EBT1002/Ellen's 75 in 2012 - March

"Cherry Branch" by Thomas Stream

Completed in January 2012
1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
3. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
4. Dogs by Emily Gravett
5. Wolves by Emily Gravett
6. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
7. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
8. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
9. Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
10. Still Life by Louise Penny
11. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

Completed in February
12. True Grit by Charles Portis
13. The Pleasures of Japanese Literature by Donald Keene
14. Lying Awake by Mark Salzman
15. Mister Blue by Jacques Poulin
16. Tibet: Through the Red Box by Peter Sis
17. The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin by Peter Sis
18. Losing Battles by Eudora Welty
19. The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck
20. Fair Play by Tove Jansson
21. Silence by Shusaku Endo

Completed in March
22. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
23. The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
24. I Am the Cat, Don't Forget That by Valerie Shaff and Roy Blount, Jr.
25. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
26. Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman
27. Troubles by J.G. Farrell
28. The Summer Book by Tove Jannson

Completed in April
29. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
30. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
31.

Well, looky here, am I first?!
Hello there.

Hi Megan! You are, indeed.

I learned earlier this week that one of my best friends, who lives in another state, has breast cancer. It was found early and so far things are looking better than they can be, but still. It's been in the back of my mind all week and I haven't made much mental or emotional space for it. Maybe it's another reason I've been unable to read/concentrate much.

I am so sorry to hear about your friend. That is frightening news indeed...
I hope all goes smoothly and she makes a speedy and full recovery...

I Love the top of your thread.. I don't see that any of the prints are for sale..
Am I right or missing something. They are so beautiful! I could imagine them all over my house :)

Gorgeous pic at the top of the thread...so different and interesting!

Back to lurking.

If it was found early, there is an excellent chance that all will be well in the end. I've had a number of friends that had that situation and are currently healthy and well.

Hi Ellen- Sorry to hear about your friend! Hope it all works out. Nice Spring-like thread. Very comfy.

Hi Ellen, just checking in, sorry to hear the news about your friend. I went through a small scare earlier this year, but the biopsy came back negative which was a huge relief.

sorry about your friend Ellen. I can understand your concern. xx

Thanks, everyone. We're optimistic, but it's just one of those "wow, life can throw you a curve ball at any moment." A good reminder to appreciate every moment.

Kath, some of Stream's works are for sale at the Stonington Gallery here in Seattle. They are not inexpensive (and rightfully so). And yes, if I could afford it, I would have them on every wall of my home.

Hi Ellen!
Love your opening picture! (and I never say that unless I mean it)

Hope your friend finds all the care and comfort she needs for a full recovery.

Thanks, Cee! I appreciate the honest and straightforward compliment. I love Thomas Stream's work.

P and I watched (re-watched) the first episode of Downton Abbey tonight. Very fun to see the characters at the outset of their development! Dozed through episode 2, so we'll have to watch that again later in the weekend.

One of my favorite lines is Maggie Smith inquiring "What is a weekend?" Ah, the life of the aristocracy.....

So far, I'm very much enjoying The Winter of Our Discontent. In some ways, it's very different from other Steinbeck works (that I've read so far) and in some ways, his talent and style comes right on through.

>4 EBT1002: Maybe it's another reason I've been unable to read/concentrate much.
Thats for sure. It is so scary to hear that kind of news about someone close to you, good luck to her.

Thanks, Megan. I care about her deeply.
This is a friend with whom I was in graduate school in the late 1980s (!) and we had not kept in touch. About 6 years ago, we encountered one another at a conference, realizing that our career paths had been very similar. Immediate recognition and immediate re-connection (really, more connection than we had 20 years ago). I love her dearly and appreciate your support as I send her positive energy. As I said, it was found early and we're optimistic.

It's the weekend. Maybe I'll get some reading done.

Ellen congratulations on the lovely new thread. Love the vivid colours on the lead picture - looks almost like an arabian mural.
Sorry to hear about your friend. Our neighbour is just celebrating three years of being clear from breast cancer after having stage three and losing a breast. Apparently the most important thing in these fights is one's attitude towards the disease and the support structure around one. Your friend has a very good start if you are indicative of her support structure!

My sympathies too, about your friend.

What a beautiful opening picture. I love it.

Megan, I can't wait for another visit to Steinbeck Country. I have a vintage (as in old - not the publisher) copy of The Winter of Our Discontent that has been neglected far too long. I'll probably read it over Spring Break. Yay!

I hope your friend's treatments go well. It is so difficult to find peace when our friends are hurting or ill. Lots of positive energy being sent to you and your friend.

Sending positive energy your way, with the very best wishes for your friend's rapid recovery. You're right about life throwing us curves...it's probably good that we don't know what's coming: no time to get scared, upset, brood, etc., until whatever is actually upon us.

That Maggie Smith line is precisely what hooked me on D. A. Love that show.

Sorry to hear about your friend. Thankfully they found it early! Crossing my fingers for her speedy recovery

Beautiful art at the top of your thread, Ellen.

Scary news about your friend. I hope all will be well.

You're inspiring me to watch season 1 of DA all over again Ellen. Maggie Smith is probably my favourite character in the whole show. I loved that "what is a weekend" line too. Unforgettable!

Hugs to you my dear. One arm hug still, but a nice one. xx

Paul, Lucy, Donna, Gail, Chelle, Joanne, and Ilana, my dear LT friends. How sweet you all are. Thanks for the comments about the pic at the top of my thread. If it means a few more folks are aware of Thomas Stream's work, that's a cool thing. And thanks so much for the support regarding my friend. Her attitude is awesome and the support structure around her is, I think, very deep and strong. We'll help her get through this.

I'm just about halfway through The Winter of Our Discontent and I'm enjoying it much more than I expected based on its relative obscurity and some of the mixed reviews it got when it was originally published in 1961. It's certainly different from Cannery Row or The Wayward Bus, but engaging and interesting nonetheless.

Steinbeck uses the word "concupiscence" a lot.

Ellen- Hope you are enjoying your Sunday! Glad you are enjoying "Winter". Are you reading anything else or is that it?

Hi Mark. I tend to be a one-book-at-a-time reader. I have two new books from the library -- The Night Circus and Mark Salzman's The Soloist, so I may set aside "Winter" to work on those before I have to return them. Also, I'm leaving next Saturday for a conference, which means some good reading time (on the plane and in my hotel room in the evenings), but I don't like taking library books with me on trips.

Today has been a raw, gray late winter day. I've done some reading and a ton of laundry, as well as some "early spring" work in the p-patch. Whew.

Ohh gorgeous image, Ellen!! I sure wish this dreary , rainy winter would be over! I'm sure you feel the same way! I'm like you - I can only handle one book at a time. EVen when I'm reading a dead dreary book, I have to read it right through for fear of tossing it aside!! This has been a long grey patch hasn't it!! Good for you, getting out in the patch. I have to walk my dog every day and what a toll it takes on my hair -which is curly but I try to control it. Useless exercise - my hair efforts, in this damp!!!Sigh!

Deb, yes, I'm ready for spring. Not just the daffodils (which we have) and the earliest pink blooming trees (some kind of flowering pear or cherry?), but actual spring.

Ran 2.5 miles today. It felt quite nice and I passed a newly-on-the-market house in the neighborhood which I admit to coveting. No move for us now, though, that's for sure.

Contrary to my usual behavior, I'm going to try reading two books at once. How do people do this? Read a bit in each every day? Read half of one, then set it aside and read half the other, then switch back? In any case, I've completed Part One of The Winter of Our Discontent and I'm enjoying it, though I will be surprised if it ends up in the top six of the twelve Steinbeck novels I'm reading this year. I have a copy of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern that I'd like to read before my business travel on Saturday, so I'm going to give it a try. I suppose if I don't complete it, I can leave it here and take a couple of paperbacks with me, and return to the library book when I get back home.

The sun is pouring in our west-facing living room windows. Nice!

Hi Ellen

Amen for wonderfully sunny days. I'm sorry to hear of your friend. I'm sending positive thoughts and prayers

P cooked a corned beef with tons o' veggies for dinner. I'm just sayin' ---- YUM. It was a naturally corned beef (no nitrates or nitrites or any of that stuff) and she cooked it in Guinness (of course) with carrots, potatoes, celery, onion..... a very nice Sunday dinner.

Now, to see if I can get started on The Night Circus.....

Have fun with The Night Circus!

Sounds like you had a lovely dinner Ellen. Why'dn you invite me over???

Reading several books at once: I read different books at different rhythms depending on the book and my mood. Some I read from a little bit every day at different times of the day, or read a few chapters from one, then do the same with the other and so on. Other books I leave lying around and read little bits of it once in a while, as I'm doing with On Cats by Doris Lessing for example. There isn't the satisfaction of completing books quite as quickly of course, but it's a different experience and worth at least trying. I go back and forth between reading just one book at a time, or two, or several. Depending on how much my brain can take!

Thanks, Joanne!
Ilana, this is a new experiment for me. Thanks for describing your approach to reading multiple books at once. I like that it's a rhythm thing and also that it changes depending on your energy and brain-power. :-)

I guess because in college/grad school I had to be reading more than one book at a time I got used to it -- but I rarely overlap genres, really never -- so I would never read two biographies or histories or books of poetry or sci-fi novels or whatever at the same time. Wonderful and weird juxtapositions frequently happen, which I love. A new word in one book will pop up in another, for example, and often much more profound things, of course.

I am with you, on reading one at a time. It is very rare for me
to do otherwise .. hope you like Night circus as much as I did :)

There are distinct camps here - those who get by on one book at a time and those who read a few at once. There are very few like Amber who reads up to sixteen books at a time.

I have tried both methods and like a few on the go slightly more although I must admit generally one will move along better than the others but when it hits a sticky patch you can take a break.

Didn't notice that about Steinbeck's obsession with "concupiscence". I have one friend whom I have known for over 40 years and who during all his adult life has peppered his anecdotes liberally with the word "evidently". He has been married for 18 years and both he and his wife have never noticed this. After I pointed it out his wife goes into hysterics every time the well trodden phrase comes out.

Hi Ellen!
Sounds like you had a sumptuous Sunday dinner - yum!
I, on the other hand, had leftover beef stew - all I had the energy for...

Ditto message #36 ... thanks for writing that all out for me, Lucy! lol

Hmmmm, interesting thoughts about the reading-one vs reading-several at once question. It makes complete sense that multi-readers would avoid two of the same genre at the same time. Lucy, I like the comment about weird juxtapositions arising occasionally. It seems like that would serendipitously occur and I wonder about such "coincidences".

Kath, I'm giving it a try, but I'm not sure it counts if I set aside one book unfinished and then completely read another novel, then come back to the first. Is that really reading more than one at a time? This makes me think that there are some process nuances I want to explore.

Paul, I can't even imagine how Amber does that. What a brain she must have...... I love the story you tell ---- once someone is made aware of something like that, it's never again going out of consciousness.

