It's November? Already??

Whoops -- I just noticed I forgot to put my name in my thread title -- bad bad Sib. Look for the question marks, most titles don't have them.

Anyhow, another month, another thread. A chance to tidy up. Too bad I don't find tidying my house as interesting.

Actually Reading (Latest book first)
Sean McMullen Eyes of the Calculor 3 Greatwinter SF
.Jonathan Lethem You Don't Love Me Yet AUDIO F

ON HOLD POSSIBLY FOREVER, BUT I HAVEN'T YET ADMITTED THAT TO MYSELF
T.C. Boyle The Women switching from audio to book
David Foster Wallace A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again Essays.

Finished in November:
110. Four September New Yorkers
109. Robin Brooks The Portland Vase NF ***1/2
108. Leigh Brackett The Ginger Star ****
107. Joanna Russ The Zanzibar Cat sf ss ****
106. Alastair MacLeod No Great Mischief ***** F
105. Sean McMullen The Miocene Arrow 2 Greatwinter SF ***3/4
104. Robin Lane Fox Pagans and Christians NF ****
103. AUDIO - Sue Miller The Senator's Wife F ***
102. David Mazzucchelli Asterios Polyp Graphic ****
101. Andrea Camilleri The Wings of the Sphinx mys ***1/2
100. Allegra Goodman The Cookbook Collector F****
99. Grace Dane Mazur Silk SS ****1/2

Best of October
Connie Willis Doomsday Book SF *****
(reread) Robert Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance philosophy, life****1/2
fiction runner up Per Pettersen Out Stealing Horses F ****1/2
Sean McMullen Souls in the Great Machine **** sf

Best of September
Carlos Baker Emerson Among the Eccentrics NF
have to think about the fiction!

Best of August
Grace Dane Mazur Hinges: Meditations on the Portals of the Imagination NF *****
Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall *****
Runner Up Kate Atkinson When Will There Be Good News?

Best of July
Mark Halliday Keep This Forever Poetry *****
Brenda Wineapple White Heat Bio *****
Ian McDonald The Dervish House SF ****1/2

Best of June
No best NF
F a) Abraham Verghese Cutting for Stone *****
Brian Aldiss The Helliconia Trilogy sf ****1/2

Best of May
NF Daniel Richard Stoddard, Memoirs Unpublished recollection of growing up in Vermont. *****
F Thomas Hardy Far From the Madding Crowd F *****!!

Best of April
NF Baron Wormser The Road Washes Out in Spring ****1/2
F David Mitchell Cloud Atlas F *****

Best of March
NF William Kamkwamba The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind *****
F John Cowper Powys A Glastonbury Romance *****

Best of February
Fiction Helen Humphreys The Frozen Thames F *****
Non-F Emma Larkin, Finding George Orwell in Burma ****1/2 NF, travel

Best of January
Fiction Helen Humphreys The Lost Garden ****1/2
Non F David Grann The Lost City of Z*****

October's Books

98. Per Pettersen Out Stealing Horses F ****1/2
97. Tim Farrington The Monk Downstairs F ***
96. Elizabeth Goudge Towers in the Mist F ****
95. Connie Willis Doomsday Book ***** SF
94. Octavia Butler The Parable of the Talents dyst. **1/2
93. Gary Soto Human Nature poetry ****
92. Audiobook: Robert Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ****1/2
91. Sean McMullen Souls in the Great Machine SF ****

Summary
A fictional bias to be sure, and more contemporary fiction than usual. Out of 8 books, six were novels of one sort or another, one serious contemp, two lighter fare, one dystopic and two very strong SF's. The one non-fiction was a reread of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which I am happy to say hasn't aged a bit.

Since I wasn't able to reserve the 3rd comment I am not going to post my reading for the year so far. I can do that in December and anyone who is curious can look at last month's thread: here

HA! Here I am first if nobody else is posting at the same time! I just ordered two H. Humphreys from PBS, Lucy, so I'm happy to see that The Lost Garden rated so highly with you in January! Ooo. You liked it more than you did *FThames*, and I haven't gotten that one. Happy November! Happy Reading!!

Just stopping by to say! Hmm - seems that you are a Helen Humphreys Fan! I loved Coventry and I've got Afterimage in my TBR pile. The Lost Garden is one that interests me too!

I do like Humphreys - her writing is simply exquisite.

I was trying to reserve three spots at the beginning but for some reason, LT would not post it. So I will maybe have to use this one or I will squeeze everything into comment 2.

LT sometimes seems to object to the same person posting multiple consecutive posts on the same thread - I had that trouble setting up my last thread, though it let me do it in the end.

Perhaps it's to deter spammers?

Found you. There is a new Humphreys novel, The Reinvention of Love that came out in Canada this past summer. I've seen no news of a US publication date yet but a few LTers have read it and one posted a very positive review.

Starring you, so I can find you.

Hi. Don't need your name to know it's you!

A new thread? Already?? I thought the convention was 250 posts, though I understand the desire to have the neatness of a new thread for a new month. Anyway, I found you, so that's the main thing. : )

The convention is that 250 is the limit, but I seem to go over that in two months and it is sooo untidy to make a thread in the middle of a month..... ! The lovely thing about LT is that there are so few rules, only a few conventions and some necessary etiquette. I'm loving my monthly (in summer, bi-monthly) assessments and seeing how each month is so different; it helps me keep my reading balanced.

I've been hanging back from saying anything much, but now I know the worst and I don't think it will be very long..... but my dear corgi Evan has been having some breathing problems and we have the diagnosis, a grim one, inoperable tumor around his heart more or less like a boa constrictor on that and other vital organs. They said maybe a couple of weeks, but my gut feeling is more like a few days. So. I'm not doing anything but being with. I hate posting awful news, but you are all so supportive and kind. He is one of the nicest dogs -- just an all around darling -- I've ever had the privilege to know.

Oh poor Evan! - and poor you! I hope these last days/weeks are peaceful and painless for him, and a gentle time for you to say your farewells.

Lucy, you know how so many of us around here on LT are over-the-moon in love with our pets, and our hearts go out to you today.

Aww, Lucy. I'm so sorry to hear about Evan. It's so hard to lose a beloved furry family member. Sending you a big virtual hug.

12: Oh, so sorry about Evan! And of course being with him is more important than anything.

Oh, that's so hard. Sorry you will lose him.

Lucy, as one who lost our oldest cat Sugar to a tumor just 2 months ago, I share your pain. Our fur people creep into our hearts very securely and it's hard to let them go. I'm so sorry.

Sorry about your dog! I can understand how pets become part of the family! Hope you are doing ok!

Evan - so sweet - so expressive - so funny - so adorable - oh Lucy, I'm so sorry!

I have loved all his pictures. You had so much fun with him during a read-a-thon you did. :) That was great!

