Chatterbox's 2013 Adventures in Bibliomania -- Episode Two

The poem for this thread is inspired by all the wintry weather:

The Snow Storm

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of the snow.

Onto thread three, as real life competes with reading for attention, drama and excitement....

But here's the usual info, complete with a list of reading for this challenge:

The bottom line: I like to balance my reading between non-fiction and fiction; between "serious" tomes and more frivolous fluffy books that provide great entertainment if little in the way of nutritional value. I'm a big mystery fan, I read historical fiction and chick lit and am tip-toeing into the worlds of fantasy and sci-fi, although VERY selectively. Any kind of book can be a "thumping good read"; I'd rather read a mystery that falls into that category than a much-acclaimed or buzzed-about book that I find pretentious or self-conscious (one in which the author seems more intent on telling the world how smart he or she is than on capturing the reader's full attention.) Good writing, good characters, a great plot are the keys to a good writing -- all need to be present and accounted for. When it comes to non-fiction, my expectations are a little lower -- I can cope with more clunky writing if the story being told is fabulous. This year, I'm going to try to keep my non-fiction reading to about 25% of the total.

Here's the running tally of the books I've read in total for 2013:




And here's the ticker for the 75-book challenge:




Below you'll find the usual list of what I have read for the 75-book challenge. I'll comment on everything that I'm reading in this thread, although I'll only log the non-2013 category challenge books in the list below.

A guide to the ratings, which are highly subjective:
1.5 or less: A tree gave its life so that this book could be printed and distributed?
1.5 to 2.7: Are you really prepared to give up hours of your life for this?? I wouldn't recommend doing so...
2.8 to 3.3: Do you need something to fill in some time waiting to see the dentist? Either reasonably good within a ho-hum genre (chick lit or thrillers), something that's OK to read when you've nothing else with you, or that you'll find adequate to pass the time and forget later on.
3.4 to 3.8: Want to know what a thumping good read is like, or a book that has a fascinating premise, but doesn't quite deliver? This is where you'll find 'em.
3.9 to 4.4: So, you want a hearty endorsement? These books have what it takes to make me happy I read them.
4.5 to 5: The books that I wish I hadn't read yet, so I could experience the joy of discovering them again for the first time. Sometimes disquieting, sometimes sentimental faves, sometimes dramatic -- they are a highly personal/subjective collection!

Stars/scores are given in brackets after the book details.

Asterisks (*) mark books that I have re-read. I'll be trying to keep re-reads to 5% of the total this year. I'd like to think that I'll acquire fewer books than I read, but I also am resolving not to be delusional about anything in 2013, so... Audiobooks will be marked as such.

Average Rating for all books to date: 3.91 stars

1. The Futures by Emily Lambert (3.3), STARTED 12/26/12, FINISHED 1/2/13 (non-fiction)
2. The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry (3.4), STARTED 1/2/13, FINISHED 1/3/13 (fiction)
3. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie (4.2), STARTED 1/2/13, FINISHED 1/4/13 (fiction)
4. On Saudi Arabia by Karen Elliott House (3.8), STARTED 1/3/13, FINISHED 1/5/13 (non-fiction)
5. I, Jane: In the court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger (3.0), STARTED 1/4/13, FINISHED 1/5/13 (fiction)
6. Cold: Adventures in the World's Frozen Places by Bill Streever (4.5), STARTED 1/4/13, FINISHED 1/6/13) (non-fiction)
7. Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer (4.5), STARTED 1/5/13, FINISHED 1/7/13 (fiction)
8. Blood Sisters by Sarah Gristwood (4.1), STARTED 1/4/13, FINISHED 1/7/13 (non-fiction)
9. Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (4.35), STARTED 1/2/13, FINISHED 1/8/13 (fiction)
10. *The Warden by Anthony Trollope (4.25), STARTED 12/30/12, FINISHED 1/8/13 (fiction)
11. The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong (3.6), STARTED 1/9/13, FINISHED 1/11/13 (fiction)
12. The Big Truck That Went By by Jonathan Katz (4.8), STARTED 1/9/13, FINISHED 1/12/13 (non-fiction)
13. The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin, (4.3) READ 1/13/13 (fiction)
14. The Dead of Night by John Marsden (3.7), STARTED 1/13/13, FINISHED 1/14/13 (fiction)
15. WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy by David Leigh (3.9) STARTED 1/12/13, FINISHED 1/14/13 (non-fiction)
16. Taj by Timeri Murari (3.7), STARTED 1/12/13, FINISHED 1/15/13 (fiction)
17. The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart (3.4), STARTED 1/15/13, FINISHED 1/18/13 (fiction)
18. A Killing Frost by John Marsden (3.5), STARTED 1/17/13, FINISHED 1/18/13 (fiction)
19. The Round House by Louise Erdrich (4.3) STARTED 1/17/13, FINISHED 1/19/13 (fiction)
20. Funeral of Figaro by Ellis Peters (4) READ 1/20/13 (fiction)
21. Darkness be My Friend by John Marsden (3.8), STARTED 1/20/13, FINISHED 1/21/13 (fiction)
22. The Chess Men by Peter May (4) STARTED 1/21/13, FINISHED 1/24/13 (fiction)
23. Play Dead by Harlan Coben (2), STARTED 1/18/13, FINISHED 1/26/13 (fiction)
24. Bride of New France by Suzanne Desrochers (3.3), READ 1/26/13 (fiction)
25. The Black Russian by Vladimir Alexandrov (4.25) STARTED 1/20/13, FINISHED 1/27/13 (non-fiction)
26. Patrick O'Brian's Navy by Richard O'Neill (3.6), STARTED 1/10/13, FINISHED 1/28/13 (non-fiction)
27. Codex by Lev Grossman (2.8), STARTED 1/26/13, FINISHED 1/29/13 (fiction)
28. *The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning (3.9), STARTED 1/18/13, FINISHED 1/30/13 (fiction)
29. Shake Off by Mischa Hiller (3.25) STARTED 1/19/13, FINISHED 1/30/13 (fiction)
30. Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy (3.2) STARTED 1/29/13, FINISHED 1/31/13 (fiction)
31. Burning for Revenge by John Marsden (3.4), STARTED 2/1/13, FINISHED 2/2/13 (fiction)
32. The Night is For Hunting by John Marsden (2.9) READ 2/2/13 (fiction)
33. Going Clear by Lawrence Wright, (4.3), STARTED 2/2/13, FINISHED 2/4/13 (non-fiction)
34. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, (3.4) STARTED 2/3/13, FINISHED 2/4/13 (fiction)
35. Fireproof by Alex Kava (2.9) STARTED 2/7/13, FINISHED 2/8/13 (fiction)
36. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (4.3), STARTED 2/3/13, FINISHED 2/8/13 (fiction)
37. The High Road by Terry Fallis (3.7) STARTED 2/7/13, FINISHED 2/10/13 (fiction)
38. Eminence by Jean-Vincent Blanchard (3.8) STARTED 2/3/13, FINISHED 2/11/13 (non-fiction)
39. The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden (2.8), STARTED 2/10/13, FINISHED 2/12/13 (fiction)
40. The Frozen Shroud by Martin Edwards (4.2), STARTED 2/13/13, FINISHED 2/16/13 (fiction)
41. The Lost Carving by David Esterly (5), STARTED 2/14/13, FINISHED 2/17/13 (non-fiction)
42. Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad by David Lesch (3.6), STARTED 2/16/13, FINISHED 2/18/13 (non-fiction)
43. The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius (4.1), STARTED 2/17/13, FINISHED 2/19/13 (fiction)
44. Blood Money by James Grippando (3.6), STARTED 2/16/13, FINISHED 2/21/13 (fiction)
45. The Good House by Ann Leary (4.65) READ 2/23/13 (fiction)
46. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan (5), STARTED 2/21/13, FINISHED 2/24/13 (non-fiction)
47. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (4.5), STARTED 2/25/13, FINISHED 2/26/13 (fiction)
48. The Iliad by Homer (4.2), STARTED 1/17/13, FINISHED 2/27/13 (fiction/poetry/audiobook)
49. Another Insane Devotion: On the Love of Cats and Persons by Peter Trachtenberg, 4.3, STARTED 2/22/13, FINISHED 2/28/13 (non-fiction)
50. Dogstar Rising by Parker Bilal, (4.7), STARTED 2/10/13, FINISHED 3/2/13 (fiction)
51. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, (4.8), STARTED 2/27/13, FINISHED 3/1/13 (non-fiction)
52. The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Mark Bowden (3.4), STARTED 3/3/13, FINISHED 3/5/13 (non-fiction)
53. Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan & Conrad Walters (4.3) STARTED 3/7/13, FINISHED 3/10/13 (non-fiction)
54. The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean (4), STARTED 3/11/13, FINISHED 3/12/13 (fiction)
55. Capitol Murder by Philip Margolin (2.5) STARTED 3/12/13, FINISHED 3/13/13 (fiction)
56. Gun Guys by Dan Baum, (4.5) STARTED 3/11/13, FINISHED 3/16/13 (non-fiction)
57. The House at the End of Hope Street by Mena van Praag (3.4) STARTED 3/16/13, FINISHED 3/17/13 (fiction)
58. The Agincourt Bride by Joanna Hickson (3.1), STARTED 3/9/13, FINISHED 3/19/13 (fiction)
59. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (4.1), STARTED 3/17/13, FINISHED 3/19/13 (fiction)
60. All Woman and Springtime by Brandon Jones (3.75), STARTED 3/18/13, FINISHED 3/20/13 (fiction)
61. Family Pictures by Jane Green (1.9), READ 3/25/13 (fiction)
62. The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Rian Malan (4.1), STARTED 3/2/13, FINISHED 3/26/13 (non-fiction)
63. Krakatoa by Simon Winchester (4.7) STARTED 3/23/13, FINISHED 3/28/13 (non-fiction)
64. Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell (3.5) STARTED 3/25/13, FINISHED 3/29/13 (fiction)
65. The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers (4) STARTED 3/5/13, FINISHED 3/29/13 (fiction)
66. What is Enlightenment? by Immanuel Kant, READ 3/28/13 (non-fiction)
67. The Heretics by Rory Clements, STARTED 3/27/13, FINISHED 3/30/13 (fiction)
68. The Honey Queen by Cathy Kelly, STARTED 3/30/13, FINISHED 3/31/13 (fiction)
69. The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers, STARTED 4/1/13, FINISHED 4/2/13 (non-fiction)
70. Favorite Wife by Susan Ray Schmidt, 2.8 stars, STARTED 4/5/13, FINISHED 4/6/13 (non-fiction)
71. A Man Without Breath by Phillip Kerr, 4.3 stars, STARTED 4/3/13, FINISHED4/6/13 (fiction)
72. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, 4.5 stars, STARTED 4/7/13, FINISHED 4/10/13 (fiction)
73. The Sea Garden by Marcia Willett, 2.9 stars, STARTED 4/8/13, FINISHED 4/11/13 (fiction)
74. Lost by S.J. Bolton, 3.2 stars, STARTED 4/11/13, FINISHED 4/13/13 (fiction)
75. The Opium War by Julia Lovell, 4.5 stars, STARTED 3/30/13, FINISHED 4/12/13 (non-fiction)

Reserved

*smooch* Sad to hear of the new dilemma.

Love Emerson - that's a beautiful poem.

Crossing my fingers that prospective landlord will have a change of heart and relent. No one should ever have to make such a choice. Your kitties aren't things to be put out on the curb because they don't fit the apartment.

Oh, you're certainly living on pins and needles at the moment. Fingers crossed that all goes well and you and your furry family are, at last, settled.

It looked like that poem here the other day. "The frolic architecture" indeed! Lovely to read that this cold, windy but sunny morn, Suz. Thank you.

Awful to be put in that position about choosing between cats. I hope there may be some relenting, or at least a bit more time given to you to find the right home for whichever one has to go if it must be...

Thanks...

For some reason (duh) I forgot to update this. So while it's technically my third thread of the year, it's the second version of my second thread...

Molly went to the vet today and howled like a banshee there and back. She's in perfect health, had her shots and had her nails trimmed, and now has a certificate saying that she is spayed....

You and your cats are in my prayers--reading about your dilemma is absolutely heartbreaking. I hope some sort of trial term basis will work out. Our current realtor made it very clear that we wouldn't be able to get a second cat until he could see to his own satisfaction that the first hadn't caused any damage. Now that we've moved into a larger place (with the same realtor), he told us we could get a dog after he'd seen that the Two cats hadn't caused any damage. The three are all we can handle since they're all attention hogs, so we don't plan on testing his pet-allowances any further, but I just can't imagine having to give any one of them up.

Meanwhile, as a note on books, I wanted to thank you for that review you wrote on The Lost Carving some messages ago. I'd glanced at it at the store, but ultimately decided it wouldn't be up my alley, which wasn't changed by LT since there aren't any reviews posted. Then I saw your review, and realize now that I really do need to pick it up. So, thank you for that! And, when you've an extra moment or need a procrastinating method, you might think of posting your review on the book's page--currently, there isn't one, and your short review certainly helped me!

Best wishes and good reading...

Considering Theo's fondness for Tigger, could the Theos take in the object of his affections? It would also soften the blow of your leaving. For him, having someone to love and who reminds him of his lost auntie could be very comforting.

Richard, that was my thought exactly, and I thank you for proposing it.

Oh Suzanne, I'm so sorry to read about what you've been going through. My heart goes out to you.

Wow, I just did some major catch-up after seeing in the Vine forum that you were moving to a new city. Good luck dealing with everything!

I spent a lot of time in Providence over the past few years, visiting a now-ex-boyfriend once a month. And I still know a decent number of people there; do you want me to ask around and see if anyone might be interested in taking on a cat temporarily, in the hopes that your new landlord will eventually relent? I have no idea how likely I'd be to succeed, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Oh no, so sorry that you are stuck making this terrible decision!
Is there any other apartment that you could apply to instead?

I think the agent has persuaded the landlord. At any rate, she told me that she has, and she has told me to write Tigger's details into the pet agreement part of the lease (where there is only room for two animals' names). So I'm filling out the lease and sending it off to Providence today... At the very least, I'll have some extra time.

Sadly Theo & his parents already have a cat, acquired last summer (as a result of him falling in love with Tigger!) In any event, I think Tigger would be a bad fit for a household with small children, as he doesn't really have a sense of how to use his teeth & claws appropriately. For instance, when he rolls over on his back, he definitely wants his tummy scratched or rubbed -- but then he'll grab the hand in between his claws and then bite it. If you're an adult, you can rough house with him or learn how to adjust to this, as I have. For a child, it's not so good. And I think Tiggy would be too bossy for the other cat. So while Theo might like the idea, the reality would be less pleasant all around.

Anyway, am sending the signed lease off today...

Oh, Suz, I'm holding my thumbs and sending good vibes for you and the lease. Really hope the cat situation works out.

Also crossing everything that this goes through smoothly. Especially Tigger.

