Tanya-dogearedcopy's 23 in '23: A Quiet Corner

Hello!

This is my 10th year participating in the Category Challenge! In past years I've done a number of variations on the categories, themes and structures (some working better than others); but this year is going to be fairly straightforward and quiet:

• I've pulled 23 books from my stacks that will make up the core of my reading year;
• I'm hosting the 2023 Historical Fiction Challenge-- these books will mainly align with the quarterly prompts of the
• Reading Through Time Challenge and;
• I'll be focusing on the SFFKIT this year!

That's it! If I'm inspired to post a picture or develop a theme, that will come later. Commentary/reviews about the 23 books will be on this thread; those for the Historical Fiction Challenge posted there and, likewise for the RTT group and SFFkit respectively. This is the year of setting boundaries and managing expectations for me and with that in mind, I don't expect to be posting the same thing in a bunch of different places, just relevant posts according to the interests of the groups :-)

THE 23

01. Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (by John Julius Norwich; narrated by Julian Elfer) - 18DEC2022
02. Southern Charmer (Charleston Heat #1; by Jessica Peterson) - 20DEC2022
03. The Doomsday Book (by Connie Willis) - 27DEC2022
04. Road to Fire (Broken Crown #1; by Maria Luis) - 02JAN2023
05. Leonardo's Brain (by Leonard Shlain; narrated by Grover Gardner) - 04JAN2023
06. What Moves the Dead (by T. Kingfisher) - 14JAN2023
07. The Decameron (by Giovannis Boccaccio (narrated by Simon Russell Beale, Gunnar Cauthery, Alison Pettitt, Daisy Badger, Carly Bawden, and Lucy Briggs-Owen) - 23MAR2023
08. Thirteen Reasons Why (by Jay Asher; narrated by Debra Wiseman & Joel Johnstone) - 28MAR2023
09. Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (Tale of Shikanoko #2; by Lian Hearn) - 13APR2023
10. Podkayne of Mars (by Robert A. Heinlein) - 03MAY2023
11. The Killers of the Flower Moon (by David Grann) - 14MAY2023
12. It Can't Happen Here (by Sinclair Lewis; narrated by Grover Gardner) - 08JUN2023
13. Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1; by Jim C. Hines) - 01JUL2023
14. Means of Ascent (Years of Lyndon B. Johnson #2; by Robert Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner) - 04JUL2023
15. 2312 (by Kim Stanley Robinson) - 11AUG2023
16. Our Game (by John LeCarré) - 18AUG2023
17. Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin Novels #2; by Patrick O'Brian) - 02SEP2023
18. Saint Death (by Marcus Sedgwick) - 09SEP2023
19. Hot Stew (by Fiona Mozley) 13SEP2023
20. Christine (by Stephen King) - 13OCT2023
21. Look What You Made Me Do (by Elaine Murphy) - 15OCT2023
22. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away (by Christie Watson) - 22OCT2023
23. The Secret History (by Donna Tartt) - 03NOV2023

I think a lot of us are looking to simplify this year and will be working on reducing the physical pile of books, the electronic list of books or the library wish list. Good luck and good reading!

Having 23 books lined up is a great idea! Happy reading!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

A great idea--simplify! I look forward to seeing your reviews and possibly being hit with some BB's!

LOL, how did that happen? I promise, I only clicked once! So sorry!

Wow - Tess really does think you've come up with a Great Idea! ;)

>12 Tess_W: >13 DeltaQueen50: LOL, Tess is very enthusiatic! :-)

Happy reading your 23 in 23!

I think lots of us are looking to simplify! I have a couple of the books on your list, at least one of which I'm planning to use in a CAT later in the year.

>1 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Thanking for hosting the Historical Fiction Challenge, I'm looking forward to taking part in it!

You're quick off the blocks with your 23 books! Another thank-you for organising and hosting the Historical Fiction Challenge.

Stopping by with best wishes for your 2023 reading.

A great idea--simplify! Oh, sorry, Tess already said that! :)

Happy reading!

01. Four Princes: Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Suleiman the Magnificent and the Obsessions that Forged Modern Europe (by John Julius Norwich, narrated by Julian Elfer). The quartet of regents in the subtitle were contemporaries in the first half of the sixteenth century and two were related as brothers-in-law! The four men re-shaped the geo-political, religious and cultural world of the the time, and their successes and failures still reverberate today. Norwich, as always conveys mastery of the material with an easily accessible style that makes it sound like he's writing just for you. Julian Elfer is a young British narrator who performs with a sure command of the text and language (a little French, a little Latin, a little Spanish...) I may have discovered a new narrator favorite! Anyway, this is a book that I plan on re-listening to at one point, probably when I'm back into my Tudor phase :-)

Great idea to simplify. Good luck with your reading.

>21 Tanya-dogearedcopy: You just hit me with a BB, and it's not even 2023 yet!