Cee, my dinner was magnificent. I'm very lucky to have a partner who enjoys cooking. I just get to do the laundry. :-)

So, having completed Part One of The Winter of Our Discontent, I set it aside and started The Night Circus. I wasn't sure how I would like it since the genre (what genre is it?) is outside my usual gang. So far, I'm loving it! It's delightful and quirky and amusing and I want to know what's going to happen. Love that.

Ellen- I prefer not to read 2 print books at the same time, but I have at times. My perfect equation is-
print book + audio + GN = Heaven
It sounds like you are enjoying The Night circus. Yah!

>29 EBT1002:/34/35/36/40 etc etc :)
My method for reading multiple books at once is: scan the book pile at reading time, chose the one that excites me most. If this means the same book gets read the whole time, then I just get it over with and finish it, choosing the most exciting book from what is left!
This method only comes about as I get drawn in by the look of a new book, and cant help myself so just start reading it!

>40 EBT1002: I'm very lucky to have a partner who enjoys cooking
Yes.....you.....are (*jealousy will get me nowhere*)

Ellen - I loved The Night Circus when I read it last year. I hope you continue enjoying it!

And I'm enjoying the conversation about one versus multiple books. I almost always have multiple books going, but they are usually quite different - an audio book, a read-aloud with the kids, a work or other non-fiction book, and a fiction book. However, I just read two fiction books at the same time because I wasn't quite done with The Last Werewolf when I needed to start The Sense of an Ending for my book club. Surprisingly enough, I found some interesting comparisons between Tony Webster in The Sense of an Ending and Jake Marlowe, the last werewolf!

Hi Ellen - I love the picture on your new thread. It reminds me a little bit of Mexican pottery art. I think it's the colors.

Glad you're enjoying Night Circus so far.

We awoke to a dusting of snow on the ground this morning. In Seattle. In March. Crazy.

Work is being very busy this week. It's week ten of the 11-week academic quarter and there's just a lot going on. I'm still very much enjoying The Night Circus but haven't had much time to make headway on it.

I just checked and Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman and Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman are both in transit to be picked up by me later this week. I'm in library hold trouble again.......

I know ...what's euthanasia the weather, huh? It was 25F today when I was driving to work and I've got winter boots on for the first time this season. But tomorrow the temps are supposed to swing in the reverse and they're predicting high 50s! Go figure.

LOL... I find it so.funny that you keep being put in a library waiting cell.

EtA : I was intending to say .. what's with the weather .... but somehow my predictive speller on this thing changed 'with they'd to euthanasia .... Haha

Caro - your inadvertent reference to euthanasia did have me confused, then it cracked me up. Of course, now the sun is pouring into my south-facing office window, so I have to close the blinds ore boil at my desk..... Sheesh, the weather gods must get tired of trying to please me!

Yes, the library "hold" function is a challenge -- but a glorious one. I will make a list of books I want to read for the month (e.g., this month!) and then books will come available from the library and throw my whole plan into chaos. Then someone (or twenty someones) on LT will review a book and I'll put that on hold and..... oh, it's just crazy. And I love it.

I put the first in the series by Karin Fossum on hold today. I wonder when it will arrive....

I'm glad Ex Libris and Iron and Silk are coming your way, Ellen. I liked both of them a lot. I just finished Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum at the suggestion of Caro, among others, and thought that was good, too.

Don't Look Back is the one I put on hold, Joe. I think I "suspended" it to come in early April..... why I think I'll have more time then than I do now is beyond me.

Hah! I know what you mean. I'm not even sure we have that "suspended" option. Mine tend to be "in transit" for a long time, and then all show up at once, so I'm reading like crazy to get them back on time. Not all bad, but I wish they would arrive in a methodical, sensible fashion. Dream on.

Joe, yep, you've named it. Hence my rationale for buying as many books as I do. Then I can read them whenever I want without worrying about a due date. Of course, then they languish on my shelves, just like everyone else on LT, as far as I can tell......
In theory the "suspend" function is really terrific, and I do like it, but it doesn't completely solve the problem of "so many books, so little time."

Very interesting discussion on reading more than one book at a time vs reading multiple books at one time. Personally I almost always read just one book at one time. My small brain can handle only one thread of a book at a time -and if I'm reading something that''s a bit dry - I have to be firm with myself and stick to the one book for fear of dropping the dry book in favour of something more to my taste. Best of luck on your two book read.

I'm very sorry to learn of your friends illness.

BTW - I've read all of Karin Fossum 's books and loved them all!

Ellen, I know what you mean. I've got 5 library books "in transit" right now--downright scary!

Deb, your enthusiastic comments about Karin Fossum contributed significantly to my desire to check her out. I'll let you know what I think after I give her a try.

Roni, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I guess one good thing about it is that I sometimes get a book from the library, one which I was tempted to purchase, and discover after reading my requisite 49 pages that I don't really care for it as much as I expected. I rarely flat out give up on books (like Deb, I tend to hold my own feet to the fire to see a book through to the end), but I do reserve the right to invoke the Pearl Rule. :-)

I had a wonderful run this morning after a healthy night of (Ambien assisted) sleep. Just shy of 3 miles, I think, and it was 30F with not a cloud in the dawn sky. The sunrise over the Cascades to the east, above Lake Washington, was intensely orange and sapphire..... really a lovely morning. It felt good to be out there.

Off to work. Still reading The Night Circus and The Winter of Our Discontent, although the latter is on hold until I complete the former. I will return to TWoOD and complete it.

Hi Ellen- Glad you had a nice cleansing run. I have not ran since my military days. I rather walk & bike. I guess my body is not cut out for it. Hey, what ever gets us out there, right?

That run sounds awfully good, Ellen. I miss doing that, but I'm relegated to walking these days. My daughter manages to walk and read; that's way beyond my skill set.

I rarely read more than one book at a time, unless one is a heavy nonfiction tome I occasionally need relief from, or one is a book I can only read a limited number of pages at a sitting (I'm looking at you Proust).

Several years ago, though, I serendipitously read Black Rain by Ibuse (a classic Japanese novel about Hiroshima and its aftereffects) and Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet (contempory literary fiction with the premise the Oppenheimer, et al have been transported to the present-day and want to reverse the consequences of their discovery). The juxtaposition led to some interesting thoughts.

Running and me dont get along.
Just saying :)
I am a walker and a biker (well, cyclist really)

Hi Ellen, managed to get all caught up with you today! I've gone through periods of daily runs, but never managed to sustain it over the long run, so to speak. Every time I've taken to running though, I've lost so much weight I've had to buy entire new wardrobes. Maybe this would no longer be the case now that I'm in my middle age. It's a good high to be sure.

I've started The Woman in White today. It's amazing! Have you listed it on the wiki yet?

I envy you the run today, Ellen. I haven't been out for a run in well over 4 weeks! Yikes! I'm starting to resemble the Michelin Man. With the travel and weather, I've not had a chance to work out and I miss it. I feel so lethargic and ..... kinda stale when I've not had a good work out in a while. Not that I'm a good runner at all.... far from it. I'm terrible but I do like being outdoors and getting some exercise.

Ilana - I loved The Woman in White. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.

Ohh sounds like a lovely run! I used to run - ran for about 25 years, but eventually I decided that my knees were objecting too much. Now I've turned to walking. Not as fast but still enjoyable.

Another Woman in White fan here. Very atmospheric. For some reason I've never managed The Moonstone though.

Ilana and Joe, I will be taking The Woman in White with me on my trip (I leave Saturday for a conference in sunny Phoenix). I put it in the Wiki for Challenge #4. Is that what you were asking, Ilana? It might go in other challenges but, even though I had not yet connected with Janet, that's a Challenge to which I want to be particularly attentive this month.

Deborah, I think my multi-reading has been along the lines of yours. I guess I'm technically currently reading two books at once since I set TWoOD aside to read The Night Circus, but it feels more like "taking a break" from the one in order to read the other --- and mostly dictated by library due dates and upcoming travel.

Mark, Joe, Megan, Ilana, and Deb -- I think walking, cycling, running, swimming --- any of it is good! And for some, none of it is good. :-|
I will be "chronicling" my running here, but only because it's an important part of my life. I can't compare it to reading. I read every day. I certainly don't run every day! LOL

Mark, I would think your job gives you plenty of exercise!

Caro, you are in one of those life phases that makes it difficult to get out there. I hope things settle down soon and you can get in a run. I'm glad I'm not the only one is a runner. I don't think there is any "terrible at it" to be said. I'm not fast but that's not the point. The point is that I get outside, I burn off some cookies, and I take care of my heart and soul.

Terrible insomnia last night. The early trees are blooming and my sinuses are unhappy. I sat up reading until well after 2am (turned out the light several times, then sat up and turned it back on when I was just lying there wide awake). I'm not sure why. Generalized anxiety about work, I guess. Things are going well ---- but that doesn't stop me from useless worrying.

I'm almost done with The Night Circus; should complete it today. Then I'll pick up and finish The Winter of Our Discontent. I still have The Soloist from the library and I got notice that Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader is waiting there for me to pick up...... I think I'll be taking one or two library books with my on my trip this weekend, which I don't usually like to do.

I haven't had time in a couple of days to really visit others' threads. I promise I'll get to that, hopefully later today. One thing about my upcoming conference is that I have no responsibilities: I'm not presenting, I'm not chairing any committees,..... SO, even though I will need to attend presentations and such, I will likely have a bit of time to check in on LT. :-)

Well, my cholestral came back a notch above acceptable .... first time ever, but I am also one degree into slightly overweight, so I guess it goes with the territory. I'll be running again - in fact - today as it is around 60 I can trot around my old 'short' route - one mile - that I never seem anymore to get past. I hardly eat anything 'bad' so exercise if about my only choice if I want to avoid meds. Bleh!!!!!!

Ellen, I've just caught up w/most of your new thread and feel pretty up to date. I was always a one book reader but now I find keeping one upstairs, one downstairs and one on my purse keeps me ready to read any time any where.
Hope your friend is coping w/her diagnosis and doing what she needs to to catch this thing in the bid.

The point is that I get outside, I burn off some cookies, and I take care of my heart and soul.

Words to live by - I clicked the invisible "Like" button, Ellen.

Hi Lucy, Lynda, and Joe!

Lucy, a trot around your old "short" route sounds great. One mile may be just the ticket to keep the ticker running. Don't sell yourself short. It matters not how much you do or how fast you do it; it only matters that you listen to your body.

Lynda, good to see you; thanks for stopping by and catching up. I like the idea of keeping a book in different possible reading locations. I already do that with my store-bought reading glasses, so now I could just set a book next to each pair of readers! My friend, by the way, got very good news from her biopsy. She still has to have a lumpectomy, but the situation is about as positive as it could be. We're still waiting to hear how her canine buddy is doing (he has a lump on his gum-line - totally not fair).

