BW35: Sunday's Book Babble - Ink and Bone

It's week 35 in our 52 Books quest and this month's fictional librarian is Jess Brightwell from Rachel Caine's Great Library series.

I'm currently reading Louise Penny's latest book in her Armand Gamache series - The Madness of Crowds.

"You’re a coward.

Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache.

It starts innocently enough.

While the residents of the Québec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by a simple request. He’s asked to provide security for what promises to be a non-event. A visiting Professor of Statistics will be giving a lecture at the nearby university. While he is perplexed as to why the head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec would be assigned this task, it sounds easy enough. That is until Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture.

They refuse, citing academic freedom, and accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Before long, Professor Robinson’s views start seeping into conversations. Spreading and infecting. So that truth and fact, reality and delusion are so confused it’s near impossible to tell them apart. Discussions become debates, debates become arguments, which turn into fights. As sides are declared, a madness takes hold. Abigail Robinson promises that, if they follow her, ça va bien aller. All will be well. But not, Gamache and his team know, for everyone.

When a murder is committed it falls to Armand Gamache, his second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and their team to investigate the crime as well as this extraordinary popular delusion.

And the madness of crowds."

Also have Rachel Caine's Great Library series in my virtual stacks and looking forward to rereading Ink and Bone as well as first time read of Heat Stroke, #2 in her Weather Warden series.

2018 Reading Wrap Up

Courtesy of Josephine Wall 

2018 Reading Wrap Up 

Yikes, I only read 37 physical books versus ebooks this year and explains why my book stacks didn’t decrease much.  Plus it tells me I've been spending way too much time on my Ipad getting distracted by the internet. 

During your travels did you have time to stop and smell the flowers with our Blossom Bookology challenge or explore a plethora of mysteries with 52 Books Bingo? 

I finished the Blossom Bookology spelling challenge and squeaked by the last three months with flowers mentioned in the stories as colors or characters.  I forgot to keep track of all the reference mentioned in my reads, but pretty sure there were more than a few mentions of a variety of flowers so I'm calling this challenge completed. 

Did you stay on the detective bus, join the rebel bus or hang around with Bertram Wooster?  

I joined the rebel bus and bounced back and forth between London.  I did manage to make it to London Scotland Yard, York, Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Somerset, Kent and back again to London.

·         London: Spymaster's Lady,  What Angels Fear, Midnight Riot as well as Last Chance Christmas Ball

·         York - Sunne in Splendour as well as I found You

·         Buckinghamshire - Flowers from the Storm

·         Herefordshire - Foxglove Summer

·         Leicestershire – Dinner Most Deadly

·         Somerset - For Deader or worse  and Cozy Tea Shop in the Castle

·         Kent – Midsummer Moon

Did you remain earthbound or take off for worlds unknown? I think I remained pretty much earthbound although I did visit quite a few alternate realities.  I also traveled through different centuries to England, Africa, Germany, France, Antarctic, Ireland, Canada, Amsterdam, and Ceylon.

Did you reach your reading goal or did you decide to just meander about and follow rabbit trails and end up getting lost in the enjoyment of reading?  I totally lost track two thirds of the way through the year but I did make my goal of 100 books.

Did you set any aside to read again at some point and savor the story all over again?   Oh yes. Rachel Caine’s Great Library series, Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling trinity with Silver Silence and Ocean Light, as well as Roxanne St. Claire’s Dogfather series are all well worth rereading.  

Which books intrigued or entertained, made you laugh, cry, dance or sing?  So many and it is hard to narrow it down.

• Anna Richard’s The Road Home and Laura Kinsale’s Midsummer’s Moon touched my heart.  Thank you to KarenI  for introducing me to these two authors.
• Lian Dolan’s Elizabeth the First Wife and  Laura Kinsale’s Flowers from the Storm made me laugh.
• Robyn Cadwaller’s The Anchoress and Julia Drosten’s The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter enthralled me while and Sharon Kay Penman’s The Sunne in Splendour pulled me into the history of the times.  
• Tahareh Mafi’s Shatter Me and Mindy McGinnis’  A Madness So Discreet and Dean Koontz Innocence gave me the chills.
• Mark Helprin’s Soldier of the Great War pulled me from the present into the past and back again and put my emotions through the ringer.
• Two WWII novels - Leon Leyson’s The Boy on the Wooden Box made me cry while John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas irritated me with the child’s naivete.

