Sibyx queries: It's April, do you know where your mud shoes are?

First flower spotted!

***April Current Reads***
♬

new The Ruby Dice Catherine Asaro sf
✔ Bats Sing, Mice Giggle Karen Shanor nf animal behaviour
♬ Ashes of Victory David Weber sf
Monthly Murdoch: The Green Knight
IM readers group is HERE
VMC Read next one in MAY
Ongoing The New Yorker 2014 January Read my reviews here: New Yorkers 2014
January 6, 13, 20, 27

April Reads
37. ✔True Believers Kurt Anderson contemp fic ***1/2
38. new The Last Family in England Matt Haig contem fic ***1/2
39. December 2013 New Yorkers
40. ✔Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace D.T. Max biography ****
41. ✔Thursday Next: First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde mys ***1/2
42. new Skyfall Catherine Asaro sf ****
43. ✔The Raphael Affair Iain Pears mys ****
44. ✔From Where We Stand Deborah Tall memoir/nature *****
45. new Schism Catherine Asaro sf ****
46. new The Final Key Catherine Asaro sf

Guide to symbols
♬ audio
✔ On Shelf Over One Year
VMC Virago-of-the-month

March Reads
25. (new) The Well of Ascension Brandon Sanderson bk 2 Mistborn/ fantasy ***1/2
26. (new)Ascendant Sun Catherine Asarosf Bk 5 Skolian ****
27. ✔Dersu the Trapper V.K. Arseniev biography/natural history ****
28. (new) The Quantum Rose Catherine Asaro sf / Bk 6 Skolian
29. ✔Restless William Boyd contemp fic ****
30. (new) The Hero of Ages Brandon Sanderson Bk 3 Mistborn/ fantasy ****
31. ✔The Probable Future Alice Hoffman contemp fic ***1/2
32. ✔Every Last Cuckoo Kate Malloy contemp fic ***
33. (new)The Hare with Amber Eyes Edmund de Waal nf /memoir ****1/2
34. ✔ Celestis Paul Park sf ***
35. newSpherical Harmonic Catherine Asaro sf ****
36. new The Moon's Shadow Catherine Asaro sf ****

OTHER STUFF 2014
Read it or Get Rid of it! TBR clearing out!
1. ✔A Mirror For Witches Esther Forbes see comment 155, thread one.QUIT
2. ✔Jennifer Government Finished. See review page. FINISHED
3. The Saliva Tree Brian Aldiss sf/ss See review page. FINISHED
4. ✔ Gone to Earth Mary Webb QUIT see >75 lauralkeet:
5. ✔ Celestis Paul Park sf FINISHED

March Reflections
I can start this month's reflections with the same sentiment as last month's - that the cold kept me pasted to the sofa, more or less. The paramount theme is the mad dash through Catherine Asaro's Skolian Saga. Asaro is a smart cookie, probably writing 'below' her abilities, but she has so much fun - and I've come to value writers who write to enjoy themselves and give you something to read that's enjoyable. While her books have a strong romantic flavor, she enjoys pushing buttons and boundaries and explores some social themes deeply. That said, my dose of reality was Edmund de Waal's exquisitely written and painful memoir/history of his family's rise and fall from the mid 19th century through WW2 - and beyond. I'm surprised to find I read three books of contemporary fiction, the best of them being the William Boyd, the other two were domesticated fiction, not bad, but pedestrian or fanciful in certain ways....I'll take any amount of fanciful in a sf/fantasy book, but am less tolerant with fiction that is more or less purporting to be real. Never know where to put Ms Hoffman in that regard. I'll be returning to Iris this month, don't know what I'll tackle yet! The two worst books of March were part of my Read It Or Get Rid Of It program, appropriately enough, Celestis, an sf book that just... misses.... somehow and the Mary Webb which was just soggy. The best books were the Arseniev, Dersu the Trapper and the de Waal. No question!

March Stats
Categories:
Total: 12
Men: 5
Women: 3
Man-Woman Team: 0
Non-fiction: 2
History: 0
Memoir:1
Virago: quit
Classic Fiction: 0
Contemporary fiction: 3
Historical fiction: 0
Short stories: 0
Graphic: 0
SF: 5
Fantasy: 2
Thriller: 0
YA or J fantasy: 0
F/SF hybrid: 0
F/SF/Mys hybrid: 0
Mys: 0
Humor: 0
Poetry: 0

Housekeeping
New (to me) Authors: 4
New books: 7
✔: 5
Library or Other: 0
Audio: 0
Months of NYers: 0
Read it or Get Rid of It: 2
Acquired: 10
Released: 3

March 2014 Books Acquired
16. Ascendant Sun Catherine Asaro pbs READ
17. Diamond Star Catherine Asaro used
18.The Quantum Rose Catherine Asaro pbs READ
19. Spherical Harmonic Catherine Asaro used READ
20. Schism Catherine Asaro pbs
21. The Hare with the Amber Eyes Edmund de Waal gift READ
22. A Turn of Light Julie E. Czerneda late xmas
23. The Bleeding Edge Thomas Pynchon new
24. The Moon's Shadow Catherine Asaro pbs READ
25. The Bohr Maker Linda Nagata

Net (gain) March = 7
Net (gain) 2014 = 8

January Reads
1. newWigs on the Green Nancy Mitford contemp f ***
2. new Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors Nicholas Wade science*****
3. ✔The Sparrow Mary Doria Russell sf ***
4. New Yorker - September
5. new The Widower's Tale Julia Glass contemp f ***1/2
6. ✔Mistborn Brandon Sanderson fantasy ***1/2
7. Catch the Lightning Catherine Asaro sf (book 2 Skolian Empire) sf ***1/2
8. new Good Daughters Mary Hocking contemp f ****1/2
9. Read It or... Jennifer Government Max Barry sf/near future ***1/2
10. Read It or... The Saliva Tree Brian Aldiss sf/ss
11. new Indifferent Heroes Mary Hocking contemp f ****1/2
12. ♬ Death of a Snob M.C. Beaton ***
13. ✔ Watchtower Elizabeth Lynn fantasy ****

February Reads
14. ✔The Dancers of Arun Elizabeth Lynn fantasy ****
15. October 2013 New Yorkers
16. new Welcome Strangers Mary Hocking bk 3, Good Daughters contemp fic ****
17. ✔The Horse, the Wheel, and Language David Anthony archaeology/linguistics ****
18. library The Northern Girl Elizabeth Lynn fantasy ****
19. newThe Last Hawk Catherine Asaro bk 3 Skolian Empire sf *****
20. new The Unicorn Iris Murdoch ***1/2
21. new The Radiant Seas Catherine Asaro sf ****
22. (SEL library)Witch World Andre Norton fantasy/sf blend ***1/2
23. (SEL library) Web of the Witch World Andre Norton fantasy ***
24. (SEL library) Three Against the Witch World Andre Norton fantasy ***1/2
25. November 2013 New Yorkers.

