Kristel's 2024 Reading Journal, 3rd Quarter

3rd Quarter 2024
Reading: I am reading or trying to participate in the following:
Reading 1001 Books (all editions)
Reading Booker Winners
Reading Pulitzer
British Author Challenge
American Author Challenge
The War Room

I am in 2 bookclubs in real life;

On-line presence; Goodreads, Library Thing, Litsy

My Tickers:
2024 75 books read

Reading 1001
1001 books. It's probably not accurate but close enough.

1001 Books Read in 2024
January
Dangling Man - Saul Bellow
Gösta Berling's Saga - Selma Lagerlof
The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen
February
Memento Mori - Muriel Spark
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Salman Rushdie
March
He Knew He Was Right - Anthony Trollope
The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi
Home - Marilynne Robinson
Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem
Call it Sleep - Henry Roth
April
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte
Book of Illusions - Paul Auster
Under the Net - Iris Murdock
May
The Years - Virginia Woolf
The Well of Loneliness - Radclffe Hall
The Names - Dan DeLillo
Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Saw There - Lewis Carroll
All Souls Day - Cees Nooteboom
June
One, None, and One Thousand - Luigi Pirandello
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Anita Loos
Molloy - Samuel Beckett
Mason & Dixon - Thomas Pynchon
July
Man with the Golden Arm - Nelsen Algren
Burmese Days - George Orwell
Indigo or Mapping the Water - Marina Warner
August
Mao II - Don DiLillo
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec
Chess Story - Stefan Zweig
September
The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer

Booker and International Booker

Booker's Read in 2024
2022, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilakaurns
2019 Girl, Woman, Other Bernardino Evaristo
1979 Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald
1986 The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis

1. 1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For - Own
2. 1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member - OWN
✅. 1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize) -OWN
✔4. 1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
5. 1972: John Berger, G. - OWN-K
✔6. 1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur - READ
7. 1974 ✔ The Conservationist and Holiday - Stanley Middleton
✅ 8. 1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust -
9. 1976: David Storey, Saville
✔10 . 1977: Paul Scott, Staying On read 2021
✔11. 1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea READ
☑ 12. Fitzgerald, Offshore - 2024 Read
✔13. 1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage - READ
✔14. 1981:Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children - READ
✔15. 1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark - READ
✔16. 1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K READ
17. 1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac - OWN
18. 1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
☑. 1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils - 2024
20. 1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger -
✔21. 1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda OWN
✔22. 1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day READ
✔23. 1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
✅24. 1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
✔25. 1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient READ
... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
26. 1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha OWN
✔27. 1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late READ 2021
28. 1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
✅29. 1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
✔30. 1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things READ
✔31. 1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam - READ
32. 1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace - OWN
✔33. 2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin READ
34. 2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang-
✔35. 2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi READ
36. 2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
✔37. 2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty READ
✔38. 2005: John Banville, The Sea- READ
✔39. 2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss OWN
✔40. 2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering - OWN COMPLETED 3/22
✔41. 2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger - READ
✔42. 2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall - READ
43. 2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
✔44. 2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending - READ
✔45. 2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies - COMPLETED 3/2020
46. 2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
✔47. 2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North - READ
✔48. 2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings - READ
✔49. 2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout - READ
✔50. 2017: George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo READ
✔51. 2018: Anna Burns Milkman READ
✔52. 2019: Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, READ or
☑️Girl, Woman, Other Bernardino Evaristo read 2024,
✔53. 2020. Shuggie Bain Douglas Stewart COMPLETED 3/24/22
54. 2021, The Promise by Damon Galgut
☑. 2022, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilakaurns 2024
☑56. 2023 Prophet Song - Paul Lynch

Booker International
✔ 2016- The Vegetarian - Han Kang South Korea, READ
✔ 2017- A Horse Walks Into a Bar - David Grossman - Israel. READ
2018 - Flights - Olga Tokarczuk - Poland OWN
Hoopla 2019 - Celestial Bodies - Jokha al-Hearth - Oman
2020 - The Discomfort of Evening - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - Netherlands
2021 - At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop - France OWN
Hoopla 2022 - Tomb of Sand - Geetanjali Shree - India
✔2023- Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov - Bulgaria READ
2024- Kairos - Jenny

Pulitzer Winners
Read in 2024
Breathing Lessons - Anne Tyler

Pulitzer
1. 1918 HIS FAMILY - Ernest Poole
✔2. 1919 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Booth Tarkington Hoopla, 11/20/22
3. ✔1921 THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - Edith Wharton
4. 1922 ALICE ADAMS - Booth Tarkington
5. 1923 ONE OF OURS - Willa Cather
6. 1924 THE ABLE MCLAUGHLINS - Margaret Wilson
7. 1925 SO BIG - Edna Ferber
8. 1926 ARROWSMITH - Sinclair Lewis (Declined) library
9. 1927 EARLY AUTUMN - Louis Bromfield
10. ✔1928 THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY - Thornton Wilder
11. 1929 SCARLET SISTER MARY - Julia Peterkin
12. 1930 LAUGHING BOY - Oliver Lafarge Own
13. 1931 YEARS OF GRACE - Margaret Ayer Barnes
14. ✔1932 THE GOOD EARTH - Pearl Buck
15. 1933 THE STORE - Thomas Sigismund Stribling
16. 1934 LAMB IN HIS BOSOM - Caroline Miller
17. ✔1935 NOW IN NOVEMBER - Josephine Winslow Johnson 5/27/21
18. 1936 HONEY IN THE HORN - Harold L Davis
19. ✔1937 GONE WITH THE WIND - Margaret Mitchell
20. 1938 THE LATE GEORGE APLEY - John Phillips Marquand
21. 1939 THE YEARLING - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
22. ✔1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH - John Steinbeck
23. 1942 IN THIS OUR LIFE - Ellen Glasgow
24. 1943 DRAGON'S TEETH - Upton Sinclair
25. 1944 JOURNEY IN THE DARK - Martin Flavin
26. 1945 A BELL FOR ADANO - John Hersey
27. 1947 ALL THE KING'S MEN - Robert Penn Warren
28. 1948 TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC - James Michener
29. 1949 GUARD OF HONOR - James Gould Cozzens
30. 1950 THE WAY WEST - A.B. Guthrie
31. 1951 THE TOWN - Conrad Richter
32. 1952 THE CAINE MUTINY - Herman Wouk
33. ✔1953 THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA - Ernest Hemingway
34. 1955 A FABLE - William Faulkner
35. 1956 ANDERSONVILLE - McKinlay Kantor
✅. A DEATH IN THE FAMILY - James Agee
37. 1959 THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE McPHEETERS - Robert Lewis Taylor
38. ✔1960 ADVISE AND CONSENT - Allen Drury 3/27/21
39. ✔1961 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee
40. 1962 THE EDGE OF SADNESS - Edwin O'Connor
41. 1963 THE REIVERS - William Faulkner
✅. 1965 THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE - Shirley Ann Grau OWN audible play 3/23
43. 1966 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF KATHERINE ANNE PORTER - Katherine Anne Porter READ some
✔44. 1967 THE FIXER - Bernard Malamud
45. 1968 THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER - William Styron
✅. 1969 HOUSE MADE OF DAWN - N Scott Momaday, Nov 2023
47. 1970 THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEAN STAFFORD - Jean Stafford (audio/Hoopla)
✅. 1972 ANGLE OF REPOSE - Wallace Stegner OWN 2/11/23
49. ✔1973 THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER - Eudora Welty
50. 1975 THE KILLER ANGELS - Jeff Shaara
51. ✔1976 HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - Saul Bellow
52. 1978 ELBOW ROOM - James Alan McPherson
53. 1979 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER - John Cheever Read some
54. ✔1980 THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG - Norman Mailer
55. ✔1981 A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES - John Kennedy Toole
56. ✔1982 RABBIT IS RICH - John Updike
57. ✔1983 THE COLOR PURPLE - Alice Walker
58. 1984 IRONWEED - William Kennedy OWN
59. 1985 FOREIGN AFFAIRS - Alison Lurie
60. 1986 LONESOME DOVE - Larry McMurtry
61. 1987 A SUMMONS TO MEMPHIS - Peter Taylor
62. ✔1988 BELOVED - Toni Morrison
67. ☑ BREATHING LESSONS - Anne Tyler OWN
68. 1990 THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE - Oscar Hijuelos70.
69. 1991 RABBIT AT REST - John Updike
✔70. 1992 A THOUSAND ACRES - Jane Smiley OWN 4/20/21
71. 1993 A GOOD SCENT FROM A STRANGE MOUNTAIN - Robert Olen Butler
72. ✔1994 THE SHIPPING NEWS - E Annie Proulx
73. ✔1995 THE STONE DIARIES - Carol Shields
74. 1996 INDEPENDENCE DAY - Richard Ford
75. 1997 MARTIN DRESSLER - Steven Millhauser
76. ✔1998 AMERICAN PASTORAL - Philip Roth
77. ✔1999 THE HOURS - Michael Cunningham
78. 2000 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES - Jumpha Lahiri
79. ✔2001 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY - Michael Chabon
80. 2002 EMPIRE FALLS - Richard Russo
81. ✔2003 MIDDLESEX - Jeffrey Eugenides
✔82. 2004 THE KNOWN WORLD - Edward P. Jones
83. ✔2005 GILEAD - Marilynne Robinson
84. ✔2006 MARCH - Geraldine Brooks
85. ✔2007 THE ROAD - Cormac McCarthy
86. ✔2008 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO - Junot Diaz
87. ✔2009 OLIVE KITTERIDGE - Elizabeth Strout
88. 2010 TINKERS - Paul Harding
89. ✔2011 A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD - Jennifer Egan
90 ✔2013 ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - Adam Johnson OWN
91. ✔2014 THE GOLDFINCH - Donna Tartt
92. ✔2015 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE - Anthony Doerr
✔93. 2016 THE SYMPATHIZER - Viet Thanh Nguyen
94. ✔2017 THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD - Colson Whitehead
95. ✔2018 LESS - Andrew Sean Greer READ 12/22/21
✅. 2019 THE OVERSTORY - Richard Powers OWN
97. 2020 THE NICKEL BOYS - Colson Whitehead OWN
✔98. 2021 The Night Watchman (hoopla, audio) COMPLETED 1/3/21
99. 2022 The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
100. 2023 Trust - Hernan Diaz & Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver.
101. 2024, Night Watch Jayne Abbe Philips

Read in 2023
Angle of Repose 4/11/23
The Overstory 4/23/23
The Keeper's of the House 3/25/23
House Made of Dawn (1968), 11/2023
Death in the Family (1958)

British Author Challenge

Wildcard: Blast from the Past https://www.librarything.com/topic/356165
1. Mary Renault from 2022
2. Bernard Cornwell from 2021
☑3. . Bernardine Evaristo from 2020; Girl, Woman, Other Read May 19
4. Peter F. Hamilton from 2019
5. Zadie Smith from 2019
6. Simon Schama from 2017
7. AS Byatt from 2017
☑8. Hanif Kureishi from 2016 Buddha of Suburbia read March 8
9. Andrea Levy from 2015
☑10. Salman Rushdie from 2015 The Ground Beneath Her Feet read February 27

January: Joan Aiken & Arthur Conan Doyle
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356166
The Haunting of Lamb House

February: Emma Newman & Ronald Firbank https://www.librarything.com/topic/357893#
Planetfall - Emma Newman

March: Welsh Authors https://www.librarything.com/topic/358824
The Man From St. Petersburg - Ken Follett

April: Barbara Pym & Anthony Trollope https://www.librarything.com/topic/359637
Prudence and Jane
The Warden

May: Portal Fantasy https://www.librarything.com/topic/360372
The Wonderland Collection - Lewis Carroll

June: Kiran Millwood Hargrave & DH Lawrence https://www.librarything.com/topic/361107#
The Dance Tree
Studies in Classic Literature

July: Animal Tales https://www.librarything.com/topic/361731
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

August: KJ Charles & Winston Churchill
Death in the Spires
The Gathering Storm Grand Alliance

September: The 1980s

October: Gothic Fiction

November: EM Delafield & TH White

December: Books Acquired in 2024

American Author Challenge
JANUARY: Mark Twain
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

FEBRUARY: Susan Sontag
Debriefing: Collected Stories

MARCH: Truman Capote
The Grass Harp

APRIL: General Non-Fiction with host Caroline Caroline_McElwee

MAY: William Maxwell
Time Will Darken It

JUNE: Queer Authors with host Dr. Laura Koons lycomayflower

JULY: Susan Power a/k/a Mona Susan Power
A Council of Dolls -

AUGUST: Jeffrey Lent

SEPTEMBER: Living American authors who were born outside the US but adopted this country as their home.

