Mark's Reading Place #14: Summer Breeze!

Audrey Hepburn/ Marilyn

Currently Reading:



Audiobook:


Graphic:


Books Read So Far...

April:

35) Priceless: How I Went Undercover by Robert K. Wittman 3.8 stars
36) The Expats by Chris Pavone 3.7 stars (audio)
37) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 4.7 stars (audio)
38) Dancing After Hours: Stories by Andre Dubus 3.7 stars (OTS)
39) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 4.2 stars (OTS) (Group Read)
40) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 4.3 stars (audio) (OTS)
41) Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson 4.8 stars
42) Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 4.5 stars (AB)
43) Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander 4 stars (ER)
44) Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 3.4 stars (audio)
45) Under the Skin by Michel Faber 4.5 stars (OTS)

May:

46) Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson 3.7 stars (audio)
47) Zoo Station by David Downing 4 stars (OTS)
48) You Are Not a Stranger Here: Stories by Adam Haslett 4.5 stars (OTS)
49) Alice In Sunderland by Bryan Talbot 4.2 stars (GN)
50) Drift by Rachel Maddow 4.3 stars (audio)
51) The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri 4 stars (OTS)
52) The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 3.5 stars (audio)
53) Voices: A Reykjavik Thriller by Arnaldur Indridason 4 stars (OTS)
54) The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg 3.7 stars (audio)
55) The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill 3.8 stars (OTS)
56) Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotterill 4.3 stars (audio)
57) What We Talk About When We Talk About A. Frank by Nathan Englander 4.5 stars
58) Iron Lake-(Cork O'Connor) by William Kent Krueger 4 stars (OTS)
59) Defending Jacob by William Landay 4.2 stars
60) Hell and Gone by Duane Swierczynski 4 stars (OTS)

June:

61) 11/22/63 by Stephen King 4.5 stars (OTS)
62) The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman 3.8 stars (audio) (OTS)
63) Still Alice by Lisa Genova 4.5 stars (OTS)
64) Wonder by R. J. Palacio 4.3 stars (audio)
65) The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler 4.5 stars (audio)
66) The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan 3.6 stars (audio)
67) Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury 4.7 stars G.R.
68) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 4.3 stars (audio)
69) Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir by Doron Weber 4.2 stars (OTS)
70) River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh 4.3 stars (OTS) Group Read
71) The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson 4.3 stars (audio) (OTS)
72) Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr. 4.5 stars
73) I Am a SEAL Team Six Warrior by Howard E. Wasdin 3.5 stars (ER) (OTS)

July:

74) Island of Vice by Richard Zacks 3.7 stars (audio)
75) The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O'Nan 4 stars (audio)
76) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 4.5 stars (OTS)
77) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury 4.5 stars
78) Train Dreams by Denis Johnson 4.3 stars
79) Cross by Ken Bruen 4.2 stars (audio)
80) Insurgent by Veronica Roth 3.7 stars (OTS)

Cream of the Crop '12:

1) Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick 4.8 stars (audio)
2) The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson 4.7 stars (audio)
3) Stay Awake: Stories by Dan Chaon 4.6 stars
4) What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes 4.7 stars
5) Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo 5 stars
6) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 4.7 stars (audio)
7) Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson 4.8 stars

Group Reads 2012: (I am shamelessly stealing this from Ilana. She loves me, so it doesn't matter)

July: East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon), Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks (12/12), Angel by Elizabeth Taylor (Virago Modern Classics)
August: The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon), The Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
September: In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon)
October: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon)
November: Travels With Charley and The Pearl by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon)
December: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon)

The Best of the 21st Century:

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa LahiriThe love I have for this woman!
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Unadulterated beauty!
Drop City by T.C. Boyle
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki MurakamiThe start of an ongoing love affair
Essex County by Jeff Lemire Hands-down my favorite GN!
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell A classic mind-f*ck
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout The perfect linked story collection
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane One of my all-time favorite crime novels
World War Z by Max Brooks I know I'm going out on a limb on this one, but it really is an outstanding read.

Best of the 90s:

A Thousand Acres I am due a re-read on this one. I was blown away the first time.
The Things That They Carried
Plainsong I still smile whenever I think of this one
Montana 1948 Ditto
The Sparrow
The Shipping News
Interpreter of Maladies Did I mention I love this woman?
Blindness Still gives me chills
Snow Falling on Cedars
Cities of the Plain What a great finish to a fantastic trilogy

Best of the 80s:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry This is probably my 2nd favorite book of all time
The Color Purple by Alice Walker Great film too!
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy A nightmarish western. Unlike anything else.
Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro Another great film too!
Ironweed by William Kennedy
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block I had to throw a crime novel in there and this is one of my all time favorites!

I had to include a couple bonus NF titles:
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer OMG!
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally Sorry, but another great film too!

"Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is like Scenes From a Marriage remade by Alfred Hitchcock..."

That's a blurb from Adam Ross, who wrote Mr. Peanut, another very dark book about marriage.Yes, I started Gone Girl. Not very far in but her writing is so striking and filled with such dark wit. I think I'm in love.
Here's an early quote:
"She'd made a grim figure on the Fiji beach during our two-week honeymoon, battling her way through a million mystical pages of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, casting pissy glances at me as I devoured thriller after thriller."
Priceless, huh?

I really liked Gone Girl, Mark. Also ... I finished Salvage the Bones last week. Need to write my review. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

Smart, pretty girls and lists, how can anyone resist your thread? I started Unaccustomed Earth yesterday. This maybe one book of short stories I will really really like!! Hope you are finding ways to keep cool!!

72) Round Mountain by Castle Freeman Jr. 4.5 stars

Homer Patch is a deputy sheriff. He is quiet, kind and the main focus of these twelve stories, set in a rural Vermont community. These are bittersweet snapshots, capturing Homer and an array of other small town characters. Each story touches down on a different period in their simple, sometimes difficult lives. We follow Homer, as he deals with an unfaithful wife, a special needs son and several childhood friends who have gone “off the rails”.
These are spare, beautiful tales, told with nuance and insight. Freeman understands and adores these people and it clearly shines through every word.

*This was a copy I received, at no charge, from the Concord Free Press. This is a very interesting website and I recommend that everyone take a gander:
http://www.concordfreepress.com/
BTW: They are still sending out copies! The point is passing these books on, so I'm sending my copy to Lucy (sibyx), who resides in Vermont.

Nice review of Round Mountain, Mark. Is this the one you got through The Concord Free Press?

Question: Should I add touchstones to my books of the decades?

Laura- I am only 50 pages into Gone Girl and she has already pulled me in. I hope to book-horn Salvage the Bones in, this month.

Tammy- I should have added beer in there somewhere and it would have been perfect. LOL. I'm so glad you are enjoying Unaccustomed Earth. It truly is masterful. Enjoy your Sunday!

Linda- You are correct and I added that fact to the end of my review. I think this will be a collection that will linger with me for awhile.

Hi Mark: Stay cool, sounds like yet another hit one in a string of hot days. There was a nice cool beeeze off the lake at the ballpark yesterday but probably won't have that luxury today.

Mark, I wish I'd put my "best of" lists on my new thread. I guess that is what the edit button is for! Going off to copy your idea before I forget. ;-) Oh yeah, nice new thread here. I'm already behind. lol.

Marky-Mark - Thanks for the tip to Concord Free Press .... I love the idea of the donation and passing the book forward. Needless to say I've signed up and hope I get the book I've requested.

Good review of Round Mountain ... definitely one for my obese wish list.

Have a good Sunday... I hear beer refreshes and helps one keep cool :-)

Mark, about touchstones: I think it's always a good idea to touchstone books in posts on first reference.

Nice review of Round Mountain!

Nice new thread, Mark! Love the photos - especially the one of the fabulous Audrey Hepburn. I also love all the lists - you are sailing along on the reading, almost to 75! Just two more to go!

Love your review of Round Mountain - I will give you a thumb if you posted it. Also love the idea behind The Concord Free Press, so thanks for sharing that as I hadn't heard about it before.

"Summer sunlight falling across a page does two things: It helps illuminate the words and it serves as a dandy metaphor for the clarifying function of stories, for how they shine on our lives."
-Julia Keller (Tribune cultural critic)

Wow, it got completely dark outside at 12:30pm. Yikes. It looks like we have a hellauva storm brewing. All kinds of storm warnings.

Donna- We are always borrowing from each other, aren't we? I think I snagged that idea from someone else. LOL.

Caro & Mamie- I posted some comments on the Concord Free Press awhile ago, just after I requested my 1st book. I heard about it on BOTNS. As long as they offer quality books, I'll be there.

Mamie- I can't believe I'm nearly at 75 books. No secret, the audios are what keep the numbers soaring and i love every minute of it.

RD- Thanks for the touchstone advice. I think your suggestion works.

Hi Mark, I loved your review of Round Mountain and I love the stylish photos at the top. Nice new thread! Hope you're having a great weekend.

Congratulations Mark on yet another splendid thread. Must look up Round Mountain.

This one's for RD!

OOOOOOOO
KEWL!!!!!!

Hi Mark, I like how you opened your thread with pictures of a couple of sixties icons, seems appropriate since you are one of the 75er group icons!

I'm adding Round Mountain to my wishlist. I may have to add a short story category to my 13-13 challenge next year.

Lastly, I love those "Become Someone Else" pictures!

Nice new thread! I love seeing the lists up top; I will have to keep that in mind for my next one. And Round Mountain sounds excellent.

My Sunday brew: 400 Pound Monkey. It's a fine IPA, from Left Hand Brewery, Longmont Co.

The storms blew right past us, staying north, dropped some rain and moved on. Sunshine now, little cooler.

Anne- Thanks! Have the fires in Colorado affected you at all?

Paul- I thought I might get a favorite Audrey Hepburn movie or something. Roman Holiday, Love in the Afternoon?

RD- That bottom photo is a bit blurry, but I think the dude is reading Dickens. Thought of you.

Judy- Well, thanks! Some of us do go back a ways now. Old-schoolers! I'd like you to join us on some SS books!

Anne- Good to see you! Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Damn, i'm late, as usual

Okay...#18...I don't read to become someone else....i read to become "more" of the gnarly person that I am.."don't fix what isn't broken"

I'm so behind on my Books & Brews emails..it's not funny

For once, you guys missed the hellacious storms..be thankful.....life is interesting here, in SE Ohio...but, i have power and can fart around on the Internet

**smooch**

Okay, Mark here I am. My favorite Audrey Hepburn film is Breakfast at Tiffany's, but I also really love Charade.

Gidday, Mark! We're getting ready to venture out on our first tour of Sydney. We're in the thick of things on Kent Street, with a balcony looking out on the street life.

Love the pics at top, and the lists. Must pick up Montana 1948!

Hi Mark - Just marking my place... 27 posts in!

I'm a big Audrey fan - like Mamie, I love Charade, but my absolute favorite is Love in the Afternoon with Gary Cooper of all people. And then Sabrina. And then Roman Holiday. And then... well, I'll just stop now :)

okay, here's your own

#22 - Nice Sunday brew! We had the Stone Ruination Double IPA 10-year anniversary beer (I hope I got that right) last night. It was pretty special!

Round Mountain sounds like a good one. I'll have to put it on the wishlist.

We had jumbo marble-sized hail this afternoon. It was crazy. Now it's sunny. Weird.

Jude- Always a pleasure to see you and thanks for my very own Sexy Burka Girl! I'll still be dropping by to see the larger version.
Once again, sorry to hear about your "hellacious" storm! Glad you are okay.

Mamie- I also love both of those Hepburn films. She may not have had a lot of "range" but that vibrant spirit carried her a long way!

Joe- This just made my day! Yah! Thanks for checking in. It sounds like you are having a stellar vacation. Keep having a terrific time.

