karenmarie 2013 75 book challenge - #2

Second thread, created during Tropical Storm Andrea in Wilmington, NC.

It's been a good reading year so far athough admittedly lots of re-reads and comfort reading. But if that's what it takes...

1. The Black Box by Michael Connelly 12/27/12 01/05/13 ***
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson 12/21/12 1/3/13 **** audiobook
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson 01/04/13 1/24/13 **** audiobook
4. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs 01/05/13 1/10/13 *** half book, half Kindle
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs 1/10/13 reading on Kindle
5. The Last Child by John Hart 1/12/13 1/13/13 **** 1/2
6. Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich 1/13/13 1/13/13 **1/2
7. King of Lies by John Hart 1/13/13 1/27/13 ****
8. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew 1/28/13 2/2/13 **1/2
9. Iron House by John Hart 1/24/13 2/11/13 ***1/2 audiobook
10. Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd 2/2/13 2/09/13 **1/2
11. July 7th by Jill McCorkle 2/9/13 2/10/13 ***1/2
12. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 2/12/13 3/6/13 **** audiobook
13. Down River by John Hart 2/11/13 2/16/13 ***
14. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale 02/17/13 02/22/13 ***1/2
15. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell 02/19/13 2/24/13 ***1/2
16. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 02/24/13 03/02/13 ***1/2
17. Mortal Sins by Penn Williamson 03/02/13 03/10/13 ****
Closing Time by Jim Fusilli 03/10/13 03/14/13 ---abandoned--
18. The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell 03/14/13 03/16/13 ****
19. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes 03/17/13 03/21/13 ***1/2
20. The Dinner by Herman Koch 03/22/13 03/23/13 ***1/2
21. A Question of Identity by Susan Hill 03/23/13 03/25/13 ****
22. Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich 3/26/13 3/30/13 ***
23. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris 3/8/13 3/26/13 **** audiobook
24. Yokohama Yankee by Leslie Helm 03/29/13 4/1/13 ****
25. The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith 4/1/13 4/6/13 ****1/2
26. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 4/6/13 4/10/1 ****
27. One Shot4 by Lee Child 4/4/13 4/15/13 **** audiobook re-read
28. Restless by William Boyd 04/11/1 04/13/13 ***1/2
29. The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff 04/13/13 4/16/13
Murder in the Marais by Cara Black 4/16/13 ---abandoned--
30. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason 4/20/13 4/21/13 ****
The White Lioness by Henning Mankell 04/24/13 ---abandoned---
Accidental Birds of the Carolinas by Marjorie Hudson 5/1/13 ---abandoned
31. Nothing to Lose by Lee Child 5/4/13 5/6/13 ****
32. 61 Hours by Lee Child 4/15/13 5/5/13 **** audiobook re-read
33. Killing Floor by Lee Child 5/6/13 5/14/13 **** audiobook re-read
34. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris 05/08/13 05/09/13 ****
35. Die Trying by Lee Child 5/10/13 5/14/13 **** reread
36. Echo Burning by Lee Child 5/14/13 5/15/13 **** reread
37. Running Blind by Lee Child 5/15/13 5/19/13 **** reread
38. A Wanted Man by Lee Child 5/19/13 5/21/13 **** reread
39. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn 5/21/13 5/23/13 ****
40. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child 5/24/13 5/26/13 ****
41. The Affair by Lee Child 5/27/13 6/1/13 ****
42. Gone by Mo Hayder 06/02/13 06/09/13 ****1/2
43. Birdman by Mo Hayder 6/9/13 6/13/13 ****
The Treatment by Mo Hayder 6/13/13 abandoned
44. Persuader by Lee Child 6/15/13 6/17/13
45. The Enemy by Lee Child 6/18/13
46. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks 06/22/13 06/23/13 ***1/2
47. Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb 6/29/13 6/30/13 ***
48. Amuse Bouche by Anthony Bidulka 06/39/13 07/06/13 ***1/2
49. The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks 07/06/13 07/08/13 ***1/2
50. Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone 07/08/13 07/18/13 ****
51. Gone Tomorrow by P.F. Kluge 07/19/13 7/20/13 ****
52. Tropical Freeze by James W. Hall 07/20/1 07/21/13 ***1/2
53. Defending Jacob by William Landay 07/08/13 07/22/13 ****
54. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka 07/22/13 07/23/13 ****
55. North of Montana by April Smith 07/23/13 07/26/13 ***1/2
56. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella 07/24/13
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene 07/24/13 abandoned - didn't particularly like and the second CD was skipping
False Mermaid by Erin Hart 07/26/13 abandoned
57. Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden 07/27/13 08/01/13 **1/2
58. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling 7/29/13 8/7/13 audiobook
59. The Power of One by Bruce Courtenay 08/02/13 8/11/13 ****1/2
60. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 8/7/13 8/14/13 audiobook
61. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith 08/11/13 8/16/13 ****
62. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 8/14/13 8/30/13 audiobook
63. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters 8/17/13 8/22/13 ****
64. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters 8/22/13 8/24/13 ****
65. Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish 8/24/13 8/29/13 ****
66. The English Major by Jim Harrison 8/29/13 8/31/13 ****
67. Under The Dome by Stephen King 9/1/13 9/10/13 ****1/2
68. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling 9/2/13 10/31/13 audiobook
69. Never Go Back by Lee Child 9/10/13 9/13/13 ****
70. Mrs. God by Peter Straub 9/13/13 9/13/13 **
71. Envy by Sandra Brown 09/14/13 09/15/13 ***
72. Foreign Babes in Beijing by Rachel DeWorskin 09/15/13 9/22/13 ***1/2
73. 1493 by Charles C. Mann 9/24/13 9/30/13 ****
74. The Philanthropist's Danse by Paul Wornham 10/1/13 10/2/13 ***
75. I Hope You Find Me by Trish Marie Dawson 10/3/13 10/5/13***
76. An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England by Brock Clarke 10/10/13 10/14/13 ****
77. Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel 10/14/13 10/28/13 ****
A Chemical Prison by Barbara Nadel 10/28/13 abandoned
78. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny 10/30/13 11/2/13 ****1/2
79. The Golden Ball and Other Stories by Agatha Christie 11/3/13 11/5/13 ***
80. Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb 11/6/13 11/11/13 ***
Life After Life by Jill McCorkle 11/13/13 abandoned
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym abandoned
81. The Host by Stephenie Meyer 11/14/13 11/23/13 ***
82. True Detective by Nathan Heller 11/23/13 11/30 ****
83. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 11/1/13 12/5/13 audiobook
84. True Crime by Max Allan Collins 11/30/13 12/8/13 ****
85. The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins 12/8/13 12/13/13 ****
86. After Dead by Charlaine Harris 12/13/13 12/13/13 **
Wool by Hugh Howey 12/13/13 abandoned 12/20/13
Golden Boy by 12/21/13
87. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank 12/23/13 12/27/13 ****
88. The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick 12/27/13 12/30/13 ***
89. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton 12/30/13

We just got back from Wilmington, NC. Yesterday was transfer student orientation for daughter. It had a few small bumps, but eventually she got scheduled for 16 hours, met a wonderful professor from the History department, and, most important, found an apartment within 5-10 minutes walking distance to campus. It's perfect - one bedroom, furnished, all utilities paid, etc. Since she couldn't get on-campus housing because it was all taken, we're thrilled.

Nothing to do today except relax. Nothing to do this weekend except prepare expense reports for the two trips I took in May and relax.

Daughter's happy for probably the first time in almost a year. That makes me happy.

It's all good, for once.

Oh no nothing to do, how ever will you manage?

All good is good, I'll take all good.

I'm delighted that your daughter expects to be happy in Wilmington! Our niece and her husband are graduates, and all of my former students have loved the place no matter what their majors.
Enjoy the ALL GOOD!!!

Me, too, beeg. Hope you're doing well.

Hi Peggy! We had a fantastic time. All good things about UNCW.

Today is, sadly, going to a memorial service for a junior in high school who killed himself last Sunday. *shudder* Poor, poor child. He was in band with daughter when she was a senior. I saw his mother last night - didn't intrude - but she looked as you would imagine. Stunned, bags under her eyes, glazed.

Very, very saddened about the young suicide. Poor lad.

Mo Hayder? *looks around* Seen the name, who is that? *looks around some more*

The service was very .... Christian..... which I am not. But the Band Director brought tears to my eyes when he addressed his remarks to Joseph - the boy who killed himself. It's frightening that somebody can be so unhappy that they can't see way out except to end it. I'm so sorry for his family. Mother, father, and 10-year old sister.

Back home making a pot of chili. I know it's hot out, but it's comfortably air-conditioned inside and the chili will taste very good.

I made white chili even though it's steaming outside - comfort food?

Absolutely comfort food! Two nights in a row comfort food.

And tonight daughter and I watched Monsters, Inc. and Antz. Fun stuff.

It's off to read and get some sleep.

'Night.

Monsters, Inc! Ha! Perfect, stress-free watching.

Besides - Monsters U will be out soon!

We had a blast watching those movies.

You're right Doc - while at lunch yesterday at Cracker Barrel, I saw a candy/fan/strange toy with Mike with his Monsters U hat. Of course I bought it for daughter.

Power's been out for 1 1/2 hours. Husband is still at work. Daughter and I don't know how to turn the generator on. I have instructions SOMEWHERE, but don't know where they are. I'll probably call husband in 10 minutes or so if the power doesn't come back on - Progress Energy said 7 pm. and it's now 7:24 so they lied. I don't want to worry husband, but we really would like power back on before dark.

karen - I hope your power came back on soon! I never take the power company's estimate at face value; I don't think it's a lie so much as a best estimate (or maybe "guess" or sometimes "wishful thinking").

