Familyhistorian's 2024 Reading Adventure - Part 5

My name is Meg and this is a thread where I post about my reads and other adventures. I’ve been a member of the 75ers since 2013 and my personal library has grown exponentially ever since. The people around here are enablers and you are hereby warned.

This year I want to concentrate on reading the books that I own and sending them on their way. (I can hope, can’t I?) I’m placing my Little Free Library and the stats of books culled higher in the list to bring it to my attention more often.



Little Free Library

Books culled in 2024

January - 10

February - 0 (reading my own books would have allowed some to be recycled)

March - 3

April - 6

BLOG



I write about genealogy and history on my blog. Follow my blog posts as I embark on another year of exploring and writing about my ROOTs (the family kind). You can see my latest blog posts at: A Genealogist’s Path to History

Challenges
Reading Through Time

Quarterly

January-March 2024: Prehistoric
April-June 2024:
July-September 2024:
October-December 2024:

Monthly

January: Janus
February: Aquarius & Amethyst - Perkins Perfect Purple: How a Boy Created Color with Chemistry by Tami Lewis Brown and Debbie Loren Dunn - DONE Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 by Edward Sorel DONE
March: Medicine & Epidemics - Medicine: A Graphic History by Jean-Noël Fabianai and Philippe Bercovici DONE
April: Characters with Disabilities - Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander DONE
May: International Labour Day
June: Wonders of the World
July: Vive la France
August:
September: Royal to the Bone
October: Adultery
November: Biographies & Memoirs
December: Reader’s Choice

2024 Nonfiction Challenge

January: Prize Winners – prizes off the beaten track
February: Women’s Work - Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 by Edward Sorel DONE
March: Forensic Sciences - The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science by Sandra Hempel - DONE
April: Globalization
May: Wild Wild West
June: Middle Europe
July: Insect World
August: Being Jewish
September: Essays
October: Music, more music
November: Too Small to See
December: As You Like it or Political Biography

The War Room Challenge

MONTH - BY - MONTH IN THE WAR ROOM

JANUARY - The Ancients (Greeks, Romans etc) - Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece by Robin Waterfield DONE
FEBRUARY - The American War of Independence - The Other New York: The American Revolution beyond New York City, 1763 - 1787 edited by Joseph S. Tiedemann and Eugene R. Fingerhut DONE
MARCH - The War of the Roses - War of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones - DONE
APRIL - Wars of Religion
MAY - The Napoleonic Wars
JUNE - The English Civil War
JULY - Colonial Wars
AUGUST - World War Two
SEPTEMBER - The American Civil War
OCTOBER - American Follies (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the Gulf Wars)
NOVEMBER - World War One
DECEMBER - The Spanish Civil War
WILDCARD - Pick your own fight!

List of books for challenges

RTT

January - March quarter: Prehistoric - Before Scotland

January: Janus - The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

March: Medicine & Epidemics - Medicine: A Graphic History

April: Characters with disabilities - Blind Justice

May: International labour day - Truth in Advertising

Nonfiction Challenge

January: Prize Winners – prizes off the beaten track - The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley - A New York Times Notable Book and short listed for the 1994 Rhone-Poulenc Prize for Science Books

March: Forensics - Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed or The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science

April: Globalization - A Rabble of Dead Money: The Great Crash and the Global Depression 1929-1939

May: The Wild, Wild West - Wildcat: The Untold Story of the Canadian Woman Who Became the West's Most Notorious Bandit

The War Room Challenge:

March: The War of the Roses - The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors

April: Wars of Religion - The Passion of Anne Hutchinson didn't read due to post about it not being about war

May: The Napoleonic Wars -

Shared Reads

Razor's Edge with Mark

Books read in 2024

Books read in April 2024

1. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones
2. John Lewis: In Search of the Beloved Community by Raymond Arsenault
3. Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin
4. Connections in Death by J.D. Robb
5. An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West by Konstantin Kisin
6. The Killer by Jacamon & Matz
7. Starter Villain by John Scalzi
8. The Milkman’s Son by Randy Lindsay
9. The Flying Troutmans by Mariam Toews
10. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker
11. Woman, Captain, Rebel: The Extraordinary True Story of a Daring Icelandic Sea Captain by Margaret Willson
12. Something Under the Bed is Drooling by Bill Watterson
13. Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen
14. Nobody’s Sweetheart Now by Maggie Robinson
15. At First Spite by Olivia Dade
16. The Accidental Medium by Tracy Whitwell