Katie- Of course Gary Cooper is way to old for little Audrey, but the film has such immense charm, that you quickly overlook it. It might be my favorite too!

Kerri- The Stone Ruination Double IPA sounds absolutely dreamy. Glad we missed the hail. Yikes!

Mark, I made a start on Shadow and bone last night and it feels like it's going to be a great little read. And I picked up Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg's newly translated The Circle today, it's the first in a YA fantasy trilogy that has the seal of approval from the Swedish and Danish members of the 12in12 challenge, your wife might like to take a look.

Lovely new thread, Mark. And interesting, I might add......

92 today. 96 tomorrow, with plenty of humidity. Double Ugh! July might be a long month!

Kerry- Shadow and Bone sounds like a winner. I hope to get to it later in the month. Thanks for the rec!

Ellen- Good to see you! Interesting.....how?

Lovely pictures of Audrey and Norma - and those book pictures are amazing!

Hi Mark! I love the "Become someone else" photos!! And in my next life I will look like Burka woman!! That and I want a great singing voice. LOL

Hi Mark! Love the new thread
I'm glad to see you are enjoying Gone Girl as I recently picked that one up. I hope to get to it in the next couple weeks

Not only was it brutally hot, they picked today to walk the route with me again. I did expect this. After they make route changes, they have to walk the routes again in 2 weeks, to see how the changes went. Ugh! I did fine but it sure cramps my style. Beside sweating torrents, I got very very little reading or listening in. Boo-hoo!
I know, I know cry-baby Mark!

Amber- Glad you liked 'em! Hope you are keeping cool.

Kim- I hope your dream comes true, my friend. LOL. Make sure you stop by here in your next life, love to see ya.

Chelle- Gone Girl has been terrific. I'm only a 100 pages in, but have no idea where she is taking me. Flynn is quite a wicked person and I mean that in the nicest way.

Mark, I've heard that Tuesday'll be even worse. Take care o' yourself.

Hi Mark, lovely new digs my friend. I didn't actually know Marilyn could read but you keep posting evidence of it. That is why you post the pictures right;-)

"Over just a few years, the old Amy, the girl with the big laugh and the easy ways, literally shed herself, a pile of skin and soul on the floor, and out seeped this new, bitter, brittle Amy. My wife was no longer my wife but a razor-wire knot daring me to unloop her, and I was not up to the job with my thick, numb, nervous fingers."

-Gone Girl (I told you, I was in love!)

*shudder*

Mark - I don't envy you your round in those temperatures mate. It is pointless me pointing out that it is permanently hotter than that here as I would surely faint before making the end of the drive. Take care and keep taking plenty of fluids.

Mark, great new thread, sorry I'm so late-ish. Love those two icons you've got up top and have been inspired by both in my lifetime. I'm in the camp of those who believe she (eta: "she" being Marilyn) was a smart gal who did really well playing dumb, but guess I'll never know for sure. And Audrey to me is an absolute angel.

Love the concept of Concord Press. Haven't signed up yet because I'm not so sure I want to be receiving even MORE books that aren't on my wishlist already.

About the touchstones: I'm a big fan of those. I figure it makes it that much easier for anyone to just get info on the book, and it's easy enough to do. So, YES for the touchstones. I did consider posting my favourite reads over the decades in the opening messages on my own thread, but I have so many amazing books on my tbr that I know will top those lists, that I hesitate to give that much importance to what I've actually read so far, since many titles will probably end up being quickly replaced as I catch up on the best of the best.

Of the ones on your list:
I've only read 3 so far: The Handmaid's Tale, The Shipping News, Kafka on the Shore
9 are on my tbr: Middlesex, Olive Kitteridge, Mystic River, Interpreter of Maladies, Blindness, Snow Falling on Cedars, Cities of the Plain, Lonesome Dove and Remains of the Day
and 3 are on my wishlist: Gilead, Cloud Atlas and The Cider House Rules

Now if you'd had touchstones on these, I could have checked all that info ten times as fast! :-)

Just checking in over here, Mark. Loving the quotes you are sharing from Gone Girl.

"Sleep is like a cat: It only comes to you if you ignore it."

-Gone Girl (Sorry couldn't help myself)

Linda- Tomorrow was supposed to be my day off but because of the holiday, I was drafted to work. I could have declined but I could use the bucks. There are several books out or coming out I want to buy. We have our priorities.

Bonnie- Do you think Marilyn was reading that book before marrying Arthur Miller or after? If it was the former, maybe she was brushing up.

Katie- This is so good!!

Paul- Today was tough, with company along. On my own, I can set my own pace and take very liberal breaks. Hey, as long as I get back on time, who cares!

Ilana- Good to see you! Always a highlight when you visit. "9 are on my tbr" & "and 3 are on my wishlist". Wow, you have some incredible reading ahead of you. I'm jealous.
Thanks for the touchstone advice. Very good points.

Oy Mark, thinking of you out there in this gross, wet-sponge, sauna-like heat. Take it easy tomorrow!

Haha... love the quote, Marky-Mark.

Have you read Lee Child's The Affair? I was skimming through it at the bookstore today, trying to decide if I should buy it, when it struck me that it sounded remarkably like Nothing To Lose. I'm wondering if he's starting to regurgitate some of his story lines, with just minor changes ..e.g. a train making mysterious night flights carrying mysterious cargo instead of a plane.

WOW. Those quotes speak *volumes* for the book!

Mamie- Thanks! I hope you had a good day.

Laura- That's a very good description. LOL. Sections of the town I work in, have been out of power since Sunday afternoon, when that storm blew through. Poor people. Even my P.O. was out of power when I returned to the office today. Hopefully it's back on for the morning.

Caro- Surprisingly, I've only read the 1st 2 Reacher books. I liked them but I haven't gone gaga over them like others had. I'm sure I'll read a couple of the others, at some point.

RD- She is a kickass writer! Smart & wicked.

I finished Gone Girl today, Mark.

Wow. Just wow.

Enjoy!

Hi Mark, No, the fires aren't close to me, so we're okay other than having some smoke in the air and being heartsick over the devastation. We're hoping for some rainy weather soon!

Can I stay here and play with you guys? instead of going.......out there? I'll be wrapping up Island of Vice. It's been good, just getting bogged down in to much detail. And then I return to Gone Girl...ahhhhhh!

Joanne- That's great to hear. Wow is good. I can't believe I've let Dark Places sit on my shelves forever.

Anne- That's good news. Sorry for the the people who are suffering out there. Hope they get some relief.

I'll be thinking of you this week - try to stay safe out there! Would reading a book out a snow storm help, I wonder...?

Morning!

Yesterday the sun was covered in a thin cloudy haze. Yeah! That meant that 98 was positively cool. Last week Tuscaloosa set record highs for the dates. It is not uncommon for it to be 100 here, but it is uncommon this early in the summer. What has made it tolerable has been the low humidity which is riding about 25 to 30 %. With the light winds we have been blessed with it is making it tolerable. Me and thousands of others are hanging out at the swimming pools. It was so crowded there that it was not enjoyable on Sunday. I hope that tomorrow people will be staying inside and picnicking so that I will have some peace and be able to read lots in my book. I am still working on River of Smoke and I must say really enjoying it. The descriptions of the place and the business methods are similar but different from those in Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I keep wondering what Jacob would be doing regarding the opium trade. Somehow I think that, as much as I like Bahram, Jacob had so much inherent integrity and strength that he wouldn't be selling opium. But there is no doubt in my mind that ROS is a very good book.

To night I am going to make a green gazpacho because it is too hot to eat anything other than cold soup. I have the day off, so will be at the pool. Yes, folks, many libraries are open on holidays. Strangely there are people who want to read or use other library services during holidays. We won't have a full contingent of staff but the place will be open. And cool. We made sure that facilities knew we were open for the day.

Hope you're staying as cool as possible today, Mark. Sorry you have to go out there. You are making me really want to get to Gone Girl.

Mark, maybe it's just me but, this morning, that strong breeze made it feel tolerably hot. I didn't use the AC in my car, for instance.

Hope it's not too bad for you today.

Have a cool day Mark and try not to melt!

Okay, I will keep the belly-aching down to the bare minimum. I survived and I'm off tomorrow and I will try not to think about returning Thursday. See? Not to bad!

Amber- Reading about a snow storm may have helped a little. Funny, there was a stretch toward the end of Island of Vice, describing a terrible heat-wave in NYC, back in the 1890s, with dead bloated horses and reeking garbage, which increased my perspiration and nausea.

Kim- Well, morning....or afternoon...or whatever it is.

Benita- Glad you are getting a little break with the lower humidity. Hope it continues for you. I'm happy ROS is working out for you and thanks for the comparison to Jacob de Zoet. Enjoy your holiday and your green gazpacho!

Mamie- People always ask me, what do I prefer the extreme cold or the extreme heat. For me, the cold wins. At least I can dress warm and get in a vehicle with heat, on occasion. And for this intense heat: There is no escape!
I'm sure you will love Gone Girl.

Linda- Actually I was more comfortable earlier in the day and the breeze felt good. I even had lunch in my vehicle, a good shady spot, with a cross wind. The afternoon got HOT though! 98 on the way home.

Chelle- Thanks and I didn't melt! Yah! I wish could have melted off a few pounds around my midsection, but no such luck.

Isn't it amazing how cruel gawd is? All that sweating and not one lousy inch off your middle. Unconscionable!

I myownself haven't been more than a yard away from the a/c all day, except when I forced the dog onto what she was sure to tell me, and all others in hearing distance, was the Bataan Death March so she'd pee. Which she did and then dragged me back to the a/c. Which she is totally hogging for herself.

Agreed about cold vs. heat; there are only so many items of clothing one can take off, and it's still gonna be hot.

Oh I love that photo of Audrey H.

Gidday, mate! Nice and cool here in Sydney. Off to an art exhibit wookiebender suggested. Tomorrow we go to a low tech area (rainforest resort) so I may not be able to check in for a while.

Tania says hi! Wish you could've been with us.

Got my hands on Song of Achilles - Becca found it on sale here.

We just put Bailey's (our old lab) Thundershirt on, in preparation of the 4th. It doesn't seem to help much and we haven't made her wear it, in probably a year, but if it can give her a little comfort, what the hell. I hope they cut back on the fireworks, with everything being so dry. Fingers crossed.

Hey, I finally landed a nice copy of Troubles. And it only took me 4 years. Hooray! Now, to squeeze it in somewhere. Where's that confounded bookhorn?

RD- "All that sweating and not one lousy inch off your middle." Amen, my friend! LOL. And your pup doing the Death March is hysterical. Mine are exactly the same. Dead Dog Walking!

Lucy- I love the photo too! I just wish she was enjoying the book more!

Joe- Gidday, sir! Great to see you! And it was so nice to see that you met up with Tania! How excellent. I wish I could have been there too. We would have never left Lord Nelson's Pub. Enjoy the rest of your amazing trip.

Oh, poor Bailey! We have a Thundershirt for Geezer too. I think it helps a little, but not much. Our neighborhood is absolutely awful with fireworks. And we'll also have the lamest parade in the history of the universe going past our house tomorrow morning. The cherry on top is our ridiculous neighbor sitting on a lawn chair in his front lawn waving his Don't Tread on Me flag. I couldn't make this stuff up. Gosh, I sound like a Scrooge! Sorry. (Can you tell that this is not my favorite holiday?)

Anyway, glad that you survived the heat today!

We have a Thundershirt for Bella, and it works like a charm for everything except going to the vet!

Ok I've never heard of Thundershirt until now (I just googled it). Are they worth the money?
I would love something to calm Jax on car rides. He whined the whole way home from PEI on Monday.

Enjoy your holiday tomorrow!

Chelle - It works for Bella - that is mainly what we use it for as before she would whine and shake for the entire car ride. It also works for thunderstorms and, so far, fireworks for her. There is a money back guarantee, so if it doesn't work for Jax, you can return it for a full refund.

