Streamsong #4: Golden Autumn, Winter Snow, Cozy Nights

Welcome to Streamsong's 4th thread!



These lovely autumn photos were taken by my friend Cindy Shaffer who has the great joy to live and work in Yellowstone Park

Hi - I'm Janet.

I live in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana along Skalkaho Creek.

I'm about half way between Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks - so if you're traveling or vacationing in the area, I'd love to meet you. Give me a bit of warning, though - the house often looks like a bomb went off in it. Unless of course, you find cluttery piles of books interesting decor (as I do).

What do I read? A bit of everything. I enjoy literary fiction, mysteries and the occasional feel good cozy. I'm working my way around the world in a global reading challenge. I had started my way through 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (actually 1300 + books since I use the combined version spreadsheet), but that project seems to be on hold. About half the books I read are non-fiction.

I belong to two in-person book clubs and occasionally join a couple of online book clubs. A favorite online club for nature reads is the Glacier Conservancy Book Club here - https://glacier.org/glacier-book-club/ The Glacier Conservancy is a fund-raising arm for Glacier National Park.

Here's the link to my last thread of last year: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353013#n8332996

In 2023 I read 122 books

2024 BOOKS READ

First Quarter

January

✅1. Two Old Women - Velma Walls - 2013 - library
❤️2. The House of Doors - Tan Twan Eng - 2023 - Global Reading: Malaysia - library -
3. Emergent Properties - Aimee Ogden - 2023 - library
❤️4. Jimmy Bluefeather - Kim Heacox - 2016 - Reread - Root #1 -Copy purchased 2023.
5. Tom Lake - Ann Patchett - 2023 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
✅6. Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World - John Vaillant - 2023 - library
7. The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah - 2018 - Book Girls Global Tour: Arctic - library
✅8. Almost an Elegy - Linda Pastan - 2022- library
✅9. Fruit of the Drunken Tree - Ingrid Rojas Contreras - 2018 - Global Reading/Book Girls Global Tour - Columbia - library

February
10. A Council of Dolls - Mona Susan Power - 2023 - library -
11. The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher - E. M. Anderson - 2023 - library -
12. Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education - Stephanie Land - 2023 - library
13. Unlikely Animals - Annie Hartnett - 2023 - library
❤️14. Funny things : a comic strip biography of Charles M. Schulz - Luca Debus - 2023 - library
15. The Memory of Animals - Claire Fuller - 2023 - library
16. Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication - Bart D. Ehrman - 2013 - audiobook/The Great Courses - library
17. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Glacier National Park - David R Butler - 2022 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - library
18. The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy - Judith Pearson - 2008 - NC Book Club - Purch Kindle 2023
19. The Queen of Water – Laura Resay and Maria Virginia Farinango – 2011 – Book Girls (2023) – South America/Ecuador – YA - library
20. Take What You Need - Idra Novey - 2023 - library

March Reading

21. The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys - 2020 - Book Girls Global Tour - Western Europe - Spain - YA library
22. Candide - Voltaire - 1759 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - Project Gutenberg on Kindle
23. The Mystery Guest - Nita Prose - 2023 - library
24. Fire Scars - John B Wright - 2023 - library
✅25. Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Kent Nerburn - 2018 - N Book Club = Reread - library
❤️26. All That She Carried - Tiya Miles - 2022 - library
27. Start Where You Are - Pema Chodron - 1994 - ROOT #2 acq'd 2007

SECOND QUARTER

April Reading

28. How Beautiful We Were - Imbolo Mbue - 2021 - Book Girls World Tour/Global Reading: Cameroon - library
29. The Spy Who Knew Too Much - Howard Blum - 2023 - NC Book Club - Hoopla
30. The Silver Bone - Andrij Kurkow - 2024 - Booker International Long List - library
31. Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal - Nathan Masters - 2023 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - library
32. Undiscovered: A Novel - Gabriela Wiener - 2023 - International Booker Long List - Global Reading: Peru - library
33. Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism - Jeffrey Toobin - 2023 - audiobook - library
34. Horse - Geraldine Brooks - 2022 - Reread - NC Book Club - Root #3 for year; acquired 2023
35. Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life - Laura Cumming - 2023 - 2024 Long List Women's Prize for Nonfiction - Global Reading: The Netherlands (Holland) - NF/location/British author - library
36. Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes - Alvin M Josephy - 2006 - Library Book Club - library
37. A Disappearance in Fiji - Nilima Rao - 2023 - Book Girls' Global Tour - Islands - Fiji - Global Reading: Book #1 Fiji - library

May Reading

38. Brotherless Night - V. V. Ganeshananthan - 2024 - Global Reading: Sri Lanka - library
39. The Twilight Zone - Nona Fernandez - 2016 - Global Reading: Chile - library
40. North Woods - Daniel Mason - 2023 - library -
41. Two by Patrica MacLachlan : Snow Horses: A First Night Story - 2022; and What You Know First - 1998 - both from library.
42. Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts - Rebecca Hall - (graphic non-fiction) - 2022
43. Chenneville - Paulette Giles - 2023 - Library
44. State of Terror - Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny - 2021 - NC Book Club - library
45. The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett - Annie Lyons - 2021 - LBB Book Club - library
46 How Can I Help You - Laura Sims - 2023 - library
47. Dinosaurs: A Novel - Lydia Millet - 2022 - library

JUNE BOOKS *Reviewed
*48. Watership Down: The Graphic Novel - Richard Adams adapted and illustrated by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin - 2023 - library
*49. Reykjavik - Ragnar Jonasson & Katrin Jakobsdottir - Global Reading - Iceland - 2022- library
*50. Hard by a Great Forest - Leo Vardiashvili - 2024 - Book Girls' World Tour - Eastern Europe: Global Reading - Georgia (Book #1) - library
*51. Raven Black - Anne Cleeves -2006 - library
*52. An Ordinary Man - Paul Rusesabagina - 2006 - Global Reading: Rwanda - library
*53. The Ghost Bride - Yangsze Choo - 2015 - Global Reading: Malaysia - library
*54. The View From the Cheap Seats - Neil Gaiman - audiobook - library
*55. Snowblind - Ragnar Jonasson - 2017 - Global Reading: Iceland - library
*56. The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel - Debra Magpie Earling - 2023 - mine Root #4 (2023)

THIRD QUARTER

July
57. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho - 2021 - library
58. Footprints of a Heart - Shayla Kidd Paradeis - 2023 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - library
59. The Poet's Dog - Patricia MacLachlan - 2016 - "for Anita" - reread - library
60 . The Secret Life of Sunflowers - Marta Molnar - 2022 - NC Book Club - purch 2024
61. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother - James McBride - 2006 - audiobook - library
62. The White Rhino Hotel - Bartle Bull - 1992 - library
63. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus - 2023 - Reread for BBBC - ROOT #5 acq'd 2023
64. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque - 1928 - for Anita - library -
65. A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf - 1929 - mine acq'd 2024

AUGUST
66. Go Went Gone - Jenny Erpenbeck - 2015 - Global Reading: German author & location - library
67. Trail of Broken Wings - Sejal Badani - 2015 - Newcomers' Book Club - Kindle
68. Go as a River - Shelley Read - 2023 - library
69. The Exvangelicals - Sarah McCammon - 2024 - library -
70. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - 1997 - library

SEPTEMBER
71. Perma Red -Debra Magpie Earling - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - Reread - mine
72. The Wren The Wren - Anne Enright - 2023 - library
73. James - Percival Everett- 2024 - library
74. Summer - Ali Smith - 2020 - library
75. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride - 2023 - Library *and* NewComers' Book clubs - library
76. Long Bright River - Liz Moore - 2020 - library

FOURTH QUARTER READS

OCTOBER

77. Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan - Jamie Zeppa - Book Girls Global Tour - library
78. Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew - Emmanuel Acho - 2024 - library
79. The Women - Kristin Hannah - 2024 - Newcomer's Book Club - Kindle
80. The Comfort of Crows - Margaret Renkl - 2023 - library
81. White Nights - Ann Cleeves - 2009 - library
82. The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times - Jane Goodall & Douglas Abrams - 2021 - library
83. Grey Bees - Andrey Kurkov - 2018 - Global Reading: Ukrainian author and location (English translation) - library

NOVEMBER
84. Outlander - Diane Gabaldon - 1998 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
85. Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon - Melissa L. Sevigny - 2023 - library
86. North Woods - Daniel Mason - 2023 - library - Reread for Newcomers' Book Club
87. The Measure - Nikki Erlick - 2022 - library
88. The Big Questions of Philosophy - David Kyle Johnson - Learning Company/Great Courses - audiobook - library
89. Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail - 2023 - Andrea Lankford - library
90. Woman Life Freedom - Marjane Satrapi- 2024 (English translation) - Global Reading/Iran - library

DECEMBER
91. The Poppy War - R. F. Kuang - 2018 - library
92. Force of Nature - Jane Harper - 2017 - library
93. How to Say Babylon - Safiya Sinclair - 2023 - Global Reading: Jamaica - library
94. The Guncle - Steven Rowley - 2021 - Newcomers' Book Club - library
95. The Bear - Andrew Krivak - 2020 - library
96. Funeral Songs for Dying Girls - Cherie Dimaline - 2024 - library
97. Damascus Nights- Rafik Schami - 2016 - Global Reading: F (Syria/ Syrian author) - LBBBC - 2024

- 89 BOOKS REVIEWED /
- 96 - BOOKS READ IN 2024 (Stats are done as reviews are written - always slightly behind!)

Year Acquired
1 - 2007
1 - 2008
4 - 2023
5 - 2024
77 - library/Hoopla

FORMAT
77 - print
6 - audiobook
3 - Kindle

- 49 - Fiction (May Fit into more than 1 category)
----2 - 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
----2 - abuse
----1 - adventure
----1 - Africa
----2 - aging
----1 - American West
----2 - art
----1 - apocalypse/dystopia
----1 - black experience
----1 - children's books
----1 - classics
----3 - colonialism
----5 - contemporary fiction
----1 - dictators
----1 - dogs
----2 - environment
----11 - Global Reading
----1 - Graphic novel
----16 - historical fiction
----1 - horses
----1 - humor
----1 - Judaism
----13 - literary fiction
----4 - magical realism/ other speculative fiction
----10 - mystery
----2 - Montana
----5 - Native Americans
----2 - Nature/outdoors
----1 - Pandemic
----1 - political fiction
----4 - racism
----1 - retelling
----1 - Romantasy
----1 - satire
----1 - sexuality
----1 - science
----1 - Science Fiction
----1 - thriller
----3 - war
----7 - women
----1 - YA

- 1- Poetry

- 29 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
2 - Africa
2 - African American
1 - Anti-Semitism
1 - Art and Artists
6 - biography
1 - Buddhism
2 - Christianity
1 - Climate Change
1 - Espionage
5 - Essays
6 - Global Reading
2 - Graphic Non-fiction
6 - History
1 - Inspirational
2 - Judaism
29 - Memoir
1 - Middle East
1 - Natural Disasters
3 - Nature
2 - Native Americans
5 - Outdoors
1 - Philosophy
3 - Politics
2 - Racism
1 - Spirituality
1 - Terrorism
9 - Women
1 - Writers and writing

AUTHORS

56 - Female Authors
26 - Male Authors
1 - Combination of Male and Female author(s)
- Non-binary
48 - Authors who are new to me
21 - Authors I have previously read
2 - Combination (Anthology) of previously read and new to me authors

- 6 Rereads

Original Publication Date
1 - 1759
1 - 1928
1 - 1929
1 - 1992
2 - 1994
1 - 1997
1 - 2000
1 - 2003
4 - 2006
1 - 2008
1 - 2011
3 - 2013
2 - 2015
4 - 2016
2 - 2017
2 - 2018
2 - 2020
3 - 2021
13 - 2022
30 - 2023
6 - 2024

The Global Challenge: Read five books from each of the 193 UN members plus a few additional areas. (Ongoing project over **Many** years!)

Thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188308

Countries new for me in 2024
Bhutan Book #1: Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan - Jamie Zeppa - 2000 - NF (location; Canadian ex-pat) 10/24
Cameroon Book #1: How Beautiful We Were - Imbolo Mbue - 2022 - Fic (Unnamed African country/author) - 4/2022
Fiji Book #1: A Disappearance in Fiji - Nilima Rao - 2023 - Fic/Mys - (location/ Indian: Fijian: Australian author) - 4/2024
Georgia Book #1: Hard by a Great Forest - Leo Vardiashvili - 2024 fic: Mys/thr - (location, author) June 2024
Ukraine Book #1: The Silver Bone - Andrij Kurkow - 2024 - Fic/Mystery - (Ukrainian author & location; translated) - 4/2024
Ukraine Book #2: Grey Bees - Andrey Kurkov - 2022 - Fic (Ukrainian author & location; translated) - 10/2024

Countries Completed With 5 Books in 2024
The Netherlands Book # 5. Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life - Laura Cumming - 2023 - 2024 Long List Women's Prize for Nonfiction - NF/location/British author - 4/2024
Spain:Book #5. Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys - Fic/YA - (location, US author) - library - March 2024

Countries previously visited - working toward 5 books per country in 2024
Chile Book #4. The Twilight Zone - Nona Fernández - 2016- Fic; (location, author) read May 2024
Colombia: #3. Fruit of the Drunken Tree - Ingrid Rojas Contreras - 2018 - Fic (author, travel) - 1/2024
Ecuador: Book #2 The Queen of Water - Laura Resau - 2011- NF/YA - (location, author & coauthor) - 2/2024
Iceland: Book #3 Reykjavik - Ragnar Jonasson & Katrin Jakobsdottir - 2022- (location, both authors) Fic/mystery 6/2024
Iceland: Book #4 Snowblind - Ragnar Jonasson - 2017 -(location, author) Fic/mystery 6/2024
Malaysia: Book #3. The House of Doors - Tam Twan Eng - 2023 - Fic (location, author) 1/2024
Malaysia: Book #4 The Ghost Bride - Yangsze Choo - 2013 - Fic (location, author) 6/2024
Peru: Book #2. Undiscovered: A Novel - Gabriella Wiener - 2023 - 2024 Intl Booker Longlist - autofiction- (author, location); read 4/2024
Rwanda: Book #3 An Ordinary Man – Paul Rusesabagina - 2006 - (NF: Location, author) 6/2024

Additional books for countries completed with five books in 2024:
France: Wolves at the Door - Judith Pearson - 2008 - NF (location, US author) 2/2024
France: Candide - Voltaire - 1759 - Fic/Satire (partial location, author) 3/2024
Germany: All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque - 1928 - Fic/1001 7/2024
Iran: Woman Life Freedom - Marjane Sartrapi - 2024 - NF graphic novel (Iranian author/Iran) library 11/2024
Japan: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - 1997 - Fic (location, author, translated) - library 8/2024


Create your own visited map of The World

ALL COUNTRIES VISITED: 116


Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

To help expand my global reading, I've been following along The Book Girls Around the World Book Voyage Challenge: https://bookgirlsguide.com/world-reading-challenge/

✔ January: Arctic and Antarctic: The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah US
✔ February: Western Europe: Spain: The Fountains of Silence - Ruta Sepetys 2020 - library
✔ March: Africa/ Cameroon - How Beautiful We Were - Imbolo Mbue
✔ April: Islands : Fiji - A Disappearance in Fiji - Nilima Rao - 2023
✔ May: Eastern Europe and Russia: Georgia Hard By A Great Forest
June: Australia and New Zealand (skipping)
✔ July: South Asia: Beyond the sky and the earth : a journey into Bhutan - Jamie Zeppa
August: Northern Asia
September: Transportation
October: Middle East and Israel:
November: North America
December: South America

2024 In-Person Brown Bag Book Club - Bitterroot Public Library

January: ✔ Tom Lake - Anne Patchett
February ✔ -- Candide by Voltaire
March ✔ -- The Spy Who Knew Too Much by Howard Blum
April ✔ -- Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes by Alvin M. Josephy Jr.
May ✔ -- The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons
June -- A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell (skipped)
July ***Rereading*** -- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Read
August -- Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami
September -- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
October -- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
November -- Yellowface by R.F. Kuang Read
December -- Potluck and 2025 choices

In-Person Newcomers' (and others!) Book Club

✔ January: Jimmy Bluefeather - Kim Heacox -- (reread for me)
✔ February: The Wolves at the Door - Judith Pearson
✔ (Reread) March: Neither Wolf Nor Dog - Kent Nerburn
✔ April - Reread: Horse - Geraldine Brooks
✔ May: State of Terror - Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny
✔ June: Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver - did not reread
✔ July: The Secret Life of Sunflowers - Marta Molnar
✔ August: Trail of Broken Wings - Sejal Badani
✔ September: Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride
✔ October: The Women - Kristin Hannah
✔ November (reread - my suggestion): North Woods - Daniel Mason

Bimonthly Glacier Conservancy Book Club

✔ January Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American… - Nathan Masters
✔ March - Prev read - Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals - Christopher J. Preston
May - Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, And Dying In The National Parks - Andrea Lankford
✔ July - Footprint Of a Heart - Shayla Kiddo Paradeis
✔ September Perma Red (reread) - Debra Magpie Earling
November

Goals:
- Read at least two ROOTS each month from the first TIOLI challenges.
- Read at least one book each month acquired in 2023 (counts as one of the ROOTS)

The below numbers include the dozen or so library books I have at home:
As of 03/01/2024: 552 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2024: 549 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2023: 535 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2022: 530 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2021: 522 books on MT TBR

49 Books Acquired 2024; 5 Books Read :✔ / Currently Reading: 2/ Reference"1
✔ 1. The Wolves at the Door - Judith Pearson NC's Book Club - Kindle
2. The Hundred Years' War on Palestine - Rashid Khalidi - 2/2024
3. Lewis & Clark and Me : Heading West from Traveler's Rest - 2/2024
4. It's Hard to Look Cool When Your Car's Full of Sheep: Tales from the Back Forty - Roger Pond - 2/2024
✔5. Candide - Voltaire - Project Gutenburg/Kindle - 2-2024
6. Epitaph - Mary Doria Russell - 3/2024
7. Elephant Song - Wilbur Smith - 3/2024
8. Uhuru - Robert Ruark - 3/2024
9. Defeating Diabetes - Brenda Davis - 3/24
10. Bangtail Ghosts - Keith MacCafferty - 2/24
11. The Angels Weep - Wilbur Smith - 3/24
12. When the Lion Feeds - Wilbur Smith - 3/24
13. A Time to Die - Wilbur Smith - 3/24
14. The Clinic - Jonathan Kellerman - 3/24
15. Catch as Cat Can - Rita Mae Brown 3/24
16. Hush of the Land - Arnold "Smoke" Elser - 4/24
17. Better Than Good - Zig Ziglar - audiobook - 5/15
18. The Journals of Lewis and Clark - ed by Bernard DeVoto - 5/31
19. Ghost Hunting in Montana - Barnaby Conrad III - 5/31
20. Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head & Other Drawings - B. Kliban - 5/31
21. The Bible - Karen Armstrong - 5/31
22. Why Rustlers Never Win and Other Humorous Stories of the West - Henry Gregor Felsen - 5/31
✔ 23. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein - Kindle so I could finish the book checked out from the library originally - 5/31
24. Thurber on Crime - James Thurber - 1991 - 6/08
**Reading**25. On Call: A Doctor's Journey into Public Service - Anthony Fauci 2024 - 6/21/2024
✔26. The Secret Life of Sunflowers - Marta Molnar - NC Book Club - 7/11/24
27. Ranger Confidential - Andrea Lankford - 2010- Glacier Conservancy Book Club - 7/11/24

Bitterroot Public Library Booksale 7/13/2024
28. Painted Horses - Malcom Brooks - 7/13/2024 (210)
29. Let Him Go - Larry Watson - 7/13/2024 (250)
30. Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke - 7/13/2024 (6950)
31. Flashback - Nevada Barr - HB signed by author - 7/13/2024 (1189)
✔32. A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf - audiobook - 7-13-2024 - (12511)
33. The Eighty Dollar Champion - Elizabeth Letts (710)
34. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing (5172)
35. Myths and Legends of Yellowstone - Ednor Therriault (4? maybe 1)
36. The Bears of Yellowstone - Paul Schullery - (26)
***37. Growing Up In Yellowstone - Gerald L. Bateson, Jr - (0)
38. The Lewis and Clark Cookbook: Historic Recipes from the Corps of Discovery - Leslie Mansfield -(62)
39. Glacier National Park After Dark: Sunset to Sunrise in a Beloved Montana Wilderness -John Ashley - (3)
40. A Guide to Exploring Grand Teton National Park - Linda L Olson & Tim Bywater - (7)
---
41. Pretty Shield - Frank Linderman - 07/17/2023
42. Grandmother's Grandchild: My Crow Indian Life (American Indian Lives) by Alma Hogan Snell - 07/17/2024
43. A Taste of Heritage: Crow Indian Recipes and Herbal Medicines - Alma Hogan Snell - 07/17/2024
---
44. The Book Censor's Library - Bothayna Al-Essa - 7/31/2024
45. Joey: How a Blind Rescue Horse Helped Others Learn to See - Jennifer Marshall Bleakley - 7/30/2024
46. How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear - Bruce Grant - 7/30/2024
47. The Blue Sky - Galsan Tschinag - 1994 /tr 2006 - Book Girls Mongolia - 8/2024
✔48. Trail of Broken Wings - Sejal Badani - 2015 - Kindle New Comers' Book Club - Kindle - 8/2024
✔ 49. Damascus Nights -Rafik Schami - 1995- Library Brown Bag Book Club 8/2024

I'm intrigued by everyone's lists of series. These are some of the ones that I have read recently: I will add other series that I am also working on.

Series

Nevada Barr - Anna Pigeon - (4/19)
Ann Cleeves - Shetland (2/11)
Robert Galbraith - Cormoran Strike (1/7)
Elsa Hart - Li Du (2/3)
Anne Hillerman - Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito (5/8)
Ragnar Jónasson - Dark Iceland (1/6)
Alka Joshi - Jaipur Trilogy (1/3)
William Kent Krueger - Cork O'Connor (1/ )
Ngaio Marsh - Roderick Alleyn (2/27)
Dorothy Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey (2/?)
Nita Prose - Molly the Maid (2/2)
Fred Vargas - Chief Inspector Adamsberg - 2/10

Link to books from 2023 still needing reviews:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361615#8563382

Currently Reading:


The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times - Jane Goodall


Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew - Emmanuel Acho & Noa Tishby


The Comfort of Crows - A Backyard Year - Margaret Renkl


The Big Questions of Philosophy - David Kyle Johnson audio in the car

Three more I have in progress:
Jewish Literacy - Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
100 Years of the Best American Short Stories - ed Lorrie Moore
Doppelganger - Naomi Klein

That's it! Welcome!

I took a look at the Glacier Book Club lists and was thinking that I might want to join in on this book club - but not until after I move. They have some interesting titles listed.

68. Go As A River – Shelly Read - 2023
– library

Set in the late 1940’s in Colorado, this is the story of Torie who lost her mother in a car accident when she was a young teenager. Since that time she has kept house for her embittered father and uncle and downright twisted brother on their peach farm. In town she meets a man, Wil , a runaway Native American . He is the first kind male Torie has met; their relationship grows and turns to love. But anti-Indian feeling is rampant in Colorado and Torie’s brother and his even more twisted friend put a shocking end to the young love.

Torie discovers she is pregnant and removes herself to a home in the woods, where she lives alone until having given birth. With no way to support herself and her son, she ‘gives’ him to a picnicking couple by leaving the baby in the back seat of their car and returns to eventually run her family’s farm and to have the choice as to what will become of the farm itself.

It’s a story of a woman overcoming incredibly difficult situations, making the best of them and still living with great regret. Yet, when writing this review a month or two after I read it, although I had enjoyed the story, I had to refresh my memory as to what happened. I just wasn’t invested in it.

I am currently reading English Creek. it is the first one in the three book McCaskill trilogy. I have wanted to read all three of these books but just never got around to do so. I don't think it would matter if you haven't read all three of them, in order. I hope to get this one read by next week and will start Mariah Montana with the others - even if I have not read book two. If I am going to keep to the moving date of October 25, I am going to have less time to read in the coming three weeks, so that means that I might have to skip book 2 for awhile.

Hi Janet. Happy new thread. I see lots of stars in your reading this year!

Happy new thread, Janet!

>1 streamsong: Lovely autumn colours!

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Janet. My place looks like a bomb went off most of the time too, unless company is coming, in which case Dave and I do a fast sweep of the place.

Happy New Thread, Janet. Love the autumn toppers. I hope you enjoy The Comfort of Crows as much as I did. She is such a good writer. How is your health these days?

Happy new thread!

>17 benitastrnad: I love Ivan Doig and the trilogy was some of his best. Enjoy! His memoirs are terrific as well.

>15 benitastrnad: Hi Benita - I hope you join in the Glacier Conservancy Book Club reads. They are only bimonthly - the last one for the year will be in November 20th; the title is George Melendez Wright: The Fight for Wildlife and Wilderness in the National Parks. Link here for others interested: https://glacier.org/glacier-book-club/

>17 benitastrnad: Benita, I pulled out English Creek a few months ago when we started talking about it, but then got deluged with library books. I may try to join with Mariah Montana anyway. I love the shared reads, but I don't want to make reading it into a chore - something I have to do.

>18 BLBera: Hi Beth! Thanks for stopping in to my new thread. Yup, many stars this year. This group serves up a feast of great reading!

>19 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Thanks for helping inaugurate my new thread. My friend who took the pictures is an absolutely wonderful photographer and I love seeing Yellowstone Park through her eyes and lenses.

>24 streamsong: Reading as a chore is wearying. Sometimes my book club reads feel that way, although without those choices I would probably read mystery stories exclusively for months.

>20 The_Hibernator: Thank you, Rachel!

>21 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! There are so many more interesting things to do than cleaning! When the kids were little the XDH would yell 'Battlestations!' for unexpected company and quick cleans. It was a family tradition - his working mother had done the same.

>22 msf59: Hi Mark! Yes, I'm really enjoying The Comfort of Crows. Did you know that Margaret Renkl has publsihed a new journal so you can write your own biweekly observations? It's called Leaf, Cloud, Crow: A Backyard Journal. I want it sooooooo badly! I'll add it to my Christmas wishlist, but I want it **now** so I may cave before then. I love the idea of the first bird you see on New Year's day setting the theme for the year.

I saw Margaret Renkl's FB page so I asked her how her part of Kentucky had fared in the storm. I was thinking of the posts by Lori (thornton37814) from a similar area. Renkl said she had no damage and only some much needed rain.

My health is good - still feeling somewhat stressed and depressed, especially after a second windstorm hit my trees again last week.

>23 witchyrichy: Thank you for stopping by, Karen. Yes! On Ivan Doig. He may be just what I need - although I have a huge number of library books home right now due to the way they arrived after I put them on hold. As you can see in my >13 streamsong: currently reading post that they are almost all non-fiction - which I truly enjoy, but prefer not to have a steady diet of them.

The next two fiction books up for me are Grey Bees which sounds a little bleak and also The Women. Kristin Hannah's book about the Vietnam for one of my bookclubs which also doesn't sound very light.

>25 ffortsa: Hi Judy! Yes, my book club books sometimes are also chore-ish. But as you say, they do get me reading genres that I probably wouldn't otherwise. And talking books is a delight, even if the I wasn't crazy about the book itself.

Happy new thread, Janet.

>1 streamsong: What magnificent things trees are!

Happy new thread, Janet!