02. Southern Charmer (Charleston Heat #1; by Jessica Peterson) - This is a contemporary romance novel set in Charleston, SC and overall a cut above the usual fare of material in the genre. Olivia is a woman who seems to have it all; but recognizes that something isn't right when her boyfriend proposes and she hesitates. Instead, she decides to take a month break from her life and try her hand at writing a romance novel. Eli, her next-door neighbor and an accomplished chef, ignites instant interest... Both have issues with self-esteem and insecurities; but come across as very human and the relationship they develop, realistic. There is one graphic sex scene which may gave pause, not because of its exoticism (it's not particularly kinky), but it also brings to the fore some of Olivia's psychological issues. To the author's credit however, the issue is addressed and not dismissed with fantastical euphemisms or tropes. It's a solidly plotted story, well-edited and as a bonus, the descriptions of the food are mouthwatering! Seriously, I've never been so inspired to try grits recipes before!

ETA: LOL, I was googling around and found this (I think "Piedmont Grocery" must have been reading the same book!):
https://piedmontgrocery.com/breakfast-grits-with-succotash/

I think a lot of us simplified our reading for the year! Have a great year of reading!

03. The Doomsday Book (by Connie Willis) - In 2054 Oxford, England, the college town still has bicycles, pubs, and intramural fighting amongst the professors; but it also features a "time machine" of sorts (actually more like a Star Trek transporter, but with additional time fixes instead of just places/space coordinates). One of the students from Mediaeval (college/department) has convinced various professors to have her trained to go back to the fourteenth century and, during the Advent season, succeeds in being delivered to a time of Old English, kirtles and Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, instead of landing in the relatively safe year of 1320, Kirven ends up in the year 1348--- at the onset of The Plague in England. The research and the dual timelines are well done; the characters well developed, credible and relatable; the descriptions of place, and atmosphere, vivid and; overall the story is emotionally engaging. Highly recommend with the only caveat being that this does deal with deadly pandemics and graphic descriptions of the symptoms & deaths of plague victims.

>26 Tanya-dogearedcopy: onto my WL it goes!

>26 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I loved this one too. I read it last year. I knew it was about the Plague but was not expecting the modern times section to be so eerily like our current lives - right down to the toilet paper shortage! A bit spooky.

04. Road to Fire (A Dark Romance: Broken Crown #1; by Maria Luis) - Isla Quinn and Saxon Priest are two underground figures in an alternate present-day England when King John has been assassinated and his daughter, Princess Margaret scurries for cover in these riotous times. Isla & Saxon meet when Isla, in an effort to ally herself with the anti-loyalist cause, walks into Saxon's bar-- a place where anti-monarchists are known to gather. What follows is a tale of action, subterfuge, betrayal and raw sex-- all dark and angsty. There are some creative plot points and original dialogue; but overall the story is ill-paced, with incredulous characters and, a cliff-hanger ending of sorts that likely leads to a continuation of Isla & Saxon's story in the next book in the trilogy even as its focus is on another couple. The author is known to write contemporary romances and, while there is no shame in striking out in new directions, there are are some fatal flaws that would discourage any except the author's most ardent romance readership in persisting on to the next books.

05. Leonardo's Brain (by Leonard Shlain; narrated by Grover Gardner) - Part biography of da Vinci, part neuroscience and, part speculation, this is the last offering of the late doctor who passed away in 2009. The profile of the quintessential Renaissance man, his many accomplishments and some shortcomings, are fascinating. The neuroscience, about the two hemispheres of the brain and the Corpus Callosum which bridges them, are well and truly interesting and, presented in a way that the layman can understand. But the ideas which posit that Leonardo was able to bend/blend time & space, was the first cubist, first scientist, and so on... are just a couple of the many truly incredible claims that the author makes and which ruin the book by relegating it as the work of a crackpot.

06. What Moves the Dead (by T. Kingfisher) - This is a novella which uses the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher" (by Edgar Allan Poe) as its foundation and inspiration. Set in 1890, Alex Easton, heads to the home of Madeleine Usher where she is in decline. After having arrived, the military veteran tries to grapple with the extant situation: a crumbling, moldering estate, an odd tarn, and the Usher twins who are clearly "not right." Together with the American doctor who has arrived at Roderick Usher's request , a mycologist who happens to be Beatrix Potter's aunt, and a Scottish batsman named Angus-- they attempt to understand the inexplicable horror that they find themselves in. Kingfisher's story is dark and morbidly fascinating-- a worthy companion to Poe's Classic tale.

>30 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I've not read this one yet, but I'm a fan of T. Kingfisher (a.k.a. Ursula Vernon) and will put this one on my list.

Yes, I know I said it's a "A Quiet Corner"; but admittedly, going a month without posting seems a bit much! After starting out strong with titles from "The 23", I switched hardcore into reading for the WWI prompt over on Reading Through Time. I have about a half dozen more books queued up for that prompt and then, I'll be returning to The 23.

