Streamsong #3 Summer's End, Golden Fall

Oh Look - Tom Gauld has been to my house!

Hi - I'm Janet.

I've been a member of LT since 2006.

I retired in the fall of 2016 from my career as a technician in an NIAID research lab. (Yes, that made Dr Anthony Fauci my ultimate boss .... way up the chain.)

I'm now enjoying all the things I never had time to do.

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

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



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

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

I have Appaloosa horses and usually raise a foal or two each year. One foal this year - updated photos soon.

BOOKS READ 2023

✅ = Outstanding Book! ❤️ = Favorite

FOURTH QUARTER

October
99. Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate - 2017 - library
98. Family Lore - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2023 - library
97. Old Babes in the Wood: Stories - Margaret Atwood - 2023 - library

September
✅96. Apples Are From Kazakhstan- Christopher Robbins - 2008 - Book Girls' World Tour/Central Asia/ Global Reading - Kazakhstan - library
95. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury - 1962 - Library Brown Bag Bookclub - Reread - library
94. The Tenant - Katrine Engberg - 2016 - Global Reading: Denmark - library
✅93. Birnam Wood - Eleanor Catton - 2023 - library - Global Reading: New Zealand - library
92. Stone Maidens - Lloyd Devereux Richards - 2012 - Kindle
91. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty - 2023 - library
90. Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam - 2020 - library
*89. Of Water and the Spirit - Malidoma Patrice Some - 1994 - African Francophone Challenge & Global Challenge - Burkina Faso - ROOT #1 for month/ #20 for year acq'd 2007
*88. The Midnight News - Jo Baker - 2023 - library

THIRD QUARTER

August *reviewed
*87. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng - 2019 - acq'd 2023
*❤️86. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal - Paul Fleischman - ill Julie Paschiki - 2007 - library
*❤️85. My Dear Cassandra - Jane Austen - 1990 - ROOT #3 for month - #19 for year - acq'd 2013
*84. Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger - 2009 - library - Cork O'Connor #1
*✅83. How to Stand Up to a Dictator - Maria Ressa 2022 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
*82. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Jon Kabat-Zinn - 1994 - ROOT acq'd 2006 - ROOT#2 for August/#18 for year
*81. Harry's Trees - Jon Cohen - 2019 - library
*✅80. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus - 2022 - NC Book Club - purch 2023
*79. The Conference of the Birds - Peter Sis - 2011 - Global Reading: Czech author, Turkish poem - illustrated book - library
✅*78. I Have Some Questions for You - Rebecca Makkai - 2023 - library
*77. Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" - Zora Neale Hurston - 2018 - audiobook - library
*76. First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung - 2006 - Book Girls' Book Voyage: Northern Asia/ Global Reading: Cambodia - ROOT acq'd 2016; Root #1 for August/#17 for year

July *reviewed

*75. Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6) Dorothy L. Sayers - 1930 - Kindle - ROOT#3 for month/#16 for year acq'd 2020
*74. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - 1958 - Reread - Paul's African Challenge - Global Reading: Nigeria - library
*❤️73. Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump - Sarah Posner - 2021-; ROOT #2 for month, #15 for year - acq'd 2022
✅*72. Old God's Time - John Barry - 2023 - library
❤️*71. If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk - John Pavlovitz - 2021 - purch 2023
*70. Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story - Jacob Tobia - 2020 - library
*69. Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt - 2022 - Reread with audio - Newcomer's Book Club
*68. A Sharp Solitude - Christine Carbo - 2018 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - ROOT #1 for month/ #14 for year - acqd 2022
❤️*67. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell - 2007 - library
*66. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - Brady Udall - 2012 - library
*65. Down From the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear - Bryce Andrews - 2020 - audiobook - library
*64. The Light Pirate - Lily Brooks-Dalton - 2022 - library

SECOND QUARTER

June

53. Vignettes of Montana's Bitterroot Valley - L. Allen Strate - 2020 - library
❤️ 54. Trespasses - Louise Kennedy - 2022 - Global Reading: Northern Ireland/UK - library
✅55. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands - Kate Beaton - 2022 - Global Reading: Canada - library
56. Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History - Lea Ypi - 2021 - Global Reading: Albania - library (3.8)
57. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith - 2014 - library (3.7)
58. The Unlikely Spy - Daniel Silva - 1996 - Newcomers' Book Club - library (3.7)
59. The Bandit Queens - Parini Shroff - 2023 - Fic: US/India author/ set in India/library
60. The Only Woman in the Room - Marie Benedict - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - Global Reading: Austria - partial location - US author - library
61. The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera - 2005 - Book Girls World Voyage: New Zealand - library
63. Old Timers Tales of Oregon - John Taylor - 2004 - ROOT #1 for month/#13 for year - acq'd 2008

May

45. The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehisi-Coates - 2020 - Root #1 for month/ #11 for year - acquired 2021 (loaned to me)
46. Jade Dragon Mountain - Elsa Hart - 2015 - Global Reading: China - library
47. Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul - Jack Canfield et all - 1997 - acq'd 2023
✅48. Last Stand" George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo - Michael Punke - 2007 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - library
49. Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult - 2012 - audiobook - acqd 2023
✅50. A Girl is a Body of Water - Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi 2021 - Global Reading: Uganda - library
51. The Good Life Elsewhere - Vladimir Lorchenkov - 2008 - Global Reading: Moldova - Book Girls World Tour - acq'd 2023
52. Dust Tracks On a Road - Zora Neale Hurston - 1942 - ROOT #2 for month/#12 for year - acq'd 2018

April
34. Tied Up in Tinsel - Ngaio Marsh - 1972 - library
35. Seeking Whom He May Devour - Fred Vargas - 1999 - Global Reading: France/French author - library
36. First Rangers: The Life and Times of Frank Liebig and Fred Herrig Glacier Country - C. W. Guthrie - 2019 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - purch 2023
37. One Year of Ugly - Caroline Mackenzie - Book Girls Global Tour: Islands: Trinidad - library
✅ 38. Burning Questions - Margaret Atwood - 2022 - library -
39. The Tale Teller - Anne Hillerman - 2020 - library
✅ 40. I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys - 2022 - Global Reading: Romania - library
41. Alex and Me - Irene M. Pepperberg - 2009 - audiobook - Newcomers' Book Club - library
42. Four Miles West of Nowhere - John Phillips - 2021 - library
43. Bird Summons - Leila Aboulela - 2019 - Global Reading: Sudanese author - library
✅44. Tolkien: A Biography - Humphrey Carpenter - 1977 - ROOT #1 for month/ #10 for year; acq'd 2006

First Quarter

March
❤️22. Best of Friends - Kamila Shamsie - 2022 - Global Reading: Pakistan -(Pakistani-USauthor/English/ Partial location) library
❤️23. Foster - Claire Keegan - 2022 - library
❤️24. Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver - 2022 - library
25. The Summer House Party - Caro Fraser - 2017 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - purch 2022
26. Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History - Scott Andrew Selby - 2010 -Book Girls' Western Europe - Global Reading: Belgium - library
27. A Different Kind of Normal - Abigail Balfe - 2022 - library
✅ 28. The Henna Artist - Alka Joshi - 2020 - Newcomers Club - Global Reading: India - audio - Hoopla
29. Revenge of the Librarians - Tom Gauld - 2022 - library
30. Dance of the Happy Shades - Alice Munro - 1968 - Global Reading: Canada - ROOT #1 for month/ #8 for year - acq'd 2022
31. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson - 2010 Root #2 for month/ #9 for year; acq'd 2014
❤️32. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 2006 - Paul's African Challenge/ Bookgirls World Tour- Africa - purchased 2023
❤️33. Small Country - Gael Faye - 2018 - Book Girls Global Tour: Burundi/Rwanda - library -

February
13. Other Birds - Sarah Addison Allen - 2022 - library
14. Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt - 2022 - library
15. In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar - 2008 - Global Reading: Paul's North African Reading Challege: Libya - audiobook - library
16. The Raven's Gift - Jon Turk - 2009 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - Global Reading: Russia - library
❤️17. The Fell - Sarah Moss - 2021 - Reread for Newcomer's Book Club - ROOT #1 for month; #5 for year - acq 2022
18. Horse Sense and the Human Heart - Adele von Rust McCormick - 1997 - Monthly Root #2; Yearly ROOT #6 - acquired 2007 -
19. Still Life - Sarah Winman - 2021 - Global Reading: Italy - Library
20. As Good As Gone - Larry Watson - 2016 - Root #3 for month/#7 for year - acq 2017
21. Poets of Mozambique - Frederick G. Williams - year published? - Paul's African Lusophone Challenge/Global challenge: Mozambique - library

January

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather - 1927 - ROOT acquired 2017; chosen from TIOLI #2 - Read a book in the public domain.
✅ 2. The Sea of Tranquility - Emily St John Mandel - 2022 - library
3. The Colony - Audrey Magee - 2022 - Global Reading: Ireland - library
❤️ 4. Cold Earth - Sarah Moss - 2010 - Global Reading: Greenland - ROOT #2 acquired 2022
5. Bitter Orange Tree - Jokha Alharthi - 2016 - Global Reading: Oman - library
6. Four Fifths a Grizzly - Douglas Chadwick - 2021 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - library
7. The Ardent Swarm - Yamen Manai - 2017 - African Authors' Challenge/Global Reading: Tunisia - library
8. The Constant Gardener - John Le Carre -2005 - Global Reading: Kenya - ROOT #3 Acquired 2011
9. How the Penguins Saved Veronica - Hazel Prior - 2020 - Book Girls Regional Challenge: Antarctica - Global Reading - library
10. On the Bus With Rosa Parks - Rita Dove - 1999 - ROOT #4 - acq 2022
✅11. The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O'Farrell - 2022 -Global Reading:Italy - library
❤️12. The 1619 Project - Nikole Hannah-Jones - 2021 - library

**** 96 BOOKS COMPLETED IN 2023 **** Reviews and stats current to beginning of September - book #88

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED
2 - 2006
1 - 2007
1 - 2008
1 - 2011
1 - 2014
1 - 2016
2 - 2017
1 - 2018
1 - 2020
1 - 2021
7 - 2022
9 - 2023
59 - library/Hoopla

Total ROOTS read (acquired before 2023):
17

FORMAT
75 - print
11 - audiobook
1 - Kindle

GENRE

47 - Fiction (May Fit into more than 1 category)
1 - 1001
1 - Africa
2 - black experience
1 - child abuse
1 - climate change
10 - contemporary fiction
1 - dystopia
2 - espionage
3 - family
1 - fictionalized biography
1 - friendship
27 - Global Reading
9 - historical fiction
1 - historical mystery
1 - historical romance
3 - humor
1 - illustrated book
2 - immigrants
10 - literary fiction
3 - magical realism
1 - Montana
1 - Muslim
11 - mystery
2 - Native Americans
3 - nature/outdoors
1 - noir
1 - popular fiction
1 - religious fiction
1 - satire
1 - science
1 - Science fiction/fantasy
1 - short stories
1 - Western genre
8 - Women
3 - WWII

1 - Children's Illustrated

- 21 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
---- 4 - animals
---- 3 - biography
---- 3 - Black history
---- 2 - books/authors
---- 2 - Christianity
---- 2 - conservation
---- 1 - Essays
---- 8 - global reading
---- 2 - history
---- 1 - horses
---- 1 - learning
---- 1 - LGBTQ+
---- 13 - memoir
---- 3 - Montana
---- 1 - Oregon
---- 3 - nature
---- 1 - National Parks
---- 1 - neurodevirgence
---- 1 - philosophy
---- 3 - politics
---- 3 - psychology
---- 3 - science
---- 2 - spirituality
---- 1 - True Crime
---- 2 - wildlife

2 - Poetry

- 1 - Cartoons
---- 1 - Books About Books

AUTHORS

54 - Female Authors
27 - Male Authors
1 - Non-binary
3 - Combination of male and female authors

55 - Authors who are new to me
26 - Authors read before
2 - Combination (Anthology) of previously read and new to me authors

3 - Rereads

Original Publication Date
1 - 1927
1 - 1930
1 - 1942
1 - 1958
1 - 1968
1 - 1972
1 - 1977
1 - 1994
1 - 1996
2 - 1997
1 - 1999
1 - 2004
1 - 2005
4 - 2006
3 - 2007
2 - 2008
4 - 2009
4 - 2010
1 - 2011
2 - 2012
1 - 2014
1 - 2015
2 - 2016
2 - 2017
4 - 2018
5 - 2019
8 - 2020
9 - 2021
19 - 2022
4 - 2023

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

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

COUNTRIES VISITED IN 2023

visited 33 states (14.6%)



Create your own visited map of The World

Countries new for me in 2023
Belgium Book #1: Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist In History - Scott Andrew Selby - 2010 - Non-Fic; (US author/English/Belgium) 3/2023
Burundi: ❤️ Small Country - Gael Faye - 2018 -Fic: (location, author) 3/2023
Cambodia Book #2: First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung - 2006 - Non-Fic/Memoir -(Location, Author) Book Girls' Book Voyage: Northern Asia - 8/2023
Libya: Book #1. In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar - 2008 - Fic (author, location) - audiobook 2/2023
Moldova Book #1 - The Good Life Elsewhere - Vladimir Lorchenkov - 2008 - Fic: Moldovan author/Moldova/translated from Moldova 5/2023
Philippines: Book #1 -How to Stand Up to a Dictator - Maria Ressa 2022 - NF: Author, location
Tunisia Book #1 - The Ardent Swarm -Yamen Manai - 2021 - Fic (location, author - translated from French) - 1/2023
Uganda A Girl is a Body of Water - Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi 2021 - Fic: Ugandan author/ Uganda 5/2023

