Recent Book Activity

At the moment, Mt. TBR is at K5+ status, and I am trying to practice saying "No Thank-you" to RABCK offers. I would appreciate your help.

I love books, as anyone who knows me or has been to my place (where they are everywhere) can attest, and Bookcrossing is one of the few ways I can bring myself to part with books. THANK YOU to Beano-the-Cat for leaving a book at Gettysburg and introducing me to this world (and how fabulous that my intro came through a "cat", since kitties are one of my other big passions).

If I have a book on my AVL that you're interested in, please PM me, because I am always happy to share. My Wishlist tends to be a reflection of every cool book I have seen when spending time on this site and thought "I have to remember that so I can read it someday." I have received quite a few either as Bookrings or RABCKs from fellow BCers, which has been so wonderful, but I am always adding more to my list. One rule I did make was that if it comes from a BCer, no matter how much I love it, it will either be wild released or sent as a RABCK to someone else, to ensure the continued flow of good karma and books (which are pretty much the same thing for me).

My other passion is photography and I have been very lucky in that respect because I am now living in the DC area and learning to be a city girl and to take advantage of all of the wonderful opportunities Washington has to offer. Still miss Washington state, although it rains here almost as much as in the Pacific Northwest. And there are a lot of great photo excursions and day trips here, including museums and monuments and Civil War battlefields.

Books Read 2012

1. The Cereal Murders -- Diane Mott Davidson
2. The Universe in a Nutshell -- Stephen Hawking**
3. Bad Things Happen -- Harry Dolan
4. Without Reservations -- Alice Steinbach^^
5. Dust -- Martha Grimes^^
6. Books Can Be Deceiving -- Jenn McKinlay^^
7. Chasing Redbird -- Sharon Creech^^
8. Star Trek Voyager: Cybersong -- S.N. Lewitt**
9. Literary Trips 2-- Victoria Brooks, ed.
10. Three Tales of My Father's Dragon -- Ruth Stiles Gannett
11. The Daily Telegraph Book of Obituaries
12. Getting Stoned with Savages -- J. Maarten Troost (#Vanuatu)
13. Picture Miss Seeton -- Heron Carvic
14. The Right Jack -- Margaret Maron^^
15. Naked -- David Sedaris**
16. Never Stick Your Tongue Out at Mama -- Max Davis^^
17. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon -- Donna Andrews
18. The Hidden Life Of Dogs -- Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
19. Shakespeare's Trollop -- Charlaine Harris**
20. Population:485 -- Michael Perry
21. The Best American Essays of the Century -- Joyce Carol Oates, ed.
22. How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning to Live the Conserver Lifestyle -- Charles Long**
23. The Wishing Chair Again -- Enid Blyton**
24. Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure -- Dave Gorman**
25. English Country House Murders -- Thomas Godfrey, ed.
26. Sand in My Bra -- Jennifer Leo, ed.**
27. We'll Always Have Parrots -- Donna Andrews**
28. Starring Miss Seeton -- Hamilton Crane
29. All the Things I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek -- Dave Marinaccio
30. All the Other Things I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek: The Next Generation -- Dave Marinaccio
31. Suburban Safari -- Hannah Holmes^^
32. It's All Too Much -- Peter Walsh^
33. Tempest in the Tea Leaves -- Kari Lee Townsend^^
34. When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden -- Bill Maher
35. Bimbos of the Death Sun -- Sharyn McCrumb**
36. The Martian Child -- David Gerrold**
37. Star Trek on the Brain: Alien Minds, Human Minds -- Robert Sekuler, Randolph Blake
38. Put Out More Flags -- Evelyn Waugh
39. Aftermath Inc: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home -- Gill Reavill
40. Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek -- Robert Jenkins, Susan Jenkins
41. Chasing Cezanne -- Peter Mayle^^
42. What We Eat When We Eat Alone
43. Lady on the Case -- Bill Pronzini, editor
44. Bel Canto -- Anne Patchett^^
45. Masterpieces of Mystery and Suspense -- Martin H. Greenburg, editor
46. Eragon -- Chris Paolini
47. A Little Twist of Texas -- Linda White Raven ^^
48. Knocking on the Moonlit Door -- Margaret Thompson
49. The Eyre Affair -- Jasper Fford
50. The Best Travel Writing of 2007
51. Aunt Dimity Snowbound -- Nancy Atherton
52. The Phantom Tollbooth -- Norton Juster
53. Hope Was Here -- Joan Bauer^^
54. A Cool Moonlight -- Angela Johnson^^
55. Religions of Star Trek -- Ross Kraemer, William Cassidy, Susan Schwartz
56. Between Two Worlds -- Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam -- Zainab Salbi and Laurie Becklund (#Iraq)
57. The Te of Piglet -- Benjamin Hoff
58. Champagne for One -- Rex Stout
59. Shakespeare's Champion -- Charlaine Harris**
60. The Great Railway Bazaar -- Paul Theroux^^
61. Wycliffe and the Scapegoat -- W.J. Burley
62. The Last Stand of Fox Company -- Bob Drury and Tom Clavin*
63. Grounded -- Seth Stevenson


