Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett

If you’re a logophile, a lover of words, you’re bound to like this beginning book to a five volume series, set in sixteenth century (1547) Scotland. The hero/villain of the tale, Francis Crawford of Lymond, is a veritable fount of words, a repository of language, a giddy young man with a facile and garrulous tongue. Here are just a few of the beguiling, beauteous, buxom words I descried in the course of reading this historical fiction adventure:

Enteric: of or pertaining to the enteron; intestinal.
Decorticating: to remove the bark, husk, or outer covering from.
Damascened: of or pertaining to the art of damascening (to produce wavy lines on Damascus steel).
Decumbiture: Confinement to a sick bed, or time of taking to one’s bed from sickness.
Peripetia: a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, especially in a literary work.
Yaffle: another name for green woodpecker, imitative of its cry.
Parure: a matching set of jewels or ornaments.
Sphacelate: To develop or produce gangrenous or necrotic tissue.
Hebetude: the state of being dull; lethargy.
Bauchly: in an inferior or substandard way
Cibation: The act of taking food; (Alchemy) The process or operation of feeding the contents of the crucible with fresh material.
Predicant: preaching.
Talion: lex talionis; exaction of compensation in kind.
Thrawnness: twistedness; crookedness; distortion.
Snib: a bolt, catch, lock, or fastening on a door or window.
Encysted: to enclose or become enclosed in a cyst.
Frangible: easily broken; breakable.
Corium: Anatomy, Zoology , dermis. (skin?)
Probang: a long, slender, elastic rod with a sponge, ball, or the like, at the end, to be introduced into the esophagus or larynx, as for removing foreign bodies, or for introducing medication.
Roulade: a musical embellishment consisting of a rapid succession of tones sung to a single syllable.
Crapulence: sick from gross excess in drinking or eating.
Fossa: a pit, cavity, or depression, as in a bone.
Hackbut: harquebus; any of several small-caliber long guns operated by a matchlock or wheel-lock mechanism, dating from about 1400.
Squab: a nestling pigeon, marketed when fully grown but still unfledged.
Calx: the oxide or ashy substance that remains after metals, minerals, etc., have been thoroughly roasted or burned.
Columbarium: a sepulchral vault or other structure with recesses in the walls to receive the ashes of the dead.
Pannage: pasturage for pigs, esp in a forest; acorns, beech mast, etc, on which pigs feed.
Sudorific: causing sweat; diaphoretic.
Insifflating: (insufflating?) to blow or breathe (something) in; to breathe upon, especially upon one being baptized or upon the water of baptism.
Canescent: covered with whitish or grayish pubescence, as certain plants.
Barghest: a legendary doglike goblin believed to portend death or misfortune.
Fugitation: Scots law, a judicial declaration of outlawry; the act of fleeing.
Escharotic: producing a scab, especially after a burn
Limmer: chiefly Scottish, scoundrel.

Yes, Mr. Crawford and I are both a little drunk on words. But there’s a story here, too, a plot just as labyrinthine and inscrutable as the conversation and the literary allusions that the characters strew about with merry abandon. And some intriguing characters, especially Mr. Crawford of Lymond himself. If you love Scotland and its history, if you love language, if you’re fond of old-style romantic adventures like The Three Musketeers or The Scarlet Pimpernel, if you like dashing young rakish heroes, medieval conspiracy and intrigue, and literary and philosophical allusions galore, you might very well relish The Game of Kings.

By the way, I wondered throughout the book if the words themselves were actually historically accurate: in other words, could a man living just after the death of Henry VIII in Scotland use all of the words that Crawford of Lymond uses? It would be difficult for a writer of historical fiction to be completely, historically accurate in terms of language, and sadly I figured out that Ms. Dunnett is not. At one point Master Crawford sarcastically tells his brother who is handling his poor, wounded body rather roughly, “I enjoy sadism, too.” Unfortunately, in a strike against historically accurate language, Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, from whose name the word “sadism” is taken, didn’t live until the latter half of the eighteenth century. And several of the words that are defined above were dated in the online dictionary as coming into the language after 1600. Oh, well, you can enjoy the inundation of words and story in this novel anyway, without worrying about whether each word or phrase that Francis Crawford of Lymond uses would have actually been available to him. Lymond is a regular Shakespeare: he makes up his own appellations when the common tongue of the time period fails him.

