Mark's Reading Place #23: A Gathering!

Currently Reading:



Audiobook:


Graphic:


Books Read So Far...

August:

90) Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne 5 stars (audio)
91) Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories by Edith Pearlman 4.7 stars
92) The Giver by Lois Lowry 4.2 stars
93) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 4.5 stars (audio) (G.R.) (OTS)
94) Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson 4 stars (audio)
95) Canada by Richard Ford 3.3 stars
96) Graceling by Kristin Cashore 3.9 stars (audio)
97) An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro 3.8 stars (OTS)
98) The Red Pony by John Steinbeck 3.7 stars (OTS)
99) The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo 3.9 stars (audio) (OTS)
100) Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders 4.2 stars
101) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 3.8 stars (OTS)
102) The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian 3.6 stars (audio)
103) The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba 4.7 stars (OTS)
104) The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell 4.3 stars (OTS)
105) The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce 3.8 stars (audio)

September:

106) The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins 3.8 stars (ER) (OTS)
107) Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan 4 stars (audio)
108) Midwinter Blood by Mons Kallentoft 3.2 stars (OTS)
109) The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 3.4 stars (audio) (OTS)
110) The Long Walk by Brian Castner 4.8 stars (audio)
111) The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers 4.6 stars (OTS)
112) Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill 4 stars (audio)
113) In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck 5 stars (G.R.)
114) The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire 4.5 stars (GN)
115) Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld 4 stars (audio)
116) Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer 4.5 stars (audio)
117) Logavina Street by Barbara Demick 4.8 stars (ER)
118) Death Without Company by Craig Johnson 4 stars (audio)
119) Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi 4.2 stars

October:

120) This is Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz 5 stars
121) The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen 3.8 stars (audio)
122) The Big Burn by Timothy Egan 4.4 stars (audio)
123) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle 4.3 stars GN
124) Every Day by David Levithan 4 stars (audio)
125) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami 4.2 stars (Group Read) (OTS)
126) March Violets by Philip Kerr 4 stars (audio) (OTS)
127) In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner 4.7 stars
128) Under and Alone by William Queen 4 stars (audio)
129) Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead 3.6 stars (audio) YA
130) More Baths Less Talking by Nick Hornby 4 stars
131) Stabs at Happiness: 13 Stories by Todd Grimson 3.8 stars (OTS)
132) Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard 5 stars (OTS)
133) The Lost Art of Reading by David L. Ulin 3.8 stars

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) Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne 5 stars
4) In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck 5 stars
5) What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes 4.7 stars
6) Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo 5 stars
7) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz 5 stars
8) Every Man in This Village is a Liar by Megan Stack 4.7 stars (audio)
9) The Long Walk by Brian Castner 4.8 stars (audio)
10) Logavina Street by Barbara Demick 4.8 stars
11) Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard 5 stars


Group Reads 2012:

November: The Pearl by John Steinbeck,Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
December: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (Steinbeckathon)

Mark I hope I'm not intruding too early to wish you a happy 23rd thread mate.

Paul- I would like nothing better for you to intrude! Hope you guys had a wonderful time at the party.

*waving on her way through*

Hi Mark: Chilly one today but 70's by Sun/Mon. Woo hoo. Come on, weekend!!

Happy new thread, and here's hoping you have a happy weekend, too! Try to keep dry today...

For fans of Barbara Demick and her amazing book Nothing to Envy, I stumbled on an article in the Chicago Tribune the other day, written by her, giving us a North Korea update: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/14/world/la-fg-north-korea-life-20121014
It's an excellent piece.
Big thanks to Joe for locating it online!

Big loving waves to Karen, Linda & Amber!!

We are having rain and possible high winds here in New Jersey. Of course, just in time for my yard sale this weekend. Oh well, all my books are on the porch and I may have the rest of the things in my two front rooms. Must..get..rid..of..STUFF...MUST!!!

123) Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle 4.3 stars

Guy Delise, is a cartoonist, who spent two months in Pyongyang North Korea, working on an animated children’s program. Through illustrations and wry observations, he shares his unique experiences. It’s funny, sad, creepy and very informative.
“North Korea is the world’s most isolated country. Foreigner’s trickle in. There’s no internet. there are no cafes. In fact there’s no entertainment. It’s hard even to leave the hotel and meeting North Koreans is next to impossible.”

And did you know, that the very first time that the Dear Leader played golf: He hit eleven holes in one! The guy is amazing!

Thanks to Laura and Joe for recommending this one.

Nice new thread, Mark!! That GN looks like a winner- might have to dip into that one. It's Friday, so hooray for that- nothing on the schedule for today, ah...bliss!

Happy New Thread, Mark! If I'm realistic, I know I'm not going to read either Demick or Delisle, but they do sound compelling. And the Dear Leader: what a man!!!

Mark - lovely colours over the fields of corn - have a lovely weekend. See we have Detroit on Monday who are bottom of the division. I feel like a lucky charm as it has been three wins in a row since I joined your Bears Bandwagon.

Hi Mark, I mostly lurked on your last thread; be assured that I am following you on your book journey even though I don't have much to say these days. Your last book reminds me that I need to read my graphic novel of the year. I'm going to keep reading one a year just to try and figure out the appeal. ;-)

Sorry folks. that's not a field of corn. It is oats. Oats are planted in the spring and ripen and are harvested in June & July. That is a summer sun not a fall one. But you would only know that if you were raised on a farm or were from Canada. Canada is the world's largest exporter of oats because oats has a short growing season. Planted as soon as the soil is warm enough to do so and harvested just before or immediately after the first frost if you are in Canada, and in July in Kansas. Usually within 90 - 120 days of planting, depending on the variety.

On-the-other-hand, corn and oats is just grass. So doesn't really matter if it is summer or fall.

Benita, what we call "corn" is maize to Brits, and what they call "corn" is wheat, oats, barley, etc. to us. They use corn as a group noun, like livestock or fruit. Perversely wrongheaded, isn't it?

Would've thumbs-upped your review, Mark, but it ain't there.

Hey Mark. Congratulations on the new thread. I've already got Pyongyang on my library list after reading Joe's review but thanks for reminding me I've got to get to it. Hope you have a great weekend.

Mary Beth- Good to see you! We've have had plenty of wind, rain and cooler temps these past few days. Have a good weekend.

Mamie- It's another GN gem! It looks like most of his are NF, which of course I love.

Peggy- Thanks! So you don't read much NF? If not, you don't know what you're missing.
Yep, you can't beat the Dear Leader! He's all the Marvel Avengers in one bundle!

Paul- I'm going to have to let the Bears organization know about you being on the bandwagon. They might send you something! I need a Bears fix, soon!

Donna- I don't mind the lurking, we all do it, just chime in occasionally. Have a good weekend.

Thanks Farmer Benita! We appreciate you setting us straight. I selected the picture for the colors and the harvest feel. Hope your week went well.

RD- Wow, I did not know that about Brits & corn. This is one smart-ass place. I didn't post the review, I thought it was a mini-mini!

Pat- Thanks! I'm looking forward to reading more of Delise's work. Have you read Nothing to Envy yet?

I love Mr. Hopper!

Nice review of Pyongyang, Mark. I also enjoyed it. Delisle's dry humor is perfect for this kind of work.

I love Mr. Hopper, too. He captures the woman's posture so perfectly!

Happy New Thread Mark! I was sure I'd put Pyongyang on the wishlist last year when I saw a review by keristars about it, but I guess I thought it would be too bleak for me at the time. That was before I'd read Nothing to Envy of course. Now, this is one book they were sure to have at the library since Delisle is French Canadian after all!

eta: I love Hopper's sense of colour, among other things.

Hooray!
New thread! With pictures!

Hi Mark, TGIF! I'm so glad you enjoyed Pyongyang! I've got his Jerusalem sitting on my dining room table, waiting for me to pick it up. And it's still early days in Nothing to Envy for me, but I'm getting ready to hunker down with it in just a few minutes. So far so excellent. :) Hope you're enjoying this brisk fall weather!

Ellen- I'm looking forward to reading more of Delisle. His Burma books looks interesting and I saw Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City at my library.

Karen- You can't get enough Hopper! What did you decide on reading next?

Ilana- Pyongyang was my 3rd North Korea related read this year and I really enjoyed all of them. I NEED to get to Escape from Camp 14, which sounds like another winner.

Megan- Thanks! You have to dress the thread up with some style and color. We can't have drab around here.



Isn't this a cool painting?

It's getting that time of year, so I thought I would throw it out there. Would everyone be up for Mark's Christmas Swap again this year? We have had it the past 2 years and it has been a lot of fun. I'll put up a poll. If it looks like a go, I'll have everyone PM me to confirm. Sound good?

Excuse me - what is Mark's Christmas Swap? I'm just a rookie.

Oh, these darn rookies! Here's my note from last year:

"Okay, for the Christmas Swap, I compile a list with everyone interested and randomly match them up with someone else on the list. You buy 1 or 2 books for that person using their wishlist or your own razor-sharp intuition. 25 bucks, including shipping. We try to keep it reasonable. Open to the US and Canada. International rates can be ridiculous."

Sounds fun - I would be up for that.

Mamie- Just PM me the new address. And make sure you have an updated wishlist or do a separate Swap List. Whatever you feel comfortable with.

Hi Mark, well I don't care if they're oats or wheat they make an awful pretty picture Mark. I wish I liked GNs but I don't and unlike my friend Donna, I will not force myself to try and figure out what other people find interesting about them. I read two and that will do me for now. It's not like I don't have 400 other books staring me in the face that I could read;-)

We watched the DVD of "The Cabin in the Woods". It will not be for everyone. It's a crazy mix of horror, reality show and comedy. Gory, fun and over the top!

I'd love to participate in your Christmas Swap. Sounds like great fun. And is totally separate from the SantaThing, right?

31: Bonnie, I really liked the 9/11 Report in graphic version. I think I do much better with non-fiction graphics than GNs. Besides, it's fun to use the words "comic books" in my reviews to get a rise out of Mark! Just kidding, Mark, you know I wouldn't be mean to you -- on purpose.

You have a pretty new thread, Mark -- with the exception of the last picture from which I am averting my eyes.

Christmas swap.
Hmph.
Thats it, Im definitely organising an Antipodean and South East Asian Christmas swap :) Dont wanna miss out again!

Purple painting is cool, I could lose the purple though, and the leopard edging. Then I love it!

Mark, I'd love to participate in the Christmas (or Holiday) swap. I typically don't put things on my LT Wishlist because I'm really trying to use it to track books I've actually read, but I could put together a WL just for the swap....

Morning my LT Peeps! Hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend. We cleaned out the garage yesterday. It was a big job, but we knocked out about 75%. Today will be some house chores and we are attending our nephew's playoff football game in the afternoon. He's 10 and a heck of an athlete. I usually can't make his games.

I definitely made the right decision in keeping In the shadow of the Banyan. It's a beautiful but heart-rending novel. I have a 100 pages left. It will go back tomorrow.

Bonnie & Donna- GNS are not for everyone! I've known this from the beginning. I'm just glad you both gave them a try. I think that says a lot. I love the NF ones too, another way to learn and experience a subject.

Bonnie- Did you see the Demick article in #8? You would like it.

Karen- I'm glad you'll be joining us on the Swap. It is separate from Secret Santa. This will be mostly 75ers and folks you know or have seen around here.
Make sure your WL is updated. That's a big help.

Beth- Good to see you! Sorry, I made you avert your eyes. Hope you are having a good weekend.

Megan- You guys should set up a "Antipodean and South East Asian Christmas swap". Great idea. As long as the shipping costs are reasonable. What's Antipodean?
Are you trying to butcher my purple picture? LOL.

Ellen- I'm glad you will joining us. We set up a separate thread too, so we can chat about our books. Keep that WL in order.

Working on the WL already.