ICYMBI, These are the WWI titles I've read so far:

🎧 1890 - 1914 The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914 (The Coming of the Great War #1; by Barbara Tuchman; narrated by Wanda McCaddon) #NonFiction
🎧 1901 - The Riddle of the Sands (by Erskine Childers; narrated by Anton Lesser) #PeriodFiction
🎧 1914 - The Thirty-Nine Steps (Richard Hannay #1; by John Buchan; narrated by Robert Powell) #PeriodFiction
🎧 1914 - 1918 To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty & Rebellion 1914-1918 (by Adam Hochschild; narrated by Arthur Morey) #NonFiction
🎧 1914 - 1918 A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 (by G. J. Meyer; narrated by Robin Sachs) #NonFiction
🎧 1914 - The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I (The Coming of the Great War #2; by Barbara Tuchman; narrated by Wanda McCaddon) (Battle at Tannenburg; First Battle of the Marne) #NonFiction
🎧 1914 - 1917 Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (by Alfred Lansing; narrated by Simon Prebble) #NonFiction
📚 1914 - The African Queen (by C. S. Forester) #HistoricalFiction
🎧 1914 - Christmas Eve, 1914 (by Charles Oliver; performed by a full cast) #HistoricalFiction
📚 1915 - 1918 The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) #HistoricalFiction (Czarist Russia/Bolshevik Revolution)
🎧 1915 - Greenmantle (Richard Hannay #2; by John Buchan; narrated by Christian Rodska) #PeriodFiction
📚 1915 - 1918 All Quiet on the Western Front (by Erich Maria Remarque) #PeriodFiction
📚 1916 - The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme (by Joe Sacco with an essay by Adam Hochschild) #Illustration
🎧 1917 - The Zimmermann Telegram (by Barbara Tuchman; narrated by Wanda McCaddon) #NonFiction
🎧 1917 - 1919 The World Remade: America in World War I (by G. J. Meyer; narrated by Rob Shapiro) #NonFiction
🎧 1917 - 1921 American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis (by Adam Hochschild) #NonFiction
📚 1917 - 1918 A Farewell to Arms (by Ernst Hemingway) #PeriodFiction
🎧 1918 - No Man’s Land: 1918, The Last Year of the Great War (by John Toland; narrated by Grover Gardner) #NonFiction (German Spring Offensives)
📚 1918 - Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (by Kathleen Rooney) #HistoricalFiction (Meuse-Argonne Offensive)
🎧 1918 - The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (by John M. Barry; narrated by Scott Brick) #NonFiction
📚 1918 - The Road Back (Remarque’s Great War Duology #2; by Erich Maria Remarque)

OP: 13FEB2023
ETA: 16FEB - Moved All Quiet on the Western Front into the timeline and added the second book in the set, The Road Back onto the “On Deck” list.
ETA: 23FEB - Moved The Great Influenza into the timeline; Moved The Road Back onto the “Currently Reading” list and; Added Greenmantle onto the “Currently Reading” list
ETA: 27FEB - Moved Greenmantle into the timeline; Moved No Man’s Land into the "Currently Reading" list
ETA: 07MAR - Moved No Man’s Land: 1918, The Last Year of the Great War into the timeline
ETA: 09MAR - Moved The Road Back into the timeline; Moved A Farewell to Arms into the “Currently Reading” list
ETA: 21MAR - Moved A Farewell to Arms into the timeline
EOL: 22MAR

07. The Decameron (by Giovanni Boccaccio; narrated by Simon Russell Beale as Boccaccio and a Full Cast) - Escaping the Plague that has infested Florence (1348), ten young men & women head to countryside retreats and there proceed to entertain themselves by each telling a story every night over the course of a couple weeks. Each evening, a new theme (e.g., friendship, wisdom, cleverness...) for the stories is set by one of those appointed as "King" or "Queen" for the next day. Overall, the stories are light, amusing, only slightly risqué and, do not veer into the preachiness of The Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer); But ultimately, many of the anecdotes use the same plot devices, such as lust & love, unfaithful wives, non-celibate friars and profligate men... and start to sound the same regardless of the stated theme. Still, it's a pleasantly surprising departure from the expected reverence and morality of the Medieval Ages when the Roman Catholic Church held sway over everyday life in the Western World. This translation from the vernacular Italian uses modern British phrases like, "dressed to the nines" and "he got a (sic)... pasting" and; the audio is performed by British narrators-- so there are times when things don't sound quite "right"; but a remarkable work nonetheless. Includes original music and singing.

Historical Fiction Challenge

I decided to set up another "static" post to track my reading for the Historical Fiction Challenge. It's easier for me to see where I am with it rather than referencing the Wiki!

