lkernagh (Lori) embarks on a year of Books, Beads and other things in 2014 - 6th Thread

Welcome to my FIFTH 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 - Hounded by Kevin Hearne
I1 -
I2 - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
I3 - Echoes from the Macabre: Selected Stories by Daphne Du Maurier
I4 - The Secrets of Casanova by Greg Michaels
I5 -
N1 - The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père
N2 - The Table of Less Valued Knights by Marie Phillips
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 - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
O2 - Always Love a Villain on San Juan Island by Sandy Francis Duncan and George Szanto
O3 - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks
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 -

Book Read:

JULY
#33 - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy -
#34 - The Quick by Lauren Owen -
#35 - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith -
#36 - Little, Big by John Crowley -
#37 - H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton -
#38 - Laidlaw by William McIlvanney -
#39 - Sense Pass King: A Story from Cameroon and The Village of Round and Square Houses -
#40 - Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride -
#41 - Small Wars by Sadie Jones -

AUGUST
#42 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -
#43 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen -
#44 - Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas, père -
#45 - Blood in The Water by Gillian Galbraith -
#46 - The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire -

SEPTEMBER
#47 - Guests on Earth by Lee Smith -
#48 - The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris -
#49 - Drood by Dan Simmons -
#50 - How to Cook up a Disaster by Rachel Elizabeth Cole -
#51 - Echoes from the Macabre: Selected Stories by Daphne Du Maurier -
#52 - Done With Men by Shuchi Singh Kalra -
#53 - Giovanni's Room James Baldwin -
#54 - The Table of Less Valued Knights by Marie Phillips -

Book Read:

OCTOBER
#55 - Hounded by Kevin Hearne -
#56 - The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas -
#57 - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks -
#58 - Mãn by Kim Thúy -
#59 - The Martian by Andy Weir -
#60 - Maplecroft by Cherie Priest -
#61 - Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton -
#62 - The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri -
#63 - The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. by Jack London -

NOVEMBER
#64 - The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri -
#65 - The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri -

DECEMBER

Welcome to my "Back to School / Hello Fall" Thread, which is now open for business.

Happy new thread, Lori!

Ooooh. I'm second!! That never happens! Happy new thread, Lori!

I've reviewed two mysteries in my thread. First the new Gamache novel by Louise Penny, The Long Way Home...post #283. Almost five stars!

Then the much older Elisabeth Sanxay Holding suspense novel, The Innocent Mrs. Duff...post #288. Over 4 stars, easily. And guess whose secret identity comes out in the review? Hmmm? Anyone? *significant glare*

Happy New Thred, Lori!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Lori.

Happy new thread, Lori! I'm looking forward to seeing some crafting as well as reading :-)

Nice shelf of books there, Lori! Happy threading!

Happy New Thread Lori!

I really enjoyed Amsterdam a lot in August, and McEwan's Atonement too a couple of years ago, both of which are on my reread list, with every intention to read plenty more of his books. The Virgin Cure has been on my wishlist for quite some time; I'll look forward to your comments on it. I think The City & The City was my first Miéville and I found it excellent. Jacob de Zoet was my only David Mitchell so far. I thought it was good, but I really need to get to more of his books, including the two you've got pictured up there, which have both been on my wishlist for ages. Looks like you've got plenty of great reading ahead and I look forward to your reviews!

Hi, Lori. I can't see the image in >8 lkernagh:. Don't know if anyone else is having that problem.

>9 katiekrug: - Katie! Your First!

.... and I don't even have a prize for you. Will a bouquet of flowers do?



>10 TinaV95: - Well, if second is rare for you, lets see if we can find a little something....how about a potted plant?



>11 richardderus: - Hi Richard! As my absolutely adorable great nephew would say, "Uh oh". ;-)

*scurries over to check*

Well YAY! Are you as surprised as I was to discover that Holding started out as a romance writer before dipping into mystery/suspense?

>12 tymfos:, >13 banjo123:, >14 Ameise1:, 15, 16, and 17: Thanks for the new thread wishes all! Crafting should be back on now that we are entering fall.... I need to start thinking about designing this year's Christmas card.... YIKES!

>18 ronincats: - oh dear. I hope I have fixed that problem.

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I don't know about the rest of you, but the Prairie raised girl that I am loves a good heavy rain and thunderstorm.... something that is a bit of an anomaly out here on the west coast, at least the thunderstorm part is. We had both today, mid afternoon while I was at work and then again when I was making dinner. My supervisor at work is also originally from the prairies and we both agreed that if we were able to choose, we would take severe thunderstorms over earthquakes any day of the week, even if thunderstorms freak the be-geezers out of west coasters .

Anyone have a favorite weather event that they like to safely enjoy? I find there is nothing more relaxing for me then to sit outdoors - under cover - and enjoy the steady drumming of a heavy, pounding rainfall.

Oooh, I love thunderstorms! They've promised me some here on Long Island in the next hour or so. I am ready!

Happy New Thread, Lori!
I had a friend who moved from California to the coastal plains of NC in the prime of hurricane season (now). When the first thunderstorm clouds gathered, she really called her husband and said, "Good-bye, Chris, dear. I love you!" Happily, they all survived.

Oh, I forgot about La Holding: I think Reggie and Jake's marriage sounds like a romance-novel one, yes; and what she then does with it is *outstanding*! I see why Raymond Chandler was such a fan.

>20 richardderus: - So exciting!

>21 LizzieD: - I probably shouldn't laugh but it does amuse me that someone coming from an earthquake zone would find a thunderstorm so frightening. I guess it all comes down to what one is used to experiencing, although I don't think small earth tremors are anything to prepare anyone for larger earthquakes, but that is just my opinion. ;-)

>22 richardderus: - So my book warbling to you has flipped into a book warbling back at me with Chandler books, of which I have never read. Boomerang warbling.... who knew!

I love thunderstorms, too. Also as a kid I was sitting on the windowsill and looking outside during such an event. Especially the smell is fantastic.

Howdy doo, Lori and happy new thread. Thunderstorms are simply marvelous gifts from above for readers....and insomniacs......and curling up with kittens......and well just about anything.

Happy new thread! I will say that in theory, I like thunderstorms. I also like snow-covered trees, but again, only in theory. :-)

Chiming in as another great lover of thunderstorms! Also, just a nice steady, quiet rain is lovely, too, especially when one can stay at home and curl up with a cuppa and a book and just listen to the rain outside. And first snows. Love those, too.

Love the flowers - thanks!

I'm another rain lover, as long as I don't have to be out in it. My favorite are cold rains when one can curl up with a blanket and mug of something warm and revel in being cozy and dry inside.

*waves*

>24 Ameise1: - I remember watching one amazing lightening storm from our living room window and then realizing that the claps of thunder - some at the same time as the lightening - was freaking out my poor cat to no end. He was NOT enjoying the storm like I was!

>25 Carmenere: - I agree Lynda.... the prefect reason to snuggle up with a good book or just take in the weather, from a safe vantage point!

>26 DorsVenabili: - So, if you only like thunderstorms and snow-covered trees in theory, what do you like in practice?

>27 scaifea: - Yay for more thunderstorm love. First snows are extra special... almost magical. I so miss snow.

>28 katiekrug: - My dream home will have one of those wide, sweeping verandas like the wonderful plantation homes of days gone by where I can happily sit in a chair, nice and dry, and enjoy the steady patter of rainfall, even if I have to be bundled up in fleece and wool in the dead of winter. ;-)

>29 MickyFine: - Hi Micky! *waves back*

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The two sudden, short lived and very heavy downpours of rain we experienced yesterday set a new Sept 2 record for Victoria. Previous record for that day was 8.2mm of rain which was set back in 1977. Yesterday, we saw - depending on where one was in the city - a new record of 25mm of rainfall. It doesn't beat the one day record of 41.7mm set back on August 6, 1995, but it has done wonders for giving the city a darn good cleaning! ;-)

I love, love, love thunderstorms! It's the biggest drawback to living on the West Coast. 😖 My room as a kid was the only room on the second floor, with 15 windows, out in the country in central Kansas.

>30 lkernagh: - Oh, well, in practice I like walking around outside on a brisk fall day, when you're almost too cold, but it's invigorating, rather than uncomfortable, if that makes any sense. I also like the smell of cold coats when one comes back in the house. (Is that weird? Ha!)

I grew up in SE Florida where every afternoon during the summer we had thunderstorms and torrential downpours. I can't say I miss them much! I'm a cool, sunny day type person who loves fall.

Lori, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

>31 ronincats: - 15 windows?! WOW! You must have had amazing views of thunderstorms from your room as a kid.

>32 DorsVenabili: - I am with you on the walking outside on a fall brisk day. As for the coats - like wool coats - they tend to smell better when they are just cold as opposed to when they are wet. ;-)

>33 Morphidae: - Did the rainstorms/downpours last long or where they of the quick 15-30 minute variety that then gives way to sunny skies once again? The one thing I hate about sudden downpours is one can get caught outside and way from cover when they hit. Nothing like suddenly looking and feeling like a drown rat. ;-)

>34 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I hope your weekend is equally relaxing.

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We are in for a gorgeous weekend weather wise and I have decided to take things easy - no errands for a change! - and will see if I can get cracking on the books I am currently reading.

Book #47 - Guests on Earth by Lee Smith
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: October 15, 2013
Acquisition date: July 22, 2014
Page count: 352 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /

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

It’s 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital, a mental institution in Asheville, North Carolina, known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital’s most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses cascading events that lead up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Author Lee Smith has created, through a seamless blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart--in which art and madness are luminously intertwined.

Review:
I struggled with this one, as I sometimes do with books that take on a narrative, fictitious memoir feel to them. For books of this type of writing style to work for me I either have to feel empathy or connection with the narrator or else the topic of the story has to rivet me. I really don't know anything about Zelda Fitzgerald - one of the motivations that lead the author to write this story - so I was interested to learn about the mental illness issues she had faced and of her horrifying death along with other "clients" in the Highland Hospital fire of 1948. Medical treatment methods also fascinate me so reading about the insulin and shock therapy treatments that mental patients were subject to - more like experimental guinea pigs than as proven treatments, IMO - was an eye opener. I found the portrayal of New Orleans to be a good one, just enough details for me to visualize the scene and not get bogged down in descriptive details. Sadly, I found Evalina a very difficult narrator for me to connect with or feel any sympathy for. She is all cautious and sheltered angst on one hand while at the same time rather brazen, if not cavalier in her approach to her relationships with others or her own well being. I get the fact that her character's own mental health and her connection with Highland Hospital might lead one to expect these disconnects in her actions and character but I don't know, it just didn't gel very well with me. The same holds true for the ending, which was rather abrupt with the last chapter just leaving me shaking my head.

This may be an interesting read for anyone who has an interest in Zelda Fitzgerald, Highland Hospital and innovative treatments in general, or aspects of North Carolina history.

Another fan of thunderstorms here...And nice, steady rains that allow me to stay inside snuggled up with a good book.

I think I may have been one of the only fans of Guests on Earth in this group. I got it as an ER when it was first released in hardcover. But, there is my background in counseling and mental illness that made the setting overwhelm my issues with the storyline. I can see how that might not be enough to offset those irritating issues with Evalina for other readers.

>37 TinaV95: - Guests on Earth was well researched, that is for sure. Glad to see that you found it to be a good read, Tina!

Book #48 - The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category
2014 Category: Scottish Pub Fare
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: September 1, 2011
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 314 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.80 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: adapted from the Amazon.uk website:

Glasgow, 1946. The last time Douglas Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a dashing young warrior in a kilt. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Hugh Donovan, the only suspect when a local boy is found raped and murdered, from the gallows. Hugh claims he's innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Working with legal advocate Samantha Campbell, Brodie trawls the mean streets of the Gorbals and the green hills of western Scotland in search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of troublesome priests, corrupt coppers and Glasgow's deadliest razor gang, all working to protect their dark and dirty secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man, the murder tally of innocents starts to climb. When Sam Campbell disappears, it's the last straw for Brodie, and he reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. It's them or him...

Review:
Set against the backdrop of post-WWII Scotland (and Ireland), Ferris has created a noir crime story that appeals to my love of stories with a more historical fiction setting. I also like the fact that this isn't another 'cop on a mission' kind of story. This time, the lead character is a former cop, now struggling crime reporter, who ends up butting heads with cops he used to know back during his days on the force. Having a strong female partner in legal advocate Sam Campbell give the story a nice balance to it, and a good thing too as the plot delves into some pretty murky waters of past personal histories and grudges. Ferris also did a great job capturing the strong religious divide between Protestants and Catholics and the wrongs of individuals in a position of power and trust. The story has its gritty moments and the crimes are heinous to say the least, but I think Ferris manages to contain 'cringe factor' moments rather well - enough cringe to make me react but not over the top to make me close the book and walk away from it. Lastly, if you do decide to read this one and you find it is going a bit slow - or the middle makes you want to throw your hands up in the air in frustration - the suspenseful built at the end makes up for any sluggishness encountered earlier in the story. This is one of those few noir books I have read so far that conveys the whole 'hat and trench-coat investigator' feel that I expect from a noir read.

>39 lkernagh: - This sounds good. I've been looking for decent historical crime novels/mysteries. Thank you!

>40 DorsVenabili: - Enjoy!

Book #49 - Drood by Dan Simmons - audiobook narrated by John Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category, ROOTs
2014 Category: Two Can Dine
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: February 8, 2010
Acquisition date: May 12, 2012
Page count: 800 pages / 29 hours, 59 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /

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

On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?

Review:
I started off really, REALLY enjoying this one. It wasn't until I progressed further into the story that I began to realize that this was two books smashed together as one: One fictional memoir style story of the friendship, collaboration and competition of sorts between the two authors (Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins) and a second story that tries to become more of a dark, suspenseful journey into the underbelly of London, ancient Egyptian rites, mesmerism and the hunt for a demonic being. On one level - the characterization of the relationship between Dickens and Collins, as told from Simmons' Collins point of view - the story was a delight to read/listen to. I particularly enjoyed the whole love/hate relationship Collins portrays in his rantings of Dickens as a writer, a family man, a womanizer, and a... dare I say it .... a bit of a control freak. If you try and picture a somewhat attractive, rather bright girl who is always overshadowed by her Prom Queen friend - and rather sick and tired of always being outside the limelight - that would sum up Simmons' presentation of the relationship between Dickens and Collins quite nicely. I probably would have gotten more enjoyment out of this story if I was fully versed in the works of both Dickens and Collins. I have read some of Dickens' works but sadly, none of Collins. Happily, this story has convinced me beyond all shadow of a doubt that I need to start reading some of Collins' stories, if anything, to see if I agree with comments Simmons provides in this story. I do agree with - and had the most delightful chuckle over - Collins' rant about Dickens' Bleak House. What a hoot!

