Sibyx (Lucy) Reads in March

The question is: Will it ever be spring? Our snow has taken on a geological aspect. And yet. The chickadees and jays and woodpeckers, have gotten louder this week, shouting, "Spring!" Miss Po is a 'winter' dog but she is also a spring (mud) and autumn (more mud) dog. Summer is probably her least favorite season. My first corgi who doesn't care to swim!

***March Current Reads***
♬

✔ The Circle Dave Eggers contemp fic
✔ Excession Iain Banks sf
♬ How to Train Your Dragon Cressida Cowell fant
✔Slow Money Woody Taschnf econ
✔Chi Running Danny Dreyer nf health
Ongoing
Murdoch Marathon: See you in 2015! IM readers group is HERE
Virago Soon?
Reading the New Yorker 2014 Read my reviews here: HERE
currently reading November: 3, 10, 17, 24

March Reads
31. ✔The High Lord Trudi Canavan fantasy (Black Magician 3) ***1/2
32. ✔Kindly Light A.N. Wilson contemp fic
33. The New Yorker, October 2014
34. ✔ Medicus Ruth Downie hist mys ****
35. ✔Reflections on a Marine Venus Lawrence Durrell nf Greece (Rhodes) ****
36. ✔Use of Weapons Iain Banks sf ****
37. Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie sf *****
38. ♬ The End of the Affair Graham Greene contemp fic ***1/2
39. new A Natural History of Dragons Marie Brennan fantasy ****
40. ✔ Telegraph Avenue Michael Chabon contemp fic ****

Guide to symbols
♬ = audio
✔ = Year plus on shelf

February Reads
14. new Lirael Garth Nix fantasy #2 The Old Kingdom ****1/2
15. The New Yorker September
16.✔When You Are Engulfed in Flames David Sedaris essays ****
17. ✔Black Swan Green David Mitchell contemp fic ****1/2
18. new Dotter of Her Father's Eyes Mary Talbot Bryan Talbot graphic/ memoir ***1/2
19. ✔Portrait of Jennie Robert Nathan fantasy classic (time travel) ***1/4
20. new Clariel Garth Nix fantasy (prequel) Old Kingdom ****
21. new Department of Speculation Jenny Offill contemp fic ****
22. newA Share in Death Deborah Crombie mys ***
23.✔ The Hydrogen Sonata Iain M. Banks sf *****
24. ✔City of Light Lauren Belfer hist fic ***1/4
25. ✔The Earth Hums in B Flat Mari Strachan contemp fic ****
26. ✔Status Anxiety Alain de Botton philosophy ****
27. new The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion contemp fic ****
28. Midworld Alan Dean Foster sf classic
29. ✔ The Magician's Guild Trudi Canavan fantasy (Black Magician 1)***1/4
30. ✔The Novice Trudi Canavan fantasy (Black Magician 2) ***1/4

February Reflections
A magnificent reading month in terms of sheer quantity! 17 books! Certainly an LT record for me as I'm positive I haven't read that many in a single month since joining in 2010. As regards quality . . . also surprisingly high, as I tackled a number of fairly serious or demanding books, a Banks, David Mitchell, the Belfer, Offil, and Strachan as well as de Botton philo-historical inquiry into status anxiety. The graphic book, a memoir/biographywas a serious read also. I would have to call it a remarkably balanced month, in fact, ranging around from fantasy to high level sf, classic sf with the Foster, to good contemporary fiction, as well as fun with the Simsion and the Nix's Canavan's--starting and ending the month with some escapist fantasy. No audio books this month, but I think I needed to leave a space between Ulysses and a new audio book; I have, just in the last couple of days begun listening to Firth reading the Graham Greene. I am also noticing that I haven't quit any books yet this year -- am I more patient? Choosing better? Who can say!

February Reading Stats
Total: 17!!!!!
Men: 8
Women: 6
Non-fiction: 3
Fiction: 3
SF/F: 7
Mystery: 1
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New to me: 8
Months of NYers: 1

Housekeeping
*In: 4 2015 Total=7
Out:1 2015 Total=5
From library or borrowed: 1
Audio: 0
New: 6
Old: 9
Read it or Get Rid of It: 0

*February Books In
3. Fortress of Ice C.J. Cherryh via pbs
4. Undercity Catherine Asaro
5.Jhereg Steven Brust
6. Precursor C.J. Cherryh

4

ENOUGH ALREADY! I QUIT! 2015
1. ✔The Club Dumas Arturo Perez-Reverte mys

Series Tally 2015

Started in 2015
Medicus Ruth Downie mys (1 of 6 READ)
Lady Trent's Memoirs (1 of 3) NEXT UP The Tropic of Serpents

Continued in 2015
Culture Iain Banks Excession (fourth of 10) NOW READING

Completed or caught up with in 2015
The High Lord Trudi Canavan (3 of 3)
Cormoran Strike (2 of 2)
Pegasus 1 of 1 (more forthcoming.....)
Serrano Legacy Elizabeth Moon(3 of 3)
The Old Kingdom Garth Nix(4 of 4)

Completed or caught up with in 2014
1. Good Daughters Mary Hocking (3)
2. Chronicles of Tornor Elizabeth Lynn (3)
3. Witch World - set goal of reading first three in series. Completed.
4. Mistborn Brandon Sanderson (3) 3 of 3 Completed
5. The Skolian Empire (14 of 14)Catherine Asaro (There are assorted novellas and ss)
6. ✔ Dublin Murder Squad 4 of 4
7. Quantum Gravity Justina Robson (5 of 5)
8. Green Rider Kristen Britain (4 of 4) (Mirror Sight
9. Divergent (3 of 3)
10. Sleepless (3 of 3)
11. Inspector Gamache (10 of 10)!

To be continued? (from 2013 or earlier)
1. The Seven Kingdoms Kristin Cashore (2 of 3) Next up: Bitterblue
2. Liaden Universe Sharon Lee Steve Miller Let's say I've read 11 of 19!
4. Flavia de Luce Alan Bradley (5 of 6) The Dead in their Vaulted Arches audio only!
5. KingKiller Chronicles Patrick Rothfuss 2 of 3. Doors of Stone forthcoming (undeclared)
6. Rivers of London Ben Aaronovitch (3 of 6) Next up Broken Homes

I'm posting this list as an aide-memoire as I've decided to stop hoarding the Culture series. I think I have them all except #4.
1. Consider Phlebas -READ Reread? Barely remember it.
2. Player of Games READ ages ago, but I remember it quite vividly.
3. Use of Weapons READ
4. The State of the Art (stories) PROLLY WILL SKIP
5. Excession READING
6. Inversions
7. Look to Windward (did I read this?)
8. Matter
9. Surface Detail
10. The Hydrogen Sonata READ

This is going to be so much fun!

Since this is a leftover space I'll post this photo. My sister and I play traditional Irish music together a lot and recently at an event we were asked to play a tune or two on stage. Our debut!!!! We did quite well and even had fun (sort of!). It helped that it was entirely unplanned so we didn't have time to get anxious. Note that my dress stripes and Em's shoelaces match. Also, the LD's comment was that Em and I don't look that much alike, that is, we do look like sisters but different, except when we play we both have the same 'music face.' That cracked me up!

>4 sibylline: my dress stripes and Em's shoelaces match
Cute. Planned?

Happy new thread, Lucy. Thanks so much fot sharing those beautiful photos.

Definitely not!!!!!! Plus we're both in mostly black - but that isn't so surprising as we both wear it a lot. I rarely wear anything that turquoise color - that might be my only garment with that shade!

"music face" *snort*

Ms. Po charts her own course, it would seem: looks up at things and prefers not to swim. Happy March!

>4 sibylline: Love the photo of you and your sister in action Lucy. There is never a long distance trip by road that I travel without the accompaniment of The Dubliners or the Chieftains.

