bohemima's books, part one

January Reads
1. Travels with My Aunt--BOMB 4 Stars
2. The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street--BOMB 3 stars
3. Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio--BOMB 4 stars
4. On Rereading--Library Book 4 stars
5. A Civil Tongue--BOMB 3 stars
6. Cannery Row--Library Book 3.75 stars

February Reads
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--Library Book 4.75 stars
8. Duplicate Death--BOMB 2.5 stars
9. Reflections in a Golden Eye--BOMB 3.8 stars
10. The Wee Free Men--Reread--4.25 stars

Current Reads

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel

Reflections in a Golden Eye

Essays of the Masters, edited by Charles Neider

Metamorphoses by Ovid

The Iliad still straggling along with that one

Persuasion trying to get in the mood for this

Hey, Gail! Glad to see you back with us again!

Hello, Sweetie! Trying to gather my thoughts, such as they are, before really plunging in here on the 2012 group.

Thoughts? We are supposed to have thoughts? No one ever told me that!

Welcome back!

Thoughts are good, right?

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
— Rudyard Kipling

^ ...what he said!

Welcome to both Jim and Faith. So very nice to see you here!

Rdear, great message from Kipling; certainly words would be my drug of choice.

Today's Thought:
A narcissist is someone who is better-looking than you. Gore Vidal

Life Level: Cautiously Optimistic

Reading Level: Quite Good

Well, after some fits and starts, I finally figured out that I read approximately 106 books in 2011, which is about average for me. I'd like to get to 110 this year. Yes, I know this is the 75'ers Group, but this group isn't about numbers; it's all about cameraderie, laughter, and compassion---and sometimes food.

Favorites from 2011, in no particular order:
1. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Not only a well-written book, but one that had a deep personal meaning for me

2. Cloud Atlas A book with a unique structure, and again one that had a special meaning as the Fukishima Disaster unfolded

3. Mrs. Ames Just loved this simple, funny, and moving book

4. Portrait of a Lady Could someone tell me why I've avoided Henry James?

5. The Complete Maus This book was, for me, perfect in and of itself.

6. Hotel du Lac My first Brookner and a real treat

7. Old Filth Another book with a unique structure--great reading

8. A Night at the Opera A funny and informative one-volume encyclopedia of opera; a super book

9. As I Lay Dying Love Faulkner; he's soooo weird

10. Wolf Hall An amazing, intriguing work about Thomas Cromwell. Before you yawn uncontrollably, do look at it.

Honorable Mention: The Dark Is Rising, a re-read and a children/Y.A. book; one of the best of the genre

Happy New Year on your New Thread, Gail!
What a lot of good reading you've been doing lately. I'm respectful of your 106 for '11. I guess I'll try for 100 next year, but I'm really making no promises. I'm very, very glad that you enjoyed H. James. Certainly *Portrait* is one of my favorites. And wasn't Old Filth a treat? Here's to more in 2012!

Great list of books, Gail. I might do a little more reading by Henry James this year. Portrait Of A Lady was a very pleasant surprise! I'm also tempted to read a little more of that "weird" Faulkner, too. ;-) Happy New Year!

Starred, and looking forward to following your reading for another year!

Gail - glad you had a good holiday and found slightly better sea legs than Chelle. As you know I have been a bit under the weather lately but hope to hit the ground running in 2012.

Hi Gail!! Got you starred

Hi Gail! Stopping to star you.

Hi Gail - many of your 2011 favorites are on my hope list for this year. We'll see what transpires!

I'm glad to see The Dark is Rising made in your list for 2011! I remember being very surprised at how much I enjoyed that series as well. :)

Adding my star as well. :)

hi gail! I'm over here this year. dying to read some of your "best of's". :o)

Hi Gail. Your favorites are mighty intriguing. I'm hoping to get started on James in 2012 probably with Portrait of a Lady; loved Wolf Hall.

Whoa! Lots of nice people here to greet the new year with me. Really makes a girl (ha) feel food to know that others are here.

Hi to Peggy--So many books in common! Whatever will we read next?

Donna, Any new classes this year, or more informal reading going on?

Kath! My Dear! So good to know we'll be sharing a year together again.

Paul, I've always been a very good sailor and am happiest in/on/near the watery element. Hope you're feeling better!

Welcome to Laura, Chelle, Tammy, Marilyn (I used to visit my uncle quite near Kingston; it's so beautiful there) Valerie, Micky, Jenny, and Bonnie.

Can't wait to look at what you're reading and just what you're up to in general.

Working hard (or hardly working) to figure out what to do in 2012, in reading, I mean. I'm thinking I want to read Don Quixote while the GR is going on; I got that nice new translation by, um, Edith Grossman, which actually looks readable. Another idea I'm toying with is reading a poem/essay/short story every day, since I've hundreds of them here in various anthologies, and obviously one doesn't just sit down and read, for example, The Norton Anthology of British Literature, as one would sit and read even the longest of chunksters. I'd like to tackle some Nobel Prize winners this year, too, having been inspired by Paul last year to get started on some of those.

Let me see, still have to finish up the book count on 2011's last thread, then start here.

Happy New Year, Gail!

Happy New Year Gail! Sorry it took me a while to get here.

I'm glad to see that all but two books in your top reads of 2011 are either in my wishlist already, or owned by me, or have already been read and also enjoyed. I got Travels With My Aunt as a gift in December and look forward to it. In fact, I'm hoping to read quite a bit of Greene in 2012.

All the best to you my dear. Starred, needless to say. :-)

Hi Gail. I have Wolf Hall on my January list and I'm hoping to get to Old Filth, Maus, and perhaps Cloud Atlas in 2012. Oh, and some Graham Greene, too!

Happy New Year to you!!

Hi there, Gail...
delurking to say I agree with you..
"...Faulkner; he's soooo weird..."
Can't say I love him, but I did love As I Lay Dying. It struck me funny and just incredible!
Your list of favs is so interesting...
Happy New Year!
Starred

Ellen, you have some marvelous reading ahead this year! I'm holding on until the sequel to Wolf Hall comes out. Getting impatient, too, much good it will do me.

Cee!Welcome aboard...I don't mind lurkers at all; I do it all the time, but it's nice that you stopped by to let me know you're here.

Hey Gail, I found you!

I'm curious about Wolf Hall. We'll see--I plan on reading Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist this winter in prep for some summer theatre work, so I don't think I'll be able to fit in another chunkster until next fall...

Sandy K

I picked up Wolf Hall last year at a cheap library sale! You make me wanna read it, but oh how my other books would be a tad upset if I bumped that one up...

Happy New Year, Gail.

Happy New year, Gail.

I bought a copy of Wolf Hall on sale last year. There's a group read planned over in the 12 in 12 category challenge -- I think it's in June -- and I plan to try to read it then.

*waving* as I pass through the threads, Gail

So have you settled into the year yet, Gail?
I sure haven't, but I hope the week sees me sorted...
I feel like I am teetering on the tippy top of a pointy mountain or something.
A little unsettling.. I have to take a deep breath and slide in, I think?
I sure hope that you are doing better..
I missed you around here, you know..
hugs

Happy New Year! Hope you are doing great!

I still don't have a thread up because I don't know where to put it up. Should I stay in the 75 group even when I know I probably can't finish the challenge or should I go? I am confused.

Sandy, Terri, and Valerie: I'd never read anything by Mantel before, and was really, really impressed by Wolf Hall. I read it on the cruise (have it on nook), and it actually became a sort of page-turner. It makes you look at Henry's court in a whole new way.

Judy, a happy and healthy new year to you, too. I'm kind of looking forward to getting a lot of books read this year, and, one hopes, at least some removed from my house.

Stasia: Hi! Lots of thread activity as everybody sets up and new things are around to be explored. I'm so glad your book funk is over and very excited about your new venture this year!

Kath! I still feel like I'm in the old year in some ways. One goal for this year is to clean up and out some of the detritus around here--I mean, really, do we need the toy pistol and holster from a party 7 years ago, when dh dressed as Pancho Villa? So I worked on that today--had an entire 13-gallon trash bag full, and seem to have made very little progress!
I missed you too, Dearie.

Porua! So very pleased to see you here. I left you a message on your old thread, but will just repeat here that the 75'ers Group really has nothing to do with numbers---there are some who read 500 books, some read 100 or 200, some read 75, some read 56, some read 27...it's more of a loose and friendly group (and a very chatty one) than anything else. We're concerned with books, yes, of course, but we also care about each others' lives, and love to laugh and chat.
Just my opinion there, of course.

Wolf Hall is on my TBR list of library books. I will get to it one of these days!

Gail I always feel so good when I clear out old things
these days, it even extends to books..
Well done! Just try to remember to throw or donate something every week..
you will be surprised at how quickly things thin out!

Porua, Gail said it perfectly.. believe her!

#35: Thanks, Gail!

Happy New Year Gail!

Good morning! I hope you have a happy and peaceful day :)

hugs

Heather, a marvelous new year to you as well. I hope it's a shiny one!.

Morning to Stasia, Kath and all. Had coffee, read the paper, went back to bed! Soooo sleepy today. Perhaps that's because it's in the 20's outside. Brrrr....

Bridge this p.m. I carefully froze some turkey and gravy at Thanksgiving, so that will be dinner, with a few little add-ons like vegetables.

Still reading Travels with My Aunt, a complete surprise from Graham Greeene. Oh, and I found a copy of 1984 in a drawer yesterday--told ya I have too many books.

Must stagger into the shower now and attempt to wake up.

Must stagger into the shower now and attempt to wake up.

Waking up is overrated.

# 35 Thanks! This group is friendly and everyone is so helpful. That's exactly why I like it around here. :-)

You know, 'I' put 'myself' under pressure. I feel kind of inadequate when I see so many of my fellow LT'ers reading so many books and writing great reviews. I’ll try to relax a bit more this year

That's pretty impressive that you can drink coffee and then head right to bed. :) Although, I am the same way with tea - definitely not enough caffeine in those little sachets.

...what rd said...sometimes he is right...I am sleepy today too.........hope bridge is fun!