I’m planning to proceed to the reading of the second book in the series, Queen’s Play, just as soon as I can get a copy from the library. It’s about the child, Mary, Queen of Scots, in France, as Lymond of Crawford works to guard Mary’s and Scotland’s interests in the court of French King Henri II and his queen Catherine de’Medici.

Saturday Review of Books: January 4, 2014

“For me to love a work of fiction, it must survive my harpy eye on all accounts: It will tell me something remarkable, it will be beautifully executed, and it will be nested in truth. The latter I mean literally; I can’t abide fiction that fails to get its facts straight.” ~Barbara Kingsolver

Happy Birthday, JRR Tolkien (b.January 3, 1892)! Scroll down to link to your end of the year/beginning or the year booklist(s). Link here for reviews of books from this first week of 2014.

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Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

1. Carol in Oregon (15 New Words)
2. Carol in Oregon (Children’s Book, Venezuela)
3. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (The Interrupted Tale)
4. Carol in Oregon (10 Quotes)
5. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)
6. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
7. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Deuterocanonical Books)
8. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (The Simplified Guide)
9. 10 Great Reads of 2013
10. Beth@Weavings (Favorite Reads of 2013)
11. Beth@Weavings (Books Read in 2013)
12. Beth@Weavings (Books Read in 2014)
13. the Ink Slinger (Gone, Baby, Gone)
14. the Ink Slinger (2013 Year In Review: Non-Fiction)
15. the Ink Slinger (2013 Year In Review: Fiction)
16. Hope (Movie Review of the book Catching Fire)
17. Glynn (View from the North Ten: Poems)
18. Glynn (Olive Kitteridge)
19. Glynn (Songs for Ascent)
20. Glynn (Poetry Five)
21. Lazygal (Daughters of Jerusalem)
22. Lazygal (Wake)
23. Lazygal (The Weight of Blood)
24. Lazygal (The Enchanted)
25. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Carolina Gold)
26. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Rest Not in Peace)
27. Beckie @ ByTheBook (The NIV Ragamuffin Bible)
28. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Rules of Murder)
29. Thoughts of Joy (Silent Prey)
30. Becky (A Woman’s Guide To Reading the Bible in a Year)
31. Becky (Captive Maiden, Cinderella Retelling)
32. Thalia @ Muses and Graces
33. Becky (5th Wave)
34. Becky (Bluffton)
35. Becky (The Real Boy)
36. Becky (The Apprentices)
37. Thalia @ Muses and Graces (The Mysterious Affair at Styles)
38. Becky (The Story of the Treasure Seekers)
39. Sophie (Toms River)
40. Pages Left Unturned (Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, 1/10th.. Acre, etc.)
41. Vicki (In the Big Inning… Bible Riddles from the Back Pew by Mike Thaler)
42. Vicki (The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe by Mary Simses)
43. Vicki ( Joyland by Stephen King)
44. Vicki ( Sea Devil by Jessica Sherry)
45. DebD (Not a Creature was Stirring)
46. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The President’s Hat)
47. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Yonahlossee Riding School for Girls)
48. Yvann@Readingwithtea (The Bedlam Detective)
49. Val’s Vicinity (Dear Mr. Knightley)

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Saturday Review of Books SPECIAL EDITION: December 28, 2013

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” ~Abraham Lincoln

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TODAY, SATURDAY December 28th (and all this week), is a special edition of the Saturday Review of Books especially for booklists. You can link to a list of your favorite books read in 2013, a list of all the books you read in 2013, a list of the books you plan to read in 2014, or any other end of the year or beginning of the year list of books. Whatever your list, it’s time for book lists. So link to yours, especially if I missed it and it’s not already here.

Welcome to the Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon. Here’s how it usually works. Find a book review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can link to your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Friday night/Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

However, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks gathering up some lists I could find and linking to them here. Scroll down to see the lists I’ve already linked to along with book advisory suggestions from yours truly. Perhaps you’ll see something in all these lists that will call to you and set your reading agenda for the next week or even year.

If I didn’t get your list linked ahead of time and if you leave your list in the linky below along with a comment, I’ll try to advise you, too, in the comments section of this post.

1. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (2013 read alouds & top picks)
2. Amy@Hope Is the Word (Books Read in 2013)
3. Carol in Oregon (Reading Year in Retrospect)
4. Becky (12 Books of the Month)
5. Alice@Supratentorial(2013 Books Read)
6. Alice@Supratentorial(2013 Read-Alouds)
7. Becky (Top Ten Georgette Heyer)
8. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (2013 top picks)
9. Barbara H. (Books read in 2013)
10. Barbara H. (Top 10 books read in 2013)
11. Becky @ Operation Actually (Books Read in 2013)
12. Carol History #4: Silent Night!
13. Jessica Snell (2013 highlights)
14. Hope (Favorite Books of 2013)
15. Lazygal (2013 Reading Roundup)
16. Harvee@ Book Dilettante
17. Glynn (Books I’m Not Recommending for Christmas)
18. Top 10 of ’13 @ Lisa notes
19. Sophie (Most Anticipated Reads of 2014)
20. Diane’s Top Ten List 2013
21. Black By Popular Demand (The Best Books I Read this Year)
22. Sarah @Delivering Grace (Books read and read alouds)
23. Alex @A Different Place (The Best Books I Read in 2013)
24. Shannon (Best Books of 2013)
25. Books to the Ceiling (Best Books of 2013)
26. Modern Mrs. Darcy (My favorite books of 2013)
27. Jamie Rubin (My favorite reads of 2013)
28. Boston Bibliophile (My Favorite Reads of 2013)
29. Mystica (Best Reads for 2013)
30. BermudaOnion (The Best of 2013)
31. Bibliophile by the Sea (Favorite Reads in 2013)
32. Books on the Nightstand (2013 Reading Review)
33. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (Reading Recap 2013)
34. Seth@Collateral Bloggage (2013 Favorites)
35. Pamela’s Picks The Best YA Books of 2013
36. dawn (Books Read 2013)
37. Welcome to My Tweendom Favorite Reads of 2013
38. Reading Rants 2013 Top Ten
39. Beckie @ ByTheBook (Best of 2013)
40. Eve Tushnet Best of 2013
41. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(Non-Fiction)
42. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(Series)
43. Sheila @ Dodging Raindrops (Best Books Read in 2013)
44. Pages Left Unturned (Top Books of 2013, as Labeled by TheTeaCat)
45. Ruth (Books I read in 2013)
46. ElizabethEsther Best Books of 2013
47. Sophie at Spark Favorite Books of 2013
48. BookTrail Top Ten
49. Tamara at Club Mom Best Books of 2013
50. The Quivering Pen (My Year of Books)
51. Annie Rim (5 Star Books of 2013)
52. Bridget of Arabia (Best Books of 2013)
53. Camels and Chocolate (What I Read 2013)
54. Mental multivitamin (the complete list)
55. Cindy@OrdoAmoris(the rest)
56. Ragdoll Books (Best Books of 2013)
57. Galavanting GIrl (Best Books I Read in 2013)
58. Sam at TIny Library (Best Books of 2013, Vol. 1)
59. Sam at Tiny Library (Best Books of 2013, Vol. 2)
60. Amanda@The Living Room (The 2013 Book List)
61. Hungry for Good Books (The Best Books of 2013)
62. Elizabeth Craft (Best Books I Read in 2013)
63. Rhapsody in Books (Top Ten-ish Books I Read in 2013)
64. Rainy Day Reading (Favorite-something books of 2013)
65. Marijo at TheGigglingGull
66. Marijo at TheGigglingGull (my reading plans for 2014)
67. georgianne (Books I Read in 2013)
68. georgianne (favorite books in 2013)
69. Pages Left Unturned (Most Anticipated Reads of 2014, as Labeled by TheTeaCat)
70. Janie 2013 Book Review
71. In This Corner (My Best Books of 2013)
72. Reader Bee (Best Books of 2013)
73. On books! (Best Books I Read in 2013)
74. Florence in Print (Best Books I Read in 2013)
75. Reading Envy (Best Books of 2013)
76. Kim (Top Ten YA Picks of 2013)
77. At A Hen’s Pace (Annotated List of 2013 Reads)
78. Lisa Spence (Favorite Reads of 2013)
79. Laura Fabiani (Best Books of 2013)
80. Maude and Mozart (2013 Best Books List)
81. Elizabeth Caulfield Felt (Best Books of 2013)
82. Better Hawaii (Best Books of 2013)
83. Carrie Gelson (Favorites of 2013)
84. In Media Res (The 5 Best Books I Read in 2013)
85. Tolle Lege (The Best Books I Read this Year)
86. Christian Chick (Best Books of 2013)
87. MeReader (Best Books of 2013)
88. Becky @ One Literature Nut (Best Books of 2013)
89. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Best of 2013)
90. The Girl @ Diary of an Eccentric (Best of 2013)
91. Kara@Biblio-File (2013 Book List)
92. Staci Eastin (Most Intriguing Novels Read during 2013)
93. Barnabas (The Top Five Books I Read in 2013)
94. Teri Lynne (Best Books I Read in 2013)
95. Becky @ Becky’s Book Reviews
96. Art@Home (The Best Books of 2013)
97. Fountains of Home (The Best Books I Read in 2013)
98. Sara Dobie Bauer (Best Books of 2013)
99. Sharkbytes (Best Books Read in 2013)
100. Jamie’s Rabbits (Best Books I Read in 2013)
101. Rissi (2013’s Best in Fiction)
102. Alyssa (Top 13 Books I Read in 2013)
103. Cassie (My Favorite Reads of 2013)
104. Karen @ Candid Diversions
105. Stuck in a Book (Top 10 Books of 2013)