Impressive reading in February too, I must say. xx

>9 PaulCranswick: Try adding Lunasa, Danu, Dervish, or Altan to that repertoire! Lunasa is especially energizing to listen to. Your children will even like Lunasa - mine does!

And Capercaillie.

oooo yes! I'm very fond of the all women group Cherish the Ladies too with Joanie Madden at the helm. They are especially fine in concert!

>10 sibylline: & >11 tiffin: I have music by Altan and Capercaillie. The latter are of course Scottish but do resound to a Celtic vibe for sure Tui.

Several Scottish bands pass the test....

I have almost all of Altan's albums too. Kindred spirits here!

>10 sibylline: When Andrew was asked (aged 4) by the mother of a friend "Do you listen to nursery rhymes in your car?" he rather sniffily replied "Oh no, in our car we have Van Morrison." When the children were small on long journeys we nearly always listened to Irish Heartbeat by Van Morrison and the Chieftains.

>16 CDVicarage: I love that album Kerry. Great cross-over music IMO. I have all of Van the Man's music and that recording is right up there with his very best.

I see the music face! What a hoot.

Another lover of Celtic folk here ... Will have to check out the groups you recommend. Spotiify is great for that.

Great pictures of Ms Po and the performing sisters at the beginning of your thread. Yes, spring will come, just sooner for some than others.

Love the photos! Miss Po looks so elegant and I love the music faces.

What a beautiful property you have, Lucy, and with your beautiful Po in the foreground …

Awesome photo of you and your sister playing traditional Irish music, which I love! Chuckled with your LD at "music faces" and at your matching dress/shoelaces : ).

Hi Lucy! How's End of the Affair going? I'm eager to hear how Colin Firth is as a narrator.

Happy new thread, Lucy!

>21 lit_chick: Thank you, Nancy. It is very beautiful. Those 'music faces' are way too serious, I think. But at least my mouth is shut, sometimes when I'm really concentrating on a hard part that can be a problem!

>22 The_Hibernator: Firth is sublime, the story is not as sublime - I'll go into that in the review. The self-absorbed arrogance of the narrator makes it hard to care -- but, of course, one is only revealing one's shallowness by wanting to care. . . .

>Hi Amber! I do love a fresh thread.

Happy new thread, Lucy! Miss Po looks so elegant up there - like she is posing! Love the photo of you and your sister with your "music faces" and your matching stripes and laces. Ha! I made a rhyme! Hoping that Spring comes soonish for you.

31.
✔The High Lord Trudi Canavan fantasy (Black Magician 3)

Happily, the strongest book of the series is the third, in fact, they got better as the plot thickened and there was more going on. Canavan was definitely up to the task of keeping track of all the characters and the action. The first book dragged and creaked as Canavan tried to expand what was a simple situation: catch the rogue magician, with few hints of the larger richer plot. That said, the story has its tentative moments nonetheless, things that, in some way, make little sense (the role of the king, for example, strangely undeveloped and irrelevant, and yet they all obey his authority as the ultimate) and the wilful 'gotta follow the law' attitude towards black magic. The magic throughout is consistent, and while it did not have any truly original aspects neither was it annoying as some magic is (I'm thinking of the Sanderson books where the magicians manipulate metal). Also I'm always inclined to prefer magic that has moral consequences and issues attached to the using of it, and that tuckers out the magicians. I appreciate Canavan's inclusion of Dannyl's orientation story but there is no hint either that women might also have similar issues or what the attitude of the people of Kyralia had toward them which makes her choice feel oddly lopsided and a bit forced somehow, which might not be fair of me to say as I have no idea what she was thinking, only that to me, if you're going to include, you gotta go full steam ahead and include everybody. My biggest complaint is a stylistic one. Why couldn't an editor have told Canavan to lose 90% of the 'crooked smiles' and 'curving lips' - I know, I know, it is a convention of the romance genre, but there was just too darned much of that amid what was, otherwise, reasonably solid and occasional quite good writing. I think lovers of the fantasy genre would be inclined to give these four stars, but I can't give them higher than three and a half overall as the originality factor and the style ticks detracted. ***1/2

Happy New Thread, and can I just quote what Reba says in >20 RebaRelishesReading:?
And I WANT A CORGY!!! :/
(I should make sure that my next job allows me to have a dog or that my next appt is cat friendly )
Paul's mentioning the Dubliners brought memories back - one of the first concerts I went to when I was 16 was the Dubliners at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden. My dad came along because he loved their music as well. And half of my class and several more parents - we had such a great time!

Did you see the photo going around Facebook with the flowers painted on the snowbanks? If not, I'll post it for you.

>28 streamsong: Please do! I could use that one!

>30 streamsong: Love it!

>30 streamsong:: love it too!

It's a little big, sorry.

But it made me smile.

It's perfect! I love it too!

*waving* at Lucy

Lucy, I've told you this before but I say it again: I love your monthly recaps where you revisit the highs and lows of the months. February was indeed a good reading month for you! I also am a fan of Miss Po as you call her and now I've seen your "music face". I think it must look a lot like my bridge face! Inwardly, I might be having "fun" but I have to concentrate so much on all the different aspects of the game that I look very serious. I look forward to hearing more about your March reads…and wish you another good reading month. I'm hoping that some real flowers will pop through our snow this month. We sometimes have daffodils by now.

So, which A.N. Wilson was that? I'm increasingly intrigued by his writing. Such a prose stylist.

What a sweetheart Miss Po is. She must be looking forward to mud for a change. Are you, though??

You've got that exactly right, Suzanne. I just finished this Wilson, Kindly Light and I've read a few others. It's too late in the evening to write a review (my IQ declines sharpens at 9 p.m.). It is very easy to be confused and disappointed by writers like Wilson--I'll have a little to say about that tomorrow. I have a, possibly, (probably?) weird taste for writers of his stripe, and it seems you do too!

I cannot begin to tell you how much I yearn for a massive thaw. Right at this moment we have snow and the wind is truly wuthering, howling, even around the house. But the temp is in the 20's and that is a major change.

Hi Lucy, It's been a while since I've stopped by your thread. Love the Miss Po photo and your stage performance one, too.

Hope the temps rise above freezing soon!!

It is snowing apace here, too. It all looks like petits fours outside, with glistening icing.

I am just feeling very housebound and constrained.

32. contemp fic ****
Kindly Light A.N.Wilson

A.N.Wilson is another in a long line of (mostly) British fiction writers of a religious bent, Catholic or Anglican, who want to take the reader somewhere slightly different. Rather than a novel meant to entertain or to draw one into experiencing another time and place or to see the world through the eyes of someone with a life experience radically different from one's own -- Wilson uses the devices of fiction (character, plot etc) to lure the reader into looking at some aspect of the human condition from 'afar'. In this case, a comic examnation of the futility of thinking you are the master of your fate. There's nothing terribly subtle about Wilson's 'message', except that few can think or write as imaginatively or with such appealing humor: creating situations that are ridiculous yet pathetic (dancing nuns in mesh tights, Arab twins whose only English is the Shakespeare they have memorized and who run away to Israel figuring no one will look for them there), characters that are annoying yet loveable (blowsy Jonquil, drunken Lubbock). The title and chapter headings pointedly refer the reader to the famous poem of Cardinal Newman, "Lead on, kindly light, amidst the encircling gloom . . ." and indeed the novel is built around the poem. The protagonist, Norman Shotover, in despair over the chaos in his life signed up as a priest in the Catholic Institute of Alfonso (get the acronym?) and the novel begins at the point he is desperate to leave the order. He begins plotting ways to get himself thrown out, but his superior, Cassidy, not only won't have it but begins to suspect Shotover of scheming to discredit the order or worse. At first everything Norman tries brings him accolades, then it all goes horribly wrong and he runs away. Throughout he cannot seem to get away from a fellow priest, Lubbock, an alcoholic who yet seems to have that mysterious quality of charisma, that Norman utterly lacks. Norman persists at trying to be master of his own destiny no matter what the obstacles. When soused, Lubbock tends to sing lines from the Newman poem, "The night is dark, and I am far from home,/Lead though me on . . ." and so on, just in case you are not getting the drift. Other novelists of this type? Spark, Waugh, Greene - they don't create characters for you to 'care' about per se, but using wit, humor and just plain good writing, create a stories with the purpose of makng a point of some spiritual kind, about the quality of grace to the finality of death or in this case, the odd doctrine of both believing in free will, but also accepting that you haven't actually got any. . . . Many pick up these novels expecting to be amused and to 'care' about the characters and are baffled or disappointed and even angry at where the authors take them. Of course, there are plenty of non-religious or spiritually inclined writers who also write this way, but this is a particular sub-category, I think. I should add, not unsurprisingly, Wilson has flipped and flopped from belief to atheism and (tentatively) back to faith.****

An American writer who works in this vein is Frederick Buechner (Lion Country, Love Feast, Open Heart).

