jadebird starts the 1st stack of books

Hello and Happy New Year everybody!

I took a teaching job with the University of New Mexico, so I’m not in California anymore.

New city, new job, NEW LIBRARIES!

I’m looking forward to a great 2013.

Welcome back!

Great to see you here, Ren!

Yay Ren! Glad to see you, and delighted you're not in nasty ol' Cali anymore. *smooch* for a great reading year!

Good to see you Ren. Hope you have a great year:)

Hi Jim. It’s great to be part of this fun group you founded. Happy New Year to you!

Roni, I’ve been catching up on all the beautiful pictures you posted on your 2012 thread.

Big smooch right back at ya, Richard. Now don’t go dissin California, that’s where I was hatched. I am very happy, though, to be here in the Land of Enchantment.

Thank you for the welcome back, calm, (I had a kitty once named Bat that looked just like your Circe), I hope you have an awesome 2013!

A Murder of Crows by Patrick Buchanan. Vintage (1970) action-adventure.

PI Ben Shock and his girl Friday, Charity Tucker, are called to rural Kentucky to investigate a spate of sabotage occurring at a racetrack. Faster than you can say “corn liquor” the team is faced with snipers, snake farms, sinister cults, sadists, and murder.

Here’s a brief peek at Buchanan’s style:

You can always tell when a town has gone bad. People gather in little groups, talking in low voices. Their postures are taut and awkward. They have the look of those who have been brushed by brutality and do not know how to cope with it—a look of shame, as if they had somehow caused the violence that frightens them.

Hey, I'm a native Californian too, and the son of a native...I just can't stand the place. Makes me itch.

Good luck for the year. :-)

Really Richard? So cool. You probably didn’t mean it this way, but, speaking of itches, my allergy problem is not nearly so bad here in New Mexico.

Well, howdy and welcome goonergirl1982! Happy 2013!

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Fever Crumb grew up knowing she was an orphan. She had been found, an infant in a basket, abandoned on the border of the Brick Marsh, just another unintended casualty of the last uprising in London when the Skinners hunted down, killed, and flayed every member of the Scriven aristocracy. At least, that’s the story she’s always been told.

Now, on the eve of young adulthood, after years of training as a member of the Order of Engineers, she abruptly discovers that her past is shrouded in mysteries, dark and complex secrets that will change her life forever and, perhaps, the course of history.

Keeping up with even a few threads is harder than ever.

Library trip today. Brought back Kidnapped and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Currently I'm reading The Empty Ocean by Richard Ellis (another library book) and Death on the Dragon's Tongue by Margot Arnold (picked up for a buck on a used book sale rack--score!).

No scratching or itching in Malaysia I am pleased to report. Glad that New Mexico is as good as camomile lotion. Have a great weekend Ren.

I was born in California, too! The land of fruits and nuts...

>13 PaulCranswick: My allergies are the sneezing, eye-watering kind. But that's good to know about Malaysia, Paul. And have a super weekend yourself.

>14 Morphidae: Morphy's a California girl, too! It is really an awesome place. I miss the Pacific Ocean, but New Mexico is lots of fun. This last was the first non-white Christmas I've had in a long, long time.

Found a new used bookstore (dangerous); picked up Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini and Deadly Kingdom by Gordon Grice. Always wanted to read Captain Blood; I'm a big fan of the movie.

Hi, Ren - found and starred!

I have Captain Blood on my short-list TBR too! Hope to get to it this month.

I'm going to try and finish my mystery first. Like lots of Lters, I'm working on around six books at once.

Checking in on the new thread, Ren. Looks like you've had a couple good reads already this year. :)

Hi Micky. Yes, I liked them both. Fever Crumb wasn't as riveting as Mortal Engines, but I liked it. I guess I need to come up with a rating system.

He sat down with his drink at the table and regarded the student’s with almost fatherly concern. He was so used to students and their addlepated ways that he found it extremely difficult to take the young people in front of him at all seriously. In his opinion, all students were slightly mad, it was a phase that they had to go through before they grew up, and, looking at the world around him, he was also of the opinion that many of them never did make it all the way.

Excerpt from Death on the Dragon’s Tongue by Margot Arnold

Finally went to Astro-Zombies, this cool-looking comic book shop in the Nob Hill district that I’ve wanted to visit since I saw it last August. I bought Marvel’s Sub-Mariner #13 (published in the 60’s). When I got it home and looked it up, found out I paid way too much. Now I’m bummed.

