Play Book Tag discussion
Member Challenge Tracking 2023
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Cindy/LibraryCin's 2023 Challenges
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12x12 Nonfiction, KiddyCATPlague!: Epidemics and Scourges Through the Ages / John Farndon
3.5 stars
This is a very short picture book aimed at kids. It discusses various major fatal diseases and epidemics throughout history, including the “Black Death”, various plagues, cholera, yellow fever, Spanish flu, smallpox, typhus, and more.
The colour illustrations are done very well and the information is provided (it’s meant for a young audience) is short tidbits. It’s a very fast read. One interesting thing I learned why doctors used those scary looking bird masks when dealing with the plague. I mean, I “get” why a mask, but why with long beaks…? Now I know.
12x12 Series, Roundtuits, SubdueAll Things Slip Away / Kathryn Meyer Griffith
4 stars
Artist and widow Abby has been living on the town of Spookie for a year or two now (?). She is good friends with retired detective, Frank. When a local girl who works at the grocery store disappears, the town is on edge. When a little mud clay doll appears, Frank knows it’s a serial killer, whom he thought he’d killed 10 years earlier in Chicago, back to kidnap and murder again. This time in Frank’s small town.
I really liked this. There were parts from the killer’s POV, and honestly, most of the time when that’s included in a book, I don’t find those parts interesting, but that was not the case with this book. I was also engaged in those parts. The book takes place throughout the Fall including Halloween and up to Christmas, so it felt like a “nice” (well, as nice as serial killer mysteries go!) Fall read. Have to admit, though, there was more than once where I said to myself – call the police! Don’t do these things yourself (and that includes “talking to” Frank – he’s not a cop, anymore!). This was the 2nd book in a series, but to be honest, I remember next to nothing of the first book, so I would say you don’t need to read the first one first.
12x12 ARCs, PBTWest Heart Kill / Dann McDorman
3.25 stars
Adam McAnnis is a detective heading out for a weekend to a college friend’s hunting lodge. It’s the 1970s and the people who are members of this lodge have known each other pretty much all their lives. When a storm hits while they are there, blocking any way to or from the lodge, people start turning up dead.
I thought this was clever. My synopsis is the actual mystery part, but much of the book was done in different styles. That is, much of the book was told directly from the author to the reader, breaking the “fourth wall”. We went off on various tangents talking about what might happen, traditionally (or not), at various parts of a mystery story. Also, there were tangents that focused on classic mystery authors and stories. Again, I thought clever and very different.
I also thought the atmosphere was done well – I definitely pictured the ‘70s hunting lodge: all brown wood paneling with hunted animal heads on the walls and such. But, I also found it quite “literary” and a bit dry. I certainly didn’t care about the people. I did, however, like the twist near the end – that, I definitely didn’t see coming. I also liked the way things were revealed at the end. Again, the author changed the way he was telling the story, and this time, it was done in the style of a play. I didn’t mind all the different things going on in how it was told, but I guess there was a lot going on that way. Mostly because I found the story quite dry, I am rating it “ok”, but with an extra ¼ star for the uniqueness of the book.
12x12 Travel, AlphaKITHouse Aretoli: A novel of medieval Venice / K. M. Butler
3.75 stars
In 14th century Venice, when Niccolo and Flavio’s father was murdered by high-ranking senators, the city doge wants to cover it up. Their father was also high-ranking, in politics and as a merchant. Niccolo and Flavio have different ideas on how they want to settle things. Flavio makes a deal with the doge to keep things quiet in exchange for some perks, whereas Niccolo just wants revenge. But he is, of course, in danger with this attitude, so must leave the city to figure out how he will exact that revenge. Their two sisters and younger brother are torn on which brother they agree with.
I didn’t think Niccolo’s stance was terribly brilliant, but of course, I live in a very different place and time. So, initially I agreed with Flavio (in part… not necessarily with the deal he made, just that violence might not be the way to go). Of course, things didn’t quite go as Flavio had hoped. I actually was a bit bored with the very start of the book (up until their father was killed), but from that point on, it got much better, I thought. It was interesting to read the author’s note afterward – though the Aretoli family was fictional, there was a bit of a “mystery” surrounding the doge at that time in Venice, and some of the other characters were also based on real people.
12x12 Trim, RoundtuitsInvisible Ellen / Shari Shattuck
3 stars
Ellen, who grew up in the foster system and group homes, has always felt invisible. She works nights at Costco and doesn’t have any friends. When a blind woman on her bus is attacked, Ellen intervenes to help out, and the blind woman (Temerity) and Ellen become fast friends. In fact, they start (mostly at Temerity’s urging) getting themselves involved in various neighbours’ and coworkers’ lives, including the single pregnant neighbour, the neighbour who has been shot, and a coworker who is being sexually harassed by the boss.
I listened to the audio, and though it started off well, I tended to lose interest as we went along. There was a lot going on, and I had to wonder about the two of them sticking their noses into everyone’s business. Overall, I’m rating it ok for me.
