lkernagh (Lori) embarks on a year of Books, Beads and other things in 2014 - 4th Thread

Welcome to my fourth thread for 2014!

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

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







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

My 2014 Category Challenge:

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

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

MY 2014 Reading Bingo Challenge:

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



Wish me luck!

Reading BINGO 2014 books read:
B1 - Bleak House by Charles Dickens
B2 - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
B3 - Inamorata by Joseph Gangemi
B4 -
B5 -
I1 -
I2 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
I3 -
I4 - The Secrets of Casanova by Greg Michaels
I5 -
N1 - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père
N2 -
N3 - FREE SQUARE
N4 - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
N5 - Hotel Paradiso by Gregor Robinson (2000 pub date)
G1 - The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
G2 - This Innocent Corner by Peggy Herring
G3 - The Curse of Malenfer Manor by Iian McChesney (Europe)
G4 - The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Complete Series 1 by David Ashton
G5 - The Dead Shall Not Rest by Tessa Harris
O1 -
O2 - Always Love a Villain on San Juan Island by Sandy Francis Duncan and George Szanto
O3 -
O4 - The Innocent Mrs. Duff by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
O5 - Blue by George Elliott Clarke

Books Read:

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

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

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

Book Read:

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

MAY
#21 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard -
#22 - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen -
#23 - Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard -
#24 - G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton -
#25 - The Club at Eddy's Bar by Zoltán Böszörményi -

JUNE
#26 - The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Complete Series 1 by David Ashton -
#27 - The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco -
#28 - The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker -
#29 - The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell -
#30 - Hot Ticket by Janice Weber -
#31 - When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster -
#32 - Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin -

Welcome to my "Hoping for Summer real soon" Thread, which is now open for business!

Saturday and day one of the book sale - it runs both Saturday and Sunday - are winding to a close. A great day and a lot of fun. I went to great pains to restrain myself at the book sale, mainly because I am currently out of shelf space to store the acquisitions, and I still came away with 36 books, all in great condition. I was super happy to find a number of bread cook books to keep me happily engaged in my new bread baking hobby:



The new book of favorite breads from Rose Lane Farm by Ada Lou Roberts
The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown
Breads by Jean Pare, Company's Coming cookbook series
Easy Baking With Instant Yeast! by Deborah Collingwood
Smell that Bread by D'oyly Rochfort
Muffins Scones and Breads by the Australian Women's Home Weekly
Breads & Pizzas by the Canadian Living's Best
The Complete Bread Book by Lorna Walker

... and because I do need some inspiration for meal ideas, I couldn't pass up these two cookbooks:

Fast and Fabulous by the Australian Women's Home Weekly
Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook for All Seasons

No, I did not forget the real reason I was in attendance, which is more books for my TBR bookcase! Here is a snap of the covers of the fiction (and one non-fiction) books that I purchased today:



- Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks - Caught my eye as an intriguing read
- Midnight in St. Petersburg by Vanora Bennett - Love the cover and the idea of a novel set in 1911 Russia, at the start of the revolution.
- I Married the Klondike by Laura Beatrice Berton - The Klondike days of Canada's past are a fascination for me so of course, I picked up this book of Yukon Klondike life written by the mother of one of Canada's premier historical writers, Pierre Berton.
- The White Trilogy: A White Arrest, Taming the Alien, and The McDead by Ken Bruen - I have never heard of this author before but a trilogy contained in one volume with back cover quotes like "Hip, violent and funny" I figured I had nothing to lose by acquiring this one.
- Death Comes for the Archbishop, My Antonia and O Pioneers! by Willa Cathers - Huge Cather love on LT is what lead me to grab these three books, all from the same print run so they have coordinating covers.
- True Canadian Ghost Stories by Robert John Colombo - I love ghosts stories, even if they do cause the hairs on the back of my neck to rise up and make me a bit skittish for a couple of days. I am curious to see if I know any of the stories or if they will all be new to me.
- The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis - Historical mysteries are my favorite reads, and one set in Renaissance Italy doubles the appeal for me.
- The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - I thought I already owned a copy of this one but my list - and LT - both said otherwise so the Caleb Carr fan that I am grabbed this one.
- World Without End by Ken Follett - I seem to be collecting Follett books. I thought, for some reason, that this was book two in the Century Trilogy - I already have the first book,
- Fall of Giants, but no, this is actually book two in his Kingsbridge series, so I now have two series to complete.
- The Yard by Alex Grecian - LT love and my own fascination with it lead me to dive on the copy I found.
- Benediction by Kent Haruf - Completes my Plainsong trilogy.
- The Lost Souls of Angelkov by Linda Holeman - Another Russian novel full of liaisons, treachery and longing.... sounds like my kind of read!
- The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson - I have been searching and searching for a second hand copy of this examination of the the 1854 cholera epidemic in London, England. I almost cried with joy when I found this one in amongst the books.
- The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan - Love the cover and went "Oooohh" when I read the premise.
- The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss - I keep on meaning to read one of Liss' books so finding a perfect condition trade paperback was all the encouragement I needed to pick this one up.
- Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks - My fascination with war is the behind the scenes code makers and code breakers, not that actual in the trenches activities, so I snatched this copy up super fast.
- The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay - I really enjoyed McKay's first historical novel, The Birth House so I figured I should probably add her second book to my future reading pile.
- Books Burn Badly by Manuel Rivas - Okay, I admit I picked this one up strictly based on the cover art.... I don't think I even know what the premise is.
- Dissolution by C. J. Sansom - I bought book four in the Matthew Shardlake series at last year's book sale. Now I have the first book in the series and can get started reading it!
- The History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago - I love Saramago's writing and didn't have this one. I do now.
- The Great Karoo by Fred Stenson - A Governor General Finalist, so this one had to go into my bag.
- The Trade by Fred Stenson - A Giller Prize Finalist, this story is focused on the frontier times of Canada's past when the Hudson Bay Company was a key trader between the old world and the new. More Canadian historical fiction for me to enjoy.
- A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd - I have read great things about Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries series so when I saw book one staring at me, it was mine!

.... Saving the best for last: That very boring looking red book cover in the bottom right hand corner of the picture above is a small hard cover pocket book edition published by Collins' Clear-Type Press of Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers, with illustrations, I might add. The love here on LT for Trollope's works had me very excited when I came across this gem tucked away in with the literature. No publication date but it strikes me as an early 1940's edition. It just seems right to read something like this in an older published print edition and it will now grace my bookshelves with the older book finds from my parent's basement.

I will be going back to the book sale tomorrow to see what was hiding under the tables during my visit today.

I repeat: xoxo

Neat new thread, Lori, and awesome book sale haul!

Happy new thread, Lori! Very impressive book haul.

Wow, what a great pile of books! And yay for non-machine bread-making! I love making bread, too!

Lori, on your new thread.

Lori I love the topper of all the new books. I think you have bread obsession. ;-)

I have The Yard waiting patiently on the nightstand. I thought you had read The Gods of Gotham. You are in for a huge treat if you haven't. Book 2 is even better. Both books are a great combination of historical fiction and early days police procedural.

What fun you must have had scoring all those great books.

Wow, so much book love! That's an amazing haul Lori! Very intrigued about Midnight in St. Petersburg and will look forward to your comments on it when you get to it. I see Suzanne gave one of Bennett's books a five-star rating too. I really enjoyed The Gods of Gotham and just recently reviewed the second book, Seven for a Secret, which was a great read too. The Virgin Cure has been on my wishlist for a good long while. Just a matter of time before I borrow the ebook from the library, but again, looking forward to your comments on it. I've been wanting to read the Matthew Shardlake series for ages, but first needed to get a bit of background on the Tudors. I bought the first book a few years back, and now I'm ready to read it, can't find it anywhere! Eep! Many other books to comment on, but I'll restrict myself for now.

Happy New Thread Lori, and have a great Sunday!

What a book haul! I bet that was a lot of fun.

Following along, Lori! Nice book haul. I look on with envy..haha. :)

A 36 book haul is one heck of a way to start a thread, Lori. Impressive and am duly impressed.

Have a lovely Sunday and a great Mother's Day.

Dropping by to say hello as I'm catching up. I'm still craving a piece of that oat bran bread that was on your previous thread.

Oooh, only 18 posts! Oh, I missed an entire thread. So I skimmed, pausing at jewelry and painted windows.

>7 lkernagh: I went to great pains to restrain myself at the book sale ... and I still came away with 36 books
Of course we can't really judge, not knowing what unrestrained purchases would've been.

The jewelry and painted windows were wonderful, but not nearly as intriguing as that lovely book haul! Glad to see some favorites in there. Loved Gods of Gotham. There's a second one? Now I'm behind? Ye Gods and little fish hooks! I've got to remedy this right away...

Baking bread is such a satisfying endeavor once one gets the hang of it. We've got two lovely bakeries in town which work wonders with yeasty marvelousness. I'm afraid my breadbaking skills have become a little rusty when such goodness is just down the street.

Wow, Lori! I was impressed with your book review of the Dept Q book (thumb duly added, by the way!) until I saw your book haul!

One might think you've been hanging around a fellow named Cranswick or Derus a bit too long! Highly impressed, my friend! ;)

>8 richardderus: - smooch*

>9 ronincats: - Thanks, Roni!

>10 MickyFine: - Hi Mickey!

>11 scaifea: - it is rather funny how everyone I have mentioned my new bread making activities to, the first question out of their mouths, filled with expectation, is, "Are you using a bread machine?" and then they stare at me in amazement when the answer they receive is "No." ;-)

>12 Ameise1: - ;-)

>13 luvamystery65: - A bread obsession... really.... how can you tell, Roberta? ;-) There is a second book?! .... and lookily there, there is a second book. Something for me to keep an eye out for at the next book sale!

>14 Smiler69: - Book love and LT do seem to go hand in hand but this annual book sale is where I go a little crazy. Some people show up to the sale with suitcases and numerous other methods of transporting a large quantity of books from "A" to "B". I try to stick to carrier bags so much purchases are not allowed to exceed what I can physically carry out of the building. That is one of best ways I have devised to curb my book buying at the sale.

>15 rosalita: - The book sale is always a lot of fun, Julia. I really love how the volunteers for the event always go that extra mile to help everyone find the books they are looking for. It is not uncommon for someone to suddenly shout out "Who was looking for a copy of _______." with the book in question held up in their hand. ;-)

>16 jolerie: - Thanks Valerie, but even Calgary, if I am not mistaken, has their own Calgary Herald sponsored book sale.... I will give anything to check that book sale out!

>17 PaulCranswick: - Thanks Paul! Sunday saw me adding another 22 books to that tally but a girl needs to splurge once and a while, don't you know. ;-)

>18 thornton37814: - Hi Lori. I am still working on perfecting that oat bran/whole wheat/ spelt bread. Once I get that recipe perfect, I will let you know!

>19 qebo: - Missed threads happen... life on LT has a timeline of its own, regardless of RL. Well, as for explaining my level of restraint, I could have easily, and happily, come home with 400 books or more that I probably would have enjoyed reading but I limit my selections to only trade paperbacks - no hardcovers and no smaller paperbacks. That way I am not overwhelmed by the volume of books available. ;-)

>20 michigantrumpet: - Good to know I am not the only one behind with the Gods of Gotham books, although you are one up on me. My bread baking skills are super rusty but I find its the little things like seeing the bread dough actually does rise and the bakes into something edible that has me motivated to continue. We have a handful of stores in town where I can purchase ancient grains flour and other kinds of flour so I am in experimental heaven right now. We have our bakery staples that are kept in the freezer at the ready for when I completely mess up or don't have the time to make bread but I like the freedom that I am not tied to store or commercial bakery breads.

>21 TinaV95: - LOL, Tina! This book haul only occurs once a year and will no where compare with the awe inspiring book acquisitions of our Malaysian correspondent and book connoisseur. ;-)

Well, Sunday pretty much flew by for me. I went to the second day of the book sale - came home with another 22 books - had a wonderful conversation with my mom and my other half surprised me by coming home with a used and in very good condition four shelf Ikea Billy bookcase, one of the older styles that is 15 inches deep, so books can be shelved two deep with room to spare. Suffice to say, my Sunday afternoon was spent rearranging all of my books with this lovely new shelf space. I was even generous enough to inform my other half that the 'half shelf' I had allowed him for his own books has now grown into one and a half shelves.... he was quite happy about that, really he was!

Anyhow, here is a list (and book cover images) of the acquisitions from Sunday:


- The Complete Enderby by Anthony Burgess - I have no knowledge of the Enderby stories but omnibus books seemed to be the rage this year and it looked interesting.
- The Clydesiders Trilogy by Margaret Thomson Davis - another omnibus that looks promising.
- The Last Cavalier by Alexandre Dumas - Everyone following this thread should have by now an inkling that I am a fan of Dumas' works. I have never read this one but according to the book cover, it follows in the tradition of Dumas' other works, which is all I needed to know.
- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - continuing my collection of Follett's works, this now completes my KIngsbridge series.
- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - I have been waffling about this one but at $2.00 I figured I might as well acquire the copy and then decide if I want to read it or not.
- 11.22.63 by Stephen King - this is the second acquisition that made my Sunday return visit to the book sale worthwhile. This is one of the books I was hoping to lay my hands on and I now have a trade paperback copy, which should make reading that chunkster a little easier on my wrists. ;-)
- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - another book I have had my eye on.
- A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra - LT recommendations made this a must purchase
- The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell - Still undecided if I want to read this one but at least I now own a copy of my own.
- A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys - another omnibus book.
- The Complaints by Ian Rankin - for my Scottish Noir reading pile
- Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin - also for my Scottish Noir reading pile
- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe, Morality for Beautiful Girls, The Kalahari Typing School for Men, The Full Cupboard of Life, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, Blue Shoes and Happiness, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive and The Miracle of Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith - Yup, you read correctly, I manages to snag the first 9 books in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series in one go. I even managed to snag copies that came from the same series publication run so they coordinate.
The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith - Oh, this one looked really good when I read the premise!

I can now settle back and wait for next year's book sale.

Wow, what a great haul! And a new bookshelve! You had a wonderful weekend!

And, yeah, I don't really get bread machines. They take all the fun out of making bread!

Happy New thread, Lori! I love the book shelf topper! Some great titles and a reminder I need to get to Cloudsplitter. That one has been on shelf far far to long.
Great book haul too1 Very impressive. The Marra and the Mitchell are favorites of mine.