Books read in May 2024

1. Livingsky by Anthony Bidulka
2. Dangerous Women by Mark De Castrique
3. Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-made World by Elinor Cleghorn
4. Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
5. Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander
6. Vendetta in Death by J.D. Robb

Books acquired in 2024

Books acquired in April 2024

1. Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist's Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence by Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin
2. Threads in the Acadian Fabric: Nine Generations of an Acadian Family by Simone Poirier-Bures
3. To Hunt a Killer by Julie MacKay and Robert Murphy
4. Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles
5. Marion Lane and the Raven's Revenge by T.A. Willberg
6. A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby
7. Vice by Jane Feather
8. Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

Happy new thread Meg!

>14 quondame: Thanks Susan!

Happy New Thread, Meg . 🧵

>16 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah!

>1 Familyhistorian: HAppy new thread! looks like you have a nice forested area with a couple of cute ducklings :)

Happy new thread, Meg. Love your gerbera daisies!

Happy new one, Meg!

Have a good reading day today, and happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Meg. Love the topper.

Happy new thread, Meg.

Hi Meg, It's a great day out there, enjoy! Happy new thread too! Gorgeous picture of the stream in >1 Familyhistorian:.

Happy new one, Meg!

Happy new thread. To comment on the last thread: I read a couple of the Bruce Alexander books and really should get back to them. I don't know why I haven't because I enjoyed them. I guess it's one of those "so many books, so little time" things.

>18 figsfromthistle: Thanks Anita! That photo was taken less than a block from my home. I leave right next to a walking trail beside a river, so definitely wet and treed.

>19 jessibud2: Thanks Shelley. Is that what those flowers are? A friend gave them to me for my birthday and I liked the colours in that photo and inserted it when LT skipped that spot when I was setting up my thread for some reason.

>20 katiekrug: Thanks Katie!

>21 richardderus: Thank you Richard!

>22 msf59: Thanks Mark. Somehow I thought of you when I was posting that bird photo.

>23 BLBera: Thanks Beth!

>24 mdoris: It was a lovely day out there, Mary. I was able to get out and explore. Supposedly its going to be even warmer this weekend which is all to the good as I am walking in a parade on Saturday.

>25 drneutron: Thanks Jim!

>26 thornton37814: Hi Lori, the Bruce Alexander book was a good one which has been sitting on my shelves for a long time. I only picked it up because it fit a reading challenge. Somehow the new and shiny mysteries seem to take over.

Over thirty posts in, Meg. I am getting old and slow!

Happy new thread, dear lady.

Happy new thread, Meg!

Happy new thread, Meg!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>32 PaulCranswick: Maybe you're just not spending as much time on LT, Paul. I find the thread are getting away from me more than usual this year.

>33 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita!

>34 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, I hope you're having a wonderful day too!

90. Mort by Terry Pratchett



Mort brought a whole other dimension to apprenticeships although the boss, Death, sloughing off and letting Mort do the work seemed a very human tendency. I loved the story so much that I even worked my way through a book with no chapters and found the lack conducive to page turning. (I’ve been known to return books unread because of the no chapters thing.)

I had an appointment with my optometrist today only to make it all the way there and find out he had cancelled today's appointments due to illness. Turns out they didn't have my current phone number and sent me an email hoping they would catch me. Unfortunately I didn't see that before I left. All was not lost though because the office is close to the largest Chapters store in Vancouver. A few books may have followed me home.

Oh, that is disappointing , Meg. But I'm glad you managed too grab a few books from Chapters. Which ones? Did you go to the Chapters at Broadway and Granville or the one on Robson, I think it is. I've yet to get to the Chapter's Downtown, so I'm not sure which is bigger.

>37 Familyhistorian: Boo/Yay! So...gonna post a list? Or is that too much like guilt circle? (An old group therapy slang term that floated up.)

>38 vancouverdeb: The one at Broadway and Granville is bigger, Deborah. It's the one I went to yesterday and I came back with 4 books, which now that I look at them again all have blue covers.

Life Drawing: A Complete Guide to Drawing People by Dr. Jennifer Crouch
Wendy, Master of Art by Walter Scott
Come Death and High Water by Ann Cleeves
Mystery in the Title by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson

>39 richardderus: Hi Richard, the list is posted above. One book about drawing, one graphic novel and two mysteries.