12x12 Overflow, MysteryKITThe Woman in the Library / Sulari Gentill
4 stars
Hannah is an author. The bulk of this book is actually Hannah’s book, which follows an author, Freddie (Winifred) who is sitting quietly in the Boston Public Library’s Reading Room, across from three strangers, as she tries to find some inspiration to start a book. When they hear a scream in the library, the four start talking and become fast friends. Early on, Freddie comments that she is conversing with a murderer, but she doesn’t yet know it.
At the end of each chapter, we see a letter coming from Leo, an American (Hannah is Australian, as is her character Freddie). Leo is helping Hannah with her book; he reads and comments on each chapter, as he tries to help with Americanisms and the layout of Boston, etc. But as Hannah’s book continues on, Leo seems to make stranger and stranger comments.
I could say more about the plot in Hannah’s book, with Freddie and her new friends, but maybe I’ll leave the summary there. I usually don’t like a story within a story, but I really liked this one. The letters from Leo really ramped things up a bit (though there were times I took a minute to unscramble things in my head, as we had Freddie, a character in Hannah’s book, using real life events to write her own book. But Leo was reading and commenting on Hannah’s book!). I still thought the letters worked well and it brought an added tension. As for the mystery in Freddie’s world, I thought I had it figured out early on, but not so much! Freddie’s story would probably have gotten 3.5 stars out of me, but add in Leo’s letters to Hannah and that brought my rating up.
12x12 BIPOC, Reading Through TimeThis Place: 150 Years Retold / Misc authors
3.5 stars
This is a graphic novel consisting of several short stories by different authors. In its totality, it covers colonization of Canada/Turtle Island, but from the perspective of the Indigenous peoples. There are stories of Metis and Inuit included, as well as ones that focus on specific people and events. It goes in chronological order.
As with many short story anthologies, there were some stories I liked better than others. I wasn’t as interested in the first couple. There were a few I just didn’t understand and a couple that didn’t really end; that is, they just abruptly stopped (I thought). I really liked the stories of the WWII Indigenous soldier, Meech Lake/Oka, the Sixties Scoop, and the environmental one of the pipeline running through Dene Territory (the NorthWest Territories). The illustrations were in colour, and again, I liked some more than others.
12x12 Nonfiction, Roundtuits, Happy Birthday PBTThe Colony: The Harrowing True Story Of The Exiles Of Molokai / John Tayman
3.5 stars
Hawaii held a “leper colony” for over 100 years. For a long time, people with leprosy were thought to be very contagious, so from the mid 1800s in Hawaii, they were separated out from the rest of the general public and sent to live in Molokai with other people with the same disease (now called Hansen’s disease). The place was run by a board, with a superintendent on site, but for the first while (over years and a few different superintendents), it was not run well. People didn’t have proper shelter and not enough food. Some people lived the majority of their lives there, and when it finally came time to shut the place down, there were many who didn’t want to leave – where would they go? Would they even be able to support themselves and how would other people treat them?
I found some parts more interesting than others. Some of the biographical info on some of the people who ran the place was not nearly as interesting, I thought, as the patients who were there and the details about their lives (before and) there. The book was quite detailed, and I sometimes did find it plodding. The font was small and it did take a long time to read. Overall, though, I am rating it “good”.
12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, AlphaKIT, ScaredyKIT, RandomKITMissing You / Harlan Coben
4 stars
Kat is a police officer. 18 years earlier, not only was her (also police officer) father murdered, her fiance, Jeff, dumped her and she hasn’t seen him since. But she is still in love with him. Imagine her surprise when a friend insists on putting her on a dating site and there is Jeff! She is cryptic when she sends a message and the reply makes it seem like he has no idea who she is.
Meanwhile, a teenaged (?) boy comes to Kat; he thinks his mother is missing, and it’s suspicious. Even though his mother told him she was meeting a man she was dating. The other police Brandon had gone to didn’t believe him, so why is he coming to Kat and why does he think she’ll believe him?
There were a lot of different storylines happening in this book, but I found them all interesting. They did all come together at the end. There were times when we followed the POV of “bad guys” and I often find those parts in many books boring, or at least not nearly as interesting as the rest, but that wasn’t the case with this one. Not sure why that was. Maybe the dog helped! :-)
12x12 PBT, PBT, AlphaKIT, KiddyCATSpinning Silver / Naomi Novik
2.75 stars
Miryam is a Jewish girl whose father is a moneylender, but he’s “soft” and doesn’t force the matter when people won’t pay him back. When Miryam’s mother gets sick, Miryam takes over for her father and manages to bring in some money. In addition, when one person is unable to pay what is owed, Miryam takes on his daughter, Wanda, to help out to pay back the loan.
In fact, Wanda prefers this than having her father hire her out to do all manner of things, and the abuse he piles upon her. Later on, one of Wanda’s younger brothers also comes to work for Miryam’s family. Miryam, unfortunately, catches the eye of a “winter king” of sorts, and is forced to marry him.
Meanwhile, Irina’s family has plenty of money and Irina is forced to marry the Tzar. She discovers that he seems to be “controlled” by some demon in a fire. The three storylines do converge.