Death on the Dragon’s Tongue by Margot Arnold

My first venture into the Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower mysteries. I thought it was great. Classic English mystery motif with an archaeologist theme. Stylishly written with a good pace and clever protagonists.

Hi there! I've got you starred now and I'm looking forward to following your reading this year. Yay for libraries! Yay for used book stores! Boo for getting fleeced on old comics.

Karen O.

My sentiments exactly! Thanks for the moral support. :)

Feeding the Ancestors: Tlingit Carved Horn Spoons (Peabody Museum Collections Series) by Anne-Marie Victor-Howe.

A nicely written discussion and attractive presentation of the artifacts, their makers, collectors, cultural functions and related myths.

Grabbed some library books today in between meetings:
Whales on Stilts, Fire and Wings, The Goblin Gate, Ship Breaker, and Bournonville Ballet Technique.

I’m just starting to paw through UNM’s DVD library. One of my first choices was The Dream, a ballet version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ethan Stiefel’s performance as Oberon was positively enchanting.

That's a great photo of an elegant Oberon, Ren.

I'm thrilled you've moved to NYC. I hope to make one of the NY Meetups to meet you in person.

He's an amazing dancer, Caro. I think he is the artistic director of the New Zealand Royal Ballet Company now.

Actually, I'm in ABQ not NYC. :)

Looks like he's just floating on air. You can barely see the tension from the jump.

Absolutely, Morphy, he has very clean technique, and an effortless quality to all his movements. Watch The Dream, if you get the chance. It is not epic in length and is a wonderful blend of comedy and fantasy.

Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson. Wonderful little book. Wry and witty.

Ren - The photo of Oberon was delightful. SWMBO says I look good in tights too. But I can't leave them on too long I find they restrict my breathing and don't fit over my head without pulling my nose out of shape.

Have a lovely weekend.

Oh, no - so many book bullets already. You have a sneaky technique - including excerpts. I like the look of Fever Crumb. And ...Dragon's Tongue. And even your brief description of Whales on Stilts.

*retires, nursing hits*

#16: I have always wanted to read Captain Blood too. I cannot wait to see what you think of it, Ren.

Hmm, New Mexico is not too far from Texas, is it? We could meet in the middle!

>34 PaulCranswick:
If you put them on your head, you'll look like a jester, Paul. Jesters are magical people. You would be an organized (I use the word of power) jester. How special is that?

I took the commuter train and visited the History Museum in Sante Fe Saturday, so I did have a lovely weekend.

*delurking* love the pic of Oberon. Absolutely stunning :)

>35 humouress: Got you with a BB, Nina! Wow, I feel so powerful. I'm looking for more of the Sir Toby & Penny Spring mysteries, myself. The UNM library doesn't have any, so I may have to *gasp* buy some! I just had my Thingversary, and didn't buy my quota, so maybe I can use that as a justification. :)

Thanks to the link on Stasia's thread, I took the Book Quiz.

You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

by C.S. Lewis

You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

>36 alcottacre:
Hi Stasia. I'm glad I'm finally reading Captain Blood, but I'm not getting into it like I thought I would. The pace is good, the writing intelligent. It was written in 1935 (I think); I read lots from that period, but (again, I think) Sabatini was emulating more of a Dumas style. That should still appeal to me... Okay, I'm dithering here. :)

>39 drachenbraut23:
Hi, Bianca. Isn't Ethan Stiefel something? He has the same quality of precision and lightness that I loved in Anthony Dowell (who staged this version of The Dream, I believe).

This is Sir Anthony as Oberon:

>>#42 Captain Blood was a little earlier than that, Ren - 1922 (the film was 1935) - but you're right that Sabatini was influenced by Dumas.

I took the quiz and got:
You're The Catcher in the Rye!
by J.D. Salinger
You are surrounded by phonies, and boy are you sick of them! In an ongoing struggle to search for a land without phonies, you end up running away from everything, from school to consequences. In this process, you reveal that many people in your life have suffered torments and all you really want to do is catch them as they fall. Perhaps using a baseball mitt. Your biggest fans are infamous psychotics.

Heh. Silly quiz.

