detailmuse ROOTs through 2019

Welcome!

My main ROOT goal is to read 44 TBRs that I acquired prior to 2019. In msg#2, I’ll keep a list and links if I’ve posted a review.

**Year-end Update: ROOT GOAL MET!**

I also have a few secondary pursuits:

• read TBRs relevant to Chicago (I’m contemplating moving away in due time and want to appreciate everything here while I’m local)

• read TBRs relevant to Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland (for an upcoming trip)

• continue to triage/purge TBRs that are no longer of interest to me

• indulge in new acquisitions when they’re at their shiniest

ROOTs Read in 2019:

Fiction
44. The Plague by Albert Camus (3.5)
39. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (4)
27. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce (dnf)
24. Home by Marilynne Robinson (4.5) (See review)
19. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (3.5)
17. Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee (3.5)
13. Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne (4)
12. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (4.5) (See review)
9. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (3.5)
7. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (4)
6. Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly (4) (See review)
1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (4.5) (See review)

Memoir
35. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (4) (See review)
25. Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward (4) (See review)
11. Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly (4.5) (See review)
10. Becoming by Michelle Obama (4.5)

Nonfiction
43. Fear by Bob Woodward (3.5)
42. The Dash by Linda Ellis (3)
38. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (4.5) (See review)
36. Make Your Bed by William McRaven (3.5) (See review)
34. The Economist Book of Obituaries by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe (5) (See review)
33. How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski (3) (See review)
32. The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler (4) (See review)
31. Pyramid by David Macaulay (4.5)
30. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose (4)
29. The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic (3.5)
28. The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo (4) (See review)
26. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner (3.5)
22. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (4) (See review)
14. High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen (4.5) (See review)
5. The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency by Chris Whipple (5)
4. The Right to Privacy by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy (4)
2. Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach (3) (See review)

Other
41. The Little Blue Book 2018-2019 by Ken Untener (3)
40. The Little Blue Book 2017-2018 by Ken Untener (4)
37. Inner Simplicity by Elaine St. James (3.5)
23. The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen (3.5) (See review)
21. Rick Steves Ireland 2019 (5) (See review)
20. Rick Steves Scotland (5)
18. A People's History of Chicago by Kevin Coval (4) (See review)
16. Fiere by Jackie Kay (3.5)
15. Foolproof Preserving by America's Test Kitchen (4) (See review)
8. Monument by Natasha Trethewey (3.5) (See review)
3. Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda (3) (See review)

TBRs relevant to Chicago:



✔ High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen
✔ A People's History of Chicago by Kevin Coval
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
The Nix by Nathan Hill
An Unfinished Season by Ward Just
✔ The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
✔ Becoming by Michelle Obama
Working by Studs Terkel

Non-ROOTs related to Chicago:
✔ The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

TBRs relevant to Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland:



How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
✔ Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
✔ A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Dubliners by James Joyce
✔ Fiere by Jackie Kay
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
✔ Rick Steves Scotland
✔ Rick Steves Ireland 2019

Non-ROOTs Read in 2019:

Q1
• I've Been Meaning to Tell You by David Chariandy (3.5) (See review)

• Hotbox by Matt Lee and Ted Lee (4.5) (See review)

• Liquid Rules by Mark Miodownik (4.5) (See review)

• Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by MK Czerwiec (4)

• DK Eyewitness Washington DC 2019 (5) (See review)

• This Life of Mine by Anne Phyfe Palmer (4) (See review)

• Signs of Life by Scott Hahn (2)

• An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel (3) (See review)

• Feminism Is... by DK Publishing (4) (See review)

Q2
• Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown (3)

• Good Talk by Mira Jacob (4.5) (See review)

• All That You Leave Behind by Erin Carr (3) (See review)

• Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (5) (See review)

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb (4.5)

• The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo (4.5) (See review)

• On the High Wire by Philippe Petit (3.5) (See review)

• Make Someone Happy by Elizabeth Berg (4)

• Still Happy by Elizabeth Berg (3.5)

• A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach (4) (See review)

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (4.5)

• Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (4.5) (See review)

• Lila by Marilynne Robinson (3)

Q3
• Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped by Russell Brand (3)

• Lonely Planet Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trips (4)

• Lonely Planet Great Smoky Mountains National Park (4)

• In Shock by Rana Awdish (5)

• Happy to Be Here by Elizabeth Berg (4)

• Cork and Knife by Emily and Matt Clifton (4.5) (See review)

• Castle by David Macaulay (5) (a re-read)

Q4
• Thoughts of Dog 2020 Day-to-Day Calendar by Matt Nelson (4) (See review)

• Me Elton John by Elton John (4)

• How to Cocktail by America's Test Kitchen (5) (See review)

• The No-nonsense Home Organization Plan by Kim Davidson Jones (4) (See review)

• The One-Pot Weight Loss Plan by Shelley Rael (4.5) (See review)

• DK Eyewitness Italy 2020 (5) (See review)

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Instead of saving whole issues of magazines, I’ve taken to tearing out articles of interest and collecting them to read later. Setting a space to bookmark some of them here:

• "Altered Tastes: Can the New Science of Neurogastronomy -- and One Very Creative Chef -- Convince Us That Healthy Food Is Delicious?" by Maria Konnikova (read it online)

•

Welcome, MJ, Good to see you back with your own thread. Happy ROOTing.

Hooray, you're back! Good to see you, and I'll look forward to hearing about your upcoming trip!

Welcome back and have a great reading year! I have Eleanor Oliphant on deck as well -- lots of good things being said about it :)

>7 connie53:, >8 Jackie_K:, >9 rabbitprincess: Good to see you! Trip is in summer, going with husband, brother, sister-in-law (who is fan of Outlander so I will definitely want to finish the (first) book and then watch the tv series with my husband). Looking forward to Eleanor Oliphant … and honestly, everything!

>10 detailmuse: Outlander! Read the books twice and watched the series, all 4 seasons of them. Season 4 is still ongoing.

I really enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant (much more than I had expected) - I hope that you, too, will love her!

Hi MJ, wishing you a happy new year and happy ROOTing in 2019!

>11 connie53:, >12 Caramellunacy: You are making me so interested in getting to these books!

>13 floremolla: Donna I'm so glad to see you here! Look forward to ROOTing with you.

Hi MJ! I’m looking forward to another great year of ROOTing with you.

>10 detailmuse: and >11 connie53: Oh yes! I read the first four books along time ago, then did a read of the complete series April – July 2016. We’re re-watching the series now – we’ve already seen seasons 1-3 and will enjoy watching season 4 for the first time. Have fun!

Happy to see you're back!

>10 detailmuse: >11 connie53: >15 karenmarie: I have the first and third books on the TBR (they were both very cheap!) but they're not really my kind of thing, I don't think. My husband watches the series, and from what I've seen of it I don't feel that fussed about it. I'll give it a go when I pull the book out of the Jar of Fate, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Maybe I'll be surprised!

Happy New Year, Karen and Birgit!

Jackie, Outlander didn't appeal to me either (primarily because it's fantasy and a series), but I felt the passion every time Connie and other ROOTers mentioned it. I'm liking it, especially the historical fiction aspect, the times were brutal :0 !

I posted some 2018 reading stats on my prior thread. Happiest takeaway is that my ratings of last year's reads are well above recent years!