I listened to the audio and was interested in the set up of the story, but it was hard to follow and I missed much of the middle section. We switched perspectives in the story a lot, and there was nothing obvious to indicate when the switch happened. Add to that, many (though not all) Russian names I don’t know and it remained difficult for me to figure out who we were following at various times. There were other perspectives we followed in addition to Miryam, Wanda, and Irina, as well. It always took me a while to figure out whose perspective we were following, so that probably a. took me out of the story, and b. half the time I never did figure it out. I missed too much of the story to rate it any higher, though I wanted to, especially at the start.
12x12 BIPOC, SeriesCATDial A for Aunties / Jesse Q. Sutanto
4 stars
Meddy is an Indonesian-Chinese-American who was raised by her mother and three aunts. The men in the family all seemed to fall under some kind of curse and were no longer around. When Meddy goes to college, she has her first taste of life away from her overbearing family, and falls in love with Nathan. But she doesn’t tell her family about him and when college ends, they break up, though she is still head-over-heels in love with him.
So, Meddy goes back to her family and joins the new family business: weddings. Meddy is the photographer, her mother does the flowers, and her aunts do hair/makeup, the cake, and entertainment. Meddy (being In her mid-20s)’s mother is worried that she is not married yet, so (despite not having great English – this does come into play) she sets up an online dating profile for Meddy – and pretends to be Meddy! And sets up a date.
Unfortunately, things go very wrong on the date, and Jake ends up dead! And Meddy panics and doesn’t know what to do (since she killed him! By accident, but she did)! She goes to her mom and aunts to figure it out. Unfortunately, they also have a large expensive wedding to work the next day. Things continue to go horribly wrong!
This was fun and I really enjoyed it! It was funny and unrealistic, but just so much fun. I was happy to see at the end of the book that there’s a sequel.
12x12 Oh Canada, PBT Trim, Roundtuits, Travel Across CanadaA Book in Every Hand: Public Libraries in Saskatchewan / Don Kerr
3.5 stars
This is a history of public libraries in Saskatchewan, with a focus on the regional library system that helped bring books and libraries to rural areas. Saskatchewan once had one of the worst library systems in the country, but it made real efforts to bring it up to one of the best (according to the author and the stats he interpreted).
It doesn’t sound like a super-exciting read, and probably for a lot of people, it may not be. It is probably more of interest to librarians and/or people from Saskatchewan who use or once used their public/regional libraries. I am both a librarian and I grew up in rural Saskatchewan and used our local branch of the Chinook Regional Library. I did find it interesting (mostly) to read about how the different regional systems were formed, the politics, etc. There were a lot of stats and economics included, as well, which all sounds not overly exciting, but it’s written in an accessible way. I did recognize a couple of names, even. Overall, I’m rating this good, but it’s likely to appeal to a pretty specialized audience.
12x12 PBT, PBT, Fall FlurriesSecret Santa / Andrew Shaffer
3 stars
Lussi has been laid off of her publishing job for a while now and is having trouble finding another job. She was at a horror publisher (it’s the 1980s and horror is very popular!), but she is now interviewing for a position at a snooty high-brow publisher. The interviewer is quite rude, but had a heart attack (I think) at the end of the interview. When his son takes over the publishing company, he gives Lussi the job with the promise that she’ll find him the next Stephen King, in hopes that the company will be able to turn a profilt. But weird things are going on in this old building. And Lussi seems to be a target.
This was ok. Maybe a bit creepy, but I didn’t think all that much. It just wasn’t really all too exciting for me. I didn’t find the characters all that interesting, either. It was definitely 80s, though! There was a little bit of humour at the start, but I didn’t find the funny lasted throughout the book – at least it didn’t seem to for me.
12x12 Off the Shelf, Subdue, RandomKIT, RoundtuitsA Time for Mercy / John Grisham
4.5 stars
When Josee’s boyfriend comes home drunk – again – she is beaten unconscious. Her two teenage kids are locked in one of their bedrooms hiding, but when they hear Stuart (the boyfriend) clomp off to his bedroom and they can’t hear their mother, they are afraid she is dead. When they go down to check, 16-year old Drew turns around to find Stuart passed out on his bed… with his gun beside him. 14-year old Kiera, downstairs with her mother, hears the shot. When the police come, Drew is arrested. In Mississippi, murdering a cop guarantees a capital (death penalty) trial. Defense lawyer Jake Brigance is handed the case.
Another great book by Grisham. I really like Jake and the story was fantastic. Not a short book (are any of Grisham’s short?), but I wanted to keep reading to see what surprises might happen next. Black woman Portia is working for Jake and planning to head to law school; she’s another secondary character I really like. I do hope the series continues.
12x12 BIPOC, SeriesCAT, RTT, AlphaKIT, RoundtuitsThe Porcupine Year / Louise Erdrich
3 stars
A continuation of two other books to start this series, also a children’s book, set in the mid-1800s, focusing on a young Anishinaabe/Ojibwe girl, Omakayas (Little Frog). This follows another year in her life. Initially she and her younger brother get caught up in some rapids in their canoe and are not sure where they’ve ended up. They do find their way back to their family (who has found some beads belonging to Omakayas and fear the two have died!), along with a pet baby porcupine! Other happenings include coming across a wildfire (as they travel toward more family living elsewhere) and “adopting” two white children. Later on the group is ambushed and robbed, leaving them to struggle to survive.