Hi blue! at 8:18 p.m. they changed their message to "assessing damage". At 9:45 I went to bed. Husband told me next day that the power came on about 2 a.m. Sometime in the middle of the night I realized my cell phone was charging but didn't really wake up.

We have terrible power. Lots of flickers, and short outages. Good old Progress Energy of North Carolina, now bought by Duke Energy. Ha. It will be as bad or worse and cost more.

We have all the important stuff on surge protectors. Unfortunately we built our house without a whole house surge protection system in 1998. Don't even know if we thought about it at all.

Turns out the generator's battery had died - Husband is supposed to check it every month and I don't think he has checked it this spring. So even if I had found the instructions, we'd still have been without power. Blech.

Like I said - best guess.

I grew up in semi-rural Michigan, which is basically the same. If we didn't lose power for 2-3 days at least once during the summer, it was a surprise; with every thunderstorm (and there are lots) we pretty much expected to lose power for minutes or hours at least. Once, when I was in high school, we were without power for nearly 2 weeks. Even though we don't have those problems where I live now, I can't get out of the habit of keeping a flashlight by my bed.

This was longer than usual, even for us. And, there are parts of neighboring counties still without power, some not anticipated to get power until Monday or Tuesday. It's hot out, too. We have flashlights in the pantry, by our beds, in the home office. I have one in my car. Plus my cellphone has a flashlight app. We also have oil lamps and candles.

Daughter and I played Yahtzee by oil lamp that night. I won.

Yesterday was errands. Today's Father's Day - got husband cards, candy, a movie, and a Beanie Baby.

Today's Father's Day Dinner is London Broil, baked potatoes, salad, and a store-bought apple pie.

We just got our freezer filled beef again - a quarter - raised by our friend Larry. No growth hormones, no antibiotics, etc., and some of the best beef you've ever eaten.

Daughter and husband are eating homemade chipped beef on toast.

Back to books - I'm enjoying Persuader by Lee Child - a re-read.

I've been summoned to Williamsburg so I picked up an audio version of a Donald Westlake book and will listen to that down and back. He's one of my favorites and seemed to be under appreciated. Did you give up on Treatment/Mo Hayder? Hope not; I also placed a hold on a bunch of her stuff to pick up next week.

You sound good, girl fiend.

Hi Larry!

I've been hanging in there - lots of hours at work. The vegetable garden is a riot - tomatoes climbing through the cucumbers, green peppers fighting with the tomatoes. The damned ground hogs are eating the green bean leaves again - I told daughter to shoot the damned thing but apparently he's sneaking around the garden when she's not looking.

Daughter's all set for UNCW and getting excited about the apartment, going to school again, and, unstated, being away from the 'rents. It's all good. I'm looking forward to her being gone too - although I'll have to start cleaning the catbox again. We'll take her on August 15th - that's when the apartment is available and then school start the 21st.

I've just spent an hour wiping up water that overflowed from the washing machine - I pushed the reset button to add more water but apparently didn't make sure it was back on full load..... 10 minutes later I went back to the utility room and there was water in the utility room and 10 feet into the hallway. Sheesh, f&@#$*ing sheesh. Ah well, at least the floors got mopped.

I'm whupped.

Peeved at husband, who was just up and dressed when I came into the bedroom to get more towels and didn't bother to ask if he could help..... I had to ask him to help move the little dresser in the hallway because water had gotten underneath it.

I'm now in a crappy mood, sweaty and overheated.

salad wars! sounds like life is whipping on you just a little.

Just a teensie bit, yeah. But I'm going to get my nails done this afternoon, always a good thing. And I made a German Chocolate cake from scratch yesterday - my birthday is this coming Wednesday and I started celebrating early. Had cake for breakfast too!

I chose cake

*smooch* for bad-day comforting

beeg - Yes indeed, cake cures many evils.

rd! sorry I haven't been to visit your thread for a while - too much going on. Thanks for the smoochie.

Now it's off to read for a while.

Ugh, I hate when stuff like that happens. I ran out of dishwasher detergent once and thought I'd try liquid hand soap as a replacement. Bad idea- I had a foot of suds in the kitchen.

Hang in there.

Thanks, Larry!

Once I tried to put Pinesol or something else that smelled good into my Rainbow vacuum cleaner water bowl and had the same problem - an overflow of suds and the motor shuddered to a halt. Fortunately once I put in the right kind of scent in it worked fine.

Hanging in there, aye! As former submariner husband would say.

HAPPY BOOKDAY! I mean birthday! Many many many more good books to come.

Happy Birthday today is your birthday, Happy Birthday to yoooou

Merry Birf-dee!

'Sanks to all of youse guys.

A good day, even if meant turning SIXTY. Got my driver's license renewed yesterday, had lunch with husband, daughter, and 7 co-workers today, then dinner with husband at the restaurant daughter works at - she had to work tonight but after a lovey dinner got a free 3-scoop cup of mint-chocolate chip custard with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Work was a meatgrinder, but the rest of it was fantastic -

I finished Gone by Mo Hayder yesterday and really didn't like it much. I was so disappointed because Hayder has written some books I really did like (Pig Island was genuinely creepy, the Devil of Nanking creepy-adjacent). I'm not a fan of series books that build heavily on the story. I went to the Loudon County Friends of the Library sale yesterday and saw a girl who I'm pretty sure was checking titles online. I wanted to ask her if she was on LT but didn't.

You should have, Larry! If not, you could have introduced her to it. I talk up LT every chance I get.

I liked the first two Mo Hayder books I read, but have gotten bogged down in the third. Sigh.

Got the new Eve Dallas by J.D. Robb and it's a fun breezy read.

The cucumbers are starting to come in - I plan on having one today for lunch with feta cheese, greek olives, and EVOO and red wine vinegar. The cukes from my garden are especially sweet and crisp. And when they start REALLY coming in I'll make my great-grandmother's 8-day sweet pickles and my husband's great-aunt's 13-day sweet pickles. Totally different process and taste, both exceptionally good.

Lots of green tomatoes too. The damned deer AND the groundhogs have gotten to the pole beans, but there are cute little green peppers growing. And the giant sunflowers are getting .... well.... giant. *smile*

Land spreadin' out so far and wide
Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!

Yup. That's me.

City girl (El-Lay) living in the country.

Happy belated birthday, Karen. Lots of good reading happening here.

Hi Beth! Nice of you to drop in. Much of the reading this year so far is comfort reading - way too much work going on, finally things calming down with daughter's college plans.

I just finished Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb. A nice read for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Now to find something else.... possibly Amuse Bouche by Anthony Bidulka... the first Russell Quant mystery.

Found, read, and liked Amuse Bouche. It is the first Russell Quant mystery, and although a bit dated, presented a good mystery. Russell Quant is a bit bitchy, more so than his laid-back dog Barbra. Loved Barbra, enjoyed the book enough to finish it, but won't go out of my way for any more of them.

Found my book for book club - we are choosing the next 12 month's worth of books next Sunday the 14th. Each of us chooses a book, each one of us hosts a different meeting, always potluck at Stephanie's for book choosing. Unless I find something tomorrow when I go out to spend birthday bookstore gift certificates, I will choose as my book Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. Sounds amusing.

Even though Roger Federer got upset in the second round at Wimbledon, I've been enjoying the tennis. Today was the men's semifinals, and the first match was a slugfest between Djokovic and del Potro. I was sorry to see Djerkavic win, but the second match went better from my perspective with Andy Murray winning. I hope he beats Djerko for two reasons - don't particularly like Djerko and would love to see Andy win at Wimbledon - the first Brit (even though he's Scots) since Fred Perry a bazillion years ago.

I will also enjoy watching the women's final tomorrow between Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki. Neither has won Wimbledon before, so there will be a new champ. Sorta would like to see Lisicki win because she's so beautiful to watch on grass, but I do like Marion Bartoli too. She was the runner up in 2007, so could win with my blessing too.

Tomorrow will be fun, yes indeed. Plus I've started a batch of sweet pickles - my great-grandmother's 8-day pickles - using cucumbers from my garden. Hooray. And the cucumbers are perfectly wonderful peeled and seeded with feta cheese, greek olives, and red wine vinegar and EVOO.

Tonight I will start the second book of the Fourth Realm Trilogy by John Twelve Hawks, The Dark River. The first book, The Traveler, was excellent and scary. Vast Machine = Big Brother, and we're there now for sure.

Yay! I used 2/3 of my gift certificate to the local used book store and got:

False Mermaid by Erin Hart
A Skeleton in God's Closet by Paul L. Maier
Gone Tomorrow by P.F. Kluge
Tropical Freeze by James W. Hall
The Forest of Hours by Kerstin Ekman
The English Major by Jim Harrison
Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson
Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone

Had a lot of fun just looking for interesting books and finding books that are on my Bookmooch wishlist.

That's a lovely group of books, KM! Happy Belated Birthday, and I'm glad to see that you're still celebrating.
Here's one of my favorite stories about a family friend, father of my friend Johnny.
The faucet in the br lavatory was leaking and John decided to change the washer. He got so frustrated trying to get to the washer with a monkey wrench that he flung the thing down - thus hitting and breaking the toilet bowl. Water. But John didn't know how to turn off the water either in the house or outside, so he left. When his wife came home several hours later, the whole house was standing in 2 inches of water........ It was not so long after that that they built a new house and moved, where John did some other amazing things.
(Seems like I maybe told all my John stories on my thread a couple of years ago. Anyway, he was a funny, funny man.)
Now. Doesn't that make you feel better?

Ooo heard good stuff about The Forest of Hours. So Russell made no new fan in you, eh? Too bad on one level, but on another you're lucky because Bidulka has moved to a new character for his ongoing career.

*smoochings*

Happy happy Horrible today, for sure, as Djoko falls to Murray!