I don't think I've heard the term guilt circle before maybe since I didn't attend group therapy.

>41 Familyhistorian: That's a respectable haul! The Cleeves birder-sleuths series is one I'll look forward to your assessment of.

The idea of facing up to your failures is the source of that one.

Great weekend-ahead's reads!

>42 richardderus: This is what I wrote about A Bird in the Hand, the first in the series:

Before her more well-known mystery series came to the fore, Ann Cleeves wrote other mysteries. A Bird in the Hand was first published in the ‘80s. It has been reissued as has at least one more book in the series that I know of.

A Bird in the Hand started with the murder of a birder and George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher, was asked to look into the death. Through the investigation the reader comes to know various people in the birding community on the Norfolk coast and there were some dicey ones. George also took a side trip to the Scilly Isles to find out more background information. It was a good mystery although there were a lot of characters to keep track of. It was interesting to find out more about the birding community and about Scilly, a place new to me.

>43 Familyhistorian: It sounds like she's already got her form down that early, then. Thanks, Meg!

Have a wonderful weekend, Meg!

Hi Meg, it's Saturday so I imagine you are out marching in a parade. Hope it's not too warm for you. We are enjoying this weather but I am not ready for the soul-cracking heat of last summer. Warm and pleasant is great - hot and scorching is not!

>43 Familyhistorian: The form was there but it wasn't as confident somehow. Her later books seem more polished and the later ones are definitely longer.

>45 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, my weekend started off well and the weather is spectacular. I hope yours is going well.

>46 DeltaQueen50: There was a bit of a breeze for part of it and it definitely wasn't as hot as it was for last year's parade. Still better than rain!

91. A Finer End by Deborah Crombie



As I read deeper into A Finer End a lot of things in the story seemed familiar and I realized that I had read it before. I didn’t remember the end though and, as I was invested in the story by then, I had to find out the ending. It was a good read the second time around.

92. The Magic Order Vol. 1 by Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel



There was lots of the good Magic Order versus the evil purveyors of magic power in The Magic Order, Vol. 1. The bad guys used any means at their disposal, like betrayal and the warping of family ties, in their effort to wipe out the good guys. It was well drawn and graphic.

I have an article for a genealogy journal due today so of course I'm on LT instead. The reviews of the books I've read have been piling up as well. Not sure if I'm ever going to get caught up and back on track.

93. Truth in Advertising



Sometimes books give the reader a taste of a different work life. Truth in Advertising gave me an idea of how TV ads are made, all the hours and planning before the shoot which all becomes more complicated once shooting begins. This was especially true as Finbar Dolan, the main character, was trying to keep his bosses happy while dealing with the reality of a director who wanted to use many babies and moms in the diaper ad being filmed.

Fin had recently broken up with his fiancé partly due to his inability to deal with real life. But life has a way of intruding anyway. In his case, it was dealing with his dying estranged father as none of his other siblings would do so. Fin couldn’t help but deal with reality and his complicated past with his family.

>52 Familyhistorian: I hope you managed to get your article submitted. Sometimes LT and books are more tempting, and sometimes vice versa.

>53 Familyhistorian: Well, that one smacks me upside my head.

*sigh* Maybe someday I'll have the time-management skills to slot books like this into.

>54 thornton37814: Hi Lori, I used to have to think about my articles for a long time. Now I find myself typing them out when the deadline is almost there. I think I need the pressure to come up with a topic. It's done and dusted and now time to get back to the books!

>55 richardderus: It wasn't time management that enabled me to read it, Richard, rather the prompt of meeting a reading challenge. That and the stacks of books that I have to move every time I change the sheet on my bed. I really have to whittle those stacks down.

94. Just Make Believe by Maggie Robinson



In this Lady Adelaide mystery, Adelaide had been invited to a house party. Shortly after all the guests arrived the hostess was found dead on the conservatory floor; not of natural causes. Of course, Adelaide had to call in her favourite inspector, Dev Hunter. The bodies piled up and the inspector detected while trying to ignore Lady Adelaide’s clues which were often given to her by the ghost of her dead reprobate of a husband making it hard to explain how she came by the knowledge.

