Every book in this group is by K.J. Charles. Three of the four are the same series or an off-shoot, the other is the first book in a new series.

All four are historical M/M romances and all four have boinking.

Spectred Isle (2017)(8/10)

This is the first book in a (hopefully) new series, set after The Great War.

The war upended many things, and for Randolph Glyde, it destroyed his life, as he is the last of his line–almost all other members of his family having been killed during the war. Which makes him the sole heir to the magical traditions, and the protection of many places of power.

Saul Lazenby was disgraced during the war (and lucky he wasn’t shot for being a traitor) so he has been utterly unable to find work as an archeologist, and has ended up working with a man looking for historical traces of the supernatural.

Neither man trusts the other, but they keep being drawn to places and events and don’t understand why.

I really adore her world building–the magic use is marvelous, but her characters are even better. I’ve read a LOT of her books this year, and every character is distinct and engaging.

The Magpie Lord (2013)(8/10), Flight of Magpies (2014)(8/10)

Lucien Vaudrey has spent the last 20 years in exile, returning to England only after unexpectedly becoming the heir. His plan is to get things settle and get out of England.

Stephen Day is a Justicar–a magician who enforces the rules. Justicars are generally disliked by other magicians, and also frequently have to take care of magical problems no one else wants to deal with. Stephen also has a past with the Vaudrey family, and is very unhappy when asked to look in on a problem.

This is a three book series, that tells how the two men fell in love and how magic unexpectedly shaped their relationship.

Plus other stuff.

Rag and Bone (2016)(8/10)

This story is an offshoot of the Magpie series. Crispin Tredarloe was raised in an illegal magical tradition, and has been struggling to learn how to properly practice magic. Ned Hall is Crispin’s lover–and was displeased to discover he had a natural affinity for magic.

Both men fear being left, and each believes he isn’t good enough for the other, which is the second story-line of the book (the first being the magical problem that Ned has discovered.

I really like the world-building here, and I think the M/M romance fits in well with a world where magic users have to hide their practice from the general populace, since homosexuality could be a death sentence at that time.

The Books of 2018

This was a good year to catch up on some series I’d fallen behind on. I also came across two fabulous books by a new author. There are some great books here.

The Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan

Voyage of the Basilisk (2015)(8/10), In the Labyrinth of Drakes (2016)(8/10), Within the Sanctuary of Wings (2017)(9/10)

I’d had the Lady Trent series on my wish list for a couple years. I finally got the first book, and used gift cards for the next several, then just broke down and bought the last.

This series has some of THE most beautiful covers I have every seen. But beside that, it’s a marvelous story, set in a universe that is similar to the world after the Napoleonic wars, but still quite different, since the world has dragons.

Lady Trent grew up wanting to know about dragons, but education wasn’t something girls were truly allowed to have, since they were expected to marry and breed more ladies and gentlemen. This is the story of how Lady Trent became a natural historian, traveled the world, and generally turned things upside down in her search for knowledge about dragons.

It’s delightful and marvelous and doesn’t shy away from subjects that are of importance to female adventurers.

Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven King (2016)(9/10) [Raven Boys]

I’d pre-ordered this book, and then put off reading it because I didn’t really want to series to end. So I decided I should just re-read the entire series so it’d all be fresh in my mind when I read the final book.

I really adore this story. The main characters are teenagers, four of whom go to an elite private school, and one of whom is the daughter of a psychic who lives in a house of psychics, yet who has no psychic ability of her own.

My favorite character of the series ended up being the character I didn’t like at all in the first book. Ronan is extremely complicated, and was struggling with discovering his father’s body and the inheritance of his family.

Yeah, the other characters are also wonderful, but I adore Ronan.

Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017)(8/10), The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (2018)(9/10)

The first book is a YA coming of age. Monty is sent on a Grand Tour with his best friend Percy (with whom he has been in love for years) and told that if he can’t straighten himself up, he shouldn’t bother to come home, since his father has a new heir.