Does your monstrous landlord have an incentive to get old tenants out, such as being able to raise the rent dramatically for new tenants? I wish NY had half the tenants rights laws that California has.

Oh please let this work out, especially for Tigger. *eyes scrinched shut with some hard wishing here*

My current landlord can do whatever he wants to the rent, subject only to the broad market. Actually, I think it will be very hard for him to get the current rent without renovating. But the apartment is half of a brownstone, so there are no limits on what he can do. The first place I lived in, my landlord jacked up the rent 25% at the expiry of the first lease. Needless to say, I moved... I don't think that she eventually got anyone to pay that rent, though. Really, the magnitude of rent increases haven't been outlandish -- $75 a year -- but they have added up to an above-market rent apartment now. People can get slightly smaller places with a much better layout and very modern kitchens & bathrooms, all renovated and freshly painted, for $2,700. This place has an awkward layout. Technically, it's two bedrooms, but one is downstairs and adjacent to the kitchen. The other is off the living room upstairs, and the living room opens up at the top of the stairs directly, with the entrance to the bedroom through it, so the LR can't be used as an alternative second bedroom. It works for me, but it wouldn't work for someone with kids, for instance. Might work as a shared apartment, but it's pricey for students (and not close to any major colleges).

OK, trying to get all caught up....

#6 -- Robert, thanks for the walrus! I noted that my official thread #2 was sadly menagerie-free...

#7 -- Pawz -- never was a truer word spoken. If I ended up homeless, clearly I would need to have a plan for the cats, but otherwise, they are non-negotiable. I have an absolute obligation to them, especially Molly and Cassie, who are so afraid of other people.

Linda/Tui/Genny/Joanne/Roni/Paws, etc. -- thanks, for now things seem to be stable, at least. Fingers and toes still crossed until I have the keys in my own paw.

#12 -- Jennifer, thank you so much for the prayers and thoughts. (And may I say that at least one of your cats is clearly a closet intellectual based on his/her photo??) You're lucky to have had such a good realtor, and I know that it was my agent who really went to bat for me on this. For my part, I'll just have to be hyper-vigilant on the cats and make sure they aren't damaging anything. And an enthusiastic "YES!" to the Esterly book -- it really blew me away even though, like you, I had modest expectations. I had actually kept postponing reading it until the library due-date approached and it couldn't be renewed and then was very angry at myself for delaying the tremendous pleasure I got from it. I absolutely MUST own a copy of it. And I will post a review, I promise. I don't usually for the books that I read, unless they are ER, but clearly need to for this one.

#17 -- Chelle, I think it's probably a bit too late to start looking around again. I have seen what is on the market right now, and there is only one other place that would really work for me. (I saw four others, but 1 is more of a student apartment, another is too far off the beaten track and the third had broadloom carpets in the bedroom, which would NOT be good with cats!) I wanted to keep working with this agent, as she knows all the particulars about my situation, and has shown she can be a great intermediary & advocate.

OK, the book update! (What, you thought I wasn't reading?? The latter two of these are for my 2013 categories challenge.

63. The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius was read for my book circle. It was a hoot -- the hapless narrator ends up being turned into (literally) an ass after behaving a bit like one, and the result is a series of his (mis)adventures interspersed with an array of stories. Whenever it felt as if it was becoming a bit repetitive, the tone of the next story would be dramatically different, or something either funny or bizarre would shake it up a bit. There is a lot here to wrestle with about fortune and magic -- and not interfering with what the gods ordained. Glad I read it; wish I'd had a parallel text to get a feel for the original Latin. 4.1 stars.

64. Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer was a re-read of the first Heyer that I ever read (lent to me by my teacher in England when I was about 10, I think). I probably re-read it after that, but I certainly haven't tried it in years, as it was quickly supplanted as my favorite Heyer by several other books, so in many ways it was almost like reading it for the first time. On the other hand, while I don't remember what made me think of it as a 'meh' title back then, there were elements I didn't like this time, such as Worth's patronizing attitude even when he falls in love with Judith -- still too much "I'm the boss" for my taste. On the other hand, the plot is a little darker (including a murder plot) than I had remembered, which made it a little more intriguing. 3.6 stars.

65. The Life of Objects by Susanna Moore is an odd little novel, just released in the last month or two. The narrator is Beatrice, who prefers to think of herself as Maeve. But then the young Irish girl has a vivid imagination in general, much of it revolving around ways of getting out of her small town. Eventually, a visiting aristocrat spots her lace in a store in the town, and whisks her off to Berlin as a "present" for a friend, said to be passionately fond of lace. Beatrice ends up as part of the house of the wealthy and aristocratic Felix and Dorothea, but it's 1938, and even if Dorothea were that interested in lace, events overtake them all. Felix has pissed off the Nazi regime by refusing to take a post in Madrid, and so they leave Berlin for the family's country estate, where they sit out the war. But the end of the conflict is no panacea, either... Beatrice starts the novel as hopelessly naive and oblivious, and learns the realities of life only VERY slowly; in general, the novel is impeccably written but somehow distant from real emotions. The reader is allowed to drift along on the surface, making for an odd juxtaposition between the violence of war and the heremtic existence the household is leading on the estate, on which reality occasionally impinges. There were moments that were striking and powerful, but much of the novel kind of passes from one month or year to the next. I admire this novel and I read it straight through without pausing, but it didn't move me as powerfully as it might have and I still feel distant from Beatrice, despite the first person narration covering seven years of her life. Not sure whether to recommend it or not... It's a very different book from City of Women by David Gilham, despite covering the same time frame from the POV of a woman in Germany. 3.8 stars.

Well, you had a wolf in your last thread.

Robert

True, Robert! Thanks for reminding me... I'll have to look back in December and see if I have enough wild things to furnish a zoo of my own....

SO hopeful that your wonderful agent is handling the cats controversy. Honestly, I could tell anybody that 3 cats are not really more than 2, and 4 cats are not that much more than 3. I will be vastly relieved when this works out for you and the kitties, Suzanne.
I've read The Golden Ass only in translation, but it is a hoot. If I've read Regency Buck, I don't remember. The Life of Objects sounds like a real deal. Thanks for putting it on my radar.

Regency Buck was my first Heyer as well but is definitely not my favourite either: the hero is one of her least appealing in my view. I think I read it first aged about thirteen / fourteen when our English teacher came up with a fairly wide-ranging book list that we had to choose from. Probably wouldn't have looked for any more Heyers if my aunt hadn't lent me Arabella.

I've been lurking here throughout the apartment-and-cats saga. I've had too many digits crossed to type! I'm glad to see things are looking good at the moment.

I feel the same way Laura, this is one of the first threads check these days, too..... always nervously.
Anyhow, I hope your new landlord really is going to relent.

Also checking anxiously for news of apartments, cats and landlords. The agent sounds very helpful, I hope her support will definitely ensure that the new landlord accepts you will all three kits - then you can stop worrying about this and concentrate on the upheaval of actually moving and settling in...

I'll keep you all posted, I promise... I have sent the lease back to the new landlord, but until it's countersigned (and the pet agreement, detailing all three of them is also signed) and I have the key in my hand, nothing is for certain.

Rhian, how funny -- Arabella was my second Heyer as well! But I found that heroine rather insipid, compared to later ones I read, like those in The Grand Sophy, Venetia, A Lady of Quality and Frederica.

Another quick book update:

66. The Nutmeg of Consolation is # 14 in the rapidly-running-out Aubrey/Maturin series, which I'm listening to on audiobook. It's actually amazing how much ground Patrick O'Brian covers in these books: this one begins with fending off vicious Dayaks while stranded on an island, then heading off to Batavia and another encounter with Raffles; a rendezvous with the Surprise, and then to Botany Bay, where Stephen discovers what has happened to his former loblolly boy (don't ask...), Padeen, transported for theft. It ends just as Stephen learns of the birth of a baby -- and has an unfortunate encounter with a duck-billed platypus. I kind of miss the espionage sub-theme, but I'm sure we'll get back to it. 4 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

67. Blood Money by James Grippando started off as an intriguing and suspenseful twist on the Casey Anthony murder trial, but its hyperactive pace and increasingly improbable plot twists kind of eroded my interest in it and the last 50 pages, with the denouement, may have lots of action but it smells heavily of an author who wants to wrap up his story rapidly and in the most melodramatic way possible. I like some of Grippando's books, and this one I half-liked, but he's taking too many short-cuts these days.

I'm ready two VERY good books right now, The Good House by Ann Leary (really enjoying this novel, which I just tripped over bec. the author did an interview on NPR and because the book turned out to be available in Amazon Vine's 'Last Harvest') and Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, which is an utterly excellent book by Timothy Egan about a famous early 20th century photographer. It seems likely that my two best books of February will be non-fiction (this one, and the David Esterly book about limewood carving & what is involved in 'making' things). And I'm listening to the Fagles translation of the Iliad, a little at a time.

Went to listen to Magdalenza Kozena at Carnegie Hall tonight; good, but not fantabulous. (They warned us she wasn't feeling well; she did marvellously given that, but my 2 faves were actually her encores rather than the main program!)

OK, back to the books. Tomorrow is a big work/cleanup day.

I've had my eye on The Good House glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Just finished it, Katie -- yum. Will post some comments tomorrow. Didn't mean to stay up this late, but couldn't stop reading... And If I pick up the Egan book, the same will be true of that, as well!

Sorry, btw, that I haven't been making the rounds on others' threads. Just keeping up with RL has been an ordeal, and trying to keep up with even basic logging of books read...

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything turns out fine, Suz!

OK, I've moved The Good House to the top of my WL! And no worries about visiting threads - you've had your hands full!

ETA: If everything works out with your move to Providence, I hope we can meet up when I'm there for a conference in July!

#31 I can see what you mean about Arabella - but the heroine is very young - and it retains a special place as it was the first Heyer that I really enjoyed. Sounds like some of your favourites are also mine: Venetia, The Grand Sophy, Frederica

Two EXCELLENT books, which help offset some of the underwhelming ones I have read this month.

68. The Good House by Ann Leary is a wonderful novel for readers who like stories driven by characters. The setting is somewhat ordinary -- a small Massachusetts town -- and the experiences a bit banal -- alcoholism, infidelity, etc. etc. Yet the result is anything but a yawn. We see this world through the eyes of Hildy Good, descendant of a 17th century Salem witch, now a real estate agent whose daughters decided an intervention was needed to curb Hildy's tendency to drink to much. When we meet Hildy, she seems to be dried out, even if she still doesn't understand why a trip to rehab was needed in the first place. But then we slowly realize that Hildy's perceptions aren't always all that reliable, either of herself or others. But Hildy isn't a conventional "unlikeable character" -- she's very intelligent, independent-minded and articulate, someone who hates others peering over her shoulder and judging her life choices. And as we see other people in the small community make their own choices, we realize that Hildy can see clearly what is going on elsewhere, even when she can't manage the emotional complexities of her own life. This is a reminder of how trite it can be to describe someone as "self destructive"; that having self destructive habits isn't the same thing. I was engrossed in this novel from the first pages, and read it voraciously right through to the end, in a single day. 4.65 stars.

69. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan is probably even better, bringing Edward S. Curtis to life in the same loving, detailed way that Curtis himself portrayed the vanishing traditional lives of the remaining North American Indian tribes. His struggle and self-sacrifice in pursuit of that goal are almost as heartbreaking as the bigger tragedy about which he became increasingly vocal. Egan's style and his deft, light touch do wonders for this book, and his contrast between Curtis's early public acclaim and his financial struggles (he worked for free for 30 years to bring to life 20 iconic volumes that the tribes themselves now rely on to reclaim some of their heritage and even their language, only to die in poverty) and personal setbacks could have been melodramatic or sentimental, but instead is simply poignant and moving. A must-read, IMO. 5 stars.

I've already ordered Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher or you'd've scored a biiig hit with it! What a good, concise appreciation of the book. Egan should pay you for that.

The Good House: A Novel will be out in paperback right after my birthday this year and is now on my Forthcoming wishlist.

Thank you,

Robert

Both of those books are now on the teetering tower Suzanne. I'm still sending good vibes that your apartment deal goes through and you and your cats can settle happily.

Well, the lease & all the rent and stuff landed in Providence this morning, so I'm just waiting for confirmation from the agent that it is all good to go. Fingers & toes crossed. Also waiting for checks, which is equally nerve-racking.

The lease is SIGNED (by the new landlord). Drumroll, please.

Great! x

Awesome news!!! So happy for you.

Hurrah!!!

Hurrah! And all three kitties can come along (for now)?

great news. Soooooo pleased for you.

Yes, Paws, that seems to be the agreement!

Now it's just (!!) a matter of packing and organizing...

In the meantime:

70. The Scarlet Pimpernel was a re-read of this classic that I probably haven't read since I was a teenager. I still love the story, but the novel as a whole really shows its age, with florid prose, grandiosity, excess romanticism, etc. It did pique my curiosity about reading the sequels, and make me realize how strong the contrast is between Sir Percy as described here as an extremely tall and muscular man and the rather diminutive Leslie Howard who played the role in the original film. Fun to rediscover; I think I read this first on a school ski trip to Austria when I was 9! 3.7 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

71. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is Mohsin Hamid's attempt at building on the success of A Reluctant Fundamentalist, and he has done an excellent job. The tone is entirely different; the narrator is an omniscient and slightly cynical presence (rather than a "real" first person narrator) addressing the main character, whose name we never learn. But then his name is irrelevant -- he is simply one of thousands of utterly determined and single-minded people who in the last few decades have come of age in countries like Pakistan (where this is obviously set) but also in India, China and countless other "emerging" economies. This is the kind of story behind the raw data and behind the prognostications of those who label this as the century of the urban conglomeration. Set in the form of the very popular books on how to get an edge (in these markets, they sell like hotcakes), Hamid is commenting wryly on that and also on the nature of what it means to get what one is after. The pacing is radically different, but he's simply telling another part of the story of what is happening in his home country -- not the view of the reluctant fundamentalist, but of the single-minded entrepreneur who worships mammon, not a god. My only beef was that it was perhaps too neatly wrapped up at the end, whereas "fundamentalist" had a fascinating bit of ambiguity. But it's another excellent approach to taking the contemporary experience in these countries and generating a kind of fictional narrative from it, and it's evidence that Hamid can adapt his style to different subjects and approaches. That's encouraging: it's clear that this author won't just write versions of his great breakthrough novel but has the potential to go on to fresh heights. 4.5 stars.

So glad to hear that the lease has been signed, now for the fun part - packing and moving!

Just adding my two cents re Providence: a terrific town, great acess to the whole Northeast and Cape Cod, and plenty of culture. My brother, an inveterate New Yorker, has been living there a number of years and is very happy. Good luck on the move!

48. So happy to hear that. You must be so relieved not to have to choose between them.
Packing is nothing in comparison! (And remind yourself that every box filled is one step further from the landlord from h*ll.