Going back to that darker, mysterious aspect of the story, that just fell flat for me, especially the whole "scarab scrambling around in someone's body" thing, which made me think of the whole Brandon Fraser/Rachel Weisz/John Hannah movie franchise The Mummy and left me rolling my eyes. Suffice it to say, this part of the story was completely anticlimactic and rather 'out there' compared to the otherwise good Victorian period setting and character development. A story I can recommend for these positive bits, with a caveat that you are okay with an unreliable narrator. If you are good with that, and if you like Dickens and/or Collins or are just sitting on the fence wondering if either author is worthy of your valuable time - they were both rather prolific writers! - you might consider giving Drood a go. If anything, Simmons does present a strong bibliographic outline of both authors works, with some interesting - and rather entertaining - constructive criticism commentary. Just be prepared to wade through 800 pages.

Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing issues with TickerFactory tickers? I don't seem to be able to update my books read and pages read tickers.

ETA: Never mind. Problem seems to reside with my computer. I managed to update the tickers using the laptop.

>39 lkernagh: Lori, The Hanging Shed seems to feature on the Kindle pages here quite a bit, so I was interested in your review. There's a stinker of a review on the UK Amazon site, but the others are all pretty good, so this is one I'll keep in mind. Maybe once I've finished Jack Reacher (just 15 books to go!).

>44 susanj67: - Thanks Susan. I loved the setting and the atmosphere in The Hanging Shed so here is hoping the stinker review is just pedantic drivel and you enjoy the story when you find time for it.

Good grief... how many books are in the Jack Reacher series if you have only 15 books to go?! ;-)

Book #50 - How to Cook up a Disaster by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: ePub
Original publication date: October 1, 2012
Acquisition date: May 19, 2014
Page count: 68 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /

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

Sadie Dawson's mother goes into labor hours before her great-grandfather's 100th birthday party and Mom refuses to cancel the festivities. Now it's up to domestically-challenged Sadie to host the dinner party--only she hasn't a clue how to cook a turkey. This could be the mother of all culinary disasters, but with the help of her two best friends, Sadie is determined to pull off the best dinner party in a hundred years.

Review:
I was surfing through my e-book library on my device one evening looking for something light weight to read as my 'read in bed' book and came across this short chicklit 'novellette' (short novella) that I had won through LT's Member Giveaway program back in the spring and then forgot all about it. I tend to like the occasional chicklit read and this one was no exception. Fun, slightly sassy and with a bit of a YA flair to it, I read the story from start to finish over the course of one hour and had a few giggles and chuckles along the way. Stories that involve a gathering of family members are the perfect backdrop for an author to have fun with plots and characters. Cole pulls off the 'derailing event' concept in an entertaining way that had me looking forward to finding out just what else could go wrong, or if it could be salvaged. If you like a light, breezy chicklit story, this DIY Dating Book 1 story may appeal to you.

Lori, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Drood doesn't sound like my cup of tea so I think I'll give it a miss. I do like Wilkie Collins, though. The Moonstone and The Woman in White are both classics.

Hmm. I have Drood on my pile, and generally love both Dickens and stories about the underbelly of London during that time period. But your review makes the book sound kind of iffy.

I supposedly won Guests on Earth as an LT ER book, but it never arrived. This is the second review I've read that made me think that was just as well. The premise sounded interesting to me, but the execution sounds lacking.

The Hanging Shed sounds good. I'm debating whether to take the book bullet . . .

re: the weather question, as a child I loved to watch thunderstorms. We'd open the drapes on the picture window and I'd ooh and aah like it was fireworks, while my Mom pretended to enjoy the spectacle, but years later admitted that she was cringing all the while. I'm more like Mom regarding lightning these days.

I love to watch a nice, fluffy snowfall -- but only if I don't have to go out on the road in it!

Howdy Lori,
You are going well on your reading BINGO, I have stalled with mine and cant seem to fill the last 4 or 5 categories! Ah well, I have the rest of my life to fill in the squares I figure, so I won't worry about it too much :)

>46 lkernagh: So a Novellette is a short novella?! Who knew! It must be only a few pages then....like 68 I see (don't mind me, I am practically talking to myself here- I am on a go-slow today after a busy day yesterday)

>47 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! Like your picture, my weekend is swimming along nicely!

>48 cbl_tn: - After reading Drood I am really looking forward to reading some Wilkie Collins. Both The Moonstone and The Woman in White - along with a bunch of his other works - were described in enough detail in Drood to make me feel as though I will enjoy both books. I have a copy of The Woman in White but I want to save it for later this autumn.

>49 banjo123: - I know a number of other readers really enjoyed Drood but it probably would have been a better story if the 800 pages had been compressed into 600 pages, or even 550, but that probably would have disturbed the rhythm Simmons had with his writing style and detailed descriptions.

>50 tymfos: - It was a bit muddled in the execution, for me anyways. The Hanging Shed is the first book in a series, if that might help sway your book bullet decision. I know the last things some of us need is another series to follow.....

I hear you on enjoying snowfall if you don't have to drive in it!

>51 LovingLit: - Hey Megan! I was a little surprised to see the story described as being a 'novellette' and still don't buy that there is a distinction between a novella and a novellette, which seems to be something to do with word count.

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

I haven't really been in the mood for any reading this weekend... too busy enjoying the continuing summer weather. We watched the movie The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan and I have to say, it wasn't what I was expecting. Very opulent and dazzling eye candy for sure but it felt as though the movie was too busy being eye candy and didn't really get into the characters. Is it just me or did anyone else have a difficult time picturing DiCaprio as Gatsby?

Another wonderful Sunday. Finished watching the fun Sunday afternoon- styled movie Once Upon a Crime. Spent the early afternoon curled up in a chair outside reading Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Spent the morning baking bread - oatbran - and attempting some savory scones, because I had realized that I have run out of baked goods that I can take into the office as a mid-morning snack. I haven't made scones for a long, long time so I was rather happy with the results:



I used the following Savoury Cheddar Herb Scones recipe with the following modifications:
- added 1/2 cup of chopped bacon bits
- used fresh rosemary, thyme, chives and parsley from my herb garden
- replaced the buttermilk with homogenized milk
- used a mustard seed-styled Dijon mustard.
This recipe was super easy to make and the finished product gets two thumbs up from my other half in the edible department. It is not quite a cheesy as I would like and I think I need to add more chopped fresh herbs next time. I plan to use this recipe as a base and continue to manipulate the ingredients a bit.

Wow Lori those do look one heck of a savoury treat!

Oh my, those look wonderful! I'm tucking that recipe back to try sometime - I love making scones.

>53 lkernagh: Those look good, but I think I would prefer mine "sans" (without) mustard.

Those scones look so dangerous!

Another major Wilkie Collins fan here.

>54 PaulCranswick:, >55 scaifea:, >56 thornton37814: and >57 sibylline: - Thanks! They were good and my second batch made last night with dill worked wonderful! I am very happy to have found such a versatile recipe that I can mix and match, so to speak. ;-)

>56 thornton37814: - The mustard taste was not noticeable in the scones but I am sure you could leave the mustard out or substitute it with something else.

>57 sibylline: - I so need to start reading Wilkie Collins books! ;-)

Today we saw our first true indication that autumn is approaching. I am looking forward to a rainy day tomorrow - I will be working indoors all day so it can rain all it wants - and plan on sliding back into my more autumn winter dinner soup ideas. With my scones success, I am in the process of attempting some dinner rolls for tomorrow night's homemade broccoli cheddar soup. I don't usually use milk and eggs in my bread ingredients and I want to see if I can make Parkerhouse style bread rolls using my muffin tin so I am in experimentation mode this evening.

On the reading front, I have the following three books on the go:

Currently Reading:


Audiobook: Echoes from the Macabre by Daphne Du Maurier - a read that will fit my short story square in my BINGO reading card.
ebook: Done with Men by Shuchi Singh Kalra - A free Indiareads book that is proving to be a rather lightweight chicklit read.
Physical book: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - A ROOTs read that also fits the American Authors mini-challenge mark in running

Broccoli cheddar soup? Dinner rolls?? I'll be right over...

LOL! Dinner will be at seven.... ;-)

*sigh* I didn't make it. And it sounded so, so good, too. Dang.

I preferred The Woman in White (8/10 stars) over The Moonstone (6/10).

Broccoli Cheese Soup? Recipe, please!

Scones look delicious! I'm with Morphy on wanting the recipe for your soup. :)

>61 scaifea: - Dang but hey, the commute over could have been a problem. I will post the recipe (what I can remember I did, anyways) and you can make it yourself. ;-)

>62 Morphidae: - Great! I have The Woman in White, not The Moonstone, so I think I have my first Wilkie Collins' read all lined up! The recipe below is what I remember as I made it from scratch and didn't follow a recipe. Here goes:

Broccoli Cheddar (Cheese) Soup

1 cup cream (what I call 'half and half' and use in coffee)
2 cups milk (I used homogenized but 2% would work just as well)
1 to 1 1/2 cups water (will explain below)
half of a medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (I prefer to buy chopped garlic in oil sold in the stores in jars)
1 to 2 tablespoons of butter (can substitute with oil)
4 cups of finely chopped fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups of grated medium or aged cheddar (my other half is a cheese lover and had diminished my cheese supply so our soup ended up being a combination of medium cheddar, jalapeno Monterey jack and Parmesan cheeses, which worked really well, so feel free to experiment with cheeses!)
2 tablespoons of mustard seed mustard or other mustard (optional - but recommended)
barley flour (thickener) - added as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Prep the cheese, broccoli, onion - pretty much everything that needs to be chopped or grated. In a medium to large saucepan, add butter or oil and set the burner at medium heat. When butter is melted, add onion and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add cream, milk, cheese, mustard (optional- but note that mustard pulls out and make the flavour of the cheese more robust) and 1 cup of water and stir or whisk off and on until all ingredients are melted and it starts to bubble/boil. While you are waiting for the soup base to boil, steam the broccoli just to the point where it is cooked. I use a double boiler/steamer but a quick cooking in the microwave with some water accomplishes the same thing. Going back to your soup base - which you have been stirring/whisking to ensure that the milk/cream doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan - check it for the consistency you prefer. If after a couple of minutes at temperature the soup is too thin - my other half like thicker soup bases - I slowly add barley flour 1 heaping teaspoon at a time and continue to whisk and check for changes in thickening. Barley four is an amazing thickening agent and works way better than ordinary flour or corn starch, IMO and with no lumps! If you thicken the soup too much, you can always thin it out by adding more milk or water to the soup. Season with salt/pepper to taste - I am a huge pepper fan so I go pepper crazy. Once you have the soup base to the consistency and flavour that you want, add the freshly cooked broccoli and let it all simmer, now on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. Ah, voila, soup is ready for serving. This recipe would serve 4-6 as a main meal and 8-10 as a first course.

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Yay, it is the weekend! Actually, I have had a great week in general. Happily working on a project at work that makes the time fly by and getting ready to start winding down my outdoor herb garden as the colder weather starts to creep in. I have been spoiled with all the fun I have had baking and cooking with fresh herbs that I don't think I can ever go back to dried herbs. I have started shopping online for herb seeds so that next spring I can work on starting the herbs indoors until the warmer weather hits. I am looking forward to expanding the garden to include mint, tarragon, and anything else that will grow well as a container garden. Yes, I am stubborn and will continue my efforts to grow dill. My basil plants are bursting with leaves right now so this weekend I will make my first batch of pesto.

Last night, we enjoyed a wonderful movie that i have to gush about here so feel free to move on if movie gushing isn't your thing. We watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty last night and I have to say, what a fantastic movie and what a modern take on the short story originally written by James Thurber published in the New Yorker Magazine back in 1939! I highly recommend the movie, if you haven't seen it already.

>63 TinaV95: - I was so busy trying to write the soup recipe I completely missed your post, Tina! The scones were great and I love how well they freeze. I bought some round and square shaped cookie cutters the other day and I love the cute little bite-size scones I can make with the smaller cutters. None of this ginormous cafe scone sizing for me! ;-)

>64 lkernagh: Aaaah, sounds delicious but not something we can do right now. MrMorphy is unable to make bases. He always lets it burn. He doesn't have the patience to stand there. I'm willing but can't stand that long! Ah, well. One more thing to look forward to when I get this weight off!

Hi Lori! Your kitchen forays are very inspiring -- thanks for sharing recipes!

Have you read Fugitive Pieces? I noticed it up in your thread topper. I have that nook somewhere but I've not read it yet.

Hoep you're having a great weekend.

Thanks for the recipe, Lori!

>66 Morphidae: - I understand. There is nothing worse that trying to work with a burned soup base. Glad to be of assistance for future cooking ideas!

>67 AMQS: - I will admit that having a herb garden has really turned me into more of a foody. My other half is loving the fact that i keep expanding my repertoire of homemade items. Next on the list will be homemade salsa. ;-)

No, I haven't read Fugitive Pieces yet and it has been sitting on my TBR bookshelves for a couple of years now. So embarrassing. Weekend has been fantastic, I hope your weekend has been equally good!

>68 scaifea: - Anytime, Amber!

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

I have been having a good and productive weekend, even though that wasn't quite what I had in mind. Yesterday was supposed to be a relaxing day of reading but one thing led to another - that whole chain reaction thing - that started with the breeze blowing my ready to harvest basil plant, not once, not twice, but three times to to deck floor so I spent some time harvesting and cleaning the leaves in preparation for making some pesto. Which them lead me to clean my Cuisinart hand prep blender as it has been shelved for a while, which lead me to notice that the toaster (beside it) was in need of de-crumbing which then lead to deciding that the electric kettle needed cleaning/ de-calcifying, and so on and so on.....

