat, Ṣādiq
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
*Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
Iraq
Ireland
*Amongst Women - John McGahern
The Sea - John Banville
Ulysses - James Joyce
Israel
The Myth of Samson - David Grossman
*To The End of the Land - David Grossman
Italy
I'm Not Scared - Niccolo Ammaniti
*If This is Man - Primo Levi

Jamaica
A Brief History of Seven Killings - Marion James
Japan
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Jordan

Kazakhstan
Kenya
Dance of the Jakaranda - Peter Kimani
Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo
Kiribati
Kurdistan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan

Best book(s) by Country (using UN list), part 3

Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Because They Hate - Brigitte Gabriel (NF)
Lesotho
Chaka - Thomas Mofolo (Wishlist)
Liberia
Libya
Hisham Matar - My Friends Booker Long list
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg

Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
*The Garden of Evening Mist - Tan Twan Eng
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Island
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Life Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
The Devil's Highway - Luis Alberto Urrea
Micronesia, Federated States of
Moldova
Monaco
Mozambique
Myanmar (Burma)

Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
*All Souls' Day - Cees Nooteboom
Harry Mulisch
New Zealand
Keri Hulme
Janet Frame
Eleanor Catton
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Half a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
*Arrow of God - Chinua Achebe
North Korea
The Girl with Seven Names - Hyeonseo Lee
Norway
*Kristin lavransdatter - Sigrid Undset
Growth of Soil - Knut Hamsun
Jon Fosse

Oman

Pakistan
Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Exit West
Palau
Palestine
A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Deep Rivers Jose Maria Arguerdas
Philippines
Poland
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Flights on my TBR, International Booker
Stanislaw Lem science fiction
Portugal
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis- Jose Saramago

Qatar

Romania
Russia
*The First Circle - Aleksandr Solzehenitsyn
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
So Long a Letter - Mariama Bâ
Serbia
Dictionary of the Khazars - Miorad Pavic TBR
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Alamut - Vladimir Bartol
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
*Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
J.M. Coetzee
Nadine Gordimer
South Korea
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
South Sudan
Spain
The Hive - Camilo José Cela
Sri Lanka
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka
Sudan
Seasons of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih
Suriname
Swaziland (Eswatini)
Sweden
The Red Room - August Strindberg
Switzerland
The Judge and the Hangman - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Syria
No Knives in the Kitchens of this City - Khālid Khalīfah
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Bangkok Wakes to Rain - Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Togo
Tongo
Trinidad and Tobago
A Bend in the River - V.S. Naipaul
Jumbies - Tracey Baptiste
Tunisia
Turkey
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu

Uganda
A History of Burning -
Ukraine
The Cathedral - Oles Honchar
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
England
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Scotland
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Wales
Northern Ireland
C.S.Lewis - A Grief Observed
United States Of America
Uruguay
The Shipyard - Juan Carlos Onetti
Memory of Fire - Eduardo Galeano
Uzbekistan

Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Paradise of the Blind - Thu Huong Duong
The Best We Could Do - Thi Bui

Yeman

Zambia
Zimbabwe
Nervous Conditions - Tsitsi Dangarembga

October Plans
1001 Books
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West (currently reading)
The Victim - Saul Bellow
How the Dead Live - Will Self

American Author Challenge The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter I will read as many as I can.

British Author Challenge
The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

The War Room
Understanding Iraq - Polk

Anita Memorial Read(s) options
Winderdance
Tigana
Sidetracked

BookClub Reads
Murder Your Employer Rupert Holmes
The Dead Don't Dance

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Tomb of Sand Geentanjali Shree (Booker)

TIOLI
1. Your Duck is My Duck, The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
2. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
3. Yesterday is History - Jackson, The Keeper of Night - Baker
4
5. Tigana, Winterdance, Sidetracked
6.

7. Speechless - Adam P. Schmitt
9. Forest Dark - Nicole Krauss
10
11. Sudden Death, Death Comes for the Archbishop, or The End of Your Life Bookclub
12. I don't want to be The Victim

13. Challenge #13 - Read a book that is Booker related Creation Lake, Tomb of Sand

November Plans

December Plans

It's October 1st and the start of the finish of 2024. It has been a good reading year so far. Today we have October weather with lows in 40s and highs in 60s but it was a warm and dry September.

Currently reading
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West botm Reading 1001
Spiritual Disciplines for Christian Living
Berean Study Bible Chronological reading 2024
Understanding Iraq - War Room

I was posting on your 'old' thread when I discovered you have a new one, so I am checking in here too :)

Have a terrific Tuesday, Kristel!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Kristel. Great to see your threads chugging along so splendidly this year.

>15 alcottacre:, Thank you Stasia. It would great to do a shared read of My Duck and Your Duck (ha, ha). Yes, I thought The Victim was a good one. And thank you for stopping by.

>16 drneutron:, Thank you Jim

>17 figsfromthistle:, Thank you, Anita.

Happy New Thread, Kristel! In answer to your question, yes, the Ku Klux Klan did exist in Canada, which I think was news to me. I linked up an article from Wikipedia on my thread. I think it was relatively a small and short lived thing here, but still horrifying.

>20 vancouverdeb: I suspect there are still Klu Klux here. They however don't get by with what they used to do, thank goodness.

120.
Book Understanding Iraq - William R. Polk
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date/place: 10/1/24, Hoopla
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 to 4 stars
Book description/summary: history, culture and war
Challenge(s): America's follies War Room
Author: US
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, history
Liked: easy to understand, concise, goes way back in history
Disliked: I think it was fairly represented but one never knows for sure

Wednesday; starting Creation Lake today. On Deck; Murder Your Employer and The Essex Serpent. There up on Deck because they are on Libby and I only get 14 days.
My #bookspin for October: Sidetracked (Anita's Memorial read)
#Dooublespin is The Thinking Reed which is my reading 1001 botm and I am currently reading.

Today is women's Bible Study and later today is KidzLife check in (volunteer).

My dog is sick, she has not been feeling well for over a week now. She's not eating and is weak.

Thursday today, a cool day today. Its like a roller coaster but still a very nice October so far. My heart and prayers go out to those who are in the disaster areas.

Currently reading
The Thinking Reed by Rebecca West
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

My thoughts. West's book is about a rich, orphaned, widowed American living in France. Searching for a husband and a new life.

Kushner's book is about a ruthless, opinionated, "clean" beauty living in France. Searching to destroy lives.
I think I could enjoy the Kushner book better if she would have not read it herself. She has a great voice and is doing reasonable well at reading it but I think it would have been stronger if the male voices sounded male.