Book Haul #1 was impressive enough. And now Book Haul #2 tops that! Great choices! Our local library sale is this weekend. I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but you've been inspiring me!

Wow, Lori! A perfect weekend indeed!

Awesome second haul Lori! Great idea to only take away what you can carry in bags. I can see how wild one would get if larger and more convenient transportation devices were brought along...

Wow, amazing hauls. I'm especially impressed with the entire No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. What a find!

Great haul Lori, especially those Ladies Detective Agency books.

That is an amazing haul and some great titles as well!!! :)

You are right, Lori. There is actually a huge sale coming up in a few weeks called the Calgary Reads book sale and it's an annual thing, apparently really huge and the proceeds go to a charity. I've never been and am debating if I should try this year. I really don't need to buy any more books though....haha!

Man, that's a great haul!

Lori kudos on your second haul! Excellent picks. I also have a long standing love of Dumas. What a find on all the Ladies Detective agency books. I haven't read one in a long time. I'm reading The Devil in the White City for my October "Halloween" reads. It's supposed to be creepy so I can't wait. I believe Ellen is joining me. I hope you can too.

Happy Tuesday! The sun is shining and the current temp, at 7:15 pm, is 19'C (66'F), which is exactly where I like it, with a mild breeze blowing in from the water. I wore the wrong shoes to walk to a meeting today and now have two blisters trying to form on my foot. Soaking in Epson salts is helping but I cringe at the thought that I have another meeting to walk to tomorrow. These meetings are in the downtown core and do not warrant the use of transportation from A to B so I am now on the hunt through my shoe collection for the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. Time for shoe shopping, I think! ;-)

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>26 scaifea: - Sunday was an amazing day on all counts, Amber! Like you, I don't understand the attraction of bread machine and I also have limited counter space in my kitchen so the last thing I want is another appliance taking up valuable counter real estate! One of these days I may venture into the world of crock pots but not bread machines.

>27 msf59: - Hi Mark! I was starting to find it a bit challenging to come up with an easy an unique book shelf topper so thank goodness the book sale came to my rescue! *Whew! Cloudplitter really caught my eye and I am glad to see both the Marra and the Mitchell books are favorites of yours. I am now pondering if I should read Cloud Atlas first, being an earlier publication of Mitchell's that I happen to own a copy of, or if I should just dive right into the Jacob de Zoet book. Choices, choices. ;-)

>28 michigantrumpet: - LT has turned me into an informed book shopper, that is for sure! Book sales are best if you go with no expectations.... that is when the gems jump out at you!

>29 katiekrug: - I know! Next weekend sure won't live up to the wonderful weekend this past one has been, unless I win the lottery or something on par with that. One can always hope to be astounded.

>30 Smiler69: - I am now happily finished book shopping for 2014. No, really I am. Honest.

>31 Morphidae: - Well, I don't have quite the whole series - I think there are 14 books in that series - but still, the first nine books is something I am still really happy about finding!

>32 SandDune: - Thanks, Rhian! I am now motivated to read the series. ;-)

>33 jolerie: - I took a quick glance at the website for the Calgary Reads and I was surprised that the two day sale runs Friday and Saturday. If you do go, I was going to suggest you go on the second day of the sale but that was based on the Saturday/Sunday schedule our sale runs, because Saturday here is "The Day" where the crowds swarm (including all the book trade folks) and it is bedlam. Sunday is a more sedate, easy paced day to take ones time browsing the books, without someone elbowing in the ribs or hitting you in the head with their backpack. Part of me wonders now if the Friday is the quieter day to attend the Calgary Reads sale. I was amused to discover that both Calgary and Victoria's book sales occur at each city's curling club. ;-)

>34 drneutron: - Thanks, Jim! My once a splurge was a productive and well thought out one, thanks to all the great recommendations and reviews here on LT - well, that and a willingness to spend hours mining the tables full of books for the ones I really, really wanted. ;-)

>35 luvamystery65: - Dumas is one of the best writers for adventure and fun. Makes a small part of me wish I could mingle with the reading public of Dumas' time period to find out what they thought! Oh, great idea to read The Devil in the White City as an October read... sounds like the perfect time to read this one. Count me in!

Since pictures of bookcases filled with books are eye candy for a number of people here on LT, here are the pictures of the bookshelves that house the 332 books that comprise my "To Read" library, and some books and journals my other half collects:

. .

The bookcase on the left is the new bookcase and the one on the right is the older one, with room for more acquisitions!

Like!

>36 lkernagh: I preferred Cloud Atlas to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I've read Cloud Atlas twice and watched the movie twice!

I love pictures of bookshelves filled with unread books! Oh, the possibilities! If it makes you feel any better, I have about 600 unread books on my shelves....
That is probably why I shouldn't go to the booksale...haha!

>38 lkernagh: Lori, those shelves are gorgeous and in two rows :-)

Wow! Fabulous book hauls, and bookshelves too! :)

Love the bookcases. I think I recognize a few volumes there. Happy Friday!

Great bookshelves, Lori. I really need to get going on weeding through my books and getting them entered here on LT. I probably have only catalogued about 10 percent of my books. Tuesday as I was packing for my trip to Booktopia Boulder, I found a copy of Ian Frazier's On the Rez. That's good because it's on my To Read list, but bad because I just bought an ebook copy because I didn't know I already had it! Sigh.

Woot! Great new thread, Lori. I lost track of you there for a bit. What fantabulous book hauls from the recent sale, and how awesome that your hub came home with a Billy. Love love love.

I'm with you on summer: Bring.It!

>45 rosalita: That happens to me too! My first year on LT, I used it almost exclusively to check to make sure I didn't have the book already.

I am trying to organize my book shelves as well--just found a book on the shelves (Blue Latitudes) which I had also gotten out of the library. Luckily I didn't buy it--I almost did!

>39 luvamystery65: - ;-)

>40 Morphidae: - Good to know. Thanks, Morphy!

>41 jolerie: - Well if you have 600 TBR at home, then I feel better.....I can go buy more books! One of these years I will time my trip home to coincide with the Calgary sale, because I am dying of curiosity to find out how good the sale is.... I cannot convince any of my Calgary resident family members to attend as proxy for me. Darn them all! ;-0

>42 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I don't think I will ever go back to narrower bookcases that can only store one row of books..... would run out of wall space to place the bookcases up against!

>43 tymfos: - Thanks, Terri!

>44 michigantrumpet: - Thanks Marianne! Happy Friday it was as I have booked all of next week off from work, so I am now happily in a mentally soothing vacation frame of mind.

>45 rosalita: - I have to admit, Julia, that having all of the books I own (and have read since joining LT) entered on LT has saved me more than a a few times from making 'oops' purchases. Have a fantastic time at Booktopia Boulder!

>46 lit_chick: - Thanks Nancy! The weather on the island Wednesday and Thursday were beautiful. Friday started to turn and we are now having a Saturday of dark, overcast skies. Typical, typical..... ;-)

>47 michigantrumpet: and >48 banjo123: - What really screws me up is when they publish books with different covers. I am terrible with remember book titles but I am usually pretty good about remembering the cover art so I really rely heavily on my LT list.

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Happy Saturday everyone, and Happy Long Weekend for all my Canadian visitors! This is the first day of a mini-vacation for me as I have booked next week off from work. No travel plans although we may make an impulsive mid-week trip over to Vancouver or Seattle. Other than that, plans are to paint the kitchen, more bread making experimentation, possibly some sewing and of course, book reading. This is the weekend of the Highland Games here in Victoria but the weather isn't being very accommodating so we may pass on attending this year.

On the Reading Front: I finished listening to the audiobook Johannes Cabal the Detective and review is now ready for posting. I am still working my way through The Club at Eddy's Bar and I am struggling with it a bit. I am going to take advantage of the time off to get it finished so I can get this ER book reviewed.

Book #23 - Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard - audiobook narrated by Robin Sachs
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Petit Fours
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: July 13, 2010
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 304 pages / 12 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /

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

When an attempt to steal a rare book turns sour, Johannes Cabal, a necromancer of some little infamy, finds himself in a foreign prison awaiting execution. A crafty plan -- as horrific as it is cunning -- allows him to steal the identity of a government official and make his escape aboard a luxurious aeroship heading out of the country. But what should be a perfect getaway rapidly becomes complicated by the bizarre disappearance of a passenger, an attempt on Cabal's life, and an unwelcome face from the past. Trapped aboard with a killer, can even Cabal's open-razor of a mind save him?

Review:
While not as good as the first book, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, I was still rather pleasantly surprised to see how Howard is able to write a black comedy full of biting wit and sarcasm and then turn around in this next book and provide readers with a rather good 'locked room' mystery. Cabal is still the unfeeling, self-serving erudite cad he was in book one, but we are now starting to see tiny chinks in his otherwise impenetrable facade. This man just may be capable of feeling something after all! Even better, and what made this story a delight to read, is Howard brings a character from book one to this story to act as both verbal foil for Cabal and to provide some assistance when Cabal, somewhat reluctantly, starts to poke around in the details of the mystery. An reluctant detective more interesting in preserving their own neck then in solving the case is always a fun character to throw into a mystery story, IMO, and Cabal plays that role perfectly. The mystery itself is a somewhat implausible one based on the method that is revealed, but I was more interesting in seeing Cabal's character development so I was focused on the mystery part of the story. The audiobook I listened to is not narrated by the same reader as the first one was, but one my ears adjusted to the new voice of Cabal, it was clear sailing from there.

Two very different books where the only consistency is in our lead character, the witty repartee Cabal engages in and the knowledge that something is bound to go wrong at some point in the story. If mysteries are more your thing and if you were put off by the premise for Johannes Cabal the Necromancer because you don't like black comedies or the idea of reading a book where Satan and the underworld are key players, you may be happy to learn that these books can be read as stand-alone novels, so feel free to bypass book one and dive directly into book two.

I am now super curious to find out where Howard takes the story in book three, Johannes Cabal the Fear Institute and what kind of mess Cabal manages to find himself in.

>25 lkernagh: Another great haul Lori and with much more of that you'll be leaving my own acquisitionary efforts way behind. Also it is good to see where they go to after you've bought 'em.

Have a lovely weekend.

>56 thornton37814: - LOL, I will never catch up with your "acquisitionary efforts", but it sure was a lot of fun finding these books and bringing them home!

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Saturday was a day of errands, some laundry and an afternoon spent out and about. No reading occurred but not sure if reading will be on the agenda today. I bought a really cute summer dress yesterday that I can wear at work and I now have plans for making a coordinating beaded necklace to wear with it, so that is part of my plans for today.

Yesterday I attempted to make a pumpernickel rye bread for the very first time, using the following Dark Pumpernickel Rye Bread recipe as my resource. Of course, I tweaked the recipe a bit. My proportions of rye to whole wheat flour was more like 40-60 than the recipe called for and I added caraway seeds because I love caraway combined with rye! I also left out the cocoa powder as I didn't have any in the house and I figure that is what gives the bread its dark colour - that and the brewed coffee, which I did use.

I am quite happy with how it turned out but Wow, it has quite the strong rye flavour, and it is a bit on the salty side. I figure it will go well with the potato leek soup I plan on making for dinner tonight but the next time I make this bread I will tone down the salt and add some cocoa powder, as maybe that offsets the salt. Here is a picture of my pumpernickel rye caraway loaf:

Hooray on the wonderful looking loaf! Brava! Potato Leek soup sounds like the perfect accompaniment.

Thought you'd like to 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!

I'm not a big fan of rye bread, but that loaf looks pretty tasty!

>53 lkernagh: Please pass a piece of the bread and bowl of that soup my way!

Oh, Lori, the pumpernickel rye looks scrumptious! Well done!

Lori, well done on the bread! I've just bookmarked that recipe but I'll have to look for rye flour. We are having some sort of spelt crisis here, but I haven't caught up with spelt yet so it doesn't affect me so far :-)

I love your book haul! I hope you enjoy your week off. We have a long weekend at the end of this week but that is days away...

Oh that bread looks amazing!

>54 michigantrumpet: - Thanks Marianne! The soup was wonderful with the bread, especially since I made sure to not add salt to the soup. ;-)

I love that there is now a thread for those troublesome books!

>55 drneutron: - Thanks, Jim! I am a huge fan of rye and pumpernickel breads, mainly because my favorite hot sandwich is a Reuben. I could go for one of those sandwiches right now but I don't have all of the ingredients and I am too lazy to head out to the store today. ;-)

>56 thornton37814: - Will do, Lori. Consider it virtually sent your way!

>57 lit_chick:- Thanks, Nancy! We are still experimenting with bread baking and having a lot of fun in the process. Luckily, Victoria has more than its share of stores that sell a lot of organic and ancient grain flour that is keeping us happily occupied. I will never go back to store bought or commercial bakery made bread, that is for sure. All of the home made loafs make such perfect toasting bread. Right now I am eating some toasted pumpernickel rye with a herb goat cheese spread. Super YUM!

>58 susanj67: - Spelt crisis?! What spelt crisis?! Don't scare me like that. I have only just discovered the wonders of spelt flour... I don't want that to suddenly disappear from me, especially as we have now discovered that the breads we have been making with spelt flour are better for the digestive tract then breads made wholes from white or whole wheat flour. My on-line research has taught me that spelt flour is probably a better flour for new to bread making individuals, like me, in that breads made with spelt flour appear to require less kneading time to get the molecules working in the dough so that the bread will rise. Of course, that is all subject to atmospheric temps and the like. I like to keep our place reasonably cool - which isn't great for the yeast - but I have learned a great trick that works wonderfully: If you have a gas oven, heating the oven with the pilot light alone may provide a warm enough area (that isn't too warm) for the dough to rise in. We have a electric oven and have discovered that only turning the oven on for a count of 40 and then off warms the oven enough to act as a warm area for the dough to rise in.

....but enough bread talk. Yay for long weekends!

>59 scaifea: - Oh, Amber, it was even better toasted!

Sunday pretty much flew by - as has today - but we did get out to enjoy the wonderful weather. I am not much of a crowd fan so we stayed home this morning instead of venturing downtown to watch the Victoria Day parade. Still managed to hear the artillery guns going off at noon in celebration of the holiday.