On the good news front, I have found a way to make use of the Hoopla services offered through my local library, even though downloading and listening to audiobooks is a problem for my iPod. We have a laptop that is linked to our TV and wi-fi for watching the offerings on Acorn TV and it just occurred to me that we can do the same thing with all the thousands of movies that Hoopla have in their system. Each library card holder is restricted to 12 borrows each calender month but between both of our library cards, we can watch for free 24 movies a month. Nice! We watched the John Candy movie Canadian Bacon last night, just cause. ;-)

Even with all of this unplanned activity, I still managed to get in some reading time and finished both my audiobook and my e-book. See reviews below.

Book #51 - Echoes from the Macabre: Selected Stories by Daphne Du Maurier - audiobook read by Valentine Dyall
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: A Book of Short Stories
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1976
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 352 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.80 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: from the Barnes&Noble.com website:

Echoes From The Macabre is a collection of short stories written by Daphne Du Maurier. The nine fantastical tales concerning the supernatural and mythical include:

Don't Look Now
The Apple Tree
The Pool
The Blue Lenses
Kiss Me Again, Stranger
The Chamois
Not After Midnight
The Old Man
The Birds.

Review:
I was really looking forward to some spine chilling, 'raise the hair on the back of my neck' kind of stories. Instead, I found the stories to be of a more subtle, disquieting nature and even then, some of the stories came across as rather flat. Don't get me wrong. Du Maurier does a good job of getting into the psyche of her characters. I just find her writing to take a rather 'matter of fact' tone that doesn't draw a reader like me emotionally into the stories. I listened to the stories over the course of one week. The reader of the audiobook I listened to, Valentine Dyall, has a wonderful older gravely voice that is perfect for stories that tend towards the horrific but even he was unable to get more that a slight reaction out of me to the stories. If I had to choose favorites out of the bunch, I would choose Don't Look Now for the Venice setting and the rising disquiet of one of the main characters and The Old Man for its surprise ending and how a writer like Du Maurier can get the reader to imagine one thing when something quite different has occurred. Kiss Me Again, Stranger was, well, a bit odd but an interesting post WWII setting. The rest of the stories, including Du Maurier's famous story The Birds were just average or less than average reads for me. I will admit that I prefer Du Maurier's The Birds over Hitchcock's adaptation. Du Maurier's story is focused solely on the rising human fear and dread of a looming apocalypse. I don't even remember the premise for the other stories - that is how memorable they were for me.

I would probably recommend these stories to a fan of Du Maurier or a reader who prefers their horror stories to be of a subtle, disquieting nature. None of the stories are scary enough to keep one awake at night, trembling in bed, that is for sure.

Book #52 - Done With Men by Shuchi Singh Kalra
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: ebook
Original publication date: February 7, 2014
Acquisition date: February 15, 2014
Page count: 159 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /

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

Travel journo, Kairavi Krishna (Kay) has had it with men. After a series of disasters (losers, philanderers, leeches, mama’s boys and possessive psychos), she is all too tempted to walk out on the prospect of ever finding love. Accompanied by her best friend and flat-mate Baani, she sets off for Goa, hoping to get away from her miserable love life and vowing to stay clear of the male species. Goa however, has a host of surprises in store for her. Ricky, her pesky ex-boyfriend, is busy painting the town red with his hot new girlfriend. Now what is poor Kay to do, other than overdose on vodka, smoke pot, get an outrageous tattoo and fall off the hotel balcony? She wakes up in the hospital to the tender ministrations of Dr.Vivian D’Mello—young, suave and handsome as hell. Will Kay stick to her guns or will she fall for his ridiculously sexy charms? And what’s up with the mixed signals he’s giving out?

Review:
This story was a free ebook download from the Indireads website, a publisher focused on making available stories of South Asian fiction. Having read and enjoyed their anthology of short stories Love Across Borders I was more than happy when I received the email back in February of the free download offer for Done With Men. Probably geared more towards a slightly younger audience than middle-aged me, Kalra has written a breezy chicklit romance that, while rather unbelievable in places, makes for perfect escapism reading. While a bit gimmicky, I rather enjoyed the 'Thought Bubble' - Kay's inner conscience - that would appear from time to time with the odd comment/opinion. The characters, while fun, are really there just to help propel the story along, like a gang of friends so don't expect any deep, meaningful character development in this story. I will admit that as the story progressed, I started to weary of Kay, the whole pouty nature and all night partying and had to remind myself that she is only a young 20-something and the travel writer job is her first job after completing university.

A funny, entertaining read by a new writer and I hope Kalra will be writing more stories. This story may appeal to readers who enjoy the works of Marian Keyes or Sophie Kinsella and are looking for something with a more South Asian feel to them.

>53 lkernagh:: Lori, those scones look like the perfect work snack. I think bacon makes almost anything better. Glad the herb garden is making itself useful.

I came here looking for your thoughts on Giovanni's Room and am leaving with some new recipes to try if I ever cook again. Ha! I'll be back to see how you liked the Baldwin book.

>72 Donna828: - I did enjoy the Baldwin book.... it just took me a while to get my thoughts organized. Always happy to hit visitors with recipes. I find the best recipes are the ones that don't seem to appear in the published cookbooks. ;-)

Book #53 - Giovanni's Room James Baldwin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge), ROOT
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1956
Acquisition date: July 14, 2012
Page count: 176 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.40 out of 5 /

Book description/summary: from the book back cover:

Set in the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now-classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

Review:
Written with wonderful awareness and prosaic beauty, Baldwin gives the reader an insight into expatriate life in 1950's Paris and a young man's struggles to come to terms with his sexuality and his sexual identity. Underneath this struggle lies a love story, albeit a repressed one fraught with guilt, as David struggles to avoid certain choices for reasons of social and familial acceptance. I found the feeling of isolation David experienced harrowing as he internalized his struggle and tried to put on a brave, indifferent front and a strong emotional theme of the story. The story is about awakening to reality. About climbing above the fog that society expects one to remain enveloped in. It is also about how trapped one can feel when society exhibits indications of refusing to accept someone for who they are.

Overall, a beautifully written story I am very happy to have finally read it.

>53 lkernagh: Boy, they look yummy!

Sorry to hear that the du Maurier wasn't more compelling.

Please, join Diana (Wilkiec)'s thread. She needs our support. Thanks a lot.

Glad you enjoyed Giovanni's Room Lori. I just added it to the tbr this month after reading Going to Meet the Man, which I thought was pretty great. I should really review it, but I always find reviewing short story collections really challenging and almost impossible to talk about unless I take notes, which I rarely do.

*lurk*

Hi Lori, lost track of you for a bit … not hard to do with this busy 75er Group! Your cheddar herb scones look fabulous, as does your bread.

I've got to get around to reading Giovanni's Room.

Happy Weekend,Lori! Excellent review of Giovanni's Room. A perfect summation. I loved the book too. Baldwin was a good choice. Now for Wharton...

>75 tymfos: - Thanks, Terri! I froze two bags of scones and pulled one of the bags out last night. So good lightly toasted! I tend to struggle a little bit with du Maurier. Rebecca, while a decent read, had the same flat and rather dated quality that I also noticed with the short stories. I was also kind of hoping for something scarier than what I ended up listening to.

>76 Ameise1: - Thanks for posting the link Barbara. I hope Diana is improving. My thoughts are with her.

>77 Smiler69: - Baldwin has a great writing style that appeals to me. A little detached but only enough to keep the reader more focused on the whole story, not just the emotional elements of it. Short story collections are hard to review and I tend to find that I shouldn't treat them like potato chips - read right after another. I think I prefer anthologies as the different author writing styles make it easier to stop from falling into that 'same old, same old' trap I find when I read a collection of one author's works.

>78 ronincats: - *waves at Roni*

>79 lit_chick: - This baking (and cooking) from scratch has been fantastic. I can't go back to store bought bread, or baked goods anymore which is a good thing as I can make tiny bite-size scones and smaller muffins that will satisfy my hunger while not packing on a bazillion calories. I have been experimenting with a healthy carrot muffin batter (with wheat germ, raisins, chopped pecans and sweetened with crushed pineapple) but I need some further experimentation before I will be really satisfied with the results. Once I have it all figured out to my liking, I will post here with the results and the recipe for anyone interested.

>80 cammykitty: - I think enough readers - thanks to Mark's American Author Challenge - have been very satisfied with Baldwin's writing so I think I am safe in saying that I believe you will find the story a good one. ;-)

>81 msf59: - Happy weekend to you Mark! Thanks! Baldwin was an awesome choice! I don't have a Wharton book waiting for me on my TBR bookcases, but no worries, I have a Watson book that I am looking forward to reading in December!

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Hi everybody! After a rather damp and somewhat foggy week, the sun came out today. A little too cold for sitting outside to read - what with the cooler temps and the slight breeze - but I am always happy to see the sun, and the rain, for that matter. One doesn't have to shovel.

You know it is fall when the Girl Scouts/Guides are at the entrance to the grocery stores with their cookies on a Saturday! I am not a fan of their vanilla and chocolate sandwich style cookies but I love to support the troops so I purchased one box as I was leaving the store. Imagine my surprise when I discovered (after I got home) that the cookies were my favorites: The mint chocolate ones with the chocolate dipped coating! OMG! It has been over five years since I have last seen these cookies and my other half - after eating a cookie - was an absolute sweetheart to head out to the store for me and purchased four more boxes. It wouldn't have been safe for me to go back. I would have bought ever box they had and shanghaied the adults to give me a direct connection to their source. Sad, I know, but these cookies are just that darn good! At least this way I only have two cookie addictions currently in the house, the other one being these:



Discovered these three weeks ago on sale and all I can say is: Super YUM! Seriously, I am hooked!

On the reading front, I have managed to finish another book and have lined up my next reads.

Book #54 - The Table of Less Valued Knights by Marie Phillips
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: A Funny Book
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Hardcover
Original publication date: August 12, 2014
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 320 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /

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

Sir Humphrey du Val has had enough. Relegated to the Table of Less Valued Knights--Camelot's least prestigious spot--he has been banned by King Arthur from going on quests, and hasn't left the castle in 15 years. After a chance meeting with Elaine, a young maiden in search of her kidnapped fiancé, Sir Humphrey, along with his squire Conrad (an undersized giant) and Jemima (Conrad's elephant), sets off on a journey to find the distressed damsel's betrothed, hoping to restore himself to a place of honour at the Round Table. Meanwhile, Martha, an errant queen on the run from her new power-hungry husband, is in disguise and on a quest of her own to find her long-lost brother, the true ruler of her realm. The two questors literally collide on their respective quests. As they journey through countryside, castles and villages, they gather unlikely friends and enemies along the way. While each member of the party secretly harbours their own ambitions for the quest, their collective success, and the fate of the realm, rests on their grudging cooperation and unexpectedly interconnected lives.

Review:
I have yet to read my copy of Marie Phillips's debut novel, Gods Behaving Badly, but as a fan of all things Arthurian - okay, maybe not all things as I struggled with The Mists of Avalon and a couple of other books loosely based on Arthurian legends - but this did look like fun when I saw mention of it, so I requested my local library to purchase a copy. I like it when I get to request book purchases - I always manage to get first in the request queue for the copy with it arrives. The following quote from the amazon.ca website sums up my thoughts regarding this one rather well:

"The Princess Bride meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail in this funny, charming, and delightful tale about lesser-known heroes in Arthurian England."

This story is not a work of stellar comic genius, IMO, and it is also not overly original (as noted in the quote above), but it is an entertaining read that got more than a few chuckles out of me. Favorite characters for me are Sir Humphrey, who is a little rusty at this whole questing business, and the Locum of the Lake, the stand in for the real Lady of the Lake who has run off with Merlin, but all of the characters have that wonderful quality that makes even the evil characters more like bumbling buffoons on a mission of misadventure. Phillips manages to bring some interesting surprises to the story and while there is no cliffhanger at the end, Phillips did end with a perfect segue to lead into a second book.

Overall, a fun blending of bawdy humour and a viewpoint of lofty Camelot from some of Arthurian England's more 'fringe' characters.

Currently Reading:

Audiobook: Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks - a non-fiction read for my Bingo challenge
ebook: The Viscount de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas - First of four books in the last volume of Dumas' D'Artagnan Romances series and part of my continuing journey to read all books in the series this year.
Physical book: Hounded by Kevin Hearne - Due to all the love here on LT for this series, this book is also a perfect fit for my Bingo challenge and the October random CAT on the 2014 category challenge group.

Lori, I wish you a lovely Sunday.

Thanks Barbara! I love the picture!

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Last night was a lazy, stay at home kind of evening watching movies. We watched the Ben Affleck movie Paycheck and the movie Perfume, The Story of a Murderer. Paycheck was a good action thriller with a puzzle to unravel. I loved how there were 20 everyday items that Affleck's character had to figure out how and when to use them. As for Perfume, what a strange story! Very dark. At least I don't have to read the book now. Great performances by Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in that one.

Today will be a quiet day puttering around getting some household chores done, making bread and relaxing with a book.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Lori, sounds like you have the perfect Sunday planned. I've got chores to do too, but LT first!

I'm interested in your carrot muffin recipe when you have it perfected to your standards. I'm just in awe of your baking from scratch all breads, crackers, scones, etc. You're a marvel!

Enjoyed your review of The Table of Less Valued Knights. I'm not much of an Arthurian-ish fan, although I wish I was. I do have Mists of Avalon in my iPad, but it has been there for a LONG time waiting on me. This one sounds like it had the premise right: humour … but didn't quite live up.

I think Paycheck is highly underrated but that could just be my fondness for those kinds of movies. Glad you enjoyed it.

Glad you loved the Baldwin, Lori. You said what I wanted to say. I couldn't find the proper words. I think I sometimes jump into review mode too quickly after reading an emotionally draining book like Giovanni's Room. Hope your weekend is going well. I am in CO with my Hope!

Hello Lori,

after this very long absence I am just stopping by to say Hello.

So you saw the movie to one of my favourite books and think you don't need to read it anymore? Well, I have to admit that this is one of the few movies which is actually well done and had absolutely stunning special effects. However, I still think it's worth reading The Perfume.

>88 lit_chick: - Not as much reading as planned but otherwise a wonderful Sunday, Nancy! I will share the muffin recipe, once I fine tune it. ;-)

From a humour perspective, The Table of Less Valued Knights might appeal to more readers than it did for me. I will admit I am not a big fan of all of the Monty Python stuff - some of it just goes past me with a 'say what' expression but I do continue to love The Princess Bride and this story was more in keeping with that wonderful movie.

