Berly's Books in 2011

May warm, dry, spring weather come SOON bringing happiness and good health, faithful friends and new ones, and LOTS of great books! Thanks for joining me here.

Favorites from 2010 include:

Shades of Gray, by Jasper Fforde
The Widow Clicquot, by Tilar J, Mazzeo
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barberry
The Lonely Polygamist, by Brady Udall
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Author Patricia Briggs

My Rating System:
***** excellent, go get it!
**** very good
*** still enjoyable
** disappointing
* not worth finishing

Here We GO!!!!




January Reads
(I have children ages 10, 14, and 18 and love to read books with them)
1. Charlie Bone and the Red Knight, by Jenny Nimmo *****
2. The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness *****
3. The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore ****
4. Maximum Ride, The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson ****
February
5. Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield (GR with Mark for Fantasy February) ***1/2
6. Maximum Ride School's Out Forever, by James Patterson ****
7. Maximum Ride Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports,By James Patterson ***1/2
8. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell *****
9. While I'm Falling, by Laura Moriarty ***1/2
10. The Fates Will Find Their Way, by Hannah Pittard ***
March
11. The Final Warning, by James Patterson ***
12. The Red Garden, by Alice Hoffman ****
13. Mother's and Daughters, by Rae Meadows ***
14. Sula, by Toni Morrison ***1/2
April
15. The Land of Painted Caves, by Jean M. Auel **
16. The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht *****
17. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson ***
18. Fang, by James Patterson ****
19. Sing you Home, by Jodi Piccoult ****
20. A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness *****
May
21. Paul McCartney, A Life, by Peter A Carlin reading

Hi Berly! I have two boys aged 10 and 12 who I read with so I will be interested to follow your reading with your children. Actually, I don't usually record those books on LT but perhaps I should...

Hi Soupdragon! Nice to see you here and Happy New Year! My youngest is a boy and we just finished up The Red Pyramid, which he liked, but not as much as the other series by Riodan (The Lightning Thief). He (we) also read Schooled for a book report in the realistic fiction genre. I think the multiple voices lost him a little, but still a good read. How about your little guys?

Does anyone know how to post a picture here? Mark?

Hi again. My 12 year old loves reading. Recent favourites have been the Artemis Fowl books and the Broken Sky trilogy. We are currently reading the Garth Nix Keys to the Kingdom series where each book is named after a day of the week. Only on Tuesday so far! The 10 year old is less of a reader. He reads Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid but is not keen on trying much else. Actually he would rather complete a puzzle or do maths than read a book- something he hasn't inherited from me!

I learnt how to post pictures today by following Christina's advice on her thread here

Good luck!

Welcome back! Tad put some great directions for html things in threads that include how to post pictures. See the wiki under "Important Threads"

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:75booksin2011

Kim- It's so nice to have you back! Jim supplied the link for adding pictures. It really is easy.
Did you ever get to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest? I listened to it, in mid-December. It was good. A nice close to the series.

Hi Kim

May 2011 be healthy for you!

Thanks Soupdragon and DrN! I will check out the directions a little later and give it a try. : )

Mark, Hi! I have the Girl waiting for me. Since it is the last one, I am saving it for a little later in the year. Glad to hear it has a satisfying end since I know he had more books planned.

Hey W1 -- right back at ya!

Post-surgery update: Still working on getting the hormones back in balance. My incision FINALLY healed...6 weeks later! The pain is not gone and the doctor told me I had at least two more months of recovery. Guess it was a big operation and I am impatient. Sigh. I am still wicked tired, but made it through two kids' birthday parties, Christmas and New Year's. Phew. Ready to collapse. : )

I spent the day today reading, playing Mah Jong and a pirate game on-line, and eating. Heaven!!

*smooch*

Pirate games?! Tell me more!

Hi Kim. Happy New Year!

Glad to hear the incision has healed, and I hope the hormones are soon under control. Sounds like anyone would be ready to collapse after getting through all the things you've been doing over the holiday period, never mind someone who's had major surgery! Get some rest!

Hi! I have you starred!

Here's wishing you a happy and healthy 2011!!

Found you, and consider your thread starred!

I hope you have a great 2011, with lots of fabulous books. I'm looking forward to reading your comments!

Stasia--I misspoke. The pirate game is on the computer, but not online. IT's Destination Treasure Island and it is the first game I downloaded onto my computer directly from the MAC store with no actual CD disks. Sorry.

Hi CatyM, tymgos and Wookie!! Happy New Year!!

Thought you all might enjoy these...
With best wishes for a very Happy New Year.

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.
Bill Vaughn

Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average. Which means you've met your New Year's resolution.
Jay Leno

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.
Anonymous

It wouldn't be New Year's if I didn't have regrets.
William Thomas

Happiness is too many things these days for anyone to wish it on anyone lightly. So let's just wish each other a bileless New Year and leave it at that.
Judith Crist

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.
Anonymous

Be at war with your vices; at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
Benjamin Franklin

New Year's Day is every man's birthday.
Charles Lamb

Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty.
John Selden

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
Oprah Winfrey

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.
Anais Nin

I think your thoughts in msg #1 makes an awfully nice New Year's resolution. here's to lots of friends and books--both new and old. :-)

I'm going to have to try that "...Lemon Cake" book, it sounds yummy.

What a wonderful collection of quotes! Thanks for sharing.

Here you are, Berly! Found you at last. Starred you so I can find you more easily when I next check into LT.

Hi Bonnie! Lemon Cake is an unusual read. Very Memorable!

Luxx--Glad you liked the quotes and nice to see you. : )

Cameling--Oh yay!! Glad you found me again.

Okay. I am not at 100% yet, but I am going to give yoga a try today. Wish me luck!

We have The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake at our library, and I just love the title. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I'm sure that I will do so just because I love the title.

I keep going back and forth about Lemon Cake but I think I need to add it to my teetering tower.

Love the quotes, Berly. I'm not a big Oprah fan but liked what she says about another chance to get it right. I appreciate new beginnings.

I hope you can take it a bit easier now that the holidays and birthday parties are over. Gentle yoga stretches sound like a great way to get stronger in mind and body.

How was the yoga, Berly?.............. Berly?!! someone quick.... untangle the woman and her left toe out of her right ear!

Good luck this year, Berly!

Lemon Cake is one I've been wanting to read, and I think your recommendation's tipped it onto my TBR pile for sure. And The Art of Racing in the Rain is my book club's March selection, if I remember correctly.

Too bad about the pirate game! I was looking forward to trying that one :)

Bileless New Year, dearest!

And TDM and I grinned over your card...so cute!

Thanks C! (#23) It is several days later and my toe is now out of my ear, so I can comfortably sit and type again. LOL! Did fairly well at yoga, all things considered. Skipped a few positions which required a little too much ab work, but otherwise, not bad! Pleasantly sore the next day, so I didn't overdo.

Hi Krys! (#24) Nice to see you here. You'll have to let me know what you think of those two books when you get to them. Come back again!

(#25) Sorry Stasia. : (

(#26) Richard. Don't I have a cute family?! We had lots of fun taking that picture.

Ha! I just realized I never entered two ebooks I read on my i-Pad. Indulgence in Death and The Other Side, the first by J.D. Robb and the second a collection of short stories including one by Robb. The short story was a continuation of the characters in Indulgence, which was kinda fun. That brings me to 74 books for 2010. Yeah Me!! With my surgery and everything, I consider that meeting my goal.

Glad to see you checking back in again, Kim!

Girl, you are quick on the responses!! Hope 2011 is off to a good start.

Yep, the Readathon the other day certainly helped!

What else are you doing on your iPad, Kim? I bought Scrabble--a game I had never played before. I'm on it for hours sometimes, just trying to get my computer "teacher" to smile. It always can make words worth 2-5 times more valuable than I can. Still...well, not fun so much, but engrossing/time consuming.