>19 detailmuse: Thanks for the reminder - I meant to include a ratings bit on my stats too! Going to go back and look now.

>10 detailmuse: Does that mean an Outlander tour will be part of your sightseeing in Scotland?

>21 Familyhistorian: haha I don't know enough yet about Outlander or the TV production to know where the sites would be! Have to get reading and watching ... and talking with my sister-in-law!

>22 detailmuse: I don't know where it was all filmed either, but if you're anywhere near Stirling on your travels then give me a shout!

Jackie it would be terrific to see you! I'll look at locations/dates and message you.

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, ©2017, acquired 2018

This popular YA title (now also a film) is about 16yo Starr, who splits her life (physically, culturally, psychologically) between her home and family in the 'hood of an unnamed city and her 99%-white school in a suburb. Her best girlfriend was killed by gunfire in front of her at age 10, and now, (early spoiler) being driven home at night by a good guy friend, they’re pulled over for a broken tail light and her friend is shot dead and she is threatened by a white policeman without apparent provocation.

The characters and environment are twisty, complicated mixes of past and present, good and bad, alliances and rivalries. The story explores race and culture as Starr reacts and considers the dangers of speaking out about both community and law enforcement. The title comes from the late Tupac Shakur, whose acronym THUG LIFE (The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody) testifies to the collateral and enduring harm of racism and violence beyond the obvious victim.

I gobbled it up. The difficult topics inform and validate, and they are safely managed for the intended teen audience (note profanity). Being YA, there is teen angst and at least one teen quest that strains believability. I think its accessibility (and length, nearly 500 pages) may turn reluctant readers into more confident, eager readers.

2. Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach, ©2018, acquired 2018

This introduction to the writing life covers establishing a writing routine, a writer-reading routine, some elements of craft and some elements of business. It’s okay ... too many words for too little content; I felt it would keep beginners from writing rather than inspiring them to write. There are many better introductory books out there.

3. Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda, ©2018, acquired 2018

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a wellspring of generosity and creativity (including the musical, “Hamilton”) who tweets supportive messages morning and night. He has collected a couple hundred of them into this book, illustrated by Johnny Sun. My favorite is the Gnight I first encountered from him on Twitter:



Wow I regret sounding negative about what is a lovely and supportive thing, but these are better on Twitter. Side by side here in a book, they’re too similar morning/night, and the illustrations (although absent on this single page) overpower the messages and annoy me. But go follow him on Twitter!

Looks like you are getting a lot of ROOTs read. Keep up the good work!

You're going great guns! I really want to read The Hate U Give.

>28 Familyhistorian:, >29 Jackie_K: I'm rotating among three more good ones now, especially happy that one of them is another good novel!

4. The Right to Privacy by Ellen Alderman and Caroline Kennedy, ©1995, acquired 1996

If I were reviewing this exploration of the legal protections of personal privacy closer to its time of publication, I would be rating it 5 stars. Even now, 24 years after publication, I can only ding it for currency to 4 stars.

I thought of today’s headlines (has there been no progress?!) as I read each section of legal case studies and court summaries about alleged invasions of personal privacy -- by law enforcement; by the press; by voyeurs; in healthcare decisions; in the workplace; and a short prediction of what was to come with the Internet and personal information. I was shocked by the (mostly) upheld judicial support of those invasive actions and that many would still be upheld today.

To be sure: it is not dry legal material -- it's as engagingly written and fascinating as fiction.

5. The Gatekeepers by Chris Whipple, ©2017, acquired 2018

This history of White House Chiefs of Staff was so interesting that I savored it over the course of almost a year. In the 1950s, Eisenhower had a Chief of sorts (modeled after his army chief of staff), but it wasn't until three presidents later that Nixon (who had been Eisenhower’s VP) began the tradition of every president having one (and usually a sequence of many more than one) -- even as almost every president railed against having one. Alas, only in fiction has a woman held the position. Reviewing presidential administrations over the past 50 years necessarily includes a lot of history that was interesting to look back on, and the author is a frequent media commentator these days about the position. I acquired the paperback, which is updated with an additional chapter on Trump/Priebus/Kelly...

6. Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly, ©2017, acquired 2018

This Newbery Medal-winning middle-grade novel is narrated in the perspectives of four kids in the summer after sixth grade -- a shy boy; a solitary deaf girl; a girl exploring her mystic/psychic interests (with a hilarious younger sister-assistant); and a bullying boy.

It’s an exploration of diversity (ethnic, physical, personality) and connection (“there are no coincidences”) more so than having a strong plotline, but the short chapters in alternating narratives keep the story moving.

7. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, ©2017, acquired 2018

The less said about this the better for those who haven't read it yet. It's light but riveting -- funny and sweet, sad and horrifying. It’s the author’s debut novel, very well done.

8. Monument by Natasha Trethewey, ©2018, acquired 2018

I’m new to poet-laureate Natasha Trethewey’s work and was captured from the moment of the first poem in this omnibus. These are vignette-ish narratives, with close-in perspectives of people of color, past and recent -- their traumas and histories, grief and resilience -- including Trethewey herself, particularly as regards her white father and her mother’s death at the hands of an ex-husband.

My typical practice with collections of short works is to note in the table of contents the entries that especially resonate. I managed to do so with that first poem ... and then was repeatedly surprised to find I’d become so immersed in a series of poems that I’d forgotten to pause and note them.

January
Beginning total TBRs: 286
ROOTs* read: 8
Other books read: 2
Books purged unread/DNF from TBRs: 4
Books acquired: 2
Ending total TBRs: 274
YTD ROOTs* read: 8 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

>34 detailmuse: I bought Eleanor Oliphant at the end of last year, I've heard such good things about it, particularly as it is a debut novel.

>37 Jackie_K: Not sure yet how much our fiction tastes match, but will admit I almost put Eleanor aside very early on … don't give up too soon!

>34 detailmuse: Eleanor Oliphant is my book club's choice for February. Nice to hear that it is a good one.

>34 detailmuse: I almost picked Eleanor Oliphant for my book club. However, I'd like to read it this year.

>37 Jackie_K:, >39 Familyhistorian:, >40 karenmarie: Look forward to your comments! and from the book club :)

>41 detailmuse: I am reading Eleanor Oliphant now. I keep putting it down and making myself pick it up again.

>42 Familyhistorian: Wondering how far you are into the book... I gave up early on with audio last year yet still acquired a hard copy, then almost put it aside again in January, until the author dropped in an intriguing twist.

Hi MJ! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

>43 detailmuse: I have read up to the second part of the novel which is labelled "Bad Days". Is that where the intriguing twist happens?

>44 karenmarie: Thanks Karen, you too!

>45 Familyhistorian: I need the gritted-teeth emoji here, I'm feeling your frustration :) ! No, I'm thinking of small twists, maybe as early as page 50ish, that made me relieved the novel was going to be about more than watching a woman go about her day. I thought the author dropped them effortlessly. I remember a plural noun that was very telling at one point.

9. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, ©2009, acquired 2018

This is my second by Moriarty, after enjoying Big Little Lies so much last year. Here, a woman’s head injury causes her to forget the past ten years -- including her three children and the fact she’s divorcing her husband. It has some of the humor and social satire of Big Little Lies, but it’s not as substantive or well done, and it’s 100 pages too long. But it does pose an interesting exploration of whether one can reboot back on-track, after an accumulation of decisions have caused life to derail.