Series Tally

Series started in 2014
None at present.

Series continued in 2014
1. The Skolian Empire (6 of 11) Most recent: The Moon's Shadow. next up bk 9: Skyfall

Series completed or caught up with in 2014
1. Good Daughters Mary Hocking (3)
2. Chronicles of Tornor Elizabeth Lynn (3)
3. Witch World - set goal of reading first three in series. Completed.
4. Mistborn Brandon Sanderson (3) 3 of 3 Completed

Ongoing Series started or continued in 2013
1. The Seven Kingdoms Kristin Cashore (2 of 3) Next up: Bitterblue
2. Liaden Universe Sharon Lee Steve Miller Let's say I've read 11 of 19!
3. Quantum Gravity Justina Robson (4 of 5) Next up: book 5 of 5
4. Rivers of London 2 of 5. Next up: Whispers Underground
5. Flavia de Luce Alan Bradley (5 of 6) The Dead in their Vaulted Arches audio only!
6. Green Rider Kristen Britain (4 of 4) (Mirror Sight out May 2014
7. KingKiller Chronicles Patrick Rothfuss 2 of 3. Doors of Stone forthcoming (undeclared)

YAY! I'm first, and I hope that you have finished setting up.
Happy New Thread, Lucy! And I'm happy to see Ernie again.

Happy new April thread Lucy! Hoping April has less snow and ice and is generally less cruel for you.

YAY! I'm almost first (doesn't that sound better than second?). Happy thread, Lucy. Here's wishing you some sunshine and warm days.

Hoping you've left all the snow behind on your March thread.

Happy April! Love the Ernie montage.

Happy new thread, Lucy!

Lucy, Happy New Thread. I love those photos.

What I am reading this week - not too different from last week.....
♬

✔Thursday Next: First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde mys
✔True Believers Kurt Anderson contemp fic
✔Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace D.T. Max biography
♬ Ashes of Victory David Weber sf

Congratulations on your latest thread, Lucy.
Very wide spread of reading coming up for you in the first week of April. xx

May this thread see your snow come to an end, Lucy! Have lots of fun with First Among Sequels.

Is that Ernie waiting to be allowed outdoors to play when all the snow has vanished??

I finally decided to do without my winter coat! I think it is rebelling, too. It desperately needs to spend quality time at the dry cleaners...

Hi Lucy, maybe I'll keep up on this thread. Hope your snow is melting.

Happy New Thread, Lucy!

I really want to get to the Fforde books soon...

At 10 a.m. it is forty degrees and sunny!!! I got overheated on my walk! I am happy! Should get some fine melting today - there is still 8-10 inches of snow most places and the glacier is about 5 inches of solid ice, but I am still hoping for significant progress!

Hi, Lucy. I'm a whole quarter of the year behind your thread, but wanted to say hello, especially as your thread titled reminded me of the Robert Frost poem - I think it's called 'In Mud Time'. Or something like that. I'll catch up eventually - or just dive into the present.

This is the relevant stanza, Judy. Frighteningly exact.

from 'Two Tramps in Mud Time':

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

great poem, Lucy. I really like that.

By the way, what was it that Ernie was "hunting"?

oh one of those 'fishing rod' cat toys onto which we tie strips of tissue paper (fun to shred) - he lies around on the guest bed 'waiting' for someone to notice he is there - to play with him. We have to go into the one room with a door because Miss Po gets jealous and tends to put her dainty little paw into the mix otherwise.

Happy new thread, Lucy. Glad to hear things have warmed up in your neck of the woods.

>22 sibylline: love it!!

contemp fic ***1/2
True Believers Kurt Andersen

I'm not sure if I was hoarding this or if I had an intuition .....but although I very much enjoyed two previous novels of Andersen's, Turn of the Century and Heyday, this one fell flat for me, I won't go into detail, but I suspect Andersen's true agenda was to stuff every possible detail from the sixties into one book, to come up with a shocking plot to demonstrate how a person can be very stupid when young, and that even over sixty a person can still be cool. Granny, Dean at Stanford Law School after an illustrious law career gets short-listed for the Supreme Court - turns it down because....... well..... she has secrets and she decides to 'out' herself. She's so cool she rides a bus down to the Occupy rally in Miami with her granddaughter to be the 'chaperone'. But really, it's not about her, she is just the vehicle for the agenda and it kind of implodes on itself and becomes tedious. It's a 'list' book, I could list everything Andersen wanted to cram in here, from Bond-mania to living with diabetes 1. It's just too much, and I didn't buy it and I didn't care. That said, as always, make up your own mind. Andersen is smart and he can write and there are some delicious moments, he is keenly observant and thoughtful although I don't agree that because of television we all 'share' the same memories, unlike our pre-tv forebears.... that's just romanticizing. My favorite observation was Andersen just musing, not being hip: "Living with other people, especially people I love or wish I could love, is like having music on in the background, several different songs at once, all the time." More like that, please. ***1/2

>1 sibylline: Ernie is a delightful scamp! He must bring such joy to you!

>25 sibylline: I was keeping my lips firmly buttoned until you finished this, but you nailed my feelings about this novel. So much potential squandered by his eagerness to show how much he knew about the backdrop, the "scene"... Gah. I was very intrigued by the theme of a subculture life coming back to bite someone now so very respectable -- it has happened, hasn't it, and i'm surprised it hasn't happened more often! -- and I so much wanted it to be better than it to be better.

That's a relief to hear, Suzanne, always great to have one's take confirmed. Disappointments like that one are what are making me slower to buy a contemporary novel or wait and get it from the library. That was a hardcover, xmas present request, not worth it.