Hi Bonnie! I have my emails on my i-Pad (using Mobile Me), so I can check out LT and my emails when I am not near my computer. I am addicted to the Sudoku and solitaire games and also spend way to much time on them! Also, my kids have downloaded all sorts of apps, like bowling and paper toss (I think I have like 25 games from them). Also, it is great for watching movies. Not that I need anything else to do, but I will go check out Scrabble! Thanks, I think?! : )

Berly- Hope you are feeling better now!! I'm glad you got your toe out of your ear. That could be painful! :-}

Hey Kim! :)

Okay, so I had a great day today, out with my girlfriends. Twelve of us got together and went bowling. I don't want to brag (obviously I'm gonna!), but I got the high score!! (Don't get too excited: that is not saying much because we all rot at bowling. If I break 100 I am ecstatic. ) Today I got 162!!! Whoohoo! And afterwards we went out to a little French restaurant and flirted with the very cute, very young waiter. He made us guess his age. We guessed 23. He was 21. Then I told him he had to guess all our ages! He said, no, he wanted to make sure he got a tip. LOL.

Okay. I actually have been reading. Really! I finished The Ask and the Answer and will review that tomorrow. I loved it. And now I am in the middle of The Sherlockian, and I am really enjoying that, too.

Smart waiter!

I know I already have The Ask and the Answer in the BlackHole, but I am extremely curious about The Sherlockian, so I cannot wait to see what you think of that one, Kim!

Hey Kim- Glad you went out and had a nice time! Yahoo on the 162!! I listened to The Ask and the Answer not long ago and really enjoyed it too! He has created an interesting world. I also have the final book in the trilogy on audio,

Bowling! You MUST be healing well! And see, now you are even better than ever, high scorer! I used to love bowling when I was a kid. Then I went away to college, either no one around there bowled or it was too fancy a place, and then I moved to London, where it wasn't (and still isn't, really) a common pasttime, and basically have hardly ever done it again. Oh well, maybe a retirement objective. Meanwhile, well done, you!

I've only bowled a few times and I thought it was fun...but I think the fact that it requires special shoes keeps me from being a regular. My feet are *wildly* different sizes, so shared shoes just don't work for me.

I am so happy to hear that you're out and about and enjoying yourself! Surgery can take time to recover from, and sometimes I forget to go do the fun stuff that makes recovering worthwhile.

Then I told him he had to guess all our ages! He said, no, he wanted to make sure he got a tip.

*cough*snort*giggle*

I've only been bowling about twice in my life. I think my best score was about 43.

Well done on the 162, and I'm glad you're feeling well enough to be so energetic.

Yay for bowling, something I haven't done for ages; sounds like you're doing great with your recovery Kim.

Confession time: I used to be on a bowling team! I wasn't all that great at it, but I love that game...almost as much as I love Scrabble. I had to quite my online Scrabble addiction cold turkey. It was more addicting than LT if you can believe it!

I'm also interested in your opinion of The Sherlockian, Kim. I have it in my Dream Book with a ?. I think I took the rec off of BookPage, but I prefer to get a real person's (and one that I trust like you) take on it.

I was at my local bookstore and found an ARC of The Sherlockian on the shelf. I turned it in to the front counter half hoping that they might say, "You're so right! We can't sell that book. Would you like to take it home with you?" They didn't. Well, I can always hope, can't I?

Glad to hear you're feeling well enough to bowl -- and bowl well! I bowl in a league, which has dwindled in size over the years and is no longer sanctioned, but it is still fun.

#40 My feet are *wildly* different sizes, so shared shoes just don't work for me.
I'm just curious, Richard, how do you buy regular shoes that fit? If you ever want to try the sport again, bowling shoes can be purchased, too. If one bowls on even a semi-regular basis, buying is much cheaper than renting them -- and much better for fit. They last a long time, since they're only worn while bowling.

No time to talk...busy watching the BCS National Championship. Oregon vs Auburn! Football.

Two minutes left. Oregon behind by 8. They score!! Then they pass on the extra point, go for two and get it!! Game tied. Auburn works their way down the field. They score a touch down, but no! It's called back to the 1/2 yd line. They give it another try, but can't score. With two seconds left, they kick...and field goal! Suck. Oregon lost. : (

That sounds like such an exciting game! 2 seconds!!!

>47 Berly: Boo. So sorry!

Terri, I buy cheap shoes...2 pairs...in the proper sizes. 12 left and 10-1/2 right, both super-wide.

I was disappointed too, Kim. I mostly just wanted the SEC to lose...

I was rooting for the Ducks because I have no logical rooting interest in either team and, well, how can you NOT root for a team named Ducks, all other things being equal? Plus they were the "underdog." Exciting ending, yes, but I didn't like the very end!

Wow .. from yoga to bowling .. you're definitely all better, Kim! Whoohoo. I love bowling, but am totally lousy at it. I make everyone look good. But I enjoy myself anyway since I don't really care what score I get ... I celebrate every roll of the bowl that isn't a gutter ball.

I once bowled a 1 - seriously (I was around 10 at the time, but still - 19 gutter balls and 1 pin). But don't they have those rail thingies where you live, Caro? At least the ball gets to the pins that way :).

Sorry, I was rooting for Auburn, being an SEC kind of gal since I married my LSU-loving hubby. It was a good game though!

Okay, my brother was here visiting for the week from MN. He just left and now I can get back to life and reading! Don't get me wrong...I had a BLAST with him and was sad when he left. We saw Superior Donuts, a play by Tracy Letts, which I loved, and he watched the kids while hubby and I had a date night and saw the Blazers defeat MN (the team I used to be the community relations manager for way back when they first started). We ate Chinese food in honor of his partner on a business trip in China, played lots of Mah Jong, played my pirate game on the computer, took long walks, talked and talked....You get the idea. It was fun! But I am behind on a GR with Mark, so I have started Cloud Atlas and won't be penning any reviews soon, even though I only have a scant two books read thus far. Forgive me!? xoxo

#53 Janet--Seriously, a 1!?! That is truly pathetic. LOL. I always use the bumpers. ; )

Kim- Good to have you back! I'm glad you are still joining us for Cloud Atlas. Others seem to be reading it pretty slow, so you can catch up quick. It's a trippy novel but one of a kind.

Welcome back to the real world, Kim :)

#56 - yes. but the upside is I NEVER have to fear having my worst ever game if I ever do go bowling, because I know I've had it already!

>55 Berly: Just glad glad glad you're having FUN, dear one, and hope you're enjoying Cloud Atlas a lot!

Rail thingies, Janet? Hmmm.. do you mean candlepin bowling? I've seen them but haven't tried them out. I've only done 'ahem' adult bowling ... quite pathetically ..although I have to say, i've never bowled a 1 before. You definitely win the trophy on that one. ;-)

#61 - no, I meant what Kim says are called bumpers - they come up alongside the lane so you physically can't roll gutter balls. usually used for little kids, to stop them being too discouraged. They didn't exist when I was a pathetic little 1-bowler, alas. But on the other hand, I didn't get discouraged, but decided I'd better learn how you were supposed to do it. I got better, gradually.

hmm.. I guess I haven't been bowling often enough because I don't think I've ever seen bumpers along the lanes. That's not a bad idea ... I should see if I can get some set up the next time I go. But then I've to figure how to get my friends to bowl with me and not make me bowl in my own 'special' lane.

Bowling lanes are very sophisticated nowadays; you can have the bumpers go up and down for each individual player in your lane. Neat trick, huh?! I tend to start out not needing them, but as my beer consumption goes up, my accuracy goes down.

Check out my profile page for a picture of my family... : )

Kim

I hope you are feeling much better!

Great picture of your family, Kim! You all look you're having great fun! It reminds me of a Modern Family episode. :-)

Love the family photo!

