Adult books that I read during the 2020 pandemic

 ADULT FICTION

Chandler, Raymond.  Farewell, My Lovely. NY: Random House , 1940. (his biography said that this book was funny.  It’s not. You need to know a lot of  detective slang words, too.)

Christie, Agatha.  Crooked House.  NY/London: Harper/ GP Putnam sons, 2011/1949. 

Deveraux, Jude.  Change of heart.  NY:  Pocket books, 2014.

Harris, Charlaine. Real Murders. an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Thorndike, Maine: Center

             Point Large Print, 1990/ 2008.

    ….   A bone to pick, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Thorndike, Maine: Center

             Point Large Print, 1992/ 2008.

    ….   Three bedrooms, one corpse. an Aurora Teagarden Mystery.  NY: Charles Scribner’s

             sons, 1994   (actually there were two corpses. Hmmm) 

    ….   The Julius House. an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Thorndike, Maine: Center Point

             Large Print, 1995/ 2009.

    ….   Dead over heels, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery.  NY: Charles Scribner’s sons, 1996.

    ….   A Fool and his Honey, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Maine :  Thorndike Center

             Point Large Print, 1999.

    ….   Last Scene Alive, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Maine:  Thorndike Center

             Point Large Print, 2002.

    ….   Poppy done to Death, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Maine: Thorndike/ Chivers

             Large Print, 2003.

    ….   All the little liars, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. Maine: Thorndike Press Large Print,

             2016.

    ….   Sleep like a baby, an Aurora Teagarden Mystery. NY: Minotaur books, 2017.

            (the last in this series)

    ….   An Easy Death.  NY: Saga Press, 2018.  (Excellent alternate history tale)

Henderson, Zenna.  Pilgrimage, the book of the People.  NY: Avon, 1961.

            (published as a paperback/ costing only $0.75 !!!)

    ….   Ingathering, the complete people stories.  Framingham, MA: The NESFA Press, 1995.

            (Combines both Pilgrimage and her second people book – The People, no different flesh.)

Heyer, Georgette. The Black Moth. London: Heinemann, 1929. (her first book, published 1921)

            (Has always been in print – wow – for 100 years.)

    ….   The Masqueraders. NY: E.P. Dutton & Co. (originally published 1928)

    ….   The Talisman Ring.  NY: E.P Dutton & Co, 1936.

    ….   A Blunt Instrument.  Mattituck, NY: Aeonian Press, 1976. (reprint of 1938).

            (one of her mystery books)

    ….   Cotillion. Napierville, IL: Sourcebooks, 1953/ 2007 reprint. 

    ….   Sprig Muslin. NY: GP Putnam’s Sons, 1956

    ….   The Corinthian. NY: Buccaneer Books, 1983. (originally published 1940)

                        Quarantine re-Reading = I’m now re-reading some of Lackey’s series

                        Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series

Lackey, Mercedes. The Fairy Godmother (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2004.

    ….   One Good Knight. (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2006.

    ….   Fortune’s Fool.  (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2007.

    ….   The Snow Queen. (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2008.

    ….   The Sleeping Beauty. (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2010.

    ….   Beauty and the werewolf. (Tales of the five hundred kingdoms). NY: Luna, 2011.

                                    (Last one of the series. I’d love to read more)

                        Quarantine re-reading the Collegium Chronicles

    ….   Foundation, the Collegium Chronicles, v.1. NY: Daw books, 2008.

    ….   Intrigues, book two of the Collegium Chronicles. NY: Daw books, 2009.

    ….   Changes, book Three of the Collegium Chronicles. NY: Daw books, 2011.

    ….   Redoubt, book Four of the Collegium Chronicles. NY: Daw books, 2012.

    ….   Bastion, book Five of the Collegium Chronicles. NY: Daw books, 2013.

                        Which continues on with the Herald Spy Series

    ….   Closer to Home, book one of the Herald Spy.  NY: Daw books, 2014.

    ….   Closer to the Heart, book two of the Herald Spy.  NY: Daw books, 2015.

    ….   Closer to the Chest, book three of the Herald Spy.  NY: Daw books, 2016.

                        Which continues on with the Family Spy Series

    ….   The Hills have Spies. Book one of the Family Spies. NY: Daw books, 2018.

    ….   Eye Spy, Book two of the Family Spies. NY: Daw books, 2019.

….       Spy, Spy Again, Book three of the Family Spies. NY: Daw books, 2020.

                        And more elemental Masters

    ….   The case of the spellbound child, Elemental Masters series. NY: Daw books, 2019.

            (more magical adventures of Nan, Sarah, and the Watsons. Sherlock shows up, too)

                                    ReReading Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series

McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonflight, volume 1 of the dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine,

             1968.  (See YA list for the teenage harpers’ books that go along with Vol. 1, 2, and 3)

    ….   DragonQuest, volume 2 of the dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1971.

    ….   The White Dragon, volume3 of the dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1978.

    ….   Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1983.