121.
Book Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: Sept 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: ruthless woman spy in France
Challenge(s): reading the Booker long/short list
Author: US, Oregon
List book: Booker Short list
Genre fiction, espionage, enviromental activism
Liked: covers all the current cultural issues
Disliked: some sexual explicit that wasn't necessary

Ooh, sorry to hear about your dog, Kristel. How is she today? Much better, I hope. I considered reading Creation Lake, but I'm not sure. I am weary of books I don't like much.

>26 vancouverdeb:, Thanks Deborah. I think Lucy (the dog) has made a turn to the better but she has a ways to go. She got so weak from not eating that she could hardly walk and I had to carry her, especially on the stairs. She now does walk a bit more and does a few steps. She doesn't look so dispirited as she did when I first got back home. I am more hopeful that she will survive.

October Plans
1001 Books
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West COMPLETED
The Victim - Saul Bellow COMPLETED
How the Dead Live - Will Self COMPLETED

American Author Challenge The Collected Stories Katherine Anne Porter I will read as many as I can. The Never Ending Wrong COMPLETED

British Author Challenge
The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry COMPLETED

The War Room
Understanding Iraq - Polk COMPLETED

Anita Memorial Read(s) options
Sidetracked - Henning Mankill COMPLETED

BookClub Reads
Murder Your Employer Rupert Holmes COMPLETED
The Dead Don't Dance

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Tomb of Sand Geentanjali Shree (Booker)

TIOLI
1. Your Duck is My Duck, The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
2. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
3. Yesterday is History - Jackson
4 The Keeper of Night (Sword)
5. Sidetracked
6. Understanding Iraq COMPLETED

7. Speechless - Adam P. Schmitt COMPLETED
9. Forest Dark - Nicole Krauss
10. The Dead Don't Dance
11. Sudden Death, Death Comes for the Archbishop, or The End of Your Life Bookclub
12. I don't want to be The Victim COMPLETED

13. - Read a book that is Booker related Creation Lake COMPLETED, Tomb of Sand
14. - Last Major Published Work by an Author. The Never Ending Wrong - Katherine Anne Porter COMPLETED
15. Read a book whose title breaks a law or a commandment Murder Your Employer COMPLETED
16. Read a book whose title includes something "written"

>25 Kristelh: Thanks for your thoughts on that one. I am going to read it at some point, but I have no idea when.

>27 Kristelh: I am glad to hear that Lucy is doing at least a little better. I hope that continues!

Summary Week September 29 through October 5th.
Books Read


Best book this week: Trust - Hernan Diaz, 4 stars

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Malechi 1-4
Luke 1 - 5
John 1 - 4
Mathew 1-3
Mark 1

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney

Currently reading
The Thinking Reed 40%
Murder Your Employer 31%

On deck
The Essex Serpent

Sunday plans
Life Communities (Sunday School)
Church
Concert with Kaleidoscope Quartet
small group

Report on Lucy; She walked to the door and outside and back into the house on her own and she ate breakfast. So far she has not moved to her dog bed so she might have wore out. That's more than she had been doing. Breathing is still labored but she doesn't look to be in as much pain.

Monday morning. Temps are getting lower at night and leaves are starting to fall.
Reading progress
Murder Your Employer - 46%
The Thinking Reed - 49%

122.

Book Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: B&N, May 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: Hogwarts for adults without the magic. I robot rules for Deletest.
Challenge(s): bookclub read Oct 2024
Author: British
List book: no
Genre fiction
Liked: humor
Disliked: nothing; mostly enjoyable, not too serious, fun read

On deck, Essex Serpent, I can't wait to hear your thoughts, Kristel. Murder Your Employer sounds like a fun read.

>33 vancouverdeb:, Hi Deborah. I’ve started the Essex Serpent. It is a bit hard to concentrate on it but I’m trying some of my tricks to make it easier. I am a bit distracted with the hurricane in Florida and my dog being sick. Murder Your Employer was a fun read.

I really hope things improve for Lucy. I have a fur baby myself, Poppy, also a dog, and yes, if she were not well, I would be very distracted. I can understand that the Hurricane is also distracting. I am keeping an eye on the news for that. I'll be interested in Essex Serpent compares to Enlightenment. I hope you enjoy your Dracula puzzle. Sounds like fun!

>32 Kristelh: I wanted to read that one for this month, but someone has had it checked out of the library since last year. It was overdue on 5/3/23. I wonder when they consider it missing. . .

>36 alcottacre:, yes, I would say it is missing Stasia. Maybe they’re hopeful that someone will find it and return it but maybe they should get another copy.

Update on Lucy. She is seriously ill and will not recover. I have brought her home to spend the weekend with her. It will be a sweet sorrow weekend.

Oh , Kristel, I am so sad to read about Lucy being seriously ill
. I will pray for comfort for both you and Lucy . ❤️

So sorry, Kristel, about your dear puppy. You have given her such a good life and now you will be with her to comfort her at the end.

As Deborah said above, I too will pray for comfort for both you and Lucy.

Karen O

>39 vancouverdeb:, >40 klobrien2:. Thank you for your prayers and kind words, Deborah and Karen.

>38 Kristelh: Oh, I am so sorry, Kristel! I wish there was something that I could do.

>42 alcottacre:. Thank you Stasia, the kindness and prayers of my reading community gives me comfort.

123.
Book The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry
Format: e-reader/audio
Original publication date: 2016
Acquisition date/place: 2018
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: Strong woman, takes on the Essex Serpent
Challenge(s): BAC
Author: British
List book: it made it to several lists
Genre historical fiction, women fiction, mythology
Liked: learning about the myth and historical aspects
Disliked: some minor references to sexual topic but overall, not to bad on language or explicit sexual content.

Sunday morning, cool and windy. My Lucy died in my arms last night. She is at peace now. I am sad but also thankful that she could go at home.

Weekly Summary; October 6-12
Books Read (2)

Best book this week - Murder Your Employer. The Essex Serpent was probably more literary but it wasn't an easy read or as entertaining.
The Crowd - Ray Bradbury

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Mathew 8, 12, 5, 6, 7, 9
Mark 2, 3
Luke 6, 7, 11
John 5

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney - 39%
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney

Currently reading:
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West 80%
The Victim - Saul Bellow

On Deck:
Sidetracked - Henning Mankell
The Dead Don't Dance
How the Dead Live

Today we will celebrate my youngest granddaughter's 16th birthday. Today's the first day without my dog, Lucy. I will be spending time mourning her. I took a walk alone but her memory was with me. I am working on the Dracula Jigsaw puzzle. It is almost done.

124.
Book The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 1936
Acquisition date/place: 9/13/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: privileged woman takes on industrialist man
Challenge(s): Reading 1001 botm
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre Literary fiction, romance, domestic
Liked: I liked the exploration of marriage
Disliked: boring plot, unlikeable characters (but they did grow).

