Joe's Book Cafe 17

Japanese prints by Hiroshige

Welcome back to the cafe!

Favorite Nonfiction from the Last 10 Years

1. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
2. War by Sebastian Junger
3. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
4. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
5. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
6. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat by Eric Lax
7. Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
8. Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
9. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
10. Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Runners-up: The Swerve and Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt, The Judgement of Paris and Michaelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King, Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr.

Favorite Fiction from the Last 10 Years

1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
2. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
3. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
4. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
5. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
6. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
7. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
8. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
9. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
10. Old Filth by Jane Gardam

Runners-up: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace, After the Quake by Haruki Murakami, The Kite Runner and Life of Pi.

January 2013 Books

1. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child
2. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
3. Anomaly by Skip Brittenham
4. The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman
5. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
7. The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
8. Low Town by Daniel Polansky
9. Bend Not Break by Ping Fu
10. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

February 2013 Books

11. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson
12. The Miniature Wife and Other Stories by Manuel Gonzales
13. All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Smith
14. Volt: Stories by Alan Heathcock
15. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
16. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
17. Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
18. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
19. Howl A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg and Eric Drooker
20 Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb
21. Jerusalem Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle
22. Show Red for Danger by Richard and Frances Lockridge
23. Emma by Jane Austen and Nancy Butler
24. Rebel Heart by Moira Young

March 2013

25. Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer
26. Witness in Death by J.D. Robb
27. Are You There God, It's Me Mary: The Shangri-Las and the Punk Rock Love Song by Tracy Landecker
28. The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri
29. Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb
30. The Ghosts of Nagasaki by Daniel Clausen
31. Building Stories by Chris Ware
32. Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac
33. Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb
34. Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb
35. Benediction by Kent Haruf
36. Breaking Point by C.J. Box
37. Heads or Tails by Lilli Carre

April 2013

38. Beloved by Toni Morrison
39. Reunion in Death by J.D. Robb
40. Purity in Death by J.D. Robb
41. Germinal by Emile Zola
42. Looking for Alaska by John Green
43. A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori
44. Robert B. .Parker's Wonderland by Ace Atkins
45. Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb
46. The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door by Karen Finneyfrock
47. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

May 2013

48. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
49. The Yard by Alex Grecian
50. Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
51. Before the Incal by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Zoran Janjetov
52. Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa'Thiongo

June 2013

53.Imitation of Death by J.D. Robb
54. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
55. Almost a Remembrance by Jack McCarthy
56. Scott Pilgrim Infinite Sadness Volume 3 Color by Bryan Lee O'Malley
57. Lunch with Buddha by Ron Merullo
58. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
59. Among Schoolchildren by Tracy Kidder
60. Divided in Death by J.D. Robb
61. Feynman by Jim Ottaviani
62. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
63. Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver
64. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

July 2013
65. Saga Vol. 2 by Brian Vaughan
66. Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland
67. Visions in Death by J.D. Robb
68. Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather
69. Five by Endo by Shusaku Endo
70. Sum Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
71. Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
72. The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen by Dominique Enright
73. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
74. The Softwire: Virus by PJ Haarsma
75. Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
76, Origin in Death by J. D. Robb
77. Wool by Hugh Howey

August 2013

78. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
79. Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb
80. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb
81. Survivor in Death by J.D. Robb
82. The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
83. Lady Susan by Jane Austen
84. Shakespeare's Sonnets by you-know-who
85. Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
86. The Open Door One Hundred Poems edited by Don Shore and Christopher Wiman
87. Memory in Death by J.D. Robb
88. Never Go Back by Lee Child
89. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
90. Mind Mgmt Volume 1 by Matt Kindt
91. The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

September 2013

92. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
93. The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti

...is it safe to come in yet?

Safe? Let's be bold and barge in!

Love the Hiroshige prints, Joe. You've inspired me to pull out one of the Japanese authors sitting in my TBR Tower to read soon.

>4 richardderus: Yes, it is, Richard. Winner, winner, chili cheese fries dinner!



>5 cameling: Oops, didn't see you come in behind RD, Caro!

Glad you like those prints. Hiroshige's got a beautiful way about him, doesn't he? An inspiration for reading - what could be better? I'll look forward to hearing which one you pick.

Lovely thread, as aways! I'll be collecting some hardware for the vest and looking for the top hat. I want to be dressed properly for the trip...

Once again I love the artwork, Joe! Congrats on thread #17!

>7 mckait: Ha! The dirigible is filled up and ready when you are, Kath. Thanks - glad you like this new one.

>8 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! The air seems very clear with this artist, doesn't it? Inside and out.

Oh...the Japanese artwork is glorious. AND so is the cheesy wickedness of No. 6 above. Just in time for lunch, too.

Oh, I like the new prints on the cafe walls! Beautiful and serene.

Monday morning: kids. But I do get to see Ivan Doig tomorrow evening, talking about his newest book, no doubt. I'll go partially because I like to support authors who I have enjoyed reading. And Doig definitely fits this category!

And then, there is a Storm game on Thursday. Should be a nice week. A few diversions but not so many that I fall down tired. I did watch the Storm on my computer last night and they failed to beat San Antonio. Darn it. It looked to me that TT might have been tired. And I do not know whether my fav 5'3" guard was at her best, either. Hopefully Thursdays game will be good.

The Kindle has made reading a good deal easier for me, and so I am making good progress in the Under the Banner of Heaven book which is a combination of interesting history of the Mormons and not so interesting accounting of the radical right wing branch of the church which is causing so much havoc in the modern age. Think Elizabeth Smart's abduction.

Sigh.

Lovely, lovely opening photos!

>10 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! cheesy wickedness, I love it, Linda! I'm glad you're enjoying the Hiroshiges. Glorious is a good word for them.

>11 maggie1944: Beautiful and serene - yes, exactly, Karen. Good inspiration to slow down and appreciate what's around us.

I'm not as big a Doig fan as some, maybe because I'm not a westerner, but there's no question he's a good 'un. I look forward to hearing how his talk goes.

Too bad the Storm didn't beat SA, but there are so many good players out there, there are going to be some ups and downs, right? I remember when Tim Floyd came from the college ranks to coach a pretty lousy Bulls team, and he (truthfully) said, this is the best team I've ever coached. When you get to the pro teams, even the worst has a bunch of good players on it, and some nights they're going to overcome even the best teams out there. Nonetheless, I'm the same way you are. If the Bulls or the Sky play well but lose, I can live with it, but if they play poorly and lose, it's frustrating.

I'm glad the Kindle is helping your reading. I've often thought the ability to enlarge the print on them is a real plus for those with eyesight issues.

Whenever I think of Mormons now (forgive me any denizens of that persuasion), I think of the scathing and hilarious Book of Mormon. From what I've read, Krakauer's focus on the extremists detracts from the book and has turned off some readers. Too bad.

>12 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda! Good to see you here at the new place.

Beautiful thread toppers Joe! How about a cup of Japanese green tea? I know I won't have to share with Richard. LOL!

>13 jnwelch: Ha! Thanks, Roberta. Good choice on the beverage. Yes, I think RD will let you have all you might ever want of green tea, although you may want to retire to a scoffing-free part of the cafe to drink it.

Here you go:

*puts down fork*

sniffsniff Ugh, what is that stench?! I can't enjoy my chili cheese fries with that horrendous miasma enveloping me! Ew ugh green tea how vile!

>11 maggie1944: I enjoy Ivan Doig, and I have his latest Sweet Thunder, from the ER program, although I haven't read it yet. It should be interesting to hear him speak.

Beautiful prints, Joe and a great way to kick off my Monday as I get ready to go out and run errands. It's crazy that we are already at the end of August - where does the time go?

Richard you are so easy! *grabs a chili cheese fry while Richard is turned away retching* Works every time.

So far behind I'm responding to the previous thread

161:

Big fan of the Spencer series here - though it can be uneven. I well believed Robert B Parker when he said that he didn't plot the books in advance just charged right and to find out where the characters would lead him.

Soimetimes it works sometimes it doesn't

171:

Do love Drigibles. Do you know the word actually means "steerable"? As in "Judy's had a lot to drink tonight do you think she's still drigible?"

189:

Just have to love a city that names a bridge after Andy Warhol. But there are so many bridges in Pittsburgh I'm surprised they didn't name one after me!

>>16 richardderus:, 19 This is why we opened a cafe. The entertainment just can't be beat. :-)

>17 laytonwoman3rd: His fans are legion, I know, Linda. I'm probably the philistine when it comes to his books.

>18 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy. Glad we gave you a great way to start off the week. I know, for me the time-winging has been exacerbated by the cool weather. It seems like we're still starting summer, and here we are nearing the end.

>20 magicians_nephew: Fine by me, Jim. I always enjoy Remembrances of Threads Past.

You know I'm with you on Spenser. I hadn't heard Parker's comment that he would find out where the characters would lead him, but I always thought that would be ideal for a novelist - a voyage of discovery for the writer and the reader. Some entries in the Spenser series are definitely weaker than others, but for me there was always enough there to leave me wanting more.

Ha! I love your example for dirigible. I'm thinking that if I said, "Debbi's had a lot to drink tonight do you think she's still dirigible", it would be me they'd figure needed help. Unless I was really at the top of my game, rather than the bottom of my bottle, trying to explain it further would probably only dig me in deeper.

I believe there now is a Magician's Nephew Bridge in Pittsburgh. It's supposedly near the heavily avoided White Witch Bridge. We can check with Darryl on that.

Actual cafe inside modern dirigible operating in Sweden:



Or maybe it's Norway. One of those countries where they put circles over their "a"s.

Well, at least we know it's possible, Richard. Could use a few steampunk touches, but the basic structure ain't bad. Lots of windows is a good idea. We may need a humongous dirigible to fit in everything we'd like to have.



(note to dirigible maker: add windows)

Joe- I've decided to read Out by Natsuo Kirino. This is a new author to me and I have one other book by her, Grotesque which someone recommended (I forgot who ..oops).

(second note to dirigible maker : paint something colorful on outside )

Woo, Out sure sounds like a tense and tough one, Caro. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

Good tip for the dirigible maker. And we're not talking about painting "Goodyear" on the side.

>13 jnwelch: re: Krakauer's book. I think it a bit churlish to criticize an author for writing about the subject he sets out to write about. His intension all along, I believe, was to write about that part of the Mormon population which seems set on conserving "the original ways" - i.e. polygamy, patriarchy, and authoritarianism. I believe his thinking was that those parts of the Mormon population is getting away with breaking laws and that this needs to be examined.

Likewise, I think we could do with a few more books about those in the financial sector who get away with breaking laws. I am sure some of them would think such a book was not looking at the entire financial sector, including parts which provide us jobs, goods, and services.

I am pretty sure these criticisms were not your thoughts, Joe, I am just reacting a bit. I'll go sit in my corner now, and read some more.

Right, I was exercising my constitutional right to ignorantly repeat the criticisms of others, Karen, without the hindrance of having actually read the book. Your counterpoints sound reasonable to me (why do Dan Ackroyd and Jane Curtin keep coming to mind?)

I look forward to hearing where you come out on this one.

With modern materials available (eg, carbon-fiber anchor cables & stairs, carbon-fiber hull materials), and the absence of a need for dirigibles to land per se, I wonder why some NGO somewhere isn't building them for remote-area disaster relief.

I love dirigible talk, Richard. According to this 2013 article, dirigibles "are undergoing something of a renaissance", and we may be in "a new era of airships". http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/21/business/new-age-of-the-airship

Our cafe palaver is cutting edge, as usual. Maybe we should get a dirigible startup company going as a balance in the universe to all the tech startups out there.

I still think cool clothing needs to be part of it, although we can probably do without all the weird weaponry.

Joe, I sent you a Facebook invitation to The Danger Element, a steampunk web series. The 1935 Auburn they use is ***awesomesauce***.

Thanks, RD. As I probably mentioned, I'm blocked from FB at work, but I'll check it out at home. I'm looking forward to the awesomesauceness.

Just for the fun of it:

Nice new digs, Joe.

Caro, I loved Out - I hope you do too.

T'anks, Judy.

Good to hear a vote for Out.

Hi Joe- Larry Watson! Larry Watson! You know me, I am not soft-spoken, especially discussing books or beer. I only have 70 pages left in Let Him Go and it's terrific. I compared his writing style to Haruf and McCarthy but there is a scary touch of Deliverance in this one too!

Hey, congrats on the new thread. Love the Japanese prints.

Thanks, Mark. I need to get through my tale of cheese and the new Louise Penny, and then I should be able to turn to Larry Watson, Larry Watson. Glad his new one is living up to expectations.

Are you among those carried away by Inspector Gamache and Three Pines and the gang? If you haven't tried it, that's a series you might give a try. Top of the line.

Glad you like the new thread and them Japanese prints.

I have to admit, that this is only my 2nd Watson read and this is his 9th novel, so I deserve a swift kick in the behind too!
And yes, I did read and enjoyed the 1st Inspector Gamache but didn't continue. Maybe not dark enough? Not enough depravity or dismemberment? Who knows!

Hello Joe,
I'm currently running a B&B (not really, just a lot of company) and managing a little reading between guests. I really enjoyed the new time travel novel The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells and am now immersed in the life of D.E. Stevenson's Miss Buncle: Miss Buncle's Book and Miss Buncle Married which are delightful.

I haven't been to the cafe lately but I see Transatlantic on your list. I must go back to previous "cafes" to catch your review. Hope you've been enjoying your summer.

I really like the graphics! Blocked from FB @ work is common and probably smart.. lol. You can come here though, right?