10. Becoming by Michelle Obama, ©2018, acquired 2018

This is Michelle’s recounting of her own life (not Barack’s, except as they overlap) and it’s more an autobiography (a full-life, factual account) than a memoir (a thematic, emotional/reflective account). It’s well written and extremely listen-able as read by the author. I have a lot of respect for her and am glad to know more of the details of her lower-middle-class beginnings and her dedication to success and service.

11. Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly, ©2017, acquired 2018

The “52 micro-memoirs” in this collection range in length from a single sentence to several pages. They’re non-linear, at turns whimsical, fascinating or profound, and they’re addictive, I’d read a hundred more. Here’s one:

In every book my husband’s written, a character named Colin suffers a horrible death. This is because my boyfriend before I met my husband was named Colin. In addition to being named Colin, he was Scottish, and an architect. So you understand my husband’s feelings of inadequacy. My husband cannot build a tall building of many stories. He can only build a story, and then push Colin out of it.

>48 detailmuse: I got this book for Christmas, I hope the Jar of Fate pushes it to the surface sooner rather than later!

>49 detailmuse: That sounds amazing! That quote really made me laugh. Onto the wishlist it goes!

Hi MJ!

>47 detailmuse: What Alice Forgot was my first Moriarty. I think I liked it a tad better than you. I’ve also read The Husband’s Secret and The Last Anniversary. I just decided to cull the three I’ve read and liked – daughter will never read them and the Friends of the Library can sell them.

I’ve got Truly Madly Guilty on my shelves, and saw a copy of Nine Perfect Strangers donated to the Friends of the Library. If it doesn’t go during the end-of-March sale in the first 15 minutes (when I’m over in DVDs and audiobooks) I’ll snag it.

>48 detailmuse: On my shelves, just waiting for the right time!

>49 detailmuse: On the wish list it goes. It sounds irresistible.

Jackie, Karen -- really hope you enjoy Becoming when you get to it. And Heating & Cooling!!

>51 karenmarie: Good to hear, I have The Husband's Secret in mind for when I acquire another by Moriarty. haha loving your library sale reconnaissance!

I finally put Eleanor on my Kobo. And now I find Karen, Meg and Jackie are reading it or want to read it too. I like the company.

>53 connie53: I finished it Connie but it is not a ROOT. I read it for book club so I persevered but it wasn't my favourite.

>53 connie53: hope you enjoy!

>54 Familyhistorian: "persevered" ... I hear you, and such a tragic word when related to reading!

12. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, ©2018, acquired 2018

This novel of friendship and tragedy is set in 1980s Chicago at the height of the AIDS crisis. It follows Yale Tishman (a development director for an art museum) and his group of gay friends, and alternates threads with the sister of one of those young men, following her decades later in 2015 Paris (whose story I did not connect with until very late in the book). It’s compelling and important, a sort of homage. It’s exactly the time that I moved to Chicago as a newlywed, and become acquainted with an artist who had a gallery in the neighborhood of the novel, and who died of AIDS. It felt like being in that time again and I have been bereft since reading.

The last sentences of the novel won’t mean much (and probably won't spoil for those who haven’t read it yet), but they’re the saddest sweetest sentences I’ve read in a long time and I want to save them for myself:

She expected the film to end right there, but instead, … the whole film looped again. There they all stood, … boys with hands in pockets, waiting for everything to begin.

13. Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne, ©1997, acquired 1997

I’ve had this in my TBRs for more than 20 years, understanding it to be “a novel set in Los Angeles during the O.J. Simpson trial.” I knew of New York socialite Dominick Dunne and his coverage of society/celebrity crimes, but only when I finally realized he was brother/brother-in-law to writers John Dunne/Joan Didion, and then noticed that the book jacket calls it “A novel in the form of a memoir,” did I decide to read it. It was a good follow-up to The Great Believers -- set just a few years later, in another period that is hard to imagine if you didn’t live it.

It’s like a bag of candy -- this roman a clef of Dunne’s year in Los Angeles (on assignment to cover Simpson’s murder trial for Vanity Fair magazine) is a gossipy, name-dropping flashback to the milieu of that murder and trial. (Back then, I would often record the daily testimony on VCR and then watch after work.) And yet…over the pages, it also develops a man (real-life Dunne) still struggling over the murder of his own daughter, and redeeming his reputation from a failed/addicted Hollywood producer of decades earlier to a successful writer. I think the book was largely true, but for sure the ending was fiction!

Hi MJ!

>56 detailmuse: That book just about did me in - it's easily one of the best books I've read in a long time and so sad.

>58 karenmarie: yes, yes.

Today I'm picking up an inter-library loan of Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, a graphic-memoir by a nurse at the hospital where most of the AIDS patients were treated.

>56 detailmuse: >59 detailmuse: I don't know either book, but they both sound wonderful (if harrowing).

In the early 90s I did some voluntary work for a charity which worked with people with HIV-AIDS - helping them out with housework, mainly. There's one guy in particular I remember - after I'd done some really minor bit of housework (wiped one work surface, maybe) he always used to say don't bother with the housework any more, and just wanted to chat. He was lovely.

>55 detailmuse: That was just my opinion, MJ. I read it for book club but didn't get to the meeting but according to the report I heard, the consensus of the ladies of the book club was that they liked it.

>60 Jackie_K: don't bother with the housework any more, and just wanted to chat

That is really beautiful. That connection is what I remember most about the artist I mentioned above. We visited his gallery when he was well into decline and his mom was there (I now imagine she had come up from Mississippi not for a visit but to care for him). She gave me her camera and asked me to take pictures and I treasure having been asked to do that.

February
Beginning total TBRs: 274
ROOTs* read: 5
Other books read: 3
Books acquired: 4
Ending total TBRs: 270
YTD ROOTs* read: 13 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

14. High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen, ©2018, acquired 2018

High-rises weren’t the problem at Cabrini-Green … Rich people all around them lived in high-rise apartment buildings. The problem was the high concentration of poverty.

(Plus, as Austen writes, inferior building standards/materials…and lack of building maintenance…and administrative mis-management…and political graft…and racism…)

This is long-form journalism about public housing, specifically a history of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green -- a notorious complex of high-rise towers that were located mere blocks from the city's most prestigious areas. It was created in the 1940s as an improvement over the tenements and slums of that time, but myriad factors led the project into abject decline within decades. All of the high-rises were ultimately demolished by 2011, often disgorging residents with nowhere to go, and the area continues to be redeveloped and gentrified today.

Austen’s journalism is meticulous and his weaving-in of oral histories from Cabrini-Green residents (who loved it as their home) is moving.

15. Foolproof Preserving by America's Test Kitchen, ©2016, acquired 2018

I acquired this last summer in the flush of farmer’s market abundance. I was interested in freezer-preserving, but this is strictly about hot-water fruit-based canning and vegetable pickling and fermenting. I learned a lot about a process that is complicated and critical to follow for food safety; it scared me away rather than made me feel confident to try what it teaches. But I will try a handful of the recipes for ultra-small batches of jams/etc. that don’t involve boiling-water baths and are good for short-term refrigerator storage.