Books Read 2011
1. Murder at St. Polycarp -- Marianna Heusler
2. Resilience -- Elizabeth Edwards
3. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop -- Lewis Buzbee^
4. Inspector Imanishi Investigates -- Seicho Matsumoto(#Japan)
5. Murder Past Due -- Miranda James
6. On the Edge of the Primeval Forest -- Albert Schweitzer(#Gabon)
7. Green Shadows, White Whale -- Ray Bradbury(#Ireland)
8. The Book of General Ignorance -- John Lloyd, John Mitchinson**
9. More from the Primeval Forest -- Albert Schweitzer(#Gabon)
10. The Green Hills of Earth -- Robert Heinlein
11. What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy -- Gregory Maguire
12. Chopping Spree -- Diane Mott Davidson^
13. "Too Smart" Jones and the Cat's Secret --Gilbert Morris^^
14. Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin -- Nancy Atherton
15. Bride of Dark and Stormy: Yet More of the Best (?) From the Bulwer-Lytton Contest
16. The Lovely Bones -- Anne Sebold
17. Not So Funny When It Happened -- Tim Cahill, editor
18. When the Emperor was Divine -- Julie Otsuka**
19. Death of a Maid -- M. C. Beaton
20. America on Six Rubles a Day -- Yakov Smirnov
21. Great Presidential Wit -- Bob Dole
22. I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers -- Tim Madigan**
23. Best Food Writing, 2002 -- Holly Hughes, editor
24. Lost in Rooville -- Ray Blackston(#Australia)
25. A Mind to Murder -- P.D. James
26. Wycliffe and the Last Rites -- W.J. Burley
27. Words You Thought You Knew -- Jenna Glatzer
28. Thirty-three Teeth -- Colin Cotterill(#Laos)
29. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat -- Oliver Sacks**
30. Killer Smile -- Lisa Scottoline
31. Maigret and the Wine Merchant -- Georges Simenon(#France)
32. The Father's Day Murder -- Lee Harris
33. Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream -- Barbara Ehrenreich**
34. Marrying Mozart -- Stephanie Cowell^
35. Green River, Running Red -- Ann Rule**
36. The Bird Artist -- Howard Norman(#Canada)^^
37. Spare Parts: A Marine Reservist's Journey from Campus to Combat in 38 Days -- Buzz Williams*
38. Murder with Puffins -- Donna Andrews**
39. They Found Him Dead -- Georgette Heyer
40. The Lawyer Who Blew Up His Desk -- Joseph Matthews
41. The Interpretation of Murder -- Jed Rubenfeld^
42. The Men Who Stare At Goats -- Jon Ronson^^
43. Those Who Save Us -- Jenna Blum(#Germany)**
44. Boogers Are My Beat -- Dave Barry
45. The Lamorna Wink -- Martha Grimes**
46. Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself -- Alan Alda**
47. Shakespeare's Christmas -- Charlaine Harris^^
48. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (and It's All Small Stuff) -- Richard Carlson^^
49. Two of the Deadliest: Tales of Lust, Greed, and Murder -- edited by Elizabeth George
50. All Fishermen are Liars -- Linda Greenlaw
51. Like Water for Chocolate -- Laura Esquivel(#Mexico)
52. Politically Correct Bedtime Stories -- James Finn Garner**
53. A Toast to Murder -- Michele Scott
54. Words, Words, Words -- David Crystal
55. Tough Cookie -- Diane Mott Davidson
56. Slow Food: The Case for Taste -- Carlo Petrini
57. Poems Worth Knowing -- Lewis and Bennett^
58. Star Trek Voyager: Violations -- Susan Wright^^