Countries Completed in 2023 with Five Books

Countries previously visited - working toward 5 books:
Albania Book Two: Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History - Lea Ypi - 2021 - Global Reading: Albania NF: author/ location/ English 6/2023
Antarctica (Actually additional to challenge - not a UN member) Book 3: How the Penguins Saved Veronica - Hazel Prior - 2020 Fic, partial location, UK author - 1/2023
Greenland (autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark): Book #2: The Cold Earth - Sarah Moss - Fic - (location/UK author) 1/2023
Mozambique Book #2 : Poets of Mozambique - Frederick G. Williams - year published? - Poetry (authors/ location/ translated from Portuguese) 2/2023
New Zealand Book #4: The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera - 2006 - Fic (Maori author, location, English) - 6/2023
Oman Book #2 - Bitter Orange Tree - Jokha Alharthi - 2022 - Fic (partial location, Omani author) 1/2023
Sudan Book #3: Bird Summons - Leila Aboulela - 2019 - Fic/Sudanese author/UK (Scotland)/English
Trinidad and Tobago: Book #2. One Year of Ugly - Caroline Mackenzie - 2020 - Fic (location, author,) 4/2023
Turkey Book #4. The Conference of the Birds – Peter Sis - 2011 (retelling of Turkish peom, Czeck author) - 8/2023

Additional books in countries already completed with 5:

Canada: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands - Kate Beaton - 2022 - Graphic Non-fiction - author, location - 6/2023
China: Jade Dragon Mountain - Elsa Hart - 2015 - fic: China/US author 5/2023
France: Seeking Whom He May Devour - Fred Vargas -1999 - (location, author, translated from French) 4/2023
India: The Henna Artist - Alka Joshi - 2020 Fic: US/Indian author/Indian location/English - 3/2023
Ireland: The Colony - Audrey Magee 2022 - Fic - (location, author) 1/2023
Nigeria ❤️ Half of a Yellow Sun -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 2006 - Fic: location, author) read March 2023
--- Reread of Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - 1958- (location, author), Fic, 1001 7/2023
Pakistan: Best of Friends - Kamila Shamsie - 2022 - Fic (Pakistani author/partial location) 3/2023
Romania Book #3: I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys - 2022 - Fic: US author/Romania/English 4/2023
Russia: The Raven's Gift - Jon Turk - 2009 - Non-Fic (location/Komchatka, US author) 2/2023
UK: Multiple
US: Multiple

ALL COUNTRIES VISITED111


visited 111 states (49.3%)

Create your own visited map of The World

Paul's African Novel Challenge:

January - NORTH AFRICA
----✔ The Ardent Swarm - Yamen Manai - Tunisia
----✔ In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar - Libya
February - LUSOPHONE LIT
---- ✔ Poets of Mozambique - Frederick G. Williams
March - CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE or Buchi Emecheta
---- ✔ Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
April - THE HORN OF AFRICA
---- ✔Bird Summons - Leila Aboulela - (Sudan)
May - AFRICAN NOBEL WINNERS
----- Palace Walk - Naguib Mahfouz - (ROOT)
June - EAST AFRICA
---- ✔ A Girl is a Body of Water - Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi - Uganda
July - CHINUA ACHEBE or Ben Okri
---- ✔ Reread Things Fall Apart
August - FRANCOPHONE AFRICA
-----Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some - Burkino Faso - ROOT
September - SOUTHERN AFRICA
October - SCHOLASTIQUE MUKASONGA / NGUGI WA THIONG'O
November - AFRICAN THRILLERS / CRIME WRITERS
December - WEST AFRICA

Book Girls Around the World Book Voyage Challenge:

January: Arctic and Antarctic: ✔ How the Penguins Saved Veronica - Hazel Prior
February: Western Europe: UK: ✔Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson - ROOT
----- Belgium: ✔Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History - Scott Andrew Selby
March: Africa -
---- ✔Burundi: Small Country - Gaël Faye
---- ✔Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun
---- ✔Uganda: A Girl is a Body of Water - Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
April: Islands
---- ✔ One Year of Ugly - Caroline Mackenzie - Trinidad
May: Eastern Europe and Russia
----- ✔ The Good Life Elsewhere - Vladimir Lorchenkov - Moldova -
June: Australia and New Zealand
---- ✔The Whale Rider - Witi Ihimaera - 2005
July: South Asia:
----✔First They Killed My Father - Luong Ung (Cambodia) - ROOT
August: Northern Asia
----- ✔ Apples are From Kazakhstan - Christopher Robbins
September: Transportation
----- Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys
October: Middle East and Israel:
----- A hope more powerful than the sea : one refugee's incredible story of love, loss, and survival - Melissa Fleming (Syria)

BOOK CLUBS

LIBRARY BROWN BAG BOOK CLUB

January 26 -- ( read previously) - The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig
February 23 -- ✔The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser
March 30 -- *** Listening***The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
April 27 -- (read previously) The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
May 25 -- (read previously) Horse by Geraldine Brooks
June 29 -- ✔ The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
July 27 -- ***Listening*** The Trial of Adolf Hitler by David King
August 31 -- ✔ How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa
September 28 -- (read previously)Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
October 26 -- Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
November 30 -- The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
December ??? -- Potluck and 2024 Book Choices

NEWCOMERS BOOK CLUB:
January -( read previously) The Bell in the Lake
✔(read previously)February - The Fell - Sarah Moss - my choice - read previously
✔March - The Henna Artist - Alka Joshi
✔April: Alex & Me - Irene M. Pepperberg
May:
✔June: The Unlikely Spy - Daniel Silva
✔ July: Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt
✔ August Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
✔ September - Stone Maidens - Lloyd Devereux Richards


GLACIER CONSERVANCY BOOK CLUB - (online)
✔ January - Four Fifths a Grizzly - Douglas Chadwick
✔ March - First Rangers - C. W. Guthrie (Purchased)
✔ May - Last Stand - Michael Punke -
✔ July - A Sharp Solitude - Christine Carbo
September - (Previously Read) The Grizzly in the Driveway - Robert Chaney

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

These numbers include the library books that I have at home.

As of 08/15/2023: 534 books on physical MT TBR
As of 05/01/2023: 542 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2023: 535 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2022: 530 books on physical MT TBR
As of 01/01/2021: 522 books on MT TBR

28 BOOKS ACQUIRED 2023

1. Nervous Conditions: A Novel - Tsitsi Dangarembga - Zimbabwe - Kindle (Kindle Special 1 - xx -2023
2. ✔ Read Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng - BPL freebie 1/11/2023
3 - 5. Boxed Set Ivan Doig Montana Trilogy - BPL freebie 1/11/2023
- 3. English Creek
- 4. Dancing at the Rascal Fair -
- 5. Ride With Me Mariah Montana
✔ Read 6. Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul - Jack Canfield - BPL freebie 1/11/2023
✔ READ 7. The Summer House Party - Caro Fraser - Library Brown Bag Book Club - Feb 2022
8. ✔ READ First Rangers - C.W. Guthrie - 2019 - Glacier Conservancy Book Club - 2/28/2023
9. Doing Good Better - William Macaskill - 2015 2/28/2023
✔ READ 10. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - 2007 - 3/5/2023
11. The Shining - Stephen King - Bitterroot Public Library freebie - 3/09/2023
12.Montana Horse Racing: A History - Brenda Wahler - 2019 - 3/18/2023
13. Marcus Daly's Road to Montana - Brenda Wahler - 2023 - 3/18/2023
14. River Hippies & Mountain Men (Real-Life Adventures of the Texas Yeti) - Patrick Taylor - 03/23/2023
15.✔ READ Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult - audiobook BPLib freebie - 4/06/2023
16. The View From Castle Rock - Alice Munro - BPL freebie - 4/19/2023
✔ READ 17. The Good Life Elsewhere - Vladimir Lorchenkov - Book Girls Eastern Europe/Moldova - Amazon 4/30/23
18. Reading Radiant Truths - Sarah Beals Sager - 2023 - Mother's Day Gift 5/14/2013
✔ READ 19. If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk - John Pavlovitz - 2021 - 6/2023
20. The Heartbeat of the Wild - David Quammen - 2023 - 6/2023 for author talk
✔ READ 21. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus for Newcomers' Book Club - 8 /2023
22. The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes - South African author - Kindle special 09/02/2023
23. The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel - Debra Magpie Earling 2023 - author talk 9/6/2023
24. ✔ READ Stone Maidens - Lloyd Devereux Richards - Kindle - Newcomers Book Club 9/10/2023
25. The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women - Mo Moulton - 2019 - 9/19/2023
26. First Loves: Poets Introduce the Essential Poems that Captivated Them - Carmela Ciuraru - 2000 - BPL freebie - 9/27/2023
27. Reading Solving the Climate Crisis - Palmer Owyoung - LTER - PDF
28. The Temple of my Familiar - Alice Walker - 1989 - BPL freebie - 10-06-23
29 Yogo The Great American Sappire - Stephen Voynick - 10-16-23 BPL freebie
30.Familiar Waters: A Lifetime of Fly Fishing Montana - David Stuver - 10-16-23 BPL freebie
31. Within These Woods - Timothy Goodwin - 10-16-23 BPL freebie
32.The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman - 10-16-23 BPL freebie
33. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman -10-16-23 - BPL freebie

I'm intrigued by everyone's lists of series. These are the ones I've read so far in 2023: I will add other series that I am also working on.

Series

Robert Galbraith - Cormoran Stike (1/7)
Elsa Hart - Li Du (1/3)
Anne Hillerman - Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito (5/8)
Alka Joshi - Jaipur Trilogy (1/3)
William Kent Krueger - Cork O'Connor (1/ )
Ngaio Marsh - Roderick Alleyn (2/27)
Dorothy Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey (2/?)
Fred Vargas - Chief Inspector Adamsberg - 2/10

12

>1 streamsong: love this! great idea

>13 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Thanks for being my First Footer!

Yeah, who needs walls?

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Janet!!

Happy new thread, Janet, and congratulations on reaching 75!

Happy new thread, Janet!

Happy new thread, Janet. You reached 75! Great.

I have sort of abandoned the reading around the world project. I’m having trouble sticking with my books.

Happy new thread, Janet.

Congratulations also for reaching 75 already. x Great stats throughout your thread as always.

>1 streamsong: Haha that could be taken in a number of 75ers homes couldn't it?!

Happy New Thread, Janet!
>1 streamsong: That's more or less my house, Janet.

>1 streamsong: Me too! I thought that was my place. :)

Happy new one, Janet.

Thank you >15 figsfromthistle: Anita, >16 PlatinumWarlock: Lavinia, >17 FAMeulstee: Anita, >18 drneutron: Jim, >19 EllaTim: Ella, >20 PaulCranswick: Paul, >21 vancouverdeb: Deborah, and >22 BLBera: Beth

I appreciate the good wishes for the new thread and the congrats for making 75!

>19 EllaTim: I understand about needing a break from a challenge. I was very enthusiastic about reading the 1001 but haven't read any for several years. Maybe I'll get back to it sometime, but when it begins to feel like homework, it's a good time to take a break!

>20 PaulCranswick: >21 vancouverdeb: >22 BLBera: Having walls lined with books should be excellent protection during climate change. The extra insulation will provide both better cooling in the summer and warming in the cold! Everyone will envy our books!

.

Currently reading:



for my other RL book club

one of my ROOTs chosen through TIOLI

and two or three others that I am poking along reading.

I saw this on Mark’s thread and thought it sounded interesting as I am always interested in Native American stories. However … I did not read closely enough, and thought the author was a Native American. Instead, he is white and Mormon (which definitely informs the story). Nor did I realize that I had previously read one of Udall’s books, The Lonely Polygamist.



66. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint – Brady Udall - 2012
– library


First Line: “… If I could tell you one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head”

Edgar Mint is a half Native American, half white child. His father abandoned his mother before Edgar was born. His mother, an alcoholic, deserts Edgar after his accident while he is recovering in the hospital.

Because, although grievously injured, after three months in a coma, Edgar recovers, although he is unable to write. He is sent to an Indian orphanage where he is ignored by the adults and abused by the other, full-blooded Indians.

He is periodically approached by the megalomaniac doctor who saved his life, and who has since been dismissed by the hospital, lost his license and become a drug dealer.

Two Mormon missionaries befriend Edgar and eventually get him placed into a Mormon foster home. Although idyllic on the surface, there are dark currents underneath.

Throughout it all, Edgar undergoes continual abuse and yet maintains his core, moral self. He believes his purpose in life is to find the mailman who ran over him and let him know that he is alive.

This is a very strange novel. I enjoyed the complexities of the quirky characters, most who have both good and bad aspects, but the Native Americans seem to tip toward the dark side. Was there a decent Indian in the entire story? The friend that Edgar cherished at the boarding school was Indian, but it calls to mind the saying from the Indian wars exterminations that “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.”

>1 streamsong: bwahahaha!

. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint – Brady Udall sounds like a lot of depressing events for that poor boy.

>26 streamsong: IIRC there was a lot of controversy over this book, originally published as non fiction, and npw is in the fiction section, I think Others may know more about this then me

Happy new thread, Janet! 😁

>27 fuzzi: Glad you can relate, Lor!

>28 Whisper1: Hi Linda! I think I'll pass on further books by Brady Udall. If I remember correctly The Lonely Polygamist dealt with a suicide. I didn't write a review of it - the reviews are mostly for me to help me remember the book.

I usually miss about a dozen reviews somewhere in the middle of each year. I tell myself I will start with the current review and work my way forward and backward, until I am all caught up, but it doesn't happen. :)

I'm trying to follow a suggestion of Karenmarie's to write a bit about each book as I finish it.

I'm a dozen reviews behind, but the next three reviews will be easy. One of them I loved, one was a reread, and one was a favorite of the series.

>29 cindydavid4: Cindy, that's really interesting. I've looked, but can't find anything about it online. It was a controversial book, but while some people objected to the way NA were portrayed, most of the negative remarks were from the LDS/Mormon readers protesting their treatment. It was even optioned as a movie, but I can't imagine it will ever be produced.

I'd love to hear more if anyone knows.

>30 PlatinumWarlock: Hi Lavinia! and thank you!

Yesterday was a bust. The heat is still really getting to me, making me feel sick after about an hour in it.

I skipped my book club which I felt bad about because I enjoyed the book up for discussion Lessons in Chemistry. I had finished reading it the day before - staying inside in the afternoon to avoid the heat.

I had hoped I would feel better by 4 to meet with my Wednesday group of friends, but it just didn't happen.

