kidzdoc achieves TBR domination in 2014, part 12

The skyline of the city of San Diego, which I'll visit for the first time next week when I attend the 2014 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition.




Currently reading:

    

J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson
The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen
Fodor's San Diego with North County

Completed books:

January:
1. Homage to Barcelona by Colm Tóibín (review)
2. 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz (review)
3. How I Became Hettie Jones by Hettie Jones (review) (TBR)
4. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon
5. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordechai Richler

February:
6. Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past by Giles Tremlett (TBR)
7. Christmas in Purgatory: A Photographic Essay on Mental Retardation
by Burton Blatt & Fred Kaplan
8. Down's Syndrome: The History of a Disability by David Wright
9. Lizard Tails by Juan Marsé (TBR) (review)
10. The Comedians by Graham Greene (TBR) (review)
11. No Name in the Street by James Baldwin (TBR)
12. The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop by Guthrie Ramsey
13. An Unexpected Twist by Andy Borowitz (TBR)

March:
14. The Enormity of the Tragedy by Quim Monzó (TBR)
15. Between Friends by Amos Oz
16. Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel
17. The Weir by Conor McPherson
18. Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I by Emily Mayhew
19. The Husbands by Sharmila Chauhan
20. We Are Proud To Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury
21. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
22. 1984 (play script) by George Orwell

April:
23. Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England by Sarah Wise
24. Ruin Lust: Artists' Fascination with Ruins, from Turner to the Present Day by Brian Dillon
25. Secret Barcelona by Veronica Ramirez Muro and Rocio Sierra Carbonell
26. Barcelona by Robert Hughes
27. Everyman Mapguide Barcelona
28. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry (TBR)
29. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
30. Notes for a Spanish Odyssey by Calvin Baker
31. Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa
32. I Am a Japanese Writer by Dany Laferrière (TBR)
33. Gone by Colum McCann

May:
34. The Colonel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (TBR)
35. Gasoline by Quim Monzó (TBR)
36. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (TBR)
37. Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
38. Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
39. Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov

June:
40. The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal
41. Quietly by Owen McCafferty
42. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos
43. Shanghai Nights by Juan Marsé (TBR)
44. This Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood by Alan Johnson
45. Vlad by Carlos Fuentes
46. Rochester Castle by Jeremy Ashbee
47. The Sant Pau Modernista Precinct by Richard Rees
48. Lost Luggage by Jordi Puntí
49. Baedeker Barcelona by Baedeker Guides
50. Gaudí: Introduction to His Architecture by Juan-Eduardo Cirlot

July:
51. Barcelona Scams by Jonathan Stone
52. Gaudí: A Biography by Gijs van Hensbergen
53. Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman
54. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat : The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax (TBR)
55. Kieron Smith, boy by James Kelman (TBR)

August:
56. All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
57. How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps by Adam Fletcher
58. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
59. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris
60. Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS by Rebecca J. Anderson
61. Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
62. History of the Rain by Niall Williams
63. Family Life by Akhil Sharma
64. When We Are Called to Part: Hope and Heartbreak in the Vanishing World of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement by Brooke Jarvis

September:
65. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
66. The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith
67. Strictly Bipolar by Darian Leader
68. Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe
69. Doctor Scroggy's War by Howard Brenton
70. Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood by Julian Mash
71. Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wiilson

October:
72. The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

January:
1. 1914: A Novel by Jean Echenoz (1 Jan, Strand Book Store)
2. The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe (1 Jan, Book Culture)
3. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild (1 Jan, Book Culture)
4. U.S.A. by John Dos Passos (1 Jan, Book Culture)
5. Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities by Mark Anthony Neal (1 Jan, Book Culture)
6. Levels of Life by Julian Barnes (1 Jan, Book Culture)
7. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat (1 Jan, Book Culture)
8. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon (1 Jan, Book Culture)
9. My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit (1 Jan, Book Culture)
10. Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize by Sean B. Carroll (1 Jan, Book Culture)
11. The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (8 Jan, Amazon Kindle e-book)
12. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark (18 Jan, History Book Club)
13. The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
14. The Odyssey: A Dramatic Retelling of Homer's Epic by Simon Armitage (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
15. Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey by Robert O'Meally (18 Jan, Michael C. Carlos Museum Bookshop)
16. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis (19 Jan, Kindle e-book)
17. The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
18. The New Spaniards by John Hooper (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
19. Barcelona by John Hughes (25 Jan, Kindle e-book (reimbursement))
20. Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends by John Leguizamo (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
21. Just Kids by Patti Smith (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
22. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)
23. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge (26 Jan, Kindle e-book)

February:
25. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (6 Feb, Kindle e-book)
26. Christmas in Purgatory: A Photographic Essay on Mental Retardation by Burton Blatt, Fred Kaplan (9 Feb, PDF download)
27. Spain in Mind by Alice Leccese Powers (16 Feb, gift book)
28. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (21 Feb, Kindle e-book)
29. Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser, MD (LT Early Reviewers book)
30. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
31. Wounded: From Battlefield to Blighty by Emily Mayhew (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
32. Creation: The Origin of Life by Adam Rutherford (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
33. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
34. Far From the Tree: A Dozen Kinds of Love by Andrew Solomon (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
35. Inconvenient People by Sarah Wise (25 Feb, Kindle e-book)
36. An Unexpected Twist (Kindle Single) by Andy Borowitz (27 Feb, Kindle e-book)

March:
37. Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are by Robin Robertson (3 Mar, gift from Karen W.)
38. Thrombosis & Bleeding: An Era of Discovery by Cecil Hougie (5 Mar, Kindle e-book)
39. On the Rez by Ian Frazier (9 Mar, Kindle e-book)
40. We'll Always Have Paris by John Baxter (10 Mar, Kindle e-book)
41. The Nonexistent Knight by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
42. The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
43. Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
44. Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel (20 Mar, Kindle e-book)
45. 1984 by George Orwell (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
46. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
47. The Weir by Conor McPherson (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
48. A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
49. Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
50. Sol Campbell by Simon Astaire (22 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
51. Nomad's Hotel: Travels in Time and Space by Cees Nooteboom (22 Mar, Stanfords Bookshop)
52. The Husbands by Sharmila Chauhan (23 Mar, Soho Theatre)
53. The Hill Station by J.G. Farrell (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
54. Gob's Grief by Chris Adrian (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
55. Falling Out of Time by David Grossman (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
56. Plague and Cholera by Patrick Deville (24 Mar, London Review Bookshop)
57. The Making of Mr Hai's Daughter by Yasmin Hai (26 Mar, Foyles Bookshop)
58. We Are Proud To Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury (26 Mar, Bush Theatre)
59. The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times by Barbara Taylor (27 Mar, Daunt Books)
60. Gaudí: A Biography by Gijs van Hensbergen (27 Mar, Daunt Books)
61. Ruin Lust by Brian Dillon (27 Mar, National Theatre Bookshop)
62. King Lear by William Shakespeare (27 Mar, National Theatre Bookshop)
63. 1984 (script) by George Orwell, adapted by Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan (29 Mar, Almeida Theatre)

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

April:
64. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (11 Apr, Kindle e-book)
65. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor (14 Apr, Kindle e-book)
66. An Introduction to the Catalan and Valencian Languages by David S. Luton (14 Apr, Kindle e-book)
67. Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa (15 Apr, LT Early Reviewers book)
68. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Callahan (19 Apr, Kindle e-book)
69. Notes for a Spanish Odyssey by Calvin Baker (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
70. Gone (Kindle Single) by Colum McCann (20 Apr, Kindle e-book)
71. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (30 Apr, Kindle e-book)

May:
72. Lost Luggage by Jordi Puntí (6 May, Kindle e-book)
73. The Dolls' Room by Llorenç Villalonga (7 May, Kindle e-book)
74. All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
75. Living Language Spanish, Complete Edition (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
76. The Gray Notebook by Josep Pla (10 May, Barnes & Noble)
77. The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (16 May, Kindle e-book)
78. Pocket Rough Guide Madrid by Simon Baskett (19 May, Idlewild Books)
79. Barcelona Baedeker Guide (19 May, Idlewild Books)
80. Madrid: A Cultural History (19 May, Idlewild Books)
81. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (19 May, Idlewild Books)
82. Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov (19 May, Book Culture)
83. Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque (19 May, Book Culture)
84. Family Life by Akhil Sharma (19 May, Book Culture)
85. Book of Hours by Kevin Young (19 May, Book Culture)
86. Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture by Hisham Aidi (19 May, Book Culture)
87. Stokely: A Life by Peniel E. Joseph (19 May, Book Culture)
88. Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture by Gaiutra Bahadur (19 May, Book Culture)
89. The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
90. Glyph: A Novel by Percival Everett (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
91. Sleet: Selected Stories by Stig Dagerman (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
92. Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
93. Paul Robeson: A Watched Man by Jordan Goodman (21 May, St Mark's Bookshop)
94. A French Book by John Christy (24 May, Kindle e-book)
95. Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende (25 May, Kindle e-book)

June:
96. The Londonist Book Of London Pub Crawls by Matt Brown (1 Jun, Kindle e-book)
97. River Gardens by Lynda Kiss (2 Jun, Kindle e-book)
98. Lancelot by Walker Percy (3 Jun, Kindle e-book)
99. The Physician by Noah Gordon (3 Jun, Kindle e-book)
100. Quietly by Owen McCafferty (3 Jun, Soho Theatre)
101. In the Approaches by Nicola Barker (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
102. The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
103. I Am China by Xiaolu Guo (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
104. The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-War Immigration by David Goodhart (5 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
105. Lost for Words by Edward St Aubyn (6 Jun, Brick Lane Bookshop)
106. This Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by Alan Johnson (6 Jun, Brick Lane Bookshop)
107. The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
108. Fima by Amos Oz (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
109. Don't Call it Night by Amos Oz (8 Jun, Baggins Books Bazaar)
110. Our Street: East End Life in the Second World War by Gilda O'Neill (8 Jun, Baggins Book Bazaar)
111. Rochester Castle by Jeremy Ashbee (8 Jun, Rochester Castle gift shop)
112. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (12 Jun, gift book from Bianca Buchholz)
113. All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque (12 Jun, gift book from Bianca Buchholz)
114. The Ingenious Gentleman and Poet Federico Garcia Lorca Ascends to Hell by Carlos Rojas (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
115. The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
116. Outlaws by Javier Cercas (13 Jun, London Review Bookshop)
117. Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo (13 Jun, Oxfam Bloomsbury Bookshop)
118. Vlad by Carlos Fuentes (13 Jun, Waterstone's Gower Street
119. Portobello Road: Lives of a Neighbourhood by Julian Mash (13 Jun, Waterstone's Gower Street
120. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (13 Jun, Foyles Bookshop)
121. A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie (13 Jun, Foyles Bookshop)
122. Gaudi: Introduction to his Architecture by Juan-Eduardo Cirlot (17 Jun, Divers Newsagent, Estació Sants)
123. The Sant Pau Modernista Precinct (20 Jun, Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau gift shop)
124. The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
125. Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid by Sid Lowe (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
126. The History of Catalonia by F. Xavier Hernàndez (23 Jun, Come In Llibreria Anglesa)
127. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn (29 Jun, Kindle e-book)

July:
128. The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy by David Halberstam (1 Jul, Kindle e-book)
129. Thomas Jefferson by Christopher Hitchens (1 Jul, Kindle e-book)
130. Nevirapine and the Quest to End Pediatric AIDS by Rebecca J. Anderson (2 Jul, LTER book)

This is a list of the TBR books I'd like to read the most. I hope to complete 10-15 or more tomes (500 pages or longer), and 30-35 shorter works. This is a first draft, so the books that are listed here will almost certainly change as the year progresses.

TBR Books to Read in 2014

Tomes (500 pages or more):
      Nicole Barker, Darkmans
      Simone de Beauvoir, The Mandarins
      Douglas Brinkley, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
      Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March
      Ralph Ellison, Three Days Before the Shooting...
      Ian Gibson, The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí
      David Grossman, To the End of the Land
      Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name
      George E. Lewis, A Power Stronger than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
      A.J. Liebling, Just Enough Liebling
      David Macey, Frantz Fanon: A Biography
      Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety
      Paul Murray, Skippy Dies
      Patrick O'Brian, Picasso: A Biography
      Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason: The Modern Foundations of Body and Soul
      Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
      William Trevor, Selected Stories
      Patrick White, The Vivisector

Non-tomes (less than 500 pages):
      Stuart Altman and David Shactman, Power, Politics and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle
      Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
      Bernardo Atxaga, Obabakoak
      Amiri Baraka, Tales of the Out & the Gone
      Eleanor Catton, The Rehearsal
      Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
      Randy Christensen MD, Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them
      Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, The Colonel
      Jean Echenoz, I'm Off and One Year
      Percival Everett, Percival Everett by Virgil Russell
      Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
      Louise Erdrich, The Plague of Doves
      Paul Farmer, Haiti After the Earthquake
      Juan Eslava Galan, The Mule
      Jerry Gentry, Grady Baby: A Year in the Life of Atlanta's Grady Hospital
      Amitav Ghosh, The Calcutta Chromosome
      Juan Goytisolo, Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife
      Juan Goytisolo, Juan the Landless
      Graham Greene, The Comedians
      Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
      Jonathan B. Imber, Trusting Doctors: The Decline of Moral Authority in American Medicine
      Hettie Jones, How I Became Hettie Jones
      James Kelman, Kieron Smith, boy
      Robert Klitzman, When Doctors Become Patients
      Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle: Book One
      Eric Lax, The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle
      Charles Lemert, Why Niebuhr Matters
      Juan Marsé, Lizard Tails
      Juan Marsé, Shanghai Nights
      David A. Mendel, Proper Doctoring: A Book for Patients and their Doctors
      Simon Mawer, Mendel's Dwarf
      Claire McCarthy, Everyone's Children: A Pediatrician's Story of an Inner City Practice
      Ian McEwan, Atonement
      Andrew Miller, Pure
      Quim Monzó, The Enormity of the Tragedy
      Quim Monzó, Gasoline
      Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
      Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood
      Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History
      Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost
      Laura Katz Olson, The Politics of Medicaid: Stakeholders and Welfare Medicine
      Brian Orr, MD, A Pediatrician's Journal: Caring for Children in a Broken Medical System
      Orhan Pamuk, Snow
      Roy Porter, Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad Doctors and Lunatics
      Graham Robb, Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
      Edward W. Said, Out of Place: A Memoir
      Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past
      Mario Vargas Llosa, The Green House
      Richard Wright, Black Boy

Recommended reads for the CanLit 2014 Challenge (by Canadian LTers) (books in bold are ones that I'm most interested in reading):

   Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace (Joyce, Nancy, Cait and Cyrel)
   Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (Cait and Joyce)
   Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (Tui)
   Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride (Joyce and Nancy)
   Anita Rau Badami, Tamarind Mem (Tui)
   Anita Rau Badami, Tell it to the Trees (Cait)
   John Bemrose, The Island Walkers (Lori)
   Marie-Claire Blais, The Day Is Dark and Three Travelers (Suz)
   Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road (Suz and Cyrel)
   Joseph Boyden, Black Spruce (Suz and Cyrel)
   Wayson Choy, The Jade Peony (Nancy)
   Michael Crummey, Galore (Sassy)
   Robertson Davies, The Deptford Trilogy (Suz, Cait, Tui and Zoë)
   Suzanne Desrochers, Bride of New France (Zoë)
   Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers (Nancy)
   Kim Echlin, The Disappeared (Cait)
   Timothy Findley, The Last of the Crazy People (Lori)
   Timothy Findley, The Piano Man's Daughter (Tui)
   Timothy Findley, The Wars (Suz and Joyce)
   Kenneth J. Harvey, Blackstrap Hawco (Sassy)
   Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen (Joyce and Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, Coventry (Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, The Frozen Thames (Tui)
   Helen Humphreys, The Lost Garden (Tui)
   Wayne Johnston, Baltimore's Mansion (Tui)
   Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Cyrel)
   Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water (Joyce)
   W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe (Tui)
   Margaret Laurence, The Stone Angel (Tui)
   Mary Lawson, Crow Lake (Lori)
   Linden MacIntyre, The Bishop's Man (Suz)
   Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief (Cait and Nancy)
   Beatrice MacNeil, Where White Horses Gallop (Nancy)
   Rabindranath Maharaj, The Amazing Absorbing Boy (Cyrel)
   Rohinton Mistry, Family Matters (Tui)
   Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance (Tui)
   W.O. Mitchell, Who Has Seen the Wind (Tui)
   Lisa Moore, February (Cait)
   Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (Suz)
   Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness (Cyrel)
   Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock (Cyrel)
   Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost (Joyce)
   Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (Cait)
   Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
   Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table (Suz)
   Jacques Poulin, Mister Blue (Suz)
   Mordechai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Cyrel)
   Timothy Taylor, Stanley Park (Joyce)
   Kim Thúy, Ru (Suz)
   Michel Tremblay, The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant (Lori)
   Jane Urquhart, Away (Tui)
   Jane Urquhart, The Stone Carvers (Tui)
   Ronald Wright, What Is America?: A Short History of the New World Order (nonfiction) (Tui)

Hmm. An extra message again.

We pause this thread for station identification.

Ok, 5 reserved spaces :) Should mean it is safe to visit your new thread! Congrats on another new thread Darryl. May I assume that you finished your stretch of hard work - so that you can come back to London soon? :)

>9 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca! Yes, it's safe to enter this new thread, as construction is nearly complete. I did finish my grueling seven day work week late last night, and I'm off from clinical duties today and tomorrow, although I have two hospital committee meetings to attend on Tuesday and I'll need to review a proposal today and talk with one of my colleagues this afternoon.

I should be able to return to London in late winter or early spring, and possibly sooner. I'll work a full time schedule from November through February, as opposed to my usual 80% of full time, so it's unlikely that I'll have more than a few days off at a time except for Thanksgiving and the New Year's holiday, which I'll spend with family and, hopefully, my best friends in Wisconsin. I'll work over Christmas as I usually do.

Oof. I need more coffee...

Coffee!?! That's the keyword - I fetch one for me too. Happy New Thread, Darryl.

Thanks, Barbara! Even though this was my morning to sleep in I woke up at 3:30 am for some odd reason. It's nearly 11:30 am here, so I think a long afternoon nap is in my future.

Well, hopping between good old Europe and the USA shows some afzer-effect ;-). I hope you'll have a nice nap thos afternoon.

Happy New Thread, mister!

>8 kidzdoc: interesting graphic there, Darryl. Today, WDEL is only an AM radio station. Since I live near and work in Delaware, the photo prompted me to search the web for more information on its origins in television back in 1949. Learned something new today!!

Happy New Thread Darryl! I must say the synopsis of The Lives of Others really appealed to me when I first read it, so I look forward to your review. Wishing you a great week ahead.

I just learned today is National Coffee Day!

Does your comment on your last thread mean you've never been to the Natural History or Science Museums? That's a travesty if it is the case, and you must remedy it immediately.........well, as soon as you can.

I'm assuming you've skulked around the British Museum? The London Museum? Although I get the feeling perhaps you prefer art galleries to museums?

There is another museum in London that I'll try and look up, it's amazing, not so much as museum as a collection of antiquities thrown into an ordinary house. Amazing.

And of course there is the Charles Dickens Museum which I have never been too, despite it being on the same street as my cousin's flat. Also nearby is the Foundling Museum (which I haven't been to either). And yet I dare to criticise you......... hmm, I think I'd better leave now.

>251 kidzdoc: elkiedee (from my previous thread): I don't know if you've read anything by Dannie Abse, who died yesterday aged 91 - he was a doctor and poet, and apparently used his experience as a doctor quite a lot in his writing.