Today - potential renters to look at house. Me, going to the hardware place and talk about the right paint to paint the kitchen cupboards. Also some minor cleaning of oven and stove top. Possible painting of chipped spots if I can find a good matching paint. Washing windows, at least inside. Want the place to sparkle if possible. Sigh.

Then home to collapse and read until I go back tomorrow and help with a major repair of floor under hot water heater.

Back to the house, reading! Sometime in the middle I'll eat. And maybe sleep, some.

Busy weekend.

Hi Mark! Nice review of Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. I have that one on my wishlist already.

#32 - I'm not so much a fan of comedy with my horror. However, I do like when something isn't supposed to be funny, but it's so awful that it's funny...like The Ring movies, for example. I could take 5 or 6 more of those.

On these swap businesses I am screwed really as nobody is up for playing with me in my far-flung abode. Not much fun swapping with myself but still I do practice it well enough and often enough I suppose.

Good luck to you all in North America and I trust that Megan gets an antipodean swap going too to rival yours. I would be up for a UK swap actually as I could ferry the books via my mum or my brother.

124) Every Day by David Levithan 4 stars

“A” is sixteen. A smart kid dealing with adolescence in a very unusual way. “A” wakes up every morning in a different sixteen year old body. Never the same body twice. It can be male, female, gay, addict, suicidal, a brain or a jock. This is the only life “A” knows and he/she has adapted very well, until A wakes one morning, as a boy and meets his girlfriend Rhiannon and promptly falls in love. How A pursues Rhiannon, through her different bodies, is the bulk of this story.
This is a very refreshing YA novel about identity and love. The prose is fast, smooth and intelligent. If you are looking for something lighter after a heavy read, this should fit the bill perfectly.

Sounds cozy, huh?

Karen- Sounds like a very busy weekend. Good luck. I hope you can book-horn a little reading in too!

Kerri- I'm sure you would enjoy Pyongyang. The humor helps off-set the grim setting.
Cabin in the Woods is not a flat out comedy, more on the "black" side. It's played straight. I do not like most horror films, unless it's done exceptionally well.

Paul- I wish we could include everyone for the Swap, but shipping costs are just crazy. If you visit the States next summer, we'll make sure we do a swap then.

I'm game to join in the Christmas swap.

I'm in for the Swap again too!

Lori- Just PM me your address, when you get a chance. Nice to have you along.

Laura- That's great. You've been with us from the beginning. It's cool out today but nice & sunny. Lovely Fall colors.

>38 msf59: The Antipodes is how the motherland used to refer to NZ/Aus. And how we now sometimes refer to ourselves. Perhaps Ill rename it the Asia Pacific Xmas Book Swap....it encompasses the same lot anyway :)

Paul, whoever draws your name will just have to take that chance as the postage will be slightly more that to Aus, and definitely more than within NZ. But Im sure the joy of being able to present to you will more than make up for it ;)

How's this? *evil laughter for messing with the purple*
I wanted to get the tree trunk darker, but my inherited knowledge of photoshop is near zero.

You pick some great books to read, Marky-Mark. I'm always worried when I come over to your thread. *sigh* Pyongyang is definitely making its way over to my obese wish list.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hi Mark, I'm finally caught up on your thread. I've had In The Shadow of the Banyan on my wishlist ever since I read Suzanne's (Chatterbox) review. From your comments, it sounds like a very good book.

I thought of you the other day when my sister, brother and I went to a local Victoria pub for lunch. They are also a micro-brewery. I actually tried their pumpkin ale and even though I am not a beer lover, it wasn't too bad.

I voted yes to your Holiday Swap, I was sorry that I didn't participate last year so I am looking forward to getting this chance to do so. I'll PM you my address.

Megan- I'm so glad you are guys are having your own Swap! I hope you get some participants. I like the way you doctored the picture. It softened it a little. I think it's better.

Caro- Did you see post #26, for the Christmas Swap? I know you've been part of it, in the past.

Judy- Yes, In The Shadow of the Banyan is a terrific read but make sure you have plenty of Kleenex. I'm glad you thought of me, going to the pub. I'm not big on fruit beers or pumpkin ales, but I'm glad you enjoyed yours.
Glad you'll be joining us on the Swap.

#43 - Yeah - I'm not much of a horror person either, but (as I forgot to mention a while back) I really like the tv show The Walking Dead, which you were talking about the other day. I think you mentioned that you were a bit disappointed by it towards the end of last season and I've heard other people say that. What is it that disappoints you? Have you read the comic books? I've heard they're better and I'd like to read them. My only complaints are that all the female characters are poorly developed and BIG SPOILER ALERT. LOOK AWAY IF YOU DIDN'T FINISH LAST SEASON: They killed off the hot dude!! Why?!

Hooray, Im not in trouble for messing with the art work, I have been known to re-post versions that are more to my liking on peoples threads. I prefer to think if it as an interesting alternative, rather than a presumptuous act of defiance. :)

Already got 3 takes for the down under swap, which is good. Im looking forward to it already.

Stopping by and waving hi.

*Developing my (non-LT) wish list for your holiday swap.* :-)
In the Shadow of the Banyan is on said list.

I'm shamelessly stealing from Mr. Crabby Pants, but I can't help myself. I LOVE this.

Kerri- The Walking Dead has so many flaws, I'm surprised none of it bothers you. That 2nd season had draggy storylines, incredibly irritating characters and uneven narratives. And I agree with you, the female characters are under-written. Your favorite hunky guy, (Shane) was the worst and I feel so relieved that he is no longer with us.
Why do I keep watching? Good question. It's one of the few shows I watch with Sue and when it's on it's A-game, it can be very enjoyable.

Megan- You mess with my artwork, anytime you want, as long as you keep visiting this old mail-carrier.

Linda- Big loving wave!

Ellen- Glad you are working on the Swap List! I have to get over there and do some fine tuning myself.

Mark, has the thread been created already?

Count me in for the swap, Mark. That was lots of fun last year.

I finished Unbroken in the wee hours last night. What an amazign book. Thanks for choosing it. Quite possibly my favorite book of the year.

Love the artwork in #56 (and I love the original of that one, too).

Ellen- I won't start it for a few more weeks. Maybe mid-November.

Linda- I'm so glad you loved Unbroken. See, I would not steer you wrong. It was a 5 star read for me too! Did you read her earlier Seabiscuit? It's also fantastic.

Lovely new thread, Mark! Love the picture at the top as well. ;)

I vote a BIG FAT YES for the Christmas Swap! It was so much fun last year!

ETA : Do you want us to PM you our addy yet or are we still waiting for the green light?

I'm another yes for the Christmas swap, Mark! I'll PM you my address.

Thanks for organizing it again :)

Mark, Seabiscuit was one of my favorite books of 2011. Whatever she writes next, I'm reading it.

#57 - Hi Mark - I think everything you've said about The Walking Dead is probably correct. I may just have lower expectations for a zombie show (or different expectations) than I do for something like The Wire. Therefore, I can handle some bad dialogue and poor character development...for now. We'll see. It does look like it's going to get interesting.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone has a relaxing day and squeezes in some prime reading time. I know that's my plan.

Valerie- Thanks! As long as your address is the same I have it. Glad to have my Canadian pals along.

Katie- You are welcome. I keep a folder with the addresses, so I should still have yours.

Linda- Yes, Hillenbrand is 2 for 2. She has serious medical issues, so it takes her a long time to write. But we will be waiting.

Kerri- That's a good point about lower expectations but if I'm going to invest my time (I know no one is twisting my arm) I would like a quality program.
Have you watched Homeland?

#65 - We don't have Showtime, but if it's amazing, I could Netflix the old seasons - after I graduate, as I don't have a ton of time right now. Also, I really wish there was a good sci-fi show on. Nothing can fill the hole in my heart, since BSG ended. : ( I've tried a couple and they're all horrible.

125) 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami 4.2 stars

“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn’t be make-believe
If you believe in me…”

Okay, we begin in Tokyo, 1984. A taxi ride on a busy expressway. A young woman named Aomame, climbs out of the vehicle, walks the narrow shoulder and descends an emergency set of stairs. She has now entered 1Q84. An alternate world, where things look the same but on second glance, are not. Here, two moons hang in the sky.
Now, we meet Tengo, a quiet aspiring young writer and math teacher. He is asked to take on a ghost-writing project, which leads him into a few dark mysterious corners.
The parallel paths of this couple, is our journey, twisting through a labyrinth of magic, suspense, sex and murder, where both worlds and both young lives are on a fated collision course.
This is not always an easy read. In the usual Murakami fashion, it is filled with the most mundane details but the author’s unique narrative style, is almost hypnotic as it pulls the reader along for a thousand pages, ending in a very satisfactory manner.
Fans of Murakami should be pleased. Newcomers might want to stay off that emergency set of stairs and start one of his earlier novels instead.

Mark, very tintillating, your review is.

Mark - if I do a swap in the USA next year I might need my own plane to get the books home! IQ84 does sound as imposing as I expect it to be - but probably just as rewarding too!

"Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday. It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain. You can feel the silent and invisible life."

--Marilynne Robinson, GILEAD

Karen- Thanks. I'm not sure you and Murakami would make a good fit, but you never know. LOL.

Paul- I think 1Q84 is a must read for all Murakami fans, despite it's epic length. So, you might have to bring another plane for your US trip. What's the big deal?

I have thumbs-upped your tantalizingly brief review...the book glowers at me, unread.

I've gotten so far behind, Mark! I've got to stop doing things in RL. It really screws me up.

Very glad you got the same kick out of Pyongyang Laura and I did, and nice review of 1Q84. You're right, the earlier books would be a better place to start for novices.

I'm between books, so I've dipped into Team of Rivals, which is looking really good. Going to go to the library near Becca this afternoon, and maybe the bookstore tomorrow.

Hi Mark. Count me in on the Christmas Swap too. (I'm number 11 for voting "yes" in your survey.)

Good reviews of both Every Day and 1Q84. I've only read one book by David Levithan (The Lover's Dictionary) but I really liked it and will keep my eye out for this one in my library. I've read two books by Murakami (South of the Border, West of the Sun and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle) but I think I'm going to try Kafka on the Shore next because so many LTers have recommended it and it's shorter!

Enjoy your Sunday. I love the Marilynne Robinson quote. I started reading Gilead but never finished it. That quote makes me thing I should.

At last! A review of the behemoth that has been tackled successfully by so many, and not by me. A nice summary without giving too much away, I like your review. But I'm not sure I'll read it in my lifetime, or anyone elses. Only because I haven't been bitten by the Murakami bug. I will start with something else of his, and who knows.

Thumbs, thumbs, away! It was my first Murakami, but if anything it has intrigued me enough to try his other books. I think we all deserve a medal of some sort for crossing the finish line! :)

I have put up my Mr. Crabby Pants Special about The Healing...post #150.

De lurking to say I would love to join the Christmas swap! Sounds like fun. I'll add a few to my wish list which I believe currently has the grand total of one. :)

A gorgeous fall day! Sunny and 70. Dee-lightful! Unfortunately I've spent most of the afternoon, running around. My son had car troubles, so I was helping him out and then taking care of a few errands. Ugh! I did finish in the Shadow of the Banyan as promised and returned it dutifully to the library, about 6 days late. Semi-Bad Mark.

BTW- The book was fantastic but OMG, was it a heart-wrenching read. I highly recommend it but please have a box of tissues nearby.

RD- I'm sure 1Q84 will continue to glower, at least until you decide donate it and free up a few slots on the shelves.
I saw the Mr. Crabby Pants Special. Good job. I think I'll be avoiding that one too.

Joe- Damn that RL! Always getting in the way. I would not recommend 1Q84 for newbies either, although it was Valerie's 1st time and she enjoyed it. It's also Mamie's first time but she still has a long way to go.
I'm glad you'll be reading along with Team of Rivals. I won't start it until the end of the month. Another whopper, but it's one that's been on my TBR list for a couple of years.

