Howling Frog Books

Time for me to figure out the best of the books I read in the past year.  Goodreads tells me that I read just about 180 books this year (at least, it says 179, but I know I can finish one in the next couple of days!).  I looked over my list, and I read a lot of good stuff this year, but not many things stand out to me as fabulous, memorable reads that I was really thrilled about -- just one or two, which you'll find at the end of the post.  Still, there was plenty of good material, and here are my favorites: Miss Mackenzie, by Anthony Trollope:  Miss Mackenzie is not your average novelistic heroine.  She is thirty-five, not particularly beautiful or educated...  I love Trollope, and this novel did not disappoint. Jim Henson, the Biography, by Brian Jay Jones : Henson did a lot of inventing all the time, right from the beginning, and developed lots of things that became television standards -- or stretched the boundaries so far that they didn't quite work yet.  He was fo

I'm running out of time to wrap up this year, so here are the results of my 2018 challenges! Back to the Classics: FINISHED 12/12 1.   A 19th Century Classic -- Miss Mackenzie, by Anthony Trollope 2.   A 20th Century Classic -- The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien 3.   A Classic by a Woman Author .  And So Flows History, by Hahn Moo-Sook 4.   A Classic in Translation .-- The Dawning, by Milka Bajic Poderegin 5.  A children's classic.   -- The Wonderful Garden, by E. Nesbit 6.  A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction.   -- Greenmantle, by John Buchan 7.  A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction. -- Rasselas, by Samuel Johnson 8. A classic with a single-word title .   -- Walpurgisnacht, by Gustav Meyrink 9.  A classic with a color in the title. -- The White Devil, by John Webster 10. A classic by an author that's new to you. -- Pan Tadeusz, by Adam Mickiewicz 11. A classic that scares you. -- Glass Bead Game, by Hermann

I think this is my last one...really!  I haven't done a chunkster challenge in a while, and I have quite a few piled up around here, so here we go.  Becky at Becky's Book Reviews is hosting, and I'm putting all the rules here so I don't forget, because there's a whole system! 2019 Chunkster Challenge Host: Becky's Book Reviews ( sign up here ) Duration: December 2018 - December 2019 # of books: Ultimately up to you The mission: see how many points you can earn reading chunksters in 2019. Can you earn 100 points and get that A+? Each book will have a point value attached to it. Bonus points are possible so you can earn extra credit to help you get that perfect grade. E-books do count if their print counterparts are over 450 pages. Audio books, if unabridged, DO count if their print counterparts are over 450 pages.  If a book is over 450 in large print, but NOT over 450 in regular print, then it doesn't count.  Point System Basics: Mi

Yes, I already have one TBR challenge, but this is a different one, and I like both.  Adam at Roof Beam Reader has different rules, which are: The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months). Specifics: 1. Each of these 12 books must have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means the book cannot have a publication date of 1/1/2018 or later ( any book published in the year 2017 or earlier qualifies, as long as it has been on your TBR pile ). Caveat: Two (2) alternates are allowed, just in case one or two of the books end up in the “can’t get through” pile. 2. To be eligible, you must sign-up with the Mr. Linky below. Link to your list (so create it ahead of time!) and add updated links to each book’s review. Books must be read and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed. ...and so on.  Head over there for more details! So, here's my list!  Undine an

The Shepherd's Castle , by George MacDonald You may well know of George MacDonald, a Scottish minister who wrote a lot of books and was a great inspiration to C. S. Lewis.  He wrote some children's fairy tales that are real classics, such as At the Back of the North Wind and The Princess and Curdie , and he wrote a couple of fantasy novels, Lilith and Phantastes , that are very strange indeed and must-reads for those interested in pre-Tolkien fantasy literature.  MacDonald also wrote a stack of realistic, romantic novels that have practically disappeared, except for the most well-known, Sir Gibbie .  (I have an old copy that had disappeared, but I just found it again!)  Well, interesting things come across the donation table, and one was a copy of one of these romantic novels, The Shepherd's Castle , in a 1983 reprint from Bethany House; they published four of these stories.  This one is a companion to Sir Gibbie .  Now that we have all that background... Donal is a

You know I love me a January filled with vintage sci-fi!  Little Red Reviewer is once again holding her traditional January event , and I'm ready.  Here's the deal, in Red's own words: I’ve been hosting this little party since 2012, by reading and celebrating science fiction and fantasy that is older than I am – that is, created in 1979 or earlier.  Over the years, the party has grown!  it’s grown so big I can’t host it alone anymore.  Red Star Reviews is my fantastic co-host, and we’ll be posting, tweeting, retweeting, insta-ing, tubing, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/VintageSciFi_ , find us on bookstagram, mention us on YouTube, retweet and share what your friends are doing.  January is a wibbly wobbly timey wimey kind of month. The book donation table makes this easy.  I've been picking things out here and there all year.  I wish more James Tiptree, Jr. would show up, though -- I only have one story.  H