Just wanted to torment Mark a little and mention that it was 72 in Portland today and partly sunny. I am loving my little corner of the US lately. : )

Kerri- I love your description of the Lyons parade! Priceless. Fortunately, we live in a very quiet area, although the fireworks will be noisy tonight and tomorrow night. I'm starting to hear them now. Bailey hasn't moved, but she will any second...
We may have started to late with the Thundershirt, Bailey is eleven and a neurotic old lady. Others have said it works, see Mamie's comment.

Mamie- That is very fortunate. Bailey has been goofy with fear since she was a pup. She loves car rides though. During a bad thunderstorm, she just shakes.

Kim- Big meanie! And I thought you were my friend.

I saw something interesting in Gone Girl. A character mentions that Republicans shop at Sam's Club and Democrats shop at Costco. Hmmmmm...Well, I shop at Sam's, (because it's only a few blocks away, although I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart) and I'm a Democrat. Am I doing something wrong? The book is set in Missouri. Maybe it's a Show Me State thing?

I am! It would be worse if I wasn't... xoxo

I hope the Thundershirt helps Bailey with the fireworks, Mark. Absolutely NO fireworks - anything you have to light - allowed out here this year. You'd have to be crazy. Denver is still going ahead with their show tonight but most towns have cancelled, including ours, including all the festivities and music they have beforehand. :(

It cooled off nicely tonight - 70 at 8pm but the humidity is up to 50% so it's a little sticky. And we and the fire area got some rain - yay! Monsoon weather is moving in finally.

Re the Costco/Sam's Club mention in Gone Girl, I read that and thought, yup, she's got that right. It's the whole Walmart connection but I have Dem friends who belong to both (which seems excessive to me, but then I hate shopping). What, no Costco nearby, Mark? :) The last time I was in a Walmart was about 9 years ago. I'd been laid off after 16 years when my employer was bought out and I was depressed. It didn't help my mood... I've never been in a Sam's Club. I LOVE Costco.

70, 72: Southwest Missouri is 'Sam's Country!'. We have 5 Wal-Mart Supercenters and two Sam's Clubs - all within the city limits! There are several other Wal-marts in neighboring towns within close proximity. Not a Costco to be found until you go to Kansas City or St. Louis, 3 and 4 hours away, respectively.

Mark, I'm glad you are so taken with Gone Girl. I've enjoyed Gillian Flynn's other books and look forward to reading this one.

I'd never heard of a thundershirt, either. Huh. Great idea! I'm quite glad we don't need one for Tuppence, though - she's never shown any evidence of being scared by storms or fireworks, and she travels very well. I wonder if they make them in preschool boy size...?

I think the town fireworks are still on here (dumb, if you ask me), but they've banned all individual fireworks (as if that will stop some people. Sigh.).

Hope everyone has a great holiday and does something very COOL!

Joanne- Glad you guys got some rain out there. Yah! And cooler temps. I did not realize that about Sam's Club & Costgo, (I don't get out much!). Actually, there is a newish Costgo straight south of us, about 3 miles, so not bad. It's just habit and convenience.

Donna- You live smack in Sam's country, huh? The nearest Costgo is 3 or 4 hours away? That's priceless. You know the Waltons, they are bullies.
I'm sure you will love Gone Girl.

Amber- Hopefully, the Thundershirt helped comfort Bailey a little bit last night. My wife removed it at some point, so she didn't get to hot.
A Thundershirt for Charlie, huh? Smart idea!

73) I Am a SEAL Team Six Warrior by Howard E. Wasdin 3.5 stars (ER)

“When the Navy sends their elite, they send the SEALs. When the SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six”

This is a mildly interesting look at what it takes to be a SEAL and then a sniper. The intensive training makes my Army basic training look like nursery school. The story also follows Wasdin on several missions, including the show-piece of the Battle of Mogadishu, which was covered in Black Hawk Down, in both book and film.
This memoir version looks like it was packaged as a YA, so I’m curious how the original book was written. If this subject interests you, check it out, otherwise remain at ease.

Morning Mark! Hope you have a great 4th of July! It's supposed to be 98 here today, so we plan on just hanging out and enjoying a day off together - down in Georgia, Craig is on call.

Hi, Mark! I'm hearing nothing but raves for Gone Girl. Glad you're enjoying it. I plan to get to it soon.


glitter-graphics.com

Happy Fourth Mark!

Re- The SEAL book. I think this guy is a winger, he took several shots (verbal, of course) at the Clinton administration, maybe even deservedly so, but I still didn't like it. He also went on about the "liberal media". Give me a freakin' break. These references were minor but still bugged me.

Mamie- We are heading over to our friends abode for a cookout, hopefully in the deep shade. Have a few beverages and not think about working tomorrow.

Big patriotic waves to Terri & Kim!

Another hot one in T-town today. There is a complete fireworks ban in the city, but not in the county. Does that make any sense? Seems to me with all the watered and green lawns that the city would be the place where the fireworks might be OK. We haven't had any rain here for a month and it is showing. We have also had record heat for so early in the summer. Usually the hot weather is in July and August, but not this year. Today it is forecast to be 103. I was supposed to be off today, but am at work anyway. The reason - yesterday the post man came! I got my four boxes of books from the conference. All are in good enough shape. (One has a hole punched in the side, but that is because the box was not quite full. Loosely packed boxes are not good.) I will be entering in new titles to my library this morning. Then it will be on to the pool and more of ROS. The town is having a fireworks show down by the river tonight complete with the local symphony playing but I am opting for going to pick blueberries this evening. Then it will be to Starbucks and a nice cold frapaccino to complete the day.

My sister, the newspaper columnist, called last night to tell me a funny story and I thought I would share it with you. She writes a weekly newspaper column titled "Grandma's Cupboard" in which she talks about food, cooking, and heritage. She tries to feature local produce at appropriate times. Last week she wrote about the local winery located in Superior, Nebraska and told how she likes to go there on Saturday's for their tastings when you get a nice light meal and get to taste the local wines. She then encouraged people to go to this winery and try it because the setting is so peaceful and quite nice with all those rows of grapes on arbors. Two days after the publication of this column she got a big brown envelope in the mail. It was from our Aunt, who is the state president of WCTU. (Women's Christian Temperance Union. yes, this venerable organization still exists and is a political voice. Especially in Kansas. They are vociferous letter writers and e-mailers to local, state, and national legislatures.) Inside was a packet of information about the evils of alcohol and how the media should not be encouraging people to indulge in demon rum. It was signed by my Aunt - the president and another Aunt - the state secretary. They informed her that they had also sent this same packet to the owner of the newspaper along with a request that the newspaper print some of their literature because they wanted equal space to present their side of the story.

I told my sister that the life of a columnist was a difficult one fraught with controversy and that if she couldn't stand the heat she should get out of the kitchen. (she enjoyed the pun.) Today I sent her a recipe for a Shandy and told her to write a column about the local artisan brewery located in Concordia, Kansas.

Have a nice relaxing day because tomorrow is likely to be more of the same at work. And the heat will roll on.

#76 and #80 - I think I will remain at ease. Thanks for taking that one for the team. : )

Have fun at your cookout!

40> That is a great quote, Mark. Sorry you are having to cope with the unbearable heat; the stress of your job really fluctuates with the weather!

I mentioned that your thread was interesting. The visuals were.... well, interesting. :-)

Not sure if you're doing anything "wrong".... I don't shop at either Costco or Sam's. I think many liberal types are so disenchanted with Wal-Mart that they won't support anything that is an extension of it. I've been to Costco (the headquarters are in a suburb of Seattle) with friends, and I get the appeal on some level, but I just don't like how big it all is.

Have a great Fourth, Mark!!

Happy 4th Marky-Mark ... I hope you're having a fun day ...and managing to stay cool. It's a scorcher today over in MA.

I always seem to be behind, here.... so sorry!
Not catching up, just wishing well

>83 EBT1002:: I'm with you -- I can't stand Wal-Mart but I don't like shopping at Costco either. Too big, too crowded, and not nearly as amazing as everyone says it is.

Mark, I hope you're staying cool. It was hot at my sister's in Batavia. We all pretty much stayed inside, except for my BIL, when he hustled outside to grill. Fortunately, we could just open the patio door and let Ellie, the Yellow Lab, out as needed. Fortunately, loud noises don't seem to bother her.

Two more days of this, I think. Last I looked, it was 104 up here in our part of Lake County.

Hope everyone is enjoying their 4th. We did go to friends and we did cookout but everyone stayed inside. Even in the shade it was to intense. 101. We had some good chow, good company and some fine beer. Worked out well.
Hope I can keep my eyes open long enough to read a few pages.

Benita- You went into work! What a trooper! Hope you stayed as cool as possible. Loved your "Grandma's Cupboard" story. Funny, some things never change. Trying not to think about tomorrow. There is a severe heat index warning until 10pm Friday night. Oh joy!

Kerri- It was an ER book and I like war related stories, it wasn't to bad. Just the winger crap bugged me a little.

Ellen- Glad you liked the quote. gone Girl is a heck of a book. It looks like Flynn will be finding well-earned attention for this baby! Glad you found my visuals....interesting!

Caro- It looks like most of the country is wilting under this fierce heat. I'm surprised Obama isn't being blamed.

Kath- I understand it's tough keeping up around here. We've all been there. Good to see you!

Linda- What a brutal day! Do not look forward to the next 2. Boo!

Mark - glad to see you enjoying your holiday celebrating one of the more famous British defeats! Stay cool.

Hi Mark - try to stay cool tomorrow! Going back to the Sam's Club/Costco discussion. I live in North Texas which is heavily Republican (except for Dallas proper) and I think both stores are patronized equally. Seems like that dichotomy is sort of an urban myth - at least around here...

Happy 4th of July, Mark. Hope some cooler weather is on your horizon.

I was going to lead with the dreadful heat, but do I really have to? On audio, I did finish Island of Vice. Mixed opinions..more on it later. I plan on starting the Odds, since it's a shorty, so I can then move on to something Wicked This Way Comes, along with the G.R. for this weekend. Just over a 100 pages left in Gone Girl.

Paul- LOL. Yes, it was rather famous. Hope your week is going well.

Katie- Thanks! The Sam's Club/Costgo thing probably does have relevance, but it depends on your area. Funny, I never knew it existed. You keep cool too!

Judy- Thanks! The weather breaks a little over the weekend. Saturday it dips to 90 and then in the 80s on Sunday. That will feel like an arctic blast.

Keep Cool Everyone!!

We gave up our Costco membership, due to lack of use, but I do miss buying soy sauce by the half gallon and a box of garbage bags that lasts 2 years. That's about it though.

I just mentioned this on my thread, but I think the Thundershirt was a great success last night! Geezer slept through the worst portion of fireworks and wasn't shaking like a leaf, as he normally does. Yay! I'm thinking that in the past, we didn't put it on him as tightly as we should have. It really did seem to work.

My sister had a picnic. She was FURIOUS when we didn't go. I told her no several
days ago, but she is so used to having her way she assumed I was kidding?? Lying?
I never go on the 4th. We have a neighborhood that blows things up all day ..
and I don't want to leave Duncan alone to deal. Besides, I did not want to go. It was
too hot, her house is too small and hot and it would be crowded with her kids and grands.
She posted all over facebook about me not going. Sigh.

Be careful out there in the heat. Hellish. Walk through all sprinklers and fountains.

I think Audrey is studying a script, Mark...... work......

Morning Mark! I thought she was looking at a script, too, Lucy.

