qebo’s 2015 books (1)

Lancaster County Central Park is located just outside the city, and includes a native plant meadow, a community garden, and an environmental center (with library).

Currently Reading

Read But Not Yet Reviewed

January
#01: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan -- (Jan 3) - new (e-book)
#02: Mendel in the Kitchen by Nina V. Fedoroff and Nancy Marie Brown -- (Jan 11) - ROOT
#03: March by Geraldine Brooks -- (Jan 14) - ROOT
#04: The Bird Market of Paris by Nikki Moustaki -- (Jan 18) - ER
#05: Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges -- (Jan 24) - ROOT
#06: Culture Shock! Korea by Sonja Vegdahl Hur and Ben Seunghwa Hur -- (Jan 26) new (used)
#07: January magazines -- (Jan 30)

February
#08: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke -- (Feb 7) - ROOT (e-book)
#09: Cycle of Fire by Hal Clement -- (Feb 14) - ROOT
#10: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston -- (Feb 18) - new (e-book)
#11: Food, Inc. by Peter Pringle -- (Feb 19) - ROOT
#12: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby -- (Feb 27) - ER
#13: February Magazines -- (Feb 28)

March

I’m back for year 5... I’m not nearly as chatty as some folks here, but 75 is just about right, and counting is motivation. A typical pattern is 12 magazines (1 month of subscriptions to New Yorker, Atlantic, Scientific American counts as 1 book), books about half non-fiction (tending heavily to science, also culture/history/biography) and half fiction (tending heavily to science fiction, also occasional remedial or revisits to classics, and experiments on whim or in response to buzz).

I cross-post relevant book reviews in the Non-Fiction Challenge/Journal group.
I aspire (but often neglect) to post relevant magazine summaries in the Magazines!!! group.
I keep a running account of caterpillars and birds and other critters in the Gardens & Books group.

For a sense of my reading tastes, here’s my final 2014 thread.

I don’t normally start my thread until January 1, but got things organized and have spare time this evening, and aspirations to do household tasks over the holiday, so here it is.

Congratulations on the dandy new thread! I left my comments in this year, but I'll surely be back.

I'm ready for the new year, so I'm firmly planted in the 2015 threads....just waiting for people to come on over to this side. Welcome a bit early!

Just stopping to drop a star. Hi neighbor!

Welcome back!

Hi Katherine! That's a great map of the Lancaster Central Park. How big is it and how many people live in Lancaster? I don't know much about Lancaster and am impressed by the picture of the park.

>10 phebj: LT doesn’t allow map embedding so here’s the link... Lancaster is basically a 2x2 mile square with appendages; the total area is about 7 square miles, though the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the city are indistinguishable, and some of the areas technically within city limits are big box stores annexed for tax purposes. The population is about 55-60,000. The county park is 544 acres = 0.85 square miles.

That map is a somewhat idealized view by the firm responsible for the master plan of the current incarnation (I don't know when the park was created, but it was around when I was a kid), but it really is an impressive place, and one of its nicer features is that it is within walking distance of the least wealthy quadrant of the city. I may be violating copyright by linking to the picture, so here, I'll give Derck & Edson some advertising in compensation.

starred:)

Hello, as you said on my thread, from a few inconvenient highways away. Be careful maneuvering around the buggies. :)

>13 lauralkeet: I dread sharing the road, especially at night. For those of you unfamiliar with the local traffic idiosyncrasies, some examples:
Dec 31: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/horse-and-buggy-runs-away-with-no-driver-f...
Dec 29: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/state-police-seek-driver-in-hit-and-run-in...
Dec 24: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/horse-and-buggy-wanted-in-hit-and-run/arti...
Dec 3: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/mother-critically-injured-in-buggy-crash-i...
Nov 27: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/mass-casualty-horse-and-buggy-accident-inj...
Nov 6: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/update-pickup-truck-sought-in-hit-and-run-...

Stopping by to drop a star.

I'm looking forward to following what you're reading in 2015. Happy new year!

Happy new group, Katherine!

I saw this article today about monarchs: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-monarch-butterfly-eyed-for-possible-us-endanger...
it says they might be put on the Endangered Species list next year. It's very sad that there are so few of them, but maybe they will benefit from the extra protections?

>17 norabelle414: Yeah, there's a petition requesting endangered species status. It's controversial, even among monarch enthusiasts. On the one hand, it could lead to conservation efforts. On the other hand, it could lead to restrictions on raising or breeding. The article lists the usual suspects: habitat loss, herbicides, pesticides, which are not unique to monarchs. I'm on a monarch listserv where this issue threw a bunch of people into a tizzy pro and con over the summer, things got kind of ugly with accusations of unsavory motives, and although my gut inclination is it's a good idea in the abstract, I became increasingly uncertain about what it actually would mean in terms of actual concrete actions and effects. I think it's a positive sign that the petition is showing up in the popular press.

Hi Katherine! Lancaster County Central Park looks fabulous...... 544 acres, that is quite some park! I am looking forward to following all the wonderful books and things that are discussed on your threads. Happy New Year!

Dear Katherine,



Happy New Year from your friend in Kuala Lumpur

Happy new year Katherine!

Happy New Year to visitors!

I'm going to sleep.

>14 qebo: oh wow ... I didn't read all of them and in some cases the URL told me all I needed to know. I've never had an accident -- or encountered an accident -- involving a buggy but anytime I see them out and about (and we get a few near our house, too), I fear for their safety.

On another note: Happy New Year!

Hello Katherine,
just stopping by to wish you a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year qebo! Nice pic up top, it's been ages since I've been to that park. I'll have to remedy that sometime. :)

Happy New Year Q!!

I loathe driving at night now too. Just hate it.

>26 LibraryLover23: I don't get there often myself, the location is awkward for me, but every since I found out about the Muhlenberg Meadow a few years ago, I've tried to get there in spring and summer. You're out near Overlook Park aren't you? I get out there every so often to work with the group that maintains the native plant meadow near the library.

Starred you for 2015. Happy New Year!

Welcome back!

I did say that I have stuff to do today? Already afternoon and here I am still sitting at the computer. Not such a good thing when new year goals fail on the first day. See ya after I get something accomplished...

Here I am...dropping a star! :)

>28 qebo: I'm not too close to Overlook, no, but some of my family lives near there so I get there occasionally. I really like the Manheim Township Library, that's always worth a trip!

Good luck with your to-do list!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Katherine!

Saw The Imitation Game this evening, so I really should move Alan Turing: The Enigma to the top of the TBR stack. 675 pages, sigh.

Fortunately, I've already read Unbroken and Wild, which are on the agenda for the weekend.

>37 qebo: How was the movie? I have been trying to decide if I should go.

>38 Oberon: I thought it was good as a movie, though Benedict Cumberbatch is too naturally charming (facial expressions abound) to play a man who was (as presented in the movie; apparently not true in real life) disliked by his colleagues, and I assumed major oversimplification. Immediately upon returning home, I searched for reviews, and here are two good ones:
The New York Review of Books review is quite negative, considers it a misrepresentation of both the man and the facts.
The New York Times review is generally positive.

Regardless of flaws, I think it’s worth seeing. I should note though that I rarely see movies (my weekend agenda is highly unusual; I typically don't see 3 movies in 3 years), so I’m an unsophisticated critic.

>37 qebo: There are a lot of books becoming movies lately - Before I Go to Sleep?, The Hobbit and Gone Girl were my last three films and I plan to see the three you mentioned too.

Have a lovely weekend, Katherine.

I started reading the Turing book, which I got with a Christmas gift certificate. Strike while the iron is hot. Otherwise it'll settle into a pile and I'll be put off by its length; at the moment I'm motivated by curiosity.

>40 PaulCranswick: Thanks. I kinda want to see Gone Girl too, but it's in an annoying location; the other 3 are at the movie theater I can walk to. I have never been able to get far with Tolkien.

We saw The Imitation Game the other night, having read the NYT Review and being fans of Cumberbatch. I really liked it, but also appreciate the more critical opinion in the NYRB review. It's too easy to allow the movie to be my primary source of facts on this period in history. I'm interested to see what you learn from the book.

Happy weekend Katherine! Hope you enjoy Unbroken. I've heard the book is fantastic!

>44 The_Hibernator: The book is fantastic. The movie, I'm worried about graphic torture...

