LibraryCin's 14x14ish...

Ok, so I've joined! It's a busy group with a lot going on, so I'm probably going to just start off with my 14x14ish. I haven't quite decided what exactly I'll do with the categories, how many, etc, but I have about a week to figure it out.

I won't be able to read 14x14 books, but I'll probably choose 14 categories and do something with those.

I'll see later about adding to my participation with the CATs and group reads, as well.

Welcome to the challenge! You can build your challenge any way you like. I am doing a half challenge, having decided on seven categories and a minimum of seven books read in each, but as you visit other member's threads you will see the variety that makes each member's challenge their own. Nothing is carved in stone as the challenge is all about reading and having fun with your reading.

Everyone is really helpful so if you have any questions, just ask. Participation in the CATs is on a take it or leave it basis which means you can dip in and out of them and participate in just the ones that catch your fancy, if you choose.

Yes, welcome! I'll look forward to seeing how you decide to structure your own challenge.

Welcome! If you want to keep it 14x14, you could try reading 1400 pages per category - that would average out to 4-5 books. Personally, I can't keep track of page numbers, but some folks do.

Welcome aboard! Hope you enjoy the challenge and the group! :)

Thank you all for the welcome and suggestions! For the number of books I read in a year (last year was 146, this year I'm already at 150 and hope to get in one or two more!), I could possibly aim for 12x12.

I like the number of pages per category idea, too. I do keep track of pages, but at the same time, it seems like more "work" to add them up for each category! We'll see...

I am thinking I'll like join in the first GeoCAT, as well. I'm in Canada, so the Canada part of it definitely appeals to me, as I'm always trying to work in reading more Canadian books.

Welcome! And have a great reading year!

Ok, so far, I'll stick with 12 of the same 13 categories I had this year. I may leave it at 12, we'll see.

Play Book Tag (shelfari)
Author Author (shelfari)
Booktivity (shelfari)
Audio Books
CAT Challenges (LT)
Oh Canada! (Canadian Authors)
Trim the TBR (On TBR 2+ years)
Will it Ever End? (Continuing Series)
Off the Shelf (Books I Own)
I'll Travel Virtually (Books Set in Other Countries - not Canada or USA)
Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (Animals)
Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Nonfiction)
Overflow (What doesn't fit in the other categories)

Play Book Tag
1. High Crimes / Michael Kodas. 4.5 stars
2. Half Broke Horses / Jeannette Walls. 3.5 stars
3. Midnight Omen Deja Vu / Marti Melville. 3 stars
4. Stiff / Mary Roach. 4 stars
5. Moloka'i / Alan Brennert. 4 stars
6. The Likeness / Tana French. 4 stars
7. Death du Jour / Kathy Reichs. 4 stars
8. Mile 81 / Stephen King. 4 stars
9. Wonderstruck / Brian Selznick. 4 stars
10. Field Notes from a Catastrophe / Elizabeth Kolbert. 3.5 stars
11. You've Got Murder / Donna Andrews. 3.5 stars
12. Castle Waiting, Vol. 1 / Linda Medley. 3.5 stars
13. Cybele's Secret / Juliet Marillier. 3.5 stars
14. Blind Faith / Ben Elton. 4 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Author Author
1. What the Dead Know / Laura Lippman. 3.5 stars
2. Child of God / Cormac McCarthy. 2 stars
3. Hit and Run / Lurlene McDaniel. 4 stars
4. The Sea Runners / Ivan Doig. 2.5 stars
5. Wildwood Dancing / Juliet Mariller. 4.5 stars
6. A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty / Joshilyn Jackson. 4 stars
7. Another Year: An Essay / Ann Patchett. 3 stars
8. The Stone Diaries / Carol Shields. 3 stars
9. The Titan's Curse / Rick Riordan. 4 stars
10. The American Heiress / Daisy Goodwin. 4 stars
11. The Tin Roof Blowdown / James Lee Burke. 2.5 stars
12. The Casual Vacancy / J.K. Rowling. 3.5 stars
13. Shadows / Robin McKinley. 4 stars
14. Moon Called / Patricia Briggs. 3.5 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Booktivity
1. The Bone Collector / Jeffery Deaver. 4 stars
2. Category 7 / Bill Evans, Maarianna Jameson. 3.5 stars
3. Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse / Marilyn Singer. 4.5 stars
4. The Heretic Queen / Michelle Moran. 4 stars
5. A Man Lay Dead / Ngaio Marsh. 3 stars
6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Agatha Christie. 3.5 stars
7. Queen Jezebel / Jean Plaidy. 3.5 stars
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 4.5 stars
9. A Study in Scarlet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 3.5 stars
10. Mennonites Don't Dance / Darcie Friesen Hossack. 3.5 stars
11. Hannibal Rising / Thomas Harris. 2.5 stars
12. Dark Places / Gillian Flynn. 4 stars
13. For Honour's Sake / Mark Zuehlke. 3 stars
14. Story of a Girl / Sara Zarr. 3 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Audio Books
1. The Prince of Tides / Pat Conroy. 3.5 stars
2. Deja Dead / Kathy Reichs. 4 stars
3. Skylight Confessions / Alice Hoffman. 3 stars
4. Maya's Notebook / Isabel Allende. 3.5 stars
5. The Orphan Master's Son / Adam Johnson. 2.5 stars
6. Storms of my Grandchildren / James C. Hansen. 3.5 stars
7. NOS4A2 / Joe Hill. 3.5 stars
8. Sharp Objects / Gillian Flynn. 4 stars
9. Skeletons at the Feast / Chris Bohjalian. 4 stars
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane / Neil Gaiman. 4 stars
11. Down and Out in Paris and London / George Orwell. 3 stars
12. Outlander / Diana Gabaldon. 3.5 stars
13. Code Name Verity / Elizabeth Wein. 3 stars
14. Sentenced to Death / Lorna Barrett. 3.5 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

CAT Challenges
1. Trapped / Michael Northrop. 4 stars
2. Clouded Vision / Linwood Barclay. 4 stars
3. The Familiars / Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson. 4 stars
4. Immortal / Gillian Shields. 3.5 stars
5. How Nancy Drew Saved My Life / Lauren Baratz-Logsted. 3.5 stars
6. Unless / Carol Sheilds. 3.25 stars
7. Shutter Island / Dennis Lehane. 3.5 stars
8. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch / Alison Arngrim. 4 stars
9. Testimony / Anita Shreve. 4.5 stars
10. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life / Bryan Lee O'Malley. 3.5 stars
11. A Beautiful Place to Die / Malla Nunn. 4 stars
12. RMS Titanic: Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage / Hugh Brewster. 4 stars
13. Needled to Death / Maggie Sefton. 3.25 stars
14. You Don't Want to Know / Lisa Jackson. 4 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Oh Canada! (Canadian Authors)
1. Crossing to Safety / Wallace Stegner. 3.5 stars (He's close enough; he lived in Canada as a child.)
2. Away / Jane Urquhart. 3 stars
3. Prisoner of Tehran / Marina Nemat. 4 stars
4. Chinese Islanders / Hung-Min Chiang. 3.5 stars
5. Sylvanus Now / Donna Morrissey. 3.5 stars
6. Come Barbarians / Todd Babiak. 3.5 stars
7. The Sisters Brothers / Patrick deWitt. 3.5 stars
8. Annabel / Kathleen Winter. 4 stars
9. The Flood of 2013 / Calgary Herald. 5 stars
10. The Best Laid Plans / Terry Fallis. 4 stars
11. The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood. 3.5 stars
12. Natasha and Other Stories / David Bezmozgis. 3.5 stars
13. Very Grimm Fairy Tales / Trevor Strong. 3.5 stars
14. Green Grass, Running Water / Thomas King. 3 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Trim the TBR (On TBR 2+ years)
1. Little House on the Prairie / Laura Ingalls Wilder. 4 stars
2. Tab Hunter, Confidential / Tab Hunter, Eddie Muller. 3.5 stars
3. Tabloid Love / Bridget Harrison. 3.5 stars
4. The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul / Marty Chan. 4 stars
5. Sweethearts / Sara Zarr. 4 stars
6. Jamaica Inn / Daphne du Maurier. 3.5 stars
7. The Knife of Never Letting Go / Patrick Ness. 3.5 stars
8. Arkham Asylum / Grant Morrison. 3 stars
9. Thin is the New Happy / Valerie Frankel. 4 stars
10. The Winter Years / James H. Gray. 3.5 stars
11. My Fair Lazy / Jen Lancaster. 3.5 stars
12. Witch Way to Murder / Shirley Damsgaard. 3.5 stars
13. Category 5: The Story of Camille / Ernest Zebrowski & Judith A. Howard. 4.5 stars
14. From a Whisper to a Scream / Charles de Lint. 3.5 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Will it Ever End? (Continuing Series)
1. Fables, Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind / Bill Willingham. 3.75 stars
2. Linger / Maggie Stiefvater. 3 stars
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows / J.K. Rowling. 3.5 stars
4. Y: The Last Man. Vol. 7: Paper Dolls / Brian K. Vaughan. 4 stars
5. Sliver of Truth / Lisa Unger. 3.5 stars
6. The Sea of Monsters / Rick Riordan. 3.5 stars
7. Speaking From Among the Bones / Alan Bradley. 3.5 stars
8. Jack & Jill / James Patterson. 4 stars
9. Y: The Last Man. Vol. 8: Kimono Dragons / Brian K. Vaughan. 3 stars
10. Y: The Last Man. Vol. 9: Motherland / Brian K. Vaughan. 4 stars
11. Burned / PC and Kristin Cast. 2.5 stars
12. Deadlocked / Charlaine Harris. 3.75 stars
13. The Dark Monk / Oliver Potzsch. 3.5 stars
14. Fables, Vol. 18. Cubs in Toyland / Bill Willingham. 4 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Off the Shelf (Books I Own)
1. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency / Alexander McCall Smith. 3.5 stars
2. Matched / Ally Condie. 4 stars
3. Eating Animals / Jonathan Safran Foer. 4.5 stars
4. How to be a Canadian / Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson. 3.5 stars
5. Good to a Fault / Marina Endicott. 3.5 stars
6. The Other Story / Tatiana de Rosnay. 4 stars
7. Size 14 is Not Fat Either / Meg Cabot. 4 stars
8. The Hermitage Cats / Nikolai Gol, Maria Haltunen. 4 stars
9. Academy X / Andrew Trees. 3.5 stars
10. Search and Rescue / Gail Anderson-Dargatz. 4 stars
11. Peony in Love / Lisa See. 3.5 stars
12. Confessions of a Shopaholic / Sophie Kinsella. 4 stars
13. My Sister's Keeper / Jodi Picoult. 4.25 stars
14. Eden at the Edge of Midnight / John Kerry. 3 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

I'll Travel Virtually (Books Set in Other Countries - not Canada or USA)
1. Cutting for Stone / Abraham Verghese. 3 stars
2. 419 / Will Ferguson. 3 stars
3. The Weaver and the Factory Maid / Deborah Grabien. 3 stars
4. The Unicorn / Iris Murdoch. 3 stars
5. Michael Strogoff / Jules Verne. 3 stars
6. The Elegance of the Hedgehog / Muriel Barbery. 2.5 stars
7. The Thirteenth Tale / Diane Setterfield. 4 stars
8. The World We Found / Thrity Umrigar. 4 stars
9. The Daughter of Time / Josephine Tey. 3.5 stars
10. The Princess and Curdie / George MacDonald. 2.5 stars
11. Killer Librarian / Mary Lou Kirwin. 4 stars
12. Unbroken / Laura Hillenbrand. 4.5 stars
13. The Bone People / Keri Hulme. 2 stars
14. The Uncommon Reader / Alan Bennett. 3 stars
CATEGORY CLOSED

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My! (Animals)
1. Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund / Blaize Clement. 4 stars
2. Hoot / Carl Hiaasen. 3.5 stars
3. The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw / Bruce Barcott. 4 stars
4. Amazing Gracie / Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff. 4.5 stars
5. Murder Past Due / Miranda James. 4 stars
6. The Art of Racing in the Rain / Garth Stein. 4 stars
7. The Swiss Family Robinson. 3.5 stars
8. Pot Plant Owl / Allan Eccles and Tracy Eccles. 5 stars
9. Three Bags Full / Leonie Swann. 3 stars
10. Bonobo Handshake / Vanessa Woods. 4 stars
11. All My Patients Have Tales / Jeff Wells. 4 stars
12. The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb. 4 stars
13. The Best Cat Ever / Cleveland Amory. 3.25 stars

Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Nonfiction)
1. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness / Alexandra Fuller. 3.5 stars
2. Isaac's Storm / Erik Larson. 4.5 stars
3. Falling Backwards: A Memoir / Jann Arden. 3.5 stars
4. Shattered Dreams / Irene Spencer. 4 stars
5. No Shortcuts to the Top / Ed Viesturs. 4 stars
6. Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses / Alison Weir. 3.5 stars
7. The Big Burn / Timothy Egan. 4 stars
8. The Bird Detective / Bridget Stutchbury. 3.5 stars
9. The Big Thaw / Ed Struzik. 3.5 stars
10. No Impact Man / Colin Beavan. 5 stars
11. Touching the Void / Joe Simpson. 4 stars
12. Storm Kings / Lee Sandlin. 3.5 stars
13. Jeneration X / Jen Lancaster. 4 stars

Overflow (What doesn't fit in the other categories)
1. The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes / Jennifer Crusie.
2. A Discovery of Witches / Deborah Harkness. 3.5 stars
3. Hostage / Robert Crais. 4.5 stars
4. The Shack / William Paul Young. 2 stars

CAT Challenge:

GeoCAT:
January - Canada and the US.
Away / Jane Urguhart
February - Middle East and North Africa.
Prisoner of Tehran / Marina Nemat
March - Central America, Mexico and Caribbean
Midnight Omen Deja Vu / Marti Melville
- The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw / Bruce Barcott
April - Eastern Europe
Michael Strogoff / Jules Verne
May - South Asia (India etc)
No Shortcuts to the Top / Ed Viesturs
June - Islands and Bodies of Water
The Likeness / Tana French
- The Sea of Monsters / Rick Riordan
- Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses / Alison Weir
- Shutter Island / Dennis Lehane
- Annabel / Kathleen Winter
July - Polar Regions
The Big Thaw / Ed Struzik
August - Western Europe
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo / Stieg Larsson
- Skeletons at the Feast / Chris Bohjalian
- The Daughter of Time / Josephine Tey
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane / Neil Gaiman
September - East Asia
Y: The Last Man. Vol. 9: Motherland / Brian K. Vaughan
- Peony in Love / Lisa See
October - South America
Touching the Void / Joe Simpson
November - Australia and Oceania
The Bone People / Keri Hulme
December - Sub-Saharan Africa
Bonobo Handshake / Vanessa Woods

CAT Challenge:

RandomCAT:
January - The Janus Rules
Trapped / Michael Northrop
February - Children's Literature
Little House on the Prairie / Laura Ingalls Wilder
March - Birds
The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw / Bruce Barcott
- The Familiars / Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson
April - Poetry
Mirror Mirror: a Book of Reversible Verse / Marilyn Singer
May - motherhood
Unless / Carol Sheilds
- A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty / Joshilyn Jackson
- Moloka'i / Alan Brennert
- Good to a Fault / Marina Endicott
June - roses
Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses / Alison Weir
July - books
Murder Past Due / Miranda James
August - school
Testimony / Anita Shreve
- Academy X / Andrew Trees
September - Toronto Film Festival
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life / Bryan Lee O'Malley
October - Book Bullet
Three Bags Full / Leonie Swann
November - Disasters
Storm Kings / Lee Sandline
- RMS Titanic: Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage / Hugh Brewster
December - wishes
All My Patients Have Tales / Jeff Wells
- The Uncommon Reader / Alan Bennett
- Sentenced to Death / Lorna Barrett
- The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb

I don't read a whole lot in the way of mysteries (but sometimes), so we'll see about this one.

CAT Challenge:

MysteryCAT
January - Detective Novels
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency / Alexander McCall Smith
February - Series
Deja Dead / Kathy Reichs
- The Bone Collector / Jeffrey Deaver
- Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund / Blaize Clement
March - YA and Children's Mysteries
The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul / Marty Chan
April - Nordic Mysteries
How Nancy Drew Saved My Life /
May - Classic and Golden Age Mysteries
A Man Lay Dead / Ngaio Marsh
- Jamaica Inn / Daphne du Maurier
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Agatha Christie
June - Police Procedurals
Death du Jour / Kathy Reachs
July - Noir and Hard-Boiled Mysteries
Arkham Asylum / Grant Morrison
August - British Mysteries
A Study in Scarlet / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Daughter of Time / Josephine Tey
September - Book-Themed Mysteries
Killer Librarian / Mary Lou Kirwin
October - Global Mysteries
A Beautiful Place to Die / Malla Nunn
- Hannibal Rising / Thomas Harris
November - Historical Mysteries
The Dark Monk / Oliver Potzsch
December - Cozy Mysteries
Needled to Death / Maggie Sefton
- Sentenced to Death / Lorna Barrett
- The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb

Well, that was brilliant, I got so focused on the CAT challenges, that I forgot to come back and post my reads for the 14x14ish (which has really turned into a 12x12... which is actually more likely for me to manage, anyway)!