I'm not blocked but going online at all is frowned upon, so I sometimes peek into LT from outside. I don't sign in, just read a few things from the threads. There are times it is very NOT busy.

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells looks very intriguing! So do the Miss Buncle books.. uh oh.. I am dodging book bullets from >37 NarratorLady:.

>36 msf59: The Inspector Gamaches can get pretty darn dark at times, Mark, if that bucks you up about the series at all. :-) In fact, the latest title, How the Light Gets In, gives you an idea that maybe some light would be welcome in the latest turn of events.

>37 NarratorLady: Good to see you, Anne! Yeah, we've got a bit of a B & B going at Hacienda Welch, too, with my MBH's brother and our sister-in-law staying, and our daughter for part of the time. Thank goodness my MBH likes to cook. And we cleverly timed this for when our main bathroom was being redone and out of commission. The good news: they installed the sink yesterday, the shower has been working, so we're back to near-normal on that front. Who all is visiting you?

Somehow I managed to hear nary a peep about The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, so I'm glad you mentioned it. It looks good, and I added it to my WL. I already had Miss Buncle's Book on the list, and your enthusiasm makes me want to get to it that much sooner. So much good reading waiting! Greta Wells makes me think that one you might like that I sure did is The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope. My review of that one is back a thread or two.

In a fit of laziness, I didn't review TransAtlantic, in part because so many people already have, and in part because I liked it, it was very good, but I didn't love it. My reaction was similar to Darryl's (kidzdoc's), which was it was uneven. So you might track down his review. There is a superb section involving Frederick Douglass in Ireland, and then several less heady ones (from my POV), including a slow, distanced section involving George Mitchell.

I'm currently loving The Telling Room, a nonfiction book about the world's greatest cheese, created in a small Spanish village.

>38 mckait: Glad to hear you like them graphics, Kath! Yes, here is fine. Just FB is blocked. For me LT is a good break from thinking, which is one reason so much of what I say here is such nonsense. :-)

Yes, Anne got me with those BBs, too. Some other LTer also loved Miss Buncle's Book, and that caught my eye. Must get to it!

Hmm, what for breakfast. In RL I'm having oatmeal with maple and brown sugar, but that's not too exciting. Chocolate crepes?

oh, chocolate crepes! Just the perfect offering this fine morning. We are cool, cloudy, with a "chance of a few showers" today, with possible "sun breaks". That latter description is for when the sun manages to break a hole in the clouds, and shines down on us for a few minutes. Luckily, rumor has it that summer weather will return next week. Don't you think chocolate crepes will go perfectly with this weather?

Still reading the book about the fundamental arm of the Mormon church in Under the Banner of Heaven. Holy moley, those folks were sick, IMHO. Reminds me to always be suspicious of any who claim they know the Mind of God.

Mamacado eggs, yes!

Is it Friday yet? Maybe Friday the 13th....

>40 maggie1944: Good morning, Karen! You do seem to have the perfect weather for chocolate crepes, although some might take them in any weather. Cool and cloudy sounds good to me - we're hot and hazy here, not an appealing combo.

You're right - a good rule of thumb is to always be suspicious of any who claim they know the Mind of God. Whatever your persuasion, that ain't in the cards. "One with the universe", maybe, but that tends to be the opposite of imposing purported holy views.

>41 richardderus: Wowser, those are the best mamacado eggs yet. Well done! It's almost Friday, well, maybe not, but at least it's not Monday.

Want to see something really cool? They're re-releasing Harry Potter with new covers by Kazu Kabuishi. Here's the first one:

I caught a snippet of an interview with Rowling this morning but although I didn't hear the whole thing, I did pick up that this re-release is tied to an anniversary. The 15th perhaps?

They showed videos of the original books' releases with kids clamoring for new copies, dressed as Harry and Hermione. I still think it's a miracle that this author could have captured these kids with BOOKS at the same time that all of the social media electronics were appearing to tear their attention away from reading.

A new reading audience is coming of age and I'm jealous of them. Time for a re-read I think. This new artwork looks lovely but so does the old.

Thanks, Anne. Yes, I agree with you about new and old artwork. Both great, just different. I like this one a lot.

She deserves credit for getting so many kids clamoring for books, of all things, in this multimedia entertainment age, as you say. A lot of people also have cited the HP books as the ones that not only broke the mold on longer books for youngsters, but for getting oldsters interested in reading (and not being embarrassed about reading) titles targeted to youngsters. Now it's commonplace, but it wasn't back then. She deserves her immense riches, seems to me.

I'm off on another dental adventure (aren't those just the best?) but I'll try to check in later. Pies on the counter.

P.S Ya-hoo! How the Light Gets In just got in (to my happy hands).

I don't like my dental adventures, either. Thanks for the pie, I'm very much in the mood for a big piece ala mode! Apple perhaps, with a goodly dash of cinnamon, and French vanilla ice cream. Virtual food is so good!!

I think a re-read of Harry Potter is a great idea.

Sore jaw, but happy heart. Took a while, but this dentist is a good guy. Got to meet his wife, who was happy our daughter was doing a good job of tutoring their daughter. He likes our family a lot, with my MBH, as usual, at the top of the heap.

He and the hygienist understood (laughed) when I said, they may be really good, but I need a break from seeing them. Four appointments in a month's time. Jeesh.

>46 maggie1944: Yes, I'm going to do without dental adventures for a while. I've got one more with the surgeon in a couple of weeks to make sure all is well, and that should be it.

I like the idea of a Harry Potter re-read, too.

Just in case you didn't find that pie whilst (note: use of "whilst" in honor of Ellie) I was gone, here you go:

Hi Joe- Sorry to hear about the dental misadventures. Never pleasant, but necessary. Hope you are sitting comfortably in the A/C. You know I am. RD made me thirsty, so of course I am having a cold one.

Ha! Yes, indeed, Mark. I actually walked back home from the dentist, about a 40 minute walk (with Debbi calling my cell to tell me I'm crazy), so that got me really jazzed up for the a/c. Loverly. First thing I did when I got home was have a cold one- a Dogfish Head San Pedro, or something like that (that's not quite right).

I'm going to dive into the Louise Penny soon, even though it's hard to stop reading The Telling Room. I must find out what happens to Inspector Gamache and the rest of the gang!

You won't like the new Three Pines book, Joe. Not a bit. I mean, really, you with your dark'n'gritty fetish will...oh wait no, that's Mark. Yeah, it's pretty much perfect.

Ha! Cannot wait! Let that light in!

So I had what might potentially be a great afternoon. Went to the State Fair with the kids the other day and dropped by a Roofing company booth, and put my name on the paper, saying I need help with my roof. A very small stain in my bedroom ceiling suggests a roof leak. They called, and since it was not a New Roof he said he'd give my name to a guy....

you know, a guy....

Any way the guy called me, and stopped by today. He saw the leak and said, yes, it is a problem. Used my ladder and went up on my roof. Came down saying he thinks he fixed it. Found a misplaced nail which had wedged under a shingle and held it up in such a way as the water in the valley could creep in. Oh, god, I hope he is right. We will watch the next rain and see if any more dampness occurs. Cross your fingers. So, then, I asked him if he knew a plumber... and I showed him a very minor repair at my sink which related to the dish washer. He just looked at it, picked up the piece and screwed it back in. I laughed. Will try the dishwasher tonight. He may very well have fixed that, too. I told him he'd won some stars in his crown in heaven! (Funniest part: he was wearing Ellen briefs) If you don't know, just watch the Ellen show on TV.

ah! Tuesday done. I'm off to have Wednesday off. Yes!!!

He sounds like a total gem! What's his number?

> 44 I agree with all of this....

I hope your dental day was bearable and quick...

eta LOVED that latest Penny and glad The Telling Room is agreeable for you :)

Richard, he was definitely cute, and with multiple tatt. He did give me his number but did not authorize me to "share" it.

Update: it is pouring rain this morning, and I'll be home for much of the day, so I can watch the ceiling and hope no additional wetness shows up. Cross your fingers.

>55 maggie1944: *sigh* The course of true love never did run smooth.

Hey Joe, howzabout some cheese grits, a half dozen scrambled eggs, and a pig's-worth of bacon this morning? I'm a-swim in coffee already. Need me some fuel.

>>52 maggie1944:, 53, 55 He sounds like a mensch, Karen. I'll leave it to you and RD on cuteness assessments. Hope the post-fix roof holds up. A rainy day off - sounds loverly to me. Is it getting easier to read?

>54 mckait: Ah, glad we're psychically attuned on J.K., The Telling Room and How the Light Gets In, Kath. I started the last last night and I'm loving it. Right now, Gamache, LaCoste and de Beauvoir are in the elevator together. Somehow I need to dodge this pesky work and get back to them.

>56 richardderus: Good luck with the fix-it guy, Richard. All you need is to have a roof problem when he's nearby. The first part is no doubt easier than the second.

The chef applauds your order. Here we go (more bacon at the ready):

Mm...and now I'm contemplating a bacon and onion quiche for dinner.

I hope your dental woes are at an end, Joe? I'm sure they're all very nice people, but I do NOT like dental visits.

huzzah, Anne's back. i thought she must be doing her annual beach reading thing. hi, Annie. *waving and leaping about*

love my dentist but would rather ride an airship. er, but with the pants a bit higher up at the waist.

"a slow, distanced section involving George Mitchell." Joe, love, you've just sunk my belief that i should read Transatlantic STAT. in print, one can scan slow sections, in audio, nahsomuch.

i do wish J. K. Rowling were willing to let audible.com readers enjoy the usufructs of her already well-paid labors. we'd certainly pay well, too, and would we really be more likely to rip her off than people who listen to cds? ah well.

i'm going to go brandish a fork at Caro's quiche. sounds like the very thing.

Usufruct...not since my cousin died in Louisiana...usufruct! Ellie, you are indeed my soul sibling.

Hi Joe- Hope the Hump Day went well! Maybe I can bookhorn in a Inspector Gamache for S & S. It's a pretty crowded field, but I might be able to work the Marky-Mark Magic!
Keep an eye out for Safe From the Sea. I think it might be your cuppa!

Oh Joe, I think your dental woes traveled to NYC to make Jim miserable. We hope the ouches can be mitigated tomorrow.

Hey Joe - love love the Hiroshige's - currently reading Montana 1948 and enjoying it greatly.

Hi Ellie! Yup, the beach reading is full steam ahead. And today, after quite a wait, the library coughed up Life After Life! I was surprised by the heft of it ... it may very well be my last read of the summer. After all the praise I've read on LT I can't wait to begin.

>61 richardderus: usufruct comes to me direct from the great Rex Stout via his character Nero Wolfe, RD. picked it up as a young 'un but don't get to use it more than once every half century or so. soul sibling. i like that!

>65 NarratorLady: hiya, Anne. yeah, well, KA is not short on words but all her words are worth reading. did you know BBC One has made a series of the Jackson Brodie books? netflix has them. Jason Isaacs looks perfect. i can watch Case histories but not any of the later ones as i've not read them yet. Life after life is on my iPod and will probably be up next.

mornin' Joe. did you see the new Maple Latte at Peet's? i try to forget Peet's was sold but now i know it's for real. Alfred (Peet) would be beside himself and i'd be beside myself right next to him. ah well, for $1 billion bucks, i guess they can put maple in the espresso if they want, huh?

and hey, it's almost Friday for you working stiffs. well, Friday for me, too, but it's not the same. and now i must to bed!

Hey. There is a three day weekend looming in the near future! Wheeeee

It is raining again today and so I should be able to figure out if the "leak" in the roof is on going or did the cute guy really fix it. I'm betting on the latter.

Storm game tonight!

>59 cameling: I know, that looks good, doesn't it, Caro?

I've got one more dentist visit to the original surgeon so he can bless it, in a couple of weeks. Then, enough already, and I'll take a break from the dental world.

Let's see. I've been to my dentist so many times I know the drill? My dentist and my manicurist fought tooth and nail? It's time I gave the dentist the brush off? I should sic the canines on him?

>60 mirrordrum: I know, Ellie, it's always great to see Anne. Methinks she's going to like Life After Life a lot.

Looking good on that airship! Let the adventures begin.

Sorry to sink your TransAtlantic ship. I will say, even the slow George Mitchell part is well-written and interesting, but for me the book only reached that transporting level in the Frederick Douglass section. That part I loved. The rest I liked and respected.

I imagine at some point Rowling will agree to have them on audible.com. Whatever her reasons have been, I would think they would dissipate over time - why not have the books on audible.com?

Yes, just about any time Caro describes food, I want to find a fork and join her.

>61 richardderus: I love Ellie's vocab, too, Richard. Usufruct ... after fossicking among the ancient novels in the library, she toted several usufructs to the counter? Hmm. We probably could do better than that.

>62 msf59: Hump Day was not one of my favorites, Mark, but I'm happy to see it in the rear-view mirror. What I want to do today is read more of the Gamache - a story that has been building over several novels is coming to a head, it looks like, and he needs me to be there in Three Pines helping. Hope you can bookhorn another in - she's putting together a series that will be read long after we're all gone.

I'm seeing mixed reviews on Safe from the Sea. Have you finished it? I'll visit and see whether you say more over at your Mark My Words thread.

>63 ffortsa: Yikes! We don't want my dental woes migrating anywhere, and certainly Jim doesn't deserve them! Mine were just weird - an infection under the gum that had to be cleared out, and then the gap between teeth entryway blocked afterwards. Of course, the mouth doesn't like anyone messing around like that, but it really wasn't bad, just annoying and time-consuming. I hope Jim has nothing needing major road construction.

