The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The story was creepy and the family history of the twins was weird enough to give me shivers--Just what you want in a gothic novel! The author does an excellent job of pacing and revealing just enough information with Vida Winter's storytelling. The author pauses to give Margaret Lea time to reflect and and make notes and this feels as if it were a shared conversation about what we were both told.

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Downsizing Our Collection of Books

We began downsizing the volumes of books in our home library in 2003 when my husband and I changed the use of that room. During the redecoration, we boxed the books we had bought as a family of readers since 1973. Our children had already taken their collections to their own households. The time was right to downsize our collection because some books we would never need again. We donated the read books from our membership in The Literary Guild and Quality Paperback Book Clubs. Books bought for reference for the school projects of our children were given to the school library. Altogether, car-trunk-loads of books were gone. We looked at what remained to go back into the three bookcases our interior designer imagined would be sufficient for a couple of readers and collectors. Three bookcase units? Obviously we were working with a man who saw books more as a design element to complement sculptures and photography. At that time we had 23 boxes of unread books in storage in our garage. Even we had to admit that was too many books. Yet they all went in the Keep pile which was subdivided into Keep-because-it's-a-favorite-worth-reading-again-some-day, Keep-as-reference, and Keep-because-we-want-to-read.

This is where I stored our keep piles. When the three new bookcases were in place, the Harvard Classics library books and the books from our charter membership in Library of America found their places in our high regard. High regard means they are stored as collections and not as design elements. Books about investing are scattered between reference shelves and garage storage. Five sets of shelving storage were placed in our garage to give our stored books protection from the wet floors of winter. More interior bookcases were purchased and put where the designer would have shuddered at our lack of taste and disregard for his plan. We had a bookcase for my husband's books about the Civil War and a bookcase for fantasy series. Local history books and books published by National Geographic and Time-Life for armchair traveling filled two more bookcases.

Six years later, I must still wonder, "What else do I want to keep, what can I sell on www.Half.com or eBay or what shall I donate?"
I documented our Keep-because-we-want-to-read library as "to read" at www.goodreads.com
my yet-to-be-read Library
Husband's yet-to-be-read Library

The project now extends to the books stored in our garage. Good news! In the last six years, the 23 boxes of unread books has been whittled down to 18 boxes of books. Most of these have been read. Choosing to offer for sell or donate a read book may appear easy. No, the choice is not easy once the book enchanted this reader with its spell. Now many boxes are labeled Favorites. These are books I didn't loan for fear they wouldn't be read or returned. Instead, when I recommended them, I suggested where the books could be found (library or bookstore) so that the intention to read would be strengthened in the act of locating them. Does my reason for keeping them six years ago still remain? If we move, is the cost of shipping worth the value of this book to me?

Books I Read in 2008

96 Books I Read

1. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
   
2. Annie Oakley: Woman at Arms by Courtney Ryley Cooper
   
3. 100 Hikes in Yosemite National Park by Marc J. Soares
   
4. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
   
5. The Biggest Loser Cookbook by Devin Alexander
   
6. Frommer's Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park by Eric Peterson
   
7. National Geographic's Driving Guide to America: California, Nevada, Hawaii
   
8. Floor Sample by Julia Camerson
   
9. All Roads Lead to Yosemite by Ellie Huggins
   
10. American Outrage by Tim Green
    
11. The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide , revised edition
    
12. Flush by Carl Hiaasen
    
13. The High Sierra by Ezra Bowen
    
14. Red River Gorge Trail Guide by Jerrell Goodpaster
    
15. National Geographic Park Profiles: Yosemite by Kenneth Brower
    
16. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood
    
17. Mirror of America edited by David Harmon
    
18. Shop Till You Drop by Elaine Viets
    
19. John Muir: The Eight Wilderness Discovery Books
    
20. Murder Between the Covers by Elaine viets
    
21. Dying to Call You by Elaine Viets
    
22. Teach Yourself Visually Photoshop Elements 6 by Mike Woolbridge
    
23. Just Murdered by Elaine Viets
    
24. Murder Unleashed by Elaine Viets
    
25. Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets
    
26. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
    
27. Dying in Style by Elaine Viets
    
28. Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity by Michelle Bates
    
29. The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers
    
30. Photoshop Elements 5 for Dummies by Barbara Obermeier, Ted Padova
    
31. High Heels are Murder by Elaine Viets
    
32. Accessory to Murder by Elaine Viets
    
33. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
    
34. The Complete Turtle Trader by Michael W. covel
    
35. Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils and Rewards of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland
    