I just read The Scarlet Pimpernel for the first time and loved it. I didn't think it was as dated as you seem to find it. In fact, I was rather impressed with the strong female character (yes, she does get a bit "oh I'll do anything for my dear husband") but she's still pretty fierce.

Fantastic news on the cat-friendly lease! Huzzah!

Woot! Woot! Sorry I'm too far away to make it to the "packing for the move" party, Suz.

Yay for the new landlord and Providence! After all you've been through it ought to be hardly any work at all to pack up your stuff - even if you have a couple of football stadiums' worth of worldly goods to move up here to New England.

That is wonderful news, Suzanne. I have been following your moving travails and silently supporting you. I'm just so happy you and your cats can make the move together. I'm looking forward to learning more about Providence through your experiences. I hope everything goes smoothly from now on.

Hurrayyyy for Suzanne and 3 kitties!! When is moving day? I'm dancing the dance of joy with my two kitties.

Amen and Halleluiah!!!
I'm thrilled for you and the kitties!!!! I'm sorry that we can't all fly in for the most fantastic packing party in the history of the universe. We'd have you settled in Providence in no time flat. Cheers for the new landlord too.
And when can you let THAT MAN know that you are gone, gone, gone. That's a conversation I'd love to hear.

Yay! So happy for you Suzanne.

Yay/boo! Yay/boo!

Hurray! and best wishes,

Robert

Oh what a relief! And now *rubbing hands* you get to tell Herr Landlord to kiss your sauerkraut.

YAY! Congrats!
When do you move?

Actually, I think I'm going to tell him at the last minute. Don't want to do him any favors. Ideally, I'll tell him on March 31, and be gone within a week. Before he can get himself here from Munich to inspect my boxes as they move out...

Yes, I'll now have to work on movers and other schedules. Meanwhile, back to Providence to get keys, measure rooms, etc. etc.

Congrats Suz! I'm so glad to hear the good news!!

Waiting for checks to arrive; everything is late this month. Of course, that's Murphy's Law, isn't it??

72. The Gershwins and Me by Michael Feinstein is a long and detailed chronicle of the famous brothers, who wrote some of my favorite music. It's a big giant book that I've been dipping into since around Christmas time and now finally have finished; Feinstein knows his subjects and their music (and the book includes a great CD!) but while this makes a great coffee table book to read in segments, I wouldn't suggest that anyone except an avid, die-hard music fan really pick it up to read seriously. For starters, Feinstein is a Big Fan; another thing is that it's simply unwieldy! I may add it to my library at some point, but not at the current price (this was a library copy). 3.8 stars. for my 2013 categories challenge

73. The Iliad is another book I've been "reading" for several weeks, or rather listening to Derek Jacobi narrate the Fagles translation. Hmmm. It's not the translation or the narrator, but this was a good book and not a great one. Perhaps I've read too much about it for the story itself to feel vivid and fresh? There are wonderful segments here, such as Homer's description of how men die, with the light fleeing their eyes, but while it was fascinating to listen to this and recognize places, characters and episodes to which so many writers have paid homage over the centuries, it never viscerally moved me; I continued to react to it in a cerebral way, eg, "that's interesting/fascinating", rather than as a story. My fault, not Homer's, but it's still a 4.2 star experience. Although I will try again...

Suz, I've been internet-less since Sunday (oh the pain) and just got on here now to see the news - congratulations!!! I'm really happy it is all working out.

Cushla -- the horror! No Internet!!! But thanks for dropping by -- I have been a very bad visitor, I'm afraid, but will try to improve if I can make slightly less frenetic. No luck on that front. I'm lurching between anxiety (looming move, checks still AWOL) and deadline stress, which is a sub-optimal combination. Still, off to Carnegie Hall Friday night for the Vienna Philharmonic, which will be great. I hope!

Final books of February:

74. The Habits of the House by Fay Weldon is an OK but hardly dramatically fresh or exciting novel too blatantly aimed at piggybacking on the Downton Abbey phenomena and making it more real and less soap opera-ish. If anyone is entitled to do this, I suppose it's Weldon, as she wrote the pilot script for Upstairs Downstairs. But still... Her protagonists are the Earl of Dilberne, his countess and their two children, the viscount and Lady Rosina. The Earl spends money recklessly and is in debt to a social climbing Jewish banker who wants his wife invited to dine chez Dilberne; Arthur, the heir, loves steam engines and his mistress; Rosina loves Big Ideas like Fabian socialism. Then arrive the O'Briens, wife and daughter of a wealthy cattle merchant from Chicago... It's an old story, and Weldon tries to make it more true to life by having the lady's maid have a fling with a hotel concierge to bring back the scoop on heiresses for the countess, including details of Rosina's coldness and unhappiness, and the eventual decision by Arthur to have a menage a trois with his mistress (who happens to have been the former mistress of his father). But just adding seedy to the soap opera doesn't really make it more compelling; none of the characters are detailed or interesting enough to become emotionally engaged in their doings. I'm intrigued enough to seek out the promised two sequels as they appear, but strictly from the library. 3.5 stars; meh. Thankfully, it was an Amazon Vine ARC, so no $$ investment required! For my 2013 categories challenge.

75. Another Insane Devotion: on the Love of Cats and Persons is a book-length rumination by a skilled writer, Peter Trachtenberg, on the nature of love. The ostensible twin catalysts are the disappearance of a beloved cat, Biscuit, who vanishes while he is teaching in North Carolina and his wife, F, is in Italy on her own gig. (F in real life is novelist Mary Gaitskill.) We go back and forth as Trachtenberg muses about the nature of love and the women and cats he has loved, and especially his ties to F and to the cats that have formed part of their lives: Bitey, his first 'real' cat, Gattino, whose disappearance proves to be an insuperable trauma for F, and above all Biscuit, a cat whose "busy, scissoring stride conveyed happiness, the purposeful happiness of someone going off to do something she loves ... She was going out into the world to be happy, and the world would oblige her, offering her its mice and birds, protecting her from speeding cars ... and villainous dogs." Biscuit's disappearance, Trachtenberg's race home to try to find her and the ominous signs of a marriage about to dissolve are all combined. As a cat fan, I love the way he has so closely observed the cats in his life, wondering about how they see him, their awareness of the world they inhabit. Sometimes, he muses, "to truly let the thing you love be what it is means surrendering it, perhaps even to death." I really liked this book; if you're averse to people who over-think everything about life, it may annoy you. But if you love cats and good writing, it's probably going to be a "win". I got this for my Kindle after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. 4.3 stars.

I have the Fay Weldon to read - I think she's quite an uneven writer but my copy was a Kindle deal of the day so it didn't cost a lot.

Just catching up so I missed all the cat/landlord drama, but am very happy for you that it has worked out.

I've seen Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher in the bookstore and now you've persuaded me to buy it.

Good luck with the move.

Congratulations on reaching 75 books for the first time, Suz!

Congrats on your first 75 Suz.

Hope the move goes smoothly. Providence looks like a nice place.

First 75 kudos! The Weldon sounds soppy.

Congratulations! I'm just wandering around catching up on LT finally, after a week away about, and so glad to hear the good news!

I wish I could say that my cat really is an intellectual, but she's actually quite jealous of all the books--she'd much rather have both my hands on her than one on a book and one on her, especially lately since she has to share attention with a puppy. I really do have to get around to Another Insane Devotion now, though...I bought it before seeing Trachtenberg read a few months back, but ended up getting bogged down and read one of his shorter books before the reading instead (7 Tattoos: A Memoir in the Flesh) since I'm also fascinated by tattoos. I did so enjoy hearing him read sections from it, though, that it's just been sitting there staring at me, and keeps getting passed up for lighter books that fit more easily into a shoulderbag!

Heavens, yes, I've passed the 75 mark, haven't I, at least if you add this and my 2013 category challenge together... Although I still have about 26 books to do it "officially" here!

Tigger just came back from having his rabies shot (and check up -- another clean bill of health which is good!) One of the vet techs was very, very annoyed with him and made it visible, which rather annoyed me. He's a cat -- get some perspective. So I confess was actually not unhappy when he tried to bite her... :-) Next up is Cassie, and Molly will have to go back just for the shot.

Am exhausted; slept very badly/not enough last night...

Just a very brief stop in to find out what was up with the kitties and I'm glad to see the news is good. Now I'm envisioning the worldly goods...boxes upon boxes upon boxes of books, yes?

Another Insane Devotion is now on my Waiting-for-the-paperback wishlist.

Thank you,

Robert

Congrats!

Congrats on your first 75!

HOORAY for leases that allow for the kitties to come along. Whew.

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher is on the list, thank you very much. I have enjoyed other works by Timothy Egan. And The Good House is one I will seek out, as well.

Ellen, I promptly moved on to reading The Worst Hard Time by Egan, which I snagged in a Kindle sale last year, and it's proving to be just as good. Man, that guy can spin a yarn, and knows a good story when he sees it... I'm going to look into some of his other books.

Was too exhausted to go to see the Vienna Philharmonic today. Only about 4 hours of sleep, and just dragging. Sigh. Maybe I'll try to get tix for the Sunday performance instead. I'm kind of annoyed at myself.

Congratulations on your first 75, Suzanne.

I saw Another Insane Devotion at the bookstore yesterday, and was wondering about it. Now you've put it on the wish list.

Suz, I loved The Worst Hard Time and I also recommend The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America. The latter is a bit more obscure but I think worthwhile.

What RD said, but I'm very glad it's settled for you to move.

It will be a great big honking effort, Suz, but once it's over and done, thank heavens the neurotic landlord will be a thing of the past. I googled Providence and it looks just charming, with all the clapboard houses, good restaurants, and history.

Moving is stressful Suz but obviously a lot less stressful than staying under the yoke of that dreadful landlord. Wishing you the very best with your move and congratulations for having already read 75 books by the end of February. Can't say I'm hugely surprised but nontheless in awe.

Thanks all. Have lost today to ferocious migraine, so book update will have to wait until tomorrow or until I can banish this...

Ugh, someone needs to come up with a way to deal with migraines permanently. Really. I completely lost a whole day yesterday and now must scramble to catch up.

I did finish some books late last week & over the weekend:

76. The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian is #16 in the series to which I have become addicted, one which has a second title, Clarissa Oakes. A young woman escapes from Botany Bay by smuggling herself aboard the Surprise, and ends up marrying the man who helped her, Oakes. But she proves to be just as disruptive as Jack Aubrey always feared women would be aboard, even though Aubrey is the last to realize it. Interesting twist, but not one of the better books in the series and sometimes feels like some 1970s formula fiction for men. 3.75 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge

77. Dogstar Rising by Parker Bilal was an excellent sequel to The Golden Scales, a mystery series featuring Makana, a Sudanese in exile from that country's regime and trying to keep afloat and deal with the traumas of his past as a policeman in Khartoum. It is 2001, however, and opposition to the Egyptian regime is coming even more from Muslim fundamentalists, now clashing with Coptic Christians, with the murders of some young boys adding fuel to the fire. Meanwhile, Makana has been hired to investigate apparent threats to the head of a dilapidated and dysfunctional travel agency, only to discover that it leads back to this sectarian conflict and some ugly secrets in the past. A wonderful inside view of Cairo and Mubarak-era society and an excellent mystery. 4.7 stars. If you haven't read this series, you're missing out big time. This came from NetGalley.

78. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan was another Big Winner and a thumping good read. I read it after catching a PBS television documentary about the Dust Bowl and then reading Egan's most recent book, about Edward S. Curtis and his mission to photograph the disappearing culture of America's native peoples. This was just as good, about a group of families and individuals who had determined to carve out homes for themselves in a part of the high plains and in particular a remote region of Texas/Oklahoma/Nebraska known as No Man's Land. The soil they ploughed up appeared wonderful enough at first, especially when heavier than usual rains and high grain prices helped these new homesteaders generate massive profits. Then the chickens came home to roost, as the rains dried up, prices plunged -- and the dust start flying, thanks to the farming techniques. It's a heartbreaking tale, but compelling reading. 4.8 stars.

79. The Night Ranger by Alex Berenson takes the author's hero, John Wells, into unfamiliar territory in northern Kenya and Somalia, where four college-age US volunteers at a refugee camp vanish en route to a holiday on Lamu. Who kidnapped them? And can Wells rescue them before it's too late? It's a little more sophisticated than one might fear, as Berenson nods in the direction of the myriad groups with different objectives (financial/ideological) operating in the region, even as it ends up being a fairly conventional 'shoot 'em up' conclusion with cardboard characters and a hero who rides off into the sunset. If you've been reading the series or following what is happening in the region (big Kenyan election happening right now...) this is a somewhat interesting and minimally demanding book to read. 3.7 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

The February Book Overview:

Books read: 32

Audiobooks: 3/32
Re-reads: 2/32
Library books: 16/32 (hurrah!)
ARCs/e-galleys: 5/32
Series books: 12/32 (including the Weldon novel and Child 44, both part of trilogies, rather than series)

Favorite books, in no particular order:

Non-fiction:
The Lost Carving by David Esterly
Short Nights of The Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan
Another Insane Devotion by Peter Trachtenberg
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

Fiction:
Child 44 by Tom Robb Smith
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
The Good House by Ann Leary
Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
The Frozen Shroud by Martin Edwards
Ashes & Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski

I just bought The Golden Scales so am glad to see a recommendation for the series - it's one of this month's under £2.99 reads on Kindle on Amazon UK (£2.09).

First of all, congratulations and welcome to New England!!! I am so happy for you.

Secondly - Another Insane Devotion looks like a must read - on the WL for Mr. Sib's birthday (my sneaky way around my book limits.....). I overthink everything, so it's my turf.....

Congratulations! I hope you are very happy in your new abode!

A reminder of mortality... Just heard from my father that a longstanding family friend died in Ottawa yesterday. I knew him when he and my father were posted at the embassy in Tokyo at the same time (not only did he help me with my BA thesis, but he stood up for me in a conflict with my grad school at a time when everyone else at the embassy did not, including my father...) Jack went on to be Cdn ambassador in Indonesia & remained a foreign service officer until his retirement. Odd, he was the same age as my father (77) but felt more like a contemporary... A reminder that I do need to get to Ottawa sometime soon to visit my "foreign service parents", both now well into their 80s. Thankfully, they are in good health, but still...

Feeling old myself right about now.

Next book, for my 2013 categories challenge:

80. The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley was a feel-good/comfort read, good choice for being headachey and stressed out. This is a kind of sequel to The Winter Sea (published elsewhere under the title "Sophia's Secret"), so read that one first... As with many of Kearsley's novels, this one goes back and forth between the past and present; her present day character has an ability to read the past by touching objects and when a client brings in a carved bird claiming it was the 18th century gift to an ancestress from a Russian empress, Nicola can tell that it's the truth. But there's no provenance -- and Nicola realizes, touching the scarf that the visitor helpfully leaves behind, how desperately the woman needs the money that the carved firebird would fetch if could be authenticated. So she sets off to use her skills, and those of her ex, to try to verify the tale. That's when we begin learning the story of Anna, daughter of a Jacobite rebel who must leave Scotland for the continent at a young age. Nicola and Rob follow in her footsteps centuries later, traveling to Belgium, France and on to Russia, in search of the truth of the little carved bird. I generally like Kearsley's tales, but while compelling this one really strained credulity -- every step of the way Rob and Nicola just happen to be able to tap into what happened in the past thanks to their psychic gifts, with never a miss. Had I not already read & enjoyed the book that dealt with Sophia, or liked the author's other books, or been in the mood for something undemanding, I probably would have given up in annoyance. As it was, I still liked this although the implausibility factor is high. You just need to enjoy it for what it is. 3.5 stars, for the author's fans only.

