cameling and the traveling library - Part 4

For anyone who hasn't yet stumbled onto my thread in previous years, I am a camel-mad, food-loving oddball who calls Boston home these days. I travel a fair bit during the year and will share my adventures (some call them mishaps) with all who visit. My thread will never be as well organized as some other LTers, and neither will it be an altogether serious place. It will carry photos of places that inspire me, food I probably ate too much of, and objects that made me laugh. I shall endeavor to write insightful reviews of the books I've enjoyed, and not rant over the ones that bored me to tears.

I welcome all to contribute as you wish on this thread, but ask that you please keep your posts respectful to other members, even if you disagree with their opinions. And most of all ... have fun!







Male Authors: 40
Female Authors: 19

January Reads
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
The Shameful Peace - Frederic Spotts
Room No. 10 - Åke Edwardson
Uncle Fred in the Springtime - P.G. Wodehouse
The Lady and her Monsters - Roseanne Montillo
Still Foolin' 'Em - Billy Crystal
Eva's Eye - Karin Fossum
Drowning Mermaids - Nardia Scrieva
Fathoms of Forgiveness - Nardia Scrieva
Boundless Sea - Nardia Scrieva
Song of the Lark - Willa Cather
The Gauguin Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Trickster's Hat - Nick Bantock
The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
The Italian Wedding - Nicky Pellegrino
Somewhere in France - Jennifer Robson
A Pale Horse - Charles Todd
The Tortilla Curtain - T.C. Boyle
Mrs Somebody Somebody - Tracy Winn

February Reads
Abyssal Zone - Nadia Scrivea
Tides of Tranquility - Nadia Scrivea
Maelstrom - Nadia Scrivea
Toby's Room - Pat Barker
Quicker Than the Eye - Ray Bradbury
The Whale : In Search of Giants of the Sea - Philip Hoare
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats - Jan-Philipp Sendker
To Touch a Wild Dolphin - Rachel Smolker
The Great Fire - Shirley Hazaard
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name - Vendela Vida
Codex Seraphinianus - Luigi Serafini

March Reads
The Constant Gardener - John le Carré
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Concealed in Death - JD Robb
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide
Sinfest Vol 1 - Tatsuya Ishida
The Man on Table Ten - Luke Smitherd
Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Lullaby : The 87th Precinct - Ed McBain
The Immortals of Meluha - Amish
How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things - Neil Smith

April Reads
An Ice Cream War - William Boyd
Devices and Desires - P.D. James
Every Day is for the Thief - Teju Cole
The Food of Love - Anthony Capella
The Dante Connection - Estelle Ryan
The Tooth Tattoo - Peter Lovesey
The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister
The Ian Fleming Files : Operation Armada - Damien Stevenson
47 Ronin - John Allyn
Asterios Polyp - David Mazzachelli
Double Cross : The True Story of the D-Day Spies - Ben McIntyre
Sweet Tooth Vol.1 : Out of the Woods - Jeff Lemire

May Reads
The Rainmaker - John Grisham
A Long Shadow - Charles Todd
The Sports Gene - David Epstein
Sweet Tooth Vol. 2 : In Captivity - Jeff Lemire
Boy, Snow, Bird - Helen Oyeyemi
The Edwardians - Vita Sackville-West
Cold Treachery - Charles Todd
Out - Natsuo Kirino
Point Omega - Don DeLilo
Candle in the Darkness - Lynn Austin

I posted this in the previous thread, but then since I decided to start a new thread, I thought I'd post it here too ;-)

46. The Dante Connection by Estelle Ryan

This is the 2nd in the Genevieve Lenard series. The main protagonist is Genevieve, a non-neurotypical genius with OCD. As a sequel in the series, we are treated to yet more growth in her character as she learns to appreciate the small group of friends she's unwittingly managed to develop. That the group of friends consist of an FBI agent, her mentor at an art insurance agency, a sophisticated and beautiful computer hacker, an art thief and an intimidating bodyguard makes things all the more interesting, not only because of her challenges interacting with them given her natural boundaries, but also because they challenges they have with each other and the secrets they each hold.

In this installation, Genevieve finds herself the target of a brilliant but quite warped individual who decides to pit his intellect and skills against Genevieve and her team. They have to race against time to find hackers, bombs, art thieves around the world, and ultimately to solve puzzles and break codes in order to prevent murder.

I'm sort of on the fence with this author. The plot is interesting and the characters are unique, but there is something about the way she writes that makes me roll my eyes sometimes. I think she tries to simplify the neurological safeguards that some autistic individuals rely on .. or maybe I'm wrong and it just reads like she's trying to oversimplify things.

I'm still curious enough to want to read the next in the series, and to see if I feel any better about the writing.

3 stars (although I think I may change this later to a higher score when I've had time to reflect a little longer).

Here's some wall art I chanced upon when I took a walk on Bondi Beach in Sydney yesterday.



This one reminded me a little of some of the illustrations in the Codex Seraphinianus

More wall art on Bondi

If only all graffiti were as beautiful as these. There were more painted on the wall along Bondi Beach, but these are the ones I liked the most.

I had to take a photograph of this menu board for Kath..... ;-)



*I can see Kath cringing now at a number of the menu items *

oooh, those murals get better and better as I scroll down.
So you are in Sydney? Cool, so close yet so far....

And the menu board is weird because....oh yea, I get why now :) I have freaked out several international students in my sociology class by mentioning that I have shot rabbits before (in my youth- when indoctrination by my hunting father/brother was the case). It's a NZ thing.

Happy new thread, Caro! That wall art is amazing.

Happy New Thread, Caro! I love all of the photos!

Congrats on the new thread, Caro! Love the red camel. Glad to see you knocking out the books in your spare time. I really want to get to Teju Cole. I've wanted to read him for ages.

Happy new thread, Caro! Love those murals! Hoping that this week is full of fabulous for you.

Great. A new series for my Wishlist... :)

Oh! Loving all the Bondi Beach pics! I took loads of pics when I was there too, and much agree: if only all graffiti were so well artistically rendered! These ones you've posted are fantastic. Love the dogs obviously. I still haven't gotten my hands on Codex Seraphinianus. Must be loads of people ahead of me in the library queue. Did you actually buy it? Do you think I should just jump the gun and buy it myself?

You always find the coolest things to photograph! I hope you're having a great time!

Congrats on the new thread, Caro. I'm liking the wall art, but where's the photo of a camel? Is the camel on vacation?

SpiderCam? I'm liking it! Beautiful day here in Boston -- so sorry you will be missing it. Cooler temps are on their way. Nuts.

Caro, congrats on your new thread. I adore all those wall paintings, they are gorgeous.
Is the camel gone on holiday?

>8 cameling: My question about this menu is: Are all of the critters served farm raised? In Maine, you cannot sell wild game in restaurants or in any retail manner actually. For the record, I wouldn't be against the food if it is wild game as my family is a family of hunters. Lots of wild game on our table at any given time.

Fabulous photos, Caroline! Are you still in Australia?

Hi Caro, great pictures of the graffiti murals. I read Food of Love earlier this year, and you are so right, the story only really came alive when the author started describing the food and the cooking.

Wow, great murals. Want to go to Sydney too.

Hi Caro! Totally jealous. I soooo want to go to Australia. It's high on the list. : ) Congrats on the new thread.

Bondi art = gorgeous

Possum = N.A.S.T.Y.

Caro = fabulous

Excuse me sir...Didn't you just call me Possum in your thread? Hmmmmm?!

>9 LovingLit: Megan, I wish I had time to go back to Bondi before heading back to Boston, because there was another half of the wall that I wasn't able to explore the other day. Unfortunately, I don't have any spare time for the journey, so I shall have to keep my fingers crossed they don't remove the wall art before I'm able to visit again.

Rabbits are cute little things, but I do like a good rabbit tandoori or rabbit stew, so I wouldn't look cross-eyed at you for hunting them. I don't have anything against hunters if they eat what they shoot or sell the carcasses for meat, but I do object to sport hunting.

>10 wilkiec: Diana, glad you like what I've posted up so far. I'm taking a few more photos of some art stuff I'm seeing in the city (I'm not going to disclose what it is because I want to surprise you all with a compilation of this particular art exhibition at the end of the week) while I move around in between meals and between meetings. You'll just have to stay tuned. :-)

>11 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. It's my carrot to keep you coming back for a visit.

>12 msf59: Thanks Mark. If I didn't have Every Day is for the Thief in my Kindle as an e-book borrowed from my digital library, I would have shared it with you. This book is so up your alley. I hope you manage to get to this incredible author soon.

I've been managing to do a bit of reading in the mornings during breakfast. No morning workouts this week because the gym at this hotel is small and rather pathetic. Plus I'm walking quite a bit during the day to and from meetings, so I'm figuring I'm getting quite a bit of exercise anyway. Might as well steal some time to read where I can.

>13 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. This week is proving to be rather challenging and somewhat hectic, with a few stolent moments of peace. All in all, I can't complain. Thankfully the business meetings have been productive. The only negative is that I'm eating way too much ... can't wait to get back to more sensible portions after Easter.

>14 drneutron: Ha! I'm glad I managed to hit you with a series bullet, Jim. Enjoy! ;-)

>26 Berly: ...and your point would be...?

:-P

Possum as a *food* is nasty!

>15 Smiler69: Ilana, I was curious about the length of time the murals are allowed on the Bondi Beach wall and did some research. Apparently the wall art is managed by a Council, and artists need to submit their applications to paint a section of the wall. Their murals stay on the wall for a minimum of 6 months before they're removed for new projects by other artists. I think it's a great idea and a wonderful artistic way to cover boring concrete, while giving artists a free working space to display their talents.

I did buy my own copy of the Codex Seraphinianus because it's something I will periodically review when I want to treat myself to extraordinary illustrations. If you think you'll enjoy reading this every once in a while, then it would make sense to buy a copy but not otherwise because it's not a cheap book.

>16 mstrust: Jennifer, thank you. It's interesting what different people find compelling to capture in a photograph. I was on Bondi Beach with one of my colleagues and he didn't find any of the wall art interesting enough to photograph at all ... except for one about an owl (which I didn't particular like,... I thought it looked rather evil) and he only did so because his girlfriend likes owls. He did, however, take about 50 photographs of the beach and a few hardy surfers.

>17 jnwelch: Hi Joe, glad you like the wall art. In light of the murals, I thought for this thread, I'd use a sculptured camel instead as my thread topper. The other camel has taken this opportunity to go for a much needed grooming session and to soak its feet in the nearest oasis. What? You don't like Spidey Camel?

>18 michigantrumpet: Marianne, it's pretty cool here in Sydney too. It's been raining everyday since I've been in Australia. Today's the first sunny but cool day and I'm loving not having to walk around in squelchy feet for a change.

I'm glad you're liking Spidey Cam. I thought he looked pretty cool too. I think he ought to make a visit to Boston. He would look amazing down by the Wharf. :-)

>19 Ameise1: Barbara, the camel has taken a little vacation, and allowed Spidey Cam to step in for a spell. He certainly did not leap off tall buildings! Poor camel. Still, only camel art though. The goat tried to butt in, but was ushered out without ceremony.

>20 Cobscook: Heidi, that's what I asked and was told that everything is farmed so that they can provide guaranteed organic quality. I guess maybe they didn't want to hunt possum that may have been fed potato chips or fried chicken by wandering humans?

>21 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. Yes, I'm still in Australia. I was in Melbourne last week and will be in Sydney for the rest of the week.

>22 DeltaQueen50: Judy, did you try out any of the recipes in the book?

>23 AuntieClio: Stephanie, now that I know this is pretty much a living wall at Bondi, I'm going to try and make it a point to get out here each time I'm in Sydney.

>24 Berly: Hi Kim, I hope you get to check this off your bucket list at some point. I do enjoy visiting Australia and Sydney is pretty vibrant so there's always something happening that makes each visit interesting. That, plus I have a few friends and family in Australia so I welcome the opportunity to catch up with them whenever I'm in town.

>25 richardderus: Richard : Who are you calling nasty?!

Thank you, Caro. Apology accepted, Richard. : P

So, will you be back in time for the Marathon?

>31 cameling: Caro don't worry for this (>19 Ameise1:) camel. That's just a snapshot before taking off for its vacation. It has travelled safely.

>32 cameling: I read through the recipes and wished that someone would come along and cook them for me, but no, I didn't try to make any myself.

I love your artistically decorated new thread, Caroline! I have never eaten emu before.... now I am curious to know what an emu burger might taste like, even though my chances of being able to investigate that here in my part of the world might be rather slim. ;-)

Very interesting info about the Bondi murals Caro. I had no idea it was such a well-organized business, but I guess it makes sense, considering the consistent quality of the art on display, even though of course everyone has their own opinion of what is photo-worthy or not.

I've been dawdling about Codex Seraphinianus since I found out it was being reissued last year, and came very near to pre-ordering it. Considering all the art books I have in my collection, which probably cost me the same as that book on average, I don't know why I'm hesitating so much, other than the fact that last year marked the year I went insane with Folio Society hunting and gathering and broke a new record in Visa expenditures, and have since calmed down on purchasing very expensive books. Still, at least once a month, I look up listings of that book and come very near to purchasing it. I'm sure once I do (it can only be a matter of time) I won't regret it. All the art I've seen from it, on your thread and online has confirmed this stuff is right up my alley.

Hi Caro! Hope you're doing well, staying accident-free, and are reading good and wonderful things! *smooch*

Watched most of the Track of Sand Montalbano dvd last night and thought of you, Caro. Ingrid is ticked at him because he continues to be a saint with her but succumbed to the charms of a friend of hers.

>34 michigantrumpet: Marianne, yes I will be back in time for the Marathon and Patriots Day. I'm leaving Sydney today so I'll be home Friday night, just in time for Easter too. :-) I always take Patriots Day off, because I'll watch the marathon on tv in the morning and then go enjoy the PD parade in Lexington, MA in the afternoon. I'll probably do the same thing again this year. Will you have the day off since your office is downtown?

>35 Ameise1: Barbara, I'm glad that was not a suicidal camel but one that's possibly just bungee jumping off a tall building. :-)

>36 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I had such a craving for good Italian food after reading that book. I eventually convinced a couple of friends to have dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants here in Sydney, and just inhaled some bruschetta on warm country bread rubbed with garlic and fresh oysters. I had fresh made fettuccine with rosemary, bacon and porcini in a cream sauce as my primo and a beautiful grilled snapper on a bed of kale for my secondi. No room for dessert except for a cup of espresso. My Italian craving was suitably appeased after that meal.

