Chatterbox's Serendipitous Reading Adventures in 2016 -- Part V

Te Deum

Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
the breeze,
the largess of the spring.

Not for victory
but for the day's work done
as well as I was able;
not for a seat upon the dais
but at the common table.

-- Charles Reznikoff, 1894-1976

Reznikoff was an American poet born to Russian Jewish parents who fled to Brooklyn to escape the pogroms. Thought this was a great "Thanksgiving" poem.

Since I inevitably read far more than 75 books a year, I just keep a single ticker to track my total reading. I'll start new threads (as usual) when the total number of posts hits between 250 and 300. I will do my best to try to catch up on my mini-reviews, which have fallen way behind, even as my reading pace also has slowed.

This is the list of the first 75 books read.

If you want to see what I've been reading in real time, your best bet is to you to my library, and look at the dedicated collection I've established there, under the label "Books Read in 2016. As I complete a book, I'll rate it and add it to the list. I'll also tag it, "Read in 2016". You'll be able to see it by either searching under that tag, or clicking on https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Chatterbox/booksreadin2016.

One of my goals this year has been to read more serendipitously. My TBR mountain has been growing rapidly; at a pace of nearly ten books for every book that I have read! Many of them came from the ALA midwinter show in Boston in early January, and many more are ARCs or digital ARCs, so I'm not spending all that much money (very important, even crucial, right now) but still... I'm off to BookExpo next week (mid-May), so it will climb still further.




My guide to my ratings:

1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing so...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective collection!

The list!

1. The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan (3.3; Finished 1/1/16)
2. News of the World by Paulette Jiles (4.2; Finished 1/3/16)
3. Killers of the King by Charles Spencer (4.15; Finished 1/3/16)
4. Spy Games by Adam Brookes (4.2; Finished 1/4/16)
5. One of Us by Åsne Seierstad (4.5; Finished 1/6/16)
6. Jane and the Waterloo Map by Stephanie Barron (3.6, Finished 1/8/16)
7. A Christmas Escape by Anne Perry (3.2, Finished 1/8/16)
8. Finding Fontainebleau by Thad Carhart (3.75; Finished 1/11/16)
9. The Coffee Trader by David Liss (4.7; Finished 1/12/16)
10. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (4.2; Finished 1/13/16)
11. Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon (5; Finished 1/23/16)
12. Poles Apart by Terry Fallis (3.5; Finished 1/24/16)
13. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (2.6, Finished 1/25/16)
14. The Wolves by Alex Berenson (3.6, Finished 1/27/16)
15. Excellent Daughters by Katherine Zoepf (3.9, Finished 1/29/16)
16. And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile (4, Finished 1/29/16)
17. The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes (5, Finished 1/30/16)
18. The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh (3.85, Finished 2/1/16)
19. The Language of Secrets by Ausma Zehanat Khan (2.85, Finished 2/1/16)
20. The War Reporter by Martin Fletcher (3.9, Finished 2/2/16)
21. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (4.7, Finished 2/3/16)
22. The Stargazer's Sister by Carrie Brown (4, Finished 2/4/16)
23. The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mackenzie (4.1, Finished 2/5/16)
24. Saving Jason by Michael Sears (3.4, Finished 2/6/16)
25. The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell (4.5, Finished 2/7/16)
26. The Arrangement by Ashley Warlick (3.7, Finished 2/8/16)
27. Elephant Complex by John Gillette (4.45, Finished 2/10/16)
28. The Ex by Alafair Burke (3.75, Finished 2/11/16)
29. Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon (4.2, Finished 2/13/16)
30. The Decent Proposal by Kemper Donovan (2, Finished 2/14/16)
31. Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell (4.3, Finished 2/14/16)
32. The Figaro Murders by Laura Lebow (3.5, Finished 2/15/16)
33. The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes (4.5, Finished 2/17/16)
34. Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson (2.65, Finished 2/18/16)
35. Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell (3.9, Finished 2/20/16)
36. What Lies Between Us by Nayomi Munaweera (4.3, Finished 2/21/16)
37. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones (4.4, Finished 2/21/16)
38. The Other Side of Silence by Philip Kerr (4.5, Finished 2/21/16)
39. The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer (2.9, Finished 2/22/16)
40. The New Tsar by Steven Lee Myers (4.5, Finished 2/24/16)
41. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear (3.85, Finished 2/24/16)
42. Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (5, Finished 2/25/16)
43. Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince by Nancy Atherton (3.4, Finished 2/26/16)
44. Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well by Nancy Atherton (3.5, Finished 2/27/16)
45. Chaucer's Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury by Paul Strohm (3.8, Finished 2/27/16)
46. Aunt Dimity and the Summer King by Nancy Atherton
47. *The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
48. A Place We Knew Well by Susan Carol McCarthy
49. The Searcher by Christopher Morgan Jones
50. Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen
51. The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
52. Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
53. The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
54. *Death Mask by Ellis Peters
55. The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell
56. Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State by Karen Greenberg
57. Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
58. Keep Me Posted by Liza Beazley
59. Walking the Nile by Levison Wood
60. Sent to the Devil by Laura Lebow
61. The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell
62. A Hero of France by Alan Furst
63. A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss
64. The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino
65. The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell
66. Traitor's Gate by Michael Ridpath
67. Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey
68. Dog Run Moon by Callan Wink
69. The Wolf of Sarajevo by Matthew Palmer
70. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
71. Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell
72. Shadows of War by Michael Ridpath
73. The Bridge Ladies by Betsy Lerner
74. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
75. The Tooth Tattoo by Peter Lovesey

The Second 75

76. No Shred of Evidence by Charles Todd
77. 16096506::Shelter by Jung Yun
78. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
79. Until We Are Free by Shirin Ebadi
80. Old Age: A Beginner's Guide by Michael Kinsley
81. 17260852::The One That Got Away by Leigh Himes
82. 17071885::The Sign of Fear by Robert Ryan
83. The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Adventure by Howard Blum
84. Death at Breakfast by Beth Gutcheon
85. Syria Burning: A Short History of a Catastrophe by Charles Glass
86. Hunters in the Dark by Lawrence Osborne
87. City of Jackals by Parker Bilal
88. How to Measure a Cow by Margaret Forster
89. 693150::The Dark Horse by Rumer Godden
90. The Capitalist: A Thriller by Peter Steiner
91. *10735648::The Twelve by Justin Cronin
92. The Reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
93. 16178468::Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
94. The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis
95. The Lying Down Room by Anna Jaquiery
96. 16145740::The Summer Guest by Alison Anderson
97. The Last Communard by Gavin Bowd
98. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
99. Skeleton Hill by Peter Lovesey
100. *Mist Over Athelney by Geoffrey Trease
101. 16872992::First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
102. Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
103. Cop to Corpse by Peter Lovesey
104. *Voyage of Innocence by Elizabeth Edmundson
105. 14653997::Children of War by Martin Walker
106. The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone
107. 17706488::For the Love of Money by Sam Polk
108. *Body Politic by Paul Johnston
109. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danier
110. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
111. 16735813::Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend
112. 11331247::Stagestruck by Peter Lovesey
113. Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn
114. Burning Down George Orwell's House by Andrew Ervin
115. Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure by Nancy Atherton
116. The Vanishing Velazquez by Laura Cumming
117. Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen by Alison Weir
118. 16848948::The House of Dreams by Kate Lord Brown
119. The Swiss Spy by Alex Gerlis
120. Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu
121. Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantakis
122. 15529077::The Trap by Melanie Raabe
123. 16710470::The Obsession by Nora Roberts
124. Swimsuit Body by Eileen Goudge
125. 16480515::The After Party by Anton Di Scalfani
126. The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley
127. Keeping the World Away by Margaret Forster
128. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
129. The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson
130. The Best of Our Spies by Alex Gerlis
131. The Unfortunate Englishman by John Lawton
132. 14683252::The Stone Wife by Peter Lovesey
133. Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
134. 16480518::The Girls by Emma Cline
135. 16195389::Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham
136. 16693250::Winter by Christopher Nicholson
137. The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar
138. We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley
139. The Devils of Cardona by Matthew Carr
140. Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence and Hope in an American Country by Alex Cuadros
141. People Who Knew Me by Kim Hooper
142. The Singer From Memphis by Gary Corby
143. *Pippa Passes by Rumer Godden
144. 17512418::Dancing With the Tiger by Lili Wright
145. Raising the Floor by Andy Stern
146. The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders
147. 17838333::A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
148. 16992668::Exposure by Helen Dunmore
149. Fates and Traitors by Jennifer Chiaverini
150. Living With a Dead Language by Ann Patty

The Third 75

151. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin (Finished 6/13/16)
152. The One Man by Andrew Gross (Finished 6/14/16)
153. The Queenmaker by Maureen Peters (Finished 6/15/16)
154. The Infidel Stain by M.J. Carter (Finished 6/16/16)
155. Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney (Finished 6/17/16)
156. Sweet Caress by William Boyd (Finished 6/17/16)
157. Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper by Alexandra Harris (Finished 6/18/16)
158. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (Finished 6/18/16)
159. The Alaskan Laundry by Brendan Jones (Finished 6/19/16)
160. The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr (Finished 6/19/16)
161. Jackson, 1964: And Other Dispatches from Fifty Years of Reporting on Race in America by Calvin Trillin (Finished 6/20/16)
162. The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis (Finished 6/21/16)
163. *The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig (Finished 6/22/16)
164. The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown (Finished 6/23/16)
165. Diana's Altar by Barbara Cleverly (Finished 6/24/16)
166. Age of Consent by Marti Leimbach (Finished 6/25/16)
167. Break in Case of Emergency by Jessica Winter (Finished 6/26/16)
168. How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry (Finished 6/26/16)
169. Dinosaurs on Other Planets by Danielle McLaughlin (Finished 6/26/16)
170. The Drone Eats With Me: A Gaza Diary by Atef Abu Saif (Finished 6/27/16)
171. The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan (Finished 6/27/16)
172. Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (Finished 6/28/16)
173. War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans (Finished 6/28/16)
174. This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell (Finished 6/29/16)
175. The Dying Season by Martin Walker (Finished 6/30/16)
176. The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore (Finished 7/1/16)
177. The Hemingway Thief by Shaun Harris (Finished 7/1/16)
178. The Grand Tour by Adam O'Fallon Price (Finished 7/2/16)
179. The Songbird by Marcia Willett (Finished 7/2/16)
180. The Extra by A.B. Yehoshua (Finished 7/3/16)
181. And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer (Finished 7/4/16)
182. A Divided Spy by Thomas Cumming (Finished 7/4/16)
183. The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf (Finished 7/5/16)
184. Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education by Mychal Denzel Smith (Finished 7/5/16)
185. The Girl Before by Rena Olsen (Finished 7/6/16)
186. Fall of Man in Wilmslow by David Lagercrantz (Finished 7/7/16)
187. Shriver by Chris Belden (Finished 7/8/16)
188. The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State by Lawrence Wright (Finished 7/9/16)
189. Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey (Finished 7/10/16)
190. A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley (Finished 7/11/16)
191. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Finished 7/12/16)
192. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (Finished 7/12/16)
193. Swann by Carol Shields (Finished 7/14/16)
194. Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays by Cynthia Ozick (Finished 7/14/16)
195. The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine by Paul Collins (Finished 7/16/16)
196. The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (Finished 7/17/16)
197. *Wish Upon a Star by Olivia Goldsmith (Finished 7/17/16)
198. Die of Shame by Mark Billingham (Finished 7/19/16)
199. Mata Hari's Last Dance by Michelle Moran (Finished 7/19/16)
200. *Rule Britannia by Daphne du Maurier (Finished 7/21/16)

The Fourth 75

In spite of my goal of reading serendipitously, I have set up some reading challenges for myself. I'm not going to kill myself if I don't accomplish them, though I'd like to see what I can do. And now, with November about to begin, I can laugh with a kind of hollow hilarity at my ambition....

Some of them involve reducing the size of the TBR mountains that keep sprouting up around here, unchecked and unconstrained. Some of them are to push my reading in different directions. Every year I find myself saying, oh, I want to read, or finish, xxxx -- and never do. So this list might help. If I achieve half of what I set out to do, I'll be pleased. I don't want it to dictate what I read, but merely give me someplace to turn on those days when I reach a point when there isn't a book sitting there and begging, "read me next!" I've divided it into some categories, some of which should be logical to anyone who has followed my reading. 99% of these books I already own...

Here is the first part of this:

2016 Reading Challenges

Canadian Content

Poles Apart by Terry Fallis Read
Close to Hugh by Marina Endicott
Swann by Carol Shields Read
The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
Punishment by Linden Mcintyre
The Hesitation Cut by Giles Blunt
Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
The Night Stages by Jane Urquhart

Classics I should have read or completed
(keeping this list short!)

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Vanity Fair by Thackeray
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Books by Authors I’ve Discovered/Read for the 1st Time Since Joining LT

Shame and the Captives by Thomas Keneally
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Arcadia by Iain Pears
Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve by Tom Bissell
The Potter’s Hand by A.N. Wilson
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald Read
The Coffee Trader by David Liss Read

NetGalley Tower of Shame
Unread e-Galleys (and thus unreviewed; the horror and shame...)

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg
The Monopolists by Mary Pilion
The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonso Falcones
How to Ruin a Queen by Jonathan Beckmann
The Heart Has Its Reasons by Maria Duenas
The Anatomy Lesson by Nina Siegal
The Objects of Her Affection by Sonya Cobb Read
Give War and Peace a Chance by Andrew Kaufman Read
The Figaro Murders by Laura Lebow Read
Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout Read
The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela Read
the Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie Read
Twain's End by Lynn Cullen

Books by Authors Of whom I Possess at Least Two Unread Works:
Reading one or the other is fine; so is reading both!

