2020 is over, but reading continues.



Goodreads shows 60 books read, but because some didn't fit the criteria, the Mount TBR challenge only showed 54.



1. A Wicked War
2. The Grapes of Wrath
3. The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses
4. Thera: Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean
5. Unbury Carol
6. The Institute
7. With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change
8. Elevation
9. The Remaking
10. The Great Lakes Water Wars
11. The Heresy of Dr Dee (John Dee Papers #2)
12. The Black Death
13. A Chain of Thunder (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #2)
14. American's Last Wild Horses
15. Children of Time (Children of Time #1)
16. Julius Caesar
17. The Elfstones of Shannara
18. Animal Farm
19. Bloody Mary
20. The Hercules Text
21. Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me
22. The Town House
23. Wakenhyrst
24. The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog
25. Dreamland
26. The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die (Gap #5)
27. The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America
28. Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
29. The Smoke at Dawn: A Novel of the Civil War (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #3)
30. The Wishsong of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #3)
31. The Brothers York: An English Tragedy
32. Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2)
33. Paladins of Shannara
34. Dark Wraith Of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #3.5)
35. A Talent for War (Alex Benedict #1)
36. Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East
37. The Genesis Machine
38. The Other People
39. A House at the Bottom of a Lake
40. In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War
41. Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition: Lost and Found
42. The Glass Hotel
43. A Thousand Acres
44. Alexander the Great
45. Imaginary Friend
46. Her Secret Son
47. Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War
48. White Rose Blossoms
49. Armageddon's Children (Genesis of Shannara #1)
50. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
51. In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story
52. Alas, Babylon
53. Inherit the Stars (Giants #1)
54. When She Returned

And for the same reason, Book Bingo only showed 38.

2020 LJ BOOK BINGO READING CHALLENGE



1. Read a Science Fiction/Fantasy novel - Children of Time
2. Read a Non-fiction book - A Wicked War
3. Read a Horror novel - The Institute
4. Read a Historical Fiction novel - A Chain of Thunder
5. Read a Mystery/Suspense novel - Wakenhyrst
8. Read a Paranormal/Supernatural Novel - The Remaking
9. Read a biography or autobiography - Julius Caesar
13. read a book by a female author - America’s Last Wild Horses
14. read a book featuring a LGBTQIA+ character(s) - Alexander the Great
18. Read a comic book or graphic novel - Dark Wraith of Shannara
19. Read a classic novel - The Grapes of Wrath
20. Read a book that has less than 200 pages - Thera: Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean
21. Read a book that has more than 400 pages - Bloody Mary
22. Read a book with an animal on the cover - The End of the Myth
23. Read a book with a number in the title - The Rise of Wold 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone’s Underdog
24. Read a book with a color in the title - The Black Death
25. Read a book with a one-word title - Elevation
26. Read a book made into or based on a tv show (made into) - The Elfstones of Shannara
28. Read a book that is part of a series - The Heresy of Dr Dee
29. Reread an old favorite - The Wishsong of Shannara
31. Read a book published in 2020 - The End of October
32. Read an ebook or audiobook - Paladin of Shannara
34. read a book that was recommended to you - The End is Always Near
35. Read a book whose title has six or more words - The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die
37. Read a novel that has won an award - Animal Farm (Retro Hugo for Best Novella, Prometheus Hall of Fame Award)
38. Read a spin-off or a book set in a shared universe - Children of Ruin
39. Read a book by a new-to-you author - With Speed and Violence
40. Read a book set in your country - Dream Land
41. Read a book seton or near a holiday - In the Dark Streets Shineth
42. Read a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel - Alas, Babylon
43. Read a book you chose based on the cover - The Town House
46. Read a fairy tale or fairy tale retelling - Unbury Carol
47. Read an Action/Adventure novel - The Smoke at Dawn
48. Read a book at or near the bottom of your TBR list - Brothers York: An English Tragedy
49. Read a book with an unreliable narrator - A Thousand Acres
50. Read a self-help or educational book - The Great Lakes Water Wars
51. read a book outside of your comfort zone - Too Much and Never Enough
52. Read an author’s debut book - The Hercules Text

