Of all the books in my "wolf" category this was the book I looked forward to the most. MFK Fisher is esteemed to almost goddess like status as both a cook and a cookbook author. This book was written to encourage those daunted by wartime shortages in England in the aftermath of WWII. Making something out of near nothing. Effective use of leftovers, cheap cuts of meat, trying to use up all ingredients in pantry and frig, etc. 

I don't want to disparage this book. I did not live through WWII in England or its immediate aftermath so I don't understand or relate to the English sensibilites of that time. L was really dismayed that I didn't like this book--indeed it was one of the very few books that I haven't been able to heroically stick through to the bitter end. There is just something about the Post WWII English "housewife" that I simiply can't relate with--I experienced the same when ploughing through "The Provincial Lady" series of books.

it is my issue not the issue of these authors. I just had hoped to like her writing as much as I enjoy her contemporary Julia Child.

A very interesting take on Sci Fi. It was also interesting to read more about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This is a multi book series and I am highly anticipating reading the next. Very inventive and complex world building.

If you do not like spoilers of any sort--please do not read any further.

I consider my self lucky to have read this series out of order because at least I wasn't totally blindsided by the ending of this book. It was hard enough to read even knowing what was to come. Good read nontheless.

Truth be told--I had picked up this book to read a couple of times and couldn't get hooked in. Third time must have indeed been the charm. I think going back and giving "In The Woods" a second read really helped. Glad I did as this was a really good read--looking forward to the next Dublin Squad Murder.

This was one of my favorite books in 2023. I loved the structure, the writing, and the plot. I look forward to reading more from this author.

During 2020 I decided to read about all things dark, black and demon haunted and I came up with quite the collection of titles. 

This is my final outing with Elizabeth Chase, psychic detective, and I am more than a little sad. I will miss her. While Martha C. Lawrence is a fabulous writer, she, alas, lost her enthusiam for writing fiction after September 11, 2001. She even completed a book tour for this last book in the immediate aftermath of these terrorist attacks, which must have been surreal to say the least. Thankfully for her, she has found success and happiness in "behind the scene" writing. Maybe some day...

I really enjoyed reading this book. Good plot. I would have happily read my way through the whole zodiac had this series continued.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

This book was recommended/sent to me by my husband, he thought I would like it--even though he had not read it himself. Not sure if he has even read it since I did, so much for book club.

I don't remember all the fine details of the plot and truthfully I thought it would be more about bowling--instead it is more of dark character study. 

 I picked up this book because I love Maeve Binchy and hadn’t read any of her books in about 20 years. I have a thing for English writers--I have a thing for all things English. But here's the weird thing-- while Im reading a book like this I fall in love with the idea of scrubbed pine tables and carbolic acid cleaners, gardening in the rain, puttering around in old cars and old clothes the older the better. Cleaning and scrubbing and order. A hard core work ethic.

Read more ...

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I do remember this being a great read. I will no doubt keep in on my shelf to read again. I am a soft sell for a good time traveling yarn.

2022

A book I wanted to like way more than I actually did, because I myself identify totally with the concept of wintering and in these past few years I think a lot of others feel the same. If I am judging this correctly...this book was written while the author was have a dark moment of the soul and I think it shows in the choppiness of the writing. She starts down many pathways and then diverts away never quite giving resolution or a finish to any of the storylines she starts...

The is the second time I have read this book. I have also seen the movie (Matt Damon does a great job). My son and did a little book clubbing this summer. We both give this a thumbs up.

The cold depths of Sweden in 1717, blizzards, murders, evil priests, wolves, and a meddling newcomer make for a frigid read best done curled up in a blanket with a cup of something warm by your side. No spoilers but I am glad that the ending is as gray as the subject matter.

By far my favorite read in 2023 and as much as I enjoyed The Martian I liked this book even more, beginning to end a great read.

This novel follows a young Viennese medical student to the Eastern front during the winter of WWI in 1914. Even though he has minimal experience (ok basically none) there is already a severe shortage of trained medical personnel. He becomes the single doctor in a freezing, partially destroyed and deserted church that is serving as a field hospital. One nurse and a few orderlies. 

This book is one of the best books that I have read this year- a fantastic depiction of the ravages andthe travesties that was WWI. I will put this on my forever shelf and no doubt read it again. First though I am sharing it with friends. I will definitely read more from this author.

