Here’s my reading list from the month of February. Twenty-eight books, a total of 7.796 pages. (And yes, I know, it was during the Olympics. But the “Cat Who” books are really easy reads!) I worked extra hard on the list for you, too, and found you links for all the books–for your convenience! (grin)

1. THE LADY by Anne McCaffrey (369 p). Usually a sci-fi writer, this book from 1988 tells the story of Catriona Carradyne, a 13-year old girl growing up on her family’s horse farm in the 1970s. Not her usual fare at all, but an enjoyable enough read . . . especially if you were a girl who grew up loving horses.

2. TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis (493 p). I love this wacky book. Think a time-travelling Victorian comedy. Historian Ned Henry from 2057 is sent back to 1888 to try to find an ancestor of Lady Shrapnell, who is driving the entire history department mad, looking for minute details about Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in 1940, and which she is restoring–down to the smallest detail . . . all while driving everyone who hears her coming to duck and cover (very well-named woman). It’s wacky and hilarious, and completely off-kilter. After having not one, not two, but three people mention it to me last month, I really had no choice but to give it a re-read. Love it.

3. ANGEL LIGHT by Andrew Greeley (438 p). Well, it’s different, anyway. Pat Tobin is instructed by a recently-deceased relative’s will to go to Ireland to “make up” a family feud by convincing the family daughter to marry him within 30 days, without telling her why, at which point they’ll inherit $10 million. So he does a niftly little internet search for a travel agent, and comes up with . . . the Archangel Raphael, who helps him along on his quest . . . It’s a cute little story, but the broad Irish lilt gets a wee bit wearying and forced after a while, don’t you know. Not horrible, but . . . not exactly a prize-winner.

4. BEACHCOMBING FOR A SHIPWRECKED GOD by Joe Coomer (245 p). A recent widow runs away from her limpet-like in-laws, and rents a room on a houseboat with two other women–an older woman who’s memory is shaky, and a younger one avoiding her parents. The whole thing culminates in a cruise to Prince Edward Island to see the original “Green Gables” of Anne fame. Short. Sweet. Very nicely done. (And, oh yes, the main character is an archaeologist.)

5. MEG SWANSEN’S KNITTING by Meg Swansen (140 p). 30 classic patterns–fair isles, cables, pullovers, cardigans. Lovely. I don’t know why I waited so long to get this book.

6. GOODBYE WITHOUT LEAVING by Laurie Colwin (253 p). Geraldine used to be a Shakette, a backup singer . . . but eventually she had to give it up and settle down for a much-rebelled-against “normal” life . . . or did she? I love Colwin’s books, though this isn’t my favorite of hers, but really, that doesn’t matter. She wrote so beautifully, and does such good characters . . . I wanted to shake Geraldine a few times for being so relentlessly unwilling to compromise, but . . . still. You can’t go wrong with Colwin.

7. SILENCE AND SHADOWS by James Long (407 p). Paddy Kane, a man with a hidden, rock star past, is the head of an archaeological dig somewhere in England, when he hears a song about “The German Queen” in a pub, and finds her burial site . . . all while getting glimpses into the Queen’s past, through flashbacks that somehow mirror Pat’s flashbacks to his life as a rock star . . . all while dealing with his present-day grief. Such a good book.

9. COUNTRY OF BROKENSTONE by Nancy Bond (271 p). Following the archaeology pattern, 14-year old Penelope and her new family (British father, new American stepmother and step-siblings) go to work on a dig near Hadrian’s Wall, where they deal with a drought as well as hostile locals–one of whom becomes Penelope’s friend. Nancy Bond is, and has been, one of my long-time favorite YA authors. Except for the age of her protagonists, you’d never know she was writing for a younger demographic–her writing is beautiful, her sense of place and character evocative. Just, an amazing author. (”Best of Enemies” is my favorite of hers, but she is best known for “A String in the Harp,” a Newbery Honor book in 1977.)

10. HIS EXCELLENCY by Joseph Ellis (275 p). A nice, short-and-sweet biography of George Washington. Excellent.

11. THE CAT WHO COULD READ BACKWARDS by Lilian Jackson Braun (191 p.) Reporter Jim Qwilleran gets assigned the “art beat” and meets an impressive Siamese Cat . . . the beginning of a beautiful friendship wrapped up in a light, fluffy mystery that was published the year I was born. Wow!

12. THE CAT WHO ATE DANISH MODERN by Lilian Jackson Braun (192 p). Second of the series. Qwill reports on decorating, and meets another Siamese Cat.

13. THE CAT WHO TURNED ON AND OFF by Lilian Jackson Braun (186 p). Third. Qwill reports on antique-happy “Junktown”

14. THE CAT WHO SAW RED by Lilian Jackson Braun (183 p). Qwill reports on gourmet food, and meets an old flame.

15. THE CAT WHO PLAYED BRAHMS by Lilian Jackson Braun (185 p). Qwill heads to Moose County to visit an elderly family friend.

