Rated Trail of Lightning 10/10
This was a lot of fun. I was late to reading it because it looked a little bit like a somewhat formulaic YA book with the prickly heroine, but it has enough to distance itself from most of the similar books and I liked the combination of future post-apocalypse with indigenous mythology.
Rated Heartwood 6/10
A quick and easy read I picked up for a local mystery book club. I would've liked more writing from the point of view of the woman who was lost in the woods and also feel it took too long to find out how she got lost considering at least some of the chapters were from her POV. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the reason albeit a very terrifying reason which writing that I realize I didn't truly feel??<br/><br/>I also did a lot of skimming of the chapters from the POV of the elderly woman who ultimately figured out what must've happened to the hiker and called it in. Less of her would've been the trade-off for chapters from the hiker. I suppose also less of the interviews/calls with her hiking buddy.<br/><br/>I feel like I'm trashing this book, but I think my dissatisfaction is mainly from too many POVs that also weren't of interest to me. YMMV. I still kept reading to the end and enjoyed the core of the story well enough.
Rated Changes 8/10
My re-read of this book took me twice or thrice as long as previous Dresden novels have and I'm pretty sure why. With the previous book I also took longer than usual, so part of it is I think I finally was reaching burn-out with the series. However, I also knew where this book was going to end, more clearly than pretty much all other previous books. I was reluctant to get there. I'm not surprised that Butcher only went 3 more books in the series after this. Dresden had reached either a dead end or a peak, depending on how you look at it, and Butcher seemed to be having a hard time figuring out where to go next. As I make my way through these last books to get to the new books he surprise-dropped in the last year, I hope the 5 years he took away from The Dresden Files gave him a fresh outlook on the series.<br/><br/>As for this book, it really is a culmination of a lot of storylines that have been building throughout the whole series. It's not something hidden in the book blurbs, but in case you've not read it and don't know the main plot I'll hide here that immediately dropping on page 1 that <spoiler>Susan had his child (from that scene you know you've not forgotten) and hid the fact from him</spoiler> and that's an immediate motivation to drop everything and run off to blow up villains for doing him wrong (again) really rankled. On one hand, that's typical Harry without it even having to be personal, but on the other it comes off too sudden for my taste. There were even more secrets dropped about Harry's past by the end of the book, so there's that to look forward to. I don't remember if there's one more shoe to drop, but there's one last detail of that background that hasn't come out yet that I hope does.<br/><br/>For once I'd say that there was really only one storyline throughout the novel and almost all of it involved Harry jumping out of the pan and into the fire repeatedly and finally having to make really ugly deals in exchange for help and firepower. I'd say that was almost the most boring part of it all. Some things happened near the front of the book that I'd even already forgotten about by the time they were mentioned in passing near the end. Yikes. That ending, though. Unforgettable and - at the time the book came out - shocking and devastating considering one minute the reader is unexpectedly hopeful and then. And then, indeed.<br/><br/>Finally, here's my bullet points of things that happened that I want to remember and be able to look back, so if you're averse to probably major spoilers, time to skip out.<br/><br/><spoiler>1. The first indicator this book was going to really be about Changes, vampire Arianna had bombs set in Harry's work building all around his floor and has the building blown up.<br/><br/>2. Susan hasn't been around, but she gives Molly the once over like she's a threat? Sure, the dumb teen is lovesick for Harry, but she's like a kid niece to Harry.<br/><br/>3. Finally Harry's literal fairy Godmother makes an appearance! The Leanansidhe appears calmly sitting in his recliner petting Mister after the FBI has turned his apartment upside down trying to find something to pin on him after the building blew up. The last time we actually saw her was 4 books ago in "Proven Guilty" when Queen Mab was busily reprogramming her at Arctis Tor. Things always go interestingly off the rails when Godmother Lea shows up!<br/><br/>4. On the Harry tour of trying to drum up assistance, he gets Marcone's magic bodyguard Gard to take him to her boss in Oslo, "Donar Vadderung." It's a short scene, but obliquely we're lead to the name drop that he's really Father Odin. I didn't realize until just now re-reading this chapter, but one of the stops in the Ways to get to him in Oslo dropped the huge hint that they stopped "before the roots of a vast old tree whose trunk could have contained my apartment with room to spare for a garage." Cute. Also, although never named, his twin receptionists are Hugin and Munin, whom he refers to as "M." He also hints after a good laugh that he's also Santa Claus. Too bad he doesn't offer his help other than telling him Maggie will be in Chichen Itza for sacrifice and about the death curse pointed at Dresden and all his ancestors and descendents.