Gail, that was a great way to sum up this group. Couldn't have said it better.

Waking up... I never quite manage to get there. If I listened to myself I'd be constantly dozing, like one of my cats.

It's currently -18 F outside with the wind factor. Good thing Coco is content with short walks when it's this cold.

Hope you're having a lovely evening.

I am with Richard and Kath. I try not to sleep so I do not have to go through waking up!

Rdear!: Yes waking up is just a danged drag. I fell into a coma-like doze this p.m., and becoming "fully" concious--as if I ever am--was quite a struggle. A very little while ago I was on a constant sort of "jungle alert" where everything either startled or annoyed me. Not sleeping, not concentrating, yuck. This is better.

Porua, my current Books Read total is 0. I think it might be lower this year than last.

Valerie, my Dad could have slept on a picket fence, and I'm beginning to feel he's cosmically sent that back to me. I've suffered from insomnia all my life, so this is something completely different.

Kath, bridge proved to be a small but steady series of disasters; we can only hope that next session will be better.

Ilana, hi! It's still cold here today; didn't get much ovr 40 today, but is supposed to reach 65 tomorrow. I really don't mind this sort of weather except when my hands freeze because I forgot my gloves.

Stasia, now I know why you never sleep! Waking up is hard!

Update #1:

Books read in 2012: 0

Books bought in 2012: 1

Book in house unread: Still Counting; may finish by June

Books in house unread? I would be counting way past June, I fear!

BTW - I did sleep today - 2 whole hours.

>50 alcottacre: AGONY! Not sleeping = tortures of the damned!

*smooch* to darling Gail

#51: I did my not sleeping thing on Monday. By the time I hit the bed Tuesday AM I had been up for 30 hours. Two hours is pretty good by that standard.

Stas... I can't imagine ... how do you survive?

Gail.. counting finished by June made me LOL

Bitter cold here today, but we got a lot accomplished anyway.. yay !

tonight? Pizza as a reward for working so hard today...

#53: I survive because I am used to it, I guess.

Just dropping by to say hello, Gail. How is the book counting going? Will we see you again before June? :)

Sandy K

Hi Gail!
>49 Matke: LOL @ update #1

for me:
Books read in 2012: 1 (Pretty excited about that!)

Books bought in 2012: Dunno... lost count

Book in house unread: really? I'm supposed to count those? *heavy sigh*

>35 Matke: - You described us so well, Gail! And I am finally starting to believe it myself.

Stay with us Porua ;-)

>46 Smiler69: Ilana - sometimes I think I am part cat :)
When I am reading on the couch and Woolly curls up on my lap, she is so comfy and warm I could nap all day... if that were an option - which it's not. :}

I don't know why I haven't dropped out of lurk...... Counting unread books? It's much easier to count the read ones, and I noted them as "read" when I entered them. So I'm not going to live long enough to read everything I own, and yet I buy more. What a habit!
As for sleeping, I'm the champ.
As for cleaning up, we are packrats from long lines of packrats, and we have never gotten rid of a thing that one of us hasn't wanted two weeks later. On the other hand, I do believe that I'm about ready to let all the school stuff go, and that will be quite an improvement. (Anybody interested in boxes of old lesson plans, copies, etc. for high school English or Latin?)
Hope you have a good weekend, Gail.

Man, you guys...;>)

Stasia: I used to have insomnia; almost the whole family has it; I was doing okay with it, really, till Dh became ill, but then had to have sleep or commit crimes, so now use medication--is this what they call TMI?

A sweet *smooch* to you, Rdear...I'm sending you a p.m. with a question I know you can help me with.

Kath My dear!
It warmed up today, maybe to 65-ish. Started rainy, of course when I had my hair appointment, but cleared and turned out to be a beautiful day.
Steak for dinner, grilled by Dh, with mushrooms, sauteed onions, baked tato. Pretty good, too.

Sandy, I have made progress in the counting, but naturally have left the enourmous, double-stuffed bookcase for last. Honestly, I just don't know where all these books come from!
*drops lids and swoons*

Cee! Hi! Already lost count of purchases, Dearie? My, my, so shocking. Of course I lost count very early last year, which is why I keep discovering surprising volumes in odd places...

Peggy, I obviously have more time than sense, so counting unreads available here at home seemed like a semi-good idea. Maybe not so good, but it does help to identify many tomes that I had forgotten about. I'm only counting books I've not read since high school or college...so those volumes I've read in the more-or-less memorable past are not on the list. Also not counting dh's books that I *might* read some day when boredom overcomes me.

Life Level: Oh so much better today. The previous two days were, um, difficult at best.

Reading Level; Quite nice, thank you. Raced through Medea's story in the Ovid; much weirder and scarier than the play by, maybe, Euripides? Also finished a book and started on another, one which I'd tried before and just shut down with; now it's really what I need.

Book 1 of 75: Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene
A very sophisticated, very funny book about a stuffy banker whose life dramatically improves when he meets and travels with his aged aunt.
This qualifies as a BOMB; I've had it awhile.

Also moved two books on to new owners!

If anyone wants the Greene book, old but in very nice shape, just send me a p.m.

GAIL! Glad to hear you're feeling more chipper!

Medea--I was just thinking about the play the other day, actually...a dear friend of mine played that role many years ago. I don't know how she shook off the rage and darkness one would have to inhabit to play Medea.

I've always had Travels with My Aunt on my book radar, wonder if we have a copy laying around this joint? Probably.

Sandy K

Ah, the Greene book has been claimed.

In the book I'm reading now, Nancy Mitford calls him "Grim Grin". She's funny, but she can be quite cruel.

Must run.

Hi Gail - I keep getting nudged to read more Graham Greene. Glad you enjoyed that one.

Hi Gail... Just catching up and leaving a hug...

Gail. You. Are reading. Don Quixote.
Wow.
I totally understand the need for slow, deep breathing. I purchased that last year, determined to read it, and I admit to claiming defeat embarrassingly early. I would not have made it to 75 books in 2011 if that had, indeed, been one of them. I admire your courage and I will be very interested to see how it goes for you. Who knows - perhaps you'll inspire me to give it another try.

Finally found your thread, Gail. Starring it so I don't lose it. This is one large group!

I'm glad you enjoyed the Greene. I loved Travels with my Aunt when I read it.

Yay, you've read your first book, Gail. The others will flow along smoothly now... at least I hope so. I went through a long period of insomnia in late summer/ early fall, but I'm back to sleeping like a baby these days.

I haven't decided about a class for the spring semester. I'll be out of town on the day I'm supposed to register for the senior (i.e. FREE) program and I need to get special permission to take the C.S. Lewis class I want that meets at inconvenient times. Do I sound like I'm trying to talk myself out of it? Maybe. I haven't completely ruled it out, obstacles and all. Stay tuned.

Another *smooch*

Sandy, Hi. I read the play probably 100 years ago, don't remember it too well...there's a copy hereabouts, though. Medea is pretty horrific, but actually makes more sense in the Ovid, as her madness is pretty clearly documented...well, you know what I mean, for a myth and all...I love all that crazy tragic stuff because it makes today's world slightly less obscene.

Heather, let me be another to urge to read some G. Greene. His books are wonderfully different from one another and pretty uniformly well-written.

Kath! Many hugs to you {{{{Kath}}}} You're often in my thoughts.

Ellen, I am so initimidated by Don Q. that it's ridiculous. I note that the group plan is to take the entire year to read it; I'll have to take notes to make connections, but that may be the only way I'll get through it. It's not the length--I love long books--it's the previous attempts I've made. This new trans. seems readable; keep your fingers crossed!

Caro Welcome, Dear. I was just conning over your profile and noted that you live in Boston. I grew up and spent the first 22 years in Danvers, a smallish town about 20 miles north of your city. Love Boston, miss that scene very much.

Donna Yes, the first book is done, the second almost so, three or four others in various messy stages. I'm trying to read the way I used to, which means several books at once, but each one distinctly different from the others, to avoid confusion.
The only class I'm considering is a Yoga for Everyone at our nearby Uni...wish I could take the time for a real lit. course, but not right now...

And a large *smooch* to your sweet and gentlemanly self, Rdear. I often laugh aloud/snort coffee or tea on the keyboard as I read your posts here and there.

It's getting late. Must-haves this year are the new Penny (yah, I know you're all surprised by *that* choice) and the follow-up to Wolf Hall. I've seen a lot of discontent about the first one not taking place in Wolf Hall; I thought the author was making the point that Ol' Henry's court was in itself a hall of wolves. I guess it's all about what each reader brings to the book---another shock, eh?

Hi Gail ♥

Hi Gail.

"Must-haves this year are the new Penny (yah, I know you're all surprised by *that* choice) and the follow-up to Wolf Hall." - Ditto. The only question in my mind is whether to reread some of the preceding Penny's (undecided) and reread Wolf Hall (probably yes).

Gail - Travels With My Aunt is one of my favourites of Greene's - behind The Quiet American, Brighton Rock, The Human Factor and a few more but still excellent. Passed my copy on to Ilana and I hope she enjoys it as much as we both did! Am reading Wolf Hall at the moment and lapping it up to be honest.

HI Gail...belated Happy New Year. I'm taking my time this year and just getting around to finding and starring your thread beacuse you always have insightful thoughts to share about reading and life. I hope 2012 is a good year for you and look forward to popping in now and then.

Hi, Gail! Thought I'd let you know that your recommendation of Travels With My Aunt (and others chiming in) made it the first 75-booker title I wrote down to get to it very soon. Sounds terrific! Happy new year!

Karen O.

Ilana: Hello! I lurk on your thread daily...and a few others as well...your thread is so interesting, and beautiful.

Heather: I think I'm not going to re-read the Penny's, because I'd like to save up that "whole series" experience for a while; since I finished Wolf Hall in December, I probably remember that well enough...I can barely wait for the next one.

Paul: I'll be crusing threads this week-end; hope you'll share thoughts (or have shared them) on W. H.

Tina!: Welcome and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year to you, as well. I'm hoping to a bit better about regular posting this year, even though last year was much better than 2010.