1. Read a work of historical fiction set in the country you’re from
• Tread of Angels (by Rebecca Roanhorse; narrated by Dion Graham) - USA
•
•

2. Read a work of historical fiction set in a different country to the one you’re from
• The African Queen (by C.S. Forester) - German East Africa/Tanzania
• Blitz (by Daniel O'Malley; narrated by Moira Quirk) - England
• Christmas Eve, 1914 (by Charles Oliver; performed by a full cast) - France
• The Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1; by Connie Willis) - England
• Les Enfants du Désastre; by Pierre Lemaitre; translated from the original French by Frank Wynne) - France
• The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) - Russia
• The Lure of the Moonflower (Pink Carnation #12; by Lauren Willig) - Portugal
• Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin #2; by Patrick O’Brian) - England, France
• Tale of Shikanoko (by Lian Hearn) - Japan
• Troubles (Empire Trilogy #1; by J. G. Farrell; narrated by Kevin Hely) - Ireland

3. Read a work of historical fiction set in your favourite historical time period to read about
• The Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1; by Connie Willis) - The Middle Ages (Late Medieval)
•
•

4. Read a work of historical fiction set in a time period you’ll less familiar with
• All Human Wisdom (Les Enfants du Désastre #2; by Pierre Lemaitre; translated by Frank Wynne) - Interwar
• Blitz (by Daniel O'Malley; narrated by Moira Quirk) - WWII
• The Great Swindle (Les Enfants du Désastre #1; by Pierre Lemaitre; translated by Frank Wynne) - Interwar
• H.M.S. Surprise (Aubrey/Maturin #3; by Patrick O’Brian) - Napoleonic Era
• The Lure of the Moonflower (Pink Carnation #12; by Lauren Willig) - Napoleonic Era
• Master and Commander (Aubrey/Maturin #1; by Patrick O'Brian) - Napoleonic Era
• The Mirror of Our Souls (Les Enfants du Disastre #3; by Pierre Lemaitre; translated from the original French by Frank Wynne) - WWII
• Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin #2; by Patrick O’Brian) - Napoleonic Era
• Tale of Shikanoko (by Lian Hearn) - Medieval Japan
• Tread of Angels (by Rebecca Roanhorse; narrated by Dion Graham) - Old West
• Troubles (Empire Trilogy #1; by J. G. Farrell; narrated by Kevin Hely) - Irish War of Independence: 1919 -1921

5. Read a work of historical fiction with a speculative element
• Blitz (by Daniel O'Malley; narrated by Moira Quirk) - People with supernatural powers
• The Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1; by Connie Willis) - Time Travel
• Tale of Shikanoko (by Lian Hearn) - Sorcery/Magic, Sprits
• Tread of Angels (by Rebecca Roanhorse; narrated by Dion Graham) - Angels, Demons, Thralls
• What Moves the Dead (by T. Kingfisher) - Unexpected sentience

6. Read a work of historical fiction about a real historical figure or a specific historical event
• Blitz (by Daniel O'Malley; narrated by Moira Quirk) - The Blitz
• Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (by Kathleen Rooney) - Cher Ami, Major Whittlesey, The Meuse Argonne Offensive, The Lost Battalion
• Christmas Eve, 1914 (by Charles Oliver; performed by a full cast) - Christmas Truce
• The House of Special Purpose (by John Boyne) - Czarist Russia/Russian Revolution/Anastasia
• The Lure of the Moonflower (Pink Carnation #12; by Lauren Willig) - (Napoleon's) Liberation of Portugal
• The Mirror of Our Souls (Les Enfants du Disastre #3; by Pierre Lemaitre; translated from the original French by Frank Wynne) - The Phoney War
• Troubles (Empire Trilogy #1; by J. G. Farrell; narrated by Kevin Hely) - Irish War of Independence

7. Read a classic work of historical fiction
•
•
•

Bonus: Read a work of historical fiction of over 500 pages
• The Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1; by Connie Willis) - 608 pp
• The Lure of the Moonflower (Pink Carnation #12; by Lauren Willig) - 530pp

OP 27MAR
ETA: 29MAR - Added The Great Swindle to the list, "work of historical fiction set in a different country to the one you're from"
ETA: 04APR - Added Troubles to the lists, "work of historical fiction set in a different country to the one you're from", “work of historical fiction about a real historical figure or a specific historical event” and, "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with"
ETA: 07APR Added Emperor of the Eight Islands to the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with" and, "with a speculative element"
ETA: 13APR Added Tread of Angels to the lists, "set in the country you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with" and, "with a speculative element"
ETA: 21APR - Added Autumn Princess, Dragon Child & Lord of the Darkwood to the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with" and, "with a speculative element"
ETA 28APR - Deleted the individual titles of the 4-book series Tale of Shikanoko and placed the series name in the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with" and, "with a speculative element"
ETA 29MAY - Added All Human Wisdom to the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with"
ETA 23JUL - Added Master and Commander to the list, "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with"
ETA 06SEP - Added Post Captain to the lists, “set in a different country to the one you’re from” & "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with"
ETA 17SEP - Added The Mirror of Our Sorrows to to the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with" & “about a real historical figure or a specific historical event”; Deleted the individual titles of the trilogy Les Enfants du Desastre and placed the series name in the list, “set in a different country to the one you’re from"
ETA 27SEP - Added Blitz to to the lists, "set in a different country to the one you’re from", "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with", "historical fiction with a speculative element" & “about a real historical figure or a specific historical event”
ETA 07OCT - Added H.M.S. Surprise to the list, "set in a time period you’ll less familiar with"

