julie

Kate I bet it is gorgeous down there. Is it really foggy looking like that sometimes too ? Kinda looks like the clouds are laying in the ground . It must be wonderful scenery, and you're so fortunate to live in a remote area like that with peace and quiet ! Hope you enjoy the book if you get it .

Pixie Think you'll be able to catch up with Kate this year ? Remember, they are trying not to buy any this year,so it may give you a year's chance to get some more piles going ! Kate Yea, having it that cold is no fun . Thankfully we're up to a balmy 30 something today . But it snowed a bit more last night Every year, I get tired of winter a bit sooner. I used to be able to hold out til March before complaining about it, then Feb .. now early January . I can see why Charlie decided to stay down there in the good weather ! Smart idea. The older we get, the less winter appeals .

Hi sue Very interesting idea to read about WW1 . An interesting theme . Have you read A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin ? It was very good . I have it on my Kindle to reread at some point . I had never known a lot about that War until reading that book. It's fiction but still very good . Hope you have a good reading year this year .

Yea ,it was pretty bad cold earlier in the week . People's car batteries wouldn't start, all the schools and libraries closed , some of the stores closed and some people's water pipes in their house froze and busted ,so it hasn't been too great being that cold . Weather in Ohio. Our saying here is "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes " .

Hi Ruth I don't know what happened to your post. I know since they have been having trouble getting certain things to work in here (something to do with upgrades or some such thing. I can't remember ) I have had posts ready to post, I click on maybe one letter to correct it or something, and I lose the whole post . Not sure if that is what happened with yours or not ? Anyhow I really enjoyed the book ,especially because it was a true story and featured a lot of the big names famous at the time . I'm sure if you like westerns, you'd really like it ,and I bet your dad would too .

Yes Pixie It is so pretty down there. I've never been to Mississippi , but it certainly does look beautiful . I need to remember to ask Kate if it looks anything like that where she is from, as she'd be in the general vicinity ( a state away ) . Kay Yes, I thought of your dad while reading the cowboy book with the posse . It was a pretty cool story if you like cowboy boos, which I do ! Too bad they don't have it on audio for him . Does his local library have books on tape he could borrow ? They probably have some westerns on audio books unless he has already listened to them all .

Good reward, 86 ! That's a nice goal to work towards

Pixie Sorry I just saw your question above about our weather. Yep, we've had bad cold weather here ( but a bit better today ) and several inches of snow. It's supposed to be in the 40's on the weekend ,so it will hopefully melt some of this stuff . Sounds like you're still finding some good books to add to your collection !

Athena Happy One Year Anniversary ! I'm glad you are enjoying it so much and making lots of friends. It is nice to have other Book People to talk to, isn't it ? Many more happy years on here for you !

Yes, Pixie, it was a really nice book. I'm not much of a church-goer anymore, but I don't think you'd have to be to enjoy this book. It mainly shows how good people can be, no matter how bad their life may have been at one point, and they may not have a lot of nice "things", but they have a heart of gold . I like reading about people like that .

June I am so impressed by the number of countries you have already ticked off your list ! Great job . Have there been any countries that have been really hard to find books for ? I'm wondering if there are any that won't have a book ? I'm just thinking of the Olympics when they have some tiny little countries with maybe only one athlete representing them, if there might be a country like that too ,that might only have one author or book from it ? Do you already have a list for possibilities for every country you have left ?

Ruth Now you have me very curious about the last chapter ! Sounds intriguing .. I have seen a few of Theroux's shows , and he certainly does deal with some wacky people. I don't know how he keeps from losing it with some of them .. Nasty ... I agree about the KKK group. Nothing good can come out of that situation . Sometimes you think we'd be past all these fringe groups of fanatics, but I guess as long as there are people, we'll have some that are OFF-CENTER .

Nurse Good review. My kids loved the movie when they were younger ,but I don't know if any of them ever read the book. It sounds beautiful too . Glad you enjoyed it so much .