Why now? Been on the shelf ever so long. I think I picked it up free. Once or twice a year I read a book which is yellowing and brittle and which I destroy sufficiently while reading that the only thing to do is drop it in the recycling bin when I am through. I'm sorry to have to do it, though, I would likely keep it otherwise.

With this "W" author I am returning to the beginning of the alphabet - skipping A and B to go to Michael Chabon. I've been eyeing Telegraph Avenue for some time now. I skipped Z because I couldn't quite face the Zuzak this time around. I know it is also 'heart-warming' and 'uplifting' but I know it is also very sad and depressing. I'm skipping A and B just because! That's how my system works, I can only go forward, not backward.

>35 alcottacre: Waving back to Stasia

>36 Donna828: That is the nicest thing to say! I'm thrilled that you enjoy reading anything I write! Thrilled that you read it, in fact! And that you've taken the time to let me know.

>39 Copperskye: Delighted to see you here!

>40 Chatterbox: I am so so with you Suzanne. This is the time of year when it seems all I do when I go outside is walk up and down the plowed road. Snow gets too deep for Po, or something happens (this year it is my ankle injury) and I can't ski or snowshoe) or the snow just gets crappy (which is happening today). Not to be too whiney, it is a very pretty road, but the lower part can be hard going if it is windy, but there is nowhere else to go. I end up finding it hard to believe I ever ranged around freely in the woods or that the pond was ever anything but a white covered depression out the window. Happily last night's snow didn't amount to much. It is 32 now, practically t-shirt weather, but it won't last. Last year we had the glacier on the driveway, this year just numbing persistent cold. You have had far more snow than we have had, but we've got plenty all the same. I guess it is good for reading!

Lucy and Suz, add me to the list of the constrained feeling folk. We had more snow yesterday and we too are getting wuthered at by the winds. Like you, Lucy, I just walk down the ploughed drive to the mailbox and back. Thank heavens for swimming or I wouldn't be able to move any of my joints, I'd have atrophied so much. We've broken cold records right, left, and centre up here this winter. There's a chart in the drugstore window in the village noting when the ice has left the lake since the 50s. It's pretty thick and deep this year, so I'm prophesying the end of May.

I'm getting worried about our roof. It's a mansard and the weight of the snow up there on the shallower part is concerning me, especially because the periodic ice layers keep it in place. However, it's 3 stories up, slanted, slippery (duh!), so I'm not going up there to do anything about it.

Reminds me to read some more AN Wilson. If I do the B.A.C. again next year I would guess that he would be a dark horse for inclusion. xx

Sending warm thoughts, Lucy. Hold the faith...spring WILL come.

38 f right now and ONLY going down to 13. You know things are out of control when 13 is 'warm'!

I started a new mystery, set in Britain during the Roman Occupation and can't put it down! Medicus. What fun!

Yesterday we had a roofalanche when all the snow trapped on the long dormer on one side of the house let go all at once. It was epic! Now of course it is freezing cold again. Don't know exactly as the thermometers are, as usual, in wild disagreement. The quitter says 16 F, the pessimist says 16 F and tiny says 8 F! The weirdest is that the pessimist thinks it's warmer!

* paying no attention to the new British mystery *

The "roofalanche" sounds rather amazing.

Hapy new thread, Lucy! Posey looks like she is standing guard, or expectantly waiting for something. What a great photo of you and your sister performing.

I am pretty sure I haven't mentioned this before but we have a lovely couple in our neighbourhood with three corgis.... I sometimes encounter the husband on a Saturday when he is out walking them. Such super friendly dogs and well behaved dogs. ;-)

>48 sibylline: - I love roofalanches! Ever since my parents replaced their shingles roof with a fabricated metal one, roofalanches are a regular occurrence in the winter months. Freaked the cats out to no end when it first happened but they adapted... as did the rest of us.

They are weirdly entertaining, aren't they? Our cats also have acclimated. They used to spring into the air, fur spiked and all!

How did I miss the new thread??? Happy! Happy!!!
Miss Po is lovely as always. I suspect she doesn't like to swim because she doesn't want to get her hair wet.
Music performance faces - Nobody has ever taken a picture of me with mine, DG. Serious is good. Otherwise, I think they should be politely ignored.
Weather. I was going to put this on my own thread, but I'll put it on yours instead. We woke up to 68° this morning, and by 2:45 it was 78&deg. Then it started blowing. By 3:30 it was 48°. That's a steep decline. Now it's mizzling and continuing to cool off. May I say that I hate the bouncing around. It will be in the low 60s again on Saturday.
WHY have you never told me that you read Bebb??? Of course, it's too late now. I'd have to reread (this is Buechner, folks) in order to have something to say. I've never read his historical novels, but they're on the shelf waiting. And I pulled a Wilson but haven't opened it yet. You make me regret that.

My new word for this week: roofalanche.

When I moved to this part of BC, some twenty years ago now, I lived in a beautiful mountain home with a steep steel roof. The first time several tons of snow came thundering off of it on onto the deck, I nearly went through the roofalanche myself!

Catching up on this and your last thread. I'm not altogether surprised that Corgis are an endangered breed in the UK - I can't honestly remember the last time I saw one. And the last time that I knew someone with a corgi was about forty-years ago. All the fashionable dogs tend to be rather more exotic foreign ones at the moments, or some 'oodle' variety: everyone I know seems to have labradoodles or cockerpoos. The dogs I grew up with, Welsh Terriers, are also on the endangered list. If Mr SandDune decides that walking around with a Staffordshire Bull Terriet does make him look too much like a burglar (he has occasional worries that it does) then our next dog might well be a Welsh Terrier.

Bebb (not to mention his entourage) is one of the most memorable characters in fiction in my view. Frederick Buechner is underappreciated, certainly. I have The Hungering Dark on my shelves, one of his more serious books - the "seeker" side of me likes to read such things. Of course, I haven't been reading it, it just sits there looking impressive on my shelf.

- 20 F this morning. You can all just insert a word between that minus and the twenty and you know how I am really saying it. It is March 6 for heaven's sake! Basta gia!

>52 LizzieD: Ugh Peggy, I hate that kind of indecisiveness too, my bones especially.

>53 lit_chick: Yeah, the first winter here was like that, we were all kind of jumpy! Now we like it.

>54 SandDune: Welsh terriers are great! How funny that Brits don't like their own breeds so much. Don't know about the state of the welsh terrier here, but corgis are not endangered, I'm pretty sure of that. They are very popular on the internet - of course - given how photogenic and funny they are, they would be, but I don't think it has translated to a corgi craze just steady interest.

I feel so left out: we have a snow guard on our steel roof so we don't get roofalanches. Himself has a roof rake which he uses to pull off the stuff below the guard.

We have a contraption we can poke out the top window of the house to push the stuff off when it gets too deep. It's very hard work. So far this winter I've only had to do it the once.

So in more weather news -Montpelier VT is reporting that Feb was the coldest month they have on record. So for 150 or so years! Not too shabby.