Thanks for mentioning Dannie Abse, Luci. I hadn't heard of him before, but after I saw your comment I read the obituary about him in today's Guardian. Three of his books are available in Kindle format from Amazon US, and two of his memoirs are being sold for less than $5 each. I just purchased Goodbye Twentieth Century for $4.99 after I read this description of it:

Drawing upon his Welsh and Jewish heritage, Dannie Abse presents a rich autobiography that chronicles his life as both a doctor and an author. Humorous and poignant, this new edition not only includes the acclaimed first volume A Poet in the Family, but also discusses the changes in the political and literary landscape over the last century. With a chapter featuring brand new material by the author, this must-read autobiography will entertain those interested in history, politics, and literature.

I'll probably read this soon. Thanks again, Luci!

BTW, here's the Guardian obituary of Dannie Abse, which appears in today's edition:

Dannie Abse obituary

>13 Ameise1: I did have a nice afternoon nap, Barbara. I think I'm fully recovered from my jet lag, but I have no idea why I woke up at 3:30 am today. I'm glad that this didn't happen on a workday, as I couldn't get back to sleep even though I was dog tired.

>14 scaifea: Thank you, your Majesty ma'am! (Joe, Debbi, Heather and Caroline will remember that humorous line from the play Doctor Scroggy's War, which was uttered by a flustered young hospital nurse when she was addressed by the Queen of England.)

>15 lauralkeet: I also thought that was interesting, Laura, as the only Delaware television station that I'm aware of is, of course, WHYY. I read the Wikipedia entry for WDEL shortly after I found that image on Google, and learned that WDEL moved from channel 7 (where it had to compete with stations in NYC and DC) to channel 12, the current location of WHYY, which replaced WDEL several years after it ceased operations in 1958 and returned its license to the FCC.

As I was reading about that I was also reminded about another Philadelphia station that went out of business, although this one closed shop when I lived there:



>16 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana! I'll resume reading The Lives of Others shortly, and hopefully I can finish it tomorrow, although it will probably be later than that before I'm done with it, as I have over 300 pages to go.

>17 avidmom: I learned that earlier today, thanks to a Facebook post from the Museum of Modern Art. I was tickled to see a photo of a Chemex coffee maker, which according to MoMA was James Bond's preferred way to make coffee:



I've used a Chemex to make coffee at home for at least 7-8 years, and I love it. I think it's time for another batch...

Happy new thread, Darryl! Did I miss what the photo up top is? A continuation of your Barcelona theme, maybe?

>18 lunacat: Right, Jenny; I haven't been to the Science Museum or the Natural History Museum yet, even though I've stayed in hotels within walking distance of them three times. You're right, it is a travesty, and I shall rectify this grievous error on my next trip to London!

I did visit at least five museums on this trip, though: the British Museum, Tate Modern, V&A, Brighton Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

(I also didn't go to Slightly Foxed Bookshop this month, even though it was visible from my hotel room. And, for that matter, I never made it to Foyles. Don't tell anyone, please.)

I've visited the British Museum more than any other one in London, but I haven't been to the Museum of London yet. I prefer museums to art galleries, and I particularly favor exhibitions by artists or about themes that I'm most familiar with or interested in.

Please let me know when you find out the name of that museum that houses antiquities.

I haven't been to the Charles Dickens Museum (which I didn't know about) or the Foundling Museum, either.

There are so many museums in London and the UK that I doubt that there any many people who have visited all of them, Jenny! (Anyone know how many there are in the capital?)

I had lunch with one of the palliative care doctors on Saturday, who occasionally works with us on weekends. She also grew up in the NYC area (Brooklyn for her, Jersey City for me), and she also thinks that London is far superior to NYC in terms of its cultural amenities, especially its museums.

>21 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! Ah, I forgot to label that photo of the San Diego skyline. I'll fly there on October 10th for the 2014 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, which will be held there from the 11th through the 14th. The city will be infested with over 10,000 rowdy pediatricians and other health care providers, which is probably why Reba has decided to evacuate before we arrive there.

>20 kidzdoc: my parents had one of those Chemex things when I was a kid. I think they used something similar when we lived in Germany (late 60s), a practice they continued when they moved back to the US. But they used Folgers coffee because my dad worked for Procter & Gamble, original makers of Folgers. Eventually they "moved up" to whole bean coffee. :)

Happy New Thread, Darryl. Enjoy your conference and San Diego. What a lot of traveling you've done this year.

>23 lauralkeet: I think that Chemex coffee makers (basically fancy Erlenmeyer flasks, which you all may remember from chemistry class) have been around since the 1930s, and they are made by a German company. I bought one after a recommendation of them on the Peet's Coffee website. I paid around $30 for mine, which I bought from Amazon, and I have to buy special filters for it, which aren't terribly expensive. You just fold the filter in a certain fashion, insert it in the Chemex, place ground coffee in the filter (I use freshly ground whole bean coffee), and pour hot water over the grounds until the flask has filled sufficiently. Easy as pie, and pretty cheap as well.

My father only buys Folgers coffee. He and my mother like it when I bring Peet's Coffee whenever I visit, but he's too cheap to buy it for himself.

>24 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. Believe it or not, I may have actually done less traveling this year than in most previous ones. Before I started going to London I used to go to San Francisco 3-4 times per year, and visit my best friends in Madison, Wisconsin and my parents in Philadelphia at least that often. I've only gone to Madison once, and I haven't been to SF at all this year, although I have seen my parents at least thrice. So yeah, I've definitely taken less trips this year!

The conference should be good, but I'll also meet up with colleagues from work and former friends from residency, particularly one dear friend who is in private practice in Las Vegas. We usually meet up when the conference is held in San Francisco, so I'm glad that she'll be there for this one.

>19 kidzdoc: I read Dannie Abse's The Presence earlier in the year, and while it wasn't quite the book for me I am inclined to try something else by him. This is part of my review:

I had mixed feelings about this book, and it engendered feelings both of great familiarity and great unfamiliarity. Familiarity because Dannie Abse's retreat from London over many years was in the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, a settlement that I looked out on every day from my bedroom window as a child, and many of the Welsh locations that he mentions are familiar to me. Unfamiliarity because many if not most of the poets who form the background to the lives of this literary family are completely unknown to me, which somewhat detracted from my enjoyment of the book. So while this wasn't quite the book for me I'm inclined to try some of his other work in particular Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve.

You've done less traveling but stayed longer, perhaps?

I like London's smaller museums, too. Yes, the Natural History museum and science museums are must visits if you're in the neighborhood (I used to love the amazing gems in the former!) And the museum of London is an inexplicable omission!

I like Samuel Johnson's house, with the room in which the great dictionary was assembled. The one I'd like to see is in Lambeth, where the Tradescant family are buried: the Garden Museum. (I'm a rabid fan of Kew Gardens and all its various buildings and museums, from the galleries to the small palace.) I loved Hogarth's house, too, out in Chiswick.

>20 kidzdoc: for some reason, I would have supposed Bond, James Bond would have used a French press for his coffee. What a disappointment.

I use a small Melita myself. I'm the only one who drinks coffee in my home. And I found out this weekend that my sister, who used to be the original werewolf before her morning coffee, quit cold turkey last spring and hasn't looked back. Amazing. (Although I'm not sure the ww won't reappear, of course.)

and why am I not surprised that you are traveling again?

>22 kidzdoc: - Well, I'm slightly embarrassed I didn't recognize the San Diego skyline, since I have been there! Oops. Our annual conference (for the association for which I work) is in Amsterdam this year, also in October. My own professional development conference will be in that garden spot of the Rust Belt, Detroit, next year. Guess I should have become a pediatrician (or at least gone to work for them)!

RIP Dannie Abse ya made a fine age.

Congrats on the new thread, Darryl. Were it not for you (and other LTers), I'd hardly travel at all. Thanks for the armchair adventures!

San Diego. It's a lovely city. Enjoy!

I am absorbing all the museums i shd have visited while in London as well ..... next time, I must say I loved the British museum & spent all afternoon there & still felt I could spend another day!

>27 SandDune: I remember reading your review of The Presence, Rhian. I was completely unfamiliar with Abse, though, and since there was no mention of him being a physician in your review I didn't pay attention to this book or its author.

>28 Chatterbox: You've done less traveling but stayed longer, perhaps?

I think that's possible, Suz. The trips to London in March and September weren't longer than usual (roughly two weeks each), but the combo 3½ week London-Barcelona holiday certainly was.

I agree that the Museum of London is an inexplicable omission! I remember intending to go there on one of my first trips to the capital, but I can't remember why I didn't make it. Next time (God willing), for sure!

I'll also have to pay attention to the smaller museums in and around the city, and visit Kew Gardens and Wimbledon.

>29 ffortsa: I was surprised that James Bond used a Chemex to make coffee. (For that matter I was surprised that Miss Moneypenny or his flame of the moment didn't hand deliver coffee to him in bed every morning.) Were Chemexes popular or highly regarded in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s?

My father uses Melitta filters daily, and he used a Melitta coffee maker briefly but doesn't anymore.

I won't make many more trips after this upcoming one, although there is a slight chance that I might go somewhere after I return from San Diego (I probably won't, since we're short staffed at work and one of my partners, who is currently pregnant with twins, will likely need to stop working soon). Depending on my work schedule for the last quarter I'll almost certainly visit my parents for Thanksgiving, and hopefully see my best friends in Madison for the New Year's holiday, but that may be it.

>30 katiekrug: I haven't been to San Diego, so I wouldn't have automatically recognized that skyline. Amsterdam does trump San Diego, though! Fliss will be going to San Diego for a conference, either just before or just after the AAP NCE, so I'll just miss seeing her (although I did see her in Cambridge earlier this month).

Needless to say nearly anyplace (with the possible exception of Trenton, NJ) trumps Detroit. I was going to add Camden, NJ, but at least you can take the PATCO high speed line and get to Philadelphia in 15 minutes from there.

>31 Caroline_McElwee: Right, Caroline. I hope to make it to the age of 91 as well (at least I think I do...).

>32 LauraBrook: Thanks, Laura. There have been some lovely photos and travelogues on LT lately!

>33 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen. I'm afraid that I won't see much of the city though, unless I play hooky from the conference for a day or two (shhh). I'll arrive on the evening of the 10th, attend the conference from the 11th through the 13th, and leave on the morning of the 14th (usually very little happens on the last day of the conference, as most attendees leave town that day and return to work the next day).

>34 roundballnz: It would take many months, at least, to see everything in London, Alex!

Hiya, Darryl. Congratulations on the new thread. San Diego has a lot to offer; I particularly liked the zoo, with the pandas.

I thought of you after reading Strange Weather in Tokyo, a novel by Hiromi Kawakami. It got shortlisted for the Man Asian Prize, and I think it's one you might like. (It's slim, too). I reviewed it, so you can see my reaction.

Hope all is going well. That sounded like an awfully tough schedule to return to!

I've found the museum I meant, it's 'Sir John Soames Museum' at Lincoln Inn Fields. It's fantastically eccentric.

A chemex? What the heck? If you are going to make coffee go big time! Last spring I went to buy a Mochamaster by Technovroom and found I couldn't get one locally. I would have to order it off the INternet, so I waited. (I purchased a Ninga blender instead.) I mentioned to my sister that I was going to get one, and she said that they were great! Turns out she and her family (they drink two 10 cup pots of coffee a day) got tired of the drip coffee pots that didn't seem to last longer than three months, no matter what kind they were. So, on the advice of Christopher Kimball and the folks at Cooks Illustrated, the Mochamonster was purchased. She loves it.

I would use a french press if it didn't take so long to heat the water to boil. If I had one of those magic teapots, like the have in Britain, Ireland, and other parts of Europe, I would use a French press exclusively to make coffee. The biggest problem you would have with one of those is keeping the coffee hot after it is made. The answer to that, is of course, a better thermos carafe. That is a whole other level of kitchen gadgets to talk about.

Magic teapots? We have magic teapots?? Looking round my kitchen now and haven't spotted one yet......does it levitate?

>36 kidzdoc: - Playing hooky from conferences is a long-established tradition amongst my colleagues and I ;-)

>37 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Hopefully I'll get to explore a little bit of San Diego the weekend after next. At least one of my partners will be going, along with several former Emory alumni, including a very close friend, so I'm sure that we'll explore and enjoy the city with whatever free time we have.

I'm inclined to either take public transit or the SuperShuttle from the airport to my hotel (the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, near the intersection of W. Market Street and W. Harbor Drive) rather than rent a car, since I don't know if I'll use a car while I'm there, and since the airport seems to be close to the downtown area. (I rented a car for the AAP conference in New Orleans two years ago, and it sat in the hotel's parking lot for nearly all of my stay there.)

Does anyone know of any good bookshops in San Diego? (Reba? Roni?)

I just looked at your review of Strange Weather in Tokyo, and it does look good. I'll add it to my wish list; thanks for mentioning it!

That was a tough seven day stretch, and I'm still pretty beat from it. That's the downside for having so many days off in a row, so I can live with it. Fortunately I won't have any long call this week (Wed-Fri), and I'm off this coming weekend, so I'll be able to recover fully by this coming Sunday, and be ready to learn hard and play hard at the AAP conference the weekend after that.

Woo hoo! I won a copy of Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD from this month's batch of Early Reviewers books. I look forward to reading it, along with Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, which I won last month. I'll probably bring that book with me to San Diego next week, assuming that I finish the Booker Prize longlist before then. I would have purchased both books even if I hadn't won them, so I'm especially pleased to get them for free.

My mallet finger continues to do well. The ruptured extensor tendon on my left middle finger has definitely reattached itself, as my finger stays in a neutral position when I take off the splint. I'll see my hand surgeon buddy on Thursday, and hopefully I'll be able to start range of motion exercises and only have to wear the splint at night. I still can't hyperextend my finger at the DIP joint, and I remain concerned that the scar between the ruptured tendon ends is relatively weak, so I'll be a good patient and wear the splint faithfully until I see Jeff in a couple of days.

>38 lunacat: I had wondered if you were referring to the Sir John Soane's Musum, Jenny. Joe & Debbi went there this month, and Bianca, Claire, Heather & I walked past it on our medical tour misadventure in June. I'll make it my business to go there on my next visit to London.

>39 benitastrnad: LOL, Benita! I see that most of the Moccamasters are being sold by Amazon for $279-$299 (cripes, the Moccamaster coffee grinder costs $199!). I'm not sure how much I paid for my 1-3 cup Chemex coffee maker, but I ordered a 6 cup Chemex for my best friends in Wisconsin in 2007, which cost $32.95, so I would bet that I didn't pay any more than that for the one I bought for myself earlier that year. I can't see spending that much money for a coffee maker when I'm happy with the Chemex. I do have to buy special filters for it, but they are relatively cheap (the last time I ordered some I paid just over $17 for 100 filters).

My former partner and office mate, who is also a coffee snob, bought a top of the line coffee maker several years ago when he was working in my group. He told me about it, not long after I bought my Chemex, and sheepishly admitted that he spent over $1000 for it. I had to pick up my lower jaw off of the floor after he told me that.

I do use a French press at work when I need an afternoon fix, but I stopped using one at home after I read that French pressed coffee contains a substance that causes the body's LDL cholesterol level to rise in most people. Coffee prepared with paper filters is largely free of that substance.

>40 lunacat: Ha! I think we'll have to ask Benita about those British magic teapots.

>41 katiekrug: Same here, Katie. If past AAP conferences are any indication then Sunday will be our hooky day.

I figured that Jenny was probably referring to Sir John Soane's, which is fab if not too crowded with people along with objects!!
The first time I went there was for a press conference, and we got to explore the lower floors afterwards, which was fab -- before opening hours. I paid no attention to the announcement of the new range of mutual funds, and just ogled the stuff in the main drawing room instead.

>44 Chatterbox: If I remember correctly there was a decent sized crowd waiting to enter Sir John Soane's Museum when we passed by it in June. I'll try to go there early on a weekday, then.

Oof. I definitely would have run away if someone was talking about mutual funds.

Yup it is very popular so it's definitely worth going on a weekday and getting there early. It's not exactly the most 'user friendly' or accessible museum so not much fun if it's busy. Great fun if you have time to enjoy it though as you never know quite what you're going to come across next.

It really is fabulous, Darryl. For some reason, I thought you had already been. And do go early. No good if it's too crowded -- tiny narrow halls and there are exhibits lining the stairs to the downstairs part, too, that you want to pause and look at. Lots of small items, too. So plan to take the time.

The good part? Short walk to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street for lunch. Well, that would be a highlight for me...

#40
Of course you do! Have magic teapots. Isn't that the land of Harry Potter?

By magic teapots, I am referring to those electric water heating teapots. The ones that bring water to a boil in a matter of seconds. We don't have those here in the U.S.A. Well, we do, but they don't work as fast. A European friend of mine, who now lives here, told me that it is because of the difference between 220 and 110 volt electricity. I haven't checked on his statement but don't doubt the veracity of the concept.

When I was in Northern Ireland, I came in to my B&B one afternoon chilled due to being caught in a shower. The owner brought one of those pots and a selection to tea to my room while I changed and tried to warm up. I couldn't believe how fast that thing heated the water. It was seconds! I tell you, mere seconds! I was so thrilled with my discovery that I purchased one for my mother, who is a tea lover. Last spring she tried to give it back to me, because it takes just as long to heat water in it as if you put a saucepan on the stove. Right now it is in the back of her cupboard, because, doggone it - she was right. It takes too long to heat water in it and it can be done just as fast on the stove-top. Or in the microwave.

Anyway, having one of those would make a Chemex, or a French Press really practical.

#43
I knew that about the French Press. I had a colleague whose wife had a heart condition, and she would not drink decaffeinated coffee, or coffee that was not run through a paper filter either.

Ahh, I see. You mean an electric kettle. They are pretty amazing. We would be sunk without ours - they are an essential component of every kitchen.

Amusingly, on holiday in France this summer we were staying in a hostel/hotel type place with small self-catering facilities. The lovely lady who ran it knew she had a mass booking (20 rooms I think) of English coming so dashed out and bought the 7 kettles that the local supermarket had. She went back two days later and they still had no more - she'd bought out the area!

Thankfully we asked soon enough to get one of the prized kettles for our room. There was a coffee maker and a saucepan but it's just not as efficient or easy when making many many many mugs of tea.

On one of my last trips to London I had planned to go to Freud Museum but it opened too late in the morning to make the rest of the day work. I read a lot about Anna Freud's work when I was doing an human development paper on attachment theory so would have loved to have had a look.
I also planned to go to the Dickens Museum but then that stopped admitting visitors an hour before closing time so I missed out there as well, I did manage a consolation visit to Persephone Books which is in the area.
I've read about a museum/house that was created by the owner, a series of rooms showing daily life in 18th or 19th century London, I think it might be the Dennis Severs House in Spitalfields but not sure.
We did spend a long long time at the Churchill War Rooms and the British Museum.

Congrats on the ER book.

I do survive with my electric kettle; it seems to me to boil rapidly enough -- i.e. 2/3 minutes. It has its own base, and maybe that's the secret? the base plugs into the outlet and you stand the kettle on the base. I can boil water in 2/3 mins and have a cup of tea ready in that period of time.

>35 kidzdoc: Oh, yes, you want to go to the Museum of London. I went several times when I was living in London and it was fantastic every time - I'm not sure which bits were permanent and which were rotating exhibits, but one time they had London through the Ages with tableaux from the Bronze Age settlement up through - at least the Great Fire, possibly up to modern times. I loved the Roman ones particularly (there was a new dig, I think, with some fantastic artifacts).

re: electric kettles - I have one that I bought while I was a student in London, and I just switched the plug from British-style to American (very easy to remove, three screws; putting on the American one was a little more work, mostly because American plugs are a lot smaller and it took some wiggling to get the right wires in the right spots). So I hadn't been using it for quite some time, but now it's usable. I took it with me to Baycon (SF Bay Area science fiction convention) and it made things _so_ much easier. Tea and oatmeal in the mornings, without coffee flavor (you can boil water in the drip coffee pot, but ugh, I hate the taste of coffee). It's quite likely that it's considerably slower on 110, but it's still quite fast - faster than a kettle on my stove, I think. And of course much easier for traveling (where kettles are impossible).