Joe, thanks for the invisible "like" ---- LOL, I often think it would be handy to have one of those on this website. Except that then we'd be too much like that other site which used to suck up my time. I like this one better. :-)

I have a screaming headache today. I know it's just because the early trees are in bloom. This happens every spring. I'm very lucky that I don't get headaches very often (I know some of you get them much more often and much more intensely, and they are no fun). Anyway, my work calendar was quite clear for the day, so I'm staying home. After I do some catch-up on LT (which may not be very good for my head, actually, but it's so darn fun!), I hope to rest and perhaps complete reading The Night Circus.

Ellen - sorry to hear about your headache today - lower the lights and rest your eyes until your final assault on The Night Circus!
I love running today and do so every day but SWMBO always catches me and brings me back!

75> LOL! One of my favorite things about running is it is absolutely 100% me-time.

Hi Ellen. Just catching up. I'm sorry to hear about the headaches but happy to hear the news about your friend. Hope she also gets good news about her dog.

For some reason, I've been avoiding The Night Circus but so many people seem to love it that I feel I have to give it a try.

I am getting a little concerned about The Winter of Our Discontent though after hearing your comments and Ilana's but I can't imagine bailing on the Steinbeckathon now.

Hope you have a great time in Phoenix.

Sorry to hear your sinuses are bugging you. My fiance gets that when the weather starts to act confused: warm up, cool down, warm up. He gets rather grumpy about it too. Hopefully you have a better attitude than he does ;)

Pat, please don't bail on the Steinbeckathon now! I'm actually quite enjoying TWoOD, but it's different from our first two. It's interesting to see a different facet of Steinbeck's genius, though. Also, note comments by katiekrug on the TWoOD thread. I think she well captures the questions ol' John is exploring in this one.

when the weather starts to act confused
Perfect description. It's mostly sunny and mid-50s today after it's been cold, cold, cold. I love the early blooming trees, but they get me every year.

I hope you give Night Circus a chance......
otherwise, not completely caught up.. sorry.

#79 Don't worry Ellen. I'm committed to the Steinbeckathon but TWoOD is the first book I've seen less than universal delight in. I did see Katie's comments and will keep those in mind as I start it (which will probably be in about a week).

#81 Kath, I will give The Night Circus a try. Your enthusiasm for it is one of the reasons! :)

Kath, I'm in the last throes of The Night Circus and I'm really enjoying it. I echo your recommendation, even though it's outside my usual genres of choice.

There's been some talk about allegory and allusions over on the The Wayward Bus thread for our Steinbeckathon, and I just looked up Prospero on Wikipedia. Just had to remind myself of which Shakespeare character he is (I'm so terrible at names, in real life, in literature, and on LT!) since it's the nickname of Celia, one of the main characters in The Night Circus. Prospero and his daughter were banished to sea by his brother. They survive and Prospero learns sorcery while on the island on which they are effectively exiled. I'm not sure what else happens, other than Prospero renouncing his magic near the end of the play (The Tempest), which has interesting parallels in Celia's desire to renounce magic -- or at least the "game" in which her father has enrolled her -- so that she can be with her beloved.

On page 259, Celia asks Marco "How do you come up with such images?" That's exactly what I want to ask the clearly very talented and imaginative Erin Morgenstern.

Adding my sympathies - my spousal unit has terrible trouble w/dramatic weather changes (like right now!). Even I'm feeling a bit off - 4 one day and 58 by the end of the next. Then back into the 20's (all F not C degrees).

Ellen- Hope you are feeling better! It sounded like you had a rough start. Yes, I do plenty of walking, during the day but your body does get used to it and I'm not sure I get out of it as much I could. I hope to start bike riding in the next few weeks.

I wish you could have joined us for the Night Circus G.R. Those comments would have fit in perfectly.

Ellen I hope the new day will find you headache free and full of running!

Hey everyone. Feeling better.

I completed The Night Circus while sitting on the short wall in front of our library branch, waiting for P to get off her commute bus. It was a very satisfying read and I'll give it four stars. It's about magic and dreams and reality and time and love and faith and confidence. I'm very impressed with Erin Morgenstern and I'm pleased that this novel has made the short list for the Orange Prize. You go girl!

While at the library, I picked up two books on hold and P picked up a cute little book called I'm the Cat, Don't Forget That ---- or something like that.

Back to The Winter of Our Discontent now.

ETA: I upgraded to 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this novel.

How do I flag a post?

Nevermind. I figured it out. Stupid spammers and marketers. :-P

Flagged it too :) get outa here spammers, we like books not advertising!
Back to running....I wasn't running down running, I'd love to run (I used to) but its no good for my surgically enhanced hip joint. Too much impact.
It does make you feel free with the world whizzing by. And getting outside to do it is so rejuvenating.

Glad you liked Night Circus, its quite a crazy ride!

Whew. Busy day. Only reading time was on bus to and from work. Completely drawn back into The Winter of Our Discontent. It may not be one of his classics, but this is still an excellent work!

Tomorrow I'll be "on the road" (plane, really) so it will be a while before I can check in with folks. I'm looking forward to four days of 80+ temps!

Ellen have a lovely weekend and I hope you enjoy your trip. POSSIBLE SPOILER The Winter of Our Discontent is a book that you read cringing towards an ending you want to avoid and hope won't happen. Whether what you expect happens.....

I am so happy that you liked Night Circus!
It gave me so much pleasure :)
Safe and smooth travel to you...

Have a great trip Ellen and so glad to hear you're liking The Winter of Our Discontent!

Well, the flight to Phoenix was smooth and easy. We flew over the Grand Canyon. I'm glad I woke up from my nap in time to see it!

Megan and Kath, yes, I'm glad I read The Night Circus since I wasn't sure how I would like it. It was such a pleasure to read.

Paul, I think I'm at that point right now. I'm cheering for Ethan and sitting on tenterhooks with anticipation of how badly this might go for him......

I love the way Steinbeck describes June and July. More about that later (I'm sitting in a hotel lobby so I have access to free wi-fi and I don't have my copy with me) but those sections in Part 2 are classic John.

Hi Ellen!
Glad you had a smooth flight and a great view of the Grand Canyon. Have Phun in Phoenix! One place I have never been.
Is that it above?

Yep, Cee, that's a montage of pics of Phoenix. It's a pretty city, and smaller than I had expected. I'm hoping to go to the Heard Museum while I'm here. But I also want to spend some time by the pool. Oh, and I am here for a conference! :-D

I'm slowly working my way through folks' threads, then I plan to head up to my room, order a salad, and read the evening away.

Since I think I'll be starting this tonight, I'll go ahead and post the cover of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins here:

Have fun!!

>96 EBT1002: looks hot!

The copy of Woman in White that I read is super small hardcover and is verging on being antique. It is so cute. It's the real reason I bought it!

Phoenix - One place i have always wanted to visit - but By the Time I Get To Phoenix.....have a lovely trip Ellen and continue the great reading.

Oh let me know what you think of The Woman in White. I've got it on my shelf -but so far I have not read it.

Morning Ellen- Glad you made it to Phoenix with no problem. Hope you can mix some pleasure in with your work.

Enjoy Phoenix!

Hi Ellen, I hope you enjoy your time in Phoenix and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you do get some time to relax by the pool in the sunshine.

I'm glad you are feeling better! Like many here in our group, I'm prone to migraines. I note your mention of lack of sleep. At times, this will trigger a nasty headache.

I hope the dry air of Phoenix helps you.

Thanks for the well-wishes, Chelle, Paul, Deb, Mark, Lucy, Judy, and Linda. And Megan, it's less hot than it looks. Today was upper 70s and sunny.

I dutifully trekked over to the convention center this morning, only to learn that I had, in fact, not registered for a pre-conference workshop today. I could do so, if I was willing to pay the extra. I was not. SO, I ended up with most of the day unexpectedly free! I walked around a lot, read in my room, read at a lunch cafe, read by the pool......

Last night I completed The Winter of Our Discontent, which I think I'll be giving 4 stars. I really love Steinbeck's ability to evoke place and he did that in this novel, though perhaps less thoroughly than in past novels. Still, I think he is one of the best at establishing and unfolding the setting for a novel. As I've said before, this novel "felt" different than the first two we've read this year and it's presented in first person, which may be part of that difference. It's a satisfyingly complex exploration of ethical/moral dilemmas, subtle and obvious. It is both compassionate and jaded. And in the last chapter, Ethan faces perhaps the ultimate moral dilemma.

I was hoping to start The Woman in White last night, but sleep won out after most of the introduction. So, I happily started it this morning once I learned that I had a mostly-free day. That's the book I've been carrying around town with me today. Mine is perhaps not as small as your copy, Megan, but I think I'm just as glad. ;-) I remember a couple of other LTers saying it took them a couple of chapters to get sucked in. It didn't take me that long. I am loving it! (see, there I go, Mark, with my usual effusive love of what I read). But I mean, I'm loving this a lot. My edition has an introduction by Anne Perry and she notes that it's not "great literature" but that it's a well-plotted story with engaging characters. So far, I completely agree.

I did attend the opening session with a featured speaker this evening and now I'm ensconced in the hotel lobby bar with a gimlet and my laptop. Tomorrow will be a much busier conference day, so I'll get less reading done. :-( But hopefully I will learn some things.

Ellen - what a stroke of good luck that you weren't registered for the pre-conference workshop and that it freed up your day. I always found those things as dull as ditchwater to be quite honest. That said I hope it doesn't put you at any disadvantage for the rest of the conference.

Thanks, Paul. I don't think it will make a whit of difference, making it all the more special to have had the day to myself.

Thanks for the pictures of Phoenix, Ellen. I love that part of the country...this time of year. Not so much in the summer!

I'll be starting my March Steinbeck soon. I'm glad to hear you liked it even though it was different from the last two we've read. Different is fine with me as long as it's Steinbeck!

Morning Ellen- Good luck with the conferences! When do you go back home?

I really liked The Woman in White... hope you do too :)
Have fun today, hope you have some down time :)

Don't know if you're back yet. If not, you missed the snow today, which I'm sure you regret deeply.

Deborah, I am so glad to have missed the snow --- and not happy that I'm leaving sunny AZ today to return to cold and wet weather. But I'm really ready to be home. I miss my family and just the routine of real life. I've learned a lot and have some exciting energy to take back to work.

Donna, I'll try to check in on your thread in the next few days to see how you like The Winter of Our Discontent. It's definitely still Steinbeck!

Mark and Kath, thanks for stopping by. I've had a good conference, a bit of down time, and I'm ready to go home. I fly out later this afternoon.

One thing the conference has me thinking about is how I spend my time, and how I can get things done at work and at home/in real life. I love love love LT, but will probably start tempering my time on it a bit. I feel like I need to do a bit of prioritizing and I can easily kill an hour or two on this site. I do love it, but I'm just going to do some re-thinking.

