Joe's Book Cafe 24

Art by Diego Rivera

Welcome back to the cafe!

American Author Challenge 2015

January: Carson McCullers - Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories
Feburary: Henry James - Turn of the Screw
March: Richard Ford - The Sportswriter
April: Louise Erdich - The Round House
May: Sinclair Lewis - Babbitt
June: Wallace Stegner - Where the Bluebird Sings
July: Ursula K. LeGuin (read tons of hers) - Isabel Wilkerson The Warmth of Other Suns
August: Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove
September: Flannery O'Connor (read enough) Chaim Potok The Promise
October: Ray Bradbury - (read tons of his) Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffany's
November: Barbara Kingsolver - Bean Trees
December: E.L. Doctorow - World's Fair

British Author Challenge 2015

January: Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
February: Evelyn Waugh - Scoop
March: Daphne Du Maurier - Jamaica Inn
April: Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
May: Margaret Drabble/Martin Amis - Jane Gardam The Man in the Wooden Hat
June: Anthony Burgess - Nothing Like the Sun
July: Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway or another if I've read that one already
August: Iris Murdoch - The Bell
September: Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
October: David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
November: William Boyd - Restless
December: Hilary Mantel - A Place of Greater Safety, and maybe a Wodehouse for fun

Favorites from 2013

Top 5

1. Longbourn by Jo Baker
2. Benediction by Kent Haruf
3. Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
4. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
5. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley

Second Five

6. The Greater Journey by David McCullough
7. Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa'Thiong'o
8. Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
9. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
10. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Favorite Graphic Novel: The Nao of Brown

Three that were hard to keep off the list: Housekeeping, Song of the Lark, and How the Light Gets In

2014 American Author Challenge (kudos to Mark)

Willa Cather- January The Professor's House
Alice Walker- February The Color Purple
Cormac McCarthy - March The Orchard Keeper
Toni Morrison- April Sula
Eudora Welty- May The Optimist's Daughter
Kurt Vonnegut- June Cat's Cradle (re-read)
Mark Twain- July Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Philip Roth- August The Ghost Writer
James Baldwin- September Notes of a Native Son
Edith Wharton- October Ethan Frome
John Updike- November The Witches of Eastwick
Larry Watson- December Let Him Go

Life-changers

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - opened my eyes to so many creative possibilities, including wordplay
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury - got me believing in school again after a soon-to-be favorite teacher assigned it
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White - took a typical self-centered kid out of himself and got me thinking about others; broke my heart for the first time, too
James Wright Collected Poems - midwestern poet caught me and fueled a lifelong interest in poetry
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - read it way post-college and got walloped; started lifelong Austen fandom

Dune by Frank Herbert - got me excited about the possibilities of science fiction, and thinking about environmental effects
Dr. Strange by Stan Lee and others - this hokey, mystical comic book was my favorite as a kid, and fueled my lifelong graphic fandom
Future Shock by Alvin Toffler - he took on emerging issues like economic disparities, overpopulation and pollution; trying to look into the future fascinated me
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami - my entry into his world that started me on lifelong fandom
Remember, Be Here Now by Ram Dass - matched my youthful hippiness perfectly, still working on some of its ideas

The Chosen by Chaim Potok - for the first time, got me enthralled by lives very different from my own
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki - what a mensch this man was; still the best on this subject I've read
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder - made me a fan of both Paul Farmer and author Tracy Kidder, and got me involved with Partners in Health
T.S. Eliot Selected Poems - bowled me over, so I felt like a patient, etherized upon a table; got the complete works later
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse - fueled my appreciation of the absurd and started a lifelong fandom for this author

2014 Books

January

1. Mad Mouse by Chris Grabenstein
2. A Conspiracy of Faith by Jussie Adler-Olsen
3. Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb
4. The Professor's House by Willa Cather
5. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb
6. Die Trying by Lee Child
7. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
8. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
9. Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
10. Japantown by Barry Lancet
11. View with a Grain of Sand by Wislawa Szymborska
12. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
13. High Heat by Lee Child

February

14. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
15. Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
16. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
17. Cress by Marissa Meyer
18. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
19. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
20. Stone Cold by C.J. Box
21. The Martian by Andy Weir
22. Necessity's Child by Sharon Lee

March

23. The Orchard Keeper by Cormac McCarthy
24. Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
25. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
26. My Dungeon Shook by Danez Smith
27. Black Boy Suite Black Boy Sweet by Danez Smith
28. Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D.E. Stevenson
29. Little Green by Walter Mosley
30. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
31. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
32. A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Why We Read Jane Austen, edited by Susannah Carson
33. Dream London by Ian Ballantyne
34. Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
35. Treachery in Death by J.D. Robb
36. Our Friends from Frolix 8 by Philip K. Dick
37. Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes

April

38. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb
39. Refusing Heaven by Jack Gilbert
40. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
41. Sula by Toni Morrison
42. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
43. Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb
44. William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher
45. To Darkness and To Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming
46. Vagabond Vol. 35 by Takehiko Inoue
47. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor
48. Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb
49. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor
50. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

May

51. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (re-read)
52. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
53. Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb
54. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
55. Hexed by Kevin Hearne
56. The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill
57. Graveyard of Memories by Barry Eisler
58. Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
59. The Graphic Canon Vol. 1 by Russ Kirk
60. Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson
61. The Boy in His Winter by Norman Lock
62. Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson
63. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

June

64. This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki
65. Skin Game by Jim Butcher
66. Scaramouche by Raphael Sabatini
67. Redeployment by Phil Klay
68. Agent Zigzag by Ben Macyntyre
69. The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
70. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
71. Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson
72. Aimless Love by Billy Collins
73. Shots Fired by C.J. Box
74. Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb
75. The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
76. The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan

July

77. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
78. Solanin by Inio Asano
79. As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson
80. Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan
81. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
82. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
84. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
85. Incarnadine by Mary Szybist
86. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
87. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
88. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor
89. Any Other Name by Craig Johnson

August

90. Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
91. We were Liars by E. Lockhart
92. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
93. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
94. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
95. Personal: A Jack Reacher Story by Lee Child
96. Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made by David Halberstam
97. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
98. The Ghost Writer by Phillip Roth
99. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
100. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr

September

101. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
102. Open Season by Archer Mayor
103. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
104. Bitch in a Bonnet by Robert Rodi
105. Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout
106. Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie
107. The Last Policeman by Ben Winters
108. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
109. Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
110. Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King

October

111. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
112. Daunt Books Children's Short Story Competition 2014 with an intro by Marcus Sedgwick
113. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
114. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
115. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
116. Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
117. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
118. The Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen
119. The River by Gary Paulsen
120. Angelica's Smile by Andrea Cammileri
121. Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan
122. Washington Square by Henry James
123. Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen
124. Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson
125. Three in Death by J.D. Robb
126. Countdown City by Ben Winter
127. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
128. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

November

129. Aya The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet
130. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
131. Blue Horses by Mary Oliver
132. Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky
133. The Fourth Secret by Andrea Camilleri
134. The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
135. A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
136. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
137. Tricked by Alex Robinson
138. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Am I first? :)

I like the style of third picture, but the second isn't showing... :(

Now all we need is some food here and we're good to go.

Wonderful Rivera paintings. Thanks a lot for posting them. Happy New Thread, Joe.

Great a newly renovated Cafe :) Love the pics from Rivera Diego, but unfortunately can't see the top one.

You know I looked at the pictures and thought this is odd I have never seen these paintings by Frieda Kahlo - LOL - well, there you can see that they actually did inflluence each other quite a bit.

Yes, I would love to have a coffee and some paincakes with fruit if possible :)

Hi Joe, I was just catching up on your last thread, and it was so nice to read that your wife (with the lovely reading voice) read the Harry Potter books to you and the kids. I am reading Wilbur The Magician's Nephew right now. I have to 'make it happen' though as he resists, right up to the point that I am actually reading it, and then he seems to really like it. I love it when, a few pages after the fact, he questions me on something odd and not a huge part of the story. It is sweet, and shows what his focus is on.

The Rivera with the hats, looks scarily like a younger version of our Prime minister!

>1 jnwelch: great art as usual, Joe. I'm educated more and more with each thread. And I too first thought of Frieda Kahlo!

I'm suffering with what I think is a major allergy attack. I can't seem to stop sneezing. I can't wait for a really hard frost to quiet down all the various organisms that make me miserable.

>8 ffortsa: I sympathize, I get those "sneezing fits". I had one last week, at work. I took 1/2 a Zyrtek, it helped a little. So I took the second half, and yet I still was sneezing/dripping/etc.

When I got home, the Flonase did the trick, and the next day I was fine. I don't like to take medicine, but sometimes it's necessary.

>3 fuzzi: Way to go, fuzzi! I went to the library after posting the starters, so thanks for your patience.



Is the second pic up top still not showing? It's there on mine.

>4 lunacat: How about cupcakes, Jenny?

>5 Ameise1: You're welcome, Barbara. My pleasure. Thanks for visiting the new place!

>6 drachenbraut23: Hi, Bianca. I hadn't thought about it, but I can see the influence on each other, too, Rivera and Kahlo. What a pair!

Not sure why there's trouble with them showing up on screens. Is the top one still not there for you?

Let's see, coffee, pancakes, fruit, okay:

>10 jnwelch: Meh, not a huge fan of cupcakes. I particularly dislike butter frosting, so perhaps something else my dear sir?

And nope, still no second picture.

Happy New Thread, Joe!

Happy New Thread Joe!

I've had an interesting Saturday for sure; went to a vernissage at a nearby and really well known local commercial gallery and met the artist who is a friend of a friend of a friend who and also as it turns out, is a neighbour, and has invited me to go over to his place to show him my recent work for constructive critique. He happens to be a hermit like me. Who would have though? Seems I have Coco to thank for breaking the ice!

I'll admit I'm not a great Diego Rivera fan I'm afraid, though to each his/her own of course. I'm more intrigued by Frida Kahlo's work, though wouldn't want it in my home; much too disturbing!

>7 LovingLit: Ha! Your prime minister might try wearing a hat like that - might help his popularity?

The Magician's Nephew! Oh, that got me started on the Narnia series, and I'll never forget it. Our parents had taken us to a boring "grownup" party, and I found a little room with lots of books in it, including The Magician's Nephew. Needless to say, I got sucked right in, and had a wonderful time. I don't remember their finding me, but they probably were happy I'd kept myself quiet and out of trouble. What a spell that series casts. I'm glad your son is enjoying your reading it to him, even if he's sometimes reluctant at the start.

Yes, that was a remarkable experience, having Madame MBH read all seven Harry Potters to us. We'll never forget it, any of us. We still laugh that, a couple of times, she was so tired that she fell asleep while reading to us - but kept reading! Just in a language none of us had ever heard before. :-)

>8 ffortsa: Thanks, Judy. We were just talking about Diego Rivera and his murals last weekend, so that brought him to mind. I see the Kahlo connection; in art as in life, I guess, right?

Oh, sorry to hear about the sneezing. A good sneeze can be a big relief, but too many has got to be annoying. I know the frost and cold weather helps our daughter's allergies, too. It's a comin', that's for sure. We're supposed to have a lot of snow next week. We'll see - they're so often wrong in these predictions.

>9 fuzzi: Yes, sometimes that medicine is necessary, fuzzi, you're right. Zyrtec has helped our clan when there's too much coughing, sneezing and runny eyes going on. I don't know Flonase, but it must be another good one.

>12 lunacat: Weird about the second painting, Jenny. Maybe emptying your cache? I'll look at it tomorrow and see whether there's anything I can change. (We're leaving for the ball game soon).

Not like cupcakes? Oh my goodness. One of life great pleasures for us.

I'll probably manage to come up with something else you don't like, but let's give it a try. How about some bread pudding?



>13 scaifea: Thanks, Amber! How's the Shaun Tan reading going?

>14 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana. Sorry you're not a Rivera fan; I love his work. We got to see some in person in Mexico when I was a kid. That top one is new to me, and I love the looseness of it.

A vernissage? What an excellent word. New to me. We've gotten into museum exhibits for a private showing before the public, but not a gallery show. Sounds like, with Coco's help, you met a kindred spirit - how great!

I'm going to give up on the Updike, btw. You were smart to avoid reading him. I rarely give up on a book, but 100 pages of The Witches of Eastwick was plenty for me.

Happy new thread, Joe! I can't see the second picture, either. And I gave up on the Updike, too, Joe - I made it just about as far as you did, and felt very proud of myself for not throwing it. I mean it is the library copy after all.

Happy New Thread, Joe! Love the Rivera toppers! Love that splash of color. Glad you enjoyed the bookstore and the book signing.

Sorry the Updike, didn't cut it. Hey, you gave it a generous shot. I respect that. I did read that one but it has been over 25 years, so I can't really can't defend it.

Nice new thread. Great Art! New vocabulary word: vernissage. I loved learning it. And good food, of course. Happy Weekend.

Still can't see the second picture here, Joe. :(

I just finished my second Alistair MacLean, and recommend his works. I'll definitely be looking for more.

I like bread pudding, yum!

A new branch of the cafe. Excellent art choices, Joe (except I can't see the second one, either).

See you soon!

It is true, the second picture continues to not show up, here. *sad face*

I'm getting to quite like the empty box and the broken landscape though, it's strangely meditative.