Here's another of my traditional challenges: Gilion at Rose City Reader's European Challenge .  I hope this will help me knock out some of the countries in my Reading All Around the World Project!    Here are the basics: THE GIST: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. (See note about the UK, below.) WHAT COUNTS AS "EUROPE"?: We stick with the standard list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the U

The Little Book of Hygge, by Meik Wiking It's Christmas Eve, so what better time to talk about a book entirely about coziness?  I'm sure no Howling Frog readers have been able to avoid the hygge trend that swept the English-speaking world a couple of years ago.  I must confess that I mostly rolled my eyes at it, because hygge is a Danish thing, and I spent a year in Denmark, and therefore I already know about things hyggelige and I don't need a lifestyle editor in a magazine telling me about an expensive blanket I need to buy in order to achieve it.  But when this book came across the donation table, I saw that it was by an actual Danish guy and I thought I'd take a peek to find out if I should enjoy it or toss it. And I enjoyed it. So here we are.  An entire book about hygge.  And what is that (and how do you pronounce it*), exactly?  As most people have probably already heard, at hygge is to be cozy, relaxed, and friendly all at once.  You can hygge by you

Bev is starting a corollary to her Mount TBR Challenge; the Virtual challenge , where you read books you've been meaning to read but don't actually own.  Like...library books!  Do you know how long my list of library books to read is?  (I don't.  It's really long.)  So, I haven't put all the rules here, but here are the basics: This year, I decided to create a Virtual Mount TBR Reading Challenge Books for all those folks with mile-long "wish-list" of TBRs who would like a chance to climb as well. The strategy and general set-up is the same--except you don't have to own the books. Heard about a great book from a friend, took note of the title, and then never got around to reading it? Saw a book online that you thought sounded intriguing but you keep putting off ordering it up from the library? You borrowed a book from somebody and need an extra push to read it and return it? This is the place for you!  Challenge Levels: Mount Rum Doodle:

Malgudi Days, by R. K. Narayan Here's one I've been wanting to read for a long time.  R. K. Narayan used to relax by writing short stories about the imaginary town of Malgudi.  It's an average town somewhere in southern India, full of just ordinary people  -- who all have compelling stories of their own.  These stories were written over 40 years. Most of the stories are quite short, and tell about one particular person: a gardener, a retired official, a street vendor, a knife-sharpener.  Some of the more humorous tales are told by 'the Talkative Man,' who always has an odd episode to narrate, like the time he won a road engine at a fair, and the terrible consequences.  (A road engine appears to be something like a steamroller or a small locomotive; it's mechanical, huge, and takes skill to drive.)   A good number of the stories have ironic finishes, but not so many that it's tiresome.  They're often comments on Indian governance or culture. I parti

Naturally, even though I've read 30 or so books from my TBR pile in 2018, the pile seems to be bigger than ever.  Much of this can be blamed on my donated-book-sorting gig, since the books are free and I can just put them back on the table afterwards.  It's practically ideal; the only problems are to find time to read them, and space to hold them until I'm done! And so I must once again sign up for Bev's Mount TBR Challenge .  The deal is almost (but not quite) the same as before, and the basics are as follows: Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s  Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s  Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s  Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s  El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s  Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s  Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s The Rules: *Once you choose your challenge l

It's about time I started signing up for 2019 challenges!  I am pretty sure that I will not be able to read as much as I want to in, at least, the spring semester of 2019 (I will be working a good deal more), so I'm going to try to go pretty easy.  That means that I'll still sign up for things, but I'll sign up for lower levels and not expect too much of myself. That said, here's a perennial favorite of mine: Back to the Classics, hosted by Karen of Books and Chocolate .  Karen says: Complete six categories, and you'll get one entry in the drawing;  Complete nine categories, and you'll get two entries in the drawing;  Complete all twelve categories, and you'll get three entries in the drawing THE CATEGORIES:  1. 19th Century Classic.  Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899. 2. 20th Century Classic.  Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1969. All books in this category must have been p