Sweet Thursday, Janet. I hope the stress levels have lessened somewhat. Any more damage from this latest storm? I started Ride With Me, Mariah Montana and based on the first 20-plus pages, I can tell this one will be a treat. Are you planning on joining us, on this one?

>28 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - thanks for stopping by.

The trees are certainly beautiful this time of the year. The ones in the topper photo are aspen. What actually looks like a grove of trees are one connected organism. The largest organism on earth are aspen groves.

>29 drneutron: Hi Jim! and thanks!

>30 msf59: Hi Mark! I'm not sure whether I'll get to Mariah Montana. I'm finally getting estimates in for the storm damage as well as all the other fall work. There were a few more trees down in the second storm, but nothing more damaged.

The Northern lights were truly spectacular this week. I rarely see them, and then just as a green glow, but these had reds and blues. I hear they were visible over large parts of the US - so hopefully you saw them too. I've seen photos with the lights over Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and even over the southwest, but these are some of the ones I took.

***

>32 streamsong: Lovely picture! So cool how the aurora was reflected in the lake (I think that’s what I’m seeing)!

Ours is truly a magnificent universe!

Karen O

P.s. Oh, I see! There are two photos. They are still magnificent!

Hi Karen - thanks for stopping by. The photos actually show the silhouettes of trees against the sky. You're giving me more credit for photography skills than I have. These were just quick snaps from my driveway with my cameraphone.

There were pools and puddles and columns of color - at times some of them were even overhead.

They absolutely were magnificent!

>32 streamsong: Those are lovely photos, Janet. I have to leave town to see them, and usually by that hour, I am asleep. One of these days...

>33 klobrien2: Hi Karen - yes, although I had spaces between the photos LT jammed them together. I added a few astericks to separate them and make it clearer. I can see why you were confused.

>35 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I've never seen them like this! It was a real pleasure!

Tonight I will look for the asteroid in the west and also try to get a photo of the forest fire which has spilled over the top of Skalkaho drainage and hopefully! doesn't continue on down the creek. There is possible snow forecast for Friday or Saturday night, which should help end the fires.

Great pics of the Northern Lights, Janet. Good luck with those storm damage estimates.

Lovely pics of the Northern Lights, Janet. Dave saw them that night too as he was out walking the dog. I had seen them several months ago, so I didn't bother going outside to check it out .

I meant to tell you that I love the title of this thread. There, now I have

Hi Janet! Happy new thread.

From your last thread, I see that you’ve read James. We’ll be reading it for our book club’s January discussion, and I’m glad I just read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for this month’s book club discussion ahead of that read.

I’m sorry to read about all the storm damage and effort required to get things fixed. And insurance… gads.

>26 streamsong: I love “Battlestations!”

>31 streamsong: Fascinating about aspens. I did not know that it was all one organism.

>32 streamsong: Gorgeous.

I hope you're getting things squared away re the downed trees and fences... I hope that Cree is doing well on his adjusted insulin dosage.

>37 msf59: Hi Mark - I'm glad you enjoyed the pics of the northern lights. It was a lifetime event for me.

I finally have tree and fence damage estimates in hand and the work scheduled. Now I need to have the snow and winter weather hold off. The tree removal won't be done until the first week of December!

>38 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah- I'm glad Dave saw the lights and that you saw them earlier this year. I never did spot the comet. I suspect the trees and mountains to the west made seeing it hard since it was so close to the horizon. I did see a friend's photo who had taken it from a high spot on the mountains on the eastern side of the valley.

>39 ffortsa: Hi Judy! Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you like the thread title. When we change back to standard time in a few weeks, the evenings will be quite long indeed. I hope to get more reading and more thread visiting done. Of course, I tell myself I will also do more cleaning. Hah!

>40 karenmarie: Thanks for all your comments, Karen. Stuff is getting scheduled around here, but it will still be a while before it actually happens. Oops that reminds me that I need to have an electrician out to mark my buried power lines before the fencing begins.

Aspen are fascinating trees, besides having gorgeous colors in the fall. I'm glad to have my grove.

I think cat Cree is doing well but I plan to take him in this afternoon to have his blood sugar checked. I've had several nights of not sleeping much as my CPAP machine has died and it has to go through the insurance channels to get a new one approved. Cree decided that I needed to quit hiding under the covers this morning. He started out by gently patting my face. Each time he did, I'd blow a little puff of breath at him as a hint to leave me alone. After the third pat/puff , he smacked me hard on the nose (clawless) to fix my manners. I got up. I love that he is feeling good enough to be bossy.

I rarely give a book 5 stars - but this one earned it for me.

The last time I said I was going to get caught up on reviews, the storm hit me. So I don't want to jinx it, but will try to get a few done at least. This one is from August



69. The Exvangelicals - Sarah McCammon - 2024
- library


This book is a memoir of the author and others who grew up in Evangelical churches. Because of varying experiences, they left the Evangelical church behind and came to either a more liberal view of Christianity (much like mine), agnosticism or atheism.

These people were born-again true believers of their faith. They attended church several times a week, belonged to youth groups, choirs and attended private church sponsored schools and colleges. They were raised to be the next leaders of the Evangelical churches.

And yet something changed.

As the author and others left their faith, they were vilified, and often lost the support of their families and friends still in Evangelical churches. They met full-on anger of people who maintained that if you didn’t believe exactly as they did, not only were you lost, but you had joined the ranks of the Enemy.

One of my interests is in trying to figure out why the Evangelical Christian community backs Donald Trump. I have read several books on the subject, but this one is by far the most enlightening.

I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand the far right Christian movement – especially those like myself who have lost friends because I could not embrace their belief set.

>43 streamsong: You got me with a book bullet for The ExVangelicals. I need some enlightenment!

Karen O

>44 klobrien2: I hope you enjoy it Karen! I'll be interested to see what you think.

The last of the August (!) reviews. Late August was when the windstorm took out my backyard - and I have been stressed and distracted ever since.



70. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami - 1997
– library


Tori Okada, a young married man in suburban Japan, seems to be living an unremarkable life. His cat disappears and while Tori searches for it, his wife also leaves. This evolves into not just a search for his former life, but Tori searches for himself while meeting complex characters whose backstories include Japanese brutality in the Japan-Russia war in Mongolia and also World War II.

I found the quirky woman characters in the book original and entirely enigmatic. No female stereotypes here!

There are moments of humor in the book and also scenes of rape, animal abuse and torture.

The beautiful writing was compelling enough to keep me reading. At the same time, I was often puzzled and it became more of a chore than a pleasure to continue.

Murakami is always a tough read for me. I admit that I needed an online guide to appreciate the book and its themes. Appreciation is not the same as enjoyment however. We all are attracted by different books and literary styles, and I have come to the conclusion that no matter how many friends I have that love Murakami, he is not the author for me.

Happy Sunday, Janet. You landed a bulls-eye with The Exvangelicals. I am going to see if that one is available on audio. I am glad you got the tree removal service scheduled. Good luck with the weather.

ETA- It is on audio. Yah!

>46 streamsong:
I couldn't agree with you more. There are authors that just don't do it for me either. I love the writing of Abdulrazak Gurnah and there are people for who his writing style, subjects, and titles just don't resonate enough to grab people to pick up the books and read them. I suspect that Murakami is that kind of author for you. You told me you had read another of his books and didn't care for it, so don't beat yourself up if you don't like his books. There are books you will love and others will not. Just go on and love those books that you love and don't feel guilty.

The Exvangelicals sounds very interesting, Janet. I'll check and see if my library has it. Looks like you got quite a few people with that one. I don't understand folks who back Trump either.

>47 msf59: Hope you enjoy The Exvangelicals, Mark! I think it would work very well on audio.

>48 benitastrnad: Hi Benita! Thank you. Yup, I've tried Murakami twice now and while I'm not ruling out reading more, I'm not planning any in the near future. The world is too full of books. **However** I know that people love to judge and some will judge me as a reading lightweight for not enjoying Murakami's books.

>49 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the Exvangelicals, too. It will be interesting to see everyone's reactions to the book.

71.Perma Red – Debra Magpie Earling – 2003
- Glacier Conservancy Book Club
- Reread
– mine

This was a reread for me. When I read it the first time in 2008 I did not review it. I felt the book was important but its bleakness made me dislike it.

I would not have reread it except that it was one of the 2024 selections for the Glacier Conservancy Book Club – and the discussion was led by Debra Earling.

In starting my reread, there were only two incidents from the book that I remembered. The first was the most brutal abuse of a child in a reservation boarding school that I had ever read. The second was the description of a drowned girl’s body.

This is the story of Louise White Elk who grew up abused and orphaned on the Montana Flathead Indian Reservation. Eventually she was raised by her grandmother who was steeped in many of the old traditional ways. But even with her grandmother’s care, Louise grew up wild and self-destructive, always running away.

She grew to be an exceptionally beautiful young woman. Three men were especially attracted to her. There was Baptiste Yellow Knife who had grown up in the same culture and was also wild and beautiful and equally self- destructive. The second was a rich white man. The third was a Flathead police officer, who although had also grown up on the same res, was considered a traitor to his people for his work.

It’s a story of a constant downward spiral and the ending is almost inevitable.

What I didn’t know when I read this the first time was that this is based on Debra Earling’s Aunt Louise who had a similar life and death. The discussion led by Debra Earling really gave me an appreciation of this book. You can see this discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjFg3v1PLV4

This does sound dreary, Janet. I'm not sure about it. I will take a look at the discussion.

>50 streamsong:
Lightweight reader? NEVER! You have read some thoughtful, thought provoking, scholarly, and difficult books. How can that be lightweight?

I somehow missed the beginning of your new thread.

>46 streamsong: Sorry to hear that one was just so so. Murakami is one of those authors that just works for me.

I didn't realize that you had such a powerful windstorm. I hope you were able to get your backyard back into shape. Sounds like a lot of work and stress!

>13 streamsong: I see that you are reading The book of hope. I read that a while back and enjoyed it.

>51 streamsong: You are getting ever so close to the magic number!

Happy weeks reading :)

>52 BLBera: Hi Beth! "Dreary" is a good word for Perma Red although I think it is a sadly true portrait of the reservations. Have they gotten better since the time period of this book? No idea. There certainly is a lot of heartbreaking reservation fiction out there.

>53 benitastrnad: Well, thanks, Benita. I try and read a huge variety of things, but literary fiction is the most challenging for me.

>54 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I'm glad you found me. I wish I could say Murakami works for me - but he just doesn't although I can see his brilliance. I enjoy reading reviews from people who do enjoy him, though.

The windstorm mess continues on. I have 5 or 6 100-foot-tall cottonwoods that are leaning and need to be taken down. That will happen the first week of December, weather permitting. I also have a darn impressive 'widow maker': a tree whose top broke off and is suspended fifty feet above the ground; none of the tree guys will touch that one and just suggest I don't go back there.

Fence repairs will be done the first week or so of November, again weather permitting.

I've actually passed 75 books but I'm just behind on reviews. Way behind.

I probably got the BB for Jane Goodall's The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times from you. I enjoyed it - it's amazing how one person can make true change happen.

I had not read anything by Anne Enright and this one was touted as being “less depressing” than many of her other works. Time to give her a try. I believe a got this BB from Beth.



72. The Wren, The Wren – Anne Enright – 2023
- library


This is another story of generational trauma.

Gradually we learn the story of Irish poet Phil McDaragh, whose love poems are renowned, as is his poem The Wren written for his small daughter Nell.

But when his wife contracts breast cancer, McDaugh abandons her leaving her to the care of her young daughters.

Nell struggles with synchronizing the beloved romantic poet, her Daddo, with the man who deserted them at their greatest need. Her mother turns inward; eventually Nell focuses on her own daughter, Carmel, who is also destined to be a writer like the grandfather she never met.

I enjoyed the premise of the vision of a celebrated public persona versus the real man. How many generations does trauma effect before healing occurs?

I really liked this Author’s Note at the end of this short book: “This book is concerned with inheritance, of both trauma and wonder . It seems to me that women switch from Marthas to Marys from generation to generation: some get to tend and others to believe.” P 176

Overall, I rated this 3.5 stars. Beautiful writing, but a difficult story. I am not likely to reread this.

Poor Cree cat! When I took him in to the vet last week, his blood sugar was higher than it's ever been and he had lost weight, too. Insulin upped to three units and I'll have to take him in again on Friday to be rechecked.

And as I was working my yearling colt on Monday, he pulled back and to the side and gave my back quite a twist. I'm going to the chiro later today. My back was doing so well, I haven't been going in for monthly maintenance treatments.

But right after that is my weekly wine group which always helps fix my whine.

>59 streamsong:
My monthly wine group is one thing I am going to miss about Tuscaloosa. I enjoy their company very much. more than the wine.

Hi Janet.

>59 streamsong: Sorry about Cree’s high blood sugar and weight loss. How old is he?

Ugh to back pain. I hope the chiropractor visit was helpful.

I’m still at once a week as I recover from the aggravated T12 compression fracture, then will return to once a month. My insurance only covers injuries, not maintenance, but my chiropractors have a passport, which you buy once a year. It’s about half what the cost would be otherwise, and you can spread the payment over 4 months. I still have 3 or 4 left in the most recent passport.

>61 karenmarie: That's a very good system your chiropractors have. If I could find a massage therapist with the same deal, I'd jump on it.

>60 benitastrnad: Hi Benita! Yes, I go for the company, too although this is an informal political group, we mostly chat. Hope you find a new group once you are settled in!

>61 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I've had Cree ten years but he was already an adult when Ginny the amazing Golden Retriever adopted him from living in my hay stack.

Yes, the chiropractor was very helpful. I'm feeling better but still a little ouchy. My insurance would cover 12 chiro visits a year, but they have to be turned down by Medicare first and I haven't found a chiro here in town that submits visits to Medicare since they only cover injuries and are very picky. It's very frustrating.

I agree with Judy in >62 ffortsa: that your passport system sounds amazing.

