fuzzi ROOT ROOT ROOTs in 2023!

I'm back again for 2023!

Last year I determined to read all ROOT books, and while I didn't quite make that challenge, I did make my challenge of 100 and then some, 129 in all!

I'm going for 100 again, it's a nice round number.



My discarding, aka "rehoming" thread for 2023 is here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/347121#n8017805



And now...

fuzzi’s ROOTs rules:
1. Book must have been in my library for at least 365 days whenever I read it...so if it’s August 1, 2022 and I bought a book on July 31, 2021, it’s a ROOT
2. Unread and “rehomed” books count for ROOTing total
3. Partially read and abandoned books count for ROOT total (though not for my “Books read in 2023” challenges)
4. ROOTs can be e-books or tree-books
5. Children’s and other short books count as ROOTs

Good luck with your goal!

Happy New Year. Looking forward to seeing what you're reading this year.

Yay! Good to see you back - happy reading!

Welcome back!

Welcome back, fuzzi! Have a great reading year!

Wishing you a wonderful new year.

Happy Reading in 2023. I'll look forward to seeing which books you tackle this year.

Thank you all for stopping by to say hi!

May 2023 be gentler and kinder to us than 2022 was.

First ROOT, rehomed without reading it:

Lord Peter: A Collection of All the Lord Peter Wimsey Stories

Wishing you a fun year of reading and rehoming.

Happy ROOTing!

Happy New Year, Fuz and welcome to a new year of ROOTing

Welcome back and good luck!

#2 The View From Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg (Newbery Medal 1997)

A captivating story of four children who form a special bond and how it affects those around them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will look for other books by this author.

Hi Fuzzi, I've found your thread and I'm dropping a star.

>16 atozgrl: yippee!

My latest read is only one week shy of technically being a ROOT...so I'm counting it as one!


#3 The Monastery Cat and Other Animals by Joyce Stranger

Mixed lot of stories by one of my favorite authors. Some I loved, some were just okay, but the collection is worth reading. I especially enjoyed the title story about a kitten that is rescued by a monastery full of monks.

#4 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - Newbery Medal 1995

While on a road trip to go visit her mother in Idaho, thirteen year old Sal entertains her grandparents with strange tales about her friend Phoebe. There's a lot in this story to digest, I may go back for a re-read soon.

#5 Star Gate by Andre Norton

Fairly standard yet somewhat interesting story about a halfbreed forced to leave his legacy and join ranks with superior powers. It was a little uneven but I enjoyed it.

#6 Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Newbery Medal)

Set in late 1300's England this is an engaging story of an orphan boy who is, for reasons unknown, targeted for execution by his Lord's steward. I appreciated the characters and the well-drawn setting. I felt the ending was just a tad contrived but it didn't spoil it for me.

I will keep an eye out for the sequels!

#7 The Animal, the Vegetable, and John D Jones by Betsy Byars

Amusing look at two single parent families going on vacation together with typical adolescent reactions to being forced into close proximity with others NOT of their choice. The author is good at getting into pre-teenagers' heads. Worth reading.

#8 Jerry of the Islands by Jack London

As much as I usually enjoy Jack London's work I just couldn't get over the incessant use of the N word. Discarded.

#9 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (Newbery Honor 1991)

Fun read, needed to suspend disbelief just a tad but enjoyed it nevertheless. Looking for more books by this author.

>24 fuzzi: I remember very much enjoying Charlotte Doyle when I was a kid and discovered it by happenstance on the shelves of a used bookstore.

>25 Caramellunacy: same here, but found about a year ago.

#10 Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman

This is decidedly one of the author's better books, although none that I've read so far received less than three stars from me. I found this Leaphorn mystery gripping, suspenseful, and with many twisty canyons for the reader to follow.

I don't remember which of the Hillerman books feature it, but I loved the scene where Chee goes to the drive-in to watch old Western movies because the extras are making lewd jokes about the white actors in Navajo.

>28 Caramellunacy: I've not read that one, yet. I have most of them I've picked up at the used book store in town (I have lots of credit!) and am trying to read them in order.