Make the most of your time left together... I hope he is not suffering...I know you are...
{{{{Lucy & Evan}}}}

I'm here too and standing with you in spirit as you love your Evan.

I'm feeling for you, Lucy, and sending big hugs.

Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry to hear about Evan. I know what a dog lover you are and I too remember all the great pictures you posted of him during the readathon. I'll be thinking of your whole family. Please let us know how you're doing.

Thanks so much everyone. I was musing today about the pets and books connection.

We're all just hanging in there and hanging out. Spouse and I plan to arrange scheds. so someone is always with him. I'll be reading a lot, I suspect, and possibly around LT MORE not less than usual as I'll be doing less other things than usual.

Anyhow, my big decision du jour is to stop listening to T.C. Boyle's novel about Frank Lloyd Wright - The Women. His second wife, Miriam Noel, was awful enough when I wasn't feeling terrible, but she's so spiteful and self-centered that she is unbearable now and Wright himself, while fascinating, has a 'side' too. It's a very good book and I do feel that I have learned a great deal about Wright, and it's not unlike the novel about Kinsey, another larger-than-life person who thrived on creating conflict and turmoil around himself. Anyhow, I know I can't listen to it anymore. I have a theory that the reader himself loathed Miriam -- there is an edge in his voice that is getting more and more painful when he is in her mind or speaking her words. We have the book so I might see if I can't finish it up reading, but not at this moment, so it's going to go on the "On Hold" list for now. I wonder if I should declare a statute of limitations on how long a book can sit On Hold?

I'm working at the library tomorrow, solo, 12-5 as the librarian has some other obligation and I'll take Ev with me. He can be in the office.

I had another library audio book in my car and so I started that - Sue Miller's The Senator's Wife - I like Blair Brown's voice and the story feels more or less like something sufficiently interesting but not too devastating. I've only read one other Sue Miller - The Good Mother which was OK.

Hi Lucy, just checking in to see how you're doing. Hope this is a relatively good day for you and Evan. You're in my thoughts and I'm sending lots of peace and comfort vibes your way.

Thank you so much Pat, it means a lot, as you know even better than I do. I keep trying to 'keep things quiet' -- but it isn't all that easy, chores have to be done etc. He's about the same today as yesterday, so far.

This may sound somewhat morbid (don't ask me why I think of these things)... but I've thought that if I were at home dying, I would like to listen to the sounds of life going on as usual.
I think it would be comforting.
Maybe quiet would be easier on Evan's heart - but the sound of everyday living may be music to his ears???? Just a thought. What do I know?

{{{{Lucy & Evan}}}}

Thinking of you...

Sorry to hear about Evan, Lucy. Sending you extra thoughts and hugs!

Oh, Lucy, how sad. It's so good that you can just be with Evan as much as possible. Hang in there.

Sandy K

C - Does that include the vacuum cleaner music? I decided more or less the same thing, anyhow, although I did put him downstairs while I vacuumed up. Tomorrow I'll leave him up while I do down. I think yesterday I got so overwhelmed I just had to give up and get in bed for awhile. Today I have him with me at the library. Sequestered in the office, to be sure, but with me. I think more than anything he likes being somewhere in my vicinity. He seems interested in the different environment. Finally I feed him little meals about five or six times a day and he can lick any bowl at all unless it had onions in it (don't want him to feel worse than he already does).... this part he likes without question! I'm beginning to accept it, make the best of it, it's a process, no?

Okay so weeding is so dangerous! I found an Allegra Goodman The Cookbook Collector I haven't read and also a novel that sounds like the sort of book I might like when I'm in this state of mind The Beach House by Jane Green -- about an older woman who runs out of money and so has to take in boarders -- in Nantucket though, so they ain't just any ordinary borders. If it's well written I will probably like it.

It's very perverse though, right now at least, I'm finding P&C easier to read -- I guess I'm not in any hurry since I'm sort of down and not expecting much of myself.

Now I have to go figure out which of two bios about Einstein to keep. No one reads either one, of course, but some books you have to have some of......

Glad to see you checking in and to hear that Evan is no worse today. I agree about the blessedness of the ordinary.
I'll be happy to hear what you think of The Cookbook Collector. I greatly enjoyed Intuition.
Keep us informed!

Yeah, I did think about the vacuum cleaner - I figured that would be an individual call for a dog. Loki feels compelled to "help" we with that chore and gets quite worked up about it. So, I think your alternating up and down plan is a good one. :}
I'm so glad Evan gets to lick bowls!
I fed choc bits to my dog at the end when she wouldn't eat anything else. I knew she didn't have time to get cancer or whatever choc would cause. I still feel good about that decision. :(

Your unconventional title made me look, so I guess Ill follow your thread now!
Hi :)

32: Sweet that you can take him to the library.

Welcome Iread !

Well, our library is very low-key -- Some days are busy but Thursdays for some reason usually aren't, at least til the end of the day. If it had gotten busy I think I would have put him in the car.... I did shut the office door for awhile when kids came in after school -- but that was more because I didn't want to explain and they would have wanted to pet him, which would have been too much for him.

Chocolate, good idea! Just a tiny nibble here and there. Brilliant!! E -- we've always had to be very careful about where we leave even a chocolate wrapper. He'll love that!

So I finished Silk by Grace Dane Mazur -- short stories. They are good and they get better and better throughout the book. There are several interconnected stories about a girl, then young woman, named Cass, then a few random stories, then several about a woman named Suzanne. Both Cass and Suzanne are interested in science -- Cass in something to do with physics (vague) and Suzanne, silkworms and their form. This was Mazur's career for close to 20 years, so it's very convincing - and several of the stories focus around issues of conflict between scientists and artists. Warning: A couple of the stories about Cass, who is sexually adventurous, are somewhat (actually very) shocking, and I am not sure what I think about the matter of fact way Mazur presents the behavior in question. I don't think Mazur wrote the stories simply to be shocking, though, but I am not sure why she did write them. I never quite 'got' Cass. I did get Suzanne, however, those stories were very convincing. One story, about an anthropologist who studied the prehistoric caves in southern France, eminent and now in her 80's, who becomes friends with some young people who explore the caves beneath Paris was absolutely beyond wonderful. ****1/2

Vacuum cleaner = suck monster: NOT reassuring for May!

Started the Jane Green, thought uh oh, skimmed along, realized not for me. Heigh ho and it's back to the library you go!

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about Evan. My thoughts are with you.

I'm very sorry about Evan. Take care.

Sorry to hear your bad news Lucy. It's been a while since I had a dog, partly because it's such a wrench when you have to say goodbye. Hopefully it's a comfort to know what a wonderful life you no doubt provided him with.

