Five hundred years have passed since the devastating demon-led war that almost exterminated humankind. Those who escaped the carnage were led to sanctuary by the boy saviour known as Hawk: the gypsy morph. But now, the unimaginable has come to pass: the cocoon of protective magic surrounding the valley has vanished.

When Sider Ament, last surviving Knight of the Word, detects unknown predators stalking the valley, and Trackers from the human village of Glensk Wood, find two of their own gruesomely killed, there can be no doubt: the once safe haven of generations has been laid bare. Together, the young Trackers, the aging Knight, and a daring Elf princess race to spread word of the encroaching danger. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within, while beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. Standing firm between the two, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.

A great filler between the story of Mankind’s fall (Genesis of Shannara,) and the original Shannara novels, though I would have preferred maybe a little less time to have gone by. We get very little information as to how those saved set about setting up their civilization.

Still, the story os a good one, with some memorable characters (and some not so memorable.) I would have loved to know more about their history, especially that of Sider Ament the “Gray Man.” And, again, I find the human characters more interesting than the elves. Most of the elves we meet are either ridiculously evil, or a bit thick. Not that there aren’t evil humans around. But, so far, they’re pretty much in the background.

I’m looking forward to the sequel. Hopefully, more information will be forthcoming regarding the characters who remain, and those who have gone on.




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76. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
77. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson
78. Gods of Fire and Thunder (Book of the Gods #5) by Fred Saberhagen
79. The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330 by Ian Mortimer
80. Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara #1) by Terry Brooks

In the first four volumes of the Book of the Gods, Fred Saberhagen brought a new perspective to the classic gods of Greek mythology. Now the legendary creator of the Berserker and Lost Swords sagas turns his gaze northward toward an entirely different pantheon of immortal deities… the fearsome and ferocious gods of Valhalla.

Haraldur the northman once joined Jason on his fabled quest for the Golden Fleece, but now he wants nothing more to do with gods and adventure. Returning to his homeland for the first time in many years, he hopes only to settle down on a farm of his own—until he comes across an impenetrable wall of eldritch fire and a lovesick youth determined to breach the wall at any cost.

Behind the towering flames, he is told, lies a beautiful Valkyrie trapped in an enchanted sleep, as well as, perhaps, a golden treasure beyond mortal reckoning. It is the gold that tempts Hal to agree, against his better judgment, to assist the youth in his quest.

But to find away past the fiery wall, they must first brave gnomes, ghosts, and the wrath of the gods themselves. For a mighty battle is brewing, and Hal soon finds himself caught up in a celestial conflict between Thor the Thunderer, Loki the Trickster, and, most powerful of all, Wodan, the merciless Lord of Battles!

A somewhat entertaining book, though it took me quite a while to really get into it. I suppose I don’t tend to equate humor with most of the stories of the gods. And what didn’t help is that I’m not that acquainted with Norse mythology, so I didn’t have a clue regarding the back story that that this story was working off of.

The characters were engaging, especially Haraldur. I think for that reason I’ll probably go back and read books two through four of the series. Or not, since I wasn’t all that taken with book number one.

The last fifty pages of this one were solid, and it was at that point that the book drew me in. Still, not a book that a can recommend.





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76. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
77. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson
78. Gods of Fire and Thunder (Book of the Gods #5) by Fred Saberhagen







DECEMBER- The Fire is So Delightful. Read a book that has a fire, flames, candles, smoke, or burning in the title or on the cover.

Gods of Fire and Thunder: The Book of the Gods Vol V by Fred Saberhagen

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

The story moves smoothly between the two times: 1940 France, and 2005 America. Eva is in her 80’s when she is drawn back to Europe in search of a part of her past.

Eva’s harrowing ordeal is only part of what drew me in, mostly because the reader knows that she survives. Mostly, I think it was the people of the Resistance, the brave men and women who take Eva in and make her one of their own. They may not be able to fight, but they do what they can to save lives.

Which was great, because Eva, well, she could be so indecisive, I felt like shaking her sometime. She would make a bad decision, regrets it, and then make the same decision again. Her harridan of a mother only makes things worse. I often that wished Eva had been left on her own. Perhaps then the story would have had a different ending. And speaking of endings. Sixty years, really? People change a lot in sixty years. And while I enjoyed the ending, it would have made more sense to me if it had only been ten or twenty.

