Shelfari 50 Book Challenge discussion

I'm going to start out with a 100 book challenge but I usually read more than that. We'll see how this year goes. ADDENDUM: Since I have read 50+ books by the end of March, I'm going to up my challenge to 180.

Finished in January
1. Thirteen Chairs
2. Gris Grimly's Frankenstein
3. The Marvels
4. The Body In The Transept
5. A Discovery of Witches
6. Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace
7. Ashley Bell
8. When Did You See Her Last?
9. Burial Rites
10. Cast, in Order of Disappearance
11. The Friday Night Knitting Club
12. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
13. Testimony
14. She Walks These Hills
15. After Alice
16. Floating in My Mother's Palm
17. Welcome to Night Vale

My favorites for January:
THE MARVELS by BRIAN SELZNICK
She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb

Finished in February:
18. If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy O
19. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
20. As Night Falls
21. The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge
22. The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society
23. Saturday
24. The Dark Child
25. The Cross-Country Quilters
26. Grasshopper Summer
27. The Mysterious Howling
28. H is for Hawk
29. Dead Souls
30. A Christmas Carol
31. Bliss
32. Bruno, Chief of Police
33. Dumplin'
34. Prayers for Sale
35. Stone Mattress: Nine Tales
36. Pure Dead Magic

My favorites for February:
The Dark Child by Camara Laye
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Finished in March
37. The Altar Girl: A Prequel
38. The Glass Castle
39. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
40. A Man Called Ove
41. What She Left Behind
42. A Wrinkle in Time
43. Fortunately, the Milk
44. The Last Bookstore In America
45. The Valley
46. Beauty and the Beast
47. O Pioneers!
48. Island of Bones
49. A Highland Christmas
50. Haunted Connecticut: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Constitution State
51. Shouldn't You Be in School?
52. Bone Gap
53, The Last Policeman
54. Richard III
55. The Radetzky March
56. The Woman in White
60. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club

My favorites for March:
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Finished in April:
61. Stealing Shadows
62. The Walking Dead, Vol. 01: Days Gone Bye
63. The Solace of Leaving Early
64. All the Light We Cannot See
65. The Forgotten Garden
66. The Walking Dead, Vol. 02: Miles Behind Us
67. The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
68. Edge of Evil
69. Ghost at Work
70. The Shop on Blossom Street
71. Started Early, Took My Dog
72. Thirteen Reasons Why
73. Parable of the Sower
74. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
75. Death Without Company
76. Broken April
77. The Bunnicula Collection

My favorites for April:
All The Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr
The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton

Finished in May:
78. Sugar and Ice
79. One
80. The Cold Dish
81. Memory Man
82. Out of Darkness
83. The Promise
84. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
85. Princess of the Midnight Ball
86. Choke
87. Stars Above
88. During the Reign of the Queen of Persia
89. The Yellow Wallpaper
90. The Daughter of Time
91. The Round House
92. That They May Face the Rising Sun
93. The Ghosts of Heaven

My favorites for May:
One Sarah Crossan
Out of Darkness Ashley Hope Pérez
Stars Above Marissa Meyer

Finished in June:
94. Haunted (Harrison Investigation, #1)
95. Lilac Girls
96. The Black House
97. The Walking Dead, Vol. 03: Safety Behind Bars
98. At the Edge of the Orchard
99. The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies
100. Midaq Alley
101. Ice
102. The Raven Boys
103. Murder on the Bucket List
104. Kitchens of the Great Midwest
105. Free to Fall
106. House of Leaves
107. Cat's Cradle
108. B is for Burglar
109. Cherry Bomb
110. In the Tall Grass
111. The Ship of Brides
112. The Jungle
113. Elizabeth Is Missing
114. Death in Venice

My favorites for June:
The Black House Peter May
Free to Fall Lauren Miller
Elizabeth is Missing Emma Healey

THIRTEEN CHAIRS by DAVE SHELTON
4 stars

Part of the reason that I rounded this up to 4 stars was because my 13 year old granddaughter also read the book and I loved being able to talk to her about it!! It's about a boy who goes into an old house that is rumored to be haunted and while there discovers a group of people sitting around a table in a room lit only with candles. He joins the group and each person proceeds to tell a ghost story and then blow out their candle. Finally it comes down to the young boy being the only one left to tell a story. These were not over the top scary but a couple were a little creepy. If you have a teen or preteen who enjoys reading ghost stories, this would probably do it for them.

GRIS GRIMLY'S FRANKENSTEIN
4 stars

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Not only were the drawings beautifully rendered but the way this is written was so much easier to read even though I feel that there is no loss in the integrity of the original. I have read Frankenstein once, listened to it once and now read the graphic novel. I think that I've finally grasped the entirety of the book. If you've tried to read the novel and couldn't slog your way through it, give this a try!

THE MARVELS by BRIAN SELZNICK
5 stars

Reviewed for the Mock Caldecott Awards. I loved this book, not just for the illustrations which are wonderfully detailed pencil sketches, but for the lovely heart warming story that goes along with them. The book is divided into 2 major parts. The first is from 1766 and this section tells a story entirely in pencil sketches. It tells the story of young Billy Marvel, who survives a shipwreck and ends up working in the theater. This is the start of several generations of us family acting and working in the theater business, with great success. The second section is from 1990 where Joseph Jervis is a young man who has run away from his school to find his uncle. When he finally finds him, his uncle is living by himself in a strange and fascinating house that feels like time is standing still and that the past and it's inhabitants are still there in the house. As Joseph tries to sort out the mystery of his uncle's life, the reader is able to start putting the two tales together and the result is a beautiful story of love and commitment. The book is monstrous but don't let that put you off because more than half of it is illustrations and the actual written story is an easy read.

THE BODY IN THE TRANSEPT by JEANNE M. DAMS
4 stars

The first book in the Dorothy Martin Mysteries. I read this for our Mystery Book Club and am fairly sure that I've read it previously but it had been long enough that I remembered absolutely nothing about the story. Just a nice little cozy where Dorothy Martin who is recently widowed has moved from America to England and suddenly finds a body as she leaves the church after Christmas Mass. Naturally, she immediately takes it upon herself to "help" the police by doing a little sleuthing on her own. Neither a ghostly monk nor the almost poisoning of her cat can deter her from tracking down the killer. I love reading books about older women solving crimes--or at least trying to!!