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12 Best Books Read in the Semicolon Family in 2013

Eldest Daughter (28) is on a Catholic reading binge. She recommends Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene and The Letters of Caryll Houselander. She also read and enjoyed The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

Artiste Scientist Daughter (24) shares my love for Madeleine L’Engle. She says the best book she read this year was L’Engle’s The Genesis Trilogy: And It Was Good, A Stone for a Pillow, Sold Into Egypt, reflections on the first book of the Bible and Ms. L’Engle’s insights into the nature of God, questioning, creation, and grief.

Brown Bear Daughter (19) read Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative by Robert Webber for her Old Testament Theology class at Houston Baptist University, and she learned a lot about the meaning of worship. I know the book made her think because she left this quote on her Facebook page:

“For some people the truth declared in worship will be received with exuberance; for others the truth of God’s story will be received with reserve, a quiet sense of joy, or even relief. But with us all, a worship that does God’s story should result in a delight that produces participation. Because God is the subject who acts upon me in worship, my participation is not reduced to verbal responses or to singing, but it is living in the pattern of the one who is revealed in worship. God, as the subject of worship, acts through the truth of Christ remembered and envisioned in worship. This truth forms me by the Spirit of God to live out the union I have with Jesus by calling me to die to sin and to live in the resurrection.”
Robert E. Webber, Ancient-Future Worship

41iZTZnvDJL._SY344_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_BO1,204,203,200_Drama Daughter (22) says she started many books, but didn’t finish many. She did finish, and enjoy, Sarah Dessen’s 2013 novel, The Moon and More.

Engineer Husband also has trouble finishing books, and he’s still reading his favorite from 2013, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Karate Kid (16) says his favorite read this year was Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. (Yuck!)

Computer Guru Son (26) recommends Anathem and Cryptonomican, both by Neal Stephenson. He’s also proud of having finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace—the whole thing, all 1000+ pages.

Betsy-Bee (14) read The Story of the Aeneid, an adaptation of the Virgil’s classic, plus some excerpts from the actual Aeneid, and she says it’s the the only thing she really remembers reading from 2013. She promises to read more (and remember?) in 2014.

And Z-baby (12) is listening to Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis on her new Kindle. We have a family tradition of loving, reading, listening to, watching, and re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia. And long may it last!

12 Best Adult Fiction Books I Read in 2013

Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson. I just finished this story about an author who courts danger by using the people of her small English village as characters in her novel. It was lovely.

A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert, reviewed at Semicolon.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I couldn’t really write a decent review of this probably-too-long story about the aftermath and reverberations of the Columbine shooting in the lives of a young couple, but despite having scenes and and indeed, entire sections, that could have been edited out (IMHO), the parts that were good, were very, very good. Actions matter. No man is an island. We make choices that affect others.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell.

The Rosemary Tree by Elizabeth Goudge.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan, reviewed at Semicolon. Spy fiction/romance with all the twists and turns that would be expected in both.