08. Thirteen Reasons Why (by Jay Asher; narrated by Debra Wiseman & Joel Johnstone) - High school student Hannah Baker has committed suicide and left behind a set of audio cassettes in which she has recorded the reasons why. Thirteen people in her life played a role in the story that led to to her final act and we listen in on the narrative as one of the people, Clay Jensen, plays the the tapes back. Set in a small town in California where Hannah's family has recently moved, the environment is circumscribed by homes, high school and a couple of small businesses-- rendering the whole of the story arguably more intimate as Hannah cannot disappear into the anonymity of a crowd. Clay's commentary adds dimension and counterpoint beyond Hannah's perspective and bears witness to his introspection and dawning understanding. The audio was well produced-- pitch perfect narrators, though an opportunity may have been missed in not rendering Hannah's sections with a little bit of "tape hiss" as mentioned in the text. After the story ends, a relative of the Jay Asher's performs Hanna's last poem set as a song-- which , while well-intentioned, is a bit jarring.

The book has generated a bit of controversy, especially when Netflix gave the work more exposure by producing a limited series in 2017. Topics of debate seemed to center around the work/series promoting suicidal ideation and execution though the original book seems to be more about personal awareness and accountability. Overall, a worthy topic of discussion, especially between parents and their junior-high and high school students.

09. Autumn Princess, Dragon Child (by Lian Hearn) - This is the second title in the four-book series, Tales of Shikanoko-- a historical fantasy set in Medieval Japan (12th century). The story actually begins with Emperor of the Eight Islands:

...there's adventure, court intrigue, sorcerers, magic... Kumayama no Kazumaru is the heir-presumptive to a small, but important estate in the imaginary/mythical kingdom that the author has based on Medieval Japanese tales. On a hunting trip with his uncle however, Kumayama is left for dead; but through the intervention of a stag, some magic, and a sorcerer, our hero is invested with power and re-born as "Shikanoko" ("deer's child"). From here on in, his fate/destiny becomes entwined with that of the kingdom. The plot is fast moving and the lack of in-depth interior thought may fail to engage some readers fully; but I stand by my review of 2016:

Stylized like a translation of a feudal Japanese tale, this is a story of magic, passions, political power and shifting allegiances. It is spare prose that yields rich imagery, a slender book that bears an epic story. The internal beat or meter of the story is reminiscent of medieval chansons de trouveres with the evocation of poetry, the lyrical prose, the linear narrative told in small sections, and the ultimate sum being greater than the parts.

In Autumn Princess, Dragon Child, the focus shifts away from Shikanoko to Nishnimi no Akihime ("Aki"), a young woman promised to a temple as a nun but who finds her destiny subverted at the end of Emperor of the Eight Islands. On the run with the true Emperor, she must find sanctuary and her own fate. Relationships are entangled and movement through the imaginary kingdom is swift with many place names sounding similar-- so even though the novel is relatively short, having the "List of Characters" and a Map at the beginning of the print editions is very helpful when a quick reminder is needed.

Have you read the series of 5 books grouped together called Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn? As much as I loved the Tales of the Shikanko, I loved these books even more!

>37 DeltaQueen50: I haven't; but you are not alone judging from reviews of Tales of Shikanoko I've seen! Definitely, stacking Tales of the Ortoi :-)

>38 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Can't wait to see what you think of them!

10 Podkayne of Mars (by Robert A. Heinlein) - Podkayne is a young adult human female born and raised on provincial Mars, who dreams of becoming a starship captain... Heinlein wrote this novella in 1963 and it mostly serves as an expository vehicle for the author's ideas of what life might be like in the future in terms of science and social mores. The actual plot is superficial ("Poddy" takes an interplanetary trip with her uncle and brother) and the real action doesn't occur until the final chapters. Pure science fiction and dated, it doesn't hold up after sixty years of real-world advancements (both technological and societal) and and the lack of depth in regard to the plot make this little more than a curiosity.