Once Upon a Revolution by Thanassis Cambanis
A Privilege to Die by Thanassis Cambanis
Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood by Justin Marozzi
South From Barbary by Justin Marozzi
Blood on the Water by Anne Perry
Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry
Sweet Sunday by John Lawton
The Unfortunate Englishman by John Lawton Read
The Dead Student by John Katzenbach
Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach
Crossing on the Paris by Dana Gynther Read
The Woman in the Photograph by Dana Gynther
Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann Read
Dancer by Colum McCann
Shadows of War by Michael Ridpath Read
Traitor’s Gate by Michael Ridpath Read
Thursday’s Children by Nicci French Read
Friday on My Mind by Nicci French Read
Children of War by Martin Walker Read
The Dying Season by Martin Walker Read
Fatal Pursuit by Martin Walker Read
Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves
The Moth Catcher by Ann Cleeves

2016 Reading Challenges Part Deux

Book Bullets

Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto (non LT friend, Sanchia)
The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller (katiekrug)
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (torontoc)

Mystery Backlog

A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins Read
A House of Knives by William Shaw Read
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
The House of Dolls by David Hewson Read
The Lying Down Room by Anna Jacquiery Read
Bitter Remedy by Conor Fitzgerald
Babel by Barry Maitland Read
The Ghost Shift by John Gapper
Arab Jazz by Karim Miske
The Murderer's Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman
The Case of Lisandra P. by Helene Gremillon
The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill Read
A Dark Redemption by Stav Sherez
The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr Read
Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey Read

Europa!
Books published by Europa Editions

Life, Only Better by Anna Gavalda
The Eye Stone by Roberto Tiraboschi
In the City of Gold and Silver by Kenize Mourad Read
Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky
The Prank of the Good Little Virgin of Via Ormea by Amara Lakhous Read
The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals by Wendy Jones
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
The Thursday Night Men by Tonio Benacquista
Winter by Christopher Nicholson Read

The Paul Johnston Series Challenge!
(re-reading both the Edinburgh dystopian novels and the Greek mysteries, and catching up on new books in both series)

Body Politic Read
The Bone Yard
Water of Death
The Blood Tree
The House of Dust
Heads or Hearts
A Deeper Shade of Blue
The Last Red Death
The Golden Silence
The Silver Stain
The Green Lady
The Black Life
The White Sea

Stuff I've Missed/Passed By and Really Want to Read or Re-Read:

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton Read
Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz Read
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder
The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson

Books in French
Because I need to keep up my French reading skills, which are slipping badly

La vie des elfes by Muriel Barbery
06h41 by Jean-Philippe Blondel
Retour indésirable by Charles Lewinsky
Le grand Coeur by Jean-Christophe Rufin
Les enfants d'Alexandrie by Françoise Chandernagor
Boussole by Matthias Enard
Juste avant l'oubli by Alice Zeniter
L'homme qui regardait la nuit by Gilbert Sinoué

Acquisitions Since mid-July Part I

578. Diamond Dust by Peter Lovesey (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
579. Bloodhounds by Peter Lovesey (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
580. The Vault by Peter Lovesey (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
581. The House Sitter by Peter Lovesey (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
582. The Secret Hangman by Peter Lovesey (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
583. Public Library by Ali Smith (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
584. Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye (Audiobook, $$) read
585. Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
586. The Allegations by Mark Lawson (UK Kindle, $$)
587. The Silk Merchant's Daughter by Dinah Jefferies (UK Kindle, $$)
588. The Kite and the String by Alice Mattison (Hardcover from publisher; unsolicited)
589. Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane (Paperback; from publisher; unsolicited)
590. These Honored Dead by Jonathan Putnam (Hardcover, Amazon Vine)
591. Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
592. Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver (Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
593. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (NetGalley)
594. The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger (Kindle, Kindle Settlement Purchase, $$) read
595. Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims by Toby Clements (UK Kindle, $$)
596. Wish Upon a Star by Olivia Goldsmith (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement Purchase, $) read
597. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (UK Kindle, $$)
598. Tom Paine: A Political Life by John Keane (paperback, $$)
599. Stoner by John Williams Kindle, Kindle Settlement purchase, $$)
600. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Kindle, Kindle Settlement Purchase, $$
601. The Glass Pearls by Emeric Pressburger (UK Kindle, $$)
602. The Blackmailer by Isabel Colegate (UK Kindle, $$)
603. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer L. Ryan (NetGalley) read
604. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart (Amazon Vine, ARC) read
605. The Damascus Threat by Matt Rees (Hardcover, Amazon Vine) read
606. The Widower's Tale by Cate Holahan (Hardcover, Amazon Vine) read
607. Belgravia by Julian Fellowes (Audiobook, $$) read
608. Forgotten Women by Freda Lightfoot (NetGalley)
609. The Golden Age by Joan London (paperback, from publisher, unsolicited)
610. Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
611. Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
612. Fatal by John Lescroart (NetGalley)
613. George Washington's Secret Spy War by John Nagy (ARC, Amazon Vine)
614. Landscapes: John Berger on Art by John Berger (ARC, Amazon Vine)
615. Trespasser by Tana French (Hardcover, from publisher) read
616. Snobs by Julian Fellowes (Audiobook) $$
617. The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$) read
618. The North Water by Ian McGuire (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale), $
619. The Sellout by Paul Beatty (Kindle, Kindle Settlement), $$
620. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK Kindle), $$
621. The Many by Wyl Menmuir (UK Kindle), $$
622. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling et al (Kindle, Kindle Settlement) $$ Read
623. The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement) $
624. The Shelf Life of Happiness by David Machado (Kindle, Freebie)
625. Skewed: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Media Bias by Larry Atkins (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
626. I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill (Kindle, Kindle Settlement) $$ read
627. The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells (Amazon Vine, ARC)
628. Please Do Not Disturb by Robert Glancy (NetGalley)
629. The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma by Ratika Kapur (NetGalley)
630. Nice Work (If You Can Get It) by Celia Imrie (NetGalley)
631. Everything Love Is by Claire King (NetGalley)
632. Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop by Anna Lembke (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
633. So Say the Fallen by Stuart Neville (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
634. The Ninja's Daughter by Susan Spann (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
635. The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
636. Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh (Paperback, $$)
637. Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS by Ben Macintyre (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
638. Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
639. The Dress by Sophie Nicholls (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
640. Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$) read
641. The New Mrs. Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan (UK Kindle, $$)
642. The House of Eyes by Kate Ellis (UK Kindle, $$)
643. The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau (audiobook, $$) read
644. The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre (hardcover, from publisher
645. The Thousandth Floor by Katherine McGee (Amazon Vine, ARC)
646. Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson (paperback, from publisher)
647. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (paperback, $$)
648. The Black Notebook by Patrick Modiano (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
649. The Plots Against Hitler by Danny Orbach (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
650. Mister Monkey by Francine Prose (ARC, Amazon Vine) read
651. Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move by Reece Jones (ARC, Amazon Vine)
652. The Death of Kings by Rennie Airth (ARC, from Publisher) read

Acquisitions Since mid-July Part II

653. The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies (Amazon Vine, ARC)
654. In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine by Tim Judah (Amazon Vine, ARC) read
655. Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan (Amazon Vine, ARC) Read
656. Beethoven for a Later Age: Living with the String Quartets by Edward Dusinberre (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$)
657. No Man's Land by Simon Tolkien (UK Kindle, $$)
658. The House on Sunset Lake by Tasmina Perry (UK Kindle, $$)
659. Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie (Audiobook, $$) read
660. Four Futures: Life After Capitalism by Peter Frase (Amazon Vine, ARC)
661. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley (NetGalley) read
662. The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton (Kindle, $) read
663. The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye (NetGalley)
664. The Heretic's Creed by Fiona Buckley (NetGalley)
665. A Rustle of Silk by Alys Clare (NetGalley)
666. Never Caught: Ona Judge, the Washingtons, and the Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave by Erica Armstrong Dunbar (NetGalley)
667. Wasting Time on the Internet by Kenneth Goldsmith (paperback, $$)
668. The Urge to Jump by Trisha Ashley (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
669. The Language of the Dead by Stephen Kelly (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$)
670. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (paperback, $$) read
671. Vertigo by W.G. Sebald (paperback, $$) read
672. The White Mirror by Elsa Hart (Kindle, Kindle settlement, $$) read
673. Quick off the Mark by Susan Moody (NetGalley)
674. The Old Man by Thomas Perry (NetGalley) read
675. Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri (UK Kindle, Kindle sale, $)
676. Dear Mr. M. by Hermann Koch (Amazon Vine, ARC Read
677. Daniel Defoe: The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures by Richard West (2nd hand hardcover, $$)
678. The Black Book by Ian Rankin (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
679. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (from publisher, paperback)
680. Conclave by Robert Harris (NetGalley via publisher) read
681. Books for Living by Will Schwalbe (NetGalley via Publisher) Read
682. Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackerman (NetGalley via Publisher)
683. The House of the Dead: Siberian Exile Under the Tsars by Daniel Beer (NetGalley via publisher)
684. The Pale House by Luke McCallin (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
685. All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan (UK Kindle, $$)
686. Out of Bounds by Val McDermid (NetGalley) read
687. A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders (UK Kindle, $$) read
688. Thomas Paine's Rights of Man by Christopher Hitchens (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$)
689. The Borrowed by Chan Ho-kei (NetGalley)
690. Resolution by A.N. Wilson (U.K. Kindle, $$)
691. Tenth of December by George Saunders (paperback, $$) Read
692. Speak by Louisa Hall (paperback, $$) read
693. Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (Audiobook, $$) read
694. Stranger by David Bergen (Hardcover; Amazon.ca, $$)
695. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall (paperback, Amazon.ca, $$) Read
696. The Parcel by Anosh Irani (Hardcover, Amazon.ca, $$)
697. Hold Still by Sally Mann (paperback, $$)
698. Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra (Amazon Vine, ARC) read
699. The Moon in the Water by Pamela Belle (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
700. What Became of You My Love? by Maeve Haran (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)

Acquisitions Since mid-July Part III

701. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (Kindle, Audiobook, $$) read
702. Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge (from publisher, Hardcover)
703. Own It: the Power of Women at Work by Sallie Krawcheck (NetGalley)
704. The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock (NetGalley)
705. Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
706. Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music by James Rhodes (NetGalley)
707. Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction by Helen Pilcher (NetGalley)
708. High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic by Glenn Frankel (NetGalley)
709. Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town by Mary Beard (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
710. Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
711. Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
712. Mightier Than the Sword by Jeffrey Archer (Kindle, Kindle Sale, Kindle Settlement, $)
713. The Guineveres by Sarah Domet (Kindle, Kindle Settlement, $$)
714. The Cutaway by Christina Kovac (NetGalley)
715. Civil Wars: A History in Ideas by David Armitage (NetGalley, from publisher)
716. A Horse Walks Into a Bar: A Novel by David Grossman (NetGalley, from publisher)
717. Other People: Takes & Mistakes by David Shields (NetGalley, from publisher)
718. The Spy by Paul Coelho (NetGalley, from publisher)
719. Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future by Raoul Martinez (NetGalley, from publisher)
720. A Nation Without Borders: The United States and Its World in an Age of Civil Wars, 1830-1910 by Steven Hahn (from publisher, hardcover)
721. The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan (Kindle, $$)
722. The Black Tower by PD James (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
723. Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
724. The Burning Air by Erin Kelly (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
725. The Carousel by Rosamund Pilcher (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
726. Love and Marriage by Patricia Scanlan (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
727. A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
728. Black and Blue by Ian Rankin (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
729. How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway (NetGalley)
730. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horwitz (UK Kindle, $$)
731. Crosstalk by Connie Willis (audiobook, $$)
732. Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves (UK Kindle, $$)
733. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (NetGalley) Read
734. Signs of Life by Anna Raverat (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
735. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)
736. Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes (UK Kindle, Kindle Sale, $)

OK, if anyone wants to take a look at my acquisition list prior to July 12, 2016, they'll have to look at my previous thread -- they just started taking up too much space!!!

I'll start filling up the above lists in the next few days, and try to catch up on my mini-reviews. Too much life chaos, what with 10 plus hours a day with sick friend in hospital, job collapsing underneath me, etc...

Sheesh. Happy New Thread anyway, Suzanne!

Hi Suz. Sorry about the life chaos and the 10-hour days and the sick friend, etc! It sounds like a tough and stressful time.

Back to your prior thread, I had sort of been ignoring the warbling about Hillbilly Elegy but your comment "...everyone should read it" got me. I've put it on hold at the library. But maybe I'll just go buy it.

>14 EBT1002: Hate to tell you that it was a Kindle special yesterday for only $4.99 or so.... But it is very good.

Happy new one, Suz. Hope the rest of the year is better for you!

Hey Suzanne, thought I would stop by and prod you about your excellent non-fiction challenge. If life is a little too hectic right now I am happy to make the next thread but I don't want to step on any toes doing it.

>17 Oberon: I don't usually set it up until two or three days beforehand. I'll probably do it tomorrow, and have noted on the October page the intent to do so, in hopes that the post count will reach 150, which will mean we won't have to worry about people losing a starred thread when the November one is created. Hope that is OK. Feel free to start discussing November plans in October...

I finally finished spending my vast Kindle settlement $$ from the Apple/Amazon e-books settlement deal struck in the spring. It was nice while it lasted! What with that and the Guardian gig ending next week, I'll have to be very careful about not spending my money on buying books. It's not as if I don't have an immense TBR stack, AND the resources of two library systems to draw on...

>18 Chatterbox: I was asking because I don't think we have an October thread (unless I missed it?)

>19 Oberon: And I did miss it - never mind.

>20 Oberon: Which is why I'd like to not create a November thread until we have 150 posts and I can seamlessly link it to the October one -- people will lose the links. I will ALWAYS post a link at the bottom of the previous month (so if you think you've missed December, check the bottom of November) but would prefer to have 150 posts so that I can just open a new thread and people's stars will carry over.

Sorry you missed the discussion...

Happy new thread!

I haven't been reviewing much on Amazon but just saw the Publishers Weekly post on how Amazon will expunge reviews written by people who are (or ever were) FB friends of the author. I like to "friend" favorite authors so as to hear what they're up to. I haven't been reviewing much there anymore but I hate to hear this is Amazon's new policy.

>23 lindapanzo: - What a bizarre policy. I wonder what their reasoning could be? Other than, just because they can...

Personally, I never shop at amazon (used to occasionally but not any more). I think they are just getting too big for their britches. I prefer to keep my money local or at least, via the independents...

>23 lindapanzo: That's a strange policy. Lots of people friend authors but don't really know them.

Happy New Thread, Suz.

>23 lindapanzo: That's not only a reviewer change, Linda -- if you're a Vine reviewer, they can wipe out your entire reviewer account and throw you out of Vine altogether if you review a book by someone they determine you have some kind of relationship with. Needless to say, I'm being very, very hyper-vigilant about this, given that I just know a lot of people who write books, and can end up knowing people at one remove (friends of friends.) At one point, about 10 people a day were being tossed out of Vine. Don't know if that has eased up, as I really haven't been paying attention for more than a month. The overall goal is to keep reviews "fair." There have been so many allegations about authors' friends and families swamping the site with five star reviews (usually of the "wonderful, lyrical novel! A must-read!" variety -- no more details than that...) that Amazon is worried about FTC/conflict of interest issues.

Horrible migraine, and back to New York tomorrow. Wheeeee.

>23 lindapanzo: Amazon have made enough money charging me excessively over the years for books and cds for me to waste my time reviewing books for them.

Hi, Suz - hope you are in a good place this weekend.

