lkernagh (Lori) embarks on a year of Books, Beads and other things in 2014 - 3rd Thread

Welcome to my third thread for 2014!

2014 marks my third year participating in this challenge. Just like last year (and the year before that!) the majority of my 2014 reading will be structured by the various challenges I plan to participate in this year - 2014 Category Challenge, ROOT-2014 Read Our Own Tomes as well as my ongoing commitment to Reading Through Time and working my way through the Commonwealth Challenge. I will be posting all of my book reviews over here (and in the groups where the reading fits). I like crafting and starting new hobbies so expect to find posts about the various project adventures I take on over the year, along with pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy for sharing.

75 books might be a bit of a challenge for me this year as I plan on reading a number of classics and joining in a couple of year long reads, but it's all those darn chunksters that either crest or complete sweep over the 1,000 page mark as part of my 2014 reading plans that just might be my downfall.... or sweep me out to sea. I do have a back-up plan to protect me from failing this challenge because of all those "wrist breaking" books: I will track both books read and pages read. I will consider this challenge to be successfully completed whichever comes first: 75 books read or 25,000 pages read.







Wish me luck.... I think I am going to need it!

My 2014 Category Challenge:

1."World Cuisine" - books set in or by authors from British Commonwealth member countries.
2. "Ye Olde Traditional Fare" - books published prior to 1901.
3. "Lunch to Go" - books that are cluttering up my TBR bookcase.
4. "Petit Fours" - books that make up a group - those series, sequels, prequels and trilogies.
5. "Two Can Dine" - books over 500 pages in length.
6. "Scottish Pub Fare" - Tartan noir books.
7. "Smorgasbord"- catchall category.

My 2014 Category Challenge reading (and food discussions) can be found here:

MY 2014 Reading Bingo Challenge:

I have decided to add to my reading challenges this year by attempting the Retreat by Random House Reading Bingo Challenge 2014. They are offering two bingo challenges this year: an original and a YA version. I have chosen to tackle the original card. Both cards for the Reading Bingo Challenge 2014 can be found HERE.



Wish me luck!

Reading BINGO 2014 books read:
B1 - Bleak House by Charles Dickens
B2 - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
B3 - Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi
B4 -
B5 -
I1 -
I2 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
I3 -
I4 - The Secrets of Casanova by Greg Michaels
I5 -
N1 - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père
N2 -
N3 - FREE SQUARE
N4 - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
N5 - Hotel Paradiso by Gregor Robinson (2000 pub date)
G1 - The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
G2 - This Innocent Corner by Peggy Herring
G3 - The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iian McChesney (Europe)
G4 -
G5 - The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris
O1 -
O2 - Always Love a Villain on San Juan Island by Sandy Francis Duncan and George Szanto
O3 -
O4 - The Innocent Mrs. Duff by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
O5 - Blue by George Elliott Clarke

Books Read:

JANUARY
#1 - Hotel Paradiso by Gregor Robinson -
#2 - The Gatekeeper of Lies by Anthony Bruce -
#3 - Always Love a Villain on San Juan Island by Sandy Francis Duncan and George Szanto -
#4 - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton -
#5 - The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iian McChesney -
#6 - This Innocent Corner by Peggy Herring -

FEBRUARY
#7 - The Innocent Mrs. Duff by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding -
#8 - The Conventionalists by Robert Hugh Benson -
#9 - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin -
#10 - Bleak House by Charles Dickens -

MARCH
#11 - The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley -
#12 - Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl by Kate McCafferty -
#13 - The Secrets of Casanova by Greg Michaels -
#14 - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père -
#15 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy -

Book Read:

APRIL
#16 - The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris -
#17 - Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi -
#18 - the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon -
#19 - Blue by George Elliott Clarke -
#20 - The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer -

MAY
#21 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard -
#22 - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen -

JUNE

Welcome to my Spring Thread, which is now open for business!

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread!

I completely forgot to tell you that I read The Innocent Mrs. Duff and really enjoyed it! It took about four hours, so it might not make it to review status since I liked but didn't adore it.

Lori, Happy New Thread!!! and

Lori, lovely to see your threads continuing to whizz along this year. You are way in front of your posting figures for last year (you have substantially more posts at the beginning of April than you had at the beginning of May last year).

Well deserved because your "place of business" is always an interesting and friendly place to be. xx

Happy New Thread, Lori - and Happy April!

Just droppin' a star, Lori : ).

Your Bingo Card is coming along Lori!

As always, I love the topper.

Happy new thread, Lori! I have a good number of those books in your thread topper on my shelves, as well :)

Happy new thread, Lori! Love your shelfie -- some great books there. I think I see a bingo, too!

Greetings Lori! Here's to a beautiful new thread and a wonderful Spring!

>7 foggidawn: - Thanks! No prize I am afraid.... I am not that organized, but I am super happy to see you here!

>8 richardderus: - Thanks RD! Glad to see The Innocent Mrs. Duff was a good quick read for you. I still wonder how close to real life the main character was.... he was quite the piece of work!

>9 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara!

>10 PaulCranswick: - Not quite whizzing at the speed of light or anything but I am quite happy with the pace of my threads and especially all of my lovely visitors! It is the visitors that really make the threads such a special place.

>11 scaifea: - Thanks Amber! And "Happy April" to you. Here is hoping that spring is heading your way!

>12 lit_chick: - Love that happy star!

>13 luvamystery65: - I know... it's rather a surprise to me, I don't mind admitting. At some point, the Bingo Challenge will become just that - a challenge - but for now, it seems to be cruising along nicely on its own momentum. No Bingo yet..... it is almost becoming a game to see how many squares on the game board I can fill before a "bingo" occurs! ;-)

>14 katiekrug: - Great reading minds have similar reading tastes... that is my theory anyways. Happy to see we have a number of similar books based on the thread topper pic. Of course, I had to showcase my Europa Editions in that pic...;-)

>15 AMQS: - Thanks Anne! I am close to a bingo for a couple of lines but no bingo yet, I am afraid.

>16 Carmenere: - Lynda... happy spring wishes to you!

----------------------------

Last night my other half and I engaged in entertainingly bad TV viewing. Anyone here remember the Gothic vampire soap opera series from the late 1960's - early 1970's called Dark Shadows? Not the recent movie remake starring Johnny Depp and crew but the original black and white TV series?



I remember watching re-runs of that show as after school TV viewing in my teens and loved it then so when I discovered that the local library has the complete collection on DVD for borrowing, I had to check out the first DVD for nostalgic purposes. My other half had never heard of Dark Shadows before last night and I have to say, I don't know what was more entertaining - watching the dated no special effects drama with a cheesy script that an actor can memorize in less than eight hours or my other half's running commentary of what he was watching on the screen. The show is so bad it is actually hilariously good. ;-)

Lovely spring weather today with indications that it will continue tomorrow so I have charged the batteries for my camera and tucked it into my purse for so spring photo opportunities. If I capture any snaps that are post worthy, I will post them here.

Angelique the (blonde) voodoo priestess! Quentin the werewolf with the mutton-chops! And brooding, beautiful Barnabas. There were mass-market paperback novels, too, quite some several written by the actress who played Angelique!

Dark Shadows was my high school best friend's favorite series--so funny. Just stopping by to check out your new thread--looks great!

Happy New Thread, Lori!
My mom wouldn't let me watch Dark Shadows when I was in middle school. My best friend watched it and I felt a bit out of the loop.... I still have never seen an episode!

I have fifteen books on my bingo card and not one Bingo!

Oh, just saw your link to the Book Bingo. I played a version last year and did okay (but did not complete). I'll try this new one out this year. Thanks.

Checking out your new thread.

>17 lkernagh: My knowledge of Dark Shadows is entirely limited to it being referenced in an episode of Gilmore Girls. :)

HI, Lori! Happy New Thread!

Ah, Dark Shadows. I got in on it rather late in the series. As a youth, I used to read some of those paperback novels Richard mentioned.

Happy Thursday, everyone! I am especially happy today as I am now about to start a 4-day weekend. No holidays or anything special, just some scheduled time off from work. Nothing special planned but I am already thinking about 4 days of reading, shopping, running errands, some spring cleaning and probably start another project.... we shall see. Some of that time will also be spend on my Coursera course, so I do have plans for this wonderful downtime.

-------------------

>18 richardderus: - LOL, I am trying to remember Angelique's character and drawing a blank. As much as my other half found the first couple of episodes worth watching and commenting on, ten episodes in he has decided that he doesn't want to watch any more. I can't say I really blame him but I can continue to watch the shows on my iPod Touch as free 'borrows' through Hoopla..... we all need our guilty pleasures. ;-)

>19 ronincats: - Hi Roni, it is funny how some of the old shows gain new life through DVD and download/streaming avenues. ;-)

>20 EBT1002: - Hi Ellen! Be rest assured you are not missing out on much when it comes to Dark Shadows. I think it is best remembered as a bit of TV nostalgia and not stellar viewing material.

>21 Morphidae: - Good to know, Morphy! My two current reads both fit as Bingo reads but they still won't get me a Bingo: The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris will complete my "The Second Book in a Series" square and Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi will complete my "A Book with a One-Word Title" square. No Bingo happening in the coming days for me. ;-)

>22 Nickelini: - Hi Joyce, have fun with your Bingo challenge! I think they have gone broad enough with the square categories that it doesn't take a lot of effort to fill the majority of the squares. I am lookiing forward to discovering which squares I will have to make a concerted effort to complete.

>23 thornton37814: - Hi Lori!

>24 MickyFine: - Micky!.... Dark Shadows was referenced in Gilmore Girls? Really?! I wouldn't go out of your way to track it down or anything. I have just discovered that one of the services my local library subscribes to - Hoopla - has the entire first season available for 'borrow' so if you have access to Hoopla, that might be the best way to satisfy any curiosity you may have for the show.

>25 tymfos: - Hi Terri! You and RD are now starting to make me wonder about the paperback novels. I must investigate.

A handy-dandy list of the Dark Shadows books.

Oh the horror!

Hi Lori! Forgive me if I missed where you mentioned it, but what Coursera course are you taking?

Ah, if there's one thing in life I absolutely excel at … it's holidays and long weekends, hehe! Enjoy, Lori : ).

>29 lit_chick: I think plenty of us in the group are adept at weekends, Nancy.

Lori, I'm sure you are too. Enjoy. xx

Hi Lori, starting to make my catch-up rounds. Your Book Bingo is progressing nicely. Without any pre-planning, I can see that I will have this one completed soon. The only square I will actually have to do a book search for will be "A Funny Book". The other Bingo square I am working on is taking me much longer to fill.

We seem to be getting some nice weather lately, so I hope it continues on over the weekend. Have a good one.

Lori, I wish you

Happy Saturday, everyone! Friday was a jam-packed day of getting things done and enjoying sunny springtime weather. I finally finished making my Easter cards for mailing, so I can now tick that item off my to-do list, but I still need to make a birthday card for my Dad, and probably should start thinking about Mother's Day and Father's Day cards.

I see by our local newspaper that the US chain store Marshalls has now opened a location here in Victoria, so, of course, I must go and investigate. That is on the agenda for today. I wasn't impressed when Target opened locations here in Canada - the overall impressions of locals who have cross boarder shopped is that the Canadian Target stores are very different from the ones in the US for the merchandise their carry and no-one was impressed with what the Canadian Target stores were offering.

On today's agenda is some shopping and whatever else strikes my fancy.

------------------------------

>27 richardderus: - That is quite some list of books, RD! I get that Dark Shadows had quite the cult following but in 1969-1970 there seems to have been a book published almost every month!

>28 norabelle414: - Hi Nora, I cannot remember if I have mentioned my current Coursera course: Think Again: How to Reason and Argue, a 12-week course offered by Duke University. I am only half way through but I have until May 31 to finish and submit all 4 quizzes. I am enjoying it. It is more of a philosophy logic course but I like how it is teaching my how to diagram an argument as well as different ways for how to frame an argument, depending upon how much you want the validy of your argument disputed.

>29 lit_chick: - Thanks Nancy, holidays and long weekends are great things to excel at in life. NO if only life could be one continuous long weekend. ;-)

>30 PaulCranswick: - Agreed Paul... now if I could just train my body to not wake up at my usual weekday work time when I am off, that would be wonderful. I hope you are having a lovely weekend. xx

>31 DeltaQueen50: - Happy to see you making the rounds, Judy. I am still amazed at how easy it has been to have books I am reading slot into the bingo squares.....of course, I am starting to run out of squares so there will be books read that won't fit my bingo challenge. I am pretty sure my last bingo square to complete will be the Short Stories square, but I think I have ideas for all of the other squares.

>32 Ameise1: - Thanks for the Happy Weekend wishes Barbara! I hope your weekend is lovely!

#33 Interested in your comments about Target, Lori. I've never shopped in a US Target, but I dislike the one that opened in my Okanagan city. Bunch of JUNK!