For me it was an Amazon Vine request; had to figure out how to write a review of a mediocre book, which is always tougher than a book I love, like or loathe.

>25 sibylline:, >29 Chatterbox: It is easy to write about books you love or hate but difficult to drum up the motivation to scribble regarding those we simply don't care much about.

Hope your next one motivates you positively, Lucy.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thought of you yesterday, Lucy, when I got a message that the first Hiero book was available for me on PBS (I got the second from there last year). I'm going to save them and read them just before your book becomes available, but I'm delighted to have them both at hand now.

Thank you Roni!! I am also delighted.

Lucy, I wish you a

Last night was the night when the cast and crew of the winter musical at the LD's school drive to the nearest Denny's (in Burlington) after the play to have pancakes and so on...... Well, parental units either have to drive the little dears in to town, including the trip from wherever they live (and some of us live very far from our Union high school) and out again, often with a boatload of kids who might live up mud-stricken roads..... OR you wait up worried..... the LD didn't even GET her pancakes or whatever she had, until 11:45..... So we watched three Inspector Morse's in a row, which is a lot of morsing around. - I'm getting into Morse though, esp of course, his dynamic with Lewis, and now with the new pathologist, Grayling. I'm also enjoying watching the show evolve as it emerges out of the eighties (man, those shoulder pads!!! And the fluffy hairdos a la Princess Diana).

She got home safe and sound around 1. Stayed above freezing so we didn't have to fret about that. Although we did anyway.

Watching Morse sounds like a good way to wait-up. Glad you're enjoying them. Have you tried the Inspector Lewis series yet? (although it probably would help them if you had seen the end of the Morse series before you started on them).

>34 sibylline: Oh I really dislike waiting up for my daughter when she's out late. We usually go to bed and ask her to wake us when she gets home. Sometimes we fall asleep, but sometimes we can't. I'm such a worry-wart.

Those 80s Morse episodes certainly do showcase some pretty awful clothes and hairstyles ...

Aren't those costumes a hoot! I watched them (avidly) when they first appeared -- they were the reason I signed up for cable (well, PBS in general, with Mystery and Masterpiece Theater.) Now they're all archived on Hulu and it's wonderful... But the fashions! What seemed so normal back in the day now make me wince and cringe. The acting, however, along with the writing, is almost always excellent. Hope it proved a great distraction from the waiting up.

Happy to hear that LD came in fine and in pretty good time too. Pretty nice of her, I'd say. And I hope that everybody got to sleep in a little this morning including Miss Po.

What I am (still) reading (in some cases) this week:
♬

Only one book finished last week.

This is a video of one of my dear friends, Jim Schley, the managing editor of a small press, Tupelo, that is in the midst of a kickstarter campaign to back a translation of Pablo Neruda's Canto Generale. Jim toured with Bread and Puppet Theater for several years in his youth! I'm glad to see he can still manage those stilts.
http://vimeo.com/91080090
If you are interested check out this site too. It's a fabulous project. First translation in 25 years:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/979776234/canto-general-a-new-translation-f...

>40 sibylline: he can still manage those stilts
Oh that looks like fun! I doubt my bones and muscles are up to the learning curve though.

They've invited the LD to 'do' a poem for the campaign, which we'll probably 'do' in the next couple of days. She's up to her eyeballs in the school musical right now, so it'll be a day or two. Spanish is her second language and Neruda is just about her favorite poet, so it should be a blast. I'll post it when it's done!

>40 sibylline: Very interesting indeed, Lucy. I will stump up a little for a donation as poetry and its preservation is very dear to me.

>42 sibylline: Look forward to seeing the poem when done. xx

>43 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul! The Tueplos will be thrilled, too, to have a donation from Malaysia!!! They get very excited about things like that. And yes, I'll be sure to post the LD when it's done.

Definitely post the poem! That will boost donations, I'm sure...

>42 sibylline: I'd love to see the poem!

38. contemp fic *** 1/2
The Last Family in England Matt Haig

I wanted so much to love this book as much as my daughter did. However, despite the fact that I dog-mad and even had a labrador that slept under my crib from the moment I came home from the hospital, something didn't quite click for me, although I was amused and entertained. It is a 'jeu' in other words, and not quite the right thing for me at this moment. So I don't want anyone to read this review and say, "Oh, so I won't bother with that book." I adored the other Haig novel I read about a family of vampires working very hard to be ordinary decent people. In fact, perhaps, that is Haig's thematic territory, the mystery of what breaks up a family or keeps one intact. *** 1/2

And now I really need to get going on that Wallace bio - started it wayyyy back on March 22! Like many bios it's a mix of TMD (detail) and some interesting stuff. So you can't rush it!

Good heavens, I missed the monthly transition again. I've spread the word about the kickstarter. Sending hugs.

>49 richardderus: - I appreciate that so much Richard! The LD is staying home today, exhausted from the winter musical and I'm going to get her to do the poem if I can.....

Whoops posted my changes to 'what I am reading this week' here by mistake, don't need it twice.

How's your snow melt going, Lucy? I checked the Chautauqua web cam the other day and it was nearly all gone. Hope you're now able to get out for a good walk without slipping on ice, getting buried in snow or stuck in mud.

It's melting, Reba, but not fast enough! I'll take a photo or two so you can see later. We've been keeping an eye on the glacier problem on the road because the water had diverted out of the culvert but yesterday we chopped away a bunch of ice to encourage it to flow in the proper channel and this morning I was thrilled to see that it worked!!! No water flowing down the field and onto the road anymore other than the melt from the glacier itself. Anyhow, now the water is pouring off a huge limb of a cottonwood tree that fell over the brook a couple of years ago in a very pretty waterfall. I'll take a picture of that too. What we did was chop away the ice right behind the big limb which got a few trickles going from various little nooks and crannies in the ice (which is weirdly layered) and overnight these must have broken through and joined up and become a proper torrent.

Pictures being worth a thousand words:
1. Our private sinkhole......
2. Our pond's melting progress yesterday
3. The brook waterfall operating within acceptable parameters once more.


Gloomy, innit? But it was 'warm' yesterday - in the low 50's so I didn't mind it.

Loving all the photos of Ernie and of home : ). Gloomy, yes … I live in the Okanagan Valley, which is infamously gray throughout the winter months. It's usually sunny half way up the mountain, but it's not a drive I make often, in spite of its close proximity to town.

