kidzdoc achieves TBR domination in 2014, part 14

Henri Matisse, The Sheaf (1953)




Currently reading:

  

Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki
The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen

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
73. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
74. Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak by Peter Apps
75. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
76. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
77. J: A Novel by Howard Jacobson
78. The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
79. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
80. Liolà by Liugi Pirandello

November:
81. Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD
82. Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole
83. Tales of Belkin (The Art of the Novella) by Alexander Pushkin
84. My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD
85. Transit by Abdourahman A. Waberi
86. Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them by Randy Christensen, MD
87. The Passport by Herta Müller
88. The Children Act by Ian McEwan
89. Aliss at the Fire by Jon Fosse
90. Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky
91. Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes
92. The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb

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)

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

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)
131. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (4 Jul, Kindle e-book)
132. All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon (8 Jul, Kindle e-book)
133. Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (11 July, free Kindle e-book)
134. To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (23 July, Kindle e-book)
135. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (23 July, Kindle e-book)
136. The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt (23 July, Kindle e-book)
137. The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (23 July, Kindle e-book)
138. Orfeo by Richard Powers (23 July, Kindle e-book)
139. History of the Rain by Niall Williams (23 July, Kindle e-book)
140. The Near End of Islam: Story of the Mongol Invasion and Muslim Genocide in the 13th Century by Ibn Iftikhar (29 July, Kindle e-book)

August:
141. How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps by Adam Fletcher and Robert M. Schöne (1 Aug, gift from Bianca)
142. The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen (7 Aug, LT Early Reviewers book)
143. Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (7 Aug, LT Early Reviewers book)
144. The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro (10 Aug, Kindle e-book)
145. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (14 Aug, Kindle e-book)
146. Street Child: A Memoir by Justin Reed Early (17 Aug, Kindle e-book)
147. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (19 Aug, Barnes & Noble)
148. When We Are Called to Part: Hope and Heartbreak in the Vanishing World of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement by Brooke Jarvis (24 Aug, Kindle e-book)
149. Native North American Art (Oxford History of Art) by Janet Catherine Berlo (24 Aug, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Gift Shop)
150. Busted: A Tale of Corruption and Betrayal in the City of Brotherly Love by Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker (26 Aug, Kindle e-book)
151. Let It Burn: MOVE, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Confrontation that Changed a City by Michael Boyette and Randi Boyette (26 Aug, Kindle e-book)
152. Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson (28 Aug, Kindle e-book)

September:
153. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (3 Sep, WH Smith (Heathrow Airport))
154. J by Howard Jacobson (3 Sep, WH Smith (Heathrow Airport))
155. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (3 Sep, LT Early Reviewers book)
156. The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (5 Sep, gift from Bianca)
157. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar (5 Sep, St Christopher's Dulwich Hospice Shop, London)
158. The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin (6 Sep, gift from Rachael)
159. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (6 Sep, Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge)
160. The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (6 Sep, Heffers Bookshop, Cambridge)
161. The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
162. Strictly Bipolar by Darian Leader (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
163. Fodor's San Diego by Fodor's Travel Publications (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
164. How to Be Both by Ali Smith (9 Sep, Daunt Books)
165. Skylight by José Saramago (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
166. The Children Act by Ian McEwan (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
167. The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis (10 Sep, London Review Bookshop)
168. The James Plays by Rona Munro (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
169. The Golden Notebook by Dora Lessing (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
170. The Crucible by Arthur Miller (11 Sep, Kindle e-book)
171. So What: The Life of Miles Davis by John Szwed (13 Sep, secondhand vendor in Brighton, UK)
172. Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson (13 Sep, Oxfam Bookshop, Brighton)
173. The Quarry by Damon Galgut (13 Sep, Oxfam Bookshop, Brighton)
174. Only in London by Hanan Al-Shaykh (13 Sep, Books for Amnesty, Brighton)
175. Chloroform: The Quest for Oblivion by Linda Stratmann (13 Sep, Brighton Bookshop)
176. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (13 Sep, Brighton Bookshop)
177. Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe (15 Sep, Almeida Theatre, London)
178. Dr Scroggy's War by Howard Brenton (16 Sep, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London)
179. Going to Meet the Man: Stories by James Baldwin (21 Sep, Kindle e-book)
180. Citizens by Simon Schama (23 Sep, Amazon)
181. Goodbye Twentieth Century by Dannie Abse (29 Sep, Kindle e-book)

Purchased and acquired books (purchased books in bold):

October:
182. Before Ebola: Dispatches from a Deadly Outbreak by Peter Apps (16 Oct, Kindle e-book)
183. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolystoy (19 Oct, Kindle e-book)
184. Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky (22 Oct, Kindle e-book)
185. The Emperor Waltz by Philip Hensher (24 Oct, The Book Depository)
186. Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD (24 Oct, LT Early Reviewers 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)

*yawn* Off to bed...

Let me know what Fodor thinks I should go see!

(from last thread) >260 kidzdoc: Your interest in literary fiction is one reason I follow your thread - I like being exposed to books and concepts I wouldn't touch on my own. I don't think you've hit me with a book bullet yet (though there's several that sound interesting - mostly medical history), but I have mentioned your opinion about some books to my family and friends when ones you've felt strongly about have come up.

>261 qebo: I find it comes in surges - there will be whole hours when a polling station will be empty of voters, and then there will be 5-10 voters in line for the next hour (cycling through). We're warned to expect surges before 8 am, at noon, and any time after 5 (pollworkers aren't allowed to take scheduled breaks after 5), but in my experience it's not nearly that smooth and logical...

>8 kidzdoc: :)
Sleep well!
Your yearly total is building and the month lists make good reading in themselves!

Happy new thread, too.

ETA: (from last thread)
I get the sense (quite possibly misguided) that the graduates of MFA programs in the US are being taught to write in a certain manner, and in doing so their natural voices and story telling abilities are suppressed
(This was about American authors having a point to push, or having unbelievable stories and whatnot)
That is so interesting. I have always wondered about song-writing courses too, how on earth you can teach that. What really worries me though, is the economics and business courses....they operate on so many inane assumptions! (don't get me started...)

Happy new thread, Darryl!

Interesting on this voting business, little bit different in NZ, along as you are on the registered roll there are technically 4 ways to vote:

1 - turning up to local polling place for your electorate on voting day ( always a Saturday in NZ)
2 - turning up to local polling place for NOT For your electorate on voting day - "special vote"
4 - Oveseas special vote - usually done at NZ High commission in that country
5 - Early vote - ( think these can be done from 2 weeks before Voting day) at selected polling places open especially for early votes.

No Electronic voting yet, though there shd be some for next National election .... well we can hope.

Congrats on another wonderful thread Darryl.
Just saw that you reread The Crucible by Arthur Miller as well and gave it 4 stars, so I assume you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Happy New Thread, Darryl!

Happy New Thread, Darryl! Love the Matisse!

Just marking my spot, Darryl. I haven't seen that particular Matisse; like!

Happy new thread, Darryl!!

I went out to Barnes & Noble last night and purchased Being Mortal. Don't know when I will get it read, but I got it.

Congrats on the new thread, Darryl! Like that Matisse up there.

Debbi ordered Being Mortal, so we should have it soon.

I saw Being Mortal in the bookshop today and thought of you! Didn't even pick it up as I know my brain isn't up to that kind of thing at the moment (if ever) but it made me smile anyway.

Hi Darryl - I love the Matisse! Happy new thread.

Darryl,
I just realized that The Passport by Herta Müller is the English version of my German audiobook Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt would that be acceptable to add this as a matched read?

Gorgeous Matisse; I'm so glad you managed to see the exhibition while you were in the UK.

Hallo new thread! I'm not a big fan of Matisse's cutouts, but I do like that one...

Catching up quickly, as I still have progress notes to write...

>9 ronincats: Ha! I won't finish the Fodor's San Diego guide before the weekend, but I'll let you know what it particularly recommends.

>10 jjmcgaffey: That's interesting to hear, Jennifer. You'll have to let me know if I eventually hit you with a BB.

>11 LovingLit: Thanks, Megan! Fortunately I have been sleeping well so far this week (which probably has something to do with my after dinner gin or vodka & tonic), so hopefully I won't need to crash this coming weekend.

It seems as though MFA or song-writing courses might teach prospective authors and songwriters to express themselves in a way that is acceptable to their teachers, and therefore blunt their natural creativity and voices. I find much of contemporary US fiction to be banal, especially in comparison to novels and short stories from Asia, Africa and Latin America, and to literature from mid-20th century American writers.

>12 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

>13 roundballnz: I'm pleased with the electronic voting process, which would seem to be less error prone than paper ballots, especially those that use punch cards (anyone remember Florida in 2000?). Hopefully NZ will adopt that method soon.

>14 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca. I did enjoy reading The Crucible, but it wouldn't have been the same without seeing the play in person. I think I read it in high school, but I'm not certain.

>15 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

>16 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I like that Matisse cut out as well. I missed the exhibition at the Tate Modern in London that Joe & Debbi saw last month, but it's currently being shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC. I'm a MoMA member, so I'll probably see it on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving).

>17 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy! I look forward to seeing that Matisse at MoMA next month.

>18 michigantrumpet: Thanks, Marianne!

>19 benitastrnad: Great! I look forward to your comments on Being Mortal, Benita.

Oh...I should mention that I received a new book today, from an unlikely source. There is a particular fish takeaway restaurant in downtown Atlanta that I go to regularly, a tiny place close to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site on Auburn Avenue. The shop is run by a very friendly Muslim family from North Africa, who look to be Ethiopian. I always get the catfish dinner, so the older man or the who takes orders and operates the cashier rings up my order as soon as he sees me, as he did today. The fish is cooked to order, so it takes about 10 minutes to prepare the meal, and I always sit on a bench and read while I'm waiting. A younger man cooks the fish, and we always greet each other with a smile and a brief conversation. Today he gave me a copy of The Quran (Punjabi Edition), translated by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, which came from the mosque that the family attends in Atlanta, as he noticed that I like to read. I was happy to get it, as I've been meaning to buy a copy and read it for a long time. I'll add it to my reading list for next month, in honor of and gratitude to my friend, and hopefully he and I can chat about it whenever I visit the shop.

>20 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Did you and Debbi see that particular Matisse at Tate Modern last month?

>21 lunacat: Nice! I'm admittedly jealous that Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal, will be in London next week to give a couple of talks, including an interview with Will Self that I'd love to see in person.

I saw the photos of your war wounds on your Facebook page. I hope that you recuperate fully, and soon.

>22 BLBera: Thanks, Beth! I'm glad that you like the Matisse.

>23 drachenbraut23: That would definitely be acceptable to add the German version of The Passport as a shared TIOLI read, Bianca.

>24 Sakerfalcon: Actually I didn't see the Matisse exhibition at the Tate Modern, Claire. Fortunately it's moved on to MoMA, so I'll see it there next month during Thanksgiving Week, when I'll visit my parents in the Philadelphia area.

>25 flissp: Thanks, Fliss! I'm glad that you like that Matisse.

Love the Matisse at the top of your new thread. Amazing how something so simple can be so brilliant and beautiful. This is why we need artists.

Adding to the MFA grads/writers conversation.... I don't know, of course, but I have a sneaking suspicion that maybe "they" are taught what and how to write in order to get published and make $$$. Other cultures writers, perhaps, have more sincere and organic reasons to write and aren't afraid to think and/or write outside the box ... even if it means less $$$.

>28 kidzdoc: "Nice! I'm admittedly jealous that Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal, will be in London next week to give a couple of talks" ahem, you may be even more jealous now....... hearing.... I will attend his 45min lecture, hosted by Kings College London. As I am staff of this organisation I get to see him for free :) I only need to show my badge :) I saw that he does a UK tour and the 15 min interview he will give with Will Self cost 18 pound and is already almost sold out.

Being mortal: ageing, illness, medicine and what matters in the end

I added Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan in der Welt as shared read to your TIOLI challenge Darryl. However, I am absolutely fascinated by the difference in title. As you may remember I own most of her works and when I saw The Passport I had to check that one out as a possible addition to my collection. The German title translates into "The Human Being is a huge pheasant in the world", which obviously explains why I didn't recognize your title LOL. Well, let's read the story and see which title is more fitting.

>27 kidzdoc: What a lovely thing for him to have done. Hopefully it will be able to facilitate some interesting discussions. I'm fascinated by the historicity of things like the Bible and the Quran, and really should go on the look-out for books dealing with how archaeology ties in with events mentioned, how different cultures myths and previous gods were interwoven into the stories told etc, but I think I fear things being over my head, and getting bogged down in stuff I don't understand.

Plus I'm not religious in any way other than being christened CofE and liking the superficial comfort of weddings and funerals in a Church, but I wouldn't be able to give an adequate description of my beliefs, even if I had to. I guess I believe there are things unexplained as of yet, and either when we pop our clogs everything turns off and we don't exist any more, or we'll find out there is something more and it'll be a nice surprise! A bit wishy-washy but there you go. So I worry that investigating things like the Bible, the Quran or the Torah is rather superfluous when I have no belief as a foundation, and that any book written comparing the events in said religious text with evidence based research is inevitably skewed by the authors' beliefs/non-beliefs and so doesn't present a complete overall picture.

>27 kidzdoc: We did see that Matisse at the Tate Modern, Darryl. It's terrific in person. We loved the whole show. The stain glass window for Vence is a knockout, too. I'm glad you're going to see the exhibit at MOMA. It's amazing and joyful. Knowing the age at which he did it, and the time in history in which he did it, just makes it more remarkable.

>27 kidzdoc: That is a touching gift! I will be curious to hear how the reading goes.

>27 kidzdoc: What a wonderful story and a thoughtful gift. I love those "we know each other but we don't" sort of relationships. I bet he loves seeing you when you come in with your regular catfish dinner order and inevitably a book to read while you wait. I have this clear mental image of the whole scene, Darryl, and it makes me smile.

I also love the Matisse. Elegant in its simplicity.

>34 EBT1002: it made me smile, too!

>29 avidmom: Well said, avidmom.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that MFA graduates are taught to write in a certain style, although I have no firm evidence to support my position.

>30 drachenbraut23: That's great, Bianca! I hope that you go to Atul Gawande's talk, and if you do I'll be interested to hear what he has to say about Being Mortal.

That's an, um, interesting German title for The Passport.

>31 lunacat: Right, Jenny. I wasn't expecting that lovely gift at all, and even though he probably got it for free I was very touched that he noticed that I liked to read and thought enough of me to give that book to me. I'm a solid Christian (as my family regularly attended services at a Lutheran church when we lived in New Jersey, and I attended the school associated with that church from first through eighth grades), but I have wanted to read The Quran for awhile, and this will be a perfect opportunity for me to do so.

>32 jnwelch: I'm glad that you and Debbi enjoyed the Matisse exhibition at Tate Modern, Joe. I'll almost certainly see it on Black Friday.

>33 banjo123: Definitely so, Rhonda. I'll post comments about The Quran as I read it.

>34 EBT1002: I think you're right, Ellen. His uncle appears to be the owner of the shop, and I'm always pleased to see his nephew whenever I go there (although I also greet the uncle and his ?niece warmly).