    ….   Nerilka’s Story. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1986. (runs concurrently with Moreta)

    ….   Dragonsdawn. Dragonriders of Pern series. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1988.

    ….   The Renegades of Pern. Dragonriders of Pern series. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1989.

    ….   All the Weyrs of Pern. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1991.

    ….   The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1993. 

            (short stories filling in gaps in the Pern series)

    ….   The Dolphins’ Bell.  Illus. Pat Morrisey. Newark, NJ: Wildside press, 1993. (novela)

   ….    The Dolphins of Pern. Dragonriders of Pern series. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1994.

    ….   The girl who heard dragons. Illus. Michael Whelan. NY: Tor, 1994.

                     (Only the title story is a PERN story. The rest are short stories, realistic & fantasy)

    ….   No one noticed the cat.  NY: ROC/ Penguin. 1996.

                        (not a PERN book. Simply good fantasy)

    ….   Dragonseye. Dragonriders of Pern series. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1997.

    ….   Masterharper of Pern.  Dragonriders of Pern series. NY: Del Rey/ Ballantine, 1998.

    ….   The Skies of Pern. NY:  Del Rey/ Ballantine Books, 2001.

    ….   A gift of Dragons. Illus. Tom Kidd.  NY:  Ballantine Books, 2002.

                (four short stories originally printed elsewhere from 1973 - 2002. One of them,

                The Girl Who Heard Dragons, 1994, has been melded into several other Pern Books,

                 including The Renegades of Pern, The Dolphins of Pern, and is featured in another

                 collection of short stories with the title – The Girl Who Heard Dragons.)

McCaffrey, Todd and Anne McCaffrey. Dragon’s Kin. NY: Del Rey, 2003.

    ….   Dragonsblood - Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern... NY: Del Rey, 2005. 

                        (actually comes after Dragon Harper in this series)

    ….   Dragon’s Fire. NY: Del Rey, 2006.

    ….   Dragon Harper.   NY: Del Rey, 2007.

    ….   Dragonheart-- Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey, 2008.

     ….  Dragongirl -- Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey, 2010.

    ….   Dragon’s Time -- Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey, 2011.

    ….   Sky Dragons -- Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey, 2012.  

            (Anne’s son, using Anne’s story outline. There are quite a few of these

             joint projects, some begun while Anne was still alive.)

 McCaffrey, Gigi. Dragon’s Code – Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern. NY: Del Rey, 

            2018.  (written by Anne’s daught er)

McCaffrey, Anne and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.  Catalyst. A tale of the Barque Cats.

            NY: Del Ray, 2010. 

    ….   Catacombs, A tale of the Barque Cats. NY: Del Ray, 2010. 

                        Brain Ships series:

McCaffrey, Anne with Mercedes lackey and Margaret Ball. Brain Ships. NY: Baen, 1992.

            (Consisting of 2 books – The Ship who Searched and Partnership. Sequels to 

            The Shop Who Sang )

McCaffrey, Anne with S.M. Stirling. The City who fought, NY: Baen, 1993.

McCaffrey, Anne with Jody Lynn Nye.  The Ship who Won. NY: Baen, 1994.

    ….   The Ship Errant. NY: Baen, 1996.

McCaffrey, Anne with S.M. Stirling. The Ship Avenged. NY: Baen, 1996.

Quinn, Julia. The secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy. (Book 4 of the Smythe-Smith Quartet which

             I began reading in 2019.)  NY: Avon/ HarperCollins, 2015.

Taylor, Jodi.    Hope for the best. The chronicles of St. Mary’s. London: Headline, 2019.

            (The latest in her time traveling historians stories) 

Winspear, Jacqueline. 

    ….   Masie Dobbs, Birds of a Feather. Two Maisie Dobbs Novels. NY: HarperCollins. 2003/

             2004.  (The first and second books of this series combined in one paperback.)

    ….   Pardonable Lies, Maisie Dobbs Novel.   NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2005.  

    ….   Messenger of Truth, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.   NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2006.  

    ….   An Incomplete Revenge, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2008.

    ….   Among the Mad, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2009.

    ….   The mapping of Love and Death, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2010.

    ….   A lesson in secrets, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2011.

    ….   Elegy for Eddie, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2012.

     ….  Leaving everything most loved, a Masie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2013.

    ….   A dangerous place, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2015.

     ….  Journey to Munich, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2016.

    ….   In this grave hour, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2017

    ….   To die but once, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2018.

    ,,,,    The American Agent, a Maisie Dobbs Novel.  NY: HarperCollins, 2019.

 

 

ADULT BIOGRAPHY

 B Chandler      MacShane, Frank. The life of Raymond Chandler. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1976.

B Fox              Fox, Michael J.  A funny thing happened on the way to the future; twists and turns

             and lessons learned.  NY:  Hyperion, 2010.

B Heyer           Kloester, Jennifer. Georgette Heyer.  London: Heineman/Random House, 2011.

B Karr             Karr, Mary.  The Liars’ Club, a memoir. NY:  Viking Penguin, 1995.