<br/><br/>4b. Why the hell is it Latin America is always only ever discussed about their ritual sacrifice?? Imagine if that was the only thing ever discussed about the Saxons or the Romans or the Brittons? It's tiresome. Native Americans were more than a blood cult.<br/><br/>5. In the middle of all this there were some vampires that even having just finished reading about them keep being totally forgettable to me. Esteban and Esmeralda are lunatics sent by Arianna to try and kill him. In the process, and to add even more Changes to Harry's life, they burn down Harry's apartment house. He manages to get out his elderly landlady and her elderly neighbors, but not without first falling a couple of stories and breaking his back on the landing.<br/><br/>6. In the "hitting everyone up to beg for help" tour, he calls in archangel Uriel asking to fix his paralysis. All that guy did was confirm that it was true Maggie was his daughter and not Susan lying. Next stop: Queen Mab. And there finally was the big deal the book was heading towards. Of course she's been trying to get him to be her Winter Knight since... at least Book 4? Harry is finally desperate enough and he agrees. The price? Kill the broken, tortured remnant of the last still living Winter Knight who dared try to betray Queen Mab, Lloyd Slate, whom she's been torturing all those years since that previous book. Partly out of mercy and mainly to get the power he needs to save Maggie he does it. The deal is then that he gets to be himself and take care of all his business saving his daughter and then he'd completely be hers until he dies. Wow. The deal you knew was coming someday, but there it was.<br/><br/>7. It's always fun for me when Harry suddenly goes on a side trip to buy a stack of pizza because you know what's coming next, an appearance of the great Little Folk lead by Toot-toot! In this case to help Harry find Susan who was taken into custody by the FBI for having been seen at Harry's apartment and a "known associate" who might've been involved with the work building bombing.<br/><br/>8a. Amusing moments:<br/><br/>While Harry is plotting the attack everyone is figuring out who's who from the LOTR Fellowship. When Harry asks who he ended up being Sanya tells him Sam, of course. Which exasperates Harry because Gandalf was RIGHT THERE lol, but to which Sanya says, "Sam was the true hero of the tale... he faced far greater and more terrible foes than he ever should have had to face, and did so with courage... went alone into a black and terrible land, stormed a dark fortress, and resisted the most terrible of temptation of his world for the sake of the friend he loved... in the end, it was his actions and his actions alone that made it possible for light to overcome darkness." How's that for a tearjerker?<br/><br/>8b. On the last run at the temple in Chichen Itza, Lea gets cute and turns everyone into dogs, ones who can't communicate. Who can communicate? Mouse, of course! What does he say when she does this? "That <i>bitch</i>." lol<br/><br/>9a. The three big reveals/events in the end. One was that just as you think Susan is going to take out the crazy Red Court King, Martin kicks her out of hiding making her drop <i>Amoracchius</i> and reveals himself to have been a traitor double-agent for hundreds of years now, slowly getting into place to take out the entire semi-vampires of the Fellowship of St. Giles.<br/><br/>9b. The bigger reveal of the whole thing is that Arianna's goal wasn't just to take out Dresden as revenge for husband Ortega's death, but pull of a whole coup because she knows that more important than Thomas, Harry has another living relative: his grandfather, Ebenezer McCoy, the White Council Blackstaff. Tun-tun-TUN! And not a moment too soon the Blackstaff rides to the rescue with 11 other members of the hooded "Grey Council," one of whom Harry realizes is none other than Father Odin who gives him a respectful tip o' the hat before stepping back out into the Ways after the rescue.<br/><br/>9c. You know someone had to die, right? It turns out that while Martin was on the surface doublecrossing Susan and Harry and St. Giles, he was actually pulling off the long con of the triple-cross and was betting on Susan being turned into a vampire trying to save Maggine. As a newly minted vampire of the Red Court, Harry took advantage of the moment and took out the entire Red Court of vampires by killing Susan. Wow wow. No more Reds!<br/><br/>10. Finally, my favorite bullet point as always: Murphy. She's there for Harry from the beginning, charging the FBI building to get out Susan and to the death at Chichen Itza. Literally, she is his ride or die. She makes the choice to help him even if it costs her beloved job of law enforcement, which it does. Thankfully, it doesn't cost her life. She even starts to contemplate taking up for real the Sword of the Cross, <i>Fidelacchius</i>. What else was she contemplating? Finally taking up with Harry Dresden. YES. Of course, just as Harry starts feeling happiness and hope at the prospect waiting for her to come back and pick him up, Fate steps in and the book ends with Harry alone and shot sinking into Lake Michigan.</spoiler><br/><br/>Wow, that was way more bullet points than I thought I had in me. A lot more of note happened than I'd realized. Onward towards a little detour in the series, a set of "Side Jobs."