January Justice by Athol Dickson, reviewed at Semicolon. Mr. Dickson, one of my favorite Christian authors, enters the genre of detective thriller with a complicated hero in a sticky situation. And there’s no explicit sex, bad language or nastily described violence.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, reviewed at Semicolon. This novel from a Nigerian/American author is classified as young adult fiction in my library, probably because the narrator is fifteen years old, but I think it will resonate with adults of all ages, and with readers around the world because the themes–abusive relationships, religious legalism, freedom, and the source of joy–are all universal themes.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, reviewed at Semicolon. Sweet and sassy, and the author is over seventy years old? Congratulations, Mr. Bradley!

I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, reviewed at Semicolon. Set in Nigeria for my West Africa reading challenge.

A Light Shining by Glynn Young, reviewed at Semicolon. Sequel to Dancing Priest, the story of Michael Kent, Olympic cyclist, Anglican priest, and orphan with a mysterious past.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. A post on the Futuristic Computer Techie Fiction of Cory Doctorow and Mr. Cline.

12 Best Middle Grade and YA Fiction Books I Read in 2013

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool, reviewed at Semicolon. What a delight! Navigating Early is just the kind of novel that the Newbery award-givers, who have already awarded Ms. Vanderpool’s first book, Moon Over Manifest, a Newbery Award, would love. And I loved it, too.

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen, reviewed at Semicolon. The Runaway King is just as good as (or better than) the first book in the Ascendancy Trilogy, The False Prince, which was the Cybils award winner last year in the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category. In Book Two, Prince Jaren has become King Jaron, but his grip on the throne is none too secure. Both the neighboring kingdom of Avenia and the cutthroat Pirates are ready to attack

The Sound of Coaches by Leon Garfield, reviewed at Semicolon. This novel is an oldy-but-goodie, set in the 1700’s, published in the 1970’s. Garfield’s plot and characters and atmosphere owe a lot to Dickens. I was especially reminded of Great Expectations as I read this story of an orphan boy of mysterious parentage who is raised by a common coachman and his wife.

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck, reviewed at Semicolon. I loved that fact that this book is full of repetitive motifs and running gags and just gentle humor. The mouse world itself is delightful to explore. Set down in the secret, hidden pockets of Victorian England where Queen Victoria is about to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee: Sixty Years Upon the Throne, the mice study in schools, sew costumes and uniforms, pledge service to the Queen, and generally keep themselves hidden from but indispensable to humans.

Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan, reviewed at Semicolon. Even those of us who have never been persecuted or made to fear for our lives can identify to some extent with Habo, the albino protagonist of this novel, and his search for significance, his desire to see himself as more than just a zero-zero, the Tanzanian term for albinos.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, reviewed at Semicolon. Willow Chance is a twelve year old genius, but that one word isn’t nearly enough to encapsulate her distinctive voice and personality. Willow herself has a Voice that won’t quit. She’s a real person, maybe somewhat autistic, but fully engaged with the world. She gets hit hard by some of the worst stuff a child can go through in this story, but she is indefatigable. Great story, great characters.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, reviewed at Semicolon. This new companion novel to Code Name Verity is about 18-year old American pilot, Rose Justice, who joins the British Air Transport Auxiliary in order to help end the war. The story takes place in England, France, and later, Germany, as Rose’s flying assignments take her closer and closer to danger and destruction.

Orleans by Sherri Smith, reviewed at Semicolon. This apocalyptic YA novel is set in the future, sometime after the year 2025, after seven ferocious hurricanes have pounded the Gulf coast, after those hurricanes and Delta Fever, a deadly virus, have decimated the population, and after the United States has turned itself into two separate countries: the quarantined Delta Coast and the rest of the U.S., The Outer States, with a Wall in between and no travel between the two.

Love, Chickens, and a Taste of Peculiar Cake by Joyce Magnin, reviewed at Semicolon. Wilma Sue forms a bond with two rather peculiar and unorthodox missionary sisters, as she tries to figure out just what it is that makes the cakes that Ruth bakes so magical and what gives them healing properties.

The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy, reviewed at Semicolon. Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan, and Prince Gustav are back, and they’re just as klutzy and heroic as they were in the first book in this series, The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.

The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarzab, reviewed at Semicolon. This YA novel gave a good picture of a teenager who never really did think much about religion, and her own Catholic tradition in particular, until she was confronted with her older sister, a former nun, for whom the issues of religion and God were all-consuming.

If We Survive by Andrew Klavan, reviewed at Semicolon. High schooler Will Peterson and three friends, along with their youth director from church, go to some unspecified country in Central America to build a school. While they are there, a revolution takes place, and Will and his group are caught up in the violence and politics of the country.