Bread making continues to captivate my interest and, rather surprisingly, my other half has developed a keen interest in the bread making process, so much so that he actively participated in yesterday's bread making - he was asking questions about the order of the ingredients and insisted on being able to knead the dough. Well, if he is going to jump in and insist on doing all the hard manual labour aspect of bread making, who am I to complain? ;-)

Saturday's bread was an experiment as we attempted to make a Kamut, Spelt and Whole Wheat bread. It turned out rather well - a little deflated on top, which might have something to do with the larger bread pan we were using the bake the bread in and the proofing time - but it was super tasty this morning toasted with marmalade. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that one, but I am sure everyone is getting sick and tired of seeing pictures of our bread making experiences.

On the Reading Front: I have dived back into a reliable palette cleanser for my current audiobook: G is for Gumshoe. Experiencing 1980's California through Kinsey Millhone - can anyone say 'jumpsuit'? - is the pure escapism I need to help me through my current paper book read, The Club at Eddy's Bar. The Club at Eddy's Bar isn't an out and out bad book worthy of the Pearl Rule but I am having a difficult time keeping focused. The story shifts an awful lot, and that says something because usually I don't have a problem with shifting narrations and plots. I am now over the halfway mark - at page 262 of 425 - and if this wasn't a LTER book, I would probably abandon it for a later day. My marching orders for this evening are to see if I can get through this one, or make huge headway in getting it finished.

WOW! Amazing job on the book acquisitions. You got some great treasurers. I have The Ghost Map on my TBR shelves as well....seeing that you picked it up makes me want to get to it ASAP. I also just finished Benediction at lunch in a weird coincidence. I just love seeing what other folks pick up at book sales!

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

Lori, here's the article I saw about the spelt crisis: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10835605/What-will-the-middle-classes-do...

It does list some alternatives! Incidentally I saw rye flour at the supermarket last night so we do have it.

Potato and Leek soup is my absolute favourite, especially on a cold winter day. Now if only I had the talent and time to make homemade bread..yum!! :)

A day late a a dollar short, but ... Happy Victoria Day!

Very cool! I became a bread-making nut in my teens, and actually got my mother going. The Tassajara is/was my bible of breadmaking - no blasphemy intended! BTW the 'ridiculously too much sugar' coffee cake in there is fabulous too - but I use pecans usually for my topping.

I've notice that bread-making seems to bring people together - my daughter often turns up if I make bread and offers to knead, spousal unit also..... I have made less of late because he is off gluten but I think the spelt looks intriguing and I will try it soon!!!

A-ma-zing book hauls. Yowza. Some good ones in there too.

Lori, your rye bread looks scrumptious! It's always a bit jarring to read a Kinsey Millhone these days. I keep forgetting they are set in the 1980s and want to tell she'd save a lot of time if she'd get a cell phone. :-)

Book #24 - G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton - audiobook narrated by Mary Peiffer
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Lunch to Go
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: Oct 18, 2005
Acquisition date: July 14, 2013
Page count: 320 pages / 8 hours, 10 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: From the Librarything book description:

Good and bad things seem to be coming in threes for Kinsey Millhone: on her thirty-third birthday she moves back into her renovated apartment, gets hired to find an elderly lady supposedly living in the Mojave Desert by herself, and makes the top of ex-con Tyrone Patty's hit list. It's the last that convinces Kinsey even she can't handle whoever's been hired to whack her, and she gets herself a bodyguard: Robert Dietz, a Porsche-driving P.I. who takes guarding Kinsey's body very seriously. With Dietz watching her for the merest sign of her usual recklessness, Kinsey plunges into her case. And before it's over, she'll unearth the gruesome truth about a long-buried betrayal and, in the process, come fact-to-face with her own mortality. . . .

Review:
I loved this one. It is my favorite Kinsey Millhone book so far, and I am not just saying that because it is a change of pace from some of my recent reads. The plot in this book is more intricate - we have Kinsey's case, the hired killer out to get her and a potential love interest for Kinsey, all rolled up in one tidy little package. Some of the regular characters from previous installments are present - Rosie and Henry - as well as Kinsey's friends Vera and Doris from the insurance company where she has a working arrangement for office space. What I really loved about this one - besides the obvious ability to relive the 1980's in all its jumpsuit and big hair/peacock makeup glory - is that Kinsey came across as a slightly more mature character... not that turning 33 suddenly makes one act differently. It is refreshing to see Kinsey admit when she needs outside help, even if it cramps her style a bit. I also love the literary references to Agnes Grey, which worked really well with this story.

Overall, this is my favorite book in Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries series so far, and I am looking forward to listening to the next book in the series, H is for Homicide.

Book #25 - The Club at Eddy's Bar by Zoltán Böszörményi
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Smorgasbord
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: LTER / TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2009 (Original Hungarian) / April 30, 2014 (English translation)
Acquisition date: March 17, 2014
Page count: 440 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.85 out of 5 /

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

In the last years of the Cold War, the Club at Eddy's Bar is a magnet for the elite of a city in the Carpathian Mountains. They keep one another's secrets, even the truth about a brutal murder. When a young journalist learns too much, he has to flee the country. Forced to leave behind his wife and children, he is admitted to Canada as a refugee. He brings with him the notebook in which he has kept his account of the crime, hoping to publish it when his family is safely with him. But as he struggles to start a new life in Canada, he finds as many secrets and lies are being concealed by those with power and money in the new country as in the old.

Review:
I struggled with this one. On the positive side, this story has a very European feel to it. The characters are somewhat two-dimensional and don't really form into solid characters that I was able to connect with but that may be due to the translation and because of the effort that probably went into creating the shifting points of view and the story within a story. Complex plot and style overtaking character development. Usually that will work for me but this time it didn't. I would have preferred if the story had stayed anonymous in its descriptions of both the European city our young journalist, Tamas escapes from and the Canadian city he immigrates to as a refugee. The Calgary of this story is not the Calgary I know or recognize except for its proximity to Banff. References to 'streetcars' as a form of public transit in Calgary generated a "huh?" reaction out of me and I was a bit bugged when the story mentions three students from the University of British Columbia as being "students visiting from a nearby university". Closest UBC campus to Calgary is their Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC and even that one is still a 600 kilometers drive from Calgary. By Canadian standards, it is really just one province over but from a European perspective, 600 kilometers is a whacken distance and not something 'nearby'. Also, the Canadian political system mentioned in this story, outside of reference to a conservative party, was alien to me, with mentions of a National Assembly in Ottawa and other political details that just do not jibe with my layperson understanding of the Canadian federal political system and political parties. Again, the politics and Canadian political system came across as more European than what it really is. As a study of a foreign society from the point of view of a recent immigrant who doesn't speak the language and is trying to figure out the labyrinthine bureaucratic refugee system, this story is very insightful and well written. Unfortunately, I went for this story expecting a "gripping murder mystery". I didn't get that. Yes, there is a murder to be solved but it is buried beneath the refugee immigrant story and a whole lot of self-serving characters too busy chasing power and sexual proclivities to save themselves from their own demons. The following quote sums this story up quite nicely:

"What is this supposed to mean?" Markus Frankel, the cultural affairs editor, asked, poking a finger at Vilmos's manuscript. "What you wrote about is erotica and passion."
"It means," Vilmos replied, raising his voice slightly, "it means that erotica has nothing to do with sexuality."

Overall, an interesting story but one I wasn't expecting and I had a difficult time getting past the incongruities mentioned above. This one may prove to be a bit of a daunting or frustrating read for readers who prefer straightforward, linear stories.

This book was courtesy of Librarything's Early Reviewer program.

>62 Cobscook: - Thanks, Heidi! Ghost Map has been on my wish list for quite some time.... I have a fascination with books that try to make sense out of the underlying causes of an epidemic outbreak, so I was completely stoked to find a copy at the book sale! Even the local library doesn't have a copy.

>63 Ameise1: - Oh, Barbara, that was a stressful week for you, your work colleagues and the students! I hope your week has been better. I will pop by your thread later to see how things are with you.

>64 susanj67: - Well, that is a whacken huge increase in the price of spelt flour over just the past 12 months. We haven't seen a huge increase yet over here in Canada. I like to buy my flour in bulk and have three stores where I can source most of my ancient grains and other flour types from. Right now all purpose white flour is 43 cents /100g while spelt is 68 cents / 100g. Barley flour is one of the alternatives listed in the article that I haven't tried yet, but I can buy that so on the future shopping / baking list barley flour goes! I would love to try chestnut flour.... I will scout out the import food stores and see if they carry any chestnut flour. Never heard of Teff or Chuño but the idea of flour made from ground potatoes that have been freeze-dried appeals to me.

Thank you so much for posting the link to the article!

>65 jolerie: - Is it just you and me or do the simplest recipes taste the best? ;-)

>66 michigantrumpet: - Thanks, Marianne! Would I be correct that you will be having a long weekend this coming weekend? If so, I hope it is a wonderful relaxing time for you.

>67 sibylline: - That is so cool that you have used the Tassajara bread book! So far, I have just skimmed some of the recipes but I am looking forward to diving into the book and making some of the recipes. My other half has been spoiled with the recent baking blitz going on in our home. He got homemade blueberry muffins today when we can home with fresh blueberries. I am loving the fact that all of this baking freezes so well. I do love having a mid morning treat of a muffin or a slice of cake loaf when I am working and that I can make smaller muffins than the ginormous things sold in the stores these days, freeze them in individual baggies and then just grab one out of the freezer as I head out the door.

It is so strange - almost out of character - for my other half to insist on being an active participant in the bread making, but i am not complaining. I think you are onto something when you say bread-making seems to bring people together.

As for spelt, it is an amazing flour and I understand that it is lower in gluten - but not gluten free! - when compared to usual white and whole wheat flour.

>68 rosalita: - Thanks, Julia! I will make the pumpernickel rye bread again but with a lot less salt. The salt flavour seems to have been enhanced with age.

LOL! It is hard to not want to hand Kinsey our more modern telecommunication devices while reading the Grafton books! I feel for her having to lug that typewriter of hers around with her. I remember my typewriter and just how heavy - and bulky - it was!

>70 lkernagh: Lori, I've read several ABC books but mostly those at the end. I like this series very much, too.
Wishing you a wonderful day.

Try making French toast with homemade bread - best French toast ever!

>74 Ameise1: - Grafton may not write stellar literature but she sure does know how to write an entertaining mystery series! I hope you have a lovely weekend, Barbara!

>75 scaifea: - Oh, what a wonderful suggestion, Amber! I haven't made French toast in years! Hum.... I need to remember to add syrup to the shopping list, and cinnamon while I am at it and then Sunday's breakfast is covered. ;-)

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A wet Friday here in this part of the world and I am okay with that. My current read is Umberto Eco's The Island of the Day Before for the Umberto Eco group read over on the 2014 Category Challenge group. I struggled with his book The Name of the Rose way back when - all that Latin going over my head made it too frustrating a read for me to enjoy - and I haven't ventured near another Eco book since, until now. I am actually pleasantly surprised with my current read and I am looking forward to a hopefully lazy afternoon of reading.

>76 lkernagh: I loved The Name of the Rose way (way way) back when, though I don't remember it. Couldn't get through Foucault's Pendulum, haven't tried others.

Oh, I'll be curious to see your review for The Island of the Day Before since that one is sitting on my TBR mountain as well. I haven't read anything by Eco before so it will be interesting when I get around to it.

Lori, I wish you a relaxing weekend.

OK. Just to let you know. I caved and went to the Calgary reads book sale..... :D

>77 qebo: - One of these days I will get brave enough to try another attempt at The Name of the Rose. I loved the movie adaptation starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater so I may enjoy the book if I just skim over the Latin bits. ;-)

>78 jolerie: - So far it is going good but I think I am only 1/8 the way through it so still early days. I plan on finishing it this week.

>79 Ameise1: - Lovely, Barbara! I could live quite happily in the cottage in that picture! Not sure how relaxing my weekend is by I intend to put aside time this afternoon to do nothing more than sit down with my current read!

>80 jolerie: - *SQUEE!!* You went to the book sale! OMG, how was it? What did you get? I will just pop over to your thread and pester you there about your book sale experience!

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What a weird Saturday this has been. City transit buses either not showing up or, even better, just driving on past my stop when I wanted to get off, even though I had pulled the cord to request the stop. What with my "Hey, I wanted that stop back there." and the couple beside me commenting that they were hoping the driver was going to stop at the next stop, because that is the one they wanted, the bus passengers did have a good chuckle about it all. Given the 6km I walk weekdays to and from work I wasn't overly put out that my stop was missed - the driver did stop at the next stop - and everyone on board had a good chuckle when I suggested that if this was a guided tour I will settle back down in my seat and enjoy it.

Painted the bathroom ceiling this afternoon. I hate painting ceilings. I love house painting in general - my favorite summer job as a teen was when my older brother and SIL hired me on July to paint the fence and exterior of their home. I don't mind painting ceilings in larger rooms but smaller spaces like a bathroom are challenges that I grit my teeth and just get done. The fact that it is a textured ceiling just made the job all that much more enjoyable. How did Michelangelo paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? He got to lie on his back while on the job, right? ;-

Yes, he did, but still--the effort of holding your arm up for all that detail work is unimaginable! Aren't textured ceilings and wall the worst?

Wow, you are a better woman than I by far Lori, because while I like painting well enough, I've never had the stamina to hold up my arms all that time it takes to paint a ceiling.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy The Name of the Rose so much when you first read it. I don't let things like incomprehensible bits bother me when I'm reading a novel, because I always figure if it was really essential to the understanding of the story then they would be translated or annotated. That being said, if I'm not mistaken, I think I recall that some time in the last couple of years they released a new edition of TNotR where lots of those latin bits were taken out (or translated?). In any case, an edition which is more comprehensible to the modern reader. I'm not sure anymore whether this was done in English as well as French, but it might be worth looking up. I happen to have the audiobook of that revised edition from 2012, which I got from the library (in French). I really loved that novel when I read it maybe 25 years ago, and I intend to reread it soon. Reading Dissolution by C. J. Sansom this month made me think of that novel a lot and I look forward to comparing the two.

>81 lkernagh: Lori, well done with your painting. I love your bus ride experience also it wasn't funny for you. You should keep such stories and one day you could write a book. Wishing you a relaxing Sunday.

Morning Lori! I love all the book love going on over here! How nice of you to open your home to books that were just dying to come home with you. Great selections too.
Have a spectacular day!

>82 ronincats: - Textured ceilings (and walls) are the worst! Seriously annoying to paint.... the only good news being that textured surfaces are more forgiving in hiding interesting brush stroke techniques. ;-)

>83 Smiler69: - The good thing is that the bathroom is rather small so it really only took about 35 minutes to paint, once I had taped off the wall tiles at the ceiling and removed the fan and light fixture covers.