It's been a long sad day, and I have kept myself busy and hope very much that sometime this evening I will simply pass out cold and sleep with no thoughts or images in my head. Evan had a very very good last day yesterday, culminating in a particularly delicious saucepan that needed 'pre-cleaning' which task he happily threw himself into. I was looking forward to maybe having several days like that, but it was not to be. Around 11:30 p.m. his breathing deteriorated and .... well.... it became very apparent we had gone over that invisible line. We have an emergency vet service twenty minutes away so around 2:30 a.m. when we were sure, we went. I haven't been to bed and I haven't even sat down for very long because I can't. Evan is now in a lovely place near the house at the end of a little meadow in the company of three other marvelous corgis, so now they are a true pack, which is strangely comforting. I just bought a bunch more daff bulbs and I think I'll put a lot of them there. Hubster has been cutting down some trees near there and he is going to make a proper bench.

I don't think I've read two words today. I cleaned, made soup, moved some furniture around, the goal was busy, mindless. I can't do anything without being reminded of how he was always right with me participating somehow or other.

Nothing to say but just wanted to sit with you and *hugs* Lucy.

I'm so sorry. Comforting that Evan had such a lovely last day.

So sorry to hear about Evan. Sounds like you gave him the best last days and a beautiful resting place.

Oh, that was soon... The meadow and the daffodil bulbs sound good, and a bench to sit there in future... Hope you manage to sleep ok after this hard sad day.

I am so happy that Evan and you had such a good quality final day, and sorry that there couldn't have been a few more. I know you are missing him dreadfully, and think that a bench and a bunch of daffodils is a marvelous way of remembering not only Evan but the whole pack. {{{{hugs}}}}

Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry. But I like the idea of him being with your other Corgis and the bench and daffodils sound wonderful. I hope it's somewhat comforting that you were sure it was the right time. And I do believe he's still with you. I hope you can get some good rest soon. Lots of love being sent your way.

So sad for you, Lucy. Your little friend is no longer suffering, but you will be for awhile. I wish there was a way to soften the pain. Rest easy - you did all the right things. I'm so sorry.

{{{{Lucy}}}}

Aw, Lucy, what a lovely last day for Evan. I'm sure his passing was easier for him, knowing he was so loved. I love the idea of the daffodils.

Joining the group hug:
{{{{Lucy}}}}

I'm sorry you lost your fur-buddy. It's a heartache.

Lucy, so sorry to hear the sad news about Evan but it sounds like he had a contented last few days spending time with you. Hugs.

You are all such a comfort, thank you. I have had some sleep.

The winter landscape is fully installed today - except for snow coming and going and the pond freezing everything will look more or less the same until spring. We've decided to close down the outdoor shower. Nature girl that I am, enough is enough! Frozen shampoo!

>54 sibylline:: We've had the knockout punch from Mother Nature last week but now we're back to 60° weather. In some ways I was ready for the chill to move in. I do hope that this warmth doesn't keep the leaves on the trees so long that we miss the last leaf pickup by the town.

sending hugs! sorry about Evan!

I'm so sorry about Evan! I know how difficult it is.

Lucy,
So sorry to hear about Evan. Sending out good thoughts to all of you.

Outdoor shower, forsooth! Forswear!!!
Hug family and cats if they'll let you.

Just stopping in to add my heartfelt best wishes for you and your family. I'm sure Evan always felt very loved by all of you and there's nothing more important than that.

Lucy, my kindest thoughts to you and yours. Evan had a wonderful last day!

Lucy, so very sorry to hear about Evan. I hope you can take comfort in the fact that you made his final days as comfortable and happy as possible, and in the beauty of the place where he now rests with the other corgis.

Thank you everyone who has stopped by -- I'm better, I think - I hope, as I will be alone most of the day. I've hurled myself into various household improvement projects, which mostly involve schlepping and rearranging and some tidying -- not too demanding. I'm also keen to get 'the rest of' the books that are floating around into my LT catalog. I always cheer up when I mess around with books. Why are you not surprised!????

Lucy, just delurking to add my best wishes to you - it is always difficult when we lose a member of the family whether of two or four legs. Good luck with your cataloguing I for one found it very therapeutic. Fond memories and happy reading.

Hope you are having some good, productive, therapeutic book-messing time!

Touching, staring, holding, flipping, smelling the books will always bring a smile to my face. :) Hope each day is getting easier for you, Lucy.

I am better today, thanks in part to you all. Didn't accomplish a great deal, but I made it possible to get fully back into ordinary life tomorrow perhaps. Even taking the trash to the transfer station is hard because they know Evan and have a biscuit for him..... so one of the folks there will probably ask, if not this week then the next. Yesterday a friend said to me -- she's the sort of person who has a loud cheerful voice (those of you who read Angela Thirkell will know exactly what I mean!) "I think I tell my dog I love him way more often than I tell my husband!" She totally cracked me up.

I am enjoying the Allegra Goodman although I have a feeling the moral of the story is "Don't count your chickens......"

Lucy, I am really sorry about Evan, but glad you were able to make his end so peaceful. Sounds like you are starting to recover a bit (I know you never fully do, but you know....). Lots of hugs.

Aw, Lucy, I am so sad for you. Losing a beloved family member is tough. It sounds like Evan's last days were precious to all. I'm going to remember the bowl licking and bits of chocolate as special last day treats for Lucky. Hopefully it will be years before I need that info.

I'm late to your thread because my detective skills are lacking. Not having your name on the heading keeps the rif-raf down, right? I AM joking.

Speaking of detectives, I saw your rec for Tony Hillerman as I made my rounds. My husband has read everything by him. I'm off to grab one out of the donation box to check him out.

Thank you both, Donna and Janet - I am better (all things being relative) - enough rest is a big part of it.

I know -- I forgot to put my name in my header -- everyone, including those who don't find me until December are automatically forgiven! I sometimes lose people for months on less of a good excuse.

I hope you like Hillerman -- it is VERY worthwhile reading him in order -- Joe Leaphorn is the first detective, who retires, then Jim Chee takes over and their stories are interwoven. (As well as other threads in their personal lives -- it's part of the deep charm of the books.)

Hi Lucy, it's good to hear you're feeling better (although I know it takes a long time to adjust to this kind of loss).

I just read your post on Claudia's thread and you're doing a good job promoting living in Vermont!

BELLS AND WHISTLES - BOOK 100!!!!

Allegra Goodman's The Cookbook Collector. Smart, entertaining fiction. I'm not that comfortable with novels that include 9/11 and generally avoid them but when it did turn up as a game-changer I didn't flinch, Goodman handled it well enough so that I could tolerate it. What is the most fun in it though are the two sisters, Jess and Emily, the one who is sensible and down to earth and the one who is a free spirit -- but wait, maybe it's the other way around..... Jess and her adventure with the collection of cookbooks that her curmudgeonly boss George buys and that she begins cataloging...... oh, yes, and curmudgeonly George, a bit of a modern-day Darcy....