B Trump         Trump, Mary L. Too much and never enough – how my family created the world’s

             most dangerous man. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2020. 

B Winebanks  Wine-Banks, Jill. The Watergate girl – my fight for truth and justice against a

             criminal president.  NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2020.

 

 

ADULT NONFICTION

 070.43097       Stelter, Brian. HOAX, Donald Trump, Fox News, and the dangerous distortion of 

            truth. NY: ISP/ Simon & Schuster, 2020.

332.15094       Enrich David.  Dark Towers – Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an epic trail of 

            destruction. NY: Custom House/ HarperCollins, 2020.

338.272           Maddow, Rachel.  Blowout – corrupted democracy, rogue state Russia, and the

             richest, most destructive industry on earth.  NY: Crown, 2019.  

          (This book is just like listening to Rachel Maddow speak.)

355.00973       Bergen, Peter.  Trump and his generals – the cost of chaos. NY: Penguin, 2019.

362.1   Bollyky, Thomas. Plagues and the paradox of progress – why the world is getting 

            healthier in worrisome ways. Cambridge, MA: the MIT press, 2018.

                        (written before COVID-19. He needs to add a chapter about that, which would

                         make him revise some of his conclusions in earlier chapters.)

420.9   Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue, English and how it got that way. NY: William

             Morrow, 1990.

500      Bryson, Bill.  A short history of nearly everything. NY: Broadway Books/ Random

             House, 2003.  (not human history but history of this earth and things on it)

909      Harari, Tyval Noah. Sapiens, a brief history of Humankind.  NY:  Harper, 2015.

            (not really brief – is 444 pages long)

973.933           Anonymous (a senior Trump administration official) A Warning. NY: Hachette

             Book Group, 2019.

973.933           Rucker, Philip and Leonnig, Carol.  A very stable genius, Donald J. Trump’s

             testing of America. NY: Penguin Press, 2020.  (two Pulitzer prize winners)

973.933           Schmidt, Michael. Donald Trump v. the United States, inside the struggle to stop 

            a president. NY: Random House, 2020.

973.933           Strzok, Peter. Compromised, counterintelligence and the threat of Donald J.

             Trump. NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. (FBI Investigation & Mueller Report)

973.933           Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston. Melania and me, the rise and fall of my friendship 

            with the first lady. NY:  Gallery Books, 2020.

973.93309       Woodward, Bob.  Rage. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2020.

            (includes word for word interviews with the incompetent President Trump)

 

Children's Books I read in 2020 during the Pandemic

 Well, it's time to consider what books will get awards. The Newbery and Caldecott awards will not be announced until Next Year but readers are considering which books published this year qualify.  However, I realized that I had not posted the books that I read during the first year of the pandemic - 2020.  So here goes.

The list of children's books I read last year with some comments:

Picture Books

 Bailey, Jenn. A friend for Henry. Illus Mika Song.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2019.

Harrison, David and Jane Yolen. Rum Pum Pum. Illus Anjan Sarkar. NY: Holiday House, 2020.

Loney, Andrea. Double Bass Blues. Illus Rudy Gutierrez. NY: Alfred A knopf, 2019.

Maillard, Kevin Noble. Fry Bread – a Native American family story. Illus. Juana Martinex=Neal.

             NY: Roaring Brook Press, 2019.

            (Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational

             book for children. It was also a Picture Book Honor choice for the American

            Indian Youth Literature award.) 

McKissack, Patrica C. What is given from the heart. Illus. April Harrison. NY: Schwartz &

             Wade books, 2019.  (Coretta Scott King New Illustrator Award)

Morris, Richard. Bear Came Along.  Illus: LeUyen Pham. NY: Little, brown and Co., 2019.

            (2020 Caldecott winner)

Nyong’o, Lupita. Sulwe. Illus. Vashti Harrison. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for young readers,

             2019. (2020 Corretta Scott King illustrator honor) (author was warrior in Black Panther)

Pizzoli, Greg. The Book Hog. NY: Hyperion, 2019.  

            (Geisel award winner- even tho in picture book format, not ICR format.)

Portis, Antonette. Hey Water.  NY:  Neal Porter Books/ Holiday House, 2019.

            (Backmatter – Water Forms, The Water Cycle, Conserving Water, Books to Explore.

             This is classified as NF by Library of Congress, but San Diego Library has it in 

             picture books)

Ransome, James. The Bell Rang. NY: Atheneum books for young children, 2019.

            (2020 Corretta Scott King illustrator honor)

Roth, Susan. Birds of a Feather- bowerbirds and me.  NY: Neal Porter Books/ Holiday House,

             2019.  (both bowerbirds and Susan are artists creating collages)

Theule, Larissa. Born to ride, a story about bicycle face.   Illus. Kelsey Garrity-Riley. 

            NY: Abrams books for Young Readers, 2019. 

