Reading for 2018 - April

Kindle - I read 15 books, discarded 6 and added 8.  That counts as progress.

43. Adventures in Starry Kitchen by Nguyen Tran – Cookbook/history of a LA underground restaurant.  Some decent recipes and an entertaining story.

44. The Jews in America by Max I. Dimont – History of Jews in America through most of 20^th century. 

45. American Legends: Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Charles River Editors – Basic roundup of Laura Ingalls Wilder history – nothing special but it was free.

46. Disaster! History of Earthquakes etc by John Withington – Pretty much what it sounds like, does include many of the human made disasters.

47. Essential Guide to Being Polish by Anna Spysz – Collection of small essays about being Polish, Polish culture, Polish history, and such.

48. Evidence of Love by John Bloom – Somewhat ambiguous crime of passion true-crime story.

49. His Amish Romance by Samantha Price – 2^nd book in a series, this one was a little less good.  The bad character is too blatant and fools everyone too easily.

50. The Cat Who Went Underground by Lilian Jackson Braun – One of the earlier and better entries in the series, featuring a cool cat story and a serial killer with a sad family secret who takes out carpenters.

51. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Composting by Chris McLaughlin, Chris – Pretty much what it sounds like, looking at my options for this fall.

52. The Gladstone Bag by Charlotte MacLeod – A rather interesting romp in the Kelling series that does not heavily feature Max and Sarah, but some theater jewels and a very real necklace.

53. The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition  by Jason Fry – A novelization of the movie with some expanded bits, including a very interesting opening dream.  Honest opinion – they should have cut some of the Canto Bight BS and done more with what’s in here – like the scene where Luke almost goes back with Rey.  Very irritated with this whole Disney deal where you can’t follow the story if you’re not reading the books.

54. The Rothschilds by Virginia Cowles – Good history of the Rothschild family to the late 1970s.  Lots of personal sketches and fun stories.

55. The Wisdom of the Talmud by Various Authors – Pretty much what the title says.

56. The Witch of the Low Tide by John Dickson Carr – A non-Fell mystery store with a vaguely Arthur Conan Doyle character.

57. Weekend Homesteader: March  by Anna Hess – Part of a collection about small homestead projects, pretty decent.

Dead Tree - I read 7 books and discarded 11.  However, 2 of them

18. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank – I was rereading this one as a pre-read for my daughter.  I don’t think I really grasped when I was young how very close they were to surviving the Holocaust.

19. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast by Lilian Jackson Braun – A later entry in the series, but still enjoyable.  However, some cracks are starting to show through.

20. Mystique by Amanda Quick, Amanda – A pretty decent historical romance with a slight mystery.                       

21. Kick Kennedy: Charmed Life and Tragic Death by Barbara Leaming – Look at the adult life of Kathleen Kennedy with a side dish of WW2 British social history.  Light but enjoyable.

22. CL: All New Fresh Food Fast by Cooking Light editors – A collection of Cooking Light recipes, definitely some in here I want to check out. (NEW ADD)

23. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman – I’m not really into her whole shtick, but there are some good recipes in here, mostly dessert type stuff for me.

24. The Ninth Guest by Gwen Bristow – A mystery involving a bunch of guests who are invited to a party where they’re killed one at a time…believed to be a possible inspiration for And Then There Were None.  This one has more of a game-playing element however. (NEW ADD)

Yes, 2 new adds - one from the Cooking Club and one is a collectible.  I am making some small exceptions to the "no new books rule" - and have actually passed up buying quite a few.  My Amazon WL is growing rapidly.