Sibyx and books in AUGUST

To begin with, herself, engaged in her vocation of chipmunk wrangling, then two pictures of the 'fairy houses' the little darling and her friends have been making in a bosky dell (don't miss the tiny chair with the blue seat in the middle pic).

***August Current Reads***
♬

✔A Thousand Words for Stranger Julie Czerneda fsy
♬Divergent Veronica Roth ya dystopic
new The Western Abenakis of Vermont 1600-1800 Colin G. Calloway history
Monthly Murdoch: when I get to it it will be The Message to the Planet
IM readers group is HERE
Virago next one in August..... maybe?
Ongoing The New Yorker 2014 January Read my reviews here: New Yorkers 2014
April 7, 14, 21, 28

August Reads
77. ✔Memoir From Antproof Case Mark Helprin contemp f ***1/2
78. ♬ To Say Nothing of the Dog Connie Willis sf *****
79.new Spider Woman's Daughter Anne Hillerman mys ***1/2
80. ✔Motoring With Mohammed Eric Hansen travel/memoir ****
81. ✔Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Drew Hayden Taylor contemp fic *****
82. ✔The Voyageur Grace Lee Nute history ****
83. ✔Down to the Bone Justina Robson sf ****
84. ✔King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard sf classic ****
85. new The Financial Lives of the Poets Jess Walter contemp fic ***1/2
86. new The Cuckoo's Calling Robert Galbraith mys ****1/2
87. April 2014 New Yorkers
88. new Archangel Andrea Barrett ss ****

Quit in August
10. Talk Talk T. C. Boyle contemp f (p.99)

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

July Reads
68. ✔ Artifact Gregory Benford sf ***
69. new The Architect of Desire Susannah Lessard Bio/memoir ****
70. ♬ The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam Chris Ewan mys ***1/2
71. new Undertow Elizabeth Bear sf ****
72. new Rameau's Niece Cathleen Schine contemp f ***1/2
73. new Beggars in Spain Nancy Kress sf
74. March New Yorkers
75. new The Eden Express Mark Vonnegut**** memoir
76. new The Family Tree Sheri S. Tepper sf

ENOUGH ALREADY! 2014
1. Jan ✔A Mirror For Witches Esther Forbes see comment 155, thread one.QUIT
2. Jan ✔Jennifer Government Finished. See review page. SKIM FINISHED
3. Feb The Saliva Tree Brian Aldiss sf/ss See review page. SKIM FINISHED
4. Feb ✔ Gone to Earth Mary Webb QUIT see >75 sibylline:
5. March ✔ Celestis Paul Park sf SKIM FINISHED
6. May ✔ The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000 I've read bits over 14 yrs. and I'm just done with it. DIDN'T EVEN START
7. June new Graveminder Melissa Marr spooky, not my thing QUIT
8. June. new audio ♬ War of Honor David Weber sf didnt like reader. QUIT
9. July new The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation Frederick Matthew Wiseman history. Need more on the writer's background. PAUSED

July Reflections
It surprises me that I managed to read nine books in July which has been an extremely busy month with writing retreats, houseguests, music parties, harp festivals, my birthday and other distractions large and small! Once again the most rewarding reads were non-fiction (am I changing?), both memoirs with scope, Suzanne Lessard's book about her family and Mark Vonnegut's book about his descent into madness, happily temporary. The most disappointing reading was in the zone of contemporary fiction, neither the Schine nor the Helprin were up to the level I had expected. Both were flawed in concept (albeit clever) and tedious because of the necessity to remain true to the concept. The SF was all over the place, but both the Bear and the Tepper had merit - the Benford was only meh - a portentiously (or is that pretentiously?) written story built around very little. Another uneven month. I think I need to choose from my fiction collection a bit more carefully!

This month I have acquired a few books, but nothing too far out of control, thank goodness. Almost no books at all for my birthday, by request actually, just one little book of funny poems about turning sixty by Judith Viorst.

July Stats
Categories:
Total: 9
Men: 4
Women: 5
Man-Woman Team:0
Non-fiction: 3 (includes NYers)
History: 0
Memoir/biography: 2
Virago: 0
Classic Fiction: 0
Contemporary fiction: 2
Historical fiction: 0
Short stories: 0
Graphic: 0
SF: 4
Fantasy: 0
YA or J fantasy: 0
Fantasy/SF/Mys hybrids:
Mys: 1
Thriller: 0
Humor:
Poetry: 0
New (to me) Authors: 2
New books: 6
✔: 1
Library/loan: 0
Audio: 1
Months of NYers: 1
Read it or Get Rid of It: 1

Housekeeping
Acquired: 10 physical /2 audio
Released: 3
Annual totals:
Acquired: 51
Read: 76
Released: 42

newly acquired:
40. To Say Nothing of the Dog Connie Willis (dupe) audio READ
41. Cousin Justin Margaret Barrington WPL sale
42. O Genesee Janet O'Daniel WPL sale
43. The Flight of Gemma Hardy Margot Livesey SPL sale
44. The Last Station Jay Parini free
45. The Voices of the Dawn Frederick Matthew Wiseman (Stopped Reading)
46. Beggars in Spain Nancy Kress WPL sale
47. Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 Francine Prose new
48. The Cuckoo's Calling Robert Galbraith new
49. Mirror Sight Kristen Britain new
50. Suddenly Sixty and Other Shocks of Later Life Judith Viorst gift
51. King Solomon's Mines Rider Haggard audio READING

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

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

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

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

May Reads
47. new The Ruby Dice Catherine Asaro sf ****
48. ✔ Bats Sing, Mice Giggle Karen Shanor**** nf animal behavior
49. new Diamond Star Catherine Asaro sf
50. New Yorkers/January 2014
51. new Carnelians Catherine Asaro sf THE LAST ONE FOR NOW!!!!! ****1/2
52. new♬ Ashes of Victory David Weber sf ***
53. ✔ The Green Knight Iris Murdoch contemp fic****
54. new Another Insane Devotion Peter Trachtenberg memoir, cats ***1/2
55. ✔ Broken Harbor Tana French mys ***1/2
56.new Hospital Station in Beginning Operations(Omnibus) James White sf ****

Read in JUNE
57. new Bleeding Edge Thomas Pynchon contemp f *****
58. new Beginning Operations Book Two Star Surgeon James White classic sf ****
59. new Beginning Operations Book Three Major Operation James White classic sf ****
60. new Three Men in a Boat Jerome K. Jerome humor ****
61. new Quite Ugly One Morning Christopher Brookmyre mys ***1/2
62. ✔ Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America Richard Nelson anthropo
63. new Whispers Underground Ben Aaronovitch f/mys hybrid
64. The New Yorker, February 2014
65. new June VMC Read The Three Miss Kings Ada Cambridge fiction australian ***1/2
66. new Some Kind of Fairy Tale Graham Joyce contemp f/fan hybrid...****1/2
67. ✔ Lux the Poet Martin Millarurban fantasy sort of? ***1/2

Series Tally 2014

Series started in 2014
Tales of Sector General James White next up: bk 4

Series continued in 2014
Rivers of London 3 of 5 next up: Broken Homes Ben Aaronovitch

Series completed or caught up with in 2014
1. Good Daughters Mary Hocking (3)
2. Chronicles of Tornor Elizabeth Lynn (3)
3. Witch World - set goal of reading first three in series. Completed.
4. Mistborn Brandon Sanderson (3) 3 of 3 Completed
5. The Skolian Empire (14 of 14)Catherine Asaro (There are assorted novellas and ss)
6. ✔ Dublin Murder Squad 4 of 4
7. Quantum Gravity Justina Robson (5 of 5)

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

Is it safe to come in??? Love Po. Love LD's development of the bosky dell!
Be safe on the road and enjoy *TSNotD*!

