Familyhistorian's ROOTs read in 2023

The Writer's Museum, Edinburgh

I'm keeping my goal the same as last year because it served me well. I exceeded it by 19. Maybe I can do more this year. As in years past, I'll post my acquisitions and books culled. This year I'm aiming to have the books that leave the house equal or exceed the ones coming in. Fingers crossed!

1. Ask Me No Questions by Shelley Noble



I began whittling down the stacks (hopefully) by picking a promising looking mystery. Ask Me No Questions was set in 1907 with most of the action in New York. Involving the upper echelons of society as the amateur sleuth was the young Dowager Lady Dunbridge, the mystery showed the corruption in the police department as well as the high stakes world of horse racing. It was a good one and my first ROOT for the year.

2. Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith



I don’t remember where most of my ROOTs come from but with Sunshine on Scotland Street I know that I picked it up in a Little Free Library. I wanted to know why readers loved the books of Alexander McCall Smith. I think I see the appeal but I’m not sure that I would go out of my way to pick up another of his books.

3. The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley



LT is a dangerous place for avid readers. We get to hear of so many wonderful books. One of the books I found out about on the threads was, The War that Saved My Life. The story of a young crippled girl in WWII was one to warm your heart.

>1 Familyhistorian: Excellent choice of thread topper! I've been there :D

>1 Familyhistorian: I am so fond of this little museum! Happy to see you back.

Embarrassingly, given how close I live to Edinburgh (especially compared to both of you) I've never visited that museum! Glad to see you back, and good luck with the ROOTing and reducing the stacks!

Welcome back! That's a fabulous picture in your topper.

Welcome back, Meg. Good to seen you here again. Enjoy your reading in 2023. (Although 200 is a big number I will never reach.)

4. Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby



I’ve picked up some good mysteries over the years. A more recent acquisition was Mindful of Murder. It was a fun puzzle involving three butlers, four potential heirs to an estate and the laid back folks dwelling on an island off the BC coast.

>7 rabbitprincess: It was a fun museum to visit, RP. I especially liked the stairs!

>8 Caramellunacy: It's good to be back. That museum was a great find.

>9 Jackie_K: That's what happens, though. It's people from away who usually visit places like that museum while the people who live there don't get around to it.

>10 MissWatson: It's good to be back ROOTing. Thanks re the topper - it did seem to fit.

>11 connie53: Hi Connie, now if I could just turn 200 read into 200 rehoused maybe I'd be getting somewhere.

5. The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz



I decided to stick with a good thing and pulled another mystery off the shelf. This time it was The Word is Murder, the first in a series with Anthony Horowitz and disgraced police detective Daniel Hawthorne investigating a murder. It was a bit of a slow go for me but I have more of the books in the series on my shelves. I hope the series grows on me.

>14 Familyhistorian: You are zipping along, Meg! I'm avoiding reading your review of the Horowitz because I have the first two books on my "read soon" pile.

>15 rosalita: The ROOTs are going down easy right now, Julia, but that was because my library holds were coming in slowly. Things will probably settle down soon.

Hi familyhistorian, happy reading in 2023. I look forward to following your thread again this year.

>16 Familyhistorian: Ha, that's the same for me! I suspended holds over Christmas while visiting my parents and have been reactivating them as slowly as I can. But yesterday I ended up with 6 to pick up...

Happy New Year -- a little late considering how you're motoring along on the books!

>6 Familyhistorian: Making a note of this one, I'm fond of the juvenile/YA ages.

>17 QuestingA: Good to have you following along, QA.

>18 rabbitprincess: I regularly have about that many holds to pick up, RP. My library allows us to have 50 holds at a time. I try to pause a bunch and time them so they'll come in a steady stream but that rarely happens. It's also frustrating because I get to the 50 book ceiling regularly!

>19 detailmuse: The War That Saved My Life is a good one and there's also a sequel to it but I haven't read that.

6. A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin



Lately, some historical romances have come in nicer packaging signaling good reads within. One of those, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting somehow ended up in my personal library and grew ROOTs. It was a good read.

>23 Familyhistorian: That is a really lovely cover!