I had trouble getting into the first book, because Monty initially felt like a spoiled brat, until you discover just why he drinks and carouses so much.

The second book is about Felicity, Monty’s sister, who wants more than anything to become a doctor; except that women aren’t allowed to become doctors or surgeons.

It’s also a story of misunderstandings and acceptance and fighting for what you want.

Both books are wonderful.

Lish McBride

Freaks & Other Family (2016)(8/10), Firebug (2014) (8/10), Pyromantic (2017)(9/10)

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Lish McBride, yet I’d get a new book and I’d hold off reading it because OMG WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE IT??!!!

Reader, I am an idiot.

Freaks & Other Family follows the characters from the Necromancer series.

Firebug is a series following Ava, who has the unfortunate power of being able to set things on fire. This is unfortunate not just because a failure of control means she can burn down her home, but because the women in control of the local supernaturals likes to use Firebugs to punish those who don’t follow her orders.

It’s technically the same world as the Necromancer series, but there is no overlap of characters.

It is lovely however.

The Books of 2018

Since I discovered that I can borrow ebooks from the library, I got caught up on a couple mystery series this year.

Sherry Thomas is writing a Lady Sherlock series, which has good some beautiful covers.

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (2017)
The Hollow of Fear (2018)

You can see these are historicals, and are both from the same series.

I love the fancy dresses, and the woman walking away from you into the unknown. And I love the color changes.

Publisher: Berkley

Anna Lee Huber is writing two series that I’m reading.

Verity Kent
This Side of Murder (2017)
Treacherous Is the Night (2018)

The setting is post The Great War, and the art has a look that I (for whatever reason) associate with the Roaring 20s.

They’re interesting, and draw my attention to the woman. Also, as with her other series, the woman is facing away from the viewer, looking out into the world.

Publisher: Kensington

Lady Darby
A Brush with Shadows (2018)

This is obviously set at an earlier time than the other series, and the portrayal of the woman is more realistic than the other series, but the theme of the woman standing alone and looking out away from you is still there.

I like that although the covers are very different, they still have common elements.

Publisher: Berkley

A Treacherous Curse (2018) Deanna Raybourn

The covers for this series have all been beautiful. I enjoy looking at the different elements.

Publisher: Berkley

Lady Helena Investigates (2018) Jane Steen

This is far simpler than the previous covers, but it’s still very appealing.

Publisher: Aspidistra Press

Why Kill the Innocent (2018) C.S. Harris

I actually didn’t much care for several of the covers in this series, primarily because the model used for Sebastian didn’t look a thing like Sebastian should have looked like.

This lets you imagine more what the character looks like, which I very much prefer. I really did not like the model facing you–at least when that model didn’t look like the main character. But I think in general I prefer the looks of the main character to be left to your imagination.

I also really like the starkness of the cover. The series has been rather dark the past several books, and this matches that feel very well.

Publisher: Berkley

Berkley almost swept the field with their covers this year–they’re all beautiful and evocative.

The Books of 2018

Now onto some of my favorite covers for Fantasy books!

Very Important Corpses (2017) Simon R. Green

All the books in this series are similar–a man with his back to you walking into the gloom.

I think they actually make the books feel darker than they actually are, but I also suppose that at this point the fact that it’s Simon R Green should really give you a point of reference to the amount of irreverence to be found within.

I only wish the books made it more clear which number this book was in the series (that’s really a personal nit).

Publisher: Severn House Digital

Deadly Assessments (2018) Drew Hayes

I really liked all the covers for this series.

The first three books emphasize the accounting/finance angle to the series–because this book is about a vampire accountant.

All the books have drops of blood somewhere on some paperwork, and all have the same label-type-font that signals the kind of geek who has always carefully labeled and organized things.

Each cover is distinct, yet also clearly belonging to the same series. They’re fun, and give you a good idea as to the content.