I am really enjoying my current Eco read so it is possible that the University aged girl I was when I attempted to read The Name of the Rose just didn't have the patience or the experience to tackle an Eco read. After reading your encouraging comments and Lori's (thornton37814) positive experience with the book after a failed previous attempt, I think I may be able to give that book another go.

>84 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I could right a book on the interesting experiences I encounter on a daily basis, but I wonder if there would be much of a market for something like that. I will shelve it - and other experiences - away for a potential memoir of sorts if I ever got the gumption up to attempt any writing of my own. I would love if I could write like Emily Carr in her The House of All Sorts.... very witty and entertaining.

>85 Carmenere: - Thanks Lynda! Rescuing books and giving them a good home.... I really should remember that the next time I try to explain to my loveable but other non-booking reading Mom why I buy so many books at these book sales!

Sunday evening, the end of a lovely week off from work and it is back to the grind tomorrow morning. ;-)

Took it easy today and managed to make good headway on The Island of the Day Before. The story was good before but now 150 pages in, it is starting to get really interesting! For my audiobook 'read', I have decided I will get a jump start on the June group read of ScFi/Fantasy by female authors over on the Category Challenge and start the audiobook version of The Golem and the Jinni.

I have a new time suck that will probably cut into my reading time: We signed up with Acorn TV this weekend and enjoying all the great shows they have on offer for instant streaming. Taking advantage of the fact they let you know what shows will soon be removed from the subscribers' list, we watched two episodes of The Helen West Casebook last night. Will be watching the third and final episode this evening. I refuse to have cable TV in the house - we don't watch enough TV to get our money's worth out of a cable subscription - and we haven't jumped on the Netflix bandwagon yet. Acorn TV has a number of my favorite shows, including all of the Midsomer Murders so I think we are set for our TV viewing for this year.

Lori, well done on the painting! I have textured ceilings and hate them. The exception is the bathroom, which was re-done about five years ago and they skimmed the ceiling so it is all flat and lovely. And they did a superb job. It's the one piece of ceiling that I look at and love :-)

*smooch* again

Ah, I just heard of Acorn TV from a colleague recently, and now here we are … don't you love how that happens! I've got Netflix and also enjoy Midsomer Murders; and if that's your thing, Foyle's War was fabulous!

So impressed with your painting endeavors. Ceilings are the worst. Although I find the job is usually not so bad once I finally square my shoulders and dig in.

Read The Name of the Rose many years ago and quite liked it. Agreed with the arcane language and words, but that added to the atmospheric feel of the book.

Lori, I hope you have a similar second experience with The Name of the Rose. It worked so much better for me this time, as you read in my review.

I refused to get cable tv as well, BUT last month I switched cable companies and the new company had a package deal with cable which was more than $10 a month cheaper than without cable. So that happened. It's a strange world, this cable tv.

*waves* Hi, Lori! Getting caught up here after being away...

>88 susanj67: - The good news is I can now ignore it, so YAY!

>89 richardderus: - *Smooches* back at you, RD!

>90 lit_chick: - Serendipity is such a wonderful thing! I love Foyle's War - they haven't made enough episodes of that great show! What do you think of the content on offer through the Canadian Netflix? My sister and her family subscribe to Netflix but we have completely different viewing tastes so I haven't really investigated what Netflix has on offer.

>91 michigantrumpet: - I think the only thing I hate painting more than ceilings is closets or cupboards. Such a small space to try and work in! I think I was too young to appreciate The Name of the Rose and not mature enough to accept the fact that maybe I don't need to understand the, as you put it, 'arcane' language. The older and wiser individual that I am now has no problem brushing over stuff that makes no sense to me, so long as there is a good story to follow so I will probably pick up The Name of the Rose and give it another go.... but not this year. ;-)

>92 thornton37814: - With age comes wisdom, understanding and patience.... the three things I was lacking the first time around! The older, wiser and more patient me will probably like it a lot better then the younger impatient reader I used to be did. ;-)

>93 norabelle414: - Wow, to actually get cable for a cheaper rate than previously without cable, good switch on your part, Nora! Is it one of those packages that are a fantastic deal for the first six months and then suddenly the price jacks up? That is the ploy I have noticed the cable companies do this side of the border to lure new customers their way.

>94 scaifea: - Welcome home, Amber!

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Not much to report from my end except for the fact that both my current physical book read- The Island of the Day Before - and audiobook - The Golem and the Jinni - are both keeping me captivated. I am still aiming to finish the Eco book before the end of the month but I don't think any other books will be finished before June hits us.

I am glad you are loving the Eco - I've enjoyed all of his books!.

>96 lkernagh: The whole reason I switched cable companies was that my "cheap for one year" deal was over with the other company. The new company (Verizon FiOS, for the record) gave me a TWO year deal instead of the one year deal that the previous company gave me, which is very nice. Since I don't get any antenna reception in my high-rise apartment building, I had to get regular non-cable tv through the cable company anyway. But the regular tv doesn't count towards a "bundle" (cable+internet) so I wouldn't have gotten all the associated bundle discounts. I feel very fancy having cable now.

>95 lkernagh: I think the only thing I hate painting more than ceilings is closets or cupboards.
Not only the small space, awkward ladder placement and twisting to get behind the door frame, but the complete no glory factor: all this work, and nobody will ever notice.

>97 sibylline: - A lot of what Eco puts in his books seems to go over my head but I am a mature enough reader to understand why I was frustrated trying to read his books when I was a lot younger!

>98 norabelle414: - TWO year deal? WOW! 6 months is all they think us peons are worth to attract us as customers, probably because they know there are really only three cable companies one is able to sign up with. We have such a small market the businesses really do dictate the terms... there is just not enough competition to force them to price themselves competitively. Same goes for our cell phone providers. There are the big three and then there are smaller niche companies trying to pick up the fringe customers. It is sad really. I will just have to be happy that deals can be had elsewhere. *sighs wistfully*

>99 qebo: - So true!

I received a link to the What Kind of Book Nerd Are You? with my latest Random House email. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to take the quiz and share it with everyone here. Interesting result. Apparently my score classifies me as "Matilda":

She may be small, she may be young, but that girl has read more classics than most (larger) adults. If you're this type of reader maybe you have a Miss Honey guiding your reading education -- do you? -- or maybe you're still in school and you literally have a teacher guiding your reading. Or you're the rare breed who chooses to read mostly classics all on your own. Maybe open up a book written this century -- it's new, but the talent runs deep.

I am no Rory Gilmore - according to the quiz - but that is okay with me. ;-)

You can access the quiz clicking the link above or using the one below:

http://www.retreatbyrandomhouse.ca/2014/05/what-kind-book-nerd-are-you/

So...what kind of book nerd are you?

Apparently I am Rory Gilmore. I never watched that show but I know she was book nerd from all the YouTube videos people post about her reading obsession.

So am I, Roberta! *High Five* :D I think the description is pretty fitting of me. Open-minded?? Heck yeah! :D

#95 Lori, I've been using Netflix several months now and am completely enjoying: Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, House of Cards, Wallander, The West Wing, Hell on Wheels, The Bletchley Cirlcle, The Big C. Lots of classic, period dramas too which I enjoy: Downton Abbey, Mansfield Park, North and South, Elizabeth 1, Jane Eyre.

I got Rory, too.

You read everything and anything that comes highly recommended. From classics to contemporary books from fiction to non fiction and almost everything in between. You're only picky in terms of quality, you're not tied down to one genre. Way to be open minded!

>100 lkernagh: Generally, the more fancy stuff you get, the shorter your deal is. If I had gotten premium cable or HBO or a sports package or something, I probably only would have gotten a 6-month deal on those things. Also, Verizon FiOS is a special system that requires extra wiring (sometimes inside the walls) and two wall-mounted boxes. All that installation is expensive, and so people are less likely to get FiOS if they can't get a long-term deal. Thankfully my apartment was already wired from the people who lived there before me, and so I didn't have to pay the installation fees.
There are several cable and satellite companies around here, but the market is gigantic. Verizon and Comcast are the ones most directly in competition with each other. When I had Comcast I was constantly getting junk mail saying "Tired of Comcast? Switch to Verizon!!" and now I've started getting ones that say "Tired of Verizon? Switch to Comcast!!". I even know people who have gotten their cable bill lowered just by threatening to switch to the other.

Lori, I wish you a relaxing weekend full of reading.

It would seem I'm Rory Gilmore as well. *shrug*

Have a lovely weekend!

I am also Rory Gilmore, though I don't know who that is, in fact. We get 2 year cable deals, but last time I tried to deal with Comcast it turned me into a screaming witch, so I am probably blacklisted forever from them

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Today was a beauty of a day and sooo hard to be indoors working, even with the large windows in our office space that can be opened to let in the fresh air.

My reading has been distracted for the past two days and I really want to finish my current Eco read before June starts so I may take advantage of the fact that I don't have any big plans for tomorrow and will just settle in and get the book finished.

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>102 luvamystery65: - My knowledge of the Gilmore Girls is fleeting at best but I do remember Rory always seemed to have a book in her hand, or on the table beside her, etc so cool that your scored as Rory, Roberta!

>103 jolerie: - Hey look it that.... twins! ;-)

>104 lit_chick: - I guess I should take a peek at Netflix's Canadian offerings. I think our blu-ray player has the web software interface already set up for Netflix but I will have to confirm that with the technical guru in the house. Although I am a little worried that I may suddenly find myself becoming a netTV junkie and find it completely impacting my reading time. ;-)

>105 Morphidae: - Wow, from twins to triplets. The Rories are abounding over here! I like that description of a Rory reader!

>106 norabelle414: - That makes sense and well done on having an apartment that is already wired for the service!. My family has pretty much all gone with the premium cable options because the cable "packages" or bundles are so wonky in what they offer, it doesn't take much to discover the basic package didn't have what they wanted. I am still waiting for the day when customers are able to 'pick and choose' the cable channels they want but I know the industry doesn't want to offer that to customers, so if it does happen, it is bound to cost a pretty penny. Cable monopolies suck. ;-(

>107 Ameise1: - What a cute bird, Barbara! A relaxing weekend full of reading sounds like a perfect weekend to me. I think I will do just that. Great suggestion, Barbara!

>108 richardderus: - And now a foursome! I am pretty sure Rories abound here on LT. The weekend is starting off wonderfully and I predict a lovely weekend will be had. I hope yours is equally lovely!

>109 banjo123: - Five Rories.... the cloning machine has gone into overdrive here I see! ;-) Rory is one of the main characters in the TV series The Gilmore Girls. A sweet, intelligent and somewhat shy (if I remember correctly) bookoholic from the few episodes I have seen.

If the ongoing experiences my other half has had in dealing with our telecommunications provider are any indication of your Comcast experience, than I feel for you. Telecom companies are the evil empire, IMO.

I can't get the quiz to start when I push the start button at the site--I may have to try a different browser.

Okay, Chrome worked where Safari wouldn't. I'm also a Matilday, Lori.

I wanted to be Rory but I got Matilda. *pout*

We have Sky satellite service (also for broadband and phone). We used to have a package with absolutely everything but I've recently got rid of Sky movies, as we also have Netflix and the option to rent something via iTunes via Apple TV. I was intending to change to Virgin Media as they have the fastest broadband speeds in the UK, and who have been delivering adverts to our address for the past couple of years. But when I phoned up they said that they didn't do our postcode. I'm obviously missing something here, but why deliver leaflets to a postcode that you don't cover? And I'm surprised that they don't as I know for a fact that several people have got it a couple of minutes walk away. A mystery.

I'm caught up with you again, Lori. I love that your new hobby is bread making. Your house must smell wonderful. You made some great acquisitions in the two trips to your local booksale. How good of you to give those homeless books a new place to live. And how wonderful to get that new bookcase to keep them off the flow! I loved the picture in Post #38. It looks like you are ready if we ever have a Worldwide Book Shortage!

Enjoy your weekend of reading. I plan to be joining you in that marvelous pastime later today!

Well..... I thought I would sit down and enjoy a day of reading and I haven't even cracked a book so I guess it is time to admit that all the books I will complete for the month of May are completed. Monthly recap - and then a new thread - to follow, but first responses to visitors:

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>113 ronincats: - Nice to see a change from the Rories, Roni! I am always fascinated by sites that seem to, by design, cause problems for some browser types. I have yet to find a browser that never has a problem so it must be challenging when designing a website as to what functionality to build in.

>114 MickyFine: - Yay, another Matilda! makes me wonder which answers generate the Rory personality. Did you play around with the answers to find out?

>115 SandDune: - Well that is just crazy. Why send advertising to an area, get the residents to call you up and then tell them that area is not part of their service coverage? The fact that there are people relatively near to you with coverage makes me wonder..... are you by chance situated in a valley or any kind of incline that would impact reception? The only reason I as is another LTer has had a similar experience, because they live in a valley. It looks like you do have a mystery on your hands... that or corporate shenanigans.

>116 Donna828: - Donna, so lovely to see you are caught up. The bread making hobby has almost turned into a daily activity as I experiment. I have already discovered that I cannot bake bread at the 400'F most recipes have been recommending. 350'F works better for my oven and sea level location.

Worldwide Book Shortage?! Don't scare me like that. I don't have enough for a book shortage. For a disruption in service and availability, yes I would make it through something short term like that but long term.... oh no. I think I need to stockpile some more books.

MAY RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard - 4.20 /
G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton - 4.10 /
The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen - 3.80 /
Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard - 3.70 /
The Club at Eddy's Bar by Zoltan Boszormenyi - 2.85 /

Largest Book read: The Club at Eddy's Bar at 440 pages
Smallest Book read: Johannes Cabal the Necromancer at 291 pages
Books still in progress at the end of the month: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco as a physical book and The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker as my audiobook.
Interesting Fact: All books completed fit the May Murder and Mayhem group read.

2014 Category Challenge: (as of April 30th)
World Cuisine - 3/7
Ye Olde Traditional Fare - 4/7
Lunch to Go - 6/7
Petit Fours - 6/7
Two can Dine - 2/7
Scottish Pub Fare - 0/7
Smorgasbord - 4/7

My "Luck 'O the Irish" Race (books read versus pages read): Given the chunksters I plan on reading this year, my 75 group challenge will be considered completed whichever comes first: 75 books read or 25,000 pages read.