Thanks, Peggy! Excellent John story, thanks for the birthday greetings. I always feel better knowing I'm not the only kludge in the world. :)

Hey-oh RD! Nah, not a serious new fan. But readable, if I find them at the thrift store. I do have Stain of the Berry on my shelves, and will get to it one of these days. Since I'm not a serious fan, I won't mind reading them out of order now.

Yes, indeed, happy, happy Horrible. Fun to watch. I kept daughter posted via texts, which was fun too, and daughter had the appropriate response - "Huzzah - upon hearing that Andy won in straight sets". How many 19 year olds use Huzzah, eh? It was a good match. Andy was always ahead, which was good, but there was actually some good tennis in it too. Now Murray's got the monkey off his back. Perhaps he'll be my new tennis-go-to-guy. Still love Roger mightily, but need to start lining up my next hero.

The women's match was a disappointment yesterday as Lisicki had too many nerves to play her game, but it was very nice to see Bartoli's fierce desire to win and her joy in doing so. She was very gracious, too, and they were actually hugging as they walked off court together. It was nicely done.

Off to buy alum for the pickles. I only have 1.5 ounces and need 3. Daughter and husband couldn't find it at Wally World yesterday, so I'll head off to the food store, which I KNOW has it. And write my expense reports if I can get up the emotional energy. And clean the sunroom AND iron some shirts for this coming week at work.

And read, of course.

Alum? Really? Wally World hath not of the alum...go know. Guess Wal Mart Shoppers don't pickle much.

*smooch*

They do, but not, apparently with alum. Found it at the local grocery store.

I have had an epiphany. I had to work last weekend and after 14 hours on Saturday I asked my boss if I could NOT come in Sunday. I didn't think they really needed me. He said that I should come in I calmly walked back to my desk, finished up what I was doing, then on the way out told him that I would come in Sunday but that I would start working 8-5 because I was tired of spending my god-damned entire life at work. To his credit he said good, that I needed to not stress work so much. But I was upset because I wanted to be alone in the house on Sunday with husband working and daughter away for the weekend. Ah well.

But this week I have gone in at 8 and left at ... well 5:30, or so. Not 5, but much, much better. Getting good sleep too.

And daughter's come home from work so I'll go say good night to her then read some before sleep.

Just read a really good book, Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone. One of two mysteries with Max Mingus. The second one sounds good too.

Yay for fewer working hours! Boo for how you had to handle it. *smooch* for a lovely Friday!

Thank 'ee, RD! Had a loverly Friday. The week was relaxing too.

How do you read so much? The beans. Spill them.

Hi Larry!

The (pretty complete list of) beans:

1. I have lots of books in the house that I want to read, over 1000 that I've tagged tbr - to be read
2. I spend 1/2 hour to 2 hours reading when I go to bed at night
3. I try to spend time on the weekends hidden away in my library with the door closed reading
4. I also try to read at lunch - I go out and get lunch and, since I hate eating out alone, I bring it back to my
desk and read while eating
5. I'm a very fast reader
6. I never go anywhere without a book
7. I never finish a book I don't like, so I'm always reading something I enjoy/like/love/am in a frenzy over
8. I listen to audiobooks to and from work, so I frequently am listening to something for about 1 hour and 20
minutes per weekday. Speaking of which, I just finished listening to an excellent mystery, Defending Jacob
by William Landay.

Today I am at home - daughter is getting her wisdom teeth out, so we'll leave around 8 or so. Her appointment is 9:30. While she's in surgery I'll read. Depending on how she's feeling when we get home, I might get in some more reading while she dozes/sleeps/is in a narcotic haze.

I'm reading the first book in our new bookclub season, called The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. So far quite interesting. Certainly good enough to plan on finishing.

Great list of "beans"! My favorite is number 6 (I never go anywhere without a book). There are so many moments during the day when we have to wait--and if you have a book, that waiting time is put to good use, right?

Thanks for the recommendation on Defending Jacob - it's on my kind-of-new Nook, and I might have to get to it sooner rather than later.

Karen O.

*smoochings* for dear OLD Horrible

Safe and sound. Daughter looks like a chipmunk. She's still not feeling any pain, has had some ice cream, ice on and off every 20 minutes, Percocet waiting in the wings for when the pain starts. She's playing on her xBox and I'm going off to .... you guessed it.... read.

Thanks, Karen. I feel nekkid without a book. I hope you get to Defending Jacob sooner than later too and let me know what you think of it.

*smooches* back, RD. Old being the operative word, right??? Just hit another decade, had a "ends in zero" birthday.

Off to put the ice back on for daughter.....

Yes...OOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD being the operative word, indeed. OOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD.

Ain't it grand?

For me, it beats the alternative. My plan is to live into my 90s.

I carry a book around everywhere, too. I listen to audiobooks on the sub'emway most days, music the others. My brother came to visit a few weeks ago and asked me for something to read before he turned in. He was standing next to three book cases double stacked top to bottom but I got it- his thing is newspapers. I pulled out some old papers I keep to use as padding and he was happy as could be.

You know, whenever I visit someone I always check out there books instead of seeing what they've got in the medicine cabinet or whatever.

I look in houses to see if there are books too. Very few houses seem to have books anymore. Even my bookclub - they all read a lot, but quite a few of them use the library and their kindle so don't see what kind of a person they are by their books. In my house, you walk into the house through the sunroom (long story...) and see my messy corner desk. As you turn left to go into the hallway to the rest of the house, you see two shelves of books, wall to wall, and floor to ceiling, double and triple stacked with books. You even walk into the hallway underneath a row of books. Heaven to me.

Last night was my birthday present from my MiL. Every year she buys me a ticket to see a performance by the ADF (American Dance Festival) and takes me to dinner first. We went to Nantucket where I had pecan-encrusted tilapia with lemon caper sauce, green beans and asparagus, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, coconut cake and a cup of coffee. Yum. Then we went to "Forces of Dance", four performances.
One was elegant - Solo from Moon Water performed by Chou Chang-ning, choreographed by Lin Hwai-min, and performed to Sarabande, Suite NO 1 from Six Suites for solo Cello by JS Bach.

The second was meh - Helios, from Acts of Light by Martha Graham. Quite a bit of shoddy dancing and I personally don't like really jerky motions - I like things more graceful. Men and women both wore unitards, light yellow (gold?), understandable, but not very flattering and monochromatic.

The third was what I ended up thinking of as self-indulgent twaddle - Lover Re-Defined by Bill. T. Jones. *shudder*. Boy was I glad when that was over and we had an intermission. A lot of walking around, sitting in poses watching other people gyrate around, and VERY strange music/monologue. Jarring. I don't want to be "challenged" while at a performance - I want beauty and elegance. If that makes me a philistine, so be it.

After intermission was Treefrog in Stonehenge by Twyla Tharp. I loved it. High energy, grace, synchronocity, fluidity. A good evening indeed.

So glad it as fun for you! I agree about the heavenly entrance to your home.

Do you have people ask when they first see all the books "did you read all of these" I tell them those are just the books I own. "but did you *read* all of those books" I'm guessing some things are just too hard to comprehend.

I know theoretically that most people read, at most, one or two books a year. But I find that so difficult to comprehend. Who are these people who don't read all the time?

>58 bluesalamanders: The TV audience. Hi Horrible, thought of you because I have a new series to addict you to. Be back later to tell you *all* about it.

Hallo, RD! Walking into the house through books is indeed heavenly.

beeg - it is so so sad that so few people really read as an integral part of their lives. There is only one person at work I can talk books with.

hi blue - everybody, it seems. I have a few elderly neighbors who read, but one of the biggest disappointents in my life is that my daughter is one of those one or two books a year people. What she does read is cherce, to quote Spencer Tracy, but still.

Hi again RichardDear. What series? Tell me. Pretty please with sugar on it.

Tomorrow is daughter's 20th birthday. I just wrapped 3 presents. Bought mylar balloons, 2 cards, and a 6 snack size Butterfinger candy bars for her. We're taking her out to dinner tomorrow night too.

Too tired to do anything more except crawl into bed with my book. Next month's bookclub book - The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. If it gets to be too heavy, figuratively speaking, I'm also taking the 2nd Ana Grey mystery, White Shotgun by April Smith, upstairs too. Always good to hedge your bets, especially when the room I'm sitting in, with the two books mentioned, is almost as far away in the house as is physically possible. I don't want to have to come downstairs after I've gotten all cosy.

'Night youse guys.

THE LAST POLICEMAN pre-apocalyptic police procedural wierdly readable fun. Ben H. Winters hath perpetrated same and sequelii.

xoxo

Okay, RD! I've ordered it. Sounds good.

I'm absolutely floored by The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. Funny, serious, beautifully written, evocative, atmospheric, etc. etc. etc. This is for our next month bookclub read. I'm about 100 pages in and want to read non-stop. Unfortunately, life is interfering with my reading time. Harumph.

OK, I'm in. I just placed a lie-berry hold on The Last Policeman.

RichardDear, you are definitely an influence. Imagine snagging both Larry and me.

Daughter and I just watched Fried Green Tomatoes again - we haven't watched it in a long time but tonight was the night. Of course, now, that means the book is (once again) on the reading list.

My evil work is done!

Karen

I haven't been on LT as often as usual. I am so sorry to learn of the suicide of a young man your daughter knew.

I can only imagine the heartbreak of those who knew and loved him.

I send a gentle, belated hug to you.

Regarding post #65, Richard? Evil?
Nah, don't let him fool you, he is good through and through, not an evil bone in his body! His soul is clean as new, softly falling snow flakes that drift from the sky and gently hug all surroundings.

And, that's the truth!

For the last month I've only had a few minutes at night to read, and for whatever reason I've been reading The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. I think because it's such an easy, fast read and i want to add a book to my 'Read in 2013' collection. But man the plot is vapid and the writing workman-like at best. I read The Poet when it first came out and don't remember being so disappointed in it or grudge-reading it.

Have you read The List of Seven by Mark Frost? One of the greatest beach book I've ever read.