Kim- What a great photo! You have a beautiful family!

Lovely photo...everyone looks happy! :)

drive-by smooch

1. The Ask and the Answer, by Patrick Ness. 5 stars
A sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go. A new Mayor is in town, and he doesn't play nice. Our two heroes, Todd and Viola, are forced to choose sides and the choices are not as obvious as one might think. Civil war breaks out and we soon see that there is a fine line between revolutionairies and terrorists. Sure, this book is set in the future on a colonized planet, but the fictional setting doesn't erase the very real moral ambiguities and wreckage. Are the Answer the good guys or the bad? An excellent look at the forces that shape decisions during war. Grim, gripping, beautiful. The third in this series, Monsters of Men is a must-read-soon for me. Knife won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Ask won the Costa Children's Book Award.

Kim- I listened to this one a few weeks ago. It was very good. I'm also looking forward to the final book, (which I have saved on audio).
Are you joining us on "Fantasy February"?

Mark- What do I have to do to join Fantasy February? I am about halfway through Cloud Atlas and enjoying it very much. It takes a bit to adjust to each new voice and I cheated and peeked ahead and am very happy to see some of the voices return!

Thanks for all the great comments on my cute family (Yup, I am biased!). My siblings and all our families got together this summer to have a portrait of all of us for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Then we broke up into smaller family units for more shots. As you can see, we enjoyed a less formal arrangement!

Love the family picture, Kim!

Kim- You can find "Fantasy Feburary": Right Here
This one should be a blast! It looks like a lot of participation. Hope you can make it. Hugs!

Great photo!!

Happy, fun family photo.

2. The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore. Four stars.

Apparently there is a missing journal from Arthur Conan Doyle’s collection. It has always been missing, but the world’s top Sherlock Holmes scholar has tracked it down and plans to unveil it during the Baker Street Irregulars annual convention. Unfortunately, he is murdered in his hotel room and the diary is missing…again! Our hero, the newly anointed Baker Street boy, Harold, lands the job of solving the mystery. He finds his own Watson and off the pair go on an adventure. Simultaneously, we the reader, get to jump back in time and follow Arthur Conan Doyle as he plots the death of his most famous detective and stumbles into a murder mystery of his own. A very fun, clever book. Loved the bit of history thrown in during the Doyle chapters. The puzzle is not a complete surprise, but still well worth the journey. Recommended!

#80: I was sure I had that one in the BlackHole already, but I guess not. Glad to see you enjoyed it, Kim! Thanks for the recommendation.

80- Oooh...I really want to read that one!

I have that one on hold at the library, glad to hear it's a good one.

HI There. I hope all is well with you!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson and the ask and the answer by patrick Ness

Hi all. Happy belated Valentine's Day. xoxo!!

Sorry I haven't been around much on LT. The energy level is still WAY low post-op. I am currently the Queen of naps!! I am way behind on posting, so no reviews, just the simple point system:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield (GR with Mark for Fantasy February) 3.5 Loved the mix of future genetic engineering and World War history. Seemed much less YA about halfway through the book. Nonstop action in second half. I want to read the second in the series and the third is out in a few months.
Maximum Ride The Angel Experiment by James Paterson (reading with my daughter and Fantasy February) 4.0
Maximum Ride School's Out Forever 4.0
Maximum Ride Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports 3.5 This is a great YA series with a series of mutant kids who have been biologically engineered to have super human strength, vision, and wings! The lab they have escaped from is always trying to capture them. Classic "good vs evil" and "save the world" stuff. I am a little peeved at the death of one character in book three and the acceptance of a bad guy into the "good" fold. My daughter, who has severe dyslexia has been listening to the books and LOVED the graphic novels for book one.
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 5.0 Totally amazing!! A series of interconnected stories with a circular rather than a linear plot. The writing style and characters change from chapter to chapter, from Moby Dick-like to Sci-Fi and the writing starts off in diary form, then progresses to a correspondence, without saying more, pay attention to the change in literary form. A little challenging to get into, but well worth the effort. If you read it, also take note of the birthmark...
While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty 3.5 More on this one after my book club meets on Thursday...
The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard 3.0 This is the story of a girl who disappears at age 16 in two parts. One follows her hypothetical death/life and the other the lives of the boys in her high school as they continue grow up into men. I actually enjoyed the chapters about the missing girl far more than those of the boys. Interesting but depressing.

I just got The Fates Will Find Their Way from Indiespensable, but it's hard to be motivated to read a depressing book. :( I'm putting The Sherlockian on my wishlist, though--that one sounds fun!

Carlym-- The Fates Will Find Their Way actually has a 4.1 rating going with mostly 4s and 5s. It could just be me. I got it from Indiespensable, too. Have you started the other one, Ten Thousand Saints?

Berly, glad to see you around these parts again!

Kim- It's great to see you! You've been reading! That's good! I'm so glad you loved Cloud Atlas. It's an amazing read and made a terrific Group Read! Glad you could join us.

*Hugs Kim* Miss you, get better! :)

#88: No, I haven't :( I'm sadly behind on my Indiespensable reading.

#92 Me too. I took one look at The Instructions and put it aside for later. It's a behemoth!! 1050 pages long...but you have to love the back cover: "Combining the crackling voice of Philip Roth with the encyclopedic mind of David Foster Wallace, Adam Levine has shaped a world driven equally by moral fervor and slapstick comedy...."

Hi Stasia!! I haven't talked with you in forever. Hope all is well.

Hi Mark! THanks for checking up on me. Got any more group reads up your sleeve?

Stephen! Thanks for the hug. Miss you too.

Hi Kim! Great to see you around again. I loved cloud Atlas when I read it last year and have Jacob de Zoet on my shelf waiting for me.

Hi B!! Yes, I am going to have to add Jacob de Zoet to my WL. Normally, this would be where I would sigh heavily at the dauntingly huge (yet reassuring) TBR pile, but I am getting new shelves in my house!!! They have been built and are off getting stained. *Rubs hand together in anticipation* Soon I will be able to get my poor books out of boxes and off the floor. Well, I have to leave a few piles out...don't want to be too sterile looking! LOL

Oh goody, new shelves! Arranging and otherwise playing with books is almost as much fun as reading them!

Cloud Atlas looks like something I'd like. Great review!

>95 Berly: Glad to see someone else gets to enjoy new shelves as well. I'll be working on mine this weekend. I love having an excuse to really go through all of the books.

Hi Berly

I'm sorry your energy is compromised. Certainly, I understand.

You are zipping along with the reading!

All good wishes for a speedy recovery.

Kim- Actually I was thinking of doing another Mitchell G.R.- The Thousand Autumns. Sometime early summer?? This guy has quickly become one of my favorite writers.

#96 Kittybee thanks! Yes, I can't wait to arrange all my books and catalog them. And just stand back and look at all of them. I have decided that the top left shelves will be for my TBR books. Definitely give CA a try!
#97 Jasmyn--Have fun this weekend. I am jealous that your shelves are already in your house! (Background noise of the song "Anticipation...")
#98 Hey Linda. Thanks for the well wishes. How are things for you these days? Whatever "get-well" thoughts that I don't selfishly use up, I will send your way. ; )
#99 Excellent, Mark! I am in whenever the mood strikes you.

I just found this thread and I decided to follow you. We share 40 books, which is the minimum of a definate follow for the ratio of how many book I have.

Hi There Kim

I'm sending an early message to wish you a very Happy Birthday on Monday!

Linda! Thank you so much. : ) I love birthdays, mine, yours, anyone's!

So, next week is shaping up to be a great week. My new bookshelves arrive on Tuesday(!), and on Thursday I leave with my daughter for NY. Her choir is singing at Carnegie Hall!! AND...I am meeting up with Richard (during the few hours when I do not have official chaperone duty) and we are going to hit some amazing bookstore that he says is better than Powell's here in Portland. Yeah!!