I expect this morning might be record cold for this day in March but I haven't checked yet.

I watched the guy across the street shovel at least 18 inches off the sloping roofs yesterday afternoon. It was a tossup as to whether the snow was going to go solo, or whether he would follow it off... Nerve racking!

Sending sympathy for the continuing cold and snow, Lucy.

Lucy, I wish you a lovely weekend. Sending you some spring from our part of the world.

Here's a link that I hopefully will type correctly, since I'm on my tablet and can't cut and paste.

http://blog.theanimalrescuesite.com/corgi-kibble-dance/#KiY60mlktfPh0HR1.01

>60 Ameise1: I sure could use some spring!

>61 ronincats: Oh I love this one! Thank you Roni.

34. mys ****
Medicus Ruth Downie

Excellent fun, this one, set in Roman Britain. Ruso, a divorced medical man with family and farm and debt in Gaul, signs up to work in the city of Deva/Chester in the hospital with the Twentieth. The minute he gets there he becomes embroiled in a missing person/murder case and acquires a slave girl with a broken arm, a Brigante, who doesn't have the proper slave attitude. The hospital administrator is away, and when he returns proves to be a one of those prissy, self-serving, money-grubbing types. No one seems to want Ruso to solve the murder and he'd prefer not to either, but he can't get away from it. It's fun, it's reasonably well-researched (I looked up lots of things such as Roman folding chairs). At times it seemed a bit slow, maybe slightly too many details about bad food or whatever, but that's a minor complaint. I look forward to reading the rest of them-and I'm glad to know there are so many more. ****

Why now? It was time for a mystery and it's the one that jumped out at me.

Medicus looks quite interesting. Thanks for the review.

That's a decent series -- uneven, but some of them are quite fun. I'm very pleased that I just got an ARC of the latest mystery by Gary Corby, which is ancient Greece, rather than ancient Rome -- Socrates' big brother is the sleuth. Very entertaining!

>63 sibylline: That's one for the TBR pile. I loved Lindsey Davis' books of the same genre, although I was never able to become a huge fan of Steven Saylor's.

>63 sibylline: added this one to the Wishlist just the other day!

The early Downie/Ruso books are very cheap on Kindle. I never got back after the first one, but I enjoyed it too. I'm just the opposite of Tad: love the Saylors and just O.K. with the Davises.

Oh, Lucy, the Wichita news came on this weekend, specifically weather, and here is this corgi with a seat at the table!
http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/22353916?ver=123

Oh man, you got me started the day all teared up, Roni! I love seeing that kind of affection between dog and person! What a fabulous dog Millie is! So wise and good.

35. Greece (Rhodes) ****
Reflections on a Marine Venus Lawrence Durrell

A close family friend of my parents was an "islomaniac." Lawrence Durrell also declares himself one-- which having been brought up on various islands in the Mediterranean was no doubt true. Just after the war (2) he was posted to Rhodes to get the newspapers back in order. The island has been devastated by occupations and the healing begins. Durrell finds a little house where under a huge old tree he can sit with his friends to drink and talk and dine. His friends are as important a part of the book as the descriptions of the places, ancient and new, that he describes. Mills, the energetic and dedicated doctor, Gideon (possibly an alter ego) on the island in a similar role as Durrell's to get agriculture back on its feet, Hoyle the chief administrator. Durrell's lady of the moment, "E" is there, living in the hotel (ah the days of propriety!) nearby. There are moments when the prose takes you right there into a sparkling blue bay or walking past a fragrant thyme-scened garden, but there are times too when the prose because unwieldy, too grand, verging on pomposity (making one understand why brother Gerald couldn't resist playing pranks on his older brother). Rhodes has an astonishingly rich history (and now I finally know what the Colossus was!) Greeks and Knights of St. John and so on, lots of fun. And a sturdy population that persists withal. I'm a devoted fan of the Alexandria Quartet and Durrell really can write. If you love Greece, you will get lots out of reading this offering. I spent a long time on-line looking at various places mentioned in the book, thankful that one can do this now, match images (there is no image of the marine venus herself to be seen in the book) with text as you go. ****

Why now?Random choice from the nf category, although for reasons I cannot fathom, I had been 'noticing' it when looking over those shelves . . . that seems to be the precursor sometimes to the hand reaching out to pick. that. particular. book.

>68 LizzieD: It's because I've got a crush on Helena Justina...

>71 sibylline: Have you read Prospero's Cell, Lucy? I loved it...not the least because it covers roughly the same time and events as another of my all-time favorite books: Gerald Durrell's (Lawrence's brother) My Family and Other Animals. It was fun to see the two, entirely different perspectives on that period.

I love Millie's bed in the clip Roni posted. I have Medicus on zer Kindle, waiting for a mystery moment.

Ah yes, I love those book crushes!

Millie's bed is wonderful, isn't it? (Almost) tasteful even.

Have I mentioned that there are teeny tiny patches of visible ground? There are also slush puddles on dirt roads and there is also mud. The roofalanches are completed and the roof is clear of snow and ice. We do expect a little snow next weekend, but mostly the day temps will be above freezing so it won't last. Andwhich means sugaring season has begun! Yay! Nothing like snorting back a jigger of fresh grade B! That'll fix them winter blues.

Hi Lucy. Just passing through with nothing particular to add. I have the first of those Trudi Canavan books somewhere, I will probably dig it out at some point, as you are the first person I know to have read it, and it sounds fun if not earth shattering. I'm pretty intrigued by the pattern of books one can find in second hand and charity bookshops - have you noticed? there are some books one seems to see in every single one. For some reason, here in the UK, that Trudi Canavan series is a good example of the phenomena - almost every single bookshop I walk into has at least one there in the Fantasy section, so I was always tempted by them, knowing they would be so easy to pick u, but then thinking, if so many people got rid of them... Now I have my reason to start reading!

I've also noticed how they spike - one minute they are everywhere and when you are ready to read them, gone. Happens to me a lot with movies too.

>72 TadAD: All is explained and understood, Tad!
>75 sibylline: Here's to a jigger of fresh Grade B!!!! I hate to tell you that it was 86° here today. So, when was spring?
Must read Gerald! Must read Gerald!

>73 TadAD: I keep meaning to answer your question, Tad. No, I haven't read Prospero's Cell and I should have by now. Onto the WL with it!

After two balmy days and loads of welcome melting, today is a stinker, wildly windy and cold. Perhaps a bit of snow came down in the night too - a very fine stuff that is devilishly whirling around. Down to 11 tonight. But then it gets better, back to melting and sugaring weather. Might need some maple comfort today however. I did not put on my underlayer, and I survived the morning walk out of sheer grit. I simply refuse to put on that layer on anymore! I'm also tired of building wood stove fires -- and we're running out of wood anyway-- so I'm hoping there's enough sunlight to heat the water that heats the floor without taxing the batteries overly! But I may have to give in and make a fire tonight.

36. sf ****
Use of Weapons Iain Banks sf ****

Intense and complex, not so much science as ethical probing of the future in a book put together in a spiral form that made me think of that Leonardo design, invented for a stairway in a castle in France (so aristocrats could move around unseen!) but applied nowadays to modern parking garages: two staircases entwined around eachother, one going up and the other down, but invisible to one another. I learned along the way that it was the first Culture book Banks wrote, although it was published later. A brilliant warrior and strategist Cheradenine Zakalwe is hired repeatedly by the Culture to 'interfere' in various planetary conflicts in hopes of nudging along the process of becoming truly civilized, however, nothing is at it seems. I can say no more without spoiling. I doubt this will be my favorite Banks - but it is a rewarding and challenging read, a thoughtful look at the pros and cons of trying to interfere and of the terrible things technology can enable one to (almost) get away with, at least, to all appearances. The soul, however, is unforgiving and relentless. There are some classic Banksian moments - even the greatest warrior-strategist can put on the wrong shoes and slip on the ice. The drone provides comic-relief but for me, given the deeper seriousness of the story, sometimes the relief was a bit jarring. Anyway, Banks, really, can do no wrong, can he? It may be that I was feeling a little lazy as a reader this week, and didn't want to work quite so hard! **** and probably deserves at least a half more!