Hola amigo! Love the artwork up top.

Hi Joe, no second picture for me too!

I like a piece of the bread pudding! It looks delicious and I skipped dessert!

Love the Diego Rivera selections!

Looking forward to the meet-up tomorrow!

Oh, as I was just telling Mark, we watched Snowpiercer yesterday and it was quite good. I look forward to hearing your thoughts if you watch it.

I love the Rivera paintings! He's been a favorite of mine, ever since I wrote a report on him for Spanish, back in High School,.

Back from a most excellent time with Madame MBH in the Andersonville area of Chicago . Breakfast at the Bongo Room, reading and writing at the Kopi cafe, poking around the shops, including Women and Children First, a great bookstore here.

>17 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! Not sure why that's happening for some with the second painting, but it's a famous one, so I'll swap it out for another version when done catching up.

Ha! I'm very proud of you for not throwing the Updike, too, Mamie. A library copy, I understand, Very thoughtful of you. :-)

Jeesh, the guy had talent, I just wish he wrote about something worth reading. Everybody sleeping with everyone else gets old surprisingly quickly, doesn't it? I can't remember the last time I didn't finish a book; it's been quite a while.

Well, you and I are on the same wavelength, as usual. I've moved on to Gracefully Grayson, Madame MBH's latest fave, and so far I like it very much. And I finished Mary Oliver's Blue Horses, which was muy excelente. What are you reading now?

>18 msf59: Thanks, buddy! It's been a good weekend for bookstores - we were at Women and Children first today, after the Book Stall yesterday. Picked up *mmphmuhmmph* for Madame MBH, who reads this thread and shall know nothing.

I gave it my best with the Updike, Mark. As I said to Mamie, with that talent, I just wish he found something better to write about. Even the Rabbit books didn't grab me. Oh well. It's been a great year with the AAC, thank you very much, and I know I'll like the Larry Watson next month.

>19 maggie1944: Happy Weekend, Karen, and Happy Hawaii Eve! Thanks - I'm glad you like the Riveras. I know, vernissage is probably used all the time in Ilana's world, but I loved learning it, too.

>20 fuzzi: Try the second painting now, fuzzi. I swapped out the previous version. Maybe that site does some blocking? I'm hoping it shows up now.

I loves some bread pudding, too. With any luck, Jenny also will. We'll see.

Alistair Maclean - intriguing. Not an author I've tried. Which ones do you like? What grabbed you?

>21 EBT1002: Ha! Thanks, Ellen. See you soon! We hung a new second painting; fingers crossed.

>22 maggie1944: Hope it's changed to a happy face, Karen. Does the new second painting show up for you?

>23 lunacat: As we used to say, Jenny, it was a lovely painting of a white cat in the snow. I'm hoping you see a woman with lots of lilies now. How was the bread pudding?

>24 luvamystery65: Hola, amiga! Thanks - you're in the right part of the country to appreciate that art. You're probably basking in 60s and 70s F these days, right?

>25 connie53: Oh, that bread pudding grabs me, too, Connie. We are completely out of anything sweet in this healthy house of ours. Must do something about that . . .

>26 DorsVenabili: Looking forward to the meetup tomorrow, too, Kerri! I'm glad you love those Diego Riveras; me, too, big surprise. I haven't seen Snowpiercer the movie, although I want to very much, but I can talk about the graphic novel. Very intriguing - and there's a sequel I'm going to get from the library.

Have you seen the sci-fi one with Emily Blunt and *ahem* Tom Cruise? I want to see that one, too.

>27 banjo123: Oh, good, Rhonda. Excellent subject for a report in Spanish. I can't even remember what I did a report on, but whatever it was, Diego Rivera would've been a better choice. As I mentioned, we traveled in Mexico when I was a wee lad, and got to see some of his work there.

>30 jnwelch: Is that the one called Edge of Tomorrow? I know nothing about, but just Googled it. Have you heard good things?

Yup, I can now see a woman with lilies. Clearly my art appreciation needs some work as I think I preferred the white cat in snow ;)

The bread pudding is better than the cupcakes, if only because I could eat all of it rather than scraping off the topping. I assume it's something like the bread and butter pudding we have here?



If it's not, I'll have cupcakes like this please:

>32 DorsVenabili: Yes, that's it, Kerri, The Edge of Tomorrow. It got a lot of positive reviews, but made most of its money abroad, I think. We love Emily Blunt - The Adjustment Bureau (a fave of ours), Dan in Real Life, Salmon Fishing in Yemen, Looper, she's great.

Madame MBH is willing to give it a try, so we'll probably Netflix it soon.

>33 lunacat: I haven't had "bread and butter pudding", Jenny, despite a number of trips to England over the years, but it sure sounds similar to bread pudding. Bread pudding is supposedly popular in the U.K., where I have had it, and it sure is here. We love rice pudding, too. A diner here called the Busy Bee (since fallen by the wayside) used to make some of the best rice pudding in the city.



You'd have to work hard to come up with a cupcake I didn't like. Those look delish to me. :-)

Hmm, I haven't come up with a definitive difference between bread pudding, and bread-and-butter pudding, other than the latter appears to be soggier (wow, doesn't that make it sound appetising) and with it's own moisture thanks to copious amounts of milk, and the bread being buttered before making. You'd certainly not want to put any kind of syrup or sauce onto bread-and-butter pudding, we usually have it with cream or ice cream to cut through the gorgeous, gooey, fat filled decadence.

My housemate, J, has made it with stale croissants as well. And even with left over doughnuts. Too good.

Oh! Bread pudding made with croissants! Heavenly sounding. I do like it with raisins, too.

Yes, Joe, I do see art #2 now, and it is lovely. As is so many of the postings on your thread.

Here you are Joe



Bossche bollen with a cherry on top!

Whipped cream in side puff pastry with chocolate dripping!

Hi Joe.
Not a big pudding fan, but feel compelled to mention the recipe for bread pudding that is in Nora Ephron's book Heartburn. Quite decadent as I recall it.

>35 lunacat: I don't have a bucket list, but I'm thinking about creating a food bucket list. Bread and butter pudding is now on it. Gorgeous gooey fat-filled decadence? I'm in! In modest, thoughtful portions, of course. (My wife reads this thread!)

>36 maggie1944: Yeah, bread pudding made with croissants sounds awfully good, doesn't it, Karen? Maybe I'll create a bread pudding bucket list. The possibilities seem worthy.

Ah, good, I think we've solved the painting #2 problem. Glad you like it and the rest. This is fun for me - a chance to revisit so many favorites.

>37 connie53: Ah, thank you, Connie. How did you know? :-) Those look and sound pretty amazing. Madame MBH is a major chocolate fan, and will probably out-wrestle me for a couple of those.

>38 Fourpawz2: Hi, Charlotte. Good to see you! You know, I'm not actually a big pudding fan either, but for me bread pudding and rice pudding are in a different category. Maybe I'm making that up, but I like those two a lot, and otherwise don't normally go for pudding. Hmm, Nora Ephron Heartburn recipe, can we find it? Time for our masters of google-fu to show their stuff?

Well, this supposedly is it, and Nora apparently called it "caramelized mush", does that sound right? Here we go:

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 loaf good bread, torn in chunks (e.g. challah)
1 cup raisins
6 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons vanilla

What to do:

With an electric mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well mixed and add the eggs one at a time. Add the milk with the mixer on low then add all the remaining ingredients except the bread. Remove from the mixer and and then dump in the torn bread. Mix briefly and carefully.
Pour into a large buttered casserole dish. Bake in a 350° oven for 2 hours.
Stir thoroughly from bottom to top, including the sides, after the first hour.
Serve with cream, although it is rich enough to eat all by itself- the cream actually breaks up the sweetness.
This is really rich and serves perhaps 8-10.

How's that?

Yup, that's it exactly. This non-pudding fan thought it was quite good.

>30 jnwelch: Joe this is my favorite time of year weather wise in Texas. Patio dining time. Yes, for real.

I love the artwork of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The colors are extraordinary. If I didn't live in a place with such a fanatical (almost fascist) HOA my mother's prediction of me living in a house that looked like a piñata, inside and out, would have long ago come true. ;-)

>37 connie53: Wow! The Dutch sure know how to eat awesome snacks and sweets! Good thing they are mostly tall because I would be very wide if I lived in the Netherlands!

>40 Fourpawz2: Score! It's wonderful when the google-fu comes through. Thanks, Charlotte.

>41 luvamystery65: "Patio dining time". Le sigh. Oh, that sounds most excellent. We stowed away the outdoor chairs today, and got out the ice scrapers and snow shovels. Maybe we haven't thought this all through the way we should. Good thing we love this city.

I think the colors of Rivera and Kahlo are extraordinary, too. Very earthy, but so vivid at the same time. Ha! Love the idea of your piñata house. I hope you get to try it some day. We have lots of local art, and art from our travels, in our house.

You're right about the Dutch treats, and now that you mention it, those Dutch I've met have mostly been tall, and not wide. That wedding we were at in LA, where our niece married her Dutch beau, fits with that. So do my memories of Amsterdam from back in the last century. Wouldn't that be great - awesome snacks and sweets, and no excessive width?

Hi Joe! We are back from our beer adventures! Now, we are home, with pizza and a upcoming football game. Go Bears!!

So is it a well known fact that whatever you eat in the Netherlands, particularly Amsterdam, you won't put on weight? Why is this diet plan not more widely known, and why are the celebrities not all living there in order to avoid being hounded by the media for putting on half a pound?

I've been to Amsterdam once, but I recall very little about it given that I was only about 5 at the time. My mum and dad never forgot it though. It was an overnight ferry crossing and I got very very little sleep because of the excitement of it all, and they hadn't brought a buggy with them because I was perfectly happy walking long distances. I was NOT happy to do so when so tired.

So they both, but generally my dad, spent most of the day carrying a sleeping five year old around in his arms and trying to see the sights at the same time. I recall waking briefly to look at a ship, and again to see some dollhouses in a museum but that's about all. My mum says they never regretted anything quite as much as not taking a buggy with them for that outing ;)

Come to think of it, my mum always left things behind at inopportune moments. We were on holiday when I was nine and had gone to the beach, and for the first time she didn't pack a full change of clothes for me, figuring that she never used them and I was old enough not to require them for any reason. Well, my dad and I's wave chasing went a little wrong, and my mum (who was having a quick nap in the car) looked up to see an absolutely soaked child being led back over the sand dunes. Oops.

Seahawks win! Seattle's famous pouring cats and dogs might have helped. New York was unlucky with that slippery ball.

Hi Joe. Tough night for Bears fans.
I have very fond memories of Women and Children First from my grad school days. Kerri and I tried to go there on one of my previous visits here and got there just after closing. I bought The Bean Trees there when it was first published, and before anyone had heard of Kingsolver.

See you tomorrow!!

Just dropping in to say we make bread & butter pudding with the bread slices spread with butter and marmalade, which is scrummy.

Sounds fit for Paddington bear ( .... sorry couldn't help myself)

Bread pudding? Rice pudding?! I'll be right over...

>43 msf59: Ahh, them Bears went . . . right down the tubes, didn't they, Mark? They should've employed the "mercy rule" at halftime and called it a game.

Glad you had some most excellent beer adventures. Have you ever tried Two Brothers Wobble? I tried that the other night and liked it.

>44 lunacat: I don't know why the population in the Netherlands hasn't gone way up, Jenny, with this lots of food/little girth reputation. Some sloth-like types are reluctant to move from their comfortable tree, so that may have something to do with it.

Wave chasing at the beach sounds well worth the soaking. We used to go to Cape Cod on the U.S. east coast when I was a kid, and we'd body surf in the waves. Some of the best times ever. My sisters tell me I had a neat trick when I was a little boy - I was so skinny, I could suck in my breath, and my bathing trunks would fall off. Never failed to amuse, apparently.

>45 maggie1944: Didn't see the Seahawks game, Karen, but congratulations! Good sendoff for your journey to that Hawaiian paradise. Safe travels!

>46 EBT1002: Hiya, Ellen! You may have read that Women and Children first was put up for sale - the owners had reached retirement age. It was bought by two longtime customers, Lynn Mooney and Sarah Hollenbeck, and they've done a fundraising drive that's raised $25,000 for renovations so far. The joint was hopping when we were there yesterday. I can easily believe they had The Bean Trees before anyone had heard of Kingsolver. Sarah H. also is a storyteller, and Debbi and I heard her perform maybe two months ago.

>47 SandDune: Ahh, that does sound scrummy, Rhian. We hope to stop by next time it's on the table.



>48 roundballnz: Here you go, Alex.



>49 scaifea: I know, right, Amber? Me, too. Grab a fork - we've got some breakfast bread pudding today.

>50 jnwelch: What a shame that's not still your go-to party trick ;)

Ooooooohhhhhh, bread pudding. Yes, I'm a fan. Never tried making my own, strangely enough. Now there's a thought. A dangerous one, mind you because that's a lot of bread pudding to have around the kitchen all to myself.