Here's one I've never done before: a Georgian Reading Challenge, hosted by Becky at Becky's Book Reviews.  Becky says: Duration: December 1, 2018 - December 31, 2019 # of books: minimum four Georgian Era can be defined as either 1714-1830 OR 1744-1837. You may choose how you want to define it in terms of the reading challenge. It covers the reigns of George I, George II, George III, and George IV of England. (If you go with the later definition, it also includes the oh-so-brief reign of William IV.) This includes the REGENCY PERIOD but is more inclusive. There will be seven check-in posts. February 16, 2019; April 6, 2019; May 18, 2019; July 6, 2019; September 7, 2019; November 2, 2019. December 28, 2019. "Official" theme song: Born 2 Rule (The Four Georges) What counts: Novels, poems, plays, short stories, novellas, letters, diaries, essays, nonfiction published in Great Britain (or its colonies) during the Georgian era.  Nonfiction b

The only image on the whole web! The Marginalia Book of Family Letters: Parents and Children , ed. by Jan Fielden A while back, I read a book of women's letters that had been sitting on my shelf forever and realized that I mostly don't like books of letters.  Which was a problem, since I had another epistolary collection on the shelf.  I considered just donating it without trying to read it, but I figured I'd give it a go first.  And I'm glad I did, because I liked this one a lot better. This is a collection of letters specifically between parents and children.  It's arranged chronologically, pretty much, starting with a few Greek and Roman letters and ending up with the Vietnam War.  There are fascinating medieval letters about estate management, quite a few epistles from famous composers and writers (Mozart, Goethe, Joyce, all the way down to Lawrence Durrell), letters from soldiers at various fronts, and just ordinary letters.  There's a good mixture

About a month ago I wrote a little newsy post in which I mentioned I was finishing up a challenge quilt for my guild, and that the quilt had a connection with my blog here too.  The other night, we had our December meeting and showed off all the quilts, and it was quite fun.  So now I can show you all too! The rules were that it had to be 24" square or less, and feature an animal.  Well, for years I'd been meaning to embroider my blog motto, "To be literate is to possess the cow of plenty."  I wanted to embroider a cow of plenty, but obviously it had to be an Indian cow of plenty, and when I first thought of it, line drawings of Indian cows were hard to come by.  Since then, mehndi and coloring books have both become popular, and so I was able to find several Indian cows, which I sort of melded into a cow I liked.  I bought silk dupioni with the intent of using a classic Indian color combination: blue, peacock, pink, and orange.  And so here is my cow of plenty:

The Child From the Sea, by Elizabeth Goudge I picked this up (I've been saving it) because I thought I'd like a lift, and Goudge novels are generally guaranteed to produce some nice feelings.  I have to say, this one is a bit different!  It doesn't have a happy ending, there's a lot of tragedy, it's more of a tough read than I expected.  It is, after all, historical fiction based on a real person's life and that person had a tough time. In the novel, we meet Lucy as a small child living on the Welsh coast in an old and battered, but mostly functioning, castle in about 1636.  She loves her home and her family, which is beautifully evoked, but there are also shadows at the edges, as English politics are becoming divided between Puritans for the Parliament and Cavaliers for the royal family.  Charles I is on the throne.  As Lucy grows up, she meets other children in influential families, and even becomes a little acquainted with  Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Memoirs of the Crusades, by Geoffroy de Villehardouin and Jean de Joinville I've had this kind of ancient Everyman paperback book on my shelves forever, and it's high time I got around to reading it.  The trouble is, while I love medieval literature, I find war stories -- that is, accounts of battles -- to be fairly boring, so it was hard to pick up.  But really, these memoirs were pretty fun to read and contained some entertaining moments amid the incredible misery of Crusader life.  Neither Villehardouin nor de Joinville are all that interested in recounting miseries; they skim over a lot of that.  Being in charge probably helped that part too. Both of these men were French (Franks, in their terms), and highly placed in their homelands and in the crusading hierarchies.  They served in different crusades and went to completely different locations, and neither of their crusades accomplished the stated goal of conquering Jerusalem (again). Villehardouin was Marshal of Cha

I've done it!  I was a bit worried about finding that crime classic (what a relief that spy novels count!).  But I've successfully finished all twelve categories for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge.   I have thus earned three entries in the drawing!  Karen mandates that we include a contact address in the post, so here it is: jkleek at gmail dot com, which is the one on my profile. The twelve categories and titles are: 1.   A 19th Century Classic -- Miss Mackenzie, by Anthony Trollope 2.   A 20th Century Classic -- The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien 3.   A Classic by a Woman Author .  And So Flows History, by Hahn Moo-Sook 4.   A Classic in Translation .-- The Dawning, by Milka Bajic Poderegin 5.  A children's classic.   -- The Wonderful Garden, by E. Nesbit 6.  A classic crime story, fiction or non-fiction.   -- Greenmantle, by John Buchan 7.  A classic travel or journey narrative, fiction or non-fiction. -- Rasselas, by Samuel Joh