>89 MickyFine: - Agreed, Micky. I really enjoyed Paycheck and I am glad that the non-movie goer that I am gets to experience so many great movies with no hype - or negative reactions - to influence what I think of the movies. I may be 10 years late in watching this one and I am happy to report that it does not feel dated in any way.

>90 Donna828: - The Baldwin read was a tough one to nail down in a review. I still feel as though I have missed conveying all that I wanted to but I am willing to let the book speak for me. Have fun in CO with wonderful Hope!

>91 drachenbraut23: - Bianca?..... it IS you! How wonderful to see you here!!! I do miss seeing you here on the threads so very happy you are back visiting. I hope you are keeping well. Okay, you have convinced me... I probably should read The Perfume. I am sure the library has a copy I can borrow.

Good morning, Lori! I hope your week is splendid.

Thanks Terri! I am still struggling with how dark it now is first thing in the morning. I miss waking up with the sun! ;-)

It is hard this time of year as the sun goes away, innit?

I enjoyed Gods Behaving Badly, so thanks for the heads up on the new book by the same author. Hope all's well there with you!

I just added Giovanni's Room to my wish list and gave your review a well deserved thumbs up! :)

Lori, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

>95 sibylline: - I miss the early morning sun.... and the after dinner sun. I miss that, too. ;-)

>96 michigantrumpet: - All is well Marianne and very happy to see that enjoyed God Behaving Badly! The fall always seems like such a busy time of year. I seem to spend all my time doing things and yet is seems as though I still have a pile of things I haven't found time for.

>97 TinaV95: - Thanks Tina! You can't go wrong with the Baldwin book. It really gave me a lot to think about.

>98 Ameise1: - Weekend has been great, Barbara even though it is already almost over. I would love to be the solitary canoeist in the water just like in the picture. So tranquil.

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I have just been reminded that next weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. The other half has been tasked with shopping for the turkey and I have been spending time this weekend online getting recipe ideas for everything from cranberry sauce to stuffing mix as the goal this year is to make all of the dishes from scratch - or as near as scratch as possible.

It has also occurred to me that I never got around to posting my September stats. I will get around to that. Not much on the reading front, although I have, as of this afternoon, finished Hounded. I just need to whip up a quick review but that may not happen until tomorrow.

SEPTEMBER RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris - 3.80 /
How to Cook up a Disaster by Rachel Elizabeth Cole - 3.70 /
Drood by Dan Simmons - 3.30 /
The Table of Less Valued Knights by Marie Phillips - 3.30 /
Done with Men by Shuchi Singh Kalra - 3.20 /
Guests on Earth by Lee Smith - 3.10 /
Echoes of the Macabre: Selected Stories by Daphne du Maurier - 2.80 /

Largest Book read: Drood at 800 pages
Smallest Book read: How to Cook up a Disaster at 68 pages
Books still in progress at the end of the month: Hounded by Kevin Hearne, The Viscount of Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas and Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks
Interesting Fact: Nothing comes to mind.

2014 Category Challenge: (completed on September 11th)
World Cuisine - 7/7
Ye Olde Traditional Fare - 7/7
Lunch to Go - 7/7
Petit Fours - 7/7
Two Can Dine - 7/7
Scottish Pub Fare - 7/7
Smorgasbord - 7/7

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.



I am confident that Shamrock will continue to remain in the lead and I should be able to reach my pages read goal by the end of November. It is now just a question as to whether or not I can manage to read 75 books. Get ready to see some short books come December!

Book #55 - Hounded by Kevin Hearne
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: A Book Your Friend Loves
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Original publication date: May 3, 2011
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 289 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /

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

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer. Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

Review:
There is huge love here on LT for Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles books and after finally caving and reading the first book in the series, I can understand why. Hearne has a wonderful way of blending modern day life with the myth and legends of ancient times. For me, it was the 'down-to-earth' personality of our last of the Druids, the lively personality of his elderly Irish neighbour Mrs. MacDonagh and the conversations Atticus has with Oberon, his Irish wolfhound that gave new life to what could have been just another fantasy fiction story based in part on Celtic mythology. More a fun loving piece of escapism for the humour and banter than for any kickass fantasy battles, IMO, but still a good piece of urban fantasy to unwind with after a busy day.

Brilliant review Lori,

I read the first 3 books a couple of years back and your review reflects very much how I felt about Atticus. However, I always felt the best assett of this books were these incredible comic conversations with Oberon.

I can't wait to hear about your Thanksgiving feast, Lori -- I love hearing all about what you're conjuring in the kitchen!

Sounds like you are going to be having a delicious Thanksgiving, Lori. I got lucky this year and don't have to cook as the elder daughter has decided to provide the feast. I will be giving thanks that I don't have to do the cooking!

Lori, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori. The U.S. version is six weeks away. I always look forward to a holiday to eat and be thankful. No gifts to worry about!

>102 drachenbraut23: - Thanks Bianca! Atticus and Oberon are quite the pair! ;-)

>103 AMQS: - The "feast" which was last night - was fantastic and I am still stuffed. I have elaborated below. I am particularly happy with the homemade stuffing - which I make in a pot, I don't cook it in the turkey - using dried out homemade bread and fresh herbs. YUM!

>104 DeltaQueen50: - Sounds like you are in for a wonderful feast as well, Judy! I love doing hte cooking, it is the cleaning up afterwards that I always struggle with..... I am too stuffed from eating and just want to sit in a chair and nap!

>105 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! I love the rich colours in that picture.

>106 Donna828: - Thanks Donna! Thanksgiving was - and I guess still is since today is the holiday - a good as it always is, which means I am a happily stuffed individual. ;-) A holiday with no gifts involved gets my two thumbs up!

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



A great weekend of fantastic food, friends and fun. We had a traditional style Thanksgiving dinner with roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potato and kale seasoned with smoked paprika, mashed potatoes, stuffing and lots of turkey gravy. Dessert was a homemade pumpkin cheesecake with whipping cream and a gingersnap crust. We celebrate on the Sunday so that we can just relax and enjoy the holiday Monday in quiet. Well, my other half gets the quiet, I will be cleaning the oven later today. ;-)

I have managed to finish a couple of books since my last post. Reviews to follow.

Book #56 - The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas - translated from the French by Sam Taylor
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Original publication date: July 31, 2014
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 310 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.30 out of 5 /

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

One day a fakir leaves his small village in India and lands in Paris. A professional con artist, the fakir is on a pilgrimage to IKEA, where he intends to obtain an object he covets above all others: a brand new bed of nails. Without adequate Euros in the pockets of his silk trousers, the fakir is all the same confident that his counterfeit 100-Euro note (printed on one side only) and his usual bag of tricks will suffice. But when a swindled cab driver seeks his murderous revenge, the fakir accidentally embarks on a European tour, fatefully beginning in the wardrobe of the iconic Swedish retailer.

As his journey progresses in the most unpredictable of ways, the fakir finds unlikely friends in even unlikelier places. To his surprise - and to a Bollywood beat - the stirrings of love well up in the heart of our unlikely hero, even as his adventures lead to profound and moving questions of the perils of emigration and the universal desire to seek a better life in an often dangerous world.

Review:
I really, really enjoyed this story! A modern day fable of sorts, this is a funny, charming, feel good kind of story filled with wry humour but still strikes the right cords when it comes to conveying the transition of the heart and conscience of our hapless fakir. For a con man, Ajatashatru Oghash Rathod is a likeable fella who tries to resort to his con-man ways only when he needs to. The manner in which he finds himself trapped in an IKEA wardrobe is nothing spectacular but the journey he finds himself unwittingly embarked upon is well worth the read. In this story, Puertolas brings home the plight of illegal immigrants in search of a better life, who find themselves at the mercy of a country's interpretation of international readmission agreements, and who can be sent to countries that they are not originally from or have ever set foot in or traveled through. He manages to present the various countries' attitudes and policies towards immigrants in their flawed glory for examination. He even pokes fun at how a foreign name can make a listener hear something that sounds similar but conveys a very different mental picture in their mind when they phonetically piece the sounds together. Even the "story in a story" approach was a interesting touch, even if it didn't work all that well for me.

Overall, this wonderful feel good story with heart can be summed up nicely with the following quote:

"He had made an extraordinary nine-day journey, a voyage within himself during which he had learned that, by discovering all the other things that existed elsewhere, he could become someone else."

I can recommend this novel to readers who enjoy messages of conscience and meaning wrapped up in a fun, comic story. I noticed that the Penguin site recommends this book for readers of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, so it looks like I am adding that one to my future reading list.

Book #57 - Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks - audiobook read by Johnny Heller
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: A Book of Non-Fiction
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 1969
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 464 pages / 16 hours, 54 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.95 out of 5 /

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

What do the $350 million Ford Motor Company disaster known as the Edsel, the fast and incredible rise of Xerox, and the unbelievable scandals at General Electric and Texas Gulf Sulphur have in common? Each is an example of how an iconic company was defined by a particular moment of fame or notoriety; these notable and fascinating accounts are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened. Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance, with examinations of the astounding market crash of 1962, the collapse of a well-known brokerage firm, or the bold attempt by American bankers to save the British pound. Five additional stories on equally fascinating subjects round out this wonderful collection to entertain and inform readers.

Review:
I tend to not gravitate towards non-fiction reads unless the topic fascinates me. I don't understand much of the machinations that go on on Wall Street but the business stories were enough to get me to check out an audiobook version from my local library. Originally published back in 1969, the book has recently been re-published by Open Road Media, so I was expected it to be somewhat dated in nature. From a historical perspective, the chapters about Ford and Xerox were fascinating and provided great insight into both companies. Topics that delved into accusations of disclosing corporate secrets and the Texas Gulf Sulphur case that established what continues to this day to be concerns regarding insider trading, this book really hits on a lot of topics that are still relevant today. I particularly like that Brooks, writing for The New Yorker magazine, wrote this chapters/articles with the average reader in mind. You don't have to be a corporate executive, banker or Wall Street stock broker to understand what Brooks is writing about. What struck a chord with me is how relevant, even today, these stories - written and published individually from 1959 to 1969 - are when looking at the world's continuing economic and financial crisis.

If I haven't convinced you to read this one, maybe two American business icons can. Bill Gates has recently posted on his blog gatesnotes, that this book, recommended to him by Warren Buffet back in 1991, is the best business book he has ever read. Now, two greats of American business can't both be wrong about this book, can they? ;-) Bill also likes The Rosie Project, another book I am hoping to get around to reading at some point. A free downloadable PDF of the Xerox chapter from Business Adventures can be found on Bill's blog here, along with a link to Bill's review of Business Adventures which does the book more justice than my review ever could.

Book #58 - Mãn by Kim Thúy - translated from the French by Sheila Fischman
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Hardcover
Original publication date: August 26, 2014
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 160 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.80 out of 5 /

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

Mãn has three mothers: the one who gives birth to her in wartime, the nun who plucks her from a vegetable garden, and her beloved Maman, who becomes a spy to survive. Seeking security for her grown daughter, Maman finds Mãn a husband--a lonely Vietnamese restaurateur who lives in Montreal. Thrown into a new world, Mãn discovers her natural talent as a chef. Gracefully she practices her art, with food as her medium. She creates dishes that are much more than sustenance for the body: they evoke memory and emotion, time and place, and even bring her customers to tears. Mãn is a mystery--her name means "perfect fulfillment," yet she and her husband seem to drift along, respectfully and dutifully. But when she encounters a married chef in Paris, everything changes in the instant of a fleeting touch, and Mãn discovers the all-encompassing obsession and ever-present dangers of a love affair.

Review:
Kim Thúy has done it again. I fell in love with her debut novel, Ru, with its indelible, sensuous prose and quiet power. She continues to enthrall and entrance with this second novel. Thúy has a wonderful way with words. She brings beauty and appreciation of the Vietnamese people - and of love - to the pages in a voice that envelopes the reader and draws them into the story, with a tranquil quietude and a sparseness of words. Thúy's vignette approach to storytelling works a marvel, held together by the delicate threads of Mãn's story. The descriptions of food are a gastronomic delight so I guess I should recommend that you do not read this one on an empty stomach.

A wonderful story I highly recommend.

>109 lkernagh: The book looks interesting so I plopped it onto the wishlist for... someday. I did not know that Bill Gates has a blog, so it's now in with 100+ others in my RSS feed reader for occasional perusal.

I only stumbled across his blog when I was checking the web to find out more information about Business Adventures, like trying to find out when it was first published. Didn't know it was 'his' blog until I snooped around in it a bit. ;-)

Wow, Lori, what a great feast you had.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori. Your dinner sounds divine. I had turkey and the trimmings, too, but didn't cook …

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori!

Nice review of Kim Thuy's book. I have been meaning to read Ru.

And your thanksgiving sounds lovely, except for the oven-cleaning bit.

>83 lkernagh: those bikkes don't have fruit in them, do they? Ew, fruit and chocolate just do not mix imo ;)

>110 lkernagh: love the cover, love the star-rating, looks like I am hit fair and square.....*drops*
;)

It sounds like you had an amazing holiday weekend - I love the sound of all of that food! (I'll be right over to help with the leftovers...)

Hi Lori - Happy belated Thanksgiving!

>110 lkernagh: - I've enjoyed reading through your recent reviews and will definitely put Mãn on the wishlist. I hadn't heard of that author or her debut, so thank you!

>108 lkernagh: - Maybe, perhaps intrigued by this one too, but I'm not sure...

Well, you were apologizing on my thread for a belated Happy Thanksgiving and I did worse, which was lurk and not leave a note at all. So a Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you too Lori. Hope you had a good time. I've been meaning to get to Kim Thúy for quite a while now having heard so many good things about her. Since there are only a few months left to the year for me to meet my various goals, I think I'll make it a priority for 2015, but it will indeed be a priority. Thanks for the reminder!

Not to be read on an empty stomach!!! It sounds a little like Like Water for Chocolate. Definitely going on the WL.

& how did your Thanksgiving get to be a month ahead of ours! Autumn harvest comes earlier in Canada?

>113 Ameise1: - It took two days to lose that 'stuffed' feeling, it was that good! I do love a grand feast.

>114 lit_chick: - Thanks and I hope your Thanksgiving long weekend was equally enjoyable!

but didn't cook …

Slightly jealous about that! ;-) I do love to cook but sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle.

>115 katiekrug: - Thanks Katie! It was awesome. Good thing it only comes around once a year. I can't cook like that on a day-to-day basis, that is for sure!