It's as safe as it ever is, Peggy.

I have to hit the road now, so I will finish up when I get home. I've got the review of the Mark Helprin to do too........

I smile every time I see Posey engaged in her vocation of chipmunk wrangling! LOVE the fairy houses and the little blue chair; they are magical.

Posey and fairy houses and aaaaaw.. how cute is that little chair!!
Happy New Thread, Lucy!

Love the fairy houses!

Could I ask a very special favour? Would it be possible to enlarge the blue chair photo a bit so this one with her not-so-great eyesight could see the chair? I do like Po the Mighty Huntress and could see her because her colouring stands out against the woods. And you should get some kind of moment of divine grace for using "bosky dell" on the hinterwebs.

Happy New Thread! I, too, absolutely love the fairy houses.

Love the new thread, Lucy! Posey and fairy houses give your thread the perfect summer theme!

Happy new thread! Love Posey and the fairy houses - reminded me of Anne of Green Gables - just seems like a very Anne (with an 'e') thing to do.

Here you go, Tui!


If I blow it up anymore it gets blurry. But I can if you need more.

Anyhow I am home safe and sound. Uneventful drive - during which I finished listening to Say Nothing of the Dog. So now I have two reviews, but not tonight as I am a basket case.

And I did have a moment, Tui, as I wrote bosky dell --- but that really is what this little spot is --.

Hi Lucy!
What I treat I get coming over to see your new thread!

Love your opening pictures... love "bosky dell". Glad you are home safe and somewhat sound ;-)

ETA: Ah, shoot! Just realized I missed your birthday. Well, I am nevertheless sending you mountains of good wishes for another wonderful year! Belated Happy Birthday!!!

But-but-but, LUCY! To Say Nothing of the Dog is a wonderful way to pass your drive. I'm not sure I could have kept track of all the goings-on in audio, but I'm certain you could. DID YOU LIKE IT?

Thank you everyone for stopping by and no worries about missing my actual birthday - I managed to drag the whole thing out over a week, so why not keep on....

I LOVED IT!!! There are a few things I might need to go over - but I think, in the end, I got the basic point - and a very intriguing one it is! But that is for tomorrow, I think, unless just thinking about it revs me up a bit.

76. contemp fic ***1/2
Memoir From An Antproof Case Mark Helprin

This is the second contemporary novel in a row by an author whose previous work I have enjoyed that disappointed. The narrator, a man in his eighties, is writing down his story for his adopted child, putting the chapters in the 'antproof' case as he writes them. He's had an EXTREMELY adventurous life - is unusually fearless - and you begin to learn why gradually throughout the book, which is sort of written chronologically, except the bits that aren't. The problem is that I never warmed to the man and never could suspend disbelief, which happens only when you believe in the character. In the end even when the cause of this man's neurosis (a hatred of coffee) is revealed, I still didn't care about him. I read the whole book because it was well-written and full of interesting details but I read quickly and shallowly I admit, as it was very long and I was never fully engaged. Winter's Tale is a five-star book, so I can't rate this one above three and a half. ***1/2

Likely this is a wholly inadequate review, but that's the best I can do.

BTW I was mentioning the coffee thing to someone I know who said that her son-in-law has an allergy (or something) to coffee, hates the smell, hates everything about it and his wife has to prepare her coffee and drink it separately..... so I guess it does happen!

sf *****
To Say Nothing of the Dog Connie Willis

Inspired. *****

YES!!! She loved it, people! She loved it! I knew she would, as she is a person of impeccable taste. How about the scene on the river where they see the three men and a dog in another boat? And the chapter headings, did they come through in audio?

(You can wait until tomorrow to respond. Really.)

Yes, yes, the narrator was superb and they included the chapter headings. His rendering of 'Warder' was sublime. Also Professor Peddig (?) I don't know how anything is spelled, of course. And we mustn't forget Cyril. Oh my, what a great listen it was!

Not sure at all about my taste - I just read the other reviews of Memoirs etc. and I stand alone in my lack of engagement with it. Sigh.

Thank you, Lucy! That little blue chair in the bosky dell is just wonderful. If I were a wood sprite, I would move right in with tiny tea cups and a kettle.

Oh I listened to To Say Nothing of the Dog and loved it too. I haven't read anymore by Willis, too scared to.

>21 sibylline: Hooray!

>22 ronincats: :-)

Nice new thread, Lucy ... lovely photos. I love the fairy houses. I imagine the LD is preparing for her next adventure, at SLC? Julia leaves in -- eep -- a week, for a pre-orientation program.

Also, I thought of you last weekend when I was in Book Trader in Philly. I entered saying, "I really don't need anything but let me see if they have any Angela Thirkells" and of course came away with three, plus a couple of other books that somehow fell into my arms.

Lucy, congrats on your latest thread. I love the photos. Gorgeous.

Hello everyone who has stopped by. I seem to have brought a cold home with me from the Festival, so I'm a bit under the weather all around.... haven't even finished putting my thread together I just noticed! Truly pathetic.

I hope to visit threads today, but I won't be able to catch up properly on those of you who have very busy ones, and I apologize ahead of time. I'll scan, to make sure you (and your rellies and furry ones) are well, and read your reviews, of course!

If I remember right it was Nancy/litchick who read and raved about Motorcycles & Sweetgrass? I picked it up yesterday as a 'sure thing' and indeed it is, a perfect sickbed book! So I'm blasting through it. I'm so restless that when I am ill the big problem is keeping me in bed or at least in a chair, so I am grateful that I chose well. I like the other two books I'm reading too, so that is good. Having had a decent night I am no worse, but I still feel utterly flattened.

Laura - I am pretty much dreading the LD's departure - heads for school on the 29th - no pre-orientation. Don't know why SLC doesn't do it, but it's fine with me. They do have freshmen show up a few days early and that's about it. She should find out who her don is in the next few days and what class s/he will be teaching. (OK, not a mafia boss, people, it is an Anglo term for your permanent faculty advisor and the word SLC chose when they opened their doors.) My don when I was there taught Asian Studies - I never would have learned a single thing about that part of the world if not for him and he was a very calm and helpful advisor - It's the only course you can't change unless you both agree there is a big personality problem. And I think, often, they do choose something a little out of your comfort zone. Who knows how those choices get made? I hope it is someone who does resonate with the LD, she does better that way. I was much tougher and more independent at her age.

Hi Lucy, I haven't wished you Happy New Thread yet, that is, out loud, though I've come and lurked a few times and enjoyed the fairy setting in the bosky dell and so on. Sorry to hear you're under the weather and wishing your a prompt recovery.