Tomorrow and Friday the heat is supposed to break a bit - if I still feel bad in the cooler temps, I guess I will have to go see my doctor. :((

Happy new thread, Janet! Hopefully I can keep up better than I have done previously.

>33 streamsong: I hope that the relief from the heat means you can avoid the doctor.

I saw this on FB and knew it belonged on my thread - especially as I am reading one of my been-on-my-shelves-forever books : My Dear Cassandra: the Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen Although she wasn't the murder-solving sort, I'm now reading the letters she wrote while staying in Bath.

>34 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia!

I'm off to do outside chores before it gets any hotter -Today I'm trying one of those cooling shirts and one of the odd gel filled neck bands as well as a hat. I'm liable to scare the horses....

I've read several of Maggie O'Farrell's books and have enjoyed them all. After I read The Marriage Portrait in January, several people suggested this one.



67. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell - 2007
– library
❤️

Iris is a modern woman – coping with her job and her life which includes a married boyfriend.

Completely unexpectedly, she receives a call from a mental hospital telling her the hospital is being closed down and, as the only relative, she must figure out what to do with her Great Aunt Esme who has been hospitalized there for sixty years.

Iris has never heard of a great aunt named Esme. She had always been told that her grandmother, Kitty, was an only child. Unfortunately, Grandmother Kitty has Alzheimer’s and can provide no clues to the situation.

The story plays out through a dual timeline as we see Kitty and Esme as girls in India, with Esme increasingly being labelled a problem. We also see Iris coming to terms with her seemingly very normal great aunt as she invites her into her apartment (which was part of the home Esme lived in while a young woman in the States) and tries to determine what should be done.

There’s a thoroughly startling and satisfying twist at the end.

This is one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year, as it skillfully blends the messiness of a modern woman’s life with those of a woman’s lack of rights from the last century.

>35 streamsong: love it!

Happy new thread!

>37 streamsong: This was my first O'Farrell, Janet, and I loved it as well.

>37 streamsong: its very good but there are some time mixups that wouldnt have worked in real life given when these houses were forced to close. But its still a good read

>38 fuzzi: Glad you liked it, Lor!

>39 The_Hibernator: Thank you, Rachel!

>40 BLBera: It was a great read, Beth. If you were the one pointing me towards it, thank you!

>41 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Could you elaborate a bit more? I'm not sure I'm following you.

I’ve read all four of this series with the Glacier Conservancy Book Club. This latest one is my favorite. The first few were weakish- in my opinion, the author’s craft is getting stronger. As the series follows different characters in each book, it would be fine to read this one as a stand alone.

I enjoyed hearing the author speak about her creative process and the publication process (for instance - there is no wolf in the story, although it could be argued that the main character is a bit of a "lone wolf". She has no idea why the company put a wolf on the cover, other than wolves are beautiful and popular on covers).

The Glacier Conservancy Book Club is an online bimonthly zoom presentation – highly recommended to those who love wild places.

68. A Sharp Solitude - Christine Carbo - 2018
- Glacier Conservancy Book Club
- ROOT #1 for July/ #14 for year - acqd 2022




Reeve Landon has an incredibly interesting research job. His dog is trained to sniff out grizzly bear scat so Reeve can bag it and take it to researchers working to better know the elusive grizzlies. Reeve works in the environs of Glacier National Park; much of his time is spent alone with his dog, hiking far flung trails. Reeve is a loaner and loves the solitude.

But a female reporter convinces Reeve that she wants to write about him, the dog, and Reeve’s work. Soon after spending time in the mountains with Reeve, the reporter is found dead. Reeve is her last known contact; it’s obvious she’s been in his bed and he is the prime suspect.

He contacts his ex-girlfriend Ali Paige, the mother of his daughter. She is an FBI agent in the region and is convinced that Reeve could not possibly be the killer. Although she has no official jurisdiction, she delves deeply in the case, upsetting both local law enforcement and her FBI bosses.

Both Reeve and Ali had very troubled childhoods with heavy losses. It was what brought them together and what broke them apart.

This isn’t a typical murder mystery. There aren’t many clues leading to the perpetrator. Rather it’s the story of two flawed people trying to not let their experiences affect their daughter and being impossibly mixed into a murder.

I loved the mountain setting; it rang very true. I enjoyed seeing the story unfold from two alternating viewpoints as we learn the characters’ backstories.

My main concern about the story is the amount of detective interfering Ali could do without being fired from the FBI.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this one to anyone who loves mountainous places with a bit of murder and mystery thrown into the mix.

>43 streamsong: you know honestly I dont remember much, except for dates not making sense. I looked at different reviews and no one seemed to have a problem (most critical comments was about the time jumping but that didn't bother me at all.) So just ignore my post. I do remember being engrossed in the book and thought the ending perfect (I actually cheered) so never mind

>45 cindydavid4: No problem. I asked because I think you have a much better grasp of historical events than I do. I vaguely remember when the US asylums closed and many mentally ill people were released to the streets. I wondered if it was something like that that you had in mind.

It was a great ending, wasn't it!

There's actually a bit in Lessons in Chemistry that is scientifically impossible. It's funny how we can pick out something that we know isn't possible in a work of fiction and have it disturb us. I probably won't mention it in my review either, because, oh well, just not worth it, and doesn't spoil the story.

69. Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt - 2022 - Reread with audio
- Newcomer's Book Club
- library

I read this in February, enjoyed it thoroughly, and recommended it to one of my RL book clubs as a good summer read.

This second time around I listened to the audio, narrated by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie and it was very well done. I would definitely recommend this audio.

When I was looking on Amazon for the names of the narrators, I was amused to see that Amazon called this number 1 in the Cozy Animal Mysteries category. It definitely describes it, but I had no idea that was a genre.

Here is my review from February: https://www.librarything.com/topic/347249#8066476

I'm still doing Wordle although I'm definitely not one of the Wordle meisters here on LT - today was one of my rare 3's. My current streak is only 14, with my longest streak only 32.

Wordle 792 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

alien, gourd, quest

I thought a few statistics might be fun

455:Played
Win percentage: 97%
Current Streak count: 14
Max Streak count: 32


Number of Guess's to Win
1 - 1 (0.2%)
2 -13 (2.9%)
3 - 97 (21%)
4 - 169 (37%)
5 - 114 (25%)
6 - 47 (10%)

Losses: 14 (3%)

Along with a few lighter books to keep my sanity I'm reading How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa for my book club next week.

It's a tough read. How did I not know of Ressa? She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2018, one of Time's Most Influential People in 2019 and UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize in 2021 among others. She founded the Philippines top digital-only news service and pioneered how crowd platforms like Facebook can be taken over by bots, constant lies, and fake accounts to distort truth and make untruths seem like reality.

I am only half way through and she is beginning her 'war for truth' with the Philippines' dictator Rodrigo Duterte. She has mentioned her 'first arrest' so it sounds like things will get much worse for her in the second half of the book.

Edited next day (8/22) - OK, so the farther I read, the more familiar her story becomes. I vaguely remember a news program focused on Maria Ressa.

70. Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story - Jacob Tobia - 2020
– library

Jacob Tobia always knew that he was different than other little boys. He preferred the company of little girls as friends and his most cherished possession was a Barbie doll. In conservative Raleigh, North Carolina, he stood out at an early age.

That however is where this memoir fugues off from other memoirs of non-gender-conforming stories you may have read. There is none of the “I always knew I was a girl trapped in a boy’s body” of the ‘common’ trans story, or that “I always knew that I loved members of the same sex.”

Instead this memoir is complicated and often surprising.

I was so proud of the United Methodist Church youth leader when Jacob was in sixth grade and confessed to her that he thought he (when do you change pronouns?) was gay. I was also proud of the church as they let Jacob be authentic within his high school youth group. But, like Jacob, I was disappointed in the church when, as a high schooler, they refused to let Jacob tell his story to the middle school group talking about sexuality and refused to let Jacob to speak to the wider audience of adult congregants.

Jacob received a full scholarship to Duke University, where slowly they (now his preferred pronoun is the singular 'they' - and as they have changed pronouns, I will, too) claimed their authentic self ; first confronting harassment from individuals in a common setting and then becoming an organizer and leader of both the alternative gender group and the campus as a whole. As a top scholar as well as a student leader they and many of their friends and mentors believed they would be a shoo-in for top opportunities such as the Fulbright Scholarship. Disappointingly and surprisingly they were turned down for all of them. They came to believe that this was because they refused to live less authentically and the world outside a prestigious college was less accepting of people doing so.

Nor can I agree with all of Jacob’s choices – such as wearing a men’s business suit with high bling high heels at a conservate political setting when his boss was out of town. Are any of us ever allowed to be truly authentic at every minute of the day?

Nevertheless, Jacob continues to find their way in the world. As an under 30 writer, his memoir is not even at its half way point. According to Wikipedia, they now are “an American LGBT rights activist, writer, producer, television host, and actor.” In their memoir, Jacob states they continuously check their Wikipedia entry to keep it accurate – so if you want to know more, it’s a good place to start.

This memoir exploded much of what I thought I knew about genderqueer individuals and opened my eyes to the reality of the spectrum of people that make up ‘genderqueer.’

4.3 stars

>49 streamsong: I have that book, and know about her background, and admire her greatly just havent got to it yet Lem me know what you think.

>50 streamsong: Great review, Janet. I recently read this also, and had many reactions that were similar to yours, especially your final line about opening your eyes. I think memoirs like this are so important, as they teach those of us who are willing to learn that there are nuances to any point on that spectrum... as you said, it's not as simple as "I always knew I was a girl trapped in a boy's body".

I struggled with some of their choices too. As firmly as I believe that living authentically is important, I also believe that "when in Rome..." etc. I am challenged by finding what is, for me, the "sweet spot" between what can be two extremes.

>51 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! It's a pretty amazing story. I don't know much about southeast Asian politics, but it's a book that I am copying quote after quote so I remember them for the book club next week. I hope to finish it today so the next person in line will have about a week to read it. Unfortunately, I'm a month behind in reviews, so my review won't be coming real soon ....

Here's a quote teaser from page 76: “The more I reported, the more I could see how every major al-Qaeda plot from 1993 to 2003 had some link to the Philippines, the United States’ former colony, from the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa to the JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta in 2003.

The two biggest stories of my career had to do with the Philippines as the testing ground of two menaces threatening the United States and the world in the Twenty first century: Islamic terrorism and information warfare on social media.”

>52 PlatinumWarlock: Hi Lavinia - I'm glad you liked my review of Sissy. I hope others will also pick it up to read. As you so aptly put it " there are nuances to any point on that spectrum".

Yesterday I went to my Wednesday with the ladies and a bit of politics group (the DDD). Granted, it was more politics than usual,yesterday, with the debate on Wednesday night and Trump's arraignment today.

I had several errands to run after our meeting, including a run to the grocery store. GOOD GRIEF - since last week the price of bread has doubled to $9 a loaf, and a twelve pack of diet Pepsi is now well over $10 up from $4-6. Other shockers included over $9 for my 42 oz pkg of regular oatmeal - my standard breakfast. I always shop sales, but now more than ever, that's how I'm shopping.

I've been weaning myself off the diet Pepsi - now it's gone for good. I need to cut down on bread. But old fashioned oatmeal is as standard as I can get.

I was only picking up basics yesterday. Today I'll try another store with a little longer list.

>49 streamsong: I saw her interview with Stephen Colbert and was eagr to buy it when it came out, I respect her so much and I agree the west needs to wake this memoir is a rough read, and U am stilll struggling with it. I do wonder whether the title is misleading, She does not tell us how to stand up to a dictator, she tells us how she did. I want to know how we in this country we can keep us from falling into a dictatorshiop but she cant help how I interpreted the title More people need to read this and look around them and see what is happening in our world

Hi Janet! Yikes. I haven’t visited this thread yet, yet am skipping down.

>31 streamsong: I'm trying to follow a suggestion of Karenmarie's to write a bit about each book as I finish it. I stole that idea from Mark - msf59 - which both he and I call the Lightning Round. It alleviates guilt and helps me remember what I was feeling as I finished a book.

>50 streamsong: Nor can I agree with all of Jacob’s choices – such as wearing a men’s business suit with high bling high heels at a conservate political setting when his boss was out of town. Are any of us ever allowed to be truly authentic at every minute of the day? Big potential can of worms - authenticity vs repression - but I tend to agree with you.

>55 streamsong: Yikes to the cost of groceries. We’re not paying that out here, but things are still ridiculously high compared to what they were in March of 2020.

I'm glad you're on board with The Making of Biblical Womanhood. I'm going to be reading Chapter 2 this morning while using my brace for the first time today and hope I can keep up with you and Karen.

>50 streamsong: Great review! I purchased the book a few weeks ago, I'll have to move it up the pile.

$9.00 for a loaf of bread? Wow, that seems crazy.

>56 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Thanks for mentioning the Steven Colbert interview. Here it is if anyone want to watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpWevZ5yQz8

In a way, I was expecting much worse to happen to Maria Ressa - prison, torture etc. But it was very, very interesting to see how the political machine used its power to overwhelm their news posts with negative comments and lies - and how she was able to use the Philippine constitution (modeled after the US constitution) and a huge legal team to keep her safe.

Also if you look up Rodrigo Duterte on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Duterte - there is absolutely no mention of Maria Ressa..

Instead it says "Duterte's popularity and domestic approval rating remained relatively high throughout his presidency and by the end of his term, he was the most popular post-EDSA (1986 People Power Revolution) president"

This sounds like the page is monitored by the very people who tried to block the truth Ressa was telling.

>57 karenmarie: Hi Karen - well as you can see by the number of reviews that I have not done, I am still not working the system very well. :)

I understand that the further one is repressed, the more extreme the rebounce, as it is with a ball pressed entirely out of shape. Big can of worms for sure. Since I am not in charge of anyone but me, I have no problem letting other people do themselves - I seldom get out of my tee shirt and jeans.

I haven't received The Making of Biblical Womanhood from the library yet. But I plan to just quietly read along. It's an interesting title and one I'm interested in with the right wing church heading ever farther to the right.