>35 lauralkeet: Same here, Laura.

I forgot that you didn't see the Matisse with Joe and Debbie, but it sounds like the perfect activity for Black Friday - away from the ravening hordes of bargain hunters! I'm now looking forward to an exhibit of Anselm Kiefer which is at the RA, and to Emily Carr at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

BTW, my friend in Seattle recommended The emperor of all maladies to me, which I see that you also rate highly. I think I'll make it my next non-fiction read.

I had one of those we-know-each-other-but-we-don't relationships with people in a restaurant too. For almost 20 years I worked late one night a week and for 17 of those years I would go to the local Chinese take-out for supper. I got to know the couple that ran the place and on one of her trips back to Taiwan, she brought me back a beaded necklace she had purchased with beads she had strung just for me. I was very surprised that she would do that. They finally moved their restaurant to a larger place that is not in my part of town. I do eat there sometimes but I am no longer a "regular." I do miss them and their resturant.

>31 lunacat: My daughter (@lycomayflower) took a course in Biblical archaeology for some undergraduate requirement many years ago. She might be able to steer you to a good book that wouldn't be "over your head" to get you started.

Happy New Thread Darryl! Much to catch up on, I just finished A Place of Greater Safety, which was a great pick, thanks so much for choosing it. In in the meantime, please consider this a personal invitation: http://www.librarything.com/topic/182420#4902314.

Darryl, I wish you a lovely weekend.

I thought I would catch up here last night, after I finished my seven day work stretch, but I went to sleep just after I had dinner and didn't wake up until a couple of hours ago. It was a very unpleasant week, filled with far more demanding and unpleasant parents than usual, but it would have been far worse had I not had a stellar pediatric resident working alongside me.

Yesterday was especially bad, but the day was tempered by the staff who dressed up for Halloween. This was the first time that I participated, as I came up with the idea of dressing as a priest, since I've been mistaken for one in the hospital on several occasions.

Me (as Reverend Run, from the rap group Run DMC) and one of our newest social workers on the left; two of the clown doctors from the Big Apple Circus (who conduct Clown Rounds daily to entertain the patients and staff):

  

The 3rd floor nurses and patient care technicians (each patient care area and most departments participated in a contest for the best set of costumes) on the left; a nursing supervisor in her military outfit on the right:

  

Two of the Incredibles on the left; my favorite child life specialist, dressed as a GI patient from hell (with externalized organs, nasogastric tube, PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) and colostomy bag), on the right:

  

Darryl, those photos are absolutely gorgeous. I hope the children enjoyed it as well as you did.

>37 Sakerfalcon: Right, Claire. I would have seen the Matisse exhibition with Joe and Debbie, but after I found out that it was moving to MoMA this autumn I decided to see it there. I have a membership to MoMA, so I can see it for free, and (I think) members can enter the museum an hour before the general public, as was the case when I saw the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition with a friend there this summer.

I'll be interested to get your take on the Anselm Kiefer and Emily Carr exhibitions.

I loved The Emperor of All Maladies, as it was interesting, educational and very well written. I'd highly recommend it to you as well.

>38 benitastrnad: Nice story, Benita. When I was in medical school at Pitt I and several of my classmates frequently went to an Indian restaurant just north of Pittsburgh. It was located in the basement of the family's house, and the couple (who were probably in their 50s or 60s) prepared and served the meal. You couldn't order from a menu, and you ate whatever they served you. They were very friendly, and they treated us like we were their prized children coming over for dinner (often times they didn't want to accept payment for the meal, so we would leave money on the chairs on underneath plates). Sigh...I miss that place.

>39 laytonwoman3rd: Cool.

>40 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana! I'm glad that you enjoyed A Place of Greater Safety. Now that I've started my intense work stretch (late October through February) I almost certainly won't get to it before next year, unless I read it in bits and pieces over the next couple of months. I still hope to keep my streak of reading 100 or more books per year alive (I've accomplished that feat every year since 2003), so I'll focus on shorter books over the next two months.

Thanks for the invitation. I'll post my choice on your thread later today or tomorrow.

>41 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! I'm looking forward to a quiet and restful weekend at home. The temperatures have plummeted over the past few days, from temperatures that were considerably above normal last weekend (I think the high on Saturday was 29-30 C) to far below normal today (high temp of 10 C but it's very windy now, and the low tomorrow morning may be just below freezing). It will be a good day to stay inside under a cozy blanket.

>44 kidzdoc: hopefully with a good book ;-)

>43 Ameise1: The kids didn't have too much of a reaction to my costume, but the parents and the people I worked with did. Several of them, especially the nurses, recognized that I was dressed as Reverend Run (aka James "Run" Simmons, the rap artist from the group Run-D.M.C., who is now a Pentecostal minister).



I confused the heck out of several staff members who didn't know me well, and the mother of one of my patients was completely befuddled until I took off my porkpie hat, as she couldn't figure out if I was a doctor dressed as a priest or a priest dressed as a doctor. We had a good laugh after she eventually recognized me.

>45 Ameise1: Definitely, Barbara! I'm currently reading Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, my LT Early Reviewers book for September, and I'll probably read a novella today as well. I'm off from work until Wednesday night (I have three night shifts next week, on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8 pm to 8 am), so I hope to read at least four or five books over the next four days.

Love, love, LOVE your costume, Darryl!!

Great photos Darryl!
I try to read your thread whenever I can, even though I may not comment on it. Perhaps I should so you'll know that there people who silently admire you and your reading habits.

>42 kidzdoc: Ah, the porkpie hat finds a purpose.

>48 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! It wasn't much of a stretch to create that costume, though (I did forget to hold my Bible in that photo, though). I often wear black or grey sport coats and slacks at work, and once every week or two I'll wear a black mock turtleneck as well. I've occasionally had parents or others mistake me for a priest until I introduce myself, and after I realized on Wednesday that the porkpie hat is similar to the one that Reverend Run wears I knew that I had my costume. I wore a black mock turtleneck, and the white part of the collar was formed from the back of one of my business cards, which I secured in place using Scotch tape. Easier than pie!

ETA: I was also very impressed with the pirate outfit that the new social worker wore.

>49 xieouyang: Thanks, Manuel! I appreciate your kind compliment, and it reminds me that I should do a better job of reviewing the books that I do read.

>50 qebo: Right, Katherine. I'll start wearing it more, now that the weather has started to turn cold.

>42 kidzdoc: >50 qebo: Finally, the pork pie hat has its debut!

Ach, sorry to hear about the unpleasant parents. I'd like to think I'd be polite and understanding towards carers of my children (if I ever have any) but I suspect stress and the desire to advocate hard for your kids can make things difficult.

Still, I'd like to think that caregivers would have the best interests for my child, and would take what they were saying on board without being difficult!

Oh, and very dapper costume, although I can see how it would get quite confusing for people who didn't know you! Not exactly a mistake that could be made for the pirate.

Sorry you won't have time to read A Place of Greater Safety this year in all probability Darryl, but then it is a demanding read in terms of sheer size. I'll look forward to seeing what you pick out for me next!

Cool costume, but sorry to have to ask... how many people discerned you were disguised as 'Reverend Run, from the rap group Run DMC' as opposed to just any old preacher?

>52 catarina1: Right! I wasn't planning to wear it on Halloween, but after I talked with the pediatric resident who worked with me on Wednesday about costumes I realized that I could use it to look like Reverend Run.

>53 lunacat: I'd like to think I'd be polite and understanding towards carers of my children (if I ever have any) but I suspect stress and the desire to advocate hard for your kids can make things difficult.

Absolutely, Jenny. That's what I would expect from most parents of hospitalized children, especially if that child has never been hospitalized before or is seriously ill. We're all used to and comfortable with communicating with anxious and worried parents; however, several of the parents this week were extremely demanding, quick to anger, and a bit irrational at times. Our jobs are emotionally exhausting normally, but this week was one of the worst in that regard that I've had in a very long time.

I'd like to think that caregivers would have the best interests for my child, and would take what they were saying on board without being difficult!

Hmm...I think I'll actually have to disagree with you, at least in your assumption that caregivers always have a child's best interest in heart. Some providers are better than others, and there are certain patients that I'll do a much better job on than others. I'm not at all fond of teenagers with chronic pain syndromes without clear foci, and I had three of them yesterday. Fortunately two of the teens and their parents were pleasant and easy to communicate with, but one was simply impossible, and her mother was even worse. We had a good conversation first thing in the morning, but I didn't return to the room in the afternoon after the patient and her mother went ballistic (due to the nursing students who were frequently in the room, and a consultant who rubbed both of them the wrong way), as I didn't have the emotional energy to listen to their complaints about others, especially at the end of a very difficult day and a grueling work week. If a parent or family has a complaint about me (which, thankfully, doesn't happen very often) I will go to the room, apologize, and take my lumps. However, I find it more difficult to be treated rudely or have someone express their anger at me when something unpleasant happened that I had nothing to do with, and that happened numerous times this week. By late afternoon yesterday my emotional shield had been rubbed completely raw, and it took a lot of effort to stay patient with the most difficult of my families. (My partner who picked up my patients today has texted me several times, as she is "beating (her) head against the wall" with my "difficult patients".

>54 lunacat: Oh, and very dapper costume, although I can see how it would get quite confusing for people who didn't know you!

Right. All of the patients I saw yesterday were ones that I had seen the day before (as I was on call and admitted several new patients to the hospital). However, I hadn't met the father of one of them, so he had a confused look on my face when I entered the room. I introduced myself as the pediatrician in charge of his daughter's care, but his wife had to also tell him that I was the pediatrician and not a hospital chaplain before it finally sunk in. The mother of another patient was also extremely confused, even though I had seen her baby the previous two days, although I think she was trying to figure out who I was supposed to be. She got it after a minute or so, though; she pointed at me and said, "You're Reverend Run!"

>55 Smiler69: how many people discerned you were disguised as 'Reverend Run, from the rap group Run DMC' as opposed to just any old preacher?

I'd say at least 8-10 people, including the mother I mentioned above, recognized who I was portraying right away, or shortly after I gave them a hint. Run-D.M.C. was one of the first major rap groups, going back to the early 1980s, and they were known for wearing black outfits and porkpie hats. Joseph "Run" Simmons was the star of the reality television show Run's House, which was shown on MTV from 2005-2009, so many of the younger nurses recognized my costume right away, or after a small hint.

James Simmons is on the right of this photo of Run-D.M.C. (left), and he appears with his family in the show Run's House (right).

  

I have to share this awesome Halloween photo that I just saw on Facebook; one of the physician assistants in the GI group at Children's is the husband on the left, but I don't know who the pregnant wife and the naughty milkman are.

I almost forgot to mention that eReaderIQ Daily listed several enticing e-books that are on sale today (I bought two of them):

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid ($2.99)
The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957 by Frank Dikotter ($1.99)
Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America's First Sensational Murder Mystery by Paul Collins ($1.99)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai ($1.99)

I fell behind with your last thread and the great conversation going on there so here is hoping I can keep up with your new thread.

Great Halloween costume!

>59 lkernagh: Hi, Lori! You'll have an easier time keeping up with this thread, as I won't have as much time off from work this month as I did in October.

>32 jnwelch: there really is something special about seeing the actual artworks, with your own eyes. I cried when I saw my first Picasso up close. :)

>42 kidzdoc: wow! Those costumes are fabulous! How fun. I am a bit of a scrooge when it comes to Halloween. I think I am rebelling against the commercialised/commodified nature of it all. I feel like it is something pushed on us that isn't really a NZ thing. Just another manifestation of globalisation I guess. I love dress-ups though, so should just get into it more :)

>57 kidzdoc: that is excellent. Talk about setting the scene!

>61 LovingLit: I didn't cry, but I was enthralled and mesmerized when I saw the version of Picasso's The Three Musicians at the Philadelphia Museum of Art several years ago (there is a slightly different but similarly titled painting at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art, in NYC).

Friday was the first time I wore a Halloween costume since elementary school, I think. I enjoyed participating this year at work, because many people liked my costume, but more importantly because I felt a sense of camraderie with my fellow Children's employees who also dressed up. It was a great deal of fun, and it made an otherwise awful day at work much more bearable.

That photo was brilliant! I found out that the "milkman" is a critical care physician who is a friend of the "husband" (who is my friend), and the "wife" is married to the "milkman". Their outfits are a perfect representation of the US in 1950s.

Hello Darryl, love your costume, also I have to admit - that I thought you are "just" dressing up as a priest. LOL. However, at least we had the pleasure now of seeing you in your porkpie hat.

Thanks for sharing the milkman photo. It looks hilarious.

>63 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca. Interestingly, the younger and middle aged African-Americans, who remember Run-D.M.C. from the 1980s and 1990s, and the younger staff and families in their 20s and 30s, regardless of race, who watched Run's House on MTV last decade, figured out who I was in short order.

The milkman Halloween photo, based on the longstanding milkman joke, was utterly brilliant, IMO. My friend Chris looked perfect as the clueless and somewhat pompous middle class husband, who had no idea that his gorgeous stay-at-home wife was likely impregnated by the milkman while he was at work.

Loved the costume and it was good to see the porkpie hat in action.
Now if you would only make good on your scrapple commitment ... :)

>64 kidzdoc: Agree with you mate the Milkman photo is classic. I am glad over here they have stop milk deliveries!
Have a great Sunday. When you have the time I would welcome your input into the British Author Challenge with recommendations etc.....especially as you spend far more time there than I do these days!

Here are my planned reads for November (as always, subject to change). I want to maintain my 11 year streak of reading 100 or more books per year alive, so I'll focus on shorter works over the next two months. I'll have a very busy schedule in December, so I hope to read 14-15 books this month, particularly novellas, short novels and works of nonfiction, and poetry collections, most of which are from my TBR collection. I finished one book last night and another earlier this morning, so I'm off to a good start.

Aliss at the Fire by Jon Fosse - completed
Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them by Randy Christensen, MD - completed
Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky - completed
The Children Act by Ian McEwan - completed
Everyone's Children: A Pediatrician's Story of an Inner City Practice by Claire McCarthy, MD
The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America by Scott Cowen - reading
The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb - reading
London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd
My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD - completed
Nadja by André Breton
Next World Novella by Matthias Politycki
The Passport by Herta Müller - completed
Prehistoric Times by Éric Chevillard
The Quran, translated by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD - completed
Tales of Belkin by Alexander Pushkin - completed
Transit by Abdourahman A. Waberi - completed
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole - completed
Wind in a Box by Terrance Hayes - completed

>65 lauralkeet:, >67 kidzdoc: A scrapple-avoidance list.

>65 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I s'pose I could try scrapple during Thanksgiving week, as I'll visit my parents from Wednesday to Saturday. Or not.

>66 PaulCranswick: I wasn't sure if milkman jokes were limited to North America or if other English speaking countries had variations on that theme, so it's good(?) to know that you're familiar with them, too.

Hmm...I wonder when milk deliveries (and naughty milkmen) became a thing of the past? I would guess in the early 1960s, soon after I was born.

I'll definitely visit the British Author Challenge thread later today. As usual I made an early trip to the supermarket and had breakfast, and I'm about to prepare a batch of white chicken chili in my slow cooker, which I haven't had for several months. I'll check back in once it's going.