Just Make Believe was a fun mystery which had me turning the pages. Apparently, there is another book in the series but the library I borrowed this from doesn’t seem to have a copy. I wonder if they will eventually?

Last Saturday waiting for the May Day Parade to begin



The people wearing wings were in the group in front of us.



While waiting some of our parade group started dancing to the music coming from another group that was waiting to start.

HI Meg, Enjoy your weekend! Looks like fun was had last weekend. Good photos, gorgeous blue sky!

>60 mdoris: It was beautiful weather for a parade, Mary. Almost too hot! Was it windy there last night? We lost power again. That's two Thursday nights in a row that power has shut off just after 10. Almost like being on a curfew.

Happy Saturday, Meg. Are you doing anything exciting this weekend? I was supposed to be going out for lunch and shopping with one of my daughters today but she's injured her shoulder and so we have decided to wait a week - so I will be spending a quiet Saturday at home with my hubby and my books.

>62 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, I'll be going to stay with a friend overnight tomorrow and maybe get in a game of pickleball. So that will be interesting. Enjoy your day at home with your books.

95. And Justice There is None by Deborah Crombie



Inspector Gemma James was at home when she got called in to investigate the stabbing death of a young woman, Dawn Arrowood, so Kincaid drove her to the scene. Although he didn’t have any jurisdiction in the case, he became involved as the investigation went on uncovering connections to the world of antiques and collectors and the shaky background of the dead woman’s husband, Karl Arrowood. And Justice There is None was an interesting mystery which involved changes in the lives of the two main characters as they combined their households.

It's cool and rainy out there this morning so our group ascent of the Coquitlam Crunch was cancelled. I'm off the the library instead. I don't have many books to take back but there are a fair number of them waiting for me. One day I'll stop hitting the hold button so frequently.

Too bad about the power outages, Meg. With the wind we had the other night, Dave kept expecting the power to go out, but it was fine. Enjoy your trip to the library. Dave and I aren't doing anything exciting for the long weekend. In fact, we only realized it was a long weekend yesterday. That's retired life. I guess.

>65 Familyhistorian: I am pretty good about not hitting it as much as I want. I think I have something reserved that should come in within the next couple of weeks.

>66 vancouverdeb: Thanks Deborah, it was a quick trip to the library before an appointment with Student Works to see about painting some of my rooms. So a productive weekend even though it being a long one slipped my mind for a while. Hope your long weekend turns out to be a good one.

>67 thornton37814: You have more discipline than I, Lori. You'd think that I wouldn't be tempted by so many BBs these days though as I have a hard time getting around the threads.

Speaking of book-bullets, are you one of the many Jackson Brodie fans here? There's a new one on its way this fall.

>70 richardderus: I am a fan. Thanks for letting me know, Richard.

>71 Familyhistorian: Death at the Sign of the Rook comes out 3 September! Mark your calendar.

>72 richardderus: Thanks Richard, I made a note to myself.

>69 Familyhistorian: Well, I got the notice Monday that my hold was in so I picked it up when I went for stitching group Tuesday. Fortunately I was able to swap out the one I finished for it.

Hi Meg my dear, a belated Happy New Thread dear friend.

>74 thornton37814: Good timing on that one, Lori. It's great when that happens.

>75 johnsimpson: Hi John, it's good to see you out and about. Thanks for the thread wishes.

96. Death Sits Down to Dinner by Tessa Arlen



It didn’t take me long to get to the second mystery involving Lady Clementine Monfort and her housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson. This time the murder happened in London at a social evening that Lady Monfort and her husband were attending. Clementine and another of the guests at the evening discovered the dead man, Sir Reginald, still sitting at the dinner table long after the gentlemen had vacated the room. Once again, Lady Monfort felt the need to investigate but she didn’t have her trusted housekeeper with her as the Monforts were staying at their London house which had a different staff so she sent for Mrs. Jackson.

Death Sits Down to Dinner was an interesting mystery which showed many facets of English society pre WWI. There was a charitable school for young lads involved and the dubious staff at that establishment as well as Mrs. Jackson’s reactions to much different household cultures from what she was used to and the hints of the war to come with Churchill and members of the RNA in evidence. It won’t be long before I seek out the next mystery in this series.