>24 Jackie_K: It's a nice cover, although not the one that's on my book, Jackie. I didn't want to take the time to take a photo of my book and upload the cover. Mine's the Amazon cover which I like even better but which I can't put here because it just disappears.

7. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffith



I remember picking up The Stranger Diaries when I was in England in 2019. In fact I was living out of a suitcase and not paying attention and picked up two copies. Only one remains in my collection. It was an interesting read and quite Gothic while still staying true to the mystery genre.

8. The Devil to Pay by Liz Carlyle



I’m falling behind in writing about the ROOTs I’ve been reading and a bit in taking them off my shelves. My library holds are starting to arrive in bunches. A recent ROOT read was The Devil to Pay, a romance that I bought at the shop beside the library. They had a deal when you bought three. According to LT I had already read it but I didn’t remember the tale of a woman with a secret identity and the man, a dissipated and deadly noble, who takes too much of an interest in her.

9. A Case of Doubtful Death by Linda Stratmann



I follow a number of historical mystery series. The Frances Doughty series is one of them. My most recent read in the series was the third book, A Case of Doubtful Death. I found this one a bit slow going and don’t think I will continue pursuing the other books.

10. The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphreys



I was rooting around on my shelves for a book to fit the Reading Through Time category for January which was birds. It took the longest time for me to find something but I eventually came up with The Evening Chorus. It was a story of WWII and there were birds! It was also a good tale.

I seem to have acquired a lot more books than I tried to in January. They are:

Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson
Remember Love by Mary Balogh
Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas
Something to Hide by Elizabeth George
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
Desperation in Death by J.D. Robb
Cold Case BC by Eve Lazarus
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - from the little free library
Ancestors: The Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials by Alice Roberts - Santa Thing book
On the Waterfront by Mike McCoy - ER book
Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company by John W. Kropf - ER book received as a PDF due to high postal rates to Canada

>30 Familyhistorian: Oops! How did that happen?

>31 connie53: Hmm, yes funny how much book acquisitions pile up in a month. In February at least I have the excuse of my Thingaversary.

>32 Familyhistorian: I always forget my Thingaversary (maybe on purpose?).

>30 Familyhistorian: I was feeling quite depressed by your seemingly effortless success in ROOT-ing until I reached this post.

(You'll note I don't list acquisitions on my thread!)

>33 connie53: I often forget mine too, but as it's in August, by the time I reach it I've already acquired way more books than the number of years I've been on LT, so I just choose to count those already bought books for the Thingaversary.

Good point! My birthday is next month so it won't work for me.

>33 connie53: Maybe it's better to forget thingaversarys, Connie. It's kind of awkward for me because I buy about the same amount of books in a month unfortunately.

>34 charl08: Listing acquisitions can be scary, Charlotte, but it helps explain the stacks of books that are taking over my bedroom. The effortless ROOTing came to an end once I hit February and all my library holds started coming in. You'd think with all the library holds I wouldn't have a steady book acquisition habit, but no, that's not in the equation at all.

>35 Jackie_K: Good plan for dealing with your Thingaversary, Jackie, and I probably could do that too even if my date is in February. I don't forget mine either because I know it's the day after my birthday.

>36 connie53: You must be much more disciplined than I am when it comes to getting books, Connie.

>39 Familyhistorian: I did hardly buy any books this year. I won some in a lottery and I got a gift card and I bought 3 books with that card. I only bought 2 myself. I surprised myself with that.

>40 connie53: You've done really well, Connie. Keep up the good work!

11. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton



One of that more weighty tomes in my shelves, The Forgotten Garden, has now been ROOTed out. It was a good story but a trifle long and involved with three different timelines.

12. The History of England: Foundation by Peter Ackroyd



I have a number of volumes of Peter Ackroyd’s History of England series growing ROOTs on my shelves. It is high time that I read them. (I also have a few of his other books as well which I need to get to.) I started the series at the beginning with The History of England: Foundation, volume 1 in the series. Its chapters took me from the Stone Age to the first Tudor King.