>68 qebo: I think I should wait on the scrapple until a fellow LTer from the Delaware Valley joins me, both to confirm that I'm eating the real thing (by tasting it herself), and to provide indisputable photographic evidence that I've consumed that delicacy.

It's truly a blessing shame that scrapple isn't available here in Atlanta.

I remember home milk delivery was still something that one could receive in Calgary in the 1970's... not sure when the service finally ended but I do remember the milk tokens that Mom would leave outside. Now we have gone from having milk delivery to being able to have all of our groceries delivered to the door, without even stepping foot in a store! I am still an 'old fashioned' grocery store shopper but one of these days I may be tempted to do my grocery shopping during my lunch hour at one of the downtown grocery stores I frequent and arrange to have them deliver the groceries in the evening after I get home.

We still have milk deliveries here, and there is a big push from the dairies to keep them going but they are just SO expensive when compared to the supermarkets, and it's fine in the winter but often the milk would end up sat out all day in the summer and so go off. Somehow it didn't used to be a problem when I was a child - maybe the deliveries were earlier? We'd get two pints of milk in glass bottles a morning - I used to drink a LOT of milk so we'd easily get through it.

Of course, there is a lot of controversy about the price of milk over here, as it costs more for farmers to produce it than the supermarkets will pay them for it. The graphic below is already out of date though as the most recent prices for the customer are £1 for four pints.



I'd love to be able to buy direct from the farmer but with everyone finding things so tight, it's hard to pay more for something.

Great costume! Sorry for the rough work week, but it's nice, at least, that you had some levity towards the end of it,.

The graphic below is already out of date though as the most recent prices for the customer are £1 for four pints.

Wow. I pay $2.39 Canadian (£1.33) for just 1 litre of milk at the grocery store, not the 2.3 litres four pints equates to. Does the UK government subsidize dairy farmers? They must, otherwise how can they stay in business?

The white chicken chili is on, which will be ready in time for dinner.

>71 lkernagh: I seriously doubt that we still had home delivery of milk in the NYC area in the early 1970s, or at least it wasn't common.

I don't know if any of the Publix, Kroger, Target or Walmart stores in Atlanta offer home delivery, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of the supermarkets where my parents live in suburban Philadelphia do. I've never used that service and neither have my parents, even though they are both approaching 80. I'd much rather choose my own fruits, vegetables and meats, so I seriously doubt that I would ever use home delivery unless I was temporarily or permanently incapacitated and no one was able to go to the supermarket for me.

I wouldn't be completely surprised if home milk delivery was still available in small towns or rural areas.

Ah. I see that Publix, my preferred local supermarket chain, offers online ordering for easy pickup, but it doesn't seem to offer home delivery.

>72 lunacat: Very interesting, Jenny. I'm very lactose intolerant, so I can't drink milk or cream, not even in a latte or capuccino, and I have no idea how much 2% milk costs. We have whole milk, which usually has 4-5% fat, reduced fat milk, which has 1% or 2%, and low fat or fat free milk, which has less than 1%. I buy soy milk every 2-3 months, but I can't remember how much it costs, either. I'll probably go back to Publix tomorrow, as I want to make Irish lamb stew and oxtail stew and need to buy lamb, marrow bones and oxtails, and I'll check on the price of 2% milk then.

Anyone in the US have any idea how much you pay for milk at your local supermarket?

>73 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda. Friday would have been a far less pleasant day if it wasn't Halloween and staff didn't dress up.

>74 lkernagh: Wow. I would think that we in the US don't pay nearly that much for milk. I'm even more curious to find out now. I don't subscribe to the daily paper in Atlanta, and the national edition of The New York Times, which I do subscribe to seven days per week, doesn't have local weekly ads, needless to say.

I loved the idea of the Halloween costumes and agree that the Milkman costume was outstanding.

For a period of years I made costumes for Halloween for myself. My first costume was the most risque, but I think the most outstanding one was when I dressed up as Medusa. I would wear these costumes to work, but then we had a change of policy and the library asked people to tone down the Halloween festivities and now nobody dresses up.

I think that dressing up for Halloween can increase workplace moral, but I also realize that there is always one person who will push the line and dress in a inappropriate costume. But I don't think that is a reason to punish the rest of us. I think there has to be some element of fun in the work place. I also think that clamping down on people dressed in costume shows a lack of confidence between administration and workers. They want control and workers want a little independence and support. Unfortunately the two don't often go together.

We had until the late 70s a milkman who came twice a week with his little car.

>74 lkernagh: Yes there are subsidies, generally set out by the EU I believe, and administered by DEFRA - there are about a squillion schemes through DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to give farmers more money, some better than others. There is a general subsidy given to people towards land set aside as pasture etc but I have no idea as to the specific rules and regs for dairy farmers but they are certainly helped a lot - I don't think it's enough however, and a LOT are struggling.

There is a big change going on with farming in general, certainly round here, and either there are huge farms that are run for maximum profit and yield and don't consider environmental factors, or there is a lot of diversification going on. For example, the farm I keep my horse on is a small farm acreage wise but there are a LOT of separate businesses going on. There is a pheasant shoot, a livery yard (horses), a pet crematorium, a firewood & kindling processing area (one guy with a wood chopper and a truck for deliveries), three meadows for growing hay, a lot of conservation areas set aside as woods for deer and hedgerows set aside for wildlife. As well as the actual fields which grow, on rotation: wheat, barley, maize.

I don't pretend to know much about it as I only get information third hand, and DEFRA is impossible to understand even if you focus all your time on it and do it as a business! And don't get me started on the incredibly stupid decisions DEFRA often make.

>76 benitastrnad: That's sad to hear that the library you work for has squelched the Halloween spirit, Benita. The holidays are definitely a big deal at Children's, particularly on Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas (when every hospitalized child receives a large bag of new toys, along with a visit from Santa Claus and more gifts from local athletes (especially the Atlanta Braves), entertainers, volunteers and others, including pilots from Delta Air Lines). Everyone at Children's wears costumes that are appropriate for children to see, and I can only think of one person who routinely wore an outfit that was of questionable taste, although it wasn't risqué. Certainly there are Halloween costumes that are best suited for adult Halloween parties and not a children's hospital or library, but banning all costumes based on a poor decision by one or more persons is an overreaction by someone who has a stick too far up their bum, IMO.

>77 Ameise1: Nice, Barbara! I'd love to hear if anyone else lives in an area where home delivery of milk still takes place.

>78 lunacat: I'm quite clueless about farming in the US, as I've always lived in or barely outside of a major city (NYC, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Atlanta). I'm pretty certain that the US government offers subsidies to independent farmers, but that's about the extent of my knowledge.

I nearly forgot: ¡Feliz Día de los Muertos! (Happy Day of the Dead!)

>79 kidzdoc: "banning all costumes based on a poor decision by one or more persons is an overreaction by someone who has a stick too far up their bum, IMO."
That's an apt description of where I used to work. I retired in Feb but last Christmas was the first year that no decorations, no cards on display, no Christmas trees were allowed. No party also, I might add. And I heard that this year on Halloween absolutely no costumes! Am I glad I don't work there any more.

>81 catarina1: Ugh. I'm glad that you've left that toxic work environment, catarina.

>75 kidzdoc: The price of milk has shot up in recent months here in California. I buy at Trader Joe's, and a gallon (4 pints) cost me $3.89 today. Six months ago it was $3.49. All levels are the same (skim to whole milk), though in some stores the whole milk (full-fat) is slightly more expensive - about $.10/gallon. No idea how the economics work out for the farmers here, though.

>69 kidzdoc: There still are milk deliveries here, although they are a dying breed. I was quite keen on them as the glass bottles were reusable unlike the plastic bottles from the supermarket, but we gave up in 2000 when J was a baby after a couple of incidents of milk going off in the summer. Now, of course, plastic bottles are collected for recycling anyway so that incentive is no longer there.

>83 jjmcgaffey: Does a gallon have 4 pints, or 8 pints? I remember two cups in a pint, two pints in a quart, and four quarts in a gallon.

However, your point is understood: milk prices, at least in California, have risen quite rapidly recently. Can I assume that the state and/or federal government is intimately involved in determining the cost of milk, and therefore one store chain (e.g., Walmart) could not buy or produce a massive amount of milk and sell it for a severely discounted price?

I wasn't sure about the cost of different types of milk, but it makes sense that whole milk would be more expensive than reduced fat or skim milk. I'll go to Publix later today, and see how much milk costs there.

Thanks for the reminder about Trader Joe's. I still haven't been to the store that is a mile away from me, so I'll probably stop there one day this week.

>84 SandDune: I now understand the phrase "going off", which I wouldn't have before. Between LT and my frequent visits to the London I'll be able to speak proper British English before long!

Who knew that we could have such an interesting discussion about milk? Well done, everyone.

Book #81: Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery by Catherine Musemeche, MD

  

My rating:

There is no such thing as a routine operation in a baby.

Dr. Catherine Musemeche is a pediatric surgeon who has been in practice for nearly a quarter of a century after the completion of her rigorous training, and she effectively combines her professional experiences, personal interests, and excellent writing skills in this superb book. In it she discusses the history and heroes of pediatric surgery, the challenges that she and other surgeons face in operating on tiny critically ill infants, current pressing medical issues that affect the practice of pediatricians and pediatric surgeons, and her own successes and failures throughout her career.

Dr. Musemeche provides a brief history of the development of pediatric surgery in the United States as a recognized medical specialty, and the difficulties that the first pediatric surgeons faced in gaining the respect of general surgeons, who fought against the newcomers' encroachment on their territory, and pediatricians, who initially rejected but soon championed and accepted their colleagues into their own medical society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, long before the American College of Surgeons decided to do so. She also honors some of the pioneers of pediatric surgery, including Dr. C. Everett Koop, the first full time pediatric surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the former U.S. Surgeon General; Dr. Stanley Dudrick, whose pioneering work on intravenous nutrition allowed children and adults with compromised gastrointestinal systems to receive sufficient intake for growth and healing via total parenteral nutrition; and Dr. Bob Bartlett, whose work on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, allowed surgeons to repair formerly lethal congenital cardiac defects and save the lives of the most critically ill children whose hearts and lungs had failed.

The author's own experiences in the operating room are interspersed with the stories of these pioneers, and I found my heart rate increasing as she described several difficult cases involving fragile babies on the brink of death.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book to the general reader will be the chapters about obesity, medical errors, preventable injuries, and the development of new surgical devices and techniques, most notably the rise of fetal surgery. The most notable and most impressive hero in Small is Dr. Barbara Barlow, the first woman to complete a pediatric surgery residency at Babies' Hospital (now Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital) of Columbia University in New York, who worked for many years as a pediatric surgeon at Harlem Hospital, an inner city public hospital that took care of thousands of victims of accidental injuries of children in their homes, and in playgrounds and streets in their neighborhoods. She was the leader of multiple successful efforts to prevent these injuries, and in 2011 she was honored with the Hero Award for contributions to public health by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One minor criticism of Small would be the absence of diagrams and photographs of the procedures that Dr. Musemeche describes in the book, although her rich descriptions of them and my medical training allowed me to easily visualize what she saw. However, this is an excellent contribution to the history of medicine and public health, which is a very enjoyable and informative book and one that I would highly recommend to all readers.

Fabulous review of Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery, Darryl. I can see why you enjoyed this one, and it also sounds like one that will reach a wider audience.

Book #82: Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside by Norma Cole



My rating:

This was probably the most inscrutable collection of poems I've ever read. Here's an example:

Blackberry bushes beside the freeway. Ajuga (bugleweed). Without
leave. Howl, Homer. Sylvia rode up on her bike smiling younger than
springtime. A child is able, hears music as other music.
I wasn't sleeping. The government begins without bees, rocks,
figuring out how much time's gone by by how cold the coffee gets.
Now is the cover of your pen and ink. Names the human project:
earmuffs: shamrocks: a verbal gap. In the early part of the morning a
small hole in the ceiling, a foot pulls up into the hole, ceiling covers
over paradise or charade. You never hear from her. Picking up tissue
from the floor. Transport. They can't stand and shoot. And talk
to each other (even) can't talk to each other, as I said. Up-coming
passages. Epistle of forgiveness: spat on the hair, spat on the faces,
spat on the other foot. Mount Brake-up or Back-up. Heals the words
in her foot. She got plenty. To be or not the little dot bouncing
toward her.

Reading this collection reminded me of the book English As She Is Spoke, the ill-fated but humorous attempt by two 19th century Portuguese men who didn't know English to create a Portuguese-English guide book using Portuguese-French and French-English dictionaries, with predictably disastrous results. However, Win These Posters doesn't have that as an excuse to explain its unfathomable poems.

I may give this book another go, after I have a few gin and tonics as a comprehension aid.

>87 lit_chick: Thanks, Nancy. I've been fortunate to win several excellent LT Early Reviewers books written by physicians, as I would have bought this book, along with Being Mortal, Five Days at Memorial and Dr. Mütter's Marvels, had I not won them.

>89 kidzdoc: Well, you ought to win them, if the algorithm is worth anything at all.
>88 kidzdoc: Word salad.

Wise choice to imbibe alcohol as an assistance towards comprehension. I always find it the best route to go down.........the world seems to make far more sense that way. Worryingly, I can completely understand how people become alcoholics!

Crud. I just lost my review of the book I finished early this morning. Fortunately it wasn't a long review, so it won't take me long to recreate it.

>90 qebo: I have no idea how the LT Early Reviewers algorithm works. Does it look at the books in your library, especially the overall number, type and books by a particular author? If I request two or more books in a month and one of them is about medicine I'll always get that one, and whenever I've chosen a book about medicine I think I've always won it.

Word salad is right. I think the author needs to see a neurologist or a psychiatrist.

>91 lunacat: LOL! Many things make more sense with a stiff drink, or at least they become more bearable.

>92 kidzdoc: Nobody else knows either, but it's supposed to look at compatibility with your library and your track record w/ reviewing. Also presumably you fare better if there's not much competition, and I'd expect not so many LTers feel competent to review books about medicine.

Book #84: My Child Won't Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent by Sujay Kansagra, MD



My rating:

This short book, written by the director of the Sleep Medicine Program at Duke University, is an excellent guide for parents of children with non-pathologic sleep disorders. In it Dr. Kansangra discusses the physiology of normal sleep, the factors which can cause children to have difficulty falling or staying asleep, and simple step-by-step instructions on different techniques parents and other caregivers can use to break the patterns that led to the sleep disorder. He also discusses how parents can avoid the problem in the first place, by instituting a normal sleep regimen starting when the child reaches six months of age.

I would highly recommend this book to all parents and caregivers of young children, those who have sleep disorders, and all providers who counsel parents on how to get their child to sleep properly. Best of all, My Child Won't Sleep is currently being sold as an Amazon Kindle e-book for 99 cents in the US.

>93 qebo: Nobody else knows either, but it's supposed to look at compatibility with your library and your track record w/ reviewing. Also presumably you fare better if there's not much competition, and I'd expect not so many LTers feel competent to review books about medicine.