And last, but not least, the 2020 Monthly Motif Challenge




January: “Winter Wonderful” Set in a truly wonderful place. Somewhere beautiful, somewhere with a rich culture, or even a magical realm. - Thera: Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean

February: “Seeing Red” The word “red” in the title OR a red cover. - The Great Lakes Water Wars

March: "SUB-GENRE SOUND OFF" Genre: Historical Fiction Sub-Genre: American Civil War Fiction - A Chain of Thunder (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #2)

April: "CLASSICS OR CURRENTS" Published before the year you were born OR within the last year - Animal Farm, published 1945, year of my birth, 1953.

May: "AUTHOR INTRODUCTION" Author you've never read anything by - Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me

June: "NAME OR NUMBER" A name or a number in the title. Bonus if there are both. - The Rise of Wolf 8.

July: “Around OR Out of this World” Set in a country other than the one you live in OR written by an author who is from a country other than your own OR read a book that takes place in space or on another planet. - The Gap Into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die

August: “Creature Feature” A creature of some kind on the cover or in the story. (Cat, dog, dragon, werewolf - mythical or real.) Missed this one for some unknown reason.

September: "When Text just isn't enough" A book that includes more than just text. A map, a family tree, illustrations, letters, etc.: Brothers York

October: "Thrills and Chills” Ghost stories, haunted houses, true crime, murder mysteries, a thriller keeping you in the edge of your seat. - The Other People

November: “Dynamic Duos” A book with a couple of characters that make the perfect pair whether in business or in love. - Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War

December: "Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice" Holiday or winter themed reads, love stories and romances, happy cries, comedies; a feel good read. - In the Dark Street Shineth

THE MAN ON THE MOON WAS DEAD.

They called him Charlie. He had big eyes, abundant body hair and fairly long nostrils. His skeletal body was found clad in a bright red spacesuit, hidden in a rocky grave. They didn't know who he was, how he got there, or what had killed him.

All they knew was that his corpse was 50,000 years old; and that meant that this man had somehow lived long before he ever could have existed!

The book relies heavily on the mystery of how a man could have died on the moon 50,000 years ago. And the mystery deepens when another ship is found on Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede. Most of the mystery is seen through the eyes of Victor Hunt, a physicist, and Christian Dancheckker, a biologist and anthropologist.

Both men are someone one dimensional; they have no social life that one can ascertain. In fact, it’s stated that Hunt “(H)ad survived the minefield of the age of unreason and emerged safe and single into his mid thirties.” Not sure what that says about the author’s feelings about women, especially since there’s only one female character. Worse, the idea she comes up with is hijacked by Hunt.

And that’s the book’s main flaw. While the plot is fascinating, the puzzle intriguing, I now understand why I had so much trouble with the two other books I’ve read by this author. Unless the mystery can hold my interest, the lack of character development destroys any enjoyment it might bring.

That said, this book does deliver as far as the puzzle it presents. It kept me engrossed and I had no trouble finishing the book. I just wish I could have been as interested in the characters.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

Christmas Eve, 1941. Mere days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met at the White House. As war raged throughout the world, the two leaders delivered a powerful message of hope that still resonates today.

Bestselling author and renowned historian David McCullough relates a compelling story about the spirit of Christmas and the power of light to shine in difficult, dangerous times. Also sharing the stories behind the songs "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," this beautifully designed book is filled with historic photographs and uplifting messages that will bring the Christmas spirit home to your family

Because FDR is very much a hero of mine, I looked forward to reading this book. It’s quite short, but the messages are ones that are just as important now as they were then. It also shows what countries can manage when they have strong, courageous, and honest leaders.

Especially powerful are the many photos of the country, the leaders, and the men away from home fighting the war.

The DVD with David McCullough and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a lovely bonus.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )


BOOK BINGO 2020 - 41. Read a book set on or near a holiday.




2020 MONTHLY MOTIF - "Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice"

Holiday or winter themed reads, love stories and romances, happy cries, comedies; a feel good read.