Why now? Decided, after reading The Hydrogen Sonata to fill in my gappy reading of the Culture series.

By all means, stay warm, Lucy!
I'm glad you enjoyed *U of W*.... I think it's my 2nd favorite Culture novel. I'm even pretty sure I reviewed it here back when I was a newbie.

The little darling called up Friday and said, "Mom will you come and get me?" I had to say no, but I suggested the Saturday train to Rutland, so she did that - and now she's home!

And Grrrrrrr it's snowing AGAIN.

Use of Weapons was one of my least favourite Culture books, but I think maybe I just didn't "get" it. It is a complex book as you say - I think maybe I need to give it a re-read.
I'm kind of at the same point with you with Winter - although mine really can't compare to yours for energy sapping coldness, I'm sure we could outdo you for soul sapping never ending flippin' grey horrible overcast-ness. But in my mind by all that's right and proper Spring should have just hurried up and got started by now, so that's how I'm dressing and acting. Brr, some days it's chilly though.

Whoop whoop the LD is home! Enjoy your time together Lucy.

*beam*

What I'm reading (or not reading) now:

♬

The problem is -- so spring is coming, right? So I pull Chi Running off the shelf where it has languished, thinking, yeah, time for some inspiration. But how do you read a book that sounds as if i was written by a cheerful hamster running around a wheel? I haven't read anything so chirpy, boring or repetitive in quite some time. Nor can I read a book that talks about running in the hot dessert. Every ten pages or so he tells me what I will learn further on in another chapter. And every ten pages or so there is one sentence well worth reading, such as, 'consider your running as a practice' - as in meditation practice. Oh sure, it's full of helpful stuff about relaxing and posture and etc. but I don't know how I'm going to wade through it. I think I need to choose a 'real' nf book and just read five or ten pages at a time of this one. It does look as if, further on, it has more content. But I'll have my dessert on a plate thank you.

I'm also not becoming engaged by the Chabon so far, disappointing, as I'm a pretty big fan of his work, generally. I'll give it another few sessions before I give up.

And finally - so here is the person who listened to 45 hours of Ulysses but suddenly I can't even get through Colin Firth reading a one disk book! Part of it is that, frankly, it is a dreary story and I am finding it dated. I can't whine about it without spoiling it, so I won't. Firth is great, in fact, if it were not for him, I would have stopped probably.

Ancillary Justice is un-put-downable. Leckie is taking familiar tropes (say, the borg from Star Trek or the intelligent ai ships from Banks, Reynolds, gender ambiguity from LeGuin and others) and twisting them into a new and strange pattern and a ripping good yarn.

>87 sibylline: Difficult for others to compete with the one page-turner.
Running inspiration... I need it too. Once the snow started, I was done, but no excuse now.

Enjoy a wonderful visit with your daughter, Lucy!

All caught up with you now. I'm not at all keen on the idea of running in the city on concrete and around fume exhaust and whatnot, but I do look forward to walking around more when actual spring arrives. The only book on running I presently own is Born to Run which I see was a 5-star read for you. The other one I'm interested in getting is the Murakami one, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, mostly because it's his book, not so much because of the topic. But I do admire you for taking it up again each year.

I've added Medicus to the wishlist—I'm intrigued! Did you listen to the audiobook? I see the whole series is available on Audible.

>90 Smiler69: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
I read this several years ago, and was not inspired; review here.

Somehow the spaceship trapped in a human body concept didn't grab me, but I think the praise for Ancillary Justice has reached that critical mass that one just can't ignore any longer...

>85 lauralkeet: Whoop whoop indeed!

>88 qebo: >91 qebo: I remember that review - I am not mentally ready to run again, and until the snow melts I don't have to do it! I did get out early for a fine ski though this morning. Rock hard layer with three inches of new snow. Had to get out before the sun hit it and the temp rose. It was fabulous!

>89 lit_chick: I am!

>92 HanGerg: It's more complicated than that, Hannah, in fact it really requires focus to hold on to some of the conceptual aspects of this book - multi-faceted consciousness and what happens if that becomes truly fragmented.

Sorry to hear 3 of your current reads are not grabbing you but I agree completely about Ancillary Justice. I've just finished it and will grab the next book as soon as I can.

Enjoy your time with LD!

37. sf *****
Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie

By my own rules this has to be rated a five star read because I read it late, read it early, sneaked a chapter here and there during the day. What I wrote a couple of comments ago held true to the end:
Ancillary Justice is un-put-downable. Leckie is taking familiar tropes (say, the borg from Star Trek or the intelligent ai ships from Banks, Reynolds, and others, gender ambiguity from LeGuin) and twisting them into a new and strange pattern and a ripping good yarn. It will take you a little while to lower yourself down into this story and feel comfortable with it. The use of the pronouns "I" and "she" are not what you are used to. There are three time frames to reckon with although only two are followed in the book: an event a thousand years earlier, an event twenty years earlier and the present. The action moves between the latter two, but refer to the earliest event frequently. Leckie plays around with what 'civilized' means, what 'citizen' means, and what it means to be 'human.' It's all I could do upon finishing not to jump in the car and drive to the nearest bookstore for the next book! But that may happen tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Why now I've been eyeing it on my shelf for what seems like ages!

Tiny gripe: Somewhere along the way the word 'publicly' was spelled 'publically'. ow ow ow.

Yeah, Ancillary Justice was one of the best books I've read in the past few years! I'm glad you enjoyed it. The sequel is just as good, although the tone is a lot more mellow.

>96 kgodey: Welcome! Love to see a new person here. I could be happy with mellow. I see the third one will be out in the fall. That indicates to me she had pretty much written all three when the first was published. I appreciate that - it's so horrible to have to wait and wait and wait.

So it's raining! But the blanket of snow is very very resistant. Only the road and a few spots where the wind blew away most of the snow are open. This is truly VT at its very hardest to love, gray, dank, muddy, drooping and dripping. The only cheerful sight is smoke curling out of the sugarhouses. Today is the sort of day when I go to the icebox and pull out the jug o' maple and take a long pull! I'm perfectly serious!

Because Chi Running is so dreary, all that running in the dessert, I've added a second nf book so I can go back and forth. A long timer on my shelves. Slow Money. Compared to CR it's a blast. I've shifted from SF to mys now that I've finished the Leckie, pickjing up another long-timer on my shelves, Club Dumas.

Official St. Patrick's Day today - I'm not playing 'out' today but I did play at a ceili (dance- pronounced kay-lee) on Sunday.

>97 sibylline: Thanks, Lucy! I hate the waiting too...

Just want to report that I have gotten engaged--totally--with the Chabon (Telegraph Avenue). I think it just couldn't compete with the Leckie!!! And so far I have resisted a special trip into town (one hour round trip plus mooching around in the bookstore once I'm there) to get the next one.

It is 14 F here today, I mean REALLY!!!! Two days of this and then back into the forties.

The LD is very cheerful, adoring the pets, eating cookies, reading Richardson's Pamela for a class assignment and doing violent things with her hair. It was electric purple, right now it is a strange mix of blonde and pale green and by tonight it will be red. Her ease with the changes amazes me. And yes, she uses dyes from natural foods stores. Unfortunately most changes require some bleaching. I can't imagine purposefully damaging my hair, never could. She wasn't this cheerful at Christmas, which granted, is a loaded sort of holiday. I think she is completely settled at college, so much so that being home, isn't at all fraught either. Nice.

