Hadji Murad--#100 finished

 WOW, 100 books read for the year and with a month to go still.  Back in Feb or March is when I first thought of this.  I had read a book by Ben Sasse last year or maybe two years ago where he mentioned when working in George W Bush White House there were several staffers that made it a goal of theirs.  It sort of stuck with me & figure this was the year.  Since basically stuck in the house much of the Spring and not much of any social life rest of year--not that I had much anyway, this became a focus.  I am glad I made it.  I have to admit that I did avoid some longer books in order to reach the 100 read.  I don't expect to have this goal again for next year, but glad it got it done.

This is a Leo Tolstoy book that was published after his death.  A good story about the Russians fighting in the Caucasus and Chechnya areas.  The title character is a general that was fighting against the Russians but turns himself in & offers to fight for them since the leader of the rebels--for lack of better term--is a hated enemy of his.  The enemy has his mother, wives and children though and they try to negotiate for them but is unsuccessful.  Story is about the people holding him and his life.  Lot of good information and insight into their lives. 

This is a very cheaply published book, too many to count spelling errors in this, just all through this book. I will keep since it is Tolstoy but might have to look to get a better copy too.

Tolstoy books stay on my keepers so will keep this one.  Also is the 100th book read of 2020 so might keep for that reason too.

Hardware River--#99 finished

 A short story book with most of the stories from around the Appalachian Mountains with interesting characters and an attachment to the land.  The book was published in 1991 so a little dated, had to think back to that time when reading these stories.  Enjoyable reads with some memorable people and descriptions.  I do enjoy short stories as a nice change of pace.

I have already posted it on PBS, it is the only copy but not sure how fast it will move.

Don't Skip Out On Me--#98 finished

 A really powerful book about people trying their best.  A young man that never knew his father & his mother remarried and left him behind with grandma to raise.  When grandma died when he was in high school went to live with an older couple on a ranch where he was already working.  They raised him & he helped them a lot around the ranch.  They kept telling him he was like a son to them but he had to strike out on his own by wanting to become a champion boxer.  The struggles he has and the struggles the older couple has in trying to maintain their ranch are really exposed, just some great writing and characters.  A tough read because you would like the young man to make better choices but in end can see a lot of it stems from feeling abandoned by his parents.  Really good book.

There are a couple WL for it on PBS but not sure it is going to be mailed off soon but do like to pass enjoyable books along to others too, so not sure at this point.

You Might Remember Me--#97 finished

 The rest of the title is The Life and Times of Phil Hartman.  A good read, brought back a lot of good memories of shows and skits that Phil Hartman was part of.  Also a lot of how he got to where he was, interesting that he was a graphics/artist sort that paid the bills while waiting for his Hollywood shot.  Also didn't know he connection to PeeWee Herman either.  Sad end to his life, just way too soon for this talented performer.

There are a couple WL for the book so I will probably mail it off at some point.

The Faithful Spy--#96 finished

 This is the first book in the John Wells series and was kind of fun because I don't think it was written with it being that first book in a series.  An American CIA agent is able to get himself inside al Qaeda before 9/11 but is just a lowly soldier so is not aware of that plan.  After years inside, al Qaeda obviously know that he is an American so trust builds very slow, he is sent back to America on a mission.  Because the CIA no longer trust him because he has been away for so long & rarely checks in and al Qaeda still has their doubts about him too, he doesn't get much info on this attack but in the end is able to stop it.  I have the 2nd book in series too.  I jumped in on the series around 5th or 6th book so have a little catching up to do.

I got the book from PBS but it is a little rough so will not be posting it back on, will keep it for now and maybe donate away at some point.

Rickey & Robinson--#95 finished

 An interesting and good read about Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson.  Talks about Rickey's background and what led him to signing Robinson and Robinson's background leading up to the signing.  Then also about both of their careers and lives from there on.  Not a real in depth look, book is only 228 pages but it gives you a good sense of what was happening.  Also looked at the ends of their lives, some of the struggles they had, especially Jackie with his failing health and not being financially secure.  I am glad I read this, was not something I was really familiar with before.

I will post this on PBS too, there are no copies in system so who knows what will happen.

Life on Mars--#94 finished

 This is a short story collection about living on Mars.  The stories mostly seem to not be about the first settlers but instead after a generation or two, a kind of how is it going thing but told from an individual perspective.  I really enjoyed this book, a lot of really good stories and many that I could see becoming something larger--a book or series even.  There are some really good authors in this short story book.

There are no WL for the book so I will probably post it & see what happens.  I had gotten this book from someone on PBS when looking for that 2nd book to order from them.

The Kingdom of Speech--#93 finished

 I have enjoyed the books I have read by Tom Wolfe and I enjoyed this one as well.  He strikes out at Darwin and evolution when it comes to explaining how language evolved.  Then continues hitting at the Linguistic study and especially Noam Chomsky and his study of language & speech.  The whole study of this at a desk vs out in the field looking for native peoples that were not influenced by others.  This is what a Dr Everett has done with a small tribe in the Amazon and Wolfe feels this shows how wrong Chomsky was.  This is an area I don't study & really know little about but it was an interesting read.  I just skimmed through the wikipedia page on this & seems more critics feel Wolfe got this wrong but that doesn't change it being interesting and something to think about.

There were 3 WL for the book so I went ahead and posted it and should be getting it mailed off in the next few days.

The Last Days of California--#92 finished

 A different sort of story, a family believes the rapture is coming on a certain date that some leader has proclaimed.  The story starts with the family on the road to California for this event.  Their house is in Alabama but making this road trip.  Mom, dad and two teenage girls, one 17 or 18 & just found out she is pregnant and the other 15 that is the narrator of the story.  The older girl is pretty and flirty and doesn't buy into the whole religion thing that mostly her dad is forcing on them.  Her younger sister is the only one that knows of the pregnancy.  Interesting read about their struggles and just the road trip in general.  They don't make it to CA & are instead at a casino hotel in AZ when the rapture was supposed to happen and story ends with them heading back to AL.  Interesting read, characters and story give you something to think about and will probably stick with me for a while.

There are 4 WL for the book so I will probably post & get mailed off sometime soon.

Beyond the Ice Cream Cone--#91 finished

 The rest of the title is, The Whole Scoop on Food at the 1904 World's Fair.  The author looks at the 1904 Worlds Fair in St Louis and the foods that were being sold as well as the different restaurants and food carts they had.  Also talks about a couple of the food demonstrators there and recipes they used.  Being in St Louis you hear about the 1904 Worlds Fair some and this book gave some good information on it.

There is 1 WL for this book so I will probably post it and send off at some point.  This is also another October finished book that just now getting logged in.  Last of the October books.

Misery--#90 finished

 This is an older Stephen King book that I didn't read back in high school when I read a bunch of Stephen King books.  Finally got around to reading it now, I picked up my copy a few years ago and has been on my shelf waiting for me.  It is a good read, actually kind of fun with the main character discussing his writing process while being forced and tortured by his crazy captor.  I have only see parts of the movie but the parts I have seen Kathy Bates plays a very scary captor.  Glad I read it and I enjoyed it.

At this point I am keeping the book, no real reason to post it and send off.  This was an October finished book but just now getting around to logging it in.