Richard, you're going to have to have 'Ebil Geenuz' cards printed up.

"Eebil Geenyuz" cards are genius, Larry! Apparently poor Linda has had a cerebrovascular accident of some kind, she's clearly entered a delusional state....

Thank you, Linda. I just can't imagine losing a child, much less to suicide. I also had a neighbor lose her 39-year old son this spring to suicide. Awful, just awful.

RD and I cost each other money by suggesting books. That's his evil genius and that's why I'm Horrible.

Larry - the more recent Michael Connelly books have become formulaic and shallow. I definitely agree with you.

Haven't raed The List of Seven. Here I go to check it out. ******* just bookmooched a copy!!! ******** Cool.

"Eebil Geenyuz" indeed. *smooch*

The Power of One still continues to be a wonderful read. I'm about halfway through.

This is daughter's last weekend at home prior to going back to college - she's a transfer student to UNC Wilmington and we'll be moving her to her apartment on the 15th.

I'm reading The list of Seven and looking at paint chips

When my new power cord arrives and I can rely on being on the Chromebook for a few hours straight, I'll be reviewing Green by Jay Lake. Nobody told me fantasy novels didn't have to suck!

Hey beeg - Paint chips are fun to look at. We still have the Duron paint wheel from when we built this house. I love the names. The pale yellow of most of the downstairs is Downy Duckling - when husband heard that and grimaced I told him he could call it Yellow Macho Stud. Dining room and halls are Tobacco Road. Outside of the house is Brick Dust. Have fun!!

Daughter and husband are both gone - dare I say that I've got Time In The House By Myself? Hoo-yah. Fun fun fun.

I've added Green to my wishlist, RD!

And now I've ordered Green it's been in my wish list but with a nod from Richard, it's destine for the bookshelf - that's two books in less than a week your thread has cost me.

I love my bedroom colours "White Truffle and Cultured Pearl" the others are less glamorous. I have by myself time as well, it's a latte and The List of Seven. I know, I know, it's a rough life.

Dropping out of lurk to wave and wonder whether you watch So You Think You Can Dance, Karen.

Hi beeg - great names for the colors in your bedroom. I can really see them. Rough life indeed.

Hi Peggy! I don't watch any TV except for Wipeout, tennis, and, when husband is watching and I wander through, NCIS. (I do watch old series and movies). What's up with SYTYCD?

Just finished The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. A stunning, beautiful book. READ IT.

I started and and am enjoying The Cuckoo's Calling, the mystery by J.K. Rowling written under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

>76 karenmarie: No!

>77 karenmarie: No!

*smooch*!

How can I continue to uphold the honorific Horrible when you reject books that I like?

Tomorrow we take daughter to her new apartment 3 hours away. She's sitting in the living room with her dad watching Battlestar Galactica. I took down her favorite shower curtain and washed it, put up the new one, and that's it for Mom does work while daughter sits on her can. :)

Continuing to read The Cuckoo's Calling. I really, really like it, RD.

No!

*smooch*

Have a safe drive.

Karen, I don't know what you like, so here's a selection:

Contemporary Solo
Ballroom - Samba
Group
Favorite Male

Hey Peggy -

Thanks for the links. All interesting. The first one was the best to me. I went to the ADF in Raleigh 3 weeks ago with my MiL and saw Forces of Dance, which I think you would have really liked, but I only liked 2 of the 4. Do you ever get to ADF? MiL takes me to one performance per year as a birthday present. It's always fun, rarely do I walk away feeling awed.

I like graceful, flowing dance - ballet is my favorite, but also like tap (American and Irish) and folk dancing - so you can see I probably wouldn't like the show so much. Love Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers, don't particularly like Gene Kelly.

I can appreciate the athleticism, physical strength, and inventiveness, but contemporary doesn't speak to my soul.

Oooops. My mistake. You still might check out SYTYCD on YouTube. They do almost every style although fewer in the folk arena (African, Russian - but only occasionally). It is heavy on contemporary, jazz, ballroom, hiphop, Hollywood, and even Bollywood a couple of times a season. Maybe two of this year's contestants are tappers; they've also had some from classical ballet and one Balinese folk dancer that I recall. I'm a great fan. And no, I never get to Raleigh for anything cultural. Your junket to the ADF was what inspired me to show you the clips. And I love Fred and Ginger and especially Gene, so I guess I wasn't the best chooser for you.

Try these two when you have time:
Smooth Waltz and Viennese Waltz.

You showed me fun different things that I might have absolutely adored - you just never know. I really appreciated the effort and if it didn't come across that way, then I'm sorry for it.

The two new ones are neat.

Just got back from taking daughter to Wilmington. Classes start Wednesday. She loves her new apartment and could hardly wait for us to be gone. Better than being clingy, I think.

Got to mail her a few things in the next week or so, but not today.

Going to collapse and read.

I just finished The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - really J.K. Rowling. I thought it was very well written, beautifully fleshed out, with an interesting detective - Cormoran Strike - and a great premise. I hope she continues Cormoran's adventures.

Happy if daughterless weekend *smoochings* for dear Horrible!

Sounds like daughter's adjustment is perfect! How happy that you can now collapse and read!!
Glad that you enjoyed the SYTYCD clips. I love it all! Even krumping!

Thanks RD! Until-Thanksgiving-less, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks, Peggy! Okay, I'll bite. Krumping?

I'm not sure about this one, but try it: Fic-Shun (but this may be more "animation."
Also He's the Man.
There you go.

Interesting, athletic. Can't see myself ever going out of my way to watch it, but getting links on my thread are very cool.

Thanks :)

Happy weekend snooches for good OLD Horrible!

Old indeed, you old reprobate! Thank you. I'm having a pretty good weekend - got my nails done (my one vanity...), had dinner with husband and friends, have been playing candy crush saga (I know, I know.....), and reading the second Last Policeman book - you turned me on to Harry Palace and cost me 2 Kindle books. Thank you. Good stuff.

My luddite daughter actually installed the printer software onto her PC, bought the right cable, and got her printer to actually print. Will miracles never cease.

Off to read and play candy crush saga. Serious waste of time, but fun. The game that is, reading is never a waste of time.

Gawd! Candy Crush Saga! *urp* Glad you liked Ben Winters' books, they were toothsome (!) reads.

Toothsome, indeed. I just now finished Countdown City. Totally Excellent.

I picked up an audio copy of The Last Policeman at the lie-berry and finished it over the weekend. Good stuff, but kind of bleak. Looks like it's going to be a trilogy.

Bleak but interesting in how he views the breakdown of society in the face of an unalterable life-ending event.

I'm reading a very different kind of book, Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish. An intellectually satisfying love story with a laser view of academia. Right now I want to smack the heroine, but I'm sure she'll improve again.....

.... and she does. She makes intelligent and heartfelt decisions that alternately reward and punish her and ultimately she can look herself in the mirror and not be ashamed.

On the hunt for another good 'un.....

Which I found and read.

The English Major by Jim Harrison about a 60 year old farmer and retired English teacher, divorced by his wife, on a roadtrip. I adored it. Beautiful language, witty, humorous, full of insight and just plain fun.

On the hunt again.....

The Woman Lit By Fireflies is the best Jim Harrison title ever, and the book is good too. He's an original thinker.

*smooch* for a happy long weekend!

What a wonderful title, RD. I'm going to start looking for more of his books.

I picked up The Light Between the Oceans by M.L. Stedman about a WWI vet who returns to Australia and lives on a teensy island as the lighthouse keeper.

Nice weekend so far - errands, reading, purchase of two gorgeous large toothsome cinnamon rolls at The Phoenix Bakery in town for tomorrow's breakfast along with 1/2 pound of organic coffee beans to grind and brew with our own wonderful well water. Happy Sunday morning indeed.

Today I'm starting to get excited about visiting my family in California in October. Fun to start planning.

You have a well! How wonderful!!! My grandmama used to take a swig of our city water and go "Yech" every single time. I remember the water from the well at her home place - delicious!
I don't know anything about Jim Harrison. Yet another writer to research. *grin*

Hi Peggy! Oh yes, and we love our water. I take a thermos of it to work every day for when I want a glass of water at work. I won't drink Sanford's pukey city water. And of course I brew my own coffee every morning and take a thermos of it too. I don't drink coffee until I get to work. So every day I take 2 thermoses.

Once I got out on my own in 1972, I started buying bottled water - this was in Los Angeles. Sparkletts and Arrowhead would give you one of their bottle stands and provide you with those 5-gallon bottles of water. I remember them leaving had-written bills with the number of bottles of water they left. You could leave them a note if you wanted more or less for the next time. I used those until I bought my first house on my own and bought a filtration system - just for the kitchen sink - so I could cook with and drink purified water.

Once I moved to NC, husband's house and both the houses we've built have had good well water. It's a huge luxury to be able to drink water out of our taps. The ice tastes good too.

Husband and I watched Under the Dome on Amazon Streaming Video last week, through episode 9. Then we watched episode 10 Friday night and will watch the last 3 on the next 3 Friday nights.

It's good in its own way but it made me think about the book again, which I read several years ago.

So I started the book again last night and am re-hooked. Then I thought that it was too heavy to cart around at 1,074 pages, so bought the Kindle edition. :) I told my husband about this expenditure and since we were talking about going out to lunch I said that we'd have to give up the appetizer. He laughed - he doesn't care how many books I buy just as long as I am happy with them.

So I'm on about page 148 and really enjoying it again.

The book-to-show relationship is more like that of the Sookie Stackhouse novels to True Blood than a standard adaptation, they've changed so many plot points.

I don't like True Blood after watching an episode and a half so can't speak to True Blood, but yes, it's not a standard adaptation. Enjoyable if a bit irritating, but definitely not like the book at all.

Funny, I didn't like Under the Dome after an episode and I like True Blood!

Strange indeed.