73. James: A Novel- Percival Everett - 2024
– library


This is a retelling of Mark Twain’s classic novel Huckleberry Finn. In that story Huck escapes from his abusive father and meets up with N***** Jim, an escaped slave. At the time, it was considered an enlightened but scandalous novel as Huck struggled with his casual racism while eventually becoming good friends with Jim, seeing each other through various dangers.

In this retelling, Jim is the protagonist and we meet a completely different Jim. He’s a type I had never considered before, but having read this book, now I am gobsmacked that I had never imagined this type of enslaved man – when of course they must have existed.

There’s not much to say about the plot without giving away much of the depth of the story; only that it follows the events of Twain’s novel pretty faithfully. I emerged from this with a new view of slavery and the enslaved.

>64 streamsong: I really do need to get to this one soon. I will be astonished if it doesn't win the Booker this time. Hottest favourite in years.

Have a great weekend, Janet.

>65 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul - It's the only one of the Booker short list that I've read, but I do agree that it's an amazing story.

Hope your weekend is good, too.

I am looking forward to James when it becomes available. I haven't seen any pans of it yet.

I hope your tree situation is resolved soon. The advice of the tree guys not to go there for the widow maker doesn't seem very helpful.

I think I liked The Wren, The Wren more than you did.

I think I am not a fan of Anne Enright, Janet. I DNF'd The Gathering because there was so much swearing. I did read The Wren, The Wren, but only gave it 2. 5 stars. I wrote a review for it, but I think part of my dislike for the book was that the characters made such poor choices, and I just did not feel any sympathy for them. I hope to get to James in November.

I am ambivalent about Ann Enright. I read one of her books a long time ago, but haven't picked up another one since. She is not an author I would recommend, but I wouldn't discourage anybody from reading her books.

>67 BLBera: Hi Beth! I hope you enjoy James!

The large trees will be cut down the first week of December, weather permitting. I'll try to get a photo of the widow maker - luckily it's in a place that when it falls, it won't bother myself or horses.

I know you have a much more extensive literary background than I do, and so probably discern craft and literary merit much better than I do. I wouldn't be opposed to reading another Ann Enright

>68 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! I have read others opinions that Ann Enright is not for everyone. I tried this one because I believed it was less bleak than some of her other offerings.

I hope you enjoy James!

>69 benitastrnad: Hi Benita - yup not all authors are for everyone. I'm unsure about Ann Enright. I may pick up another one - but I don't do bleak very well, so we will see.

This was an early summer group read in the 75. I finished it right before summer officially ended in September – which demonstrates why I am holding off group reads for a while.



74. Summer- Ali Smith - 2020
– library
- 3.8/

This is the fourth of Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet.

In this one, we follow two sets of brothers and sisters in two different timelines.

The current timeline features a sister whose younger brother is brilliant, bored and trouble. Like others in the series, it follows current events, so we see them interact against the background of Covid.

The second timeline features a German brother and sister who have emigrated to Britain before the second world war. Although they fled from the Nazis, they are regarded with deep suspicion – much like Japanese immigrants were treated in the US.

The writing is wonderful. Themes include the strength of family ties, and the restriction of freedoms, both in the Covid epidemic and restrictions of Britain’s German immigrants. I enjoyed the twist at the end when the two timelines came together.

As others have said, I wish I had read these four closer together, to be more aware of ties between the books. Perhaps I’ll have to reread the whole series.

Hi Janet: Rereading the Seasons Quartet wouldn't be a hardship...

Hi Beth - Nope, not a hardship at all. It's just a matter of having the time to do it with all the shiny new book bullets I continually receive from all my friends here on LT. If I reread the quartet, I need to take a few notes so I can connect the characters that make repeat appearances.

I'm currently reading Outlander for Thursday's library book club. Having seen the promos for the ongoing series, I didn't think I would like it but I'm giving it a shot and so far am fairly engaged. However, the darn thing is 550 pages - longer than what is usually chosen for the book club. A short book for a genre one usually doesn't read is one thing ... a very long book can turn into a chore.

I'm also listening to the The Big Questions of Philosophy, one of the Learning Companies Great Courses. I'm listening to the final section on government and how democracies break down when people demand more and more individual freedom and become less altruistic in giving up some of their freedom to the government in order to help the greater good. Although this is an older course, it seems fairly prophetic given current events.

September choice for both of my In Person Book Clubs



75. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – James McBride - 2023
– Both the NC and the Library BB Book Club
- library


In the 1930’s there was a poor area of Pottsdale, Pennsylvania known as Chicken Hill. Jews from all over eastern and western Europe lived there, as well as the black population and a few other ethnicities who were seen as ‘not quite white’.

Jewish entrepreneur Moshe Ludlow had a hand in many businesses, including a music venue. It wasn’t until he began including the new black musicicans there that he really began making money. This move also began the area’s integration. While races remained separate, they also began to see each others’ humanity.

Moshe’s wife, Chona, managed the Heaven and Earth Grocery store. Chona had lived a childhood hidden by her parents after being crippled by polio. Instead of becoming bitter, Chona’s mission in life was to make everyone day’s a bit better. And while the grocery store was the only enterprise that Moshe owned that didn’t make money, he loved his wife and let her shine.

And so Moshe and Chona took in a black youngster Dodo, who was deaf and needed a home. Dodo thrived in the environment until he saw the local doctor who was also the KKK leader commit a crime. The doctor then arranged for Dodo to be sent to an institution for those unable to live in society. Instead of receiving special help he was warehoused in the very worst of the wards.

There was no way to circumvent the powerful people who ran the institution and who had put him there. It took everyone in the community to come together and hatch an improbable plan against the highest odds
.
As in any community, there is an absolute web of characters to keep track of. I loved the way the author showed how different characters were seen by different people of the communities.

Great book club discussion – lots of issues to talk about and a mystery that wasn’t solved until the last page.

>76 streamsong: Nice review of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, Janet; I gave it 4 stars as well. I can't remember if it was common knowledge that it was strongly based on actual events, particulary the Pennhurst State School and Hospital, which shamefully did not close until 1987, and extreme flooding due to Hurricane Agnes in 1972 that decimated several towns in eastern Pennsylvania.

>78 streamsong: Hi Darryl: Thanks for stopping by! It's always nice to see you. No, I didn't know that about the Pennhurst State School - although I strongly suspected it - or about Hurricane Agnes. I'll have to read a bit more about those facts. Thanks for pointing them out.

I'm also nervous about the outcome of the upcoming election as you have mentioned on your thread. There are outright bullying and threats here in town.

Several people have been commenting on Liz Moore’s newest book God of the Woods, and in their comments also said how much they enjoyed the earlier Long Bright River. Although the newest wasn’t available at my library, I decided to read the earlier one.

76. Long Bright River – Liz Moore - 2021
– library


Mickey is a cop. Although she could patrol other areas, she chooses to serve in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Gradually, we learn her reasons why: her estranged younger sister is a drug addict and prostitute working the section Micki patrols. Then several prostitutes are killed, and Micki’s sister Kacey hasn’t been seen for about a month. Micki goes on the search.

Slowly, using a double timeline, the sisters’ backstory is revealed as Micki begins to unravel the mystery of her sister’s disappearance.

There are lots of twists and turns. This is not just a mystery-thriller, but a story of broken and battered family relationships where neither sister comes out shiny and the cops themselves can’t always be trusted.It’s one of the most sympathetic stories that I have read on why a young woman would end on the streets.

>76 streamsong: Congrats on reading 75 books. Your 75th read has been on my read soon shelf. Hopefully this month- excellent review.

Great comments on the Liz Moore book, Janet. I agree that it was much more than a mystery.

Congrats on reaching and passing 75!

Hi Janet!

>63 streamsong: I love my chiropractor, and am going to see her today. My chiropractor stopped practicing for a while to raise 3 little ‘uns. Her youngest is now 10, so she’s practicing again. I am glad she’s practicing at the office closest to my home again. I don’t know if other chiropractors have the passport option or not.

>64 streamsong: Skipping this review – I am glad to see your 5* rating, however. I’ll read it in December for January’s book club discussion.

Thanks re Cree. Yay for Ginny the Amazing Golden Retriever.

>71 streamsong: I don't do bleak very well Me either, any more.

>75 streamsong: Huh. Outlander. I have loved the series, but haven’t read the most recent one and will need to at least read a few plot summaries before starting it. The TV series was pretty good, too, with Sam Heughan being well cast as Jamie.

>76 streamsong: Adding my congratulations on reading 75… I have two others by McBride on my shelves, and we’ll be reading The Good Lord Bird for my book club discussion in April.

>72 streamsong: I thought that was a terrific series, Janet. I am glad to see that you enjoyed the final book.

>75 streamsong: I love the Outlander book series - I have never seen the television show and have no desire to. I think it helped that I was introduced to the books in audio form. The books get longer the further into the series that you go :) I hope you end up enjoying Claire and Jamie's story.




for hitting 75 books!!

>76 streamsong: >79 streamsong: Dodging those BBs as I have already read them.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Yay for 75!

Congrats!

You reached 75! Congratulations! And still two months left.

Congrats on hitting 75, Janet. You have been knocking out some fine books. I also loved Summer, the McBride and the Moore novel. I hope you can track down her latest. Once again, sorry to hear about the continuing tree issue. That really stinks.

>80 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita. I hope you enjoy The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store when you get to it.

>81 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I am definitely looking forward to reading the new Liz Moore book. I can't remember if you've read God of the Woods yet.

>82 karenmarie: Hi Karen - loved all your comments. I have another chiro appointment this afternoon. My back is much better, but I'm sore now in my neck and upper back.

I finished reading Outlander and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I thought it started out as romance/soft porn much like the Kathleen Woodiwiss novels I read in the 70's. But I did really get caught up in the plot. I will probably read the next one. I'm aware of the TV series, but haven't ever watched it. I will probably remedy that as I need some 'comfort food' TV right now.

I'm sure I will read The Good Lord Bird eventually. It sounds like a good choice.

>83 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! It's good to know that you enjoyed the Outlander series, too. I did enjoy it and will probably go on with the series.

It doesn't surprise me when my 75'er friends have already read the books I've read. I get most of my recommendations from friends on this group!

>84 The_Hibernator: >85 drneutron: >86 EllaTim: Thank you Rachel, Jim and Ella. Onward we go!

>87 msf59: Thanks, Mark. Again, no surprise that you have already read my most recently reviewed books. I get so many BB's from you.

The downed trees are what they are. I'll work on what I can gradually do, and the biggest problems will be removed the first week of December.

Ok, the election. I am hugely disappointed, and can only hope that the future under Trump will be less bleak than anticipated with Project 2025.

In the week before the election the strong right-wing militia presence in this town became very concerning.

Friends received multiple threats. I had specific details written out, but I have deleted that part of this message. It just seems so unbelievable. I can only hope things will calm down now.

The only bright spot is that the Montana constitutional amendment guaranteeing a women's right to abortion, has passed.

>90 streamsong: Congrats on your constitutional amendment, Janet. It's nice to have some good news.

I read Good Lord Bird and thought it good but not exceptional.

I am now in Kansas permanently. My furniture and "stuff" should get here tomorrow. Amid all the angst about the move there was this election that has put me into a real funk. I am working hard trying to clear out things so that the movers can get furniture through the door and then there was this political disaster. It would be so easy to just sit and do nothing for a couple of days, but I can't afford to do that.

I haven't been doing much reading either. I couldn't sleep the night of the election and so would read English Creek until I got sleepy and then would sleep for an hour or so, and then read some more, but it seemed that night would never end. I kept thinking that misogyny never ends, and I believe in the end, that was why Harris lost. People in the US simply won't vote for a woman.

It if forecasted to rain here tomorrow and that is the day my furniture should get here. It will be a busy day. It will start with my cousin delivering pallets for me to put my boxes on in the carport while I unpack them. I hope to have relatives come and help later in the afternoon but we will see how it goes.

It does feel good to be in Kansas and be able to have this wonderful open view. I just hope I can work time into my schedule to enjoy it in the coming months while I get moved in.

>90 streamsong: How awful to have a right wing Militia in your town, Janet! And that people should receive threats. Horrifying! I am so sorry.

>91 norabelle414: Thank you, Nora. I'm told that a federal abortion ban could supersede the state amendment. :( So it's not as large a step as I had hoped, but nice to know that Montanans don't have the wool pulled over their eyes on this issue at least.

>92 benitastrnad: Hi Benita! It must feel good to have your move accomplished.

I have been in a funk since the election, too. I watched the Rachel Maddow Show last night before I went to bed, and so had a really hard time getting to sleep.

I really like Mary Doria Russell's post on facebook about choosing one cause and physically helping them out - not just amplifying on social media or even donating money, but physically working for them.

That along with my injured back and now sore hip has limited my effectiveness around the place.

>93 vancouverdeb: Deborah the militia activity was very scary the week before the election. I think if Kamala had won, it would have progressed beyond threats, and into violence.

I'm definitely feeling better today, so I hope to get more done. My library book is overdue and it's fascinating: Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon by Melissa L Sevigny. On the book page, I see Mary/bell7 has this book, so perhaps that is where I got the recommendation.

Perhaps I'll get the next review worked on this evening: Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan. It's my favorite sort of travel story. Canadian author Jamie Zeppa took a one year teaching contract there and fell in love with the country and the people.

I am glad you are feeling better, Janet. Take care. I am glad I am in Canada.

>96 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah.

I tried to brain myself with a rake on Friday but was too embarrassed to admit it until I read Stasia also had a head injury. What a klutz I am! Actually, I think my recent aches are all related to my bad knee in a if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie sort of way. Because of the bad knee which I was protecting, the yearling colt jerked me in a very awkward way which did my back in. As the back got better, the hip pain suddenly announced itself, probably due to the awkward way I was moving with my sore back. Because of back and hip I didn't get all the troughs fitted with trough heaters and used a rake handle to smash ice in one of them - and my head got in the way. No wonder I wear my "I've fallen and can't get up" button outside!