Too quick

Wordle 1,070 2/6

🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

guide, glide

97. A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles



When Major Rufus d’Aumestry unexpectedly became the Earl of Oxney it put a crimp in his relatives’ plans, the relatives that were living in the manor he was now heir too. A manor with neglected tenancies and records Rufus couldn’t make head or tail of. His cousin who had assumed himself to be the heir had dragged Rufus through court. When that failed the next ploy was to posit a prior marriage for an older son of the previous earl with offspring in the guise of a personable young man with secretarial skills. (Although the hostile cousin hadn’t really thought the implications of that scenario through.)

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel brought together two men with different aims, of which the scoundrel’s were, of course, hidden, in an estate with the dubious distinction of being close to Romney Marsh of smuggling fame. Although, it seemed that there were more nefarious deeds than smuggling to be discovered before the estate could be redeemed.

I've been falling behind in my reviews because a lot has been happening. I signed up for beginners Pickleball. That has been interesting and I even think I'm starting to get the hang of it. My last session is this coming Wednesday and I don't know where I'll go from there. But I'm enjoying it so know I will continue.

98. Watership Down, the Graphic Novel by James Sturm



I have great respect for the team who translated the classic Watership Down into a graphic novel. I never read the original, but think the basic themes of the story were captured in an engaging manner that had me rooting for the good guy rabbits through all the trials and tribulations they had in trying to find a new home for themselves and a way to continue their warren.

>80 Familyhistorian: I just ADORE her Regencies! Up there in my pantheon with Ma Heyer's work. That plot reminds me of a mash-up of The Corinthian and The Convenient Marriage, only gay. *delighted squee*

>83 richardderus: They are good and on a par with Heyer, Richard. I read this one out of order though, apparently The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes before this entry.

Can you believe I have never read Watership Down ? I'll have to see if my library has a copy of the graphic novel. I hope you enjoy Pickleball. I know a lot of people who enjoy it. For me, because of my osteoporosis., the twisting movements are out for me.

>78 Familyhistorian: Looks like a great series. I will check my local library to see.

>81 Familyhistorian: Pickelball sounds interesting. Something I was debating to try as well. the sport seems nice and social too.

Good morning Meg, just checking in!

>84 Familyhistorian: I do want to mention that quite some several of the earlier books are most definitely in the smut category.

>85 vancouverdeb: I can believe you've never read Watership Down because I haven't read it either, Deborah. The graphic novel is good though so I feel like I've gotten a taste of what the book is about.

Pickleball is fun and I'm enjoying playing and learning the rules although they are quite strange.

>86 figsfromthistle: It is a good series and popular too. It took a while to get the hold from the library.

Pickleball is fun but because it is wildly popular it can be hard to find lessons that aren't full and courts that aren't full to practice in.

>87 mdoris: Hi Mary, nice to see you here. Hope you aren't getting rained on too much.

>88 richardderus: Ah well, Richard, some smut never hurts.

I've heard pickleball is addicting.

99. Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey



Unfortunately Yours was a false marriage romance (Natalie can only access her inheritance when she gets married and she is desperate because of her failures in her life in high finance in New York). August Cates, a larger than life former Navy Seal attempting to make wine with few clues how to go about it, was very willing to come to Natalie’s rescue. But could she in turn rescue his wine making venture when her own family has excluded her from their own wine making business?

>93 The_Hibernator: I think it is, Rachel. But it's not a bad behaviour to be addicted to when all is said and done because it ticks some of the boxes for things you are supposed to do, like being social and getting exercise. Annoying to the people who don't like the noise though.

100. The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick



Essie Starling was the author of a well-loved adventure/mystery series featuring a young woman. Liv, Essie’s cleaner, grew up with the books. When Essie died and left Liv her last manuscript to finish while keeping her demise a secret, Liv leapt at the chance. But she didn’t know how keeping this secret would affect her or what she would find out.

The Messy Lives of Book People was an interesting mystery that kept me turning the pages.

The jigsaw I finished recently

101. Golden in Death by J.D. Robb



I’ve finally gotten to the part of the in death series where I actually own the books. The most recent entry in the series that I read was Golden in Death. I remember that at the time that this book came out there was some grumbling because it wasn’t extra special to mark being the 50th book in the series. I suppose it was marked in a way due to “golden” being in the title.