>45 Kristelh: It’s so heartbreaking that Lucy has passed, but I am so grateful that she could pass in your arms , and is at peace . I’ll be thinking of you , Kristel , and praying for comfort for you .

>48 vancouverdeb:, Thank you Deborah. Today has gone okay. I miss her with just about every thing I do because she was always there. But I am going to have to start talking to myself, I'm afraid.

So sorry to hear about Lucy, Kristel, but glad she was able to pass at home and with you.

It's great that we have found each other on Instagram , Kristel. Thanks for liking so many of my pictures. You've got some great puzzles posted. Again, my condolences on Lucy's passing. I chat a lot with our dog , Poppy, so I understand about the need to perhaps talk to yourself. Yes, they are so woven into everything we do.

>51 vancouverdeb:. I am so happy to connect on Instagram. It's going to be great sharing jigsaw puzzles. Thanks for your very kind words Deborah.

>50 bell7:, Thanks for the kind words Mary.

Wednesday
Currently reading
The Never-Ending Wrong - Katherine Anne Porter.
Sidetracked - Henning Markell

Finished The Victim. Need to review it.

We finally have had some frosty mornings the last two mornings, though they say another warm up is on the way.

>44 Kristelh: I remember reading this a long time ago and gave it around the same rating.

>45 Kristelh: I am so sorry to hear about Lucy ((hugs))

>55 figsfromthistle:, Thank you, Anita.

125.
Book The Victim - Saul Bellow
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1947
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital/Oct 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: everyday man struggles with his prisons
Challenge(s): reading 1001, TBR takedown
Author: US, Jewish American, Nobel prize winner
List book: 1001
Genre literary fiction
Liked: I liked the themes of man struggles with Fate but winning
Disliked: nothing really, Bellow can be challenging but this one was okay I rated it 4 stars

126.
Book The Never-Ending Wrong - Katherine Anne Porter
Format: book
Original publication date: 1977
Acquisition date/place: October 2024, MN Link Library system
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: the pain we inflict on others is the never-ending wrong
Challenge(s): AAC, Katherine Anne Porter
Author: US
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, memoir, history, social commentary
Liked: it was short, some good quotes, reminds me that things don't really change
Disliked: I think he sentences tended to be convoluted.

127.
Book Sidetracked - Henning Mankell
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1995
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital, Oct/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: serial killer to the rescue
Challenge(s): Anita memorial
Author: Sweden
List book: no
Genre mystery, crime, fiction
Liked: it was entertaining
Disliked: disturbing visuals

Summary Week 13 - 19
Important events include the 16th birthday of my youngest granddaughter. One week now without my Lucy dog. First time I turned the furnace on this year but all in all, October has been warm. Highs of 72 and lows of 31. We got a very small of light rain on Saturday. I picked several boxes of apples which are quite good this year.

Books read


Best book this week The Victim 4 stars

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Mathew 13, 10, 14, 15, 16
Mark 4,5,6,7,8
Luke 8, 9,
John 6
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney - 52%
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback (didn't read any this past week)
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney haven't really started

Currently reading:
Old Morality from Pale Horse, Pale Rider collection
How the Dead Live - 36%

On Deck:
The Dead Don't Dance
Speechless
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Happy Reading everyone. Today should be a great day with sunshine, starting with church.

The 16 th birthday of your granddaughter! What a big occasion, Kristel. I've been thinking of you and the loss of dear Lucy. I'm glad your week was okay. I'm also a Henning Mankell fan.

>61 vancouverdeb:.Hi Deborah. Thank you so much for your thoughts and for stopping by. I have started a new jig saw puzzle but not past the sorting phase yet.

>45 Kristelh: I am so sorry to hear about Lucy, Kristel. I know you loved her well and am sure the reverse is also true. ((Hugs))

>47 Kristelh: Sounds like one I can safely skip!

>57 Kristelh: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Kristel.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>63 alcottacre:, Thank you Stasia. Thanks for your kind words and hugs!

128.
Book How The Dead Live - Will Self
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2000
Acquisition date/place: 2024/Sept
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: the title says it all
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, monthly word
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre Literary, horror, fantasy
Liked: a look at issues through the dead
Disliked: there is a lot of swearing and use of God and Jesus name in vain. (but it fit the character) Too much repetition. It is gruesome.

129.
Book Speechless - Adam Schmitt
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2018
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla/October 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: middle school age boy delivers eulogy at funeral for his cousin
Challenge(s): Read a book about giving a speech TIOLI
Author: US
List book: no
Genre YA, realism, fiction
Liked: it was good
Disliked: the ending was off a bit but I could see what author was trying to do

130. From The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter;
Old Mortality
One of several short works by Katherine Anne Porter. This one is about a family and the influence of past relatives even after they have died. It is set in the south. One of the themes she writes about is about family history, childhood, women’s place in society.

131.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Short story set in New York and is a ghost story inspired by some true events. It is not a myth. It's just a story, a classic at that.

132.
Book The Dead Don't Dance - Charles Martin
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital 10/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: what can go wrong will go wrong
Challenge(s): LHBC read
Author: US
List book: no
Genre romance, Christian
Liked: not sure, good ending?
Disliked: it didn't seem very believable

It's Friday. Life has been very busy but I am trying to get some of my books read. Today the sun is shining but it is much cooler. The leaves on my trees that are still on the trees are beautiful but there are a lot on the ground as well. Probably have to mow to mulch them.
Currently reading The Story of O - Pauline Reage. Not recommended unless you are into erotica with sadism. I'm listening to it at 1.7 speed and thinking of turning it to 2. The less I catch the better. This is a 1001 book, French author.

I don't think The Story of O would be my cup of tea. Yes, speed up the audio, Kristel.

Summary Week October 20-26,
This has been a busy week. Yesterday and today I did some cooking and had my family around. We finally celebrated the granddaughters birthday with some cake and the meal that she requested.

Books read


Best book this week: How the Dead Live 3.75 stars

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Mathew 17, 18
Mark 9
John 7, 8, 9, 10
Luke 10, 12, 13, 14

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney - 52%
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney haven't really started

Currently reading:
The Story of O - Pauline Reage
Noon Wine - Katherine Anne Porter

On Deck:
Your Duck is My Duck - shared read with Stasia

Happy Reading everyone! It was a nice day for a walk. Upcoming this week. Bookclub group to discuss Murder Your Employer, Halloween, end of October, November is here, end of DST. Posting November Bingo card. I have a full card but may tweak after the TIOLI challenge is posted. Have a great week.