Larry Macklin #13

I got used to reading about Larry and the gang once a month for the last year. I miss him now that the series continues as a seasonal event--so only four outings this year. Then we move on to the holidays. I really like this series and now Larry and Cara finally get married. Hope they enjoy their honeymoon--and that Larry doesn't get roped into a case.

A very good read but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read the prior book (Winter Cottage) but that being said it was easy enough to read as a stand alone. It had a lot that I love, a multi generational story that sprang back and forth in time, house restoration, and the epistolatory style (this time in the form of a stash of old hidden letters). If I remember next winter--Winter Cottage here I come.

2022

Another romance that I struggled reading but only because I am a woman who lives and loves a solo life--mistress of my own domain--for the most part anyway. It just distresses me to see women protrayed as "needing a man" to complete them and then always falling for the ''bad boy". All that aside I did enjoy reading this book...it was an interesting look into the South.

The only book not set in England. I had trouble locating a book with Spring in the title. It involved sexual abuse, minors, and people taking justice into their own hands. It was an okay read if a little thin and far fetched.

2022

I am steadily making my way through my stack of aging and crumbly paperback books. A couple of decades ago I really loved this author but I just don't connect with her stories the way I once did which makes me sad.

The English theme continues. This book is part of a very popular detective series that follows the casework of Ian Rutledge. I hate reading out of order and this book was deep into the series. I decided to read it anyway as luck would have it the book was out of sequence itself. The other novels follow Ian after he came back shell-shocked and haunted from the first World War, this one however, imagines his life as an inspector before the war. I really liked it and have gone back and started the series at the beginning.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

This is the second time I have read this book and as I didn't really remember the plot, I found it reading time well spent. I primarily read it again because I wanted to read "The Likeness" which also follows DI Cassie Maddox--and is told in her voice. I'm glad I did the re-read as while one could read this as a stand alone--it was nice to have a refresher on Cassie's relationship with her former partner--Rob Ryan. This book is told in Rob's voice.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I'm guessing that Ms. Hannah has grown in to her skills as a writer. I have read a few of her more recent books and really enjoyed them. This book was written in 2001. Maybe it was cutting edge when first written but to my eyes the story telling went down an overly used pathway. I will stick to this author's more recent books.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

Back in the day I had read Ms. Howard's Cazalet Chronicles set in England during WWII--a series I really enjoyed. I decided to delve back into her offerings. This was a very good book and she is a very good writer. I especially admired the way she wrote the character of Henry Kent, as she cleverly got me to become sympathetic to Henry in spite of knowing he was up to no good. Looking forward to going back and reading more from this author.

Here is an author that has written a great many books--his Alex Delaware series is at least 30+ books long. I was hoping for a lot of good reading--I love a good series. This is the first book and was published in 1985. And I realize that some would write off his phraseology as a symptom of his age and time--how I simply get past that a psychologist, especially one of Dr. Delaware's suppoded stature, would refer to the mentally challenged as retards, refer to a physically challenged man as a gimp, an Asian woman as an Oriental and a physically deformed person as a harelip--not to mention his sexist writing about women. I am not a particularly PC person but I found this hard to swallow. I won't even get into the ridiculous nature of the plot, I will simply say that this author is not for me.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I mean who can resist a book with this title. It was chock full of the weird stuff a human brain gets up to when you don't pay attention to its doings. I need to go back and read the capsulations in the last chapter and refresh my mind. Helped increase my knowledge about the Default Mode Network and using a mindfulness practice,

I had two books set in Paris languishing on my shelves so I decided to cross the English Channel for this category. I thought I had planned my transition quite cleverly by moving from "Lost in Good Book" to "A Parisian Categorie" with a novel entitled The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. That turned into a bit of a misstep as Ms. George wrote that rarest of books, a book that I put down, stopped reading, and moved on. Something I hardly ever do. 

My mistake, not hers, I thought it was going to be a completely different book, Nina George is a good writer and judging by the number of positive reviews on Amazon--a lot of fans, but this book wasn't the prescription I needed. The main character, the owner, has a floating bookstore set on a barge in the River Seine, he is styled as a literary apothecary dispensing the very "books" that would counteract the hardships of life for his clients, he was said to have an intuitive feel for the exact book that a readers needs.