12x12. Author Author

1. What the Dead Know / Laura Lippman
3.5 stars

Sisters Heather and Sunny Bethany disappeared together in the mid-70s. Thirty years later, when a women in the same area is in a car accident, but flees the scene, she claims to be one of the Bethany sisters. But, she won't give any details.

It was good. I liked the story, but I found the organization a bit tricky to follow at times. I guess I figured it out, but I didn't like that it was done that way. Time and point of view were constantly shifting with each chapter, so it would often take a bit to figure out who we were following and when. I liked that there was an author's note at the end – it was interesting. Usually I see those only with historical fiction, but Lippman had some interesting things to say about the writing of this book.

12x12 Author Author

2. Child of God / Cormac McCarthy
2 stars

This story follows Lester Ballard. He seems abusive to people and rapes women (girls?). (Although apparently I missed the part where he was “falsely” accused, as it says in the description of the book. Falsely? Really? I thought he had... Apparently this was a part I skimmed?)

This was... very odd. The chapters are very short and the entire book is short, so it was – at least – fast to read, but – at least for speed – it also helped that I skimmed through a good portion of it, though obviously I misunderstood, likely due to my skimming.

12x12 Nonfiction

1. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness / Alexandra Fuller
3.5 stars

Alexandra Fuller is writing primarily about her mother's life, but also a bit about her father's in this book. Her mother, Nicola, was born in Scotland, but lived most of her life in Central Africa. Nicola loved to sing and enjoyed drinking, but was prone to depression at times.

I enjoyed this. In addition to the biography itself, it was interesting to learn a little bit about what was going on in Africa at the time. It's quite short and fast to read.

12x12 Travel

1. Cutting for Stone / Abraham Verghese
3 stars

This story follows Marion, twin brother to Shiva. Their mother died during their birth and their father fled. They were raised and loved by two surgeons, Hema and Ghosh, from the hospital in Ethiopia they were born in. The story primarily follows Marion as he grows up and becomes a surgeon himself.

Sorry to all those who loved this, but I thought is was merely “ok”. It was slow, not much seemed to happen; looking at other reviews, some people seemed to think the beginning was slow and that it picked up, I never thought it did pick up. I didn't like many of the characters, including (and especially) Marion's love-interest, Genet, and also Shiva. I wasn't crazy about Marion, himself, either, mostly due to his stupidity over Genet! I have to admit I didn't really care about any of the characters, so it didn't matter to me what happened to them. I listened to the entire story, but it was only ok. I just didn't find anything very exciting about it.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT

1. Trapped / Michael Northrop
4 stars

When a snowstorm starts and the local high school closes early, seven students and one teacher are left behind when their parents don't come to pick them up. Little do they know, it will be days before the snow lets up. In the meantime, the snow piles up higher and higher outside the school walls.

I really liked this. I thought it was quite suspenseful. It is simple writing, as it's a YA book, but I still really liked it. I thought a clever touch was the image of the snowflakes on the chapter pages. Being YA and not very long, it is a very quick read. I think it was also fitting to read it at this time of year, after all the snow I've seen this winter!

>28 LibraryCin: - I was also lukewarm on Cutting for Stone - I enjoyed the beginning and liked Hema and Ghosh but really couldn't get into Marion and Shiva. The ending seemed a bit contrived and Genet was very irritating.

>30 LittleTaiko:. Thank you! I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Yes, I think Hema and Ghosh were about the only characters that I liked. Yup, Genet - very very annoying!

12x12 Nonfiction

2. Isaac's Storm / Erik Larson
4.5 stars

September 8, 1900 in Galveston, Texas, Isaac Cline was the “weatherman”. The U.S. Weather Bureau knew a storm would hit, but no one (well, none of the Americans) had any idea how severe the hurricane would be.

The book starts with a combination of Isaac's life and some weather history mixed in. This part was a little bit slower, but once the hurricane hit, wow! The suspense was incredible! I did not want to put the book down. Like with Larsen's other books, his nonfiction reads like fiction. I think the hurricane and the aftermath are enough to raise my rating to above 4 stars, so 4-1/2 stars from me!

12x12 Series

1. Fables, Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind / Bill Willingham
3.75 stars

Bigby and Snow's cubs are doing “tests” to see who will take over from The North Wind, Bigby's father, as King. The other winds aren't happy with this idea. Elsewhere, Bufkin the flying monkey, is wanting a revolution in Oz.

I often have differing opinions on the different storylines, so it's hard to come up with a rating. I quite enjoyed the cubs' storyline, but Bufkin's wasn't as interesting to me. There was a short Christmas story at the end, which I really liked! I am trying not to give ¼ or ¾ stars, anymore, but in order to fit my rating in better with the other books in the series, I am doing that this time. It would have stayed at a 3.5 rating, except the Christmas story raised it up a bit.

12x12 Canadian Author

1. Crossing to Safety / Wallace Stegner
3.5 stars

This is a simple story about two married couples, friends. When Larry and Sally move to Wisconsin in the late 1930s for Larry to start a teaching job as a professor, they meet Sid and Charity and begin a life-long friendship.

The book starts in “current-day” and goes back in time for most of the first half to when they first met. It then goes back and forth for a while and it ends during the current-day again. I enjoyed this more than I expected to, but there was a section in the first bit where I completely lost interest, as it was pretty much filled with intellectual/literary conversation. I could have done without that. Otherwise, it was a good story. That being said, I hated Charity. She did some nice things, and was a good friend to Sally, but her personality! *Shudder. I think I liked the current-day stuff better than the reminiscences, but I think we had to get to know Charity and Sid from back then before we learned the end of the book. Overall, it turned out to be a good read and I'm glad I read it.

Nice progress! Looking forward to following along.

Thank you, Eva! I am hoping to read 150 books this year. Most of the time I can fit the book in one category or another, though occasionally not. We'll see how it goes! :-)

12x12 Canadian Author, GeoCAT

Away / Jane Urquhart
3 stars

This is the story of a family – Brian, Mary and their son Liam (and a daughter to come later) – as they immigrate from Ireland to Canada in the mid-1800s.

I waffled between 2.5 and 3 stars on this one. This is the first book I've read by her and I don't think I like her writing style, it's very vague and indirect. I thought I missed a couple of things happening at times where I was skimming, when it didn't seem very interesting, but then she seemed to come back to those things later and I figured it out. Parts were good, but a lot of it was not that exciting for me. In the end, because I did “like” the ending – that is, I was slightly surprised by it – I upped it to the 3 stars, which is “ok” for me.

12x12 Off the Shelf, MysteryCAT

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency / Alexander McCall Smith
3.5 stars

In Botswana, Mma Ramotswe uses the money from her father's inheritance to open a detective agency. This story is not one mystery, but it follows a number of short cases taken on by Mma Ramotswe. It actually starts out with some information about her father, then her own life as she grew up then came to open the detective agency.

It was good. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series, but I enjoyed this one. It was fairly short and quick to read.

12x12 CAT Challenges, AlphaCAT

Clouded Vision / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

When Ellie goes missing, her husband and daughter appear on tv to plead for her to come back or for whoever has taken her to let her go. Keisha is a “psychic” who is planning to visit Wendell (Ellie's husband) to offer to “help” him for a fee.

This is a super-short novella and I really enjoyed it. I didn't want to put it down! I do like that he repeats characters in different books – not enough that you need to remember them, but I still think it's a cool idea (Keisha was apparently in No Time for Goodbye). I was a little disappointed in the abrupt ending, but it wasn't enough for me to lower my rating.

12x12 PBT

High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed / Michael Kodas
4.5 stars

Journalist Michael Kodas takes a look at how busy Everest is and the issues that have happened due to its popularity. Primarily, he is looking at the fraud and theft that happens there (plus more). The consequences of fraud and theft at Everest, though, versus anywhere else, can turn deadly.

Kodas climbed Everest in 2004 with a neighbour, George, their wives, and a few other people. Things turned sour very quickly. So, he describes his own experiences with that group, as well as recounting 69-year old Nils Antezana's death on Everest, at the same time as Kodas and his group were there, but Antezana, his guide and two Sherpas were climbing the other side of Everest.

Wow! This was very good. Kodas, being a journalist, is a good writer, and I just wanted to keep reading. I didn't want to put the book down. Nothing's going to live up to Into Thin Air for me, but this comes close. It does jump around in place and time; however, I was still able to follow. There are lots of people involved and lots of stories, but I think that actually helped me figure out time/place, as Kodas focused on the two main stories and added in a few others here and there, but always came back to the main stories. For anyone with an interest in Everest, this is definitely worth the read!

Clouded Vision has somehow managed to avoid landing on my bookshelves... will have to pick it up since I am a big fan of all things Barclay!

The Everest book also sounds interesting. I have Into Thin Air on my Overdrive app (for iPad) and should probably start reading it soon!

>41 rabbitprincess:. Clouded Vision is just a novella, it will probably take less than an hour to read. Maybe that's why it slipped below your radar!

Ohhhh, Into Thin Air is a must! I hope you get to it soon. It's been years since I read it, and have recommended it to friends over and over! I rarely reread books, but I'm considering rereading it at some point.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Matched / Ally Condie
4 stars

Cassia is 17-years old and headed to her Matching Banquet. This is where she will find out which boy is her Match for the rest of her life. To her surprise (it happens very rarely that the people Matched already know each other), her Match is her best friend from forever, Xander. When she takes home the microchip to learn more, she is surprised to see Xander's face disappear and another friend from childhood appear instead, Ky. As Cassia spends more and more time with Ky, she finds herself falling for him, even after she was told it was an error that she saw him at all.

I really enjoyed this. It is young adult, and primarily a teen romance, while the reader also learns about the perfect Society that they all live in. Of course, it's really not so perfect, after all. I will be continuing with the trilogy.

12x12 Nonfiction

Falling Backwards / Jann Arden
3.5 stars

Jann Arden is a Canadian singer/songwriter. This is her autobiography, from her childhood up to when she got her first record deal just before she turned 30.

I really enjoyed this. Jann had a fairly normal family and childhood, but it was still interesting to read about her growing up. I live in the city she grew up in (and still lives in), so I recognize many of the places. That's always fun. I was a little surprised that it wasn't funnier than it was, though. To hear her talk, she is absolutely hilarious! There were funny parts in the book, but I had expected more humour than there was. That being said, I still really enjoyed it.

I'm glad to hear of that one--I've always adored her music, so it would be fun to read about the life leading up to it. Thanks :)

45. I hope you like it! I was actually waffling between a 4 or 3.5 star rating. If I'm waffling, mostly I tend to go with the lower, but I thought I'd mention it, anyway. :-) It was close to 4 stars!

12x12 Audio

The Prince of Tides / Pat Conroy
3.5 stars

When Tom Wingo in South Carolina gets a call that his twin sister, Savannah, has attempted suicide again, he rushes to New York City to see her. While there, he meets her psychiatrist, Susan, and pours out family stories and secrets (one of them, a major shocker of a secret!) to help Susan try to help Savanna. Despite being married (though he just found out his wife was cheating on him), he falls for Susan.

It was good. I listened to the audio and it mostly kept my attention (which sometimes seems trickier with audio than with print for me). It just wasn't super-special for me. I didn't like Tom falling for Susan; I could have done without that part of the storyline. There were a few more “exciting” (and/or shocking!) parts toward the end of the book, but it wasn't enough to bring up my rating. But, it was good.

I finished Into Thin Air yesterday and was stunned! (I want to say I really liked it, but it describes such a harrowing incident that "liked" doesn't seem to be the right word.) He really does not spare the details about the physical toll Everest takes on climbers. It was also interesting to read the various postscripts about his dispute with one of the guides in another company, over the factual accuracy of his book.

rabbitprincess, I'm glad you "liked" it.

I wonder if the postscripts are in a later edition. Was that about Anatoli Boukreev? Boukreev, I believe, wrote his book: The Climb, after Into Thin Air to publish his "side" of the story. Or, that's what I'd been told. I did read it a number of years after reading Into Thin Air and thought it was good to read for Boukreev's side, as well (though it was hard to remember specifics from Krakauer's book because it had been so long!). The book isn't nearly as well-written as Krakauer's, but I still thought it was good.

Though I don't often reread books, I think I'm probably going to try to get back to Into Thin Air at some point.

Yes, it was about Boukreev, and the last postscript was dated 1999.

50. I'll have to check my copy, too. Hopefully it's there, so someday when I reread it, I can read that, too. :-)

12x12 Travel

419 / Will Ferguson
3 stars

When Laura and Warren's father drives himself off a cliff, it looks suspicious. The police quickly learn that Henry was being scammed by one of those Nigerian email scams.

In the first half of the book, I was ready to give this 3.5 stars (good), but when an additional character was introduced about halfway through and so much focused on him, I brought it down to 3 stars (ok). The parts that focused on Henry's family and on Winston, the guy in Nigeria behind the scam, I liked enough to rate good. However, there were two other characters that a lot of the book focused on (especially in the second half). I didn't find them nearly as interesting or entertaining to read about. I did learn more about those scams which was kind of interesting. Overall, I'm going to rate this one 3 stars, o.k.

I have been wondering whether or not to read Ferguson's 419. There seems to be a consistency in the ratings and reviews that the book doesn't quite live up to expectations, so I think that one will move further down the possible future reading list.

lkernagh, "literary" stuff isn't as appealing to me as a lot of other people, so that may have something to do with it, as well. This was Ferguson's first (I think?) serious book, I think. I like his humourous stuff (I've only read one of the two fictional books he's written, but really enjoy his travel books).

I had considered reading it, anyway, but hadn't decided for sure when someone chose it for my f2f book club, so that decided it!

You might want to check other reviews, as well, though it appears that you have. It was quicker to read than I expected, though, so that's a bit of a bonus. :-)

12x12 Trim, RandomCAT
Little House on the Prairie / Laura Ingalls Wilder
4 stars

In the second book in the series, Laura and her family are moving from the Big Woods in Wisconsin to the prairies in Kansas. There, they start with very little, except what they brought with them in their wagon, and build on the land they find. This is also Indian Territory, so there is some concern about that.

I really enjoyed this. It is fun to read this series again (though I'm not sure if I did read the entire series when I was younger; I think so, but I'm not positive). There are so many great descriptions of the prairies, as well as how they lived and built things (the house, the chimney, the stable, the garden, etc). It's amazing how much they had to know to be able to start a life and build everything from scratch.

Very much like Lori, I have been moving 419 up and down my TBR according to the most recent review I've read. I will probably get to it at some point but I'm not rushing into it.

56. Isn't it funny how that happens!?

I am obviously feeling a little wishy-washy toward it cause if it was a book I really wanted to read, I wouldn't be swayed by the reviews.

True!

12x12 Audio, MysteryCAT, AlphaCAT

Deja Dead / Kathy Reichs
4 stars

This is the first book in the Temperance Brennan series. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist working in Quebec. When she is called in to examine some bones, she seems to think there is a serial killer out there, but the police don't agree. She tries to find links so she can convince them she is on the right track. In the meantime, she has an anthropologist friend working with prostitutes who she is quite worried about.

I really liked this! I was a little surprised at how short it was, but it was still really good. There are so many books in the series, but I will keep going. I actually quite enjoyed the narrator of the audio, as well.

Somehow I have acquired the second book in the 'Bones' series but not the first. I guess I need to get that one. I really like the show, but it seems as though it's quite different from the books.

I like the early installments in the Tempe Brennan series best (the ones that don't have Bones in the title). The Quebec setting is a big plus for me.

61, 62. I've actually never seen the tv show. I guess I'll just keep going with the series until I'm not enjoying it anymore. I did like the Quebec setting and the bits of French.

And added note that it turned out it was so short because it was an abridged version! :-( If I'd known that, I would probably have gotten the print book from the library instead. Luckily, I didn't really notice anything "missing", but it would have been nice to read the entire thing.

I do wonder why they bother doing abridged versions, anyway. Why not just do the audio of the entire book!? Sigh...

12x12 Booktivity, MysteryCAT

The Bone Collector / Jeffery Deaver
4 stars

Lincoln Rhyme was a forensic expert and is now a quadriplegic. Even still, he is brought into help with a case. Amelia Sachs is an officer who has never worked a crime scene, but Rhyme wants her, specifically, to walk the scene while he has a microphone and talks her through it. They are after someone who is kidnapping people, and leaving them to die... and leaving clues for the police to the next victim. They are trying to solve the clues before the next victim dies.

I wasn't sure at the start how much I'd like this, as it seemed a bit technical for me. Some stuff I understood a bit (thank you, Criminal Minds!), but some of it lost me. However, I really liked the interaction between Rhyme and Sachs, and I was always on edge as they tried to figure out the clues and race to the next crime scene to see if they would get there in time to save the next victim. I ended up really enjoying this and will definitely read more of this series. I was surprised at how quickly this one went.

The movie with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie was excellent!

65. I've never seen the movie. I bet it would be good, though! (It's rare that I take time to watch movies, anymore; for that reason, I don't have Netflix. If I ever come across a friend who has it, though, I bet it would be worth borrowing!

12x12 Trim

Tab Hunter Confidential / Tab Hunter, Eddie Muller
3.5 stars

Tab Hunter was a 1950s movie star and heartthrob; he was also gay. This is his autobiography that tells of a fatherless, good-looking, but extremely shy boy who was approached at 14-years old as he was working in a stable to ask if he was interested in being a movie star.