            (Illustrations show the fight for women’s right to vote)

Yang, James. Stop! Bot!  NY: Viking, 2019. (book is taller than wide because - tall building)

 

I Can Read

 Morris, J.E.  Flubby is Not a good pet! NY: Penguin Workshop, 2019.  (Jennifer Morris)

            (2020 Geisel honor book)

 

J – FICTION :

 Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Bob. NY: Harper, 2020.

            (Sequel to The One and Only Ivan)

Coville, Bruce. Aliens stole my body.  (v. 4 of Rod Allbright and the Galactic Patrol)

            NY: Aladdin paperbacks, 1998.  (The series is now being made into a movie)

Messner, Kate. Chirp.  NY: Bloomsbury, 2020.

            (Mystery. Who is sabotaging grandmother’s crickets for food business, plus what is

             Mia’s hidden secret. I had trouble even thinking about crickets for food. Yuck.)

Mlynowski, Sarah, Lauren Myracle, Emily Jenkins. Upside Down Magic. NY: Scholastic, 2015.

                 (now made into a Disney Movie.  The movie was OK but the books were better.)

    ….   Upside Down Magic – Sticks & Stones. v. 2.   NY: Scholastic, 2016.

    ….   Upside Down Magic – Showing Off. v. 3.   NY: Scholastic, 2017.

    ….   Upside Down Magic – Dragon Overnight. v. 4.   NY: Scholastic, 2018.

    ….   Upside Down Magic – Weather or not.  v. 5.   NY: Scholastic, 2018.

    ….   Upside Down Magic – The big shrink.  v. 6.   NY: Scholastic, 2019.

    ….   Upside Down Magic – Hide and Seek.  v. 7.   NY: Scholastic, 2020.

Noel, Kaela.  Coo. Illus. Celia Krampien. NY: Greenwillow/ HarperCollins books, 2020.

            (I didn’t believe the first chapters and feel they were tacked on to create backstory, but 

            the bulk of the story – a girl who can talk to pigeons – is well done. Raised by pigeons

             from infant to 10 years old – not so much. Where would pigeons get milk for a baby?)

Park, Linda Sue.  Prairie Lotus. NY: Clarion Books, 2020.

                 (2021 Asian/Pacific American award. Maybe more.)

Schmidt, Gary D.  Pay Attention, Carter Jones.  NY: Clarion Books/ HMH, 2019.

                 (Dad has disappeared. An English Butler appears, organizing and supporting the 

            distraught family.  Also, much about the game of Cricket & how Carter applies it to life.)

Shurtiff, Liesl.  Time Castaways #1, the Mona Lisa Key. NY: Katherine Tegan Books/ 

            HarperCollins, 2018.

   ….    Time Castaways #2, the Obsidian Compass. NY: Katherine Tegan Books/ 

            HarperCollins, 2019.

    ….   Time Castaways #3, The forbidden lock. NY: Katherine Tegan Books/ 

            HarperCollins, 2020.

Slade, Arthur.  Jolted – Newton Starker’s rules for survival. NY: Random House, 2009.

            (boy from family who attracts and dies by lightning strike – will he survive?)

Springer, Nancy. The case of the Missing Marquess, an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/

             Penguin Books for Young Readers, 2006. 

    ….   The case of the left-handed lady, an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/ Penguin

             Books for Young readers, 2007.

    ….   The case of the bizarre bouquets, an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/ Penguin

             Books for Young Readers, 2008. 

    ….   The case of the peculiar pink fan, an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/ Penguin

             Books for Young Readers, 2008. 

    ….   The Case of the Cryptic crinoline, an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/ Penguin

             Books for Young Readers, 2009. 

    ….   The case of the gypsy good-bye.  an Enola Holmes mystery. NY: Philomel/ Penguin

             Books for Young Readers, 2010. 

                        (now a movie)

Timberlake, Amy.  One came home – a sister lost, a body found, the truth buried. NY: Knopf,

             2013.

Reedy, Trent.  Stealing Air. NY: Arthur A. Levine/ Scholastic, 2012. (skateboarding)

Young, Karen Romano.  A girl, a raccoon, and the midnight moon.  Illus. Jesixa Bagley. 

            San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2019.  (Saving a library branch)

 

YA Fiction:

 Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. The boy who dared, a novel based on the true story of a Hitler 

            youth.  NY: Scholastic Press, 2008.

Jones, Diana Wynne.  Dark Lord of Derkholm. NY: Greenwillow/ HarperTrophy, 1998.

            (The title sounds scary, but it’s actually a funny fantasy.)

McCaffrey, Anne.  Dragonsong.  NY: Atheneum, 1976.

    ….   Dragonsinger. NY: Atheneum, 1977.

    ….   Dragondrums. NY: Atheneum, 1979.

                        (These three are stories of young Harpers and their craft view of the major events

                  happening in the upper Dragon Weyrs as told in her Adult books about PERN.)

Reeve, Philip.  Mortal Engines, the Hungry City Chronicles.  NY: HarperCollins, 2001

    ….   Predator’s Gold, book 2 of the Hungry City Chronicles.  NY: Scholastic, 2003

    ….   Night Flights, a Mortal Engines Collection. NY: Scholastic, 2018. 