#1: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan -- (Jan 3)

why now: Started reading on Christmas night because I didn’t have the brain capacity for the more demanding non-fiction in progress, and continued through a nuisance virus during the holiday week. A mistake, perhaps, because I failed to keep track of some relevant details.

A continuation of the series that began with A Natural History of Dragons. Isabelle Camherst tells the story of her second major expedition, to the tropics in search of the swamp-wyrm, another species of dragon. The adventure requires as much political negotiation and anthropological comprehension as scientific investigation. Written as the memoir of an elderly woman beyond the concerns of What Will People Think, recounting an enthusiastic if occasionally foolish youth, with dollops of advice to the aspiring naturalist. If you enjoyed the first installment, then you’ll surely enjoy this. If you haven’t yet read the first installment, then don’t start here. I don’t have anything notable to add beyond what I’ve already said.

Happy New Year, Katherine!

I saw Unbroken this week. The torture is much more graphic in the book. I suspect that this movie is one that people will appreciate more if they've read the book before seeing it.

The Imitation Game looks interesting, but I doubt it will make it to my small town theater, which is however, showing The Interview. I've added The Imitation Game to my Netflix save queue so I don't forget about it.

Hi, Katherine! Happy New Year!

>46 qebo:. I've seen this book around and always thought it looked like it could be fun. Maybe I'm getting to the point where I'll see if it's in the library ...

>46 qebo: I fell way behind on threads last year, and missed your comments on the first in the series. Putting the first book in the Swamp right now.

>46 qebo: I very much enjoy both Lady Trent's voice and the world-building in these books.

Somehow I've not yet posted here...

Happy New Year, Katherine!

Just returned from Unbroken the movie. Definitely recommended to anyone who has read the book. I don't know how it'd seem to someone who hasn't. I have trouble tracking what's happening in movies, so found it helpful to be familiar with the story.

Happy New Year!

And today, Wild the movie. I thought quite well done, but again I'm glad that I read the book first; lotsa flashbacks to different time frames, which tend to confuse me.

3 movies in 3 days has to be a personal record. It's actually pretty simple; as I approach the far end of my standard walk/run route, veer across a park and a street and a parking lot to the movie theater. Since I was last there several years ago, they've renovated; instead of auditorium style, it's reserved lounge chairs with a wide path between rows. This doesn't eliminate the distractions of people talking and eating, but they're far enough away to be tuned out.

I want to see all three flms, but I'm not much of a theater-going person, which means I still have time to read Unbroken and Wild before they come out on DVD and/or hit Netflix.

>56 swynn: You're not going to read Alan Turing: The Enigma? Which, it happens, is so far quite engaging. Though I haven't yet gotten to the math and ciphers...

>57 qebo: Ugh, brain hiccup. Yes, I meant all three books. Glad to hear it's a good one.

Katherine, I haven't seen the movie yet but if you keep on liking the Alan Turing book I will almost certainly end up not resisting it much longer.

Katherine, I have seen the movie and thought it was beautifully made and really enjoyed it. I actually think they portrait this loner, difficult person quite well and I did enjoy Cumberbatch in that role.

I have got the Alan Turing book on order with the library, once I am back in London. I am looking forward to your comments on it. Apparently, there are quite a few incredible technical passages to be found. So, I am quite curious what you will make of it.

I am so hopelessly out of it. I think the Turing would be a good one for us. Will have to look up the others.....we did do the Hobbit as we are mad Tolkienites. A B, basically, but with flashes of better.

Hmmm.. wild looks like a possible too, but it is rapidly evaporating from theatres aroudn here.

>59 cushlareads: I'm finding that the movie, although factually dubious, helps to anchor the book. In the movie, events are emphasized for dramatic effect, and characters are conflated, but so far seems well within the spirit of the thing.
>60 drachenbraut23: Flipping through pages, I see diagrams coming up soon...
>61 sibylline: I missed The Theory of Everything because it flit through, was gone within days after I was aware it had arrived.

This evening, I manged to get through and more or less understand the crucial science chapter (with diagrams!) of Mendel in the Kitchen. Then I picked up Alan Turing: The Enigma and found that I have arrived at the math. I don't think I can deal with both in one evening. So... do I have any light fiction on hand?

Ah. March. Not exactly light, but relatively short, and although I'm curious, I don't care deeply, so it will serve the purpose.

Be curious to know what you make of the Turing Book..

You might look for "Breaking the Code" on Netflix - it's Derek Jacobi as Turing and I think gets the outsider character very well - though I think it skimps on the math and the Bletchly PArk accomplishments.

>65 magicians_nephew: Grrr. DVD only.

Are you reading March then? I think it's my favorite of Geraldine Brooks's books.

>67 banjo123: I am. But it was annoying me by chapter 2... On the plus side I don't have to take notes.

We just saw The Imitation Game - very good. I think I will look for some of the relevant books.

>68 qebo: March IS an annoying character, but I think that's the point. I did love Little Women when I was a kid, so that helped me.

>70 banjo123: It's not so much that he's annoying (though he is) but that I'm annoyed with the author. Can't explain w/o spoilers.

And now I can't remember what happened in the second chapter.... But even though I liked it, I am a big believer in ditching books if they are too annoying.

>72 banjo123: Nah, I'll finish it. I basically like Geraldine Brooks, and I want to see where she's going with this, and I'm appreciating the language and the history.

Katherine, I found the Turing book on abe and it is ordered. If you have not finished by the time it arrives, we can compare notes.

>74 Helenoel: I aspire to finish by the end of the month, but even that may be optimistic.

A book group is starting in my neighborhood. I’d been thinking of posting a query to one of the online neighborhood forums but someone else beat me to it, asked who might be interested and a dozen people replied. The planning meeting was this morning. I was not necessarily expecting much, but turns out that the founder is a professor of sociology, and has a wishlist of related non-fiction and fiction. First up is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I volunteered to suggest three books for the next round, so the trick will be to find books I actively want to read that won’t cause the others to run screaming away...

>76 qebo: Ha ha, I am very familiar with book club selection strategizing...

Oh, your book group sounds interesting. I'll be interested to see what you choose. I'm not sure about how I feel about my library's sponsored book club selections this year. There are lots of new people (which is good and bad) and so the selections are an eclectic lot.

I'm enjoying your excursion into reading about GMO food. Honestly, I haven't worried about it (and maybe I should), and I'll be interested to see your conclusions.

>78 streamsong: GMO
I’m Facebook “friends” (really peripheral acquaintances) with several people from the community garden (which is organic) who post anti-GMO stuff, including one who seems to be an anti-vaxxer too (I should sic my immunologist niece on her...). I’ve been kinda meh on the issue: proceed with caution, a bit queasy about giganto corporations, concerned about pollinators... but none of these is strictly about GMOs, it’s more that GMOs have become a proxy for a multitude of anxieties, so I want to disentangle the technology (which doesn’t bother me) from other issues that I see as legitimate. I scouted around and found this list of books, and it happens that the one described as explaining the science is the one I happened to have on hand. I’m about 2/3 through, should finish within a few days.

My public library has a couple of book discussion groups that look OK on paper (well, in pixel), but the times aren't so convenient, and now the links to the book lists are obsolete.

>79 qebo: Very interesting book list on GMO food. Looking forward to your reviews.

Cool about the neighborhood book group.

well I love my book group though the twice yearly discussion of what to read can lead to spirited discussion.

>82 magicians_nephew: That's not necessarily a bad thing. We'll see how this one goes. Only about half the people who'd expressed interest were able to get to the meeting today, and everyone deferred to the woman who'd initiated the idea. The consensus was that at the end of each monthly meeting, the facilitator of the next meeting will present a list of books and a vote will occur. I prefer this to planning the year in advance; I might be in the mood for a book now, but not so much six month later. I'll try to have a varied list of options, non-fiction and fiction, for my turn because tastes aren't clear. A couple people tilt toward non-fiction, which made me happy, a couple people just want to be nudged toward serious reading.

>79 qebo: Thanks for the link to the GMO book list. It's good to see some resources that aren't just panicked fear-mongering. I'm a gardener myself, and grew up in a science-oriented household, so I get impatient with the way bad information flies around the Internet.

I love following your garden thread.

>84 southernbooklady: Thanks.

Phew! I've finished reading Mendel in the Kitchen, but I have about 10 pages of notes that have to be organized and consolidated into a summary/review.

Hi Katherine! Just got caught up with you. Thanks for the additional information on Lancaster and the park.