OCTOBER: Katharine Anne Porter

NOVEMBER: Jewish American Authors with host Kristel kristelh

DECEMBER: The Heartland (regional authors from the middle of the country)

WILD CARD : 2015 Redux
Pick an author from the 2015 Challenge

The War Room
JANUARY - Ancient Wars (Greeks/Romans/Persians/Carthage/Egyptians/Alexander, etc) https://www.librarything.com/topic/356820s
Persian Fire by Tom Holland
History of the Peloponnesian War - Tjucudides
The Silver Branch

FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358097#n8402612
Rise to Rebellion - Jeff Shaara
Valley Forge - Newt Gingrich

MARCH - The War of the Roses : https://www.librarything.com/topic/358941

APRIL - Wars of Religion https://www.librarything.com/topic/359824#n8524265
Emma's War - Deborah Scroggins

MAY - Napoleonic Wars : https://www.librarything.com/topic/360466

JUNE - English Civil War : https://www.librarything.com/topic/361198

JULY - Colonial Wars

AUGUST - WW2
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan Libby
Peace by Richard Bausch Libby COMPLETED
The Gathering Storm

SEPTEMBER - American Civil War
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf-War, Afghanistan)

NOVEMBER - WW1 :
Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger

DECEMBER - Spanish Civil War

WILDCARD - Pick your own fight

July plans:
1001 Books
Indigo - Marina Warner published 1992, botm
Man with the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren published 1949, TBR takedown
Potentials;
The Heat of the Day - Elizabeth Bowen 1001, Word, 1948
Burmese Days - George Orwell - 1001, Word, 1938
Night and Day - Virginia Woolf - 1001, Word, 1919

American Author Challenge
A Council of Dolls - Mona Susan Power

British Author Challenge
Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Anita Memorial Read(s) 1920-1930s
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
The Road Back - Erich Maria Remarque

BookClub Reads
Tom Lake - Ann Patchett - WCBC READING
Bruno Schulz: an Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History - Benjamin Balent JBC TIOLI#1 READING
A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum JBC
Heaven and Earth Grocery Store August but it is coming to me in July

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Dragon's Teeth - Upton Sinclair, 1942 TIOLI#6
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch, TIOLI#2

Others
At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie TIOLI#5
Paradise Lost - John Milton
The Exvangelicals
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

TIOLI
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a biography or autobiography about a person of multi-racial identity - Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
2. Read a book that was a shared TIOLI read during the first half of 2024 - Prophet Song
3. Read a book that has a present European capital city in its main title -
4. Read a book originally published in the 20th century -
5. Read a book with a hotel or boarding-house setting, or the word "hotel" in the title - At Bertram's Hotel
6. Read a book by an author any of whose names begin or end with either J, U, L, or Y - msg #8

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book from HelenLiz's list or by an author listed - msg #9 Paradise Lost
8. Read a book for Anita Memorial Reads Challenges: 1920s & 1930s - msg #10 Homage to Catalonia or The Road Back, Life and Fate
9. Read a book about an escape from or lessening of religious influence - msg #11 The Exvangelicals
10. Read a book in which the first word of the book's title is longer than the second word - msg #12
11. Read a book whose title could be the name of a pub - msg #16
12. Read a book with the word "fun" or "game" in the title - msg #36

Challenges #13-15
13. Read a book with an emotion in the title - msg #41
14. Read a book with Day in the title - msg #52
The Heat of the Day
Burmese Days
Night and Day
15. Read a book with a word in the title starting with one of the letters in Independence (special rules for E&N) - msg 56

August Plans
1001 Books
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec COMPLETED
Mao II - Don DeLillo COMPLETED

American Author Challenge
In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent COMPLETED

British Author Challenge
KJ Charles Death in the Spires COMPLETED
Winston Churchill The Gathering Storm Completed

War Room WWII
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Peace - Richard Bausch - COMPLETED

Anita Memorial Read(s)
The Silver Branch - Rosemary Sutcliff

BookClub Reads
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - COMPLETED
The People We Keep - Allison Larkin COMPLETED

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists

Others

TIOLI AUGUST

September Plans
1001 Books

American Author Challenge

British Author Challenge
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

War Room
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara

Anita Memorial Read(s)

BookClub Reads
Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone Lori Gottlieb

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists

Others

TIOLI AUGUST

Books Acquired:
January
Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem - Emilio Salgari (Kindle)
Covenant of Water - Abraham Verghese, won through Bookspsin
February
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch, (Audible)
The Rest of Life - Mary Gordon, (used, Florida)
March
A Place Called Freedom - Ken Follett (used, Florida)
2001: A Space Odyssey - Clarke (book for Florida shelf) free.
28-Day Fast Start Day-By-Day (purchased)
The House of Doors - Tan Twan Eng (audible)
April
Beneath a Scarlet Sky - Mark Sullivan (Audible)
The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue, (Audible)
West with Giraffes - Lynda Rutledge (Audible)
May
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes, (B&N)
Diaries of Jane Somers - Used, Abe Books
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok, (Used, Minnesota)
Under the Yoke - Ivan Vazov, Kindle
The Quest - Frederik van Eeden, Kindle
Time Will Darken It - William Maxwell, audible credit
June
Mason & Dixon- Thomas Pynchon (Amazon)
James - Percival Everett (Cosco)
World Travel an irreverent Guide- Anthony Bourdain (Cosco)
The Devil in the Flesh - Raymond Radiguet, 1001, French author
Brotherless Night - V.V. Ganeshananthan, this author resides in Minnesota, teaches the MFA program at the UofM. Director of Minnesota Prison Writing Work. Winner of the Women's Prize.
Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, winner of the International Booker 2023. I've read this and had decided I wanted to own this book as It was a favorite in 2023.
July
London Orbital
the Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories - Bruno Schultz
Blue Zone Challenge
August
Salvage the Bones
Memoirs of Hadrian

Books started and yet not finished
Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald
Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson (started 2019)
The Melancholy of Resistance - Laszlo Krasznahorkai (January 2024)
The Diaries of Jane Somers - Doris Lessing, June 2024

Back later to finish, Have a great week. Happy July reading!

Happy July to you too, Kristel. xx

>12 Kristelh:, Thank you Paul, thanks for stopping by xx

Happy new thread! Continued good reading to you!

Karen O

>15 klobrien2:, Thanks Karen

Happy new one!

Happy New Thread, Kristel!

Happy new one, Kristel!

>18 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah
>19 drneutron: Thank you, Jim

68.

Book Tom Lake - Ann Patchett
Format: audiobook, read by Meryl Streep
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: June 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: some of stories are private
Challenge(s): WCBC read July 2024
Author: US
List book: no
Genre romance, coming of age, domestic
Liked: I liked how deceptively complex this novel is
Disliked: some uncomfortable topics to consider

Happy Independence Day, USA!
Currently reading
The Diaries of Jane Somers @ 79%, I want to finish this one in the next two days.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - 53%, I'm liking this one a lot.
Bruno Schulz: an artist... - Benjamin Balint. I've started it but it's been on hold while I work on the other two. This one will be next up to finish.

>21 Kristelh: I am glad to see that you liked that one! I am a huge fan of Ann Patchett, one of my LT discoveries.

Happy new thread! I love all your reading plans up above!

69.
Book Blue Zone Kitchen = Dan Buettner
Format: library book
Original publication date: 2019
Acquisition date/place: May 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: 5 areas of longevity
Challenge(s): none
Author: US, Minnesota, NG
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, food, health
Liked: I liked the nice pictures, good recipes
Disliked: some of the foods would be hard to obtain

70.
Book The Diaries of Jane Somers - Doris Lessing
Format: book
Original publication date: 1984
Acquisition date/place: 5/1/24
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: successful woman explores aging and relationships
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, botm, June 2024
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre fiction
Liked: I liked the exploration of geriatric women
Disliked: disliked the emotional affair

>21 Kristelh: I also liked that one. Not absolutely blown away but liked it.

>25 Kristelh: I think that Lessing was both prolific as well as very inconsistent as a writer. At her best she was tremendous but off her game she could be prosaic too. I haven't read Jane Somers to know where it stands in her canon.

>26 PaulCranswick:, I wasn’t blown away by Tom Lake either until I started thinking about all that is in this rather quiet book and then I was. I expect I am going to remember this one and that does count for something. There was initially for me, things I did not like about the book.

Jane Somers Diaries is my favorite Lessing.

July is flying by. First week of July Summary
Books read: 2, 70 books for the year
COMPLETED: Tom Lake, The Diaries of Jane Somers. I liked both of them.
Also Blue Zone Kitchen recommended!
Currently Reading:
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store 89% done. Thumbs up on this one.
Bruno Schulz: an artist, murderer, and the Hijacking of history - Benjamin Balint 15%
Started Indigo, or mapping the water - Marina Warner. This is a retelling of the Tempest per the dust jacket. I am at 12%.
Berean Study Bible
Obadiah
Psalm 82, 83
II Kings 1 - 14
II Chronicles 24, 25
Jonah

It was a rainy weekend. 2.2 inches on the 4th. Rained hard again last night but I haven't ventured out to check the rain gauge. It has rained more days than not this year and temps are cooler than normal too.
Checked the rain gauge; and we got 1.4 inches for a total of 3.6 inches this Fourth of July weekend. Fireworks provided by God.

Happy second week of July. Not much planned for this week. Just the usual, except cards on Friday.

Happy Monday, the sun is shining and no rain in the forecast.
Reading Isaiah 1-4 today.

71.
Book The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: July 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: life on Chicken Hill in the 30s.
Challenge(s): read by WCf2f
Author: US
List book: No
Genre Historical Fiction
Liked: I liked the Jewish aspects. Good characters!
Disliked: I disliked the state hospital but I think it was probably accurate look at a state hospital.

>25 Kristelh: I still have not read any Doris Lessing. I am going to have to fix that one of these days. I own The Golden Notebook and have for years.

>30 Kristelh: Glad to see that you enjoyed that one too, Kristel. I loved the interaction between the Jewish and black communities.

Hi Kristel. I have yet to read anything by Doris Lessing. There is a lot of love for The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store on LT, so perhaps another book I should try to get to.

>31 alcottacre:, Stasia and >32 vancouverdeb: Deborah. I looked back and see that I gave The Golden Notebook, 4 1/2 stars but I think I liked The Diaries of Jane Somers better at least I think I found it more relatable (because of my own age and life).

>32 vancouverdeb:, I will look forward to your thoughts on The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.

72.
Book Bruno Schulz: an artist, a murder, and the Hijacking of History - Benjamin Balint
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: July 2024, Hoopla digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 1/2 stars
Book description/summary: biography and historical look, ethical discussion
Challenge(s): JBC July 2024 read
Author: Israel/American, lives in Israel
List book: National Jewish Book Award
Genre biography, nonfiction, ethics, art
Liked: I like the ethical look that the author explores
Disliked: the subject matter also includes masochism, sadism, and eroticism.

Wednesday. So far it has rained every day but it is just a cloud burst. Sneaks up, dumps rain, leaves. Mowed grass yesterday. Went on boat cruise on Green Lake. It was nice day for the cruise and no rain until I was back home and done with the mowing. Today woke to some drizzle.

Currently reading
The Wind in the Willows, 77% done. Chapter 10.
Indigo or Mapping the Water by Marina Warner. This book is hard to read; I think it is bad font ink, bad paper color, and difficult sentences. It is most fatiguing so a great way to fall asleep. I made it to 16%.

Plans for Wednesday: maybe I should stay home and clean house, wash windows, take garbage out for pick up. I think I should not put my contacts in and try reading Indigo and see if that will help. I will finish The Wind in the Willows today.