My parents make fussy coffee - steamed milk, fresh-ground coffee beans, etc. But $1000 for a coffee maker - no way!

Ugh. The hospital committee meeting I went to tonight lasted for 2-1/2 hours instead of the usual 1 to 1-1/2 hours. It was a productive one, though.

>46 lunacat: Thanks for those tips on Sir John Soane's Museum, Jenny.

>47 Chatterbox: Wikipedia has an interesting entry on Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, including this gem:

In 1962, the pub gave the Museum of London a number of sexually explicit erotic plaster of paris tiles recovered from an upper room. These tiles strongly suggest that the room was used as a brothel in the mid-eighteenth century.

I thought you had better taste than that, Suz.

>48 benitastrnad: Ah. I use electric kettles at home and at work to heat water, and nearly all of the hotels I've stayed at in London have one in each room. It does seem as though the ones I use in those UK hotels heat water more quickly than the ones I use here, but mine doesn't take more than 3-4 minutes to heat 4 cups of coffee. I think it's entirely possible and quite plausible that the British kettles heat more quickly because of the difference in voltage, although I don't know for certain if this is the case or not.

My parents do use a saucepan to heat water, especially my mother, who drinks tea at least twice a day. I see two problems with this; first, sometimes you can't tell if the water in it is from previously heated water for tea, or if it was used to cook something, such as a boiled egg; second, she is notorious for forgetting that she turned it on, and it isn't uncommon that the water in it completely evaporates. The electric kettle, on the other hand, shuts off automatically once the water reaches a boil, so it's far safer to use than a saucepan IMO.

Interesting discussion topics here so far: coffee makers, electric kettles, London museums, San Diego, playing hooky from conferences, dodgy pubs, and defunct television stations in the Delaware Valley. Who says that bookworms only talk about books?

>49 lunacat: So the French don't use electric kettles in hotels routinely? Shameful. Then again, kettles aren't found in most US hotels, either (hopefully the hotel I'm staying at in San Diego will have one).

>50 avatiakh: Thanks for mentioning those museums, especially Dennis Severs' House, Kerry. Debbi, Joe & I were very close to that house when we went on the Old Jewish Quarter walking tour, as it's apparently very close to Old Spitalfields Market. I haven't been to the Churchill War Rooms, either, and I'd like to visit the London Transport Museum. I'm still amazed that London had subway service beginning in 1863, during the US Civil War.

>51 Chatterbox: The electric kettle I use at work has a base similar to the one you described, whereas the one I use at home doesn't. However, it seems as though it takes longer for the one at work to heat the same volume of liquid to a boil, but I'm not sure of this.

>52 jjmcgaffey: Thanks, Jennifer; I'll definitely make it my business to visit the Museum of London next time around.

That is useful information about switching from UK to US plugs; I wouldn't have thought to do that!

You could buy a lot of coffee (or books!!!) with $1000. There's no need to spend that amount on a coffee maker.

>53 kidzdoc: How old do you think I am, Darryl????????

Wow I feel so informed about Kettles & boiling water ..... never would have thought having a kettle in your room was an oddity, doesn't everyone live off tea like me ?? No ? surely you jest!

I love my electric kettle, which I used to have in my office, but now that I'm a Lady of Leisure, I use it every morning (and usually at least once more during the day) for my tea. Fantastic invention, that, especially for the automatic turn-off feature that you mentioned.

Another electric kettle fan here! Unfortunately the automatic shut-off stopped working recently, and that's one of my favorite features (well really, how many features can an electric kettle have?!) ... so it may be time to replace it soon.

>53 kidzdoc: I use electric kettles at home and at work to heat water It had actually never occurred to me that electric kettles were considered as a optional extra in some countries (maybe with the exception of France). If ours broke I would insist on buying another one that day. It would never occur to me that I could manage without!

We killed our last one in quite an interesting manner. We are in a area with very hard tap water so anything using water tends to suffer with limescale. It's not a particular problem, we just keep an eye on things.

Anyway, we put a 'descaler' product in the kettle and left it to work for however long it needed, then rinsed it out and went to make a cuppa. As I put the water in, it started to pour out of the plastic side strip where the level of the water is shown! The limescale had eaten away the plastic but was so thick it was keeping it water tight anyway. When we removed the limescale, the damage was done!

Our kettles only tend to last about 6 months anyway as we use them constantly. Thankfully they are only £8-£15 for a basic model and really, what more do you need from a kettle?! I'm the same as Rhian, we'd struggle to survive a day without one.

Good to see the love for the Soane museum. Agree with all the comments. Wish we had known about Ye olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet St. - making a note about that one.

BTW, I picked up Strange Weather in Tokyo from the Staff Rec's at Foyle's. What a reading feast they lay out!

The Museum of London is one of my favourites. I didn't realise you'd never been, Darryl, or I'd have urged you to go! The London Transport museum is a lot of fun too.

My kitchen is small without a lot of counter space, so I actually have a kettle that you heat on the hob which whistles when the water boils. I always hurry to switch the gas off when I'm getting up early because I'm afraid the whistle will wake my neighbours in the flat next door!

>61 jnwelch: I have been wanting to read Strange weather in Tokyo for a while now, and your praise for it means I'm just going to have to get myself a copy!

>59 SandDune: If ours broke I would insist on buying another one that day.
Yeah well, me too. All this kettle talk made me order a new one!! And I take back my comment (>58 lauralkeet:) about features, because I realized there were three important ones I simply couldn't live without: auto shut-off, cordless, and a water level indicator. In fact, the latter actually convinced me to buy today, because our current dying kettle doesn't have that feature.

Darryl, your thread is always so interesting!

>63 lauralkeet:

Hmmm, it never even occurred to me that anyone would have a kettle without those three features! Guess it goes to show how specific some countries little quirks are. The concept of a kettle that didn't do that is mindboggling.

>64 lunacat: As I was looking at products on Amazon, I noticed I could filter on those three features, resulting in a shorter list. And I know what you mean, I can't imagine buying a kettle that would boil dry, for example.

>62 Sakerfalcon: Strange Weather in Tokyo is well worth the getting, Claire! Loved the atmosphere she created.

Darryl, enjoy your quick trip to San Diego, one of my favorite American cities. You may see enough of it to want to go back and spend more time. Now, why am I suddenly lusting after an electric kettle? I'm more of a coffee fan than a tea drinker.

>67 Donna828: oh but Donna, there are so many reasons to boil water, and a kettle would do the job sooo well ... :)

P.S. we use it to make coffee ...

That is a lovely topper of San Diego, Darryl. Happy new thread … goodness, not so new any more at nearly 70 messages!

My sister now has an electric kettle, after boiling two stovetop kettles dry. One burned right through the bottom and the other threatened to - so her husband bought her the electric, mostly because of the auto-shutoff (less chance of burning down the house!). She's an author, and often gets distracted from mundane stuff like food and tea...

Interesting that electric kettles are seen more as a requirement for making tea, that's something else that never occurred to me. I just use it for boiling any water that's required, so I'll always boil water for cooking in the kettle first, before adding it to a saucepan. Probably by far the most common method of making coffee here is a cafetiere (what you call a French press): we have two, a well as a little Italian stovetop espresso maker (the last one rarely used). Of course, instant coffee is much more common in the UK than the US I think. I'd never heard that about the cholesterol raising levels of cafetiere coffee, but as I've always had particularly low cholesterol levels I don't think that's something I need to worry about too much. Personally, I've never really liked filter coffee: there's something about the taste and by the time it's filtered it never seems quite hot enough. If we couldn't use a cafetiere it would have to be an expensive espresso / cappuccino machine.

Alton Brown, if I recall correctly, has at least two electric kettles in his kitchen: one for water for tea and such, and one for boiling other liquids quickly (chicken broth and so on). I keep thinking that it would be great to have a second one for cooking needs, but have never actually got round to the purchasing part of the plan...

It hadn't occurred to me how much I use the kettle for other things as well, although I really shouldn't. Apparently the electric kettle is an extremely high-energy item - it would cost much less per litre of water to heat on the hob, but certainly nowhere near as convenient. Because I've always got cold feet in bed I have a hot water bottle nearly every night and there is no way I'd want to use anything else to make it.

Happy new thread Darryl! Loving the coffee, coffee maker and kettle discussion. I have never seen a chemex before but it does sounds like a great way to make coffee. I use a French press. My brother swears by his espresso machine but I don't drink enough coffee to justify investing in one of those things. The tea drinker that I am prefers to invest in a good quality electric kettle instead. ;-)

>39 benitastrnad: - My french press comes with a neoprane coat. Sounds crazy doesn't it? You can see a picture of what I am talking about here Not quite as good at keeping the coffee warm as a good quality thermos but we tend to make just enough coffee for immediate consumption.

French pressed coffee contains a substance that causes the body's LDL cholesterol level to rise in most people. Coffee prepared with paper filters is largely free of that substance.

I did not know that. Interesting.

Have a great trip to San Diego!

I also did not know that about French pressed coffee. That is my go-to coffee at home …

Me too Nancy. Personally I've had periods in my life where I've consumed primarily French Press coffee and others where I've had mostly filter coffee. My cholesterol has fluctuated but doesn't seem to correlate with my coffee consumption.

Wow, I am learning so much about so many different things on your thread, Darryl! Thanks!

I am pretty much a coffee snob (I live in Portland after all). I switch back and forth between french press and drip. Now the coffee beans, we do pay a premium for. Right now I am partial to Ethiopian. We are pretty much a Stumptown family, but I think we are going to switch to Torrefozzione. Or maybe something local and obscure.

And when our electric kettle breaks down, it is an emergency.

I found a Chemex a few days ago at the local health food store. It was priced at $32.00. I figure that if I bought that and a magic teapot I would have about $50.00 tied up in a coffee maker. Then I would have to spend about $50.00 for a thermos that would keep the coffee hot enough for me to enjoy it, (because I am a sipper, not a drinker). That is a total of about $100.00, and a Chemex only makes 2 cups at a time. I wonder if I should try it?

>20 kidzdoc: so is that vessel the thing you drink coffee out of, or what you prepare it in?

And now I see in the above thread that we are all still talking about that so I will go and read them in the right order :)

(eta: ok, I get it now, thanks to >25 kidzdoc:)

I value my coffees out so much (barista made espressos with steamed milk) that I only have the best of the crappy instant ones at home, and then in desperation. I have moccona freeze dried, indulgence (the strong one). And when out I have my usual cafes which rarely disappoint. I feel a tad nervous getting a coffee from a cafe I don't know does a great coffee.
*coffee snob alert*

>80 LovingLit: Like you Megan, I also go for moccona dark for home and a good coffee at one of my usual cafes most days. I have been drinking more herbal tea of late having discovered a tea boutique near where I live with a fab selection.

So Darryl, do you grind fresh beans for each brew or rely on pre-ground coffee?

Darryl, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Wow; 28 new posts since my last one on Tuesday night. Thanks for keeping my thread warm, everyone!

I finished another busy (though short) work stretch last night, or actually this morning, when I finished the last of my hospital notes. Fortunately I can do my charting and billing from home, instead of having to stay in the hospital until 9-10 pm every night. I picked up a cold a couple of days ago, which has now settled into my chest. Fortunately I'm breathing comfortably, and hopefully that will continue to be the case. I'm very glad that I have two days off to recuperate at home.

I saw my hand surgeon buddy on Thursday, and received great news. The ruptured extensor tendon on my left middle finger has successfully reattached itself after seven weeks of continuous splinting, and barring a major and unexpected setback, surgery won't be necessary. I knew that the tendon ends had come together a week or so ago, as I noticed that my finger stayed in a neutral (straight) position when I took off the splint, but I was afraid to flex it, in case the ends ruptured again. The surgeon flexed my finger, and to my great relief the tendon didn't rupture. However, the tendon is very tight after seven weeks of immobilization, and flexing the finger at the DIP joint was very painful and my range of motion was quite limited. However, I'll have to continue range of motion exercises to regain full use of the finger. I'll do that several times per day and continue to wear the splint 24/7 for the next two weeks. If all goes well after that I'll only have to wear the splint at night for a while, and continue range of motion exercises. I'll be left with a mild but permanent finger droop, but I should regain full function of it. This was the best possible outcome, so I'm thrilled that conservative treatment was successful.

Here's what my finger looks like now:

>55 Chatterbox: Ha! I think I'm on safe ground by saying that you're older than Kate Middleton but younger than Catherine of Aragon.

>56 roundballnz: Tea consumption in the US, like lamb consumption, is almost certainly far less than it is in the UK and Commonwealth countries, Alex. And, I suspect that far fewer men in the US drink tea on a regular basis. I'll bet that only a tiny percentage of us use a kettle on a regular basis, as we are more likely to brew coffee in a standard coffee maker, and are more likely to use a saucepan or microwave to heat water for tea, as I did until about 10 years ago.

>57 scaifea: Yep. I've already used my electric kettle twice this morning, to boil water for coffee (I'm working on my second mug now).

>58 lauralkeet: Uh oh. If you're anywhere near as forgetful as I am then you should get a new electric kettle ASAP, Laura!

>59 SandDune: According to a recent post in The NPD Group Blog, "The likelihood of owning an electric kettle in the U.S. is quite low, with less than 1 out of 10 households (8 percent) having one." And, that probably doesn't reflect actual usage on a regular basis; my parents own an electric kettle, but I'm the only person who routinely uses it. Clearly LTers are a more advanced and discerning sub-group, as it appears that far more than 8% of the Americans here use an electric kettle.

>60 lunacat: You do have hard water, Jenny!

I have a basic Proctor-Silex electric kettle, which probably cost no more than $15 when I bought it from CVS (a ubiquitous pharmacy chain in the US) a couple of years ago after my old electric kettle stopped working. I could live without it and go back to heating water in a saucepan or in the microwave, but I'd rather not.

Gulp. 8% have kettles?? That decides it. Despite your wonderfully sugar filled cereals, your fantastic candy, your vast open spaces and your huge houses, I will NEVER be moving to the US.

Of course I'd be bankrupt very quickly if I did given my vast medical files but the lack of kettles is the straw that broke the camel's back.

Get well soon!!!

>61 jnwelch: I love it when the staff at my favorite bookshops recommend books to customers. My buddy Scott at City Lights Bookstore would also suggest books to me, based on his knowledge of what books I like. Hmm...I haven't been to SF since August of last year, and this will probably be the first year since 1999 that I haven't gone there, unless I make a trip to the Bay Area later this year (which is very unlikely).

>62 Sakerfalcon: Hob...okay, got it (thanks, Wikipedia). Hmm...I had a stove top teapot with a whistle years ago, but I don't know if I still own it or not.

>63 lauralkeet: My simple electric kettle also is auto shut-off, is cordless, and has a water level indicator. I agree that those are essential features.

>64 lunacat: I have yet to see an electric kettle that didn't have those three features, Jenny.

>65 lauralkeet: Hmm. So there are electric kettles that don't have an auto-shut off capability?

>66 jnwelch: BTW, Strange Weather in Tokyo was published in the US with a different title, The Briefcase. I've already added it to my wish list.

>67 Donna828: Thanks, Donna. I'm sure that I'll get at least a little taste of San Diego, as my friends who are going to the conference will want to go out after (or, ahem, possibly instead of) the conference's daily sessions. I'm glad that I decided to come back early, as I need to see the hand surgeon on the 16th, not long after I fly back to Atlanta.

>68 lauralkeet: Yep. I use my electric kettle to make coffee and tea. Several of my partners use the kettle in our kitchen at work to make instant oatmeal and ramen noodles as well.

>69 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. You're right, this thread doesn't seem so new anymore!

>70 jjmcgaffey: Your sister must be related to my mother, Jennifer. She has also destroyed several teapots by letting them boil dry. I don't see how that's possible, since they all whistle loudly when the water comes to a boil.

>71 SandDune: I'll also use my electric kettle to heat water for things other than tea or coffee; it's quite a handy and essential household device! I hadn't thought about using it to heat water before adding it to a saucepan, though.

I had used a French press to make coffee since the end of 1997, after a close friend and classmate in medical school bought one for me for Christmas that year. However, after I heard or read about the association of French pressed coffee with elevated LDL cholesterol levels I looked for an alternate method to prepare coffee, and switched to using a Chemex at home.

The following is from the Coffee and Health web page on The Nutrition Source blog from the Harvard School of Public Health:

Coffee contains a substance called cafestol that is a potent stimulator of LDL cholesterol levels. Cafestol is found in the oily fraction of coffee, and when you brew coffee with a paper filter, the cafestol gets left behind in the filter. Other methods of coffee preparation, such as the boiled coffee common in Scandinavian countries, French press coffee, or Turkish coffee, are much higher in cafestol. So for people who have high cholesterol levels or who want to prevent having high cholesterol levels, it is better to choose paper filtered coffee or instant coffee, since they have much lower levels of cafestol than boiled or French press coffee. Espresso is somewhere in the middle; it has less cafestol than boiled or French press coffee, but more than paper filtered coffee.

Personally, I've never really liked filter coffee: there's something about the taste and by the time it's filtered it never seems quite hot enough. If we couldn't use a cafetiere it would have to be an expensive espresso / cappuccino machine.

Hmm. I like the taste of coffee prepared in my Chemex, although I like French pressed coffee a bit better. It does take a couple of minutes to prepare a mug of coffee this way, but it's hot enough for me once it's ready.

>72 scaifea: I don't think I would use an electric kettle to heat chicken broth or other liquids used in cooking. A saucepan seems good enough for me.

>73 lunacat: I didn't realize that an electric kettle is a high energy item, Jenny. It seems as though you would consume more energy heating water in a saucepan or a teapot on an electric stove, but maybe that isn't the case.

I hate having cold feet. I'll generally wear thick woolen socks in winter time, as I can't sleep comfortably if my feet are cold.

>74 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! I prefer the taste of French pressed coffee, but high cholesterol levels do run in my family, so I'm better off with the Chemex. It's slightly more labor intensive that using a standard coffee pot, in that you have to manually pour the water over the ground coffee in the filter, but I don't find it to be a chore. I was initially worried that I would break it, but I've owned my Chemex for seven years and it doesn't have a chip or crack in it. For some reason Amazon is selling a 1-3 cup Chemex for the outrageous price of $86.85, but you can buy it from numerous other online sellers for $35-40.

I don't see myself buying an espresso machine, either.

That's an interesting design that your French press has. I own two Bodum models, but I haven't seen one that looks like that.

>75 lit_chick: I didn't know that about French pressed coffee either, Nancy.

Hi Darryl, I haven't seen you around the TIOLI challenges for a while. Perhaps I missed some comments you made at some point... did you decided to focus on other challenges and drop that one? Basically asking because I've listed A Place of Greater Safety under challenge #12 this month. I believe I may have told you I'd try to make room for it either this month or in November, and was rather hoping for a shared read, though of course the TIOLI thing is not a priority. I mentioned to Ellen we might be sharing that read you and I and she said she might be interested in joining us. In any case, if you are already overbooked, I'm happy to readjust, but just thought I'd keep you posted.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

>76 lauralkeet: I now only prepare French pressed coffee at work, which I do maybe once or twice a week if I need an afternoon fix.