>43 Familyhistorian: My mum's been collecting these books and I keep meaning to read them. I've read one of them from the library but want to read the rest!

>44 rabbitprincess: Hi RP, I've had a few of the histories on my shelves for a while now but decided to actually read one when I found out Paul from the 75ers was planning on reading the series. Now it looks like I'll be reading the rest. It was good but it took a while to read. The next one is Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I a shorter period than covered in the first one but it takes up a whole volume.

13. Lady Violet Finds a Bridegroom by Grace Burrowes



I’m falling behind on writing up my ROOTs. They are getting read though. A recent read was Lady Violet Finds a Bridegroom, the third entry in the Lady Violet mystery series. The bridegroom in question was another lady’s missing beau. There was deception afoot and Lady Violet was there to search it out.

14. Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia



Billed as a Harlem Renaissance Mystery Dead Dead Girls looked like it would be a thrilling page turner that delivered both history and mystery. It didn’t really work for me. Great cover though.

15. Trespassers in Time: Genealogists and Microhistorians by Anne Patterson Rodda



I picked Trespassers in Time: Genealogists and Microhistorians to read from my genealogy shelves. A well researched book, it covered the various classifications of history and explained and demonstrated the most useful for genealogists.

>30 Familyhistorian: What a nice selection of new roots!

>49 Carmenere: Thanks but those are only the books I acquired in January. I haven't posted February's yet.

16. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams



I don’t read thrillers very often but I recently picked one off my shelves, While Justice Sleeps. The plot and characters were very au courant making it a fun and almost believable story.

>46 Familyhistorian: I am enjoying this series a lot - nice to have company!

>52 charl08: I bought the first 3 and then had to splurge in the rest that are out so far. Good to know someone else who is reading them too, Charlotte.

17. The Somme Legacy by M J Lee



There’s a subgenre of mysteries that I enjoy, genealogy mysteries in which a sleuth/genealogist brings to life a mystery in the past while dealing with complications in their own life so that the action takes place in two different eras. One that touched on WWI was The Somme Legacy. The historic details were well done and I enjoyed the read.

18. The Duke's Disaster by Grace Burrowes



I have been reading and there are some ROOTs included amongst the library books. A recent read was The Duke’s Disaster, a fast read to make me actually finish a book while slowly making my way through some heftier tomes.

19. Tudors: The History of England from Henry Viii to Elizabeth I by Peter Ackroyd



Another series that I’m working my way through is Peter Ackroyd’s History of England. My latest read in this series was Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. I learned some new things about this time period.

20. Wild Romance: The True Story of a Victorian Scandal by Chloë Schama



With a title like Wild Romance you might think that it was a romance novel but this story was about a Victorian scandal, a he said/ she said relationship. She said they were married and he said they weren’t. It was an interesting view of history.

21. Condemned: The Transported Men, Women and Children Who Built Britain's Empire by Graham Seal



I finished another nonfiction ROOT. This time it was Condemned: The Transported Men, Women and Children Who Built Britain’s Empire. The British transported people beyond their shores for centuries and this book looked at the various groups affected in depth. It was very good.

I was adding up my acquisition numbers or attempting to when I realized I hadn't posted the books I obtained in February on this thread.

Acquisitions in February 2023

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh
Bait by Karen Robards
Affair by Amanda Quick
Maureen by Rachel Joyce
Revolution: The History of England From the Battle of the Boyne to the Battle of Waterloo by Peter Ackroyd
Dominion: The History of England from the Battle of Waterloo to Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by Peter Ackroyd
The Wyndham Legacy by Catherine Coulter
Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose by T.A. Willberg
It Won't Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib
Georgia O'Keefee by Maria Herroros
To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

22. An Embarrassment of Witches by Sophie Goldstein & Jena Jordan



Even graphic novels grow ROOTs on my shelves. I recently plucked one off, An Embarrassment of Witches. It was a story about two young women sharing an apartment as they figured out their place in the world. As the world was full of magic, it was a bit different than ours.

