karenmarie's 75 Books Challenge for 2014 #1

Hooray! A nice new shiny group for 2014.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 12/5/13 1/3/14 ****
2. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton 12/30/13 1/3/14 ***1/2 484 pages
3. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer 1/3/14 1/12/14 **** 292 pages
4. The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly 1/12/14 1/14/14 **** 387 pages
5. The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston 1/14/14 1/19/14 ***1/2
1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies 1/19/14
6. Anansi Boys by Niel Gaiman 1/25/14 1/26/14 ****
7. Big Brother by Lionel Shriver 1/26/14 1/30/14 ****
8. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd 1/30/14 02/02/14 ***1/2
9. Sunshine by Robin McKinley 02/02/14 02/11/14 ****
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman 2/11/14 2/13/14 ****
11. The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton 2/13/14 2/19/14 ***1/2
12. Reamde by Neal Stephenson 2/20/14 3/9/14 ****1/2
13. Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson 3/9/14
14. If Kennedy Lived by Jeff Greenfield 3/13/14 3/15/14 ***1/2
15. The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey 3/15/14 3/20/14 ****
16. Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey 3/20/14 3/21/14 ****
17. The Summons by Peter Lovesey 3/21/14 3/25/14 ****
18. Bloodhounds by Peter Lovesey 3/25/14 3/29/14 ****
19. This is Water by David Foster Wallace 3/28/14 3/28/14 ****
20. Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb 3/29/14 4/1/14 **
21. One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson 4/1/14 4/6/14 ****
22. Upon a Dark Night by Peter Lovesey 4/7/14 4/12/14 ****
23. The Vault by Peter Lovesey 4/12/14 4/15/14 ****
24. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordo Dahlquist 4/15/14 4/23/14 ***
25. American Hippopotamus by Jon Mooallem 4/24/14 4/26/14 ****1/2
26. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 4/27/14 5/2/14 ***
27. The Source by James Michener 5/10/14 5/24/14 *****
28. Accused by Mark Gimenez 5/24/14 5/26/14 ***1/2
29. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King 6/5/14 6/8/14 ****
Sinai Tapestry by Edward Whittemore 6/9/14 abandoned 6/19/14
30. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver 6/20/14 6/23/14 ****1/2
31. By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman 6/21/14 6/29/14 ****
32. The Last Place by Laura Lippman 6/29/14 07/04/14 ****
33. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman 7/4/14 7/5/14 ****
34. Charm City by Laura Lippman 7/5/14 7/6/14 ****
35. Silkworm by Robert Galbraith 7/8/14 7/19/14 ****
36. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz 7/19/14 7/22/14 ****
37. The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters 7/22/14 7/27/14 ***1/2
38. Darwin's Blade by Dan Simmons 7/27/14 7/29/14 ****
39. The Gunslinger by Stephen King 7/29/14 8/3/14 ****

I ain't waitin'.

Well, Wilberforce Huguenot Stipplefather that's just fine with me! I'm happy to natter away, just won't post books read until I have finished one in 2014!

I got some exciting books for Christmas and hope to read all 6 in the new year:

Grimm's FairyTales with illustrations by Arthur Rackham
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal *mostly already read, but still have the Bobcats adventures, so it may make it into 2014!*
The Decipherment of Linear B by John Chadwick
This is Water by David Foster Wallace
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

Ooo ooo ooo the *real* Grimm's Fairy Tales! Coolness. The Rackhams alone will make it ubermegaultra.

Why waste a book on cats? I mean, of course they're plotting to kill you. They're breathing, aren't they?

And The Decipherment of Linear B sounds wonderful! It's amazing what human pattern-finding engrams can do, isn't it?

*smooch*

Daughter got me the first four books on the above list. I asked the Kingsolver and Linear B, but she got me Grimm and the cat book on her own. You'll have to forgive her for the cat book - we howled our way through Christmas morning with me reading out loud and showing most of the visual funnies.

*smoochies back*

But cats! *shudder* Cats! Shouldn't she be in some sort of rescue/recovery program for encattedness? There must be some way to stop the rot!

Ah, so that's what it is! Encatted. I'll look for the 12-step program.

In the meantime, we do dearly love the wussies. Santa brought them one can of Fancy Feast each, too. :)

*sends botulism cure whammy* The encattedness will be gone soon, dear, never you fret.

RD well and truly felined, book bullets by the bucketload.....I can see I'll have to keep a much better eye on your thread in 2014, Karen.

Hi Karen!

Thank you, RD! If it makes you feel better, then my job's done.

Hi Paul! Welcome and I look forward to becoming better acquainted. I've "seen" you around.

Hi wilkiec! Welcome.

I just want to report that I'm reading Alas, Babylon, a book bullet from darlin' RD, and think it's wonderful. I'll probably finish it before 2014 so it won't be on this thread. Such an excellent read so far! My Kindle is reporting that I'm 59% through the book. 41% to go. :)

I'm with you on getting a thread started but not posting books - just be careful not to call it an unofficial or non-thread. Apparently that's a slippery slope...

I read the original Grimm collection a few years ago and loved it. So gruesome and wicked!
And I love David Foster Wallace. He was a sweet, kind, and clearly brilliant person.

I enjoyed The Decipherment of Linear B, though I read it so long ago that I can't remember any of the details.

Hi scaifea! This is my Official First Thread of 2014, just to clarify. :)

I love the Grimm book, especially the Arthur Rackham illustrations. They set just the right tone.

I've only ever read David Foster Wallace's brilliant article about Roger Federer (being a serious Roger Federer fan):

Roger Federer as Religious Experience

and am enthralled with his writing. I'm looking forward to This is Water.

Hey _zoe_ - it's dense and challenging and so far I'm happily immersed.

A Saturday *smooch* for the Horrible

I have been wavering on purchasing Flight Behavior for months, so I look forward to seeing what you think of it!

Thanks, RD! Smooches are important and I always appreciate yours. :)

Cait86 - it's in anticipation of a July bookclub read, so you may end up reading it before me. I try not to read books for bookclub too far in advance of the meeting so I can (try to) speak intelligently about my thoughts and opinions.

With money from my mother for Christmas, I also just got via Amazon:

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

Yay. Books. Joy, rapture.

Karen - Wishing you the most wonderful of new years. Does your mother know that you've got her money?

Books. Joy, rapture - synonyms indeed.

Oh yes, Paul - we spoke on Christmas Day when we opened the card. My intentions of depositing the check before the end of December didn't work out though. I therefore fronted the money and will deposit the check tomorrow when I (unhappily) return to work.

W is for Wasted is a typical Kinsey Millhone; that is to say, lightweight and amusing with a good plot line and some comic relief with neighbor Henry and his nonagenarian siblings. We now also have Ed the cat.

Daughter returned safe and sound this morning after visiting friends for New Year's Eve and spending the night. She and husband are watching reruns of NCIS while waiting for football. I'm puttering around, still in jammies, and will relocate to the library to read after brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

Happy New Year to all my dear LT friends. Here's hoping that 2014 is a good year for us all.

Sounds like the perfect kind of morning to me! *smooch* Happy 2014, Horrible!

New Years day was meant to be spent in Jammies. I had to get the shirt and shorts on (don't forget the nights here are 90 per cent humidity and still 30 degrees centigrade) and take the tribe for Korean food. We had power trips throughout the barbeque beef part of the meal which was a bit hairy in truth. Back in the Jammies now as I wait for the 2nd to arrive.

Hi RD! Thanks, RD. I hope 2014 is a good year. So far no signs it won't be as long as MiL does well on her chemo and husband and I retain our jobs at our wildly dysfunctional, Italian-managed-therefore-crazy company.

Jammies indeed, Paul. Power trips throughout the bbq beef part..... intriguing.

2 days of work were okay. Heard that the previously-viewed-as-mild-mannered Plant Manager "barked" a "Shut-up" to a particularly irritating Italian Assembly Manager. I wish I'd been there. The Plant Manager (finally) asserted his authority over the iIAM and husband, who was in the meeting, said iIAM actually cowered. He hid out in his office up front in my area the rest of the day - I didn't know why he was there until husband told the story. Ha. Irritating little shit.

Two books started in 2013 and finished yesterday:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. 4 ½ stars. This is the culmination of a marathon re-listen of all 7 books starting last fall. I love them and re-listen to them every year and a half or so. I always hear something new. These are the audiobooks for the American audience – Jim Dale is the narrator.

2. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton. 3 ½ stars. The first 50 pages or so were good – catch up time with Kinsey – then it got a bit irritating as a second story line was introduced. Ultimately everything came together nicely. And although RD would disapprove, Ed the cat made an appearance as a new member of Henry’s household. Grafton tends to be a bit preachy about whatever thing is winding her up at the time – this round it’s the homeless – and some of it’s tedious. However, there is a particularly moving passage – no spoilers here – that brought tears to my eyes.

I am now deeply immersed in a fascinating book that I got for Christmas – The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. It’s a refreshing conceit – discuss a bygone era in present tense language and you bring it alive in a new way. It’s working for me.

Daughter works today – part time waitressing while on holiday break from college – so husband and I will probably go over there to eat and leave her a juicy tip…..

Christmas tree and decorations will come down today and tomorrow. We had a beautiful tree and have enjoyed it for 3 weeks – time to let it go. We have 8 acres of land, so will haul it down by the creek and let it decompose and give its nutrients to our land.

Karen, it is great fun when people we don't like at work get their comeuppance isn't it just?

One of my Project Managers is despised by the Indonesian workers on one of my project sites and I had to go to site last week to dissuade them from tearing him a new backside. He will be reassigned to a new project I have starting up the coast at a place called Cherating and very nice too.

Have a great weekend.

Hi Paul.

Sure is. It appeals to my base nature to revel in this.

Win-win situation - keeping your Project Manager and keeping your Indonesian workers happy.

We're girding our loins, so to speak, to take down Christmas. I fortified the family with homemade buttermilk biscuits and homemade chipped beef (homemade white sauce, that is - dried beef from a jar).

Bookclub is tonight. The book is Wool by Hugh Howey and I stopped reading it about 1/3 of the way in. It did not appeal to me. But I'll go to bookclub to meet with friends and listen to them discuss the book. I'll contribute my "I started it but didn't find it interesting enough to pursue, which surprised and disappointed me. I wanted to like it." I've been trying to think of what it was that made me put it down, but can only say that there was nothing there to grab on to.