Hi Pat- It's great to see you posting around again. I have you marked down for the Swap. If your address hasn't changed I still have it.
I will definitely be reading more Levithan. I NEED to read Murakami's earliest stuff. And yes, go back to Gilead. It's wonderful.

Megan- Thanks! Have you read Murakami in the past? If not, try Kafka on the shore. It hooked me!

Valerie- I wasn't sure how to review 1Q84 but keeping it vague and simple was the best approach. I think if you tried to describe all the different threads, sub-plots and vast array of characters, it might turn off readers.

Roberta- It's great to have you along on the Swap. Just PM me your address.

Mark, my address hasn't changed so all should be good.

Thanks, Mark, I'm glad you liked the Mr. Crabby Pants Special. I would encourage you to avoid, avoid, avoid.

Boo Monday! I enjoyed my weekend but now I have six days staring straight at me. The good news is, most of the week is going to be in the 70s. Yah!

Is anyone heard of Todd Grimson? He's the author of a few novels and I snagged an ARC of Stabs at Happiness: 13 Stories, his first story collection. It looks very promising and it's nice and short. That's next up.

Pat- We are all set!

RD- Duly noted! Thx!

Bears Vs. Lions tonight! Go Bears! I don't think I'll be watching the debate. I doubt I'll miss anything.

Things to do today:
1. Add The Shadow of the Banyan to wishlist ------------ Check
2. Vote yes for Mark's Christmas Swap ...................... Double Check!
3. Update my wishlist .................................. It will be ready for swap time
4. Wish Mark a great day ahead ......................... Have a great day, Mark, enjoy the Indian summer like weather ! ...................... Check

Mark, your "vague and simple" review was perfect. Sometimes the less said is better. I'll get to 1Q84 someday and will check out the group read thread when I do.

Half a dozen touch downs for the Bears today Mark and a win by at least 20 points. Well fingers crossed anyways.

What Paul said. Wouldn't that be something?

Hope your week is off to a good start, Mark. Todd Grimson is new to me. I'll look forward to hearing what you think.

Just stopping in to say, "Go BEARS!!"

I read Gilead many years ago and loved it. I want to read the sequel to it, and just haven't done that yet. To many other books are calling to me.

On Friday I purchased and on Saturday morning moved in, a new front loader washer and dryer set. They make my kitchen look very small. I should have gotten a smaller set, but this one was on sale. ... However, went to hook up the dryer and the plug-in has no electricity. Apparently wiring that plug-in was another glitch in the re-wiring of the house, so know I have to wait for an electrician to get there. But I can wash clothes. I just need a handyman to string up a clothesline across my carport for the time-being.

I am loving the PBS series Call the Midwife. It is just wonderful to watch. The melodrama/mystery last night was a bit much, but it was still good. I may have to get the book. I also enjoyed last nights episode of Upstairs/Downstairs. Mr. Pritchard is a fascinating butler. I think he is better than the one on Downtown Abbey. What a great way to spend a fall Sunday evening. A cup of hot chocolate, my knitting, and great TV, all in my new house.

I'm about 4 threads and 20 books behind - but hola! And glad to see 1Q84 is good - it's def on my list. Oh and #43 was my actual comment to my hubby this morning :)

70???? You don't want to know what's happening on my end. :/

Like, Duh! We have T-shirts, how about a few buttons?

Lynda- I love your checklist! You just put a big smile on my face. In the Shadow of the Banyan is a terrific read, but very sad. Today was warmer but also gloomy and rainy at times. I hope you had a great day too!

Donna- Thanks! If you hadn't already tried and enjoyed Murakami, I would hesitate to recommend it. It being such a monster, will keep people from picking it up. That's why I thought a G.R. would work so well.

Paul- "Half a dozen touch downs for the Bears today"! Now, you're talking! I'm just hoping they aren't rusty after being off so long.

Joe- I read the first 3 or 4 stories in the Grimson book and I like him. These are short. 10-20 pages and his subjects are all over the place. Interesting voice.
Go Bears!

Go Bears! Go Mamie! Go Bears!

Benita- I keep forgetting about "Call the Midwife"! I'll have to check On Demand. Hopefully they have it there.
I've been re-watching the 1st season of DA, with my wife, who failed to see it the first time around. I easily see why I fell so hard for that show.
How's 1Q84 coming? Did you see my little review?

BekkaJo- "4 threads and 20 books behind"! What? I thought you was my friend. No problem. It's great to see you. I'll have to stop by and see what you're reading, in or out of bed.

Valerie- I'm not sure what you mean by "70??". My mind is a bit frazzled. I hope all is well. I'll scamper over to your thread.

Hello my friend. Trying to get back on track here. : )

Darn. The sound on the telly in my hotel room isn't working. Can't listen to debates. Relegated to baseball and football.....

ETA: Bears up 10-0. Big smile.

Terrific review of 1Q84 Mark. I thought I was recording Call the Midwife and found out today that I only recorded the first episode. Grrrr.

Bears 10 Lions 0! Halftime. Cutler was hammered hard. I hope he returns in the 2nd half. Fingers crossed.

I've only been able to watch snippets of the debate, during commercial breaks but Obama seems to be doing very good. Anyone else watching it?

Kimmers here! Kimmers here! Yah!

Ellen- Go Bears! Sorry you can't hear the audio. Bummer!

Bonnie- Thanks! I don't think the Murakami would work for you, IMHO. I wish I would have recorded Call the Midwife from the beginning.

"Gov. Romney, you keep on trying to air brush history!" - President Obama

That is a great line!

I also liked it when Obama said about the Navy and building new ships, that we are not playing Battleship and counting the ships.

I think Obama is being a bit too interruptive, but on the other hand he does get to say when Romney "airbrushes" the past, especially what he has said and now is not saying.

OK. I tried Mamie's potato soup and am eating it while listening to the boys argue, and catching up on threads.

I'm going to bed. It was a long day. Rental house stuff almost all day long. No reading, dang!

See you all tomorrow.

Mark, what happened? I'm watching the Cardinals get trounced in game 7 but saw the second string Bears QB in at the end of the half. Looks like it's going to be a Tigers/Giants World Series.

Tigers/Giants World Series. I like that combo.

#99 I was rooting for the Cardinals. Now I'll be rooting for the Tigers. I hope it goes 7 games, into November.

O-ho the Bears have lost their Quarter-Back - now 13-0 so fingers crossed for 5-1.

*delurking* glad to see that you liked 1Q84 that was one of my favourite reads as well.
Also like your pic of Edward Hooper. A favourite of my now 13 year old son, who introduced me to the paintings when he was about ten years old. He just loves his paintings and has even two of them hanging in his room (next to his Star Wars pictures) *smile*.

Go Bears! 13-7! It was way to close for me though. Whew. I stayed up an hour past my precious bed-time and retired with a few minutes left. The Lions did not score until the final 30 seconds. It was all Defense. Cutler has bruised ribs but x-rays were negative.

The impression that I'm getting, from what I saw and heard, is Obama dominated the debate, which he should have and needed to. Any thoughts?

Karen- That is a great line! thanks for sharing your thoughts on the debate. I'm glad you were enjoying Mamie's soup. I need to print that out and pass it on to my DW.

Linda- I'm sure you figured out by now, what happened to Cutler. LOL. that must have freaked you out though.
What happened to the Cardinals? They really collapsed in those final 2 games.

Ellen- Big Wave!

Paul- Your streak is continuing. Yah! Yes, 5-1. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Did not lose Cutler. He will be nursing sore ribs this week but hopefully will be in top shape on Sunday.

Bianca made it! Bianca made it! Thanks for the visit. Have you read much of Murakami? It sounds like your son has good taste in art. Is he a reader, as well?

*smile* hello Mark - Nope, I only read three Murakami's so far, but all three left quite deep impressions. So far I have read Kafka on the Shore and Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World aside from 1Q84. I very much enjoy his surreal writing style and he reminds me, in regards of his complexity very much of Franz Kafka an author I also very much enjoy.

Yes, my son is an avid reader as well. However, he usually reads non-fiction and comics/graphic novels. Everything to do with fiction I have to read together with him, or I have to find the unabridged audiobook versions. He is very much interested in history, especially in stories about how people lived before and after WWII and stories from the Victorian times. AND he likes art and going to museums which suits me just fine.

Racing to keep up.... Hi Mark!

Yay for a Bears win... I'm experiencing some football withdrawal since I haven't seen any in over a week. Sad Katie. I tried to watch cricket in my hotel room but it made no sense. Same with the rugby that was on... I should be home in time for Thursday night's game, though :)

Mark - you will be pleased to note that I will be seeing Chicago on Halloween. Chicago the "rock" and "pop" band that is - here in KL.

Congrats on the Bears win, Marky-Mark ... and thanks for the nudge to the Christmas Swap. I thought I had taken the poll, but in case I didn't, I voted again. ... Yes, of course.

yeeesh, Paul... for a moment there, I really thought you meant you were zipping over to Chitown for Halloween! *grump*

Nice Bears win, Mark! That defense has a knack for creating the timely turnover, doesn't it? I thought the offense would do better, but no doubt the Lions had something to do with that. Plus Cutler wasn't the same after getting walloped by Suh. Holy smokes, I'm not sure how he got up from that one!

I just spent 45 minutes shovelling...and it wasn't hay my friend... :(

Joe and Mark, while it was nice that the Bears won, and I think they have another easy opponent or two, I note that the schedule is going to get much harder.

Bears v Houston and Bears v San Francisco are going to be excellent games in mid-November.

As you know I'm not a Bears fan but I do admire Cutler. For him to take the pounding he does, week in and week out, especially in light of his severe diabetes, is amazing.

Anyone looking for a sexy librarian costume? Here is one. I'll kick in the shipping costs if you take plenty of photos and ahem, share them with us over here. I love those socks.

If I had that body, I'd rock that costume..haha..NOT! I'd do the glasses and the little book in her hands though (probably a naughty diary of some sort). ;)

Wow! What is it about nonfiction lately? It's kicking serious book butt. I started the audio of Destiny of the Republic, which I know a couple of you have already read and loved, and it is fantastic. I know I just got through singing praises for Timothy Egan & Barbara Demick but now it's time to give some to Candice Millard. She is smoking! I wonder if she would wear that costume? Hmmmmm...

Bianca- 1Q84 was my 7th Murakami. And since I only started reading him less than 5 years ago, that's speaks volumes, for me anyway. Sadly, I have not read Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World but I do own it.
Many of us over here on the 75 are GN fans, so we might hit your son up for a few GN recs, we may have over-looked. Also, tell your son it is a great time to be a NF fan. A multitude of amazing titles out there.

Katie- I hope you can finally squeeze some football in. With me being so fired up about the Bears, I've watched more football than I have in years.

Paul- Me and the band Chicago go back a long long ways. "Does Anybody Know what Time it is" was one of my first 45s! I know I'm dating myself, but what the hell. I loved the earlier stuff, with horns and the late Terry Kath. By the mid-70s they got way to mushy, but boy did they put out some great music prior to that. Enjoy.

Caro- Yah! I know you've been on the Swap from the beginning. Glad to have you along. Get that WL in order.

Joe- I think there was a huge intake of breath when Cutler went down. Scary stuff. The guy is super tough but he was rattled. I hope he gets plenty of rest for Sunday.

Valerie- Sorry to hear that! I bet you wish it was hay! LOL. We had an extremely mild winter last year, so of course I'm hoping for more of the same. Not my favorite time of year.
I bet you would look just fine in that costume! LOL.

Linda- They do have Carolina this week, which should be a cake-walk but I think they have a team that can compete against the best. IMHO, of course.
Glad to see (for your sake anyway) the Packers inching back.

Mark, I jumped over to Candice Millard's page and see she wrote River of Doubt which I had forgotten. I loved it! it reminded me how much I love nonfiction biography type books! Recommended!