>64 PrueGallagher: Hiya, Prue! Good to see you here. How's our pal Paul C. doing?

Glad you like them Hiroshiges. The colors and the stillness really get me. I'm going to join you on Montana 1948 as soon as I'm done helping Inspector Gamache and I've gotten the full story of Ambrosio's cheese in The Telling Room. Your up-to-the-minute enjoyment of it adds to my motivation.

I couldn't do it. Two VERY GOOD reads at once.. LOL
too much goodness!

Tomorrow is friday. Today I work til 7 :( boo hoo

Maybe by the next time I "see" you, both of those will be finished and you will have thoughts posted :)

>65 NarratorLady: I'm another one who thought Life After Life was just excellent, Anne. There are so many memorable moments in it; the WWII London blitz scenes for me were particularly powerful.

>66 mirrordrum: Ah, now you've got me thinking about reading Rex Stout again, Ellie. I never would've guess that's where you got usufruct from. Apparently it's so little-used my spellcheck can't believe it's spelled like that. I need to give the Jackson Brodies another try, too, and I've read here that the BBC series is terrific.

I know, I have mixed feelings about Peet's now, with the sale. Still like it though. I hope JAB doesn't mess with it too much. The Maple Latte might be fine elsewhere, but it seems so not-Peet's. I hope it isn't a sign of too much messing about. We're supposed going to have our Caribou Coffee's here turning into Peet's outlets, which I'm looking forward to. I was never a big CC fan.

I'm looking forward to that Friday for working stiffs. This has been a challenging week. I'm ready to crank up the music, roll down the window, and let the wind blow back what hair I still have. Maybe we ain't that young any more, but the night's busting open and these two lanes can take us anywhere . . .

>67 maggie1944: Jeez Louise, I had my head down and I was trunching along through the foggy morn, and I completely forgot we USA-ians get a three day weekend! Yeah, baby! *leaps in the air for an Austin Powers heel-click* Thanks for the reminder, Karen.

I'm betting on the cute guy, too. He just seemed, from your description, to know what he was doing. Are you going to the Storm game tonight? Whatever - have fun!

BTW, I wanted to remember there's been a pretty remarkable discussion going on over on Stephen (Ape)'s thread about feminism, equalism, and related topics: http://www.librarything.com/topic/157999 Kudos to him.

>69 mckait: I wish, Kath. With work intervening, I'm not fast enough to finish both today, although I don't think I'll be able to resist having our friend Armand's finished by tomorrow. I was caught up in the tales of The Telling Room, but I knew nothing would keep me from the new Gamache.

Hmm, we should start getting set up for breakfast, yes?

That table is too pretty for words. And what delightful potage might be destined for those bowls?

I love the table setting! I'm always a fan of Provençal color-pallettes. Howzabout some potato leek soup? Or "warm vichyssoise" as Mama sold it to me as a kid.

>>72 laytonwoman3rd:, 73 I like it, Linda and Richard! Potato leek warm vichyssoise soup it is.

Excellent choice...yum.

Yummy soup, excellent table! And I presume there will be very delightful, charming, and entertaining company for this meal. Is it a mid-day supper? Super.

What a gorgeous table setting. Where's my place card? The only downside I see to this table setting is that clearly family style eating is not encouraged since there's not enough room to put down big platters of food for everyone to pass around.

I love potato leek soup. Mmm....You inspire many a meal, Joe. :-)

>>75 laytonwoman3rd:, 76 "It looks yummy, oh so yummy, it looks yummy for the tummy and right" (I was suddenly overtaken by West Side Story and "I feel pretty", Linda).

Your presumption, Karen, re delightful, charming and entertaining company (couldn't agree more), made me think of the meme Richard featured on his thread:



I came up with these:

1. Lizzie Bennet Pride and Prejudice
2. Doc Ricketts Cannery Row
3. Maddie Code Name Verity
4. Easy Rawlins Walter Mosley series
5. Cordelia Vorkosigan Lois McMaster Bujold series
6. Dr. Siri Paiboun Colin Cotterill series
7. Precious Ramotswe Alexander McCall Smith series

>77 cameling: And of course I'd add Caro, as a nonfictional guest. Did I forget to mention that, Caro?

Hmm, do you think we could serve big platters of food at one end of the gorgeous table and pass them around? Once they make the circuit, we could put them in a place of honor on a big serving table? We should be able to make this work.

Credit for the potato leek soup has to go to Gold Cafe Denizen Richard, as have many dishes here over the threadly years.

OOh.. fun game... My table companions would be:

1. Dr Siri Paiboun Colin Cotterill series
2. Eve Dallas In Death series
3. Earl of Ickenham (Uncle Fred) P.G. Wodehouse
4. Alexia Tarabotti Parasol Protectorate series
5. Sonchai Jitpleecheep John Burdett
6. Josephine March Louisa May Alcott
7. Inspector Montalbano Andrea Camilleri

yes, I think it would work if you had a big serving table for anyone who wants seconds or thirds. Um... could I sit by the corner near the serving table? ;-)

Dessert! No-bake peanut butter cheesecake.

>79 cameling: Oh, I like those a lot, Caro, although I'm clueless about Alexia. Becca would endorse her enthusiastically, I suspect.

Uncle Fred and Sonchai Jitpleecheep - inspired choices! Salvo Montalbano was just a victim of numbers for mine - I'd love to see him dig into the food and, when done, talk about it (no talking while eating, right?) Jo March would be great, and I thought about Eve Dallas - she'd start out not wanting to be at some stupid dinner party where she's expected to make small talk, but we probably could get her to loosen up. It might be smart to add a chair and have Roarke near by. He'd be fun anyway.

ETA: Now that I think about it, having those other detectives there would probably be just the ticket for loosening Eve up.

>80 richardderus: Pie! I mean, peanut butter cheesecake! *running with fork*

Don't know how the heck you can have Maddie from Code Name Verity without having Queenie from Code Name:Verity also

I had a hard time narrowing it down to 7 people, and I did want to make sure I had the seating done right so there was an equal male/female representation. I apologized, in my heart, to others I really liked but who didn't make the cut for the table.

I put Eve Dallas next to Uncle Fred because she has wicked sense of humor and I thought his sense of the ridiculous would be the ticket to getting her to jump into the spirit of things, and the other detectives would challenge her with some of their cases. The other women are strong enough to hold their own with her.

>82 magicians_nephew: Well, I can think of one answer to that, Jim (and it's the true one), but the better answer is we're starting to need to add chairs.

>83 cameling: Sounds right to me, Caro. She's a great character, and I think it would be a gas to have her at a party. Particularly since, as far as I know, I'm not guilty of any crimes.

The thought of her and Uncle Fred schmoozing is pretty darn funny, too. He'd be flirting like crazy, I imagine.

All caught up here, Joe. Glad that you survived the latest round at the dentist - I have to go back next month. I love that table setting up there - very warm and inviting. Wouldn't you just love to sit down at that table with a bunch of LTers?

About the Harry Potter books - we have that set with the new covers. Stunning. And the books are available as digital downloads - you just can't get them from Audible. Rowling has her own store called Pottermore where you can purchase the ebook versions or the audiobooks. Here is the link: The Pottermore Store. You used to be able to get the digital audio for the first six books from iTunes, but I don't think that option is available anymore.

>85 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie. Glad you're all caught up. I know the feeling. We're a pretty gregarious bunch (who would have guessed a bunch of book nerds would have so much to say?), not to mention enthusiastic photo-posters.

Yes, that would be a wonderful event, having a bunch of LTers at that table. What a great meetup that would be!

Ah, you lucky one. I'll have to search for the other new HP covers. I sure like that first one. I may be nearing re-read time with that series. Thanks for the Pottermore Store link. If Ellie doesn't stop by, I'll follow up. That's a stiff price for the lot of them, but at least the digital audio is out there.

ETA: OK, here we go:

I'm copying mine from Thornton's thread:

I also chose just from 2013 reading but I didn't worry about seating.

Eve and Roarke in Death series by J. D. Robb

Rune and Talyasen from The Lark and the Wren by Mercedes Lackey - two bards!

Precious Ramotswe from The No. 1 Ladies Detective by Alexander McCall Smith

Atticus (and Oberon) from Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne - Oberon is his dog familiar so isn't included in the count but he's hysterical. We just have to find some way he can talk to all of us, not just to Atticus.

Sophy from The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

Hi Joe- Hope your day went better, than yesterday. I still have 2 work days left but at least the week is winding down. I am really enjoying Safe From the Sea and should finish it up tomorrow. I don't understand the mixed reaction to it. (Check out Donna & Joanne's reviews!) The shipwreck descriptions are absolutely riveting.

I finally finished Maximum Minimum Wage. I can't believe I started this on the 4th, although I did put it aside for a few days for Capote in Kansas. Yes, it was a hefty GN but I ended up really liking it and will miss those characters.

>87 Morphidae: i'm with you on Eve and Roarke, Morphy. As you saw up above, I think we'd have to work on Ms. "Avoid Social Events Like the Plague" Dallas, but we could do it. And I think Precious would be great.

The two bards, a druid (maybe?) and a Sophy are beyond my ken, but maybe others know them.

>88 msf59: 'Twas a much better day, thanks, Mark. Two days left for you - you're almost there!

I've got Maximum Minimum Wage on my radar. I'm reading another hard-boiled 100 Bullets while wearing a fedora and standing under a street lamp.

OK, I gotta say it. How the Light Gets In - I LOVED IT!!!

Fans of this series, run out and find it now. It's just terrific. Wow. I got off the train and had to sit down on a bench and finish it. It's a crescendo in what was already a great series. Best yet. Best yet.

Grab it like a rabbit. Seize one like a piton. Buy it like a pie mitt. Borrow one before tomorrow comes.

Woo. Great, great, great. Did I mention I loved it?

Ha! I liked it so much I managed the now nearly impossible to do double post.

>89 jnwelch: oooooh, how sleuthy.

"We passed a small-boat harbor, gleaming white on blue, and a long pier draped with fishermen. Everything was as pretty as a postcard The trouble with you, I said to myself: you're always turning over the postcards and reading the message on the underside. Written in invisible ink, in blood, in tears with a black border around them, with postage due, unsigned, or signed with a thumbprint." *sigh*

the above is from a Ross MacDonald Lew Archer novel Doomsters. i was just downloading a Lew Archer from NLS. sadly, they don't have Doomsters.

>85 Crazymamie: too expensive, Mamie, thanks anyway. i can't be having with that and i aitn't doin' it!

>90 jnwelch: Yuh huh.

>92 mirrordrum: Yeah, pricey, Ellie. I guess "used" digital audio at lower prices ain't in the cards either.

Love the quote. That guy stands under a street lamp in a fedora a lot, I imagine.

Hope you're started on a good weekend, and JB is healing well.

>93 richardderus: I know, right, Richard? I'm still hyped up about it. She broke us down in the last one and then put us back together. I'll try to review it tomorrow.

WOW. Am I invited?

Ha! You betcha, Judy. The whole darn cafe is invited!

>95 ffortsa: don't even ask, Judy, just put on your red dress and your high-heeled sneakers, sister, and go. i'm already so there. um, exactly where *am* i when i'm there, oh peripatetic ones? not that it really matters.

>92 mirrordrum: thanks for the weekend wishes, Joe. JB's chemo ends the 12th and radiation the 19th, so after 5 days under the rotisserie and chemo on Thursdays, weekends are a pip. she looks like somebody wrapped a boiled lobster around her neck. but how lucky we are to have excellent insurance and a superb team of oncologists of various stripes. truly, no complaints here. jb chokes down her sludge-tasting smoothies and then goes to work out for 10 min twice a day. tuff enuff!

>97 mirrordrum: "Where" is somewheres in Italy, but they don't say where. Maybe one of our peripatetic denizens knows?

Woo, Ellie, looking like someone wrapped a broiled lobster around her neck says a lot. Good thing she's a tough one. She's smart (plus I bet it does her mental health good) to do those workouts. The 12th and 19th are within reaching distance. I'm sure you and she are looking forward to no more chemo or radiation. Rough stuff.

Glad you feel good about the insurance and the team. That's huge. I hope the weekend is indeed a pip for both of you.

I brought panzanella as a just-in-casenik.

Perfect, Richard. Some Tuscan goodness.

ohmigod, thou reader of minds. i was looking for just such a salad as this yesterday. couldn't find it b/c i didn't know what it was called. and you brought it all just for little old me. awwwwwww!

Happy 3-day weekend, Joe!

Hi Joe- I hope you have an ideal 3-day weekend planned, filled with plenty of R & R, (that's Reading & Relaxing, for you amateurs!).
I am LOVING Year of Wonders!

Joe - Enjoyed the dinner guestlists over here and over at the Chez Grumpmeister. I of course added Bertie Wooster and Gandalf the Grey for after day pyrotechnics but ought to have included Inspector Montalbano even though it would mean he'd get the gals instead of me. Of the gals Pussy Galore would be there for obvious (very obvious really) reasons, Lara drove poor old Doctor Zhivago batty so it would be nice to see what the fuss was about. Eustacia Vye would be pulled from Hardy's Wessx and Graves' version of Livia to add a little vim to proceedings.

Caro would be a great idea as an addition and I can vouch for her as a dining companion.

If I could make such additions, I would be greedy as well as dangerous and bring RD and Ilana into the fold - both dear to me - to see if I could effect a reconciliation of sorts between those two wonderful, if volcanic personalities.

Have a great weekend buddy.