This one was suggested by the Book Girls Global reading for South Asia. It's my first book for Bhutan, and it was a good one!



77. Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan - Jamie Zeppa - 2000
- Book Girls Global Tour
– library


Author Jamie Zeppa had built a good career in Canada and was also engaged to be married. Much to her fiance’s bewilderment, she decided she needed some adventure before settling down and contracted to do a year long teaching position in Bhutan.

She thought she would be teaching literature at a college in Bhutan’s main city, but her employers decided she was too young to teach at a University where she would be a similar age with her students. So Jamie ended up in a remote village teaching second graders. The village could be accessed mostly by foot travel and the occasional bus. It had neither running water nor electricity and only a rudimentary house for her to stay. Nevertheless, she found herself enjoying her position and loving her pupils and their families.

But soon she came to the notice of her employers who decided that no matter what her age, she would be much better utilized at the University. And so she made the move to a city with electricity, stores, and other English speaking teachers. Her university students were engaging and intellectually challenging – and she had found her place. One student in particular captured her heart.

Soon however, the government began sweeping reforms against long time citizens who spoke Nepali instead of Dzongkha (Bhutanese). These minorities,often had lived in Bhutan for generations but did not adhere to what the government mandated as the Bhutanese way of life – and violence and mass deportations broke out.

This is a wonderful book. I learned about a country I knew nothing about and author Jamie Zeppa did it in a very engaging way, including a forbidden love. It’s a vibrant story of how Ms Zeppa’s heart and life path were changed by Bhutan.`

“At my desk I start a letter to Robert about the difference between arrival and entrance. Arrival is physical and happens all at once. The train pulls in, the plane touches down, you get out of the taxi with all your luggage. You can arrive in a place and never really enter; you get there look around, take a few pictures, make a few notes, send postcards home. When you travel like this you think you know where you are, but in fact you have never left home. Entering takes longer. You cross over slowly, in bits and pieces. You begin to despair; will you ever get over> It is like awakening slowly, over a period of weeks. And then one morning, you open your eyes and you are finally here., really and truly here. You are just beginning t know where you are.” P 101

>98 streamsong: This sounds fascinating, Janet. Great comments. I will look for this one.

I hope you are feeling better.

>43 streamsong: Exvangelicals
This looks interesting and enlightening. The closest I've come to religion is Unitarians and Quakers, and even that's too much.
>64 streamsong: James >76 streamsong: Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
You've got me with a couple of BBs. I've been vaguely aware of both books but haven't been reading much.
>94 streamsong: Listening to Sisters In Law podcast last night, they answered a listener question about exactly this. Their fear is less for an outright abortion ban, and more for an expansion of the Comstock Act.

>99 BLBera: Hi Beth! It really was an engaging book about a country that I couldn't even find on a map. I've gotten away from my global reading project - I need to re-engage.

>100 qebo: Hi Katherine! I'm glad you are back on LT - I've missed your thoughtful commentaries.

Of the three books you've mentioned, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is the lightest. It will be interesting to see how James fares in the National Book Awards this week.

I need to look up more information on the Comstock Act. Thanks for mentioning it. I'll also check out the Sisters In Law Podcast

First of all, if you look at the LT ratings for this book, you will see that it is low. If you look at Goodreads or Amazon, you will see that both give it a 4+ star rating. The low rating here on LT seems to be the fact that only a very few members here have read or rated this book – and it has several one star ratings, which I believe may be from those with their own agendas, political or otherwise. With low numbers, these ratings absolutely skew the LT rating, while on sites with many more readers, the low ratings average in. Don’t let the low ratings here deter your reading of the book. I probably gave it an extra half star because the low star bombers irritate me.



78. Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew - Emnuel Acho - 2024
– library


After reading Emmanuel Acho’s Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, I was interested to read this one.

This time Acho pairs with Noa Tishby, an Israeli American Jewish advocate. It’s an interesting pairing as Jews and blacks here in America often view each other with skepticism and are sometimes on different sides of the sturggle, even as both often targets of white supremacy groups.

As Emnuel Acho says “One way to bring forth justice is through dialogue. Through respectful curiosity, asking and listening. …How to give someone else the space to speak plainly and communicate their own truth, while also examining your own – however inconvenient or painful that might be ” P xv

In the preface Tishby recounts her experience live-reporting the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 6. And although this book isn’t specifically about that atrocity, it provides background.

The authors examine anti-Jewish memes and why Jews are scapegoated. Some of those mentioned include stereotypes involving Jewish money and secret power and Jews as Christ-killers.

They also explore a bit of Jewish history – and the worldwide persecutions making Jews long for their own homeland.

They explain how being Jewish can be a religion, a bloodline, and/ora nationality.

Although the authors talk about political topics such as Zionism, most of Israel’s scorched earth policy against Palestinian Hamas in the current war is not covered, as the war has evolved since this writing.

The book is written in an easily understood and engaging way. After having read it, I believe I have a better background understanding as well as a better idea of what respectful questions can look like.

Great review of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew, Janet. I own a copy of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, which I haven't read yet, but I'll look for this book in the Black feminist bookshop in Philadelphia that I bought his earlier book in.

ETA: Even better, my local library has several unread copies of it, so I'll plan to get to it sometime next year; it's a very important topic.

>103 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! Both of the Acho books are short and are quick reading due to their format. I'll be interested to hear what you think of them.

Yay for libraries! Most of the books I read are from the library - although I have a huge supply of unread books, many I've acquired this year with the very best of intentions to read them.

The grapevine says that public $$ to libraries as well as PBS and NPR are on the new administrations' hit list. We need to support them every way we can.

I'm currently working on my reread of North Woods for book club tomorrow as I suggested the book and will be the moderator. I've heard already that several people didn't care for it as it is too slow, so it might not have been a good pick on my part.

As soon as I get my bc responsibilities out of the way, I'll return to my current reads: Woman Life Freedom about the Iranian women's resistance movement after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. This is a graphic novel, probably recommended by Mark.

I'm also reading The Measure which I haven't seen much about here on LT, but is making a stir among several of my RL book reading friends. One night, everyone on earth over the age of 22 receives a box with a string inside, indicating the length of their lifespan. Everything changes when you know the length of your life.

>102 streamsong: Great comments, Janet. It is certainly a timely topic.

>105 streamsong: oh I loved North Woods.yes its slow but their is a lot going on here. perhaps it would help if the reader accept that the main character is the house and enjoy his descriptions of the woods and the people over time.

Happy Wednesday, Janet. Good luck with North Woods at the book club. I did not find it slow at all and I discovered a new author to boot. I hope you enjoy Woman Life Freedom as much as I did.

>104 streamsong: Will do, Janet. BTW, I have supported my local PBS/NPR stations in Atlanta since at least 2000, and in Philadelphia since I moved back here in 2022. I did donate to my two local library systems last year but not so far this year, so thanks for the reminder.

Hi Janet.

>90 streamsong: Montana is schizophrenic, what with Tester losing yet the right to abortion amendment passing. Karen’s devastated, as am I. NC is schizophrenic, too, with the Dems retaining the governorship AND getting rid of the super majority in the Legislature, which means that vetoes STAY vetoed.

I’m shocked about threats. We haven’t had any here that I know of, and hope your friends have stayed safe.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned recently that there’s a HUGE confederate flag flying as you come into town from the east. It’s sad and embarrassing and dangerous.

>97 streamsong: Ah yes, the if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie effect. I think I still have that book here somewhere – the children’s books I’ve kept aren’t in my catalog. You’re wise to have the "I've fallen and can't get up" button and to actually wear it.

>102 streamsong: Onto the wish list it goes. I’m seriously upset with Israel’s scorched earth policy, but this book will be a starting point.

>104 streamsong: The day after the election, every single employee of the Chatham Community Library here in Pittsboro came to work upset – some crying as they walked in the door. So much distress, and the Branch Librarian and County Librarian were absolutely drained by the end of the day.

>106 BLBera: Hi Beth - Thank you. I actually read this about a month ago.

I've found its very hard for me to read political books right now. I returned several unread to the library including Rachel Maddow's Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism and another from Native American viewpoint, which I deleted from my tbr catalog and can't find the right name.

>107 cindydavid4: >108 msf59: Cindy and Mark - The bookclub for North Woods did not go well. While a couple people liked it, several said it was "too hard" and gave up reading it. I'm also looking forward to reading more by Daniel Mason. What an extaordinary human being he is! Physician, Psychiatrist, and professor of literature at Stanford.

>109 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! There are soooooo many institutions that are going to need our support. Scary times ahead, I'm afraid.

>110 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks for all your great comments.

It hasn't been too long ago that Montana had a Democratic governor; representatives and senators were split between blue and red and we had several well known statesmen - like Mike Mansfield.

I haven't heard of any more talk of violence since the election - at least not the waving-a-gun-in-your face sort of violence. I do believe that our Democracy is under violent attack. I wish I knew how to help change the course we seem to be on. I'm doing small small things - what Brene Brown called acts of 'microhope' in a recent post which consist of doing the next small right thing. Some days they seem so futile. I'll have to email Karen and see what she is saying.

Sorry about the Confederate flag. We still have them flying on the backs of pickup trucks here. Hate seems to be the order of the day. :(

Right, Janet. I started a personal tradition of donating to 10-12+ of my favorite charities and organizations on Giving Tuesday when I was working. I've continued to do so, although I may up donating to additional or different organizations this year.

Here in suburban Philadelphia life is essentially no different than it was before the election. All but a couple of MAGAts have removed Trump signs from their flagpoles or lawns, and everyone is behaving civilly—at least for now.

>113 kidzdoc: I do pretty much the same, Darryl, although I choose my gifts spread out over the year to make it more financially do-able for me.

My son is saying pretty much the same about Pittsburgh as you say about Philadelphia - with the exception that he says his psychology practice is overwhelmed with people filled with dread about the future as programs intrinsic to their well-being are on Trump's hit list.

The militia for now is quiet.

oop- happy very late new thread!

>89 streamsong: I get most of my recommendations from friends on this group! I completely understand that!

>98 streamsong: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Janet!

>102 streamsong: I still need to get to that one after having and loved Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. Thanks for the reminder, Janet.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Read for my Newcomers' Book Club in October. I liked it more than I thought I would.



79. The Women - Kristin Hannah - 2024
- Newcomer's Book Club
– Kindle


Frankie has been raised in her upper class home with of a wall of photographs of her family’s military heroes

When her brother enlists and heads to Vietnam, Frankie determines to join him as a nurse. The army is the only military branch that will enlist nurses without several years of nursing experience, so that is the branch where Frankie, fresh from nursing school, enlists.

She is thrown into the midst of a front line hospital unit – seeing the horribly wounded, developing friendships among the personnel there and seeing her skills increase exponentially as she fills in for tasks that would be routinely done by doctors in a less demanding situation.

Not everyone she loved made it home.

Frankie did make it home, though, only to find that there are no veterans’ support groups open to her as ‘there were no women in Vietnam’. The authorities refuse to admit that nurses could suffer from the as yet unlabeled PTSD symptoms as well as the men combatants.

She discovered that her father was so ashamed that she enlisted that her parents told friends that she was on an extended European tour.

Besides her nightmare experiences and loss, Frankie struggles with her military experience being unrecognized and having to begin on the lowest rung of civilian hospitals. She is haunted by memories of those she lost – especially after one returns from a POW camp, meeting Frankie on a sea of lies.

I had guessed the outcome of the book – which doesn’t mean it didn’t bring sniffles and Kleenex. We’ve been aware of how badly the male Vietnam vets were treated and left unsupported when they returned home to an American divided by the war. This is a fresh story of how the women were treated and how they had to cope.

>114 streamsong: That's a good idea about spreading your donations throughout the year. I'll likely do the same thing.

I'm not surprised that Pittsburghers are behaving civilly, having lived in the Shadyside neighborhood near Pitt's campus for four years. Similar to here I would imagine the exurbs would be where the Trump supporters became more prominent, with the rural Appalachian portions of PA, WV and OH being overwhelmingly in favor of Trump, despite Biden also being a Pennsylvanian.

I'm now reading Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary by the famed Yale historian Timothy Snyder, and in it he describes the sharp fall in the living standards of the White working class over the past four decades, the equally if not sharper rise of the opioid crisis in Appalachia and the Rust Belt, and why so many voters who chose Obama in 2012 went with Trump in 2016. The book is as applicable now as it was in 2019, and it's just as obvious, at least to me, why Kamala Harris was defeated rather decisively by Trump this month. I would love to know if any of the supposedly sharp people in the DNC read this book or taken its lessons seriously.

>115 louisisaloafofbreb: Hello Friend Owl!

>116 alcottacre: Hi Stasia - it's not often I catch you with a book bullet since you usually have already read everything I read! I am honored. :) I hope you enjoy both Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan and Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew.

Happy Friday to everyone!

>109 kidzdoc: sooo many
>113 kidzdoc: Giving Tuesday
There's a 24-hour event here on the Friday before Thanksgiving, i.e. today, for donations to local non-profits, with a searchable web site to find information about organizations devoted to specific issues, and many in-person events. I set up a spreadsheet nearly a decade ago so I don't have to make decisions every year. There are LOTS of worthy organizations, and some might drop off my radar if I had to keep track of them individually. So this frees up mental space for national organizations which I suspect will need extra attention over the next several years.

I like the idea of doing small things so that we improve the lives of others, and our country's . My church makes a dinner for about 100 people or more each week, and we employ two outreach workers who take meals to the homeless in my city 6 nights a week, all made by different churches. I'm glad you enjoyed The Women, Janet.

>120 qebo: That's a great idea, Katherine. I'll have to learn more about similar organizations here in the Delaware Valley, particularly Lower Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia.

One "gift" I signed up for is a blood donation to the Langhorne Red Cross Donation Center, very close to where I live, which will open on December 5th. I gave blood semi-regularly when I lived in Atlanta, and I intend to give the "gift of life" far more frequently from now on, starting with this donation on December 18th.