            (short stories about the aviatrix, Anna Fang who saved the Mortal Engines protagonists)

    ….   Infernal Devices, book 3 of the Hungry City Chronicles.  NY: Scholastic, 2005.

    ….   A darkling plain, book 4 of the Hungry City Chronicles.  NY: Scholastic, 2006.

    ….   A web of air, book 2 of the Fever Crumb series.  NY: Scholastic, 2010.

                        (prequel to the Hungry City Chronicles)

    Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children.  Philadelphis, PA: Quirk Books,

             2011. 

    ….   Hollow City, the second novel of Miss Peregrine’s peculiar children. Philadelphis, PA: 

            Quirk Books, 2014. 

 

 

PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHIES:

 J Blondin.        Bowman, Donna Janell. King of the Tightrope, when the Great Blondin ruled 

            Niagara.  GA: Peachtree, 2019.

 

J and YA BIOGRAPHIES:

J Bryan.           Bryan, Ashley. Infinite Hope, a black artist’s journey from World War II to

             Peace. NY: Caitiyn Diouhy/ Atheneum Books, 2019. 

            (illustrated with Photographs plus his artistic renderings)

J Leeuwwenhoek        Alexander, Lori. All in a drop, how Antony van Leeuenhoek discovered an

             invisible world. Ill. Vivien Mildenberger. NY:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. 

            (2020 Robert Sibert honor award)  (Chapter book illustrated biography)

YA Lindbergh             Fleming, Candace. The rise and fall of Charles Lindbergh. NY: Schwartz

             & Wade books, 2020.                        (I never knew he was a NAZI and American First leader)

            (2021 -ALA YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.)

 

J and YA NONFICTION:

 YA 323           Brimner, Larry Dane. Blacklisted! Hollywood, the cold war, and the first 

            amendment.  Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek, 2018.  (excellent coverage of the damage

             the House Un-American Activities Committee did to life in the USA. And warnings

             about it possibly beginning to happen again under Trump, except flipped.)

J 595.492        Schnell, Lisa Kahn. High Tide for horseshoe crabs. Illus. Alan Marks. 

            MA: Charlesbridge, 2015. 

J 811.6            Alexander, Kwame. The Undefeated. Illus. Kadir Nelson. NY: Houghton Mifflin

             Harcourt, 2019.  (Caldecott honor, Golden Kite award) 

J 940.54          Heiligman, Deborah.  Torpedoed – the true story of the World War II sinking of

             the children’s ship. NY: Henry Holt, 2019.

            (2020 Winner of SCBWI’s Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction for Older Readers)

YA 943.086    Bartoletti, Susan Campbell.  Hitler Youth, growing up in Hitler’s shadow. 

            NY: Scholastic, 2005.  (wonderfully researched)

Adult books I have read in 2018

Trent Reedy challenged us to read 100 books a year. Therefore every year since then I've posted the list of books I have read.  However, this year the list is 11 pages long, so I"m going to post them in two posts.

Here is the list of adult books I read in 2018.  (Children's books in previous post)

Booklist of Adult Books Read in 2018

ADULT FICTION

Bacigalupi, Paolo.  The Water Knife. NY:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.

Braun, Lilian Jackson.  The Cat Who talked turkey. NY:  Jove books/ Putnum, 2004. 

Bujold, Lois McMaster.  Miles in Love. NY: Baen, 1998, 1999, 2006. (containing the books Komarr, A civil Campaign, and Winterfair Gifts.)

    ….            Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance.  (Vorkosigan Saga)  NY: Baen, 2014.

    ….                        Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. (Vorkosigan Saga) NY: Baen, 2016.

Cline, Ernest.  Ready Player One.  NY:  Broadway books (pb)/ Crown, 2011. (all I can say is that the author certainly knows a lot about historic as well as modern arcade and online gaming.) (friends say the book is much better than the movie.)

Clinton, Bill and James Patterson.  The President is Missing.  NY:  Knopf/ Little Brown and Co, 2018.  (Well done spy suspense thriller.)  (catalogued under Patterson in the county library – under Clinton in the city library. Hmmm. I read it twice.)

Crider, Bill.  A Romantic Way to Die, a sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery.  NY: St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2001.  (Bill was a part of a huge online group of writers that I belong to.  He recently died, so I decided to read some of his books.  They’re small-town mysteries, not romance novels or children’s books, although this story does take place at a Romance Writer’s gathering.)

Deveraux, Jude.  The Temptress.  NY: Pocket Books, 1986. (unfortunately, this reads like an             early attempt at writing a romance. Unlike her deep immersion into             story and characters with an engaging throughline which can be found             In her more recent books.)

    ….             The Raider. NY: NY: Pocket Books, 1987.  (just as poorly written as The             Temptresswith even more stopping the story to have sex.  Not up to             the quality of the writing of her more recent books.)