I am still doing the puzzles
Wordle: in three
Quordle: 3,5,7,8
Antiwordle: 12
Connections: 6
Squaredle: completed
Strands: perfect
Sudoku: perfect

Day 1 of the NYT list:
Thanks Karen for posting this
100. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
99. How to be Both by Ali Smith
98. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett READ
97. Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
96. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman
95. Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel READ
94. On Beauty by Zadie Smith READ
93. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel READ
92. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
91. The Human Stain by Philip Roth READ
90. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh NGuyen READ
89. The Return by Hisham Matar
88. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis
87. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
86. Frederick Douglas by David W. Blight
85. The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddartha Mukherjee
84. Pastoralia by George Saunders. READ
83. When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
82. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
81. Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan

READ 5

Day 2 of the NYT list:

80. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
79. A Manual For Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
78. Septology by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls
77. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones *READ
76. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin READ
75. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid * READ
74. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout * READ
73. The Passage of Power by Robert Caro READ
72. Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Bela Shayevich
71. The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen, translated by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldman
70. All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones
69. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
68. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
67. Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
66. We the Animals by Justin Torres
65. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth READ
64. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
63. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill
62. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
61. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

READ 6

Day 3 of the NYT list:

60. Heavy by Kiese Laymon
59. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides READ
58. Stay True by Hua Hsu
57. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
56. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner READ
55. The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
54. Tenth of December by George Saunders READ
53. Runaway by Alice Munro READ
52. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson READ
51. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson READ
50. Trust by Hernan Diaz
49. The Vegetarian by Han Kang READ
48. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi READ
47. A Mercy by Toni Morrison READ
46. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt READ
45. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
44. The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin READ
43. Post War: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt
42. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James READ
41. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan READ

READ 12

Day 4 of the NYT list:

40. H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald READ
39. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan READ
38. The Savage Detectives by Robert Bolanto
37. The Years by Annie Ernaux; translated by Alison L. Strayer
36. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nahisi Coates
READ
35. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel *
34. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine *
33. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward *
32. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst READ
31. White Teeth by Zadie Smith READ
30. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward *
29. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
28. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell READ
27. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie READ
26. Atonement by Ian McEwan READ
25. Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
24. The Overstory by Richard Powers READ
23. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
22. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
21. Evicted by Matthew Desmond

Read 9

Day 5 of the NYT list:

20. Erasure by Percival Everett
19. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
18. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders READ
17. The Sellout by Paul Beatty READ
16. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon READ
15. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee READ
14. Outline by Rachel Kusk
13. The Road by Cormac McCarthy READ
12. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion READ
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz READ
10. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson READ
9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro READ
8. Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald; translated by Anthea Bell READ
7. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead READ
6. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño; translated by Natasha Wimmer READ
5. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen READ
4. The Known World by Edward P. Jones READ
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel READ
2. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein READ

Read 16

Total 5 + 6 + 12 + 9 = 16 = 48

73.
Book The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Nancy Barnhart
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 1908
Acquisition date/place: 2023/B&N
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5
Book description/summary: fantasy for children
Challenge(s): BAC
Author: British
List book: Guardian 1000
Genre children's lit/fantasy
Liked: cute story
Disliked:

>33 Kristelh: Thanks for the input! Unfortunately my local library does not have The Diaries of Jane Somers. I should probably start with the one I actually own, lol.

>36 Kristelh: I am going to have to try and figure out those I have read and those I have not!

It’s Thursday and I need to hit the gym. Have not been there much this week. Then I am having lunch with a friend and we “talk and talk”.

I made headway in Indigo or Mapping the Water yesterday. Reading without contacts helped and I also own the book so I started annotating which helped tremendously. Started by 1001 tbe The Man With the Golden Arm. I didn’t realize that this was the very first National Book Award Winner. I don’t follow that list closely but to read the first one seemed like maybe I should look into the list further.
Puzzles:
Wordle: 3
Quordle: 4,6,8,9
Antiwordle: 9
Connections: Phew!
Strands: Perfect
Squaredle: working on it, hard one today

Have a great Thursday everyone!

>39 Kristelh: Ooh, you got me with The Man With the Golden Arm! Off to find a copy…

Karen O

P.s. I missed doing Squaredle yesterday—just forgot about it! Oh, well, I’ll start back up today.

Thanks for stopping by Karen, I don’t always get Squaredle done.

I hope you had a great lunch and chat with your friend today , Kristel. A friend of mine called a couple of nights ago and I think we were on the phone for about 2 1/2 hours. We had quite a catchup.

>42 vancouverdeb:. We did Deborah, we had a nice lunch and talked for 3 hours. We try to get together once a month when we are here in Minnesota.

Friday: Pickleball outdoors today. Pick up some snacks for cards tonight. Read a bit and then play cards this evening.

Of the 100 books of NYT Best Books of the 21st Century, I've read 48 of them. I've got several on my TBR list and several others that I surely would be interested in reading.

Currently reading, The Man with the Golden Arm, 44% complete. Indigo or Mapping the Water 28%.

Puzzles
Wordle: 4
Antiwordle: 9
Quordle: 4,5,6,7
Connections: Solid
Strands: Perfect

Still working on Squaredle.

End of the week summary.
Rain 4 days out of 7 or perhaps more. I know I had 2 days without rain. Got 1/2 inch earlier and another 0.6 early this morning and other downpours.

Books read: 3
Total books. 73

Currently reading
The Man with the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren. Nelson Algren is of Swedish father/Jewish-German mother.
Indigo or Mapping the Water - Marina Warner. This is an interesting but hard book to read.

Berean Study Bible
II Kings 15
II Chronicles 26,27
Isaiah 1 - 12
Amos
Micah

Books started but not currently reading: Yes Melancholy of Resistance.

Books acquired today
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise -Colleen Oakley. This was recommended by someone, not sure who.

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, Author from East Berlin. Winner of The International Booker Prize 2024.

Puzzles today
Wordle - 3
Quordle: 5,6,7,8
Antiwordle: 10
Strands, Perfect
Connections, Perfect.

Working on Squaredle.

Sunday
No rain today. Humid and hot but did not break 90s. It was mostly quiet day. I did some reading.
Puzzles
Wordless: 4
Antiwordle: 11
Quordle: 5,6,7,4
Strands: 1 hint used, well done
Connections, green, yellow, purple, blue Perfect
Working on squaredle. Not looking like I will finish.

I think I've only read 12 of the 100 books of NYT Best Books of the 21st Century. Oh well. It's been warm , too warm for my liking here as well, Kristel.

It's Monday and yes, another day of waking up to a Thunderstorm and downpours. 1.3 inches of rain. But I got by without the 50 mph wind and nickel sized hairl. Not a good time for farmers to have hail.

>47 vancouverdeb:, thanks for stopping by Deborah. It's been warm just lately but all in all this would be a below normal temperature and above normal rainfall summer.

Added to my collection
London Orbital - Iain Sinclair; audible 1 credit purchase. I need to check my spreadsheet to be sure all my additions have actually been added.

Completed most of the puzzles today. I did not get Connections today; just the yellow and green. I made stupid mistakes on Wordle and got a 5 today. I did fine with antiwordle, quordle and Strand.

Finished The Man With the Golden Arm. This is the first National Prize winner. It is a 1001 book and it really is still so relevant today. Recommended.

>48 Kristelh: I’ve been meaning to check out the antiwordle game. I did a 5 on Wordle, too.

I’ve got The Man With the Golden Arm in at the library! Look forward to reading it.

Have a good one!

Karen O

74.

Book The Man With The Golden Arm - Nelson Algren
Format: book/audiobook
Original publication date: 1949
Acquisition date/place: 2010
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: some cats swing that way
Challenge(s): TBR takedown, Reading 1001
Author: American (Swedish/Jewish)
List book: 1001, National Book Award
Genre Fiction/Addictions
Liked: it is a good reminder that things really are not changed regardless of socioeconomic programs to "fix" the problems.
Disliked: that some see this as support for my "equity" government programs which don't help

>49 klobrien2:, I hope you enjoy it tho, enjoy might not be the right word.

Oh, my. I haven’t checked in for awhile. It’s been nice, no rain, less humidity. Feels almost cold, it’s such a change.

I mowed grass which was too long and trimmed up some trees that were harassing me when I mowed. Did laundry, and vacuumed. So got some chores done.

Reading Homage to Catalonia and should finish today. Making progress with Indigo or Mapping the Water.

Yesterday puzzles
Wordle 3
Anti Wordle 8
Quordle, 6,7,5,4
Strands: I think I used hints yesterday.
Connections: PHew!
Squaredle: finished by end of the day.

Watching a bit of the RNC.

Acquired book: The Blue Zone Challenge, A 4 week plan for a longer, better life - Dan Buettner.

Vitality: 84.3, 88.6, 98.2.

Puzzles today
Wordle. 3
Antiwordle 13
Quordle. 4, 8, 5, 6
Strands: perfect
Connections:yellow, purple, blue, green
Squaredle: 45 of 56 words to this time

I did finish Homage to Catalonia and started Burmese Days and currently reading Indigo or Mapping the water.

It's still too warm here, Kristel and no rain. But on Monday it is supposed to cool down to 72 F, so that will be nice. I got skunked on Wordle today! Argh!

Hello Deborah, thanks for stopping by. The humidity is on the rise again and maybe some rain too but it sure was nice to have a few days without rain. My fields finally were able to be cut and hopefully the farmer will get them bailed without too much rain happening.

I've been a bit behind on the puzzling and have struggled with Squaredle and Connections.

Have a great weekend. Stay cool!

#75 (Memoriam read for Anita F)



Book Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
Format: audiobook read by Frederick Davidson Excellent Job!!
Original publication date: 1938
Acquisition date/place: July 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: a journalist experience of the Spanish Civil War as a soldier
Challenge(s): memorial read for Anita
Author: British
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, memoir, journalism
Liked: I liked the fairness and respectfulness of the author's writings
Disliked: nothing

Summary for July 14 through July 20th.
Books read: 2
Total books. 75

Completed this week:
The Man With the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren, 4 ⭐
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell, 5 ⭐

Currently reading
Indigo or Mapping the Water - Marina Warner. This is an interesting but hard book to read. At 66%
Burmese Days - George Orwell, 34%

Berean Study Bible
II Chronicles 28, 29, 31
II Kings 16, 17, 18
Isaiah 13-27
Psalms 48
Hosea

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees.

Books acquired this week
The Blue Zones Challenge; A 4-week plan for a Longer, Better Life

July weather has been better this past week. The rain is finally not a constant and the amounts are also less. Drying out a little, thankfully. The fields have been cut and baling should happen soon.

>58 Kristelh: Looks like a couple of very good books in your weekly wrap up! Good going.

Have a terrific Tuesday, Kristel!

76.

Book Burmese Days - George Orwell
Format: audio/Kindle
Original publication date: 1934, debut
Acquisition date/place: 2013, Kindle
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: lonely man caught between two cultures
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, Word of the month
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre fiction,
Liked: I liked how author was able to show the effects of imperialism on both the oppressor and the oppressed, Strongly looks at the harm of racism.
Disliked: the women were unlikeable but served their literary purposes as women so I am okay with that. I was also impressed with how some of the most vile get by without repercussions and others are harmed by these individuals; Elis and U Po Kyin.

My review; https://www.librarything.com/work/8414/summary/161591353&savedbook=1

Tuesday: a rainy morning here in central Minnesota.

Puzzles:
Wordle: 5
Antiwordle: 8
Quordle: 5,6,4,7
Strands: perfect
Connections: solid

Currently reading
Indigo or Mapping the Water by Marina Warner.

Kristel, I didn't upload my results but for the first time ever I was able to complete Squardle!! That's a first for me. I took a screen shot of it, and I got 43/43 words plus 14 bonus words in the top 16% by bonus words. Solved streak 1 . No surprise with that 1 for solve streak!:-)

>60 Kristelh: I have read 2 Orwells this month, but neither of them was that one. I need to get around to Burmese Days at some point. Thanks for the recommendation, Kristel.

>62 vancouverdeb:, Good for you Deborah. I did not finish this one and so I am starting over today on streaks.

It is Thursday and I might play pickleball but I need to wash clothes and mow the grass today. I have book club tonight and we will be discussing Tom Lake and voting for our next 6 months books after August when discuss The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. On Friday I host my other book club group at my home and we will be having a bagel board for our food and discussing Spinning Silver.

Puzzles:
Wordle: 4
Anti Wordle: 8
Quordle: 4,8,6,7

Strands: Well done, used 3 hints
Connections: only completed 1 (yellow).

So far on Squaredle I am 16 of 42 words. I’ve eliminated three letters. You would think it would be easier.

I think I am getting too much sleep or something because I have been sleeping well but really struggling with the puzzles.

Currently reading A Council of Dolls and Indigo or Mapping the Water.

>63 alcottacre:, Stasia, Burmese Days wasn't as good as Homage to Catalonia but it was worth the read. And pretty good considering it was his first published work.

Friday. Another book club meeting today. We had a good time discussing books and eating. I finished A Council of Dolls and really close to finishing Indigo or Mapping the Water.

