Reading for 2018 - September

September wasn't the best month for reading.

Kindle Reading:

I read 13 on the paperwhite and deleted 3.  But I added 21...

Dark Desires by Eve Silver – A Gothic Victorian featuring a girl with nowhere to turn and a doctor who needs help.  Of course, it’s a Gothic so there is a certain amount of Too Stupid To Live (TSTL) on the heroine’s part, but if you’re a heroine in a Gothic then you need to do things you’re told not to do.  There’s a whole running thing where she thinks he’s a resurrection man, but he’s really trying to make the world’s best anatomy book.

His Dark Kiss by Eve Silver – Same author, but stories don’t seem to be connected.  This one features the ever-popular brooding lord and the governess, but the lord has a very different hobby.  There’s also an unknown malevolent person in the neighborhood seeking revenge.  Pretty decent read.

God's Harvard by Hanna Rosin – A look at Patrick Henry and its student body.  Interesting material that tries not to judge and present them as they are. 

Old School Comfort Food by Alex Guarnaschelli – A little more of the author talking about their cooking experiences, and a little less of the recipes.  Worth reading over.

Signing Their Lives Away by Denise Kiernan – A look at John Hancock and crew – the signers of the Declaration of Inependence, and short looks at each of them. 

TCW Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun – A reread, picking them up as they are on sale.  I love all the little nods to Shakespeare in the plot, and Koko and Yum Yum are enjoyable.

The Alington Inhertance by Patricia Wentworth – I really enjoyed this one, which turns on legitimacy, a poor relation and the records at Somerset House – and a heroine who’s smart enough to get out (and gets lucky enough to find the hero along the way).  The ending is very good. 

The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham – An outing with Campion is always good, and this one has a touch of sadness – but I enjoy how we get there.   

The Dark Labyrinth: A Novel by Lawrence Durrell – This one is a little weird, and I almost gave it up.  A bunch of travelers get stuck in a cave during a cave-in.  Some of them survive, and some do not – but they end up in some very different places.  There’s a lot of introspection and an interesting ending.

The Fall of the Dynasties by Edmond Taylor – A look at just-pre-WW1 history, and the various dynasties, and it has some interesting bits.  It seriously drags, however. 

Trouble in Triplicate by Rex Stout – A trio of short stories featuring Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin set in the WW2 era.  A gangster wants Wolfe to do a job, the War Department needs Archie, and a very interesting story about an exploding cigar (some of the plot twists were somewhat predictable, but not when it was written).  The last story was my favorite.

Who Killed Bob Teal? By Dashiell Hammett – The Continental Op is at work again.  The title mystery is pretty good, and an interesting one about blackmail.

With This Ring by Amanda Quick – This is a reread, of one of my very favorite Quick books.  I love the whole plot with her writing the book, and the running thread of comments about what the hero would have discovered if he read one of her books.  It also features one of my very favorite slightly older heroes, sardonic and a great match for the heroine.

“If you had ever bothered to finish one of my novels, my lord, you would see that in the end the heroine always marries the hero.”

iPad reading: All Fairy Tail, since I was working my way to the end of the series.  Had fun reading them with Adrianna.

Fairy Tail Volume 63 by Hiro Mashima – The final volume of Fairy Tail.  Definitely what I was looking forward to seeing, and room for more stories!

Fairy Tail Volume 62 by Hiro Mashima – Building up to the end of the story. 

Fairy Tail Volume 61 by Hiro Mashima – Features an interesting plot twist about a character’s identity and how clueless some people can be.

Fairy Tail Volume 60 by Hiro Mashima – A nice bit of Erza backstory (that doesn’t involve the Tower of Heaven – or, as I like to call it, the Tower of Tragic Backstory).  Plus some great scenes for Wendy.

Fairy Tail Volume 59 by Hiro Mashima – Gray and Natsu face off.  Also Gajeel and Levy are reunited (one of my favorite scenes) after Gajeel protects Jet and Droy.  One of the best in the Alvarez arc.