I stopped going to Walmart years ago when the state of Nebraska sued them and won. (I think that was about 15 years ago.) The case was about their drugstores. Walmart would add a drugstore to the store and offer extremely low prices. As soon as the local pharmacy had gone out of business then they raised the prices. Nebraska sued them for price fixing and won. Soon after that it was revealed that in Kansas Walmart never built a store inside of the city limits. That way they didn't have to pay city taxes. In all the cases investigated they built just outside of the city limits, just close enough that they got the small cities to build extensions to the sewer, water, utilities, and roads at no cost because they would promise to add 50 jobs. Walmart is not good for the country, so I don't shop there. Same for Costco. I do darken the door to Target a few times a year, but as little as possible. If I need an all purpose cut-rate store I go to Dollar General. But even then I hesitate. While Dollar General is more like the old fashioned Five and Dime stores, it is still a corporate giant. I know that I am paying extra when I buy things like toilet paper and trash bags at the Supermarket, but to me it is worth it to keep competition alive and well.

Well, I feel better after my shower, that always helps! Actually, we had a very brief rain shower too, but unfortunately it didn't cool anything off. One more bad day to go.

Hey, I'm going to meet-up with an LTer tonight, for coffee, (mine will be iced!). It's Lisa, labfs39, in from Washington state. She is in visiting family. Isn't that cool? She is a book nut like the rest of us, so I plan on picking up a few pointers.

Kerri- I agree, you can't have enough soy sauce. LOL. Hey, I'm glad the Thundershirt worked. Hooray! We need to start putting it on Bailey more often, before thunderstorms roll in. Not always easy, though.

Kath- More troubles on the family front, huh? God, what's the big deal, especially if you haven't attended in the past. Hey, Dunkers needed company! What the hell.

Lucy & Mamie- I know she was reading a script, I was just joshing around. Hope you two had a good cool day.

Benita- That's enough to get your blood-boiling, huh? What snakes. I guess that's why they are one the richest corporations in the world. It's actually pretty hard now, NOT to buy from some corporate giant.

Crossing my fingers for that "cool" front that is supposed to be heading your way!

(especially since I'm going to be in Tennessee my own self over the weekend and into early next week)

Hi Mark,
99 messages unread, lets see if I can get in before someone else gets the #100 spot!
Lots to catch up on but for mow Ill say, isnt Audrey Hepburn lovely?! It sounds like its hot there, dont drip any sweat on those book pages :)

It rained here as well. Just a quick shower that only served to make it hotter and steamy. This is not fun.

Hi Mark, so almost finished with Gone Girl eh? She does have the knack for getting you to turn the pages.

My visit with Lisa was very nice. She is a sweet person, who loves her books. Her husband was also quite the trooper, as he sat back and listened patiently to our endless book gab. I had an iced mocha, (w/decaf, can't take any chances). They head back to Washington on Saturday.

I have less than 50 pages left in Gone Girl. I started the audio of The Odds and it's turning out to be an interesting companion piece to gone Girl, this one also dealing with a marriage on the verge of collapse, but injected with much more hope.

Ellen- I had a lovely visit with Lisa. She is so nice and she mentioned how much she enjoyed meeting you a couple weeks ago. These LT friendships are blossoming everywhere. Have a safe trip tomorrow.

Megan- Thanks for stopping by on your bi-annual visit. LOL. Yes, it is extremely hot, we are breaking records nearly every day and I am keeping the sweat out of the books, although it's not always easy.

Benita- I think with this intense heat, storms can pop up anytime. It's refreshing for a short time and then the humidity monster lumbers back and sits on you.

Bonnie- 50 pages left, I'll finish it tomorrow. And I still have no idea how this will wrap up. What a whirlwind!
BTW- Lisa and I were talking about you and how much we love your book choices and your excellent reviews. You are making quite a name for your self.

I may not have been around the threads Mr. Mark, but I have been able to see the books you've been reading on my homepage. The advantages of being friends. ;) You of course are always reading wonderfully diverse books which keep me on my toes! Hopefully I can keep up to date with your thread here on out!

Phew! I've caught up! Finally! :)

And I was thinking of being slack and "forgetting" about River of Smoke, but there have been far too many positive comments here! I've dug it out of the stack and added it to the toppling mt TBR next to the bed. Next book.

Stupid busy week. I also put my hand up at the 11th hour today to do a demo of the software we've been working on as the original volunteer got caught up. Nothing like a bit of pressure to make the day packed! At five, I downed tools and went to beer o'clock, the brain had completely packed it in. Huzzah for a Saturday morning sleep-in, my eyes and brain are so tired right now!

It was lovely catching up with Joe and family. I haven't heard from him since he was heading off to Cockatoo Island at the Biennale of Sydney, I do hope he enjoyed that!

Mark - The thread for the Something Wicked This Way Comes group read for this weekend is here

OMG!

Needless to say, not a fun day at the office. 103, pushing 104 on the way home. But, I'm at the humble abode, showered and having a cold one and checking LT. I finished both Gone Girl & the Odds, so I had good company at least, as I trudged across the Sahara. I also started listening to Something Wicked This Way Comes and Bradbury immediately pulls you into a creepy but comforting place.

Valerie- You sure brightened a miserable day. It's great to see you. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Tania- Hey, another wayward soul! I'm glad you are not "forgetting" ROS, that would be a shame. I'm so glad you had a nice visit with Joe & family.
Have a good relaxing weekend and enjoy "beer o'clock". It's also my favorite time of day.

Caro- Thanks for the link and thanks for the nudge. It might have been awhile before I got to this one, since I recently finished D.W.! It begins so well.

Hey, I hit book 75 & 76! Yah!

Congrats on hitting book 76! And for getting through the day in that heat! Poor thing...cooler weather will be your way soon, I hope.

You poor guy! Hopefully the weather cools down for you soon!
I've been meaning to get to Something Wicked This Way Comes at some point in life ... maybe I'll check it out sooner than later

ETA Congrats on hitting 75! Whoot whoot

You hit 75, and I missed it?! Sorry for that - congrats on reaching 75!! Glad you survived the wickedly hot day.

Big YES on the gif!!!

Although I'm languishing in the AC!

76 Books? I'll be lucky to make 30...

You're doing great, my friend..i'm proud of you

;-?

75! Whoohoo!! Congrats!! Glad you made it in books, now if the temperature would just get there!!

Founders- Reds Rye P.A.

Joanne- Thanks! the heat doesn't break until late tomorrow. Sunday should be more comfortable. I enjoyed the Odds, although he did end it rather abruptly.

Chelle- Thanks! Isn't it amazing how we can clock in 75 titles already, but barely make a tiny dent in the books we want to read? Amazing.

Mamie- Thanks! I just crossed the line today, so you are fine my friend.

Jude- Glad you liked the gif, my tongue isn't quite as brown. Ewwwww. Hope you are keeping cool.

Kim- Thanks! I'm really enjoying your visits! Always a highlight!

104!!! Good God Mark. How in the world do you do it? Congrats on reaching 75 already, you reading machine you. And thank you (and Lisa) for your kind remarks about my reviews.

Now about Gone Girl....how'd you like that ending?

Gorgeous looking beer! I did enjoy my beer o'clock last night, several other team members wandered by to wind down after what had been a fairly stressful week. And then home, to a spanish-style feast from Don. Oink. I stuffed myself with too much chorizo and couldn't face dessert.

Now I'm trying to get motivated to tidy the house before Dad comes around for babysitting! (He's turning up early so he can watch his football match here, rather than turn up when I requested and miss the end of his match. No big, we'll get him a curry for dinner from up the road as a treat. :)

ETA: Bother, I'm between books and I thought we had a copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes but no, it's a different Bradbury. Will have to skip the group read!

Congrats on hitting 75 and 76. I hope they were knock you off your feet kind of books!
Seems like a lot people around here are suffering though heat and hight temps. We have been having thunderstorms the last 2 days so I will put in a few good words to our friend, Mother Nature and see if she can send some cool winds your way. :D

Bummer Wookie! I had to run to the store for the same reason. Didn't have a copy and the library was closed. One copy left at my little local store. Phew! Starting tonight!

Nearly all week, the forecast was predicting a little break in the heat for today but alas, the front doesn't move in until very late in the day, so we have another 100 degree day to deal with. Triple Yuck! See post #107 for review! Help me, Rhonda!

I started Train Dreams. The guy is a helluva writer, no question and it's a major shorty! Yah! I'm also enjoying Something Wicked This Way Comes for Caro's weekend G.R.

Bonnie- We talked privately to avoid spoilers! Have a great weekend.

Tania- I can't wait until beer o'clock tonight! I love chorizo, especially for breakfast. Sorry you couldn't land a copy of the Bradbury. I can't believe I haven't read it before!

Valerie- Yes, the last 2 books, fortunately were winners, especially Gone Girl, which easily deserves the raves it's been getting. Enjoy your weekend.

Kim- I'm glad you'll be tagging along on the G.R., always nice to have you along.

!!! You cheated? Started a day early? tsk tsk..

> Hi Mark. You truly have my deepest sympathy for having to trudge around in unbearable heat and humidity, lugging all of that mail. I don't know how you do it. I should pick up Train Dreams, as Denis Johnson will be presenting his new play at the Writers Institute this Fall and I have not yet read anything by him.

I love Founders Reds Rye P.A.! I had a really good beer the other day that, surprisingly, wasn't super-hoppy (which is what I usually like): Metropolitan Ironworks Alt.

And I just requested Gone Girl from the library - "94 holds on first copy returned of 14 copies." Eek!

Congrats on hitting 75 and 76! And also for not hitting any major duds along the way. May your next 75 this year be strong reads for you.

Snuggling down with Something Wicked?

Congratulations on surpassing the 75 milestone, Mark. We are in that same heat bubble. I have the liberty of getting outside chores done early and staying in the A/C the rest of the day. My sympathies are with you and all the others that work outside. Relief is on the way...but then, so are the dog days of August. :-(

My bookie friends are starting to talk about Gone Girl. Not as much as they talked about Fifty Shades of Grey but they are talking about it. I found my copy it was in the trunk of my car along with In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. Moved it into the house so like Tania I now have it on the towering MBR next to the bed.

I am still working on River of Smoke and have put David Copperfield on hold. As soon as I finish ROS my next book will be Songs For the Butcher's Daughter. This one is a book club selection and I should have it read by then as I am on the last 100 pages of ROS.

It rained again last night, and this morning it is cloudy here. But oh so humid and sticky. I can't wait for the temperatures to mitigate. It has truly been hard on everyone. On Tuesday, July 3, Ringo Starr came to Tuscaloosa to play a concert. The city has a new amphitheater on the river bank and apparently it is a nice venue. I haven't been there yet so don't know for sure. The day Ringo played it was 104. The concert started at 8:00 p.m. I don't know what the temperature was at that time but guess it must still have been in the upper 90's. I don't know how a 70 year-old doing all that physical work of playing drums and singing would have managed to make it through a 2 hour concert but he did.

A few years ago I went to see Paul McCartney in Atlanta. It was in August and it was hot. It rained and since it was an outdoor concert in a park it quickly turned into a sea of mud and wet bodies. It did cool things off, but I don't know how these guys keep doing this at their age. I did see an interview with Keith Richards and Larry King and Richards said that age has slowed them down. He went on to say said that the Rolling Stones have to space their concerts farther apart because the recovery time needed between concerts is longer.

#105 wookiebender

Mark set up a separate thread for the group read of River of Smoke. Even though the group read was supposed to be done on June 30 the thread is still active, mostly because I am still posting. (I am notoriously slow in the group reads.) I have not finished the book and faithfully post questions and comments as I am reading. If you start reading go ahead and add your comments. I think that Mark and others are still looking at the thread, but even if they are not I am still active there.

Mark - congrats on passing 75 so impressively. Hope you are able to cool off this weekend and soak those tired feet. Would happily join you in a bottle of that superb looking ale.

Happy news re: 75! A big big boo hiss for 100+.

