Laytonwoman - Reading for Pleasure in 2023 - FINAL STRETCH

A brief introduction, or reminder of who I am: My name is Linda, and I am a retired paralegal. I've spent most of my life in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with brief interludes for college, my husband's military service, and paralegal training, in Central PA, New Orleans and Philadelphia, respectively. Since giving up the legal grind, I have kept busy with volunteer work centered around libraries, cemeteries, and genealogy. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Scranton Public Library, and several of its committees. I am President of the Equinunk Cemetery Association, which is located in my home village along the Delaware River, and do as much grave-hunting and photographing as time and weather will allow for the website Find-A-Grave.com. I also participate as I can in the reclamation and restoration of a long-neglected cemetery in the area where I now live.

LT has been an essential part of my life since I joined in 2005, after my daughter lycomayflower told me about "this site where you can catalog your books." My response was something like, "Why would I want to do that?" HA! I simply can't imagine life without it anymore. I never knew how much I needed a reading community, until I found one. There are links on my profile page to my earlier reading threads. My goal is always to read more of the books I already own, and to acquire fewer books than I remove from the house. In past years this has been a big joke, but it has become an absolute necessity due to space considerations, and the older I get the less stuff I feel the need to keep, so not only books, but a lot of "I-might-want-that-someday" nonsense is being deaccessioned these days.

I've been hosting an American Authors Challenge in the 75 Book Challenge Group for a few years, and details of this year's monthly challenges can be found down-thread.

And as some of you know, I'm averse to gifs and listserve-type greetings, but I LOVE visitors who comment on my reading, or on other topics introduced here. Everyone is welcome to lurk or engage, as you see fit.

My ticker for keeping track of my total books read:

Here will be a list of the books I read in the current quarter of 2023.

I use some shorthand to help me keep track of my reading trends:

ROOT identifies a book that I have owned for at least a year at the time I read it.
CULL means I put the book in my donation box for the library book sale after finishing it, or otherwise gave it away.
DNF means I didn't finish the book, for one reason or another, usually explained in the related post.
ER means I received the book from LT's Early Reviewer program.
GN refers to a graphic novel, GM a graphic memoir This is not a category I use much.
An * asterisk indicates a library book.
LOA means I read a Library of America edition;
SF means the book was a Slightly Foxed edition, (NOT science fiction, which I so rarely read);
VIRAGO means it was an original green-spined Virago edition from my own collection;
FOLIO indicates a Folio Society edition.
AUDIO and e-Book are self-explanatory, and probably won't appear very often.
AAC refers to the American Author Challenge.
NF indicates a non-fiction read.
TR indicates a work in translation
RR means it's a re-read for me

Clicking on titles in this post will take you to the message in which I reviewed or commented on that book.

OCTOBER

64. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
63. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

Third Quarter Reading:

SEPTEMBER

61. Seven Dead by Jefferson Farjeon
60. Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury
59. Murder on the Red River by Marcie Rendon AAC
58. The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding AAC, ROOT
*57. The Trees by Percival Everett AAC
*56. The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye AAC
*55. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

AUGUST

DNF Ravage & Sons by Jerome Charyn CULL, ER
54. Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
DNF Midnight Atlanta by Thomas MullenCULL
53. Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs and Hermit Bill by Ron Joseph ER, NF
52. Consolation by Garry Disher
51. The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker ROOT

JULY

DNF Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen CULL
50. Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg NF
*49. Mourn Not Your Dead by Deborah Crombie
48. The Art of the Chicken by Jacques Pepin NF
47. Under the Cold Bright Lights by Garry Disher
46. The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg

Second Quarter Reading:

JUNE

45. Stonewall by Martin Duberman ROOT, CULL, NF, LGBTQ
*DNF. Gray Mountain by John Grisham
44. Memoirs of a Book Snake by David Meyer ROOT, NF
*43. Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie
42. Alfred & Emily by Doris Lessing NF, ROOT
*41. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie
DNF. Pearl by Mary Gordon AAC
40. A Moment of Silence by Anna Dean ROOT, CULL
*39. All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie

MAY

38. Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire NF
37. Damballah by John Edgar Wideman AAC
36. Writing to Save a Life by John Edgar Wideman AAC, NF
35. Firestorm by Nevada Barr CULL
*34. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