Not much change from April. Shamrock is still in the lead but I am starting to worry about my ability to complete my challenge so might need to re-think the books I will be reading this year. Or not.

May Planned Reads
The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco - started in April Won't make it as a May read for the Umberto Eco May group read but should be finished early June
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - started in April listening to the audiobook for the June = Female Fantasy / Science Fiction Month
Hot Ticket by Janice Weber - a Belize read for my Commonwealth Challenge
.... and whatever else I find time for.

>117 lkernagh: are you by chance situated in a valley or any kind of incline that would impact reception? Virgin is a cable service so that shouldn't make any difference. (For the record our area is generally flattish, but with little valleys running through it, and we live on the higher up flattish bit). But if Virgin is in our estate at all (which it is) then the cables must run along the main access road, and as we are only one house away from the access road I'm a bit surprised that they won't sign us up.

Edited to add: I have checked again on their website and one house only on our street is eligible for their service. And that one is much further down the cul-de-sac than we are. A mystery!

one house only on our street is eligible for their service.

Wow, you really do have a mystery on your hands, Rhian!

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

As we are now 'officially' into June, the June book image is a closeup shot of a pile of smaller sized books that sit on one of my TBR bookshelves.



“It is the month of June,
The month of leaves and roses,
When pleasant sights salute the eyes,
And pleasant scents the noses.”
~ ~ poetic quote by Nathaniel Parker Willis

I hope everyone has been having a lovely Sunday! The weather continues nice and sunny. Tackled some household chores and took advantage of the weather to wash the curtains. I am always amazed at how 'stuffy' curtains can start to smell after a winter of keeping windows closed or only partially open so I am happy to have the breeze from outside now blowing in through freshly laundered curtains. ;-)

Ran a quick errand this morning and in the process came across a sight that caused me to do a double take: A home owner/renter was outside on his front lawn sitting in a lawn chair reading a magazine. In front of him, on a rock formation a blanket was spread out and on the blanket were not one but two iguanas, soaking up the warmth from the sunshine. Now, I am only guessing that they are iguanas as I didn't stop to ask the gentleman but one of the iguanas was quite large in size - I would say four feet in length including tail - while the other one looking like an junior offspring. Not a sight I usually encounter on my way to the store in town but it was amusing to see them lying there on the blanket looking so contented while they sunbathed. When I told my other half about this interesting sighting, he wasn't surprised at all. In fact, he has seen the owner out with his iguanas on numerous occasions. ;-)

I managed to spend a little bit of time this afternoon sitting outside reading. Still plugging away at The Island of the Day Before. Still enjoying the book but Eco crams so much stuff into his stories I can only read so much and then I have to walk away and digest it a bit before I can continue reading. While I wasn't able to finish it in time for the May Eco group read over on the Category Challenge, it's a perfect read for that challenge's June GeoCAT - Islands and Bodies of Water. Continuing to enjoy The Golem and the Jinni - what a wonderful tale!

Even with the lovely weather we are having, I am craving comfort food so homemade lasagna is on the menu for tonight's dinner.... once I get started preparing it, that is.

>121 lkernagh: he has seen the owner out with his iguanas on numerous occasions - but never thought to mention it? I wonder how he stops them escaping? I would have thought iguanas could be pretty fast if they felt like it!

>111 lkernagh: Agreed. I get a lot of channels I didn't expect with my cable package (like BBC America which I for some reason assumed was an upper-tier channel), and I don't get my favorite, SyFy. However, the SyFy shows that I like I like so much, and thus I just buy the whole seasons from Google.
I am thankfully not one to fall for "deals" (like "upgrade to a large popcorn for just $1 extra!", etc.). If I wouldn't buy something at regular price, then it is not actually a deal. Unfortunately I know a LOT of people who are complete suckers for that kind of marketing.
The thing that really bugs me is that sports channels account for about 40% of cable fees, and I never ever ever watch those channels. *sigh*

>121 lkernagh: I'm hoping to get into The Golem and the Jinni soon; I'm glad you're enjoying it. But there are so many books, and so little time!!

>121 lkernagh: Iguanas tend to be pretty lethargic. He might also have had harnesses on them.

I'm glad you are enjoying The Golem and the Jinni. I did, too!

he has seen the owner out with his iguanas on numerous occasions … Oh, that made me chuckle, Lori! In my mind, I'm thinking, "Good iguanas. Heel!"

I've got plans to read The Golem and the Jinni in June and your favourable reaction towards it bodes well for me. :)

>122 SandDune: - Yup, he never though to mention his previous sightings/encounters of the iguanas. Now, in his defense, I will admit that this town does have more than it's share of residents who like to take their exotic pets outdoors. There is an elderly gentleman I encounter most mornings during my walk to work who is out walking with his parrot on his shoulder. There is also a younger woman I have seen more than once in town with her 'pet' snake - a black and yellow one - draped across her shoulders, and apparently I have a co-worker where I work that has a pet hedgehog, so go figure.

I didn't see any harasses but I wasn't paying close enough attention.

>123 norabelle414: - sports channels account for about 40% of cable fees, ... and all the more reason why I don't want cable. ;-)

The Golem and the Jinni is proving to be a wonderful tale but it is also one that can wait for when you are in the mood for a form of fairy tale.

>124 Morphidae: - Good points, Morphy. I think the lizards were just too happy in the sun to care about going anywhere!

I am almost at the halfway mark with The Golem and the Jinni and fascinated with how Wecker has crafted such a wonderful blending of fantasy and historical fiction into such a tidy package.

>125 lit_chick: - LOL, the idea of trying to make an iguana obey voice commands like 'heel' did give me a chuckle, Nancy! I am guessing the owner stays in close proximity of the lizards when they are outdoors so he can control them through the 'scoop and carry' method.

>126 jolerie: - Valerie, you are in for a treat with The Golem and the Jinni! I probably shouldn't have listened to the audiobook at the same time I was reading The Island of the Day Before, because the Eco book, as well written as it is, isn't grabbing my attention as much as the Wecker book is!

Hi Lori... dropping in to catch up.

Another Rory reader result here.... Sorry 'bout that. Wonder why there's not much diversity here? Could it be that we're all very much alike in our taste of eclectic reading from a variety of genres?

LOL, the Rories rule the 75 group it seems! I posted links to the quiz both here and on my thread over in the Category Challenge group and it was interesting to see how different the results were for the two groups. In the other group there was a more even majority of Matildas and Sawyers with a mix of ever other possibility thrown in. I think only one or two people reported Rory as their quiz result over there so while I cannot explain why so many Rories over here in this group, I can at least confirm that the quiz isn't rigged for Rory results. ;-)

>127 lkernagh: Lori, I love all the eccentric people with their weird pets! I can understand now why the iguanas might not have been mentioned previously. I was sitting on the tube one day opposite a chap who had a pet rat running all over his person. The seat next to him was empty, for obvious reasons. Someone got on, looked amazed to find a free seat, sat down and then shot out of it again and changed carriages at the next stop.

I think a pet rat on a tube passenger would freak me out a bit too! Not exactly something one expects to see when they sit down for the ride. ;-)

I remember a bus ride in Vancouver some 15 years ago. An Asian woman got on board the bus with her groceries, which included a live chicken. The chicken was in a cage but the passenger she sat down beside and her immediate vicinity encountered a stray feather or two during the ride.

I wouldn't mind a pet rat. I'd probably ask to pet it at the least.

The only unusual pets I've ever seen out and about here are two ferrets who I sometimes see being walked on the way to work. Reptiles are fairly popular, but I've never seen anyone out and about with them.

>132 Morphidae: - You are braver than I am, Morphy! I don't like rodents in general and never really liked the gerbils we had as pets when I was really young. I preferred being over at the neighbour's house playing with their rabbits. After than we had the standard cats and dogs as family pets. I understand that rats are actually very clean pets but what freaks me out about them is they are darn intelligent animals.

>133 SandDune: - Ferrets are kind of cute.... having just mentioned to Morphy above that I don't like rodents, I probably sound like someone who doesn't understand their animal kingdom classifications. I have seen ferrets being walked with harnesses, which looks rather cute as they tend to bounce along instead of walk. If i could have an exotic pet - which I won't - but if I could, I would love to live in the tropics and have a tortoise that would just freely roam the grounds. I love tortoises!

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

Well, my day ended on a rather odd note today. I have been enjoying my audiobook The Golem and the Jinni during my walking commute. Heading home this evening I was part way through chapter 12 and a conversation between two characters when all of a sudden the book started playing chapter 14 and one of the characters has suddenly been in a hospital with a fever for three days. I thought the book was accidentally playing in 'random/shuffle' mode so I checked my iPod. Nope, no random shuffle happening. By this time, I was home so I sat down to figure out what was wrong. After some research I discovered that 2 parts of my audiobook had not downloaded properly, and I was missing approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes of the story. "Argh!" Not in the mood to fight with a problem download, I quickly checked and was able to download the e-book version so I will be reading chapters 12-14 and will then resume listening to my audiobook. So frustrating!

Of course, my next quandary is what to listen to tomorrow and the next day until I can go back to listening to The Golem and the Jinni? I don't want to dive into another full book while I get over this little hiccup with The Golem and the Jinni but I am rather used to listening to books while walking. Luckily, I recently downloaded from the library the BBC Radio 4 Inspector McLevy crime series by David Ashton set in 19th century Edinburgh and inspired by the real-life memoirs of Victorian Inspector James McLevy. Series one audiobook - with a mere 2.5 hours of listening time - contains four stories: For Unto Us, The Trophy Club, The Second Shadow and The Burning Question. That should keep me going for the next couple of days, anyways. ;-)

Hmm, I wonder if you'd like Welcome to Night Vale, Lori? It's an ongoing podcast but it could fill those gaps when you're between audiobooks.

>134 lkernagh: Don't worry! You are definitely allowed to like ferrets, since they are mustelids, not rodents :-)

I really don't like listening to audiobooks on my ipod. They never seem to work correctly! Sometimes if "shuffle" is on, the ipod will play the sections of an audiobook in random order. But not every time shuffle is on, because that would make too much sense.

Short stories are really great for audiobooks, especially when you're anticipating an audiobook on hold being ready soon, but you don't know exactly when!

Hmm, iPod adventures that one could do without. Frustrating only begins to cover it!

ARghhh, those kind of audio hiccups are maddening, I know. I've noticed recently that when I download OverDrive audio files from the library, there is often a section that doesn't transfer to my computer properly, with only a few minutes of a given chapter instead of the full hour or more. I've started double checking against the total time the audiobook is supposed to last and caught this problem a few times, which is good because otherwise I'd get the situation you ran into today as I'm listening.

Your iguana story reminds me I did see a guy down by Lachine Canal last summer who had a very large one, both of them just sitting taking in the sun, but I couldn't help noticing he and the lizard were also sitting in a very prominent spot. I guess if you're going to have such an unusual pet, you may as well show him off... but then some animals really shouldn't be kept as pets at all, and I'd say that's probably one of them.

Glad to see all the love for The Golem and the Jinni here. It's one of my top reads for the year so far.

I understand your frustration with the audio files for your book. That has happened to me as well with audiobooks I've downloaded through overdrive from my library. It has never happened with books I've purchased from Audible though.

My suggestion for in between audio book listening is also podcasts. I listen to several book related ones. My favorites are
Books on the Nightstand
The Readers
Literary Disco
Bookrageous
The best part is these are all free!

>135 MickyFine: - Oooohhhh..... I googled "Welcome to Night Vale" and that does look interesting. I have downloaded the pilot from June 15, 2012 to my iTunes. I am guessing I just have to sync my iPod with my iTunes to load it onto my device? This is rather exciting. I have never really ventured into listening to podcasts so this will be a bit of a first for me. Thanks for the suggestion, Micky! ;-)

>136 norabelle414: - Oh, thank goodness for that! Now I must investigate mustelids.

*returns after a quick google search*

Wow, quite the diverse family and for some strange reason I am a bit surprised that they are carnivorous. Why, I don't know. But they are cute!

I have a solution for you! It is possible to set up your audiobooks so that even if you have your iPod set in shuffle mode to play your music files, it will play the audiobook in sequence order, even if the audiobooks are library downloads. Just follow the instructions on this c|net website. Easy peasy! Of course, the trick is to ensure that the audiobook files are in sequential order in your iTunes before you follow these instructions.

I haven't tried short stories as an audiobook read before. Great suggestion, Nora! I can see where that would work really well.... dipping in and out of the audiobook just like you would a physical book of short stories. I must try that some time.

>137 lit_chick: - I Know! I don't usually resort to making "grrr" sounds but I did last night, let me tell you, Nancy. This is the first time I have had an audiobook download problem and thankfully, I can read the bits that are missing from my audiobook but still... frustrating.

>138 Smiler69: - It was a library download through Overdrive and the problem is the one you mentioned, Ilana..... parts 11 and 12 of the 22 part audiobook only downloaded 7 minutes, not the 45 minutes to 1 hour all the other files in the audiobook are. I haven't encountered a problem like t his before now but after what you have told me, I will be checking all of my future library downloads to make sure all of the files download properly.

I am always amazed at tropical or warm weather animals being kept as pets in our colder, northern climate. I wonder if the iguana owners have heat lamps and heat pads for their 'pets'... they must.

>139 Cobscook: - Heidi, I am really loving The Golem and the Jinni. Such a beautifully written story! Since both you and Ilana have reported download problems with audiobook files through Overdrive, I will definitely double check them going forward.

I have made a note of the podcasts. I will have to investigate them as I haven't heard of any of the ones you have listed.

>140 lkernagh: Many mustelids are omnivores, but ferrets are definitely carnivores. They're ferocious little buggers.
I have enough trouble just trying to get audiobooks onto my ipod through the OverDrive Media Console. I've never tried organizing anything through iTunes! I'll look into that next time.

>142 norabelle414: - My big hurdle was in 'training' my Windows operating system computer to 'see' my iPod in iTunes. Couldn't transfer audiobooks without that step. The first couple of times I organized an audiobook I had to refer to the steps listed on the webpage. Now, I don't even have to think about the steps... I just do it. ;-)

Lori, I had a similar audiobook problem recently on my drive out to Colorado. I had downloaded A Beautiful Blue Death and noticed that the first part was only 8 minutes long but didn't think too much of it and didn't bother listening to the file before I left home to make sure it was OK.

