Play Book Tag discussion
Member ChallengeTracking 2016-20
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Cindy/LibraryCin's 2017 Challenges
12x12 Off the ShelfFierce Kingdom/ Gin Phillips
4.5 stars
This is an ARC, for sale July 11.
Joan and her 4-year old son Lincoln often go to the zoo at the end of the day when it’s not busy there. This day, as they head home from the zoo on their way out, they see a man with a gun near the exit. Those pops Joan heard earlier were gun shots! They hurry back inside to hide…
This drew me in early on and I just kept wanting to read. It is a fast-paced page-turner. It’s told from a few different points of view, but primarily from Joan’s. Have to admit (I don’t have kids), Lincoln was getting on my nerves for a while – just be quiet!!!! Your lives are at stake here! I know, he’s a kid, but still… Even still, I was hooked.
12x12 PBT, PBTThe Skeleton Tree / Iain Lawrence.
4 stars
12-year old Chris is invited to go sailing with his Uncle Jack in Alaska. When Chris arrives, he is introduced to another boy, Frank, around 15-years old, who is also coming. Unfortunately, their boat sinks and they lose Jack. Chris and Frank are stranded somewhere in Alaska, trying to survive.
I really liked this. But, wow, did I hate Frank! What a jerk! I loved Thursday, the smart raven who befriended Chris. I really enjoyed the story, though. I suppose it’s those good stories that make you feel such strong love or hate for the characters, sometimes.
12x12 Animals, Trim the TBRSkinny Bitch / Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin
3 stars
This book is written by a couple of vegan woman who are trying to promote a vegan lifestyle.
It was ok. I don’t remember why I added it to my tbr, but maybe I thought it was going to be funny? Not sure. But, what I didn’t like was the insults and swearing. I suppose it was meant to catch your attention/be a gimmick, but I think they should have done without it. (At the end of the book, they do say the title and the way they wrote it was to catch people’s attention.)
On the other hand, I thought there was a lot of good information here. Now, these ladies are trying to convince people to go organic and vegan. I am not vegan. I am not even vegetarian (but I am close). I am “flexitarian” (yes, that’s a word! I eat meat occasionally, but not often at all), so I agree with a lot of what they have to say. Either way, I do think they gave out a lot of good information. There was a difficult section to listen to, describing some of the things that happen at slaughterhouses (I cried). I listened to the audio, but there was a large section at the end of the book that consisted of lists – unfortunately, that doesn’t work well in an audio.
12x12 KIT Challenges, HorrorKITHell House / Richard Matheson
3.5 stars
It is just before Christmas, 1970. Parapsychologist Lionel, his wife Edith, and two mediums, Ben and Florence, are hired to spend a week in “Hell House”, the “Mount Everest” of haunted houses. Lionel brings with him a machine he’s built to prove that ghosts do not exist. Ben was an amazing medium at only 15 years old and was in Hell House the last time a group of people entered in 1940; he was the only one to come out alive. Florence is clergy in a small town and a “spiritualist”, or “mental medium”, and very much believes that ghosts are there.
It started off a little slow, but it kept building until the end. Overall, I liked it. Just a warning that the women in the house are pretty much terrorized via sexual violence; whereas, for the men, it’s physical violence. It’s unfortunate that sex was used so much in this book against the women, but rarely any other form of scare tactic.
12x12 Trim, Trim the TBR, CATWoman, RandomCATShopaholic Takes Manhattan / Sophie Kinsella
3.5 stars
Becky paid off her debt a while back, but is having trouble keeping it down again. Though she has promised her roommate she’ll be better, it’s really hard sticking to it! Her corporate boyfriend, Luke, is wanting to expand his company to the U.S., so he and Becky plan to go to New York for a couple of weeks to work on that, while Becky does some networking to see if she can also find a job. Things start off looking good, but something goes drastically wrong while there…
I have mixed feelings about Becky. I hated all the lies! Seemingly little white lies, but they build and build and build! Of course, I also don’t like shopping, so I don’t understand how she can’t hold back better on the spending, knowing how much trouble she’s getting into (though she doesn’t seem to be able to understand that, and she certainly can’t seem to face it). At the same time, I did feel badly for her when things went wrong. Whatever my feelings about Becky’s character, I did enjoy the book for light, mild entertainment. Except… mild (view spoiler)Ewwwwww!
12x12 Nonfiction, TrimSavage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children / Michael Newton
2.5 stars
The title of this book is misleading. The author doesn’t focus all that much on the “feral” children. He discusses philosophy (what distinguishes human from animal?), linguistics, Greek mythology, wild children in literature (Tarzan, Mowgli), the people who worked with, “saved”, experimented on, etc. the children after they were found.
It could have been a much better book if he’d simply focused on the children, themselves. It was pretty dry, at times. The last story was the most interesting for me: Genie was severely abused by her father (tied up for 13 years with no human contact), and I even happened to be interested in the language acquisition part of it after she got out. Unfortunately, most of the other stories lost my interest pretty quickly once the basics of the child’s story was told and the author moved on to academic issues stemming from that child. The last story and the kids’ stories, themselves are what “pushed” this up the extra ½ star.