I don't often read celebrity bios. I wasn't born till the 70s, and to be honest, I hadn't heard of Tab Hunter until this book. I realized as I read the book that I have seen him in one movie – he had a small part as one of the teachers in Grease 2. However, his story interested me, so that's why I wanted to read it.

I really liked the first half of the book, but I didn't enjoy the second half quite as much. In the second half, he talks a lot about the movies and his work. I actually found his life more interesting than his work – his love for horses and dogs, his relationships, and he was also a figure skater. All the talk of the movies and the acting got a little boring, to be honest. But overall, I still liked it enough to rate it good.

12x12 PBT, AlphaCAT

Half Broke Horses / Jeannette Walls
3.5 stars

Jeanette Walls decided to write about her grandmother's life. She decided, since there were a lot of blanks to fill in (and dialogue), she would call it fiction, but she also considers it an oral history of her family. Her grandmother, Lily, was born in the early 20th century and was a spunky woman! She mostly grew up on a ranch, but left to become a teacher. She also lived in the big city of Chicago for a while, before moving back to a ranch. She married, had kids, and continued to move around.

I enjoyed this. I (mostly) liked Lily and her spunk, though I didn't agree with some of the stuff she did (I guess, in part, it was the times). It wasn't nearly as good (I didn't think) as The Glass Castle, but it was still enjoyable.

->63 LibraryCin:
Yes! If anyone knows the reason for abridged versions of anything, I'd be interested to know!

12x12 Travel

The Weaver and the Factory Maid / Deborah Grabien
3 stars

Ringan is a musician and does renovations. When someone he has done some renos for can't pay, but instead, offers an old house and property, Ringan can't resist. However, he soon learns that the place is haunted. When his girlfriend, Penny, arrives, they work together to figure out who the ghosts are and why they are there.

It started a little slow for me, but it got better and I enjoyed the second half more. I really liked the epilogue. It was short and a quick read. I'm still unsure whether or not I will continue the series.

I've added an "Overflow" category for anything that doesn't fit my other categories. I already had one like that and just didn't post it here, but someone convinced me to go back and add an "Overflow" category.

12x12 Series

Linger / Maggie Stiefvater
3 stars

So as not to ruin book 1 for anyone who hasn't read it, I'll keep my synopsis simple. Grace and Sam are dealing with a few changes. Meanwhile, Grace's friend, Isabel, meets a new wolf, Cole.

I liked the first one much better. I didn't much like the main characters. Grace and Sam were whiny/angsty/woe-is-me teenagers, and neither Isabel nor Cole were the least bit likeable. The end was pretty good, though. I will likely finish the trilogy, but I wasn't real excited about this one, so I will rate it o.k.

Overflow categories are a salvation! I have one every challenge, for that very reason. ;-)

@ 72 -- I'm wondering, have you read other books by Stiefvater? I've heard that her later stuff is better than her earlier stuff. I absolutely LOVED The Scorpio Races, but I don't have much interest in her werewolf books…your review is confirming that for me. :)

74. Yeah, you can probably skip the werewolf ones. I liked the first one much better.

Unfortunately, they are the only ones I've read by her, so I can't comment on her others. Maybe someone else reading this thread can make some suggestions?

73. I had never even thought of an overflow category. I guess the other couple of years I've done this, I haven't really needed it, as somehow - up until the end of the year - I've managed to fit almost every book into one of the "regular" categories. I guess I mostly keep them broad enough, but with having one that didn't fit so early in the year this year, I thought it was a good idea!

@ 75 -- The Scorpio Races!!! I know I just said it, but it bears repeating. :) The only other books I've read by Stiefvater are from the Raven Cycle, the series she's currently writing. I like them a lot too, but they're not as good as Scorpio, in my opinion.

hehe! Ok, I'll take a look! :-)

12x12 Canada, GEOCat

Prisoner of Tehran : a Memoir / Marina Nemat
4 stars

Marina was 16 years old in 1982 after the Iranian Revolution when she was arrested and taken to a prison in Tehran. There for a little over two years, she was tortured, imprisoned and blackmailed. She is now married with two kids and living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The back of the book actually tells more than my summary, but I wanted to leave some of that out, so be cautious reading the blurb unless you want to know more.

This was very good. It was quicker to read than I'd expected, as well. At the start, her chapters alternated between her arrest, then back to when she was younger, then back to follow after her arrest, until her younger life caught up. It was easy to follow, though. The book primarily focused on the two years she was a prisoner. I thought it was very good, easy to read and well worth the read.

12x12 Overflow

A Discovery of Witches / Deborah Harkness. 3.5 stars

Diana is a witch, but she has always refused to use magic. When she is doing research in the library, she comes across a magical book. Unbeknownst to her, there are a lot of witches, daemons, and vampires all looking for that magical book that has been missing for over a century. Suddenly, Diana is being pursued and her life might be in danger. However, one of the vampires who has come is also interested in other things (as is she), even though none of the three above-mentioned groups of people are supposed to mix. This is another wrinkle to put their lives in danger.

I really went back and forth on my rating for this, between 3 stars (ok) and 4. Most of the book probably fell closer to a 3 for me, but I've decided on a middle ground of 3.5 stars (good). I liked the books and even the budding relationship between Diana and Matthew, but I thought the book got bogged down quite a bit with elaborate explanations of things. I guess the reader needs those explanations, but I found I often lost interest at those points. I am undecided on whether or not to read the 2nd book in the series... currently leaning toward not bothering.

12x12 Animals, MysteryCAT

Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund / Blaize Clement
4 stars

Dixie is a former cop, now pet-sitter. While walking one of the dogs she is sitting, the dog discovers a dead body. Not only that, the dead body is also someone Dixie has done some pet-sitting for. Even worse, before she found his body, she saw his vehicle speeding away, though it was him and waved. Now, she's afraid the killer might think she saw him and come after her!

This is the second book in the Dixie Hemingway series and I really enjoyed it. Of course, the animals make the book extra fun for me to enjoy.

12x12 Audio

Skylight Confessions / Alice Hoffman
3 stars

When Arlie is still young, she marries John. John felt he was pushed into the marriage and really isn't interested. He's still not interested when Sam arrives. Unfortunately, Arlie passes away only a few short months after having Blanca. The rest of the story follows the rest of the family.

It was ok. Not a whole lot happened and there were times I lost interest (I was listening to the audio), but it was ok.

12x12 Author Author, AlphaCAT

Hit and Run / Lurlene McDaniel
4 stars

Analise is babysitting late one night and rides her bike home. Quin and Laurie are coming from a party. Laurie has fallen asleep, but is jolted awake and Quin tells her he hit a deer. It's only later they realize that a person was hit and it was likely them who hit her.

I quite liked this. It is a YA book and it only took a couple of hours to read. The point of view alternates between the four main characters. I didn't like what some of the characters did, but I still liked the book. I will read more by this author.

12x12 Trim that TBR, AlphaCAT

Tabloid Love: Looking for Mr. Right in All the Wrong Places / Bridget Harrison
3.5 stars

In this memoir, Bridget wants to be a reporter and moves from England to New York for 4 months on an exchange. In New York, she will be a reporter at the tabloid paper, the New York Post. She eventually gets herself a column on dating and being single in New York and stays for 5 years. This book tells of her life and work during this time.

I enjoyed this. It's pretty light, but it was enjoyable to read. There was a mix of dating stories and stories of reporting. Simply because I can't relate, I did tend to roll my eyes a bit every time she seemed so worried about her biological clock ticking.

12x12 Animals

Hoot / Carl Hiaasen
3.5 stars

Roy is in middle school and has moved to Florida from Montana recently. He often is bullied by Dana. On the bus one day, Roy noticed a boy running alongside with no shoes and wants to find out who he is and what he's all about. Meanwhile, there is some vandalism going on at a nearby construction site.

It sounds a bit disjointed, but it comes together. I enjoyed it, especially toward the end.

12x12 Overflow

Hostage / Robert Crais
4.5 stars

When Dennis, his younger brother, Kevin, and their friend, Mars, rob a store, things go horribly wrong when the cashier is shot. They try to get away and end up holding a family hostage in their home. As the chief of police, Tally, tries to negotiate, things become bad for him personally.

Wow! This was so good! The point of view was constantly flipping around between a number of different characters (but was easy to follow because we are told at the start of each section who's POV it is), so there were a couple of characters I wasn't as interested in. But, really, it was so fast-paced and moved quickly, I wanted to keep reading. And it got even better toward the very end.

12x12 PBT, GeoCAT, AlphaCAT

Midnight Omen Deja Vu / Marti Melville
3 stars

Katharine is an ER nurse and has a gift of magic. When she delves into one of her past lives, she finds she was once a teenage girl kidnapped by pirates. She was taken to be the healer on the ship, as they head away from her home in Wales to the Caribbean Sea.

It was ok. I believe it's meant to be a trilogy and I'm not sure if I'll continue or not, but the ending of this one does have me a little curious.

12x12 Canada

Chinese Islanders: Making a Home in the New World / Hung-Min Chiang
3.5 stars

This is a history of Chinese immigrants to Prince Edward Island. There isn't a lot of information out there and there weren't very many immigrants, so the author not only looks at the history, including laws and politics in all of Canada and how that impacted the Chinese immigrants, but he is also able to look more closely at a few specific people and families.

I found this interesting. The entire history is interesting (from increasing head taxes to exclusion laws), as are the lives of the immigrants, most of whom – at least in the early days and up to much more recently – ran laundries and restaurants.

12x12 Trim, MysteryCAT, AlphaCAT

The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul / Marty Chan
4 stars

Marty is a 10-year old Chinese boy in a small town in Alberta. In fact, he is the only Chinese boy in town. Because of this (and it doesn't help that his mother picks out his clothes!), he gets picked on. He does have one friend, a French boy, Remi (but because Remi is in the French class and Marty in the English class, no one can know they are friends). When Remi and Marty discover some graffiti on the school shed, they are initially accused of spraying it themselves! They decide they must find out who did it...

This is a kids' book and I really enjoyed it. There is a lot of humour going on in the book, and Marty Chan does such a good job getting inside kids' heads, I think. It seemed like it, anyway. Obviously, being a kids' book, it was fairly simple, but it was just a really fun book!

12x12 Animals, GeoCAT, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw / Bruce Barcott
4 stars

Sharon Matola runs the Belize Zoo. At her zoo, they rescue and rehabilitate injured or orphaned animals. When there was a dam proposed in Belize that would threaten the habitat of the few remaining scarlet macaws in Belize, she made it her purpose to fight the dam with everything she had. The author travelled to and from Belize for a number of years to document what happened.

This was really good. The book also takes a look at the history and politics of Belize, as well. It's so frustrating, though, the corruption in the government! I found the book quite gripping and wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen. Of course, I have a particular interest in the environment and wildlife.

12x12 Canada, AlphaCAT, Travel Across Canada

Sylvanus Now / Donna Morrissey
3.5 stars

It is the 1950s in Newfoundland. Adelaide has grown up taking care of all her younger siblings, but hates hearing them scream and longs for time to herself. Sylvanus becomes a fisherman, but as technology and times change, he clings to the old ways. It is the beginning of the decline of the fisheries.

It started off quite slow and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. About a third of the way in, I suddenly found it much more interesting. I can't say the pace picked up or anything, but I found myself interested in Addie and Sylvanus and what was happening. The perspective does alternate back and forth between Addie and Sylvanus, but whose perspective it is is marked at the beginning of each part. Overall, I liked it.

12x12 Booktivity

Category 7 / Bill Evans, Marianna Jameson
3.5 stars

A meteorologist, Carter, has been doing secret research for years to try to manipulate the weather... and he has succeeded. When he decides to brew up a storm – the biggest one ever seen, really – he wants it to end up in New York City.

It wasn't what I expected. I expected the storm to hit and the book to be about that. So... it was much slower than I was hoping. Most of the book was actually the build up to the storm and trying to stop it, not really the storm itself. That being said, it did pick up in the last quarter of the book or so. However, it just didn't live up to what I'd hoped, although apparently, I simply had a wrong idea of what the book was. It also took longer to read than I'd anticipated, but that may just be because I was busier then normal as I read it.

12x12 Cat Challenges, RandomCAT, Trim that TBR

The Familiars / Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson
4 stars

Aldwyn is a stray cat who survives by his wits and stealing fish. When he is on the run after stealing a fish, he “hides” in a store full of animals. He is then chosen by Jake to be Jake's familiar. Whoops! Now, Aldwyn has to pretend to be magical to fit in with the other familiars that belong to Jake's siblings. When Jake and his siblings are kidnapped, it is up to the three familiars to save them.

I really enjoyed this cute book. It's fast to read and I loved the perspective being from the animals' points of view.

12x12 Travel

The Unicorn / Iris Murdoch
3 stars

When Marian heads out to Gaze Castle to work, she assumes she will be teaching children. When she arrives, however, she finds that she is going to be a companion to the young woman of the household, Hannah. Marian quickly sees that there is something very odd going on at the castle.

The start of the book actually really drew me in. It felt a bit creepy, kind of gothic, and I was curious to find out what was going on. But, the execution of the book fell a little flat for me. I think I wasn't as interested when we switched viewpoints at times to a neighbour, Effingham. I definitely didn't find him as interesting, but even with Marian, there were parts that just didn't hold my attention as much in the middle of the book. The end got a little more interesting again, but not enough to bring my rating up from “ok” to “good”. The book remains at 3 stars, “ok”, for me.

12x12 Author Author

The Sea Runners / Ivan Doig
2.5 stars

It's the mid-1800s and four Swedish men decide to leave “Russian America” (now Alaska) for Astoria, Oregon. They canoe alongside the coast to get there.

I couldn't get interested in the book for the first 1/3 of the book or so. There were a lot of names – people and places – and I just couldn't focus. It did get a little more interesting after they were finally on their way, but overall, it was still pretty slow for me. Looking at other reviews, it appears I am in a minority on this. I did find it interesting that this was based on a true story.

12x12 Series

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows / J.K. Rowling
First read in 2008: 5 stars

I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just do a really brief summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione will not be returning to Hogwart's for their final year. They have an important mission to take care of instead.

Definitely the best Harry Potter book of them all! It was action packed start to finish!

Reread 5ish years later:
3.5 stars

This was a reread. I read the print the first time and it was my favourite of the series with 5 stars. This time, I listened to the audio and it just couldn't keep my interest. I remember the first time reading it and thinking it was nonstop action, but this time, where was the action!? I missed a lot of it. Disappointed, unfortunately. I'm still rating it “good”, but given it was my favourite the first time around, I am disappointed. If I decide to read it again, I will definitely go back to the print.

There was a Harry Potter marathon this weekend and I switched to my own DVD without commercial interruptions for the last two. I still love the series. Someday when I have nothing else to read (;-0) I want to reread the series. I love how you are so careful to avoid spoilers. If someone had spent the last 15 years in the Antarctic I wouldn't be surprised if they already knew the ending!

haha! True about the spoilers. That "summary" part of the review was from the first time I read and reviewed the book in 2008, so it's possible some people didn't know yet! :-)

12x12 Animals

Amazing Gracie / Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff
4.5 stars

Gracie was the runt of the litter. A Great Dane albino puppy who was deaf and partly blind. The author, Dan, having recently lost a dog, decided to bring Gracie home instead of letting the breeder euthanize her. This is her story.

I really enjoyed this. As with most animal stories, there were laughs and tears.

12x12 Booktivity, RandomCAT

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse / Marilyn Singer
4.5 stars

This is a children's book of poetry. The poems are based on fairy tales. They are also “reversible” - that is, line-by-line, they still make sense read bottom to top, as they do top to bottom.

I thought this was very clever! I really enjoyed it. I'm not a big poetry fan, but I like fairy tales and this was just so well done. In a lot of cases, reading the poems “backwards” made the poem from a different point of view. I often read them more than once. The illustrations were done very well, too, as they were “divided” and drawn from more than one perspective, as well.

12x12 Travel, GeoCAT

Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar / Jules Verne
3 stars

It is the 19th century. Michael Strogoff is a courier for the Czar, and is tasked with bringing a letter to the Czar's brother in Siberia. This is a very long journey, and there is peril, as there have been uprisings along the way. Michael is travelling under a pseudonym.

It was ok. I found sections more interesting that included the women characters in the book: Nadia, who Micheal meets part-way; she is also travelling to Siberia; and his mother, who he is supposed to avoid, so as not to reveal who he really is.

12x12 Series, AlphaCAT

Y: The Last Man. Vol. 7: Paper Dolls / Brian K. Vaughan
4 stars

Yorick, 355 and Dr. Mann are in Australia for a day, so Yorick insists on getting off the ship to search for his fiance. We also learn some background on 355's life, and a little bit about Yorick and Ampersand.

I really liked this one. I found 355's backstory interesting and there were a few other interesting progressions in the storyline. They did go back and forth in time a few times (not only for 355's story), but the time and place are marked at the start of each section.

12x12 CAT Challenges, AlphaCAT

Immortal / Gillian Shields
3.5 stars

Evie is sent away to a girls' boarding school and has some trouble fitting in. She meets a boy she is drawn to, but there's something a little different about him. In fact, there's something going on at the entire school.