>29 sibylline: Lucy, Kenyon is similar with first-years in that they typically arrive a few days before classes start, and they handle all placement tests and scheduling at that time. So typically Julia would move in on 8/23 and classes start 8/28. However, they offer pre-orientation programs for specific interests (service, leadership, writing, and science). Her sister was not at all interested 3 years ago, but Julia really wanted to do science. I like it because she'll meet a few other first year science students and get to know some professors. Good luck with the LD's transition!!

ETA: I hope your cold goes away soon!

Lucy, sorry to hear you are feeling poorly, but happy you've found a great sickbed read. Would love to take credit for recommending Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, but it wasn't I!

I wonder who then, Nancy? Hmmm...

So sorry to hear you aren't feeling well, and have no energy.

I'm feeling a little better and I did spend some time WORKING you'll be glad to know Roni! Not very long, just some thinking on paper to get things started, but it was more than nothing!

I'm sorry you have Le Crud just before LD is going away. You probably would have liked to have done some things with her. I guess the best you can hope for is that she doesn't take it with her. Mend well!

Get well soon, Lucy.

79. mys ****
Spider Woman's Daughter Anne Hillerman

I enjoyed Anne Hillerman's debut immensely - she was careful to write simply and very much in her father's 'style'. The plot was sturdy, scenery carefully described very much in the Hillerman manner, so if you wanted, you could follow events on a road map (which I have done previously!). At the same time, by choosing a Bernie Manuelito as her primary focus, Anne Hillerman is striking out into her own new turf. There were a few bits, when Chee was off checking on thing and Bernie in another where Anne H. enters his pov, but lightly, only what is necessary. I'm looking forward to the next one! ****

Well I seem to have a temperature, which would indicate something slightly worse than a cold..... I certainly am not much different than yesterday and the day before and, always, I am terribly about resting during the day.

I have to decide now whether to embark on a fantasy/sf/or another mystery. I'm considering another mystery the Rowling-as-somebody-else one. Or maybe Laidlaw.

Sorry to hear you are still feeling miserable, Lucy, but I endorse Cuckoo's Calling … perhaps it will entice you to curl up during the day?

Alas I picked up the last book in a series that I have a mixed feeling about - the Justina Robson Quantum Gravity series... this is book 5 and as I am a Completer, I am obleeged. Mixed feelings are because I find something about Robson's prose a little hard to stay focussed on. Totally a style not a content thing.... I haven't stopped to analyze it, but it often feels as if I'm reading a shorthand, like I ought to be getting it more easily than I do. It's a very complex world she's built and you are expected to remember a great deal without much reminding. I'm not sure if it is my own limitations or an impatience to get on with it.... anyway.... the world and characters and situation are compelling enough but I do find myself reading along a little bit unsure that I have a clue what is going on (although it usually turns out that I do as much as anyone could). I'd like to start a new series or two and I feel the need to tidy up some of these old ones before plunging into one.

I got up at a very early hour this morning to drive the LD down to Rutland to the Amtrak station (oh how I wish it extended to Burlington, or at least Middlebury!) but it is a beautiful drive and now I am home and hope that I have the strength to take it easy today. Remember the photos of the 'glacier' on our driveway last winter..... well.... somehow yesterday I got involved in the project to encourage the brook to run through the culvert rather than over the field and even though I really did try to behave (e.g. sit and watch and kibbitz) I couldn't help picking up a shovel here and there. I do love messing about in running water.... sigh. I envy the LD the ride - the trip down the Hudson from Albany (train crosses back to the east side) is SPECTACULAR! Totally gorgeous.

Am I better? No worse, anyway. Whatever this flug is it is mild and persistent. I haven't taken my temp yet though, but I think it is better than yesterday from the way my skin and bones feel if you know what I mean.

Ugh, sorry about the fever Lucy. Hope you were reasonable and got some rest. Why don't you ditch the mixed-feelings book right now and pick up something you're really into to give yourself a bit of a break?

>42 Smiler69: I should, shouldn't I? But I'm such a hopeless completer! I'm not totally mixed either, there are moments that make the (slight) struggle or dissonance or whatever it is in Robson's writing wothwhile (I think).... I plan to be very careful though about the novels and nf I choose while reading this!

And I appear to be better today, genuinely, not great but better. Very much a viral something or other, I think.

Meanwhile I finished something. The being just a little bit ill bit is good for reading - any worse and I would have been lying about staring at the knothole patterns on the rafters above the bed.... (remember, I live in a barn!).

80. travel/memoir ****
Motoring With Mohammed Eric Hansen

Years ago I met a woman, a serious traveler, who spent almost a year in Yemen for some reason or other I can't remember, and described it as the most wonderful/awful place she'd ever been - that she is still haunted by it. Eric Hansen, sailing with some friends (who oughtn't to have been sailing where they were with so little experience, N.B.) runs aground on a small island off of Yemen. The small yacht is extremely well supplied with food and survival items and they set up camp on the island and wait to be rescued. The boat could easily have been put to rights, btw, but the owner and her bf decide they'd prefer the insurance money, sailing has turned out not to be so much fun.... anyhow.... When things begin to look dicey Hansen has good instincts, and he carefully wraps up his writing journals of 8 years of travel and buries them cleverly under some other garbage. Ten years later he returns to Yemen to try to get to that island to rescue those journals and that is where the fun begins.... He is up against the military, the bureaucracy and the interface between them, and it becomes an exercise in futility, that morphs however, into something else, a growing fascination and love of Yemen itself and an appreciation of the people and acceptance that his own quest is not likely to end to his satisfaction. A lovely read for the armchair traveler! ****

That sounds like a good book, Lucy. Hmmm....

Sorry you have been under the weather and had to get up early to drive LD to the train. But, let me ask you... that route that she took... is it basically the same one I will be taking to Montreal next Wednesday? I'm going from Croton-Harmon (just north of NYC) up along the Hudson and into Canada (Amtrak). It's supposed to be beautiful and sounds like what you were commenting on. Spectacular? Gorgeous? Sounds delightful.

btw, glad you are recovering and setting your property up the way you want it. The most I have ever done is move trees. You know. Sometimes they look better "over there" or whatever.

Glad the 'lurgy is decamping. When I got badly sideswiped by flu two years ago, I found audiobooks were the only thing I could tolerate. My eyes simply couldn't focus on the printed word... Horrible.

Loving the bosky dell and the fairy glen, etc...

And shall be curious to see your comments on the book about the fur trade.

>44 sibylline: I like the sound of Motoring with Mohammed. Added it to the wish list.

Hi Lucy, I'm back from my holiday and wish you fabuous Sunday.