Still, I did enjoy the book. I found Eva’s story engaging and enjoyed learning more about the French Resistance.




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76. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

When Pliny the Elder perished at Stabiae during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, he left behind an enormous compendium of knowledge, his thirty-seven-volume Natural History, and a teenaged nephew who revered him as a father. Grieving his loss, Pliny the Younger inherited the Elder’s notebooks―filled with pearls of wisdom―and his legacy.
At its heart, The Shadow of Vesuvius is a literary biography of the younger man, who would grow up to become a lawyer, senator, poet, collector of villas, and chronicler of the Roman Empire from the dire days of terror under Emperor Domitian to the gentler times of Emperor Trajan.
A biography that will appeal to lovers of Mary Beard books, it is also a moving narrative about the profound influence of a father figure on his adopted son. Interweaving the younger Pliny’s Letters with extracts from the Elder’s Natural History, Daisy Dunn paints a vivid, compellingly readable portrait of two of antiquity’s greatest minds.


What I knew of Pliny the Elder was that he died near Pompeii. And what I knew of Pliny the Younger was that his career seemed to have started there, being an eye-witness to the eruption, though from a safer distance. When I came across this book, I knew it was one I needed to read.

It doesn’t disappoint. As much as a reader can come to know anyone from almost two thousand years ago, Dunn does an excellent job of bringing these two to life, especially Pliny the Younger. It’s an entertaining read; almost like a novel, except that the reader can tell that much research went into the stories of these two men.

If you’re looking for a book about Vesuvius, I’d give this one a pass. If you’re looking for a book that covers the lives of two intelligent, compelling, and intriguing men of ancient Rome, this just might be for you.




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71. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
72. Infinite Detail (Infinite Detail #1) by Tim Maughan
73. The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes
74. The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny by Daisy Dunn

BEFORE: In Bristol's center lies the Croft, a digital no-man's-land cut off from the surveillance, Big Data dependence, and corporate-sponsored, globally hegemonic aspirations that have overrun the rest of the world. Ten years in, it's become a center of creative counterculture. But it's fraying at the edges, radicalizing from inside. How will it fare when its chief architect, Rushdi Mannan, takes off to meet his boyfriend in New York City--now the apotheosis of the new techno-utopian global metropolis?

AFTER: An act of anonymous cyberterrorism has permanently switched off the Internet. Global trade, travel, and communication have collapsed. The luxuries that characterized modern life are scarce. In the Croft, Mary--who has visions of people presumed dead--is sought out by grieving families seeking connections to lost ones. But does Mary have a gift or is she just hustling to stay alive? Like Grids, who runs the Croft's black market like personal turf. Or like Tyrone, who hoards music (culled from cassettes, the only medium to survive the crash) and tattered sneakers like treasure.

It took a little while for this book to draw me in, but once it did I couldn’t put it down. Watching the world go from total connection to total disconnection is a nightmare that could easily come true. Throw in well developed characters and you have a story well worth reading.

The people of the BEFORE time are linked in more than we are at the present, with “spex” that are worlds above the smart glasses of today. So when everything comes down, people are even more disoriented than we would be. Maybe. Even now, is there anything not plugged into the internet? Even for those of us who eschew the likes of Facebook and Twitter, still bank online, order online, and are obvious hooked into Goodreads.

Yet, people carry on. In different ways we see the different characters of the book chart their future, living as best they can in this new world.

A great post-apocalyptic novel without a zombie in sight.




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71. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
72. Infinite Detail (Infinite Detail #1) by Tim Maughan

Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as much as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the world’s oldest epic, predating Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh’s adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, the Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind’s eternal struggle with the fear of death.

The Babylonian version has been known for over a century, but linguists are still deciphering new fragments in Akkadian and Sumerian.

I don’t always read introductions, especially when they’re sixty-four pages long. But I’m glad that I did this time. Actually, it was the story I almost passed on, as the introduction was so comprehensive. It explains motives and repercussions, and the reader learns things that may not be apparent while reading the story.

