Stacy's (LittleTaiko) 2021 Battle of the Sexes

Hello!

Welcome to my battle of the sexes for 2021. Not really much of a battle since when it comes to reading everything is a win. I'm using my tried and true categories this year but this time I'm splitting them between female and male authors. Not so much of a challenge but an experiment to see who I'm reading. My sub category headings will be from books or characters that I've enjoyed.

I'm Stacy, an accountant for a regional theater living in Dallas where for 10 months of the year I enjoy it and for 2 months (July and August) I get a bit cranky due to the heat. Besides reading, I'm a huge fan of watching professional tennis and cycling, walking, yoga, and indoor rowing. I'm also an often frustrated gardener who has enough small successes to keep on plugging away.

I'll be participating in the BingoDog and some of the CAT's and KIT's as usual.

Ratings:

1 Star - Didn't like at all or did not finish
2 Stars - It's okay but not something I would recommend.
3 Stars - I liked it but may or may not recommend it
4 Stars - Really liked it and am happy that I spent time reading it
5 Stars - Loved it and the whole world should read it too

Mysteries & Thrillers - Poirot vs. Miss Marple

Miss Marple's Final Cases
1. Aunt Bessie Tries by Diana Xarissa (3 stars)
2. Bitter Season by Tami Hoag (3 stars)
3. Images by Lauri Broadbent (3 stars)
4. Murder in the Reading Room by Ellery Adams (2 stars)
5. The Widow by Fiona Barton (3 stars)
6. Aunt Bessie Understands by Diana Xarissa (3 stars)
7. Shucked Apart by Barbara Ross (4 stars)
8. The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan (4 stars)
9. Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (4 stars)
10. A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones (4 stars)
11. Old Moorhen's Shredded Sporran by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
12. Trick or Threat by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
13. Caribbean Sunset with a Yellow Parrot by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
14. God Rob Ye Merry Gentlemen by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
15. A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George (3 stars)
16. Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

Poirot Investigates
1. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (4 stars)
2. Hag's Nook by John Dickson Carr (3 stars)
3. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (4 stars)
4. Win by Harlan Coben (3 stars)
5.

Historical Mysteries & Thrillers - Sherlock vs. The Anatomist's Wife

The Anatomist's Wife
1. Murder on the SS Rosa by Lee Strauss (3 stars)
2. A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (4 stars)
3. Murder at Hartigan House by Lee Strauss (3 stars)
4. Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley (3 stars)
5. A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (4 stars)
6. Mrs. Jeffries Demands Justice by Emily Brightwell (4 stars)
7. Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott (4 stars)
8. Murder Flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott (4 stars)
9. Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (4 stars)
10. A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden (4 stars)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1. An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch (4 stars)
2. The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T E Kinsey (4 stars)
3.
4.
5.

Fiction - Still Alice vs. A Man Called Ove

Still Alice
1. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott (3 stars)
2. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg (3 stars)
3. Peas, Carrots, and an Aston Martin by Hannah Lynn (3 stars)
4. Mingham Air by Elizabeth Fair (4 stars)
5. The Late Bloomers' Club by Louise Miller (4 stars)
6. How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior (3 stars)
7. A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler (3 stars)
8. Silver Bay by JoJo Moyes (4 stars)

A Man Called Ove
1. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (4 stars)
2. Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen (3 stars)
3.
4.
5.

Historical Fiction - Jeeves vs. And Ladies of the Club

And Ladies of the Club
1. The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio (3 stars)
2. All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams (3 stars)
3. Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister (3 stars)
4.
5.

My Man Jeeves
1. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (4 stars)
2.
3.
4.
5.

Classic - Emma vs. The Count of Monte Cristo

Emma
1. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (3 stars)
2.
3.
4.
5.

The Count of Monte Cristo
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Non-fiction - The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street vs. The Boys in the Boat

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
1. The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball (4 stars)
2. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (5 stars)
3. Code Girls by Liza Mundy (3 stars)
4.
5.

The Boys in the Boat
1. The Red Rose Crew by Daniel J. Boyne (4 stars)
2. Pigeons by Andrew Blechman (3 stars)
3. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker (4 stars)
4. A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa (4 stars)
5.

Other - All About Emily vs. The Martian

All About Emily
1. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (4 stars)
2.
3.
4.
5.

The Martian
1. Kim's Convenience by Ins Choi (4 stars)
2.
3.
4.
5.