Mark me down as another Canadian unimpressed with Target. Years ago I went to one of their stores outside of Seattle, and I wanted to buy almost everything. But since then I've found that their stuff is less impressive with each visit, regardless of the location. I've walked through the store in Coquitlam and thought it looked liked a slightly cleaned up version of the Zellers it replaced.

>34 lit_chick: - Can you tell I am not a Target fan? "Bunch of Junk" is a good way to phrase the merchandise I have seen on their shelves.

>35 Nickelini: - Good observation, Joyce. Makes me wonder if Target has declined in quality over the years. "thought it looked liked a slightly cleaned up version of the Zellers it replaced." Yup, wider aisles, more bright lighting and that's about it for difference.

---------------------

I went and checked out Marshalls and can now report that I am not impressed with this new to my town store. It is just another Winners. In fact, Marshalls is owned by the same company that owns Winners and Home Sense, which I learned after asking the sales staff why they store looks just like a Winners store.

I feel the urge of a road trip coming over me... a hunt for wonderful stores for shopping in.

why they store looks just like a Winners store

Ha! Good to know. I was wondering if I should drop by the new Marshalls sometime when I had to go out to Abbotsford, but you've saved me the bother. Thank you very much.

I think shopping in Victoria is better than in Vancouver. You have Russel Books and Munro's. And all those other bookstores. We have Chapters. What else do you need?

>37 Nickelini: - You are right, I don't lack for bookstores to shop in, that is for sure, but I am a bit of a fashion conscious dresser in that I like to dress well at work, etc. Sadly, I am living in a bit of a desert when it come to stores that stock the styles of clothing I like, which are tailored skirts that come to the knee or just below and tops that are stylish and fitted. I have all the stores I need for my outdoor gear and casual wear but suitable office attire that I like is hard to come by - a lot of stuff that might be considered office appropriate are either 'frumpy' or 'trashy' in appearance, IMO and not something I would buy to wear. *whimpers*

Glad to be of assistance regarding Marshalls!

I hate Target on both sides of the border and haven't been impressed by Marshall's either. In fact, I have notice a decline in all "actual" stores, from lack of merchandise to shoddy materials. I suppose this is in direct relation to on-line shopping. I gladly order books on-line, but haven't gotten into any other type but it's looking more and more like this will be the way of the future. And that makes me sad. I will missing shopping trips with my friends or my sister.

I guess it depends what one is looking for at Target. It's certainly not a high-end or even medium-end (is that a thing?) kind of store, but I get basic supplies there. I've also noticed that, at least here in the States, the stores vary a lot depending on where they are located. I pass two Targets to get to the one I like, which is very clean and big with wide aisles and a wider variety of merchandise.

And here, it beats Wal-Mart any day!

>39 DeltaQueen50: - What scares me about the decline in 'actual' stores and the product available to a walk in customer is that my on-line clothing buying experience has been pretty much 'hit and miss'. I have returned at least one item from each on-line shipment, which I consider to be a huge waste of my time. Books I get in an on-line environment - even if it does deprive me of the pleasure of walking down aisles and aisles of shelved books to peruse - but clothing is dodgy at best, especially as not all designers size their items the same. I wish they did, but they don't. And I totally get what you mean about losing the social aspect of shopping excursions. My sister and I go on shopping (and pub) trips during my visits home. We make some purchases but usually it is to giggle over some item we have found on the shelves. We came across wool upper ballerina flats. Thu=ink about that statement for a minute. Who in their right mind would buy wool ballerina flats... the moment you wear them outdoors in a sudden rainstorm, the overpowering smell of wet wool would take hold. Not a brilliant marketing idea but a super fun sister shopping moment.

>40 katiekrug: - They are different? Really?! Sorry, I just assumed that they were all cookie cutter renditions of one floor plan, because that seems to be how the Target stores I have encountered in Canada are. Of course, all of our Target stores are only 1-year old so they probably were all built from the same plan. I agree with you that stores that are clean and have wider aisles are more appealing to shop in. Are the two Target stores you pass older stores?

Ah, yes, Walmart. Walmart's plus for me right now is that they are the only store in town that carries my particular colour shade of Loreal Superior Preference hair dye. Shocking I know considering it is a new colour and none of the other drug stores are keen to carry it. Of course, I could resort to on-line purchasing for an item like this but a little surprising all the same.
-------------------

On the book reading front, I did finish my audiobook this afternoon. Review below.

Book #16 - The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris - audiobook narrated by Simon Vance
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Petit Fours
Reading BINGO square: The Second Book in a Series
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: December 24, 2012 (audiobook release date: January 8, 2013)
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 352 pages / 10 hours, 23 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: From the amazon.com website:

It is not just the living who are prey to London's criminals and cutpurses. Corpses, too, are fair game - dug up from fresh graves and sold to men of science for dissection. Dr. Thomas Silkstone's unscrupulous rival, Dr. John Hunter, has learned of the imminent death of eight-foot-tall Charles Byrne, known as the "Irish Giant," and is obsessed with obtaining the body for his research. When Dr. Hunter is implicated in the horrific murder of a young castrato, Thomas must determine how far the increasingly erratic surgeon will go in the name of knowledge. For as Thomas knows, the blackest hearts sometimes go undetected until it's too late...

Review:
Book two in Harris' Dr. Thomas Silkstone Mystery series, and the series in general, would probably appeal best to readers of historical mysteries who fascinate in reading about 18th century historical medical and forensic science. If you are in any way squeamish about detailed descriptions of dissections of the human body, don't read this series. The same holds true if you cannot stomach any depravity of moral values when it comes to respecting an individual's rights and the treatment of their bodily remains. We are talking about a time period where grave robbers did lucrative business delivering 'bodies' for the dissecting tables of anatomists. Harris does an amazing job bringing the nasty realities of the 18th century to life in this series - the good, the bad and the downright ugly. She does this unflinchingly, with no apologies and rightly so, as she is basing her story on the factual realities of anatomists of the time period.

Soooo.... my likes and dislikes? I love the medical and scientific detail as well as the description of the time period. The mystery is good and give a great example of how the 'devil is in the details'. Sadly, I have more trouble with the whole romance angle between Thomas and Lady Lydia. The whole 'mystery' around Lady Lydia, and its subsequent revelation, didn't do much to enamor me to that aspect of the story. I guess I am just a love-jaded reader who does not read these books for their 'romance' qualities. Give me the mystery and the thrill of the investigative hunt and bunt the romance to the side stage where it belongs, I say. ;-)

... and before I forget, for historical fiction fans out there, this particular story pulls a number of its characters directly from history: The legendary giant Charles Byrne, the fervent anatomist Dr. John Hunter and the Polish dwarf Count Józef Boruwłaski.

Overall, while I found the plot lagged a fair bit in the middle, it is the characters and the ending that managed to pull it all together that has convinced me to consider reading the next book in the series: The Devil's Breath.

I agree with Katie about different Target stores being different. There is a Target next to my office that is always a mess and constantly out of stock of things and carries way less women's clothes and the ones they do have are ugly and cheap. However, there is another Target less than five miles from that Target which is like a whole different world. It is cleaner and neater and has way better clothing options and all of the groceries are fresh. It completely depends on the neighborhood.

>43 norabelle414: - Good to know and sadly, this is exactly what my other half hates to hear about retailers, even though it is a very common occurrence these days. He is of the staunch belief that if a retailer carries a product, it should be available in all stores, not this 'some have it, some don't' approach. He has vented more than a few times to retailers up here north of the 49th parallel about this very thing and the end result is that they don't want to know about the concern. It is not their problem. Full stop. End of discussion. I have suggested that he might want to reconsider a career as a retail shopping advocate for the consumers as a whole, but he just gives me a look like I have lost my mind or something so I guess his retail advocacy days will continue only on a personal level. ;-)

I mainly shop at Target for some of their store brands. I love several of the Archer Farms cereals (especially the chocolate chunk hazelnut biscotti) and some of their flavored waters.

I got some crocheted purses at Target that I loved. I need to go back to see if they have some updated styles of them for this summer since the old ones are wearing out.

40> And here, it beats Wal-Mart any day! And Walmart beats Kmart for quality of products and shopping experience. Target might have higher prices, but they also have better quality.

Which is why Target is sometimes pronounced "Tar-zhay." Do they do that in Canada or do they hate it too much? ;-)

43> It completely depends on the neighborhood. True. And size matters. Age and size.

45> Their cookies are yummy, too. Loved the White Chocolate Amaretto Wafer Cookies & Milk Chocolate Toffee Mini-Wafers.

>44 lkernagh:He is of the staunch belief that if a retailer carries a product, it should be available in all stores, not this 'some have it, some don't' approach.

I'm not familiar with the stores you're discussing but speaking generally I've always considered it a plus point for stores to take their local market into account rather than taking a one size fits all approach. I didn't realise just what variety there was between branches of my normal supermarket in different parts of the country, until last year when I tried to put through my normal internet shop to be delivered to a holiday cottage in Cornwall. Such a lot of the brands that I would frequently buy just weren't available.

Chiming in on the Target discussion to agree that some are much better than others, but always preferable to Walmart. Yeesh.

>41 lkernagh: - The two Targets I pass to get to the good one may be "older" by a couple of years. My main problem with them is that they are smaller because they are in more urban areas. The one I like to go to is in one of the suburbs that is expanding rapidly and had seemingly no limit on how big it could be :)

>47 BookLizard: - K-Marts have basically disappeared from this area. I do not mourn them :)

That makes sense about the different Targets, and I was wondering if that was the case. The really nice one I went to was in an upscale 'burb of Seattle--the others were in more blue collar areas of Washington state and California.

Another reason I've lost interest in Target is that a few years ago they were in the news for donating a swak of cash to some anti-gay cause. Many people I knew on Facebook were boycotting them, which was easy for me to do too since I didn't have any Targets within my shopping area.

>20 EBT1002: I constantly missed Dark Shadows due to a)long bus ride b) chores in the barn c) tv was fairly restricted in our house plus dreadful reception. Was it ever the THE THING to watch 7-8 grade! Somehow, however, I did manage to keep up -- I think they played them in the summers as reruns when the show wasn't being filmed? And of course there was the soap phenom that you could miss a month and still know exactly what was going on!

>52 Nickelini: Whoawhoawhoa, really?! I didn't know that. Well, then. No more Target for me.

#54 - You know, it was so long ago I was beginning to doubt myself that it was real. So I googles and found: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/08/business/la-fi-target-gay-20110409

" The dispute began last summer, when Minneapolis-based Target gave $150,000 to MN Forward, a political group that was backing a conservative Minnesota gubernatorial candidate opposed to gay marriage.

Target said the donation was made because of MN Forward's pro-business stance and not because of the group's support of Republican Tom Emmer."

Happy Sunday to all my wonderful visitors!

>45 cbl_tn: - I don't think I have ventured into the food department of the Target stores in town. Mentally, I seem to be conditioned to shop for food items from the grocery stores and the local markets, not from a store that sells clothing, toys and furniture items. ;-)

I am bored with the grocery store cookie selection so I may find Target has something different. Will investigate next trip to that part of town.

>46 thornton37814: - Crocheted purses sounds like a fun purchase!

>47 BookLizard: - Walmart beats Kmart for quality of products and shopping experience. Target might have higher prices, but they also have better quality.

See, now that is interesting. Kmart moved out of Canada a long time ago and what I have noticed locally is that there isn't much of a price difference between Walmart and Target products (when comparing the same product). I was curious about that when Target first opened. What I discovered were prices that varied by only a penny or two - which is now laughable as Canada has done away with the penny in physical currency (it just continues for electronic transactions like payments by debit or credit, which is a completely different topic for conversation). Both the Walmart and Target stores I have been in seem to match the prices in the local grocery and drug stores for a number of items, not offer a discount, so they probably get a number of shoppers who 'think' they are getting a deal by shopping in those stores when they might not be.

All I have ever heard is Target pronounced as "Target", not "Tar-zhay".

>48 SandDune: - I agree, it is a plus when stores take into account their shopping demographics and stock product based on sales or stock more local products produced by small businesses. The situations that tend to irk my other half are the big electronic store chains that sell computer equipment, etc. The stores he has had to deal with tend to run out of stock and can take months to replenish sold out items. They defend these practices by arguing that we are on an island, which is an age-old argument that never seems to die a death. I would be okay with that argument if I lived on one of the smaller islands like Salt Spring or something but Vancouver Island happens to be 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) and is the 43rd largest island in the world by area. I think that argument started way back when because everything has to be shipped to the island but with fuel costs what they have been in recent years, there really is no different in cost between shipping over land and using a freight boat to ship product from the mainland to the island. A number of stores also have done away with store transfers - where stock available in one store is shipped to another store for pickup by the paying customer. One item my other half was interested in was out of stock in Victoria, but their store in Nanaimo had plenty of stock. He was told to drive up to Nanaimo (a little over 2 hours drive up over the Malahat) as they would not arrange for a store transfer of the item, even a prepaid one. He just wanted to be able to receive the product in the store so that if there were any problems - apparently it was a reconditioned item - he would already be in the store to deal with it and not have to make another trip.