Publisher: REUTS Publications

The Myth Manifestation (2018) Lisa Shearin

I actually hadn’t realized she’d switched to self-publishing, since the cover has only a few changes to the patterns of the earlier covers (the fonts are slightly different, for the most part).

I think the cartoon-y feel makes it clear this is a fun book (rather than a dark and serious book) and throughout this series, I love the fact that throughout the series, Mac is depicted as clearly being an active participant in the events and always positioned in front of Ian.

She is always wearing reasonable clothes, and is obviously not going to put up with any nonsense.

I think these covers do an excellent job of showing that this books are full of action, but fun and not taking themselves too seriously.

Publisher: NLA Digital LLC

Pyromantic (2017) Lish McBride

This is another relatively simple-looking cover, but it also gives you a distinct feel for the story. The two characters are bound together in some manner, although it seems also pretty clear they’re at odds at the start of the story.

The fire is obvious, which is good, since Ava is a fire-starter, and the red emphasizes that. It’s also clean and relatively straight forward.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Dark Queen (2018) Faith Hunter

I love that from the start ROC has always portrayed Jane as active–doing something, usually fighting and getting ready to go kick ass.

Even when they didn’t have a Native American model. Even when the outfits were (when you looked closely) patched together bits and pieces that were individually ridiculous. Even when they didn’t get it quite right, they still tried their best to make the covers true to Jane’s character.

I’m delighted that this series has become so popular and long-running, and that they’ve stayed true to what they started with that first cover.

And I absolutely adore their current model.

This is a wonderful addition to the series, and also ties into the feel of Nell’s spin-off series.

I love this cover.

Publisher: ROC

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (2018) Mackenzi Lee

The cover of this book, and the previous book in the series, is wonderful.

Both books give you a clear feeling for the main character (in the first book, Monty is a mostly dissolute rake. His sister, Felicity, is clearly something completely different, and that’s obvious from the cover.

The font and the little doodles help to show it’s a YA book, and it doesn’t take itself too series, and they also tie the two books together perfectly.

More importantly, they’re quite unlike anything else I came across, which made them stand out.

I’ll admit, that initially I didn’t care for the title, but it actually ties in extremely well with the story, in a way I was completely not expecting.

Lovely.

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Within the Sanctuary of Wings (2017) Marie Brennan

These covers are just flat-out gorgeous.

They are art, and I kinda want posters of them, except I don’t have anywhere to put posters.

But I still kinda want them because they did such and incredible job with these covers.

Publisher: Tor Books

Pretty good mix of publishers this year!

The Books of 2018

As I don’t much care for the kissing parts of romances, these are unsurprisingly non-traditional romance covers, even though they are boinking books. So keep in mind these are ALL boinking books.

Hamilton’s Battalion: A Trio of Romances (2017) Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole

This is a trio of novellas set during the revolutionary war, and revolving around Alexander Hamilton, in that his wife is collecting stories of those times.

These are LGBTQ romances, just so you are aware.

What do I love about this cover? First, it’s simple–four major colors. Second, there is no clinch, but the heart coming out of the rifle makes it clear these are romances. Third, the simple cut-outs of the soldiers make it clear the time frame. Especially with the background of the soldiers being the Declaration of Independence (that is a GORGEOUS touch there).

Also, I think it’s pretty clear from the two figures that these are LGBTQ stories.

I just think it’s an extremely well-done cover, and quite lovely.

Spectred Isle (2017) K.J. Charles

This is a M/M romance, and it’s an historical, although one sent in the early 20th century, in this case between the two world wars.

It’s also a paranormal romance, with one of the characters a magician, and the other a skeptic who works for someone who believes in the supernatural.

I love the lines of this cover, as well as how the man and the font evoke the roaring twenties, while the Green Man represents the magic.

Plus it’s just a pretty cover.

Unfit to Print (2018) K.J. Charles

This is another M/M romance.

The historical aspect is shown in the background of the man’s silhouette, of the tenement houses, but the silhouette is what I liked best. It’s quite clearly a man of African descent even though we don’t really have any of the details about him.