Okay, I've done a bit of catching up, but it's time to finish packing and check out of my room. I'll be reading The Woman in White on the plane. It's a slow but enjoyable read for me. Slow just because it's 600+ pages. And I'm easily distracted..... But I'm about 1/3 through it and will certainly complete it, even if it takes a while.

I forgot to say ---- I went for a run this morning - my only one through the whole conference. It felt magnificent even though the air is dry, dry, dry. Did about 3 miles and am reminded of why I do this. Running brings clarity to my thinking.

Ellen found #115 a trifle disturbing. Ration a little by all means but not too much please....would miss you terribly around here if you appeared but rarely.

Safe trip home and hopefully the 3 mile run cleared your mind and told you that an hour or so on the site daily is just what the Doctor ordered.

Nothing better than a free day at a conference. My much better half loves to come with me and get me to play hooky. Safe travels back. The Woman in White is a keeper.

Ellen - Running generally brings me to a wheezing stop, but I have to admit that I do enjoy how I feel after a run... even if others may not enjoy how I smell after one. I've been so bad about not running lately that I'm looking forward to the weekend when my hosting duties with my overseas colleagues will be over and I am planning on a nice long, if perhaps slow, run through the woods on Saturday and another one on Sunday.

Enjoy The Woman in White and safe travels home.

>108 EBT1002: My edition has an introduction by Anne Perry
As in the crime writer Anne Perry? As in the one who was convicted as a teen along with her friend of the murder of the friends mother, here in Christchurch in the 1950's?

>115 EBT1002: can totally relate to the feelings of LT taking up a huge chunk of your time. It does take over a little if you want it to doesnt it! Maybe have a few LT free days per week.....but dont abandon us altogether.

Safe travels home.
I hope we don't lose you completely :(
LT is a time suck, I know.. but we would definitely miss you if you give us up for RL

Megan--I had heard of Anne Perry the mystery author, and had seen the movie Heavenly Creatures about two friends murdering the mother of one, but I never realized that Anne Perry was one of those murderers. For some weird reason, I find that absolutely fascinating.

Hi Ellen, wanted to make sure I was all caught up with you. Done. Glad that your trip went well and has brought you new insights, but like the others, I hope you don't give up on us altogether. I love being in contact with you, even if it's just through reading your comments on other people's threads.

Hope your flight home was uneventful.

Not surprised you're loving The Woman in White. I did too, and I can see myself reading it again in future.

Paul, Joe, Caro, Megan, Kath, Deborah, and Ilana, See, this is why I love LT so much. You are an awesome group of people (and there are even more just like you lurking around various threads!). Have no fear, I will not give up LT altogether. I will simply try to temper my compulsive pressure to read every thread every day. That, I cannot continue in sanity. :-)

My plane ride home was very easy and I read the whole time. Well, okay, I dozed for about ten minutes, but other than that, I read the whole time. And I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with thoughts just churning. The conference was energizing and I learned, but I also connected with colleagues at my old job, the one I left 4+ years ago, and that stirred up my intense feelings of regret at having left that job, that town, those people...... So, I sat up and read for about an hour before I could fall back to sleep. Thank goodness The Woman in White is so engaging.

Others have been talking about and raving about Troubles and I got an email this morning that it's waiting for me at the library. It wasn't on my March reading list, but when's the last time my "to read" list at the start of a month was my "completed" list at the end of that month??!! Ha.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention: it's pouring here today and is supposed to be cold and rainy for at least the next week. Blech. Can I go back to sunny Arizona now? Just for another week or two?

That is more the spirit Ellen! You are right though that the group is a touch compulsive and it can take over your time a little excessively once it draws you in.

Morning Ellen- Glad you made it home okay. I'm also glad the conference went well.
I've seen LT burn-out many times in my nearly 4 years here. Some get so overwhelmed we never hear from them again, which is to bad. We all have to set limits, it will keep your sanity.
I've enjoyed following you around in your reading life and I hope that continues for a long time.

Hi Ellen, glad you got home safely, but this weather certainly isn't very welcoming is it.

I really don't know how people with jobs and families to care for manage to spend much time here on LT. I am retired with just DH and me to look after so I have a lot of time to fill with reading and being on-line, but even with that I can't visit with everyone, every day. I hope you get your time in balance and still manage to keep some time for LT.

I'm with Judy... nothing but my pets to look after, and even when I have spent full days here on LT, wasn't able to catch up with everyone. It's just not feasible, so as the others say, you just have to try to keep some balance that works for you. For instance, I've starred quite a lot of threads because there are so many people here I find fascinating and want to keep having conversations with, but in reality I only end up visiting a small selection with anything even resembling regularity. LT can be too much of a good thing, but I certainly want to avoid "LT burnout" as Mark calls it and hope you do too. Hugs from me and the gang (I'm including Ezra in there too, whether he likes it or not!)

Ellen, I am with you there.. I love my LT friends, but trying to keep up with all of their threads
daily is really hard. I think we all see that and understand. We are good enough friends now, that
I don't think anyone will be hurt if we skip a day or three ?

I agree.. special people here..

Paul, Mark, Judy, Ilana, Kath -- so nice that you understand! I'll still be around. You can't get rid of me that easily! lol

I don't have much to say. The Woman in White is such a long one that, even though I'm whizzing through it and can hardly put it down, it's taking me a while to complete it. So, the same old comment applies: I'm really enjoying it! :-)

Off to work now. Looking forward to the weekend.

It's snowing.
On St. Patrick's Day.
In Seattle.
Crazy.

I ran about 3 miles in the snow this morning, ending at the local community center where P was taking a Zumba class. After a shopping trip at the co-op and a hot shower, it was off to our favorite Pho place and then to the library. I picked up Troubles, which is definitely one of the hot reads among our 75-ers right now.

Ellen - have a lovely St. Pats (mine is over). Am in the doghouse a little as I have to meet my Scottish client for a short while and Sundays are normally out work wise.
You are a phenom running 3 miles in the snow - I think Kath's post puts the position nicely - it is difficult keeping up with everyone but I do think all understand that your own pace of involvement is fine.

Completed The Woman in White. Whew. Long haul, but a good read. I have no idea what I'm going to read next.

>128 msf59: I've seen LT burn-out many times in my nearly 4 years here
Wow, I hope I dont succumb. No doubt we all need a technology break every now and then.

>123 arubabookwoman: I find it fascinating too. Interesting tidbit: a man I was seeing for a little while used to live in the house where Anne Perry lived (now the University of Canterbury Staff Club). So I spent some time there, it is so beautiful, and the big sitting room a great place for parties!

Bravo Ellen for reading The Woman in White. I've got it in my TBR pile and it's a chunckster! And running in the snow!! Good for you!

Morning Ellen- I can't believe you are dealing with snow in March. Very strange weather. Ours is incredibly odd too but in a good way. It's been 80 for a couple days now and it is supposed to continue. Wow.

Running in the snow... for one thing Snow??!!
Then running in it?! wow and good on you :)

We are having warm weather .. creepy warm.. it will
be near 80 in a couple of days. So far I am fine with it though :)
Stay tuned, I am sure I will complain soon.. lol

as for The Woman in White, it is a chunkster, but it is a really good read!
I have The Moonstone on my shelf.. waiting patiently.

So strange that you are having snow while we are having what passes for 'intense heat' at this time of year! -- it'll be around 70 today.

Hi Ellen,
I understand completely the LT dilemma. I want it all. I want to read all of everyone's threads all the time.
And I want to keep up by commenting on it all... but... some things are humanly impossible. I am beginning to cut back some as I do have RL to contend with.

Will have to get to The Woman in White someday - but it won't be right away. I have so many books I want to read - right now! :}

>134 EBT1002: Ellen, there is a 75ers group read discussion of Troubles starting today through the end of March. It seems to be a small group and it would be great if you could join in.

I second Linda's recommendation of Troubles.

Snow? Seriously? It's already 73 degrees in Atlanta at noon.

I started Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman last night and I can tell I'm going to like it.
Something weird going on with the internet right now so I can't get an image of it to post. I will do that later.

Now reading:

Megan, I love that interesting tidbit. It sounds like a good place for someone to have written.

Deb, crazy weather, isn't it??? I'm really glad I completed The Woman in White and I enjoyed it -- except I found the Count's account near the very end to be a bit tiresome (maybe I was just ready to be done!!).

Mark and Kath, I guess March is always a weird month, weather-wise, no matter where one lives. I remember when I lived in the U.S. Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin), March was very much a wild card and often very gray and brown. At least in Seattle we have green to go with the gray!

Cee, I think I'm finding a way to manage my, um, addiction to LT and balance it with my desire to do other things (like read, for instance). Using the "read/unread" organizer in my list of starred topics helps!. And I do recommend The Woman in White but there is no rush. It has been around for over a century already!

Linda, I think I'll join the GR, although it won't be until after I finish a couple more (hopefully quick) reads that are due back at the library sooner! Thanks for letting me know it's going on. I knew a lot of folks were reading it but didn't know if something more "formal" had been initiated.

Darryl, thanks for stopping by and thanks for the rec. 73 in Atlanta at noon. I have to admit, I can complain about the snow here, but in August, I'll be awfully glad not to be in the American south. You may recall that I grew up in Florida and I have a sister in Asheville, and the summers in those areas can be brutal. Enjoy the 70s while you have them!

I'm off to watch the UW Huskies (women) play in the second round of the NIT. I know, it's not The Big Dance, but it will still be fun if they can play well and get to the final rounds of the baby tournament.

Hi Ellen, I could resist commenting on The Woman In White which I read last year. I thought it was amazing how well this book stands up in today's modern world. I loved the character of Count Fosco, and I think he's been the inspiration for many villians both in movies and books. Every time I see a bad guy stroking a cat (eg: Austin Powers) while plotting a foul deed, I think of Count Fosco.

Hi Ellen, I too am shocked you had snow while it's been unseasonably warm in these parts, with weather around the 70s here today and more to come this week. But then... who knows? we could just as well get hit with a snowstorm in the midst of it all.

#148 Judy, I love your comment about villains stroking cats making you think of Count Fosco. What a great character!

Speaking of which Ellen, I saw your rating for The Woman in White and was quite surprised it wasn't higher considering you seemed to enjoy it quite a lot. But that's always a personal thing of course.

Judy > Every time I see a bad guy stroking a cat (eg: Austin Powers) while plotting a foul deed, I think of Count Fosco. LOL!!! Yes!!!

Hi Ilana. I'm still deciding about my rating. I was sure I was going to give The Woman in White at least 4 stars and I can't tell you why it fell at the last minute. It was really a wonderful novel and I agree with Judy that it has held up remarkably well. I thought of it as "Jane Austen meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" --- or something like that. The rating might go up after I give it a couple of days. They sometimes do for me. :-)

A chilly (28F) but dry 2.5-mile run this morning.

And I'm already almost done with Iron and Silk, which is a very enjoyable memoir of Mark Salzman's two years in China in the early 1980s. It's a very straightforward, humorous, compassionate, and insightful set of essays that comprise a whole.