11. The Killers of the Flower Moon (by David Grann) - In this non-fiction, true-crime book, the author looks into the the Reign of Terror which hit the Osage Nation in Oklahoma during the 1920s. The Osage were extraordinarily wealthy in owning the headrights to oil on their land and became the victims of systemic targeting by Whites for those riches. As the rights to the oil could only be passed down through the family, those who sought to defraud the Osage worked the system through intermarriage, becoming wardens of individual Osage, filing false insurance claims... and murder. The book initially focuses on the homicide of Osage citizen Anna Brown and the investigation by the fledgling FBI headed by the protocol-oriented J. Edgar Hoover. The final sections of the book expand the remit a bit beyond as Grann digs through his papers to posit the criminal parties involved in other related murders during the same period. Overall, a well-researched book that includes black-and-white photos, but lacking a certain energy and tension. Reading like a well-prepared classroom project, there is no sense of immersion in the time or place despite the author actually having travelled to the locations and spoken to relatives of the victims; nor were there any surprises in terms of who was ultimately involved as the villain of the piece was flagged early on. A movie adaptation (directed by Martin Scorsese; produced and starring Leonardo diCaprio and also starring Robert De Niro) is slated for showing at Cannes 2023. This might actually be an instance where the movie is better than the book as the book is basically reportage without internal dialogue.

>41 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I'm disappointed that you didn't like the book better, although your review was great. That is on my TBR.....maybe later......much later?

>41 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - We read this for our book club last year I'll admit I only made it through the first half before the meeting. I found it interesting but you're right about it feeling like a class project or maybe a lecture. I keep it in my "currently reading" collection hoping to get back to it eventually.

>42 Tess_W: I'm definitely the outlier opinion on this one! It averages 4.07 here on LT, 4.1 on Goodreads and, 4.4 on Amazon...
And even though I didn't care for the book, I am immensely interested in seeing the movie. I heard it got great reviews from Cannes and that the Native American community has given its nod of approval.

12. It Can't Happen Here (by Sinclair Lewis; narrated by Grover Gardner) - In the 1930's, fascism is on the rise in Europe; but in the United States, everyone thinks, "It can't happen here". And then it does when Buzz Windrip, running on a populist platform becomes President. Doremus Jessup, a Vermont newspaper editor sees everything unfold with the practiced eye of a newsman, but fails to sway many of his friends or colleagues. Eventually, like many in the country, he is caught up paying large consequences for small acts of defiance; but all the while retaining the belief that the US will self-correct in the future. Sinclair Lewis has Jessup argue various political theories & practices (e.g., Markism, socialism, democracy, religion) and sees this rupture in the Great American Experiment as a reflexive action patterned after the seemingly efficient governments of Hitler & Mussolini; but the author discounts the Constitutional violations perpetrated by the Wilson administration in 1917-18 that had its direct repercussions in the following decades up though the present day. Sinclair Lewis's inducement to write this political fiction was his wife, Dorothy Thompson, a journalist who accurately reported, to an incredulous American audience, what was going on in Germany during the rise of Nazism. Though written nearly ninety years ago, it still holds up.

>45 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Going on my WL!

13. Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1; by Jim C. Hines) - Isaac Vainio is a libriomancer-- a person who can extract power from texts and make manifest items that are described within. Currently exiled to a small library in Michigan as a cataloguer, Isaac's rather mundane routine is interrupted when vampires, in full fury, raid his library on a mission find out who has been targeting their community.... Secret societies, automatons, a dryad and, Johannes Gutenburg himself make their appearances as Isaac strives to unravel this urban paranormal mystery. However interesting the story and magic are and, however fun and intriguing the world-building, the characters themselves nonetheless seem rather boring and lacking in dimension outside of their respective powers. This first-in-series suffers in comparison to The Dresden Files (by Jim Butcher) and in the end, while not bad, not that great either.

14. Means of Ascent (Years of Lyndon Johnson #2; by Robert Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner) - Lyndon Baines Johnson lied, cheated and stole elections all his life, honing his cunning to take the 1948 Senate elections from Coke Stevenson, the heavily favored rival. Though Johnson would be infamously remembered for catapulting the US onto the Vietnam War, his boorish manners and ill-treatment of women (his wife included), his legacy also includes landmark legislation on Civil Rights, health care (Medicaid & Medicare), Voting Rights and the War on Poverty. The question we need to ask ourselves is, Do the ends justify the means? This second book in Caro's seminal work on Johnson raises, but does not answer that question; but instead shows the power move that launched Lyndon Johnson firmly into the political career arc that would culminate, less than twenty years later, with his presidency. Learning from past mistakes, LBJ would violate political & electoral ethics on a scale never before seen in America much less Texas-- with corporate millions bankrolling his senatorial campaign, buying voting districts, voter fraud, ballot stuffing and, judge shopping when the inevitable court challenges were instigated. Caro uncovered evidence decades later not only from the archives at the Johnson presidential library, but from interviews with family, friends, colleagues and operatives. Means of Ascent is an extraordinary true-crime story of a stolen election and an exposition of modern political power.