We learn who Gilgamesh is, what he wishes to be, and who he becomes, which all made me curious enough to decide to read the story, to find out how much was merely the translator’s interpretation, and what was truly part of the saga.

Turns out to be the former. The story may have been the world oldest epic, but it’s certainly not the most interesting. There’s a lot of repetition, but at the same time the story is terribly sparce. Perhaps with more fragments found and deciphered, it’ll be filled in. Until then, the story is no Odyssey.




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66. The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino, George Zebrowski
67. The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour by Andrei Cherny
68. The Oracle's Queen (Tamír Triad #3) by Lynn Flewelling
69. Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Anonymous, Stephen Mitchell (adapter)







NOVEMBER- Books in Translation. Read any book that wasn’t originally written in your native language but has since been translated to it.

Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Anonymous, Stephen Mitchell (adapter)

The masterfully told story of the unlikely men who came together to make the Berlin Airlift one of the great military and humanitarian successes of American history.

On the sixtieth anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, Andrei Cherny tells a remarkable story with profound implications for the world today. In the tradition of the best narrative storytellers, he brings together newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews to tell the story of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat but changed how the world viewed the United States, and set in motion the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and to America's victory in the Cold War.

On June 24, 1948, intent on furthering its domination of Europe, the Soviet Union cut off all access to West Berlin, prepared to starve the city into submission unless the Americans abandoned it. Soviet forces hugely outnumbered the Allies', and most of America's top officials considered the situation hopeless. But not all of them.

Harry Truman, an accidental president, derided by his own party; Lucius Clay, a frustrated general, denied a combat command and relegated to the home front; Bill Tunner, a logistics expert downsized to a desk job in a corner of the Pentagon; James Forrestal, a secretary of defense beginning to mentally unravel; Hal Halvorsen, a lovesick pilot who had served far from the conflict, flying transport missions in the backwater of a global war—together these unlikely men improvised and stumbled their way into a uniquely American combination of military and moral force unprecedented in its time.

This is the forgotten foundation tale of America in the modern world, the story of when Americans learned, for the first time, how to act at the summit of world power—a masterful and exciting work of historical narrative, and one with strong resonance for our time.

As far back as I can remember, I was under the impression that the US and the Allies had learned their lesson after WWI, that leaving your erstwhile enemy a crippled country wasn’t a good idea. That hard feelings would fester and you’d be in the same predicament again. Apparently not, for, once again, the main feeling that the Allies had was animosity, and it would take years for Americans to even want to help. And while they dithers, Berliners starved. It would take the humanity of one man, Hal Halvorsen, to create feelings of harmony between the Allies and Germany.

Though there is much about his efforts to give the children of Berlin a little hope, the book isn’t just about the Candy Bombers. It starts years before, as it follows the lives and careers of the men who would lead the way. Men who were unwilling to to hand all of Berlin over to the Soviets, who were already in the middle of an illegitimate land grab (sound familiar?)

Men like Lucius Clay, who is given the thankless job of keeping Berlin together, James Forrestal, who never trusted the Russians. Hal Halversen, a pilot who finally has the chance to be in the thick if things. And Bill Tunner, whose unique expertise as a logistics expert will make the Airlift possible.

And almost seventy-five years on, we seem to be heading in the same direction. This is an excellent book for those who wish to understand how so much can hang on the decisions we make.





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66. The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino, George Zebrowski
67. The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour by Andrei Cherny

Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid's stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice.

When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne's decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind?

Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.

I like when a writer reimagines old myths and legends. This was no exception. The characters all come to life, there being so much more to them than in the original myths, where their motives are often unrevealed.

Of course, especially Ariadne. Her life is full, especially once Dionysus enters the picture, though I did wonder at the author’s choice of changing the dynamic of their relationship as written within established myth. But I couldn’t help but hope for the best for her and for her sister. Though the Ariadne myth goes in several directions, Saint does a good job of picking her way through that particular maze to write a good story.

Until the end. Of all the different ending written regarding Ariadne’s fate, this was one of the worst. There is one that tells of an amazing happy ending; why that wasn’t chosen I’ll never know. It would have made for a beautiful story. For myself, I would very much have preferred that happy ending.