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by DEBORAH HARKNESS
3 stars
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book but it was not at all like I expected. I will say that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first half and I probably will go on to try the next book in the trilogy but I just wasn't wild about it. I listened to the audio version and the reader, Jennifer Ikeda, was fine but not inspired and that may have something to do with how I felt about the book. Diana Bishop, who comes from a long line of witches, is studying in the library one day when she comes across a bewitched alchemical manuscript. She only looks at it briefly but normally stays away from sorcery and so she returns it. But the activity of looking at it sets a stirring among the witches, demons and vampires of the underworld and strange things are now occurring in her life. One vampire, Matthew Clairmont, appears to her and she is drawn to him. Their relationship goes from curious to friendly to romantic fairly quickly, even though this is not a generally accepted activity in their circles. Luckily, for me, there is no explicit sex in the book and the few times they are together the descriptions remain fairly tame. I know some folks like the action to heat up a bit more and I hope that doesn't discourage folks to give this a try.

SMALL VICTORIES by ANNE LAMOTT
3 stars

We read this for my Mix It Up book discussion group this month. I listened to the audio which was read by the author and from others in the group said, this was a mistake and is probably why I didn't really think this was a great book. I will say that I appreciated some of the irreverent things that she came up with but her reading voice is so monotonous that I just couldn't get into most of what she was saying. It also seemed like almost everyone she knew either had cancer themselves or were dealing with it in their families. I know that many people probably know a number of people who are going through this but because of a number of close family issues that have all arisen in the last month, this was just about the last topic that I wanted to read about. Just to be fair to the author, I'll try to read another one of her books to see if I feel any differently. Just about everyone else in the book club enjoyed it so don't lean on my review very heavily.

ASHLEY BELL by DEAN KOONTZ
4 stars
I enjoyed this new book by Dean Koontz--it was to my way of thinking, quite a departure from the normal themes of his books. Oh, it was the same kind of atmospheric, paranormally laced story but it just took off in a direction that I never expected. Bibi Blair is a young woman, the product of two hippy surfers, who is not only an amazing surfer but also an author, a fiercely independent woman, and the fiancee of a Navy SEAL. Suddenly Bibi begins having physical symptoms that she can't explain and she, just as suddenly, is diagnosed with a rare and terminal form of brain cancer. Then a hooded man and his dog appear in her hospital room and she just as suddenly is cured of her tumor. Her parents, ecstatic that she is cured set her up with a psychic who reads Scrabble tiles and she finds out that she needs to save the life of a young girl by the name of Ashley Bell but that her attempt to save the girl is blocked in many directions by very evil people. From here we have a non-stop adventure avoiding the bad guys and trying to track down her goal. I really enjoyed the twist that Mr. Koontz threw in, I did not see it coming.

When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket
4 stars

I am a huge Lemony Snicket fan and thought this second book of the All the Wrong Questions series just as much fun as the first one. Lemony and his chaperone have been hired to find the missing daughter of a wealthy couple living in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. They are really not sure if she was actually kidnapped or if she ran off to be in the circus. She drives a beautiful Dilemma but she is seen in a taxi. They have to track down all the clues and define all the big words that are used in the book but it seems as if they are always asking the wrong questions. His books are always cute and fun to read.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
4 stars

I enjoyed this audio book read by Morven Christie very much. Her voice has just the right tone for this story that took place in Iceland. Although I never thought she was monotonous, she held a steady, whispery voice that I thought was perfect. I didn't realize when I checked this book out that the story was based on an actual murder that occurred in 1829. Very compelling.

Cast, in Order of Disappearance by Simon Brett
4 stars

This is the first book in the Charles Paris series by Simon Brett. I met Mr. Brett at Magna Cum Murder last fall and wanted to try some more of his books--I had read one previously. This was a quick read and it kept me interested and guessing who the killer was. Charles Paris an actor whose abilities are becoming less requested. In his down time he drinks and chases women, when given the chance. He has an ex-lover, Jacqui, who has become involved with another actor. Now, suddenly, she can' contact him and she asks Charles to help her. He agrees to help and uses disguises and accents in the process of tracking down what's happened to Jacqui's love interest. I enjoyed this enough to go on to read the next book in the series.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
4 stars

I actually ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. I've read a number of books about groups of women who form book groups or quilt groups and this is pretty much the same idea, just with knitting. The story is about Georgia Walker and her daughter, Dakota. At one time, Georgia was in a relationship with James, who is black and Dakota is a result of that union. At the time that Georgia found out she was pregnant, James had an affair with his boss which pretty much put an end to their lives together. Now Dakota is 12, almost 13 and Georgia's knitting shop is starting to take off. Dakota is becoming quite the baker and likes to bake treats for the women who are starting to show up at the shop on a regular basis looking for knitting lessons and encouragement. I found it extremely interesting to learn about the various personalities of the women that finally made the Friday night knitting club. They were such a motley bunch that it was amazing to me that they were able to tolerate and actually learn to love one another. But that is just what happens, along with quite a lot of other "life" happenings including the sudden return of James who has finally decided he wants to finally have a relationship with his growing daughter. I thought that the amount of growth that many of the characters went through was wonderful if a bit quick and more easily accomplished than in real life. Overall the book made me laugh and cry and wish that I belonged to a knitting club!

If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
4 stars

I am really not even sure how to go about writing this review. I read this for this month's F2F Page Turners group at our local library. I know this is considered postmodern which is, by partial definition, "literature characterized by reliance on narrative techniques such as fragmentation, paradox, and the unreliable narrator". I would certainly say that this book would fit under that definition. Fragmentation seems to be the underlying theme of this book. I know I don't understand most of what I read yet, I'm hoping for more clarification during our book group and I'll have to check out a study guide. There were parts of this book that I enjoyed very much. Just about every time I started enjoying a section it was over and a new totally unrelated story began. What I got out of this book was that the author bought a book he was really wanting to read. There was a problem with the book being incomplete and he returns it to the store where he purchased it. While there he meets a young woman who is there for the same reason. These two characters weave in and out and around the rest of the book continually trying to get the book they want but always ending up with a different incomplete book. It's a relatively short book to read and checks off another 1001 book that you must read before you die, so to that end I'm glad I read it. If you give it a shot and understand it all, get back with me!! :)

Testimony by Anita Shreve
4 stars

A friend from one of my book groups recommended this book and I had no idea what it was about. When I first started it, I never thought I'd finish because it was about a scandalous sex crime that occurred at a New England boarding school and my assumption, from the title, was that this would turn into a court room rehash. That was far from the truth. What actually happened was that after the original realization by the headmaster of the school, the book went on to detail what happened to the individuals who took part and their family members and friends. I listened to the audio and each character was represented by a different reader. The impact of the incident carried through out the entire book and expertly detailed how one bad decision caused so much pain and changed the lives of so many people. I thought the book was extremely well written and I would recommend it.