Well, I'm sad. Roger Federer, my tennis hero, lost in straight sets to Tommy Robredo. Roger played pretty poorly and deserved to lose. Sad.

Back to work tomorrow. Blech. Italians are visiting and I don't particularly like my job any more. I'm becoming a help desk drone. On the bright side, it's only 40 hours a week because I'm now pretty much refusing to work overtime. :)

Cheer up, Horrible! Novakipie is still in it. You'll have someone to root for.

*evil, evil cackle*

You are absolutely wicked. Djerkovich indeed. Roger played so poorly yesterday. Depressing. And today, poor Suarez Navarro lost 12 straight games and the match - 6-0 and 6-0 to Serena. Embarrassing to watch.

On a SERIOUSLY HAPPY NOTE, I booked a flight to visit my sister, mother, and niece/wife in SoCal in October - 14 days!!!!!!! Roundtrip was only $311, including trip insurance. O frabjous day, callooh callay. Just me.

The countdown begins. I haven't been home since 2007. Last summer's trip got aborted because of A Kidney Stone (sound familiar, RD?). No such bad tidings this year, fer sure fer sure.

Yay.

Yay.

Double yay.

Your trip will be awesome! OMG the mere notion of a kidney stone on a plane has me in a panic-sweat.

Enjoy watching Vakie-Vakie win it all.

Yes, it will be awesome. Did I ever tell you that I had a 11:30 flight to Texas the morning of the kidney stone? 3 hours later and I WOULD have been on a plane. *shudder*

Vakie-Vakie? *double shudder* Didn't watch, don't particularly want to watch him at all. Didn't even watch the Murray Istomin match after the first set and I want Andy to win now that Roger's out. Or David Ferrer could win and it wouldn't hurt my feelings. In fact, if Ferrer wins, it would spread the glory around some.

Hooray for going home! Enjoy! Enjoy!!

I'm so looking forward to it. My sister and I are already discussing specifics. I think it's Eustacia Vye in The Return of the Native who says "Anticipation is half the pleasure." How true! Less than 6 weeks.

I'm realizing how banal the TV series Under the Dome is. The writing has become howling bad, but we're 11 episodes in so will watch the next two on subsequent Fridays - the day they show up on Amazon Prime.

I'm re-reading the book - about halfway through - and remembering how much I love it. The only thing in common between the two is the fact of the dome and the names of the characters. The characters of the characters are entirely different. Sigh.

Tomorrow is inventory at a satellite warehouse, all day. Blech. Ah well, it will probably earn me a comp day that I shall take next week.

good, I thought I was the only one underwhelmed by the Dome

And King is perfectly happy with it, to all appearances. ...?...

Yes, I can't understand how he can be involved in the butchering of his novel. He should have enough money.

Yesterday was 12 1/2 hours. I look forward to a comp day.

Tonight's bookclub - the discussion of The Power of One by Bruce Courtenay. I loved that book and fondly remember Granpa Chook, Tadpole Angel, all the interesting characters and historical information.

Back to Under the Dome...

I listened to Under the Dome on audiobook. I enjoyed it, partly because I listened to it while driving through the country side, but King has a problem with endings and this one got too hairy at the end. I loved the first 3/4ths of It, but the ending there left me feeling kind of 'meh'.

ETC spallin en sich.

That's appalling, Horrible, 12-1/2 hours!! YEEECCCHHH That comp day will be welcome, I don't doubt.

Larry, the only King book whose ending I remember liking was 11/22/63, and that's only because I'm such a sentimental old softie.

My husband and I are watching Under The Dome, and he's never read the book. Nor have I discussed the ending, but damned if he hasn't said "I bet it's alien children playing with them." How does he figure these things out.

I agree that the ending was "meh" - the plot ground audibly at the end, but I still liked the book. I loved, loved, loved 11/22/63. Hmmm..... maybe I should re-read it again this year too.

12 1/2 days was bad, but I worked 10-12 hour days from last September until July 12th..... it wasn't fun but I was at least sitting down most of the time, unlike the people counting material in the warehouse. Fortunate, me.

I'm reading the new Jack Reacher - Never Go Back. 28 pages in, and fun so far.

I do so enjoy the Jack Reacher series. Logic, violence, bad guys, frequently, but not always, a love interest.

I gotta find another book now.

Vacation day!!! Slept til 8, have been reading, drinking coffee, and have just finished getting the kitchen under control. I have no exact plans. Yay.

Way to start the weekend

Good for you! A well-deserved rest, I must say!
I have to get and get to 11/22/63 *sigh*

Hey beeg - Oh yes. So far good on all fronts.

Hi Peggy - Of course you have to go get 11/22/63! It's a wonderful book.

I was in 5th grade, just back from recess. Mrs. Greenblatt came into the classroom and told us something terrible happened. I absolutely knew that President Kennedy was dead. And then she told us.

Go get it! Read it soonest!

I may re-read it. And, if my arms are still bothering me like they have been lately (I will cut back on Candy Crush Saga, I will!), I'll get it on Kindle, like I just did with Under the Dome.

Recent record - I slept til 9:38 this morning. Weird dreams, but I feel rested.

And, finally, off to take two kitties to the vet for annual exams/rabies shots. $$$

Sadness. Our 15-year old kitty Coco Chanel has diabetes. We have to decide whether to spend the money for twice daily insulin shots. Husband is making $$ noises, but that's worry because HE will probably have to start taking insulin shots after his doctor's visit next week. The doctor will be confirming via bloodwork next week, but the urine sample had a high glucose level, probably diabetes.

It is always SOMETHING, to borrow the book title from Gilda Radner.

but don't you wish it was something else

Oh yes, I do. Our kitty Magic died 1 year and 9 months ago, but although it was terribly sad, it was relatively quick. He had some kind of stroke/heart attack, went blind, started walking around in circles, and we took him to the vet and he went to cat heaven. He's buried out underneath our tulip tree.

I think this is going to be more drawn out.

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear of Coco's challenging diagnosis. Diabetes in a cat is No Fun.

Husbands, well, they're easier to control.

With husbands the rule is get 'em young and train 'em right. Husband's 3 1/2 years younger than me. :)

With kitties, food and love work great. Coco doesn't act sick - she's lost 3 pounds, but plays, eats, and snuggles fine. Her fur looks a bit ratty right now too, but for 15 she looks pretty good.

Our 17 year old kitty, Merlin, is hanging in there too, as well as Kitty William at 13 years and Inara Starbuck at 7 years.

It's actually a pretty good life being a Hengeveld kitty.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Hi doc - husband and I both laugh over the Rule - we married when he was 35 and I was 38, so at that point neither one of us was trainable, per se. Over 22 years of marriage we've worked things out pretty well, all things considered.

Mine is 11 years younger, I'm lucky he came potty trained.

My mother was 11 years younger than my dad and their marriage lasted until his death in 2006. They'd been married 51 years.

Potty trained, indeed. :)

I am the well-trained (or not) one in our marriage. I'm sorry to hear about Coco Chanel. It is a sadness when kitty time gets short. Enjoy her as long as she can enjoy you.

Thanks, Peggy. I'm reminded of other kitties, during other times of my life and in other places, and miss them all. Partial roll call: Fuzzy, Ebony, Taffy, Sassy Fras, Eli WhiteEyes, ViscaDinky, Ah-Ooh, Herschel, Martini, Saki, Herschel II, Herschel III, Bnaj, Imsai, Miss Harriet Vane, Magic.

Buddy The Coolest Cat of All Time (TM). He's been dead for 12 years and I still miss him.

Ho-lee cow! The new Stephen King, Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining. Want!

Ah, Buddy The coolest Cat of All Time (TM). With a name like that he had to be wonderful.

I've never read The Shining. I have 54 items cataloged here by Stephen King, yet don't even have The Shining on my shelves. Sigh. Gotta get it, I suppose.

I went to the (small) Friends of the Library Sale in the town I work in - not the big one I'm going to next Thursday - and got the following:

The Century by Peter Jennings
Interlude in Death by J.D. Robb
Run by Ann Patchett
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
George IV: Inspiration of the Regency by Steven Parissien

and two books for bookmooch- each has a cover price of 50 cents and I paid 50 cents each for them!
A Plague of Demons by Keith Laumer published May 1965 - beautiful immaculate paperback
High Sorcery by Andre Norton published 1970 - also a beautiful immaculate paperback

Small conservative Southern town - not too much good stuff to choose from. MY town's Friends of the Library Sale is huge. It takes me 2 hours to go through things and even then I only look at fiction, literature, mysteries, and some non-fiction. Yay for next Thursday.

Not a bad haul for a dinkburg in Redstateland. The next-Thursday haul should be wondermous. Happy weekend, I hope, no inventory or Italianizing shenanigans.

Ha! You think Karen lives in Dinkburg! Our library sale in the real Db is just what you'd expect - lots of romance. I might find two things worth having if I get there early and look really hard.
I LOVE Reamde - fun! fun! fun!
And a sequel to The Shining?!? Yay!

Wow, you have GOT to read The Shining. Seems like I can always remember where I was when I read a King book. The Shining- sitting on the curb of my kidhood home. 'Salem's Lot- lying on the couch of my kidhood home. It- sitting in the park on warm October day.

Hallo RD! Redstateland indeed. I wonder which closet liberal salted the few good'uns I found. Thank you indeed - no inventory, no Italian shenanigans. Although I'm hearing rumblings about another inventory - plant wide, not just a remote warehouse - Thanksgiving weekend.

Peggy! You should come up to the Pittsboro Friends of the Library Sale. It is truly wondermous, as RD puts it. I'm getting excited already. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off. Thursday is the first day of the sale and I'll be there in time to be among the first 10 in the doors. It attracts lots of (nasty) dealers, but if you're assertive enough you can grab a few out from under their noses.

