Yearlong AlphaKIT - X and Z

Yearlong letters are X and Z

and

Please remember to update the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2019_AlphaKIT#Yearlong_Letters:_X_and_Z

Finished my first X book of the year Aunt Bessie Invites by Diana Xarissa and am sure there will be more by her since I still have J-P to get through of her books.

I read an X! Philip MacDonald, one of mystery's Golden Age greats, published X v. Rex under a pseudonym, Martin Porlock, in 1933. It was republished as Mystery of the Dead Police by Philip MacDonald. My copy is a Pocket Books edition from 1940.

When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street for my Z book!

At the end of January, I finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon--it was absolutely wonderful. If you need a 'Z' book and haven't read it yet, you should. (Actually scratch that... if you love reading and you haven't read it yet, you should!)

I read Night Train to Rigel by Timothy Zahn which I enjoyed a lot. It's a sci fi version of Murder on the Orient Express but with aliens and spiders!

>6 majkia: - That sounds fascinating and a bit horrifying!

I finished another X - Aunt Bessie Joins by Diana Xarissa.

Read Towards Zero by Agatha Christie as part of my rereading her books in order project.

I decided to count Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork as my "X" read. This was an excellent YA thriller.

Read Zero Sum Game by S L Huang and have Zero Point by Neal Asher waiting in the wings.

Currently reading Ring of Silence by Mark Zubro

COMPLETED Ring of Silence by Mark Zubro

An American Princess: the Many Lives of Allene Tew / Annejet van der Zijl
2.5 stars

Allene Tew was born in 1872 and lived till the mid-1900s. In that time, she married five times, had three children (who all died fairly young – one as a toddler, the other two were adults, but young), and became incredibly rich. She became a “princess” of the title when she married her… 4th (??) husband, a prince in Germany (??).

So, I think I just don’t tend to find rich people who don’t do a whole lot all that interesting. Much of the book focused on the people around her (which I’ve found with other biographies of historical women, as well), and because she married so many times, there were a lot of different people. After a while I had trouble keeping them all straight. I think the section on WWI was the most interesting to me, and maybe the rise of Hitler and WWII, as well. But that was more interest in the historical times than interest in Allene, herself.

>8 LittleTaiko: Having never read Agatha Christie, could you please point me in a good direction to find all the books in order? There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on the internet. Any help much appreciated - thanks!

I'm currently reading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata. It's a contemporary romance in which the hero is a football player...not my usual cup of tea, but I'm finding it interesting so far.

>14 JayneCM: - I've been using a book called The New Bedside, Bathtub, and Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie by Dick Riley. It has synopsis of all the books and short story collection along with other tidbits.
It's actually rather old, published in 1979 so not the most up to date regarding things like movies or TV shows based on her stories.

Finished Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, which I'd been meaning to read pretty much since it came out. It didn't disappoint. Full review written.

I read another Z book, The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. A readable contemporary romance, but I had some issues with it.

Finished The Lost City of Z: a tale of obsession in the Amazon by David Grann. A four-star fascinating tale.

>19 VivienneR: Does The lost City of Z go into the efforts to find Colonel Fawcett in any depth? I assume it does, but there's one in particular I'm interested in and the Oxfordshire library system has the book, but I'm so far behind on my TBR that I don't want to reserve it unless a familiar name appears in it.

What I'm on about was that in 1932 an advertisement appeared in the Times (London) about an expedition to search for news of Fawcett's fate. The expedition was led by one Robert Churchward. One of the people who answered the advertisement was Peter Fleming, whose younger brother (Ian) became much more famous (yes, that Ian Fleming). Peter Fleming wrote a book about the resulting sorry mess, and followed it up with a number of other books on travel and other matters.

>20 haydninvienna: Yes, Churchward's expedition with Peter Fleming was mentioned but I don't know if it has the detail you want. There was a lot of searching that has melded together for me and I have already passed on the book and can't check. A "sorry mess" describes it well. Fleming's book sounds like it would be interesting.

>21 VivienneR: I’ve another of Peter Fleming’s travel books, News from Tartary, and a comic novel of sorts, The Flying Visit. Even if he never became as famous as his younger brother, he had a certain style about him, and the LT reviews of the books are decent.

I’ll make a note of the Grann book and get it from the Oxford library.

>22 haydninvienna: Thanks for that information. I'll look out for Fleming's books.

I forgot to post about my Z read which was The Sandbox by David Zimmerman.

Found you!
I read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which will work for Z.

Read Extreme Measures by Jessica Nutik Zitter to get a Z book in just barely before the end of the year.