>118 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! We cross-posted.

I read Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary when it first came since I am a big fan of Timothy Snyder's earlier book On Tyranny. Both are eye opening and saddening. It's hard to believe that when Snyder was accompanied to an ER by a black female doctor who insisted he needed to be seen NOW, she was completely dismissed.

I've put On Tyranny onto my 75'ers Christmas wish list since I've given my copy away. I wish I could hand them out like Trick or Treat candy.

>120 qebo: Hi Katherine - I love your idea of a spreadsheet. I may have to try that.

I do like this site which rates charities on the amount of your donation that actually reaches the cause.

https://www.charitywatch.org/charities

I predict that many of the local charities like food banks are going to be financially stressed because of lower government support and higher usage. Evil me says that since this area is solidly red, most of the users are probably the same voters who cast their votes without thinking of consequences. And then more rational, kinder me says "no, no think of the children!" Without a crystal ball, I may wait until I see what programs actually feel the bite and where the need is later in the year.

You are right - so many worthy charities are going to need help.

>121 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! I love the programs your church supports. I am thinking of changing my allegiance to a church with more social outreach. Giving monetary support is good, but I'd like to do some human touch volunteering, too.

I think of Kristin Hannah as being lighter reading, but I've really enjoyed The Women and The Great Alone which I read earlier this year.

>122 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl - I'm a regular blood donor, too. For me, it's very easy - great veins, never anemic, quick and easy. That's great that you are doing that!

>124 streamsong: Charitynavigator is also very good

when major disasters strike I stay away from red cross and other large groups and try to find more local charities if I can. if not I United way

Happy Sunday, Janet. I was curious about The Women. You sealed the deal. I will add it my audio list. I have not read her before.

>126 cindydavid4: That's another great site, Cindy!

>127 msf59: Hi Mark! I hope you like The Women. Bit of romance, bit of fluff, but overall I enjoyed it - as did the women in the book club.

On Thursday we had the library book club discussion on Yellowface. I didn't reread it as I had read it recently. Great book, highly recommended, although I read it at the end of 2023 and didn't get a review done.

Our librarian moderator said R F Kuang is one of his favorite authors and that Babel is one of very favorite books ever. I've just started her first book, an historical Chinese fantasy called Poppy War which I already had home from the library, although I'm not sure where I got the recommendation.

Has anyone else read more of Kuang besides Yellowface, which I remember made a splash here on LT when it came out?

>123 streamsong: Ah! Sorry that I'm only now seeing your post, Janet. I found the curt dismissal of the Black female physician infuriating, in part because Atlanta has plenty of Black physicians and her appearance would not have raised any eyebrows. Along the same line when I presented to an ED in Atlanta for acute abdominal pain the intake person asked me what my profession was. When I told her that I was a pediatric intern at Emory no one questioned me the way they did that far more experienced physician, and most people addressed me as " Dr M______" IIRC, although I was quite embarrassed to receive that attention.

Yes, On Tyranny will almost certainly be added to my list of books to read next year, as I have a copy of it on my Kindle.

>129 streamsong: Im a big fantasy fan so picked up Poppy war knowing nothing about the author. for the most part I was blown away by it,but it is very violent. Id stilll rcommend it tho Also read and loved Babel I have Yellow face but havent read it yet

>130 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! I don't remember which city the incident with the black doctor being dismissed occurred. I'm really glad that you have always been respected by hospital staff which is exactly how it should be. I do remember you writing about disrespect received from parents of one of your young patients.

Unfortunately, this area is so white, I could well imagine it happening here. :( The racism and misogyny have increased exponentially in this area in the last ten years. Along with the rise of the militia, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay here.

On Tyranny is very short. I know you are not likely to have much non-interrupted reading time, but if you did, you could read it in one sitting.

>131 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! All that is good to know! I'm about a hundred pages in - it's hard to put down. Poppy War is a trilogy, right? Did you go on with the other two?

Ah, another vote for Babel. I'll definitely keep that one in mind.

Yellowface is a completely different genre - she is a very versatile author.

I understand about book clubs not having the patience to read a "harder" book. Don't let that discourage you. Some of those people will finish North Woods and be glad they did so. You are correct that Daniel Mason is a talented author. He can really set an atmosphere. I have read two of his novels and will read North Woods as soon as I can get a copy of it.

My book club is reading a difficult book for me and since I am the moderator we are going to discuss why we should read books that push our boundaries every-so-often. I am not going to tell them that we should waste our time reading books we don't like, but that we should push ourselves to read something outside our normal reading patterns sometimes. We might find that we like them when we get finished.

>132 streamsong: I'm certain that that episode occurred at Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to Dr Snyder's account. I would think that Yale would have an above average number of Black physicians as compared to other medical schools, and it's entirely possible, if not likely, that the nurses' curt dismissal of her were due to her gender as much as her race. My female physician colleagues, regardless of race, were routinely not afforded the same respect as I was, even by mothers of hospitalized patients, and I frequently and openly declared that I thought that misogyny was a much more significant problem than racism, including from the older male surgeons and other subspecialists.

I'm sure that Montana is absolutely gorgeous but as a Black man I doubt you could pay me enough to live there! Our neighborhood is at least 90% White, but it's a completely comfortable one to live in, as there are enough Black people here, and especially in the City of Philadelphia, to not make us stand out like sore thumbs.

Thanks for mentioning that about On Tyranny. I have a copy of it on my Kindle, and I'll add it to my core reading list for 2025.

>133 streamsong: I think so; I started the second but just couldnt get into it and dont know about the third

>135 kidzdoc: Can't say I blame you, Darryl. There are more liberal and diverse pockets in the state but they are becoming fewer all the time.

Here's a link to some info on the militia group operating in this valley. This was a three page article in the local paper and also ran in other chain-owned papers, but they are all behind paywalls. This one picked up by an Omaha paper is not behind a paywall.

https://omaha.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/county-militias-tactic...

>136 cindydavid4: Thanks, Cindy. That's good information to know.

>137 streamsong: Yikes. That is beyond frightening.

Janet, yes, The Secret Guests is also part of the series . Benjamin Black is the penname that John Banville used to use for his less literary works. I have not read The Secret Guests though , and my library does not have , so I don't think you miss too much if you start with Snow, but since I have not read the first in the series, I can't say for sure.

>138 kidzdoc: Beyond frightening. Like I said earlier, I deleted a post before the election because it sounded so paranoid. Believe it or not people cannot get restraining orders for militia showing up at gatherings on public property with automatic rifles; another restraining order was denied when a group of five men followed a friend around with hands on their gun's holsters as long as they don't draw the weapon.

Montana is open carry, but this is beyond the pale.

As an older woman (never elderly!!) living in a house that can't be seen from the road, I am deeply concerned.

>139 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah. That was very kind of you to post this info here as well as on your thread.

My heart is breaking for you. ((((Hugs))))

>140 streamsong: I can't comprehend that. In addition, I seriously doubt that law enforcement officers, or the general public, would allow a Black man such as myself to openly carry an automatic weapon in Montana or other open carry states.

I am sorry for the fear you are feeling. Virginia is also open carry but we don't see many of them. Of course, I don't get out much.

My husband and I took a quick trip to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, an area that was devastated during the Civil War. We were having a nice conversation with an older man in the coffee shop. Evidently, he made assumptions about us (or maybe he didn't care) as he told a joke about what he called the "unpleasantness" that starred Robert E. Lee with the Yankees as the punchline. Perhaps the most insidious part of our times is the empowerment of hate and evil.

I mostly stopped by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for my lately neglected LT family.

>142 kidzdoc: Beyond terrifying, Darryl. I can't believe that this place has devolved into intimidation with guns.

A sad and ironic Ha! on black men with automatic rifles. I had certainly never given that aspect a thought.

>143 witchyrichy: Hello Karen! Things seemed to have calmed down since the election, but just knowing there is that sort of intimidation lurking under the surface is an uneasy thing.

I am also not keeping up as I should with my LT family. I value every one of you and my reading life is so much richer due to your presence.

80. The Comfort of Crows - Margaret Renkl - 2023
– library
- 3.7 stars

Author Margaret Renkl quotes an old tradition where the first bird you see in the New Year is portentous for the year ahead. The first bird she saw was a crow, which she associates with intelligence and community.

This book is a week by week description and meditation (52 short chapters) of nature in her back yard over the year. It’s beautifully detailed and a mostly quiet, soothing read, although she does mention climate changes affecting her.

Her descriptions are often quite detailed, even poetic, which means for me I had to read them in short bits. After the first few chapters, I skipped ahead to her sections written about autumn, the season I was physically experiencing. That was the key for my enjoyment of the book. From that point onward, I then circled around to the beginning of the year.

The illustrations done by her brother, Billy are beautiful.

Overall I’d give this book a 3.7/5 even with the proviso that I found it best in short doses and often only read one of the weekly chapters at a time.

It has sparked in me is a desire to write my own similar descriptions of my acreage along a creek. I will look for her newest publication Leaf, Cloud, Crow which is a journal for those wanting to take up the task and which should aim me in the right direction.`

Back to a detective novel/ murder mystery which are often my go to comfort reads.



81. White Nights – Ann Cleeves – 2009
– library
- 4 stars

This is the second in the detective series featuring Jimmy Perez and the Shetland Islands.

At the opening night of an art exhibition, a mysterious Englishman makes a scene. When Perez tries to intervene, the man claims that he has amnesia and then disappears from the gathering. The next morning the stranger is found dead, hanging from a rafter and wearing a clown mask. Perez, spurred by his guilt in talking to the stranger at the exhibition but not being able to stop, him must discover who the man is and what if any connection he has to the very small village.

Once again the Shetland Islands are a brooding character – this time at the height of summer when the white nights with almost constant daylight can bring out madness. The Pit O'Biddista, in the book is described as a local legendary pit carved between the cliffs and the sea. It was created by the giant Biddista while pursuing his lady love along the coastal cliffs. This feature is so vivid that I was saddened to learn this location and legend are fictional.

Artists, actors, writers and a musician as well as the farmers and other village people make for an interesting story as the bodies pile up.

I rated this 4 out of 5 and will definitely go on with the series.

Hi, Janet. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

I’m sorry that Murakami doesn’t work well for you. He fits well for me, as I wander between reality and surreality. I’m enjoying his latest, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, right now. I was going to say that if the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle didn’t do it for you, nothing will. But on further thought, some day you may want to try Norwegian Wood. It’s more conventional, and was his first big breakthrough success. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki is also like that.

The Comfort of Crows sounds intriguing. I like quiet backyard nature books like that.

I’m also reading A House for Mr. Biswas, which Darryl (kidzdoc) highly recommends.

P.S. I love the Shetland adaptation of Ann Cleeves Jimmy Perez books on Britbox, but I’ve never read the original books.

Hi Janet! Hang in there. Stay safe.

>112 streamsong: Even though it’s from the Like Us Series I just re-read and pertains to famous people and envy, “Haters are gonna hate.” Is applicable with political crazies, too.

I don’t know what to do in the face of what’s coming except continue volunteering for the Friends of the Library. Libraries, of course, will be under attack more than they already are. I’m struck with ‘doing the next small right thing’.

>124 streamsong: Drat. One of the charities I’ve been donating to for years, and which always had a very good rating, is now F on this website, but 3 of 4* on Charity Navigator. WTH? However, I’m rethinking what’s important and either my local food bank or The Trevor Project are in my sights.

>147 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I would love to love Murakami - unfortunately I often struggle with magical realism. Thanks for the recommendation of Norwegian Wood. Perhaps I'll give it a try.

Mark and Beth are both listed as friends who enjoyed The Comfort of Crows. So I may have got the rec from either or both of them - but they are two solid recommendations for me. They've both added hugely to my TBR piles.

Thanks also for the rec for A House for Mr. Biswas. I love being able to add books to my global reading map and with recs from you and Darryl, it sounds like a good one.

I watched the first season of the Jimmy Perez adaptation and enjoyed it. The books are quite good - even if all the characters in my mind wear the TV adaptations' faces.

>148 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Yup, haters are going to hate. It's when they start waving guns around that become very concerned.

I think doing the 'next right thing' is brilliant and is all any of us can do.

I think libraries are a great place to volunteer - unfortunately our Friends of the Library group is very limited. Mostly they put together craft kits for kids and others to pick up once a month as a way of getting those who might not otherwise use a library in the door. I'm not very crafty and my mind numbs as tasks like 'counting out 50 red beads and add to the small envelope'. I wish I could do something else to help.

Beats me on the different ratings on the two charity sites. Perhaps you could contact the charity evaluator sites and ask for details. It might be a mix up with a similarly named charity - or perhaps one bad incident.

One of our local charities is called Loads of Dignity where a laundromat washes clothes free of charge for homeless people and those living in travel trailers who don't have washers and dryers. I think one of their recent newsletters said they serve 60-70 kids a month along with their parents and others.

Janet, My computer is a little bit on the blink and I cannot access the threadbook consistently.
Wishing you, albeit slightly belatedly, a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

>151 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I had a very nice Thanksgiving at a friend's daughter's house. Great food, met some new people, ate some new-to-me vegan food along with all the holiday favorites.

When I join others for Thanksgiving, I always put turkey and stuffing and a few sweet potatoes into my slow cooker (crock pot) so I have all the wonderful aromas when I get home - and turkey 'leftovers' for the next few days.

>152 streamsong: Glad that you had a good Thanksgiving, Janet. And a nice idea, a crockpot is a useful thing.

I love my crockpots. I have the original one that my sister purchased back in the early 1980's. It is a funky goldish color. I still use it for all kinds of things, but for cooking, I have a newer bigger one that lets me cook lots of meat dishes. They are indeed, a handy thing to have.

>153 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too.

>154 benitastrnad: Hi Benita - I still use my crockpot, but not as consistently as I did in the 70's and 80's. I have a couple different sizes - a ginormous one which is what I used for the turkey parts and a baby one that I bought for doing small things. I need to get a normal sized one.