Now all I have to do is finish P&C!! 190 pages to go........

I have a Camillieri out upstairs, but I can't remember the title...... that's what I'll start tonight.

Congratulations on reading 100 books this year, Lucy!

100 That's great!!!! I'm thrilled and impressed and ----


glitter-graphics.com

Congratulations on reaching the 100 book mark!!

Congratulations on your century!

Well done, Lucy! You realize, don't you, that since you've exceeded the goal by 25% you are now entitled to put your feet up, eat bon-bons, and do nothing but watch television for the rest of the year, if you so choose. However, knowing you, you'll probably just go on reading. Incorrigible, that's what you are.

WOW! You did it! 100 books in a year!
And the vast majority were such good books too!
Congrats!

And thanks for the trailblazing you did for me... I get to pick out the best from your list for my own reading pleasure!

Congrats on 100!

>77 TomKitten:: I'm heading north to Lucy's for bon-bons! Congrats!

Thank you all! I'm amazed really -- before I had a child I averaged 125-150 sometimes more when I went on a J or YA binge - then it went down to 50 or 60 a year (yes, I'm compulsive and I've kept track since the early 80's!!!) - this is the most I've read in 15 years, so I'm very pleased. And, of course, LT and LTers get a lot of credit for the increased variety in my reading!

The Camilleri is called The Wings of the Sphinx. Until I finish P&C all my other reading has to be quick and lightish.

>81 sibylline:: I'm going the other way. I think I've read 140-160 for each of the last five or six years. This year, however, I suspect it will be more like 100 total.

Hooray for 100 books!

81,82: I may, barely, get to 75, including magazines. This has been a useful experience, but I'm not sure it's sustainable through another year.

Woo hoo -- bells and whistles for sure on your 100th book!

Congratulations :-)

#74 Is it just me or is that gif kind of scary?

Maybe she is, a bit, but I find most gifs a bit odd. There is one ad where this woman makes an arm movement that isn't physically possible (shoulder limitations) that really gives me trouble.

Oh dear. I didn't mean to scare anybody! I was looking for something that expresses exuberant joy!
So, should I take it down???

Heavens no! I like my scary baby!

#88 No, no - definitely not. Perhaps creepy would have been a better word to use. I keep thinking she could be doing an evil genius laugh rather than a nice joyful laugh. Mwah, ha, ha, ha!

O.K. Creepy Baby stays.

Add my congrats on the three figure milestone. Amazing that we would find a smiling baby creepy and touched by evil genius but I agree I does seem there somehow!

That baby is creepy. I'm sorry for your loss of Evan Lucy (I would have been here to comfort you sooner but lost you through the thread change). The last time we lost a dog was in 2000 and it was so difficult on everyone so I know how you suffered. When its time for this little ball of fur we have now to go, I'll be devastated, just as you were with your sweet Evan.

ha ha scary baby talk cracks me up.
Good job on reading more than you've done in 15 years, that's so cool!

re scary baby impressions:

You guys all read too much!!!! lol

I'm mucho impressed with 100 books, Lucy! WOW! I've just hit 75, but I read like an absolute maniac last winter, so I don't expect to do it again. Of course, much stranger things have happened.

I should have mentioned in the last post ... a few of us (Megan, Paul, Carsten, and I so far) are doing a group read of North and South Dec 15-Jan 15. You're welcome to join. Pass it on!

eta: I had the wrong touchstone ... groan.

Thank you so much for inviting me! I noticed that group read and have been pondering whether it is realistic for me to join in. Step One: Get a copy of the book!

Would that be North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell?

Yep. That is my understanding anyhow.

So sorry, everyone. It's Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South we're reading. I fixed the touchstone in previous post. Duh moment for me!

I would like to get this on my Kindle (so I can see the print w/o eyestrain).
There are a couple editions.
One is free (with lots of reviewer complaints about errors)
and one is $5+ that looks better - but the reviews are based on paperbacks - not ebook.

I would get a paper or hardback if I knew the print was reasonable... can't take chances anymore. It's a waste of money. :(

Today I drove down to Hanover (only an hour and a half) to take my dau. to see the Orozco murals in the reference room at the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth. - He was invited to paint them in the early 30's and they were wildly controversial, still are in a way. Wow. I had no idea how intense they would be. In fact, I had barely heard of him, although he is right up there with Diego Rivera. Orozco's work is so dark and difficult, I wasn't sure how my dau. would take it, but she loved it, or at least, was deeply fascinated by what he was saying about human nature (not pretty) and just wowed by his intensity, use of color, and basic focus. Then what did we do? ONE GUESS.

Yep, found the nearest used bookstore (cafe on first floor, bookstore on second) and found the dau a fair copy of Jane Eyre which she is choosing for an elective read for her honors class! Also an intriguing Norton edition of The Canterbury Tales which is coming up soon in the same class. I, weirdly, wasn't in the mood to buy anything. Could that be because I already have about 150 books on my sagging groaning tbr shelves......... I wonder.

Check your temperature, Lucy, you must be coming down with something. Since when have groaning tbr shelves stopped you before.

Chortle. I know.... but it does happen to me sometimes that I'm simply not in the mood. I did check for Viragos but there weren't any.

So I finished the Camilleri The Wings of the Sphinx-- the usual mix of comedy and drama - I enjoyed the snipes at Berlusconi, now disgraced and gone! (Amid choruses singing Alleleluia.) Italian politics make ours so incredibly civilized!

I'm going to give No Great Mischief by Alastair MacLeod a go.

I'm also reading Asterios Polyp - while waiting for my coffee to brew I was messing w/my bookshelves -- right now they are barely in any order at all -- and I suddenly felt like reading it. Probably I'll get nothing done today as a result.

I'm not spending much time on LT these days (trying to write a novel in NaNoWriMo). After you posted on my thread I had to find you using the Wiki and here I am, late to add my condolences for the loss of your dear four-legged friend.

Congrats on book 100! Way to go!

#105 - Italian politics make ours so incredibly civilized! - um, I don't want to get political or anything, but really, no. sorry.

I'll take your word for it -- when I was studying Italian forever ago we spent a lot of time on Berlusconi (all roads seemed to lead there) and I got the impression that Italian politics has a schizoid aspect. But truthfully I really know very little, probably too little to make even a vague generalization.

109: Maybe she's saying something about US politics...

Oh.... yes,.... I see.... thank you Q! I really am not exactly running on all cylinders today. It's still absurdly warm here and I spent the day on a project outside, very therapeutic.

Congrats on the 100! I myself can only aspire to such giddy heights. I comfort myself with the knowledge that I have been very busy with work etc, lately, plus I have a husband who's a film nut, so lots of potential reading time is taken up watching films. Well, anyway, these are my excuses and I'm sticking to them!

