Sunday Salon-Library Thing

Don't you just love Library Thing? How did I ever survive without this wonderful website? I don't know about you, but I refer to this site over and over again throughout the week. Not only does it contain all my cataloged books, but nearly any other book I want to find out about. I have record of many of my reviews and can compare them to other reviewer's opinions. I get recommendations based on my reading preferences and search for books to read based on others opinions.

Last week I was able to chat with Dara Horn on Library Author Chat. She wrote All Other Nights, one of the early reviewer books. Dara answered many readers questions but then took it a step farther with elaborate detailed explanations of her rationale in characterization and plot. Without her insight I would have missed her brilliant metaphorical symbolism.

I have been fortunate to receive many Advance Reader Copies through the Early Reviewer program. I can't thank Abby and her team enough for this opportunity. I have read books that are sometimes not in my comfort zone with surprising pleasure. Most important to me in this program is that they want an honest opinion. Future books are not awarded based on submitting favorable reviews. The success and integrity of the program, is the honesty of the reviewer.

Lastly, I have direct access to my library through my iPhone, so that when I am shopping, my library is always with me. How cool is that. Especially since my new 3G arrived yesterday. Woo Hoo!!!

If you have a Library Thing account and want to be my friend and share libraries, you can visit my library under my name WisteriaLeigh. How about you? What do you love about Library Thing?

Hope you have a super Sunday. It is another beautiful day in Connecticut...suitable for frogs and ducks, temperatures in the 50-60s. A great day to be reading the rest of After You've Gone by Jeffrey Lent and an Early Reviewer book, The Indifferent Stars Above. The Indifferent Stars Above, about the Donner Party has been so much more than I expected. I can't wait to finish it.

Alas....My Challenges Recap Revised

Plan ahead, two words my father was often trying to instill in me. He would even have a diagram of the two words that ran close to the edge of a piece of paper so that the words had to abruptly change direction vertically in order to fit it on the page. This image comes to mind today. I had scheduled "Alas...My Challenges Recap" to publish at a specific date and time, hoping to finish the post by then. What you may not realize is that it is incomplete and I had intended on writing a bit as well. So, the post did come out on time, I just did not plan ahead...enough. Ok Dad, I messed up this time.

So, this is a REVISED edition of My Challenges Recap. Sorry for the mix-up.

Challenge according to The New Oxford American Dictionary is

1. a call to take part in a contest or competition, esp. a duel : he accepted the challenge.
• a task or situation that tests someone's abilities : the ridge is a challenge for experienced climbers.

I accepted several challenges this year with high hopes. I had every intention of picking up each gauntlet with equal enthusiasm. I began to tackle the lists of books and diligently made blog entries, captured my reading progress and moved on to the next selection.

I failed miserably with challenges this year. I only read one book for the Austin Challenge, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, by Abigail Reynolds. I still owe a review for this one. I never would have read that book had I not signed up for this challenge. I am intrigued by the many novels published with Pride and Prejudice alternative plot possibilities. This challenge has widened my book snob selection process outside of my so called comfort zone. So for that I am grateful to this challenge.


The second challenge I bombed was the Sookie Stackhouse Challenge. Again, I only read the first book, Dead Until Dark. However, I love this series and plan to continue it through 2010. I have to admit I signed up for the challenge after I read the first book, but I still have enthusiasm and drive to complete this one.

The third challenge that I totally ignored was my own Book Buddy Challenge. I didn't read one book. I am so sorry for that. Pitiful, pathetic and just no excuse. I completed snubbed my poor dog Wizard. I owe you a few treats big guy.

The last challenge I had trouble with was the Romance Challenge. I believe I read a few romance novels, The Wild Heart, by Rosemary Rogers comes to mind. I honestly don't read many romance novels and this would have been a great challenge for me. I just never got to it.



These are the challenges I did complete, along with my 100 Books Read Challenge.