>116 banjo123: - I can highly recommend both of Kim Thuy's books! As for the oven cleaning, I now have that down to a science, including a breathing mask so that I don't choke on the oven cleaner fumes when spraying the oven. I am not a fan of the fancy dancy 'self cleaning;' ovens after my niece managed to self clean the dinner instead of broiling it. ;-)

>117 LovingLit: - I guarantee that there is no fruit in either of those bikkes. Just chocolate and chocolate paired awesomeness like wafers in one cookie and peppermint cream in another.

Sorry about the Thuy hit (not really). She is quite the marvel with the written word, I am just wondering how accessible she is down under.

>118 scaifea: - Thanksgiving is the one time of the year - okay, Christmas as well - when I am willing to go all out to prep a big feast. I am sure you appreciate my ulterior motive for this: Leftovers! I love leftovers even more than I love the big feast. ;-) We have been pretty much living this week off of leftovers, there was so much food prepared.

>119 DorsVenabili: - Thanks for the wishes. Any holiday that involves food and I am in! As I mentioned to >116 banjo123:, Thuy writes awesome books! If you can lay your hands on her books, they are recommended reading!

>108 lkernagh: - Hum, what was that book? scrolls up to check Ah, that will probably only appeal if you are willing to dispel belief, accept that lucky stars do exist and like your political theory dished out in small bites surrounded by light-weight fiction. Does that help any? (Probably not.... sorry about that)

>120 Smiler69: - Never apologize for visiting with out posting.... that is the only way to stay on top of everything happening over in this group! I am very happy to see that Thuy has now proven she isn't a 'one hit wonder' in the book business so I think you can sit back and read Thuy whenever you find time and are in the mood for a bit of introspection into Canadian culture via an immigrant perspective.

>121 cammykitty: - I have never read Like Water for Chocolate. I know I should get around to it at some point and you have confirmed that! As for why our Thanksgiving happens first.... well.... before global warming and all that other interesting stuff managed to mess with the Earth's weather, Canada was knee deep in snow and freezing our patooties off by the end of October, forget waiting to have some kind of feast at the end of November, so yes, autumn harvest most definitely did - and might still - come earlier for use northern folks. I am not a farmer so I don't really know the answer to that one... I like my theory about the cold and snow better! ;-)

I love it when Monday is a holiday.... the rest of the work week just seems to fly by! I have a new TV addiction (on top of the return of Once Upon a Time):



AcornTV currently has the first episode available for free for non subscribers of their service, if anyone is interested in checking out this WWI series.

On the reading front I have two great books on the go at the moment: The Martian by Andy Weir as my audiobook read and Maplecroft by Cherie Priest as my e-book read. I love The Martian and I have to say that as much as I struggled with Priest's characters in Boneshaker, I find she is handling this alternate history of Lizzie Borden with quite a bit of mastery. The story is decidedly gothic/horror in atmosphere, making it a perfect read for me in the lead up to Halloween.

Lori, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>123 lkernagh: YES!! Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals! Completely agree.

Happy Weekend Lori! Well, I've decided to go ahead and order a second-hand copy of Ru by Kim Thúy. Because I want to read it in the original French and French books are horrendously expensive, and because the covers are so pretty and I'd like to own them, I thought this might be a good, affordable solution and I might get to it sooner, since it's such a short work. I should be getting it sometime next week I guess. And you were my inspiration to go ahead with that. I also found via my library that she's recently published a novella (?) an extremely short story anyway, just a few pages long which I downloaded as an eBook and I plan on reading it within the next few days. It was published this year and is called La goutte (The Water Drop) and I don't think has been translated into English yet.

I wish you a Happy Weekend Lori :)

>110 lkernagh: enjoyed this review of Mãn very much and if it is anything Like Water for Chocolate I surely will like it.

>125 Ameise1: - Thanks! I wish our falls looked as wonderful as that picture, Barbara!

>126 scaifea: - ;-)

>127 Smiler69: - I continue to be baffled by the intricacies of the publishing world! The fact that original French books are so expensive saddens me and at the same time makes me very glad that a number of them do get translated into the English language for readers like myself to enjoy. I would be very curious to learn if the wonderful prose I love so much is in the original French.... I can only assume that it is given Thúy Vietnamese (and by extension, French language background). I look forward to seeing what you think of La goutte!

>128 drachenbraut23: - Happy weekend Bianca! It has been a busy but very productive one! I really need to move Like Water for Chocolate up my future reading list! ;-)

I have been having a busy and wonderful weekend. Weather wise, we have had sunshine and somewhat unusually warm temperatures both days. High of 20'C (68'F) feeling like 24'C (75'F) both days. While I originally had plans to bring my herb garden indoors this weekend, I think it can stay outside for another week or two. I have been busy baking - autumn for some reason brings out the baker in me, more so than usual - so yesterday was spent baking bread (oat bran and spelt) as well as some rather decadent pumpkin, pecan and butterscotch muffins. I really need to find time to make another batch of crackers but I am rather busy right now creating my Halloween costume for this year. This is going to be the first year in a long time that I have actually dressed up in the office - now that I have admitted this in a public forum, just watch as I end up getting meetings scheduled for that day that would not be well served if I showed up in costume! ;-)

On the reading front, I have two more books finished and rather quick reviews written up.

Book #59 - The Martian by Andy Weir - audiobook narrated by R.C. Bray
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): RandomCAT - (October - read a Book Bullet)
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2011
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 385 pages / 11 hours of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /

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

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Review:
What can I say that hasn't already been said by other reviewers of this fantastic story? Not much except that my inner adventure-seeking geekiness really enjoyed Watney's realistic "Can do / Oh, s**t!" approach to the circumstances he finds himself in. Favorite characters, besides Watney, are the communications person Annie Montrose - seriously, If I had to deal with the press on a daily basis in the form of media damage control, I would probably be just as crusty as she is! - and Physicist Dr. Venkat Kapoor. Kapoor has the best dead-pan one-liners that made me smile and cheer. R. C. Bray did a great job providing unique and identifiable voices for the various characters. You don't have the be a science geek or a science fiction fan to appreciate this story for the adventure ride it is!

Book #60 - Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): RandomCAT - (October - read a Book Bullet)
Source: GVPL
Format: e-book
Original publication date: September 2, 2014
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 443 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /

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

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one....

The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny. But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean’s depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness. This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.

Review:
I wasn't overly keen with Priest's zombie filled book Boneshaker but my interest in reading a book with some grounding in history caught my attention - that and a couple of reviews that I have read here on LT. Priest breaks interesting ground with this one. Firstly, this is an epistolary novel comprised entirely of journal entries, letters and newspaper clippings, giving the story a more personalized approach. I like epistolary novels. They can be challenging to write but I think that Priest pulled this off with some level of mastery. I also like the fact the Priest has taken the Lizzie Borden story and given it new good twist. There is a fantastic atmospheric gothic feel to this story - always a bonus for me! - and I did enjoy how the creepiness of the story and the hidden details are revealed, bit by bit. Downside for me was the somewhat redundant nature of some aspects of the story as well as a huge bone of contention I have with both Priest's books that I have now read. Why, of why does Priest insist on having her female leads engage in some form of reckless, mindless behaviour that does nothing but devalue the characters as heroes in my esteem? They don't come across as being more human with these flaws, just really annoying female characters I want to slap some sense into. It is the whole reason that I stopped reading The Clockwork Century books after reading Boneshaker - well that and the zombie. I am really not a fan of zombies. *sighs*

Overall, I do prefer this first book in The Borden Dispatches series and, unlike Boneshaker and The Clockwork Century series, I am actually looking forward to the release of the second book, when that happens.

Seeking book reading decision advice from my LT buddies:
I am struggling to find a scary read so that I can complete my "A Book That Scares You" Bingo square. So far, the following attempts to fill the square have failed to scare me:

Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
Echoes from the Macabre: Selected Stories by Daphne Du Maurier
Drood by Dan Simmons
The Quick by Lauren Owen

Nothing I have read this year has 'scared' me, so I am reaching out to LT readers for suggestions of something deliciously spine tingling. If it helps any, the whole Friday the 13th movie franchise scared the begeezes out of me as a youth and some ghost stories - usually the re-telling of true sightings - can raise the hair on the back of my neck. I do have the following books lined up as possibilities but I don't want to be disappointed if they don't have that 'need to sleep with the light on' reaction:

The Best of Edgar Allan Poe - short story collection
A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Help! Any suggestions are good suggestions if they are spine tingling creepy in nature.

Lori, I am not easily "scared' by books, so I am interpreting that square as a book that intimidates me - either by its size or reputation or something. If all elese fails, just cheat like me ;-)

I'm not much help on "scary" things. I did see a review that said that Stephen King's novel due out next month is more of a return to his usual style of writing.

I am easily scared, so I typically don't read scary books. However, The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs sent delicious shivers down my back at various points in the story, and I love it.

>130 lkernagh: There *will* be photos, right? Of the costume (and you in it), I mean...

>133 lkernagh: I, too, decided to interpret it as "a book that intimidates me" and read The Odyssey earlier this year.

As far as scary/horror books go, you might try a book by Joe Hill or Owen King (both Stephen King's sons), the Gretchen Lowell series by Chelsea Cain (the first one is Heartsick), or a book by Robert McCammon. This is based on what I've learned about as a librarian and what my brothers were reading when they read Stephen King, as I don't touch horror myself...

Pet Sematary by Stephen King scared the )($#&)(@#& out of me. And books simply don't scare me.

Great suggestions everyone! I have avoided King up to now because I have heard that his books can scare the begeezes out of some readers. His books are easy to come by so I will consider Morphy's suggestion of Pet Sematary or maybe for for a classic like The Shining as a possibility. I have received some suggestions over on my other thread for Henry James and The Turn of the Screw as well as The Haunting of Hill House.

>134 katiekrug: and >138 bell7:: If my next scary read fails to scare me, I will resort to a different tactic and redefine what "scary" means!

>137 scaifea: - I will figure out how the post some pics on the costume but I don't have a dress dummy to model it. Wait a minute..... you want a picture with me in the costume?! The camera shy person that I am will think about it, but I am not making any promises. ;-)

For the scary book category, I decided to take that word in a larger sense. Anansi Boys had been sitting on my tbr for ages because it was a follow-up to American Gods, which I hadn't liked at all. Lots of people told me it was really different and I would probably enjoy it, but I was 'scared' because it was part of the same series and I was worried I'd end up hating it too. See what I mean? By the way, I ended up really loving it. Trying to find scary books otherwise can be really difficult, because as adults, there isn't that much that scares us anymore, other than taxes and death and maybe the flu.

Oooh, I second The Haunting of Hill House! Very creepy. And The Monster of Florence is the scariest true crime I've ever read.

I see you have got already lots of suggestions. Two of mine would also have been Pet Sematary and The Shining. Two other which would come to mind would be The Death of Grass and Who Fears Death?, which are both Science Fiction, but scary.

I thought The Shining was good, but it didn't scare me.

I don't do much suspense/horror, so can't add much here.

However, the size of my personal Mt. TBR is truly heart-stopping!

>131 lkernagh: You don't have the be a science geek or a science fiction fan to appreciate this story for the adventure ride it is!
Nope. I don't understand much of the engineering and physics, but I appreciate the geeky detail that went into writing it.

Hi Lori! Regarding scary books, I am a huge, huge Stephen King fan. You can't go wrong with one of his early short story collections. I especially like Night Shift. I have had NOS4A2 by Joe Hill sitting on my nightstand half read...I didn't find it scary so much as gross. I will get back to it but have not been in the mood. I agree that the Chelsea Cain series which begins with Heartsick is scary. Oh, and Night Film by Marisha Pessl was so creepy....I loved it!

I'm so glad you loved The Martian too. It was a fantastic audiobook!

*waving* at Lori

Glad you had such a good time with The Martian, Lori. Me, too. Mark Watney was good company, wasn't he?

>141 Smiler69: - I may resort to taking the word in a larger sense if my next scary read proves to not really scare me. I used to find the really big books ominous but after the chunksters I have read this year, I no longer have that fear. I may need to browse my TBR pile for a back up plan....

>142 scaifea: - Yay! I can already feel that ghostly tingling with the idea of reading The Haunting of Hill House. I have never heard of The Monster of Florence. I must investigate.....

>143 drachenbraut23: - You have intrigued me with your suggestions Bianca.... for some reason the title The Death of Grass doesn't quite strike me as all that scary....
.... ooooohhhh. I see...... Now, post-apocalyptic books do scare me. Big Time. adding both to the pile. Can always consider reading a scary read as a yearly October thing.

>144 Morphidae: - So, Pet Sematary is scarier.... got it!

>145 michigantrumpet: - LOL!

>146 qebo: - I was just over visiting your thread Katherine and I agree with your assessment of The Martian. I am on the hunt for similar books for us to enjoy!

>147 Cobscook: - I am thinking of saving NOS4A2 for a December read.... I think it is set in December. Your suggestions are all new titles to me so on the list for further examination they go!

The audiobook of The Martian was fantastic! Of course, people tend to give me strange looks when I am walking by myself and suddenly break out into a huge chuckle!

>148 alcottacre: - Hi Stasia! Lovely to see you!

>149 jnwelch: - If I am every stranded on Mars, or any planet for that matter, I want Mark there to take care of everything! That is not asking too much, is it? ;-)

Book #61 - Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge), American Authors Challenge (75 Group)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Project Gutenberg
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 1911
Acquisition date: October 15, 2014
Page count: 96 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website:

Set against a bleak New England background, the novel tells of Frome, his ailing wife Zeena and her companion Mattie Silver, superbly delineating the characters of each as they are drawn relentlessly into a deep-rooted domestic struggle. Burdened by poverty and spiritually dulled by a loveless marriage to an older woman. Frome is emotionally stirred by the arrival of a youthful cousin who is employed as household help. Mattie's presence not only brightens a gloomy house but stirs long-dormant feelings in Ethan. Their growing love for one another, discovered by an embittered wife, presages an ending to this grim tale that is both shocking and savagely ironic.