I'll be interested to see how your book group develops. It sounds like it's off to a fairly good start.

Looking forward to the Mandel in the Kitchen review.

>87 swynn: Well, if I hadn't taken notes I could probably whip up a couple paragraphs without much trouble. As it is...

Huh. A connection that hadn’t occurred to me. I was reading the Afterward of March (though I’m not quite halfway through the book, I was curious about sources) and Geraldine Brooks says that her model for a Civil War army chaplain was Arthur Buckminster Fuller, brother of Margaret Fuller. And indeed, he was the grandfather of Buckminster Fuller.

>76 qebo: I volunteered to suggest three books for the next round, so the trick will be to find books I actively want to read that won’t cause the others to run screaming away... Thank you Katherine this made my day LOL. However, I do hope that you enjoy your book club.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, one of the books in my Black Hole. I definitely don't need any BB's this year, I only need to be reminded what I do have on my TBR.

>85 qebo: I am looking forward to your thoughts on Mendel in the Kitchen. I am not a gardener as such, but I do like my food, try to eat seasonal and especially as little processed foods as possible. Processed in the sense of unhealthy processed. However, I am quite curious about the GMO question. I do believe that I belong into the group who learned that GMO is unhealthy and should be avoided.
Do you think this is a book which could be read by a layman?

Sorry to be so late checking in here, Katherine. Have a great week!

>90 drachenbraut23: Do you think this is a book which could be read by a layman?
Well, I’m definitely a layman. Yes. The author (who is a plant geneticist) steps through basic genetics, descriptions of traditional plant breeding and previous efforts to force mutations (e.g. with radiation and chemicals), scientific discoveries along the way, and presents a diagram of the components of the current technology. Whether you’re pro or con, it’s useful to know what is actually being done, and I’d suppose that as a nurse you’re more familiar with chemical buzzwords than I am. If you’re aiming to assess pros and cons of GM and don’t want to read more than one book, then this book is probably not the ideal; the author presents an array of concerns, and doesn’t wholly dismiss all of them, but my impression is that she downplays the potential for corporate bias on the pro side, and upplays the sloppiness of some studies that get amplified by activists on the con side.

>91 alcottacre: Thanks!

Very exciting about neighborhood book group!

Hi Katherine - the book group sounds promising. Their Eyes were Watching God is sitting in a box here (along with almost every other book I own) so I'm keen to hear what you think of it.

I'm adding Mendel in the Kitchen to my library list. I still have to read The Selfish Gene... it's been sitting on my Kindle for ages now.

>94 cushlareads: The Selfish Gene
I read this too late for the group read and then skimped on the review so I could squeak it in before the end of the year. Which suggests, since I actively wanted to read it, and thought highly of the book, that I should avoid group reads this year. Difficult to get the timing right.

>95 qebo: I seem to be most successful at book clubs and group reads when they are talking about books I've already read.

I really did like The Selfish Gene quite a lot.

>96 southernbooklady: books I've already read
My memory generally isn't good enough.
I delayed reading The Selfish Gene because I wanted to pay attention to it, which conflicted with gardening season. Then I took notes, which made reviewing more of a chore.

>97 qebo: My memory generally isn't good enough.

Ah, well, its all about priorities and the allocation of space, isn't it? I don't remember trivial things like people's names or birthdays or when I'm supposed to pay my water bill, but I usually remember the plot of a good book!

>98 southernbooklady: I remember logistical stuff just fine, so my brain isn’t decaying, but I don’t remember dreams or TV shows or novels beyond vague impressions, never have. With non-fiction, I tend to remember enough to find the relevant book or magazine when I know I read this somewhere, but not enough details to construct a coherent descriptive paragraph.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Mendel in the Kitchen. Since it was published several years ago, I wonder if there have been any major developments in the science in the intervening years--it all seems to move so fast.

And good luck with the book group. It sounds like it has lots of potential. I was in a book group for 20 years when I dropped out a couple of years ago. The group was reading "fluffier" and "fluffier" books, and at my age I was beginning to resent having my reading chosen for me. I find LT a decent substitute for a book group.

>100 arubabookwoman: I wonder if there have been any major developments in the science in the intervening years
Yeah, it's about a decade old and I wondered the same thing. I plan to read other books, maybe should hunt for one that's more recent.

I find LT a decent substitute for a book group.
I generally do too, but since I work at home, gazing at the computer all day, I’m looking to get out into the real world in ways that aren’t purely social (because I’m lousy at chitchat), but aren’t too demanding of time (e.g. I can’t commit to a multiple hours per week volunteer schedule, especially during community garden season). So I’m hoping for an optimal balance of books that wouldn’t necessarily be my top choice with opportunities to meet people who are involved in city activities.

I have realized that I am not interested in Alan Turing enough for 675 pages. Well, I pretty much knew this going into it. Now I'm bogged down in the minutiae of WWII and the locations of U-boats, and the author is assuming that I know the basics of crucial events from the European perspective. I'm halfway through, so I'm not giving up, but I've taken to skimming over details that don't mean much and that I won't retain.

Hi, Katherine! Just wanted to stop by to thank you for the links to the info on milkweed and monarch butterflies that you left on my thread. I checked the pages out and see that there is a LOT of info to process! But I'm excited to plant as many milkweed and butterfly bush plants as I can in my back, side and front yards this year.

>103 Storeetllr: Don't plant butterfly bushes! They are non-native and invasive.

ETA: Essentially, don't trust your garden center. I say this having erroneously assumed, when I first began gardening, that anything available at my local upscale garden center would be OK.

>104 qebo: I'll admit, I planted a chaste-tree in my garden, even though I know it isn't native, just because I love the way it looks.

>105 southernbooklady: Oh, I'm not pure, but I did take out a butterfly bush and replace it with a button bush. Which sadly doesn't grow anywhere near as quickly.

I'm nowhere near pure in my garden, which is a combination kitchen/medicinal/herbal/bees, butterflies and hummingbirds garden. I have plenty of plants not native to the southeast, and more than a few not native to the western hemisphere.

But except for the Vitex, most of what you'd call the "structural" stuff is native -- the trees, the larger shrubs, the grasses. It's kind of a requirement, because whatever I plant has to do well under situations of benign neglect, and not too many things actually like growing on a pile sand in sight of the ocean.

>107 southernbooklady: Yeah, I have non-native veggies / herbs, and some other strays. The problem with butterfly bushes I gather is that they've become invasive, and people plant them specifically to attract butterflies, which they do, but they're not caterpillar hosts, so it's better to give the space to a native that will attract pollinators and support caterpillars.

>109 southernbooklady: people plant them specifically to attract butterflies, which they do, but they're not caterpillar hosts

It's one of the things that Germaine Greer really brings home in her book White Beech -- which is about rehabilitating a part of the Australian rainforest. It's not just that non-natives tend to run amok, it's that native species have been in place long enough to become part of the ecosystem and be host to many parts of that system. The pollinators, the caterpillars, the ants, the birds, the fungi. Nothing ever serves just one purpose in an ecosystem.

>109 southernbooklady: White Beech
Oh dear, a BB on my own thread.

I agree, White Beech sounds very interesting.

In order to keep down the numbers on Planet TBR, I've been setting up little mini challenges on my home page when there's an interesting book that my library doesn't have. In this case it's 'Read 3 from Planet TBR about sustainability or the environment and then I can buy White Beech.'

White Beech is primarily a book about an environment -- in this case a certain part of Australia. It is not heavily "memoir" but it is heavily polemical -- Greer has strong opinions about everything from the Royal Garden Society to cattle ranching to "green initiatives." They are something of a joy to read, but I can see why she pisses a lot of people off. I gave it to my mother for Christmas and she read over the week she was visiting with me. But I do feel obligated to warn you all that it is also highly scientific and botanical -- Greer is interested in documenting a piece of land, so there are lists and lists of species and genus names--her treatise on what exactly constitutes a "white beech" was fascinating, but you have to have some tolerance for botanical latin.

Our landscaper got sterile butterfly bushes, to avoid the invasive issue. We have one, and it's pretty.

>113 banjo123: Huh. I did not know such a thing existed.

Hmm, I brought my butterfly bush with me from Southern California where it did well in a big pot on the patio year-round. I brought it inside for the first winter here in Colorado and it died back, then grew back last summer, and now is dying back again. The neighbor has what I think is a huge butterfly bush with lovely deep purple flowers planted against our mutual fence that I think comes back every year. I know they don't work for caterpillars, but bees and butterflies and hummingbirds seem to enjoy the flowers. I know I do! This year, though, I'll concentrate on planting milkweed.