Stats Wise

I read 114 Fiction books and 9 non fiction. I read quite a few series so have many repeat authors I enjoy which include Nora Roberts aka J.D. Robb, James Rollins, Keri Arthur, Nalini Singh, Jennifer Estep, Roxanne St. Claire, and Faith Hunter to name a few. 

Female authors -  47

Male authors – 11

New to me authors – 29

The majority of my reads were Fantasy and Mystery/Suspense/Thriller with quite a few contemporary romance, historical and a few nonfiction thrown in.

52 Books: Blossom Bookology Challenge completed

I completed 52 Books Blossom Bookology spelling challenge and squeaked by with a couple with flowers mentioned in the stories as colors or characters.  I forgot to keep track of all the reference mentioned in my reads, but pretty sure there were more than a few mentions of a variety of flowers so I'm calling this challenge completed. 

January - Chrysanthemum

C: Genevieve Cogman - The Masked City (fantasy) 

H: Thor Heyerdahl - Kon Tiki  (NF)

R: Robyn Cadwallader - The Anchoress (historical)

Y: Rick Yancey -  The Infinite Sea (fantasy)

S: Sharon Kay Penman - The Sunne in Splendor (historical)

A: Anna Richland - His Road Home (military romance) 

N: Natalie Goldberg - Writing Down the Bones (NF)

T: Thomas Merton - Thoughts in Solitude (NF) 

H: Mark Helprin - A Soldier of the Great War (WWI historical)

E: Emma Hamm - Silver Blood (Paranormal)

M: Haruki Murakami - Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball (literary)

U: Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies (Mystery)

M: Haruki Murakami - A Wild Sheep Chase (literary)

February - Rose

R:  J.D. Robb - Dark in Death (Futuristic)

O:  Melissa Olson - Dead Spots (Paranormal)

S:  John Sandford- Secret Prey -  (Detective)

E:  Jennifer Estep - Bitter bite (Paranormal)

March - Clover 

C: Chosen - K.F. Breene (fantasy)

L:  Louise Penny - Glass Houses (mystery)

O: The Overlook - Michael Connolly (crime detective)

V: Carrie Vaughn - Discord's Apple (paranormal)

E: Elizabeth the First Wife - Lian Dolan (Literary fiction)

R: Rachel Caine - Ill Wind (paranormal)

April - Mountain Aven

A:  Atlantis Fallen - C.E.Murphy (Paranormal)

V:  Mud Vein - Tarryn Fisher (Suspense)

E:  Black Echo - Michael Connolly (Mystery) 

N: Nerd's Pocket Pets - D.R. Grady (Romance)

May - Lily 

L: Alan Alda – If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on my Face

I:  Innocence - Dean Koontz (Thriller) 

L: Lake Silence - Anne Bishop  (Paranormal)

Y: I Found You - Lisa Jewell  (Mystery)

June - Tulip

The Golden Tulip - Rosalind Laker

July - Edelweiss

E: Elephant Keepers Daughter - Julia Drosten

D: The Art of Deception - Nora Roberts (Romantic suspense)

E:  Jennifer Estep - Unraveled (Paranormal)

L:  Luke - Barbara Freethy (Romance)

W: Where Dreams are Born - M.L. Buchman (Romance)

E:  Jennifer Estep - Snared (Paranormal)

I:  Ice Hunt - James Rollins (Antarctic, thriller)

S:  Where There's Smoke-Susan May Warren (Romance)

S:  Spymaster's Lady - Joanna Bourne (Regency) 

August - Jasmine

J: James Rollins - Demon Crown 

A: Ash and Quill - Rachel Caine

S: Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch

M: Midnight Curse - Melissa Olson

I: Ink and Bone - Rachel Caine

N: Nora Roberts - Leverage in Death

E: Ellie Weisel - Night 

September- Lotus 

L:  Peter the Latvian - Georges Simenon (Detective)

O:  Nalini Singh -  Ocean Light, #2 Psy/Changling Trinity (e)

T:   Twyla Tharp - The Creative Habit

U:  Unfit - Keri Arthur (Paranormal)

S:  Shelter in Place - Nora Roberts (Suspense)

October - Marigold

Flowers from the Storm - Laura Kinsale: Marigold flower colored wall paper 

or Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch with Marigold gloves 

November - Daisy

The Cozy Tea Shop in the Castle - Caroline Roberts with a character named Daisy

December - Holly 

  Last Chance Christmas Ball - Word Wenches.  The Ball is being given by Lady Holly who is character in every story that makes up the whole book.