>77 LauraBrook: You're welcome, Laura! However, thanks should also be extended to everyone who visits and posts comments here.

>78 banjo123: I get a pound of freshly roasted whole bean coffee from Peet's every three weeks, and I alternate between Arabian Mocha, Aged Sumatra (my favorite) and Ethiopian Blend. If I buy locally I'll go to San Francisco Coffee Company (yes, here in Atlanta), which roasts its own coffee. I like the El Diablo blend from Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago, and I'll occasionally buy that, and if I'm in San Francisco I'll get Blue Bottle Coffee to bring home. I hadn't heard of Stumptown Coffee, but I see that there are two branches in NYC, one on W 29th St near Broadway and one on W 8th St in Greenwich Village, so I'll give it a try on my next visit to the city (probably during Thanksgiving Week).

>79 benitastrnad: I found a Chemex a few days ago at the local health food store. It was priced at $32.00. I figure that if I bought that and a magic teapot I would have about $50.00 tied up in a coffee maker. Then I would have to spend about $50.00 for a thermos that would keep the coffee hot enough for me to enjoy it, (because I am a sipper, not a drinker). That is a total of about $100.00, and a Chemex only makes 2 cups at a time. I wonder if I should try it?

Hmm. Why would you have to spend $50 for a thermos? That seems quite high. On work days I usually brew coffee at home in my Chemex, and then pour it into an insulated travel mug which I sip on the subway and at work. That keeps the coffee hot enough for me.

>80 LovingLit: I use the Chemex to brew coffee, then pour it into a mug to drink it, Megan.

I'm usually a bit of a coffee snob, but I'm more of a caffeine fiend, so although I would prefer freshly brewed coffee made with freshly ground beans (I almost typed bound greens) I would gladly take instant coffee over nothing at all.

>85 lunacat: Well, the US is not a tea-drinking nation, at least not as obsessively so as the UK! And there are so many ways of preparing coffee that the need to boil hot water separately is less likely to be a "must". A basic Mr. Coffee coffeemaker, for instance, heats the water and runs it through the coffee in the filter for you, and I think some variant on that is likely to be most popular, followed by an espresso machine or a K-cup gizmo, these days. Then come the Chemex or Melitta drip style, or the French press machines, that do require separate boiling.

Speaking of houses, I quite like the "tiny house" movement. Of course, I'd require two tiny houses; one for me, and one for the books...

>81 avatiakh: I almost always use freshly ground beans when I make coffee, Kerry. Whenever I visit my parents I'll order one or two pound bags of Peet's coffee (a small chain that originated in Berkeley, California in the mid 1960s), as my father only buys Folgers ground coffee.

>82 Ameise1: I hope that you're enjoying your weekend as well, Barbara.

>85 lunacat: Jenny, I would think that the lack of electric kettles in the US households would be a perfect reason to move to the US. You could design your own brand of electric kettles, market and sell them to Americans, and make a killing.

>86 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I actually feel pretty good, as I'm breathing comfortably and not coughing as much as I was yesterday. I'm still groggy and a bit out of it, but that's probably due to my long work hours more than this chest cold.

>90 Smiler69: I've stopped participating in TIOLI, Ilana, as it didn't fit well with my reading plans and goals. I found myself trying to fit the books I planned to read into TIOLI challenges, instead of using the challenges to find books to read. This month should be a good time for me to read A Place of Greater Safety, as I'll be off from clinical duties for two weeks starting on Thursday. I doubt that I'll participate in TIOLI just to post that book, but I will almost certainly read it with you and Ellen.

Have a good weekend, too!

>92 Chatterbox: Suz is right. Americans don't drink tea all that often, especially in comparison to the British, and most households probably use a basic coffeemaker like Mr. Coffee. Keurig coffee makers or their equivalent are becoming increasingly more popular, in the work place (we have one in our kitchen) or at home (my best friends in Madison bought one several years ago).

I'd much rather have a small house than a McMansion, as long as my books will fit in it.

Funny, because I certainly nearly ALWAYS use TIOLI to fit books I've already planned to read into the challenges, instead of the other way round, and I know others go about it the same way too, and find it works fine that way. But of course if you no longer want to participate that's completely up to you. I look forward to APoGS. I've long wanted to read more books by Mantel. I'll probably pick up The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher soon, and have a bunch of her other older books on the wishlist as well.

>95 Smiler69: Interesting. Maybe I'll look to participate in TIOLI again. I haven't created a list of planned reads yet, but I do want to finish the Booker Prize shortlist in the next two weeks, so I'll finish The Lives of Others and read How to Be Both and J: A Novel. I'd also like to read my two outstanding LT Early Reviewer books, The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. In addition to A Place of Greater Safety I also plan to read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami for Mark's challenge this month, and I would like to resume reading books from my CanLit and TBR lists.

ETA: I'll definitely read The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, but I doubt that I'll get to it this month.

I plan on reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage for Mark's GR too. Haven't read any Murakami in ages, which is rather strange since I consider myself a fan, but then was a bit daunted by 1Q84s huge size. I'll get to it eventually. I won't get to Mantell's latest this month either as am already vastly overbooked, as I always am. It'll keep, I'm sure!

Revisiting an old topic, I present to you this photo I took while grocery shopping today:



My husband picked up this brick of scrapple, read the ingredients aloud, and then proclaimed that most people who eat scrapple must be illiterate.

>97 Smiler69: I enjoyed 1Q84, Ilana, and I wasn't daunted by its size. I'm definitely a Murakami fan, as I think I own more books by him than any other author and have read most of them.

Speaking of Murakami, he is supposedly a leading candidate (if the bookies are to be believed) to win this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. The official announcement date hasn't been set, but it will probably take place this coming Thursday.

>98 lauralkeet: And you, Linda, Katherine and others want me to eat this???

Hmm, all this talk about electric kettles inspired investigation. I’ve been using a microwave (and a coffee press), because it’s there. However, the internet sez an electric kettle is more energy efficient.
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/ask-pablo-electric-kettle-stove-or-mi...

Also, apparently a kettle makes better tea.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/06/04/microwaving_water_for_tea_why_are...

>98 lauralkeet: read the ingredients aloud, and then proclaimed that most people who eat scrapple must be illiterate.
Traditionally, most people who ate scrapple killed the pig themselves.

I've started reading the Jacobson novel, and will be adding it to the TIOLI wiki, although I haven't done so yet, Darryl. (It will be under challenge #12, with The Finkler Question being the previous book in question.

I still use TIOLI, as it forces me to go outside my comfort zone, sometimes. It's also a challenge to fit in the reading I do need to do each month within its parameters. I can usually manage!

Have yet to read a Murakami novel. No idea why.

>100 qebo: Thanks for those interesting links, Katherine. I would have thought that a kettle used less energy than a stove or microwave to boil water. And, it makes sense that a kettle would heat water more evenly and, therefore, a cup of tea would taste better using kettle boiled than microwave boiled water.

Traditionally, most people who ate scrapple killed the pig themselves.

Hmm. I don't know if I would be more or less likely to eat scrapple if I was the one who slaughtered the pig.

>101 Chatterbox: I read a page or two of the Jacobson, but I think I'll go back to the Mukherjee and try to finish it by Sunday. I still have over 300 pages to go, though.

I decided to participate in TIOLI this month, so I'll add J: A Novel to the challenge.

Have yet to read a Murakami novel. No idea why.

*gently faints*

After all of this electric kettle talk I just pulled out my trusty glass one to make a few cups of tea tonight. Should be soothing for this dang cold I seem to have picked up too.

A Peet's just opened up a couple of miles from where I live - the first one in Wisconsin! Haven't been in there yet, but I'll look at your favorites a few message up and get a bag or two of coffee to try out. There are quite a few local places that roast their own beans in Milwaukee, but I don't always get around to one in time. I ordered a few pounds from Door County Coffee recently, and I bought a pound of Hawaiian coffee at a local Hawaiian shop/restaurant, which I really like a lot. Otherwise, I'm not really a coffee snob, just would like something at least a medium blend and I'm a happy gal.

Belatedly commenting on the kettle question: back in Germany everyone uses them nowadays, we copied the UK. they need much electricity in a very short time, but in Germany you pay for the amount you use, there can be peaks without problems.
I was surprised that in Italy, while it's the same voltage, you have to buy a certain fixed "quantity" of electricity when you move into a new home. Standard is 2 KW which is nothing, and a kettle or a dryer would just blow it because they need too much at once, so no-one uses them.
Which is also the main reason why most Italians still cook with gas, the stove uses too much and you wouldn't be able to cook on 3 or 4 plates + watch Tv for example. So I bought the next "size", 6 KW, which costs a lot and which I only need on Saturdays when doing all the housework with all machines running - well and on those frequent occasions when I use the kettle like Rhian, for tea, for hot water for cooking, etc.

To balance the kettle issue out, I am fortunate here with coffee. Available everywhere for a Euro, almost every street has its coffee bar.

>103 LauraBrook: I used my electric kettle to make tea with honey for my chest cold last night, too.

I'm glad that Peet's is slowly starting to expand beyond California. The closest store to Atlanta the airport stand in CVG (Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky) or the one in PHL (Philadelphia), and the closest full service Peet's to me is probably the one on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I was excited to learn that Caribou Coffee had been purchased by Peet's last spring, as the stores in Georgia (including one that is in my neighborhood) would be converted to Peet's, but that hasn't happened yet.

ETA: My favorite Peet's coffee is Aged Sumatra, BTW.

>104 Deern: In the US we also pay for the amount of electricity we use. That was interesting to read about the difference in energy usage in Italy. Is the cost of electricity considerably more there than in Germany?

I'd be willing to pay one euro (roughly $1.25) for coffee once or twice a day, although it would still probably be cheaper for me to brew my own Peet's coffee. Let's see...I pay about $20-21 every three weeks to have one pound of Peet's shipped to me, so that's $1 per day. Chemex filters cost a little over 17 cents per filter, so my cost is a few cents cheaper per cup. However, a coffee at Starbucks costs twice that much ($2.35), and probably half the days of the week I drink two mugs of coffee, so I would still be better off making my own coffee.

>99 kidzdoc: And you, Linda, Katherine and others want me to eat this???
Well, it was more of a dare than a recommendation, you know.

>106 lauralkeet: Hmm. This is starting to sound like one of those middle school dares that my mother warned me about ("If they told you to jump over a cliff would you do that, too?").

>105 kidzdoc: However, a coffee at Starbucks costs twice that much ($2.35) I wish!!! I think you'd pay the same in pounds for a coffee at Starbucks here!

>107 kidzdoc:

If I am remembering correctly, it was you who said that you would try scrapple when others (like me) were sending a warning not to.

>109 catarina1: Hah! Yes, here.
Darryl sez: “I shall try scrapple anyway, despite your recent effort to convince me otherwise.”

>109 catarina1: >110 qebo: excellent work.

If I recall correctly, Peet's Coffee was founded by one of the original owners of Starbucks. Peets started in Berkely or Oakland, CA and the owners were content to stay there for a long time. Their coffee is constantly rated better than any other coffee including Starbucks. A recent Cook's Country (a PBS cooking show) rated Peet's dark roasts as their top rated coffee.

Is the Caribou Coffee to which you refer, the one located in the Midtown area of Atlanta? The one by Piedmont Park?

>104 Deern: Wow, that reminds me of putting shillings in the electricity meter in England in the 60s!

While we pay for our electricity usage here, we don't have to do so by "bundles" -- i.e. assume that one kind of threshold level will always be correct. That what you need on a Thursday afternoon is going to be what you need on a Saturday evening, for instance. My monthly bill will tell me what my total consumption was, and how it compares to prior months and the year-ago period. It's the utility's job to estimate total demand and balance it with capacity; we don't have to do that at the individual level. For one thing, it would create just the kind of goofy situation that you point out: overpaying for more capacity than we need 90% of the time, just in order to have it available the 8 hours during the week that we DO need it.

To the extent that my electricity bills are lower here than they were when I lived in NYC, some of it is due to a lower cost per kilowatt hour and some is due to a lower consumption (in spite of the addition of a washer/dryer to the household.)

I forgot to mention to you that I would be able to add Place of Greater Safety to this months reading. In fact, I will go find it on the shelves right now.

>108 SandDune: That sounds right, Rhian. I remember going to the Starbucks on Gloucester Road across the street from the Underground station with the same name during my first trip to London in 2007. I ordered a venti Americano coffee, looked at the price and thought that it was roughly the same as what I paid in the US, until I realized that it was more than double the cost, as at that time 1 pound was equivalent to just over $2 USD.

>109 catarina1: No way. That can't be right!

>110 qebo:, >111 lauralkeet: Umm...I see that I typed that message at 10:45 pm, probably after a busy work day when I wasn't thinking straight. That doesn't count.

>112 benitastrnad: It's actually the other way around, Benita! Peet's was founded in Berkeley in 1966, and three of the men he taught his roasting technique to moved to Seattle and founded Starbucks in 1971.

I like Peet's coffees considerably better than the ones served and sold by Starbucks.

You are exactly right! I live 1/2 mile from the Caribou Coffee shop on Piedmont Avenue near 10th Street, just across the street from The Flying Biscuit's Midtown location.

>113 Chatterbox: Shillings??? No, you're not old, Suz... ;-)

>114 benitastrnad: Great! So that should make at least four of us who will read A Place of Greater Safety this month.

>115 kidzdoc: Happen to know I am younger than you. My first residence in the UK just happens to predate the disappearance of shillings and pence, whereas your first visit postdates it. And just because I'm letting the grey (ahem, the white) grow out, and people now are offering me seats on the subway...

>116 Chatterbox: Alas, 'tis true. And I just read that decimalisation took place in the UK in 1971, so it wasn't that long ago that shillings were in use.

Nope; I use to pay 1/6 for my children's books (Enid Blyton, etc.), and then the prices crept steadily higher. Then overnight, via a combination of decimalisation and inflation, I was paying 25p, or 2/6! And let's not talk about the impact on my sweet purchases -- the need to spend 3p on Opal Fruits... :-)

>108 SandDune: >115 kidzdoc: Yes, that was my impression for a lot of prices in London - (new) books and such (I don't drink coffee). I was paying the same number of pounds as I'd pay dollars in the US, and (when I was there) that was pretty close to double price. Ow.

It's fuel prices that we in the UK really get hammered on. According to this website:

http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/gas-prices/

the average gas price per gallon in the US is $3.69. The UK's average per gallon is a massive $8.25.

Personally, I think fossil fuel prices should be high as a way of trying to reduce consumption of them, and the cost to me as a car user means I certainly plan my trips better and try not to waste anything. But there does seem to be a shocking disparity in the prices across different countries, and it can't be coincidence that America has the highest rate of gas consumption per person and yet a very low price. I wonder what the average American is going to do as the tanks run even drier??

I had to google what a French pressed coffee is. After I found it I have to say that I never would use it. When we are on the way or outdoors or in a holiday flat with now coffee machine than we use the classical espresso machine (the Italian way) which can be used on gas cooking stove as well as the electrical one but also on an open fire.



At home we have a coffee machine like this one

which is in use daily because we are coffee addicted. At work we have a similar one but bigger than ours.

>105 kidzdoc: yes, I definitely pay more. I can't exactly say how much - in Germany you paid a fixed amount every month calculated on the sqm of your house, then they read the meter at the end of the year, you paid the difference (or got money back but I never got any) and then they modified the monthly bookings.

Here I pay for the continuous supply with those 6 KW. I felt a bit stupid at first because all the locals seemed to get along with the 2 KW, but they grow up learning which machines can't run simultaneously. And then there's the gas stove in most households which makes a big difference. I talked to some other foreigners in my condo and they were all soon annoyed with having to run to the basement to reset the fuses because they had switched on the washing machine while cooking or sth similar, they all changed their contracts to 6KW.

>121 Ameise1: French press is not very popular here either, because it makes caffè lungo or caffè americano. People here use the moka on the stove in the morning and then drink numerous espressi in the bars during the day. No-one sits down to drink coffee from mugs. I sometimes miss my Starbucks "brew of the day".

I also use the Italian moka every morning, the coffee just tastes great.
I still have a very old Saeco machine a bit like the one in the lower pic, but it's too loud in the morning, I only use it in the weekends when I also want milk froth. It still runs perfectly.

Those machines were quite a status symbol in the late 90s/early 2000s before the nespresso capsula hype set in. I remember that in my office, once we all had bought our massive pentium home computers to play those great Lukas Arts games, we all got "into coffee" and compared and discussed the different machines for weeks and in the end we each owned a fully automatic espresso machine which you could have used in a restaurant. Quite excessive, but those were the times when even the IT people in banks still got a nice Bonus and Christmas parties were not cancelled. :)

Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Brewer With Thermo Carafe - Technivorm 9587 for $299.99 on Amazon is the hot coffee maker in the U. S. The best seller is a Keurig. I am not a big fan of the Keurig. I simply don't think that the coffee tastes as good as it does when made in a drip or espresso machine. Part of the reason why the Moccamaster is so well regarded is that it is the coffee maker of choice from the recommendations of the cooks at "America's Test Kitchen." This the group founded by chef and teacher Christopher Kimball. America's Test Kitchen has had a cooking show on PBS for about 15 years and their advice on cooking is invaluable and practical. Following their recipes is a sure way to have food that tastes good. That is where I heard about the moccamaster, and it is where my sister heard about it.

Thanks for correcting the story about Peets coffee. I knew there was a connection with Starbucks and I didn't have time to look it up. I know that almost every time there is a coffee tasting Peets ranks right up there at the top.

Daryl,
I have been to that Caribou Coffee several times. I started staying at the Econ-lodge (I think that is the name of the hotel) in Midtown that is right on the corner close to the Marta stop. All of this is close to the Four Seasons, and I think it is the IBM pencil building? That little shopping area close to Piedmont Park is wonderful. There was a great little Italian restaurant that I ate at twice and then when I went back it was gone. There was also a small independent bookstore across the street from it.

Next time I am in Atlanta, we MUST do a meetup at that coffee shop. I am so excited, to know somebody who lives in that area. What a great neighborhood.

#122
When I was growing up in Kansas in the 1960's our electricity was supplied by the REA (Rural Electrification Association) that was one of the "Alphabet Soup" social programs put into place by Franklin Roosevelt and the Democrat congress during the push to get America out of the Depression in the late 1930's and 1940's. Every household and farm in our area had electricity, but the 1960's was also the time of the "Green Revolution" when farm yields went up through the roof. Part of the reason for this was irrigation. In the county where I grew up huge areas of it was put under irrigation in the 1960's and 1970's. All of the water pumps were powered by electric motors. The REA put into place an alert program for the summer months, as these were the months of heaviest use. There were
Red Alert days and Yellow Alert days. On these days electrical use by household were restricted because the amount of power needed to run the irrigation pumps. On Yellow Alert days, people were not to run washers and dryers at the same time, or use the electric ranges or ovens at the same time. On Red Alert days no washers or dryers, stove, or dishwashers were to be used between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. At the same time only even numbered Sections (land is divided out there into Sections that are 1 square mile and each Section is numbered consecutively in each County beginning in the upper right had corner) could irrigate on even numbered days, and odd numbered Sections on odd numbered days. Red Alert days occurred when the temperature and humidity were above certain levels for a certain number of days in a row. All of this was done to even out the peaks and valleys of electrical use, so that electrical power could be generated on a consistent basis.

Kansas is smack dab in the middle of the USA landmass and the temperature in the summer regularly gets above 100 degrees F, so these alert days were quite common. The announcement was given each morning during the 6:00 a.m. news. Since we milked cows we had the radio on in the milking barn and would listen to the announcement so that we could plan our day. In the summer we rarely used the dryer and hung everything on the line to dry. Ironing of the laundry was done in the evening, and supper was cooked and eaten after 6:00 p.m.