Too many books, too little time to waste on something that turns into homework.

Wool was wooly. Heh.

So? Did you fall into the interdimensional vortex on the way back from book club?

Yay, I found you! The sugarcane farmers cut the field next to the new house while I watched bald eagles dive bomb for bunnies. Rough neighborhood.

Have a wonderful weekend, Karen!

Too many books, too little time to waste on something that turns into homework.

Hope you are not still doing homework and looks us all up for a happy weekend.

Hi RD! Wool was abandoned. Just couldn't get into it. The bookclub discussion was all the way from me disliking it and abandoning it to several people who swooned when they found that it was the first of a trilogy.

One time we were discussing Room by Emma Donoghue. I had disliked the "voice" of the little boy and had put it down. AFTER the discussion, which intrigued me, I borrowed the audiobook from a bookclub member and now consider it one of the better books I've read.

Not so with Wool. Ah well. No vortices, either, thank goodness.

Hi beeg! You've found me, now I need to find you. I'm interested in how the house is coming.

Hi Paul! As you can see from above, no homework for me. I've been lurking on your threads - fascinated with everything I read, but just skimming for now. When daughter goes back to school (see below) I think I'll have a chance to breathe and perhaps even say hi over there.

I am happily reading and close to finishing The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. The only tedious part has been the part about the various courts but I slogged through, looking for the reward of completing the book.

I'll probably be able to finish it this weekend. I do have a major project, though - our walk in pantry. Daughter considerately emptied it for me yesterday, which was no mean feat. Stuff on the breakfast room table, some on one kitchen counter, and all the non-food still in the pantry. I want a minimum of non-food items in there, so will have to first find new permanent homes (in our house, at the thrift store) for what's there. Then the food. The reward will be a clean pantry where I can find everything again. (Let's not mention the 3 containers of corn starch, 3 jars of (brace yourself, Richard) Miracle Whip, and 2 jars of horseradish.) I'll have to find big hunks of beef in the freezer to use the horseradish on. (We have a freezer full of beef - neighbor Larry raises Red Angus and we buy 1/2 or 1/4 of a cow periodically. Best beef ever.)

Daughter goes back to UNCW (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) tomorrow after a month off between semesters. I think she's a bit excited - we bought her books a while back and had them delivered here and each time one shows up she perks up considerably. She barely passed last semester (long story) but she did pass without being on academic probation, so we're happy. (This is so unlike me that I am still staggered that I have a child grateful for no academic probation. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and only had one C in 4 years. It's been a total shock, for all 20 years of her life, at how different she is from me.)

And, off this a.m. to mail 5 Bookmooch books. We'll probably go to the Post Office, take trash to the recycling center, eat lunch, then go food shopping. We do have to factor in 2 pro football games today and the possibility of husband and daughter (NOT me) going to see the 2nd hobbit movie.

I recently cleaned out and re-organized our pantry cupboard, too, and it's a great feeling to open that door and glory in the neatness and the holy-moly-I-can-find-what-I'm-looking-for factor, so I can completely relate. Happy organizing!

Ooo can I have the horseradish? I'm almost out. (I use it more than you do, it seems...bloodys, egg salad, ham sammies....)

Miracle Whip *gag* is necessary to keep around. After all, one needs to induce vomiting in emergencies and the very *sight* of the stuff will do it. In serious cases, there's also the smell. *shudder*

Hey scaifea - it's a good feeling that I won't experience today. We had a tornado go within 1000 yards of our house (no damage) but we have been without power for 3 1/2 hours. We have a generator that powers most of the house, but husband, in his wisdom, didn't power the kitchen lights or pantry lights when he set up the generator/power panel stuff. And, we replaced our gas-cooktop-electric-oven stove with an all-gas stove (see 2013 thread re the turkey locked in the oven) so I can bake and cook, just don't have overhead lights. I just baked some cheese wafers - had refrigerated rolls I made up 2 weeks ago and it is so satisfying to be able to bake with the power off.

RD - come on down! If you show up at my house I'll be glad to give you horseradish, in addition to smooches. I only use it for beef - prime rib, London broil. Perhaps I should broaden my horseradish horizons.

Hmmmm.... and also put the Miracle Whip with the first aid kit.

Back to the Seahawks/Saints game. Power company is saying 1 hour more..... but I don't believe them.

Blessings on the generator! Try a dab of horseradish on a plain ham sammy sometime. No mustard, just mayo (if you use it) and a spot of horseradish spread on one slice of bread. Extra nummers with sweet honey ham.

*smooch*

Karen, I don't know how I've missed you this long, but you sound as though you had a joyful Christmas, and I wish you an equally joyful 2014!
I think that the storms have passed us by - relieved to hear that you were unnoticed by the tornado. This weather is just too weird. 70-something today; 20-something last Tuesday. I wish I were cooking with gas --- and I hear thunder in the west, so here we go again.
Mmmmm - horseradish - mmmmmm - horseradish whipped into whipping cream for the beef.

Yesterday went seriously down the toilet. By 7 p.m. we hadn't gotten commercial power back AND at that point something in the generator went ka-thwack and although the generator was still running, no power was coming to the house. It's not the lines to the house - husband proved that by trying to connect a lamp at the generator and it wouldn't come on. Remember that the house was a disaster – the pantry emptied and the contents all over the kitchen. Total chaos reigned when we need it to be neat and organized.

Daughter and I played Yahtzee by candle light and lamp light. She and I were in bed by 9 or so, husband was going to stay up til the power came back on. I woke up at 1:15 a.m. and realized that the power was on and that husband went to bed before it came back on. I didn't know all the circuits to flip back from generator (we left them on generator so there would be no surges to appliances as the power came back), so woke him up. Got everything going, went back to bed.

This week we'll have to see if we can find someone to evaluate and (hopefully) fix a 14-year old propane generator. If not, it will be the third major purchase in 2 months.

On a happier front, I finished The Time Traveler' Guide to Medieval England. Here's my review: Time Traveler's Guide

I think I'll switch to romance - err, fiction - and start The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly.

I hope you enjoy The Decipherment of Linear B, Karen. I read it a couple of years ago and found it interesting (but then, I am weird that way.)

Glad the power is back on for you!

Hi Stasia! Weird the same way - I loved it.

Yes, it's nice to have coffee, light, a radio, my computer, and be able to some of daughter's laundry. She returns to UNCW today and she couldn't get laundry done yesterday. She's still asleep, so although I'd normally leave it to her, I'm starting it because I think she is going to leave mid-day.

Good!

I took Catey back to school the other day, so I can relate :)

Oh no! Sorry to hear about all the power troubles, but happy that it's back on! We need to get a generator at some point, I think...

Yup, start of a new semester for the kidlets. Good luck to Catey.

The generator has been a life-safer for 13 years..... being as how husband doesn't get it serviced (but does religiously start it every month and let it run for a while) it is not a terrible surprise that something has broken.

Let's hope it's not expensive.

Anybody building a new home should definitely have a generator built in with automatic cut-over. We put ours in 3 years after we built our house and did a pretty good job, all things considered.

The pantry is coming along.

The pantry gets an A+. There's still crap on counters, but it's mostly found Tupperware that needs to be put up and a box of things (heavily reduced by daughter taking things back to her apartment) to go to the thrift store.

I just finished The Gods of Guilt, the newest entry into the Lincoln Lawyer franchise by Michael Connelly. Excellent book. In fact, I woke up at 1:30 because of caffeine and sugar (tea and chocolate earlier in the evening) and had to stay up to finish it. I'll pay for this tomorrow......

Now to find a new book.

WooHoo for organized pantries!

*raises hand* one of the things (after a pool) I insisted on was a generator hard wired to the house.

WooHoo indeed, scaifea! Rapture.

beeg - good for you! You will appreciate it for as long as you are in the house.

I am now reading a very very weird and charming book called The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston, recommended by my dear friend SomeGuyInVirginia. Thank you, (I think), Larry.

Review upgethumbed, Horrible smooched, thread left.

Thank you, RD! I write very few reviews anymore. It was fun to write and nice to upgethumbed.

Long day at work - tired. I'm already in my jammies. I'm going to eat some rotisserie chicken, watch Torchwood with husband, read, and sleep.

I had a wonderful experience the other day after going to the dentist. Of course anything not painful or life-threatening is a wonderful experience after going to the dentist in my opinion. On the way home I rewarded myself by going to the thrift store and buying

A Still Small Voice by John Reed
Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Valis by Philip K. Dick

Excellent haul I thought, then decided to stop at McIntyre's Fine Books and Bookends in Fearrington Village, also on the way home.

I limited myself to one book - 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered America by Gavin Menzies. I've been carrying around a gift card to McIntyre's for as long as I can remember, always thinking I'd used it down to a nubbin. I asked them to see how much was on it. It was deactivated - so I told them to throw it away. But they checked in their files and discovered that it had ONE HUNRED DOLLARS on it! It was from 10 years ago. Imagine that. I'm so glad I just didn't throw it away.

So, of course, that opened up new possibilities and I bought

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
One Summer America 1927 by Bill Bryson

I thanked husband profusely when I got home, because it must have been he who got it for me. And I still have $36 left.

Hoo-yah.

Now there is the stuff that dreams were made of. $100 of credit on a bookcard you didn't know about. I could not have left the store with it still not used up. How long will you hold out.

Karen, have a lovely weekend.

Dreams indeed. I wish I had a pic of my face when they told me I had $100. Probably a combination of disbelief and ecstasy. They could have lost 10-year old records, they could have lied and I wouldn't have known the difference.

I will probably order The Serialist by David Gordon from them. It is the original reason I went into McIntyre’s after hearing Gordon talk about the book on NPR and being charmed.

The weekend is pretty good so far. Daughter is back home because of Martin Luther King holiday weekend, which is good. We had 4 more textbooks that had not arrived before she left for school, so now she can carry them back and I don’t have to package them and mail them.

We’ve been watching the Aussie Open and are happy that Roger is still in and on the hunt and that Ivanovic beat Serena Williams even though Williams is an American and we tend to want the Americans to win. Williams has lost our respect over the years because of her poor sportsmanship and downright scariness (US Open threats to line judge). She did give Ivanovic credit today after saying she was considering dropping out (NOT!) because of back problems. This is the woman who beat on her calf to relieve a leg cramp at a previous Aussie Open and came back to win the match. Nope. No dropping out for Serena once she’s in a tournament unless she were to break something, so she lied. But she did say Ivanovic played wonderful tennis, which is something.