133.
Book The Story of O - Pauline Reage (pen name)
Format: audiobook (was free on Audible Play, expires 10/28/24.
Original publication date: 1954
Acquisition date/place: October 2024, audible play, expires 10/28/24.
Decimal/ Star rating: 2 stars
Book description/summary: a exploration of freedom verses slavery through erotica
Challenge(s): Reading 1001 list
Author: French
List book: 1001
Genre erotica
Liked: That it was short and I could speed it up (audible) so that I didn't have to soak in the cesspool. The best part was the introduction.
Disliked: I don't like to read erotica. I would never spend money to read it.

134.
Book Your Duck is My Duck - Deborah Eisenberg
Format: short stories
Original publication date: 2018
Acquisition date/place: Indiespensible, Powell's subscription box (wish they still had this) 10/2018
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: short stories are not my thing, 6 stories included in the book
Challenge(s): read a collection by a female author, TIOLI, shared read with Stasia
Author: US
List book: no
Genre short stories
Liked: hmm, some are better than others but that would be expected
Disliked: my least favorite was the title story

>74 Kristelh: Sounds like you and I are pretty much on the same page about that one. Hopefully our next shared read, whatever it is, will be better for both of us.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

>75 alcottacre:, Thank you for stopping by Stasia, have a great day with your daughters.

135.
Book Yesterday is History - Kosoko Jackson
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2021
Acquisition date/place: AudioFilySync/2022
Decimal/ Star rating: 2 stars
Book description/summary: time travel in LGBTQ community
Challenge(s): TIOLI October
Author: US
List book: no
Genre romance/LGBTQ
Liked: characters were likable
Disliked: romance

136.
Book Keeper of Night - Kylie Lee Baker
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2021
Acquisition date/place: 2023, AudioSyncFile Free summer program
Decimal/ Star rating: 1 Star
Book description/summary: violence and gore. Japanese
Challenge(s): TIOLI
Author: US author with Japanese/Chinese heritage
List book: no
Genre YA fantasy
Liked: I did not like much about this book it
Disliked: violent with gory descriptions, a character that was unlikeable but she did make progress in character. Very dark and demonic

137. Noon Wine - Katherine Anne Porter
another story in the Pale Horse, Pale Rider collection. I liked this one better than Old Maturity. This is the story of a southern dairy farm family and a hired hand, a Swede, that works efficiently and doesn't talk much but he plays the same song on his harmonica all the time. It is a dark tragic story.

TIOLI plans for November:
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a two-word title, with at least one of its title words beginning with the same letter as one of the two beginning letters of the previously listed book title - The Goshawk
Other possibilities; Alice Adams

2. Anita Memorial Reads: 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s - msg #3

3. Read a book by an author you've read before but in a series you've never read - msg #4

4. Inspired by Anita. Read a book by a female author that has a female main character - msg #7 Diary of a Provincial Lady - E. M. Delafield
The Woman Who Split the Atom

5. Read a book with something fragile, liquid, or perishable in the title - msg #8
At Night All Blood is Black

6. Read a book with a connection to chivalry - msg #11 Black Dogs

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book for the Zodiac challenge (Scorpio) - msg #13

8. Read a book where the title contains a musical term - msg #15 For Whom the Bell Tolls

9. Get back into (or restart) a book you started before the end of August this year - msg #16 The Melancholy of Resistance, Started this in Jan 2024

10. Read a book about the Jewish American Experience (Fiction or Nonfiction)- msg #14
The Magician of Lubin
Goyhood
Denial - Deborah Lipstadt
The Chosen
Summerland

11. Read a book about the "Great War" - msg #29
Storm of Steel
War and the Future

12. Read a book with "silver" or "gold" or a name that refers to silver or gold in the title - msg #29
The Silver Chair

November 1st. I will be summarizing the month here. I read 17 works, three of these were short stories.

November 1st, happy new month. I have restarted The Melancholy of Resistance and am going to start The Goshawk by T.H.White (nonfiction).

We did have slushy snow flakes yesterday but all in all the ground was too warm and it all melted as it fell. Woke to one of our coldest mornings today. Day Lite Savings will end soon and the election adds will also end soon.

Happy November, Kristel! Oh, it's early for any sort of snowflakes here, but some winters we don't get any snow at all. Yes, sigh, Day Light Savings is over soon and we are plunged into the dark so quickly each day. Enjoy your reads.

October Summary

1001 Books - 4
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West
The Victim - Saul Bellow
How the Dead Live - Will Self
The Story of O - Pauline Reage

American Author Challenge:
Katherine Anne Porter
Read: Old Mortality
Noon Wine
The Never-Ending Wrong

British Author Challenge
Gothic: The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

War Room
Understanding Iraq

Anita Memorial Read(s)
Sidetracked - Henning Mankell

BookClub Reads
The Dead Don't Dance
Murder Your Employer

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists

Others
Yesterday is History
The Keeper of Night
Your Duck is My Duck
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Speechless

Total read: 17

Booker: 0
Pulitzer: 0

Best book: How the Dead Live
Worst book: Keeper of Night

Books Acquired in October
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories - book
Western Lane - 1 credit, audible
Lonesome Dove - two for 1 credit audible

November Plans:
1001 Books
The Melancholy of Resistance
Storm of Steel
The Story of Lucy Gault (botm)
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Black Dogs

American Author Challenge. Jewish American Authors
The Magician of Lubin - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Poor Matza - Avrom Reisen
Goyhood - Reuven Fenton
Denial - Deborah Lipstadt
The Chosen - Chaim Potok

British Author Challenge
The Goshawk - T.H.White, COMPLETED
Diary of a Provincial Lady - E.M. Delafield

The War Room - The Great War
Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger
War and the Future H. G. Wells
At Night All Blood is Black

Anita Memorial Read(s) options
Turtles all the Way Down - John Green

BookClub Reads
Saving My Assassin - LHBC
Goyhood - JBC

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Alice Adams - Booth Tarkington, Pulitzer

Others (TIOLI)
The Coast Road - Alan Murrin
The Woman Who Split the Atom

138.
Book The Goshawk - T.H. White
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1951
Acquisition date/place: Nov 2024, Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: a book about nature and falconry
Challenge(s): BAC
Author: British
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, memoir, nature, falconry
Liked: I read H is for Hawk and this one is one she referred to often. I recommend reading them as a pair. I learned new things about White the author and man. He mentions WWI and mostly is a nonviolent.
Disliked: I enjoyed it, I have no complaints

139.
Book The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date/place: Nov 2, 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: Grief and guilt
Challenge(s): Reading 1001 botm
Author: Irish
List book: 1001
Genre Fiction, domestic fiction
Liked: nice quiet story
Disliked: maybe not quite believable

Summary of the week October 27 - Nov 2

A little less busy this week but still not a slow week. October was a really great month. November is a bit cold and wet so far but this has to be the first year that I had plants outdoors that did not freeze until November 1st.

