Ellen reads 75+ in 2015 (part 3)

Humpback Whale

My Rating Scale:

= Perfect. An all-time favorite read! I shall remember this.
= A wonderful read, among my favorites of the year.
= Very good. Definitely recommended.
= Quite good, has several redeeming qualities.
= Pretty good, with a few things done well.
= Average, and life is too short to read average works.
= A bit below average. A waste of time.
= Nearly no redeeming qualities. Really rather bad.
= Among the worst books I've ever read.

American Author Challenge-II:

January: Carson McCullers - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe √
February: Henry James* - Washington Square √
March: Richard Ford* - Wildlife √
April: Louise Erdrich - Love Medicine √
May: Sinclair Lewis* - Babbitt
June: Wallace Stegner - reread Angle of Repose or Crossing to Safety or both (happy sigh)
July: Ursula K. Le Guin - A Wizard of Earthsea
August: Larry McMurtry - Comanche Moon
September: Flannery O' Connor - still undecided
October: Ray Bradbury - Something Wicked This Way Comes and reread The Martian Chronicles
November: Barbara Kingsolver - Reread The Bean Trees, her first and still my fave.
December: E.L. Doctorow* - Ragtime

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

British Author Challenge: (I'm obviously still doing some deciding here.)

January:
Penelope Lively* -- Moon Tiger √
Kazuo Ishiguro -- The Remains of the Day √
February:
Sarah Waters -- The Paying Guests √
Evelyn Waugh* -- Brideshead Revisited √
March:
Daphne Du Maurier* -- Rebecca √
China Mieville* -- The City & the City √
April:
Angela Carter* -- The Bloody Chamber √
W. Somerset Maugham* -- Of Human Bondage ??
May:
Margaret Drabble* --
Martin Amis* --
June:
Beryl Bainbridge* --
Anthony Burgess* -- Nothing Like the Sun
July:
Virginia Woolf -- To the Lighthouse
B. S. Johnson* --
August:
Iris Murdoch* -- The Sea, The Sea (and The Bell?)
Graham Greene* -- The End of the Affair
September:
Andrea Levy* -- The Long Song
Salman Rushdie* -- Shame (recommended by Paul)
October:
Helen Dunmore* -- The Siege
David Mitchell -- Cloud Atlas
November:
Muriel Spark* --
William Boyd* -- Restless and/or Waiting for Sunrise
December:
Hilary Mantel -- Bring Up the Bodies
P.G. Wodehouse --

* Author whose work I have not read.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'll also be loosely participating in the Global Reading Challenge.

Global Reading Challenge
1st quarter = Indian Subcontinent:
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh √

2nd quarter: Spain and Portugal:
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm also committed to reading at least six NonFiction works this year.

1. Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
2. Following Atticus by Tom Ryan
3. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

COMPLETED IN JANUARY

1. Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming audio NF
2. The Ballad of the Sad Café {stories} by Carson McCullers
3. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
4. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
5. Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
6. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
8. The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY
9. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
10. Snow in May: Stories by Kseniya Melnik
11. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
12. Washington Square by Henry James
13. Eventide by Kent Haruf

COMPLETED IN MARCH
14. My Education by Susan Choi
15. Following Atticus by Tom Ryan NF
16. Report for Murder by Val McDermid
17. The City & the City by China Miéville
18. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
19. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
20. The Thing About December by Donal Ryan
21. A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
22. Wildlife by Richard Ford
23. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande NF

COMPLETED IN APRIL
24. The Bloody Chamber and other stories by Angela Carter
25. Snowpiercer, Volume 1: The Escape by Jacques Lob
26. The Martian by Andy Weir
27. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

Kilauea Lighthouse, Kaua'i

I guess it is time for the smaller whale from Kuala Lumpur to splash in and wish you a happy new thread, dear lady. xx

Happy New thread, Ellen! It sounds like you had a lovely vacation. Have a safe trip back home. Hugs!

Nice topper. Guaranteed to make me smile every time I see it! I hope you get some zzzzzs on the way home and arrive rested and relaxed!

Happy new thread, Ellen! Wishing you safe travels home.

Happy New Thread, Ellen!

Happy new thread, Ellen. Love the whale. I hope you have a good week at work, if you have to go back right away. You've done some great reading so far this year.

Congrats on the new thread, Ellen. Kauai as maybe your favorite place says a lot for it. From your pics, I can see why. I'm sure The City & The City is continuing to be weird, and I hope it's continuing to be good, too. It's my favorite of his.

Happy New Thread Ellen. Sounds like your vacation is an eventful one from what I caught up on on your last thread. I've only read The City & The City by Miéville so far (a couple of years ago), but I thought it was great and I hope you end up enjoying it. I'll be listening to Railsea by him this month.

Vacations always END, don't they? Bummer. But your Salt Pond Beach looks like the perfect get-away. No wonder you love it. Glad you were able to spend more time there and "re-claim" the good feelings.

Well, that's a happy humpback if ever I saw one! On my way back to your previous thread to read about the trip! Can't wait for your impressions of The City & The City

ETA: Ok, I'm back from thread #2. Wow, Kauai, aye? Must be fabulous to live on the west coast and have Hawaii just a hop skip and a jump away. How long is the flight from Seattle? Sad turn of events at your favorite beach. I think going back to that beach again this trip will leave you with happier memories than the previous outing. Glad you're home safe and sound.

Happy new thread, Ellen.

Finally getting on LT after a glacially slow start to my LT year. I love Kauai! Must go see your pictures...