Hi Joe! Happy New Week! :-)

>52 lunacat: LOL! It would bring the house down, I'm sure, Jenny. :-)

>53 Smiler69: Bread pudding - makes you feel good just thinking about it, doesn't it, Ilana? Happy New Week to you, too! I'm a dedicated Monday grump, but it's hard to stay that way while in the cafe, I must say.

>54 jnwelch: The ultimate comfort food, for a sweets lover like myself. I used to hate Mondays too Joe, like any normal person should. But now, perversely enough, I sort of like them. It means return to full services, like mail and whatnot and being able to reach businesses and doctors and such, and it's still Saturday to me. Weekends are sort of a bother that way. No chance ever of a book appearing in the mailbox to surprise me, if you see what I mean.

>55 Smiler69: I do see what you mean, Ilana, and it makes sense.

I actually loved Mondays a lifetime or so ago, when I worked in bookstores. Saturday was always a big fun busy day in the store, and then I'd have Sunday and Monday off. On Sunday I could be a regular weekender like most, and then on Monday I could go around the city and enjoy it while so many were back at work. Those were good times.

It's dangerous to read this thread when you skipped breakfast, and it's approaching lunchtime. Hopefully I'll decide what I want for lunch soon.

>57 thornton37814: :-) We're probably all lucky that there are no bread pudding franchises out there, Lori.

Hi Joe! It is nice and mild out here. We better enjoy it, right?
I forgot to mention to you, that I started Orphan Train and I am really enjoying it. What an interesting lit bit if American history.

Have a good time tonight with the gals. Hoist a beer in my honor, will you?

Thanks for the compliments about the Dutch being tall. If you have been to my last thread and seen the pictures on top, you might have noticed I'm not that tall.

I think my husband is 1,94 mt.
My son and son in law are about 1,89
My daughter and daughter in law 1,85
I'm just 1,74.

And I'm not particularly fond of sweet food, but a Bossche Bol is an exception.

Just for the fun of it



The version without chocolate



And a collection of 'gebakjes'. Take one of your choice!

>59 msf59: Orphan Train - excellent! It's a part of our history I knew nothing about, Mark, and she puts together quite a story. If you're like me, you'll have a tough time putting it down.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up recommending Gracefully Grayson to you. I'm bowled over so far.

>60 connie53: Your 1.74 meters would be about 5'7" here, Connie - not basketball player tall, but pretty good height. At 6'4", your husband would be tall here. And you're all slim. Hmmm. I wonder whether this kind of positive effect can show up based on a visit?

I'm not big on chocolate, so your "version without chocolate" suits me perfectly. Yum!

I'm quite willing to sample gebakjes, too. It's an international learning experience, right?

>60 connie53: Yup, 5'7" is pretty tall even compared to those of us across the Channel. I'm only 5'3 and certainly not considered particularly short - I'm maybe an inch shorter than the average. The only reason I'm called small is because I'm petite as well.

My best friend (who I live with) is 5'10" and her husband is 6'3" so I feel very very tiny in this house. All their mirrors and hooks are set for tall person height, not for me!

>61 jnwelch: My husband played basketball in his younger (very much younger) years.
And my husband can not be called slim ;-)) any more.

If you plan to visit you are more then welcome! I will buy the gebakjes to see if any slimming happens

Happy New Thread Joe, even though I'm 63 messages behind..haha!

I'm not much a sweet tooth myself, but more savoury. Dessert doesn't usually get me going, but put a bowl of nachos in front of me and I promise you, magic happens.

I read up there that you used to book in a bookstore? My dream job. Hard to believe huh? Or maybe a library. Either way as long as I'm surrounded by books. Maybe when the boys are in school full time!

>63 connie53: Ha! Thanks, Connie. I appreciate the willingness to experiment with the gebakjes. Sounds like a plan.

>64 jolerie: Hi, Valerie! Thanks!

I understand that feeling of magic when nachos come around.

Yes, I actually worked in several bookstores when I was a lad - Ann Arbor, NYC and Chicago. It was wonderful. Madame MBH and I daydream about returning to that life some time - we met at a store where she also worked and was the storyteller.

>62 lunacat: Madame MBH is 5'4" and I'm 6'2", Jenny, so I know whereof you speak. We compromise when hanging pictures, in particular. :-) She says she married me because I'm good at twist-off lids and reaching high shelves.

OK, some thoughts on AAC II (thanks, Mark) and BAC the first (thanks, Paul):

American Author Challenge 2015

January: Carson McCullers - Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories
Feburary: Henry James - Turn of the Screw
March: Richard Ford - not sure
April: Louise Erdich - not sure
May: Sinclair Lewis - not sure
June: Wallace Stegner - not sure
July: Ursula K. LeGuin - hmm, maybe a re-read of Left Hand of Darkness, or a substitute (I've read a lot of hers)
August: Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove
September: Flannery O'Connor probably substitute (read enough)
October: Ray Bradbury - probably substitute (read a lot of his)
November: Barbara Kingsolver - not sure
December: E.L. Doctorow - maybe The March

British Author Challenge
January: Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
February: Evelyn Waugh - Scoop
March: Daphne Du Maurier - Jamaica Inn
April: Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
May: Margaret Drabble/Martin Amis - substitute The Man in the Wooden Hat
June: Beryl BainbridgelAnthony Burgess - probably substitute
July: Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway or another if I've read that one already
August: Iris Murdoch - not sure
September: Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
October: David Mitchell - The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
November: ?
December: ?

Lovely new thread, Joe! I am not a fan of bread, rice pudding or cream filled pastries so I have been able to visit the new cafe without too many food temptations. Now, if you had butter tarts on offer, I would have problems controlling myself. Luckily, I am terrible at making decent pie crust so I am not tempted to make my own butter tarts. ;-)

The bread pudding really needs a bourbon sauce!

Wonderful meetup with Ellen and Kerri! Although we had to use flashlights to find each other.

Stout Barrel House on Clark actually was a bit brighter than this. Lots of book chat and good beer, with a new one for me, Three Floyds Zombie Dust, being the beverage star.

>67 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori. Glad you like the new digs. Butter tarts, you say? Yes, we have those on offer.



>68 banjo123: Good call, Rhonda. Here you go:

Morning Joe! Great photo! I wish I was in it. Sad face. I have not heard of Stout. Sounds good. Glad you liked the Zombie Dust. It is one of our favorites. I had part of one, at our visit to ThreeFloyds on Sunday.

>71 msf59: Ha! I was just over at your thread, Mark, letting you know you were missed last night. You crack me up - last night I said I was sure you would've already tried Zombie Dust, which I hadn't heard of before! I forgot you visited Three Floyds over the weekend. The waitress said it gets snapped up quickly when they have it.

Thank you to all the veterans.

Ah, you went for a local vampire hangout then. How homely.

>69 jnwelch: Thanks for posting the photo, also it's a bit dark to see you three properly :-)

Love LT meet ups! Looks like you guys had a great time. :)
Err...is zombie dust a drink? I imagine you all get high after ingesting something with a fancy name like that...ha ;)

> Oh, that is murky, but I like it! And at least we had the good sense to sit in height order. :-)

Great seeing you both last night!

Hmm - Orphan Train sounds good.

Yay for a great meetup!!

Very nice picture!!

>75 Ameise1: I'll see if I can find the photo of the three of us hanging upside down from the ceiling, Jenny. I can tell you from experience, it's hard to drink beer in that position.

>76 jolerie: We were going for that atmospheric effect, Barbara. It was a dark and stormy night in the bar.

>77 DorsVenabili: Ha! There's our gal! What a fun time that was, Kerri. You both are a hoot, anyway, and it's so unusual in life, for me, anyway, to get together with people who enthusiastically talk about books. "I love Upton Sinclair!!" My mind is still boggled. :-)

>78 SuziQoregon: I loved Orphan Train, Juli. Madame MBH recommended it to me, and as usual, she was right on the money.

It was a great meetup! Lot of good book chat, lot of good laughs, lot of good beer.

>79 connie53: Thanks, Connie. Somewhere Ellen has another one, maybe with more light to it. She's traveling, so we'll have to be patient.

Ha! Stormy night! In which sense ;-)

Vampire bat meet-up? And you didn't invite me? Scandalous. I feel very rejected now.

What do you mean you didn't realise I'm a vampire bat............

>81 Ameise1: Our post-beverage states of mind may have contributed to the windy conditions inside the bar, Barbara. I'm sure we made it noisier, too.

>82 lunacat: It was even a book-reading vampire bat meet-up, Jenny, and now I know you fit that rare breed perfectly. I have to admit, I had included you in my mind with the algae-folk, but we'll know better for next time.

>83 jnwelch:

I hang (groan) with the algae-folk as well. Multiple personalities don't ya know ;)

I'm green (another groan) with envy, Jenny. Or maybe that's chlorophyll.

Good book chat, good laughs, good beer = success

>85 jnwelch: Glad to hear you're being a good boy sloth and cultivating your greenery ;)

>86 SuziQoregon: Yes! Would "Digress for Success" be a good slogan, Juli?

>87 lunacat: I've been contacted to model for the Chia Pet people, Jenny, so that's a good sign.

This is one I hope you give a try. Gracefully Grayson, by Ami Polonsky, features 12 year old Grayson, who has known from the beginning that she is a girl in a boy's body. She also has learned that this is not "normal", and to hide the truth by imagining her loose pants and t-shirts to be gowns and dresses. In school, she's learned to draw unrecognizable (by others) princesses as she takes notes. It is becoming harder to sustain herself by imagination only, however, and she feels urges to come out of hiding. When she impulsively auditions for The Myth of Persephone, directed by Finn, her favorite teacher, her life begins to change. I won't spoil the story, but her actions trigger a cascade of problems, while at the same time she begins to find new, sympathetic friends among her fellow actors. Her quiet bravery as she tries to make her way through dangerous waters is moving, and real. No preaching, no improbably articulate ripostes, just a very believable young girl trying to deal with being in the wrong body, and trying to find a way to express her joy at who she really is in a world that resists.

Bullying inevitably shows its face, but so does unexpected support, including at home. Her parents died in an accident, and she lives with her aunt and uncle. The latter legitimately struggle with concerns for her safety versus letting her be herself. It turns out her parents had something to say about all of it, too.

This book is beautifully and simply composed. My wife teared up at chapter 34; some problem with our ventilation blurred my vision a bit sooner, at Chapter 31. The book is targeted at 10-14 year olds, but is one of those, like R.J. Palacio's Wonder, that should have appeal for all ages. Wonder, the story of a horribly disfigured boy who endures bullying but also is someone well worth knowing, has been on the middle grade bestseller lists for a long time, which I find encouraging. I hope something similar happens for Gracefully Grayson, as it deserves a wide audience, and carries a welcome and timely message of integrity and compassion.

P.S. I think they came up with a great cover.

I am reading a delightful first book in a YA fantasy trilogy. Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. Love it. I have been having a hard time at work and spent the weekend feeling sorry for myself. I am in the middle of Place of Greater Safety and since I know how that story ends (it is historical fiction so there are no surprises) I just couldn't face that for recreation. I had started GoFandT and decided to dig in and read. It is very very good. Our library has the rest of the series so I think I will just continue on through them and finish the series.

Also, got some news for you about the Lunar Chronicles. It seems that Marissa Meyer is publishing a fourth book in January 2015 titled Fairest. Seems that Meyer got stuck while she was writing Winter and decided to write her way through the problem. The result was Fairest. What was a four volume series is now going to be a five volume series.

Glad you had a good meetup. I will be in Chicago for the ALA Midwinter and hope to see all of you guys at that time.

>70 jnwelch: - Oooohhh.... thank you!

>89 jnwelch: - Gracefully Grayson Sounds like a wonderful story with a lot of real world meaning.

Hey Joe and friends.
I'll just chime in to say that the Kerri-Joe-Ellen meet up was great fun. And, actually, it was that dark in Stout! I could hardly read the menu! But the Zombie Dust was a good recommendation for which the server and Kerri get kudos.

ETA: Totally cracking up that we posed in height order for the photo.

>15 jnwelch: Your prime minister might try wearing a hat like that - might help his popularity?
Um....he is popular enough for my liking, actually!

>69 jnwelch: cool!!! Looks cosy, and fun.

Lunacat/Joe tit for tat= classic :)

Happy Hump Day, Joe! Lovely review of Gracefully Grayson. I have requested it but it is a brand new title, so it might be awhile. I have not cracked a GN, in well over a week. WTH? I have a mini-stack next to my reading throne, so there is no excuse.

>90 benitastrnad: Good for you, Benita. Sometimes you need a book to just carry you away. I know a lot of LTers have enjoyed Girl of Fire and Thorns. Sorry you've been having a hard time at work.

I had heard about Fairest, but didn't know the background about her writing her way out of a block. Smart.

When is the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting this year?

>91 lkernagh: Ha! You're welcome, Lori. Gracefully Grayson is all you say. I hope a lot of folks give it a try. The author, who Madame MBH knows and I met at the book signing, is nice as pie, too.

>92 EBT1002: There's our meetup buddy! A pleasure it was. Ha! You're probably right - the murky photo may be on target with the Stout lighting. Mmm, Zombie Dust. Next time I'm also trying that Alpha King that Kerri had.

Height order: at least you guys didn't make me stand in the back, my typical photo placement. :-)

>93 LovingLit: But wouldn't your prime minister look even more appealing in a hat like that, Megan?