I didn’t like this one as much as the first two, though that little porcupine was cute! (view spoiler). I’m not sure why this one didn’t hold my interest as well as the first two in the series, but I did lose focus a few times. (Note: I was not listening to an audio, so can’t blame it on that.) I will continue the series, however.
12x12 Animals, RoundtuitsFables: Werewolves of the Heartland / Bill Willingham
3.5 stars
Bigby (the Big Bad Wolf) has travelled to a small town in Iowa (Story City) to investigate whether or not Fabletown might relocate nearby. He is surprised by what he discovers there – it’s a town of werewolves! Not only that, the two people who head the town are people from Bigby’s past during WWII. Bigby is known (and revered) amongst all of Story City’s residents. But there is dissent within, and Bigby will get caught up in the “disagreements”.
For those who don’t know, this is a spin-off of the graphic novel Fables series. As with the rest of the series, the colour illustrations are very well done. I have not always been all that interested in Bigby as a character, but I liked this story. It’s been a while since I’ve read any of the Fables series, and it was fun to read another.
12x12 AudioWhen the Stars Go Dark / Paula McLain
4 stars
Annie’s a detective who find missing kids. This has cut into her family time and she has left (at least for now) and headed back to where she grew up with her adoptive parents. When she was younger, a teenager – a couple of years older than Annie – went missing. Now, another teen girl is missing. One of Annie’s childhood friends is heading the investigation and Annie can’t help but get involved to try to help. The girl missing now, Cameron, is the (adopted) daughter of a famous actress, and so far, they’ve been looking without too much fanfare, as Cameron’s parents didn’t want to go to the media with it.
The book goes back and forth in time between the current-day search for Cameron and Annie’s childhood (both her childhood in general (pre- and post-adoption), and the search for the missing girl, Jenny). I listened to the audio book.
I really liked this. I will admit that there were multiple times where I missed who someone was, so it took me a bit of time to figure it out (and I even backed up to the start of the book to catch things I thought I might have missed – I almost never do that, but I was interested enough in what was going on, I wanted to find out). One thing I did like with the audio is that the narrator made it easy to tell which time frame we were in, just by the voice she used for a younger Annie, so I thought that was done well.
There was a short author’s note at the end, so it was interesting to find out one of the missing girls in the book (not either of the two mentioned in my summary) was a real person! And I liked that she decided to set the book pre-internet, pre-cell phone, as well (also talked about in the author’s note).
12x12 Nonfiction, Roundtuits, Fall FlurriesWhen Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II / Molly Guptill Manning
3 stars
When the Americans joined WWII, someone had an idea to help with the soldiers’ mental health and morale: give them books to take their mind off things and give them something to do when not fighting. Librarians organized and people donated to the tune of 10 million books! Later on, it was decided that publishers should be creating softcover books (until this time, the vast majority of publishers created hardcover books), so the books would be both smaller and lighter for soldiers to carry with them.
As I read this I wondered if something similar was done for Canadian soldiers, too, but it sounds like this might have been an American thing. Canadians weren’t mentioned, but it seems that the British soldiers were quite jealous of the books the American soldiers had access to. Unfortunately, this book didn’t always hold my interest. There were chapters on politics, and censorship, but I was most interested in the soldiers themselves. There was some description of the fighting and such, but the author also included comments on what the soldiers thought of the books that were sent (hint: for the most part, they loved it!). The last chapter also talked about how many soldiers became readers who hadn’t been before the war. This chapter also talked about how to help the soldiers (with jobs or education) when they came home. Overall, though, due to me losing interest more than I would have liked, I’m rating it “ok”.
12x12 Series, AlphaKIT, KiddyCATA Tangled Web / Mercedes Lackey
4 stars
Persephone is in love with Hades (keeper of the Underworld), and he with her. But her mother, Demeter (goddess of fertility) is way-overprotective and Persephone wants to get out from under her wing. Persephone and Hades come up with a plan to “kidnap” her to the underworld in a way where she wouldn’t be able to come back. Unfortunately, with the help of Hades sometimes-chariot-driver, the wrong goddess is kidnapped!
I really enjoyed this! I learned a little bit about mythology, as well. I’m sure I knew some of this at some point, but most of what I once knew I’ve forgotten! It’s a short story, so it’s fairly quick to read.
12x12 AnimalsNoir / Christopher Moore
3.25 stars
Sammy is a bartender in 1947 San Francisco. Right around the time he starts dating a beautiful “broad” (her name is Stilton, like the cheese, so he nicknames her “The Cheese”), he also finds his boss dead in the back room. In addition to this, the book includes kidnappings, a snake (and there’s more I’m forgetting).
I was listening to the audio and I did miss portions of the book, though I managed to take in the major events of the book. I liked the POV of the snake the couple of times we got that. I gave an extra ¼ star (my usual) for the very good audio with the accents. The phrases and vocabulary was pretty fun, too. Moore’s trademark is humour, so of course, there was a bit of that, too. Moore also had a brief afterward where he talked about where he got the idea for the book, how that went a bit sideways, and the real places that made it into the book. I still think he writes really good historical fiction and this fit the bill for that, too (like with “Lamb”).