81.contemp fic *****
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Drew Hayden Taylor

An entirely successful novel - a funny tale with a serious edge, completely appropriate to the subject, the trickster, Nanabush (known by many names). A stranger - a handsome white man whose eyes keep changing color turns up on a gorgeous motorcycle (Indian Chief naturally) in Otter Lake, a small Ojibway rez, and stuff starts to happen. He's keeping a promise to someone from his past, but the raccoons and several others, among them, Wayne, the 'weird' brother whose been living alone on an island developing his 'native matial art' aren't too happy about what they see and hear. The women mostly like him a lot, maybe a bit too much! but, well..... Nanabush is Nanabush, a force of chaos, so even when he has the best of intentions.... *****

I'm going to have to check out Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, Lucy. I see Deb (vancouverdeb) and Elizabeth (raider girl) have left glowing reviews!

What I am reading this week:

♬

I think it's a clean sweep from last week!

Nancy - this is surely a book to have around for a rainy day - when you really need a wonderful read!

Suzanne - the main character in the book I'm writing is metis and I've had this book on my shelf for quite some time. I'm struggling a little (mostly with my own fears of finishing and dealing with the consequences of that) and so am looking for some inspiration. So far it's a good read, a classic, I understand. My godfather had no sympathy or ear for music and so there is very little in the first two books - but singing and dancing was and is a huge thing with the voyageurs and I do wish I could figure out to get more of it in without betraying the feeling of the book - it's one of the few things I find 'inauthentic' about it as is.

Cee - I think you'll be riding up on the other side of the Hudson and Lake Champlain. So far we only have Amtrak as far as Rutland, although I hear rumours about Middlebury and the train station in Burlington is ready and waiting - refurbished a decade ago by a friend of mine who WANTS THE TRAINS BACK. Both sides are spectacular - the same for the first part up to Albany, both on the east side of the Hudson. Then a split. The track to Rutland, by some miracle, was intact - probably due to the fact that Rutland had heavy industry, including marble quarrying, until not long ago. FYI a huge amount of the the marble used in buildings in NYC up to after the war 2- were from the quarries in Vermont. Then it became cheaper by big boat.

Where does your train stop? You used to be able to ride to Montreal from New York but the train only goes to St. Alban's now and you have to take a bus the rest of the way, a big drag. It stops near Burlington in Essex Junction which is also kind of a drag. That train goes south via White River Junction and Springfield and is much less scenic, although pretty enough at times. No train to Boston either, another big drag. If there was I would be on it all the time.

both books wishlisted for the day they will be available as ebooks, hopefully soon!

Hope you're feeling well. Nice to hear about your always-interesting reading.

What Reba said! And I'm glad that you're really feeling better.

The novel is a Canadian Knopf imprint - not sure how that affects how to find it if is available as an e-book. The Hansen has been out for quite some time, so it should be available as an e-book? Or maybe not? The whole thing is a mystery to me, what gets picked, what doesn't.

Thank you Reba. Random is another word that comes to mind for my reading!

>49 sibylline: "an entirely successful novel" -- that is irresistible!

I love the photo of herself at the top of your thread. (I know, I love all photos of herself.)

And "random" is a perfect description and, in my book, an admirable way to approach reading.

>57 EBT1002: There was a time when my reading was rather orderly - hard to believe now.

Today and tomorrow look to be the last 80 or over days in a long time..... golly..... Vermont summer is just short short short. I think maybe a nor-easter is bearing down? Have to go study a map, but the temps will be in the 60's for several days later in the week. We have turned on our floor to heat it up in anticipation - its overall temp had dropped down to around 60. This has not been a very hot summer!

So, all you folks have heard of hiking camping and car camping and so on, but how about cat camping?

Well, it is camping in your own home so you can be with your cats or, if you prefer, your cats can be with you. We decided to set up an airbed in front of the garage door and sleep there for a few nights and that we would eat all our meals outside - since we aren't doing any kind of vaca this year due to work and life - this is our holiday. Oh and we've also been playing badminton here and there on the net we set up for my music party. So far we've destroyed two rackets (we're not good, the rackets are cheap and ancient).

And you know what? It is kind of working! We've sort of shaken things up and it has been fun. Tonight is our last night, sadly, as the rain moves in tomorrow and my guess is the nights will take a serious dip towards coolness after that, too cool for us wimps.

I should add too, I am fully well today, energy levels normal again. Thank goodness!

>58 sibylline: that sounds like fun, Lucy. And a good reminder that you don't always have to leave home for vacation, as long as you can get creative and shake things up, as you put it.

I was hoping to get a train from Boston to Montreal - but that route doesn't exist.

The only Amtrak route is from NYC straight up to Gare Centrale in Montreal.
There are stops along the way. Don't know how many. Amtrak ads extol the beauty of the ride, but I'm afraid it might be raining Thursday. Might not matter? I have no idea how to travel on a train with luggage, etc. The longest train ride I've ever taken was about 1 hour. This trip will take almost 11 hours! Lots of reading time. Once I get there it's a short taxi ride to our apt rental.
Can't wait.

Hi Lucy! Just breezing through and catching up on the latest. LOVE the fairy houses! What a great idea! And a (very) belated Happy Birthday from me!
If I had the garden space and the weather was good enough, I would pretty much live outside 24/7 in the summer months quite happily. I sort of did that in our little back garden in Exeter, but in Manchester, on the balcony of our inner city flat overlooking a building site...not so much, sadly.

I'm already feeling that I did not spend enough of this summer outside..... this blast of nasty that is coming our way is making me realize that.

> 60 Enjoy your reading time, cee!!! Usually you can put your stuff in a rack over your head - that should just be your clothes and then have a bag of some sort for your valuables and keep that with you at all times. That is what I do. If I am alone I find a woman to sit with if the cars are crowded. That's the best advice I can give. Expect a delay at the border too as customs comes through. And take your passport!!!! (Much worse in the other direction.)

I like the sound of cat camping, part of your stay-cation, Lucy. Sounds like fun!

Oh, I like your idea of camping, Lucy - that's about the only type I'd contemplate trying...

The rain has, at last, arrived, and the temperature is dropping, so we are back in our regular old bed. Miss Po disapproved mightily of the camping in the living room biz, so she was pleased last night when we resumed 'regular' protocols.

#10WHY I STOPPED READING IT - WHICH DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN YOU SHOULD DISMISS THE BOOK
contemp fic STOPPED p. 99
Talk Talk T.C. Boyle

I've pondering what to do about my latest fiction read, Talk Talk by TC Boyle - My 'regular' fiction (mostly contemp novels) reading has been very sketchy lately, that is, I haven't been very engaged by most of the novels I pick up. They feel either contrived or overly detailed or I find I could care less about the protagonist - and sometimes all three at once - what this means I cannot say, although I suspect it has more to do with me than most of the books. On the other hand, this is an experience I've had with Boyle again and again - most of his books engage me from start to finish, and one, Drop City is in my 'top ten' novel list, but about 1/3 of them become so tedious (the Frank Lloyd Wright being the most recent case) I just have to quit. Some are in a sort of grey zone, and these I sometimes furtively quit and others I plodge on dutifully since he is an author I like and respect so much. In this story a deaf woman (pretty and smart - a Marlee Matlin, for sure) has her identity stolen and her life goes to pieces. The narrative shifts between her, her boyfriend (my favorite character, easily) and the man who has taken her identity (her first name, Dana, is gender neutral.) The thing that is interesting about Boyle is that such diverse things that grabs his interest - from the health craze of the early 20th century, to Wright, to Ted Kinsey, to an artist colony, to climate change.... however the inspiration hits him, he researches intensely and then he writes, blending the story with facts - bringing to life, in this case, how it feels to have your identity taken over by someone else. I think where I began to lose interest was with the entry of the thief - he's meant to be, I think, an equally complex character, someone you may not like, but you might come to see is a lost soul.... so that his actions make a kind of sense. Well, I just find him tedious and shallow, so I don't care. I actively don't want to read about him! So if I skip all the parts with him in it, what is the point?