The golden referred to cheap egg shaped containers of that colour sent in parcels to unsuspecting recipients who opened the eggs only to be overcome by toxic fumes that killed them before dissipating. It was up to Eve Dallas and the crew to figure out who and what was behind the killing spree so they could bring them to justice before more lives were lost.

>97 Familyhistorian: Amazing Meg! Must have been difficult with all those muted colours. Well done! It must have made you hungry when you were putting it together.

>99 mdoris: The colours are a lot more muted in the picture than in person, Mary. My lighting isn't very good. It was a challenge to put together though. So many colours were the same.

>97 Familyhistorian: ...now I'm both impressed and peckish...

>101 richardderus: The title of the puzzle is "Food porn" and the picture does have an impact!

102. The Postcard by Anne Berest



The Postcard was the story of a family who had moved from place to place, finally settling in France and establishing themselves there prior to WWII. The goal was to become citizens so they had to abide by the rules and fit in or so they thought. But they were Jewish and the Germans were about to dictate how they were to be treated.

In the early 2000’s a postcard with only the first names of the family who had been killed written on it was received by the family, daughter and granddaughter of the one child of the obliterated family. Who had it come from and why had it taken so long to be sent? Although her mother was reluctant, the granddaughter wanted to know and it was a search that uncovered the story of her family.

I'm getting so far behind in posting review and happenings here. Too many things happening at once, it seems. Last Friday my in-person book club met. I volunteered to bring desert (other volunteers brought appies). I had a craving for gingerbread so I made that although it wasn't until after I made it that I realized I didn't use my regular recipe. It has been over 10 or 15 years since I made it so it's not a major memory slip up. It tasted pretty good anyway when topped with whipped cream.

103. Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark



One of the main characters in the book Fellowship Point was Agnes, a writer who had never married. She and her friend, Polly, had made the trek from Philadelphia to their summer homes at Fellowship Point for decades. The novel looked at the relationships of the main characters and the other people important in their lives.

It was interesting but long and toward the last third of the book, letters that Agnes wrote to her deceased sister in 1962 were inserted to explain past events in Agnes’ life at Fellowship Point. It slowed down the pace of this very long narrative. From the reactions of the other people at my book club meeting, I believe I was the only one who finished it.

Last Sunday was spent with the Questers, my genealogy buddies, at the BCGS library. By that point I had realized that the family lines I had been following on the 3 day stint we spent at the BCGS library were incorrect. This time I have the right family lines and lots of information to delete on Ancestry.

104. Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey



Once again I read books out of order, I had already read Unfortunately Yours before I picked up the book that set the scene for it, Secretly Yours. Perhaps that’s why the romance between the spontaneous and often late gardener and the hyper organized professor on sabbatical to write a novel was such a page turner. Secretly Yours was a clear case of opposites attract.

>106 Familyhistorian: Good job you discovered the error. Nothing maddens me more than realizing I've collected useless data and then relied on it.

>105 Familyhistorian: I wouldn't've. Sounds tedious. My Monday #PrideMonth review's about a female pirate captain of African descent. Based on a true story, which, together with the piratical tolerance for sodomy, explains a lot about the fury the governments of the day unleashed against them.

105. Mischievous Creatures: The Forgotten Sisters Who Transformed Early American Science by Catherine McNeur



Women’s contributions in many fields were and are often forgotten. In Mischievous Creatures the author followed often obscured clues to uncover how the entomologist, Margaretta Hare Morris, and her sister botanist, Elizabeth Carrington Morris, added to the fledgling scientific endeavours of the United States at a time prior to the Civil War in that country. Through an exchange network, they added to the growing knowledge in their own fields even though they were often dismissed and their theories belittled. Such was the lack of respect for women then or indeed of anyone who was not a white male, supposedly the only people who could be creditable scientists.

>108 richardderus: Many other family trees had different parents than the ones I had on my tree. I just didn't want to go along with the crowd because I hadn't proved it to myself. Now I have.

Finishing the book was tedious, Richard, but I was most of the way through it and had invested so much time (it's long) that I wanted to finish. A pirate story? You know how to catch my interest.

106. Sweet Taste of Liberty: The True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America by W. Caleb McDaniel



When Henrietta Wood was taken from Kentucky to Ohio in 1848 her mistress gave her freedom papers. That didn’t sit well with the family of the mistress. Henrietta continued to be employed by the older woman but when that woman died, Henrietta was tricked into crossing back into the slave states, kidnapped and forced back into slavery.