And her picture certainly does indicate she would make a fine Naughty Librarian for Halloween, or any other time, for that matter.

OK, Mark, I have to say this, and I don't mean any offense. However, the "naughty librarian" thing is just slightly creepy, IMO. I've been hoping it would go away, but instead it continues--yeah, I know, "Halloween."

The Candice Millard book looks fascinating. Thanks for the tip.

Karen- Good point about Millard. Good looks to go with those awesome writing chops. I also loved River of doubt.

Becky- Sorry, the naughty librarian thing is creeping you out! I'll try to keep it to a minimum. I did post the latest pic as a Halloween suggestion. LOL.
Yes, read Destiny of the Republic. I love reading about our past presidents and Garfield is a pretty fascinating guy. If you haven't tried River of doubt. Hunt that one down as well.

>111 msf59: LOL. I could've worn that - in 1982.

I like the socks though! :)

The naughty librarian is cracking me up. :) Halloween is becoming bigger and bigger in Australia! I'm so happy, it's my favourite festival ever. The kids are probably trick-or-treating on the Wednesday (have to see if I can skive off work early that day so I can see the costumes!) and are *determined* to go as Mad Eye Moody and Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. (Gah, Harry and Hermione would have been so much easier!)

Work is shockingly busy. Life is ramping up with Mr Bear's TENTH birthday next month (10??? What the... Isn't he still just the little baby I brought home from the hospital the other week??), and Xmas just beyond, and work's always chaos until Xmas as well.

I'm so glad I don't have to deal with Thanksgiving on top of all that!

Reading slump is over for the moment (although I'm not challenging myself much for the next while, just in case it returns). Picked up and listlessly discarded a number of books before finally focussing on Alif the Unseen. Got a bit of attention when it came out because the author was writing about the Arab Spring *before* it actually happened (okay, she doesn't use the term "Arab Spring", but she obviously picked up on a lot of unrest fomenting in the area) and is about a computer hacker. And djinni. I'm having a ball reading this one, and once I'm finishing this post, I'm off to bed to read more! (YAY!)

Weather all over the shop in Sydney. Keeps on toggling between 30+C (v. hot) to 19C (really cold for Sydney). Not sure what this means for summer, but I don't think I'm going to like it... (Although 33C days are a lot more bearable this time of year before the humidity kicks in.)

Joanne- Glad you got a chuckle! Glad you like the socks! Hope your week is going well.

Tania- Megan mentioned that they didn't have Halloween in NZ. I'm glad it's becoming popular in Australia. Of course, it's all for the kids, IMHO.
I requested Alif the Unseen from the library, months ago. I'll be watching for your thoughts.
Our late fall has been warmer but we've been getting lots of rain, which we needed.
Yah, for Mr. Bear!

#92 Consider me grovelling :) I have lurked some - promise!

#111 Hubby has a thing about knee high socks too - where does that come from? ;)

Hiya, Mark. You're right about nonfiction these days. The quality is astounding. And from so many different authors.

I'll let you know if any Naughty Librarians turn up in our neighborhood for Halloween.

Did you see that the locations for Booktopia 2013 are posted? Manchester, VT in April. Petosky, MI in June. Bellingham, WA in October. Registration has gone up. But I can see why. I am sure it was hard for them to find venues for all the meetings in Oxford. I am going to try to go to Vermont since I will be in Chicago in June for the American Library Association conference. You are planning on coming to the exhibit hall for that conference? It costs $25.00 per day to get a pass and you get all that nice swag to take back with you. I will give you more details about the ALA conference in a few months, but the registration for Vermont will be here at the end of October.

The narrative non-fiction phenomena is interesting. My book discussion group is now reading Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I took my copy of the paperback book to the last meeting so that others could look at it. Rebecca Skloot's picture is on the inside of the back cover. One woman took one look at that photo and said something to the effect of how she hated glamor shots for author pictures. She said it was done to make the author appeal to the prurient interest. It wasn't enough that the author be a good science writer she had to be "hot" as well. We then had a short discussion about the looks of authors. My question was is Michael Beschloss a better author than David McCullough? He certainly looks more "glamorous." I do recall a colleague talking about Victor Davis Hanson and how he was too good looking to be taken seriously as a historian. This kind of comment is rare among women. But I have to admit that these comments are rare, as men don't make them about other men, but I have heard men make comments about women authors regarding their looks.

I am anxiously awaiting the Ken Burns Dust Bowl series on PBS. The line-up on PBS this fall has been outstanding. Great stuff! It is so good that I am ashamed to admit that I am not a donator to PBS. I give my money to NPR, but PBS has been doing such good stuff I feel guilty.

Bellingham! I can go to Bellingham. *rushes off to Google Booktopia 2013*

Hi Mark, just checking in to see if you are still talking about naughty librarians....and yes, you are! :)
lol

Throw a mini-fridge in here and you never have to leave.

LOL!

Okay, over the hump! 3 days down, three to go! What a gorgeous fall day! Sunny and 80! We will not see many more of these gems. Nice tomorrow and then back to reality on Friday. Our normal high temps should be 59.

BekkaJo- Your DH has very good taste! LOL.

Joe- You'll have to add Millard to your MUST Read NF author list. Destiny of the republic is excellent. I'm at the halfway point.
OMG, could you imagine if a naughty librarian showed up at your door? Trick or treat.

Benita- Yes, I heard the BOTNS podcast this morning. You had the dates a little mixed up. The Washington state one is in June and the Michigan one is at the end of September. I plan on making the latter. I wish I could afford the Vermont one too!
Please make sure, you let me know about the ALA. Our LT friend Kerri, from this area, should be attending too. I will try to attend if I have enough warning.
I know I posted Millard's photos but I could care less what an author looks like. Rebecca Skloot happens to be attractive. So what! The main thing is she's a heck of a writer.

Karen- I was going to point out the Books on the Nightstand Booktopia to you! I went to their very first one in Manchester Vermont and it was fantastic. I couldn't make any this year but I plan on making at least one next year. Listen to the podcast. It's a great one.

Megan- I feel like you are using me! Shuffles away, ashamed...

Thanks, Mark. I'm considering....

I confess I feel a little intimidated by the limited participants part. Can't hide in the crowd which is my usual behavior.

I'll keep bugging you with questions, no doubt. Right now....dinner calls

You're right about the NF just being excellent, Mark. Two of my NF reads so far will make my Top Ten for 2012: Columbine by Dave Cullen and Inferno: the World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. Oops, make that three. I forgot about Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand. And when you consider that I read very little NF before I got involved with this 75 group, that's really unbelievable!

Hi Mark - so glad you are enjoying Destiny of the Republic which became one of my top non-fictions of the year. Garfield had such enormous potential - such a tragic story.

I see that you've read The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan and I was wondering what you thought of it. She will be speaking at our local tiny library next week (I believe she lives in nearby Connecticut) and I am going to try to read it before then (if I can tear myself away from A Clash of Kings for a single instant.)

Another balmy one! Near 80! For late October in the Midwest, not to shabby. I should be wrapping up "Stabs at Happiness", (the touchstones are wonky on this one). It's a good story collection. Interesting range. I started another slim volume called The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time. The book passion is spot-on, but it might be a bit high-brow for this simple mail-carrier.
And, I'm halfway done with Destiny of the Republic, which of course I'm gaga over.

Karen- Books on the Nightstand keeps these "Book Retreats" to 75 people, which is an excellent number. You can hide easily but once you start gabbing with other book lovers, you'll be in the thick of it. I'll pass the word to other LTers from your area.
Bug me with any questions you have...

Bonnie- Another reason why LT is the best place on the planet! I keep forgetting about Inferno: the World at War, 1939-1945. I looked for the audio, earlier in the year, after your glowing response to it and had no success. I will look again.
I just requested Claire tomalin's bio on Dickens, which I've heard great things about.
And I agree, Columbine was outstanding.

Vivian- Have you read River of doubt? That's another Millard gem. the Lifeboat was a good solid read. I gave it just under 4 stars. Glad you are deeply immersed in the Martin book. They are so good, aren't they?

Indian Summer Greetings to you, Mark! It's going to be a beaut over here today. A day on the deck reading sounds like the perfect way to spend it.
I've had the Garfield book wishlisted for awhile but I should zoom it up my priority list. A native son of O H I O and born about 5 miles from where I live. Lawnfield is less than an hours drive, So I save those field trips till I've read the book.

Sort of caught up... BANYAN sounded appealing, but the first thing to leap out at me on the books page was genocide.. so again, I will pass. Columbine was indeed outstanding...

I don't see that you have finished Destiny of the Republic yet. Did I miss it? I loved that one..
I will have to look at her other book.

I am still plodding on with TJ .. or rather I will get back to it today. It is hard to read when Dan is off... and then I had errands yesterday when he was out so ?

It is going to be 80F here today and I am none too pleased. GRRRR

ETA

I love the photo on top... it is really beautiful!

>131 msf59: Yes, that is a nice depiction of how I feel some days. And not in a bad way, at all, just so much fun! Like a great white water rafting trip on a summer day.

Hi Mark, our mailman is back to shorts again with this warm weather. I'll be watching to see how he's dressed today. There is a big weather shift coming around noon where the temp will drop 20 degrees. I love fall!

125: Interesting reading nook. It gives me an idea of where to put my newly acquired books from the book sale. I may go back for half price day on Saturday.

>125 msf59: the husband person (he has been demoted from being referred to in capital letters as he is going away for 2 nights just after I get out of hospital from my foot operation- this will necessitate the presence of my mother, or MiL, or worse still.....both) doenst approve of reading material in the bathroom. So I have to take a book in, or read the back of the toilet paper package again :)

But personally, I like that set up in #125. Think of all the times I would need to go though, someone would clue on pretty quick I think.

Okay, I picked up both an audio copy (a very handy Playaway!) and the print book of Team of Rivals. So I am armed and ready for the Group Read. Yah! I visited the library in the town where I work and they had both on shelf. How cool is that? I thought with the film coming out soon, that there would be more interest in the book. There I go, thinking again. I should be able to start the audio tomorrow, to help me get a little head-start.
It looks like I will firmly stay in the 19th century too! I'm nearly done with the Destiny of the Republic which is set in 1880.

BTW- This is a good time to be reading the Millard book too, with the election looming. It's good to be reminded that nasty politics have been with us from the beginning. It may have even been nastier. In Garfield's case, the worst of it was the in-fighting in the Republican party. I knew very little about Garfield before reading this and it's nice to learn that he was smart, strong, compassionate and very engaging. A shame he died so early in his Presidency.

...as Mark draws in for the kill on his MA in 19th-Century American Studies...

Team of Rivals was GOOD!

RD- I added some more comments to the post above. This is a GREAT book! And I am in LOVE with Millard. I'm on the homestretch. The Prez has just passed...

Lynda- Yes, I'm loving this blast of Indian Summer but it ends later tonight. It is very windy out there right now. Only 50 tomorrow. Grrrrr...!
Please move The Destiny of the Republic way up! It's fantastic. I did not realize Garfield was from Ohio. He loved his state too and he also loved his farm.

Kath- I didn't realize you had already read Team of rivals. Cool. NF has been kicking serious butt in my book world lately and I can only imagine that this one will also be right up there too!
No, I'm not finished with the Millard book but I'm getting close. WOW! Try to find River of Doubt. It's also excellent.

Karen- I'm glad you like the "rowing in a sea of books" picture. It resonates with me too!

Donna- I thought I had hung my walking shorts up for good, 2 weeks ago. I had to crack them out for the last 4 days. Despite some rain, the temps were almost balmy. I do not think I will wear them again though. It looks like 40s and low 50s right through next week.

Megan- Nice discussion before I have dinner. LOL. We don't keep reading material in our bathroom either and if the need arises, we'll bring it in and bring it out or at least I do.
In your husband's defense, is this something he can't get out of or has had planned for months?