BingoDOG



- possibilities
- read
1. One-word title - Images
2. By or about a marginalized group - The Gaugin Connection
3. Dark or light in title - The Light of the Fireflies
4. Book with a character you think you'd like to have as a friend - The Dirty Life
5. Arts and recreation (would cover the original suggestions "focus on art", "features a theatre", "games and sports", and "about a writer") - The Muralist
6. Book with a title that describes you - A Useful Woman
7. Book you heartily recommend - An Extravagant Death
8. A book about nature or the environment (includes the sea) - Pigeons
9. Classical element in title (Western: earth, air, wind, fire, aether/void. Chinese: wood, fire, earth, metal, water) - The Mingham Air
10. Book by two or more authors - All the Ways We Said Goodbye
11. Impulse read! - Kim's Convenience
12. Book with a love story in it - The Price of Paradise
13. Read a CAT or KIT - The Red Rose Crew
14. Set in or author from the Southern Hemisphere - Picnic at Hanging Rock
15. A book that made you laugh - Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
16. Suggested by a person from another generation - Silence of the Lambs
17. Author you haven’t read before - Murder on the SS Rosa
18. Set somewhere you’d like to visit - The Late Bloomers' Club
19. Book about history or alternate history - Code Girls
20. Book you share with 20 or fewer members on LT - Peas, Carrots, and an Aston Martin
21. Book less than 200 pages - A River in Darkness
22. Senior citizen as the protagonist - Aunt Bessie Tries
23. Book with the name of a building in the title - The Midnight Library
24. Time word in title or time is the subject (I'd include time travel in this square!) - The Ninth Hour
25. Book with or about magic - Harry's Trees

Welcome!

Excellent idea! I've been listing my female authors for a few years now, to see what I read overall. The idea that you'll read more of one over the other in certain subjects is mot intriguing. Good luck and a battle you know you're going to win, regardless of who comes out on top, is a perfect outcome. >:-)

This looks like a fun challenge and, as you said, as long as the books are good - youre a winner! Dropping my star and looking forward to following along.

Great idea for a theme! Looking forward to seeing how the battle pans out :)

Love your subtitles - so inventive. I'll be following along.

Great idea and nice categories!

It will be interesting to see the spread in each category! Looking forward to following along.

What a brilliant idea! I'm keeping an eye on numbers for male and female authors read, and also bought - I think once I've cleared Mt TBR (hahahahaha) I'll be more equal, as I seem to be buying a similar amount of male and female authors now. This year I've read more men still, but hopefully the ratio will veer closer to equality in the coming year. Dropping my star to see how you do!

This looks like fun. I'll be avidly watching from the ringside.

Great idea for your theme! I keep track of the number of male and female authors I read but it's a clever idea to base your reading on a contest. Guaranteed a win/win result.

>11 Helenliz: - Just doing a quick scan of my shelves has me thinking that I will read more historical mysteries by women than men. I'm really curious to see how the rest of it plays out though.

>12 DeltaQueen50:, >13 rabbitprincess:, >14 dudes22:, >15 Tess_W:, >16 NinieB:, >18 MissWatson:, >19 VivienneR: - Thank you! I'm quite interested to see what the "score" is at the end of the year.

>17 Jackie_K: - Ha! Good luck with that clearing of MT TBR! I think I've just decided to own the idea that I have shelf space for a certain number of books, as soon as I read a few of them and space opens up it just means I need to buy some replacement books. :)

Interesting plan, but it wouldn't work for me. 6 of 78 authors so far this year are female. I don't read a lot of male authors.

Great category choices, Stacy. Glad you found something that works well for you and I hope you have a wonderful year of reading.

Happy new thread, Stacy! I wish you much luck in your challenge.
And I too am an avid walker who has had just the bare minimum of success with gardening but I'm really, really determined to keep my plants alive this coming year!

An interesting way to set up your challenge for next year.

Interested to see who wins your battle!

Looking forward to seeing how you fill all those categories this year!

Oh this is going to be fun. I loved seeing The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street on your non-fiction list and I look forward to seeing what great mysteries you read this year.

I live in Arkansas and when our temps get in the 105 and up range I think of my Houston cousins and it helps me feel cool!

Great setup, and I love your subcategories. Have fun!

I love this setup, so interesting! I hope you have a great reading year ahead!

>27 clue: This is so sad...now I'm answering own posts.