>49 scaifea: - I think our Canadian Target stores are too new to be anything but the same across the board, for size and selection, but I can see that the US Target stores would be different as they were probably built during different years and have enough sales statistics to make decisions about what stock sells and what doesn't for a particular store.

>50 katiekrug: - Ah, I see, kind of like what we call "Big Box" stores up here.... I am guessing the Target store you prefer is a stand alone building with a huge parking lot and not an interior store that is part of an existing mall like the ones here in Victoria are.

>51 Nickelini: - *nods head in agreement*

>52 Nickelini: - Not good.

>55 Nickelini: - Thanks for providing the link to the article!

All I have ever heard is Target pronounced as "Target", not "Tar-zhay".

I remember that joke. It was going around at the same time that my sister-in-law was calling her favourite store "Value Village" with the French pronunciation of "village." There were a bunch of Frenchified versions of bargain store names, but I only remember these two. Oh, and "Chez Mac's" for MacDonalds. Makes it so much classier.

They defend these practices by arguing that we are on an island

That's a bogus excuse. Frustrating! And I've also run into stores not doing the between stores transfer--not impressed.

Yeah. We call Target "Tar-zhay, the French import store."

We go to Target for MrMorphy's casual clothes, socks, DVDs, paper products, cleaning products, over-the-counter and other health essentials, bagged candy, greeting cards, some electronics, housewares, sheets, towels, pillows, turkey meatballs, and, um, I think that's it.

Our closest is a "big box" Super Target. And, yes, the ones in the US Minneapolis/St.Paul area (Target's hometown) are separate buildings with their own parking lots. Sometimes there is another store or two attached (like a liquor store), but they are not part of a mall.

>60 Morphidae: Some Targets are part of shopping malls. Most of the ones I go to are part of strip-malls but I know that's because I live in an urban area that has almost no stand-alone stores. I have seen some Targets that are part of an indoor shopping mall, but only rarely.

>61 norabelle414: Corrected!

Some Targets are part of shopping malls.

Yes, the nice Target that I went to outside of Seattle was in a mall, but do you think I could find it again on a later trip? So far I haven't been able to, and every other Target I find is "meh".

Happy Monday! It's back to work tomorrow for me but in the meantime, I do have a new weekend project from yesterday that I can report on (with pictures) as well as a reading update and responses.

---------------

>59 Nickelini: - Okay, I had to admit giving French pronunciations to store names like Value Village and MacDonalds is snicker-worthy. Too funny! ;-) It saddens me that store transfers are becoming a thing of the past and yes, it still bugs me when I encounter that annoying 'island' argument.

>60 Morphidae: - Based on what you have posted, Morphy, I really do believe that the American Target stores have different products on offer, or at least more selection, than we have in the Canadian Target stores. I don't even know if the Target stores I have been in have an electronics department.... I don't remember seeing one. Visiting a Super Target would intrigue me. That is like when I go home to Calgary and I go shopping with my mom at the Real Canadian Superstore. I know we have one of those in Langford which is like 20-30 minutes from where I live, but the one my Mom shops in in Calgary is absolutely massive! Even its liquor store is a stand alone building across the parking lot.

--------------

Reading Update: I am currently 198 pages into Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi. I am quite enjoying this story set in 1920's Boston and Philadelphia. It has kind of the feel of The Alienist to it but instead of being embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer, the hunt is on to try and determine whether or not Philadelphia "social psychic" Mina Crawley is a fraud.

Weekend Craft Project: Yesterday afternoon and evening was a relaxing one spent in front of the TV watching episodes of Bletchley Circle and Mr. Selfridge and beading. At the end of the evening I had completed the following two necklace and earring sets:



I have been meaning to make something with these pink/white/gold flecked glass beads for some time now. The combined inspiration of Spring weather and the TV shows I was half paying attention to was what I needed to decide on making the above double stranded choker style necklace with dangling earrings to match.



The gold paint drizzled butterscotch-coloured medallions are beads I purchased last year and never got around to deciding how I wanted to make them up. The second shot above give a better indication of the gold paint drizzled look of the medallion beads. When I realized I had the perfect coffee-toned beads, brass accents and small marbled beads that matched, I decided a longer 29" single stand necklace would be perfect. Of course, I love dangling earrings so a matching set of earrings was also made.

I have similar medallion beads in a smoke grey-blue colour I am now looking forward to designing another necklace-earring set from but first, I have some other beads I think I have an idea for.

Love those necklace and earring sets, Lori!

Beautiful necklace sets! I'm especially drawn to the gold/butterscotch set. I love autumn colors.

I'll have to check and see if I've missed The Bletchley Circle. I really enjoyed season 1. I don't like Mr. Selfridge quite as well as Downton Abbey...except for Henri. I could take or leave most of the other story lines.

>65 katiekrug: - Thanks, Katie!

>66 cbl_tn: - Thanks Carrie. We were watching episodes of series one for both Bletchley Circle and Mr. Selfridge. It is my understanding that PBS has started to show episodes of series two of Bletchley Circle. Not sure when the DVD for series two comes available in the US but I do know that it comes available on April 9th in the UK and on April 15th up here in Canada.

Not a lot of people seem to like the TV series Mr. Selfridge, which is unfortunate because they went to great pains to capture the true story of Mr. Selfridge, including his known gambling and womanizing ways. I have never shopped in the Selfridge stores but my other half has and he says the show is really true to the flamboyance and essence of the store of his childhood, even if we are talking about a number a decades having passed between the period the TV series is set in an when he shopped in the stores. I was rather happy to see my favorite cologne, 4711, being showcased in one of the episodes. ;-)

I'm glad to know I haven't missed the beginning of Season 2 of The Bletchley Circle. I saw an ad for it after last night's episode of Mr. Selfridge but I wasn't sure if it was for the first episode or if I had missed the beginning. I think Season 2 starts here next Sunday, probably after Mr. Selfridge.

Did you watch the Gillian Anderson version of Bleak House? The actress who played Esther in that version of Bleak House plays Susan in The Bletchley Circle.

Selfridge's always had wonderful window displays at Christmas. I bought a couple of things there during one of their sales, but I didn't do much shopping there other than window shopping.

>68 cbl_tn: - I did watch the Gillian Anderson version of Bleak House. It was good but I had difficulties seeing Denis Lawson as John Jarndyce. I listened to an audiobook version and in my mind, having watched all episodes of New Tricks, I saw Denis Lawson playing the role of Inspector Bucket - not that I am dishing Alun Armstrong's portrayal of that role, he makes a wonderful Bucket - but I wasn't prepared for the editing that occurred in the transition from book to script.

I love stores that continue to create wonderful Christmas displays. The last time I witnessed such a wonder was a few years back when I was in Munich Germany in early December on business and got to experience Christmas in all its glorious display. What a wonderful place to experience the essence and festivity of Christmas!

I love the jewelry you made, Lori!

>64 lkernagh: Oh, those are *lovely*!

>70 tymfos: and >71 scaifea: - Thank you both!

-------------------------

I am working towards finishing Inamorata when I came across the following quote made by a cellmate:

"-and they can't leave me alone with what little business I have left? They gotta come on a Saturday night and load my customers in the wagon and drag the women off to morals court to be sentenced to six months in the workhouse?"

Okay, so the story takes place in 1920's Philadelphia with bootleg gin and all that but I have no idea what they mean by "morals court". Can someone please explain?

>44 lkernagh: ...but he just gives me a look like I have lost my mind or something so I guess his retail advocacy days will continue only on a personal level. ;-) This made me spit out my coffee laughing! Lucky you. Ha!

>64 lkernagh: Gorgeous jewelry Lori!

I loved Bletchley Circle last year.

Morals Court was an American institution set up to try cases of infringement of vice laws. Gay men and lesbians entrapped by police, prostitutes caught plying their trade, people breaking Prohibition by possessing/selling/drinking alcohol in that era...adulterous women, shopkeepers selling goods on Sundays, and the like in earlier eras.

So Puritan, don't you think? Of COURSE we'd have such a thing. ::eyeroll::

Hi Lori! Lovely, lovely jewelry -- you are very talented. And I'm doubly impressed by you making your own cards (>33 lkernagh:)! How wonderful -- seems like a lost art.

Love the necklace sets, Lori!

Catching up from your last thread... (sorry to be so behind)! I think you coped with the bleak angle in The Road much, much better than I did, but I really did enjoy the writing. He is talented, I'll agree to that!

We pronounce it Tar-zhay here in GA as well. On the gay issue... I used to boycott it, but I heard they changed their stance. In fact, they now have same-sex marriage registries. I know for a fact because Lisa and I were registered there and Belk. Two stores who allow for same sex registries...so I no longer boycott. :) I shop at the red store now (definitely a better shopping experience here than our Wal-Mart is).

Gorgeous necklaces, by the way!

Catching up from your last thread... (sorry to be so behind)! I think you coped with the bleak angle in The Road much, much better than I did, but I really did enjoy the writing. He is talented, I'll agree to that!

We pronounce it Tar-zhay here in GA as well. On the gay issue... I used to boycott it, but I heard they changed their stance. In fact, they now have same-sex marriage registries. I know for a fact because Lisa and I were registered there and Belk. Two stores who allow for same sex registries...so I no longer boycott. :) I shop at the red store now (definitely a better shopping experience here than our Wal-Mart is).

>64 lkernagh: Lori, I love your necklaces, they look so fantastic. I wish you a

Target has rainbow-pro-gay rights t-shirts, and stuff like that, so I think they are OK on the gay issues. I feel pretty OK about Target; but I hear that both Target and Walmart are anti-union.

Love both necklaces, but esp the first one.

>69 lkernagh: Isn't it amazing how in our mind's eye we have a conception of what a certain character will look like and when we are presented with something completely different it just feels so wrong.
Most obvious one in that sense is, of course, Tiny Thom Thumb Cruise casting himself as 6 ft 5 ins Jack Reacher.

Have a lovely Sunday, Lori

>73 luvamystery65: - I know. As much as I think he would be great standing up for the average consumer I can also see where that would be like waking up every morning to go out into the world and quite literally bank one'e head repeatedly against a brick wall, so we will happily let him continue to champion our pursonal shopping rights.

Bletchley Circle was soooo good, I cannot wait for series two!

>74 richardderus: - Well, now you have convinced me that I should be thankful for the era I was born into and the fact that no-one on this side of the border has developed any bright ideas about morals courts. I don't do Puritan influences, unless they are in the form of comedy Black Adder style. The following interesting news article link was posted over on my Category Challenge group in response to my question about morals courts:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19161010&id=vOwbAAAAIBAJ&...

Scary and Puritan. The phrase "unfortunate women" and that they should be "given the opportunity to see the errors of their ways" gave me serious pose for thought. ;-)

Problem is most of this stuff cycles because politicians don't pay attention to what happened in the past.

>75 AMQS: - Thanks Anne! I love making my own cards - when I have the time, that is. With all the wonders of technology, I have a lot of fun making cards from photos I have taken and manipulating images to make new ones and I love to pair the images with poetic quotes. That, and I find the whole card industry rather stale and behind the times when it comes to my tastes in cards, so it is best I make my own.

>76 ronincats: - Thanks, Roni!

>77 TinaV95: - Lovely to see you, Tina! Glad to see I don't have to boycott Target. I really don't understand why a retailer would ever expose themselves to an opinion on something like gay issues or anything else that isn't directly related to their business. Protesting against sweatshop labour, that I get and would love to see more retailers get behind that kind of protest.

>79 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara!

>80 banjo123: - I had heard about the anti-union issue as well, which is an interesting one. If you pay your employees well and treat them well and respect a work-life balance for your employees, you won't have any union issues, because a union will never be able to get a strong hold on your employees. It is so simple and yet a lot of companies fail to grasp the concept.

>81 sibylline: - Thanks Lucy!

>82 PaulCranswick: - I know! That is part of the reason I have such a problem reading a book and then watching the movie/TV adaptation. In some ways, audiobooks even make that harder. I haven't read the Reacher books but even I couldn't help but giggle a bit over Tom Cruise portraying a rather tall character. ;-)

The weekend has been a glorious one weather-wise which moved my Spring-cleaning fever into high gear. Two days later and we have got clean windows, moved furniture and steam cleaned carpets, and even dealt with a panic moment for me when my computer monitor suddenly decided to act up mid-Saturday. The monitor is 7 years old and has been used extensively so I was prepared for the dreaded computer shopping experience for a new monitor. Thankfully, after some diagnostics testing, my other half has been able to ascertain that it is probably capacitors on the board of the monitor that are either blown or dying and need replacing. Looks like we will be doing some electronics repairs with new parts and then things should be right as rain. I do love having an electrical engineer as my personal in-house technician for my computer needs. I have even promised to no longer bemoan the 'spare' items he has cluttering up our storage space since it was because of a spare monitor - and the spare laptop - that he was able to figure out that the monitor wasn't completely dead, just limping along a little. ;-)

On the reading front: I am still reading Inamorata. I love the story, I just haven't found the time to sit down and read this past week. Only 47 pages left to go in this one. Maybe I will buckle down and finish it this evening sitting outside enjoying the lovely weather. I started listening to the audiobook for The Canterbury Tales last week but after two false starts, I am hoping the third time is the charm and I can start getting into it.