12x12 Oh Canada, Trim, PBT, Travel Across CanadaCool Water / Dianne Warren
4 stars
Juliet is a small town (just over 1,000 people) in Southern Saskatchewan, near Swift Current. This book follows some of the town residents (and local farmers) for one day. We meet Lee, who has taken over his “family” farm (we learn early on, that Lester and Astrid were not his biological parents); Norval, the town banker, whose daughter, just out of high school, is pregnant and is getting married… neither she nor her fiance are particularly responsible; Blaine, whose farm has failed and he is having trouble making ends meet for him and his family, including six children; and more.
I really enjoyed this. I grew up in a small town/farming community in Southern Sask, and loved reading about the area, though this town was meant to be (I believe it’s a fictional town) just north of the Trans-Canada highway by the sand dunes, whereas I lived a ways south of the highway. Either way, it’s not fast-paced, but I was drawn in and interested in the characters, anyway. It actually reminded me a bit of Kent Haruf’s books and his small town characters. It does switch between characters quite frequently, but – for the most part – I was able to fairly quickly figure out who was who and whose perspective we were getting each time.
12x12 Series, AlphaKITDrums of Autumn / Diana Gabaldon
4 stars
Claire and Jamie (and Jamie’s nephew Ian) are travelling from South Carolina, heading north. Jamie has an aunt in North Carolina, so they stop there for a while. Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Brianna and Roger are becoming better acquainted, but Bree misses her mother. Way more going on in this one, but I don’t want to give too much away.
I really liked this one. It picked up in the 2nd half. One thing that gets tricky with these long books, though (at least for me) is remembering all the characters (some of the characters, I’m sure are being reintroduced from earlier in the series, as well)! Someone will be reintroduced at some point, and it takes me ages (and some kind of hint by the author, usually!) to remember who they are! It’s just that that hint doesn’t always come… or it comes quite some time after the character has reappeared. Have to admit, I was very angry with Jamie for a while. However, this may be my favourite in the series, so far.
12x12 Mystery Subgenre, AlphaKIT, HorrorKIT, Mystery Subgenre, Trim the TBRBlood Bound / Patricia Briggs
4 stars
This is book 2 of the series. Mercedes (Mercy) is a mechanic and a shapeshifter (coyote) who was raised by werewolves, so she knows them and their society well. There are also vampires in the area with whom she is acquainted. She owes Stefan, one of those vampires, a favour, so she accompanies him in her coyote form to see someone. When they arrive, Stefan is put under a spell while they watch a hotel maid murdered; other hotel employees have already been murdered this night. They discover that the guy who brought them there, and who did the murdering is a sorcerer-vampire, and Mercy is warned away while the vampires and werewolves try to hunt him down to destroy him before he murders more.
I really liked this one. It especially picked up in the second half when Mercy (of course!) had to get more involved again. There was a particularly tense (i.e. scary!) scene, at one point (at least for me it was!). There are a lot of characters and I did get a few mixed up occasionally (Stefan/Samuel, Adam/Andre, and a few others who I just couldn’t remember if they were introduced in book 1 or if I “skimmed” a section where they were introduced earlier in this book). However, that didn’t diminish my enjoyment very much.
12x12 Mystery Subgenre, Mystery SubgenreThe Secret History / Donna Tartt
3 stars
Richard is on a scholarship when he goes to college in New England. He gets into an elite Greek program, with only a few other students in it. All the other students are rich and don’t think about money. One of their little clique is murdered by the rest of them at the start of the book, then Richard, the narrator, backs up to tell how they got there, and how things went afterward.
Based on the first half of the book, I would have given this 2 stars. I didn’t like any of the characters at all. I found them snobby and pretentious. I’m not sure if they were meant to come across that way via the writing, or if it was the narration of the audio (by the author herself), so the tone as she read, or if it was just the way I saw them, but either way, I didn’t like them at all. Oh, yeah and twins: Charles and Camilla… really? Every time they were mentioned as a pair, my mind went to the Royal Family in England!
So much of the first half of the book was taken up discussing boring Greek stuff, philosophy, academic stuff. I just wasn’t interested. The second half of the book picked up, though only enough for me to give it 3 stars (ok) - and I suspect, as I write this within hours of finishing, that the further I get from it, I might actually feel like I should have rated it only 2.5, not 3 (average for 2 stars in the first half and 3 stars in the second half). However, I did find the stuff that happened after the murder to be more interesting. As for the ending…. I liked part of it, but disliked another part.
12x12 Travel, PBT ProsperityRebel Queen / Michelle Moran
4 stars
It’s India in the 19th century. Sita is only a child when her mother dies in childbirth. While her grandmother wants to sell her to a brothel, her father won’t allow it. Instead, he and a neighbour train her on everything she might need to know to become a “Durgavasi”, one of the ten elite women who protect India’s queen. Sita’s younger sister’s hopes of a dowry rest on Sita getting this position. India is in a bit of turmoil at this time, as England has occupied India, and is, for the moment, allowing India’s royalty to lead India, but things take a turn for the worse.
This was really good. I didn’t know about this bit of history, nor about India’s queen. I found Sati to be very interesting and enjoyed following her story. I also, as always, appreciated Moran’s historical note at the end explaining which events of the book really happened.
12x12 KIT Challenges, HorrorKIT, AlphaKITThe Sandman. Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes / Neil Gaiman
3.5 stars
Dream (aka The Sandman) was captured and imprisoned 70 years ago. Once he escapes, he goes looking for his objects of power, at least one of which is being used by a madman.