Karen: I love everything I've read by Green, even though each book is completely different from the others. He's a great writer. And a very happy and healthy new year filled with good things to you, too.

Update #2:

Books Read in 2012: 2! Whoa!

Books Bought in 2012: 1

Books in House Unread: Well. Still counting, but will finish before June, perhaps as early as February. There are 115 books on my Nook, unread.

Books Removed from House in 2012: Three (one to LT'er, two to Bookmooch)

I could have sworn I posted here today...
I miss my mind.

I miss you, too when you are not around !
Take care :)
hugs

Book 2 of 75
The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street 3*'s
I tried to read this twice before and had to put it aside, but found that it was perfect this time around. A collection of letters between Nancy Mitford and Heywood Hill, chiefly about books with some gossip thrown in, this is good reading if one is a Mitford family devotee, or keenly interested in books and bookselling. Some references were obscure; the reader would need to have a good knowledge of things Mitford to have the slightest clue about these breezy, brief letters. An annoyance was that the editor chose not to include (perhaps copyright wouldn't allow him to) letters that appeared in a book called Love from Nancy, which I must find some time.

Life Lesson for Today
Even though I promise myself not to repeat the same mis-step, I do it over and over and over...dang. Do you think I'll ever learn to curb a tendency to defend myself when it's not necessary or even wise?

Kath: Cross posted. Love you too, Sweetie.

Hi Gail,

"Do you think I'll ever learn to curb a tendency to defend myself when it's not necessary or even wise?"

Live with dementia and you will learn!
I'm learning the hard way
A) many things just don't matter as much as you'd think, and
B) Silence is Golden.
I do sigh a lot though.
Good luck! Hope your enlightenment is easier...

Oh, Cee, how right you are: so many things just aren't very important. I'm slowly getting better, but still a work very much in progress...

And yet another peripheral family branch has fallen off the tree as a result of its own lightening blast; this is getting tiring. At least in these situations I can keep my mouth shut much more easily.

Must turn in now and try to rest; errands and such tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will breathe and count to 5 before responding verbally.

Gail - I have never been a huge fan of reading other peoples letters! (SWMBOs diary which I came upon when we were courting made spectacular reading I must say and she was always perplexed as to how I could "read her like a book!). That said Helene Hanff has helped me change my mind and your review on the Mitford correspondence further moves me towards this long disregarded genre.

I hope your weather is good enough so that errands are safe and easy..
ice is the devil :-/

Keeping quiet.. my eternal quest.

Books in House Unread: Well. Still counting, but will finish before June

LOL, Gail! I haven't even tried to count the number of unread books in my house, but it would be an interesting exercise. I wonder if it would slow down my purchasing. Let me know if that happens for you, okay? ;-)

Gail, your review made me want to catch up with the Mitford sisters tout de suite! I'll get there some day.

(((Hugs)))

I can't even get my latest books.. mostly ebooks .. listed in my LT library. No motivation.
I would rather do something else. I hope today is a good one for you my sweet friend!

hugs

Well, poop, Kath. Get Angus to curl up and shed a little warm love on you!

xo

Sunday *smooch* for dear Gail

Hi Gail, just dropping by to add my support. I hope today was good one for you.

Hi Gail ... finally coming up for air after a couple of busy days ... and so... how's it going with the counting before you speak?

Depending on how aggravated I am, I sometimes find myself biting back words before they're fully out. I'm not the most tactful individual at the best of times to begin with, so I've always been looking for a method that will help me become less forthright both verbally and facially (err.. yes, my face moves into expressions with no conscious thought sometimes).

I swear.. it is my face that has gotten me in trouble more times than I can count.
I might as well have a nes ticker across my forehead, it is so clear to others what I
am thinking. Words I can often bite bit.. Not alwaays mind you.. but the news ticker is always on.
One of the reasons I don't lie.. I am sure the ticker would say LIAR LIAR as I did.

I have an appt this morning.. and I was awake from 1-4 30 during the night. That means I got
about 2 hours at each end. I am not in a good mood. :P I should be kept behind closed doors today.. but .. look out world!

Take care Gail..

Hi, all. The family implosions continue; honestly, sometimes a convenient gas pipe seems like the answer...or running away to Alaska...man.

Anyway.

Paul: Sometimes I like authors' letters and sometimes not. One book of letters that I found completely fascinating is Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor. I'd just read her complete fiction output (talk about odd) when I discovered the letters. Interesting in and of themselves, they shed a lot of light on her strange stories.

Ellen: I have finished counting (surprise!). So far I've not bought any books except the one, but hey, it's only 16 days into 2012! If I don't buy books, I'm sure I'll re-channel that instinct into buying dvd's and music. Somehow, though, I see book-buying in my future...

Ilana, My Dear!: I'm sooo interested in the Mitfords; the family is even weirder than my own...have several books here all about them.

Rdear: And a demure *smooch* to you as well. Hoping that your health is on a better track and that your several projects are going along as well as you could wish.

Judy, Hello! My days aren't going quite as well as one could hope, but things could be a great deal worse. Dh seems to be in a good place mentally, at least for now, so that's a huge positive.

Caro and Kath! I can never play poker as my face is, to put it in the kindest possible terms, very expressive. The sad part is that I'm usually completely unconcious of that and so betray myself endlessly. I am working on the counting (accompanied by deep breathing to slow myself down), and it helps, sometimes. But I have a very quick-triggered temper when confronted verbally and often just blat out what comes in my head immediately, no thought process involved. It probably doesn't help that I grew up in a family where the sharp, quick answer was prevalent, often in very funny ways. On the positive side, I usually forget all about the whole thing, whatever it was, and forgive often and easily.

Hope your day is improving as it moves along, Kath. I did a bit of retail therapy this a.m., as Dh has been nagging reminding me to use my Christmas gift cards. That was nice; usually I hate clothes shopping.

And the number we've all been waiting for:

As of 01/01/12, the unread books here include:

Books in Print: 412

Books on the Nook: 115

Grand total: 527 Unread Books on My Bookshelves

This is within my very loose guesstimate.

Book #3 of 75 Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
This is a very sharp, very funny look at prejudice and provincialism. A short noir-ish tale that's almost a mystery--I mean there is a mystery involved, but it's not the most important thing about the book. Told from the points of view of each of the characters--I seem to be reading several books written that way lately--this Italian story written by an Algerian immigrant is interesting, thought-provoking, and very easy to read. Recommended.

Gail, I like what you said about the Mitfords:

"I'm sooo interested in the Mitfords; the family is even weirder than my own...have several books here all about them"

I find that the more books I read, the less weird my own family seems!

Hi, Gail. I've been lurking with nothing to say for myself. That's still true, but I'm here to say it anyway. I held my tongue as a teacher and got high blood pressure. Lately, I've been holding it over occasional lapses on the part of the young women who look after my mother at the nursing home. Today, I was calm enough to say what I wanted with a little sincere sweetner, and I hope we are through with the problems.
Mobile face? I'm a clown. Wonder whether it goes with reading.?.

Grand total: 527 Unread Books on My Bookshelves

Oh boy, you've got lots of reading ahead of you! At least if you get snowed in, you won't run out of things to read.

wow, 527? that's quite a bit! I thought I was bad at 103 ;)

# 76 "Even though I promise myself not to repeat the same mis-step, I do it over and over and over...dang. Do you think I'll ever learn to curb a tendency to defend myself when it's not necessary or even wise?"

You sound like my mom! I am afraid I am going to turn out just like her. I feel it creeping up on me (tendency to defend myself that is!).

# 91 "527 Unread Books"

WOW! That's a lot of books!

Well, yeah. I know what being a Book Addict is all about.

Amazingly, all books are tidily stored, with no floor stacking. And four books are leaving this a.m. for Bookmoochers. See, I didn't count the books that are here that I've already read...
*bows head in sad contemplation of the collection*

The truth is that it is a good thing...more books = good.
My number of unread is similar.

hey... that posted before I was done???
I did not click post!

Weird day. I followed a 3 ft diameter inflatable ball UP the hill today.
The wind is changing and who knows what will happen next?

Why, Kath, thanks! I think lots of books to choose from is a good thing, too. I just don't want them to start taking over the house in odd ways...several sets of shelves are double stacked, one is working on triple stacking...well. I did send that four off today, so some progress is being made.

I'm not even going to ask why you followed an inflatable ball uphill; seems a bit different, but what do I know?

Question:
I've read about 100 pages in Don Quixote. The translation is fine, but I really, really don't like the book; I find it boring; I don't like the whole idea of Don Q. (never have liked that idea of watching someone make a fool of himself, sometimes very painfully); there are countless literary refs. to Spanish works, briefly explained in footnotes but which are essentially meaningless to me.
So. Should I continue, or should I pass it along to someone who actually wants to read it? The only reason I can find to read the rest is that it's a "classic that everyone should read".

I guess it depends on how big of a book it is (I've not read it) If it's a short one then I would finish it. But if it's long and you aren't enjoying it then I vote move on to something else that you would like.
Life is too short and there are too many good books to fit in!

>100 Matke: Chelle is perfectly correct. Read The Night Circus instead. It deserves its hype...Donkey Hootey don't.

I agree, Gail. Why bother if you are not enjoying it. Lots of great books out there to discover, don't hang on to one that's not a joy to read.

Gail dump the book - I hated it too! Only useful if your table has one leg several inches shorter than the rest.

I am with them! Ditch Don!

I ditched it last year, so I'm biased in my opinion. :-|

Thank you, Chelle, Rdear, Judy, Paul and Kath!

At over 900 pages, this is just not worth the time it will take. I mean, not for me. I'm sure that there are readers who love it.

Love that gif, Kath!

Gail, I see on other threads that you've picked up a copy of Cannery Row to join our January installment of the Steinbeck-a-thon. I think you'll find it infinitely more readable than Don Quixote -- and very much worthwhile!

Ellen

Cross posted; I know you didn't like Don Q. and now I know why. Yuck...and all those pages of it! Ew.

Gail - LOL!!!!