36. Visual Quickstart Guide to Photoshop Elements 6 by Jeff Carlson
    
37. Photoshop Elements 6: The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage
    
38. Overcoming the Five Dysfuntions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers and Facilitators by Patrick Lencioni
    
39. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
    
40. A Firestorm of Dragons , edited by Michele Acker and Kirk Dougal
    
41. Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson
    
42. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael Gelb
    
43. The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron
    
44. Invest with Success by Dr. Charles Schaap
    
45. Winter Study by Nevada Barr
    
46. The Chase by clive Cussler
    
47. Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success by Mike Krzyewskiwith Jamie K. Spatola
    
48. Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen
    
49. Fodor's 2001 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island
    
50. Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada, 9th Edition: With New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador
    
51. Lonely Planet Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
    
52. Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen
    
53. For the Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen
    
54. Legal Larceny by Dr. Jill B. Vosler
    
55. The Insider's Guide to Portland, Maine by Sarah Donnelly and Meredith Goad
    
56. In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen
    
57. Oh Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen
    
58. The Lie That Tells the Truth : A Guide for Writing Fiction by John Dufresne
    
59. Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark
    
60. Increase Your Financial IQ by Robert Kiyosaki
    
61. In Dublin's Fair City by Rhys Bowen
    
62. Space Available by Sid Davis
    
63. Tell Me Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen
    
64. In New Brunswick, We Will Find It by Lowell Thomas and Rex Barton
    
65. Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Neiman Foundation at Harvard University by Wendy Call
    
66. The Writer's Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr.
    
67. No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
    
68. Letters from Finland by Joanna Campbell
    
69. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
    
70. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
    
71. Yeah, I Said It by Wanda Sykes
    
72. Writing as a Lifelong Skill by Sanford Kaye
    
73. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
    
74. Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need by Dave Barry
    
75. Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World by Carl Hiaassen
    
76. Dave Barry's Money Secrets: Like, Why is There A Giant Eyeball on the Dollar
    
77. Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson
    
78. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laura Viera Rigler
    
79. This Land is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation by Barbara Ehrenreich
    
80. Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope
    
81. Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
    
82. Yosemite: The Story Behind the Scenery by William R. Jones
    
83. The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner
    
84. Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
    
85. Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg
    
86. The Abs Diet for Women by David Zinczencko
    
87. The Space Between Before and After by Jean Reynolds Page
    
88. The Abs Diet: 6 Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs by David Zinczenko
    
89. Clubbed to Death by Elaine Viets
    
90. A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmstead and America in the Nineteeth Century by Witold Rybczynski
    
91. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
    
92. The Land We Call Ohio by Deborah Bradford Linville and Paint Ohio LLC
    
93. Seasonal Disorder by Pat Hagan
    
94. Sequoia and Kings Canyon by William C. Tweed
    
95. Fundy, Bay of the Great Tides by Michael
    Burzynski
    
96. Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
    
    

my 2008 bookshelf

Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is an enjoyable tale for listening at 30-minute intervals as this breaks up the whininess and lets me remember the good parts of Italy, Richard from Texas, her friends in Bali. It only gets 3 stars because I don't know to whom in my circle of friends I would recommend this entire book; it is a book I may only read parts aloud to them.
I liked the structure of 108 essays.