Oooh, a divvy! Like the idea of psychometry a lot. Must investigate...

It's also a mushy romance, Richard, so beware...

ew nevermind!

I enjoyed The Winter sea so maybe I'll give The Firebird a go.

You probably will, Rhian.

I'm going to be on C-Span (audio only, thank god...) tomorrow at 7 a.m. promptly to chat about the markets -- the Washington Journal show, if anyone is conscious at that ungodly hour. I probably won't be in my right mind, so it may prove entertaining.

MODERATOR: And Maid Marian, what is your take on the LIBOR scandal as regards the activists' claims the austerity demands by the IMF and the Eurozone central bankers represent nothing more than a money-grab by the richest one percent of the global population?

MAID MARIAN: While I respect the right of all citizens to have an opinion, it is this sort of misinformation and misunderstanding that leads to books like Fifty Shades of Filthy or whatever getting pubicked, I mean published. There is a groundswell of perversion that cannot be addressed through normal financial channels and so people watch porn on their computers.

MODERATOR: We'll return after these messages....

Ooof, I have been reading ABNA book excerpts. So much bad writing from so many aspiring writers is depressing. What do you do when you read an excerpt of a novel and when you come to the question "what was the best element", find nothing whatsoever to say??

OK, off to bed.

I'm just catching up and was NOT up at 7:00 this morning to catch you on C-Span. I'll take Richard's transcript at face value. What an interesting life you're having right now!
And I'm marking a lot of books for investigation when they get a little older and cheaper.

Bwahaha, Peggy...

They didn't ask me about LIBOR. They did ask about the stock market rally, and the host was noticeably smart and asked intelligent questions, beyond the obvious ones. It's just a good thing they couldn't see me sitting in my pyjamas, with a cat on my lap trying to swat the telephone handset with one errant paw.

Of course, getting up that early ruined my day; I've been dragging all day.

And I had to read more ABNA excerpts, many of which are truly dire. There were two that had potential. And after reading so much that is bad and having to evaluate it, it's hard to go back and read for pleasure because I'm evaluating word choice, sentence structure, etc. Yuck.

81. The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Mark Bowden was an interesting look at the hunt for the al-Qaeda leader that I picked up at the library after watching Zero Dark Thirty. Ultimately, it was solid but never really did more than summarize what happened and I didn't come away feeling that I had a new perspective on anything. Might be a good book for those who haven't followed the news? 3.4 stars.

82. The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian is #16 in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and the third covering a very long circumnavigation of the world that has taken the two guys all around SE Asia and Latin America, with MANY misadventures -- shipwrecks, cannibals, political conspiracies, pirates, icebergs, betrayals, Stephen losing toes in an Andean snowstorm, etc. This one starts out with a volcanic eruption and ends with them losing their rudder. I'm a little worried, as O'Brian seems to have stopped talking about the two Melanesian girls (aged about 6 and 8?) that the crew of the Surprise adopted after their island was wiped out by smallpox. I really liked Sarah and Emily as characters, but they no longer pop up in the final third of this book, making me slightly irritable. In the next, the duo finally get back to England. I'm hoping there will be more great spy stuff. This wasn't one of the best books in the series, so I'm giving it 3.7 stars. For my 2013 categories challenge.

I may take another audiobook break from this series and shift to listening to Dissolution; I'm also reading the newest Ann Cleeves "Shetland" book, which is very good.

I hope you like Dissolution. I read it last year and thought it was a pretty well-crafted mystery.

Ellen, I'm about an hour into listening to it, and am really enjoying it. I began reading the series with Dark Fire, which kind of underwhelmed me at the time, but then I really loved Sovereign, and have been reading them avidly ever since. So it's fun to go back to the beginning, and I'm appreciating Sansom's command of language a lot in the audiobook. (Especially in contrast to the interminable ABNA excerpts...)

Waitwaitwait...there's a Shetland Islands book with Jimmy Perez after Blue Lightning?!?

Yes, I know -- heresy, isn't it? It's entitled Dead Water and just came out in the UK. Will onpass to you when I have read it.

WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Yes yes, she called it a quartet, but I love Jimmy and want more!

Thanks! *smooch*

The BBC has just made two part drama of it which is on next week in the UK - Shetland starring Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez.

Ooooh, I thought that was looming, based on the label on the book cover. I'll have to check Amazon in a week or two to see if it's going to come out on DVD.

I want to visit the Shetlands...

110. Me too. And spend time with the locals:


(Nicking the pic from Caro's thread.)

this picture was cited on 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me' - last week, I think.

112. I'm not familiar.

It is making desperately crave a a Fair Isle jumper...

It's making me want a Shetland pony.

Paws, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" is a comedy news quiz show that airs on NPR (National Public Radio) here; it's quite funny. And I love the pic!!

I think I'll take some cat-sized Fair Isle sweaters... :-)

Anyone who wants to read Illuminations by Mary Sharratt -- it's a Kindle sale book today in the US for only $1.99. Probably worth it...

>103 Chatterbox:. I'm reading Mark Bowden's Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis, The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam. I'm only about 70 pages into it, but I'm finding it to be fascinating reading. I followed the event in the news (Nov. 1979 to Jan 1981) pretty closely, but Bowden's book gives good background and context, lots of which I either never knew or have forgotten.

Yes, I followed those events closely, too, and had an interesting discussion with the grandfather of Theo upstairs, who was CIA in the Teheran embassy. He was still there when the embassy was first attacked but luckily got out with his family before the raid that succeeded in completely penetrating the embassy and seizing the hostages.

Richard will be glad to hear that I have finished this, as he'll be the next to read it!

83. Dead Water by Ann Cleeves is the latest in what I guess we can't call the Shetland Quartet any longer, as Cleeves has added another episode to the saga of Jimmy Perez, detective in that remote cluster of Islands. I'll try not to give any spoilers about the preceding books, so I'll just say that Perez is recovering from a trauma, when another murder takes place in the Shetlands. This time, the victim is a prodigal son of the local hotelier, who jilted his pregnant girlfriend and went off to London to start a career. His trip back proves short-lived -- and then there's a second victim. Cleeves has a knack for characters and settings that I really enjoy, and this was a worthy addition to the series, with Sandy (the constable) finding his feet, a new inspector with a quirky background of her own, and the revelation of some secrets held by the "Fiscal", or top judicial authority in the islands. 4.2 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

*vibrates with eagerness*

Ohboyohboyohboy

Down, Richard, down...

I shall pass it to C. at the book circle, if that is OK?

On the train en route to Providence to pick up my keys, take pics, take measurements, and come home again late afternoon. Am absolutely exhausted, and tomorrow will be a busy day for work -- have to write a magazine story about squash (the game) and Wall Streeters. Really.

At least I finally read a very good and rather witty ABNA excerpt that I feel I can root for in the competition. And I only have four more to read today and I'm done!!

Well, my Providence day began with my taxi driver from the station driving straight into a pedestrian. Thankfully, he wasn't going that fast and I don't think the guy was hurt that badly -- he moaned only when people weren't paying attention to him -- but it was a horrible thing to happen.

But I now have keys to my new place (which is even bigger than I remembered), have measured everything and now just need to organize myself. Though I am STILL waiting for last month's check from my biggest client. Extraordinarily annoying.

And now I'm home again in Brooklyn. I think the heat has gone out, or partly out -- at any rate, it's not very warm. That isn't a big crisis, as I like to keep it cool and it's warming up outside. The last time this happened I was scolded for having furniture in front of the baseboard heaters, and it was like yeah, well, they happen to be on the walls, and I'm not going to put my sofa in the middle of the room...

So, life is not boring at the moment.

Not boring and deffo looking up (not for the taxi driver or the guy he hit but I don't think your karma owns this one). Just a few more weeks!

Consider me as echoing Tui!

Sure, CM will take it for me, I feel sure. Thanks again! And a big boo-hiss on taxi trouble.

Ugh, still dragging, low energy. Still no checks.

Can someone explain how I should go about picking a mover? Some base estimates on per pound of weight; others on $/hour/person; others on cubic feet of contents. How can I compare estimates?? Other than spending six or eight hours with a guy tramping through my apartment??

OK, book update.

84. Journeys on the Silk Road by Joyce Morgan & Conrad Walters is about a part of the world that fascinates me, in large part because it was one of those cross-cultural meeting points. It's less about the Silk Road per se than about one of its famous explorers (albeit one now hated by the Chinese), Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born Jew who became a British citizen and eventually was knighted for his exploits, including the archaeological investigations recounted in this readable tome, which focuses on his 'discovery' of the world's earliest printed book. (a 9th century copy of the Diamond Sutra.) For some reason I had thought that Stein had unearthed the cave where this was found from under the sands of the Taklamakan desert -- not so; he convinced an abbot in Dunhuang to let him look at and then purchase a wide array of ancient MSS, of which this work was one. (He didn't realize what it was until much later.) What works best about this book is that it's a story of the Silk Road as a concept, of Buddhism in the region, of the explorations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, of the fate of the MS, of the impact of Stein's discoveries on scholarship, and even of the handling of the precious objects during WW2, a discussion of the debates over cultural patrimony and ruminations about what our own world will fail to leave behind given our addiction to digital communications. Very intriguing, if this stuff interests you. 4.3 stars.

85. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom is the first in this series, which I didn't really discover until I read Sovereign, book #3. I ended up alternating between the audiobook (excellent) and the Kindle version, and found the audiobook made me more aware of the complexities of character than the intriguing plot enabled me to pick up when I was reading. Clearly, the author begins the series with a more cynical view of his hero, hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, an avid reformer in Henry VIII's era and unquestioning servant of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell dispatches him to investigate the murder of another of his commissioners at a remote monastery and to get the abbot to agree to turn the institution over to the crown -- the era of "papists" is at an end. Ultimately, it isn't just the monastery that will be dissolved, but Shardlake's naivety and certainty about the world. Am glad I alternated btwn the audiobook and the book book -- definitely recommend both as giving excellent and nuanced insight into the era. 4.6 stars. For my 2013 categories challenge.

Here is what I know about movers: No matter who you pick and no matter what they base the estimate on, multiply it by two and have that amount ready to pay them. I have never, ever, ever had this formula fail. Nor have I ever been pleasantly surprised.

Never.

Over here they all seem to quote based on estimated volume, but even so I remember finding it hard to ensure the quotations were fully comparable because they all seemed to include or exclude different things or charge extra for boxes or not, so you need to check all that stuff. In my experience you do need to get them to send someone to do the estimate in the house; is it possible for you to choose only companies that use the same basic method of calculating the estimate?

My last couple of moves, I have had people pack everything except the books which I did myself to keep them reasonably in order. I had to ask them twice to bring more book boxes as they had underestimated the quantity required even though they had been out to do an estimate.

I'd go by reputation for care and honesty. Ask around and see who others would trust. Your books are probably a mitigating factor: after the 100th box, their backs are aching and the rate goes up exponentially!

Don't go with one based on weight. Book weigh a LOT! We had to pay extra when we moved out here because when they estimated, the books weighed so much more.

Roni, that is an excellent point. The estimate (very prelim) I got from those folks was based on 3,000 pounds, which sounded absurdly low. But they gave me a per pound rate, so I thought I'd ask the others to tell me what the per pound rate was for them, only to find that they refused to quote on that basis. So now I'm facing having to have four or five firms come out and evaluate. I liked the guys who moved me here, but they largely do NY state moves, so I'm slightly worried that it will be more pricey (they charge by the hour, and we're talking 7/8 hours of driving time there and back.) But they did a good job of the last move and were very pleasant to deal with -- a big contrast to the normal movers.

I have put together a detailed list -- including an estimated 6,000 books -- that I will send all of them, and I'll see what I get as a prelim estimate.

I know people who swear by Flat Rate Movers, but I haven't used them myself. (I haven't moved since January 1990 and don't intend to!)

Tks Rebecca. I did e-mail them, but then I tried to follow up to their e-mail response saying someone would call me by requesting that they contact me via e-mail instead of phone, and the e-mail bounced back. (I have discovered that once you get these folks on the phone, they are very hard to dislodge...) And then the woman called at 7:30 a.m. and tried to shanghai me into an onsite estimate the same day, which I'm not ready to do yet. And she was fairly obnoxious. I just didn't get a good vibe from them, service wise. That's not the environment I want to be working in if the van is 2 hours late showing up, or the guy is trying to demand extra cash for a tip from me...

I'll certainly cross them off my list after that (not that I was planning to use them, but I'll stop recommending them).

I've moved so many times--long distances--with lots of books. One estimate that stands out was totally out of line because they hugely underestimated what the books would cost to move. That move was paid for by the employer, so the movers also did the packing (I usually packed myself to save money). Never, never again would I ever allow anyone to pack my books for me. They didn't have enough book boxes (by a factor of about ten), but the woman kept packing books until more book boxes arrived. She packed paperbacks into a completely inappropriately-sized (too large) box, and it was so heavy that it was very difficult for them to move. At some point, that box was either dropped or had something dropped on it, and the books inside were just a mess--not "exactly" damaged, but certainly not the way anyone would want their books treated. It was a horrible experience. If I were you, and if you're not going to pack those 6,000 books yourself, then I would have a very detailed conversation about said books when you interview your movers, and have them tell you exactly how they plan to handle them--and work with them to develop a plan.

Is it possible to find someone who specializes in moving libraries? Have them move your books and someone else do the rest? Just a thought.

Becky, I'll be packing the books myself, over the coming weeks and starting in the next few days. Most of these folks will deliver boxes to you for free (you pay for 'em but the delivery is free), and I have some in hand. I can only imagine the impact of loading a box that is supposed to be filled with linens with books instead.... *shudder*

I have a prelim estimate in hand from the folks who moved me here -- I think I can trust them but they primarily work within NYC (Westside Movers) and the figure seems rather high -- $4,000, not including any boxes. But I know I wouldn't have any nonsense about "oh, we can't deliver for 10 days" or "if you don't pay us an extra $1,000, we won't unload". I gather the former is a big problem with long-distance moves; the latter is a very common NYC move tactic. Anyway, I'll work on getting at least two more prelim estimates and see where I stand.

Meanwhile, checks are STILL not here.

I think $4K sounds right. I'd guess more like $6K, actually.