What a fabulous weekend, Lori. Yes, a personal electrical engineer is just the domestic ticket!

I loved The Canterbury Tales when read them in uni. Our prof was head of the English Dept and had spent his academic life studying Chaucer. He had us reading in Chaucerian English, and translating the tales. Awesome!! Unfortunately, there's not much call in "real life" for speaking such a language, LOL, so I've long since lost it. But you've captured my attention with an audiobook!

Heh. I also have an electrical engineer as my in-house technician!

RE: Target vs. WalMart
Target tends to be cleaner and a bit nicer than WalMart here in Maine. But the prices tend to reflect that with WalMart coming in slightly lower in most things.

>85 lkernagh: I am intrigued by the idea of The Canterbury Tales as an audio. That title is still on my TBR classics list but it is rather intimidating to me. I will be interested to hear how you get on with it.

Target over Walmart any day. Amazing how some nice weather is so energizing. Quite impressed with your Spring cleaning prowess.

>86 lit_chick: - Yup, he is a keeper, that one! ;-)

The audiobook I am listening to is narrated by Fred Williams, a new narrator for me. He has the older, more seasoned voice that seems very fitting for something like The Canterbury Tales. It took my walk to work and home today to get through the Prologue, so I am looking forward to starting with the Knight's Tale tomorrow morning.

>87 katiekrug: - Cool beans! My other half jokingly likes to tease me about the fact that I seem to 'bring him out of the closet' for these computer emergencies, but he knows he is valued for the fact that these computer emergencies are rare, he does such a good job maintaining everything. A trade off that works very well in this relationship because I don't have to understand any of this stuff.... I just have to say "my computer doesn't like me anymore" and he is on the job, provided that it is not too early in the morning. ;-)

>88 Cobscook: - I have noticed the same thing... Target is a cleaner store for shopping in. So far so good with the audiobook of The Canterbury Tales, but it is early days as I have only made it to the end of the Prologue. Tomorrow I will be starting The Knight's Tale.

>89 michigantrumpet: - It would appear that Target beats Walmart when it comes to LT shoppers, Marianne. All I need is another weekend of wonderful spring weather and all of my spring cleaning will be finished! ;-)

Book #17 - Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Lunch To Go
Reading BINGO square: A Book With a One Word Title
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: January 22, 2004
Acquisition date: March 17, 2012
Page count: 336 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: From the amazon.com website:

It is 1920s Philadelphia, a time when the feverish popular obsession with the paranormal is confronted by the inevitable ascendance of the scientific method. With everyone from Houdini to Arthur Conan Doyle weighing in on the existence of parapsychological phenomena, the media is as fixated on the sensational debate as scientists and would-be psychics. Indeed, in 1922, Scientific American offers five thousand dollars for evidence of "conclusive psychic manifestations."

Inspired by this real-life event, Inamorata follows Martin Finch, a twenty-three-year-old Harvard graduate student and member of Scientific American’s investigative committee, on the case of a lifetime — an attempt to determine whether Mina Crawley, a beautiful Philadelphia socialite, is able to contact the spirit realm. In the tiny upstairs room of the Crawleys’ elegant Rittenhouse Square townhouse, Finch is prepared to debunk a fraud. But instead the man of science breaks the cardinal rule of psychic investigation: Never fall in love with the medium...

Review:
For a debut novel, the writing style is well-honed, with a polished investigative style to it, even if the plot has its odd hiccups. This story has a lot of the journalistic flavour and the wonderful team dynamics of Caleb Carr's The Alienist, the differences being that instead of tracking a serial killer in cosmopolitan New York City in a race against time, the investigative team in this story is trying to debunk a possible society psychic fraud in Quaker-based Philadelphia, all in the interests of science and ensuring that the prize money goes to an actual psychic. For me, this story has pluses that made it an enjoyable read. For starters, Martin isn't as naive as he comes across. Hapless when it comes to love, but he still retains a good scientific mind that just keeps analyzing and paying attention to the little details, even when his heart is trying to get him to stop thinking. The clues and insights are doled out in a slow, steady fashion in pace with the plot, so I was able to settle in, enjoy the story and not feel rushed by events or a sudden landslide of information to digest. The historical elements of the time period are captured well here giving the story an interesting balance of history and science that seems to work well. You don't have to be a believer in Spiritualism to enjoy this one... if anything, Gangemi may slightly tug at your shirt sleeve to lead you into wondering what is real and what is all a charade. The following quote from the master of illusion himself, Harry Houdini, brings it all home:

"I have read with keen curiosity the articles by leading scientists on the subject of psychic phenomena... The fact that they are scientists does not endow them with an especial gift for detecting the particular sort of fraud used by mediums, nor does it bar them from being deceived."

I liked The Alienist and it looks like I might enjoy this one too! Great review! Thumbs up from me.

>85 lkernagh: Wow, Lori, you got lots of cleaning done over the weekend! Sorry for the computer monitor hassles, but glad your other half is so computer savvy!

We had glorious weather over the weekend, too. I went out shopping and bought a new and much-needed vacuum cleaner.

But now it's snowing :(

>92 michigantrumpet: - Thank Marianne! It's a fun story. While I am not a firm believer in mediums that can communicate with the spirit world, I still find Spiritualism an interesting topic, more so because I have lived in two locations where activities and things have occurred that are difficult to explain unless one is willing to accept the concept of ghosts and spirits. I do love a good ghost story - especially if it can cause the hairs on the back of my neck to raise - and was quite fascinated with the movie The Sixth Sense. Well Inamorata wasn't able to give me that 'spooky' feeling, it does have a nice balance of belief versus refutes of a scientific nature.

>93 tymfos: - Hey Terri, when the cleaning bug takes hold of me, it is best that I just go all out! ;-) Happy to see you had lovely weather this past weekend, even if it has now been overtaken by a return of snow. Crazy weather!

Yay for the new vacuum cleaner! I would love a new vacuum cleaner but there are so many makes and models out there, I just get frustrated shopping and leave the store. Guess I will have to send my other half out on that mission.... he did a really good job when he bought our steam cleaning machine for the carpets.

----------------

I am having a difficult time accepting the fact that it is already the middle of April and the Easter long weekend is almost upon us. Where does the time go?! Now that the sunrise occurs before I leave home in the mornings - and the weather is improving - I am back to my usual routine of walking to and from work each day. I love my walking commute. It is 30 minutes of walking (3km) each direction so of course, I am back to listening to audiobooks to keep me entertained. I did notice that there are not as many early morning walkers but that might pick up we approach summer.

On the Reading Front: For audiobook, I am listening to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffry Chaucer as narrated by Fred Williams. Not sure I am grasping all that I listen to, given as it is poetry, but so far I am able to keep abreast of the stories. I have finished The General Prologue and hopefully will be finished The Knight's Tale tomorrow morning. Seriously, The Knight's Tale is one long tale and filled with a lot of references to Greek (or is it Roman?) mythology, but I am grasping the gust of the tale. ;-)

For my real book read, I am currently reading Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and really feeling a connection with the lead character, Christopher.

On deck for April reading, I have George Elliott Clarke's book of poems Blue and I hope to start reading The Keeper of Lost Causes this weekend.

The Inamorata sounds like a good read. I like it that it is set in Philadelphia, city I know and love.

Happy Easter!

>95 sibylline: - It really was quite a good read, Lucy. I love when stories I read are set in places I have either lived in or traveled to.... especially when the author gets the details right, like Gangemi seems to have, at least for the parts of Philadelphia I have been in. ;-)

>96 wilkiec: - I love those bunnies!!! So adorable! I hope you are having a lovely Easter, Diana!

Happy Easter long weekend for all who celebrate!

Today is a lovely sunny day, and supposedly the only day without rain that we are to have this 4-day long weekend, so I went out this morning for a long walk. During the walk I can across a wonderful patch of tulips, pulled my camera out and proceeded to take the pic you see above. I have washed the picture a bit through my photo software program to remove some of the excess lighting - is there such a thing as too much sunshine when taking a picture? - and then used the watercolour effect to 'pop' the image. I am quite happy with the end result as decoration for my LT threads.

On the Reading Front: I am continuing to listen to the audiobook of The Canterbury Tales. I am finding the audiobook format works better for me than attempting to read the e-book copy I have. I tend to struggle a bit with poetry and listening to it, it comes across more like a series of tales in a rhyming prose that is easier for my mind to process and follow. I have to admit I wasn't prepared for The Cook's Tale to abruptly end like it does. That jolted me to a stop during my walk! I knew The Canterbury Tales is an unfinished work but for some reason I had just assumed that it would flow without hiccups until the point where Chaucer stopped writing. I am currently listening to The Man of Law's Tale - the audiobook refers to it as 'The Lawyer's Tale' - and I was quite amused to discover that the Man of Law tells his tale on April 18th.... which is today! ;-)

I am continuing to enjoy The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I am now at the bit where Christopher is trying to catch the train to London and should be finished this one later today.

Next up, I will be starting The Keeper of Lost Causes for the April MysteryCAT Nordic Mysteries.

Hi Lori - I can't believe this is my first visit to your "new" thread! Gah!

>91 lkernagh: - I'm somewhat intrigued by this, even though I usually flee from anything involving the paranormal. Clearly, I should read The Alienist though, so thanks for reminding me of that one too.

What a gorgeous picture, Lori. Have a lovely Easter.

>98 lkernagh: Happy Easter, Lori! That is a beautiful photo of the tulips. Despite now living further south it still hasn't been super spring-y here. We had rain late this afternoon which has now turned into fat, fluffy snowflakes. We'll see if it sticks through the night. Have a lovely relaxing long weekend.

Lori, I wish you and a long weekend full reading.

Ah, I enjoyed The Keeper of Lost Causes. Hope you will too, Lori.

Another delighted reader of The Keeper of Lost Causes hopes you'll be enamoured (see, I even put in the useless extraneous U for your Canadian self!) of it, and Department Q.

Hey Lori... Hope you and your family have a

Happy Easter, Lori!

Happy Easter, Lori! I also loved The Keeper of Lost Causes, just saying... And the jewelry that you made up there is beautiful!!

Just passing through today, as it is a quiet Sunday. I am tempted to try listening to The Canterbury Tales.....

Happy Easter, Lori! I hoped I had already said how fabulous the jewellery looks waaaaaay back up the thread, but I don't think I did. It's gorgeous!

Lucy, I'm also going to listen to The Canterbury Tales. I downloaded the audio from our eLibary, but haven't gotten to it yet. That was a g-r-e-a-t idea, Lori : ).

Hello Lori, and Happy Easter to you! We do not get a long weekend here, sadly, but we got just about everything else on our wishlist: nice weather, and not much to do. Callia drove all of us to a park today for a long walk. The girls and I spent the afternoon baking French bread -- we'll see how it turns out:)

Hope you have a great week.

How was your four-day weekend? I hope it was lovely.

The Easter weekend was better weather-wise than predicted or expected and proved to be, surprisingly, a rather relaxing and productive weekend. On the reading front, I haven't accomplished all that much. I have finished the curious incident of the dog in the night-time and continue to make progress with The Canterbury Tales, but not much else. Replace the "R" in reading with a "B" and you will have a good idea how my weekend was spent! Saturday and Sunday I went on a bit of a beading jag - I even did something I haven't done in over ten years - I pulled an all-niter beading while first watching movies, then listening to The Canterbury Tales. More details on my recent beading projects can be found below. My other half was up late mucking around with some electronics repairs so the two of us were quite happy working on our projects and enjoying just how quiet the city gets in the middle of the night. In case you are wondering, I made it through the night and even saw the sunrise before climbing into bed at 7 am... at which point, I promptly crashed. ;-)

-----------------------

>99 DorsVenabili: - LOL, welcome to my new thread, Kerri! There isn't much of the paranormal in the story.... it's more of a scientific 'is something we cannot explain happening, or not' kind of story. The Alienist is a goodie, even if it is a long read, so here is hoping one or both of these books become reads for you.