The text is also another hint to the fact this is an historical.

Again, I love the lines of the cover, the layout, the font, the fact that it gets across so many aspects of the story with a relatively straight-forward design.

And the last thing I want to note is that NONE of these books came out of traditional publishing houses. They were all published by the authors.

Which makes the covers all the more impressive, since I think we all have come to expect self published books to be a nightmare of fonts, horrible photoshop, and general awfulness.

These covers are instead wonderful.

The Books of 2018

And now, for the 2018 reading wrap-up!

My posts for the year look like the following:
Terrible Covers (this post)
Great Covers: Romance
Great Covers: Fantasy
Great Covers: Mystery

My favorite YA books of 2018
My favorite audio books of 2018
My favorite paranormal romance books of 2018
My favorite romance books of 2018
My favorite fantasy books of 2018
My favorite mystery books of 2018

For the most part, I try to limit this lists to books published in the past 2 years, but I’ll also make note of some older books I hadn’t read for a decade or so, and want to draw your attention to if you haven’t read them before.

Since only ONE book made my terrible list this year, we’ll open with that.

MY SINGLE HATED COVER OF 2018

The Duchess Deal: Girl Meets Duke (2017) Tessa Dare

This is NOT a terrible cover in and of itself. In fact it’s pretty inoffensive. Where it fails utterly is that it has literally nothing to do with the content and characters of the book.

“Only one act is required on your part. You must permit me to visit your bed. I’m well aware of my distasteful appearance. You need not fear any crude or lascivious attentions from my quarter. All encounters will be as dignified as possible. No lights, no kissing. And of course, once you are pregnant with my heir, we will be done.”

Ash was horribly scarred in the war, keeps the heavy drapes in his house closed, covers up as much as possible in front of everyone, and hates being seen in public.

That cover has absolutely NOTHING to do with the book, and in fact gives you no true impression of the characters AT ALL. Which is what makes the cover so terrible. Because Ash’s scarring is what makes him who he is–in fact it’s the reason he chooses Emma for his bride–because she desperately needs security, and he hopes granting her that will make up for having to be married to him.

Ash is angry and broody and self-loathing, and the book is as much about his coming to terms with Emma accepting him as he is as about the romance between the two (and to me, the far more interesting part of the story).

Also, Emma is awesome.

“I will not be your mistress. My body is not for let.”

“That can’t be entirely true. You’re a seamstress, aren’t you? Your fingers are for let.”

“If you don’t know the difference between a woman’s fingers and her womb, I would definitely not share a bed with you.”

Did I want to see scars and deformity? Of course not. But they could have at least tried to make the cover match the story.

And BTW, despite the boinking, it’s quite a good story, and I really liked seeing Ash’s growth and change. And I liked even more that there was no miracle solution–it was him coming to terms with his changed circumstances, and accepting himself.

Adeste Fideles laeti triumphantes,
Veníte, veníte in Bethlehem.
Natum vidéte, Regem Angelorum:

Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum

Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine,
gestant puellae viscera
Deum verum, genitum non factum:

Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum

Cantet nunc io chorus Angelórum
cantet nunc aula caelestium:
Gloria in excelsis Deo:

Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum

Ergo qui natus, die hodierna
Jesu, tibi sit glória
Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum:

Veníte adoremus,
Veníte adoremus
Veníte adoremus Dóminum

As I was late in posting most of the individual reviews, it seems about right I’m late in posting the monthly wrap-up. Winter is a lovely time for reading. And even more reading is done when the weather is too crappy to go hiking.

I stumbled across a new series that I thoroughly enjoyed this month: Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes. The books are as silly as you’d expect from the title, but they’re also charming and sweet and quite a bit of fun. If you like supernatural fantasy, I highly recommend checking this out.

I also got the follow-up to The Gentleman’s Guide…The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, and it was FANTASTIC. It’s not romance (even though the first book was an LGBT romance), and unlike the first book, there are fantastic elements. It’s a story of friendship and being who you are. It’s marvelous.