Books read



Best book this week: The Story of Lucy Gault (F) and The Goshawk (NF). 4 stars

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Matthew 19, 20,21
Mark 10, 11
Luke 16, 17, 18, 19
John 11, 12

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney - 80%
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney haven't really started
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one.

Currently reading:
The Magician of Lublin - Singer, about 40%
The Melancholy of Resistance - 54%

On Deck: I haven't decided yet.

Happy Reading everyone! Hope your weekend was a good one. My family was here for a meal. Working on our next jigsaw puzzle and my SIL got my lawnmower going. Needed a new battery. It was too wet most of the weekend to get much yard work done.

Enjoy your jigsaw puzzle, Kristel. Glad you enjoyed a family meal today.

140.
Book The Magician of Lublin - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1969 (English)
Acquisition date/place: 2023/November, audible
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: Jewish man's appetites
Challenge(s): AAC, Jewish/American
Author: US
List book: 1001
Genre literature
Liked: I liked the story
Disliked: felt bad for his wife

>89 Kristelh: Well, a 5-star rating from you on an Isaac Bashevis Singer book practically insists that I find a copy and read it. I’ve got a copy coming my way. Thanks for the heads-up!

Karen O

>90 klobrien2:, I hope you like it, Karen. I noticed that I rated it higher than others over at Reading1001.

Wednesday
Today is women’s bible study and Kidz life. I also will be getting eggs delivered today. Foggy this morning but hopefully will be warmer and less gray that the last several days. November has been very gray. Leaves are almost all down. Election is over and it was a real shift. God is in control, not man.

Currently reading;
The Melancholy of Resistance - at 63%. My goal is to finally finish this book that I started January 16th.
For Whom the Bell Tolls. I had to buy this as the waiting list at Libby was too long. Why does this happen. Kind of weird. I am at 40%.

On Deck:
The Coast Road - Murrin
Black Dogs

You are in for a treat with The Coast Road. At least I think you are, I really enjoyed it earlier this year, Kristel. I gave it 5 stars.

>93 vancouverdeb:, it has been on my list because of your recommendation, Deborah. I am looking forward to it.

>85 Kristelh: I need to read that one. I will have to see if my local library has a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Kristel!

>86 Kristelh: Dodging that BB as I have already read it.

>89 Kristelh: I need to read that one too!

>95 alcottacre:, Hope your library sources have it (Goshawk). I think I found it on Hoopla Digital. I enjoyed The Magician of Lublin a bit more than The Manor but the themes are the same.

141.

Book Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins - Eric A. Kimmel
Format: audio book
Original publication date: 1989
Acquisition date/place: Libby, Nov 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: a fun story that teaches about Hanukkah
Challenge(s): TIOLI
Author: American
List book: no but it did win a Caldercott Award, the art work looks like it would be great.
Genre children's story
Liked: it was an excellent way to learn about Hanukkah traditions.
Disliked

142.
Book For Whom the Bell Tolls
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1940
Acquisition date/place: Nov 2024 audible
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: life is brief, enjoy it to the fullest
Challenge(s): TBR takedown, reading 1001
Author: US
List book: 1001
Genre fiction
Liked: I liked the story well enough
Disliked: it read awkwardly because of author writing as if translating story from Spanish and also using words like obscenity and unprintable for swear words but I appreciated the effort and not having to read the words.

Summary of the week November 3-9

First full week of November has been very gray. I was wishing for some sunshine which did happen toward the end of the week. It also gets dark so early as we approach the winter equinox. But....can't complain about November weather when a person can still go around with a sweatshirt or light coat.

Books read 3


Best book this week: The Magician of Lublin though Herschell and the Hanukkah Goblins was quite good too.

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Matthew 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
Mark 12, 13, 14
Luke 20,21,22
John 13

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney -
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney haven't really started
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one.

Currently reading:
The Coast Road - Alan Murrin 28%
The Melancholy of Resistance - 79%

On Deck: Black Dogs, The Chosen, Alice Adams, Storm of Steel, The Woman Who Split the Atom, Turtles all the Way Down, etc.

Did finish recent jigsaw puzzle with my daughter and granddaughters. Spent time with them this weekend. Got the rain gutters cleaned out. Still need to put away outdoor furniture and empty the rain barrel and store that. Made Baked Ziti and apple crisp for my family.

I'm glad you finished a jigsaw puzzle with your daughter and family, Kristel. Apple crisp sounds delicious!

143.
Book The Melancholy of Resistance - Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Format: book
Original publication date: 1989
Acquisition date/place: Dec 2023
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: chaos and decay
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, January botm
Author: Hungary
List book: 1001
Genre fiction, allegory
Liked: there are many great prose but
Disliked: it is hard work to read

I am so happy to have finished The Melancholy of Resistance. This one was started in January but I decided to finally finish it for two reasons. The TIOLI challenge to read a book that had been abandoned. The other reason was Anita F had encouraged me to finish as she said it got better. She was right. Still it is a very difficult to read with longgggggg paragraphs. The writing is very good but it is truly a labor and you have to pay attention or you get lost.

Currently reading
The Coast Road which I will finish today.
At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop. This is about WWI and the Senegalese soldier’s that fought. Winner of the Booker International.

It’s Wednesday, light rain at the moment. Bible study today. We are studying Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback. Then I volunteer and Kidz church this evening.

Happy midweek, everyone.

Happy Midweek and Thursday, Kristel.

>103 vancouverdeb:,Thank you, Deborah.

It’s Thursday, cloudy. November has been grey which I think is normal for November.
Currently reading;
Turtles all the Way Down John Green (for Anita)
At Night all Blood is Black - David Diop for War Room. This is about WWI Senegalese soldiers. Also winner of International Booker.

>97 Kristelh: I love that one!

Have a great day, Kristel!

>106 alcottacre:,Thank you for that one, Stasia.

144.
Book The Coast Road
Format: Alan Murrin
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: Libby/Novemer 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: the question of divorce
Challenge(s): TIOLI/BB from Deborah
Author: Irish
List book: no
Genre fiction, debut, historical
Liked: It was an interesting look at how something meant for good can be used for evil.
Disliked: not really a dislike but found it interesting that this book was written by a man

145.
Book Turtles All the Way Down - John Green
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date/place: November 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: a picture of OCD, done well, but some of the rest of book not quite believable.
Challenge(s): Anita Memorial read
Author: US
List book: no
Genre young adult
Liked: good description of OCD, and interesting thoughts on how microorganisms exist within us. That's how The Melancholy of Resistance ends.
Disliked: I felt that some of the book wasn't quite believable but --- the author did a good job pointing out how mental illness interferes with relationships.