I guess it's just the last couple of years that the sterile butterfly bushes have been out. here is an article about them. Ours is pretty little now, but this spring/summer I will try to post some pictures of our yard--we had a pretty fancy landscaper plan it, and I think it's going to be stunning.

>116 banjo123: So are regular (i.e. invasive) butterfly bushes not permitted in Oregon?

I was so far behind, Katherine, that I despair of catching up. Just saying that I read March and The March back to back to decide which, if either, I wanted to assign to my 11th graders. I don't think I used them. What I remember disliking most about the Brooks was her making "Marmee" a childhood nickname. Clearly, to me anyway, it was what her girls called her when they were babies.
I have The Reformation: A History that I am starting on pretty much the same basis as you began your Turing. I do think I'm interested enough to persevere, but it is a whopper with little bitty print.
I'm enjoying the garden talk which is about as close to the dirt as I ever get.

>117 qebo: Yes, regular butterfly bushes are forbidden here. They are super-invasive in our climate.

>118 LizzieD: Marmee
This irritated me too. I was more irritated by Grace, who seemed less a person and more a device to evoke response. I thought otherwise well done. I'm working on the Mendel in the Kitchen review, organizing notes, hope to have both it and March this weekend... though I should be doing house tasks in the limited daylight hours.

Hmm - I work at home too - my Irish music group comprises most of my RL social life at this point..... without them I'd be in trouble!

I have been spreading milkweed around in the fall when the pods are ready in all the 'edge' places that don't get mowed but once a year and my program has been wildly successful. I am not sure if there are more monarchs yet but I am sure there will be once the word gets out.

#2: Mendel in the Kitchen by Nina V. Fedoroff and Nancy Marie Brown -- (Jan 11)

why now: Wanted to know more about GM food pro and con, started with this book because I already had it for reasons I don’t recall.

Nina Fedoroff is a plant geneticist, and this book accordingly is focused on science. The gist of her position is that genetic modification is a response to pressures on the agricultural system with increasing demand and decreasing resources. Although concerns are legitimate, opposition is often based on sensationalized reports of flawed studies. The plausible consequences are manageable, not catastrophic. You can take this as insider awareness of altruistic motives and professional competence, or as an establishment position biased toward mollifying the public. Whichever, this is a useful book that describes genetic modification in detail (with diagrams!), and covers a range of relevant issues.

Several chapters describe traditional and relatively modern methods of molding plants to our purposes: domestication of wild species by breeding and selection, hybridization, protoplast fusion, inducing mutations with radiation or chemicals. We accept synthetic fertilizers and grafting and all manner of garden vegetables developed by trail and error. Why not genetic modification? The procedure for creating GM plants is not a sudden leap over a boundary between nature and not; decades of scientific discoveries and technological innovations were gradually tied together. Even with the general sequence settled, each step involves years of research and experimentation. Here are the essentials:

* Identify a gene of interest, i.e. a gene that produces a protein that has the desired effect: pesticide, immunity to herbicide, nutritional enhancement.
* Isolate and cut the gene from the source DNA.
* Splice the gene into the plasmid (ring of DNA) of Agrobacterium tumefaciens; these bacteria in nature insert a piece of plasmid into plant cells, causing formation of galls that produce food for the bacteria.
* Splice a marker into the plasmid, e.g. a gene that is resistant to a particular antibiotic.
* Grow a culture of cells from the target plant.
* Add the Agrobacterium tumefasciens to the plant cells, and wait for it to insert the gene.
* Apply the antibiotic to kill plant cells without the gene, and keep plant cells with the gene.
* Apply a hormone to the plant cells so they grow into complete plants, all containing the gene but possibly in different locations on the chromosomes.
* Test the plants, choosing those with the desired trait and without other discernible changes.

Concerns fall into three general categories: food safety, ecological impact, corporate power. What if the promoter gene attached to virus resistant GM plants activates other genes? What if the antibiotic marker transfers antibiotic resistance to gut bacteria and disease bacteria? What if GM plants cause allergic reactions? What if GM plants that produce various strains of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxins kill not only the target insects but beneficial insects also? What if GM plants that are immune to herbicides promote use of herbicides that poison people? What if insects evolve to resist the pesticides produced by GM plants? What if GM plants contaminate the gene pool? What if mega-corporations seize control of the food supply with patented organisms? Regarding food safety, the approach to reassurance is molecular, describing how proteins operate and interact with the chemistry of potentially affected organisms; what is toxic to an insect may have no effect whatsoever on a person. Regarding ecological impact, the stance is that no problem is unique to GM plants; EPA and USDA and FDA regulations should be revised to focus on effects, rather than scrutinizing GM plants and ignoring plants with similar attributes created by other methods. (There is one jarring passage in which a monarch butterfly “spins a cocoon”, suggesting the author is a bit out of her element.) Regarding corporate power, this seems not to be of much interest; a few incidents are mentioned, as if with a shrug that corporations will be corporations.

In the author’s opinion, the fundamental issue is sustainability. The human population cannot revert to traditional practices and fit on the planet; the challenge for the future is how to produce more food, on the same area of land, with less ecological impact. This requires a collaboration of biotech and organic expertise and sensibility, not polarization. The science of genetic modification is immature, but the way forward is to improve it, not to squelch it. Recommended for its informative science and its moral argument; for criticism, look elsewhere.

>122 qebo: Concerns fall into three general categories: food safety, ecological impact, corporate power.

People are usually concerned about the first, but it is the last two that really worry me.

In the author’s opinion, the fundamental issue is sustainability.

And that is why. But I have a feeling that the problem lies in the fact that "corporate power" is inherently inimical to concern for ecological impact.

Great review.

>123 southernbooklady: I left TONS out. Need to move on. Yeah, I'm more concerned about the last two also. I intend to read further, but don't have any other books on hand.

>122 qebo: That sounds like a fascinating book, one I probably won't read, so I'm especially grateful for your detailed review. Coincidentally, my sweetie asked me about GM plants yesterday and I was flailing around to explain what they were, so now I'll be able to sound much more intelligent!

>125 rebeccanyc: The science is fascinating. Alas, science is always done in a context of human foibles and flawed institutions.

I find the notion of patented food morally repugnant on some level.

Thanks for the summary, Katherine! Like other commenters, I'm also hugely concerned about environmental impacts and corporate power. And about the early indications that "can grab power" is equivalent to "will attempt to grab power."

>127 southernbooklady:, >128 swynn: I don’t have a visceral reaction to patents (which are not eternal), but the worry is that GM crops could drive out traditional crops, or farmers could be brought into the fold and trapped; monolithic control and loss of independence. Nina Federoff presents another side, of farmers bankrupt by viruses and saved by GM virus-resistant crops, of GM food given freely but rejected because of fear or political pressure. All these things can be happening simultaneously; a need becomes an opportunity for power, and how do we get the balance right.

#3: March by Geraldine Brooks -- (Jan 14)

why now: Needed a break from mentally demanding non-fiction. Happened upon this at a used book store and read Little Women in preparation last year, didn’t want too much time to pass.

March (never with a given name), husband of Marmee (a nickname), father of four daughters, approaching age 40, is a chaplain in the Union Army. After a harrowing skirmish in Virginia, the unit arrives at a deteriorating plantation, and March realizes that he was here some 20 years ago. Thus begins a series of alternating chapters, March immersed in the Civil War, March meeting and marrying Marmee in Massachusetts (lots of Ms...); the reverse and the backstory of Little Women. The stories link when Marmee is summoned to Washington DC where March is hospitalized, and her voice emerges as he lies deathly ill and delirious.

I got seriously annoyed with the author in chapter 2. March, age 19, is a roaming peddler of trinkets and toys. He arrives at the plantation, where the owner waves off the items for sale, but wants to see the books that March has been collecting. The two men bond intellectually, and March is attracted to the extensive library and the life of leisure with ample time to think. The owner invites March to stay, and offers a temporarily vacant cottage. The underbelly surfaces when March reads to the cook’s daughter and casually begins teaching the alphabet. This was a perfectly sufficient scenario to portray his naivete, his idealism, his disillusionment. The author, though, inserts Grace. (Hmm, where should I place the spoiler marker?) Grace is a slave who was (for reasons later explained) singled out for education, before teaching a slave to read became illegal. She catches March in the act and is horrified, but then she asks him to continue teaching the child in secret. WTF? First, she is perfectly capable of teaching the child herself and her rationale for enlisting March is lame. Second, why would she entrust this dangerous surreptitious activity to a stranger who has already demonstrated that he has little concept of how the world works. Of course he is discovered. Of course she is punished. Grace appears again at crucial junctures, a plot device rather than a person.