I liked this, particularly the last issue in this volume, the introduction of Dream’s sister, Death. I also enjoyed the bit in the diner. Some parts were hard to follow, but I enjoyed the parts that were a bit easier. Funny most of the parts I liked best (except for Death) focused more on human characters. I guess I can’t do a very good summary because I suppose I missed too many things. I did like the artwork and I do plan to continue the series, though.
12x12 OverflowStill Life with Bread Crumbs / Anna Quindlen
3.5 stars
Rebecca is an award-winning, famous photographer. When she runs into some money trouble, she decides to rent out her NYC apartment and move to a small place in rural NY. While there, she meets the locals and finds more interesting items to photograph.
I enjoyed this. It wasn’t fast-moving or anything, but I liked the characters and enjoyed the story.
12x12 CAT Challenges, CultureCAT, PBT, PBT High NotesMudbound / Hillary Jordan
4.5 stars
The opening chapter has brothers Henry and Jamie burying their seemingly unlikable father. From there, the book backs up in time to tell of Laura and Henry’s marriage in the late 1930s, into the 1940s, and their move from a city to rural Mississippi to run a farm, Henry’s dream. But, they have Henry’s father, Pappy, living with them and their two daughters and making their lives miserable. Jamie has been over in Europe fighting in the Second World War. Henry employs three black families on the farm, one of which is the Jacksons, and Laura employs Florence Jackson to help in the house. The Jacksons eldest son, Ronsel, has also been fighting in the war. Things get worse for the families once Jamie and Ronsel come home. It is the South, after all, and racism and the KKK are still alive and kicking.
Wow, this was really good. It mostly wasn’t fast-paced, but I wanted to keep reading. It was told from multiple points of view, so that made things a little more interesting (and it was easy to follow whose viewpoint it was, as the chapter was not only introduced with their name, their name was the “running title” at the top of each page for that chapter). Ugh, some of those people are so hateful! Even the nicer people have unlikeable reactions, in some cases! This is likely to be one of my favourites for this year.
12x12 Series, RandomCAT, CATWoman, AlphaKIT, TrimThe Game of Silence / Louise Erdrich
3.5 stars
This is a children’s book, a continuation of “The Birchbark House”. It is 1850 and Omakayas is now 9-years old. This book goes through another year in her life, all four seasons. In the spring, Omakayas, her family, and the other Ojibwe discover that they are being told by the white people that they need to leave. They send out four men to find out what happened, why they must leave – did they break the treaty? While the four men are gone, Omakayas learns about medicines from her grandmother, while her cousin, Two Strikes, though a girl, wants to build her own little army made up of the boys. And, there is more day-to-day stuff happening, as well.
I enjoyed this. Not quite as much as “The Birchbark House”, but it was still enjoyable and I will continue the series. There are very nice illustrations, and some well done descriptions of how things are done (similar to the first book).
12x12 Audio, Mystery Subgenre, AlphaKITThe Girl On Legare Street / Karen White
3 stars
In book 2 of the series, realtor Melanie is brought together with her mother, whom she hasn’t seen, nor heard from, in 33 years; her mother left when Melanie was 7. Her mother wants “Melly” to help her buy their ancestral home. In the meantime, a ship has been recovered... a ship belonging to their ancestors, and a body is found on it. Also, there are mysterious portraits in the attic of the house – who are the girls in the portraits?
I should have reread my review for the first book before getting this one on audio. I warned myself that I should not do the audio for the second one. Oops! So, I listened to the audio again and it was no better. It didn’t hold my attention enough to follow everything, though I got the gist. I’m giving it (like the first one) an “ok” rating, but I’m stopping the series here.
The author ended both books with a “cliffhanger” kind of ending, in hopes that it would intrigue the reader enough to continue. It worked after the first book, but it’s not working again. I don’t think I liked a single character in the book! The main character, Melanie, I was neutral about, but I really disliked both her mother and the potential love interest, Jack. Wow, could either of them be any more pushy!? They both constantly annoyed me.
12x12 Oh Canada, Trim the TBRAs Seen on TV / Sarah Mlynowski
3.75 stars
Sunny is leaving Florida for New York City to move in with her boyfriend, but at the last minute, her job falls through. When a friend offers to help get her a spot on a reality tv show, Party Girls, Sunny is hesitant, but it’s a job to keep her going for a few weeks until she find a real job. Unfortunately, Sunny gets all caught up in being a star and being on tv, and she forgets what’s important.
I quite enjoyed this (overall). Sunny was very unlikeable in the middle of the story, though, when she was all caught up in herself, her image, and the show. What an awful reality show, though! I enjoyed the few parts where there were roommates watching the show, so there was a bit of an outsider’s perspective on the show itself.
12x12 Trim, AwardsCAT, Trim the TBRDying Inside / Robert Silverberg
3 stars
David gets paid to write university papers for college students. He has been telepathic (he can read minds) all his life. He is now in his 40s(?), and his “gift” seems to be disappearing. He looks back on the good and bad his telepathy has brought him and is trying to deal with the seemingly inevitable loss of it.
Overall, it was ok. The 1970s definitely came through in the book (it was originally published in ‘72): sex and drugs. I enjoyed some of the relationships David had – the rocky relationship with his adopted younger sister, adopted when David was 10 years old; and his long-ago relationship with Kitty were particularly interesting to me. Some of the rest of it wasn’t as interesting, though. I’m not sure why the author felt it necessary to include some of the university papers her wrote for students; I found those boring and mostly skimmed those. The edition I read was published in 2008 and there was a good introduction by the author as to how the book came about.