Forgive me, I expected the book to be about the bookstore, his clients, and the books he recommended as cures. Instead, I left the main character reminiscing about an ancient love affair with a married woman-- the memory involved riding naked and bareback on horses--there was also a mention of sand-- in the South of France. I didn't find it romantic I found it chafing. Her main character left Paris behind in the space of a few chapters and I sold my book back to Half Priced Books. 

I will use Lunch in Paris and The Paris Wife to spring off into two separate categories. Lunch in Paris will serve as a springboard for a category about chefs and the restaurant world starting with a most famous transplanted- Parisian wife, Julia Child. The Paris Wife will serve as a springboard for a category of books that feature "wife" as part of the title.  

I have decided to read these categories in tandem because I think I will need to give the restaurant/chef category a break so that I can keep it fresh.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

A quick read, good book. Just don't remember how it ended. Looking forward to reading more from this author. 

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I had been enjoying this series but I didn't really care for this book. The character is going cold on me, not sure why. I will give this series one more shot, but perhaps it is time to say adieu to Aimee Leduc.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

Read during a particularly trying time and read it quickly at that--I'm sure it was good. The TV adaptation is good also--I hope to catch up with the plot as I watch the season dedicated to this book play out.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

Back in the day I read a lot of Joanna Trollope so I thought to give her another go. I found the book to be okay and I can see where it would have been progressive for its time. The ending was a little too "pat" for me but I am going to also give The Choir another go.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I don't remember much about this book. I remember thinking that it was spread a bit too thin--too many different plot lines. But I did enjoy it. I learned a lot about forest fires and canoeing and it had a satisficatory ending--if I am remembering this book correctly.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

Back when I had dreams of posting book reviews on Twitter (or whatever it is called these days) there was a lot of hype about this classic book. It is weird I will give Twitter that and I will also say that I weirdly enjoyed this read.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. I came very close to getting all my books logged in to the website by this March--I was down to two books when 2023 took the deep dive.

I am enjoying this series in fact as I write this I have finished the 4th and am currently reading number 5. I can't remember much about this book other than it made me feel a little frustrated. Lots of filler and misdirection. Glad I've kept reading this series though.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. I came so close to getting all my books logged in this March and I was just two books out before 2023 took the deep dive.

It is a testimate to how much I liked this book that I can still remember how much I enjoyed this read. Such good story telling. I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

The trend continues downward. I skimmed most of this book and still can't tell you what the plot was...the tragedy here is Kinsey started as such a relatable and interesting character and now I almost totally dislike her. Another tragedy is that I am mostly through the alphabet. I need to buy M,N,O,P but alread have the other titles. Speaking of Killer: I think I am going to give this series a time out for the time being.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

This outing with Kinsey is even longer and with less plot development. I hate to diss authors (and RIP Ms. Grafton) but popular authors often get a lot of leeway with publishers. I mostly skimmed as this book mostly consisted of (2/3) overly verbose description of settings and people which seldom did anything other than add to the word count. Her plots are getting increasingly thin.

And speaking of Judgment--let's talk Kinsey for a moment. Kinsey is the first in line to defend and justify her sketchy behavior, fashion, hair, living, and eating habits but also places herself first in line when it comes to judging other people and places.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

Don't really remember much about this book. One would have hoped that as her books increased in pages they would also increase in plot development. Alas that is not the case, she increasingly fills the pages with useless over description. I have started skimming for the ever briefer passages that actually move the plot.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I remember almost nothing of this book. At least it was one of her shorter books. It must of been okay as I have continued on through the alphebet.

I often read books that are health, diet, etc. related--this is a category dedicated to the books I have read along this line.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. And yes, it has often been this type of a year.

I probably need to go back and give this book a second read--in the light of what I have learned--I will no doubt be more receptive to the hard lessons a mother needs to accept. Myself, I needed more science backed information on the latest research into addiction and did not feel that this was answering my questions.

That said it is a very good book.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. And yes, often it has been exactly this type of a year.

I was diagnosed with epilepsy this year, finally after almost 30 years of these episodes, I finally got a diagnosis. If you think being told that "if you have to have epilepsy, this is the type to have" is a comfort--guess again.