    ….            The Princess.  NY: Pocket Books, 1987.  (ah – this is more like her normal             quality writing.  I can only conclude that the above two books were             quickly written to fulfill a 3-book contract and this is the one she             spent more time on perfecting.)

   ….             The Invitation.  (three short stories)  NY: Pocket Books, 1994.

     ….            Forever, a novel of good and evil, love and hope.  NY: Pocket books, 2002.

    ….            Holly.  NY:  Atria Books, 2003.

  ….            Someone to Love, a novel.  NY:  Atria Books, 2007.

    ….            The Summerhouse.  NY: Pocket Books, 2001.

    ….            Return to Summerhouse.  NY: Thorndike/Gale, 2008. (large type)

                                    (I love the Summerhouse series and wish she’d write many more.

                                      Ah – check out the Summer Hill series she has just begun.)

    ….            Scarlet Nights.  (Edilean series) NY:  Atria Books, 2010.  (I love the             Interconnectedness of characters in the Edilean series.)

    ….            True Love. (Nantucket Brides series) NY: Ballantine, 2013.

    ….            For All time. (Nantucket Brides series) NY: Ballantine, 2014.

    ….            Ever After. (Nantucket Brides series) NY: Ballantine, 2015.

    .…            The Girl from Summer Hill: A Summer Hill Novel.  NY:  Harlequin, Mira Books, 2016.    

   ….            As you wish.  NY:  Harlequin, Mira Books, 2018.  (Second book in the town of             Summer Hill series, adding characters from the Summerhouse series)

Follett, Ken.             A Column of Fire. (book 3 of Pillars of the Earth series)  NY:   Viking, 2017.

                        (I finally finished reading this huge trilogy.)

Francis, Dick.  Field of Thirteen.  NY: GP Putnam’s Sons, 1998.  (A collection of 13 excellent short stories, all based in the horse racing world, of course.)

    ….  and Felix Francis.   Second Wind.   NY: GP Putnam’s Sons, 1999.

    ….            Under Orders.   G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006.  (Although written in Felix’s style and an acknowledgement inside the book to his son, Felix, this book was not listed under both names as authors.)

    ….     ….               Dead Heat. NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007.

    ….     ….            Even Money.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009.

    ….      ….            Crossfire.NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2010.

Francis, Felix.  Dick Francis’s Gamble. NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011.

    ….            Dick Francis’s Bloodline.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2012.

    ….            Dick Francis’s Refusal.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013.

    ….            Dick Francis’s Damage, a novel of suspense.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2014.

    ….            Front Runner, A Dick Francis Novel.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2015.

    ….            Triple Crown,A Dick Francis Novel. NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2016.

    ….            Pulse, a Dick Francis novel.  NY:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017.

Heyer, Georgette.  The Quiet Gentleman.  NY:  Putnam, 1952.

Howard, Kat. An Unkindness of magicians.NY:  2017.

James, Miranda.  Murder Past Due.  (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) London: Wheeler Chivers (large type), 2010.  The first book in this librarian/ cat sleuth series)

    ….            Classified as Murder.  (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) London: Wheeler Chivers (large type), 2010. 

    ….            File M for Murder. (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2012.  

                        (I wonder when they’ll actually put a Main Coon Cat on the cover, instead of a fat, normal short-haired cat?)

    ….            Out of Circulation. (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Gale Cengage Learning, (large type), 2013. (Someone should tell the cover illustrator that the cat he put on the cover is not a Maine Coon Cat.)

    ….            The Silence of the Library.(a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2014.  (Oh.  Now Diesel the Maine Coon cat has his own facebook page – facebook.com/DiesellHarriscat )

    ….            Arsenic and Old Books. (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2015.

    ….            No Cats Allowed. (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2016. 

    …..            Twelve angry librarians.  . (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2017. 

    ….            Claws for Concern.  . (a Cat in the Stacks mystery) NY:  Berkely Prime Crime, 2018. 

Lackey, Mercedes. The Fire Rose(Elemental Masters)  Riverdale, NY: Baen, 1995.

            (the California San Francisco earthquake and fire)

    ….                        The Black Swan.  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 1999.    (based on the ballet)

    ….                        The Serpent’s Shadow.   (Elemental Masters) NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2001. 

            (based on the story of Snow White, but staged with religion and magic from India)

    ….                        The Gates of Sleep.  (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2002.  

            (You can figure out from the title that this is based on Sleeping Beauty.)

    ….                        Phoenix and Ashes.  (Elemental Masters) NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2004. 

            (based on the story of Cinderella, set during WWI.)

    ….                         The Wizard of London.  (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2005.  

            (it’s the first adventure of Nan and Sarah – where they meet Puck, the oldest one 

            when they are involved in Shakespeare’s play - Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.             

            And with the tale about a prince with a frozen heart.) 

    ….                        Reserved for the Cat. (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2007.  

             (Bookended by the tale of two wizards battling by changing shapes and sizes.)