59. The Doctor Digs a Grave -- Robin Hathaway^^
60. In the Best Families -- Rex Stout
61. No Longer at Ease -- Chinua Achebe(#Nigeria)
62. Other People's Dirt -- Louise Rafkin**
63. Hidden Evidence -- David Owen^^
64. New Roadside America -- Mike Wilkins, Ken Smith, Doug Kirby^^
65. Having Our Say -- Sarah Delany, A. Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth^^
66. Binding Ties (CSI) -- Max Allan Collins
67. He Huffed and He Puffed -- Barbara Paul^^
68. Flashback (Star Trek: Voyager) -- Dianne Carey**
69. A Bonny Case of Murder -- C. F. Roe^^
70. Introducing Agatha Raisin (contains The Quiche of Death and The Vicious Vet) -- M.C. Beaton**
71. Reservation Blues -- Sherman Alexie(#USA)**
72. Plain and Simple -- Sue Bender**
73. Good Design Can Change Your Life -- Ty Pennington**
74. Mrs. Malory and Any Man's Death -- Hazel Holt
75. Help the Poor Struggler -- Martha Grimes
76. Death at La Fenice -- Donna Leon(#Italy)^^
77. I Am the Only Running Footman -- Martha Grimes
78. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Journey -- Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.**
79. Ladyfingers and Nun's Tummies -- Martha Barnette
80. Hand in Glove -- Ngaio Marsh
81. In Cold Blood -- Truman Capote**
82. The Chinese Alchemist -- Lynn Hamilton^^
83. Pasta Imperfect -- Maddy Hunter
84. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian -- Sherman Alexie^
85. A Yank Back to England -- Denis Lipman(#England)
86. Bored of the Rings -- The Harvard Lampoon**
87. Tiles and Tribulations -- Tamar Meyers**
88. Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America -- Thomas C. Foster^^
89. The Five Bells and Bladebone -- Martha Grimes
90. How to Clean Practically Anything -- Consumer Digest^^
91. The White Tiger -- Aravind Adiga(#India)^
92. Enter a Murderer -- Ngaio Marsh
93. Heart Full of Lies -- Ann Rule^^
94. Breakfast at the Brass Compass: Poems of Coastal Maine -- Carol W. Bachofner
95. The Checklist Manifesto -- Atul Gawande
96. The Big Over Easy -- Jasper Fforde^^
97. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America -- Bill Bryson
98. He Shall Thunder in the Sky -- Elizabeth Peters(#Egypt)
99. Clutch of Constables -- Ngaio Marsh
100. Wisdom of Our Fathers -- Time Russert
101. Tome of Death -- D.R. Meredith^^
102. The Truth (with Jokes) -- Al Franken**
103. Havana Bay -- Martin Cruz Smith(#Cuba)^^
104. We Are Our Mothers' Daughters -- Cokie Roberts
105. Silhouette in Scarlet -- Elizabeth Peters(#Sweden)
106. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife -- Mary Roach**
107. Empty Promises -- Ann Rule^^
108. Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil -- Nancy Atherton
109. All Creatures Great and Small -- James Herriot^^
110. The Mote in God's Eye -- Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle^^
111. Somebodies and Nobodies -- Robert W. Fuller **
112. Murder in the Marais -- Cara Black
113. Why Beethoven Threw the Stew -- Steven Isserlis
114. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian -- Marina Lewycka**
115. The Crossing Places -- Elly Griffiths^^
116. Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide -- Maureen Dowd**