I thought I should tell you I know the differenc between Dallas and Houston, I've been to both many times. I'm retired now but when I was working I lived at DFW. I stand by my Houton comment, the weather there kills me in the summer. Dallas weather is pretty much like ours so not so bad. I hope you are enjoying the holdiay season and are ready to plunge into 2021.

Very fun set-up. I'm looking forward to seeing the battles play out.

Great idea! I find that some years my reading is more skewed towards one gender so looking forward to seeing how your categories fill out. Happy New Year!

I read The White Darkness by David Grann, which you recced to me as a book for the GeoKIT Polar category and I enjoyed it. Thank you again!

If you want to read my review I put it on my personal thread and on the book's page:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/326880#7370318

https://www.librarything.com/work/21730466/book/194075960

Welcome everyone - I'm finally starting 2021.

>33 spiralsheep: - Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

1. Murder on the SS Rosa by Lee Strauss (3 stars)

Cute novella that sets up a mystery series featuring a woman named Ginger, her friend Haley, and Ginger’s dog Boss. They are sailing to England to settle Ginger's fathers estate, however the trip becomes quite eventful when a dead body is discovered in a pickle barrel. With only a couple of days before they land, Ginger assisted the inspector on board. It was nice story, thought I felt a bit cheated by the solution as there were some specific details not shared with the reader until the end when Ginger is explaining what happened.

2. The Red Rose Crew by Daniel J. Boyne (4 stars)

Wonderful account of the first international women’s crew team from the United States. Loved the rowing insights and the determination of these women. It’s amazing the difficulties that they went through when Title IX had only recently been enacted. Lots of reluctance to fund an "unladylike" sport and plenty of resistance from some of the men crew teams. The women from Yale were treated particularly badly there.

>35 LittleTaiko: Always astonishing to remember how far and how fast women's sport has developed in the last few decades.

Another year, another failure to update my thread regularly. :) At least i'm consistent.

3. Kim's Convenience by Ins Choi (4 stars)

A complete impulse read! When I recently discovered that one of my favorite TV shows was actually based on a play, I knew I had to read it immediately. It was a fun read about the Canadian Korean Kim family and their lives that revolve around the convenience store they own. It helped to picture the actors from the show when reading the play as I could hear their voices. An added bonus was the information at the end about adapting the play to the screen.

4. Pigeons by Andrew Blechman (3 stars)

The subtitle sums this book up quite well - The Fascinating Sage of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird. I've never understood why some people don't like pigeons. My dad raised pigeons for a few years when I was growing up so they were some of my first pets. So while I appreciate pigeons, reading this book made me realize how much I didn't know about them. Nearly a million pigeons served in both world wars and saved thousands of soldiers' lives. They are super smart and loyal.

The book was strongest when talking about the pigeons themselves. It lost a little bit with some of the "wacky" pigeon owners. They were interesting but I'm not sure they represent the average pigeon enthusiast. There was also a rather disturbing chapter about pigeon shooting that I had to get through quickly.

5. Aunt Bessie Tries by Diana Xarissa (3 stars)

Aunt Bessie is asked to help an acquaintance prove that someone is trying to kill her. Fortunately she succeeds without anyone dying so that's nice. Usual group of people with lots of eating and rehashing the news. Enjoyable but maybe not one of the best in the series.

6. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (4 stars)

What if there was a way to see how your life would have turned out if only you had made other decisions? What if you could undo all the choices that you regret? Nora has that opportunity when she ends up in the Midnight Library. As she explores the various options she starts to see how her life has impacted others. It's a bit like It's a Wonderful Life but with more alternative tracks. Definitely made me think about a few choices I've made and wonder how life would have turned out.

7. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (3 stars)

A classic novel set in Australia full of eeriness and uncertainty. A group of boarding school girls and two chaperones go to Hanging Rock for a picnic one summer day. Four girls wander off to explore the rock but only one comes back. What happened to the other girls? The search for answers and the impact of event take dark turns. There was a really strong sense of place but I found the ambiguity quite frustrating.

After reading the book I discovered that the author had written a more conclusive final chapter. I'm not sure if I would have been happier knowing the truth or not when reading the book.