    ….                        Unnatural Issue. (Elemental Masters)  NY:  Daw Books, Inc., 2011.  (exploring

             the bad/ dangerous side of wizardry. The second book to take place during WWI)

    ….                        Home from the Sea.  (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2012. 

            (uses the folk tale of the Selch/ Selkie – seal people who marry humans. The second

             adventure of Nan and Sarah.)

    ….                        Steadfast.  (Elemental Masters) NY:  Daw Books, Inc., 2013.

            (Dancer/contortionist running from an abusive husband finding safety.)

    ….                        Blood Red.   (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2014. (Werewolves

            This one read more like a collection of short stories about her adventures.)

    ….                        From a High Tower.   (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2015.

            (based on the tale of Rapunzel with the addition of the heroine from Blood Red.)

    ….                        A Study in Sable. (Elemental Masters)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 2016.

            (a third adventure of Nan and Sarah plus Sherlock Holmes and John and Mary

             Watson, involving a Lorelei.)

    ….                         A Scandal in Battersea.  (Elemental Masters number 12)  NY: Daw Books, Inc., 

            2017.  (fourth adventure of Nan and Sarah, Holmes and John and Mary Watson 

            involving an invasion from another dimension. ) 

    ….                        The Hills Have Spies, Book one of Family Spies, a novel of Valdemar. NY: Daw

             Books, 2018.  

            (continuation of the adventures of Herald Mags in Valdemar except this series will 

            feature his children.  Book one = Perry.  Too bad the jacket copy talks about an 

            entirely different story with an entirely different child’s name – not one of the three 

            mentioned in this story. Mercedes says, “P.s. if you own a copy with this mistake 

            keep it, it’ll be valuable some day.”)

McCaffrey, A.. and Elizabeth Moon.  Sassinak. (The planet Pirates, vol. 1) NY: Baen, 1990. 

            (I used to own the sequel to this, but I must have tossed it when moving west.)

McCaffrey, Anne and Jody Lynn Nye. The Ship who Won.  NY: Baen, 1994.  

            (The shellperson spaceships series.)

    ….             The Ship Errant.  NY: Baen, 1996.  (The shellperson spaceships series.)

Moon, Elizabeth. Cold Welcome.  (Book 6 in Vatta’s War series)  NY: Del Ray, 2017.

            (Hurrah!  More adventures of Ky Vatta)

    ….                        Into the Fire. (Book 7 in Vatta’s War series)  NY: Del Ray, 2018.

            (Hurrah!  Even more adventures of Ky Vatta)

Pratchett, Terry. Guards! Guards!  London:  Corgi Books, a division of Random House, 1989.

Pratchett, Terry and Neil Gaiman.  Good Omens, the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes

             Nutter, WITCH.  NY: William Morrow, 1990/ 2006.  (is going to be a movie)

Putney, Mary Jo. The marriage spell.  NY:  Ballantine Books, 2006.

Quinn, Julia and Lisa Kleypas and Kinley MacGregor. Where’s my Hero?  NY:  Avon Books, 2003.

Quinn, Julia. Dancing at Midnight. NY:  HarperCollins, 1995.  (one of her earlier books and not as well written as her more recent ones.)

    ….            Ten things I love about you.  NY: HarperCollins, 2010.

    ….            The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After, some endings are only the beginning…. NY:  Harper Collins/ Avon, 2013.  (a collection of 2^ndepilogues – the story that comes afterthe story.)

    ….            Because of Miss Bridgerton.  (A Bridgertons Prequel)  NY: Avon Books, 2016.

    ….            The Other Miss Bridgerton.  ( A Bridgertons Prequel)  NY: Avon Books, 2018.

Shaffer, Mary Ann and Annie Barrows.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a Novel.  NY: Dial, 2008.  (a lovely story which made me want to read more of her work, only I discovered that this was her only published work before she died. She was assisted by her niece, the author of the popular series Ivy and Bean.)

Springer, Nancy.  The Oddling prince. San Francisco: Tachyon, 2018.

Stewart, Amy. Girl Waits with Gun, a novel.  NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015.

   ….            Lady Cop Makes Trouble, a Kopp Sisters Novel.  NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.

    ….            Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions, a Kopp sisters novel.   NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.

ADULT BIOGRAPHY

B Alexie            Alexie, Sherman.  You Don’t have to say you love me, a memoir.  NY: Little, Brown and Co., 2017. 

B Caine            Caine, Michael. Blowing the bloody doors off, and other lessons in life.  NY: Hachette books, 2018

B Clapper            Clapper, James R. with Trey Brown. Facts and Fears – hard trughs from a life in intelligence.  NY:  Viking, 2018. (Excellent background from one who was part of the depths of the USA Intelligence world.  As usuall, too many abbreviations of departments. Imagine my surprise to discover a translation of all those abbreviations in the back of the book.  Wish they had been in the front so that I could flip back and forth.)

B Clinton            Chozick, Amy. Chasing Hillary, Ten years, Two Presidential campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling.   NY: Harper, 2018.  