16. THE CAT WHO PLAYED POST OFFICE by Lilian Jackson Braun (186 p). Qwill inherits a fortune and moves into the mansion.

17. THE CAT WHO KNEW SHAKESPEARE by Lilian Jackson Braun (201 p). Suddenly, Koko is knocking volumes of Shakespeare off the shelves . . . could it be a clue? (duh)

18. THE CAT WHO SNIFFED GLUE by Lilian Jackson Braun (200 p). Now living in the carriage house apartment, Koko is obsessed with glue, and meanwhile, secondary characters are dropping like flies…

19. QUEEN IN WINTER by Lynn Kurland, Sharon Shinn, Claire Delacroix, and Sarah Monette. (320 p). Four short fantasy-romance novellas, all sharing, somehow, a winter theme. I liked the first two best, but it still made a decent read.

20. BRICK LANE by Monica Ali (415 p). Nazneen, a young Bangladeshi girl, is married to an older man and moves to London. Total culture shock. Reading this was a bit of one, too–the lifestyle is so completely different than mine. Wonderfully written.

21. THE COTTON QUEEN by Pamela Morsi (344 p). A little cotton-candy confection about the eternal struggle between mothers and their daughters, with a nice, happy little ending all tied up in a bow. Babs had been runner-up for the town Cotton Queen in 1958, and always pushed her daughter Laney to do better . . . and she was Cotton Queen in 1974 . . . But did this make their lives perfect? Would they ever understand each other?

22. THE CHILDREN’S BLIZZARD by David Laskin (271 p). The story of the January 12, 1888 blizzard which swept through the Great Plains with extreme suddenness and severity, catching many people out of doors, and many children on their way home from school. Heartbreaking true story.

23. THE SECOND MARK by Joy Goodwin (304 p). A look at the three skating pairs who medalled at the Salt Lake City Olympics–their history, their struggles–and the judging fiasco at the end. It’s such a good book. The look at the drastically different training methods, and the hardships. I love the insight into the different cultures–the Chinese in particular. (Can you imagine bringing your 6-year old daughter out in the middle of the night to skate in 40-below zero temperatures? Nope. Me either.) Really enjoyable–about the people more than the skating.

24. FISHERMEN’S SWEATERS by Alice Starmore (124 p). 20 classic sweater patterns. Excellent for what it is.

25. PATTERNS FOR GUERNSEYS, JERSEYS AND ARANS by Gladys Thompson (172 p). Surprisingly delightful–it’s an old book with black-and-white illustrations, but in between the patterns for sweaters and cables, is a little diary of her trip around the British Isles, asking men if she can look at their sweaters, knocking on doors. It’s a minor part of the book, but utterly charming. The book was originally published in 1969–a time when, presumably, it wasn’t quite as awkward approaching people on the street!

26. NICCOLO RISING by Dorothy Dunnett (496 p). The first in the “House of Niccolo” series–one of my two all-time favorite historical-fiction series. Ever. All-time. They are amazing. Complex. Richly-detailed. Layered. Elaborate. And you can’t trust anybody for a minute–you never know who has an ulterior motive, who’s after what (or whom). I’ve never read anything like these books, and don’t think I ever will. And yet, this is my fourth time through this series of eight books in the last three or four years. They’re that addictively good. This is the first book, and the slowest of the eight–it’s setting up the storylines for the rest of the series, introducing the huge cast of characters, and letting you get a feel for what they’re all going to be like. I wasn’t impressed with this book the first time I read it–I trudged a bit–but stuck it out because the friend I was reading it with told me the author tends to start slow. I read it. Okay. Then I read the second. Gee, this series really is pretty good. And then, by the third, Dunnett was in full-force and just flying . . . and the tension and excitement and wonder never stopped. I refer to this series as “whiplash” reading–each book comes crashing to its end, and then the next one starts up slowly, almost disconnected, and starts building . . . but don’t be fooled. None of them are stand-alone books. Everything (and I mean everything) is interconnected. My complex little brain just adores this series . . . even if the first one is a little slow.

27. GATES OF SLEEP by Mercedes Lackey (446 p.) A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with magic–part of a fantasy series that takes place round-about Victorian times, but with actual, elemental magic. Marina, after being cursed by her aunt at her christening, is raised by her parents’ dearest friends until one day, she learns that they have been killed, and her aunt is her new guardian . . . gosh, whatever will happen next? (grin)

28. CONJURER’S BIRD by Martin Davies (384 p). Similar in set-up to Byatt’s Possession (without all the Victorian poetry to slog through). Fitz is a modern-day expert on extinct bird species, and is asked to help tracking down the one and only specimen of “the mysterious bird of Ulieta.” Meanwhile, in alternating sections, we read the story of Joseph Banks, naturalist on Cook’s first journey of exploration, and his fascination with a young woman with a knack for drawing. As Fitz and his neighbor, Katya, try to track down the identity of Banks’ mistress and track down the bird (if it still exists) before their rich competition (and Fitz’s ex) manages it, we see, parallel, the relationship between Banks and this young woman. As I say, the similarities to Possession are many, just by the superficial similarity of the story-telling method, and that’s fine with me–Possession is the only one of Byatt’s books I’ve liked, and I’ve read it at least five times–but the story is different, the writing is more accessible, and the glimpses, too, into Fitz’s grandfather’s obsession with an African peacock add a little extra edge to watching Fitz trying to track down this puzzle of his own.

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:February Reading List //