Pub Challenge



1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Fiction (Published 2-09)
2. The Scramble for Africa Darfur-Invertention and the USA by Steven Fake and Kevin Funk Non-Fiction (Published 2-09)
3. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell Fiction (Published 1/20/09)
4. The History of Now by Daniel Klein Fiction (Published 2/09)
5. The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
6. Seducing the Spirit by Louise Young
7. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
8. Every Boat Turns South by Jay White
9. The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris
10.Sweeping Up Glass, by Carolyn D. Wall

Southern Reading Challenge



1.Dead Until Dark, by Chalaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse)
2.Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldmen
3.Sweeping Up Glass, by Carolyn D. Wall
4.Every Boat Turns South, by Jay White
5.All Other Nights by Dara Horn
6.Salvos on Blackwater: A Novel of the Civil War Period, by Erwin Wunderlich



War Through the Generations



1.The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2.The German Woman, by Paul Griner
3.Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,by Jamie Ford
4.Daddy's Little Spy by Isabella Rosa
5.The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy


Lessons and notes after my first full year of challenges:
1. Challenges cause me stress and worry and can put a person over the edge with anxiety. :(
2. Challenges have encouraged me to expand my reading choices. :)
3. Challenges are a fun way to connect with other bloggers. :)
4. Challenges whether or not you are a participant, lead to reflective reviews posted by fellow bloggers. :)
5. Challenges show other readers what my interests are. :)

As a recap, I came up with 4 out of 5 reasons to continue doing challenges in 2010. The only sad face I gave out was because of the anxiety and stress I put on myself when I don't finish a challenge. I can easily solve this by limiting my challenges this year. Since I still have courses I am taking for my Masters in History, upon reflection, this makes sense. I also need to get better, plan ahead to make sure I track my reading better, so that posting challenges will be less arduous. Sorry it took so long to post this recap but planning ahead as my father would tell you was never my forte. I will be posting my challenges on Sunday. Don't hold me to that. LOL

Mailbox Monday

This sketch is of a mail wagon from 1858. I received a lot of mail this week that would be easily carried in this coach. Some of these mail coaches were designed to carry up to 600 pounds of mail.

[The Butterfield Overland Mail transferred passengers and mail to light, durable vehicles for travel over rough roads.
From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 23, 1858.]
From:http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25449

1) Tone Deaf in Bangkok, by Janet Brown ...all the way from Hong Kong!
2) Sally Hemings, by Barbara Chase-Riboud
3) The Calligrapher's Daughter, by Eugenia Kim
4) The Music Room, by Namita Devidayal
5) Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure, by Matthew Algeo
6) All Other Nights, by Dara Horn
7) Morning in a Different Place, by Mary Ann McGuigan
8) A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens
9) Born Among the Dolphins by Patrick Lagraw

2009 Books Read List

100 / 100 words. 100% done!

Read to Date, 100 Books...
100 Book Challenge 2009

September-December Total=23
Houri, by Mehrdad Balili
The Sacrifice of the Sage Hen, by Susie Schade-Brewer
The Saint and the Fasting Girl, by Anna Richenda
Small Kingdoms, by Anastasia Hobbet
Once a Witch, by Carolyn Maccollough
The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel, by Maureen Lindley
Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls
The White Mary, by Kira Kalak
After You've Gone, by Jeffrey Lent
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
The Crimson Rooms, by Katharine McMahon
Journeying, by Barbara Fleming
The Wildest Heart, by Rosemary Rogers
The Widow's War, by Mary Mackey
Five Smooth Stones, by Ann Fairbairn
Dead Until Dark, Sookie Stackhouse, Charlene Harris
January's Sparrow, Patricia Polacco
The Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer
No Wind of Blame, Georgette Heyer
The Wives of Henry Oads, Johanna Moran
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Abigail Reynolds
The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
The Girl in the Lighthouse, by Roxane Tepfer Sanford


August Total= 5
8-09-The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
8-09-The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett (Non-Fiction)
8-09-South of Broad by Pat Conroy
8-09-The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel
8-09-The Half Moon, Henry Hudwon and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World
by Douglas Hunter (Non-Fiction)
8-09





July Total 14 Books

7-09-Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
7-09-Beneath a Northern Sky, Steven E. Woodworth (A Short History of the Gettysburg Campaign)p.227.
7-09-When I Was a Slave, Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection, Edited by Norman R. Yetman
7-09-Slavery by Another Name, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize by Douglas A. Blackmon
7-09-Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse) by Charlaine Harris
7-09-Forever Free by Eric Froner
7-09-Hootcat Hill by Lucy Coats (YA)
7-09-The Last Day by James Landis
7-09-Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell
7-09-American Lion by Jon Meacham
7-09-The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
7-09-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
7-09-The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos, by Margaret Mascarenhas
7-09-Titanic, The Untold Story, by W. Mae Kent

June Totals 7 Books

6-09-Seducing the Spirit by, Louise Young
6-09-Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldman
6-09-The Indifferent Stars Above, b Daniel Brown
6-09-Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson
6-09-After You've Gone, by Jeffrey Lent
6-09-The Bolter, by Frances Osborne
6-09-A Reliable Wife, by Robert Goolrick