                        (Probably should be in the 973s instead of biography Clinton because it really is Amy Chozick’s memoir, not really a biography of Clinton.)

B Comey            Comey, James. A Higher Loyalty - truth, lies and leadership.NY:  Flatiron Books, 2018.

                        (The head of the FBI during the election of Donald Trump explains his decisions and his surprising firing by President Trump. Very well written and compares well with the testimony he gave to Congress. Asserts that Trump acts very much like mob bosses that Comey has known, demanding loyalty – which the head of the independent FBI could not give him.)

B Edison            Stross, Randall. The Wizard of Menlo Park – how Thomas Alva Edison invented the modern world. NY:  Crown Publishers, 2007.

B Graham            Graham, Katharine. Personal History.NY:  Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

                        (Owner of the Washington Post tells the back story of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, among other events and how the Post was involved.

B Simon            Simon, Neil. Neil Simon Rewrites, a Memoir. NY:  Simon & Schuster, 1996.

B Steinbeck            Steinbeck, John.  Travels with Charley, In search of America.  NY: Penguin Books, 1963. 1997.

B Van Dyke            Van Dyke, Dick.  My lucky life in and out of show business, a memoir.  NY: Crown, 2011.

ADULT NONFICTION

305.420…            Traister, Rebecca. Good and Mad, the revolutionary power of women’s anger. NY:  Simon & Schuster, 2018.  (How women’s and POC anger upset the midterm election in 2018.)

324.9730..            Tur, Katy. Unbelievable, my front-row seat to the craziest campaign in American history.   NY:  Dey St. (William Morrow), 2017.  (Diary of a reporter who followed and reported on Trump from his announcement to run until he won the election.)

332            O’Rourke, P.J.  None of my Business— P.J. explains money, banking, debt, equity, assets, liabilities, and why he’s not rich and neither are you. NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2018. (a series of his columns. Humorous and flows together nicely)

363.325..            Sanger, David E. The perfect Weapon – War, sabotage, and fear in the Cyber Age.  NY: Crown, 2018. (Information about cyber attacks that President Trump should know – but probably doesn’t.)

364.1523            Fox, Margalit. Conan Doyle for the Defense, the true story of a sensational British murder, a quest for justice, and the world’s most famous detective writer. NY:  Random House, 2018.

327.73            Farrow, Ronan. War on Peace, the end of diplomacy and the decline of American influence.  NY:  W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.  (excellent examination of our State Department and how the Trump government not only ignores the excellent advice from experienced diplomats, but has cut the department drastically, removing most of the most experienced ones.)

641.5092            Bourdain, Anthony.  Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.  NY: HarperCollins (paperback), 2000, 2007. (If you ever thought you wanted to be a cook in a restaurant, this might change your mind.)

812.54            Sedaris, David. The Santaland Diaries and Season’s Greetings. NY:  Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1998.

917.3            Ratay, Richard. Don’t make me pull over! An informal history of the family road trip. NY:  Scribner,2018. 

919.404…            Bryson, Bill.  In a Sunburned Country. NY: Broadway Books/ Random House, 2000.  (title refers to the bad sunburn he got there.  Reads as if it is a collection of various articles written for Journals or newspapers because of some repetition.  But as usual, enjoyable.)

944.9084            Mayle, Peter. My twenty-five Years in Provence, reflections on then and now. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018.  (Peter Mayle died January 2018. This seems to be a collection of chapters from several of his previous books about Provence, France.)

973.932            Isikoff, Michael and David Corn.  Russian Roulette, the inside story of Putin’s war on America and the election of Donald Trump.   NY:  12, Hachatte Book Group, 2018.  (A gathering of the facts about the covert hacking operation to influence the U.S. election and help Donald Trump gain the presidency.)

973.93209            Lewandowski, Corey and David Bossie.  Let Trump Be Trump, the inside story of his rise to the presidency. NY and Nashville:  Center Street/ Hachette, 2017. (as written by his fired campaign manager and assistant, which purposefully overlooks Trump’s flaws, skips a large part of Trump’s illegal actions, and has a paragraph or two of groveling praise in each and every chapter)  

973.933            Wilson, Rick.  Everything Trump touches dies, a Republican strategist gets real about the words president ever. NY:  Simon & Schuster, 2018.  (a conservative lobbyist, never-Trumper examines the first year and a half of Trump’s presidency – with humor.) 

973.933            Wolff, Michael.  Fire and Fury, inside the Trump white house.  NY: Henry Holt and Co., 2018.  (Well written, complete with quotes from the people working and fighting inside the Trump white house.  His information matches everything I’ve learned about this strange situation the USA is in.)

973.9330            Woodward, Bob. FEAR, Trump in the White House. NY:  Simon & Schuster, 2018.  (famous author/ Washington Post reporter uses many actual inhabitants of the White House as sources to show their view of things that happened and how Trump reacts to the stress of the job.  Revealing.)

976.6…            Grann, David.  Killers of the Flower Moon, the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI.  NY: Doubleday, 2017l