I have enjoyed the dinner meme... I have also thought about which authors that I would like to have dinner with. Mary Doria Russell tops the list, Rowling, Susan Wittig Albert, Charles de Lint, Mary Summer Rain, Dean Koontz, Jenny Gardiner, would make up a nice table for me. My list may not look impressive to anyone, but it would be just the ticket for me. Pleasant, funny, musical, and knowledgeable in topics that interest me.

Good morning, Joe. Hope you have a sweet Labor Day weekend plan. Mine is some sort of dance between cleaning house, yard work, reading, grocery shopping, cooking and eating. No basketball game this weekend.

I am taking a deep breath and realizing that the last 5 years of taking care of the niece's kids is coming to a big transition. Wednesday after Labor Day, all three go to school! I will go over there from 7 am to 9 am ish and that will be it! I need to adjust to a big empty space of time which will, no doubt, be filled with many good moments of reading and dog walking.

I am poking around trying to decide what to read next. Boneshaker is the October book group book so I might read it. That's on top of the pile right now, but I also have The Organized Kitchen near the top of the pile on my Kindle, and Richard's much recommended The Goodreads Killer. A bit lower in the pile are Parnassus on Wheels and The Lightning Thief. And that is only on the Kindle. There is the bookcase full of fiction waiting for me. And there are some books not yet read on the Nook, too. Ah.... so many books, so little time is definitely the idea of the morning.

I'll settle down in the corner, at the table with the good reading lamp. I would love a large cup of latte, and perhaps a cheese danish. I'll settle down for some reading first thing this morning.

>101 mirrordrum: He's a mensch, that RD, Ellie. Although he may not have totally realized he was making the salad for you.

>102 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen! Hope you're set up for a fun holiday weekend, too.

>103 msf59: Hiya, Mark. It should be a good one.

Our guests leave this a.m. We went to Cirque Shanghai with them last night, which was a entertainment sprint from the git-go. Tonight we've got a friend's surprise 50th birthday party. His wife has us all wearing white for the women and black and white for the men, and has choreographed dances planned and I don't know what all (we're staying out of that part - not watching a video and practicing for days). He loves her dearly, so I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it.

Catching up Joe! Happy Labor Day weekend my friend.

Love the Italian table up there, Joe .. how could any meal not be amazing with that view?

I think we need 8 tables of 8 seats, and that way we could accommodate more 'guests' . There'd be 1 LTer per table and we'd take turns to swop seats. :-)

>104 PaulCranswick: Ha! "Chez Grumpmeister" - I like it, Paul! If I can talk RD into running the in-the-planning-stages dirigible cafe, maybe that's what we'll call it.

Nice group for the dinner table. Bertie of course would be silly and great (and hopefully would have Jeeves somewhere nearby as a bonus), and Gandalf would be grey-t, especially if he comes in his Ian McKellen form. You obviously know Pussy Galore better than I do; I hadn't realized she's a great conversationalist. That's what you meant, right?

Lara is an intriguing choice. It's been a long time since I read that one. She sure had a lot happen in her life. I don't know Wessx and Graves, but Salvo and someone like Livia would make for excellent guests. I know Caro and RD would, too. Gosh, I haven't seen, been in touch with Ilana for forever. You would think this dinner group could mend any tear.

Hope you're having a great weekend, too, mate. We're just starting on a 3-day-er here, I'm glad to tell you.

>105 mckait: Oo, authors is a different take on this dinner table idea, Kath. I like the MDR and Rowling choices, but don't know most of your others. I'll have to look them up.

Hope you're busy practicing your goofing off. Remember, holiday weekend, not chores weekend.

>106 maggie1944: Good morning, Karen. I think we've got a sweet one going on. Some errands, some chores, definitely some reading (back to The Telling Room), and some festivities, including that party tonight. We hope to get to the new Simon Pegg movie, too.

Hope your dance among the activities is a good one. Congrats on having a big empty space of time opening up - one of life's great feelings. More time for reading and dog walking sounds great to me.

Boneshaker looks like it could be a fun one. I did like Parnassus on Wheels a lot; The Lightning Thief not so much, but it and the rest of that series have been awfully popular.

Latte and a cheese danish? Coming up.

perfect! So now I abandon the interwebs and pick up the book...... later.....

>108 luvamystery65: Hi, Roberta. Good to see you! Happy Labor Day weekend to you, too.

We just said good-bye to my MBH's brother and our SIL after a very good weeklong visit from western Mass. We all enjoyed it, but I know they're looking forward to seeing their cats and their own bed, and we're already liking having the house to ourselves again.

>109 cameling: I know, Caro, what a treat to have a meal with that view in Italy. I think I might just spend all day there, maybe with a good Montalbano mystery or two.

I like your idea of a room full of LTer tables with their favorite characters or authors, and swopping about. What a blast that would be. Should we call it Lit Con?

>111 maggie1944: Ah, that sounds just right, Karen. Sit back, enjoy your book, life is good, ain't it . . .

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny is an exciting crescendo to a lot of story threads that have been carrying through the first eight books of this exceptional series. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his sideman Jean-Guy Beauvoir have become estranged by events, at a time when one woman has committed suicide for no apparent reason and another has been murdered, also without any logical basis. At the same time, those events seem connected to larger concerns, and Gamache is being pressured by his Machiavellian boss to leave the Surete.

Discussing this, a colleague says, "I have my pension in place, and so do you. If my bosses wanted me out that badly, I'd be gone like a shot."

"If your bosses wanted you out that badly," said Gamache, "don't you think you'd wonder why?"

For those who have missed the idyllic and secluded village of Three Pines, existing like a Brigadoon somewhere in the woods east of Montreal, much of this entry is spent there, and its inhabitants are critical to the outcome of Gamache's digging, and to his psyche.

"Three Pines, he knew, was not immune to dreadful loss. To sorrow and pain. What Three Pines had wasn't immunity but a rare ability to heal. And that's what they offered him, and the Brunels. Space and time to heal."

As usual, there are literary and historical references to learn from. I didn't previously know of Julian of Norwich, a woman and 14th century Christian mystic, who is the originator of the saying, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well", which appears in T.S. Eliot's "Little Giddings" poem. Will all be well in this Gamache/Three Pines tale? He is up against formidable opponents, who know him and mean him no good.

"Armand Gamache had always held unfashionable beliefs. He believed that light would banish the shadows. That kindness was more powerful than cruelty, and that goodness existed, even in the most desperate places. He believed that evil had its limits. But looking at the young men and women staring at him now, who'd seen something terrible about to happen and had done nothing, Chief Inspector Gamache wondered if he could have been wrong all this time.

Maybe the darkness sometimes won. Maybe evil had no limits."

The stakes are that high in this one, with the clash of good and evil riveting, and the reader breathlessly following Gamache as he relentlessly shines light into the dark corners of a massive scheme. He can't do it alone, and he gets help from old Three Pines favorites like cantankerous poet Ruth, burningly insightful artist Clara, bookshop owner Myrna, and the B &B owning couple Gabri and Olivier. Inside the Sûreté, his disciple Inspector LaCoste helps him, as do more unlikely others. This is Penny's crowning achievement so far, a pulse-pounder that also engages the intellect. It draws together and resolves many threads, some heartbreaking, from the previous novels. The night I finished it, I got home late, because I got off the train and had to sit there at the El platform, reading until I was done. This one should burnish her reputation, and attract even more fans to the series.

AH, dang, you did it. You made me want to finish this series. September is the month for Series, isn't it? I must go find out how many of Penny's books I need to get and read before I can touch this one. Nice review, Joe, you devil, you!

ETA: thumb up!

What a lovely appreciative review of How the Light Gets In, Joe! Wouldn't "Cafe Grumpenstein" be more appropriate for the dirigible's cafe? Has that pseudo-German ring to it, fits with the concept zeppelin/dirigible.

Still exhausted and achey from the kidney stone's passing. All I can say is, if anyone ever throws me a surprise party, they'd do well to throw something heavy at me to prevent me from comin' after 'em with a meat cleaver. How horrible.

As promised, hi! Hee hee :)

LOL, love those happy faces!

What a wonderful review, Joe. I think your review alone would bring more new readers to LP. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy ... I just hope i can hold out long enough for my turn on the library wait list and not just leap out to buy a copy. I'm trying to avoid buying hard cover books because they take up more room on my already crammed bookshelves.

Happy Sunday!

Great review of How the Light Gets In, Joe! It's the first one I've read that has made me interested in Louise Penny's books.

>116 seasonsoflove: Love that photo!

Morning Joe! Hope you had a good time with your friends. We are going to a BBQ later. I am glad we are not hosting. Not in the mood for that. I hope it's nice enough to sit outside.
What's your day like?

Oof! Just got through your last few threads since my last appearance, could really use some egg-ish sustenance. Perhaps a veggie omelet with bacon and some hashbrowns? Oh, and a re-fill on coffee would be great too. Thanks!

Am trying to finish up a few of the 15 or so library books I have checked out before I get back to Gamache and the others. Up next for me is The Brutal Telling, and picked up a signed copy of How the Light Gets In earlier this week, so I should be set for a bit. Is this the last Three Pines? I read her September newsletter this morning and it sounded a bit that way to me. I certainly hope it's not.

Okay, off to pack up my car (forgetting about 10 important things, I'm sure) and then head over to my new massage place to unload and figure out where to shoehorn things in!

Happy Sunday to you!

>114 maggie1944: Ha! My pleasure, Karen. It's worth it, you'll see. Glad I could inspire you a bit. :-)

>115 richardderus: Ah, my sympathy, RD, on the passing of the kidney stone. I've never had that, but I've heard it's excruciating. Hope you're relaxing and feeling improved.

Glad the review worked for you. How the Light Gets In deserves that appreciation, doesn't it.

Cafe Grumpenstein is fine by me, if you think it will draw in more dirigible cafe patrons. It's certainly memorable. The word of mouth should have some impact. "You have to try Cafe Grumpenstein". "What?!?"

I know what you mean about surprise parties, but this was a surprisingly fun evening. He was completely bamboozled, and touched. People had even flown in from Atlanta and Arizona and other places to be there for him. Becca's with his daughter M'Kaela in >116 seasonsoflove:.

We all lucked into beautiful weather for the beginning on the hotel's outside patio, with strong mojitos, truly terrific cheese grits with corn in them (ask Becca), barbecued chicken wings, delicious lightly sauced barbecued shrimp, fruit kabobs, and more. The follow-up party on the second floor featured a lot of razzing and some videos from folks who couldn't attend, but the highlight was, first, a group dance headed up by his wife consisting of those who had studied up before the party (not us), and second, the birthday boy joining in to do the Wobble, the Skanky Leg, and others, including what Becca decided was the cha-cha. His skanky leg was hilarious, as he had indulged in some refreshments at the patio part and was remarkably flexible.

He's one of the best guys you ever might meet, an "uncle" to Becca and Jesse, and deserved every bit of a night he ranked up there with marrying his MBH and the birth of M'Kaela.

Some cheese grits with corn for you to sample:



>116 seasonsoflove: Ha! Lovely, Becca. OK, you've got to show me how you migrated that over here from your phone. I suspect that's one from when you and M'Kaela were hanging out under the dessert table, yes? Feel free to post more next time you stop by.

Dessert, btw, was sour cream pound cake (delish), banana pudding (ditto), and German chocolate cake cupcakes (didn't try - too stuffed).

>117 cameling: That's a selfie of our absolutely favorite daughter, Caro, with her cousin M'Kaela, at the party last night. M'Kaela turned 4 earlier in the week, and was sweet as the dickens in taking the microphone and wishing her daddy happy birthday.

I couldn't resist getting the hard cover of How the Light Gets In, plus for me her series is a keeper. My MBH indulges me when I do this, figuring (I think) at least I don't have a gambling habit or something like that.

Wait until Roberta sees this review. She already calls me the Book Series Pusher.

Happy Sunday!

>118 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! Woo, I feel I've really accomplished something if I've gotten you intrigued by one that, hmm, how do I put this. You read so many on a high level of challenge and prestige, like the Booker nominees, so to catch your attention on a mystery of all things. Great!

Becca has such a knack with kids. M'Kaela was understandably antsy waiting for her turn in the spotlight with her daddy, but she forgot all about it while goofing around with Miss Becca.

>119 msf59: Oh, you should have a beaut of a day for your bbq, Mark. We took our lonnggg walk over through Horner Park this a.m., and then breakfast on the outside patio at Kitsch'n. We like feeling we really earned our breakfast. (Chilaquiles for Debbi and breakfast burrito for moi). Some time at home catching up (everything, like going through the mail, went into hiatus while Debbi's bro and our SIL were here), and then we're going to go to the new Simon Pegg movie. We really liked Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, among other things. This Worlds End pub crawl has been getting good reviews.

Hope you have an R & R Sunday. I'm back in The Telling Room and continuing to enjoy it.

>120 LauraBrook: Ah, great to see you out on the threads, Laura. I hope life is settling down a bit for you. I'm trying to think how to put this - this could be the last Three Pines, because it really wraps up some major story arcs. But I don't think so. How's that?

It must be exciting to be setting up your new massage place. We be happy for you, we be. Happy Sunday!

ETA: Oops! How about them vittles? (We'll be by with the coffee refill).

I love that teacup! The food looks pretty darn good too, but wow! Where did you find that, Joe?

The teacup looks cool, but howinahell would you drink out of it without losing an eye?

>>123 mckait:, 124 I'll have to look when I get back, Kath. RD, that, I believe, is a spoon you can take out.

And I fixed your cheese grits up above in >121 jnwelch:. Back in a couple of hours or so.

