November totals

The STLCC Reading the Dream Team read 24 books in November, 7460 pages. We had 12 participants.

Thinspired by Mara Schiavocampo
Closer to the Heart by Mercedes Lackey
Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the world that made him
Mistress of the Wind by Michelle Diener
Polio: an American story byDavid Oshinsky
Escape from Camp 14: one man's remarkable odyssey from North Korea to freedom in the West, by      Blaine Harden
Checking Out Love  by R. Cooper
A Little Familiar by R. Cooper
Soul  by Tobsha Learner
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Leaving Tabasco byCarmen Boullosa
Frangipani by Celestine Hitiura Vaite
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
A Breath of Snow and Ashes byDiana Gabaldon
The Givenness of Things by Marilynne Robinson
The Way of the Wolf by Martin Bell
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Sick in the head : conversations about life and comedy by Judd Apatow
Dashing through the snow by Macomber
Trimmed with murder by Goldenbaum
Winter Wonders by Melody Carlson
Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier

Anxiously Awaiting Winter!

...the newest book in the Lunar Chronicles (new window), not the season!

As a child, fantasy was always my go-to genre for reading and still is! The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer proved to be exceptionally appealing to me as an adult, especially the book titles. The main character for each book in the series embodies a well-known princess character from traditional literature, but the series is set in the future where the moon is now inhabited and that society is at odds with the people of Earth. The author creatively weaves folkloric traditions into the fabric of science fiction throughout the series and I anxiously look forward to getting my hands on Winter!

October Totals:

9692 pages
34  books
12  readers

Books we read in October: 

The Wilds	Donna Augustine
The Last Necromancer	C.J Archer
Her Majesty's Necromancer	C.J. Archer
Circus Mirandus	Cassie Beasley
Checked Out	Elaine Viets
The Bark Before Christmas	Laurien Berenson
Only a Kiss	Mary Balogh
Girl Waits with Gun	Amy Stewart
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up	Marie Kondo
The Library	Scott Douglas & Andy Sweat
Woof	Spencer Quinn
Just Mercy	Bryan Stevenson
In a Dark, Dark Wood	Ruth Ware
Cancer: What I Wish I Had Known When I Was First Diagnosed	Michele Ryan
Superfood Smoothies	Julie Morris
The Wright Brothers	David McCullough
A Lucky Life Interrupted	Tom Brokaw
The Cookbook Collector	Allegra Goodman
How to Be Black	Baratunde Thurston
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
The Best of Our Spies	Alex Gerlis
The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education	Karl Kapp
Games, Gadgets and Gizmos for Learning	Karl Kapp
Because of Mr. Terupt	Rob Buyea
Euphoria	Lily King
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay	Elena Ferrante
East of Eden	John Steinbeck
Fates and Furies	Lauren Groff
Funny in Farsi	Firoozeh Dumas
Above the Waterfall	Ron Rash
The Stupidest Angel	Christopher Moore
A Dirty Job	Christopher Moore
Just Mercy	Bryan Stevenson
The Maid's Version	Daniel Woodrell

Try to remember, that time in September...

I am way, way, late getting the totals up for September!
Give me a break, it's my first time.
September marks a new year for the MO Book Challenge. Here's what we read:

Brick Lane/ Monica Ali
How to Be Both/ Ali Smith
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban/ J.K. Rowling
The House of Memories / Monica McInerney
Go Set a Watchman/ Harper Lee
Friction/ Sandra Brown
Make Me : a Jack Reacher Novel/ Lee Child
Steadfast / Mercedes Lackey
Blood Red/ Mercedes Lackey
The Maid’s Version/ Daniel Woodrell
Little Women / Louisa May Alcott
Make Me / Lee Child
And then there were none/ Agatha Christie
Run you down / Julia Dahl
The Burning Room / Michael Connelly
To kill a mockingbird/ Harper Lee
The Fiery Cross/ Diana Gabaldon
The House of Memories / Monica McInerney
Euphoria / Lily King
How to be a grown-up/ Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Novel Habits of Happiness/ Alexander McCall Smith
Alphabetical/ Michael Rosen
Found Floating/ Freeman Crofts
Woof/ Spencer Quinn
The Road to Character/ David Brooks
Font of Life/ Garry Wills
My Rock and Salvation/ Zip Rzeppa
The Night Circus/ Erin Morgenstern

That's a total of  28 books, 10,335 pages, and 11 team readers!!

August Numbers. Finally. :)

The last month that I will be posting our numbers for the Missouri Book challenge.  I believe Mrs. Janice Hovis will be taking over statistician duties next month.  Have fun, Janice!  Get yourself a big ole binder!  :)

Okay, how did we do for August?  Well, let me tell you...

11 people

29 books

9427 pages

For those that like to look at what kinds of things us librarians read...