>57 karenmarie: >58 vancouverdeb: Deborah and Karen, The doubling of grocery prices in a week could have knocked me over with a feather. It's the smallest of the grocery stores in town (not counting the true health-food store), but they often have Hutterite-produced vegetables and a few baked goods. They also have very nice meats with a real butcher staff. Covid hit them hard - they closed their bakery (best donuts in town!), and a hand made sushi shop that went in just before the pandemic. They still have a local business selling Kombucha on tap and in growlers.

The bread was just common commercial bread. I found a few loaves of rye bread on a bottom shelf with the 'old' prices. Ha! Better for my TII D anyway. What I had expected to pay about $20 for cost $40.

I suddenly understood comments on inflation from countries, bemoaning paying a week's salary for bread and having life's savings disintegrate.

>60 streamsong: I remember inflation from the 70s. We ate hamburger soup and oatmeal a lot.

Now I buy on sale and marked down items, and "squirrel" them away.

>61 fuzzi: and seniors were resorting to eating cheaper dog and cat food....

>61 fuzzi: Hi Lor - I do that, too. In fact, my pantry is overflowing with stuff I need to use. :)

>62 cindydavid4: That's also true, Cindy, and of great concern.

If fairly nutritious shelf stable stuff is on sale, I buy extra for the food pantry. If this jump in prices is going to be the new normal, the local food pantries will be more stressed than ever.

This is the second of Pavlovitz’s book that I have read. I received an earlier copy of A Bigger Table through LT’s early Reviewer’s program when it was updated and re-released.

❤️71. If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk - John Pavlovitz - 2021
- purch 2023



As everyone knows, during his lifetime, Jesus jealously guarded his teachings, ousting any who disagreed with him or broke the Jewish law. His disciples rejoiced that he followed Jewish law minutely and kept away from the unclean and undesirables.

Oops, wait a minute. It was the strict Jewish scholars like the sect of the Pharisees who prided themselves on following Jewish laws, and held themselves up as paragons of virtue. And the disciples worried that Jesus was too inclusive; that by eating and spending time with those deemed unclean and unworthy, Jesus was putting his movement – and even his life – at risk.

This book is open-hearted liberal Christianity, where everyone is welcomed. Although not included in this book I have seen a meme where Jesus is standing with his arms outspread in the doorway of a church. In some denominations, His arms bar people from entering; with the same image in other denominations, He is welcoming all.

If Christians are to be known by their love, this book shows the way.

Hi Janet.

>60 streamsong: No guilt allowed! Reading’s the important thing, reviewing so much less so.

We have a butcher shop in town now, part of a huge expansion north and east of downtown Pittsboro. Fortunately, I live south and west of town, so get to take advantage of the new businesses without the traffic. I might visit the butcher shop after book sorting/lunch with the team.

>63 streamsong: Hmmm. Rather than buy food for the food pantry, I usually just donate to them online and make sure I cover their processing cost, too. It was time again, so I just donated.

I'm still on chapter 2, reading it now when I use my knee extension brace, 3x a day, 30 minutes/session. Late at night my brain's fried, but first and possibly second sessions are looking promising to do some serious nonfiction reading.

>50 streamsong: I am putting that one on my list. Great review!

>65 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks for stopping by!

Yes, I think there are needs filled by both types of donations to food pantries. I know the local one uses money donations to buy products like meat that are harder to donate (unless you live in Montana and want to donate the entire deer you just bagged during hunting season).

For me, there is something almost primordially satisfying about physically buying a few groceries for other people. The store I plan to go to later today has pasta sauce, pasta and apple juice as loss leaders this week - none of which I will stock up on with my T2 diabetes. But all are good, fairly healthy kid food. I'll pick some up and add to my sack which I take to my church which conveniently delivers items to the pantry once a month. We have a list of the most valuable/requested items needed by the pantry - and other donation boxes for the "Loads of Love" laundry program for homeless and a third for self/care hygiene items.

I have not yet received the book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth but is marked as 'in transit' so hopefully I will receive it soon.

Right now my spiritual reading is one I plucked off my shelf for Paul's Francophone Africa challenge this month. It's the memoir of an Africa shaman Malidoma Patrice Some of Burkina Faso and is called Of Water and the Spirit. It doesn't fit Paul's intent of reading African fiction, but it's fascinating and turns an unread book from my shelf into a read book. :)

>65 karenmarie: & >67 streamsong: Janet and Karen: I have the sense that you both live in smaller towns, but if you can find a grocery near you that services the restaurant industry, you can often find amazing deals if you have room for bulk. We have one near us called Chef's Store (there are branches in other states)... we buy there every several months to contribute to a food pantry and a weekly homeless meal. For instance, I searched oatmeal and saw a 42oz pack for $3.69, and a 25lb bag of Bob's Red Mill quick oats for $30.69. Of course, you have to have a good way to store the extra (basement?), but if you can, the prices are amazing.

Janet, I share your satisfaction about buying groceries for (and feeding) others. For that homeless meal I mentioned, which we participate in every three months, in addition to a few trays of hot food, we buy bread, turkey and cheese at Costco and drop off about 50 sandwiches that people can take away with them. Talk about a really tangible impact.

>68 PlatinumWarlock: Hi Lavinia! You are right that I live in a very small town. I do Costco runs in Missoula (about forty miles from here) about once a month. I see there is a Chef's Store in Missoula - I will definitely check it out. Thank you.

Your help with the homeless meal is wonderful. Last year, I helped once a week with a meal for a shelter for battered women. That opportunity is no longer there. I'll have to try a bit harder to see what else I can find. The take away sandwiches are a fantastic idea.

This is the only one of the Booker long list that I have read so far this year.



72. Old God’s Time: A Novel – Sebastian Barry – 2023
- library


Tom Kettle, a recently widowed, retired police inspector, is quietly living a solitary life.

As a child in a Catholic orphanage he was sexually abused . His wife, also, was similarly abused.

Decades ago Tom and his partner had investigated two priests for sexual abuse. The official abuse investigation had not been acted upon, since it was before the time the Catholic Church held priests responsible for these hideous acts.

Suddenly one of the priests emerges and alleges that in that long ago time, Tom killed his friend and fellow priest, the second of the pair investigated by Tom. Before this accusation, the priest’s death had been attributed as an accident.

Tom, a most unreliable narrator, is visited by police investigators as well as his son and daughter. And then a neighbor asks him as a former policeman, to keep a look out for her son’s father, whom she fears.

What is truth? What is memory? And what has faded into the realm of no longer being remembered by living people – that part of history which can only be called ‘old God’s time.’

Memorable characters, a haunting scenario, and the phrase itself ‘old God’s time’ is unforgettable.

August was one of my best months for number of books read. Two of them are children's illustrated books, which, if I didn't count them, would make this a more average number month.

AUGUST TALLY

**** 12 BOOKS COMPLETED IN AUGUST****

✅87. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng - 2019 - acq'd 2023
❤️86. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal - Paul Fleischman - ill Julie Paschiki - 2007 - library
❤️85. My Dear Cassandra - Jane Austen - 1990 - ROOT #3 for month - #18 for year - acq'd 2013
84. Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger - 2009 - library - Cork O'Connor #1
✅83. How to Stand Up to a Dictator - Maria Ressa 2022 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
82. Wherever You Go, There You Are - Jon Kabat-Zinn - 1994 - ROOT acq'd 2006 - ROOT#2 for August/#17 for year
81. Harry's Trees - Jon Cohen - 2019 - library
✅80. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus - 2022 - NC Book Club - purch 2023
79. The Conference of the Birds - Peter Sis - 2011 - Global Reading: Czech author, Turkish poem - illustrated book - library
✅78. I Have Some Questions for You - Rebecca Makkai - 2023 - library
77. Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" - Zora Neale Hurston - 2018 - audiobook - library
76. First They Killed My Father - Loung Ung - 2006 - Book Girls' Book Voyage: Northern Asia/ Global Reading: Cambodia - ROOT acq'd 2016; Root #1 for August/#16 for year

3 -Total ROOTS read (acquired before 2023)
2 - Books read that were Acq'd in 2023)

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED
1 - 2006
1 - 2013
1 - 2016
2 - 2023
7 - library

FORMAT
1 - audio
11 - print

GENRE

5 - FICTION (may fit into more than one category)
3 - contemporary fiction
1 - feminism
1 - literary fiction
2 - mystery
1 - Native American
1 - outdoors/nature

- 5 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
1 - African American experience
1 - Authors
2 - Global Reading
3 - Memoir
1 - Politics
1 - Spirituality

- 2 - Children's Illustrated

Original Publication Date
1 - 1990
1 - 1994
1 - 2006
1 - 2007
1 - 2009
1 - 2011
1 - 2018
2 - 2019
2 - 2022
1 - 2023

- 6 - female authors
- 5 - male authors
- - combination of male and female authors

8 - Authors who are new to me
3 - Authors read before

- Rereads

Countries Visited

1 - Cambodia
1 - England
1 - Philippines
1 - Turkey

I finished my first book of the month, The Midnight News by Jo Baker. It's a story of London during the Blitz, with mystery and spies and mental hospitals rolled in. As Paul said recently on his thread about another book, it's not great literature but she can certainly tell a story.

Still reading two Non-fiction ROOTS from last month: Of Water and the Spirit by Malidome Patrice Some about the conflict between his tribal spiritualism and the French colonial Jesuits in his native Burkina Faso.

The second one is Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon. It makes me nostalgic for a much younger time in my life.

>70 streamsong: I really loved Old God's Time when I read a it a couple of months ago - maybe in July? Great review. It's a harrowing read, but well worth it.
>72 streamsong: Oh, and I LOVED The Midnight News earlier this year too . Great taste in books, Janet!

Thanks for stopping by, Deb! My choice in books is most often determined by great reviews of other 75'ers. :))

I'm glad you were able to figure out that I meant The Midnight News after I bungled the title. Fixed now in >72 streamsong:

I'm thinking that I will have to read more by Sebastian Barry who wrote Old God's Time. Any suggestions?

Happy Dance that LT is back up today! It seems odd to me that a book site would be a hacker target, but there are a lot of odd notions about books these days.

Read for the July TIOLI challenge #12. Read a book with a potentially offensive word or phrase in the title

❤️73. Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump - Sarah Posner - 2021
ROOT #2 for month, #15 for year - acq'd 2022


New subtitle: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind



From back of book: " “United in a narrative of victimization, the religious right and the alt-right came together to champion Trump’s erosion of democratic norms by rolling back civil rights advances, stacking the Supreme Court with hard-right judges, defanging and deregulating federal agencies and undermining the credibility of the free press. In Unholy, Posner deconstructs the myriad ways in which these two groups became not-so-strange bedfellow, and shows how this union is fueled by anti-democratic impulses worldwide.”

This is a tough one to review.

Like many others, I have a hard time understanding my Evangelical friends who wholeheartedly support Donald Trump. They see him as a flawed man, but still being used by God to do wonderful things much like King David in the Old Testament.

I see Trump as completely lacking a moral compass.

Posner does a wonderful job showing the history of the roots of far right movement in the US. Trump is not a political aberration, but the result of many years of dissatisfaction, as the conservative right slowly creeps farther and farther into radical right territory.

This one needs to be read by everyone living in the fraught US political situation today, or those who see antidemocracic movements on their own countries.

In writing this review, I can see I need to read it a second time, slowly, making notes. Because although I can follow the author’s history and arguments, I still don’t understand the whys of those who believe Trump is a redeemer.

The Amazon page has these three excerpts as being most highlighted in the Kindle version of the book (sorry, no page numbers):

“On the surface, the Christian right is saturated with rhetoric about “faith” and “values.” Its real driving force, though, was not religion but grievances over school desegregation, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, affirmative action, and more.”

“For the Christian right, Trump is no ordinary politician and no ordinary president. He is anointed, chosen, and sanctified by the movement as a divine leader, sent by God to save America”

“Trump’s white evangelical supporters, then, have chosen to see him not as a sinner but as a strongman, not as a con man but as a king who is courageously unshackling them from what they portray as liberal oppression."

I can recommend Annie Dunne by Sebastian Barry, Janet. I really enjoyed that one. I also read Days Without End, which I was less keen on. Looking at my old review of Days Without End, I felt that battle scenes of the the American Civil war and Indian Wars outweighed the excellent more personal story the book contained, and that was not so much for me. Others really loved Days Without End.

I really loved Longbourn by Jo Baker and if you have not read that already, I do recommend it highly.

Great review of Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump . I agree, I also have a very hard time understanding Evangelical friends , or indeed anyone, who supports Trump. The far right movement is scary one.

>75 streamsong: tough review, indeed.

I don't know of anyone who also supports President Trump who thinks of him as is described by this author.

It's reported that there are, but I don't believe everything I hear or read.

>76 vancouverdeb: Thanks for stopping by, Deborah and your thoughts on Sebastian Barry. I'll definitely add Annie Dunne to the list. It looks like he is a prolific writer. Have you read A Thousand Moons? The subject is interesting to me.

I really liked Longbourn, too. I think that is why I picked up The Midnight News. She's another author that I will have to revisit.

Thanks for the comments on Unholy. Politics in America are extremely troubled.

>77 fuzzi: Hi Lor. Unfortunately I do know someone whose church believes that Trump has been anointed by God and that he is one of the good harbingers of the End Times. She believes is so firmly that our fifty year friendship broke up as she is not willing to discuss any other point of view. It breaks my heart.

It's nice to know there are other viewpoints. Thank you for speaking up.

>79 streamsong: you're welcome. I dislike being shoved into a box as a "white evangelical".

Here in the South there are many, many independent Baptist churches, and they are truly "independent". Aside from God there's no hierarchy above the preacher/pastor, who is hired (or fired) by the congregation.

There are also many independent churches here in the west, without even the umbrella of being independent Baptist. One of the fast growing ones in the valley is the Cowboy Church which has no denominational affiliation.

I most dislike being shoved into the box "Democrats can't be Christians."

I read this for Paul’s July African challenge: Read a book by Achebe or Okri.