Glad you enjoyed The Coast Road. It was a 5 star read for me, Kristel. Happy Sunday! I gave up running at about the age of 40, as I felt my knees were taking such a pounding. I'm impressed at your marathon running , Kristel. I've certainly not done one of those. My hair stylist is 64 and she runs marathons at least twice a year. I find that quite amazing.

Summary of the week November 10-16

Books read 4


Best book this week: The Coast Road by Alan Murrin. BB from Deborah. Thank you Deborah for being such a good marksman.

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Matthew 27, 28
Mark 15, 16
Luke 23, 24
John 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Acts 1,2,3,4,5,6
It's been interesting to read the gospels in chronological order and to be reading the final days just before the Christmas season starts.

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney -
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney waiting
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one

Currently reading:
All Blood is Black at Night - David Diop, this is set during WWI and is about Sengali soldiers. It is violent but also beautifully writtin. Winner of the Booker International
Black Dogs - Ian McEwan

On Deck: The Chosen, Alice Adams, Storm of Steel,

I ordered Madeleine's jigsaw puzzle Owl Autonomy. So I have that one to start. Love the Venice one too. I helped chauffeur for granddaughter's skating party this Saturday. Family spent Sunday here helping with fall work again. We put away the summer outdoor furniture. I still have the rain barrow to deal with and cold temperatures are predicted. Hope I can get out there. Rain is in the forecast. Hopefully no snow yet.

146.
Book Black Dogs - Ian McEwan
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1992
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital/Nov 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: Son-in-law writes of his mother in law.
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, word challenge
Author: British
List book: 1001, Booker Short list
Genre fiction
Liked: it explores the relationships from an orphans perspective.
Disliked: it receives mixed reviews. It was okay but I've liked other books by the author more.

Black Dogs sounds interesting, Kristel. I've only read Atonement by Ian McEwan so far.

>113 vancouverdeb:. Greeting Deborah. I’ve read 6 books by McEwan. My favorites (5 star) are Atonement and Amsterdam. A Child In Time 4 stars and Saturday, The Children’s Act and Black Dogs, 3 stars. But I would rate Black Dogs a little higher than the other two, so make it 3.5 stars. I will be reading The Comfort of Strangers in December.

147.

Book The Chosen
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1967
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: father and sons, religious identity
Challenge(s): Jewish/American Authors
Author: Jewish American
List book: National Book Award Finalist
Genre fiction, domestic
Liked: I liked learning about the differences in Jewish faith
Disliked: I liked it all

148.
Book At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop
Format: book
Original publication date: 2018
Acquisition date/place: 12/2/23
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: out of the trenches into madness
Challenge(s): WWI War Room
Author: Sengalese
List book: International Booker 2021
Genre fiction
Liked: violent book that wasn't hard to read
Disliked: horrible things

>108 Kristelh: I already have that one in the BlackHole or I would be adding it again!

>109 Kristelh: I think I liked that one a little better than you did but I agree that it is not one of Green's best.

>112 Kristelh: I have not read that one by McEwan but it sounds like I can wait on it.

>115 Kristelh: I am so glad to see that you enjoyed The Chosen as much as I do.

Thanks for stopping by Stasia. I will be reading The Comfort of Strangers by Ewan next month. He is a good author. I will read more books by Chaim Potok. My son had highly recommended The Chosen to me and was so happy that I was reading it.

Friday. Days are flying by. Soon I will be getting Thanksgiving foods ready. Then it is time to start planning my trip south and what I want to take with me. And of course getting ready for Christmas which means putting up all the decorations and then taking them all down. And of course more cooking. So many favorite foods this time of year.

Currently I am reading Storm of Steel and The Ghost Road by Pat Barker. WWI reads and both 1001 Reads.

149.
Book Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1920
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: memoir from the trench
Challenge(s): reading the Great War
Author: German
List book: Reading 1001
Genre memoir
Liked: pretty much matter of fact, not much politics
Disliked: lots of death of course

When do you to south, Kristel, and where to? I'm glad Thanksgiving in Canada is in October, it gives us time to recover in time for Christmas.

>121 vancouverdeb:. Hi Deborah. I was just thinking the same thing. I am envious of Canadians being able to enjoy Thanksgiving in October when the weather is usually better and a decent break before Christmas.

I head south after Christmas. Sometime after Christmas but probably January 1st. Traffic is good that day. I drive. I go to Bonita Springs, Florida which is south of Fort Meyers and north of Naples. I have several good friends from Canada that go there too. Most of them are either from the east coast, Toronto, and Quebec.

The weather is generally pretty nice because we are in the subtropics.

150.
Book Diary of a Provincial Lady - E.M Delafield
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1930
Acquisition date/place: November 23, 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: middle class lady tries to stay on the social ladder
Challenge(s): BAC
Author: British
List book: no
Genre fiction, epistolary, humor
Liked: quick, funny
Disliked: Diary Format was limiting

Summary of the week November 17 - 23

Books read 5

Best book this week: The Chosen - Chaim Potok

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Acts 7-16
James
Galatians 1-3

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney - @ 83%
Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney waiting
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one

Currently reading:
Alice Adams - audiobook, Hoopla Digital
The Ghost Road - On my Kindle, decided I should read it for War Room

On Deck:
Goyhood
Poor Matza

Been working on Owl Autonomy jigsaw.
Went to granddaughters play; She Kills Monsters.
Cooked a ham and then made Bean and Ham Soup. Starting preparations for Thanksgiving.
Weather is below normal cold. My thoughts are heading towards Florida.

Happy week everyone.

>124 Kristelh: That looks like a pretty good week!

Have a terrific Tuesday, Kristel!

>125 alcottacre:. Thank you Stasia. It was a good reading week. Do hope your kitchen woes are soon over.

151.
Book Alice Adams - Booth Tarkington
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1921
Acquisition date/place: 11/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: a girl of good qualities
Challenge(s): reading Pulitzers
Author: US author
List book: Pulitzer
Genre fiction
Liked: I liked this story of a young lady trying to make her way in the world
Disliked: there is some language with racial overtones

I think that most Canadians that head south for the winter are from Eastern Canada, Kristel, though not all. I have friend who has been heading to Arizona during the winter and she is from Vancouver. She still works, as a flight attendant, so I'm not sure how she fits that in her schedule.

152.
Book Poor Matza - Avrom Reisen
Format: audiobook
Original publication date:
Acquisition date/place: 2023/6
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: short stories, originally written in Yiddish, much of them like parables
Challenge(s): AAC, Jewish American
Author: US
List book: no
Genre short stories, Jewish
Liked: short stories that create picture of Yiddish culture
Disliked:

In difficult times we have to be thankful for:
Friends and friendship
Books and readers.
This special group
Our loved ones near and far.