>48 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I've read some about LBJ & the Democrats concerning the Civil Rights Act and the election of 1964. It's been many years, so I think I need to brush up and will be looking for this book. Great review!

15. 2312 (by Kim Stanley Robinson) - Swan Er Hong's grandmother has passed away and left Swan with a posthumous errand: to carry a message from their home planet, Mars to a colleague of the grandmother's on Saturn. Swan herself is not privileged to know what the message contains; but it becomes clear that the big project to which her grandmother had dedicated her life is at stake. In her interplanetary journeys aboard terraformed asteroids to complete her mission, Swan comes to a new understanding of her role not only in relation to the assignment, but her responsibility towards the outcome and, her feelings toward Warham (the contact on Saturn). There are secret projects, covert plots, ethno-geographic leagues and many of KSR's hallmarks: environmentalism, Antarctic-like landscapes, a reference to Indian culture (e.g., Kali the death goddess), a female protagonist-- who despite her years-- acts oddly young and immature and, passages that read like credible non-fiction.... There are dozens of threads one could follow throughout the book; but the overarching theme is made self-evident in an interstitial chapter called, "Lists (15)" where KSR posits at the end of a 48-item catalog, "the opportunity to become more what you are... that's all you need."

16. Our Game (by John le Carré) - Agents that were working during the Cold War sublimated their interests and often their sense of self to those of the Crown. But in a post-Soviet Russia, there is a sense of betrayal as the agents are put out to pasture and, the Republics of Russia are sacrificed to the new Federation under Yeltsin. One agent, Larry Pffeifer decides to make an "All In" stand for what he personally believes in, breaking faith with Great Britain, his handlers and his girlfriend. This is a psychological thriller as much as a spy thriller as Tim Cranmer, Larry's one-time handler examines the past and his own psyche to track down his former "Joe" and decide if, in the end, we can only be true to ourselves after all-- despite our best efforts.

>51 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Sounds good! On my WL is goes!

17. Post Captain (Aubrey/Maturin Novels #2; by Patrick O'Brian) - The Peace of Amiens settles on Europe for a hot minute— enough time for Jack Aubrey to settle a bit into country life, fall in love and run up ruinous debt. Napoleon breaks the Peace and in a desperate bid to stay on the British Naval career track, Aubrey accepts the captaincy of an awkward experimental ship. Despite its ungainliness, Aubrey manages to work it to his advantage as Spain threatens to enter the War with France (against England)… Piratical moves, political maneuvering and some deft comic touches make this a joy to read. The nautical terminology is easy to figure out with the diagram of a four-squared ship at the beginning of the book and; just a little extra googling.

18. Saint Death (by Marcus Sedgwick) - Arturo is a teenaged boy scratching out a meager existence in a Mexican border town run and terrorized by drug cartels. His friend Faustino reappears after a year out of contact and asks Arturo for a favor upon which all their fates depend. The rich imagery of religious and spiritual iconography, along with the vivid Freudian dreamscapes and the ritual of a card game (calavera) are painted in sharp relief against the barrenness, poverty and tragedy of Anapra in this dark thriller ostensibly written for the teen/YA market; but it’s a bit more sophisticated than the genres usually provides.

19. Hot Stew (by Fiona Mozley) - A centuries-old building in Soho, London is the home of a French restaurant on the ground floor, a brothel on the upper floor and a flophouse for the neighborhood’s homeless in the basement. It’s a microcosm of a community threatened by the ambitions of the building’s owner to evict them and redevelop the lot. Relationships intertwine and we get a peek behind the curtain to discover all is not as it would appear. Though initially somewhat reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series, it lacks the charm and; Full investiture into the narrative is hampered by a distance from the full interior life of any of the characters. A final quibble is that the restaurant is largely ignored in the story— which begs the question as to why it is mentioned at all.

20. Christine (by Stephen King) - Arnie Cunningham is your classic loser: slightly built, grotesquely acned, chess player and, obedient son. What he has going for him is mechanical skills and a best friend, Dennis. Told from Dennis's point of view, this is the faux bildungsroman of Arnie when, one day, he spies a 20-year old beat-down Plymouth Fury for sale and manages to scrape together the money to buy it. But the car's previous owner might not be as willing to part with it after all-- even though the old man has passed away... The car seems to have a mind of its own and Arnie isn't quite himself. Set in 1979 in upstate Pennsylvania, King captures the zeitgeist and details of the time and place with deft touches. Arnie's anger, resentment and jealously bubble & simmer; Dennis's angst and sex drive propel him into acts of moral equivocation; And Christine (eponymous car) and Leigh Cabot (a girlfriend) compete in ying-yang fashion for attention and love. Dismiss King as a pulp writer if you will; but the simple prose is an exposition of psychological terror and freudian manifestations.