ETA: Lovely. We stayed in Poipu, because at the time Katie was only three and there is a great enclosed beach there for little ones. We traveled all over the island though. From Hanalei to the Napali Coast via Barking Sands.

Happy new thread! And cool thread-topper.

>1 EBT1002: Love the whale. Such an amazing animal to witness. Could watch them for hours :-)

It sounds like you had a great vacation. I lived on Oahu for four years. One of the top places Ive been stationed. I think though one thing that is not mentioned enough is how dangerous the waters are for poor swimmers or sometimes even experienced ones. The riptides can be very sudden.

Happy new thread, Ellen!

Looks like you are having a great tip, besides that one upsetting experience. Hawaii looks so beautiful. It is on my bucket list for sure.
Hope you are getting plenty of R&R, my friend. :)

17. The City & the City by China Miéville




This was a wonderful read! It takes a little while to get one's bearings but as the speculative reality begins to take shape, and as the murder mystery starts to unfold, it becomes engaging and delightful. It's set in two (ha) fictional cities "somewhere in Europe", two cities that are physically conjoined but psychologically, historically, and politically alien from one another. Tyador Borlú is a police detective in Besźel, one of the cities, and his investigation into the brutal murder of an unidentified young woman takes him into surreal and dangerous territory. It's hard to write much in the way of comments without risking spoilers so I'll just say that this is a brilliant novel with many layers and more than a few surprises.

>6 PaulCranswick: Hey Paul, thanks for checking in! After getting my thread started, I fell into the black hole that is the return to work....

>7 msf59: Hi Mark. Our visit was a bit mixed this time, but I really can't complain about even a mediocre week on Kaua'i.

>8 maggie1944: Hi Karen! I mostly read on the flight home. Listened to a bit of Shawn Colvin and Tori Amos. I went back to work on Tuesday and tried to cram 5 days' worth of work into 3 days. It would have been four, but I went on a "field trip" to visit the USS Stennis, an aircraft carrier, in port in Bremerton. Some of our folks have been consulting back and forth, exchanging ideas, with Navy folks about addressing sexual assault. They gave us an amazing tour of the ship and we had some good discussion. The rest of the week was meetings, meetings, meetings.

>9 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie!

>10 scaifea: And thanks, Amber!

I have about 100 pages left in The City & the City, and I'm loving it!

Hope you have a good weekend, Ellen.

>11 BLBera: Hi Beth. I finally got back on LT and I PM'd you some Kaua'i recommendations. I hope they are helpful for your friend.

I did something with this vacation that I don't usually do: scheduled myself back to work the morning after a late-arriving flight. I made it through the week but I'm terribly glad not to be setting an alarm tonight!

>12 jnwelch: Joe, I can't overstate how much I love the island of Kaua'i.
As you can see above, The City & the City stayed weird, but it also turned out to be a delightful read! I don't know whether I'll read more by Miéville but I loved this one.

>13 Smiler69: Ilana, I really enjoyed The City & the City. The only other novel by him with which I have any "familiarity" is Perdido Street Station. I'll be interested in how Railsea works for you. Based on my one read, I think he is a brilliant writer. That doesn't mean I would like everything he writes, but I know genius when I see it. :-)

>14 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda. I'm a believer in "reclaiming" of things. I know we'll return to Salt Pond Beach next time we venture to the island.

>15 Carmenere: Hi Lynda. See my brief comments about The City & the City above.

The flight to Lihue from Seattle is about 5+ hours. It's always further than I expect but it's not bad since I always have a book and one knows that the wonderful Hawaiian air and spectacular Kaua'i landscape is waiting at the other end of the flight.

>16 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

>17 labfs39: Lisa! It's so great to "see" you! We stay in Poipu, but at a little mom-and-pop sort of place that is about a block from the waterfront. We can see the ocean from our lanai (I love that word) but it's not a resort. Poipu Beach Park is perfect for the little ones and, if I am honest, I like the relatively tame and safe snorkeling available there.

>18 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda!

>19 charl08: Charlotte, I honestly think whales might be my totem animal (to the degree that I believe in such things). I just love them and I'm pretty good at spotting them. I think marine mammals are special creatures and I fret for their futures in the waters of Earth.

>20 xymon81: Hey xymon81! We just heard today that two Seattle residents drowned off one of the beaches of Oahu. I think the Hawaiian islands have such a paradisal reputation that folks don't take the waters as seriously as they might. That ocean is powerful and, as you say, the riptides can be wild. I grew up in Florida where undertows were a danger; when I'm swimming off Kaua'i, I always have to remind myself that there are not generally undertows. If a riptide comes, relax and let it carry you out. That seems SO counterintuitive, but I know it presents the best opportunity for rescue.

You say Oahu is "One of the top places Ive been stationed." Even without knowing the other locations to which you've been stationed, I can see the sense of this! Navy? (and see my brief comments in #23 above, to Karen, about my visit to the USS Stennis.)

>21 jolerie: Hi Valerie! We returned from Hawaii Monday night and I managed to put in my 50+ hours in just four days. Whew. I'm glad it's Friday and I'm looking forward to some reading and relaxing this weekend!

>24 katiekrug: Oh good. I'm glad you're enjoying The City & the City. It's a great one.
Thanks for the weekend wishes and I hope yours is also wonderful!

Up next:



Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the BAC
I started this novel last evening and, despite a bit of skepticism, I found myself enjoying the straightforward, engaging narrative.