Sweet Taste of Liberty chronicled Henrietta’s struggle to get back to freedom and to gain restitution for the labour that had been stolen from her. She took Zebulon Ward to court, once in an attempt to gain back her freedom, the second time to get him to pay for the time and labour he had stolen from her. She was a determined woman, he was a callous striver who made his fortune off the backs of slaves and convicts in a rigged system.

>109 Familyhistorian: *ow*ow*ow* Ya GOT me!

Hi Meg, being half of a retired couple we tend to forget about long weekends as well. In fact even weekends can slip by without being noted these days. We are having a family get-together this evening as my grandson is leaving tomorrow for Kelowna. He is spending a couple of months training on heavy equipment and from there he will be sent wherever in B.C. he is needed. We will miss him.

>112 Familyhistorian: Beautiful!! More to come?

>109 Familyhistorian: Mischievous Creatures sounds good! Thanks for the writeup.

Happy weekend. : )

>113 richardderus: Good to know, Richard!

>114 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy, your grandson's job sounds interesting. Maybe he will be stationed in the Lower Mainland at some point or is that even a possibility? Hope everyone enjoyed the family get together.

>115 Berly: Hi Kim, that was the only flower shot I took when I went to the park the other day so no more to come. I find that I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I'll have to remedy that. I'm glad I got you with a BB for Mischievous Creatures.

>97 Familyhistorian: Lovely jigsaw puzzle, Meg. I was doing a 150O piece puzzle by Heye, but I was getting so frustrated by it, I purchased a big, empty pizza box and transferred what I had completed to the pizza box. Perhaps in a couple of months I will take it on again. I'm currently doing a 1000 pieces Ravensburger Puzzle and that is coming along very nicely. I rarely find myself so frustrated with a puzzle that I pack it up, but it happens. We had a non rainy afternoon here, but it looks like rain ahead in the forecast.

>112 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg, I love peonies. What a beautiful one in your photo.

>119 vancouverdeb: Thanks re the puzzle, Deborah. Sounds like you made the right decision to put the 1500 piece puzzle aside for now.

Rain today for sure. With a rain warning no less but I drove from Coquitlam to Mission and it didn’t take any longer than usual but there wasn’t too much traffic. Maybe people are staying off of the roads due to the warning

>120 Ameise1: Hi Barbara, good to see you here. I love peonies too. They are beautiful flowers 💐

107. Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies by Catherine Mack



Eleanor Dash became a bestselling mystery author by writing about her adventures with a questionable accomplice, Connor Smith, who she hooked up with in Rome. The other people in the novel she wrote were disguised somewhat, not Connor, a fact that has come to haunt her as he has been blackmailing her for a cut of her bestselling series. Now they are on a promotional tour, one that her fans, the BookFace Ladies who were lucky enough to win a place are also on. That means staying friendly even though Eleanor would dearly love to dispense with Connor in print, at least. But it seems that someone else wants to dispose of him more permanently or maybe it’s Eleanor they have in their sights in Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies.

Last Wednesday was my last pickleball lesson so I don't have to get up and out of the house early tomorrow. I do have an online class at 8:00 am and need to clean my house as I'm hosting a meeting tomorrow night, so I won't get to sluff off at all.

Happy Wednesday, Meg. You have been reading some interesting NF books. Both Mischievous Creatures and Sweet Taste of Liberty sound good.

>124 Familyhistorian: The "staying busy" gene got reduplicated in you, eh what, Meg? Hope the meeting prep goes smoothly.

>125 msf59: Hi Mark, some of the nonfiction titles are because of one of my book clubs and others I see around the threads. I enjoy reading history.

>126 richardderus: The cleaning took longer than I thought it would, Richard. I got an extra helping of the "staying busy" gene though. I've always been like that. I used to be into crafts and sewing but that got taken over by family history and writing. Keeping house and all that cleaning is because I let it ride for so long because of all the other stuff taking up my time.

The meeting went well. As a bonus I got to tell me story of how I ended up in Vancouver. When I checked the time after everyone left I couldn't believe how late it was so I think it went well.