We're enjoying some of that balmy weather out here in DC, Mark. Beautiful day here, with some work but not too much. Debbi and I are sitting out in a flower garden right now.

I started The Yellow Birds and know it'll be a winner. My gn is How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, and it's really informative so far. I had no idea how the kibbutzes started, for example.

Hope the warm weather sticks with you a bit longer - I know it's headed for the 50s again soon.

Glad to hear you are having such nice weather in comparison. Really I am. At least that's what I keep telling myself. >.

is this something he can't get out of or has had planned for months
I'm not really cross with him, it is purely down to unfortunate timing. He simply must go and see his idol, Morrissey (formerly of the Smiths) in concert. It was going to work out fine, until my surgery got deferred 3 weeks. Now it happens Im out of hospital less than 48 hours and he's off for 2 nights. I wouldnt want him to miss it though, it really is his dream to see him live.
I am just thankful the tour only extends to 2 nights, as he had announced a tour here a few years back that was cancelled, and it was 4 nights. All of which husband person would have had to go to :)
Such is the allure of this particular performer to my lovely other.

Joe- Thanks for checking in from D.C.! I hope you enjoy the Yellow birds. It's powerfully written and a somewhat fast read too.
It was very warm here today but 30 degrees cooler tomorrow. Yikes. Have a great weekend.

Valerie- Thanks for not mentioning the "S" word over here. It's taboo. Let's hope we don't get any for a few more weeks.

Megan- I LOVE The Smiths! One of the best bands of the 80s. Not crazy about Morrissey solo but I know he has his legions of fans. You are a good wife.

Hi Mark, hadn't visited in a few days, and see it's Christmas Swap season again... I was wondering when that would pop up again! I'd definitely like to join, though goodness knows I don't need MORE books (who among us really does eh?) but it's too much fun to pass up. I've got a very comprehensive wishlist, so huge in fact that I think I'll separate it and create a Christmas Swap list to prioritize those books I'd like to get to sooner and separate out those that I'd rather borrow from the library.

In the Shadow of the Banyan landed on my wishlist after I saw it appear on Audible. The story sounded fascinating. I'm glad you loved it. And yes, sounds like a book that needs a box of kleenex attached.

Back to the Christmas swap for a second, I thought I'd point out that with Book Depository, shipping is free worldwide, which should make it possible to include people from all over the globe in the swap, no?

>145 msf59: I like the Smiths a lot, but couldnt say I love them like some fanatics fans do :) We hear them a lot at our place, which is great.
Re: being a good wife...I dont see a ring on my finger yet Mark, another thing I tease my lovely other about. The fact that he cant boss me around as we arent even married. hehe

>146 Smiler69: the Asia Pacific region is sorted for a Christmas Book Swap, Ilana. I have taken it upon myself to arrange it amongst those of us in these parts. But you do have a point!

Hi Mark

Please count me in for the Christmas swap...Thanks for your work in doing this.

Yeah Mark, Ilana does have a good point about Book Depository all you would do is put the delivery address and it is free for delivery. Books are delivered to me cheaper than they can be bought in the stores here so it wouldn't put me beyond the pale for the swap - just sayin!
I am up for the Asia-Pac swap anyway and am pleased that my out of the way location need not be a burden to everyone!
Interested to see that Team of Rivals is getting a very positive reception - must take it off the shelves soon.

Ilana- Good to see you, as always. I'm glad you will be joining us on the Swap! It's always fun. Sure, we all have plenty of books but who can turn down gift books, especially good ones. I will decide that on the Book Depository suggestion. It's a good one.

Megan- I thought you might not be married but I wasn't sure. Hey, if you are happy and content with the situation, that's all that matters. Thanks to you, I was listening to a couple Smiths tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUMh8GQnDW8

Linda- I have you down! Glad you'll be joining the crowd.

Paul- If you order books from KL from the Book Depository, are they the same price, if we were to order them from the States?

Yes mate I think that they are actually. I am buying books for about GBP7 or 8 (I'm a Brit and normally calculate in the Queen's silver!) which is probably about 12 bucks. Delivered.

Same here re: book depository books
I usually pay NZD10-16 for a cheap-ish copy, which would be USD8-12. They have a currency converter on the site so you can check your currency.

De-lurking to say count me in for the swap. I also have a large wish list & will need to rearrange. How soon is your deadline for giving you addresses & having WL ready?

Oh, and thanks! This sounds fun!!! **Also a rookie.

What a difference a morning makes. Yesterday it was 65 going to work and it's about 40 out there now. Will barely reach 50. Back to long pants and jackets.
I will be finishing the magnificent Destiny of the Republic early today and then onto the behemoth known as team of Rivals.
For anyone that doesn't know-We are having a Group Read of Team of Rivals for the month of November: http://www.librarything.com/topic/143910

In print I'll be starting Handbook of American Prayer. This is a CFP book, I received from Caroline. She loved it.

Paul & Megan- Thanks for the info. That's good to know and I'm glad it gives you guys an option to buy cheaper-priced books.

Tina- Thanks for the de-lurk and I'm glad you'll be joining us on the Swap. I'll probably do the cut-off around the 15th of November. PM your address whenever you get the chance. Any questions let me know.

Mark... I have previously read a lot of books that go around here ( Penumbra for instance ) .. some before publication, some years ago.. Somehow .. many of those books go unnoticed on my thread... So I just watch as other go on about them... lol

Morning Mark - It's Friday! You're going to get the jump on me with Team of Rivals, as I am still working on IQ84. I do have my copy ready, however, since I finally have all of our books unboxed from the move - and boy were they happy to be out of those cases! Poor, poor books. Now they can breath again, and Birdy, after getting all of her books arranged just so on her bookcase, stood back to admire her work and then declared, "Now it's home." Just like that - so simple and yet so true.

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Somehow managed to pull off a double post. Please read the next one!

These group reads are a big help. I'm sure it got a number of folks the motivation they needed to read 1Q84, and it's done that for me with Team of Rivals. Really looking forward to this one.

Hope the weekend is lining up to be a good one for you, Mark.

My latest brainstorm to trick myself into getting through the big TOR in November is to set a 25 pages a day goal. We shall see. I read 13 last night before my eyes stopped focusing on the words. Slept really well, too.

ooooo! more fun! Christmas again!
count me in, as always, on your book swap.
not only do i get great books - but i've also made lovely new friends! i am SO in!

i liked river of doubt a lot. so i will have to add destiny of the republic to my wl. looks good.
i do think you will love team of rivals. excellent book :-)

You posted on my thread that although you've been eying the Richard Caro books about LBJ for "years," you find them "just a bit intimidating." I'd be curious to know, intimidating in what regard?--it can't be the length, since you just finished that Japanese novel of 1,184 pages in--what--a month? And you're planning on reading Goodwin's Team of Rivals, another 1,000-or-so pages in November. So what's got you intimidated by the Caro books? The subject? That there are four of them (and eventually five)?

I'm looking at the Goodwin book and the group read that's being set up, and I'm feeling a real reluctance to jump into this one. Does the 1,000-or-so pages include the notes? I've not read much of Goodwin--have you? I haven't read her Pulitzer Prize winner, No Ordinary Time about Franklin and Eleanor, since I've read the two by Joseph P. Lash, and a two-volume biog of Eleanor that I really liked by Blanche Wiesen Cook ; I haven't read Goodwin's book on Lyndon Johnson, because frankly Richard Caro's reputation as a researcher and writer is second-to-none. I've heard, although I haven't experienced it myself, that the knock on Goodwin's writing is that she's not much of a storyteller, her prose is "serviceable"--ouch, plus--WARNING--you will struggle with her indefinite pronouns. Don't say I didn't warn you--about the pronouns, that is. Thankfully I also never read The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, the one that got her into hot water for plagiarism. I did read her memoir, Wait Till Next Year, set in the 1950s of her childhood. Her father taught her the joys of baseball, as did mine, so I enjoyed that read--and it was short, at less than 300 pages.

I would be curious to know what is leading the enthusiasm! for the group read of Goodwin's book? Why should I want to read it? Are the reviews that good? Surely it can't be that people are hot to read about William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates? Or maybe they are.

It's been suggested somewhere that Gore Vidal's Lincoln, a novel published in 2000, covers much the same ground as Goodwin's book (and at a bargain 672 pages!). I'm thinking his narrative style "might" be more appealing over 600 pages than Goodwin's would over 1,000. Have you read any Vidal? IMO, he's an excellent writer. And if you're worried about accuracy in a novel, the conclusion indicates that the ms was seen and corrected by none other than David Herbert Donald. However, I can't recommend the Vidal because I haven't read it. Maybe I'll read that one while you-all read the Goodwin, and we can compare notes--ha.

Another knock I've heard on Goodwin's book is that it's almost pure hagiography--you will have to look hard to find a single negative notion about Lincoln in the entire book. In my opinion, hagiography is the historian/biographer's greatest sin.

Anyways, I'd be curious as to your thoughts. . . .

Haha.. apart from the low cleavage, that librarian outfit you posted is a lot like what i wear to the office, Marky-Mark. I've nixed the librarian idea for my costume because I tried one out yesterday from my closet, and the hubster said apart from the zombie make up, I look like I was going to the office. *sigh* I'll have to raid my closet again for something else to put together for tomorrow's party

Hi Mark, just passing through. I am currently reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and it is taking up a lot of my time. Have you read anything by Mieville? What an imagination this author has!

What a great reading day! I finished the stupendous Destiny of the Republic. Another 5 star read! I could not give it anything less. I started Team of Rivals. This may be a bit drier than the Millard book but I love this time in American history and my knowledge of the "rivals" is more limited.
I also started A Handbook of American Prayer, which grabbed me right away. The writing is incredible. I DID NOT know one thing about this book, I skipped Caro's review but zeroed in on her star rating. I can't wait to see where it goes.

Kath- It's funny how that works around here! One person (LTer) can love a book and 2, 3 or 5 reviews later, the book catches fire. You just never know. I try to remember the person that turned me on to a book but it's not always easy.
And you know I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning, when it comes to being enthusiastic about great reads. That's what drew me to this place!

Joe- That is a great point about Group Reads. Many of us need it for the nudge. It worked for me on both the Murakami and TOR. I think the big books are the toughest, for me anyway. Plus, I love reading along with a crowd of incredible readers.

Karen- 25 pages a day goal is a very good idea. I hope you mentioned that on the G.R. thread. Personally I would try 40-50 pages, mainly because of it's immense size. Of course, everyone has to read at their own pace. I'm listening to it but I will try reading the print book on my days off too! I hope my current print book doesn't get angry.

Claudia made it! Claudia made it! See, how excited I get? You are on the Swap list! I'm glad you will be tagging along. You WILL love Destiny of the Republic. It's even better than River of Doubt.

Becky- Whew! You sure give me a lot to chew over. LOL. And yes, you caught me out on my Robert Caro comment about being intimidated. 2nd LOL. I think it being a multi-volume bio on one man, is what is intimidating to me. I did read an excellent single-volume on LBJ that I really liked but I'm sure it was just a sketch. The only multi-volume bio I've attempted is the one on T.R. I read the 1st 2 but have still not read the 3rd.
For some odd ball reason, big books scare me a little. I'm sure it's because of the time it takes and I'm greedy. This was a weird fluke, with reading back to back monsters. The Murakami was my baby but TOR was suggested by someone else. I thought it was a great opportunity to "finally" get to it, especially with the Spielberg film coming out soon, that's based on the book.

>165 msf59:. especially with the Spielberg film coming out soon, that's based on the book.

Oh, now I understand. OK, that makes sense. My copy arrived in the mail today from Amazon.used. It's not the "behemoth" I had feared--only 700-some pages, pretty typical for a biog of this nature. The font is even reasonably-sized. Hooray.

Ahem.