>>#44 Thanks, Liz. I must have gotten the date from the movie. The other thing I tend not to like is when an author breaks from the story and speaks directly to the reader (there's a phrase for that, and it's escaping me). It's okay and fitting if it's a witty aside (P.G. Wodehouse, Lemony Snickett), but otherwise I find it off-putting.

Ren, do you have snow in New Mexico at the moment? I thought New Mexico was a rather 'warm' state.

I took the quiz and was The Giver.

Hi, Ren--Just stopping by!

>>45 Morphidae: Morphy, I think Stasia is Catch-22 too. "Your biggest fans are infamous psychotics." Wow.

>>47 wilkiec: Hi Diana. Not as much snow as we need. The region is in a terrible drought. New Mexico has a landscape of desert and high mesas and mountain ranges. The Sandias, just east of Albuquerque, reaches a bit over 10,000 feet in altitude. So, there are sometimes big snowstorms, if not in Albuquerque, then Sante Fe or Taos (near the famous Angel Fire ski area). Anyway, it can get pretty darn cold, especially with the winds coming down off the mountains. It is really beautiful country, though.

>>48 MickyFine: Hi Micky! I wasn't familiar with The Giver, so your post made me investigate!

>>49 ronincats: Hi right back. Drop by anytime, Roni!

School just started so my reading time is diminished in a big way. :(

Last Saturday I took the commuter train to Sante Fe for the first time, discovered a used book store called "Books of Interest" and bought Galahad at Blandings. Oh, it is too funny. P.G. Wodehouse at his best.

>51 jadebird: The Giver is one of those books I read as a kid and while I remember almost none of the details, I remember loving it.

I'm going to look for it (then will I know secrets about you, Micky?)!

>54 jadebird: Possible. And they will be secrets I don't even know about me. ;)

Secrets of power... I will try to use this knowledge only for good.

You'd make such a good superhero. ;)

:)

> 43 Yes, another beautiful Oberon *sigh*

I have read The Giver quartett last year and the first book was the best one out of all of them, also number 2 and 3 were still quite interesting as well. The author discussed quite interesting topics in this short book and I could clearly see why they initially banned it. Definately a book I can highly recommend :)

I am Cat's Craddle by Kurt Vonnegut in that Quizz *grin*

I'm on Messenger, the third book in the series right now. I read the first two books in the series last year. They are great little books, and they do make one think.

Karen O.

Ren - That quiz of Stasia's is mean - I got Love in the Time of Cholera and according to the blurb I was way more cholera than love. Deleted it in a rit of fealous jage as Peter Sellars (a true tight-less jester) was fond of saying.
Have a lovely weekend.

Swamped by the first week of school. Will be back....

>>59 drachenbraut23: Cat's Cradle? Pretty cool, Bianca. Were you surprised? The Giver quartet is on the list for sure. Thanks. And, yes, Sir Anthony was a fabulously beautiful dancer--great artistic director too.

>>60 klobrien2: Hi Karen. Thanks for the input. Sometimes series don't gel out. Sequelitis isn't it called?

>>61 PaulCranswick: Whoa, Paul. No way is that stupid quiz-thing right! (Didn't Sellers wear tights in The Mouse That Roared?)

I love The Giver. The other two books in the trilogy, not so much.

Okay, where's the picture of your scarf?

>41 jadebird:: That's so funny. I took the book quiz a couple of years ago, following a link from another LTer (I have no idea who), and put it on my profile. I was actually thinking of deleting it, now, but hadn't got around to it. When I visited Chèli's thread, she had a look at my profile, and picked it up. And now it seems to be spreading around LT like wildfire! :0)

>46 jadebird:: breaking the fourth wall?

Stasia, thanks for your input. I will "moderate" my expectations. :)

Roni, I wondered if you were going to mention the lack of photographic evidence. My laptop is supposed to take pictures, maybe this is the time to try that feature.

Hi, Nina. I think I've taken the Blue Pyramid Quiz three different times (at least a year apart). I've been The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe twice and Macbeth once. I think the Catch-22 spiel is pretty good: You are surrounded by phonies, and boy are you sick of them! In an ongoing struggle to search for a land without phonies, you end up running away from everything, from school to consequences. In this process, you reveal that many people in your life have suffered torments and all you really want to do is catch them as they fall. Perhaps using a baseball mitt. Your biggest fans are infamous psychotics. And YES, that was the phrase I was looking for: breaking the fourth wall. Thanks.