Droppin' a star on your new thread.

Everybody needs their own private sinkhole...

It has the further delightful of being the sewer line from the barn, we're hoping it didn't get damaged....

Always glad to see pictures! Thanks, Lucy.

40. biography ****
Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace D.T.Max

You close the book on this all-too-short and unfinished life and a small sound (a sigh?) escapes from you, regret, compassion, sorrow. Wisely, Max, the biographer stays in the background, offering information with virtually no superficial speculation so that an outline - perhaps a bit like one described in The Pale King emerges of David Foster Wallace, ghostly but possible to apprehend. I began my Wallace adventure with Oblivion, then read some of his essays in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (still haven't finished) then Infinite Jest and finally, I listened to The Broom of the System and when I picked up the biography I still knew virtually nothing about him, or rather, about all I knew was that he must have played tennis as a kid. What I couldn't grasp was how one person could have so much inside of him, so much to say, and so much of it so true. Infinite Jest in particular was so different from anything and so unexpected, how, in all that dense language and the shenanigans and commentary this tremendous sweetness hidden at the core. So now I have a better idea of where Wallace came from, what happened to him: how he could write about such a wide range of people and experiences. The biography is solid and unpretentious and Max does a careful job of linking some experiences with Wallace's writing but doesn't overdo it. Nor does he overdo or shy away from the extent of Wallace's emotional problems and the devastation these caused in his life. It's a balanced effort, making no pretension of figuring anything out and I appreciated that! ****

Wish I'd gotten a picture of this. You know how foxes like to leave gifts on top of rocks or logs - well Posey climbed up on a fallen tree and rather perilously added her own message and then more or less fell off in the process. Priceless. In other nature news, lots of turkey tracks. Also a pair of Canada Geese are spending the night by the pond (probably hidden in some nearby cosy spot as it is raining). They arrived right at dusk tonight and I know it is their first night here. Last year a pair stayed for several weeks, and we were worried they would nest, which would be difficult as they are messy. Also saw this morning a pair of mergansers playing in the river which is running very strongly. So spring surely is coming!

>60 sibylline: This sounds very encouraging! And it is perhaps best for Posey's dignity that not every incident is recorded.
>59 sibylline: Upthumbed but not for me; I read Jonathan Franzen's New Yorker article a few years ago and that's about all I can take.

Thanks for the thumb - I read that piece too. I guess I needed to know just a little bit more - maybe a broader picture? And I got that - I doubt I'll read another book 'about' him. I do have one novel and a one or two books of short stories and one and a half books of essays to read. I do think he was phenomenal. It's a good bio for someone who wants to know something but not everything.

>59 sibylline: Oh, I'm definitely adding that one to the wishlist. I met DFW when he gave his now-famous commencement speech at Kenyon College, and he left a deep impression on me. Such a sweet, kind person.

>62 sibylline: - Amber - how wonderful that you were there. I watched the speech on you-tube while reading the bio. Also the ghastly interview with Charlie Rose. Didn't anyone teach those people not to interrupt??????

>60 sibylline: Lucy, isn't this a great time of year for migratory birds? We get hordes of Canada Geese on our pond every Christmas, but the numbers have dwindled off now. I guess they've gone to visit you! However, we invariably have a pair or two that stay to nest. They are messy, but I've come to love the annual cycle of invasion - migration - nest - goslings. We've also seen other waterfowl here and there: mergansers, teals, etc. I just love it.

Poor Posey, so embarrassing.

I don't think she was all that embarrassed, our princess, she has more of the attitude that everything she does is as it must be. Her delight at being up in that part of the woods again, with actual dirt and leaves and smells and exciting discoveries lifted my spirits as much as having temps above freezing!

If we didn't like to swim in our pond in the summer I would welcome the nests and goslings!

Hooray for Miss Po and Spring! Good luck with the geese. I suspect that they are simply on their way down here where they are messy indeed in our public parks.
Many thanks for the DFW bio review. I'm looking forward to it!

>64 sibylline: Yep. Talk about being there when history happens, eh? There doesn't seem to be an actual video of the day - just audio - out there, but were there, you'd likely be able to see me sitting there, just a few feet behind the podium (Kenyon faculty all sit on the stage for commencement).

Yes - it is more accurate to say I listened to it on You-tube - it took me awhile to realize that that was all I was going to get!

Hey cuz, ain't you all fancy-fied and stuff with yer own personal sinkhole!

Just dropping by on a way too infrequent catch up round these parts. Hooray for spring finally springing in your neck of the woods! I won't mention any of the little naps on sunny afternoons on the balcony I've already been enjoying here in Manchester - although they seem like a fairly distant memory at present - for now the north of England has returned to its default setting of grey and windy.

Lucy, I wish you

41. mys/fantasy ***1/2
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde

Alas, I think I've read enough Thursday Next books, and while there were many enjoyable moments to be had in this (not very) latest, on the whole, the story/premise was no longer amusing to me. Had this been the first Thursday Next novel for me, I might have been as amused as I was when I read the first book, but charming and undeniably witty as it is, I've had my fill. The book is no worse than the others, so I give it the same rating. There is even some substance - probing the mystery of why people like ghastly reality shows, and the fact that many of the big book stores are selling fewer and fewer books - what with pretty stationery, coffee shops, e-readers, toys, games, audiotapes, music, and dvd's......***1/2

I have the last five books of the Skolian series all sitting in a lovely stack. Oh my! But winter does appear to be over. I should 'save' them for the summer now, but how likely is that?

>73 sibylline: I'm sad to report I never made it through the first one of those; the concept didn't work for me.

Is this musical weekend for LD? What show are they doing? Julia is in her spring play, You Can't Take it With You.

>73 sibylline: *sigh* And I read the first, was mildly entertained, and checked it off my list, never feeling the need to read another.
Do as you please with the Skolian series, dear Lucy. You know you're going to find something else soon enough!

I am dying to start the Hospital sf books - but it doesn't seem sensible when I'm in the middle of this series - I have learned my lesson about dropping a series, it's so much harder to come back!

Yes, well, I am done with Fforde unless he comes up with something new. I'm not quite sure why I went on with them for so long. I think they may be books we feel ok about passing along too.....