>100 DeltaQueen50: - Thanks, Judy. I hope your Ester was a lovely one. Our was wonderfully relaxing, or at least mine was. My other half has been having all sorts of issues with the new hard drive and new power supply for his computer, along with my monitor issues - so it was a weekend to allow him to take things apart and figure out what is going on and left me to do whatever I wanted to do which became relaxing in front of the TV having my own customized version of a movie marathon while beading. I haven't had such a relaxing weekend in I don't know how long. ;-)

>101 MickyFine: - Hi Micky, I hope your Easter was equally lovely! Spring will come to you in your new abode. I cannot remember if Lethbridge is prone to flooding.... here is hoping not. My weekend was super relaxing, so thank you so much for with wish... it has worked! We are past the season for fluffy snowflakes falling although I do admit one of my favorite things to do is to sit on our covered balcony during a steady rain and just listen to it.

>102 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I didn't get much reading done, I am afraid, but It was a very relaxing one!

>103 lit_chick: - It is on my reading pile and I should be getting to it really soon, now that my other 'distraction' (beading) has run its course. ;-)

>104 richardderus: - I see that you and Nancy are motivating me to get back into reading mode! Awe, you remembered the "u" ... now I feel all special and really should get off LT and get reading! ;-)

>105 TinaV95: - Thanks Tina! We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. I hope your Easter was equally wonderful.

>106 Carmenere: - Love the reading bunny!

>107 Crazymamie: - That vintage car with the chicks on board is wonderful. I love all the positive comments regarding the first Department Q book, and it should make for a nice change of pace from my recent reading! I hope Easter was a lovely time for you and your family.

>108 sibylline: - Quiet Sundays seem so rare these days. Of course, it doesn't help that I slept through half of my Sunday after pulling an all-niter Saturday. ;-) Most of the tales in The Canterbury Tales flow really well when narrated, but I do admit to getting a little bogged down with some of the ancient mythology and understanding when a dialogue is occurring. The Project Gutenberg e-book has some good footnotes so when I get confused I flash up the book on line and read the notes. It also helps that I am listening to a translation from Middle English.... not sure if there is an audiobook available that narrates the original Middle English, but might be worth checking out just to see how easy it might be to 'listen' to Middle English as opposed to reading it.

There is a Group Read for The Canterbury Tales over on the 2014 Category Challenge that is set to run from April through to the end of June (it is set as a three month or quarterly group read). Anyone is welcome to join in, in fact, the more the merrier! Here is a link to the group read: http://www.librarything.com/topic/172202

>109 susanj67: - Thanks Susan, and Happy Easter to you! There is more beading to see below.... ;-)

>110 lit_chick: - Yay! So happy to see you have downloaded a the audiobook for The Canterbury Tales! So, now that you have been 'nudged' towards the audiobook for The Canterbury Tales, the Group Read I mentioned above to Lucy is open to anyone who is interested in joining the discussion. *nudge, nudge*

>111 AMQS: - Anne, I hope your Easter weekend was a fabulous one, even though it isn't a long weekend for you! Nice weather is always a huge bonus and "Callia drove all of us to the park today for a long walk." Wow.... that just blew my mind away. I keep forgetting that time marches on for all of us and just how noticeable it is with our younger LT members. They do grow up fast, don't they? I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to getting my driver's license and never bothered to sit the exam and get my driver's license until I was 18. I am getting old..... darn it all. ;-)

>112 Morphidae: - The weekend has been a wonderful one, Morphy. Thank you so much for asking. Not much LT time this past weekend for me as my other half was in full electronics repair mode for two days so I gave him my computer to use, but it was a very relaxing one.... In fact, I never got out of my pajamas all Sunday! ;-)

Easter Long Weekend Craft Project: I am getting the bug to buy new beads but after a look at my current stash, I decided I really needed to make something of what I have on hand before I can shop, guilt-free, for new beads.



This picture above gives a bit of a closeup of the finished products in their storage containers. I don't have a normal jewelery case. I have way too many items purchased or made by yours truly any jewelry box to store. Instead, I use organizer units like my dad would use to keep various nuts, bolts and screws in. I just line the plastic drawers with a compact foam lining. The little see-through plastic drawers, that vary in size, are perfect for organizing my collection, and I love how different organization units have different sizes of drawers.... in combination, they can accommodate small delicate stuff just as easily as the bulkier beaded items.

Since it can be difficult to get an idea of what I have made from the picture above, below is one with the various items laid out.



My personal favorite is the Easter egg lariat-style necklace. This is my first attempt at making a lariat-style necklace and yes, I did have Easter on my mind - and bright colours of summer - when I made this one. It will go perfectly with a solid colour top or T-shirt. I have the perfect fitted navy blue top that this necklace will dress up nicely. Below is a close up of the floral eggs:



I can now go bead shopping, guilt-free, and I now have a bunch of new fashion jewelery for work and casual wear.

Book #18 - the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Lunch To Go
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: May 18, 2004
Acquisition date: May 14, 2011
Page count: 240 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.2 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: adapted from the book back cover and the amazon.ca website:

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the colour yellow. At fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing. Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with things he had no knowledge of before now.

Review:
How does one get inside of the mind of an autistic 15 year old boy so that a believable character comes to life? For Haddon, his work with autistic individuals may have been something that he relied upon when he was creating the character of Christopher. I found Christopher to be a very life-like personality and one I was able to connect with, more so than I have with some other characters. Christopher doesn't come across as some wooden, two-dimensional paper doll character: he is complex, loveable and a frustrating puzzle to understand. While the story starts out as a mystery that needs to be solved, navigating the complex and very chaotic world we live in through Christopher' eyes is what made this such a fascinating read for me. I will never say that I understand what an autistic individual thinks and experiences, because I can never place myself in their shoes, but after reading this book, and experiencing what Christopher experiences, I now have a better appreciation for why some individuals have such a strong, compelling need for logic and order in their lives. The plot of the story has its interesting diverging tangents, following the logic and thought patterns of our narrator. At first, the very limited information about the other characters really bugged me. Once I remembered that I am supposed to be viewing everything as Christopher sees and experiences it, the lack of emotional information started to make more sense to me. I also love the fine details that went into this book, like having chapters numbered after prime numbers, not the usual cardinal numbering system, and including math formulas, diagrams and timetables. Some might call that gimmicky. but I like it, a lot! I also loved the fact that the story is based in Swindon (as well as London). I have wonderful memories of a family trip to Europe one summer when I was still a teenager. During that trip we stayed with family friends who lived just outside of Swindon in an old farm house (with a converted barn) that was surrounded by fallow land. They kept trained hawks that were absolutely fascinating to behold, but I digress.

This book would have probably continued to languish on my TBR bookcase if it hadn't been for the April Autism Awareness group read. Overall, a great story full of heart and awareness, that Christopher sums up quite nicely:

"And it's best if you know a good thing is going to happen, like an eclipse or getting a microscope for Christmas. And it's bad if you know a bad thing is going to happen, like having a filing or going to France. But I think it is worst is you don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing which is going to happen."

>117 lkernagh: Oh, the jewelry is all so lovely! I think my favorite it the second one from the right in the middle photo - I love those colors!

>117 lkernagh: Lori, this jewelry is magnificiant. I love it. You are very talented.

>117 lkernagh: Lori, you are fabulously crafty! (well, you know what I mean...). Those are all stunning. I can see how, once you got started, you wouldn't want to stop.

Great review of The Curious Incident, Lori. You are a wonder with all of your beading projects: and all in one weekend! Woot! I haven't pulled an all-nighter since I don't remember when ...

I kind of want to pull an all-nighter now.... Love the beading projects!

Wow, you got an amazing amount of beading accomplished and they are all lovely! My favorite for style is the brownish one, second from the left. My favorite for colors/beads is the blue, fourth from the left.

Beads = lovely

Review = excellent

Lori = irreplaceable

>117 lkernagh: wow, I am impressed! You made all those this Easter? I made a necklace once. Once. hehe, it involved two wooden beads and a cord of leather. It was not very fancy :(

>118 lkernagh: Excellent review! All this time I have thought I read this book but your review makes me realize I have not. It's on the wish list now!

Love your bead necklaces! Very pretty.

Lori, I hope you have a good week so far. *waves*

>117 lkernagh: Beautiful! You are so talented, Lori.

I am so very impressed, Lori, with your beadwork. They all look absolutely amazing. I LOVE stuff like that -- so unique.

>113 lkernagh: My Easter was equally lovely, Lori. The weather actually improved quite a bit. Yesterday I went for run outside and wore shorts (and I tend to be cold and wear pants longer than most). As for flooding, I don't think Lethbridge is prone to it - I'd imagine most of the water would flow down into the coulees. However, I have been told that brush fires can be a serious issue here in the summer. The winds that we get down here so often can make them pretty dangerous.

>119 scaifea: - I love the colours in that one too!

>120 Ameise1: - Thanks, Barbara!

>121 susanj67: - Crafty me..... I like it! LOL! Anything that is productive and keeps me out of mischief is a good thing in my books. ;-)

>122 lit_chick: - I don't have the stamina to pull all-niter's anymore, Nancy. I only had three hours of sleep from Saturday morning until Sunday evening and while I felt pretty good at the time, I was soooo thankful for the Monday holiday and no alarm clock to wake me up! ;-)

>123 katiekrug: - When I was a teenager I used to pull all-niters during the summer vacation, reading. It wasn't unusual for mom and dad to come out on the porch in the morning and find me curled up in a chair with my nose in a book... and yes, I was still awake. I can't do that now. I am getting old!

>124 Morphidae: - The brown necklace set you like Morphy is a unique one for me as it is only the second beaded necklace I have in my collection that is made out of wooden beads. The blue one is more for a casual Friday/weekend outfit, I think.

>125 richardderus: - *Smooch*!

>126 LovingLit: - Come now, Megan, I have a sister who hasn't even attempted to make a necklace so your crafty side beats her's hand down! ;-)

Besides, sometimes subtle makes a great statement when it comes to jewelry.

>127 Cobscook: - Thanks!

>128 Ameise1: - Week has been a great one, Barbara.... I love how quickly the work week flies by when it is a short one! ;-) I hope yours has been equally lovely.

>129 AMQS: - Thanks, Anne! I love beading because it is something I can do in front of the TV without feeling as though I am either ignoring the TV or not concentrating on my project.

>130 michigantrumpet: - Thanks Marianne! As I mentioned to Susan further up, beading tends to keep me out of mischief and now that I am getting more and more in to audiobooks, I have discovered that I can easily bead and listen to a book at the same time. Multitasking at its finest!

>131 MickyFine: - I have heard that Lethbridge is a bit of a wind zone - something about proximity to the mountains or is it just the wind currents taking advantage of the valley and coulees? Brush fires would be a concern but I am glad to see that the weather has improved. I tend to wear gloves longer than most out here.... my hands get cold walking into work in the morning! ;-)

--------------------------

I am mentally still adjusting to my short work week and the fact that it is already Thursday. No complaints from me. I am always happy when the weekend arrives!

I am still plugging away at The Canterbury Tales. As a rough guess, I am almost three quarters of the way through. I am noticing that there appears to be quite a lot of advice/ opinions on wedlock and how a wife should behave in these tales. Its a good thing the Wife of Bath tale is there to present the female viewpoint on this topic! Some good adventure stories and even one with an Arthurian legend aspect to it but not quite on par with the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Instead of starting The Keeper of Lost Causes I decided to read Blue, a collection of poems by George Elliott Clarke. I am keeping the Adler-Olsen book for mt weekend reading.

I love your jewelry!

I'm glad you liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time as much as I did. And, based on your review and subsequent discussion, I've added Inamorata to my Ever-Expanding List.

Lori, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Lori, I've been pretty much out of commission all week and so am just now getting around to see your lovely beading projects! My favorite is the blue one in the middle!

>136 Ameise1: Lovely!

Lori, I am not going to pick a favorite from your Easter beading projects. They are all lovely. My goodness, when DO you find the time to read? Did you listen to The Canterbury Tales while you were being productive? I am a big fan of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I read it several years ago and urged it on all my reading friends. I hope you are having a good (and productive) week end. I am being my usual lazy self and reading the hours away!

>135 tymfos: - Thanks Terri! The Haddon novel was well done on so many different levels, I couldn't help but love it. Very insightful. Inamorata was a sleeper favorite for me.... the book cover premise and the cover did nothing for me so this was a good example of "Don't judge a book by its cover"! :-)

>136 Ameise1: - What a beautiful staircase and how did you know some of my favorite flowers are purple in colour? Lilac season has arrived on the island and I am over the moon with happiness, so of course, my weekend was as gorgeous as you had wished it would be!

>137 ronincats: - Oh Roni, I hope you are on the road to recovery and taking things easy. I have yet to wear the blue one but I do have a couple of ideas for it!

>138 thornton37814: - I agree!

>139 Donna828: - Where do I find the time to read? Well, walking 1 hour each day helps me get through audiobooks and of course I need about 30 minutes of reading time each evening just to get me to nod of to sleep so I do find the time but I feel as though my reading this year is not up to my previous years' standards. As for my beading marathon, I managed to clear 5 hours of audio reading time for The Canterbury Tales so that was a huge help! This past weekend has been a mix of laziness and productivity but all is well, as you will see in my weekend summary posted below. Glad to see your weekend was a lovely one!