Puzzles
Wordle: 4
Quordle: 7, 6, 4, 5
Strands: Perfect
Connections: finally finished one
Squarely: I finished it today

77.
Book A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: July 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: 3 generations of Lakota women and their dolls
Challenge(s): American Author Challenge
Author: US/Native American
List book: no
Genre fiction, historical fiction
Liked: I liked the three generation of women and the role of the dolls
Disliked: it was hard to read of some of the abuses

78.
Book Indigo or Mapping the Water
Format: book
Original publication date: 1992
Acquisition date/place: 2017
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: colonialism, power, culture
Challenge(s): botm, Reading 1001 July
Author: British
List book: 1001
Genre fiction, mythology, retelling
Liked: I liked the idea of the book
Disliked: the book was a bit challenging to read

Summary for week July 21 to 27
Books read: 3

Total books. 78
Best book read this week; Homage to Catalonia

Currently reading
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec

I would like to also read At Bertram's Hotel before the end of the month.

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
Isaiah 28 to 53
Psalm 76, 46, 47, 80, 135
II Kings 19

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees.

Books acquired this week
The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories - Bruno Schulz

July is finally hot. Yesterday no rain but probably storms this evening. Fields are hayed/baled.

August Plans and Possibilities
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec
Mao II - Don DeLillo The Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum
The People We Keep - Allison Larkin
KJ Charles
Jeffrey Lent

79.

Book Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: 2/24/24
Decimal/ Star rating: I think it will be at least a 4, still digesting it.
Book description/summary: What would you do if you found yourself in the middle of a civil war?
Challenge(s): Booker Winner
Author: Irish
List book: Booker winner
Genre dystopia, near future
Liked: I think it captured the emotions and stresses of what it would be like to suddenly live in a war zone and try to take care of your family
Disliked: I think it is a timely book because
it often feels like civil war could break out

9Sunday, it was a nice day spent at church and with my small group. Watched Truth Project session 2. Philosophy and Ethics. Very good.

Puzzles:
Wordle: 5
Quordle: 7,8,6,4
Anti Wordle:9
Strands: Perfect
Connections: Perfect

Now I will work at squardle but it is late so pretty sure I won’t finish.

80.

Book At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 1965
Acquisition date/place: 6/1/14
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
Challenge(s): TIOLI, book with Hotel
Author: British
List book: no
Genre mystery, Golden Era
Liked: it was just a nice easy read
Disliked: very passive Miss Marple

Completed all my puzzles early today, except Squardle. I will hit the gym this morning and have a hair cut this afternoon and Rockin Robin in the park this evening. Grass will need mowing today or tomorrow probably. It may have slowed up a bit with hot temps and a little less rain.

Currently reading A Bend in the Stars and Life: A User’s Manual.

Almost done setting up next month’s Bookbingospin list.

Booker 2024 Longlist
1. Wild Houses - Colin Barrett, e-book Hoopla
2. Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel, e book Hoopla, Audible, hold placed Libby
3. James - Percival Everett, Own
4. Orbital - Smantha Harvery, e-book Hoopla, Audible
5. Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner, release September
6. My Friends - Hisham Matar, Audible
7. This Strange Eventful History - Claire Messud
8. Enlightenment - Sarah Perry
9. Playground - Richard Powers, release September
10. The Safekeep - Yael van DER Wouden, hold placed, Libby
11. Stone Yard Devotional - Charlotte Wood, Amazon paperback
12. Held - Anne Michaels
13. Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange, Libby

Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book with a title which starts with a "prototypical preposition" - msg #1Jeffrey Lent

2. Read an anthology - msg #3 Stories of Your Life and Others - A, Fresh Ink - Lamar Giles.

3. Inspired by Anita – Title has two or three words in the title - msg #5 The Gathering Storm Jeffrey Lent

4. Read a book whose author has the same first name initial or last name initial as you do - msg #6 KJ Charles - Death In the Spires

5. Read a book whose title contradicts something you assumed or were told was untrue - msg #7
Christianity and Liberalism - J. Gresham Machen

6. Read a book that came out in the last 3 years - msg #9

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book written or set before 8 BCE - msg #10

8. Anita Memorial Reads: 1940s and 1950s - msg #14
Chess Story or The Silver Branch

9. Read a book for the Zodiac challenge (Leo - read a book where the title begins with one of the letters of LEO THE LION) - msg #18

10. Read a book with the word 'house' or 'home' in the title - msg #20 The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

11. Read a book with the letters "au" or the words "August" or "Gold" in the title or author's name - msg #25 WWII Diary: August 1940- Jose Delgado

12. - Read a book by a 2024 Booker Long list author, does not have to be the nominated book.

Wednesday, no rain yesterday!!! Rain predicted today. Do I mow today or wait???

Puzzles
Wordle:5
Antiwordle: 10
Quordle: 7,5,6,4
Strands: 1 hint
Connections; perfect, 2 in a row, wow
Sqaredle: I did solve yesterdays.

Currently reading;
Life: A User’s Manual - Perez; impressed with this one, but slow going. Hope I can finish it in August.

A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum. This is a WWI story set in Russia. Reading for JBC. It’s historical fiction. I am enjoying it.

August is going to be a lot of reading. Almost have my Bookspinbingo together. Still waiting on possible additions to TIOLI. Just in from Libby Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. I read his There, There which might be good before reading this one.

Everyone, have a great Wednesday.

July Summary
1001 Books
Indigo or mapping the water - Marina Warner published 1992, botm
Man with the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren published 1949, TBR takedown
Burmese Days - George Orwell - 1001, Word, 1938

American Author Challenge
A Council of Dolls - Mona Susan Power

British Author Challenge
Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Anita Memorial Read(s) 1920-1930s
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell

BookClub Reads
Tom Lake - Ann Patchett - WCBC
Bruno Schulz: an Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History - Benjamin Balent JBC
A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum JBC, started, will be extended to August
Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch, TIOLI#2

Others
At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie TIOLI#5

TIOLI
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a biography or autobiography about a person of multi-racial identity -
2. Read a book that was a shared TIOLI read during the first half of 2024 - Prophet Song - January
3. Read a book that has a present European capital city in its main title -
4. Read a book originally published in the 20th century - The Diaries of Jane Sommers - Doris Lessing
5. Read a book with a hotel or boarding-house setting, or the word "hotel" in the title - At Bertram's Hotel
6. Read a book by an author any of whose names begin or end with either J, U, L, or Y - msg #8 The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store James McBride.

Challenges #7-12
7. Read a book from HelenLiz's list or by an author listed - msg #9
8. Read a book for Anita Memorial Reads Challenges: 1920s & 1930s - msg #10 Homage to Catalonia
9. Read a book about an escape from or lessening of religious influence - msg #11
10. Read a book in which the first word of the book's title is longer than the second word - msg #12
11. Read a book whose title could be the name of a pub - msg #16 The Wind in the Willows
12. Read a book with the word "fun" or "game" in the title - msg #36

Challenges #13-15
13. Read a book with an emotion in the title - msg #41
14. Read a book with Day in the title - msg #52
Burmese Days
15. Read a book with a word in the title starting with one of the letters in Independence (special rules for E&N) - msg 56
I = Indigo or mapping the water

Total books read: 13
Booker: 1
Pulitzer: 0

Books Acquired in July
Kairos - Jenny Erpenbeck
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise - Colleen Oakley
The Street of Crocodiles and othere stories - Bruno Schulz
London Orbital - Iain Sinclair
Saving my Assassin - Virginia Prodan (Free Audible Play)

>71 Kristelh: I loved that one when I read it - it was a full 5 star book for me. I am not at all sorry that it won the Booker. There is a lot to digest there so I understand why your rating may be waiting.

>76 Kristelh: It's gonna be a good reading month!

>78 Kristelh: Nice summary for July. I hope August is just as good for you, if not better.

>79 alcottacre:, Thanks for stopping by Stasia. Yes, Prophet Song was a great read and probably one of the best dystopia novels ever. My rating is some where between 4 and 5. I liked that it is so relevant, I liked the slow development. I understand that is is one of the few dystopia novels that starts before the dystopia. Very good!!!

It’s Thursday and probably I will focus on indoor cleaning. I got the grass mowed yesterday.

Puzzles; Wordle: 4 and just plain luck. Antiwordle 8, Quordle 5,6, 7, 9
Strands: still working, needing hints today
Connections: solid, blue, yellow, green, purple
Squardle: still working on it

Currently reading and planning to finish today; A Bend in the Star - Rachel Barenbaum. Jewish, WWI, Russia, I have some faults with this one.
Life: a User’s Manual a jigsaw puzzle, an apartment, a man with too much money.

Off to the gym to play pickleball.

August plans

81.

Book A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2019
Acquisition date/place: Libby July/August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.75 stars
Book description/summary: grounded in history mostly imaginary. The 1914 eclipse is real.
Challenge(s): JBC July/August read
Author: She is a Scholar in Residence at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis. Massachusetts, She is a US author. American Jewish
List book: no
Genre bodice ripper romance grounded in real history, totally imaginary characters.
Liked: I liked the use of the Jewish calendar. I did not not like the characters very much.
Disliked: bodice ripping romance not my thing

August Plans
1001 Books
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec
Mao II - Don DeLillo
Night and Day - Woolf
Chess Story - Stefan Zweig

American Author Challenge
In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent or....
Before We Sleep
A Peculiar Grace

British Author Challenge
KJ Charles: Death in the Spires
Winston Churchill - Winston Churchill The Second World War - I will read some of them, not all

War Room WWII
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Peace - Richard Bausch
See above: Winston Churchill

Anita Memorial Read(s)
The Silver Branch - Sutcliff
Chess Story Stefan Zweig

BookClub Reads
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - COMPLETED
The People We Keep - Allison Larkin
A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum (JBC) COMPLETED

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
The Town - Conrad Richter, Pulitzer

Books added in August
The Wolf Hunt - Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, audible $

TIOLI AUGUST
#1 Prototypical preposition
In The Fall - Jeffrey Lent

#2 Anthology
Stories of Your Life and Others or
Fresh Ink COMPLETED

# 3 Inspired by Anita, 2 or three words in title
The Wolf Hunt

#4 Author has same first name or last name initial
KJ Charles Death in the Spires

#5 Contradicts something you assumed or were told was untrue. Christianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen

#6. Read a book that came out in Last 3 years

#7 Read a book written or set before 8 BCE

#8: Anita Memorial Reads
Chess Story
The Silver Branch

#9: Zodiac Challenge, LEO THE LION

#10: Read a book with house of home
The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddons

#11. Read a Book with the letter "au" or the word August or Gold in title or author's last name
Peace - Richard B(au)sch

#12
Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange or COMPLETED
This Strange Eventful History - Claire Messud

>84 Kristelh: Re: the Winston Churchill books - Paul and I are reading The Grand Alliance for the War Room. I have also added the book to TIOLI Challenge #3.

>85 alcottacre: I did see that Stasia so I had a planned share read with you two.

>86 Kristelh: Nice! The more, the merrier!

I just started This Strange Eventful History today, Kristel. I have it out from the library , and others have a hold on it, so I have to get cracking. I don't plan my reading much, although following the Booker and Women's Prize does cause me to plan some of my reading.

Dropping in to say hello and congrats on reading past 75 books!

>89 figsfromthistle:, Thanks, Anita! Glad you stopped by.

>88 vancouverdeb:, Happy to see you Deborah. I might read The Strange Eventful History but I have holds on Headshot and The Safekeep but doubt that they’ll come in before the shortlist is announced.

82.

Book Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: family traumas, family addictions
Challenge(s): Reading booker longlist
Author: US/Native American (Cheyenee)
List book: Booker longlist
Genre fiction, family saga
Liked: I liked the story telling
Disliked: like many families they don't do well communicating with each others.

83.
Book Fresh Ink: an Anthology - Lamar Giles
Format: audiobook 2018
Original publication date:
Acquisition date/place: 2020, Audiofile, free summer reading program
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.5 stars
Book description/summary: short stories, YA themes, diversity
Challenge(s): TIOLI, read an anthology
Author: various, US?
List book: no
Genre short stories, YA
Liked: off my shelf, won't keep this one
Disliked: not my thing

Week of July 28 to Aug 3 summary

Books read: 5


Total books. 83
Best book read this week; Prophet Song

Currently reading
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec
Christianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
Isaiah 49-66
II Kings 20,21
II Chronicles 32, 33
Nahum 1-3

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees.

Books acquired this week
The Wolf Hunt - Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Saving My Assassin - Virginia Podan

July: 3 days of rain/storms. temps high 80s. August has arrived. Babysitting my granddog while my kids (daughter and family) go to Wyoming 4-wheeling.