12 Books about Books that I Still Want to Read

By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life by Ramona Koval. Reviewed by kimbofo at Reading Matters.

Bequest of Wings: A Family’s Pleasure with Books by Annis Duff.

Phantoms on the Bookshelves by jacques Bonnet, reviewed at Stuck in a Book.

Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home by Susan Hill. Recommended by Beth at Weavings.

Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passions by Leona Rostenberg & Madeleine Stern. Recommended at Book Psmith.

A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan. Recommended by FatalisFortuna.

Reading the OED by Ammon Shea. Recommended at The Book Lady’s Blog.

Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point by Elizabeth D. Samet. Also recommended at Random Wonder.

Walking a Literary Labyrinth by Nancy Malone. Recommended at Indextrious Reader.

When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson.

A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books by Nicholas A. Basbanes.

Buried in Books: A Reader’s Anthology by Julie Rugg, reviewed at A Bookish Affair.

Don’t all of these sound delicious? What are your favorite books about books?

12 Best Nonfiction Books I Read in 2013

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. Recommended at Book Diary.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard.

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life by Rod Dreher.

Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with his Father’s Questions about Christianity by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.

Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton by Joseph Pearce.

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright, reviewed at Semicolon.

Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent by N.D. Wilson.

The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong, featured at Semicolon.

C.S. Lewis: A Life by Alister McGrath.

Saving a Life: How We Found Courage When Death Rescued our Son by Charles and Janet Morris.

Beautiful Nate: A Memoir of a Family’s Love, a Life Lost, and Heaven’s Promises by Dennis Mansfield.

Two biographies (Chesterton and Lewis), two autobiographies/conversion stories (Denise Chong and Rosaria Champagne Butterfield), two memoirs of the loss of a son (the last two on the list), a couple of inspirational apologetics titles (Boyd and Wilson), exposes of Scientology and of poverty in Mumbai, a narrative history of the assassination and death of President James Garfield, and a memoir of Rod Dreher’s encounter with death and community in small-town Louisiana: those were my favorite nonfiction reads this year. I recommend any or all of them, if you’re at all interested in the subject matter. Ms. Butterfield’s conversion story and Mr. Wright’s book about the history and inner workings of the Scientology movement were particularly thought-provoking.

Sunday Salon: Books Read in November and December, 2013

November and December sort of blended together for me, but the two months also were sharply divided by Before the Fire and After the Fire. We had a fire at our house a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re living in a rental house while the restoration people and the insurance people and the contractors and whoever else is involved, repair and restore our house. Thanks to the Almighty, all of the Semicolon family is uninjured and we are doing well.

But my reading for November and December is a little scattered and sometimes unexamined here at Semicolon.

Children’s and Young Adult Fiction:
The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen, reviewed at Semicolon.
Hold Fast by Blue Balliet, reviewed at Semicolon.
Moxie and the Art of Rule-Breaking by Erin Dionne, reviewed at Semicolon.
A Girl Called Problem by Katie Quirk, reviewed at Semicolon.
The Sound of Coaches by Leon Garfield, reviewed at Semicolon.
Allegiant by Veronica Roth, reviewed at Semicolon.
Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner, reviewed at Semicolon.
Andi Unexpected by Amanda Flower, reviewed at Semicolon.
Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Adult Fiction:
Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson.
Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson.
Mr. Ives’ Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos.

Nonfiction:
Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior, reviewed at Semicolon.
Becoming Ben Franklin by Russell Freedman, reviewed at Semicolon.
Home Front Girl by Joan Wehlen Morrison.
Women of the Frontier by Brandon Marie Miller, reviewed at Semicolon.
“The President Has Been Shot!” by James L. Swanson, reviewed at Semicolon.
Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent by Pearl Witherington Cornioley. Oddly organized, but this memoir might be of interest to fans of the YA spy novel, Code Name Verity.
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb. Strangely enough, despite the subject matter, I found this one to be mostly boring.
Tillie Pierce: Teen Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg by Tanya Anderson.
Wild Animal Neighbors: Sharing Our Urban World by Ann Downer.
Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by Nell Beram, reviewed at Semicolon.
Regine’s Book: A Teen Girl’s Last Words by Regine Stokke. Cancer memoir from a Norwegian teen with leukemia.