I’m going to finish putting things up from the Great Pantry Cleanout (see above), finish a beef stew simmering on the hob, and possibly go to a different local used bookstore to see if they have anything else by Charlie Huston. I am almost finished with and absolutely love The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death. I want more and this bookstore is open today, unusual for a small business in the US South on a Sunday.

Never mind that I bought 7 books on Tuesday and have 1,406 books tagged TBR. I probably need to clean out some shelves…..

I am thrilled even for purely masculine reasons to see Ivanovic advance. Wonderfully good looking, I would like her to go all the way......at the tennis too.

Ooooh you! She is sexy, even from my purely heterosexual viewpoint. And I have definite confirmation that a lesbian friend finds her sexy in the way you do......

And speaking of Torchwood (see #47 above), even though he's as gay as the day is long, I find John Barrowman absolutely luscious.

I just finished the extremely strange and strangely satisfying The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston. It took a lot of getting used to because of both the conversational style and conceit of starting a conversation with a hyphen instead of surrounding it with double quotes. The protagonist, Web, was endearing and his story unfolded in a satisfactory manner. I'll definitely look for more by this author.

Now to find another book! Always a fun task.

I've started two books: 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies. I think I left it at work yesterday, so I started Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

Both are very satisfying reads so far.

$100!! You lucky thing, you!

Yes indeed, lucky. I STILL have the $36. I have gone by McIntyre's one time since that wonderful Tuesday, but resisted.

Silly me, shouldn't have resisted, but until something absolutely screams at me I'll hold off.

Anticipation is half the pleasure.

I devoured Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman in 2 days. I adored it, as I had American Gods. Funny, strange, flows beautifully. I simply must find more by Mr. Gaiman.

My MiL gave me Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. I've started it and it reads as easily as We Need to Talk About Kevin by the same author.

I've taken a vacation day, today. Until 11 a.m. it's a vacation day, then it becomes a take MiL to her first radiation treatment at the oncology center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill day. The 3rd round of chemo wasn't working any more on the lung cancer. So yesterday she had several tests - PET scan, MRI, and brain scan - to see how far things have started growing again.

Home again today, but this time it's because of the snow we got. I don't want to drive on frozen roads for 28 miles. (Un)fortunately, I can do some work from home. So I'm here in my jammies, drinking coffee, working on one computer and playing on this one. Occasionally I go into the living room to warm up. Even though we haven't lost power husband bought a kerosene heater and the living room is very very toasty. Here, in the sunroom, not so toasty, but I don't have to listen to the TV. :)

Loving Big Brother. I find Lionel Shriver very readable.

Once again, Lionel Shriver zaps you. We Need to Talk About Kevin had a "You've got to be kidding me" moment. So does Big Brother, and I loved it. Her writing is intelligent, challenging, funny, and kept me riveted.

More by Lionel, please.

I've started the new Ian Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd. It's very enjoyable. How many books can you read that talk about hammer-beam roofs? So many interesting things, in addition to a very good mystery.

Karen - $36 still intact? You have an amazing willpower. Hope your MIL starts responding to treatment.

Smoochling, the package has at last gone out again. Long, annoying story. I will spare you in deference to *whammy*ing MIL's radiation treatments.

Thank you, Paul and RD! MiL starts treatments this week, I think - she had a CT scan hooked up to the radiation design software - I'd never heard of this before - to help design the radiation beams. The results of that, which was on Friday, will determine when it starts and whether it's 3 weeks or 5-6 weeks.

$36 is still intact. In addition, I have a $10 gift certificate to Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh NC from 2001 - I actually keep losing it. $46 for books. I have over 1400 on my shelves flagged tbr so I'm not hurting for books, but I do always buy lots of new ones - not usually retail. I've said somewhere else that I want The Serialist by David Gordon. I guess I'll get McIntyre's to order it for me.

Back to work. Grumble. Working for Marelli is like a day without sunshine.

Which I'm reading, by the way - Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I just started it so the jury's out.

Yay new book from RichardDear!!! Fun to look forward to.

I really loved Sunshine. The narrator is engaging, thoughtful, and the story is very good. So glad I bookmooched this book.

We're in the middle of a snowstorm - 4" so far with ice on the way - expecting power to go out and our generator is offline because of a capacitor. Not looking forward to kerosene heaters and no electronics, but at least we can cook and bake (gas stove and oven) and I can read.

It's sure purty, though.

I hope the power's back on by now...*smooch*

So far we haven't lost power. 8" of snow, a thin coating of ice. It's supposed to get down to 23F tonight, so things will definitely be nasty in the morning.

Made a great meatloaf, have been working and watching Doctor Who. In my jammies. What a nice way to spend a forced day at home.

Checking in on you and glad to see that you still have power. So do we, and I very much hope we'll get through the night unscathed. We had some melting today with only an hour of more snow added on. I loved watching it fall, and I'll LOVE watching it gone. (We're also eating meatloaf. Must be a snow thing.)

Hi Peggy! Didn't lose power at all. Totally Amazing and Unexpected. Glad you didn't lose power either. Strangely, daughter still doesn't have power in Wilmington - this is almost 48 hours now - from the ice that hit there. She's hanging in there but very disoriented. She's never been on her own without power, always at home with mom and dad and the generator and woodstove. At least she's on the 2nd floor of her apartment building, and it's still in the low 60s in there. She's bundling up.

We're going to have meatloaf for dinner tonight, unless we swing by our favorite local place, Virlie's, and let Charlene and her crew feed us.

We'll be going into work late - have black ice on our drive and live 3 roads off Hwy 64 between Siler City and Pittsboro. Don't want to do any more slippy-sliding than we have to. Work, characteristically, sent an e-mail telling people that today is a normal work day and we're expected there at 8 a.m. They can shove that. We'll probably get there between 9:30 and 10, since it's already 32 and we can probably leave between 9 and 9:30.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was a joy. Gaiman's language and perceptions made me wish I still had the emotional grit to underline/highlight a book - there were wonderful things on so many pages. But, I refrained.....

In a way it reminded me of one of the Doctor Who episodes we just watched - aliens just wanting to survive and "be happy", as we all do. The motivations were not evil per se, just selfishly wanting survival.

I've started a contemporary/historical fiction - The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton. It alternates chapters between Hugh, a graduate student, and Charles Darwin. Well written and I'm enjoying it.

Have a different response than you did to Ocean, but that's predictable. Have you ever read Mr. Darwin's Shooter? I read it BLT and liked it a lot. Might give that a whirl. Have fun at work! *smooch*

We should get t-shirts made that say "Wilberforce Huguenot Stipplefather and Horrible Almost Always Agree to Disagree"

*snort*

Haven't heard of or read Mr. Darwin's Shooter. That can certainly change.

Ooh, sounds wonderful. I Want It.

Heh! I'll order them soon. *smooch*

I so so recommend Mr. Darwin's Shooter come home with you. It's a pity, to me, that the book was overlooked in the 2009 Bicentennial, even though it's not strictly speaking a Darwin book. I myownself still want to see a movie made of it.

Hi RD!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton. It was speculative, clever, and only had a few too many deux ex machina moments where the plot was grinding audibly.

I learned a lot about Charles Darwin, quite a bit of it by going online after reading about someone or a tantalizing bit. The ending was a tad bit of a letdown, and the story of Hugh was handled pretty superficially given that it was the start and end of the book.

Onward and upward.

I started Larry's Party by Carol Shields, but accidentally took the wrong book upstairs to bed. I had taken Reamde by Neal Stephenson upstairs a couple of months ago, thinking to start it but didn't. Rather than go back downstairs to find Larry, I stayed upstairs and started reading about Richard.

I'm enthralled.

Today is husband's birthday - #58 - so got him cards, balloons, gag gifts, candy, a Beanie Baby Eagle, and $$. A bit hit. Then I made him breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast.

We're heading off to Garden City Beach, SC, to stay at a cousin's beach house until Sunday. Daughter will join us tomorrow afternoon after a mid-term. Both husband and daughter are sick, but we're hoping the sea air and relaxation will help.

Me? I've got books, my cell phone, and my work computer (not planning on working, but can get to the internet for fun stuff).

Ta-da! Win win win! *smooch* for a happy vaca!

Thanks, RD! We had a wonderful time. Daughter had to get back to school for Pep Band at the Women's Basketball game by 1 p.m. so she left around 10:45 a.m. - which they won - huge unusualness for them to win. We just got home about half an hour ago. Her journey is 1 1/2 hours, ours is about 3 1/2 hours.

Reamde continues to enthrall. It's not a casual read by any means if you really want to stay on top of things.

I've been preoccupied and distressed - my mother-in-law went into the hospital on February 12th and ended up passing away there Monday March 3rd. I'm just so very tired - I visited her a lot the second week she was there. She had stage IV lung cancer and so we knew the end would be sooner than later, but she was getting radiation and we thought that would shrink the tumor for a while so she could delay another round of chemo. Even as recently as a week and a half ago we thought she'd be able to move to skilled nursing then back to her apartment, but it wasn't to be.

The funeral is tomorrow.

I'm so sorry for your loss :(

Oh, I'm so sorry. We'll keep you in our prayers.

Thank you beeg and doc. I appreciate your posts.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Sending my best wishes.

Oh, no. I'm so sorry. I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts.

Thank you, SandDune and scaifea. The memorial service went well, lots of her friends were there and the church is beautiful. Kay was active in her church and that meant that the ministers knew her and loved her.

Now we just have to carry on without Kay. It's okay because I know that this is the way it's supposed to be, but now only my mother stands between me and being the eldest generation - a strange thought that each generation goes through, I'm sure. Or maybe not and I'm totally weird.....

Last birthday, last Thanksgiving, last Christmas.... all were last year. I anticipated more chances for family get togethers with Kay. And August 3rd will be hard - daughter shared her birthday with her "Kayma".