Also digging into:



A Useless Man: selected stories by Sait Faik Abasiyanik
I got this through last year's Archipelago subscription. Time to read it.

HI Ellen - I'm glad you survived your immersion back into real life. You got me with The City & The City. I'm not familiar with this author. Onto the list he? goes. Thanks for the recommendations; I passed them on. Have a relaxing weekend.

Good weekend morning, Ellen. Whew! Your week at work sounds quite a load, but we do carry on. I am so glad to see all the work being done to reduce/eliminate sexual violence. When I was a young woman there was such a heavy shame attached and no one spoke of it. Even a woman's suicide due to post-partum depression was whispered about, no one spoke of it straightforwardly. I am so glad those days of shame and blame are largely in the past and I look forward to the day when any one who is the victim of any violence is more than willing to point the finger of blame and feels no shame, at all.

I've found a good reason to limit my work with Instacart. If I earn over $12,000/year I have to "register" as a business with the state and pay B&O taxes, as well as pay into Social Security and more income taxes, of course. That would be a heavy load on a poor retired part-time grocery shopper. So, I'll be monitoring my income carefully and stop short of the magic number. Makes me think already of days off..... I scheduled a short vacation in Victoria for my birthday but I need to find some other good times to indulge. I think the meet-up in Portland in April will be a great chance for some good relaxing.

If you have time to stop by my thread you'll see I've decided to duck out of the challenges and return to my idiosyncratic manner of choosing what to read, and reading multiple books simultaneously! Good times.

Are the cherry blossoms in full bloom? I need to get over to campus.

ETA: I see you've already stopped by my thread. Thanks!

Ellen I'm glad you are back and rested up. Skipping your review of tC&tC because I want to read that one soon(ish).

Ellen, Rebecca was my first du Maurier and I truly loved it and promised myself I'd be rereading it, and probably more than once. On the strength of that I decided I wanted to read a lot more of her work and so far have read two other books, My Cousin Rachel and The House on the Strand, both of which I found pretty great (though most people agree Rebecca is hard to beat). Now I'm reading The Scapegoat and enjoying it an awful lot, and hope to get to Jamaica Inn this month too. I'm not sure why you were skeptical about Rebecca? I know that book has many fans.

>26 EBT1002: Army actually. Schofield is in the interior of Oahu. I have aldo been to Washington twice, Kentucky, North Carolina, Baumholder Germany and currently in Anchorage Alaska.

Ellen, I've missed you, and it's my own fault. I get behind and can't catch up. Here I am now anyway, hoping that it's not too late to wish you a happy new thread (HNT!) and looking forward to staying with you better.
Hawaii looks like paradise.
I'm glad that you enjoyed *C&C* so much. I think Railsea may be the only Miéville I haven't read, but *PSS* remains my favorite - and a favorite book.
You du Maurier readers are going to push me to reread her. I don't have a copy of anything though - not even Rebecca, but I did love her when I was a young'un.

Ellen, your trip to Paradise sounded wonderful. Must make an effort to get there someday. It's too bad that you couldn't immerse yourself back into work gradually. I guess everyone wanted your attention at the same time when you got back. So, how far away is retirement for you? Think of all the places you could go then…not to mention all the books you can read! If I ever pick up a book by China Mieville, it will be The City & The City. I'll be doing good to get Jamaica Inn read this month for the other British author. I'm currently reading my Richard Ford book. I love the challenges, but they can be bullies sometimes!

#34
Welcome to the threads. The 75'ers are an active group. Wander around and drop in a comment from time-to-time.

#36
I laughed when I read you statement about the challenges being bullies. They can be, and I just had to learn to read what I can and if I can't just wait for the next month and the next challenge. I do find myself reading books that I would never have picked up on my own without that challenge bully heckling me - to some degree.

Happy Sunday, Ellen! Glad you loved the Mieville. That was my first and remains my favorite. I'll be starting Embassytown next week.
I loved Rebecca and I am sure you will too.

I will be seeing you in 2 weeks! Yah!

Soundslike du Maurier is a hit, for a few of you. A good reminder that I have too many authors to still read. I will try not to panic....

Ellen, glad my choices for the B.A.C. seem to have hit the mark for you this month.

Hope your Sunday is a great one.

>30 BLBera: Hi Beth. I hope you read and enjoy The City & the City. China Miéville is the March male author for Paul's British Author Challenge (BAC).

>31 maggie1944: Hi Karen and I'm glad you figured that out about the income implications of Instacart! It seems that you need to earn about $11,999 for the year, yes?

I did stop by your thread and it did seem that you had bailed on the challenges for the year. I admit that I'm having mixed feelings about having "signed up" for so many. There are a number of things I want to read that just don't fit the challenges: The Goldfinch, The Luminaries, and a few other things. So we'll see what path I end up taking. For now, I've spent most of today, the rainiest day in recent memory!, reading Rebecca. I'm actually loving it. Go figure.

I haven't had a chance to get over to the quad but since the cherry trees in my neighborhood and in the arboretum are in full bloom, I'm guessing the quad is lovely. Today's rain may have knocked some of the blooms to the ground, though.

>32 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta. I don't think my review of TC&tC has any spoilers imbedded within, but the book is one that probably benefits from complete blank slate reading. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

>33 Smiler69: Hi Ilana. I think my skepticism about Rebecca arose largely from ignorance. I didn't know much about it and had heard it described as a "romance," which would normally send me headed for the hills. I'm now about 3/4 through it and it's wonderful! Today has been this dreary, rainy day and, apart from a very wet 3-mile run, I've spent most of it settled up on the sofa reading Rebecca. What a perfect read for this kind of Sunday!