12x12 OverflowBlue Dahlia / Nora Roberts
3.5 stars
A couple of years after Stella’s husband dies in a plane crash, she and her two sons move to Tennessee, where her father and stepmother live. Stella quickly finds a job (and a place to live) with Roz, who owns a gardening company. Roz also owns a huge old house, complete with a resident ghost, who seems to enjoy children. Logan, another employee of Roz’s, and Stella get off to a bad start; Stella is super-organized and is trying to organize Roz’s company, and Logan is not.
I enjoyed this. It wasn’t fast-moving or anything, but it was enjoyable. I liked the ghost story, in particular. This, being the first in the trilogy, didn’t come to a full conclusion and we can already figure out who will be paired up with whom in the next two books, but that’s ok. I’d like to continue and I certainly want to learn more about the ghost story!
12x12 PBT, PBT, RandomCAT, TrimCatacombs / Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
3 stars
A continuation of Catalyst, human boy Jubal, and cat Chester have a bond where they can communicate via their minds. They (and other cats) are brought to planet Mau by Pshaw-Ra, who is royalty on that planet. Pshaw-Ra has plans to rule the universe. Little does everyone know, but Pshaw-Ra is planning to find a way to use all these cats to his advantage.
It was ok. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. I’m not a big fan of the space-stuff, but I enjoyed the cats themselves when the focus was on them and their behaviours and their links to their humans.
12x12 AudioTelex from Cuba / Rachel Kushner
2.5 stars
This is set in the 1950s in Cuba. Some American families have moved to Cuba to work for companies on the island. The main character in the story is a boy, K.C. So, the story follows him and his family, as well as a young girl, Everly, and her family (amongst others).
I’m sure my rating (and enjoyment, or lack of) of the book more reflect the fact that I was listening to it on a dying mp3 player, so it was harder to pay attention as the sound came and went at times. Of what I was paying attention to, there were parts I enjoyed more than others: the focus on the families was more interesting to me than the focus on the politics of the revolution.
12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaKIT, AwardsCATFun Home: A Family Tragicomic / Alison Bechdel
4 stars
Alison Bechdel grew up in the 1970s. Her family lived in a huge home, a home her father was constantly fixing up. Her father was a high school teacher and a funeral home director in a small town, and though Alison didn’t know it, he was gay. Alison herself realized she was a lesbian when she was in college. The book looks at her life while she was growing up, and in particular, her relationship with her often-distant father.
I really enjoyed this. It is a graphic novel and I liked the mostly simple artwork. Many of the literary references were over my head, though (Alison and her father shared a love of reading). The chapters mostly focus on a particular topic, so one would mainly focus on her father’s death, one on growing up around the “fun house” (nickname for the funeral home!), another her father’s restoration projects, etc. So, although it generally went in chronological order, it wasn’t completely. I still thought it flowed well, though.
12x12 Off the Shelf, Trim the TBR, CATWoman, AlphaKITOrange Is the New Black / Piper Kerman
4 stars
When Piper Kerman was jut out of university, she wanted an adventure. Well, she got a little more than she’d bargained for, as she ended up smuggling drugs. It was about 10 years later, after she was engaged, she finally served time for her crime. She was sent to a minimum security prison in Connecticut, where she spent almost a year. This book describes that year in her life.
This was really good. The prison itself wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be. It seems, at least once Piper learned the “ropes”, she was able to stay on good terms with many of the prisoners and the bigger “threat” was the staff. She and many of the other inmates got along well and became friends.
The end of the book included a reader’s guide, with an interview with Piper and discussion questions. She did mention in the interview portion that, although there wasn’t violence, rape, etc, (as many people – and I – would have expected in such a place), it still wasn’t a nice place. That is, there was no privacy at all, and you have no control over your life or over many decisions. As she was transferred, towards the end, to a couple of other penitentiaries, she also discovered how much worse it could get. Piper was very lucky to have the support system that she did outside of prison; many inmates don’t have that, nor other advantages that Piper had (white skin, money, a job waiting for her when she got out…).
12x12 Animals, Mystery Subgenre, RandomCAT, TrimNative Tongue / Carl Hiaasen
3.75 stars
Two endangered voles (a specific type) – in fact the last ones on Earth! – are stolen from Animal Kingdom, a theme park/zoo in the Florida Keys. Characters in the book include the two bandits and an old woman (an activist who has a penchant for guns!), who get to know each other; the owner of the zoo, who has a questionable past, and some of his employees: one of the main ones being a PR script writer, who decides he doesn’t like all the lies he is asked to write to release to the media. Then… people start dying...
Hiaasen’s books always have so much going on, and plenty of zany characters! I quite enjoyed this one, possibly more than some of the others I’ve read, but not quite enough for a 4 star rating. I liked that Hiaasen brought back a character from a previous novel, though I can’t recall which novel, but I do vaguely remember him. I don’t think I found this as funny as some of his others, but that’s ok. I always like the environmental themes in his books.
12x12 Mystery Subgenre, Trim the TBR, RandomCAT, Mystery SubgenreEye of the Whale: A Novel / Douglas Carlton Abrams
4 stars
Elizabeth is married, but spends much of her time away, researching for her thesis on whales. She is studying whale communication. When she is the first to notice a different song amongst the whales, something appears to be very wrong. But, she needs to head home to California. With trouble brewing with her husband and at the university with regards to her thesis, Apollo, a whale, races too close to shore, but won’t leave. When she tries to help get him back to the ocean, she becomes a target...