What a great weekend and how sad to see it already coming to a close. The weather was lovely and - even better - my second favorite sign of Spring was visible: Lilacs bushes are now in bloom, or blooming, here on the island!



I absolutely LOVE lilacs and will continue to be in a happy, giddy mood while these wonderful blossoms are in bloom. This weekend has been a mix of chores, crafting, book reading (and reviewing) and TV viewing.
On the TV front, we are continuing to work our way through Series 1 of The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries. This is one series I cannot bead in front of because I love the mysteries, I adore the costume pieces - seriously, I was born in the wrong era! - and I want a house just like Phryne's with that wonderful widow's walk with red painted wrought iron railing!

On the crafting front, I finished making both my Mother's Day and my Father's Day cards, so they are ready for posting. Very happy about that!

On the reading front, I have now finished reading/ listening to The Canterbury Tales and a poetry collection, Blue by Canadian author and poet George Elliott Clarke from my TBR bookshelf for the 2014 Category Challenge April Poetry RandomCAT and my ROOTs reading. Reviews written and will be posted below.

Currently Reading: I am 27 pages into The Keeper of Lost Causes and because I need something to offset all the drama and angst I have suffered through with my last two reads, I have decided something fun and entertaining is in order for my next audiobook read, so I will be starting Johannes Cabal the Necromancer tomorrow morning during my morning commute to work.

Book #19 - Blue by George Elliott Clarke
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Smorgasbord
Reading BINGO square: A Book With a Blue Cover
CAT(s): RandomCAT (Poetry)
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: April 30, 2001
Acquisition date: October 18, 2012
Page count: 157 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.1 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: from the book inside cover:

This incandescent book subscribes to the adage that "Good poems should rage like a fire, burning all things." Blue is black, profane, surly, damning - and unrelenting in its brilliance. George Elliott Clarke writes: "I craved to draft lyrics that would pour out like pentecostal fire - pell mell, scorching, bright, loud: a poetics of arson."

Review:
I read this collection of poems for the April Poetry RandomCAT over on the 2014 Category Challenge Group. This is the only book of poetry on my TBR bookcase so I read it so that I could add another book to my ROOTs reading. This was a book randomly purchased one rainy day based solely on the author's name as I had a copy of Whylah Falls already at home should so I figured it would be a fitting read as part of a 'random' read, IMO. ;-)

The majority of the poems contained in this collection are raw, both for the emotions they transmit off the pages and the crude, almost guttural words that pepper a number of the poems. Clarke admits that he wrote these poems in the later half of the 1990's as a reaction to "The Great Republic's fiery liberty" - I have no idea what he is referring to with that statement - and obviously with the purpose to kindle a fire within the reader. He dives into the depths of black history, social demographics, political events and love affairs with a cuttingly honest, bare-all approach that made me feel like I was being hit repeatedly with an emotional battering ram. While Clarke labels these poems as "black, profane, surly, American", Clarke's years growing up in Nova Scotia and his Canadian life come through in these poems with references to Red Rose tea, Canadian politics and the Nova Scotian landscape. That being said, it is the passion that connects these poems, sometimes subtly and sometimes as the ringing force behind the words. My favorite poem in the collection is Elegy for Mona States, a moving poem of love and admiration for a cousin who has committed suicide. That poem is absolutely beautiful, but at 7 pages in length, I won't be reproducing it here. Instead, here is a shorter poem that I quite like:

Ecclesiastes 12

I remember God during these liquored years -
While the penniless, pensioned days are far,
And the stars birth sunflowers in a black garden,
And the moon shellacks the river with teal light,
And the young bride sleeps and the greyed husband
Stands in the doorway and stares at the night,
And entrepreneurs turn, blinded, from windows,
And banks are flung open to assassins,
And lawyers moan, giving birth to money,
And vipers quarrel in the bowels of priests,
And statues wear away, leaving musick,
And the plump, elegant girls pluck apples,
And the pimp jollies his quarry with wine,
And desire fulfills each luscious limb,
And dragonflies darkle, gleaming through soot,
And the daughters of musick rise and go,
And the river shambles home, leaking stars,
And my poems are illuminated by many.

Overall, Clarke's poems are more accessible for a non-poetry reader like me than are some other collections I have attempted to read in the past. Clarke writes his poems with a story-telling prose-like quality, so struggling to understand or follow what he is communicated is not a big challenge. I am not a big fan of crass and crude language that was used here, to drive home the message, even though it does so, very effectively. I have mixed feelings about this collection. Some of the poems are absolutely beautiful, some resonated with me in a way I won't forget but most of the poems left me wondering what I was missing or why the a particular turn of phrase was utilized. I came away feeling this was just an average reading experience for me. I preferred his earlier prose work Whylah Falls better.

Book #20 - The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - translated into modern English by J.U. Nicolson (audiobook narrated by Fred Williams)
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Ye Olde Traditional Fare
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): RandomCAT (Poetry)
Source: Project Gutenberg / GVPL
Format: e-book / audiobook
Original publication date: Unknown (J.U. Nicolson translation first published in 1934)
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 627 pages / 18 hours and 20 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.8 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:

Written at the end of the 14th century, this epic unfinished work - referred to as the author's magnum opus, - is a collection of stories presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of 29 pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return, with the Innkeeper, along for the journey and appoints himself to be the judge of the best tale told.

Review:
I am happy to start off this review by saying how glad I am to be finally finished with this one! I did find the audiobook made it easier for me to keep on plugging away at it but Good Grief, after a while it really started to drone in my ear as each tale seemed to keep to the same theme of marriage, deceitful behaviour and harsh judgements. "Epic" is a good term to describe this one, even if this unfinished work only contains 24 tales, and not the 120 tales - 4 tales told by each of the pilgrims - that would have made it a complete work. What I did find fascinating is the religious and social commentary the tales make of Chaucer's 14th century England. For some strange reason, I didn't expect some of the tales to be so full of bawdy sex, vulgarity, lowbrow humour and rancour. The Canterbury Tales is really quite the unrated adult version of The Arabian Nights, even though The Arabian Nights were in fact originally presented to an adult audience, and not meant for children's bed-time reading material. As with any collection of tales, I liked some better than others. The Knight's Tale was a great story of love, chivalry, contest and honour with a wonderful moral ending. The Miller's Tale and The Reeves Tales were good for a chuckle or two but had me wondering just what I was in for with the rest of the tales. The Man of Law's Tale reminded me the most of the tales from The Arabian Nights . Of course, I was intrigued to hear The Wife of Bath's Tale - 5 husbands and willing to consider taking husband #6! - and liked the perspective presented there.... I grew rather tired of how the women in the tales seem to fall into only two categories: women of virtue who suffer greatly (or are willing to commit suicide rather than lose their maidenhead) or slatternly whores who are the sole reason that men have no control over their 'passions'. I know this was written in the 14th century but "Wow" on some of the statements made! The Clerk's Tale had quite the jaw-dropping conclusion and angers me a bit that that tale is in the collection. The Physician's Tale is an interesting moral allegory - a reprehensible one, to be sure, but an allegory all the same. I did rather enjoy The Nun's Priest's Tale and the change of pace of having a rooster as the lead character in her tale. It was a wonderful reprieve as I was really getting bogged down by the various moralizing of the previous tales!

Overall, while I can appreciate that this work captures the attention of literary scholars for examination and debate and probably will continue to do so until the end of time, I wasn't all that impressed with the tales. After a while I found I wasn't really paying attention to the stories I was listening to and had no urge to rewind to re-listen to what I might have missed. What continues to baffle me is why Chaucer wrote that retraction at the end, even though the work was unfinished. Maybe he decided that he could not continue with it for whatever reasons - religious persecution, making faith with his God, etc and wrote the retraction in case the works were discovered. A mystery that remains unsolved. I am glad that I have now read this one. Maybe in a few years' time, I may revisit some of the tales to see if I can glean further insight from them but for now, this can be shelved as completed.

Love, love, LOVE the lilacs. I can practically smell them here. We had several large bushes next to the house I lived in growing up. Like Proust's madeleine cookie, the sight or smell of lilac takes me immediately back to my childhood. Thanks for the lovely picture.

>144 michigantrumpet: - Lilacs are so fragrant and so beautiful, what is there to not love about them. ;-)

.... of course, I just realized the lilac photos are posted sideways. I am trying to figure out how to rotate them in Photobucket so that they show up properly here but that may take me some time to figure out.

Kudos to you for reading The Canterbury Tales on your own. I ran into them three times in university. The first was The Miller's Tale in modern translation in my very first course, which was an intro to literature. I was shocked at how bawdy it was (I really had the wrong idea about that era!).

The last course we had to read about half the tales in the original language, and write extensively about them--I have to say that my head ached trying to jump through the mental loops that it required: X sentence refers satirically to an event 200 yrs in the past, which is linked to a edict from 200 yrs before that one. Ouch! Only two classes gave me actually headaches from thinking so hard--intense Chaucer and another class on Canadian political philosophy where we studied Heidegger. Both were very rewarding though--sort of like a really hard workout where you sweat and pant and think you're going to die. So good for your for tackling that without having to!

I forgot to add . . . I found the Prioress's Tale fascinating. First because she's a huge hypocrite, and then the tale-within about the poor Jewish boy, that I believe is an older tale common in Europe that illustrates the ugly antisemitism of the era.

As for the retraction, from what I remember, it seems that he was under some serious heat from the authorities, and it is often looked at as a CYA (cover your ass) move on his part (and therefore not sincere).

Retraction? I've read some of The Canterbury Tales and had to memorize the prologue in high school. I never heard of the retraction though? & yes, I guess it is bawdier than The Arabian Nights. At least The Arabian Nights is truly devout, as far as I've gotten so far anyway. The Canterbury Tales was obviously meant to shock on a religious level at least.

. I never heard of the retraction though?

It's one of the popular essay topics of the Tales because of its ambiguity. For an overview, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaucer%27s_Retraction

"Chaucer's Retraction is the final section of The Canterbury Tales. It is written as an apology, where Geoffrey Chaucer asks for forgiveness for the vulgar and unworthy parts of this and other past works, and seeks absolution for his sins. . . . It is not clear whether these are sincere declarations of remorse on Chaucer's part, a continuation of the theme of penitence from the Parson's Tale or simply a way to advertise the rest of his works. It is not even certain if the retraction was an integral part of the Canterbury Tales or if it was the equivalent of a death bed confession which became attached to this his most popular work."

I really liked The Canterbury Tales, but I generally like that sort of thing, and I do understand why others, well, don't. I will say that I enjoyed The Decameron much more...

Also, lilacs! That smell! And the blooms are so pretty! *contented sigh*

Lori, I'm glad you like this stair and the colour. I love all the strong colours in spring. We have a lot of lilacs around here. They are lila, pink or white and I adore their smell.

Oh, Lori! Your jewelry is so nice! You're very talented to create such beautiful items! And to do it in an all nighter?!?! I simply can't do those anymore... I'm just not young enough, I guess. I suffer so much the next day (massive migraines usually) that I don't even try now.

Hi Lori!! Here's to hoping that I can keep up with this fast moving group. I caught a sight of the lilacs you posted up there and they are gorgeous! I really miss seeing the sudden bloom of colours back when I was living in Vancouver. Now, its pine trees...all year long because nobody really likes the long harsh winters of Calgary, the plants especially. ;)

>146 Nickelini: - well, technically, I did read The Canterbury Tales as part of a group read but I just plowed on ahead so I guess you could say I read it on my own. The Miller's Tale was quite the jaw-dropping read for me as well.... who knew that such fertile minds abounded without the assistance of Hollywood? Oh, wait a minute...... with no Hollywood, the mind can come up with almost anything, so maybe I should be so shocked.... No, I will remain shocked, Hollywood or no Hollywood for influence.

Kudos to you for having tackled these tales in University courses andfor having to write extensively about them! I couldn't do that..... my mind would go to mush first. One of the versions of The Canterbury Tales available from Project Gutenberg has the tales in original Middle English. Lovely to look at but a strain to decypher large swathes of text written in the original language.

>147 Nickelini: - I had to go back and revisit The Prioress's Tale to refresh my memory. That was really quite well done -of course, I was more focused on the missing child bit and what happens but the whole antisemitism was pretty blatant!

.... Heat from the authorities would make sense. Otherwise, why write a retraction?

>148 cammykitty: - You had to memorize The Prologue in high school? Sheesh, and I thought I had it hard when I had to memorize the first four parts of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner! The fact that I can still recite it, after all these years, disturbs me a little and makes me think I am wasting valuable memory space in my mind with that information. The Arabian Nights are a much cleaner, although still moralistic, collection of tales, but to think that Chaucer may have written The Canterbury Tales for its shock value is a concept I had not considered. Makes a lot of sense.