Hmm. So I think I've written my 'why I didn't finish this review' don't you all? I will take this as notice TO 'move on'. It is a mystery to me, however why one of his novels will enthrall me and the next bores.

Now here is a question: Would you post this review on the review page or not? I'm thinking not, I don't like to discourage people and this would.

Lucy, you are so much fun. Cat camping and badminton, eating outside. But yes, there has been a shift in the weather of late. I hope we have a long glorious autumn.

Tui - I live to amuse. This morning my 'unusual' behaviour was to take my morning walk first thing - before the rain got serious. I got home thinking, phew, I made it but when I paused to check out a blackberry bush near the house, the rain began in earnest! Just made it!

We had such a serious downpour hear that it came straight down my upstairs neighbour's chimney onto his floor with such force that it leaked through my ceiling and started ominously drip-drip-dripping onto my living room floor... Thankfully, it stopped when the rain ebbed, but that was scary for a brief while. Neighbor now informed and acting on it...

It really rained in NC around the Triangle last night too. Here, hardly at all.
Lucy, here's a first paragraph from a review of Drop City by an LTer named kirstie - something. (Short term memory more and more shot.) I'd say that you should do the counter post on Talk Talk page for the sake of TCB enthusiasts or curiosity seekers.
"I really wanted to like this more and upon pondering all of the novels I have read by T.C. Boyle thus far, I am kind of wondering if I just started out with the one that had the most interesting topic to me, Talk Talk. Suffice it to say, I'd rather read about the frustrating experience of being a deaf woman in America and having your identity stolen then a bunch of hippies who move from California to Alaska and their adventures."

> 68 Sounds like a close call - thank goodness one of you was home.
Presently pouring buckets here. I took my walk early, but Miss Po will have to forgo her afternoon walk. I threw the tennis ball around for awhile until she stopped bringing it back.....

>69 LizzieD: Ha! And here am I - who would rather read about hippies moving to Alaska! I'm convinced, Peggy.

Here's my new book, as usual, a random pick..... (opposite end of the alphabet from Boyle - next book will come from the middle). Definitely not a sure thing - but if I don't care for it, it'll be one more book off my shelf!


The Financial Lives of the Poets

As of today I am reading these four books:

♬

However.... Yesterday I had to make an unscheduled trip to Albany to pick up the LD at the train station there. Someone in Penn Station put the wrong platform on the board and she and about ten other people heading north on the Ethan Allen sat on the wrong train until finally someone came along and asked what they were doing there. Of course their train had long gone. It's not so much making the mistake, but not sending a conductor down to the 'wrong' platform to check if anyone went down there. The LD was undone, but she said there were other people have major fits and one can hardly blame them. ANYHOW I started to play my podcast of the free Librevox recording of King Solomon's Mines and although the narrator is endearing in some ways, especially for his enthusiasm, his flat mid-western accent (I detect Illinois) is just too far from Quartermain and Sir Harry and all the rest. We have a copy somewhere about so I will finish it (I'm over half way) anon. I did listen to half of it, and I do applaud the fellow for trying. But I couldn't take another minute of it! So I listened to SF stories on Clarkesworld (online sf mag) on podcast and that was fun.

I'm enjoying all my other reads but it has been a busy week!

82. history ****
The Voyageur Grace Lee Nute

The Voyageur examines the folkways, character, and tremendous skill of the French-Canadian men who enabled the exploitation and exploration of the Canadian West and Northwest. Wherever possible Nute uses direct sources - descriptions by others of the voyageur temperament and actions. Neither the great fur trading company emperors (like John Jacob Astor) nor the renowned explorers like Mackenzie, Fraser and Franklin would have gotten far without the toil of these men. Born of the French-Canadian stock around Montreal (many of them descended from the small group of men who had originally accompanied the early expeditions with Champlain and those immediately after him) these men knew how to build a canoe, hunt, run rapids, build a fort - their abilities are seemingly endless. What makes them so appealing, however, is their character, which Nute tries to capture: a very un-Anglo combination of gallic insouciance and charm combined with fierce competitiveness and a lack of personal ambition. They were wild and free and you couldn't order them to do anything, but you could offer a challenge, ask them to prove themselves better than some other, and that would provoke an immediate response. I think Nute successfully balances the temptation to romanticize this very charismatic and contradictory group with the realities of who they really were and their extraordinary achievements. The chapter on their songs, their penchant for singing while paddling, the fact that when approaching a destination they would stop to bathe and clean up in order tomake a fine entrance if possible, offered more proof and insight of how marvelous and unique they were, approaching even the hardest life possible with unimaginable gaiety and joie de vivre. The most important take-away however, is that this group opened the Northwest of Canada and that their 'maniere de vivre' is a deeply-rooted part of the Canadian character and very different from our own driven, self-absorbed and, by comparison, morose and intolerant selves below the 49th. ****

double post....

Well that sounds good, Lucy! The courier de bois songs are still part of the folk music culture. I remember singing a couple in grade school. Our school (in Montreal) also had as its winter coat uniform a hooded navy wool long coat with a red scarf which went around and around one's middle to keep the wind out, called a "Red River coat" after the style of these intrepid men who made it out to the Red River through the water systems.

ETA: we didn't have the Puritan influence you had, vis the "morose and intolerant selves".

I think you would greatly enjoy the Nute, Tui.

Lucy, wonderful review of The Voyageur! Your description of these intrepid adventurers is perfect. This is one I think I would thoroughly enjoy. Please post your review on the book page; there are none there!

A couple of Christmases ago, one of my sisters sent me an audiobook of The Lure of the Labrador Wild; it was an ill-fated expedition into the Labrador, but it was excellent!

Thanks for reminding to post it - I had noticed there weren't any and meant to.

>72 sibylline: An interesting conclusion in your take on the Canadian character. I can still see evidence of the rise to a challenge over following an order. I wonder if that goes along with our politics; how we usually vote against someone or something rather than for someone or something.

It is, perhaps, a moderating piece of the character!! Alice Munro/Robertson Davies turf is as hard and gloomy as anywhere! But generally the Canadians have a .... more genial and cooperative attitude, I'd say, but I'm no expert. But I think these folkways influence attitude by being embedded deep in the collective myths - say, like the cowboy myth down this way.

I reviewed the laugh-out-loud lark The Madonna and the Starship, James Morrow's latest bagatelle, in my thread...post #282.

Certainly nothing to merit a character analysis but a summer time-passer of tasty goodness.

Thanks for the heads up - that looks like a really fun book! On the WL it goes.

>81 sibylline: Goody good good! I hope you'll like it when it comes to the top.