>100 sibylline: She wasn't this cheerful at Christmas ... I think she is completely settled at college, so much so that being home, isn't at all fraught either. Nice.
We noticed the same thing with Julia. She was a little bored at home after a while but her whole demeanor was much more pleasant. Kate told us last fall that her experience, and those of her friends, said it would take until mid-2nd semester to feel settled. It appears that was good counsel.

Also, my two can't get enough pet snuggles when they are home.

Very reassuring!

>95 sibylline:: publicly, the only adverb taking the "ly" ending on a word ending with the letter c. Good old English language with its "ok, this is a rule except for this word".
>98 sibylline:: "running in the dessert", eh? hehehe It's ok: my Dad used to say that a slip of the tongue is no fault of the brain. I think that counts for the fingers as well.
>100 sibylline:: I remember when one of the lads was slogging through Pamela. I admired him for his fortitude. Your LD sounds like Tonks in Harry Potter.

Maybe I'll call her Tonks tomorrow! She'll love it, I expect!

running in the dessert!! GAAAAK. What a terrible thought.

Depends on the dessert - lemon meringue? chocoloate mousse? baked Alaska?

The mousse-ish stuff would be ok but I think you'd turn your ankle in apple pie.

I knew I'd have to say something. One of the last years I taught, my 11th graders were recalling their 5th grade state writing test prompt which was something along the lines of "What is your favorite dessert? Write a paragraph about why you like it." At least 90% of them said, "I didn't know about any desert except the Sahara, so I wrote about that." (I won't guess at the percentage who still didn't see what they had done wrong.)
Lucy, I just saw this on fb. I wish it were a video, but alas, only a couple of pictures:

Royal Corgi Race

Corgi race = excellent!

>108 LizzieD: Oh dear! (about the Saharan dessert) What a great line up of corgis! It is a shame there is no video.

Hi Lucy, I've finally found time to visit your thread. I wish you a lovely weekend and sending you some spring.

>90 Smiler69: - Heavens! I missed responding to your message! I did not listen to Medicus but I have no doubt with a good reader it would be an excellent listen. I'm considering listening to the 2nd one in fact.

Lucy, thank you for your frequent visits and continuous support over the last month. I have greatly appreciated it.

Hi Lucy! Still working on the Graham Greene Book, I see. :)

Yep. I have forty-five minutes left and I'm trying to decide whether to sit and knit and listen to it and BE DONE.

I vote for sitting and knitting while listening it to it.... especially as being done with the book seems to be of some importance. ;-)

I did! I did! And I finished it! Yay! Too late to review now but I will tomorrow!

Oh, no! the End of the Affair is on my BAC Challenge list. Pending your review, Lucy, I may just be looking for a different Greene book for August.

Will decent weather never get here? I am SO tired of giving the gas and electric people all of my money!

Hope you have a nice Sunday!

38. ♬ contempt fic ***1/2
The End of the Affair Graham Greene

No one could be more surprised than I was at how little I enjoyed this read, or listen, as it was. If it hadn't been Colin Firth reading, I would have quit. Our Man in Havana is one of my favourite books (and a fabulous movie with Alec Guiness, btw) and I have read and appreciated many other of Greene's adult works, several of them tackling religious themes as this one does. So what happened here? It just felt . . . heavy and contrived throughout. I loathed Morris Bendrix from page 1 to page 192. His self-absorption, his sexism, his jealousy, his arrogance and contempt for practically everyone around him made it impossible to feel otherwise. Towards the end of the novel Bendrix (who is a novelist -- another conceit that bugged me) talks about how there is always one character in his novels who is a total drag to work with. While others chatter merrily and reveal themselves, there is always one who he has to struggle with. At one point Bendrix gets hit by a door flying on top of him during a bombing raid and I almost laughed out loud. I mean this is a guy who is such a dolt you want to hit him on the head with a 2 by 4 and so -- even when it HAPPENED he continued being a total ass. The story's trajectory was obvious from the get-go and the fact that Morris B's big competitor was the Guy in the sky or Death . . . anyway . . . there wasn't a single character in the book that wasn't kind of a cut-out. And towards the end, with the (one word spoiler) miracles and all, it almost became ludicrous to me.
I don't know why I am giving it a 3 1/2. I guess out of respect for Greene as a writer. The actual writing is, of course, splendid. But the content is dated and heavy and utterly unconvincing. It's rare that I am so nasty, but it was uphill all the way. ***1/2

Why now? Colin Firth, she said firmly, reading a book by an author I like.

>95 sibylline: That's a series where I am having major trouble waiting for the next book. Two books in and I'm quite addicted!

This week's line-up!
♬

The last I am listening to because David Tennant is reading it.

Hmm, I'd seen that Colin Firth narrated this, Lucy. The content didn't appeal so I didn't pick it up, but it sounds like Firth saved the read for you. Interesting.

Catching up with your thread, Lucy. Lovely that you are getting some time with the LD - I love that she thinks of her hair as an accessory! Clever girl! Too bad about The End of the Affair - I have that audio narrated by Colin Firth because..Colin Firth! Guess there is no need to rush to get to it. *sigh*

I have Ancillary Justice in the stacks, and you are making me want to pick it up right now and jump in.

I think you will love listening to How to Train Your Dragon because David Tennant is oh so fabulous with those books - so funny! You will be laughing out loud!

Hoping that your Sunday is filled with fabulous!

Love Tennant's narration of How To Train Your Dragon! Such fun.

>119 sibylline: Oh dear, I have had The End of the Affair in my TBR library for a while and your review does not make me optimistic about it. I can sometimes appreciate a novel just for beautiful writing but this one sounds like it hasn't held up as well as some of his other works. I believe Graham Greene is on the docket for one of my challenges this year; maybe I should try to snag a copy of Our Man in Havana....

I love the photo of Posey in the snow. Although, I imagine you are ready for the snow to melt already. It is beautiful, though.

It looks like you haven't yet finished Telegraph Avenue. I noticed it on my shelf at work the other day and thought "oh yeah, I should read that one of these days." I'll be interested in how it goes for you. And ChiRunning transformed my running when I read it several years ago!! It's wonderful!

>122 lit_chick: >123 Crazymamie: >125 EBT1002: Unless my taste always dovetails with yours, I think Greene is a significant enough writer to deserve a chance from just about everyone, and Firth is Firth. I might have done better with it if I had had a significant car ride and had listened to it pretty much in one go?

>125 EBT1002: I am so sick of snow, I can hardly tell you. Everyone is fed up - even the old-timers who always complain when winter ends and summer begins (we barely have any spring) that it is 'too hot' if it is above 65 F. The weirdest is that sugaring isn't begun yet. Sometimes it is well OVER by now. I can see how Chi Running would be transformative. I paid a lot of attention to what the fellow in Born to Run said and that affected my style a lot - but I like the exercises in this one. I've become a bit obsessed with strengthening my 'core' now that I've noticed what an incredible difference it makes.

It took me a little while to get into Telegraph Avenue and there is an element of 'homage' to Joyce and Pynchon in particular (especially Pynchon) but I am into it now, not as deeply as I have been in some of his others, but I am enjoying it just fine. It is very very long and there are many threads. I would think anyone from or familiar with Oakland/SF would love the details of place.

And I am here to report that I decided just now to quit my first book of the year - The Club Dumas - it isn't doing it for me and I'm over p. 100. Too . . . much detail. I mean a page and a half devoted to listing all the novels Alexandre Dumas wrote? I mean, I'm supposed to read this? It's like the 'begats,' you. just. don't. - I think if you are a Dumas and especially a Three Musketeers afficionado and you really like puzzles and truly esoteric information-- because it is a book mystery--then you might love it or at least enjoy it. I should like it, because I like those things, but something is missing, it feels a bit lifeless. So I'm stopping. I haven't exercised that "right" yet this year, so it's time! FEELS GOOD!

Now the question is: Do I try another mystery or move on to fantasy (I circle around alternating the three genres I like - mystery, fantasy, sf) and . . . . the answer is, move on to fantasy with A Natural History of Dragons's a book on the 'Christmas books shelf'!