Book club met and we discussed While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty. The book follows the life of a college student whose whole life seems to unravel, starting with the divorce of her parents. It was actually a very good book to share with friends, because all of us know someone who has or is going through a divorce and we talked about lots of issues: friends, money, children, etc. And many of us have college-aged children, too. Several of us recall screaming in our heads at the main character, "No! Don't do it!" But she did it anyway. At one point, the author took me to the brink of somewhere I did not want to go, and then, thankfully, let me off the hook. A good solid read. 3.5

#101 Welcome DF! I am glad I met your minimum book quota. From you name, I am assuming you have read the whole Pern series? Off to check out your library...

I am back. Just as I suspected. Although you really didn't like Dragoneye! What other dragon books have you enjoyed? Forgot to check and see if you read the Eon series...

How exciting that your daughter's choir is singing at Carnegie Halll. And, I'm sure you will have a great time with Richard.

Ooooh, give Richard a big fat smooch just from me! :D

>104 Berly: I guess I don't like Dragonseye. I forgot about why I didn't like it until I read my review, and then I remembered. Stupid memory. I haven't read the whole Pern series, mostly because they're not in my local library, and I can't find the next three books in the series I want to read at a price I can live with, so I'm kind of on a stand still, which has been going on for too long.

I like almost all dragon series. There's the Inheiratence Cycle by Christopher Paolini. They're kind of YA, which is fine by me. I just wish he would finish the last book soon. It's not like I'm rushing him...never mind, yes I am. My little sister told me over the phone that she's currently reading Eragon. She also wants to be on this site, so maybe I'll see her on here. I've read two of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. His Majesty's Dragon is the first book I read this year and absolutely loved it. It combines my History Buffness with my Fantasy Fanatic. Those are also some other series I need to read some more. Also The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris D'Lacy is another series. They're quite some books. Can't explain it, and if I did, it'll take a long time. Pretty much the twist in this series are the dragons are made of clay that come to life by the Pennykettles. A dragon book I don't like at all is The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari. Great concept, loved the oddness, but hated the ending and the total worthlessness that didn't bring the story together.

I haven't read the Eon series and they really don't ring a bell.

Well DF, I shouldn't call it a series yet. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, by Alison Goodman, is the first and I know the second one is due out soon...I, too, wish Christopher would hurry up with the last one!! Course, if the length of the second book is any indication, then I can see why it is taking him so long to write the third. Didn't he write the first when he was 16? The D'Lacy series sounds interesting -- thanks!!

I am wrong. It is officially a series. Eona, the second book in Dragoneye Reborn, is published! Now I have to add it to my wishlist. It is so new there are no ratings or reviews yet. ; )

Oh, so it's in China? Interesting. The only other series I've read with solely Chinese dragons are Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson. I would hate the series if it wasn't for Kai. He's like everyone's favorite little brother. He acts like a normal 6-year-old human. But otherwise, kind of boring.

Adding: Yeah, I think Christopher did start when he was 16. Half the reason why I want him to hurry is because I want to see what else he will write. But the last I heard, he's going to take along vacation to think about that.

The D'Lacy books are pretty unique. But if you have a not-too-good memory like me, I would caution you, they are pretty long, and everything is important so you have to keep track of everything otherwise things won't make sense, even from books way to the past.

Kim- Wow, that sounds like a great trip to NY! I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. And you get to see "you know who"!
I've never been to NY! Sad, but true! Maybe one day!

Great news about the trip to NYC and of course meeting up with Richard. Congratulations to your daughter's group!

Give RD lots of hugs and smooches from me! Woo Hoo for your daughter's group! Congrats on hitting the Strand too.

Hi DF. : )
Hi Mark and B-- Thanks. I am very excited about the trip! Bought new luggage and a cute little ID tag to tell it apart from the other masses of big, black suitcases.
Stasia--I couldn't remember the name of the bookstore, but the Strand is definitely it!

So, I am making a WL of the books I want to look for, as well as uploading a few onto my ipad for a less bulky travel companion. I am just not sure how I am going to get the books from NY home. Maybe I will bribe Richard to mail them home for me....

Kim

If Richard is taking you to the Strand, you are indeed in for a wonderful experience. It is an incredible store. Please be sure to go to the upper level and see the rare books!

Hug Richard for me! And, then ask him to hug you for me.

I'll await your report of the wonderful concert and your book store experiences with Richard.

Sounds like a fun trip! Have fun book shopping!

Book shopping: Life's simplest pleasure.

Carnegie Hall, wow, that's pretty exciting. Almost as much so as going book shopping with Richard! It's funny, my daughter goes on many trips with her football team and with various music groups, but parents are never invited as chaperones; it's teachers, coaches, whatever who go on the trips. She has been to some cool places - Jamaica, Memphis, Barcelona, Salzburg, Denmark - but I've never been able to go along (not that I could at the moment anyway, but in theory). You are lucky that parents can be involved in this exciting event. Enjoy it.

#113: The Strand is just jaw-dropping :)

Have fun book shopping with Richard! Pictures, please?

Happy Birthday - Hope you had a great day. Have fun in NYC

I sure picked a good day to get caught up with you, Kim. Happy, Happy Birthday from me! Your week sounds great, especially the trip to New York. Best of luck to the singers and to the bookshoppers, too. You must have someone take a picture of you and Richard at The Strand. Have fun!

Thanks for all the travel and birthday well wishes!! My big present was my new bookshelves. They arrived and are installed and I am busy trying to put the shelves in. They look awesome and I can't wait to start putting books away...I'll post a picture someday.

Course, that may have to wait until after my trip. Packing tomorrow. We are supposed to leave Thursday morning. I say "supposed to" because we have a snow warning from Wed am to Thurs at 10pm. Grrrr! Why now? Crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes. Janet, I am sorry you missed out on your daughter's trips -- that's no fair!

My daughter bought me the next book in the Maximum Ride series, so it has usurped my other read for the moment. I was reading Sula by Toni Morrison.

Kim- Happy Birthday, my friend! I hope I'm not to late. Have a great & safe trip! Congrats on those bookshelves! Cool!

>122 Berly: Someday I want to read the Maximum Ride series.

Hi Berly-boo! You do *not* have permission to let some sleazy snowstorm prevent your flight from bringing you here, so you just go sacrifice one of your children (not the daughter singing at Carnegie Hall, obviously) to the Weather Goddess to ensure safe arrival. I can't do it, my daughter lives 1500mi away.

Might want to check out this book, too: Time Couriers by CQ Scafidi...way interesting idea.

Thanks Mark! Birthday wishes always accepted. : )

DF--You should; I bet you'd like it.

Richard--The Weather Goddess and I are in deep negotiations, LOL. We have decided to sleep tonight at a hotel near the airport. I will walk there if I have to! The snow shouldn't be too much travel on the runways. They are flat and plowable, as opposed to the windy, hilly terrain I live in. Hey, can you send my your cell # by PM? I think I sent you mine, but I will send again just to be sure! Can't wait to see you!!

Hugs All!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Berly .... despite the weather, I hope you enjoy your trip to NYC ... wait, what hope? If you meet up with Richard, you'll DEFINITELY enjoy your trip to the city! Take pics and post!!!

Happy birthday, and have a fantastic time in New York!! Leave some books in the Strand for everyone else...

Hi, Kim! How was your NYC trip? Did I miss a link to a new thread?

Knock knock, anyone home? I don't see a link to a new thread, but I'm also wondering how the New York trip went. I hope you are well, Kim! :)

Ditto what Bonnie and Stephen said!

