Review: Death in August

Death in August by Marco Vichi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set in Florence in 1963 this novel included a lot of stories from WWII. The main character spends a lot of time thinking about the past (between cigarettes).
The pace was very slow and took some adjusting to, but the character of Inspector Bordelli was interesting and the odd cast of characters he pals around with added a lot to the story. The mystery was pretty simple--I recognized the murderer the first time they appeared in the story.
This book counts toward the What's in a Name Challenge for a book with a month in the title.

Review: Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree

Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree by Nancy Atherton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun cozy set in a small village in Britain. Aunt Dimity talks to Lori through the pages of a magic book and helps her to untangle the mystery facing her. Since the mystery is a very minor one, there are no major police characters, just a cast of colorful village residents and Lori's family.

This book counts toward the What's in a Name Challenge as a book with 'tree' in the title.

Review: Death by Petticoat

Death by Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked by Mary Miley Theobald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was expecting more from this book. It runs through 63 myths of American history and explains why they aren't true. In a few cases there is a grain of truth to them, but mostly the entries rely on logic rather than historical documentation for the debunking. Some of them reminded me of Encyclopedia Brown cases--you know the answer by spotting the historical anomaly.
On the positive side, the style is straightforward and there is an illustration (which are all sourced, unlike the history) for each myth. I did learn several things: the idea of underground railroad quilts passing messages is false; old window glass is thicker on the bottom because of how it was made, not because it flows over time; and colonial wig making was a weird process.
I am counting this book toward the What's in a Name Challenge for the "item of clothing" title.

End of the Year Reading Plan

There is about a month left to go on 2016, which means I need to get reading if I am going to complete my challenges for the year. My overall challenge of reading 101 books is on track, I have finished 93 books so far and have 3 in progress which leaves 5 more by the end of the year. The specific challenges are less on track. 

• I have three letters to go on the Alphabet Soup Challenge: H, Y, and Z. I am currently reading The Year of the Griffin so that will cover Y.
• I have to read 2 more classics to make the minimum number of books read (6) for Back to the Classics. There are a lot of categories left for me to choose from, the trick is to match one of the books on my Classics Club list to a category.
• I have 3 more books to read for the What's in a Name Challenge. I still need to read books with these things in the titles: an item of clothing, a month of the year, a title with the word 'tree' in it.

Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing will cover the letter Z and if I read House of Mirth by Edith Wharton that will cover "a classic by a woman author" for Back to the Classics and the letter H for Alphabet Soup. Cakes and Ale is an option for a "20th century classic" and Sense and Sensibility would cover a "19th century classic." These titles  all have the fact that they are short and that I own copies of them in their favor. 

I have a couple of ideas for the What's in a Name books, but this challenge is going to be tough to complete at this point. Death in August looks interesting, and The Guns of August has been on my TBR list for a long time (it is really long though so won't get read in the next 30 days). For the clothing book Death by Petticoat is on my TBR list and may be manageable in the next month. I read an Aunt Dimity mystery several years ago and liked it. There is one called Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree which could be a good option for this challenge. 

This is quite a bit of reading, but not impossible. Will see what the next 30 days brings.

View from the Cheap Seats

The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a big book of essays and, as is typical of any large compilation, I thought some of them were better than others. I lack the background knowledge that was needed to get much out of the essays on comic books and graphic novels. The ones on other writers were very interesting (the work of Diana Wynne Jones is now on my TBR list) and the more general ones (about reading and libraries) were great. I love that when Gaiman talks about having been a child roaming unsupervised in the library and how great that was that he points out this is not a legitimate source of daycare. The essays about the development of his own work, including Stardust (which is one of my favorite books) and American Gods (which I didn't like but need to give a second chance) broadened my understanding of these novels.
I am counting this book toward the What's in a Name Challenge for the category 'a piece of furniture.'

Review: One Summer: America, 1927

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the way this book looked at a very short span of time and considered a broad swath of what was happening then. Charles Lindbergh's flight, an amazing season for Babe Ruth and the NY Yankees, the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, and much more happened in America during this particular summer and Bryson's typical attention to the small telling detail within the larger story made this book both entertaining and fascinating. I listened to the audiobook of this, which is read by the author, and it was an excellent production.
I am counting this as my book with "a country" in the title for the What's in a Name challenge.

Review: The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The world that Grossman created was complex and interesting, but I didn't feel like the motivations of the characters justified the extreme situations they put themselves in or the ways they responded to those situations. I found this disconnect between the "nothing matters, I hate myself" attitude of the main characters and the heroic questing story made it difficult to care about the outcome.

I am counting this as my What's in a Name book for the "a profession" category.

What's in a Name 2016

The What's in a Name Challenge is being hosted once again at The Worm Hole. Basically the deal is that you read a book with each of the 6 specified things in the title. Here are the categories for 2016:

• A country (try not to use ‘Africa’!) 
• An item of clothing
• An item of furniture
• A profession
• A month of the year
• A title with the word ‘tree’ in it

I don't know what I will read for any of them yet, but that's not surprising as I almost never plan my reading ahead. I have done this challenge for the past several years and always find some good stuff as a result of it so am jumping in again.