>34 xymon81: Well, you have been around a bit! Anchored down in Anchorage. My understanding is that most assignments are in the 2-4 year range, yes?

>35 LizzieD: Peggy, how nice to see you. I've lost track of you, as well. That's happening a lot to me these days.
I am not sure whether I'll read more Miéville but I'm curious about Perdido Street Station. You say it's a favorite read. That carries some weight with me.... I bought it for my very quirky cousin-in-law (I made that up but he's married to my cousin, so, whatever) before he had surgery to remove a tumor from his spine. The surgery went well (whew) and later he posted his thanks on FB, saying he had not enjoyed a read so much in a very long time. He's a librarian and an avid reader, so I felt like I had made a good choice. It seems that I should follow up by reading it myself...

>36 Donna828: "I love the challenges, but they can be bullies sometimes!" So well put!
I have The Sportswriter on the bedside table and I will read it next, but I admit to feeling a bit of strain with having signed up for so many challenges this year.

Retirement. I don't mean to wish my life away, but I do look forward to the free time. I think I have 10-12 years of full-time (which, for me, means about 55 hours per week) work ahead of me before I can retire. If I would spend less money on books and put more of it in savings, I might be able to set that number closer to an even ten. Ha!

>37 benitastrnad: Benita, that is the wonderful thing about challenges and it's the main reason I hang in there with them. Well, in addition to some compulsive tendencies (heh). I would not have read Rebecca, for example, without Paul's BAC to nudge me. And I'm enjoying it wholeheartedly.

>38 msf59: Hi Mark! Rebecca is a wonderful read! As I mentioned to Ilana above, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. And today, which was the grayest and wettest day in recent memory, was the perfect day for reading it almost nonstop!

>39 LovingLit: Oh Megan, NO PANICKING. We don't panic. We just breathe. And read. xo

>40 PaulCranswick: Paul, my friend, your BAC picks for March have changed my life. Really. Miéville and du Maurier are two authors toward which I just haven't felt pulled. I'm so glad to have experienced each of them, even if only for one novel each (for now).

18. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown


My reading of this was actually inspired by a Roz Chast strip in a recent New Yorker magazine. They had it at the library and I needed to understand. That is all.

That book has a lovely cover. I like sprinkling a few children's or young people's books into my annual list. They frequently make me smile. I really enjoyed reading The Imaginary which is probably best classified as "young person" book, not yet YA, but not a "picture book" either. A fun and very imaginary good story!

I see from weather reports that we'll have some typical spring weather now: gray skies, a few sprinkles, and moderately warmer temperatures. Perfect for some small amounts of outdoor time. Hopefully, I'll get out in the yard and continue the work of Spring clean-up.

I am glad we are reading Being Mortal and I'm making good progress, maybe about 1/2 way finished.

Ellen - I laughed when I saw The Runaway Bunny. Scout reads Good Night Moon every night. There's a bunny in that one, too. She's into animal sounds these days, and my daughter told me that she pointed to the bunny and roared. That seems to be her default animal sound. I wonder if I should attribute that to the fact that she is a little Leo, herself? Needless to say, I've been reading a lot of picture books recently. :)

I love The Runaway Bunny! It's one of the few picture books I have distinct memories of...

>42 EBT1002: Three years is about average. Although now it may be longer tours with budget cuts. I spent close to $10,000 this last move. Most was payed by the government.

Goodnight Moon is a tradition for both our boys. The book is so tattered it's barely keeping together which reminds me we should get a new one at some point as a nice keepsake. :)

I had to help a student with a paper on Rebecca a few years ago and I thought the book was a romance as well. To my surprise all of the critics say that the book is about the fall of the British Empire and the decay within. Go figure. Ever since then I have wanted to read the book to find out if that is true.

I don't think we had The Runaway Bunny when my kids were small, but we def had Goodnight Moon complete with a little bunny doll. I'm getting sentimental just thinking about it ...

Hi Ellen! *waves*

>50 benitastrnad: Rebecca = the fall of the British Empire and the decay within! ????? Okay.
I'll confess that I prefer reading on the surface of that one and enjoying the plot.

The art in The Runaway Bunny is so nice!

I love Hawaii and the Runaway Bunny! And The City & The City sounds great. ; ) Just popping in to say Hi!

Glad you enjoyed The City and the City - one of my all time favourites. It was my choice for my RL book club a few years ago, and pretty much everyone else in the group groaned I know, as nobody else (except maybe Mr SandDune) is a reader of sci-fi or fantasy. But in fact everyone enjoyed it, some loved it and it was a couple of people's favourite book that we read that year!

>22 EBT1002: Love that review of The City & The City, Ellen. So glad you had a good time with it. It's his best, IMO, although he's got other really good ones. I'm another one who liked Perdido Street Station a lot.

19. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier




What might I say about this wonderful novel? I had a hard time putting it down. I love that the protagonist is unnamed other than as (the second) Mrs. de Winter. This young woman who impulsively falls in love with and marries a much older man and returns from Monte Carlo with him to his estate in (presumably) Cornwall begins as such an adolescent self: unformed, impulsive, melodramatic, and self-absorbed. She joins the household as Madame but is completely ill-prepared for owning her authority or position. She lives almost entirely through her new husband and perceives judgment and criticism in most interactions. When a ship runs aground in the bay off the shore of the estate, their lives change forever.

Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, is a haunting and palpable presence. The housekeeper is a delightfully sinister character; at one point I set the novel aside and gleefully exclaimed to the household "Mrs. Danvers is evil!!"

The writing is deceptively straightforward and, while events were usually easy to predict, du Maurier successfully creates a suspenseful mood and sense of mystery. Pure reading pleasure.

Belated happy new thread Ellen - and glad to see you've been enjoying your BAC reads this month, both of those you read are ones I really enjoyed last year :)

>45 maggie1944: You know, Karen, I didn't go much into my reading of The Runaway Bunny but it's an interesting children's book. I adored the art and the sentiment of "wherever you go, I will find you" is a sweet one from the perspective of anti-abandonment parenting, but the strip by Roz Chast turns it humorously on its head: the parent who won't let the child grow up and go out on his own. Interesting stuff from a psychological point of view.

I found my copy of Being Mortal and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Spring is definitely here, including the blooming elm, alder, and juniper, all of which seems to make me sneeze. The daffodils are lovely, though!

>46 BLBera: Oh good, Beth, I'm glad my including The Runaway Bunny gave you a chuckle. And I don't know for sure but since I'm a Leo and I absolutely love animals, I think that's as good an attribution for Scout's shared love of furry creatures. She sounds like a delightful granddaughter. :-)

>47 katiekrug: Another Runaway Bunny fan! I had never even heard of it!

>48 xymon81: Well, I'll be interested in where you end up next! Last time I moved (Oregon to Seattle) it cost almost $10K. I got reimbursed for most of that but I just can't believe what it costs to move a household!

>49 jolerie: I have read Goodnight Moon to lots of children for whom I've babysat but had never heard of The Runaway Bunny. I think Goodnight Moon is so widely popular!

>50 benitastrnad: "...the book is about the fall of the British Empire and the decay within."
Well. If that is the case, it went over my head! I did love it, though.

>51 lauralkeet: Laura, I had never even heard of The Runaway Bunny until I saw that Roz Chast strip in The New Yorker and I think every kid I know has a copy of Goodnight Moon.

*waves back at Laura*

>52 LizzieD: I'm with you, Peggy. If that allegorical (?) connection is there, I missed it and I'm really fine with it. I just enjoyed the story and the characters. Mrs. Danvers is so wonderfully evil (and sad).

>53 banjo123: Rhonda, thanks for posting! I so agree!

>54 Berly: Hi Kim! I'm glad you love Hawaii and The Runaway Bunny. I'm sort of chuckling that I posted this one children's book that I've read and it's so popular. As Rhonda says above, the art is really wonderful.

>55 SandDune: I would definitely be characterized as a reluctant reader of science fiction or fantasy and I quite enjoyed The City & the City. In terms of "genre fiction," I am more of a mystery reader. I think the speculative nature of TC&tC is woven through what is essentially a mystery novel, so it worked for me. I'm having a good month as the challenges go!

>56 jnwelch: Hey Joe and I'm glad you liked my brief comments about TC&tC. The BAC was a huge success for me in March!

>58 evilmoose: Hi Megan and thanks for stopping by! Yes, the BAC provided some good reading pleasure for me this month. I don't think I'll double up on either of the authors but I'm really glad to have read The City & the City and Rebecca!

Currently reading:



It's only coincidence that I started reading The Thing About December on St. Patrick's Day. I had put it on hold at the library after reading Suz' (Chatterbox) comments on her thread and it arrived at this time. But what the heck.

So, I'm reading A Useless Man: Selected Stories and The Thing About December.

I am glad you found your copy of Being Mortal. I am enjoying Spring!

Happy Midweek, Ellen! Glad you loved Rebecca. It is a true classic.

>57 EBT1002: Oh, glad you loved Rebecca. An old favorite of mine. I'm sure I didn't pick up any of the "fall of the British Empire" subtext or metaphor or whatever either. But of course now that will be my excuse to read it again with that idea in mind.

Loved your reading of The Runaway Bunny. I liked that one more than my kids did. I think they were on the freedom-loving bunny's side.

Another one that was popular when my kids were little was I'll Love You Forever. That was another one I found sweet, but slightly disturbing - especially the final picture where the mother, now grey haired and wrinkly is rocking her middle aged son in the rocking chair.

But on the other hand, I may find a copy of it to send to my almost 30 year old son (we're not quite seeing eye to eye right now). I wonder if he remembers it fondly.

I'm so glad you ended up loving Rebecca so much you gave it 5 stars! I too had no idea about the 'fall of the British empire' subtext and will have to look into that for when I read it next.

Woohoo for a five star read!! It's my current read right now but I'm only a few pages in so too early to tell.

>57 EBT1002: I'm hit! I'm hit!
*panic*
I'll just quickly check if my library has it....

Rebecca is the only book I finished and immediately went back to re-read the beginning - fun to re-read it knowing how it all fit together. It's a five star read, for sure. Glad it swept you away, too.

Ellen - I LOST you! But now I found you. Glad you loved the Mieville and the du Maurier.

The fall of the British Empire?? Aw c'mon.

Hi Ellen, I finally found time to visit your thread. I wish you a lovely weekend.

>26 EBT1002: We avoid resorts as well. The one time I stayed at one, it was a nightmare! Instead we rented a condo in Poipu. I love being able to go to the local markets, buy fresh foods, and cook for ourselves. I also feel like I'm better able to immerse myself in the local culture. VRBO is my friend!