The Nute is definitely up my alley!

Re the Canadian character: what Davies et al are chronicling is what is referred to as the "UEL" way of life, which is the direct opposite of the coureur de bois. UELs were the United Empire Loyalists -- those folks who left the US post 1783 and settled in Canada, forming an elite in Anglophone Canada, especially Toronto. To some extent, they still do run society there, and certainly did into the 60s/70s and arguably into the 80s, when Toronto was called "Toronto the Good" and was terribly, terribly dull (especially compared to Montreal...)

Of course, history ended up with the Anglophone Canadians dictating the shape of things for Quebec, helped by the heavy hand of the Catholic church, until the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s dealt with the latter and cleared the way for Quebec separatism. I remember listening to Gilles Vigneault singing a lot of the classic voyageur songs, and groups like Beau Dommage picked up many of the rhythms and melodies and incorporated them in their music of the late 60s/early 70s.

The song chapter has all the music, so I've been having fun trying out the tunes. The songs have a lot of charm - especially when you imagine the context. Somewhere I have, from childhood, a children's book Sashes Red and Blue Natalie Savage Carlson that I used to love that has quite a bit about the french-canadian/voyageur culture.

New York State had more loyalists than most other states (explained very well in the Dorothy Canfield Fisher book about Vermont, interestingly enough) and some element in my Dad's family who lived in the lower Hudson area moved North during the Revo. Whitethorne. I think they went to Nova Scotia though.

Yes, a lot went to Nova Scotia. I have an entire book about Nova Scotia loyalists... :-)

Some of my ancestors settled in NY and then moved up into Canada that way and for that reason -- the Douglass family. They sailed from Scotland with 10 children, but 7 died en route. This was after 1745... They didn't like the English much, but didn't like the new American regime, either.

Rumor was that I had ancestors in the NY garrison, but I think it was family legend. I think they were just in the Irish militia at the time.

Fascinating It would be interesting to see if any of them still exist.

duplicate post

I spent the entire day yesterday driving from here to Squam Lake in New Hampshire to visit a friend staying at one of the old-fashioned family camps there.... I 'll post a few pix when I get them loaded in, as it was a beautiful day and a beautiful place. Everyone dines in the main dining room and the food was marvelous - dangerous place! Luckily, besides playing our harps together we climbed a small mountain, so I was able to have a scoop of ice cream at lunch and at dinner! What a luxury. It's already a bit autumnal here so we didn't swim, which I would have liked to do as the water was very inviting.

here we go:

View from the screened porch, view from 'West Rattlesnake Mtn.'

This is SOOOO beautiful and I feel relaxed just looking at those pics.

Another bit of heaven!

Ahhhhh. Lovely.

Ah, so beautiful. I'm with Peggy: another bit of heaven!

Beautiful! Very pristine-looking.

Oh no! Another time swamp!

You said it, Roni. And I am extremely tired today, but I did do some significant work - less writing and more thinking - but let's hope it bears fruit!

83. urban fantasy ****
Down to the Bone Justina Robson

I'm done! And Robson did it! This could have been called Down to the Wire..... Won me back over with this last volume in the five book series. Everything came together and worked well for me, and I was engaged. It is, perhaps, an overly convoluted plot but that's how Robson likes it, I think. The important thing is she did know where she was going and got me there too. I don't feel like writing a more complex review, so I'm not gonna! Or maybe I will come back later. ****

And now to finish up King Solomon's Mines to which I was listening but couldn't take the narrator anymore.

>88 sibylline: Lucy, it's so beautiful.

88> That reminds me of the Laurentians; well, it's probably the same mountain chain t'other side of the St. Lawrence. Just the other day I was yearning for one of those kinds of camps. I used to spend my summers at a YMCA adult camp like that in the Laurentians because my dad worked for the Y. It was heaven.

It is idyllic, no question. That must have been so much fun, Tui!

Meanwhile, I'm slogging away at my reads - all have interest, none utterly grab me, although the history of the Abenakis is gripping but also makes me very sad. What happened happened, of course, no changing that, but it is a tale of woe from start to finish.

Wow, that's really beautiful. We're planning a driving trip to New England and Atlantic Provinces next summer. May have to stop by that area.

It's one of the few lakes around that's rated 'pristine' although recently they did find a little something and are tracing it the source of whoever is dumping - but it's unusually unsullied water for nowadays.

Checking in after a rather long absence and love the idea of an old-fashioned family camp where everyone dines in the main dining room! Is the cooking communal in that everyone chips in or is does the set up cover that off? the view alone in the pic you posted would have me there in a heartbeat.

The food is cooked for the 'guests' - it is very good food too, at least the two meals of which I partook!

84. classic sf ****
King Solomon's Mines H. Rider Haggard

My enjoyment of this great adventure tale increased exponentially when I switched to reading the book from audi (it was not professional level). I read it as part of my classic sf (speculative fiction) program and I hope to get to reading She ere too long. I loved the character of Allan Quartermain (just his name is perfect) the self-professed cowardly elephant-hunter, an oxymoron if ever there was one! Quartermain, Sir Henry Curtis, and Good, a former navy man, go to try to find Curtis's brother, who just so happens to have heard rumor of a treasure hidden in the mountains of deepest Africa..... The story is amazingly fresh, even now, and less encumbered by prejudice as opposed to a kind of realism about the times Haggard was living in. Also I found it much funnier than I expected. Good and his 'white legs' and monocle are priceless. ****

I got one of those great deals where you get the Kindle more or less for free (or up to 2 or $3 or something) and the audiobook for 99¢ on Audible for King Solomon's Mines, and they actually sync with each other too. Now you're a member you might want to look up some of the classic titles as I've found quite a lot of them are on offer that way (professional narration guaranteed!). If you search through collection with the "Whispersync" tag, and narrow it down to the audiobook my collection you'll find the selection of 20 or so I've managed to discover so far.

Thanks for that good tip, Ilana - it's great that you know your way around Audible!

Glad to share what I've found so far. I do spend way to much time on that site! I edited above to say "if you search though my collection. A bit more specific maybe!

Lucy, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Lucy, I will probably read King Solomon's Mines myself this year and your review is a timely reminder.

Have a lovely weekend.

85. contemp fic***1/2
new The Financial Lives of the Poets Jess Walter

The many other reviews, including the New York Times assessment have it just about right, as if the 3 1/2 star score. The best part of the book is the documentation of the downward slide into debt. The weakest part is the 'conceit' - that anyone that smart could be stupid enough to think he could make money on a poetry-financial on-line biz. I couldn't go along with that except as a joke, which threw the better parts of the book into jeopardy... The wife is too perfect, a shadow person, idealized and distant - contrasting weirdly with the almost perfect description of Matthew's father slipping into senility - and a believable relationship between them. The group that Matt falls in with, Jamie and Skeet, Dave and Monte, also held my attention even if, once again, Matt's stupidity is too much to suspend disbelief for. It is a tribute to the overall energy and wit of the book that I kept going. It's not a worthless read at all, just an uneven one. ***1/2

I picked this up for a dollar in one of those book carts outside a bookstore getting rid of stock.....