21. Look What You Made Me Do (by Elaine Murphy) - A modern-day thriller set in Maine, Carrie is the sister and accomplice to serial murderer, Becca Lawrence. After ten years and a dozen bodies disposed of, the latest victim is unearthed in a park along with a dozen other bodies that Becca didn't kill. Maybe. Carrie is uncertain if her psychopathic sister or another serial killer out there is involved. Either way, there's a good chance Carrie will take the fall for all the murders if she doesn't figure this out. Tension and uncertainty in the first half of the book might be a drawn out a little long to sustain any comic notes; but when the action kicks in, it goes way over the top to the point of being too ridiculous to be credible. The climactic scene is poorly choreographed and, given the run-up in the story, it's impossible to guess who the serial killer is until they appear. Disappointing given that I was told this was a "dark thriller" by the bookseller who pushed this on me (shame on me for not holding on my ground against his spiel). A sequel as been written since this came out in 2021; but I'll pass.

>56 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I love Stephen King's writing, though I've read only a fraction of all that he's produced. Christine is one that I've not gotten around to reading yet.

>56 Tanya-dogearedcopy: In general, like King. I'm liking his more recent books, though. (Billy Summers)

>57 mathgirl40: >58 Tess_W:
I've been making my way through canon in order of publication, more or less.
When I have the opportunity to read the a book & it's sequel (e.g., The Shining (1977) & Doctor Sleep (2001), I'll do that-- so there's a little jumping around. It's actually quite surprisingly how well the stories, even decades apart match up tonally. I give his editors credit for that!

Next up will be The Talisman (Jack Sawyer #1; 1984) & Black House (Jack Sawyer #; 2001)-- both written with Peter Straub. I will be going with the audio versions for these two; narrated by the late Frank Muller who was a favorite narrator of King's. But probably not until next year. I'm still wrapping up a couple things for 2023!

22. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away (by Christie Watson) - Blessing is a Nigerian girl living in the Western-styled city of Lagos with her loud & boisterous father, her more reserved mother and little brother. When Blessing's father leaves the family for another wife, those he has left behind are forced to go live with Blessing's maternal grandparents. Out in a rural area, environmentally spoiled by the oil industry, fraught with vicious and deadly gangs of boys, and served by a corrupt police force, the new extended family struggles for food, medicine and their very lives in the face of the Oyinbo (White Man). Told from Blessings point-of-view, modern day Nigeria comes more into focus as tradition wrestles with twenty-first century modernity and "progress". While the portrayal of the present day African country is well executed, there is an emotional distance from the story itself, even given dramatic turns of events. So, well-written and intellectually engaging; but somewhat "surface-level" in the telling.

23. The Secret History (by Donna Tartt) - The book opens with five students from a small private college in Vermont walking away from the body of a sixth, making sure they have cleared the evidence from the scene. Told from the point-of-view of Richard (a transfer student from an unsupportive and less-than-wealthy family in California), this mystery is not a "whodunit" or even "howdunit" but a "whydunit". The story spools out through a haze of drugs, alcohol, sex and a Classics course in Greek as we witness the mental states of the students deteriorate under the strain of paranoia, guilt, jealousy, insecurity and self-absorption. It all adds up to a psychosis-inducing cocktail and a compelling tale as riveting as it is awful. Despite the interior dialogues of Richard and the insertion of relatively esoteric ideas (e.g., untranslated words and phrases in Greek and Latin, Ancient Greek concepts of the self, etc...), this isn't really a deep dive into the psyche of the individual or group-- so there is little emotional leverage to fully engage the reader. But I have to admit that this may be because I went in thinking that this would be a lit-fic book and started looking for meaning where perhaps none existed: There must be a reason why "Bunny" was the only one with a nickname (all others are addressed by full first names), right? These students represent archetypes, yes? What does Julian, their teacher represent? But trying to extract meaning out the story is as pointless as it is counter-productive to just enjoying the story for what it is: a remarkable debut novel from a young author (They were under thirty-years old when the book was published) and an entertaining, page-turning thriller with some surprising plot twists.

And that's it, folks! I have finished my "23 in '23" challenge!

I have a couple more books lined up for the SFFkit, maybe one more for the Historical Fiction Challenge and some reading for the Reading Through Time Group; but all eyes are now on the 2024 Category Challenge. I thought the 2024 challenge was going to be set up over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend-- so I pulled all my books for a 2024 stack already! Funnily enough though, now I'm not 100% sure I'll be back. I'm thinking about taking a sabbatical and focusing my reading for the RTT group; but I've got a few weeks to make up my mind ;-)

Congratulations on finishing!

Congrats on reaching your goal!

Congratulations on finishing your 2023 challenge! I hope we do see you over at the 2024, though I can understand wanting to take a break and focus on something else.

>61 Tanya-dogearedcopy: A great review. I need to read this next year, for sure!
>62 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congrats!

Belated congratulations on finishing your challenge!