>125 EBT1002:, >126 sibylline: Chi Running
It's actually useful? For the over-50 female? Hmm, maybe I should take a look. I've been in a running slump for a couple of years, do enough to make sure I still can and that's about it.

Yes, I think the exercises are designed to be ... oh what is the word--benign--. . . not likely to injure (unless you are a perfect idiot). The book is written so repetitively and simply that it is a little maddening, but the Dreyers have made a huge effort to make it simple enough to demystify and so far all the exercises I've done feel good. I'm reading so slowly because I will stop and try two or three exercises on a particular page or pages for a few days and think about if I want to add them to my repertoire. I really like quite a few of them. I don't run when it is cold, I've never liked it -- nor do I run when it is really hot. It's kind of funny, some people get all excited reading gardening books and catalogs. I tend to read about wildlife and things like running or walking!

I pretty much run like you do Q - I have no interest running (or jogging or whatever you want to call it) more than a couple of miles three or so days a week. I do it because it feels good but even more importantly I can eat what I want! I usually build up to that over the spring, maintain more or less over the summer, and then taper off and end up mostly walking--but much farther distances--in the fall. I start with long walks in the spring too. OK that is probably TMI! And it makes me nuts to think about a world without snow! A world with fresh smells! A world with peepers croaking so loud I have to wear on my earmuffs at night to put the dog out!

I'll just add that while I read all of *Club D*, I was pretty well tired of it by page 30. I was interested to see what you'd think and not surprised that we're in sync on that one.
No running here. My knees are bad now, but I wasn't really interested when I could have done it. For one thing, I wouldn't do it when the temps were higher than 90 or lower than 60, so that lets out all but a week or so! Now, I love to walk and cycle....and swim!!!

I've become a bit obsessed with strengthening my 'core' now that I've noticed what an incredible difference it makes. That's an obsession I spend hours thinking about and needing to get on board with. Good for you, Lucy! Chi Running sounds very interesting.

eta: just put a hold on Chi at my library : ).

>127 qebo: and >128 sibylline: I don't know that I did a lot of the exercises but I read it when I was trail running in my late 40s. I had been pretty injury-prone. What I most vividly recall was the change in my focus while running. I'm a meditative runner (no earbuds) and I noticed myself carrying myself differently. I especially noticed how different the uphills felt. And my injury frequency dropped noticeably. It's been a few years, but that is what I remember -- more about focus and mindset than about behavior change to which I could specifically point. I'm almost 55 now, and hoping to run another half-marathon before the end of 2015. Maybe it's time to read it again.

And YES to strengthening one's core for running. I need to get back on that bandwagon, too.

>119 sibylline: Too bad about the Greene. I've liked some and disliked some, but this was one that had been recommended to me . . . Thanks for the warning!

Lucy, there's a puppy on my thread. Thought you might want to know. :)

From the core exercises (that I started in October actually) I think my balance is much better and - ok this sounds silly - but putting on my trousers in the morning I can just lift up the second leg and slide it in, no thought of sitting down. No hopping around. You would think that would be about leg strength, but it isn't, it's about core strength as it turns out. I also feel more connected between top and bottom. I haven't gotten to the focus and mindset chapters yet, although he has dropped crumbs here and there. Anything that helps with uphill is good as my longer run is around a field and then up a hill and around a bit and then running all the way back down. I don't run on perfect surfaces but in field and wood (oh Artemis and all that although I think Artemis ran with more and grander looking dogs) and as I get older I do feel balance and focus are going to keep me from injury. I'm such a slowpoke I've never hurt anything so far - even at my peak of 3 miles. I'm sixty, so the idea is just to keep going, innit!

I should add - I have been doing tai chi for ten years and it does help, I think, make my understanding of many things Dreyer is saying, easier.

And yah, I never wear any gear running, eyes and ears open to what is around me.

>129 LizzieD: Peggy - I am VERY relieved to hear that you applaud my decision. Important to show some backbone now and then, eh? The Greene was not a book I enjoyed, yet it was worth persisting through, I think. This book, however, since designed for enjoyment and entertainment primarily - if those aren't happening? Reading on is silly.

>132 rebeccanyc: I'd be very curious to know what you think of it if you do read it. I also have begun to wonder what Firth thought of it. When I listened to Alan Rickman read The Return of the Native his total absorption and enjoyment of the setting and characters was evident with every word he spoke--it was nothing less than brilliant. This was more opaque - didn't have the energy I expected it would have. So I wonder.

>134 sibylline: Well, your review gave me pause, and since I don't own it, I'll probably read Greenes I do won first.

On the core exercises, I'll have to take a look at those just for general purposes -- I've been doing other balance exercises, but these might do double duty.

>128 sibylline:, >131 EBT1002: Thanks. I'm going to look for it. I wouldn't call myself meditative, but I don't do earbuds, my route is hilly, and my core is weak.

>134 sibylline: grander looking dogs
WHAT?!?

Agreeing with Katherine's last.....

OK OK OK - all I rilly meant, you know, larger dogs . . . . hounds that hunt critters larger than chipmunks!

Ok Ok Ok!!!! -- Was thinking of, say, wolf hounds, or whatever, not the Scourge of Chipmunkdom!

not the Scourge of Chipmunkdom

LOL!

Sorry you found The End of the Affair to be such a drag. I was so thrilled when Audible finally made the Colin Firth recording available here in Canada (it hadn't been for the longest time). We'll see how I feel about it when I get to it, but at least I'll have been forewarned and will know not to expect too much, so maybe won't be quite as disappointed with it as a consequence.

Every time I think of exercise, and how I really must start doing it, I think of you, and I think I need to take you as an example. One day I'll actually DO something about it. Thinking is all well and fine, but it does have its limitations when it comes to certain things.

>141 Smiler69: I will be very interested to see what you think of it when you give it a listen. Because of Firth I don't regret it. A good reader steers the listener's interpretation--more probably than if you read it to yourself--so I'm interested in your response to that too.

You do take Coco out every day, several times! Dogs are great for that! Many folks don't even manage to get that far. My preferred outside exercise modes are walking, (very modest) running or (ditto) x-country skiing. I probably make it sound more than it is.

I did vow at fifty to take up tai chi and I did. I do the 'form' I learned at least once a week - I should find a new teacher but I don't want to spend the time driving to class which would be in Burlington. So I have my own shortfalls. Tai chi style is also quite personal and it could be hard to find an instructor whose way I like.

Reading away - A Natural History Of Dragons is fun - it moves at a different pace - the Victorian lady adventurer. I'm in the home stretch, and ready to find #2! Glad there are more!

I can't believe I didn't mention: It was 39 F on the thermometer this morning. DIDN'T GO BELOW FREEZING! Things look very sad out there, but I don't mind.

They say we'll hit 55°-60° today! Rainy, wet, brown, lifeless...but warm! Yahoooooo

Most interesting and entertaining thread, Lucy!

I was bowled over by your review way, way upthread on A.N.Wilson; have been struck by book bullets; distributed a couple of thumbs; disagreed with you about The End of the Affair but my reading of it was a while ago and my ideas might be different now. Part of my enjoyment of it was Greene's writing, so I don't know if the plot and characters would hold up for me; I remember hating the ending and the main character quite a lot.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your reviews and thoughts in general.

>144 Matke: Thank you!!!!! Reading my own review of the Wilson reminded me that I shouldn't have expected to like the protag. in The End of the Affair - although that wasn't really the problem I had with it. There simply were no surprises at all. Nothing that pulled me out of myself.

