Aw, Carolyn it is never easy when pets get sick.  I lost my 16 year old kitty in October to cancerous tumors in her mouth :(  

Jeanne I love that plaque!

Since Thursday I spent 34.5 hours stuck in the car travelling to and from western NY for a funeral.  During my imprisonment I managed to finish The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (awesome book!) and Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #2) by Ransom Riggs and start A Clash of Kings by George R.R Martin.  I start back to school today (3 classes-goodbye sleep...) so hopefully the course load will be managable and I'll still have time to read.

Thanks Holly - I love it too. Sums me up in a nutshell. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty. I've lost many of those along the way too but since I found that my asthma is much better without cats in the house, I don't have any. I love cats! This is not fair but what to do?

Hope your caseload isn't so heavy that it drags you down. Hang in there - it should definitely be worth it in the long haul!

I'm almost finished with Hell Bay by Will Thomas - another Barker and Llewelyn book- and it started a little slow but definitely picked up to the " I can hardly put it down" category. I would have finished it today but spent the entire day with a group of mighty fine women friends!

Holly - I would have followed suit with you to (I assume) listen to some very good books! Unless someone else was driving, I figure you must have listened to those and I really enjoy doing that onlong trips.

Thanks, Cheryl, Jeanne and Holly. Unfortunately, there's nothing left to do for her. She had a third surgery in November, but this time they couldn't get the whole tumor out and it was no longer contained in her liver. She had a bad night last night 😔

That's a hard place to be Carolyn; you are in my thoughts!

Finished reading Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger, first published in 1868 so I guess it qualifies for novels before 1900.  Quite fun and quite good.  It's the story of an orphan boy living in New York as a  boot black.  He is bright and enterprising and meets people who help him see that he can reach for a better life.  I rated it four stars.

The News of the World by Paulette Jiles -- using this for the challenge category about a main character older than 60.  Captain Jefferson Kidd is 72 when he accepts the challenge of returning a 10-year-old former Kiowa captive to her aunt and uncle in south Texas.  Captain Kidd formerly owned and operated a printing press.  He is dedicated to the idea of sharing newspaper stories with the people of small towns.  He hires a meeting hall of some kind and reads from a variety of newspapers to the townspeople who have paid a 10-cent admission fee.  I found it fascinating that this type of activity was a real occupation of the late 1800s.  The relationship between this old man and the little girl was heartwarming.

Linda

Kelly, that sounds like a very interesting book!  I've added it to my Wish List...I really enjoy the Civil War time period.

Thinking of you Carolyn!

Deb

Awe Carolyn, I'm sorry! :(

I've finished a couple of books so far. The Asylum by John Harwood was an audiobook that I was completely engrossed in. I was so into it, that I brought the last disc inside to listen to while I did chores (I usually listen to audiobooks while I drive). The ending, AGH! Completely disappointing. Rushed, with a series of crazy coincidences and just overall very unfulfilling. I would have given it a solid 4, but I'm struggling to give it a 3 just because of how she tried to wrap everything up and explain the mysteries. Sigh.

Thankfully, the next one I finished, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, was much more satisfying, although not a light read. I devoured it in just a couple of days and was very relieved to find that the ending wasn't botched. It was a dismal story and my heart ached the whole way through, but I couldn't put it down.

I've just started The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and am completely captivated so far. I'm only on disc 2 and already have a feeling this will be my book of the month. I have some errands to run tomorrow morning and am so excited to get back to it! I may have to put it on my iPod so I can listen around the house, too. 

Just started Conn Iggulden's "Stormbird" yesterday.  Book 1 in his War of the Roses.  Good pace, interesting-but thank goodness he has the family tree(s) in the front of the book-I keep flipping back and forth to keep tracking of who's who.  Kinda feel that I'm out of my "winter reading slump" with this one.

Jan

Kelly:  I remember reading The Thirteenth Tale a while back and enjoying it very much.

Jan,  I've read the first three books of Conn Iggulden's 4-book series of Wars of Roses - all three were 5-star reads for me.  I'm looking forward to book 4.

Linda

Believe it or not I've read 3 HF books this year so far!  LOL  Not too shabby for a newbie.

1. House of Dark Delights by Louisa Burton - this one is listed as Contemporary here, but it has several parts that are set in the past.  Erotica with many permutations.  Elves, shapeshifters, succubus, and one character that can morph from male to female.  Explicit, but not coarse.  Decent read, but I've read better.
2. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue - This one took me a while to get thru.  I liked the characters, but it never really grabbed me, so reading was slower.  I did enjoy it, but not a favorite.  There is 1 instance of lesbian activity.  It didn't bother me, and it wasn't terribly explicit, but be warned if it bothers you.
3. The Butterfly and the Violin (Hidden Masterpiece, Bk 1) by Kristy Cambron - I'm guessing this is considered to be Christian fiction.  There were numerous references to God and religion, more than I prefered.  I did adore the twin stories.  Adele and Vicktor in Austria, and Sera and William in the US present day.  The parts where Adele is in Auschwitz were hard to read, but I actually prefered them to the present day sections with Sera and William.

Next up will be The Hatmaker's Heart: A Novel by Carla Stewart.

Several interesting books to keep in mind are discussed here.  Thanks all for sharing.  I've finished My Last Dutchess and enjoyed it.  It's about a beautiful young American heiress whose wealth and mother take her to England to seek a husband.  By accident she falls in love with the man rather than his title.  However, her American background often blinds her to the many traditional ways in the land of her new husband.  Cora Cash is naive and innocent.  Her love is tested so often as she learns what it really means to be a duchess.  I liked this one.

Just picked up The Silence of Stones by Jeri Westerson.  In reading her earlier novels I was disappointed but this one seems to be more skillfully done.  Anyway I'm getting involved in the mystery of the missing stone.  Finished and rated it 4.5 stars.  The plot revolving an actual theft is well done.  I was disappointed in the investigation by Crispin Guest but enjoyed the author's plot development involving Jack Tucker, Guest's apprentice, as unlikely as it seems. 

After my hot date with the 6th edition of Collection Management Basics I think I'll be starting The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 

Starting the first book in the Poldark series ❤️

Oh boy, Carolyn! Such a wonderful series!

Carolyn --- While I was recuperating from my pneumonia/asthma bout last summer I read the first of these books and really enjoyed it.  I need to get back on Kindle and see if any of the succeeding books are available at a reasonable price!!! 

I've finished the historical, Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt, and it's fun.  Wonderful read.  The author writes flawlessly about the development of rockets and the space program and the lives and work of the women who were so important to the development of it all at JPL.  It's soo good.  I recommend it highly if you like nonfiction.

I'm about 150 pages into Ross Poldark, and I'm loving it (of course).  Judd and Prudie are just as hysterical in the book as they are in the show!! 

I'm starting The Tiger Queens:  The Women of Genghis Khan by Stephanie Thornton.

So I am trying to fill in my create your own category of the Middle Ages for the historical mystery challenge.

I am reading The Riddle of St. Leonard's (Owen Archer, Bk 5) :: Candace Robb

I haven't read this series in years and found where I left off (I haev all of them). I don't know why I stopped reading it. The series is wonderful. I feel like I am visiting an old friend. Highly recommend but start with book 1.

Book 1 is available in the system to order  - The Apothecary Rose [Owen Archer, Bk 1 by Candace Robb

Cheryl I read Tiger Queen. Very violent lives they lived back then

 Alice, I just picked up The Nun's Tale by Candace Robb, (Book 3) in the Owen Archer series. It's the first one I've read in the series. I liked it quite a bit. I'll probably get another for my Kindle from the library.

Yes, they certainly did Alice!