Our thunderstorm, hijacked earlier by Chelle the Canadian Robber Baroness, is finally threatening to come. Hopehopehope

Hey Mark, sorry you've been experiencing such intense heat in your parts. We had a few days of cooler weather last week, but we too are back in baking mode now. The one good thing about this weather is... it makes something as simple as a cool shower feel like the BEST experience ever, doesn't it? :-)

Mark, we've finally cooled down somewhat, and have received some much-needed rain. Hope our cool weather moves east for you:)

Thanks everyone for your kind words, in regards to the heat & misery. Hey, no one put a gun to my head and forced me to take this job, so I know it's just part of the deal. It's only the extremes that get to me, (nothing is worse than the heat though), so most of the time I deal with it just fine. Hugs to all! Come on, you too, RD, group Hug!

I think the wind was coming in from the North this afternoon, so it felt cooler, at least in the shady parts, although it was still around 90 on my way home. Low 80s tomorrow, might celebrate with a bike ride, a shorty of course.

I am LOVING Something Wicked This Way Comes. Why have I not read more Bradbury? That is the question. Two absolute jewels in a row.
I am also very impressed with Train Dreams, (this guy is a hellava writer!) and I also decided to start A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories and read the 1st story. This is my 1st foray into Ms. O' Connor and she's the real deal. Wow. Dark & edgy, with a wicked wit, just my cuppa. I wonder if Gillian Flynn is a fan! I wouldn't be surprised.

>122 DorsVenabili:: "94 holds on first copy returned of 14 copies."
Yeah, Kerri, my library had a similar queue so I caved and bought it. No regrets!

I'm not taking part in the Bradbury group read but I'm watching with some interest from the sidelines, because my 16yo daughter has to read it this summer for her English class (along with Dracula, which she just finished and wasn't particularly excited about). I'm glad to see you enjoying it, Mark.

Kath- Yes, I cheated a little on the Bradbury G.R. I had to get a head start, because I'm doing the audio and I know I won't have a chance to listen to very much on Sunday. I did make it to chapter 38. Boy, is it good!

Linda- Train Dreams would be perfect for a little taste. It's only a 115 pages. I've had Tree of Smoke in the stacks too. I NEED to get to that one.

Kerri- I tried a Metropolitan, awhile back, maybe from Traders, but I don't recall which one. Good luck finding a copy of Gone Girl. If we lived a little closer, I would lend you my copy. Looking forward to next Saturday!

Caro- Yes, I've been avoiding the duds. Hope that streak continues and yes, I am loving Something Wicked. Thanks again.

Donna- Thanks! I can not wait to turn off the a/c, just for a few days anyway. Open them windows, especially at night. Fingers crossed.

Benita- I can't wait for you to get into in Other Rooms. It's so good. This time I will have to agree with your bookie friends: Gone Girl is a winner.
Poor Ringo. He's super rich, he can handle it. McCartney was at Wrigley Field a couple summers ago, when it was broiling and I think he played his usual 3 hour + show.

Paul- Fortunately my feet handle this heat very well, although I can't wait to kick of those clunky shoes when I get home.
Yes, I'm drinking a Modelo with a lime, in a frosty glass, as I type. Hmmmmmmm!

RD- Thanks, my friend! It's been a long stretch. I think we've been dealing with this for at least 8 or 9 days straight. Actually, it could be longer but I don't want to think about that.

Ilana- Thanks! And yes, you are right, it does make you appreciate every little thing. That little northern breeze today felt luxurious.

Anne- Good to see you! Glad you cooled off and got some rain. That's what we need now. Everything looks so dry & brittle.

Cooler here, Mark. Only 82 or so. Hope you're soon enjoying the slightly less hot temps.

I was at that hot Paul McCartney concert at Wrigley. It was about as warm and uncomfortable as I've ever been. I can't see how he performed for 3 hours.

I'm still waiting for my thunderstorms! grrr

I'm in the queue for Gone Girl. I can't wait!

I am baffled to find how many have not read Bradbury.
I think I first read him in HS. But, glad to know that more are finding him now..

Concert? ye gods. sounds hot

HI Mark
I look forward to seeing your thoughts (and those of everyone on the group read) on Something Wicked. I would have joined in but I can't find it on ebook and I'm too lazy to drive 30 minutes to the book store to buy it. I will live vicariously through you all for now.

Hope your weather cools off soon! Did you get those thunderstorms that I was sending south? They are heading to see Suz and Richard but hopefully they visit you on the way ;)

Congrats on reaching 75 Mark!
My father was a mailman Mark and moved us from NY to Florida to avoid the cold winters. I would pick cold over hot any day!
Stay cool and drink plenty of water :)

you guys sure need a break from it

We went out for dinner, had a couple brews and then came back and watched "Newsroom". I'm on the fence with this show. It's a show that tries to hard, despite a likable cast. I may give it a couple more episodes. We'll see.

We turned off the a/c! Yah! Very nice outside right now.

Laura- Good to see you! I miss your visits. I wish you could have joined us on the Bradbury. It's really good.

Linda- I thought you had attended that very HOT McCartney show. At least it was a good one. Now, let's enjoy a couple comfortable days.

RD- Hope the thunderstorms arrive. We have a small chance over night. I hope gone Girl works for you and it doesn't become another Case Histories. Fingers crossed.

Kath- Good point, about Bradbury. I did read 451 several years ago, (loved it) but have not read anything else by him until recently. Sometimes it just takes the right trigger and LT is perfect for this.
No outdoor concerts planned for me. No way!

Chelle- We could use the rain but I'm just glad it cooled off. I've been waiting and praying for it. Sorry, you couldn't join us on something Wicked. If I had not found it on audio, I doubt I would have been on board either.

Kara- Thanks! The devil pic is perfect. The nation has been cooking. "I would pick cold over hot any day!" Amen, my friend!

Congrats on 75!

Congrats on hitting 75 Mark! Hope you have lower temps today!! We were lucky up here, yesterday it only got up to the 80's in the afternoon.

>139 msf59:: Good to see you! I miss your visits
Aw, that's sweet Mark. Actually I visit all the time, but I've just been lurking. Will try to chime in more often!

Lovely morning! Doors & windows open. Nice little breeze. A storm brewing in the southeast, not sure if it will come this way. We could use it.

Jim- Thanks! Good to see you sir.

Tammy- Yes, I felt that refreshing cool breeze coming from the north yesterday afternoon. Heavenly. It supposed to be in the low 80s today, mid-80s for the next few days. Should feel great. Enjoy your Sunday.

Laura- We get spoiled around here quickly. LOL. BTW- Thanks again for the Winterson interview link. It was excellent. I hope I can squeeze in Oranges sometime this year.

74) Island of Vice by Richard Zacks 3.7 stars

New York City in the 1890s. Rife with corruption, prostitution and gambling. A dangerous place, where every vice is readily available and nearly every cop can be paid to look the other way. Enter Theodore Roosevelt. Newly minted Police Commissioner, given the monumental task of taking on Tammany Hall and the “Island of Vice”.
Zacks captures the atmosphere of this period with uncanny detail and for the first half of this book it works perfectly but then the immense detail, court-transcripts, endless legal battles, feel repetitive after awhile and begin to bog the narrative down.
T.R. is one of my favorite historical figures and I love reading about him, so even if this book didn’t work completely, I still recommend it for another glimpse into a fascinating and complex American.



These photos were taken by Jacob Riis, a famous muckraker, who toured the dirty streets with T.R.

I've got Island of Vice on my presidential reading list. I may need an entire year just to do TR.

Thumbs way up for Island of Vice, Mark! Have you read River of Doubt yet?

75) The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O'Nan 4 stars

“odds of a married couple reaching their 25th anniversary: 1 in 6”

Art and Marion decide to spend Valentine’s Day weekend at Niagara Falls (the cauldron of new beginnings), where they spent their honeymoon, decades earlier. Both their marriage and financial situation is on the verge of collapse. Can this getaway, reignite their love? Can the tough odds of a casino, put them solvent again?
O’Nan captures the mundane details of life, with a perfect ear. I also enjoyed an extended scene, with this middle-aged couple awkwardly jamming to a Heart concert. Good stuff.

Okay, productive morning so far. Knocked a couple Mark's Mini-Reviews out, (still planning out the one for Gone Girl), went for a very pleasant bike ride and then after returning home, I immediately tended to the garden, where a war is taking place, between my tomato plants and the evil encroachment of grass and weeds. All cleared out now, looking good.
The rest of the day, I hope, will be with my nose firmly in a book.

Tina- T.R. is someone I never tire of reading about. Still my favorite is the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, the 1st of a trilogy on the great man. I still have to get to the final volume.

RD- Thanks for the thumb! And yes, I'm a huge fan of River of Doubt. I NEED to get to Millard's latest, which sits neglected on a shelf. Poor thing.

Nice mini-reviews (that would be my style as well); best of luck winning the garden war and be gentle with your nose!

I love your mini-reviews because they are so easy to read and don't take long to read! Especially when there are so many threads to catch up on. :)
How you are able to always concisely capture everything without needing to writing and essay is beyond me! Great job as always Mark

Agreed, I like the mini reviews..

I myownself am a fan of a Roosevelt as well. Eleanor...I inever tire of reading about her
and her rowdy-ish and interesting life.

Mark, I think your mini-reviews are spot-on. They outline the subject/plot in a few sentences and give your thoughts on it. So many people right looong "reviews" that consist of mostly rehashing the plot or subject and then give a sentence of what they liked or didn't like about it. They should save their energy and take a page from you on writing a more effective response!

And the O'Nan mini review was #75! Yay!

Kim- Thanks! So far I'm being gentle with my nose. Yah!

Valerie- Thank you very much for the kind words. See, I told you how much I missed having you around? LOL.
Who knows, maybe I'm to lazy to write full reviews, but the minis fit me well, so I'll be continuing.

Kath- I really should read more about Eleanor. I've really only experienced her, through my reading of FDR. Do you recall what your favorite book on her was?

Katie- Thank you very much! I tend to write the teaser reviews I like to read BEFORE, reading the book. I always read the lengthier ones after.

Rd- Thank you sir! Hope you are also enjoying some cooler weather.

Yeah...I'm a good one for the ego. ;)
Have a great Sunday and hopefully it cools down for you!

Nope...2:20p and 90.

I. HATE. SUMMER.

Hey, I just got notified I won a copy of The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, aka Chinaman. This one looks very promising. They just did a Group Read of it over on the Bookrageous podcast. Yipee!

Valerie (my favorite ego-builder)- Have you read Divergent? It looks like your kind of book. I'm going to start Insurgent, the follow-up, today. I've heard good things.

RD- I feel your pain, my friend, or at least the weather-related parts. Keep cool.

Howdy, Mark! Glad you're having a Bookish Sunday! And, glad to hear that it's not 100+ degrees there any more. It's about 80 here, little humid, but there's a breeze - I'll take it! I still haven't started Insurgent, I'm saving it for when I need to boost out of a reading slump, but I look forward to your thoughts on it. Happy you got to meet another LTer, Lisa, and that you guys had such a nice time. Who would've thought that there'd be so many friendships from this little website, hey?!?

Tell Sue that I'm halfway through the third Grey book, and that I agree with her - the second one is much better than the first! Speaking of, I should step away from the computer and pick that thing up instead. Later!

"All his life Robert Grainier would remember the burned valley at sundown, the most dream-like business he'd ever witnessed waking--the brilliant pastels of the last light overhead, some clouds high and white, catching daylight from the valley, others ribbing the peaks of Bussard and Queen mountains; and beneath this wondrous sky the black valley, utterly still, the train moving through it making a great noise but unable to wake this dead world."

-Train Dreams

Yes, I finished this slim volume, packed with such beauty. Plus I learned an interesting word- pulchritude: physical comeliness. Try to use that in a sentence.
And I'm crazy about this cover:

I'm glad you liked Train Dreams, Mark! It was a winner for me, too.