And I just got another estimate, for $9k!! LOL... so $6k is probably on target. Westside is assuming they will be doing none of the packing; the higher estimate includes my buying the boxes and them packing everything. Whereas I'll do the books and clothes, papers from the office and linens, etc., and leave the kitchen/china stuff to the movers. Imagine -- they charge more than $20 to pack a box of books. The same box would cost me $2.75 from Westside, and it would take me about 10 minutes to fill with books...

ETA: Well, I have four estimates that range from a low of $1.45/cf to a high of $4.50/cf. The only one that includes some boxes and some packing (beyond minimal required to disassemble a few pieces of furniture) is $3.78/cf, but the box prices seem higher there, and that's also by far the highest total estimate.

Good grief, that's expensive! I don't know if you have an equivalent down there but the LCBO boxes up here are the best boxes for books...you know, the boxes that wine and spirits come in. Sturdy and not overly big so they don't get too heavy.

I still have some boxes left over from the last move, 11 years ago. I just need to venture down into the basement and locate them. There may even be some from EuroMovers, late 1999.

Book report tomorrow. I'm too out of it today. Stress is chewing me up and undoubtedly will spit me out.

But can I just recommend watching "La Rafle", aka "The Roundup"? The focus is on the Vel d'Hiv roundups in Paris in July 1942. Really excellent job of capturing the French collaborationists & Vichy.

Good luck with the moving, the boxes, especially the fees for same and even more so with the stress management.

Oh dear. Moving is so expensive! I do hope it goes well. Remember to breathe.

I'm glad you enjoyed Dissolution. I need to get the next one in the series.

I'm trying to breathe, Ellen. Still waiting for checks. I think 4k is in line with what I can expect -- about a third of it is simply travel time for three guys and a van. If you add up the costs, it isn't horrific really, on a line item basis. And it's probably not that much more than moving within NYC, so if I'm going to move at all, I'm glad it's to somewhere where I won't have to pay $5k in a fee to a broker to find me an apartment (yes, NY brokers work for the landlords but get paid by the prospective tenants...) and will be saving so much in rent. It would take me a year or two to break even after a move within NYC, and I'll be net ahead after two or three months in Providence.

Book update:

86. The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean was an unexpected pleasure to read, as I had found her newer novel, The Mirrored World, to be deeply disappointing. This one, however, was an intriguing dual narrative -- Marina, the protagonist, is seen in 1941/1942, in Leningrad, as the German siege of the city tightens and starvation and death become routine. Marina's home throughout this is a cellar at the Hermitage, where until now she has worked as a docent, guiding tours of Soviet citizens through "their" art. Now she is forced to see the work and the building through a different kind of prism. That is juxtaposed with Marina 60 years later, an elderly woman suffering with Alzheimer's, attending a granddaughter's wedding and being more engaged in her memories of that former life than with those around her. Two big gaps prevented me from giving this a higher rating: Marina's daughter notes that her mother seemed averse to art in their post-war life in the USA, and that seemed to be inexplicable, given what we learn of Marina's earlier reactions to art. (And it goes unexplained; perhaps I'm supposed to infer that trauma caused this, but that doesn't make sense as written.) Then there is the lack of an explanation of how Marina and her fiance found each other in Germany after the war. We're just told it happened -- there's a big gap that needs to be filled in there. Still, a well-written and interesting novel. 4 stars.

87. The List by Karin Tanabe is a lightweight book that I turned to after reading a lot of mysteries, darker stuff and non-fiction. So much for that bright idea... I think her narrator, a 28 year old journalist who joins the Style section of "The Capitolist" (think: Politico) is supposed to be appealing and engaging, but I found her depressingly amoral, unprofessional and just unappealing: she's ambitious, but ambitious only for professional achievement in general, rather than wanting to do something. (Spoiler alert: There's a great scene at the end where she is confronted by the bitchy heroine, and our perky, beautiful young narrator is called out on her BS, that had me cheering for the "bad guy".) She doesn't seem interested in writing, in the issues; she wants to be taken seriously, but then writes about fluff. She gets her stories hiding under bushes at parties, eavesdropping, and creeping around -- and the reader is supposed to think this is applause-worthy initiative when it's just accident and unprofessional. Nor is she appealing as a person; she comes across as a whiny brat. And that casts a shadow over everything else in the novel. It's fast paced and certainly is an amusing take on the HuffPo/Politico/Gothamist 'new journalism', but that's about it. 2.8 stars. Avoid. Bumped into my 2013 categories challenge because I have an unlikeable/unreliable narrator category there!

Cr*p. I just wrote two reviews and they vanished.

86. The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean is a book that I'm glad I read as otherwise I would have assumed that the later novel, The Mirrored World represented the best this author could do, which isn't the case. We see Marina, the narrator, at two stages in her life: as a very young woman during WW2, taking refuge in the cellars of the Hermitage (where she had worked as a guide/docent introducing Soviet tourists to great art) during the siege of Leningrad, and then again as a very elderly woman at her granddaughter's wedding, suffering from Alzheimer's. The elderly Marina remembers the siege more vividly than the faces of her family and friends. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and an interesting, if not great novel that will be memorable in large part due to Marina's relationship with the art. (SPOILER ALERT: Which makes it all the more bizarre that in Marina's later life, there is no art in her life at all -- I suppose the reader is supposed to infer something, but the author doesn't give us enough info to draw a conclusion, IMO. There is another big gap in the narrative, from 1942 to 1945, when the author is reunited with her fiance in Germany but we have no idea how she got there.) I quite like spare & elegant prose, but not an overly spare/emaciated narrative that leaves out details I feel I need. That keeps the rating at 3.9 stars, but it's still worth reading.

87. The List by Karin Tanabe just didn't work for me. You know that's the case when the narrator (who I'm supposed to be rooting for) has a confrontation with the nasty bitchy spiteful ambitious ruthless fellow reporter on the "List" -- aka the Capitolist, a Politico proxy -- and you find yourself rooting for the villain of the piece. Because Adrienne, the narrator/heroine may be beautiful, but she's not as remotely appealing or interesting as her creator clearly wants us to think. I kept wanting to tell her to snap out of the pity party. Yes, there was a lot here that is interesting and even fun about the look at 21st century online media (Gawker/Gothamist/Politico/HuffPo) but Adrienne comes across as an ambitious journalist who doesn't know what she's ambitious for -- she just wants to succeed, but doesn't appear committed to anything except success. (It's like wanting to be famous for the sake of being famous, rather than as a result of an accomplishment.) She has taken a job on the despised Style section at the Capitolist, and wonders why she doesn't get respect from reporters covering the Hill, and is particularly huffy at being snubbed by Olivia, who just does everything nasty and malicious (overdrawn character alert!) She throws herself at Olivia's husband, is peeved when she is rejected (and meanwhile is seeing another guy). She's quite capable of admitting she is behaving badly and just shrugging it off. And her journalistic behavior is weird: she lucks into some scoops and seems to want the reader to think are because she's a great reporter. An annoying if fast paced novel. I'd like to think the narrator's character was one of those unreliable narrators designed to be unappealing, but I don't think so... 2.8 stars. Moving it into my categories challenge where I have a category for unlikeable characters.

144. They didn't vanish, Suz. I can see them in post #143.

Sigh. it reappeared. After I had rewritten 'em. It literally vanished while I was writing. I hit the space bar and it went to the main page of the 75 group. Opened my thread and the reviews weren't there. Refreshed -- still not there. Back to main page and then to my thread -- still not there. Rewrote 'em. Piffle.

Can they reissue the cheques? That seems like an awfully long time to have waited for them via the post.

Tui, I think it would just be impossibly complicated. What I'm trying to find out is whether they have already been mailed (much of the delay was processing) and if not, to get it FedExed. I did just get the very small very overdue one, but the very big, very overdue one ain't there yet. My receivables are currently higher than they have ever been in my entire existence. Which is a pleasant change from the state of affairs two years ago, I admit.

I don't think I can afford to move if it is in the thousands of dollars now!

Lori, I know! I have been squirreling money away for a year because I knew this day was coming. It doesn't make it any less painful, although at least I'm not spending it to move within NYC to another expensive apartment.

Since I've lived in the same house for 33 years, I had no idea it was so freaking expensive to move. Wow!

If you have access to them I'd recommend Gentle Giant. They may not be the cheapest but they are very good. We've used them for two moves and they did a great job.

Thanks, Steven! I have put in an estimate request. I think that will bring me to a total of three companies. The logistics are truly daunting.

A quick book update. Haven't done much that is constructive this weekend -- headache has been lurking and I'm just exhausted & drained. The following is an update of several days' worth of reading:

88. Capitol Murder by Philip Margolin was worse than I had expected. Imagine trying to combine a serial killer novel with a terrorist novel in one package? Margolin does, and it doesn't really work. Pedestrian, blech. 2.5 stars.

89. Gun Guys by Dan Baum was a fabulous book, even though I found some of the authors generalizations a bit too sweeping. (I read this because I loved Baum's look at Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of nine individuals in New Orleans.) Baum is a gun guy -- since childhood, he has enjoyed guns as mechanical gizmos. He also is a Jewish intellectual who votes Democratic, so he decides to go on a road trip in quest of his alter egos, the country's other gun guys. Some of what he discovers is predictable, some of it isn't and nearly all of it is extremely interesting. It didn't fundamentally alter my views on the gun control debate -- yes, it takes a deranged person to commit mass murder, and almost none of the guns used by these lunatics to commit their crimes was obtained legally -- but as long as it is apparently easy to acquire guns for such a reason, maybe we should think twice about how they are owned. It's a point Baum makes, as well. A thoughtful and sometimes funny book about a very American trait -- an affection for firearms of all kinds. 4.5 stars.

90. The House at the End of Hope Street by Mena van Praag teetered right on the edge of being too whimsical and almost fell over a few times. Just check your skepticism at the door and you may find a lot to enjoy in this slight chick lit-like tale. Anyone who has enjoyed Julia Stuart's novels (The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise) might like this; the author has a similar tone & approach, but more magic in her tale of a magic house that women discover when they need it; where they can stay for 99 days and no more, and that will help them remake their lives. Of course, Agatha Christie, Beatrix Potter, Dorothy Parker and others stayed there and the pictures on the wall of the women who did talk to current inhabitants, chief of whom is Alba, a precocious Cambridge student whose life is driven off the rails by a betrayal. This is very lightweight fare indeed, however, so be aware of that. This was a NetGalley book, I think it comes out next month. 3.5 stars.

91. The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian is book #17 in the Aubrey/Maturin series, which means I now only have three left to go. After their very long circumnavigation of the world (the three previous books) Aubrey and Maturin end up facing a less than joyful homecoming, but soon enough are back at sea and heading down the African coast to deal with slavers before cruising off to stop a French invasion of Ireland. The nautical stuff felt rather more perfunctory this time and the whole thing felt a bit rushed. Still, I'm addicted to the series, so what can I do but read on?? 3.8 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

Wow. Gulp. Gentle Giant's estimate was $14,000, of which $10,000 was just transportation -- for about 300 miles. That's just silly.

Two more books, one mediocre historical novel and a quite good mystery that is worth reading.

92. The Agincourt Bride by Joanna Hickson is the kind of historical novel from which I got pretty much what I expected, no more and no less. The focus of the book is Catherine de Valois, married off to Henry V after he had conquered about 1/3 of France. It's mildly interesting, but it only takes us as far as Catherine's marriage and departure for England, despite its length, which is a weakness (and a sign of a sequel). It's told through the eyes of Catherine's doting nursemaid turned waiting woman, Mette, which was a good call, but it's all quite banal by historical fiction standards (and includes some almost funny anachronisms like someone commenting about hating someone else's guts, etc.). So unless you have a compelling interest in the era or the characters, it's safe to move along to other, better books. I think I even prefer Vanora Bennett's book about Catherine -- her take on Catherine's first encounter with Henry is no more out of place than the very bizarre portrait of the Duke of Burgundy in this novel as not only the arch villain but also sexual predator. Rather implausible. 3.2 stars. If I read the sequel whenever it appears, it will be as a library book.

93. Black Irish by Stephan Talty, on the other hand, was even better than I had expected. The author paints a bleak, bleak portrait of a Rust Belt city in the shape of Buffalo in the winter, where Abbie Kearney, adopted as a toddler by an Irish cop in "the County" -- an Irish-American neighborhood so insular that in spite of Abbie's "black Irish" looks, she is viewed as a cuckoo in the nest -- has returned to care for her father and to work for Buffalo's police department. A man from the County is brutally murdered, and the investigation takes Abbie into her past and into the heart of the County's deepest secrets, tied to the battle waged by Irish nationalists against the British in the home country -- and, it turns out, in Buffalo. There are a few flaws and not much that is dramatically new here, but I thought the setting and the level of detail more than compensated, and turned this into a bleakly compelling debut mystery -- a thumping good read. Recommended. 4.2 stars. For my 2013 categories challenge.

I'm watching the movie version of Master and Commander, and finding it entertaining to watch how in many small details it's true to the books (Killick making grilled cheese sandwiches for Aubrey and Maturin; Aubrey's reverence for Nelson and his love of puns), while irritated by the fact that Maturin isn't portrayed as an Irishman, which is so key to the stories. I do think Russell Crowe was a great casting choice for Jack Aubrey, however. I think it would make a great television miniseries.

>154 Chatterbox: Silly and outrageous. I know fuel is expensive, but whew.

>155 Chatterbox:. I hugely enjoyed Black Irish, and I'm looking forward to more from Talty.

Hello dearest...news to share:

"When Hemon’s work is funny, it can make you laugh in spite of everything, and when it is sad, it’s hard to stand up afterward.” —John Jeremiah Sullivan

Please join PEN for this exclusive pairing. Aleksandar Hemon will discuss his new memoir, The Book of My Lives, a book of essays which records his various “lives.” In his first nonfiction work, Hemon tries to restore the memories of his youth and follow the threads that link his Bosnian past with his American present. Raw, questioning, and alive with compassion, The Book of My Lives is a portrait of a world lost to one of history’s darkest conflicts and that rarest of things: a necessary book by one of our most important writers. Hemon will be in conversation with fellow writer Colum McCann, author of the acclaimed novel Let the Great World Spin and the forthcoming Transatlantic.

Friday, March 29, 7pm
McNally Jackson Books
52 Prince St.
NYC

>154 Chatterbox:. Oof. Well, I did say they weren't necessarily the cheapest ... We've only used them for local moves. Maybe that's the difference.

Steve, yes, you warned me! I had to laugh at the idea of not being able to use a big truck to pick stuff up on this street. How do they think I got here?? :-)

94. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder was read for my book circle, and I was the token person who didn't rave about it. To me, the moral fable element -- why did five people fall to their deaths when the bridge collapsed -- felt heavy-handed and self-evident: don't we ask ourselves this precise kind of question all the time? The subject is almost banal. The writing has moments of brilliance, mostly revolving around the deft character sketches, and the very nature of the book that made me sigh with impatience sometimes were exactly those that led to it being a good book to discuss. But I prefer something where I don't feel the author's voice telling me what to think about and what questions to ask -- I like the illusion that I'm reaching that point via my own efforts. 4.1 stars.