Hey Larry. Okay, I'll keep my eyes pealed for it at the FOTLS, on Bookmooch, and at the used bookstore in town and the two thrift stores in town - the PTA Thriftstore and Habitat. Hopefully I'll score within the week.

What a "clustermug" as Big Jim Rennie would have put it - the thirteen episode of Under the Dome was appalling. Howlingly bad dialog. And the plot was just ravaged. Stephen King should be ashamed for being a part of this. The book is infinitely better.

I'm reading an interesting memoir - Foreign Babes in Beijing about an American woman living in Beijing and being one of the aforementioned babes in a wildly popular Chinese miniseries. Lots of good cultural stuff although some of her decisionmaking is at least as bad as some of mine was in my 20s.

Husband and I are re-watching Game of Thrones. Violence, sex, treachery - good dialog too. :)

I finished Foreign Babes in Beijing. It had its ups and downs, but overall I rated it "very good". It makes me realize what a different reality Chinese people have from ours, from an American point of view. I'm glad I read it.

On the hunt for something else.....

Woo-hoo! Friends of the Library Sale extravaganza.

Audiobooks:
A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

Mass Market Paperbacks:
Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel
A Chemical Prison by Barbara Nadel
Arabesk by Barbara Nadel
Deep Waters by Barbara Nadel
Harem by Barbara Nadel

Trade Paperbacks:
The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson (nonfiction)
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
The Bridge by Doug Marlette
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
One Man's Bible by Gao Xingjian
Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett
How it All Began by Penelope Lively
The Cove by Ron Rash
The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri
The Book of Lost Fragrances by MJ Rose
The Vault by Peter Lovesey
The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey
Rough Cider by Peter Lovesey
Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey
Diamond Dust by Peter Lovesey
The Reaper by Peter Lovesey
Bloodhounds by Peter Lovesey
Skeleton Hill by Peter Lovesey

Hardbacks:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Burning Bright by Tracy Chevaier
The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe
Life After Life by Jill McCorkle
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
The Face-Changers by Thomas Perry

I'm pleased. Especially with the Gaiman - it is one of our bookclub reads early next year.

Time to get rid of some Peter Robinson from my shelves - he was mentioned at the booksale and I remembered that I didn't like his books and got quite a few at thrift stores, Friends of the Library Sales, and via bookmooch. More shelf space for the new stuff!

Quel haul! I vibrate with intense jealous loathing!

wowiee, that's quite a haul, I loved Tipping the Velvet and The Help not to mention being a big fan girl of Neil Gaiman - my copy is *cough* signed.

Went back to volunteer this afternoon. For my free book for volunteering I got an uncorrected manuscript of The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart. Also bought Phantom by Jo Nesbo. And in the mail today I got The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif - bookmooch book.

So, darling Richard, I have cataloged into LT and have to still to catalog into LT 140 books for 2013. You, you lucky bastid, have cataloged 309 books for 2013. You're ahead. Intense jealous loathing indeed.

I must admit, however, that I probably have 300-400 books in the garage in boxes from when my MiL closed her house 2 years ago and gave to me - some I want and some will get given away but all need to be gone through to determine category. So once I go through those books your intense jealous loathing may be justified.

*smooch*

Hi beeg! Signed copy. Lucky duck. I've already read The Help but may want to listen to it - so for $3 thought it worth the investment.

Yesterday's book acquisition results:

Acquired 36 (34 bought at Friends of the Library sale, 1 free book for volunteering, 1 book received via Bookmooch)
Removed 36!!!!!

A Tie.

And, I'm reading 1493 by Charles C. Mann which I put on my shelves in 2012. I'm being strong and not diving into the new books. Fortunately 1493 is a wonderful read so far.

A tie! I despair. But I love your library list and wish I could have made it to Pittsboro. Maybe another year. (Do you like Peter Lovesey? I have a few that a friend gave me but haven't gotten to them yet.)

Hi Peggy! Haven't ever read a Peter Lovesey. But the books are so lovely - trade paperbacks, 8 of them - and the descriptions on several of them indicate an archaeological component. I love all things archaeology so couldn't resist.

I've cataloged 309 books? Wow. It pays not to keep track. My greed is slightly embarrassing....

...nah. It's not. In a way, I wish it was.

Not greed at all. Books are absolutely necessary. You're behind Linda, that's for sure. :)

I did buy two more when I just happened to wander back to the sale after having lunch with a friend....

Darkness at Pemberley by T.H. White for me
Hitler's Peace by Philip Kerr for my friend Marie in Texas

Today was half price day. :)

Oooh and you only bought two! I am quite impressed.

I was proud of myself, too! And I already mailed the book to Marie in Texas.

I just read a fascinating book, 1493 by Charles C. Mann. "A deeply engaging new history of how European settlements in the post-Colombian Americas shaped the world."

I was amazed at the extent of true globalization in the 1400s and beyond. The book is very readable with fascinating sidebars and long discussions of slavery, colonization, and expansion and contractions of ethnic groups. Fantastic read.

Now to find another new book.... perhaps one of the new ones.....

Ooh Ooh the new Louise Penny

Hi beeg - I am puzzled by my strange behavior of NOT wanting to pick up the new Louise Penny. I've had it since the day it came out. I started it, read 5 pages, then put it down. I have learned that Timing Is Important in reading books, so will wait for the right Timing.

I've now read two books with intriguing premises, good ideas, and relatively poor writing and character development.

I need something stunning. Off to find stunning.

I understand completely - good luck with the stunning

If Kennedy Lived is stunning.

I want it! I want it! But in the meantime, I picked up Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Beautifully written, just flows.

that was my next suggesting have you got to the part where your jaw drops?

Which jaw dropping? The whole book is a series of jaw drops. I'm loving it!!!

There was a really big one I did not see coming

I must not be that far yet.... but I've just gotten to part 3.

Hi Karen. I'm reading King's Doctor Sleep and so far it's very meh.

Sorry about that, Larry. I know you were looking forward to it.

I still have to acquire and read The Shining.

*grumble* My copy of The Shining is a MASS MARKET PAPERBACK. Yuckola.

Well, phoo. I'm sort of half-rereading The Shining to be ready for Doctor Sleep. I was hoping for wonderful!
*Civil War I* for me in little bits and lots of Sara Paretsky's latest V.I. Warshawski. I like her so much better than I like Sue Grafton and Kinsey.

Maybe it will be wonderful - and maybe it will an ATD (agree to disagree) book.

:)

I usually take peoples' advice when praising a book, but not usually when they don't particularly like a book.

It's easy for me to put down a book, too - if it doesn't grab me I stop reading it. That's what's happened in the last 5 days - nothing was grabbing me. I must have started 4 or 5 books trying to get something to catch. I've finally settled on An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England - pretty good so far although the protagonist is seriously flawed. But, sometimes, those are the best books.

Daughter is home on fall break til Sunday, and the three of us are going to have lunch with MiL in Chapel Hill. A co-worker is coming over this morning to dig up some Solomon's Seal to put in her garden, then this afternoon I will most likely go to get my nails done. A nice day.

Happy peaceful weekend! Read well. *smooch*

Thanks, RichardDear! So far so good. Lunch with MiL was fun, nails got done, husband and daughter watched football while I was reading.

Today is relaxing and football and reading. Daughter will probably go back to school 6-ish.

I finished An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke. I had a like/dislike relationship with the book, but liked it enough to finish it. I didn't like the protagonist, but found the philosophizing interesting. The story was pretty good too.

I've started Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel. A mystery. The author's quoted as being "the Donna Leon of Istambul." So far so good.

>168 karenmarie: For some reason that book doesn't tempt me. I can't really say why. Belshazzar's Daughter sounds like fun, let me know...might be time to succumb.

It's one of those books that you read just .... because...... you start it and you have enough energy to finish it but not one calorie more. I'm glad I read it but it's going onto the yellow table in the sunroom to be bookmoochable or given to the Friends of the Library for their next sale.

I really really hope I adore Belshazzar's Daughter. I want to re-affirm my *Horrible* status.

:)

what happened to Tipping the Velvet?

Have a safe and easy journey to the Motherland!

I liked but didn't love Tipping the Velvet. Not being gay I didn't exacty relate to some of the emotional content that I might have otherwise, but I did like the iinitial description of falling in love on the spot. It resonates regardless of whether it's straight or gay love, IMO.

I'm having a wonderful time in the motherland. I'm at my sister's and BiL's. We're being lazy. We got up and noodled around, took showers, then went out and got pedicures. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory, went to See's to buy the Best Chocolate in the World, went food shopping, then came back to the house and decided we were too full from lunch to cook. Sister's husband had leftover pizza and we've all been either napping or playing computer games. I'm in my jammies. We're going to watch Taken 2 with Liam Neeson. Tomorrow we're actually going to the movie theater and watch Red 2. Self-indulgent, decompressing, enjoying each other's company, playing with the dogs, petting the kitties, talking and not talking.

Yay.

SEE'S!!! Dark chocolate butterchews...walnut squares...dark chocolate molasses chips...*faints*

Glad you're having a yummy time, Horrible! *smooch*

toffetts!!

Back from vacation - wonderful time even if I did get Bronchitis. Lots of fun with family, lots of good food, movies, board games, just plain relaxing. More about the trip later.....

It was finally time to start How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny and I'm loving it.

You're home! Yay! *smooch* for a fun trip.

OMG are you in for a ride with this Penny. O.M.G!

Boo to bronchitis, but the vacation sounds idyllic. Glad you're back, ma'am.

Thanks RD and Peggy! A second round of antibiotics seems to be finally knocking it out. And the codeine cough syrup helps too...

Yes, the Penny is a stunner so far. About halfway through.

Glad I was at LAX 3 days prior to the Friday Massacre - I was at a different terminal but still..... it would have been awful to be there.

Double click. I'll come back and add trip details to this message.

Hey Karen, have you gotten over your bronchitis?