That makes sense. Most of the books I've received are compatible with ones in my library, particularly the books about medicine, and I have what I think is a decent track record on writing reviews. By my count I've received 49 of the 50 books I've won, and I've written 40 reviews so far. There are a handful of physicians, and far more nurses, on LT to my knowledge, including Karen (@kiwidoc), but few of them request Early Reviewers books from what I can tell. I wouldn't feel comfortable reviewing books about a large variety of topics, so your last point is also a good one.

Just catching up, Darryl. Good to see the pork pie hat! You may have mentioned this, but Run D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way' done with Aerosmith was a real groundbreaker, and is still great today.

Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery looks like a good one. Thanks for being a trailblazer on some of these medical books.

>96 jnwelch: I agree, Joe! Run-D.M.C. had more crossover appeal than any of the early rap groups or artists, and their use of rock music in Walk This Away and King of Rock, along with their clean act and use of humor in their songs and videos, had a lot to do with it.

I'm glad that you and others have enjoyed my reviews of the medical books I've won or purchased, and I'm especially happy that the LT Early Reviewers program has included so many excellent books about medicine.

The only 'milkman' jokes I have heard are around the new baby looking like him.......my friend being on the receiving end of this seeing as her 4 siblings look similar to each other, and she was slightly different. A hilarious (for us) standing joke.

>85 kidzdoc: You're right - 8 pints. I even ran up the scale like you did, but missed a step... A lot of stores have milk on good sales often, but TJs still has the lowest (by .50-$1) regular price. Never mind organic milk, that's on a different scale ($5/half gallon, something like that. I don't really pay attention because I'm not paying that). I don't remember what TJs' prices on half-gallons are, but I do know that it's cheaper by the gallon (if only by a couple cents). So more than $1.95.

And it actually doesn't make sense that whole milk would cost more. It's the least processed of milk - OK, so they can't extract the cream and sell it separately, but they also don't have to spend the time and effort to extract the cream. I don't know, it might balance. Mostly, I suspect (like most things) it costs more because people are willing to pay more for it.

Oddly enough, Trader Joe's full-fat plain Greek yogurt costs noticeably less than the low-fat and no-fat versions. Maybe gelatin (or whatever they put in to make it creamy) costs more than whole milk?

Sad news: Tom Magliozzi died today from complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 77. He and his brother Ray hosted the hilarious long running National Public Radio program Car Talk, which provided advice to callers about problems they were having with their vehicles. The program started on WBUR in Boston in 1977 and on NPR in 1987, and although its last episode was broadcast in 2012 reruns can still be heard on Saturday mornings on most NPR stations. I doubt that any radio or television program provided me with more smiles and laughs than Car Talk did, and I hope that it will continue to be broadcast for years to come.

RIP Tom, and thank you; you'll be missed by your thousands of fans.

Tom Magliozzi, Popular Co-Host Of NPR's 'Car Talk,' Dies At 77

>99 jjmcgaffey: There is no difference in the price of milk dependent on which you choose here. Skimmed, semi-skimmed, full - all the same across the board. The only variation is if it's a specific brand rather than supermarkets' own label, or organic.

>100 kidzdoc: Oh no!

>100 kidzdoc: Oh, what a shame, Darryl. We loved Car Talk (and love the reruns). I even bought a collection in book form (Car Talk), but there was nothing like hearing the two of them crack each other up.

I join you in saying Rest in Peace, Tom.

>98 LovingLit: Right, Megan. That's the essential element of most of the milkman jokes: a baby who looks nothing like her other siblings is actually the milkman's child. That is still a very common joke in the US, at least among people of my generation and the preceding one.

>99 jjmcgaffey: I haven't gone to Publix yet, but I'll probably do so after dinner. I'll have to compare prices for soy milk between Publix and Trader Joe's, since I can't drink any milk that contains lactose.

I thought that whole milk cost more because farmers couldn't earn as much as they would if the skimmed the fat from it and made half-and-half or other products from it.

I worked for a quality control laboratory in suburban Philadelphia as a lab technician three decades ago, and my department tested milk and other milk based products from local farms for its fat content. We were brought gallons of milk directly from farms, including raw milk, and after we tested the milk and other dairy products we could take the rest home with us. I wasn't lactose intolerant back then, and we all became spoiled by the rich taste of raw milk.

I'll also have to look at the cost of full-fat versus reduced fat Greek yogurt at Publix and Trader Joe's. Publix had a new brand on sale yesterday (four individual 5.3 oz cups of nonfat Voskos yogurt for $3, as opposed to $5 for four similarly sized cups of Chobani yogurt with 2% fat), so I bought four cups of that Greek yogurt.

>101 lunacat: Jenny, does that price similarity hold in different supermarkets or stores as well?

>102 qebo: Right, Katherine. I was very saddened to learn of Tom's passing today.

>103 jnwelch: Absolutely, Joe. I've spent hundreds of Saturday mornings listening to and laughing alongside Tom and Ray over the years, along with thousands if not millions of other fans of Car Talk.

>104 kidzdoc:

Yup, milk is one of the things the supermarkets tend to go on a price war about so it is generally equal across the four big supermarkets. No idea why that, rather than bread or other produce.

>105 lunacat: Interesting. I have no idea if the same holds true in the US or not. The major supermarket chains here tend to be concentrated in certain regions of the country (e.g., Publix in the Deep South, Kroger in the Midwest and South, Safeway on the West Coast, and PathMark on the East Coast), although many Walmart and Target stores (which I believe are found all over the US) have superstores with full service supermarkets. I'm very loyal to Publix, due to the cleanliness of its stores, its friendly and helpful employees, the numerous BOGO (buy one, get one free) sales, and the proximity of several stores where I live and on the way home from work, so I preferentially buy my groceries there, and I don't know how their prices for food items compare to Target, Walmart and Kroger.

>104 kidzdoc: oh. the wikipedia link you posted talked of a joke I had not heard of. I wondered if it was a cultural difference.

>105 lunacat: >106 kidzdoc: milk prices here went up a lot 2 or 3 years ago....because of the international milk solids price increasing so much we (the main exporters of dried milk) had to start paying nearly double for 2 litres of milk. All supermarkets sell the cheapest brands of milk for about $3.70 for 2L. The fancier brand (which is all the same milk) is about a dollar more. NZ has invested a lot in creating dairy farms over the last two decades (involving the conversion of very unsuitable dry land to dairy farms which require a lot of water to green the grass that the cows eat- this has led to the draining of a lot of rivers and the loss of habitat for fish and the recreation for outdoor lovers). Dairy is the biggest export earner for us. We are totally geared up and suffering the loss of our rivers for it to be exported, and we get the privilege of paying the international price of milk for it. :)*sigh*

>107 LovingLit: That's about the size of it, extra $2 for space age bottle + now the international milk solids price is crashing we are supposed to feel sorry for the poor farmers .....

>107 LovingLit: Was the milkman joke you hadn't heard of one of those told by a young child, Megan?

>107 LovingLit:, >108 roundballnz: Is NZ the main exporter of milk solids in the world? Which countries is it exported to? I would find it hard to believe that the US would import milk solids from any country, nonetheless one so far away, as we have plenty of milk producing cows. It sounds as though only NZ farmers, investors and the government benefit from the production and export of milk solids.

Morning Darryl! Hope the week is going well. Go Michelle Nunn!

>110 msf59: Right on, Mark!

Regardless of your political persuasion, don't forget to vote today, fellow Americans!

Hi Darryl! Have a good week!

If you think voting for kids works - what about voting for women's rights? Speaking of - there is a new book that might interest you Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt. I heard her talk on BookTV last week and her talk was terrific. It was all about the fact that the abortion argument at its core is keep the women pregnant and at home. I have it on my wishlist.

>109 kidzdoc: we export to Asia (China is a market that has hugely opened up recently- most of it goes to infant formula I think), the Middle East and parts of Europe. I heard on the radio yesterday that the American Milk Producers Association (I think?) is the biggest producer of milk, and has North America sewn up, as it were.

Fonterra is the cooperative that represents practically all dairy farmers here, the CEO is paid ridiculous amounts of $$, and the farmers get a 'pay out' that is forecast based on Intl prices...NZs economy is falsely propped up by it at present. If it crashes..and ups always come down right?, we are in trouble.

ETA: re: the milkman joke, it was the first one from the wikipedia page you linked to.

Darryl, a friend/editor sent me this -- Globe is doing on demand Shakespeare. So you don't necessarily have to go to London for your theatre fix (although the vibe won't be the same.)

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/4/7154933/globe-player-shakespeare-theatrical-pr...

Ugh. It was a bad election night over most of the country. Michelle Nunn and David Carter were thoroughly beaten, and there will be no run off election for the US Senate seat that was up for grabs in Georgia. My US congressman John Lewis (a loyal deputy of Martin Luther King, Jr.) was re-elected, but he ran unopposed. The Republicans wrested control of the US Senate from the Republicans, and the GOP maintained its control of the US House. Worst of all, Scott Walker was re-elected governor of Wisconsin.

One piece of good news: the incumbent governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, was voted out of office.

I look forward to two more years of gridlock in Washington.

I did finish two books yesterday, one bad, Transit by Abdourahman A. Waberi, and one good, Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them by Dr. Randy Christensen. I'll probably review them, and Tales of Belkin, sometime on Thursday, as I'm off from work between 8 am that morning and 8 pm on Friday. Much of the French literary community, including Nobel Prize winner J.M.G. LeClézio, is very fond of Waberi, but after reading two books by him that I've disliked I'm done with him.

>113 connie53: Thanks, Connie. The "good" part of my week will end soon, as I start my first of three night shifts in about 15 hours. (I hate working nights.)

>114 benitastrnad: I am all for women's rights, which are closely linked to children's rights. Women voters in Georgia had a great opportunity to make history by sending Michelle Nunn to the US Senate yesterday. She received a majority of the female vote, but not enough to put her over the top.

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights sounds interesting. If you read it please let me know what you think of it.

>115 LovingLit: I can understand why the arid countries of the Middle East would need milk powder for infant formula, but I would have thought that China and European countries could produce their own milk in sufficient quantities.

The structure of that milk cooperative in NZ seems as though it is doomed to failure at some point. I hope not, though.

I was unfamiliar with that specific milkman joke, but it's in keeping with others that I have heard.

>116 Chatterbox: Thanks, Suz. I was already aware of this, from an e-mail that I received from Shakespeare's Globe earlier this week. I'll check out the site as early as tonight if it's a quiet one at work.

My cousin's husband worked for Fonterra for many years, and were based in Mexico for several years and then Singapore. Fonterra have been very successful in developing countries as they work in partnership with local agricultural businesses or government to develop their milk production plants. So they are very big at exporting expertise and knowhow as well as product. In China Fonterra have ran a few milk production plants with Chinese partners.

>117 kidzdoc: One piece of good news: the incumbent governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, was voted out of office.
Yay for us. Alas, we are still the proud owner of Joe Pitts.

So disheartened about Walker here. Gah.

I turned on the news for about a second before taxi-ing Senior Kid to school, found out the GOP news, and let out a little scream. I used words that are not appropriate for parents. Yep. Two more years of gridlock .... *sigh*

Off to fortify myself with coffee and maybe work up the courage to look up California election results.

Well, Buddy Cianci did NOT get re-elected as mayor of Providence. Mayor twice before, with both times in offices ending in federal convictions, the second time in a five year spell in federal prison. He ran as an independent. The republican candidate actually donated money to the Democrat's campaign to keep Buddy out. He got 44% of the vote or thereabouts.

>123 Chatterbox: Seriously?? Getting convicted doesn't automatically rule you out from running again? And people were at all tempted to vote for him?!!?!

*mind boggling*

>119 avatiakh: Thanks for that information about Fonterra, Kerry.

>120 qebo: I hadn't heard of Joe Pitts before. He sounds like, well, you know...

>121 scaifea: That's bad news for Wisconsin, and potentially even worse news for the country if he decides to run for the presidency in 2016.

>122 avidmom: Apparently the Republican leadership in Congress tried to assure the American public that there does not have to be gridlock in Washington (provided that Obama turns into the lamest of ducks and does what they tell him to).

>123 Chatterbox: Cianci's defeat is the most disappointing news of the day, Suz.

>124 lunacat: Heck no, Jenny! Cianci can't hold a candle to the legendary Edwin Edwards, the former four-term governor of Louisiana, who makes Cianci and Boss Tweed seem like choir boys in comparison. Let's see (using Wikipedia to remind me of his litany of crimes)...he was convicted of racketeering in Federal Court in 2001, was imprisoned from 2002-2011 in a federal penitentiary, and lived in home confinement for the next two years at his daughter's house before he was paroled last year. He had been accused of corruption and bribery for years, including the late 1970s when I lived in New Orleans during his second term as governor, but nothing stuck until 2001. He was also the winner of what must be one of the most distasteful gubernatorial elections in US history. In 1991 he defeated David Duke, a neo-Nazi who was the Grand Wizard of the Louisiana chapter of the Ku Klux Klan when I lived there, to win his fourth term in office (not kidding). Best of all, even though he is 87 years old he ran for Congress this year, in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. He was the top vote getter, although there will be a run off election on December 6 that he is expected to lose (but probably won't).

I'm off to get a few hours of sleep before my night shift begins at 8 pm. Back later.

>104 kidzdoc: " I worked for a quality control laboratory in suburban Philadelphia as a lab technician three decades ago, and my department tested milk and other milk based products from local farms for its fat content. We were brought gallons of milk directly from farms, including raw milk, and after we tested the milk and other dairy products we could take the rest home with us. I wasn't lactose intolerant back then, and we all became spoiled by the rich taste of raw milk." Iiiiinteresting! My Dad worked in a creamery, drove a bulk tank milk truck, and was a certified milk tester for the state of Pennsylvania when I was a kid. My grandmother also still had a few dairy cows in those days. My brother and I grew up on whole, raw milk. That stuff in the plastic jugs just isn't the real thing, and I don't drink it at all.

The only thing that made the post-apocalyptic dystopain future look good was the two bottles of French wine that we consumed last night at the wine club meeting. That, and the excellent meatballs and anchovy cheese appetizers made the evening bearable. I was so disgusted with voters. And to think that Scott Walker is still around, but thank goodness Rick Perry is no longer governor of Texas. My sister in Montana is singing the blues as she campaigned for the incumbent Democrat senator in that state.

Poor Colorado - what were those deluded mixed-up people thinking? How can the vote for more liberal laws and an increase in the minimum wage and then vote in a Republican slate. What? Don't they know what the party platform is? And the same goes for Nebraska. Increased their minimum wage and then voted in republicans.

I also thought that Michelle Nunn would make it in Georgia.

Why do so many rich people hate the new health care system? What is the problem with it?

>125 kidzdoc: Walker for president?! Oh good lordy lou, I hadn't even thought of that! Oh, cripes.

My night call wasn't bad, and I don't have to go back to work until Friday night. I have to work Saturday night as well, so I'll stay in night mode until my last shift ends at 8 am on Sunday. I managed to read a little bit of The Children Act by Ian McEwan, which is good so far, and hopefully I can finish it by Friday.

Oof...I'm getting very sleepy all of a sudden, so I think I'll catch up here tonight.

