Reading Challenge/Goals for 2023--2024 link added

[Wood Nymph]

05/30 - The Neon Rain - by James Lee Burke

The main character is a detective in New Orleans and a Vietnam war veteran. The book was published in 1987 and I think the setting of the book would be the same time period. I was familiar with his references to the war in Vietnam and the My Lai incident because it was going on while I was growing up. I have a vivid memory of seeing footage from that war on the nightly news. Oddly enough, our family had gone to New Orleans on vacation around the time the book was published. The trolley was still running through the garden district when we were there. So, I had a lot of familiarity with the time period.

It was a very well written book, but it was a little too gritty for me.

 

[sdk1231]

05/30 - The Neon Rain - by James Lee Burke

The main character is a detective in New Orleans and a Vietnam war veteran. The book was published in 1987 and I think the setting of the book would be the same time period. I was familiar with his references to the war in Vietnam and the My Lai incident because it was going on while I was growing up. I have a vivid memory of seeing footage from that war on the nightly news. Oddly enough, our family had gone to New Orleans on vacation around the time the book was published. The trolley was still running through the garden district when we were there. So, I had a lot of familiarity with the time period.

It was a very well written book, but it was a little too gritty for me.

I've read the entire Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. It's one of my favorites. My dog is named Cletus (after Robicheaux's sidekick Clete Purcell). I've been to New Iberia (JLB's old hometown) many times.

As you noted, Robicheaux is a New Orleans detective in Book 1 of the series, The Neon Rain. In book 2, Robicheaux quits the NOLA PD and moves to New Iberia, a very small town in Louisiana along the Bayou Teche. There are about 40 Dave Robicheaux books in the series and the main character, his family and sidekicks age in real time. Settings and events are likewise typically done in real time. Example: The Tin Roof Blowdown, written in 2007, deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The books get more and more lyric and poetic in terms of the author's writing style. However, despite the evolution in the setting and the character's age (I think he's about 80 years old in the last books), the "gritty" aspect of these books remains throughout. If that was not to your liking, I wouldn't necessarily recommend you carry on with the series.

On my own "grit" scale, I find the Robicheaux books to be much less gritty than, say, John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series (another series I read and liked).

 

[Allison Joy]

Okay. I don't think I ever posted book 1.

So 1 and 2 are books 3 and 4 of a 6 book series.

1/15 - Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card - much better after reading both the first two in the series. I thought I had tried to read this earlier, but I think I just saw the first page or two and gave up. Except I remember the book starting different and remember the reason I stopped reading after a couple of pages differently too. So... I don't know? Anyway, I finished it and enjoyed it enough to continue on in the series.

2/15 - Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card -- Very good, but admittedly a bit confused as to when/how it ended. It seems that one character was completely forgotten about that you don't get an update on? So I don't know if the next book in the series goes back in time a bit, from a different view, or what. I guess I'll see??

 

[Colleen27]

#5/104 - The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

A friend in a travel group recommended this one, so against my better judgment, I picked it up from the library. I usually hate self-help/motivational books so I didn't have super high expectations, but she made it sound interesting. And it actually was. Not very deep or particularly insightful, but the people featured as the author made his case for the importance of a "quest" to give meaning to life were often fascinating and some of the ideas did help me think differently about a project I'm in the process of reassessing. I'd rate it above average for a largely mediocre genre, and particularly likely to be of use to someone feeling at loose ends or looking for a change without really knowing what they'd like to pursue next.

#6-8 - Serpent & Dove, Blood & Honey, Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

A YA trilogy set in a world where magic and many mythological creatures exist but are persecuted by an armed force under the control of the church, this series started out really strong but faded out in the second and third books into a rambling set of misadventures that ended up plodding along, not badly enough to make me give up on wanting to know how it all worked out in the end but enough to leave me feeling like the story arc was dragged out unnecessarily. Kind of that same feeling you get when a movie runs about 30 minutes longer than the content really called for, you know? Not a bad read but not particularly satisfying either.

#9 - The Way Home by Mark Boyle

This one was directly inspired by the fact that Boyle is one of the more interesting characters featured in the Happiness of Pursuit. That book mentioned his quest to live without money, but this one is the story of his relocating to Ireland and establishing a homestead without the use of technology. I was hooked right from the start, not least because he undertook this project very nearby to where my own Irish ancestors came from, a place that I spent some time last summer and look forward to visiting again. The book surprised me in a number of ways but I think maybe the most interesting was that his writing style felt different, as though writing on paper and working on the book day by day around the doing of other tasks actually created a different flow than working on a computer does. Even compared to the same author's writing in columns I've read about his moneyless project, it had a different tone. Beyond that, I thought his assessment of both the pros and cons of this unusual lifestyle and his reflections along the way on how modern life changes the way we think and interact were refreshingly honest and occasionally brilliantly insightful without being pointlessly nostalgic or romanticizing the difficulties of going without modern conveniences.