Logan Tom is doomed to remember the past and determined to rescue the future. Far behind him lies a boyhood cut violently short by his family’s slaughter, when the forces of madness and hate swept our world after decadent excesses led to civilization’s downfall. Somewhere ahead of him rests the only chance to beat back the minions of evil that are systematically killing and enslaving the last remnants of humanity. Navigating the scarred and poisoned landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic, possessed of untold abilities, and destined to lead the final fight against darkness.

Across the country, Angel Perez, herself a survivor of the malevolent, death-dealing forces combing the land, has also been chosen for an uncanny mission in the name of her ruined world’s salvation. From the devastated streets of Los Angeles, she will journey to find a place–and a people–shrouded in mystery, celebrated in legend, and vital to the cause of humankind . . . even as a relentless foe follows close behind, bent on her extermination. While in the nearly forsaken city of Seattle, a makeshift family of refugees has carved out a tenuous existence among the street gangs, mutants, and marauders fighting to stay alive against mounting odds–and something unspeakable that has come from the shadows in search of prey.

In time, all their paths will cross. Their common purpose will draw them together. Their courage and convictions will be tested and their fates will be decided, as their singular crusade begins: to take back, or lose forever, the only world they have.

In Armageddon’s Children, Brooks brings his gifts as a myth maker to the timeless theme of the unending, essential conflict between darkness and light–and carries his unique imaginative vision to a stunning new level. Prepare for a breathtaking tour de force. To those who are new to Terry Brooks, welcome. And to those who have read him for many years: prepare for a dramatic surprise.

Brooks should stick with science fiction because, though I’ve enjoyed his elf-centric Shannara stories, I really liked this book. There is a bit of the elves, but the majority of the story deals with our world. Or what’s left of it. It’s changing, and soon won’t be our world at all, but the story of that change in this post-apocalyptic scenario is riveting.

The characters are fully rounded. Logan and Angel, as they journey through the world, knowing that they have a role to play though they’re not sure what that is; but especially the “family” of kids who will carry the fate of the world on their young shoulders. And that’s coming from someone who doesn’t care all that much for “young adult” books, much less those where the major characters are kids. It’s not that I never do, but it’s few and far between. This book is definitely an exception.

It may be awhile, but I’m so looking forward to the next book in the series.





( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

How far would you go to protect the ones you love…when they may not be yours to protect?

When Josh’s longtime partner, Grace, dies in a tragic accident, he is left with a mess of grief—and full custody of her seven-year-old son, Logan. While not his biological father, Josh has been a dad to Logan in every way that counts, and with Grace gone, Logan needs him more than ever.

Wanting to do right by Logan, Josh begins the process of becoming his legal guardian—something that seems suddenly urgent, though Grace always brushed it off as an unnecessary formality. But now, as Josh struggles to find the paperwork associated with Logan’s birth, he begins to wonder whether there were more troubling reasons for Grace’s reluctance to make their family official.

As he digs deeper into the past of the woman he loved, Josh soon finds that there are many dark secrets to uncover, and that the truth about where Logan came from is much more sinister than he could have imagined…

Tightly paced and brimming with tension, Her Secret Son is a heartbreakingly honest portrait of a family on the edge of disaster and a father desperate to hold on to the boy who changed his life.


The blurb says it all; Josh’s longtime partner, Grace, dies in an accident, leaving Logan, her seven year old son, in Josh’s care. Josh wants to adopt Logan, has wanted to for a long time. But Grace’s death makes it an imperative. Josh isn’t Logan’s father, and he fears that Logan could be taken from him.

But things turn out to be harder than Josh thinks. And after running into one roadblock after another, he comes to the realization that there was a lot he didn’t know about Grace.

So begins his quest to find out the truth of Grace and Logan. There are several twists and turns, as whatever can go wrong does, and the ending was quite a surprise.