When I talk to people about this today, they think I am crazy. Nobody does this anymore. Instead we just go build more coal fired power plants, or build another nuclear plant. I do have to say that wind farms are now springing up all over Kansas, and irrigation pumps now run on diesel fuel rather than electricity, but really - a little bit of conservation and a good PR program could convince lots of people to plan their day a little better and we could conserve lots of electricity. I still run my washer and dryer in the evening, and try not to cook during the day. I also turn my AC way high during the day when I am at work, so that it never comes on. These are habits that I learned growing up and they have stayed with me. Charging people for the peak usage doesn't seem like that bad of an idea from my point-of-view.

As for the gasoline - you guys are correct. Gas is way too cheap in the USA. If it was more expensive we would soon find ways to conserve. However, I do find it interesting that for the first time in the US the number of 18-25 year old who are getting their first driver's license has flattened. That means that these kids are waiting longer to start driving and are more willing to use public transportation. There may be hope for us yet.

We are trying to use less electricity during the day because we are on a variable rate. We get charged a higher day rate and a very low night rate, so all our high energy machines - dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer - get put on before we go to bed. It certainly makes you think about whether you need to turn things on or not.

Here in the UK there is a huge push on wind farms, much to the disgust of a lot of people. I personally like how they look, particularly out to sea, and can't see why people kick up such a stink when the alternative is ever depleting fossil fuels, or nuclear power which has definitely fallen out of favour. People complain about the impact to bird populations, which is also an issue with solar farms, but surely the impact to wildlife populations is higher when using fossil fuels?? Although interestingly, our nearby nuclear power station down the coast from where I live in the UK is a wildlife haven and has done wonders for endangered bird populations in the area.

I'm not sure why more countries don't take the Swedish approach to power and have power stations run by burning household waste. They have perfected the technique so well that the levels of pollution by this method have fallen by 90-99% although I can't find exact numbers as to what it has fallen too. Now only 4% of household waste is put in landfill.

Surely this is a practical solution to both the ever expanding waste problem, and the fuel problem? Sweden have become so good at it that they now import waste from Norway in order to fuel the stations, and send the ash back to Norway for landfill.

There is more information on their methods here:

https://sweden.se/nature/the-swedish-recycling-revolution/

>125 lunacat: I've never really understood the strong objection to wind farms either, especially out at sea. I would go with a good range of renewable energy options, topped up with some fossil fuels where necessary and schemes like the Swedish one. All combined with strict regulations on energy efficiency.

Trying to catch up! And waving!!!

What a lot of fascinating discussion! Coffee makers, kettles, cholesterol, energy sources, history... this is a whole university right here on Darryl's thread.

I use a good ol' Mr. Coffee drip machine to make my morning brew, with unbleached paper filters. Works fine, and I haven't had to replace it in years. My Mom always heats her tea water in the mug in the microwave. I don't like that method, because I'm convinced that the water cools off faster and the tea doesn't taste the same. It appears that there is some scientific basis for this. We boil our water in a kettle on the stove----a kettle that whistles when the steam rises from the boiling water. You can hear that sucker everywhere in the house. No chance of letting it boil dry unless you're really forgetful and leave home while it's heating.

At the moment we do not have a variable electricity rates where we live. I do like to turn the dishwasher on when we go to bed, because it's so noisy, and in the bedroom with the door closed we don't hear it. We use the "no heat dry cycle" setting, and quite often one of us will get up and open the door to let the steam out at the end of the wash cycle before we fall asleep. There is no way I would go to bed with the clothes dryer running, though. Don't you find your clothes in a crinkled mass in the morning? And don't you worry about fire?

>128 laytonwoman3rd: Nope to either the fire or the wrinkled clothes! Our clothes are a lot less wrinkled when we use the dryer, and we're not fussed about it anyway. None of us wear 'smart' clothes at all, two of us spend our days slobbing around with horses and various other animals and the other is either in jeans and a t-shirt or at work as a diver where wrinkles in clothes are the least of the worries. Things only get ironed very very occasionally, like before a wedding or a big event and then not by the two women in the house but by the man, who was trained to iron in the military!

Had never really thought about the fire risk but I don't think it's an issue. The steam goes straight outside and the filter etc get cleaned out every time we use it. I would imagine that charging various electrical items overnight (phones, iPad etc) would be considered more dangerous. Remind me of that when I've burnt the house down though ;)

>126 SandDune: Windfarms on land tend to create noise, a hum that can be very annoying if you live in the vicinity, as well as the aforementioned bird problem.

I continue to be sorry that public opinion is still so against nuclear power, now that newer plants are much safer than the older ones now. However, I think the real breakthrough will happen when we find a way to effectively store electrical energy, instead of having to create it to match immediate demand.

And of course, raising the cost of electricity would inspire more efficient use - we are very wasteful now in the U.S. of electric power, food and natural gas and auto fuel, all of which are cheap by historical standards. I am driven to private fury by air-conditioned stores that keep doors open to lure people in on hot days, huge bright store signs that stay on all night, people who clean the sidewalk by hosing it down instead of sweeping, and other obvious waste. There's a certain mental laziness and selfishness about it all that our leaders have not been able or willing to confront or challenge to any effect unless price is added into the equation.

uh-oh. I think I'm ranting.

I was talking to one of the Scottish locals while on holiday there about the wind farms, turns out in their case the bird population flourished rather than the opposite ( don't have a link to hand but was based on actual research)

sorry yet to be convinced about nuclear, much prefer we go down the solar/wind route ..... so happy to see wind/geo thermal on the increase here in NZ

Well, here another one who loves this discussions about coffeemakers, kettles, teas, energy etc. Darryl, you definitely convinced me to get a chemex coffee maker for my brother. Speaking for myself I am a Barbarian - I love instant coffee (but only ONE particular brand) and otherwise it HAS to be either a Latte, Cappucino or other made from "proper" Espresso. I absolutely despite Filter coffee and also coffee made with a French press.

I am not convinced about nuclear either, but it may has to do with the fact that my brother has been working on Land- and Off-shore windfarms for over 15 year now and obviously understands a great deal in terms of "green energy". However, in his opinion we need a combination of different "green" energies if we want to preserve our environment. As far as I know in areas where people live very near to windmills they are set so that they don't work during the night. Well, at least that is what my brother told me. I think it may has also something to do with who owns the windmills and if they are prepared to stop the windmills overnight.
In terms of energy in general I do believe that everything has it pros and cons and the benefits vs non-benefit have to be considered carefully. At the end of the day we do have lots of different options in terms of energies at our hands nowadays and we just have to assess the area/environment and then decide which energy source is best suited.

A Place of Greater Safety I have this on my TBR of newly acquired audiobooks. Is there going to be a group read?

In Kansas the windmills run all day and all night. The wind blows there most every day and the wind makes noise. Since wind whistles and roars I don't think that anybody much notices windmill noise.

I think that storing electricity is the big problem. When we can find an efficient way to keep our excess electricity for when we need it we will have gone a long way to solve the problem.

About teapots - I have asked for a whistling tea kettle for Christmas for several years, but don't get it. I think my family thinks I am joking.

Back to the scrapple ("scrapple?") talk- sounds like out luncheon meat, aka Segg, or 'mystery meat' as I call it.

Also liking the wind farm discussion. There is a lot of space for them here (ie. to build them far enough from people that the noise would not hurt), but people dont want the blot on the landscape, from what I can tell. I myself like the look of them, more than a dammed river for hydro electricity like we already have a lot of.

>134 LovingLit: Hmm not surprised you don't like Hydro's ...... seriously combination of Geothermal/wind/Solar with Hydro as base load works well .... Tidal is starting to get near being commercial viable as well, which would have been 'nutty' territory 10 years ago .... the Elephant in the room is climate change & how it will impact all the assumptions

>134 LovingLit: >135 roundballnz: There's Te Rere Hau wind farm just outside Palmerston North, it's had complaints about noise.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/7225779/Wind-farm-noise-annoys-resident

>136 avatiakh: Been a lot of fuss about that one, not all factual, on either side, not saying thats the case in this article .... some just don't want them, seemingly want their energy to come from some miracle source .... if we increase out energy needs then we need to make compromises ... since coal& hydro can't get anywhere near passing RMA we are left with limited options - no solution will be perfect

We could all change our lifestyle. Life simple lives. Hang the wash on the line instead of run the dryer, etc. etc.

For me the biggest question is population control. The human population has just exploded since the 1700's and the planet can't sustain that kind of growth by one species. I know that view is controversial, but ever increasing numbers of people who attain the same level of life style won't work for long. It is part of the reason why I try to cut my energy consumption where I can. I know it isn't much but every little bit helps.

>138 benitastrnad: I do agree with your remnark about population control. Unfortunately, overcrowding will find its own solution in either some sort of plague or regional starvation - if we don't kill each other first. I'm not a fan of Malthus, but I also don't believe we will be able to stave off all disasters.

Sheesh, how cheerful!

Darryl, dropping in and see you had a question about bookstores. I don't know where you are staying while in San Diego, but the best bookstores are off the beaten path since the last downtown used book store closed a few years ago. One of my favorites is the Adams Avenue Bookstore at 35th and Adams. It's one of those used book stores with 3 floors and lots of nonfiction.
http://www.adamsavebooks.com

For new books, Warwick's in La Jolla is the most prestigious and has lots of events.
http://www.warwicks.com

Of course, for mystery, horror and speculative fiction, Mysterious Galaxy is the best. http://www.mysteriousgalaxy.com

You really should get to Balboa Park if possible and visit the museums. Of course, the zoo is right there as well. Check out the deals available at
http://www.balboapark.org/explorer

And
http://www.PassPort-SD.com
for a wider range of activities.

Woo hoo! My work stretch is over, after Wednesday night's long call, and I'll be off from clinical duties until October 25th. I'll catch up here tomorrow (it's just after midnight here), after the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature is announced at 8 am Eastern Daylight Time in the US, or 1 pm Central European Time.

ETA: The winner will be announced at 7 am EDT.

I woke up much earlier than I had planned, after I dreamt that I went on vacation with my brother to a remote village in Alaska and watched Peter Englund announce that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o had been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. It seemed so real that I woke up, thinking that it had actually happened. We'll all find out in a little less than half an hour.

Now to catch up while I wait for the live broadcast...

>118 Chatterbox: 1/6 = 1 shilling and 6 pence. 1 shilling = 12 pence, and 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence. So 1/6 = 18 pence. I have at least one old Penguin book that I bought at the stalls under the Waterloo Bridge that cost something like 2/6.

>119 jjmcgaffey: It helps if I don't think about the difference between the pound and the US dollar. The exchange rate the last time I checked was £1 = $1.60, so at least it isn't as bad as it was on my first trip to the UK.

14 minutes to go for the Nobel Prize in Literature announcement.

>120 lunacat: I'm still shocked at the massive difference in gas prices between the US and the UK. Can I assume that other western European countries pay similar rates as Britain does?

There is (or least I think there is) an increasing tendency among younger Americans to buy smaller and more gas efficient cars, including electric cars and hybrid vehicles. I would rarely see them in Atlanta, and although massive gas guzzling SUVs still dominate here, the fuel efficient vehicles are beginning to take hold.

Breaking news: Patrick Modiano is the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

>142 kidzdoc: Most European countries are similar prices although we pay slightly more per litre that several places (maybe 5-10p more).

Fuel efficient cars have massively gained in popularity here, helped by steep reductions in car tax on an efficient model. Full hybrids don't pay any car tax at all. As a base rate, my 10 year old car is just under £200 a year to tax. Our 4x4 that we need for towing the horses is more expensive to tax but thankfully it is biofuel so runs on LPG (autogas) as well as petrol or we could never afford to run it, it's such a guzzler.

Good to hear that things are starting to change in the US but I have to admit it is galling to hear those on the other side of the pond complaining about the cost of things when we pay so much more here. Then again, as I've said before, I'd much rather take the high cost of living and our higher tax rates and get free healthcare than have to pay insurance.

Wow, I am WAY behind; the last time I visited your thread, you were still in London. I had that nasty respiratory virus for almost two weeks and was totally exhausted. But I will catch up this weekend: Fall Break (all of two days off).

Congrats on finishing your work stretch, Darryl!

Patrick Modiano? New to me. I've ordered up his Missing Person. Have you read him? Is this a good choice?

>121 Ameise1: I haven't seen one of those old fashioned espresso makers in years!

>122 Deern: Interesting information about home electricity and coffee makers, Nathalie. I didn't know that the old fashioned espresso makers had a name (Moka pots). Wikipedia has a nice page about the Moka pot, including a detailed explanation of how it works. That would be a useful tool to prepare coffee while camping or roughing it, and it wouldn't be as fragile as a Chemex would be on the road.

>123 benitastrnad: I can now understand why the Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Brewer With Thermo Carafe is the hot coffee maker of the moment, given that "America's Test Kitchen" gave its vote of confidence to it. I'm still happy with my $30 Chemex, although I should look for a new coffee grinder soon.

I think that Keurig and similar coffee makers are overrated. Yes, they are incredibly easy to use and perfect for the office, but I find the coffee made from them to be far less enjoyable than brewed coffee. My best friends in Madison have one (I can't remember if it's a Keurig) or not, and they love it, particularly since they started buying Peet's K-cups, which are far superior to the other ones that I've tried (we have a machine in the office and another in the Doctors' Lounge where we eat lunch).

I didn't know about Peet's until I started working at Children's. One of my former partners, the one who bought the $1000+ espresso maker, told me about Peet's after I returned from a trip to San Francisco in the early 2000s; he was (and still is) a "Peetnik", as he gets whole beans shipped to him every 3-4 weeks. I hadn't tried it, so I made it a point to go to one on my next visit to the city, and I loved it.

I'm having a mug of freshly brewed Peet's Aged Sumatra now: so good! Hmm...maybe I don't need a new coffee grinder, as this brew is very smooth, full of flavor, and not bitter at all.

I know that there are several hotels near the Midtown MARTA station and the Margaret Mitchell House on 10th Street, but I don't know the names of them. There are also several hotels on 14th Street close to the Arts Center station, which is the one I use to go to and from work, and One Atlantic Center, which was previously known as IBM Tower, is very close to that station (there are a Starbucks and an Einstein Bros. Bagels shop directly across the street from that high rise). The bookshop that you mentioned was Outwrite Bookshop, which closed two years ago. It's been replaced by a restaurant named 10th & Piedmont (how boring!). I love going to The Flying Biscuit, which is also on the corner of 10th & Piedmont, but I prefer to go to the original cafe in Candler Park (on the corner of McClendon and Clifton). When I was a resident we were required to go to Grand Rounds in one of the Grady Memorial Hospital campus buildings downtown (close to Georgia State University and the Georgia State Capitol), and if we were working at Egleston Children's Hospital on Emory's campus we would routinely stop there on our way back, as it had an adjoining shop that sold hot biscuits and other freshly baked goods.

We'll definitely have to meet up in Atlanta! I still haven't met anyone from LT here, oddly enough.

>124 benitastrnad: I enjoyed reading your comments about efforts used to level out electricity use in Kansas. When I lived with my parents we routinely used a clothes hanger to dry clothes on warmer days, even though we had a dryer, but they took it down several years ago. I hadn't thought about using my washer or dryer during non-peak hours, but that makes perfect sense. I'll do that tonight, as I have to wash clothes for my trip to San Diego tomorrow. I'm also bad about turning up my thermostat when I'm at work, or even on holiday, although I feel stupid for leaving it on when I'm away from home for long periods of time.

That's interesting, and encouraging, that young people are getting their licenses later in life and using public transportation more often. That's a bit surprising to me, though, as I would think that they would want to have licenses in order to be able to buy and drink alcoholic beverages. Getting a driver's license was a rite of passage when I was in high school, as I and most of the people I knew had our permits by age 15, and our licenses shortly after our 16th birthdays. I imagine that part of the reason was that we lived in a suburb with limited public transportation nearby.

>125 lunacat: The Swedish approach does sound like the way to go. I wonder why more countries don't adopt this method?

>126 SandDune: I also don't understand objections to wind farms.

>127 connie53: Hi, Connie! You're not the only one who is trying to catch up here. ;-)

>128 laytonwoman3rd: I'm learning a lot here, too. Thanks for the great discussions, y'all!

I used to use a basic coffee maker until about 10 years ago, when I bought one that also served as a carafe. I stopped using my microwave to heat water for tea after I read that microwaves don't heat liquids evenly. We pediatricians counsel parents to avoid using them to heat milk and other liquids for babies and young children, as these liquids can contain hot spots that could potentially burn the children's lips or mouths.

We boil our water in a kettle on the stove----a kettle that whistles when the steam rises from the boiling water. You can hear that sucker everywhere in the house. No chance of letting it boil dry unless you're really forgetful and leave home while it's heating.

You should tell that to my mother...

>147 kidzdoc:

I'm having a mug of freshly brewed Peet's Aged Sumatra now: so good! Hmm...maybe I don't need a new coffee grinder, as this brew is very smooth, full of flavor, and not bitter at all.

Hi Darryl,

I simply can't catch up on everyone's thread so I stopped by to say hi.

I'm a coffee snob myself! This morning I'm also drinking Sumatra coffee (Mayorga organic Sumatra blend medium roast). I usually only try to buy Mayorga coffee as the roastery is local to me, and Mayorga is a Hispanic family-owned company based on principles near to my heart.

Yep. I grind the coffee myself in a simple, small Krups grinder and make it in a French press. Nothing comes close to the taste of Mayorga coffee. :)

I'm not a big fan of coffee makers and find espresso coffee too bitter. I even do French press coffee when I have company - although I can only make three cups of coffee at a time in my large French press. I don't really have too many family/friends who are die-hard coffee drinkers the way I am.

My husband will only drink 7-11 (a convenience store) coffee. Go figure! :)

For the water in my coffee, I use filtered water which I heat in an electric ceramic coffee pot that my husband's niece gave me a few years ago. It's great because it only takes a minute or two to heat the water to boiling.

>132 drachenbraut23:

I absolutely despite Filter coffee and also coffee made with a French press.

LOL! To each his/her own, Bianca!

>129 lunacat: I use my iron every morning that I go to work, and I'll routinely iron clothes on my days off if I'm going out, even if it's only to smooth out wrinkles on a polo shirt or slacks. A good (male) friend of mine taught me 25 or more years ago the method that his mother taught him to iron clothes, and I continue to use that technique. I'll even iron clothes when I'm on holiday, and I get very disappointed if my hotel room doesn't have an iron and a board; it's as essential as an electric kettle!

>130 ffortsa: Rant on, Judy. Your points are well taken, and spot on. I need to be more energy efficient as well, and this conversation has given me food for thought.

>131 roundballnz: I have to learn more about energy usage and conservation, which are topics that I know little about.

>132 drachenbraut23: I'll drink instant coffee in a pinch, but normally that only happens when I'm on holiday in the UK and want a cup of coffee, but don't feel like going out of my hotel room (most of the hotels I've stayed at there have electric kettles and Nescafe instant coffee). I haven't bought instant coffee in decades, and I greatly prefer filtered or French pressed coffee to Nescafe.

I'm not sure if there will be a group read of A Place of Greater Safety or not. Ilana is reading it because I picked it out for her, and I chose it because I wanted to finally get around to it this year. I'll start it sometime after I return to Atlanta next Tuesday, and I'll also read the new Murakami then.

>133 benitastrnad: I haven't been around any windmills, but I suspect that the noise generated by them wouldn't bother me, as I like the sound of the wind on cold winter nights or rainy days.

I like whistling tea kettles, too. I'm sure my old one is around here somewhere...