August Plans and Possibilities
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec @ 25%
Mao II - Don DeLillo
The Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum COMPLETED
The People We Keep - Allison Larkin
Death in the Spires - KJ Charles
In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent
Christianing and Liberalism - @ 30%
Booker Longlist; Wandering Stars Completed
The House Next Door
Night and Day
Anthony and Cleopatra - Shakespeare
The Town - Pulitzer
The Grand Alliance
Peace - Richard Bausch
Stories of your Life and others
Chess Story
The Silver Branch

84.

Book Christianity and Liberalism - J. Gresham Machen
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1923
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: progressive, Liberalism, another religion but not Christian
Challenge(s): TIOLI
Author: US
List book: no
Genrenonfiction, Christian apologetics
Liked: Still relevant today, probably even more so
Disliked: at times it was a bit hard to follow

85.

Book Mao II - Don DeLillo
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1991
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 (2.5)
Book description/summary: the future belongs to crowds
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, TBR takedown
Author: American
List book: PEN/Faulkner
Genre modernism
Liked: I liked how ahead of its time in depicting terrorism and also defining terrorism
Disliked: could do without sexual content. It served no purpose whatsoever

86.

Book The Wolf Hunt - Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: August 2, 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: what a mother knows
Challenge(s): TIOLI shared read
Author: Israeli author, at US college
List book: National Jewish Book Award finalist
Genre contemporary
Liked: family dynamics, racism, antisemitism
Disliked: sexually explicit

Wednesday, mid week. Its been quite cool here in Minnesota, September temps in August. It rained 1.3 inches two days ago.

I've been reading and making some progress on the long list I would like to get read.
I am currently reading In The Fall - Jeffrey Lent and Life: a User's Manual by Georges Perec

You read so many interesting books, Kristel. I did finish This Strange , Eventful History and it had it's merits , but so much detail it was a struggle to get through it. I just got The SafeKeep in from the library , so I think that might be my next read. Christianity and Liberalism sounds interesting, even more so since it was written in 1923 and remains relevant.

>99 vancouverdeb:,Hi Deborah. Headshot came available but I didn’t have time to read it just yet so I let it return. Maybe in a couple weeks I will get to that one. Sounds like This Stange, Eventful History might not be enjoyable.

Christianity and Liberalism might not be for everyone but I have an interest in the subject of Christian nationalism and progressiveness.

6Thursday. The sun will shine today and I should be able to get the driveway finally mowed. Been babysitting my grand dog while the “kids” are out west 4-wheeling.

On-line puzzles
Wordle: 3
Antiwordle: 6
Antiwordle: 6, 7, 4, 8
Strands: Great, 1 hint used
Connections: perfect, yellow, blue, green, violet
Squardle: wording on it,10/50 words

Currently reading; In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent. And of course Life: a user’s Manual.

>92 Kristelh: I am going to get to that one eventually, I am sure, since it is on the Booker Longlist. Thanks for your thoughts on it, Kristel.

Thanks for stopping by Stasia. Hope your weekend is a good one.

I think we are having some good weather here in Minnesota. One of the first weekends without rain.

Saturday. I am sorry but I am not enjoying In the Fall. Maybe by the end I will find something to like. It is a lot of explicit sexual content, explicit language, and violence. So far it is 500+ pages that I am finding to be a struggle.

87.

Book In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2000
Acquisition date/place: 2024/August,Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.5 stars
Book description/summary: three generations of men deal with identity
Challenge(s): American Author Challenge
Author: American
List book: no
Genre literary
Liked: I liked some parts
Disliked: I did not like the sexual content and violence

>105 Kristelh: I haven't read that one, Kristel, but I love the cover.

>106 PaulCranswick:. Hello Paul, thanks for stopping by. A good cover can sell a book!

Esquire's 75 Best Sci-Fi books of all time
75 - The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey
74 - The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
73 - Redshirts, by John Scalzi OWN
72 - Beautyland, by Marie-Helene Bertino
71 - The Ten Percent Thief, by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
70 - Midnight Robber, by Nalo Hopkinson
69 - Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson READ
68 - Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
67 - Contact, by Carl Sagan READ
66 - Under the Skin, by Michel Faber READ
65 - Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak
64 - Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill
63 - What Mad Universe, by Fredric Brown
62 - The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor
61 - Semiosis, by Sue Burke
60 - Excession, by Iain M. Banks
59 - The Claw of the Conciliator, by Gene Wolfe
58 - Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
57 - This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
56 - The Resisters, by Gish Jen
55 - Rosewater, by Tade Thompson
54 - Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
53 - Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem READ
52 - A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess READ
51 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein READ
50 - A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle READ
49 - The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells READ
48 - The Body Scout, by Lincoln Michel
47 - An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon
46 - The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
45 - Neuromancer, by William Gibson READ
44 - The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester
43 - The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell READ
42 - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams READ
41 - A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. READ
40 - Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir READ
39 - Zone One, by Colson Whitehead READ
38 - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers READ
37 - Engine Summer, by John Crowley
36 - The Children of Men, by P.D. James
35 - Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente
34 - The City & The City, by China Miéville READ
33 - A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
32 - Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie READ
31 - The Stand, by Stephen King READ
30 - In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes
29 - Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany
28 - The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman READ
27 - 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami READ
26 - Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich READ
25 - Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith
24 - Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer
23 - Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood READ
22 - Hyperion, by Dan Simmons READ
21 - Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
20 - Shikasta, by Doris Lessing
19 - The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
18 - Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
17 - Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke READ
16 - The Complete Robot, by Isaac Asimov
15 - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu
14 - Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley READ
13 - The Employees, by Olga Ravn
12 - 1984, by George Orwell READ
11 - The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu READ
10 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick READ
9 - Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel READ
8 - Exhalation, by Ted Chiang
7 - Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro READ
6 - The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin READ
5 - Kindred, by Octavia Butler READ
4 - The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin READ
3 - The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury READ
2 - Dune, by Frank Herbert READ
1 - Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley READ

Read 36/75 (about 50%). I've been reading from NPR top 100 SF/Fantasy list for several years now.

>108 Kristelh: Not my genre as you may know. I can only boast having read 10 of them. But I do have 41 of them in total on the shelves!

Like you, I prefer no sex please, or very little, Kristel. I don't read Science Fiction, but my niece is big fan. I've only read 1984 and that was in school.

>109 PaulCranswick: Hello Paul, I don't mind reading some SF here and there but I do think I prefer the older SF over the newer stuff.

>110 vancouverdeb:> And the sexual content was at times violent. I am not reading as much SF as previously. I think the better stuff is the older stuff. Some of this new stuff is just not my thing.

Weekly summary, August 4 - 10

Books read 4


Total books. 87
Best book read this week; Christianity and Liberalism, I would add The Wolf Hunt as best fiction this week.

Currently reading
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec, at 55%
The People We Keep- Allison Larkin, just started

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
II Kings 22,23
II Chronicles 34,35
Zephaniah 1-3
Jeremiah 1-17

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees. These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for my return.

Books acquired this week
Christian and Liberalism Hoopla Digital
Mao II Hoopla Digital
In the Fall - Hoopla Digital
The People We Keep Libby Library App

August: starts off more like September than August. The cooler, less humid weather is delightful. My kids are back from their 4-wheeler trip. Subbed for card club this week.

August Plans and Possibilities
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec @ 55
Mao II - Don DeLillo COMPLETED
The Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum COMPLETED
The People We Keep - Allison Larkin, Reading @ 5%
Death in the Spires - KJ Charles Up soon
In the Fall - Jeffrey Lent COMPLETED
Christianing and Liberalism - COMPLETED
Booker Longlist; Wandering Stars COMPLETED
The House Next Door
Night and Day Up soon
Anthony and Cleopatra - Shakespeare
The Town - Pulitzer
The Grand Alliance UP soon
Peace - Richard Bausch
Stories of your Life and others
Chess Story UP soon
The Silver Branch

>112 Kristelh: I of course love the list too, Kristel.

Plenty of familiar stuff there too.

Enjoy your Sunday as mine starts to wind down.

Inspired by Paul: *Favorite books by author/country.
Afghanistan
*A Thousand Splendid Sun (this author is now in US) Khaled Hosseini
The Patience Stone (this author is in France now) - Atiq Rahimi
Albania
*Broken April - Ismail Kadare
Algeria
*The Plague - Albert Camus
Andorra
Angola
A General Theory of Oblivion - Jose Eduardo Agualusa
Antigua and Barbuda
*Annie John - Jamaica Kincaid
Argentina
Jorge Luis Borges - Fictions
*Fever Dream - Samanta Schwebin
Santa Evita - Tomas Eloy Martinez
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Armenia
Australia
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Deep Road to the North - Richard Flanagan
*Remembering Babylon = David Malouf
Austria
*Old Masters - Thomas Bernhard
The Piano Teacher - Elfriede Jelinek
Wittgenstein's Nephew - Thomas Bernhard
Correction - Thomas Bernhard
Azerbaijan

Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Svetlana Alexievich Secondhand Time not read
Belgium
The Lion of Flanders - Hendrik Conscience
Fear and Trembling - Amelie Nothomb
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnian Chronicles - Ivo Andric (not read)
Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andric (not read)
The Death and the Dervish - Meša Selimović (not read)
Botswana
Brazil
* Posthumous Memoir of Bras Cubas - Machado de Assis
Dom Casmurro- Machado de Assis
Devil in Pay in the Backland - Joao Guimaraes Rosa
Paulo Coelho
Brunei
Bulgaria
* Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov
Auto de Fe - Elia Canetti
Burkina Faso
Burundi

Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
*Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Alice Munro
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Cape Verde
Central Affrican Republic
Chad
Chile
Robert Bolano
*Of Love and Shadows - Isabel Allende
China
*Monkey King: Journey to the West
Half a Man is Woman
Columbia
Our Lady of Assassins - Fernando Vallejo
One Hundred Years of Solitude -
*Love in a Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Comoros
Congo, Democratric Republic
Congo, Republic of
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Slavenka Drakulic, want to read If I am Not There
Cuba
*The Lost Steps - Alejo Carpentier
Cyprus
*The Maidens - Alex Michaelides
Czech Republis
*Closely Watched Trains - Bohumil Hrabel
Milan Kundara

Denmark
*Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Høeg
Djibouti
Dominica
Phillis Shand Allfrey - The Orchid Housee (not read)
*Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Dominican Republic
* The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao - Junet Diaz
The Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
*Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz
* Woman at Point Zero - Narwal El Saadawi
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
* Professor Martens' Departure - Jaan Kross
Ethiopia
*Cutting for Stone - Abraja, Verghese
The Shadow King - Maaza Mengiste (not read yet)

I will be slowly working on this list. I am going to start a new message because this is getting too long.

Quite the list, Kristel. I am glad to see that some good Canadian Fiction made the list. I did love Anne Of Green Gables, The Stone Diaries and The Sisters Brothers.

>115 vancouverdeb: Hi, Deborah, There are many more Canadian authors I could put there. I am going through a list of countries and trying to see how many authors from those countries and then what is the favorite book. It will take me awhile. I think there are 197 countries.

Tuesday: It’s primary Election Day.
Another nice day. After I vote, play pickleball, I will mow the grass. I think there is some rain in forecast for Wednesday.

Reading: I finished The People We Keep it was so so, not anything great. I need to write a review yet. This is Thursday’s Bookclub selection and I am leading, so need to think up some discussion questions.

Also reading Life: a user’s manual sometimes I like it, other times it is just a lot of lists. The minutiae of life?

Also need to decide what’s up next on audio because I will be listening to a book while I mow the grass.

The puzzles went well today, except Antiwordle. I got that in 6 guesses and I figure I need to make more than 6 for it to be a win. I am done with squardle already so that must have been easy today. I got the connections without any hints and no errors. Strands as well!

88.
Book The People We Keep - Allison Larkin
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2021
Acquisition date/place: August 2024/Libby
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.5 stars
Book description/summary: road tripping in search of found family
Challenge(s): bookclub read
Author: US
List book: no
Genre fiction, coming of age, YA
Liked:
Disliked: so young, so much sexual promiscuity, lies, squatting, bad language

89.
Book Winston S. Churchill: The History of the Second World War, Volume 1 - The Gathering Storm
Format: audiobook
Original publication date:
Acquisition date/place: August 2024, audiobook, Libby
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.5 stars
Book description/summary: Churchill tells what was happening in the world leading up to WWII
Challenge(s):War Room Challenge
Author: Winston Churchill, read by Michael Jayston, overview by Winston S Churchill MP
List book: no
Genre nonfiction, history, war, WWII
Liked: Very interesting to read about Italy, Germany, Czech, Poland, etc. Even Russia. Mistakes were made
Disliked:

Wednesday looks like clouds and rain later, cooler than yesterday but more humid. Grass is mowed!!!
Puzzles:
Wordle: 3
Quordle: 7,6,4,5
Antiwordle 8
Strands: Perfect
Connections, solid,6 tries; green, yellow, purple, blue
On to squardle. COMPLETED

Currently reading
Peace - Richard Bausch (WWII)
Life: a User’s Manual, at 65%, I read about 5% a day. It’s okay if this takes awhile as it is on the kindle. Makes for good night time reading.