I enjoyed this, but probably would have liked it better in print. I listened to the audio, and my mind tended to wander so I did miss a few things. The book does go back and forth in perspective between Evie and Agnes (through Agnes's journal), who lived at the school in the late 1800s. That's partly why I lost where I was a few times. In a print book, I could have flipped back to see whose perspective we were looking at at various times, but with the audio, that's trickier. It is a series, but I'm not convinced that I'll keep going.

12x12 Author Author

Wildwood Dancing / Juliet Mariller
4.5 stars

15-year old Jena is the second of five sisters. All five, on nights where there is a full moon, find their way to a portal to the “Other Kingdom”, another world where they are able to dance the night away. Tati is one year older than Jena and falls for one of the “Night People” from the Other Kingdom, but the tales of the Night People are scary, so Jena is worried for her sister. In the regular world, their father is ill, so their cousin Cezar steps in to take over the girls' father's business, despite their father's wish that his perfectly capable daughters take care of things.

This surprised me! I really, really liked this. I loved Gogu, Jena's pet frog! There were fairy tale elements that I hadn't expected, and although I often am not a fantasy fan, I do like fairy tales. I enjoyed this so much and I kept wanting to read. I will definitely be reading the next in the series, and will likely try other books by this author, as well.

I also found the author's note at the end interesting. She talked a little bit about Transylvania (where it was set), mythology and vampires.

>103 LibraryCin: I loved Wildwood Dancing! The sequel, Cybele's Secret, is very good as well. I'm a big Marillier fan in general...if you like her style, check out Daughter of the Forest!

Thanks, Christina! I am planning to read Cybele's Secret, for sure! Someone else also suggested Daughter of the Forest (and one other... the one based on Beauty and the Beast) to me, and I will plan to read both of those, too. :-)

12x12 Off the Shelf

Eating Animals / Jonathan Safran Foer
4.5 stars

Jonathan Safran Foer was an off and on vegetarian most of his life. When he and his wife were expecting a baby, he decided to look closer at the meat industry to help decide the best way to raise his baby with regard to food.

Wow! I've read a lot about factory farming and slaughterhouses, but this went into much more detail than I'd heard before. One thing I hadn't heard about before, though, was farmed fish, which he also discusses. In addition to looking at factory farming, though, Foer does also look at more humane farms and farmers. He also looks at the environmental toll of factory farms. It's not an easy read, for sure. It's horrible stuff that happens, but it can open one's eyes to what goes on, and maybe even change some habits. Me, I have already cut back on the amount of meat I eat (by quite a bit the past couple of years), but I think it's going to get cut back even further.

12x12 Cat Challenges

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life / Lauren Baratz-Logsted
3.5 stars

After Charlotte's heart is broken by her previous (married) employer, in order to get away, she accepts a nanny position in Iceland. Unfortunately, she later finds herself falling for her new employer. What she's not sure about is where his wife is?

I thought this was cute. I loved all the references to Nancy Drew and there were shades of Jane Eyre. It really is a mindless, fluffy, quick read, though. Don't expect too much out of it. Though some didn't like the ending, I did.

12x12 Truth, AlphaCAT

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife / Irene Spencer
4 stars

Irene grew up in a polygamous home and was raised in the FLDS church (Fundamentalist Mormons). Her mother got out of her plural marriage and Irene came close to not entering into one, but her fears of going to hell if she didn't convinced her... along with other family and her future husband, Verlan. She became his second wife; her half-sister, Charlotte was his first. Irene hated it! And she felt worse and worse about it with every new wife brought into the family. This is the story of her life with Verlan and all the other wives and her 13 children that came.

Wow, Irene had a temper! She was feisty, but the entire situation just battered her mental state down. Verlan had no time for her with all the other wives and working in the U.S. (they mostly lived in Mexico and they were also in Nicaragua for a while). They were extremely poor, which apparently happens with a lot of plural wives – with all the extra wives and children to feed. Good read, though.

12x12 Off the Shelf

How to be a Canadian / Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson
3.5 stars

Will Ferguson and his brother Ian decided to write (with encouragement from Margaret Atwood) a “guidebook” on how to be a Canadian. Humourously, of course. Topics include language, food, politics, sports, sex, drinking and much more.

I enjoyed this. There were times I laughed out loud. Parts I enjoyed most included the breakdown of the provinces and curling. Of course, I am Canadian, so I “got” most of the jokes. I suspect there are plenty of jokes that wouldn't work for those who aren't Canadian. It was originally published in 2001, so some parts are out of date, in particular the political stuff. But still, a fun read.

Ah, the Ferguson brothers, they do amuse me. ;-)

>109 LibraryCin:. LOL! I've never read anything else by Ian, but I've read quite a bit by Will. I think my favourite is Hitching Rides with Buddha. :-)

12x12 Audio, AlphaCAT

Maya's Notebook / Isabel Allende
3.5 stars

Maya was raised by her grandparents, and was extremely close to her grandfather, Popo. When he dies, she is devastated and makes a lot of bad choices. Eventually, her grandmother sends her to a small island (Chiloe) off the coast of Chile to keep her safe.

The story goes back and forth in time so the reader finds out slowly what happened to bring Maya to Chiloe. I listened to the audio, and mostly it kept my attention, but it sometimes does make it a bit trickier to keep track of which time period we are now following, especially near the start of the book. Overall, though, I thought it was a good book, and the audio did hold my attention more than some do.

I'm making a note of The last flight of the Scarlet Macaw. I visited the Belize zoo a couple of years ago and think Belize is a fascinating country. Plus, my library has a copy!

>113 paruline:. Oh, that's very cool that you've been there!

The Heretic Queen / Michelle Moran
4 stars

It is known that Nefertari was related to Nefertiti (seen as a heretic queen of Egypt) in some way. For the purposes of this novel, Michelle Moran has made Nefertari Nefertiti's niece. Nefertari marries her childhood friend and Pharoah of Egypt, Ramesses (later known as Ramesses the Great or Ramesses II). She is his second wife, and he must choose a Chief Wife at some point. So, there is not only a bit of a rivalry between Nefertari and Ramesses' first wife, Iset; there is also a rivalry between Woserit (who has been helping Nefertari learn to be and act like a queen) and Henuttawy (Woserit's sister (both are Ramesses' aunts) who has been helping Iset). Of course, the people don't like Nefertari because of who her aunt was.

I really enjoyed this. I really don't know much about ancient Egypt, so this was quite interesting. As always, Moran includes a historical note to explain what is known and what parts of the story she took liberties with.

12x12 PBT

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers / Mary Roach
4 stars

Mary Roach set off to find out all about dead human bodies in this book. She looks at the biology of what happens when we die, various things that can happen when a body (or parts of a body) are donated to science (crash test bodies, anyone? Or maybe testing bullets?), some of the history of what people did with dead bodies, including various experiments, cannibalism, and (of particular interest to me) she looked at more environmentally-friendly ways to dispose of a body (though this was published over 10 years ago, so I suspect more has happened with this in the meantime). Plus more.

Despite sections of gore, I really liked this book. I found it very interesting, and Roach often keeps things humourous! This is only the second book I've read by her, and I liked this better than Spook.

12x12 Trim

Sweethearts / Sara Zarr
4 stars

Jennifer only had one friend as a child, Cameron Quick. But, something happened on Jennifer's 9th birthday at Cameron's house. Not long after that, Cameron disappeared without a word. Jennifer was devastated when she later found out Cameron had died. Now, she's 17 and in high school. She completely “remade” herself (including changing her name to Jenna), has a group of friends, and even a boyfriend. What a shock when Cameron suddenly returns into her life...

I really enjoyed this. It was quick to read. I have to say, though, that I wasn't crazy about the ending. I thought it was kind of abrupt and left a lot of loose ends. Maybe it didn't, but it felt that way to me. Overall, I'm still giving this 4 stars for the rest of the story, though.

12x12 Booktivity, MysteryCAT

A Man Lay Dead / Ngaio Marsh
3 stars

A group of people are invited to a house party where there will be a game of Murder played. Unfortunately, there ends up being a real murder instead of just a game.

The premise was interesting and the book was o.k. There are a lot of characters to get to know, but I had a tendency to lose interest, so I wasn't able to keep good track of who was who. I found it interesting that the book followed the point of view, not of the inspector (who is apparently featured in a number of books by Marsh), but of one of the guests. It was quick to read, though.

12x12 Cat Challenges, RandomCAT

Unless / Carol Sheilds
3.25 stars

Reta is an author and translator. She is married and has three teenage daughters. Norah, the oldest at 19, has just gone to university, but for some unknown reason has dropped out and stands on a corner in Toronto, begging with a sign around her neck that reads “Goodness”. The story is told from Reta's point of view and looks at how she is handling what her daughter is doing and how she is holding everything together. The story does jump a bit to some backstory, as well.

It started ok, but my mind did wander at first. It seemed to turn around in the last third of the book or so, when I seemed to find it more interesting. There was also some focus on Reta's current book, which I found mildly interesting.

12x12 Canada

Come Barbarians / Todd Babiak
3.5 stars

Christopher Kruse has taken his wife and little girl to France. While there, his daughter Lily is killed and the one who presumably killed her has been murdered himself. Evelyn, Kruse's wife, has disappeared. Though Kruse himself doesn't want to believe it, the assumption is that Evelyn has killed Lily's killer. Kruse sets out to find Evelyn and to prove her innocence, but other unscrupulous men are after her (and him), as well.

This book was really up and down for me. There were some real suspenseful (and gory, in some cases) moments, but there were also times I lost interest/focus. The suspenseful moments in the book were enough to bring my rating to “good”, 3.5 stars, however.

12x12 Author Author, RandomCAT

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty / Joshilyn Jackson
4 stars

Big was only 15 when she had Liza. In turn, Liza was only 15 when she had Mosey. Liza disappeared for 2 years after having Mosey, then came back home with her. Now, Mosey is 15. Liza has had a stroke and has trouble communicating. They don't even know how much of Liza is “left” inside herself. When Big has the big tree in the yard cut down, they unearth some small bones. Both Big and Mosey take a guess as to what's happened due to Liza's reaction, and go about dealing with it in their own ways.

I really liked this. I was pulled in early on and enjoyed it throughout. The story switched between all three viewpoints, and when we were following Liza, she went to the past quite often, so the reader got a little more info just barely ahead of what Big and Mosey were figuring out. I will read more by this author.

12x12 Audio

The Orphan Master's Son / Adam Johnson
2.5 stars

I lost interest so many times in this book, the summary will be... spotty. Set in North Korea, Jun Do was the son of the guy who took care of the orphans (I think... and that's mostly based on the title that I say that, though there was some kind of mention of something along those lines at the start of the book). When he grows up, he (somehow) ends up pretending to be Commander Ga, and he takes over Ga's life. There is another character/storyline, as well, and I think the guy is some kind of biographer.

Obviously, I wasn't real excited about this book. I listened to the audio, and though I liked two out of three narrators, it just wasn't enough to keep my attention. There were things here and there that were of some interest and I have to admit that it picked up at the very end for me, somewhat, but it was far too little too late. Sorry to all those who loved this one!

To each his own! I found it fascinating myself. Maybe listening to it instead of reading it brought it down.

>123 mamzel:. I have other friends who loved the audio, so I'm not sure that's it, either. Sigh...

12x12, RandomCAT

Moloka'i / Alan Brennert
4 stars

This is set in Hawaii in the late 1800s, and continues through the first half of the 20th century. In the 1890s, Rachel is diagnosed with leprosy at only 7 years old; she is sent away to Moloka'i where lepers go to keep them from infecting others. She grows up on Moloka'i, always hoping she'll test so that she can one day leave the island and be reunited with her parents and siblings. The book follows Rachel's entire life.

This was really good. I don't really know anything about leprosy, except the stigma that is attached to it. It was heartbreaking to “see” those little kids being separated from their families to be sent off to an island where most of them don't know anyone (unless they knew of someone who had been sent there previously). There was another main character in the book, Sister Catherine, who was there simply to help the people. I liked both characters. I think I enjoyed the book a little bit more when Rachel was a child, but overall, it was a very good book.

12x12 Travel

The Elegance of the Hedgehog / Muriel Barbery
2.5 stars

Renee is 54 years old, a widow and a concierge. She has one friend, Manuela. Paloma is 12 years old and lives in one of the apartments in Renee's building. Renee is much smarter than she wants people to know. Paloma is just really smart.

I wasn't a fan. Paloma is not the least bit likable, and though I initially thought that about Renee, as well, Renee grew on me some. There was a lot of boring philosophy in the book, which I'm not interested in in the least. Paloma was ridiculously snobby. The book got slightly better in the second half, but overall, philosophy is not my thing, the characters were mostly unlikable and “pretty” prose doesn't impress me (in fact, it usually bores me, and did again this time).

12x12 Nonfiction, GeoCAT, AlphaCAT

No Shortcuts to the Top / Ed Viesturs
4 stars

Ed Viesturs was the twelfth person to summit all 14 of the world's tallest mountains, the first American to do so, and the sixth to summit all 14 without supplemental oxygen. This is his autobiography, with a particular focus on his climbing.

As with most (all?) of the mountaineering books I've read, this one is very exciting at times. It kept me wanting to read. Ed was climbing with Scott Fisher on K2 when they not only summitted (against Ed's better judgement), but they saved the lives of two other climbers. Ed was part of David Breashears IMAX crew when disaster hit Everest in 1996. Plus there are many other climbs that he was involved in to make it to the summit of all 14; of course, he didn't make them all on his first tries, either. I was quite interested to learn that before the mountaineering took over, Ed had originally become a veterinarian.

>126 LibraryCin: Fair points about The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I ended up liking the book more than you did, but I totally agree that the first half was really tough going.

>128 christina_reads: I read it for my f2f book club. We meet next week, so it will be interesting to see what everyone thought. It seems my online friends are pretty divided. :-)

12x12 Trim, MysteryCAT

Jamaica Inn / Daphne du Maurier
3.5 stars

It is the 19th century in England. Mary is 23. Her father died when she was little, so her mother has been taking care of her, solo, for 17 years. When her mother dies, Mary promises her that she'll go live with her Aunt Patience, her mother's sister, who neither of them has seen since before Aunt Patience got married 10 years earlier. When Mary arrives at Jamaica Inn, she learns that her uncle is not very nice (that's putting it mildly!). No one comes to Jamaica Inn because they are scared to. And there seems to be something going on there...

I liked it. I liked Mary (for the most part) and her independence. The book especially picked up in the last third or quarter of the book. It is suspenseful, especially in that last bit of the book. Have to admit that I didn't like the very end, though.

12x12 Booktivity, MysteryCAT

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / Agatha Christie
3.5 stars

Roger Ackroyd has a stepson (Ralph) and a nice (Flora), who are planning to marry. Roger himself is a widower and is involved with Mrs. Ferrars (also a widow). Dr. Sheppard is a friend and this is whose viewpoint we are hearing the story from. When Dr. Sheppard receives a phone call, he heads over and finds Roger murdered. Flora brings in M. Poirot to help solve the crime. Most things point to Ralph as the prime suspect.

I quite liked it. I found it humourous at times with little quips here and there. This might be one of the ones I've liked better of those I've read by Christie (admittedly not very many). The revelation of the murderer was definitely a surprise.

12x12 Off the Shelf, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

Good to a Fault / Marina Endicott
3.5 stars

When Clara's car crashes into a family, there are only minor injuries, but once at the hospital, the mother, Lorraine, is found to have cancer. The family was living out of their car as they were moving from Winnipeg to Fort McMurray, Alberta so the father, Clayton, can find work. With Lorraine now in the hospital in Saskatoon, they have no place to stay. Clara feels so badly that she takes in the entire family (Clayton, 3 kids (Dolly, Trevor and baby Pearce), and Clayton's mother). Clara also visits Lorraine at the hospital, as Clayton disappears shortly thereafter.

I quite liked this. I kept waffling between 3.5 stars (good) and 4 stars, but went with the lower of the two as it didn't quite hit 4 stars overall for me. It's an unusual situation, but I was certainly wondering what would happen in the end... would Lorraine get better? If she does - or doesn't - what happens later, as Clara grows more and more fond of the children? And what about Clayton? I'm glad I finally read the book and I already have another book by the same author I'm planning to read (though it's historical fiction rather than contemporary).

12x12 Series, AlphaCAT

Sliver of Truth / Lisa Unger

3.5 stars

Ridley Jones is still seeking answers about her biological father, who has died. I won't go into any more summary, as there would likely be spoilers for the first book, Beautiful Lies.

I liked it, but not as much as Beautiful Lies. It didn't grab me and pull me in as much as the first one, but it did pick up in the last third or so.

12x12 Audio, Dive Deep

Storms of my Grandchildren / James C. Hansen
3.5 stars

James Hansen was a scientist at NASA with a particular interest in climate change. This book explains what is happening with climate change and what needs to be done to stop the potentially devastating effects.