Preview of 2013 Book Lists #2

SATURDAY December 28th, will be a special edition of the Saturday Review of Books especially for booklists. You can link to a list of your favorite books read in 2013, a list of all the books you read in 2013, a list of the books you plan to read in 2014, or any other end of the year or beginning of the year list of books. Whatever your list, it’s time for book lists. So come back on Saturday the 28th to link to yours, especially if I missed it and it’s not already here.

However, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks gathering up all the lists I could find and linking to them here (Preview of 2013 Book Lists #1). I’ll be posting off and on between now and the 28th a selection of end-of-the-year lists with my own comments. I’m also trying my hand at (unsolicited) book advisory by suggesting some possibilities for 2014 reading for each blogger whose list I link. I did this last year, and I don’t really know if anyone paid attention or not. If you did read a book I suggested for you last year, please leave a comment, either negative or positive, so that I’ll know how well I did. I do know that I enjoy exercising my book-recommending brain.

If I didn’t get your list linked ahead of time and if you leave your list in the linky on Saturday, December 28th, I’ll try to advise you, too, in a separate post or in the comments.

Here are few early booklists I found while looking around the book blogs.Novel Novice: Best YA Books of 2013. Sara at Novel Novice makes all fourteen of the books on her best-of list sound like must-reads. They can’t all be that good, can they? For her, I’m recommending Orleans by Sherri Smith and A Matter of Days by Amber Kizer, both apocalyptic YA novels that were published in 2013.

Meg at A Bookish Affair: Best Books of 2013. One of Meg’s favorites reads in 2013, Buried in Books: A Reader’s Anthology by Julie Rugg, sounds particularly inviting. Meg enjoys historical fiction: I wonder if she’s read Prince of Foxes by Samuel Shellabarger, one of my favorite historical fiction novels? And since Meg enjoys “books about books”, a sub-genre I’m rather fond of, too, I suggest she check out Louis L’Amour’s Education of a Wandering Man.

Angela’s Anxious Life: Best Books I’ve Read in 2013. Angie seems to lean toward the dark side, Stephen King, dystopian series, and some graphic novels and fairy tale retellings. I wonder if she’s read What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell? In the re-spun fairy tale genre, I recommend Donna Jo Napoli’s The Wager and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card.

Fiction Fascination: Best Books of 2013. Carly recommends The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman so highly that I might have to actually read it this year. For this Irish mom and book blogger, I’m recommending The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde and Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin.

Rachel Held Evans: My five favorite books of the year. Ms. Evans should try Death by Living by N.D. Wilson and The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher. Both books would speak to the conservative side of her Christian roots, without, I think, infuriating the more liberal side of her thinking.

Carrie K at Books and Movies: Favorite YA Fiction of 2013 and Favorite Contemporary Fiction of 2013. Oh, Carrie, read Mrs. Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson. I just finished it, and I think you would like it a lot. For YA fiction, check out The Opposite of Hallelujah by Anna Jarjab.

Sarah Johnson at Reading the Past: 15 Memorable Reads of 2013. Sarah reads historical fiction, and she’s pretty much an expert on the genre. I think I want to read all 14 of her favorites. (I already read A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert, and I enjoyed it very much.) As for recommendations, I suggest (if she hasn’t already read them) Doc by Mary Doria Russell and River Rising by Athol Dickson.

37 Books of the Year as recommended by bloggers at Reading Matters. I can’t make recommendations for all 37 of the bloggers who participated in Kim’s Reading Advent Calendar, but I can recommend a book or two for Kim herself. She would do well to check out Wally Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed and I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, one of my favorite reads from this past year.

Mademoiselle Le Sphinx: Best Books I’ve Read in 2013. Mademoiselle is Aliaa El-Nashar, an Egyptian young lady living in Cairo who loves to read. For her future reading I propose Orleans by Sherri Smith and and oldie but goodie, The Little World of Don Camillo by Italian author Giovanni Guareschi (because Aliaa is studying Italian at the university in Cairo).

Amara’s Eden: Best Books I Read in 2013. Amara’s list includes everything from Stephen King (Carrie) to YA to picture books. Amara seems to be participating in an ongoing (?) C.S. Lewis reading challenge, for which I recommend The Great Divorce. And since Amara likes horror, I’d suggest she go back to the classic horror author, Edgar Allan Poe, and sample some of his short stories.