I also enjoyed KJ Charles’ Band Sinister, which is an historical LGBT romance, and is a bit like Georgette Heyer’s Venetia, but also very much not.

Fantasy, Supernatural

Fred the Vampire Accountant
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant (2014) Drew Hayes (8/10)
Undeath & Taxes (2015) Drew Hayes (8/10)
Bloody Acquisitions (2016) Drew Hayes (8/10)
The Fangs of Freelance (2017) Drew Hayes
Deadly Assessments (2018) Drew Hayes (8/10)
Very Important Corpses (2017) Simon R. Green (Ishmael Jones)
Diamond Fire (2018) Ilona Andrews (Hidden Legacy)

Fantasy, YA

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (2018) Mackenzi Lee (9/10)
Midnight Hour (2016) C. C. Hunter (Shadow Falls)

Mystery, Historical

Treacherous Is the Night (2018) Anna Lee Huber (8/10) (Verity Kent)
Inspector Hannasyde
Death in the Stocks (1935) Georgette Heyer
Behold, Here’s Poison (1936) Georgette Heyer
They Found Him Dead (1937) Georgette Heyer
The Raven in the Foregate (1986) Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael)
The Duke’s Gambit (2018) Tracy Grant (Melanie & Charles Rannoch)

Romance, Historical

Not Quite a Husband (2009) Sherry Thomas

Romance, LGBT

Band Sinister (2018) K.J. Charles (8/10)
Wanted, a Gentleman (2018) K.J. Charles
A Gentleman Never Keeps Score (2018) Cat Sebastian

Audio Books

Rivers of London
Midnight Riot, Audio Edition (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (10/10)
Moon Over Soho, Audio Edition (2011/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (9/10)
Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth, Audio Edition (2006/2008) Simon R. Green narrated by Marc Vietor (9/10) (Nightside)
Dead Men’s Boots, Audio Edition (2007/2009) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer (8/10) (Felix Castor)

As usual, eBooks lead the day, but I finished four audio books.

eBook: 19
Audio: 4
Multiple Formats: 4
Re-read: 6

Pretty evenly split this month.

Fantasy: 12
Mystery: 10
Romance: 11
YA: 2

Women are still ahead as far as author gender. Including pseudonyms, I’ve read about 70% female authors this year. Not my highest percentage ever, but definitely up there.

Male: 10
Female: 10
Initials: 1
Male Pseudonym: 1
Joint: 1

And those are the books of November.

This is pretty much a note to myself, so I can figure out next year, what I made this year.

Ultimate Green Bean Casserole – The Science of Good Cooking, by The Editors of America’s Test Kitchen

This was really really really really good.

Poultry Gravy – The Joy of Cooking, by Irma S. Rombauer

My roux needed to brown just a little longer.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes – The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2016 by America’s Test Kitchen

Bread Dressing didn’t follow a recipe (as usual).

Pickled Beets were my dad’s recipe.

Sweet Potato Casserole was my modified version of this recipe. (I use less sugar, and brown sugar, and whatever milk I had on hand.)

How is it November already?

I read some good books, and I also–for me–read a number of really awful books, including one DNF (did not finish). But let’s talk about the good ones!

Pyromantic by Lish McBride is a book I’d been holding off reading, because I tend to love her books, and so was saving it for unknown reasons. It’s a good book, and a good series, and now I want to go back and read the Necromancer series.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee surprised me. I initially had a very difficult time starting it, because the main character was kind of an annoying git. But then you discover more about him, and learn why he drinks so much, and suddenly I was halfway through the story and completely pulled in.

I’m also quite enjoying listening to Simon Green’s Nightside series. Marc Vietor is not an amazing narrator, but he’s solid and he does a good job with it. Plus, I’d forgotten how much I love this series.

So here’s what I read. You can see there were several books I REALLY did NOT like.