Yeah, what qebo said......

Just finished Asterios Polyp which has been knocking around the house for awhile. It's the first graphic novel I've read 'for grown-ups' . I gave it a high rating because I was curious and absorbed and intrigued. I tried hard to read it slowly -- but often I would rush ahead through a section, then go back and look more carefully at what the pictures were saying, or adding up to.... if it was a 'regular' novel I would ask questions about what exactly caused Asterios' change of heart..... yeah yeah, we learn he wrecked his marriage and then his apartment is struck by lightning and burns up and he just gets on a bus.... but I never quite got how someone that arrogant would decide to try being another way -- usually -- as I understand it, it's a definable 'moment'. Even if he had had a thought bubble that said, "Hey, I'm just going to pretend to be joe guy" I could have lived with that. I went back and looked around in the drawings to see if I missed something, but I don't think so. It's a quibble really.

Stepped into the Crow Bookshop on Burlington's Church St. and two Angela Carters flew off the shelves and into my greedy mitts. A book of non-fiction essays Nothing Sacred: Selected Writings and Love. I'd never heard of her before LT and she's clearly not for everyone. I often find essays a good place to begin with a new writer, grounding.

You should advise the Crow Bookshop to post signs warning of flying volumes. Someone could be seriously injured.

Like, uh, duck and cover?

Hi Lucy- Nice thread you have here! I'm glad you enjoyed Asterios Polyp. It's one of my favorite GNs and it shows you how much can be done in this format.

117 > Perfect!

Quack!

We head for Florida for a week next Monday and I am determined to A) finish Pagans and Christians totally doable as I only (!) have 81 pages to go, and B) finish book two in Sean McMullen's Greatwinter Trilogy, The Miocene Arrow. The third volume is in Florida and I plan to read it there -- I'll bring it back in my bag or mail it or something. It was v. slow going for awhile, but now it's picking up, but I also made the effort yesterday to read it for an hour straight and that helped. Piecemeal reading can really be a problem with some books that have a very complex set up and lots of characters. It can be over a week until you meet up with some character again and in the meantime you forget totally who he/she is, what side they're on, etc.

The MacLeod No Great Mischief is staggeringly good, which is a bit of a problem, since that is the book I really want to dive into.

Hi Lucy! I so agree with you re piecemeal reading. It drives me nuts - but don't always have a choice.

I loved No Great Mischief. Can't believe I read a book before you!
;-)

Finished up my audio book today, so at least something is done, although it wasn't even on my finishing agenda. Sue Miller's The Senator's Wife. The story follows the 'end' of one long and complex marriage, and the beginning of a young one, neighbors sharing a fine big Victorian duplex in a New England college town. Hard to say why I listened to the whole thing. In part because I was weirdly fascinated by the indiscriminate slathering of detail. Sue Miller can write extremely well and she is observant and can describe the minutiae of life with ease. The problem for me is that Miller doesn't seem to distinguish between detail (say, what's in grocery bag, the topping on the pizza, etc.) that that doesn't much matter and detail that really is superb and necessary to the story -- the book contains a harrowing description of childbirth, one of the best I've ever read. And while I loved being pregnant, never had any of the issues Meri has (feeling invaded, ugly etc) and also had an immediate link to my dau. as a newborn, I know that isn't always the case and thought Miller did a good job convincingly describing someone for whom the first child was a true shock, physically and emotionally. That was by far the best part of the book for me. The characters inflate here and there toward roundness, but never quite come to life. So why did I listen? Oh I don't know, I kept expecting it to maybe get more interesting, I was mesmerized even a bit hypnotized. I've been finding that 'harder' audio books, unless read by someone utterly riveting, say, Alan Ricknab, are just too much for me. *** for a book that was somehow bland but bearable with some good moments.

My next audio book will be a Jonathan Lethem You Don't Love Me Yet. I started it earlier -- Lethem reads it and I usually like that -- hearing the author read his/her own book.

Hi Lucy, Good review. Our book club read this one. I found this book rather bland also - but there were a few saving aspects, as you mentioned. I gave it 3 stars also.

Great minds etcetera!!!

Delighted to have found another fan of No Great Mischief, Lucy. I had a copy of it for a couple of years before finally reading it last winter. It was absolutely staggeringly good. Will go down as one of this year's best reads, no question.

No Great Mischief was on my Top Reads list last year; absolutely beautiful.

I checked into No Great Mischief and instantly put it on my list. Thanks!

I jumped on No Great Mischief when I saw it on sale at Chapters this year, so it's in my piles of books... somewhere!

I'm just coming over here from Roni and my P&C thread where we've been celebrating finishing it up. I still need to write up one last chapter over there and I guess I should say something about it here..... Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox is essentially a five star book in that a staggering amount of research and correlating and comparing of known facts with legends, rumors, and outright fabrications has gone into it. I think Fox wanted, above all, to show how Christianity evolved, unevenly, responsively, and, you could say, haphazardly. And how, it arose at a time when greco-roman cult worship was itself evolving and changing, but not quite fast enough. The persecutions and martyrs strengthened aspects of xtianity and gave it unexpected appeal and power. Constantine's choice clinched the matter. While it wasn't entirely inevitable that xtianity would prevail, it became very likely, for reasons both intrinsic (the promise of heaven) and extrinsic (the extremely effective form of rulership by the bishops) to name two.

I have any number of criticisms of the book, but I made most of them on our thread and won't repeat. For me those issues kept me constantly just slightly wary. For me it was a ****1/2 and not for the faint of heart.

Have a couple of books by Robin Lane Fox including The Classical World but not your present read. Good to see you enjoyed it as I am toying with Lane Fox shortly myself in a manner of speaking.

Have also just finished The Miocene Arrow by Sean McMullen an Australian SF writer, book two in 'The Greatwinter Trilogy' about an interestingly constrained situation on earth about 3000 years forward. Book One was set in 'Australica' book two is set in the remains of the US of A. I can't say much about the constraints or I would be spoiling, but suffice it to say the humans evolve a society that works very well for them, based on chivalry, animals smaller than toasters, and machines not much bigger, really, than elephants..... There are of course bad guys trying to destroy what's left of humanity. Flying about is very big in this one as when in the air one is free of the constraints. I'd have to go rummaging around to see what I said about about Book One but I have a feeling it is not unlike what I will say about Book Two, slow start, but then finally an engaging character or two hooking me. ***1/2 very solid fare, not brilliant, in the genre. Some very imaginative details push it towards four stars but not consistently enough.

Now the big question that will absorb more of my morning than it ought to, is what I will read on my trip.... thinnish books mostly, I've decided, but having done that I have a wealth of thin to thinnish books on my tbr shelves. I know the NF is going to be The Portland Vase by Robin Brooks which I have peeked at and know I will enjoy. I thought of picking up the Wallace, but I'm going to indulge myself in mostly lighter fare with the exception of the MacLeod I'm presently loving and maybe Coventry by Humphreys although I also have a very thin Angela Carter in the running, knowing me I'll take both. Sigh.