Last weekend was the musical - they did Urinetown and it was the best musical I've seen there - and I've seen about six or seven years worth. The LD was doing lights.

I have picked out the next Asaro, but I'm not starting it until I make some headway in my latest Murdoch, The Green Knight.

Also am happy to report that today was a gen-u-ine lovely day. A joy! Well earned.

>73 sibylline: I enjoy the Thursday Next books but I also find that they're the kind of clever where I can't read them super close together otherwise the wittiness gets to be a bit much for me. It might be an approach that works for you...

And I still like Fforde. I really liked the part in First Among Sequels where Thursday enters the sea of chaos and language and words break down completely--shown graphically in the book.

I liked what I thought was going to be new Fforde series Shades of Grey, but he doesn't seem to have written a sequel, even though the book's ending very clearly called for one. That has left me boycotting his other tomes, I'm afraid...

>78 MickyFine: Problem is, I did leave a long interval, Micky, but it sounds, from Roni's comment, as though he has figured all this out and has moved on.

>79 ronincats: Yes, i kept reading because of moments like that.

>80That sounds quite worth trying - I had heard that title somewhere, Suzanne. I will look out for it, I think, because he is a talented writer.

So I gave in and started Skyfall the next in the Asaro series.....

What I'm reading this week:

♬

Skyfall is, of course, the next (8th?) in the endless Skolian Empire series that I am enjoying so much. From Where We Stand: Recovering a Sense of Place is one of the 'newish' style of combined memoir/history/natural history/reflection books about how casually modern humans live on the land. It's set in the Finger Lakes area of New York State in the heart of Iroquois country, my own stomping grounds, as a large part of my growing up years happened in the Genesee Valley. The Green Knight is, of course, my latest Murdoch and I think I am going to love it although it will take a long time to read. Mercifully, I have a nice hardcover with good print.

Tech question: I keep trying to make Skyfall register as being Catherine Asaro's book (by choosing the (others) offering)and NOT Harry Harrison's book..... but it just isn't working, any advice?

I had a divvil of a time relocating your thread, Lucy, but am greatly relieved to have done so because I would never have wanted to miss Ms. Po counter-messaging a fox. Oh rats about the sinkhole being the sewage line and all.

The ice is still in the lake here but not firmly, with glimmers of water opening at the edges. We knew it would be late this year, what with the bitter cold and all. Almost all of the snow has gone from our property except in those shady places; the woods across the road is a different matter. The peepers won't be using the snow melt for their honeymoon headquarters for a while yet. Lots of billing and cooing in the trees, with pairs of geese and ducks flying overhead doing their courtship rituals.

No book bullets this visit. *whew*

>82 sibylline: I must do a few re-reads of Iris Murdoch. I thought some of her earlier novels very, very good. I am amazed that I cannot really at this remove discern the plot of one from another nowadays but I do remember liking them! The very later novels start to display a little of the mental confusion that was to sadden her final days. Very talented lady.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Glad you're finally having some nice weather. It's been dry and sometimes sunny here in NL but it's MUCH colder than we Californians are used to.

I am late to wish you a happy new thread, Lucy, but I wish you one anyway. All caught up here, and I had a lovely time doing it. Laughed at the photos of Ernie up top and at the Posey story - delightful! Hoping that Sunday is treating you well.

Temps were up near 80 yesterday, very windy, but it was enough to melt the remaining ice on the pond (a thin sheet covering about 2/3 of it). Around 9:30 we stepped outside with Miss Po and the Wood frogs were croaking - albeit rather quietly as the water is cold. They are close to a month later than some years and about two weeks later than is probably 'average'. By the middle of the night the peepers were also peeping, just a few - I think they'll all overlap a bit now.

This morning we have a wood duck and mate at the far north end of the pond and two Canada geese in the front, round part. Both pairs may be the same ones as visited last year.

Today it is to be around 70 until mid-afternoon when a big wind/thunderstorm will blow in and the temp will drop 35 degrees to 35. We may get a little snow after that. How delightful.

Oh, Lucy! Sorry about that weather forecast! What a crazy year this has been so far.

I think I can stand it - it'll be back in the 50's (warm enough) by Friday.

Do you think I was rash to make the appointment to take off the STUDDED tires next week??????

I wouldn't say rash. I would say hopeful.

Oh, I love wood ducks. They're so shy though!

sf ****
Skyfall Catherine Asaro

Well, we all know, at this point, that I am a sucker for the Skolian Empire series. This one goes into some backstory and of course I enjoyed it immensely. This one barely clings to the pretense that it is science fiction, but I don't care.... ripping good love story and hey, the guy has hinged four-fingered hands and feet and counts in base 8! Gotta count for something!

So...... it snowed over four inches here last night. Oh, and yesterday it rained so hard the river came right up to the edge of the bank, ready to burst out of bounds. The snow has just stopped. It might not all be gone by the end of today, but tomorrow and Friday will be 50 so I expect it is quite ephemeral. It is, of course, incredibly pretty as new snow always is and now the sky is turning a delicate rather etherial blue, just not what I want to see.

So I'm trying to alternate sf and mysteries so I picked up at Iain Pears that has languished in my mystery shelf for a loooong time.

Unbelievable, snow again. That's terrible. So, here we go with some spring.

Getting caught up here Lucy and I continue to be amazed at the winter weather whammies that have been hitting so much of North America this year. Can we hope that this means summer will be a long and hot one? ;-)

Sorry to hear you have yet more snow. Sending you some Spring wishes, Lucy.

Monday the wood frogs came out and started quackling, then Tuesday we have high winds and near flooding culminating with 5 inches of snow. Today it is a mere 16 and the pond has a little layer of ice and is still again. Grrrrr. But I think it will be thawed quickly, and today and tomorrow look like 50's, so it should be better. But thanks for the sympathy. I really fell apart yesterday!

Good grief, your weather is absolutely mad, Lucy!

What a weather roller-coaster you're on!! Hope it settles into spring for you soon.

Hi Lucy,

I love the photo montage of Ernie although I also thought the photo on your prior thread of the lovely and brave Posey was pretty darn cute. Your weather, on the other hand, is outrageous and not to be envied.

I love your comments about Every Love Story is a Ghost Story; I have Infinite Jest on the TBR shelves and I do want to read it, but maybe I'll start with something else. Maybe his essays.