39. fantasy ****
A Natural History of Dragons Marie Brennan

Isabella was born to be a dragon-obsessed naturalist, despite the fact that women, in her world and time, remarkably similar to our own Victorian era, were considered too frail, too silly, too unreliable and all the rest of it, to do much of anything. That is, if you were a lady, of course. By a fortunate series of events, she becomes the wife of Jacob, the second son of a baron, a very good alliance. And he, too, is dragon-mad. Soon they tumble into the company of one Lord Hilford, equally dragon mad but also wealthy and in no time they are off questing for rock wyrms in Vystrana. When they arrive in the tiny village they are not welcome and their guide has gone missing, furthermore the dragons have started attacking people in an indiscriminate way. Naturally the dauntless Isabella has to solve this mystery. She succeeds, but she pays a stiff price. There is much to admire in the shuffling around of recognizable cultures and customs, as well as usages and thought-patterns of the Victorian era and it is fun to watch Isabella grow into herself. After a probably necessary slow start, the story takes off once the group of four (including Lord Hilford's personal secretary) arrive in Vystrana. ****

Why now? Oh, why not. It was sitting on the Christmas bookshelf and I kept noticing it.

>146 sibylline: Plus, the third book in the series comes out next Tuesday (already on pre-order here) and the second book is even better than the first.

Thermometer topped out at 86 today at the house.

Core? What core? Definitely something I would benefit from working on.

I'm home from taking the LD down to Rutland to the train. I confess too that this time after she got on board I had to sit in the parking lot for awhile just pulling myself back together. Each leave-taking seems to take her a little further away into her adulthood. As it should be, but it's a very hard adjustment, as so many of you know. And having lost it so completely, I am not quite sure how to get through the rest of the day. It's kind of raining and dripping and where there isn't ten inches of slushy snow there is mud. I would spend the day in the woods if that was an option. I will try to work, and probably I will get immersed in that.

One brightness is that she made me promise to drive down overnight in about three weeks, bringing Posey, mainly so she could show her off to all her friends. That seems delightfully childish and I probably will indulge her! She only has six more weeks of school left, really, so I will be back three weeks after that to pick herself and her stuff for the summer.

>148 sibylline: bringing Posey, mainly so she could show her off to all her friends. That seems delightfully childish
Don't you show off Posey to all of your friends?

Happy to hear that Posey is going to get to come out at SLC in only 3 weeks!
I'll be interested to hear what your LD is lining up for her summer - and I hope it involves living at home.

Awww, sorry your leave-taking was so difficult for you today Lucy. Sending you a big hug! I love the idea of a Posey overnight/coming out ball. I'm sure that will be good fun and a good way to break up these last few weeks before the summer holidays.

I'm sorry, too, Lucy to hear that saying goodbye was so hard on you today. I LOVE that your daughter has asked you to come in three weeks with Posey so she can show her off to all of her friends. This is the kind of delightfully childish I would gleefully participate in!

>147 ronincats: On Thursday? Oh, happy day!

>149 qebo: Indeed! Guilty as charged!

>150 LizzieD: I am sure she will be the Zuleika Dobson of the campus! A sensation! On everybody's dance card.

>151 lauralkeet: Thank you Laura

>152 lit_chick: Exactly!

40. contemp fic ****
Telegraph Avenue Michael Chabon

Oakland, sometime recently but not too recently. Two families, one black, one white. The two men run Brokeland Records (Yeh, vinyl) together - specializing in jazz on Telegraph Avenue. The women work together as midwives. Both families have been in equilibrium for quite some time, a decade or so, but along comes Gideon Goode in his helium filled dirigible with his plans to open another Dog Pile (tm) store complex - which would include a huge vintage record section and shut down Brokeland. In the meantime the midwives get themselves in a jam with a difficult birth and an arrogant obstetrician. Archy Stallings is the son of Luther Stallings a martial arts star who achieved fame in a series of 'Blaxploitation' movies in the 70's. He's surfaced wanting money to make a comeback movie. A myster boy, 14, named Titus is haunting Archy. Julie Jaffe also 14, son of Nat Jaffe, Archy's partner at Brokeland, meets up with Titus and falls in love with him. There's a bloodstained purple glove, a parrot named 58, a funeral, threats of lawsuits, a lesbian marching band, a one hundred year old martial arts instructor named Mrs. Jew (who trained Bruce Lee, supposedly). Things get about as tangled up and bad as they can get, before gently unraveling most of the way. It's a long dense book, but it is full of love and humor and wisdom (along with their opposites, of course!). ****

Why now? It actually asked to be read. Seriously.

Hi Lucy, I'm sorry to hear that waving goodbye was so hard this time but I can understand it fully. Since my elder daughter is studying in another city the beginning was difficult for me but now it seems we are much closer than before she left. We see her every now and than and those moments are much more intensely as when she was here every day.
I wish you a wonderful weekend.

>156 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara. I'm better today. I did my work and then huddled by the fire with a book and that worked pretty well! I'll get acclimated eventually. It is a big change.

Lucy, I am glad that you had such a wonderful visit with your daughter, and sorry that saying goodbye was so difficult. I know that is the way it is supposed to be, but it doesn't make it any easier. So great that she wants you to bring Posey for a visit in a few weeks - FUN! And asking you to bring Posey gives the LD a lovely excuse to see you again in just three weeks, too. What a wonderful Mom you are!

Hope today is brighter for you Isn't it nice, though, to have a child you like having around?

OK. Explain this to me, people. The forecast for Thursday is high of 51 (that would be a record for 2015) with snow/rain I mean REALLY!!!!!

>158 Crazymamie: >159 RebaRelishesReading: We really do love having her around and for the most part I think she loves being around.
I am sure it will get easier. Part of it is the transitional piece, we have started to let go, she is starting to be independent, but it is so unpredictable.

UGH!

>160 sibylline: 51 and snow/rain - looks like they are hedging their bets and throwing everything in just in case. I find that they do that here when they don't predict snow but it happens. Every forecast for at least two weeks after has snow in it.

Here's my current line-up. I hope very much to be done with the two NF books in the next couple of days. Both are a bit tedious to read, the money one because it's a series of lectures barely edited into a book and repetitive and the running one because it is simple material bulked up and also repetitive. I have to read it so I know what's in it and then can use it as a reference but I can't bear more than ten pages a night--worthy, both of them--but dull as ditchwater as the saying goes. More on that when I review them. Excession is fabulous, a bit more in your face funny, (rather than tongue in cheek) than Banks usually is. The Circle is a bit scary . . . a so-plausible almost-right-now-future dystopish kind of book that makes the hair on the back of your neck prickle as you idly pick up your i-phone or get on-line. More on that when I review, of course.

♬

Steady south wind but it is snowing. Hey, wait a minute, am I still in the northern hemisphere or have I slipped down under??

>160 sibylline: Transitions are difficult especially when they involve an empty nest. Our nest has been empty for almost 20 years now, and I still have those pangs of missing the energy of having a lively house...and then the grandkids come over!

I am sad to hear you were bored by The End of the Affair, Lucy. I have been saving that one and The Heart of the Matter for a "special" readathon. Hmmm. I haven't read anything by Graham Greene. Maybe Brighton Rock or The Quiet American would be a better choice for my first one?

>165 Donna828: I always worry when I pan something that I will spoil it for others. In my view Greene is a 'big' enough writer that any of his books are worth a try even knowing that the magic doesn't work for everyone. Try it with an open mind, it might speak to you in some way it didn't to me.

An inch of new snow.

Oh, dear!

I must read that Chabon book when I'm back to reading novels. The Eggers interests me but scares me also so much before even starting it that I don't know when or if I'll ever get to it. For now, the Naomi Klein is scary and depressing enough.

I wish I could run - tried again and again from my teenage years until the late thirties, even with a special beginners group, but there always comes the point when my knees have to recover for days just for the next run and when climbing steps becomes so painful. So walking it is for me, and that seems to strengthen my knees where the running weakens them (and I'm not overweight, I just have "bad feet"). Always jealous though when I see all the runners.
And I neglected my core exercises in winter and you're right, they make such a difference. I walk so much straighter when I do them regularly.

Wow, summer holidays start in 6 weeks already? This year is really passing so fast...

Time for a new thread!