I won't go on more about this as I am sure you are all quite familiar with it-- I randomly hurl a bunch of clothes and toiletries in the bag and then things get serious! My husband finds it both exasperating and deeply amusing as he ostentatiously packs his kindle or whatever.

Lucy, have a wonderful trip and a great Thanksgiving!

I feel so unburdened having met my pre-trip reading goals!

134: P&C would've been quite the burden, physically and mentally, over Thanksgiving.

Take some NYers! I've missed you over there.

Have a good trip and happy TG. Glad you're finished with P&C.

Lucy, enjoy Florida! Sounds wonderful : ).

Thank you all, I really hope it will be restorative.

Q -- I've got September in my bags! And so far, my plan to lose the last August issue seems to have worked, I really can't find it! I tried, I swear, I tried!

Of course, I'm dying to take the first Rothfuss which is a huge book..... and I'm so hopeless I probably will even though I can't possibly read 3000 pages over one week.....

You need to take extra books so you have options!
August 29 NYer -- You'd probably enjoy Dickens camp more than I did.

Hi Lucy!
Congrats on all the pre-trip reading accomplished! Now, to relax...
Hope you have a wonderful time. I've always loved vacations and took them frequently. I am just now realizing how very important they are - and I am going to get more religious about planning them as needed (small and frequent).

139 - Rats, that means I'll have to keep looking for it! I have this feeling I transferred it to a different bag at some point and now I can't find that bag.....

Here you are!!! Good grief. Every so often I'd search for a Sibyx thread, not find it and assume it would pop up on the top page in the next day or and I'd catch up then. Didn't realize that you'd pulled a fast one on us all...

An excellent reason for the new "continue" feature: http://www.librarything.com/topic/126131.

Have a safe and wonderful trip to Florida, Lucy!

Sandy K

Enjoy you time in Florida, and do take the Angela Carter.

Oh, Angela Carter! One of my favourites Lucy. I haven't read Love, but I adore Nights At the Circus, amongst many others.

Hi, Lucy!

I'm late to the celebration, but congrats on passing the 100 book mark!

Hope you have a great time in Florida!

Have a great trip Lucy.

I tiptoed in with a short comment before to cover up for the fact that I hadn't been following, but looking back, that was terribly gauche of me. Hope I'm forgiven for my occasional lack of social graces?

Enjoy Florida and yes, congrats on busting the 100 book mark!

No worries about losing track of my thread -- I seem to constantly lose someone or other. This month I made a mess of things by omitting my name, so I am getting just what I deserve!

Florida is warm and nice, at home it is snowing and sleeting.

Gloat.

Most of my reading today has been in the MacLeod. What an astonishing novel! There is a scene in Sudbury at the mines (which I have visited, although not the uranium one) where they all start playing music that more or less blew the top of my head off. Even though I play the music, I know I stand outside the culture, ultimately, but a book like this one, brings one into a closer understanding. What a gift. A book like this should almost come with a CD!

My grandfather once worked in those mines -- briefly. Need to read that book...

Lucy - the aussie sci-fi looks interesting so into the TBR forest it duly goes.
Have a lovely trip to Florida - don't spoil it by taking Angela Carter with you! Give yourself something less avant-garde and difficult to chew upon while soaking up the sun - a good old page turner always does it for me.

Are you soaking up the sun? Or are you back in the legacy library?

I have added the MacLeod to the wishlist, Lucy. It sounds great, but at the same time the sort of thing that I would usually just brush past in the bookshop or the library, so thanks for expanding my horizons!

I'm going to work a bit on the Legacy Library I hope today. And read. Later we are going to do something mildly touristy, go to an old farm called Spanish Point, since my daughter is here with a guest. Then I hope to make an apple pie. Hmmmm sounds like a lot of activity for someone on vac. I'm not much a beach sitter, too restless, although when I do get out there I often am surprised by how much I enjoy it, but not as a regular thing. I more or less like to do the same things wherever I am....

Paul -- I like the McMullen -- and I like the Aussie flavor of it. I plan to start the 3rd one after I finish up Zanzibar Cat which I left here last time and has been patiently waiting for my return.

I'm not a beach sitter either, Lucy, but I could easily become a beachcomber. The waves are mesmerizing and I could go on forever. Right now, I'd settle for some Florida sunshine. I don't mind the cold but these gloomy days are dispiriting. Could you send some of your rays to Missouri?

Happy Thanksgiving. I much prefer apple pie to pumpkin pie. I know....*blasphemy* on the day before Thanksgiving!

Hi Lucy -
Thinking of you having fun in the FL sun - I used to spend my Thanksgivings down there when Mom lived there. Now we're all up here and I get to wallow in the great NE weather. :)

So glad you liked No Great Mischief - I loved it too. I think all things Canada are in my blood... all my ancestors go back to the first influx of Europeans (French) to Quebec/Montreal/ and the Maritimes. I'm so excited to be discovering Can. Lit. here on LT.

AND - I got a book by Sterling Lanier - Hiero's Journey.
Will be getting to that sometime soon. You got me interested to check him out :)

Happy Florida Thanksgiving!

Have fun with the Legacy Library project - and Happy Thanksgiving!

>157 -Cee-: I'm so excited to be discovering Can. Lit. here on LT.

Claudia, if you like Canadian lit, I know a professor, Robert Thacker, who has taught Canadian studies at St. Lawrence University for probably 30-some years. I met him through the Willa Cather group. Check out his faculty profile. I'm thinking on the university website you might find a class list or something that would indicate what he's teaching, and if you got lucky, maybe a course syllabus. If it interested you, I'm sure he wouldn't mind an email with a query about a book list. He's a very approachable and nice sort.

He wrote a biography about Alice Munro, a Canadian writer. Do you know her? Based on his critical recommendation of her writing, I'd highly recommend her, although I have to admit that I haven't read anything by her yet.

Here's the biog: Alice Munro: Writing Her Lives, by Robert Thacker.

You might try Runaway, a collection of her short stories.

The Moons of Jupiter is a great intro to Alice Munro's short stories -- I'd be interested to see what you think of her work, Becky.

Thanks, Suzanne. I just put this one on the wishlist.

Chirping up here, I have read Alice Munro quite thoroughly, and she is one of North America's greats, no doubt about it.

I like Munro, too!

Thanks, Becky and Suz... will check it all out.

Lucy - I think you read (and recommended?) Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories which I have somewhere around here... If she's that good, I'll have to get it out in the open so I won't forget. :)

Did I? No doubt I did!