>37 lkernagh: I haven't eaten an emu yet either, Lori. Note I did say 'yet' because I'm sure if the opportunity presented itself, I would be willing to give it a try. I've eaten an ostrich burger and I was surprised at how dark the meat was. I don't know why I was expecting it to be as pale as chicken ... rather illogical of me given that goose and duck both are dark meat. It was tasty though and it's occasionally available in my supermarket.

Stay tuned .. this thread is about to get another injection of color. :-)

>38 Smiler69: Ilana, I'm ever so grateful that there are wonderful artists such as yourself out there. I can't draw anything that resembles the original subject, but I just love looking at and absorbing beautiful art, be it in the form of a drawing, painting, sculpture or tapestry. I can't say I appreciate all contemporary art though because some I just don't understand, but I equate that with my appreciation of wine... I don't like all expensive or detest all cheaply priced wine. I just like any wine regardless of price tag that makes my palate dance. With art, it's whatever brings on a swell of emotion in me.

>39 LauraBrook: *Smoochies back at'cha* I'm happy to report, Laura, that the only danger I've had to face during this trip is the danger of exploding out of my clothes from all the eating I've been doing with my foodie buddies here. I've been getting a bit of reading in during my downtime and it's been a great relaxer for me. I hope to get a bit more done during my flight back to Boston today.

>40 jnwelch: Joe, I absolutely loved that DVD. I thought Ingrid's jealousy quite funny. I think their friendship would be ruined though, if Montalbano succumbed to her charms and maybe he realizes this and that's why he manages to refrain, even during the few times she sleeps over.

48. The Tooth Tattoo by Peter Lovesey

Another in the Peter Diamond series. In this, our Bath homicide detective is distracted by a disruption in his personal life and seeks to throw himself into the investigation surrounding the murder of a Japanese tourist with musical inclinations. There doesn't seem to be any information about her, her parents were unaware that she had disappeared and had assumed she was visiting friends, her friends assumed she had changed her plans, and what's with the quaver that's tattooed on her tooth? Is her death related to the death of another Japanese hooker in Vienna a few years past? What's the association they both have with a classical quartet?

Another solid murder mystery that had me guessing, especially when twists were thrown in unexpectedly.
3.8 stars

49. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
A young girl learns to cook in an unorthodox fashion in her desperate attempt to bring her mother out of her depression and get her to take her nose of her books and to embrace life again. This young girl grows up to own and manage her own restaurant and holds cooking lessons. The 8 individuals who sign up for lessons all carry personal challenges that gradually emerge through memories that overwhelm them while they chop, sear, roast and taste.

It's a wonderful and gentle read.
3 stars

So brace yourself for a pop of color. In between business meetings and hanging out with my colleagues and a few friends here in Sydney, I've also donned the white helmut and rifle of a rhino hunter. But instead of killing any majestic animal, in this case, the Black Rhino, I've been taking shots of them with my camera instead.

There happens to be a whole slew of rhinos and rhino calves in New South Wales bringing smiles to one and all who chance upon them. This public art exhibition is the brainchild of the Taronga Zoo to raise awareness and funds towards their Black Rhino conservation program. Each rhino and rhino calf (125 of them) have been scattered across Sydney and the surrounding townships in public areas and parks. It's a great collaboration between the zoo, businesses who sponsor the rhinos and artists. At the end of the program these rhinos are to be auctioned off with proceeds going to the zoo's conservation programs.

I would have loved to have been able to find and capture all 125, but most of them aren't in the city center but are are out in the zoo grounds itself or in the suburbs. Still, if I had about 3 days without any work to interrupt, I probably would have been able to complete my hunt. As it is, I only managed 18, and I'm sharing them with you. :-)

Ok This wasn't part of my rhino project, but I loved the dancing storks and they made me smile.

Caro, I LOVE those rhinos, especially the one with the really colorful bandaids. Thank you for sharing your adventures.

Wonderful art project, excellent cause, and a fun day for you! I want the zebrhino.

Oh, very cool!

>45 cameling:...Wow! I love these images. I like the zebra rhino the best.

Thinking of you and sending all good wishes.

>49 AuntieClio: Stephanie, you're welcome. I'm glad to take you all with me on my more interesting (and accident-free) adventures.
What's cool is that each rhino is sponsored by a different business organization and the organization picks their own Australian artist to paint their rhino for them. I like community projects that enable business organizations to get involved and I especially love that all these rhinos will be auctioned off at the end of the exhibition. If I lived here and had lots of moolah, I'd love to buy one of them for my house.

>50 richardderus: It actually took me over 4 days to find just these 18 rhinos. I wish I had more time to go out to the further ends of the city and to some of the suburbs, Richard. The first rhino I came across was the first one I posted here. It reminded me of Harlequins and I saw it on a street corner across Bondi Beach. At the time, I thought it was just a piece of Bondi art. It was only after I stumbled across 2 more rhinos in the city that it twigged on me that this could be some sort of art exhibition and I went searching online. So glad I saw these on the weekend because I had less time during the week to go rhino hunting. My colleagues were very patient and very very kind because I was dragging them with me and making them walk rather than take a taxi back to the hotel after meetings or dinners, to go scout for more rhinos.

It got so that I've got so much rhino on the brain that when I arrived at Sydney's international airport and was walking through the departure lounge, I saw this colorful animal and immediately thought... RHINO! Made a beeline for it and realized after I had my phone half out of my bag that it was actually a cow painted in dark blue/green splotches to advertise an opal store. *sigh*

>51 drneutron: I know, right, Jim? Reminds me of those cows that were all over Chicago some years ago.

>52 Whisper1: You're welcome, Linda. I'm glad you enjoyed them. I certainly had fun looking on them, even though the map I found online wasn't very well drawn and I still had to hunt around for the rhinos.

I'm now waiting for my flight out of Sydney back to Boston, with a small clutch of Easter eggs, a bag of Sour Squirms and a bag of Balsamic Vinegar & Salt Red Rock Deli potato chips to snack on during the long flight to America.

Happy and safe travels to you Dear Caro!

Wow, such cool rhinos. Safe travels, Caro!

Safe travels for you today! Yes, Monday is an enforced day off. My office is right in the thick of things and all the streets around us are closed off for the runners. A friend is staying with us as he runs his 23rd Boston (!)

Do pop over to my thread. I've put out a call for help and I think you are just the one to provide it!

Happy Easter!

>45 cameling:-47, Caro, those rhinos are fantastic. Years ago we had a similar action in Zürich but the animal was a cow. A lot of artist and other interested people had manifold decorated them. In other years there were lions, bears, benches, giant plant pots etc.. I love this kind of action. :-D

Love the colorful rhinos, Caro! Impressed you were able to find 18 in the short time you had. The dancing storks are cool, too.

We had the cows here, too, years ago, and have had various similar projects since, but the cows remain everyone's favorite. It's great for local artists, too.

I think you're right about Ingrid and Salvo. Salvo values their friendship too much to screw it up. Her jealousy was fun to see.

Thanks for sharing those fabulous rhino photos with us, Caroline! The third one in message #45 is my favorite, but all of them are splendid.

Safe travels home today.

Loving your rhino hunt results Caro. Must say the zebra-rhino made me smile. I took several shots of those dancing storks too; I just found them so beautiful. Was hard to isolate them from all the 'noise' surrounding them, but lots and lots of walking around to find the right angle and a little cropping job did the trick, hope you don't mind me sharing (they bring up such great memories):

I love the artistically decorated Black Rhinos your camera captured! We had similar fund raising events in British Columbia where the sculptures being 'artistically decorated' were Orcas for one event and Spirit Bears for another event. Both events raised funds for children with disabilities through the BC Lions Society via auction. I am a bit of an art deco fan so of course, I love the first rhino! The one with the zebra stripes appeals to my logical mind that 'just because it has stripes, doesn't mean it is a zebra'. ;-)

Safe travels!

Cao, I wish you

>55 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda. It was pretty uneventful, although the flight from San Francisco to Boston was more like being on a rollercoaster. We hit some heavy and prolonged turbulence which made it a little difficult to read so I just stuck my iPod earbuds into my ears, turned up the volume and went to sleep.

>56 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana. It's good to be home.

>57 michigantrumpet: Marianne, how could I possible turn down a call for help... especially when it comes to a food cry? ;-) Went over, caught up on your thread and posted something I hope you will find interesting.

Will you be watching your friend cross the finish line or will you cheer him/her on from a different part of the route? I can't wrap my head around the fact that your friend's running his 23rd! Way to go and I wish him/her a good race and no blisters.

>58 wilkiec: Diana, you have the cutest gifs. I love the 2 bunnies! Here's one for you along with my wish to you for a happy Easter.

>59 Ameise1: Barbara, those cows are so cool. Do you remember what action the cows represented? I think these things are a great way to get communities involved and made aware of certain issues. I'm so lucky I happened to be in Sydney during the time the Black Rhino campaign was on.

>60 jnwelch: Joe, I've already watched Angelica's Smile on DVD, but I still can't wait for the book to be released later this year. I'd love it if Camilleri saw fit to put Montalbano in a position where he's with Livia and has a chance meeting with Ingrid. I can only imagine how many times he puts his foot in his mouth in a situation like that.

I think I'm going to need to think up a good campaign for corporations and artists to get involved with with camels here in Boston. Can you imagine how cool that would be to have a squad of painted camels all over Greater Boston?

>61 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. Your GAs worked overtime and did a great job. I am unscathed and well after the trip. They deserve a vacation for a few weeks.

I love the rhinos so much that I'm going to print some of them out and making cards out of them. That's about the extent of my creativity.

>62 Smiler69: Illana, your storks photos were way better than the ones I've taken. Thank you for sharing yours on my thread. I took a couple of close ups, but one turned out a little blurry and I didn't notice my finger shadowing the lens of my camera and the other close up has a stork looking like it has a beanie on its head.

>63 lkernagh: Lori, I would have loved to have seen the artistically enhanced orcas and spirit bears. What a great idea to have them as mascots for campaigns to raise awareness and funds for children with disabilities.

The zebra striped rhino made me laugh when I saw it, as did the rhino with the butterflies and the Spring theme.

>64 Ameise1: Happy Easter, Barbara.

50. The Ian Fleming Files: Operation Armada by Damien Stevenson

Agent 17F, that's what Ian Fleming, British intelligence agent, was known as, during WWII with the Naval Intelligence Department. What makes this all the more thrilling is that is based on historical fact. Agent Fleming was sent on dangerous missions, in this case, to negotiate the purchase of a French fleet of ships on behalf of the British crown and prevent it from falling into the hands of Hitler. Parachuting into France, he has to pit his skills against spies, double agents and ruthless Nazis. He's suave, handsome, witty, drinks like a fish, is the ladies man and is armed with super cool gadgets to evade or kill the bad guys. The story is full of the high speed chases and danger that wouldn't be remiss in a James Bond movie.

3.5 stars

51. 47 Ronin by John Allyn

Historical fiction around the infamous samurai who became ronin when their master, Lord Asano, was instructed by the Shogun to commit seppuku for having struck Kira, the Shogun's Master of Ceremonies. It didn't matter that Kira was a corrupt official. Lord Asano of Ako's castle and lands were turned over and his samurai became ronin, left to seek their own fortunes without a master. The ronin were bound together by their fierce determination to seek the justice against Kira and to restore the name of their master, even thought acts of vengeance were outlawed by the Shogun.

This is a story of loyalty, determination and vengeance.

4 stars

Yes well, in all fairness Caro, I think I recall spending quite a long time on my huge store of Australia photos (a couple of thousands in all) shortly after I got back home, adjusting, cropping, and touching them up in Photoshop. I'd just stopped working at the time and my standards were still to produce publication-ready pics, which had been part of my professional mandate for nearly two decades after all! I like that your take on the storks brought back to mind the whole vibrant environment. I found this to be an exciting part of the city, even though it's quite touristic; I was staying very nearby for almost 2 weeks while in Sydney, and took loads and loads of photos in that area over several walks with my camera.

eta: great idea to make greeting cards out of your rhino pics. They'll be original and unique for sure!

>69 cameling: Oh darn, you *got* me with #50! For $2.99, it's worth a whirl.

Happy Easter, Caro! LOVE the Rhinos!! And you hit me with several book bullets - the Ian Fleming book and 47 Ronin.

>70 Smiler69: Ilana, yes, the Cockle Bay Wharf and Darling Harbour area are very both very touristy, but it was fairly close to one of buildings in which I had to attend a meeting, and I had seen that there were 2 rhinos in the area on the trail map, so I convinced my colleague to have lunch at Nick's and in doing so, I nabbed both rhinos for my collection. ... and came upon the beautiful dancing storks.

Sydney is a beautiful city. I especially love the sandstones used for many buildings and the architecture. I sometimes have meetings over in Pyrmont or Manly, and I love taking the ferry, enjoying being on the water, and looking at some of the very pretty suburbs across the water.

>71 richardderus: Finally, a book bullet for you, Richard. My day is now complete! ;-)

>72 Crazymamie: Happy Easter to you, Mamie. I read the Damien Stevenson series in reverse order, I'm afraid, but am pleased to say that they work well as standalones too.

Wishing everyone who celebrates a very Happy and Blessed Easter!

Happy Easter, Caro! I hope you are having a perfect Sunday. I bet it's nice being home after the long trip.

Hey there Mark .. Happy Easter to you too. It was brilliant being home yesterday and we had a lovely quiet Easter for a change. I loved it! Btw, check your PM. :-)

For all you graphic novel fans out there, Flavorwire has released what their list of 25 essential graphic novels. Do you agree? Disagree?

http://flavorwire.com/451552/25-essential-graphic-novels/view-all/

I'm actually reading Asterios Polyp now so I have to reserve judgement as to whether or not I think it's an essential GN.

From the list, I've read the following:
Blankets
A Contract with God
Black Hole
American Widow
Persepolis
The Complete Maus
V for Vendetta
Stitches
The Kampung Boy
The Sandman
Blue Angel
A Drifting Life

Oh gosh, I'm doing poorly in the GN category. Haven't picked one up this year yet, and the only one I've completed on that list is Maus. But then if you're going to read just one, I think this should be it, no? I'll make a point of picking up some of the ones already on my wishlist from the library soon, including Persepolis and Blanket, among others.

Interesting list, Caro, and I agree re the ones I've read. Haven't read American Widow, My New York Diary or four others (Yummy, The Kampung Boy, Stuck Rubber Baby, and A Drifting Life).

I'd add another one by Gene Luen Yang, Boxers & Saints, and also The Arrival by Shaun Tan, Local by Brian Wood, and the Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon. There are other good ones that probably could go on the list, like Alice in Sunderland. I'm sure many would add Watchmen.

I was not a big fan of Epileptic or Black Hole, but there are lots of fans of both out there.