My friend who rents a three bedroom house in a neighborhood also uses VRBO and loves that service for her vacations on Kaua'i. She has shifted to a "bungalow" at one of the bigger hotels for her two weeks there this April. She and her husband will not be entertaining other friends, this vacation is just for them. They can walk to the beach!

Hi Ellen, I love your review of Rebecca which I always list as one of my top all time favorite books. I read it when I was in my teens and so I really think a re-read is overdue. I am curious as to how my older self will view this book.

20. The Thing About December by Donal Ryan




This is the sad tale of a young developmentally disabled man who loses both his parents and must manage the inheritance of their farm on his own. Cruelly bullied by the cool boys in the village, Johnsey Cunliffe has never really had a friend but events subsequent to his parents' death shift his fortune in many ways. He is less alone but no better able to navigate the treacherous territory of property ownership. The farm is worth millions, perhaps, due to local developers' dreams of village transformation. But Johnsey doesn't want to sell. The farm is all he has ever known. Yet he knows he doesn't have the capacity to run the farm by himself.

Johnsey is well aware of his intellectual shortcomings and his self-awareness underlies much of the charm of the novel. It's not that he is wise without being smart (that tale has been done enough, I think), but the narrative frequently has moments of poignant and simple truth. For example, "Isn't it a noble thing all the same, loneliness? There's dignity in it, at least. You can't make a show of yourself when you're on your own. You can't sound stupid opposite nobody. People are better inside your head. When you're longing for them, they're perfect."

Johnsey is a character who will stay with me for a while. I'm glad I read this one.

I started The Sportswriter today but I have to say I'm not sure I can muster any enthusiasm for it. Following on the heels of my surprising pleasure in reading Rebecca, one might think I'd be a bit more open-minded, but the first 25 pages or so aren't grabbing me.

>64 maggie1944: Spring has always been my favorite season, Karen. One thing I love about our region is that the season lasts for several months! I recall the two weeks of spring we'd typically get when I lived in the midwest. I prefer this. :-)

>65 msf59: Thank you, Mark! I have to admit that I'm seriously considering giving up the 100% goal for the AAC-II. Richard Ford may not be for me.

>66 laytonwoman3rd: I'm keeping my copy of Rebecca, Linda, as I think it's a novel I might reread!

>67 streamsong: Hi Janet. I think that tension between "freedom" and being loved is what Roz Chast exposed so wonderfully in her ironic comic strip take-off of The Runaway Bunny. She depicted the horror side of a mother who promises to be there forever.

>68 Smiler69: Hi Ilana! I'm still surprised at how much I enjoyed Rebecca!

>69 jolerie: Hi Valerie. I just checked and you liked Rebecca less than I did. You wrote a great review.

>70 LovingLit: Megan, your library must have it. Mustn't they?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gotta go transfer the laundry to the dryer. BRB.

>71 jnwelch: Joe, I can actually imagine doing that with Rebecca, too. I didn't do it, but usually I couldn't even imagine re-reading something right away!

>72 sibylline: Hi Lucy! Losing me this year is a fairly easy thing to do. I'm on LT far less than I used to be (and far less than I'd like to be). I'm glad you stopped by, though.

>73 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara!

>74 labfs39: Yes, that sounds just like the kind of vacation we like to have. We went to a couple of local markets and got wonderful fruit, grilled fish a couple of nights, made dinner in our little condo-with-a-view. I don't mind walking a couple of blocks to the beach.

>75 maggie1944: We love the place we've stayed every time, but if we skip a few years (so we can go somewhere else, like Alaska or Peru or Palau), we may have to use VRBO to find an alternative. I just can't do one of the resorts. Although ---- I will say that the pools at the Hyatt are terribly tempting.

>76 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I'm glad you liked my short "review" of Rebecca. I wonder how it would have landed on me had I read it when I was much younger. I resisted reading classics during my teens and twenties.

We just walk through the Hyatt, enjoy the scene of the pool, or have breakfast in the beside the pool restaurant, and then go to the beach. The beaches are all public, so we spread our blankets, or plop down our chairs and enjoy a few hours in paradise, without paying Hyatt prices.

Based on some reading in the Seattle Times this morning, I put several things on hold at the library:
Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen (released in April but I'm in the queue)
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison (also released next month but I'm in the queue)
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie (first in the series on which the PBS "Grantchester" is based)

What do we always say around here? So many books, so little time.

I did some weeding today and started listening to The Martian. I will finish this audio book.

>84 maggie1944: Exactly! We pass those pools on our way to Maha'ulepu Beach. I have to say that on the return trip, when I'm usually a bit tired and dusty, I really want to sneak a dip in those pools. Would they arrest me?

Happy Sunday, Ellen! I stuck it out with the Sportswriter and ended up liking it but I can see why it is not everyone's cuppa. Hey, life is to short, right? I think you should get "Purist" credit, if you at least try something.

>85 EBT1002: That is a killer list, my friend. At least I have the MDR at hand. I want to find The Buried Giant on audio.

>87 msf59: I think I'll try to read at least another 25 pages or so in The Sportswriter before I totally give up on it. I did order a copy of Wildlife so I can read a short novel by the man and keep my purist status (which I did not earn last year). I'm looking forward to Erdrich!

Just stopping by to say hi, Ellen.

>88 EBT1002: - Ellen, I think Wildlife might better suit you. It did me!

ETA: Though I still had issues with it.

>89 ronincats: Hi Roni!

>90 katiekrug: Yeah, I think I'll read Wildlife solely to be a purist in Mark's challenge. I'm flying to Chicago next Saturday; if it's the only book I have in my carry-on, I'll be forced to read it!