>27 Chatterbox: I was just explaining to dad how strict Amazon is about getting reviews on books from someone that you have a relationship with. He got a self-published book from a friend that wanted him to review it on Amazon. In the end, he decided not to review it because it had too many grammatical errors.

Anyway, I heard rumor that if you so much as follow each other on Twitter Amazon might decide that you have a relationship, which is way too strict because a lot of newer authors follow their fans on Twitter.

I wonder, could you use a totally different name, as a reviewer? Would they still be able to trace you? I ask, because I am not on twitter or facebook or any social media and have no clue how that really even works. This stunt of amazon's is yet another reinforcement for me of why I stay away from such stuff. Not enough hours in the day for me anyhow, but I was just wondering if there was a way to bypass Big Brother Amazon

>27 Chatterbox: Thanks for the info. Hardly seems fair--not all FB friends are really friends. I'm glad I don't really review anymore because I do enjoy interacting with some mystery author "friends" on FB.

Hi Suz, I have a moment to catch up with threads . . .

Amazon has become a bit of a beast, hasn't it?

Hope to see you posting soon, Suz.

Have a great weekend.

Sorry, no time to post; not very much time to read. Though I did go on a binge over the weekend and read the most recent three mysteries in the Frieda Klein series by Nicci French, Thursday's Children, Friday on My Mind, and Saturday Requiem. Of course, the last of these ended with a cliffhanger, and now I'm kind of stuck until what probably will be the final book in the series is published, hopefully this coming summer. Grrr.

>32 sibylline: Yes, Amazon has become a beast. But as long as it is a beast that occasionally still provides me with free books...

The Frieda Kleins look perfect for the spousal unit's xmas list. Nice too, to have a series that isn't endless or, say, every letter of the alphabet . . .

I am thankful that tough times often augur better times ahead. I wish them for you dear lady.

I'm thankful for my Thanksgiving wishes!!

Made Thanksgiving dinner (chicken pot pie, pre-made stuffing from Dean & Deluca) in a microwave oven in the cardiac ICU in New York, and ate it with cranberry and orange relish in my friend's room. Oddest Thanksgiving dinner ever.

Meanwhile, my mother was ALSO in a cardiac ICU room, in Toronto, after having had an episode of a-fib, and then a heart attack in the ambulance taking her to hospital. Her cardiologist thinks it's some of her angina meds, which in older people can actually slow down the heart rate. I just fought a battle to have them keep her an extra night after they take her off the temporary pacemaker, since her two closest friends are both away, and nobody is there to stay with her when they release her. I want to make sure that someone is watching her when the new drug kicks in, to be sure that it's working and that she really is stable, and I couldn't get there fast enough. (My US passport is in Providence.)

Good grief. This year. Will it NEVER end?

>39 Chatterbox: I'm so sorry to hear this! I'm glad you won the fight for your mom - are you going up sometime soon? I hope she and your friend are improving.

>40 London_StJ: No plans to go up soon. I'm tied to New York as I'm healthcare proxy for my friend. She is OK for now -- sounds quite strong, actually, thankfully. Yet another blow, though, and a worrying one. Meanwhile, a close friend's husband is suffering from lymphoma and his condition is deteriorating, and he is off to Dana Farber (a cancer specialist facility in Boston) for second opinions. ARGHHHHHHHHH. Just, enough already. Please make it all stop.

Yikes. I hope that things calm down for you soon, or at least you can gain a bit of breathing space and that people can medically behave themselves for a few days or weeks.

Dear Suzanne, I think of you often and hope for better times SOON!

>41 Chatterbox: Oh no. :(

Sorry to be such a wet blanket. Anyway -- my mother will be discharged from hospital today, thankfully. She has promised to call her cardiologist on Monday. Just -- good grief.

Meanwhile, my friend is in ICU. Still. And so it goes. Will update books, when I get some time.

I'm hoping that things get better soon for everyone. That is amazing that you still have been able to read. Take care. Hope the kitties are well too.

Reading is keeping me sane, while other stuff conspires to drive me in the other direction. I have topped 300 books, but this will be the slowest reading year for me since I can't remember when.

Shall be going home for a few days to see the kitties tomorrow!! And the good news is that I hope to be able to spend Christmas with them!!

>47 Chatterbox: The kitties will be happy to see you.

Hi Suz

I've been aol from our group for a brief respite. Returning to work has been problematic. My body is rebelling from seven surgeries. Energy is very low, spirits are impacted as well.

Like you, I'm reading, but not at the usual pace. Though, I've never topped 300 books in one year. What a tremendous accomplishment, even if it isn't your usual reading pace.

All good wishes for a great holiday season. I head to Ohio to be with family. I'm looking forward to it.

Saw a book today that looks right up your alley, although with Amazon Vine you may already have seen it. It's an Amazon best book of December 2016 and Alison Weir said nice things about it--Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe by Sarah Gristwood. Have you seen it?

{{{{Suz}}}}

Wtf, the Kindle is more expensive than the hardcover!

Sorry you're having such a hard time with bad news, Suz. I hope things get better soon!

Thinking of you in the hope that the sun shines on you soon!

>50 ronincats: Wow, that looks fascinating, and it's about something that had already piqued my curiosity, which is even better! But yes, the pricing is VERY odd. I'd love to order a hardcover, but I'm not sure how to go about that, given that I'm not actually going to BE anywhere where I can get the said hardcover easily. Maybe a friend in NYC can take delivery for me. I'm only home until Sunday, or I'd order it for myself here, and I can't even do one-day delivery for Saturday, because I'll be out that day, and sod's law is that it would require a signature.

>51 The_Hibernator: Thanks for the good wishes. Just patiently waiting for 2016 to be over.

>52 Whisper1: It isn't really even about me at this point. It's about the people I care about to whom shit is happening and the fallout that I am dealing with, too. It's really the volume of same. That's not to say that there aren't refuges, but not quite enough.

Right now I'd be happy if this little niggly sore throat that has been driving me slightly nuts for six or seven weeks just vanished. Thank you, deities.

And speaking of deities, if anyone out there does feel like offering up a prayer, my close friend Susan's husband has been suffering from a rare version of lymphoma, afflicting his skin. Initially his docs told him, this is something people live with, not die from. Now he has more tumors breaking out, and he starts radiation treatment at Dana-Farber next week. Hedi is a Tunisian-born agnostic and skeptic, and Susan said to me "if you prayed, this is when I'd ask you for prayers, because it's looking bad." So I'm passing the request along...

Went to my Athenaeum book groups this week. In one, we're discussing W.G. Sebald; the group leader is very thoughtful and reflective, if not quite as insightful as he thinks he is. It's a very large group of people who follow this guy quite devotedly (he also has led a group about Bolaño), and I'm finding the group's dynamics as interesting as the discussion, I confess, though it's interesting to discuss Sebald (an elliptical, enigmatic writer) and there are a few people there who have thoughtful, intriguing comments. Oddly, the smaller "Contemporaries" group has collected one or two sharply analytical minds who far, far outpace me and keep me on my toes, which makes it good fun. This week, we discussed Tenth of December, the collection of stories by George Saunders. Was just offered an ARC of Lincoln in the Bardo, Saunders' first novel, about which there is so much buzz, so I'm glad I read the stories (which everyone seemed to be reading when they came out and talking about and raving about. They are particularly timely now, as so many of them revolve around the themes of lost people, the gulf between haves and have nots and other socio-political concepts at the heart of the US election. Some very bleak, but while I didn't love them, worth a try.

I'm actually having trouble updating my ticker. I have had to create a new one each time I update it, which is annoying, and am reluctant to do so again. So I'm up to 310 books now. Won't make it to 365 this year, much less my target of 401.

>54 Chatterbox: When that happened for me (the ticker not updating), Judy (Delta Queen) pointed out that waiting a while usually resulted in the updating showing up and indeed, an hour later when I checked again, the new numbers were in place.

>55 ronincats: Yes, mine seemed to still work, just on a delay. Disconcerting though.

And lo, you are both right! It has updated. Has it been reprogrammed to reprimand me for being too impatient?? :-)

Suz, your Athenaeum book group(s) sound so interesting. I need to find (or create?) a book group here that will tackle substantive works. I'm in Seattle; this must be possible.

I have a copy of Tenth of December that Mark sent to me a year or two ago, and which I have not yet read. Your comments about the timeliness of the stories is a good nudge to get out the volume and read them.

I'm not a praying sort but I am absolutely sending thoughts your direction and the direction of the many whom you love and who are struggling.

xo

Happy Friday!

>59 The_Hibernator: Thank you!! I'm glad this week is over... Plan to curl up and watch something on Netflix -- how self indulgent...

>58 EBT1002: They are very good groups -- a cut above the usual popular fiction reading groups. Most book groups seem to be excuses to meet and chit chat, which is fine. I wanted something that really engages my brain. I found that with my NY group, pretty much, at least with the books that we read, and it's nice to have that in Providence as well. There must be something happening at the university?? Or is there an organization like the Athenaeum there?? I realize that's much an east coast phenomenon, but there must be private libraries or similar kinds of associations.

I shall be curious to see what you make of the Saunders stories! They are not for all tastes -- but interesting.

About 7 years ago one of the professors in the College of Education started a book group. They read something timely that is non-fiction. They usually meet three times a semester and break the book into three parts. The books are often challenging to read, but they do make a person think. They contribute greatly to the intellectual content of the college. The professor who started the group is retiring in two weeks and another professor has decided to take on the burden of picking the book and continuing the practice. But I think this is an anomaly at our university.

Well, I've got a lot of catching up to do...

222. The Nest by Cynthia d'Aprix Sweeney


This is one of the books that everybody seemed to be reading this summer -- a chunkster, gossipy, frothy, etc. etc. Even people with more sense than to be caught reading this kind of stuff seemed to like it. I kind of get it, as it's a satire focusing on people who make money and the pursuit of money -- in the form of an inheritance or trust fund -- the be all and end all of their lives. In this case, it's about a group of siblings who just can't wait until the youngest member of the quartet reaches the age when they'll be entitled to lay hands on what they have been led to believe is a healthy sum of money, money that each has mentally been spending or counting on to solve financial woes. It's a kind of morality tales for upper middle class New Yorkers, really, and readers can (if they choose) feel smug and say, I would never behave like that. But we'll never know, of course. And there is some truly appalling reality TV show type behavior on display here... Fun, in a bizarre train wreck kind of way. 3.8 stars, with the rating having nothing to do with literary value; it's all about entertainment.

223. Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths


Readers are probably most familiar with the Ruth Galloway mysteries penned by this author, but I find this series, set in the 1950s, just as appealing, if quite different. Edgar Stephens worked as part of a deception unit during WW2; now he's a cop in Brighton, but continues to find his fate entangled with his wartime colleagues, especially Max Mephisto, a veteran of the variety circuit and the latter's gorgeous daughter, Ruby. This is the second in the series, and revolves around the staging of a Christmas pantomime. 4.1 stars. Tremendously atmospheric, and now that the Ruth Galloway mysteries are starting to feel the slightest bit repetitive, I'm really enjoying these. Check them out... starting with The Zig Zag Girl.

224. The Cellar by Minette Walters


A novella that reminded me just how much I miss Minette Walters's full-length books. A creepy story of a young African girl brought to London as a de facto slave and how she turns the tables on her "family." 4.2 stars.

225. The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau (already reviewed in previous thread)

226. Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman


I had mixed feelings about this anthology of stories. It was described as a collection about a group of neighbors, but really was about overlapping relationships among family members and extended relationships, which moved back and forth in time. I think I would have enjoyed most of these stories on a stand-alone basis more than I did in the anthology -- unusually/atypically for me. The writing was excellent, but some of the themes and topics just didn't resonate, either. So -- a bit of a neutral/meh response. Don't let that deter you from checking it out if the book otherwise sounds intriguing to you, though.

227. Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba


Fascinating, and the degree of overlap between this and some other books I've read lately (like Caroline Moorehead's book about the French women deported en masse to Ravensbruck) was less than I had feared. This kind of mass "throw everything including the kitchen sink into the same book and hope it works" approach can be tricky, however, and so it proves. There are so many individual narratives and some names surface once or twice, never to be seen again (we see a paragraph here or there about the early childhood or infancy of little girls who would go on to be famous French movie stars of the 1960s, for instance -- just for the name value, clearly.) My only other nit-picking criticism is that a biggish chunk of the book deals with the postwar period, including the revival of the French fashion industry, the creation of the New Look by Dior, etc. -- stuff that has nothing to do with the Occupation per se. That doesn't mean it isn't interesting or worthwhile, but just modify your expectations accordingly. I'd say about 2/3 of the book is on point, and covers the topic briskly, from collaborators to resistance, and does so in a lively and accessible manner, not avoiding the questions that confronted very ordinary women in their daily lives. 4.3 stars.

228. Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen


The next in the series following Georgianna, the very fictional royal in the 1930s, whose dashing fiancé now does the honorable thing by refusing to marry her when his father is accused of murder. The only thing to do, clearly, is for Georgie to clear her future pa-in-law's name. 3.6 stars. A fun cozy.

229. The Tapestry by Nancy Bilyeau (already reviewed in previous thread)

230. The Trespasser by Tana French


I'm very glad I discovered this series, even if this entry wasn't quite up to the very, very high standards of some of its predecessors. That still means it's very good, however: the narrator this time is Antoinette Conway, whom everyone in the murder squad wants to see gone. How much does that skew her judgment of her colleagues is the question that hovers over the novel, as she investigates the murder of a woman in her own home -- one that seems to bring her closer and closer to her own colleagues. There's an obvious suspect, of course -- and all Conway has to do is close the case. But if she refuses to do that is she being her own worst enemy or being diligent? Nicely complex. 4.2 stars.

231. The Damascus Threat by Matt Rees


Oh dear, oh dear. I loved this author's mysteries set in the occupied territories of Israel, with a Palestinian teacher as sleuth. Rees, a journalist who is married to an Israeli, knows all the intricacies and tensions of the region and did a wonderful job in all these novels in deftly navigating them, making his characters human beings rather than simply exemplars of ideologies. So it was a tremendous disappointment to find him do precisely the opposite in this dreadful potboiler, with characters that are cardboard cutout villains, and laughably ridiculous situations drawn from B-list action movies. Avoid. 1.5 stars.

232. The Widower's Wife by Cate Holohan


From the same publisher as the above, alas. They seem to have no critical faculties there when it comes to books, because this is a plotline that I've seen explored, with various twists, in various Lifetime TV movies. Evil Husband wants wife dead for the insurance money, but the insurance guy smells a rat. There's a Big Twist, which you can guess from the headline alone. Sigh. 2 stars.

Re Crowned and Dangerous, I just started the fourth book in the series, Royal Blood, yesterday. I am making my way sedately through the series, maybe 2 books a year, after Judy Delta Queen turned my on to them. Lots of fun, one of the few mystery series I follow.