Oh yes! Joe has reminded me how much I love The Arrival. I actually have that one on my shelf and am due for a 'reread'!

They did flamingos in Boca Raton a few years back. Here's the one my friend Karen did.

The Flamingo Project

>79 jnwelch: I would agree with Boxers & Saints deserving to be on the list although American Born Chinese did make the list. I did don agree with Endless Nights being the suggested Gaiman entry but choosing just one from the the Sandman series is hard.

Nice list though. Going to check out a couple I haven't read from the library.

I'm so happy to see the Boston Marathon has gone off without a hitch today. My admiration goes out to everyone who run this gruelling race. My only beef is I think CBS should lose their right to be broadcasting station for this event in the following years until they hire proper commentators who are familiar with the elite runners, not mangle their names repeatedly, and sync their commentators with the image being shown of the person/people running at the time. They also cut to commercial for too long and then miss showing us the important moments when certain elite runners managed come from the back and surge up to the front.

>78 Smiler69: Ilana, It's an interesting list, I think, but I'm not sure they're all essential. In fact, I didn't like a couple of them that I'd read. I did like Persepolis a lot. You're in for a treat when you get to that one.

>79 jnwelch: Joe, I found some of the ones listed a curious choice as an essential GN. Take Kampung Boy for example. I really enjoyed it and have read his series, but it depicted a certain lifestyle growing up in Malaysia during the 70s and had so many political and cultural references that unless one was familiar with both, I'm not sure the humor of the situation would come across.

I wasn't a fan of Black Hole either, so I wouldn't have included that in a list of 25. I definitely would have added The Watchmen and I think they were remiss not including Logicomix in the list. Good catch on The Arrival. I'd add that too. I haven't yet read Boxers & Saintsbut if you're recommending it for the list of essentials .. off to the OWL it goes. :-)

I've got the Nao of Brown in my TBR Tower and will get to it later this year.

>67 cameling: Caro, it was just to make the city a bit more beautiful. Here some pics from the lions, bears, benches and giant pots:

Logicomix - good one! Yes. I'd add the one you're reading, too - Asterios Polyp. Oh, and Complete Essex County, which Mark pointed me to way back when.

>81 magicians_nephew: Jim, that flamenco flamingo is incredible! I would have loved to see a whole bunch of painted flamingos. I've been reminded of the Lumby series by Gail Fraser with the dapper and always appropriately dressed flamingo in town. Maybe I should get a flamingo for my garden. ;-)

>82 Oberon: Erik, instead of Endless Nights I think the entire series of The Sandman should count as one entry, because there's no way anyone reading just one of them is likely to stop just there. They're going to NEED to read the rest in the series.

>85 Ameise1: Barbara - those are just absolutely beautiful! Why can't more cities decorate their city streets more like that? Thanks for sharing and making me want to teleport myself over.

>86 jnwelch: Joe, I had to go take a peek at Complete Essex County on Amazon. Definitely one for my OWL and I've requested it from my library. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long.

Gah! Made a batch of hot cross buns today and failed completely. I was trying out a recipe someone sent me and while I was kneading the dough I was thinking it didn't feel right, that it was a little too dry. The dough didn't rise much and when baked it wasn't fluffy even though it smelled wonderful. Definitely not a recipe to share. Hmph!

Caro dear, sorry to have missed the start of a new thread! I have been preoccupied with things, and a bit busy actually reading. I guess some threads just got away from me. Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos! Amazing art seems to be everywhere, there.

No comment on the menu....glad the GAs were on duty. Nice to know that you are safe home :)

>88 cameling: You're welcome. I wish you a lovely week ahead.

>90 mckait: No worries, Kath... RL takes precedence and if anything I'm glad you found time to read as much as you did again. Being busy because one's reading is so much better than being busy because one has too many boring chores. Glad you liked the photos. Soon, if all works, I will also have photos of an emerging vegetable garden to share.

>91 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. It has been lovely and sunny so far, so the week looks promising. Work is heavy with conference calls over the next 3 nights this week, but not excessively tedious ones, so I should have time to do some reading.

52. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

Graphic novel about an arrogant award-winning architect who's not actually ever built anything except a treehouse. As his life unfolds, his self-centered preoccupation with himself reaches a peak after which a relationship he's in crumbles and he's plunged to the depths of despair. Religion, mortality, art and philosophy are themes that are delivered strongly in this graphic novel.

The simplicity to the drawings make very bold statements and the dialogue, when provided enhance the drawings, rather than take precedence over them.

4 stars

Great to see you are home safe, Caro. I imagine a quiet weekend would be perfect after your trip. Thanks for posting that link to the best 25 graphic novels, I have only read one (Blankets), but have not added several more to my list.

Hi Caro! I love your photos of the rhino art. What a fantastic project!

I found the list of essential graphic novels interesting. I have read Persepolis and Stitches. Lots for me still to discover!

>27 cameling: (yikes, I am so far behind)
I don't have anything against hunters if they eat what they shoot or sell the carcasses for meat, but I do object to sport hunting.
*phew*
We hunt rabbits here as they are pests (as are possums and deer). A proliferation of rabbits can decimate a whole mountain side of tussock-grass in a few days. I would not do it agian though....it wasn't nice.

>47 cameling: zebra-rhino: confusion! :)

I saw the film Tracks last night.....it is mainly about camels and I simply cannot believe that I did not think about you once while in the movie! Shame on me. I will have you know that every other time I see a camel I do think of you.

Hi Caro! Thanks for sharing the GN list. Always love those. There are several I would love to try. Glad you liked Asterios Polyp. I will have to also to praise Complete Essex County, which remains my favorite GN, alongside Local.
Have you tried the Sweet Tooth series? If not, do so. You will thank me later.

It's unanimous, Caro. Chicagoland LTers look forward to your stopping over long enough to join a meetup. :-)

>92 cameling: Caro, I hope you're able to enjoy life during the days when you have those meetings in the evening.

Thanks again for your help on my "food emergency." Didn't get a chance to try out your yummy recipe, but hope to sometime in the future.

Did you get over to the Marathon Route at all? Saw Peter once in natick, then took the train into town and saw him again as he made the turn onto Hereford Street. Walked all through Kenmore Square, parts of Commonwealth Ave and even a part of Boylston. It was a fun atmosphere and very festive. More people than last year when I went.

My friend didn't do as well as last year, but still a respectable 3:18. Enough to celebrate with margaritas afterwards!

>94 DeltaQueen50: Thanks, Judy. It's wonderful to be home again, not least because I don't have to eat out everyday. I love eating out, don't get me wrong, but I also love to just to cook a simple meal after work and relaxing over my meal with the hubster and a beautifu bottle of wine.

I want to read Ghost World soon and make my way through the rest of that GN list. I'm actually surprised more Japanese GN weren't included. But then again, that's the beauty of reading someone else's list .. we'll always agree with some and think they're barmy for not including some of our favorites. ;-)

>95 Cobscook: Hey there Heidi. Glad you liked my rhino hunting project. I was so chuffed to have stumbled upon it while I was in Sydney, especially since I was a little sad that I was there too early for this year's Vivid Sydney event which I've always enjoyed.

I'm glad you've found some suggestions in the GN list that interest you.

>96 LovingLit: Megan, I have never held a real gun much less shot one, so I can't say I understand how it feels to hunt for food, kill pests or for sport. Having said that, I've held a can of bug spray in my hand and gone after roaches and not felt anything except relief at the thought of a few less creepy critters infesting my home.

LOL, I was just given a tshirt with a camel on the front by a friend who had in Florida on vacation and thought of me when she saw the shirt in the store.

I had to look up the movie Tracks. Hmm..an adventurous trek across the Australian dessert with 4 camels? How could I not have heard of this movie? ;-) How was it?

>97 msf59: Ooh... a new GN series. I have not read Sweet Tooth series, but it looks very interesting, so I'll just thank you in advance, Mark. I think I'm going to like it. I've already got Vol. 1 Out of the Woods on waitlist at the library. Thanks for the rec, dear friend.

>98 jnwelch: *sniffle* that's so sweet, Joe. I'm really touched. I will definitely let you Chicagoans know in advance when I'm going to route through your town. I just have to make sure you're in town and not.... off to London? ;-)

>99 Ameise1: Barbara - it's been a fun day at work today ... I got locked out of my corporate server today and my IT support guy couldn't figure out what had happened.....even after an hour. He did, however, find a whole heap of malware which apparently snuck in while I was in Melbourne, and that my conference bridge list wasn't refreshing automatically like it was supposed to, and that a key had popped off my keyboard (clearly I don't use the 'F4' key often since I didn't even notice there was a hole where that key had been. Who knows when it had gone missing?!

So yes, a rather 'exciting' day including a mad rush to get rather urgent things done once IT support was done with me (I should have brought a book in, sat in my beanbag and read while he was fiddling around with my laptop), running out for an emergency cupcake run (I made a bet I could drive to a cupcake bakery in the next town, buy 10 different cupcakes by pointing at the display case with my eyes closed, and make it back to the office in 20 mins......I lost the bet ... I had 3 cupcakes that were the same flavor) and now I have completed 2 conference calls so far and have my last one starting at 1am.

>100 michigantrumpet: You're very welcome, Marianne. Do let me know what you think of the chickpea patties when you do try them out.

I unfortunately, had to do some work on Monday, so I couldn't get out to the Marathon route at all, but I did watch it all on TV, and was sad for Flanagan. She led the elite women for such a long time, but it was a crazy hard pace she just hurtled out on and she just didn't have enough in tank to hold on. Still, kudos to her for her new personal best and she was instrumental in Jeptoo breaking the Boston women's race record.

I think it's great your friend ran the whole thing. 3:18 is a definitely respectable time and totally deserving of the margaritas reward. Sounds like you all had a great time! I'm sure I'd have taken over 5 hours to complete it if I had to do it .. probably have to be carried the last mile like a couple of runners.

I'm thinking of signing up for the ColorMeRad 5k race at the end of May though .. only because it's a fun (and short) race, and people pelt you with colored cornstarch as you run by so by the end of the race, you look like you've just been to a Holi Festival.

Love the artwork at the top of your thread. The dancing storks made me smile as well. Hope you have a great weekend.

>104 cameling: Flanagan ran a great race and has nothing to hang her head about. She topped her personal best BY THREE MINUTES. That's amazing and nearly impossible.

3:18? I'm not sure I can DRIVE from Hopkinton to Boston in 3:18! :-)

I love the ColorMeRad race -- and all the pictures of the runners at the end. Although it would be fun to be doing the pelting, too.

Caro, I wish you Happy Weekend!

I thought of you yesterday, Caro. My daughters and I went out to lunch and there was a spectacular accident at the table next to us. The lady got up rather quickly and somehow managed to tip her plate. It landed face down on one of her dining partners. Poor guy got a lap full of Clam Linguini. They appeared to be having a business lunch, and the lady was mortified at how clumsy she had been.

My daughters and I, on the other had had a lovely lunch and dined on mussels in a white wine basil cream sauce with a side dish of a grilled romanine salad with lemon caper dressing. Yummy.

Caro, there are pictures of food on my thread. I actually went out to restaurants a couple of times last week. ;-)

>102 cameling: I had to look up the movie Tracks. Hmm..an adventurous trek across the Australian dessert with 4 camels? How could I not have heard of this movie? ;-) How was it?
And. There's a book! Tracks by Robyn Davidson. I read it yonks ago, it is better than the film which takes a rather light-hearted look at the whole thing.

>108 DeltaQueen50: lol- you thought of Caro after witnessing that!? Poor Caro. ;)

Yoo hoo! Caroline.. are you off on another trip already?

Everything okay..?

Just stopping in to say hello :)

>110 LovingLit: I know, Megan. That's not very flattering that I think of Caro when someone has an accident, probably the food had something to do with it as well!

>105 Thebookdiva: Thank you, Abby. I'm sure if you had been there, you would have taken sale-worthy photographs and made them pop.

>106 michigantrumpet: I love the ColorMeRad race
Would like to do this race with me, Marianne? It could be the first LT MeetUp in a 5k race being pelted by color bombs :-)

>107 Ameise1: Barbara, you always find the prettiest pictures that bring a smile to my face. Thank you. I hope you had a good weekend too!

>108 DeltaQueen50: Hmm....accidents at restaurants bring me to mind, Judy? Really?! This might just be time for me to consult a Life Coach to help me be more mindful of my surroundings. Perhaps scheduling an eye exam may not be a bad idea either.

Your lunch sounds lovely though. I love mussels!

>109 AuntieClio: Stephanie - I had been lurking on your thread and your Thai meal inspired me to suggest going Thai last night when the hubster and I were meeting 2 friends for dinner. The lighting in the restaurant resulted in some very unappetizing photos, so I deleted them all. But we had a lovely meal of Shrimp Tod Mun and Beef Satay for starters, and then we shared some extra spicy Beef Laarb, Duck Red Curry, Shrimp Pad Thai, Chicken Prik Pow and Papaya Salad.

Thanks for the inspiration! It's been a while since I've had a Thai meal :-)

>110 LovingLit: Megan, I actually managed to track down a copy of the book. Thanks for the recommendation. How could I resist a book about camels sharing an adventure with a woman, right?

*sniffle* thanks for the solace ... I'm starting to wonder if I'm just extra klutzy compared to everyone else. I am a lot more careful these days when I go down stairs so I've at least drastically reduced the number of times I've gone tumbling down.

>111 mckait: Hellooo Kath. You're right, I have been away ... but not on a long trip. I had a last minute meeting in New York on Friday that I learned about on Thursday evening. So I drove down on Friday morning and then on a whim, decided to stay for the weekend with a friend who recently moved to Brooklyn. It turned out to be a good decision because her brother was visiting from Italy and I hadn't seen him in years. Ended up having a computer-free long weekend and tons of fun rollerblading in Prospect Park and discovering roof top bars in Manhattan. Drove back up to Boston yesterday afternoon.

>112 DeltaQueen50: Judy .. OH .. you thought of me because of the linguini and clams ... oh that's alright then. It's much better to be thought of when the subject of food arises rather than when someone dumps a plate of hot pasta into another person's lap. :-) I don't suppose you saw what happened to the guy after, did you? Just wondering if they whisked his pants away to be cleaned while he sat in his undershorts at lunch.

53. Double Cross : The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben McIntyre

Operation Fortitude, the British plan to keep the Germans from knowing their exact plans for D-Day and the storming of Normandy could not have been as successfully executed without the stable of double cross spies and their British spymasters.