Howdy do, Lucy, happy to know your weather is approaching March by now. We're chilly and breezy but sunshiney, so I can handle it. *smooch*

So have I mentioned that the LD leaves tomorrow morning on a school 'affiliated' trip to England for six days????

They'll go to Stratford-on-Avon on the big man's birthday itself then that night Henry V at The Globe, then all the usual things plus a side tour to see Bath and Stonehenge and a day in Oxford. She's decided, as one does the day before a trip, that she MUST have ... in this case.... a decent pair of 'flats' for dressing up that won't take space in her bag. There is always something, no? Luckily it is not passport or anything dire.

Which reminds me I'd better tell the bank to expect lots of use of the debit card..... I just read Rhian's thread about her awful day.....

Happy Easter!

Safe and Happy Trip to your LD - and in the perfect pair of flats!

Wishing your daughter safe travels, Lucy! Sounds like a lovely trip - I'm feeling a bit jealous. Sorry to hear about your crazy weather - I am thinking SPRING for you!

Thank you all -> 103 I've given the LD her Easter goodies early since she will miss Sunday.

>104 LizzieD: >105 Crazymamie: thank you both. I wish someone would organize me to travel a little bit more.... I get so attached to where I am it is very very difficult. I have, in any case, decided to drive to Boston to stay with my brother, to pick her up next Sat. night when they get home. Otherwise it is a Bolt Bus that arrives in Burlington at 1 a.m. Ugh. So I am at least going to venture out of Vermont!

>102 sibylline: I just read Rhian's thread about her awful day.....

There's nothing worse than having your credit card declined when you are abroad. I haven't had it happen recently but we went through a period where it happened every time we went abroad. I've never understood how a hotel bill from the city that you had told the credit card company that you were going to on holiday could be a 'suspicious transaction'.

Ugh that credit card abroad stuff drives me nuts. We made sure to notify them that my daughter would be spending a full academic year abroad, and they've still flagged transactions several times. Usually you can clear it up with a quick phone call, but occasionally they completely cancel the card and issue you a new one. That would have been a major hassle for the daughter, so I'm glad that hasn't happened while she's been away.

>102 sibylline: - Stratford-on-Avon is such a lovely place! Yay for LD's school 'affiliated' trip to England! Haven't been to the rest of the places you mentioned, or if I have, I don't remember. Stratford-on-Avon stuck out in my mind as memorable.

What a lovely trip that will be for LD. Whenever we travel, I notify my credit card/interac bank to give them a rough idea of our itinerary, which they record on my file. It helps. And I only use banks for withdrawals so that I can ask for help if anything goes wrong.

I hope she has a lovely time, Lucy (the lucky duck!).

I had a brilliant time last year when I went to see a play at The Globe (The Tempest) and I'm envious LD gets to see my favourite history play. Two questions: does she have to watch from the pit? and Who is playing Hal?

Such a lovely trip for the LD! And a nice minication for mama, too. Win win! Happy bunny hoppings.

Absolutely green with envy! Your daughter is very fortunate, Lucy, that her parents have the funds to allow her all these activities.

Lucy, I wish you and a long weekend full of reading. It's fantastic that your daughter is able to make such a gorgeous trip.

Thank you everyone - I will pass on your good wishes and
>107 SandDune: and >108 lauralkeet: and 110 I hope her debit card will work properly!

>109 lkernagh: I've never been to the Globe nor have I been to Stratford, but I've done the rest - I adored Bath, all those pretty 'crescents'! I was already a Jane Austen fan so it was thrilling to be in one of the 'settings' for goings on.

>111 MickyFine: try to find out who is playing Hal!
Somebody memorable I hope!

>112 richardderus: and >113 ronincats: Thank you and - they had a few fundraisers and we gave extra to help make sure everyone who wanted to go could go. The faculty member who organized the trip is using the same outfit, Explorica, that the LD's school used for an 'senior' trip(8th grade was the end of the line at her old school) to Puerto Rico - very reasonably priced and well-organized. They are saving tons too by taking the Bolt bus to Boston. Unfortunately today is the Marathon and the security is 'up the wazoo' - but hopefully they can get to Logan Airport from the north without having to cope with Boston itself ....... Luckily they have lots of time as the plane doesn't leave until early evening and they leave here at 11 a.m. Hmmmm although I suppose the Bolt goes right into Cambridge - well - not my problem is it, thank goodness!

>155 lauralkeet: today is the Marathon
What?! No, they haven't messed with the sacred 3d Monday. But yeah, I bet they're super security conscious this year. Forget England, I miss Boston. I'll spare a little envy though for LD's school-affiliated trip; furthest we ever went was Philadelphia or DC.

>116 qebo: You know Q - I don't know for sure, that is what the LD informed me as we were driving to the Bolt bus.... Anyhow - they are at the airport now, departure in two hours (9:30). And somehow or other I just polished off two books in a row! That's rare, but I've been reading them bits at a time and neither one was very long.

43. mys ****
The Raphael Affair Iain Pears

A Raphael hidden under the painting of a contemporary inferior but not completely terrible painter..... and we're off! Good fun. Not lots of blood n guts, just fun and pleasing characters and a pleasing enough plot.