8. The Price of Paradise by Susana Lopez Rubio (3 stars)

Not only was this a love story about Patricio, an emigrant to Cuba from Spain, and Gloria, the beautiful wife of a Havana gangster, it's also a love story about Havana, the city. Patricio and Gloria were both strong characters and the story is told from both of their points of view. Equally entreating are Patricio's best friends who are as loyal as can be. Gloria's husband is truly cruel and vicious and the book maybe spends a bit too much time showing us exactly how cruel he can be. The story moves into soap opera territory with incredible coincidences and problems popping up left and right towards the end. However I really did enjoy the characters as well as learning more about Cuba before Castro came to power.

9. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott (3 stars)

This book was oh so good for the first two thirds and then it somehow became less engaging towards the end. It starts with the suicide of a young man in Brooklyn. He leaves behind his wife and their unborn child. Fortunately a nun from the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor is there to help and the widow and child are taken care of the nuns. I truly loved the nuns in this story and found them to be the most interesting. As the story turned more to Sally I lost interest. The writing while beautiful also tended to be a bit repetitive and sometimes hard to follow. Oh, I loved those nuns though.

10. A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (4 stars)

Lily and Leo's wedding plans need to be accelerated and fortunately George is quite happy to help out by offering a family estate for the event. There will already be some people there for a shooting party so what's a few more people? A series of accidents throws a wrench into the plans. How can there be a wedding when people are being poisoned, shot with arrows, etc...? Fortunately Frances is there to help sort it all out. Fun as usual and a series I enjoy.

>37 LittleTaiko: Kim's Convenience goes on my WL!

>37 LittleTaiko: I read Pigeons last year and really liked it even though I've had little to do with the birds myself. I thought the author went beyond what I was expecting.
Taking a hit for The Midnight Library. Glad you came back to post your reviews!

I've added Pigeons to my wishlist - as part of my own garden writing I want to write about the two pigeons that regularly visit my garden (and with whom I have quite a battle of wits!), so it would be really interesting to get a more positive take on them!

>38 Tess_W: - It was so fun to read. I saw it on Mathgirl's 2020 thread and had to read it immediately.

>39 mstrust: - They are amazing little creatures aren't they? Hope you enjoy Midnight Library when you get to it.

>40 Jackie_K: - I hope you and your two pigeons come to a truce. :)

11. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (4 stars)

Jeeves is there to save the day again when Wooster's attempts to patch up his friend's romantic woes goes awry as only which is part for the course. Laughed quite a bit as usual when reading a Wodehouse novel.

12. The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag (3 stars)

This is the fifth and apparently last in the the Kovac and Liska series. I haven't read any of the others but didn't feel like I was missing anything regarding the backstory. Lisa is part of a newly developed cold case unit and her first assignment is to investigate the murder of a former police officer. Kovac on the other hand is working a really gruesome murder involving a samurai sword. They eventually realize that the two cases are related.

The characters were well developed and I do enjoy a good police procedural. Not sure I completely bought in to most of the suspects reactions to any of the crimes. It seemed a bit over the top, but then again so was the violence.

13. Murder at Hartigan House by Lee Strauss (3 stars)

Super fast and enjoyable read. Fun way to while away a couple of hours. Fun characters and an okay mystery. So far with this series I'm definitely a fan of the characters, but the mystery aspect needs to be beefed up a bit. The solution seemed obvious but maybe that's just because I read so many of these things. :)

14. Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen (3 stars)

As a general rule there are two things that I don't enjoy in books: magical realism and precocious children. So it's an achievement that I actually rated this book 3 stars given my preferences. Harry is a widower who loves trees and feels guilty about his wife's death. Amanda is a widow and her young daughter Oriana is dealing with her grief with an obsessive interest in fairy tales. The first few chapters had me rolling my eyes but then I wrapped my ahead around the fact that it was supposed to a kind of fairy tale and went with it. The "bad" characters are ridiculous and the "good" characters are almost too good to be true. Loved Amanda as she was pretty much the only voice of reason in this book. Oh Olive and Ronnie won places in my heart as well. Happy that I read it mainly for a really lovely scene at the end involving the local library.

15. All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams (3 stars)

Three stories, three authors. France during 1914, 1942. and 1964 with the Ritz hotel the focus of all of the stories. Three strong women trying to figure out what they want from life and love.

16. Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley (3 stars)

Kat Holloway is back along with all of her friends. Several children seem to have disappeared from a local orphanage and one of the nurses from the orphanage has been murdered. The ending felt a bit off for me but I do like Kat and her straight-forward approach to life.

17. Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg (3 stars)

Hard to judge the book since I was already familiar with the movie. Granted it's been years since I've last seen it but I remember really enjoying it when it came out. Not sure the book has aged particularly well but it was still enjoyable enough.

18. A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (4 stars)

The second in the Lady Sherlock series felt more cohesive than the first one though so far they can be a bit overwhelming with lots of storylines occurring at the same time. While Charlotte Holmes is the main character, my favorite is her sister Lydia. Our temperaments seem more in line, though when it comes to food and sleep, Charlotte and I could be twins. “Charlotte, on the other hand, adhered to a rigorous schedule: She needed to be fed ‘round the clock and enjoyed her sleep almost as much as she enjoyed her food.”

19. Peas, Carrots, and an Aston Martin by Hannah Lynn (3 stars)

Eric Sibley is appalled when his dad dies and instead of leaving him his full estate only leaves him his beloved Aston Martin and a gardening allotment. The catch is that he has to maintain he allotment in order to keep the car. Through his rather amusing attempts to become a gardener, Eric starts to become more engaged with his family and life.

>43 LittleTaiko: Looks like you've been reading up a storm, but they've mostly been mediocre for you.

For me, 3 stars mean I like the book but I may or may not recommend it to someone, so overall I've been happy with my reading, but you're right - nothing is wowing me. Not sure if that's because for a few weeks I wasn't in the best of moods or not. I think I tend to start the year being stricter with my ratings for some odd reason.

On the bright side, I'm about to finish a cozy historical mystery in a series that I adore and it's definitely getting four stars unless it goes off the rails in the last quarter. :)

Have you seen that T.E. Kinsey has the first book in a new series out? Its one of Amazon's first reads this month. The series is apparently a spin-off from the Lady Hardcastle series, Inspector Sunderland is a character in it.

I have it and may work it in this month because I'm curious about it. I have only read 3 or 4 of the Lady Hardcastle books so I really don't need another series. I did wonder if he would write both series or drop Lady Hardacastle. I hope not!

>45 LittleTaiko: Good to hear you found something a little better.

>46 clue: I decided to go with After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore rather than the T. E. Kinsey this month. I haven't read enough of the Lady Hardcastle series to appreciate a spin-off.

I like your challenge setup. And it looks like you're reading at a good clip--I've managed only 9 books and not so many reviews. I'm impressed and look forward to following along.

>46 clue: - Yes! I was excited to see it and immediately downloaded it. It'll be one of my next Kindle reads. I believe it also involves some characters from the first book if I remember correctly.

>47 thornton37814: - Thanks. I've now read two in a row that were four stars so I seem to have found some books that hit the spot.

>48 justchris: - Thank you! So far it has been a nice steady clip. I'm about to have a nice long weekend with some snow and ice, a rarity in Dallas. Needless to say I'll be indoors most of the time with even more time for reading.

20. Mrs. Jeffries Demands Justice by Emily Brightwell (4 stars)

It's remarkable that this is book 39 in the series and I'm still enjoying them. This time, Inspector Nivens who is has been the nemesis of Inspector Witherspoon and the team finds himself in a bit of a pickle. His gun has been used to murder one of his informants. He's desperately needs Witherspoon to find the culprit. I enjoyed this one quite a bit with lots of proper clues and activity.

21. The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball (4 stars)

I think I'd like to be friends with Kristin. She was a confirmed city girl who happened to be assigned to write a story about farming in upstate New York. She fell in love with Mark, the farmer she was sent to interview. This memoir details their efforts to start their own farm. It covers the nitty and very gritty life behind a full fledged working farm - horses, cows, chickens, pigs, crops, hay, etc...

I grew up on a dairy farm so some of this I completely related to but there was still lots to learn. I'm in awe of all that they managed to accomplish. My favorite section was where she paid tribute to the beauty and character of cows. They are amazing animals.

What a great meet-cute for Kristin and her husband in The Dirty Life! I feel like that should 100% be a romantic comedy.

>50 LittleTaiko: the farm book goes on my WL!

Well, after a few days with the power going off and on, mainly off, things are slowly returning to normal here. Granted, Dallas weather being what it is, next week we're forecasted to have highs in the upper 60's and all of this snow will be a memory. At least I had some time read a couple of books.

>51 christina_reads: - Yes I could totally see that as a romcom premise. Especially since he's really, really adamant about everything being as natural as possible. He's also one heck of a cook which would work well in a movie.

>52 Tess_W: - Hope you enjoy it!