Husband, daughter, and I went out today to pick up a prescription for husband, eat lunch (daughter craved Chinese), buy me a new ironing board, and fill up my gas tank. We had a good laugh at lunch because college mascots got mentioned during conversation about daughter being at UNCW. My college alma mater, Pepperdine University's original mascot Dolores the cherub naturally became the "butt" of jokes (she's a naked baby holding a towel, no lie) and I was pleased that daughter was able to be amused for a while. In addition to her grandmother passing away on Monday, a friend of hers in his 20s died Wednesday. Unexpectedly, and I'm afraid either drug and/or alcohol related. He was celebrating his birthday...... you can probably get the picture although I'm not actively trying to find out to avoid upsetting daughter more. This double whammy has been devastating to her. Spring break, too. Sigh.

I'm still happily slogging through Reamde by Neal Stephenson. My Kindle tells me that I'm 92% through. Husband is staying home from work tomorrow, I'm going in.

I finished Reamde and gave it 4 1/2 stars - stunning. It was, to me. Two wonderful things about it - his characterizations were a visceral punch of recognition (well, perhaps not the jihadists.....) and his tearing a scene down into the most minute detail without causing loss of motor skills and asphyxia from boredom. Each set of characters - and they rotated in and out of each others' spheres with potentially confusing hysteria - played their roles flawlessly and seamlessly. The novel just worked for me. A joy to read. Perhaps Reamde worked for me because Richard is of my generation, but that doesn't explain my empathy with and caring about the two Chinese nationals, the Russian "consultant", the Hungarian hacker, the Eritrean-born-but-Iowa-raised Zula, the American Taliban as Richard's brother/wife/two sons are described, etc. Fun, fun, and more fun. Well-written fun. Unlike the devastatingly boring Snow Crash that I only actually finished in the mistaken belief one year that I would finish every book I started. It was the last one that I finished simply because I started it. There WERE about 30 pages in the middle with some genuinely astonishing philosophy that got my intellectual juices going, but other than that I absolutely couldn't relate to anything or anybody in it at all.

Now to start Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson. It's my choice for April bookclub meeting. Hope it's good. I never pre-read books I chose for bookclub unlike some of the other members. I want them to be a surprise. So far only one book I've chosen for bookclub was universally panned - When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro - but we had a great discussion of HOW we all disliked it. Truly one of the better discussions ever.

I'm just getting back to you, Karen. My sympathies to your whole family in the loss of your mother in law. We always hope for more time, I think, sometimes even when more time means more pain for the sick one. And I totally sympathize with your uneasiness as you look forward to being the oldest generation.
Now. I'm really glad that you enjoyed Reamde! I was one of the lucky ones who got a copy through ER, and I loved it all the way through. That was no surprise because Snow Crash blew me away back when I read it. I'll never reread it though as I can see that it became dated quickly. On the other hand, Reamde was pretty much pure fun, and I can see an old Liz having another whirl through the craziness.

Have you read Cryptonomicon, Horrible? It's a Kindle deal for $1.99 right now, and one of his best books.

AWFUL patch for The Daughter! Awful. So so sad about the death of someone so very young. All that potential just...*piff*

Sending smooches

Hi Peggy - thank you. I wanted the impossible. More time with no pain. Wasn't to be. I'm intrigued with how much I loved Reamde and hated Snow Crash. There aren't too many authors I can say that about.

RD - your info on Cryptonomicon came too late. Just saw it, zoomed over to Amazon, and it's already back up to $6.85 on Kindle. I think if I buy the hardcopy I get the Kindle edition free..... ?

Anyway, today is go to MiL's apartment with Aunt Ann and cousin Rebecca and start packing things. Kitchen things will come to my house to store for Rebecca's kids - my daughter already got all my OTHER MiL's stuff plus a bunch of mine and is fully outfitted. We'll also make decisions about Kay's clothes, books, and chatchkas and pack the hutch stuff for Aunt Ann. Except for a single bed, coffee table, end table or two, and some lamps that were hand-painted by Kay and Ann's mother, I have full choice of the furniture for daughter for the unfurnished apartment she and a friend are taking in August. We'll just have to get it to Wilmington in storage. We also get back all our family's pictures given over the last 23 years and all the pictures and other items relating to husband's dad's side of the family.

We'll also be reuniting a 1920s walnut/marble-topped side table with the one here at our house, also from husband's dad's side of the family.

Busy day, I'm really looking forward to spending time with Aunt Ann and Rebecca, even in the sad circumstances.

Vacation day! The only thing I needed to get done today for my peace of mind was arrange storage for furniture and a truck to move it and mission accomplished.

Reading, laundry, relaxing, etc.

I'm really enjoying the first Peter Diamond mystery - The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey.

Not liking Emotionally Weird at all. So far I don't like the protagonist OR her mother, the obstensible main relationship of the book. Sheesh.

Good for you, Karen. Hard job done!
I'll be interested to know how you rate Lovesey when you finish. I inherited several and haven't read even one.

Hi Peggy!

Just finished it about 5 minutes ago and loved it. Textured, well-written, lots of turns and twists. Starting off with the naked body in the lake, to the final moving conversation.

Good stuff indeed. I still have most of my day off left, and I just pulled the second Diamond, Diamond Solitaire, off my shelves.

I got 8 books by Peter Lovesey at the Friends of the Library Sale last September. Yay.

>89 karenmarie: Eight! Well, you're set for, hmmmm lemme see here, ten days or so.

*smooch*

*smooch* back, RD! I'm way behind on my reading this year for a variety of reasons - two being that it took me 17 days to read Reamde by Neal Stephenson plus I had to spend time picking my March Madness bracket. I usually beat husband who is a serious college hoops fan - it drives him crazy that I pick on team mascots, colors, and whatever mood I'm in. :)

I'm already about 80 pages into the 2nd Peter Diamond and loving it too.

Today was absolutely gorgeous. Sat outside on the front porch for a while reading.

I remember fondly those Peter Diamond books too, Karen.

Good escapist stuff at a time when that is the genre you probably need the most. Hope you and yours are coming to terms with things and not counting off the generations too quickly! It is well observed though how our attitudes towards most things and especially our position in the wider family group changes as we rise up its seniority. I like imparting advice to the younger members of the family although I spend at least as much time wishing I was their ages again. xx

Hi Paul! I am on a Peter Diamond roll. I absolutely love these books. So well written, so clever and satisfying.

On to number 4, Bloodhounds. Screamed through Diamond Solitaire, couldn't wait for The Summons to arrive in paper so downloaded it to the Kindle, and just finished it. A bit of insomnia, don't know why - the chocolate chips in the chocolate chip ice cream should haven't given me a caffeine problem..... ah well.

With Peter Diamond to read, I will only regret it tomorrow when I fall asleep at work to avoid terminal boredom from a meeting with an Indian ICT guy from Pulaski Tennessee, our local Indian ICT guy in Sanford North Carolina, our Logistics Manager from Italy, a production planner from up north somewhere, my husband the materials planner from Chapel Hill North Carolina, another materials planner from small-town-unspecified North Carolina, and the other materials planner newly-made-US citizen from Mexico. And my own personal nemesis since January of 2006, another programmer/analyst in my department from "down east" North Carolina. Joy! Rapture! I should be making so much more than I do to put up with this shit. :)

Off to read, sleep a couple of hours, then head off to one of the circles of hell. What's the one for work?

Forty-ninth and final, in the New Revised Old Inferno. *smooch*

Thank you, RD! I wasn't up to date on my NROI.

Smooches back. Off to #49 in about 30 minutes. Coffee is brewing, clothes are on a "refresh" cycle in the dryer. I'll be making some eggs in a few minutes.

Poor husband. He's going to get crucified today at work for a line shutdown that's not his fault. As much as I'm glad he has a white collar job, I so wish he didn't work at my company. I call it "my" company because I'm coming up on 19 years and husband's been there 1 1/2 years..... Even when I'm feeling good about work (an increasing rarity) husband's woes bring me down. And he has a much harder time at work than I do - has a psychotic Italian boss (the above-mentioned Logistics Manager from Italy). I can never get away from work, it seems.

Down to about 25 minutes...... off I go!

woot, The Long Way Home Louise Penny is coming out Aug 26th

Yay! I dearly love Gamache.

I forgot to mention that I (finally) read This is Water by David Foster Wallace. A very intriguing essay he wrote for a college commencement. An easy read but thought provoking. I had gotten this book for Christmas from a cousin.

One of the best things I have ever read is his newspaper article about Roger Federer in the NYT. Can't resist putting it here:

Roger Federer as Religious Experience

Last night was interesting - I keep my cell phone by my bed because I use it as an alarm but have (until now, perhaps) kept in silent mode from 10 - 5:30 a.m. I woke up at about 12:30 a.m. and looked at the cell phone for the time and saw 2 phone calls and 3 texts. All from work..... it was month end night and obviously something came up. But after midnight it's too late to "book" March business, so although I texted one of the people who called because she might have still been at work but wasn't, left the rest to face at 8 a.m.

I just finished Concealed in Death, the newest Eve Dallas by J.D. Robb and I was quite disappointed. No character development of the main characters, no real involvement of Roarke, many platitudes and re-hash of why Eve and Roarke are with each other and so happy. Only a couple of minutes of Sommerset and his acerbic wit, no interplay between Peabody and McNab. Double blech.

And, as always, off to find another book. Patiently waiting for Upon a Dark Night, next in the Peter Diamond series. It was supposed to be here by 8 p.m. tonight, but hasn't arrived yet. :(

Gotta find just the right book to read.....

And I found it! One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson. We've already discussed the Snyder/Gray "Dumbbell Murder", unsuccessful attempts to fly across the Atlantic, Lindbergh's pre-flight biography, the funding and building of the plane and now we're poised just before the flight, and Herbert Hoover's amazing relief efforts. I adore Bill Bryson's style and am so glad I picked this book.

Volunteered at the Friends of the Library Sale today for 3 hours after buying the following:

Kill Fee by Owen Laukkanen
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters Volume Two by Gordon Dahlquist
The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo
Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo = SCORE!!!!! British Copy
Dark Mirror by Barry Maitland
Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
The Elixir of Immortality by Gabi Gleichmann
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill = SCORE!!!!!
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Ivesey
Death Drop by B.M. Gill
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
All Facts Considered by Ken Malesky
My Point..... And I Do Have One by Ellen DeGeneres
Crossbones Yard by Kate Rhodes
Salinger by Introduced and Edited by Henry Anatole Grunwald
Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut

I'm very excited about them all.

Off to watch Foyle's War with husband. We love Foyle's War and can't say enough good things about this series. As always, it's something that's been on quite a while that we've just found.