95. All Woman and Springtime by Brandon Jones was an interesting book that kept me engaged and reading, even as I recognized its flaws. For some reason, it's the second novel revolving around sex trafficking that I have read in the last six months or so, and this one is far better. It starts in North Korea, where two young women who have been childhood friends end up crossing the DMZ and discovering they have been sold into sexual slavery. The final third of the book was far too rushed, but the image of N. Korea was fascinating and vivid. 3.75 stars. Worth trying if you don't mind the subject matter.

96. All the Light There Was by Nancy Kricorian was a deeply, deeply underwhelming novel that ended up sounded like a desultory edited diary. Set in Paris during WW2, it's a coming of age story narrated by a young Armenian woman. So much potential for a great story about the Occupation from the POV of a group whose experiences gave birth to the concept of genocide, and much of it squandered in a strangely dispassionate and unemotional recitation that kind of lurches from "and then I did this" to "and then I did that". It's all hampered by comments like "we found out after the war that..." and "it took me years to understand that..." Still, it takes a lot to turn the raw events in this book into something that made me yawn. 2.3 stars. Don't bother. For my 2013 categories challenge.

So sick that I can't even read books & threads. Started with a really v.v. bad cough on Friday night, added a migraine to the mix yesterday and then overnight last night fever & chills. And I am supposed to be working and cleaning up/packing boxes. Will be back when I feel better.

Feel better soon, Suzanne.

So sorry to hear you're sick. Take care and get well soon!

Flu. V. bad. temp still 102 or so and hard to get downstairs. Audiobooks saving my sanity.

You need to put down slam down the fluids like crazy--water, sports drinks if you have them. Do you have some chicken soup? Chicken broth of any kind? Heat it up and dump some salt in it. Can you get groceries delivered? Take care of yourself, Suzanne!

That sounds nasty. It's especially horrible being ill when you live alone, I know. I'm glad you have audiobooks but can you call on your friendly neighbours for any help with groceries or anything else you need to help you get better?

Get well soon Suz. I will be in the UK from Wednesday for a few weeks. If I get chance I'll pop over to Fowey for a scouting mission.

Paul from upstairs is picking up some more Vitamin Water Zero, some apple juice, some tomato juice. No appetite, hard to choke down any food. (Had 1/2 of tapioca pudding in the last 48 hours...) I have some steamed rice here, so mebbe can get some of that down with the tomato juice. No chicken soup at hand, alas. Maybe I can put in a request for that tomorrow.

Had to cancel a work thing for tomorrow as the two people I would have been doing it with don't want to catch this -- one is 7/12 mos pregnant and just over a bad cold, the other has two very small children.

Paul, how weird -- I had a hallucination (not a real dream) about Fowey last night.

Oh yuck! So sorry to hear it. Flu and the aches and the yuuuck of feeling like your skin doesn't fit...so sorry! *gentle hugs*

RD, tks... It's the high fever that is freaking me out the most, though. And I have to watch for pneumonia, as I've had some bouts of that in the not-too-distant past. No signs now, however, just slightly spacey feelings and muttering to myself from the fever. Tried to listen to Daughter of Time on audiobook, but found Derek Jacobi's voice too piercing so have shifted to The Black Tower by Louis Bayard, narrated by Simon Vance.

Wow, you *are* ill if Sir Derek sounds piercing!

Hope that fever goes down SOON. I'm sorry you are feeling so miserable, Suz.

Amusingly, Cassie-the-cat is keeping me in bed. When I get up, she makes agitated little mews, and starts herding me back to the bedroom, even nipping at my heels like a "sheepcat". When I get back into bed, she jumps in and settles in atop my hip or the small of my back, to make sure I stay where I belong. Once she is sure that I won't move again soon, she'll settle down curled up a little furry lump right beside me. None of this is 'normal' behavior.

Just echoing what everyone is saying. The flu is super yucky! Is there some reason why you can't take something (aspirin, tylenol, etc.) to bring the fever down?

Oh no, sorry you are sick! Flu seriously sucks!
Sending you some healing vibes!

So sorry to hear that you're unwell. I'm chiming in with the rest of the choir urging you to drink LOTS of fluids. And try to get some crackers and bananas and other "mild" foods down, too. Even if it's just half a cracker.

My kitty did the same thing as Cassie when I had a bad bout of flu last year. I can usually work through even nasty colds and flus but that one kept me in bed. Kitty promptly lay down on across my feet so I couldn't move and followed me around whenever I got out of bed. Like a mother hen.

Yes, yes, absolutely I second the meds for fever. I use alternating doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, if you can tolerate them. I have no trouble taking aspirin, but not everyone can take it. But be sure you're taking something 'round the clock for fever. You'll feel better if you keep it down. 102 is too high--it will make you feel terrible and contribute to your dehydration.

Bless these animals, they really are something.

Am taking acetominophen,but it only works for a short while. Can't take ibuprofen or aspirin on an empty stomach. I did manage about 1/4 cup each of tomato juice and plain rice, and I have some apple sauce here. And temp is down to about 101. Still too high, tho. At least I'm not nauseous; this isn't the short-lived tummy flu I had earlier in the season.

Next season I get the flu shot...

Oh my, Suzanne. I'm awfully sorry, and REALLY glad that you have concerned neighbors. Listen to Nurse Becky. My only thing to add is more pillows. Feel better soon - that much fever is not a good thing at all.

So sorry, Suz! I hope you feel better soon.

As Jim just said on the news of your flu, 'ouch'. So sorry you're suffering. I'm glad you have neighbors who can give you a hand. Keep us posted when you can, and follow all the good advice above. If you need more help, holler. We'll do our best.

I just hope I wasn't contagious on Book Circle night, Judy... Pls forgive me if you get whammied with this one.

Feel better soon Suzanne!

Dear little Cassie. They know things at times, don't they.

Oh dear, so sorry to hear you're sick. Keep pushing the fluids, chicken soup, and warm compresses. Thank goodness for great neighbors and loving kitties!

Hi Suz - hope your temperature's come down a bit more and thank goodness for your lovely neighbours. Get better soon!

Fever was much higher last night -- scary -- but has come back down today. Too weak to do much more than crawl downstairs to feed cats and retrieve latest care pkg from neighbor (he sticks them inside my front door in the 'air lock' hallway).. Hoping that tomorrow I will feel human as I am ridiculously far behind on work...

Delurking to wish you well, Suzanne. Could it be that those high moving estimates brought this on? We haven't moved in over a decade but it was much cheaper to move back to Missouri from Colorado than to move from NYC to RI. My library (at around 1,500 books) is much smaller than yours, however. Got a friend with a pickup truck who will move part of those books for you? I hope you get over this scary flu soon.

Thanks, Donna... So far I haven't even found a friend with a car willing to transport me and the cats...
Actually being sick is adding to the stress, as it has meant I can't get the clutter dealt with in order to have the final contenders in to give final estimates. Because I had started pulling stuff out of closets and drawers, it's a catastrophic mess. I have to deal with so that someone can really understand what's going to be moved. Sigh. Best laid plans of mice & men.

Suzanne, so sorry to hear you're ill. Get better soon.

Evidently no contagion, since Jim and I are ok. Thanks for thinking of us! I hope this finds you back on your feet and at the appropriate body temp.

Have you thought of checking out what it would cost to ship the books by USPS or UPS? I don't know if it would be cheaper - probably not, but it did occur to me.

and please do remember that you can ask for some volunteers for packing if you're going to pack yourself. My April schedule is pretty open, at leats on weekends.

Judy, I may actually take you up on that, depending on your tolerance for clutter... I'm almost at the point of whimpering right now when I look at the mess, but still too out of it to do much about it. Fever largely gone, but cough still v. bad and I haven't eaten anything much since Saturday. Piffle.

I have a high tolerance for clutter, especially in someone else's home &;->. Glad the fever is gone - go slow.

Glad the fever is down too, and think SOUP! You need some nutrition to fight those flu bugs!

Suz, I'm beginning to suspect you can get flu via the computer screen. When I woke up this morning my mild cold had warped into something a lot worse. Hope it's not the same bug you have.

I've ordered in some poached eggs -- well eggs Benedict, but I'll scrape off the Hollandaise -- and will make some toast. Everyone seems to be out of soup around here; my neighbor Paul was looking around for me.

Paws, ugh... What was odd about this, though was that it never really was a cold -- it just slammed into me, starting with a massive cough on Friday night and then morphing into the fever/chills. Apparently respiratory stuff isn't all that often associated with flu? Which I hadn't known/realized. I hope that your mild cold has become only a bad cold, and that you avoid all the fever/weakness nonsense.

I thought as you do, that flu is mostly respiratory.

Isn't there a Chinese takeout place from which you could get wonton or hot and sour soup?

196. I've been spared coughs so far but my throat feels like someone's poured acid down it and I'm feeling very weird (I always get this when there's something not quite right health-wise).

I think it is respiratory, in that it affects the lungs, but doesn't always manifest as congestion??

http://www.flufacts.com/know/symptoms.jsp
http://sharondeniseallisonottey.com/pages/posts/fever-chills-cough-i-feel-misera...

Paws, I think that's post-nasal drip... That is always the first step for me in a "normal" bad cold; the first symptom. This time, it was the cough (which typically is what is left when the rest of the cold finally exits stage left). It came on so suddenly at first I thought some food had gone down the wrong way.

Judy, can't order Chinese soups -- MSG. Impossible for it not to be there. (it's in most kinds of Asian soup mixes)

About time I stopped whining about how bad I feel and updated my reading list. A few on this list are audiobooks, and I'll probably finish another two audiobooks this month that I began while sick & unable to read for very long, but going stir-crazy with tedium.

97. The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian starts out on a hopeful note, especially for Stephen -- back from Spain with his wife and daughter, now healthy and lively, and they seem destined to be a happy little family, Diana's wildness notwithstanding. But both he and Jack face financial struggles, and Jack is worried about being sidelined -- allowed to become an admiral but not given a command of the red, blue or white squadron. It doesn't help that he is making powerful enemies both in Parliament and at sea, as he returns to a blockade patrol. An interesting enough book, but not up to par for the series. 3.7 stars, for my 2013 Categories challenge.

98. The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian does something unforgivable -- introduces a major tragedy for one character in the series, through events that happen offstage and are only referred to indirectly thereafter. It's VERY annoying, and a cop-out. There are theories about why O'Brian did this, but (a) it wasn't a necessary plot device and (b) if he felt the urge to make the plot move, he could at least have brought the reader face to face with it. OK, some later parts of this book are quite good -- after Napoleon's escape from Elba, the two friends end up charging all over the Mediterranean and Adriatic, trying to prevent a shipment of Arab gold from reaching Napoleonic mercenaries. There's a great scene involving a lion hunt. But I'm still irked. 3.5 stars, for the categories challenge.

99. Family Pictures by Jane Green should be avoided at all costs. This is an ARC I got on a whim from Amazon Vine and now find myself regretting. The twist is telegraphed so far in advance that when it arrived, I simply yawned, and the attempts at melodrama made me wince or even laugh. She used to write witty chick lit, but has subsided into exceptionally mediocre family sagas all featuring underdeveloped characters being boring. This is my last one. 1.9 stars. Read while sick because I knew it would be light reading... *eyes roll*

100. The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Rian Malan is an intriguing compilation of articles by this controversial South African conservative that will be calculated to drive the politically correct to drink because Malan backs up some of his most un-PC points about everything from the flawed AIDS statistics in Africa (he doesn't question that AIDS should be treated, but questions whether it should be at the expense of thousands of other lives of presumably equal value sacrificed to malaria or drug-resistant TB, and also questions how many deaths are mis-categorized as AIDS -- the symptoms are uncannily similar to TB, weight loss, fever, etc. -- as the African medical establishment acquires a vested interest in keeping dollars flowing into the country.) When I describe Malan as 'conservative', I don't mean reactionary: his previous book, My Traitor's Heart, was a vivid and moving effort to come to grips with the unpalatable (to him) fact of his descent from a series of hardline Boer supporters of apartheid. But Malan is no fan of the ANC, either, and is almost gleeful when he gets to remind readers of how reluctantly they have abandoned their Marxist baggage, of how South Africa's new ANC ruling elite is just as focused on suppressing the truth sometimes when it would be inconvenient, etc. For those who find these bits unpalatable, however, the compilation offers plenty of other stuff -- fascinating stories about individuals growing up in the new South Africa, like two white brothers who grew up amidst the Zulu and who cross racial borders almost effortlessly, or the 'Black Diamonds', the new African middle class who have little interest in abandoning Soweto for the white suburbs of Jo'burg because people in the latter aren't as neighborly. Little gems of insight are scattered throughout, and his description of the glories of Capetown made me curious about visiting for possibly the first time. Recommended, but read it in bits and pieces, not straight through. 4.1 stars.

101. The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle is a typical frothy romp that devotes as much time to the details of food and wine as it does to plot, where the baddie-baddies are clear and obvious but where you know the goody-goodies will come out ahead. Sam teams up with an old adversary to front his pitch for a new development in a cove on the fringes of Marseille, and finds he faces unscrupulous opposition from a corrupt local politico and a greedy English press baron/mogul. With the help of his gorgeous girlfriend, French journalist buddy and a cast of random characters including a British expat and teacher with unexpected talents for impersonation, however, Sam will triumph. This is the fluffy read that the Green novel SHOULD have been... For my 2013 categories challenge.

Now finishing up The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner and Krakatoa by Simon Winchester, both of which deserved more attention that I've been able to offer for the last several days.

Poor Malan...one-eyed man in the country of the blind. And isn't it a hallmark of achieving power for any group to spin volte-face and demand the inconvenient truths be covered up? It's merely a question of which truths are deemed inconvenient.

Humans don't change.

Catching up...I'm sorry to hear that you're sick, Suz. We're still seeing a sizable number of patients at Children's that have been diagnosed with influenza B, based on testing of nasal specimens (26 kids tested positive last week, according to the head of the microbiology lab). You can have a dry cough with a simple case of the flu, along with fever and malaise. However, if you start having a wet cough or shortness of breath you should seek medical attention. As everyone has said, fluids are essential (try to drink 8 oz every 1-2 hours while awake), along with whatever foods you can tolerate. I hope that you feel better soon!

The Lion Sleeps Tonight sounds interesting; I've added it to my wish list.