Beverly wrote: "The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
4 stars

I actually ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. I've read a number of books about groups of women who form book groups ...

I enjoyed this one also Beverly more than I expected to.

Paula wrote: I actually ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. I've read a number of books about groups of women who f..."

Have you read the second one? I've picked it up because I want to see what happens to everyone next!

She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
5 stars

I read this for my Mystery Book Club discussion for this week. When I first finished it this morning, I was on my way to another book club. I rated it 4 stars and didn't have time to write this actual review. So between then and now, I've changed my mind and decided that I loved the book and had to up my stars to 5. This is the 3rd book in this series and I hate to read out of order but I didn't have time to read the first two prior to this one so I don't know if there are repeating characters and/or additional background that might have had an impact on my opinions. I just know that I truly loved the way Ms. McCrumb presented the folks in this tale, whether born and bred hillbillies or wealthy town residents. Harm Sorley is 63 year old man who has been in prison for 30 some years for killing a man with an ax. He suffers from Korsakoff's syndrome which means his memory is gone and he believes he's still a young man with a wife and a baby girl. He manages to escape from the prison and is making his way home. When the residents of his area of the mountain realize that a "killer" is on the loose, they start over-reacting while the local radio host is selling bumper stickers to fund a legal defense for Harm. Harm's ex-wife is now living in a beautiful home with her new husband who doesn't want anyone to know of her "hillbilly" origins. His daughter is now a successful geologist. While all of this is going on, a young historian has decided to retrace the trail of Katie Wyler who was kidnapped by Indians in 1779 but was able to escape and find her way home. By the end of the book half a dozen residents from the area were roaming around in the wilds of the Appalachians for one reason and another. I thought the author did a great job of creating the proper atmosphere for this story, fleshing out the characters and keeping the reader turning pages. I just thought this was a great read and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Beverly wrote: "Paula wrote: I actually ended up liking this book much more than I thought I would. I've read a number of books about groups of women who f..."

Have you read the second one? I've picked it up beca...

Yes, I liked it but not as well as the first. I have the final one here to read hopefully this year.

After Alice by Gregory Maguire
3 stars

Gregory Maguire is always iffy for me. Sometimes I really like his work and other times I wonder to myself, "What the heck did I just read?" This was an interesting book because I felt both ways about it. I really enjoyed all the story about Ada, Alice's friend, tumbling down the rabbit hole herself and encountering some of the same characters and situations that Alice did. I loved the voices and the humor and meeting the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts all over again. But all of the alternate chapters which were about what was happening "above ground" with the family, friends and life in general made little sense to me. And that's why I gave it a 3 star rating.

Floating in My Mother's Palm by Ursula Hegi
4 stars

Some months back I read Stones from the River by this author and enjoyed it immensely. In discussing the book with some book club members I realized that it was actually the second book in The Burgdorf Cycle so I wanted to read the other books. This is the first in the series and enjoyed this as well. Hanna Malter is a young girl growing up in Burgdorf, Germany during the 1950's. The entire book is made up of individual stories of the lives of many of the town folk. Of course, the stories are all loosely tied together because of the various relationships that are always found with a small town but I loved the way that Hanna told them from her more childlike point of view. We hear about her mother who loved to swim and lost her red bathing suit one day, a young friend of Hanna's who has to go to the Baby Mansion after her grandfather took advantage of her, more about the dwarf, Trudi Montag (who features in Stones from the River), the operator of the pay library in Burgdorf and other interesting characters within the town. For me, after reading the second book, it was almost like coming home. I felt comfortable with the town and its inhabitants, almost like they were already friends. I might almost go so far as to advise anyone interested to read Stones from the River first.

by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
4 stars.

I just recently became aware of the podcasts called Welcome to Night Vale. I listened to the pilot podcast and found it amazingly strange. Then I went to the library and they were featuring an "author roulette" challenge where you draw a slip of paper out of a jar with a "new" author's book listed on it. The slip of paper I pulled listed Welcome to Night Vale on it--amazing coincidence?...I think not. After reading the book and finding out how frightfully dangerous libraries can actually be, I realized that the universe was sending out warning vibes encouraging me to take the book and run home as fast as I could. And I did, I ran all the way home, driving my car as fast as I could, carefully avoiding the dog park and the angels at Josie's out by the car lot. Then I curled up in my recliner and began reading about Jackie from the pawn shop and Diane, whose son Josh can never quite figure out what creature he wanted to be today, trying to get to King City to find Troy. If you've never listed to the Night Vale podcasts or read this book, just know that your outlook on life may never by the same again. The book is delightfully off-kilter but still gets you through the mystery that it sets out to solve. Just ignore the lights hovering over the Arby's and never touch the lawn flamingos.

If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy O by Sharyn McCrumb.
4 stars

Another winner for Sharyn McCrumb. This is the first book in her Ballad series. Having already read the 3rd book, it was fun to see some of the same characters prior to what I'd learned about them by reading out of order. In this story, a folk singer from the 60's has moved to Hamelin, Tennessee trying to regroup and come up with some new music to possibly revive her career. Meanwhile, a few of the series regulars from this small Appalachian town are discussing the possibility of having a 20th high school reunion. All in all, there are many memories recalled and not all of them are pleasant. Sheriff Arrowood's older brother Cal died in Viet Nam and neither he nor his parents have entirely worked through their loss. Joe LeDonne, a police officer, has horrible dreams relating to his time spent in Viet Nam and his less than approachable personality is a way to protect himself from getting too close to others. As the party planning continues, bringing more aging classmates to town, the new neighbor in town. the previously mentioned folk singer, starts getting postcards with ominous warnings--all written in the lyrics of her songs and they appear to be from her previous singing partner who died in Viet Nam. I thought this was another well written mystery that did a great job of keeping me intrigued and throwing a surprise ending at me.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
4 stars