In his inimitable style, Ben McIntyre offers us a window into the minds of the some of the most creative military strategists on British soil. He offers us character studies into the heroic and indomitable spirits behind the Anti-Nazi men and women who had to keep their covers under dangerous situations, preventing their double identity being discovered by the Germans. The author also takes into the evaluation process of considering the suitability of converting German spies as double agents, why some are accepted and the characteristics that make others a bigger risk or completely unsuitable.

It's not all nerve-wrecking tension in the book though. There are some moments of levity, such as the chapter where the author describes the homing pigeon strategies and the unforeseen end of the one and only heroic pigeon, Gustav, who carried a message back from Normandy to the British.

The difference between this and some of the author's other books is that there wasn't a continuous flow between the chapters. They read a little like index cards on individual agents or certain events. It took a little while to get used to the rather abrupt starts and ends to each chapter, but this did not in any way detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

4 stars

>115 cameling: Just finished Double Cross a couple days ago. WAAY behind on my reviews. Planned on talking about the pigeons, too. ;-)

Responding to your post on my thread, the Storyville event sounds like a winner. I've left a personal message on your profile with my contact information. Get in touch with me and we'll make plans.

>114 cameling: oh yay Caro! Next time we go, I am going to venture off my beaten path. But I love Pad Thai so much!

Glad to hear that you had a surprise fun weekend, Caro! You have been working really hard this year..nice to see you here, though :)

>116 michigantrumpet: So far, my schedule for tomorrow looks relatively disaster-free, thanks to most of the clients and partners I work with overseas enjoying 1st of May holidays, so my plan is still to head over to Storyville. Thanks for your contact details. I've PMed you with mine and will text you tomorrow to make plans. How exciting!!

>117 AuntieClio: Stephanie, this is the week of experimentation I think. It's been more than 20 years since I've had a bologna sandwich and yesterday a colleague made a snack for me at 3pm because I was hungry after a sashimi lunch. I remember my childhood bologna sandwiches just being bologna between bread & butter. My colleague added cucumber slices and ketchup to the slices of bologna. In.te.rest.ing.....

>118 mckait: I'm looking forward to a good weekend this weekend too, Kath. There's a May festival on Sunday to go to and a vegetable bed to put together on Saturday, and dinner & movie with friends on Friday night. The highlight of my week will be a possible MeetUp tomorrow night with Marianne in Boston. Whoohooooo!

54. Sweet Tooth : Out the Woods by Jeff Lemire

What a gripping graphic novel. Thank you, Mark for pointing me to this series. I am hooked ... and only at Vol.1 too.

Following some pandemic of sorts, certain human hybrids display animal characteristics. Gus, our protagonist, has Bambi eyes, a pair of deer ears and antlers on his head. He's been living in isolation in the woods with his aging father and, forbidden to go past a fence, has never clapped eyes on another human being.

His innocent world comes to a crashing and violent end when his father dies and hunters find him. A drifter saves him from the hunters and together, they travel through a devastated country towards The Preservation, what the drifter describes as a safe haven for hybrid children like Gus.

Arrrghh... I need to get a copy of Vol 2... now!

3.5 stars

I'm ditching Longbourn by Jo Baker. I know it's been receiving good reviews from most on LT who have read it, but I can't get into it. The characters seem rather flat and I find myself drifting. So I've applied the Pearl Rule to this.

>121 cameling: I would never in a squintillion years have predicted that you'd Pearl Rule Longbourn! All these years and you can still surprise me....

Have fun with Marianne tomorrow, remember not to scald her with soup or something, and hoist a martini in my honor!

Richard - I know huh? I surprised myself really. After all, a book along the lines of my favorite Austen, and a peek at the below stairs at their house? What's not to like? Apparently a lot! I should have known better. I've not liked any of the P&P knockoffs before, and while this one had a few references to Liz Bennet and her family and the main story took place below stairs, it still paled in comparison.

I'll have you know I have yet to scald any LTer during a MeetUp with soup or hot beverage. Ask Prue, my latest MeetUp pal. Nary a scratch on her during and following our MeetUp in Melbourne. Granted it did rain on us, but it'd been raining the whole week so I take no credit for the bad weather.

But we will hoist a drink or two in your honor. :-)

Hi Caro!! Just swinging by your awesome thread in my attempts to catch up with everyone. Hopefully I can keep up here on out. :)

Hey! Your thread topper is an adorable camel?!?

Ah, so sad you couldn't get into Longbourn, Caro. I found it really rewarding. Does it help to tell you that Inspector Montalbano makes a brief appearance toward the end?

>134 mckait: Valerie! How wonderful to see you again. This is a difficult group to keep up with, isn't it? We are definitely a gregarious lot and I am guilty of being behind in many a thread, not least because work has been uncommonly heavy this year. But it's lovely to know everyone's still going to be around and I do what I can to catch up with a few threads at a time.

And yes, my thread topper this time is Spidey Cam! ;-)

>135 cameling: Err... you had me with the Montalbano reference, Joe. I actually did a double take at that one. But no, Longbourn is long gone ... I just returned the book to the library after lunch. I don't even think Eve Dallas would have been able to resuscitate my interest in that book .. and that's saying a lot because I would read anything with Eve in it.

Bahahaha! So sorry...I totally thought that was a cat! ;)

???!!!! Seriously?!!! Valerie! LOL

This would be a spidey-cat

Ok wait...something must be up with my computer because is the camel in your very first post because nothing is showing up? The "cat" I'm referring to is the one in your second post perched on top of the books. That's a cat right?? Am I going crazy?? @.@

Hmmm.. it may be your browser if nothing is showing up. Because you're right, the snoozing cat is in my second post. The thread topper is a sculpture of a camel in a Spiderman suit. Ok, you're neither blind nor crazy and you can definitely tell the difference between a cat and a camel. ;-)

55. The Rainmaker by John Grisham

It's been a very long while .... we're talking years here, since I've read a Grisham novel. I had read the first 4 and started to tire of them. Well, I'm glad I picked this one up.

A young lawyer in Memphis, in his very first court case finds himself in over his head when he faces an experienced legal team defending a large insurance company. The tension is kept high as he struggles with unfamiliar courtroom processes while counsel for the defendants apply some underhand tactics to try and win the case for their client.

In the midst of the trial, he gets involved with a young woman who's being abused by her husband, and his involvement leads to an unexpected and explosive situation. I thought the author's handling of this situation was rather sketchy in comparison to the detail he spent on the insurance trial case. I'm not sure introducing this particular situation added any value to the overall story.

I like this story of an underdog standing up for what's right, eventually playing the bully at his own game and coming out on top.

3.8 stars

Great to see you and your husband! Looking forward to some REAL book events in future as well as some memorable meals. Thanks for the ride. I'd be just getting home now if I took the train. You're the best.

I had such a great time last night, Marianne. I'm soooo glad we met at the Salty Pig for a couple of hours before that odd and misleadingly marketed book event. We're so glad to have been able to give you a ride back and the opportunity also to meet with your husband. Loved his face when we pulled that joke about Blue Ginger on him. :-)

What a wonderful MeetUp yesterday ... the first of many more, I hope.

And for the rest of you, we spared you photos of the food we ate, but Marianne was wonderful at remembering to ask the bartender to take our photograph before we started our gab fest .. and much gabbing we did.

Yay for your meet up Caro...you have never ending energy! I'm so glad that you had an opportunity for another meet up.. one day maybe !

It was a really fun MeetUp, Kath. If not for the fact that we all have to work today, I suspect we could have gone on gabbing well past midnight. :-)

I definitely hope there will be a one day, Kath!

56. A Long Shadow by Charles Todd

I'm really loving this Inspector Rutledge series ...even if I'm not reading it in order. Maybe that's why I love it .. each book works as standalones.

It's difficult enough to investigate crimes without doing it with a Scottish ghost by your side at every moment. But such is the challenge Inspector Ian Rutledge lives through each day following his return from the trenches at Sommes during WWI. It also seems someone is stalking him, leaving him empty shell casings, taking a shot at him while he's driving, even perhaps trying to run him down in a stolen lorry.

Or do the attempts on his life and shell casing mean something else instead? Is he being warned away from discovering the body of a missing teenage girl in Dudlington? And who was responsible for the rector's fall and shooting Constable Henley in the back with a poisoned arrow? With close-mouthed villagers and an evil presence in the nearby woods, there are long shadows indeed dogging Inspector Rutledge's every step as he tries to make sense of the plots, mysteries and secrets he's only starting to uncover.

4 stars

>133 cameling: Nice photo, Caro! Glad you two were able to get together - sounds like you were simpatico, all right.

Just skimmed this thread to (puff, puff) catch up. Loved the rhinos, the spidy-cat, and other photos. Ducked all the book comments because I'm about to be buried with the books I've got already (I know - everyone is, too).

Happy May!

I've lurked and lurked so many times, I should probably speak up and say hello... Happy Friday Caro! Very happy you had a lovely meetup. I've been wanting to jump into the Charles Todd series for so long, especially as they're constantly featuring installations of it in the Audible sales, but held back so far because wanted to read them in order; but now I'm thinking I should follow your example. I think I have book 10 in the tbr right now. (eta: just checked, it's book 11: A Matter of Justice, have you read/liked that one?)

I hadn't seen the top of your thread for a while and now I'm wondering two things: was that spiderman camel added recently? And is that a real cat?!?

>120 cameling: Sweet Tooth sounds awesome. I will have to try that one. I just heard a recommendation on the Book Riot podcast for a GN called Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction. Evidently it is about a librarian who can stop time when she is *ahem* at the peak moment of having sexy times *ahem*. Its supposedly super sweet and not at all gratuitous so I picked up the first installment for only $1.99 for the Kindle app on my iPad.

Oooh, a meetup! Great picture and I totally missed the leadup, which I usually quite like to be involved in (seeing as most meetups are out of my general *ahem* area).

So glad you sourced a copy of Tracks Caro, it would also be cool to get a copy of the National Geographic article (and) that she featured in.

>137 jnwelch: Joe, I'm beginning to think it's near impossible to have a bad MeetUp with LT folks. Either that or I've been incredibly lucky in that everyone I've met in person so far have been wonderfully kind, intelligent and fun to be with. They've all reaffirmed my belief that people, in general, are inherently nice and that the odious vile individuals are just lost souls dying to learn how to tap into their inner niceness. This does not apply to the truly evil among us, but thankfully, I think these individuals are in a very small minority.

>138 ffortsa: Judy!! Hello there! I've missed you! Not that I can talk since I've been so behind in keeping up with threads this year .. even worse than I was in the latter half of last year. I really think I ought to look for a job that pays well but doesn't eat into my LT time. ;-)

I'm actually doing a pretty good job so far this year in reading off my shelves. My wallet thanks me, and so do the groaning shelves for lessening their load. I wish I could say the same for the piles on the floor, tables and night stand. I don't know if I'll ever read everything in my TBR Tower before adding new residents to it. Actually I do know .. I'm never going to achieve this .. especially since I just received 2 books in the mail today. Oh well .. it's a good problem to have so I'm not complaining.

>139 Smiler69: Don't feel bad lurking, Ilana. I'm a champion lurker myself on the threads. I must be a really bad time manager because I don't know how so many LTers manage to not only keep up but contribute intelligent posts to so many threads.

I do think you ought to just leap into the Charles Todd books. No need to read them in order, really. There are occasionally a reference or two to an individual that appeared in some previous book, but the author does a good job of giving a bit of an explanation to the reference at some point in the book, so you're not totally at a loss. All you need to know is that Inspector Rutledge has returned to his job after the Great War, able bodied, but suffering from guilt over the number of men under his charge that died, not least Hamish, the ghost of a Scottish soldier who blames him for his death, and who peers behind his shoulder while muttering warnings, harsh scoldings and at times consolatory words to him. You might be right in thinking Hamish is his conscience speaking to him in a Scottish accent, or you might be right in thinking he's really haunted by Hamish. Either way, the books are very interesting and I've not been disappointed by one as yet. I have read A Matter of Justice and I remember liking it very much.

The spidey camel was added when I started this new thread. And I do think the cat is real .. doesn't it look ever so comfortable? I love how cats don't seem to have any solid bones at times.

Okay so I loaded your thread on a different computer and I finally got to see this spider camel..haha. Yes, I'm not crazy. That most definitely looks like a camel. ;)

What fun! Another meet up. Sounds like you guys had a blast. :)

>130 cameling: Goodness! You look almost all the way sober in that photo! Must've been really, really, really soon after you met up.

>140 Cobscook: Heidi, I really liked Sweet Tooth and can't wait to get my hands on the 2nd volume.

Sex Criminals sounds a little like the GN version of a book I read recently, Initiation which is part of a series where an art-thieving time traveler travels through time to steal artifacts to bring back to her 'employer'. The only way she can make the leap through time is similarly, "at the peak moment of having sexy times". (LOL .. I had to borrow that, it made me laugh). The book was pretty meh at best and I'm unlikely to pick up the next in the series. I hope your GN proves to be more entertaining.

>141 LovingLit: So glad to be able to share, Megan. I've been wanting to get together with Marianne for a while, but what with my travels, I wasn't left with much time to try and organize something. So since I'm home for a few weeks for a change, and with an author/jazz event for ArtWeek Boston advertised for last night at what I thought was a Jazz club, what better time to finally suggest a MeetUp. I think I would have guilted her into it if I had to. Fortunately, we met earlier for drinks and some nosh and had a whale of a time. But when we finally decided to haul ourselves to this event... wow, what a disappointment! We walked down into a dark basement 'club' and I use the term 'club' loosely because I couldn't see anyone not skating the edges of society wanting to party down there on any given night. It was pretty skeevy, to say the least. So we had one drink and left. I don't think we missed anything since there was not a note of jazz to be heard and not a musician or author of note present. But apart from that discordant note, the rest of the evening was an absolute blast!

Marianne is a major hoot and has a store of fascinating stories. She also has a very lovely husband who, after meeting the hubster and myself, may forbid Marianne from ever coming out with us again.

*made note to check out National Geographic*

>144 jolerie: Haha Valerie, I'm sure your family's also relieved that you are not crazy and suffering from a brain disorder that doesn't register camel images. But isn't spidey cam just adorable? I almost wish the artist had added a webbed net being spat out from its mouth.

The MeetUp was indeed loads of fun, and we bordered on overstaying our welcome. ;-)

>145 richardderus: LOL .. you nailed it, Richard. That photograph was taken about 10 mins after we had met and before I had even 3 sips of my drink. :-p

HA! Your description of the bar was way too kind. No jazz nusic to be heard and nary an author in sight. There was one nasty nose-picking (really!) soul who had "Robert Lit Agent" on his name tag. Really? We had no choice but to flee.

My husband enjoyed meeting you both, despite your little prank (that was fun!) and was quite intrigued by a possible couples meet up at an eatery to be named later...