22. Images by Lauri Broadbent (3 stars)

The premise for this was quite interesting, what if a person suffering from brain cancer could be cured by grafting brain cells from a donor. What if the person receiving the cells suddenly started having memories that weren't his, but the donor? What if those memories indicated that somebody was going to be murdered? I liked the premise but the execution missed mainly because the characters were too cliche - beautiful damsels in distress, greedy relatives, etc...Still it kept me reading and was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

23. The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister (3 stars)

The setup of this is great - in 1853 Virginia Reeve has been asked to lead an all female team to the Arctic to try and find out what happened to the Franklin expedition. Lots of strong women exploring the Arctic - yes please.

Oh, I wanted to like this one better than I did. I enjoyed it, but I really wanted more Arctic fury and less Boston trial. The story alternates between a murder trial in Boston where Virginia stands accused of murdering one of the women on her team. Also in the courtroom are a few other surviving team members. What happened to the others? The problem with a team of 13 women is that unless the book is really long, not all of the characters are fleshed out particularly well. Virigina is the only one you really get to know. Over half of the book seems to be in the courthouse or with Virginia's remembrances of her life prior to the expedition. There is another stretch where they are on a boat trying to get to Arctic and then finally a small section once they are there. Also, it left me with so many questions and frustrations.

24. Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott (4 stars)

Edwina and Beryl used to be school friends before their lives took different paths. Edwina has enjoyed her life in a small English village but WWI has take it's toll and her estate isn't quite what it used to be. Beryl is an American adventuress who is looking for something quieter for a change. When she sees Edwina's ad looking for a lodger, Beryl sees it as a perfect opportunity to catch up with her old friend. Her sense of adventure can't stay quiet for too long and soon the friends find themselves investigating a murder. Loved their friendship and how their strengths compliment each other.

25. Mingham Air by Elizabeth Fair (4 stars)

Whiling away the hours during a power outage, I needed something light and this book worked perfectly. A gentle novel about nothing much except life in a small English village. Hester is staying with her godmother while recovering from a broken heart. Fortunately for everyone, Hester is a take charge person who puts her talents to use to nudger her godmother's family to get out of their personal ruts. Of course there is a vicarage, the requisite busybody, and romance.

I'm glad things are getting back to normal for you! My Aunt Carrie lives in the Euless area and is cooking on her outdoor grill because her power is still out.

>53 LittleTaiko: I was lucky, we only had scheduled outages for electric and some had gas outages but I didn't. Streets are a mess but it looks like we'll be able to be out Saturday afternoon. I can only imagine what the grocery store will be like!

>53 LittleTaiko: Glad you're ok! What an ordeal.

26. An Extravagant Death by Charles Finch (4 stars)

Lennox has just wrapped up a case that implicates several Scotland Yard detectives. It's considered in his best interest to leave the country for a bit so he heads off to America to explore and learn more about crime detection. He intends to head to Boston but gets summoned for assistance with a case in Providence - where the cream of New York City are heading for their season. Even though he's in America there is a nice balance of his remembrances of his family along with his current project. It's obviously a well researched book and full of the strong storytelling that I've come to expect from Finch.

27. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker (4 stars)

The brain is such a mysterious part of our bodies - what causes them to misfire? Why would some family members become ill and others not? This explores the lives of one family - twelve children, six have schizophrenia and the other six do not. It explores the different approaches to mental illness through the 60's-80's and the struggles of this one family. It was fascinating, sad, and left me wondering how I would have reacted under those circumstances.

28. The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds by T E Kinsey (4 stars)

Two of my favorite side characters from the first in the Lady Hardcastle series are the leads here. This book jumps forward 15 years and find these two musicians settled in a successful band. Superintendent Sunderland has asked for their assistance in observing some suspicious characters who frequent the club they play at. I really enjoyed this - lots of humor, good plotting, and strong characters. I'm hoping for more book in the series.

29. A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa (4 stars)

One of my all-time favorite books is Nothing to Envy which is about several different peoples experiences in North Korea and their escape. Since then I've been interested in hearing of other experiences. Ishikawa was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Korean father. Since he wasn't fully Japanese he was bullied at school and his father had a difficult time finding work. When the government decided it would be in everyone's best interests to send the Koreans back to Korea - specifically the newly formed North Korea, his father believes the stories of the wealth awaiting him and decides to move the whole family there. Needless to say the promises were empty and their life was incredibly hard. Ishikawa's strong spirit helped him survive and eventually escape - but at what cost?

30. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz (4 stars)

Horowitz is back with another novel within a novel and I for one am quite happy about it. After the events of the first book, Susan has moved to Greece and is running a hotel with her partner. However, she gets pulled back into her old world, when a couple comes to her hotel and ask for her help. Their daughter is missing and it seems to be connected to a book written by a writer that Susan used to represent. The reader is treated to a mystery novel inserted inside the main mystery. Tons of clues and two totally different stories made for a fun mystery read.

31. Murder in the Reading Room by Ellery Adams (2 stars)

In the previous installments I was willing to look past the Templar storyline and the book guardians because I loved the strong bookish aspects. This time I just couldn't help but roll my eyes through the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book. There was enough bookish love to help me finish the book.

32. The Widow by Fiona Barton (3 stars)

The widow is newly widowed Jean whose husband had been suspected of a rather horrible crime. The story alternates between at least three different points of view and different points in time as the reader starts to get an understanding of the crime and the people involved. It's a weirdly boring page turner. I kept reading and overall found it entertaining enough but the main character was hard to understand and became a bit dreary.

>58 LittleTaiko: Is A River in Darkness a true story? Repatriating part-Korean Japanese families to North Korea is definitely a part of history that I have never encountered, and seems like something worth knowing more about.

>51 christina_reads: I finish the Finch book today. I've been thinking he has improved so much through this series.

>59 pammab: - Yes, it is a true story. Like you, I had ever heard about that aspect of Japan/North Korea history. It was disturbing to read about the process and the fact that they were now moving to a country that wasn't part of their history. It's a short book so I would recommend reading it if you'd like to learn a bit more.

>60 clue: - Agreed. I've loved all of his books but they do get better and better.

33. Aunt Bessie Understands by Diana Xarissa (3 stars)

Aunt Bessie and Hugh find a dead body in one of the empty cottages near Bessie's home. The body turns out to be a young man who once lived on the island. His family had no idea that he had even returned. Aunt Bessie and the usual crew meet to hash out the case.

34. Hag's Nook by John Dickson Carr (3 stars)

Sort of creepy locked room mystery with a gothic vibe. While I had to roll my eyes at the usual trope of man and woman meeting briefly and falling head over heels in love, I did enjoy the mystery aspect and was proud of myself for figuring out aspects of it.

35. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (5 stars)

I finally finished this book! Really not sure why it took me so long because it was incredibly fascinating and I enjoyed it every time I picked it up. Part of the reason is that Abraham Lincoln was such a fascinating person. So many inspiring moments especially how he treated his political enemies. He was a much bigger man than many people would be. I'm not sure I'd have his patience.

36. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (4 stars)

It's entirely possible I'm the last person who hasn't either read the book or seen the movie. My dad recommended it so I finally put aside my squeamishness aside and read the book. It wasn't as dark as I expected, though don't get me wrong it had it's moments. It was weird to find myself rooting for Hannibal Lecter at times, though not for long. Now I just need to finally watch the movie.

37. Shucked Apart by Barbara Ross (4 stars)

Julia's boyfriend Chris has a friend who needs help. Andie is an oyster farmer and someone has attacked her and stolen oyster seed worth $35,000. Julia starts asking some questions, however she doesn't get far before Andie is murdered. There are quite a few people who might have wanted her dead. I enjoyed the mystery part of the story but am not sure how I feel about the aspects involving Julia's personal life. I'm not sure I agree with her reactions to certain events. We'll see how this plays out.

You might find yourself even more appalled by the movie of The Silence of the Lambs because Anthony Hopkins is so good in it that you'll love his scenes :-D

So true - I had seen enough clips of the movie that I was picturing him while reading it. I bet he really made it come alive in the movie.

38. Murder Flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott (4 stars)

Beryl and Edwina are making ends meet, but only just. They officially decide to become private inquiry agents and their first client is the vicar. He is also a member of the local pigeon racing club and their treasurer has disappeared with some money and quite a few pigeons. Their search finds the treasurer dead and no sign of the money or the pigeons. Further investigation leads them to the troubles in the mine, romantic entanglements, and to their very fist pigeon race. The dynamic between the two women is great and I love how they are bringing out the best in each other.