Fascinating story about 4 women, a socialite, a farm girl, an abolitionist, and a widow, who all took a great part--whether as spies or actual combatants--in the Civil War. My favorite of the 4 women was Emma Edmonds, who cut her hair and took on the guise of "Frank Thompson" so that she could enlist as a private in the Union army and fight alongside the men. She ended up fighting in the deadliest battles of the Civil War. There was also Belle Boyd who was a spy for the Confederate army and tempted lovers from both sides of the battle. Rose Greenhow was a widow with a young daughter, Rosie, who gathered intelligence for the Confederacy by sleeping with Northern politicians and learning vital information through "pillow talk". At one point, she is imprisoned, along with her daughter and she is still able to pass information along by handing Rosie (through a loose floorboard) down to the cell below with messages that were then passed along by prisoners that were not being watched as closely as she was. Elizabeth Van Lew, was an extremely wealthy southern lady and abolitionist, who managed to keep a busy espionage ring running in spite of the Rebel sympathizers who kept a close eye on her. The book alternately follows the lives and exploits of these 4 woman throughout the war, including much additional information about the war itself and the important personages from that time (i.e. Stonewall Jackson, Abraham Lincoln and Edgar Allen Poe to name a few) There is also an extended epilogue that carefully details the remaining life of these women after the war ended. I thought the book was well researched and very well written. Additionally, the reader, Karen White, did an excellent job of narration.

As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman
3 stars

I'm had a very difficult time deciding how to rate this book. When I first started reading, it seemed like the hints/foreshadowings were so broad that no one could possibly miss them, even me who is notorious for overlooking major clues along the way. I think there was only one major reveal that I hadn't figured out really early on but still before it happened. But on the flip side of that, I couldn't put the book down. I guess that it was because in spite of the fact that I knew where things were going, there was enough "wait" time before it got there that it kept me turning the pages just in case it didn't turn out the way I suspected. Sandra and her daughter, Ivy, have reached a point in their relationship ((as most mothers and teenage daughters) where they are just not as close as they used to be. Sandra is still clinging to the hope that Ivy will revert to her childhood ways but it seems that any attempts on her part to reestablish the feelings just seems to drive the wedge deeper between them. They live in a newly built, lavish home in the Adirondacks, way off the beaten path. On this particular evening, as Sandra fixes dinner for her husband, who earns a living by providing wilderness trips for those that can afford them, and Ivy, if she even decides to come down to dinner, a heavy snow storm is predicted. Sandra and her family had no idea that at the same time, 2 escaped convicts are headed their direction and that the resulting home invasion that occurs will reveal forgotten memories and change all of their lives forever.

THE REVENANT by MICHAEL PUNKE
4 stars

After my husband and I went to see The Revenant a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to read the book that inspired the movie: 1. To see if the book was better than, which is so often the case and 2. To try and determine how historically accurate the information seemed. The movie, to me, was difficult to watch because of the extraordinarily harsh conditions and the violence, but I expected that knowing the difficulty that the intrepid settlers of our country had in their moving westward. But my husband and I both enjoyed it, feeling like the acting was believable and the settings certainly matched what we believed would belong to that era. After reading the book, my feelings about the movie changed a bit because although the basic story of a wilderness man being attacked by a grizzly and left to die and then his undertaking of an arduous journey to seek revenge are the main threads of both the movie and the book, there is a great deal of difference in the book's content. I don't want to go into any detail because I don't want to ruin the read for anyone else, but Hollywood certainly took it's liberties. The author of the book added a historical note at the end stating what parts of the book he "made up" but states that he tried to remain as true to the actual history as possible and lists a number of sources that the reader can use to continue their interest in this particular story and it's cast of characters. I would say, see the movie and enjoy it for what it is, but don't believe that's it's historically accurate.

THE SWEETGUM KNIT LIT SOCIETY by BETH PATTILLO
4 stars

The book club that I attended all of the last year while we read the entire set of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels has become a knitting book group. This is quite a change since I loved the series set in Three Pines; loved the characters, loved the mysteries and loved the setting. But, in spite of my reservations, so far (2 books in) I have enjoyed the first two offerings. I expected some saccharine prattling with undeveloped characters and little to no plot other than a lot of talk about yarn and patterns. Instead I have found some very flawed but interesting characters who come together, not only to share their love of creativity, but also to bolster one another in spite of their widely varied personalities. I'm not saying this month's book was entirely unpredictable, but there were certainly some unusual life events and personality quirks thrown in to keep the book from being just a cookie cutter story of a bunch of women coming together to knit and discuss books. Eugenie is the librarian for the Sweetgum Library and also the leader of the Knit Lit Society. She selects one book a month for her group to read and also asks them to knit an item that would be helpful or appropriate for one of the characters in the book. One afternoon she sees a young girl in the library who is poorly dressed, poorly groomed and has torn some pages containing a knitting pattern out of one of her library books. Eugenie tells Hannah that she must pay to have the book replaced. When Hannah says that she has no money Eugenie insists that she begin working in the library every afternoon to pay off the debt. Sensing that this youngster could use some attention and guidance (although Hannah would disagree), she also insists that she join the Knit Lit Club. Also, discovering that Hannah has never read any classic children's literature, she changes the reading schedule so that the group reads Little Women, Heidi, The Wizard of Oz and other books that she thinks may draw Hannah in. What Eugenie doesn't realize is that the discussion of these books will ultimately end up being beneficial for all of the group members since they lead to discussions of more basic morals and beliefs. There is a neatly "wrapped with a bow" ending and some life changes come a little more quickly than I think is believable but I really became interested in the lives of these disparate women and enjoyed their journey. Maybe I have more need for sweet, happy endings than I think.

SATURDAY by IAN McEWAN
4 stars

An especially well written "slice of life" story. Saturday follows the life of neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, through one extraordinary day and shows the reader just how quickly the flow of your life can change in a matter of moments. Henry is married with 2 grown children and a wife that he loves. This particular Saturday begins very early with Henry feeling unsettled due to the state of the world after the 9/11 attacks and the threat of war in Iraq. He heads to the hospital for his morning rounds and we are there as he undertakes his surgeries for the morning. His next item for the day is attending a game of squash with a friend. His journey to the court is hampered by thousands of anti-war protestors in the streets and he becomes involved in a minor accident with a young man, Baxter, and his two associates who all appear to be high-strung and bordering on the edge of some very aggressive behavior. Ever the doctor, Henry believes that Baxter shows symptoms of some type of brain dysfunction. When Henry mentions this to Baxter, he is rewarded with a terrific punch to his chest. They part ways and Henry continues with the rest of his day and the reader goes along for the ride. The squash game seemed to go on forever but after that he visits with his grandmother who is suffering from Alzheimer's, goes to see his son's band practice, has a political argument with his daughter and decides to make fish stew for dinner. All in all, a fairly normal but busy day, until the backlash from the earlier car accident turns the day on its ear. Perceptions and beliefs of how safe we are at our most intimate times suddenly seem much more important to Henry than the vague unease of the world's future.