Hi Gail! The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street is going on the wishlist. I'd not heard of that one before, and I am a Mitford fan.

Hope you are having a good day, my friend.

Sandy K

#97 "Amazingly, all books are tidily stored, with no floor stacking" - I find that more awe-inspiring than the number of books you have unread (perhaps because I have nearly that number and they're not all tidily stored!)

#100 Don Quixote has been on my wishlist for while but I've never read it - I might approach it with caution given your comments. Sorry you weren't enjoying it but at least that's another book crossed off the list!

But I have a very quick-triggered temper when confronted verbally and often just blat out what comes in my head immediately, no thought process involved.

I'm SO glad to know it's not just me. This is a source of great shame for me, because while sometimes some quite funny things will come out of my mouth and even surprise me in their cleverness, much of the time I also utter things in sudden flare-ups of anger that are truly embarrassing and I just end up making an utter fool of myself. Oh how I wish I had the gift of composure. It's just something I need to work on one incident at a time. Taking the metro is usually a big trigger, what with people being just incredibly rude and hostile. One reason I end up spending a fortune on taxis...

My dear, don't' feel bad about the number of "unreads" in your house. My number is far worse (by about 80 books or so and rising).

Don Quixote: I was considering joining the year-long group read over on the 12/12 group, as I don't see myself picking it up otherwise. Haven't yet picked it up from the bookshelf. Strangely enough, your comment makes me want to do so ASAP so I too can find I hate it and just put it in the pile of "books to take out of the house"... ASAP. At least three other books will fit into that slot among the classics. :-)

Sandy, I just did the counting thing and discovered several tomes of Mitfordiana that are unread. Maybe this year I can do some biography reading...

Heather, if you knew my housekeeping style, you'd realize how startling that really is...of course one may open several cupboards and be surprised by the stacks and stacks of books hidden behind the doors...
I thought my previous problem with Don Q. was unsatisfactory (to me) translations...turns out not so, unfortunately. The Grossman translation is marvelous, but the is just not for me, now or later.

Ilana, Hi! If I had a quarter for every time I've bitten my tongue after making the verbal mistake, you and I could take that cruise. One thing I've noticed, in response to your feelings about the metro, is how much I love my car as a private space. It's very comfortable, I've got tons of short stories and music on cd to play as I travel; living out in the country is not so bad when I have that little zone of personal space on the road...

Well, in an interesting (to me) development, Dh challenged me this p.m., saying if I would find 10 books to remove from the house, he would do the same from his lesser-but-still-considerable collection of read-already books. Since the enormous Don Q. was just sitting on the coffee table, I said, "Baby, you're on!" He found his 10 more quickly, but I found, after some mental stiff-arming of myself, 12, yes 12 books to go to the library sale shop. Oh, and I see another one that he read that I'm not going to read...I guess we could both count that one...

The great clear-out ---> well done, Gail! A dozen books out o' the house. Space for more purchases! ;-)

Hi Gail!
Toss that Don Quixote right out the door!
We HAD to read that sucker for English 101 way back when.
I simply hated it and only read what was necessary to pass. Later, much later, I decided to be an adult about it and try to read it again - completely. Never made it. I still found it incredibly boring.
In fact, I believe I will toss mine out to make more book room around here :-)

woot! good for you!
Sending books out into the world is very satisfying....imo

I almost wish I had a copy of Don Quixote so I could toss it, too..maybe I should buy one? :)

I almost wish I had a copy of Don Quixote so I could toss it, too..maybe I should buy one? :)

LOL at Kath!

Glad you ditched the Don, Gail. Read something you really enjoy! I ditched that door-stopper Anna Karenina because I just did NOT like her!

You know, I don't think that I am ever going to read Don Quixote, either.

But I LOVE the musical The Man of La Mancha! So, I'm good.

Sandy K

*smooch*

I saw The Man of La Mancha years ago in Virginia Beach, Mary.. a friend.. was the
director and it was presented at the ARE ...loved it!

Hi Gail! Sometimes I think I'd like to move to the country to have peace and quiet not just in my home, but also when I step outside. I don't know if it'll ever happen though, because I'm so used to the convenience of having everything within walking, or taxi, or two metro stops away from me. But it's stressful living in the city, to be sure. I've just never really known anything else for any substantial length of time.

#116 Claudia, how strange that they'd have you read Don Quixote for and English class!

#117 I almost wish I had a copy of Don Quixote so I could toss it, too..maybe I should buy one?

LOL. What a gem!

#117
;-) Do it, Kath! ;-) I'll bet you could find DQ cheap at a book sale!

Ilana, I went to a Catholic college (for ONE year only) - those nuns hated me! I did get my degree many years later somewhere else.
DQ does not make much sense if you don't know all the politics, etc that Cervantes is alluding to... I don't actually think the nuns knew any of that as they certainly did not fill us in. :P
Man of LaMancha - greatly enjoyed by me too!

Oh! Hi there, Gail! :)

#117
I don't have a copy of Don Quixote either. I'm feeling really left out. I never started reading it, so it's impossible for me to ditch it. Clearly I need to find myself a copy right away, so I can join the rest of you. :)

*waving* at Gail

I read *DQ* one summer in the hammock when 100° weather put me right to sleep every time I stretched out. I recall turning a lot of pages, but that's about it. In fact, I wonder if I could count what I did as reading...
(Anybody want to join me in tossing George Meredith around a little?)

Um, I have a copy of Don Quixote and I'd be glad to send it to anyone who needs one to toss out. I have firmly determined that I am not going to read it. I tried last year and found it boring and you fine people are generously helping me give myself permission to live and die without ever reading it.



HOORAY!!

#123 Nope, politics has never been my field, so that wouldn't work too well, would it?

#127 :-D

Gail, I'm chuckling about your 500+ unread books in the house. I did a book census about this time last year when I culled some of the book duds - nope, no Don Quixote here anymore - but I failed to note how many of my 1,151 books are unread. I suspect the number is higher than yours. *gulp*

Happy reading to both of us!

Ellen... how about if you throw it out and say "and that's for kath too!!!!

Gail - have you tossed DQ yet or are you going to plod through? Trust the LT crowd ... you will regret the many hours of your life lost through attempting to read this dusty tome.

130> You got it!

Actually, I admit that I simply can't bring myself to actually throw a book out, but I'll put it in the sell stack for the used bookstore --- maybe I'll write "kath was here" in the inside cover (just lightly in pencil) just to send that out into the universe. Ha!.

Gail, want me to add your name?

A post it would do nicely as far as I am concerned :)
lol!

Gail delurking to wish you a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and to state that I am enjoying the discussion about temper, slips of the tongue and Cervantes (I hated his opus with a passion).

Somebody is going to DQ? I'll have a banana split. ;-)

Unlurking to say toss the book DQ, then go to the yummy icecream DQ and get yourself 3 scoops of your favorites, and grab something for hubby as well. Reading is to be enjoyed, and it's even more fun to enjoy with ice-cream. goes off to dig out a quart of homemade pistachio I froze when our local ice cream stand closed down for the wintah....

Oh! I LOVE LOVE Pistachio!!

just creaking through to see if our Gail has been..
hoping your weekend is a good one so far!

Thinking of you Gail. xx

Everytime I see mention of tossing DQ - I think it's me they're talking about! But I definitely would rather visit the ice cream DQ over the book DQ!

Hi Gail - where did ya go?
You didn't decide to read DQ and pass out from boredom, I hope! :(

...Gail...?

DQ - now, there's a transition away from books. Give me a peanut buster parfait any day of the week and I'll be a very happy camper. Much better than Don Quixote. :-)

((Hugs)), Gail

Ok, rescue rangers on the alert .... Gail's passed out from mental fatigue trying to read DQ ... and I don't mean the ice cream menu!

Thinking of you, and wishing you well, Gail!

Danny! I am officially concerned. I really really really hope you're not having problems of any sort.

Lol, lol, lol.

I love this group!

We've been without internet for awhile because of storms...it's working right this minute, but who knows? Of course it would be out on Sunday as well as Saturday, my major thread-reading days here...dang...

Not staying on tonight, but will be on tomorrow to respond to and to read all I can...

Don Q. is in the car with other unloved and unwanted tomes, awaiting disposal at the library sales shop. At my age, I really don't see the need to read a book when said reading feels as though I'm being punished for something...all those re-reads I did, with new books waiting? All that buying? Who knows?

Finished a great library book, On Rereading, more on that later; currently reading both Cannery Row and Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel. I often read parts of the second book, and am about 1/3 of the way through. C.R. is reading very fast, so fast that I may re-read it to see what I'm missing, which I know is a lot.

Off to read and eat some coffee ice cream....

>148 Matke: *HUGE sigh of relief* Long as you and your hubsband are okay, all else is dross.

Gail = okay. Good.

How are you liking Cannery Row?

Good to hear from you Gail. Glad all is well with you. I'll look forward to your comments on Cannery Row. xx

Gail's baaaaacck!!! Hale and hearty too .....whooopeee!

Whew! Glad all is well..........

Glad to see you dumped DQ! There has to be better books out there to fill your time :)

(PS love the dancing pig Caro!!)

Thanks for stopping in, Gail - we are all glad to see you :)

Sounds like things are under control... books and ice cream!

Hello, all!

It's so nice to be missed! Even though I wanted to be here very badly and was cursing the storms, the internet, the computers, the cable company...

So, we've dispatched the yuck-o Don Q., and have moved on to better things. One thing I noticed about myself last year was that, through no one's fault but my own, I became caught up in various excitements and experiments, so much so that I eventually I felt that I'd lost my autonomy in book choices. Of course I hadn't done any such thing, but it felt that way. So...this year I'm taking my time (okay, I know the year's only 23 days old), choosing a bit more carefully among my own books and letting my interests guide me, rather than trying to fit into a pattern. This may work or it may not...