12x12 Trim, Roundtuits, AlphaKITLibriomancer / Jim C. Hines
3.75 stars
Isaac is a librarian (a cataloguer), and is horrified when a few vampires come into his library and destroy it (and try to destroy him)! Isaac was also once a libriomancer and a Porter. He was banned from using magic a couple of years back, though, by the secret society of Porters. As a libriomancer, he is able to reach into books and pull things out to use in this world.
It seems that vampires have been hunting down Porters and are trying to start a war (or something) with them. But who is controlling them and why is this happening? Can Isaac help find out what’s going on (with the help of Lena, who herself has come out of a book)?
I enjoyed this. I’m not always a fantasy fan, but as a librarian (and cataloguer), I quite enjoyed that part of the book, and the fact that Isaac (and other libriomancers) was/are able to pull things out of books. That’s pretty cool. I really liked Isaac’s pet fire spider (pulled from a book, of course). I was also a bit amused by the bibliography at the end, which included made up titles in the book. I’d have given it 3.5 stars (good), but wanted to give the extra ¼ star for the librarian who loves to research!
12x12 Animals, Roundtuits, AlphaKITThe Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents / Terry Pratchett
3 stars
Maurice is a talking cat and has come upon a group of intelligent talking rats. He has vowed not to eat any rat that can talk. They end up working together as they move to a town with the intent of… ok, I’m not exactly sure what their end goal was – money? They were conning people, or planning to. There are two kids who discover them and decide to help when they discover the local rat-catchers were not only catching rats, but behind other bad things, as well.
This was ok. It’s a terrible summary, but there it is. Not as humourous as I remember of the other (few) books I’ve read by Pratchett. I hate footnotes, though, and even more so in fiction, but Pratchett uses them. Luckily, there were not many in this book.
12x12 RTT, Reading Thru Time, Travel Across CanadaUp Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History / Edmund Metatawabin
4 stars
8-year old Indigenous boy, Edmund, was forced to go to a residential school in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and ‘60s. He didn’t want to go but his mother insisted. His mother was very Catholic and trusted that they would take good care of him. Of course, while at St. Anne’s school, the nuns and priests were abusive to him and others. I was going to mention some of the abuses, but I’ve decided not to; a couple of things were not things I’d heard previously. And for Ed, it got worse after he left for high school in a bigger city.
He did marry and have children, and get a university degree, but he also became an alcoholic. In this memoir, Ed details all of this and more.
As mentioned in my summary, despite having read quite a bit about residential schools, there were still a couple of surprising things (not good surprising). Of course, when he finished school, he had issues (the alcoholism), but it was good to see how he got himself better and is doing good to help others, as well. I thought this was really good.
12x12 Travel, RandomKIT, RoundtuitPaper and Fire / Rachel Caine
2 stars
Can’t really give a summary, as I skimmed this book. Something about the Library of Alexandria, I think. And automata (is the plural not automatons?). Shouldn’t have bothered reading it at all. I vaguely recall not being excited about the first book, so I had to check my review. Sounds like I didn’t like the story (may not have followed that story, either), but apparently I liked the characters so decided to try the next one. Shouldn’t have bothered. Nothing interested me in this.
12x12 Travel, RoundtuitsCarve the Mark / Veronica Roth
2.5 stars
I listened to the audio so spellings of names may be off: Akos and Cyra (Sirah, or likely any other number of spellings) are the main characters. They are in space, not sure if they live on different planets, maybe? They spend some time on a spaceship. Cyra’s world is quite violent, but Akos’ isn’t. Somehow they meet. Cyra and her brother are not getting along (can’t recall his name, but starts with an R); he seems to be a king or some kind of leader of his world.
This one got my interest (a little bit) about half way through, but even so, it’s fantasy, so names, places, hard to understand or remember. I don’t like trying to learn different fantastical worlds (it takes way too long to get to the story as one tries to puzzle out all those weird names). Oh, yeah, I hated that they referred to ages by various numbers of “seasons” – when I hear “season”, I think four seasons in a year, so divide that number by 4 and you’ve got years (but then, maybe this isn’t the case on the planets these kids live on). I don’t think that’s what the author meant (four seasons in a year), but it bothered me. The book did get the extra ½ star for catching my attention at least through some/part/more of the second half.
12x12 Oh Canada, PBT, Roundtuits, AlphaKIT, MysteryKITKids on a Case: Hunting Black Dragon / Tony Peters
3 stars
This is book 2 in the “Kids on a Case” series. When Daniel comes to Tyler, the “ringleader” of the group of kids (around 13 years old?) who once solved a kidnapping case, looking for help, Tyler can’t say no to his friend. Daniel’s dad has been kidnapped and Daniel is scared to go to the police because he and his mom were threatened not to. However, Tyler was warned last time that he should bring anything to the police that he knows about, so he and his group of kid sleuths do just that. The police, after getting permission from the kids’ parents (supposedly), have Tyler and his friends help them with this case. They know it’s the dangerous gang, the Black Dragons, behind the kidnapping.