Rated Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces 10/10
This is excellent. The prose is nearly transparent and it's almost like a selection of short biographical essays about the author's life and moving to Canada as a child, lots of culture clash and immigrant parents not having the same values as their child, but it is full of heart (and grief) and moments of pop-culture (like nu metal, and wrestling fan fiction) drawn very well.
Rated Galileo's Dream 4/10
At last I've finished this book! I don't remember when I may have gotten it, but it's obvious it was once a library book, so I must've bought it from the local library system's clearance fundraising book cellar. Having read and loved thoroughly Robinson's Mars trilogy in high school, I figured it was way past time I read another of his books. The summary of the plot in the flaps sounded so interesting and completely in my wheel house. A founder of science, time travel, and the future in the balance? Yes, please.<br/><br/>And then it took me three months to struggle with finding the desire to struggle through it to the end. It turned out it did have the components covered in the book flaps. Unfortunately, that write-up was much more exciting sounding than the actual novel. The overwhelming majority of the time is spent in the 1600s and most of it Galileo moaning or complaining about something or the other. Or going on about his various relatives who were all hangers on wholly dependent on him.<br/><br/>If you're really into historical fiction of 1500s/1600s Italy, then you'll enjoy this book a lot more than I did. It's not poorly written, it just really wasn't what I was interested in. I would've loved a lot more time spent in the future and with those aliens on Jupiter and Europa etc. Instead I got a lot more about Galileo and descriptions of his hernia and the truss he used to keep his guts in place, constant drinking, and constant need of money not to mention his impoverished starving daughters he stuck in a convent. By the time the future people change the end of his life, I'd long stopped caring and just wanted to get to the end. The last 30 or so pages of the 527 were the most interesting of the lot. A novel from that final character's POV would've been way more interesting to me.
Rated Yesteryear 8/10
It seems this book touched a nerve for quite a few Goodreads reviewers! Yes, it's satire, but a lot of it is an exaggeration of the truth. Many many MANY women go through the cognitive dissonance of living squished into boxes they wouldn't otherwise live in.<br/><br/>Imagine if this woman hadn't been raised to believe she had to spend her adulthood as a breathing human incubator! If she had felt the freedom to have the one Maeve - or none at all! The merging of the 2 storylines met in the obvious and only way they could have.<br/><br/>It got a little bit dark at the end, but the way many people are socialized to live against their inherent nature often do end up in dark places. I think it also ended making a very valid point, too, which I'm not sure if I've seen mentioned enough. The people who are most hurt by this oppression of women are all the children they have. Some escape to live freer lives, but sadly many grow up to perpetuate the oppression and self-hatred.<br/><br/>Knowing that this story was somehow involved with Anne Hathaway before reading the book didn't take away from it. In fact, having watched enough of her work, I often easily pictured her as the main character. I look forward to seeing how they manage to put it together on screen.
Rated Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI 8/10
I learned about this book because of the Lily Gladstone movie from a few years ago. Usually when a movie or show is based on a book, I try to read the book first. I can imagine how this book could be made into a dramatic movie, but hopefully sticks close to the book. I was glad to zip along through it because it was written in a very approachable way, not dry at all unlike many non-fiction books written about historic events/tragedies against Brown people.<br/><br/>When the who and how came about, I didn't quite realize it, though, because it was rather abrupt without a lot of flourish. Not to mention, there were still (I forget how many but maybe) 100 pages left! I was increasingly annoyed at the penultimate chapter because it spent so much time on the FBI agent who closed the case, Tom White. It got a little excessive, in my opinion.<br/><br/>The final chapter, though, was both great and terrible. It covered a lot of details outside of the main ones White had closed. It was all so infuriating in the mindblowing racism and genocidal behavior that I was glad it was all put into one chapter at the end. If it had been added throughout the book, I would've had to keep putting it down from blinding anger. Many many MANY more people should've ended up in prison than the one who did. What an embarrassing lack of justice.<br/><br/>I look forward to one day catching the movie and comparing it to the historical facts.