Thinking about you, Kristel, this holiday period.

>130 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul for stopping by and your kind words. This holiday was a bit harder than usual as I really felt that it is the last Thanksgiving that my family will spend with me and I really feel my "aloneness" this year. But that is life and I will use the time wisely. And this group is Special! I count you among my friends even though I probably will never meet you face to face. Take care my friend.

It's Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and almost the last day of November and one month left before the end of 2024. It's bitterly cold here for November. (Minnesota).
Currently reading The Ghost Road by Pat Barker, at 78% and really want to finish it up by the end of November. I have also started The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati which is historical fiction about women doctor's and women's health care at the end of the 1800s. Not sure what I am thinking about this one but its on the shelf and needs to be read.

Happy weekend everyone, good reading!

153.
Book The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
Format: Kindle
Original publication date: 1995
Acquisition date/place: 12/4/20
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars, would have been 4 if it had not gone into sexual explicit details
Book description/summary: tragedy of politics deciding war and peace
Challenge(s): War Room, Reading1001
Author: British
List book: 1001, Booker
Genre historical fiction
Liked: Good writing, war book with female author.
Disliked: sexually explicit

Summary Week 24 - 30
Books read: 4

Best book: Alice Adams

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Galations 4-6
Acts 17-19
I & II Thessalonians
I Corinthians 1-11

Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney waiting
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one

Currently reading:
The Gilded Hour
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

On Deck:
Orbital
Demon Copperhead

Completed Owl Autonomy puzzle. It's a pretty one but the quality of the pieces is not good.
Went to concert locally with friends. Christmas with the Celts

November Summary

1001 Books - 6
Black Dogs
Melancholy of Resistance
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Storm of Steel
The Story of Lucy Gault
The Ghost Road

American Author Challenge:
Jewish American Authors
The Chosen - Chaim Potok
Poor Matza
Goyhood
The Magician of Lubin

British Author Challenge
The Goshawk T.H.White
Diary of a Provincial Lady - E.M. Delafield

War Room
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Spanish Civil War
Storm of Steel WWI
At Night All Blood is Black WWI
The Ghost Road

Anita Memorial Read(s)
Turtles All the Way Down

BookClub Reads
none

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Alice Adams - Pulitzer
The Ghost Road Booker

Others
The Coast Road - Alan Murrin
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
The Woman Who Split the Atom

Total read: 18

Booker: 1
Pulitzer: 1

Best book: The Chosen
Worst book: Goyhood

Books Acquired in November
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Tale of Genji audio book
V. - Thomas Pynchon

December Plans:
1001 Books
Miramar
The Comfort of Strangers
Sister Carrie
Maybe: The Circle or After the Death of Don Juan

American Author Challenge
The Topeka School
So Big - Edna Ferber

British Author Challenge
Obtained in 2024
Orbital (from Libby)
Western Lane - Audible

The War Room - Spanish Civil War
Spain in Our Hearts
A long Petal of the Sea
The International Brigades
There Your Heart Lies

Anita Memorial Read(s) options

BookClub Reads
Saving My Assassin - LHBC

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Orbital - Booker COMPLETED

Others (TIOLI)
A History of Burning
A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and Great War
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Old School
Habits of Grace
Bitter Greens
River East, River West

154.
Book The Gilded Hour - Sara Donati
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2015
Acquisition date/place: September 2022
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: Gilded Age and Comstock Act
Challenge(s): none
Author: US author
List book: no
Genre historical fiction
Liked: interesting, learned something, well researched
Disliked: too long, sexual content not needed as part of the romance

155.
Book Spiritual Disciplines for Christian Life - Donald S.Whitney
Format: e book/audio
Original publication date: 1991
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital, Septemer 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4stars
Book description/summary: practices every Christ follower should add
Challenge(s): read for Life Communities
Author: US
List book: 40 Books Every Christian Should Read
Genre nonfiction
Liked: easy to read, good examples, humor
Disliked:

156.
Book Orbital - Samantha Harvey
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: Nov 2024, Libby
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: plotless meditative prose about space and sociopolitical, envioronment, culture
Challenge(s): reading the Booker
Author: British
List book: Booker
Genre science fiction, SOC
Liked: liked some of the meditations as I could identify with them, others maybe not so much. But it is a book that deserved recognition and adds to the development of the novel.
Disliked: some of the meditations made it hard to stay engaged.

>127 Kristelh: I have seen the old film version with Katharine Hepburn, but never read the book. I will have to get around to it one of these days!

>133 Kristelh: As that is the third book in Barker's Regeneration trilogy, I already have it in the BlackHole, so no need to add it.

Have a terrific Tuesday, Kristel!

>140 alcottacre:. I don't think I've seen the movie. I think it would be one worth watching. Maybe I will have to see if I can find it.

>134 Kristelh: I have to say that I quite like your weekly summaries. Lots of work to do that but fun to read about!

>142 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

I'm glad you enjoyed Orbital, Kristel. I took it from the library quite a while ago , but returned it unread. I think the thought of people in outer space doesn't grab me, but maybe some day I will return to it.

Week summary: December 1-7
Books read: 3


Best book: This weeks best fiction was Orbital by Samantha Harvey because I really did not read much this week. I did finish Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life which was very good.

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
I Corinthians 12-16
II Corinthians 1-13
Romans 1-7

Colossians Fullness of Life in Christ - Lydia Brownback, will finish this one the upcoming week.
Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney waiting
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one

Currently reading:
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver 82% done. I will finish this one this week.
Miramar - Naguib Mahfouz. Should finish this also

On Deck:
The Comfort of Strangers - McEwan
So Big - Edna Ferber
There Your Heart Lies - Mary Gordon

We are having a short break from the very cold temperatures we had this week. Almost made 50 degrees yesterday. Enjoyed a Christmas Tea with my daughter and granddaughters. This week got the tree up and mostly done decorating. Sitting here, Sunday morning, watching a beautiful sunrise.

157.
Book Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2022
Acquisition date/place: December 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: addiction, addiction, addiction
Challenge(s): Read the Pulitzers
Author: US
List book: many awards/lists, Pulitzer for 2023
Genre literary fiction
Liked: well written
Disliked: a lot of addiction and other things that go along with the life style but it was a good book

158.
Book Miramar - Naguib Mahfouz
Format: book
Original publication date: 1967
Acquisition date/place: 11/20/22
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: story told in 4 POV set in the pension Miramar
Challenge(s): reading 1001, botm Dec 2024
Author: Egyptian
List book: yes, 1001, Nobel Prize winning author
Genre fiction, literary
Liked: I liked the story of the old and the young
Disliked: nothing of note

Stopping by to say, Hi, Kristel. I'm not sure if you enjoyed Demon Copperhead as you did not give it star value. I think I rated it a 4. 5 stars.