It was ok. Although Tyler is the “I” in the story, much of it follows other characters, as well. I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I had had it in a better format (pdf can be read on a Kobo, but it’s awkward). Obviously not even close to realistic, though.
12x12 Series, PBT, Roundtuits, AlphaKITThe Magician King / Lev Grossman
2 stars
Quentin and Julia are some kind of king and queen of “Fillory”. They seem to be travelling a lot and casting spells. And running into old friends from magician school?
This is book 2 in what I believe is a trilogy. The first was touted as an adult Harry Potter. From vague recollection, it was ok, but since I’m not a big fantasy fan… Ok, well it looks like I liked it, but it sounds like it was more urban fantasy (than this 2nd book is), which is more my “thing” except toward the end of the book. I shouldn’t have bothered continuing the series. The second book seemed to lose the urban part of the fantasy, likely the part that made the first book likable for me.
12x12 Animals, PBT Trim (Nov), RoundtuitsAll My Patients are Under the Bed: Memoirs of a Cat Doctor / Dr. Louis J. Camuti
3.5 stars
Dr. Louis Camuti was a veterinarian from the 1920s(?) and throughout much of the 20th century. This is a memoir of some of his clients and patients, as well as just a little bit of his own life. He was in New York City, specialized in cats and, unusual for the time, eventually did only house calls.
This was enjoyable. I’ve read many of these veterinarian memoirs, now, so it’s hard to keep all the anecdotes in my head, but I certainly enjoy the stories while I am reading them. Despite him practicing some decades ago, I feel like he might have been slightly ahead of his time on many things (his views on indoor/outdoor cats, declawing, cats shouldn’t really drink milk, adopting rather than buying from breeders, etc).
12x12 Travel, Roundtuits, STSThe Hunter and the Wild Girl / Pauline Holdstock
2.5 stars
There is a feral girl stealing from local people in a village in France. They try to catch her, but she gets away and ends up another village over. A farmer(?) there, Peyre, is intrigued by her. Peyre tries to entice her to come, as he’d like to see if he can “tame” her. He sees his son, whom he’s lost a while back, in her.
This started off really slow and I wasn’t interested. Parts I didn’t like and just skimmed through were mostly Peyre’s background (though I eventually got the gist of at least what happened with his son and wife). It was only the last half or 1/3 of the book, which focused more on the girl, where I was a bit more interested in what was happening. The ending was open-ended, so I wasn’t a big fan not really knowing what had happened there.
12x12 PBTThe Children's Blizzard / Melanie Benjamin
4 stars
Raina and Gerda are teenaged sisters who have recently become teachers. In January 1888 in rural Nebraska, they are put to the test in their respective schools with a crazy winter storm that rolls in just after a beautifully warm morning. The storm comes in just as or before kids are being let out of school to walk varying distances home. They each make different decisions on this day; one becomes a heroine and one does not fare so well.
Anette is one of Raina’s students, who was sold by her mother to a woman who works her to the bone and does not treat her kindly. Although Raina’s other students stay behind, Anette is worried she will be in trouble if she doesn’t come home right away. Her only friend Frederik follows her into the storm.
The storm, of course, really did happen, and it was called “the children’s blizzard” because of the timing and the fact that so many children (among other people) died that day. I thought the initial part of the book was its strength; this is, of course, the part of the book when the blizzard happens. The book does continue with the aftermath of the storm and, though it is interesting to see where things end up, it’s not the best part of the book.
As always, I appreciate the author’s note at the end. The bulk of the characters in this book were fictional, but some were based on real people. The author did, of course, use David Laskin’s nonfiction book “The Children’s Blizzard” in a big way in her research. I’ve read it, but too long ago to really make any kind of comparison.
12x12 AudioEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine / Gail Honeyman
3.75 stars
Eleanor is socially awkward, has no friends, and seems to prefer life this way. She has worked in the same job for many years, and is proud that she has never taken a sick day. She is also an alcoholic, and grew up mostly in foster homes, though she does hear from “Mummy” once in a while. But she has no way to contact Mummy herself, and Mummy has a tendency to belittle Eleanor, anyway. Things start to change when she falls for a local musician and becomes friends with Raymond from the office. She begins to unravel a bit and starts to remember more from when she was a child.
I listened to the audio and it started off a bit slow for me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or not, but it got better and better as more and more was revealed about Eleanor’s past. There was a twist at the end that I hadn’t seen coming.
12x12 PBT, PBT, KiddyCAT, RoundtuitsBlue Heron / Avi
3.25 stars
(Almost) 13-year old Maggie’s parents are divorced and live across the country from each other. In the summer, right around her birthday, Maggie heads from Seattle, where she lives with her mom, for a holiday with her dad – this year at a lake near Boston. When she arrives, she learns a few things about her dad from her stepmom, Joanna – things that worry them both. Maggie also has a new baby stepsister, and she becomes fascinated with a great blue heron that she sees on the lake most mornings.