82. The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times – Jane Goodall & Douglas Abrams 2023
- library

This book is a series of conversations between Jane and her coauthor Douglas Abrams.

She tells the story of becoming who she is; how having the opportunity to observe wild chimps before she had any sort of biological training gave the world new insights. At the time, scientists believed that to describe animals as having distinct personality traits or emotions was to anthropomorphize them. In a world and time of animals considered ‘other’ Jane feels she was blessed to do her observations without the scientific methods which she came to feel did a disservice to animals.

Today she finds three sources of hope for the future: nature, resiliency of the human spirit and young people. She believes that these three forces will right the world and they give her hope in the dark times. especially as we face the inevitable climate change.

She ends the book with a strong spiritual message. Jane believes in a creator (whatever the name) and an afterlife which means that death is merely the next adventure.

She quotes the following by Einstein from his book The World as I See It: “The harmony of natural law … reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. “ p 205

I find this sort of book to sometimes tip onto the tedious side of much too cheery, but overall I liked it’s hopeful tone and the conversations between the two authors. I especially enjoyed her concrete examples of how a small event can lead to great changes.

I read this before the 2024 election took place, but I find this quote very timely: "Hope... is a stubborn determination to do all you can to make it work. And hope is something we can cultivate." In other words, hope is not merely a passive emotion but something must create each day..

>145 streamsong: I LOVE this! I am a fan of Edwin Teale and have been working through his daily journal of nature. I have often thought it would be fun to do it for our farm. I take a daily walk around the property and every day brings some small changes that we often fail to notice. I have added both books to my TBR list.

>152 streamsong: And I also love the idea of a bit of Thanksgiving in your crockpot. I do love my slow cooker but, like you, don't use it as much as I used to, maybe because I am home during the day so don't need to do meal prep any more? I did make pork bbq this weekend, a crock pot favorite.

>156 streamsong: thanks for that review;love both authors and so probably will pick this up. I can use all the hope I can get

>157 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! I'm glad both books caught your imagination. I can't wait to see my 'first bird' of 2025. I routinely see hawks, great horned owls, quail, magpies, and doves so my guess will be one of those. Let's keep encouraging each other on the journals!

The GHO's have started their winter hooting. I heard one at dawn yesterday.

I need to get things in my crockpot more often. I am often so tired at night that I don't want to cook so I am hoping to do more morning meal prep. Tonight I will do a quick stir fry. I cooked sprouted rice (dried grains) yesterday (never tried it before, I'll report back if anyone is interested) and have some tofu already crisped up so it should go together easily. I tend to buy "interesting" ingredients and put them in my cupboard, so I will be trying some new-to-me recipes in the next few weeks to help clean out my cupboards.

>158 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Yes, I hear you. One of my daily goals is that I'm going to try to write more political type emails to my representatives.

One of the pro-Kamala FB groups I follow has turned into a feminist group, but there are several threads about buying everything from groceries to electronics to try and avoid the inflation that many think is coming. It's one of the reasons I'm cleaning out my cupboards and using up items that need to be gone. Nothing like a good look to see what is lurking in the back of my freezer and cupboards to inspire me to use some things up.

NOVEMBER Reading. None yet reviewed. Sigh. I'm working on the last review for October, The Grey Bees

84. Outlander - Diane Gabaldon - 1998 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
85. Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon - Melissa L. Sevigny - 2023 - library
86. The Big Questions of Philosophy - David Kyle Johnson - Learning Company/Great Courses - audiobook - library
87. Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail - 2023 - Andrea Lankford - library
88. North Woods - Daniel Mason - 2023 - Reread for Newcomers' Book Club - library
89. The Measure - Niki Erlick - 2022 - library
90. Woman Life Freedom - Marjane Satrapi- 2024 - graphic non-fiction (English translation) - Global Reading/Iran - library

Truly a star-filled month. Hard to pick out favorites, but I rated both The Measure and Woman Life Freedom as 4.5 stars.

>160 streamsong:
I really enjoyed The Measure by Nikki Erlick. I listened to it and thought it would make an excellent book for a book discussion group.

>156 streamsong: I read this a while ago and enjoyed it as well!

Happy rest of the week

>146 streamsong: I am glad you enjoyed White Nights, Janet. Mysteries are my go to comfort reads as well.

>161 benitastrnad: Hello Benita! Next week my library-sponsored book club votes on the book selections for the year and my friend threw The Measure into the ring. I agree with you that it should generate lots of discussion and should be a fun book to talk about. How many people would want to know how long their life actually was -- and it's amazing all the decisions such knowlege affects.

Have you found an in-person group to be a part of since your move?

>162 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! I wonder if I got the suggestion for The Book of Hope from your thread. I've sent you a friend request because I do like seeing which of my friends have also read a book.

>163 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah! I'm so glad you are making it around to the threads - I hope that means that Muffin is helping you heal.

While we were still married, my exDH was driving a truck he inherited from his father, when someone blew threw a stop sign. We mourned the loss of the truck but felt really lucky he was driving a rig large enough to absorb the blow so he wasn't badly hurt. I think his father smiled down on him that day.

I'm currently reading Force of Nature by Jane Harper. It's my first by Ms Harper and I'm really enjoying it. I can't think why I didn't start with the first of the Falk series instead of #2, but perhaps the whole 'lost in the wilderness while hiking' plot appealed to me. It's a great mystery and I'm sure I'll read more of Jane Harper's works.

Opening lines: "Later the four remaining women could fully agree on only two things. One: No one saw the bushland swallow up Alice Russell. And two: Alice had a mean streak so sharp it could cut you."

I see half a dozen of my 75er buddies enjoy this author. I love hanging out with such smart people!

I very much like Jane Harper. I read The Dry and gave it four stars. Your reading prompts me to read more of her books.

Some of the titles discussed above reminded me of a book I read years ago (and may still have somewhere!) titled Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal by David Kline. Have you read it?

Happy Friday, Janet. Good review of The Comfort of Crows. I loved that book and we selected it for our next birding Book Club pick. She is an excellent writer. I also really enjoyed both North Woods & Woman Life Freedom.

>166 Whisper1: Hi Linda! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I'll be reading more of Jane Harper, too. Maybe we could think about some sort of shared read?

>167 ffortsa: Hi Judy! Good to see you! No, I haven't read Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal. It sounds interesting, but isn't available in my library system of linked western Montana libraries. I don't know much about the Amish, so it sounds like one I would be interested in.

I meant to say to Karen in >157 witchyrichy: that I haven't read anything by Edwin Teale but do have a copy of A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm in my tbr stacks.

>168 msf59: Hi Mark! Will you be watching for your first bird on January first? Any guesses what it might be?

Woman Life Freedom was amazing. I hope it grows wings and more people read it.

The last of the October (!) reviews.



83. Grey Bees – Andrey Kurkov - 2018
- Global Reading: Ukrainian author and location/translated
– library


It’s 2013 and almost everyone has fled the small town of Little Starhorodivka situated in the grey zone between Russia and Ukraine as Russia invade the Crimea.

The exceptions are two men who still live in the otherwise empty town: Sergey Sergeyich, and his ‘frenemy’ Pashka. They endure shelling from both sides, as well as a complete lack of electricity, water, food supplies or doctors. Pashka appears to be a Russian sympathizer; Sergey seems to have no good options to leave; especially as he has six hives of honey bees which have provided his living for many years.

We see the daily small interactions of the men and the soldiers who surround them and periodically visit them in their town. The soldiers do small favors for Sergeyich such as charging his cell phone. Sergey in turns worries about them, and covers a body left behind with snow.

Eventually in the spring, Sergey decides to take his hives of bees out of the ruined town to the countryside so they can gather the pollen they need. He heads toward the Crimea and a fellow beekeeper he met one time at a beekeepers' convention many years ago. Eventually he arrives at his friend’s house to discover that the friend has been swallowed up by the Russian prison system. His family is eager for Sergey’s help.

The grey bees are the bees that are no longer healthy. As they are stressed or sicken, they turn from their brilliant yellow, black and orange to grey; usually that means the entire hive is lost.

I loved the story of the daily life of an ordinary civilian caught up in a unique war zone. I found myself cheering Sergey on as he and his hives of bees move through their lives against the background of war.

>170 streamsong: Good review, Janet. The book sounds really interesting.

>169 streamsong: “I hope it grows wings and more people read it” Well said!

Great comments on both the Kurov book and the Jane Goodall one. Good luck with the cleaning of the cupboards...I need to do that as well.

>170 streamsong: Another excellent book! It was one of my favourite reads from last year.

>171 EllaTim: Hi Ella - Thank you on the complements for the reviews. I really enjoyed both Grey Bees and Woman Life Freedom. I am loving reading the international authors.

>172 BLBera: Thank you, Beth. I get so many wonderful book suggestions from this group!

The cupboard cleaning is going slowly as I pull out ingredients and decide what to make with them to use them up. Every now and then there is an unhappy surprise - Yikes! I can't believe I had a can of clams that expired several years ago.

The other part of it is stocking up with sale items. That is also a bit of a challenge. My favorite brand of canned vegetables was on a terrific sale, so I bought a couple cans of each. Not until I got home, did I realize I had bought some canned peas which I hate. Ah well, **someone** at the local food pantry will appreciate them, I'm sure. Fresh peas are yummy, frozen peas work but canned peas are not for me.

>173 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Grey Bees was wonderful, wasn't it? I'm sure I'll remember the story for quite a while as well as some of the images - I'd love to try the bed of bees!

We talked about this one upthread starting at about message >75 streamsong: as I finished reading it for one of my real life book clubs. So I’ll just leave a few general impressions that I may have already commented.



84. Outlander – Diane Gabaldon - 1998
- Library Brown Bag Book Club
– library


This is the story of a happily married woman who is content with her life and her nursing job. While on a second honeymoon to Scotland, she accidentally travels through a time portal and arrives in 1743 Scotland in the midst of a skirmish between Scottish clans and English soldiers. Her nursing skills earn her a small place; soon she finds herself in a forced marriage to Jamie, a handsome, young athletic adventurer who as she discovers later, is also quite high up in the Clans’ hierarchy.

She and Jamie fall madly in love and navigate the time just prior to the Jacobite Rebellion with a series of adventures and escapes – and lots of romance wrapped in soft porn.

The story features lots of excitement and romance. I also enjoyed the historical aspects of the soon to be brewing Jacobite Rebellion, a time frame I had little knowledge of. And finally a knife-edge choice at the end of the story – to stay with Jamie in the upcoming war or to return to her husband in the present time.

There were also tropes I wasn’t so fond of: forced marriage but falling madly in love; evil gay British commander sodomizing and torturing prisoners; Jamie beating his wife Claire into submission after she disobeys him.

Many people are totally captivated by the book. I’m not in their ranks but I am intrigued enough that I may go onward with the second book – or perhaps watch a few episodes on Netflix. I wonder how closely the book and the TV series follow.

The top five list for LT'ers reads in 2024 is up! This is not a list of books only published in 2024, but of your favorite five reads for the year

https://www.librarything.com/list/46058/Top-Five-Books-of-2024

As usual, there aren't many people contributing (yet) but I hope to see many more. This is one of my favorite book lists of the year - it means so much to me as it's a list by my book-obsessed reading peers.

The number one book (although it only has seven votes) is James.

I've added four books so far:
James
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Exvangelicals
The Measure

85. Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon – Melissa L Sevigny – 2023
- library


In 1938 few explorers had attempted to float the length of the Grand Canyon. Parts of it were regarded as unfloatable – those attempting to do so had lost expedition members or mysteriously disappeared.
Enter Elzada Clover. Although botany was considered a pretty and popular hobby for well bred young ladies, Clover had pushed all reasonable boundaries by earning a degree in botany and becoming a professor at the University of Michigan, specializing in American cacti.

She determined that she wanted to put together an expedition mapping the native plants, especially the cacti of the Grand Canyon, especially useful as the recently completed Hoover dam was filling the westernmost part of the canyon with Lake Mead, permanently changing the plant life in the area forever.

There were many obstacles to putting together such an expedition – the first being that although she was a professor at the University of Michigan, she had to obtain permission from her father. Next came the thorny hurdle of funding, which after monumental efforts she received from a private source. She had previously met an adventurer and river man Norman Neville, who agreed to hand build three wooden cataract boats for the trip and would be the expedition’s outfitter.

Clover would be joined by Lois Jotter Cutter a graduate student in botany; there was also a male scientist with an interest in collecting animal specimens.

The press framed the expedition as a stunt by women. Although there was ever increasing coverage of the expedition, the focus was on the absurdity of two women undertaking the float and whether it was possible for them to survive the trip. The trip became known as the ‘Neville Expedition’ after the name of the outfitter and did not reflect that Clover had organized it, financed it and made significant scientific discoveries.

Clover and Cutter collected and described the flora of the canyon, including identifying new species of cacti and identifying areas where indigenous peoples had brought in plants non-native to the area. At the same time, the two women handled all the cooking and other camp chores while the men of the expedition took their ease around camp.

This book reads like an adventure story – showcasing the disregard the public felt for women scientists while describing the beauty of the Canyons and Clover and Cutter’s significant contributions to the understanding of the ecosystems (itself a new concept) of the Grand Canyon.

Highly recommended for those who love the Grand Canyon, tales of adventure and the pioneering efforts of women scientists.

“What does wild mean anyway? Not untouched by human presence, for even the plants – especially the plants- show how the canyonland’s first inhabitants tended agave and prickly pear, coaxing them into new shapes. A wild place isn’t one unchanged by humans It’s a place that changes us. “ p 250

>176 streamsong: Thanks for that link, Janet. I looked through the list, it’s really long. So lots of people have made very individual choices. A great source for later choices!

>177 streamsong: Interesting review again. The times of course, but it is flabbergasting to read. The women had to do the cooking!