Mystery, Historical

An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters (Rating: 7.5/10) (Brother Cadfael)
Malcolm and Melanie Rannoch
Mission for a Queen (2016) Tracy Grant (Rating: 7.5/10)
Gilded Deceit (2017) Tracy Grant (Rating: 8/10)
Midwinter Intrigue (2017) Tracy Grant (Rating: 6/10)

Romance, Historical

His at Night (2010) Sherry Thomas (Rating: 7/10)
The Luckiest Lady in London (2013) Sherry Thomas (Rating: 7.5/10)
Lord of Scoundrels (1994) Loretta Chase (Rating: 8/10)
Captives of the Night (1994) Loretta Chase (Rating: 7.5/10)
Let Me Be The One (2002,2015) Jo Goodman (Rating: 7.5/10)
A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (2012) Jillian Stone (Rating: 4/10)
A Code of Love  (2014) Jacki Delecki (Rating: 1.25/10)
DNF: An Indecent Invitation by Laura Trentham

Romance, LGBT
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017) Mackenzi Lee (Rating: 8/10)
Unmasked by the Marquess (2018) Cat Sebastian (Rating: 5.5/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Pyromantic (2017) Lish McBride (Rating: 9/10) (Firebug)
Clean (2012) Alex Hughes (Rating: 5.5/10)

Audio Books
Nightside
Nightingale’s Lament, Audio Edition (2004/2008) Simon R Green narrated by Marc Vietor (Rating: 8/10)
Hex and the City, Audio Edition (2005/2008) Simon R Green narrated by Marc Vietor (Rating: 8/10)
Paths Not Taken, Audio Edition (2005/2008) Simon R Green narrated by Marc Vietor (Rating: 7/10)
Vicious Circle, Audio Edition (2006/2008) Mike Carey narrated by Michael Kramer (Rating: 8/10) (Felix Castor)

And the stats!

eBook: 15
Audio: 4
Multiple Formats: 4
Re-read: 6

Lots of ebooks, fewer audio books, mostly because of the stupid rain.

Fantasy: 6
Mystery: 13
Romance: 9

Majority mystery this month, but quite a few romances in there (that category had the books I REALLY disliked).

Male: 5
Female: 12
Male Pseudonym: 2

Males continue to fall behind in my reading material, and sadly, the romance that I finshed off by hate-reading, was written by a guy. The romance was terrible, but the mystery was ALSO terrible, so theoretically it doesn’t mean that guys can’t write romance. But it really was awful.

And those were the books of October!

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
— W. B. Yeats (1919)

Technically, this is in Maryland.

But it is labelled the Paw Paw tunnel, and Paw Paw is in WV.

I can’t believe we’d never been there before.

When building the C&O canal, they were in a race against the completion of rail lines, so they decided the it would be easier to build a tunnel than to follow the river (understandable really, because the river is really twisty and the riverbanks weren’t necessarily good for canal building).

It’s pretty impressive.

We totally counted all markers and found the four markers for shafts.

Oops.

After a long search, we found that there was a break in the rain on Saturday in the Berkeley Springs area. So that’s where we headed.

This is a beautiful, and we spent some time wandering around the town. I wouldn’t want to live on the main street, but it is a lovely little town.

The pools fed by the springs were quite high–higher than I ever remember seeing them.

They were also as pretty as they always are.

For something different, instead of going to Cacapon, went up to what used to be called Panorama Peak. Still not much color, but beautiful never-the-less.

Our friends ended up with two extra tickets for the Potomac Eagle in Saturday, and asked if we’d be able to go with them. A train ride AND time with two lovely small people (and their parents)? Of course!

Three of them rode in the gondola through the trough. Michael and I and one of the small people declined. I was more interested in the scenery than the eagles, and the small person thought the gondola would be too loud, since it was behind the engine.

It was a beautiful day, and there were actually eagles, but I enjoyed the view (even if there was almost no fall color).

Look an old house!

Look! A couple of walls that used to be a house!

Interesting rocks!

The river!

Fields and mountains!

An excellent day!