44. memoir *****
From Where We Stand Deborah Tall

In the mid 1980's, poet and writer, Deborah Tall moved to the Finger Lakes region to teach at William Smith. She found herself living in the heart of Seneca country, near the densely rich 'Longhouse Road' (Route 5 & 20) that crosses the middle of New York State and fell in love with Lake Seneca and the region. Her book, ten years in the making, is an attempt to explore the many layers of history that abide here: from the past and present of the Seneca, one of the leading nations of the Iroquois League, to the fabled Mary Jemison, captive who preferred her captors way of life; from to the unusual numbers of religious visionaries (Joseph Smith being the most successful) to the equally unusual number of early women's rights advocates. Along the way she finds herself wondering if there is something about this area that encourages innovative thinking. She does not flinch from the ugliness and cruelty and outright betrayal of the new United States - including George Washington - toward the Iroquois when the lang-grabbing speculation and general greediness got rolling. Nor does she flinch from describing the ways in which we have abused the rich land of this area using it as a dumping ground for every kind of waste that the military generates - including nuclear. Nor does she flinch from a frank assessment of the reasons why Geneva as a city, on the north side of the lake is a miserable and failed one while Ithaca to the South is an attractive and successful one. She explores too the concept that poetry is tied to landscape and that, in a way, that is what all poets do, interpret what is right before their eyes in the most concrete possible way, and that this requires making a commitment to a single place in order to make as deep a study of it as one can in a lifetime. To that end she explores all of her responses to her discoveries. My favorite chapters explore the intriguing idea, most eloquently written about by Bruce Chatwin, that one of the ailments of modern humankind, particularly Americans, is that they have, most of them, no relationship at all to where they live. They know nothing of the past history of the land upon which their home was built, and don't care to know either. It doesn't even occur to them that it matters. Whereas for native people of an area, and that would now include white folks who stayed put and have farmed a parcel of land for over a century, literally apprehend the world in a totally different and much richer way than we can comprehend. Places are named differently, for things that happened there, or that tend to happen there. If you live in a place for a long time you start to do that, even unconsciously as 'place where trees blow down' or 'place where wildflowers bloom first' or 'place where I always get lost' and 'the mysterious twenty foot wall in the middle of nowhere' (these are all the unconscious names I've given to places where I walk on our back forty. To take such a person who is rooted in this way off their land is literally to kill their inner spirit. And yes, most Americans' own spirits are damaged to destroyed utterly from our casual and vagrant attitude towards the land. I loved Tall's effort to get inside this difficult reality, her pain at knowing she may not ever get very far herself in that kind of rootedness and I greatly admire her decision to STAY PUT and do her darndest to 'become part of it.' *****

I have a special relationship with this region having grown up in the Genesee Valley from the age of 12 onward when my mother remarried and moved us there. My stepfamily was among those who benefitted from the land-grab, as two brothers who marched with Sullivan's army saw how fertile and gorgeous the area is and swore they would return, which they did in the 1790's. Many in the family are still farming and steward the land, much of which is now held in a conservation trust, but I have always felt a terrible uneasiness. Everywhere you go are subtle signs of other occupants, arrowheads, an arrangement of rocks, odd mounds and I always felt surrounded by ghosts. Because of this feeling, in college I studied our history from the point of view of the French, English and Native Americans, in particular of the Northeast, an education that has informed my life.

Edited to fix, among other things, a date problem!

What I am reading this week:

♬

>120 sibylline: I'm reading Animal Wise, an ER book, which has a chapter about laughing rats.

ETA:

>119 sibylline: Sigh. Wishlist.

Happy Easter, Lucy! I'll be back later to see if you have finished that review!

Proud to be your first star of that very fine review, Lucy. You have given me much to think about, this fine sunny morning.

Very interesting review and perspective of the central NY region, Lucy.

Well, I'm sad this morning. I actually thought I might like to write Deborah Tall a note about her book, and come to find she died several years ago of breast cancer. Extremely poignant given that she lived alarmingly close to one of the local Superfund sites for several years. While I was reading the book I even chided her (in my head) for that, and now come to find.

>124 lauralkeet: - The first thing the LD did upon getting to London was make some egregious error with her debit card that resulted in its being restricted from early yesterday morning until just now when we got it fixed again...... THANK HEAVENS she is still a minor for SEVEN MORE DAYS and we have a joint account so I could fix it from here.......

Miss Po and I spent most of the day yesterday outside prowling around in the woods - I love this time when you can see 'the bones' of the land and there are no bugs! I have to post both photos because I can't pick!



And I changed my thread topper! First flower! I don't know what happened to our snowdrops, usually they are first but I can't find any.

>125 sibylline: oh my Lucy, doesn't that just figure? For what it's worth, neither of my girls are minors but I am still a co-signer on their bank/debit accounts. These were created when they were, oh, 16 or so I guess but nothing changed automatically when they turned 18. Thank goodness! We also added both of them to our joint Visa credit card, with some discussion about when to use that vs. their personal debit cards. I know that wouldn't work for everyone but it's been helpful for us, especially with one at college so she can charge certain education-related expenses to that card, and she has a way to handle any emergency expenditures that her personal funds may not cover (like the time she got stranded in London, having missed the last train to Exeter ...)

What is there about a Corgi on a log in the woods with a big grin on her face that just warms ye old cockles? And gack about the debit card snafu. Am reading Red Mars, btw.

Posey LOVES climbing up on top of rocks, logs, gravel piles, sand piles, dirt piles...... literally anything that is 'up.' And rightly so, her already glorious self is all that much more amplified set off in this way! She was SO HAPPY that we were out for hours..... and got home and slept - even put herself to bed (in our bed, naturally) EARLY.

Oh Yay that you are reading Red Mars.

>127 lauralkeet: Haven't heard a peep out of the LD which is good news - means the card must be working. I really really like the idea of adding her to our jt c. card when she goes to college, makes perfect sense! And it does make for emergency back up - the thought had even flittered through my mind --- now I know it is not a over-thinking thought, but a sensible one.

Love the new photos, Lucy. Your property is just beautiful.

First flower! How beautiful. I hope this means speing is coming your way.

>129 sibylline: oh very sensible indeed, because we are sensible mothers with sensible daughters!! :)

What a wonderful trip for your daughter! My sister did a trip like that in high school and she is still talking about it.....20 years later!

Loved the story about Posey from up thread! Too bad there is no video!

>126 sibylline: That log looks impossible for those short legs! The snowdrops, well, maybe they were done in by the snow?

SO glad that you were able to fix the debit card trouble form your end, Lucy. And I LOVE the photos of Miss Posie exploring - thanks so much for sharing those!

Beautiful flower! Beautiful Posey-Girl! Beautiful NO SNOW! Enjoy! Enjoy!!!

45. sf ****
Schism Catherine Asaro

This one jumps back to earlier times in Soz/Sauscony's life, her entry into cadet school and the problems that causes at home, especially with her father, Eldrinson. It also follows her intriguing brother Shannon, who is the most 'different' of her siblings, resembling the mysterious 'Blue Dale Archers.' Bad things happen when Shannon runs away, feeling he has made a mess of his relationships with family, his father rides out to find him and ... things get very bad..... those trader Aristos are the worst. This was more character-driven and had less of the 'big-picture' politics, and thus was more enjoyable. Lots of fun as always. ****

Sounds good to me.