Glad you like the meetup photo.

Lunacat is a most excellent banterer and fable-teller, isn't she?

>94 msf59: Happy Hump Day, Mark! Yesterday was chock full, so I'm hoping to take it easier today.

Thank you re Gracefully Grayson. Can't wait to hear what you think of it. Yeah, it may take a bit to arrive at the library. They do have it in the Chicago Public library system, so hopefully it'll land in yours shortly.

I'm enjoying Tricked on your recommendation, and can recommend Snowpiercer. I want to get the second Snowpiercer now. I'm at 295 pages in A Drifting Life and not halfway through yet! It's interesting, although I imagine it appeals more to a Japanese audience who can get all the local references.

>80 jnwelch: Do you want to join me in an upcoming read of The Flivver King? Ha!

>96 DorsVenabili: Ha! Thanks, Kerri. That's one of many Upton Sinclairs I've somehow missed. Maybe I'll wait to hear your comments; a true enthusiast will no doubt have insights I'd miss. :-)

Are you a William Gibson fan at all? I've got his new one, The Peripheral, and it probably would make a good pairing with The Flivver King.

You can see that up above I've written a review of Gracefully Grayson, the one I was mercilessly bending your and Ellen's ears about.

>97 jnwelch: - Oh, yes! I read the review yesterday and said something to you in my head. Apparently you didn't hear me. Wonderful review - I'll definitely check it out.

Are you a William Gibson fan at all? Well, I couldn't make it through Neuromancer, but I'm not opposed to him in theory, as a writer. I'm not exactly sure why, but I never enjoy the virtual reality storylines. Is there anything by him that doesn't involve it?

Added Gracefully Grayson to the books to be borrowed from the library list, Joe.

The ALA Mid-Winter meeting is January 30 through February 3. I intend to be there and to stay a couple of extra days either at the beginning or the end for some vacation so I can finally wander around one of the museum's thoroughly. I seem to just get in the front and skim through them. I want to spend some time exploring the collections.

>98 DorsVenabili: Dang, I must work on my Kerri book telepathy. Don't know how I missed that one. Please let me know what you think - to me it's an exceptional one, but maybe I'm off my beanie.

Jeez, I loved Neuromancer, but I read it back when the world was much less computed. Our techhie son didn't take to it either.

No VR? (She says in the VR cafe). Hmm. I loved his Bridge Trilogy, starting with Virtual Light, but as you can tell from the first one's title, VR is part of it. I loved the SF/Oakland bridge shantytown. The trilogy is summarized here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_trilogy

His newer stuff generally is not VR. So my best recommendation is Pattern Recognition. It's set in present time, like his other newer ones, but with a sci-fi slant. If you like it, there are more.

>99 Fourpawz2: Oh good, Charlotte. Please let me know what you think once you've had a chance to read Gracefully Grayson (it's a very quick read once you sit down with it).

>100 benitastrnad: Good for you, Benita. We may be leaving town around the 3rd, but that should work. The museums are wonderful; we're especially partial to the Art Institute.

Hi Joe! I am picking up SnowPiercer from the library. I am almost done with both Orhan Train and Lila.
I will then start the Updike.
Come on, stop making that face! LOL.

>102 msf59: Good luck with that Updike, Mark! Which one did you end up choosing?

It may be a tough transition after Orphan Train and Lila. :-)

Glad to hear it on Snowpiercer. Looking forward to hearing your reaction. I just requested the second one from the library.

The Peripheral is getting a lot of buzz, waiting for mine to come from BD suspect it will jump to the top of my TBR library ....

Hmmm..definitely perked my interest with Gracefully Grayson and you remind me that I have yet to read Wonder as well.

>104 roundballnz: Yeah, The Peripheral is coming up soon for me, too. Do you agree with that Patterns of Recognition recommendation for Kerri in >101 jnwelch:?

>105 jolerie: Oh, good, Valerie. Yes, get your hands on Wonder - it's a wonder, and I hope you try Gracefully Grayson, too.

>106 jnwelch: I fell upon Gibson when I was into cyberpunk, a genre defnitely not to be found among anyone under 35 ? I agree his most recent stuff is the way to go, as some of the earlier stuff due to technology filled lives may seem very dated so Pattern Recognition spook Country zero history .... interested to see where is new book goes as suspect its a new direction again.

>107 roundballnz: Thanks, Alex. Yes, that makes sense. The new one apparently goes "back to the future" and features time travel. Publishers Weekly red-starred it. It's next up for me after The Book of Strange New Things, which is very good so far. I've got the Patrick Rothfuss one about Auri going on my Kindle.

>101 jnwelch: and >107 roundballnz: Ha! Ok. I'll try Pattern Recognition. Also, I'm 41 and still don't like the cyberpunk thing. What is wrong with me?! Am I mutant? :-)

>109 DorsVenabili: Your psyche must be that much younger and hipper, that's all I can figure, Kerri. I hope Pattern Recognition works for you. He's one of my favorite authors.

>110 jnwelch: I think it might be the opposite, Joe. I've always had an old soul. So, when I was 19, I had the psyche of a 50 year old. Now, I am approximately 72. :-) It explains a lot.

>111 DorsVenabili: Hmm. This might help explain your affinity for Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis, Kerri. Sherwood Anderson? John Dos Passos? Do you find yourself puttering around the garden and weaving hats?

So maybe your psyche predates cyberpunk, and just doesn't like it for that reason. But you like The Foundation Trilogy, which spans centuries, right? I'm getting confused.

Sweet Thursday, Joe! Don't you love, the fact that we live in a world where Haruf and Robinson are still plying us with wonderful books? Sighs and looks off into the cold gray landscape.
Glad to hear you are still enjoying The Book of Strange New Things. Let's hope that continues.

>113 msf59: Sweet Thursday, Mark! I've got to figure out a way to work Lila into my reading schedule. Yes, I do feel we're lucky to live in a world where Haruf and Robinson keep giving us such wonderful books!

Peter has just spent his first 360 hours with the Oasans in The Book of Strange New Things. Not sure where the book is headed, but I'm still enjoying it, for sure.

Hey, Joe, just dropping by to check out the cafe and the dark meet-up photo.

>112 jnwelch: So maybe your psyche predates cyberpunk, and just doesn't like it for that reason. But you like The Foundation Trilogy, which spans centuries, right? I'm getting confused.

You and me both!I am about right for my age, 39: half adult, half child ;)

>112 jnwelch: Ha! Well, not so much gardening, but I do often find myself yelling at the whippersnappers to "Get off my lawn!" And, yes, of course, I do have the famous Dos Passos trilogy on the shelf, but haven't read it yet. :-)

>115 ronincats: We're in there somewhere, Roni. We had a blast playing flashlight tag.

>116 LovingLit: :-) I've managed to remain confused at every age, Megan, so I'm not sure about the percentages, but my MBH would assure you there's a child in me. Who sometimes needs timeouts.

>117 DorsVenabili: Ha! When did we stop being the people who inadvertently play on or walk across someone's well-groomed lawn, and start being the people who yell at the whippersnappers to get off that lawn? (Full disclosure: our urban oasis now has a garden and patio, not a lawn). I knew you'd have Dos Passos, although I'm shocked you haven't read it yet. (Me either, but that's not surprising).

Does anyone read Sherwood Anderson any more?

L. Frank Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Agatha Christie, Hugh Lofting (Dr. Doolittle), those are some of the 1920s authors I've read.

Woo, gots to get some more coffee, but we're at the start of a beautiful day to read.

Happy Friday Joe!

>120 luvamystery65: Happy Friday, Roberta! What a week it's been. I'm ready for the weekend!

Here is what I wrote on Mark's page about William Gibson. I read Pattern Recognition years ago (soon after it came out) and didn't know it was science fiction. I thought it was simply a thriller. I read it because a friend of mine had read Neuromancer and raved about it. I think that Gibson's later books are more techno thrillers than science fiction. In them he writes about the applications of the machines and products that are derived from them that he introduced in his earlier books. For that reason the earlier books were out there edgy sci/fi and these later books don't seem so far out there to us. Or at least I think that is what is going on with his books. I suspect that he is doing this deliberately because he believes that we (society) is being led down a primrose path to totalitarianism and his writing and books reflect that.

But I may be all wrong about him. Who knows?

It is cold down here this morning. Is the cafe serving any oatmeal and coffee?

>122 benitastrnad: Hi, Benita. Good comments on William Gibson's books. In his new one, The Peripheral, he leaves the present and writes in the future again. I'll report back.

Hot oatmeal and coffee? You bet.

>118 jnwelch: Does anyone read Sherwood Anderson any more? Well, I read a bit form Winesburg, Ohio in a class once, and remember liking it at the time, but I've never gone back to him, so that says something, I suppose. It's possible I will one of these days. I have a few things on my shelves, including Poor White.

>124 DorsVenabili: Well, you got further with him than me, Kerri. I wonder whether any other patrons will comment on Sherwood Anderson's books. Are they vaporizing in the mists of time?

Hmm, I seem to have somehow lost a post. Trying again.

We saw a very good Conor McPherson play last night at Steppenwolf, called The Night Alive. We've liked all of his we've seen. This one, set in Dublin, featured Tommy (Francis Guinan), an older odd job man, who at the start has just saved a young woman, Aimee (Helen Sadler), from a roadside bashing.



Who is Aimee? Who was her basher? Can Tommy, just scraping by and already overextended helping his "partner" Doc (Tim Hopper), realistically help Aimee? All the actors were terrific, and for me this is the best I've seen from Tim Hopper.





M. Emmet Walsh plays Maurice, mourning for his wife lost by accident, and both needy toward and exasperated by Tommy.



Someone dangerous figures out where Aimee is staying, and a sharp unpredictability enters stage left. Tommy is torn between wanting to flee with Aimee, the predictability of his messy, pieced together life, his attempts to reconcile with his alienated children, and his responsibilities toward Doc and Maurice. It gets painfully sorted out, until a surprise ending which may or may not upend it all again. Great time at the theater.

Happy Friday, Joe! The McPherson play sounds excellent. I LOVE M. Emmet Walsh. I didn't even know he was still alive. LOL.

I am nearly done with World of Trouble. It's shaping up to be a nice conclusion but boy does he put poor Hank through the wringer!

M. Emmet Walsh is always a pleasure, isn't he, Mark? I know, it's hard to keep track of stars we've spent time with.

I'm chomping at the bit to read World of Trouble, but I need to make it through the lengthy (as you know) Book of Strange New Things and the new William Gibson first.

Good morning from Kaua'i! Lovely morning today, stopping by Starbucks cuz the stupid connection at the house for our on-line lives was not working this morning; so we come to the old standby. Starbucks is so much in the center of my life these days, I'm afraid I have to confess. Love my Starbucks.

I have Wineburgs, Ohio on my shelf at home, waiting for me to pick it up, too. That's all I can add to that discussion.

I hope all is going well with you, all!

Happy Friday Joe!

I have plans to go see a theatre show when the boys are older. In fact I have lots of plans for when the boys are older..hah! ;)

>129 maggie1944: Hiya, Karen! "Greetings from Kaua'i" - I'm feeling a bit warmer on this chilly day just thinking about your adventures.

Like you, we love Starbucks, although we also get a kick out of quirky independent cafes. I don't even have Winesburg, Ohio on the shelf, so I'll have to wait for some LTer to inspire me about that one.

I can't speak for everyone sitting in the cafe, but the Welch clan is doing well indeed. Ready for the weekend is the proprietor, I can tell you that much. Late nights this week combined with busy days = longing for floating on my back in the river, eating shellfish. Or hanging out in a tree growing algae on my fur.

Better yet: lounging in some tropical paradise like Hawaii, reading lots of books. That one sounds pretty darn good, doesn't it?

>130 jolerie: Hmm, for some reason it won't take my post to you, Valerie, with the one to Karen (did you two have a spat I'm unaware of?) Here goes in a new post:

>130 jolerie: Happy Friday, Valerie! You know, my folks never took us to the theater when I was a lad. And it became one of my favorite things to do when I got older. But we took our kids to lots and lots of theater, and they loved and love it. There's something so energizing about live performances! I look forward to tales of your outings when the smiley duo are older.

Mirrordrum update She asked me to pass on her hello to everyone! She's still battling health issues, but got through chemotherapy and has resumed taking her RA medicine, so she has hope of re-joining her LT friends somewhere down the line. Her spirit and sense of humor incontrovertibly remain intact.

I always try to play nice, Joe. ;)

I would blame it on the finicky LT gods and plus I don't need to mention that your thread sometimes pulls some funny tricks as well...ie: spawning several threads all at once. *Insert twilight zone theme song.* Haha!

Ok, play review in right place. check! Thanks Joe.

btw, I managed to post one of the first reviews of World of Trouble on LT when I got an early review copy. Overall I liked the series but I don't think it lived up to the start and the third book, while interesting, didn't give me the strong finish I hoped for. I'm still very glad to have read all 3 tho.

>134 jolerie: Ha! Good point, Valerie. Thank goodness we've been able to keep it down to one thread at a time for a while. :-)

>135 RBeffa: LOL! Good to see you, Ron. I'm still shaking my head wondering how I managed to post that review on Linda's thread - and then after that of course I was wondering why I couldn't find it on mine. If I could have gone back to bed at that point, I would have.