Well, it turns out it hadn't downloaded properly. One minute the main character was about to set off from his house to the neighbor's and the next instant he was back and whining about having to go on a trip. It was strange because the transition was fairly seemless and I wasn't at all sure whether there was a piece missing or that was just how the author wrote it. And since I was driving I couldn't look at the iPod to see what was going on. So frustrating! I finally had to switch to a different audiobook the next time I stopped, which wasn't nearly as good.

I guess the moral of the story is always double-check the download. When I went back to Overdrive and re-downloaded the book the first part downloaded completely without a hitch, so I don't know what went wrong the first time.

I'm glad I didn't have that problem with the Overdrive book I downloaded for this trip. I'm about 30 minutes away from finishing it. I expect that I'll manage to listen to it tomorrow in the car going from the hotel to the genealogy library and back. I may change my route going back. There was so much construction on the way up here that I'm trying to figure out if it might be better to take one of the alternate routes. I'll have a week or so to decide that though.

Hi Lori, traipsing through to wave and blow smooches.

Sometimes my i-book and i-pod refuse to recognize each other when I am loading something that is 'exotic' - (free, recorded by myself, whatever) I've got workarounds now - but it took awhile.

Love the iguanas on their blankie sunning.

Another reason why I probably haven't ventured into the world of audiobooks. I have a love hate relationship with technology and this is coming from a gal married to an IT guy..hah!

Lori, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>140 lkernagh: Yup, just sync your iPod, making sure to include podcasts, and you should be set to listen. :)

Cannot add anything whatsoever meaningful to your discussion on audiobooks but I do want to wish you a wonderful Sunday, Lori.

Happy Sunday, All! A busy and productive weekend this one has been. I have finally perfected my spelt bread and look forward to making an oat bread later this week. This weekend I also managed to finish two books (with reviews written) and start a new one. I am also happy to report that I finally have a line Bingo in my Bingo reading challenge - G has been completed! I have been a bit lax in my book acquisition reporting so before providing book reviews I thought a quick book acquisitions and currently reading update is in order:

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

Recent Book Acquisitions:


War Brides by Lois Battle - just cause
In Office Hours by Lucy Kelaway - I had my eye on that one when it was a new arrivals at my local library so jumped on a cheap gently used second hand copy for when I am in the mood for some light reading.
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - Great buzz for this one here on LT lead me to pick up the gently used second hand copy I came across.
Reamde by Neal Stephenson - I have never read any of Stephenson's works and have been meaning to give one or two of his books a go. Another gently used second hand copy acquired.
419 by Will Ferguson - I know there are some mixed reviews for this one but again, a gently used second hand copy convinced me to add it to my TBR bookcases.

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

Currently Reading:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - just over the halfway mark with my audiobook read
The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell - Currently 15% into this police procedural set in Glasgow, Scotland as part of my Tartan Noir reading.

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Now for some comments to visitors and reviews.

>144 rosalita: - That would be frustrating! Good thing you had a backup audiobook. Like you, I will now be double checking my Overdrive audiobook downloads before I start listening to them.

>145 thornton37814: - Spring is the start of the road works season up here so I am not surprised you encountered some delays due to construction. An alternate route home sounds like a good idea.

>146 richardderus: - Hi RD! Traipse away! *smooches*

>147 sibylline: - I find it frustrating that we need to find these work arounds to be able to load certain types of books onto our devices. *sighs* Glad to see you have a system now that works, Lucy!

I admit that I now make a point of looking for the iguanas whenever I am in their neighborhood. If I see them out again, I will stop by and chat with the owner. I am super curious to know how old the larger iguana is and if the smaller one is an offspring of the larger.

>148 jolerie: - I am with you on the love-hate relationship with technology. Smart move marrying a techie! ;-)

>149 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! It has been a great weekend. I hope yours has been equally fantastic.

>150 MickyFine: - Awesome! Thanks!

>151 PaulCranswick: - Hi Paul, always lovely to see you stopping by!

Book #26 - The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Complete Series 1 by David Ashton - BBC radio plays narrated by a full cast
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Scottish Pub Fare
Reading BINGO square: A Book Based On a True Story - based on the memoirs of Victorian Scottish police Inspector James McLevy
CAT(s): RandomCAT (Bobby James Rose), MysteryCAT (Police Procedural)
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: Episodes originally radio broadcast between December 21, 2000 and January 11, 2001
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: ~ 87 pages / 2 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: adapted from various web summaries:

Inspired by the real-life memoirs of a Victorian Inspector in Scotland, James McLevy prowls the dark streets of 1860s Edinburgh bringing criminals to justice, with the assistance of Constable Mulholland. In Series 1, the episodes are:
For Unto Us - It may be Christmas, but the spirit of goodwill seems not to apply to the criminal fraternity of Leith;
The Trophy Club - Blocked at every turn in his efforts to solve the murder of a young prostitute, McLevy decides to bend the rules;
The Second Shadow - Counterfeiters are at work in the city, and McLevy is under pressure to secure rapid convictions; and
The Burning Question - An unsolved murder brings vigilantes onto the streets, causing difficulties for Jean Brash's house of ill-repute, the Happy Land.

Review:
Radio plays are a new format of entertainment for me, even though they are far from being a new medium of storytelling. When I found out that my local library has the first 7 series of the Inspector McLevy Mysteries available as downloadable audiobooks, I figured now was a good time to dip into radio plays. Radio plays do make for a different - and quite enjoyable - style of story telling. Gone are the descriptive details one is so used to seeing in written books. The market place is 'experienced' by the background noises provided and I admit that it is more exciting to hear a rock being thrown through a glass window than it is to read about it happening. The character personalities shine through. McLevy's brusk manner, sharp temper and lack of patience is brought front and center, as is the bristling personality conflicts between McLevy and his superior Lieutenant Roach and the more laid back personality of his country raised constable, Mulholland.

Inspired by the real-life memoirs of a Victorian police inspector in Scotland, James McLevy, the stories provide a lot of period specific information around the socio-economic situation of 1860's Edinburgh, relations with England, the criminal justice system of the time period - where sheriffs handed down judgements, not judges - as well as the divisions of the classes within society and even some religious aspects. I found it fascinating - and disgusting - how solving the theft of a joint of meat from the kitchen of a prominent member of society was to take precedent over solving the murder of a prostitute and how vigilantism lead by a religious leader - which lead to property damage - was so difficult for the police to quell. What I really love about the stories - besides the great banter between McLevy and Mulholland and McLevy and the mistress of the fancy house of ill-repute, Jean Brash - is that each story is only approximately 40 minutes in length, making them easy to dip in and out of if between books or in my case, when a current audiobook read is missing some of its files.

I have already downloaded series 2 and look forward to more adventures walking the beat in 1860's Edinburgh.

Book #27 - The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Two Can Dine
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): RandomCAT (Nice Day Rose), GeoCAT (Islands and Bodies of Water)
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 1994
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 514 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /

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

After a violent storm in the South Pacific in the year 1643, Roberto della Griva finds himself shipwrecked-on a ship. Swept from the Amaryllis, he has managed to pull himself aboard the Daphne, anchored in the bay of a beautiful island. The ship is fully provisioned, he discovers, but the crew is missing.

As Roberto explores the different cabinets in the hold, he remembers chapters from his youth: Ferrante, his imaginary evil brother; the siege of Casale, that meaningless chess move in the Thirty Years' War in which he lost his father and his illusions; and the lessons given him on Reasons of State, fencing, the writing of love letters, and blasphemy.

Review:

I take pride withal in my humiliation, and as I am to this privilege condemned, almost I find joy in an abhorrent salvbation; I am, I believe, alone of all our race, the only man in human memory to have been shipwrecked and cast up upon a deserted ship.

So begins Eco fanciful tale set in the 17th century Baroque era of an Italian nobleman, Roberto della Griva, marooned on a deserted ship in the Pacific Ocean. We learn how he came to the situation he finds himself in but more importantly, we witness Roberto's numerous ruminations on pretty much everything from religion, cosmology, metaphysics to science and technology of the Baroque period as well as his mental condition as a ship wreck survivor. The story is fascinating on a number of levels. I loved the examination of science and the race to discover the Punto Fijo or fixed point from which all other longitudes could be established. Roberto as a character and his mental state are also fascinating reading as is the multiple allusions to Alexandre Dumas' stories The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. The sections at the start of the story with the siege of Casale had me hoping for a rollicking adventure read. Unfortunately, the story is really an adventure story of a completely different nature. Still good, but not as entertaining as I was looking forward to reading. The downside of this story for me was what I found to be an excessive waxing philosophical/metaphysical nature of the story. This is not a quick read by any means and the overloading of information reminded me a bit of my experience in reading Roberto Bolaño's 2666, another book filled with references and hidden meanings that went right over my head.

Now, I hope this review doesn't deter anyone from picking up and reading The Island of the Day Before for themselves. I am just not a big fan of the ship-wrecked man type of story that this one is and is something I need to be in the right frame of mind for. The metaphysical aspects of the story, while fascinating at first, became a bit of a laborious chore to get through and reached a level of eye rolling obscurity when Roberto examines whether or not a stone can feel or has any form of sentient thought. Even with these negatives, the story was not enough of a chore to deter me from wanting to retain my copy for a potential re-read at some point in the future. As you have probably guessed, this isn't exactly an easy book for me to write a review for.

Umberto Eco is listed as being a professor of semiotics, so after finishing this one, I decided to look up exactly what semiotics is. This Wikipedia description was very helpful in explaining to me why I struggle a bit with Eco's style of story telling: I am not one for analysis of symbolism and analogy and the search for a deeper meaning when I read a book for pleasure. Shallow of me, I know. ;-)

Oh, you've sparked an interest with radio plays, Lori! I know they are not a new form of entertainment, but they would certainly be new to me. And this intrigues: The market place is 'experienced' by the background noises provided and I admit that it is more exciting to hear a rock being thrown through a glass window than it is to read about it happening. The character personalities shine through.

*lurk*

*lurk 2*

I've never been able to get into audiobooks but I like radio plays. I think it's that lack of description you mentioned. Something is always happening with a radio play so it's much harder for my attention to wander. Plus you get a full cast which makes it easier to differentiate characters. BBC Radio does excellent radio plays, unsurprisingly.

Congratulations on finishing the Eco, that one was tough going in places. It didn't help that I didn't like Roberto very much but it was worth reading and, like you, I'm keeping my copy to re-read at some point. Somehow his works click better for me the second time, I think there is just too much to process on a first read.

I hope you love The Rosie Project as much as I did.

Big fan of Podcasts as well. In addition to the one's you listed, I also like the NYT Book Review podcast and NPR: Books.

Catching up, passing through iguanas and mustelids...

>101 lkernagh: What Kind of Book Nerd Are You?
Don Draper? Had to google. I took the quiz twice with slightly different answers, results the same.

>156 lit_chick: - Think about radio plays as a play you can attend with your eyes closed and not have to worry about missing anything because your eyes are closed. that is about the easiest way I can explain my radio play experience with The Inspector McLevy Mysteries. ;-)

>157 ronincats: - Hi Roni!

>158 Smiler69: - Hi Ilana!

>159 MickyFine: - I wish I had access to more radio plays, Micky. Hum, maybe I already do. I need to dig through the library's audiobook collection and see if anything else is lurking in there. Funnily enough, my other half was rather surprised that I was listening to a BBC radio play. He remembers his gran always had the radio on for her favorite radio plays when he was growing up. He just thought it was something that had disappeared with technology, not being resurrected like it is in downloadable audiobook format. ;-)

>160 calm: - I think you hit it with your comment calm that there is probably just too much in Eco's books to process on the first read. Some parts of the story were fascinating... my mind just isn't quite as 'fluid' as Eco's is for shifting gears.

>161 Morphidae: - I am just so darn happy to have stumbled across the copy I did, Morphy. It is currently shelved in the front half of one of my double deep book shelves so I have a visual reminder that I now own a copy. ;-)

>162 michigantrumpet: - I am looking forward to giving podcasts a go.... once I figure out how to get the podcast out of my iTunes and downloaded to my iPod, that is. Thanks for the recs of the NYT Book Review and NPR: Books podcasts!

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

Not much to report since yesterday except that I have been thinking more and more about my recent Eco read and have decided to downgrade my rating from 3.4 to 3.1. I don't usually mess around with the ratings once I assign one to a book but in this case, I have too many questions to leave it at the higher rating. When I get around to re-reading it, I can then decide if a different rating if warranted.

>163 qebo: - I missed your post! I did get a giggle when someone over on the 2014 Category challenge also got Don Draper as their answer, because I didn't know his character was one of the options, but I like the fact that his character crops up in some of the responses.

I got Don Draper too. I watch Mad Men religiously but I don't think he's that much of a reader? It also seems to be the least common result.

I got Don Draper, too. And I hate Scotch. And I already read mostly women authors. What gives?

I am also a big fan of the The Rosie Project. I hope you like it as well.

Lori, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Hi Lori! You know, I didn't even realize that you were doing a Scottish Pub Fare category this year. I love that! Tartan Noir. Just excellent.

The weekend came and went pretty darn fast. The weather wasn't all that great so Sunday was spent re-arranging the contents of the kitchen cupboards (my other half's idea) and doing a review and purge of some of our seldom used possessions. I like to collect good condition steamer trunks. We currently have three. I love that they make great coffee tables, etc and one can store a lot of stuff 'out of sight' in them, out of sight being the operative word as the items, once stored in these trunks tend to slip our minds. Digging through the contents of one of these trunks on Sunday was like opening a time capsule. We were both surprised to discover a cache of old music cd's and movies on VHS that we thought we had gotten rid of a long time ago. Neither one of us can remember when we got rid of our VHS player.... it was that long ago. I also uncovered a bunch of old paperwork that no longer needs to be kept and some electronics bits and pieces that made my other half's day.

On the Bread Baking Front: My attempts at oat bread have been interesting. Oat flour is a bit of a challenge to work with as it is: (1) gluten-free, and (2) absorbs liquid like you would not believe! I thought my first attempt worked rather well until we tried to cut into it. The exterior was solid like trying to cut into a cinder block while the interior was an under-cooked lump. Radically shifting gears, I decided to forgo the usual knead and double raise method of bread making and went for a more liquid spoon bread approach (think bread dough meets cake batter) with a single raise in the pan and added some milk to the batter to give a bit of protein. This worked much better and produced a rather moist, bubbly textured bread. Down side is the bread doesn't toast well.... the drier crust tends to burn while the moist inner bread barely browns. I am back to my usual spelt bread while I noodle around in my mind the oat bread some more.