But forget Grace. This is a novel based on research, and the author gets the tone and the atmosphere right. The models for March are Bronson Alcott (resident of Concord MA, father of Louisa May, friend of Emerson and Thoreau) and Arthur Fuller (chaplain in the Union Army, brother of Margaret, grandfather of Buckminster). March is a fundamentally decent man, whose track record of translating ideals into action is spotty, whose tendency to self-righteousness (with a mission to tame his wife) is not altogether endearing. March is the reason to read this book.

>124 qebo: don't have any other books on hand
Hah! Yes I do. I went out to my back porch to retrieve a tool, and there was a box of books from Amazon, including Food Inc: Mendel to Monsanto. Which has been there, checking my order history, for nearly a month. I've passed by a bunch of times, but it didn't register as new; I assumed it was leftover butterfly debris. Normally packages get plopped onto the front porch.

Hey Katherine! Thanks for your review of Mendel in the Kitchen! It looks really good. I should put it on my wishlist.

So my boss spent all of last week working on a written spec for the next task, which I assumed would be a continuation of the previous task. This morning he called to say that it is too complicated to describe in detail, so he gave a 5-minute summary over the phone. Turns out it has no relationship to the previous task; it’s an idea that has been vaguely floating around for a a few years, and now suddenly it has to be done. All I have to do is implement it. Note that I don’t get to spend a week thinking about things without producing tangible (and functioning) results. Oh, he's going to "help" me if I run into problems.

I guess for some of you today is a holiday...

>133 qebo: Sounds like a long week ...

I liked March agree with you about Grace

>92 qebo: Could you recommend any other books as well, Katherine? Yes, I am usually interested in the pro and cons, especially as some of the things are not always understood properly. Eg I don't believe in pure organic farming, the reason why we developed pestizeds and other insect repellents was to increase crop (to cater for larger populations) and decrease disease and I am a firm believer that a lot has to do with HOW chemicals are used. At the end of the day we are also using, partially incredible toxic, chemicals in treating disease. I think everything has something to do with using it in the right balance.

>102 qebo: Hm, interesting thoughts on the Alan Turing book, so what you are saying is, that for you it has more to do that you are unfamiliar with some of the political aspects of that time. However, what about the technical details quite a few people mentioned, is that acceptable or quite a bit?

>131 qebo: Didn't read the spoiler, as the book is still sitting on my TBR. Excellent review.

>136 drachenbraut23: I linked to a list of GMO books pro and con in >79 qebo:. I haven’t read any of the others, but I have Food Inc: Mendel to Monsanto on hand to read once I’m done with the current monster book. Which is Alan Turing: The Enigma. I’ve reached a chapter division at page almost-500 / 675. IMO, it’s too much of an information dump; chronological order, with personal / political / technical all mixed together. There are semi-clear explanations of the technical stuff, but the basics get obscured by lots and lots of details. I’m impressed by the research and the sense of personal connection, but really the book could’ve used a ruthless editor.

Nice review of March. I hadn't considered that point about Grace when I read it, but it's a good point.

I've had March cluttering up my shelves for ever so long, now I am more encouraged to get on with it!

Good review of the Gene mod book. I've read some about these matters, but I come away scratching my head. Speaking of which, how was/is the Soylent drink????

>139 sibylline: how was/is the Soylent drink
I haven't tried it yet. I have a one week supply, sitting in the midst of disarray while I tend to various house tasks. It has to be assembled. So I'm waiting until things are a bit more organized. I'll let you know. Did your spousal unit order some?

Yay. Alan Turing has died, and only 60 pages remain. As a reward for reading beyond my quota for yesterday, I started another chunkster: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, 840 pages in my e-book edition; it has seemed too daunting, but it'll surely be easier.

>141 qebo: Reports on the Turing read haven't been encouraging. I hope JS&MN goes better, it's been on my shelves for years.

>141 qebo: I loved every over-wrought, over-blown, indulgent moment of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

Someone broke the window of my Little Free Library. :-( It's plastic, so won't hurt anyone, but a nuisance to fix. Happened between late afternoon yesterday and late afternoon today.

Aww :(. That's horrible.

What a pain.

Hallelujah. Alan Turing is DONE. Aside from the minor detail of a review.

"Hallelujah. Alan Turing is DONE"

That sounds like a review to me!

Sorry about your LFL. It's such a neat program and I'm sure that lots of people have enjoyed it. Don't let one bad apple spoil it for you.

>148 streamsong: Don't let one bad apple spoil it for you.
No, I won't. I'll tape plastic over the window until I figure out what to do; seems to be glued in, not simple to remove and replace. Maybe when I fix it I'll improve its construction. The LFL has been operating for a year without incident.

Yay! Done with the chunkster!

I'll be very curious to see what you make of Dr. Norrell - I loved it so much that I have also listened to it on audio and loved it every bit as much as the first time around.

Bummer about the window smashing.

I also loved Strange and Norrell. It is very long, however.

Hi Katherine, I am taking advantage of a bit of insomnia to get caught up on some threads. A neighborhood book club.... how exciting!

Great reviews of Mendel in the Kitchen and March. Regarding GMO, I had read or heard somewhere that North American wheat has been adapted to produce a higher yield but there appears to be some concern that the increase in wheat allergies may be in part due to the adapted wheat, but I cannot remember any of the specific details or the source of that information.

>129 qebo: - Well said.

#147: I am an Alan Turing fan, so one of these days I will have to get to the bio on him.

#4: The Bird Market of Paris by Nikki Moustaki -- (Jan 18)

why now: Keeping up with ERs. This one is from November.

I’m not sure who is the target audience for this memoir of birds and alcohol. I requested the ER because of the birds. Nikki Moustaki is knowledgeable, the author of books about caretaking and breeding, but in this book the birds are obsession and symbol, a bond with beloved grandfather Poppy. Poppy was a fashion designer, a native of Corfu who had arrived in Miami via Cairo and Paris with his wife and son. He raised pigeons and told stories and doted on Nikki, who was otherwise lonely and adrift. When a boyfriend gave her a baby lovebird, she was smitten by its vulnerability. The lovebird led to an aviary as the boyfriend faded away, and meetings with other aficionados led to writing about birds and beyond. And then the aviary was hit by a hurricane. And then Poppy died while Nikki was in New York, unable to extricate from school and work commitments. Nikki numbed her guilt and grief with alcohol. She does not spare herself in descriptions of her deterioration. It was ugly, and it continued until a chance conversation on a New York street with a man who carried a parrot on his shoulder. There began her wobbly recovery, with a pivotal episode in the Bird Market of Paris: one of Poppy’s stories, and her hope for redemption. This isn’t a book that I’d actively seek, but I found it both brave and affecting.

And arriving today are the December ER: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby, and a notification of the January ER: Blood of the Tiger by J. A. Mills.

#6: Culture Shock! Korea by Sonja Vegdahl Hur and Ben Seunghwa Hur -- (Jan 26)

why now: Saw a mention in an LTer thread last year and was curious so I got a used copy, began reading in bits, set it aside on a table where it got buried. Rediscovered it while cleaning up over the weekend.

This book was originally published in 1988 and revised in 1993, so I suppose its relevance could be fading. It is geared toward businessmen temporarily transferred to Korean companies, and seems a useful guide to etiquette and interpreting behavior. Since I’ve never been to Korea, and doubt I’ll get there any time soon if ever, I’m not in a position to test it for accuracy.

Sorry about that bit of vandalism to your LFL. Jose says you can fix it by having plexiglass cut to fit (at a Home Depot), apply caulking around the plexiglass to seal out moisture, and use those pegs (like you find on the back of picture frames) to hold the window in place.

I liked Nikki Moustaki's book as well although I thought she was kind of a nut case...and I guess I told her that because she read my LibraryThing review after I wrote to her on her FB page. Ooops! :)

>157 SqueakyChu: Jose says
Thanks, Jose!