3- Year of Our Lord : Faith , Hope and Harmony in the Mississippi Delta --T. R. Pearson / Langdon Clay (photography) 3/5 This book was a quick read ,filled with several pictures of the Mississippi Delta and the people who live there . It tells the story of a boy named Lucas McCarty , who was born oxygen deprived, which caused him to have Cerebral Palsy , He is unable to talk or walk , but he loves to "sing" in his church choir ,which is all Black . He is the only white person . He was welcomed with open arms His preacher loves him and says " God makes no mistakes ". Lucas has a wheelchair but prefers to crawl on his knees to get around . He has a device called a Minspeak, which helps him to communicate electronically . It has a keypad with buttons that represent objects and symbols rather than letters,so he types, it talks for him . He's quite an inspiration .He works at any type job he can do and loves his church over anything else . He says he has always loved Black people more than whites because they are the only ones who accept him as he is . Anyhow, this book is short as I said, but it packs quite a message inside those pages. It's a story of a place that is economically poor , people who have had struggles and hardships and many a "checkered past" ,before joining their church, but it is rish in those same people and the scenery around them . At the end of the book, the author said when he met Lucas , he "did the disservice of wishing him "normal ". What I didn't know yet ,is that he was already extraordinary . " I'll give this book a 3/5 , only due to its shortness and lack of a more complete story. It's just a glimpse inside the life of a person who lives in Mississippi, but it's a beautiful glimpse .

May you find lots of good reads this year .

Thunder Over the Prairie The True Story of a Murder and a Manhunt by the Greatest Posse of All Time ----by Howard Kazanjian & Chris Enss This book takes you back to the Old West and the "most wicked little city in America" , Dodge City Kansas . A place of buffalo hunters and cattle hands ,there were a large number of saloons and gambling halls to entertain the men who frequently stopped there . With the large number of rowdy drinking cowboys, it took strong lawmen to run the town and try to keep crime at a minimum . This story tells of a long-standing feud between a spoiled rich kid , James Kenedy , whose father owned one of the largest ranches in the area, and the Judge in town . There had been a few encounters ,but one night, things got out of hand . The kid , James Kenedy , decided to seek revenge . He made plans to kill the judge in his bed, then get away on a fast horse . The plan went bad for him when he drove by the judge's house and fired several shots. Little did he know that the judge had taken sick and gone to the nearby fort for medical care ,so he wasn't home. He had lent the use of his home to 2 singers who entertained all over the country . A target was hit, but not the one intended . Dora Hand , who had entertained people all over the country with her singing ,was asleep in the room when the bullet hit her ,killing her instantly . The town formed a posse of : Bat Masterson , Charlie Bassett, Bill Tilghman and Wyatt Earp . It tells of their search for Kenedy , and what happened afterwards. Did they catch him ? Did he hang ? Read the book to find out the rest of the story. It's very interesting ,especially if you love reading about the Old West as I do . 5/ 5

Ruth Them sounds very interesting . I like learning about people like that who have odd beliefs and quite objectionable ideas to follow ,but it'd be interesting to see why they think as they do and try to understand it . Always good to learn about others' lifestyles .

Charlie I hope you enjoy your books. You are gonna surely have a wide variety after all the reading you're doing !

Yea, Athena This idea isn't gonna get off the ground I don't think . It seems we all have the same problem .. Addiction to books .

Pixie

Pixie The book you mentioned does sound as if it'd be a little TAXING on the old brain ... especially mine ,so I salute you for a good effort .

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this . I think my patience level would be even lower than my willpower . I was born without any . I'm working on it though .

Kate Thanks for the update on the new part 2 of Doc -- I started but never finished it last year . not sure why, as it was really good. Just one of those days I guess ,but it'll be neat to have a part 2 . Maybe that will get my rear in gear to read Doc now. Also , the Poe book sounds cool .. Waddya think about the one recently released called Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen ? Heard of it or read it ? He had quite an unusual life and his cause of death has been speculated on by different people ,so that should be an interesting story .

I don't know, you guys ! I don't want to be the judge on this one, I'll just say each person can use their own discretion when deciding whether books already ordered will count if you start today . You could just make a note on today's page that you have a couple already ordered but they won't count since you didn't sign up to do this until AFTER the order was placed . How's that ?

You probably have more will power than I do. There are 2 things I have ZERO of : Willpower and Patience . I need to work on both of them .