Ren, I hope you have some time left to read. Have a great weekend!

Thank you! It's raining today, but it's quite pleasant. I'm doing school related stuff today, but I think I'll go the museum tomorrow.

Biology of Turtles by Jeanette Wyneken et al



This a fantastic book, providing insights into chelonian mechanics and behavior that you never dreamed was available! Pretty hard hoeing for the non-herpetologist (like me), but it’s easy to get the gist around the big words and jargon. Turtles are just flat amazing. Enjoy them now; many species are rapidly on their way to extinction.

Turtles. Gracious goodness me. You *do* know how to party, there, miss lady.

Turtle Toga Party? Cha-cha with a chelonian? You could have something there, Richard.

Ren - What surprised me when I checked was that there was actually another LT member with that book too. I suggest that you track them down to discuss this obviously fascinating topic. Just kidding.

" there was actually another LT member with that book too" :)
Of course! Inquiring minds want to know--about turtles!

Galahad at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse at his merry best. You get Galahad, Beach, Clarence, and the Empress.

Well, the Empress is worth it anytime.

Pig-Hoooey!

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

I was going to say that looks like Errol Flynn. Then I saw that IS Errol Flynn!

:)

Found Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter on sale, so I snagged it. Been wanting to read it for quite a while. Bought Beaton's Death of an Addict too.

You're on a mini-roll!

*returns to writing Cha-cha with a Chelonian: A Turtle Bay Mystery*

oooh, that sounds good. You may have a bestseller in the making there, Richard.

I found your thread and I'll be back to visit often.

I hope you are snug and warm and that the storm is at bay.

Hi Linda, happy you stopped by. It snowed a smidge today, but mostly windy. I think I've caught a cold though, so I'm a little bummed.

hehe hi jadebird - love the description of the turtlebook. Sounds excactly like something my son would enjoy very much.

Awww I used to adore Errol Flynn when I was a little girl he was one of my many tv heroes *smile*. Definately, have to check that out. Haven't seen one in decades. Thanks for reminding me :)

Hope your cold stays a cold and that you feel better soon. Send you nice warm socks, scarf, blanket with a hot herbal tea - well, that should help.

Hoping you feel better today.

Hey, thank you guys for your good wishes. It's been a cruel week, but I think I'm coming back up out of the pit of despair.

Glad you are starting to feel better. More tea!

Good idea, Roni. I'm still draggin' my wagon.

From the introduction to The Empty Ocean by Richard Ellis.

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals…. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth. --Henry Beston

Death of an Addict by M.C. Beaton
Nice romp with Hamish through the highlands.

Impulse buy for my birthday: Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood and Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood. Light and fluffy with the barest soupcon of mystery. Candy’s a bit too marzipan for me.

So, that makes my first 10 books for the year:
1. A Murder of Crows by Patrick Buchanan
2. Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
3. Death on the Dragon's Tongue by Margot Arnold
4. Feeding the Ancestors Tlingit Carved Horn Spoons by Anne-Marie Victor-Howe
5. Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson
6. Biology of Turtles by Jeanette Wyneken et al
7. Galahad at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse
8. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
9. Death of an Addict by M.C. Beaton
10. Town in a Pumpkin Bash by B.B. Haywood

I’m reading a lot slower than I hoped. I’m working on a number of non-fictions, including Winged Sentinels, Empty Ocean, and Garden Natural History.

I'm a little behind on the Candy Holliday series. Our library doesn't have the next one for me, and I've mainly been looking for it where I can find bargain deals on used books, like the Goodwill bookstore near where my dad lives. I've got a stash of books to trade for credit at our local used bookstore so I may decide to get it there if it is in stock when I trade it.

Hi Lori! Town in a Pumpkin Bash was my first venture into the Candy Holliday series. I liked the Halloween motif, but I'm not sure I'll try another. Maybe it's not the strongest book in the series?

I think I missed your birthday, Ren. Happy belated Birthday wishes!

Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change by Janice Wormworth & Cagan H. Sekercioglu



Fascinating, if sobering (depressing?), look at how the feathered nations will fare in the coming decades.