Richard, I believe the thing that would cause you to lose an eye is the spoon. This should be removed before imbibing, I believe.
(Yes, we tea drinkers are a snotty bunch.)

Joe, I'm with mckait ... where did you find that teacup?

Sounds like you have a nice day planned. I want to see the Pegg movie too! Not a lot of reading being done on this end but I am enjoying the day never the less.
I picked up some Anti-Hero & 60 minute today. Can you say....YESSSSSSSSS?

Finished Life After Life in two days. Loved it. It's my second time travel novel of the summer (the very good The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells was the first) and I believe I'm done for now.

I love it when these authors set up their rules for time travel and don't deviate so I can go along for the ride and not spend my time thinking "whaaaaa"?

Wait until Roberta sees this review. She already calls me the Book Series Pusher

You are living up to your title Joe! Louise Penny will be here Wednesday for a book signing and chat. It is usually packed from what I hear.

>>123 mckait:-126 OK, first, tea cup/coffee cup mysteriosity solved: it's called Mètres tasse de café livraison, which means (don't ask me why this name for it) "meters coffee delivery". Here's where you can find it, about halfway down the page: http://fr.aliexpress.com/promotion/home-office-tools_peacock-art-promotion.html. There's some other pretty cool stuff on the page.

Yes, remove spoon before imbibing. And be careful climbing any ladder, as a fall from it may hurt.



You probably noticed, Anne, cafe proprietors can be kinda snotty, too, sometimes. But tea drinkers being snotty is the best.

>127 msf59: I say yessss! to those brews, Mark. I have a "Stone Enjoy By 9/13/13" waiting. Have you heard about these? I'm obligated to drink it by then or they get mad, and the store owner says Stone demands back any unsold once that day comes and goes.

The Pegg movie was mighty funny. He's amazing, and Nick Frost, Martin Freeman and Rosamund Pike, along with the scary driving instructor from Happy Go Lucky and other actors I didn't recognize, were all good. As Debbi said, these guys (Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright) are such good writers. We'll have to see it again because the jokes went by so fast.

Not much reading going on here either, but quite the fine day we be having.

>128 NarratorLady: Ha! I thought you'd love Life After Life, Anne. Hard not to. Yeah, I agree, set up the time travel rules and then abide by them. Not easy to do well. You already convinced me on The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells; that one's destined for the book bag.

>129 luvamystery65: LOL! I knew you'd catch me, Roberta. Yes, LP's a Facebook friend (as she is to anyone who asks or signs up or whatever I successfully did) and she posted a photo of the big crowd she had in Milwaukee. She sure comes across as gracious and normal and admirable on FB. Are you going to go to the signing?

Thanks, Joe, for the happiness and the vittles. Yum! And, thanks for the "info" on the latest Penny. I've made a deal with myself that I'm allowed to start The Brutal Telling after I start reading/finish/return unread at least 5 library books.

All moved in (well, almost, I'm sure there are things that will migrate over there in the next week), and all done with Job #3, so my life is looking much more sane. I'm a happy gal.

Plus, wine helps. :)

Sounds like you are making the most of the long weekend, Joe! I loved your review of the latest Three Pines - I need to get back to that series. I am ready for book number two, so I am just a bit behind where you are!

130> It isn't the falling that hurts them so much, as the shock down below when they're stopping.

Ah, such wonderful sillyness. I'm finishing Boneshaker today and then I am going to read a Penny book. Yes, I am. I have two waiting for me on the Kindle. They are so polite and patient.

Happy days!

>131 LauraBrook: You're welcome, Laura. That sounds like a good reward for getting the library books taken care of. Congrats on getting moved in and finished with Job #3. That's a lot of stress, no doubt, to have so much going on at the same time. Glad you're happy gal. Wine helps, I know. :-) Our doc wants us to drink red wine more regularly, but so far we're not good at it. You'd think we could do better after a prescription like that.

>132 Crazymamie: It's been a beaut of a weekend, Mamie. Even more so for having sent our guests on their way - first time it's been just us in nine days.

Glad you liked the review. You know, I've read series that have started well then petered out. She is unpredictable in her stories from book to book, and that's a good thing. The quality is consistently high. She has created characters you feel you know, and a location in Three Pines that we all want to travel to. She tests the reader sometimes with heartwrenching developments, that's for sure. This last entry is remarkable, and rewarding in the way it ties together story threads that have developed over several books.

>133 dragonaria: Good to know, Kimberly. Ah, the mysteries of climbing ladders, and drinking from cups with spoons.

>134 maggie1944: Silliness is a specialty here, Karen, isn't it? Good thing we have denizens who are aces at that.

That was fast with Boneshaker! You like? I'm not surprised the Pennys are politely and patiently waiting on your Kindle. I would expect no less.

Happy days to you, too! I'm glad you're getting some opened up time to R & R.

Turned into a beautiful day to enjoy the beach part of the cafe.

mmmf beach = sand in my drink nuh-uh

I'll be in Cafe Grumpenstein chowing down. Permaybehaps some fried pickles. And buffalo-style fried cauliflower. And some fried mozzarella sticks!

Who needs a damned ol' gall bladder anyway.

Hiya Joe! I hope you had a perfect morning! I've been kicking back myself. My wife & daughter want to go out to Two Brothers in Aurora, later this afternoon. Hard to believe, but I was looking forward to chillin' in the Man-Cave. We will see...

>136 richardderus: Plenty of room inside air-cooled Cafe Grumpenstein, Richard. No gall bladder will just make you more aerodynamic, plus its absence makes us want to be even nicer to you than we might otherwise. Hmm, let's find those fried permaybehaps for you:



>137 msf59: Woo, what a beaut of a day it is, Mark! We've been getting the shelves up in the new bathroom, but managed to kick back on the porch for a good while visiting with neighbors. Soon we're off to another movie for the fun of it, Elysium. We like Matt Damon in the sci-fi-ers and thrillers. And others.

Debbi tells me it could be like this all the time if I'd just retire. She's got a point.

Two Brothers, Man-Cave, Man-Cave, Two Brothers. Sounds like a can't lose proposition to me.

Is that fried cheese? yummo!

Hope you're enjoying your day. I am! I finished the book I wanted to finish and now on to?

Joe I'm not sure if I'll go see Penny this time around. I have a morning full of doctor's appointments for mom. She (Penny) comes every year to Murder by the Book so if I don't catch her this year I can do next. I haven't read her books yet. It's a 2014 project for sure.

>140 luvamystery65: The entity formerly known as "my friend Roberta" wrote: I haven't read her books yet.

> 138 - Oh, I will have a serving of all three dishes, please, with a crisp dry white wine.

Humm.... Oh dear..... I will be sitting at the other end of the cafe from RD. Might be a good idea to offer him something nourishing and soothing to distract him from this, ahem, reading revelation crisis he is experiencing. ;-)

Impossible to keep up around here, Joe. You move too fast!

OK, I am thinking my table in the corner, in the back, will be good for me. Some ginger lemonade, and some nachos would make me happy. I'm watching International House Hunters.... I don't watch much TV but I'm sure to watch stuff that makes me jealous; then, I can turn it off and go read.

>141 richardderus: The entity formerly known as "my friend Roberta" wrote: I haven't read her books yet.

Oh, she's the one.

Hi Joe, I skipped over your review as I am about half way through How the Light Gets In but it certainly is wonderful at this point. I believe she's already well into the next book and it is also set in Three Pines. I wasn't at all taken by The Beautiful Mystery, but Penny at her worst is about a thousand times better than most other series writers.

>139 mckait: I know, those look really good, don't they, Kath?

It's been a good one. Elysium was good, no great shakes but good. We had dinner on the deck - beautiful cool weather here - and Debbi read some more Reacher to me from an old one we're reading together. Then we caught up some more on the last season of Eureka, a goofy sci-fi show we like.

>140 luvamystery65: Oh my, Roberta, if I'd known you hadn't read any, I'd have warned you. Richard gets really upset when he hears someone hasn't read any of that series yet. You might want to take cover at one of the back tables, as food may start flying.

>141 richardderus: I don't think you should suppress your feelings, Richard. Let Roberta know how you feel about it. Just please don't throw too much food this time.



>142 lkernagh: Yes, you're right, Lori. We'll get you that white wine to go with the fried trio, and maybe some chili cheese fries will get Richard's blood pressure back down. (Yes, chili cheese fries can be medicinal under the right circumstances).



>143 ronincats: I know, Roni. Sometimes we zip along really fast in the cafe. Sorry about that. Best solution is to find a good table, order up, and watch the parade. We're sure glad to have you here when time permits.

>144 maggie1944: Sounds good, Karen. We'll bring the ginger lemonade and nachos over to your table. My wife and SIL like that Int'l House Hunters show, too. I think I'm going to pull up a chair and read a bit if you don't mind.

>145 brenzi: RD's a tough one, isn't he, Bonnie? I'm so glad to hear you're reading the new Penny. Can't wait to hear what you think. I'm pretty sure you'll be a happy Three Pines camper.

Good news that she's working away on another.

#141 My sweet Richard don't abandon me!!!

Seriously here is my story regarding Penny. I hadn't heard of her until I really started participating on LT. Well, as you know, that is when Mom started her downward spiral. I was planning to do a category read devoted to her for 2013 but we spent the last month of 2012 and the first two months of 2013 in the hospital. So I changed my plans because I want the time to savor the Three Pine books.

My plan is to read the entire series in 2014 so please send mommy *healing don't get sick whammies* for the entire year!

Joe I need some wine please.

Me, too. The wine, I mean. I have read the first Penny book, and I will be reading the second book this month. *sits down next to Roberta, but puts a hard hat on, just in case*

*finishes chili cheese fries*

>148 luvamystery65: Well, why on earth didn't you say so? It beggars the imagination that anyone could not have heard of Louise Penny at this late date, but once upon a time before I was here a lot, I hadn't heard of her either. It was, I think, Caroline who gasped and clutched her chest and sent me the first two or three books with a stern injunction to read them immediately.

The rest, as the saying goes, is history. (Though I wasn't the biggest booster of The Beautiful Mystery either, and I shall never in all of my born days forgive Lousy Louise for...oh dear...nope, can't tell you.)

Karen44 won't mind if I snaffle a ginger lemonade or three, don't you think?

Hi Mamie, uncrouch dear I've been fed.

Hiya Joe, time in the dirigible's Cafe Grumpenstein does soothe the savage breast. That and not having the damn kidney pain!

*passes the pitcher of ginger lemonade over to Richard*

*puts nose back in book #4 by Penny*

Richard, I told you that Penny would fix that and she fixed it. Beautiful Mystery. I could easily have given that one a pass, it was not my favorite and in my mind her only "clunker. In my opinion, the first book was not the best, but they got better and better. I honestly feel that Beautiful Mystery felt forced. Like she decided she loved that place, and would write a story that took place there.. or wanted to do another outside of Three Pines for variety? I don't know, but I hope she stops that nonsense. Surely by now she has to understand that Three Pines is at least as beloved a "character" as Gamache. And for some of us, more so .

So that is what I have to say about that. Aside of course from the fact that I love the series, adore Three Pines and have hired a private investigator to find the real one. Surely it's called something a wee bit different, but it must have Ruth etc. living there, right? Right?

And speaking of books, I just finished and loved Rough Passage to London.

Is it too early to eat nachos if I have coffee with them?

Morning Joe- Good luck getting back to work today! I'll be wrapping up Year of Wonders. Hate to see that one go.

I'm SO there at the beach portion of the cafe. Almost makes me miss living in Florida. Almost...

Beaches and cafe reminds me of the Caribbean, and I'd love to have a LT Meet Up on one of the islands. What do you think?

>148 luvamystery65: Even the guy running dirigible Cafe Grumpenstein would have to soften up at that tale, Roberta. I think you're in the clear, especially since you plan to read Madame Penny in 2014. We're definitely sending you mommy *healing don't get sick whammies*, and keeping your table ready at the cafe for an extended Three Pines extravaganza.

Wine? It's still summery out; shall we make it a white wine? And Mamie'd like to join you if that's okay.



>149 Crazymamie: Lots of fun, once begun, I think the saying goes (or should), Mamie. That should be plenty for escaping the wrath of RD. You do look good in a hard hat, and probably want something to wash down that dust. We brought an extra glass for you above.



>150 richardderus: Glad the kidney pain has passed and that chili cheese fries and Cafe Grumpenstein have charms to soothe the savage breast. I hadn't heard that Caroline got you started on Ms. Penny; kudos to her. I remember the plot development that triggered your ire, although it got straightened out somewhat later, right?

We're having a special on pecan pancakes with maple-glazed apples if you're interested.



>151 maggie1944: *brings another pitcher of ginger lemonade to Karen, and another order of nachos just in case some guest gets hungry*

>152 mckait: Interesting to hear the critical comments about The Beautiful Mystery, Kath. I can't disagree. She writes so well that it still stands above others in this genre, seems to me. You may be right; there was a definite feeling that she wanted to step out of Three Pines and write about the monastery. It felt so good to get back to Three Pines in the new one! As you say, she fixed the one that aggravated our Grumpenstein friend so much, although I can't blame him for remembering the awful feeling before reading the fix.

Rough Passage to London is new to me, and looks quite interesting. I do like sea-faring tales, although not uniformly. I'm a big Hornblower fan, but never got caught up in the Aubrey Maturin tales the way my dad did.

We brought some nachos up above, and we're all in favor of folks having what they want when they want it, particularly as time zones get a bit loopy in this cafe anyway. Here's some coffee to go with it; someone will be over to pour.



