Review: No Relation

No Relation by Terry Fallis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I was growing up I could tell as soon as attendance was taken on the first day of school how I would feel about the teacher. If there was any mention of Peter Pan, or singing it was a bad sign. This was because I shared my name with a famous (at least among my parents' generation) performer. When I got married I took my husband's last name and thought my namefame troubles were behind me. Alas, my new non-famous name was soon adopted by a mystery writer for one of her characters. The character, and the novels, became very popular (they are quite excellent) so I am back to having a famous name.
Given this history I thought I should read this book about a man who shares his name (though not its spelling) with a very famous writer. I loved the parts of the story that dealt with that issue, but overall the main plot of the book was a bit thin and the ending was way to "happily-ever-after" for my tastes.
The author is Canadian, so I am counting this toward the Canadian Book Challenge.

Review: Dreaming Spies

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was more travelogue than mystery (though of course there was a crime being investigated, it is Sherlock Holmes after all). The descriptions of Japanese places and customs were fascinating. The story fills in a time gap in the adventures of Holmes and Russell rather than continuing on from the end of the last book. At various points there are references to the other stories as books which I felt pulled me out of the narrative in a jarring way. King does play around a bit in this book with the question of Holmes' life as a work of fiction which was interesting. Overall an excellent Mary Russell novel.

Review: A Reunion of Ghosts

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 "the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations"

This novel is about a trio of sisters and their relationship to their own family history. What their parents and grandparents did, as those stories have come down to them through family lore, and how it has determined the choices each of these women has made raises fascinating questions. The characters are all quirky and engaging in their own ways. Highly recommended.

Review: Kissed a Sad Goodbye

Kissed a Sad Goodbye by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've read several Deborah Crombie books and have enjoyed all of them. Her work reminds me of P.D. James and Elizabeth George. This one wove the past (the German bombing of London) into the contemporary story very effectively.

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.

One More Challenge

I know I said I was going to cut back on challenges this year, but I also said it was to focus on reading for Classics Club and this challenge supports that goal perfectly. Books and Chocolate is hosting Back to the Classics 2016 and I am signing up. The minimum number of books to read to qualify for the prize drawing is 6 so I definitely want to read that many. 
There are 12 categories of classics outlined and the goal is to read one classic (published at least 50 years ago in all cases) for each category. Here is the list of categories (with a few ideas for my possible reading):

 1. A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899. (Pride and Prejudice)

2.  A 20th Century Classic - any book published between 1900 and 1966. (Catch-22 maybe)

3.  A classic by a woman author. (Second Sex seems good for this one)

4.  A classic in translation.  Any book originally written published in a language other than your native language. Feel free to read the book in your language or the original language. (This may be one I skip as the books on my list originally written in a language other than English are either really long or too new for this challenge.)

5.  A classic by a non-white author. Can be African-American, Asian, Latino, Native American, etc. 

6.  An adventure classic - can be fiction or non-fiction. Children's classics like Treasure Island are acceptable in this category. 

7.  A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic. 

8.  A classic detective novel. It must include a detective, amateur or professional. (The Thin Man if it is old enough.

9.  A classic which includes the name of a place in the title.  (Our Man in Havana)

10. A classic which has been banned or censored. If possible, please mention why this book was banned or censored in your review. 

11. Re-read a classic you read in school (high school or college).  If it's a book you loved, does it stand the test of time?  If it's a book you disliked, is it any better a second time around? (Jane Eyre and The Brothers Karamazov are both possibilities)

12. A volume of classic short stories. This must be one complete volume, at least 8 short stories. It can be an anthology of stories by different authors, or all the stories can be by a single author. Children's stories are acceptable in this category also. 

2016 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

This challenge is hosted at Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book.
During 2016 the goal is to read a book with a title that starts (ignoring articles) with each letter of the alphabet. For Q, X, and Z the title just needs to contain a word beginning with this letter, it needn't be the first word of the title. You aren't required to review each book, just to read it.
This post will serve as my tracking list for this challenge. I will add the list of letters as I complete each book.

Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters
Hag-seed by Margaret Atwood
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Kissed a Sad Goodbye by Deborah Crombie
Life Reimagined by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
No Relation by Terry Fallis
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
Past Lives by Shana Chartier
Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon
A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell
The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Urban Legion by Dave Agans
The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman
When to Rob a Bank by Levitt and Dubner
X by Sue Grafton
Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

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.