Mamie- OMG, that is funny! I'm so sorry. Thanks for the best laugh of the day...so far. I thought I was doing so good, responding to folks. I'm glad your books are finally free! Yah! I think that is so cool, that Birdy has her own bookshelves. She is a future LTer. I'm glad you are hanging in there with 1Q84. TOR is a bit of a challenge but I hope you still get to it. Hugs!

Dinner calls....

*sniff* Well, okay then.

Has anyone heard of Francis Spufford? I picked up his memoir The Child that Books Built from the library. Is that a great title or what? Nick Hornby mentioned him in his latest book and I knew I had to give it a try.

Caro- Good luck on finding a different costume. I was looking forward to the naughty librarian photos, despite the gore. LOL.
I just started it but I'm really enjoying A Handbook of American Prayer.

Judy- I've read 2 Mieville books, including Perdido Street. I love his imagination too. That one ran out of gas for me but I know others were crazy about it. Joe is a big fan.

Becky- We brought up the TOR Group Read idea, a couple months ago. I'm not sure if the film release is the only reason, we selected it.
I have not read Goodwin before or Vidal. My first presidential bio was Lincoln and it was outstanding. Have you read that one?
ETA- TOR is 757 pages. 900 with the back-pages. I'm mainly listening to the audio, which is 42 hours long. I will dip into the book too.

There, there Mamie! It's okay. Sings a soft little lullaby...

So, about the Robert Caro books. I started reading him with The Power Broker: Robert Moses and The Fall of New York way back. I found the book fascinating about the back room, behind the scenes workings of government, power, and all that. He is a superb researcher and I was so impressed by this first book. Then, later, I picked up the first LBJ books. I had no idea I was in for a multi-voume life's work experience.

(The Years of Lyndon Johnson - The Path to Power Vol. 1 and Means of Ascent, Vol. 2 and Master of the Senate, Vol.3 by Robert A. Caro)

But I'm telling you, I just ate them up like Jelly Bellies. If I have Jelly Bellies in the house, I can not not eat them! Same with Caro's books, but truth be told I would read them over a longer period of time. One of his volumes can be sitting around my house for many weeks.

I'm telling all this to assure you that if you start, you will want to finish. But you don't have to rush. And you certainly can carry on making a living while the books await your leisure time.

(-:

Cosigning what Cascadia's Own Tea Lady just said.

Just dropping by and wishing you a lovely and hopefully WARM weekend, Mark. :)

Karen- What a ringing endorsement for the Caro books! Thanks. I'll have to add The Path to Power Vol. 1 to the WL. As good as jelly bellies? Good enough for me.

RD- Don't we love our "Cascadia's Own Tea Lady"?

Valerie- It's going to be a cool weekend. Below normal temps, (40s) right through next week. Hey, it's the end of October. I hope you have a good weekend too!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Sunny today, but only 48. What? My last work day of the week and then I'm off 2 and the Bears play tomorrow. The search for the silver lining.

Have a good one, gang!

Do you work today? What's happening with the weather out there? We are pretty much just hearing about the frankenstorm ... dire warnings of snow and rain and power outages.. even here in Pgh. I don't actually expect anything dire, though. I imagine there will be rain, because that is predicted anyway.

Good morning, Mark. I probably should add to my "endorsement" of the LBJ books that it helps if you like history, and politics, and lived through some of those years. As I was in college when Kennedy was assassinated the LBJ years in the Presidency were very much lived by me. Nasty anti-war stuff. A very challenging time in our country. And so the books are very interesting to me. May not be for just everyone.

BTW, I'm going to have to start reporting on my tea drinking if I'm to be worthy of the title..... This morning: coffee and milk. Yummy

It looks like we'll be able to get back to non-coastal Chicago before Frankenstorm hits here. They're talking about work being canceled here (offices closed) next week due to the storm. That sounds pretty good - like a snow day when we were kids - but this thing is a lot more scary than a snow storm and I'd rather be home. Even at 48 degrees.

I've been cranking through a lot of magazines (esp. New Yorkers), so I need to get back to The Yellow Birds, and then I'll join you on Team of Rivals.

You know, I've been gushing lately on my LOVE for NF and of course it deserves every ounce but then I start a book like Handbook of American Prayer, which quickly reminds me how terrific and potent fiction can be. This is a really good book and I hope it maintains it's high level of quality. I did not care for the title but after reading a chunk of it, it fits pretty well.

Kath- Yes, I worked today. You'll be joining the work force again, very soon! You lucky gal. Our weather is fine. It's just cool. High 40s, with sunny skies. Are guys getting storms and rain? I'm sure you will.

Karen- I love American history. I've read 21 presidential bios, including the 1st eleven. I also LOVE reading about the Civil War. Unfortunately, both have suffered since joining LT, but I'll get back to them. I NEED to get to Shelby Foote's C.W. narrative. That's high on the agenda for next year.

Joe- I hope you guys are having a terrific time! And that's good, that you will get out of there, before Frankenstorm hits.

We are FINALLY going to stop at Solemn Oath Brewery. They don't serve food yet but we will have a pint or 2 before we head somewhere for dinner. Yah!

This one reminds me of our dear RD, aka Mr. Crabby Pants! I hope they have it in stock:

Mark, you are a man after my own heart. I also love American history: it was my major at the Univ. of Wash. back in the 1960s; omg, that was almost a century ago. The civil war was not my fav. time, but perhaps it will become so.

Guess what I did today: I downloaded the Kindle app to my MacBook Air, and now I can read TOR on the lap top, much more comfortable than my Version 1 of the Kindle. I still love my Kindle, it was my first love. Made my family buy it for me for Christmas. But I've got new friends, now, too. I am so thrilled. Per chance only the lap top will go to Hawaii, it may suit all my needs. Oh, except, for maps and photographs. I guess the paper book will have to sneak into my luggage.

BTW, the birthday party I'm attending this afternoon is for a friend who loves his beer. Another friend and I went together and bought him a 6 pack of beers/ales from a high end grocery store. We bought them according to the label, which is a little like betting on a horse because we liked its name. But maybe he'll enjoy the taste testing any way. You beer drinkers here inspired me.

Karen- We are heading out the door! I'll be back to respond to you. Make sure you ask your friend for his favorite 2 or 3 beers.

Enjoy the Doris Kearns Goodwin book, Mark. In 2011, Team of Rivals was my favorite book of the year.

Funny what books intimidate each person. I'd like to read the LBJ books by Robert Caro. Those don't intimidate me. Even though they're multiple volumes, I've read quite a bit on American history and, except for the length, these don't scare me in any way.

otoh, I want to read the Richard J. Evans Nazi Germany trilogy. Besides being quite long (1,000 pages each, I believe), I'm a bit more intimidated by these. Why? I've read a lot less European history.

Grumpess! Ha! What a great name. They'll name one after me soon enough.

Of the six bottles of beer we gave Doc, he said he knew for a fact he would like Flat Tire. The others... we will have to wait and see. Party was fun! He has a very eclectic group of friends. The funniest was meeting a retired high school principal who wanted to lecture. Really, he pretended to want to talk about open mindedness, and willingness to listen, and current affairs. But truly he wanted my mind to be open, not his, and he wanted me to listen, not hisveryownself. I t tried to slip away but he literally followed me. I did learn that he is not one of the favorites in this home, but I guess he is a friend of some long years. So, tolerance was practiced, and a nimble fleet pair of feet on my veryownself.

Hi mark, 100 post or so behind. Nevermind. Wish you a great weekend and I hope you enjoy the brewery visit. Will come back to your offer to recommend some interesting GN's for my son. Have been ploughing through the The Walking Dead GN's to assess their suitability and they are fine. We loved the series and when he saw it's based on the graphic novel he was all for it.

To come back to beer - did you ever taste German beer?

I am not an adventuress drinker I guess... I will mostly stick to what I know.
I admire those who step out of the bottle.. so to speak.

Oh, I love all the book swaps that happen this time of year, but I have no time for participation! Maybe when the kids are grown up... :P

Benita mentioned up above (sorry, on iPad, hard to find it again) about authors needing to be pretty in their photos. My bookgroup a while back had someone making the comment that they didn't approve of good-looking authors, as if being good looking somehow meant one wasn't capable of anything. Needless to say, she was shouted down; smart people can be handsome, and handsome people can be smart. Although I am highly envious of anyone who has the talent to write and then gets to be gorgeous as well! No fair. ;)

Gave up coffee this weekend. Hopefully will be less grumpy this week at work. But if the grump lasts, I may just return to coffee.

And while uncaffeinated, I made basil and mint pesto, bought Halloween costumes for the kids (BEST charity shop up the road - St Luke's - not only supplied a great dress & shirt combo for Miss Boo's Bellatrix outfit, but a $5 "leather" duster that's only a bit too big for Mr Bear but will still be brilliant for his Mad Eye Moody outfit), rearranged furniture, swept floors, cooked pizza for dinner from scratch, did several loads of washing, bought pumpkins to carve for Halloween, squeezed in a brief library visit, and got some reading done.

I don't think coffee was quite as important for me as I thought it was.

Loved Alif the Unseen, I look forward to your thoughts, if you ever get the book out of the library, Mark! I have since moved on to Niceville which is very black, creepy, violent, and compelling.

It's Sunday! Yah! A day for LT, books and Bears! Life is good!

Karen- I hope you had a nice time at the birthday party. What I like about the presidential bios, is they give you such a perfect snapshot of American history.
I like Fat Tire too. It's brewed by New Belgium Brewery, out of Colorado. Several of their beers are very good.
Cute story about the "retired high school principal". Hey, he likes you, I can see that!

Linda- I'm only about a 120 pages into Team of rivals but I'm really enjoying it. I like how Goodwin presents the history of each of the "rivals", along with Lincoln's path.
I have a silly aversion to the "big books" and the funny thing is most of them that I do get to, I love. I have to get to shelby Foote's C.W. narratives. I own the 1st 2 volumes. I'm trying to slot in Volume 1 for early next year. Have you read them?

RD- I knew you would like that one. Grumpess was a dark beer, a stout, which I normally don't drink, so I didn't try it.

Bianca- Solemn Oath Brewery is a fledgling brewery. They are located in an industrial park and they have a makeshift bar set up, with all the shiny vats looming in the background. They will be expanding, but it takes time. They are not even bottling it yet.
And yes, I like German beer. I was stationed in Nuremberg for 2 years, so I had a chance to get cozy with many of their brews.

Kath- I know you a long-time Guinness fan, so that counts for something, right?

Tania- An author's looks, of course mean nothing to me, but if it helps them sell a few more books, good for them.
Hope you can post a couple pictures of the kids in costume. Sounds like you did a great job. Niceville sounds like my kind of book. I've never heard of it.

Why did you give up coffee?

Oh I love the Stephen King funny. I can't read the Goodwin with you all, overcommitted, but I will follow the thread for sure.

Hi Mark - It's impossible to keep up with you. So, what Murakami would you start with? I haven't read any, and I'm thinking of suggesting one of his for my book club. Suggestions? Love the Stephen King cartoon -- as always your thread has many entertaining visuals.

I've heard a lot of good things about the Millard book, too. Something to add to my list.

Morning Mark - LOVE the Stephen King cartoon! Your brewery trip sounds fun - Grumpness is such a great name. Jealous that you are so far into TOR already. I am trying to get IQ84 finished up this weekend, but RL keeps intruding - go figure! Hoping that your Sunday is terrific - GO BEARS!

That comic hits the right spot for me since I'm just starting my very first Stephen King novel, The Long Walk. :)

Hi Mark, well I have Team of Rivals downloaded onto my iPad but I think I will probably be reading it on and off for the whole month of November with a bunch of other books in between which works well with NF for me. Love the Stephen King cartoon:)

Anyone else looking for a Biblio Bargain? I know I am!

Lucy- Good to see you! I've been dragging my feet on starting Team of Rivals for a couple years now, so the Group Read was a perfect excuse to give it a go. I really like it so far.