I was listening to the audio, and I think that made it a bit tougher for the science. I am interested, but listening to it was probably more dry than reading it, I'd guess. I've read a lot about it, anyway, but there were plenty of things I didn't know, either. I really didn't know much (anything?) about nuclear power, so that was an interesting chapter to me. What I really liked about the book, though, was the politics. Hansen was an insider, so it was especially interesting to read about that aspect. And he did talk about it quite a bit in the book. There are charts included in the book: with the audio came a pdf that you could open if you wanted to refer to those charts (and he would mention it in the audio when he was talking about one of those charts included in the pdf), which I thought was a good idea. Overall, I'll rate it good.

That's a good idea for them to include the charts with the audiobook! That would certainly make the audio easier to follow in those parts.

>135 rabbitprincess:. I thought it was a great idea! (Though I will admit that I usually listen to audios while I'm out walking, so I still don't have the pdf with me to look at. But I like that the option is there. :-) )

12x12 Travel

The Thirteenth Tale / Diane Setterfield
4 stars

Margaret helps her father run an antiquarian bookstore, and writes the occasional biography (of someone dead). When she receives a request from a very popular author, Vita Winter, to be her biographer, Margaret wonders why her. Miss Winter has, in interviews, given many different stories as to her own life, so Margaret is also leery of getting the truth out of her.

I really liked this. It reminded me a bit of Kate Morton with all the secrets that kept coming, as well as the jumps in time. It wasn't difficult to follow the jumps in time, though. Overall, very enjoyable.

12x12 Author Author

Another Year: An Essay / Ann Patchett
3 stars

This is a short essay written by Patchett for Kobo Books. It was written at the beginning of a new year, so she looks at new beginnings in her essay. It was ok, just nothing special or exciting.

12x12 Series, GeoCAT

The Sea of Monsters / Rick Riordan
3.5 stars

In book 2 of the series, half-human/half-god Percy is looking forward to heading back to Camp Half-Blood for the summer after grade 7, but there have been problems at the camp. Percy and his friends must go on a quest to save the camp.

I had hoped that listening to the audio might draw me in a little more. The audio was fun and I did enjoy it, enough to rate it “good”, 3.5 stars. I did lose focus occasionally and I thought the Grover storyline was just silly, but it's a kid's book, so I suppose for most interested in reading the book, silly is ok.

For a debut novel, I am still amazed with The Thirteenth Tale. One of these days I will read her next book, but the reviews posted make it difficult as I don't want to lose the mesmerism that I have for her first book.

>139 LibraryCin:
For me, that series really picked up with book three, so I hope you continue.

12x12 PBT, Travel Across Canada, MysteryCAT

Death du Jour / Kathy Rechs
4 stars

Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is in Quebec for a short time to help out some nuns. They are digging up the bones of a nun from 100 years earlier, as they want to make her a saint. While there, there is a fire that claims the lives of a number of people, so Tempe is called to help with that investigation. And there is more going on back home in North Carolina that she is called in to help with.

This is the second book in the series; I had accidentally ended up listening to an abridged version of the first book, so this one was nice to have more personal stuff happening, in addition to the cases she was working. I did figure out some of what might be happening before Tempe clued in, but I still really liked this one.

>141 -Eva-:
No worries, I will be continuing!

And that's good to hear!

>140 lkernagh:
Is she not getting good reviews for her next book? I hadn't looked into it; that's too bad.

12x12 Nonfiction, AlphaCAT, RandomCAT, GeoCAT

Lancaster and York: The Wars of the Roses / Alison Weir
3.5 stars

In the century before Henry VIII, there was a struggle for the English crown, between the Houses of York and Lancaster. This was later called the “Wars of the Roses”.

I've read only a small bit of fiction on this topic, but not much and only fiction. This one is nonfiction, though, and as with most nonfiction, there were a lot of names to remember (and at this time a lot of names (and titles) were used and reused, so it did get confusing sometimes), and it does read slower than fiction. However, I learned about a time and people I really didn't know much or anything about, which is always interesting. And something I know about myself is that I tend to be more interested in historical women, so someone I've learned I'd like to read more about is Margaret of Anjou. Overall, an interesting read, but definitely not quick.

12x12 Canadian Authors

The Sisters Brothers / Patrick deWitt
3.5 stars

It is the mid-1800s and Eli and Charlie Sisters are brothers who kill for a living. They are hired by the Commodore to kill someone in California, so they are travelling from their home in Oregon City to do so.

This was good. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not, being a western (of sorts) and an award-winning book, but I did. It was fast to read (I read it in a day), and it was an easy read. I liked the first half of the book better, while they were travelling (and their encounters along the way), versus after they arrived in California. The “intermissions”, I thought, were a bit odd, though. I suppose there was some purpose to them, but I didn't really get it.

>144 LibraryCin: I think most readers were expecting to be blown away by Bellman & Black on par with their experience of The Thirteenth Tale and it just didn't happen. I feel for the author, trying to follow up after such an amazing debut novel.

>147 lkernagh: Yeah, you're probably right. It (following up) must be tough, hey?

Speaking From Among the Bones / Alan Bradley
3.5 stars

The town is planning to open up the tomb of St. Tancred. But when the tomb is opened, they find the body of the organist at Flavia's church, who had gone missing. Flavia can't resist but to try to figure out what happened.

Jayne Entwhistle continues to do an amazing job of voicing the likeable Flavia for the audio books. At the same time, the novelty is starting to wear off for me, I think. My mind does tend to wander at times while I listen. At the same time, I am quite amazed at how much of these books don't focus on the murder mystery at hand, yet there still comes an entire book out of it. I had been debating about giving up the series... until the cliffhanger ending on this one! I will be continuing with the next book, after all.

>149 LibraryCin: If it helps, the next book takes the series in a very different direction! Opinion seems to be mixed on this, but I for one am intrigued to see what happens next.

>150 christina_reads:. Oh, sounds interesting. Hope it'll pick up my interest a little more again. Thanks!

12x12 Nonfiction

The Big Burn / Timothy Egan
4 stars

The biggest forest fire in U.S. history was in August 1910. It was only a few years after Teddy Roosevelt and his friend and conservationist, Gifford Pinchot, had formed the U.S. Forest Service with rangers to try to keep Western forests for the public and protect the forests from logging companies. The hired rangers (which by then, with a change of government, were barely being paid, if at all, as the current government no longer wanted the rangers around) were then tasked with fighting these fires.

I really liked this. Not only was reading about the fires interesting, but reading about the conservation movement in the early 20th century was also very interesting. It makes me sad how the Forest Service has evolved, however.

12x12 CAT Challenges, GeoCAT

Shutter Island / Dennis Lehane
3.5 stars

Teddy is a U.S. Marshal heading out to Shutter Island with his partner, Chuck, to investigate an escaped convict/patient. Shutter Island holds a penitentiary/hospital for those who have been convicted of very violent crimes, and someone, somehow has escaped.

Though the opening/introductory chapter peaked my interest, after that, it started a bit slow. It never reached a page-turner status like I was expecting. It was good and I was surprised at the twist, but it wasn't quite the suspenseful, thrilling page-turner I thought it would be. The very last chapter had me a bit confused. I also had to turn back to the start to remind myself who wrote that bit of journal at the beginning, as it's not referred to again at the end.

12x12 Booktivity, AlphaCAT

Queen Jezebel / Jean Plaidy
3.5 stars

This is the third book in Jean Plaidy's series on Catherine de Medici. At the start of this one, her third son, Charles is the King of France, and her daughter Margot is getting married to Henry, the King of Navarre, against her wishes.

I'm not sure I liked this one as much as the first two, but it got more interesting as I got further into it. It's also difficult with these royal families and keeping straight who everyone is (and I tend to go months or years between books in a series, so I need some kind of reminder). However, in the end, I still enjoyed it.

12x12 Canada, Travel (Labrador), AlphaCAT, GeoCAT

Annabel / Kathleen Winter
4 stars

Wayne was born a hermaphrodite, with both boys' and girls' parts. He and his family live in a small town in Labrador, Canada. The only people who know about Wayne are his parents and a family friend, Thomasina. Wayne's parents choose to raise him as a boy, and he has to take medication. Wayne is an adolescent when he finds out, but can feel the girl inside him, a girl he calls Annabel.

I quite liked this. It doesn't move quickly (though it covers a long time period, as Wayne grows up and moves to St. John's, Newfoundland, after high school). I think it's done really well, as Wayne struggles to figure out exactly who he is.

12x12 Off the Shelf

The Other Story / Tatiana de Rosnay
3 stars

Nicolas is a best-selling author in his late 20s and has travelled from France (where he lives) to Italy for a weekend with his girlfriend. He is having trouble writing his next book. This book goes back and forth in time between the weekend in Italy and Nicolas looking into his father's untimely death when he was 11 (he investigated further when he was in his early-20s).

It was ok. It didn't seem like much of anything was happening throughout most of the book, so it was kind of slow throughout the majority of it. It did get a little more interesting toward the end when Nicolas found out more about his father and a few other "storylines" came to a head. Something I found interesting was the "event" de Rosnay worked into the book at the end.

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

Murder Past Due / Miranda James
4 stars

Charlie is a librarian and works at the college archives. When a big-shot author, Godfrey, who went to high school with Charlie, returns to the town they grew up in to meet Godfrey's now-18-year old son, Justin, Godfrey turns up dead. It seems Godfrey was widely hated in high school and still in the town. Justin is boarding in Charlie's house, and Charlie feels the need to help Justin deal with it all... and Charlie does some sleuthing of his own while he's at it.

I really enjoyed this cozy. I'm sure it helped that I am also a librarian, so I could enjoy the library info in the book. And, Diesel, Charlie's maine coon cat, was also a big part of the book. I loved Diesel!

12x12 PBT

Mile 81 / Stephen King
4 stars

10-year old Pete breaks away from his older brother, George, when George ditches him for his own friends. Pete goes down to the deserted roadside turnout, Mile 81, to snoop around the deserted area. While there, he falls asleep. Outside, an old muddy station wagon pulls up and the door opens... Others pull up to see if there's someone who needs help, but this turns out to be at their own peril.

This was really good. It's a short story, so it goes quickly and ends just as fast. I would have liked to know more at the end – what happens to the characters next? Other than that, though, I quite enjoyed it.

12x12 Nonfiction

The Bird Detective: Investigating the Secret Lives of Birds / Bridget Stutchbury
3.5 stars

This is a nonfiction account of the author's study of birds. She looks at mating, migration, song, colour, and more for various species of bird.

It started off a little slow for me, but overall, this was good. It did pick up a bit, I thought. A lot of the species she was looking at were not ones I have seen, but it was still interesting to learn about their habits and how varied they are. She doesn't really talk much about climate change and how the environment is affecting them (she has another book for that), except in the epilogue and it was mentioned maybe once or twice otherwise. The focus of this one is simply the birds' behaviour.

Jack & Jill / James Patterson
4 stars

Jack & Jill are not only code names for the president and his wife, but also two killers in Washington, D.C., who are killing celebrities. At the same time, in a black neighbourhood, Alex Cross's neighbourhood, someone is killing young children near Alex's son's school. Alex wants to help solve the case of the kids being killed, but is pulled away to help with the Jack & Jill case. But, he continues to do what he can on the side.

This was really good. There were plenty of twists and turns in both cases to keep things interesting and at a steady pace throughout the book.

>155 LibraryCin: Interesting topic, teenage years are complicated and trying to define oneself is a complex process, so discovering something of this magnitude ... Thanks for the review.

161. I know! I could not even imagine dealing with something like that!

12x12 CAT Challenges, AlphaCAT

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch / Alison Arngrim
4 stars

Alison Arngrim played Nellie, the mean classmate of Laura's on Little House on the Prairie. She was born to Canadian parents, both in the industry. Her father was gay and her older brother sexually abused her. When she was 11, she got the part of Nellie and her life changed.

This was really good. Alison talked about her life before and after Little House, and also had plenty of stories about the show and the people behind the scenes. It turns out she and Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura, were great friends. Alison later did some stand-up comedy, so she brings humour into her book, as well. I really enjoyed this. Now I might have to check out bios of some of the other Little House actors, as well.

12x12 Trim

The Knife of Never Letting Go / Patrick Ness
3.5 stars

I'm keeping the summary simple so as not to give anything away. Todd is not considered a man until his next birthday; he is currently 12 years of 13 months + 12 months. Only one month left. He lives in a town of all men, and they can all hear each other's thoughts and the animals can speak, as well. The two men who have raised Todd would like to get him out of the town before his birthday.

I liked it. No surprise to those who know me, but I really liked Todd's dog, Manchee. It did end on a cliffhanger. The book wasn't overly special, but it was enough that I'll read the next one.

12x12 Animals

The Art of Racing in the Rain / Garth Stein
4 stars

Enzo is a dog and the story is told from his point of view, looking back on his life with his buddy Denny, Denny's wife, Eve ,and their daughter, Zoe.

I really enjoyed this. I am not into car racing so the racing stuff wasn't as interesting to me, but I loved Enzo and the family storyline was interesting, too.

12x12 PBT, AlphaCAT

Wonderstruck / Brian Selznick
4 stars

In 1977, Ben has recently lost his mother. He never knew his father, so he is living with his aunt and uncle. In 1927, Rose seems to have an obsession with a silent film star. They each set out for New York City to find, in Ben's case, his father, and in Rose's case, the actress, and both end up – 50 years apart – at the Museum of Natural History. Their storylines do eventually intersect.

I really liked this. Not necessarily for the story, though that was enjoyable, but for the way it was done. Rose's part of the story is all told in pictures. It makes it a very fat book as so many pages are pictures, but it read very quickly. The pictures are done very well – they are simple, but also quite beautiful.

12x12 Trim, MysteryCAT

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth / Grant Morrison
3 stars

Arkham Asylum is where many of the criminals who fought Batman ended up. This story backs up and follows Amadeus Arkham, who took his family's home and used it to create the Asylum. A parallel story, set 80 years later, has Batman coming to the Asylum to face the Joker and others.

It was ok. My edition (15th anniversary edition) had the full script with notes from the author, Grant Morrison. I really appreciated that. I missed a heck of a lot of stuff as I read the man portion of the book! Yes, I expect to miss any symbolism/imagery and such, but I missed a lot more than that. It was nice to have the illustrations written out in text as Morrison envisioned them. It filled in a lot of the stuff I missed. There was also thumbnails drawn by Morrison to show how he pictured it before the eventual illustrator, Dave McKean did the final illustrations. I liked Morrison's thumbnails, as I thought they were clearer, and I wonder if I would have missed less had the actual illustrations been closer to Morrison's original vision of it. I also found some of the lettering difficult to read. So, overall: ok.

12x12 Audio

NOS4A2 / Joe Hill
3.5 stars

When Vic McQueen was little, her bike would take her across a bridge to get places to find lost things. Charlie Manx has a place he calls “Christmasland” where he takes kids he kidnaps. Vic is able to escape from Christmasland, but has all kinds of issues as she grows up. As an adult, she still can't seem to get away from Charlie Manx and Christmasland.

I liked this. Although I thought the narrator was quite good, it was very long, so I did lose focus at times, which meant I missed things. I do wonder if I would have rated it slightly higher had I read it in print or ebook.

>166 LibraryCin:
It's quite lovely, isn't it - I liked getting an insight into deaf culture as a "bonus." I preferred his Hugo Cabret, but this one wasn't bad at all. Great artwork as well.

>169 -Eva-: I've not read Hugo Cabret, so I can't compare. I've heard mixed reviews on which people like better. :-) I haven't officially added it to the tbr, but I might still.

12x12 Author Author

The Stone Diaries / Carol Shields
3 stars

This tells the life story of Daisy from the time she is born to the time she dies and everything in between at approximately ten-year intervals.

It was ok. It's not fast-paced, though I liked the middle section a bit more – once she was married and had a family, as opposed to when she was younger and when she was older. Not sure why, but I preferred that part. Overall, though, I'd rate the book merely ok.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Size 14 is Not Fat Either / Meg Cabot
4 stars

This is the second book in Meg Cabot's Heather Wells series. A former pop star, Heather now works at a dorm (residence hall) at New York College. When a cheerleader's severed head is found in the cafeteria kitchen, Heather promises not to get involved in the investigation by trying to solve it herself. Of course, she just can't seem to help herself, which results in trouble for her.

I really enjoyed this, as I did the first one. I think it's more chick lit with a mystery thrown in, but it's also more than the mystery. There is, of course, the obligatory crush, but there is also a slightly complicated relationship between Heather and her father. My favourite secondary character was definitely the neighbourhood drug dealer, Reggie, who is always chatting with Heather! It even picked up a little at the very end.

12x12 Oh Canada

The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry Rivers in Southern Alberta / Calgary Herald
5 stars

In late June 2013, Southern Alberta was hit by floods that not only affected small cities and towns, but also the largest city in the province. This book was put together by the Calgary Herald, one of the daily newspapers. It tells the story of the flooding, but a good portion of the “story” is told through the photographs included. There is more text in the first and last chapters (The Raging Waters and Hell or High Water) but the middle chapters are almost all photos.

The chapters tell the story starting with the flood itself, then the damage and devastation, then the cleanup and the amazing number of people volunteering to help out afterward.

I am biased. I live in Calgary and was here while it happened. I certainly knew the events that happened, but this included some detail I hadn't known about, including more information on the few people who died in the flooding (five people died; over 100,000 people were evacuated). As I read this just over one year later, all kinds of emotions went through me while I was reading and looking at the photographs (probably most I'd seen before; some I remember, some I don't). The first chapter, especially, was written so well, I felt almost on the edge of my seat, though I knew what happened. Though I was not directly affected (work or home), I certainly knew a lot of people who were (many evacuated), and I could see the devastation not too far from where I lived and on my route (very detoured) to and from work. I thought this book was incredibly well done.