Yes, Train Dreams was a good one! I would have been happy to see it win the Pulitzer, but maybe they thought it was too short.

And congrats on 75!

Wow you have really cranked out the reviews Mark. I know I want to read Train Dreams even though I wasn't a fan of Tree of Smoke. And since it's a slim volume, maybe I can squeeze it in soon.

YIKES! I am finally caught up here, and I was only gone for ONE day!! Loved the mini reviews, adore the nicer weather, so glad that you liked Train Dreams, he was dazzled by her pulchritude.

See - now I'm all caught up! Hope it was a great day for you!

>154 msf59:
Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933
Eleanor Roosevelt : Volume 2 , The Defining Years, 1933-1938
Cook, Blanche Wiesen

Sadly, I loaned them out an they are gone.

We just finished an indie film called "Higher Ground", starring Vera Farmiga, (Up in the Air). She also directed it and did a fantastic job. It's about a woman, growing up and struggling with her faith. Sounds weak, but is anything but. Potent stuff.

Laura- Almost missed you up there. I read about 60 pages of Insurgent and it grabs you pretty quickly. And yes, I had a nice visit with LT Lisa. She should be back home now.

Katie & Anne- Thanks! Once again, LTers nudged me into reading Train Dreams and I was not disappointed.

Bonnie- Since they are minis, I can crank 'em out a little faster. I was hoping to pull together the Gone Girl, but didn't get to it. Sorry, you didn't care for Tree of smoke. I've had that one in the stacks for awhile and will eventually get to it.
Hey, I picked up the audio of the Age of Miracles. Yah! See, I'm your favorite stalker or i hope so anyway.

Mamie- See, no skipping for a day! LOL. Perfect use of "pulchritude". I'm impressed. I'm looking forward to reading more Johnson.

Kath- Thank you! It gives me a starting point. Hugs!

Hiya there #126! I mean Mark! ; )

Morning, Mark! Just making sure that I stay caught up over here. Hope you have a good Monday - WahHOO for cooler weather!!

They did not read like history, those ER books..
Very well written, very entertaining, like the lady herself.

Monday, Monday, huh? Lots of things going on book-wise: I should be wrapping up the most excellent Something Wicked today, I also started Insurgent, which should prove to be the perfect fast summer read and I'll be dipping in and out of the O' Connor collection.

Kim- That's one of my many aliases! LOL. Have a terrific week.

Morning Mamie (And it's really morning!)- It was nice to have the a/c off a couple nights running. 86 today but with lower humidity, it should be comfortable, especially after that nightmarish heat of last week.

Morning Kath- Thanks again! that's good to know. No time for any dry slow narratives.

At least monday is now over for me. :)

On the way home I popped into my favourite bookshop to grab a book for bookgroup. It was expensive and isn't a book I was particularly keen on reading (but it's a new bookgroup so one should make an effort!), so to cheer myself up I also picked up Something Wicked. A bit late for the group read, but I'm still looking forward to it!

I did start River of Smoke but will have to put it aside for a few days. Bum, I was really enjoying it too!

Hi Mark! I feel so much better now that you are cool :)

Can't believe how great Bradbury is - I've read his stuff so loooong ago, I forgot. Now enjoying a re-awakening of the pleasure of reading his works.

River of Smoke is going slow for me - only because of my ear problem and inability to read the last 2 weeks.

Hope you have a great weather week!

I'm home - trying to catch up on threads - the Riis pictures are fascinating and sobering aren't they?

Hi Mark! Hope you love Insurgent, I thought it was pretty great
Hope you have a cool and comfortable week!

Mark, at least here in Tennessee the heat is breaking, but the humidity is rising. I find myself thinking of you, my friend. Please take care, keep hydrating, and wear a hat. :-)
I'm having a good visit with my cousins, although the three kittens plus one cat plus one dog plus three horses...... all are somewhat distracting from reading time (especially the kittens!).

You're a Jack Reacher fan, are you not? I picked up 61 Hours for a vacation match to Wolf Hall, and I brought Zoo Station with me for the flight home. It's a good mix.

Yup, you are totally right Mark. It is completely up my alley, BUT, I want to wait till the entire series is over before I start the first book. I don't know why I do that since it's not like I would read all three books in a row, but I guess if there was a reason to my OCDness, it wouldn't be an OCD. :) I hope you are having a cooler Monday!

A piffling 84 for the high today! W00t!!

Mark-a-doodle-doo...go get The Lifeboat. I think its storytelling voice, and the sheer velocity of the story it tells, will make it a summer audio joy for you.

I am really happy I read it.

Still hot here, but now we have a forecast of rain. Even if it doesn't rain it should cool off.

I finished River of Smoke and loved it. I thought it was a better book than was Sea of Poppies. This has bad bad guys and good good guys, as well as those who fit into the grey areas. But most of all it is history told in a way that makes it accessible. Neel continues to grow as a person, And I loved those letters from Robin. His love of life just jumps off the page. Poor Bahram - caught in the middle and very aware that he doesn't fit in anywhere.

Now it is back to the salt mines with David Copperfield and a new novel for my book discussion group Songs for the Butcher's Daughter.

Tania- Glad your Monday is over and mine is too, at least the work part of it. I finished Something Wicked and it was a lot of fun. I will have to own a copy of this one, for future perusal. This is the 2nd one in a row of his, I've really loved. I hope you can get back to ROS.

Claudia- Seeing you back over here, always puts a smile on my face. I've missed you. I finished and loved Something Wicked. I can not believe I've never read this! Hope you can get back to ROS. You have a good week too!

Lucy -If you look through Riis's other photos from that period, most of them are heart-breaking. It was a tough time.

Chelle- I'm over a 120 pages into Insurgent. It's a perfect light read for me, right now.

Ellen- I love animals and the outdoors, so your cousins place sounds fantastic. Hope you are having a good time. I have read the 1st 2 Reacher books and I liked them but I can't say I'm a big fan. Enjoy Zoo Station, now that's a good series!

Valerie- I think this Divergent series will be a trilogy. I sure hope so. She's a fast writer, so hopefully it'll be out next year. You'll read through them quick.

RD- I listened to The Lifeboat a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. I'm glad you did too. I'm curious to see where Rogan goes next.

Benita- The low humidity is really helping us out. It's still very warm, high 80s but at least I can escape it, when I need to. It's only supposed to be 62 overnight. Yesssss....
Congrats on finishing ROS and you loved it! We'll have to do a G.R. of the 3rd book whenever that's released.

76) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 4.5 stars

On the morning of their fifth anniversary, Nick kisses Amy goodbye and heads to work. When he returns, later that day, Amy has disappeared. There seems to have been a struggle in the house and blood is found. Nick is shocked and upset but he seems to be hiding something. Lies abound.
Reading this taunt, darkly, wicked tale, is like touring a funhouse. There may not be any monsters leaping out like banshees (another lie perhaps?) but there are plenty of shadowy corridors, twisting down deceptive passages and as the reader takes each shuddering step, there is a niggling fear that the floor beneath you will collapse at any moment.
Flynn is the real deal. She has crafted a top-notch psychological thriller. Read it, but first make sure you pay the creepy fat guy at the door.

I REALLY want to get to that one, Mark. Very nice review. If I didn't already have it, you would have sold it to me.

For those of you who haven't met Mark, I can now confirm that he is as nice in person as he is on the threads! And check out those calves!



We had a wonderful chat and only ventured outside for a quick photo. Notice how empty the streets are because of the heat.

Have the first two Gillian Flynn's and will start the first one soon. Gone Girl has received probably the most consistently positive reviews I have seen for a thriller on the threads.

Lisa - thanks for putting up the photo - you both look great. Take care under that canopy though it looks as if its full of books.

:-)

Big calves, white ankles! That's me! I can't believe how lucky we got, that there happened to be a Book sign, right there! Thanks Lisa!

Gone Girl is firmly on the to read list.

And yes, those are beautiful calves. ;)

Mamie- Thanks! It's a hellava book and it's also one you can't say much about. The joy is going down those twisty unknown paths.

Paul- Yes, it's first-rate. I read sharp Objects a couple years ago and it was also very good. She is one dark puppy though. I also have Dark Places in the stacks.
That was Anderson's Bookstore, downtown Downers Grove. Lisa popped in there before we met at a coffee shop next door and picked up a volume of Wodehouse.

Valerie- Thanks! See what 26 years of walking can get you? Besides arthritis, back pain and knee troubles. LOL.

LOL! You can't believe there was a sign near you that said BOOKS? Ah, Mark! You funny. Of course you always go to book-type places. We all do! They are like magnets ;-)

Hi Mark, I was so busy over the weekend I didn't have time for any thread visiting and now I am paying the price, trying madly to catch up! Looks like the books are flying through your hands these days - congrats on reaching and passing your 75. So many good books and so many additions to my wishlist. Of course I have caught the Gone Girl bug, along with a few others. Glad to hear that the heat has abated somewhat, but at least you have beer o'clock to look forward to each day!

Lisa - Thanks for posting the picture! BOOKS, LOL...too bad there wasn't a BEER sign nearby.

I still have to read Dark Places, too, Mark. I think it'll be hard to top Gone Girl.

Love the picture! Yeah, yeah. Gone Girl. I should get it. I know already!

Great photo! I loved your review of Gone Girl -- I reserved my turn for it at the library (at number 413...)

>144 msf59: looks a great idea for a book, but the bogging down of it in details makes me wary

>181 labfs39: now that you mention it, the streets are very bare! Looks like you braved it for the sake of books. Excellent.

>187 msf59: See what 26 years of walking can get you? Besides arthritis, back pain and knee troubles. LOL.
Wow, Mark, you're only 26? ;)

Megan - very droll!

#179 - Nice review, Mark! I look forward to that one.

#181 - And Anderson's! Do you know Kathleen and Julia, the mother/daughter team who works there? They're friends and former piano students.

Claudia- Actually, this was a small bookshop, no where to sit down. Caribou Coffee was right next door though, worked out perfectly.

Judy- Great to see you and yes the books keep coming. That's what we're about, right? I'm enjoying insurgent too!

Joanne- Ha, ha! A beer sign would have capped it off. I'll try reading Dark Places this year.

Kim- You'll have to try meeting up with the Washington group, the next time they get together and yes, get your hands on Gone Girl.

Anne- Thanks! Just keep in mind this is dark, disturbing stuff, not your usual fare.

Megan- Good observation about the quiet street. It was a 100 that day but you could never tell by my goofy grin. How did you so perfectly split my age in half? LOL.
And actually I don't have knee problems and the other 2 are fairly tame, so I'm okay.

Morning Mark! Just stopping into stay caught up. Carry on!

Good review Mark! Read it, but first make sure you pay the creepy fat guy at the door. Well that just makes me want to read it even more!

Big "thumb" for Gone Girl..........but, you knew that already..

And, who is that guy up there???? He sounds familiar...

;-}

"The pint looked like all the prayers I'd ever hoped to have answered. The Jameson, riding point was its own glory."

-Cross

Yes, I'm already deep into book six of the Jack Taylor series. This is my first venture into listening to these books and it's wonderful. The narrator himself, is Irish, so that adds the perfect tone & texture. And I thought ahead and have the hard copy at hand, to keep up with the endless quotes. I am crazy about Bruen.
I'm also chugging along with Insurgent, which is light & fun and I'm also squeezing in a story or 2 of the Flannery O' Connor collection. Book Busy, the way I like it!

Big wave & hug to Mamie!

Chelle- Thanks! I hope you snag a copy soon! It's a winner and there is a creepy fat guy involved.

Jude- Flynn is your type of writer. Dark, witty and oh so wicked.
"And, who is that guy up there???? He sounds familiar..." I'm not hip? Clarify, please!

I just know that I'm going to regret this because I feel another series headed my way, but who is Jack Taylor?