>150 scaifea: - Well since I seem to be making my way through various classic tales, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give The Decameron a go. I have a fondness of the Italian medieval/Renaissance period, so this may appeal to me. Thanks for the recommendation, Amber!

Lilac love.... I can relate to that!

>151 Ameise1: - Spring has such a wonderful palette of colour. Most of the lilacs i have seen here are the purple ones, although I was surprised to encounter a bush with white lilacs during my lunchtime walk today.

>152 TinaV95: - Thanks, Tina! There is no way I can pull another all-niter unless it is on a Friday night so that I have two full days to recover before heading back to work but the chances of me pulling an all-niter on a Friday night are next to nil..... I am usually too bagged from the work week to even consider staying up all night!

>139 Donna828: - Hi Valerie! I have taken to the 'ebb and flow' effect of staying on top of things in the group.... I have weeks were I don't venture much further than my own thread and then I find time and get all caught up, and then the cycle starts all over again. ;-)

Here is hoping the blooming starts soon. When I chatted with my folks on the weekend they did mention that some of the trees are started to leaf, so that is encouraging! Mother Nature just has to quite cranking down the heat and dusting you guys with snow. ;-O

As I won't finish any more books tonight, here is the monthly recap.

APRIL RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon - 4.20 /
Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi - 3.90 /
The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris - 3.70 /
Blue by George Elliott Clarke - 3.10 /
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - 2.80 /

Largest Book read: The Canterbury Tales at 627 pages
Smallest Book read: Blue at 157 pages
Books still in progress at the end of the month: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard on audio and The Keeper of Lost Causes, first book in the Department Q series by Jussi Alder-Olsen as a physical book read.
Interesting Fact: Nothing of interest comes to mind.

2014 Category Challenge: (as of April 30th)
World Cuisine - 3/7
Ye Olde Traditional Fare - 4/7
Lunch to Go - 5/7
Petit Fours - 3/7
Two can Dine - 2/7
Scottish Pub Fare - 0/7
Smorgasbord - 3/7

My "Luck 'O the Irish" Race (books read versus pages read): Given the chunksters I plan on reading this year, my 75 group challenge will be considered completed

whichever comes first: 75 books read or 25,000 pages read.



As of the end of March, my 'pages read' shamrock still has the lead, but has dropped back a bit in this year long race. No chunkster reads planned for May so we may be

back to a 'neck in neck' race soon.

April Planned Reads
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard - started in April
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen - started in April
The Club at Eddy's Bar by Zoltan Boszormenyi - an LTER book form teh February batch that I really need to read and review
The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell - so I can start making a dent in my Tartan Noir reads, which I have been sadly neglecting so far this year.
.... and whatever else I find time for.

>155 lkernagh: You're welcome!

Oh Golly, lilacs...... I don't think we'll see ours until June.

Thanks for the Dog in the Night review - I have hesitated about reading it, but now I want to.

Lovely bead work. I like them all, really, but my eye was snagged most on third from right in the display photo!

What an impressive April wrap up! Looking forward to seeing your plans for May!

So far behind but I had to delurk to say that all of your jewelry is just lovely, Lori. I especially love the butterscotch medallions up in #84.

Your wrap-up reminds me that I have Haddon's book on my shelf and I really need to read it soon...poor neglected book. At least it shares the same fate as so many of my other books...haha

It seems several threads came unstarred for me at some point, so sorry I've been amiss Lori! Lots going on here. Love your jewelry projects. Have you considered opening an Etsy store to finance your passion? I'm impressed you've managed to get through The Canterbury Tales. I definitely want to get to it sometime, but maybe later on. I got an ER graphic novel version a couple of years ago which was amusing, and as it was illustrated by Seymour Chwast, the emphasis was definitely on the bawdiness to be found there, so that won't come as a surprise when I get to the original (in modern English, obviously, I don't think anyone but scholars can understand the original text, can they?).

Glad you enjoyed The Dog in the Night-Time. I really loved it the first time around, but I think I should have left well enough alone because when I revisited it this year I couldn't help but notice how sad the story is, whereas the first time I was mostly fascinated with the way Christopher's mind works. I'm going to see a National Theatre Live presentation of it at the end of the month, which should be interesting. Have you looked into NTL in your area yet?

Congratulations for finishing Canterbury Tales I think it's really hard to read anything that old--language and times have changed so much, thankfully.

Lori, I wish you a Happy Weekend full of reading.

My weekend is off to an interesting start. I was so tired Friday night that I actually went to bed shortly after I got home from work. I then woke up at 12:30, refreshed after a 6 hour sleep and pretty much the reason why I am now online and posting on LT in the middle of the night! ;-)

My physical book reading has been very limited this past week so I am just past the 100 page mark in The Keeper of Lost Causes. Walking is about the only time I have for listening to audiobooks. Luckily, I have been able to walk to and from work all week and get out during my lunch break so I am almost finished my audiobook read Johannes Cabal the Necromancer.

Plans for this weekend: I may start a herb garden but that all depends on the outcome of conversations I will have with the gardening shop folks as some of you already know, I have no green thumb when it comes to gardening so I want to talk with the experts and confirm I am not setting myself up for failure by attempting this.

I just realized that I don't have a bookshelf picture to post for May. Instead, I have the following pictures I recently took walking in town. I love how certain older building have turned boarded up windows into art. The following pictures are window art that cover the side of a building that currently is a flower shop:

. .

>157 scaifea: - ;-)

>158 sibylline: - Things to bud out rather early in this part of the world. This Spring it was almost as if everything wanted to bud out at the same time, like an explosion of nature. I have a work colleague who has already planted her garden and even though we have lived on the island for over 20 years now, I still remember how blasts of winter curtailed any ideas of planting a garden until the late May - early June.

I haven't worn that necklace yet, but I do have the perfect top to wear with it. So far (from the group photo) i have worn the wooden bead set (second from left), the smoke blue/grey medallion set (third from left) and the shorter blue one (fourth from left).

>159 michigantrumpet: - Thanks Marianne! I am hoping that I manage to get in some more reading in May than my previous months. Audiobooks have become a salvation for me - although I have to admit I have received the odd looks from fellow walkers when I laugh out loud at a funny part in my audiobook, and there have been quite a few bits to snicker at in Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. ;-)

>160 rosalita: - Thanks Julia! I am so far behind with threads it isn't even funny.... I cringe at how many pages my Talk listing is with unread posts.

>161 jolerie: - I have a number of poor neglected books sitting on my bookshelves as well, Valerie. You are right..... at least our neglected books are in good company!

>162 Smiler69: - Any visit made is always a welcome one, Ilana! I haven't considered and Etsy store. At this point I just make beaded items that I want to wear..... so I would probably be unwilling to part with them. That could change in a couple of years after I have experimented enough or if I do tire of any of the items in my collection. Something for me to ponder a bit. I have been having a lot of fun creating cards and messing around with my camera (and photo editing software) so if I do open up an Etsy store it would probably custom cards and postcards or something along those lines.

I love the idea of a GN of The Canterbury Tales! I have looked into the NTL. They will be showing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time in one of our local theatres, but I was really hoping one of the theatres would be showing Medea, but they don't appear to be listing that one. *sighs*

>163 banjo123: - Thanks! Listening to a modern English (well, a 1934 translation) helped make the stories more accessible for me. Reading the Middle English would have been too much work for me. ;-)

>165 lkernagh: Gorgeous photos, Lori.

I saw that Medea was coming up when we went to see Lear on Thursday, but looking at the NTL site, I see they haven't announced venues yet, so there might be hope still? I don't know if they'll be showing it in Montreal, but if they do it's a sure bet I'll be going.

>165 lkernagh: I thought they were stained-glass windows! Cool!

Those windows are awesome!

Yes, those windows are amazing!

>165 lkernagh: Beautiful!

Love the lilacs. Our aren't quite ready. We have a standard lilac in back that blooms just a little bit, but we also have three Korean lilacs in the front of the house that positively explode. They're the only ones in the neighborhood, and have this amazing perfume you can smell al over. They're getting ready!

Happy Saturday everyone! The rain that was predicted for today didn't really happens so I managed to get a lot of my usual Saturday errands done without getting drenched. A little drizzled upon, but not enough to count as rain.

On the reading front, I have finished Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. Review is ready for posting. I now need to decide on my next audiobook read.

-------------------------
>168 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I love 'window art' and think it is great that businesses and building owners are finding ways to give boarded up windows a new life.

>169 Smiler69: - Hey, that means there is still hope that Medea will have a local theatre viewing here.. I can ride on that kind of hope. I signed up for the email notifications for NTL viewings that come available so fingers crossed they sign more theatres up for the viewing.

>170 richardderus: - You know, from a distance they would look like stain glass windows. It is up close when you discover they are painted boards!

>171 katiekrug: - I am a bit surprised that the artist didn't sign the windows. I must go back and investigate.... may be they did sign in a small, hard to discern way.

>172 scaifea: - There is another building in the downtown core that has done something similar to the windows on the 'backside' of the building and stayed true to the idea of "window art". I will post those pics once I move them off my camera.

>173 AMQS: - I Google searched Korean Lilacs and the pics that came up are beautiful! More like an open spray of flowers than the grape-like cluster (standard) of the lilacs in my neighbourhood. Your neighborhood must smell wonderful in the springtime with those lilacs in bloom!

Book #21 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard - audiobook narrated by Christopher Cazenove
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Petit Fours
Reading BINGO square: A Book With Non-Human Characters
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: Jul 07, 2009
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 291 pages / 10 hours and 48 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.2 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website:

Johannes Cabal sold his soul years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. Now he wants it back. Amused and slightly bored, Satan proposes a little wager: Johannes has to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever. This time for real. Accepting the bargain, Jonathan is given one calendar year and a traveling carnival to complete his task. With little time to waste, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire to help him run his nefarious road show, resulting in mayhem at every turn.

Review:
Ever been to a traveling carnival? Was it a fun experience? For me, clowns are creepy and after two hours of all the noise, activity, flashing lights, crush of crowds and the excess consumption of fat and sugar-laden carnival foods, I am anything but the picture of someone having fun. Even though I don't like going to carnivals in real life, I do like them as part of a story and I really enjoyed Howard's debut novel. Howard presents such a wonderful, darkly comic carnival experience. This is NOT The Night Circus for all of you who may be wondering about that. We are talking apples and oranges here. As for Johannes Cabal, what a fantastic character! Yes, he is rude, arrogant, obnoxious and has no moral compass - WHATSOEVER - but anyone that has the balls to march up to the gates of hell without an appointment, thumbs his nose at the bureaucratic red tape in place to stop him or anyone else and proceeds to demand to speak to Satan, NOW, while looking disdainfully over the rims of his blue-lens sunglasses.... Well, one can't help but respect that kind of gumption. The dry, sarcastic one-liners that zing off the pages - or in my case, zinged through my ears - really go a long way in turning what could have be a macabre horror story into an entertaining black comedy. Horror - No. Comedy - Yes. The first chapter or two were full of witty repartee and biting digs at the underworld and bureaucracy in general. Great stuff! If only Howard had been able to maintain the same level of creative and engaging writing the story starts out with, this would have been one of my best reads in a long, loooong time. As it is, it was still a very solid and engaging read for me, even with the slower bits.

I listened to the audiobook as narrated by Christopher Cazenove and I have say Cazenove did a fantastic, pitch perfect job as the voice of Johannes Cabal and the rest of the cast of characters. Mr. Bones being another favorite character he captured beautifully. Johannes brother Horst is the perfect foil to balance out Johannes 'deficiencies'. Not that I would want to encounter any of them in a dark alleyway or anything but they are fun characters to read. If you ever thought operating a traveling carnival would be fun and hassle-free, Howard's book and the various situations Cabal and the carnival find themselves in will, if anything, make you think that Satan probably isn't who you want as a business partner, wager or no wager.

Overall, this was the perfect change of pace I needed. While the story won't appeal to all readers, if you like dark comedies, don't mind stories with a bit of contractual soul-stealing and like stories that blend horror with humor, necromancy with magic and evil versus... well.... evil, this may appeal to you. I should probably mention that the book ends with a bit of a 'reveal' - a teaser to entice one to move on to Johannes Cabal the Detective, book two in the series - which worked on me: I already have book two ready to go.

Footnote: This book has been tagged by a number of LT readers as being steampunk but no, I don't think that just because the carnival train is potentially powered by a steam engine counts this one as steampunk read, IMO.

Love, love, love the window art!!!!

But not posted, cette revue? Et pourquois-pas?

Your beadwork is beautiful, Lori! It must be a very relaxing art form.
I had been planning to travel back in time to Canterbury. I read it back in highschool and want to read it again through wiser eyes. Would it do any harm just to read a selection or two?

Your beads are so beautful. Do you ever sell them at craft fairs or online or anything? I don't wear necklaces and rarely wear bracelets, but I love earrings.