Plans: I need to vacuum and dust today. Of course gym and pickleball too.

Oh, and today is my LibraryThing Anniversary, 14 years.

Happy LibraryThing Anniversary, Kristel! Mine was August 9th, also my 14th LT Anniversary. But purchasing 14 books was a little too rich for my budget. it will be fun for both of us to reach our 15th Librarything Anniversary next August.

>122 vancouverdeb:, Thanks Deborah. And Happy LT Anniversary to you.

Best books by Country (Authors)

Fiji
Finland
The Year of the Hare - Arto Paasilinna
Purge - Sofi Oksanen (not read yet)
France
*Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Life: a User's Manual - Georges Perec
Raymond Queneau, Guy de Maupassant, Honore de Balzac

Gabon
The Bambia
Georgia
Germany
*Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann
The Safety Net - Heinrich Böll
Ghana
Greece
*Deadline in Athens - Pétros Márkarīs
Nikos Kazantzakis
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
*The Dark Child - Camara Laye
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana

Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
László Krasznahorkai
*Embers - Sándor Márai

Iceland
Independent People - Halldór Laxness
India
The Great Indian Novel - Shashi Tharoor
Indonesia
The Rainbow Troops - Andrea Hirata
Iran
The Blind Owl - Hidāyat, Ṣādiq
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
*Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
Iraq
Ireland
*Amongst Women - John McGahern
The Sea - John Banville
Ulysses - James Joyce
Israel
The Myth of Samson - David Grossman
*To The End of the Land - David Grossman
Italy
I'm Not Scared - Niccolo Ammaniti
*If This is Man - Primo Levi

Jamaica
A Brief History of Seven Killings - Marion James
Japan
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Jordan

Kazakhstan
Kenya
Dance of the Jakaranda - Peter Kimani
Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo
Kiribati
Kurdistan
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan

90.
Book Peace - Richard Bausch
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: three American Soldiers in Italy during WWII
Challenge(s): War Room
Author: American author
List book: no
Genre fiction, historical fiction, wwII
Liked: a psychological look at effects of war on young men
Disliked: some tough language but it fits the story

>108 Kristelh: I have slowly but surely been making my way through that list. I still have a way to go.

>119 Kristelh: I love Churchill as an author and have read his Second World War series at least once (I have read at least a couple of them twice I know for sure). I just finished The Grand Alliance the other day.

>121 Kristelh: Happy Thingaversary!

>126 alcottacre:, Thanks, Stasia. I was surprised at how good of an author Churchill was. I hope to read more by him.

91.
Book Death in the Spires - KJ Charles
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: murder among friends
Challenge(s): British Author Challenge, TIOLI
Author: British
List book: no
Genre mystery/Queer
Liked: mystery was enjoyable
Disliked: sexual content

Saturday, yesterday was rainy and humid. Today should be better. No plans at all.
Reading; The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddons. This one has been on my tbr for a long time. It is on the Best Horror List. I am also trying to whittle away at Life: a User’s Manual by Georges Perec. This is from the 1001 list, French author. An interesting book. It’s not hard to read. It is about an apartment complex, about jigsaw puzzles, about lists and lists and lists. I am at about 79% read. (Kindle book).
Puzzles:
Wordle: 5 (too many options and I always choose the right letter last)
Antiwordle: 5 only, so not a win
Quordle: 7, 5, 6, 4
Strands: perfect! The hint was the reason
Connections: Great; yellow/purple/wrong/blue/green
Working on Squardle: 16 of 34 words so far and I got the bonus word.

If you stop by, thank you for the visit. Please drop your card. Have a great weekend.

Weekly summary: AUGUST 11-17

Books read 4


Total books. 91
Best book read this week; Winston S. Churchill: The History of the Second World War, Volume 1 - The Gathering Storm

Currently reading
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec, at 85%
The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddon

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
Jeremiah 18 - 37
Psalm 74, 79

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees. These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for my return.

Books acquired this week
The History of the Second World War, Volume 1 - The Gathering Storm Libby
Peace - Richard Bausch Hoopla
Death in the Spires Hoopla
Salvage the Bones -Jesmyn Ward, purchased (National Book Award Winner)
Memoirs of Hadrian - Marguerite Yourcenar, purschased (1001 book)

On Deck
Night and Day
The Silver Branch
Anthony and Cleopatra
The Grand Alliance
The Town
Chess Story

Sunday will be a busy day with church and small group get together for picnic/potluck. Hope everyone is having a great weekend whereever you are.

92.
Book The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddons
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1978
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars maybe more
Book description/summary:
Challenge(s): TIOLI #10
Author: US
List book: NPR top 100 horror
Genre Horror
Liked: its creepy, but not over the top
Disliked: sexual content

Tuesday
The grass is done for a while. I am working on finishing up the books I would like to get done this month. So far it’s been a good reading month but I had so many on my want to read list.

Currently reading Night and Day and Life: a user’s Manual. I am happy to say I am at 90%.

93.
Book Life: A User's Manual - Georges Pered
Format: Kindle
Original publication date: 1978
Acquisition date/place: 2023
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: a puzzle of a book
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, botm August 2024
Author: France
List book: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (438)
The Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read
Genre novel, literary fiction, experimental,
Liked: I enjoyed this book about jigsaw puzzles and an apartment
Disliked: the erotica is rather small but it was obnoxious

Best book(s) by Country (using UN list), part 3

Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Because They Hate - Brigitte Gabriel (NF)
Lesotho
Chaka - Thomas Mofolo (Wishlist)
Liberia
Libya
Hisham Matar - My Friends Booker Long list
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg

Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
*The Garden of Evening Mist - Tan Twan Eng
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Island
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Life Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
The Devil's Highway - Luis Alberto Urrea
Micronesia, Federated States of
Moldova
Monaco
Mozambique
Myanmar (Burma)

Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
*All Souls' Day - Cees Nooteboom
Harry Mulisch
New Zealand
Keri Hulme
Janet Frame
Eleanor Catton
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Half a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
*Arrow of God - Chinua Achebe
North Korea
The Girl with Seven Names - Hyeonseo Lee
Norway
*Kristin lavransdatter - Sigrid Undset
Growth of Soil - Knut Hamsun
Jon Fosse

Oman

Best book(s) by Country (using UN list), part 4

Pakistan
Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Exit West
Palau
Palestine
A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Deep Rivers Jose Maria Arguerdas
Philippines
Poland
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Flights on my TBR, International Booker
Stanislaw Lem science fiction
Portugal
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis- Jose Saramago

Qatar

Romania
Russia
*The First Circle - Aleksandr Solzehenitsyn
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rwanda

Best book(s) by Country (using UN list), part 4

Pakistan
Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Exit West
Palau
Palestine
A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Deep Rivers Jose Maria Arguerdas
Philippines
Poland
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Flights on my TBR, International Booker
Stanislaw Lem science fiction
Portugal
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis- Jose Saramago

Qatar

Romania
Russia
*The First Circle - Aleksandr Solzehenitsyn
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
So Long a Letter - Mariama Bâ
Serbia
Dictionary of the Khazars - Miorad Pavic TBR
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Alamut - Vladimir Bartol
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
*Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
J.M. Coetzee
Nadine Gordimer
South Korea
The Vegetarian - Han Kang
South Sudan
Spain
The Hive - Camilo José Cela
Sri Lanka
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka
Sudan
Seasons of Migration to the North - Tayeb Salih
Suriname
Swaziland (Eswatini)
Sweden
The Red Room - August Strindberg
Switzerland
The Judge and the Hangman - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Syria
No Knives in the Kitchens of this City - Khālid Khalīfah

Best book(s) by Country (using UN list), part 5
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Bangkok Wakes to Rain - Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Togo
Tongo
Trinidad and Tobago
A Bend in the River - V.S. Naipaul
Jumbies - Tracey Baptiste
Tunisia
Turkey
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu

Uganda
Ukraine
The Cathedral - Oles Honchar
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
England
Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Scotland
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Wales
Northern Ireland
C.S.Lewis - A Grief Observed
United States Of America
Uruguay
The Shipyard - Juan Carlos Onetti
Memory of Fire - Eduardo Galeano
Uzbekistan

Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Paradise of the Blind - Thu Huong Duong
The Best We Could Do - Thi Bui

Yeman

Zambia
Zimbabwe
Nervous Conditions - Tsitsi Dangarembga

You are doing really well with your Best Books by Country, Kristel! Great going!

>139 vancouverdeb:. Thanks Deborah. I hope to keep it going.

94.
Book Night and Day - Virginia Woolf
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 1919
Acquisition date/place: 2022
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: two women in search of love, freedom, and identity
Challenge(s): Monthly Word; Reading 1001
Author: England, UK
List book: 1001
Genre literary fiction
Liked: it was fairly easy to read, a look at emerging feminism
Disliked: a bit of bore when contemplative

95.
Book The Silver Branch - Rosemary Sutcliff
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1957
Acquisition date/place: Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: book II of trilogy Roman Empire in Britain
Challenge(s): Memorial read for Anita
Author: England, UK
List book: no
Genre historical fiction, children's lit
Liked: still enjoyable today
Disliked: it's a lot of war scenes, I liked book 1 better, still good.

Saturday, how's the weekend going? It's getting humid here which keeps me indoors and so I am getting some reading done. August is my best month for reading in 2023 and looks to be the same in 2024.

Currently reading Antony and Cleopatra and The Manor. The Manor is my book on Kindle for September.

October books for Reading 1001 are The Case of Sergeant Grischa - Arnold Zweig and The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West. Not sure if I can get both read because they will both be Kindle/book reads.

96.
Book Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare
Format: audio
Original publication date: 1606
Acquisition date/place: I have had the complete works of Shakespeare on my shelf since 2014
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: to end your story kill off the characters
Challenge(s): TIOLI August
Author: England
List book:
Genre Play
Liked: historical
Disliked:

97.
Book The Grand Alliance - Churchill
Format: audio
Original publication date:
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: wars, resources, theaters, alliances
Challenge(s): TIOLI shared read
Author: England
List book:
Genre nonfiction
Liked: Such a good teller of history, great lines!
Disliked:

98.

Book The Town - Conrad Richter
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1950
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.75 stars
Book description/summary: family saga, pioneering to civilization
Challenge(s): Reading Pulitzers, 1951
Author: US
List book: Pulitzer
Genre trilogy, #3, family saga
Liked: liked the strong woman especially as old lady
Disliked: perhaps a bit too sprawling, hate the cover.

Weekly summary: AUGUST 18 - 24

Books read 7

Total books. 98
Best book read this week; Life: a User's Manual 5 stars

Currently reading
The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer (Kindle)
Chess Story - Audio, Hoopla

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
II Kings 24-25
II Chornicles 36
Jeremiah 41-52
Lamentations 1-2

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees. These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for my return.

Books acquired this week
The Manor and the Estate - Kindle Unlimited

On Deck
The Storm We Made
Stories of your Lives and Others - Ted Chiang

Holds on the following
Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips
James - Percival Everett
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes
The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden
Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway

Weekly summary: AUGUST 18 - 24

Books read 5

Total books. 98
Best book read this week; Life: a User's Manual 5 stars

Currently reading
The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer (Kindle)
Chess Story - Audio, Hoopla

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
II Kings 24-25
II Chornicles 36
Jeremiah 41-52
Lamentations 1-2

Books started but not currently reading: Melancholy of Resistance Joseph and his Brothers, Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson. Fall on Your Knees. These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for my return.

Books acquired this week
The Manor and the Estate - Kindle Unlimited

On Deck
The Storm We Made
Stories of your Lives and Others - Ted Chiang

Holds on the following
Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips
James - Percival Everett
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes
The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden
Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway

99.
Book Chess Story - Stefan Zweig
Format: Kindle/audio
Original publication date: 1942
Acquisition date/place: 12/27/2019
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars
Book description/summary: sanity and insanity in a game of chess
Challenge(s): in memoriam for AnitaF and 1001 books
Author: Austria
List book: 1001
Genre literary fiction, novella
Liked: a deep story in few words
Disliked:

>149 Kristelh: So glad you liked this one! I’ve got it coming to me soon.