The Dark Child by Camara Laye
5 stars

I really enjoyed this lovely quick read. Being autobiographical just made all the emotions of this young man's journey to adulthood that much more poignant. As a reader I could just feel Camara's terror as he and the other boys heard the lions roaring at them during the ceremony for the society of the uninitiated and the frenzied exhaustion of the long days of dancing prior to their entrance into manhood. I felt as if his coming of age story really occurred in two very distinct ways--both within the confines of his family and village--where so much tradition was honored--and in a much more worldly fashion as he started experiencing the world by following his dream to a higher education. One of my favorites, so far, on the 1001 list.


Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner
3 stars

I picked this book up at our library resale shop specifically because it had the word grasshopper in the title and I needed a book to fill a challenge where the title included an insect. This turned out to be an extremely quick read. After finishing and while reading about the author I found out that she has earned a reputation for her handling of historical material in the children's book field. That certainly gave me a new slant on my feelings about the book. This tells the story of a family whose farm in Kentucky was partially seized during the Civil War. What's left of it is poor and barely fertile enough to sustain crops. Mr. and Mrs. White, along with their 2 young sons, Sam and Billy, are joining the move west and they are headed for Dakota Territory. The book is written in a plain, to the point story line as seen from the perspective of the 2 boys--one who is excited for the change and one who is not. They make friends on the journey, they encounter folks who approach things differently than their family would and they try to remain positive along the way. When they finally get to their destination, the whole family works together to accomplish setting up a new homestead. There are trials to be faced but again, the characters each do their part to help shore up the others. I think that's what I liked best about the book, that a young person who is wanting to read about a pioneer family moving west could read about it in this book without a lot of tragedy and tension but still see that sometimes we suffer set backs. It's teaching history in a very positive manner.



The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howlig
4 stars

Although this was not as Lemony Snickettish as I was hoping, it certainly held its own charm and I enjoyed reading it. The overall atmosphere for this first book in the series is generally more sweetness and light than the Series of Unfortunate Events with much credit going to the children's governess, Penelope Lumley, who is only 15 and loves ponies. She has just graduated from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females and certainly wants to make a good impression. But suddenly becoming responsible for 3 young children who were recently found living in the forest and who behave much more like wolves than humans may be too much for her. A great quick read that I think preteen girls would really enjoy.

THE CROSS COUNTRY QUILTERS by JENNIFER CHIAVERINI
4 stars

I've challenged myself to go back and fill in the gaps in the Elm Creek Quilts series. I have finished #3 today and found it to be just as cozy and emotional as the others I've read. I guess I'm just going to have to admit that I have a weak side for groups of women coming together to do needlework sorts of things. I've always wanted to quilt, have tried and failed miserably but every time I read one of these novels I think...maybe I could try again. Anyway--in this particular adventure, an aging actress, Julia, has been offered a part in a new movie based on the life of a pioneer woman, who turns quilting into a money making venture after her husband dies and leaves her and their children alone. Julia has never quilted in her life and her agent gets her a spot in one of the week long quilting camps at Elm Creek Manor. Hoping to remain low profile lasts a little longer than a day but soon she is accepting help from some of the more experienced women at the camp and, against all odds, making friends. Each of the 5 women are battling some type of problem back at home that is causing them concern. At the end of this week, Julia and the 4 women she has befriended, vow to go home and as soon as they can come up with some plan to correct what is going wrong in their lives, start a quilt block that represents the problem and its solution. When they all meet at camp the next year, they will put their blocks together to form a beautiful new quilt--the Cross Country Quilt. Just a quick, cozy read that was so enjoyable and if you know how to quilt, it would be even better. My favorite part is when they met at the Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky because I've been there several times and I could picture it all so clearly.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
4 stars

This is a book that I read for one of my F2F groups. The audio book was read by the author and I really think that made a world of difference in my interest in the material because you could hear the emotion in the author's voice. Even though I found the material presented interesting, falconry is not something that I've ever wanted to know more about. Because of the author's tone, which I thought was wonderful, I could tell how committed to the art she is and so it made me more curious to understand that commitment. It's always surprising to see what activities different people are attracted to and then become immersed in.

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
3 stars

I read this for my Page Turners book discussion group this month. These reads, and this book is no exception, are usually from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. Although I can't say that I enjoyed reading this book, there were certainly aspects of it that at least held my attention most of the time. As the main protagonist, Chichikov, roams around the countryside attempting to purchase the souls of dead farm workers, the reader meets an assortment of quirky characters who each have a different take on what Chichikov is doing and so a different response. He is convinced that he will be able to make an easy profit off these purchases and throughout the book I just kept thinking...if he could just use his intellect for something good rather than profiting from the "easy" way. Then at some point (I wish I had bookmarked the spot and could quote it), someone in the book actually makes that same reference. I really enjoyed the sections when Gogol described the countryside, or the foods or the interiors of some of the homes that he visited. His descriptions were so wonderfully done that it was easy to picture these settings. I thought it was interesting that there were so many sections, towards the end of the book that had been lost or were illegible. The truth of the matter is that I really didn't miss those sections nor did they seem to interfere with the reading, which just emphasizes the fact that I really didn't follow the entire story line very well.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
5 stars

My Page Turners book group read and discussed this book in December but I was unable to attend and just now got around to reading it. I have seen so many movies based on this book but never actually read the book. Interestingly enough, although we all know the story along with a lot of the dialogue, I still really enjoyed hearing it exactly as written. The reader of this audio on Lit2Go was Rick Kisner and I thought his reading was exactly the way I wanted to hear it and the story of the grumpy and miserly Scrooge meeting the 3 spirits who were then able to turn his attitude around was really brought to life.

Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood
2 stars

The best part of this book was the cover photo. The basic premise is, Purdy and Albert Bliss have a popular bakery in Calamity Falls. They have 4 children, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, who help out at the Follow Your Bliss bakery but none of them have any idea how special their little bakery is until the day Rose watches her mother fold a lightning bolt into a bowl of batter, bake a cake and then save the life of a child who was in the hospital. Now the mayor of a neighboring town comes to ask the Bliss bakers if they can come to his town and stop a flu epidemic. They decide to leave the children in charge of the bakery while they go on this special mission and give Rose a special "whisk" key that gives her access to all their special ingredients and the Bliss Cookery Booke, with the warning not to let anyone else near the book. Almost as soon as they leave, a woman claiming to be their Aunt Lilly shows up and let's them see the ladle birthmark she has. Since this is something that everyone in the family has, they take her at her word and allow her to stay to help them out. Rose is the only one who retains some reservations regarding this new relative. From here, true to the name of the town, calamity ensues and continues until just before the parents return to the bakery. At this point, Aunt Lilly takes off, leaving the kids with the fallout. I really wanted to like this. At first I thought it would be a cute, fun read but when all the problems started, it just lost its continuity and things started being nonsensical. I finished it hoping that maybe the chaos of everything going wrong may have just been too much for me and it would get better again but no. I would not recommend it and would not bother reading the next one in the series.

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
4 stars

I read this for my Mystery Book Club this month and was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the character of Bruno--a very laid back, thoughtful kind of police officer who is certainly capable of carrying a firearm but does not. Instead, he lives in a small home, which he has mostly remodeled himself, and is an excellent cook. I was hungry throughout much of the book. But he does his job with an intelligent, thoughtful approach. With the sudden death of an elderly man in the village, the father and grandfather of people he interacts with on a regular basis, he is suddenly thrown into a situation that needs very special political handling. And the further the investigation goes, the more complex the situation becomes. Although there was quite a bit of information presented about troop activities in Europe during World War II and how some groups were sent into various French towns to terrorize, kill and plunder, the political and military aspects didn't bog me down too much, For the most part, this is a mystery that will keep you guessing right up to the end--at least it did me. And I really liked the way the story ended. It wrapped up just exactly the way I'd expect Bruno to handle it.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
3 stars

I read this (or rather listened) for my YA book discussion group this month. What I really enjoyed about the book was that our protagonist, Willowdean, is a teenager who although overweight is very comfortable in her own skin and perfectly willing to try just about anything--including enter a beauty competition that her mother won when she was young and now has organized for years. Along with attempting to prove to her mother that everyone should have a crack at the title, Willowdean is having her first dating experiences, dealing with just losing her aunt who she was really close to and trying to understand why she and her best friend are moving apart. I believe that I may have rated this higher overall if I had read it rather than listened. I did not like the voice of the reader, Eileen Stevens, particularly when she was doing the male voices. There were 2 males, Bo and Mitch, both love interests to Willowdean and to me they sounded exactly alike and unfortunately they both sounded like they were high school dropouts. Perhaps they were supposed to just sound like Texans but that's not the way it across to me. I think this would be a great book for young high school girls because of the great examples set by the main character.

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
3 stars

I was really disappointed with this book. I had read True Sisters, The Persian Pickle Club and Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas and I really enjoyed all of them. This one just didn't live up to my expectations. Hennie Comfort, who is in her 80's and has lived in the Colorado mountains in a mining town for over 50 years is being pressured by her only daughter to come and live with her because they think she is at the point where she'll soon be unable to take care of herself. Hennie has decided that this will be her last year in Middle Swan. One day a young girl appears at her door in response to seeing the sign on Hennie's fence that states: prayers for sale. She has recently delivered a stillborn child and would like to purchase a prayer for her baby who lies in a grave far away. This is the beginning of a friendship between Nit Spindle and Hennie Comfort. The remainder of the book is basically about the growth of that friendship and Hennie's planning to move off the mountain at the end of the year. The reader was Maggi-Meg Reed and her voice certainly had a mountain twang which lent credibility to the characters but it was just too much for me and I got tired of listening to her. While I was listening I kept thinking that the story seemed so loose and disconnected because Hennie just told story after story. The majority of these stories were depressing because either a husband or a child (or both) would end up dead. The interim between each story was just never very compelling, it was just a casual link to get to the next story--at least that's how it seemed to me. At the end of the audio was a brief interview with the author and she said that originally this was a bundle of short stories and her publisher encouraged her to string them together so...now I know! I guess that's exactly why I reacted to the book the way I did. Not a bad book but certainly not her best.

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood
4 stars

Margaret Atwood continues to be a hit or miss author for me--mostly hit but I'm always leery. This book of nine tales (and she calls them tales because we can then assume that they are all fiction) was an overall hit for me. My favorite of the nine was the title tale, where long deserved justice is finally achieved. But "Torching the Dusties", although horrifying for a person of my age, was a close second, as was "The Freeze-Dried Groom" (which should be a favorite of those we love to watch Storage Wars). The first 3 stories in the book are interrelated and concern the loves/relationships among a group of artistically inclined friends--seen from a different perspective in each. If you're a fan of Atwood, I would recommend this collection.

Pure Dead Magic by Debi Gliori
3 stars

Many years ago, a librarian friend of mine recommended a couple of books written by Debi Gliori--2 more in the Pure Dead series). She knew I enjoyed children's books and thought these reminded her of "A Series of Unfortunate Events". At the time, I didn't realize these were actually in a series so I just read them, enjoyed them and forgot about them. In transferring my books over to GoodReads, I was reminded and decided to pick up the first one to see if I would still enjoy them. In this first adventure, Signor Luciano and Signora Baci Storega-Borgia, have had a little tiff and Luciano leaves the house to cool off. Before he knows it, he's lost his way in the countryside and then he's kidnapped by some men in a big black car. Meanwhile, back at home, Signora Baci and the children are interviewing nannies and have finally found one they think will do. But then the 13 baby rats are lost, Grandma is defrosting and Damp, the baby, stuffs bacon rinds into the open disc drawer of the CD-ROM on her brother's computer. To add to the confusion, Mafia gangsters are now attempting to enter their home. Pandemonium ensues. To me, they are only like the Snicket books in that there are 3 children and one is an extremely intelligent baby. I think these books are even darker than those and bring in many more fantastical elements, such as mythical dungeon beasts, magic and a frozen great-great-great.......grandmother who is being kept in a cryogenics slumber until a cure for old age is found. They feel like children's books written by Gregory Maguire mixed in with the Addams Family. Overall, still a fun read and I think I'll probably reread the next two and then finish out the series (there are now 6 books). Since I read this one in a day, I think they would be kind of a "brain cleaner".