>200 msf59:

Oh jeesh...the picture in #181...and i replaced "sounds" for "looks"....since i've never actually Seen you
(God, you take all the fun out of word play)

Are you Hip, now???

;-}

Mamie- Jack Taylor is the exquisite creation of Ken Bruen. He's a tough Irish alcoholic ex-cop, sometime P.I., who loves books and music. Try The Guards, if you are sold, (you will be!), you can continue. I think there are 9 in the series. I really can't stop raving about these books.

Jude- Another mushy-minded guy, huh? That's me. Actually, I though that might be what you were referring to, but just wanted to make sure. I should have stole a glance at Sexy Burka Girl first!

Ok, you've sold me on Gone Girl, Marky-Mark. I'll add it to my obese wish list and wait for it to come out in paperback. I've been put on a hardcover book ban by the hubster who is claiming they take up way too much room on the bookshelves .... I of course took pains to stare pointedly at his books, almost half of which are hardcover too and he did have the grace to blush, but hurriedly said that the ban would apply to him as well.

>179 msf59: I like that funhouse connection Mark and how right you are. That's a very good descriptor. I want to read Dark Places too.

*waving* at Mark

Okay, I added The Guards to my WL! Thanks for the info.

Okay, the 5th and final season, of the best show on TV starts Sunday night. Be there or be square. Set them DVRs!
I know Bonnie is watching it. Any other fans?

I have never seen that show.

Caro- Like I mentioned to Paul, we need to all live in the same community, so we can pass our books onto each other, like over the fence. I just lent out my copy of GG but probably won't see it for a long while.
Those hardback bans are tough! Good luck.

Bonnie- I thought of the funhouse thing early on. I thought it fit.

Stasia- Great to see you stranger! Wait....where you going?

Mamie- I actually started a little Jack Taylor Club at work and got a little group reading them. They are addictive, like the Dr. Siri series , but much darker and unrelenting at times. Please try The Guards.
Try to hunt down the 1st season of Breaking Bad, it's only 6 or 7 episodes. You should be sold on it immediately.

I'm with Mamie. Never even hears of the show before and just based on the poster, no clue what it would be about either!

Mark - I promise to try The Guards. And I will check Netflix for Breaking Bad. You haven't steered me wrong yet.

#208 - I love Breaking Bad! We'll be watching, for sure. While it's not as close to my heart as Battlestar Galactica, in my opinion, it's one of the best TV shows EVER.

I never saw it either, Mamie. I have to say that I think I am becoming addicted to talk shows..
Yesterday was a no reading day, but it was sure interesting.. maybe today a book will open for me.

Morning gang! I'm off today. Yah! Nice cool morning. I plan on taking a bike ride and then the dentist and a few errands. Afternoon reserved for reading.

"Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies."

That's a quick synopsis! All I can say, is this show is like a roller-coaster of emotion, fear and excitement and the acting is out of this world.

Valerie- I hope that description of BB helps.

Morning Mamie- That's perfect you have Netflix. You can give the show a shot without to much effort.

Kerri- Another BB fan! Yah! I think it's so perfect that they are ending it after 5 seasons, while it's still at the top of it's game. I loved Battlestar too!

Morning Kath- I hope you get a little more reading in today but whatever you do, kick back and enjoy the day.

Sounds like an intense show Mark!

Hope you have a great day off. Sounds like you will be productive, except I'm not too fond of the dentist. A necessity of life I wish we could avoid. :)

'Breaking Bad' sounds like powerful stuff mate. My Dad has gone the same way really chasing a pot of gold (unfortunately at the expense of his son/my twin) in order to put away a cool 1.6 million as a result of a leukaemia diagnosis which (thankfully) turned out not to be, in any event, life-threatening.

Mark, it was YOU who turned me on to The Lifeboat!! I forgot. Sorry...senior moment!

Breaking Bad is some excellent writing. But, may I just bring to your attention, Firefly is getting a reunion special, being filmed as we speak at ComiCon!! The Science Channel so informed me today. I'd've linked you to the story on Facebook, but I know you don't spend much time there.

78) Train Dreams by Denis Johnson 4.3 stars

“It was only when you left it alone that a tree might treat you as a friend. After the blade bit in, you had yourself a war.”

Robert Granier was born in the 1880s and the story trails alongside him, through the early part of the last century, as he toils through various day labor jobs, working on railroad tracks and bridges, attempting to raise a family and hack out a life in the rough and tumble landscape of the American west. Johnson’s prose is strong and evocative, capturing a nearly mystical time in our history, with perfect and stark detail. A spare, beautifully written novella. One not to be missed.

Okay, since my LT pals loved Binocular Vision, it's been high on my WL and then I got lucky and snagged a used copy from Bookmooch. The bummer is, I received a large white envelope in my mailbox the other day, (poorly packaged) completely empty. Boo! The book must have fallen out or got swiped and since a large part of the population could give a crap about that book, I vote for the former.

To ease my literary sadness, I stopped by my local used/new bookstore and picked up:
Birdsong Many LT recs on this one.
Zeitoun A keeper copy!
the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind I think Joe was a huge fan of this one.
All for $7.40
I'm happy again.

Valerie- I don't mind the dentist for cleaning, it's the other stuff that I don't enjoy.

Paul- Sounds like you are living your own Breaking Bad show! I just hope your father didn't have to go these despicable depths, to earn a buck. If you can try to catch this show, do it!

RD- Glad you liked The Lifeboat and I totally understand the senior moment thing. Thanks for the Firefly info. Fans have been craving for that!

Nice review, Mark. Sorry to hear about your Bookmooch book. What a bummer! At least you found some consolation at the new/used bookstore. :-)

But you still don't have Binocular Vision. Why not get it from the library Mark? That's what I ended up doing. At some point I'll get a keeper copy. I just gave hubby the Firefly info and he's ecstatic.

I finished another good YA novel. As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway. You are right there is lots of talent among the YA authors and I can say that even though it is my job to know about YA authors. I meat the author of this book and his talk about it made me want to read it. So I bought a copy and had him sign it. Then when I decided that I wouldn't get around to reading it anytime soon and found a used copy from Amazon that was nice and cheap. The postman delivered it to me a couple of months ago and I knocked it out this last month. The story starts out with the high school boy meets intriguing pretty high school girl. She challenges him mentally and physically and thereby expands his world. Then one day she disappears. The only clue is a dress laid out perfectly on the the white ice next to a hole in the ice. Is she dead? Or has she simply disappeared as the boy thinks with the hope that she will return? In many ways this is a study in grief and life in a family with a mother and father who have never gotten past their own grief. It is also filled with the typical teenage angst stuff. The thing is that it is written in such a way that it has great appeal as a puzzler as well as a psychological study. The only problem with is that instead of ending with a bang it just sort of fizzles out at the end. If that kind of thing does not bore you this is a book you will like to read.

Oh, I just squeaked excitedly at the Firefly info! Oh, you've made my day!

I did watch a bit of Breaking Bad, but it came out just when Mum was diagnosed with cancer (she's all fine now, thank goodness) so I didn't have the stomach for it. And I so rarely find time to watch TV! Keeps on getting in the way of good books.

Although I will admit I've been bingeing on "The Guild" on YouTube the past few weeks. I think 5 minute episodes suit my attention span at the moment. ;)

I'll also second Mark's recommendation of the "Jack Taylor" series, I've read the first three and they've all been excellent. I have to have a break between them though, they're too dark and intense to read close together for me.

Hi Mark, I'm sorry to hear about your Bookmooch book -- how disappointing! Glad you could ease your literary sadness with some great books, and for not much money!

Drat drat drat - just had to order Montana 1948 and Train Dreams - tempter! The Odds is out in PB in a few weeks, so I shall wait till then. Can't find Round Mountain on BD anywhere. Will have to try Amazon, I guess. Always interesting reading and great reviews at your place!

Hi Mark, doing a fly by catch up. Off to take the kids on a double decker bus ride, luckily for me Little Lenny found the chocolate melts in the baking drawer so is sugar and caffeine filled for what is supposed to be a sedentary ride.....

Oh Mark, I'm so sorry about Binocular Vision! When I was still active in BM, I got one completely wrong book one time, but never had a book go missing entirely like that.

Now go read Damascus.

I met a friend and his girlfriend for dinner and a couple of beers. A nice way to cap off a good off day. The heat returns tomorrow, back to 90 and more humidity Friday. Booooooooooo...!

Lisa- Good to see you! Hope you are settled in at home. I'll be watching for your book reading.

Bonnie- Yes, I could easily get Binocular Vision from the library but I have such a thicket of books to get through, I'm hesitant to do it. I WILL read BV!

Benita- Thanks for the book report and As Simple As Snow is firmly on the WL. It really sounds good.

Tania- I thought I heard some squealing. If you have a chance try to get back into Breaking Bad. It really is an outstanding show and I don't say that about to many shows. And yes, Ken Bruen Rules! The audio of Cross has been terrific.

Anne- The irritating part of the BM story was, I thought it was a book from a different party and location, The Gods of Gotham, so I was sending messages to the wrong people about the missing book. The person from BM never marked the book SENT, so I wasn't expecting Binocular Vision. Whew, I hope that makes sense.

Prue- Nice to see you. You got some good books to get through and most of them are shorties, which is a bonus. Good luck finding Round Mountain. I sent my copy to an LTer in New England.

Megan- What has Lenny got into now? That's my boy!

RD- Yes, I'm bummed about the BM snafu. I've generally had pretty good luck. I'm just surprised she sent a hardback in a simple white envelope, not padded or bubble-wrapped.

Catching up on your thread... congrats on 75, Gone Girl is already on my list but if it hadn't been your review would have put it there, and hope you're able to get your hands on a copy of Binocular Vision especially after all that trouble! :)

Train Dreams as many noted was a shoe-in for you mate...and I haven't even read it yet! Looking forward to seeing what you make of Cross.

Hi Mark, We are all caught up on Breaking Bad and can hardly wait for Sunday!



I didn't get this until I saw it a second time. :)

eta - I've given up on Newsroom but Veep is really growing on me.

coppers, yep, word on the street (okay, within my downloading chums in my Sydney book circles) is that Newsroom isn't much chop. And that Aaron Sorkin's best work (the wonderful West Wing) had many other writers who weren't openly acknowledged by Mr Sorkin. I'm afraid he's slumped in my estimation. (Although he did do The Social Network as well, didn't he?)

Mark, I will get back into Breaking Bad. Along with Games of Thrones, Deadwood, Dexter, Misfits, etc. The only dramas I make serious time for are Castle and Doctor Who (although "drama" is stretching it a bit with those two silly shows :). I can't seem to really squeeze anything else into the schedule! (And I'm already behind on Castle by about 5 episodes, and Doctor Who isn't even screening at the moment...)

Who is narrating your copy of the Ken Bruen book? The library hasn't got a print version, but they have an audio version read by Gerry O'Brien. I may dip my toe into the audio book world.

>234 wookiebender: wookie - Interesting. I wonder where those other writers are now? I was thinking of just rewatching West Wing - it'd be a lot more fun. Since you like Castle, and presumably Nathan Fillion, have you watched Firefly?(Sorry, I'm always trying to plug it!)

I've seen Firefly several times over, and even managed to swing a preview screening of Serenity, back in the day.

The local Joss Whedon fanbase (I believe they were called Browncoats once) are awesome. They got us the preview screenings (I don't know who they had to kill to make that happen, but I'm happy to help bury any bodies as required), and recently had an effective internet campaign to get us screenings of his latest movie, "The Cabin in the Woods". Village Roadshow were going to put it straight to DVD, and the campaign was along the lines of "you do that, and we'll buy it from England, see if we don't". They relented, and gave us a limited run (extended twice!). I got out to it last week and I think it's the most enjoyable movie I've seen all year. Even if I didn't see huge swathes of it because I was covering my eyes during most of the slasher bits. But the rest was truly great.