I really enjoyed this! I love animals and am interested in environmental topics, and this has a definite environmental focus, as well. There are short chapters, introduced by location and time, so you know this is time-sensitive. There were parts that kept the book a page-turner for me.
12x12 Oh, Canada, BingoDOGThe Dark and Other Love Stories / Deborah Willis
3.5 stars
This is a book of short stories. Some of the stories include two girls/friends at camp who would sneak out of their bunk at night; two girls/friends who would break into neighbourhood houses when no one was home; a little boy who’s father lived with him and his mother when he was 9 – they had a memorable Halloween; a man who survived a concentration camp as a child moves to Canada and rarely speaks, while a girl of 18 moves away from home to work for a small town newspaper; a man shares his new apartment with a crow… and more.
Usually, a book of short stories will get a 3 star rating from me: I like some of the stories, I don’t like some, and some are ok, so the book, as a whole, averages out to about 3 stars (ok). In this one, however, I can say that I liked almost all of the stories, so it’s getting a 3.5 rating. So, one of the better collections I’ve read.
12x12 OverflowThe Last Juror / John Grisham.
4 stars
Willie Traynor, a newly graduated journalist, moves from the north to a small town in Ford County, Mississippi, and takes over the local newspaper. In 1970, shortly after he’s taken over the paper, Danny Padgitt is arrested for raping and murdering a young mother, in her home, while her kids woke up and witnessed what was happening. Willie’s coverage of the story puts him in the path of the entire Padgitt family, who tend to keep to themselves. In the meantime, Willie has become friends with a local black woman, a woman who becomes the first black woman to serve on a jury in Ford County. After the trial, the town moves on and Willie continues to cover the news over the next decade or so… and jury members from the old Padgitt trial start to turn up, murdered.
I really liked this one. I have to admit that the middle section slowed down, but I really liked the first section and it picked up again at the end. I also really liked the friendship between Willie and Miss Callie.
12x12 Travel, CATWoman, Trim the TBRThe Lady and the Unicorn / Tracy Chevalier
3.5 stars
It’s late in the 15th century and artist Nicolas des Innocents is hired to design tapestries for nobleman Jean le Viste. Nicolas is a notorious womanizer and decides he wants to bed Jean’s daughter, Claude. Claude, in turn, is attracted to Nicolas, but she is yet to be betrothed and certainly can’t afford any stains on her reputation! Meanwhile, after the tapestries are designed, Nicolas must hand over the actual crafting of them to a weaver in Brussels, Georges de la Chapelle. Georges, his family, and his workers take it from there to actual make the tapestries. Georges also has a daughter, Alienor, who happens to be blind. Nicolas also works his charms on her.
Overall, I did like the book/the story, but I REALLY didn’t like Nicolas, nor did I like Claude. I did like Alienor, but I just don’t understand how all these women would fall for the jerk, Nicolas! Each chapter is told from a different point of view, but the start of the chapter tells you whose point of view you are a following, so it’s not hard to follow.
12x12 Audio, Trim the TBRThe Nobodies Album / Carolyn Parkhurst
3.5 stars
Octavia Frost is a successful author, with eight published novels. She has decided she’d like to rewrite the endings for all of them, and publish that as a collection. Her rock star/musician son, Milo, and she have been estranged for four years, but she feels she must go to him when he is arrested on suspicion of murdering his fiancee.
I much preferred the mother/son story to the multiple books and rewritten endings by Octavia Frost. I listened to the audio and often missed too much of those rewritten stories to really follow them. I did enjoy the murder mystery, though, and Milo and Octavia coming closer together again.
12x12 KIT Challenges. HorrorKITThe Book of Speculation / Erika Swyler
3 stars
Simon is a librarian who has just lost his job. His old house is falling apart around him and he can’t afford to fix it. His has pretty much raised his sister, Enola, but she’s been gone for a long time. She reads tarot cards for a travelling circus. When a bookseller gives him a book with his grandmother’s name in it, he starts researching. He discovers that the women in previous generations of his family all drowned on July 24. When Enola comes home to visit close to that date, he is worried.
The book goes back and forth in time, following Simon’s life and back in time, following the circus that one of his ancestors belonged to. At first, I didn’t mind the historical portion of the story, but somewhere along the way, much of that part of the story lost my interest, though I still enjoyed Simon and Enola’s portion of the story. Overall, it was ok.
12x12 CAT Challenges, CultureCAT, Trim the TBRWhy New Orleans Matters / Tom Piazza
3.5 stars
This book was written a very short time after Hurricane Katrina. Katrina hit at the end of August in 2005, and this book was copyrighted the same year. In Part I, the author describes the culture of New Orleans: the food, the music, the parades, Jazz Fest, Mardi Gras… He also talks about the bad side: the crime, the poverty. In Part II, he looks at the devastation caused by Katrina and contemplates the rebuilding.
I liked it. I’ve been there once, and I already wanted to go back… and the book made me want to go back even more! I was there in 2011, and most of the places I visited hadn’t been affected by the flooding. I did get to one of the affected areas that still, in 2011, mostly hadn’t been fixed up. Reading the book certainly brought back some good memories of my visit, though!
12x12 Trim, Trim the TBR, CATWomanWicked Girls / Stephanie Hemphill
2.5 stars
This is a fictional account of the Salem witch trials, mostly told from the points of view of three of the girls who accused many of the people, two 17-year olds and one 12-year old.