View all my reviews >>

Books I Read in 2007

68 Books I Read

I started off the year reading many eBooks that are offered as bonus materials from websites about fitness, writing, and motivation. I don't include those ten books which weren't listed on www.goodreads.com

1. Why Grow Old by Orison Swett Marden
   
2. A Large Slice of Life to Go, Please by Rick Beneteau
   
3. High Country by Nevada Barr
   
4. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
   
5. The Innocent Man by John Grisham
   
6. Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich
   
7. The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom, Jr.
   
8. Shiloh Autumn by Bodie and Brock Thoene
   
9. Stages of Meditation by Dalai Lama XIV
   
10. The Writers' Market 2005
    
11. Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade
    
12. Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing by Don George with Charlotte Hindle
    
13. Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
    
14. Leonardo by Enrica Crispino
    
15. The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller
    
16. Haiku in English by Harold G. Henderson
    
17. Ephesus by Emile L. Jarre
    
18. Nine-Headed Dragon River by Peter Matthiessen
    
19. Will she or Won't She by Sheila Norton
    
20. Ghost of a Chance by Amy Patricia Meade
    
21. Athens-Acropolis by G. Gouvoussis
    
22. Accademia Gallery-English- The Official Guide All of the Works
    
23. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
    
24. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Terrific Business Writing by Marcia Layton
    
25. Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum
    
26. Editing Fact and Fiction: A Concise Guide to Book Editing by Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther
    
27. Brothers by Da Chen
    
28. The Fine Art of Copyediting , 2^nd edition by Elsie Myers Stainton
    
29. Night of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
    
30. McGraw-Hill's Proofreading Handbook by Laura Anderson
    
31. Boomsday by Christopher Buckley
    
32. Digitizing Your Family History by Rhonda R. McClure
    
33. The Weekend Genealogist by Marcia Yannizze Melnyk
    
34. The Idiot's Guide to On-Line Genealogy by Rhonda R. McClure
    
35. Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
    
36. This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
    
37. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin LeFevre
    
38. William Henry Jackson: An Intimate Portrait The Elwood P. Bonney Journal, edited and annotated by Lloyd W. Gundy
    
39. Wealth 101 by Wade Cook
    
40. As a Man Thinketh by James Allen with additional commentary and study guides by Jon Benson
    
41. No One Ailing Except a Physician: Medicine in the Mining West 1848-1919 by Duane A. Smith and Ronald C. Brown
    
42. The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
    
43. Light from Heaven by Jan Karon
    
44. The Art and Craft of Feature Writing by William E. Blundell
    
45. Getting in Shape by Bob Anderson, Bill Pearl and Ed Burke
    
46. Precision Heart Rate Training by Edmund R. Burke
    
47. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
    
48. Rich Dad's How to Find Great Investments by Robert Kiyosaki, Sharon Lechter, Kim Kiyosaki
    
49. Starting and Running a Profitable Investment Club by Thomas E. OP'Hara and Kenneth S. Janke, Sr.
    
50. Complete Home Fitness Handbook by Edmund R. Burke
    
51. 
    The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez
    
52. Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-term Travel by Rolf Potts
    
53. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson
    
54. The Viking Funeral by Stephen J. Cannell
    
55. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
    
56. The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullam
    
57. Stock Market Wizards: Interviews with America's Top Traders by Jack d. Schwager
    
58. Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager
    
59. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullam
    
60. Hollywood Tough by Stephen J. Cannell
    
61. A View from the River: The Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise
    
62. Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
    
63. Safe Strategies for Financial Freedom by Van Tharp, D.R. Barton Jr. and Steve Sjuggerud
    
64. Getting Started in Technical Analysis by Jack D. Schwager
    
65. The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks
    
66. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp, Camille Kingsolver
    
67. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
    
68. Day Hikes in Yosemite: 55 Great Hikes by Robert Stone
    

my 2007 bookshelf

Books I Read in 2006

68 books I Read

1. Eight Weeks to Optimal Health by Andrew Weil
   
2. Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
   
3. Ultra Memory with Bob Kittell (DVD)
   
4. Rich Dad's Prophecy by Robert Kiyosaki with Sharon Lechter
   
5. Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting by Michael Masterson
   
6. Healthy Aging by Andrew Weil
   
7. Investing in IPOs: Version 2.0 by Tom Taulli
   
8. The Best American Non-Require Reading by Dave Eggers
   
9. The Ultimate Travel Writers Course
   
10. Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie by Barbara Goldsmith
    
11. How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines by Dawn Sova, Ph.D
    
12. Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
    
13. Publishing a Blog with Blogger by Elizabeth Castro
    
14. Blogging in a Snap by Julie C. Meloni
    
15. Digital Photography: 99 Easy Tips by Ken Milburn
    
16. Preserving Your Family Photographs by Maureen A. Taylor
    
17. Lonely Planet Jamaica, 2^nd Edition by Christopher P. Baker
    
18. Lonely Planet Dominican Republic and Haiti by Scott Doggett
    
19. Cadogan Island Guides , Jamaica and the Cayman Islands by James Henderson
    
20. Yucatan and Mayan Mexico, 2^nd edition by Nick Rider
    
21. Ohio: The Pleasures and Treasures of Warren County by Ralph Johnston
    
22. The Best American Travel Writing 2005 edited by Jamaica Kincaid
    
23. Simply Eat! By Jon Benson
    
24. Movcing Beyond Cardio by Jon Benson
    
25. The Toxin Fast by Jon Benson
    
26. Warriors of the Plains by Karl Lassiter
    
27. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
    
28. The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester
    
29. The Power of Focus by J. Canfield, MV Hansen and Les Hewitt
    
30. Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block
    
31. The Tomorrow Trap by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D.
    
32. How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Nicholas Darvas
    
33. Jim Cramer's Real Money by Jim Cramer
    
34. Footprint: Central America and Mexico by Peter Hutchison
    
35. The Unofficial Guide to Cruises, 8^th edition by Kay Showker, Bob Sehlinger
    
36. The Top Ten "Superfoods" by Jon Benson and David Eller
    
37. Creative Nonfiction by Philip Gerard
    
38. Travelers' Companion: Mexico by Meribeth Mellin
    
39. Creative Nonfiction by Lee Gutkind
    
40. How to Trade in Stocks by Jesse Livermore
    
41. The Flaneur by Edmund White
    
42. Rule #1 by Phil Town
    
43. The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
    
44. Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
    
45. To The Nines by Janet Evanovich
    
46. Twelve Mile Limit by Randy Wayne White
    
47. Barcelona: The Great Enchantress by Robert Hughes
    
48. Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich
    
49. The Getty Center by Michael Brawne
    
50. The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
    
51. Imagined London by Anna Quidlen
    
52. A Writer's Paris by Eric Maisel
    
53. Armadeggon's Children by Terry Brooks
    
54. A Writer's San Francisco by Eric Maisel
    
55. Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go To Work by Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare
    
56. The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
    
57. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
    
58. The Wealthy Writer by Michael Meanwell
    
59. How to Make Money Selling Stocks Short by William O'Neil and Gil Morales
    
60. The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen
    
61. A Sense of the World:How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts
    
62. Skyrocket Your Fat Loss Success by Tom Venuto
    
63. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
    
64. The Courage to be Fit by Jeremy Likness
    
65. The Five Fat-Burning Myths that Cost You Hours of Wasted Time and Effort by Christian Finn
    
66. Awesome Abs by Shawn Phillips
    
67. Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler Life from the Inside Out by Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey
    
68. Menopause, Hormones and Fitness by Jill Langham
    

my 2006 bookshelf
 

Not all these books will be found on my bookshelf at www.goodreads.com as many of them are self-published and sold through the author's website.

 

Zucchini Chili

1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, finely diced
1 carrot, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tblsps canola (or olive) oil
6 cups grated zucchini (3 medium-sized)
1 15-oz tomato sauce
1-15-oz can water
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes with juice
2 Tblsps sugar
1 tsp black pepper
3 Tblsps chili powder
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

I cook in my soup pot. Over medium heat, saute celery, onion, green pepper, carrot, and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Then add zucchini and all remaining ingredients, except beans, and simmer for 90 minutes. Add beans, simmer another 15 minutes, then serve.
Tastes great with Jiffy Cornbread Muffins or Fritos.