I love lilacs, but this year they make me sad. My brother had to sell our family home in December. We had lilacs lining the driveway. A contractor bought the house and fixed it up. I went to the open house last month and was happy to see he hadn't removed the lilac bushes. I hope the new owners leave them there as well.

>176 TinaV95: - Thanks, Tina! I love stumbling across wonderful stuff like those windows when I am out walking!

>177 richardderus: - Because I forgot, RD. Review is now posted. ;-)

>178 Carmenere: - It is relaxing, Lynda. I like to sit on the living room floor in front of the TV with all the beading supplies spread out on the floor around me. Probably not the best way to bead as I have grumbled more than once when I have had to find small seed beads that have landed on the carpet but I find it easier to lay out my project then if I was working at a table. :-)

I think The Canterbury Tales is something one can dip in and out of and you can choose to start with any of the tales as they are all stand alone stories. The only parts where it might be a bit confusing is if you read the prologues to the tales out of order as a number of them are the dialogue between the travelers as the tales are being told.

>179 BookLizard: - Thanks! No, I don't sell any of the finished beaded items at craft fairs or on-line. Not right now anyways but maybe that will change in a couple of years. I am still teaching myself through trial and error what works and what doesn't.

It is sad when a family home is sold. Like you, I am happy that the new owners haven't removed the lilac bushes and it is nice that you are able to drive by and be reminded by the bushes of wonderful memories.

I wish I would stumble onto some lovely art in an unexpected place. That window art is amazing! I do love surprises like that. I'm so glad you shared the picture with us. I got a chuckle out of the "extra" time you found for LT in the middle of the night. Next time I get insomnia I should try to get caught up here instead of tossing and turning.

I love the window art, too. In fact, I have a window in my home I would LOVE to have done, but I'm yet to find anyone locally who does same. I will ...

Lori, thanks for posting the artwork on those boarded up windows. What a fantastically creative idea and so much better on the eyes than just wooden boards!!
Thanks for your great review. It seems like a book I wouldn't mind reading if I was in the right mood for it.
You are not alone. I have the world's biggest un-green thumb.....haha!

Agreed - Johannes Cabal is not steampunk. But it is very good! I've read the second, but need to read the third.

>183 jolerie: Add me to the list of un-green thumbs. I keep trying though! I love flowers & try every summer... Some things last longer than others, but I tend to kill them all. Lol

The only green thing I can grow is weeds . . . Maybe some mold . . .

Fantastic review of The Canterbury Tales, Lori! You have made me want to read them which I did not think was possible.

Lori I'm all caught up for now. ;-)

Amazing beading you have been up to.

I want to read the Johannes Cabal series! Who read it last year and tempted me? I can't remember!

How goes the Department Q?

You inspire me with your craftiness (ha!). I bought a hardback Megan Abbott book, Die a Little at Half Price Books yesterday. I've been wanting a book purse but specifically one with a noir cover. I'm not going to destroy the book but I do want to use the book jacket in my experiment. I'll let you know if I get around to it.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Thank you for keeping my thread going. I love the cookbook game discussion and the interesting finds hidden in some of these cookbooks.

Something I ate - either Sunday or Monday - did not agree with me so Monday night was one of those stomach churning nights. I was still somewhat queasy this morning with a nasty acidic problem but things appear to be finally settling down. A mild diet of camomile tea and watermelon for the last two days may have helped things along on the recovery front.

I am starting to get very excited for the weekend. This weekend is the annual book sale sponsored by our local newspaper. I already have my list of books that I own prepared and updated so I don't purchase something I just haven't gotten around to reading yet. I managed to upload the list to my iPod so I can easily reference it while milling through the tables of book.

On the reading front, I have finished The Keeper of Lost Causes, and the review is now ready for posting.

..... but first, replies to my visitors.

>181 Donna828: - Nice surprises like those windows do make my walks in town interesting. "Extra" time is something I seem to be in short supply of this year. Tossing and turning in bed just makes me a cranky person in the morning!

>182 lit_chick: - Oh, I wish you the best of luck in finding an artist to paint your window for you, Nancy! These artists seem to operate on 'word of mouth' which makes it difficult to find one. ;-)

>183 jolerie: - Boarded windows give a building such a derelict look to it, even if it is occupied so I am glad more and more businesses are going this route. I also love the fact that the window art never seems to be tagged by spray painters like a plain boarded up window would.

>184 drneutron: - I am part way through the second book Johannes Cabal the Detective..... I just couldn't wait to find out what Johannes gets up to next!

>185 TinaV95: - But you give it a try and that means a lot, Tina, even if the plants would rather we went no where near them. ;-)

>186 tymfos: - weed and mold..... Yup, I can grow that!

>187 Cobscook: - If my review is able to convince anyone to attempt The Canterbury Tales, then I am wowed! I plowed through only because I was determined to finish it but it really is a book that can be read in sections over a long, looooooong period of time. ;-)

>188 luvamystery65: - It is always a challenge to get caught up with threads so I applaud the effort, Roberta! I am not sure if the Cabal books have been floating around on the 75 group I do know a number of readers over on the Category Challenge have read the books so that is probably when you were hit first. Probably Eva or may be Pete.... ?

A Noir cover book purse sounds like a fun craft idea! I will be very curious to find out how it turns out. As for the Department Q read, review below explains all. ;-)

Book #22 - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Petit Fours
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007 (Danish) / July 31, 2012 (English re-print edition)
Acquisition date: May 4, 2013
Page count: 416 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.80 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: from amazon.ca website:

Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagen’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead … yet.

Review: I don't as a general rule read police procedural or gritty crime novels. I watch them on TV but usually I don't read them. My attention is prone to wander when a crime novel gets bogged down in details that don't interest me. Having finally gotten around to reading the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy last year, I can see where some novels of this type has a certain appeal. While Larsson and Adler-Olsen each place their own stamp on the crime novels they have written, they do have similarities that made it easy for me to make a side-by-side comparison of their first books. One characteristic both books share is the focus on the person and not the process. My preference is to read about complex characters and not the actual nitty-gritty of police work. Adler-Olsen provides my psychologically-driven mind with enough information to keep my mind in analysis mode regarding Carl's very dark and moody persona and his damaged past while at the same time providing a rather entertaining assistant in Assad, a political-refugee immigrant with a mysterious past of his own.

Adler-Olsen takes his time in framing his characters and the crime for the reader. The reveals are gradual, one piece of information at a time, and the story progresses at a more moderate, dare I say, sedate pace. Now, I like a story that has a slow build and takes it time with me. It makes it a lot easier for me to read the book in intervals spread out over time and not feel as thought I have to backtrack and refresh my memory when I do come back to it. I also like stories that are a bit of a mental puzzle to figure out. If I were to compare book one of the Larsson trilogy with this first book in a series I would have to say that while I prefer Larsson's characters, in particular the enigmatic Lisbeth Salander, Adler-Olsen has provided a better crime puzzle, IMO, to mentally analyze and figure out. For me, reading The Keeper of Lost Causes fit into my comfort zone as a read because I found it to be an interesting blending of the Larsson books with one of my favorite British TV series New Tricks, a cop show that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad for the London Metropolitan Police as they investigate old unsolved crimes.

For those of you who haven't already read this one, the ending makes the rather slow pace of the story worth while. Adler-Olsen has also left a lot of unfinished business as it relates to Carl Mørck, a character I admit to having difficulties to warm up to. While I wasn't riveted to the story, I found it to be a very satisfying read and I will continue with the series as I want to see how things progress in Department Q with Carl and Assad.

Best of all, this one contains the following fantastic book quote:

"She'd been lying on the floor thinking about books. That was something she often did in order not to think about the life she might have had, if only she'd made different choices. When she thought about books, she could move into a whole different world. Just remembering the feeling of the dry surface and inexplicable roughness of the paper could ignite a blaze of yearning inside of her. The scent of evaporated cellulose and printer's ink. Thousands of times now she'd sent her thoughts into her imaginary library and selected the only book in the world that she knew she could recall without embellishing it. It was not the one she wanted to remember, not even the one that had made the greatest impression on her. But it was the only book that had remained completely intact in her tortured memory because of the liberating bursts of laughter she associated with it.

A great big smile came to my face when the I discovered what book was being referred to by this quote.

Oh, dear, now I am not going to be able to rest until I also know!

For all who haven't read The Keeper of Lost Causes, or are just dying to know the answer to the book quote above, I have hidden the answer behind the spoiler cloak: A philosophical little bear named Winnie the Pooh was her salvation, her only defense against madness

So glad you enjoyed The Keeper of Lost Causes, Lori. Fantastic review and book quote!

Lori, your book quote and "tease" made me smile and remember one of my favorite books. Now you've made me want to read The Keeper of Lost Causes. *Sigh* I suppose book bullets are part of catching up around here.

I can't wait to see what wonderful books you get at the book sale this week end. I was disappointed at the sale I went to a few weeks ago. I saw lots of good books, but I had already read them!

It is Friday evening, the work week is over, the sun is shining and even better....... tomorrow is the BOOK SALE!!!! Yes, I am excited to troll through all those books. Of course, I am looking forward to all the fiction books like I do every year but this year will be the first year that I will be joining the crowds congregated around the cookbooks. I am looking for cookbooks for bread baking. This week I decided to get back into baking my own bread. It has been over 15 years since I have baked bread so this past week has been a bit of a learning curve - bread baking isn't quite like riding a bicycle! Given my habit of not really following recipes - I use them more as an informational resource for ideas - it probably won't surprise anyone here that my first two attempts were not even worth putting into the oven to bake. Trust me to think I didn't need to add the small amount of sugar in the recipe that actually helps to activate the yeast!

The good news is my third attempt - which was last night - was a success. I was proud enough to pull out my camera and take the following picture at 10 pm after my other half and I had carved into it to taste it:



For anyone interested, the bread is a blending of oat bran, whole wheat and spelt flour, with roughly half of the flour being spelt. So, I am now on the hunt for bread recipe ideas. I don't have a bread making/baking machine and have no intentions of investing in one.... it is traditional bread making for me!

On the Reading Front: I am currently half way through the audiobook Johannes Cabal the Detective.... yes I could not resist finding out what crazy business Cabal finds himself in and so far I am pleasantly amused by the complete change of pace this story is from the first book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. For my print book, I am reading The Club at Eddy's Bar, and ER win from the March batch that I really need to get read and reviewed. I may start one of the e-books currently stored on my iPod tomorrow morning while in the book sale line up.

Well, that is enough about what I am up to at the moment.

>195 lit_chick: - Thanks, Nancy! I enjoyed The Keeper of Lost Causes so much that I have no problems recommending it to some of my friends who are also some leery about reading police procedural or crime novels.

>196 Donna828: - Donna, I have yet to encounter anyone who has read the book mentioned in the book quote that does not have fond memories of it. ;-)

Ah, yes, the book bullets they are part of the risk of visiting threads here on LT. I am almost giddy with excitement for tomorrow. It is always such a fun and I love being surrounded by all the book talk that goes on, with complete strangers recommending books to one another. I have promised myself that I will be 'selective' but - well - I said the same thing last year and still came home with quite the haul.

Holy wow at the bread picture! I'm salivating now, thank you!

Lovely review of the Department Q book! Off to go give it a thumbs up and reluctantly add it to my wish list!

ETA: You should add your fantastic review so I can give it a thumb!

Lori, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Lori, your bread looks fabulous! Woot! Well done. I also haven't baked break for probably 10 or 15 years, and it is SOOO wonderful, if labour intensive. Hope you find some treasures at the book sale, bread baking and Haruf's Benediction, at the very least : ).

Oh good stuff with the bread baking! I went through a phase at 19 when I was staying on my mum's farmhouse in between things, baking bread seemed like just the thing and I really enjoyed it.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend!

xoxo

I'll be thinking about you at the book sale, Lori. Hope you find plenty of great titles!

>199 TinaV95: - Thanks, Tina, we are enjoying the concept of home baked bread after a very long absence. I can see the attraction for the Department Q series and I am looking forward to the next one.

LOL - I didn't thing the review all that worthy but at your request it has now been posted on the book page.

>200 Ameise1: - What a lovely flower! Thanks, Barbara! I hope your weekend is equally lovely as the one I am having!

>201 lit_chick: - Thanks, Nancy! I am sick and tired of the same old bread products available in the stores and local bakeries so it was time to take control over the bread products I/we consume. Treasures were found at the book sale today - including a copy of Benediction! I will post full results of my book sale adventures once i get a new thread up and running.

>202 Smiler69: - I can see how you enjoyed bread baking when you were staying at your mum's farmhouse, Ilana. It really makes me feel as though I have accomplished something that is good.

>203 richardderus: - Lovely to see you here RD!

>204 DeltaQueen50: - Judy, this sale was even better than last year's. I kept restraining myself and I still managed to come away with some great finds. Even better, the sale continues tomorrow!

New thread is up...... come on over!