This was a reread for me. While I read the print version the first time, this time I listened to the audio book, which I enjoyed very much. Although I don't reread many books, I find if I read a print copy the first time, listening to the audio is an enjoyable way to reread.



74. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - 1958
- Reread/audiobook
- Paul's African Challenge - Global Reading: Nigeria
– library
-

Description: “Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political and religious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.”

Once again I was glad to reread this. The devastating changes to the African culture are only a footnote in the story of the European conquest of Africa. Nearly perfect.

>50 streamsong:-something - I"m adding Sissy: a coming of gender story to my list.

>67 streamsong: I tried The making of biblical womanhood: how the subjugation of women became gospel truth by Beth Allison Barr earlier this year, and got frustrated waiting for her to document the process instead of explaining her evangelical background and how it affected her thinking. I may pick it up again if I have someone to bounce ideas off. Is there a thread to discuss, or are we just commmenting in each others threads?

>83 markon: I'm glad you'll be reading Sissy. There's a sort of basic human rights that can be overlooked as other-must-be-wrong until one sees the human beneath.

>83 markon: I'd like it if you read along with The Making of Biblical Womanhood, but the group is an odd thing - not everyone is on LT so I don't know what the logistics will be. Karen (LT Karenmarie) mentioned it on her thread and I sort of wormed my way into it since I have met her friend Karen who is not on LT (gasp, gasp), but is a wonderful person anyway (!). So Karenmarie is the one you'll need to talk to about the logistics. Email group maybe? But we can always talk about it on our threads, as you say. I just received my book from the library yesterday, so I'll read the introduction today.

Wednesday night I heard Salish author and professor Debra Magpie Earling speak about her writing and her newest book, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel. I'm looking forward to reading this. And of course I bought a copy.

It's been twenty years since her wonderful debut novel Perma Red was published. Perma Red has also been re-released. I wish I had had my original pb of Perma Red with me for her to sign, but spaced out her talk until the last minute.

>85 streamsong: I've seen Perma Red around, Janet. I will try to get to it soonish. How lucky that you got to see her. The new novel sounds interesting.

>37 streamsong: I get to dodge that BB as I have already read that one.

>44 streamsong: That one sounds good. I will have to see if I can locate a copy. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Janet.

>47 streamsong: I am reading that one this month. I hope I enjoy it as much as you did.

>50 streamsong: Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed that read too!

>64 streamsong: I need to get that one read. Thank you again.

>70 streamsong: I have that one here to read. I just need to get to it!

>82 streamsong: I need to revisit that one at some point. It has been years since I read it.

Have a super Saturday, Janet!

>81 streamsong: people need to stop shoving other people into boxes.

😎😎😎

truth

>85 streamsong: Lots of good reading and you got me with The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel. Added to the TBR list.

>86 BLBera: Hi Beth - I need to reread Perma Red. I don't remember much about the plot except the overall feeling of sadness it left me. I'm looking forward to reading The Lost Journals of Sacajewea: A Novel.

Ms Earling said that while she was researching, a graduate student presented her with a never published book his (great?) grandfather had written as a trader in the (I think) Wind River Country about his dealings with Sacajewea as an elderly lady, contrary to reports that she had died in her twenties from fever. It had original letters and other documentation of her life. This manuscript has gone to a University Native center where it is being properly archived and studied. I don't know if or how much of this manuscript informed this new novel of hers. It will be fascinating to see how this historical treasure plays out.

>91 streamsong: wow! would love to know more about that! may need to check out the book

>87 alcottacre: Thank you Stasia, for all the comments! It's fun that we are enjoying many of the same books and that you got a book bullet or two!

I'm glad that I reread Things Fall Apart. I have never read the next two in the series and so had contemplated going onward, but chose to reread the first. Somehow, I'll have to work in No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God .

>88 fuzzi: >89 cindydavid4: Double thumbs up!

>90 witchyrichy: & >92 cindydavid4: Yes, I didn't take a notebook to while she was speaking. I wonder if I message her on FB if she would tell me where the manuscript is now housed.

Ah, the last of the July reviews!!!

I chose this one off my shelves with my commitment to read the first (book that I've had the longest) unread book that qualifies for the TIOLI challenges #1 and #2 each month. July Challenge #1 was to "Read a book whose author has a first name which is the same as that of someone in your family (Dorothy - Mom, SIL, aunt and my own middle name)"

I haven’t read many of the Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, but I do pick them up when I see them.

And in checking some of the details for my review (was it cyanide or arsenic that was used?), I came across the book titled The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton. And so that will soon be joining the black hole.



75. Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6) – Dorothy L Sayers - 1930
- Kindle
- ROOT#3 for month/#16 for year acq'd 2020


Lord Peter is one of a kind – rich, dashing, a society fixture, heart breaker, and a bit of a mother’s boy.

This is the first of the series where Harriet Vane appears. She’s a mystery writer, charged with poisoning her ex-fiance and (oh, scandalous in 1930!) live-in lover.

And of course, Harriet's been buying arsenic and experimenting with it a bit strictly for professional reasons and had gotten rid of it long before her ex-fiance fell ill.

But if she’s to be from being hanged for murder, Peter must do it as everyone else thinks she is guilty– and along the way he loses his heart.

Fun romp -

Well done Janet in passing 75 in July!

Thanks, Paul!

Now let's see if I can get a bit more caught up with my reviews!

>84 streamsong: Noted. I will drop in on KaenMaries thread. I snagged a copy of The making of Biblical womanhood by Barr from the library this morning.

>85 streamsong: The letters of Sacajawea sounds interesting, and I'm curious about the book her graduate student provided. If you get any more info, please share.

>96 streamsong: Ooh, that book about Sayers and her circle is going on my list!

Congrats on reading 75 books!

My current main read is a fantasy set in the Indian ocean in the 12th century called The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. I'm enjoying the swashbuckling lady pirate protagonist (djinn's, demons, magical creatures) but I'm totally captivated that her adventures are around the Indian Ocean as shown on this map.



Seeing the map of the world from this viewpoint is really intriguing. I am mesmerized by the descriptions and relationships of these ancient cities.

Sorry for the size of the map. I had no idea of physical relationship of many of these cities and wanted to show them.

>99 markon: Hi Ardene! I think we're talking most about an email group since not everyone is on LT. I've finished the first two chapters and am fascinated.

I DM'ed Debra Earling, but have no idea if she'll reply. She doesn't know me from Adam. :)

Ha! I gave you two bb's for books that I haven't yet read.

>100 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

>101 streamsong: lovely map!

Wow, great map! I love a map

Congratulations on 75 books, Janet!

>101 streamsong: Gorgeous map!

Congrats!

And yeah, that’s a gorgeous map.

>103 fuzzi: Lor, >104 norabelle414: >105Deborah and >106 drneutron: Jim I'm glad you all enjoyed the map! There is something about these wonderful cities being on connected sailing routes in the 12th century that have really caught my imagination.

The book itself is lagging a big for me - this sort of fantasy is not quite my thing and it's 450 pages long. I read a large chunk of it yesterday, and I wonder if the author is also feeling that she needs to wrap it up. She has set it up for several sequels.

Thanks also for the congrats on the 75th review!

>107 streamsong: I was really excited to try Chakraborty's trilogy a few years ago, beginning with The city of brass. Unfortunately I DNFd it. I can't remember why now - it was well written, but I couldn't get into it, even though I wanted to. And there are too many books calling my name.

This has been on MT TBR since 2016. It was one of the books suggested for the Book Girls July Southern Asia read, so even though a tough subject, I dusted it off and read it.

76. First They Killed My Father – Loung Ung - 2006
- Book Girls' Global Voyage: Southern Asia/ Global Reading: Cambodia
- ROOT acq'd 2016; Root #1 for August/#16 for year



Five year old Loung Ung’s life in Phnom Penh was almost perfect. Her father was an officer for the ruling regime and she and her family enjoyed a life of privilege.

Until the Khmer Rouge took over and their world was turned upside down. Everyone living in the cities was forced to go the country villages for agrarian work.

Even a hint of being a member of the previous regime was enough to doom one and one’s family to death. In addition, Loung’s mother was Chinese and and so the family fell under the Khmer Rouge's ethnic cleansing of non-Cambodians and their mixed children. After a hardship filled trek with little food and water, they arrived at a small village where an uncle lived and were taken in. As the revolution continued, the political situation changed from lionizing the Khmer Rouge to becoming a cult lionizing the brutal dictator, Pol Pot.

Being in a small village was not enough to save them, especially as the long time villages and the 'new people' were kept separately with the new people being treated more harshly. Eventually, the family's secret was betrayed and as the title says 'first they killed my father.'

Of the genocide itself, Wikipedia states “…Mass killings of perceived government opponents, coupled with malnutrition and poor medical care, killed between 1.5 and 2 million people, approximately a quarter of Cambodia's population…..”

Heartbreaking to read, this is an important look at a regime that was little known to the west when the genocide was occurring.

>108 markon: Hi Ardene! I can understand that. Although I'll finish The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, I probably won't look for more by Shannon Chakraborty. Unless, of course someone posts an absolute 5 star raving review. :)

>93 streamsong: I have never read the next two in the series either although I own the entire series, I am pretty sure. Maybe a project for 2024?

>96 streamsong: I am also a fan of the Lord Peter books.

>109 streamsong: Adding that one to the BlackHole.

>108 markon: ditto, tried twice to get past halfway. the beginning set up was excellent. there was just too many strings in the plot and too many names to remember

>111 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! That would be wonderful to go on with the Achebe series. It's so amazing to already be contemplating 2024 reads .....

Yay for Lord Peter! This is another series that I could happily read more.

I learned a lot from First They Killed My Father, but it was not an easy read - which is why it probably was on MT TBR for so long. Labsf39 just made this comment on my Global Reading thread about a similar title: "Have you ever read In the Shadow of the Banyan? It's a novel, but based on the author's experience. Her father was a minor prince (among many) and so her family was targeted. It's beautifully written, and hauntingly sad. Even wearing glasses could make you a target, because if you wore glasses you must be an intellectual. When I finished reading it, I immediately started over, something I never do."

So I may be reading that one, too. Eventually. When I can handle the trauma.

>96 streamsong: I'm currently reading my first Lord Peter Wimsey book... The Late Scholar, which is one of the books that Jill Paton Walsh wrote when she took up the character later (and it seems that it's late in the series). It's very enjoyable, and I love both his and Harriet's characters - I'll likely want to start over from the beginning. :)

>114 PlatinumWarlock: Hi Lavinia! I may join you in reading more of Lord Peter's adventures. I did not know Jill Patton Walsh had taken over the series. It looks like she finished one that Dorothy Sayers had started and then wrote three more under her name.

77. Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo” – Zora Neale Hurston - 2018
- audiobook
– library



I had been meaning to read more by Zora Neale Hurston since reading her memoir, Dust Tracks On a Road. This one is based on her very early series of anthropological interviews with Oluale Kossola (also known as Cudjo Lewis) Cudjo was the last slave to remember being captured in Africa, taken aboard a slave ship and sold into slavery in the US.

The introduction of the book gave quite a bit of background on a scandal regarding this work. After she published her original article, she was criticized for having plagiarized a book published in 1914 written by Emma Langdon Roche. She later revised her work and added more details of their friendship.

Nevertheless, I found this very interesting. I just wanted More – more of Cudjo’s experiences as a free African, and as a slave. However, I fully understand that Hurston could only write what was given to her by an elderly man.

I listened to the audiobook, which gave a fine representation of the rhythm and cadence of Cudjoe’s vernacular, which according to the Wikipedia article, was one of the reasons this book wasn’t published in Hurston’s lifetime.

****
This background, which I found as interesting as the book itself, is all from Wikipedia: ” Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" is a non-fiction work by Zora Neale Hurston. It is based on her interviews in 1927 with Oluale Kossola (also known as Cudjoe or Cudjo Lewis) who was presumed to be the last survivor of the Middle Passage. Two female survivors were subsequently recognized but Cudjoe continued to be identified as the last living person with clear memories of life in Africa before passage and enslavement.

“Hurston could not find a publisher for her manuscript during her lifetime, partly because she preserved Cudjoe Lewis's vernacular English in quoting him from their interviews and partly because she described the involvement of other African people in the business aspects of Atlantic slave trade. The manuscript, … remained unpublished until the 21st century. The full book Barracoon was published in 2018.”

A second Wikipedia entry about the slave boat:”The schooner Clotilda (often misspelled Clotilde) was the last known U.S. slave ship to bring captives from Africa to the United States, arriving at Mobile Bay, in autumn 1859 or on July 9, 1860, with 110 African men, women, and children. The ship was a two-masted schooner, 86 feet (26 m) long with a beam of 23 ft (7.0 m).

“U.S. involvement in the Atlantic slave trade had been banned by Congress through the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves enacted on March 2, 1807 (effective January 1, 1808), but the practice continued illegally, especially through slave traders based in New York in the 1850s and early 1860. In the case of the Clotilda, the voyage's sponsors were based in the South and planned to buy Africans in Whydah, Dahomey (now within the country of Benin). After the voyage, the ship was burned and scuttled in Mobile Bay in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

"After the Civil War, Olauale Kossola and thirty-one other formerly enslaved people founded Africatown on the north side of Mobile, Alabama. They were joined by other continental Africans and formed a community that continued to practice many of their West African traditions and Yoruba language for decades. ”

First They Killed My Father is a tough read, Janet, but so good. People who wonder why refugees leave their countries should read books like these.

I love Hurston but I haven't read this one.

>117 BLBera: Exactly, Beth! There are apparently two more books in the series, continuing her journey as a refugee in the United States. I can't imagine she had an easy time - I am tempted to go on.

Yay for Hurston

>116 streamsong: I have this but haven't read it... on the radar since The Last Slave Ship and a (Netflix?) documentary. I've been watching old episodes of Finding Your Roots, and one of the guests (I forget who) was traced back to the same ship and hadn't known.

>113 streamsong: Let me know if and when you want to read In the Shadow of the Banyan. I own it, but have not yet read it.

>116 streamsong: Dodging that BB as I have already read it.

Have a super Saturday, Janet!