Mary- Thanks for stopping by, always good to see you!

Paul- Hopefully I can tackle Tree of smoke sometime this year. Check out the tasty quote in #200. Yes, Cross is going well. I'll finish it today. Bruen Rules.

Joanne- Love the Saul poster! LOL. That character has become incredibly humbled (scared shitless) by the end of the 4th season. We might be abandoning Newsroom too. To bad, we could use a good show to follow. I'll have to go back and catch up on Veep.

Tania- I loved Sorkin's writing in The Social Network but Newsroom is trying way to hard and the seams are always showing, despite a good cast.
There has been a lull in my TV watching. Many nights the TV stays silent. I've been trying to catch up here and there with a few movies.
And yes, the Bruen audio is narrated by O'Brien and he does a solid job. I hope he narrates all of them. I have the last 3 books saved on audio, as well.

Not even trying to catch up.. just keeping track of you...hope all is giid in Markland.

Just went and put The Guards by Ken Bruen on hold at the library. You are so dangerous, Mark.

It was great to see a pic of you and Lisa (having met her, I can say I now have one degree of separation from you!).

I have Binocular Vision (signed copy!) on my TBR shelf and feel as you do -- I WILL read it!

Hi, Mark. Wow, lots going on! Glad you liked Something Wicked and you're enjoying Insurgent. I raced right through Zoo Station and joined the fan club. I belatedly thumbed your excellent Gone Girl review, and now have that one on my radar.

I hear we managed to miss some heavy Chicago heat while we were in the nice, cool early winter in Australia (50s-70s). Darn!

I haven't heard very many Book Lust podcasts w/ Nancy Pearl lately but I did hear one this morning, featuring the great John Irving. Yes, he talked a little about his new book but it is a great discussion, covering his whole career:
http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3031206

Of course, I love the Books on the Nightstand podcast too and on yesterday's show their "2 Book Picks", were the Age of Miracles, which I have saved on audio and will get to it soon and The Absolutist, which really sounded good. Ann actually recommended it for DA fans, which always catches my attention. Anyone else familiar with Boyne's work?

Waves Hi! Busy packing next child for camp. Halfway through Something Wicked. : )

Kath- Markland is very warm and will be getting hotter! But, I am now in the a/c with a cold beer and LT to keep me company. Always a good remedy.

Ellen- Funny, I just finished Cross today and it was another terrific entry into this incredibly consistent series. I hope you like the Guards as much as I do.
And yes, it was a very nice visit with Lisa. You can not beat these LTers, that's for sure.

Joe- Great to see you! I hope you are acclimating yourself. And yes, this heat has been oppressive this summer and more on the way.
And thanks for the thumb for GG! It's a must summer read!

Kim- Be easy on "next child"! How long is "next child" going for? Hope you are enjoying Something Wicked.

Hi Mark, John Boyne has been talked up recently on the What Are You Reading the Week of July 9 thread. Many readers love his work and I put a couple of the titles on my teetering tower including The Thief of Time and Mutiny: A Novel of the Bounty.

LOL! I seem to have implied that I am putting my daughter in the luggage. Not True!! Just the clothes and stuff. Then she can carry everything. "Next child" is very excited for camp. It is only a week. : )

Morning guys! It looks like a hot & muggy weekend. Ugh! At least we've been able to turn the a/c off during the nights but I don't know how long that will last. Double Ugh!

I finished the gritty escapades of Jack Taylor, in Cross and I'll finally be starting, on audio, salvage the Bones.

Bonnie- I saw that Boyne also wrote The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which I never read. I think I saw the film and had mixed feelings about it. It looks like he's quite prolific.

Kim- I'm glad "next child" wasn't packed in the luggage. Poor kid. Hope she has a great time.

Morning Mark! You are really sailing through the reading these days. Keep up the good work!

Hi Mark! I have had the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind on my shelf for a long time. Heard it was good.
When you read it, convince me I need to pick it up ;-)
Stay cool!

I too have Boy Who Harnessed the Wind on my list of TBR books.

It has finely decided to rain here. So it has been hot and muggy, but the rain is very much welcome. We need it so much. Tomorrow I will be cooking. My supper club is meeting and we are cooking Portuguese food. I am doing a couscous dish with shrimp. That means that I will be going to local farmers market to purchase lots of fresh veggies and some wild caught Gulf of Mexico Shrimp. Then spend most of Saturday listening to BookTV and cooking.

I read a few pages in David Copperfield yesterday. Now I have to renew the book from the library as it is now overdue.

Ha Ha!! All of the blue words are already on my wish list. :-}

I loved The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind! I hope you're as amazed by it as I was. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Mark, I'll be interested to see how you like Salvage the Bones. I read it last month and found it to be a very powerful exploration of poverty and family.

I started Zoo Station last night. Thank you again for sending me your copy. I'm only in chapter 2 and I love it so far!

Echoes of #251...The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind was a great read! I thoroughly recommend it. Enjoy!!

Hey, we got rain too! Funny, just after lunch, I was loading up my cart and boom it started pouring. I did get a hat and rain-jacket on, which helped but everything else, including the mail got soaked. 15-20 minutes later it pretty much stopped and then it got HUMID. Several other storm systems have been moving through the area, bringing a little bit more rain, which, like most of the country we desperately need.

Okay, enough of my silly dramas! I listened to a healthy chunk of Salvage the Bones and it's been excellent. The audio production is flawless. Ward is a very impressive writer with a nicely-tuned ear.

Mamie from Mamieland! Yah! I hope I keep sailing along with my book-reading, for at least the next 40 years or so.
Funny, a pal from work, who I've been sharing books with for a decade or so, handed me back a stack of books, I had lent him, unread and said he was through with reading print books. He said he lost the interest or desire, but he might still listen to audiobooks, (which I turned him onto, thank you very much!). All I can say is WTF??

Claudia- I'll move the Boy Who Harnessed the Wind onto my coveted "Must Read Now Shelf",(which doesn't guarantee as much as it may sound!). I hope your book reading is coming along.

Benita- Enjoy your supper club and I'm glad you got a little rain. I'm sure it helps. Also glad you dipped a little bit into DC. Yah!

Lucky you .. I'm not expecting any rain until Sunday. Today's a real scorcher ... I've been hiding indoors all day except for the time we went out for lunch and then drove down to the cupcake bakery for a few goodies.

Tammy- Drat! Foiled again. "I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too". LOL! Have a great weekend.

Joe- You were the inspiration, my friend. Hope I can bookhorn it in somewhere. At least it looks like a shorty, which helps.

Ellen- OMG! Salvage the Bones has been wonderful. Lovely prose, with the right amount of grit. Glad you enjoying Zoo Station. I NEED to track down the 2nd book.

Kim- Another nudge! Hey, it helps!

Caro- I don't think we were expecting rain either. On the forecast this morning, they mentioned a chance tonight sometime, with more chances tomorrow. We NEED it. The Midwest is getting close to drought conditions, much like many other places in the country.

Rain is good. Humidity not so much! Hope you have an excellent weekend Mr. Mark. :)

Hey Mark, I'd missed a whole lot here, but you had me hitting the wishlist button for Gone Girl and Train Dreams. I wanted to thumb your review of the former, but it wasn't on the main page...

Breaking Bad- 2 More Days!

Valerie- I'm with you a 100 per cent on the humidity issue. You have a great weekend, as well.

Ilana- Good to see you. I think my review of Gone Girl got buried. People are reading it like crazy. It's a perfect summer read. Hope you have a nice weekend.

Mark, I think I first heard about growlers on your thread. A local brewery has started producing their beer in growlers (2 litres! Six beers in one bottle!) and I grabbed one n my way home yesterday after a mammoth outing with Miss Boo. Love it, even if it barely fits into the fridge. :)

And $5 off the next growler, if I remember to take the empty one back. Nice!

Valerie and Mark - Malaysia we have rain in abundance. Unfortunately it has 90% + humidity almost constantly. Hope the showers cool you off for a great weekend.

Hi Mark,
What is Little Lenny getting into? Well, apart from the choc melts (like big choc chips), he took a handful out of his birthday cake the second that my back was turned! hehe, gotta hand it to him, he knows what to go for and what to leave. So he got a sneak preview taste of tomorrows birthday cake extravaganza. Big #1 here we come!
Hope you are having a grand weekend Mark!

Okay, I'm nearly done with Insurgent and it's been a light & fun ride. I also have about 80 pages left in the O'Connor collection and like I mentioned earlier, I am LOVING Salvage the Bones. Isn't it great when all your books are clicking?

Tania- Glad you are enjoying the growlers. The brewery near our house, has $10 growlers on Friday. I have to start remembering to swing by there and pick one up for the weekend. Love that tap taste.

Paul- Unfortunately we have some intense heat returning Mon-Wed. Booooo! Hope you are enjoying your weekend too!

Megan- I hope you guys had a great time with my boy Lenny and his fondness for choc melts. Happy Birthday, Lenny!

Mark! You're kidding me! The mail got soaked?
You must invent a stay-dry mail cart. So sad. That's worse than a wet newspaper!

I really hope, that like the hot weather this year, the frost is early :)
Read on...

Hi Mark, some nice books here.

Can I be so bold so as to claim that the pilot episode do Breaking Bad is the best pilot in the history of television.

Just checking in... no way to catch up..
hope you are ok..

Glad you are in sync with your reads! Don't you love it when you are on a roll eh!
I'm on a fluff break right now but River of Smoke is the next one on my list :)

Hiya Mark! Did you get any rain last night? It start here just before midnight and lasted for at least a half hour. While it's nowhere near enough to salvage anything outside (let alone the poor farmers and their dehydrated crops), it was lovely to see and hear. Glad you're on a good book roll! Love when that happens. :)

And unfortunately I haven't sent your stuff back to you yet - still not done with book 3 - but this next week it'll be on its' way to you, cross my heart and hope to die. :) Hope you can stay cool this weekend, and enjoy your latest growler!

(BTW, I was a World Market yesterday and finally browsed their beer section - nearly every brand you've mentioned was there! Looks like I'll be picking up a few to try!)

Hi Mark - I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. We got caught in the rain a bit in the city yesterday, but it wasn't too bad.

Salvage the Bones is on my wishlist as well. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Hi guys! Just a quick stop. We are heading out to a kid's birthday party (whoopee!) and it's way up on the far north-side, so we have to get going. Yes, I got rained on again today, but we really need the stuff, so I'm not complaining. I'll be back...

Enjoy your birthday party, Mark and remember to play nicely! ;)

Morning boys & girls! I'll be back with a new thread, possibly a review or 2.

Claudia- I don't like wet mail either, it's very hard to handle. I had it covered in my satchel but it soaked through. It wasn't terrible and it was only one loop.

Gautam- "the pilot episode do Breaking Bad is the best pilot in the history of television." Ah, a man with exquisite taste! You know you might just be right on that one. What they pack into that 90 minutes is so impressive.

Kath- Good to see you on the drive-by.

Chelle- I'm sort of doing the same thing, finished Insurgent, light & fun to Any Human Heart, a deeper more textured read. Got to keep 'em mixed up.

Laura- We did get a little rain the past 2 days. Hooray. Of course, we NEED a lot more, but it was nice to get something.
We have a World Market too but I haven't been by there yet, although I've heard good reports. Heard they have GOOD BEER!

Kerri- I hope you had a good time in the city. Have you ever been to Pitchfork? It's going on this weekend. I've been there maybe 3 times. Nice music fest.

Judy- Yes, I played nice but I was getting bored watching the kiddies play in the sprinklers, toss water balloons and squeal. They had good beer though. That helped.

hi I wanna read the book Gone Girl . is there a fre ebook for that

Move on pal! No fre books here!