Rated Battle Ground 6/10
A week ago when I finished and reviewed the previous book, "Peace Talks" (16), I noted the exceptionally unusual development(?) that for once Harry had spent the entire book actually exhausting every possible avenue of diplomacy and non-confrontation. Of course, the book left the reader on a "to be continued" note and this book immediately picks up there. Soon after I started this book, I came across an interview of Butcher in which he mentions that the two books came out back-to-back because they started out as a single book. Then as time went on and it became tome-like, he/his editor(s) decided to split it into two. And now it makes sense as to why "Peace Talks" was all diplomacy and, now that I've finished this book obviously by the title it was all battle.<br/><br/>So about that... As others have said in a few reviews I read when I was getting to the back end of the book, I really don't think it was a good move to split the story into two books. I think it was a bad decision of editing. Even if the last book had become 600pp long, 300pp of skirmish after skirmish, setting up a returning character in each one, just became repetitive and a bit tedious. I certainly skimmed a good 100 pages of the back half mainly making note of which characters showed up and what if anything unusual happened with each. Other than Harry, I'd say of allll the characters who got their spotlight, five of them I felt were of the most consequence by the end. By the time I got to the last one, with a twist, I mostly just wanted to get to the end. It's not a terrible book, but it's was definitely a misstep in what I expect from a Dresden Files book.<br/><br/>One final thought: Unsurprisingly, LOTR is one of Butcher's favorite and influencing books. Remember Archangel Uriel giving Dresden a copy of "The Two Towers" in "Small Favor" (10)? It seems that we're up to "The Two Towers" with this endless battle.<br/><br/>And now here's where I put all the spoilers, so if you've not read this book, now's the time to stop reading or to not click this <spoiler>.<br/><br/>So yeah. All things had been pointing towards Murphy's death for a couple of books now. I was really hoping she wasn't getting off'd, but figured it was happening. I was still annoyed when it happened and had to put the book down for a short while before continuing the slog of endless skirmishes. On the other hand, as I and many others expected, she'll probably become a valkyrie. It would be the way to get around the whole immortal-mortal finite relationship problem, but there's the detail Gard said that everyone would have to forget who she was before the All-Father brings her back. So, how will everyone have their memory of her erased? That's what I'm wondering. A favor from Mab, Molly, or The Leanansidhe since at least 2 of them have pulled off that trick before? However, if it turns out she's really gone for good because Butcher decided to fridge her, what a garbage way to go. I mean, it's a garbage way to go either way, but the whole "she died killing a Jotun" just isn't true! She was killed by some asshat, Rudolph, who'd been ruining her life since nearly the beginning of the series! AFTER killing the Jotun.<br/><br/>As for the other 4, I keep rooting for the ever greater Toot-Toot! Now I'm kind of meh on the whole turning of Molly into the Winter Lady. I still roll my eyes at the whole Butters as a Knight with a light saber Sword. And finally, the big reveal at the end of Marcone getting his neck snapped by Ethniu and thrown on the ground only for the the head to rotate back and the second pair of eyes appearing above Marcone's, the eyes of Denarian Thorned Namshiel. Yep, he's been hiding out in Marcone since "Small Favor" (10). Ugh! I got so excited that Marcone's neck had been snapped! Only for this to happen! I've been wanting him gone since many books back. The good news is I can't wait for Mab to find out Marcone is colluding with Namshiel. She's going to rip him to shreds for Namshiel's attack on Arctis Tor back in "Small Favor"!<br/><br/>Now about Harry. "Excommunicated" by the White Council because he's become too powerful/scary. Also, he made a deal with Listens-To-Wind about having a conversation over what the hell is going on with the whole Starborn thing. Interestingly, as is left at the end once Ethniu the Last Titan is locked up in Demonreach, Mab decides to marry him off to Lara Raith - in a year's time. Mab and the White (Grey?) Council colluding? Or are they both manuevering to control Harry using the same star chart or whatever the hell? Honestly, the whole Starborn thing has dragged on long enough. Butcher needs to drop the knowledge already! How is this going to go on for another NINE books?? / rant</spoiler>
Wants to read The Fortress of Solitude
Rated Bossypants 8/10
Such a fun book. From the reviews I've read of it and comments I've seen of some of Fey's work and quotes, some people just don't get her dry, sarcastic, caustic humor. I'm not sure what others expected from this. Some sort of tell-all? I think it was written very much in her voice and I found it very hilarious. She also has a lot to say as a liberal, feminist, middle-class woman with which I would of course agree, considering myself those things as well. I remember seeing a comment on the internet that they had expected from her more (any?) views on working as a writer and comedian. I don't know what book they read, but it wasn't this one. The book is riddled with this with stories starting around college and doing improv to the near-present where she agonized over a seond pregnancy because 200+ people depend on her working to pay the bills, a financial concern she fortunately doesn't have anymore. Perhaps because she said all of it in a humorous way? I don't know, but I think that's the best way to cover serious subjects, a spoonful of honey helps the medicine go down.