Good for you for getting to head of the line for World of Trouble, and it's heartening to hear you're glad you read all three. That was such a strong start in The Last Policeman, and I liked the second a lot, too. So I'm hoping even a lesser last one will still be pretty darn good. Plus of course by this point I'm pretty invested in our friend Hank.

Hi Joe! Hope you are wrapping up your Friday. I know you like the Hernandez brothers. I am enjoying the Love Bunglers, the latest GN by Jaime Hernandez. It is not as surreal as some of the other ones but still dark and edgy.

Thanks for the Ellie update! We are all hoping for the best.

>137 msf59: You're welcome re the Ellie update, Mark. It's positive, seems to me, although there's a ways to go. I join you in hoping for the best.

I saw The Love Bunglers on a "Best of" list, and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. Sounds like it's in my future. I'm still working on Tricked and A Drifting Life, and liking both.

Lots going on in The Book of Strange New Things, but I can't figure out what it all adds up to yet.

I am indeed wrapping up my Friday, and will be heading out to catch the train. Hope tomorrow is decent as you head into Sunday off.

What a great play review, Joe!

>131 jnwelch: - I will join you in being read for the weekend, Joe! For a change, I actually have a lull in my various projects, holiday prep and household chores - how often does that happen all at the same time? - so I have my fingers crossed for some reading time. I am loving my Montalbano audiobook fixes - Dare I admit that I am already on Excursion to Tindari and I haven't even written a brief review for Voice of the Violin? I do have a question for you though.... you mentioned over on my thread that both the Inspector Montalbano TV series and the Young Montalbano TV series are fun viewing. My local library has DVD's of both in Italian so I am guessing that is what you watched with English subtitles playing. If so, I have some TV viewing to look forward to!

Happy weekend, Joe!

I'm chuckling over your having posted that theater review on my thread, Joe. I didn't catch it there before you moved it, but I'm just glad you figured out where you left it. Do you have trouble with hats and gloves and phones and keys, too?

The Library of America thinks Sherwood Anderson is still worth reading. They've published his complete stories, and I've dipped in and out, promising myself that I will read him more extensively one of these days. Faulkner, Hemingway, Steinbeck, McCullers and Thomas Wolfe owe him a lot. If he's going to be read anywhere, it should be here among this crowd. He wrote a story entitled "The Man Who Became a Woman"...possibly apropos to your discussion of Gracefully Grayson above. I may just go read it now, and see!

Hmmm back to catchup the cafe has been busy in my absence again

The Book of Strange New Things Not sure if this is my thing, mainly cause i heard a review which had a very religious take on it .... one to ponder.

>122 benitastrnad: I like the way you summed it up there, I reckon thats about right .....

as for age, this growing up malarky is ver overrated, not buying ! growing old it seems I can't avoid, growing up is optional

Good morning Joe :) Hope you and your MBH are going to have a great weekend.

>11 jnwelch: Thanks for the wonderful breakfast. Looks marvelous.

>69 jnwelch: Brilliant pic of you guys and l love the idea of requiring torches to find each other. Reminds of Alex Birthday dinner at the medieval restaurant in Riga during our summer holidays. LOL

>89 jnwelch: Love the review of Gracefully Grayson had it already on my WL since Debbi mentioned it.

>126 jnwelch: The Night Alive sounds like it was a great play, the pics look stunning. Brilliant that you enjoyed that.

The Book of Strange New Things is on my WL as well. I finished A Tale For The Time Being and just loved it. I also finished Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville a book I picked up in a charity shop and turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I thought, that might would be one you would enjoy as well.

I have seen two movies last week and both were splendid. One was "Ida" a Polish movie set in the early 60's and yesterday I saw "The Imitation Game" with BC as Alan Turing, which was absolutely brilliant.

Happy Saturday! I ended up working today, so I am heading out in a few minutes. I really liked the Love Bunglers. These guys have done such a great job over these many years. I am starting Little Fish. Have you heard of this GN memoir?
I will also be picking up Gracefully Grayson from the library.

Joe, I wish you a lovely weekend.

>139 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! Glad you're going to get a chance to relax a bit this weekend. Yes, the Montalbano DVDs are in Italian, with subtitles, which works well (I don't like dubbed). I work with a guy who doesn't like to watch foreign movies with subtitles, but for most LTers I would think that would be just fine.

Probably neither Montalbano, young or old, will look like the one you imagine, but both actors are really good.

I'm so glad you're enjoying the book series so much! I've enjoyed each and every one, and always get the newest asap.

>140 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! Phew. In a way I'm glad you didn't see I had posted my review on your thread, Linda. You would've wondered what the heck was the matter with me. Wait, you're wondering that anyway. Oh well. No, I'm pretty good with gloves and keys and kids and top hats. But I get interrupted at work (the gall!) sometimes while on LT, or rushing to post something before leaving, or half asleep because of a late night having fun, and I screw up. Posting on someone else's thread (yours!) while thinking it's mine is a new one for me. But as Valerie points out, I'm the same guy who managed to create multiple, simultaneous new cafes, which of course is not possible in this universe.

>141 roundballnz: I'm not sure whether you'd like The Book of Strange Things, either, Alex, to be honest. The guy can write, for sure. His Crimson Petal and the White was well done, although in the end the subject matter wasn't really my cuppa. This one features a Christian preacher teaching Christianity to aliens on another planet. But the way he treats it, it could have been Islam (I kinda wish it had been - that would have been interesting) or Judaism. I've got about a 10th to go, and there are underlying mysteries that I'm looking forward to having resolved.

I'm actually one who has enjoyed "growing up" - I wish I'd had half the perspective I have now when I was younger. But it's important to keep that fresh enjoyment of life we had as kids, which I think is a big part of what you're saying.

>142 drachenbraut23: You're welcome and thanks, Bianca. Good to have you stop by!

It was fun to use our torches in the bar, although Ellen and Kerri kept grabbing my beer by mistake. OK, maybe I grabbed theirs by mistake, too. What a treat to get together with such excellent folks and talk books. I'm not in a book club, and even then, you tend to talk about the one book. To range all over the place discussing books with LTers just can't be beat.

I'm so glad you're going to give Gracefully Grayson a go! Debbi's rave about it is what got me to read it, too. Can't wait to hear what you think. The reviews are starting to come out in the media, and all the ones I've seen have been positive so far. I'd really like to see this one do well, which is the way I felt about Wonder, which has.

And I'm so glad you loved A Tale for the Time Being! We're simpatico, you and I. I loved that one, too. Wasn't great-grandma Jiko remarkable?

I'll take a look at Gretel and the Dark. What a good feeling to take a flyer on one at a charity shop and have it turn out so well.

I'm liking The Book of Strange New Things, but will have to see how it all resolves before I can really comment. Kudos to Michel Faber for taking on such an unusual imagined situation.

The movies sound great. Our son is a major Alan Turing fan, so we've got a keen interest in The Imitation Game (weird title - what's it refer to?)

>143 msf59: Go Gracefully Grayson! I know you loved Wonder, so it should work for you.

I've got The Love Bunglers on my radar thanks to your positive reaction; great title. I don't know Little Fish, so I'll take a look after posting this.

Sorry you have to work today, but I know that means you'll get a different day off, so you'll enjoy that while the rest of us (well, me, anyway) are grumbling.

>144 Ameise1: Ah, beautiful, Barbara, thanks. I'm ready to spend some time at that table enjoying autumn. Hope you're having a great weekend, too.

I've got to work a bit today, but then it's a Bulls basketball game tonight with a pal and an easy day tomorrow. Walklover is going out to eat and to a storytelling event tonight with our daughter, so she's a happy camper (USA phrase), too.

I like 'happy camper' sounds perfect. This morning was lovely and we could enjoy our coffee outside. Now it's pouring and cold.

Aloha, Joe. I have continued my habit of rising so early in the AM that I have plenty of time to wander around the threads before the travel partner arises and our day begins.

Typical schedule: slow start to day with plenty of coffee, and hopefully tropical fruits to accompany any more hearty breakfast. Slow organizing to go the the beach. Slow day at the beach reading and dipping into the tropical waters, moving around to follow the shade, and laughing at the jungle fowl who are ubiquitous (otherwise known as Kaua'i chickens). Slowly, thinking about any errands which must be done, and do we need anything for dinner, and are there any Island iconic treats we must fit into the day. Yesterday, it was Lappert's Ice Cream. OMG. I did not need dinner after that!

I hope your weekend is excellent! Bulls game will be fun, I imagine. I'm beginning to wish for a Storm game to arrive soon......

>147 Ameise1: That sounds like it might be pretty good, under the right circumstances, Barbara. Enjoy your coffee outside on a lovely morning, and then go inside to read while it's pouring and cold?

>148 maggie1944: Another day in paradise . . .

Sounds wonderful, Karen. I'm glad you have some LT time early in the morning. I notice "slowly" comes up a lot in your description of your typical schedule! A day of tropical enjoyments ending with excellent ice cream. Oh yeah.

This weekend feels like an oasis in the desert! Enjoying it, work's done, will call my pa, looking forward to seeing an old friend and enjoying the Bulls game tonight. How are the Storm going to be this year?

I think we all deserve a nice spot to have our coffee this morning:

^^I could use a warm, sunny spot about now.

Have a good time at the Bulls game. Go Happy Campers!

perfect place for coffee, and perhaps some papaya with lime juice?

Storm will have another "building" year, I believe. Nonetheless, I enjoy the games!

>150 jnwelch: Lovely *sigh* that would be so wonderful to have now.

>146 jnwelch: The Imitation Game (weird title - what's it refer to?) Well, if I try to answer this so that it makes sense, I probably would have written a novella by the time I finished. Here, is a link which explains the title as brilliant as it has been explained in the movie Turing Test

>151 msf59: You and me both, buddy.

Thanks re the game. Should be fun. We're going to a bar called Bad Apple for dinner, and they have a good beer selection, so I'll report back. You and Kerri having me wanting to try Alpha King now.

>152 maggie1944: Isn't that a perfect place, Karen? We'll try to find some papaya and lime juice; the kitchen here is amazingly well-stocked. I'm going to assume you mean in drinkable form.

I'm like you in enjoying the games. The Bulls were lousy for years and years after the retirement of the genius Mr. Jordan, and we still enjoyed going to the games, and following them. I'm hoping the Sky will keep getting better. And that Della Donne doesn't have major Lyme disease issues. Meanwhile you've got me following the Storm's fortunes.



>153 drachenbraut23: Yes! That's a great one for daydreaming, isn't it? Some day we'll probably have virtual 3D - wouldn't that be a treat for using the cafe?

Thank you for the link - fascinating. Takes a great mind to go sideways like that on "Can machines think". Son #1 probably knows all about the Imitation Game. Now I can see why that's a brilliant title, once you understand it.

>145 jnwelch: I've just realised that it must have been an adaptation of The Book of Strange New Things that I caught on the radio a week or so ago. It sounds completely my sort of thing.

Joe, nope, I was not looking for such a combination in drink form. Fresh papaya with lime juice. Think I may find some here, shortly.

Hi Joe, just dropping by to wish you a lovely Saturday evening.

I'm off to listen to a Patrick Modiano book (La Petite Bijou, not yet translated in English, unfortunately) while I put the endless finishing touches on Rocky. A friend of mine, Kristyna, also an artist and who sees my drawings often and knows what a nut of a perfectionist I am, called me today and helped me understand that maybe, just maybe I was closer to finishing than I realised. I mean, I do realise it, but I'm probably spending more time trying to perfect things that nobody but I will ever see, at which point it becomes an exercise in pointlessness. So off to actually working toward the finish line I go!

So glad you're joining in on the collective group effort on War and Peace to start 2015!

Happy Sunday Joe. It's raining here in Houston so no coffee outside for me today. It's going to be a lazy day and the rain is perfect for that. Reading about zombies. Nice day for that too.

>155 SandDune: I can tell you Book of Strange New Things is very well done, Rhian. It's thought-provoking, too. If it sounds like your kind of thing, I'd definitely go for it.

I'm going to be thinking about it for some time to come. The meaning and role of religion, when times are hard and when times are not, what is gained and what can be lost in a place of peace, the effects of love on the decisions we make, the longings to heal loved ones, all sorts of stuff. Plus an intriguing story of living on an alien planet and getting to know an alien civilization.

>156 maggie1944: Ah, okay. Could have brought that for you, Karen. Here you go, to match your RL one.



>157 Smiler69: Good for you, Ilana. The Patrick Modiano I ordered just came in, Missing Person, after a long delay. I'm sure orders came flying in once he won the award.

I'm very sympathetic to working over your drawing until it's just right. I'm like that, too. Looking forward to your crossing that finish line with your charming Rocky drawing.

Yes, the Group Read will be a good motivator to get me to finish that darn War and Peace. I look forward to reading other people's comments as we go along, too.