#10 - Overground Railroad by Candacy Taylor

I've been looking forward to this one for a while, but it took a bit for my turn to come up on the library request list. The book is a history of The Green Book, a guide put out for Black drivers and travelers during the segregation era, and with it the history of much of early/mid 20th century America. It makes for a compelling story that puts a lot of the major events and trends in that history into context, both in how they relate to one another and how they shape the current moment. It is very much a double-sided narrative, in the way Taylor presents evils of segregation and the violence used to enforce it but also honors the many Black-owned and desegregated businesses that sprung up to meet the needs of people excluded from so much of the commercial mainstream. I really enjoyed it, and jotted down a few of the former Green Book sites that are still in business to visit myself on an upcoming drive cross country.

 

[DisneyDebbie]

I just finished a book that I really liked. It's not my usual style- Lucky Man: A Memoir by Michael J Fox. I loved his acting career growing up, and it was interesting to read some behind the scenes detail. But I now appreciate his life story. As this is an older book, I see there are some follow up books I will look into reading as well.

 

[willowsnn3]

I just finished a book that I really liked. It's not my usual style- Lucky Man: A Memoir by Michael J Fox. I loved his acting career growing up, and it was interesting to read some behind the scenes detail. But I now appreciate his life story. As this is an older book, I see there are some follow up books I will look into reading as well.

Glad to see you here.
I love Michael J Fox

 

[bobbiwoz]

….

#10 - Overground Railroad by Candacy Taylor

I've been looking forward to this one for a while, but it took a bit for my turn to come up on the library request list. The book is a history of The Green Book, a guide put out for Black drivers and travelers during the segregation era, and with it the history of much of early/mid 20th century America. It makes for a compelling story that puts a lot of the major events and trends in that history into context, both in how they relate to one another and how they shape the current moment. It is very much a double-sided narrative, in the way Taylor presents evils of segregation and the violence used to enforce it but also honors the many Black-owned and desegregated businesses that sprung up to meet the needs of people excluded from so much of the commercial mainstream. I really enjoyed it, and jotted down a few of the former Green Book sites that are still in business to visit myself on an upcoming drive cross country.

This looks interesting, and I put a hold on it.

 

[willowsnn3]

#12/50 The Maid by Nita Prose
From Goodreads:
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. She throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle.
I really did not care a lot for this one. The first few pages seemed so familiar, like something I had tried to read before but put down. It did turn out better midway thru but not anything I could recommend.

 

[willowsnn3]

This looks interesting, and I put a hold on it.

Re: Overground Railroad.
Same here.

 

[KevM]

Ok, not going to get another book finished between now and tomorrow, so my February reads were:

22) With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism by Laura L. Lovett – Biography/Feminism/Race. 4/5

23) Dorothy Porter Wesley at Howard University: Building a Legacy of Black History by Janet L. Sims-Wood – Biography. 4/5

24) Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn't Built for Us by Alison Desir – Memoir/Sport/Race. 5/5.

25) Frank Hart: The First Black Ultrarunning Star by Davy Crockett – Biography/Sport. 4/5

26) Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler – Dystopian/Speculative Fiction. 4/5.

27) Acolytes: Poems by Nikki Giovanni – Poetry. 4.5/5

28) Attucks! How Crispus Attucks Basketball Broke Racial Barriers and Jolted the World by Phillip Hoose – History/Sports/Race. 4,5/5

29) The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein – History/Politics/Race. 4.75/5.

30) A Voice from Harper's Ferry by Osborne Perry Anderson – Memoir. 4/5.

31) The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle – Horror. 3.5/5.

32) A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett – Memoir/Social Justice/Race. 5/5

33) Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds – YA Romance. 4/5.

34) Plum Bun by Jessie Redmon Fauset – Classic/Race. 4/5.

35) She Memes Well: Essays by Quinta Brunson – Essays/Memoir. 4.25/5.

36) The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia by Matthew F. Delmont – History/Music/Race. 4/5.

37) Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul by Leila Taylor – Memoir/History/Race. 4.5/5.

38) Black Women Writers at Work edited by Claudia Tate – Feminism/Race. 4.5/5.

39) Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi – YA/Short Stories/Race. 4.25/5.

40) The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison – Essays/Feminism/Race. 4.5/5

41) Unexpected, A Holiday Short by D. L. White – Contemporary Romance/Novella. 4/5.

42) Lead Me Astray by Sondi Warner – Fantasy/Romance. 3/5

43) A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney – YA Fantasy. 4/5.

44) Pride by Ibi Zoboi – YA/Contemporary Romance. 4/5.

 

[bobbiwoz]

18/75. I sent this text to my friends.

I just finished reading a book “Plain Wisdom.” It’s described on the cover as “…a heartwarming celebration of God, womanhood, and the search for beauty that unites us all…”
It is written by two friends. Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times best selling author and Miriam Flaudis an Old Order Amish woman who has lived within one of the most structured societies in the United States.

It was written in 2011, so not new and maybe one of you have read it. It spoke to me, and I enjoyed it and recommend it! My library had it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

7/26 - Flying Solo by Linda Holmes - 4/5 stars. I really liked the book, it was a quick read with a somewhat predictable ending.

Summary from Amazon:
Smarting from her recently canceled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety-three. Alongside boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.”

Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck—and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and her first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her own past and her future—and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo.

With a cast of unforgettable characters and a heroine you will root for from page one, Flying Solo is a wonderfully original story about growing up, coming home, and learning to make a life for yourself on your own terms.

 

[tiggrbaby]

04/30 Personal Librarian - by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murry - 4 out of 5

This book felt like two books in one, maybe because it was written by two authors. It is the story of the woman who was key to creating the library for J.P. Morgan starting in 1904. Belle da Costa Greene was an amazing woman and the fact that she was a woman who was able to do what she did in a male dominated world spoke very highly of her abilities. The fact that she was a black woman living as a white woman was really a second story. This is historical fiction mixed with as many true facts as they could uncover. Her father was the first black man to graduate from Harvard University and was very active in the civil rights movement. I learned a lot about the period.

I was fascinated by the historical facts but felt the fictional life of Belle was a little less exciting, but totally believable.

Loved this book! Went to see the museum in NYC with some friends who also read the book.

#11/50 Long Shadows by David Baldacci
Things are changing for Decker. He’s in crisis following the suicide of a close friend and receipt of a letter concerning a personal issue which could change his life forever. Together with the prospect of working with a new partner, Frederica White, Amos knows that this case will take all of his special skills to solve.
Judge Julia Cummins seemingly had no enemies, and there was no forced entry to her property. Close friends and neighbours in the community apparently heard nothing, and Cummins’ distraught ex-husband, Barry, and teenage son, Tyler, both have strong alibis. Decker must first find the answer to why the judge felt the need for a bodyguard, and the meaning behind the strange calling card left by the killer.
This is book 7 in the Amos Decker/Memory Man series. I was so excited when I saw it on the shelf at my library. This is another one of my favorite book series but I was very disappointed in this one. Such a let down, hopefully the next in the series will be better.

I found the first few books good, then thought they went downhill.
Saw him speak two weeks ago. He was very funny! Said that his Atlee Pine series has been optioned, but doesn't know if anything will come from it.

 

[tiggrbaby]

February:
#6/40: The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman (3/5) (historical fiction)

Sage has mourned the death of her identical twin, Rosemary, for the past six years. Her life is empty as her father vanished, her mother died, and her step-father resents her presence. She is shocked to learn that Rosemary has been alive and in the institution Willowbrook all this time, and is now missing. Sage secretly heads to Willowbrrok to try and locate her sister, but in a case of mistaken identity, is now a resident of this house of horrors.

#7/40: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (4/5) (historical fiction)

Esme spends her childhood in an Oxford garden shed with her father and other men who are compiling words for the first Oxford English Dictionary. As she matures, she realizes that words relating to women often go unrecorded, so she decides to create her own dictionary of lost words.

Inspired by actual events.

#8/40: The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd (4.5/5) (historical fiction)

In 1739 Eliza Lucas was left to run the three family plantations in South Carolina. Her father has stretched the finances to the breaking point to fund his military ambitions, and her mother hopes that the venture will fail so they can return to England. But young Eliza has heard about how much the French will pay for indigo, and makes it her mission to cultivate this difficult crop.

Based on historical documents and Eliza’s own letters.