Rated El viento conoce mi nombre 8/10
I picked up this book to read as a choice for a local library book club. I'd read a few months ago another Allende novel, "Violeta," and enjoyed it very much. Since I'm fairly fluent in Spanish I chose to read the original Spanish version rather than the English translation. A couple of times I made a comparison and found the English transation pretty faithful.<br/><br/>While reading this novel, I noted a few Goodreads reviews were a little down on this book and I have suspicions as to why, but I don't agree. I enjoyed the story and appreciated the converging stories comparing two different instances of refugees from human horrors of which one is a very common go-to for the Western world, the Holocaust. I find it telling when someone refuses to make that connection, that they're one and the same, and refusing to lend the same humanity and empathy to Latin American refugees.<br/><br/>About the only thing I would say I would make a minor criticism is the length it took to converge the 2 stories. It wasn't until approximately 3/4 of the way through that how they related was explained. Maybe it might've occurred to someone else and I usually consider myself fairly quick in those types of instances, but it didn't with this story. Regardless, the story is fairly true to real life in the horrible aspects and it would serve many people to read this book and fix their hearts to make that same connection themselves.
Rated Absence 8/10
I don't remember how I learned about this book, but I thought the premise was intriguing and immediately put it on my TBR list.<br/><br/>There's sometimes/often? a split between people who like to refer to stories as scifi and those who like to call the genre speculative fiction. I think to the general public sci-fi always brings to mind flashy technology and, for lack of a better term, a lot of "pew pew!" Sometimes what the plot may be speculating about our current condition, wrapped among all the pew!pew!, can be lost because of the flash. At some point while reading this book, Rod Serling-type "The Twilight Zone" came to mind. It's definitely sci-fi, but without all the flash of, let's say, 1970s+ sci-fi.<br/><br/>If you pick up this book looking for aliens and pat answers, you're going to be disappointed. It's definitely a more philosophical look at American culture and society under alienating circumstances with the remove of some sci-fi unknown cause which creates the hypothetical circumstances through which it can be viewed. I can't say I care for the final conclusion the main character closes the novel, but that's entirely the point. I easily see how the author extrapolated recent behavior into this novel. In a way, that's both tragic and sad.<br/><br/>Read this book for the what-if of what our society is like and where it's going riding on the idea of what Life Comes Next.
Rated The High Lord 8/10
What a huge difference in writing from beginning to end of this trilogy. I started book 1 a little disappointed at the level of writing while blowing through book 3, not because the writing continued to be so YA easy, but because it had become so rich in characters. Yeah, it was still fairly predictable, but I was happy to read that the nugget dropped in book 1 was used to help save the day in book 3. I would've been pretty mad, actually, if it had been just left there. Each book was progressively longer, but not to their detriment. It gave Canavan more time for world detail and character development which was definitely a bit lacking in book 1. Thankfully, there wasn't another weird aha! twist in the middle like there were in both previous books, so that was a relief. It really had come off as amateur, to be honest. The one question I asked in my book 2 review, did anyone really believe Akkarin was evil?, really fell to the wayside starting with book 3's back cover summary. I guess Canavan decided she wasn't fooling anyone, so she just let it go from the start. The ending though, I didn't expect. It even got a "WHAT?!" out of me, so good job. I felt it was rather sad and not what I would've liked necessarily for several of the characters nor how the New World Order, if you will, turns out, but that doesn't make it a bad ending. Like I always say, not all endings have to be perfect happily ever afters nor neatly tied off in a bow. There's a sequel trilogy of which I already have book 1, but I think I'm going to rest a bit from this universe and pick it up later when I'm ready to read more of the Guild's black magicians.