APRIL

33. Love Songs From a Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill ROOT
32. Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey NF, CULL
31. Willnot by James Sallis
30. The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich ROOT
*29. Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
28. This is Happiness by Niall Williams ROOT
DNF Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
27. Trudi & Pia by Ursula Hegi, Ill. by Giselle Potter AAC, CULL

Here is the list of my reading in the first quarter of 2023:
MARCH

26. Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey AAC, ROOT
25. Owls and Other Fantasies by Mary Oliver AAC
24. Delaware's Forgotten Folk by C. A. Weslager ROOT
23. Scranton Lace by Margot Douaihy AAC
22. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
*21. The Carrying by Ada Limon AAC
*20. The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham
19. Shore Road to Ogunquit by Harold Plotkin ROOT, CULL, AAC

FEBRUARY

18. Peace by Garry Disher
17. Night Came with Many Stars by Simon Van Booy ROOT
16. Sidewalk Saint by Phillip DePoy ROOT
DNF The Overstory by Richard Powers ROOT, AAC, CULL
15. The Judge is Reversed by Frances and Richard Lockridge ROOT
*14. Girl at War by Sara Novic
*13. Any Other Name by Craig Johnson
12. Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel ROOT, SF, NF
*11. A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson

JANUARY

10. The Bottom of the Jar by Abdellatif Laabi TR, ROOT, CULL
9. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum ROOT, AAC
*8. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
7. Wreckage by Sascha Feinstein NF
6. Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai ER, CULL
5. Nineteen Reservoirs by Lucy Sante NF
4. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
*3. The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi TR, ROOT
2. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo ROOT, AAC
1. 97 Orchard by Jane Ziegelman ROOT, NF

Maybe not, but the list of new acquisitions is getting embarrassingly long, so I'll keep track here from July 1 on. The list for the first half of 2023 can be found here.

36. Fen, Bog & Swamp by Annie Proulx
37. Midnight Atlanta by Thomas Mullen
38. Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan
39. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
40. The Way it is Now by Garry Disher
41. Consolation by Garry Disher
42. Straight, Bent and Barbara Vine by Garry Disher
43. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr (rec'd in March)
44. Day's End by Garry Disher
45. The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker
46. We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal
47. Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs and Hermit Bill by Ron Joseph
48. Ravage & Son by Jerome Charyn
49. The Bill of Rights by Learned Hand
50. A Living Bill of Rights by William O. Douglas
51. Appalachia in the Sixties by Walls & Stephenson
52. Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham
53. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
54. Songs of America by Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw
55. The Appalachian Trail National Geographic
56. Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
57. Murder on the Red River by Marcie Rendon
58. The Girls Who Fought Crime by Mari K. Eder
59. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

There IS such a thing as not enough shelf space...so here's where I'll keep track of the ones I give up for adoption (the cat is NOT available).

My list of culls for the first half of the year is here, on my previous thread. From July 1st, I'll keep track below:

45. Stonewall by Martin Duberman
46. Jane Austen; The Complete Novels
47. Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy (never catalogued)
48. Becoming by Michelle Obama
49. Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
50. Trudi & Pia by Ursula Hegi
51. Celia's House by D. E. Stevenson
52. Midnight Atlanta by Thomas Mullen
53. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
54. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
55. Make Way for Ducklings duplicate paperback copy

I'm hosting an American Authors Challenge again this year.

Here's a link to the General Discussion Thread for that challenge. Links to individual monthly threads will be posted there (and maybe here, if I remember) as the year progresses. I'll also keep track of my own AAC reads in this post.

This is what we'll be reading in 2023:

JANUARY: Children’s classics
The thread is here.

Finished The Tale of Despereaux and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

FEBRUARY: Richard Powers
Here is February thread for Powers.
DNF The Overstory

MARCH: Poetry
The March Poetry thread is here.
Finished The Carrying by Ada Limon
Finished Shore Road to Ogunquit by Harold Plotkin
Currently reading Old Poets by Donald Hall, and sampling the work of the American poets he writes about (so far, Frost and Eliot)
Finished Scranton Lace by Margot Douaihy
Finished Owls and Other Fantasies by Mary Oliver
Finished Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
Read selections from James J. McAuley's New and Selected Poems as well as some Billy Collins

APRIL: Ursula Hegi
Here is the APRIL thread, for Ursula Hegi
Finished Trudi & Pia
DNF Sacred Time

MAY: John Edgar Wideman
finished Writing to Save a Life and Damballah

JUNE: Mary Gordon
The Mary Gordon Thread
DNF Pearl

JULY: US Presidents as authors
Discussion thread for July
Read portions of The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt

AUGUST: Percival Everett
The August Thread
Finished The Trees

SEPT: American Ladies of Crime
Here they are.
Finished The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye, and The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

Finished Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon, and Endangered Species by Nevada Barr

OCT: Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Here's the Dorothy Canfield Fisher thread.