*smooch*

Hi guys! Still coughing a bit but mostly okay. I had to get a second round of antibiotics, which knocked the bronchitis out.

Work's been the shits. Oh how I want to quit! Oh how I'd rather consult! I need to write my resume. Blech.

Took another small vacation - Friday the 8th and Monday the 11th at the beach. Husband's cousin has a beach cottage in Garden City, SC and we stayed there 4 days. Daughter joined us Friday - Sunday and we had fun, plus a chance to catch up with said cousin.

I'm having difficulty finding the right book. I finished How the Light Gets In and absolutely loved it. Made up in spades for The Beautiful Mystery. Since then I've read an Agatha Christie (The Golden Ball and Other Stories)and the newest Eve Dallas Thankless in Death.

Can't quite get a handle on what I want to read.

Husband and I are re-watching The Game of Thrones, season 2. We finished Eureka (all 5 seasons!) so have been busy little TV beavers.

On the way home tonight it snowed. The ground's too warm for it to stick, but it's supposed to be about 28F tonight so there'll be slick spots tomorrow morning. Early for this kind of stuff.

It smelled like snow yesterday afternoon but we didn't get any. I'm glad you're feeling better.

Glad you're okay. I love, love, loved How the Light Gets In! I'm reading an ER book now, As Flies to Whatless Boys, and am...well...it's fine. It's perfectly fine.

Smoochings!!

Thanks, Larry. Still cough-y and will drug out tonight to get a good night's sleep. :)

Yup, okay. *smoochings* back, RD! I love, love, loved How the Light Gets In too.

Had a medical scare - the imaging lab wanted a second look not exactly mentioning the C word but putting it out there...... but they called the day BEFORE I was supposed to go back and said that looking at the mot recent previous image against the most recent image made them realize that nothing was wrong and not to even come in..... whew. Double whew.

*shudder*

Am reading Life After Life by Jill McCorkle. Good ol' Southern stuff. Since I live in Nawth Ca-lah-na it's resonating.

yay, glad to see you're back!

Whew is right!

Thanks, beeg - home alone while husband is out spending audio equipment money and having dinner with a friend Home alone!!! Amazin'.

Whew and whew and whew.

Life After Life has stopped resonating. Blech. I'm in a book drought. Nothing suits. *grumble*

Read The Shining. It's pretty scary, though. On second thought, save it for January so it doesn't put a damper on the holidays.

Have you ever read The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini? One of my favorite books.

You do realize, Larry, that I have The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini on my shelves? Harvard Classics, #31, 1910 Edition, translated by John Addington Symonds?

Were you peaking in my library? (tee hee)

I started The Host by Stepenie Meyer. Interesting post-apocalyptic aliens-take-over-human-bodies yarn. I'm liking it.

Perhaps Cellini will be next.

I am still feeling puny - more like a cold, though, not bronchitis Boring. Sick too long. Lazy weekend planned - only one set of errands to get hair cut, take Bookmooch books to the post office, eat lunch, and food shop with husband. Then home and back into jammies on the couch. Thank God Thanksgiving is late this year since I'll be having a total of 11 at my house.

*smoochings*

I hate loathe despise and detest book droughts. My deepest sympathy.

Me too! Fortunately it's lightly raining. :)

I'm about 4/5 through The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I am finding it a good and compelling read.

Oh man, I love to read when it's raining or snowing. The best.

I want snow this fall and/or winter!! A goodly amount too, not just a dusting. Everything gets so nice and quiet.
I'm 89% through The Host. Kindle tells you that information.

I finished The Host this morning and the first 89% was pretty good. The last 11% was rather a letdown, to tell the truth. (Remember that I read it on Kindle, which gives % completed). It felt as though Ms. Meyer was getting bored and wanted to end it - make people happy with a deux ex machina moment and add a hook for a future book. Harumph. Gave it 3 stars.

RichardDear - you reviewed a book by Max Allan Collins - umpteenth in the Nathan Heller series - and the series sounded interesting so I "borrowed" the first book in the series, True Detective on my Kindle. I'll start it today.

If I love it, smooches and (gentle, loving) smacks to you. :)

Our December Bookclub Book is Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym. I started it and was in danger of swooning from boredom, so have abandoned it. I'll still go to the meeting, 'cuz I like the conversation, food, and wine.

Today is mailing a bookmooch book, probably dropping by two thrift stores to check out the books (*smile*), and still trying to get over the sore throat and cough that have plagued me since returning to NC from my vacation.

I'll also pick up the 20 pound turkey I ordered for Thanksgiving..... gotta find room in the refrigerator. We'll be down 4 people this year - sadness - but they are going to visit her family in Utah. Her father has cancer and it's good they're going. We'll have 7-9 at our house instead of the 11-13 I anticipated when I ordered this turkey. Poor daughter - no young cousins to hang with - but she's just happy she's coming home and will have "football, food, and kitties", as she puts it.

Love True Detective so far and got an 18 pound turkey. I only have 6 things left on my shopping list for Thanksgiving! 'Course that doesn't begin to cover the (joyous) work.....

I have Wednesday off. Daughter will be home so will have a helper.

Good stuff.

You know, that sounds really nice.

Thanks, Larry! It is nice. I'm really looking forward to having the time away from work since work has become such a toilet.

A pot of chili on the stove, temperatures in the 30s, the Dallas Cowboys on the TV for husband. Me? Book or Cowboys..... probably back and forth.

Well, there are always TV time outs to read in... :)

Nah, I went into the library to read, then wandered out to either check the chili or the score. I admit that I napped a bit in the library too.....

The chili was good. The book is good. Daughter is home, it's raining, I have tomorrow - Friday (plus the weekend) off work. Thanksgiving at our house, tomorrow and Thursday busy and fun.

Happy Thanksgiving, Horrible! Have a delightful time.

We did have a delightful time.

Until we had to get the oven door unlocked to get the turkey out.

Seriously.

15 minutes before turkey-bird was due to come out, daughter said "Mom, why does the oven say LOCK?" The oven had been have overheating-while-cleaning-problems for a while and we've even replaced the control panel in the front of the oven, but it never had problems while actually BAKING something. So the oven door was locked. Husband came over and pushed lots of buttons - I said "Don't push CLEAN or it will lock for 2 hours and go to 550F!" He got cranky, but shut off the circuit that controlled the oven. Good, except that that circuit also controlled the other oven, which was also being used to bake the sweet potatoes (no marshmallows....). So we cut the circuit back on. Within 10 minutes the oven had cooled enough to open and the turkey was perfect.

Much laughter, some stress, and MiL was snotty to husband about not rushing to help me - I hadn't asked for help yet - husband was snotty back but ignorance is bliss, and I only heard about this after MiL and her sister left and our friends Geoff and Diane were still with us watching the Dallas-whoever game.

Today we went to see Catching Fire and really liked it a lot, all three of us. Of course then husband started making let's-go-to-the-appliance-store-at-the-other-end-of-town-even-though-I-don't-really-know-where-it-is noises and daughter and I didn't want to go, so daughter got mad at her dad when he started pouting. Lunch was me being peacemaker, then we went to the pet store to get some different bird food, then home. Sometimes husband isn't good at reading wife and child. Plus he's ALWAYS good at tacking on errands once we've decided on an agenda.

But things are on an even keel again, finally.

Book reading time.

Your oven locked the turkey in.

Oh.

my.

GAWD.

Your oven and I clearly share an opinion of the edibility of said bird! It was trying to save you! Ha.

Yay faulty appliances! My story is slightly less exciting (well...differently exciting) but I was trying to make pumpkin pie on Wednesday and my blender started making awful noises and smoking. Literally, actual plumes of smoke. Um.

I made cookies.

Hallo RD! The oven will be replaced as soon as we can get to Home Depot and buy another 30-inch gas downdraft convection slide-in oven in black. Its sacrifice was in vain.

HI blue - yipes. Smoking appliances are always scary. Much worse than a hostage-taking oven. :) What kind of cookies?

I just finished True Detective by Max Allan Collins and LOVED it. It's not exactly a mystery but it's about a Chicago cop turned private detective. Collins successfully weaves Al Capone, Eliot Ness, the Chicago World's Fair, Mayor Cermak, and FDR, all historical people/events, seamlessly into the life of Nathan Heller. Excellent, excellent read. I just bought book 2 in the series, True Crime on my Kindle.

Thank you and drat you, RD!

And finished True Crime and have borrowed The Million Dollar Wound on my Kindle.

Great stuff.

Smoking is a gateway drug! Next your appliances will be drinking and dancing!

Glad someone here will.... three is always a sucky dynamic. Daughter's mad at her dad, husband's disappointed with daughter, I'm in this toxic environment.

Sheesh.

Small pity party here.

Things have gotten back to a good place, again. Three's still a sucky dynamic, but it is what it is.

The book I'm reading, Wool by Hugh Howey, is up and down. I love post-apocalyptic fiction and this is definitely that, but the character development is shallow. There' so much more that could be said about the main characters and without trying to give too much away, the action is blink worthy. Every time you get to a comfort zone and want to delve into things, they change in a major way and you're left bereft. I'll continue to read it, but I'm rather at odds with it right now. Perhaps it will improve.

I hope your experience of Wool ends up being better than mine was. And I hope your experience of home life improves, too! *smooch* for dear ol' Horrible

I hope so too, although if I don't like it I will have fun at bookclub dissing it. Right now Juliette is a bit irritating although she's probably going to do some cleaning.....

On a separate note, I do lerve the Internet. Amazon - search, click, add to cart, check out. Jeans for self, CDs for husband, DVD for husband, book for aunt, earbuds/sunglasses for little cousin and etc. Other Internet ordering - Under Armour, Gevalia, Cabelas.

In sheer horror at the carnage you wreak on my self-control and the condition of my bank balance, you aptly nicknamed Horrible you:



Celebrate the return of the light with feasts, merriment, and gratitude for all the wonders of this wide green earth.