#9/40:A Mariner’s Tale by Joe Palmer (3.5/5) (fiction)

Jack Merkel has recently started finishing the sailboat that he had started with his wife and son. But a young man breaks into Jack’s marina and vandalizes the boat for no apparent reason. But Jack sees something in the young man, and convinces the judge to work off his punishment by helping Jack finish the boat. Meanwhile, a beautiful woman arrives with a yacht that needs repairs, and a deadly hurricane takes aim at the island.

#10/40: The Last Green Valley by Mark T. Sullivan (4.5/5) (historical fiction)

1944: The Martel family has lived for generations in Ukraine, but are of German blood. They must make a great decision: stay in their village as Stalin’s forces approach, or follow the Nazis who have pledged to protect the pure-blood Germans?

This story was inspired by the incredible courage and perseverance of a real family.

#11/40: Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff (3/5) (historical fiction)

Hannah Martel has escaped Nazi Germany, but her ship is turned away from America. With no where else to go, she heads to her cousin Lily in Brussels. Hannah joins a secret resistance network, the Sapphire Line. A mistake causes Lily and her family to be arrested and deported to Auschwitz. Hannah is torn between her loyalties.

 

[willowsnn3]

18/75. I sent this text to my friends.

I just finished reading a book “Plain Wisdom.” It’s described on the cover as “…a heartwarming celebration of God, womanhood, and the search for beauty that unites us all…”
It is written by two friends. Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times best selling author and Miriam Flaudis an Old Order Amish woman who has lived within one of the most structured societies in the United States.

It was written in 2011, so not new and maybe one of you have read it. It spoke to me, and I enjoyed it and recommend it! My library had it.

Sounds good. Will have to see if my library has it.

 

[mrs. magoo]

8/30 - The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate

From Good Reads:
When successful New York editor Jen Gibbs discovers a decaying slush-pile manuscript on her desk, she has no idea that the story of Sarra, a young mixed-race woman trapped in Appalachia at the turn of the twentieth century, will both take her on a journey and change her forever. Happy with her life in the city, and at the top of her career with a new job at Vida House Publishing, Jen has left her Appalachian past and twisted family ties far behind. But the search for the rest of the manuscript, and Jen's suspicions about the identity of its unnamed author, will draw her into a mystery that leads back to the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains . . . and quite possibly through the doors she thought she had closed forever.

I really enjoyed this book. In fact I could not just listen to it on my walk. I had to finish it up during my free period at school. It was a freebie on audible. I was so intrigued by the story of both Jen and Sarra. I discovered Lisa Wingate when I read Before we were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends. There was a bit of a Christian undertone to the book with Jen being in what I would consider a Christian Cult as a child and then Sarra with her Cherokee and Catholic ideas but overall that did not bother me.

I would give this one 4 out 5.

 

[mrs. magoo]

#8/40: The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd (4.5/5) (historical fiction)

In 1739 Eliza Lucas was left to run the three family plantations in South Carolina. Her father has stretched the finances to the breaking point to fund his military ambitions, and her mother hopes that the venture will fail so they can return to England. But young Eliza has heard about how much the French will pay for indigo, and makes it her mission to cultivate this difficult crop.

Based on historical documents and Eliza’s own letters.

I really liked this book as well. It has been free on audible for a while but I finally decided to listen to it in January. I always judge a historical fiction by how much it causes me to research the events or people and I spent an entire afternoon researching Eliza Lucas Pickney so it intrigued me enough to even look up where her plantations were located.

 

[melk]

6/35 The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

Nonfiction exploration of the world of octopuses (not octopi…learned that on the first page!), their intelligence, problem solving, camouflage techniques, and sociability.

After enjoying Remarkably Bright Creatures last year my friend recommended this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The octopus has got to be one of the most fascinating creatures on earth and their intelligence blows my mind. While the author observed some in the wild, in places like Moorea and Cozumel, the majority of the book takes place observing the octopuses at the New England Aquarium. I’ve visited that aquarium several times over the years with my kids but now I want to go back specifically to see the octopuses!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I always judge a historical fiction by how much it causes me to research the events or people and I spent an entire afternoon researching Eliza Lucas Pickney so it intrigued me enough to even look up where her plantations were located.

I will do research on historical figures and facts about the period, too. It is part of the fun.

 

[Beezle2]

I'm late to the party but I would love to join! I'll set my goal at 75 for the year. I'll make a list of what I have read so far this year a bit later.