Foyle's War on imdb.com

Foyle's War was a very good series indeed, and Honeysuckle Weeks has the best name in showbiz.

WHAT A HAUL!! Am officially vibrating with envy. *smooch* and don't kill the psych Italian. They *always* find the body.

Ah, why don't book sales like that ever happen here? We have them, but I can usually go in and come out without buying a thing. Good for you!
And another Foyle Fan here.

Wow, excellent finds at the book fair!

I recently checked out One Summer and uploaded it to my ipod, so I'm glad to hear that you like it!

Hallo, RD! Vibration noted. It's not worth killing the Italians, you're right.

I just love Honeysuckle Susan Weeks. It's her real name, too!

Peggy - you need to come to our sale. You live down east somewhere - come up for the Thursday! Our next one is in the fall. My friend Louise and I always get there at 7 a.m. to get our line-up tickets (and the dealers all cheat and come before 7 so that by the time we get there at 7 it's up to number 22 or so.... grumble) then we go out to breakfast and come back for the lineup and mad 9 a.m. dash. Louise then leaves within the hour and I usually stay til about 10:30 or 11, depending on how much my eyes are crossed and/or how much my feet hurt. I come back and volunteer as a cashier after I've gotten the haul home and gloated a bit.

Check out this website: Book Sales in NC You might be closer to some of the SC ones.....

There's a huge sale in Durham on April 30th..... our own Pittsboro sale is listed there too. Lots of book sales, large and small.

Hi scaifea - I'm absolutely loving One Summer: America, 1927. In it he mentions Frederick Lewis Allen, a social historian of the 20s and 30s - I have most of his books and find Bryson to be just as readable and interesting.

In the Notes on Sources and Further Reading section of the book, which I just finished about 20 minutes ago, is Bryson's statement "The most entertaining and briskly informative account of the period remains Only Yesterdayby Frederick Lewis Allen."

A nice circle for me.

And now for another book..... we're supposed to read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson for next month's bookclub meeting. We originally had the two Kate Atkinson books separated by 3 months. It's unusual but not unheard of for us to have two books by the same author, but scheduling made it necessary to put them back-to-back. I hope Life After Life is better than Emotionally Weird - which I abandoned and don't regret.

I think I'll read the next Peter Diamond book.

>104 karenmarie: FWIW, I liked Life After Life more after I read it than I did while I was reading it.

Many thanks for the booksale info!
And I probably liked *LaL* a little more while reading than Richard did, but it settles well.

Good to hear. I'll actually make the effort then. :)

I've written my resume, sent it to a couple of people for critiquing, and am lining up references. There might not be anything out there that's right, but I want to at least try. I work for a train-wreck of a company. This activity is making me feel good.

Damn sug, I'm sorry you're having a hard time. That sucks. If you can swing a jump, then jump. Here's how, kid.

Yesterday got even worse - because they want to manipulate expenses every month I found out two things: they won't let us cycle count the tool crib until they conduct a physical inventory of it - which was cancelled - because they don't want the losses/gains showing up, and they're trying to justify capitalizing coolant and labor expenses. Questionable at best. I am now officially embarrassed to work for the company I work for and don't respect any of the management at our division (except my boss, a brown-noser who never got us the raises he promised us for the successful implementation of SAP MM but doesn't do questionable things; and the corporate Director of Accounting who isn't involved directly in what's going on at our division. Her people manage AR and AP, but she's a stickler and would quit before doing something unethical or against GAAP. She even told me once that if she was still the plant controller, the general manager would have fired her because she wouldn't do some of the things he would have wanted her to do.).

So insomnia has struck. I finished Upon a Dark Night, the 5th Peter Diamond book and very satisfying indeed. I love this series. On to #6 - The Vault.

The books in this series are physically lovely - trade paperbacks with photos on the front covers that relate to the mystery within. They have a good heft to them and are a pleasure to read.

Sometimes Santa gotta get whacked, is all I'm sayin'.

Here too.

Yes indeed. Thanks for the PM too, good morale booster.

I decided to start reading The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist instead of the 6th Peter Diamond. This book just arrived in the mail. I found Volume II at the Friends of the Library Sale and now prefer to read series in order, so bought this used from Amazon. Yay.

Beautiful day. It will get to about 82F. Blue skies, spring has definitely arrived. Husband and I ran errands - new rake bought, trash taken to dump, off-road diesel bought for tractor, lunch eaten, food store run made - and now nothing we have to do the rest of the day. Yay.

Here's a video I found on Facebook this morning - made me laugh and these women are such good musicians!

Salut Salon Quartet

Great video - they make it look so easy.

They do, don't they, Familyhistorian?

They remind me a bit of one of my absolute favorite musicians of all time - Peter Schickele - in his role as the discoverer and performer of the music of P.D.Q. Bach. This is P.Q.Bach's Schleptet in E Flat Major:

Schleptet in five movements:

I. Molto Larghissimo - Allegro Boffo
II. Menuetto con brio ma senza Trio
III. Adagio Saccharino
IV. Yehudi Menuetto
V. Presto Hey Nonny Nonnio

I have most of the CDs, saw Peter Schickele perform the music of P.D.Q. Bach three times in L.A. years and years ago, and listen whenever I need a lift.

Last night I finally finished The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist. I thought it a tad long at 760 pages, figuring that it could have really been about oh.... 500 or so..... but kept reading because I was intrigued with the 3 protagonists Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang. There was a high ick factor with strange medical stuff, but all in all thought it a good book.

I have started the interestingly titled American Hippopotamus by Jon Mooallem about the extremely strange idea of importing hippopotami into the swamps of the South to alleviate the Meat Shortage of the early 1900s. Really, you say? Really. Fun fun fun. Well written and interesting to boot.

Good grief, I don't know if I would be able to read almost 800 pages unless it was a classic. Or maybe not then, I still haven't read Moby-Dick.

>>Nope, I just read the first paragraph on Amazon and I would not have been able to read it. Have you read The Quincunx? That's about a bazillion pages but it's on my long list TBR. Which means I'll get to it sometime before I croak.

I'm so pleased that you liked American Hippopotamus too! I was and am bemused at the notion of hippos intentionally let loose in Louisiana's swamps....

I found the length of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters too big a hurdle, and never pursued the series.

wait, we have hippo's in Louisiana's swamp?!

Hi Larry - I have read and own The Quincunx by Charles Palliser. I refreshed my memory just now and can say with certainty that I read it, liked it well enough, can't remember a SINGLE thing about it, and never tried to get any more of Palliser's books.

Thanks, RD, for turning me on to American Hippopotamus. I can say with certainty that I now know how to spell hippopotamus. I was getting my a's confused with my o's.

American Hippopotamus is the story of two men at the opposite ends of the human spectrum, Frederick Burnham and Fritz Duquesne, but united in the idea of bringing the hippopotamus to the swamps of Louisiana as a food source to solve the Meat Shortage. Except for this one instance they were avowed enemies and I find their lives fascinating. I had never even heard of either man, and this brief foray into their lives and interesting historical anecdotes, made me want American Hippopotamus to be longer. Meaning it as a high compliment, Mr. Mooallem reminds me of Bill Bryson. I can read his books forever too.

beeg - no, we do not have hippopotami in the swamps of Louisiana. In some respects it is sad that we do not, because as Mr. Mooallem muses, it was type of thinking and American expansiveness that created a lot of the energy and synergy that has lead to America's dominant role in the world. It would never get traction now in any way, shape, or form, but it is charming that the idea was debated in Congress and seriously considered at some levels of government.

Off to find another book.

Karen, what a fun thread! I LOVE the quartet. Can't wait to get back home so I can retrieve my new password and share it there.
Never could finish Quincunx - not enough content for all those pages. You make me happy that the Peter Diamonds are so good. I love the covers too.
And I don't know many things more miserable than being in a seriously bad work environment. Best wishes for getting into something better soon.
P.D.Q. Bach ---- another great fan here --- The Seasonings!

Thanks, Peggy.

I've been trying to think of fun things to offset the work situation. I've written my resume and am trying to finalize my references this weekend. Then I'll start some serious internet stuff in the evenings next week.....

And, on a sad note, our 16-year-old kitty has stopped eating and today's the day to go to kitty heaven. Sad. Coco Chanel Hengeveld. 1998-2014.

:(

Oh Karen, I am so sorry.

>123 karenmarie: I am so sad for your loss, and comforted by the tender kindness you're showing in easing Coco's journey.

Thanks beeg, Larry, RD. I've got tears in my eyes. Her end was peaceful, with me petting her. The vets we use are so wonderful, kind, and caring. Miss Coco is buried between the oak leaf hydrangea and one of our many varieties of hollies.

Gads. Only three kitties. Merlin, female, 17. Kitty William, male, 15. Inara Starbuck, female, 8.

North Carolina Kitties
RIP Coco Chanel (1998-2014)
RIP Magic the Puppy Cat (1996-2012)
RIP Imsai "Ai-yai" (1981-1997)

Well, you're a real Southerner now; you're burying your loved ones out back. Putting Coco to sleep was the loving thing to do.

I'm so sorry about your cat, Karen. It's never easy to say goodbye to our pets.

My 23rd anniversary was yesterday and I buried my cat in the yard, so I guess I DO qualify as a real Southerner.

Thanks, scaifea. It was hard. I keep rounding the corner in the hall waiting to see her sitting on "her" blanket near the water dish.

Yesterday I cleared the weeds out of the 4' x 16' raised fenced bed in anticipation of planting a summer garden. This year I'm going to confound the damned groundhogs and deer by planting the beans inside one of my old 5' tomato cages inside the fencing. Only 3 tomatoes, also inside tomato cages inside the fencing, and some burpless burpless cucumbers, peppers, and a few giant sunflowers in the corners.

Off to get ready for the Nightmare on Nash, in other words, work. Although I did fix a potential problem with feeding data to SAP PM and so the pressure's less there. Other than the psychotic hose beasts who manage our company, today might not be terrible.

My boss took Friday off saying he wasn't feeling well - I think a euphemism for looking for a job.....

And, finally, I started Life After Life by Kate Atkinson yesterday for Sunday's bookclub meeting. It's an interesting concept, and if you ask me in 5 minutes what I think of it it will be different than what I think right now. Can't quite get a handle on it.