Review:
This is my first Wharton read, which was recommended by a couple of other readers here on LT as something I could easily fit into my October reading plans. One of the things I really liked about this one is Wharton's ability to paint a realistic picture of a northern winter in a small farming community where life can be a hard scrabble and everyone knows - or thinks they know - everyone else's business. Wharton has the ability to tell a story in straightforward language, almost with a meagerness of descriptive prose, as if she was writing in a manner to reflect the bleak the New England winter landscape of its setting. The book is described as being "a powerful tale with compelling characters trapped in circumstances they seem unable to escape." From a strictly character analysis perspective, I am not quite sure I wholly agree with that statement. For me, Mattie is nothing more than a vehicle - and a bit of an air-headed one at that - to drive the story forward. Ethan has his interesting aspects but I found him to be limited, and not just by his circumstances. It is really Zeena who I found to be the most compelling of these three characters and I found myself pondering over her character more than the other two.

Overall, a great introduction for me to Wharton's writing style and I will be adding more of her books to my future reading list.

If you were an epic fantasy reader, I'd recommend the Tamir Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling starting with The Bone Doll's Twin. Part of it is a ghost story that while not "scary", I found absolutely chilling.

Great review of Ethan Frome, Lori. I haven't gotten to this one yet, but I love Wharton. The Age of Innocence was a 5* read for me and remains one of my all-time favourites. eta: forgot to add that I loved The House of Mirth too.

Huge fan of Wharton here, so I've been eagerly reading other people's takes on her work. Glad yup enjoyed Ethan Frome!

ETA: there's a book out right now called "Ether Dome". I consistently have been reading it as "Ethan Frome"!

;-)

>152 lkernagh: Nice review! I agree with you about Zeena being the most interesting character.

Howdy Lori!

>153 Morphidae: - I could be an epic fantasy reader, especially if it involves a ghost story. Thanks for the recommendation, Morphy, I will check the Tamir Trilogy out!

>154 lit_chick: - I just say Anne's review of The Age of Innocence and now you are here telling me it was a 5 star read for you. It may become my next Wharton read... or audio book, depending upon what our library system has on offer.

>155 michigantrumpet: - Oh, what are your favorite Wharton reads, Marianne, or are they all equally good for you?

My mind would make that same misread... I am guessing that Ether Dome has nothing to do with the story arc of Ethan Frome. Sounds kind of Sci-Fi, Dystopian to me. ;-)

..... and I see by the touchstones that is it a poem.... wasn't expecting that!

>156 banjo123: - Oh good. I wasn't sure if I was going to raise a ruckus with the whole Zeena thing but she was the only character with any real depth to her.

>157 luvamystery65: - Howdy, Roberta! Happy Friday!

Book #62 - The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri - translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli, audiobook read by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): MysteryCAT - Global Mysteries
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1994
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 240 pages / 4 hours, 5 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website:

Early one morning, Silvio Lupanello, a big shot in the village of Vigàta, is found dead in his car with his pants around his knees. The car happens to be parked in a rough part of town frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers, and as the news of his death spreads, the rumors begin. Enter Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Vigàta's most respected detective. With his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food, Montalbano goes into battle against the powerful and the corrupt who are determined to block his path to the real killer.

Review:
It is always nice to come across a new series that makes for perfect listening during my walking commute to work. Not overly taxing to the brain and not a huge problem if you miss part of the dialogue because of sudden, unexpected traffic noise. I am still struggling a bit to place the time period of the story. Originally I thought 1980's but now I am thinking earlier, more 1970's. I also love the manner in which Camilleri presents Sicily. There is a love for the place, that is for sure, but he cannot help but take stabs at the corruption and chaos that is the everyday life of Camilleri's Sicily. Yes, the dialogue is a bit crass and crude but it fits the environment. Still not sure what I think about the characters, in particular Inspector Montalbano, but I am looking forward to continuing my audio adventures through Sicily with Montalbano as my tour guide.

#159: I really need to get that one read at some point since I have owned it for a while now!

Lori, I wish you a fantastic weekend.

>159 lkernagh:. Oh good, I'm glad you enjoyed The Shape of Water, Lori. It's a great series. I'm addicted. I think irascible, romantic, food-loving Salvo will grow on you, as well as the rest of the cast.

>158 lkernagh: House of Mirth and Age of Innocence were the first two I ever read (and re-read), so they always hold a special place in my affections. Custom of the Country has a delicious character in Undine Spragg -- amazing how Wharton can make such an unlikable character almost sympathetic.

For this time of year, her Ghost stories are fun. I'm also drawn to a later 1925 work called Mother's Recompense. Woman returns to NYC after many years on the French Riviera having abandoned husband and child years earlier. Her return is occasioned by her now grown daughter, who is in love with a man the mother had once been involved with. I found it more modern than some of her others. While some of the plot is predictable, I loved her characterization, dry humor and subtle irony.

Just for a different opinion, The Shining scared the crapola out of me!

I JUST met Cherie Priest this weekend at a book signing with Kevin Hearne. She talked some about Maplecroft and I would have liked to have bought it and gotten it signed, but they didn't have it when I arrived. In fact, they didn't have any of her books that I wanted to get so she was the one (of the four) authors that I didn't get to sign anything. I actually thought I was getting one of her books, but it was another author's instead and I handed it to her to sign. Big whoops on that one.

>160 alcottacre: - I have already started reading - or I should say listening to - the second book in the series and I have to say Montalbano and his group of misfit detectives are really starting to grow on me! I can now understand the love some readers here on LT have for the series.

>161 Ameise1: - A wheat field at sunrise/sunset is a beautiful sight to behold! I had a crazy busy weekend but a good one.

>162 jnwelch: - I am starting to understand the addiction, Joe. ;-) I can see I will probably plow through this series!

>163 michigantrumpet: - It takes a skill to make an unlikable character almost sympathetic! I will have to make time for more Wharton reading, probably next year. There seems to be a fair bit of love for House of Mirth and Age of Innocence so I am pretty confident that I can't go wrong with those two reads!

>164 TinaV95: - I still need to find time to pick my scary read. The Shining is high up on my list of possibilities!

So cool that you were able to meet Cherie Priest! And bummer on not being able to get her to sign a copy of Maplecroft. One of the organizers must have goofed by not have the book available.

Book #63 - The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. by Jack London
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: A Forgotten Classic
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1963
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 208 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:

"I have accepted a commission from you... The agreement was that I should order my own execution if you proved to my satisfaction that the assassinations achieved by the Bureau were wrong. You have proved it. nothing remains but to live up to the agreement."

Thus Ivan Dragomiloff, founder and mastermind of the secret Assassination Bureau, signs his own death warrant and sets off a lethal cat-and-mouse game, pitting himself against the very organization of ruthless killers he created to rid the State of its most pernicious enemies.

Review:
Left unfinished at the time of London's death in 1916, this "thriller" - for lack of a better word - was completed by Robert L. Fish and published in 1963. Some say that this book eerily foreshadowed the conspiracy theories that abound regarding the assassination of President Kennedy that occurred later that same year. My first impression upon reading this story was one of surprise. Having only previously read The Call of the Wild, this one, filled with philosophical, moralistic and socialistic ideals was a bit unexpected. The story definitely has a dated quality to it, and some of the finer details don't work very well upon examination, but I get the impression that London chose to write this story more as a vehicle to communicate his ideals than as a mere work of cloak and dagger vigilantism fiction. To that end, it does stand up to the test of time and rings as true today as it probably would have back at the start of the 20th century when London was writing it. If you are going to read it, don't expect to be blown away by the plot, the dialogue or the characters. The plot has some good bits but after a while, I could see how the 'game' was going to play out, just not the fine details on how it was going to get to its final conclusion. I found the characters to be rather flat and prone to repeating their lines and behaving rather 'lunatic' to choose London's own term to describe the majority of them. It is an okay piece of thriller story but I think it might readers will get more out of the story if they read it as a manifesto of sorts: London's manifesto against a social machine of such perfect creation that it can only be destroyed by destroying it creator.

The copy I read included an indication at the end of the story as to where London had stopped writing and Fish had picked up the story to complete it. It also contained some of London's story notes and a possible ending written by Charmain London, Jack's second wife. To give Fish credit, he managed to take London's unfinished manuscript and carried on with London's writing style, giving the story a cohesive flow to it. It appears, based on London's story notes that Fish deviated from London's proposed story arc. While I will never be able to compare London's ending to Fish's, I am not sure I would have appreciated the ending that London was proposing. I really did not like the ending written by Charmain, either, although it was more in fitting with the story as London had envisioned.

Overall, an interesting story that tends to find itself veering away from the chase at hand to delve into high brow theoretical discussions of morals and philosophy with statements like this one:

"The world is founded on morality. Without morality the world would perish. There is a righteousness in the elements themselves. Destroy morality and you would destroy gravitation. The very rocks would fly apart. The whole sidereal system would fume into the unthinkableness of chaos."

The following quote sums things up beautifully:

"It is the chaos of super-thinking," she said helplessly. "It is ethics gone mad."

Hi Lori!

>131 lkernagh: - Watney's realistic "Can do / Oh, s**t!" approach to the circumstances he finds himself in Perfect description! I really liked The Martian too. Actually, I'll read anything about Mars, but this was up there.

>152 lkernagh: - Nice review of Ethan Frome. I'm going to start it today.

>159 lkernagh: - I read this and liked it, but haven't gotten around to continuing with the series (not that that's unusual for me.) I just don't think it had the same effect on me that it has on a lot of other people.

>166 lkernagh: - This sounds interesting. I'm kind of fascinated by Jack London the person/the radical, but I've only read The Iron Heel, which is a bit goofy. Since I'm not wildly interested in the books for young people (although I have a couple on audio that I might listen to, including The Call of the Wild), this might be the way to go. Also, I have an audio version of a Jack London biography that I'd like to get to eventually.

>165 lkernagh: Age of Innocence and House of Mirth are classics -- can't go wrong with either.

>166 lkernagh: Fabulous review. Never knew Jack London had written something like this. Learn something new here on these pages all the time!

Hi Lori! Very big possibility of me hitting a library sale this weekend. I really shouldn't, but oh the temptation. ;)

>167 DorsVenabili: - Hi Kerri! Gotta love Watney and making a note to bounce over to your thread to see what you think of Ethan Frome. I had nn knowledge of London's personal radical viewpoints until I read The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. so as much as I was taken a back by learning about his Socialistic and interesting philosophical leanings, they do gel nicely with what goes on in The Assassination Bureau book. I am now interested in finding more books of his that appear to be targeted towards an adult reader, because I am really curious to see if all of those books convey his personal thoughts and viewpoints like this one did.

>168 michigantrumpet: - Yay! Two book bullets happily taken! Ditto on the whole Jack London thing.... I just always knew him as a classical YA writer.

>169 jolerie: - HI Valerie! Book sale... my favorite words! Oh, you have to go.... besides, you may find some books for your adorable little ones that they will be able to enjoy.... I know, I am such an enabler. ;-)

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

I cannot believe that we have already flown through October.... that can mean only one thing..... the "C" word will soon be bandied about, and I am not ready for the "C" word to become the focus of attention!

*sighs*

Time for a monthly recap and a Halloween post.

Halloween Update
As my other half and I had Halloween party plans I did something I haven't done in a number of years: I decided to wear my Halloween costume to work. Nothing wrong with that as the costume in question was 'office appropriate' and I wasn't the only one in the office to dress up this year. I don't usually post pictures of myself online as I am a rather private individual but I did figure out a way to post pictures of the costume (as well as a picture of myself in the costume) that I felt comfortable posting online.

Costume theme idea: Steampunk!

Here is a picture of the costume - front view - with accessories:



The skirt, white blouse, hat and grey scarf were thrift store finds. Seriously, I don't have time to sew a costume from scratch! I made the lace neck-piece from fabric store bought lace trimming. The cameo necklace (with matching earrings) are just some costume jewelry pieces I had on hand. The vest I did make based on fabric found in a local fabric store and inspiration found on line via Google. I added some ribbon and eyelet detailing to the vest to give it a corseted look, especially in the back, which you will see in the second picture below.

Here is a profile and back view of me in costume with a focus for the corset looking back of the vest:



and here is a close-up shot of the gloves and steampunk themed hat with the watchmaker's/gunsmith's glasses and the clockwork gears:



Story about the gloves: Back in my University days, I wore a rather eclectic/vintage wardrobe. I loved to wear skirts and blouses with men's suit jackets, fedora hats, scarfs and vintage cloth gloves. Fast forward a couple of decades to earlier this year when my ever wonderful Mom, while going through a dresser drawer in the family home, came across a stash of my old vintage gloves and scarfs, which she kept for me to pick up on my visit home back in September. The gloves in the picture above were actually flesh tone in colour and in need of some fine stitching repair but I saw the potential in them right away, and after making the repairs I bought some dark plum fabric dye (the gloves are actually a few shades darker than the light lilac colour you see in the picture). I also came home from that trip with a wonderful pair of elbow length white dinner gloves that have cleaned up beautifully. The vintage girl that I am loves my gloves! ;-)

OCTOBER RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
Man by Kim Thuy - 4.80 /
The Martian by Andy Weir - 4.60 /
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks - 3.95 /
Maplecroft by Cherie Priest - 3.85 /
The Assassination Bureau, Ltd. by Jack London - 3.70 /
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri - 3.50 /
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton - 3.40 /

Largest Book read: Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street at 464 pages
Smallest Book read: Ethan Frome at 96 pages.
Books still in progress at the end of the month: The Viscount of Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas - currently 31% in and about to start Chapter XXIII - The Terra-cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri - roughly 3.5 hours left in this 7 hour, 48 minute audiobook
Interesting Fact: More a comment than an interesting fact: My star ratings are considerably higher this month, probably because I have been reading what I want to read with no commitments to any categories or reading plans.

My ROOTs Challenge:
Books read this month: 0
Books still to read to complete my challenge: 3

My 2014 Reading Bingo Challenge:
Books read this month: 2 - Hounded and The Assassination Bureau, Ltd.
Books still to read to complete my challenge: 2

My 75 Books Challenge:
Books / pages read this month: 5 books / 1,324 pages
Books still to read to complete my challenge: see My "Luck 'O the Irish" Race further down this post

My Commonwealth Challenge:
Books read this month: 0
Books still to read to complete my challenge: 41

No comment. ;-)

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.



With only 12 books or 2,205 pages left to go, I do not foresee any problems in completing my 75 books challenge this year. Let the fun reading continue!

>171 lkernagh: Lori, I'm impressed. It looks so gorgeous. Wishing you a lovely weekend.

I love the costume!!

I love the costume! It's very creative, and I'm sure it will attract any time travelers who happen to be in your area. Wouldn't that be a fun party?!

