June AlphaKIT: C and D

Welcome to the June 2021 AlphaKIT, an unofficial challenge in the 2021 Category Challenge Group.

The rules are: 1. Use these letters any way you wish to select reading for the month. 2. Enjoy your reading.

and

The letter images are thanks to helenliz ! Thanks so much, they're lovely.

Please remember to update the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2021_AlphaKIT#June:_-_Letters:_C_and_D

>1 majkia: thank you!

I have lots for this combo!

✔Books of a Feather by Kate Carlisle
✔Caribbean Mystery
✔Castle Shade
Deadly Editions
Diva Wraps it up
Draw and Order
Dressed for Death in Burgundy
✔Haunted Hibiscus by Laura Childs
✔Mint Condition Murder
✔Murder at Crossways
✔Murder 101 by Lynn Cahoon
Once Upon a Spine by Kate Carlisle
✔Picture Perfect Frame by Lynn Cahoon
✔Ripped From the Pages by Kate Carlisle
Sign of Death
Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books
✔Trace Elements by Donna Leon
✔Wine and War by Donald Kladstrup

At this moment I am thinking of Whispering Wall by Patricia Carlon and Fallen Women by Sandra Dallas, but this could change ...

My book club's choice for June is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

I am also thinking about reading Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens for the double.

Planning on : Deception on his Mind by Elizabeth George and Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd.

I have a few "Cs" in my series reading that I could choose:

The Affair by Lee Child
Agony of the Leaves by Laura Childs
The Last Detective by Robert Crais

And for "D" I have:

Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver
Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly

These letters provide so, so many choices! I think I will first narrow down my books for the other CATs and KITs and see if I can find any corresponding ones.

I'm planning on Dance on Saturday by Elwin Cotman, though I may get in some others also.

I've been trying to read off the shelf. I've got Bernard Cornwall or CJ Samson lined up.

Just when I was going to start checking for other CATs/KITs (which is where I start to see if anything will also fit here), tagmashes are not working. I might just manually look for some options here, though, in case nothing fits from the other CATs/KITs.

Ok, I have plenty of options even if C and D don't come up for other CATs/KITs. Just a few:

- Calligraphy of the Witch / Alicia Gaspar de Alba
- The Last Runaway / Tracy Chevalier
- Dangerous World / Marq De Villiers
- Deliverance from Evil / Frances Hill

I'll be reading Deborah Crombie's Dreaming of the Bones.

Right now I'm planning on The Naturalist by Christina Dudley, which will count for both letters, and Ngaio Marsh's Death in Ecstasy for another D book.

I've completed my first book of the month and it was for the letter "C" - The Whispering Wall by Patricia Carlon

Currently reading "The Crediton Killings by Michael Jecks

Currently reading Diamond Mask and Deception on His Mind.

I completed The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams.
Four stars.

I am reading Descendant of the Crane by Joan He for CD.

Just finished The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld for my first D
Dark, horrifying, tender. Lots of triggers for childhood trauma of all kinds. It was a 5* for me.

I've just finished Fallen Women by Sandra Dallas for my "D" read. This is an author that never disappoints me, and I enjoyed this historical mystery.

I read Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan. It was a sweet read with enjoyable characters and a satisfying end.

COMPLETED The Crediton Killings by Michael Jecks

The Constant Rabbit / Jasper Fforde
3.25 stars

It was in the late 1960s that the “Event” happened. The Event caused rabbits (and a few other animals...though not nearly as many as the rabbits) to become anthropomorphized. It’s decades later and many people are leporiphobes. Peter Knox (who works for the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce, sort of tracking down specific rabbits, I think) discovers a long-ago college friend (and rabbit) Connie has moved in next door, along with her husband.

My summary might not be exactly right, as I found the first half-ish of the book quite confusing. I ended up quite enjoying the second half, though, once I (kind of) figured out what was going on… though I don’t want to say too much more in my summary so as not to give anything away. So for the first bit of the book, I kept thinking – ok, Fforde is way too smart for me because this is over my head. I did like the second half-ish, though. At that point, there seemed to be more of a plot and things happened, and I understood what was happening. Anyway, this all made me unsure how to rate it, so I went with 3.25, between ok and good. It seems there was a bunch of “deep” satire that went over my head, but once there as a plot, I liked it!

Currently reading Crimes Against Magic and Diamond Mask

I finished Time Bomb - Joelle Charbonneau today.

C read. Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City by Martin H. Greenberg

COMPLETED Music: A Very Short Introduction by Nicholas Cook

Starting "Caligula" by Allan Massie

I finished The Affair by Lee Child for my "C" book this month.

I read Keep Him My Country by Mary Durack for both C and D.