I'll tell him. I was busy here on your thread while you were busy over on mine! Ha!!

Katherine, have a lovely weekend.

>160 PaulCranswick: Hmm, well, today is a round of house cleaning & organizing plus errands before the snow storm tomorrow. And despite (or because of) the weather, I’ve gotten several inquiries about the community garden so while I'm trapped inside I should spiff up the web site.

I made it through one month without acquiring any books, but today I placed an order for a non-book item from Amazon, and it just seemed to need something more...

Wow! An entire month without buying books? How is that even possible?

>137 qebo: Thank you for the link. Will check that out when I have a little time. :)

Hooray, for not buying any book this month. I failed last month, but will try much harder this month. :)

I didn't buy any books in January either! I did get one book for free but I got rid of 10 books so I'm still at -9 :-)

Super. Measles reported in Lancaster PA. The list of exposure locations includes a medical building a half mile from my house. Well, this did get me to pull out immunization records just to be sure. I’m old enough that I had the delightful experience of M(umps) and R(ubella) as a kid, but not M(easles). Apparently the measles vaccination I got in 1965 is now considered invalid, but fortunately I got two doses of the MMR vaccination as an adult in preparation for traveling.

Oh jeez now you have me wondering about my vaccinations...

Good - something everyone should check regularly. Mine should be good, though I'll check them again - it's been more than a decade since I last traveled, but I got boosters for several things a couple years ago and I think one was MMR.

Oh good grief - measles and vandalism! I'm very sure that I had M....my clear recollection is of my blacked-out room and my mama reading Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates to hoarseness in the hall with her relentless daughter saying, "Read on, my friend, read on."
I know I'm in the minority, but I did not love *J. Strange & Dr. N*. I don't say that to discourage you but to let you know that there is a minority out there.
Congratulations on getting through the Turing!!!

>169 LizzieD: I did not love *J. Strange & Dr. N*
I'm almost done! About 75 e-pages to go, so today or tomorrow. I am generally enjoying it but would've been content (perhaps happier) with half the length.

I don’t remember rubella (German measles), but I do remember mumps. And now I mostly pity my parents; three of us were close in age and got all these things at the same time. What I remember most strongly is my father ranting about the blue laws; he went to a drug store one Sunday to get medication and they wouldn’t let him buy toys and he argued that the toys essentially were medication and they relented.

Ugh. I wonder how long all this anti-vaccine stuff can continue until the rest of society is fed up and does something about it.

I need to call the doc. I had mumps, rubella and chicken pox, but pretty sure I never had full blown measles- and am too old to have had vaccine as a kid.

The measles vaccine first came out in 1963. My mom delayed getting it for us kids, and I had the measles, as well as the mumps, chicken pox, and rubella. I barely remember them now.

I think that there were lots of folks who were ambivalent about Strange and Norrell. It does require a particular combination of interests and it's very, very long. But it worked for me.

Per the link in >166 qebo:, people born before 1957 are assumed to have had measles and to be immune, and people who got the measles vaccine in 1963-1967 should be revaccinated.

When the measles vaccine came out, I wasn't allowed to get it because I'd already been exposed to measles in my grade in school, and in fact I got it. However, my younger sister was allowed to have the vaccine and didn't get the measles, which at the time I thought was horribly unfair. I assume she's been revaccinated because she worked in the health field, but I'll check with her.

The Darwin Day speaker at F&M (horrible new web site with information obscured by layers of floating images) will be Pat Shipman, an author unfamiliar to me but now several books have been plopped onto the wishlist.

Vaccine avoidance is one of my 'trigger' topics that I have promised myself to be 'good' about.

^ What Lucy said.

Hi Katherine - hope your weekend is going well!

Did you see that there's a Republican senator who would prefer it be optional instead of mandatory for foodworkers to wash their hands after using the bathroom? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31127704 Too much government regulation!

With senators who question the merits of mandatory handwashing, debates about vaccine requirements will continue for a long time to come.

I'm wondering if this MOOC would be interesting or too basic. I may sign up and give it a whirl:

Biology for Voters: https://www.edx.org/course/biology-voters-uc-berkeleyx-bfv101x#.VNeetyyYapo

I didn't realize that the early measles vaccines were ineffective now. I did have a health provider a few years ago who went over my immunizations with a fine tooth comb, so I know that I am up-to-date.

My mother kicked herself afterwards for delaying on the vaccine. She said that it was a brand new vaccine, there were no local cases of measles, and so she thought she'd wait to see if the vaccine improved. I turned spotty just a few weeks after she made that decision. Since I was a healthy kid, it wasn't too traumatic, and not itchy like the chicken pox. It did seem odd when my daughter was little, that she went through her whole childhood without any of the childhood diseases.

It does annoy me how many seemingly intelligent people don't vaccinate, and put others (babies, folks with impaired immune systems) at risk as a result.

>177 sibylline:, >178 lkernagh: I heard about the measles case in Lancaster initially via a Facebook post from my niece, who is in an immunology PhD program and has been known to launch into rants about the irresponsibility of anti-vaxxers. It's actually not yet clear what the deal is with this case; it hasn't been officially confirmed by the CDC though it seems to have been medically diagnosed. I've been impressed by the rapid response, news reports with detailed information plus a clinic offering free vaccinations.

>179 streamsong: would prefer it be optional instead of mandatory for foodworkers to wash their hands
It's so comforting to be governed by people with the maturity level of a toddler.

>180 banjo123: I didn't realize that the early measles vaccines were ineffective now.
I didn't either until I saw the local news report. My mother kept meticulous records of vaccinations and illnesses, and passed them along when we reached adulthood, so I've carried them to various doctors over the years, but the reason I got the updated MMR vaccination is an alert nurse at a travel immunization clinic about 15 years ago. I've generally assumed that I'm armed for life with whatever was recommended by pediatricians through the mid 1970s, but I guess that's kind of awhile ago.

>179 streamsong: *head-desk*

>179 streamsong:: ...Did you see that there's a Republican senator who would prefer it be optional instead of mandatory for foodworkers...Too much government regulation!

Does he think the government should be in the business of deciding whether we cull idiots from the halls of power by the ballot box or just shootin' 'em?

*smile*

Edit: I googled for that because I was having trouble believing it was real. I found Sen. Tillis' statement. Here's my question: If enacting a law to require food service employees to wash their hands is one law too many, how does removing it and enacting a law to require food service establishments to hang signs saying they don't wash their hands reduce government involvement?

Leaving aside the idiocy of the actual proposal, I can't figure out the logic. Is there any?

>183 TadAD: Is there any?
The policy doesn't seem to have been thought through... Seems to be some idealization of “the market” in which customers have full information which of course is voluntarily and honestly supplied by business establishments.

>166 qebo: etc... The suspected case of measles in Lancaster has tested negative.

>185 qebo: Phew.

>185 qebo: That is good news because, as I understand it, contracting the virus as an adult can be potentially pretty serious.

I’m reading 5 books because nothing is really grabbing me; 2 obligations plus 3 others. I blame February, not the books. Already I’m behind in reviews too.

Adding to the joy of winter: In early January my car window was pried open. The car was parked up the street for a week that included a snow storm, so it wasn’t in daily view and I don’t know precisely when. I didn’t notice until several days after I’d moved the car; I drove to a friend’s house one evening but the misalignment of the passenger side window wasn’t visible in the dark. Once I did notice, I backtracked and found debris that establishes the location and time frame. I figured New Year’s hijinks, a nuisance but nothing of value inside. I’ve mostly not been driving, nowhere to go and miserable weather, and I’ve been procrastinating on fixing the window because it’s a hassle. Well last week I had to drive to a doctor appointment. As I was approaching home I noticed the temperature gauge set high, and as I was about to turn onto my street, the emergency engine light went on. I pulled into a parking space pronto. I began making arrangements to get the car towed and assessed, but figured I should check for an obvious problem. So I opened the hood and... THE RADIATOR IS GONE. This is a 1996 Honda Civic that I bought in 1999, and over the years it has had windows shot with a BB gun (in Lancaster), mirrors bashed off with a baseball bat (in Philadelphia), and various dings and scrapes of city living. Never crossed my mind to check whether its internal organs were removed. I’ve reported to the police and the insurance company, have pretty much decided that the gods are telling me it’s time for a new car. I’ve been wanting to replace this car for several years, but the damn thing kept working so I couldn’t really justify the expense.