Book 4 of 75:
On Rereading
I picked this up completely by chance at the library. It's a fine work on the various pleasures and pains of reading books over again. It's true, I think, that we never read a book alone; we're always in some sort of conversation with the author. And of course we change over the years, and become completely different people, so our reactions to books change as well; no matter how much we thought we loved or admired them. I've been disappointed sometimes in my dipping into old books, but on other occasions I've been swept up just the way I was the first time. Anyway, this author, Patricia Meyer Sparks, has published several other works aobut books--she's a professor--which may bear looking into. A slight professorial stuffiness, but still, 3.75 *'s

Still reading Cannery Row, which I'm really enjoying, even though it has very little plot. Steinbeck's love for coastal California, and his affection for the people of Cannery Row shine through, with little if any sentimentality.

Oh, and here's something: Fyodor Dostoevsky. I'll bet that name doesn't immediately suggest laughter to you. Well, I'm also sort of reading Essays by the Masters, which is a collection of essays by authors who aren't known for that form. The one by F.D. is called "On Lying" and is really a quite funny discourse on how every Russian man lies, all the time, about anything; often these lies are simply wasy to enhance an already good story. It's a great essay that is unlike anything I've ever read by F.D. before.

Yeah, Dostoevsky and chuckle aren't two concepts I can hold in my brain simultaneously. Too weird!

Glad to see that you like your books well enough..
I myownself am continuing in my endeavor to read and review
my must reviews, and then just whatever farb attracts my eye...
imagine a bubble gum machine filled with shiny things.. got it?
That is how I like to read... just whatever looks shiny and enjoyable
not anything I need ...see?

I had to catch up 19 posts, so I didn't realize that you had been missing until you were back. I guess there's something to be said for being behind here. Anyway, I can empathize completely with the feeling that you're not actually choosing what you choose to read. I have it all the time; maybe that's why I try to cram in everything at once. I don't see much hope for my correction. I'm like Kathleen. Everything looks good to me, and I'm always grabbing the shiny.
Meanwhile, if I run into On Rereading, I'll grab that too. Rereading is one of life's great pleasures, at least most of the time!

Peggy's comments on not realizing you were away until you were back is indicative of the pace things move here! Nice to see you again Gail.

Good morning, Gail! Sorry about your storms and related hassles, but glad that you are well.

I can relate to your feeling that you'd lost autonomy in book choices. I've gotten caught up in challenges, sub-challenges, and monthly themes to the point where I'm not getting to some books that I want to get to. I think I need to back off from some of that a bit. You just do your own thing and read what you want! That's one of the nice things about the basic 75 Challenge -- anything will fit! That and, of course, the lovely people!

terri ... that is something I mentioned in Darryl's thread.
I don't do the challenges for that reason, but even so.. one can get caught up..
I have to say that I was shouted down very quickly over there.. as his is one of the more..
.. well.... lets call it competitive ? threads, like Mark's.

I just try to stay out of the fray....

I feel the same way - because I'm involved in so many challenges/book groups I don't really get to read what I'd like and all of my own personal goals tend to get thrown out of the window as a consequence. It irritates me to no end, that I can be so easily swayed, but I'm really trying to get better about sticking to my own guns. Recently I joined another real life book club (seems like less pressure, only 3 of us, trying to focus on books we all already own) and I think I may have to bow out. As it is, sometimes my nearly 10 year old book club feels like a chore and a distraction from what I'd like to be reading, despite how much I like going and everyone in it.

Not sure what kind of changes I'll make for myself (or how I'll get them implemented), but something has to change. It does feel like it's later in the year, not only 25 days in!

Gail, if you have any hot tips that work for you, please pass them along! :)

Rdear: I'm often surprised by authors I think I know: sometimes it's a nice surprise; other times it's like spying an undead clinging to the window screen...

Kathand Peggy: I am so easily distracted (see, for example, book #4, a read not only unplanned but uncontemplated until I paused for 20 seconds at the "New Nonfiction" shelves of the library) that it's very hard for me to stick to any plan except the plan To Read. I really did get caught up in a whirlwind last year, which certainly was my own doing; I just want to avoid that pressured feeling and read whatever takes my fancy now; if that means 20 mysteries in a row, or three books by Fannie Flagg, or a book I'd never heard of that someone I like/trust/admire here on LT gives a great review of, so what? Also I like to read several books at one time, finishing each at my leisure (if ever) rather than on a schedule. I spend quite a bit of time on LT too, a choice I'm happy with.

The only real goal I've set for myself this year is to read 5 books for every book bought...and before I buy the book(s). So far, so good...only the one purchase.

Paul: Hi! Your thread is so dangerous to me...all those great books...but I still visit and just keep adding to the W.L.

Terri and Laura: I try hard not to visit challenge threads except for general information, although I do drop by TIOLI once in a while to see what's going on over there--I think it's a terrific idea and I really enjoyed it for a couple of years, but I became so involved that I was neglecting some reading that I wanted to do...I don't know. That's how I felt, anyway. I know that others thrive on the challenges. I've looked at the Steinbeck Challenge and was inspired to read one book...still reading it, though.

I'm devoting a lot of reading time now to Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, which has some great books previously unknown to me or barely on my radar. And reading Cannery Row. And reading Duplicate Death. These are my most active current reads, but there are others...you see what I mean...

I guess I am on the other side of the fence regarding planned reads. I love to plan in advance, and I am crazy over the uniqueness of the TIOLI challenges, but I have to admit, that I have had to rein myself in a bit as I can easily over commit and then feel guilty when I can't get to everything. I can be just like a kid in a candystore, wanting to join in every challenge and group read, but I have to be realistic about it as well.

I've been thinking about re-reading a lot lately, not just because of the book, but Donna, I believe, brought it up on her thread, which set me to considering it. Like most other folks, I find I'm doing a lot less re-reading since coming to LT because of the masses of book reviews that sound so interesting. However, I still like to re-read books. A lot of this is a matter of comfort; there's nothing quite so soothing to jangled nerves as a well-loved and well-known book when the nerves are frayed. Sometimes I've been inspired to re-read by my friends here on LT--the Austenathon last year had me going over P. and P. and Emma; I re-read Middlemarch for much the same sort of reason. I like to re-read, but man, there are so many, many books out there that I haven't looked at yet...

Oh, another thing I loved about the challenges was the massive amount of statistics that piled up. I think Cee was/is responsible for a huge and fascinating compilation of books/readers/challenges for TIOLI. Funny that I loved all that, still look at it and am fascinated by it, when I usually hate that sort of math. Must be because it's about books!

So...I might possibly try to read some more of those memoirs hanging around here whimpering because I haven't read them...

Huh? What did I do while medicated or asleep? I don't think it was me who compiled massive TIOLI statistics. Someone else deserves the credit...
I've never done TIOLI - too daunting for me. Looks fun - but... I guess you could say I basically need to "leave it".

LT is such a fascinating whirlwind of activity and reading it takes time to figure out what you really want to do. I'm still working on it. ;-)

> 166

Gail, it was Morphidae who compiled this massive list of TIOLI stats.

Wow! A masterpiece! :)

Just dropping by to say hi! :-)

another drive by.

yeah I find I'm doing a lot less re-reading since coming to LT

I said that too.. and feel that way... I love rereading, revisiting old friends.
It is of course my own fault. I have been book greedy when I have come across
books praised by others. It is the only downside of LT for me, but it is indeed a downside..
the distraction from books I want, including rereads to books I sort of crave after seeing them
spoken of here. I am trying to find the balance of new friends ( books ) and old....

But, I do not regret having piles of TBR books. It makes me feel rich. I do however
plan on trying to buy less and read more. Maybe I have reached a saturation point of sorts.
oh well..

Hope your day will be a peaceful and pleasant one !
hugs

Madeline: Thanks for reminding me that it is the amazing Morphy who has set up the vast statistical tables. My next guess would have been Aviatkh (sp?). I'm happy to give the well-deserved credit to the right person. I still love them; it's so interesting to see what's being read, which categories come up, and who's reading. I continue to spend time studying them. And I'd like to add that I believe TIOLI is one of the best and most creative things involving books that I've ever come across. It's my own obsessiveness that does me in...sadly. Somehow I must have a self-portrait in my mind of a person who can read everything, and it's hard to grasp that perhaps there are books I might not get to.

Cee and Kath: Who would have believed that having lots of choices and challenges and books could be even a tiny bit problematical? I'm still finding my feet more or less; but LT certainly has moved me out of any possible rut I might have been inhabiting. Maybe later this year I'll feel a bit differently.

Oh, and I certainly agree with you, Kath, that having lots of books to read right here in the house makes me feel rich. That expressed my feeling precisely. I'm feeling some satisfaction, too, from finishing up several volumes that have been around here forever...

Ellen and Porua: Hi. Glad to know you are still hanging around...

I'm here too! Having trouble keeping up with everyone, getting the sleep I need, and keeping up with my own thread too. Oh, and doing other things away from LT. Like reading, for one. Keeping house... who has time for that?

I know what you mean about being swayed all over the place here. But then, this group has prompted me to read more than ever before, so it works for me, but I still see what you mean. As for TIOLI, I make it work for me. For instance, I often start planning ahead of time what I want to read in the next month (usually books I really want to read that can't fit into the current month!), and I usually manage to fit most of them into the challenges as they come up (or create my own to fit in those books I most want to get to!)

I also know what you mean about returning to a well-loved book. It's always hard to choose between a re-read and a new-to-me book, given there are so many to discover, but in the end, it's about what appeals to me most at any given time. At the end of the day, there's no "right" or "wrong" way of going about reading, is there?

It's good to have you back, and I send you best wishes and hugs. And more hugs for good measure. :-)

As a junior stataholic I also tip my hat to Morphy on the stats she keeps up on the TIOLI ~ very impressive!

Things are a little on edge here, right now. I still have 2 books in progress.. hope to finish them today.
I need to add a couple of books that sneaked in, too. I scored a novel and a book/CD from vine yesterday.. the book/CD is on using iPad 2. I hope I can get busy and learn a few things :)

Morphy is astounding..I am getting behind in adding books to my library here... she probably has stats for that too!

Hope you have a good day, my friend
:)

Yay! I finished one of the books last night, and it was a very cozy mystery..
just perfect for the day. The other is a gritty political thriller.. onward!