Ah, this is great, Ellen. I'm another fan of The Woman in White (I like Judy's comments about how it stands up surprisingly well in modern times, and the immortality of the Count Fosco character), and I recently read and liked Iron and Silk a lot. I gave the latter to my martial artist son, and I'm hoping he enjoys it as much as I did. I originally heard about it from Caro and Mark.

Hi Joe. Yes, Caro and Mark have had a big influence on my reading of late. I have The Soloist sitting on my bedside table, on loan from the library, and I'm trying to decide whether I want to read another Mark Salzman immediately or save it for later.

I completed Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman last night. As I said above, it's an enjoyable memoir of his two years in China in 1982-84. It consists of a series of stories, each of which could really stand alone, but which also build to give insight into the character of China at that time in history and Salzman's experience of the people and the culture. At times humorous and often poignant, the (presumably true) stories explore the impact of the limitations imposed on the Chinese people by their government. Salzman is a compassionate and critical observer. My only complaint is the subtly self-congratulatory tone that weaves throughout Salzman's narrative; he goes a bit far in making sure his audience knows that he is not a typical representative of Western culture. 3.5 stars

And, with that, and as I consider my conversation with Ilana, above, I'm going to enhance my rating of The Woman in White. I think my rating was pulled down by a spate of boredom in the last 60 pages or so, but as I think about it, it's certainly a 4 star read.

Going to start The Woman in White next month and note your comment about it being brilliantly engaging for the most part but tiresome towards its extremely long progression to an end. Normally it is such a relief to finish such a doorstopper that only in retrospect can you go back and give it the credit you subsequently feel it deserves! Well done for reapprasing it!

Good for you, Ellen, for your reassessment of The Woman in White - I echo Paul.

My reaction to Iron and Silk was pretty much the same as yours, although the sometimes self-congratulatory tone didn't irritate me as much. His ability to speak Mandarin and Cantonese impressed me, as did his friendliness and openness to unpredictable adventures. Going the other way, I was impressed with the many kindnesses he received from the locals.

Paul, it was only about one tenth of the total of The Woman in White that I found to be kind of a drag, so please don't take me too seriously. It's a very worthwhile read and my boredom was mild.

Joe, yes, I agree that his descriptions of the kindnesses of the local people were very touching and, in some cases, humorous. I was only slightly irritated with his tone and it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the book much at all.

I get to stay home for a few hours this morning. It's spring break and my first meeting is at 11:00 so I marked myself "out of office" until then. I'll probably head in a bit earlier than that because my anxiety about work will overcome my ability to relax at home, but it's nice to have some time to catch up on LT a bit.

I'm having a hard time deciding what to read next. I have a little stack of library books plus a stack of TBRs that I did put in TIOLI challenges..... I'm deciding between (among?):

The Soloist (library)
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader (library)
Troubles (library)
I Am a Cat (TBR pile)
The Summer Book (TBR pile)
One Good Turn (TBR pile)
A Visit from the Goon Squad (TBR pile)

Decisions, decisions.......

Hmmm I would always consider the library books first..
just in case. I am a big just in case person.. which is why
I have a lot of coffee and tp in my house..

Yes, I would concur absolutely with 4 stars!

which is why I have a lot of coffee and tp in my house.. LOL!!! Me too!!

I think I've decided to go with Troubles by J.G. Farrell since it's from the library and, when I checked in on Darryl's thread a little while ago, he was exuberant in his recommendation of it. And I think there is a Group Read going on somewhere around here if I can find it......

Ellen - mild boredom in such a tome from time to time is only to be expected! Glad you choose Troubles - just finishing it off and very much enjoying it.

Ellen- That's an excellent list of books to choose from. I've had Troubles on my WL forever. I highly recommend both Goon Squad & One Good Turn. Loved both. the Soloist is also on my WL.
I'm glad you enjoyed Iron & Silk. He has a nice smooth narrative style.

Hi Ellen,
What a great problem to have to choose the next thing you read from so many good books.
There used to be a time, believe it or not, I didn't know what to read. It was so frustrating. I even wrote a long letter to DH's uncle who was a professor (taught English) asking for recs.

Now, I have so many to pick from! I LOVE it! I know I will never run out of good reads thanks to LT ;-)

No gray March for us here in Missouri. We are Emerald Green thanks to all the rain and unseasonably warm temps. No spring snow for us.

Ellen, isn't it great when one has so many good books to choose from? I'm a fan of Woman in White and got a chuckle from your spot-on description of Austen meets Doyle. I'll get to Troubles sometime this year.

So...you're a runner. Good for you. I tried it for a while years ago and decided I'd rather walk! Part of my slow-paced lifestyle. My DH is thrilled that he can run again after spinal fusion surgery last August. He's been running for over 30 years now, except for the unwelcome break due to back troubles.

I know I will never run out of good reads thanks to LT ;-) Cee, this is so true and it's one of my favorite things! My list now goes on forever and when a friend or colleague asks if I could recommend something to read (this does happen occasionally), I'm thrilled to oblige!

Paul and Mark -- I am now about 40 pages into Troubles and I am hooked, hooked, hooked. I'll get to A Visit from the Goon Squad and One Good Turn, but since I own both of them, I can wait until next month if I need to.

Donna - Finally the weather is improving. Still cold, but there have been patches of blue sky and the wind has settled down. I hate strong winds. I'm glad you liked my description of The Woman in White. It's a book that I think P would like, and we don't usually care for the same reading material. And -- it's early yet, but I think you'll like Troubles when you get to it.

Running (along with reading) keeps me sane. I know I'll eventually need to transition to walking, Donna, but in any case, moving is what matters - walking, running, swimming, gardening......

I went for a nice 2.75-mile run this morning, ending with a good push up a couple of blocks of steep uphill (I do live in Seattle, after all). Now I'm at work and I guess I'd better, um, do some work......

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Ellen - happy Wednesday to you also (although it is Thursday morning 3.30 am here already - I know I can't sleep)
Told you over on my thread that I would find the group thread for Troubles so....... http://www.librarything.com/topic/132681#3286872

....and Thursday morning 11.20am here...enjoying my mid morning cuppa and sweet thing :)

Hi Paul -and thank you!
Hi Megan - um, what sweet thing might that be?

Busy day at work today. I hope I can concentrate on my book on the bus on the way home.

It's a lovely cold morning here in Seattle. Tonight we have reservations at one of my favorite wine bar/restaurants in the city, and then tickets to see/hear the symphony. I hope I can stay awake. :-|

I wish it were lovely and cold here.. I am frustrated by 80 degree weather at 9 pm here :(
Way too warm, way too soon.. it is going to have consequences if cold weather comes back.
Well.. Hope that today is less busy for you and that your weekend is a good one :)

Had a wonderful evening --- dinner at Purple, then the symphony: Schubert, Janacek, and then Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major. It was one of the best times I have ever had at the symphony. P was less thrilled than I was, but I'm learning to worry less about that.

I sat up later than usual reading Troubles (what a delightful novel!!) since I didn't have to get up at the usual time this morning. I can't sleep in the way I used to (remember those days of sleeping until noon or later?), but it's nice to have a morning to hang around at home, check in on LT, do some reading, go for a run. It's another cold morning but it's not raining. I have a dentist appointment at noon and then I'm going to work for the afternoon. Spring break is almost over and we'll be off and running for spring quarter!

Kath, Yes, those too-warm springs bode ill for the summer..... 80 degrees at 9pm sounds brutal this early in the year!

Hi Ellen- I have to find me a copy of Troubles, this one has been on my WL forever. And everyone seems to love it.
Funny, I sleep in to 7am, it's a Big Deal. I'm off today and was still up before 6, although I still go to bed early, the old fart I am.

Mark - yep, we old farts just don't need as much sleep as we used to! Seek out Troubles. I am confident you will like it.

I'm having fun tracking the "March Madness" Tournament of Books on Powell's website. Today it has influenced me to add Open City by Teju Cole to my ginormous TBR list..... but first I think I have to read something by W.G. Sebold. Thoughts, anyone?

Oh, and in April, I'll be in Portland and will get to go to Powell's "City of Books"!!!! For those of you who have never been there, it may be hard to imagine what a treat this is, but it is one of my favorite places on earth! I will easily kill an afternoon there and my debit card will get a good workout, I know. Maybe I should start making a list of things I want to purchase there.... (and it's in Oregon: no sales tax!).

The sun is pouring in our east windows and Abby is happy about it!

I made her pic into my new profile pic, but am having a hard time figuring out how to post it in my actual thread. I've done it before with pics I've downloaded onto my Mac......

Success!

Nice photo, Ellen!

Troubles does sound good.

We ate at Purple last summer when we visited Seattle. Without knowing, we timed it so we were looking out at a parade grandmarshalled by Drew Carey - something to do with boats? We had a good meal and a great time.

Sounds like an excellent night at the symphony for you, too.

Catching up at last... Lovely photo of Abby in the sunlight, and I'm glad you had such a good night at the concert. I've yet to read Troubles - I think I looked for a copy in our library when the group read was mooted, but could not find it.

Love the photo of Abby, and sounds like you had a lovely evening, made even lovelier by a morning just puttering around the house!

Library. Thing. Is. Dangerous.

I had a dentist appointment at noon today. Arrived in the neighborhood a touch early, wandered around, found ------ a bookshop!! Saw a copy of Infinite Jest. Purchased said copy based on all the chatter on LT about said book. It's HUGE!

I love you all.

Abby is beautiful - great shot!

Joe, what a serendipitous event you had while in Seattle! I love that story!

Genny, if you find a copy of Troubles, I think you'll be glad you did. The copy I got from spl is pretty beat up; it seems to have been well-read.

Roni, yes, my morning was indeed lovely! I had a hard time settling down to read, but it was nice to just putter around. Oh, and I got a load of laundry (towels!) done which means one fewer to do over the weekend. :-D

Thanks, Dejah! We're kind of smitten with her. :-)

Ellen- What a great photo of Abby! Excellent job. I had a chance to visit Powells, nearly 2 years ago, while visiting my daughter. What an amazing store!

Thanks, Mark. I'm going to a conference in the Willamette Valley, then spending the weekend in Portland. I've given myself permission to come home with a case of Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley) and a bag of books (Powell's).

Who is reading Infinite Jest? Don't be shy. Raise your hand.

Not raising my hand. But I do want to say that's a great shot of Abby. Sounds like you went to a great concert last night. I always worry whether the other person will enjoy whatever activity is at hand too, and feel badly when they don't. But getting better about it.

I really really enjoyed Troubles. I've never been very curious about the Irish question before (couldn't say why—a longstanding dislike for politics, most probably), but it's presented in a way here that did make me want to find out more. What a great storyteller Farrell was! Too bad he had to go so soon.