Hi! I am so remiss....I have yet to emerge from the laundry pile from the trip; I came down with a HORRIBLE ear infection which made the airplane ride home H-E double LL, but the trip itself was fantastic! My daughter's choir sounded wonderful at Carnegie Hall, Wicked and Mama Mia were amazing; we saw the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, FAO Schwartz, Planet Hollywood, Ground Zero, and traveled by plane, train, subway, taxis, buses, and boats! The chaperones (I was one) got no sleep because we stayed up late being silly (and having a drink or two!). It was so much fun! I used one of the downtimes to meet up with dear Richard. He was such a good sport -- my feet were killing me from all the walking around and all I wanted was to sit down, have a drink and chat, so he took me to a favorite haunt of his and we had an amazing meal. I am only sorry that I was so tired when I met him. We never made it to the Strand, but Richard was just as wonderful as we all suspected! I didn't read a lick while I was gone, but I am now 1/3 of the way through Cleopatra and 1/2 way through The Red Garden. Glad to be home! Big hugs to all. Missed you. : )

Thanks for the post re. your trip. I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. And, yes, Richard is wonderful...no doubt about it!

Glad you had a good time and was able to spend time with Richard. Our school's choirs just recently returned from the exact same trip!

#127 C-- Thanks for the birthday wish. : )
#128 CMT--I left some books at the Strand. See #132. I think that means I have to go back again!
#129 Hi Bonnie. I'm baaaaack!!
#130 Stephen! Who's there?
#131 Hi T!!
#133 Hi Linda! Hope all is well with you.
#134 M-- Did the choir perform at Carnegie? Was it the same night? Sun, Feb 27th? Did the kids have a good time?

Thanks for welcoming me home!!

Richard and Kim in NY -- What was the name of the restaurant R? Steak F something? Yum! Even better company. : )

Wow that picture says it all. Glad you had fun Kim.

Our kids went from 2/16 to 2/21. Yes, they performed at Carnegie Hall. I didn't go but I heard them talk about doing all the same things as your kids. They had a blast!

Steak Frites...aptly named, since we had "steak frites eggs benedict"! I am disgruntled that they wouldn't serve us french fries just those blah home fries.

Come back soon!

Thanks Brenzi.

M-glad your kids had as much fun as mine did!

R--agreed. Real french fries would have been better, but it was still delicious. And the drinks weren't bad either!

I am off to jury duty tomorrow. I have mixed feelings. I would like to at least make it into a court room, as opposed to the last 4 times when I have remained, uncalled, unquestioned and unchosen. On the other hand, I am swamped and not sure I want to be in a trial just at this moment. I got out of a two week cattle call for the NY trip, so it is bound to be less time than that! I guess fate will decide.

Well, if you end up on a jury, I hope it's a short trial--less than a week. That way, you get the experience, both sides get the benefit of having someone like you on the jury, and your life isn't too, too disrupted. Glad you had such a great trip--good to see you back!

Hi Kim! Love the picture, and I'm glad you had a good time.

Ditto what Bonnie and Stephen said! ;)

Kim- It's nice to see you! Glad to hear you had a good time in NY. Nice picture, with the LT Prince himself. BTW- I was in Portland for a few days visiting my daughter. She lives in Beaverton. Had a great time. Rained a lot though.
I finally picked up and finished My Reading Life, one of the books you sent me at Christmas. It was a terrific read. Thank you!

Bonnie--Hi there! So, I think it was the shortest jury duty ever on record. There were about 150 of us in the waiting room, and at 10:40 they announced that we were ALL excused because every case had settled without seeing the inside of a court room. WOW! That makes 4 times in, and not even a voire dire. I guess Monday is the day if you really want to be chosen.

Thanks Stephen!

Hi Terri! Thanks. I like your profile page. : )

Mark! You better have been in Portland/Beaverton when I was in NY or you are gonna be in big trouble with me, Mister!!! You didn't say a word about coming out here. >: ( I am glad you enjoyed your Christmas book. :)

Welcome back, and thanks for sharing the photo - love it! :)

I love the photo Kim! You and Richard look very happy in each others company!

Mark, My Reading Lifeis indeed a great book!

The Red Garden ****
Set in the town of Blackbird, Massachusetts, these are a series of connected stories moving from the town's original founder 300 years ago to present day. As only Alice Hoffman can do it, the tales are often tinged with sadness, but beautiful and haunting. She dares the reader to pass judgment and often shatters our perceptions. Filled with magic and grace, this is a wonderful, dreamy read.

Hi BookAngel and W1, glad you guys like the photo. : )

Yah! Berly posted a review! And a good one too! Sounds interesting.

I love Alice Hoffman and am looking forward to reading this one!

Hey Kim, glad you're posting again. You must be feeling better. At least I hope so.

Great pic of you and Richard. I'm so glad the choir had a great time. Carnegie Hall! Solid gold memories for all.

I'm back from seeing my granddaughter in Dallas and catching up on threads. I had lunch with Stasia in Sherman, TX on Thursday but no picture this time. She got her hair cut and looks fabulous!

Oh yeah, I've got The Red Garden on reserve at the library. It seems like many people want to read this book; I've got a long line ahead of me.

Hi Mark, Katie and Donna. I think you will all enjoy The Red Garden; it is her usual great stuff.

Donna, I am so jealous you got to hang out with Stasia. But no picture?! Rats.

Edited for touchstone error

Mothers and Daughters by Rae Meadows is the story of three generations of women, their stories intermingled and told from their individual points of view. My favorite was the grandmother's, her childhood in NY city and subsequent move to the Midwest. However, I did not feel that her personality was consistent from child to adult. My least favorite character was the granddaughter, the new mother. She felt cloying in her love for her newborn and annoying in her inability to let go and find herself and her work again. True it was just a snapshot of her and she does come through in the end, but...I also did not understand her attraction to the young homeless girl. I feel like this book could have been much more. All in all, a good, but not great read. I did enjoy learning more about the Orphan Trains. Three Stars. (An ER book and the Touchstone is not working -- use the author name)

Whew! Caught up again. I am in the middle of three books right now: Cleopatra, A Life by Staci Schiff (which I never did finish for bookgroup--oops!), Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer by Wesley Stace and Sula by Toni Morrison. An eclectic mix if I do say so myself!!

Also, I was a bad girl at Powell's the other day and my TBR pile is out of control. I think I have enough for the year already, so I MUST stop buying!! It is the fault of all my LT friends and their great suggestions. Could you guys please read some duds so I can pass on one or two and not add them to my wishlist?! LOL

>155 Berly: I know what you mean about getting too many good book recommendations. I joined LT last November and my wishlist and TBR shelves have increased exponentially.

I look forward to hearing what you thought of Charles Jessold. I read Stace's Misfortune last year and really liked it.

>156 katiekrug: I agree. I joined about three weeks before you and I'm having the same problem. Weirdly, I'm ok with it.

>157 DragonFreak: I am definitely not complaining :-)

My shelves are getting a bit overcrowded, too!

Wow! There sure are a lot of links for books with the title "Mothers and Daughters," aren't there? I don't understand why LT or Amazon will link you to a book with a different title over one that is the same, but a different author. Go figure. The stories about the orphan trains are fascinating. I would like to read a really good non-fictional account about them.

Re: Powell's. When I come back from a visit to Powell's, my mom looks at me the same way I look at her when she goes to a store to see what she can buy, just because she has a 20% off coupon. She doesn't really need anything, but she just has to take advantage of that sale! And I feel the same way about Powell's. Plus, I want to do my part to keep them in business. So, thank you, Kim, for spending at Powell's, so that it will continue to be there for me! ('cas it's all about me!-)

*smooch*

Hi Katie-- Glad to hear you have enjoyed Stace before. I didn't read any of him today, I was busy trying to finish Sula. And I am not complaining, that much, about all the great book suggestions! LOL

Dragonfreak--I pre-ordered the last installment of the Christopher Paolini book, Inheritance. I am assuming you have read this series. Can't wait!