I didn't sleep as much as I had hoped to, so I'm now wide awake but also tired. I'm very glad that I don't have to work tonight, and hopefully I'll catch up on sleep before my next night shift begins in just under 24 hours.

>126 laytonwoman3rd: Nice, Linda. The lab I worked in was in Bucks County, and it tested products from local farms in the Delaware Valley (Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties) and the counties to the west heading toward Lancaster. Several drivers would visit the dairy farms on a regular basis and bring us their products for testing. The farms would usually send a half gallon or gallon of milk, along with sour cream, half-and-half, reduced fat milk, etc., and the different departments in the company only needed a small amount from each product, so there was plenty left over for the employees to take home (and we were encouraged to do so, as whatever was left over would be discarded). I hadn't had raw milk before I started working there, and the first time I tasted it I thought I was literally drinking a lightly sweetened milkshake. I only worked there for four years, and even though I got a better paying and more rewarding job working as a chemical engineering technician at the naval R&D facility where my father worked (as an electrical engineer; we were in different departments) my parents, my brother and I all missed the fresh dairy products that I brought home from my old job.

>127 benitastrnad: That sounds like a nice meal, Benita, although wine probably wouldn't have been strong enough to take away the pain of Tuesday's election results. I listened to Morning Edition on NPR on the drive home from the hospital, and one story mentioned that Republicans, on a national and statewide basis, achieved the biggest gains in an election year in a century, whereas the Democrats are in the worst position that they have been in since the Civil War. Republicans are now in complete control (holding the governor's seat and the majority of both houses of the state legislature) in 23 states, compared to seven such states for the Democrats.

Speaking of food, I have a huge batch of Irish lamb stew going in my slow cooker, which probably has too much lamb in it (I bought three packages of lamb shoulder from Publix this morning after my night shift, which totaled over five pounds). It won't be ready until early tomorrow morning, so for supper I had some of the white chicken chili that I made this weekend. Now that colder weather is approaching and my holidays are over for the most part I'll resume cooking on my days off.

>128 scaifea: Yesterday's issue of The New York Times included an article about the likely contenders for the 2016 presidential election, and Scott Walker was one of the dozen or so politicians that was mentioned:

Heading into Tuesday’s election, Mr. Walker, 47, had already won two races for governor in four years – including a failed recall – and proved himself as a formidable Republican in a state that his party’s nominee last carried in 1988. Thanks to the national exposure he won from his battle with organized labor and the ensuing effort to remove him from office, he has an extensive fund-raising list and admiration among conservative activists. What he lacks is much in the way of charisma.

I think I need more vodka.

Hi Darryl

The addition of 186 books leaves me wondering where you put them all. I've spent some time these last few weeks trying to access how many books I have and how to get them in order. To make space in closets, I've moved some into our rather large basement. I'm trying not to acquire any more this year. I'm a dreamer eh?

>131 Whisper1: Hi, Linda! Fortunately I have plenty of physical space for books, although I do need to buy more book shelves. A good number of my new acquisitions are e-books, but I'd guess that at least 100 are paper books. I have no illusions that I'm finished buying (or receiving) books for the year, as I'll almost certainly buy a dozen or more books for next year's American and British authors challenges that Mark and Paul, respectively, are hosting, and there are several others that are very high on my wish list, including Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher and Other Stories by Hilary Mantel and A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James.

If you don't acquire any more books this year I promise to send you a book of your choice. ;-)

The Irish (too much) lamb stew is ready!

>130 kidzdoc: *sound of head smacking desk in absolute despair* I don't drink, but I may need to start...

>134 scaifea: I reserve the right to seek political asylum in the UK if someone like Scott Walker, Ted Cruz or Rick Perry ever becomes president.

>135 kidzdoc: Don't go thinking that or you'll secretly be wishing them to become president! I know the way your mind works, any excuse to escape to this side of the pond.

>136 lunacat: Very true, Jenny; I need no excuse to travel to the UK. However, I don't wish to see my homeland set back 50 years by right wing extremists, either.

Just thought I'd pop by here to direct you to this post on Rhian's thread as she deals with some concerns you might be interested in/be able to offer advice over:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/181595#4910546

>138 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. I just posted a message on Rhian's thread.

Going back to the talk about end of life care on your last thread there was a really heart warming story here yesterday about hospital staff going the extra mile for a dying woman:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-29951094

Darryl, I wish you a stressfree weekend.

Darryl, just stopping by to wish you a great weekend. Unfortunately, nothing to add on any of the above conversations.

I saw that you finished The Passport and you gave it 3 stars. Are you going to post a review as I am quite interested in your thoughts.

>140 SandDune: Rhian I read this article as well and I couldn't help - but wipe a tear.

I completed my worst night call in the 14 years I've worked at Children's just over an hour ago, as we admitted 26 patients to the General Pediatrics service between 8 am and 6 pm. I think that is also the record for my team in that time, although I'll have to see if anyone else has had more than 25 in a night. In comparison, on Wednesday night we admitted eight patients, which is a little less than the usual 10-12 patients that we usually admit on night shift. Fortunately I wasn't alone, as one of my partners worked alongside me from 6 pm to 6 am, and we had an amazing family practice intern who somehow managed to keep up with our blistering pace and see 8-10 patients with us. I'll go to sleep shortly, as I have to go back in at 8 pm tonight for my last night shift of the week, then turn around and work day shifts from Monday through Friday. I won't be able to check in often until next Saturday, but I'll do so when I can.

>140 SandDune: I saw that story and the very touching photo on my Facebook thread just before I came here, Rhian. Everyone should take a look at it, provided that they have facial tissues handy.

>141 Ameise1: Thanks for that wish, Barbara. However, it's been a very stressful weekend so far, and I can only hope that tonight isn't anywhere near as bad as last night was. My partners who are working during the day today were also stressed out when they saw how many kids they would have to see today, as a result of our night from hell.

>143 kidzdoc: I downgraded my review of The Passport to 2-1/2 stars, Bianca. I'm too tired to post a review now, and I'll probably be too busy to do so next week, but I'll try to write one by next weekend. I've read at least two of her books (and possibly a third), and I'm not fond of her work at all.

Off to bed...

OMG what happened at your part of the world that you saw so many patients?

Good Lord. That's a LOT of kids! Hopefully things will settle down for you from now on in, and the records stop breaking.

>143 kidzdoc: Sorry that you didn't enjoy The Passport, I thought that you told me that you liked Land of Green Plums ? by her, when we met in September. Didn't you enjoy the story or is it her prose poetry style you don't like? I don't think it is the translation as I read The Hunger Angel in German/English at the the same time and I felt that she was incredible well translated. Her voice is quite harsh, bleak and to the point - ahem, exactly what I like. *smile* However, if we all would enjoy the same books life would be incredible boring and we wouldn't have anything to argue about.

I hope your night tonight is going to be more smooth, less hectic and stressful with definitely LESS admissions.

>135 kidzdoc: I asked Tomm last night if there were any Canadian offices in his company...

You are all starting to scare me a bit about the most recent US elections, and I don't even live there, or even understand what exactly was been elected. This is a Senate thing, correct?

>147 scaifea: - Amber, we would welcome you - and anyone else - that chooses to head north of the border. ;-)

Sorry about the tough night call, Darryl! Woo, that's a lot of folks needing help.

Hope you're getting a chance to relax this weekend.

Tonight should be a better night than last night, as there are far fewer kids in our ED. We've only had two admissions to our service in the past two hours, and hopefully we'll have half the number of admissions than we had last night, if not less, which would be a much more normal night at this time of year.

I slept from 10 am until nearly 6:30 pm today, so I feel relatively rested. I turned off my work and personal cell phones, so that my sleep wouldn't be interrupted by text and Facebook messages and phone calls, and I'm very glad that I did that.

>144 Ameise1: Most of the kids we admitted last night had asthma exacerbations and lower respiratory tract infections such as viral bronchiolitis and bacterial pneumonia, Barbara.

>145 lunacat: I hope that it does settle down tonight and tomorrow night, Jenny. I'm back on days on Monday, after less than 24 hours to make the shift from nights to days, so I hope that we aren't horribly busy next week. Fortunately I'll probably be able to pick up some of the kids that I admitted over the weekend, so I'll know their cases and it will take less time to get to know them than picking up new patients would be.

>146 drachenbraut23: I haven't read Land of Green Plums yet, Bianca, although I do own it. I've read Nadirs and The Passport, which were painful to read. It seems as though I've read something else by her, but I'm not sure which book it would be. Hopefully The Hunger Angel will be a better book, although if it's anything like the two books I've read by her I doubt that I will.

>147 scaifea: Canada would be a closer option than England, but I think it still has that horrible mayor of Toronto and a less than admirable Prime Minister. I'm not a fan of David Cameron by any means, but he would certainly be a better leader than Scott Walker or any of the leading Republican candidates, except for Jeb Bush, who I like far better than the extremists.

>148 lkernagh: All of the US congressmen come up for election every two years, and a good number of the US senators and the state governors were also elected to office last week, Lori.

>149 jnwelch: I won't be able to do much relaxing this weekend, Joe. Most of whatever down time I have will be spent sleeping, as I'll need to be as well rested as possible for what will likely be a tough week starting on Monday.

>150 kidzdoc:
I would not look forward to another Bush. Two of them was one too many.

Hmmm hope that week to come is not nearly as bad as the other night .......

>150 kidzdoc: Darryl, is it something that makes the round at your place?

This has been a much better call night so far; with less than an hour to go my partner Sarah and I admitted 10 patients to our service. The best thing about a call night is seeing the sun rise, as it implies that morning has come and the day team will soon arrive to relieve you.



>151 catarina1: I agree that two Bushes was one (if not two) too many, but considering the other leading Republican candidates I'd rather have him than the others if a GOP candidate was to be elected President in 2016.

>152 roundballnz: I hope so too, Alex!

>153 Ameise1: No, Barbara; November is the start of our busy season, as we admit more infants with RSV bronchiolitis, and more older kids with lower respiratory tract infections (bronchiolitis, pneumonia) and asthma exacerbations. Friday night/Saturday morning was extreme, which was mainly because the Med/Surg (medical and surgical) units at Children's other two hospitals were completely full. As a result, we admitted patients that would normally have gone to those hospitals, who were transferred from there to us, along with our own.

Thanks for those informations. I'm glad to hear that it wasn't so busy last night. I hope you can relax today. It looks like it will be a lovely day.

>150 kidzdoc: Canada is our immediate choice because we could still be in driving distance to my family. We have retirement dreams of Sweden or Norway or Finland or Switzerland, though (we're having trouble narrowing it down).

>156 scaifea: Did I read Switzerland? Would be great fun to have you so close to me, Amber. :-)

No!. the bad and embarrassing mayor is gone!!! We now have a very nice mayor in Toronto.

>157 Ameise1: Barbara: Yes! We love everything we hear about Switzerland, and having you as a neighbor would be a great bonus!

>158 torontoc: And my PhD adviser lives in Toronto, so it must be a pretty cool place!

It is- although with bad traffic! Hopefully the new mayor, John Tory will address this issue

Hi Darryl. I'm just doing the 'stopping by and waving' thing again!

>155 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. I slept most of the afternoon, and I'll probably go back to sleep in a couple of hours, as I have to go back to work tomorrow morning. Normally we get at least two days off between night and day shifts, so I'm going back a day earlier than I would like to.

>156 scaifea: That makes sense. I think I'd enjoy living in the UK more than Canada, and the rest of Europe would be in close proximity. I was talking last night with one of my former partners, who came in on an emergency basis after the physician assistant who was supposed to have worked with us failed to show up for his shift. He is nearing retirement, and he is seriously thinking of moving to France once he hangs up his stethoscope. We talked about our numerous travels to Europe, and we (along with his wife) may end up traveling together in the not too distant future.

>157 Ameise1: Go to Switzerland, Amber! You'll be far away from your troublesome in laws there.

>158 torontoc: That's good to hear, Cyrel. Did his brother lose in the election for mayor?

>159 scaifea: If I had to live in Canada I'd probably choose Toronto or Vancouver, although I haven't visited either city yet.

>160 torontoc: Ah, so the old mayor's brother did lose. Good job on not choosing him.

>161 connie53: Hi, Connie!

Happy Sunday, Darryl! I hope you are having a good weekend, after an abysmal election day.

I am glad you are participating in the AACII. It should be a lot of fun.

But.......but..........but...........where would I get Lucky Charms from if you moved to the UK permanently?!

Disgraceful suggestion.

I just finished Ian McEwan's latest novel, The Children Act. It was very good until about the ¾ mark, and from there it seemed like it blew a tire, veered off of the road, and ended up in a ditch. I gave it 3½ stars, and my opinion of it is essentially identical to Deborah's.

>163 msf59: I hope that you enjoyed your weekend, Mark. I worked on Friday and Saturday nights in the hospital, and we were very busy. I finished up at 8 am today, slept for most of the afternoon, read for a few hours, and I'll go back to sleep shortly, as I have to return to work tomorrow morning.

I'm looking forward to AACII and BAC next year! You and Paul have put together a fabulous selection of authors, and fortunately I already own most of the books I plan to read for these two challenges.

>164 lunacat: where would I get Lucky Charms from if you moved to the UK permanently?!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LUCKY-CHARMS-CEREAL-LARGEST-AMERICAN/dp/B00BSHB4XG/ref=s...

>165 kidzdoc: re: lucky charms. *phew* I can rest easy now, Darryl. Knowing you will be able to source Lucky Charms from a place you may hypothetically move to.
;)
It is the little things, after all....

>165 kidzdoc: The Children Act. interesting .... just started myself lets see if I hit the ditch as well

>165 kidzdoc:

Did you see the postage on that?! I looked and thought 'great, a cheap way to fund my habit' but then investigated further and saw the £29 delivery charge!

I therefore veto any proposed move to the UK. It's just too big a sacrifice ;)

Yes - the former mayor's brother lost the election- but now he is thinking of running for the leadership of the provincial progressive conservative party- that would be the kiss of death for that group if he wins- I don't think that he has a chance.

Yesterday was a tough day, as I had to return to work and make the always painful night/day adjustment in less than 24 hours, which made it even more difficult. I thought briefly about calling out "sick", but that would have placed an undue burden on my partners, so I sucked it up and came to work. I made it through the day fine, especially after the caffeine from my morning mug of coffee kicked in, although I crashed immediately after dinner when I returned home. I'm awake now after sleeping for seven hours, but I'll probably go back to bed for another two hours before I have to get ready for work.

>166 LovingLit: Right, Megan. Although the Lucky Charms are for Jenny I'm sure that there will be things that I'll want to get from the US if and when I move to the UK (e.g. if Ted Cruz or Scott Walker are ever elected President). Short of live chickens or homemade shrimp & grits I think I can get anything else I would ever need from Amazon.

>167 roundballnz: I'll be interested to see what you think of The Children Act, Alex. At the halfway point I was mentally berating this year's Booker Prize judges for leaving it off of the longlist, but after it fell into the ditch I changed my mind. It wasn't a bad book by any means, and I'm glad that I read it, even though I didn't like where it went toward its end.