Beth- If you are planning on reading Murakami for your book group, make sure you have an an open-minded group, that can handle something, left of center. My first and still my favorite is Kafka on the Shore. It might be a good place to start.
And yes, READ the Millard book!

Mamie- We were only at the brewery for just over an hour, enough time to sample a couple fine brews. Beer-lovers are like book-lovers, such a fun, open community. We started talking to a group of very nice people and you would have thought we were gabbing about our favorite books. The perfect ice-breaker. Good luck with 1Q84 and yes GO BEARS!

Valerie- I think I read "The Long Walk" many years ago, as part of one of King's early collections. I hope you enjoy it and you can start reading some of his other fine works.

Bonnie- I'm listening to Team of Rivals, which fortunately frees me up, to continue reading my print books. It's very good so far. She has done her homework. I do have the print book at hand too, which I probably will dip into here and there.

A bit late signing in this weekend mate but I trust that you will enjoy what is left of it.

Bears vs. Carolina! Panthers are 1-5. This should be another one for the win column but in the NFL you never know. GO BEARS!

Paul- I know you are still firmly on that bandwagon or is it the Bearwagon? Thanks for checking in.

I'm with you on Kafka on the Shore, Mark. Still my favorite, too. What a book!

Go Bears!

hi Mark!
lol at stephen king cartoon!

i really loved Team of Rivals. it wasn't one that had you on the edge of your seat from beg to end - but for me it had a strong impact.
*gave me an enhanced view of that important era of Amer. history and politics
*gave me a comprehensive view of Lincoln-the-man relative to his personal and public struggles
*gave a succesful example of rivals challenged to work together instead of against each other under an extraordinary leader

Hi Mark, Happy Sunday! Your gushing about Destiny of the Republic has me itching to both read that and join in on the GR of Team of Rivals! However, I have to buckle down to finish up the books for my 12-12 challenge, my 2 outstanding ERs that need reading, and about 10 library and 20 personal books that need reading sooner than later. Blerg! A happy problem to have, but still frustrating. I don't know how it's already 1:30 in the afternoon, but my only job today is to read Old World Murder for a bookclub on Tuesday - and I'm still spending my time here on LT, adding to the TBR heap and drinking coffee. Yikes! I'd better get a move on.

Stay warm tomorrow, those winds sure are chilly!

After all this hype, the shutting down of the railroads and subways and buses, wanna bet me we get an inch of rain and 50mph winds?

*sigh*

UGH! Double UGH! Bears down 13-7 in the 1st half. WTH? I hope they get it together in the 2nd half. Come on, guys!

Joe- More Murakami love! Yah!

Claudia- I love your bullet-points on TOR! This is why we continue to read NF. You can't beat it.

Laura- What are you doing on LT? You have stuff to do! LOL. I'm off tomorrow. Yah. I haven't been out yet today but it looks breezy and chilly. I'll stay in, watch the Bears and read.

RD-This one is for you:

HA! Funny!

love it!

*giggle* I am refering to 206 and 197

I hope everyone of you who is affected by the storms is going to be ok. *fingers crossed*

OMG, Mark

I have literally been reading this thread since last night and just finished. I have been reading a few posts to the DOH (dear old husband) (I like to keep him involved now and then or he begins to feel neglected, and it helps him to understand the attraction to LT...I think!) Anyway, I have decided that I am going to keep a notebook next to the keyboard so I can make notes as I read through threads I am behind on because there were so many things I needed and wanted to comment on and have long forgotten now! Well, I'll try...1) I have Niceville on my TBR teeter-totter and River of Doubt I've heard nothing but good things about ROD, and I'm so glad I took the time to shelve all (or most) of my bio's, memoirs and autobio's in one bookcase so I can just grab them as needed. 2)My daughter's boyfriend made pumpkin ale and it's waiting in the fridge for us, right now.3) I'm nervously awaiting Sandy and the lead-in rain and wind. I say nervously because I worry about my animals if we get evacuated. We shouldn't as we are not in a high flood zone but there are so many complications with these storms. We are only 10 minutes from Long Beach Island which is under mandatory evacuation. We have a generator and we got water. We are leaving to shop for foods we don't have to cook right now, and the regular shopping. The stores are wiped out around here. And we have a home in a nearby town where our tenants are, again not in a flood zone but we worry about the high winds. It's an older home. I'll be back after shopping

Bears Win! Bears Win! 23-22! OMG, what a finish! A nail-biter up until the last 4 seconds.

That was a great finish, Mark! I was rooting for the Bears - it shouldn't have been that close!!

Bears win! Bears Win! Woo-hoo! Jeesh, they looked pretty lousy for most of the game, but somehow turned it around. Love that Robbie Gould!

RD- I thought you might get a kick out of it. How's the weather? Windy & rainy?

Claudia- How is my favorite wounded soldier! Still not using the CAP button, I see. LOL.

Bianca- I think most of the bad weather is on the upper East coast. We are just having a chilly late fall day here in the Midwest, but I'm inside, so everything is fine.

Mary Beth- "I have literally been reading this thread since last night and just finished. I have been reading a few posts to the DOH..." Wow, and you guys didn't fall asleep? I'm glad you are keeping up. Makes me very happy.
I'm not a big fan of fruity beers, including pumpkin flavors but I should give the quality ones a try.
Good luck with the storm. I hope it doesn't hit you guys to bad.

Katie- I'm glad you were able to catch the Bears game. Most of it was very frustrating, but what a finale!

Joe- You are right, sir. They looked pretty sluggish, on offense and defense, for 2/3rds of the game but what a sweet comeback. Gould redeemed himself perfectly, with that last FG.

No, not to speak of...showers once in a way, a breeze...pretty boring so far. Just the way I like my hurricanes.

Guinness sure does count....

Poor Cee... I think Caps are overrated !

Love the Stephen King cartoon!

Also the hurricane advise. I would add one thing - plastic bags to protect books from water... Good luck all in NJ/NY/CT etc area.

#190 love the cartoon!!
Glad to see you had a good day with your Bears! congrats on the win :)

Mark - I saw on Joanne's thread that you plan on reading Stoner next. One of my favorites of my bookselling career. Wish I still had it ahead of me. Maybe I should just re-read it.

Can't wait to hear what you think of it. - Nancy

post#205...I laughed right out loud! Actually, while searching for flashlights in the wee hours of the morning, my thoughts were turned to the fact that if it is dark I cannot read....

Wow, I should be reading! Instead, I keep getting distracted. I'm enjoying a couple beers, buzzing from the Bears win and being lured back to LT, that sneaky and persistent Siren Song! I wish I knew how to meditate and clear my mind!

RD- Yah, for boring hurricanes! Hey, that might make a cool punk rock name. The Boring Hurricanes!

Kath- Go Guinness! Go Guinness! Do you ever crack a can open at home?

Joanne- Good to see you! And thanks for the plastic bag advice! LOL.

Chelle made it! Chelle made it! Hooray!

Nancy- I've owned a copy of Stoner for a long time and a couple LTers have been singing it's praises but it took Nick Hornby, who mentioned it in glowing terms, in his latest book, that finally got me going.
Good to see you!

Linda- Good to see you too, even with a flashlight! How is your weather currently? Is your power back on?

Hey Mark, glad to see the Bears won - okay, I know nothing about American football, but if you are happy it must be a good thing! - and I love the various gifs and cartoons you posted. I especially love #197... all that lush green grass brings a tear to eye.... it has been a long time since I have seen such inviting grass one wants to just remove their shoes and walk barefoot through.

You don't mind if I just keep that pic do you? ;-)

Hi Mark: Hope you had a nice weekend. Quite an exciting Bears finish. We were in the car, driving home from Joliet, and caught the last few minutes. It's amazing how much more exciting football is on the radio. The Bears announcers were going crazy.

I've not read Shelby Foote. I'd planned to but got OD'd on Civil War books in 2011. I'd like to focus on World War 1 next year and probably WW2 the following year.

Incidentally, I'm reading Stoner in November as part of the Missouri Readers group. Come on over and visit if you're reading it. You don't have to be from Missouri (obviously, since I'm not).

Love the Bibliobargains shed. It so cute!

And yay for the bears....is that football or baseball? (you cant believe Im asking can you!) Im thinking.....football? We are getting some baseball of yours on our sports news lately....its before the weather so I sometime see it inadvertently.

Glad your weekend went well, here's to a good week as well :)

Mark - Still on the Bearswagon and we keep trundling along but only just - heavy weather indeed! Have a great week mate.

Best of luck for everyone near Hurricane Sandy! Sounds ferocious. (Do hurricanes usually get anywhere near NY?? Seems unusual to me.)

Mark, I had to give up coffee because I get grumpy when I drink it. After six months of being back on coffee, I wasn't happy with my snappishness levels, so thought I'd better go back to decaf/tea. (My usual barrista this morning, when I told him I was switching to decaf from now on, did ask if I was pregnant. LOL! The days of small babies, nappies - diapers for you Americans - and nighttime feeds are in my past, and I intend for them to stay there!)

It's only been a few days, but I do feel overall more cheerful/calm/relaxed and less snappish. I did want to kill a few people on the bus on the way home tonight, but that's pretty standard for commuting, and at least I didn't actually snap or huff or anything. :)

I ran into pumpkin beer just the other week, had never heard of it before. The sign at the bottle shop (er, where you buy alcohol from, not sure if it's got a different name in the States) said "love it or hate it". I thought it was rather nice, but I wouldn't want to drink more than a glass at a sitting.

Really enjoying Niceville, I think it may be right up your alley. It's about a "perfect" town, but of course there is evil fomenting underneath all the niceness. It's not a perfect novel, but I'm enjoying myself immensely. Reads like a thriller, but a great sense of black humour.

Oh, and have you seen The Book Club on YouTube? My current fave: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLamdUEW_ElS7IVOL04AwwBbP1CSzRTA8Y (warning for adult content, and all that). Great fun, better than most things I've seen on TV of late.

Had to have another discussion with Miss Boo about the friends she chooses, who aren't really good for her. (M finds her "irritating" and Miss Boo's response?? "I can irritate myself sometimes". WTH?? My response: it's M's problem, NOT YOURS, YOU ARE PERFECT. J reduced her to tears just before I picked her up today, she's a selfish little girl, and my Boo deserves better friends. I wanted to kick J before I left with Boo, but thought better of it. Imagine if I was still on coffee...) Twice in one week. Sigh. :(

Day off! Day off. I love when I have Mondays off. And then I work 5 days and then off next week. Sweet. I know I owe a few reviews but I might have to just skip 'em or make 'em mini-minis. Hard to keep up.

Lori- Good to see you over here and I'm glad you like the green green grass in #197. We share pics around here, so knock yourself out. Hope your weekend went well.

Linda- I agree, that last few minutes of that Bears game was incredible, it made up for all the frustrations earlier in the game.
I like your idea of picking a particular period in history to read through-out the year. I like to bounce around, so I'm never or seldom bored.
Thanks for the Stoner heads-up. I'll stop by.

Megan- The Chicago Bears are an American football team. The baseball World Series wrapped up last night, with a Giants sweep, so no more baseball until April.
Yes, I enjoyed my weekend and I hope yours went well too!

Paul- Yah for the BearsWagon! Yes, they were quite sluggish for most of the game but came back strong when they needed to, a sign of a very good team. 6-1! Yah!

Tania- Our hurricanes develop in the south Atlantic but can reach all the way up the coast, like this one. It's amazing how powerful they can be after such a long distance.
Thanks for the coffee explanation. I'm glad you are less likely to kill anyone, now on the bus ride. I like my 3 cups of coffee each morning. I seldom drink anymore after that.
And thanks for filling me on Miss Boo. You sound like such a good mother.
I'll check out The Book club in a few minutes!