Jadebird-- overcrowded shelves make me feel secure. ; )

Bonnie-- I know, don't you think they could see if you mention an author right after the book and then pull up that touchstone? Humph! And your welcome. For keeping Powell's in business. : ) You know, one of these times, we should actually go TOGETHER!!

Richard-Mwaaa! Right back atcha.

So, I have had the most MARVELOUS book day...I have all my TBR books filed away in my NEW bookshelves!!! (Hence my earlier comment about not needing to buy new books -- who knew that my piles all over the house would add up to so many reading possibilities?) And I unloaded three boxes of old friends. **Deep sigh of contentment** I alternate between thinking I will have too many books for the shelves, and the opposite, that I will look like a fraud with not enough books. So happy!!

>162 Berly: Oh my God, I'm so excited. November 8th is it? I'm going to have to pre-order it too. You know, part of the reason I want to read this book, is because then Christopher is probably going to start a new series, which I'm curious of what it may be. My little sister just got done with Eragon and is starting Eldest. She likes it I know that.

Kim, Deborah and I are going to come down sometime together and we can meet up with you and Terri--and maybe it will even be when Mark is in town. :-) You and Donna are inspiring me with all your book-arranging. Hmmm... where could I put some new bookcases?

DF -- : )

Bonnie--I would love to meet up with you guys. Just say when!

Unloading the boxes is going well. Such fun to see titles I haven't seen in a while. I haven't found too many duplicates, which is good as it means that I am remembering what I have read! LOL.

I am just trying to decide if you should pull out NF books and have a separate spot for them, or if I should just shelve them by author. That makes it hard to find the bio on Lucille Ball if it's shelved under another letter. Hmmmm.....Thoughts, suggestions?

>166 Berly: I separate fiction and non-fiction because I won't always remember the author of a book I want to read on a particular topic. My fiction is separated by genre (because I'm a dork like that) and then alphabetized by author and it seems to work well, except I occasionally get little flutters of distress about separating books by the same author, even if they are totally different genres.

Again, because I'm a dork... :-)

Katie--LOL! You are not a dork!! I think I am definitely going to pull out my NF and group that according to subject matter, but I think I am going to stick with the straight alphabetize-by-author method for the Fiction. I do have my classic greek and philosophers pulled out; okay, and I have a section for poetry...now who's the dork!!

but.... how could you NOT keep poetry separate, also philosophy, history, art, etc., etc.? How would you ever find anything, or get sidetracked in a topic? There's a reason they invented the Dewey Decimal system! Fiction, well the genre question is a whole different story. We decided to put SF/Fantasy and Mysteries in a separate place, but it was really a space question - we couldn't fit everything in the living room and didn't want to just have "fiction A to M" or whatever. I am always fascinated by how people decide to do it. I am strangely attracted to the "colors" approach, so all those lovely orange Penguins could sit together on the fiction shelves the way the black ones do over in NF (ancient classics, mainly). But my husband thinks that's nuts.

Sula by Toni Morrison 3 1/2 Stars

This story spans 40 some odd years and the friendship between two black girls growing up in the Bottom, which ironically is the uplands of of Ohio. Toni Morrison's prose is deep, dark and hauntingly beautiful, as always. Despite the spare story (172 pages) and not feeling particularly drawn to either main character, I still think this one will remain with me for a long time. I love/hate it. Take a peek:

"Those with husbands had folded themselves into starched coffins, their sides bursting with other people's skinned dreams and bony regrets. Those without men were like sour-tipped needles featuring one constant empty eye. Those with men had had the sweetness sucked from their breath by ovens and steam kettles. Their children were like distant but exposed wounds whose aches were no less intimate because separate from their flesh. They had looked at the world and back at their children, back at the world and back again at their children, and Sula knew that one clear round eye was all that kept the knife away from the throat's curve." (p.122)

Wow! Can this woman write. But so darkly beautiful.

#169 Janet--Okay. I give! NF has to have it's own place or I won't be able to find anything. But since I do not have a dewey decimal scanner at home, nor do I intent to label each book, I think I will group books, biographies for instance, by the subject's proper name (Lucille Ball) or subject matter and then by author/editor names.

And I am laughing, because the reason I broke out my ancient Greek books was because of the color theory!! Also, I think I am going to have a shelf for all the books I worked on when I was at Milkweed Editions, just because it's kinda cool and I can!

So, far my Fiction is going to stay all mixed together. I think it makes me look like a very open-minded (as opposed to unfocused!) reader to have all the genres flowing from one to another. : )

Kim- I read Sula many years ago but remember liking it as well. I've read 3 or 4 of her books but I really need to get back to her work.
I alphabetize my TBR shelves, by author, mixing in the fiction with the NF. On my keeper shelves, I separate them but do not alphabetize. I guess we all have our systems.

My categorizing is quite...interesting. I don't own a lot of books, since I'm a public library user, but the books I do own are shelved on a little plastic bin, with 3 levels. Not only is the bin not meant to hold books, but it's not meant to hold that much weight. Consequently, mine are arranged by size, because at first I had big heavy hardcovers on top and...well...let's just say there was catastrophic failure. D'oh. :)

Hmmm, I vaguely remember setting up new bookshelves about...let's see....a year ago. So much fun organizing and seeing that I have plenty of room for everything and more. Fast forward a year and .....what the heck happened? I can't squeeze one additional book on these shelves. I need more bookshelves! Mwaaaa! Thank you to all the LTers who have graciously added to my shelves.

I separate out fiction and non-fiction and shelve each alphabetically by the author's last name. It'd be nice to use the Dewey Decimal but not practical for me.

How are you doing, Kim? Do you think your books have just stretched out once you gave them more room? I have the "Sloppy Joe" version of the Dewey Decimal system. My books are grouped by category, but no alphabetizing on my shelves or in my baskets. Sula does sound dark, and like prose poetry.

Mark--Yes, my TBR shelves are all higgledy-piggledy by author only. I love just standing in front of them and drooling! Now if I could just find the time to actually read....!

Stephen--LOL. What can I say. I love you!

Brenzi--Do not tell me that the room runs out that quickly! Let me live in my moment of joy for pete's sake! : P

Bonnie--I like the sounds of the "Sloppy Joe" version. Too bad I already spent time alphabetizing! LOL. I almost have all the books in and then I can take down the silly sticky notes with the letters of the alphabet on them. : )

So, I am about 75 pages into Charles Jessold and enjoying it quite a lot. It reminds me of the second story in Cloud Atlas, being a very musical book set in the past. There is even a website to go check out an artist's interpretation of what Jessold's music might have sounded like. The book is supposed to be filled with lots of twists and turns (it is also a murder mystery), so I think it will only get better!

Off to dinner out tonight -- celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary!!

I am not even going to pretend to catch up, Kim.

Happy anniversary! I hope you and Walt have a terrific dinner.

Hi Berly! I loved Sula when I read it for uni last year. I really must get around to read more of Morrison. Anyway, glad to see you enjoyed it too!

Oh, and happy anniversary! :)

Happy Anniversary. We celebrated our 20th in December, it doesn't seem possible that all those years have past.

20 years! What an unfathomably long time... ... =P

Happy Anniversary!

Hi Stasia!! xoxo Thanks for stopping by. You know how happy I am to see you again!

RedBowlingBallruth--I love Morrison! You absolutely should chose another one to read soon. And I love your LT name--very memorable. : )

bbellthom-Hello! Thanks for the Anniversary message and congratulations on your 20th as well. Where the heck DID the time go?!

So, we had a wonderful dinner out at the Blue Hour, amazing food! We compllimented the chef, who turned out to be the sous chef, so when the head chef came in later he stopped by our table to say Hi. He had been preparing dinners for some wine club members down in the caves of a local winery. Thier meal sounded heavenly, too, although a logistical nightmare for the cook staff to transport everything down to the caves!!