>134 LovingLit: I remember the photo you posted of Segg a year or two ago, Megan. You're right, scrapple does remind me of that, and the "mystery meat" that we had to endure in our high school cafeterias. I think I'll take a pass on the scrapple challenge.

I don't consider myself a coffee snob, but I think if I were honest with myself I would be considered one. I drink Gevalia coffee. I do so in memory of Glenwood Lundberg and Dennis Harbaugh. For a time I was unemployed back in the 1980's. (just graduated from college and didn't find a job right away.) I volunteered time at the county history museum. So did Glenwood and Dennis was the director of the museum. They had darn good coffee in the pot most of the time. One day I asked why. Turned out that Glenwood was of Swedish descent. (most of the people from Scandia, Norway, and Courtland communities are - well, some of the are Norwegian and Danish - but the Swedes predominate in that part of the county. I can't figure out why they would name their towns those names?) He was one of those Norwegian bachelor farmers about which Garrison Keilor often speaks. Glenwood finally made a pilgrimage to the home country to visit relatives still in Sweden. He hated the place. He said they were all communists there, everybody was on the dole, and most worst of all, was the fact that so few of them went to the Covenant Church. He said the Lutherans had finally conquered the country and as a result nobody went to church. They were a bunch of heathens. But - they did have good coffee. Thereafter, he obtained a subscription for Gevalia coffee and swore it was the best coffee on the planet. He even paid for a subscription that was delivered to the Republic County Historical Society Museum. Because of the enthusiasm of that old cuss, I have been getting a subscription ever since I moved to Alabama. Some of the roasts are better than the others and the flavored coffees are really nice. However, I do try to patronize locally owned coffee shops when possible, but I rarely pass up an opportunity to get Caribou Coffee.

I like dark roast coffees with cream. I like Kenyan and Ethopian coffee. I am not as thrilled with coffee from Central and South America, but if roasted right I can't tell the difference. I also drink tea.

I dug out my copy of Place of Greater Safety but probably won't get to it for another week or so. I need to finish Never Let Me Go for my real life bookclub first. I am not a fast reader and I have lots of social activities coming up that will take up time that I usually spend reading. I too, have wanted to read this book, so will be happy to tag along with you guys.

I like to hear the sound of the wind blowing, and it is one of the things I have missed here in Alabama. However, many people find it disturbing. Those who complain about the windmills say that it is a high pitched whine just at the edge of their hearing and that it is a very irritating sound. I don't notice it, but then I don't live close to the wind farms. I think that given all that we know about our impact on the planet that the use of windmills is one of the least imposing ways we presently have to generate power. I think we should move in that direction as rapidly as possible, and at the same time we should be encouraging conservation practices. Most of our power companies in the US are not-for-profit companies anyway, so they should be encouraging a flat growth rate rather than an upward growth rate like they do.

And don't get me started on the TVA. I am very fond of saying that every morning Southerners should get out of bed, drop to their knees and thank God for FDR and the TVA.

>151 benitastrnad:

I drink Gevalia coffee

Gevalia coffee holds a special place in my heart even if I don't drink it any more. Back when I was working, I had one manager who had her own Gevalia coffeemaker in her office. Every time she brewed a fresh pot of coffee, she'd bring me a cup of it...steaming hot...and set it down beside me for me to drink. I do miss that!

The difference between places that serve "good coffee" and "not good coffee" seems to be how the cafes store freshly brewed coffee. Those that serve it fresh from the coffeemaker (mainly Starbucks) tend to have strong, bitter coffee with an "off" taste. Other cafes that use large thermoses to store freshly brewed coffee (Caribou Coffee,
Panera, etc.) have coffee that is much more palatable.

The funny thing is that, even though Starbucks coffee tastes dreadful in their cafes, if you buy their beans, grind them yourself at home, and make their coffee yourself, it tastes much better. I still can't understand how Starbucks does such good business with such high prices and such poor-tasting coffee. I much prefer to patronize Caribou, although this is my favorite café. It's located in Ellicott City, Maryland.

>135 roundballnz:, >136 avatiakh:, >137 roundballnz:, >138 benitastrnad:, >139 ffortsa: I don't have anything to add to this interesting discussion, due to my ignorance on this topic. Please continue to talk about it, though, as I'm learning from all of you.

>140 ronincats: Hi, Roni! I'm staying at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, close to the San Diego Convention Center. Thanks for those bookshop recommendations, but I suspect that I won't go to any of them, as I'm not planning to rent a car and I'll only be there for the length of the AAP conference. I'll have to explore the city on a future visit to California, as I would love to take a train ride from San Diego to San Francisco.

>144 lunacat: I will sometimes mention the gas prices in the UK to my American friends and others who talk about the high prices here (I didn't know the exact price before your previous post, but I had been telling them that gas the UK costs $8-9 per gallon). Nearly all of them are shocked to hear this, and they don't have much to say after that.

>145 Cariola: I'm behind on most threads as well, Deborah; I had no idea that you were sick. I'm glad that you're feeling better, though.

A two day fall break hardly counts. I'd rather work those days, and have them added on to a longer holiday.

>146 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! This will be my last lengthy time off from work until March, so I'm looking forward to it.

I've read Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, which is a short novel about a detective who lost his memory. I gave it 4 stars after I read it, but I can't remember anything about it (no pun intended). He is well known and highly regarded in his home country of France, and several of his books have been translated into English, but he isn't well known in the English speaking world, according to the post-announcement interview that Peter Englund gave this morning. I don't own anything else by him, although I did nab the last available copy of his novel Honeymoon from Amazon.

Here's the transcript of Englund's very short prize announcement:

“The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2014 is awarded to the French author Patrick Modiano, for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation”.

In the post-announcement interview (which you can see here, along with the announcement), Englund recommended Missing Person as a introduction to Modiano's work. He said that all of his books were short, in the neighborhood of 150 pages, and that they are easy but rewarding reads. Yale University Press will publish a previously untranslated collection of three of his novellas, titled Suspended Sentences, which will be available on February 24th.

I was disappointed that neither Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o nor Amos Oz was chosen as the Nobel Prize winner. I don't know enough about Modiano to comment on his selection, but the two comments in The Prizes group were not positive ones:

@schibboleth46: "Booooooooooooooooooooring!!!!!"

@lriley: "Anyway I've read Modiano three times but it's been quite a while. I liked his work but I'm not sure I ever thought of him as Nobel worthy."

Here's a lengthier excerpt by Peter Englund about Modiano, from his post-announcement interview:

“Patrick Modiano is a well-known name in France but not anywhere else. He writes children’s books, movie scripts but mainly novels. His themes are memory, identity and time.

“His best known work is called Missing Person. It’s the story about a detective who has lost his memory and his final case is finding out who he really is: he is tracing his own steps through history to find out who he is.”

He added: “They are small books, 130, 150 pages, which are always variations of the same theme - memory, loss, identity, seeking. Those are his important themes: memory, identity and time.”

I'll dig out my copy of Missing Person and re-read it later this month.

>149 SqueakyChu: Hi, coffee snob Madeline! Thanks for mentioning Mayorga coffee. I like their philosophy, and those prices, and free shipping for orders of $20 or more is very enticing. I think I'll order some for my Thanksgiving Week trip to my parents' house, instead of ordering Peet's as I normally would.

I like French pressed coffee better than anything else, but the effects of the cafestol on increasing LDL cholesterol levels made me decide to switch to filtered coffee, and I'm quite happy with my Chemex.

My partners and others who work in our office space often say they know when I'm back in town, as they hear the sound of coffee beans being ground and they smell fresh roasted coffee coming from my work space. I'm the only one of the 25+ people there who does this; most of the rest of them drink coffee or tea that they prepare in the Keurig coffee maker (ick).

>151 benitastrnad: Interesting story about your friends and Gevalia coffee, Benita. Are there Caribou Coffee shops in or outside of Tuscaloosa? I find it odd that the Atlanta metropolitan area has them, since the only other place I've seen the shops are in Madison, WI.

>152 benitastrnad: I won't start A Place of Greater Safety until next week, at the earliest. I have at least four books to read ahead of it, namely J by Howard Jacobson and How to Be Both by Ali Smith, the two Booker Prize shortlisted books that I haven't finished yet, and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande and The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen, my LT Early Reviewer books for July and August. I'd like to finish the Booker longlist by Tuesday, the date of the prize announcement, although that will be tough, considering that I'll be at the conference all day from Saturday to Monday and will probably spend evenings with friends who will also be there.

I am very fond of saying that every morning Southerners should get out of bed, drop to their knees and thank God for FDR and the TVA.

Although I agree with you I'm not sure that you should say that too loudly in certain parts of the South!

>153 SqueakyChu: The difference between places that serve "good coffee" and "not good coffee" seems to be how the cafes store freshly brewed coffee. Those that serve it fresh from the coffeemaker (mainly Starbucks) tend to have strong, bitter coffee with an "off" taste. Other cafes that use large thermoses to store freshly brewed coffee (Caribou Coffee, Panera, etc.) have coffee that is much more palatable.

I agree completely. I also find Starbucks coffee to be bitter, which is why I'll only drink it in a pinch. I'd much rather have coffee in Caribou or Peet's Coffee shops.

The funny thing is that, even though Starbucks coffee tastes dreadful in their cafes, if you buy their beans, grind them yourself at home, and make their coffee yourself, it tastes much better.

Yes!

I said "Patrick who???". I checked Amazon - and you are correct, you got the last copy. Nothing else available for "one to three weeks". And nothing on Kindle. Checked my local library and it has two books "on order" (probably placed this AM). I'm on the waiting list. But "Boooooooooring" doesn't sound good.

As for the topic of coffee - no one has mentioned Nespresso. Thats what I use q AM. I think it is better than Starbucks, as well as cheaper, and more convenient. There used to be a Caribou near me but it closed several yrs ago.

>153 SqueakyChu: The difference between places that serve "good coffee" and "not good coffee" seems to be how the cafes store freshly brewed coffee. Those that serve it fresh from the coffeemaker (mainly Starbucks) tend to have strong, bitter coffee with an "off" taste. Other cafes that use large thermoses to store freshly brewed coffee

Maybe it depends what you are used to! I think all the main chains of coffee places in the UK serve it fresh from the coffee maker. In fact, I probably would be quite dubious if they offered me coffee that had been sitting in a thermos: to me, any coffee that has been sitting around just doesn't taste right. But then if I'm buying coffee out I'll always have a latte or cappuccino, or maybe an espresso if it's after a meal, and I'll never have an americano, so maybe that makes the difference.

>155 kidzdoc:

I think I'll order some for my Thanksgiving Week trip to my parents' house, instead of ordering Peet's as I normally would.

I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Be aware that you do need to choose the roast that you prefer (light, medium, or dark) in order to get the coffee that you will like the most. I'm eager to hear your (honest) review of Mayorga coffee! :)

they hear the sound of coffee beans being ground and they smell fresh roasted coffee coming from my work space.

LOL! I totally gave up drinking coffee at my last job because I could always smell the burnt Folger's in the coffeemaker as I came in each morning. Yech! I tried bringing my coffee press to work, but that was too messy as I didn't have a convenient kitchen near by.

At home, I grind my coffee every few days and keep the ground coffee in a small airtight container. That has proven easier that grinding coffee for each individual cup.

I have one small container for regular coffee and another container for decaf. From 3-6pm, I drink half and half (part regular/part decaf) - not too much caffeine for the afternoon hours!

(ick)

:)

>157 SandDune:

main chains of coffee places in the UK serve it fresh from the coffee maker.

Fresh, hot coffee from a clean coffeemaker should taste just fine!

Maybe Starbucks personnel don't clean out their coffeemakers...ever?! Maybe they're just reheating the same old coffee crud?

Several times I've specifically asked Starbucks personnel to brew me a fresh cup of coffee. They complied, and each time the coffee tasted exactly as horrible! I've given up on them.

The last time I was in a Starbucks, ironically enough, was at the last LT meet-up when Nora took Katherine and me to the Starbucks near the National Zoo. They both forced me to walk my legs off so I couldn't walk any further. Nevertheless, seated, I felt compelled to once again complain* about the taste of Starbucks coffee.

*I loved the company, though. :)

Great news for US bookworms: Apparently The Book Depository has gone back to its old policy of shipping books published in the UK but not available to here to US customers with free shipping, and at a discounted rate. For example, the hardback edition of The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee, which has a list price of £16.99, is on sale for £14.74, with free shipping to the US. I just ordered The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher, which I had meant to buy in London last month. Woo hoo!



>156 catarina1: I'm not certain that I'll receive Honeymoon. Amazon accepted my order, but it can't give me any additional shipping information, which makes me wonder if that last copy is still available.

I've never had, nor heard of, Nespresso. I just looked it up; do you use the coffee capsules with or without the Nestlé espresso machine?

>157 SandDune: Wait a minute...I may have agreed with Madeline a bit too quickly. I'll much more readily drink Starbucks coffee in the UK or Spain, as there the coffee (I generally get a venti black Cafe Americano) is made fresh, whereas the venti black brewed coffee in US Starbucks are kept in thermoses, which I often find to be bitter, unless it has just been made.

>158 SqueakyChu: Will do, Madeline. I prefer robust coffee, but since I'll share it with my parents and family I'll probably order a medium roast to have there, and a dark roast to bring back to Atlanta.

Ick! The smell of burnt Folgers would nearly be enough to turn me away from coffee for good.

Fortunately the office space I work in has a good sized kitchen, with an electric kettle, a mineral water dispenser, and plenty of cabinet space for me to store my French press, coffee grinder and my stash of Peet's coffee. Fortunately it doesn't have a traditional coffee maker, only the Keurig machine, so the kitchen is free of the smell of burnt, rancid coffee.

I grind beans every time I make coffee, which I don't find to be an onerous chore.

I don't usually make a second cup of coffee on work days, as I usually only take a short (15-20 minute) break for lunch (if I have lunch at all), but when I do I'll make a full strength mug. I may have to rethink that, as I tend to wake up earlier than I had intended to the following morning (as I did this morning, after I had a mug of coffee yesterday afternoon).

Several times I've specifically asked Starbucks personnel to brew me a fresh cup of coffee. They complied, and each time the coffee tasted exactly as horrible! I've given up on them.

Now that I think about it, freshly brewed Starbucks coffee is still bitter. I have found that the Pike Place roast isn't as bitter as the other blends, though, so I'll order that preferentially.

>159 SqueakyChu: So, Nora forced you and Katherine on a torturous walk, and then "rewarded" you with Starbucks coffee? What kind of f(r)iend does that? ;-)

>154 kidzdoc: Yes, I was pulling for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o if it wasn't Murakami. On your recommendation, I read and enjoyed Wizard of the Crow.

On the coffeee debate: I buy my coffee whole bean from a local outfit about half an hour from home that imports its coffee and roasts the beans in an antique roaster (Greencastle Coffee Roasters). They have a huge variety, and it's very good. I grind it at home and use a standard drip coffee maker (KitchenAid). I used to have the carafe style you mentioned, Darryl, but it broke. I like the Kitchen Aid because you can program it for strong coffee and for small batches (1-4 cups).

I do frequent Starbucks fairly often for a hot cup or specialty coffee beverage, mainly because it's that or nothing here. I have found that the coffee quality varies between the three stores in the area, and I stick with the one that is consistently best. Would love to have more choices, but that's small town life. I can get Peet's, Green Mountain, and other brands in the local stores, but it's usually ground, and I do like to support the store in Greencastle.

>147 kidzdoc: It isn't so bad this Moka pot, isn't it?

Daryll, you can check out the Upstart Crow in Seaport Village. It's a combo coffee shop/bookstore (new books) that doesn't carry anything special, but at least you have been to a bookshop in San Diego. It's also right next to your hotel and you should stroll through the Village at some point just for the atmosphere.

>159 SqueakyChu:, >160 kidzdoc: Ahem. (a) Nora is not guilty; she was still on her feet at the zoo when the two of us stopped for coffee on the way to the Metro. (b) The temperature was about 90 degrees and the primary wish was for air conditioned seating so we opted for Starbucks instead of the ice cream place that lacked these features. (c) Perhaps I should hang my head in shame among this crowd, but I’m OK with Starbucks coffee; it is at least not wimpy.

>162 jnwelch: I wonder if Ngũgĩ's chances of winning the Nobel Prize are affected by his diminished literary output the past few years. Except for his recent memoirs he hasn't published any works of fiction since Wizard of the Crow was published in 2006, to my knowledge. Peter Englund also made the comment that many of Patrick Modiano's books have been translated into Swedish, more so than in English; does that mean that authors whose books aren't widely available in that language or in Sweden don't have as good of a chance compared to other authors whose books are available there?

>163 Cariola: It's good that you have a local roaster who is relatively nearby. I'd probably be happy with Starbucks if I didn't have other options nearby. And, I need to start exploring some of the newer coffee shops in Midtown Atlanta that I've heard good things about but haven't visited yet.

>164 Ameise1: The Moka pot looks nice. My parents may actually have one, so I'll have to look into this when I visit them next month, during Thanksgiving Week toward the end of November.

>165 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! I looked at a Google map of Upstart Crow, and it is very close to my hotel. I think that Seaport Village would be a good place for my friends and I to visit and have dinner (any particular recommendations?).

I'd love to meet up with you if you're in town, but I suspect that I won't be able to, since I'll almost certainly have evening plans every night that I'm there, except possibly for tomorrow night, since my flight doesn't arrive at SAN until nearly 7:30 pm, which will feel like 10:30 pm.

>166 qebo: Alright, I suppose I should apologize for slandering poor Nora, then. (I haven't met her yet, but she seems like someone whose company I would greatly enjoy.) And, although I'm not terribly fond of Starbucks coffee, I would gladly drink it if the only other option was to drink insipid coffee, or worse yet, no coffee at all. I'm more of a coffee/caffeine addict than a coffee snob, especially first thing in the morning.

>168 kidzdoc: I haven't met her yet
You need to get to the National Book Festival one of these years. Alas, it coincided with the one day you worked this summer.

>169 qebo: LOL!

>167 kidzdoc: Both good thoughts re Ngũgĩ, Darryl. Maybe so on both counts.

NOT the Harbor House or Busters. Actually, if Sally's is still at your hotel, it is supposed to be excellent, or if you walk along the Embarcadero north a little past Seaport Village and before the Midway, the Fish Market is good.

>166 qebo:

(a) Nora is not guilty; she was still on her feet at the zoo when the two of us stopped for coffee on the way to the Metro.

Nora would have walked me more that day (for sure!) if she didn't have to work. I remember our tour of Alexandria that she led!

>169 qebo: Too funny!!!

The pick of Modiano is interesting... I've actually read some of them, including Rue des boutiques obscures, which won the Gallimard in the late 70s, sometime. I bought a Folio edition of that when I was working in France, so it would have been 1980, and read it then, when I think it went over my head, and then re-read it in the 1990s, when I really liked it, and went on to read Dora Bruder. I think it was seeing the latter for sale in Paris in early '99 that prompted me to re-read "Missing Persons". Later, I tried Dans le cafe de la jeunesse perdue and stalled on it. I think I picked it up in Paris in late 2010?

His style is rather elliptical -- you could maybe cross Kundera with Perec and end up with something like this? But I am drawn to his themes. He is a very French writer, though.

I don't know about translation giving a preference to one author over another. I remember my Swedish friend telling me what a rush their had been to try and lay hands on anything by Derek Walcott after his Nobel -- apparently almost nothing had been translated. I do think that if you looked at the list of laureates, there are probably a disproportionate numbers from Scandinavian countries, relative to population or lists of prominent authors, etc.

Wasn't there some "scandal" a few years ago about the fact that the Swedish translator of that year's Nobel winner sat on the selection committee? There was a perceived conflict of interest when it was announced.