>153 msf59: Hi, Mark. I got a bit of reprieve at work; a meeting that was going to take place first thing has moved into the afternoon. That makes it a bit easier to move into work mode from what was an awfully good and hard to leave weekend. Oh my, finishing The Year of Wonders. That may knock you on your keister. You therefore may want to be sitting down when you wrap it up.

The Telling Room continues to be good, as Ambrosio plots revenge and the author moves his family to Ambrosio's small Spanish village. There are many detailed and entertaining footnotes, making me need to be a bit more patient in reading than usual. Not a bad thing, as part of the message of the book is to slow down and appreciate life, including, of course, the food we eat and what we drink.

>154 Morphidae: I know, Morphy, I'd teleport to that beach cafe in a blink. What a beaut. Maybe we can at least take some mental breaks there.

>155 maggie1944: An island LT meetup sounds like a great idea, Karen. It could even be the San Juan Islands as far as I'm concerned, although the Caribbean would be swell, too. Islands have the virtue, for me anyway, of getting the metabolism to slow down a bit, which would make for a good meetup. Beer has that effect on me, too. :-)

I think it would have been less painful for rdear, had he not had a special bond with that person? I think you're over it, right rd?

Aren't those footnotes the best in Telling Room? I felt like I was reading two related books!

Yes, I know you're right about RD's special connection with that character, Kath. Interesting how that character comes through in fine fashion in the current one, while admitting a certain special skill set.

The footnotes in The Telling Room are great, and you're right, it's like reading two related books. All these side stories and historical supporting points that enhance the overall book, but would seem too digressive in the main text. And some are just a hoot. One of my favorites so far is the one where he tries to pretend that he really isn't curious about that fish and bubbles tattoo on his wife's ankle that she shares with other women in her Dzawn gang, all of whom have sworn not to disclose its meaning.

I read one review (maybe NYTimes?) where the reviewer found the footnotes got to be too much, but I think he must be an outlier, whoever it was.

*grumble* No I have NOT forgiven and forgotten Lousy Louise's perfidy and nasty meanness to my specialkins.

*grumble*

I'm up for an island meetup! The Aleutians in November is my vote.

My MBH indulges me when I do this, figuring (I think) at least I don't have a gambling habit or something like that.

That's a great excuse ... i have to remember to use this if I'm ever called on my ever growing TBR Tower.

I'm craving sushi today ... think I'll head out for some for lunch today. :-)

>160 richardderus: When I think of the Aleutians, earthquakes come to mind (they just had a 7.0), Richard, but I'm sure that's not what you have in mind. It must be beautiful there. I can tell your penchant for cooler weather affected your suggested month.



>161 cameling: We probably should consult Paul C. for the best excuses for buying books, Caro. He must have a million of them (both books and excuses). I have pointed to my lack of (other) resource-draining behavior more than once, though, I have to admit.

Sushi sounds good. We have Japanese visitors today at work, and we were just talking about how we used to take them to sushi restaurants here a lot, but recently they've wanted to branch out. So we're going to a good restaurant for dinner up on the Magnificent Mile called NoMi.

We can get you started on your lunch if you want:

Doesn't that look *lovely*? Nary a damned bikini-clad beachpotato, little sign of the *yaaak* sunshine...this is noon! *bliss*

LOL! You're mighty persuasive, RD.

I see that the cafe is hopping as usual, Joe! It seems that folks spent a bit of their holiday weekend hanging out here, eating and talking books. No surprise there.

I'll join you and RD if you go with 162 rather than 163. I think Richard would love Seattle (most of the year).

Ellen, he's been doing serious research on Olympia. He thinks it might be just the right place for him. I am sure they would be interested in a cafe of the steam punk variety, derigibles and such. We might be able to convert the old Olympia Beer Brewery into a bookstore.

>166 maggie1944: We might be able to convert the old Olympia Beer Brewery into a bookstore.

*gasp*





THE TOME HOME!!!

Karen44, you genius you!

*waves hi*

I am absolutely exhausted from my first day with the new sets of munchkins-already fell asleep once right when I got home-and just finished my book so am off to curl up in bed.

Ha! What do you think, Joe. Shall we begin writing our crowd sourced financing campaign to rehab the brewery?

Seasonsoflove's comment reminded me of the first days of school. It would take me 6 weeks to adjust back to the hours of work, and stress. But then I was probably in the wrong profession and I may have been an extreme case. I am taking the kids to school this morning and leaving them in the fine hands of the teachers. Whoooopeeee!

Hmmm, interesting TOme Home. Fortress-like. It would do.

Srsly, I don't know how anyone can not enjoy those footnotes. They're unusual for sure, but, so well worth it! A very unique style in that book. I was lucky to read that and then Rough Passage back to back .

I think today I will have a go at Noah's Rainy Day.

At least I'm not tempted by the platter of raw fish. Unusual for something to not make my mouth water, here at the cafe :)

Okay, for those who don't like the beach. How about this for a reading spot?

>165 EBT1002: Hanging out here, eating and talking books - I could live the cafe life 24/7, Ellen. With periodic trips to the bookstore and library.

I'd sure prefer >162 jnwelch: over 163, although 162 lacks some of that murky, bone-chilling 163 charm that Richard finds so appealing.

You know I'm a fan of Seattle, and the temps there generally seem much more simpatico for our friend RD than a lot of other places. Plus there's Molly Moon's, with Elliot Bay Books just around the corner. :-)

>>166 maggie1944:-167 Sounds like a plan! A brewery bookstore and dirigible cafe - we'd have people flocking to get there. We could keep them going on LTer traffic alone. Brilliant idea, Karen, and Richard, of course, you are the Jeff Bezos (without the money or desire to rule the world) of recognizing stellar opportunities.

We'll get cracking on that >169 maggie1944: crowd-sourced financing, Karen. Is this a Kickstarter project? Maybe we can draw on the folks financing that new Veronica Mars movie.

>168 seasonsoflove: *wistfully waves hi to daughter unseen since . . . Sunday* You know I'm boggled by the intense focus needed to watch over, guide and teach those little gremlins, Becca. Not to mention that word I use my scamper powers to avoid - patience. If I tried what you do, I'd be face-planting during school, having lasted for maybe half a morning. I'll stop by to see what book you finished - the Pessl? I'd offer you something time-jiggered, but it's probably best to let you lay there in a stupor.

>169 maggie1944: Brewery rehab thinking caps are on, Karen. We're pretty ambitious, trying simultaneously to get the cafe dirigible project off the ground, and the brewery rehab hopping. (Not to mention our diligent efforts to come up with bad puns).

Re teaching wee 'uns: it would take me about 6 minutes to adjust myself right back out the door and back to my senses. You have to be a crazy Amazon to take that one on. What do they call that crouching up down exercise - squats? By the time the school year ends Becca can squat with a car on her back and lift it a dozen times. With her parents in the car.

I feel your Whooopeeee! Drop them kids off in the fine hands of the teachers, and as you go on your way you feel like a dirigible just lifted you into the air to take you to your favorite cafe.

>170 mckait: I agree with you, Kath, on the Tome Home and the footnotes. Now Paterniti is just a few weeks away from going back home, and is so distracted by all the wonderful characters and stories that he's not getting the book (the one we're reading) written.

Colorado crime sounds like a good palate cleanser.

Yeah, my wife isn't tempted by raw fish/sushi either. We'll have to come up with something that'll grab you more. Hmm. How about carrot cake mini cupcakes?



>171 Morphidae: I'd join you there in a blink, Morphy. I love being in the woods, and if you combine that with comfortable seating and a good book, I'm there.

*munches carrot cake cupcakes ( gratefully) *

*elbows smaller older lady away from cupcakes*

Joe, how did you know I was coming here for carrot cake?

*swats at Kath*

Go 'way, it's feedin time!

>174 mckait: :-)

>175 richardderus: You make me think of the Thing in the Fantastic Four, Richard: "It's clobberin' time!" You of all people should know better than to mess with Kath. I can hear the RD-chasin' posse starting to gather in LT town.

rd re: >176 jnwelch:

What he said.

Ah, cupcakes. They bring out the beast in me.

>>177 mckait:-178 It's a tale as old as time, you two.

Just some little cupcakes
Small to say the least
Both denizens a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the beast

Delightfully sweet and chewy
Cupcakes we hardly knew ye
Learning you all were gone
Our Kath had been done wrong
Beauty and the beast

Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
We loved them all
He ate them all
Beauty and the beast

I . .your. poem. And the cupcakes!

Thanks, Kath. In our family we've found that sometimes a poem/song can lighten the heart after the sadness of cupcakes disappearing.

While rummaging on the interweb I came across this photo of a place I want to sit:



Maybe we can make it part of the cafe somehow?

Heck, we can make that happen at the Tome Home! The fact that the site contains TWENTY-SIX artesian springs is most heartening.

I think that would make an excellent secret exit out back for the cafe. After you sit for a required number of minutes or hours, you can find your way, by boat, to the bookstore.

>>182 richardderus:-183 I like it! We may not even need crowd-sourced funding for this one.

Oh I love that space! Would you share, Joe?

That sushi plate you posted looked very much like the one that arrived at our table except there were 3 of everything, and we had a plate of shrimp and vegetable tempura as well.

Marinated short ribs are cued up for the grill in an hour or so.

>181 jnwelch: scooch over, Joe. there's room for at least 3 on that bench if we cozy up. while i'm cozying, i'll have one of these and one for the boys in the back room who can have what i'm having for a change. i have no idea what they are, but i want to sit on the bench outside the secret entrance and have one.



i don't know about Louise Penny. i managed to get through one with some patience. the second one irked me so badly i didn't finish it. i haven't been back. i'd rather spend time with Jack or Nero and Archie or LPW or Clau-Clau-Claudius or Maisie Dobbs or the Pokey Little Puppy or . . . well, just about anybody else i can think of.

i'm just saying this b/c somebody had to stand up for the no-Penny-thank-you 1/2%.

Oh. Archie Goodwin....*sigh*...

>187 Crazymamie: really? me too. well, not so much *sigh* as wanting to be Archie when i was a pre-teen. i'm a big fan of Lily Rowan, first met in Some buried Caesar (one of my favorite book titles of all time) and Julie Jaquette from Death of a doxy. oh, another Wolfe fan. what a wonderful place this is! satisfactory, Mamie. *very* satisfactory.

*grin* Why thank you, Ellie, dear! Now you make me want to get to Some Buried Caesar, which I have in the stacks.

>189 Crazymamie: hah! great minds, Mamie. i just went and downloaded death of a doxy from my library at audible. Nero and Archie fit in quite nicely no matter what else i'm reading.

you inspired me to find a pic of Archie i could tolerate except i think his nose is rather straighter. Wolfe hates a pug nose and i don't think Archie has one. i'm trying to remember who he says he looks like. i remember he's rejects the idea of himself as a "two-bit Clark Gable" but i'm not sure who he says he thinks he resembles. Cooper, maybe?

Hi Joe- Hope you had a good day! Did someone say Brewery Bookstore? All I can say is: OMG! Sounds absolutely heavenly. Okay, I lied. I did have more to say. You know me pretty well by now, so you know I would probably never leave such a place.

And now we have our mission: Microbrewery/restaurant/Tome Home.

I love the reading spot you found, Joe. I think that ban be just beyond the back patio of the cafe. It would be a perfect spot for reading and reflection. And artesian springs, rd? Perfect...

Ellie... not a fan of Three Pines? shocking! I knew that there were one or two folks out there that felt that way. After all, I have actually met a person or two who didn't read Harry Potter. Lots of books and lots of different readers :)

okay.... well...Happy day to everyone out there :)

>185 cameling: Ha! Plenty of room, Caro, on the secret place bench. We'll just have to scootch a bit for Ellie. I get the feeling this is going to be a much-liked spot.

Mmm, shrimp and vegetable tempura . . .

>184 jnwelch: They look delicious, whatever they are, Ellie. The boys in the back are mighty grateful. You'd be surprised how often people forget they're even back there.

Plenty of room on the bench. We'll see, we may create a few more secret entrance places to sit. I sure like this one.

Always good to have a contrarian. Been there meself. Ms. Penny can be irksome in her stories (see RD aggravation discussion above), but the rewards are many.

I like the alternatives you mention, although Maise Dobbs fizzled out for me. I wonder whether the Who will ever get back together and record "Talkin' 'Bout My Clau-Clau-Claudius"?

>>187 Crazymamie:-190 Liking the Archie discussion, Ellie and Mamie, and the Archie illustration Ellie found. I need to pick that series back up. For a Book Series Pusher, I can be pretty lame-o sometimes.

>191 msf59: Ha! "All I can say" just goes on a bit longer with you than most people, Mark. We'll definitely have a comfortable chair of honor for you at the Brewery Bookstore. This one with a librarian in it is what we have in mind (the librarian does not come with it):



Hope you have a good one today.

Gotta run - Rosh Hashanah services with Debbi as story teller coming up. L' Shana Tova - Happy New Year!

186> Ah, dear Ellie, let me join you in the no-Penny-for-me-thank-you club. We are in the vast minority on this board in our visceral reaction to her writing. It's Maisie Dobbs for me although the series seems to be weakening as do most series.

Add me to the Wolfe Pack - I'm a big fan have most of my favorites on the Kindle for comfort food browsing.

And Archie and Lily - one of the most grown up relationships between man and woman in all of literature.

Happy New you :) Joe!

I have been wanting a go at Maisie Dobbs....must investigate soon..

Ye goddesses! What has happened?! There hasn't been a food item mentioned in ages! I must must must have some jalapeno poppers today or I shall expire.