>99 markon: Ardene, I heard back from Debra Magpie Earling after DM'ing her on FB. Either plans have changed, or I misunderstood, but she has the unpublished Sacajawea manuscript in her possession and will be doing some evaluation of it. Very exciting, and I thought that she was very gracious to reply.

>119 qebo: Hi Katherine! Thanks for all the interesting information. I was able to find the Finding Your Roots episode you mentioned. The man with the Clothilda ancestor was Questlove. I admit I had to look him up: From the net: - "He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought) for the hip hop band the Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014." I'm a fan of Jimmy Fallon, so that is why he looked familiar to me.

Here's the episode for anyone else interested: https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/watch/episodes/southern-roots

The Last Slave Ship sounds interesting. I've added it to the black hole.

>120 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I will probably read In the Shadow of the Banyan eventually, but not anytime soon.

I currently have nine checked out out of the library with another three waiting for me to pick them up. Several of them are new books, which means I can only have them for two weeks, so I have to prioritize them if I want to get them done before I send them back.

Like you, I tend to have four or five books going at a time. Right now I feel like I am drowning a bit - I may have to give up a few of the challenges I'm doing.

Woot!

For some odd reason Don McLean is playing a concert here in my small town in a few weeks. I was on the wait list for tickets and now have achieved one. I think American Pie was the first album that I knew the lyrics for every song. I was in high school at the time.

I enjoy mysteries. The only other book that I’ve read by Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers literally brought me to tears. So Makkai’s latest book, labelled a mystery, seemed right up my alley.



78. I Have Some Questions for You – Rebecca Makkai
- 2023
– library


Bodie Kane is a film professor and podcaster. She’s been invited to teach a short between-semesters enrichment class at her old prep school in New Hampshire. The school was predominantly for the upper class wealthy kids along with a few promising scholarship recipients.

Bodie was one of the scholarship recipients that never quite fit in. Her first semester she was randomly given beautiful, wealthy, popular Thalia Keith as a roommate. The two were never friends, never enemies and drifted apart when they were no longer roommates.

Nevertheless, Bodie was as shocked as everyone else when Thalia’s body was found in the swimming pool. It was made to look like an accident but was in fact murder. The swim coach, one of the few black men on campus, was charged, convicted and at this point served more than twenty years in prison.

For her class Bodie suggests students pick topics from the school’s history for their podcasts. She lists Thalia’s murder as a possible subject; one boy chooses it and eventually the whole class including Bodie herself are sucked in.

Was the right man imprisoned? This case has continued to be of great interest on the internet and various internet groups are working to get the coach freed and still examining and re-examining evidence.

This is not a typical murder mystery. I loved the fact that Makkai reminds us that, at bottom, all murders are alike; and that so many of them hit the news cycles and true crime newscasts that the details are blurred. It’s also a look into the casual racism that can convict a black man; and how even DNA evidence can point in odd direction. 4 stars

>124 streamsong: Sounds great! That whole album is fantastic.

Stopping by to say , hi, Janet. I can only read one book at a time , such is my limited brain. I've not read I Have Some Questions for you , but have read so many good things about in on LT. I own Shadow of the Banyan, but it's in the black hole for now. I seem to be on a read the booker Longlist thing right now . But I think after my current read I will read something non booker Long List. Time for a change.

>121 streamsong: Thanks for the update Janet. Meanwhile, I'm adding The lost journals of Sacajewea to my TBR.

Karen Marie and I have messaged each other about The making of Biblical womanhood, but not sure yet how/whether her friend Karen will participate.

>126 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! It's been a while since I've been to a concert like this.

>127 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! The Booker Long List looks great this year. There aren't many available here, but I do have a copy of A spell of good things waiting for me to pick it up at the library. I actually had it home earlier, but didn't get it read before I had to return it. I'm trying very hard not to order Prophet Song through Amazon. I know you loved that one.

>91 streamsong: >95 streamsong: Fascinating! There definitely is controversy related to Sacajewea's death although there seems much more evidence pointing to the earlier date. A primary source document would be interesting indeed! I was surprised to find this draft of an article from 1961 that references controversy in the 1920s. I was only able to read the first couple paragraphs.

>124 streamsong: And enjoy the Don McLean concert! He is a favorite of mine, especially Starry Starry Night. My first car didn't have a tape player so I carried a tape deck with me for road trips and almost always started with American Pie. Lovely memories. Thanks for that.

>128 markon: Hi Ardene! It will be fascinating to see what happens with the unpublished Sacajawea manuscript.

In the meantime, one of the five books I'm reading is The Making of Biblical Womanhood. I'm on chapter three and finding it amazing.

>130 witchyrichy: Hi Karen! Yes! This manuscript contends that she did not die of fever in her late twenties (?), but that the writer knew her as an elderly woman. Apparently it has some documentation - letters, etc- with it.

Don McLean's Starry Starry Night was the reason I fell in love with all things Van Gogh. (including my favorite Dr Who episode. clips from it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPk0pPJPWM )

I love Starry Night with Tardis.

>132 streamsong: I have two friends who separately named their sons Vincent because of that song

>133 The_Hibernator: Rachel, >134 cindydavid4: Cindy This is why I love the 75. You guys are my tribe!

Well, I just ordered The Bee Sting in light of the Booker Short List, Janet. Are you going to order Prophet Song? I wish the books were more readily available, especially from the library.

>136 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! I saw the Booker short list and agree that The Bee Sting sounds intriguing. I probably won't be ordering Prophet Song for a while since I have such a backlog of library books home right now. Maybe by the time I finish some of these, they will be more available in libraries.

I just finished Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Hmm. I really liked parts of it anyway. Interesting premise and very different from The Luminaries.

And I've started a Danish thriller, The Tenant by Katrine Egberg. It's a bit graphic for my taste but I like the Danish flavor to it.

79. The Conference of the Birds – Peter Sis - 2011
- Global Reading: Czech author, Turkish poem
- illustrated book
– library
When I did my review for Bird Summons in April, I commented that I had not realized that the hoopoe was a real bird until I googled it and found a photograph to share.

Lisa (Labsf39) told me about the Persian poem The Conference of the Birds (which I was also unfamiliar with – there is sooooooo much I don’t know it is astounding!) and this wonderful Peter Sis retelling of it.



Beautiful retelling with beautiful illustrations.



I'm just going to use the Amazon description, since I feel I don't have any comments of my own.

Amazon description: “Celebrated children's book author and illustrator Peter Sís creates his first book for adults, a beautiful and uplifting adaptation of the classic twelfth-century Sufi epic poem, The Conference of the Birds.

"In The Conference of the Birds Caldecott Honor-winning children's book author and illustrator Peter Sís breathes new life into this foundational Sufi poem, revealing its profound lessons.

"Sís's deeply felt adaptation tells the story of an epic flight of birds in search of the true king, Simorgh. Drawn from all species, the band of birds is led by the hoopoe. He promises that the voyage to the mountain of Kaf, where Simorgh lives, will be perilous and many birds resist, afraid of what they might encounter. Others perish during the passage through the seven valleys: quest, love, understanding, friendship, unity, amazement, and death.

"Those that continue reach the mountain to learn that Simorgh the king is, in fact, each of them and all of them."

Oh I read that book and loved it. should look to see what else he has written. his illustrations remind m e of old school childrens illustrations back at the turn of the last centure, just jaw dropping

The Peter Sis book looks lovely, Janet. I will look for it.

>139 streamsong: I have three of his books: The Tree of Life, Starry Messenger, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, all read in in 2012 so my memory has faded but of course what stands out are the illustrations.

Hi Janet!

I really need to get back to Ardene – the book sale is finished and I’m just getting over the extra tiredness that went with 3 full day at the book sale. I did score some great books and met atozgrl.

>114 PlatinumWarlock: and >115 streamsong: The first book about Peter Wimsey, by Dorothy L. Sayers, is Whose Body?. Yes, Walsh took over the series, and I’ve read those too.

>116 streamsong: Oh, I’m so glad you read this one! I read it in January of 2019 and was absolutely stunned by it.

>124 streamsong: Don McLean in your small town in rural Montana. Fantastic.

>125 streamsong: On my shelves, one of hundreds, that I need to read sooner than later.

>128 markon: Hi Ardene! I will be in touch later this week re The Making of Biblical Womanhood. I’m speaking with Karen tonight because we chat 2-3 nights a week anyway, and I’ll try to remember to discuss this with her.

>140 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! It's a beautiful book. I might try to find myself a copy for my book hoard library.

>141 BLBera: Hi Beth - I hope you find it and enjoy it.

>142 qebo: Hi Katherine! I haven't read any other by Peter Sis. I guess I should look for more As you say, the illustrations are wonderful!

>143 karenmarie: Hi Karen! It's amazing how our bounce backability doesn't quite bounce back as quickly. I'm glad the book sale went well - dodging hurricanes and all.

>144 streamsong: / >143 karenmarie: Barracoon was eye opening for me.

About two weeks until Don McLean on October 7th!

80. Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus – 2022
- Newcomer's Book Club
- purch 2023




Elizabeth wasn’t able to finish her chemistry degree in the early 1950’s because, as she was working late one night, her professor raped her. She stabbed him with a pencil and was told by the campus police she should be remorseful for doing so.

Without a degree, she instead took a low level job as a helper in a well known lab – eventually coming to the notice of Calvin, a star scientists there.

Calvin appreciated Elizabeth’s brain and, even though she hadn’t secured a degree, unexpectedly and improbably gave her space to work on her ideas in his lab. Eventually, they fell in love and lived together (oh scandalous!). When Calivn died in a freak accident, Elizabeth was removed from her lab position almost immediately due to the jealousy her position had precipitated and the fact that she found out she was pregnant soon after Calvin’s death (oh more scandal!).

As a single mom, she had to have a job. No chemistry lab would accept her lack of credentials, but as an attractive woman, she was offered a job as the hostess of a cooking show. However, much to the sponsors’ and TV station’s dismay, it became a cooking show like no other. She determined to teach good made-from-scratch nutrition, chemistry and self-esteem to the women watching it – while at the same time running her own chemistry lab out of her kitchen.

The story was humorous and often improbable, while still bringing forth serious subjects. I liked Elizabeth’s character and the fact that she became an unstoppable force.

Women have come significantly farther than 1950’s and early 1960’s, but women scientists and other working women will still recognize many of the unfortunately-all-too-often scenarios occurring today. And trigger warning – besides rape there is also a gay character’s suicide.

I think I got this suggestion from Donna. She had only given it a middling rating, but I thought I might like it more – forest workers, trees, a struggling library and a bit of magic – it sounded right up my alley.

81. Harry’s Trees – Jon Cohen - 2019
- library




Harry was a government forest worker. He had long wanted to quit his pencil-pushing job and begin his own nursery. While his wife encouraged his dream, Harry wanted to have a large nest egg before beginning: the type of nest egg that could only come from winning the lottery.

And he did win the lottery – unfortunately as his beloved wife stood outside the store while he was buying the ticket, she was killed in a freak accident.

Heartbroken, Harry headed to the forest to kill himself. He was saved by a precocious young girl, also grieving her father’s death.

There’s a town library with a heroic elderly librarian struggling to keep it open. There’s a mysterious hand-written book about a grum, a troll-like creature sitting on a pile of gold. There is an evil, entitled brother, and of course the little girl’s lovely grieving mother.

Harry and the girl devise a plan to take the curse off the money (which Harry no longer wants).

It’s saccharine and mostly predictable and until about three quarters of the way through I wondered if I would finish it. But then the characters took hold, a bit of magic happened and I was interested, although never quite charmed by this modern fairy tale.

Lots of promise, not quite realized.

>138 streamsong: I really enjoyed The Luminaries although I had a sense I missed a lot of connections, especially the astrology part. I was looking at Birnham Wood but may wait for now as the TBR list seems very long.

>146 streamsong: I loved Lessons in Chemistry! It was recommended to me by my 88-year-old mother.

Hi Karen - Birnam Wood was good, but very different. The ending is still leaving me thinking about it - as well as pondering the fallout from real world billionaires who can do whatever they want.

What a privilege to be able to share books with your mom! I miss my mom dearly, but she and I had very different tastes in books.

This is a tbr oldie that’s been sitting unread on my shelf since 2006. I chose to read it as part of my self-challenge to read the earliest cataloged TBR book that fits TIOLI challenge #1. This was for the May TIOLI #1 - Read a book with a ten-letter (or more) in the title, subtitle, or author’s name.

82. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life – Jon Kabat Zinn - 1994
- ROOT acq'd 2006 - ROOT#2 for August/#17 for year




This was published in 1994 and so rather than feeling revolutionary, the concepts seem well known. I guess that means it has become a classic and that its influence is huge, spawning many more books and literature on the subject.

It is still a useful book for those wanting to learn how to calm their minds and live in the present moment. The chapters are short and are often followed by an exercise so it is not a quick read.

For me, one of the largest take-away from this book is that meditation should be practiced daily. It is sometimes used as a crises management technique, but it is most effective when one has become familiar and adept at the practice.

Meditation as presented in this book is secular, although it also can be and has been modified into whatever religious practice you choose – ie Christian or Buddhist meditation.

>147 streamsong: I can’t remember what I wrote about Harry’s Trees but “Lots of promise, not quite realized” sums it up quite nicely. Still, I’m glad I read it.

I also agree with your thoughts on Lessons in Chemistry.

I’m envious that you will get to see Don McLean in person. My daughter and I went to the VanGogh Immersive Exhibit in Kansas City a few years ago. I played Starry Starry Night from my favorites on the car radio and she was blown away as she had never heard the song. I obviously failed as a mother in her earlier years. :-)

>149 streamsong: I still miss my dad after 40 years - he was an avid reader and we talked books all the time as a kid and teen. would have l oved to know what he thought of some of what I read. Mom read but totally different from me, and was always telling me to stop reading so much and to do something real

>151 Donna828: Hi Donna! Thanks for stopping by. I'm also glad I read Harry's Trees, but would only guardedly recommend it .

Everyone in my book club enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry. As someone who worked in both hospital and research labs, I enjoyed it too - even the improbable parts.

The Don McLean concert is this upcoming Saturday: T -6 days. Yay for Starry Night!