May Totals 8 Books

5-09-Sea Changes,by Gail Graham
5-09-Every Boat Turns South, by J.P.White
5-09-Lace Makers of Glenmara, by Heather Barbieri
5-09-Leviathan, by Eric Jay Dolin
5-09-A Consumers' Republic by Lizabeth Cohen
5-09-Working Towards Whiteness, by David Roediger
5-09-The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan
5-09-All Other Nights, by Dara Horn


April Totals 8 Books

4-09-Toys to Tools, by Liz Kolb
4-09-Daddy's Little Spy-Isabella, by Isabella Rose
4-09-The Tory Widow, by Christine Blevins
4-09-Salvos on the Backwater, Erwin Wunderlich
4-09-Tone Deaf in Bangkok, by Janet Brown
4-09-Mrs. Lincoln, by Catherine Clinton
4-09-The Barfighter, by Ivan G. Goldman
4-09-Sag Harbor, by Colson Whitehead

March Totals 11 Books

3-09-Eight Hours for What We Will, by Roy Rosensweig
3-09-The Recovery of Ecstasy, by Sandy Krolick, Ph.D
3-09-Outcasts Unlimitd, by Warren St. John
3-09-The German Women, by Paul Griner
3-09-Follow Me, by Joanna Scott
3-09-Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
3-09-The Secret Keeper, by Paul Harris
3-09-Meteor of War, by Zoe Trodd and John Stauffer EDS.
3-09-The Sacred Well, by Antoinnette May
3-09 Big Boy Rules, by Steve Fainaru
3-09 Night Battles, by M.F. Bloxam

February Totals 10 Books

2-09 Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
2-09-The Revolution of 1800, edited by Onuf
2-09 Ereth and Poppy, by Avi
2/09-The Unpolished Gem, by Alice Pung
2/09-I,Jacqueline, by Hilda Lewis
2/09-The Duke of Stockbridge: A Romance of Shays' Rebellion by Edward Bellamy
2/09-The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
2/09-William Cooper's Town by Alan Taylor
2/09-The Color of Lighting by Paulette Jiles
2/09-The Disappearance by Efrem Sigel


January Totals 9 Books

1/09-Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill
1/09-Canvey Island by James Runcie
1/09-Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell
1/09-The Scramble for Africa by Steven Fake and Kevin Funk
1/09-The History of Now by Daniel Klein
1/09-The Mind of a Genius by David Snowdon
1/09-Red Clay, Blood River by William J. Everett
1/09-High Spirits by, Dianne K. Salerni
1/09-Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by, Jamie Ford

The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin

THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY

by Victor McGlothin
Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group
$13.99/$16.99 Can; 373 pages
ISBN 13 :9780446178136
2010

Full Description from the Publisher:

"For Ivory Bones Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote, life in 1950s New Orleans couldn't be sweeter. Friends since they met in an illegal gambling house in Newberry, Louisiana, they have their pick of all the fine women, good food, and hot nights they can handle. They seem to have it made-especially Julian who begins to make a new life for himself after meeting the beautiful, classy Magnolia Garbo at a social. But both men are about to find out that letting the good times roll can be deadly when a simple robbery goes wrong and Julian witnesses Bones murdering a man in cold blood."

Review: The Secrets of Newberry

Just when you think you have everything figured out, this story will take an unexpected turn to keep you engaged as you can’t help but turn to the next page. Pearl Lee works as a supervisor in the washhouse, delegating soiled linens and underclothes among the other black women who work on the Delacroix Plantation. The women share a secret, a secret agreement between the white men in this powerful family and the black women who serve and live in the rows of slave shacks next door. They all know and suffer with the agreement. Their husbands are in the dark, the secret is unspeakable and unseemly, but all agree it is necessary to keep their men safe, so they endure.

Characters who comprise this complicated story are unforgettable. Magnolia and Pearl Lee are strong women who demonstrate the depth of their emotions when they back it up with actions. Hampton struggles to provide a good life for his family. He lives on a tightrope intent on staying straight with the law, but his balance is not always steady.

Are there some secrets worth dying for? Is murder ever justified? Suspense, mystery, racial inequality and the backdrop of Jim Crow Louisiana in the 1950’s accompanied by a superb realistic story with intrigue will more than satisfy historical fiction fans. Victor McGlothin’s storytelling will force you to ponder life questions of faith and belief. Masterfully told and highly recommended.


Disclosure: This book was sent to me at no cost from Hachette Book Group. This review is my own unbiased true opinion of The Secrets of Newberry, by Victor McGlothin.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2010].