Lt is indeed dangerous... I agree..
but it is also good..very good. Many friends live in
this LT neighborhood :)

>188 EBT1002:: Me! And Lucy (Sibyx)! I'm approximately 300 pages behind her, though. Funny that you were in a bookstore purchasing Infinite Jest at about the same time I decided to pick it up and spend the afternoon with it. It's a toughie to get into, Ellen, but I must say that the writing is brilliant. In a 1000 page book you can expect lots of different strands of plots going hither and yon. It's when you get a clue how they might fit together that it's easy to get wrapped up in the story. I'm going to read some more of it tonight.

Hi Ellen, I'm am too far behind to attempt to catch up. I love the pic of Abbey in the sun. My Smokey used to follow the sun around the house. Started in the kitchen in the morning and would wind up on the bed in the guest room by late afternoon.

Glad to hear you liked The Woman in White. I have it here somewhere, unread...

Hi Ellen, I'm not surprised that you are enjoying Troubles, it's the only one of the Empire Trilogy that I haven't read. The other two, The Singapore Grip and The Siege of Krishnapur were both excellent.

Yay for visiting Portland and the book shop that you love there. What's with no sales tax there? How did they jack that up?

(ps my sweet thing was an easter egg that I was supposed to be saving for my niece, turns out Im not such a cool auntie anymore. tut tut)

Ellen - have a lovely weekend in Portland and I wish I could join you in reducing the burden of your pinot noir.
Abby ain't a tabby,
But we're smitten wid yer kitten.

You go! Another Infinite Jester!!!! There is a whole group dedicated to Jest -- well worth joining!

Ilana, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you also enjoyed Troubles and I agree -- so sad that Farrell died so young! His talent was under-appreciated, I think.

Kath, LT is one of my favorite dangerous things in the world. :-)

Joanne, I love your description of Smokey making his way through the house, following the sunbeams. Abby will do that a bit, too. We have no south-facing windows (except the bathroom) but she can get sun in the kitchen and study in the morning, and in the bedroom or living room in the afternoon. I encourage you to dig Troubles out of the pile. I'm only just shy of 1/2-way through it, but it's a keeper!

Judy, I've heard that Troubles is the best of the trilogy, so I guess you're in for a treat since you so enjoyed the first two!

Paul, Portland isn't until mid-April, but I'm already salivating for the wine and the books! Love the poem!!! xo

Lucy, I'm going to join the party/thread for Infinite Jest even though I don't know when I'll get around to actually reading it. Thank goodness I wasn't hallucinating when I thought there were folks on LT reading it and talking about it!

Off to run more Saturday afternoon errands.

Dinner: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, celery (only a little, Paul), onions, etc.
And a very nice 2006 Bordeaux from Saint Emilion.

Life is good.

Mmmmm. I love St Emilion Bordeaux!

Life is certainly good Ellen - I'm English so my favourite wines are invariably not French! (only kidding if you recall my praise for Friday's Sancerre) - A lovely bottle of chianti would go down well with my books, my music, my computer and my in-laws! (well not the latter of course who would heartily disapprove but c'est la vie)

Jim and Paul, I would happily share my Bordeaux with you.... uh oh, too late.
BUT, perhaps the next bottle of Chianti! Or -- Brunello anyone? :-)

We are (finally!) have a lovely weekend in Seattle. I took a nice 3-mile run around the neighborhood this morning. Nice. March Madness is consuming too much of my time. Today we're off to watch the Huskies (women) playing in the NIT. It's just the NIT, but they've been winning and that's lots of fun. The tonight, it's Mama Mia! on stage. :-)

Reading? Who has time to read???

Ellen- Glad to hear you are having such a nice weekend, weatherwise & otherwise and have a great day planned for today. Enjoy, my friend. The books will be ready when you are!

I left my copy of Troubles in the car after coming home from a devastating basketball loss. Decided, rather than walking to the car to get it, to start another book and read them side-by-side. So, I'm now starting Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader.

We went to see "Mama Mia!" on stage last night and it was a hoot. Very, very fun. Just plain entertainment. The woman who played Donna could really sing ----

On the way downtown, our bus was temporarily stopped by a large march (the newspaper estimated about 1000 people) down Jackson and MLK Blvds --- marching in memory of Trayvon Martin, and demanding justice for this murdered young man. It was very moving to see the community come together like that. Had we known it was planned (this is what comes of not watching television news), we might have joined in. But I was glad to stand on the side and cheer the marchers on. It was an odd juxtaposition to going out for a bite to eat and then to see musical theater.

I loved Mama Mia! on both stage and screen - it is great to see a show where you know all the songs and it is really difficult not sing-a-long with most of it. Would I run three miles to get there though? Not so sure about that.

Good grief! I got so behind so fast ...just a quick hello to you, i will have plenty of catching up to do this weekend, and i hope to do it :)

HI Ellen! Your cornedbeef dinner sounds good. Nate likes that but I have no idea how to cook it

Glad you enjoyed Mama Mia! I saw that a few years ago and loved it

Good morning, Kath. I completely understand about the challenges of "keeping up." I've about given up on that and I just check in where I can when I can. Otherwise, I have no time for actual reading of books!

Chelle, we lucked into a "gray corned beef" at our usual co-op store. It sounds a bit odd, but the "gray" simply means that it doesn't have those chemicals added to it to make it pink! Sulfites? Something like that. But the cool thing is that the spices are in the package with the meat -- not in a separate package -- so the meat is nicely marinated. In any case, P throws it in an oven-proof Dutch oven with a 12-oz. bottle of dark ale, and adds a lot of veggies (carrots, onions, cabbage, celery) for the last hour or so. I'm not sure how long she cooks it, but the package tells her. We had leftovers last night and it was all yummy all over again!

>201 EBT1002: I would happily share my Bordeaux with you.... uh oh, too late.
*snort*

Ellen - corned beef is unfairly maligned in my view - SWMBO makes me a lovely dinner cooking it with chillies and onions and garlic in a spicy sauce. Great to have a tin or two around the house - though I never did quite get the hang of the key opener thingy.

Hi Megan and Paul!

On the reading front: I feel like I can't get enough time to read these days. I'm just a few pages from completing Troubles but I couldn't keep my eyes open last night. I have messages from the library, several books now waiting for me to pick up..... yikes!

This Saturday, I have a 3+ hour flight. Pure reading time. I can't wait.

I know what you mean, Ellen. We have some trips coming up with "pure reading time", and I'm looking forward to that, too.

I ordered a set of 100 postcards -- Penguin Book Covers -- from Amazon. They arrived last night and I was a bit disappointed with the whole collection, but I thought you'd like to see them.



I was hoping for more classics like The Great Gatsby. Still, I will enjoy sending these to friends and relations!

Ellen- I keep hearing about "Pure reading time". Doesn't that have such a beautiful sound to it?
I like the postcards but they do look old school. When do I get mine? Grinning foolishly.

They are very old school. The box includes a little story about the "invention" of the quality paperback. The old-schoolness was probably also a bit of my disappointment, as some of them are *very* old school!

And I agree, Mark, the idea of "pure reading time" sounds downright luscious. There had better not be anyone sitting near me insisting on engaging in insipid conversation......

You PM the address, the card will be in the mail! Well, a card will be in the mail. No promises as to specifics..... heh (I think there is a replica of an early edition of Lady Chatterly's Lover, but I don't know if I'm willing to part with that one!)

Ellen, back to the discussion about the Empire Trilogy, I only picked up Troubles after seeing Darryl's comments on it, because I'd actually had The Siege of Krishnapur on my radar long before I even knew it was part of a trilogy.

Looking at the Penguin cards you show us here, I must say I actually LOVE the old school aspect of the cards. Makes me want to get them too actually!

By the way, forgot to mention that I spent the past hour or two reworking my review of Ex Libris to post on my blog (I always do that, can't seem to leave well enough alone, it's just not in my nature when it comes to publishing I guess). I've actually added a few things you may find interesting when you're done reading it, though there aren't too many spoilers I don't think. Is there even such a thing as "spoilers" when it comes to non-fiction??

http://fromsmilerwithlove.com/2012/03/28/a-not-so-common-reader/

Ilana, thanks for the link to your review. I read another essay last night after completing Troubles, and I'm thinking I may want to purchase it and re-read the essays on occasion. I like her writing a lot. I will have a chance to read your review later today -- and I agree that this is the kind of work for which spoilers are not an issue.

You know, last night I also looked through the postcards again and I liked them much better this time around. I think it was less the old school style that initially put me off than it was the large number of, well, odd titles. Things like An Introduction to Modern Architecture by J.M. Richards and Aircraft Recognition by R.A. Saville-Sneath. It's just that I was expecting more classic novels, I think...... But I'm liking the esoteric nature of some of the titles the more I look through the collection. I do think you would like them.

I went for a chilly and extremely wet 3-mile run this morning. It was hard to get out the door, but then I remembered that I actually love running in the rain. It felt great.

I also completed Troubles last night and will write some comments this evening. I gave it 4 stars but this morning I'm thinking it should get more like 4.5 stars.

Way behind, but I thought I 'd stop by and say hi! Well, I have not read The Woman in White but I just finished The Woman in Black. I confess I did not find it very spooky - maybe when I get a chance I'll grab The Woman in White off my shelf. The Woman in Black is only 188 pages - easy read! ;)

Hi Ellen!
Wow did I get behind here!
That picture of Abby is really quite stunning! Love the contrast of shadows and light (with a slash of reddish wood is it?) - very artistic. But Abby is just beautiful! My Woolly would be stretched out in a supine position, totally relaxed - sleeping.

You are reading/have just read so many books I'm hankering for... But I don't think I can handle another trilogy right now.
Very tempting though.

Corned beef - YUM! I think I've said that once or twice before :}

I love those Penguin postcards! I first encountered them in one of my favourite places, Gladstone's library, where they have them displayed in frames on the walls of the dining room. I'm particularly fond of the early designs, and have several times looked at these in shops and on websites and almost bought them - I think the thing that has put me off is that, like you, I am less interested in the non-fiction titles that seem to be included in the mix.

Intrigued by your mention of 'grey' corned beef in a package with spices. The corned beef I know is definitely of the pink variety, and comes in a tin, as Paul described, with a key that one uses to open it up (leaving dangerous sharp edges on which my mother once managed to cut herself very badly). Like this:

Paul and Genny,
Yes, I grew up with the corned beef in a tin, too. This is different. This is a hunk of beef that has been, well, corned but not cooked. We do the cooking. It's a completely different thing (although the truth is that I like the tinned kind, too). It looks more like this:

In addition to working my way through Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, I've now picked up The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. I should be able to complete it in March.

Skimming through so I don't lose track too badly..
sort of off topic.. I am making a pot roast today..
I am not a huge fan of red meat, but I am hungry today..

I remember that one time my mother in law brought us a chicken in a can. Yep,
a whole chicken in a big can. I was terrified of it!

eta

I was 19 at the time, and had never seen such a thing. Today I would have simply made soup ! lol

I enjoyed The Summer Book; I hope that you do too, Ellen.