Hope L.D. is having a wonderful time in England and glad you were able to solve the debit card issue. Those things can be such a pain. Hubby was trying to check on our checking account while we were away and muddled something which ended in our access to the account being blocked. Fortunately we didn't need to use it, he just wanted to check that things were OK and now we're home he can call and straighten it all out. Still a pain.

Looks like spring has truly arrived at your house. So nice to see Po enjoying the woods and know you were enjoying it just as much.

Well I was watching local TV coverage yesterday about the Shakespear 450th birthday celabrations in Stratford. Who knows, perhaps your LD was there in the background somewhere? I hope she is letting you know she is ok from time to time, and not just getting in touch when she has a card emergency!

I read a few of those Ian Pears mysteries some while ago. Nice, light fare. Rather different from his more serious novels; have you tried An Instance of the Fingerpost ?

I have that Genny, but I haven't tried the more serious stuff of Pears's yet.

I'm sure the LD was frolicking somewhere in the background!!!! How cool is that!

>134 qebo: "That log looks impossible for those short legs!" I was thinking the same thing, and then feeling a bit mean for raining on Miss P's dignity, so I'm glad I'm not the only one! ; )

>119 sibylline: That lack of rootedness to the land was mentioned in something I was reading online the other day, when a global warming campaigner was bemoaning the fact that this very phenomena makes it less clear what terrible damage we are doing. If we still had that same connection to a place, that fact that things are seriously amiss would be much more to the forefront of our minds, is their claim, and one that seems hard to argue with.

Lucy, I wish you a lovely weekend.

You nailed it, Q. And it feels, to me, virtually impossible to re-establish that connection for the millions of people who have lost it and don't even know they have. I don't how you would even begin. I work pretty hard at paying attention I'm only partially connected. Very depressing, really.

I am at the moment in Boston - Cambridge, really. I'll meet my daughter's plane tonight and we'll go back north tomorrow.

Still in Cambridge. The LD has been collected (last night) and we will head home in an hour or two. She had a marvelous time, saw many things, from the Viking loot at the BM to Henry IV Part One, Stonehenge to the roman baths in Bath.

Sorry to have been absent and not visiting others, hope to a bit later today after I get home and finish catching up mon and tues!

>145 sibylline: Lucy, looks like our children just missed each other. My oldest saw Henry IV parts 1 & 2 at the RSC last Saturday (4/19) with her Kenyon study abroad group. I'm glad LD had a great time!

So glad LD had a good trip. I lived in greater London for a year (back in the dark ages) and love Britain. On a much later visit, we went to Stratford and saw one of the most understandable productions of Shakespeare ever.

Oh, I'd forgotten about the Viking exhibition - I really must organise myself into a trip to London for that, before it closes (just checked, and it's on until mid-June, so I've got plenty of time if I don't forget). I'm glad the LD had such a memorable time - that list encompasses quite a sweep of history and different cultures!

Sending happy-homecoming hugs!

46. sf ****
The Final Key Catherine Asaro

This wraps up the goings on started in the previous book and shifts some of the basis of power in the Skolian Ruby dynasty as well as resolving intra-family problems, mainly between a conservative father and his children. It's a sequel to the last book and as such completely satisfying to me, since I like this series, as is obvious! Why I am so keen on it is possibly less obvious, but this type of reading fits my needs at the moment, by managing to be both intelligent - good characters, some pleasant humor, intriguing social situations, and good world-building among them - without being too demanding, perhaps because it is skewed to the comfort side where matters tend to unravel favorably for the main characters. ****

Extensively rewritten, short as it still is!

I should add, we are home, and today is the LD's 18th birthday, a fact which I find astonishing. I hope to visit more threads, but it may end up being postponed for a day or two.

to your lovely daughter.

It must be amazing enough to have a daughter, let alone one who is all grown up and come of age!

Happy, happy birthday to the LD!!

Happy birthday to your delightful daughter. Like you, I'm wrapping my head around having "adult children" (where has the time gone?!), but I like it.

>153 gennyt: It is amazing, Genny - especially since at the age of 40, after years of problems I won't go into, I decided I would be fine and our marriage would be fine without children..... and then along comes the LD, naturally!

>154 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks so much Reba! The LD is kind of tickled that she has an LT fan club!

>155 lauralkeet: She's off getting her full operator's license today too..... from now on she'll be able to drive her friends around. I'm not worried about that as she is a responsible and good driver, with a whole scary winter under her belt now. It's funny that our girls were at the theatre within days of each other. Very cool!

I like it too - I liked my adult relationship with my own mother HUGELY and look forward now to years of that development.

FINALLY Vermont Education TV has put up the finals from Poetry OutLoud!

The link is: http://www.vpt.org/show/20693/

She can be found around 18 mins, 44 mins (and don't miss the intro) and about 102-3 min....

Have you informed her of the Family Curse yet?

Nah, we'll let her be til she's 21.

Wise.

>145 sibylline: Lucy, sounds like the LD has been doing all the England activities I want to do!

As Genny says, I really must get myself organised!

And happy 18th to the LD!

>157 sibylline: Thank you for sharing the link Lucy. I'm enjoying more of the LD's recitations as I type.

>161 souloftherose: Thank you for listening to her Heather! Don't you love the energy they put into it?

I am always grateful to guests who come and want to 'see the sights' - they really get me out there! On my own? Never!

Lucy, they have found stone walls underwater in Lake Huron 50 kms from shore, that they figure are about 9,000 years old, when the glaciers were retreating in the Iron Age. The archaeologists who found them figure they were used to channel migrating caribou into a corral structure, similar to those found on Baffin island. I thought of the stone walls on your land when I read this.

So glad LD had a good trip to England. And now she's 18, that magical age on the cusp of everything and you have the joy of watching.

Happiest of Happy Birthdays to the daughter, Lucy!

That is utterly fascinating Tui! I have to run and see if I can find an article now.

She had a grand time yesterday! Thanks for all the birthday wishes. She loves her LT cheering section.

>162 sibylline: I loved LD's readings (didn't listen to any of the others) and I did love the energy - I'm not a poetry reader and have never really heard any read out loud before (except in class at school which was just painful). Listening to LD read these pieces was a revelation - if she read them I would consider trying poetry audio books!

Wow! Happy 18th to your daughter!! That's a huge milestone and a bittersweet one for you I imagine.