Young Eliot: From New York to the Waste Land by Robert Crawford

Brush Back by Sara Paretsky

Shirley: A Tale by Charlotte Bronte

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Bertie Plays the Blues by Alexander McCall Smith

Haunted by Kay Hooper

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

A Slender Thread by Katherine Davis

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn

Wicked Charms by Janet Evonovich

How to be a Grown-Up by Emma McLaughlin

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Brown

Woof by Spencer Quinn

Bee Line to Trouble by Hannah Reed

The Lion by Nelson DeMille

Palace of Treason by Jason Matthews

V for Vendetta by Steve Moore

A dirty Job by Christopher Moore

the Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

On God's Side by Jim Walls

Thomas Crammer: Theologian by G W Bromily

Our Daily Bread: German Village Life by Teva J Sheer

The Book of Common Prayer by Alan Jacobs

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

July Numbers

I'd love to read to you, little man!  :)

Sorry, the first of my little birdies flew the coop this week and I'm wishing for my little man again.  

Here are the numbers for July:

11 people
49 books
13,910 pages



The things we read:

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
Language Arts by Stephanie Kallos
The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
Langston Hughes by S. L. Berry
Shirley: a Tale by Charlotte Bronte
A Dog's History of the World by Laura Hobgood-Oster
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
World Gone By by Denis Lehane
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Invisible City by Julia Dahl
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Reckless by Tom Clavin
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
Communion Town by Sam Thompson
Raising the Global floor by Jody Heymann
Last Chain on Billie by Carol Bradley
Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
How it All Began by Penelope Lively
Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacobs
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
A Perfect Match by Fern Michaels
A Murder, A Mystery, A Marriage by Mark Twain
Not Always a Saint by Mary Jo Putney
Purl Up and Die by Maggie Sefton
Little Heathers by Mildred Kalish
Street Craft by Riikka Kuittinen
Cultivating Creativity by Maria Fabrizio
How to be Both by Ali Smith
Started Early, took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie
The City & the City by China Mieville
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson
The Swimmer by Joakim Zander
Beginning HTML and CSS by Rob Larsen
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Way of Jesus Christ by Jurgen Moltmann
On God's Side by Jim Wallis
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
The Water Knife by Paulo Bacigalupi
The Wealth of Nature by John Michael Greer
Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
The Cove by Ron Rash

JUNE STORMS BROUGHT OUT THE READERS IN US

What everyone wants to know....

23 people
52 books
15,177 pages



The Books We Read:

I, Richard by Elizabeth George
Just One Evil Act: A Linley Novel by Elizabeth George
Walt Whitman by Nancy Loewen
The Smartest Book in the World by Greg Proop
Cambodia: Report From a Stricken Land by Henry Kamm
Rothstein: the Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius that Fixed the 1919 World Series by David Pietrusza
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Gateway to Freedom: the Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Toby's Room by Pat Barker
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
The Money Class by Suze Orman
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
Bitter River by Julia Keller
The Storied Life of A J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The Free World by David Bezmozgis
A Shiver of Light by Laurell K Hamilton
Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
Swamplandia by Karen Russell
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron
Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
The Book of Love by Roger Rosenblatt
Jack of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
The Bees by Lalhe Paull
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz
The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor
The Way of Christ by Jurgen Moltmann
Thomas Cranmer: Theologian by G.W. Bromiley
The Mark of the Christian by Francis Schaeffer
I Was a Child by Bruce Eric Kaplan
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Life Studies by Susan Vreeland
Early Warning by Jane Smiley
The American Lover (and Other Stories) byRose Tremain
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
I Take You by Eliza Kennedy
Long Man by Amy Greene
The Children Act by Ian McEwan

APRIL READING

Our numbers for the month of April...

12 people
51 books
14977 pages




FV                    HP                    MC
4 people           2 people           6 people
20 books          8 books            23 books
6806 pages      2640 page        5531 pages


Some of the books we read are...

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding
The High Window by Raymond Chandler
Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr
Blue Labyrinth by Preston & Child
Master Thieves by Stephen Kurkjian
Dead Man's Chest by Kerry Greenwood
Priscilla & Babe: From Slavery's Shackles to Millionaire Bordello Madams in Victorian St Louis by Julius Hunter
The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
Bitter Medicine by Sara Paretsky
Guardian Angel by Sara Paretsky
Blood on the Water by Anne Perry
Cemetery Yew by Cynthia Riggs
Poison Ivy by Cynthia Riggs
Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback
The Affair by Lee Child
The Bees by Laline Paull
A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
The Third Gate by Lincoln Child
Marjorie's Story of Her Father, Her Mother, and Her Own Early Years by Marjorie Scott
The Quick by Lauren Owen
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
Pity the Billionaire by Thomas Frank
As chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman
The Song Forever New by Paul chilcote
The Paradox of Generosity by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson
Churchless by George Barna and David Kinnaman
The Middle Ages by Johannes Fried
Calico Joe by John Grisham
Murder with Puffins by Donna Andrews
Arsenic and Old Books by Miranda James
Whiplash by Catherine Coulter
Emma by Alexander McCall Smith
Double Fudge Brownie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Scarlet by Miranda Meyer
Cress by Miranda Meyer
Gabriel: A Poem by Edward Hirsch
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Small Hours by Illyse Kusnetz