117. The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries -- Emily Brightwell
118. Evans Above -- Rhys Bowen^^
119. Lost in a Good Book -- Jasper Fforde ^^
120. Closet Confidential -- MaryJane Maffini^^
121. When Elephants Weep -- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy^^
122. The Red House Mystery -- A.A. Milne
123. Murder Can Kill Your Social Life -- Selma Eichler
124. Maggody in Manhattan -- Joan Hess ^^
125. Law and Order: Dead Line -- J. Madison Davis^^
126. Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos -- Donna Andrews
127. The Fourth Assassin -- Matthew Beynon Rees
128. Close Her Eyes -- Dorothy Simpson
129. Jar City -- Arnaldur Indridason ^^
130. Small Sacrifices -- Ann Rule^^
131. The Perfectly Useless Book of Useless Information -- Donal Voorhees
132. Vet in Harness -- James Herriot^^
133. The Deer Leap -- Martha Grimes^^
134. Sahara -- Michael Palin**
135. An Uncommon Heroine: Scarlett, Edna, Sula and More than 20 Other of the Most Remarkable Women in Literature -- Jamie Cox Robertson^^
136. The Cape Cod Mystery -- Phoebe Atwood Taylor^^
137. Snapshots: Mothers and Daughters -- ed. Joyce Carol Oates^^
138. It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod Murder -- Rosemary Martin**
139. Where Evil Sleeps -- Valerie Wilson Wesley(#Jamaica)^^
140. Dying for Chocolate -- Diane Mott Davidson
141. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels -- Deirdre Le Faye^
142. Longitude -- Dava Sobel
143. Death of a Perfect Mother -- Robert Barnard^^
144. The Girl with the Phony Name -- Charles Mathes^^
145. The Torah Codes -- Ezra Barany^^
146. Dead Man's Clothes: Bum Camp of Tolt, Washington -- Dale Davidson**
147. Sisters in Crime 4 -- ^^
148. Crocodile on the Sandbank -- Elizabeth Peters
149. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War -- Karl Marlantes*(#Vietnam)
150. Around America -- Walter Cronkite
151. The Incredible Gifts of Women -- Barbara Barrington Jones^
152. Last Scene Alive -- Charlaine Harris^
153. Five Quarters of the Orange -- Joanne Harris**
154. How They Met -- Joey Green^^
155. Murder in E Minor -- Robert Goldsborough^^
156. Zen in the Martial Arts -- Joe Hyams^^
157. The Deeds of the Disturber -- Elizabeth Peters^^
158. A Crime for Christmas: A Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys SuperMystery -- Carolyn Keene^^
159. Last Seen Alive -- Dorothy Simpson
160. Aunt Dimity and the Duke -- Nancy Atherton^^
161. Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul -- Jack Canfield, et al**
162. The Rowing Lesson -- Anne Landsman(#South Africa)
163. Cat in the Dark -- Shirley Rousseau Murphy^^
164. The Tao of Pooh -- Benjamin Hoff
165. The Castle -- Franz Kafka^
166. Slay Bells -- Kate Kingsbury
167. The Smell of the Night -- Andrea Camelleri
168. We Were There -- Yvonne Latty*
169. Ice Bound -- Jerri Nielsen, Mary Anne Vollers(#Antarctica)^^
170. The Paris Connection -- Carolyn Keene
171. Miss Seeton Paints the Town -- Hamilton Crane
172. Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone -- Mary Morris
173. To Say Nothing of the Dog -- Connie Willis^^
174. I'm Dreaming of Some White Chocolate -- Rhonda Rhea^^