Oh, lovely meet-up photo!

Hi Caro- Looks like I've been tardy over here. Bad Mark. I have Double Cross on my To-Read list after falling head over heels for Agent Zigzag. I am so glad you enjoyed Sweet Tooth. The books continue to get better and darker. Enjoy!

Great Meet-up photo with Marianne! You both look very pleased. Yes, I am jealous.

I thought you might like to know about this new thread: 75ers book swap

>148 michigantrumpet: Ha! YOU were looking for the emergency exit in case a fire broke out! Thank goodness I didn't see the nose-picking *ahem* literary agent. *shudders* ... no wonder you downed that drink so quickly. ;-)

We definitely need to get a foursome together in the near future. I know it will be fun and a sign that he has forgiven us for the prank.

>149 scaifea: Thanks Amber. It's an impossibility but a lovely dream of mine that there will be a time and place where all the 75ers will get together for a super MeetUp pic. Can you just imagine the volume at that party?!

>150 msf59: haha.. Mark, since I've not yet read Agent Zigzag, let me know when you're about to start reading Double Cross : and I'll start reading Agent Zigzag at the same time. :-) You have read Operation Mincemeat right? Ben McIntyre does seem to be milking this British spy category to the fullest. So far, he's been doing a great job. I'm interested in Forgotten Fatherland if only because it seems to be his only divergence from British spies.

I'm already a little chilled thinking about what is to come in Sweet Tooth Vol 2 given where it last left off in vol 1.

>151 AuntieClio: Stephanie - I popped over. Looked, am intrigued and want to know more. :-)

Book Riot's posted the 10 female authors to read. Interesting list.

http://bookriot.com/2014/05/02/10-rad-female-authors-read/

I just received a copy of Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi that I am planning to read this month.

Caro, I love those meet-up photo. I wish you a Happy Weekend full of reading

I have not read Operation Mincemeat, (which is mentioned in Agent Zigzag) but I do remember you loving it! On the list.

>155 Ameise1: Awww.what a cute gif, Barbara. Thank you. I'm looking forward to a good weekend .. after I run some errands. The squirrels are running around on the deck and the birds are hopping on and off the rails .. I need to bicycle over to the store to buy more bird seed and drop a parcel off at the post office, then com e back and feed these poor critters. But then I am looking forward, hopefully, to some reading later in the day.

>156 msf59: Mark, I know you're going to love Operation Mincemeat .. the details in the planning were bizarre and ingenious.

Finally good enough weather to go out on my new bike. A friend gave me an E.T. plush toy and I tied him to the basket and rode to the post office to mail a parcel, then to the supermarket for a few groceries. Returned to my bike to see a few kids attempting to kidnap E.T. while their parent sat nearby talking on her cellphone. WTF!

>142 cameling: Well said, Caro. That's been my experience, too.

>158 cameling: Caro, I'm glad you caught them and (presumably) stopped them. The nerve of some people (the parent as much as or even more than the kids!).

>154 cameling: Good lord, I'm way behind on that list!

Yeah...that's probably one of my biggest pet peeve...when I feel compelled to parent a stranger's kid because they are acting up and the parent(s) are NOWHERE to be seen or else in some corner on their phone, completely ignoring their kids as they wreck havoc.

>158 cameling: Probably a good job it wasn't SWMBO faced with the would-be-child-Crims. Blood may well have flown (probably mine somehow).

Nice to see you meet-up with Marianne pretty cute to avoid a listing of the food you decimated between you. You do realise that the whole group is aware of your epicurean proclivities and that it will therefore appear just a little too fishy that the two of you sat at empty tables. xx

Have a lovely weekend.

>158 cameling: That just ticks me off. Some people should not have kids. Glad ET is safe and sound. I hope you told them off in at least 3 languages.

I received a weird little thingy from Amazon Vine. It is a bird waterer. I have a bird feeder out back, the typical hanging type, and I bought a double hooked one, and now have food and water in the same place. I will still put out my bird bath if it ever gets warm. So far, the birds seem to be as perplexed as I am with the waterer, so we'll see if it gets used eventually.

I have put 2 hummingbird feeders on the same kind of hooks next to the front porch, and I hope to have some hummers to watch this year....

Hope you're having a nice weekend :)

btw, I love the ET / Bike thing.... so you!

>159 jnwelch: Joe... maybe all everyone needs is to start the day with a warm Belgian waffle with lashings of butter and honey to sooth those obnoxious toxins... failing which they should just make daily visits to your cafe to calm themselves with the images of the delish foods that are always there.

>160 EBT1002: Ha! I definitely stopped them, Ellen. Carrying my bag of groceries, I stood next to them and asked what they thought they were doing. And can you believe one of the monkeys actually tried to tell me that E.T. was his and what's it to me?! Jeeze Louise... the nerve of that kid. It was at that point their mother looks over and calls out to her kids to come over to where she was sitting... I wonder if she even realized what her kids had been doing.

Made another quick run to the store this morning and I locked my bike this time to a bench ... and left E.T at home. I think yesterday's kidnapping attempt has soured him from wanting to try and make my bike fly again.

I've not been introduced to most of the authors on that list myself, so I happily added a few of them to my obese wish list yesterday. We're going to stop in at a bookstore later this evening and I'll have to see if I can find something to bring home. :-)

>161 jolerie: Valerie, it's even more agitating when the misbehaving monsters belong to friends! How do you discipline a friend's kids when their parents are calmly smiling at them and clearly approving or accepting their bad behavior?

My husband was talking to a friend of his on the phone one day when his friend told him that he was out on a walk with his 5 year old daughter. When asked where the 3 year old was, his friend said that she was home alone. My husband assumed he was joking and laughed, but his friend took pains to assure him that his daughter would be fine since they were only going for a short walk, and when my husband chastised him (it's a very good friend of his), his friend told him that since my husband didn't have any kids, he didn't know anything about childcare and that he was just being unnecessarily nervous. This friend and his wife are very lax when it comes to disciplining their kids and laugh it off when their kids (now 8 and 6) talk back to them and are sometimes downright rude. I just think .... just wait until they become completely uncontrollable teenagers.

>162 PaulCranswick: Paul - Thankfully, E.T. was alarmed but unharmed or someone's cellphone would have been yanked out of her hands and thrown into the nearest garbage bin. The brat that tried to tell me E.T. was his was an idiot... my bike was bigger than he was and he and his brothers were clearly no cub scouts because they couldn't even undo the knots I tied .

Marianne and I really didn't eat that much that evening. I'd been working from home and I had a peanut butter sandwich and potato chips before leaving to meet her after work. We did share (with the hubster), a charcuterie board of chicken liver mousse, prosciutto, chorizo and pork head with a smear of mustard and pickles. We also shared a cheese board with blue cheese, manchego, pont l'eveque, and alpha tolman and lots of toasted bread.

We spent all the time talking and drinking and having a grand ol' time, later meeting her wonderful husband when we drove her home.

It wasn't until we were halfway home that the hubster and I realized we hadn't really eaten any dinner. Haha.. so who's to say I can't be distracted from hunger? When we arrived home, I boiled some pasta, tossed it with heaps of pesto and grated some parmesan on top of it and we had a lovely late supper.

>163 mckait: Kath - I asked them what they thought they were doing and when one kid said that ET was his, I just asked him how it is then that he's tied to my bike. At that point though their mother called them over to her, and I just put my groceries in the basket and wheeled my bike and ET out, casting a very disgusted look at the mother. The kids were pretty young and I can see how ET may have attracted them. I wouldn't have minded them playing with him while I was shopping if they hadn't been trying to kidnap him, but I do mind that their mother didn't care that she's clearly approving their thieving inclinations.

I put my bird feeder out last weekend and it's been attracting ...... squirrels! They're even fighting the birds away sometimes, the blighters.

The hubster and I put up a vegetable bed frame yesterday afternoon and I will fill it today with soil and mix it with some compost today. I'll have to plan what I want to plant this year ... and come up with a better way to critter-proof it so I actually get to enjoy some harvest for a change instead of setting up a buffet for the wild life.

>158 cameling: Sure hoped you expressed your understanding of private property to that nitwit parent!

You've reminded me of the Sweet Tooth series, Caro. I have read the first three but now I see there are a number of further volumes for me to check out of the library.

>167 tututhefirst: Tina - I didn't feel it appropriate to chastise the parent in front of her 3 sons, who were by then milling around her. I just hope the fierce glare I directed into her eyes (she did at least make eye contact with me briefly before looking away) was sufficient.

>168 DeltaQueen50: If the other volumes of Sweet Tooth are as good as the first, then I'm definitely going to be hooked all the way through, Judy. I'm waiting impatiently for my copy of the 2nd volume when Gus has been delivered to The Preservation. *shiver*

57. The Sports Gene : Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein

What makes some athletes elite, good performers or amateurs? Does the 10,000 hours rule coined by Malcolm Gladwell hold true? That whether you are a chessmaster or an elite ultramarathoner, your improvements and rise to success are tied to relentless training and putting in the hours? Or does your genes have a part to play? How much of it is talent and how much of it is positive genetic mutation? From research into visual acuity by chessmasters, baseball hitters and American football quarterbacks to genetics in structural proteins and bone lengths, this is a fascinating study into trying to understand what makes an outstanding athlete.

5 stars

Oh yes...the whole conundrum of wanting to discipline a friend's offspring.... What I've come to terms with is to each their own. Every family will have their priorities and preferences on how they want to raise their kids and so unless it directly affects my family or else puts their kids in harms way, I just try to keep my mouth shut and my eyes closed. You reap what you sow.....and besides I have my hands full trying keep my brood from acting up that adding OTHER people's kids to the mix will probably just kill me. :)

Oooh, yeah, disciplining other people's children. Difficult subject, there. I usually think that it's really not a good idea, but a couple of exceptions: If the kid's actions are somehow directed toward *my* son in a not-good way and the parent is clearly not going to do anything about it, and/or if they are in *my* house and the parent is clearly not going to do anything about it, then you better believe that I'm going to confront that kid.

Too many instances of parents ignoring misbehaving children in my universe... including at work. I had a dad and his son running and "sword fighting" in the library the other day. Now the library has become less quiet and more of a community center but that? No. Just. No.

I am guilty of confronting the parents a time or two in the past, but I also make a point to go to parents of well behaved kids and comment on that as well.

Another trip in your future so soon? It makes me tired :P

>171 jolerie: I pretty much do the same thing, Valerie - keeping my mouth shut and eyes closed most of the time unless someone's about to fall in harm's way or if someone's being bullied. Your kids look to sweet to be acting up ... you must be exaggerating!

>172 scaifea: Amber, it drives me nuts when parents of obnoxious kids bring them to my house and believe they're allowed to roam upstairs into the bedrooms whenever they want and poke into our things. It's happened a couple of times and I find it exhausting to have to keep an eye on their kids when they're in my house. One kid even managed to pry a mirror of the wall in the bathroom once ... why? No clue! That family's no longer on our invite list since the parents didn't even bother helping to clean up the mess, nor offer to replace the mirror.

>173 mckait: LOL .. sorry Kath, but the idea of a father and son 'sword fighting' in a library just seems funny to me. Did they confine this to the children's section?

Yup, I have a trip to Japan next week. It's been nice being home for these 3 weeks.

Had tons of fun yesterday for Cinco de Mayo. Had some margaritas and enchiladas for lunch with some of my coworkers, and then had a few friends over for dinner last night. Thankfully the weather held up so we could eat outside. I made pitchers of rather strong blackberry margaritas, guacamole, salsa and cajun style fish tacos. It was dark by the time we finished dinner, so we had the tres leches cake for dessert inside.

Slightly hungover this morning coming to work. ;-)

Unfortunately, how they look isn't an accurate indicator of the "trouble" they can get into..haha although in some cases it might help them with the consequences part.... ;)
In all honesty though, my eldest one was a dream first child, very teachable even when he has his moments so we count our blessings. Keeping my fingers crossed for the younger one. No idea what he will be like yet. :)

>175 cameling: I've had raspberry, strawberry, mango and melon margaritas, but never blackberry, and since that sounds amazing, could you share the recipe? Or is it a brand of margarita mix?

As to undisciplined children, I had a friend a few years ago who truly believed that her daughters had been raised to be assertive, when actually they had been raised to be rude. They would yawn loudly when they were bored, and let me know when they didn't like the food at a gathering at my house. Their mother proudly told me that the eldest girl invited a potential boyfriend over for dinner, and as they were eating, the girl told the boy that if wanted something to drink he could get up and get it himself because she wasn't going to get it for him.

>176 jolerie: Valerie - here's to big brother teaching by example and younger brother being big brother's little shadow. There! Now you'll have 2 teachable dream children. :-)

>177 mstrust: Jennifer, All I did was make a regular margarita on the rocks but less lime juice and added muddled blackberries. I don't like frozen margaritas, but I would imagine if you wanted a frozen blackberry one, you could just make a regular margarita, add blackberries and blend with ice.

Your friend sounds so much like this couple we know with the 2 monstrous children. They actually believe they are doing the right thing and that allowing their children to express themselves however they wish is a good thing. I'm all for not stifling children as long as basic courtesies and respect for others are adhered to.

Played hooky from work yesterday after meeting a friend I hadn't seen since last year for lunch. Lunch turned into a giant gabfest accompanied by a few pear martinis with blue cheese olives ... I know, I know... this sounds gross .. but trust me, it was absolutely a wonderful garnish for the martini. The long lunch turned into early pre-dinner drinks at a different restaurant since I had to ask one of my coworkers to bring my laptop and notebook from the office over to me. All in all, it turned out to be a fun mental health day ..... although I'm paying for that spontaneous fun day today with a mountain of work. It was still worth it, though.

We have a friend from Singapore coming to stay for the next few days and then I'm off to Japan next Tuesday for a week.

But I'm looking forward to a performance by the Boston Pops Orchestra on Saturday night. They're going to be screening the 1939 version of the The Wizard of Oz where they've stripped off the music to the movie, leaving just the vocals, and the Boston Pops will be playing live during the movie. I was listening to Keith Lockhart, the conductor being interviewed and he said it's actually quite hard to put music back in time to vocals when the vocals had been recorded to fit the timing of the original music.

What annoys me more than boisterous children are ones who have been brought up to believe that it's OK to completely ignore adults. We've got a few in my own family where getting more than a 'yes' or 'no' answer is like getting blood out of a stone. And any sort of unprompted remark from them is completely unheard of.

I realize that I am probably odd man out on this discussion but as a father of three I will say that it is not fair to attribute all children's behavior to the parenting. I did not believe this until I had children of my own and had previously routinely attributed naughty children to bad parenting. It was a major surprise to me to see vastly different personalities appear in my children. Unfortunately, not all of them developed quite and courteous attitudes.