I was hoping to read The Summer Book this month too - it's quite short, isn't it, so perhaps I can still squeeze it in..

ps, the non-tinned kind of corned beef looks a lot nicer than the tinned kind, and more like actual meat!

Hi Ellen, just catching up. I'm also a fan of The Summer Book. Hope you like it. And I just mentioned on Ilana's thread that I bought those Penquin postcards last year with the intent of using them as bookmarks. For some reason, I always end up using the nearest scrap of paper as a bookmark and the postcards just end up sitting on my shelf but I still like knowing that I have them.

>224 EBT1002: thats what I call Corned Beef too Ellen, Ive never heard of it in a can ??#!$? (its not AKA spam is it?) We buy it from the butcher and then slow cook it with bay leaves and peppercorns, have to eat with cabbage and mashed potatoes, its almost a law.

Your corned beef looks delicious Ellen - must make my next holiday somewhere close by the Pacific Northwest if that is what you have a habit of eating.

#224 I have to admit that I'm someone else who didn't realise that corned beef came in anything other than a tin. My favourite recipe is red corned beef hash made with potatoes and beetroot and served with a fried egg on top.

#230 Tinned corned beef is very different to spam!

I must be alone in being a non fan of corned beef :P
I like cabbage and potatoes though!

>214 EBT1002:: I love the book post cards. What a cool collection. Those that don't get sent out would make durable bookmarks. Guess I'm *old school* because I like the post cards AND corned beef in a tin, although it's been years since I've had that particular "treat." Do they even sell it in the grocery stores anymore?

>229 phebj:: Ah, Pat is probably the one who planted the "bookmark" idea in my head. I remember that from last year. One of these years, I'll actually order the set and have my own post cards on the shelf...or in the drawer.

Kath, I keep thinking I shouldn't be a fan of red meat, but when I'm completely honest..... I did forego the burger at the bar of the hotel where I'm staying tonight, and got a Caesar salad with chicken instead. it was good, but I think I would have enjoyed the burger a bit more.....

Darryl and Genny, I very much enjoyed The Summer Book. I think it's one I will re-read because I'm sure I missed some nuances. I think it was a very interesting exploration of the impact of maternal loss on a young child. It's more than that, but that is the thread I focused on. I lost my own mother when I was just 22 and, while that is not the same as losing her in childhood, I think it means that maternal loss generally resonates for me.

Pat, I collect bookmarks and one of my favorite things about starting a new book is choosing which bookmark I want to use. I almost never use scraps of paper! lol Using postcards as a bookmark is a bit new for me, but some of my current favorites are postcards I picked up in Kauai in February. I'll send some of these (Mark?? Has your mail arrived??), but I'll probably hold onto some to use as bookmarks.

Megan and Paul, the corned beef we ate last week was very different from the tinned kind (although I sheepishly confess to liking that, as well -- it reminds me of my beloved father). It's wonderful. If you happen to be in Seattle (meet-up, anyone?), I would love to break bread (and corned beef) with you!

Rhian, thanks for stopping by and chiming in on the corned beef discussion! Your recipe sounds luscious, and yes, tinned corned beef is not at all the same thing as spam! lol

Kath, you get to be the lone non-lover of corned beef. We can always dish up a plate full of the cabbage and potatoes and you can skip the meat. :-)

Donna, the postcard (aka bookmarks) collection has grown on me quite nicely. They are very heavy card stock, too, making them into wonderful multi-purpose curiosity.

I'm sitting propped up in bed in a hotel in Michigan, getting ready for tomorrow's work-related meeting. I'm watching "Must Love Cats" on the Animal Planet channel while I catch up on LT. I never watch this kind of thing at home, but it's kind of a guilty pleasure when staying in a hotel.
P and I have started sending out energy to the universe that we may be ready to adopt a new kitty...... it's almost a year since we lost Edgar, and maybe it's time.....

I completed The Summer Book by Tove Jansson last night and brought David Copperfield with me for the trip. I got less read on the plane than I might have liked. I'm just so distractible and there is so much activity on a plane. But I did get started and so far, I'm enjoying it. One can tell that Dickens was paid by the word. I have moments of thinking "okay, there are three extra words in that sentence." Ha.

In my mind's eye, Aunt Betsey Trotwood IS Maggie Smith (thanks to the PBS edition which is outstanding). That works for me.

I very much liked The Summer Book but I'm not sure I got as much out of it as if I had focused more closely. The theme of maternal loss was very evident and very effectively explored. I will be reading it again. I lost my own mother when I was 22 years old and she was clinically depressed for a long time before that, so the theme of maternal loss resonates for me. And I love Tove Jansson's evocation of place and character.

What a great picture of a beautiful cat! I love the shadows. I'm glad to hear you're thinking of adopting a new kitty. I so miss having a cat in the house. After our vacation in June is when we'll start looking. I've never had to "shop" for a cat though. I've been adopted twice and adopted a neighbor cat's kitten once.

I'm glad you enjoyed The Summer Book. I thought it was charming. We bring so much of our own live experiences into the books we read.

Hi Ellen, I'm so excited to hear that you guys (gals) are seriously considering adopting another feline. I remember when I adopted Mimi some three years ago, how excited I was to bring her home when I'd finally decided she was beyond a doubt the one for me. I haven't had one moment of regret because she's always been true to who she showed herself to be during those first moments we spent together in that little "interview" room at the SPCA: adorably sweet and affectionate. As for Ezra... well he's an entirely different story. I think I am constantly punished by the universe for getting him from a... yes, a pet store. There's a whole story behind that, but whatever. The shameful truth (other than his provenance) is that I mostly don't like him very much because he's mostly a royal pain in the you-know-what. Now, not only does he refuse to pee in his box, but he's also decided not to poo in it either. And the only time he comes out of Coco's crate to ask for cuddles is when he wants to get fed his dry kibbles (which I only put out at night, they get wet food twice a day), or when it's totally inconvenient for me. I feel horrible guilt about that cat. But I guess I'd feel even guiltier about getting rid of him. I feel guilty now about saying these things too. Oy. But at least it's out there now...

Dickens sure is a wordy one. I'm getting David Copperfield on audio, but it'll probably take me a couple of weeks to get through it. It's a time commitment for sure, but I think it's worth it. Even though I grumble continually and keep wanting him to cut to the chase. Still, there's only one Dickens.

Still, there's only one Dickens. LOL! Indeed!

Joanne, I'm glad you like the picture of Abby. One issue in thinking about a new feline for the family is how Abby will take to her or him. When we brought 5-week-old Edgar home, Abby was just a year old and she accepted him fully and without a single hiss. She did roll her eyes at him when he threw his full one pound (I exaggerate not) over the food and growled -- you could just see her thinking "oh, whatever, there is more where that came from you silly little kitten." But she took to him very quickly and they became very good friends. We want to find another kitten or cat with whom HRH Abby can get along. :-)

"Charming" is a good word for The Summer Book.

Ilana, I can so completely understand your ambivalent (or, in truth, not so ambivalent) feelings about Ezra, as well as your completely pure love for Mimi! I had a cat named Casey who was a real pain. She peed on guests' overnight bags, an expensive down comforter, etc. She adored me but pretty much hated everyone else, especially anyone else who might get attention from me. I had to give her a pill every day -- "kitty prozac," I called it, thought it was actually a different precursor to the SSRIs. Amitriptyline, I think. It helped, but..... I would have spent a lot more money and emotion and time saving the lives of Dorian (the gray cat I had at the same time as Casey) or my beloved Edgar than I ever would have spent on Casey. I felt guilty at times, and then I reminded myself that she had a much better fourteen years with me than she would have had with almost anyone else (including if I had taken her back to the shelter!). So - I say Ezra has it pretty good for such a curmudgeon!

I have not had time to write much in the way of my reactions to the books I've been completing of late. I haven't written an official review in a long time..... I need to find a balance in this for myself.

We do want to love all our children equally, but that's just not how life works, is it? One thing Ezra has going for him is that he's absolutely gorgeous. And very soft. And when he's in the right mood, he's a sucker for affection and a real babe. But he's very troubled poor dear.

It took him about a month to get used to Mimi. Until then, he had been my one and only and we had a pretty special relationship for a while, but I think when I went into the worst of my depression he followed me down there. He wanted to kill both Mimi and I for those first four weeks and then he got used to the idea and they became companions. It's never simple introducing a new pet into a household when there are other more mature pets living there already. But Abby must feel the loss of Edgar as much as you do and if you're ready to introduce a new companion in your life, maybe she'll feel she's gaining in the process too... I say if a cat like Ezra can get used to a newcomer, then ANY cat can!

Reviews... don't get me started on reviews. I'm seven reviews behind if I want to close off March and not at all in the mood right now. I need to figure out what my balance is there too. Let me know when you figure it out for yourself!

Troubles by J.G. Farrell ---- I really liked this book. It was engaging and funny and poignant and brutal all at once. At times Farrell's narrative voice reminded me of John Irving but that may have been a side effect of the fact that the primary setting was an old falling-down hotel (I don't remember much about Hotel New Hampshire, having read it some 25 years ago, but there was a resonance there for me). Farrell appeared to be exploring the ugly undercurrent of bigotry and its impact on ordinary people caught up in an ethnic and religious war. The Major is, at times, the voice of reason and moderation and (ugh to this word, but I think it fits) tolerance, but then his own visceral bigotry towards Irish Catholics rears its head.

I was struck by the frequent forays into story lines involving animals --- animals suffering, struggling, and dying. The suffering etc. are not always at the hands of humans (though sometimes they are), but I think Farrell wanted us to consider the emotional reaction we have to hearing about abuse or neglect -- or just natural hardship -- experienced by animals ---- all that, when human beings are blowing each other up, murdering each other in the streets, acting out all the hatred humans can feel for other humans. More than once, Edward (or even the Major) muses about the inhumanness of the Irish. Yikes.

Sarah, with whom the Major is very much in love, and the twins, toward whom he feels an uncle-like affection and protectiveness, are interesting characters. Farrell was confident in his development of female characters, and these are complex and interesting.

I feel like I missed all kinds of things about this novel; I don't feel adequately educated (about literature, about Irish history) to "review" it. But I do feel qualified to give it four stars.

The Summer Book by Tove Jannson. Four stars

This short novel is comprised of a series of short chapters, collectively depicting the experiences of a young girl and her grandmother (papa is there, too, but is subordinate to the girl and her grandmother in terms of the plot and the emotion) who are living on an isolated Scandinavian island after the girl's mother has died. Jannson's talent lies in evoking place -- not just the physical environment, but the smell and the sounds and the feel and the soul of the place in which the characters are living their lives. She also captures the subtle and dramatic emotional reactions a person has to those they love. That is, she convincingly describes the rapid shift from adoration to annoyance, from gentle care to irrepressible agitation, that I believe people feel in daily interactions with family. Well, at least I experience that kind of drastic shift regularly. Most of it goes undetected (I think) by others. But not all of it. And Jannson mines this emotional territory without unnecessary dramatics and without judgment.