Thanks for the medical advice, Dr. D! I hope you're recovering from your own misadventures... I'll be interested to learn what you think about Malan's writings. It sounds as if he doesn't care that he is strolling through a minefield in post-apartheid South Africa, and certainly isn't tolerant of a 'get out of jail free card' kind of excuse, i.e., well, we were so disadvantaged under apartheid for so long that we now can insist on having people turn a blind eye to our own shortcomings or corruption. Malan seems to start from the POV that anyone who is able, willing etc. to govern themselves must in turn become accountable, and while he clearly has no time for the despicable apartheid regime, has just as little for those who cozy up to the likes of Mugabe as an African freedom fighter who threw whites off their farms in Zimbabwe, when the majority of his victims continue to be his fellow black Africans. I particularly appreciated the fact that he is self-aware: he knows that he comes across as a bit maniacal on some issues (he comments about friends walking out of rooms when he gets on his hobby horses) and that he gets it wrong. But unusually, he admits it when he gets it wrong, as he did in writing that he was wrong to expect a state of near civil war to accompany the first open elections in 1994. There is an elegant little essay looking back and apologizing for his pessimism a decade later.

>203 Chatterbox: You're welcome, Suz. I'm still moderately ill, so I'll stay home from work again today and probably tomorrow. My partner called in an antibiotic, as she suspects that I have atypical (walking) pneumonia, which can cause prolonged and moderate to severe asthma exacerbations. Hopefully that will get me over the hump.

Thanks for the information about the author of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The Kindle version of it is considerably less expensive than the print version, so I'll download it once I'm ready to read it, probably early this summer.

BTW, that sneaky Ms. Chu posted the April TIOLI thread yesterday afternoon!

I read My Traitor's Heart in a college seminar on political violence. It remains one of the best books I read in my four years of college. Thanks for the heads up on this one!

And I hope the flu is on its way out...

Ugh, Darryl -- I've had that twice, once about 25 years ago, and once just a few years back and it was dreadful on both occasions. Utterly draining. Hope that the prompt antibiotic will do the trick.

Katie, the cough is still here whenever I try to talk, which is annoying given that I have to talk to people for a living, but am feeling much better. What does it say about me that I find the idea of a college seminar on political violence to be a compelling idea??

It was one of the best classes I took and also included another favorite book, The Bridge Betrayed by Michael Sells about the war in Bosnia.

Time for another catchup... The first one of these offers some more on political violence, Katie, albeit very obliquely.

102. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner isn't really the book that it is described on its blurb/jacket. It feels more like an artistic experiment -- the story of young 'Reno' (we never learn her real name) who, arriving in New York City circa 1976 to pursue her art, ends up instead being buffeted around and doing little more than just reacting to those around her, letting them shape her actions and decisions. When she does try to craft a more independent path, such as the time she sets off on a motorbike to race the salt flats, it ends abruptly (literally and rhetorically). This odd reluctance of a young woman who is portrayed as being feisty and independent to act in that way is a literary device/conceit that works only periodically, making this a frustrating novel for me to read. The settings work better, and I assume that the fact that I wanted to bash together the heads of the self-absorbed and self-referential artists of Reno's New York circle is a sign that Kushner wields a convincing pen. (Although I sometimes felt as if the words I was reading were just as self-absorbed and self-referential...) The segment in Italy, where Reno goes as the newly anointed world's fastest woman (after a race on the salt flats aboard a vehicle custom-built by her boyfriend's family's Italian firm) only to find herself, her goals and her achievement a sideshow, were more interesting. But even here Reno seems to drift, and it's left unclear what, if anything we're meant to conclude from all this. Beautiful writing, but I felt as if I'd been asked to pass judgment on a modernist work of art and that someone failed to provide me with the dictionary I would need to interpret its basic vocabulary. The writing was impressive, the author clearly briliant and talented, yet never did I feel I was seeing the world through Reno's eyes or forget that I was seeing Reno through Kushner's. To me, a big flaw, however great the talent. 3.7 stars. For my 2013 categories challenge.

103. Krakatoa by Simon Winchester was, aside from a slightly bizarre digression attempting to link an anti-colonial revolt in Java circa 1888 to modern day Islamic fundamentalists in western Java and some too-small or confusing illustrations and charts, one of the best books I have read this month. I loved the way that Winchester pulls together everything from plate tectonics and comparative botany to the development of the telegraph and Dutch colonial policies in building up a portrayal of life before, during and after the Krakatoa explosion. If you're looking for human drama, that is there, but greatly de-emphasized; what is present, is Winchester's tremendous fascination with how volcanos fit into geophysics and the way the world works. Yes, it's about Krakatoa and the explosion, but Winchester's analysis goes well beyond the what and even the how and to the big questions of 'why'. Fascinating stuff. 4.7 stars.

104. Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell reminds me of why and how I got hooked on historical fiction as a child. (Yes, a child; I was reading Jean Plaidy's books by the age of 9, ditto Georgette Heyer...) I was always interested in history, but fiction was a far more interesting way to learn it, and when I first read books about the Tudors, I was learning the historical context through the fiction, for instance. Bracewell's biographical novel of Emma of Normandy, who married an Anglo-Saxon king of England in 1001, long before William the Conqueror kicked off "modern" British history, is a figure almost completely unknown to me. In most cases, the European/N. American historical fiction I read tends to tackle characters or eras I already know -- for instance, I'll never be able to read a novel featuring Isabella of Castile without knowing in my mind that her only son dies before her; that her daughter and heir will be shut up in a castle for decades and labelled batty and that her youngest child, Catherine, first wife of Henry VIII, will also have a miserable life. This, however, is an era of which I know too little, so the enjoyment of the background, setting, etc. was much more vivid. The story itself was only so-so -- it's a conventionally romanticized view of Emma's life, complete with illicit relationships, conspiracies, witchcraft, etc. A lot of 'standard elements' and little in the way of the magical X factor that made Mantel's books about Cromwell so very excellent. Still, the novelty value gets this above 3 stars to 3.5 stars.

105. The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers was, for want of a better phrase, a sweet novel. There's an almost fairy-tale quality to it -- the character of the title, Agnes, is found as a baby in a basket by a farmer looking for mushrooms, and turns out to have a very difficult early life. When we first meet her, she is in her late 30s, and has carved out a life for herself in Chartres, helping others -- as a cleaner or caretaker. It's a comfortable if narrow existence, and it is about to be upset by some secrets from that early life (which we learn about as the author gradually fills us in on Agnes's background). It's a cluttered novel (by characters, I mean) and involves some improbable coincidences, but ultimately it's one of those books that serves as a reminder of basic virtues -- not just cleanliness, but courtesy, charity and love. This grew on me; Vickers is a novelist whose work I always enjoy. 4 stars.

106. What is Enlightenment? by Immanuel Kant is a short essay that encapsulates the philosopher's approach to the question of the title, in which he addresses the willingness of people to allow others to make their own decisions for them. While Kant's argument revolves around the sphere of religious tolerance (in his view an area where the need for free thought and reasoned debate is most acute), I couldn't help pondering some of his first assertions, and thinking that the evidence today may support an assertion that on the whole, people would prefer to pay others to do their reasoning for them. "It is so easy not to be of age", Kant notes at the outset, and to allow 'guardians' to take control: to have a book think for someone, a pastor have a conscience on behalf of his flock, a doctor who determines diet, etc. I don't think this is true of any specific group in society more than another (and those who puff their own idiosyncracies are sometimes the most dogmatic and insistent on being 'right') but I do think that Kant would be rather disappointed with our reluctance to become enlightened. I read some Kant in college in a class on political philosophy, and should probably read some more. This is for a Coursera.org course I signed up with but was never able to get into thanks to all the hubbub over moving, work, being sick, etc.

I hope you are feeling a bit better, Suz. I must look out for the Vickers - I was just remembering Miss Garnet's Angel earlier today, fondly.

I am very, very wobbly, which is a problem as I have moving estimators coming tomorrow and there is stuff strewn all over the place, where I dropped it when I got sick 10 days ago. The problem is that when I stand up and move around, I get woozy and very faint. This is a big pain. Tigger is driving me crazy -- whenever I turn around, he is right under my feet. I have literally fallen twice today just because of him. If he lives through the week, he will be very fortunate.

Suz, wishing you an unwobbly EAster, and sending wobblies whams. Hope they help.

Suzanne, I'm sorry all this is happening at once. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!

Hi Suz, hope you are progressing towards feeling better. Tigger is obviously feeling the vibes of 'moving'.

(((((Suz)))))
and
(((((Tigger)))))

What a bug you got! The timing couldn't be worse, I know. Keep socking good nourishing soup into yourself as it sounds like you've given your system a real slamming. And sleep, sleep, sleep if you have to. Don't worry about the mess. I'm sure they've all seen a lot worse. Sounds like poor Tigger is worried and is trying to be encouraging! This too shall pass.

More books...

107. The Heretics by Rory Clements was a very good entry in this long-running series featuring John Shakespeare, brother to the more famous playwright, and an agent for the queen's intelligence service. There's a conspiracy involving Jesuits, exorcists and various other evil folks; what is good about this book, beyond the high level of suspense and the period details, is that there are so few real "heroes", with the leading protestants being just as maniacal as the most assassination-minded Jesuit. Solid entry in this series, 4.1 stars.

108. The Honey Queen by Cathy Kelly is a mediocre but reasonable Irish chick lit novel. Lots of characters -- too many -- cluttered up the landscape this time. Predictable fare, but a good book for sick people to read as it doesn't require all that much attention. 3.4 stars.

109. The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor is an ARC I have had sitting around for a while, shamefully enough. It turns out to be a rather good book -- the main character, a bookseller in London circa early 1780s has lost his wife and child, and has embarked on a crusade to prove that ghosts don't exist. A noblewoman calls his bluff, and asks him to convince her son, who has gone mad after seeing a ghost, that no such ghost exists. Rich in period detail, including Cambridge college politics of the era and definitely a twisty turning plot that works even when we know who the bad guy is (or one of 'em, anyway). There are a few kind of mysteries here, all intriguing enough. 4 stars. For my categories challenge.

I think that brings me up to date?

What Tiffin/Tui said about eating (as much as your system can handle)! You need nourishment and sleep. Hope you feel better and stronger soon.

Thanks, Tui & Rebecca. My appetite has finally come back, but making anything feels like waaay too much work. I am making a little bit of progress on boxes, and the estimators came today - one gave me a "probable" estimate of just north of $5k, which is probably in the ballpark, but I'll wait for the other estimate, which will be "not to exceed", which is better for me.

So, requesting thoughts/input here:

My two final estimates are now here. One is higher, but guaranteed not to exceed $8,300. This is from the folks who moved me into this place, whom I basically trust. The other comes via a recommendation from a place that was recommended to me, that has good references, but it is still an estimated cost -- $5,100. I'm going to go back to them and ask for a "not to exceed" estimate and see what they say. But does anyone have any thoughts out there in LT land??

Not to exceed $8300 is, barring the other place agreeing to that or a similar figure, the one I'd grab.

I'm a big believer in paying more for a known amount.

If that makes sense...

I agree, but it's worth going back to the other place and saying that you have a not-to-exceed estimate and you'll go with them unless they (the other place) can also give you a not-to-exceed estimate.

in writing, of course. You want a not-to-exceed guarantee, not an estimate.

That is pretty much what I have been thinking. Both figures can change, but in the case of the not-to-exceed figure, it will only decline. In the case of the other figure, it is only likely to increase. (I mean, reality check -- this is a moving company trying to win my business, of course they will under-price it...)

I have e-mailed both of them -- in the guaranteed case, to question/check the basis on which they put together the estimate (they estimate 7 hours of packing, which seems high, as well as 8 hours of loading, and I wanted to know if those overlap), and in the case of the non-guaranteed estimate, to ask about a "not to exceed" figure. I really just want to get this nailed down.

And of course, tips will add another $1,000 to this....

ETA: Judy, yes; the higher one is written (PDF attachment) -- "Guaranteed Cost of Service". The other is headed "Probable Cost of Service".

I am stunned at how much it costs to move what seems to me to be just a hop, skip and a jump down the road. Can see why so many people endeavor to move themselves in rented trucks and the like. Obviously I am destined never to move from my little hovel. Hope it is all over and done with soon.

Glad to hear you are feeling somewhat better. 2013 certainly has been a bitch, so far.

pawz, I agree with you about the cost of moving. We moved here 23 years ago; hearing those rates, I think I'm just going to stay stuck until decrepitude forces a move to Happy Meadows.

#234 And of course, tips will add another $1,000 to this.... - it's going to cost more than $5k and you're expected to add tips??

Rhian, yup!!

What I don't know is how I'm going to combine packing with work. This week has been a work nightmare...

I'm tempted to pay the higher rate, even though the other firm has said that they'll make an exception and guarantee a not to exceed price of $6k, even though they don't offer not to exceed prices any more. I'm a bit worried that they'll suddenly decide that oh, I have used $2k worth of packing materials not covered by the guarantee -- I can just see that happening!!

Only two books so far this month....

110. The Cat Who Went to Paris is a delightful if predictable short book about how the author, Peter Gethers, was seduced into cat-owner-dom by an admittedly uniquely charming Scottish Fold kitten with an outsize personality. Love affair between man and cat -- why not? I only wish my menagerie were as well behaved... 4 stars.

111. The Beekeepers' Apprentice by Laurie King was read for my own TIOLI challenge for this month, in which participants have to pick a book suggested by someone else as one of their favorites; a book that everyone should read. Despite my skepticism, I ended up really enjoying it. I'm not a big fan of fan fiction, but this is really more about Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes's teenage protegee, who comes of age over the course of the novel. The denouement comes too much out of the blue -- there aren't enough clues to the real identity of Holmes's nemesis -- but it's still a good yarn and despite the hints of a romance blooming between 20 year old Mary and and Sherlock Holmes, in his 50s (which kinda creeps me out...) I'll probably go on and read the next in the series. 4.1 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

Wow. Just wow. I recall using a moving company to move from southern Indiana to Santa Barbara, CA (to get my Ph.D.). I won't tell you what it cost -- it's immaterial, and besides, that was 1988.

Nice to read your take on the Malan book. It was featured in NYRB recently, and the review left me thinking I wouldn't like the man or his book very much (though the earlier novel sounds good).

Skimming through, Suz, hoping things work out one way or another.

Dare I ask about Tigger?

Hoping for the best for you this week with so much on your plate... *fingers crossed*

I have The Beekeeper's Apprentice on my shelf, but I'm waiting until I finish the final few Holmes novels / collections before moving on to the pastiches. I'm pleased to keeping hearing this one is worth the read!

Glenn, my dear, you have far less stuff than I do... Btw, am going to touch base with you re cat transport...

Took a 24-hour cyber-vacation, which was desperately needed. Haven't done much with boxes, however. Will need to devote most of tomorrow to that! I'm still so out of it that I left an entire bag of groceries on the D train, heading for Coney Island... Sigh...

Ellen, Tigger is still in possession of paws, etc. but only by a whisker!!

Amazon Vine just changed the terms of service -- in order to keep requesting books, all those requested in 2013 must be read and reviewed by May 13! Originally it was going to be everything still unreviewed, which would have left me scrambling to read a few dozen books -- some of which I hated and never even finished -- over the next five weeks. This means only 7 or 8 books, one of which is almost wrapped up now.