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61. Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters by Serhii Plokhy
62. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
63. Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
64. Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

I don’t think I’ve read a more magical book in a long time. If ever. Not only are the characters enchanting, but they’re so lovable that they can’t help but steal your heart.

Yes, there’s Arthur and Linus, two lovely and loving men. But there are also the children: Talia, Lucy, Chauncey, Phee, Sal, and Theodore. As the reader gets to know these characters, you can’t help but be drawn to them and to the lives they lead.

And while I loved them all, there had to be favorite, and oh, how could I not love Theodore. Yes, he’s a wyvern, but that makes him even so much more lovable.

Though the novel stands alone, I do so wish there was a sequel, so that I could go back to the house in the Cerulean Sea and visit all who abide there.




Forgot to say, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro!

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61. Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters by Serhii Plokhy
62. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune







OCTOBER- Murder or Magic. Read a murder mystery book or a magical realism book.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune




Island - The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

In July 1484 Tudor agent William Collingbourne tacked up a lampoon to the walls of St Paul’s Cathedral:‘The Catte, the Ratte and Lovell our dogge rulyth all Englande under a hogge.’That cat was Sir William Catesby, one of Richard III’s principal councillors and Chancellor of the Exchequer, executed after the Battle of Bosworth. The rat was Sir William Ratcliffe, knighted by Richard during the Scottish campaigns. And the dog was Francis Lovell – not only an ally of Richard III but his closest friend – and one of the wealthiest barons in England.

Author Michèle Schindler returns to primary sources to reveal the man who was not only a boyhood friend of the king-to-be as a ward of Edward IV, but also linked to him by marriage: his wife, Anne FitzHugh, was first cousin to Richard’s wife, Anne Neville. Lovell served with The Lord Protector as Richard then was in Scotland in 1481. At Richard’s coronation, Lovell bore the third sword of state. In June 1485 he was tasked with guarding the south coast against the landing of Henry Tudor. His loyalty never wavered – even after Bosworth. He organised a revolt in Yorkshire and was behind an attempt to assassinate Henry VII. Having fled to Flanders, he played a prominent role in the Lambert Simnel enterprise. He fought at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487 and was seen escaping, headed for Scotland. His final demise provides an intriguing puzzle that the author teases out.It is remarkable that no biography of such a central figure in the Wars of the Roses predates this one.

A meticulously researched yet highly readable book about the man whose main claim to fame was that of being Richard III’s closest friend. But when did that friendship begin? Schindler doesn’t make assumptions. The times when it could have happened are covered, but none can be verified. Personally, I have to think that it was fairly early in their lives, for their friendship to be so true.

There is little written about Lovell outside of certain points in his life, most of them dealing with the tasks given him by Richard III. He doesn’t seem to have been an ambitious man, keeping mostly to the shadows, but doing whatever his friend asked of him.

Even after Richard’s death, Lovell would continue to try to bring down Henry VII. It was never clear who Lovell wished to replace Tudor with; he may not of cared, his primary goal to kill the man responsible for his friend’s death.

His final fate is still a mystery, though Schindler does tear apart the ridiculous story of Lovell being locked into a hidden room at Minster Lovell Hall, but with no way out. Who builds a hiding place that only opens from the outside? And, as the author notes, the Hall had already been given to Henry VII’s uncle, Jasper Tudor, so it isn’t as if it would have been empty. Lastly, bones don’t disintegrate into dust when touched.

I’d like to think that Francis made it out of the country, and lived the remaining of life in obscurity. I think he would have liked that, too.




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56. Biloxi by Mary Miller
57. Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System by Ian Angus
58. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel (Translator)
59. The Visitant by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
60. Lovell our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell, Closest Friend of Richard III and Failed Regicide by Michele Schindler








SEPTEMBER - Title Play. Read a book with a clever title that uses a play on words, a pun, a joke, or titles that have double meanings.

Lovell our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell, Closest Friend of Richard III and Failed Regicide by Michele Schindler

"The Catte, the Ratte, and Lovell our dogge, Rule all England Under the Hogge."