>168 lunacat: Pshaw, Jenny. I think that the excessive delivery charge can be overcome by buying a truckload of Lucky Charms and storing them in Connie's barn.

>169 torontoc: Is the ex-mayor's brother as bad as he is, Cyrel? (Is that even possible?)

Back to bed...

Alas, I fear Connie would eat them before I got hold of them if I did that. And trust me, the last thing I need is Con hopped up on e-numbers and sugar. She's bad enough on her diet of not much!

Back to bed is always a good place to sign off. Hopefully you got some extra sleep. I think I'd either thrive on shift work (I sleep REALLY odd hours anyway) or it would kill me.

>170 kidzdoc: if Ted Cruz or Scott Walker are ever elected President!! If that happens, and you want to split the cost of a flat in London, Debbi and I will join you.

I'm sure the UK book-buying economy would welcome the influx ;)

>171 lunacat: I was thinking: What am I supposed to be eating? Very strange to read my own name in another context. ;-))

>174 connie53: Hmm.......well, my Connie had for her food today:

Grass
Hay
Soaked sugar beet pulp
Small amount of a mix containing: Nutritionally approved Straw, Chopped Straw, Wheatfeed, Dried Lucurne, Low Sugar Molglo, Oat Feed, Ricebran, Grass Nuts, Calcium Carbonate, Vegetable Oil, Soya Oil, Vitamins and Minerals, Calcined Magnesite, Dried Spearmint (0.25%), Garlic (0.25%), Salt, Lysine

Three or four carrots

Three or four banana flavour treats

Appetising? I can ask her to share if you'd like!



That's her (and me) :)

Oh, yes- he was the bully- and nasty-but it didn't work although he got a respectable amount of votes from the poor areas of the suburbs- I don't know why- his family is very rich-more so than the mayor elect( who he accused of being from the elite!!)
thank goodness the mayoral campaign is over- it lasted too long- since Jan?!!

>170 kidzdoc: I have only Finished The Children Act this evening, I understand the ditch, but I would say it was a ditch with a unknown path .... Classic McEwan either hitting you with a punch I.E Saturday or sending you in an unknown direction. This one will stay with me for some time ......

Yesterday was a somewhat easier day in the hospital, but I still crashed after dinner last night. I think the best thing for me to do this week is sleep as much as I can, as I'll be on the teaching service next week, which is generally a longer week than when I'm working by myself.

My group has a Black Cloud Award, an ignominious prize which is given to the doctor or team who had the most hideous call night. Since Sarah and I set the record for the most number of admissions in our 19 year history as a hospitalist group it was inevitable that it would become ours:



>171 lunacat: I had to look up E numbers, a term that I don't think we use in the US.

I did get some extra sleep, but I was still tired to the bone yesterday. My partners and several of the nurses were shocked that I was back to work on Monday, as I shouldn't have had to return until Wednesday. I did earn my share of sympathy points the past two days.

As I get older the night/day transition becomes progressively more difficult, and I need at least two days off to recover. This time I had no days off, since I worked for the first eight hours of Sunday morning and had to return the following morning (apologies for the persistent whining).

>172 jnwelch: Sounds good to me, Joe.

>173 lunacat: Definitely so, Jenny!

>174 connie53: Ha! I didn't get that the first time I read it last night, probably because I was halfway asleep at that time.

>175 lunacat: Connie's meal sounds better than my lunch in the doctors' lounge yesterday.

Great photos! And what impressive pipes you have!

>176 torontoc: It continues to amaze me that certain groups, including some in the US, will ignore their interests and select candidates who only care about their votes on Election Day.

>177 roundballnz: I'm glad that you enjoyed The Children Act, Alex. I liked it, but the ending was not what I was expected (but that is typical for McEwan, as you said).

Yawn. I think I'll try for another hour of sleep.

>175 lunacat: Did you ever read Monica Edwards's Romney Marsh series for children? In that picture, you and Connie look like the character Rissa and her pony!

>181 kidzdoc: *snork!* That is exactly how I feel right now...

I'm at work, and I just received the most unbelievable and fantastic news from one of my partners. Several of us have not had our PTO (paid time off, i.e. vacation) calculated adequately for the past 5+ years. I will end 2014 with 216 hours of PTO, which translates into 27 extra days off, in addition to the 20 days of PTO I normally receive, and the month off from work I'll get next year as a result of working a 1.0 FTE (full time equivalent) from November through February, compared to my normal 0.8 FTE schedule. I'll have to use at least 22 of those days by the end of 2015, so a long distance trip somewhere, in addition to the ones I had already planned, looks like a certainty.

So, this is the new image of the day:

>182 scaifea: I felt like that until about 15 minutes ago, but I'm considerably more perky now!

ETA: The New Yorker in me thinks this is too good to be true, even though my partner who makes the schedule and sent out the e-mail assured me that it is.

>183 kidzdoc: WooHoo!!!

>183 kidzdoc: That is wonderful news for you. You work so hard. And we get to "go along" on another wonderful trip. Congratulations.

Wow, that's very good news. Perhaps some recompense for the terrible night last week? :)

Yep. I knew it was too good to be true. I have 27 days of PTO in 2015, total, not 47. That still gives me an extra 7 days of vacation next year, so the Ren & Stimpy happy dance will stand.

>183 kidzdoc: Fantastic! What unexpected and great news, Darryl. I suspect I know at least one travel destination you're considering. :-)

Nice to have extra days off, Darryl. I hope you're getting rested. I always worry that people who do shift work get enough rest. Especially those in important roles -- like doctors. I would think sleep deprivation would lead to errors, besides being bad for one's health. There must be a better way to schedule so people get enough sleep.

>183 kidzdoc: Darryl, congrats on more days of vacation for the upcoming year. Sounds really gorgeous.

>183 kidzdoc: Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Where we goin'?

Speed-reading my way through my favorite threads a few a day. I'm glad your trip to San Diego went well (at least it looks like it did). I'm so sorry we weren't there to greet you. Also glad your finger is doing well. I enjoyed the great tea debate. I too am a tea drinker -- a couple of mugs each morning and then iced or hot in the afternoon. I also sometimes have an herbal in the evening (which I refuse to call "tea" since there isn't any tea in there). Have you ever tried Mighty Leaf tea? It comes either loose or in silk pouches. In either case it is whole leaf. They have flavored as well as plain and I just love it. I order it directly from the company in pretty large quantities. You can also find a limited selection and in small boxes (15 pouches or so) in some stores like Whole Foods. You might give it a try.

It's finally Friday!!! I picked up some steam mid week, but I faded badly yesterday, and I imagine that today will be more of the same. I am eagerly looking forward to a lazy stay-at-home weekend, and to the National Theatre rebroadcast of Frankenstein at my neighborhood arts cinema on Sunday morning.

>185 scaifea: Seven extra vacation days isn't nearly as good as 27, but I'll gladly take them.

>186 catarina1: Thanks, catarina. These past 10 days have been especially hard ones. I think that only one of my partners works a 1.0 FTE (full time equivalent), as it's become too grueling for everyone else, especially in the late fall through early spring months. There is a high burnout rate among hospitalists and ICU physicians, and my 14+ years working in the same job at Children's makes me the most experienced hospitalist in my group by a couple of years.

>187 lunacat: Yes, those extra vacation days definitely make up for that hideous call night, Jenny.

>189 jnwelch: Right, Joe!

>190 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I have been sleeping more this week than I usually would, as I haven't been able to stay awake much past dinner any night. You're right about shift work, especially as it affects people who have to work nights or flip back between nights and days. I haven't been sharp at all this week, and although I haven't made any glaring errors to my knowledge parents have had to remind me to tell them about test results and nurses have had to remind me to put in orders that I told them about. We all take patient safety very seriously, both as an organization and as individual health care providers, and we worry about mistakes that happen as a result of us being overworked, which routinely happens at this time of the year. As we get ever more busy my group is constantly looking for more physicians and advance practice providers (physician assistants and pediatric nurse practitioners), and we interviewed two more applicants this week.

>191 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara.

>192 avidmom: Good pick up, avidmom! That animated GIF does show a demented Ren (wearing his Happy Helmet) and Stimpy dancing to the song "Happy Happy Joy Joy". That cartoon, especially the first season of it, was briliant and it almost always made me convulse with laughter.

Where we goin'?

How about Madrid?

>193 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. I just saw the fabulous photos on your thread; I'll have to make a journey to South America in the near future. You're right; I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in San Diego, as I liked the city and its restaurants, the conference was exceptionally rewarding (even though I wasn't able to get a seat to see Hillary Clinton's plenary address), and I was able to spend time with good friends who I hadn't seen in a year or longer. My only regret was not allotting enough time to explore the city, but I hope to return there in the next year or two.

I haven't tried Mighty Leaf tea, so I'll look for it at my neighborhood Whole Foods market.

>195 kidzdoc: The discussion about sleep deprived medical workers reminded me of Cathy, the sleep deprived intern on Scrubs .... (just the first 1:20)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuAjbXEERjQ

In the last year I have begun my work week by thinking "it is only 5 more days until Friday." I still love my job but the atmosphere around here is simply poisonous and thus draining, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am glad that you get a week more of vacation. I usually have plenty of vacation but this year, due to all the travel back and forth involving parent care, I didn't have enough time for myself.

Might Leaf tea is really good! Hope you have a fabulous, lazy weekend.

Extra unknown holiday/leave .... that can never be a bad thing ! - excellent stuff

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm looking forward to this weekend, and the chance to decompensate decompress, and to get some reading in, especially today. Last night before I conked out I managed to finish Aliss at the Fire, a very good novella by Jon Fosse, which I bought last year when it seemed as though he might win the Nobel Prize for Literature. I've fallen behind on reviews again, so I'll write a few today and tomorrow.

>196 avidmom: Oh, yes; I can relate to the delirious intern! My mother called me on Sunday, between my last night shift and the start of my day shift on Monday, and I was so tired that I was having difficulty speaking in full sentences. My intern year is little more than a blurry memory now, in comparison to my second and third years of residency, but it was also the year that I learned to become a physician.

>197 benitastrnad: Wow. I'm sorry to hear that your workplace is so toxic, Benita. I may dread getting up and going to the hospital, but once I'm there and see the people I work with, and especially the kids and their families, I'm almost always in much better spirits.

I hope that you're able to use more of your vacation time to spend on yourself next year.

>198 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda! I told my colleagues that knew about my brutal two weeks that today was going to be a pajama day, one in which I was going to stay in my PJs for the entire day. I desperately need a haircut, though, so I'll have to go out later today.

>199 roundballnz: Right, Alex. Those extra vacation days, which nearly everyone in my group also received, was especially good news for all of us, and akin to an early Christmas present.

Hooray for soo many extra vacation days Darryl. Does this mean we will have the pleasure of seeing you more often in our beautiful Europe? *grin*

>195 kidzdoc: I am curious what you think about the Frankenstein production. Who is going to be the monster in the one you are going to see?

I have to say you made me seriously curious about your dislike of Herta Müller's work *smile*, as you know I am quite a fan. Well, I got The Passport for my kindle and read both at present. I am only 1/2 way in, but I can see why you don't like this one and if I am not mistaken the other book you read is one of her earlier works as well. Even in German - the book is hard work.

However, I found that the translation is absolutely horrid as the translator was unable to convey the meaning of quite a few essential metaphors, making this an even more difficult read. I also would like to say that this is the first time that I am reading her earlier work. This is a book she has written, whilst still living in Romania and is even more filled with symbolism and metaphors and incredible short sentences. I do believe anyone wanting to get a gist of Herta Müller's writing, should go for one of her newer books, such as The Hunger Angel or The Land of Green Plums.
Someone on LT actually read both Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan in der Welt and The Passport and wrote an excellent review, pointing out quite a few of the translation errors. Here is the link if you should be interested :)
Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan in der Welt/ The Passport

Wishing you a wonderful weekend Darryl.

>202 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca! I made three trips to Europe last year, and I hope to go at least that often in 2015. I do want to return to Spain at least once, to visit Madrid and return to Barcelona.

I have no idea yet who will play the monster and who will be Dr Frankenstein. I'll let you know tomorrow, after I see it.

I had a suspicion that The Passport was poorly translated, or that its metaphors and nuances in German couldn't be adequately expressed in English. It was a painful book to read, as was Nadirs, and I certainly wouldn't call it prose poetry, at least the way it was translated. I found the writing in both books to be choppy, disjointed, overly bleak and largely inscrutable. Reading both books were very unpleasant experiences, and I can't say that I'm eager to read The Hunger Angel or Land of Green Plums anytime soon.

>203 kidzdoc: LOL - Darryl, I believe you that you aren't eager to get back to her anytime soon. I probably wouldn't either, if I would have started with any of her earlier works. *smile* I am glad that I was able to clarify that the unpleasant reading experience may well have been due to the horrible translation.

I am looking forward to your comments on the Frankenstein play.

Yes, for your hopefully at least 3 returns to Europe :)

>204 drachenbraut23: I'll keep The Hunger Angel and Land of Green Plums in my library, and I'll give them a try, although I'm in no rush to do so.

I looked at that review of The Passport, but it's a bit too detailed for me to appreciate right now (it's just past 6:30 am here, and I think I'll go back to sleep for a while).

Happy Saturday, Darryl! Hope you have a fine decompression, filled with plenty of R & R. And hooray for more vacation days. Happy Dance!

Darryl, I wish you a stressfree weekend.

>206 msf59:, >207 Ameise1: Thanks, Mark and Barbara! I hope that you both enjoy your weekends as well.

Have a great weekend, Darryl. Hope you get a well-earned chance to relax. Have you read Michel Faber? I thought Crimson Petal and the White was well done, although not really my cuppa, and now I'm near the end of The Book of Strange New Things.

>209 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Today will be a Pajama Day after all, as I'm almost completely out of it despite a long afternoon nap and a second mug of coffee. The NYT had an article last year about a 24 hour barbershop in Buckhead, which is close to where I live, so I'll make my first visit there tomorrow morning before I see the National Theatre Live rebroadcast of Frankenstein.

I haven't read and don't own anything by Michel Faber. I've heard of The Crimson Petal and the White, but I couldn't tell you anything about it. I'll look for your comments about The Book of Strange New Things.

I'm currently reading Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky, for the Reading Globally fourth quarter theme on post-WWII German literature. The author was born in Russia and moved to Germany as a child, and this coming of age novel is narrated by a precocious and very intelligent teenage orphan, who lives in a dodgy apartment complex with her siblings and other Russian émigrés. Her mother was recently murdered by her stepfather, and she is trying to keep her remaining family together while holding onto her dreams and passions. I've just started it, but I'm enjoying it so far.

>201 kidzdoc: glad you were able to decompress :)
I have a cold today, do last night I had a really early night -Saturday night means nada to me these days anyway ;)
I was in bed at 8pm and started The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer. I read 70 pages or so then that was it for me: lights out (literally and figuratively).

One of the benefits of having a cold was that I was 'allowed' a sleep-in, thanks to my lovely other. And I have since discovered that if I stay in bed long enough, I am delivered a cafe coffee after he took a trip to the shops! Talk about win-win.

>210 kidzdoc: your quick run down on Broken Glass Park makes me very interested! I may have to WL it in time for the Xmas swap season ;) I seem to have many books queueing up lately with 'glass' in the title.