Hmm, enjoyed your comments on The Financial Lives of Poets, but it is definitely one I will pass on. I have something by Jess Walters: A Beautiful Ruins, which I've not yet read. Have you?

No - I'd never heard of him - but in the reviews I noticed that other readers have read and loved some of his other work.

I tried Beautiful Ruins, and didn't enjoy it all that much, so there was no danger of my trying "Financial Lives"...

That said, I did take a peek at Audible.com, and there are a number of versions of King Solomon's Mines available there. I'm wavering between the ones narrated by Patrick Tull and Toby Stephens. Sigh -- decisions...

>114 Chatterbox: I read the Toby Stephens one and loved it!

Hello visitors! I am half-tempted, even though I do own the book, to get She on Audible....I need to get that other voice right out of my head!

And here is what I am reading as of today. To my amazement I finished up 4 books last week. Not quite sure how I pulled that off!

♬

I tried Divergent and decided it wasn't for me. Curious to see what you'll make of The Cuckoo's Calling.

My gracious goodness me! Quite the murderer's row of finished books.

Ilana, I suspect that I wouldn't sit and read Divergent but there are books that 'work' in the car and many that don't at all, mainly not too demanding with a good reader. The reader for Divergent is is good, not great, but appropriate to the material I'd say - and so far the story is not too suspenseful for me - another thing I can't handle when I'm driving. But it remains to be seen if I'll keep going with them!

So far I'm hugely enjoying Cuckoo but I'm a rather unsophisticated mystery reader, however, caring mostly about the interactions between 'the team' - and I find Robin very amusing and Cormoran sufficiently intriguing and their relationship (if you can call it that - entertaining). I haven't solved the mystery although I have some ideas..... anyhow..... I think Rowling may have found her niche which is good, since she loves to write and is a fine storyteller.

The above line-up are the four books I'm presently reading, lots of mischief, mayhem, misery and tragedy in all of them, eh? Although Barrett is always very balanced in her approach - she is, so far, one of the contemp writers who does not fail to please me.

It's NATIONAL DOG DAY, folks! So get busy paying attention to UZ!

Hi Lucy,
Thanks for your train travel tips - they were helpful to me. It all worked so wonderfully. 10-11 hours on a train is not so bad. In fact, I enjoyed it!

National Dog Day??? Cool. We must take Loki on a super-walk!

Happy Dog Day to Miss Po - and doggie hugs, too.

Ahhhhhh...I want a dog (pout) but then our life really doesn't lend itself to that.

When does LD leave for school?

Lucy, I found Cuckoo's Calling hugely entertaining, too. Glad you are enjoying : ).

Wow, I missed the transition to August and almost this entire thread! Sorry... you wouldn’t believe how much of each day the caterpillars are occupying... It is perhaps better to leave things to nature, but nature is cruel.

Fairy houses adorable.
Looking forward to reports on the LD at SLC.

To Say Nothing of the Dog I have lined up for the train to/from the DC meetup this weekend. Encouraging to see 5 stars.
Anne Hillerman I though did a respectable job, glad you agree. She'll be at the National Book Festival.

Every day is National Dog Day over here! Coco is the star of my life, as I'm sure Posy is yours! :-)

One of my favourite things about the first two Galbraith books was the relationship between Cormoran and Robin, otherwise the cases themselves weren't really up my alley.

>121 -Cee-: Thank you, Cee - I'm glad I was helpful, although of course now I can't remember what I might have said.....

>122 RebaRelishesReading: We take the LD to school on Friday! It is looming in a horrible/exciting way. I love having her around even though I am also quite aware she is ready to move on and be on her own. But we are all rather subdued this week. Just at this moment she is cleaning out an old mini-fridge we happen to have around. Our guest room is piled up with all the things she is taking. Her roomies are from Ireland and LA and she will be the only 'local' one who can haul around appliances (fans, fridge that sort of thing). She is going to be in what is called 'the Yoko Ono' house since Yoko lived in it during her time at SLC. It also has a ghost, apparently, in the room next door to the one the LD is in. My best friend at SLC lived in this house his freshman year and I lived next door in the next house (old psuedo-tudor mansions a la pretentious 1920's) so all that is good! If I've said all this already I do apologize... I am so scatter-brained at the mo' it is pathetic.

>123 lit_chick: Oh I think you will be delighted with the Willis!

>124 qebo: Truthfully, in most mystery books all I actually care about is how the main character relates to colleagues and approaches the problem at hand, not the problem itself. Cormoran and Robin are really a good pair. Awkward and interesting.

>126 sibylline: Lucy, we just returned from a whirlwind weekend getting both daughters settled in at Kenyon. Bittersweet, but nice to see them both happy in their surroundings. I noticed in the days leading up to departure, they both became much more openly affectionate with our pets. Not the parents, but the pets. I don't think this is uncommon -- I am sure they will greatly miss the pets, and it's also easier to wallow on the floor and hug a fur friend, than it is to do so with your parents.

Good luck this weekend! I will be thinking of you.

Oh my. I guess I wish you a little wallowing (maybe not on the floor) and hugging before LD starts her next great adventure!
Every day is May Day, but I'll tell her that it's Dog Day too.

>126 sibylline: I'm excited for you all. It sounds just like the college experience I would like to have had, would like my son to have had (neither of us did) and hope my grandkids will have. I'll be thinking about you on Friday and look forward to some stories as the year passes.

That sounds so exciting! A ghost!! :)
That whole roomie thing always sounds scary for me (what if your room mate is partying every night or talks in her sleep?), but as I learned from all the movies and TV shows, it's an integral part of US (and UK?) college life?
In the dorms (Germany) I know, bathroom and kitchen corner were shared, but each had his/her own tiny bedroom. They are also usually not on campus. Renting and sharing flats is popular as well. I guess it makes a big difference that students here are generally older and of age when starting college/university.

>127 lauralkeet: That is so interesting! The LD has been very attentive to Posey - who is the first dog she's ever really really liked. To the cats too, but unusually so to Posey - just as you describe - sitting on the floor putting her in her lap and just staying there for ten minutes at a time. I'm the 'dog' person in the family (even though I love cats, somehow, dogs win) and so..... yep..... it makes sense!

I'm glad you will be thinking of me, I can tell this will not be easy.

>130 Deern: At most colleges in the US freshmen room with at least one roommate. This particular room is extremely large and has some alcove-like spaces so I think they will all be comfortable enough My guess is that it was the master bedroom when it was a house. I think the admin. do this to ensure the first time away from home, students can't close themselves off. She has to do the meal plan for two meals a day minimum also this year, same reason, to get her out and about. After freshman year,the majority of students have their own tiny room - either sharing a 'suite' (eg each has a bedroom with a bath in between) or in a little house-like situation. SLC also has rented, possibly now owns, a small apartment building a short way off campus and a lot of students choose that. They have a wide array of choices for the upperclassmen. I always went for the suite set up while I was there. They had a great vegetarian plan with a lovely austrian woman who cooked everything and we got this attractive little side room off the big cafeteria to eat in. I wasn't a vegetarian, but it was soooo worth it. And it was like having a grandmother looking after you - she always remembered what you'd had for dinner the night before. "More greens for you tonight!" she would say and plop the kale or whatever on my plate. I don't remember missing meat, frankly! She made a wicked stuffed pepper w/rice and beans, let me tell you! The vegetarian food is now streamlined in with every day offerings and the side room was gone too. Too bad!

