#AMonthofFaves: 5 New-to-Me Author Discoveries

#AMonthofFaves, hosted by Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO, continues. The prompts this month cover a wide variety of fun, end-of-the year-ish topics. Today's prompt asks about authors we discovered this year.

With all the talk about Anthony Trollope and his Chronicles of Barsetshire  on the blog this year, you might expect him to top my list. But while Mr. Trollope has  been added to my list of favorite authors, he's not a new discovery. I first read The Warden  over a decade ago and, shortly afterwards, began reading The Way We Live Now  with an online book group. Unfortunately, I fell behind schedule (it's 800 pages long) and put it aside. It remains on my shelf ... with a bookmark at page 322.

 5 Fave “New to Me” Author Discoveries, 2015

Elena Ferrante

The Neopolitan Novels  are beautifully written and intense, but her identity remains a secret.

Atul Gawande

Being Mortal  caused me to think about important end-of-life issues.

Nickolas Butler

Shotgun Lovesongs is unusual because the focus is on male friendships. 

 Bill Clegg

Did You Ever Have a Family is a debut novel that lived up to the hype. I loved it.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me, a National Book Award winner, is one of powerful book!

Julie Mulhern

Let's make this 6 favorite author discoveries. I never knew cozy mysteries could be so much fun! 

Tell me  about your favorite author discoveries of 2015.

#AMonthofFaves: Unique and Memorable Books

#AMonthofFaves, hosted by Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO, continues. The prompts this month cover a wide variety of fun, end-of-the year-ish topics. Today we're talking about the most unique or memorable book(s) read this year. Those are two very distinct categories for me... especially this year.

Most Memorable Book(s)

The six novels making up Anthony Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire have been my most memorable books of the year. In fact, they have provided one of my most memorable reading experiences ever.  Along with a small group of blogging friends, I read one book every two months. We compared notes on twitter (#6Barsets) as we went along... an activity appropriately dubbed "Trolloping with friends" by Audrey. In the process, I acquired a new favorite author.

Perhaps we'll throw a #PalliserParty in 2016.

Most Unique Book

This honor goes to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (my review). Her basic principles of organizing and decluttering are sound, but eventually the book got a little too weird for me. Talk to my possessions? Thank them for serving my needs? Be considerate of their feelings? I don't think so.

Still, the book inspired me to get rid of all the clothes in my closet that I no longer wore, were out of style, or simply did not fit. And that really made me happy. I'm not so sure about the life-changing part though...


What were the most unique or memorable books you read this year?

Weekly Update: 30 Roses, 80 Candles, and No Snow

Good morning and Happy Sunday! It's 7:30 AM and I'm sitting in my favorite chair with a big cup of black coffee and my laptop. Once again, the week flew. It began with thirty roses for our thirtieth wedding anniversary and dinner at our favorite inn/restaurant, where the halls were decked and ready for Christmas. Midweek we took my father out to lunch to celebrate his 80th birthday. Later we sang and he blew out the candles on a pumpkin pie, his favorite.

In the midst of all the celebration, and perhaps just as remarkable, it is December 6 and we still have had nothing more than a trace of snow! It looks as though this weather pattern will continue for at least another week..

Finished this week//

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

For book club, I'll share my thoughts after our meeting.

Current reading//

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

A National Book Award winner, written in verse

Emma by Jane Austen

Started this on Friday for the #Emma200th Readalong .. loving it already.

On the blog//
Book Brief: Guaranteed to Bleed  by Julie Mulhern
#AMonthofFaves: 5 Popular Books Worth the Hype
Tuesday Intro: The Red Garden
The Classics Club: Spin #11


New books in the house//
Although I vowed not to load up on books prior to the TBR Triple Dog Dare, it appears I am doing just that...

Death With an Ocean View by Noreen Wald (Netgalley)

My cozy  mystery phase continues...

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 

Another kindle daily deal... I need an intervention!

Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories 

by Anthony Trollope

It's Trollope and Christmas!

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

by Denise Kiernan,  narrated by Cassandra Campbell 

Audible had a sale last week.

Around the blogosphere//

Speaking of the TBR Triple Dog Dare, Andi at Estella's Revenge has started a project (dare I call it a movement?) that will be a priority for me in 2016. She's calling it #ReadMyOwnDamn Books. Is that a great hashtag or what? I should probably count the number of unread books on my shelves and kindle, but I'm afraid to do that. Maybe later this week...

Sheila at Book Journey is hosting First Book of the Year: 2016. It's easy and fun to participate.

There is another Classics Club Spin coming up - number 11! Check back Monday morning to see which book I will read before February 1.


The week ahead//
I MUST do my Christmas shopping. That's it... no other goals. Wish me luck.

How was your week? What did you read?

This post will link to It's Monday, What Are You Reading?  hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

The Classics Club: Spin #11

The Classics Club Spin has been a huge success and now it's time for round 11!  I have not participated in any spins so far this year...the six novels in Trollope's Barsetshire Chronicles  have kept me fully occupied. Previous spins have dealt me An American Tragedy, The Bell Jar, Middlemarch, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Picture of Dorian Gray, They Were Sisters, and Cheerful Weather for a Wedding. Now I'm ready to spin again!