In sort of reverse order, I'm glad that Amazon is making the Vine reasonable for you. Even with moving, I have no doubt of your ability to get through those 7 by May 13.
Glad to hear that Tigger is still among us.
Glad about a brief cyber-vacation; good luck with the boxes; hope somebody worthy found your groceries; glad that you are the one who has to decide about movers. What a decision!
I'm a little happy to hear that *Beek's A* creeped you out a bit. I have stifled my discomfort and read all but the latest 1 or 2.

Ooof, I can't believe it's only Tuesday...

first, the book update:

112. The Jackal's Share by Chris Morgan Jones is the sequel to a novel I read last year about Russian oligarchs -- a thriller of sorts, featuring Ben Webster, investigator and PR guru. This time around Webster gets caught up in a nasty affair when an Iranian expat billionaire asks Webster's firm to investigate himself -- and give him a clean bill of health. There's much more there than the billionaire ever expects Webster to uncover, and as the investigation proceeds, it gets uglier and scarier for all concerned. The plot isn't always as watertight as it could be, but the author is dealing in an interesting business and has such interesting characters that I minded less than I should have done otherwise. For my 2013 categories challenge.

113. Favorite Wife by Susan Ray Schmidt is deeply mediocre; a memoir by a woman who grew up in a Mormon breakaway group that still believed in polygamy. The events here date back to the late 1960s to the mid/late 1970s and leaving aside the malapropisms and frequent errors of various kinds, it isn't a very thoughtful critique of the religious group to which she belonged, and one of whose leaders became her husband (she was his sixth wife...) It's an interesting enough look at polygamous society and what that might mean (outside HBO or reality television), but I got the feeling that had she been clearly her husband's favorite wife, she probably would have closed her eyes to a lot of what went on there, and the book would never have been written. Part of a larger story about these breakaway groups. Glad this was a Kindle sale item that I got for $1.99; I would suggest spending real money on it. 2.6 stars.

114. A Man Without Breath by Philip Kerr was a fabulous new episode in the adventures of noirish Bernie Gunther, the former police detective in Weimar Germany, who has been feeling deeply out of sorts for a decade at the opening of this novel -- the decade that has elapsed from early 1933, when Hitler became chancellor of Germany, to early 1943, and the defeat at Stalingrad. When a soldier posted near Smolensk stumbles over some buried Polish bodies that may -- for once -- be the results of someone else's atrocity (it's Katyn...), Goebbels decides to send Bernie to oversee the investigation and make it look good for the Germans and bad for the Soviets. Of course, history has made it clear that it really was the Soviets responsible for this massacre, but the hypocrisy of this task gives Kerr fertile ground in which to play around, and he has tremendous fun weaving together all kinds of plots, from a gorgeous forensic scientist/love interest for Bernie, to the murders of some signals officers, corruption at the top and yes, a plot against Hitler. Excellent, and in a logical sequence from Kerr's previous book, Prague Fatale. Definitely recommended, but go back to Berlin Noir and start at the beginning with this series of novels featuring the wise-cracking, hard-boiled Gunther. Excellent. 4.3 stars.

I just learned that I have lost the contract work that I began in late 2011 and that has kept me solvent for the last year or so, as of the end of this month. Alas, it has generated 2/3 of my annual income. I had always kind of worried about becoming overly dependent on a single income source, but after a conversation with the supervisor three weeks ago, when she was eager to ensure that I remained committed to the project, this came as a bit of a shock. Oh well, nothing to do except roll with the punches... and get back to packing. Very relieved I'm moving to live somewhere significantly cheaper...

You are VERY generous if you are tipping up to $1000! We bought the movers pizza and tipped $50 and we thought we were being generous

Chelle, they made it kinda clear that a tip of 15% to 20% is expected... *eyes roll*

I think it depends on the amount of work involved, too. I have a heck of a lot of books (which will be in boxes).

At least the 'layoff' makes my decision re which mover to go with, that much easier. An extra $2,000 is suddenly looking very, very important to hang on to. Especially since I still need to invest in a new desktop computer.

Do you tip before or after you take inventory in your new home?

Robert

I have a problem with 'expected' tips. To me they are less like tips for good service and more like a surcharge. I can appreciate all the work involved in packing up someone with lots of things, but heck! - they've seen what you have and you (I) would think their price figures the plethora of things into their charge for the move.

*sigh* I'm probably just cheap...

I think 'expected' tips are a way to keep wages down. It has become the usual with low-paying jobs such as waiting table and delivering pizza, but tipping movers? Sounds like tax evasion.

Delurking to offer a packing suggestion that my brother once used. Have a book packing party- invite trusted friends to come over and not only pack but catalogue at the at the same time!
I am glad that the latest Philip Kerr is really a good read.

#241 -- torontoc, thanks for de-lurking! Happily for me, Judy (ffortsa) and her dh (Magicians_Nephew) have volunteered to help me tackle the books this Saturday, which will be a big help. I've got some organizational stuff to tackle to make that possible, but we should be able to get most of them into boxes. It's the stuff that needs sorting -- the clothes, the odds and ends that have made their way into odd crannies -- that I think is going to kill me!

Existential question: why, when we have money, do we never have time to do anything? But when we have the prospect of leisure, we don't tend to have money to appreciate it?? One of life's nastier jokes, I suspect.

I agree on expected tips, 4pawz! I'd almost rather have it as a surcharge... And I do think that people take advantage of the fact that this is your 'stuff'; essential to you. There are lots of horror stories about movers demanding cash payola before they will unload a truck here in NYC in particular. That's probably my biggest worry about the move -- some jerk doing this. And of course, you can never get the owner of the company on the phone at the right time when you're being shaken down...

Suzanne, carry one of those dictating tape recorders with you and start taping as soon as anyone starts talking like that--which hopefully they won't. Be prepared!

#240 Sounds like tax evasion - Sounds like that to me as well! But then in the UK I wouldn't tip for that sort of thing at all!

I've often thought of that money v. time question. It does seem really rotten, doesn't it? Frequently I have wondered why on earth I've gathered so many books around myself, and I always decide that I am preparing for a time when I won't have the extra bucks to buy my own books. By planning ahead, Charlotte (I tell myself), you will still have something to read in the house. But now I imagine that when/if that time comes I'll probably be absolutely blind and hence unable to read them! Fate always wins and she's a royal bitch, don't you think?

Suzanne, do you have a barcode reader for the books? I have one, so if you need to catalog things in LT as we go, I'll bring it. Although it might make more sense to do that at your leisure when you UNpack.

heavens, no didn't know there was such an animal!! Hmm, we should discuss a brief loan if that works for you, Judy, as you're right, doing this while unpacking makes much more sense (esp since I have already packed some books that I know I hadn't catalogued...)

ETA: Excellent idea, Roni -- I have a little Belkin recorder that fits into my iPod, and I've used it with tremendous success for my reporting. The files can then be downloaded into iTunes.

Charlotte, I think this is my view, too, at least judged by my acquisitive book behavior and my towering TBR mountain...

I'm finding this whole tipping thing appalling, frankly, Suz. We have never tipped here and have had good service. The cost is the cost, period. And it sure hasn't been the kinds of costs you have been quoted. Maybe there is a book in here for you about the moving industry in the U.S., the way one of the Mitfords looked into the funeral industry.

Tui, it could well be -- especially since this is such a restless society. Although if I'm going to lose all this work and have time on my hands, I want to go back to my genealogy book idea.

Suzanne, I was referring to the CueCat device that you can get through Lt. If you go to the help/FAQs link you can find a whole explanation, along with competitors.

Wowza, how cool is that?! It even LOOKS like a cat... *grin*

Shall have to place my order this week...

Note that if you have a lot of old books or hardcovers without jackets, you may have to add them in by hand anyway?

Suzanne, I've been following your removal costs discussion with interest and horror. I'll be having to move soon, putting most of my stuff into storage, and I'm dreading what I may discover about costs here too. There is no culture of tipping removal staff here at least; but my previous three moves have all been paid by my employers, so although I had to go through the process of getting three estimates and choosing between them, I now don't recall the amounts charged.

Suzanne, I haven't seen you around lately and I assumed you were busy with the move. It was going on way too long, however, so I searched you and discovered that my big clumsy digits clicked on ignore this thread. Glad to have you unignored again.

As I was scrolling through and catching up I saw back in March that, I think it was, Labwriter commented on Guests of the Alatollah. If anyone is interested, it is today's Kindle Daily Deal @ $1.99. I one-clicked and now it's mine.

Lynda, thanks for dropping by! I haven't been visiting many people, or not delurking at least. Work has been nightmarish, the flu bug has been a plague (pun intentional) and now loometh the move.

I have chosen to go with the cheaper option. He has guaranteed the price, told me I will have a firm move-in date, and given me a further discount for cash, so my guaranteed not-to-exceed price will be $5,200 or so. So I'll schedule the move out for the 23rd, the move-in for the 25th and then come back and pick up the cats... If you're into the prayers/whammies thing, send one up for me... :-)

OK, back to work...

An overdue book update:

115. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks was a wonderful and evocative book, a 'what if?' novel based on what is known of the lie of the first Wamponoag (I'm sure I"m misspelling this...) native American from Martha's Vineyard to graduate from Harvard back in the 17th century. (The second, Brooks notes in an appendix, was scheduled to graduate just two years ago...) It's a vivid portrayal of early colonial life, told by the fictional character of Bethia, who triggers Caleb's intellectual curiosity and starts him out on the path that will lead to the Bay Colony. The character of Bethia is mostly very well drawn, and Brooks avoids any simple romantic cliches. The plotline isn't perfectly structured, but the depiction of life circa 1660 in Massachusetts is amazing: Brooks somehow manages to capture its essence without it ever feeling like some kind of checklist (eg, must show how people slept, what they ate, the attitudes that they took for granted); nor does her use of 17th-century vernacular ever jar. I'm increasingly impressed with Brooks' novels -- only her first, Year of Wonders, is left to read. 4.5 stars

116. The Sea Garden by Marcia Willett was a book for which I didn't have terribly lofty expectations, I admit. Willett writes 'Aga Sagas'; feel good novels based on emotional dilemmas encountered by what I think of as an entourage cast -- there are usually three or four main characters whose lives are intertwined. This one wasn't as good as some have been, in large part because if you hadn't read some of her earliest books very recently (eg The Courtyard, which lays out the basic plots involving some of these characters in earlier years, you'll be without very helpful background -- and even if you have, the 'catchup' will feel perfunctory. Even for fans, unless you've read the novels featuring Cass Wivenhoe and the naval wives, you'll be underwhelmed. To put it mildly. 2.9 stars.

117. Dark Fire by CJ Sansom is the second mystery in the fab Matthew Shardlake series; I didn't really start reading them until #3, Sovereign, so I have gone back to remedy this while I wait for the next to appear. I've been listening to them on audiobook, and finding even more to appreciate -- the nuances jump out, and I feel as if I'm living in Tudor England. In this outing, Shardlake is commissioned by Cromwell, under siege from his enemies, to find out what happened to the promise that he would get the secret of Greek Fire, a renowned Byzantine weapon. Shardlake discovers far more, including a great deal of human evil, makes some powerful enemies and struggles to rescue a young woman from what seems like an inevitable hanging after her young cousin is found dead. Oddly, I figured out the criminal in that case in the first pages, if not why... I've enjoyed the audiobook versions of the first two books so much that I went on to download Sovereign and will listen to it while I deal with some of the hellacious packing that lies ahead. 4.4 stars, for my 2013 categories challenge.

It's Theo's fifth birthday party tomorrow! I gave him the book of Children's Poetry that I got as a gift from my grandmother when I was seven, and we read about Jennyanydots and the gumbie cats, which he adored -- as well as a soccer ball.

Ah, I have Berlin Noir on the TBR stack(s). Your review of A Man Without Breath makes me want to move it up higher.....

Big BIG thanks to Judy/Ffortsa who helped me tackle three of my massive upstairs bookcases yesterday afternoon; they are now in boxes. I think in about 3 hours we managed to pack nearly 30 boxes of books. I finished another 20 or so in the late evening until I ran out of tape... Only have one more massive bookcase left to go in the living room, and then a few more (smaller) in the bedroom, two in the hall, and four more big ones downstairs. Not to mention the rest of my 'stuff'...

Ellen, do make the acquaintance of Bernie Gunther. If you like noir, hardboiled detectives, nicely complex plots and the era, you'll love this.

Another quick book update, and then I'll have to create a new thread later tonight.

118. Lost by S.J. Bolton is the new novel featuring Lacey Flint, the London detective last seen going undercover in Cambridge. This is published under a different title in England, but regardless of the title it really isn't worth hunting down, IMO. It's implausible that the police would keep someone as troubled as Lacey on the force, even on leave, much less given her secrets, and I don't find many of the characters very three-dimensional or compelling. The mystery itself is the saving grace, although the red herrings are a little too 'red', i.e. obvious. Underwhelming. 3.2 stars.

119. The Opium War by Julia Lovell is an excellent, highly intelligent and yet very readable/accessible look back at Britain's Opium Wars against China, and especially the first, from 1839 to 1842. The pure history is intriguing and exceptionally balanced, setting the conflict against the backdrop of China's history, that of the British empire, as well as the use of opium itself, but it's the historiography that grabbed me here: Lovell does a wonderful job of analyzing just how these conflicts set the stage for perceptions (of both parties, by each others) in generations to come, from Fu Manchu and the 'yellow peril', to the demonic western running dogs of Mao's rhetoric. That's the richest treasure trove in this excellent book, which was a finalist for last year's Orwell Prize. 4.5 stars.

Suzanne,
the organization i thought might pick up your bags of books is Revolution Books in Manhattan. They are a Marxist book store that makes the rent nut by selling books on the sidewalk. I once joked that i had 1000 books at home and someone said 'I'll bring the truck'. I don't think he was kidding. You might give them a call.

Housing Works Book Cafe also sells donated books and their web site claims they will pick up "a very large donation." The sales support their advocacy and support for AIDS patients.

What a productive weekend! I would hazard a guess that a lot of book discussion was going on as tomes were removed from the shelves.
Great birthday gifts for Theo. It will keep you close after the move until you see each other again.

Housing Works won't pick up books in Brooklyn, and they want to know titles and to pick and choose from amongst them -- I can't just hand off 500 or 600 books. They also now require photos of donated furniture before picking them up; they turned down mine and asked my neighbor to take a close up pic of a scratch on a buffet thingummy. I suppose the recession means they still are getting lots of donation...

ETA: Am behind on the packing. It's going to be very difficult for me to have everything reading in 7/8 days, and I'm panicking...

I wish I could help more, but my time is limited and I seem to be sick today too. Grump.

if you want to recycle the laptops, and you or someone else has time to deliver them, The Little Laptop Shop will take them. Their address is 7 Clinton Street, near the 2nd Ave. stop on the F train. (about three blocks east). 212-674-3111 in case you want to call first. I think Techserve on 23rd Street takes in recycling as well, but I've never tried them.

I could come by on the 20th if you need an extra pair of hands.