I won't say that there aren't bad parents out there (there certainly are) or that my parenting skill have never failed on occasion, but experience has made me much more sympathetic then judgmental.

>180 SandDune: Rhian, while annoying, I think some kids are just shy and feel tongue-tied when adults ask them questions, especially when they feel the questions don't truly reflect the adult's interest in them or the subject. I've seen my nieces roll their eyes (usually behind the backs of others) when visiting aunts, uncles or friends of the family ask routine questions like, "How is school?", "Do you have a favorite subject?" or "Do you like xxxx?". And then there are the sulky teens who hate the world and everyone in it .. usually most I think grow out of it. I know know.. I was one of them..... and now you can't stop me from talking! ;-) I think some of my parents' friends sometimes wish I stayed the sulky monosyllabic teen.

>181 Oberon: You bring up a good point, Erik, so thank you for providing a look at the other side of the coin. You're right, sometimes no matter what you do, some kids just seem to follow an inner voice that takes them on a path you've never wished for them. We have a couple of friends, the husband used to be a counselor at a boys' reformatory, looking after and helping juvenile delinquents between the ages of 11 - 15. Their 2 sons, despite coming from a loving extended family, with parents who were flexible but firm when necessary and heaps of fun, still managed to find the company of troubled youths more suitable to their personalities. One son is currently serving time for drug trafficking and the other had been in and out of rehab since he was 23.

Still, I would like to have at least seen the parent notice that her kids were attempting to steal something that didn't belong to them ... namely, ET on my bike! I know it's a small thing ... but still ... poor ET.

58. Sweet Tooth Vol.2 : In Captivity by Jeff Lemire

The sequel focuses on 2 stories, Jeppard's history as the pandemic as started to spread and Gus's beginnings under hypnosis at The Preservation.

4 stars

59. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Finally leaving her abusive rat-catching father, Boy flees north to a small Massachusetts suburb and starts to build her own life. She meets and eventually marries Arturo who has a daughter, Snow. It is only when Boy and Arturo have their own daughter, Bird, that Boy realizes that Arturo and Snow are actually very light-skinned African-Americans passing themselves off as white people. Her reaction and the way she treats Bird and Snow is unsettling and raises questions on racial identity and the perception of beauty.

At times lyrical and at times syncopated, this was not an easy book to get into and I just wanted to get to the end so I could be done with it. A shame really because there are some passages that the author's talents flashed brilliantly through. I just wish she could have carried it throughout the book.

3 stars ...... although.... I dunno... I'm sort of leaning towards lowering it to 2.5 stars.

I'm following the discussion on kids and parenting with interest.

Thanks for the review of Boy, Snow, Bird. It's received some high praise by some, but I've also seen a lot of reactions like yours which makes me less than keen to pick it up. Too many books, so little time type of thing...

I'm always amazed that you have time for reading at all considering what a busy woman you are. Go Caro!

>182 cameling: For the record, I will be sorely disappointed if my children end up with serious criminal violations in their history. I was thinking more along the lines of hitting each other in public and being rude.

Oh I have a copy of Boy, Snow, Bird on my shelf as well. The premise sounded really interesting but your review is not making me want to run and grab it right away so I guess it will wait for awhile yet before I get around to it. :)

>178 cameling: Thanks for letting me know how to make them-I happen to have blackberries in the freezer so I'll be able to make margaritas this weekend.
My husband's friend brews his own beer and just gave us bottles of his honey wheat brew. Last year he was making cherry and blueberry beer.

Hmm, blackberry margaritas do sound good! Hope you have a great weekend, Caro.

Caro, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

Hi Caro- Glad you are continuing to enjoy the Sweet Tooth GNs. Sorry the Boy, Snow, Bird was a disappointment. That sounded good too!
Have a great weekend, my friend!

Swooping by to wish you a great weekend!

xoxo

Nice review of Boy, Snow, Bird, Caroline. Rebecca wasn't fond of it either, so I'll definitely pass on it.

Have a great day bouncing around in the gorgeous weather today...
we're off to visit my mother then a dinner party tonight with a bunch of friends to celebrate no cooking for Moms! YAY.

Just quickly popping in to wish all the awesome moms out here on LT a fantastic Mother's Day! You are all awesome and I salute you all.

Now I'm off to go surprise someone with a Mother's Day brunch. Her kids are all away and the hubster and I thought we'd take her out and give her a special surprise treat. I've already called my mom and she sniffled over the flowers, present and cards that we had sent her. :-) I love hearing her happy and sniffly on the phone .. haha..

>195 cameling: I'm sure that your guest is hugely grateful to you for your thoughtful company today.
I feel your own mums pain, missing her girl on this crazy made up holiday that hlds the power to make some people sad :P

I'm Glad your mom gets to see you as often as she does. I'm trying to sort a trip to Amy's house the first week of June, but hard to deal with Dunkers needs...crossing fingers that I can sort it out.

>195 cameling: - What a wonderful surprise for the recipient, both you mom and that special someone you and your husband gave a special Mother's Day treat to!

Glad to see you managed to bring some joy to your Mom in Singapore and the lady you've surprised with a Mother's Day treat.
Have a safe trip to Japan my dear.

Hi Caro, I just saw another camel movie. It seems I am in a glut of camel movies lately ;) Thought of you the whole first few scenes!
It was Lawrence of Arabia, btw, and was fan-TASTIC.

>184 Smiler69: Ilana, a friend's new girlfriend lent me her copy of Boy, Snow, Bird after she raved about it so now I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I need to find a way to let her know I wasn't as keen on it as she was. Why am I so hesitant you may ask ... she's kinda of opinionated and I really don't want to get into a long drawn out badgering 'conversation' where she in essence will try to beat her POV to a death (and probably me in the process) not just to get her point across but to subjugate me to it as well. I've seen her become really belligerent with others when they voice opinions that she disagrees with and I just find it tedious.

Reading is my escape from bad tv. :-)

>185 Oberon: Erik, I would like to think most kids grow into upstanding citizens with perhaps little personal quirks. If I could have emerged from a prolonged Terrible Twos period (my brother swears mine lasted until I was in my late teens.) there's hope for everyone. :-)

>186 jolerie: If you end up liking it a lot, then I apologize in advance, Valerie, for postponing your enjoyment of the book. If you end up not being too enthused about it, then, you're welcome. :-)

>187 mstrust: Jennifer, my husband loves cherry beer but isn't a fan of other fruit beer combinations. I'm on a bit of a cider spell right now and have just become rather addicted to Angry Orchard's crisp apple cider.

Did you make the blackberry margaritas over the weekend? How did they turn out?

>188 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. It turned out to be a wonderful one ... mainly because the sun was out and I got to be outside... oh and do some book shopping. :-)

>189 Ameise1: What a very pretty zinnia, Barbara. Thank you very much for your thoughtful weekend wishes. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too.

>190 msf59: Mark, you deserve the credit for my new found addiction to Sweet Tooth. I need to remember to request the 3rd volume from my library towards the end of my Japan trip just in case they actually have a copy and send me a text message telling me it's ready for pick up. They only give patrons 3 days within which to pick up books requested before they get put back on the shelves or offered to the next on the waiting list.

Have you been wanting to read Boy, Snow, Bird?

>191 Thebookdiva: Thanks Abby. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too. Take any more interesting photos?

>200 cameling: I've seen her become really belligerent with others when they voice opinions that she disagrees with and I just find it tedious.

Ugh! Why do people insist on doing that? I really try to avoid that kind of situation, and this might be one where a white lie on your part might be permissible to avoid the bother? Mind you, now I think about it, the one person I've allowed myself to be that annoying person with is my father and the way he allows—indeed desires—his dog to run around like a mad wild thing. Ties in to the conversation about badly behaved kids and whether or not parents are responsible for their behaviour. In this case, assuming the 'kid' is the dog, I'd definitely say so!

>192 richardderus: Richard - I had some very rich and buttery shortbread yesterday and it made me think of the luscious ones you made. I don't suppose you'd like to share your recipe? *bright and hopeful grin*

>193 kidzdoc: Whew.. I feel a little bit validated actually now that I know someone else who didn't think much of Boy, Snow, Bird, Darryl. I wonder if Rebecca will want to tell my friend's girlfriend why she didn't like the book all that much ... yes, I'm being a bit of wimp here trying to find someone to take on what I'm predicting will be a rather unpleasant exchange.

>194 -Cee-: Yaaay, Cee. I'm all for no-cooking for Mom's Day. Hope you had a great time. We certainly did bounce around a lot and had good fun too... and a bit of a tan. That always helps :-)

We ended up taking our friend's mom with us to Great Meadows in Concord. I like going there for a run, but given that she's 82 years old, we didn't go running. Great Meadows is a gorgeous bird sanctuary in Concord, MA and with the fine weather yesterday, we walked along the trail in the middle of the lake down to the river. Saw some beautiful birds (I'm not a birder .. apart from the Canadian geese, ducks, blue herons and cardinals, I have no idea what the other birds are) as well as a large batch of very fat carp swimming upstream into the lake to spawn. That was a lovely surprise. I came upon them on a narrow rocky strip between the river and the lake, and walking over the wooden footpath, I saw these dark wriggly shapes and stood to watch them a bit .. initially I thought a couple of the fish were in distress since they were mostly out of the water, wriggling on their stomachs and thought to step in and pick them up and put them in the water ... but the problem was that one was wriggling towards the river and one was wriggling towards the lake .... and I didn't know which way they were supposed to be going and didn't want to put them in the wrong place only to be roundly subjected to the most profane fishy curses. Fortunately, my friend's mom caught up and explained the whole process by which time one wriggling fish managed to get swept along towards the river and he seemed to like moving over the rocks to get deeper into the water there ... so i guess that was where he was trying to get to. Good thing I didn't offer help to him because I was about to chuck him in the lake with the other fins I saw poking up through the water.

We went for delicious brunch after, sitting out on a shaded terrace, drinking jalapeno bloody mary's, snacking on fresh corn bread and mini muffins with herbed whipped butter while we waited for our meal. I had a very fluffy mushroom, spinach and goat cheese omelette with a beet & arugula salad, while the hubster and Mary had lobster eggs benedicts.

We walked around town after brunch ... really just to make room for dessert at a dessert cafe where we shared some Boston Cream Pie, a molten chocolate cake and a ginger creme brulee.

A nap was required in the afternoon. :-)

>197 lkernagh: Lori, my friend's mom called this morning and said she's coming over this evening with a strawberry rhubarb pie she baked this morning for us. So sweet of her.

>198 PaulCranswick: Arigato gozaimasu, Paul. I'm looking forward to the trip actually because one of my friends is going to be there on business too and 2 of our days overlap. So I'll get to hang out with him on Saturday night.

>199 LovingLit: LOL .. Megan, I'm so glad to see I've managed to infuse your subsconscious with happy camel movie yearnings. I loved LoA.... and did you notice they casted the best and brightest camels for the movie? LOL. so what's next? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? That had some camels in them too. :-)

Just wanted to swing by and wish you safe travels this week just in case I don't get a chance before Tuesday. :)

>200 cameling: she's kinda of opinionated and I really don't want to get into a long drawn out badgering 'conversation' where she in essence will try to beat her POV to a death (and probably me in the process) not just to get her point across but to subjugate me to it as well. I've seen her become really belligerent with others when they voice opinions that she disagrees with and I just find it tedious.

I'm sure Rebecca would love nothing more than to engage in a discussion (using the word loosely) with this woman. People like that, who beat you over the head repeatedly with their opinions while tearing you apart because you don't agree with them, are exceedingly tiresome and annoying IMO. I've had the (dis)pleasure of dating, briefly, a couple of women like that recently, and I've had at least two experiences with people on LT this year who didn't agree with my opinion about a book, seemed to take it personally, and proceeded to badger me ad nauseum with their interpretation of it (I now avoid those two people like the plague). I have little tolerance for that nonsense in person, and I have no problem changing the subject, or walking away from that person if they persist in their whine fest.

Well then.. Interesting discussion here created by disagreement on a book.. one that I will definitely avoid for reasons too numerous to count, and I will just wish you luck.. and just skip to wishing you a smooth and easy trip, and a reminder of how much we miss your sweet self when you aren't here.

hugs

>206 kidzdoc: Darryl, well spoken. I agree with you.

Hi Caro, wishing you a safe journey.

>200 cameling: I did make the blackberry margaritas, or a version of them. I used silver tequila, regular margarita mix, about a cup of blackberries, and then threw in a shot of blackberry brandy, just to make sure it was very blackberry. Blended it all with ice and it was enjoyable enough to have two.
We've experimented with beers. Neither of us has liked the chocolate beers, I loved the pecan beer, and pumpkin too. The banana bread beer has been 50/50, with one brand being very tasty and the other nasty.

The opinionated woman sounds like someone to avoid at all costs. The wiser me says if you get cornered, just speak briefly on the aspects you did like and then "take an important phone call".

>200 cameling: >202 Smiler69: >206 kidzdoc: I'm used to being badgered, guys.......I got married. Darryl for heaven's sake if you get badgered whilst dating something more permanent with those ladies would be hell on earth for sure.

Hani is about to take us for an Iranian meal which we all apparently have to enjoy immensely and then I am supposed to show my appreciation of her excellent taste by paying for the bloody thing.

>210 PaulCranswick: Amen Paul. I got married so I no longer had to think for myself. Now I know at all times exactly what I am doing wrong.

>211 Oberon: Hahaha Erik, perhaps we shouldn't do this on Caro's thread since she's one of the least bossy ladies I know.

>201 cameling: unfortunately, my photo taking has been a bit scarce. I'm hoping to do more photography over the summer.

>210 PaulCranswick: Paul, I never got married because I didn't want to become anyone's taskmaster. I figured it was the most humane gesture I could make! ;-)

Though I believe Paul and Erik are posting firmly tongue-in-cheek, I would say that if that is someone's experience of marriage, they (and their partners) are doing it wrong! I went on a mini-rant on my last thread about something similar :)

>210 PaulCranswick: and >211 Oberon: Ha! An old boss used to tell me he as a very good manager -- his wife would tell him what to do and he would manage to do it!

As to dealing with opinionated book lovers: We don't have any of those around here, do we?

I sense that book reading is such a personal expereince. We all bring our life experience, likes and dislikes, as well as prior book-reading background to every book we pick up. Some things might resonate with others which will leave others completely put off. Opinions of a book might change with re-reading and change in life circumstance. There are a few books I LOVED as a teenager, which have made me cringe now.

My advice? "This one just didn't work for me, although I can see how others might enjoy it ..." And repeat. And repeat.

Good luck!