I liked the book, but for the longest time I didn’t like Josh. He’s something of a screw-up, and he whines a lot, at times feeling more sorry for himself than for Logan. He needs to do a lot of growing up. The book is written in the first person, which probably doesn’t help; Josh’s insecurities are right in your face. Writing in the third person might have toned that down a bit. Still, all in all, it was an interesting and enjoyable read.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

In the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian Philip Freeman tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history. He was a general of such skill and renown that for two thousand years other great leaders studied his strategy and tactics, from Hannibal to Napoleon, with countless more in between. He flashed across the sky of history like a comet, glowing brightly and burning out quickly: crowned at age nineteen, dead by thirty-two. He established the greatest empire of the ancient world; Greek coins and statues are found as far east as Afghanistan. Our interest in him has never faded.

In his lively and authoritative biography of Alexander, classical scholar and historian Philip Freeman describes Alexander’s astonishing achievements and provides insight into the mercurial character of the great conqueror. Alexander could be petty and magnanimous, cruel and merciful, impulsive and farsighted. Above all, he was ferociously, intensely competitive and could not tolerate losing—which he rarely did. As Freeman explains, without Alexander, the influence of Greece on the ancient world would surely not have been as great as it was, even if his motivation was not to spread Greek culture for beneficial purposes but instead to unify his empire. Only a handful of people have influenced history as Alexander did, which is why he continues to fascinate us.

I very much enjoyed Freeman’s book on Julius Caesar; I felt that he humanized Caesar by not focusing only on his military achievements. But, here, he does the exact opposite. Even though we know more about Alexander’s life, especially his early years, Freeman focuses almost exclusively on the battles he fought. Yes, they’re important, but after awhile he got terribly monotonous.

I did appreciate him exploring Philip’s role in setting the stage for Alexander’s achievements; maybe he should have written a book about Philip. But outside of that, the people in Alexander’s life are little more than cardboard cutouts. Especially, oddly enough since Freeman writes about Philip’s male lovers, Hephaestion. The famous event at Troy becomes, not something between Alexander and Hephaestion, but “many of his friends.” It’s only after Hephaestion’s death, when, let’s face it, Alexander goes batsh*t crazy, that Freeman finally names Hephaestion Alexander’s love.

I got the feeling that Freeman doesn’t like Alexander all that much. Even when there’s no proof of wrongdoing, as in the death of Darius’s widow, the worst is thought. He does, finally, at the end give Alexander some credit for his “great deeds,” it seemed too little too late.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )


BOOK BINGO 2020 - 14. Read a book featuring a LGBTQIA+character(s)

Not what they would have called themselves back then, but close enough.

From the award-winning author of Station Eleven, a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts, and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it.

Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass and cedar palace on an island in British Columbia. Jonathan Alkaitis works in finance and owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it's the beginning of their life together. That same day, Vincent's half-brother, Paul, scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: "Why don't you swallow broken glass." Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune-Avramidis, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of a Neptune-Avramidis ship. Weaving together the lives of these characters, The Glass Hotel moves between the ship, the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the wilderness of northern Vancouver Island, painting a breathtaking picture of greed and guilt, fantasy and delusion, art and the ghosts of our pasts.

I picked up this book because I loved Station Eleven. But I have to admit, my basic reaction when I got to the end of this book was…I don’t get it. The actual writing is very good; it’s what the book is about that I found lacking. I guess you could say what the book isn’t about. We follow the characters to a point in their lives, but not especially important points in their lives. Except for one, and that one I found especially disappointing. The stories were intertwined, but it felt like I was reading several short stories.

What is the reader supposed to take from this book? Are there ghosts? Are the people seeing ghosts or are they manifestations of guilt? Ultimately, I didn’t really care.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.

It sounded like the perfect first date: canoeing across a chain of lakes, sandwiches and beer in the cooler. But teenagers Amelia and James discover something below the water’s surface that changes their lives forever.

It’s got two stories.

It’s got a garden.

And the front door is open.

It’s a house at the bottom of a lake.

For the teens, there is only one rule: no questions. And yet, how could a place so spectacular come with no price tag? While the duo plays house beneath the waves, one reality remains:

Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home.

I hate books that end with a cryptic ending; if you can’t tell us what it all means, then maybe the author just doesn’t know, so ended the story without actually ending it.

Of course, the teens’ one rule, no questions when faced with a mind-boggling mystery is convenient. That way, the author doesn’t have to come up with a reason, either.