Oh dear, indeed about the Matt Rees. I'll keep reading the Omar Yusef books, I've already enjoyed a couple.

233. Tabula Rasa by Ruth Downie


A historical mystery series set in Roman Britain (I know many LTers have been reading it...) The Roman "medicus" (doctor), Ruso, and his British wife, Tilla, are in her homeland, in the far north, right where the legions are building Hadrian's new wall, and get tangled up in local resistance of all kinds. A good read, and worthy addition to the series. 3.9 stars.

234. Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory


The author adds to her list of Tudor novels by tackling almost the only queens from that dynasty she hasn't addressed: Henry VIII's sisters, Margaret and Mary. Actually, in spite of the title, Margaret is the primary focus of the book and its narrator, and the emphasis is on her relationship with Katherine of Aragon -- envy and sisterhood, given that only the two of them can really understand Henry as a person as well as a king, even as Margaret envies Katherine her superior status. As always, Gregory's ideas are far more interesting than her execution is worthwhile; the writing is meh. Mary Tudor comes across as a witless, giggling, silly girl who becomes a slightly dim-witted young woman, aloof or ready to be distracted from power politics. That's unlikely, in real life. But whatever. Gregory's view of Margaret as a selfish and self-indulgent woman is probably spot-on, even if her fictional treatment of her is, as usual, likely to attract ire and her prose is ho-hum. Still interesting. 3.6 stars.

235. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart


The sequel to Girl Waits With Gun, which was one of my surprise favorites of last year. Alas, this wasn't quite as good, perhaps because the author rushed it out too rapidly? Perhaps because she had less to work with? Who knows? Constance now is working with the police as the first lady cop, until she accidentally lets a particularly nasty individual slip out of the hands of police; she then resolves to undertake her own sleuthing and recapture him. Good, but not as fresh or innovative as the debut, so it suffers mostly from comparison. Still, if you loved the original, you'll want to read it. 4 stars.

236. The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor


I generally really enjoy Taylor's novels, and every so often he knocks one out of the park, as he does with this. Set in Restoration England (1666 or thereabouts), right after the Great Fire of London, its hero is James Marwood, son of a convicted Commonwealth traitor who is losing his marbles and starting to spout treason again, quoting from the Bible and ranting about the evils of the monarchy. Desperately afraid for his father, Marwood is in no position to refuse when he is recruited by the powers that be in Westminster to hunt down a killer who appears to be tied to a group of possible regicides. It's a great tale, involving one of Charles I's own regicides still on the loose and being hunted by the newly-restored regime; the regicide's daughter, being sheltered by her uncle and aunt and family and about to be married off against her will; and a group known as the Fifth Monarchists, still devoted to bringing down the new king. Plots abound, there's a sub-plot involving Christopher Wren designing the new St. Paul's Cathedral -- and how can you resist if you love historical fiction? You shouldn't. 4.65 stars.

237. Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn


I don't think I ever realized that Eleanor Roosevelt had lesbian affairs until I read this biography, but that's not the real revelation. Rather, it's the way that a single relationship, with a politically and socially progressive journalist, helped the First Lady clarify her own ideas and vision and articulate them. Quinn makes a convincing case, drawing comparisons between Roosevelt's writings before and after Lorena Hickok entered her life, and helped to transform it. Undoubtedly, being First Lady would have altered Eleanor's life, but it seems clear that have Lorena constantly at her side throughout the crucial early years shaped the nature of those alterations. A compelling dual biography. 4.25 stars.

238. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton


Perhaps ultimately this was a bit too metaphysical for me to love, but it was still tremendously entertaining. Chesterton, better known for his Father Brown novels, takes to espionage and anarchism and even nihilism in this short book that will twist your brain and leave you reeling. 3.9 stars.

239. I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill


The latest Dr. Siri novel, and while it contains all the trademark wit and whimsy, I have to concur with those who have said it's not Cotterill's best. Perhaps because in this case, part of it takes place in Thailand rather than Laos? I still love Dr. Siri, but the quirkiness factor is getting a little too high for me, sometimes. 4 stars.

240. The Lord of Greenwich by Juliet Dymoke


Part of a classic six-part series of novels about the Plantagenet dynasty in England, recently reissued (cheaply!) for Kindle. This is about Humphrey, younger brother of Henry V and a great patron of the arts (he was a tremendous bibliophile, and had one of the world's greatest early libraries). But he was also ambitious and had a power struggle with his uncle: the prize was control over the infant Henry VI, who would go on to go mad and lose the wars of the Roses. An interesting book, but really only interesting if you're curious about Humphrey, as I am. (His wife was convicted of witchcraft by his enemies, incidentally...)

241. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan


A new book that is popular with lots of folks -- a feel-good (kind of) book set in the early years of WW2, involving lots of different characters in a village in England. There are some nasty types and some warm-hearted nice ones, and the central feature (surprise) is the choir, which serves to pull the community together. Don't expect that everyone gets their just deserts, however. Some do; some don't. Still, A good read. 3.75 stars.

242. Skewed: A Critical Thinker's Guide to Media Bias by Larry Atkins


I'd love to give a copy of this to everyone who complains about media bias. It's a bit basic, but it covers how news is determined, what is and what isn't bias, and how to recognize it when you see it. The only thing that isn't in here that should be is the topic of "fake news", which didn't really become a thing until (I suspect) after the author's deadline. If you're part of the media, you know all this already; if you're not, and you want to understand how it all works and want to know whether what you think is bias is or not, this is a straightforward ABC. 4 stars. A boring read, with tedious little summaries at the end of each chapter, but whatever.

As usual, I come away from your thread with a long list of recommended books! I love Andrew Taylor also. Thanks, Suzanne.

243. Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop by Anna Lembke


I struggled with this book, as someone who struggles with chronic pain, but not with addiction to opioids. The problem is that Lembke doesn't seem to believe that chronic pain exists, and is of the school of thought that only weak-willed people succumb to addiction. She also -- literally -- believes that pain can be ennobling. Clearly, she's never had a chronic pain condition. She's "talking her book", as we say about pundits who get on TV to pump up the value of stocks they own: she has a vested interest in promoting her own perspective and her practice, which is tied to ensuring that no one ever prescribes any pain killers again. I hate painkiller prescribing mills and think they have done incalculable damage, but people like this author, while she is spot on in diagnosing that problem, do as much damage on the opposite end of the spectrum. We're all now so hyper-aware of the problems that exist that you can be deemed to be drug-seeking if you break your leg and want pain relief (as happened to one friend of mine) in some places, even as in others, docs will still over-prescribe in quantity and intensity. There's a big gap here, and what I really want to read somewhere is a book about the difficulty involved in dealing with pain, given that no one other than the person who feels it can really understand how it affects the individual in question. We all have different thresholds and respond differently to medication. I'm also curious about what new research is being done into non-opiate pain relief -- surely there is something? All of that would have been so much more worthwhile than this was -- which was a rehash of all the alarmist and alarming newspaper/magazine headlines you've read in the last few years. 2.7 stars.

244. A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders


Finally got around to reading this series, featuring book editor Samantha Clair, and the first one, which directly involves her decision to publish a tell-all book about a mysterious death of a fashion icon, is the best, IMO, although the others are entertaining, too. They walk the line between procedural and cozy, with an emphasis on the characters as well as the mystery, which is something I consider v. important in a good book, and a decent amount of suspense. What didn't really work is the relationship that develops between Sam and the detective -- it kind of comes out of nowhere. What does work is the dynamic between Sam and her super-achiever lawyer mother, which is fabulous. 4.1 stars.

245. Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie


The next, and latest, in the Ruso/Tilla historical mystery series sees the duo landing in Rome, and Tilla having a tough time figuring out the social codes and mores of the center of the empire. It's particularly tough when they go off to buy their own slaves, after taking over an apothecary shop at the behest of Ruso's new patron, and Tilla and Ruso clash over their ideas of what constitutes an appropriate slave... But their new slaves will come in handy when once again they become enmeshed in crime and mystery, revolving around the sudden disappearance of the store's former occupants -- and a mysterious body found on its doorstep. 4 stars.

246. The Old Man by Thomas Perry


OK, so Perry's books aren't any great literary sensation, but something about the plotting keeps me coming back for more. His characters seem to be able to strategize and out think the bad guys, laying traps for them along the ways, and the old man of the title is no exception. In this case, Dan Chase has been on the run for decades, and has even raised a daughter while under cover. Now a widower, it seems as if his past has finally caught up with him: left out in the cold after an intelligence op in Libya went sour, leaving him with millions of dollars intended for a warlord but no safe exit strategy, the warlord's clan are now coming for him, with the help of parts of his own government, and Chase must go on the run until he can find a way out of his predicament. It's a good "chase book", no pun intended. 3.8 stars.

247. Dear Mr. M. by Herman Koch


Tremendously intriguing. When you start reading this, you see "Mr. M.", a famous author, and his family -- a much younger wife and very young daughter -- through the eyes of their downstairs neighbor in a Dutch city. It soon becomes apparent that the neighbor doesn't like Mr. M much at all, and is quietly watching, even stalking him. But why? Subsequent chunks of the narrative, with different characters taking over responsibility for exploring the background or the personalities, tell us just what linked the two men in their past: a possible crime, and the author's use of it. It's an intriguing novel that plays with the idea of privacy, and what someone might or might not owe to the subjects that have inspired a fictional work, and even to what is "truth." I found it compulsive reading, if somewhat disturbing. 4.3 stars.

248. So Say the Fallen by Stuart Neville


This is the first book by Stuart Neville that I've read, and I'll be back for more at some point, even though I found it more expository than I had hoped (you pretty much know whodunnit and even, to some extent, why, throughout.) But Neville does a great job of blending the mystery with the personal studies of his characters, and deftly portrays Northern Ireland. 3.9 stars.

249. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell


Amazingly, I was very slow to read this novel -- and shame on me. A full five stars -- a rarity for me this year -- for the tour de force that it represents; the imaginative portrayal of Dejima, the VOC trading post in Japan, the Dutch community there and the Japanese who reluctantly forge some kind of relationship with them in the 17th century before the collapse of the powerful Dutch East India Company. Jacob de Zoet himself arrives as a minor player but, fascinated by Japan and the Japanese, soon finds himself with a window seat on events that he doesn't always understand, sometimes unable to intervene and sometimes changing events in ways he can. There's no way to do justice to the sweeping scope of this novel, which goes from an eerie remote monastery inland, to power struggles over the fate of Dejima itself, tricking both the Japanese and the VOC's Western foes. 5 stars. You MUST read it (if you haven't already.) It will definitely be on my best of 2016 list.

250. The Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor


A sequel to The Scent of Death, which was set in the American Revolutionary War. Edward Savill, the main protagonist of both books, is a less compelling figure than most of Taylor's fictional creations, unfortunately, and while this novel is interesting, it never really takes flight. The backdrop is the French revolution: 10-year-old Charles, the bastard son of Edward's estranged wife, witnesses the murder of his mother. He then ends up in England, amidst a motley crowd of emigrés, and Savill is given orders to extricate Charles and hand him over to his late wife's uncle to raise. But is that in the boy's best interests? Again, a complex tale of political chicanery and wheeling and dealing and conspiracies. You can read this without having read the prior book, if you want. It's an odd book, though, and I'd recommend several of Taylor's other novels first, like The American Boy or The Ashes of London.

251. Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre


Good, but not the best book by Macintyre, who seems to fare better when writing stories about secret backdoor conspiracies than straightforward military histories. This is the early history of the SAS -- the regiment created during WW2 and disbanded, only to be recreated later, although Macintyre's afterward isn't detailed enough about how and why and when that happened. The book is at its best in telling stories of the people; weakest when trying to set these in the context of military strategy. At times it just sounded as if they were out there running around shooting at things, and I found it hard to grasp how they were effective beyond giving a bunch of exuberant guys an outlet for disruption. Did they truly disrupt German and Italian planning? I was still left with a lot of big picture questions like that. So, only 3.9 stars.

252. Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye


I decided to read this after so greatly enjoying the Gods of Gotham trilogy and Jane Steele, but it doesn't quite measure up. Had I read it first, it might have fared better, but... It's John Watson relating Sherlock Holmes's investigation of the Ripper murders, and whether I've simply read too much Sherlockiana, or what, I don't know, but.... It's OK, and you may like it more than I did. Adequate, and Holmes nuts will like it, I suppose. 3.7 stars.

253. Out of Bounds by Val McDermid


One of the novels in the series featuring Karen Pirie, attached to the Historic Cases Unit in Scotland. She's assigned to dig into the background of a young man who dies in a car crash after his DNA is linked to an old rape case, but what looks like a straightforward case turns out to be anything but. Meanwhile, that investigation leads her to another, current, murder case, which in turn leads her to a very cold case investigation: the crash of an airplane long ago that orphaned some children. How are they all linked? What might have happened? And can Pirie get past her own demons and the trauma following the death of her partner, Phil? A good addition to the series... 4.25 stars.

254. Conclave by Robert Harris


Sometimes Harris delivers a great novel and sometimes he lays an egg, relatively speaking. This is one of the disappointments, although it's not a bad book. It just reminds me of Harris taking a Jeffrey Archer type plot and doing it his way. In this case, a pope dies and there's a power struggle. It's all fairly predictable. Not bad, but predictable. I even saw the final twist coming, more or less. Still worthwhile. 3.8 stars.

255. The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach


Ever wondered what it might be like to live under the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as one of the thousands of children born with massive birth defects or doomed to die young of cancers? You don't need to wonder, as Stambach explores this in his novel. The title character is a young boy, hideously deformed but soaring above the limitations of his body with a wicked imagination and a way with words that is truly wondrous -- and he springs to life off the page, as does his partner in crime Polina, who arrives at the orphanage where Ivan has been abandoned and incarcerated since the day of his birth. It's like John Green without the saccharine stuff. Biting and moving at the same time. 4.35 stars.

256. Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves


Subtle and ultimately compelling, this novel snuck up on me. The protagonist has a fascination with electricity and couldn't give a damn about farming, but when Marie, his wife, inherits her family's farm, he's stuck with farming as a "career" in the early 1900s. Worse yet, in the early days of electrification, in the midst of a bad time for the farm, Roscoe dreams up a scheme to improve yields: he'll just hijack power from the nearby cables and electrify his own farm. It all goes well until it doesn't -- and a power company worker investigating is electrocuted by his amateur wiring. Then the justice system catches up with him and his African American farm worker, whose only role was to help him put up the poles. The brutality of the penal system and inequitable punishment are explored here, but the real theme is redemption. 4.25 stars. Fascinating, and gorgeous writing. I can see how it ended up on the Booker longlist, but also why it didn't make it to the shortlist -- the wrong kind of book for that jury.