>159 jnwelch: Happy Sunday, Roberta. Up in these northern parts your rain is our snow. Light white flakes, not much accumulation. We're up in our sun room, reading and Librarything-ing. Madame MBH is up to 80 books for the year. I'm reading Americans' Favorite Poems, a long term project. People submitted favorite poems to Robert Pinsky when he was poet laureate, with short explanations of why the poems meant so much to them. I'm really enjoying it, but it takes a while to get through - lots to digest!

"Reading about zombies" - as long as you're holed up in a comfortable, safe place where they can't get in, it does sound like a good day for it.

I finished up The Book of Strange New Things a couple of days ago. Found it to be an absorbing and thoughtful read. I must have come across mention of the book on Mark's thread and went on to read a few reviews and decided to give it a go. I read his The Fire Gospel a couple of years ago.

#142
I saw "Ida" this fall and thought it was one of the best movies I had seen this year. Off course, I am not a regular movie goer so don't have much to judge by. I thought it was very well done and tackles some very touchy subjects. Those of you who can get a chance to see this movie should do so. It has English subtitles, and even though it was in black and white there was some good acting in it.

#156
I knew immediately what you were asking the waiter at Joe's cafe for. I make a killer papaya salad with lime juice and feta cheese. It is simply amazing! I got the recipe from a cooking show on FoodTV. The cooks name was Ingrid Hoffman. I have made that salad in various formations, including just plain papaya and lime juice with a little olive oil. It is so refreshing.

While you are thinking tropical fruit and zingy taste. I am thinking scones and hot tea. It is cold and rainy down in Tuscaloosa today. Perfect for that kind of breakfast and for supper I am thinking some of that left over beef and barley soup and cornmeal muffins. Wonder if the cafe has any of those?

Happy Sunday, Joe! We have a wintry fall day out there. Glad I am home. I started Little Fish: A Memoir. This looks like a cheery, buoyant GN, a nice antidote to the uber-bleak Updike.

I am so glad you are still mulling over The Book of Strange New Things . There is so many deep and meaningful themes going one here, like priorities, for an individual or a group. Dealing with one's "calling" and on and on...

I am watching the Bears. This offense is like a train-wreck. Why can't we put together one successful drive?

>161 benitastrnad: Yes, I thought the movie was absolutely wonderful and as you say tackled some very touchy subjects and I forgot to mention that the movie has got subtitles. I watched so many movie with subtitles that I don't really think about it anymore. *smile*

Joe, just stopping by to wish you a wonderful remaining Sunday! Ordered already Gracefully Grayson and bought some extra boxes of tissues.........one never knows.......I tend to shed tears quite easily from time to time.
I am also wondering whether you have come round to reading Being Mortal already :).

67 new posts!

I'm not going to read them all so I just will be waving HI

Hey Joe. The pics from the theater are wonderful -- it looks and sounds like an engaging performance. I also love the two coffee spots you've provided here on your thread.

I've added Gracefully Grayson to my wish list. I'm participating in Mark's Christmas Swap so maybe I'll have it for an early 2015 read.

I don't know a lot (yet) about The Book of Strange New Things; I'm off to investigate.

My Seahawks' defense is too porous today. A couple of turnovers have us with a lead late in the 3rd quarter but it has been a tough game to watch. Thank goodness for the distraction of LT.

>126 jnwelch: Joe, I love your play reviews, even if sometimes you're not quite sure where to post them. :-) Actually, that one looks to be up my alley. I rarely get out to many plays, but my BFF and I are definitely going to the opera this season, so there's that. Probably Tosca.

Will be back properly tomorrow, but this made me think of you..........is that what you do at work?

Joe, I have scoured the shops for Patrick Modiano books here to no avail. I am going to have to order something of his too and will be interested to see what you make of him.

Not been around much this weekend as I am trying manfully to meet my two main reading challenges but just in time to hope that your weekend was a good 'un.

>126 jnwelch: your play looks wonderful, I am wondering if I need to investigate the genre (of live theatre) more. It makes me nervous at present....for the actors I mean. I guess I have seen too many flops :)

My morning coffee this morning was twice, and then another. :) Now I have banked some up, I can rest easy. The caffeine has ben worn off with dinner making, Lenny chasing, and bathroom cleaning.

Good Morning, Joe! Getting caught up again here at the Cafe. My knowledge about sloths has risen by MANY magnitudes. ;-D

Michigan's football team had a bye week. It tok advantage by watching tons of other teams. That Northwestern v. Notre Dame game was a doozy! Go Wildcats!

Happy Monday!

>160 avatiakh: Hi, Kerry. Absorbing and thoughtful read for The Book of Strange New Things is a good description. For me, too. The other one of his I'd read was The Crimson Petal and the White, which I thought was well done, but wasn't really my cuppa. This one is more in my wheelhouse. It's a harder one than usual for me to figure out who else would like it, though, and who wouldn't. I give him a lot of credit for such an unusual concept. You were smart to read a few reviews of it. It would be a great book club book, with the right book club - I wish you were in the vicinity to talk to about it.

>161 benitastrnad: We've got the time jiggerer warmed up, so we'll get you that food, Benita. Papaya and lime and feta sounds mighty good. I'll keep an eye out for Ida.

OK, sustenance on its way:



>162 msf59: Happy Sunday and Monday, Mark! Little Fish looks like a good, sunny balance to the grim Rabbit, Run. Kudos to you for finishing RR. It's the one of his that will probably be read the longest, I'm guessing. The successor was similar, and pretty much ended my reading him, other than in the New Yorker.

Yes, lots to think about in The Book of Strange New Things. The contrast between the Oasan planet and Earth as it went on was potent, wasn't it? I have no idea how to review the book without giving too much away.

The Bears had just enough to beat the Vikings, right? I liked the use of the height of the wide receivers. Forte is such a good player, too. There's still that feeling that they should be better with all that firepower, but at least they won.

>163 drachenbraut23: Debbi and I are like you, Bianca, not thinking twice about subtitles. I guess it's an issue with some folks. I'll have to look into Ida.

I'm glad you ordered Gracefully Grayson. Can't wait to hear what you think.

I haven't read Being Mortal yet; wish I could say I had. This is one of those days I wish I had more reading time (well, I suppose that's really an "all the time" wish). I've got so many I want to get to right now. Reading Being Mortal is a ways away; right now it looks like Patrick Rothfuss, Lois Lowry and William Gibson are up next, but maybe after that. It sure looks like I'm going to love it.

>164 connie53: Hi, Connie! Thanks for stopping by. It's hard to keep up sometimes, I know. No worries.

>165 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen. We love the acting at Steppenwolf. Even when the plays aren't so swell, the acting is. When combined with a play that is swell, like The Night Alive, it makes for a really special night.

Glad you like the places for having coffee. It helps to daydream once in a while, doesn't it? Sometimes someone has to pull on my kite string to get me back into RL.

I think Gracefully Grayson has the chance to resonate for a whole lot of folks. Polonsky does a wonderful job of simply putting us into this young girl's life, which she has had to hide because it isn't "normal", but may not be able to hide anymore because it is just bursting out of her. While her circumstances are unusual, that need (to hide and to not hide) is widespread in lots of different forms.

You might like The Book of Strange New Things a lot. Both Mark and I did. It's very well done; he's quite the skilled writer.

>166 DorsVenabili: Thanks, Kerri. That play review posting was the oddest thing. The funniest part (although not so amusing at the time) was being perplexed by why it had disappeared from this thread. Well, it was on Linda's thread, not this one. It was quite a week - I was out Monday night with you and Ellen, Wednesday night to see some friends' daughter in a high school play (which actually was way better than we expected), and then out Thursday night to see The Night Alive. My days as a flaneur are well behind me (darn it), and I was running on fumes by the end of the week. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

We're not opera buffs, although we did go to that lively production of The Magic Flute recently. Looking forward to hearing what you think of Tosca. Our future daughter-in-law actually got our son to the opera recently (no report back yet); she's having a profound effect on our tattooed and pierced young man. We're loving it. (As you probably noticed, we're big fans anyway, but we're getting a kick out of the expanded horizons).

Yay! for expanding horizons. Very best wishes follow this young couple.

>173 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen. You met the young man, so we doubly appreciate it. :-)

>167 lunacat: Well, that's one of the best signs ever, Jenny. Thanks! What a lucky community to have that kind of thoughtful transit. For a moment, working with a team of other sloths sounded like a dream job, but then I realized my dream job really wouldn't involve the word "working".

>168 PaulCranswick: Isn't that something, Paul? Shows the impact of winning the award. Modiano must have felt like he won the lottery; I suspect that, like the rest of us, he never expected it.

I'll let you know what I think - it may take a bit to get to Missing Person. Yes, the weekend was a good 'un, although chilly here. Looks like it's warm and rainy in your part of the world. I hope you had a good weekend, too.

>169 LovingLit: It was a wonderful play, Megan. You can tell I'm a fan of live theater, but you definitely encounter (one definitely encounters - it sounds so snotty to say it correctly, doesn't it?) some misses among the hits. We've walked out on ones that were just not cutting it, I must admit, like a theater Pearl rule. A flop, like you've seen, is annoying. But it's so worth it for 99% of them. Nothing like it.

On my second cup of coffee here, and I seem to be posting on the right thread, so that's a good sign. I'd be happy to help with the Lenny chasing if we lived nearer. Not so much the cleaning, as necessary as it is.

>170 michigantrumpet: Good morning, Marianne! We pride ourselves on the sloth information we provide to the patrons here. I was going to say we always have the latest sloth news, but truth be told, old sloth news is almost exactly the same as the latest sloth news. That's part of the charm, don't you think?

Oh, you're lucky to have seen that Northwestern v. Notre Dame game! If I had know it would be such a good one, I'd have taped it. Go Wildcats! I appreciate that program and coach, as it's a challenge for a school like that to do well in the Big Ten.

Happy Monday! This LT group sure has sweetened me up. No way I would've said Happy Monday in the past. Too busy grumbling and complaining. But so far so good, although our temps are in the Farenheit teens so far.

Happy Monday Joe! Yum...your sustenance is right up my alley.
Busy day ahead with ferrying children around so I'm trying to sneak in some LT time right now.

>175 jolerie: Nice to see you, Valerie! Happy Monday!

This is a 24/7 sustenance joint (with time jiggery), so just let us know. Best of luck with the children ferrying. Good thing you like them so much, right?

>169 LovingLit: Having been in my share of (off, off, off-Broadway) plays, I will say that actors are very energized by the audience, and while flops can be painful to participate in, every audience member is deeply appreciated. Most of the time the pros don't do anything to embarrass themselves.

Some plays, on the other hand, are hard to watch because they are half-baked or just plain bad. I haven't walked out on more than a couple, which is saying a lot when I look back on all the performances I've seen. But it's always an option, at least for plays with intermissions. I've been so some stinkers without intermissions, and caught in the middle of a row I didn't have the heart to leave in so obvious a way.

But I encourage you to go to live theater. It's a wonderful collaboration, among that actors and between the actors and the audience, and the good ones fill you up in a way I can't really describe.

>177 ffortsa: Agreed, Judy. We haven't had the heart to leave stinkers with no intermission, either.

It's a wonderful collaboration, among the actors and between the actors and the audience, and the good ones fill you up in a way I can't really describe. Nicely put.

Happy Monday, Joe. Wishing you a lovely week. We just had dinner but I have some space left for a virtual dessert. What could the Chef recommend?

Sorry, no happy Monday's from me. I just checked my phone: 17 with a stiff breeze. I am bundled up tight though and I HAVE my books...

Hope your day flies...

>179 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. Happy Monday to you, too. Ah, dessert. One of the chef's favorite topics. How about Vanilla Semifreddo and Orange Sorbet Terrine?



>180 msf59: Ha! I'm very sympathetic to your Monday surliness, Mark. 17with a stiff breeze? Sounds like February, not November. At least you're not being accompanied so you can listen to those books. Hope your day flies, too . . .

Hoping maybe a VR fireplace will help:

Yummmmie, that's absolutely perfect. Thanks sooo much. Hugs.

>182 Ameise1: :-) Hugs back, Barbara.

>172 jnwelch: Oh, good on your future DIL for getting your son to the opera! I rarely go, but am a closet opera enthusiast, so I'm looking forward to it. I did see Rigoletto last year and it was excellent. I really wanted to see Don Giovanni this year, but didn't get tickets in time. :-( The Magic Flute is a good one too!

>172 jnwelch: The Magic Flute that we saw was an unusual and lively performance by South Africa's Isango Ensemble: http://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/magicflute

Traditional opera is a tougher go for me, I must admit. Usually they don't even serve beer, do they?

Sorry you missed out on Don Giovanni.

Others probably know about Unshelved Comics at http://www.unshelved.com/2002-2-16, but it was new to me. Very funny!

Hi, Joe ~ Just stopping in to say hi to a fellow freezing weather sufferer. Now I'm here, I wouldn't mind having a bowl of that lovely vegetable beef soup!

In winter, I like to make my mom's hamburger soup, which looks a lot like the image of the soup in >171 jnwelch:, except, because we were poor as kids, she made it with tiny bits of hamburger rather than steak. However it's made, it's lovely on a cold winter's evening!

>174 jnwelch: I'd be happy to help with the Lenny chasing if we lived nearer. Not so much the cleaning, as necessary as it is
Ha!
The Lenny chasing isn't so bad really, he falls over a lot, so I can catch him from time to time :) At any one time he usually has about three sticking plasters on him! (and he only gets them if there is actual blood, too).