39. The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan (4 stars)

Genevieve, Jenny, or Jen-girl - depending on who is addressing her, is a highly functioning autistic woman who works for an insurance company that insures art work. Her boss brings her what seems to be a simple request that soon spirals into a much bigger problem with multiple murdrs, government intrigue, an art thief, and more. All this chaos provides a real challenge to Genevieve and her ordered approach to life. There were so many times I found myself nodding in agreement with Genevieve. I found this to be a nicely paced thriller with engaging characters. Can't wait to read the next in the series!

40. The Late Bloomers' Club by Louise Miller (4 stars)

Totally felt like I was reading a book that could have been set in the Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow complete with town hall meetings to discuss local issues. Nora owns the town of Guthrie's local diner where she comes into contact with most of the town's citizens through the course of her day. When she and her sister, Kit, unexpectedly inherit the estate of a former neighbor life becomes a bit more complicated mainly because there is a developer who wants to buy the estate for a big box development. This was a lovely book that I spent a delightful afternoon reading. The relationships felt real and the town discussions regarding whether to accept the new development was very even handed.

41. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (4 stars)

This novella is the first in the Murderbot series, featuring a security system who has been assigned to assist a group exploring a planet. The Murderbot is rather asocial and would much prefer to sit around and watch movies and TV shows all day. When problem arise it becomes necessary to get involved and maybe even start to care about the humans. Loved the Murderbot's personality and snark.

>65 LittleTaiko: I liked The Gauguin Connection, also.

Celebrated my Thingaversary a few weeks early and ordered a bunch of books, including a couple to "grow on." I've already read a few of them which has been fun. Also, a weird quirk of mine is that when I order books from a store, I feel compelled to order six. In my head it needs to be an even number and four feels like not enough and eight is too many. Weird I know.

Poisoned Pen Bookstore
1. Black Diamond by Martin Walker
2. Derailed by Mary Keliikoa
3. Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins
4. Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas
5. Murder Flies the Coop by Jessica Ellicott*
6. Shucked Apart by Barbara Ross*

Interabang Bookstore
1. Win by Harlan Coben
2. Dark Sky by CJ Box
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells*
4. The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
5. Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova
6. Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

The Strand
1. A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
2. The Late Bloomers Club by Louise Miller*
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes
5. The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams
6. We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

* - Read

Happy Thingaversary, and enjoy your great haul! The Late Bloomers' Club looks interesting.

>67 LittleTaiko: Happy Thingaversary!

You got me with your description of The Late Bloomers Club being like Gilmore Girls- on the WL!
Happy Thingaversary too! Your purchases are coming from three stores I'm very familiar with. Eighteen books seems like a reasonable number, enjoy!

Happy Thingaversary! What a haul!

Happy Thingaversary! I understand the penchant for even numbers, although with me it's cookies: I have to have two at a time. This gets annoying when the package ends up having an odd number of cookies when I get to the end!

>72 rabbitprincess: Then you will have to buy 2 boxes of cookies!;)

Happy thingaversary! That's a very impressive haul. Enjoy!

Happy Thingaversary! Nice haul.

>73 Tess_W: I like your thinking!

Happy Thingaversary, Stacy - excellent haul there.

Happy thingaversary - excellent shopping there.

Happy Thingaversary! Silver Bay is a wonderful book!

Happy Thingaversary! Happy to see you are enjoying the Murderbot series. When I order books I always ensure that I have 5 or more - anything less feels like it isn't worth getting delivered.

>67 LittleTaiko: Looks like a nice Thingaversary haul. I've purchased the first book for mine later this month.

Where has the time gone? Here's the latest list of books I've read.

42. Win by Harlan Coben (3 stars)
43. The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (4 stars)
44. How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior (3 stars)
45. Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (4 stars)
46. A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler (3 stars)
47. A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones (4 stars)
48. Old Moorhen's Shredded Sporran by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
49. Trick or Threat by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
50. Caribbean Sunset with a Yellow Parrot by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
51. God Rob Ye Merry Gentlemen by Andrea Frazer (3 stars)
52. Code Girls by Liza Mundy (3 stars)
53. A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George (3 stars)
54. Silver Bay by JoJo Moyes (4 stars)
55. A Lady in the Smoke by Karen Odden (4 stars)
56. Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

You have been busy!

56 books so far - that's great!

>81 LittleTaiko: Wow! You've been busy reading. I recognize a few of the titles as things I've considered reading. Your three star ratings of Frazer's books don't make me inclined to rush out and grab hers though.