The problem with reading books on a Kindle is that if there is an afterword or other verbiage, then the % read calculation is misleading. I was happily reading along, 94% of the book to go, when suddenly that was it. The end, but stuff after. It left me a tad unhappy, to tell the truth. So I guess I like the visual clues of getting to the end of a physical book more than I thought.

Sigh.

I've picked up 1421: The Year The Chinese Discovered America by Gavin Menzies again, starting back up about page 90 or so and moving happily along while I ate my egg-mushroom-cheese-pita-bread supper followed by a dish of ice cream. Yum. The book is very interesting

Joy to the weekend. We'll early vote tomorrow, and I'll probably buy vegetable plants for my summer garden. Plus all the normal errands, and lots of relaxing. I worked an extra 6 hours this week and I'm definitely feeling it. No money, of course, I'm salaried..... harrumph.

*grumble* on the no-extra-bucks front.

*smooch* for a tomatoey weekend!

More good wishes on finding better work SOON.
And I'm sorry about Coco. I don't know which is worse - to look for her or to think you see her and then it's just a pair of boots or something. Anyway, belated condolences.

I've gotten used to no extra bucks..... last raise was 1.5% in 2010, before that (an admittedly generous raise of) 5% in 2006. So 2 raises in 9 years. 7 raiseless years. Before that? Raises in every year from 1996 to 2005.

Tomatoey indeed - I want a German Johnson, a Better Boy, and a Sweet 100 Cherry. If I buy the 1 gallon size then I won't buy 6 of each and want to plant them all so I won't be a tomato plant killer. Then the garden gets too crowded and nothing grows right. Fewer is better. Bigger is better too.

Thanks, Peggy. I'm going to try to finalize a references page this weekend and my goal is to find 3 consulting firms to send my resume to next week.

Don't see Coco lurking in the corners and so far haven't mistaken her for anything. I drive by her grave 2 times a day - she's near the oak leaf hydrangea - and it actually gives me a good feeling knowing she's there and not just ..... gone.

My cat Imsai, who I brought from California when I married my husband, just went off into the woods when she was 16 1/2 years old and although we looked for her little kitty body we couldn't find her. Husband bought me a marble stone with her name and years, and Magic the Puppy Cat is buried under the Tulip tree with an old fish tank castle as a marker. Weird, me? Nah. :)

Book, book, need a book to take to bed. (no rude comments) 1421 just isn't Friday night after a long week at work reading material.

We just finished watching the last two episodes of the much-loved and lamented Firefly. We'll watch Serenity tomorrow. Joss is simply brilliant.

Gak! 1421 certainly isn't Friday night comfort reading. Did I mention that Michael Crichton wrote several thrillers under the name John Lang back int he 60s-early 70s? They've just been reissued. Just simple pulp thrillers but entertaining and lightning fast reads.

Hi Larry - there's a lot be said for entertaining and lightning fast reads. I've just started next month's bookclub read - The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif. A dense read so far, and it's long.

:(

I end up liking about 60% of bookclub reads, averaged since 1997. This year, out of 10 books I've liked 6, so I'm on target. After The Map of Love we'll read Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. Could be as high as 8 of 12, as low as 6 of 12.

I've never been able to stick with a book club because my experience is that people suggest books they think everyone ought to read, rather than books they'd enjoy. I shudder at the thought of 'important' novels. I find a lot of trade paperback fiction gak!-making. Maybe I ought to form the Cheesy Mysteries Book Club.

>138 karenmarie: Wow, that sounds like a fun group of ladies - *snork!*

You do much better to hang out with us

xoxo

We're looking forward to Doc Martin tonight...........just now seeing the first year. We came in at the beginning of the last year, so it's fun to see how things started.
I'd like to try a book club that actually discussed a book. I'm about to be asked to join my mother's, a thing I guess I'll do. Every year half the members "put in" a book and those are distributed one a month. I don't think anybody ever talks about them, and it's a good thing because they're of the Nicholas Sparks type. They did have Caleb's Crossing last year. I think it's more a monthly 20-women-get-together-for-lunch-and-chat group. My club is a "study" club. A program committee assigns a broad topic ("Music" next year), and each member does her own thing within that category. Last year was "National Parks" and I did mine on the Dry Tortugas and the Lincoln conspirators imprisoned there using Dr. Mudd's letters. I thought it was interesting anyway.
TMI

Oi! You haven't finished a book since 4/27? I don't believe it.

Thanks, RichardDear! Hugs and kisses are more than welcome.

Peggy - it sounds like two extremes - a book club of individuals working alone and a bookclub that doesn't discuss books. Our bookclub at least discusses the books - sometimes more than others - and everybody gets to express her opinion, even if it's only "I liked the book."

Larry. - I finished Life After Life on May 2nd. So it's ONLY been 11 days since I finished a book. This year is trending as a barely-75-books-finished year. And since I just started my umpteenth-reread of The Source by James Michener, it'll be a while before I post another book finished.

Off to bake cheese straws then go to work a bit early.

How many cheese straws are you baking??!!

Hi Larry - ended up baking a 2/3 of a double batch. The last roll is in the refrigerator, waiting to be baked.

Today, tomorrow, and Friday are vacation days and Monday is the holiday. 6 days off.

Yay.

No plans except to decompress, be alone in the house without the TV on, clean out closets and the sunroom, read, do a bit of job hunting.

I'm continuing with The Source by James Michener and it's as compelling as it ever was. Glad I'm giving it another go.

At 2:39 a.m. I finished The Source. I just couldn't NOT finish it once I got to within 100 pages of the ending. It still remains a masterpiece to me.

The present day story, taking place in 1964, seems less compelling than it did when I've read it other times but only a little bit. All the stories about how the artifacts got to the levels they did in Tell Makor are beautifully written, believable, heartbreaking and inspiring.

Whew.

On to something else - I'm supposed to read The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif but may not get it re-started, much less read, by our next bookclub meeting. So far I've read 7 of 11 books for this year's bookclub. Not bad for me.

Today we're having some friends of husband's over - I enjoy their company. I'll either make lemon chicken or pastitso. Once we get to the store I'll figure it out. They're bringing strawberries and pound cake for dessert.

It's a beautiful day - not a cloud in the clear blue sky. I think it's supposed to be around 78F with low humidity. Yay for low humidity.

For Peggy - daughter is staying at her apartment in Wilmington, taking 2 classes in each of the two summer sessions. Spring semester was pretty bad, mostly as a result of her grandmother passing away March 3rd and her dear friend Chiko passing away March 4th. She's had 4 close relatives and Chiko pass away since she started college and my straight-A Freshman Spring Semester student is no more. She would have stayed at her apartment regardless and found a job, but now she needs to bring her grades up. Sigh.

Off to coffee!!!

xoxo again...comfort re-read, quiet house, vacation = All Good

Umm. Enjoy your weekend. Either meal sounds like a winner to me, and I may have to make pastitso just because.
Bless your daughter. I hope that she has some engaging classes and finds enough beach time to put some distance between herself and all that pain.
I echo your YAY for low humidity. It's gorgeous here too!

Lemon chicken!! Lemon chicken!! Man that sounds good.

Re: daughter. Damn. I wish her and y'all the best.

Thanks, RD! I appreciate the message doubly because I know that typing isn't an easy thing for you right now.

Peggy - make pastitso. I did (sorry, Larry, see below). I made a double batch and it's even yummier left over after the cinnamon and nutmeg and parmesan-béchamel sauce have blended with the garlic, onions, meat, and tomato sauce. Plus hard cheese - I actually used mozzarella. The recipe I have isn't authentic, but it's pretty damned good.

Thanks for wishes for daughter. Double sigh. First summer session she's taking art history and pe. Both are very challenging, actually, but probably "easy" passes. It's so frustrating when I can't just fix things for her, but I have to let her make her own way, with whatever support she asks of us.

Larry - lemon chicken would have been last minute cooking on the stove, and pastitso got made earlier in the day, refrigerated, then baked for an hour. Easier for the lazy in me.

Had a nice time with Geoff and Diane. Husband did all the dishes after (he usually does, when we entertain) so the house is under control.

We're going to go to Lowe's today to get some ideas for the now-denuded area near the sunroom. Late frosts killed 3 15-year old bushes so we've emptied the entire area, which is shaped like a very fat comma wrapping around the sunroom. We might even try rhododendrons although husband admits to killing them at every other house he's ever owned. But, different area, different soil. Who knows? Just as long as whatever we put there does not block my view of the distant trees (all year round) and hills (winter only).

Then we might watch The Tudors, on Amazon streaming video. Prime = free. We're really enjoying it. If not, husband will watch whatever and I'll read. Then left over pastitso and salad for dinner. Then (more) Tudors.

And still another day off tomorrow!!!

Just finished a "legal thriller" - fun, not demanding, easy. Accused by Mark Gimenez. I'll look for more of his books.

Husband and I are being extremely lazy. All I've done except water the vegetable garden is eat and read and take a nap. Major laziness. Feels good.

I haven't finished it yet, but I'm reading Merlin's Furlong, by Gladys Mitchell and am really enjoying it. It reads like one of those dark Ealing comedies from the 50s/60s. I'd never heard of her before last week, but she's got a bunch of reprints for $1.99 on Amazon Kindle.

Best to your daughter, and I'll be keeping you both in my thoughts.

Hi Larry - I got the Kindle edition of Merlin's Furlong and am looking forward to reading it. :)(

Thanks, scaifea. I just want her to be happy and to not have to worry about her. (although I'm 60 and I know my 80-year-old mother still worries about me!)

Beautiful day, the vegetable garden is going crazy with all this nice hotness. Good tennis from the French Open, and no obligations until tomorrow night's bookclub meeting. Yay.

Yay for no haftas! Hotness = boo, when discussing the weather. *smooch*

I just *know* what you're doing...finding the perfect pom-poms to wave while shouting...encouragement...at your boy Djokovich this Sunday!

*skedaddles*

I thought you'd withdrawn to the Fortress of Solitude to find yourself and try that new burgundy.

Richard, you rat. Djokovic isn't my boy, but neither is Nadal. I was rooting for Djokovic but only to keep Nadal from chewing on the trophy, but Djerko just lost in the 4th set by being broken and double faulting it away. I CAN'T STAND WATCHING NADAL CHEW TROPHIES so here I am.

I am really liking the new Stephen King, Mr. Mercedes. After a shower and a visit with my neighbor Louise I'm going to read, play cell phone games, finish laundry, and study German. (I'm taking a continuing ed course at the local community college just for shits and giggles.)