Finished the MacLeod last night and I hardly know what to say. This is a book of rare craft, great beauty, true wisdom..... I lay in bed letting certain words and phrases which MacLeod uses and repeats carefully and repetitively until they are like a gaelic melody -- repetition with slight variations that keep you interested -- roll about in my head, the gille beagh ruadh , the MacDonald clan motto, the faithful dogs, the blackfish.... MacLeod's narrator circles around and around certain events each time adding a detail or an insight, and even though, at the core of the book is one violent event that ruins a life utterly, the truly unusual feature here is the depth of loyalty and love flowing around the members of the clan calum ruadh . Well I can't say more without 'spoiling' the story, so I won't but this is a five star book, highly highly recommended.

I'm sure it's been reviewed to pieces, so I'll let this stand.

I'm returning the the Joanna Russ stories in Zanzibar Cat that I left here last time, and picking up for a new (very short!) NF read The Portland Vase -- the adventures and travels of a roman vase that looks to be a very fun read.

My pie looks mouth-wateringly good! Hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Happy eating everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving, Lucy!

Woah, Ive been out of the loop for a few days and now Im frantically reading to catch up, didnt quite get to all your messages, got lost sometime after the Italian politics discussion.....nothing to contribute there Im afraid. We have our general election tomorrow here and it looks like we'll be stuck with what we've already got if the polls are anything to go by :(

>166 sibylline: pie? would that be of the pumpkin variety? Im dying to make one of those, I bet they'd be texturally fantastic

Re: Alice Munro, I've read Runaway and thought it was a pretty great collection of short stories, even though I don't normally 'do' short stories very much. I've also got The View from Castle Rock sitting on my shelves, which came highly recommended from various sources along with her most recently published Too Much Happiness, which was also well received.

Lucy, I'm glad that you enjoyed No Great Mischief so much. It's on the menu for my 12/12 reading, but I've added you as a recommender too, as I like to keep track of those things—and one more opportunity to tag a book is always welcome. :-)

Hope you've been having a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your pie turned out great!

Not even going to pretend to catch up on missed messages so I will just start here and say HI. :)

Delighted you enjoyed No Great Mischief so much, Lucy! Agree wholeheartedly that This is a book of rare craft, great beauty, true wisdom ...

I thoroughly enjoyed No Great Mischief myself -
wish I could think of the words to describe things like you do...
There are no "big" new-to-me words in "..a book of rare craft, great beauty, true wisdom ... " but that is a wonderful assessment that I never would have come up with...
(not to mention my grammar stinks - well nevermind that)
Anyway - nice job of telling it like it is!

Greetings greetings to everyone who came by! I confess, it is rather delightful to get on and find several notes piled up. Claudia! You darling! I will admit I tinkered a bit with that little triptych -- at first I had 'deep' wisdom and I though, nah, that's too ..... pushy or something. One of the exercises at library school and then in graduate school was to write 'annotations' of the books we read - In library school esp. we wrote up these annotated bibliographies - NOT having read the books thoroughly, just paging through to get the idea - and I did love doing that; one of those unaccountable things.

Nice to hear from you jolerie and Iread. Never worry about catching up!

Lucy, how am I possibly going to get to No Great Mischief now? I got it from PBS when somebody else had read and loved it, and there it sits screaming "Read ME" every time I walk by. I took it off the shelf yesterday, and then spanked the hand that held it so that it had to put it back. Someday soon though!

Chuckling. How I know well the feeling. Lots of spanking went on as I was trying with one hand to put more books in my suitcase, the other pulling them out...... When the time comes you will read it. Not sure with all that is happening in yr. life at the mo' that it is the right read, although it is a balanced book.

So I finished something and came to report it earlier but got so excited about all my visitors I forgot!

So I finished up Joanna Russ's book of short stories sf/fantasy/satire The Zanzibar Cat -- Russ is clever and quick, and doesn't care if you can't keep up, but usually by the end of a story the lightbulb comes on and I got it...... some are very very funny..... had to bore everyone by reading long passages I thought were hilarious. Many of the stories are allegorical and quite abstract, commentary, say, on corporate greed and not so easy to read unless you just sort of let go of needing it to make sense. (A lot like the movie we saw last night 'The Fountain'). A couple of vampire stories left me wanting more -- and a ghost story set in Rome was so lovely and spooky.

One very silly short piece is "Useful Phrases for the Tourist' -- that is -- the space tourist. Here are one or two samples:

AT THE HOTEL
This cannot be my room because I cannot breathe ammonia.
Waitress, this meal is still alive.
AT THE PARTY
Are you edible? I am not edible.
Humans do not regenerate.
My companion is not edible.
That is my ear.
I am toxic.
IN THE HOSPITAL
Placing the thermometer there will yield little to no information.
AT THE THEATRE
I did not intend to sit on you. I did not realize that you were in this seat.
COMPLIMENTS
You are more than before.
Your hair is false.
If you uncover your feet, I will faint.
INSULTS
You are just the same.
There are more of you than previously.
Your fingers are showing.
How clean you are!
You are clean, but animated!

And so on. ****stars for Russ.

That's great! I'll have to remember those lines if I should find myself seated next to an unfavorable dinner companion. The compliments are worse than the insults!

That reminds me of the book English As She Is Spoke, which was reissued by McSweeney's several years ago. It's a Portuguese-English dictionary that was written in 1855 by two Portuguese teachers for their students. Neither of them knew any English, and they used a Portuguese-French dictionary and a French-English dictionary to produce their book, with predictably disastrous and hilarious results.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Lucy!

That sounds completely delicious, Darryl!

I did have a nice t-giving, Roni. I don't miss reading P&C but I do miss our daily connection on that thread.

I'm really enjoying the Leigh Brackett - one thing about these older sf books, they get the whole story told in less than 200 pages. Nobody can do it in less than 600 any more. Now why is that??????

Lucy, thanks for sharing those tourist phrases. Sounds like something you'd hear in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy maybe, no? I mean the BBC radio version, which is uproariously funny of course.

eta: #176 That does sound delicious Darryl! :-)

I LOVE those phrases from Joanna Russ's book. All of them!

My favorite is the one about the feet.

In the intro before the story Russ says that she came up with the idea at an SFcon while sitting in a bar with friends -- she was broke at the time and they all told her to publish it. Maybe Adams read it somewhere and that triggered his ideas, on the other hand, he was so creative that maybe it was one of those spontaneous things. This little squib predates the Guide by a decade or more.

Popping back in to say I finished up the Leigh Brackett's The Ginger Star the first volume in a three book set about the indomitable Eric John Stark. It's just 185 pages, so really, by today's endless book standard it's barely on the radar screen. And I really want to get on with it, for whatever reason it is what I am kind of in the mood to read, ripping good sf yarn, that's wot! Leigh Brackett is one of the great women sf writers -- and she worked on some excellent screenplays - The Big Sleep being one. I think she also worked on one of the screenplays for the Star Wars series.....