>211 Oberon: *snork!* Love it.

>205 jolerie: Thank you Valerie. I have arrived safe and sound in Tokyo thanks to my very diligent Guardian Angels. I refuse to accept any responsibility for the fire in the traffic control tower in Chicago's airport which caused the entire airport to be grounded for a while, while they evacuated everyone and assured safety. Not sure really if it was a fire, but there was smoke and where's there's smoke there's usually fire, right?

Anyway, after a 4 hour delay, we were finally allowed to board our plane with the promise that they should be able to find our missing co-pilot in a matter of minutes. Uh huh.. our co-pilot was missing because he was flying in on another flight and because of the grounding, his flight was diverted to Michigan instead. So United was scrambling to find another pilot for our flight. Still, I was lucky that since the grounding took place just before we were to have boarded our flight initially, it meant that when they opened the airport again for flights to land and take off, we were up front in the queue. Some flights were cancelled and service resumed only this morning, and if I had been on one of those unfortunate flights, that would really have caused me no end of problems having to cancel or reschedule a whole bunch of meetings here in Tokyo.

>206 kidzdoc: You know, Darryl, having enjoyed your company in person a few times now, I'm finding it so difficult picturing you annoyed. You've always been smiling, laughing and just so easy-going all the times I've been with you. Still, having had the misfortune of having to share a room with my friend's girlfriend (oh, how I wish he'd break up with her soon) and having to work with a coworker who gets really belligerent when he's had a couple of drinks, I couldn't imagine dating someone like that, much less being married to one. So while you've had to endure a few dates with women like this, at least they weren't shy about displaying this side of their personality before you ended up married to one of them. And now we can celebrate your narrow escape the next time we meet. :-)

I'm so very far behind in threads. I hope to have more time to visit now that the academic semester/year is over.

>206 kidzdoc:...What????? What???? Daryl is annoyed? No, just not possible.

>207 mckait: You're always so sweet to me, Kath. Thank you for the hug and consider yourself hugged back ... in fact, I'm sending a couple of extra hugs and good vibes to dispel whatever bug has gotten you sick. I hope you bounce back to good health soon.

>208 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. I had a lovely long shower when after I finally checked into the hotel and despite the late hour (9.45pm), I went out to a corner cafe for a soothing bowl of ramen. And then all was well in my world again. :-)

I slept well and woke bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning with plenty of time before my first meeting of the day.

>209 mstrust: Jennifer, well now, you're blackberry margarita sounds absolutely delish. I shall have to add some blackberry brandy to mine the next time I make it.

Hmm... I don't know about banana bread beer .. that sounds a little far out for me. I do like pumpkin beer during the Fall though, especially Shipyard Pumpkin Ale with a dash of vanilla vodka and a cinnamon rim. *hears Mark gagging*

LOL ... thanks .. I love your advice... I shall have to have a pre-arranged signal with either a friend or the hubster so they call me whenever they see me cornered by this woman.

>210 PaulCranswick: Paul, having met Hani, I can safely assure everyone here that you are not badgered by lovingly coddled by Hani. That is reflected in your ever jovial personality ... joy and well-being just exudes from your pores! You just pretend to be badgered because you know it gets you more TLC from SWMBO.

Having been the recipient of a few of Hani's restaurant choices in the past, I bet the Iranian restaurant was good and you enjoyed the food. Confess you pretend curmudgeon. ;-)

>211 Oberon: Erik .. aww... what a sweet wife you have. Not many would be so caring as to point out the areas of your weakness that you may work on improving yourself. And to help think for you? Well, that just frees up more time on your hands for you to read. That's so very nice of her. What a gem! ;-)

>212 PaulCranswick: LOL .. even I had to snort at that one, Paul. I'd wager you'd get a different response from Edd if you posed the question to him. If anything, he'd probably burn your ears off with his tales of woe.

>213 Thebookdiva: Abby, I came across a wonderful book of birds at the bookstore the other day.... only because it fell off the shelf when I bumped into it and it landed on my foot. The photographs were just incredible and there were a few misty morning photos that reminded me of one photograph you took last year that your mom shared on her thread. I look forward to the day when I'll have a book land on my foot and it'll showcase your photographs!

>214 Smiler69: I didn't want to become anyone's taskmaster

LOL .. Ilana ... when I first read that I thought you said you didn't want to become anyone's hamster! I did a double-take and realized my mistake. It made me laugh though.

>215 katiekrug: Katie - but there are all sorts of different reasons why people get together and some people like being badgered and some like badgering. As long as they're happy, those outside their relationship don't matter... unless it spills over into their lives .. in which case... ugh.

>216 michigantrumpet: Marianne, what I want to know is why most of the vocal complainers of badgering partners seem to be male? Surely there must be some badgering men out there and long-suffering female partners? Maybe women don't complain as much? *take that in the eye, you men! HA!*

Hear, hear though ... reading is such a personal experience it makes no sense that a reader would assume everyone should have the same opinion of a book ... and yet, there are those who do. Can you imagine how awful it would be for some authors if everyone felt the same way about their book? At least with a varied reading pool, even the terrible authors are sure to appeal to some readers.
And you are so right. There were books I enjoyed in my younger days that I would not even bother giving time of day today. I like to think my taste in reading has matured somewhat and I have to credit some of that to the readers in LT. I do so like reading other people's reviews. They've opened my world to authors I may not have been introduced to if I'd been left to my own devices.

>217 scaifea: What cards, eh Amber?

>219 Whisper1: {{Hugs}} Linda. I'm hoping to be able to catch up over the weekend when I will have some breathing room. I actually wish there was a good mobile app for LT because then I could catch up with some threads while I was on the go.

60. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West

I am probably the last person among the literate to read this book. Don't know why it's taken me so long really but I finally dusted it off my TBR Tower and brought it along for the plane ride. I'm glad I picked this book to read on my trip to Japan because it kept me nicely preoccupied while I sat and waited for my delayed flight.

What can I say that others haven't already, in much more poetic detail? It's a delicious study of 19 year old Sebastian and his 16 year old sister, Viola. Sebastian is heir to the Chevron estate, loves the country, cares for his tenants and loathes what he sees as the shallow life of the aristocracy. His sister Viola strives for independence, loves and fears her mother and the frivolous life she leads. Into their lives come explorer Leonard Anquetil who makes them aware of life outside their protected and pampered bubble.

3.5 stars

61. Cold Treachery by Charles Todd

I'm rocking through the Inspector Rutledge series, trying to catch up. In this 7th in the series, a family of 5 are brutally and shockingly murdered in their home out in the Urksdale. What's horrifying is that 10 year old Josh is missing and with the snowstorm, all traces of any tracks he may have made have been covered. Days pass and searchers come back dispirited and empty handed. Ian Rutledge is sent to find answers. Instead he finds a hysterical sister vehemently insistent that her brother-in-law is the murderer, a brother who stands to inherit the farm and was opposed to his brother's marriage, and an ex-husband thought dead in the war who returned to find his wife and children part of another man's family.

Faced with taciturn villagers, Rutledge's patience and dogged persistence eventually pays off ... and just in the nick of time too.

4 stars

Look what I came across ... 10 authors who disowned their own books.

http://io9.com/10-great-authors-who-disowned-their-own-books-1571934580?utm_sour...

I certainly don't agree with some of their assessments and am glad Ian Fleming, Anthony Burgess, Martin Amis and Stephen King wrote these books.

>221 cameling: Yep, I have to admit it because you know from first hand experience! As Katie >215 katiekrug: correctly assumes the tongue was very firmly in cheek. In truth I wouldn't make jokes of that nature if there was even a germ of truth in them! I can see by Erik's holiday photos that he is of a mind with me too.

>225 cameling: I do have to say though that The Spy Who Loved Me is the weakest of the Bond novels.

Hi Caro- Just checking in. Sorry to hear you were caught in that O'Hare nightmare. At least you got out of there. It messed a lot of people up.

Hope the trip to Tokyo goes well. Hugs!

Interesting discussion on marriage here.. some moreinteresting than others. Ahem.

While I am certain that you had nothing to do with the fire in the control tower Caro, it just seems to be in line with so many of your other travel adventures, I have to thnink that if you were not traveling that day, there would have been no fire....Thank goodness for your GAs who got you safely to your destination and some ramen.

Thanks for the hugs.. it was partly chemicals at work.. partly a "summer" cold. I feel a bit better today, so I think your hugs must have helped, and I send hugs back your way. I hope it's not all work and no play on this trip, but knowing you, I suspect that you will squeeze in a nice time or two along the way :)

>222 cameling: - Oh, absolutely, to each their own. I just don't think it's a particularly healthy kind of relationship but as you say, some people like it. I guess it's similar to people who love to be unhappy - minus the usual need to talk endlessly about how unhappy they are or to assume the cloak of martyrdom.

>226 PaulCranswick: Paul .. you slay me! It's because it's all tongue-in-cheek that makes it so funny. I saw someone who looked like you last night in Tokyo and started to walk up to 'you' when I realized just in time before I pounced on 'you' that it was someone else. Whew! Major embarrassment avoided just in time.

>227 PaulCranswick: But but but ... it's BOND, James Bond!

>228 msf59: Mark, it could have been worse and I'm just glad nobody was injured. I'm also really thankful I managed to get out on Tuesday itself or I would have missed a whole day of meetings here.

>229 mckait: Hmph.. my brother said the same thing about the traffic control tower fire and me being in Chicago. I'm just glad I'm not in SoCal or I'd probably be blamed for the fires there too! Those are scary fires .. i caught some footage on CNN this morning and have seen some postings on my friends' FB pages.

It has been lots of work but yesterday ... boy, yesterday was nice! I had a 4 hour meeting in the morning which went pretty well so I was pleased since we accomplished quite a bit. The meeting was with the new division head of the company that represents my company's products in Japan and he was a lovely man. But 3 of the team members with whom I've become very friendly over the years, took me out to lunch in Ueno, a lovely part of Tokyo. The head of their technical department knows I love little local places, and he led the way into a very pretty cobble stoned section of the town where the city seemed to melt away. There was a very pretty street market with vendors selling vegetables, fruits, sashimi grade fish and shellfish of amazing freshness. I loved how the vendors tried to entice passers-by with their goods by shouting out tempting prices and invitations. Not that I understood much beyond the prices. Haha.. still, I just loved the sounds of the bustling market.

We went into a little hole in the wall where we stood around tall barrels, and slurped down frozen mugs of cold beer while plate after plate of skewers of grilled wagyu beef, chicken livers, giblets, chicken skin and belly pork appeared in front of us, along with individual bowls of radish cubes and tripe in a fragrant hot broth. I was the only foreigner in the whole place and I just loved it! The casual atmosphere, even the slight smokiness (yes, they haven't managed to ban indoor smoking in local eating establishments as yet) and the general chatter of 'salarymen' rubbing shoulders with tradesmen. These are moments that I will always remember and cherish when I no longer am able to travel.

I thought we were a little far for lunch and worried that they would be late going back to work, but when I voiced my concern, the tech head said that it's Friday and they wanted to spend the afternoon and evening with me. What sweeties!!! So .. from Ueno, we walked over to Ameyoko-cho and did a little bar hopping, nibbling on tuna sashimi, some giant clam thing (see pic below), grilled sardines, and fried fish while we drank delicious sake.

After that we headed over to Shibuya, a really hip and happening part of Tokyo, more for the younger crowd of 20 somethings and after walking through the alleys, we decided to settle in a very cozy nook in a charming Italian cafe. Bottles of red wine became the order of the night, and we nibbled on a charcuterie board, a couple of plates of escargots (they were so good we had to order another), plate of cheese and a pot of pate.

It was a great afternoon and evening with tons of laughter in good company, and we left with plenty of them for them to catch their last trains back home while I jumped into a cab and headed back to my hotel.

I've got the weekend ahead of me to visit some of my favorite places, buy packets of green tea, a couple of bottles of sake and plum wine to bring home with me and then head over to Omotesando in the evening to meet a friend for dinner.

62. Out by Natsuo Kirino

I had started this book months ago and distractions upon distractions had me putting it aside before I was even 20 pages into the book. But I brought it with me on my trip, and finally finished reading it this morning.

It's a wonderful Japanese thriller of 4 women working the night shift at a boxed lunch factory. When one of them kills her husband, they rally round with varying degrees of willingness to protect her and cover up the crime by removing the body, dismembering it, stuffing pieces of him into garbage bags and then scattering the bags around various garbage dumps. All would have been well if not for one woman's carelessness. As the police loom around interviewing everyone, a casino owner falls under suspicion, not least because of an altercation with the dead man that was witnessed by a few people. The casino owner has a very dark secret and the events that follow unleash a dark monster he has managed to keep chained inside him for many years.

4 stars

Hi Caro. I read Out a few years ago and remember really loving it. I have been meaning to try another book by that author but haven't got around to it yet. Enjoy your weekend.

still typing left-handed so confining myself to xoxo

>231 cameling: you nibbled on that?

ye gods

I'm glad you have nice people to spend time with :)

I would never accuse you of brush fires, you are too much of a nature lover for that.. but we all know how travel affects you, or how you affect travel....whichever :) Be safe, have some fun and safe travels home.

Sounds like such a great Friday, Caro. Thanks for letting us do some armchair traveling with you. You're much more adventurous with the food than I'd probably be, but the sake and wine would suit me fine.

Eagerly awaiting your safe return.

Sounds like you're having a great time on your trip Caro. I would have been afraid that giant clam thing might have tried to eat me. You're very brave with your food!

I really enjoyed The Edwardians last year (or was it the year before that?), and have Out among the endless reading stacks which I mooched from Mark at one point, and will add you as a recommender.

>231 cameling: That would have been comical Caro. Have a lovely weekend. xx

>231 cameling: That's an amazing presentation! If that thing on top was a mushroom, I'd love it. If it's anything other than a mushroom, I'm not as enthusiastic. But the shell is fabulous.

Out has gone on my list.

I love your Tokyo travelogue, although when I am there I don't dine so luxuriously. But I usually stay in Ueno. And Kirino and Miyabe are my favorite contemporary Japanese authors. Please travel to Japan often!

>234 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I'm so glad I gave this book another shot because for a while there, I was wondering if perhaps this was not an author for me. It turned out that I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it at the time. Now that I know what his style is like, I'm looking forward to Grosteque, another Kirino book I have in my TBR Tower.

>235 richardderus: Smooochies, Richard ... so sorry to hear you are still suffering. *sending healing waves*

>236 mckait: Kath - it looked a lot more scary than it tasted. It had a wonderful texture, sort of a cross between an abalone and a sea whelk. They had also cut the clam into bite-sized pieces and cooked it in a delicious and yet delicate broth with seaweed and honeyed soy undertones.