Excerpt from the conclusions section of the book:
“In the USA, for example, even though 59 per cent of species’ recovery plans made between 2005 and 2008 addressed global warming as an extinction threat, government agencies have not responded with any national strategy, leaving a lack of guidance. Nonetheless, one widely accepted point is the need to help ecosystems adapt. A level of climate change is inevitable even if greenhouse gas emissions were to cease immediately. If this impact is not addressed, efforts to conserve birds will fall short. This reality demands a new era of conservation strategies to help smooth the way of inevitable change.”

Thanks Roni, Happy Birthdays are always appreciated. I bought myself the first season of Pie in the Sky. :)

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne


A wonderful story, very entertaining. I bought this copy in Sante Fe at Books of Interest (311 Aztec), a neat little vintage book store.

The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year, No Matter Where You Live by Niki Jabbour

The Roman Hat Mystery, Ellery Queen

The Defenders #30, Marvel Comics 1975



Had to get a comic. Sold most of my collection when I moved, but gotta get one now and then. Great Bronze Age stuff.

Hi Ren, found your thread.

There is Fumetto now in Luzern, Switzerland, a comic festival. This year there are two bigger exhibitions dedicated to Robert Crumb and Olivier Schrauwen (Belgium). http://www.fumetto.ch/index.cfm?nav=162,1185&SID=2&DID=1 Just have a look

Thank you!

The Empty Ocean by Richard Ellis



Terribly sad, grim reading.

Hi Ren! Swooping through on my broom, trailing smooches

Swoop all you want! Wave hi as you go by....

Tlingit Encounter With Photography by Sharon Bohn Gmelch

When I lived in southeast Alaska I read quite a bit about Tlingit culture and mythology. So I was interested in this book when I spied it in the library. Good book.

The Swamp Monster by Frank W. Dixon

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Hi Ren,
just stopping by to wish you a Happy Easter Weekend!

came by to wish you a blessed Easter time

Nice of you guys to stop bye with your happy wishes. :)

Latest read:
Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond Feist

Stopping by to wave hello.

Hi, Linda. Happy to have you visit. :)

Garden Natural History by Stefan Buczacki



Fascinating and revealing look at the subject. The focus is on British gardening, but (especially since American gardening has historically been highly influenced by what goes on across the Atlantic), is relevant to any understanding of the natural history of temperate gardens in general. Buczacki’s pithy presentation is entertaining.

The Hot-Blooded Insects
by Bernd Heinrich

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact
By A.J. Hartley

Hi Ren, just stopping by to see how you are. I see you have done quite a bit of interesting reading as well. I have only read the first three in Raymond E. Feists series as yet, which I absolutely enjoyed. Which reminds me that I should pick the next one up sometime as well :)

Just dropping by.

I haven't been by for a while (sorry!) and coincidentally opened on post 112. My mum is putting together a Power Point presentation of my parents' Alaskan cruise (last year), so today I've seen two people (on the computer) who know about Tlingit culture. I don't think I've heard of them any other time.

I forget where I got to with Feist's books, it's been so long. I do have one (or two) on the TBR shelves, but haven't got around to it yet - because of not knowing.

>123 drachenbraut23: Hi Bianca, I haven't picked up the second book in this newer Feist series. Talon of the Silver Hawk was a bit slow, obviously the introduction book. Talon has fallen in with Pug's crowd. I miss Jimmy the Hand and Prince Arutha.

Hi Nina, I used to be a guide at the bear observatory at Anan; so I used to take those very folks off the cruise ships to see the bears.

The Defenders #25, 1974, Marvel Comics

The Phoenix Equation by Franklin W. Dixon


It's the last weeks of the semester, so I've been reading a lot of vacuous stuff. Dead tired.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

How about Captains Courageous next? I'll bet you'll be glad for the semester, and grading, to be over!

>126 jadebird:: So maybe you took them on a tour‽: I'll have to check and see if they went to Anan.

Hi Roni. How about Captains Courageous next? Sounds good to me.

I have two more finals to give & grade, and then, next week, one more semester under wraps. :)

Hi Nina. That would be too funny if I was their guide. I took a lot of folks up the trail (and, yes, they all came back down). :)

Slippery Slope by Lemony Snickett

*waving* at Ren

Wow! Hi Stasia. Big wave back. :)

Murder in Retrospective or Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

The Thermal Warriors by Bernd Heinrich

The Defenders #13, Marvel Comics

Darwen Arkwright and the Insidious Bleck by A.J. Hartley

The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge by Franklin W. Dixon