Someone stole your radiator?! I am floored. I absolutely floored.

They stole your radiator? What a hassle!

I am also reading five books. It must be February!

Wow. Un. Be. Liev. Able. Words fail me.

A 1996 Honda Civic radiator is valuable? Who knew?

Holy moly! Well, it *is* a good excuse for a new car...

Wow- Someone went on a shopping expedition - your car was closer than the junkyard... so sorry you have to deal with this.

stole your radiator?

Yup. Gaping hole w/ loose hose where it oughta be attached. The policeman said Honda parts are in demand, but the radiator is a first for him. I’m trying to imagine how this was accomplished in a residential neighborhood with rows of houses and streetlights and such, but I guess thieves have efficient ways, know exactly how to detach every part within minutes, and in the wee hours there aren’t so many eyeballs. Also wondering how the “shopping” is done. I’m more weirded out than upset. On the minus side, I had planned to buy a car after I sell the house and have a supply of cash. On the plus side, insurance will kick in a bit.

>188 qebo: So sorry to hear about your car.

Jose is shaking his head. He said he never heard of anyone stealing a radiator. Years ago, they were worth much more money because they were made out of bronze and aluminum, but now everything's made out of plastic. He had his car stolen a few years ago when our younger son was borrowing it for a week. The car was later located under the lights of a nursing home parking lot. There the car had the starter assembly stripped and the four tires and wheels stripped. At least he got his car back.

I can't understand the underground market for hot car parts. It seems so wrong.

>188 qebo: How frustrating and weird. Good luck in the search for new transportation.

>195 qebo: Amazing. I had all four wheels stolen off my Honda Fit once (yes, all at the same time - came out one morning and there it was with no wheels), but the radiator does seems a little extreme. I presume someone needed a radiator for his car rather than thinking he could sell one...

I believe Honda Civics are still the most stolen car in America.

>198 scvlad: I wish they'd stolen the entire car; would've simplified my life.
Honda Fit is a prime contender for the replacement.

That's astounding about the radiator! We have a 1999 Camry and I understand its parts are still desirable too. Go figure!

>199 qebo: We love our Fit. We've had it since 2006 and it's been very reliable. But get wheel locks ...

Grrr, the insurance agent called today during the only window of non-opportunity, and apparently departed the office shortly after. And this is a holiday weekend. For other people.

Does that mean you're left without a car this weekend? Grrr is right!

I have way too many books going right now, too. I think when something doesn't quite work for me, I start dipping into others.

Golly, the radiator! I can only think it was kind of a boutique crime, like the car thieves go out with a shopping list of wanted items....? Maybe some guy on Craig's List said, "I need a new Honda Civic radiator. Anyone got one?" So these guys went out to get one!

Special locks on your hood with the new one?

>203 streamsong: without a car this weekend?
The insurance company was actually quite prompt about arranging car rental, but I've declined for now. Since I don't have a daily commute to work, the car sits idle unless I need to run errands, silly to have anyone pay for this. I can walk to the grocery store, carrying bags is a minor nuisance but also good for cardiovascular and muscular health, and nothing else is crucial. Grrr because I can’t get the car towed until the insurance guy takes photos (or rather I can, but logistics get more complicated), and I can’t decide what to do about repair vs replacement until the insurance company tells me what it will do (or rather I can declare the car doomed, but I’m trying to be a good citizen and follow proper procedure, and also I’d kinda like the insurance company to contribute a bit of $ to the cause).

>204 sibylline: Special locks on your hood with the new one?
Yeah, I've been wondering about this. Need the car key to flip the back seats down for access to the trunk, where the best anyone'd get is a couple of tarps and garden tools, maybe the cat litter and bird seed I haven't yet hauled into the house. You'd think with Honda parts in demand there'd be some mechanism for protection.

#9: Cycle of Fire by Hal Clement -- (Feb 14)

why now: Just when I was seeking a light filler between several ongoing books, swynn reviewed this on his thread and and I realized that I had it on hand.

Nils is a teenage cadet abandoned for dead by his space ship crew after an accident on the planet Abyorman. Dar is transporting books to the Teachers at the Ice Ramparts, knowledge gathered during his life to be transmitted before his predetermined death, when his glider crashes. The two meet as both are attempting to survive on an expanse of desert. Nils assumes that Dar, who is near death from dehydration, must be an alien unfamiliar with the planet. Dar assumes that Nils, who has been sustained by a ubiquitous cactus-like plant, must be a resident of this region of the planet. Initially they cannot communicate verbally, but within mere pages of the continued trek toward the Ice Ramparts, Nils has adopted Dar’s language on the assumption that he will never leave the planet, understanding and speaking complete sentences minus the occasional crucial word. A few things are clarified. Nils puzzles out the arrangement of a planet with two suns, while becoming increasingly fond of Dar and sad about his anticipated death. Along the way, Nils and Dar discover an abandoned city with an electrical infrastructure, and are escorted to a disembodied voice that communicates by radio. Then the space ship comes to the intellectual rescue, returning to the planet with geologists and biologists and astronomers who rather rapidly explore and analyze the life cycle, of both the planet and its creatures. Nils and Dar are kind of sweet, and the planet is a geeky curiosity, but neither relationships nor science are all that strongly developed, and the style is skewed more toward description than drama.

>207 qebo: Sorry you didn't like it as well as I did, Katherine. I enjoyed Nils's and Dar's relationship rather more than I gather you did, though that may be partly because my expectations for that sort of thing from Clement are fairly low. Hope your next is better!

>208 swynn: It struck me as similar to what I recall of Needle, and I preferred the blob. :-)

So sorry to hear about your car Katherine! That is SO horrid. Good luck with getting everything worked out!

Yeah when Hal Clement was good he was very very good but he wrote a lot and some of it is pulp tripe.

Yay, insurance guy here today, pleasant and informative. Next step is the car gets towed and assessed. May or may not be salvageable. Either way, I now have a procedure and numbers, and the insurance company will take care of everything.

That is good news!

The 1st RL book discussion meeting is tomorrow. The book was chosen from the founder's wishlist: Their Eyes Were Watching God. I volunteered to provide a list of options for next month (there wasn't any competition for this role). As of this evening, my list (these are all books that I already have) is:

Walkable City by Jeff Speck -- The civic engagement choice; the author has been hired by local organizations to do a study of Lancaster.
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

I hope this'll do...

And the winner is... The Signature of All Things. Seems most people prefer fiction.

However, there is also a non-fiction book group; another member mentioned she belongs, and I recruited myself into it. Next up is Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe, and then Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. So that's now 2 books per month for RL, plus usually an LT ER; need a bit of room for my own books, so I doubt I'll be leaping into any LT group reads for awhile.

Glad the insurance company stepped up on the car! Have they decided if it's fixable or will you be car shopping?

What I enjoy (most) about my RL book club is the variety of books suggested. I'll skip group reads here on LT if they don't sound interesting but I try not to skip those suggested by my RL book club - and I've found some real gems that way. I hope your clubs are satisfying!

>216 streamsong: The car was whisked away on Wednesday, and I haven't heard anything since. I supposed it just gets put in the queue. The insurance guy said next thing I'll hear it'll either be fixed or declared dead.

I'm doing the RL book clubs as much for the social connections as anything. The discussion of the book today wasn't extensive, but the surrounding conversation was interesting, several people involved in various community organizations.

A new café & bookstore in Lancaster includes a door to Narnia.

Wow. Two RL book clubs. I'm struggling to keep up with just the one! Good luck! (I would have voted for The Sixth Extinction.)

I remember having pretty much the same response to that Clement. His genuine love and respect for adolescent people comes through in all of his books. He was a chemistry teacher at my high school - a lovely man.

Two RL book clubs for me too - sometimes it feels like it gets in the way of what I really want to read, but it's so nice to see everyone and catch up every month, and I certainly read things that I probably wouldn't read otherwise. Of course, LT does a darned good job of that too. :)

Glad things are looking up for you!

>219 The_Hibernator:, >221 LauraBrook: Yeah, two is a lot, but one is apparently going to be fiction and the other is non-fiction and so long as the books are more or less within the scope of what I'd be reading anyway it's fine; otherwise I can skip a meeting. I work at home, so I'm looking for community connections.

Actually I have a third book group too, the ongoing Evolution Roundtable, which reads only one book per semester so it's not too demanding. It's an interesting group though difficult for me to figure out quite how to participate, mostly retired professors from various fields, colleagues who are comfortable with an academic seminar format, which I am not.