Happy weekend to you!

Gail, I've been enjoying the discussion. One way that I fit in rereading is to listen to the book anew on CD. Whereas sometimes it's difficult to follow a complex plot on audio, by listening to a book I already know and love, I get to experience it again in a fresh way.

Good morning Gail! I have nothing at all to say..... nothing of interest..
but I want to thank you for helping to keep my thread warm n the days I am not here much..

Hope life is kind to you today

hugs

Hi Gail, just passing through, hope things are ticking along for you.

Just a little spot of red to brighten your thread today! Hope all is well..

Are you reading anything good? Did you request any LTER books?
Hope to see you later :)

Hello to Ilana, Paul, Kath, Jenny, Judy, and Kath
and of course to all Lurkers as well...

Back problems, tum problems, a bit of computer trouble...never mind.

I've finished Cannery Row I really liked Steinbeck's feel for the people and the place itself, but there was almost no plot to this book. I'm not sorry I read it, though. Not at all. Also just started trying Reflections in a Golden Eye by the absorbingly weird Carson McCullers--her hometown is Columbus, GA, and there's a small museum and a bit of a festival that goes on over there; and am reading Duplicate Death and the enormous Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, and some few others.

Hate to say this, don't want to tempt fate, but Dh is doing pretty well. Very heartening. A good thing, too, since I'm definitely out-of-kilter. Not usual for me at all.

Some of the family seems to be getting back to themselves...others not so much...

I've not requested an ER book this month since I'm shamefully two reviews behind...I've finished the one book, which I quite liked, but am not absolutely sure where the other book might be...hmmm....

Weather has been better and promises to improve even more. Balmy days and cool nights, allowing for moderate, sit-down gardening...

Glad you are back. :-)

I am glad to see you too! I am not glad to hear that you are out of kilter..
Hope that changes/resolves soon.

Nothing much going on for me.. oh, my youngest will be moving out of his sister's house
and into an apartment this weekend.. hooray! A nice one, too... good area, and near a friend!

I have two kitties on my lap... typing is a mite rough.. lol

Hope by today you are feeling better and your computer stops being an azz

Hey, Porua and Kath!

The computer is being odd...most things on the screen now show up in italics; extreeeeeeemely irritating to me; maybe I need to switch to Google Chrome...

Pretty quiet here as well. I've finished a couple of books and need to do an update here; later. We're planning a little trip down to the Gulf in about a week and a half; just to look at the water and, as usual, eat some seafood.

I just realized that RL book club is next Wednesday; must get going on that book...

Soggy again here but warm-ish. Looks like a couple of days of rain and then some sun. Yay!

Hey Gail! So, Reflections in a Golden Eye, huh? I've never read it, but I did see the film with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando...fascinating and odd.

A trip to the Gulf sounds divine. Unseasonable warm here the past 2 days, but it still smells like winter. Springtime temps but no springtime smell.

Sandy K

*smoochitty smooch smooch* for Mrs. Danvers

Hi Gail!
A trip to the Gulf sounds nice - how far away are you from the water?
Hope you and your computer are feeling better :}

Sandy, the book is just as weird as the movie, of course I mean that in the best possible way; but it's more explicit than the movie. I love McCullers' work.

Rdear: love to you; so glad you're feeling better--I'm sure it was that warm compress I sent over for your chest...and the whiskey lemonade may have helped as well; Danny is always happy to help you, Dear.

Cee! I feel as though I've been neglecting you shamefully, but I haven't really; just haven't been posting much anywhere until today. I'd try to get a post going and got the maddening whirling circle of doom...
We're a ways from the water; it's about 250 miles to Biloxi from here; I had to carefully count the days, trying to avoid Super Bowl Week-end---too crowded and hellish pricing; Mardi Gras ditto. Actually all that calendar study paid off, as we're leaving on my birthday! Nice.

Hi Gail, that trip sounds like good fun... can I join you? ;-)

I developed a passion for Carson McCullers's stories when I discovered her, barely into my 20th year. Eventually, I'll make time to re-read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I'm glad you joined us in reading Cannery Row and hope you'll be tempted to join in for other books during the Steinbeckathon!

Hugs to you my dear.

Great timing for your trip!
Adam liked Biloxi.. He was near there briefly while in the Air Force..
School I think? Can't remember.

I have been too antsy to read the last couple of days.. I really like the one I have been reading..
but have run into annoying formatting issues.... :PP that should be fixed today!
So hopefully today will be better. I am just sitting here trying to levitate the fireplace
remote to me, so I don't disturb Angus. It has NOT worked so far.. so I am pretty
sure that trying to levitate bread into the toaster won't work either..

sigh

Ilana, you are most welcome to join us. We mostly go to the Gulf so I can gaze at the water (Dh prefers fresh...sometimes there's just no understanding that man...) and we can get some tasty seafood. Very, very difficult to get good seafood here, although they have decent shrimp.

Kath, Hey. We'll probably be staying at Keesler AFB for a couple of nights...very convenient, super rooms, nice pricing. We ofetn stay at/on bases when we travel as they have most superior accomodations for guests...I think in the 15 or so years we've been doing this, we've only had two "ufortunate" experiences.

What!?! No levitation this a.m.? I've tried that many times; also s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d my arms trying not to disturb resting baby/husband/cat. Sometimes it (the stretching part, not the levitation, worse luck) it works well, and sometimes I just knock many things over, thus waking the sleeping one and making work for myself.

I agree---sigh.

I just can't keep up. Sorry to hear about back and tum and etc. problems, Gail! I have not read Reflections in a Golden Eye although I think McCullers is an amazingly talented writer. I'd like to explore her work more thoroughly.

Take care ---

Ellen: Hi! I can't keep up, either. I try but just can't seem to do it....I read another book and then went back to the McCullers--it's amazing. And amazingly frank, considering it was originally published in 1941, if you can believe that. I read some about her in, um...February House, I think it was, a couple of years ago. As with so many authors, her personal life was what one could term "messy", but, man, her work is fantastic. I may be inspired to read all of it...

I must work on some reviewing...usually I jot things down and then come to the computer to finish up. Maybe this afternoon I can work on that.

It's a beautiful day here, a bit cool at 50 degrees, but marvelous sun and a very pale blue sky with lots of thin, see-through clouds waaaaay up high. Many very tiny birds at the bird feeder these days, some sort of wrens. The pansies are still going strong, but need some tidying and trimming, a bit of fertilizer; we (Dh did the heavy lifting, I did the "cut here" and the heavy looking on) trimmed the crepe myrtles back yesterday, I'll feritlized them today and wait for the new growth. Just noticed that the sweet gums have enormous swelling buds on all the branch tips. I do love the outdoors and feel so much better when I can get outside.

Sunny here.. V cold this morning, but better now.

I love being outdoors, too.. but I am pretty sure I won't put in
any annuals this year.... I have to see what is happening with my tree...
I am not sure it is going to survive after last years attack of ash borers..
a lot will depend on that. I usually plant around the base .. losing that
tree would make me very sad .

I remember your tree, Kath, and hope that it survives this year. Maybe you have room for a couple of baby trees somewhere about your property? I hate losing plants, even ones that are boring. It feels like a failure of my care for them...

Almost done with the McCullers--it's short--but what a ride! Hooo-eeee.

I'd read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and The Member of the Wedding back in 1990 I think it was, and somehow, even though I completely fell in love with her writing, didn't realize she'd written anything else. Just added Reflections in a Golden Eye to the wishlist and checked to see if they have it at the library. Yes! I can't imagine her writing anything that doesn't pack a punch...

eta: I just had a look at her bibliography and she didn't publish as much as it seems when looking at her page here. With the three I've mentioned above, there's also the novel Clock Without Hands, then The Square Root of Wonderful (a play) and Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (poems). There's also The Mortgaged Heart, a posthumous collection of writings edited by her sister and her unfinished autobiography.

All this to say that it seems an entirely reasonable challenge to read all her work...

eta2: oh yeah, this is where I got the above info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_McCullers

It does feel like a failure to lose a tree.
I have planted several over the years... but this was the third. It
is my favorite, I love everything about it. My heart breaks to think about
losing it :( I imagine we will replace it with something.. dogwood maybe? Something
not too big. I don't think I will put in another japanese dwarf maple~ it would be too sad.
I am still holding out some hope though...

I finished my book yesterday evening.. loved it. I am a fan of contemporary fantasy..
On to another fantasy today for th theme month reads, but only because I am such a fan of the genre :)
and so I don't feel any pressure, more like encouragement!

Anything special planned for the weekend?

Dear One

I'm thinking of you!

De-lurking to say hello - hope all is well with you this weekend!

Hi Gail! Thinking of you and your lovely planned get-away.
Sounds like Spring at your house :)

McCullers, huh?

Hi Gail. Going back to the conversation about autonomy with book choices, I think I struggled with that a lot last year and I've made more of an effort this year to be more relaxed about challenges. I think it's working so far but it's early days and it's so easy to get caught up in the excitement of the monthly TIOLI challenges for example. I've also learnt that I need to say no things if I'm not going to get stressed - the Steinbeckathon is one example. I wish I could join in but I'm doing another author read this year with a different group and it would just be too much. I think it was the right decision although seeing all the glowing reviews for the first book in the readathon means I want to try Steinbeck one year...

#182 "Back problems, tum problems, a bit of computer trouble...never mind." Hugs, but glad to hear DH is having a good patch.

I still have an unread and unreviewed ER book from May last year! I've stopped requesting them because they just feel like distractions from the books I really want to read - must get this one read soon though.

I hope that you are feeling better by now? Did you change browsers on your computer?
I have been thinking about that .. and wondering if some setting somewhere got jigged about
or something went all wonky ( those are technical terms, you know ). Dans old laptop has chrome and it works well. I am a long time user of FireFox, even on my mac. I like it better than I do Safari..

So, what are you reading now? Whatever it is I hope it is a good one :)

Hello! Hope you're doing good! :-)

Ditto Kath on being a long time user of Firefox. I much prefer it over IE or Safari (which I have to use when I'm on the hubster's Mac).