257. The Ninja's Daughter by Susan Spann


Part of the problem here may have been jumping into a historical mystery series midway through, but this was extremely pedestrian and pedantic. Lots of over explanation of historical detail (yawn) and little to grab and hold my interest. I struggled to finish it and won't bother with any more. 2.3 stars. I don't really care about this particular ninja assassin cult or whatever it actually was, even if I found it believable. Whatever...

258. Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra


The successful novels of this kind -- the doppelganger books -- are the ones like Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey, where the author leaves readers and characters in suspense up to the end as to whether the main character is indeed the person he or she claims to be until the final pages. In this case, we know up front that she isn't who she claims to be -- the long-missing daughter of loving parents -- and the only mystery is what really happened to the daughter in question and who is endangering the imposter. I admit I was caught offguard by the final solution, but the overall story didn't hold my attention or enthrall me that much, for some reason. 3.4 stars.

259. The Black Notebook by Patrick Modiano


This is the first of Modiano's short novels that I've read in translation, and I think his elliptical prose works better in the original, alas. At any rate, I found this tale of a writer investigating his past (a classic Modiano theme -- the look back at the recent past and its crimes) a bit distancing. In this instance, Jean retraces his footsteps literally, to Montparnasse, and through time, to the 1960s and decolonization, as he recalls a group of people with mysterious backgrounds in France's North African colonies (eg Algeria) and one woman in particular who may have committed some kind of horrible crime. But did she? And who was she? Modiano's particular genius is to capture the reality that we too rarely really know or understand all that we think we do of others and of life itself, and this slim book does that. But it doesn't accomplish what, say, Dora Bruder does. I still have an ARC of Villa Triste sitting on my TBR -- another work in translation, however. This book? 4.1 stars.

260. A Bed of Scorpions b Judith Flanders


The second in this mystery series, featuring Samantha Clair as an unlikely sleuth. This time, the mystery centers around an art gallery run by her ex and friend, whose partner has been found dead. There's lots of skulduggery, including art fraud, and her current beau, is in charge of investigating it all. Cue some jealousy. Sam gets involved to try and help out Aidan, the ex, and ends up in hot water. I still don't find the current relationship very convincing (Flanders can't seem to write compelling romantic scenes for some reason, or even create that sense of a couple being a couple), but the mystery part is fun.) 4 stars.

261. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance


This was one of those books that everybody was buzzing about in the autumn, and rightfully so. I suppose now that Trump is president (heaven help us) and there's so much emphasis on trying to understand the people who voted for him (I'd go for, let's understand the dynamics of their lives, their economic situation -- but not try to understand their psychology, because that just gets too scary, because it's all tangled up in stuff we don't want to TRY to understand, and it's not as if the favor will be returned, is it? based on the last eight years...) this is precisely the kind of book that everybody will be turning to. But there are so many more good reasons to read it than that. It's the first person story of the collapse of an economic structure and the pressures that it puts on social relationships -- and yet how strong those ties are underneath it all, how community endures in spite of everything. It's a reminder that there is more to life than economic prosperity -- but that economic justice is a basic requirement of a civilized society. It's just one young man's tale, but it's also a microcosm of what's happening in parts of America today. I doubt Vance voted for Trump, but I doubt he voted for Clinton. The bottom line? There is no such thing as organic, grassroots politics in the US any longer. Read this, and think about what he says, and what it means. 5 stars.

262. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley


The latest Flavia de Luce mystery sees Flavia arrive home from Canada only to find her welcome -- unwelcoming. That, she discovers, is because her father is lying in hospital with pneumonia, very ill, and she can't even visit him. It may be winter, but that doesn't stop her from hopping aboard her bicycle and venturing off in search of adventures/troubles/mysteries. And soon enough, she finds a dead body.... and major, major life changes.

263. Nutshell by Ian MacEwan


Well, once past the shock of encountering a novella narrated by a foetus, I had to stop and ask myself whether, beyond MacEwan's always wonderful prose and the "stunt" aspect, whether there was anything truly revelatory or new in this book. My answer, reluctantly, was no. Don't misunderstand me, please: the prose is lyrical and wonderful. The stunt is amazingly inventive. But after that, MacEwan has simply taken the essential plot of Hamlet and distilled it into his novella, with the young prince being still a nine-month foetus, and Gertrude and Claudius still plotting to kill his father. It's clever, and like all literary homages, you can read and go, oooh, and point to comparisons to the original and say how wittily MacEwan has adapted the original material (and he has...) But I didn't end up with the sense that he shed any new light on Hamlet itself; he played with it and had fun with it (which is great), but what I wanted from a writer like MacEwan (versus any number of lesser lights) was something that made me look back on the original in a different way. It didn't happen. So, 4.2 stars.

264. The Plots Against Hitler by Danny Orbach


Note that this is the plots against Hitler, not the plots against the Nazi regime, so you won't get details of the Red Orchestra conspiracy, or Munich's White Rose student rebels, who protested/conspired against the whole Nazi entity and not just Hitler. Rather, this book is confined to those who plotted to topple Hitler himself, and replace him as head of state, which means it's really about the military, diplomatic and other elite figures whose efforts finally bore fruit in July 1944 with what became known as the Generals' Plot, or Claus von Stauffenberg's doomed assassination attempt. So, it's a story of the series of shifting alliances among these elite figures, some of whom are more admirable and/or interesting than others (the von Moltkes, for instance) beginning way back in the 1930s, and how a combination of failing nerve on the part of the conspirators and the Fuhrer's dumb luck saved Hitler any number of times. Some of this will overlap with other books you may have read, if you're interested in the subject (and this is only for those with an interest in it...) but some material will be new. I do wish that it had made at least a nod in the direction of including more info about broader resistance (or lack of it) to the Nazis, even though it's peripheral to the main story, since it was against that backdrop that this elite group were working. Worthwhile, but sometimes plodding. 3.9 stars.

265. Speak by Louisa Hall


This was a selection for one of the book groups at the Providence Athenaeum and I don't think I would have stumbled across it without that fact. It's a combination of narratives, all linked by the common thread of artificial intelligence and communication, and the theme of the difficulty of actually communicating with others. Chronologically, one is a diary written by a young girl named Mary, whose initial enthusiasm at moving to the Massachusetts colony in the 17th century fades to dismay when she is told she must marry and leave her beloved dog behind; she entrusts her thoughts only to her diary. Then there is Alan Turing, the real life inventor of computers, who entrusts his thoughts in (fictional) letters to the mother of his dead early love. Next, a German refugee from WW2, Karl Dettman (later we hear from his ex-wife, Ruth), who refuses to use his technical skills to give a "voice" to a computer program that his wife has discovered, based on the "Mary" diaries. Stephen Chinn is in jail, convicted of having developed babybots, dolls that are lifelike that no child who has one can learn to interact with other children or adults, and when their babybots are all forcibly taken away from them and shipped off to die, gradually, in the desert, the children too are literally paralyzed and frozen, unable to communicate. The final strands in this multi-voiced narrative are one of those children, communicating with a program -- mary 3 -- about her experiences, and a first person narrative by one of the dying babybots. What is life? What is intelligent life? What is communication? The novel raises all of these questions in its interlocking segments. Not all of the narrative strands are equally convincing. I found the diaries somewhat jejeune; the Dettman, Chinn and Mary 3 segments the most convincing ones. But throughout, tremendously creative and provocative, even if the author's ambition sometimes exceeds her ability to manage all her material, it's worthwhile. Very glad I read it. 4.35 stars.

266. The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James


A fun little anthology of 4 Christmas-themed stories by P.D. James, which are all strong enough to wash out the memory of the not very good Death Comes to Pemberley. They aren't overly long or complex, but are clever and astute. Recommended, but look for a bargain-priced copy, as it's over-priced right now. 4 stars.

267. The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell


I'm really enjoying this Saxon series, which I discovered last year. Sure, it's getting repetitive -- lots of shield walls -- but I can't wait to find out what happens next to Uhtred of Bebbanburg at the end of each book, which is a great sign of a good adventure novel series. In this tenth book, everyone is plotting to go to war with everyone else, and there are some false flags flying. Uhtred's first task is to figure out who is really conspiring to break the peace, sort out the malicious troublemakers -- and then try yet again to try and take back his home castle, the impregnable bastion of Bebbanburg. Maybe this time he'll get there without being waylaid, and get inside the gates, and vanquish it?? 4.1 stars.

Glad you loved Hillbilly Elegy. I'm excited to read it next year.

Lots of additions for my TBR list here as usual, Suzanne!

Suz, Jenn (jjmcgaffey) posted on the booksale thread something I think you'd be interested in. Open Road Media has put a lot of their Kindle books on sale (like, free!) through the 20th. I'm pigging out in the sci fi and fantasy genres, but they have all genres. Be sure to sort Price: Low to High on Amazon.

43 reviews in less than 24 hours is some going, Suz.

Good to see you back posting, dear lady.

>72 ronincats: Oh lord, 37 so far, and I'm not done yet. Some by Iris Murdoch; a bunch of sentimental favorites by Evelyn Anthony to re-read, and all the books by Robert Ryan that I haven't read. Some by May Sarton. A few odds and ends: a bio of Henry the Navigator, some historical fiction by Cecelia Holland, two by Mary Wesley, a novel I hadn't heard of by Thomas Keneally, a sequel to Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (who knew there was one??) and I haven't finished looking yet....

>73 PaulCranswick: Well, I've got a lot of catching up to do!

>71 rosalita: Just call me the enabler...

>74 Chatterbox: Jealous!

>74 Chatterbox: I did know of the existence of Rogue Justice but I haven't read it yet.

Thanks for the BBs Suzanne. Sounds like your book club is a good source of debate. We have one of these old societies, complete with beautiful library in Liverpool but I have yet to get into the club building itself...

Still playing catchup...

268. The Second Midnight by Andrew Taylor


A very interesting concept, imperfectly executed, that drags on too long. An English businessman is lured into the romance of espionage, recruited into undertaking a single mission to Prague on the eve of the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. He has to take along his teenage son, and decides it's good cover -- and then ends up having to abandon him with a "suitable" new acquaintance in the midst of the turmoil when his cover is busted. When the Germans show up, the young boy is trapped -- and must fend for himself for years, even as his family assumes he's dead. It is mostly a good adventure yarn, but drags on into the cold war years and becomes too much and too complicated and ultimately implausible. Not up to the standards of Taylor's later books. 3.3 stars.

269. A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders


In the third and most recent in this series, so far available only in the UK, I think, Sam Clair investigates a serial arsonist in her own neighborhood, to her own peril. A good tale, with plenty of twists, missing people and confused identities, and colorful characters. 4.1 stars.

270. In Wartime: Stories From Ukraine by Tim Judah


This is a good and useful 360 degree view of what's what in Ukraine, with all kinds of issues and personalities dealt with. Judah takes a regional approach to tackling the various stories unfolding in Ukraine today and explaining the strife that has been relegated to the back pages by what is happening in Syria and elsewhere, but that is still violent enough. It sometimes drags, but I think that has more to do with the episodic structure than the contents. A very worthwhile book. 4.25 stars.

271. Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre edited/compiled by Tracy Chevalier


You might imagine, with a title like this, that the contents would be chick lit. Perish the thought. The authors of the stories this anthology contains include Tessa Hadley, Susan Hill, Jane Gardam, Elif Shafak, Lionel Shriver and Emma Donoghue and there's one rather scary one that re-imagines the relationship between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester in quite a different light... Indeed, several of these stories go to town on the idea of marriage and relationships, so be prepared for something that will upend your idea of "romance." 4 stars.

272. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson


Another book that I confess I should have read long ago, and sheepishly admit that I have been too slow to discover the wonders of. All about the Great Migration of African Americans from the US south, in the first decades of the 20th century, to escape Jim Crow. I thought I knew the outlines of the story, but I didn't know the half of this -- the book and the story it tells was a revelation, and it made me think and rethink many of my assumptions about US history of this era. READ IT. It's a prizewinner, so you can read it in January for the non-fiction challenge. 5 stars.

273. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe


Our book circle's book for October, and the one I introduced. One of the earliest novels in the English language, and a surprisingly entertaining one -- a great adventure novel, with lots to discuss. Glad to have finally read it, and it has whetted my appetite for Journal of a Plague Year. 4 stars

274. Sorrow Road by Julia Keller


I've been enjoying this series of mysteries, set in a small town in West Virginia. The author does a great job of conjuring up the atmosphere and the characters, and in particular the main character, that of a conflicted prosecutor, Bell Elkins, who is torn between her ties to her home town and her love for her daughter, now living with her father in Washington DC. It doesn't help that Bell no longer really fits in back in Acker's Gap, and when a former classmate returns briefly to ask her to investigate what she believes is a crime involving her own father's death, that simply reminds her of the conflicts. Then the classmate is herself found dead unexpectedly, Bell's daughter returns, also unexpectedly, and the stage is set for a mystery... 3.9 stars.

275. Mister Monkey by Francine Prose


This was a weird little novel about a weird little play -- or so I thought at first. I eventually warmed up to the book, the further the linked series of narratives that make up the book moved away from the bizarre off-off-off Broadway musical itself and focused on New York's quirky world -- its bizarre private schools, its immigrants, its dreamers, its tenacious and ambitious artists... But if you can imagine that the fact that links them is a play about a Curious George type monkey adopted from Africa by a family and later saved from being thrown into jail -- well you'd have to read it. It's bizarre. But quirky. In a weird way. What can I say? It's VERY New York. 4 stars.

More later.

>273 I'll suggest that at a later date you might like to follow up Robinson Crusoe with Friday or the other Island by Michel Tournier, a Robinsonade novel, well worth a look.

I've been hit by several book bullets.

>78 Chatterbox: We ordered Mister Monkey for the library simply because it sounded unusual. I may have to check it out. One of our other librarians was going to read it. I'll have to see if she has done so yet.

I bought The Warmth of Other Suns for my dad for Christmas one year. Along with The New Jim Crow. I know what happened to The New Jim Crow (I inherited it) but Warmth of Other Suns has disappeared without being read. Too bad, really, because I wanted to read it when he was done.

Oh boy, when you do catch up, you do catch up!
I'm glad you enjoyed The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet as much as you did. I loved it back when I read it.
And I also thought The Warmth of Other Suns was excellent.

Oh, I'll resist the temptation to go through, blow-by-blow, sharing my feelings about the various books that you've read that I have also read. I will say that you've confirmed my eager anticipation of both Hillbilly Elegy and Nutshell, both of which I plan to read in 2017.

I'm home in Providence again with my cats!! For the first time in nearly three weeks.... (and no, it has not been a vacation...) I will be here for a full two weeks before I have to leave again. :-)

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

Merry Christmas Suzanne! Thank you for your time, the non-fiction challenge, your kind words and the books we enjoy together. I hope your holidays are full of joy!