Hi Daryl....just dropping in and skimming through the posts.
Based on your summary of Broken Glass Park, I picked up a copy at B&N this AM with my weekend coupon.

Am currently reading On Immunity by Eula Biss. I'm thinking this is one that you would enjoy.

Here's the NYT review http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/books/review/on-immunity-by-eula-biss.html?_r=...

#210
I have a copy of Broken Glass Park and Hottest Dishes of Tartar Cuisine in my vast library but have not read either of them at this point. I stopped reading Place of Greater Safety in favor of the lighter reading to be found in the Girl of Fire and Thorns series but I will get back to the Hilary Mantell book and likely finish it over Thanksgiving.

Watch out - rain is coming your way. It started raining here about 11:00 a.m. and is giving us a good shower right now. It is a perfect day to get out the hot tea and read.

I've had a very full and productive day so far, even though it's only 2 pm. The 24 hour barbershop I had read about in the NYT in 2012 is still there, and it was open as promised. The barber on duty was sleeping on a sofa when I stopped there at 6:45 am, as no one else was there, but we had a very pleasant conversation at that early hour. I make my usual Sunday morning supermarket run after that, had breakfast at home, and then went to my local arts cinema, which is a five minute drive from home, to see the National Theatre Live rebroadcast of Frankenstein, which was shown at 11 am. We had Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Victor Frankenstein, and they were both superb. The two actors interchanged roles in different performances, and Deborah (@Cariola) mentioned that she had Miller as the Creature and Cumberbatch as Victor Frankenstein. The word must have gotten out about this rebroadcast, as the cinema was 85-90% full, to my delight.

I'll have lunch soon, and then I'll make a batch of oxtail stew with parmesan noodles in my slow cooker afterward.

>211 LovingLit: I finished Broken Glass Park last night. I loved the first 2/3 of it, but I didn't enjoy the ending nearly as much, so I ended up giving it 3½ stars (that may be ½ star too low). It was a very good read, though, and I'll plan to read her second book The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine soon.

I'm sorry that you're under the weather, Megan. I hope that you're feeling better today.

Saturday night means nada to me these days anyway ;)

Welcome to middle age, my dear! When I was in my twenties I looked forward to spending Friday and Saturday nights out with friends or whomever I was dating. Now I look forward to spending those nights with my couch (or my bed) and a good book (or a pillow).

>212 tangledthread: Good move, tangledthread. I have that 20% off coupon from Barnes & Noble as well, but I don't think I'll be going back out today.

I did read that NYT review of On Immunity last month, and that book is at the top of my wish list. I may buy it on Black Friday in NYC or when I go to City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco next month.

>213 benitastrnad: Unfortunately I don't think that I'll read A Place of Greater Safety this year, Benita. I have very heavy November and December schedules, and I was only given off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day over the last 10 or so days of the month (and I'll be working on New Year's Day, at least).

I watched the weather report on WSB when I was in the barbershop this morning, and at that point the forecast had the rain coming to metro Atlanta sometime after midnight. It was sunny this morning when I went into the Midtown Arts Cinema, but when we left the skies were cloudy and very grey. I just looked at the Doppler radar on the WSB web site, and the leading edge of the rain is in Rome, which means that it will probably reach Atlanta in the next 2-3 hours. That's fine with me, as I hadn't planned to go back outside anyway.

This seems like an appropriate song for the day (Gloomy Sunday by Billie Holiday):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUCyjDOlnPU

Such good news on the extra days off! Use them well!

Hooray, glad to hear that you were able to wind down and good that you enjoyed the Frankenstein production with BC as monster.

You went at 06.45 am???? to the Barber? LOL

Wish you a wonderful remaining Sunday Darryl!

>215 connie53: Will do, Connie!

>216 drachenbraut23: Thanks, Bianca. Yesterday was a wind down day, whereas today was a productive one. The oxtail stew is now going in the slow cooker, and mylaundry is done, so there isn't anything else I have to do today (other than call my parents, which I'll do shortly).

I did indeed go to the barber shop at 6:45 am. I usually get my hair cut every 1½ to 2 weeks, to keep it neat, but it had been over three weeks since my last appointment. I am often unable to leave work in time to make it to the barber shop before it closes, and going there on a Saturday morning or afternoon generally means a 1-2 hour wait, as the barber I go to doesn't take appointments. I knew that I would be busy during the morning and afternoon today, and even if I wasn't I thought that the 24 hour barber shop would be packed on a Sunday afternoon, since I'm not aware of any other black barber shops that are open that day (which was confirmed by the barber I saw this morning). So, since I normally wake up early on Sundays to go to the supermarket, I thought I would go to the barber shop first, thinking that there would be few if any other customers there. I was right, and by making that early trip I was able to get a hair cut, go to the supermarket before it got busy (and ran out of oxtails), have breakfast, and make it to my local arts cinema in time for the 11 am showing of Frankenstein. If I waited until the afternoon to get my hair cut I would have either been unable to make oxtail stew in time for dinner, or I would have had to wait in the crowded barber shop for 1-2 hours in the late afternoon or early evening.

As they say, the early bird gets the oxtails.

>217 kidzdoc: Hahaha, Darryl. That last sentences made me smile.

Ah, too bad that Broken Glass Park didn't end better. It does sound intriguing. I think you'd get a lot out of The Book of Strange New Things (I finished); well-written and thought-provoking. I'll try to review it soon.

Are there specific barber shops for black people then? I'm aware of them in big cities here in the UK but had assumed (probably erroneously) that they were for intricate plaits or cornrows, and for longer women's hair? I'm probably showing my extreme ignorance, though of course I knew that a black person's hair needs very different management than a Caucasian type.

Hopefully you'll be over here in Europe a lot with those vacation days, and maybe you'll get to branch out a bit and see some other cities :)

>218 connie53: I'm glad that someone appreciates my silly and absurd sense of humor, Connie. :-)

>219 jnwelch: I think I should change my rating of Broken Glass Park to 4 stars, Joe. I did like it, and I would definitely recommend reading it. For a debut novel it was far above average, and I definitely want to read more by Alina Bronsky.

Thanks for recommending The Book of Strange New Things; I'll be on the lookout for it.

>220 lunacat: Good questions, Jenny; no, they are not ignorant at all! Although they are generally referred to as black barber shops in the US, a more accurate description would be a barber shop that caters to black men. The reason for the distinction is, as you said, the difference in the structure and care of our hair in comparison to straighter hair. I have seen white men with very curly hair at the barber shop I go to, or ones who prefer a style that is in more in keeping with those that black men sport. Likewise, I am certain that there are white barbers who are comfortable cutting black men's hair, or barber shops that employ barbers for all hair types, and if that was the case I would have no problem going to one of them. However, most of us go predominantly if not exclusively to black barber shops, as we know that the barbers will know how to cut our hair correctly and in the way that we want it to be cut. The same generally holds true for beauty salons as well.

I did go to a barber shop in Brixton several years ago during one of my first visits to London, and a Middle Eastern man (Egyptian or Saudi Arabian, I think) gave me a very good haircut. I usually need a hair cut whenever I go to London, so I go to a Jamaican barber who operates a small shop on Balls Pond Road in Islington. He does a good job, but it isn't exactly the style I prefer, so I may go back to the barber shop in Brixton if I can find it.

Yes, I definitely plan to make at least three or four trips to Europe next year, God willing. One trip will definitely be to Madrid and Barcelona, and I do want to visit Edinburgh in the near future. I suppose that I should visit Paris as well.

>214 kidzdoc: middle age, indeed. I was just saying on someone's thread that I was middle aged....39 = half adult/half child :)

Interesting talk of black barber shops. I watched some mindless TV a while ago where the CEO of a hairdresser chain in the Uk went undercover to see why some of her salons were failing. She had Afro-Caribbean hair (according to the programme!) and one of her stores told her they wouldn't/couldn't cut her hair. The voice-over made it sound like they were being incredibly racist and turfing her out, but maybe they left out the part where they had no properly trained hairdresser who could do a decent job on her hair.
Not having been to a hair-dresser for more than 2 years, I couldn't possibly comment (my own hair gets a home hatchet-job periodically- no one ever accused me of being high maintenance!).

>222 LovingLit: Right, Megan. On the surface it may seem like the "segregation" of black barber shops and beauty salons is based on race, but the reality is that it has to do with the structure of our hair. There is no reason that a white barber couldn't learn how to cut our hair, and I have no doubt that there are plenty who do, and, as I mentioned, it isn't unheard of for white men and men of other non-black races to frequent black barber shops.

The cold weather that is affecting the Midwest and the Northeast has also reached the Deep South. It's 24 F (-4 C) in Atlanta at 8 am, and the high for today will only reach 35 F (2 C), with a low of 19 F (-7 C) overnight. We do get weather that is this cold, but it usually comes in January or February, not in mid November.

Off to work...

>223 kidzdoc: That is cold! Sounds like you need to wear your porkpie hat again today!

Brrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! What on earth have you done to deserve that weather!

We are having a stupidly mild autumn again. Autumn has only just started here with night time temperatures of 7-10C and daytime of up to 15C - too warm really as the horses have grown full winter coats and so are boiling now! I'm dreading it staying this mild because it means a horrible amount of rain (which is what the Met Office is predicting) and the ensuing mud is a pain in the ***. So can you send a SMALL amount of the cold this way? If we could keep it just around freezing, that would be great.

Darryl, sorry to hear about the cold weather. We luckily have around 6C here at the moment but the cold is coming over the pond (Atlantic) pretty fast.

>224 Sakerfalcon: I didn't wear my hat to work, because I drove instead of taking the metro (I was on call today from 10 am to 10 pm, but fortunately I was able to leave early). Atlanta tied the all time record for the lowest high temperature for this day (18 November), as we topped out at 37 F (3 C), which is considerably colder than the normal high temperature of 63 F (17 C). For that matter it was even colder than the normal low temperature of 44 F (8 C). After an expected low temperature of 23 F (-5 C) today the temperatures will slowly rebound over the next several days, and reach 70 F (21 C) by Sunday.

>225 lunacat: I blame our Canadian neighbors for these unusually cold temperatures, as the jet stream from northern Canada has extended far further south than it normally would. I don't mind the cold weather, as I got used to it after living in Pittsburgh for four years and visiting my friends in Madison, Wisconsin on a regular basis during the dead of winter, when the low temperatures are routinely in the single digits or below zero Fahrenheit.

The coldest day I've ever experienced was in January 1994, during my first year of medical school at Pitt. That was the coldest recorded day in Pittsburgh's history, with a low temperature of -22 F (-30 C) and a high temperature of -15 F (-26 C). That day was a beautiful Saturday, with bright blue skies and plenty of sun. I needed to go to the bank, so I drove that morning to my nearest branch in Squirrel Hill (one of Pittsburgh's many neighborhoods). The bank was open, although no other customers were there. When I got back in my car I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that I had icicles on the hairs of my mustache, even though my car was parked in an indoor garage in my apartment building and I was able to find a parking spot directly in front of the bank (since no one in their right mind went out that day unless they absolutely had to).

We will gladly send our cold weather to the UK. Don't fault us if the temperatures there drop below freezing, though.

>226 Ameise1: Hopefully the weather there won't be as cold as it has been here, or especially in the Upper Midwest of the US, Barbara.

(Yawn) Off to bed...

Speaking of Wisconsin...when I woke up yesterday morning, the wind chill was sitting at -17F. In November. Gah.

>228 scaifea: Yikes. It was 21 F (-6 C) with a wind chill of 13 F (-10 C) during the 6 am hour as I drove to work this morning. I think the record low for today in Atlanta is 20 F, so we may tie or break that mark.

A wind chill of -17 F in January or February isn't all that unusual for Wisconsin, but I would guess that it's almost unheard of in November. The coldest day I've spent in Madison occurred several years ago, when the air temperature was -17 F (-27 C), and the wind chill was -37 F (-38 C). The Madison school district cancels classes when the wind chill is -35 F or less, so the kids got to stay home that day, although my best friend still had to see patients in Neurology clinic at UW Medical Center.

>229 kidzdoc: Yep, we're used to those sorts of temperatures here (well, as used to them as one can get), but not this early! For the past two days the kids have had indoor recesses because of the temperatures being so low.

O.K.- blame Canada for the cold- but I think that this cold front came from Colorado this time.
We have had snow this week and the weather is very cold- the wind chill is -17 degrees Celsius today- It is supposed to get warmer this weekend.

The winter of 1983-84 was the coldest thing I ever experienced. It snowed on November 5, 1983 and didn't stop snowing until sometime in February of 1984. That was the winter I froze my feet. It was the winter that we went 34 days without the temperature crawling above the freezing mark. It was cold! Chopping ice for the cattle was a real chore and got to the point we used chain saws to cut through the ice. But that was then - this is now, and it was plenty cold here in T-town. Not any records here, but cold none-the-less.

>230 scaifea: I'll bet that Tommy and Mary, my best friends' kids, also had indoor recess the past two days in their school in Madison. I think that they stay inside if the air temperature (or possibly the wind chill) is in the single digits Fahrenheit or less.

>231 torontoc: You may be right, Cyrel. It may be that the last cold front we had a couple of weeks ago came from Canada, but maybe this one can be blamed on Colorado. Let's see...actually, The Weather Channel says that both cold fronts came from Arctic air that originated in Alaska and northern Canada. A third arctic blast is set to strike the US at the end of the week, but that one isn't supposed to extend as far south as the first two (and especially this current one), so maybe we won't get quite as cold next week as we did this week.

We're also supposed to have a warm up this weekend, particularly on Sunday when the high is supposed to reach 70 F (21 C), which is above normal for this time of the year.

>232 benitastrnad: That was a brutal winter, Benita. I had moved back in with my parents to save money while I worked full time and went to college at night. I won't ever forget driving home through 1½ to 2 feet of snow in my 1973 Honda Civic, which was the ultimate rust bucket but ran great in inclement weather. I left work early, when it became obvious that the Nor'easter was going to be much worse than the original forecast suggested, drove about five miles in the wrong direction to pick up my father, whose much nicer car wasn't as good in the snow, and then drove back past my work place and another 6-8 miles around abandoned cars and on treacherous intersections and roads. It took us at least 2-3 hours, but we made it to the house safely.

ETA: Actually, now that I think about it, the Nor'easter in early 1993 was the worst snowstorm I can remember, which shut down the Northeast and Upper Midwest for a week or longer. I was supposed to fly from Newark to Cleveland for an interview at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, but there were no flights going out of any of the major airports (EWR, JFK, PHL, LGA, BOS, BWI, IAD) for days on end. There was also a major snowstorm of 2½ to 3 feet that struck Pittsburgh in January 1994, midway into my first year of medical school, but somehow it wasn't as disruptive as the '93 Nor'easter. If I remember correctly that snow was spread out over several days, so the city's snowplows were able to keep up with the snowfall, although cars on the street were buried and unrecognizable.

>233 kidzdoc: Did you ever make it to CWRU for the interview in 1993? I was in grad school in nursing there at that time. It seems as though it was snowing continuously every winter in Cleveland.