I wasn't familiar with Patrick Modiano or his work until this morning, but as soon as I saw the announcement (not from you alas, but breaking news from nyt.com which for the record, came much later than your announcement, as you must know), I went over to the municipal library's online catalogue and reserved some of his titles. I've gone through his bibliography to ascertain that they do have all his works, though some are quite old editions by now, but I guess that's one of the advantages we have living in a French province I guess. It's rare enough for me to see any advantage at all in that fact other than having access to books in both English and French, so I guess I can count myself lucky that I can pick up any of Modiano's books, though I've yet to see whether I'll take to him as a writer. All his novels are around 150 pages, with a very few around 200 pages.

For now I've reserved:
L'herbe des nuits, which came out in 2012 and I think is not yet translated
Rue des boutiques obscures / Missing Person - I'm sure Suz meant to say it won the Prix Goncourt in 1978
Dora Bruder / The Search Warrant
Un pedigree which is apparently an homage to George Simenon's autobiographical novel Pedigree (which I'll have to get my hands on as well!)
and Catherine Certitude which is also an autobiographical novel, this time a YA title which describes the relationship between a young girl and her father.

Sh*t, yes, that's what I meant to say. Sigh.

>178 Chatterbox: Suz, that was such a *me* kind of goof, I felt kind of relieved I'm not the only one who mixes up names. So much so, I hadn't noticed it at all the first time I read your message. I'm constantly doing that sort of thing, in case you haven't noticed yet.

>171 jnwelch: I have no idea if my two hypotheses are correct, and nothing concrete to base them on. Even though his output has tailed off dramatically I think that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's body of work is enough to merit his inclusion amongst the Nobel Prize finalists (although most of us won't be around in 50 years to find out if he was one of the chosen).

>172 ronincats: Thanks again, Roni! Sally's Seafood on the Water is within the hotel, and I found the Fish Market on the detachable map that is included in my Fodor's San Diego guide book. I'll mention those two restaurants to my friends when we meet up on Saturday.

I finished registering for sessions for the conference, and my days are completely booked, from 7 am to 7 pm most days. On Saturday night there is a function on the USS Midway, so I assume that my friends will want to go to that. Hilary Clinton will address the conference on Sunday afternoon, as she'll talk about the importance of reading to infants to ensure early language development.

>173 SqueakyChu: So Nora is guilty of abusing her LT friends?

>174 catarina1: I thought that Katherine was a sensitive and kind person. Clearly she's been adversely influenced by Nora. (I should post a message on her thread about my shameless comments about her.)

>175 Chatterbox: Interesting comments about Modiano, Suz. They make me that much more curious to read him, so I'll try to read Honeymoon if I get it this month from Amazon, or re-read Missing Person if I don't (Amazon still hasn't told me when, or if, I'll receive Honeymoon).

I'm also far from sure that the availability of an author's work in Swedish, or Sweden, has anything to do with the likelihood that the author will be selected as a finalist or a winner of the Nobel Prize. I would strongly suspect that most if not all of the jury can, and do, read books in English, and it would be easily enough to acquire those books from outside of the country.

>180 kidzdoc:

So Nora is guilty of abusing her LT friends?

Not really. Just of over-exercising them. By "them", you must know by now that I really mean me. :)

>176 katiekrug: I don't remember that apparent controversy, Katie, but that doesn't mean much. I did look at the criticism section of the Nobel Prize in Literature page on Wikipedia, and I didn't see any mention of this, either. Does anyone else know about this?

>177 Smiler69: Ha! So I scooped the NYT? *preens* I was logged onto the prize's web site, which had a live video stream starting a few minutes before the announcement at 7 am Eastern Daylight Time. My post is stamped 7:01 am, as I typed the message as soon as Peter Englund finished telling the audience who had won.

I had to look at my library to see if I owned and/or read anything by Modiano, and it was only then that I remembered that I have Missing Person, and read it several years ago. Apparently I purchased it in 2008, but I'm not sure when I read it.

>178 Chatterbox:, >179 Smiler69: If I had a dollar for every time I made a mistake like that, especially here on LT, I could stop working for a year or more. That's why my messages are very frequently edited, as they are full of typos and gross errors.

Oh. Did I mention that I finished The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee on Monday? I finally got into it this weekend, and it proved to be more enjoyable that I thought it would be. I gave it 4 stars, and I would rank it just behind The Narrow Road to the Deep North, my favorite book from the Booker Prize longlist. I'll write a review of it sometime next week.

>181 SqueakyChu: Wow, over-exercising a friend is now a crime to which one can plead guilty? :-)

>181 SqueakyChu: Oh, now you're in trouble. I just posted a message on Nora's thread about the slanderous comments that have been posted about her (not by me, of course).

>183 Chatterbox: I agree. You should be ashamed of yourself, Madeline.

My ears are burning!

>185 norabelle414: Uh oh. I think my mother is calling me home...

I don't know if I'm a coffee snob or a coffee addict; it's not even 8 p.m. here and I already crave tomorrow's cuppa ...

As far as Starbucks here goes, there are too many of 'em, and smaller and (probably) better coffee places have been put out of business, sadly. I've been to almost all of the Starbucks out here, most are good, but my last time out was a major disappointment. (Yuck.)

Last spring I accidentally bought a bag of coffee beans off the shelf. Instead of returning it, I bought a coffee grinder and ground 'em up and took Alton Brown's advice on adding a little salt. I thought, "Oh, so this is what coffee is supposed to taste like!"

My ex has us all beat though, his grandparents grew coffee on their ranch.
*sigh*

*resting for my next outing with Nora*

Following along with the conversations here, but don't really have anything to add, since I've never read Mr. Nobel Winner and I'm a tea drinker... Just chiming in with a Good Morning, Darryl!

>189 scaifea: Ditto!

I wish I liked coffee as I love the smell and I could do with the caffeine. But I can't bear the taste. I guess I'll stick to my vats of tea.

>187 avidmom: Mmm. I've done that, too. If good freshly brewed coffee is available late at night, at a time that I clearly don't need to be drinking any, it's hard for me to pass up.

I agree; there are way too many Starbucks in all of the major cities I've visited, in the US and abroad. There are three of them within walking distance of home, and a few others a short drive away. I'll have to make it my business to try some of the indie coffee shops in Midtown after I return to Atlanta next week.

I've never heard of adding salt to coffee! I'll have to give that a try when I make coffee this afternoon (I've already brewed my morning mug).

>188 SqueakyChu: I started to say that you should join the Philadelphians for a meet up there instead of being subjected to torture by Nora, but I realized that we do a lot of walking, too (and the UK meet ups I've attended almost invariably involve even more walking). Maybe she isn't so bad after all.

>189 scaifea: Good morning, Amber! I doubt that more than a couple of people here have read anything by Patrick Modiano, and if I hadn't explored the Verba Mundi online catalog I wouldn't have bought or read Missing Person.

>190 lunacat: I hated the taste of coffee when I first tried it, which was probably during my freshman year of college when I had coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts that my dormitory provided for students who were cramming for final exams. I gagged it down, as I knew that I needed to stay awake. Wait...no, that's wrong. I definitely had café au lait with beignets at Café du Monde in the French Quarter of New Orleans during my freshman year, as I initially chased girls attended university at Tulane. I liked that coffee, which was made with chicory and served with warmed milk, but it took me awhile to get used to the taste of black coffee. Now I always drink black coffee, and I love the taste of the beans, but because I don't put anything in it (not even sugar) I'm more sensitive to the taste of it.

I like tea (black, green, herbal, ginger, etc.), but it doesn't have enough caffeine to get me going in the morning. I love to have it in the evening or late afternoon, though.

I would like to point out that before going to the zoo I took everyone to a local coffee shop for breakfast and caffeine, and we sat there for an hour even though I wanted to keep walking. So there!

I'm very conflicted about Starbucks because I don't like their coffee but I like their politics and I LOVE the way they treat their employees. I really want to support them, but I just can't drink that gross coffee.

>191 kidzdoc: I don't put anything in it
Ah, yes, that would make a difference. I put cream and sugar in coffee, quite a bit of it, so bitterness is not so much of a problem.

>192 norabelle414: It sounds to me like Nora was a gracious and considerate LT meet up host and tour guide. I think that our dear Madeline doth complain too much.

I agree, I do like Starbucks' policies towards its employees, and I enjoy going to one, even if the coffee isn't that good. I'll definitely continue to go to Starbucks, especially to the ones in my neighborhood this time of year when it's pleasant to sit outside, but I'd rather support a local indie coffee shop rather than a large chain. I've found that the cafe americano made by Starbucks shops in the UK and Spain tastes much better than the fresh brewed coffee in the US, so I'm more likely to go into a Starbucks when I'm on holiday there.

>193 qebo: That's what my brother does, too. Whenever I make coffee at our parents' house he puts in so much milk or nondairy creamer that the color of it is off white, and sometimes he'll put in so much sugar that some of it precipitates at the bottom of the cup. I've tried it once or twice, and I can't detect any coffee taste at all.

> 191

I realized that we do a lot of walking

Truthfully, Darryl, the walking exercise is good for me. It keeps me young and fit!

Maybe she isn't so bad after all.

Nora's perfect! I was JK. Don't make me into an old meanie.

>196 avidmom: Exactly. Subsitute "David" in place of "Jeremy", give him a bit more melanin, and that's my brother for you.

>197 SqueakyChu: Right. Those LT walking jaunts are good for me as well, and I'll start doing a lot more of it, as the weather will turn cool in Atlanta soon. It's still hot down here, as we'll hit 85 F (30 C) today.

No one could ever accuse you of being an old meanie, Madeline! :-)

#167
I had read somewhere (probably a long time ago) that the availability of books printed in Swedish does indeed affect the outcome of the voting. Somebody analyzed the winning list to come up with that answer.

>167 kidzdoc: I have been kind of annoyed with the Nobel prize givers for some time! Awarding to Mo Yan and never Chinua Achebe? You might be right about Ngũgĩ' Thiong'o, but I think that after writing Wizard of the Crow one would deserve some time to re-group.

I haven't read anything by Modiano. I will, since his work is short, and sounds interesting. I am kind of annoyed with the press, however, for comparing him to Marcel Proust; because he seems completely different.

Even though I am a coffee snob, I do Starbucks pretty often, as they are always around, and not great but not horrible, usually. And they are a good employer.

I do patronize Starbucks. Mostly because of their employment policies and when I travel I can usually find one. I am not crazy about Starbucks coffee, so I usually get a cappuccino, because that is all about the foam. If there is an independent coffee shop wherever I am going I do go there before I go to Starbucks, but Starbucks is like McDonalds. They are everywhere. I also have to give credit to Starbucks because they proved that you can hire full time workers, pay them a living wage, offer them reasonably priced health insurance and other benefits, and still make money. They do try to treat their workers well. That is more than I can say about McDonald's or Walmart. I simply do not shop at Walmart. Haven't been in one for ten years. There simply is no excuse for them treating their employees the way that they do.

>182 kidzdoc: - This is what I was thinking of.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/10/18/was_there_a_conflict_of_interest_...

I don't drink coffee - like lunacat, I can't stand the taste. And I can't stand even coffee ice cream or frosting or...so adding sugar and milk doesn't do it for me. However, I do enjoy Starbucks chai latte (also Peet's) when someone wants to go there. Nicey spicy (can't spell those the same and pronounce them right!).

I make my own chai as well, or used to - refrigerator brew (usually Irish Breakfast), with a (big) teaball of spices (whole spices lightly crushed) added. Haven't done that recently...hmmm, have to try that again. Masala chai - it's amusing how chai (which just means tea) now means the spiced tea in American English.

I like Irish Breakfast, Tazo's Awake (which is more or less English Breakfast), and Rooibos if I don't want caffeine for whatever reason. And there's a tea that I still have a tiny bit of that I've never been able to find again - it's Russian Caravan whole-leaf tea, but not smoky. There's lots of smoky Russian Caravan and it tastes like licking an ashtray - the unsmoky doesn't seem to exist any more. This tin is from when I was a kid - at minimum, 30 years old, possibly 45 or so. I brew it up - it's intensely dark and heavy - and put in a good lot of honey when I'm feeling really sick, especially with a sore throat. It's fantastic...and nearly gone. (sniffle...)

>202 katiekrug: Wow! That does sound like a conflict of interest!

>203 jjmcgaffey: Are we moving onto tea? I like Earl Grey, but it might be flowery for some. I don't like the spices that they put into Chai. Funny that it just means tea--I didn't know that.

>203 jjmcgaffey:

I like discussions on tea but sadly I'm useless about different types. I drink bog standard black tea in teabags - multiple mugs a day with lots of milk and two sugars. We refer to it as 'baby tea' as it's quite weak and we don't leave the teabag in for long.

I'm not a huge fan of Earl Grey but I will drink it if that is all there is. Tea always needs milk and sugar in to make it drinkable though.

Hopefully, at some point, I'll expand my repertoire. It's only in the last two/three years that I've been drinking tea. I wasn't raised on it as neither of my parents drank it so it wasn't something I was exposed to. My grandparents and my aunts all drank a lot of it but I'd stick to water, milk or squash. I only started with tea when I was working outside all winter. I desperately needed something to get warm and my usual hot drink of choice, hot chocolate, isn't as convenient. At some point I got addicted to it.

I still wouldn't say I enjoy the taste of tea, but I do use it a lot as a comfort drink. I think there was an article I read recently about scientists having discovered the element in tea that gives that comfort and is a stress reducer. I'll have to try and find it.

I detest Earl Grey, Lady Grey, and all the other teas with fruit and flower flavors (sorry, I know people love them - my sister does - but I can't stand them. Like drinking hot fruit juice). I drink tea anywhere from black to milk-and-honey (or sugar, if that's what's available) to chai latte, depending on my mood, what tea is available, and the outside temperature. I'll drink Lipton black (American bog-standard teabags) if that's all that's available (tea sweepings - but at least no flower/fruit), but given the option I like the stronger black teas.

>204 banjo123: One advantage of making my own chai was I could pick - star anise and cardamom, no black pepper, for instance.

And why not move on to teas? It flowed from "what I drink at Starbucks because I won't drink coffee..."

O.k. over to tea also I'm a coffee addicted person I need my daily cup of Assam which I like very much. But there are a lot of other teas I like too.

Tea is my thing, guess was brought up on it ..... Prefer my tea black & strong with milk , none of this sugar malarky :)

so English, Irish breakfasts & Yorkshire tea are stables in my cupboard, teabags are work only (cause i work in coffee obsessed city so the tea is as weak as ****) in which i refuse to count how many mugs i drink during a day

I will leave the earl gray, & other flowery fruit teas, to others, to me its just a mouthful of flowers, not a pleasant experience .....

Should we ask the age old question milk first or after ? :)

Teabag into the mug, sugar next, then hot water. The sugar dissolves better when boiling water goes onto it rather than putting the milk in on top of the teabag and sugar. Then the teabag gets squeezed out and the milk goes in last.

Tea is my drink of choice at night, especially Bengal Spice which is sweet enough for me without adding any sugar. Red Tea is a favorite also - that habit started because I read so many #1 Ladies Detective Agency books and Mma Ramotswe was always drinking her favorite red tea. Growing up in Illinois, one of our 5th grade teachers would bring us, for a special treat, sassafras tea, which, of course, tasted like root beer. We loved it.

And if I could figure out a way to make Thai Iced Tea like they served in my favorite Thai restaurant, my life would be complete and I could die happy. Sadly, I can never find a recipe that quite "works" and that place is gone. *sniff*

I like tea, including flowery teas, but can't deal with chai. I don't like milky teas, either...

Hi Darryl! Hope you have a nice weekend in store and have some R & R planned. Fingers crossed.

Huh. I've been told (and it never made much sense to me, but...) that sugar stops the steeping. So I've always steeped the tea (mostly bag, occasionally teaball) in plain water, then added sugar/honey and/or milk as desired.

>208 roundballnz: I've heard of Yorkshire teas but never seen any for reasonable sale in the US (that is, a decent price for a small pack so I can try it out). Similar to Irish and English breakfast teas?

>210 avidmom: Red tea = Rooibos - my favorite herbal tea. Yeah, very tasty. And occasionally I'll drink Honeybush, which is to Rooibos as green tea is to black - milder but still flavorful. But it's actually really hard to find Rooibos that's just the straight stuff around here - various flowers, vanilla, chai yes but plain Rooibos only shows up once in a while. So I stock up when I see it (have 2-3 boxes, right now...).

There are various forms of Thai ice tea available around here, but mostly powder (which really doesn't do it). But some of the Asian markets have the real thing - I got one pack of tea bags and it really was right (right down to the orange color, which is probably dye of some sort). Love that stuff - either plain or with boba.

I grow mint in a pot so I make my own mint tea. Plan to make some for tomorrow night. I use Irish Breakfast tea as the base, but I think any black tea will do. I like Darjeeling and Orange Pekeo for black teas. I add milk after I do the tea.

I will confess that I drink iced tea all the time. I like the flavored teas for the ice tea. Teavana (now owned by Starbucks - so my Starbucks card works there) has some great flavors. I have a whole cupboard stocked with Republic of Tea flavored teas. I love love love those flavors when making ice tea, but like the darker black teas for hot tea. I am not a fan of jasmine tea, or hibiscus tea. I can tolerate Earl Grey but it isn't my favorite hot tea.

>160 kidzdoc: I've never had, nor heard of, Nespresso. I just looked it up; do you use the coffee capsules with or without the Nestlé espresso machine?
They are heavily marketed here, the face of the brand is George Clooney of all people. I tried one once, well, actually twice. The first was so bad I thought I must have done it wrong- they are seriously weak and watery and just plain foul, imo ;)

Starbucks...I dont indulge. I read once that they deliberately set up shop next to/near a small local coffee shop to attract the established custom...and ruin the existing business. But I do like how they have influenced the size of takeaway coffee cups!

All this tea talk reminds me of this classic Scott Pilgrim scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70qsB_gW4G4

#215
I have heard that about Starbucks as well. However, I do know of one instance in Birmingham, Al were the opposite happened. A Starbucks moved in across the street from a well established locally owned coffee shop in a University district. Five years later the Starbucks closed and the local shop is still open, because the Starbucks simply could not generate enough sales. Maybe it was the poor quality of coffee that they serve?

>213 jjmcgaffey: Yorkshire tea is stronger than Breakfast teas, hence the reference to having a 'proper' brew - I am lucky in that their are a couple of shops in Auckland which cater to English residents missing home comforts so to speak so can get it for a decent price.

OK - I'll have to hunt that out, I'd love to have a stronger brew (to replace my Russian Caravan when it's all gone...). Thanks!

I believe it can be bought via Amazon if you are that way inclined ( I know some choose to never go near the Amazon empire) ....

I'll use Amazon if I can't find it locally. But I want to give the local stores a chance (and I haven't been specifically looking for Yorkshire tea, previously). Bet Cost Plus has it, but I don't know what sort of price they charge.

In our household Mr SandDune fancies himself a tea connoisseur, so we frequently have a choice. Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Ceylon and English Breakfast are the standard ones, but he particularly likes Gunpowder as well, and he frequently has some more unusual varieties. We both drink tea in a very un-British way: no milk, no sugar, (no anything else for that matter) and fairly weak.

Yorkshire tea is definitely stronger than a normal English Breakfast. They also do a range specifically for hard water which we occasionally buy as we have incredibly hard water here. I'm not sure what in it makes it tea for hard water though, and I can't say I notice a difference!

I'd like to branch out with my tea drinking so I might have a look for some new teas when I next go shopping. The trouble is, I drink it in such large quantities it ends up quite expensive if I go down the specialist route.