I was initially excited to find a fictional book about the Salem witches, but I skipped entire first chapter, thinking it was a quote. Suddenly the 2nd chapter started with another “quote” and I realized – oh, crap! I think the entire book is written this way: like poetry. Or, I guess the term is “in verse”. Not a fan. I skim/read that kind of thing quickly, and don’t really pay attention.
The good part: it was quick! The book did go right at the end with the notes on the real-life people, both the accusers and the accused. Also a note, in general, on why they may have accused so many people. That gave it the extra ½ star, but I’d still like to find a good fictional work on this topic.
12x12 KIT Challenges, AlphaKIT, Trim the TBROne Good Knight / Mercedes Lackey
3 stars
Andromeda is a princess, and is very smart. Her mother keeps her at a distance and doesn’t really want her learning too much, including how to govern. When the kingdom is threatened by a dragon, they decide to offer sacrificial virgins to appease it.
I mostly enjoyed it, but it was a bit odd and had a definite weird ending. I’m not sure if I want to continue the series, but since they all seem to be about different characters, I think I will. I think the series is really just the same “world”.
12x12 Trim, Trim the TBRThe Good Father / Diane Chamberlain
5 stars
Travis has been raising his (now) 4-year old girl with the help of his mother (at his mother’s home). But when their home burns down and his mother dies, Travis and Bella have nowhere to go. And Travis has lost his job. In looking for construction work, he gets caught up in other work he shouldn’t have, putting people’s lives (including Bella’s) at risk.
I listened to the audio, which was very well done, in addition to it being a very engaging story. The audio had three different narrators, for the three characters who told the story. Travis was one; Bella’s mother Robin was another; and a woman Travis and Bella met while looking for a job, Erin, was the third.
The story itself pulled me in immediately, then it went back in time a bit to hear how we got to that point, from Travis’s point of view. Robin’s POV went back and forth in time from when she met Travis and she later got pregnant… all while dealing with a heart problem; also her current life, 4 years later, as the fiancee of a well-known, well-connected man, running for mayor. Erin’s POV also included the current timeline, when she met Travis and Bella while Travis was looking for a job, and back in time to her married life, with a little girl she lost.
After the book drew me in at the start, I just wanted to keep listening to find out what would happen. Be warned that a Kleenex comes in handy at points. For a while, I thought I wasn’t going to like how it appeared to be heading toward the ending, but I was ok with it, after all.
12x12 Series, AlphaKIT, PBTUnSouled / Neal Shusterman
3.5 stars
Trying not to give away too much info from previous books to summarize this one… Many of the potential unwinds are on the run. Many of the characters from the previous books in the series are running, or fighting back, or, in some cases, merely mentioned. Some chapters follow the scientists who invented unwinding, though they regretted it once they realized what it was being used for, as that was not its intent (from their points of view, anyway). A few new characters are introduced, ending up travelling along to hide, fight, or chase after those running.
It was good, though I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two in the series. It did get better at the very end, but it wasn’t quite enough to up my rating. I do love the way the author works in little advertisements in between narrations of the story. Those little advertisements do mean something, as well. The chapters switch on whose point of view we are following; there are a lot of characters and I had a bit of trouble remembering who some of the characters were, in some cases! But, as the story moved forward, I either remembered more, or at least learned enough to follow.
12x12 Off the Shelf, CultureCATLittle Bee / Chris Cleve
3.5 stars
Little Bee is from Nigeria and was fleeing for her life when she met Andrew and Sarah on a beach in her country. Some time later, Bee has arrived in England, but has been held for 2 years in a detention centre for immigrants. When she is released, she contacts Andrew, since he and Sarah are the only people she knows in England. When she makes it to their place, however, Sarah is dealing with other things.
My summary gives away more than the book jacket, though I still don’t think it gives away very much. The book alternates between Bee’s and Sarah’s points of view. I liked the book, but I have mixed feelings about the ending. I absolutely hated Sarah’s (view spoiler)! There is a good author’s note at the end.
12x12 Nonfiction, Trim the TBR, RandomCATMan vs. Weather: Be Your Own Weatherman / Dennis DiClaudio
3.5 stars
This is a humourous book that teaches readers about the weather.
I am always interested in the weather and am particularly fascinated by storms and bad weather. I have occasionally thought it might be interesting to be a meteorologist. I mostly enjoyed this. There were a few parts where the science was just a little too much for me, despite my interest, but mostly the author was able to describe it in ways that made sense. There was humour thrown in, and some illustrations. I was particularly interested in the sections on storms and bad weather (no surprise to me), and at the end, I also enjoyed the section on the history of weather (and the Earth and humans, in general).
12x12 PBT, PBT, CATWomanEleanor & Park / Rainbow Rowell
4 stars
Eleanor is a big girl with fiery red, curly hair. She is new and at first has trouble fitting in at school and is bullied. But, when she and the (half) Korean guy (Park) she sits beside on the bus start sharing comic books and music, they seem to hit it off. But, Eleanor needs to hide her new relationship, as her stepfather is mentally and emotionally abusive toward her, her mother, and all her siblings. He can never find out (nor can her mother).
I enjoyed most of the book, but Eleanor annoyed me with some of her decisions. I didn’t like the end at all, but I kept a pretty good rating even though I disliked the end so much, simply because I liked the rest of the book so much. The book alternated viewpoints between Eleanor and Park. I listened to the audio, which was done well with two different narrators.