The rules are the same, only the dates have been changed.

Here's how it works:
- Go to your blog.
- Pick twenty books that you’ve got left to read from your Classics Club list.
- Post that list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by next Monday. (12/7)
- Monday morning, we’ll announce a number from 1-20. Go to the list of twenty books you posted, and select the book that corresponds to the number we announce.
- The challenge is to read that book by February 1, 2016.

In the past I've come up with fun categories and themes, but this time it's purely alphabetical. The odds are stacked for more Trollope, but I'd be happy with just about anything on the list.

1. Austen, Jane - Emma
2.  Bronte, Anne - Agnes Grey
3.  Bronte, Charlotte - Villette
4.  Cather, Willa - A Lost Lady
5.  DuMaurier, Daphne - My Cousin Rachel
6.  Gaskell, Elizabeth - Cranford
7.  Gissing, George - The Odd Women
8.  Hemingway, Ernest - The Sun Also Rises
9.  Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day
10. James, Henry - What Maisie Knew
11. Mitford, Nancy - The Pursuit of Love
12. Oates, Joyce Carol - Them
13. Steinbeck, John - The Winter of Our Discontent 
14. Thirkell, Angela  - Wild Strawberries
15. Trollope, Anthony - Rachel Ray
16. Trollope, Anthony - Can You Forgive Her?  (Pallisers #1)
17. Trollope, Anthony - Miss Mackenzie
18. Welty, Eudora - Delta Wedding
19. Wharton, Edith - The Bunner Sisters
20. Whipple, Dorothy - The Priory

Let's spin!


12/7 UPDATE:
The spin number is 19.
I'll be reading Bunner Sisters  by Edith Wharton, which I just realized is a novella!

Book Brief: Guaranteed to Bleed by Julie Mulhern

Guaranteed to Bleed 
(The Country Club Murders #2)
by Julie Mulhern
Henery Press, 2015
254 pages
source: purchased e-book

My thoughts:
The murders and mayhem continue... and there's another dead body in Ellison Russell's hostas. I could not have asked for more entertaining, comfortable, and light reading fun over the recent Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The Country Club Murders  are all about plot. The 1970s setting adds a nostalgic angle (though not as prominent here as in the first novel) and the backdrop of the country club gives it that "wealthy people behaving badly" theme I always enjoy.

Ellison Russell is a totally likable main character, her mother is surely a "force of nature", and her two potential love interests provide just the right dose of cozy romantic tension.  Will she fall for Detective Anarchy Jone or lawyer Hunter Tafft? Perhaps we'll find out next time...

I was never a big cozy mystery fan before discovering this series. Now, after just two novels, they have become my escapist reading of choice. I can hardly wait for book three!

My rating:

#AMonthofFaves: 5 Popular Books Worth the Hype

#AMonthofFaves, hosted by Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO, is back for a second year! The prompts will again cover a wide variety of fun, end-of-the year-ish topics. I plan to participate a few times throughout the month of December... you know I can't resist a good list.

5 POPULAR BOOKS WORTH THE HYPE

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

The hype surrounding The Neopolitan Novels  even has its own name, #FerranteFever! This fourth and final book deserves every bit of it. 

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg

I didn't read much contemporary fiction this year, but am so glad I made time for this title! (my review)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Everyone should read this book. Better yet, listen. (my book brief)

Yes, that's only three.

I didn't read nearly as many new releases this year... probably because I spent so much time "Trolloping with friends" in Barsetshire. If I absolutely had to come up with two more titles, I would add

• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
• Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

These book pair nicely, making them good companion reads, but they weren't really hyped like the first three.

Or... I could add two hyped books which I purchased, but haven't read yet.

• Purity by Jonathan Franzen
• The Nightingale by Kirstin Hannah

I'll read them in 2016. I promise ;-)

Have you read any books that lived up to their hype? How about some that didn't?

Tuesday Intro: The Red Garden

THE BEAR'S HOUSE 

The town of Blackwell, Massachusetts, changed it name in 1786. It had been called Bearsville when it was founded in 1750, but it quickly became apparent that a name such as that did little to encourage new settlers. True, there were nearly as many black bears in the woods then as there were pine trees, but there were also more eel in the river than there were ferns sprouting on the banks. You could stick your hand into the murky green shallows and catch half a dozen of the creatures without using bait. If you ventured waist-high you'd be surrounded in moments. Yet none considered calling the village Eelsville, even though people ate eel pie on a regular basis and many of the men wore eelskin belts and boots. They said wearing eel made them lucky at cards, but when it came to the rest of life, love for instance, they had no luck at all.

The Red Garden
by Alice Hoffman

It's always tricky choosing the December book club selection. Everyone is so busy. That means nothing too long or too "hard", and, since it's the holiday season, nothing too depressing. We finally settled on The Red Garden  and are hoping it meets all the requirements.

The main attraction for me is the structure. A series of connected stories, moving forward over a period of 200 years, provides a history of one small town in the Berkshire mountains.

Here is the goodreads summary:

The Red Garden  introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives.
In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters' lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions. 

From the town's founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives. 

At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.