I have family in Calgary and while they were not directly affected by that flood - or the flood that happened in Fish Creek Park previously - I can see where it would be an emotional read for you.

12x12 Audio

Sharp Objects / Gillian Flynn
4 stars

Camille is a reporter in Chicago, but is sent to the town in Missouri where she grew up to cover the murders of two little girls. While there, she stays with her mother, with whom she has never had a very good relationship.

This book was more than just the murder mystery of the two little girls; it delved into the relationship between Camille and her mother, as well as her 13-year old half-sister, Amma, who has a number of her own behaviour problems. I really liked it. There were some surprises at the end, where I thought it picked up. I listened to the audio, which I thought was well-done.

12x12 Nonfiction, GeoCAT

The Big Thaw: Travels in the Melting North / Ed Struzik
3.5 stars

The author travelled to the Arctic at various times and with different people to look at different aspects of it and how it is being affected by climate change. He spoke and travelled with scientists, as well as the native people living there.

I thought it was good. He looked at different topics such as polar bears, caribou, squirrels, permafrost, glaciers, icebreakers, border disputes, and more. I did learn new things from this book, even though I've read a bit about climate change. It was published in 2009, though, so I'm sure things have changed even since then.

12x12 Animals

The Swiss Family Robinson / Johann David Wyss
3.5 stars

This is the story of the family (mom, dad, and four boys) who were shipwrecked on a deserted island and how they managed to survive.

It was entertaining, but not believable. The father knew everything about everything, and pretty much everything went right. Every animal they came across they were able to kill or capture for some kind of use – food, eggs, pets, or something else. Not only that, there was quite an international variety of plants and animals: hyena, ostrich, kangaroo, lion, penguin, walrus, boa, pineapple and much more... Overall, I thought it was still enjoyable, but one has to be able to suspend reality. I did (mostly) like the ending.

12x12 Booktivity

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
4.5 stars

Mikael is a journalist who has just been found guilty of libel when he published a story on a rich, well-known businessman. To his surprise, even before he has served his jail time, he is approached by one member (Henrik) of another very rich business family, under the pretext of writing his family's biography, but really Henrik wants Mikael to look into his niece's murder back in 1966.

There was a lot going on in this story. I was most interested in Harriet's story and the offshoot that came from that one, and less interested in the businessman, but even that was more interesting than I expected it to be. But, really, once the story really got going in the second half and Mikael and Lisbeth were discovering more and more, I didn't want to put the book down and just wanted to get back to it when I wasn't reading.

>178 LibraryCin:
Oops, I guess I left my comment on that read on the GeoCAT thread.... I just said (over there) that if you're planning on continuing the series, the other two books are part of the same story-arc.

12x12 Booktivity

Y: The Last Man. Vol. 8: Kimono Dragons / Brian K. Vaughan
3 stars

****SPOILERS if you haven't read the previous volume****
Yorrick's monkey, Ampersand, has been kidnapped and taken to Japan, so Yorrick, Agent 355, Allison and Rose go there to find him.
****END SPOILERS****

It was ok. The issue in the series didn't appeal to me as much as the others, but one interesting thing is that we learn more about Allison's background.

12x12 Trim that TBR, AlphaCAT

Thin is the New Happy / Valerie Frankel
4 stars

When Val was only 11 years old, her mother started in on her about dieting and losing weight. That has stayed with Val her entire life. This book tells of her struggle to stop the constant dieting.

I really enjoyed reading this. Val had a tough time, not only at home, but was teased at school, as well. Each chapter focuses on one main thing in her life (though there are a few chapters about her mother, with whom she does have a good relationship now) like school, her rebelling as a teenager, each of her two husbands, and more. There is a chapter where her friend and coworker, Stacy London (yes, from What Not to Wear) helps her with her wardrobe. It was really fast to read. I hadn't even realized that she has also written a number of fiction books, and I might take a look at some of those, too.

12x12 Author Author

The Titan's Curse / Rick Riordan
4 stars

When Percy, Annabeth and Thalia go to a school to help two siblings who are half-bloods, they get into a fight and Annabeth is presumed dead (though Percy believes otherwise). During the fight, Artemis and the Hunters showed up to help, but Artemis ends up missing, as well. Some of the Hunters must team up with some of the Campers to help save both Annabeth and Artemis.

I really liked this one, and since I was less excited about book 2, which I listened to on audio, I think I'll stick with print (or ebook) for the rest of the series. More characters/gods were introduced in this one, and there was plenty of humour, as well. It was quick to read and a lot of fun, I thought!

12x12 Travel, AlphaCAT

The World We Found / Thrity Umrigar
4 stars

This is about four women who went to university together in Bombay, India in the 1970s. They considered themselves revolutionaries at the time. In the end, one of them (Armaiti) moved to the U.S., two (Laleh and Kavita) remained friends, and one (Nishta) separated herself from the others after she, a Hindu, married a Muslim (and a mutual friend to them all). Fast-forward to current day and Armaiti has contacted them in hopes they will come visit before she dies of cancer.

I really enjoyed this. You really see how different things can turn out from how you plan them, and how you yourself can change. The book switches viewpoints, so you can see what has happened in everyone's lives from their own perspectives. There were times in this book where I was ready to rate it even higher, but overall, it's a very solid 4 stars. I hadn't heard of Umrigar before, I will read more by her.

12x12 Canada

The Best Laid Plans / Terry Fallis
3.75 stars

Daniel has left his job working for the Liberal Leader in the House of Commons, but has promised to find someone to run in the next election for the Liberal Party in the Cumberland-Prescott riding, where the PC candidate has served for years and is loved by all. The PCs have this riding locked up. So, after a lot of searching, Daniel convinces Angus McLintock, an engineering professor, who has absolutely no desire to be a politician, to simply put his name on the ballot for the Liberals. However, things don't quite go as planned...

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not a big fan of politics, or especially reading about it, but this is funny and entertaining. I couldn't quite give it a full 4 stars because in the first half of the book, there was an occasional slow patch, but the second half really picked up. Angus is a great character and I loved the "antipolitician" that he was. Not caring what people thought of him, he said and did what he thought was right. There were some great secondary characters in this book, as well.

Reread, just over 2 years later:
4 stars

This was a reread for my f2f book club. I love Angus! He's an honest politician who doesn't even want to be there. I thought the book picked up in the second halff but there is a lot of humour spread throughout the book. This is one that I suspect might be better appreciated by those who have some kind of knowledge of Canadian politics, but I wonder if there might be enough humour (and novelty – an honest politician!!) to keep others interested, as well.

12x12 Booktivity, MysteryCAT

A Study in Scarlet / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3.5 stars

This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel when Dr. Watson first meets Holmes. They become roommates and soon after, there is a murder. The mystery is actually solved in part one of the story, then part two gives more background information on how/why it all happened.

It was off and on for me for holding my interest. I was just getting interested in Watson and Holmes getting to know each other, then the murder came about. I lost focus for a bit, then was getting interested again when part one ended, and there was a shift to different characters and a different setting, which caused me to lose interest a bit, once again. Once that got going, I got interested again. I do think I liked this better than the Holmes short stories I've read (although the way it was structured it almost felt like a couple of short stories until it came together in the end!). Overall, I liked it enough to rate it good.

12x12 Off the Shelf

The Hermitage Cats / Nikolai Gol, Maria Haltunen
4 stars

This book takes a look at not only the cats that live at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, but also at the cats in some of the artwork and at the history of cats and how they were regarded throughout history in various places.

I bought this at the Hermitage over a year ago, and only finally sat down to read it now. I would have loved to have seen some of the cats who live there when I was there. This is a beautiful book that showcases photos of the cats who live there, as well as some of the paintings and artwork that can be found there. There are stories of the cats who are there now, as well as a history and tales of cats through time and place.

12x12 Audio, GeoCAT

Skeletons at the Feast / Chris Bojhalian
4 stars

It is close to the end of World War II. 18-year old Anna and her family are German farmers. They have prisoners of war helping out at their farm, including a young Scottish soldier, Callum. Uri is Jewish and has escaped from a train moving Jews to a camp; he must spend the rest of the war hiding the best he can. Cecile and Jeanne are Jewish girls in a camp. All three storylines are happening simultaneously and all three eventually come together.

This was very good. Bohjalian is very good at realistic descriptions, yikes! I will admit that it took me a little bit to really get into this one, and with the three different storylines + me listening on audio, it was a bit confusing at first (which really is why it took a while for me to get into it). But once I started to know who was who and figure it all out, it was really very good.

No Impact Man / Colin Beavan
5 stars

Colin Beavan decided to do an extreme environmental challenge, and his wife and little girl were included in the challenge. For one year (though they brought each challenge in in stages, so it wasn't the entire thing all year), they would try to produce no trash, eat sustainably, not buy new things (though second-hand was ok), live without electricity and more. He wanted to see what concessions might even make them happier.

I am impressed! A lot of my friends think I'm extreme, but I wish I could do as much as Colin and Michelle did. Even Michelle, who grew up with money and loved to shop, seemed to get into most of it and even enjoy some of it. It seemed to bring them together as a family - with no tv, or even electricity, they talked more to each other and enjoyed each other's company. I do hope I can do more. Colin does stress that individuals can't do it all alone, though; companies, governments, and bigger organizations also need to help out; but it can start with individuals doing as much as they are willing to do.

12x12 Off the Shelf, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

Academy X / Andrew Trees
3.5 stars

This book is set at an expensive private high school in New York City. Mostly the richest kids are here; kids who's parents are able to buy their kids' way into, not only high school, but also Ivy League Colleges. John Spencer is an English teacher teaching a class focusing on Jane Austen. He has a small group of kids in his class, two who really stand out for him: Laura, smart girl, but not rich like most of the other kids; and Caitlyn, pretty, popular, rich, and smart. When the two girls compete in an essay writing contest, things get very heated and they accuse each other of plagiarism. When John finds that one of them did, in fact, plagiarize, he must figure out what to do.

I thought this was good. It really picked up in the second half once the plagiarism accusations were out there. I thought about upping the rating slightly after the second half, but I decided to leave it where it is. It was definitely interesting to read about the ethics of this kind of thing, really not even just the plagiarism, but the rich parents trying to buy their kids' ways into schools and such. The author is a teacher at a private school, so I assume some of this may have come from real life situations.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Search and Rescue / Gail Anderson-Dargatz
4 stars

Claire is a reporter who inherited a “gift” from her mother. She has hunches and sees visions of people in distress who need help. Teenager Amber has gone missing, and though Claire can see where she is, the head of the search and rescue team doesn't believe her, so she takes it upon herself to go find Amber...

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy to review. It's a “Rapid Reads” book, so it's not long. I'd say it's about novella length at 102 pages. I really enjoyed it, though. There was lots happening to keep me interested. It's not complex; I'm sure that's because it's so short, so if this is or is going to be a series (“A Claire Abbott Mystery” says the cover), I'd love to have these books a little longer to be able to flesh out more. However, I still really enjoyed it.

12x12 Travel, PBT, Trim that TBR, GeoCAT, AlphaCAT, MysteryCAT

The Daughter of Time / Josephine Tey
3.5 stars

In this book, a detective is in the hospital and is looking for something to keep him busy. With the help of friends, he starts researching Richard III and whether or not he actually did murder his nephews in the late 15th century.

I thought it was interesting. There were dry spots in the book, as it was all research - the detective talking to his friends/helpers about what might or might not have happened. It is a topic I'm interested in and have read a little bit (though not a lot) about. I do intend to read more. I sure would have liked for the author to provide an afterword, but maybe providing that was less common for historical fiction in the mid-20th century? I do wonder about the title, as well.

12x12 Audio, GeoCAT

The Ocean at the End of the Lane / Neil Gaiman
4 stars

A man has gone back to his childhood home (well, the area where his childhood home used to be), and stops in to visit the neighbours, the Hempstocks, who also lived there when he was 7-years-old. The Hempstocks had an 11-year-old, Lettie, who he had been friends with. While visiting, it brings back all the memories of a particular adventure he had with Lettie before she had to leave.

I really enjoyed this. There were a few parts my mind wandered, but I was interested enough to back up and listen again. Neil Gaiman does have a wonderful voice to listen to. The intro to the acknowledgements at the end was cute.

12x12 PBT, AlphaCAT

Field Notes from a Catastrophe / Elizabeth Kolbert
3.5 stars

This is another book that looks at climate change – what humans are doing to cause it, the politics, the science, and what is happening with the climate and our world.

It was good. I think the author presents it in an easy-to-understand way. I will admit to losing focus a few times while reading, surprising to me more in the first section “nature”, which I would have thought would hold my interest more. I suspect, though, that it's not the material; it is what's happening in my life right now that is distracting. It may also have to do with me seeming to read quite a bit about this lately, so maybe I need to set this topic aside for a while and come back to it again later. Overall, though, I'll still rate it “good”. It did hold my interest more for the second half, anyway.

12x12 Travel

The Princess and Curdie / George MacDonald
2.5 stars

This is a sequel to MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin, which I read 15ish years ago and remember liking. In this one, the princess seeks Curdie's help and sends him on a quest.

Pretty sparse description, I know, but I had trouble focusing, so I just missed way too much to do a proper summary. I was listening to the audio and it just couldn't hold my interest for very long at a time. I'm guessing that it might, in part, have to do with personal stuff going on right now. There did seem to be a lot of description and it seemed to take a long time to get to the plot of the book (and it's not a long book), though (and I'm not big on description).

12x12 Trim, AlphaCAT

The Winter Years: The Depression on the Prairies / James H. Gray
3.5 stars

This book looks at the “Dirty Thirties” (the depression in the 1930s) in the Prairie Provinces in Canada. More specifically, the author was living in Winnipeg at the time with a young family. Many chapters are a memoir, but there are also other chapters that look at the broader picture of what was going on.

I will admit that I was a little disappointed, initially. I wanted a Canadian perspective, but I had hoped for more about the drought and the farmers. There was some of that, and that was probably the parts I found most interesting, though some of the rest of it was more interesting than I expected. And there were parts that I wasn't as interested in. Overall, though, I'll rate it good.

12x12 Cat Challenges, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life / Bryan Lee O'Malley
3 stars

Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old and is not working, but does play in a rock band. He is living with a gay friend and is dating a high school girl when he meets Ramona, a delivery girl for amazon.ca who has just moved to Toronto.

It was o.k. I liked the start of it and enjoyed most of it, but it had a very odd ending, I thought. I liked the simple black and white illustrations (it's a graphic novel). But because of the ending, I downgraded my rating to o.k. and don't plan to continue the series.

12x12 Series, GeoCAT

Y: The Last Man. Vol. 9: Motherland / Brian K. Vaughan
4 stars

In this volume, we learn more about Allison's background, and about how Yorick became one of the last male species on the planet.

This is one of my favourite volumes in the series. I really liked this one. Some questions are starting to be answered, and the action held my interest, as well. There was one section close to the end that I was a bit confused about, however. I'm hoping what's happening there will be explained in the last volume of the series.

12x12 Author Author

The American Heiress / Daisy Goodwin
4 stars

It is the late 19th century. When rich American Cora and her mother head to Europe to find Cora a husband with a title, Cora doesn't actually expect to fall in love. But she does. She and Ivo soon get married and Cora moves to England. However, their life isn't what Cora expected it to be.

Despite not liking most of the characters in the book, I quite liked the book. But wow, what a bunch of stuck-up rich catty people! However, it was still entertaining to read.

12x12 Travel, MysteryCAT

Killer Librarian / Mary Lou Kirwin
4 stars

Karen is a librarian and has been dating Dave for 4 years. They had a trip to England planned when Dave breaks up with Karen on the day they are supposed to leave! Karen decides to take the trip, anyway, and finds herself on the plane, along with Dave and his new girlfriend! Karen keeps herself hidden, and when they all arrive in London, Karen checks herself into the B&B she'd booked. On the first night there, she finds one of the other guests dead.

I really enjoyed this. I was able to identify with both Karen and her friend and co-worker Rosie (I am also a librarian). The book wasn't as much mystery as it sounded, and there was a bit of a romance in it, as well. There were also many books mentioned/talked about/referred to, so that was fun, too. It was a very fast read.

12x12 Audio, AlphaCAT

Down and Out in Paris and London / George Orwell
3 stars

Apparently it is in dispute as to how much of this book is memoir/autobiography and how much is fiction, but I believe it was presented as a memoir. It recounts tales of the author living in poverty in Paris, where he worked in low paying restaurant jobs, then in London, where he focused more (at least in the book) on finding a place to sleep and generally about how poor people are treated.

It was ok. I waffled back and forth on rating it ok (3 stars) or good (3.5), but as I was listening to the audio – despite thinking the narrator was pretty good – I did lose interest a number of times, so I went with the slightly lower rating. I honestly don't remember why I added it to my tbr, but I was a bit surprised that I found it as interesting as I did. He certainly has some interesting commentary on poverty, but I guess he's also been there!