>64 detailmuse: I heard about that book and was curious to read it, although I suspect I might get more from it if I was familiar with Chicago (I'm not, really, at all).
>65 detailmuse: Freezing and preserving is something I'm interested in too - when we move I'm hoping we can have enough land to grow significantly more veg, so we'll have to have a way to keep the food throughout the year. I'll maybe give this book a miss though!

>66 Jackie_K: I'm sure a lot about public housing transcends city and country but yes this was very focused on Chicago politics etc. I've always been aware of my privilege in being able to steer clear of Cabrini-Green (and my fear when traffic inadvertently rerouted me past it), and it was enlightening to read about people whose means did not allow for that.

I'm envious about your future garden! America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated publishes outstanding (beautiful and informative, often with significant science) cookery books and that book on preserving is no exception, with diverse recipes and recipe-specific details on altitude/processing times/etc. I just have zero interest in pickling/fermenting, and I think shelf-stable canning is best learned by apprenticing someone with experience, not just reading about it.

>67 detailmuse: My future garden is still very much a dream, sadly!

March
Beginning total TBRs: 270
ROOTs* read: 2
Other books read: 3
Books acquired: 6
Ending total TBRs: 271
YTD ROOTs* read: 15 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

Q1 Notes
Books read YTD (ROOTs and non-ROOTs): 24
Books acquired YTD: 12
(Note to self: Your Library = 581)

Favorite ROOTs:
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency by Chris Whipple
High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen
Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Favorite non-ROOTs:
Hotbox: Inside Catering, the Food World’s Riskiest Business by Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Liquid Rules by Mark Miodownik

Nothing to see here...

Getting a little nervous that I haven't finished a ROOT since March 10. Setting a goal to do so before the month mark!

Never mind, ROOTs are patient and bide their time.

16. Fiere by Jackie Kay, ©2011, acquired 2013

The emotions and relationships in this collection of poems felt universal, but reading required some effort due to the Scots and Igbo words and dialects. Reading aloud was helpful, as was the glossary at the back, and that learning and interactivity made the collection memorable.

>73 detailmuse: I read this book last year and really liked it. I'm normally a bit of a dunce when it comes to poetry, but I found her poetry very readable and accessible (despite the dialect words - I was grateful for the glossary too!).

17. Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, ©2003, acquired 2009

I have been accused of being anal retentive, an over-achiever, and a compulsive perfectionist, like those are bad things. My disposition probably has a lot to do with the fact that I am technically a genius.

So begins 11-year-old Millie’s narration of events during the summer before her senior year in high school. !! Yep. It’s a light, lively novel about coming to appreciate the social sides of life, perfect for solitary or nerdy kids in the middle grades.

>72 MissWatson: haha I was going to reply that my ROOTs don't know that it's not up to them (I wanted to cull unreads and make another donation before the spring library sale). But it turns out that they drop deeeeep roots and I just don't want to part with them yet! So yes they bide their time :0

>74 Jackie_K: I liked it from the very first poem -- felt like that was about me and some long-time friends. I am giving thought to enclosing the poem in a couple of birthday cards this year.

Hi MJ, I'm finally catching up with some threads though, sad to relate, my own reading has been a bit sporadic.

I've taken a few BBs from your reading list. The Great Believers struck a chord, as did High Risers (you're right, the fates of badly planned social housing are pretty universal). And though I inherited my MiL's 'jeely pan' one venture into marmalade-making was enough to convince me that preserving wasn't my thing.

I hope travel-plans are developing for your trip to Scotland? Like Jackie, I'd love to hear from you if you find yourself in central or west central Scotland. Or even in the east. In fact it's not that big a country.... :)

Hi Donna, so nice to see you here and it would be terrific if we're near enough to meetup in Scotland! I'll look up the itinerary and get back to you.

Hi MJ!

I hope you've done some rooting, although I, too, know how firmly they dig in.

>79 karenmarie: a couple, finally!





18. A People's History of Chicago by Kevin Coval, ©2017, acquired 2018

I took it literally when I heard that this collection has “77 poems, one for each neighborhood of Chicago,” and I was excited to explore “one something” about each area. While there are 77 entries, nowhere near all the neighborhoods are touched upon. Instead, it’s a curated, chronological history of Chicago from “before 1492” to 2017, in free-verse and hip-hop vignettes about injustice and social change, with significant anger. While I have grown eager to read about Chicago’s successes, it seems I still have much to appreciate about its other aspects. One of the most memorable is below, with its endnote:

     

I will keep this volume.

19. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, ©2004, acquired 2015

Nearly on his deathbed in 1956 small-town Iowa, 76-year-old Reverend John Ames writes about theology, philosophy and himself in a novel-length letter for his young son to have when he’s grown. There is very little story here; but the characters are beloved and the observations and writing are beautiful. Robinson has written two accompanying novels, telling the same circumstances from different characters’ perspectives. I have one of them and look forward to reading it.

April
Beginning total TBRs: 271
ROOTs* read: 4
Other books read: 5
Books purged DNF/unread from TBRs: 2
Books acquired: 4
Ending total TBRs: 264
YTD ROOTs* read: 19 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

Not a ROOT – but I read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou and it’s outstanding! It’s investigative journalism into the 2003-2018 biotech start-up, Theranos, whose (then-)19-year-old founder, Elizabeth Holmes, claimed that hundreds of laboratory-medicine diagnostics could be performed quickly and inexpensively via small home-based or pharmacy-based analyzers, using drops of blood from a fingerstick instead of vials of blood drawn from a vein. Um, no! Carreyrou’s book is riveting, shocking and discouraging, especially regarding how many influential people and companies invested, partnered, or served on the board of directors without due diligence and despite whistleblowers.

Hi Mj! Trying to catch up on threads and finally reaching yours! Nice stats.

>81 detailmuse: That's a book I've heard so much about, I hope to get to it at some point (when Mt TBR is a bit lower...).

>83 detailmuse: I hadn't heard of this case, but after seeing your review I saw something online which I think said that her trial is starting soon.

>83 detailmuse:, I have just finished listening to The Dropout podcast about Elizabeth Holmes & have placed a hold on the Carreyrou book to follow up!

>84 connie53: Thanks Connie!

>85 Jackie_K:, >86 Caramellunacy: Bad Blood is riveting!! I think you both would love it. I'd planned to wait till fall for the paperback, but after I watched the HBO documentary I got the hardcover and devoured it. Then I listened to that podcast series, too. I'm a pharmacist but was never interested in Theranos; I remember turning off segments numerous times over the years but cannot for the life of me recall why I did. I am eager for more info and would watch the trial if cameras are allowed in the courtroom.

>87 detailmuse: good to know, will report back when the hold comes in!

  

20. Rick Steves Scotland by Rick Steves and Cameron Hewitt, ©2018, acquired 2018
21. Rick Steves Ireland 2019 (incl. Northern Ireland) by Rick Steves and Pat O’Connor, ©2018, acquired 2018

Rick Steves writes page-turner travel guides. I read with a glass of wine one evening and felt like I was on vacation :)) They’re tomes, filled mostly with text and excellent maps, including a pull-out in each volume. (Don’t get them for the photos, which are scattered, low-resolution black-and-whites, not much bigger than postage-stamps, and not captioned.) They’re informational (not necessarily inspirational) on history, culture and sights, and I came away with an improved understanding that has primed me for travel and for some of the other Irish/Scots books in my TBRs.