Anyhow, the best part of the meal was my darling hubby, who gave me a book with every course. First I got The Tiger's Wife with my lemon drop cocktail, Freedom with my beet and arugula salad, and Swamplandia with my shrimp dinner. For dessert (chocolate torte), there was a gift card. I think he is definitely worth keeping for another 20 years, at least!!

Hi Stephen--Thanks! I hope that you are not implying by "unfathomably long time" anything derogatory about my age or anything...Cause I got married when I was 5 you know. LOL

Happy Anniversary Kim! I love your dinner story and promptly mentioned it to my wife, as an ideal gesture for your book-loving spouse. Hugs!

Wow! A book with each course--yes, I think he is DEFINITELY a keeper.

ETA Happy Anniversary! Sorry, the book per course thing just blew my mind.

Happy Anniversary! I don't dare tell you how long I've been married, for fear of giving Stephen/ape a heart attack! Definitely longer than he has been alive!

What a good, sweet husband! can we clone him?When you have a husband who supports your reading that much, you can ignore a lot of flaws--not that he has any! I'm just saying. Happy 20th, Kim!

Wow! Kudos to Walt!

>182 Berly:: Your dinner sounds wonderful, Kim. I agree with Bonnie that your husband should be cloned. Happy anniversary to both of you.

I'm glad you had a good anniversary celebration. And the books with dinner were the perfect finishing touches! :)

Mark--Hope the book-a-course idea takes hold in your household, too!

R--"Blew my mind!" My Hubbie loved the accolades. ; )

Janet--Please do not give Stephen a heart attack!! His banter and zombies would be sorely missed by me! (Congrats on the long marriage.)

Bonnie--My husband is pretty awesome, and yes, the book indulgence allows me to overlook the flaws he does have! In fact, he is the one who introduced me to LT -- and he is not even a reader!

Stasia--He said, "Thank you!"

Donna--I will talk to him about the cloning thing. How many cells to you think we have to harvest? LOL

BA--Thanks so much! : )

So, the Charles Jessold book has remained musically charming, but is wearing a little thin. Perhaps I don't like the "key" it is written in? I haven't reached the promised crescendo of "twists and turns" yet and have put it aside for a while. Instead, I am cruising through the last book in the Earth Children Series, The Land of Painted Caves bu Jean M. Auel. Remember when the first one came out? It was YEARS ago!! This one has all the favorite characters, but it follows in the vein of the most recent one, which had far too many plant names and explanations of how things were built etc. etc. Her first books had much tighter plots and better sex and romance thrown in. Course, Ayla and Jondolar do have a kid now....Ah well. It is still an enjoyable read and I usually have to finish a series once I start it, so read on I will! They are just reaching Mammoth Cave, which should be interesting...

>192 Berly: - I'm sorry to hear that about Charles Jessold. I just snagged a copy at a Borders that is closing. Of course, I have no plans to read it any time soon, anyway, considering everything else calling for attention, so I guess I'll let it "age" on the shelf.

another *smooch*

Marriage. Faugh. Still, glad it's working out for SOMEone. ;-P~~~~

Belated Happy Anniversary!

What a wonderful anniversary dinner!

Hello All! So, hectic week. Visited colleges with oldest daughter. Two weeks left to decide. We ruled out one of them and are down to two. They are completely different: public vs private; big v small, near v far...I will be glad when the decision is made!

I am still trudging through The Land of Painted Caves. Less than a hundred pages to go....Finished Max, another one in the Maximum Ride Series that I am reading with my other daughter. This one was much better: less gore, more adventure, more new "evolved" creatures. I am so thrilled she has discovered audio books! (She is the one with severe dyslexia.)

Friday night we are hosting Game Night at our house for her small school.. Expect about 35 middle school-aged kids. Cleaning out the garage to set up the ping pong table...etc, etc!

My shelves are up, and I have unpacked my books. They look great!! When I make it through this weekend, I can't wait to start entering some of them on LT!

Hi Katie, RIchard and Terri!! (And anyone else who is visiting me anon.)

I just read Max last week. My thoughts were exact opposite. The series, in my opinion, is just going down the drain. The first three books were awesome, and then Patterson killed his own series with book 4, and the fifth one just well, the same, and...boring...But that won't stop me from reading the rest of the series!

DF--I agree that the series was the best in the beginning and I didn't like the one before MAX The Final Warning, but I enjoyed this one. My daughter's friend warned her that Fang is pretty mushy! Just saying...

>198 Berly: I bet Fang is mushy. Patterson certinaly set it up for that. I'm OK with mushy as long as it just stays on the relatively low level of "mushiness".

Wowza......I lost you and now you're found again! I'm catching up so comments will be thready (pardon the pun)....keep that wonderful man you are married to--- a book a course for dinner is such a great idea---we will have to 'borrow' that one from you for our 44th later this year.

I'm interested to hear your final comments on Land of the Painted Caves. I got a review copy, and one of my fellow librarians begged me to read it. Since I knew I wasn't going to get to it as soon as she could, she took it, promising me a review for my blog. She was really excited to read it since she'd just read ALL the early series in the past 8 months, waiting to be ready for this one.

Her review went like this: "I'm really disappointed---she spent the first 300 pages telling us everything she'd explained in excruciating detail in the last book, and then didn't really take the story to any new areas. It was actually boring..." So I've avoided reading it, and am waiting for another opinion or two before I decide to invest that much time in it. Like you, I really enjoyed the earlier ones (especially the 1st three) but life's too short............

Land of the Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

A flat-out disappointment. The author spent way too much time refreshing the reader's memory; there wasn't any of the sexual tension of the early books; I am tired of hearing about how food was made and tents constructed and if Ayla gets formally introduced with ALL of her titles one more time...! It is a shame, because I know Auel spent a lot of time researching both time and place for this book, but it was boring. It is impossible to describe the beauty of cave paintings adequately with mere words, and she visited a lot of them in this book! Jondalar felt like a weak character, Ayla wasn't endearing, the dramas were thin. I can't believe I waded through 757 pages! I would give it a one star, but I did finish it (because I had to find out the end after all the time I invested in the series!), so it gets a two star.

Does that answer your questions T?

Hi Kim- Nice to see you post! We miss you around here! Sorry the Auel book was such a disappointment. I think I read part of the 1st book, nearly 30 years ago.
Hope all is well.

Hi Mark. Life has been busy and , as you can tell from my review, I was not enthralled with my book. LOL.

Last week, one of my kids had dental surgery; I took another one up to look at a college; and then we hosted 35 of the kids from my daughter's middle school for Game Night at our house. Whew!! The teeth look good. That college is no longer in the running and the house is still standing, so all in all, a great week!

I am now reading The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht and I will have good things to say!

Some series should simply be allowed to die a quiet and dignified death, rather than being grave-waxed up, painted gaudy colors and allowed to rot in public. No?

What Richard said.

Yes!

>204 richardderus: That's one of the funniest things I've heard today, and I've already heard some pretty funny things!

#201 Thanks for the warning about the Auel. Shame, my MIL was waiting so anxiously for that book.

#204 LOL, Richard! Well stated!

Well, I am having a lot of pain again, so I haven't been here much. I have been reading though! A quick summary:

Fang by James Patterson. Still trying to keep up with my daughter on this series - whew! She is cruising! One of the better ones. ****
Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. Did I mention my daughter is reading a lot lately? This series is not as good as the Maximum Ride series, but I give full kudos to Patterson for capturing my daughter's attention and turning her into a reader! ***
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. Loved this one! Set in the Balkans, a young physician reminisces about her loving grandfather and unravels some of the stories of his life. Interwoven with lots of legends and colorful characters. ****1/2
Sing You Home by Jodi Piccoult. Very interesting that the back cover has no writeup and the inside jacket so unrevealing...of course! This book is about gay rights and they didn't want to lose any of her readers. Talk about safe marketing. They should have just come out (yes, I see the pun!) and talked about it. The book is great. I loved her exploration of gay relationships, coming out, family and infertility. One of my favorites of hers. ****
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Best Witchy/Vampire book I have read in a long time! Very high-brow with lots of history and Darwin thrown in. Around 700 pages. Great pacing and plot twists. Fun characters. I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days! *****

Sorry to hear you've been in pain, Kim! :( *Gentle hugs*

THanks Stephen. : )

Oh sweetness...pain...that ROTS ON ICE and it needs must STOP NOW!! *shakes fist at the Universe* NOW!!