Love the quote. Some people here in Holland say that we have no nature, because everything has been influenced by men. It’s nonsense of course.

"Will you be watching for your first bird on January first? Any guesses what it might be?" It might be silly but many of my birder pals look forward to seeing their "First" bird of the year. We try to avoid looking at out feeders and if we are driving out somewhere on the morning of the 1st, we try to keep the blinders on until we spot something special. LOL. Goofy but fun, especially since seeing something special is pretty tough to do in January.

Brave the Wild River sounds really good. On the list it goes.

>177 streamsong: This one sounds really good, Janet.

>178 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Yes the LT's 2025 list of users' favorite books read this year is like the US description of the Mississippi River (hmm looked it up online and I guess it's a description of the Platte River) - a mile wide and an inch deep. I hope it has many more people contribute as the year comes to an end. I know last year I was disappointed in the number of people who posted on it compared to GoodRead's similar list. But I also agree that it looks like a great resource for books to read.

Yes, in Brave the Wild River the women scientists did cooking and camp chores while the men paddled and steered and long lined the boats. I loved this story - I gave it to my friend's daughter as a hostess gift as she fixed Thanksgiving dinner and had just come back from a Grand Canyon trip. I laughed about giving a book as a hostess gift instead of wine or flowers or chocolate or whatnot - but I hope she enjoyed it. I'll see her again at Christmas to see if she read it.

Nature will have its way as they said in the movie Jurrasic Park so many years ago. Although you might lack the great stretches of wilderness, there is all sorts of backyard nature going on. As you say, it is everywhere.

>179 msf59: Hi Mark! I didn't know about the watching for the first bird of the year until reading The Comfort of Crows. I can see why some look for their first unusual bird instead. As I have a variety of great birds living along my creek - hawks, owls, eagles - I'll go with the first one I see on January 1. Now just watch it be a LGJ (Little Gray Job) that I can't identify. But if so, I'll tell myself that's it's the LGJ's that make the world go round.

I really enjoyed Brave the Wild River. I **LOVE** the Grand Canyon - maybe from my very first reading of Brighty of the Grand Canyon when I was in third grade or so. I've never been down to the bottom - getting too old to do the hike, but might still make it on mule back. It would be a bucket list item for sure. I would love to spend more time there no matter how I accomplish it.

>180 BLBera: Hi Beth! I hope you enjoy it, too!

I really loved All Quiet on the Western Front, Mary, when I read it quite a few years ago. Good choice!

>183 vancouverdeb: Thanks for stopping by, Deborah. I'm glad you liked it, too!

Book #86 North Woods by Daniel Mason was a reread of book #40 which I reviewed in May. Here's the link to my review listed on my second thread of this year:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/358973#8544786

I rated it a strong four stars.

Sorry, everyone, it's another long review - but this was one of my favorite books of the year.



89. The Measure - Nikki Erlick 2022
– library


One night, mysterious boxes arrive at the front doors of everyone on earth over the age of 22. Inside is a length of string, each of a different size. It’s soon determined these strings correspond exactly to the number of years you will live.

At first the questions are general – will you open your box to see precisely how long you will live? If you choose to not open your box, do your family and significant others have the right to know the length of your string? Would you start a family with a ‘short stringer’, knowing your children will be losing a parent?

How should the world’s militaries utilize their soldiers’ predicted lives? Should the most advanced training only go to those with long strings, so the military’s training investments are maximized? Does that leave short stringers going to war zones to be battle fodder or perhaps it would be better having only long stringers are in battles as the casualties would be light?

How should advanced education be treated? Should a person applying for medical school or an advanced degree be judged on their possible career length? Should political candidates for forced to divulge the length of their string if there is a chance they may not live their entire term?

And what about the short-stringers? At first they clogged Emergency Rooms demanding detailed complicated testing. No matter what was found, and what was done for them, they died anyway. Those also happened to patients entering Emergency Rooms with a life threatening condition such as a heart attack. If their strings were long, they would survive. If short, no amount of life-giving care would help. Were doctors really helping determine the fates of their patients, or were they merely playing to the dictates of the Universe?

Short stringers were seen as unstable – likely to be mass shooters. Would you board a plane or enter a school if you knew everyone there was a short stringer? Would you do so with your children below the age of 22, whose fate has not yet been revealed?

And yet of course, not all the short stringers are unstable or depressed. Those with strings of similar lengths organized themselves into support groups as they deal with the questions of their life lengths. At least one democratic country vote to have every citizen turn in their box unopened. A country run by a dictatorship chose to remove the boxes before their citizens have a chance to open theirs- only the government knows the length of your string
.
I thought there were lots of interesting scenarios as young people with short strings instantly faced ageism.

This is not an action-packed sci-fi adventure. Instead, its characters are thought experiments on what would happen if you know this bit of your future.

Of course, some questions, such as the origins of the strings are never be answered.

Hi Janet!

>150 streamsong: Several friends have mentioned that their local Friends of the Library are … limited … in their scope and volunteer options. Ours is robust, huge, and I’m happy that this is a great way for me to volunteer. Plus… books for me.

I’ve decided to donate to the local food pantry. Haven’t figured how to get on their sustainer list yet, and the Friday before Christmas wasn’t the best time to try… but I did cancel my donation to the charity that has such a spread between ratings. I was nice, didn’t mention the ratings, just said that I was going to donate within my county this coming year, which is true, but only part of the truth.

When I was volunteering at the PTA thrift shop when Jenna was little, I brought childrens’ coats that needed washing home, used Amway stain remover if needed, then washed, dried, returned. Children got very clean coats and I got some volunteer hours.

>155 streamsong: I finally got rid of my original crockpot, which was non-stick and scratched up badly. I still have a ceramic-insert one, heavy as heck to get out, but works perfectly. I used it last New Year’s for a hot dip, as I recall.

>160 streamsong: I am so sad that Tester was defeated. Karen, of course, is literally next-door neighbors with Daines. A mile away next-door neighbor, but still, they share a property line. He’s a good neighbor but a horrible person politically, religiously, morally, and ethically otherwise.

>165 streamsong: I read Force of Nature and then had to go back to the first one, too.

>175 streamsong: You’ve summarized Outlander quite nicely, especially the bad bits. I’ve read all except the newest, loved them all, and remember feeling relieved that the subsequent ones don’t have as many bad tropes as the first one. I may be misremembering this, of course.

>177 streamsong: And onto the wish list it goes. I’m also sending Karen an email this morning, and will mention it.

edited to add:

>186 streamsong: I just bought this on Audible. Yay for a BB!

>186 streamsong:
I really enjoyed The Measure when I read it. It didn't make my top list but it was close and a very good novel. It would make a great book discussion book as well.

>187 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I always love your wonderful comments. Thanks for stopping by!

Yeah, I've about given up on the local Friends of the Library. I attended the last meeting and realized that the book I had picked up at their last sale with only two hours left of the sale to go, was worth more than all the money they made at the sale. Twinge of guilt, but I had already given it to the Yellowstone Institute where it resides in their locked collection. The FOL has told me several times they aren't interested in having me looking over books and trying to sell a few online for them.

-Made good ole reliable taco soup in my crockpot yesterday as part of my project to use up older canned goods and replace them with longer expiration dates, somewhat in anticipation of continued grocery store inflation predicted for this next year. I have a giant humongous enormous crockpot big enough to cook a small turkey and a teeny tiny one. I need to rebuy a middle sized one.

- Glad I caught you with two book bullets! (Happy dance!) Brave the Wild River and The Measure are both good.

>188 benitastrnad: Benita, I agree that The Measure will make interesting book club fodder. It's sort of teetering on the edge of my top five books - not incredibly well written, but a quick engaging read with lots to think about.

I've added Brotherless Night to my top five list, which now looks like this, but isn't actually finalized. It's like choosing which is your favorite child when all bring something unique to the table.

James
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Exvangelicals
The Measure
Brotherless Night

https://www.librarything.com/list/46058/Top-Five-Books-of-2024

I have read an embarrassingly small amount of philosophy and avoided it altogether while I was in college. I do like the Teaching Company Great Courses and so decided that my next listen in the car while driving would be a bit of philosophy.



86. The Big Questions of Philosophy - David Kyle Johnson
- Learning Company/Great Courses
- audiobook
– library


Dr Johnson examines many of the fundamental philosophical questions including these three:

-How do we know we exist or that we’re not all plugged into a Matrix-type reality. We don’t know. We might be. But maybe not.

-The existence of God: All ‘proofs’ of God are self-referential. You cannot prove the existence of God by quoting books written about God or the holy works of a religion. Since you cannot prove God, he doesn’t exist. My rebuttal is that this certainly flies in the face of the scientific logic that you can’t prove that something doesn’t exist - only that it does. There are certainly new evidences for all types of things where the proofs only have recently been discovered themselves. Belief in quarks and viruses and DNA manipulation would have gotten one burned at the stake in the not too distant past.

-An examination of the best sort of government. This was the most interesting section to me as Dr. Johnson does not believe that democracy is the pinnacle government. He puts forth as proof that given freedom, there are always those who will demand more freedom and no longer take the good of other people into account. Given the challenges US democracy is currently facing, this part is fascinating, although I’m not sure that the ‘benign dictator’ who takes into account the good of all his subjects actually exists.

Glad I listened to this; not sure Dr Johnson has convinced me of much of what I didn’t already believe. Maybe the philosophical/scientific mindsets are hard-wired into people as much as other divides are.

>189 streamsong: Great list, Janet. Several of these are on my WL. Next year, I guess. Great comments on THe Measure. Another one for next year. I hope you have a great holiday season.

Merry Christmas, Janet. Are you going anywhere for the holiday? I like your top 5 list. I have The Exvangelicals lined up as my next audio, thanks to you. I also have Brotherless Night on the obese TBR. The Measure looks good too.

Thinking of you at this time, Janet

>191 BLBera: Hi Beth! Thanks for stopping by. I think you'll like Measure. I'm not sure if it will stay on my top five of the year list, but I did really enjoy it.

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I don't consistently add my finished dates onto the "edit your book" page, but in Club Read's Questions for the Avid Reader thread, they point out a wonderful feature I wasn't aware of. If you go to your home page and then scroll down the far right column you'll come to a feature called Year In Review summarizing your books read and added for the year. Unfortunately, they seem to be calculating the stats on what you read by the dates added on the "edit your book page", so my list of books read is pretty sparse.

I'm going back and trying to add dates that I read books this year - and seeing all the wonderful books that I've read this year may change my top five list. I don't know how the stats of what I've read updates - or even if it does update,

I know the stats for what I've added are close to what I've actually added. According to their stats without my Christmas haul, I added 141 books, mostly literature, followed by memoir and then history.

It even lists the primary color of the covers of the books I've added! Not sure what to make of that stat since I never take into account the color of the cover. But according to the stats, I added mostly books with primarily black or blue covers with only the merest sliver of pink covers.

>192 msf59: Hi Mark and thanks for stopping in. It's just too hard for me to leave the place this time of year. Every time I have done so, there have been problems such as the heat going out in the well house and the pump freezing and being destroyed.

I had a great barbeque rib dinner at a friend's house on Christmas day and the company and conversation were top notch. Her grandson is a spectacular young man - he just returned from a research trip to the Congo with his lab that works on cyanide induced paralysis from eating cassava. He's also a dedicated climber, world traveler and will soon be off to medical school.

>193 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. May the New Year bring you all good things!

>194 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda. I wish you a wonderful and pain free New Year. That's a truly beautiful image and wish!

This author had another book chosen by the Glacier Conservancy book club called Ranger Confidential: Living Working and Dying in the National Parks. At the time I couldn't get a copy of RC, but I could read the below book. Now, I'll also have to read Ranger Confidential, another one languishing on my TBR piles.



87. Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail - Andrea Lankford – 2023
- library


After the phenomenal popularity of Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail, the number of hikers on this trail has jumped exponentially. With the amount of traffic, it seems improbable that hikers would go missing and vanish. And yet they do.

Frantic families search for days, months, even years for their loved ones, trying to backtrack the missings’ last known locations, nailing up posters on the trail and its surrounding towns, organizing professional search and rescue and amateur volunteer rescue teams. Drones, dogs, boots on the ground, social media fund raising and even psychics all play their part. Could the missing have been victims of a crime? Dropped out of the hike to join a nearby cult? Became confused or injured and lost their way, waiting for rescue that never came?

These are the stories of three of the missing and the herculean efforts to find them.

You’ll finish this book with respect for the searchers and the vastness of the wilderness trail that simply makes people disappear. You will also be left with the question of when to accept that your loved one’s fate may never be known.

This is a great book on how the searches are conducted and the efforts the families make. Ultimately it leaves more questions than answers and so I found the end unsatisfying.

Hi Janet!

Great list of your top 5, Janet. I really loved Brotherless Night and All Quiet on the Western Front when I read them.

88. Woman Life Freedom – Marjane Satrapi – 2024
– Global Reading: Iran (translated from French)
– graphic non fiction
– library


In 2022 in Iran, Mahsa Amini was arrested by the government’s morality police for not properly wearing her head covering . In prison, she was brutally beaten and died. Her death sparked months of protests and more killings and executions by the Iranian government, including a heinous poisoning of schoolgirls.

The rallying cry for the protestors was “Woman Life Freedom” and the beautiful haunting song Baraye became their anthem. The video is here: If you don’t read anymore of this review, listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA499t4LZC8

Marjane Satrapi is best known for her stunning graphic novel Persepolis. I had not realized that in 2004 she gave up her career as a cartoonist; consequently she contributed only a few drawings to this amazing graphic novel, although she also contributed several essays and acted as the coordinator and editor.

Instead, Satrapi brought together a political scientist, an acclaimed journalist ,and an historian along with "sixteen brilliant comic artists to tell the story of these events and their significance for Iran and all of us.”

This graphic non-fiction is haunting and beautiful and not to be missed.

Thanks for that review of Woman Life Freedom, Janet. My local library has it in stock so I'll likely read it next year.