12x12 Trim, AlphaCAT

My Fair Lazy / Jen Lancaster
3.5 stars

In this memoir, Jen is attempting to become more “cultured”. She feels that she spends too much time in front of the tv watching reality shows and she's become dumb. So, she tries to get out to plays, learn about wine/cheese, try new foods, and more.

I enjoyed it, but it didn't have me laughing out loud as much as her other books. That could, at least in part, be because I don't watch much reality tv, so I'm sure I missed a lot of references there. It was, however, still enjoyable.

12x12 Overflow

The Shack / William Paul Young
2 stars

Mack is out on a trip with three of his kids, when Missy, the youngest at 6-years old, disappears. A few years later, he gets a note from God to meet Him back out at the shack where Missy disappeared.

I liked the start of the book – the suspense/thriller part of it when Missy first disappeared and they were trying to find her. That lasted for about the first third of the book. However, I was bored with the God/religious part of the book. I am not religious in the least (agnostic, leaning toward atheist), so I really wasn't interested and I skimmed most of the last 2/3 of the book because of this. I think if the book had remained a suspenseful thriller, I would have enjoyed it, but all the religious stuff completely lost my interest.

12x12 Series

Burned / PC and Kristin Cast
2.5 stars

****SPOILERS for previous book(s)****
Zoey's soul has been shattered and she will die if she can't get it put back together.
****SPOILER end****

I was just not very interested in this one. Mostly the book was told from the points of view of others (not Zoey). I'm not sure if that's why I disliked it, or if it was something else. Either way, this was book 7 and it seems there are now 17 books in the series. I think this is the last one for me. I gave it the extra ½ star because there were parts near the end that I found more interesting, but overall, I really didn't care all that much.

12x12 Animals

Pot Plant Owl / Allan and Tracy Eccles
5 stars

Pot Plant Owl is a momma owl who made her nest in a potted plant on the balcony of a home in Johanessburg, South Africa. I found out about her via africam.com, as there was a webcam set up to watch her for a few years as she continued (and still does continue) to come back. This book contains the story of the first year Pot Plant Owl nested in the potted plant, written by the people whose balcony it was. There are also plenty of photographs of momma, poppa and chicks.

I loved reading this story of the owls I watched online for a few years (unfortunately, they no longer have the webcam set up on Pot Plant Owl, but I follow the posts on facebook). Keep in mind this is anecdotal, not scientific, information about these particular owls, but along with the beautiful photos, it was nice to be able to follow along with momma and her chicks for the 50+ days they spent on that balcony. Seriously, the photos are amazing – they are beautiful creatures.

12x12 Booktivity

Mennonites Don't Dance / Darcie Friesen Hossack
3.5 stars

This is a book of short stories, all of which are set on the Canadian Prairies, mostly on farms run by Mennonite families.

I enjoyed this more than most short story collections. The first couple weren't as interesting to me, but they got better, I thought. I loved that one later story brought me up to date on the characters from one of the earlier stories. My dad's family is Mennonite, so of the Mennonite references, I mostly just caught the food, but that was kind of fun for me, too. I also recognized some of the little German/Mennonite towns in Saskatchewan, as it was where Dad grew up.

12x12 Author Author

The Tin Roof Blowdown / James Lee Burke
2.5 stars

This was set in New Orleans just after Katrina. I can only do a partial summary, as there was only one storyline that interested me, though there were other storylines in addition. Otis' daughter was raped a few years ago. Her rapists are still out there.

Well, just the one storyline was interesting to me, and that storyline mostly ended early on, so I skimmed most of the rest of it, as I just wasn't interested. The book got the ½ star for that one storyline. There was also an odd PI in the story that was somewhat interesting, as well.

12x12 Off the Shelf, GeoCAT

Peony in Love / Lisa See
3.5 stars

Peony is only a few days from her 16th birthday when she meets the man she falls hard for and he for her. Unfortunately, this is 17th century China and she is betrothed (as is he).

I didn't want to say too much in the summary so as to give anything away. Overall, I liked the book. It wasn't fast-moving. I was a bit bored with all the comparisons to the opera, but I liked the rest of the story. It was interesting to read the author's note (and interview) at the end of my edition to find out that this story was based on real people.

12x12 Travel

Unbroken / Laura Hillenbrand
4.5 stars

Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. A few years later, he was back in the U.S. and in the military. When his plane went down over the Pacific Ocean, he and two buddies were castaways on a raft for 47 days before they drifted to an island, where they were then taken prisoner by the Japanese. The POWs in the Japanese camps (at least the camps Louis was in) were treated horribly. The story continued through the POW camps to the end of the war and Louis' return to the U.S. and the aftermath of everything he went through.

This was pretty incredible story. I really didn't know very much about the Japanese participation in WWII (beyond Pearl Harbor). I listened to the audio and only lost focus at one point during the story – while Louis was training for the war and there seemed to be a lot of airplane descriptions. But once the plane went down, the story was riveting.

12x12 Oh Canada

The Handmaid's Tale / Margaret Atwood
3.5 stars

Offred is a “handmaid” - that is, she really only exists to provide a body to house a potential child for a rich man and his wife. The world wasn't always this way. Offred remembers a time when she was married and had her own child. This is her tale.

I read this about 15 years ago; this reread was for my book club. I remember liking it the first time around, and I still thought it was good. It did go back and forth in time to a couple of different time periods, so it could be a bit confusing that way sometimes, plus with trying to figure out what the heck a “Martha” was and such – a little more confusion. However, I thought it was a good story. I also thought it picked up a little right at the end as Offred was “misbehaving” a little more.

12x12 Author Author

The Casual Vacancy / J.K. Rowling
3.5 stars

When Barry Fairbrother dies, he leaves a spot open on the Parish (town?) Council. Following his death, there is jostling to see who will fill the position. It's a small town, so everyone knows everyone and everyone's business (mostly... except for what happens behind some closed doors...).

The first couple of chapters were good, but then it was very slow for a while. However, there were a couple of threads that slowly caught my interest. As the book continued, I was more and more interested in other threads/characters, as well. The book switches perspective (and there are a lot of characters) and there were times where I was on to the next perspective before even realizing it, so it could be slightly confusing at times because of that. Overall, though, I liked the book. Except for the slow start, it got much better, and I really was interested in some of the characters and what was going to happen to them. It's definitely not a happy book, though.

I could not get through the slow beginning and gave up on it. There was nothing I found likeable about the book. Glad you found some good in it, though.

>211 mamzel: Yeah, I've seen a few people say that.

>210 LibraryCin:
Yep. Yep. Yep. Agreeing with that.

Shadows / Robin McKinley
4 stars

Maggie lives in Newworld, where magic isn't allowed; it's all about science now. When Maggie's mother marries Val, someone from Oldworld, Maggie has a bad feeling about him from the start. He has weird “shadows” that seem to follow him (though this doesn't seem to bother anyone else).

I really enjoyed this. It especially picked up about halfway through, when Maggie found out more about Val and his shadows. Maggie also seems to have an affinity for animals, and she volunteers at the local animal shelter, so I loved that about the book! I'm not sure if there will be a sequel or not, but with the way it ended, I think it's open for one. I'd read the next one if there will be one.

>214 LibraryCin: I looooooooooove Robin McKinley! I wasn't too terribly enamored of Shadows, but I would also be interested in a sequel. She's the kind of author where you might have to wait a while, though!

>215 christina_reads: Thanks for the info. I have also read Beauty by her, but nothing else (at least not yet). I'm sure I'll find others, though! I did add Sunshine to my tbr when I thought I could get the audio from my library, but when I looked closer, I don't think my mp3 player will play that format anymore. I'm sure I can find it in print, though. (I don't believe my library had the ebook.)

12x12 CAT Challenges, MysteryCAT, AlphaCAT, Trim the TBR

A Beautiful Place to Die / Malla Nunn
4 stars

It is 1950s South Africa (apartheid). When a white (Afrikaner) police officer is murdered, a detective from Johannesburg is sent out to investigate. When he gets there, he finds the police officer's obnoxious (and violent) sons and a small town filled with racism.

I really enjoyed this. It wasn't only a murder mystery, but with the apartheid angle, there was a whole other dimension to the story. I will admit to being a little disappointed in the ending - probably more realistic, but...

12x12 Canada, Travel Across Canada, AlphaCAT, Trim the TBR

Natasha and Other Stories / David Bezmozgis
3.5 stars

This is a book of short stories focusing on Russian Jews who have immigrated to Toronto, Ontario.

I liked that these stories followed the same people, or the same general group of people, and the same characters tended to pop up in different stories. I'm not always a fan of short stories because I find they end before I'm finished reading about the characters. So, it was nice to have them continue.

12x12 Booktivity, MysteryCAT

Hannibal Rising / Thomas Harris
2.5 stars

This is the prequel to the Hannibal Lecter books. This backs up in Hannibal's life to follow him as he grows up.

I didn't really find it all that interesting, though there were moments. I should also mention that I've not read the other books (a friend loaned it to me – his suggestion – and said I didn't need to have read them to read this one; I would agree with that. Now, I have seen “Silence of the Lambs”.) I don't know if it was the writing style or what, but although things happened, it didn't seem like much was happening. The good part – although it is a large hardcover book, it was fast to read. The font is big and chapters short.

12x12 Series

Deadlocked / Charlaine Harris
3.75 stars

Some higher-up vampires have come to Bon Temps to investigate a vampire death. While Eric is having a party to welcome them, someone else is murdered. Eric and Sookie are having relationship issues. Sookie has a magical item that multiple “people” (vamps, weres, fae) are all interested in getting their hands on.

Most of the book, I would rate good (3.5 stars), but I really liked the ending, so I've upped it just a touch beyond that. There is still lots of everyday stuff going on with Sookie and her friends, as well, and I like that about these books, too. You can see that she is starting to wrap up the series, and I am looking forward to the final installment.

12x12 Nonfiction, GeoCAT

Touching the Void / Joe Simpson
4 stars

In 1985, Joe Simpson and a friend, Simon, were climbing a mountain in the Andes. Shortly after reaching the summit, Joe fell and broke his leg. Amazingly, he made it back down.

The first chapter was just build up to the climb, so it was a little bit slower for me, but starting with chapter 2, it picked up. It picked up even a little more almost half-way through when Joe fell. There were portions of the book told from Simon's point of view, as well, so we also got to find out what Simon was thinking at times. It's not a long book and it kept me wanting to read to see how Joe would get down and the consequences of the fall.

12x12 Trim

Witch Way to Murder / Shirley Damsgaard
3.5 stars

Ophelia is a librarian in a small town. Her grandmother, Abby, who also lives in the same town, is a witch (though no one else in town knows). When Rick, a stranger to town shows up, odd things start happening, including the discovery of a dead body.

I enjoyed this. I found Rick a little annoying, and I had to cringe a little bit at times for the author not giving a librarian enough credit to do better at her research! I'm not sure if I'll read the next one in the series or not.

12x12 Off the Shelf, AlphaCAT

Confessions of a Shopaholic / Sophie Kinsella
4 stars

Becky is a financial reporter, but is bored by her job. It also doesn't pay well. But, she loves to shop, so is in over her head when she can't pay the bills and ignores the letters from the bank and from Visa.

I'm not much of a shopper myself, so I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book. I ended up really enjoying it! I went back and forth on whether or not I liked Becky. I think it was more that I didn't like some (or many!) of the things she did. But, I still really enjoyed the story. Lucky for me, it was also quick to read. I already have the second book in the series, and considering how much I enjoyed it, I will definitely continue on.

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

Three Bags Full / Leonie Swann
3 stars

When a flock of sheep find their shepherd, George, murdered, they take it upon themselves to solve the murder. Meanwhile, they keep themselves busy and waiting to find out what will happen to them. George was a good shepherd who treated them well, so they are a bit concerned about what will happen next.

It was ok. I actually quite liked the ending, so I was tempted to bring my rating up a little bit, but overall, I'll leave it where it is at “ok”, 3 stars. There were parts in the middle where I did lose some interest, but I loved the idea of the story and I loved that George read to them every day. And as mentioned, I did like the ending. I am considering reading the sequel, but I'm not sure if it's been translated into English yet.

My, I had no idea that sheep were so pro-active!

haha! Yes, it was definitely a cute idea! :-)

12x12 PBT

You've Got Murder / Donna Andrews
3.5 stars

Turing is an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP). When Zack, the guy who created her, goes missing, she feels she must find out what happened. With the help of a couple of human friends who can do the “legwork” for her, they set out to find out what's going on.

I enjoyed this. I wasn't sure at first, but as the story kept going, I got more and more interested. The end was especially good. The story was mostly told from Turing's point of view (in italics), but at times we switched to Maude's or Tim's (her human friends') points of view. I think I liked it enough to read the next in the series.

12x12 Booktivity

Dark Places / Gillian Flynn
4 stars

Libby was only 7 years-old when her 15-year old brother, Ben, murdered her mother and two sisters. Libby could hear it all happening and managed to escape. Now, Libby's 31 and her brother had been in jail almost 25 years. She has mostly tried to forget that night, but when she needs money, she meets up with a group of people to talk about it. What she didn't know was that the group would be a bit hostile toward her, blaming her for her testimony which – they believe – wrongly put Ben in jail. She decides she must look further into it to find out what really happened.

This was really good. I listened to the audio. It got my attention at the start and kept my attention. It went back and forth in time between Libby, present day, back to the day before and the morning of the murders, Jan. 2-3, 1985. In the flashbacks, we got to see Libby's mother's and Ben's points of view, as well. I will admit – at least closer to the start – to not being as interested in these flashbacks. Of course, that changed the closer we got to the murders.

12x12 Travel, GeoCAT

The Bone People / Keri Hulme
2 stars

Simon is a little boy and is mute. When he comes across Kerewin, an artist, he seems to like her and wants to spend time with her. Simon's “foster” father (though it's not offical) is a Maori man, Joe. The three get to know each other.

I did not like the style of writing and that put me off right away. I skimmed through most of it. The most interesting parts for me involved Simon's interactions with Kerewin, and Simon on his own. There were seemingly inexplicable indented paragraphs throughout the book; I'm sure the indents were supposed to indicate something, but I never figured it out. There were a couple of sections at the end that were a little more interesting, but overall, I really didn't like it.

>229 LibraryCin:
I have that on the wishlist, almost solely because I've heard such extremely varying opinions about it.

>230 -Eva-: It was a long time ago I added it to my tbr, so I can't even remember why I added it. Most of the reviews I've seen are good, but I'm not really one for really literary/award winners and such. I don't think I realized it had won the Booker Prize until I got it from the library (and it says it on the cover). Of course, for me, that signaled warning bells, but I decided to give it a try, anyway.

"that signaled warning bells"
Haha, that's actually true for me too.

12x12 Series, MysteryCAT

The Dark Monk / Oliver Potzsch
3.5 stars

In the mid-17th century in Bavaria, when a priest is murdered, Jakob, the local hangman, his daughter Magdalena, and her love Simon, try to figure out what happened. Also, it is dangerous to be travelling at this time, as there are robbers on the road.

Overall, I liked it, though there were a few times I lost focus. I didn't like it as much as the first book in the series, but I liked it enough that I'll read the next book. Like at the end of the first book, the author does talk a little bit more about the real Jakob the hangman, the author's ancestor. After that, there was another “extra” in the book that was something different from anything I've seen before – a sort of “walking tour” of the area featured in the book.

12x12 Canada, PBT, AlphaCAT

Very Grimm Fairy Tales / Trevor Strong
3.5 stars

This is a small collection of what you could call “modern-day” fairy tales. Or anti-fairy tales? It includes characters such as the unemployed, vegetarian troll and the “Average Man” and the “Important Man” who works at the “Prestigious Firm”. It's humour. The stories are very short and entertaining (though sometimes gross). The illustrations went nicely with the stories.

12x12 PBT

Castle Waiting, Vol. 1 / Linda Medley
3.5 stars

The start of this graphic novel is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Once she wakes up, though, she leaves the castle. From there on, the stories are of the people who come to the castle for various reasons.

I especially enjoyed the Sleeping Beauty portion of the story, but overall, it was a fun read. The illustrations are black and white, but I loved that it made me feel like I was reading a fairy tale picture book like when I was a kid. I was actually surprised at how big the book was when I picked it up from the library – 457 pages! The book itself (at least the hardcover) was very nicely done and included one of those attached ribbon-type bookmarks, which I thought sort of “fit”.

12x12 Audio

Outlander / Diana Gabaldon
3.5 stars

Claire is a British nurse during WWII. When her husband Frank returns home from the war, they head to Scotland to spend some time together. While there, Claire manages to go through some kind of portal only to find herself in the mid-1700s! While trying to figure out how to get back home, she falls in love with Highlander, Jamie.

I listened to the audio and it was good. The narrator did well with the various accents, I thought. The story was good, too, but it was very long and I did tend to lose focus plenty of times. I wasn't sure, as I listened, if I would continue the series, but I decided there was enough of interest likely coming up for it to be enough to decide to go ahead with book 2.

12x12 Nonfiction, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

Storm Kings: The Untold History of America's First Storm Chasers / Lee Sandlin
3.5 stars

This book starts back in the 17th Century with Puritan Increase Mather's record-keeping of storms. Next, it forwards to Benjamin Franklin and his studies as a “natural philosopher” and what he learned about storms and the weather. The book continues forward in time, focusing on various people who had a particular interest in studying storms and the weather, up until the storm chasers of today.