The Altar Girl: A Prequel by Orest Stelmach
2 stars

This started out with a great opening line--"He snatched me a block away from my apartment."--but the rest of the book didn't live up to that level of interest. Nadia's godfather has died, supposedly from falling down his stairs but Nadia knows that the night he died, it was raining and he would never have attempted going down those stairs in that kind of weather. When she starts asking questions at his funeral, it causes some unsavory characters from her past to abduct her and question her to figure out what she knows. The more she pursues information, the more she suspects that he was killed by someone she knows, maybe even her own brother. Running parallel to this story was a back story that talked about Nadia being tested by her father when she was young to prove that she could take care of herself when left in a wilderness situation. I guess that part was included just to prove how resourceful she could be. I did enjoy the information about the Ukrainian immigrants and the refugee camps they lived in post World War II. My incentive was to fit a category on a challenge and, of course, knock another Kindle "freebie" off my list, so at least I accomplished that.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
5 stars

Listening to this audio book, I just wanted to keep driving around town so that I could hear more of it. The book is disturbing but fascinating, probably due to the fact that although the author, Jeannette Walls, was brought up hungry, cold and neglected much of the time, she never made the reader feel like she was feeling sorry for herself. Her life was the way it was and she and her siblings made the most of it and became more like care givers to their parents than children. The daughter of an alcoholic father who had grand ideas but no follow through and an artistic mother who figured things would somehow work out without any help on her part, it's amazing that Jeannette turned out to be an intelligent, studious, sensible young woman. I can't believe her parents were able to keep their 4 children with them for the entirety of their childhood rather than losing them into the Child Protective System.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
4 stars

Wow, what a read!! I can't say that I loved this book but I certainly "liked" it more my usual 4 star books--maybe 4.5 stars. The book starts out in an England which is in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars and is full of magicians, some practical and some theoretical, but none of them seem to come to much other than giving these men a reason to come together in their clubs and discuss magic. Seemingly out of nowhere, a Mr. Norrell appears and invites all these men to witness a demonstration of his abilities and he is suddenly extremely popular and believed to be the only true magician in the land. He, then, basically forbids anyone else from practicing magic. Soon another magician, young and untrained, appears. Jonathan Strange becomes a student of Mr. Norrell but Norrell wants to control his training totally and only reveals bits and pieces of what he knows and only lets him read very selected books from his extensive library. The magicians are asked to aid England in the war against Napoleon and at some point Jonathan Strange goes to the battlefields and aids the troops by himself, which angers Norrell and causes a rift to begin between the two. Interspersed with this we are also given the story of a man with thistle down hair from the land of fairy who is extremely powerful and wants to intercede with the two magicians in any way he can. He was originally called upon by Mr. Norrell to aid him in bringing the wife of a friend back from the dead. The fairy man's condition was that he would hold some power over the woman from then on and she, in her bewitchment, lived between the two worlds. The man with thistle down hair then bewitched others, including Mr. Strange's wife and in his obsession to free his wife from the bewitchment, he and Mr. Norrell must again join forces. This book is just incredibly fantastical and although at times I felt like I was in over my head with all the footnotes and convoluted story, overall it held my interest and kept me turning the pages. Sometimes I'd be wondering what in the world is going on here but as I kept reading it would then become clear. I couldn't read fast enough during the last hundred pages or so--but being honest, some of that may have been just being anxious to have it finished so I didn't have to hold that heavy book at the gym anymore.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
5 stars

What a wonderful book! I really enjoyed every minute of this book which was recommended to me by a number of different friends. Ove is an almost 60 year old curmudgeon who follows rules to the max and expects everyone else to as well. If they don't, he is certainly not above letting them know how he feels about it. Since his wife passed, he spends his days in his established routines and decides that life is just really not worth living anymore. He decides that he is going to commit suicide. Then, a new family, husband, pregnant wife and 2 small daughters, move in next door and the first thing they do is run over his mailbox because the husband doesn't really know how to back up a U-Haul trailer...and to Ove's way of thinking, anyone should know how to do that. From that point on, any attempts he makes at taking his life either go awry (the rope he uses to hang himself snaps in half) or some emergency arises that keep him from following through. The first interruption occurs when his new neighbor falls off a ladder and he has to drive the family to the hospital because the wife doesn't have a driver's license. As time goes on, against his will, Ove is drawn more and more into interacting with this new family next door and other folks in the community that he comes in contact with. This is just a great laugh out loud, heart-warming story that will make you wish you knew someone like Ove and had the chance to get to know them better--to make your life and theirs much richer.

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman
3 stars

Although I raced through this book, it was not as much because I was loving it but because I kept hoping for some relief from the horrible hopelessness of what I considered the "driving" story. The story alternates chapters that are presented by Isabelle (Izzy) in present day and Clara in the past. Izzy is a teenager living in a foster home because her mother killed her father and is currently in prison. Her foster parents are supportive and caring but Izzy isn't quite ready to believe they're in it for the long haul. Clara is also a teenager who comes from an extremely wealthy family. Her father is overly controlling and her mother is just there, she never confronts her husband. Clara's brother left home to get away from them and ends up dead. I think they assumed he committed suicide. Clara sneaks out at night to spend time with her friends at the Cotton Club and has met a young man named Bruno. They fall in love and want to marry but her father forbids it and expects her to marry a young man that they have picked out for her. When she vehemently refuses her father has her committed to a home for "nervous invalids", hoping that it will bring her around to his way of thinking. When that doesn't work and the family finances take a turn for the worse, Clara is then send to Willard, which sounds like one of the old state hospitals where patients were treated with ice baths, insulin treatments and eventually electroshock. Back in the present time, Izzy's mother has been granted the chance to go through old suitcases that had been left at the old Willard hospital and she invites Izzy to go along. They, of course, go through Clara's old trunk and Izzy finds Clara's journal which details her trials and tribulations at being committed, being kept away from her love, and being pregnant in such a horrible situation. Izzy is determined to find out what eventually happened to Clara, Bruno and their baby...and there's your story. We learn about the horrible treatment that Clara is subjected to in the past along with Izzy's progress in solving the mystery in the future. Throw in some teenaged angst brought on by being the daughter of a murderer, the new girl in school and a foster child and it will keep you turning those pages, even though I thought that some of the dialogue was a little stilted and there was entirely too much gagging and vomiting going on. I will say that although the ending was a little too neatly tied up, I did like it.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
3 stars