The UW is on spring break this week and I'm looking forward to some quiet days. I still have to work but I will be going in a bit late (early morning runs - yay!) and I should have some time to get caught up on things. I have given myself permission to drive to work any day I want to. I think of bus-riding as good reading time, but I think the reduction in stress and time will be good for me. I hope it actually opens up more reading time for me. We shall see.

>76 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I can't find a thread of yours in the 75ers group. Are you living elsewhere this year?

Currently reading:



Currently listening:

Good luck with the early morning runs--sounds great! Run a little for me, too, okay? Actually, I ran/walked for a half hour yesterday. And me knee is not yelling at me today. So progress. : ) How is the Martian on audio? I love the book!

Love those current reads, Ellen. I've wanted to read the Hallinan forever. Hope to see you this weekend. B.A.G.

Hey Ellen! I love the books you have requested from the library. Think I'll take your list and mosey over to my library's website and reserve them too. Who knows when or how I'm going to get to them but having them in my greedy little hands will make me feel good.

Great review of The City & The City. I wish I could have enjoyed it as much :0(

ETA: I've requested all the books in >85 EBT1002: except The Martian and Epitaph which I'm planning to eventually purchase.

I hope you enjoy a good deal of less stress and pressure during the Spring Break week. Good idea to run in the morning. Springtime mornings are such a gift! Smells so good. Also, I think an occasional drive to work will be a good stress reliever.

When I lived on Vashon Island I loved the enforced time in the car, in the ferry lines, on the ferry; it provided a cocoon of reading. I miss that. But then, to be completely honest, I really still miss Vashon.

Spring Break -- yay! Sounds like you have a good plan for a balanced week with the morning runs, etc. Nice.

Here's the thing - Ford is finding his way into Frank Bascombe with that first book. If you really are hating it, the thing to do is move on to the next one, Independence Day - he takes his remaining son to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for this father-son time together. The third book, The Lay of the Land is the reward.

I read The Sportswriter without a lot of affection when it came out, mainly because I was wowed by his stories back then. Never got around to Independence Day. I picked up Lay of the Land not realizing it was the third Bascombe novel ... and was utterly blown away. Utterly. So then I went back and read the other two and found they now made perfect sense!

Maybe that is the order to read them in? Who knows! I do know I would like to read them again. Anyway - I sometimes do have a response to books that other people don't - but that was how it was for me.

Hi Ellen - I'll look for your comments on A God in every Stone. Have a great break; I hope things stay quiet for you.

Spring in Seattle - Wow! Wonderful. It is still cold and rainy here in Alabama. Totally unlike it should be. Our spring break was last week, so I am back at work this morning. I really hated to get up.

Being in a car is a great time to listen to books. I listened to three and started a fourth on the long drive back and forth. I am getting so that I treasure that time in the cocoon of the car. It is so peaceful. Just me and the story I am listening to at the time.

>95 Berly: Kim, I will put in a couple of blocks on tomorrow's run with your name on them. :-)

I listened to The Martian a bit more on my drive in this morning. I think the audio is good but I am not good at assessing how it would be compared to reading it. I'm trying to channel my inner geek..... I just got to the part where they are deciding between one and six (this is code and will make sense to anyone who has read it but won't spoil it for those who have not).

>96 msf59: Mark, what does "B.A.G." mean?

>97 Carmenere: Hi Lynda, it was fun to see in the Seattle Times a list of books scheduled to come out this spring (including a couple that came out March 1). Apparently, spring has historically been a down-time in publishers releasing books. Who knew?

I thought about purchasing Epitaph but since they have it at the library, I decided to be good. Ha. I believe Mark got a signed copy.... lucky duck.

>98 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen. I think this week will be nice. I have to go to Olympia tomorrow to testify about a House Bill relating to suicide prevention work on college campuses across the state, but I don't even have to prepare anything. I think I get two minutes to talk and I know what I want to say in that amount of time!

I took the trash out this morning just before dawn and the chickadees were singing their spring song which I LOVE. The Robins are also very active. It's a lovely time of year!

>99 lauralkeet: I am doing my best to make spring break really a break, Laura. One thing that is nice: I have two massages (to work on this jaw) scheduled during the day -- today and tomorrow. It's pure luxury to be able to leave campus for a couple of hours in the middle of the morning to take care of myself.

>100 sibylline: Lucy, that is very helpful. It makes me want to try a different approach. I'm thinking I might read Independence Day first although this would be stepping outside my usual compulsion to read things in order..... I do love baseball so there would be that of interest. I'm still thinking about this whole thing. I think the main thing is that I need to let go of the AAC-II March commitment and let myself read some library books (which have to go back by a certain date) and read the Ford when I get to it.

>101 BLBera: Hi Beth. I started reading A God in Every Stone last evening and read a bit more with my first mug of coffee this morning. I'm liking it so far.

>102 benitastrnad: Benita, we are having a wet March but it's still lovely. And I agree that time in the car is good for audiobooks (although sometimes I just want to listen to music OR just have some quiet time!). I started listening to The Martian again yesterday while gardening and listened to a bit more during my drive in this morning (sure sign that it's spring break -- I'm at the office and messing about on LibraryThing!). I do read on the bus and I will continue to do that on the days I ride the bus. Mostly right now I'm trying to build some flexibility and control into my commute. I think that will help with the overall stress level!

I know I've posted photos of the UW quad during cherry blossom time before, but I can't resist. It's so lovely right now!