>152 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Both my parents are gone, and I miss them both dearly. Dad would have a pile of books in his closet that Mom didn't think it was OK for kids to read - not porn but vioent true things like Night of the Grizzly, Vigilates of Montana and Helter Skelter. Of course I sneaked them out and read them all. Dad also loved classics and had been an English major. Mom always loved lighter fiction. Catherine Cookson was a favorite of hers and I have read many that she handed on to me.

SEPTEMBER ROUNDUP: 9 Books Read (0 Reviews done)

Best Fiction:Birnam Wood - Eleanor Catton
Best Nonfiction: Apples Are From Kazakhstan- Christopher Robbins

This is one of the few months that I have read more male authors (5) than female authors(4)

✅96. Apples Are From Kazakhstan- Christopher Robbins - 2008 - Book Girls' World Tour/Central Asia - library
95. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury - 1962 - Library Brown Bag Bookclub - Reread - library
94. The Tenant - Katrine Engberg - 2016 - Global Reading: Denmark - library
✅93. Birnam Wood - Eleanor Catton - 2023 - library - Global Reading: New Zealand - library
92. Stone Maidens - Lloyd Devereux Richards - 2012 - Kindle
91. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty - 2023 - library
90. Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam - 2020 - library
89. Of Water and the Spirit - Malidoma Patrice Some - 1994 - African Francophone Challenge & Global Challenge - Burkina Faso - ROOT #1 for month/ #20 for year acq'd 2007
88. The Midnight News - Jo Baker - Global Reading - England - 2023 - library

1 -Total ROOTS read (acquired before 2023)
0 - Books read that were Acq'd in 2023)

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED
1 - 2007
8 - library


FORMAT
9 - Print

GENRE

-7 - FICTION (may fit into more than one category)
1 - 1001
1 - Classic
2 - Crime/thriller/mystery
1 - Dystopia
1 - Global Fiction
1 - Horror
1 - Historical Fantasy
1 - World War II

- 2 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
2 - Global Reading
1 - Spirituality
1 - Travel

- - Children's Illustrated

Original Publication Date
1 - 1962
1 - 1994
1 - 2008
1 - 2012
1 - 2016
1 - 2020
3 - 2023

- 4 - female authors
- 5 - male authors
- - combination of male and female authors

7 - Authors who are new to me
2 - Authors read before

1 - Rereads

Countries Visited
1 - Burkina Faso
1 - Denmark
1 - England
1 - Kazakhstan
1 - New Zealand

Happy October!

Uh oh. Instead of working on selling a few of the younger horses, I bought this mare instead. She's pictured with her this year's foal, but the foal was sold before the auction.

She's a black leopard, named Dressed in Black (I call her Dibs) with bloodlines which will complement my stallion's lines. She is probably in foal for next year - but has not yet been vet checked to confirm. I will wait until she's done ten days of quarantine here at my place to make sure she hasn't picked up any nasties from the auction where she was sold before hauling her to the vet to check her out.

The story is that her elderly well-known Idaho breeder sold a package of his good (but unbroke) broodmares at a very reasonable price to a guy he thought wanted to breed Appaloosas. Instead, the guy was a flipper - hauled them to an auction in Billings where, without any advertising and with the mares not trained to ride, he still would have made money selling them as meat horses. Although it is not legal to process horse meat in the U.S., it is legal to transport them to Canada or Mexico - and we are less than a day's drive to the closest Canadian plant.

A friend worked very hard, getting the word out, and getting these mares into safe homes.

>157 streamsong: oh my thats awful! glad you have her now

Thanks, Cindy. I have many concerns about what climate change will do the lives of horses whose owners can no longer keep them. I fear that in the next few years there will be more and more 'excess' horses.

Hooray! Even though I am still so far behind that I am working on August reviews, at least I am reviewing books that I was reading at the beginning of this thread.

This was the choice for my library's book club. It was definitely the best non-fiction that I read in August and led to a very animated discussion.

More quotes than review - I think Ms Ressa is eloquent in describing her experiences

✅83. How to Stand Up to a Dictator – Maria Ressa - 2022
- Library Brown Bag Book Club
– Global Reading: Philippines
– library



Maria Ressa was born in the Philippines, but as a girl emigrated with her mother to the U.S. After attending Princeton, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study the effects of theater on Philippine politics.

There she discovered her passion for news and politics and worked her way up to the CNN bureau chief in Manilla.

As she says “The more I reported, the more I could see how every major al-Qaeda plot from 1993 to 2003 had some link to the Philippines, the United States’ former colony, from the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa to the JW Marriott Hotel attack in Jakarta in 2003.”p 76

She was intrigued by the emergence of social media and saw that it could be a force for good – spreading factual news information at lightning speed. Unfortunately, the converse was also true:

“The two biggest stories of my career had to do with the Philippines as the testing ground of two menaces threatening the United States and the world in the Twenty first century: Islamic terrorism and information warfare on social media.” P 76

“Later I would learn how extremism and radicalization could spread through social networks like a virus. Social network theory offered the Three Degrees of Influence Rule, a theory first posited by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler in 2007. Their work showed that everything we say or do ripples through our social network, creating an impact on our friends (one degree), our friends’ friends (two degrees) and even our friends’ friends’ friends (three degrees). If you’re feeling lonely,(which you might assume spreads the least), there’s a 25 percent chance that your friend’s friend will feel lonely and a 15 percent chance that your friend’s friend’s friend will feel lonely. Emotions such as happiness and hope, as well as smoking, sexual diseases, and even obesity, can be traced and spread through social networks.” P77

She and three fellow women journalists started an internet news platform called Rappler in 2012. It won multiple journalism awards but soon became the target of President Rodrigo Duterte known for his extremely brutal regime. Rappler, Ressa and the journalists working there became the targets of harassment, threats, and arrest. Ressa wrote “For me, it’s about two things: abuse of power and the weaponization of the law,” I told the assembled reporters. …..”This isn’t just about me, and it’s not just about Rappler. The message that the government is sending is very clear and someone actually told our reporter this last night: ‘Be silent, or you’re next!” p201

“I guess to a lying government, a journalist is a terrorist, setting off bombs that blow up their lies.” P 206

Ressa was included in Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year; she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.

This is an articulate and yes, scary, memoir. Tactics such as declaring journalists enemies of the people and labeling verifiable facts as ;fake news’ are prominent tactics in many countries where democracy is being undermined. Sadly, they are not uncommon tactics in the US today.

Hi Janet!

>146 streamsong: I’m glad you liked Lessons in Chemistry – I loved it. I was able to suspend disbelief over the most improbable parts, treating it as a combination of feminist and fantasy fiction.

>149 streamsong: I have Birnam Wood on my groaning TBR shelves, just waiting for the right time.

>157 streamsong: Way to go! Another mare. She’s gorgeous. Dibs is a great name, acquiring her was a blessing for her and you.

>157 streamsong: I bought this mare instead
Beautiful! What a distressing backstory though.
>160 streamsong: Maria Ressa
I remember hearing her interviewed... here: https://crooked.com/podcast/standing-up-to-autocrats-and-royals/ .

>146 streamsong: I liked that one quite a bit too.

>147 streamsong: Too bad that one falls short.

>155 streamsong: Nice roundup!

>157 streamsong: I am not a horse fan, but the thought of those beautiful animals being slaughtered for meat just makes me ill. Good on your friend for getting the word out and congratulations to you on your new acquisition. I hope that everything works out for Dibs.

>161 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm glad you enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry, too. In fact, I haven't spoken to anyone from our bookclub or beyond that didn't like it - a very rare phenomena. I did notice one small bit about DNA testing which was impossible, but it certainly didn't spoil my read and I can't even remember the particulars anymore.

I hope you enjoy Birnam Wood when you get to it!

>161 karenmarie: >162 qebo: >163 alcottacre: Karen, Katherine, and Stasia - I hope Dibs will be a blessing. I need to spend more time gentling her. I don't think she's been handled much and she is currently avoiding contact. She can't go out with the other horses until I can catch her easily. I'll have to think about starting her under saddle, since I believe all broodmares need a 'second string to their bow' for when they are no longer broodmares.

>162 qebo: Thanks, Katherine! You always post the neatest auxiliary information! I will definitely listen to that interview.

>163 alcottacre: Thanks for the comments, Stasia! The Canadian horse processing plants at least have humane practices - the Mexican ones have brutal stories which I tend to believe, although I don't really know,

>165 streamsong: I am not sure how a practice can be "humane" when you are killing an animal. . .that is the vegetarian in me talking :)

Im not a veggie but I totally agree

Perhaps I should have said 'more' humane. The Mexican places are unregulated nightmares.

But you're both right - no horse should end up in either place.

>168 streamsong: Even though I am not a fan of horses, I can definitely agree with "no horse should end up in either place."

Have a wonderful weekend, Janet!

>157 streamsong: Glad Dibs found a home with you, Janet.

Does your foal have a name yet, or did I miss it?

>160 streamsong: I will definitely add this memoir to my WL, Janet.

What a beautiful horse. I'm glad it found a home with you.

>169 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia!

>170 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita! I'm having fun taming her down a bit so she becomes more easily caught and handled before turning her out with the other mares.

Hmm. The colt's name. Playing with his sire's name Truly a Cool Breeze, and his dam Skippa Dew Dandy, I was coming up with something like Never Skippa Blizzard. Or maybe 'Red White and True' for his color (most of his siblings have True or Truly in their names). I've been trying to call him Blizzard for a barn name, but it keeps sliding over to Wizard instead (Never Skippa Wizard?). So. hmm. I need to get photographs and his registration papers sent in soon, so I can't keep putting off the name.

>171 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. It's not an easy read, but one that made me grow.

Son and brother both think I have turned into the crazy cat lady with horses instead.

****
Looks like I will finally be getting my hay this afternoon! I have been so stressed since the supplier I've used for several years has been putting me off and putting me off since mid-August - and being a bit of a misogynistic bully about it.

Now I have a new supplier who instead of acting like a 30T order is a pain in the a**, is treating me like a valuable customer. It's truly the biggest purchase I make every year - two years of hay would equal a (smallish) new car. It took my son in Florida offering to have a friend come talk to Mr Misogynist that snapped me out of the victim mode and become pro-active looking for a new source.

I'm always looking for new mystery/detective series to lighten my reading. Several of youse have mentioned this series. I like the outdoors/nature setting and the inclusion of Native Americans. There are about nineteen more for me to go .....



84. Iron Lake - William Kent Krueger - 2009
- Cork O'Connor #1
- library


Northern Minnesota. Cork O’Connor, part Native Anishinaabe and part French, was the sheriff in a county abutting the Anishaabe reservation. He was proud of being the face of justice for both his worlds, until one day, in a dispute over Native Fishing rights, tragedy happened.

It left Cork broken and disrespected by both factions. Deeply depressed, the sheriff job slipped away as did his marriage.

Now his life is coming back together. He’s found a wonderful woman, and even though he doesn’t like his ex-wife’s politically ambitious boyfriend, the ex’s are able to cooperate for the kids.

Then a blizzard hits, and a native boy disappears delivering newspapers. In looking for him, Cork finds a murdered (suicide victim?) judge at the boy’s last stop. No one else seems to think the coincidence is suspicious but the boy remains missing. Rumor says that the boy and his father have disappeared into the nearby Reservation.

I liked the characters – both white and Native American. I also enjoyed that the woods and lakes of Minnesota and the Reservation also are wonderful, unique settings. I’ll be returning to this series.

I came late to Jane Austen. And although, I have read her main books, I did not know much of her life story, so I picked this one up at a library sale in 2013. It sat unread for ten years until my current ROOTS-reading TIOLI challenge forced me to pick the oldest on my TBR which fit the challenge: A character name in the title sharing a character's name from a Shakespeare play (Cassandra)

❤️85. My Dear Cassandra - Jane Austen - 1990
- ROOT #3 for August - #19 for year - acq'd 2013




These are letters written by Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra. If you are an Austen fan, you’ll enjoy the small niceties of Ms Austen’s life.

The true highlight of this book is the illustration. Each location, each subject broached, has wonderful drawings, paintings and etchings, done by artists contemporaneous with the text. If Jane describes a view, there is likely a full color painting of it. If she describes a ball, there are drawings of the fashion and correct methods (German and French) of waltzing.

This is one that I will keep in my library - it has really made the Regency period come alive for me!




Chawton Bookstore

>173 streamsong: Dodging that BB, Janet, as I have already read it. I need to return to the series at some point though.

>174 streamsong: I will have to check that one out. I read through all of Austen's novels last year, but never came across that book. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Janet!

saw a used copy of death comes to pemberly thought about getting it.
any feedback? I have read PD james, but not this one

>175 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! Yes, as there are 20 or so books in the series, I imagine many people have read this one!

I hope you find a copy of Dear Cassandra or, as it has been renamed The Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen. If a publisher is going to rename a book, you'd think they would choose something with a more appealing title!

>176 cindydavid4: Hi Cindy! Yes, I read Death Comes to Pemberley several years ago. But when you brought it up, I knew I had read it, but couldn't remember the plot until I had read my review. That's never a good sign. I gave it 3.5 stars, but it's average rating here on LT is 3 stars, so I think I would give it a miss, especially since there are so many wonderful books out there.

I received this recommendation from Linda (Whisper1) and thought it would fit right in with my global reading. Without Linda's input, I would never have realized the joy children's books can bring.

❤️86. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal - Paul Fleischman - ill Julie Paschiki - 2007
– library




“Author’s Note”

"A chameleon changes color to match its surroundings. Stories do the same. The earliest recorded Cinderella tale is thought to date from ninth-century China. Traveling across the glove, it changed its clothes but not its essence. Rivalry, injustice and the dream of wrongs righted are universal, no matter our garments. When the story reached France, it acquired the glass slippers and coachmen-mice familiar to Western readers. More than a thousand other versions are known. I pictured a book that would let us listen in on the tale-tellers we don’t often hear, who’ve breathed this story to life around fires of peat and pinon pine, swinging in hammocks and snuggling under deerskins.”