This coming week is going to be tough. New Preventative Maintenance module being implemented. It's got my name on it and some things I've done really well, and some things are going to be baby steps at best. :(

Anybody need a programmer/analyst in central NC?

My vegetable garden is doing very well. I already have 2" green Celebrity tomatoes and some 2" cucumbers. The giant sunflowers are about 2 feet tall. Yay. Next year I might try a modified Three Sisters planting method with the pole beans climbing the sunflowers.... just a thought.

Do you like okra? There's a variety called "Eagle Pass" that grows 6'-7' and could support beans. The pods are *huge* and fry up a treat.

I finished Mr. Mercedes a couple of days ago, thank god now I can do other things.

Is Mr. Mercedes any good? I stopped halfway through Doctor Sleep, I just could not get into it. I like King's non-supernatural; fiction.

Hi RD! Late as this answer is, it is said with major emphasis - NO. I do not like okra. But perhaps I'll grow some next year to act as stalks to the beans. A good idea. The garden is doing well, although once again it's gotten out of hand. But I did put weed block down so it's just wild luxuriant vegetable growth, not wild luxuriant weed growth. Picked my first cherry tomato, and there are quite a few Celebrity and German Johnson tomatoes getting ready to turn red. The first batch of cucumbers is on its way to becoming pickles.

Hi beeg - I hope you liked it as much as I did. The last sentence was absolutely harrowing, wasn't it?

Yes, Larry, it's good. He brings in lots of characters and creates superb choreographies of actions, motives, and coincidences. Good stuff. Strangely, I have not yet read The Shining so it wouldn't make sense to read Doctor Sleep.

*********************************
So here I am 21 days after the last post.

More light reading, more stress, more depressed. Blech. Daughter is having problems with school, husband hates his work, I hate mine but am becoming reconciled to being a help desk drone. I guess if they want to pay me $XXK per year to NOT program any more but desk jockey security, system problems, and download spreadsheets, I need to internalize the attitude of laughing all the way to the bank.

On the up side I just had a birthday, am enjoying World Cup Soccer, and it's dead center in the middle of Wimbledon and Roger's through to the second week. I've also found a new mystery series that after one book is very good - Tess Monaghan by Laura Lippman.

Tomorrow is the last class of a continuing education Introduction to German course, which was fun if a bit less than productive as far as actually speaking the language goes. But I have a good start on it and may actually pursue it on my own.

And, in honor of my 61st Birthday (which was last week), I am making a from-scratch German Chocolate cake - not at all related to my German class, but my all-time favorite cake. I make one every year for my birthday - I like making my own birthday cake because I get exactly what I want, and bought all the stuff for it Friday. Yesterday was very busy with soccer, tennis, hair appointments, and making Rote Grutze (a dessert) to take to German class tomorrow, but today is GCC day. Eggs are getting to room temp and butter is softening.

And soccer. And continuing with pickles and sending daughter back to second summer session. She came home on my birthday with cards, candy, and presents, which was a treat. I feel like I'm sending her back to purgatory since she doesn't like school intrinsically like I did - she sees it as a means to an end but is having problems performing. Long story. We'll know by the end of summer if she stays in school or doesn't. :(

Nobody warns you when you have a child that it doesn't stop when they are 18. I thought she'd be like me - love school, perform well in college, start her life easily. I essentially relegated Mom and Dad to visit-three-times-per-year Ha. And so many of my friends are having the same issues with their kids.

Doesn't stop when they're in their 30s either. Be warned.

BTW xoxoxo

I was afraid of that. .....

Thanks, darling Richard! *smooches and hugs* back

ditto on the 30's, happy birthday!

You mean I have to keep worrying about daughter for 10-20 years more? OMG. Heart-attack city, for sure. I want her happily graduated, employed, and either living with someone or actually married. Male or female, doesn't matter.

But the German Chocolate Cake is yummy. I had two pieces and am seriously full. No dinner, just cake.

Thanks, beeg. It was a happy day, indeed. 61 is not too painful and I just learned that you can take money out of your 401k after 59 1/2 without penalties. Not that there's a need right now, but still. Good to know.

Oh, happy birthday! The cake sounds lovely.

Thanks, scaifea! I packed up about half to take to work for the locusts and am looking forward to a piece after I get home from my final Introductory German class tonight. I made Rote Grutze (a dessert) and a poster board. People were mentioning power points, which I find terribly boring, actually, so I cannibalized one of daughter's old middle-school projects by covering it with poster board and making a nice visual overview of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany.

Yikes! Gotta get ready to go to work.

KAREN!!! I'll be waiting by the mailbox for my GCC to arrive. I'm totally on the same page as far as okra goes. Stuff is nasty.

I'm sorry you're depressed, that sucks. Here's to things looking up.

Now now now...pickled okra is fabOO and fried is edible. It's the stewed stuff that's urpsome.

And "Eagle Pass" is more of a sturdy, all natcherl beanpole in this instance, and who knows, maybe the okra will please a co-worker?

I don't even think of myself as mom anymore, I'm the "wallet" the worse part is watching the mistakes knowing the outcome and realizing she has to learn for herself.

Well, Larry, afraid the GCC got all et up. Took lots to work then added to the poundage on the hips the rest of the week. Being depressed does suck, but each day I manage to get out of bed and do the appropriate things. This, too, shall pass.

Picked okra... the mind boggles. Fried isn't horrible, it's just ..... meh. And stewed slimy okra brings on the shudders. But they are pretty plants, with pretty flowers, so might take you up on your suggestion for next year. Eagle Pass. Noted.

I'm sorry you're the wallet, beeg. We're fortunate so far in that there was and is a college fund so we're pretty expenseless for daughter right now. Of course, I did buy her some very cute Sanuks the other day for $60 and had Amazon be so kind as to deliver them to her in Wilmington..... and we did buy her early birthday present of a bike, helmet, and lock in May..... but day to day we don't do. The watching the mistakes and knowing she has to learn for herself is extremely painful. I know she's almost 21, she's responsible, but I want to FIX it and can't. I also look back at things I've done wrong with her and things I didn't do well and feel guilty. But she's loving and caring to us and will make her own way somehow. She just may be late bloomer like I was.

So I'm excited that Roger Federer is in the Gentlemen's Final at Wimbledon so we'll avidly watch that tomorrow morning. He does play Djerko, but grass is D's worst surface and it's Roger's best so perhaps we'll see another Roger Grand Slam.

The women play today - 6th seed Kvitova vs. 13 seed Bouchard. A very strange Women's tournament.

Met the new neighbors last night. They had a picnic at their house and all the neighbors were invited. They have a 5-year old and a 2-year old and had family visiting - 4 of them and 11 visiting! Nice, nice, people and an asset to the neighborhood. Plus, although we didn't get to talk in detail, she loves to read and is very excited about the 2 thrift stores, one used book store, and the excellent library in our little town.

I'm now reading the first Tess Monaghan mystery and really loving Laura Lippman's writing, characters, and plots. What's a little deus ex machina between friends, eh?

KAREN!!! If God wanted us to eat okra it would taste like GCC. Rather than like french kissing a dusty old man.

Sounds like way cool new neighbors.

Ooh, Larry, yumm. GCC bullets, little three-bite wonders. I do have cast iron corn stick pans. Wonder how GCC would cook up in them. Close to okra shape. Or cupcakes maybe... although I'm not fond of cupcakes anymore. I'll eat them if presented, but they are too tall. You can never get the right frosting to cake ratio unless you want to look like a total glutton and take huge bites. Cake with the right f-c ratio fits on a fork beautifully.

I still have left-over coconut-pecan frosting and chocolate frosting in the refrigerator. Husband doesn't like coconut, so when I make a GCC, I frost about 1/3 of it with regular chocolate frosting. I was actually thinking of making ANOTHER one today. Just to use up the frostings, of course, so as to not be wasteful. :)

Your dusty old man image is disturbing. I'm smiling. You're a genuine mess, Larry, in the best way.

Finished up Baltimore Blues, the first Tess Monaghan PI mystery. Good stuff. I'll put it on the shelf and immediately start Charm City, the second one.

Wimbledon Gentlemen's Final is this morning. My usual Roger charms paraphernalia a challenge - I can get to the signed photograph in the library because it's on the wall closest to the door, but Feder-bear and my two Wimbledon towels are inaccessible because we have MiL's bedroom and living room furniture stacked in the library for when daughter finishes up the furnished apartment and takes the unfurnished apartment in August. I figured that saving $110/month on air conditioned storage for 5 months was worth the inaccessibility of books and stuff. Now, with Roger in the final, I'm questioning that decision. (not really, but it sounds good. $550 is $550, after all.) Roger will just have to win without Feder-bear and my two Wimbledon towels. The signed photograph will have to be enough.

Coffee, Charm City, Roger Federer, AND the enticing possibility of more GCC. Maybe a few cherry tomatoes ready to pick, a few cucumbers. A good Sunday.

cut the cuppy in half and sandwich the frosting in the middle - frosting to cake ratio = 100%

Well. Nonplussed. Never, ever thought of that.

Thanks, beeg!!!

I won't be cruel and mention The Results.

*there there, pat pat*

Wah. 5 set loss. I had hope but it ended so quickly.

So I've made brownies and cheeseburger pie. Too lazy to make GCC.

Bookclub meeting is at my house on Sunday. We're going to be one member short so there will be 11 of us and here's the menu:

olives, pickles, spinach-artichoke dip with pita triangles

Cold Sesame Noodles with Shrimp
Fiesta Chicken Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
Tuna Salad - still deciding
Crackers, Bread
Wine

Vanilla Ice Cream
Peach-Berry Compote

Coffee

I'll have to hussle with everything, all weekend. We're leaving in about an hour to drive 1 1/4 hours to Duke Hospital to visit husband's friend Geoff who just had heart surgery - a valve replaced and a blockage fixed. He had a minor stroke during the surgery, so has some vision loss in the upper left quadrant of his right eye, but other than that is doing excellently.

Fortunately most of the food is make-ahead except for the dip and pita triangles, so I can watch the World Cup final tomorrow at 3 p.m. if I'm organized enough. The bookclub meeting starts at 7.