Trigger Warning

by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has been one of my favorite authors since I read his very dark Sandman graphic series years ago on my son's advice. I loved his novels American Gods and Anansi Boys, and some of his young adult novels including the prize-winning The Graveyard Book. Maybe it was the hype and expectations, but I was a bit disappointed in his more recent award-winner, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Don't get me wrong, it was a good story, well-written, it just seemed a bit thin, like a long short story rather than a short novel. With all that background, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Trigger Warning, his latest collection of short stories. Well, I  wasn't disappointed. The stories are all different, all interesting, all with unexpected twists. I particularly liked the one about un-inventing things, and the Doctor Who story, and the Sherlock Holmes story...well, all them.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Our esteemed colleague and reading machine, Abby DeShane, has decided to rejoin the efforts of bringing our competition to their knees!  Welcome back Abby!  So glad to have your numbers back in the mix!!

Our District numbers:     14 people

                                           63 items read

                                           17035 pages

It breaks down like this:       FV               HP               MC               WW

                                              4                  2                   7                    1

                                              23                4                   30                  6

                                              8697            1086             5272             1980

And now for a select list of things we read last month:

Busy Body: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M. C. Beaton

Death of a Liar: A Hamish Macbeth Mystery by M. C. Beaton

Death of a Valentine by M. C. Beaton

Something Borrowed, Something Dead by M. C. Beaton

The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry

Long Spoon Lane by Anne Perry

Seven Dials by Anne Perry

Slaves of Obsession by Anne Perry

A Sudden, Fearful Death by Anne Perry

A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron

Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell

The Gray Mountain by John Grisham

The Boys in the Boat by David James Brown

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

America's First Adventure in China: Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation by John R. Haddad

American Hipster: A Life of Herbert Huncke by Hilary Holladay

The 1920s: Luck by Dorothy and Tom Hoobler

Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

The Big Necessity by Rose George

The Word Exchange: A Novel by Alena Graedon

Whistling in the Dark: A Doubter's Dictionary by Frederick Buechner

Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC by Frederick Buechner

Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert

The Innocent by David Baldacci

Bitterroot by James Lee Burke

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

The Ploughmen by Kim Zupon

Lillian on Life by Allison Lester

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

More Awesome Than Money by Jim Dwyer

Saint Brigid's Bones by Phillip Freeman

Unbecoming: A Novel by Rebecca Scherm

Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance by Julia Angwin

The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer

The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

Station Eleven by Emily St John

The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley

Crazy Love You by Lisa Unger

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

The Bees by Laline Paull

Hushed Voices by Herbert Adam

Brrr....Winter Reading Comes to STLCC

The number of participants in the book challenge continues to diminish, but some of us are still plugging away...

13 people read
46 books, for a total of
15,844 pages!






Want a breakdown by campus?  Here ya go:

                     FV                    HP                    MC
people           3                        3                       7
books           10                       9                      27
pages          4111                  3473                  8260


What we read:

11/22/63 by Stephen King
Rose Gold by Walter Mosley
Inferno by Dan Brown
Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay
Book, Line and Sinker by Jenn McKinlay
Cloche and Daggar by Jenn McKinlay
Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay
Read it and Weep by Jenn McKinlay
A New York Christmas by Anne Perry
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
People of the Morning Star by W. Michael and Kathleen Gear
People of the River by W. Michael and Kathleen Gear
Ways of Seeing by John Berger
All the Light We Can Not See by Anthony Doerr
Unlucky 13 by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
A Place at the Table by Susan Rebecca White
The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
Aquamarine by Carol Anshaw
Snow Angels by James Thompson
Lucifer's Tears by James Thompson
Helsinki White by James Thompson
Helsinki Blood by James Thompson
Bone Dust White by Karin Salvalaggio
Adobe Photoshop CC Clasroom in a Box
Midnight RisingL John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the civil War by Tony Horwitz
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Something Rich and Strange by Ron Rash
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Wild Ran the Rivers by James D Crownover
Missing Reels by Farran Smith Nehme
Lillian on Life by Allison Jean Lester
Milton's Brief epic:the Genre, Meaning and Art of Paradise Regained by Barbara Keifer Lewalski
J.S. Bach's Johannine Theology by Eric Jaffe
The English Poems of John Milton 
An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of  Herbert Hoover by Richard Norton Smith
Voyage by Diana Gabaldon
The Bees by Laline Paul

The Bees

Can you imagine an entire novel written from the point of view of a worker bee? I found this while browsing the shelves for something to read over the holidays. I thought it might be difficult to get into, but I couldn't put it down. Flora 717 is a rebellious individual in a society that values conformity. Her curiosity and secrets put her in danger but also enable her to rise from the lowest level of workers, to a valued forager, to a final triumph and the salvation of her hive.
The Bees by Laline Paull, 2014.