Beautifully illustrated children’s book with each sentence of the familiar Cinderella story told in multiple ways, reflecting the culture from which each version sprung.

Lovely – highly recommended!

>177 streamsong: gotcha, thanks

Hm. Just checked your distance from Pocatello, where I plan to visit a friend in November. I think it's too far to drop in, alas.

>179 cindydavid4: Anytime, Cindy. As always, though YMMV.

>180 ffortsa: Hi Judy, so close and yet so far. Especially as you can't count on the roads in November - they may be absolutely blue bird weather fine or snowy. I would love to do a meet up!

>181 streamsong: I keep hoping to get to Yellowstone, which is, I think, closer to you. There are several tours in the winter, but Jim is concerned about the cold and the exertion. We may yet. I'll let you know.

>178 streamsong: That is beautiful, Janet.

If you liked Iron Lake, you will probably like this series because that was one of my least favorites. I must be up to # 10 by now... Which reminds me, maybe time to find another. Lately, I've been listening to them. They are good audiobooks.

>182 ffortsa: It's a bit closer, plus there is always the park at the end of the drive - which is a wonderful draw for me to come that way.

It can be very cold in Yellowstone in the winter. When Mrs & DrNeutron visited a few years ago it was -20. But it's very beautiful. I went several years ago with a very active group and was able to keep myself totally entertained with just short walks and snowshoes. And a guided snowcoach ride into Old Faithful is not to be missed. There are also dogsled and snowmobile tours which not be strenuous.



Jim would probably have more comments on things his group did.

>177 streamsong: If a publisher is going to rename a book, you'd think they would choose something with a more appealing title! Yeah, I agree.

>178 streamsong: Too bad my local library does not have that one. It looks lovely.

>183 BLBera: Hi Beth! Yes I was really glad to have discovered Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal on Linda's thread. She has really opened my eyes to the beauty of illustrated children's books.

I'm glad you are continuing to enjoy the Cork O'Connor series. The first book or three are often the weakest in a series. And then, sometimes it peaks and the author gets formulaic, which is also disappointing.

There were things I didn't appreciate in the book killing off Molly, a character I liked, can put me off a series but I loved the setting both on and off the Res.

I always have trouble listening to mysteries. I think I only pay attention with half my brain and often have to skip backward to re-listen to relevant parts.

>185 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I like this one well enough that even with my so-called buying moratorium (I've **only** acquired about 30 books so far this year), I may buy a copy to have on hand. Oh, well, childrens' books like this are very thin and don't require much space.

I think it would make a lovely gift for a little girl in the "Disney Princess" stage of life.

>187 streamsong: Yeah, I think your moratorium should not apply to children's books, Janet, as long as you do not go overboard!

>186 streamsong: Yes, when listening to mysteries, I sometimes do have to rewind. :)

I was thinking of restarting the Cork O'Connor books, as I was enjoying them a long time ago. But I have a lot of series to read, and I'm slow.

Hi, Janet. Jeez, I’ve fallen way behind. My Dear Cassandra (The Illustrated Letters. . .) sounds irresistible. I’m a big Austen fan. I’ll add it to my holiday wishlist.

>184 streamsong: Thanks for the info! My Jim (magician's assistant) was worried about the cold, and your info confirms that could be a problem. We are not really experienced with anything like that cold.

But we do want to get there. Spring, maybe. Just not summer, where it will feel like the traffic heading to the Holland Tunnel in NYC.

>188 alcottacre: Stasia, 'as long as you do not go overboard' - you do know that you are talking to someone with a physical TBR mountain of 538 books (I'm sure there are a few more uncatalogued) and 11 horses .... :)

>189 BLBera: Beth, nonfiction works much better for me to listen. I'm currently finishing up listening to the fictional The Diamond Eye which I had started several months ago for one of my book clubs. I think my next audio will be an audio of The Sixth Extinction. I'm reading an LTER book called Solving the Climate Crisis: A Community Guide to Solving the Biggest Problem On the Planet and it has mentioned the problem of biodiversity several times.

>190 The_Hibernator: Hi Rachel! Thanks for your visit! Ah, you'll have more time as the kids' grow. Enjoy every minute of them. The books will wait patiently.

>191 jnwelch: I'm embarrassingly behind too, Joe, so thank you so much for stopping in. I hope you enjoy My Dear Cassandra when you get a copy - it puts pressure on me that you've put it on your Christmas list since Christmas books should be very special, indeed.

>192 ffortsa: Spring is beautiful with all the baby animals - fawns, and elk calves and bison red dogs. Before schools get out there is less traffic, the same as in the fall when most schools have started. Snow comes early, though, and my friend who lives and works in Yellowstone has been posting snow pictures for the last few weeks.

My **worst** trip through Yellowstone was when I went to Jackson Hole to see the total solar eclipse a few years ago. I decided to go home through Yellowstone and it was absolutely bumper to bumper parking lot the whole way through. However, most people were just driving the roads, so the short hikes/walks I went on were still beautiful.

Last night I finished Elizabeth Acevedo's first adult novel Family Lore. I loved her YA books and really looked forward to this one.

I've had 5 years of Latin and a year of Spanish so I can guess by roots or context what most Spanish phrases mean. But I found the Dominican phrases are often unique and I really struggled as there were words or phrases on almost every page that I guessed at or had to Google.

Here are my 'look ups' for a few pages of Flor's story of an encounter with a mountain boa as a child. p 295 -300

- “stirring an asopao” obviously some kind of cooking. Definition: traditional Dominican stew
- “wood pieces out of the fogon” my guess woodbox – Definition: the hearth or fireplace. This one was actually the opposite of what I thought she was doing ie adding more wood so it would continue to cook while she looked for her sister versus taking out wood so it wouldn’t overcook.
- “She walked past the old conucos” - my guess gardens – actually clearings from jungle/dense growth
- “very few descendants of the Taino or Arawak Indio” this was interesting to look up
- “!Fuacata!’ – my guess Fuc* ; actually a DR exclamation meaning the sound of a strike with the back of a hand. I am really glad I looked this one up.
- “cutting plaintains for tostones” although this one had more clues I imagined something bread-like as she described frying it instead of the definition of double fried plaintains.

Some phrases cannot translate p 303 – explaining differences in speech accents: “A person from El Cibao drops most s’s and substitutes some r’s and l’s for i. !Poi Dio que si! “ p 303

Have you ever read a book with so many unknown phrases? Did you look them up or just drive on? The story was so much richer when I looked them up - but it definitely slowed me down (ten days to read it)

Oh hooray! The last of the August reviews:



87. Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng - 2019
- acq'd 2023


This book begins at the ending: Mia and her daughter Pearl have fled; teenager Izzy Richardson has set multiple arson fires in her family home. And so the story unfolds:

Elena Richardson appears to have the perfect life. She lives with her husband and four children in an upscale, tightly regulated suburb of an Ohio town. The kids all attend prestigious schools and have their lives mapped out for success. All that is except the youngest daughter, Izzy, who is a bit of a concern.

Then Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl rent a small house owned by Elena. Mia is the antithesis of everything Elena embraces. Mia is a photographic artist, staying in one place only until a project is completed and then moves on. She has no wish to have the regulated lifestyle Elena embraces.

Youngest Richardson daughter Izzy is drawn to the Bohemian lifestyle of Mia and Pearl. Mia, becomes a very part time housekeeper to the Richardsons. Mia, Pearl and the Richardson children become entwined.

With two such opposite families, ‘the center cannot hold’ as the poet says. Eventually they find themselves on opposite sides of a community controversy involving the adoption of Asian American baby. And one of the Richardson daughters needs help in a way she cannot possibly turn to her mother.

Elena Richardson believes the way to put her family back together again is to find out what secrets Mia Warren is hiding – what drives her to pick up and disappear again and again.

The characters are wonderfully realized. Ms Ng sympathetically reveals both sides of various controversies and why characters act and react the way they do.

I really enjoyed this novel. I can’t help wondering, though, if this falls into a ‘women’s lit’ category. All of the major themes – the fierceness of motherhood, children, pregnancy, surrogacy, abortion, young love, and even what one reviewer calls ‘the tendency of women to police each other’- while certainly involving men, are of more interest to women. I’d love to see some reviews by men and how they felt about this story.

This was the first I have read by Celeste Ng; I am interested in reading more.

Seven (!) books in progress right now. A bit too heavy on the non-fiction, which is perhaps why I'm lagging in picking up books to read.


Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate for Wednesday's book club. A story of children stolen and designated orphans, and sold into families wanting to adopt. More engaging than I thought it would be.


Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe - Kapka Kassabova - travel to the border area between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. Reading for the 'Black Sea' challenge in Reading Globally group.


The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became the Gospel Truth - Beth Allison Barr - interesting look at the non-Biblicalness (how's that for a made up word?) of women being subordinate to men.


Fire on the Rim: A Firefighter's Season at the Grand Canyon - Stephen J Pyne reading as a TIOLI ROOT; With a last name of Pyne, how could he be anything other than a forrestor?


More Tracks - Howard Copenhaver - life as a Montana outfitter - another TIOLI ROOT


The Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn - had started for a book club several months ago but set aside when I needed a break from the carnage. Finishing up on audio.


Solving the Climate Crisis: A Community Guide to Solving the Biggest Problem On the Planet - Palmer Owyoung - the first LTER book that I've read in a long time. Very well documented and easy to understand

I did not write down from whom I received this recommendation, but I see several of my 75’er friends have read this. I had previously read Jo Baker’s Longbourn which was a pleasant, easy read so I thought this one would fit the bill.

I read this at the beginning of September when the protagonist’s situation reminded me of those under threat in Ukraine. Now in mid-October as I write my thoughts, we have an even more extreme example with the Israelis and the Palestinians living in terror and grief. What will that do this upcoming generation in the Middle East?



88. The Midnight News – Jo Baker - 2023
– library
- 3.7 stars

It’s 1940 in London and Hitler’s blitz has begun; the bombs are falling. Although Charlotte’s father is a man of means and power, Charlotte is estranged from her family and has chosen to live in a small lower-middle-class apartment by herself while working as a typist in a job as menial as her flat.

She’s mourning the one family member she was close to – a brother killed in France whom she thinks about every day.

Still, she is enjoying her independence and making her own way; she’s enjoying old friendships and making new ones.

Her unease increases when her best friend is killed in a raid – especially as the family is being less than forthright about how it happened and she finds out she died without a mark on her body. Shortly afterward, three other women Charlotte knows, including her beloved and quirky godmother, also die. Can someone be targeting the people around her? Is there more death than that what Hitler causes? She begins talking to the dead women in her mind … and also spots a mysterious man who seems to be tailing her.

There are lots of twists and turns. The reason she is estranged from her family is shocking and adds to the mystery of what exactly is happening.

This is a unique portrait of London during the Blitz, illustrating a mind under an unrelenting and seemingly never-ending stress. There are lots of twists and turns. 3.7 stars

Last winter an elderly driver plowed into the front of Hamilton's Library entrance.



It's finally being fixed - as a public building it took a long time for the insurance, multiple contractor bids etc.

But in the meantime, the FOL are not sorting donation books - they go straight to a rack in the gazebo.

Yesterday, I dropped off three books to the give away rack - and came back with five.

Outdoors and Montana books:
Yogo The Great American Sapphire - Stephen Voynick
Familiar Waters: A Lifetime of Fly Fishing Montana - David Stuver
Within These Woods - Timothy Goodwin

and the first two of the Philip Pullman His Dark Materials series:
The Golden Compass
The Subtle Knife

Now, according to the challenge I made for myself, I will give away three books for each one I acquire - which would be a whopping 15 books to make up for these five. I'll skim through these a bit and decide if I want to keep them - I'll need to decide if they are worth the three book ransom to keep each one.

>200 streamsong: I really enjoyed the Pullman books when I read them. Highly recommended.

>200 streamsong: I thought Within These Woods was excellent. Hope you give it a try.

>201 ffortsa: Thanks for stopping in, Judy. I remember when my daughter read them; she said she wasn't totally enamored by them, but several of her friends were; it was the first time they had read something questioning the ruling religious powers and they made one or two of them feel good about their own doubts and even atheism.

>202 Oberon: Hi Erik! I've lost track of your thread this year.

Within These Woods looks very good. I love short meditations/essays about nature.

I finally took this one off Planet TBR for Paul’s African Francophone read in August. I had acquired it in 2007 (16 years ago!) as I am always interested in different types of spirituality. Although it non-fiction instead of Paul's suggested fiction, I felt this memoir was quite enlightening about French colonialism and the Catholic Church in this area as well as the Dagara shamanic spiritual practices.

89. Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman – Malidoma Patrice Some - 1994
- African Francophone Challenge & Global Challenge - Burkina Faso
- ROOT #1 for September/ #20 for year acq'd 2007




Malidoma Patrice Some was born into a Dagara village in Burkina Faso in 1956. Hi s grandfather was a well respected elder and shaman. His father followed the Catholic teachings.

Although it is not clear if his father had arranged his ‘kidnapping’, when Malidoma was four he and other youngsters were seized by the Jesuits and removed to their orphanage where they were taught French, Latin, and European ways. Eventually after several years there, Malidoma was transferred to the Jesuit seminary. It was planned that he would become a native Jesuit priest; but after enduring years of what Malidoma called outright abuse, he escaped and made his way back to his village as a man of twenty.

By this time, he had missed all the boyhood initiations into Dagara manhood and had been thoroughly indoctrinated in the white man’s world. He met with great skepticism when he expressed interest in going through the Dagara initiation rites as the elders believed his intrinsic tribal spirit had already withdrawn and was replaced with a white man’s spirit. They believed it would be dangerous and perhaps impossible for him to complete the thirty day travels in the spirit world. Nevertheless, Some persisted and successfully completed the initiations.

The latter half of the book is a detailed account of his spiritual journeys during the initiation. Visiting other realms during spiritual journeys has never been a favorite topic of mine, ever since I read the Carlos Castenada books many decades ago. Others may find these journeys the most intriguing parts of the book.

Recommended for those with an interest in French Colonialism and the Jesuits in Africa or those interested in alternative spiritual journeys and African shamanism.