I finished two for the letter, “C” so far:

Good to Great (by Jim Collins) and;
‘First Sight’ (by M. Marie Claire a.k.a Loni Ree)

EDITED TO ADD: And I just started A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (by Becky Chambers)! 🚀

COMPLETED Caligula by Allan Massie

Starting "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.

July thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/332941

Just realized that my current read, Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin, is another "C" book.

Finished another C book; Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.

Finally got to When The Crawdads Sing, which has both C and D.

Just finished The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (by Becky Chambers) which makes a third title for the letter, “C”!

I should probably go through my stax and look for at least one “D” book this month! 🙂

COMPLETED A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I am reading The President's Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton. This fits both C and D.

I've finished Roadside Crosses by Jeffrey Deaver for my "D" book this month.

I have a few more for alpha this month.
The Curse of Crow Hollow by Billy Coffey (really has the Cs covered (curse, crow and Coffey)
The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky (for D).
Astray by Emma Donoghue (for D)
The Go-Between by Veronica Chambers (C).

I'm currently reading Love Songs for Skeptics by Christina Pishiris.

Finished another C read. Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Cats by Amy Newkirk.
I am now starting a D, Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers

The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost / Daniel Allen Butler
4.25 stars

This is a book about the sinking of the Titanic, but more from the points of view of two of the closest ships that night. In fact, one of them – the Californian – was within sight distance and saw the distress rockets go up… and the captain, Stanley Lord, didn’t do anything. He was a very authoritarian captain and his subordinates didn’t feel that they could go against him. Further away (unfortunately a full 4 hours or so), was another ship – the Carpathia – whose captain, Arthur Rostron, immediately set sail as fast as the Carpathia had ever gone in her life to get to the Titanic as soon as possible. It was the Carpathia who plucked as many survivors as she could out of the lifeboats to safety.

This was really good. I’m sure I must have read snippets about these other ships in the other Titanic books I’ve read, but I don’t recall details from those books, though I knew the names of the ships. This was very detailed from those points of view. Leading up to the disaster, this also looked at brief biographies of the captains and a bit of history of the ship/cruise and wireless industries. There was also a close look at the inquiries afterward, both in the US and in Britain to get to the bottom of what happened that night

I'm trying to get through Dance on Saturday by Elwin Cotman. I may or may not. This is the first book I've read from Small Beer Press that I haven't really enjoyed :(

Double or Die by Charlie Higson was terrific fun with the young James Bond at Eton.

I'm doing a group read of The color of law by Richard Rothstein about how segregation in housing developed in the US after the Civil War. My comments start here.

I've also begun Even as we breathe by Annette Clapsaddle and think I will count Lowering Days by Gregory Brown.

I had slated The Fort to read for 3 cats and gave up after it didn't grab me. Fortunately I also had Azincourt on the shelf, so my cat trick was completed.

COMPLETED The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, both by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Women of the Cousins' War: The Duchess, The Queen, and the King's Mother / Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin, Michael K. Jones
3 stars

This is a biography of three women during the time of the Wars of the Roses (once called “The Cousins’ War”): Elizabeth Woodville (Edward IV’s wife, and the mother of the two “princes in the tower”), Jacquetta “Rivers”(?) (Elizabeth’s mother), and Margaret Beaufort (Henry VII’s mother). Each author writes about one of the women, plus Philippa Gregory writes an introduction on women and history – why you won’t find as much information about women in history and more.

As mentioned in the (quite interesting, I thought) introduction, it’s hard to find information about historical women. Because of that, it’s hard to write an interesting biography, I think. Jacquetta seemed to have the least amount of information to work with. For all three (but especially Jacquetta), there was more about the war and what the men were doing and the big events than about the women themselves, and I’m not as interested in the wars, the fighting, and the politics. So, I tended to skim over those parts, unfortunately, and that’s why I kept my rating to 3 stars, ok.

I did learn a bit, though. Although I’ve read a little bit about the Wars of the Roses, I couldn’t have told you who Jacquetta was. I also get Margaret Beaufort mixed up with Margaret of Anjou (and I’m still not entirely certain who Margaret of Anjou is, although she was around at the same time and was mentioned in this book).

I had a bumper crop of books that fit the AlphaKit this month!

C books
The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, by Nancy Springer (Overdrive)
Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am, by Julia Cooke

D books
The Deep Dark Sleep, by Craig Russell
The Doorbell Rang, by Rex Stout
Dear Miss Kopp, by Amy Stewart
Death in Fancy Dress, by Anthony Gilbert

C and D books
Dear Life: A Doctor’s Story of Love and Loss, by Rachel Clarke

One last book for this month. Fits C and D . You Can Do All Things by Kate Allen

Two for D
The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld
Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

My C book has to wait. Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart. I'll count it for S next month.

Just read How Do You Live? for letter D. A beautiful book.