>187 Storeetllr: *yikes* I am struggling to get that cartoon! I am OK til I get to the third box, you know, the punchline. ;)

Here is a picture of Sherlock enjoying some lazy cozy Sunday reading with me :)

Hi Joe,
Just thought I'd drop in. Reading The Shock of the Fall which is titled Where the Moon Isn't here. I can't think why they changed it since the original title relates to the story and so far I can't make the connection to the second title. Can't say I'm loving it though it's intriguing and I'm sure I'll finish it.

Hi Joe! Finally popping in on your new thread. Very nice to see some Rivera, it's been awhile since I've fixed my eyeballs on his work.

Looks like I'll have to request both Wonder and Gracefully Grayson before the year is out!

Hope you're staying warm out there - it's currently 9 degrees outside at my house, and it feels like I've left a window open in here. Brrrrrr!

Finished reading Gracefully Grayson last night and loved it. Excellent depiction of a young person's mind when it is grappling with such a titanic issue. And the setting was spot on, according to my experience with this age group. Thanks for speaking so highly of this book, and your "better half", too!

I think I am moving on to Bossypants. I think reading Amy Poehler's book has made me want to read Tina Fey's. Interesting juxtaposition to reading Sophia Loren's autobiography which I am also reading.

Morning, Joe!

Morning Joe! You'll be happy to hear that I am finally digging into An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. I am sure I will love it. I also have Gracefully Grayson at hand. Funny, I thought this was a GN. That is why I requested it right a way. Happy accidents, my friend.
You might want to start tracking down The Giant's House. It is shaping up to be another GEM.

Hope you are bundled on the way out.

>187 Storeetllr: Woo, I saw that 50 degree plummet over on your thread, Mary. Ouch! We thought the cold came on quickly here, but what you had makes us look like pikers.

It is lousy today here. Wind chill well below zero, with 13 F on the clock when I got down here. The el train I take was screwed up because of a fire, so I had to take a different line to the other end of downtown and walk across. Not a great day for that. Thawing out now, very appreciative of hot coffee.

Vegetable beef soup? Coming your way, with some time jiggery.



>188 LovingLit: Ha! That's a fun age, Megan. It's a major development when you go from being able to put him down somewhere and know he'll stay, to chasing. Our son started walking at 9 months, and start running and jumping about 30 seconds later. As he got older he became a fan and practitioner of "parkour", an urban scramble-and-jump-over-everything sport designed to make parents worry as much as possible. Having wooed Madame MBH in part by jumping over parking meters in Chicago (well, when you don't have money, you have to be creative), I wasn't in any position to tell him, don't be an idiot.

I love "sticking plaster". It'd be a bandaid here, I think, but I'd much rather put sticking plasters on.

>189 seasonsoflove: I knew Sherlock would grow up to be a Perry Mason fan if he hung out with you, Becca. So glad he's an avid reader. Now you need to tell him to use the cellphone so he can be more in touch with his human grandparents.

>190 NarratorLady: Yeah, Where the Moon Isn't doesn't do much for me either, Anne. The Shock of the Fall fits as a title in more than one way, and is more interesting, too. I'm glad you're giving the book a go. You may end up loving it, as I thought the last 1/3 was quite good. Please let me know what you think.

I was just talking to Ellie about the two of you recommending Jane Gardam to me. Good one!

>191 LauraBrook: Ha! Love the Calvin and Hobbes, thanks, Laura. Savoring bad moods is an art form, IMO.

Glad you like the Riveras. Yes, of all LTers, seems to me it's a lead pipe cinch you'll like Wonder and Gracefully Grayson! These have your reading address and are already postmarked. Hurry down to your library or local carrier of great books asap. Can't wait to hear your reactions.

>192 maggie1944: So glad Gracefully Grayson hit the spot for you, Karen! Isn't it excellent? Good to hear it rings true based on your experience with this age group. I was knocked over by Grayson's quiet bravery. I'll let my better half know your reaction; she'll be very happy.

I'm pretty sure you're going to love Bossypants. She's an extraordinary woman, IMO, in addition to being unbelievably funny. As you might expect, she's self-deprecating, too, which I found charming.

>193 scaifea: Morning, Amber! I'll be visiting the Scaife Manor thread shortly to catch the latest.

>194 msf59: Ha! I love that you thought Gracefully Grayson was a gn, Mark! Whatever it takes to get it into your hands quickly, I'm happy about it. You'll see it's a very fast read. Debbi read it in a day.

Yay for An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth! Yeah, if you don't love that one, I'm going to have to pack up my LT bags and move to Argentina. It's got Mark written all over it.

I'll keep an eye out for The Giant House. I'm reading the third Giver, Messenger, and a YA that Kath liked, Rain Reign, right now. Oh, and I read Skim. Thought it was fine, but no great shakes. This One Summer is much more ambitious and better executed. I think I told you about Ms. Marvel over on your thread - Muslim superhero, trying to make her modern way in the U.S. in a traditional Muslim family.

That's our guy!

>186 jnwelch: I love this cartoon. Please, thank you, and I'm sorry are all badly underused. IMHO.

Meet-up photo finally posted over on my thread.

The day Bill Watterson retired was one of the saddest days of my life. I respected his decision but I'm still grieving!

>198 EBT1002: Yay! I'll come over and take a peek at the meetup photo. Did someone turn the lights on?

Glad you like the librarian comic. I'm going to spend some time on that site. Cracked me up.

>199 EBT1002: I know, same here. Luckily he left a treasure trove of ones we can revisit. I keep hoping that maybe he's working on more at his own slow pace, but probably not. I can see how the time pressures could wear someone out.

Those of you who want to see a less murky photo of the Ellen, Kerri, Joe meetup can see it on Ellen's thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/182333#4923468

Hi Joe! Looking forward to your thoughts on Rain Reign. I've been hearing good things. Looks like we felt the same about Skim. I am nearly done with Little Fish.

I have been a long time subscriber to the Unshelved librarian comics. I met the guys who do it about ten years ago at a librarians conference. They always have a booth at ALA so if you come to the Midwinter meeting you can meet them. One of them is still a librarian in the King County Library system in Washington state.

The author is narrating Astronaut. He is natural and engaging. Of course, I love it so far.

>202 msf59: So far Rain Reign is good, Mark. I'd forgotten it's about a girl with Asberger's Syndrome.

I'd also forgotten you'd read Skim. Okay, but not great.

>203 benitastrnad: I'm getting a kick out of the Unshelved Librarian, Benita. Good to know they'll have a booth at ALA. Absent scheduling conflicts, I expect we'll go. We really enjoyed it last time.

>204 msf59: Oh, I bet that's good with Hadfield narrating. What a guy.

I've had Unshelved delivered to my inbox daily for years and years.

>197 jnwelch: - Love the "Philosopher Calvin" clip!

>197 jnwelch: Love .....

>197 jnwelch: *snork!* Love that Calvin...

Joe I'm excited that you are reading Messenger. I really loved that book. Don't wait too long to get around to the 4th one Son. It wraps up the series nicely.

>206 thornton37814: Good for you, Lori. Once I get caught up, I may do that. If you've been having Unshelved delivered by email for years and years, it'll probably take me a while!

>207 lkernagh: Isn't that good, Lori? It's Calvin's world, and we're just living in it. Well, Hobbes might have something to say about that.

>208 roundballnz: Me, too, Alex. Some day I'd like to sit down with all of the C & H strips and go back through them. So good!

>209 scaifea: He's endearing in his it's all about Calvin way, isn't he, Amber?



These two obviously understand those of us with sloth-like tendencies.

>210 luvamystery65: Oh, we cross-posted, Roberta, darn it. Hope you see this. I did like Messenger. Gathering Blue grabbed me even more, I'm not sure why, except I like Kira and what she can do, and their finding the village. I'm looking forward to reading the final one.

I've read more of Mary Oliver's later work than her earlier, and from comments I've read that may be a good thing - some find her earlier work a little precious and preachy. I enjoy her close observations about nature, her spiritual inquiries, and her sense of humor about herself and being human. One of my favorites in Blue Horses, "First Yoga Lesson", shows her humor:

“Be a lotus in the pond,” she said, “opening
slowly, no single energy tugging
against another but peacefully,
all together.”

I couldn’t even touch my toes.
“Feel your quadriceps stretching?” she asked.
Well, something was certainly stretching.

Standing impressively upright, she
raised one leg and placed it against
the other, then lifted her arms and
shook her hands like leaves. “Be a tree,” she said.

I lay on the floor, exhausted.
But to be a lotus in the pond
opening slowly, and very slowly rising—
that I could do.

In "Blueberries" she talks about what a pleasure it is to be able to buy "fresh blueberries all year long" from "various countries in South America", but also about what is lost that way:

Maybe it's myself that I miss. The
field, and the sparrow singing at the
edge of the woods. And the doe that one
morning came upon me unaware, all
tense and gorgeous. She stamped her hoof
as you would to any intruder. Then gave
me a long look, as if to say, Okay, you
stay in your patch, I'll stay in mine.
Which is what we did. Try packing that
up, South America.

In another one, she looks at the question, can we depart from our parent's shadow? The answer: gladly.

Everything I can think of that my parents
thought or did I don't think and I don't do.
I opened windows, they shut them. I pulled
open the curtains, they shut them. If you
get my drift.

In that same poem, titled "To Be Human is to Sing Your Own Song", she compares us to song sparrow nestlings who "must listen/carefully to the father bird as he sings/ and make their own song in imitation of his."

But I know a
child doesn't have to. Doesn't have to.
Doesn't have to. And I didn't.

Some of the poems are just gorgeous, like the aptly titled "What Gorgeous Thing", about the bluebird's song in the early morning.

Three poems, "Little Lord Love", "Little Crazy Love Song" and "I Woke" address her falling in love late in life. They're even sexy, which I don't think is common in her poetry. Her giddiness is contagious. While waiting for her lover, for example, "softly my right hand fondles my left hand/ as though it were you."

I read somewhere that she is, surprisingly to me, America's best-selling poet. Her accessibility and friendliness likely help explain that. There also is an ease she has attained at this stage of her career that makes her awfully good company.

>211 jnwelch: LOL; would like to join them.

>213 Ameise1: Me, too, Barbara. Maybe adding a book at some point. :-)

I finished reading the second installment in the Girl of Fire and Thorn series. Crown of Embers is a much fun to read as the first book was. I raced through it in 5 days. Granted it was over a weekend, but it was so much fun to read that I didn't really notice how much time I was spending reading it. Most of it late at night.

I had my first bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I had an ancient grains mixture with blueberries. If the cafe has some of that I am sure it wouldn't go amiss with the patrons. Especially today.

A few of my favourite quotes and excerpts from Mary Oliver:

"I believe in kindness. Also in mischief."

"maybe death
isn't darkness, after all,
but so much light
wrapping itself around us"

“Can You Imagine?
For example, what the trees do
not only in lightening storms
or the watery dark of a summer's night
or under the white nets of winter
but now, and now, and now - whenever
we're not looking. Surely you can't imagine
they don't dance, from the root up, wishing
to travel a little, not cramped so much as wanting
a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly
more shade - surely you can't imagine they just
stand there loving every
minute of it, the birds or the emptiness, the dark rings
of the years slowly and without a sound
thickening, and nothing different unless the wind,
and then only in its own mood, comes
to visit, surely you can't imagine
patience, and happiness, like that.”

“I Go Down To The Shore

I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.”

>214 jnwelch: Ha, my words, but unfortunately the reading has to wait. Still too much work to do. *sigh*

>215 benitastrnad: I've got to give that Girl of Fire and Thorns series a try, Benita. I like the part of the premise that she isn't a physical ideal as is so common.

Hot ancient grains mixture with blueberries does sound on target for another chilly day here. Here we go:



>216 lunacat: Ah, those are most excellent, Jenny. I can tell you're a fan. I just ordered A Thousand Mornings to catch up some more with her.

I've seen "I believe in kindness. Also in mischief." over on, I think, Mamie's thread. Hadn't realized it came from Ms. Oliver. That fits her, for sure.

Can you believe the sea has the gall to ignore us and our important concerns?

blueberries on oatmeal is my standby breakfast when I've gone to the kids house to help them eat a good breakfast, too. Let's all cheer for "good breakfasts".

>215 benitastrnad: ancient grains? What's in that?

>220 ffortsa: I assume ancient grains are things like spelt and millet that were among the very first cultivated grains in the world? (around 6000BC I believe). They are better for your health as have lower levels of carbohydrates and are higher in protein than the modern grains of oats, wheat and barley.

Morning Joe! Warm oatmeal sounds perfect this cold morning and especially after a trip to the friendly neighbourhood dentist. Ouch!

>219 maggie1944: As Madame MBH will tell you, Karen, I'm not really a blueberry guy (though they're not bad in muffins). She always says, "But they're so good for you!", which isn't really what attracts me to food. (Full disclosure: she's got me eating apples all the time now. Oh, if only carbohydrates were the best thing for health ever). Oatmeal is most excellent, though. Crunchy nuts and other kinds of berries work for me.