The Chee and Leaphorn books used to be listed in separate series but someone combined them all. Oh well.

>29 fuzzi: I generally preferred Leaphorn's investigations, but loved how distinct but effective both characters' methods were.

No ROOTs yet in May...

No ROOTs in June either...

...but WAIT!!!


#11 Protector by C. J. Cherryh

Things have calmed down enough for the Aiji's heir, Cajeiri, to have special guests at his (at last!) felicitous 9th birthday celebration, or have they? There's a bit more action in this installment, and character growth that is unexpected but welcome.

Ticker is off, will investigate...


#13 Monument Rock by Louis L'Amour

This collection contains the last of L'Amour's unpublished short stories, and it's a pretty good bunch. There are some familiar characters within, including Utah Blaine, the Cactus Kid, Chick Bowdrie, Kilkenny, and it even has a new Talon family member. I can't recall any of these tales not being at least a three star. Not going to rehome this one, yet.

#14 Canyon Winter by Walt Morey

An engaging tale of a young man stranded in the wilderness, and how he comes to appreciate his surroundings as well as fend for himself. It's a young adult story that should appeal to adults, like me, who enjoy a well-told tale.

do you like this better than gary Paulson? i find Paulson sort of so-so. perhaps this theme from a previous generation is more my style.

>35 EGBERTINA: I like Paulson quite a bit, but this is a little kinder, gentler than Hatchet. It's not too sweet which I appreciate.

If you want some recommendations for "surviving in the woods" sort of books I can provide them. I've read a lot, probably starting with My Side of the Mountain which I devoured shortly after the movie came out in 1969. The book is highly superior to the movie.

>36 fuzzi: Yes, I too read My Side... My Dad was from Maine and he just raved about this book. He made the whole family read it. One might suppose it was his own personal accomplishment.

I might be open to survival read suggestions. Not sure if it is completely my thing or not. My younger son picked up Hatchet in the 90's (?) and he read a few of his books; then a grand-child read them; finally, I tried them out. I'm not completely certain why I find Paulsen off-putting. One of his books with sled dogs kind of set me on edge. It wasn't bad- I just felt a slight sensation of having been preached at. Not morality, just his personal worldview. Yes, wild animals not cute and cuddly- dangerous - like to chew you up... got it. It just seemed he had all these "learned" philosophies that descended upon him through the dogs and nature. It just hit me wrong. The other thing that struck me was a sense that he had had a "tough" life and it came through his writing, somehow. Certainly, he wasn't writing books that glorified gangs or anything - it was just a fleeting impression, and it nagged at me, ever so slightly. I admit it, I was raised in a marshmallow world in which children's literature was equally, marshmallowy - then, i was thrust into a horrible culture of abuse and poverty , belittlement etc - I just dont have an affinity for it. Its not that I think the world or its literature must be sanitized- its just that I dont mind mind when it is.

I've been reading more child/youth books, I am not entertained by reading gore/violence/sex, especially when presented in a graphic manner.

Also, I started playing "catch up" on Newbery winners and medal recipients a few years ago. Most of them are good adult reads, and without the graphic stuff I don't want to deal with.

Here's a list of survival type reads, and not all are youth books. Some are contemporary, some take place hundreds of years ago, and there's even one that takes place in Australia:

Flight of the White Wolf by Mel Ellis
(boy runs away with his pet wolf after bounty hunters want to kill it)

White Water, Still Water by J. Allan Bosworth

Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry - a childhood and adult favorite!

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare - very good read!

Indian Fur by Glenn Balch

The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

Hill's End by Ivan Southall

Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Non-youth reads:

Canoeing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid (yes, the journalist!)

Covered Wagon Women, Volume 2: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails by Kenneth L. Holmes - surviving the trail

Thank you

Hi Fuzzy, I'm hopelessly behind with reading threads. Finally reached yours! I hope you are doing fine.

Cleaned off dusty shelves!

Heavyweight Boxing in the 1970s by Joe Ryan

Boxing by Bob Mee

Great Preaching on Soul Winning by Curtis Hudson

Rousseau and Revolution by Will Durant
(never catalogued!)