Happy Christmas Suzanne! Have a great 2017.

Happy Holidays!

This is the Christmas tree at the end of the Pacific Beach Pier here in San Diego, a Christmas tradition.

To all my friends here at Library Thing, I want you to know how much I value you and how much I wish you a very happy holiday, whatever one you celebrate, and the very best of New Years!

>78 Chatterbox: Another one here who wants to read The Warmth of Other Sons. Thanks for the nudge to get on with it!

Hope you are having a relaxing time in Providence.

Edit Suns!

Hope you and the cats have had a merry Christmas, Suzanne. I'm happy that you have some down time right now. I can't think of anybody who deserves it more or probably needs it more.
I love catching up on your reading, and I want to follow you in at least 60% of your lists.
When I was checking your posts on fb, I went scurrying to find the ___&_____ mysteries (poor brain) and list them at PBS only to find that they were already on my list from your reading the first.
*Warmth* is definitely on my list now.
Oh! Happy New Year! Happy Reading!

>90 LizzieD: (Peggy means the Blake & Avery mysteries; I'm now reading and very much enjoying the third, which is out in the UK and soon to appear in the US, The Devil's Feast. They are by M.J. Carter, aka historian Miranda Carter.)

Having a very quiet post Christmas period. My next door neighbors kept me up until 3:30 a.m. Christmas eve blasting music (they are Dominican; apparently it's cultural?). I had dinner with friends nearby in Barrington on Xmas Day, which was great. Alas, my friend's husband has been battling an intractable form of skin lymphoma all year; it should have been something that was easily treatable but instead... They just returned from a second-stage escalating round of treatments at Dana Farber, and he is in good spirits. They have adopted a new kitten, about six months old, whom he adores. So instead of checking out the size of his skin tumor every morning, he now looks for Layla first thing every morning. Result!

I spent several days when I wasn't sorting out my friend's move to rehab in NYC (result!) running around finding and buying presents and spending more than I could afford to ship them to Toronto. This year was a new low: not only did I not get a single gift (not even an Amazon online gift certificate), but failed to get a card or even a "Merry Christmas" phone call. I think I finally have learned my lesson vis-a-vis family.

And now I am spending quality time curled up with cats and books. I have one or two small work things to do, but they probably won't take long. Want to get the house cleaned up and better organized, or make a start on it. Have to go back to NYC on the 6th to take G to his oncologist's appointment and probably will be stuck there until the 18th, when our book circle meets. Debating going to the ALA Midwinter in Atlanta.

If I'm going to finish reporting on all my reading before the year is over, I should get a move on...

276. The Gilded Rage: A Wild Ride Through Donald Trump's America by Alexander Zaitchik


It's in the spirit of Studs Terkel, and a very timely book -- the author allows the Trump voters who are the focus of the book to speak freely in their own words, without challenging them or pointing out the contradictions in what they say. It makes for an occasionally frustrating read, but also an informative one, since while I disagree profoundly with while their experiences and analysis have taken them, I can also empathize with their frustration and become extremely angry about the experiences they describe/have encountered. And with those protestors who jeer at them. Much as I despise Trump and think he is dangerous, I'm not sure that the tactics of many protestors have been any more helpful than those of his more volatile allies. So, I'd recommend this to anyone from the center to the left, regardless of what happens in 2 1/2 weeks in the US. Because no matter who wins, it's important to realize that many of those who support Trump are more nuanced in their reasons for voting than one might assume. And politics make for strange bedfellows: supporters include environmental activists and people who object more to the ineffectiveness US Border Patrol than to some of the hapless illegal immigrants that use their property to get into the US. Thought provoking material hear. 4 stars.

277. The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd


Another Bess Crawford mystery, in the final days of WW1. A mysterious man is dragged in from the front, and events soon cause Bess, a nurse, to wonder about his identity. Subsequent events cause her to speculate still more -- could he be a spy? There are some improbable coincidences and unlikely twists and sudden and confusing narrative turns, but overall this had the charm of being a bit different than the usual book in this series, with Bess dashing around the English countryside. 3.75 stars.

278. The White Mirror by Elsa Hart


After saving the bacon of the regional magistrate/governor in Jade Dragon Mountain, the impressive debut in this historical mystery series debut, Li Du has resumed his travels rather than returning to Beijing or settling down, and along with his mysterious storytelling companion, has made his way to Tibet, where they find a dead Buddhist monk, with mysterious painted symbols covering his body, blocking a bridge across a gorge. As the snow falls, and different and intriguing groups of travelers are offered hospitality by a local landlord, Li Du sets out to solve another mystery. Excellent and distinctive. 4.15 stars.

279. Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe


After reading Nina Stibbe's very witty and delightful collection of letters about being a nanny in a literary household in Primrose Hill (her boss was the editor of the London Review of Books; Alan Bennett used to drop by) and finding the sequel to this memoir at the Athenaeum, I decided I should read this. It was depressing and not all that great. Set in the 1970s (so we'd be much of an age) it's a so-so story of a preteen with a dysfunctional mother and a family life falling apart; she and her sister set out to recruit a new father. It's just -- depressing, trying to be witty and it didn't work at all for me. 3 stars; being generous.

280. Vertigo by W.G. Sebald

305. The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald


It's extraordinarily hard to describe Sebald's "novels". Are they even novels, or are they recollections by loosely autobiographical characters? His characters travel; they remember; they muse, usually elliptically, about the past. The line between fact and fiction is blurred to the point of disappearing. They are illustrated with photographs, which Sebald crops and distresses and otherwise "treats"; the text refers to these illustrations indirectly and sometimes directly. The themes are of being distanced from one's roots; of memory; of alienation; of emigration and the legacy of the Holocaust in Germany. (Sebald was German, but not Jewish.) Sebald is a unique writer, with an ornate style -- prior to his early death (of an aneurysm that caused a car crash), he had often been mentioned as a Nobel candidate and almost certainly would have ended up receiving the prize had he lived, academy members have said. I'm giving Vertigo, his first major prose work, 4.35 stars, and The Emigrants 4.5 stars. Reading his four major novels for one of my Athenaeum book groups.

281. The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill


This latest episode in the Simon Serailler mysteries actually has me wondering whether there will be another, or whether Susan Hill has finally written herself into a corner with all the Serailler family melodrama. Not that there isn't a thumping good narrative here: Simon himself goes undercover in pursuit of some thoroughly nasty people, while his father shows his ugly side. If you've been reading the series, you'll want to see it through to this (possible) conclusion! 4.1 stars.

282. Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music and Family by Daniel Bergner


Really, this is one of those stories that you hear in a three-minute TV episode, or read about in People magazine, and want to know more about. Do you want to know THIS much? I'm not really sure that Ryan Speedo Green's story merited a whole book -- it's fascinating, but ultimately it gets repetitive. Although it IS inspirational and moving: how a young African American boy is saved by music, and classical music -- and, of all things, opera, the most "white" music form of all. What would have made this a stronger book would have been some additional meat. Why is opera so white? Why, when theater, other forms of music, etc. have all opened their doors to performers of all races, does opera remain resolutely stodgy? Yes, Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle -- but you can only think of two or three, right? Is it the art form? Is it the administration? Is it music education is schools? I was awed by Ryan's chutzpah -- his ability to take a chance when he didn't speak the foreign languages needed by opera, and take a risk in the Met auditions. But however inspiring and fascinating, it left me with as many questions as it answered. 3.8 stars.

283. Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan


This was the first of Hallinan's mysteries featuring Junior Bender (sometimes super thief, sometimes -- I gather, as this was a mid-series book, investigator for hire) that I had read, and it was reasonably entertaining, though I probably would have enjoyed it more had I started at the beginning of the series. (This was a freebie from Amazon Vine; people had been urging me to try this series, and so I did...) Junior is blackmailed/forced to investigate thefts from a rundown shopping mall around Christmas, and uncovers some truly unnerving stuff going on, including some dead bodies. Moderately fun, and lively, but I felt as if I was missing too much of the back story. 3.75 stars.

284. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit


The title essay in this collection is worth the price of admission alone -- even though Solnit herself never uses the phrase "mansplaining", the essay's contents (hilarious) helped popularize the phrase. (A man spends the best part of an evening telling Solnit how she must read a book that she herself had written, not pausing long enough in his speech for her to tell him, that actually, she wrote the damn thing...) I don't always agree with Solnit's political views (she tends to be of the "Occupy" movement, and I don't veer that far left) but she's crisp, witty, thoughtful and her analysis is brisk and insightful. In other words, it's criminal not to read this short anthology. 4.6 stars.

>92 Chatterbox: Just looked up the Rebecca Solnit to add to my wishlist and discovered I'd bought it in the summer on Kindle.

>93 elkiedee: LOL, a symptom of an out-of-control TBR mountain -- it happens to me all the time!

Just want to let you know that when I get back to ALabama I will be in touch about the ALA conference.

>95 benitastrnad: Super; I think I may try to go...

More.... running out of time in the year to catch up!!!

285. Breaking Cover by Stella Rimington


Unfortunately, I missed the preceding book in this suspense series, which put me at a bit of a disadvantage. Still, it's an interesting spy book, even if some of the twists are pretty obvious and some of the suspense is a bit muted. I figured out fairly early on who was compromised and how and what it meant, for instance; I like it when an author can keep me in suspense for longer... Oh well. A decent entry in the series, but only for those who have been following them. 3.35 stars.

286. Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe


Well, thankfully this was better than Man at the Helm (see above), but it still didn't measure up to Stibbe's collection of letters. She's just trying too hard, I think. It's moderately amusing -- the tale of working at a truly oddball old age home, again/still in the 1970s. What she never really explains is why she boycotts school. That left me completely confused -- she could have combined the two? What was the problem with school? Adolescent rebellion left her working at an old age home? Okaaay. Parts were intended to be amusing but just sounded sad instead. 3.25 stars.

287. Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz


Finally got around to reading this, after really really wanting to for a long time -- I got stuck on the introductory chapter for some reason. Happily, things get moving again, and there is a truly wonderful twist near the end that will make you gasp in astonishment. It's not really a Sherlock Holmes story, though, so beware. It's a post-Reichenbach Falls narrative. 4.2 stars.

288. Siracusa by Delia Ephron


This was dark and intriguing. Two couples, and the daughter of one of the couples, set off on what should be an idyllic vacation. Except that the undercurrents (revealed because the narrative is told in a series of first person segments) tell us it will be anything but. The mother is obsessed with her child; one of the husbands is caught up in an affair; there are secrets and tensions galore as they set off for Siracusa from Rome. Then comes a terrifying denouement, that i don't want to tell you too much about... It's not perfect, but it's chilling/good. How well do you/can you know someone, and what do you do when the veil parts and you have to accept the reality of who they really are? 4.2 stars.

289. The House of Dolls by David Hewson


I've read some of Hewson's other mysteries, set in Venice (and particularly relished one historical book), so thought a new series would be a good place to try to read more of him. I'm reserving judgment for now. This was gritty and interesting, but I occasionally got fed up with an overly complex plot involving organized crime and disappearing women. I'll definitely read the second in the series, however (esp. since I already have it in my teetering TBR towers...) 3.7 stars.

290. A Terrible Beauty by Tasha Alexander


The next in this series of historical mysteries, in which Lady Emily starts off by thinking she's going mad: could she really have seen her late first husband in a crowd? Hint to author: if you're going to do doppelganger mysteries, make sure you do a great job, because a handful have done so -- and the vast majority blow it. This was merely OK, although the backdrop of missing antiquities was moderately interesting. 3.4 stars. Not up to par.

291. Crossing on the Paris by Dana Gynther


Have had this lurking on my Kindle for a long time; can't even remember who urged me to read it. It was only OK; very formulaic. Three very different women traveling to the US from France in the early 1920s, their paths cross, their lives are affected, blah blah blah. 3.25 stars. Unconvincing, but not dreadful.

292. In the City of Gold and Silver by Kenize Mourad


There have been plenty of stories written about the Indian Mutiny and the tragedy of the women and children slaughtered by the rebellious sepoys. Here's one from the perspective of an Indian woman, Hazrat Mahal, the Begum of Oudh, who was living in Lucknow when the rebellion erupted. One of the wives of the Raja, who had been carted off to Calcutta and essentially deprived of all his powers, she stepped up to the plate and tried to preserve the glories of the city of the title and one in which Hindu and Muslim coexisted; threatening the East India Company as they threaten Indian traditions and leave the country's people fewer options. Mourad does a great job of showing how those who led the rebellion felt as if the walls were closing in on them in the months leading up to the revolt, and makes Hazrat Mahal herself a vivid personality. Great to read a historical novel about someone who isn't a traditional heroine. 4 stars.

293. Caged Eyes: An Air Force Cadet's Story of Rape and Resilience by Lynn Hall


An Early Reviewer book; tough to read. As you can judge from the headline, it's the story of an air force cadet who struggled to deal with sexual assault. It's fairly straightforward. My only issue with it is that her resilience/recovery isn't really spelled out in any detail. It's as if she simply decided to cope with it. The story is a damning one when it comes to the Air Force Academy, however. 3.5 stars.

294. Demelza by Winston Graham

306. Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham

312. Warleggan by Winston Graham

321. The Black Moon by Winston Graham

340. The Four Swans by Winston Graham


After owning the first set of Poldark videos (VHS and DVD) and watching them annually, and now watching the NEW series on PBS and purchasing the DVDs, it's fair to say I've been addicted to Poldark for decades. But other than the last two books in the series, I've never read the original books -- because I wanted to watch the details of Cornwall on television! So, I decided that it's finally time to remedy that and I'm very glad that I did. Read the first a bit earlier, and have been alternating reading and listening to the audiobooks since then. I'm now up to book #6, and when I finish book #7, will have reached the end of the first series -- a breaking point in the series. After that, there's a lapse of about a decade in the chronicle. I won't spoil the pleasure of discovering these for you, other than to say that the writing -- although popular fiction -- is remarkably rich and detailed, the descriptions vivid and the history equally compelling and accurate. It's Cornwall in the late 18th century, from the end of the American Revolution, when Ross Poldark returns from the wars unexpectedly alive, to find that his father's death has left his home in chaos and that the woman he loves is about to marry his cousin, Francis. What unfolds from there is a complex narrative of love and treachery, tin and copper mining, banking, finance and smuggling; murder and adultery; balls and shipwrecks; the spread of Methodism and unhappy impoverished workers demanding a fair deal. Underpinning it all is the network of Ross's family, friends, workers and other contacts. A true saga, and it casts many books being written today into the shadows. 4.3 stars for all of 'em.