I very much relate. Today my left heel erupted a nice, big gout crystal. That doesn't feel very nice.

Richard--Shaking fist at the Universe on your behalf as well. : P Also blowing raspberries in honor of your Kitchen thread. : )

Kim- Good to see you, sorry to hear about the continuing pain. Bummer! Hopefully, you have some relief in sight. Hugs!
Glad to see you are kicking butt in the reading department. Impressive!

>209 Berly: I'm not surprised she's cruising through the books. The insanely short chapters give you the feeling that action is happening on every page. Those books are great, aren't they?

Kim
I'm so sorry you are having pain today. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you.

Kim, sorry to hear that you've been in such pain. Wishing you healing and comfort.

Hi Kim, great to see you up and about but sorry to hear you are once again in pain. Ugh.

Hi everyone! Thanks for the kind words. Okay...an update: Today is a pain-free day!!! The only disconcerting thing is I have no idea why I had pain before. Ah well. I have lined up some tests in the event that it comes back again I can just call and say, "See me TODAY!"

Or maybe the cure is just imbibing a lot...On Saturday, I went with a neighbor to the Cascades Aid Project fundraiser (she was a volunteer). We closed the place down and then a few of us came back to my house and stayed up til FOUR in the morning talking and sipping wine. Needless to say I was not sprightly Sunday morning and had to think back to my college days for remedies...Let's see. Ibuprofin. Caffeine. Greasy food. Check, check, check. All better!! And my pain went away. Correlation?!

I'm glad you're feeling better, Kim. What a great excuse for some more "party hardy" time--or is it "party hearty"? I've never written those words down, and they both make sense. I'm going to be down your way for Mother's Day. Not sure where we're going to go for our usual late lunch/early dinner. I hate thinking of places to go around here, and for sure I don't have a clue down there. It seems like you have a lot of great restaurants in Portland though. I'm always reading about Portland in the New York Times of all places.

Hi there!

I believe this is my first time on your thread and am happy to see you are better today. Sadly, for the last year or so, I haven't been able to follow as many threads as I would have liked because of time constraints. Anyways, wish you a good day and speedy recovery.

Regards,
Piyush

Hi, Kim, I hope your good day lasts through today! So easy to take it all for granted, isn't it?

So glad to hear you've been feeling better! Fingers crossed that it'll last!

Wine-drinking will almost always cure any complaint, physical or psychical. It is magic. And legal in all 50 states.

*Rubs chin* What if you're complaint is alcoholism, will it cure that? :D

Glad you're feeling better, Kim!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Way behind on threads again, Kim, but I wanted to stop in and wish you a wonderful Mother's Day!

Hi Berly,

Note that you read and enjoyed Cloud Atlas. I would also recommend his earlier novel Ghostwritten which is a tremendous read at least for the first 80% of it.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I didn't get to sleep in too late because I had 8 kids sleeping over post-Prom night. But later in the day I guilted my family into helping me clean out this room that has been used to dump all the "I don't know what to do with this" stuff. Not much fun, but five people cleaning vs. just me was wonderful! Then I got the gourmet dinner treatment. Yes, the kitchen was trashed, but they made an admirable attempt to clean up and ran two loads of dishes. Well worth it. : )

I just started reading Paul McCartney, A Life.

#220--Bonnie, I think both renditions of Party Hardy and Party Hearty applied that night!! ; )

#221 Welcome Piyush! THanks for the well wishes and my wish back to you is more time for LT!! Hope to see you again.

#222- Janet-- you would know about appreciating each day as it comes! I just want to know how you retain so much of what you read when you feel punk...it all kinda blurs for me.

#223 Stephen--I think the crossed fingers have been working. Don't stop!

#224 Richard. The wine tip is also my Dad's favorite. He strongly recommends red. ;)

#226 T--hey there! Thanks. Come back again. Hopefully I will be reading more now.

#228 Hi Stasia! Hope you had a great Mother's Day, too. Thanks for stopping by -- I know you have a wide base to cover. ; )

#229 Hi and welcome Paul. Thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out, but please tell me the last 20% isn't too bad?!

Kim- Sounds like you had a wonderful Mother's Day! That's great. I'll be watching for your comments on the McCartney bio. I hope it's honest and not a fluff piece. He's to fluffy as it is.

The last 20% is not too bad but I'm judging it by the first 80%!

Mark--LOL! A bit of fluff is he? I'll let you know.

Paul--Well, okay then. As long as it doesn't fall completely to pieces. ; )

#231 - Kim, I cheat. I take notes, sometimes to a ridiculous extreme, so I can check back. For example, I have handwritten notes in my "rough book" for every single little mini-section of War and Peace - how nuts is that?

xoxo

Janet--Well, that makes me feel a little better!! I love your reviews. Keep it up!

Richard--xoxoxo to you too!

I am off to the Top God Competition at my daughter's school. All the eighth graders chose a god or goddess from Greek mythology and then present why their protogee should be chosen. I am voting for Hera tonight. Should be fun!

Sounds really fun! Tell me how it goes!

Glad you are feeling better, Kim!

Sounds like you're in for a fun evening, Kim. Who did your daughter pick?

Hi guys! It was a great evening! Unfortunately, my daughter's goddess, Hera, did not win. Aphrodite charmed the crowd and took the crown for the year. I don't know...something about making all those crushes in middle school work out. I think that captured the student vote. LOL My daughter was fine with the outcome and actually voted for Aphrodite's presenter instead of herself. I would have been too competitive to do that, but good for her!

I had the pleasure of introducing the surprise guest speaker, Medusa. I warned everyone to clap loudly, but NOT to look her directly in the eye. And I donned my sunglasses as I headed back to my seat. One of the kids pretended to look at her on the way to the podium and froze for a minute. It was pretty funny! We celebrated with Baskin Robbins afterwards.

It sounds like they really got into it! What fun!

What a great way to learn about all the Greek gods, Kim! Which reminds me, have you read Gods Behaving Badly? I didn't like it all that much, but most people did. I'll be happy to give you my copy.

>241 Berly: Of course. Aphrodite always wins. Personally, Athena is my favorite goddess and in the Percy Jackson book, Riordan made Hera look like a...female dog. Must've been fun!!

#242 Hi Mamzel! How nice to see you! Any great suggestions so far this year?

#243 Bonnie-I have not read Gods Behaving Badly and would love your copy when you are through. Do you already have my address?

#244 Really? Hera, a dog? That would NOT make my daughter very happy!

#244: Athena was always my favorite too, Nathan, and the reason I started collecting owls.

Hey, Kim! ((Hugs))

An ultrasound last week revealed another fluid collection. Off to another doctor to confer. Sigh.

The McCartney book is moving along, but not thrilling. Sigh again.

I'm sorry to hear that Kim. Hopefully a new doc can provide some relief.

I'm one of the ones who enjoyed Gods Behaving Badly. It gave me some good chuckles. I might even re-read it now that Bonnie's reminded me of the book.

Sorry to hear about the ultrasound results, Kim. Hopefully it's something fairly easy to sort out.

Annoying and painful, fluid collections...seldom serious, though, which is nice. Please to report findings, yes?

Sorry to hear about further health difficulties, Kim. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious. ((Hugs))

Moving on to the next thread!!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/116524#2706696