On the Reading Front: I managed to finish The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker and The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell. Reviews written and will be posted further down this thread. Dipping back into my Commonwealth Challenge, I am reading a rather cheesy but entertaining spy/espionage story set in Washington DC and the jungles of Belize by Janice Weber, Hot Ticket. Should be finished that one tomorrow night. As I need a new audiobook for my walking commute, I have decided to start listening to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. That should keep me occupied for a few weeks.

>166 norabelle414: - Don is an unusual character/personality type to include in a fun book nerd quiz and you are right, it is one of the least common results. I think we watched a couple of episodes of season 1 of Mad Men but I never developed a like for the show, except for the period costumes..... I love the clothes!

>167 katiekrug: - So you are Nora have similar likes besides a love for Nando's? ;-) I think Don Draper is included in the quiz as an oddball result but given the shortage of questions asked to generate a result, I don't think it means anything more than a few minutes of fun in front of the computer taking the quiz.

>168 Cobscook: - I am looking forward to The Rosie Project!

>169 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! The weekend end went by way to quickly, as always. ;-)

>170 EBT1002: - Hi Ellen! I am new to the Tartan Noir genre so I figured making it a category for my category challenge was the best way to get me started. I just finished my second Tartan Noir - The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell. I can see where I am going to enjoy reading these gritty crime books!

Book #28 - The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - audiobook narrated by George Guidall
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Smorgasbord
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): GeoCAT (Islands and Bodies of Water)
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: April 23, 2013
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: ~ 486 pages / 19 hours, 42 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.6 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: adapted from various web summaries:

A chance meeting between two mythical beings in turn-of-the-century (1899) New York: Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free. Struggling to make their ways in this strange new place, surrounded by a community of immigrants, Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical and mysterious connection.

Review:
My forays into fantasy fiction tend to lean towards books like this one with elements of fantasy but still grounded in the more familiar territory of our geography, culture and history. Chava and Ahmad are delightful characters. Their wonderment - and confusion - at the environment they find themselves in doesn't come across as some shoddy fabrication or as being out of place for their surroundings. The teeming immigrant community of Lower Manhattan is richly captured in the characters of the coffeehouse owner Maryam Faddoul, the ice cream maker Saleh, the kindly Rabbi Meyer, Meyer's beleaguered nephew Michael and the Syrian tinsmith Boutros Arbeely. While the golem and the jinni may have top billing in this story, the other characters are far from being relegated to mere supporting cast roles. I found the story to be shrouded in a sense of calmness and beauty, even during the climactic bits, like one might feel as though they were experiencing everything as a peaceful dream.

What really sold me on this one is the pace of the story. Some readers may find the story a bit slow in places, with a little too much time spend setting the stage or describing landmarks but for me, the pace was just right. That, and I really enjoyed the visits to the parks, seeing the Washington Square Arch through the eyes of Chava and Ahmad and traveling the rooftops of Lower Manhattan. So why not a full 5 stars for a rating? Well, the ending felt a bit flat to me and a couple of pieces left me somewhat confused, but overall, a delightful reading experience.

This is a story to sink into, like a luxurious bubble bath or a calm sea, allowing the gentle lapping of the story to carry you away. It is a wonderful blending of folk mythology and historical fiction. Of cultural differences, desires and consequences. But more importantly, it is about the power of friendship and being able to forgive.

Book #29 - The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Scottish Pub Fare
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): Mystery CAT (Police Procedural), RandomCAT (Summer Time Rose)
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: April 1, 2010
Acquisition date: February 1, 2014
Page count: 342 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /

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

Anna Cameron is a new sergeant in the Flexi Unit. On her first day in the new job she discovers she'll be working with her ex, Jamie, now married and with a child. In at the deep end emotionally after many years without him, she's also plunged headlong into the underworld of Glasgow's notorious Drag—the haunt of working girls, drug dealers, and sad, seedy men. Someone is carving up the faces of local prostitutes, an old man has been brutally killed, and racist violence is on the rise; Anna must deal with all this alongside tensions and backstabbing within her own team.

Review:
First book in what is currently a four book series, authored by a former police officer, The Twilight Time is a gritty police procedural with two female characters as lead: Sergeant Anna Cameron and Cath Worth, a former police officer - now a stay at home mom - and wife to Jamie, Anna's ex boyfriend. The crime aspect of the story is pretty solid. Where this book may be a turn off for some readers is the love triangle that makes up part of the story. That and the fact that the story spends a good chunk of time examining the relationship between Anna and Cath, their personality differences, their needs, weaknesses and desires. Anna's personality clashes with department superiors and lack of following proper procedures really gives this story some of its rawness which worked fine for me. I tend to prefer the psychological side of crime stories, more so than the "how we caught the bad guys" focus some stories take. I struggled a bit with a number of the phrases that are foreign to my North American mind. My Glaswegian-raised other half was helpful in explaining a lot of the terms used and the layout of Glasgow. Better than referring to Google all the time. The overall atmosphere of the story is grim, with a filthy muck aspect to it. Considering the Flexi Unit's job is to walk the beat of the Drag where cops are viewed as anything but the good guys and the unit doesn't get the respect that the CID gets within the force, it is equivalent to working a vice squad on a shoe-string budget. The crimes being solved doesn't quite come together as a neat package at the end of the story but most of the big picture items are address so I wasn't left with an overall bad feeling about this one.

What I didn't like about the story were parts of Anna's personality - her steamroller/bulldozer approach to getting the job done - and I am really not all that keen on the whole love triangle aspect, even though it does provide the author with an anchor to dance the two female lead characters around and a secondary conflict that requires resolution, outside of the crime. Overall, a solid piece of writing - not spectacular or stellar - with enough going on to keep my interest as I was reading. I will be keep an eye out for copies of further books in the series.

Lori, I am not a fantasy reader, but your review of The Golem and the Jinni makes me rethink that position. Love the sound of luxurious bubble bath or a calm sea, allowing the gentle lapping of the story to carry you away. It is a wonderful blending of folk mythology and historical fiction. Of cultural differences, desires and consequences. But more importantly, it is about the power of friendship and being able to forgive.

Another The Golem and the Jinni lover. Yay! I don't think I've seen a 75er who didn't enjoy it. Not all at the same level, but most have liked/loved it.

Dear Lori, oh I am drooling over your book acquisitions -- both up top and recently -- what a lot of terrific reading you have in front of you! Sorry for your tech troubles in reading The Golem and the Jinni, but it sounds like you got them worked out and could enjoy the book. Sounds like a great read.

Hope you're having a great week -- anything special baking?

And of course as soon as I said something someone (CrazyMamie), quit The Golem and the Jinni because she didn't like it. LOL!

Happy end of work week!

>175 lit_chick: - The Golem and the Jinni is fantasy without being fantasy, if that makes any sense. More historical fiction with wonderful fantasy elements to it. Can I nudge you any closer to the book? ;-)

>176 Morphidae: - It is such a wonderful story, I can totally see the love/like majority that exists here for this book.

>177 AMQS: - It is. Can I nudge you towards the book like I am nudging Nancy? ;-) week was crazy busy but all in a good way so no complaints, just very happy it is now the weekend. Baking continues but nothing experimental. I made a lemon poppyseed loaf with whole wheat flour which I think gives it a wonderful flavor - my other half prefers his lemon poppyseed loaf made with white flour - a banana bread and my now standard spelt and kamut breads. Tonight I made a loaf of kamut - oat bran bread which is currently cooling as I type. This weekend I will be making a batch of oatmeal - coconut - chocolate chip cookies!

>178 Morphidae: - LOL! I must go find out why Mamie didn't like it!

In other news, I was very excited this week to discover that our office has started its own "bring a book/take a book" sharing library for employees. YAY! I dropped off my copy of The Twilight Time and came home with a copy of City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte. I hope this is permanent and not just something for the summer months.

On the Reading Front: I did finish Hot Ticket a couple of days ago and the review is now ready for posting. Next up for my physical book read is another book for the June = Female Fantasy / Science Fiction Month: When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster, daughter of Canadian record producer and composer David Foster, which has been sitting on my TBR bookcases since 2009. For my audiobook read, I just finished listening to Part 1 of Anna Karenina and will be starting Part 2 tomorrow.

Now for that book review that is ready for posting.....

Book #30 - Hot Ticket by Janice Weber
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, Commonwealth
2014 Category: World Cuisine (Belize)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Hard cover
Original publication date: November 1, 1998
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 337 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /

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

When secret agent Leslie Frost is sent to Washington, D.C. to pick up a murder case, her search for a murderer leads her to the steaming jungles of Central America, where famed ethnobotanist Louis Bailey has vanished. Not coincidentally, his brother, lies terminally ill with a mosquito-borne dengue fever, the possible victim of assassination by insect. Sooner than she can say Paganini, Frost, a concert violinist, is back in D.C. playing an erotic duet with Fausto Kiss, a pianist of great wealth who thrives on everyone's secrets. Caught between cold ambitions and red-hot romance, Frost must fight for her life.

Review:
I am going to start this review off by mentioning that the amazon.ca book summary above is quite different from the description found on the front inside cover of the copy I read, which states:

"Super-secret agent Leslie Frost, a concert violinist who rides Harleys and breaks men's hearts, begins her assignment in Washington with a black-tie concert at the White House. Within an hour of her last encore, she is dangling from a ninth-floor balcony at Watergate as murderers make off with the body of Agent Barnard, a brilliant fellow operative who last reported to Controller Maxine from a bubble bath - with President Bobby Marvel. "

Geez, which book would you be tempted to pick up and read? Now, I will be honest here. The reason I chose/read this book is because I was looking for a book set in Belize for my Commonwealth Challenge and my choices were slim pickings: I was not up for reading a travel book or a steamy romance, so spy fiction was the genre chosen.

Hum.....How to describe this book. James Bond (007) meets Charlie's Angel (singular) doesn't quite cut it but it gives you a general idea of what you are in for which is: tawdry meaningless sex, uber chic espionage and a cast of characters that are, sadly, probably more representative of the real Washington DC power hungry elite than I ever care to know or confirm. The parts of the book set in Belize are atmospheric when it comes to describing the shanty town look of some of the town, the overpowering effect of the temperature/humidity and the untamed nature of the jungle with incessant sounds and spiders that our secret agent describes as looking like fuzzy golf balls with six legs. Anyone who has traveled to the tropics can appreciate this description:

"The old headache roared back the instant I stepped onto the tarmac. Already my brain was screaming for water. My clothing wilted halfway to the terminal and breeze only thickened a film of sweat.

Filled with cutting lines like "She's a psychiatrist. Can't afford to leave her patients alone too long or they might get better." and a secret agent/concert violinist who is equally comfortable attending $10,000 charity benefit events wearing $500,000 in jewels as she is flying helicopters, breaking into high security buildings and willingly going over a waterfall in just her undergarments, this book was, surprisingly, more entertaining than I was expecting. I still haven't figured out if this story is meant to be a bit of a spoof on the spy/espionage genre, but it does have all of the elements to propel the story forward at a good clip, filled with back-stabbing intrigue that made for some entertaining reading.

Overall, not your typical spy novel but then, I wasn't in the mood for typical. According to Wikipedia, "Weber's books are noted for their bawdy, dark humor and their female protagonists." Hot Ticket appears to be the second book focused on secret agent Leslie Frost, the first book being Frost the Fiddler. I didn't feel as though I was missing anything when I read Hot Ticket so it is possible that these books can be read as stand alone novels.

As tomorrow is June 21st, here is a little welcome summer wish for everyone:

>179 lkernagh: Yes, you can! The Golem and the Jinni is on my wish list!

oatmeal - coconut - chocolate chip cookies SWOON!

Ah, summer solstice had entirely skipped my mind! Going to post this graphic on my thread, too. Thanks, Lori : ).

Happy Sunday, Lori.

Yay for the bring a book/take a book thing at work - that's very cool!

Glad you also enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni, Lori. Hope you like the Magnus Flyte book better than I did.

Happy Sunday, everyone! I have been having a lazy "stay at home" kind of weekend. Got laundry done and made a batch of oatmeal coconut chocolate chip cookies yesterday. It has been a while since I last baked any cookies so I was surprised - no, I was horrified - at the amount of sugar the recipe I had found called for. I cut down the sugar amount by more than half, added an extra egg, added milk (which the recipe didn't call for) and added the oats, coconut and chocolate chips until I felt the recipe was ready for baking. End result: light, fluffy bite-sized cookie morsels.



Cookie, anyone?

I am really starting to pay attention to the sugar, salt and fat that goes into the food we consume and I am glad that so far the recipes I have made do not seem to be impacted when I cut down the sugar and salt. I didn't add any salt to my cookie recipe even though it asked for 1 teaspoon. I haven't quite gotten around to reducing fats yet as that is a bit more challenging but shortening is something I just do not bake with.

>183 AMQS: - LOL! Sorry I have to limit you to experiencing the cookies through the web and YAY for another The Golem and The Jinni future reader.

>184 lit_chick: - It almost completely passed me by as well, Nancy! Shocking to think I almost missed out on welcoming the first day of summer. ;-)

>185 Ameise1: - Happy Sunday to you, Barbara! I love the stone tower in the picture.

>186 scaifea: - I know! I noticed on Friday that what had started out as a small collection of books has already doubled in size so hopefully we have enough readers in the office to make this a permanent feature.

>187 ronincats: - The Golem and the Jinni was a better read than I had hoped it would be. As for the Magnus Flyte book, I see that it has mixed reviews here on LT so anything is possible, that is for sure.

I am, heaven knows why, a total sucker for semiotics...... so I love Eco and love looking stuff up while I am reading his work. I think I like layers and layers.....

And yes, that happens a lot here, doesn't it - just as you post a rave of a book, someone else posts a pan!

Nice reviews! I've added The Golem and the Jinni to my wishlist. I like books with a strong sense of place.

Yum, pass the cookies, please. I'm not a baker, but I have also being paying close attention to the sugar and fat in things that normally we would not even think contained same. I love bean salad, but the sugar! So, I use my favourite recipe with zero sugar and use Splenda instead. It's equally as good, in fact probably better.

Hi, Lori! I'm too far behind to properly catch up, but in skimming I saw your comment about your Overdrive audio download "hiccup." I had the same kind of thing happen to me this past week -- only I decided I really wasn't enjoying the book anyway, so I just didn't finish it.

I'll have a cookie or two please! Any left?