Though there were parts of the book that I enjoyed, I was basically disappointed with this novella. I loved Unbury Carol, Inspection, and Bird Box. I really wish I could have said the same of this story.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

...and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas




The bestselling author tells the gripping story of the real roots of the Middle East Sunni-Shia conflict in the 1979 Iran Revolution that changed the region forever.

Black Wave is a paradigm-shifting recasting of the modern history of the Middle East, telling the largely unexplored story of the rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran--a rivalry born out of the sparks of the 1979 Iranian revolution--that has dramatically transformed the culture, identity, and collective memory of millions of Muslims over four decades. Like George Packer did in The Unwinding, Kim Ghattas follows everyday citizens whose lives have been affected by the geopolitical drama, making her account both immediate and intimate.

Most Americans assume that extremism, Sunni-Shia antagonism, and anti-Americanism have always existed in the Middle East, but prior to 1979, Saudi Arabia and Iran were working allies. It was only after that year--a remarkable turning point--that Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia began to use religion as a tool in their competition for dominance in the region, igniting the culture wars that led to the 1991 American invasion of Iraq, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and the rise of ISIS.

Ghattas shows how Saudi Arabia and Iran went from allies against the threat of communism from Russia, with major roles in the US anti-Soviet strategy, to mortal enemies that use religious conservatism to incite division and unrest from Egypt to Pakistan. Black Wave will significantly influence both perception of and conversation about the modern history of the Middle East.

I can’t recommend this book more highly. It’s a must read for those who wish to know how and why the situation in the Middle East came to be, and for those, especially in the US, who think they know why. Chances are, they don’t.

Beginning with a short history of the Middle East, from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the dethronement of the Shah of Iran, the book then moves on to the creation of Israel. It was on land that Palestinians had lived on for centuries, creating a shift in Arab thinking. They needed something to unite the Arab people, and a stronger focus on religion seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately, it would bring about an intellectual and cultural darkness that would slowly engulf the Arab world.

1979 seems to have been the focal point, with the rise of the Ayatollah and the oppression brought on by the Saud family of Saudia Arabia. Both countries would be transformed, and then, spreading that transformation, one country at a time, would bring darkness and oppression.

First to go would be Syria and Lebanon, the “black wave” inundating Beirut, a city once known as the Paris of the Middle East. The ravages of sectarianism would continue, moving into Pakistan and Afghanistan. Unaware, or unmindful that Saudi money was behind most of the trouble, the US would make matters worse with the invasion of Iraq. Sadaam’s removal would unleash all the pent-up anger and religious zeal and allow Iran’s power to grow.

Egypt’s story is probably the cruelest of all. It’s ill-fated revolution was crushed by Saudi Arabian money, it’s final ruler, Sisi, little more than a Saudi puppet.

Isis would bring things full circle. Its Islamic State would be compared to the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1926, as both would be born through the destruction of the past and much of the present.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )

In The Wishsong of Shannara, Jair and Brin Ohmsford vanquished the evil Mwellrets. Or so they thought. Now the 'Rets are back, and they're plotting anew, this time to find Paranor, the Druid's Keep, and claim its power for their own. To these ends, they have employed a mistress of the black artsthe Croton Witch. Joining his friends Kimber Boh and Cogline the Druid against the Witch, Jair discovers that his Wishsong lets him transform into other living creatures. But the power is seductive, and Jair is increasingly reluctant to return to his true form.

I’m not a fan of graphic novels based on the written word (let comics be comics,) probably because I’ve already imagined these characters, built them in my mind, and the drawings rarely do them justice. So it was with this book. Plus, the drawings were in black and white, rather than in color, another downside. I know the story would have drawn me in if it had been written, rather than drawn. As it was, I found it to be only mildly entertaining.

I did enjoy learning a bit more about Jair and Brin’s futures, but it was only that, only a bit. And, again, I felt they would have been better served had it been in novel form. Of course, considering all the Shannara novels, who’s to say they haven’t been? So, all in all, this isn’t a necessary read, more for the true Shannara fanatic.




( Mount TBR 2020 Book Links )


BOOK BINGO 2020 - 18. Read a comic book or graphic novel.