The book we're discussing is Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. I really enjoyed this book - good characters, vivid imagery, excellent story, beautiful writing. A teensy bit preachy, but that was predictable and is consistent with other books she's written. This is the last book of our bookclub year. Next month we'll pick the next 12 books (one book per member, non-negotiable to whatever book she wants), decide when that book will be read, and decide who will host the meeting. I liked 7 of the 12 books. We've been meeting since 1997 and I've liked about 60% of the books in that time. So this year is average.

For next year I'm leaning towards The All of It by Jeannette Haien or The Goldfinch by DonnaTartt for my book choice. Haven't read either yet, but I have both of them on my shelves.

I'm always floored by the good food you serve. I didn't know that cold sesame noodles could even survive outside a restaurant environment.

I am a hooge fan of Tartt's. Oh! That reminds me, I need to go by the lie-berry today. I wonder if they have an audio version of The Secret History. I'm lucky to live in an area with so many outstanding libraries. Two county libs, several colleges, lib of Congress. When I lived on the Hill I used to walk there and read books.

Let us know what books you guys decide on. I hope things are looking up for you, kiddo.

I want to be in YOUR book club! We simply offer dessert, and a GCC would be a big hit.
Belated happy birthday to you! Polly-Anna reminds you all that Purgatory is temporary....things will come right all around.
I enjoyed Flight Behavior too and The Goldfinch, but *Gf* come close to blowing me away. Now I'm off to research The All of It. Thanks, Karen.

The Goldfinch is a very good book, and a good read. It's VERY long. There's a lot to discuss and a great deal to enjoy in it.

Sending happy weekend smooches!

The food was a hit, Larry, and we had a wonderful time discussing Flight Behavior. Most of us agreed that it was good if a bit preachy. The Knitter huffed a lot as other opinions were expressed, then said she didn't like it - her right - but her main reason was that as a country woman, the heroine, Dellarobia, should have done country crafts, perhaps.... even knitting...... to alleviate the poverty. Our mother-of-4 accountant fired up immediately, saying that no matter how poor she would ever become, she would never do crafts and what a stereotype The Knitter was presenting to us, the craftsy country woman. It was amusing. The Slow Reader, who emanates dislike of The Knitter, emanated a lot, we all had a great time, and the dynamic was fun, predictable, and relaxing. We went over by 15 minutes, major for us, as quite a few of us have to be up by 5 or 5:30 and most live half an hour away. Good times.

You are lucky to be near so many lie-berries, Larry - especially the L of C.

Since The Bookstore Manager also was going to use The All of It as her book for next year, in a passing discussion on the way out the door, I've opted for The Goldfinch. Sometime after the August book-picking meeting, I'll report back our choices.

Thanks - things are not quite so bottom-of-the-birdcage and I'm trying to focus on the positive. Eating left over peach-berry compote on vanilla ice cream with whipped cream helps, too.....

Hi Peggy - thanks for the late B-day greetings. Our bookclub has evolved - it used to be dessert-type snackies, but all of a sudden it's turned into meals, which we all enjoy tremendously. Some of us just buy a whole bunch of stuff, and some of us cook everything from scratch. But there's always wine, and always dessert. Glad to hear your seal of approval for The Goldfinch.

RDear - seal of approval. Good. One fan of Tartt's and two seals of approval for The Goldfinch. The weekend ended up pleasantly.

This week has been tiring so far, but not bad. Lots of good reading of Silkworm, the second Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith, also known as J.K. Rowling. God, she is such a brilliant writer. Almost makes me weep. I finished Silkworm Saturday and it was a highly satisfactory read. A bit gruesome, but obviously not totally offputting.

Saturday was another cooking day – turkey meatloaf (no, really, it’s very, very good!), church rice (skillet pilaf), and honeydew-walnut salad with the same lime vinagraite as last Sunday’s bookclub salad.

I’m reading Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz – a very interesting little book. I’ve never read Koontz before, but a friend recommended it last week so I just had to get it….

So off to watch a little teevee with husband (the ever-mindless Covert Affairs) then more Odd Thomas.

Much rain and thunder and lightening starting yesterday evening and supposed to continue through Thursday. As long as we don't lose power, I don't mind.

I finally reviewed The Goldfinch...post #193.

Peach-berry compote with whipped cream AND niller ice cream. I'll be there in an hour. If I don't die from the drooling first.

*smooch* for better days!

Better days!

there is a movie out at Netflix of Odd Tomas, not too bad

I listened to the audio version of Odd Thomas last year and liked it. I'm also not a Koontz fan, at least not the way I'm a King fan.

The lie-berry has a copy of the audio version of The Secret History, but it's read by Tartt. Almost always a mistake to have the author read the audio version. I tried a sample and she's got a nice voice, though.

>184 LizzieD: Did I write that about The Goldfinch???? I must have been asleep - probably with wine added. I liked it O.K. I thought it was WAY too long, and I had problems with the writing. In fact, I would have liked it more had I simply read it as an entertainment without expecting anything in the way of literary excellence.

I started Mr. Mercedes last night.

I can't say Mercedes without pronouncing it 'MAR-say-deez', like I heard as a kid. So far, so good.

RD - where were you? Peach-berry compote is long gone, and only one tiny bowl of v-ice cream left. I'll wait to read your review - I usually don't read reviews of books I KNOW I'll read.

Thanks for the smooch for better days, and thanks to you too Larry.

Hi beeg - I'd like to see it - always love to read books first then see movies if possible. If you say it's not too bad then I'm interested.

Larry - I've read The Little Friend but haven't read The Secret History. I very rarely enjoy listening to books read by women - sad, but there it is - so will probably put eyes to paper one of these days for The Secret History.

Wah, Peggy - "blowing me away" to "O.K." Damning with faint praise. Oh well, I still want to read it.

Larry - I hope you enjoy Mr. Mercedes. I devoured it and was entirely pleased.

Sad news - our 18-year old kitty, Merlin, has gone to kitty heaven.

This morning she didn't come out to eat breakfast and on my way out the door to work I found her huddled up by the kitty door trying to get in. She couldn't stand and when I put her in front of the food bowl she ignored it, turned around and fell down. I think she had a little stroke or something, and when I took her to the vet, they agreed that it was her time.

I'm so sad. We got her for our daughter, along with her litter-mate Magic, when daughter was 3. Now both kitties are gone.

I'm down to two kitties, 12-year old Kitty William who has vestibular disease, and 7-year old Inara Starbuck, who is, to my best knowledge, disease free.

At the height of kitty-dom, we had 5. Now 2.

I'm probably going to go to work in a bit - I just couldn't handle the idea when I came home from the vet with our sweet Merlin's body, but I'm doing enough work from home that it would be better to actually go there and have the resources I need to do it right.

Sigh.

Sadness.

Oh Karen, I am so sorry. You and yours are in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks, Larry. We buried her out behind the tiger grass, looking down the pasture towards the creek. It is a nice place. This morning was strange - only Kitty William yowling for food.

I ended up going to work, and until about 2:30 it was a huge mistake - couldn't concentrate at all. Then I found something absolutely mindless that needed to be done and worked on that - cut, paste, switch programs, paste, execute, cut, switch programs, paste. That took an hour and a half.

Michelle, a coworker, asked if I wanted some yellow squash - another coworker has a HUGE, in the country vegetable garden and brought her 2 20-pound bags of squash, just picked the night before. I had squash for dinner and it was sweet.

One thing I really miss about living in the country is all the great fresh produce. There's a lunch buffet place close to where I work and they have baked vegetables; I really like the squash.

Of course there's also Astro Doughnuts. We have a birf-dee party this afternoon and they're a staple; I've got creme brulee doughnuts on the brain.

I've eaten squash two nights in a row for dinner (along with left-over turkey meatloaf) and am saving the last 3 to make yellow-squash-instead-of-Zucchini Cake. With cream cheese frosting.

Astro Doughnuts sounds wonderful. I want one of the square ones. :)

Of course we have Sandra's in Sanford, they make adequate doughnuts. I prefer Dunkin' Donuts, but they aren't local. I always loved their Apple Fritters.

Maybe I'll head out a few minutes early and bring a dozen to work. Gotta get cream-cheese-frosted for 2 co-workers (blech on cream-cheese-frosted), glazed or chocolate for the AP folks, a non-apple fritter for self, and a few for those who wander through. If I can get organized enough to leave in 25 minutes.....

I do not know what's gotten into me, but I have decided to read The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I tried listening to it once, and remembered that listening to an author read her/his own book is a terrifying experience.

So far so good.

We'll see.

Aak! I know. Why do they think it's a good idea? I'm wrapping up Mr. Mercedes and, like you said, it's a lot of fun.

Oh, I'm late, but not too late to be sad that you lost your sweet Merlin. I'm sorry.

Hi Larry! Glad you like Mr. Mercedes so far. It's a fun, scary, easy read.

Hi Peggy. Thank you. I miss her. My 12-year old gray mackerel tabby, Kitty William, seems to be missing her desperately - he's charging around the house, jumping on things he doesn't normally jump on, and is unusually affectionate with us. It's not that he liked her - I think he just misses tormenting her. Without any signs that he's sick or hurt, he's acting very differently in the last little bit.

He's very restless. Like right now he's sitting to the left of my laptop on the desk, reaching down and rubbing my left hand, making it hard to type. Now he's gone over to the window and tried to attack the leaf caught in the spider web on the other side of the glass. And now he's walking along the window sills, looking out to the concrete. Strange. Plus he's pulling out more fur than usual.

Oops! Didn't notice the time. Off to work.

Another day, another dollar.

I loved the Gunslinger, course I'm an Uncle Stevie fan, not as wild for the second book. One of these days I plan to read them all back to back.

I'm still enjoying The Gunslinger. I have a 1988 copy with color plates of the illustrations. First Plume Printing. It's a physically enjoyable read in addition to being a good book. I plan on going to the second book when done, but being BADHD - book-ADHD - I may flit to something else.

Daughter turns 21 tomorrow. She's home for two weeks between apartment leases. She's dropped out of college and will return to Wilmington to look for work and try to cover her expenses. Needless to say I'm sad, but it's her life and I'm trying to be supportive and not let the disappointment and anger out. They won't help her. Sigh.

Today's errands, buying special birthday punch and birthday pie ingredients (don't know if she wants Lemon Meringue Pie or Pumpkin Pie - however, she may surprise me). We're going to go to Angus Barn in Raleigh for dinner - her annual birthday dinner request.

It's unseasonable cool here in central NC. It's supposed to rain all weekend. Overcast, dull.