12x12 CAT Challenges, Trim, RandomCAT, PBTA Deadly Yarn / Maggie Sefton
3 stars
A friend of Kelly’s is moving from Colorado to New York to further her artist career, but on the morning another friend, Megan, is supposed to pick her up to get her to the airport, she is found dead. Kelly and Megan begin sleuthing to find out who killed Allison (though Kelly has been warned against sticking her nose in before!).
It was ok. A quick read. I think this is where I’ll stop with this series, though. The mystery was fine for me, but I was quite bored with Kelly’s personal issues/decisions/life. I thought the author did a nice job with her descriptions of Colorado, though. There are plenty of cozy mysteries out there, but this series has lost my interest.
12x12 Animals, HorrorKITScarecrow/ Alyssa Wong
3.5 stars
This is a horror short story. I don’t think I really want to summarize it, as I think part of the story is about figuring out what’s happening. It took a little bit to realize what was going on, but once I did, I thought the story was good.
12x12 Travel, Trim the TBR, RandomCAT, CultureCAT, AlphaKITThe Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe / Peter Godwin
3 stars
In 2008, there was a “democratic” election in Zimbabwe, which apparently defeated its long-time leader/dictator, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe, however, wouldn’t accept it, so while there was to be a re-vote, Mugabe’s people hunted down and tortured and/or murdered people known to be voting against him. The (white) author, who had been born in Zimbabwe, and was now a journalist elsewhere, decided to head back and talked to Zimbabwean people to bear witness.
The book followed the author as he travelled across the country to talk to the people. There were a lot of people and much of the book, particularly the first half, focused on telling the stories of those who had been tortured. Because there were so many people, I sometimes found it hard to follow – is this a new person, or is this one of the people already mentioned? Some of the other parts were a bit dry for me. It’s horrible, everything that happened, but I found much of the book (though not all) a dry read, unfortunately.
This book is copyrighted 2010, so I looked up Mugabe. The man, at 90-something years old now, is still alive and sadly, still the leader of the country.
12x12 Oh Canada, PBTStation Eleven / Emily St. John Mandel
3.5 stars
Just after an actor, Arthur, dies onstage of an apparent heart attack, it becomes known that a flu epidemic is sweeping the world. It’s not long before most of the human population has died. The book follows a young actress, Kristen, 20 years later; it also follows Jeeves just after the epidemic became known – he was an audience member who tried to save the actor who died. The book also goes back in time to look at Arthur’s life.
There is a lot of back and forth in time, but it says early on in each chapter when we are reading about, so it’s not hard to follow. That being said, I found the epidemic itself and the parts immediately after, were the most interesting to me. Arthur’s life wasn’t as interesting to me, though I was curious who, in his life, survived or didn’t. Parts of Kristen’s story, 20 years later, were somewhat interesting. It certainly was interesting to see how people had been coping for the past 20 years! Overall, it was good, but nothing super-special for me.
12x12 Animals, BingoDOG, RandomCATJerry of the Islands: A True Dog Story / Jack London
3 stars
This book follows Jerry, a puppy, as he sets out on the sea with a sailor. From there he ends up on land with a group of people. And he makes his way further from there. Much of the story is from Jerry’s point of view.
It was ok. I had trouble following much of the dialogue. I (no surprise to me) found myself much more interested in the parts that were from Jerry’s point of view, rather than the parts that strayed from that and focused on the people in the story.
12x12 Travel, CultureCATA House in the Sky / Amanda Lindhout
4.25 stars
In 2008, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout travelled to Somalia with Australian photographer, Nigel Brennen. While there, they (along with 3 Somalian escorts) were kidnapped and held for ransom. Amanda and Nigel were held for over a year before their families, with the help of a professional negotiator, came up with part of the money the kidnappers had originally asked for to get them released.
Amanda not only tells her story in the book; she narrates the audio. As the book was coming close to the end, I marveled that she was not only able to write her story, but she is able to narrate it! The book started a bit slower, as she told of her life growing up in Alberta, Canada (fairly local to me!), before she caught the “travel bug” and she wanted to travel all over. She tells stories of some of the places she travelled before deciding to head into Somalia to hopefully write a story to “make” her career. But, the pace of the book just picks up more and more as the book goes on.
At the start of the book, I was ready to give it 3.5 stars, but it quickly went up to 4 stars. At the end I might have given 4.5 stars, but I wanted to take the entire book in account for my rating and settled on 4.25, as I feel like it does deserve higher than 4.
12x12 Mystery Subgenre, PBT, Mystery SubgenreI'd Know You Anywhere / Laura Lippman
4 stars
Eliza is now married and has two kids: Iso is a teenager and Albie is younger. But when she was 15 years old and went by her full name, Elizabeth, she was kidnapped, and later released. Her kidnapper was arrested and charged with 2 murders, though it was suspected he’d done more than the two. Elizabeth was his only victim who lived. Eliza’s kids have not been told what had happened to their mother when she was younger. Walter, her kidnapper, is on Death Row, but not long before his date, Eliza gets a letter from him…
This was quite good. Not as edge-of-your-seat as I originally expected, but it was still a good story. The book went back and forth in time between present-day and 1985 when Elizabeth was kidnapped. It also changed points of view. Mostly it was told from Elizabeth/Eliza’s point of view, but we got Walter’s POV, as well as a few others, though the others mostly came in the second half of the book. There were a couple of characters I really really disliked (in addition to Walter!).