Gail, I have a black thumb for a very good reason ... all plants come to my house to die. A few hardy souls change their minds and stick around, but they tend to be the ones that were planted before we bought the house and have made sufficient friends in the neighborhood to have their own plant support group with thick branches on which to weep on. All attempts at introducing new foliage to my yard have failed dismally.

I Crepe Myrtles.

I use Safari on my mac, caro .. maybe you can convert Edd?

Back in the day.. many years ago.. my house was filled with hanging plants.
The kitties I had then were less dedicated to taking them down. Too hard
with this lot.. I tried again a couple of years ago.. but had to put them up so high I couldn't care
for them properly. I think I gave one to Cory and the other just gave up the ghost.

Nothing to report.. just wandering through the threads and didn't want to miss saying
good morning to you , Gail

hugs

Hi, Gail and crew. I hope your back and tummy issues are resolved. Don't hurt the back by hunting too hard for that elusive ARC. And I'm also happy to hear that your hubby is in a good place right now. That will make a very happy birthday, I think.
I'm ashamed to say that I've never read any McCullers. She wrote something important while she was living in Fayetteville just up I-95 from me, so that ought to forge a connection for me. I'm more ashamed to say that I don't know when I'll fill that hole. One day, I hope.
I don't do plants well either. I'm scared to mention the two that I've kept going for the past 6 years, so I won't call them by name.

Ilana, Good morning! I've only read two McCullers in recent years, although I read pretty much all of her stuff way back when. She's a powerful writer. Thanks for the Wiki info.; I'm so very lazy that I seldom look into author information there. I sent you a p.m. this morning as well.

Kath: Hello, Sweetie. I used to have hanging plants...in Florida...on the back porch; a couple of pothos, which is almost impossible to kill off; several Christmas cacti; one or two spider plants. Sadly, here in AL I have none. But that's okay. I'd rather garden outside anyway. Still, a nice aspidistra or a colorful pothos would be nice in the...do you know, we have a room that I don't have a name for? Our house plan is very open, but there's an area off the kitchen proper, somewhat set off from the great room (can't get used to that term)...like a dining area...anyway, it would be nice to have a couple of plants in there, as it has big windows and gets quite a bit of sun. Hmmm...

I'm a big sissy when it comes to trying anything new on the computer, like switching stuff over. But last night I was using the laptop and it was so nice not to see all this darned italic print. I've got to get to that soon. Or just use the laptop most of the time ;>) I know that somehow I pressed some key or other that's caused this little flip, but who knows what key?

Linda, Amber, Porua: So glad to see all of you here, if only for a moment. I find myself lurking more and more, as I am quite boring in real life and often have zip point doo-doo to say. But I am following all of you. (That sounds a bit weird, doesn't it?)

Cee: I think McCullers would be right up your alley. She says an awful lot with very few words. And her books are, well, odd and intriguing.

Caro: Your poor plants! I know that mine occasionally lean on the bosoms of the native plants and sob that I am ignoring them...I have spurts where I'm super active and then other times when I just look out the windows mindlessly...of course any plants that I'd just as soon lose are the ones with 9 lives and are indestructible.
I have one daughter urging Firefox and one pushing Google Chrome; I know I need to switch over, but see my answer to Kath above.

Ellen: I love the crepe myrtles too. One of my two or three top favorites are lilacs, which won't grow here because it's too warm. The crepe myrtles make a good substitue. Currently we have six, three small and three large, all different colors but no white.

Heather; Isn't it crazy how we manage to put pressure on ourselves? I mean, seriously; getting so caught up and feeling like we're never going to be able to keep the pace...So I'm pretty much in the same place you are. I did read the first Steinbeck, but it's short and I was moved more by curiosity and by my fondness for Travels with Charley. I didn't like The Grapes of Wrath too much; I thought it was kind of overwrought. And I tried East of Eden a couple of times and couldn't get into it. Maybe another time...Oh, and I stopped doing ER and ARC because the books would arrive and I would think, "Did I ask for this? Why?" I have to admit, though, that I score two Louise Penny's, which was pretty much of a thrill.

We had a quiet and pleasant week-end. Did some more yard clean up--we've had some strong winds that knocked off quite a few dead branches, so we cut those up (well, Dh cut them up and I bagged them) to go off to the recycle pickup on Wednesday. I did a lot of reading, too.

Got into the Fantasy February Challenge. I was just idly looking at it and thought it would be a good chance to finish up the Pratchett trilogy about Tiffany Aching. Then I discovered that I have quite a few fantasies on my TBR piles. I mean, a lot. So I'lll meander through those until I get tired of them or attracted by something else. I love Pratchett: he's so funny, and sometimes so wise.

http://www.anetforums.com/posts.aspx?ThreadIndex=28038

is this of any help?

or this ?

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/ieitpropriorver/thread/75a1fe0f-4c...

Delurking to say "hey" and also to wish that I could go to the Gulf coast with you. I could use a little wave action these days to relax me. I should have been out in the yard last week doing some winter maintenance while our temps were in the warmer range. I've got the "lazies" these days. Read, cook, LT, read, clean, LT...you get the drift.

Have a good week, Gail. I hope your DH continues having his good spell!

Kath, the sites helped because I know I'm not alone (there are about 31,000 responses on one set), but I still can't fix it. Of course, maybe I could do a "restore system" to before the last update, and then see if the correct fonts are there.
Have I mentioned that I really dislike windows sometimes? As in, abominate...

Donna: you're more than welcome to come along on our short trip. Sometimes we just have to get away for a bit.
Sadly, today is quite a down day for DH; low blood sugars causing confusion. That usually sorts itself out, with the help of pineapple juice, peanut butter and crackers, etc., within 36 hours he's pretty much back to normal.

Hi Gail!
Was starting to salivate at the mention of "Crepe Myrtles" - figuring maybe a recipe would be coming up :)
Then, I realized they are plants (or bushes or something) out of my comfort zone :{
Ah well - I don't need more calories right now. *heavy sigh*

Hope DH feels better quickly.

Cee: hahahahahaha I love crepes as well, both savory and sweet

DH is getting better...Home Depot alone today...did a good job, too

Status Update

Books Read: 10
Bombs:: 6
Library Books: 3
ReRead BOMB: 1
Books Bought: 1

This means that I'm on track for my program of 5 BOMBS read for every one bought.

I can see clearly that the library will play a much larger part in my reading this year.

1 book read for FF and one being read. Lots more available, but it depends on the bumblebee mind that I have.

Hi Gail, glad to see DH is doing well. Must take a load off for you I'm sure. You're right on track with the reading in terms of numbers for sure!

I have never had savory crepes..
My mom made sweet ones, and those are the only ones I have ever made.

I am so happy to hear about DH's trip to Home Depot!
That is good news. So.. What did ya get ?
I love hardware stores! lol.
I like the small ones though.. with the dust on the bolts and stuff..
and crazy things that you have never seen before in a little blue box next
to the cash register..
:)

Impressive that you are keeping such good track of your books..
I can barely think to update my ticker.. lol

Morning Gail! Just stopping by to say hi :o)

I'm just saying hello, too, Gail. :)

*smooch*

I hope the days have been gentle to you lately?
I have been shamefully self absorbed :(
sorry about that..

Any plans for fun or adventure today?

Hello to Ilana, Caro, Terri! Things are going smoothly so far.

Rdear a *smooch* to you as well!

Kath Today I'm planning on doing some Old Folks visiting. It's my turn; two of us go together---visit a couple of Older Ladies at one facility, have lunch, then visit a couple of other Old Dears at another facility, which is, of course, in a completely opposite direction from the first. It pretty much takes up the whole day, but it seems like the right thing to do, although small talk can be difficult. I tend to just wander, verbally, kind of the way I do here.
While I'm off spreading good cheer (one can always hope), Dh is going to the base...and is going to try to pick up my scrips. Crossing fingers that that works, because I don't feel like driving all the way out there...
His venture to Home Depot--very close to our house--was successful; he picked up a small cooler for the trip and then ventured over to Cracker Barrel, a good distance away, to get some sugar-free candy...We really are on a good patch here...

Sorry for staggering though so late..
I have been avoiding the computer ..
both of my kids are ccing me in on their emails.
I feel like throwing my laptop in the river.
Fine time for Comcast to keep working :-/

It is indeed difficult to talk to someone who is not participating in the conversation..
I admire you and your spreading of cheer!

I imagine that DH did well on his trip yesterday..
I hope that his good patch lasts a long long while.

hugs

Hi Gail, just peeking in and glad to see that things are going well.

I hope that his good patch lasts a long long while.

ditto. And hugs from me too darling.

Gail the discussion of crepes reminds me that I haven't had breakfast yet this Saturday morning - have a lovely weekend.

Welcome to Kath, Judy, Ilana, and Paul!

Actually today was very mixed for me: mother's b'day...memories sweet and sad (and a few sorry as well); then everyone except two daughters thinks today is my birthday...not quite...I don't want to rain on others' parades, so usually I just go right along with it; it surely can't make much difference now. Thought I was doing fine, but as the day progressed, I became more and more sad; still, had a good conversation with my remaining brother, chatted with other relatives, we won at bridge. But man, I'd give a lot to be able to call and say, "Hi, Ma. What are you having for dinner?"

On crepes: the first savory crepe I had was made with mushrooms sauteed and then mixed with a light bechamel made with some mushroom liquid...delish! I like a light sauce.

I'm really enjoying my little venture into fantasy land...not sure how many more I'll read this month, though, with so many books calling me...

I'm sorry it's been a bit of a sad day for you my dear Gail. Your comment about wishing you could call your mum to have an easy chat definitely rings true to me, for reasons you well know by now, although I don't know what your particular situation is.

Crepe talk is reminding me how much I like those things. Will have to mix up a batch soon. Savoury ones and sweet ones too. Mushrooms are great. I make a quite delicious chicken with mushrooms in cream sauce dish, that I could serve up in crepes. Then must get some Nutella to serve up with bananas... yum.