RMD

Why thank you, Richard Dear! You have found me several series and many dozens of books for which I and my pocketbook thank you. So far we're having a very nice holiday season. I'm always grateful for the things I have - a roof over our heads, food, electricity, warmth in winter, coolness in summer, family, friends.

Daughter said something wonderful the other day - I was worrying about what to buy for someone and, with love and wry humor, said "First World Problem, Mom." Four words, and they put things in perspective and are a concise way to consider Gratitude.

I'm ditzing around trying to find a good book - I have abandoned Wool. It saddens me because I wanted to like it. The more I read, the more I disliked it. There is way too little time and way too few brain cells to waste on a slog.

It's not time to read the 4th Nathan Heller - too many too close together - so Neon Mirage will stay ones and zeroes on my Kindle. I've started Soul by Tobsha Learner. We'll see.

Today is house straightening and possibly cleaning, laundry, present wrapping, hair cut, and company party tonight. Not particularly looking forward to the party but we did RSVP. Husband's very distraught about work these days (he works at the same company I do) and was making not-going noises Wednesday and Thursday but said last night that he didn't want to go but would go because he knew I wanted to go. And I do, mostly.

Cleaning and laundry and present wrapping! *shudder* Surely the staff can do all that for you. I mean, there are books waiting to be read!

I'm pleased that you liked the "card" and the Hellers. xoxoxo

Greetings to all.

HOLY MOLY!!!! The turkey locked in the oven! Who knew such as that could happen???? Be very careful at Christmas -----
Nathan Heller, eh? Off to do some research.

I'm glad things are better in your neck of the woods. I have never been able to figure out how you read as many books as you do. I'm totally jealous. And I'm glad you're going to the party. Nobody ever said on their deathbed they wished they'd watched more television.

Hi RD - I don't mind cleaning and laundry and present wrapping. The staff have been given time off, after all. :)

Hi Peggy - oh yes. It was *almost* amusing at the time and has become a great story since. Plus I get a new stove on the 30th if we can coordinate between the installer and our propane gas company to cut off the gas, put on the propane converter kit and cut on the gas. Do try the Nathan Hellers. They are rich and satisfying and the use of real people in fictional situations is stimulating.

Hi Larry - I sacrifice other things - house cleaning, volunteer work, sleep, etc. You're right about teevee. I did watch a bit of the Panthers Saints game yesterday but then zoomed off to Walmart for Worcestershire sauce (and ended up spending $145) and we watched a show called Grimm in the evening.

I'm still dithering about a book - have started Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan about an intersex boy.... this is after putting down Neon Image *only* because it's too many Nathan Hellers in a row, Soul by Tobsha Learner, and perusing my shelves almost in desperation. I hope this one sticks.

We're getting pounded with rain. I only have one errand later today - a gift card for cousin Rebecca at Lowes Home Improvement. I very rarely give gift cards, but this year both Rebecca AND my sister wanted them, so obliged. That doesn't count cousin David, who ALWAYS wants a Cabela's gift card.

My cleaning ladies come at 7:10 this morning. I have cards and small plates of homemade Pecan Puffs and Cinnamon Sugar Pecans for them. I am now officially done with making fudge, cookie, and cinnamon sugar pecans for coworkers, neighbors, and Pam and Pat The Cleaning Ladies. I still have to bake an Orange Cranberry Torte, chocolate cake, and pecan pie for Christmas Eve and want to make sugar cookies for Santa Claus (well, for us, you know.)

Yes, I have cleaning ladies. Husband is not the cleaning type and I can't do it all. Perhaps, Larry, that's another reason I read so much. I have given up on having a Perfectly Clean and Organized House. A husband and child will do that to you.

Off to fold laundry, drink freshly brewed Gevalia Stockholm Roast, and continue with Golden Boy.

You really sound like you're slacking off there, my friend.

Cinnamon sugar pecans are yum-o. Lucky cleaning ladies!

Cranberry orange torte sounds good, too, what time shall I come sample it?

Hi Larry! Slacker indeed. I can't believe it's Christmas Eve Eve - all presents wrapped, all shopping done, still some baking. Stocking stuffers are separated by Husband and daughter and in a room neither goes into. I jut need to remember the $25 Walmart card for daughter.

Tomorrow we leave at 2:15 to go to pick up MiL then head to Raleigh for dinner, presents, and dessert. I am tired, and am now going to spend the next half hour while the OCT is baking reading and relaxing in a non-football room.

Hi RD! 7 p.m. in Raleigh NC on Christmas Eve or 4 p.m. on Christmas Day in Pittsboro NC (leftovers - it improves with age). It just went in the oven 15 minutes ago. When it comes out and is still warm I soak it in 1 cup of fresh orange juice mixed with 1 cup of sugar (pour it over, re-pour, re-pour, etc until fully absorbed). Yum and double yum.

I think I'll bake the chocolate cake today and leave the pecan pie 'til tomorrow. Gotta get a cube of butter out of the refrigerator. Best chocolate cake in the world - a one-bowl wonder by Betty Crocker. With Joy of Cooking chocolate frosting. The pecan pie is the Karo Syrup bottle recipe, with homemade crust.

Oh yes, and it's Chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight. Fortunately, daughter helps. As she helped with the OCT by grating the zest of 2 oranges, chopping 1 cup of walnuts, and mixing it all together. Of course she leaves everything out for me to clean up, but since I HATE grating oranges for zest I don't mind picking up the slack.

Still rainy and gloomy, but the house smells wonderful and daughter and husband are getting along. Huzzah!

Wonderful Christmas Eve with family in Raleigh. MiL, her sister/husband, their son/DiL/2 teenagers, husband and daughter.

Our cousin Rebecca got a gift from her sister-in-law. SiL wasn't there. Rebecca opened up the package and was speechless. She closed the box immediately, but when she opened it up we were stunned to see the ugliest, most garish scarf - with bangles and a 2" x 3" Coptic cross dangling from the center, fringed with silver bangles on each piece of fringe. Jennifer is infamous for re-gifting the most inappropriate things, but this took the cake - Rebecca doesn't ever wear jewelry or ornamentation of any kind (Pentacostal), and wouldn't wear this if she did. We laughed so hard we cried. Daughter wore it for a while to take away the bad mojo. Uncle Sandy wore it for a while and told us all to bow don to the great Gunga Din. I suggested that it was a horcrux.

Rebecca was grateful that Jennifer was not there because she didn't know how she would be able to contain her true response. We were all grateful for the same reason.

This morning was an orgy of present opening - all the way from a new surge protector/battery backup, coffee filters and kitchen scrubbers wrapped up as Hank the Zombie Present, through new supplies of my 2 favorite perfumes and Six New Books!

Grimm's FairyTales with illustrations by Arthur Rackham
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick

Yay!

Daughter's happy, husband's happy, I'm happy. MiL comes over at 2 p.m. for a 3 p.m. Prime Rib dinner.

Off I go to clean up the carnage and start getting organized for dinner.

Hope everybody's having a good day.

I just finished Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank and if you like post-apocalyptic novels, this is a good one. It was written in 1958 and has some of the prejudices and biases of its time, but overall is excellent. Thanks, RD!

I'm now going to start The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick.

*SMOOCH* albeit with a leeetle bite of jealousy for The Decipherment of Linear B

I finished Under the Skin, the new Michel Faber novel (The Crimson Petal and the White). It was okay.

*smooch* back, RD! Linear B is fascinating so far. What's scary is that it is extremely dense and complex, and John Chadwick apologizes in the beginning to academia because this is a book for the lay person! Good stuff.

We're going to have lunch with a boyhood friend of husband's and his wife. David came to husband's father's funeral in 2011 and we've been meaning to get together ever since. Today's the day - we're meeting at a (noisy) restaurant between us and them.

Here's the kind of thing I love about Linear B: The arbitrariness of Hrozny's work is so patent that no one has taken it seriously. It is a sad story which recurs too often in the world of scholarship: an old and respected figure produces in his dotage works unworthy of his maturity, and his friends and pupils have not the courage to tell him so.

Not worried about PC at all. Today's "world of scholarship" is much more so, unfortunately. Either that or snarky emotion-filled attacks rather than a critique of the scholarship.

I finished The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick (with the 1992 postscript) yesterday.

I found it a combination of interesting and frustrating. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the obsessive desire and sheer intellect that led to the decipherment. Michael Ventris, the architect whose avocation was archaeology and languages, deciphered Linear B. He died tragically young at the age of 34 in 1956 just a few weeks before publication of his first definitive work, Documents in Mycenaean Greek. This was the scholarly work.

The Decipherment is for lay people. John Chadwick, a collaborator, wrote the Decipherment after Ventris' death. Just think what Ventris could have done in the next decades of his life. The brief glimpses of the thought processes, linguistic dead ends, linguistic jumps, and sheer guesswork he made are stunning.

The one frustrating thing that kept me on edge throughout my reading was something that was probably presented in the book but obliquely - the placement of Linear B in the panoply of languages of the region during that time. I have since gone to other sources online and placed Linear B with Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphics chronologically in my mind, and confirmed my impression that Linear A has not yet been deciphered.

Throughout the book Chadwick gets in licks against archaeologists and linguists whose methodology or bias against the decipherment offends him - either procedurally or emotionally. I liked those parts because they are refreshingly straightforward and NOT politically correct.

The chapter on Life in Mycenaean Greece was all supposition and what-iffing, presented, to my mind, as simply unproven fact. However, in the 1992 Postscript Chadwick admits that quite a few of the suppositions have been disproved, so I am bit disappointed that so much biased opinion made it into the book.

But overall the book was well written and challenging. So glad I read it.

And now, on to a good counterbalance - W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton. This is the twenty third book in the Kinsey Millhone series. I've been reading them since the '80s. Comfort reading.