86. mys ****1/2
new The Cuckoo's Calling Robert Galbraith mys

The Cuckoo's Calling had everything I like in a mystery.... that is.... a reasonable sort of mystery but an enthralling character in the detective and his or her satellites. At the risk of sounding like an auld fuddy duddy I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of gratuitous sex and violence. The one sex moment made me snort with laughter, it was funny and in character. Anyhow, it's all I can do not to rush off and get the next one which is still in hardcover. If I thought Rowling needed the money, well, maybe I would indulge, but rilly. What I am glad about is that she has found her new genre and it is one she can muddle around in indefinitely. Cheers!

>132 sibylline: wasn't that a ripping yarn? Not to tempt you ... but I thought the second one was even better. I was able to get it from my library, and even though the queue was long they had many copies in circulation so the wait wasn't too bad.

>133 lauralkeet: It surely was - so far I've resisted the hardback - I think I'll see if my library has it - if they do I'll request it, if they don't I'll buy it and then give it to them!

Back to add that I really appreciate your support and kind words - I'm sure you're going through exactly what I am, with the advantage of a little more experience. It's nice they are both at the same school too. Today the LD sighed and said, "This waiting is making me crazy!" We came up with a new word for it "hyper-nating" - (Trying to lie low except the inside of your head is abuzz).

>132 sibylline: >133 lauralkeet: I have seen a few posts about The Cuckoos Calling and have resisted until now. I think you finally got me with a book bullet on this one especially with the follow up post with "wasn't that a ripping yarn?"

>132 sibylline: Woot! Delighted you enjoyed Cuckoo's Calling so much, Lucy : ).

>134 sibylline: hyper-nating I like that! Today was the first day of classes at Kenyon which I'm sure my two were thankful for. The waiting is indeed difficult, they are in such limbo for a while. I'm excited for you this weekend!!

So we're home from a celebratory dinner out at our favourite restaurant -- and now it's off to bed. I doubt I'll be here until Sunday or even Monday. The car is packed. I have to figure out what to take - very little - as the car barely has room for more than a pair of socks and a toothbrush!

88. ss ****
Archangel Andrea Barrett

Strange and informative as ever are these stories from Andrea Barrett about a young teacher from Oswego going to study on Penikese Island with Agassiz past his prime, about a young man sent to work for an uncle for a summer who gets a tantalizing look at a better life (this young man turns up later, once again somehow always getting the short end of the stick in the last story). Or... group of geneticists in Europe for a conference at the outbreak of WWI who are torpedoed on their way home in a British ship.... weirdly, a rivalry between two men who both seek the friendship and approval of their mentor, continues even after rescue and forms the story's focus. I scurry to the internet to check up on Agassiz, on genetic research at that early date, on Archangel in Russia. I didn't know that even after Armistice was declared the British, American and Australian soldiers (and a few French too) already stationed in Russia were forced to stay to fight the Bolsheviks. Barrett breathes life into the intellectual ferment in the sciences of that now long-ago time - what it might have felt like to be one of the early ones to 'get' Darwin, and how fiercely some scientists fought certain ideas (well, they still do). Many of the stories tread that mysterious area between faith and fact. Characters from other stories turn up and interconnect and then fly apart - in a way that touches on this theme. Great stuff! ****

Hi Lucy, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

What a wonderful image!

Well, the drop-off is done. I'm a wreck. We finished up and left at about 5:00. Spending the night at a pleasant B&B in Croton-on-Hudson tonight and then heading home pronto in the morning. I want badly to be home!

One thing done. You'll be home before you know it hopefully.

I do hope you get some rest on Sunday.

Day of rest, recuperation, and re-evaluation for ma belle cousine, comin' up!

Thank you all so much, my friends. Stunned. I know, however, she is embarked on a great adventure. Biggest and best in her life!

>141 sibylline:, >145 sibylline: thinking of you, Lucy. Lots of excitement and new friends in store for the LD, not to mention highly stimulating classes. The hubs and I found some bright spots in our empty nest this past week, and I hope you do too.

I think, Lucy, that in all of this kerfuffle and leave-taking, parents like you and Laura need to give yourselves a moment to appreciate the success of all the love and hard work you have done. You have made it possible for a lovely young woman to go out into the world to do amazing things. Well done! The see you laters are hard but the homecomings are sweet.

I'm with Tui. Well said!

Hope the trip home went smoothly and that you get a really relaxing day. Are you having the beautiful weather we had yesterday, I wonder. Hope so.

What Tui said +1000000000000.......!

Oh dear, whatever are you going to do with yourself without the LD to hover around!

;-)

Still, it's a major life change for you as well as her.

>147 tiffin: awwww. Thanks!

Thank you all and esp. Tui for taking the time to write that up - you have no idea how reassuring you are. We got home a couple of hours ago and I took Posey for a nice walk and then wandered around and blubbered a bit and it's a relief to let go and admit to myself how stunned I am and how unprepared I am. I have worked hard to be an unclingy and sensible mother, loving but giving the LD the space she needs and so on, but it isn't going to make this piece any easier. I know that this will be the worst part, the first few weeks. Only thing to do is lose myself in work and music and do some fun things with the poor old dear I live with.

It was funny - the B&B where we stayed was very nice - both breakfasts we ate early and sat with 'the young couples' - in late twenties and early thirties - just married or engaged - and I looked at them and thought, OK, that's probably the next step isn't it. The road has shifted into new and unknown territory, indeed.

Lucy, when my youngest-by-two-minutes upped sticks and left for a city close to four hours away, I was verklempt. Felt as though there was a big hollow shaped exactly like him where my heart should be. We Skyped and phoned almost daily. Now nearly three years later, it has settled into a comfortable absence of emails and phone calls, with great joy when he does visit. You make new patterns and fill in the spaces. I came to understand that he was fulfilling the whole purpose of all those years of raising him: he could both stand and fly on his own.

Oh just saw your edit: very much welcome.

Hi Lucy, I wish I could offer some comforting thoughts and I usually consider myself a rather empathetic person, but when it comes to children, it's so outside my scope of experience, and my own experiences growing up were so abnormal that I can't really relate. That being said, I know any time of transition is awkward and difficult at first, and I imagine letting go of your 'little one', no matter how unclingy you consider yourself to be must be a strange experience. But, think of all the extra time you'll have to devote to reading on the upside though! :-)

Lucy I've got all the 'leaving home' angst to come in about four years time, so can't really offer any useful tips, just general support.

I screwed up my September topic header. So ignore the 'topic continued' - although I have a redirect from there too if you like. You can follow it HERE. Remember to star it if you want to find it again. I don't like the unforgivingness of this piece of LT - first time I've made this mistake, but others have also made it and I've lost them for ages! I didn't notice IMMEDIATELY that I'd made an error or I could have fixed it apparently.
GRrrrr