NOV.: Canadian authors
DEC.: Benjamin Alire Saenz

WILD CARD: AAC 2014 REDUX (A list of what we read in 2014 can also be found at the above link) Here's a thread for discussing these Wild Card choices.

Come join the party...you never know...it could get crazy.

Nice new digs you've got here, Linda!

>11 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! For being first, you get to choose the best seat in the house...they've all got cat hair, though.

Hi Linda 👋
Waving as I wander by. This is my lunch break, so not any bookish comments today ~
I'm processing the final round of garden produce and doing yard work. Good drying weather, though we sure could use more rain!
Have a lovely time on the new thread.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Linda!

Ah I didn't not previously catch that you were a fellow avoider of gifs. They are hazard.

Happy new one, Linda.

>10 laytonwoman3rd: Cute!

>7 laytonwoman3rd: Absolutely agree with that! I always told my girls "You cannot have too many books or too much money."

Happy new thread, Linda!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one, Linda!

Happy new thread, Linda!

>13 SandyAMcPherson: Hi, Sandy! Glad you could stroll through. I harvested
windfalls from our apple tree and made applesauce over the weekend. Most of them are too high for us to pick, even with our long-handled picker, so we get what we can from the ground, and leave the rest to the deer and squirrels. Lack of rain hasn't been our problem here. The grass remains early-summer green, as the leaves turn color and fall.

>14 foggidawn:, >16 PaulCranswick:, >18 figsfromthistle:, >19 drneutron:, >20 FAMeulstee: Welcome, Foggi, Paul, Figs, Jim and Anita! Thanks for joining the party.

>15 quondame: Hi, Susan! Yeah, my internet is faster these days, and it's not SO much of an issue, but I still prefer no gifs on my thread. Thanks for noticing.

>17 alcottacre: Stasia...good to see you've claimed you seat again! A proliferation of books comes with some challenges, but it's way better than the alternative, right? As for the money thing...well...if I ever feel I have "too much" I'll let my friends know.

>21 laytonwoman3rd: I always figured if I had to have a vice it might as well be being addicted to books as opposed to things like drugs or alcohol :)

>22 alcottacre: Not that I had a choice or anything, but yeah, books or well reading. Good for what ails me.

>22 alcottacre:, >23 quondame: And...on that subject...my daughter is visiting, and we took a trip to the bookstore today. We were shameless, and bought a ridiculous number of books. Neither of us know when enough is enough. I suspect some people here may understand...

>24 laytonwoman3rd: "Never! I will never understand the craven need to add books when you already have plenty of reading material available".................................................................................................
I think both my mother and my wife have said those words to me so many times!

>25 PaulCranswick: It is hard to explain to anyone who does not share the propensity. There may have been some expression of amazement from the husband/father in this house this afternoon, upon seeing the sacks we brought in.

I wish I had been there, Linda, to wallow in your misdeeds! Will you be listing down the new additions?

>27 PaulCranswick: I'll try to post a photo of the stack, Paul. Lots of activities planned while Laura is here, though, so it may be a while.

The familial visit off to a grand start, I see.

Happy new-ish thread, Linda!

Happy New Thread, Linda!

One of your acquisitions, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, just won the Kirkus prize. I can add my two cents that it’s another mighty good one from James McBride.

I’m sorry I missed when the American Author Challenge when it was Ada Limon’s turn. She’s one of my faves.

>29 MickyFine: Indeed it did...and it's been going well since, too!

>30 jnwelch: Ada Limon certainly was impressive, although I struggled to connect with most of the poems. To be clear, though, we did poetry in general for the AAC, and her collection was just one of several I read that month.

The haul from Tuesday's bookstore jaunt. (MINE only...)

Ooh that is some haul, Linda. Very nice selections.

>32 laytonwoman3rd: Nice Haul Linda. I enjoyed Vesper Flights (Still to get to H is for Hawk which is in the tbr mountain). I like Jane Goodall too.

>33 lauralkeet:, >34 Caroline_McElwee: I'm looking forward to all of these, although the size of The Books of Jacob is a little daunting!

64. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman These are so much fun...and yet poignant and sad as well. This time the Thursday Murder Club delves into the world of drug smuggling and art forgery when an antique dealer of their acquaintance turns up dead, execution style. Lovely to see Joyce taking the reins at times, when Elizabeth is pre-occupied. I understand there will be a pause in the action as Osman turns his talent to a new set of characters for his next book, but he promises the Club will be back, and he's left us some tantalizing loose threads in the personal relationship department.

>36 laytonwoman3rd: Sounds like Osman does a good job keeping his stories fresh and the characters evolving rather than stuck as being the same. I read the first two The Thursday Murder Club instalments but the series fell off my radar since then.

>37 SandyAMcPherson: So far the series isn't feeling stale or formulaic. And I wonder if writing something different in between is Osman's way of guarding against that.

65. The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron Howard and Clint Howard. Not your standard tell-all memoir of shenanigans and scandals, this is really a coming of age story by two of the nicest guys in Hollywood. The Howard boys were brought up by two loving parents, in a stable home environment, with a father who understood "show bidness", and was more concerned with protecting his sons than with promoting their careers, although as their manager, he did a great job of the latter as well. Told in alternating sections by Ron and his younger brother Clint--two very different personalities--the insights into their upbringing are heartening to read. While there is not one instance of back-stabbing, betrayal or hostility mentioned, the boys do not lead us to believe life was always rosy in their household or on their sets. Their problems, however, were mostly the kind that every family will recognize, from scheduling overload to generational disagreements about dating and curfews, and more serious stuff like substance abuse. The overall impression is of mutual love and understanding, and a sense of family unity in addressing both the ups and the downs. I'm not surprised to close the cover liking these people, but I was a little surprised at how much they all liked each other and most of the professionals they have worked with over the years, including the bear. Network executives don't always come off so well, but no names were mentioned. There's not a clod of dirt thrown anywhere in these pages. So, if you like this kind of thing, this is very much a thing you will like.

>39 laytonwoman3rd: “The Boys” memoir sounds great! I’ve got it requested at my library. Thanks for the reccie!

Karen O

>39 laytonwoman3rd: Nice review, Linda. Nothing wrong with a feel-good retrospective of life in 'show bidness'.

>39 laytonwoman3rd: I recall watching an interview with Howard bros when the book was published, and came away with exactly the same impressions as you took from the book. Their individual personalities were evident, as was that sense of family unity. I was really impressed. Not sure why I didn't run out and the get book ...

>39 laytonwoman3rd: - I read this book last year and really enjoyed it. I have always liked Ron Howard. I wasn't really familiar with Clint at all before reading it. It was not only refreshing but heart-warming to read a *celebrity* memoir that wasn't full of ego and nastiness.

>32 laytonwoman3rd: Nice haul up there, Linda. Not everyone liked Trust as much as I did, but I thought it was excellent. I hope you feel the same. I also loved Vesper Flights. The Howard memoir also sounds fun. Nice review.

Happy New Thread!

>32 laytonwoman3rd: What a book haul! I have Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and Vesper Flights on my TBR shelves. I am in the queue for Trust and I really want to read The Books of Jacob although it is seriously a tome.

>40 klobrien2:, >41 SandyAMcPherson:, >42 lauralkeet:, >43 jessibud2: I knew about the memoir, but I don't remember how it came to my attention. Then, in the bookstore last week it was 10% off with my library card discount, so bringing it home was a no-brainer.

>44 msf59:, >45 EBT1002: I had pretty much decided Trust wasn't for me, but then I heard Diaz do an interview recently, and was waffling about reading the book...and again, seeing it in the bookstore while binging with my daughter (and on the buy-one-get-one-50%-off table!) put me over the line. Vesper Flights has been on a my wishlist a long time. I really liked H is for Hawk.

>45 EBT1002: I really hadn't heard of Olga Tokarczuk's work, or if I had it hadn't registered, but The Books of Jacob sounded like exactly my sort of looooonnng story. Funnily enough, she was featured in a Jeopardy clue earlier this week!

66. Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson A collection of short stories in which Sheriff Longmire is mostly off-duty, and not engaged in hair-raising adventures, but rather spending time with his daughter Cady or his friend Henry Standing Bear, rendering justice in small affirmative ways. It fits between No. 10 in the series, Any Other Name, which vexed me when I read it, and Dry Bones, which I have not read yet. There are references to incidents in the preceding novels, but most of the stories stand alone very well as long as you are at least minimally familiar with the characters.