>220 ffortsa: Inquiring minds want to know. Good question, Judy.

>221 lunacat: I like the words "spelt" and "millet" a lot, Jenny. We should see more of them based on the way they sound, besides the other benefits you mention.

>222 jolerie: Morning Valerie! How are those little rugrats of yours? Oh, my sympathy on the visit to your friendly neighborhood dentist. Ours has good music and happy funny people working there, and there's still no way to make a visit to the dentist pleasant. On the other hand, whenever I go through it, I think of how disastrous it would be not to have them looking out for us, and how lucky we are healthwise to have them. If only we could take care of it all painlessly over the phone . . .

More warm oatmeal for our favorite dental appointment survivor:

Hi Joe! Not as harsh today and we never got the snow they forecasted.
I am loving my trip with Col. Hadfield. He was just taking his space walk and was blinded by something inside his helmet. Great stuff.
I will have to come back and check out the Oliver poems. They look good.

>224 msf59: Glad it's not too bad today, Mark. You're right, all that snow never showed up - good.

Isn't the trip with Col. Hadfield great? Loved that book.

I like Oliver's poetry more than I expected. I'm picking up another one of hers (A Thousand Mornings). Besides enjoying her writing, she really gets me thinking.

P.S. Wouldn't An Astronaut's Guide make for a great discussion pairing with The Martian?

>185 jnwelch: - Oh, thanks! I'll check out that link.

Usually they don't even serve beer, do they? They do in the lobby, right? :-)

>212 jnwelch: I do love your poetry reviews, Joe! I've not tried Mary Oliver yet, but I've been trying to dip into more poetry lately (although this has slowed down in recent months.). Perhaps I'll try some later Mary Oliver at some point.

#220
The hot cereal I had this morning had amaranth, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, kaniwa, hemp, flax and chia. It also had some poppyseeds. It was very good.

>227 benitastrnad:. That sounds really interesting. Do you get that in a health food store?

>226 DorsVenabili: If they serve beer in the lobby, Kerri, the odds of my going to opera have increased. They like it when you sing along, right?

Thank you re the poetry reviews. You might like Mary Oliver's work; she isn't anything like Murakami, YA, or the Vorkosigan saga. :-)

>227 benitastrnad: You could make a poem out of that list, Benita. Good for you.

>228 ffortsa: *proprietor checks on day's selection of toast*

Hey daydreamers, how about this for a comfortable place to read?

oh, my, that is a pretty place. I'm suspicious that if I settled in that little nesting area, and opened my book, I might fall right to sleep. I wonder if they allow a strong cup of coffee to accompany me?

Happy Thursday to you, Joe. Sweet Thursday is Mark's name for it, right? I think I might finish my Capt. Cook book today, it is that good!

>231 maggie1944: Sweet Thursday, Karen! Yes, that's Mark's name for it, based on the wonderful Steinbeck book of that title (the follow-up to Cannery Row).

Isn't that a pretty place? I'm looking forward to more pics of the pretty place where you are these days.

Glad you're having such a good time with that Capt. Cook book - I know you just picked it up at that local bookstore, so almost finished says a lot in its favor.

>230 jnwelch: Oh that looks lovely. Maybe a duck will come over to say hello, or a frog. (No swans, please - nasty beasts that they are.)

>234 jnwelch: :-) I'm fine with no swans coming over, Judy, although they look pretty out on the water, don't they? No geese either - once I had to boot a big one back into the water, when it started going after our kids.

You do find the loveliest reading spots don't you? I just pinned it onto a new board called "Places I want to be".

"Sloth-like" tendencies? I think I'm just 100% sloth. I've got fungus growing on me already (oops, TMI?!). No wonder I'm cold all the time in winter, since I can barely be bothered to move at all.

Wishing you a lovely day Joe.

>230 jnwelch: I think I'd be too scared of flooding to relax properly in that area. I can just hear the coroner at the inquest now..........

"This young lady had taken a seat in a garden pond area when she became engrossed in her book and noticed neither the rising water levels, nor the sinking seating. Alas, she vanished into the depths and hasn't been seen since, so we must declare her drowned ala novella"

>235 Smiler69: Thanks, Ilana. It's a place I want to be, too.

"Those of the sloth persuasion"? That might bring in the 100%ers like you.

You want to make good use of your furry pals when it starts getting cold.



>236 lunacat: Ha! No worries, Jenny. We'll get you a floatie chair.

Awwww love that sloth and kitty combo. How perfect. That was Mimi and I for an hour or so as I sat here in front of the computer. She left my lap 10 minutes ago and it's been much colder since. I'll be migrating somewhere else soon.

Hi Joe! Sorry, no Sweet Thursday, from this guy. There might not be any for awhile...hey, Thanksgiving is on a Thursday, right? Smiles...
I am currently in the ISS, far above the earth. The view is spectacular.

>238 Smiler69: As you probably know, Ilana, the warmup also works with dogs (named Coco). :-)

>239 msf59: Ha! Yeah, Thanksgiving will be a Sweet Thursday for sure, Mark. You drew tough duty this week! It's supposed to improve over the weekend.

There you are, spinning in your tin can, high above the earth. Spectacular, indeed. I think you saw his Youtube video, with him singing Space Oddity, right? Classic.

For some reason Joe, Coco is happy to sit on my lap just about anywhere, except when we're at home.

>230 jnwelch: That is lovely, but what about creepy, crawly things?

>241 Smiler69: Ha! Go figure. I guess it'll have to be the cats at home, Ilana, unless you keep an extra dog named Coco somewhere.

>242 DorsVenabili: We can get you some creepy, crawly things if you want, Kerri. But it's pretty nice without.

>195 jnwelch: I love "sticking plaster". It'd be a bandaid here, I think, but I'd much rather put sticking plasters on.
It also gets called a sticky plaster, or just plaster. I have memories of the constant call for "pas-saa, pas-saa" from the kids before they could talk properly, any fall bump or knock would mean an instant appeal. Mean old me made a no blood, no sticking plaster rule early on!

And Parkour! Your son does/did that!? Wow. Is he thinking about America Ninja Warrior at all? Even though Lenny is the one who runs and falls over everywhere, Wilbur (6) is the one I have pegged for that kind of activity. He has coordination and grace, whereas little bro has brute strength and no fear. It is a different skill set. For sure :)

>237 jnwelch: it's the arms, they are just so long. They look like they can deliver a hug at 40 paces! I love the humble sloth.

>212 jnwelch: love the yoga poem. The teachers always make it look so easy, as if it should be. My yoga experience is coloured, of course, by my still-mangled (although pain-free) hip joint. When the class talks of being forward bends or hip-openers, I practically want to ask for my money back right there. :)

>244 LovingLit: My wife had two sayings I remember from when ours were wee, Megan: The dirtier you are at the end of the day, the better your day was, and No blood or humiliation? Then you deal with it. When there was blood, we did use sticky plasters with beloved characters. Scooby-doo was a particular favorite, as I recall. I don't think they ever admitted to humiliation.

I know, those long arms are impressive. "A hug at 40 paces" - I like that. Think of how you could beat everyone else to the food with those long arms, too!

I have a sister who teaches yoga, and I've been in her class, so I could really relate like you to that yoga poem. The "corpse pose" (lying there on the floor like a somnolent sloth) was my best one in her class, of course, although being a lotus in the pond, opening slowly, certainly sounds more stylish.

#228
I did buy it at the health food store and I intend to go back and buy more. That stuff is really good.

>230 jnwelch: Love that .......

>245 jnwelch: With Charlie, if there's no blood and the crying if pretty obviously not the of the "look, I'm really in pain here, lady" kind, then I administer the Tickle Test. If the area in question is still ticklish, then we declare him Fit for Duty. Sadly, though, his sensitive skin won't tolerate the fun band-aids, a detail we discovered only after I had stocked up during a sale, so now when I need a band-aid, I 'get' to use the Dora and Lightning McQueen ones...
I'd love to find a local yoga class; I've tried on my own with dvds before, but I really think I need an teacher in person to tell me if I'm doing it correctly.

Happy Friday, Joe! I just started Gracefully Grayson. I like her crisp prose in the early going. I am also paying a visit to Walt & the Gang, in Junkyard Dogs. On the GN front, I've been enjoying Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel. It's a new one. Have you heard anything?

ETA: I did not see the Space Oddity video. I was intending to last night and it slipped my wind-addled mind.

>29 jnwelch: I like the new second picture, Joe. Sorry I didn't get a chance to see it until this morning.

I've been busy this past week and a half moving myself and 11 residents (physicians) to another location. I'm surrounded by boxes, but with a cup of strong black coffee and a oozingly delicious cheese biscuit, I'm feeling pretty good.

Here's my biscuit, courtesy of Abrams' restaurant:

Revision to my assertion that the recipe at >39 jnwelch: was exactly correct - tracking down my recipe card for this one (finally) I see that it is a can of evaporated milk (not condensed) and a loaf of regular, ordinary white bread. Additionally although 6 eggs are listed all over the internet, my card says nothing about any eggs at all. Am wondering if I overlooked the eggs when copying the recipe from the book. Somehow the inclusion of eggs sounds as it would be correct though.

Any thoughts?

>246 benitastrnad: *proprietor checks on the toast supplies again*

>247 roundballnz: Isn't that cool, Alex? I'd gladly spend some time there.

>248 scaifea: I love the Tickle Test, Amber. Perfect.

I bet your friends and neighbors are impressed when they see you wearing your Dora and Lightning McQueen band-aids. I'm so behind the times I don't know who Lightning McQueen is. There was a time when I realized that, thanks to the kids, I knew the names of all the Sesame Street characters, something I never expected to be part of my memory banks.

Yes, I think yoga is one where you need that teacher. You'll think you're aligned and doing everything right, and then he/she will help you adjust to true alignment (which in my experience was both an "aha, that feels more right" and a "oh, that's harder" feeling). Plus working with others is usually inspiring, and seeing someone up close and personal doing it right is inspiring in a way that on the screen isn't.

For me, the absence of running around while dribbling, throwing or kicking a ball was ultimately a flaw I couldn't overcome. It takes a lot of patience, a quality I sometimes have in short supply. Now I practice the sloth pose a lot, but I'm not sure that's what the yoga masters had in mind.

>249 msf59: Oh, you're going to get a kick out of that video, Mark. Our son actually encouraged me to watch it before I even knew there was a book by this cool astronaut.

You know I loves me some Walt & the Gang. I was going to say Junkyard Dogs is a good one, but I've yet to come across one that wasn't. An interesting thing about reading that short story collection recently was it included his first published short story (the chief helping Walt quickly solve a crime), and the quality was high from the git-go.

That crisp prose continues throughout Gracefully Grayson, and is one of its strengths. No bloviating (what a word), no excess.

Happy Friday! Hope it's a good one for you.

>250 fuzzi: Oh my, that biscuit looks good, fuzzi. Now I'm wanting to find one (or three or four) of those.

Glad you like the second painting. Sometimes the image posting gets wonky. That move sounds major; I suspect "busy this past week" is a modest understatement. Sending you positive thoughts for boxes getting emptied and life returning to normal.

>251 Fourpawz2: Hi, Charlotte. Seems to me that eggs would be needed in bread pudding, like the recipe in >39 jnwelch:, but maybe some of our guest chefs could comment. You could experiment and add eggs to your recipe and see what you think - easy for me to say, as I suppose it might not turn out well.

Our guest book cafe today is Tmol Shilshom (Only Yesterday) in Jerusalem:

Thanks Joe. I will await input.
Loving Tmol Shilshom. How nice it would be to spend the rest of the morning there.

I probably need to get my aging bones to a yoga class as well. Our friend has an instructor named something like Jack Whitewolf (I think the name came to him while on some sort of nature-oriented spirit quest.) I would definitely want a weird, hippie instructor like that if I were to do it. It seems like the way to go.

Lightning McQueen

Happy Friday, Joe! I think Lightning McQueen might be named after Steve McQueen, or in honor of him. A heart throb of my yooof.

>255 Fourpawz2: Right, Charlotte? I could gladly hang out in Tmol Shilshom for a few hours. On a regular basis.

>256 DorsVenabili: Right, his given name was probably Jack Smith or Jack White (wait a minute, isn't that the White Stripes guy?). After a cafe-oriented spirit quest, for example, I started calling myself Joe's Book Cafe.

Too bad my sister doesn't live near you. She's a weird hippie instructor (and very good at it), and she's married to a weird, hippie instructor (and all round great guy). It does seem like the way to go. If your yoga instructor shows up in wingtips or dress for success high heels with a briefcase, it's probably time to start looking for a different yoga center.

>257 Morphidae: Ah, yes, "Cars". Thanks, Morphy. Missed that one due to kids' ages. But our daughter, via babysitting, has seen it a million times (you know how little kids love repetition), and no doubt could quote dialog to you.

How snazzy to be wearing band-aids with Lightning McQueen on them. My MBH got me Jane Austen band-aids, but it's not quite the same.

>258 maggie1944: Oops, we crop-ssosted, Karen. Happy Friday! I'll bet you're right. I always think of Steve McQueen in Bullitt, driving that ultracool car.

OK, the new cafe is open. See you there!