Karen O

NYT list; These are possibilities for the TIOLI challenge.

I’ve read 52 books on the list ...
My Brilliant Friend ● Wolf Hall ● The Known World ● 2666 ● The Underground Railroad ● Austerlitz ● Never Let Me Go ● Gilead ● The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao ● The Year of Magical Thinking ● The Road ● Pachinko ● The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay ● The Sellout ● Lincoln in the Bardo ● The Overstory ● Atonement ● Americanah ● Cloud Atlas ● White Teeth ● The Line of Beauty ● Citizen ● Between the World and Me ● A Visit From the Goon Squad ● H Is for Hawk ● Small Things Like These ● A Brief History of Seven Killings ● The Fifth Season ● The Goldfinch ● A Mercy ● Persepolis ● The Vegetarian ● Life After Life ● Train Dreams ● Runaway ● Tenth of December ● The Flamethrowers ● Middlesex ● The Plot Against America ● The Passage of Power ● Olive Kitteridge ● Exit West ● Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow ● An American Marriage ● Septology ● Pastoralia ● The Sympathizer ● The Human Stain ● Station Eleven ● On Beauty ● Bring Up the Bodies ● Bel Canto

... and I want to read 13.
The Last Samurai ● Sing, Unburied, Sing ● Salvage the Bones ● Trust ● Nickel and Dimed ● Demon Copperhead ● 10:04 ● Secondhand Time ● The Story of the Lost Child ● The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis ● The Return ● How to Be Both ● Tree of Smoke

100.
Book The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1/2/2024
Acquisition date/place: Libby
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: a mother's guilt
Challenge(s): War Room
Author: Malaysian
List book: one award for debut novel
Genre historical fiction
Liked: the setting and perspective
Disliked: lots of violent sexual content

I hope you enjoy James as it came in on hold for you, Kristel. I own it, so it won't be too long until I get to it. I was so excited that Death at the Sign of the Rook came in on a hold for me, and I rushed out to get it after dinner today. I hope to start it tonight.

>153 vancouverdeb:, I have seen Death at the Sign of the Rook and thought it looked good. Will look forward to your comments, Deborah.

>127 Kristelh: I can also recommend his History of the English-Speaking People series.

>146 Kristelh: I am going to have to see if I can find that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Kristel!

>149 Kristelh: Completely agree with your rating of that one. I just finished Zweig's The World of Yesterday a few days ago and gave it 5 stars too.

>155 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, I think I would like the series History of the English Speaking People. Sounds like a good way to improve my understanding of history.

I will look forward to your thoughts on The Town. It is a bit sprawling.

I read Amok by Zweig in 2020.

101.
Book James - Percival Everett
Format: book/audiobook
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.5 stars
Book description/summary: Jim becomes James, just James
Challenge(s): Booker longlist, f2f
Author: US author
List book: Booker longlist
Genre literary fiction, retelling
Liked: I liked the relationship between Jim and Huck
Disliked: basically a good retelling though I had a problem with the perfect, non local color regionalism.

It's Friday, last Friday of August. We are heading into the marxist holiday weekend.
I am currently reading; The Manor by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Reading 1001 botm for September. I might be a bit behind as I am trying to read 4% a day and I should be at 32% and going to 36%. I am also reading the anthology Stories of Your Life and Others by TedChiang. This one has been on my TBR shelf for awhile. I hope to finish that one by the end of the month which should not be a problem. I am mostly set up for my September reads.

Working on my odd year list of Reading 1001 for voting and that is done and am cleaning up the even year list. I am studying the A year of reading the world found here; https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/thelist/. I am working on my TBR takedown list for 2025. Nothing more fun than putting together reading lists. Started a new book journal today because my last one was full.
Reading Journal Library Card, March through August 2024
My Book Club Journal, a Reading Log of the Books I loved, loathed, and Couldn't wait to talk about. Started August 28 ----.

Weather: two storms this week; the first one had wind and I lost some branches, 2 inches of rain. The second was yesterday when I was not home (at State Fair) and came home to one tree with the top blown off and a large branch in the back yard as well. 1.5 inches with that storm. Mowed on Sunday but grass needs mowing again but too wet at this point. Weather has cooled off too. Sun shining!

Happy reading everyone. If you've stopped by, thank you. Leave your calling card!

I'm glad you enjoyed James so much Kristel. I plan to read it September and I hope I will enjoy it as much as you and many others. We are also heading into a long weekend . On Sunday we are getting together with our son and his family . It's nearly our grandson Mile's 4th birthday , so I think we will all fun.

>159 vancouverdeb:, Deborah, Enjoy your long weekend with family. Happy 4th birthday to Miles.

102.
Book Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang
Format: audio
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date/place: 12/14/20, audible
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.0 stars
Book description/summary: short stories SFF, all are good
Challenge(s): anthology, TIOLI
Author: American born, first generation
List book: The Guardian's 100 best books of the 21st century
Genre short stories/SFF
Liked: I liked them all; Babylon, golems, anosia some of the best
Disliked:

>161 Kristelh: Well, I think I need to move Stories of Your Life And Others up on my TBR list. I believe that’s the book that has “Arrival,” the basis for the movie with Amy Adams?

Thanks for bringing the book to my attention!

Have a great weekend! Beautiful day here in Minne-soda, dontcha think?

Karen O

>162 klobrien2: Karen, Unless a name change was made, no. If you can find my review, I posted all the stories included with a brief summary.

The weekend is beautiful. I was at the state fair on Thursday. Left before the storm but had some tree branches down when I got home.

>163 Kristelh: I read the work page for Stories of Your Life and it looks like “Arrival” story was actually the “Stories of Your Life” story in the book. I’ll look for your review!

Karen O

Ps. Yes, that’s it. Communicating with aliens.

>164 klobrien2:, Karen, it was an interesting one. It looks on knowing the past, the present and the future. It also examines language and how we communicate. Lots in that one. I had several favorites.

August summary
I read 20 books in August. August is my best month of reading so far and it was last year too.

1001 Books Read 4 books from the combined list
Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec✔
Mao II - Don DeLillo ✔
Night and Day - Woolf ✔
Chess Story ✔

American Author Challenge
In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent. This author is not for me.

British Author Challenge
K J Charles: Death in the Spires
Winston S. Churchill: The Gathering Storm and The Grand Alliance

War Room
The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan
The Gathering Storm and The Grand Alliance
Peace - Richard Bausch

Anita Memorial Read(s)
The Silver Branch
Chess Story

BookClub Reads
JBC: The Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum
LHBC: The People We Keep

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
The Town - Conrad Richter

Books added in August
The Wolf Hunt - Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, audible $
Salvage the Bones
Memoirs of Hadrian

TIOLI AUGUST
#1 Prototypical preposition
In The Fall - Jeffrey Lent

#2 Anthology
Stories of Your Life and Others or
Fresh Ink COMPLETED

# 3 Inspired by Anita, 2 or three words in title
The Wolf Hunt The Gathering Storm, The Grand Alliance

#4 Author has same first name or last name initial
KJ Charles Death in the Spires

#5 Contradicts something you assumed or were told was untrue. Christianity and Liberalism J. Gresham Machen

#6. Read a book that came out in Last 3 years The Storm We Made - Vanessa Chan

#7 Read a book written or set before 8 BCE
Antony and Cleopatra

#8: Anita Memorial Reads
Chess Story
The Silver Branch

#9: Zodiac Challenge, LEO THE LION
Night and Day
Life: a User's Manual

#10: Read a book with house of home
The House Next Door - Anne Rivers Siddons

#11. Read a Book with the letter "au" or the word August or Gold in title or author's last name
Peace - Richard B(au)sch

#12 Read a book by an author that has a book on the Booker Longlist
Wandering Stars - Tommy Orange or COMPLETED
James by Percival Everett

I completed both 1-6 and 7-12 this month.

September Plans

1001 Books
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
Blindman with Pistol - Chester Himes
The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer

American Author Challenge
Claire of the Sea Light
Krik? Krak!

British Author Challenge
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

War Room
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips

Anita Memorial Read(s)

BookClub Reads
WCBC Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger
LHBC Maybe You Should Talk To Someone Lori Gottlieb
JBC: Angel: Egyptian Spy who saved Israel - Uri Bar-Joseph

Pulitzer/Booker/Lists
Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

Others

TIOLI AUGUST
Challenges #1-6
1. Read a book in which the author's four-letter surname ends with double letters - msg #1 Census by Jesse Ball
2. Read a book in which the word "book" appears in the title or author's name - msg #
This Book Betrays my Brother9
The End of Your Life Book Club
3. Read a book for Anita Memorial Reads: 1960s & 1970s - msg #
A Moveable Feast or The Night in Lisbon
4. Read a book inspired by Anita – Title Starts with one of the capital letters from the phrase “Having Fun With TIOLI” (H,F,W,T,I,O,L,I) - msg #
H
F
W
T
I
O
L Last Days of Summer,
I
5. Read a book that alternates with a person's name and description - msg #7
6. Read a book set on an island - msg #9
Claire of the Sea Light
Challenge #7: Read a book whose title contains an "ing" - started by susanna.fraser
When Morning Comes - Cindy Woods Mall
Challenge #8: Pick a topic then read a book on that topic suggested by Talpa (LibraryThing’s AI search found on the right side of your home page) - started by dallenbaugh
Krik? Krak - Edridge Danticat - (short stories by women in 21st century)
Challenge #9: Read a book with devils or angels in the title - started by Kristelh
The Old Devils -
Angel: Egyptian spy who saved Israel
10. Read a book by an author you're not particularly fond of - msg #18

11. Read a book for the Zodiac challenge (Virgo: a theme relating to communication) - msg #21 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Gottlieb

12. Read a new-to-you book from the NYT's best books of the 21st century, or a suggested substitute - msg #24
Sing, Unburied, Sing - Jasmyn Ward

13. Read a book with a four word title of the form (article) word (conjunction | preposition) word

Greetings, Happy September!
Today is church day, time spent with my small group from church. We're having pot luck at the lake.
Currently reading The Manor at 40% and Night Watch the Pulitzer winner for this year. It is set at the end of the civil war.

103.
Book Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2023
Acquisition date/place: September 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: damages of the US civil war
Challenge(s): reading Pulitzers, War room
Author: US author/WV
List book: Pulitzer winner
Genre historical fiction
Liked: liked the Asylum setting and doctor details
Disliked: detailed sexual violence

104.
Book Blind Man with a Pistol - Chester Himes
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1969
Acquisition date/place: March 2021
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: crime book/police procedural
Challenge(s): TBR takedown, September Reading 1001
Author: US/France/Spain
List book: 1001 Books
Genre crime fiction
Liked: I liked the police officers
Disliked: chaotic, no resolutions, mild sexual content

105.
Book The Safekeep - Yael van der Wouden
Format: audio
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: September 3, 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 5 stars, minus 2 because of erotica, 3 stars. Too bad.
Book description/summary: The Jewish question.
Challenge(s): reading Booker Longlist
Author: Dutch
List book: Booker long list
Genre literary fiction, debut
Liked: very good character development, atmospheric, plot turns
Disliked: heavy use of erotica

106.
Book The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Format: Kindle
Original publication date: 1952 Yiddish
Acquisition date/place: August 20, 2024, Kindle Unlimited
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: clash of cultures, breakup of families
Challenge(s): Reading 1001
Author: Jewish/American (Poland/US)
List book: 1001, National Book Award (Finalist – Translation – 1968)
Genre literary fiction, historical
Liked: I liked the look at a traditional Jew trying to keep things as they were, reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof
Disliked: I disliked just about all the female charaters.

We did have a nice long weekend, Kristel. I agree too bad about the erotica in The Safekeep. Otherwise I think I would have given it a 4 , rather than a 3. 5.

107.
Book Sing, Unburied, Sing - Jesmyn Ward
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date/place: 2018, BOTM
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.5 stars
Book description/summary: broken familes/addictions/sad
Challenge(s): National Book Award Winner
Author: US author
List book: National book Award Winner
Genre fiction, coming of age
Liked: Good kid
Disliked: bad mom

It's Friday. I went to the gym, did not play pickelball. Took my daughter to her doctor's appointment. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. Got home around 5 pm.

Started The Old Devils - Amis Kingsley. I am liking it. It is about Wales and about being old. I generally do like books about old people. There is a lot of drinking and some are alcoholic and I don't especially like books about addictions but this one is also about the culture of Wales. I am also reading The Killer Angels. This one the Pulitzer in 1975. I remember my mother being a lover of all things about the civil war in the late 60s and 70s. I wonder if she read this one. I think she read everything she could find. So probably.