295. The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch


This is the first time in this series that I've read one of the books and not listened to the wonderful narration by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. I still prefer the audiobook, alas... It was fun, if not a standout. The death of a young teenager gives Peter a lead on the Faceless Man, thanks to some supernatural stuff that I'm afraid I didn't really follow. So he has to winnow down the candidates... It's the side stuff and the witty writing that is the best thing about this book -- the characterization, details, etc., rather than the increasingly elaborate and over complicated plot. 3.9 stars.

296. Thursday's Children by Nicci French

297. Friday On My Mind by Nicci French

298. Saturday Requiem by Nicci French


I got caught up reading this series of suspense thrillers, though if you want to try them out, you'll need to start on Blue Monday in order for them to make sense, as there is a strong theme with recurrent characters, including a rather evil character with a fascination for Frieda Klein, the psychotherapist at the heart of the books. He's quite happy to murder others (so far, at least) if it means protecting Frieda and bringing him closer to her, and that's a theme that surfaces, to greater or lesser degrees, throughout these books. The "Thursday" book sees Frieda have to revisit her own past, and a violent incident, in order to try and bring justice to a young girl today, the daughter of a school friend. It and "Friday" were my favorites, I think -- both 4.3 stars. In "Friday", police find the body of a man floating in the Thames -- with a hospital bracelet labeling him as F. Klein. When she can't escape suspicion, Frieda has to go on the run. "Saturday", to which I give 3.9 stars, involves Frieda probing a historical case, and it's less suspenseful -- until it's clear that the "Sunday" book, whenever it's published, will bring her face to face with her "helpful" stalker and nemesis... I'd recommend this series.

299. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer


Finally, after much procrastination (why oh why??), I got around to reading this story and was glad I had left myself such a treat to savor. It really is a fabulous story -- not only of the men who saved the wondrous collection of centuries old Islamic scrolls in Mali from the ISIS/al-Qaeda offshoot that blew into town a year or two ago, but the story of Timbuktu itself, and how it became a center of scholarship within Africa, a hub of Sufi learning from whence books and learning radiated out everywhere, even to Cairo, which only much later would take on the role of pre-eminent center of learning for the Muslim world. Then the story of how the city's families saved the manuscripts from Islamic fundamentalists over the centuries by squirreling the way, and all the hard work it took to extract them from their keepers -- and the preservation work. A must-read for anyone interested in books about books, the history of the humanities and knowledge, etc. 4.7 stars. Will probably make my top nonfiction books list for 2016.

300. Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi


I can admit that this is beautifully written and carefully imagined -- the story of a very young girl whose father has just vanished, a teenage girl growing to maturity and then a mature young woman, told in episodes, each during a summer in Cairo. But it's one of those novels that while it captures a spirit of place and is intriguing and elegant, never really captured me as a reader. If I were evaluating it in the abstract, I'd give it about 4.5 stars, but as an involving, engrossing experience, it's much lower. So, 3.65 stars overall? Try it, though; you may find something there that works for you. There certainly are literary patterns that should resonate, etc.

>97 Chatterbox: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu has been on my watch list for a bit. Looks like I need to pick it up sooner rather than later.

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Suz

>97 Chatterbox: I've wondered about Paradise Lodge. The cover appeals to me.

301. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem


This was a biographically-focused anthology of essays, varying in appeal. I loved Steinem's essays on topics that weren't biographical, but when she is writing about herself, her energy seems to flag, and she seems to end up sounding overly polemic and as if the point of it all is to remind people of stuff that anyone who is going to read this book in the first place already knows already. So, worthwhile, but it felt overly worthy. I'd almost rather have read someone else's take on Steinem than this. 4 stars, just for the details, but...

302. Caught in the Revolution by Helen Rappaport


While in the past I haven't been a big fan of this author's work, I really relished this book, which captured the experiences of a vast array of foreign citizens and residents in St. Petersburg during 1917, in the weeks leading up to the first revolution, through that dismantling of the Tsarist regime, and then the unsettled spring and summer months as Kerensky struggled to continue the war and retain control, to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October/November. From nurses to journalists, diplomats to wives of Russian citizens, including the African-American valet/major-domo of the American ambassador whose character leaps off the page most vividly, these personalities recount what it was like trying to decode what was happening, to stay one step ahead of the violence and chaos, to stay fed and informed, and to try to get out of the country when they realized that there was no point in remaining any longer. An excellent interweaving of a number of first-person chronicles. 4.7 stars; will be on my top of 2016 list.

303. Fatal Pursuit by Martin Walker


I am now caught up on the Bruno, chief of police mystery series! In this book, which revolves around glamorous cars, auto racing, and lots of hidden secrets (as well as the usual endless descriptions of Bruno cooking for his friends and lovers), Bruno gets caught up in the pursuit of some international criminals, and some land disputes. I keep getting distracted by the fact that his character is clearly a kind of wish fulfillment for the author, and it's getting boring. Also, there's a lack of development in the whole narrative. Same kinds of plots, same kinds of situations. 3.75 stars.

304. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella


Not terribly memorable or convincing, but amusing. Kinsella's heroine sets out to leave her Dorset/Devon? farm life behind and make it big in the city, in the world of design and marketing. Of course, she has an evil boss. Or does she? When she is laid off/fired by said boss, just as she has met a gorgeous man, it seems so. She returns to the farm, and of course (this being wish-fulfillment novel) helps transform into a successful "glamping" (glamorous camping) destination. And guess who shows up as one of the campers... And is she as evil as the heroine thinks, or is there a conspiracy against her? Well... 3.9 stars.

(For 305 & 306, see previous entries, above -- Sebald & Winston Graham)

307. Tenth of December by George Saunders


I read this for one of my Providence Athenaeum book groups; it was a big book two or three years ago, but I think it was more interesting to read now, given the themes that Saunders explores of the have-nots of the community, and the myriad ways we exploit others. That reaches its extreme in one unsettling story in which young girls from other countries hire themselves out as modern versions of lawn decorations, strung up on strings and set to float in the air. Several of these stories are unsettling; those that don't appear to be on the surface often are, underneath. Recommended, although some of the stories I didn't relish and others were disconcerting. (I just got an ARC of Saunders' first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, and will be reading that early in the new year.) 4.2 stars.

308. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue


The end of this novel may have struck me as a bit of a cop out, but there's nothing weak about the rest of it. A young English nurse, a widow who had worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, is summoned to Ireland to provide proof of or disprove a "miracle": a young girl who has been surviving without eating or drinking for months -- the manna of heaven. Working in tandem with a near-silent nun, in shifts, she will observe young Anna O'Donnell and try to catch out the child and her family. But as she watches and comes to understand the religious community of which the O'Donnells are a part, she makes a series of unsettling discoveries about the child, her health and her past, that nobody wants to hear... 4.65 stars; a possible candidate for my top books of the year.

309. Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole


Divided into three parts, "reading things", "seeing things" and "being there", the essays in this collection become increasingly successful. I found it odd that those devoted to writing and writers -- while solid and interesting -- were less engrossing than those about photography and far less so than those about topics that clearly fascinated him and about which is passionate, culminating in the biting fury that underlies his prose in "The White Savior Industrial Complex", which should be required reading. Although these are uneven in quality of execution, and some are unfledged ideas, the caliber of what is there is so strong that it will end up on my best of 2016 list. 4.6 stars.

310. Wenjack by Joseph Boyden


After reading this slim little book, I've concluded that I prefer Boyden's longer works of fiction (which I think are utterly brilliant) to his short stories/novellas. Don't misunderstand: this is excellent and combines a true story of a young boy escaping a residential school with Ojibwe spirits and images in a wonderful way. It just never succeeds in pulling me into the tale completely in the way that Boyden's novels inevitably do. So... 4 stars.

311. A Midsummer's Equation by Keigo Higashino


I noticed that there seems to be a movie version of this book (in Japanese) and I'm hoping to dig up a subtitled version, as I really enjoyed this "Inspector Galileo" mystery best of the three that I've read and I would love to see a movie of it. It's set at a Japanese seaside resort, and a traditional inn, where the past comes back to haunt its owners and their family. Their nephew, and the visiting Galileo, a physics professor and amateur sleuth, end up providing crucial clues in solving past and present murders. 4.35 stars. Def. recommended!

312. The Death of Kings by Rennie Airth


Another winner from this excellent and underrated/overlooked mystery author. John Madden has left the business of solving crime to be a farmer, but when a clue to a long solved crime for which a man hanged threatens to suggest that there was a miscarriage of justice, he is brought back to try to resolve the matter discreetly. This is a nicely complex tale, but without the level of suspense and tension that other books have had (plus I figured out whodunnit about two-thirds of the way through), so I'm keeping my rating to 4.1 stars. Highly recommend the earlier books in this series, and this is a very adequate sequel, though, for fans.

(for 313, see above)

314. The 15:17 to Paris by Jeffrey Stern


Another one of those books that really should just have been a long magazine article, though its subjects are laudable enough: the three young men who halted/prevented a terrorist attack on a TGV train from Amsterdam to Paris. How they ended up there, in the right place at the right time, and their lives to that point, makes up the bulk of the story, along with the life of the terrorist himself (who gets less emphasis.) It just all feels padded, though, because guys in their early 20s are half-formed, and a single heroic action, however massive, doesn't usually lend itself to them being the focus of a book, unless there's a broader context. Which this book doesn't have. 3.3 stars. (The ARC was sent to me by the publishers; I have a spare copy of the finished copy as well, should anyone want it -- just send me a PM...)

315. Books for Living by Will Schwalbe


I think that I preferred this, slightly, to Schwalbe's previous book, which revolved around reading short books together with his dying mother. As the title suggests, he's singling out books that seem to convey messages that he views as essential to how to live. The result is eccentric, and one recurs over and over -- The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang. Other than that, he skips from Stuart Little to The Odyssey, to The Girl on the Train to Gifts from the Sea, all of which convey important life lessons. It's more pop psychology, loosely linked to the books, than a book about books, really. 3.75 stars.

I also read The Wonder this month, and Jane Steele which I saw you also loved earlier in the year.

Weird touchstones produced The Wonderful Wizard of Oz then for the Donoguhe.

316. The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall


Shortlisted for Canada's Giller Prize, but while it's interesting, I didn't love this tale of what accusations of sexual harassment of a much-loved teacher does to his family and a community -- the disruption and havoc it wreaks. It's extremely well written and evocative, but I also found it tremendously predictable. Where was the element that makes you sit up in your chair and go, "wow!"? 4 stars.

317. The Blood Card by Elly Griffiths


The third Stephens and Mephisto mystery, set in the 1950s -- and as the queen's coronation approaches, there's a threat to disrupt it all -- or is there? Magicians' sleight of hand comes to the fore once more and Stephens and Max race to figure out the nature of the actual plot and foil it on coronation day. Good fun and very atmospheric. 4.15 stars.

318. Where the Jews Aren't: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan by Masha Gessen


After a mediocre book about the Tsarnayev brothers (the Boston Marathon bombers), Gessen does much better with this book, a fascinating glimpse at an obscure piece of Soviet and Jewish history: the attempt to create a Jewish homeland in the far east of the Soviet Union. Gessen doesn't go quite far enough in addressing the complex history of Jews in the Soviet Union and fitting this into the broader picture, and tends to focus too much on one or two individuals whose lives were tangled up in the Birobidzhan story, but it's still fascinating. 4 stars.

319. Solitaire by Jane Thynne


I really, really enjoy this series. Yes, Clara Vine is still in Germany and still trapped dealing with evil people, but somehow the author manages to make the intrigue and each mystery in each successive novel feel fresh and vivid. I can't resist these stories of a half-English/half-German movie actress now trapped in Berlin during the war's early days, who has been spying undercover for the British, fearing every day that she'll be uncovered. You shouldn't either. This book takes her to Lisbon -- and an encounter with the Windsors. 4.4 stars.

220. The Prisoner by Alex Berenson


Another John Wells mystery story, and once again, the US is in peril and Wells must abandon those he loves and sacrifice himself... (Time for Berenson to do something different, maybe??) This time, he has to go undercover and allow himself to be captured and imprisoned in a "black site" in order to force out of another prisoner clues to the identity of a mole in the CIA. Predictable but entertaining. Also forgettable. See my point earlier about the author needing to try something different. 3.75 stars.

321. Sleeper's Castle by Barbara Erskine


Oh dear. I had hoped for more from this book, since Erskine was returning to the setting (more or less) of her very good debut, Lady of Hay. And the historical part of this, set at the time of the Glendower rebellion, was interesting. But the modern/supernatural part was just dull and predictable. Of course I knew that the heroine's rival would seek her out and more or less what would happen after that, which blunted any sense of suspense. Yawn. 3.4 stars.

322. by Winston Graham -- recorded previously

323. The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George


A revisionist history of Nero?? Oh, what fun! And indeed it is... This is one of those sprawling historical epics in which you can completely immerse yourself, knowing that the author has done her homework, and has the ability to spin a tale and catch you up in its strands. If you have read I, Claudius, be prepared for something completely different -- and less literary, but very intriguing. And still based on what histories survive. 4.3 stars.

324. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton


What was the reason I procrastinated about reading this book? The universal acclaim for it? The hint that there was magic in the plot? (It's only a hint -- magic doesn't play a real role -- it's all about real human beings and their real foibles...) It's absolutely fascinating, about Amsterdam and the staid society governed by the Dutch East India company burghers and their wives. A young girl from the countryside arrives, married off to a much older and wealthy member of their company, and finds herself in odd and unusual circumstances... Read it, if you are interested in historical novels. It's not a literary novel, a la Hilary Mantel, but is beautifully told and atmospheric. 4.5 stars.

325. The Language of the Dead by Stephen Kelly

336. The Wages of Desire by Stephen Kelly


I thought I would try this series when, in short order, I got the first book via a Kindle sale and found the second at the Providence Athenaeum's library. The first book eventually took off and was an adequate read, although I was halfway through it before I ended up caring about either plot or characters. The second? It sprawled all over the place and I was constantly annoyed and irritated by it. It took me five days to read/finish it. Argh. 3 stars for the former; 2.2 for the latter and I won't be bothering with any more.

I wish you a healthier, happier, and calmer year in 2017, Suzanne, not to mention a more prosperous one.

Also on this last day of the year, I award you the title of

Most Dangerous Thread on LT.

You're killing me with BB's.

Happy New Year and so many BBs for me. Will you be returning to TIOLI?

>104 Matke: Love that award!! Chortle, chortle -- thanks!

>105 avatiakh: No current plans to return to TIOLI... Maybe later.

Ok, the TIOLI is still going strong though not reaching the heights it once did.
Fyi, I've set up a year long ANZAC reading challenge that runs like a TIOLI sweep or bingo card - http://www.librarything.com/topic/244630

>107 avatiakh: what fun! I may not participate completely, as I'm going to try to avoid challenges as such, but I'll certainly look for book bullets in there! A reminder to look for more ANZAC novelists, generally. I want to read some more by Thomas Keneally in the new year, in particular.