108. Dressed for Death by Donna Leon



I’m reading my way through the Brunetti series and the next book was Dressed for Death. This case took place in the heat of summer and Brunetti was looking forward to a family vacation when he was sent to another jurisdiction. They were short staffed due to their officers being on holiday when they had a murder on their hands. A man’s body had been found wearing a red dress and matching heels. The area he was found in was known for prostitution so it was easy to assume because of what he was wearing and where he was found that he was a transvestite prostitute. Brunetti didn’t think that a ’50 year old in a dress would do much business which caused him to dig further and not accept the easy explanation. His investigation took him in a very different direction.

All that cleaning for the meeting at my place took time. Time when I should have been writing as it is my turn to submit a chapter from my work in progress to my writing cohort. We meet this Friday evening. The other submitter was late too so I didn't feel too bad when I sent in my efforts this morning.

Yesterday was also the first day that registration was available for SIWC (Surrey International Writers Conference). I made sure to sign up as soon as the registration portal was open.

109. Ruined by Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle and Niki Smith



I’m a fan of Regency romances and graphic novels so borrowing Ruined was a no brainer for me. The title referred to Catherine’s status as she had been ruined in the eyes of the ton by being seen to carry on with a man who ended up marrying another. The story starts with her marriage to Andrew Davener, a man with an impoverished estate that needs the cash from Catherine’s dowry. But needless to say, her self-esteem isn’t the greatest. How will she fit in to this new life with this dour man whose usual expression is a scowl?

A novel that was a typical romance enhanced by pictures made the pages turn quickly.

Yesterday I met up with friends for lunch. This morning I had a choice of meeting with a genealogy group in-person or online or meeting up with the group that does the Coquitlam Crunch. It is a glorious day out there. i chose the Crunch. We met a bit earlier than usual but it was still very hot by the time we got to the top. It wasn't any cooler going back downhill either.

110. The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean



In the aftermath of the Battle of Cullodean, the losing forces were hunted down and killed, transported and/or imprisoned. Some of those who had been transported made it back home. The Highlands were a place much changed, a land under occupation. But, of course, you can’t change the presiding sentiment of a people by force. Jacobite sympathies still lurked in the shadows. That was the setting for The Bookseller of Inverness, the focus of which was the bookseller, Iain MacGillivary, the bookseller, had been changed forever by the battle of 1746 when he was scared on one side of his face and lost his best friend.

This was Iain’s story and the story of the ongoing plots and plans of the Jacobites as they connived to place a Stuart back on the throne. It was story of adventure which brought this time and place to life.

Hi Meg! I'm returning your visit to my thread. I realise that I keep losing you just before you start new threads, for some reason.

But you'll be happy to know I've taken a BB for the first of the Lady Adelaide Mysteries via your book number 94. You did pique my interest when you reviewed Nobody's Sweetheart Now (which seems, from the blurb, a similar premise to the Phryne Fisher mysteries) and the second one shot it home. I am a sucker for Art Nouveau/ Deco styles so the covers helped, too.

>134 humouress: Hi Nina, it will be a while before I can continue on to another thread so you're safe for now.

The Lady Adelaide Mysteries are fun ones and very close to Phryne Fisher whodunits. I hope you enjoy them.

It was warm today, Meg, I agree. I own The Bookseller of Inverness, so after your positive review I'll have to get to it sooner than later.

Don't melt today....

>136 vancouverdeb: It was pretty good today too, Deborah. I went to the main Vancouver Library today. I take the Skytrain and have to change trains at Commercial Broadway. There were crowds of people on Commercial enjoying the car free day and sunshine. The Bookseller of Inverness is a good one.

>137 richardderus: It wasn't as warm today as it was yesterday, Richard, so no melting here. The heat doesn't bother me unless it is the high 30s or low 40s (celsius).

111. The Razor's Edge by w. Somerset Maughan



My library came through with a copy of The Razor’s Edge after the May shared read. I picked up the copy of the book anyway and found it to be an interesting character based read. There were a lot of contrasting ideas of how people should live their lives and some of the main characters thought they knew better what other characters should want and what was best for them. I found the most sympathetic character to be the narrator, the author Maughan, himself.

I'm preparing to go out of town and part of those preparations mean that I have to bring books back to the library. Only today, as the power was out when I started out. This is the fourth time in a short while that the power has gone out in my particular area and when I look on the hydro outage map it is always the same exact area that is affected and the same number of customers. So, to make a long story short, I didn't take all of the books with me when I went downtown so I'll need to go to the library another time before I leave. *sigh*