>233 kidzdoc: the Nor'easter in early 1993 was the worst snowstorm I can remember
Me too. I was on maternity leave with a 2-month old and my husband was stuck at work. He worked for WHYY (public television) and was on duty for a fund drive. It was quite a bonding experience for me and my daughter, being housebound for a couple of days.

>234 catarina1: I did make it to Cleveland for the interview at CWRU, two or three weeks later. I was accepted there, and I also received acceptance letters to UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (now Rutgers Medical School), Pitt and UCLA. I liked Pitt the best, though, and after the school offered me a $30,000 scholarship over four years it was an easy decision to accept its offer.

>235 lauralkeet: I'll bet that a lot of people in the Delaware Valley and the Northeast were also snowbound by the 1993 Nor'easter, Laura. I think it took several days for the New Jersey Transit trains to New York to resume regular service, so I couldn't go back to work at NYU for nearly a week if I remember correctly.

The winners of this year's National Book Awards have been announced:

Fiction: Redeployment by Phil Klay
Non-Fiction: Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos
Poetry: Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Gluck
Young People's Literature: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

>237 kidzdoc: Oh yeah! I can't believe Redeployment won! I thought it was terrific. This means a lot more folks will read it. Great!

I'll have to look at the others. Haven't read any of those.

Saw your post on Facebook--how strange (NOT) that Publishers Weekly doesn't make note of it.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/ar...

>227 kidzdoc: with a low temperature of -22 F (-30 C) and a high temperature of -15 F (-26 C).
Woah! I am pretty sure the coldest I have been about in is -10degC. That was the overnight temp and the water froze. Driving during the mid morning down to a wedding that I went to last winter it was about that as well. Hoar frost was over the trees, it was incredible to see.

We had 27degC here today, and I was thinking to myself, Hm. This is a bit too warm. haha, never satisfied!

...oh, and I was just looking at the Lemony Snickett 'joke' on facebook too.
Is the watermelon joke an existing racist joke? Or is it that he was belittling her achievement by telling it? The rest of his speech sounds like it got worse......

It's a stereotype that black people love watermelon - so a "joke" based on her not liking/not being able to eat it is all about the stereotype (thus, racist). It's perfectly possible that it was a funny joke between them - there are lots of jokes that are funny between friends (or family) that are entirely inappropriate in a larger group, especially in a professional one. Bleah.

Darryl, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Another tiring week is in the books, and I'm glad to be off this weekend. I managed to finish The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb just past 11 pm yesterday, then promptly dropped off to sleep before I could catch up here.

>238 jnwelch: I'm glad that you liked Redeployment, Joe. I've added it to my wish list, and I'll look for it next week.

>239 ronincats: If anyone hasn't heard by now, children's book author Daniel Handler, who is better known by his pen name Lemony Snicket, was the master of ceremonies at this week's National Book Awards. African-American author Jacqueline Woodson's book Brown Girl Dreaming was chosen as this year's winner of the NBA for Young People's Literature, a prize that Mr Handler has not yet won. After the announcement, Handler went on to make a series of racist jokes in front of the audience about Woodson in particular, who is reportedly allergic to watermelon, a ?fact that Handler found too funny to keep to himself, and African-Americans. His comments were mentioned in tweets by several authors who were in the audience, most notably Roxane Gay and Laila Lalami, along with selected media outlets, which apparently did not include the author of that Publisher's Weekly article (maybe she thought the "jokes" were funny as well).

To his credit (or at least his embarrassment) Handler has made a public apology. I'd say that it's a bit too late for that, and I suspect that it has more to do with damage control than regret. I don't read children's or YA literature, since I don't have kids, but I did purchase the Kindle edition of Brown Girl Dreaming, and I'll plan to read it next month.

>240 LovingLit: I misspoke a wee bit about that day in Pittsburgh, due to my faulty memory. The morning low that day was -22 F, but it was a brilliantly sunny day and the high temperature that day approached but didn't make it to 0 F (I think it was -2 or -3 F). I now remember that -15 F was the temperature on the electric sign outside of the bank when I arrived there that morning. That is the coldest temperature that I've been outside, although I did peek my head out the front door of my friends' house in Madison, Wisconsin on the morning that the air temperature was -17 F and the wind chill was -37 F.

>241 LovingLit: Is the watermelon joke an existing racist joke? Or is it that he was belittling her achievement by telling it? The rest of his speech sounds like it got worse......

Yes, the watermelon stereotype of blacks in the US has been around for over 100 years. Blacks were often portrayed by racist whites as being lazy, simple minded fools who would do nothing but eat fried chicken and watermelon if they could get away with it. I suspect that most African-Americans, including myself, have been the victim of a watermelon joke by racist whites, or clueless liberal ones like Daniel Handler. I would like to think that Handler wasn't intentionally belittling Ms Woodson, but that comment and the subsequent ones make me think that he was. I suspect that jealousy had something to do with it, since none of his popular children's books have won a National Book Award or any other major literary prize, and he used a public forum to smear her, and other African-Americans.

>242 jjmcgaffey: It's perfectly possible that it was a funny joke between them - there are lots of jokes that are funny between friends (or family) that are entirely inappropriate in a larger group, especially in a professional one.

I don't think I buy this explanation. Anyone who has ever tried to "humor" me with a watermelon joke has been met with a withering look, or a comment that can't be repeated in a public setting. I liken this watermelon joke to making a rape joke in the presence of a woman who was the victim of a sexual assault, or a Holocaust joke in the presence of a Jewish person. It's completely unacceptable, in private or public, and someone as supposedly intelligent as Handler should know better.

Most African-Americans are fully aware that some whites don't believe themselves to be racist, based on their liberal beliefs, and that this gives them carte blanche to make comments such as the ones Handler made without retribution. My parents taught me that everyone who smiles in your face is not always your friend, and Handler is certainly no friend of Ms Woodson.

>243 Ameise1: Happy weekend to you too, Barbara! I'll mainly stay inside these next two days, especially tomorrow when we're supposed to have rain and possibly severe thunderstorms.

Hmm, how disappointing that people still find it acceptable to make jokes about the most unfunny of topics. I'll admit I had no idea about the watermelon connotations and so wouldn't have understood what the joke was trying (and failing) to do......I guess that specific phrasing of racism never made it over here. But I certainly won't be reading any of his books now, and I hope it comes round to bite him in true karma style. I fear it won't, but we can but hope.

Reminds me somewhat of the recent situation with the scientist who landed the probe (is that what it was) on the comet, and dressed in a shirt with scantily clad women on it. I didn't find that particularly offensive and just shrugged my shoulders, but what I did find disturbing was a meme that compared women protesting against sexual assault - dressed in short skirts and bras - to the man wearing the shirt and suggesting that because he'd managed to do amazing things in the field of science, somehow that excused him for an ill-judged choice of clothing?! Hitler did amazing things - horrific yes, but incredible the power he was able to employ and the scope of his 'accomplishments', as do all dictators. But that doesn't make his actions right. Since when was being good at something a get-out clause for mistakes you make?!

Maybe it's because I'd like to think of myself as not sexist, and not racist, that I simply don't understand these people.........

>244 kidzdoc: maybe she thought the "jokes" were funny as well
Maybe more a matter of aversion to controversy.

>245 kidzdoc: I don't think I buy this explanation.
I don’t particularly either. I’d guess that "And she said, 'You put it in a book.'" was a polite dismissal and he remained oblivious.

>246 lunacat: recent situation with the scientist who landed the probe (is that what it was) on the comet, and dressed in a shirt with scantily clad women on it
It’s not one guy in one shirt that’s a problem; at that level it’s shruggable offable as personal idiosyncrasy. In a context of why don’t more women want to be engineers, it becomes a symbol. I feel kinda sorry for the guy, while also thinking that the shirt should’ve been called out as inappropriate.

On a lighter note, I saw this a couple days ago and thought of Darryl:
http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/skeletons-famous-cartoon-characters

>245 kidzdoc: making a rape joke in the presence of a woman who was the victim of a sexual assault
I was going to say "making a rape joke in front of any woman," but actually, rape isn't funny, ever.
For that matter, neither are watermelon or Holocaust jokes.

I understand the point you're making Darryl, I just think we ought to go one step farther and cry foul on this type of humor in general.

Hi Darryl,
just stopping by to wish you a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

>217 kidzdoc: well, now I understand why you would go THAT early to the hairdressers. Also, I didn't realize that you need that often a haircut to keep your short hair tidy. *sigh* I still haven't found a hairdresser here in London who seems to be able to cut my short hair the way I like it. As you know I prefer the "boy cut" style and they seem to have serious difficulties in achieving this here :(. As my hair grows really fast, I actually start looking like what I call "The Einstein" look. LOL. My hair is sticking up in all directions and has become almost untamable.

>246 lunacat: I am on the same line as Jenny. When I read this on fb, I didn't quite understand what it was about and I actually had to google it. However, once I understood this joke and re-read what this - sorry - idiot said, I just felt utterly appalled by his speech and I agree with you. Sorry, to late for an apology and I am not convinced that he means it, especially not after his lengthy disgusting speech. I read the first book in his series and quite enjoyed it, the second I abandoned 1/2 way through as it was repetetive, predictable and boring. I never could get Alex to read them at all.

I am still reading Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan in der Welt The Passport and have to admit I seriously struggle with it. I loved her Hunger Angel and Herztier, but find this novella incredible difficult.

>246 lunacat: Right, Jenny. I cannot fathom what made Handler think that "jokes" like the ones he told would be funny, to himself or to a diverse and intelligent audience. I suspect that he'll continue to make loads of money from his books, despite his thoughtless and insensitive comments.

I couldn't help but image myself as Ms Woodson, in the company of family and friends on what should have been one of the best days of my life, only to have it tarnished and smeared by the comments of a racist chucklehead.

I hadn't heard about that scientist (Dr Matt Taylor) and his ridiculous shirt. I just saw it and read an article accompanying it. I would have been shocked and offended, as a male, if someone wore that shirt to any place of work, and I can't believe that any intelligent person would have purchased a shirt like that, or thought that wearing it to work would be appropriate, especially on a day when he would have appeared in front of the media. What a clueless idiot!

The meme you mentioned is just as idiotic, if not more so, than his choice of that shirt.

Since when was being good at something a get-out clause for mistakes you make?!

Clearly the Daniel Handlers and Matt Taylors of the world think, or at least until this week thought, that this was the case for themselves.

Maybe it's because I'd like to think of myself as not sexist, and not racist, that I simply don't understand these people.........

There are some racist and sexist behaviors that I can understand (though not condone) more than other ones. I'm not a perfect person, and sometimes I'm not a very good one, and I'd be lying to myself and to you if I said that I have never expressed any racist or sexist comments, or held any such thoughts.

>247 qebo: Maybe more a matter of aversion to controversy.

True. That's a much more likely possibility.

I’d guess that "And she said, 'You put it in a book.'" was a polite dismissal and he remained oblivious.

I agree completely. Clearly he was completely tone deaf to her subtle comment and couldn't help but share the "joke" with his audience.

It’s not one guy in one shirt that’s a problem; at that level it’s shruggable offable as personal idiosyncrasy. In a context of why don’t more women want to be engineers, it becomes a symbol.

Absolutely spot on. In the late 1980s I worked as a chemical engineering technician in a department that had recently hired three young women engineers, all of whom were close friends of mine. They had to put up with almost nonstop sexist comments, prejudice, and harassment from a sizable minority of the men in the department, and the comments that the guys made about them in their absence were abhorrent. My female colleagues, as I may have said previously, experience sexism on an all too regular basis in the hospital, by our male colleagues who don't show them, especially the younger ones, the same respect that they give to me, and particularly by families, some of whom can't quite grasp that women can be physicians and often confuse them with nurses even though we wear bright green cards behind our name tags that say "Doctor" on them. (Sometimes these families will confuse me for a respiratory therapist, but that usually only happens the first time that I meet them, not on subsequent encounters as they do for my female partners and colleagues.)

I don't feel the least bit sorry for that schmuck, or for Daniel Handler.

>248 qebo: Ha! I saw that earlier this week, as I also get Facebook posts from I Fucking Love Science. I tried to guess the identity of the skeletons before I looked to see who they were supposed to represent. Very clever!

>249 lauralkeet: I understand the point you're making Darryl, I just think we ought to go one step farther and cry foul on this type of humor in general.

Well said, Laura. I completely agree with you. To be fair, I also dislike the anti-white comments and jokes that some prominent African-Americans make publicly, and I strongly disagree with the sentiment that some of us have that blacks can't be racists, since we're in the minority in this country. If we expect to be treated without racial bias then we should be held accountable for any racist comments that we make.

>250 drachenbraut23: Happy weekend to you too, Bianca!

Yes, because of its short length I (and other men who sport haircuts like mine) need to get it cut every two weeks or so. The nape of my neck becomes uneven and unsightly after more than two weeks, and the hair on the parietal areas of my scalp grows far more slowly than the hair on the top and the sides, so it looks uneven after a couple of weeks as well. I would imagine that many if not most professional men get haircuts at least every month, if not more often.

I wonder if you would be better off going to a barber instead of to a hair dresser. I've seen women who sport short hair styles get their hair cut at the barbershops I go to, for that reason.

I agree with you about Handler's comments. I think he meant to be hurtful, especially after he told the watermelon joke about Ms Woodson, and that's why I don't feel the least bit sorry for him.

I'm sorry that you're struggling with The Passport, but your difficulty with it validates my own problems reading it. Based on your recommendation I will read The Hunger Angel next month; I have a holiday theme based idea for a TIOLI challenge for December, and that book would fit in it.

I understand the point you're making Darryl, I just think we ought to go one step farther and cry foul on this type of humor in general. Well said, Laura. Hear, hear!

You're probably right (general response). I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes too much - and also "do not attribute to malice what can be sufficiently explained by stupidity". I don't know either Handler or Woodson, or their relationship, so it's POSSIBLE it was an acceptable joke between them - but probably not, and it was certainly not acceptable in any public venue (like, more than the two of them). No idea if Handler was motivated by malice or simple stupidity (obliviousness), either.

His apology was better than a lot I've seen recently (as was Shirt Guy's) - but I'm not sure if that's because some PR people have finally noticed all the careful explaining of "how to apologize/how not to apologize" that has followed previous debacles, or because they actually felt remorse and wanted to give a good apology.

And I definitely agree that calling foul on such matters is a good idea, and should become the norm until people stop doing such stupid things.

>254 jjmcgaffey: I also like to give people the benefit of the doubt, Jennifer, especially when they are accused of being racist, sexist or anti-Semitic. However, in my heart I can't excuse or accept Handler's watermelon joke as being a simple faux pas, especially when he followed it with more racist statements.

I would like to think that his apology was a sincere one, but I have no doubt that his agent and other PR types told him that he had to do it ASAP.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised to learn that he's from San Francisco. I've felt more hostility from whites whenever I've visited there, considerably more so than I've noticed in Atlanta, NYC, Philadelphia and London. I've read that Bay Area liberals aren't as racially sensitive as those in other regions of the country, which I suspect is due in part to the lack of middle-class African Americans who can afford to live there, and the progressive flight of people of color from the city, and that's one reason why I don't visit SF as often as I used to.