>108 Chatterbox: There's not enough of us to make it worth having a monthly thread or anything, and we all seem to have embraced this new style of challenge rather than focus on particular writers.

326. A House of Knives by William Shaw


It's the late 1960s, and Cathal, aka "Paddy" to his police colleagues in London, has just buried his father. His sole friend, a woman police constable (a rarity) is about to leave the force and return to her family's farm, and now he has a complicated, politically-charged case: the dead body of a politician's son that is burned up when the house in which it is found explodes in a gas leak. The pressure is on to bring in a verdict of accidental death, but Breen knows it's a lot more complicated than that -- and that there's corruption to be fought if he's to get the true story. The second book in an excellent trilogy (thus far). 4.3 stars.

327. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene


Read for my NYC book circle, completing a de facto cycle of espionage books (The Man Who Was Thursday and Conrad's The Secret Agent were the other two; we are moving on to Samuel Butler next...) Wow, was this ever fun -- one of Greene's "entertainments", but still raising questions about morality, etc. Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman under pressure to deliver the good things of life to his teenage daughter (being convent educated) and to keep her from the hands of the evil, torturing colonel, agrees to deliver intelligence to the British -- and ends up inventing agents. Then his fake agents start coming to life -- and turning up dead. Can he contain the damage? A work of genius, nearly, and tremendously entertaining. 4.7 stars. Will be a best of the year.

328. The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck


Oh dear. A good idea -- women whose husbands resisted Hitler, and what happened to them, during and postwar. But the episodic novel jumps around in time, and in narrative point of view, and I'm still not sure what the point of it all was except to tell me that these women existed and were strong, etc. OK. And? A "big twist" wasn't a twist at all, as it was telegraphed very heavy-handedly in advance, and there were some glaring errors: a latter-day character is cared for in 1991 by a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, which didn't happen until 1994, and a male character allegedly spent a year in Ravensbruck -- a women's concentration camp. A very irritating book, in part because it could have been handled well. Instead it's just tedious. 2.75 stars.

329. Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times by Andrew Kaufman


Another of those books (like Schwalbe's) in which the author goes mining through literature in search of material to guide us through life. In this case, however, Kaufman sticks to a single author and single great work -- War and Peace. And he knows his stuff and delves into it in great detail. It can get a bit exhausting, but it's still entertaining, and for anyone who doesn't intend to read the great opus (but who has seen a movie or whatever and thus can follow the gist of it), it's worth a try. Obviously, you'll get more out of his arguments if you've read Tolstoy. 3.5 stars.

330. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See


Easily the best novel by Lisa See that I've read in years. Sure, it's still popular fiction, but until the very improbable, Hollywood-esque final pages, it's fascinating and intriguing. Set in the tea country of Yunnan province, among the Akha tribal people, and focusing on the years when they finally and with difficulty became part of China and became swept up by the idea that "to get rich is glorious", and what that meant for old traditions. Entertaining, if you have liked other novels by the author. 4.25 stars.

331. The Objects of Her Affection by Sonya Cobb


Extremely annoying; I wanted to shake all the main characters, even one of the small children. Stupid woman yearns for fancy house and signs her family up for one of THOSE mortgage products; afraid to confess, she succumbs to temptation to steal unguarded and uncatalogued artifacts from her husband's museum. Passive husband just dithers and doesn't take any responsibility for anything in the house, being obsessed with chasing antique ceramics around the world. Everybody gets off too lightly. Sorry for the spoiler, but I'm saving you time and pain. I'm usually interested in art world novels, but this just irritated me deeply. 2.5 stars.

332. A Murder at Rosamund's Gate by Susanna Calkins


I finally got around to reading this, and am glad I did, in spite of a very slow start. It's the debut of what has since become a series of novels featuring Lucy Campion, in this novel a lady's maid to the wife of a Restoration-era man of law. The backdrop is the weeks leading up to the Plague and the Great Fire of London, and the plot revolves around the murders of a series of young women, including Lucy's fellow maidservant, Bessie. Solid, if not spectacular, and I'll read more. 3.85 stars.

333. Our Wound is Not So Recent by Alain Badiou


This comes from Polity, so you'll know going in that there is a political tilt to it. That said, the arguments that Badiou throws out are worth adding to the discussion about the whys and wherefores of global terrorism, especially in the way it has affected France. His argument centers on global capital and the hollowing out of the state as it once existed -- and the replacement of that national entity by the interests of global capital. He then applies that argument to the minority populations living in France (to my mind the most compelling part of his argument) -- brought to France to fulfill the interests of global capital and then abandoned, left to the mercies of the right wing nativists. It's an incomplete analysis, but brings to the fore many important elements and arguments. 4.1 stars. (Warning: a polemical piece, so don't expect a thorough critique.)

334. Babel by Barry Maitland


The next in the Brock & Kolla mysteries, which I started reading with the preceding book, Silvermeadow. I stalled on this late last year, I think, but finally got going, and it rewarded me with an intricate and compelling mystery. When a professor is murdered on the steps leading up the college auditorium where he is about to give a lecture, the question is "why"? His work hasn't been all that provocative. Until, that is, hints start pointing in the direction of London's Muslim community. Then another man dies, and Brock finds himself in hot water. Meanwhile, Kolla has to decide whether she wants to return to work after her misadventures at the Silvermeadow shopping center. 4.2 stars.

335. The Sisters of Versailles by Sally Christie


Hmm, not sure what to say about this. Each of the five de Mailly-Nesle sisters, most of whom were prominent at the court of Louis XV at one point or another in his reign, gets their say in this novel, but none of them really come vividly to life. Of course, the fact that Louis basically went through at least three of the sisters as his mistresses (in succession, more or less) must be irresistible to a novelist, but this felt like a connect the dots kind of novel, rather than one whose author had a compelling vision of a theme or argument beyond that scandalous fact. It's simply adding dialog to those historical facts. *shrug* Which is fine, but I outgrew that kind of historical novel in my early 20s. 3.3 stars. This is part of a series of three books; I've got a Netgalley copy of the third, but if I read it, it will be because I'm bored or hit a period when I just have a low concentration threshold.

336. Stephen Kelly mystery recorded above.

337. Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You In Your Life by Yiyun Li


It's hard to write about depression and being suicidal, but Yiyun Li somehow has managed to do so by framing this in the context of her writing, and her reading, and her broader life. It's hard to describe, but an understanding of just what her state of mind is creeps up on the reader -- you don't have to be bludgeoned over the head by it. The picture that emerges is one of a deeply talented writer beset by others' expectations and struggling to channel her own creativity while battling demons tied to her own past and self image. But it's a deeply literary work, as well, and definitely worth your time. And a reminder for me to seek out more of Li's novels; I loved The Vagrants. 4.5 stars.

338. The Devil's Feast by M.J. Carter


Oh, I'm enjoying this series SO much. The third mystery featuring Jeremiah Blake and Captain William Avery revolves around a gentleman's club in London, and more particularly, its kitchens. And especially, around the triumphs of a super-chef of the 1840s, Alexis Soyer, and his astonishing creations (many described here...) But people are dying after they eat at the Reform Club, and with Lord Palmerston about to host Ismail Pasha of Egypt, that can't be tolerated. So Avery is prevailed on to do his best -- possibly without Blake, who is stuck in the Marshalsea because he's been framed for debt by a politically powerful personage he has offended. It all seems doomed -- the arsenic and strychnine claim more victims, an old friend is framed... Great, fascinating, suspenseful, atmospheric, and historically impeccable. In other words, brilliant. 5 stars.

339. The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela


This was absolutely fascinating, blending the story of a modern day half-Sudanese, half-Russian lecturer teaching at a Scottish university and struggling with her identity, and that of a collection of characters in Dagestan and Chechnya more than a century and a half ago, also trying to grapple with a sense of who they are in alien environments. Natasha visits one of her students and his mother, where she sees a sword that they tell her once belonged to Imam Shamil, the man who led the resistance to Russian rule in the Caucasus for decades in the 19th century. The reader follows Natasha's story, as Oz, her student, is arrested under suspicion of being involved in various terrorist activities, and Natasha herself is dragged into the mess, her office and laptop searched, given her research focus on anti-Russian jihad (albeit of previous eras) even as she learns her Sudanese father is dying. Where does she really belong? The chapters about Natasha's struggle's alternate with those recounting the lives of Shamil himself, his eldest son, Jamaleldin, taken from him as a hostage and essentially kidnapped as a young child to be raised as a protegé of the tsar at the Russian court, and Princess Anna, a Georgian noblewoman and granddaughter of the last Georgian king, whom Shamil kidnaps in his turn to force the tsar to return Jamaleldin. Anna, held captive in the mountains, ends up reluctantly finding something to admire in Shamil, not being wholeheartedly Russian herself. Fascinating, intricate and it raises provocative questions about the nature of where our loyalties really lie -- to countries? religions? or individuals? Thoughtful and impressive. 4.85 stars. A top pick of 2016.

340. The Prank of the Good Little Virgin of the Via Ormea by Amara Lakhous


Enzo the newspaper reporter must deal with the fallout from an attack on a gypsy camp when the faux virgin of the title claims (incorrectly) that two young gypsy twins raped her. Trying to report the story accurately, he runs afoul of the proprietor's racism, and eventually has to figure out underhand ways to fight back. Enzo's tale is intertwined with that of a mysterious woman who is seeking her own, very different kind of revenge, and has taken up life among the gypsies to pursue it. Good, but not the author's best. 4 stars.

341. Winston Graham -- recorded previously

342. Outpatients: The Astonishing New World of Medical Tourism by Sasha Issenberg


An intriguing picture of the arbitrage underway in the healthcare arena -- and what is happening when people talk about Canadians (for instance) traveling to seek healthcare elsewhere. Of course, not very many actually do so -- but if you want dentistry or you're not insured here, you might want to think about traveling to places like India or Thailand or even Lithuania. Issenberg focuses on a few areas to make his point: the rise of dental clinics in Hungary, medical facilities in Israel, ob-gyn clinics in Bulgaria, etc. He also addresses the question of whether these "medical tourism" operations help underwrite the cost of providing care for local citizens or displace them altogether by creating a sector that is skewed in favor of what the foreigners need and that underserve the local population. (In Hungary, offering cardiac treatment to paying patients from Serbia, etc. has been one way to keep a top cardiac clinic open and functioning in a budget-constrained environment.) Fascinating, if short, and accessible introduction to the topic for a general reader. 4 stars.

343. The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell


This sounded promising -- a literary puzzle, involving a young woman at Oxford whose father, a descendant of the Brontë clan, leaves her a string of clues to follow to direct her to some kind of treasure. But it's just too messy and cluttered. The author gets bogged down and can't seem to figure out whether she's writing some kind of novel about troubled young people coming of age; a literary puzzle book; a tome about college life and the importance of education (like parts of Possession by A.S. Byatt) or what -- it just roams and rambles. Ultimately the author wants us to believe that the author and her tutor feel a spark, but that just made me laugh. I found the character annoying and silly, although clearly the author herself knows a heck of a lot about what she is writing. It just never clicked for me. It's all there, but it's in pieces. 3.3 stars.

344. The Bull of Mithros by Anne Zouroudi


The sixth in a series of seven mysteries featuring Hermes Diaktoros, aka Hermes the Messenger, aka the fat man, who appears mysteriously in various parts of Greece just in time to solve puzzles and crimes and bring justice to both evildoers and those who deserve good things. Of course, it's clear to the reader that Hermes is really the son of Zeus in a modern incarnation, tooling around the islands on his swanky yacht, with connections everywhere. His old-fashioned brand of cigarettes always mysteriously seem to become available when he asks, etc... Anyway, these books are a bit precious if you consume too many too fast as I had done, but having taken a break from Hermes, I was glad to get back to him and this mystery involving a man thrown overboard and left abandoned on the island of Mithros, only to be later murdered there by an islander. But who, and why? And what other puzzles can the fat man solve? A lot, as it turns out. 3.7 stars.

345. A Tour of Bones by Denise Inge


I can't help mentioning that after I finished reading this book (which I read for my Providence book group) and sought out the image for this thread, I discovered that the author died only just after completing it and before its publication. She discovered while writing it, as she noted, that she was diagnosed with cancer -- although that's not its subject. Bones are -- and mortality. The wife of the bishop of Worcester in England, American-born Inge was discomfited to realize that their new home came complete with a charnel house in the sub-basement, full of old bones. To come to terms with that, she decided to embark on a tour of other charnel houses, aka ossuaries, or places where bones are stored -- and this is the account of four very different places in central Europe (including the Alpine regions of Switzerland and Austria) and the very different questions and responses they aroused in her. Ultimately, it's about mortality, and about living. It will be interesting to discuss this next week... 4.15 stars. Poignant realization....

346. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann


Just a brilliant collection, with top honors going to the title novella, which is utterly brilliant, both a rumination on aging and its indignities, and a clear-eyed analysis by an aging man of a son's defects, in that elderly man's final day of life. But what brought about his death? The reminiscences/stream of consciousness thoughts are interspersed with a harsher/more matter of fact analysis, as an investigation gets underway into the man's death. The conclusion is utterly perfect. That and the final story, about a nun's recognition of the face of the man who tortured her on the TV news as being involved in a peace process negotiation in London, and her journey to confront him, are both perfection, and the other two aren't bad either. For bonus points, listen to the narration by McCann himself on the audiobook. Genius. 5 stars.

347. Rise the Dark by Michael Koryta


My final book of the year; picked it up as an ARC at BookExpo because it was the sequel to one I had quite enjoyed that had ended with a bit of a dangling suspenseful conclusion. That said, it had too many improbable coincidences for me to thoroughly enjoy. Private investigator Markus Novak goes in search of the guy who murdered his wife, to take revenge, but finds his quest leads him into his own family's background, as well as into a weird cult that has a thing about electricity and doomsday-like scenarios. It's decently suspenseful, though, so, 3.65 stars.

And that is it for 2016....

Suzanne - this might interest you - Border : A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova (Feb, 2017)
Scottish Review of Books: https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2015/11/srb-diary-europe-s-last-border/

Congrats on a great year of reading. I've picked up some bbs here (or ten) in the latest batch.

The Yiyun Li I just found a bit tiresome by the end, although I appreciate what you say about the atmosphere of the book. I'm glad it worked for you - I will also be looking for her novels.

>112 avatiakh: Yes, indeed!! Thanks for flagging it...

OK, folks, I have moved my headquarters to my 2017 thread...

Glad that you ended the year with some really excellent books as well as the silly ones. I have A Kindness of Enemies and a couple of her earlier books TBR, after reading Lyrics Alley.