Jannson is less interested in plot than she is in the emotions that are adventures in every day life. Her exploration of the impact of Sophia's maternal loss is exquisite. This loss permeates every chapter and the girl's attempts to understand and embrace the world are colored by it even though it is mentioned but once in the novel. Having lost her mother, Sophia is loathe to trust or need again. She hates those whom she loves. This is real. This is how loss works. But Jannson doesn't spell it out. She presents it to the reader and allows us to decide whether it resonates or not. For me, it does.

Currently reading: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Trying to find an image of the back of this edition. No luck so far.

Well, it's after 11pm in the time zone where I'm currently sitting. It's only 8:20pm as far as my body is concerned, so maybe I can read for an hour or two before falling asleep. My hope is to go for a nice run in the morning, then off to get ready for this two-day meeting I'm attending. It will make both reading and LTing very difficult to get to.

Cheers and good-night, everyone.

Wow! lots to catch up on here..

Burgers.. I do enjoy burgers, I have to say. That is pretty much the only
read meat that I like to eat... so, I wish you had eaten the burger !

Cats.. a new one? hooray!

Books.. always good books floating around in your thread :)
I am a fan of John Irving.. I haven't read anything of his in a long time, though.
I too, liked Hotel New Hampshire. I can't help but wonder what the author himself
is like to know? Do you think he could be as quirky as some of his characters ? :)

Hi Ellen- Hey, you're in the Midwest! Yah! Even if it is just for business. I enjoyed your thoughts on Troubles. I need to land me a copy and finally get to it.
Glad to hear you started DC. I'll crack it by the end of the week.

Hi Ellen, another long overdue visit! How's it going with DC? That's one on my shelf I would love to get to but it's not on the chart this year.
Have a great Sunday and I hope you got your run in.

No run this morning, but I sat up in bed watching and listening to a major thunder storm and reading David Copperfield. It's a fun read so far.

Kath, I haven't read anything by John Irving in a while. I still want to read A Widow for One Year and Until I Find You. We'll see about the new cat.... depends on what the universe sends our way.

Mark, yes, I'm in your neighborhood (and really, my old stomping ground since I lived in IL for 8 years, Iowa for one year, and Wisconsin for three years ---- I spend my mid-twenties to mid-thirties in this area and it's nice to be visiting it again).

Lynda, thanks for visiting! I'm having a weird Sunday, but that's not all bad.

A cat called Dorian, a grey one? Cute :)

I hope to get to Troubles sooner than later, so glad you liked it! The postcards look like a lot of fun.

Megan, thanks. I sort of resisted it, but it was just his name. He was big and handsome and a dear, sweet love. People would come into our old house and notice our somewhat unique wood floors first -- such that they would say "nice floors ---oh! that's a big cat!"

Lucy, I'm getting obsessed with postcards. I just ordered two new sets from Amazon today (along with a work-related book called Strengths-Based Leadership. More about those at a later time (they won't be available until May) --- one is NY vs Paris and the other is The New Yorker covers. Oh boy!

I know I need to create a new (April!) thread, but I'm at an intensive work meeting in Michigan and I have very little time for LT right now. In fact, in 6 minutes we're convening to head out for dinner. We've had a 45-minute break. :-P

I love this meeting every year, but it's brain-draining.

Whew! Just caught up on your thread, Ellen, and squeaked in just before you start your April thread. I'm pretty swamped with work this week so my time on LT too is being seriously rationed. It's going to be I think non-existent next week when I'm on a zero-laptop vacation. Oh dear... how will I cope with the withdrawal symptoms?

Thanks for the heads-up about The New Yorker cover postcards, Ellen. I just put those in my cart. :)

Enjoy your conference.

Ellen - David Copperfield is also one of my favourites as it has such a wonderful array of unforgettable characters - a bit like LT in fact! Hope Michigan is going well for you and is not too stressful.

I saw 4 different boxed postcard sets today at the University Book Shop. They were all quite small format so I wasnt as drawn in as I thought I would be, phew! They are very appealing though.

Caro, I do think we may need to sic someone on the task of developing an antidote for LT withdrawal when other things (aka RL) prohibit or limit our access!

Pat, glad I'm not the only impulse shopper around here! ;-)

Paul, have you seen the PBS production with Maggie Smith? I highly recommend it.

Megan, I will now own five boxed sets. One thing I do with them (besides using them for bookmarks) is use them for small notes of appreciation for my staff. I can write a brief message, like a "thank you" and leave it in their mailbox at work.

Okay, back to work. The meeting is being called to order. :-|

Hi Ellen,
Interesting back and forth about cats w/Ilana. I want to get another cat too - but am afraid Woolly (15 years old - always the only cat child) will object. I'll let her have her final years in relative peace. Loki bothers her occasionally - but I think she instigates it too.

Bookmarks: When I take the Christmas cards down, I pick out the ones that make the best markers and cut them with pinking shears, punch a hole in the top, then tie a ribbon thru it.
Surprisingly, they are not all Christmas-y (depends what you choose to cut out) and it makes me feel a little better about throwing the rest away. I put them all in a small basket and anyone can help themselves. I have a few favorites that I keep for myownself ;-)

glad I'm not the only impulse shopper around here!

That made me laugh. I've got to be the worst one in these parts as far as that goes!

Cee, yes, we're still wondering what the right thing to do is, when it comes to HRH Abby. I did see a really handsome ginger tuxedo cat this morning during my run. I wonder if he would be a good kitty-sibling for our princess?

Ilana, I think it's a virus that's gotten to many of us! :-)

ETA: And Cee, I LOVE that idea for making bookmarks out of Christmas cards!

Back from a really good 3-mile run. I felt stronger than I have felt since getting back into it, and it was great to check out everything that's in bloom right now. It's colder than average, but there are lots of cherry trees in bloom (*sneezes*) and the Magnolias are just about to pop. The wild currant in our back yard is spectacular this year! Hooray!

Stressful time for P right now -- her father is talking about re-marrying (her mum died about 18 months ago; they were married for 65+ years). He's turning 90 next month and the remarriage thing is being hard for his kids. I think it's wonderful that he has found love -- again -- at this stage of life, but I do join them in worrying about some of the details. Anyway, all that is to say that I don't have much time for either reading or checking in on LT these days. I hope to visit some threads this weekend. I'll also set up a new thread.

I am still reading and enjoying David Copperfield but it's a heavy volume, so I think I'll pick out something else to carry and read on the bus.

Happy Spring, everyone!

I love my cats.. but as much as I do love them.. and Duncan..
I do not consult them when it comes to adding to the family.
I explain that I gave them a home, and so they should understand
when I give one to another kitty in need. So far, it has mostly worked.
Waify spend 10 years hating the five other cats.. but then she moved in with my daughter.
It never was much of a big deal.. a scuffle now and then. Same now, Emmie can be a
pissycat at times... but after she lived at the shelter for 4 months.. .
( an owner of 4 years left her there ) and then came home with me she just has to suck it up...
:P Too many cats that need homes around here for my kitties to behave like prima donnas :P
BUT, that is me.. my choices...

Starting The Moon is Down this morning. The Steinbeckathon continues!!

Kath -- Too many cats that need homes around here... So true! I go back and forth on wanting to adopt every cat who needs a home and knowing how awful it can be to live with two (or more) cats who are not getting along. It's the possible spraying/peeing about which I worry...... AND I want to take them all in and give them a good life!

I know the universe will send us the right cat or kitten at the right time.

"AND I want to take them all in and give them a good life!"

I know the feeling. I have to keep it down to 4.. that is the limit my financial resources
will allow me to care for properly ... I agree.. that can be an issue... the spraying. I did have
that at one time..

With the help of one of my neighbors.. and an older woman who lives
down the street.. we have made a considerable dent in stray cats. Between
taking them in, rehoming them or in one case, a very sick cat being put to sleep..
That helps with the urge. Of course every year brings new strays.. that's where I got Angus.
:P

Ellen- Enjoy The Moon is Down. I read & loved it last year. It caught me by surprise. I also just started DC, so I'll try to catch up with you guys.

What a great use for old cards, Claudia, I am going to institute that IMMEDIATELY!!!! (Yeah, I still have my favorites hanging about.....)
The wreath is off the door..... although it hasn't made it to the transfer station yet.......

Hi Ellen, sounds like you and P are going through interesting times. Reassuring for me to know that love knows no age, especially since I hold firm to my resolve to remain an old maid.

My Puffin cards are on the way. If it weren't for Easter holidays I'd have them already! Speaking of which, Happy Easter weekend...

Hey, Ilana, I went to my local bookseller and they told me the Puffin postcards wouldn't be available until September. :-| You must have found an on-line site that has them.....

I completed The Moon is Down rather quickly this week and gave it 4 stars. I thought it was a very interesting and engaging little novel, and the voice was all Steinbeck.

Ooooo, I'm so looking forward to beginning, again, The Moon is Down. I started it then jumped into Jane Eyre so perhaps later this month. In fact, no perhaps about it, probably sometime soon.

Lynda, I think you'll enjoy The Moon is Down. As I said on the TMiD thread, it's not typical Steinbeck. Since he was writing it as propaganda, it's much less subtle and nuanced than the other works I've read so far. But the voice is still very much his. And there are examples of his lovely spare and vivid prose. Well worth reading.

Today I will create a new thread. Also, I plan to buy something from audible.com for the first time ever. I have another conference this week, but I'll be driving to this one and would like to have a book to listen to in the car. I have no idea what I'll choose.

I'm having a hard time staying focused on David Copperfield. I'm very much enjoying it, but have already taken breaks to read The Moon is Down and now to complete Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. I love the latter and will definitely write some comments about it here (or in my next thread which I keep promising to create).

You are almost as busy as Caro these days! All the travel and conferences and so on..
My daughter is scheduled to travel to Chicago this week for work, as well. Such a lot of
coming and going these days !

Good luck with your audible experience.. hope you find something that you will love

I completed Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader sitting up in bed with a cup of coffee and my dear sweet Abby curled up next to me. I have it a full 5 stars and here's my short review:

This is a delightful collection of essays about books, about the love of books and the love of reading, and about the intersection of reading, books, love, and life. I started flagging the essays I particularly enjoyed and gave it up when I realized it would make more sense to flag the essays which I found rather less captivating. There were two of them.

I picked up this book at the library, but I will be seeking out a copy for purchase as it's one that belongs in my library. To do Fadiman's work true justice, I will keep an eye out for a used copy, preferably dog-eared and annotated in #3 pencil. Highly recommended.

Kath, yes, I feel like my life is very hectic right now. I generally enjoy travel and usually savor the idea of time on a plane and time in a hotel room because it's "pure reading time," but I'm definitely in a phase of being overcommitted. Lot's going on. And I don't mean to complain about the lovely weather we're finally having, but that just adds to the press: I feel lured into the garden, which takes me away from the books.....