Rated Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder 2/10
I picked up this book in anticipation of checking out a local book club. This is their January read. However, the meet is scheduled for one of the days next week where it's supposed to be extremely cold and also, honestly, I did not enjoy this book.<br/><br/>I can't believe the amount of coffee and pastries these people drank and ate. And the amount of time spent describing and asking about pouring and making coffee and baking. Good grief! I wasn't interested in a cookbook, so I skipped through the many many pages of baking instructions for whatever baked good was just exhaustively discussed in the previous chapter.<br/><br/>Speaking of skipping, I didn't quite skip, but did do a lot of skimming not long after I started the book of alllll that coffee making, drinking, pouring, and baked good describing. It didn't help that after only a few chapters I noticed and then couldn't not notice how stilted everyone spoke. And how... staccato? all the writing was. It reminded me of the lessons drilled into me by English teachers to throw in some variety in your writing with sentence structure and vocabulary to keep your writing interesting.<br/><br/>I even checked the reading level of the book thinking maybe I'd not noticed the book club was for teens or something. Sad and horrifying this is supposed to be adult reading level. It's a slim recipe book with an attempt at a mystery on the side. When it finally got around to that, it was painfully obvious who was the murderer. And who would let them walk like that?? Yikes.<br/><br/>Not recommended above middle schoolers. And probably not even that considering all that recipe padding.
Wants to read The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite
Rated Small Acts of Resistance: How Courage, Tenacity, and Ingenuity Can Change the World 8/10
Amazing what little things others are willing to kill someone over and also amazing that people are willing to do them to show how oppressive and crazy those same other people are. A collection of short stories, I think this book is a good starting point for learning about history and horrific events in other countries. Also, some of our own. The book is an easy read, at least as far as style. Some of the events, not so much. Recommended for history and politics buffs.
Rated Dead Ever After 6/10
It was time. It was really time to put Sookie Stackhouse away. As I said in my review to the book before this one, I'd already lost a lot of interest in the series up to that point until I realized that there were only 2 books left and then the series was closed. I decided to read them for closure. Not that I thought it was bad, but it just wasn't as exciting as it had once been. As described in a list of books I saw, it was one of those series which fall under "outstayed its welcome."<br/><br/>So to this book in particular, it pretty much ended as I'd been predicting for years. The plot was fairly wacky and seemed to have little purpose. In the end, it still sort of felt that way, but its sole purpose was really just to get to The End. It conveniently tied up every loose end with little reasoning in its tying of many villains together and deposits you at the abovementioned End.<br/><br/>I suppose this might be satisfying to some, but to me it just came off as making it clear that there was going to be absolutely nothing left to give an excuse for continuation. However, since it was past its expiration date, I suppose that's a good thing.<br/><br/>Sad to see you go, Eric The Viking. It was good while it lasted...
Finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness
Rated A League of Their Own 8/10
I've loved the movie "A League of their Own" and is one of the (relatively) few movies I will re-watch without hesitation. A new generation is going to take a swing at a tv series version of the AAGPBL this month, so while digging around for a book to read I found this one and decided to read it. It turned out to be just a novelization of the movie, but it's great how indelibly the actors' performances are that I could picture every scene, every way the dialogue was played from reading this book. The movie really was pretty perfectly cast. I can't say enough about Penny Marshall's greatness, too. The dialogue and scene descriptions differed a little here and there, but considering the book was released on the same day as the movie, that's probably from slight editor/director changes that weren't going to make the novelization. Definitely not in 1992 anyway. As always, I recommend this story, in any format.<br/><br/>Sidenote: I've apparently had this book forever as it's stamped from the South Bend, IN public library where I've not been in for decades. Hopefully I bought it and didn't accidentally keep it!