>171 lkernagh: What a fun costume! Love the hat!

Great costume, Lori!

Your costume is amazing Lori. You are quite creative! Your mom is awesome to save your old books and your old clothes.

Lori, FABULOUS costume! You are so uber-talented! The story behind the costume is as great as the costume!

Wonderful costume!

Thanks Barbara, Amber, Carrie, Katherine, Katie, Roberta, Nancy and Rhonda! I had a lot of fun spending Friday dressed up. My supervisor was the only one who immediately knew my costume was steampunk - he is a steampunk fan himself. Given the city I live in it is not surprising that everyone figured out the Victorian era clothes, but the steampunk angle had to be explained to a number of people. One person did ask if I was Mary Poppins... LOL!

Taking things easy this weekend. I had a couple of rather late nights last week and my body is off its usual sleep patterns. I was lying on the couch reading this afternoon and dozed off, only to wake up three hours later when my other half was closing the curtains so I might have a bit of a struggle go to bed at my usual time tonight.

I love what you did with your costume!!

That is an absolutely wicked costume and so creative as well!
Haha....I can actually see why someone would have mistaken it for Mary Poppins, but it's a nice way to weed out those literary fans if they can identify the steampunk aspect! Awesome sauce. :D

Okay so I went to the sale and it was disappointing! I think maybe because everyone had already donated all their books earlier this year to help with the public library rebuilding fund (due to the flooding of the central library) that the selection was slim. I did end up getting 4 books though....so what does that say about me?? Ha!

>182 ronincats: - Thanks, Roni! It was a lot of fun to put together!

>183 jolerie: - Thanks! You right, I could have been mistaken for Mary Poppins. Sorry to read that the book sale was a disappointment. It is so hard to leave a booksale with no books in your hands, isn't it? ;-)

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

Currently Reading:
I have two carry-overs from October that I am still working on: The Terra-cotta Dog on audiobook and the e-book The Viscount de Bragelonne. With two books on the go, what did I do yesterday? I picked up and started reading The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. 50 pages in and already I am looking forward to continuing with the story.

Paul's British Author Challenge for next year features China Mieville for March! Yes!

>185 luvamystery65: - As soon as I say your post, Roberta, I raced over to Paul's BAC thread. YAY! Great list so far!

Lori, your steampunk costume turned out great. The gloves show their true plum color in the first photo. How nice of your mom to keep your vintage accessories. I own some vintage stuff myself only because I have trouble getting rid of things that I loved years ago. I've discovered that if one waits long enough, a style will often come back into fashion! I can't remember what I read for my 'scary' Bingo book but I did interpret it loosely… Well, I had to go back a few threads and check it out. I used All the Birds, Singing because I thought it was creepy and suspenseful which I suppose are forms of scary.Good luck finding something that fits.

>170 lkernagh: You might try The Iron Heel then. It's a propaganda novel and very over-the-top preachy, but it does have its charm. It's an early dystopia where fascists take over the U.S.

>171 lkernagh: Oh, my goodness! What a lovely costume! I'm impressed.

>152 lkernagh: I love the look of that book! The cover is so me ;) And your description of it is very promising too!
I will have to keep an eye out.

Great steampunk theme costume you have put together there! I visited a new shop the other day in the city which sells steampunk jewellery, clothing, art and...well, anythign steampunky. It isn't really my thing, but I loved the necklaces made from old watch insides.

Great costume, Lori! It's genius, for sure!
I really, really want to read The Martian and I was going to choose it for our neighborhood book exchange but instead I went with All the Light We Cannot See . I hope I didn't make a mistake.

I LOVE the costume and I would have recognized the steampunk right off!

For my part Lori, I have no idea whatsoever Steam Punk is intended to look like which is probably therefore a good thing that I have included China Mieville in the BAC. XX

Cool costume, Lori! What a great idea to do steam punk.

Are you liking The Terra Cotta Dog? You've probably noticed I'm a Montalbano-nut.

>187 Donna828: - Thanks Donna! Mom and Dad are rambling around in a rather big house for just the two of them so I wasn't overly surprised that she still had them, I was more surprised that I had left them in the family home and hadn't inadvertently done away with them during one of my numerous moves over the years!

>188 DorsVenabili: - Propaganda can be very scary.... good suggestion, Kerri!

>189 LovingLit: - I really like the cover of the Wharton book, too. I read a Project Gutenberg download, which of course, had no cover so I checked out the covers uploaded to LT and chose the one I liked best!

... Oooohhh, I love steampunk jewellery! Actually, I love anything and everything with clockwork gears. So jealous that you have a steampunk store! It is probably a good thing there isn't one near where I live. ;-)

>190 Carmenere: - Thanks, Lynda! The Martian is such a great story but because of the whole space and science angle, while not being a traditional science fiction read makes it really hard to recommend it to someone else. All the Light We Cannot See looks like a good read!

>191 Morphidae: - Thanks, Morphy! I am not surprised you would have picked up on the steampunk angle!

>192 PaulCranswick: - I am looking forward to BAC! China Mieville is a hard author to pigeon whole into a genre. Each book he has written has different elements to them. Even his Perdido Street Station book, which is the closest thing to having steampunk elements, is really more a sci-fi/fantasy read than a steampunk read.

>193 jnwelch: - The costume pretty much created itself, Joe! It is rather easy to find clothes that would fit the Victorian era style. For the hat it was just a matter of finding an old windup clock in a thrift store and dismantle it for the clockwork gears. As for the clockmaker's glasses, they are my other half's. He uses them for fine electronics repairs.

I am completely sold on Montalbano! What a guy and what a group he has that reports to him! Poor Anna..... ;-)

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

The past two days I have been taking things easy while I battle the onset of a head cold. So far it has remained as a sore throat with some sinus congestion and an overall lack of energy which I hope I can keep from progressing into a full on cold.

I am totally impressed by your steampunk Halloween costume...you looked fantastic!

I hope you are feeling better ASAP!

>196 Cobscook: - Thanks Heidi!

This cold is proving to be a bit of a bear to shake. I am not bed ridden but I have been going through the week with a bit of a fuzzy head and feeling slightly disembodied. Maybe that is a good thing! My nose up and decided at 3:30 this afternoon that it was a good time to start demanding some Kleenex attention at regular intervals so I think this weekend will be another one of taking things easy so that I can shake this thing once and for all.

On the good news front, I do have another book completed and a rather short review written for posting.

Book #64 - The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri - translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli - audiobook narration by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 1996
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 352 pages / 7 hours, 28 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the public library catalogue listing:

Montalbano's latest case begins with a mysterious tete a tete with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and some dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There the inspector finds two young lovers, dead for fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-sized terra-cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him on a journey through Sicily's past and into a family's dark heart amidst the horrors of World War II bombardment.

Review:
With this second book in the series now under my belt, I admit I am growing rather fond of Montalbano as a character, even if I cringe at some of the food items he finds so divine to indulge in. I am not quite the seafood connoisseur that he is, although I am starting to wonder when vegetables will start to be mentioned. I find the cases he becomes embroiled with, as well as his relationship with his various underlings and the women in his life make for a nice escape from day-to-day reality for me. With this story, it was the uncovered 50 year old mystery begging to be solved that really captured my attention and made it such an enjoyable read for me. The whole locked room cave idea and the symbolic references that needed to be deciphered..... that is my kind of story! A good puzzle to noodle over between spurts of listening and I really liked the ending to this one. Looks like I will be extending my literary stay on Sicily a little longer as I have now started listening to The Snack Thief.

My only gripe has to do with the publishers, not the author of the book. The cover - see above - displays an unpainted terracotta dog in a seated but alert pose. In the story, the terracotta dog is painted grey and white and is lying down, with its front legs extended before it, hind legs folder beneath it and mouth open with a pink tongue exposed. Details, people. It is all about the details.

sighs

Great review of TheTerracotta Dog, Lori. I'm thinking Montalbano might be a series I would enjoy … not that I need another one, LOL!

Lori, I wish you a gorgeous weekend.

Hi Lori :)

>166 lkernagh: Very interesting review. For some reason I always thought that he has only written children books. Well, maybe because I read most of them when I was a child. I think I might have to check that one out, just to see the difference.

>171 lkernagh: Love your Steampunk Halloween costume, so you used to be an eclectic/vintage type. During my secondary school years I was more of a goth/punk type and by the time I started Uni for my nursing degree I had changed to a more ? shabby/alternative tomboy style. Today, I am just me!

Wish you a wonderful weekend!

>199 lit_chick: - Thanks Nancy! The Inspector Montalbano series is an interesting one, I will say that. Right now I am halfway through book three in the series and not overly sure I like the rather 'assholeish' behaviour of our lead character in this one. He was kind of sarcastic and chauvinistic in the earlier books but, wow, talk about having a bad attitude period. ;-)

>200 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! So far, the weekend is going wonderfully. I have your weekend in equally enjoyable.

>201 drachenbraut23: - I am with you on the whole Jack London as more or a children's book author. I never knew he had written more adult focused fiction. I was - and part of me still is - an eclectic/vintage type. I find I tend to gravitate towards the more tailored looks of knee/calf length skirts and fitted tops. I love the 1930's and 1940's fashions, but for shoes I am more modern in what I like and will mix things up a bit, especially my more casual attire. It is fun to wear what you like, current fashions be damned, isn't it? ;-)

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I was still a little stuffy in the head when I woke up this morning so I continue to take 'get better' precautions like making sure my hair is dry before heading out in our cold fall weather. As Tuesday is a statutory holiday - Remembrance Day - I have booked Monday off as a vacation day and I am looking forward to a four day weekend puttering around and tackling some projects. Baking bread and some apple oatmeal muffins this afternoon and a lamb curry for tonight's dinner.

Craft wise, I need to get cracking on this year's Christmas card design, make a wreath for the front door and some new ornaments for the tree. I have some ideas on the go - which includes some experimentation with tea bag folding - and promise to post pictures when I manage to turn ideas into concrete tangible products that I can photograph.

>198 lkernagh: You're making me want to continue with the series now, so I'll see if I can find an audio version of this.

Hoping you feel better and looking forward to your project photos! I remember enjoying them last year.

I hope you feel better! I am looking forward to seeing your Christmas crafts.

Glad you had a good time with The Terra Cotta Dog, Lori. Nice review. Sorry about that cover - I had a different one, like this:

Popping in to say "hi" as I catch up on threads.

>203 DorsVenabili: - Oh, how far did you get in the series, Kerri? Luckily my local library has all or almost all of the audiobooks so I think Montalbano will be my audio escort to and from work for the next couple of months! I think the reason I really like the Montalbano books is they come across as kind of a masculine police procedural form of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone private detective stories. Not stellar literature but enjoyable.

The four day weekend has been what I needed to kick this head cold!

>204 banjo123: - Thanks Rhonda. I am now over my cold and was able to finish my Christmas card design for this year. See below for details and pictures.

>205 jnwelch: - That is a better cover, Joe!

>206 thornton37814: - Hi Lori!

Craft Update:
I have finished my Christmas cards! This year, I decided to mess around with tea bag folding (a take on origami that uses small squares of paper). The hardest part of tea bag folding was not the folding, at least not once I got the process down and thank goodness for YouTube videos! The hardest bit was actually finding a tile design that I liked once I had made the medallion. I ended up deciding to use a white lace on red tile design generated using Robyn's Kaleidoscopes webpage and created these Paper Star Ornaments:



The sheets of paper in the photo on the left created the star seen in the photo on the right. I really like how the front and back of the star are so different. Shelving this idea away as a great tree ornament idea!

It was then just a matter of sitting down in front of the TV getting caught up on Anzac Girls, Once Upon a Time, and a Doc Martin marathon to make the paper stars, cut out and mount alternate tiles on some accent paper I had picked up at Micheals, and then finishing off the cards using some chocolate brown ribbon and pearl accents I already had on hand. End result:



This year, I went with the following verse for the inside of the card:

Whose heart doth hold the Christmas glow
Hath little need of Mistletoe;
Who bears a smiling grace of mien
Need waste no time on wreaths of green;
Whose lips have words of comfort spread
Needs not the holly-berries red—
His very presence scatters wide
The spirit of the Christmastide.
~ ~John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922), "The Christmas Spirit",
The Cheery Way: A Bit of Verse For Every Day, 1920

Here is a shot of the inside of the card, with the verse:



With the completion of the cards, today will be a relaxing day of reading and heading into town for the Remebrance Day cenotaph ceremony at the legislature.

>208 lkernagh: Gorgeous!

The Christmas cards are beautiful. I like the verse you've chosen, too!

My goodness...do all the crafty people congregate here on LT!?! So, so, impressive and beautiful Lori! I think the people receiving these cards must feel so special because it's handcrafted with such love and care. :)

Lori, this card is so beautiful.

Wow, Lori! Those cards are gorgeous, and I love the verse.

Do you take commissions?!?!

Hi Lori, I sort of lost track of your thread a little while back. Very cool steampunk Halloween costume you had. I've never been one to disguise myself, but I like looking at what other people come up with.

Bravo on getting your christmas cards done. I sent some out two years in a row and was really proud of myself. Also homemade. I've never been very good at getting this done, mostly because of lack of planning and organization. Wanted to do it this year too, but we'll see... I should get on it very soon, shouldn't I? I really should follow your example; I'm always so impressed by how much you manage to get done!

I really liked The Terracotta Dog as well, glad you did too. I just finished The Paper Moon last night, which is book 9 in the series, as I'm trying to read the series a bit faster now, as I found letting time linger too much between books made me enjoy it less, but now I'm familiar with it and the characters, I guess I could slacken the pace a little and it wouldn't matter, but I find I'm enjoying getting my regular fix of Montalbano now.

>207 lkernagh: I only read the first one and liked it fine, but haven't continued. However, several smart people I know around here love that series, so it makes me think I should give it another go.

>208 lkernagh: Oh, my gosh! I love the foldy star thingy on the card. Outstanding!

Woot! Beautiful Christmas cards, Lori!

Ditto on the kudos for homemade Christmas cards. I usually make my own too but they are seriously simple. I am talking some sort of cool vintage sticker on a piece of card :) It works for me as is about 1/10 of the cost of the cool cards I want to buy, and even though it is about 100% greater cost than the cheapest cards, at least they weren't made in a sweatshop.

Holy moly, your cards are beautiful!!

Adding my love for your Xmas cards. Very cool!

Thanks everyone!