These are my book additions for March:

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner
Bookworm by Robin Yeatman
The Widow's Club by Amanda Brooke

The ones above are purchases. The following are from Little Free Libraries:

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
A City of Strangers by Robert Barnard
Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
Feline Fatale by Linda O. Johnston
Little Book of Vintage Love by Tim Pilcher

>61 Familyhistorian: Nice haul! I bought Behind the Scenes at the Museum when it first came out and loved it, I remember it as a book which made me laugh out loud.

>62 Jackie_K: I have a feeling I might have read Behind the Scenes at the Museum before, Jackie, but it was just sitting there in a Little Free Library and I wasn't sure, so I took it home.

23. Sexton Blake on the Home Front stories by Anthony Parsons and John Drummond edited by Mark Hodder



I pulled Sexton Blake on the Home Front from my WWII mystery stack. There were a couple of stories in it by different authors all purporting to be from the files of Sexton Blake himself. They reminded me of adventure stories from an era shortly after the war.

Your acquisitions in February and March look very healthy! I am still not brave enough to list my purchases and other acquired books on my thread. Maybe next year.

>65 charl08: The idea of listing the acquisitions is that maybe I'll bring in fewer books. So far it's not working but I live in hope!

>66 Familyhistorian: Yes, I'm failing spectacularly on that this year too! But I think it does keep me in check and there'd be twice as many acquisitions if I wasn't listing them!

>67 Jackie_K: I know you are always trying to keep your acquisitions down, Jackie. I'm always impressed by how aware you are of the book accumulation. I really need to do something about the books piling up around here.

24. A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall



In A Spoonful of Murder three friends who were retired school teachers set out to investigate the death of a fellow former teacher. It was an entertaining mystery.

25. Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas



My usual habit is to pick up historical romances as quick reads. Worth Any Price was one of the Bow Street Runner series. Not the first one and I found the characters a bit flat. Maybe that was because I was coming in cold to the series.

26. The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood



One thing about travel, I take my own books along to read and they are invariably ROOTs. On my trip to Salt Lake City I didn’t read many books, my time was taken up with research but there were flights and a long wait in Seattle airport both ways (I know most of the shops there now and, yes, they actually have a book store!)

On the trip down I read The Marlow Murder Club, another in the mystery genre with sleuths of a certain age. This one starts when our 77 year old heroine comes across a body while out for her swim in the river. The police don’t take what she says seriously and she and some other women she gathers along the way end up solving the case.

27. Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson



I have a tendency to pick up books at writers festivals. After listening to Eden Robinson, I bought Son of a Trickster and it’s taken me years to finally pluck it off my shelves. I was the coming of age story of an indigenous teen in Northern BC. It’s gritty and real and yet not as there is a bit of magic or maybe too many drugs or something like that.

28. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy



I have a few of James Elroy’s books on my shelves bought after posts about his work on various LT threads. The books sounded good but it took me a while to work my way through The Black Dahlia which seems to be a classic. I guess I’m just not the intended audience.

29. Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths



Elly Griffiths has a few mystery series out but her Magic Men one doesn’t seem to be as popular as the others. I enjoy the books which are set in Brighton in the ‘50s. The second in the series, Smoke and Mirrors was about the search for the killer of two children and there was a theme of grizzly fairy tales. It was a good one.

Before I get too far into my May ROOTs, here are my acquisitions for April:

A Pen Dipped in Poison by J.M. Hall
Two for the Road by Chantel Guertin
American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today by Robyn Chapman
A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins
When She Dreams by Amanda Quick
Zotero for Genealogy by Donna Cox Baker
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

30. Lady Violet Enjoys a Frolic by Grace Burrowes



I’m still enjoying the mysteries involving Lady Violet and her two men friends. This time it was the fourth in the series, Lady Violet Enjoys a Frolic and involved guests at a house party with shared military pasts.

31. Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell



I was about to post a review of a book I had just read before I returned it to the library only to discover that I had Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine on my shelves. It was a history of women breaking into the medical field in the US and UK. It made me wonder what was going on with women in medicine in countries that weren’t covered in this history.

32. Scones and Scoundrels by Molly MacRae



Scones and Scoundrels was the second of the Highland Bookshop series. It was a bit convoluted but an okay cozy mystery.