Darryl, I wish you a lovely weekend.

All this coffe talk makes me want to get roasting! I've got some beans from Maui waiting - I'll bring you some if we ever get a chance to meet...

>221 jjmcgaffey: Cost Plus does have Yorkshire around here (Milwaukee area), for a standard price of a box of tea, that's where I used to get it before it started showing up in regular grocery stores around me. I'd assume it'd be at your Cost Plus too!

As for tea, I like it fairly strong, and depending on the type, I sometimes add milk and sugar, just a spoonful. I like every kind/flavor except for green teas - they always taste like weak grass-flavored water, and I can't find one I can tolerate. I know it's good for you, but I just haven't had any luck in that area yet.

(I was going to list what I have at home, but when I got to a dozen types I had to stop - who wants to read that list?!?)

Hello from sunny and gorgeous San Diego! I arrived here on Friday night, and I'm about to start day 2 of the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition, which is being held at the Convention Center here. Yesterday was a very full day, which began at 6:30 am and ended at 16 hours later, and included a full day of educational and plenary sessions, and lunch and dinner meet ups with colleagues and residency alumni. I'll attend today's hospital medicine section shortly, and if we finish early enough I'll attend Hilary Clinton's talk on the importance of early reading on childhood language and intellectual development this afternoon.

The conference ends on Tuesday, and for the moment I'm scheduled to leave early that afternoon, although I might extend my stay by a couple of days. This is my first trip to San Diego, and I'm impressed with how beautiful it is here. I haven't taken many photos yet, but I'll do more of that over the next two days.

Thanks for keeping my thread warm with the tea discussions! I'll respond to your messages after I return to Atlanta.

Sunny and gorgeous? Very jealous.

In return, I bring you Autumnal cat :)

San Diego is gorgeous!!! Love it there. Even the Southern California natives swoon a little over San Diego.

Enjoy San Diego! It's a beautiful spot. The conference sounds good--let us know what HC has to say.

Enjoy your trip!

I'm up earlier than I had planned to be (it's nearly 4:30 am Pacific Time), so I'll post a quick update and hopefully be able to go back to sleep for a couple of hours before I wake up for the conference's morning sessions. It's been a great conference so far, and it ends late this afternoon. A small group of fellow former pediatric residents from Emory who I trained with came, and I've spent most of my spare time with them, particularly in the evenings at the end of the sessions. Yesterday I was in sessions from 7:00 am to noon, had lunch with two of them, returned for the afternoon sessions from 2:00 to 5:30 pm, and went to Coronado Island with two others by ferry, walked through a lovely neighborhood, and ate a splendid seafood dinner there. There are far fewer sessions that I haven't gone to today, and nearly everyone I know has left or will leave early this afternoon, so I'll go to one morning session, do some sightseeing from 10-2, then return for two afternoon sessions. My red-eye flight doesn't leave until nearly 11 pm, so I should have some time to walk around Seaport Village, which is adjacent to my hotel, and visit a bookshop there before I have to leave for the airport.

Unfortunately I missed Hillary Clinton's plenary talk on Sunday afternoon. The preceding session I attended ran over its allotted time, and by the time I arrived in the Ballroom all of the seats there were occupied. Several of my friends went, and they said she was a great speaker. Her talk was temporarily disrupted by a heckler who shouted gibberish and set off some sort of noisemaker, but he was quickly escorted from the ballroom by Security, and Hillary made a glib joke about him before continuing her talk. Hopefuuly the AAP will provide an online video of her talk; if I find it I'll post it here.

The Booker Prize ceremony is tonight, and the winner will be announced at approximately 21:50 BST, or 16:50 Eastern Time in the US. For me that's 13:50 Pacific Time, or just before the first afternoon session that I plan to attend, so I should be able to post a message about the winning book here.

I'm glad that you are enjoying the conference and seeing friends. But it is too bad that you don't have more time to explore San Diego. Have a good flight home. I think you will run into a lot of rain on the way. That storm is expected to be in the Baltimore area tomorrow.

Wow, it looks like that you not only have been very busy but also had some good meals. Safe travel back home.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan is the winner of this year's Booker Prize. That was my favorite of the four shortlisted books I've read so far, so I'm pleased with this result.

>236 kidzdoc: Oh I am pleased. I haven't read several of the others yet, but I thought it was very worthy -- beautifully written, challenging and thought provoking on very many levels.

>236 kidzdoc: I have not read any of the books but have read the reviews and discussion here about the nominees and concluded that this one was probably the only one worthy of the prize. So, now, off to see if my local library has it.

Just checked. The wait was to be too long. So, on the Kindle it went.

Oh, I'm pleased about the win as well. I haven't read any of the books but didn't think much of of several on the longlist. Anyway a good winner by the sounds of it and I'm next in line for the audiobook as I requested it a few weeks ago through my library.

>236 kidzdoc: ooooh! Exciting. Glad I heard it here first :)
I have his book Sound of One Hand Clapping. I will chuck it on my list

I feel like congratulations are in order, Darryl, for The Narrow Road to the Deep North being the winner. You have steadfastly viewed that one as the best of those you've read on the list. I've added it to my WL.

I'm also happy for you Darryl, that the book you were rooting for won this year. I've added The Narrow Road to the Deep North to the wishlist too.

I'm back in Atlanta, after I took a red-eye flight from San Diego to ATL that arrived early this morning. I was originally scheduled to fly back yesterday afternoon, but I changed my flight to avoid the bad weather that hit the region. The Atlanta area experienced two tornadoes early yesterday morning, one of which was no more than a couple of miles from ATL.

I had a great time in San Diego, as I learned a lot from the sessions I attended at this year's AAP national conference, reconnected with old friends from my pediatrics residency who I hadn't seen in at least a couple of years, and enjoyed what little I saw of the city on my first visit there. I knew that it was close to Mexico, but I didn't realize that the Blue Line of the San Diego Trolley ends right at the US-Mexico border! I'll definitely come back here on vacation in the next year or two, though, so I'll do more sightseeing then.

I didn't read anything of significance until last night, when I started reading Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan, a reporter for The New York Post which I have on my Kindle. I had planned to read it this month for Rachel's theme read on mental illness, but this book jumped to the top of my list of books to read after I learned in one of the conference sessions that the author developed a disease known as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a condition in which a tumor known as a teratoma can induce the production of antibodies against the NMDA (N-methyl D-aspartate) receptor on neuronal cells, which causes the sudden onset of psychiatric symptoms such as acute psychosis and paranoia in patients without a prior history of these symptoms, as Cahalan had, but also neurologic symptoms including seizures, abnormal and bizarre rhythmic movements, and aphasia (difficulty speaking). It's a newly recognized condition, as it was first described in the medical literature in 2007, and I had a patient who had this condition last year, which was very puzzling and fascinating once the diagnosis was eventually made. I gave a talk to the residents last year about anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, using my patient and two others that we saw last year that had this condition, so I'm very interested in this illness. Calahan's book is fabulous so far, and I'll finish Brain on Fire no later than tomorrow.

Now that the Booker Prize has been (rightfully) awarded to Richard Flanagan, I think I'll put aside J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson for now, and focus on books that I suspect would have been, IMO, far better choices for the Booker Prize longlist. I'll also read my two most recent LT Early Reviewer wins, and participate in group reads of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami and A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. I'm off from work for the next 10 days and I'll stay in Atlanta, so I should be able to pound out half a dozen or more books during that time.

Now, to catch up...

>199 benitastrnad: I had read somewhere (probably a long time ago) that the availability of books printed in Swedish does indeed affect the outcome of the voting. Somebody analyzed the winning list to come up with that answer.

I could believe, and understand, that, Benita. However, that also makes me question the relevance and importance of the Nobel Prize as, arguably, the world's most important literary award.

>200 banjo123: I have been kind of annoyed with the Nobel prize givers for some time!

The Nobel Prize committee, IMO, gets it right about half the time, at best. Looking back over the past 20+ years I completely agree with the selections of Seamus Heaney (1995), José Saramago (1998), Günter Grass (1999), Imre Kertész (2002), J.M. Coetzee (2003), Harold Pinter (2005), Doris Lessing (2007), Mario Vargas Llosa (2010), and Alice Munro (2013) as Nobel laureates, and although I haven't yet read them I think that Wisława Szymborska and Orhan Pamuk will prove to be worthy choices. Elfriede Jelinek, Herta Müller and Dario Fo and Mo Yan seem like bizarre choices to me, and from what I've read of Patrick Modiano so far he seems to be a lightweight choice, especially compared to Amos Oz.

It seems a bit much for anyone to compare Modiano to Proust, although I've read only one book by Modiano and, to my knowledge, none by Proust (must change that soon!). I'm still waiting to hear if I'll receive Honeymoon, the novel by Modiano I had ordered by Amazon just after the Nobel Prize announcement was made. I'll read at least a couple of his books, but I can't say that I'm chomping at the bit to get to them.

I had my fill of Starbucks coffee the past few days, as there were several of them in the San Diego Convention Center. The need for caffeine after long days of learning hard and playing hard outweighed taste preferences, and I was happy to drink Starbucks twice a day during the AAP conference.

>201 benitastrnad: I agree with you about Starbucks and especially Walmart, Benita. There is Walmart relatively close to where I live, but I've only gone to it once, as I bought a sphygmomanometer that was highly recommended by Consumer Reports that was only available there; that was the only thing I bought from that store.

>202 katiekrug: That's right; I had forgotten about the controversy of Mo Yan's selection as the Nobel Prize laureate a couple of years ago. I haven't been impressed with the books I've read by him so far, and I'm not inclined to give any of his other ones a try.

>203 jjmcgaffey: I like Peet's Masala Chai, which I'll make on rare occasions when I visit my parents (I bought a tin of it, and I'm the only one who uses it). I'll try Tazo Awake soon, as I took a single tea bag of it with me when I left my hotel room last night.

Raw honey in tea (green or ginger) works better for my sore throat or cough due to URIs better than anything else.

>204 banjo123: I'm a big fan of Earl Grey, especially Twinings' loose leaf version of it.

>205 lunacat: Blech. I prefer strong teas, and except for Masala Chai I don't like putting milk or sugar in it, although I will drink it with raw honey if I'm not feeling well.

>206 jjmcgaffey: I'll drink Lipton's or Tetley tea if nothing else is available (e.g., on airline flights), but I would never willingly buy it.

>207 Ameise1: I'll drink Assam tea, but I strongly prefer a good English Breakfast, Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong tea instead.

>208 roundballnz: Should we ask the age old question milk first or after ? :)

I usually don't put milk in tea, but to me it's more important that the milk is warmed first. Now that I think about it I usually put in it afterward.

>209 lunacat: Sugar should definitely be added before milk, especially if the milk is cold.

>210 avidmom: Don't mention red tea in the company of Fliss (LT's official Tea Nazi). She lambasted ?Rachael when we met in Cambridge earlier this year when she mentioned that she liked rooibos tea, which in her opinion isn't tea at all. I also got an earful when I mentioned cold tea, which is a staple drink in the Deep South of the US.

Brain on Fire - I remember reading reviews of this book when it was first published. Thanks for the reminder. I just downloaded onto my Kindle.

>243 kidzdoc: How old was your patient who had the encephalitis? It must be terrifying, for the parents as well as the patient. That particular diagnosis sounds like it would have made its way into a "House" episode!

I also got an earful when I mentioned cold tea, which is a staple drink in the Deep South of the US.
Never lived in the "Deep South" but it was a staple where I came from too (Southern Illinois). We never had what Southerners call "Sweet Tea" but when I was a kid, I spiked my glasses with enough sugar that it would settle on the bottom and become that lovely sugary "tea sludge" you could only eat with a spoon. We had neighbors, though, that went full out on the tea:sugar ratio.

One day a little neighbor kid came over to borrow some sugar and the conversation went like this:
"My mommy sent me over to ask you if she could borrow some sugar. She's making tea."
"Sure. How much sugar does she need?"
"She's making a gallon of tea ....... so, A GALLON!"

>245 kidzdoc: Well, rooibos isn't tea - but it's an excellent herbal tea (ok, tisane). At least if it's not filled up with flowers or fruit...

Don't know what the objection is to cold tea. It's not the same thing as hot tea, but sometimes it's the more appropriate drink (I cold-brew that, too - refrigerator tea/sun tea).

I think the Proust/Moidano comparison was made in terms of style and sensibility rather than gravitas or significance or importance, to be fair to whoever it was that actually made it. I don't think anyone was trying to make a claim that he's the new Proust...

>211 Chatterbox: Yes for flowery teas and chai, a big NO for milky teas (except chai soy latte, which I'll drink maybe once or twice a year).

>212 msf59: Thanks, Mark. I had a fantastic weekend in beautiful, sunny San Diego at the AAP National Conference in the company of old friends, and this coming weekend in Atlanta will be a huge letdown in comparison.

>213 jjmcgaffey: I hadn't heard that sugar (and presumably honey) stops the steeping process. I usually put in raw honey first, then add hot water and the tea bag. If I use looseleaf tea I'll add the brewed tea to a mug with honey contained in it.

>214 benitastrnad: I'll drink sweet tea on occasion, but I've never made it myself.

(Oof. I fell asleep for the second time since I've returned home. I slept poorly on the red-eye flight, as I could only get an aisle seat and was repeatedly banged in to by passengers and one particular flight attendant throughout the trip.)

>215 LovingLit: Thanks for the warning about Nespresso. I hate weak coffee, so I'll avoid that like Ebola the plague.

But I do like how they have influenced the size of takeaway coffee cups!

Yep. I always get venti (20 oz) sized coffee from Starbucks.

>216 avidmom: Ha! At least she had Earl Grey.

>217 benitastrnad: Good for the Birminghamites (Birminghamians?) who continued to support the local coffee shop over Starbucks.

>218 roundballnz:, >219 jjmcgaffey:, >220 roundballnz:, >221 jjmcgaffey: That's good to know that Yorkshire teas are stronger than English breakfast teas. I won't need any tea for a while, as I loaded up on Twinings tea from the original shop on the Strand in June, but I'll keep that in mind when I return to London next year.

>222 SandDune: I like Gunpowder tea, too. I usually have Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Lapsang Souchong, green tea and ginger tea at home (and, thanks to Bianca, I have some superb German herbal tea as well).

I was all set to agree with your method of making tea until you put weak at the end of your sentence. I like strong tea and strong coffee which are free of milk and sugar. I don't like my tea over steeped though, as it tastes bitter, so I'll use more tea leaves and brew it for a shorter period of time (4-5 minutes max).

>223 lunacat: I've noticed that the water in certain London hotels is far harder than what I'm used to in the US, especially when I use an electric kettle to make tea.

>224 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara; I did have a splendid weekend of learning, networking, and reconnecting with old friends in a splendid location.

>225 drneutron: I'll take you up on that, Jim! It's highly likely that I'll go to next year's American Academy of Pediatrics conference, which will be held from October 24-27 in Washington. I'll ask for time off before or after the conference, and hopefully I can meet up with you, Madeline, Nora and other DC area LTers while I'm there.

>226 LauraBrook: Richard would agree with your assessment of green tea, Laura.

Your comment made me check to see what teas I have. Yikes; I count 13 different types. Yep, I'm definitely my mother's child...

>228 lunacat: Jenny, if you're jealous of San Diego you should sneak into one of Fliss's pieces of luggage ASAP. She's flying there on Friday to attend a conference at the San Diego Convention Center.

Autumn has come to Atlanta after yesterday's violent weather, at least for the moment, as today's high temperature (66 F, or 19 C) was roughly 20 F (11 C) cooler than it was when I left here last Friday. This afternoon the National Weather Service said that five, not two, tornadoes touched down in metro Atlanta, including one that was even closer to the airport than the original one was. Fortunately only one of them appeared to cause significant damage, and better yet no one was killed or seriously injured here (although at least two people were killed by this line of storms elsewhere in the US).

>229 avidmom: I was very impressed with San Diego, and I'll definitely return there soon!

>230 banjo123: The AAP did post a YouTube video with excerpts from Hillary Clinton's speech of the conference, which is nearly half an hour long (presumably the heckler was edited out of the video). She announced an literacy toolkit that pediatricians and families can use to promote early development in infants and young children. I'll look at the video later tonight or tomorrow, and give you more information about her speech, and this toolkit.

Here's the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsvJ0ELsegE&feature=youtu.be

And here's the link to the toolkit: http://littoolkit.aap.org

>231 connie53: Thanks, Connie; it was a great trip!

>234 catarina1: Fortunately I missed the rain by waiting until late last night to fly back home (the flight arrived there at 5:20 am today). One of my friends flew back on the same flight the previous day, and she was caught right in the middle of the worst of the storm. The plane landed safely, but I would imagine that it was a nerve wracking landing. I'll have to ask her about it.

The worst of the storm looks as though it's passing through the Delaware Valley now, so I would imagine that Baltimore is also getting hit with it.

>235 Ameise1: Right, Barbara. We did have three very good dinners, as you saw from the photos I posted on Facebook. My friends and I all love fresh seafood, which isn't easy to get in Atlanta, so we had our fill of it there, for lunch and dinner (except for the massive orange pecan pancakes I had for lunch on Monday morning).

>237 Chatterbox: I agree, Suz. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and History of the Rain were excellent choices for the longlist, and I'm pleased that the Flanagan was chosen as the winner.

>238 catarina1: The Narrow Road to the Deep North wasn't perfect, and I didn't like it nearly as much as several other recent Booker winners, but IMO it was probably the best of the ones that the judges chose. I did buy several novels that weren't chosen for the Booker Dozen, and I'll try to get to all of them by the end of the year to see how well the Flanagan holds up against them.

>239 avatiakh: It was a strange longlist IMO, Kerry, and I feared that the judges would choose the Ferris or the Fowler as the winner, which would have created a small uproar. Many of the members of the Mookse and the Gripes Booker Prize forum lost interest in this year's prize and didn't read the entire longlist as they did in years past, and I'll be interested to see how many of the longlisted books were purchased by the public. I'll bet that this year's numbers won't be very good, especially since David Nicholls's novel was eliminated from the shortlist before it was published!

>240 LovingLit: Did you read Sound of One Hand Clapping, Megan. If so, what did you think of it? I'd certainly be interested in reading more by him.

>241 jnwelch: Good move, Joe. I'll be curious to see what you think of The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

>242 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana! I look forward to your comments about the Flanagan as well.

>246 catarina1: I was also impressed by the reviews of Brain on Fire, so I downloaded it onto my Kindle earlier this year, and I had already planned to read it this month. I'm 1/3 of the way through it, and it's quite a page turner so far.

>247 avidmom: The patient I took care of was only 7 years old. Unfortunately she didn't do anywhere near as well as Cahalan did, although she did survive her illness. Yes, her family was terrified by her illness, and it shook me up as well. That would be a great episode of House, but anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is such a new condition that most clinicians (and, needless to say, writers for television shows) haven't heard and don't know much about it.

There can be a big difference between the sweet tea you can find everywhere in the Deep South, and the sweetened ice tea that is served throughout most of the rest of the country. In the South the sugar is added to hot tea, which is then cooled down, but many places outside of there just add sugar to tea that is already cold, and much of the sugar does not dissolve fully into the tea.

My brother would like your neighbor, since he adds enough sugar to tea and other drinks to choke a horse.

>248 jjmcgaffey: Well, rooibos isn't tea

That's what Fliss said to Rachael when we discussed tea over dinner in Cambridge earlier this year, although she was more adamant about it.

Don't know what the objection is to cold tea.

Agreed. Fliss gave me an earful about her objection to it when I discussed cold tea at the same dinner meet up. :-)

>249 Chatterbox: Ah. That makes more sense.

It's time for a new thread.