{{{Gail}}} I had a very conflicted relationship with my mother, and she died when I was just 22, yet I can relate to the strong wish to be able to connect. Of course you miss her. As a friend once said to me, no matter what our relationship with our mother was like, we all still need her.

xo

There's a crepe restaurant not too far from our home; we keep saying we're going to eat there. Clearly, we need to move that up on the list. Yum.

You are nicer than I am. I would set them all straight and tell them whose
birthday it is , and when my own birthday actually happens. Things like that do make
me sad. :(

Sorry it was a rough day for you...
My mom and I had a very rocky relationship...she died when I was 35...
While she was sick we worked at patching it up.. but frankly the damage had
been done. She was very dismissive of my kids... that didn't help. She was very
devoted to my sister's kids.. that didn't help either.....

I am going to have to peruse some crepe recipes now...

Hope your weekend is happy and serene...

Ditto what Kath said about setting them straight on the birth dates, Gail.

I still miss my dad. He died when I was 20 and I sometimes think my life would have gone in a very different direction if he'd been around for a few more years to see me settle into myself as a person.

I love crepes, ham, mushroom and cheese for savory and banana and chocolate for sweet. I think the best ones I've ever had were from street vendors in Paris. Their crepes are just so light. Grr.... now I want some.

I didn't like my parents. I don't miss my mother, and I don't see my father. But I surely do know about missing those gone before us, and I am sad for your mom's absence.

My favorite savory crepe is a crepe with a thin, thin slice of prosciutto spread on the hot crepe, and garlic, mushroom, brandy and cream sauce spooned in the middle before it's rolled. I could eat a dozen of those. I'd be sick afterwards, but so what?

Have loads of fun... be safe..
take home some of the warm and happy!
hugs

Ilana, Ellen, Kath, Caro, and Rdear: Thank you very much for your kindness. Mother and I would have long periods of good relationships, punctuated by years of dreadful conflict. Unfortunately as time went on, her mental state, never stable by any means, kept deteriorating, so that no one could have a smooth relationship with her. It was so sad, but not to be helped.

I used to try to tell people whose b'day was which, but after having that message ignored or forgotten year after year after year, I just gave up. I did get pretty well ticked off when my very own daughter mixed them up, but then decided it wasn't important enough to be upset over.

See you all in a few days.

Dear Gail, I wish you some happy days.
I believe I'd demand TWO birthdays.
Your visiting story (an extremely lovely thing to do, btw. I know because I saw how much visits meant to the women on my mother's hall during her recuperation) reminds me of a friend's mother. She had referred to "the poor old dears" all of Celene's life. One day when things weren't going well, she looked at Celene and said sadly, "I guess I'm just another poor old dear."
Cherish good memories for sure.

Gail, I can relate to your birthday blues, but from a different angle. My mom died on the eve of my birthday over a dozen years ago, and since then birthdays have never been the same for me.

Seems really annoying that people can't remember whose birthday is whose for you. Is it really that difficult?? But then, my in-laws totally forgot my birthday this year -- first time that's ever happened. I must admit to feeling just a trifle miffed. I've been a day or two late with a card now and then, but never totally missed one of theirs, I'm sure. But as bad as my memory is getting, I suppose it's only a matter of time before I do, so I really can't complain.

~ On The Road Again ~

Gail - this is the time to embrace the Chinese culture. The Chinese have 2 birthdays - the one that follows the Chinese calendar (13 month lunar cycle) and the one that is stated on our birth certificate.

生日快樂 !

Thinking of you Gail. Hope all is well in your world. xx 💗

Happy Valentine's Day! :-)

I hope you had a good Valentine's Day, Gail!

Just popping in to tidy the stack of mail and fluff the pillows...

Adding a touch of cheer -

Hi Gail, thinking of you m'dear. xx

Wishing you soft and pleasant days :)

*smooch*

Just dropping by to say hello Gail and to leave some hugs.

Welcome home !

Now, tell us everything!

Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and maintenance of the thread while I was absent. So pretty and tidy!

Yes, I am back. An extremely uneventful trip. We don't gamble, so the casinos weren't too interesting for us, but we were right across the street from the now nearly pristinely natural beach. Lovely, right on the Gulf, several good restaurants, relaxing atmosphere. No surprises or missteps, all went well.

Oh, here's something silly: DH decided Saturday to take a bath, for medicinal purposes. Fine. Except that he chose to use the garden tub in the master bath---we both forgot that he has a fairly severe loss of strength in his left leg, from strokes; so, he carefully immersed himself, soaked for a while.
Then it was time to get out of the tub.
Have I ever mentiuoned that DH is 6 foot 3 and weighs about 220? I'm 5'8', about 150. Hmmm...Of course with the dementia, he couldn't quite devise a plan; most of his ideas left him completely without leverage. So, I get in the tub, now drained, thank heavens. After several false starts, we managed to sort of cantilever him up, with me holding my breath for fear he would fall, into a standing position, from which he could ever-so-carefully step out. Whew! No more baths for a long time...we have a bench already in case he needs sit-down showers at some point...

We all know I've never been one to fear eating my words...I've had some less-than-positive things to say about Jane Austen. Well, I read Persuasion on our trip. I loved it! found the characters and the plotline quite a bit more believable than P. and P., and more engainging heroine than Mansfield Park. This is my fifth book form Austen; I've really enjoyed Emma and this one.

For FF, I finished thesecond Tiffany Aching, A Hat Full of Sky, and am in the middle of His Monkey Wife, a very different book from anything I've ever read before.

More tomorrow or Wednesday--oh, and we ordered new coffee and end tables today, and will be ordering a new sofa on Wednesday. Yay!

Eeeeek! Bath tubs are scary... glad you both came out of that experience ok.
Glad you had a good trip - sounds nice :)

Welcome home, Gail. Glad you extricated your DH from the tub. You remind me that I ought to use ours a little before I get so that I can't get into or out of it.
I'm delighted that you enjoyed Persuasion!

Glad all went well with the trip Gail. Your tub experience sounds scary though, good thing all turned out ok.

I loved Emma too (and you know how I felt about S&S and P&P), and intend on reading Northanger Abbey and Persuasion this year, though I'll be doing so with Liz's tutoring, because I have a feeling she could make me enjoy anything. I even went as far as ordering a beautiful hardback edition of Pride and Prejudice, as I'm so hopeful that I've decided I'll read that one again with Liz next time and I just know she'll turn it all around for me. Maybe you'll want to join in when we get to it!

Congrats on the new furniture on the way. How exciting!

Hugs.

Well.. as awful as the bathtub story is ... I hope that you will be able
to laugh at it someday. ( I hate tubs! and dislike taking baths.. showers all the way!)

Persuasion... never read it.. *looks ashamed*
I have it! lol Never read it. Glad to know that you liked it.

Nothing much to tell here.. I haven't read as much as I had hoped. There
have been days when no book or reader ended up in my hands.

I think I will put the kindle app on my phone, though.. and download something
there.. thus eliminating the need for a car book. Dunno. I am still trying to
warm up to my new cell phone.

I am really glad that for the most oart you had a relaxing time away.

hugs

wow, I bet that bathtub experience was a tad scary at the time! I hope you guys were able to giggle once he was out of the tub!

I'll have to give persuasion a chance, I've not given Jane Austen a fair chance yet!

Welcome home Gail! Glad you and DH survived the bathtub scare safely. Also glad you found a Jane Austen to love :-)

Welcome back, Gail, good to hear that your trip went well. (Except for that bath tub incident.)

*munch, munch, crunch*... how do those words taste, Gail? *evil laugh*

I am, though, glad that you enjoyed Austen at last .. I was starting to wonder about you! haha... I love Emma. Mansfield Park remains my least favorite of her books.

Well, honestly, if you can imagine this quite big guy trying to figure out how to get out of the tub, putting both legs over the edge..."Wait! You have no leverage here!" Even at the time I thought it was funny, and as soon as he was on his feet, so did he. We shared (silently; we're so weird and have been so close that our thoughts sometimes are eerily the same) the thought that, if worst came to worst, I could go across the street and get the guys (all tank commanders and instructors, young and strong) to come and help him. I sure didn't want to do that, because DH would have been overwhelmingly embarassed. He's a good sport, but there are some limits!

Cee, Peggy, Ilana, Kath, Ellen, Heather, Judy, and Caro: Thanks for the welcome home and the kind thoughts. Don't know how on earth we failed to see that a tub bath for him is just not in the cards. Fortunately, he's not that crazy about them. I like a tub in the summer, with fairly cool water.

>258 cameling:: Why, these words are quite tasty, especially in the middle of a crab cake...
Well, I found that Emma will always be a favorite with me, although I'm not sure why. The whole last section just makes me smile...and Persuasion was really, really good. Anne is a great character, I think. And her father! Good grief! The only major Austen I have left is Northanger Abbey, which I'll probably read later this year. While I like Pand P, it's almost too much of a good thing for me...still, I'd read it again. But S. and S. and Mansfield Park will go on that "Some other time, maybe, or never" pile of possible re-reads.

Which brings me to a book I'm reading now, His Monkey Wife. It's a fantasy--wtih that title, it had to be. But what made me think of Austen and Trollope and all those people is the language in the book, which is very, very Victorian. My edition has the added treat of an introduction by Eva Brann, a scholar I admire.

I am trying to get myself to pick up a book. Wrapped in Rain needs to be read and reviewed.
Well, tomorrow's another day.

hugs

xo

How are you liking Monkey Wife? it looks like a hoot, judging from the "reviews" posted.

I myownself will try again to pick up a book today :) Rain is now glaring at me

>255 ChelleBearss:: Chelle! I didn't mean to ingnore you. I avoided Austen for years and years; then read P. and P., which is by no means a bad book, then read several in one year, and now, finally, Persuasion. It's been an enlightening experience.

Ellen Love to you, to. How's it going!

Kath! I'm liking Monkey Wife, but for me it's not something to read in a day or so, which could be done as it's fairly short. But there's a lot in those pages. And it's very funny.

*mentally girds loins and dons cyber sword*

Attempting to start new thread now.