Hi Katherine,

I've been out of the loop for a while. Hope all works out with your car.

Wow! Two RL book groups!! My friend Barbara is also in two book RL book groups and seems to prefer one more than the other. My prediction is that she will eventually drop out of the one she likes less.

I finally joined a book group...but it's an online one. I find myself not reading more of their book choices than reading them. I joined because it was run by my husband's great niece and I wanted to see what books they pick. We try to read books that are made into movies. When it was my pick, I chose Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and liked that book very much. Some of their books were too much fluff so I purposely skipped them. This month they're reading Dark Objects, also by Gillian Flynn. Most of the club members are young, educated Hispanic women so it's fun to see what they choose to read.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande is an amazing book. I think I like that best of all the books he has written...and I've read them all. I think it meant the most to me as I've had several friends in the recent past deal with an aging parent followed by the death of that parent. You'll have a lot to discuss after reading that book.

Since being retired, I know about being reclusive. I've got to get out more as well. I connected back up with my babysitting coop group (from thirty years ago) who go out to dinner once a month. They've done this for the past thirty years...and I just learned about it now! I also agreed to be a full time (24 hours/week) babysitter for my grandson starting in May when my daughter-in-law's mom goes back to work. My daughter-in-law came to my house yesterday to do a baby-proofing audit. Haha! That was fun. I told her to just follow her son and see what he touched!

Looking forward to seeing you and others for the next LT meet-up in the DC area.

Phew! What a long post!! :D

>223 SqueakyChu: grandson ... baby-proofing
Well that should be fun. He is... approaching 2? And quite mobile?

next LT meet-up in the DC area
Hmm, when will that be?

>223 SqueakyChu: oh hey, I owe you a thank you! On the strength of your recommendation we visited The Book Thing of Baltimore last weekend. Oh. My. God. What a place! My husband came away with more than I did, but it was well worth the 1.25-hr drive and we will definitely return.

Gah. Two emails from one of the bosses yesterday evening with a sudden new task, each expressed as a question of can this be done, in two contradictory ways; the answer to one is yes, the answer to the other is not easily. A phone conversation this morning clarifies somewhat: neither description is actually what he wants. What he wants is a less than fully thought through rearrangement of technical stuff in the context of a situation that, last I was aware, died months ago. The two bosses revived it in a conversation that did not include me, even though I know more than either of them about how the technical stuff is structured, and even though it has a significant impact on my responsibilities. I am... annoyed. Not about the task, but that after four years they still think it’s fine to have private conversations and pass along decisions without context. These are two men somewhat older than me who have been friends since college.

>224 qebo: approaching 2? And quite mobile?

Yes to both! :/

Hmm, when will that be?

I have no idea.

>225 lauralkeet: Oh. My. God.

So glad you got to enjoy the wonder of The Book Thing of Baltimore. My BookCrossing club always plans a meet-up in conjunction with a trip there. We just ride north on Greenmount Avenue for a few miles until we get to a Panera. There we sit and talk all day.

The next trip of yours to The Book Thing of Baltimore should get a shout-out for an ad hoc LT meet-up!

Do tell. How many books did you both bring home, Laura? :)

>226 qebo: These are two men somewhat older than me who have been friends since college.

Hmmm? That explains it! :/

>227 SqueakyChu: north on Greenmount Avenue for a few miles until we get to a Panera. Good to know about that, since we are unfamiliar with the area. We went from the Book Thing to the convention center for a craft show, and emerged into the snowy afternoon and a much longer drive home.

How many books did you both bring home, Laura? :)
16 altogether, and only 4 were mine. *adjusts halo*

>228 lauralkeet: *adjusts halo*

Haha!

>226 qebo: hate it when that happens to me! Fortunately, my project manager and I have worked out a pretty good working arrangement so we don't have those sorts of problems these days.

Stopping by to get caught up. I hope this revival of a project doesn't become a huge hassle and drain on you. I hate it when decisions to do something occurs without the decision makers asking all of the correct questions first.

>231 lkernagh: Oh, it’ll be fine. The bosses do this a lot. They were the entire company for years, they talk daily, and they forget that other people need to be in the loop. It’s turning out that the revived situation is not a done deal, just a possibility, and the task that was presented as urgent and top priority two days ago is more of a thing to think about, so I outlined alternatives and concerns via email yesterday, and since neither boss has replied I’ve switched back to the previous task until they figure out what they really want, hopefully in consultation with the two of us who are doing the nuts and bolts work and are in a better position to assess the feasibility of taking one approach or another.

The car is hauled off, eh? I wonder when and what you will hear.

Three book groups? (Squeak!)

>233 sibylline: Yes, I wondered the same thing, so I called the insurance agent today. The car was whisked away last Wednesday noon. Then apparently a bureaucratic glitch occurred and with no guarantee of payment the repair shop set the car aside. Nice of them to let me know... The insurance agent sez the process is back on track and I should hear one way or the other by tomorrow.

So typical.

#12: Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science and the World by Rachel Swaby -- (Feb 27)

why now: December ER.

These 52 brief (3-5 page) biographies are organized by field of expertise or contribution (e.g. medicine, biology, physics, astronomy, technology, mathematics), then chronological order by birth date. The effect when reading cover-to-cover is of stepping forward through time then dropping back again repeatedly, watching a gradual yielding of social constraints; but the rule was to include only women who have died, which places the most recent career peaks in the 1950s-1970s, not exactly an era of equality. The book seems pitched to teenagers, with engaging anecdotes and the gist of the relevant science, a range of personalities but a common drive for discovery and invention. It is breadth rather than depth, but well chosen, and sure to inspire interest and further research.

(I am assuming that the typos, awkward grammar, and jarring colloquialisms of the review edition will be smoothed away before publication.)

Errands have been piling up in the three weeks without a car, so I rented a car for the weekend. I am easily confused by unfamiliar cars especially when I have to take quick action, so I don’t want to drive it at night. This car is especially strange because it doesn’t have an ignition key; it has a start button that operates only if the keys are nearby. I did not experiment to determine the range. After I moved the seat as far forward as it will go, which isn’t forward enough, I had to read the manual to figure out how to adjust the mirrors. All this because I needed cat food and bird seed. I also traipsed around for various nice-to-have items, because who knows when I’ll get another chance, and there went the daylight hours. Tomorrow we get snow. Among the nice-to-have items are packets of seeds; too early to start them inside, but I can think about it...

My Prius has a start button. I love it because I never have to hunt around in the depths of my handbag for my keys.

>238 lauralkeet: How do you unlock and lock the door then?
Also: FB indicates that you went to the Philadelphia flower show today. What'd you think? I went last year because I hadn't been in awhile, leaning toward skipping this year.

I can use the key fob to lock the door, but the door also has a little button on the handle that locks the door whe pressed, as long as I have the key in my handbag. Similarly, I can unlock just by grasping the door handle.

As for the flower show, we were actually a bit disappointed. It all came down to the theme, which this year is "At the Movies". I was kinda ambivalent about that, wondering how that would be expressed in gardens & flowers. On arrival we learned that Disney was a major sponsor this year. Which means the exhibits all interpreted Disney films. Which are mostly animated family films. Some actually did a decent job but overall the entire thing felt waaaay too commercial and not really aimed at the serious gardener. So ... I think your leanings are correct!

>240 lauralkeet: Yeah, that doesn't seem worth a trip to Philadelphia. Other things I want to do in Philadelphia too, but not in this weather.

key
Hmm, well it's all newfangled to me.

>236 qebo: That looks like a useful reference book. How is its bibliography?

>237 qebo: The last time I was in the market for a car, the dealer showed me a car with "keyless entry" and a start button. The design made me nervous: I assume the little key-doodad you have to keep in your pocket operates contains some sort of battery so I asked him how you start the car when the battery dies.

Some confusion followed while we established that I was asking about the battery in the "key" and not the one under the hood. Finally: "Well, you can just bring it into the dealership and we'll replace the battery." By walking to the dealership, I guess. I settled for a car with a mechanical key.

>242 swynn: The bibliography lists from 1-8 sources per scientist: some journal articles, some individual biographies, several women-in-science/medicine/math books.

My afternoon obligation obligation was cancelled because of snow, so I'm picking up my pile of unreviewed books and carrying them to a fresh new thread...