>83 detailmuse: I was amazed by Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. How did they get away with it for so long?

>90 Familyhistorian: yes for so long! So many missed opps, and another example of governmental regulatory failure (hello, Boeing; hello, generic drug industry; and so many others).

22. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, ©1946, acquired 2009

He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How. --Nietzsche

I’ve encountered references to this book in so many others I’ve read and it was finally time to get to it. Over the first two-thirds here, Frankl examines prisoners’ (including himself) three phases of reactions to internment in WWII concentration camps: just after admission; later, when camp life had become familiar; and after liberation.

…the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

In the last third, Frankl describes a doctrine of psychotherapy he developed called logotherapy -- that life is a quest for meaning (vs. pleasure or power) and that neuroses trace to an existential vacuum in meaning.

It’s a powerful Holocaust memoir and an empowering psychological boost.

23. The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen, ©2016, acquired 2018

(I thought) I love Mediterranean foods and I’ve been interested in the health claims of the Mediterranean Diet, so who better to explore it with than the editors of America’s Test Kitchen! But yikes…I marked only about 10 (!) of the 500 recipes here to try, and there are only a few dozen I’d be interested in if a chef prepared them for me. So many unappealing combinations of grains, legumes and vegetables, with relatively long and complicated preparations.

That said, the book is as beautiful (a thousand full-color photos, lush pages), informative (deep dives into food science and culinary technique) and pleasurable to read as every other ATK cookery book. And it did orient me to the tenets of the M Diet and motivates me to find grain/bean/veggie recipes that do appeal.

May
Beginning total TBRs: 264
ROOTs* read: 4 (including one 10-year root!)
Other books read: 2
Books acquired: 3
Ending total TBRs: 261
YTD ROOTs* read: 23 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

>93 detailmuse: I'm slowly trying to weed out cookbooks - I find they're one of those things that often promise more than they deliver, so I buy them and then hardly ever use them. I've got 4 on the pile at the moment for our next trip to Barter Books - they didn't want the celeb cookbooks (apparently they have hundreds of those already) but have taken other more ordinary and less well-known ones, so I'll try my luck. I find as I get older that I'm less tolerant of fiddly complicated recipes - I just want to chop up a few things and chuck them in a pot :)

You're making great reading progress too - over half-way to your goal already!

>95 Jackie_K: I love cookbooks as much (more???) for armchair cooking as in the kitchen. They're often such a pleasure to read! America's Test Kitchen is my favorite source, really science-y and instructive (and beautiful), but so far the two on this thread have not been keepers for their recipes. My favorite cooking magazine ("Cooking Light") ceased publication a few months ago and I'm adrift, several of the dishes in my most frequent rotations were from it. Along those lines, I've created a spreadsheet of dinner ideas -- more and more, I'm finding myself at a loss for what to have, and part of it is that I just am not remembering dishes we love.

>96 detailmuse: I am really lucky that my husband does 95% of the cooking round here - we all know we're going to eat better that way! It's just one of those things I've never really shone at, although if I put my mind to it then I'm not bad. For some reason we were comparing childhood scars this morning, and my main one is on the back of my hand where I burnt it getting something out of the oven. Which reminded me of a time in a cookery lesson at school where I went to take whatever it was we were trying to cook that week out of the oven, and completely forgot to put oven gloves on, so I ended up with plasters on the ends of every one of my fingers! It makes me laugh now, my hands looked like a tree frog's! I did worry at the time that I was going to end up with no fingerprints!

>97 Jackie_K: oh I'm sucking in a slow gasp, burns sure hurt. And there's that delay between the touch and the realization :0 Interesting about the fingerprints! I'm semi-interested in cooking and the results are good, but I have a tiny galley kitchen plus am anxious about the growing real/perceived concerns about food safety.

24. Home by Marilynne Robinson, ©2008, acquired 2015

In this second novel set in the 1950s fictional small town of Gilead, Iowa, 38-year-old Glory, the youngest of eight children, narrates her return home to care for her aged, widowed father -- and the return of her brother, Jack, whose homecoming has been prayed-for by their father, despite Jack having caused nothing but lifelong trouble and heartbreak and then 20 years of estrangement.

I liked Gilead and I loved Home. The characters and some of the events of Gilead are recast here in Glory’s and Jack’s perspectives, which fascinate me and make me want to re-read Gilead. I have already downloaded library audio of the third novel, Lila.

25. Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, ©2013, acquired 2018

In California, … my mother could tend to her husband and her child only, free of family and the South.

But her parents returned to the South, and in this memoir, Ward paints the social and literal landscape of late-20th-century small-town Mississippi, tells of her growing-up years in poverty there, and eulogizes five young men of color -- four friends plus her only brother -- who died there between 2000 and 2004.

As in the quote above, Ward knew so many reasons to want to be away from Mississippi, and yet after years of education and work elsewhere, her childhood hometown is where she lives and teaches now. I’ve liked two now by Ward, and have designated her a “favorite” author.

June
Beginning total TBRs: 261
ROOTs* read: 2
Other books read: 6
Books acquired: 6
Ending total TBRs: 259
YTD ROOTs* read: 25 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

Mid-year update:
Books read YTD (ROOTs and non-ROOTs): 47
Books acquired YTD: 25
(Note to self: Your Library = 571)

Primary goal: I’ve read 25 toward my goal of 44 ROOTs

Secondary goals:
• (>3 detailmuse: above) I’ve read 4 of 8 TBRs relevant to Chicago

• (>4 detailmuse: above) I’ve read 4 of 10 TBRs relevant to Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland

• I’ve made very little progress in purging TBRs that are no longer of interest to me (maybe 6 total)

• Of my 25 shiny new acquisitions so far this year, I’ve read 22!

Favorite ROOTs:
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency by Chris Whipple
High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen
Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Home by Marilynne Robinson

Favorite non-ROOTs:
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Liquid Rules by Mark Miodownik
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Make Someone Happy: Favorite Postings by Elizabeth Berg
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
Hotbox: Inside Catering, the Food World's Riskiest Business by Matt Lee and Ted Lee

Good work on reading those new ROOTs before they grow roots! :)

>103 rabbitprincess: I'm loving it!! I'm trying to acquire only books I want to/plan to read right away, but was surprised to see that number! Last year I read only 43 of 80 I acquired during the year :0

Congrats on your successful ROOT prevention reading!

Wow and wow! More nice stats and lots of books. I love the cook discussion. Peet does most of the cooking too. I don't like to waste reading-time waiting for potatoes to get cooked.

Just trying to catch up on threads here after our break. This was a good one for a stats nerd to see! You're making great progress. Hope your preparation for your holiday is going well! :)

Hi Birgit, Connie and Jackie! I think I have one ROOT to post from early July, but since then I haven't read even 10 pages of anything else in the whole month :0 Three of my four siblings + spouses visited for a few days (we stayed and played in the city) which was lovely. On the home front, a next-door neighbor escalated low-level nuisance behavior into disturbing behavior and I continue to feel uneasy. Must turn my attention to the holiday soon!