This is a good children’s book. I wasn’t thrilled with some of the “crap” Joanna piled onto Maggie. Joanna was nice and was dealing with her own issues, but I was not impressed that she dragged Maggie into some of those things, at only 13 years old. The nature descriptions were very nice.
12x12 Series, MysteryKIT, SeriesKITOut of Circulation / Miranda James
3.5 stars
This is the 4th in the series. Vera is on the library board and everyone in town seems to hate her. She is found dead at the bottom of the stairs during a fundraising event by Charlie’s housekeeper, Azalea. Although Azalea hated Vera (for some reason she will not disclose to Charlie), it appears there was no way she could have pushed Vera down the stairs. But someone could have.
As with many cozy mysteries, it took some time to set things up, including introducing the characters and conflicts with Vera. I do like many of the characters and I love Diesel the Maine Coon cat. This is a good story.
12x12 Audio, RoundtuitsI Love You More / Jennifer Murphy
3.5 stars
Picasso is 11 or 12 years old when her father is murdered. It seems that her mother (along with her father’s other two wives!!!) planned it. The detective investigating the case falls for Picasso’s mother, Diana.
I listened to the audio and it took a little while for me to get interested, but it did get better. There were a couple of twists near/at the end that brought my rating up from “ok” to “good”. However, I didn’t think (view spoiler) was believable. The audio is done by a few different narrators. I’m not sure I noticed if each of the wives had their own perspectives or not; Diana definitely did, but I’m not sure about the others. I do know I had a bit of trouble telling whose perspective we were listening to with the women’s voice(s). We followed perspectives from Picasso, Diana, and the detective – and at least one more.
12x12 Overflow, ScaredyKITDuma Key / Stephen King
3 stars
Edgar is in an accident and loses one of his arms and he is viciously angry all the time. Enough so that his wife (after he tries to strangle her, which he doesn’t even remember) tells him she wants a divorce some months later. His doctor then suggests he head to Florida to try clearing his head elsewhere, so he rents a place on the beach in Duma Key, Florida. As he walks daily, he sees in the distance an elderly woman and a man, apparently her caretaker. Edgar eventually becomes friends with the two of them, while at home he learns he has a talent for drawing and painting… something he never knew about before. But the drawing and painting seem to overtake him when he’s doing it; not only that, it seems his paintings tell him things he couldn’t possibly know, things that really come to happen or have already happened.
Overall, I’m considering this “ok”. Some parts I liked more than others, but art is not my thing, including reading about it. There were shorter chapters in italics to tell us those chapters are from another perspective, but large sections in italics often lose my interest, as did these chapters, unfortunately.
12x12 Oh Canada, STS, RoundtuitsCountry Roads: Memoirs from Rural Canada / Pam Chamberlain (editor)
3 stars
This is a collection of nonfiction essays by various (celebrity?) Canadians. Mostly authors (and many of these essays have been published previously elsewhere), but also (at least) one hockey player, one actor, one artist, one reporter, one musician. Recognizable names include Rudy Wiebe, Sharon Butala, Wayne Johnston, Pamela Wallin, Brett Sutter, George Fox. All of these people grew up (or at least lived while younger) somewhere in rural Canada. Many of the stories were on the Prairies and in the Atlantic Provinces, with a few in BC, Ontario, and Quebec (but fewer in these provinces, I think).
Like with short stories, some of these were more interesting to me than others, so this results in a middle-of-the-road 3 star (ok) rating from me. Many of the ones more interesting to me were the Prairie ones, since I grew up in a small Saskatchewan town, though not on a farm (as did many of the people here).
12x12 Travel, AlphaKIT, SeriesCAT, MysteryKITNaughty in Nice / Rhys Bowen
3.5 stars
In this 5th book in the series, Georgiana’s brother and his wife are heading to the Riviera and want to shut down the castle that Georgie is currently living in (with them). But they can’t afford to bring her along; the queen (remember, Georgie is thirty-something in line to the throne!) helps Georgie out by paying for her way in exchange for Georgie looking for and retrieving an item that the queen is certain was stolen from her… and is now in the Riviera. Things escalate once Georgie is there.
I liked this. It was kind of fun how the author brought Coco Chanel into the story. (Author’s note at the end suggests that Coco would have spent time in the Riviera during this time frame.)
12x12 RTT, Read Thru Time, SeriesCATThe Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England / Ian Mortimer
3.5 stars
This book takes the reader back in time to Elizabethan England, the time during which Elizabeth I reigned, from 1558 to 1603. The author describes society in general so the reader/time traveller knows what to expect/how to behave.
These are interesting, but this one didn’t have the same appeal as the first in the series, Medieval England. Not sure if that was because I’ve read more set during Elizabethan times, so there wasn’t as much new to me (but plenty still was), or if it’s because I was often reading while distracted; I expect it’s more the latter.
12x12 Off the Shelf, RandomKIT, Travel Across Canada, RoundtuitsGreenwood / Michael Christie
4 stars
In 2038, Jake works on Greenwood Island in British Columbia; it’s one of the only truly livable/habitable places left with its giant trees. A biologist, Jake loves living here, though she’s not as enamoured with the job, touring around “Pilgrims” (tourists). Unfortunately, she’s also discovered a couple of trees that appear to be sick; these trees are hundreds of years old.