Fairy Tail Volume 58 by Hiro Mashima – If you’re a Gray and Juvia person, this was an excellent volume.

Fairy Tail Volume 57 by Hiro Mashima – First, I love how the chapter titles are a countdown, essentially.  Also, this is better known as the volume in which Gajeel/Levy fans (or Gale, since this fandom is huge on portmanteau relationship names) get totally jerked around.  It might be the best volume of this whole arc.

Fairy Tail Volume 56 by Hiro Mashima – A little slower paced, but it’s about to get crazy.

Fairy Tail Volume 55 by Hiro Mashima – This is also a great volume.  Gajeel and Levy have a great set, Mavis and Laxus have a great set – Laxus is good in this one in general – and Aquarius makes an appearance to deliver Backstory…I mean, Star Memory!  Important because Aquarius is lost during the Tartaros arc. 

Fairy Tail Volume 54 by Hiro Mashima – This one is slow, provides buildup.

Fairy Tail Volume 53 by Hiro Mashima – This one features a ton of backstory for Mavis and Zeref, very interesting.  The Laxus Boom panel is one of my favorites, and the other dragon slayers get some good art moments as well (particularly Gajeel). Also gives the run-down of the bad guys we’ll be seeing.  And it’s home to chapter 453, or the “did I just see that or are they messing with us?” moment for Gale shippers.

Fairy Tail Volume 52 by Hiro Mashima – This one introduces the Alvarez Empire arc, which is (sad kitty face) the final arc.  Also features chapter 443, the hot springs chapter.  It’s enjoyable.

Fairy Tail Volume 51 by Hiro Mashima – Loose ends get wrapped up, we find out what Gajeel, Levy and Pantherlily have been up to, and Erza Scarlet becomes the Seventh Master.

Fairy Tail Volume 50 by Hiro Mashima – Transition volume, since there’s a year long time skip after the Tartaros arc.  Pretty entertaining.

Fairy Tail Volume 16 by Hiro Mashima – The end of Battle of Fairy Tail arc, and the introduction of Wendy Marvell, the sky dragon slayer.

Fairy Tail Volume 41 by Hiro Mashima – Transition volume between Grand Magic Games and Tartaros.

Dead tree reading was also pretty slow.  I discarded 6 old titles and 4 new ones, then read 3 old titles and 4 new ones.  So at least I'm maintaining some progress.  Not sure if I can get through it before end of year.                               

The Lion in the Living Room by Abigail Tucker – Book about the relationship between people and cats (I prefer to liken mine to tigers, personally) that’s pretty good.  It’s definitely better than The Tribe of Tiger, and more up to date.  There are some disturbing passages about euthanasia at shelters and people hating cats, but overall it’s a good read.  A Christmas gift from last year.

Prince Caspian by CS Lewis – So sometimes I feel like I skipped a lot of classics of childhood.  I never read Narnia.  I’ve enjoyed LWW, and this one was pretty good.  I enjoyed the playing with time.          

Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson, Victoria - A new acquisition, and possibly the next to last one I read in the series.  I feel like maybe the series has run to about its end, and I don’t like some of the changes in the setup.  It isn’t bad, but I don’t know that it warrants buying in HC any more.

Leverage in Death by JD Robb – The latest in the series.  This one was pretty decent, although I maintain something needs to be done to shake it up.  I do like the whole side plot with Nadine’s Oscar.

SV Twins #3 The Haunted House by Francine  - Got this in a Paperback Swap trade.  It’s pretty decent, with an afterschool special plot on bullying.

ST Redshirt's Little Book of Doom by Pearlman/Jung – Cute little picture book of redshirt cartoons, picked up on a clearance rack.  It’s worth looking through.  They’re all takes on either classic movie posters or Trek in jokes.

Sons from Afar by Cynthia Voigt – Another book in the Tillerman cycle, focused on the brothers and their search for their absent father, and dealing with some of the challenges of growing up.  It was a bit of a slow read, but satisfying.