>148 vancouverdeb:, Hi Deborah. Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed it very much and felt it deserved the Pulitzer more than Trust did.

159.
Book Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 1900
Acquisition date/place: 2016
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: rurual girl makes way in urban life
Challenge(s): TBR takedown, reading1001
Author: American author
List book: 1001, Modern Library, Guardian 1000
Genre realistic, naturalism
Liked: not very believable even though it is "realism"
Disliked: The title doesn't really fit

Week summary: December 8-14
Books read: 3


Best book: Demon Copperhead - Kingsolver

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Romans 8-16
Acts 20 - 28
Colossians
Philemon

Praying the Bible - Donald Whitney waiting
Shepherds for Sale - Megan Basham I have a hold out on this one, extended hold another 2 weeks

Currently reading:
The Comfort of Strangers - Ian McEwan
The Death of Don Juan - Sylvia Townsend Warner

On Deck:
So Big - Edna Ferber
There Your Heart Lies - Mary Gordon

This past week as been okay, did get freezing rain and some snow yesterday. Was in the cities to see The Book of Mormon musical with my daughter and granddaughters. We had a good time. Two weeks and I will be on the road to Florida for the winter.

I've not finished a single book yet this month, Kristel. And it's the 15th. But I am getting into April in Spain and I got a new book from amazon today, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne, so things are looking up. I plan to go church this evening , the first time in 2 weeks, so things are getting back to normal.

160. Colossians: Fullness of Life in Christ, fall women's bible study. Not my favorite.

161.
Book The Comfort of Strangers - Ian McEwan
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1981
Acquisition date/place: Dec 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 1 star⭐
Book description/summary: horrid book, no comfort here
Challenge(s): Reading1001 botm
Author: British
List book: 1001, Booker Short List
Genre horrid, erotic thriller
Liked: nothing to like except at least it was short
Disliked: violent erotica

Too bad about The Comfort of Strangers, Kristel. I've only read Atonement by Ian McEwan and I was not a big fan.

Deborah, I've read a few McEwan, 7 in all
Atonement (2001) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saturday (2005) ⭐⭐⭐
Amsterdam (1998) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Children Act (2014) ⭐⭐⭐
The Child in Time (1987) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Comfort of Strangers (1981) ⭐
Black Dogs ⭐⭐⭐

Way to many McEwan on the combined 1001 list.

162.
Book There Your Heart Lies - Mary Gordon
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date/place: 12/13/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: idealog and woke
Challenge(s): War Room/TIOLI
Author: US
List book: no
Genre historical fiction
Liked: a good explanation of the Spanish Civil War
Disliked: heavy handed negativity toward religion and conservatives, woke.

163.
Book So Big - Edna Ferber
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1924
Acquisition date/place: 12/2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: "material man, raised by dirt-grubbing idealistic mother" Author quote.
Challenge(s): reading Pulitzer, 1025. Heartland American Author Challenge. TIOLI #7
Author: Jewish American
List book: Pulitzer
Genre fiction, historical fiction
Liked: good story telling
Disliked: all was good

Saturday, I haven't posted much lately. Busy I guess with getting ready for Christmas and also to leave for Florida after Christmas. We got several inches of snow this week so I've been shoveling too. It is suppose to warm up so maybe after Christmas it will melt away.

Just finished So Big - recommended
Currently reading After the Death of Don Juan which I am actually also liking. It is set in Spain and is kind of a retelling of the Don Juan myth. Townsend had a love for Spain and maybe is representing the class divisions of Spain and the conflict of the civil war in this fictional tale of Dona Ana and Don Juan.

Happy Solstice everyone. One of my favorite days because starting tomorrow I get more daylight. Yea!

Summary for week December 15 -21.
Books read:


Best book: So Big - Edna Ferber
Worse book: The Comfort of Strangers

Reading The Berean Study Bible chronologically
Ephesians
Philippeans
I Timothy
Titus
I Peter
Hebrews 1-10

Currently reading:
The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys
to start Old School - Tobias Wolff

On Deck:
The Topeka School
A Long Petal of the Sea
Bitter Greens

Weather has been snowy. Got about 5 or 6 inches. Did some shoveling over and over because it came down in fits. Getting my packing done with plans to leave for Florida on the 28th. Hoping for good weather. Will be buying food for Christmas. Christmas Eve will be spent alone. I will attend Christmas Eve service, come home and eat my traditional Christmas Eve food of choice and then watch Christmas movies especially It's a Wonderful Life. Saturday I watched Wonka. I might take a little walk now. Hope everyone has a wonderful week with however you choose to spend your time.

164.
Book After the Death of Don Juan - Sylvia Townsend Warner
Format: book
Original publication date: 1938
Acquisition date/place: 2020
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: legend and historical interlaced in novel of Spain
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, word challenge
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre literary fiction
Liked: beautiful writing, sense of place, no preaching
Disliked: the printing by the publisher could have been better but otherwise a great story and writing.

A quiet Christmas sounds nice, right now, Kristel. Our son and grandchildren are coming over in 1/2 an hour to open presents with us. Then I am going out to my sister's for Christmas Eve. Dave will go to my brother and sister in laws for Christmas dinner. All involve a large number of people. Muffin has separation anxiety, so we can't leave her alone until we get that sorted out, which can take 9 months with our second dog, Daisy. I hope this time , Muffin may have a shorter time to deal with that. I hope you have great weather in Florida. Merry Christmas, Kristel!

After the Death of Don Juanhas quite the cover! Glad you enjoyed it.

>162 vancouverdeb: It does, Deborah. Sometimes I wish I could talk to the cover artist.

Thinking of you at this time, Krystel.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, Kristel!

Thank you for the Christmas greetings Paul and Stasia.

165.
Book The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Septys
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2019
Acquisition date/place: Dec 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 ⭐
Book description/summary: Spain under the dictator after the civil war
Challenge(s): reading books about Spain Civil War
Author: US author
List book: no
Genre historical fiction
Liked: a good story well researched
Disliked:

166, Book A History of Burning - Janika Oza
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: 2024/December
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.75 ⭐
Book description/summary: The family history of burning difficulty
Challenge(s): none
Author: Canadian, first generation Canadian, this book is somewhat autobiographical
List book: no
Genre historical fiction
Liked: a good story about challenges of displacement
Disliked: does have some mild sexual content but it isn't out of place or overly done

Yes, that cover is weird. I wonder how cover image choices are made, Kristel. I really enjoyed A History of Burning when I read it last year. Glad you enjoyed it.