>108 detailmuse: That's awful. We moved twice due to noisy neighbors, but I never felt uneasy or not safe. I hope it will ease down to low-level soon.

The visit sounds lovely indeed. That's a good reason for less reading-time.

I hear you, Connie. We've lived here 30 years, neighbor woman's behavior has been unpredictable since she moved in 6 years ago but boyfriend seemed fine. So it's a concern that he's (recently became husband) been drinking and volatile this summer.

>110 detailmuse: I'm really sorry to hear that. My parents moved a few years ago because of bad neighbours (having previously put up with bad neighbours the other side). I remember how overwhelmed and stressed my mum in particular was. I hope that things don't escalate with your neighbours, and that they can get help. Take care.

>111 Jackie_K: I sympathize with your parents! Females (especially) of any species don't want their nests disturbed!

Wow :0

July
Beginning total TBRs: 259
ROOTs* read: 1
Other books read: 0
Books acquired: 5
Ending total TBRs: 263
YTD ROOTs* read: 26 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

HI MJ!

I'm sorry to hear about the neighbor problem - it's one of those things that is such a threat to your peace of mind. I hope things have settled down there.

>113 detailmuse: Wow indeed. I hope you're getting some good reading in since your report.

Hi Karen! -- I managed only non-ROOTs in August, so now I'm :0 at the realization that I need to average about 5 ROOTs a month to meet my goal!

August
Beginning total TBRs: 263
ROOTs* read: 0
Other books read: 4
Books acquired: 4
Ending total TBRs: 263
YTD ROOTs* read: 26 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

A happy reason for the low August reading -- 2+ weeks in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland! A highlight was trying for an LT meetup -- so sad that dates didn’t match up with Jackie, but had a fun dinner with Donna!

It was my first-ever coach (bus) tour ... very busy days with a good group of people and a full itinerary along much of the coast of each country. Glad to see the Long Room library at Trinity College and then so much of Ireland’s countryside. Then my first visit to N. Ireland -- loved getting out onto the Giant's Causeway; later after dinner, when my husband and I walked by a cottage near our hotel and I commented to him that I loved all the bookshelves we could see through a window, the owner heard us and came over to talk awhile and then invited us in! I loved Scotland, especially Edinburgh (spent two days in festival activities) and the beautiful highlands (must read more about history, including the Battle of Culloden … in the meantime, I’ve restarted Outlander :) !)

>116 detailmuse: Oh yay, I'm glad you met up with Donna!! Your trip sounds amazing and I am deeply jealous ;)

>116 detailmuse: It sounds like the coach tour was a good one. I visited Ireland for the first time in May of this year. There were so many tours and places to see. Did you find any places that you want to go back and explore in more depth?

>116 detailmuse: I'm so glad you enjoyed your holiday and it was lovely to meet up. You'll always have a friend over here if you decide you need to come back for another visit :)

>119 floremolla: The same to you!

>117 rabbitprincess: It occurs to me that, in childhood, my family used to take vacations in August and then it'd be back to school...have been feeling nostalgic since getting home and wonder if some memories/patterns have been tapped??

>118 Familyhistorian: I would possibly return for some ancestry exploration; would definitely return for more hiking time (Cliffs of Moher, Giant's Causeway, Scottish highlands) and access to the coastal islands and Hebrides. Would love to do a tour of castles (including lodging in them, please) in lots of countries.

>118 Familyhistorian: We went on a bus tour of Scottish castles from Edinburgh which was really good. A friend sent me this link for a rain tour which looks interesting https://www.greatrail.com/ca/tours/castle-shores-loch-fyne/. Lodging in castles sounds like it would be on the expensive side.

I'm a bit jealous of your meet up. But I know you and Donna had a good time.

>121 Familyhistorian: Meg, that rail site is a terrific rabbit hole :0

>122 connie53: Connie, a good time and delicious Italian food!

>123 detailmuse: Just think of the possibilities, MJ! I got a bit lost on there myself.

27. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, ©1916, acquired 2004

This classic began promisingly for me, in the perspective of a young boy who is fascinated by words and who realizes there is context and subtext in adult conversations. But it didn’t hold for me and I eventually DNF'd it. I'd looked forward to the growing boy’s coming of age to writing and art ... but was just not in the mood for explorations of the shocking disconnects in religious/political/authoritarian institutions that still exist a hundred years later :(( I read a little more about the book online, and I do still look forward to getting to Dubliners.

28. The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo, ©2014, acquired 2015

Aiming for the finish line, rather than focusing on the practice … won’t get you your black belt in karate; if the instructors realize you’re in it for the belt only, you’re told to discontinue your study.

A good primer on the writing process and the writing life, particularly advocating a slower, more thoughtful attention to process rather than goal. Its 60 essays are each 4-5-pages, informational and inspirational with a myriad of famous writers’ experiences, organized into sections about getting ready to write; beginning writing; challenges and successes; time away from writing; and finishing a long-form work. Good for beginning (or returning) writers.

29. The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic, ©2003, acquired ?soon after?

Each issue of Writer’s Digest magazine used to have a Writing Clinic column where a submitted excerpt was marked up by an editor as a learning process. This collection of several dozen works illustrates the problems commonly encountered by editors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, query letters, novel synopses and nonfiction book proposals. It’s a decent reminder/refresher about aspects of writing (hooks, point of view, plotting, dialogue, scenes, theme, structure, etc.) but it wasn’t quite the workbook experience I had envisioned it would be.

30. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose, ©2006, acquired 2006

{R}eading a masterpiece can inspire us by showing us how a writer does something brilliantly.

I started this twice before in the 13 years I’ve had it. But this time, Prose’s treatise (that writers learn the craft by reading the work of other writers) hit the spot, and I gobbled up her analyses of dozens of excerpts about words, sentences, paragraphs, characters, dialogue, etc. And the appendix, Books to Be Read Immediately, is packed with titles that I do want to read immediately! -- for now, collections by Chekhov and O’Connor from my TBRs will do.

>126 detailmuse: That's going onto my wishlist. I do love a good writing book :)
>128 detailmuse: That one too! I've actually just started an online creative non-fic writing course, and what I'm really enjoying in the selection of readings they've given us is the chance to look at beautiful writing and think about why it's beautiful, as well as just appreciating it for what it is. And hasn't the author got the perfect name for a writer!

>129 Jackie_K: "Prose" - yes perfect! It's interesting that I read >127 detailmuse: and >128 detailmuse: back to back (and overlapping for a couple of days) because they're polar opposites in that the "writing clinic" is an editorial/critique "learn from what's wrong" vs. Prose's "learn from what works." I wrote a lot until about ten years ago, when I started on some house/life projects that have felt very creative. But I miss writing ... I noticed I have several dozen TBRs tagged "writing" and it feels like the time to get to some of them. Enjoy your writing course!

Well I re-read the delightful Castle by David Macaulay while the castles from my vacation were still fresh in mind, and I was counting it as a ROOT (my own book, after all) … until I noticed that I’d stated my goal as “to read 44 TBRs…” Oh well, progress this month is far better than my July or August!

September
Beginning total TBRs: 263
ROOTs* read: 4
Other books read: 2
Books acquired: 6
Ending total TBRs: 263
YTD ROOTs* read: 30 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

Q3 Notes
Books read YTD (ROOTs and non-ROOTs): 59
Books acquired YTD: 40
(Note to self: Your Library = 561)

Favorite ROOTs:
None really…!