I went to Asakusa yesterday and realized that they were celebrating the 3 days Sanja Matsuri which is, I think, the largest Spring festival (or maybe largest festival in the calendar year) in Tokyo. The crowds were immense and rather overwhelming and I didn't stay too long because the jostling just became a little too much to bear. But I loved the constant Taiko drumming as the hundred or so mikoshi (portable shrines) in which Shinto gods were placed, were carried on the shoulders of volunteers through the neighborhood streets to bring good fortune to the local businesses and residents. I stood in line for a couple of delicious green tea mochi (green tea flavored rice flour balls wrapped around azuki red bean paste) and if the line wasn't that long, I would have jumped back in line for another 10 ! They were so good.

But after I left, I made my way back to Shinjuku to do a little shopping for bottles of plum wine and sake to bring home.

After the excess of Friday, I opted for a simple dinner of pork katsu and beef curry rice at my favorite curry cafe and headed back for an early night with a book. *blisssss*

>243 cameling: Oh! So, sort of a cross between an abalone and a sea whelk. That's alright then.

>237 jnwelch: Joe, I'm sure if you were here, you could be persuaded to try some of the food items you currently consider exotic (or weird? or just plain .. urk?). Who knows... you might end up including ramen in your cafe following a visit here. ;-)

>238 michigantrumpet: Marianne, I'm looking forward to coming home next week and better yet .. being home for longer than planned. I was originally supposed to head out to Australia mid June, but because of a seminar that's now scheduled for the same week, I get to stay home for an extra week and only need to head out to Australia in the last week of June. Whoopeeee!

>239 Smiler69: Ilana, I really like being in Japan. I've always enjoyed my trips here. I can even see myself living here if the opportunity should ever arise. And it's not just the food either, because I will miss good burgers, pizza and tex-mex food if I lived here, but it's just the way of life and the culture that I appreciate. Oh and space. I will miss spacious living. haha.

>240 PaulCranswick: Have a wonderful weekend too, Paul. I saw the photos Hani posted of you salivating over the pile of books during your 'quality time' together. *snicker*

>241 mstrust: Jennifer, that wasn't a mushroom ... when it first arrived, I thought it was a rather odd-colored mushroom myself but I was prepared to give it a shot. It turned out to be part of the clam. It was the hard shelled 'foot' of the clam and after they cut the clam away, they saved the 'foot' so it could be used as part of the presentation. Cool, huh?

>242 catarina1: catarina1, all the places I mentioned weren't in luxury restaurants. They were in small local hole-in-the-walls that served really good and relatively inexpensive food. Tomorrow though, I will be indulging in decadence because a client has invited me to Omotesando to relax in a tiny kaiseki restaurant. If it weren't rude, I would take photos of each course, but I want to be invited back again at some point in the future so I shall have to desist.

I haven't as yet read anything by Miyabe. Would you recommend something I should start with?

>244 mckait: :-) Kath.. I knew you'd understand. *smirk*

>244 mckait: I knew you'd understand, Kath. *smirk* ;-)

63. Point Omega by Don DeLilo

A young filmmaker, Jim Finley, seeks out Richard Elster, an elderly scholar who was engaged by the government to provide ideas towards their defense strategies, who now spends most of his time in the desert. Jim's goal is to persuade Richard to agree to participating in a one-take film, where the film's focus would be Richard and his thoughts. His planned 2 - 3 day visit stretches into weeks and he starts to lose his own fervor for his film as he falls under the spell of the desert.

Richard's daughter, Jessica, comes out for a visit and their conversations include instrospective observations. Before long, they are enveloped in a comfortable familial intimacy. And then a devastating and mysterious event occurs which shatters their cocoon.

This novella has a still and stark beauty as the desert it is set in.

3 stars

I think I choose the wrong words to describe your Tokyo dining, "exotic" perhaps would be better. I have usually been on my own when traveling in Japan and often just get something at the local 7-11, not bad but definitely not "exotic" or "luxurious". I did splurge on one trip, at an authentic ryokan in Kurashiki - that meal was luxurious.

As for Miyuki Miyabe books - the first one I read was All She Was Worth which I picked up at Maruzen. I think I've gotten the others from Amazon - Crossfire and Shadow Family are a couple others but I think she has written several more. They are mysteries with that really weird Japanese "twist".

>206 kidzdoc: I have no problem changing the subject, or walking away from that person
Amen. Opinion nazi's are the worst. My MiL is one....she refuses to listen to her son's expert knowledge on traffic issues (he has been a traffic engineer for a decade and a half) and continues to override and interrupt him when 'discussing' things. I advise him to walk away.

>249 cameling: I like the sound of Point Omega, and I have never heard of it even though I count myself as a DeLillo fan! I will seek this one out I think, and then give it to my filmmaker friend (maybe).

(edited to fix post # I was addressing)

Stopping through to let you know about a new thread called Friends of Nancy P.

Part therapy for for the completists in our group, and part a safe haven to blow off some steam about those books you want to throw against the wall. Kudos to Steve the Curmudgeon for setting it up!

>250 catarina1: catarina1 .. I've been too tired or lazy sometimes to head out to find a restaurant or cafe to eat in when I'm traveling but I will only hit the 7-Eleven in Japan for food. Somehow the sandwiches, onigiri and even instant ramen sold in the 7-Eleven here is actually edible and all the stores are extremely well-lit and clean. I usually travel on my own as well, and with my trusty Kindle in my bag, I often head out to explore and check out restaurants on my own. I like trying different foods ... even when I can't read the menu (that's why I love local places .. no English menu so I'm forced to either randomly point at menu items on the wall or at what other people around me are eating). I will allow my business partners and the occasional client to take me out for a meal on just one day. Other than that, I relish eating on my own because then I can walk into restaurants that just appear interesting. Of course when I have friends in town at the same time, that increases my enjoyment of the evening since they are likely people I haven't seen in ages.

No chance of me taking photos of the kaiseki last night, unfortunately. The meal was as much a feast for the eyes as it was for the tastebuds. Everything was delicately flavored and so beautifully presented it seemed almost a crime to eat each of the 10 little dishes.

Thanks for the Miyabe recommendations. I'll have to see if I can get hold of some of them. I love mysteries with weird twists. :-)

ETA : I just looked to see if my library has any of Miyabe's works and ... not only do they have some of her books but she's also a graphic novelist! Whooohoooo!!

>251 LovingLit: Megan, Point Omega is my first DeLilo and I really like the way he writes. What other books by DeLilo have you read?

>252 michigantrumpet: Ooh..a rant thread for Pearl Ruled books. How could I refuse, Marianne? Thanks for the invite.

I'm awfully lucky though that I managed to bring books along during this trip that I've liked so far. I now have 5 books to donate to the hotel's library when I leave tomorrow. I hope my Kindle doesn't decide to act up though because as of now, I don't have any more dead tree books to read until I get home on Tuesday night.

There's pampering your dog and there's pampering your dog!

>256 cameling: I can't see the day when I'll carry around Coco like that in my lifetime. Though if I do, it'll be a sure sign my mind is completely gone. Mind you, I do have a shopping cart I put him into when I'm off to market and want to take him into shops he's not allowed in as I don't ever leave him tied up outside for fear of someone stealing him!

What other books by DeLilo have you read?
White Noise (the first I read, which got me hooked on DeLillo)
Libra (about assassination of JFK)
Falling Man (written with 9/11 as a major theme/backdrop)
Players (an early one of his)
The Body Artist (novella)

I have Cosmopolis, Americana and Mao II still to go on my shelves, and whatever else there is out there by him.

>254 cameling: argh- no dead-tree books left. What if there is an ether malfunction and the world is forced to go fully manual!? *Caro chants 'not long til Tuesday not long til Tuesday'*
;)

I believe you should be back home soon so a recommendation for your next trip to Tokyo. We went to Ukai Toriyama. http://www.ukai.co.jp/english/toriyama/ It was recommended by extended family who had been living in Tokyo for a number of years otherwise we never would have heard of it. It is a ways out of Tokyo proper but well worth the trip. In fact, we really enjoyed the journey. The grounds were spectacular and it probably ranks as one of the very best dining experiences I have ever had.

I'm glad that I am not the only one who eats at the 7-11's, or Lawson's in Tokyo. I also go to small restaurants there where you can point to the plastic model in the front. I've gotten some interesting surprises that way.

Speaking of Miyabe, I just went to Amazon and ordered Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Japan which apparently was published in English last fall. Can't wait for its arrival. I have two Kindles but I love the feel of a book in my hand, so I have to wait for two days for it. Unfortunately my local library, although it is a generally good one, does not stock many Japanese authors.

Again I am enjoying for travel descriptions. Japan is my favorite place in the world. Sometimes I think that I had a previous life in a shogun household in Edo-era Japan.

>257 Smiler69: Ilana, the dog looked around regally as she was wheeled around in her royal carriage. Ha. The only dog I know who is wheeled around in the US, is a blind one belonging to a friend. He had normal sight until about a year ago when he suddenly went blind. Now when they take him out to the park, he sits in the wagon since he can't see where he's going.

>258 LovingLit: Megan, great list. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll have to see what my library has when I get home.

Arrgghh... no jinxing my Kindle, Megan! Not nice!!! I think I will sob really really loudly if my Kindle malfunctioned on me during the flight to San Francisco .. or beg someone to lend me something, anything, to read during the flight. At least when I get to SF, I can hit a bookstore and buy a book.

ETA : oops.. I'm not flying to San Francisco, I'm connecting in Chicago. And it's only a 2 hour or so flight from Chicago to Boston.

>259 Oberon: Erik, thank you for the recommendation. I've been to Hachioji before but not to this restaurant. It surely does look really lovely. I've been to the restaurant they have in Marunochi last year and enjoyed the food there immensely. I am likely back in Japan again in October if not sooner, and I've just added Ukai Toriyama to my list of restaurants to try.

>260 catarina1: catarina1 - I would have loved to live in Edo Japan, but only as a samurai. The women didn't have all that exciting a time back then and I definitely would prefer to be in the thick of things. haha..

I will have more Japan travel news and photos to update you all with when I get home. I don't have time to do it now because I've got to start packing if I'm going to check out in a half hour and make my way to Narita airport in time to catch my flight back to Boston.

I'm requested Miyabe's ICO : Castle in the Mist and All She Was Worth. They should be ready for me to pick up on Wednesday. :-)

64. Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin

The Civil War forced some Southerners eventually to analyze what they were fighting for. Were they fighting to retain their right to govern themselves by seceding from the Union, or were they fighting for slavery.

In this faith-themed historical fiction, Caroline, our protagonist has been brought up in the lap of luxury, her family's slaves at the ready to do her bidding. When her mother dies, she is sent to Philadephia to live with her aunt and uncle for a couple of years. Her stay in the North brings her into contact with an abolitionist who helps strengthen her own views against slavery. She returns to Richmond, with the intention of persuading Southerners to free their slaves. Her views are, of course, unpopular among even her own relatives, and dangerous when war breaks out and Richmond leaves the Union.

It wasn't long before Caroline's eyes were open to the horrific conditions that most Southern slaves lived in and the often inhumane treatment of some slave-owners, a contrast to the relative kindness her family showed towards the slaves they owned, save for her long-held refusal to believe in her father's affection for one of their slaves.

But will her convictions be strong enough to lead her to stand up for what she truly believes in? To set in motion that which could betray the South and those she loves who fight for the South, while helping free the slaves? Woven throughout the story is the question of faith... how passages in the Bible were misrepresented or ignored to serve the slave-owners and how a slave who secretly learned to read taught other slaves that God would not abandon them and that if they had faith, they would be freed.

My favorite line in the book .... Slaves are not a cause, they are people!

3.5 stars ....... I probably would have given it 4 if not for the rather excessive (IMO only) Bible quotes and breast-beating soliloquies that usually followed. Some would have been fine, but I think there was a little too much here.

Hi Caro, just passing through. I had a stressful time. Wishing you a wonderful week.

*waves* Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Fun travelling with you Caro! ;)

Japan would be an awesome place to visit one day. We were only in the airport once when we had a layover on our way to Taiwan and we were hungry so my hubby got some curry at one of the restaurants. After he did the exchange rate, he nearly choked on his food. That was and will be the most expensive curry we've ever eaten and I'm sad to say it wasn't even that good.... :/

Caro, I hope you realize that on my bucket list is traveling to a restaurant in Asia with you!

Looking forward to having you back safely in Boston. Wave hello to Chicago for us on your way through.

I am always happy when you are safe home!

Loved reading about your travels in Japan! Thanks for sharing them with us.

>64 Ameise1: I don't usually read books set in this time in US history, they are just too depressing for me, but the premise sounds interesting.

Hi Caro! Just checking in with my buddy! Hopefully, you are back home safe and sound.

>264 Ameise1: : Barbara - So sorry to hear about your trials last week. I hope you're having a better week and that Thomas and Marina are feeling better?

>265 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby - Tuesday was spent on a plane which, thankfully landed safely in one piece back on US soil. So it was a good day, indeed.

>266 jolerie: LOL..sorry Valerie, but airport food is always expensive in Japan and not even very tasty. However, Japanese curry is very different from other Asian curries. I got used to it as a kid because my dad took us to a lot of Japanese restaurants and when I'm in Tokyo, there are 2 curry houses I like going to. A big plate of katsu curry with a side of tangy pickles usually costs about $9 ..which makes for a very filling and cheap meal. Even a bowl of chirashi sushi at Narita airport costs about 3 times more than a much larger bowl with more generous slices of seafood at a Tokyo restaurant.

>267 ronincats: :-) Just name the date and country, Roni ... I'd love to. :-)

>268 michigantrumpet: Consider Chicago waved to on your behalf, Marianne. I am now back in Beantown and very happy in the knowledge that I shall be here until the last week of June before my next international trip. We have friends coming up to visit for the Memorial Day weekend and then I'm off to NYC for a 2 day conference next week before making it back with a day to spare before my 5K race. If you guys aren't too busy in June, perhaps we can double date one evening? :-)

>269 mckait: Kath - I'm always happy to be home too ... and doubly happy now because the hubster just surprised me by coming home early. He's been in NY and was supposed to be coming home later tonight but he just popped through the door. Wheeee!

>270 Cobscook: You're welcome, Heidi... in fact, I'm about to start a new thread and if you visit it, you'll be seeing some additional photos I'll be posting soon that I took in Tokyo.

>271 msf59: Hiya Mark .. I arrived home in a state of shock ... what happened to America's Dogs in Terminal B at O'Hare?!! That was my go-to place for a hot dog whenever I was in transit ... and it's, it's, it's .... GONE! Waaaahhhhhhhh!