I think that my optimism for this book was way too high. I have wanted to read this book forever and now that I finally have, I have to say I was disappointed. It was OK but I was not "wowed" by it. I listened to the audio which was read by the author and in the introduction she said that many people thought the book was beyond the comprehension of children. Ms. L'Engle said that children could understand it easily and it was adults that would have trouble with it and she must be right. I really enjoyed the first few chapters of this as they talked about the children meeting Mrs. Whatsit who had been blown off course during the storm. I liked the idea of the children wanting to find their father who had disappeared while participating in a top secret mission. But once they actually experienced a tesseract, the wrinkle in time, that allowed them to move through time, the story just lost it's appeal. One of the problems may have been the audio...whenever Mrs. Which (or Witch--I was never sure which it was) talked, her voice boomed out with a lot of reverberation which I found very annoying. So this may be one of those books that I would have enjoyed more if I had read it instead. I also liked very much the relationship between siblings Meg and Charles Wallace. They loved one another and there was no doubt about their closeness and loyalty to one another and their family. I did not like the children's father. Once they found him, I didn't think he behaved in a very fatherly way--he was just wimpy, in my opinion. The back of my audio says that 5 and up is the recommended audience, I can't imagine any 5 year old I've ever known being the least bit able to sit and listen to this production without being scared and/or bored. Maybe reading out loud in small amounts where they could be interactive and easily ask questions but even that, to me, is a stretch. Overall, I was unimpressed but glad that I finally read it.

Fortunately the Milk Neil Gaiman
4 stars

Just a fun, wacky, quick read. I purchased this little book some time ago and just noticed it when I was scrolling through my Kindle books early this morning. I took a notion to read it and whipped right through it. A mother must leave her family for a time and tells them that everything is ready for them to be able to get by without her except that they need milk. When it comes time for breakfast, the children can't eat because there's no milk. The father goes out for milk but is gone for quite some time and when he finally returns he relates a very implausible but entertaining story about what happened to him while he was gone. The story includes dinosaurs, pirates, vampires and hard-hairy-wet-white-crunchers and many great illustrations, it would be a great story to read out loud to your children or grandchildren. I'm going to have to go back and reread "The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" now.

The Last Bookstore in America by Amy Stewart
3 stars

This book did not pan out exactly the way I expected. The review said that it was comic and although there were some parts that I thought were slightly amusing, I didn't think it was overall funny. Lewis Hartman's uncle Sy has died and left his bookstore, one of the last bookstores in the U. S., to him and his wife. Lewis fondly remembers the time when he was young and stayed with his uncle and is excited to check it out and possibly become the full time owner of one of the last bookstores in America. His wife...not so much. She knows that the Gizmo, sold through Nile.com, is quickly closing down the book business by allowing everyone immediate access to any books they may ever want to read and people just don't want to bother with searching the shelves of some dusty old bookstore to find something to read. However, when they arrive in the small town of Eureka, California they discover that uncle Sy's bookstore is bringing in over a million dollars a year...? They are thrilled and come one step closer to becoming committed bookstore owners until they discover that the regulars in the shop are buying more than just the books...in fact, they will sometimes purchase the same books over and over again. It's not bad, it's just not what I expected and not really the type of story that I would have read if I'd realized what was going on ahead of time.

The Valley by John Renehan
4 stars

Last month our library had a program called Author Roulette, to help patrons familiarize themselves with new authors. You picked a slip of paper out of a bowl and it told you the name of the book. When I pulled out The Valley and realized it was about the war in Afghanistan, I almost threw it back but decided that didn't really fit the intent so I took the book, expecting to slog through it just to get it done. To my surprise, I really enjoyed this book very much. To me it was really more of a mystery and the setting just happened to be in Afghanistan. Lt. Black is sent to The Valley--one of the most remote and probably the most dangerous location in the country--to investigate the shooting of a goat by one of the American soldiers. The military claimed that it was an unfortunate mistake but a complaint had been made by the chief of the local village and an investigation needed to be conducted. Lt. Black feels as if he's being punished with the assignment and the platoon at the outpost think the investigation is ridiculous, so the atmosphere is immediately tense. However, it doesn't take long for the lieutenant to figure out that something much more serious than killing a goat is going on. Like most mysteries, I had no clue "who dunnit" so I could barely put the book down. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the land and felt like I could visualize what it must look like. I will say that some of the dialogue, when it contained a lot of military jargon, left me hazy sometimes but the overall story was enough to keep my interest. I would certainly recommend the book and consider it my "surprise" read of the year (so far).

Beauty and the Beast by Jenni James
3 stars

According to the reviews this story of Beauty and the Beast is the first in a new series of fairy tales for young adult readers. I found it to be a quick entertaining read that was mostly "sweetness and light" with just a little hint of evil. In this adaptation, the Prince, who has been extremely abrasive to anyone in the kingdom who is not as attractive as himself, finally insults the wrong person, a witch. She curses him with turning into a werewolf (at least that's what the review says although he never acts like a werewolf in the story) every night and then back to himself during the day. And as usual, the challenge is that he must make a young lady fall in love with him while he is the wolf before the curse will be broken. One night as he sits by the brook, a young woman from his kingdom who has often been the butt of his jokes appears. They strike up a friendship and you can probably guess the rest. The prince's cousin who thought he was going to gain the throne rather than the cursed prince is the one "evil" element in the story but his evil is pretty mild...although great at creating some upsetting situations. Overall, I think that young Young Adults would really enjoy this or anyone who just wants to read a straight forward rendition of a fairy tale.

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
4 stars

A lovely, straightforward little book which describes one family and their community during a time when pioneering types from many countries are attempting to make their mark on American soil. Alexandra Bergson is the only daughter and the most level headed of her siblings--all boys. Her father leaves the farm and it's handling to her and over the years, with careful management and continual expansion, the family is doing extremely well. Now, after all these years, Alexandra may finally have found someone to share her life with and her brothers are not exactly happy about the situation. Just a wonderful snapshot of the hard life in a less than perfect environment as these dedicated farmers try to make their way towards sustaining their families and helping their neighbors. This audio was read by Barbara McCulloh who had, in my opinion, the perfect voice for this story.