Favorite Non-ROOTs:
In Shock by Rana Awdish
Castle by David Macaulay
Cork and Knife: Build Complex Flavors with Bourbon, Wine Beer and More by Emily and Matt Clifton

>125 detailmuse: I read The Dubliners but nothing else by Joyce. I'm sure that you will find it easier than the book that you read.

>128 detailmuse: I should get back to that book. I started it once. Maybe this time will be the charm. Did it inspire you to get back to writing?

Meg, its analyses illustrated some aspects of what makes good writing so good. I read these kinds of books to remind me to notice things. I think it influenced me this morning, when a news segment showed players from the current ice-hockey champion team presenting a championship ring to a little girl who’s battling cancer and who was hugely inspirational to the whole team. The ring is enormous, and one of the players jokingly apologized to the young girl’s future husband, who will never be able to give her a ring that big :) I noticed the comment's subtext and the enormous unwritten/unspoken story it put in my mind.

31. Pyramid by David Macaulay, ©1975, acquired 2018

I did have one more of the architecture/engineering books by Macaulay in my TBRs -- this one about a hypothetical 2400s-BC{E} construction of an Egyptian pyramid for the afterlife of a pharaoh. Like Macaulay’s others, it’s technically a children’s book with some history and lots of how-did-they-do-that info, plus copious full-page (even 2-page) pen-and-ink drawings. I felt awed and dizzied -- both by the abilities of the craftsmen :) and the excesses of the pharaohs :( . It’s excellent for a child audience, and a decent introduction that makes me want to read an adult book on the topic.

32. The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler, ©1992, acquired 2003

In this book I described the set of concepts known as “The Hero’s Journey,” drawn from the depth psychology of Carl G. Jung and the mythic studies of Joseph Campbell. I tried to relate those ideas to contemporary storytelling…

It’s a guide to the archetypes who populate life (and storytelling) and the stages of heroic journeys people take. Vogler analyzes the archetypes and stages and applies them to numerous well-known films. It’s exactly the kind of “writing book” to read parallel with a current writing project -- it validates many aspects and inspires new ideas. To delve deeper and reinforce, I want to watch the “Power of Myth” videos with Campbell and Bill Moyers.

33. How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ernie Zelinski, ©2004, acquired 2017

This is a 229-page repetitive word salad of mostly obvious aspects of retirement: that you might consider beginning it earlier than later; that you can (and should) pursue myriad interests; that you might want to relocate; that you should optimize your health and relationships. It does not touch on financial-planning aspects. The only memorable take-away is his “Get-a-Life Tree” -- a template for creating a visual mind-map of one’s interests.

Hi MJ!

I have and have read Castle and Cathedral by Macaulay. Now I want Pyramid and have added it to my wish list.

Hi Karen, my notes say Pyramid was originally published in 1975, it does not read like it's nearing 50 years old! (But I have read hints that the theories on exactly how the pyramids were built have changed, so I'm not sure if it remains completely up-to-date.) I can also recommend his Mosque.

34. The Economist Book of Obituaries by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe, ©2008, acquired 2009

{The subjects of the obituaries} must have led interesting and thought-provoking lives. Whether they have led good lives, in the usual meaning of “good,” couldn’t matter less.

The Economist had been published weekly for more than 150 years before it introduced an obituary column in 1995, and this collection contains ~200 2-page entries about people (and one parrot) who died between then and the next 10+ years. Reading it feels like reading an encyclopedia and that’s not a bad thing -- one fascinating topic (person) after another, an eclectic group whose lives touch on seemingly every aspect and locale of the past hundred years in world history. I loved it.

I'd heard of perhaps a quarter of the people, but all of the lives and events were so interesting and informative that I skimmed/skipped almost none. A few of my favorites are about:

• Alex, the African Grey parrot (who apparently used words to truly communicate, not just “parrot” them);

• Ernest Hendon (who survived the Tuskegee syphilis experiment);

• Albert Marshall and Lazare Ponticelli (the last surviving WWI British cavalryman and French foot soldier, respectively);

• Tiny Rowland (possibly the most ruthless person in the collection, his obit opens with, “Hunting around for something not too brutal to say about Tiny Rowland now that he is dead…”); and

• Max Perutz (Nobel-winning molecular biologist known for his enthusiastic exclamations of, “Fantastic!”)

35. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, ©2016, acquired 2016

{T}he best way to give something a home is to make it part of a tree.

Jahren is talking about live trees above, but I love to consider that she includes books as trees, since the best home for so many things is in the pages of a book.

Jahren’s memoir recounts her life from isolated child in a Norwegian household in Minnesota, to isolated research scientist primarily in Georgia, Maryland and Hawaii -- and she alternates chapters of her life with chapters of the life cycle of plants, primarily trees. The botany is fascinating (it brought to mind The Hidden Life of Trees) and Jahren’s friend and colleague Bill is dryly hilarious. But Jahren remained a not-very-sympathetic enigma until quite near the end of the book, which is frustrating in memoir.

>141 detailmuse: Hmm. I'm not sure if that's a BB or not!

>142 Jackie_K: I hear you! The botany chapters are 5* but they're at most 1/5 of the book. The memoir chapters are interesting for their look into the work of a research scientist who must constantly seek funding, but they didn't help me understand her as much as I wanted to -- except for some satisfying material at the very beginning and maybe 50 pages at the end (I wonder if she spent more time editing/polishing those?) Still, 4* overall.

36. Make Your Bed by William McRaven, ©2017, acquired 2018

(Retired) Admiral McRaven (a career Navy SEAL) expands on his 2014 commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin to explore ten inspiring principles that lead to better work and life. It’s a good gift book for a new graduate and a good refresher for anyone.

Coming back a bit ... ROOTing took a hit with just 3 all summer :0

October
Beginning total TBRs: 263
ROOTs* read: 6
Other books read: 4
Books acquired: 5
Ending total TBRs: 258
YTD ROOTs* read: 36 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

37. Inner Simplicity by Elaine St. James, ©1995, acquired ~2002

This is a sort of daybook -- a collection of 100 short inspirational essays that suggest ways to bring peace to one’s mind and spirit. They’re a bit repetitive and obvious, maybe because the book is almost 25 years old and much of the content has permeated the culture. Still, today’s explosion of distractions makes inner simplicity all the harder...

Hi MJ. You've read a lot of interesting books. Good to hear you are reading ROOTs again. Go for your goal, I'm sure you can do it.

Hi MJ!

>140 detailmuse: I love the idea of a book of obituaries.

>147 connie53: Thanks Connie -- I'm feeling sure too!

>148 karenmarie: Hi Karen -- I'm also much enjoying journalist Mo Rocca's podcast, "Mobituaries," and see that he has compiled a book of obits too.

38. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, ©1997, acquired 2018

I’d heard of this book years ago, after reading Fadiman’s excellent Ex Libris, and this book is also excellent. It’s a case study of the disastrous outcomes when healthcare doesn’t incorporate socio-cultural factors -- in this case, an epileptic child in 1980s California, early on in the Hmong migrations to the US when there was little familiarity, communication or trust between Hmongs and healthcare providers. It's also a history of the Hmong people from their origins and oppression millennia ago in China to their migration to Vietnam and Laos and the US. It’s gripping and devastating … and positive in that it’s become required reading in many health-professions programs.

39. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly, ©2005, acquired ~2005

There was nothing about the law that I cherished anymore.

Hmm I was getting tired of the defense-attorney narrator early on ... but on page 25 that line above hinted at reversal and growth so I pursued, and ended up enjoying this mystery/legal thriller. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but Connelly is good at plotting and planting and brings excellent, imaginative twists.

I don’t read much genre fiction but must say this was nicely escapist and I kept feeling myself back in the world of the story for a couple of days after finishing :)

  

40. The Little Blue Book 2017-2018 by Ken Untener, ©2017, acquired 2017
41. The Little Blue Book 2018-2019 by Ken Untener, ©2018, acquired 2018

The “little books” are a series of daily devotionals for the Advent, Lenten or Easter seasons. I tend to begin them but then the season gets away from me and I leave them unfinished. So I “rooted” these two prior Advent editions, hoping to develop a pattern in November that extends through December for this year’s edition.

November
Beginning total TBRs: 258
ROOTs* read: 5
Other books read: 0
Books acquired: 5 (+3 already in my library but not entered into LT until now)
Ending total TBRs: 261
YTD ROOTs* read: 41 (year-end goal: 44)

*acquired before 2019

Hi MJ, hope all's well with you and yours.

I see you're well on track to meet your goal - well done! I have a 13-tome mountain to climb, so here I am, in displacement activity mode, touring the threads and catching up. Ah well.

Interested to see you have a stash of books about writing and that you've done some writing - what sort of writing did you do? I've just bought my daughter a place on a writing course for Christmas - a tacit acknowledgement that the destiny of being a writer is not for me, but I can maybe help nurture a future talent!

I like the look of the Macauley books but will give the retirement advice tome a miss as I'm confused enough as it is about life!

>154 floremolla: Donna, can I just say that that is an excellent Christmas present for your daughter - she's very lucky!

MJ, you're doing some good reading - and what a good idea about reading old unread Advent things in November. I'm terrible for buying time-limited things like that and then not getting round to them. I should follow your example!

>154 floremolla: Donna great to see you here and I love that you’re supporting your daughter in her writing! My mom, too, wanted to write, and she did dip into creative writing and then, with my dad, wrote a biography of our family which I treasure. As a kid I wanted to be a writer and she was thrilled. I wrote a lot in my later years at work and spent most of the 2000s writing creatively (nonfiction/memoir/essay, not fiction). Mostly as a hobby, but the pieces I’m proudest to have published were in science-y magazines from Cricket Media, specifically Ask and Muse (for curious younger and older kids, respectively; I highly recommend those magazines, e.g. http://cricketmedia.com/Ask-science-magazine-for-kids). The 2010s went into other creative pursuits (mostly home) and I want to get back to writing!

>155 Jackie_K: Jackie so far I’m on pace (ha! all of four days in!)

42. The Dash by Linda Ellis, ©2012, acquired 2018

“The Dash” is a poem about the little punctuation mark between a person’s dates of birth and death -- that all of a person’s life is captured in that tiny mark, and that we make choices about how we spend that dash. The poem is accompanied by some inspirational essays about ways to make one’s dash fuller of things that matter. It’s okay; it makes one think.

43. Fear by Bob Woodward, ©2018, acquired 2018

You know the wonderful feeling of going through a scrapbook and reliving good times? This is the opposite, a recap of the Trump campaign/presidency from late 2016 through early 2018.

I admire Bob Woodward and have long wanted to read something by him (e.g. The Brethren about the Supreme Court), but was disappointed that this book read more like a long collection of notes and quotes than a narrative.

44. The Plague by Albert Camus, ©1947, acquired 2010

A dead rat is noticed in a mid-20th-century French town, then dozens of dead rats, then bins-full of dead rats. Before long, a raging epidemic develops in the human residents, which forces quarantine and numerous dystopian governmental actions. The narrative is philosophy, not medical thriller -- very much an existential exploration of the effects of illness and isolation.

That's goal, whew! I increased my goal by 10% this year, am planning to return to 40 for next year.

>160 detailmuse: Hooray, well done! And a hefty one to finish with - I'm not sure I could quite handle Camus!

>161 Jackie_K: Jackie, Camus surprised me -- accessible, gentle, even "easy"! I think of him as an 1800s writer, but he's 1900s, nearly contemporary. Good for an academic class or group discussion but just a little too "talking heads" for me when I was trying to hit goal :)

Congrats, MJ!

Well done!

Hi MJ!

>150 detailmuse: I read this book for RL book club in 2007 and it has stayed with me ever since.

>151 detailmuse: I love Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer. Even the movie was good, although almost all movies are but a pale imitation of the book.

>159 detailmuse: Congrats, MJ! Well done.

Jackie, Connie, Birgit, Karen - thank you!!

Congratulations for making your goal, MJ!

Thanks Meg!

Hi MJ!

Thank you, Karen! We drove to see my sister, a brother, a nephew and all their spouses, a nice few days and wow what nice weather! Continued Season's Greetings to you also -- I love all the optimism and possibilities that a new year brings.

December
Beginning total TBRs: 261
ROOTs* read: 3
Other books read: 2
Books acquired: 13
Ending total TBRs: 269
YTD ROOTs* read: 44 -- GOAL!

*acquired before 2019
(Note to self: Your Library = 574)

About my 2019 Reading
(all books, not just ROOTs)
Overall this year: even more nonfiction, female authors, contemporary titles and paper-format than usual … and fewer acquisitions.

Total books read: 79
• Fiction: 25%
• Nonfiction: 74%
• Poetry: 1%
• Frequent tags: Cookery, History, Illustrated, Memoir, Essays, Travel

Original publication date:
• Pre-20th century: 0 (!)
• 20th century: 16%
• 21st century: 84%
• Of ROOTs, the mean duration as TBR in my library: 5.3 years (but half of them = just 1 year)

• Paper copy: 92%
• Audiobook: 3%
• e-Book: 5%

• Male authors: 37%
• Female authors: 49%
• Mix of genders: 14%
• Author nationality: 30% non-USA
• Authors new-to-me: 46 (favorites: Beth Ann Fennelly, Marilynne Robinson)
• “Favorited” authors with books in this year’s mix: Elizabeth Berg, David Macaulay, Jesmyn Ward

• #TBRs Jan 1: 286 … #TBRs Dec 31: 269 … net -17 (-6%)
• # books acquired in 2019: 62; exactly half were purchased (others were borrowed from library, received as gifts or copies for review); at end of June, I’d read almost all I’d acquired while still shiny new (which was a secondary goal), but by end of year I’ve read just 55% so will continue this pursuit next year

• I rated 66% of my 2019 reads at 4 stars or above (i.e. “good” to “great”) and another 19% at 3.5 stars (“okay”)

Favorites:
Fiction
Home by Marilynne Robinson
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Nonfiction
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
In Shock by Rana Awdish
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Economist Book of Obituaries
How to Cocktail by America’s Test Kitchen
Make Someone Happy: Favorite Postings by Elizabeth Berg
Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing by Ben Austen
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency by Chris Whipple