It was good, interesting. I love storms, so I have to admit that the descriptions of the various storms were more interesting than the science (though I am sometimes ok with the science, as well). It was definitely interesting to read about what people thought a few hundred years ago. I thought the whole “natural philosophy” was interesting.

12x12 CAT Challenges, RandomCAT, AlphatCAT

RMS Titanic: Gilded Lives on a Fatal Voyage / Hugh Brewster
4 stars

This book looks at the lives of some of the 1st class passengers who were on the Titanic, as well as their time on the Titanic and the aftermath.

I really enjoyed this. I have to admit that I was more interested in the happenings on the ship vs. their lives before and after, so the second half of the book was a bit more interesting, I thought - as soon as the ship hit the iceberg. Overall, though, I still really enjoyed it.

12x12 Author Author

Moon Called / Patricia Briggs
3.5 stars

Mercy is a mechanic and a “walker” - a coyote shapeshifter. She was raised by werewolves. When a fairly new, packless werewolf (Mac) shows up looking for a job, she helps him out. When she learns more about him, she introduces him to the local Alpha pack leader, Adam, so hopefully Mac can learn more about being a werewolf and can learn to control himself. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse...

I liked it, but I'm not sure it was enough to convince me to pick up the 2nd book in the series. There was a lot of politics in the book, as well – werewolves, vampires, witches, fae and Mercy and how does she fit in (or not). I've already had a comment that the rest of the series is better, so I will give book 2 a chance and see what I think from there.

12x12 Oh Canada, Travel Across Canada

Green Grass, Running Water / Thomas King
3 stars

This was a reread for my f2f book club. Originally read: 10ish years ago.

I'm not sure there was much of a “plot” to this one. Alberta is dating two men, Lionel and Charlie. She wants a baby but doesn't want to get married. There are four escaped Indians from a hospital and people are looking for them. Eli has come home to the reserve from Ontario; his mother died and if he's not there, her house will be torn down to build a dam, so he feels he must fight that. In the meantime, we have commentary by Coyote and other “characters”.

It was ok. I liked the “real people” storylines, but the Coyote stuff and some of the other “peripheral” stuff, I really wasn't interested in. I guess that was the magical realism in the story that I'm generally not a fan of, anyway (and wasn't, once again). Overall, then: simply ok.

I *loved* Green Grass, Running Water, but it might have helped that I read it for a class in university and we could discuss all of the storylines.

>241 rabbitprincess: I'll be interested to find out what the rest of my book club thinks (we meet on Tuesday). I always do my review and rating on what I thought of the book before our discussion, but I always find our discussions so interesting - others always point out/find/explain things I never noticed or didn't think about!

12x12 Booktivity

For Honour's Sake: The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace / Mark Zuehlke
3 stars

The War of 1812 lasted a little over two years. The U.S. wanted to increase their territory, so they invaded Canada (or what was to later become Canada). The British, Canadians, French-Canadians, and Indians all fought back and in fact, won almost all the battles, though the one battle convincingly won by the Americans, The Battle of New Orleans, was just after the peace treaty was signed.

I'm sure I learned a bit about this war in high school, but I don't remember. I really knew very little about the war going into reading the book (except that the White House was burned – I know that because of a song). I have to admit that I had a hard time getting into the book and a hard time focusing. I still learned some from what I was able to focus on and I'd still be willing to read more about it. Overall, I'm rating it ok.

12x12 Play Book Tag

Cybele's Secret / Juliet Marillier
3.5 stars

This is the sequel to Wildwood Dancing. This one has the second youngest sister, Paula, as the main character. It is now six years after the events of the first book and Paula is 17-years old. She is going with her father (a merchant) to Istanbul to attempt to buy a rare item, Cybele's gift. Being a woman in Istanbul, though, is not easy. Especially a smart, independent woman - a scholar. Her father hires her a bodyguard, and Paula “locks horns” with a pirate. She also becomes friendly with a local woman scholar who is willing to help her out.

Although I thought it was good, it was not nearly as good as the first one, Wildwood Dancing (which will likely make my favourites list for this year). There was a little twist, but I had (kind of) guessed it a bit earlier. I listened to the audio, and as so often happens with audio, there were things I missed, as I would occasionally lose focus.

12x12 Off the Shelf

My Sister's Keeper / Jodi Picoult
4.25 stars

Anna was born because her older sister, Kate, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was only 2, and her parents wanted someone who would match Kate, so the new baby could donate to help Kate out. Now 13, Anna has decided that she wants control of her own body – she wants to make her own decisions on when and whether or not to donate to her sister – so she sues her parents for medical emancipation.

I really liked this (though there was a side story with her lawyer that I could have done without; I guess the side story was ok, it just wasn't necessary, I didn't think). There were times I really disliked Anna's mom, but I quite liked her dad. The book kicked up a notch at the end with a number of twists that elevated my rating by ¼ star. The book was told from many people's points of view, and it did slip back in time occasionally, as well.

12x12 Series

Fables, Vol. 18. Cubs in Toyland / Bill Willingham
4 stars

One of Snow and Bigby's cubs, Therese, has been lured away and taken to another world, Toyland. She is told she is their new queen, but there's something sinister happening here. Snow and Bigby set out to find Therese, as does one of their boys, Darien.

I really liked this one, though there was a short extra section at the end that I didn't find as interesting.

12x12 Off the Shelf

Eden at the Edge of Midnight / John Kerry
3 stars

16-year old Sammy is pulled into another world and just wants to find her way home, but there is someone from Earth who is “chosen”. She was told it wasn't her, but now she's not so sure.

Fantasy isn't my favourite thing, but it was ok. I probably liked the parts better when she was on Earth (no surprise there, as if I'm reading fantasy, urban is more my thing). I still got interested and wanted to see Sammy find her way home. There were two very nice illustrations at the start of two chapters, and it's too bad there weren't more. They wouldn't have changed the story, but they are beautiful pictures to go with the story.

12x12 Truth is Stranger...

Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development... / Jen Lancaster
4 stars

This is another of Jen's memoirs. In this one, she is sharing her lessons learned as she tries to grow up and be an adult.

I really enjoyed this! One particular chapter had me laughing so hard I was crying, having trouble breathing and I scared my cat, who was wondering what the heck was wrong with me!! Really, that's the chapter that brought my rating up to a 4.

12x12 Trim, AlphaCAT

Category 5: The Story of Camille: Lessons Unlearned from America's Most Violent Hurricane / Ernest Zebrowski & Judith A. Howard
4.5 stars

This is a nonfiction account of Hurricane Camille, which hit primarily Mississippi and Louisiana in August 1969. It also caused massive flooding in Virginia with an amazing amount of rainfall that hit there.

Wow, this was really good. It was a very interesting mix of personal stories and information about the hurricane itself. The hurricane/weather information wasn't dry in the least. I do love storms and reading about them, but occasionally, I will admit that the science can be dry. But I didn't find it at all dry in this book. And the stories just kept going even after the hurricane hit, with the devastation the flooding caused in Virginia. There was even some politics mixed in, as Mississippi, in particular, was still very segregated and resisting any attempts to desegregate. The book was published just after Katrina hit. There were a few brief mentions of it, but they were pretty much finished the book at the time of Katrina.

12x12 Animals, GeoCAT, AlphaCAT

Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo / Vanessa Woods
4 stars

The author was young and didn't really know what she wanted to do with herself beyond have adventures. She met her fiancee, Brian, at a chimpanzee sanctuary and he convinced her to come with him to Congo to do some research on bonobos, a type of chimp. The book includes memoir of her and Brian + info about both chimps and bonobos + info on Congo and the political upheaval that has gone on there throughout its history.

I really enjoyed this. I love reading/learning about animals, and I have an undergraduate degree in anthropology (cultural, but I also took some primate classes). The Congo info was interesting, as well. Being a neighbour to Rwanda, much of the Tutsi/Hutu genocide carried over into Congo, as well. I will say, though, that I wasn't crazy about the author, herself - I didn't like her much. However, I still really enjoyed the book.

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT

All My Patients Have Tales: Favorite Stories From a Vet's Practice / Jeff Wells
4 stars

This is a collection of stories told by a veterinarian. Jeff Wells also includes chapters on how he became a vet and when he started out as a brand new vet at his first job.

I really enjoyed this. Living in a city with only cats, I often don't think about all the other types of animals that vets care for, including horses, cows, pigs and there is even one story of a yak! The book had a few cute illustrations, and I liked that each chapter had a very small illustration of whichever type of critter would be focused on in that chapter. Definitely an enjoyable book.

12x12 Travel, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT

The Uncommon Reader / Alan Bennett
3 stars

This is a novella. The Queen becomes interested in reading when a travelling library stops nearby. Unfortunately, this starts to affect her duties, so the people around her are concerned about it.

It was ok. I'm not sure I was as enchanted by it as a lot of people. It only took a couple of hours to read.

12x12 Audio

Code Name Verity / Elizabeth Wein
3 stars

Julie/Queenie/Verity is a spy in WWII. Maddie is a pilot. They meet and become friends. Later, Julie is captured and held prisoner.

I listened to the audio, and it was ok. Like a lot of audios, this one unfortunately, didn't really hold my attention all that well, so I'm sure I missed a lot.

>253 LibraryCin: Oh no! Sorry you didn't enjoy this one more, although I can see why it may have been tougher to follow in audiobook form.

>254 christina_reads: Yeah, I do wonder if print might have been the better option.

Needled to Death / Maggie Sefton
3.25 stars

Vickie, an alpaca rancher, is found murdered in her home when Kelly brings a group of fellow knitters by to see Vickie's alpacas. While Kelly is sorting out some personal inheritance business, she also decides to help Vickie's daughter sort out some of her mother's finances, while also finding out more about what happened to Vickie.

I liked it, though I'm not really into knitting so those parts of the book weren't as interesting to me. There are a couple of knitting patterns and a couple of recipes at the end of the book, as well. It was unfortunate I ended up reading it at the same time as listening to a different cozy mystery on audio. It made it a bit tricky to distinguish the two as I switched between them. I am liking the audio one just a bit better than this one, so I couldn't quite give this 3.5 stars (which is likely what the audio one will get), but I thought this deserved more than 3 stars (“ok” in my rating range). For a while, I thought I wouldn't continue this series, but I think I am going to give it another chance and read book 3. We'll see after that.

12x12 Audio, RandomCAT, AlphaCAT, MysteryCAT

Sentenced to Death / Lorna Barrett
3.5 stars

One of Tricia's friends and fellow bookstore owner, Deborah, is killed at the Founder's Day celebration when a plane comes crashing down. No one else sees it, but Tricia is suspicious Deborah was killed on purpose. In the meantime, Deborah's store is quickly sold by her husband and Tricia's best employee is asked to manage the store. And more nefarious things start to happen...

I liked this. I listened to the audio and it managed to hold my attention (always a bit trickier via audio). It might have helped that I already know many of the characters from the previous four or five books in the series. I will be continuing this series, for sure.

12x12 Animals, RandomCAT, MysteryCAT, AlphaCAT

The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb
4 stars

Lucy, the anteater at Gunn Zoo, is pregnant. When a man is found murdered in her enclosure, she is initially blamed, but they soon find out he was shot before he ended up in her enclosure. Her zookeeper Teddy (Theodora) tries to help out her former (high school) boyfriend (now sheriff), Joe, with the investigation.

I really liked this – of course a lot of my enjoyment was due to the zoo animals. I also loved that the first and last chapters were from Lucy's point of view. I'm definitely planning to read more in the series.

12x12 Trim the TBR

From a Whisper to a Scream / Samuel M. Key (aka Charles de Lint)
3.5 stars

Jim is a photographer and he suspects a woman he took a picture of knows something about some recent murders, so he sets out to find her. When they figure out what's actually going on, he (and the others) are in for more than they bargained for.

It took a little while to get into it. The book is told from many different points of view, so the first number of chapters are all introducing different characters, so it made it harder for me to get into it, as I was trying to figure out who everyone was. Once I had a better idea of that and after the mystery woman is found, in about the second half, it really picked up for me. Overall, it was good.

12x12 PBT, AlphaCAT

Blind Faith / Ben Elton
4 stars

It is a world where privacy is a crime. Everyone is online all the time for everyone else to see and celebrate. Trafford wants to hold on to a little bit of privacy, but he is questioned why he hasn't yet shared the birthing video of his daughter. At his work, a woman is bullied for not conforming. Another coworker takes him aside and proposes something else illegal...

I liked it almost from the start, and through most of the book would have given it 3.5 stars (good). I ended up bumping up the rating to 4 due to a couple of surprises at the end.

>260 LibraryCin: Good to see a high rating for that one as it's on my tbr shelves. I've read and liked the couple of other books I've read from Ben Elton so will get to this one at some point. I think I like him better as an author than I ever did as a comedian though.

>261 AHS-Wolfy: I didn't even realize he was a comedian! I have also read Dead Famous and remember liking that one, though it was so long ago, that I just don't remember much about it, except it was a reality/Big Brother tv show spoof.

I only know of Ben Elton as an actor as well, so I'll be putting his books on the wishlist.

>263 -Eva-: Hope you end up liking them, Eva!

12x12 Booktivity, AlphaCAT

Story of a Girl / Sara Zarr
3 stars

Deanna was only 13 when her father caught her having sex with her brother's best friend, a 17-year old. Three years later, at 16, her father rarely talks to her. Her brother, Darren, and his girlfriend, Stacey, are living in the basement with their baby, April. Deanna dreams of moving out of the house, along with Darren, Stacey and April.

It was ok. I listened to the audio, narrated by the author. I think the author did well, as she sounded like an angst-y teenager, and there was a lot of that in the book. I can usually take some, but it was a bit much, even for me. The story was ok, though. And it's possible the angst came through even moreso because the author read it that way. It was short and quick to listen to, though.

12x12 CAT Challenges, AlphaCAT

You Don't Want to Know / Lisa Jackson
4 stars

Ava was recently released from a psychiatric hospital, where she went in hopes of recovering from the disappearance of her 2-year old son, Noah, two years ago. Now home, she doesn't necessarily trust her family, including her husband and various cousins, who all share the large house on an island. Her husband has hired someone who Ava believes is meant to spy on her. Almost everyone believes Ava to be crazy, as she sees and hears Noah. Although there are significant gaps in her memory, Ava doesn't believe she is crazy and does believe that her son is still out there somewhere. She insists on looking for him.

I really liked this. It wasn't nonstop action, but it drew me in quickly and held my interest. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. I also really liked that it had a gothic/creepy atmosphere. This is the first book by Lisa Jackson that I've read, and I would like to read more.

12x12 Animals, AlphaCAT

The Best Cat Ever / Cleveland Amory
3.25 stars

This is the final book about Cleveland Amory's rescued cat, Polar Bear.

I chose this early in the month to read this month, before my own cat was diagnosed with kidney failure. It hadn't occurred to be until I picked up the book that Polar Bear would not live beyond this book. I don't think it changed how I read the book or what I thought of it, however.

I like Polar Bear and I like the stories about him. I also like the other animal stories that Amory shares; he is an animal activist and runs an animal sanctuary. However, I don't like that so much of the book is not about Polar Bear or the other animals. Some of it was, but over half of it was just Amory's own stories. Polar Bear might get a mention or two amongst those stories. So, for that, I can't quite give the book a “good” (3.5 stars) rating, but because I did enjoy the chapters that did focus on Polar Bear, I have to give it more than “ok” (3 stars).

My top 10 (5 + 4.5 stars):
The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry Rivers in Southern Alberta / Calgary Herald
Pot Plant Owl / Tracy and Allan Eccles
No Impact Man / Colin Beavan
Isaac's Storm / Eric Larson
Wildwood Dancing / Juliet Marillier
Eating Animals / Jonathan Safran Foer
Testimony / Anita Shreve
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Stieg Larsson
Unbroken / Laura Hillenbrand
Category 5: The Story of Camille... / Ernest Zebrowski and Judith A. Howard

Honourable mentions (the rest of the 4.5 stars):
Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale / Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse / Marilyn Singer
Hostage / Robert Crais
High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed / Michael Kodas

Dishonourable mentions (2 stars):
The Bone People / Keri Hulme
The Shack / William Paul Young
Child of God / Cormac McCarthy

I'll come back with some stats later.

Stats
170 books
51,940 pages
= 306 pages / book (average)

New authors to me: 99 out of 170 = 58.2%
Canadian authors: 30 out of 170 = 17.6%

Some genres (some of these will overlap, and I probably missed some, too):
Nonfiction: 39 out of 170 = 22.9%
Historical fiction: 13 out of 170 = 7.6%
Young adult: 12 out of 170 = 7.0%
Biography/Memoir: 13 out of 170 = 7.6%
Graphic novels: 7 out of 170 = 4.1%
Mystery/Thriller: 34 out of 170 = 20%

The MysteryCAT really upped my percentage of mysteries this year, so my Mystery/Thriller percentage is way higher for 2014 than it normally would have been, otherwise. In 2013, the percentage was 11%.

Shelfari groups (I didn't keep track specifically for Booktivity, though):

Author Author:
24/24 authors read
1/4 seasonal authors read

PBT:
34/12 books read for tags, all tags represented