I have yet to do a lot of reading on the subject and this is book is my first foray into the reading. It is one person's journey, whose symptoms at least resemble my experience. Not quite but enough to hook me in to reading this book. I was dismayed to find out that he used the ketogenic diet to get his siezures under control. I have tried both keto and paleo--last time I lost about half of my hair--but no real weight. I have sworn off dieting altogether.

For now I will take my medication, and ponder whether I should read the other book I got about epilepsy.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I alway enjoy a Michael Pollan book and this one is no exception. I was curious to read about the science behind using psychedelics as a means to treat despression, anxiety, and addiction. I was also pleased that it discussed the Default Mode Network (a more recent discovery) in more detail. Fascinating--finally a bit more science about why meditation helps. A subject that I will be devoting alot more of my reading time. 

I would really like to find a pathway that keeps my DMN from shutting down all my previous attempts at a meditation practice.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. And yes, it has often been exactly this type of a year.

I wanted to learn more about the constant anxiety that a family member was struggling with...imagine my dismay when the books I read began to uncover my own anxiety.

This is a quick read is stuffed with really good information. Highly recommended. Most of the things we believe about anxiety are half-truths at best and complete myths at worst. This book was the beginning of my education.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly. And yes often it has been exactly this type of a year. 

This is the second book I have read on the subject of anxiety. Redefining Anxiety by Dr. John Delony began a journey of understanding and this book took me further along the path. After I read his book I came to the realization just how much anxiety I was holding on to--in my mind and my body. At some point during the summer of 2023 I began to have (panic/anxiety) attacks--what ever--giant chills would run through and sieze up my body. 

For what it is worth:

Here are the methods I used to get my "chill spells" to simmer down, fade away and eventually stop occurring.

I am a yoga teacher and a birth doula. I know an abundance of technique to alieviate anxiety. It was time to practice what I preach.

1)The best breath practice to employ for anxiety is a two step process. Notice your breath--particularly which direction you are breathing. The breath of anxiety goes in and up to your chest--perfect recipe to produce the adrenaline that anxiety thrives upon. Deep belly breath, using your diaphragm to breathe is what is needed. Once that is accomplished then iniate the 4/8 breath practice. Four counts on your inhale, followed by an 8 count exhale. Not going into the science here other than to note that this methodology, slows your breath which changes the amount of CO2 in your respiration--thereby stopping adrenaline production and slowing your heart rate. Some times inhaling through the nose but exhaling through the mouth will calm your breath more rapidly. It is also more relaxing for the shoulders and your sphincters. (A person holds everything in and up especially when anxious or in pain)

Once I had my breath under control, it was time to practice some other technique (a mix of yoga and methodology from books I have read):

Instead of running away from these sensations I looked at them through the eyes of curiosity. Approach and an attempt to understand, looking in rather than out. Yoga trifecta (breath, movement, and one pointed focus) allowed me to look in towards these chills so that I could determine: What thoughts, people, situations where in my head, where I felt the anxiety as a physical sensation in my body.

So essentially I got my breath in control, used a science based breath practice, then I was able to find where I was holding my axiety, what it felt like, and I was able to breath into that space to encourage it to release. I had actual conversations with the people causing my out of control thoughts and calmed that down with the sound of their actual voices. Imaginary versions of these conversations (monkey mind) can get crazy and out there. I changed the things that I could and let go of things that where out of my control. 

The more I employed these techniques during these episodes the easier they where to endure and the faster they cycled out of my system until they eventually stopped altogether--at least until next time.

Welcome to Book of the Month Club where my goal is to read a book with that particular month in the title for as long as the books hold out. I have separated the titles out into each month as it is cleaner that way.

Welcome to Book of the Month Club where my goal read a book with that particular month in the title for as long as the books hold out. I have separated out the titles so that they appear as separate months, it is cleaner that way.

A category dedicated to books with "September" in their title.

One of my reading projects is known as Book of the Month Club where my goal read a book with that particular month in the title for as long as the books hold out. I have also separated out these reading lists so that they appear as separate months.

2023 has turned out to be a lot. In times of stress I read a lot BUT I don't retain a lot...it has been that kind of a year to put it mildly.

I did enjoy this fourth outing with Cormoran and Robin. This author (aka J. K. Rowling) gets a lot of leeway. There is a lot of rambling about and a lot of extra verbage. I will no doubt continue reading. I just wish I remembered more of the plot.