>181 sibylline:: My copy of the Stark books (I had a Science Fiction Book Club omnibus) are long gone. There was a great Housecleaning decades ago when I had an apartment too small to handle all my books and my mother refused to be a warehouse. I miss a lot of those books, especially now that I have plenty of room.

Oh that's too bad! I'm feeling a bit frustrated as we appear to have two out of three but I've had to order the second - but it was extremely inexpensive, not the .01 but bearable. I forgot to look on the PBS and now I'm afraid to go look in case it is there. We have so many incomplete sets -- in the old pre-amazon etc. days it took effort sometimes to find a book, and you'd end up either giving up or borrowing or the library or whatever. It was the same with the Mars series, I had to buy the middle one. We did have all the Helliconias at least. Anyway, I'm digging into the 3rd McMullen, so I'll live.

The Portland Vase is one of those 'great read' NF books -- the style is a bit like Tony Horowitz or Eric Hansen, serious work has gone into the making of it, but the presentation isn't at all heavy or academic. What a relief!

The Zanzibar Cat sounds very good. I read her The Female Man years ago, I'm going to have to see if I can find some of her work.

Hi Lucy,
No Great Mischief sounds like something I'd very much enjoy and I'm delighted to find it in the collection and available at the local. Thanks for the tip!

#175 My favorite is the thermometer one - having a medical background. LOL Sounds like a good book. Maybe I will check the library. :) Looks like the whole state of Maine is lacking this book :(

Have a great day!

ETA - The LT Oracle is so disappointing lately. For the last few months it consistently says "You will probably like". That's no incentive :P
If it says I will hate, I want to prove them wrong. If it says I will love, I can't resist. But "probably like"???
*Bunch of wimps! No fun anymore.*

The LT Oracle is so disappointing lately. For the last few months it consistently says "You will probably like". That's no incentive

I know what you mean Claudia. That thing has made so many boobs with me that I never bother anymore (told me I'd HATE when I LOVED and vice versa).

The LT Oracle -- i guess I take it about as seriously as the Netflix one......

TK I think No Great Mischief is ezackly your kind of book.

I've galloped through The Portland Vase today so that I can leave it here -- what a fun book and entertaining tale. A roman vase, found in the late 16th century makes its way to the British Museum via a combination of toffs and collectors..... it gets smashed and fixed, everybody with any pretensions, real or imagined, to being an antiquarian takes a stab at interpreting the figures, for now it seems to be safe and the reasonable conclusion is that it is a genuine roman artifact and most probably celebrates some aspect of Augustus' life. **** possibly I should demote it to ***1/2 due to the following......

It is one of these books with several egregious typos - including one page - the last paragraph or two on the fellow Byres, his name is alternately spelled Byers and Byres in back to back sentences. I went paging all around wondering if I'd missed something. Also words left out -- this, of course, throws into doubt everything in the book. if no one could bother to proofread did they bother to fact-check? In truth, I am guessing they did, but I was taken aback.

I couldn't help looking--PBS has all three of the Skaith books. You'll have to let me know if they are good reads. The Sword of Rhiannon sounds familiar--I probably read it back in the day.

Also let me know your final verdict on the McMullen books--as I told you, I have book 3, Eyes of the Calculator, picked up not realizing it was third in a series.

Go for them Roni, it's too late for me, I'm afraid. There is always the possibility that I'm in some weird mood that means I enjoy one thing more than another, but the spousal unit read The Ginger Star too just now and also liked it a lot. There's good energy in it,if you know what I mean.

Loving the sound of The Zanzibar Cat and Leigh Brackett seems like great fun too. Yet more things to wishlist!

Hi, nice to see you're joining the North and South holiday group read. I received my copy a few days ago and couldnt help but notice its length (and that its length is lengthy)!
So Ill be starting on start date :)

I still haven't gotten my copy, why I cannot say -- actually, I'm hoping maybe to buy it in Montreal on Saturday when I have a mini-meet-up with Ilana!

I am here to report that I did, miraculously, meet my goal of finishing up the September NYers, which I count as a book.

Have fun at the mini-meet-up! Hope there will be pictures. :)

Enjoy your meet up in Montreal! I love that city, just hate to try and drive in it

I know what you mean -- my sister has lived there for over 30 years in various neighborhoods, and each time she has moved it has been a struggle to adjust to what feels like a whole new city, a whole new route. These days she's in Westmount, just off of one of the main drags, so that helps. Unfortunately, no matter where she lives from Vermont I have to use the Champlain Bridge..... Once I get where I'm going I hope to walk the rest of my visit.

My Fiance was doing military basic training in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu this year, about 30-40 mins outside of Montreal. I took the train to visit him in March and I was so glad I didn't drive!
I remember driving though there on my way to New Brunswick a couple years ago and getting terribly lost trying to find my exit off the bridge!

180 I hate it when books are full of typos!

Did I mention I'm right next to Westmount Lucy? I'm not sure I did.

I hope you'll still want to get together all the same after my little visitor made an appearance yesterday. Cleaning lady coming in on Friday for a rigorous cleanup at which point I'll determine whether more drastic measures are necessary. Meanwhile, my 'best friend' is afraid of getting together with me on Friday in case I pass on anything to her, so I'll understand if you demur as well.

I'm not worried. I suspect they are 'partout' and it is mainly luck that determines how you do with them. I know the pesky things get around, but not quite that easily. Meanwhile you must be going completely crazy! All the more reason to do something fun and normal for a little while on Saturday? Keep me posted on how things go today. If you end up too much of a wreck for socializing I'll understand, but I am fine.

I sort of figured out you must be near Westmount!

I've started a new thread and I have no idea how to do the forwarding or is it automatic?????

Please use this link! NEW THREAD

I didn't use the new feature to make the new thread, so I don't think it will work.......

At the bottom of the page, below the Add a Message box, there's a "continue this topic" link. I thought it appeared after post 200, it's there now with 201... Maybe you can "continue" this thread before too many people notice the other new one...

Ironically that Continue message wasn't there when I put my new thread on, but was there when I came back to put in the link...... grrrrr..... I'm going to stick with the one I made already. Apologies to all that i inconvenience! See message 201 for the link.

Lucy, the "continue this topic" link only appears after the 200th or 201st message, which is why you hadn't seen it. You'll know for next time, and I suspect it'll take a little while for everyone in the group to figure out how this feature works, but once you adopt it, I'm sure you'll appreciate how wonderfully simple it is for everyone involved. I'm a big proponent of the new system and am proselytizing about it all over the place!

I've been pestering on the RSI thread for Tim to change it to 100, so people who want monthly threads, or have lots of photos, don't have to wait so long. He seemed to agree, then moved on to other things...