Cooler weather for a few days but 80s will return.

Wishing everyone a great weekend.

>92 Kristelh: I had this one from the library but did not get to it in time before it was due back.

>105 Kristelh: that one looked interesting. I will pass on it.

>174 Kristelh: This has been on my shelf for a long time. I am glad you enjoyed it and I will put it on my read soon shelf.

Happy weekend reading!

>175 Kristelh:, Hi Anita. Yes, funny but Wandering Star is about addictions, and so is Sing, Unburied, Sing. Now I am read The old Devils and that one also has alcoholism. It's funny how that seems to happen a lot.

>161 Kristelh: I am going to have to see if I can get hold of a copy of that one. Thank you for the recommendation, Kristel!

>174 Kristelh: I own that one and really need to get it read. Thanks for the reminder!

>178 alcottacre:, It was really a good collection Stasia. I picked it up on audible during a sale I think. Maybe Hoopla or Libby will have it.

I had Sing, Unburied, Sing hanging around a long time too. Finally got it off the TBR mountain.

108.
Book The Manor - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1975
Acquisition date/place: August 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Book description/summary: Set in Poland and contrasts the traditional Jew and the enlightened Jew.
Challenge(s): botm, Reading 1001, August 2024
Author: Poland/American (Jewish)
List book: 1001 books
Genre fiction
Liked: I liked the historical aspects
Disliked: did not like most if not all the women

Weekly summary: September 1-7

Books read 6


Total books. 109
Best book read this week; The Manor

Currently reading
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively

Books started but not currently reading:
Melancholy of Resistance, 2024
Joseph and his Brothers 2024
Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson
Fall on Your Knees
These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for me to return

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
Ezekial 21-39
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life - Hoopla

Books acquired this week

On Deck
Last Days of Summer

Holds on the following
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes
Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel
The Killer Angel - Michael Shaara (audio)
A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
Coast Road - Alan Murrin
Real Americans - Rachel Khong
A History of Burning - Janika Oza
Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner
Trust - Hernan Diaz

109.

Book The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
Format: audio/Kindle
Original publication date: 1986
Acquisition date/place: September 2024
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: old age meets up in Wales
Challenge(s): Reading 1001, Word event
Author: UK
List book: 1001, Booker
Genre fiction
Liked: liked the setting, liked some of the characters, its about Wales and holding onto its culture
Disliked: drinking, lying, cheating

You've got some great books on deck, Kristel. I really enjoyed Coast Road and A History of Burning. I've enjoyed several books byPenelope Lively too.

>183 vancouverdeb:. Good morning Deborah. Thanks for stopping by. I am sure that those great books have been BB from you. Have a great week of reading.

110.
Book Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
Format: audio
Original publication date: 1987
Acquisition date/place: May 2023
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.8 stars
Book description/summary: mosquito coil leaves ashes
Challenge(s): BAC, Booker
Author: British, 91 y/o
List book:
Booker Prize (Winner – 1987)
Golden Man Booker Prize (Shortlist – 1980s)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist – Fiction – 1988)
500 Great Books by Women (Growing Old)
Between the Covers (Series 5 – 2022)
Feminista's 100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women
Uncovered Classics (1980s)
Genre fiction, epistemology
Liked: I like books about time, memory
Disliked: annoying woman

111.
Book Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1998
Acquisition date/place: Sept 2024, Hoopla
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: a book with a cause
Challenge(s): WCBC read September 2024
Author: US
List book: no
Genre fiction, coming of age, historical fiction
Liked: It was cute and sad
Disliked: predictable

112.
Book This Book Betrays My Brother - Kagiso Lesego Molope
Format: audio
Original publication date: 2018
Acquisition date/place: 221/AudioSync
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: gender gaps in the family
Challenge(s): TIOLI challenge/Sept
Author: South African/Canada
List book: no
Genre young adult
Liked: main character grows
Disliked: initially I did not connect with the main character.

Looks like you have been doing some good reading, Kristel! I hope that continues for the rest of the month.

>188 alcottacre:, so glad to see you've dropped by. Have a great weekend.

It's my birthday today. The day I was born in Minnesota.
Weather; 09/13/1953 High 44 Low 33 (Today the weather is low of 59 and a high of 83. Minnesota is having a wonderful September.
President was Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Minnesota governor: C. Elmer Anderson
Nikita Krushchev named Secretary General of USSR
#1 song in the US was Eh, Cumpari! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utd_D4tbQTY.
#1 movie, Mogambo
# 1 book, best seller The Robe - Lloyd C. Douglas
Farenheit 451 (SF)
National Book Award: Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Pulitzer: The Old Man and the Sea.
Life Magazine cover.



Currently reading
The Killer Angels
The Night in Lisbon

Happy birthday! So interesting to see the history. May this be your best year yet!

Karen O

>191 klobrien2:, Thank you Karen. Have a great weekend. Minnesota is having lovely weather!

Happy Birthday, Kristel! 🥳🎂

>193 vancouverdeb:, Thank you Deborah.

You rated Moon Tiger about the same as I did , for me , 3.5 . I really enjoyed a some of of her other books, How it All Began, The Photograph and Family Album. They may be hard to find know, as they are older books.

>195 vancouverdeb:, Deborah, I checked on Hoopla Digital and they have quite a few Penelope Lively books including Family Album, But I did not see How it All Began or The Photograph. Audible has How It All Began and the Photograph. It seems she is quite the productive writer.

Saturday morning. September has been just the best. My birthday was good. I did my gym trip but no pickleball. Picked up some friends and then we had a birthday luncheon at another person's home. Spent a great time talking and enjoying fellowship. I got home and my son was here and later my daughter and one granddaughter arrived. We went out for supper and spent more time talking about memories. It was a good birthday. I am happy that my daughter is starting to feel better. A ways to go but at least going the right direction.

>190 Kristelh: Happy belated birthday, Kristel!

I have both The Killer Angels and The Night in Lisbon on tap to read this month too, I am just trying to get some of my "big" books out of the way first. I will be curious to see what you think of them.

>197 Kristelh: I am glad to hear that you are having such a great September!

Summary: Week of September 8-14
Books read 4


Best book this week was Moon Tiger, 4 stars

YTD total: 113.

Currently reading
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
The Night in Lisbon - Erich Maria Remarque
Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life - Donald S. Whitney

Books started but not currently reading:
Melancholy of Resistance, 2024
Joseph and his Brothers 2024
Pilgramages by Dorothy Richardson
Fall on Your Knees
These are books I've started over the years and just waiting for me to return

Berean Study Bible; reading chronologically
Ezekial 40-48
Joel
Daniel 1-9

Books acquired this week
The Thinking Reed - Rebecca West. 1001
The Making of Americans - Gertrude Stein, 1001

On Deck
Census - Jesse Ball
Claire of the Sea
When Morning Comes

Holds on the following
Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes ~ 2 weeks
The Killer Angel - Michael Shaara (audio) ~ 6 weeks
A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway ~ 8 weeks
Coast Road - Alan Murrin ~ 2 weeks
Real Americans - Rachel Khong ~ 2 weeks
A History of Burning - Janika Oza ~ 2 weeks
Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner ~ available soon
Trust - Hernan Diaz ~ 5 weeks

This week I added another year.
I will leave on a bus trip on Friday, so reading and on line time may be reduced.

113.
Book Headshot - Rita Bullwinkel
Format: audio
Original publication date: 2024
Acquisition date/place: September, Libby
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: girl pugilists
Challenge(s): reading Booker Longlist
Author: US author
List book: Booker Longlist
Genre literary fiction, sports
Liked: I liked the idea of boxing tournament of girls
Disliked: never really feel connected to any of characters. No plot.

It’s Monday. Currently reading, The Night in Lisbon which I will finish very soon. Still working on The Killer Angels which I would like to finish before I leave on my bus tour. Lots to get done before I leave.

>198 alcottacre:, Hi Stasia. I added The Night in Lisbon because it is a shared read with you and wasn’t sure that I was boing to get to A Moveable Feast. The Killer Angels had been a planned read for this month as well. I will look forward to your thoughts.

Booker short list 2024
James - Percival Everett READ
Orbital - Samantha Harver
Creation Lake - Rachel Kushner HOLD
Held - Anne Michaels
Safekeep - Yael van DER Woulden READ
Stone Yard Devotional - Charlotte Wood

114.
Book The Night in Lisbon - Erich Maria Remarque
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1962
Acquisition date/place: September 2024/Hoopla Digital
Decimal/ Star rating: 3 stars
Book description/summary: German refugee at start of WWII
Challenge(s): memoriam for AnitaF
Author: German
List book: no
Genre fiction, realistic, frame story
Liked: interesting about German refugees, the author was a German refugees and he wrote this story loosely based on his friend Hans Habe
Disliked: it kind of seems just a bit unbelievable and maybe detracts from the horrors of Jewish concentration camps

115.
Book Claire of the Sea Light
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date/place: September, Hoopla
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars or higher
Book description/summary: blurry line between life and death
Challenge(s): read a book set on Island
Author: Haiti/American
List book: it won some recognition
Genre connected stories
Liked: blurred lines between life and death, I liked them yet...
Disliked: it was disjointed

For some reason I thought you had read Enlightenment as well, Kristel, but take it from me, don't bother. It's an examination of a strict Baptist sect, among others things, so I had a hopes for it, but no. I just returned Orbital and Headshot to the library. I decided I am just going to read whatever grabs me, and then get to James and also Stoneyard Devotional, once my library gets it.

>206 vancouverdeb:. Deborah, I would be hopeful too about a strict Baptist sect but I am sure it is pretty negative. I am hearing some positives about Stoneyard.

116.

Book When Morning Comes
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date/place: AudioFile Sync, 5/13/2022
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars
Book description/summary: 1976, South Africa, student protest, apartheid
Challenge(s): TIOLI
Author: India/Canada
List book: no
Genre historical fiction
Liked: I liked that I learned something new
Disliked: 4 POV sometimes confusing

Thursday. I leave on my bus tour tomorrow so need to finish up things, pack and be ready for early pick-up tommorrow morning.
Currently reading
Census - Jesse Ball, over half way done
The Killer Angels, 66% done.

Not sure how much I will be on line between now and the 29th of September but I will be checking in when I can. Reading when I can.

>209 Kristelh: Can I ask where you're going? How exciting, to be going on a tour. Best wishes for a great time!

Karen O

>210 klobrien2:. The trip is called the Gospel Road. We will be going to Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennesee; Private dinner concert with the Kramers, The Ark Encounter, Samaritans Purse, Billy Graham Library and Homestead, National Quartet Convention, Biblical Times Dinner Theatre and the Shrine of Christ's Passion. Traveling with a bunch of people that I know.

My dog is not happy though. She is moping around.

>211 Kristelh: Poor puppy! But she’ll be so happy to see you when you get home.

The tour sounds great! Is “National Quartet Convention” as in gospel quartets? You’ll hear some great music.

We’ll miss you, but you’ll have a great time!

Karen O

117.
Book Census - Jesse Ball
Format: book/audio
Original publication date: 2018
Acquisition date/place: 2018, signed copy, Indiespensible
Decimal/ Star rating: 4 stars for structure
Book description/summary: domestic fiction, dystopic atmosphere
Challenge(s): TIOLI #1
Author: US
List book: no
Genre domestic, dystopia
Liked: I liked some of the thoughts expressed
Disliked:there is no way this can end well

The Gospel Tour sounds really enjoyable. I'm sure you will have fun and find it very interesting, Kristel. I suppose Enlightenment wasn't positive about the strict Baptist sect, but the main problems for me were all the astronomy included, and how the plot really wandered around. I never felt particularity connected to any of the characters either.

>204 Kristelh: No star rating for that one?

>205 Kristelh: I have not read that one by Edwidge Danticat. I will have to see if I can track down a copy. Thanks for the recommendation, Kristel!

>208 Kristelh: I wonder if reading the book rather than listening to it might cut down on the confusion. What do you think?

>209 Kristelh: Have a great time on your tour, Kristel! The itinerary looks great.

Saturday summary, I read 4 books this week. Reading has slowed up on my trip.
I am still trying to finish The Killer Angels and hopeful that I will. I started Maybe you Should Talk to Someone and I have Trust in and Real Americans.

So far have eaten a lot. Yesterday had a private performance with the Kramer. Today we did the Creation Museum. Tomorrow its the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and another concert.

>215 alcottacre:, Stasia, I think that I saw a review where even reading it left it a bit confusing.
I added my rating, missed it some how. Thanks for drawing my attention. I know you have a tech free Sunday. enjoy your Sunday. I am currently in Kentucky.