It has become a tradition for me to custom create annual Christmas cards. Definitely more work then some might think is worth all the effort but when I can do most of the work in front of the TV, the time invested is time well spent. ;-)

>213 katiekrug: - I blush, but no, I am not taking commissions. I tend to change my mind 100 times over the course of coming up with a card idea I think I would drive anyone crazy if I were to try and create something on commission. ;-)

>214 Smiler69: - I have every confidence that you can design a smashing Christmas card, Ilana! I am also amazed at how productive I can be when I am sitting in front of the TV. Just don't ask me to go into details of the shows that I was 'watching' at the time. ;-)

I completely understand the need for a Montalbano fix. ;-)

>215 DorsVenabili: - Good to know!

We are in for a short stretch of cold weather so I have pulled out my thick sweaters, tights and even my leather boots. I love crisp cold weather when clear blue skies (and not torrential rain) are on order so I am a happy fall weather loving girl this week!

Of course, that also means I crank up my cooking things like homemade soups, stews, casseroles and baking muffins, cookies and and other goodies. I have come across a wonder muffin recipe that I have discovered is quite versatile. So far, I have used this applesauce cinnamon oat muffin recipe to make apple oatmeal muffins with real apple chunks as well as wonderful cranberry coconut pecan oatmeal muffins. I am thinking of seeing if I can modify the recipe to use most of the ingredients for a non-oatmeal type of muffin. My other half is enjoying being my taste tester for these various experiments. ;-) Also, because I am trying to make healthier snack choices, I have recently expanded my repertoire of homemade cracker recipes by making a variation on this besan (chickpea) cracker recipe. I replaced the 1 cup of almond meal with 1/2 cup of barley flour and 1/2 cup unbleached white flour (I didn't have almond meal in the house) and I replaced the linseed and ground cumin with cracked black pepper and 3 tablespoons of blend of Harissa and Tuscan seasonings. So good!

Book #65 - The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri - translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli - audiobook narration by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2014 Category (mini-challenge)
Reading BINGO square: N/A
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 1996
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 304 pages / 6 hours, 11 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the public library catalogue listing:

When an elderly man is stabbed to death in an elevator and a crewman on an Italian fishing trawler is machine-gunned by a Tunisian patrol boat off Sicily's coast, only Inspector Montalbano, with his keen insight into human nature, suspects the link between the two incidents. His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished housecleaner and occasional prostitute, whose young son steals other schoolchildren's midmorning snacks. But Karima disappears, and the young snack thief's life, as well as Montalbano's, is endangered when the inspector exposes a viper's nest of government corruption and international intrigue.

Review:
Another great installment but I had some interesting mixed reactions as I was listening to this one. Previous stories have shown Montalbano's more playful sardonic side, as he playfully takes stabs at his work colleagues and the individuals he encounters. In this story, we see a rather nasty sarcastic side of our beloved Inspector. Even food is not the balm to temper his attitude so I started to get rather offended with how he pretty much jumped down everyone's throats, even his lady love, Livia. I will give Camilleri credit. He has given Montalbano a female love interest that is prepared to call him an "a**hole" to his face when he is acting up. Even his work colleagues call him the spade that he is acting like and ask "What gives?" so I let my emotions simmer down and decided to settle in and enjoy the story, which proves to be another one of those crime cases that shows how bureaucracy and corruption can make a crime seem like a walk in the park, in comparison. The story does go on to shed further insight into Montalbano's personality - including his jealous side - and I am seeing a very complex, intelligent character underneath all that bluff, gruff and single-minded food lover we have seen in the first two books in the series. As with any series, some interesting curve balls from some of the reoccurring characters made this another delightful audiobook read for me.

Get ready to see more Inspector Montalbano reviews as I continue to work my way through all of the books in the series! ;-)

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On the topic of Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, I stumbled across the following Gaurdian Newspaper review of The Snack Thief. I knew that there was a TV adaptation of the books - review states that Montalbano is a softer man than in the books, rather sexy and constantly propositioned by the most elegant women. Not sure I like that idea. It is his rather crusty personality, his sardonic wit and his "food first, women get the occasional passing glance" that makes him a rather interesting fictional character. Adaptations of books always leave me a bit pensive - especially when I "think" I "know" the character, only to have some writer/producer/director decide to shape the character in a different way. I do like the idea of Young Montalbano series... sounds promising!

I totally feeling you on the cold weather front. Highest today was -13 and Friday will be a whopping -14. Sunday we will finally reach +3. You know it's winter when you are excited for +3..haha! Driving today was insane with the roads being a sheet of ice. :/

>223 jolerie: - That is exactly what I do not miss about Alberta winters! I can bundle up for the weather - thankfully Alberta has drier humidity (the cold cuts through me here at 0'C, but then again, I am now officially a transplanted wimp!) but still, highs of -14'C (and lows in the mid -20'C) are nothing to cheer about, that is for sure.... or the icy roads! Stay warm and drive safely, Valerie!

Dropping by to say I loved your Christmas cards. I've thought about doing my own often, but I've never been quite sure where to start.

Lori, bravo on the Christmas cards! I ordered a couple of packs of Christmas card-making things this year from the "Papermania" range by Docrafts, thinking that the amazing "discount" was just exaggeration. But then two HUGE packs arrived, with all sorts of things in them! I think I'm all set for the next few years :-) Now I just have to work out what to do with them.

>225 SandDune: - Figuring out where to start can be the hardest part. I almost didn't make cards this year when I saw that November had crept up on me and I hadn't even give the cards a single thought. ;-)

>226 susanj67: - What an awesome score on the card-making supplies, Susan! I tend to sit on the middle of the living room floor and spread out all of my supplies around me.... it is the only space big enough to get crafty in. ;-)

Lori, it's cold and clear blue sunny here, too! It's very different for this time of year which is usually milder but gray-gray-gray. I'm also enjoying. Your soups, crackers, and muffins sound to die for!

Delighted you are enjoying Montalbano so much!

>222 lkernagh: Yeah, baby! I may have mentioned once or twice that I love the Montalbano series, Lori.

The Italian TV adaptations are largely faithful to the books and well worth checking out. (Caro and I love them). He is crusty and irritable in the TV series, and I don't see the claimed softer aspect. He's got his soft moments in the book series, too. And you'll see in the book series he and various women have mutual attractions that he struggles with, given his on and off again relationship with Livia. The Young Montalbano series is a gas, and maybe even more enjoyable to fans of the book series, as you get to see Mimi, and Fazio, and Caterella, and Livia, and Salvo, and so on, as youngsters just getting to know each other.

>222 lkernagh: I've had The Snack Thief sitting on a shelf unread for a long time. I'm not sure why I haven't picked it up because I've read other Montalbano titles out of order. Your 4 star review makes me want to pick it up. Perhaps I can get to it in 2015.

I'm so far behind. Trying to catch up. Love your costume. Liked that review of Ethan Frome very much and, oh gee, there was something wayyyy back that caught my attention, but now it's fallen out of my head.

>227 lkernagh: Lori, I think I might have to try that! I do need a general tidy-up over the weekend, though, so I'll try and make some space and get started. One of the packs had two ink pads in it (red and gold) so I'll experiment. I was expecting the stamps and the stamp pads and some stickers/decoupage and cards, but not the 32-sheet 12x12inch paper packs! I need more friends to send cards to :-) Your cooking also sounds wonderful. I should make my carrot soup this weekend, maybe, to have with cheese scones.

Love your cards!

Oh Lori,

I absolutely love the cards. I wish I would have the patience to create something like that. I tend to stick to my knitting :) and tend to pickle and preserve things for x-mas.
Love the poem as well and I think that will go well together with the card design. Are you sticking to one design or are you going to make different ones?

Lori, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>228 lit_chick: - This Alberta style winter is a new one for us, isn't it? ;-) Yup, Montalbano is quite the series and I am trying to figure out why it took me so long to get started on the series. As for the cooking and baking, I am not getting any complaints from my other half in that department!

>229 jnwelch: - Ha, as I mentioned above to Nancy, I am amazed that it took me this long to start the series. I know I already mentioned this over on your thread but I will mention it again here: I was happy to discover that my local library has DVDs of both Montalbano and the Young Montalbano series. Even better, because they are Italian with English subtitles, the holds list for the DVDs are rather short so I am going to see if we can binge watch over the holiday season. ;-)

>230 thornton37814: - I am enjoying the Montalbano series for the slice of Sicily life portrayed in the stories but also for the interesting character developments of the re-occurring characters. Some fun dynamics happening there! Given that Camilleri provides little pieces of guiding information in the stories, you can probably continue to read them out of order, without getting too confused.

>231 sibylline: - Thanks, Lucy! Things fall out of my head all of the time - that or I get confused which thread I have seen something - so I totally understand!

>232 susanj67: - A general tidy up usually turns into an all weekend affair for me, and then I am exhausted come Monday! That sounds like quite the deluxe kit of supplies! Have fun crafting! Ooooohhhhh, carrot soup. I used to make a curried carrot soup but haven't made it in a long, long time. If this colder weather continues, I think I will need to consider making it, although I need to space out soups with other things. My other half won't eat soup 7 days a week. Why, I have no idea...... ;-)

>233 banjo123: - Thanks, Rhonda!

>234 drachenbraut23: - Thanks, Bianca! I am sticking to one design. It is easier if I provide family and close friends with the same cards. I did different styled cards one year and would you believe some actually comments/ complained that they liked so and so's card better then the one they had received. The look I delivered to the speakers of those comments stopped them in mid-sentence and they spent the next ten minutes gushing about how much they did appreciate the homemade card they had received, but not an experience I want to risk re-living if I send out different cards. Some people have rather short memories and can be a bit petty as well, even if they are loved ones! ;-) I try to pick things that I can work on while watching tv as something to keep my hands busy since all of my knitting and crocheting have fallen by the way side in recent years. I continue to be in awe at the wonderful knitted pieces you have created and posted pictures of on your thread!

>235 Ameise1: - Thanks Barabara! That looks like a lovely cup of tea. That reminds me, I should make a cup of tea and try out the new tea I bought at the store yesterday: Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey tea. I love bergamot in tea!

Happy Sunday, everyone! This weekend was supposed to be a weekend of taking things easy and reading. Yes, reading. So, what did I do yesterday, you may ask? Well, I started off early in the day grocery shopping. In the process I realized I had to go downtown to pick up more coffee for the house - we drink a locally roasted brand of coffee that is only sold through their coffees hops. Since I was downtown I made a detour into a couple of thrift stores and happily came away with some sheet music books for my next Christmas craft project. I was going to print off pages from the internet but this way I save on printer ink, paper and energy by taking apart the sheet music books instead. I then tackled four loads of laundry and since my other half was looking forward to homemade seafood chowder for dinner I decided to make a Parmesan foccacia for dipping in the chowder. By the time dinner was finished, I wasn't in the mood for reading so instead we watched The Reluctant Fundamentalist and I started painting pieces for my next craft project.

Today I will get in some reading time. Really, I will. I am determined to finish Viscount of Bragelonne today, as I have been reading this one off and on for the past two months now, and hopefully I will also manage to finish The Pale Blue Eye which is another book I have been reading off and on since the start of November. I have finished my latest Inspector Montalbano audiobook read The Voice of the Violin, but I haven't found the time to pull together a quick review of that one yet. I think I can do this and still manage to squeeze in some time today to make more chickpea crackers, lasagna for dinner tonight and I do need to fabric dye two articles of clothing.....

Popping in to say hello. I want to start the Montalbano series but first I must get to work on the many current series I have started.

I love your Christmas cards. You are so very talented.

>221 lkernagh: I think I've said this before, but I love that you make your own crackers!

>238 lkernagh: I forgot that they made a movie of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I'll have to put that on my Netflix queue. I loved the novel. In the film, I wonder how they create that creepy suspense with the two characters in the restaurant. It worked so well in novel form.

I've loved the Montalbanos that I've read so far.... Sounds like your weekend got really busy!

Hi Lori! Thanks for visiting my thread. I am definitely more behind than you are! Great review of The Martian -- it looks amazing. I also enjoyed your thoughts on Ethan Frome. It was my first Wharton also. I LOVE your costume -- you are so creative and talented. Your cards are lovely. Your friends who receive them are lucky indeed. I hope you have a great week!

>239 luvamystery65: - Hi Roberta! Thanks! One can only juggle so many series at the same time! I like you idea to make some progress with your current series on the go before adding a new one.

>240 DorsVenabili: - I don't know what the prices are like in your part of the world, but I got sick and tired of seeing the price tag for what was rather bland, flavourless crackers (or crackers that are off the chart when it comes to sodium levels!) so I decided to take control and make my own. It is really no onerous than making a batch of cookies that require slicing or cookie cutters to shape and being able to experiment with the flavours... that is the best part of all. ;-)

I haven't read the book so I am trying to remember if the movie contained that level of creepy suspense you mentioned. I don't remember any suspense build.... I just remember a lot of memory flashbacks and some rather chess game dialogue between the two main characters in the restaurant. Sorry I can't help more. Good movie and well cast.

>241 sibylline: - They are great, aren't they Lucy? I seem to be my own worst enely when it comes to giving myself a relaxing weekend. At least I got a lot accomplished. ;-)

>242 AMQS: - Hi Anne! Thanks! I don't know about creative and I do tend to make somethings that just do not turn out very well, which I don't post pictures of here on LT! I hope you have a wonderful week.

I managed to get a number of things finished yesterday. I tend to be very particular about the style of clothes that I wear so when I find clothes I like, I take efforts to keep them alive. I had two skirts and a pair of cotton pants that I absolutely love but over time and countless washings, the color in them have started to fade. Everything else about the clothing is fine so I decided it was time to give them a dye bath and resurrect them. The pants were a dark black/brown that responded well to a black dye bath. One of the skirts is a heavy navy blue skirt that also responded well to the navy blue dye bath it received. The second skirt was a bit of a challenge. It was a lovely autumn rust colour and not a colour of fabric dye that can be readily purchased at the fabric store, so I took a risk and created my own dye bath using hot water and half a dozen strong orange pekoe tea bags. The tea bath returned life to the colour of the skirt without drastically changing its colour. A successful Sunday, for sure!

I have finished and written reviews for more three books but as this thread is getting rather long, now is probably a good time to migrate the conversation over to my final thread for 2014...... come on over!

Thumbs up for the colour refreshment of your clothes. Great job. Wishing you a lovely day.