Plus my Penny review has vanished. The file is apparently inside another file, and of the ~200 on my hard drive, I'm having trouble figuring out where I screwed up and misfiled it.

Plus...life is just nasty, brutish, and short.

Back in the cafe, and I see a desperate call for jalapeno poppers. Let me catch up with everyone.

BTW, Debbi was most excellent, as usual, with a tale of giving from the heart being better than giving in hopes of what one will get in return. Appropriate as we try to do better in the new year. I won't even make some silly remark about this one.

>192 richardderus: We've got some major projects underway, don't we, Richard. The Brewery Bookstore is important, but we don't want the dirigible cafe project to just be up in the air and float away.

>193 mckait: I like it, Kath. A place for reading and reflection just beyond the cafe's back patio. It's quite a peaceful spot, isn't it?

Yes, one of the marvels of reading books is that even a Harry Potter isn't going to be universally esteemed. I do think with Louise Penny you've got to be able to tolerate having your heart wrenched (n.b. Richard's continuing displeasure with one of those), even though some key ones turn out to not be what they seem.

Hi Joe,
I'm skimming through very quickly, avoiding lingering on any photos of food (ergh) but checking to see how your plans with Richard and Karen are developing for a Tome Home Brewery Bookstore in the area. I suspect a Brewery Bookstore would place at risk some of our jobs. :-)

>196 NarratorLady: Et tu, Anne? Ah, well, not everyone falls in love with Three Pines and Inspector Gamache. Or Ruth, for that matter, who has become one of my favorite characters.

You're right, a lot of series lose steam, although as you've seen, for me a lot of them keep on rolling down the tracks A-OK. I was enthused with Maisie Dobbs through the first couple, but then I lost steam, or it lost steam, I don't know, but steam was lost.

>197 magicians_nephew: Some of the most astute and gerthumminy (trying to get a term that has a wide embrace) members of LT are also members of that Wolfe pack, Jim. I've got to find time to get back to his books. I may have been too young to appreciate them - your comment on Archie and Lily underscores that. I appreciated Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet a lot more when I got a little older, for example.

>198 mckait: Thanks, Kath! The new me looks a lot like the old one, only better. Kind of like I went through a car wash. Now I've just got to focus and make it an even better year than the last. The good news is Debbi and I couldn't think of anything that needed to be forgiven from each other over the past year - what are the odds of that happening?

>199 richardderus: I hear you, Richard. There has been entirely too much frivolity without food going on. We'll get those poppers immédiatement:



I'd love to see your Penny review if you can find it. "Life is nasty, brutish and short." You know, you make me think of my Welsh coal miner ancestors. I have a hard time even having the shades down so the light can't get in, much less being underground like that 10-12 hours a day. They'd probably think I'm living in heaven right now.

On the other hand, it can be harsh and despicable on this planet, no doubt about it. We be tryin' to make it a bit better.

>201 EBT1002: Hiya, Ellen. I know, sometimes I wish the cafe express would slow down a bit, because I know I have trouble keeping up with other racehorse LT threads. But it's so darn fun!

I figure LT has already endangered my holding down this job, so a Brewery Bookstore can't make it that much worse, can it? Can it? Well, once again, if so, I come down in favor of doing it anyway. It's just too cool a concept not to pursue.

In Portland it's recommended that you combine a visit to Powell's bookstore with a visit to the microbreweries.



Our converted brewery should really resonate with people.

Those poppers are perfection! Thanks Joe. Listen, compared to our ancestors, we're all living in heaven. The problems and issues I have, at almost-54, pale to insignificance compared to the problem of simply not living to be 54. Most people didn't, and still don't. I remind myself of this several times a day.

Joe - I'll start curry day rolling with a South Indian delicacy which is hugely popular in Malaysia and Singapore ~ Fish Head Curry
In Britain you pick up the heads to feed your kitty; over here they are an expensive commodity!

I've heard a few readers say they aren't engaged by Louise Penny and to that I say, "HUH?" Oh well, fortunately, there are plenty of other books and authors out there to satisfy every type of taste. Did you see that How the Light Gets In is going to debut at #1 on the NYTimes Best Seller List on Sept. 15, Joe? I guess there are a few fans out there.

may i please oh please have some tabouli and a plate of crispy veg pakoras?

>179 jnwelch: happy chuckle. ah, Celine and Peabo when she still looked like a 1940s chanteuse. she is, actually, the only non-operatic singer, aside from Aretha, whose melismatics i can tolerate on the rare occasions when she doesn't oversing.

oh, and i want to stick in a plea for a place for audio readers at the THBB and some alts to alcoholic brew like, say, Johnnie Ryan Rootbeer.

shana tova umetukah, Yosefi.

>196 NarratorLady: oops, almost missed yours, Anne. nice to have at least two of us. and you, bless you, had to read them aloud. as though you liked them. I stand in awe.

GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Fish Head Curry?!?!?!

>204 richardderus: Ha! Well put, Richard. (Glad you liked them poppers). Yeah, and I sometimes think about how I would have dealt with the hip pain, for example, if I lived in times when you couldn't swap out for bionic ones. I suspect a lot of folks back in the day drank to dull it, not a pleasant thought, for all my affinity for brews.

And you're right, a whole lot of folks would have headed, and do head, to the big library in the sky before our ages. (A reason, you'll recall, why I finally read Moby Dick, so the head librarian up there at least wouldn't keep me out just because I never finished it).

>205 PaulCranswick: Holy Moly, Paul! Dare I say it - that's one of the ugliest delicacies I've ever seen! I'm sure your compatriots would wonder what the heck is wrong with me and my Yankish tendencies. Anyway, I appreciate the curry-inspired thought, and we'll at least pass it around and give it a try.

Ha! And see >209 mckait: below, from Kath.

For those who haven't been over to Paul's thread (quite) recently, it's curry special day at the cafe.

>206 brenzi: Whoa, Bonnie, I didn't see that LP's How the Light Gets In is debuting at #1 in the NY Times! How cool is that! Her fan base has just grown and grown. I'm walloped by that one. I hope she stays up there for a while; she deserves it.

>207 mirrordrum: Ah, shana tova umetukah, a good and sweet new year to you, too, Ellie.

I'm glad you liked our Beauty and the Beast ditty. Bet you could figure out which was which. Do you remember Retha filling in for, I think, Luciano P. on that awards show years ago and singing some operatic piece beautifully? She's amazing, that one.

We'll definitely have a place at the ET Tome Home for audio readers, and we've got to have non-alcohol alternatives like Johnnie Ryan Rootbeer (which now I've gotta try). My dad will want that, too.

OK, let's get you them vittles. With some of that root beer, so I can try it, too.

>208 mirrordrum: I stand in awe of Anne, too, Ellie, although for the life of me I can't make this the reason why. :-)

>209 mckait: Yeah, I know, Kath. GAAKK!! comes to mind, too.

How about a more reasonable curry dish, like chickpea curry on coconut basmati rice?



That Paul, he can be just a little too exotic sometimes, don't you think?

How is one meant to eat the fishhead in the curry? Is it dismembered in the communal dish, or served whole and entire to one lucky (!) diner? I'm very much not a fan of eyes, having been required to eat one once. It wasn't a nice texture. Can the eyes be served to, oh I don't know, say the host or something?

All that said, I once ate cod cheeks in Boston, and they were very delicious.

Hmmm. I wonder if we can get Ryan's root beer in Seattle. Surely yes.

Joe, are you calling us rogues? Heh.
ETA: Rogue makes a Dead Guy Ale that is wonderful.

hullo, Joe. having been back to Paul's, i'm hoping at your convenience you'll time-jigger me some chettinad curry with a pulao of your choice.

in re: joints and such, i remember rereading Dorothy Sayers' Nine Tailors after i reached a point where various types of movement were, shall we say, uncomfortable. there's a brief description of LPW zooming back to the rectory in haste as the lock is about to burst and create a flood. he passes an older man bent with arthritis going as fast as he can to reach safety. just a worker, you understand, so LPW doesn't stop for him. that always bothered me but now when i read that bit i just go 'oh chit!' there isn't a disaster but what i worry about people who are like i am and simply can't escape. and, in truth, it should be that way.

that said, i'm glad you've got bionics and can walk again and i've got drugs and can dress myself. not a thing to be taken lightly!

now, how'z about that chettinad and pulao, my friend? i'll quaff my rootbeer in the interim. l'chaim!

>212 richardderus:. I think making the host (Paul), as opposed to the proprietor (that dubious hombre) eat the fish head is a great idea, Richard. Surely he knows how to eat it in the correct local manner.

I had a whole fish (with head) show up for our degustation in a NYC Chinese restaurant, but no one seemed to expect us to eat head or eyes, I'm glad to report. Your adventure with cod cheeks made me think of one Kath will remember - in The Telling Room at one point he gets to eat a local delicacy, fried sheep's ears. Chewy, he reports. He focuses mainly on not throwing up.

>213 EBT1002:. "Rogue" is a great word, isn't it Ellen? We're all book rogues, how about that?

Rogue is a great name for a beer, as is Dead Guy Ale.

Hope you're feeling a bit better. Maybe a hot toddy later?

#205 : Yum to the fishhead curry, Paul. Is it being accompanied with rice on a banana leaf, fried slices of bittergourd and some yoghurt on the side?

#212 : Richard, the head is actually rather large and enough to share between 2 - 4 people. There's usually quite a bit of fish to eat, the best part being the cheeks although there will be a few who fight over the eyeballs. ;-)

Happy New Year, Joe!

"Microbrewery/restaurant/Tome Home." I see those lovely words and my eyes begin to get all dreamy! Ahhhhhh...
I picked up Joe the Barbarian and I am downloading A Fatal Grace. See, how I try to integrate myself?

...there will be a few who fight over the eyeballs. Urgh. They can have them.

> 219 hah, Mark. i read that initially as "see how i try to ingratiate myself." not what i think of as your style. integrate, Ellie, integrate. and good luck with that, M.

Ain't eatin' eyes. Nope. Not ever again.

Now, the cheeks I'll start a slappin' match over. But I go back to the original question: How does the head get, well, dismembered?

Joe - It used to be romantic to be exotic but in our global village it is fast becoming a source of draining approbation! Good old Caro makes me Tonto to her Lone Ranger or vice versa. The Fish Head Curry looks unappealing but, believe me, is absolutely delicious.
I do agree with Ellen and RD though, the eyes can go to our Bostonian gastronome with pleasure.

Looks like the eyes have it here.

ssssssssssssssss
boooooooo
booooo
sssssssssssssssssssssss

>214 mirrordrum: Good morning, Ellie. My post-conk-out response reminds me of Jim Carrey in the Truman Show: "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" We'll get that time jiggery going.

I missed that LPW whizzed past the struggling older guy; makes me think my radar needs re-tuning. Seems to me you've got to help a guy like that, period. Also seems like a writing miscue; LPW went through the war (WWI) and was greatly affected by it, right? This doesn't fit well with that.

Glad the drugs give you some dexterity and mobility. Most of us have plenty of reasons to be grateful we're around in 2013, don't we?

All right, the time jiggerer is warmed up. Let's get you that chettinad curry and pulao. Let us know if you need more root beer.



L'chaim, my friend!

>216 cameling: Well, let me be the first this morning to say Ewww!, Caro. However, I'm impressed, as always, with how well-traveled you are in the food world. I look forward to hearing Paul's response. You might try fried sheep ears some time. Chewy, I'm told.

>217 msf59: Ha! Good morning, Mark. Yes, those words (Microbrewery/restaurant/Tome Home) sound like a dream come true, don't they? We're going to need your expert help to pull this off, I'm sure.

Good to have you riding that Louise Penny train. You'll see Ellie and Anne waving as you go by. Bonnie says the newest debuted at #1 on the NYT list. Amazing. It all started in a tale of a little village east of Montreal . . .

I'm hooked on Montana 1948. Nefarious deeds have been revealed, and sheriff dad is investigating.

>218 EBT1002: I'm with you, Ellen. I think we can leave the eyeball-fighting excitement to Paul and Caro.

>219 mirrordrum: It's hard to imagine Mark being more integrated than he is, isn't it, Ellie? We're all a bunch of planets orbiting around that reading lamp sun. However, he does recognize the genius of Ms. Penny, unlike (ahem) some others in our solar system.

>220 richardderus: I'm not sure how many fishhead eaters hang out at the cafe, Richard, but I hope someone answers your dismemberment question. I sure can't. Seems to me that if you slam a cleaver down (sorry, any who are faint of heart), you're going to get stew all over everything.

>221 PaulCranswick: Actually, "exotic" is probably still an accolade, Paul. The fish head was just a bit startling. I'm thinking a curry like this probably didn't appear on the table when you were a Yorkshire lad, did it? Caro's going to be happy she's getting the eyeballs (ewww) all to herself.

>222 ronincats: Eye see, Roni. Eye eye, captain? Eye'd better stop before I get even cornea.

>223 richardderus: Yeah, I can't believe someone would come up with an awful pun like that, Richard. Couldn't agree more.

O Goddess of Fish-Eye Eating, place your beneficent hand upon the proprietor of this humble establishment that he may ever afterwards know the true price of being punny.

LOL! OK, I'm feeling penitent now. No comments about pens in tents or anything like that. Plus I can't write while contrite.

...and I forgot to mention rhyming...

But it's better than miming, right?

"The key to the telling room was a conical piece of metal, an artifact, it seemed, from Middle Earth. Because of its weight, I had to steer it with two hands into the lock . . . Up five steps was the telling room itself, with its white stucco walls, benches and a table, and the musty smell of hay and wet clay. When I threw open the shutters, the sun and warmth surged, bringing it to life."