Her ex-fiance (a lawyer) shows up and books a private tour with her to tell her she might actually “own” the island, given her family history and the history of the island (that is, it may be part of an inheritance for her). The book continues by backing up in time through a few generations of Greenwoods to when Jake’s grandmother was a baby… and one generation earlier in 1908 when Jake’s great-grandfather was a kid (along with his brother). The brothers were very different: Everett ended up a vagrant and in jail; Harris was hugely wealthy via his lumber business, cutting down all the beautiful trees that Jake loves so much.
The bulk of the story followed Harris and Everett and that’s what I liked the best. Have to admit it took a short bit for me to get interested and to figure out what was happening and who the different characters were as we went back in time. I liked the way this one was done: we actually started in 2038, and gradually made our way to 1908 through the generations, then moved forward again back to 2038.
12x12 RTT, Read Thru Time, AlphaKIT, RoundtuitsBleed, Blister, Puke and Purge: The Dirty Secrets Behind Early American Medicine / J. M. Younker
3.5 stars
This is a history of medicine in the United States. Of course, before modern medicine, people (doctors included) really didn’t know much about science or how the human body works. Prevailing cures for many things was to “bleed, blister, puke, and purge”. Many of us who read history or historical fiction certainly have read about “bleeding” people to cure various ailments. There was also a section on women in medicine. This was interesting, but also quite short. So for anyone who wants a quick overview of the topic, this is a good place to start. It also has a catchy title.
12x12 Nonfiction, Read Thru TimeThe Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 / Garrett M. Graff
4.5 stars
This is an oral history of 9/11 by people from all perspectives. These are quotes from people who were “there” in some capacity, whether that be on a plane, in one of the towers, at the Pentagon, on the ground, a first responder, part of the president’s staff, the family of someone who was there, or in some other way involved. The book goes primarily over the day of, but continues to the next day and some of the events (funerals, etc) following.
I listened to the audio, and I feel like this was the way to go with this one (I am giving it 4.25 stars, with an extra ¼ star for the audio).
No surprise: this was pretty powerful. It also included actual speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as some recordings of air traffic controllers and flight attendants on the planes. I will admit that I did lose interest a bit during some of the political stuff and the air force people tasked with bringing down any possible planes that may be a threat, and this is why I didn’t rate it higher… but it’s still likely to make my favourites this year.
My top 10 (4.5+ stars):How I’ll Kill You / Ben De Stefano
Dead of Winter / Darcy Coates
The Other Family Doctor / Karen Fine
A Death at the Party / Amy Stuart
Seven Fallen Feathers / Tanya Talaga
An Unwanted Guest / Shari Lapena
The Quiet Tenant / Clemence Michellon
The Rose Code / Kate Quinn
A Time for Mercy / John Grisham
The Only Plane in the Sky / Garrett M. Graff
Honourable mentions (4.5, 4.25 stars):
Wolvercraft Manor / Cas E. Crowe
The Broken Girls / Simone St. James
Tell It to the Trees / Anita Rau Badami
Dishonourable mentions (2 stars):
The Fountainhead / Ayn Rand
Beneath the Faceless Mountain / Roberta Rees
Reconstructions: America’s Unfinished Revolution / Eric Foner
The Big Book of Irony / Jon Winokur
Paper and Fire / Rachel Caine
The Magician King / Lev Grossman
Stats164 books
53,404 pages
= 325.6 pages / book (average)
Canadian authors: 32 out of 164 = 19.5%
Some genres (some of these overlap, and I missed some, as I count manually):
Nonfiction (not including Biography/Memoir): 32 out of 164 = 19.5%
YA + Children’s: 19 out of 164 = 11.6%
Biography/Memoir: 14 out of 164 = 8.5%
Graphic novels: 6 out of 164 = 3.7%
Mystery/Thriller: 29 out of 164 = 17.7%
Horror: 12 out of 164 = 7.3%
Historical Fiction: 26 out of 164 = 15.9%
Nonfiction + Biography/Memoir: 46 out of 164 = 28%
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (other topics)Bleed, Blister, Puke and Purge: The Dirty Secrets Behind Early American Medicine (other topics)
Greenwood (other topics)
The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England (other topics)
Naughty in Nice (other topics)
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Birds of Prey: Terrifying Talons / Joe Flood
4 stars
This is another graphic novel in the kids’ series “Science Comics”. This one focused on diurnal raptors/birds of prey (owls are also raptors, but they are nocturnal, so are not included in this book). Some things described in the book include their various body parts, what they hunt and how, how they fly, mating, and loss of habitat and human threats (like DDT, which of course, was banned in the early 70s), and probably more I’m forgetting at this moment.
These are so good with so much information. I’ll never remember even half of it probably, but it’s done so well, and the (colour) illustrations are beautiful. Even simple things I probably should have known like what characteristics distinguish a raptor. It was interesting to see the close-up illustrations of the birds, like their beaks and talons to distinguish, as I am never likely to see that in person! I am enjoying this entire series so much.