Good idea on limiting sugar, salt and fats. I'm not quite there yet, though I have gone back to 1% milk after flirting with 2% for a couple of years because this organic version was so tasty. That should already have quite an impact considering the quantities of milk I consume.

I won't touch shortening, and like to use butter in my baking. No smarter fat-wise, but it does lend that distinctive flavour and texture to everything I can't resist!

Will I be forgiven if I say I only liked, but did not love The Golem and the Jinni? Wish I could say why that is, but have nothing specific.

"I have decided to start listening to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. That should keep me occupied for a few weeks." I'll say!!!!

I'm listening to The Dog Stars and I recommend it as an audiobook. I'm hardly an expert at audiobooks but I'm very much enjoying this narration.

Have a great Tuesday, Lori!

Hi Lori!

>189 sibylline: - Here I had to go and look up what "semiotics" is! Eco writing is beautiful and full of enough varied topics that I think most readers can find something they can relate to or understand, but the overall waterfall of information can drown some readers.

I love how different readers have different reading experiences for the same book! It is usually because of those other reviews that I sudden experience an "a ha" moment about something that either troubled me, confused me or just plain went over my head!

>190 banjo123: - The immigrant community of New York City is wonderfully captured in The Golem and the Jinni. Enjoy!

>191 lit_chick: - Here you go Nancy! Bean salad has sugar in it!? In the dressing? I still cringe at the thought of what is probably in my favorite salad dressings.... I haven't started making my own salad dressings although I will admit to making a pretty darn good honey mustard sauce. ;-)

Do you have a Bulk Barn in your area? They have an amazing selection of sugars and sugar alternatives that I have only started to dip into and experiment with. My other half has been raving about beet sugar so I need to see if I can track down beet sugar and start experimenting with that.

>192 tymfos: - Overdrive and those darn, pesky download issues. Happily, it doesn't happen very often but super annoying when it does and catches me unawares. Sounds like a good reason the not finish a book that wasn't working for you - saved by a technology glitch!

>193 Smiler69: - Yes, there is still half a container of cookies left so help yourself. Sugar is very easy for me to reduce as I tend to crave salts over sweets. Salt has been removed from our cooking and replaced with herbs and spices. Milk is one thing I have such a difficult time reducing my fat consumption. My parents are 1% milk consumers but every time I visit them the first stop after exiting the airport is usually the grocery store to pick up 'half and half' for my morning coffee. We actually consume homogenized milk at home so and like you use butter in most baking/cooking unless olive oil is more suitable.

Of course you are forgiven. I don't expect The Golem and the Jinni to be a book that would appeal to the masses and I like it when readers have different opinions of books. Makes for more interesting book related discussions. ;-)

>194 EBT1002: - I figure I might be finished Anna Karenina by mid-July, at my current rate. I am just about to start Part III, so I am almost at the 1/3 mark.

My local library has the audiobook of The Dog Stars narrated by Mark Deakins. Was that the same narrator for your audiobook?

Thanks, Ellen! Tuesday is officially over - three more days and then a four day long-weekend, YAY!

>195 The_Hibernator: - Rachel!!!! Lovely to see you bouncing through!

On the Reading Front: I am still working my way through When Autumn Leaves. I am roughly a the half way mark - I would be more specific but for some strange reason my other half has hidden my book on me. He has probably been using it as a base to rest a hard drive on while he is working on a computer repair, but one would think he could grab a book of the bookshelves and not use the book I am currently reading. ;-) For my Anna Karenina audiobook read, I have just finished Part II. I am loving the story but a bit baffled by the mention of "plum soup and pea sausages" in the last chapter of Part II.

#196 Thanks, Lori, not familiar with beet sugar but must check. Yes, we do have Bulk Barn, and I put it to good use : ).

>197 lkernagh: I don't know anything about plum soup except that Russians like to make soup out of weird things (see: Borscht), but I found this really interesting article about "pea sausage", which is actually dehydrated split-pea soup in a tube which could be mixed with water to make soup. It was part of the rations of the Prussian army and was pretty revolutionary for its time.

http://www.theausteritykitchen.com/2009/04/tasty-prussian-rations-erbswurst.html

Actually, it looks like "plum soup" should be "prune soup" (Russian only has one word for plum/prune so it's hard to translate). Prunes can be used as a substitute for duck blood or goose blood in a Polish soup called "Czernina". If it has prunes instead of blood it's called "Blind Czernina"

>198 lit_chick: - I think I will have to resort to one of our natural food stores to see if I can track down the beet sugar. I love Bulk Barn!

>199 norabelle414: and >200 norabelle414: - LOL! The Ukrainian part of me knows what Borscht is and the Irish part of me wants nothing to do with beet soup, even if it involves a hearty dollop of sour cream. ;-) Very cool about the "pea sausage". That sounds like a rather healthy army ration. As for the "plum/prune" soup, neither one appeals to me probably because I expect my soups to be savory and I have difficulties visualizing those soups as savory. Thank you so much for coming forward with the research!

I adore borscht. Soooo delicious.

>202 MickyFine: - So does my mom. Me, not so much, but mention perogies with lots of sauteed onions, bacon bits and sour cream and I and there!

Book #31 - When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Smorgasbord
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: October 6, 2009
Acquisition date: December 19, 2009
Page count: 304 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.80 out of 5 /

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

In Avening, a tiny town on the Pacific coast, it's hard not to believe in magic. This is a town where the shoes in the window always fit, where you can buy a love potion at the corner shop, and where the woods at the outskirts of town just might be the door to another world. And, of course, there's Autumn, Avening's beloved resident witch. From what's known of its mythical founding, Avening has always been a haven for people who are a little bit different, a place where they can come to discover what makes them so special.

When Autumn receives news that she's been promoted to a higher coven, she also learns she has to replace herself. But who in Avening is in tune enough with her own personal magic to take over the huge responsibility of town witch? Autumn has a list of thirteen women and men who just might have what it takes-but how can she get them to open their eyes to the magic in their lives?

Review:
I really wanted to love this story. The first 50 pages made me think about a wonderful affinity to the enchanting stories one of my favorite comfort read authors, Sarah Addison Allen writes. There is just the right amount of magical realism to make this a fantasy escapism read but with a quaint small town quality to it. For a debut novel, it is not bad and yes, I am a sucker for a book set in the Pacific Northwest. So, why no great love for this one? Well, for one, the story's focus tends to ramble and jump around from character to character without any clear explanation of the 'whys' and 'hows'. Sadly, the book doesn't come with a crystal ball to shine insight on the 'bits' left out from the story that would have been helpful. Also, it only took me 6 days to read the story from start to finish and even in that short time span, I had managed to completely forget a couple of the characters, so not exactly a memorable read for me. The story is quaint, charming and infuses little things that we take for granted in everyday life with a slight magical touch but overall it was just an average read for me.

Lori, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Great review, Lori. You mention Sarah Addison Allen: have you read Garden Spells? Have looked at this one but have never picked it up. Not a huge fan of magical realism, but I do sometimes enjoy, e.g. like Life of Pi.

Happy weekend Lori!

I love the pun in the title of When Autumn Leaves. sorry it was a disappointment. The premise sounds interesting.

>208 michigantrumpet: Ditto for me. When I read your post, Marianne, I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't already posted in Lori's thread!

Wow - it is hard to believe that half of the year has come and gone. I am looking forward to some great reading time over the summer months... or at least that is the game plan. I have one more book completed (with review ready for posting) to close out my June reading. Wrap ups - both June and mid-year - are also reading for posting, but lets get that last review for June posted first, after responding to my wonderful visitors.

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>205 Ameise1: - Thanks, Barbara! That is a beautiful plant.... and I have absolutely no idea what it is. It looks like a wonderful hanging plant.

>206 lit_chick: - I have read a number of Sarah Addison Allen's books, including Garden Spells. I found it interesting how her stories started to take on a slightly darker feel to them, most noticeably in her book The Peach Keeper. I was hoping to get around to reading her most recent release Lost Lake soon but my reaction to The Peach Keeper has me holding back for the right moment to dive back into her works. Garden Spells is a good story but I can see where the magical realism aspect can come across as a bit of a negative for some readers. Life of Pi continues to sit on my TBR bookshelves. I will get to that one one of these days!

>207 The_Hibernator: - Happy weekend to you, Rachel!

>208 michigantrumpet: - I didn't pay much attention to the pun in the story title until you mentioned it, Marianne! The story has potential but I think the delivery of having disjointed character/plot lines made this one a rather ambitious attempt as a debut novel.

>209 rosalita: - LOL!

Book #32 - Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Scottish Pub Fare
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): MysteryCAT (Police Procedural)
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1987
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 226 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /

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

Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders...and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn't just one cop trying to catch a killer, he's the man who's got all the pieces to the puzzle...

Review:
Okay.... I am a fan. Didn't think I would be, what with the warnings received from my trusted LT buddies to forgo reading the first book in the Inspector Rebus series and pick up the series a couple of books in. The average overall rating for the book on the LT book page also didn't boost my confidence as I settled in and started reading but I was pleasantly surprised how much I prefer Rebus as a character to some of the leading characters in my recent police procedural/crime reads. Rebus comes across as .... well.... real. Damaged and with quite the shocking previous work experiences but REAL. Okay, so it took a little while for the story to get going, things are missing that would have given this one a nice cohesive story and have I mentioned that the plot was dead simple to figure out? Still, even with all of that going against it - and reading Rankin's somewhat cringing introduction to my copy where he half apologizes for this creation of his - I feel more of an affinity with Rebus than I do for Carl Moerck from Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q series or Anne Cameron from Karen Campbell's Anna Cameron series. As for the setting... I know Edinburgh pretty well - more so than I do Glasgow - and I like how Rankin has captured the region.

Will I be reading more in the Inspector Rebus series? You bet I will!

JUNE RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker - 4.60 /
Knots and Crosses by Iam Rankin - 3.90 /
The Inspector McLevy Mysteries by David Ashton - 3.85 /
The Twilight Time by Karen Campbell - 3.70 /
Hot Ticket by Janice Weber - 3.40 /
The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco - 3.10 /
When Autumn Leaves by Amy S. Foster - 2.80 /

Largest Book read: The Island of the Day Before at 514 pages
Smallest Book read: Not really a book, but based on the listening time - in comparison to other audiobooks reads over the past year - The Inspector McLevy Mysteries by David Ashton equates to about 87 pages.
Books still in progress at the end of the month: The Quick by Lauren Owen as a physical book and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy as my audiobook.
Interesting Fact: Nothing that ties most or all of these books together.

2014 Category Challenge: (as of June 30th)
World Cuisine - 4/7
Ye Olde Traditional Fare - 4/7
Lunch to Go - 6/7
Petit Fours - 6/7
Two can Dine - 3/7
Scottish Pub Fare - 3/7
Smorgasbord - 6/7

Overall, I am on track to complete my category challenge in September. I will then create a mini challenge to see me through the remainder of 2014.

My "Luck 'O the Irish" Race (books read versus pages read): Given the chunksters I plan on reading this year, my 75 group challenge will be considered completed whichever comes first: 75 books read or 25,000 pages read.



So far, pages read (my lovely shamrock) is in the lead but I have to face the fact that I am not on track to complete my 75 group challenge, unless I either start to read shorter books or read more pages. Uh-oh.

May Planned Reads
The Quick by Lauren Owen - started in June - currently at 143 pages in and happily ensconced with the story and the characters.
Anna Karanina by Leo Tolstoy - started in June - listening to the audiobook and roughly at the half-way mark.
Afterlands by Steven Heighton - for the July "Polar Regions" GeoCAT in the 2014 Category Challenge Group
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse - for the July "Books about Books" RandomCAT in the 2014 Category Challenge Group
Laidlaw by William McIlvanney - for the July "Noir and Hard-Boiled Mysteries" MysteryCAT in the 2014 Category Challenge Group
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - a Botswana read for my Commonwealth Challenge
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas - Continuing to work my way towards my year end goal to read all three books in the D'Artagnan Romances series
.... and whatever else I find time for.

Mid Year Stats:
I am going to be lazy and not bother with a stats comparison to my previous reading years.

No. of Books read: - 31
No. of Books purchased: - 87
ROOTs read: 15
Largest book read by page count: - Bleak House by Charles Dickens at 976 pages
Smallest book read by page count: - Not really a book, but based on the listening time - in comparison to other audiobooks reads over the past year, The Inspector McLevy Mysteries by David Ashton equates to about 87 pages.
# Pages read: - 11,949 pages
Average # pages per book read: - 373 pages
Favorite Reads:
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, pere
the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by Mark Haddon
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

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Currently Reading:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - just over the halfway mark with my audiobook read
The Quick by Lauren Owen - Currently 143 pages into this rather fascinating Gothic story.

I simply ADORED The Quick. Hope it ends up being a big hit with you too. I can't wait for Lauren Owen to come out with her next book. I may have to reread this one if she takes too long!

Those are begonias.

Living here in Boston, I'm loving your Luck of the Irish Race!

Hi Lori! You've done some great reading this year - and I can't believe the year is halfway over either.

I took the quiz and like you, I'm a Matilda. The differences between the 75ers and the Category folks are fascinating - of course, like you, I'm in both groups.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of The Quick - I'm on the fence.

I hope the week is going well!

Happy Canada Day! :-)

>214 Smiler69: - I can see why you adored The Quick, Ilana. It is quite the mesmerizing story so far for me! I just need to find the time to sit down and read it. The copy I am reading is a hard cover from the library and I am not about to cart that to and from work with me every day. ;-)

>215 Ameise1: - See, I never would have guessed that those were begonias. I prefer those begonias in the picture to the ones I have seen. The red colour really 'pops' for me! I am not that much of a pink person....

>216 michigantrumpet: - Ah yes, Boston and Irish does tend to go hand in hand, as it were. ;-) I am part Irish from my father's side of the family so gravitating towards all things Irish is probably in my blood.

>217 Dejah_Thoris: - Hi Dejah! I love that you have set up threads in both groups.... I still need to find your category challenge thread. The week is going fantastic. Today was technically my "Monday" while my Friday will on Friday. I have decided I seem to operate best on a three-day work week..... just haven't figured out how to managed that on an on-going basis while still retaining the full 5-day work week salary. ;-)

>218 Smiler69: - Thanks, Ilana! I hope your Canada Day was wonderful. Our weekend weather was nothing special but it was sunny, warm - okay, slightly muggy - for Canada Day which made for great weather for enjoying the fireworks and overall people watching, which I will admit is a favorite pastime of mine.

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