In The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese the author, Michael Paterniti, shares with us tales from a small Spanish village that has had worldwide impact. His 10 year odyssey is triggered while working at an Ann Arbor deli, as he becomes fascinated by the world's greatest piece of cheese, Páramo de Guzmán, a famous hard sheeps milk cheese made in a small Castile village in north central Spain. His fascination eventually leads him to the village to meet the cheese's maker, the fabulous, larger than life storyteller Ambrosio. As Ambrosio spins his tales and shares his philosophy of life in the telling room, we learn he has been the victim of a terrible betrayal, which has filled him with a lust for revenge but hasn't dampened his voracious appetite for life.

His family, like others, makes its own cheese, its own wine. "Ambrosio had a memory of eating his family's cheese as a child, and even now could conjure its sharp tang and the images associated with it: his mother's kitchen, with its gas fires and simmering pots of milk, and the bodega shelves where it was stored - in each case surrounded by people, warmth, the past. As he understood it, the family cheese had been made for so long there'd never been a written recipe." After many failures, he combines all the necessary aspects to recreate that cheese, and it begins to "star at agricultural fairs", then to win awards in Spain, then international awards, and in time became so highly sought after it even turns up across the world in the gourmet Ann Arbor deli Zingerman's. All the while Ambrosio is preaching his gospel of slow eating, avoiding processed, industrialized food, and observing the "old ways." "Perhaps in the United States you don't know what it's like to have old flavors, flavors from the past, from centuries before. But we live with them every day here."

The author becomes understandably infatuated with Ambrosio, and eventually convinces his wife to move with their small children temporarily to Guzmán. Soon she and the children also are captivated by Ambrosio and the village. "{T}here was no TV, no house projects, fickle cellphone coverage, and it took forty-five minutes to reach an Internet cafe. Without all the distractions, we quickly became reacquainted with each other, taking long walks, lingering over meals, sharing observations or delighting in some little thing our kids did . . ." Paterniti, however, struggles to complete the book, as one story after another carries him away into intoxicating digressions. The book is filled with wonderful footnotes, many humorous, about local and Spanish history and the author's travails. One of my favorites involves his tongue in cheek supposed lack of curiosity about a mysterious tattoo on his wife's ankle, the meaning of which she has sworn, along with other members of her girl gang, not to disclose. Another involves the author being reminded, while standing in a huge field of sunflowers, of a ridiculous Peter Gabriel performance. When Gabriel, without telling his band, took the stage as "Flower Man - floppy petals framing his pale, painted face" one of his laconic bandmates, upon seeing Gabriel "creeping on stage with his flute" simply said, "Oh, bloody hell."

Will the world's greatest piece of cheese be saved? Will Ambrosio get his revenge? Will Paterniti finish the book? Oh yeah, we know the answer to the last one. He did finish it, and it's a treat to read.

Wonderful review...!!!

eta

thumbbbed

You're the little birdie who tipped me off that this would be a good one, Kath. I'm glad you liked the review - thanks for the thumb!

Like Kath, I have thumbed the review.

Gracias, señor. I will in return refrain from punning or rhyming, at least for a while.

delicious foods and a superb review. wish they'd audiblize it, but it doesn't seem likely. gosh darn it, i simply have nothing to read. *looks about forlornly for literary sustenance*

and thanks for the memories, Joe. i'd totally forgotten Lady Soul's nessun dorma. it's not opera, it's 'retha TCB! how lucky i am to have been alive during her reign. wow.

off to thumble your book review whilst croaking the first nessun dorma and mouthing the second with my chin tucked into my wattle. i wonder why that helps with the lower notes. something about unstretching the vocal chords maybe? shut up and go thumb the review, ellie.

LOL! Tucking my chin in helps me not at all, Ellie, unless the piece calls for a frog chorus.

"nessun dorma" - I'm impressed! There are a lot of treasures there in the vault of your mind. I remember it was so unexpected, with 'retha stepping in because of some emergency with Luciano, and she pulled it off so beautifully.

I'm glad you liked that there review, and thank you for the thumb. It would be hard to do an audio of The Telling Room because of all the important footnotes, in particular, but I wish they would try. Both Ambrosio and the author say many wonderful things that I'd love to hear narrated. I'm actually hoping they bring out an illustrated edition of The Telling Room some day, as I'd love to also see photos relating to much of what is described.

Great audio books for Ellie - do we have any suggestions from our cafe patrons?

I think of Mr. Gaiman, but you're already aware of him. I did think the Life After Life audio was well done, albeit a lengthier than usual audio experience for yours truly.

>236 jnwelch: pfffft! who needs a memory when there's youtube? i didn't remember it until i saw her in her fur bits looking the Diva that she is.

um, you thought i was serial about no books? go look at my reading list to which i forgot to add Miss Mapp and can now add Death of a doxy. these are but comfort reads to turn to when the world is too much with me and everybody on LT has gone either to bed or to work, depending on hemisphere.

don't anybody dare to suggest any more books. giving my best Granny Weatherwax scowl and muttering imprecations.

Oops! *gracefully (kinda) retires to a corner table to sit quietly, not suggesting any books whatsoever*

Some time I need to read me some Mapp and Lucia.

OK, I'm just going to continue not suggesting that you read anything at all beyond what you've already got lined up. No, ma'am. Or is it yes, ma'am?

Hors d'oeuvres?

you great placator, you. with the horsduvors and everything. i'll start with one of each, thanks. all is forgiven because i am beneficent. when not being a witch.

have a great weekend, sweetie pie. may you and yours have at least one good frolic. maybe Becca and Sherlock will turn up. he must be a big lad by now.

Phew! Glad that worked. Thank goodness for horsduvors.

Hope you and JB have a great weekend, too, my friend.

If I've got it right, Becca and Sherlock will indeed turn up tomorrow, as we have a block party going on, followed by some unusual Young Chicago Authors/Red Moon Theater (giant puppets, often) event tomorrow night. Sherlock is a big lad at heart, although his physique remains diminutive. He looks quite healthy and Ewok-like now, in contrast to the pic we kept of him on his first day after rescue by Miss Becca. You wouldn't know that scrawny piece of gristle was the the same dog. She has done a wonderful job of taking care of him.

Hi Joe- Daisy Cutter, please! I forgot to tell you, we stopped at another pub, last Saturday, in Rosemont, (across from the HofBrau Haus) and they had Daisy Cutter on tap. So we ordered 4 of them, pronto. Yum!
Excellent review of The Telling Room. Big Thumb! Sounds like a winner. Glad you are enjoying Montana 1948. I think it's a modern classic.

Just came from thumbing that terrific review Joe. The author was interviewed this morning on NPR (On Point if you want to look for it) and I decided then I wanted to read the book and then I sign onto LT and see your review. Seems like I must be destined to read this one.

I'm actually closing in on the last few pages of Miss Mapp and it's just as delightful as Queen Lucia so I can't wait to get to the next one where they will no doubt butt heads. Oh no I just checked and I don't think they meet up for a couple more books. Great fun anyway:)

Thanks, Ellie, for the link to the nessun dorma by sweet Aretha! What a performance, brought shivers to me, and tears to my eyes.

Joe, your cafe never ever ceases to amaze! Happy weekend! Happy new year!

Don't refrain from punning Joe - great fun, always.
Have a wonderful weekend dear chap. All this curry talk had me tuck into a Chicked Chettinad myself yesterday. It was spicy beyond belief and served up and eaten prior to my liquid refreshment. I had an ice cold tonic water and the quinine came in handy to soak away the sting.

>205 PaulCranswick: Gasp! That fish head looks ready to strike the first person who sticks a fork into it. Thanks, but nooooo thanks.

Great review of The Telling Room, Joe!

#238 Some time I need to read me some Mapp and Lucia. - I've just succumbed to this series as well and really enjoyed it.

Terrific review of The Telling Room, Joe. Another book bullit!
Have a good weekend.

>241 msf59: Daisy Cutter on tap! Whew, that does sound good, Mark. I've got some DC at home, but not on tap. Part of me wishes I had known, as we were in Rosemont last week for that surprise birthday party, but I wouldn't have been able to break away for a brewski anyway. Another time.

Glad you liked that review of The Telling Room. The guy can write, and what stories he has to tell. He also wrote Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain, which sounds offbeat and intriguing, too.

Montana 1948 was as good as advertised. Not at all what I expected, and very well done. Thanks for the rec! Not sure how to review it and avoid spoilers, but I'll try to think of something.

>242 brenzi: Thanks, Bonnie. Yes, it sounds like the stars are definitely aligning for you to read this one! I'll look for that NPR interview. Was he entertaining? I imagine he would be. Actually, this is one where I'd be happy to try having his whole family over to visit. Maybe we can get them over for that big Lit Con gathering Caro suggested, with all our favorite characters. Ambrosio is another nonfiction character I'd like to add.

Good to know you're another Mapp and Lucia aficionado. Trying one is in my future. Miss Buncle's Book is next for me. Did you read that one?

>243 maggie1944: Hiya, Karen. Thanks! That 'Retha is remarkable, isn't she? I've got to revisit that video. I've seen it a couple of times, and it always gets me.

Happy new year to you, too, and I hope you have a great weekend!

>244 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. It'll feel like jobbing Richard to pun Paul, but okay, I'll do it. Hmm, let's think. How about this: A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

I suspect your tolerance for spicy is way higher than mine. I've worked my way up to handling fairly hot salsa, but I still break out in a sweat way before most folks. My guess is I'd need to pour some ice cold tonic and quinine over my head, not just drink it, if I had that spicy curry you're talking about.

Have a great weekend, too, mate. I'm enjoying all the Seamus Heaney talk and poems.

>245 kidzdoc: The good news is that even if you were tempted, Darryl, Caro got her fork in there before the rest of us could blink. I know, I expect to see that Paul's fish stew featured in some SyFy Channel movie soon. Fishheadnado? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but a lot of their titles don't.

Thanks re the review. A ten year labor of love that book was. I'm glad it seems to be doing well for him.

>246 SandDune: Good to know you like the Mapp and Lucia books, too, Rhian. Knowing nothing really in detail about the series, I'm getting a kind of P.G. Wodehouse vibe about it, only not so upper crust?

>247 wilkiec: Ah, thanks, Diana. Glad you liked the review. Hope you have a good weekend, too!

How about we start out the day on the sweet side, with cookie dough dip and waffle sticks for dipping?

I tried the first Louise Penny, Still Life and wasn't all that impressed. But I heard that wasn't her best one so I'm willing to try another.

I tried to look up gerthumminy and Google says it doesn't exist!

Meanwhile, I'll take some spinach mushroom quiche, sausage links and, yes, grits, please.

Seen on Twitter:

Next On TCM ‏@NextOnTCM 1m
FLIPPER (1963) Chuck Connors, Luke Halpin, Kathleen Maguire. Dir: James B. Clark 12:00 PM ET cc #adventure #TCM

ADVENTURE?! A tame dolphin saves the world? Thingz wuz differnt 50 years ago.

I remember seeing this at the drive-in....

>250 Morphidae: Darn it, Morphy, I was hoping to skate by with gerthumminy. Shakespeare made up words, so why can't we? I know, I know. "Joe, I served with Will Shakespeare. I knew Will Shakespeare. Will Shakespeare was a friend of mine. Joe, you're no Will Shakespeare."

Do give Three Pines another try. I'm not sure whether it will catch your fancy if the first one didn't, but it's worth giving it a go.

Vittles - we can do the quiche, and then I have to return to a darn meeting. We'll get you the rest asap.



CTA (cheffed to add):

A very silly movie but didn't it start the craziness about captive dolphins doing tricks for vacationing humans. I hope that trick dolphins are set free and seen no more similar to trick elephants and seals and monkeys. Animals should not have to perform tricks for their food and shelter. IMHO

That's a great way to start the day, Joe. This cafe does do food very well, indeed!

Happy Saturday, Meeting Man. I'm drooling over the quiche!

Morning, Joe! See how I just squeezed that in?! I loved your review of The Telling Room - thumb for you, sir! I already have that one on my giant list because of Kathleen's terrific review, but if I didn't, you've have gotten me.

Since I'm already here, I would like some chicken corn chowder and a tall glass on unsweetened iced tea, please.

>252 NarratorLady: Douglas Adams would probably say we don't have a clue as to how adventurous (and intelligent) them dolphins really are, Richard, right?

>253 jnwelch: Ah, drive-ins. They're few and far between these days, aren't they, Anne? We did manage to take our kids to one up in Northern Michigan, so at least they'd know what they're all about. (Finding Nemo and one of the Pirates in the Caribbean movies).

>254 maggie1944: See what you think of the additions per Morphy's order, Karen. I'm becoming more of a grits fan after the delicioso ones we had last weekend.

Hope we're helping you start the day a great way! I'll pass on your compliments to the chef and those laboring in the kitchen.

>255 richardderus: Happy Saturday, mon frere. Meetings are done, thank the goddess. I'll be skoodling out the door shortly. (Hope Morphy doesn't look that one up).

>256 Crazymamie: Morning, Mamie! Thank for the kind comment and thumb. Yes, I was so glad to see Kath's positive review. I had requested this one as an ER, but it took forever to get to me, and of course I didn't know whether it would be as good as it sounded. She pepped me right up about it.

All right, let's get you that sustenance. Here you go:

OK, the new cafe is open. Come on over!

I'll be skoodling out and home, so please enjoy the premises in my absence.