# = Read as part of 666 in 2011 Reading Challenge

Books Read 2010 (in no particular order):
1. Lord of the Silent -- Elizabeth Peters
2. Eat, Pray, Love -- Elizabeth Gilbert*
3. Under the Tuscan Sun -- Frances Mayes*
4. Dear John -- Nicholas Sparks*
5. Sense and Sensibility -- Jane Austen
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
7. The Book Thief -- Marcus Zusak^
8. The Zookeeper's Wife -- Diane Ackerman^
9. Krakatoa -- Simon Winchester
10. Gifted Hands: the Ben Carson Story -- Ben Carson & Cecil Murphy
11. The Things They Carried -- Tim O'Brien
12. The Chocolate Cat Caper -- JoAnna Carl
13. The Best Women's Travel Writing 2007 -- Stephanie Elizondo Griest, ed.
14. A Walk in the Woods -- Bill Bryson
15. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure -- Alice Kimberly
16. The Horse You Came in On -- Martha Grimes
17. The Old Wine Shades -- Martha Grimes
18. Just Who Will You Be? -- Maria Shriver
19. I Feel Bad About My Neck -- Nora Ephron**
20. My War -- Andy Rooney**
21. Season of Life -- Jeffrey Marx
22. Plain Truth -- Jodi Picoult**
23. The Book for People Who Do too Much -- Bradley Trevor Grieve**
24. The Love Talker -- Elizabeth Peters**
25. The Noticer -- Andy Andrews**
26. Mrs. Jeffries and the Best Laid Plans -- Emily Brightwell
27. Bird by Bird -- Annie Lamott
28. Guardian of the Horizon -- Elizabeth Peters
29. Journey to Justice -- Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.
30. Rainbow's End -- Martha Grimes
31. The Blue Last -- Martha Grimes
32. The Old Silent -- Martha Grimes
33. The Professor and the Mad Man -- Simon Winchester**
34. The Man With a Load of Mischief -- Martha Grimes
35. The Vinyl Cafe Diaries -- Stuart McLean**
36. Fifth Business -- Robertson Davies
37. The Riverman: Ted Bundy & I Hunt for the Green River Killer -- Robert Keppel
38. Always Looking Up -- Michael J. Fox
39. For Matrimonial Purposes -- Kavita Dasuvani**
40. Murder with Peacocks -- Donna Andrews
41. Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers -- Brooke Allen
42. King Leopold's Ghost -- Adam Hochschild
43. Joseph Andrews -- Henry Fielding
44. The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi: Nobel Laureate & Burma's Prisoner -- Barbara Victor
45. Nickeled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America -- Barbara Ehrenreich**
46. The Dim Sum of All Things -- Kim Wong Keltner^
47. The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers -- Lillian Jackson Braun**
48. The Fourth Bear -- Jasper Fforde**
49. Tomb of the Golden Bird -- Elizabeth Peters
50. Round Ireland with Fridge -- Tony Hawks^
51. Sidetracked Home Executives -- Pam Young & Peggy Jones **
52. The Poisonwood Bible -- Barbara Kingsolver
53. A Vision of Murder -- Victoria Laurie**
54. What the Dead Know -- Laura Lippman **
55. Cattery Row -- Clea Simon**
56. Shakespeare -- Bill Bryson^
57. The Whitechapel Conspiracy -- Anne Perry
58. Bill Bryson's African Diary -- Bill Bryson & CARE
59. Number the Stars -- Lois Lowry
60. Take a Woman's Word for It: The Dictionary According to Women -- Cy DeBoer
61. The First Pet History of the World -- Dave Comfort
62. Julie of the Wolves -- Jean Craighead George
63. Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month is Enchanted -- Annie Hawes**
64. Playing the Moldovans at Tennis -- Tony Hawks
65. A Knife at the Opera -- Susannah Stacey
66. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare -- G. K. Chesterton
67. The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island -- Linda Greenlaw
68. The Tinner's Corpse -- Bernard Knight
69. Wind, Sand, and Stars -- Antoine de Saint Exupery
70. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage -- M.C. Beaton**
71. The Best American Travel Writing (2000) -- Bill Bryson, editor
72. Ahab's Wife, or the Star-Gazer -- Sena Jeter Naslund**
73. The Seattle Mystery (Box Car Children) -- based on series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
74. The Pizza Mystery (Box Car Children) -- based on series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
75. The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry -- Kathleen Flynn**
76. Playing for the Ashes -- Elizabeth George
77. Red ain't Dead: 150 More Ways to Tell if You're a Redneck -- Jeff Foxworthy^^
78. Treasure at Blue Heron Lake -- Susan Page Davis and Megan Elaine Davis
79. The Midwife's Apprentice -- Karen Cushman
80. Among Warriors: A Woman Martial Artist in Tibet -- Pamela Logan
81. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch -- Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett**
82. Time Stops for No Mouse -- Michael Hoeye
83. Exiled: Memoirs of a Camel – Kathleen Karr
84. Dark Assassin -- Anne Perry
85. Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham -- M.C. Beaton**
86. Dragon Rider -- Cornelia Funke**
87. A Wreath for Rivera -- Ngaio Marsh
88. Stand and Deliver -- Nicholas Edwards, Ramon Mendez, & Tom Musca
89. Little Lost Angel -- Michael Quinlan^^
90. Stargirl -- Jerry Spinelli
91. The Dead Beat -- Marilyn Johnson*
92. Mister God, This is Anna -- Fynn
93. Death Lives Next Door -- Gwendoline Butler
94. Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .:Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes -- Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
95. A Summer in the Country -- Marcia Willett^^
96. Welcome to the Monkey House -- Kurt Vonnegut
97. Death at the Bar -- Ngaio Marsh


* = Read for Book Club
^ = Bookring Book
** = Received as RABCK from fellow BCer
^^ = Bookbox Book