Mark, enjoy your day off! I am looking forward to mine which comes on Wednesday this week. I'm making good progress in TOR so I'm focused on that! But coffee is necessity, too. Two cups each morning is just about right!

I'm also trying to find ways to reduce the amount of inflammation producing foods - so, much to RD's chagrin, I'm upping my imbibing of green tea, too.

Looking for more Biblio-Bargains? Come on, who isn't?

Morning Mark! Never a dull moment over here, that's for sure! That Biblioburro is cracking me up!! Where do you find these things?! Hope you enjoy your day off, basking in da Bears win! Go Bears! And I will bask with you as both of my teams won as well. WahHOO!

Tania - I think you should go back and kick J. I don't understand how girls can be so mean to each other. I have three girls myself, so I am sending good mojo to Miss Boo. Here's to finding friends that can and will truly appreciate her wonderful self.

127) In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner 4.7 stars

This is going to be a quickie but wow, was this a terrific read. It documents the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The story is told through the eyes of a seven-year-old girl, named Raami, who is the ideal narrator. The prose is beautiful, but the narrative is heart-rending. Keep plenty of tissues handy. Here are a couple nuggets:

“But the real reason we stayed, I sensed, was simply that we couldn’t bear to leave the place where Papa had last been, where the ground echoed with his footsteps, the trees heaved his sighs, and the pond mirrored his tranquility.”

“It was a sick sky. A sky burning with welts. Angry and red. The colors of rotting flesh, of dying and death, of one heaving last breath. Of rains that hadn’t come, and rains that came a long time ago.”

Big thanks to Bonnie for the nudge on this one!

Happy Monday, Mark. Now that baseball is over (and what a dull World Series that was), I can start reading in earnest in the evenings. I may have to start watching basketball.

Happily your review would I upgethumb, but post it you have not.

128) Under and Alone by William Queen 4 stars

This a true-life look at an under-cover ATF agent, infiltrating the Mongols Motor Cycle Club, in San Fernando Valley California. He spent two terrifying years with this notorious, violent and repellent group of thugs. Tense and well-written.

Karen- I'm looking forward to getting back to TOR tomorrow. I just started Chapter 4. Go Green Tea! I should drink more.

Mamie- I'm glad you liked the Biblioburro. It fit in nice with the Biblio-Shack. I find most of these through book site postings on Facebook. It's a constant stream. RD turned me on to those. Got to love RD.

Linda- I didn't watch much of the Series, but boy was it the Giants year! Go Bulls!

RD, aka Yoda- I thought that review was even more scant than usual, so I didn't post it. LOL. It's silly, but I feel guilty for not saying at least something about a book.

Love the succinct review of In the Shadow of the Banyan and I must seek it out soon.

Mark - I liked your review, too. I think you should post it - it's succinct and the quotes are fabulously chosen. To quote Joe, "If you post it, I will thumb!"

Thanks guys! The mini-review is posted. LOL!

Yay, happy day off to you Mark! :)

I'm 140 posts behind. I would like to go back to my conference where I could at least find bits of time to keep up with my LT buddies. In any case, I see that you have a day off, Mark. Enjoy.
I definitely want to read In the Shadow of the Banyon.
And I love the BiblioBurro!!!!!

The Yellow Birds was as good as promised, Mark. Thanks to you and RD for the push.

In The Shadow of the Banyan sounds like another good one I'll keep in mind.

Enjoy that day off!

Good review of In the Shadow of the Banyan, Marky-Mark. That's already on my obese wish list but I don't think I'll get to it until next year. I'm in danger of hopping onto all the books with great reviews and that leaves more and more books languishing in my TBR Tower. I have to revise the way I read from my TBR Tower, I think ... and try and do it based on an aging list. But it's so tempting to shunt some aside for the newer books out. At this rate, some one of the ones in my TBR Tower are going to be considered classics by the time I get to them.

I've been chillin'! Trying to alternate between reading and doing a few things around the house. So far it's been working.

Paul & Mamie- The Banyan is a fantastic read. Seek it out.

Valerie- Thanks! The day off is going very well. Lots of sunshine out there but cool temps.

Ellen- Now how did you get 140 posts behind? Bad Ellen. Glad you like the Biblioburro and please try to get to In the Shadow of the Banyan.

Joe- You are welcome sir! I hope you are able to spread the word on The Yellow Birds. It NEEDS more readers!

Caro- I think we all have that problem with our TBR stacks but I also really like being current or as much as possible. BLT, I rarely read newer books. Bad LT. We should all used to dirty looks from the stacks! Hey books, get over it!

oh, well now, In the Shadow of the Banyan sounds great. Sad topic, but worth it if those quotes are anything to go by.
Will check library.

We all need our own, personalized, sorting machine. Put the book's title, or author, in and the machine sorts it into piles of our choice: must read now, must read this year, can wait until after Christmas,

you know what I mean...

I could invent one, but then I would have no time to read

OK, I'm supervising a Middle school boy who is supposed to print out an article form FoxNews.com so he can do a Social Studies report on current affairs. Oh, Mein Gott im Himmel! (or something like that..)

These naughty librarians are so clumsy!

A woman at a seawall in Narragansett, R.I., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012.



A woman walks her dog by sandbags in Battery Park in downtown Manhattan.



Hurricane Sandy pummels the coastline in Milford, Connecticut October 29, 2012.

Great pics, Mark. Alas, on fb, I fell for the not genuine pictures of the menacing clouds heading towards the Statue of Liberty, as well as the picture of the honor guard guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns. I'm so gullible.

Woo, that's really something. Thanks for the pics, Mark. I've got the Weather Channel on Youtube going per RD's suggestion.

Hi Mark - In the Shadow of the Banyan sounds like First They Killed My Father -- have you read that? It's a memoir and excellent -- the narrator is also a little girl.

Megan- The beauty of the writing in In the Shadow of the Banyan carries the reader through the many grim patches. It was a brutal time.

Karen- "Oh, Mein Gott im Himmel!" I know exactly where you are coming from. Amen, my friend.

Linda- I saw that fake photo on FB too! I'm glad someone quickly mentioned that it was phony. Things get passed around way to fast on the internet. I don't think you're gullible. We are all susceptible to being hood-winked.

Joe- It looks like we are going to get hammered pretty hard tomorrow with some heavy winds. I heard on our local news radio program, that the local surfers are in a tizzy over these monumental waves, (for the Midwest, anyway).

Beth- I never heard of First They Killed My Father, but they do seem very similar. Ratner wrote her book as a novel, but she also lived through this harrowing experience as a child.

Hi Mark! Nice reviews, particularly of 1Q84.

In the Shadow of the Banyan sounds terribly heartbreaking. The Khmer Rouge folks were completely insane.

I think you mentioned ALA in Chicago next summer. I think you'd enjoy the exhibits. I'll probably be working the whole time, so I don't know if I'll be available for an LT meet-up, but I'll try.

What did you think of The Walking Dead episode last night? Something new at least. I really do want to read the books.

Hi Mark - I'm on the home stretch with 1Q84 with about 200 pgs left. Really enjoying the weirdness.

Hi Mark, In the Shadow of the Banyan is already on my wishlist but as usual your review makes me want to get to it soon. November is going to dedicated to finishing my 2012 Category Challenge. I'm watching the news on TV right now and seeing some truly scary pictures of that monster storm. Hope all our LTer's are staying safe.

Somehow Mark, I knew you would love In the Shadow of the Banyan and I will leave here to thumb your review. And as payback I loved Kings of the Earth and hope to get a review done tomorrow. I've already ordered up his Finn. I just loved his writing.

holy moly, thems some waves! I hope everyone stays safe!

Sounds like the East coast is a mess this morning. My heart breaks. I hope all my LT friends out there, are doing okay.

I should be wrapping up A Handbook of American Prayer today and I think I will start (FINALLY!) Stoner, which I know a few LTers are nuts about and I've been sitting on for a couple years.
I will also be resuming the indomitable Team of Rivals.

Kerri- Thanks! Glad you liked the mini-reviews. Yes, we watched Walking Dead last night. It was good. Another creepy one. I really like this season so far. They have really toned down the annoying characters.
You'll have to remind me about ALA. I would like to attend.

Kerry- I'm glad are enjoying 1Q84 and are blissfully on the homestretch.

Judy- I'm so glad I decided to read In the Shadow of the Banyan and not return it to the library unread. It was well worth the dollar fine. LOL.

Bonnie- I'm so glad you liked Kings of the Earth. I still have my signed copy of Finn sitting on a shelf. I NEED to get to it. Like I mentioned, Clinch has a new one coming out soon.

Megan- I'm with you my friend. Hope all is well. Yikes.

Hello there friend!

I love Kerry's comment in >253 avatiakh: about 1Q84 - "Really enjoying the weirdness". Hah! That sums up the experience all right.

Hope you're doing okay as the winds rev up here, Mark. I worry about those surfers - there comes a point where it gets dangerous. They've got flood warnings out for Lake Shore Drive.

I think we've got LTers experiencing the power outages. RD might be one of them.

#193
BLBera
I would give a vote for Kafka on the Shore as a Murakami to start with, but also think that Wild Sheep Chase would be a good one.

There must have been some questions about the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier because NPR did a story on that yesterday. Turns out that they are indeed on duty 42 hours a day in all weather. However, they do not have to do the choreographed walk during storms. They are stationed in a warmed dry shelter that is manned 24 hours a day every day. They have never not been at that tomb. According to NPR.

It got cold here over the weekend, and we are in a warming up period now, but it will take till the end of the week to get back into the 80's. (I know, don't cry for me Argentina time). I picked up Mumsey at the airport last night and had to wait for almost two hours as her plane from Memphis was delayed. She said they were told it was because of mechanical difficulties, but she thinks it was because there were only about 15 people and since it is a shuttle they didn't want to fly two times with so few passengers.

Mumsey was impressed with my bookshelf lined living room. She said it was pretty! She was not impressed with my overflowing dresser draws. She said I needed to get rid of some clothes.

An update on our hurricane Sandy experience. I'm sitting here in the escalating darkness typing to the sound of a generator, as we have lost power now for a total of a day and a half. Yesterday the winds were frightening, up to 75 mph in the evening. A tree across the street dropped two enormous branches in front of our driveway, but the man across the street cut them up and moved them first thing this morning. I actually witnessed one of them come down as I heard a huge gust of wind and looked out the window just in time. To give you an idea of where I am, I live only 10 minutes west of Long Beach Island and about 25 minutes north of Atlantic City. I'm talking New Jersey, not Long Island and not New York. I' m about 2 hours south of New York, but we are considered the Jersey Shore. I'm not in a high flood area but we are surrounded by homes that are, in about a 2 mile radius. We took a ride today to find gas for the generator and trees were down everywhere. No stores etc. are open, but we are pretty well prepared. The dogs and cats were decidedly nervous with the loud wind but settle down if we are near. The devestation wrought by this storm is incredible. Entire portions of the boardwalks have been ripped off and there are homes in the middle of major roadways. Everybody is in our prayers tonight and the weeks to come,

Mary Beth, I am so glad you've not suffered damage. The Jersey Shore seems to have been hit particularly hard. Best wishes and good fortunes to you and your neighbors, and community, as the clean up and recovery begins!

YMary-Beth, glad to hear you've come through the storm reasonably unscathed. Hope everything gets back to normal soon.

Okay, started a new thread, but I want to say hi to my faithful visitors first, before moving on!

Kimmers is here! Kimmers is here! Always a pleasure my friend!

Joe- It was a chilly day and windy. I much preferred walking south than north. Hey, compared to out East, we had it made.

Benita- Yah, your Mumsey is in! I'm glad she liked the bookshelves. Sorry she didn't feel the same about the dresser-drawers. How long is she in for?

Mary Beth- Thanks for the update from the Jersey Shore! Wow, sounds terrible. I'm glad you guys are safe and sound. Keep me updated!