12x12 Nonfiction, Trim the TBR, RandomCAT, PBTMy Story / Elizabeth Smart
4 stars
In 2002, Elizabeth Smart was only 14-years old when she was kidnapped from her own bedroom(!!!) in Salt Lake City, Utah. A homeless man who considered himself a prophet kidnapped her and he and his wife held her for nine months before they were caught and she was reunited with her family. Elizabeth tells the story of what happened.
In addition to her own story of what happened over those nine months, Elizabeth tells some of how things were going back home with the search. In fact, for a good chunk of the time, she was kept very close to home, until it got too cold to live in their tent and all three moved to California.
The way the story was told seemed very “simple” to me, maybe to reflect (on purpose or otherwise!) how young she was at the time? There is also a bit or repetition. I certainly remember the story in the news, even here in Canada and always wondered about her. She seems to have come through very well adjusted (despite the daily rape!). She doesn’t go into detail on that. The 4-star rating may also have to do with my interest in the case, generally.
12x12 PBT, PBTOne Perfect Lie / Lisa Scottoline
4 stars
We are told from the first sentence that Chris Brennan is lying. He is at a job interview to be a teacher. He not really a teacher, but they don’t know that and he is able to charm his way into getting the job. He is trying to get close to some of the boys at the school… for what purposes, we don’t yet know! We do know, early on, that he has to do what he’s doing within a week.
The book pulled me in right away, but when we switched views to focus on three of the boys and their mothers/families, I didn’t find their stories as interesting, but only initially. There was a surprising twist in the middle, and at first, I didn’t even believe it! Not really to do with the book itself, but I did notice that the blurb on the dust jacket had one of the three boys’ names incorrect! Jordan is the character’s name and whoever wrote that blurb called him Justin (more than once!) Oops! Overall, though, really good book!
12x12 AudioThe Ice Limit / Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
2 stars
Lloyd (this is his last name) is a super-rich guy who decides he wants to bring a giant meteorite back to the US to his museum from a small island off the coast of Chile, so he brings together a group of people to do so. Plenty of bumps and bruises along the way (apparently, people died, too!).
Sorry for the poor summary. Was listening to the audio and as soon as it was introduced and I hear the narrator (Scott Brick), I thought “oh no”. He has a very nice voice, but it’s also very monotone and I tend not to pay much attention as he narrates. So, I missed much of what was happening (including anyone dying!). I hated that they referred to pretty much everyone in the book by their last name. Because of this (and my lack of attention), when I was paying attention, I couldn’t even remember who the lone female character was. Oh, look! As I read a summary, apparently there were 2 women characters! Who knew!? If only the authors had referred to them by their first names, I’m sure I, at least, would have caught that! The book was loosely based on a real giant meteorite, apparently.
12x12 CAT Challenges, AwardsCAT, TrimSkippy Dies / Paul Murray
3 stars
Daniel (aka Skippy) dies in the first sentence of the book. He and a friend are in a donut-eating competition and Skippy just keels over, before even eating any of the donuts. From here, the story goes back in time, leading up to Skippy’s death and follows a few different characters, including Skippy, Howard (one of the teachers at Skippy’s boarding school), and Carl (a drug-dealing reprobate and bully). The book then continues beyond Skippy’s death to how people are dealing with it.
The book was ok. I actually found Howard’s story most interesting, but Skippy’s got more interesting after a bit. I hated Carl and really didn’t enjoy reading any of the sections that focused on him. I also didn’t much enjoy the sections that focused on Skippy’s friends. Some of the dialogue did not have quotation marks which bothers me! Also, it felt a little odd in the parts when the second-person pronoun, “you”, was used.
Play Book Tag
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The Medievalist (other topics)
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Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir / Jenny Lawson
4 stars
Jenny Lawson is a blogger. This book consists of stories of her life. Her family did not have much money as she was growing up in Texas. She has an… unusual… father. She and her sister grew up with lots of animals around, wild and domestic, dead and alive (her father is a taxidermist). She suffers from social anxiety. Her husband’s family has money and is quite different from her own, so she struggles a little bit to fit in with them.
I had no idea who she was, but I saw some good reviews for the book, so I thought I’d give it a try. I found this so funny! I laughed out loud plenty of times, and the one chapter that had me laughing so hard I was crying and it was hard to breathe, and I couldn’t stop for some time, was the one that described the 5 foot tall metal chicken she brought home. In particular, it was her husband’s reaction that got me going. It was the best 15th anniversary ever! Oh, and there are photos to go with the stories, so you know they really happened! Pretend This Never Happened / Jenny Lawson
4 stars
Jenny Lawson is a blogger. This book consists of stories of her life. Her family did not have much money as she was growing up in Texas. She has an… unusual… father. She and her sister grew up with lots of animals around, wild and domestic, dead and alive (her father is a taxidermist). She suffers from social anxiety. Her husband’s family has money and is quite different from her own, so she struggles a little bit to fit in with them.
I had no idea who she was, but I saw some good reviews for the book, so I thought I’d give it a try. I found this so funny! I laughed out loud plenty of times, and the one chapter that had me laughing so hard I was crying and it was hard to breathe, and I couldn’t stop for some time, was the one that described the 5 foot tall metal chicken she brought home. In particular, it was her husband’s reaction that got me going. It was the best 15th anniversary ever! Oh, and there are photos to go with the stories, so you know they really happened!