>105 EBT1002:, >106 EBT1002: Wow! Beautiful.

So it IS spring somewhere...the bright sun is mocking us today, as the temperature struggles to climb to 30F, and the wind continues to bite. Thanks for sharing those beautiful cherry blossoms, Ellen. Our need here in NE PA is great.

I LOVE the blossoms. It is the one thing I miss the most about living in Vancouver. Not very many blossoms in Calgary I must say. :)

I hope you are having a great Spring Break.

We are VRBO fans. Whenever we travel, it is our goto because with a family with 2 young children, hotels isn't always convenient.

What beautiful blossoms. We got 7 inches of snow yesterday, so my landscape looks very different. :(

>107 jnwelch: I wonder if it's ever that pretty in Pittsburgh? :-)

>108 laytonwoman3rd: Oh Linda, I feel a bit badly about rubbing it in. It's definitely spring in Seattle. We're moving into the time of year when I feel very lucky to live here!

>109 jolerie: I'm glad I could share a little Washington State springtime with you, Valerie.
We've used VRBO a couple of times to find places to stay in eastern Washington when we went for spring or fall wine tasting. I've been very pleased with how that has worked out so far!

>110 BLBera: Well, Beth, I actually love snow. But I also remember that by mid-to-late March, I was pretty much done with the stuff. I hope your new snowfall melts quickly and that the crocus start making an appearance!

B.A.G.= Big Ass Grin! Did not wear one of those today, though. I lent my "signed" copy of Epitaph to a friend at work and he returned it today. He was quite the Happy Camper. I hope to get to it soon.

Sorry you had to trudge through the snow today, Mark. I hope it melts by Saturday!

From the land of works-too-many-hours, it's only 5:40 and I'm going home! (and I spent the last 20 minutes playing on LT)
B.A.G.!!

>114 EBT1002: LOL! Now, you got it!

The snow should be gone by Wednesday. We will be hitting close to 60.

Ellen, so nice to have you visit me on my thread! Yes, you are right, I misspelled my user name! Argh! And yes, Aren't We Sisters? is a long listed Bailey Prize 2015 book, but I've not yet come to terms with Bailey's replacing the Orange Prize name. I am slow with change! Yes, " reader elbow" I am not sure just how I got cellulitis in my elbow, but it did start off with dried cracked skin and it's the elbow that I lean on when I read, so I am calling it reader's elbow! :)

And yes, spring is in full swing here in fair Vancouver! We are suffering a few days of sun/ rain , but we have had a lovely spring so far - it started a couple of weeks early here, like there.

Do let me know what you think of A God in Every Stone. I enjoy following the Bailey's Prize / Orange Prize , and so far I have read Elizabeth is Missing and I just purchased another on the list Blue Spool of Thread by Anne Tyler, because I like her as an author. The waiting list for that book at my library is ridiculous, so I decided to treat myself.

And just now I am off the second hand bookstore to turn in some books to even out my spending habits on books!;)

Take and see you soon on the threads!

Happy to see you loved Rebecca I finally read that myself a couple of years ago. So deliciously suspenseful.

I have enjoyed Hallinan's Junior Bender series but haven't started the Poke Rafferty series yet.

Loved the cherry blossom photos - the Portland waterfront trees were just fabulous last week.

>105 EBT1002: Those pictures are beautiful, Ellen. This is such a gorgeous time of year in the Pacific Northwest with all the flowering trees. I think we are at our best in the Spring.

Nice review of The Thing About December, Ellen. I read Donal Ryan's Booker Prize longlisted novel The Spinning Heart and I wasn't keen on it, but the book you read sounds much more interesting.

I hope to read A God in Every Stone by the end of the month, so I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

>115 msf59: 60F sounds good to me, Mark! I went for a lovely run this morning at 48F.

>116 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb! I'm slow with change, too, and slower as I get older. :-|
I'm reading A God in Every Stone which is also on the Bailey Prize 2015 long list and so far it's an excellent read! I don't think I'll get to all 20 on the list, but I will try to read a decent sampling of them.

"...it's the elbow that I lean on when I read..."
This made me smile. I'm having jaw problems that appear to be muscular (i.e., stress-related) and I've noticed more and more how I lean my head on my hand at the side of my chin/jaw. This is true during meetings but it also occurs when I read. Who ever thought we would have "injuries" related to reading? LOL
Still, I won't give it up.

I have A Spool of Blue Thread on hold at the library. My place in the queue is 393 on 85 copies. With that many copies, I will likely get it within the next couple of months.

I hope the used bookstore took your books and gave you good credit. If you're like me, you might leave the store with a few books to replace those you turned in. ;-)

>117 SuziQoregon: Hi Juli! You know, I say I'm "currently reading" A Nail Through the Heart but I haven't actually dug into it yet. I'm pretty caught up in A God in Every Stone, which I highly recommend. Also, Hallinan is a new author for me but it seems that reasonable people like his work. :-)

I have some very fond memories of walking along the Portland waterfront when the cherry trees were in bloom. I love that area. I'll be in Portland for a conference April 8-9, and I'm staying over that Thursday night to go to Powell's on Friday the 10th. I might take a nice walk along the waterfront if the weather is nice enough.

I believe there is some effort to get a meet-up together later in April, but I'm not sure I can make it. The 25th is the celebration of a dear friend's 50th birthday. We'll make it happen eventually!

>118 DeltaQueen50: "I think we are at our best in the Spring." I fully agree, Judy! And I love that spring lasts for several months in this region!

>119 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl. The Thing About December was a bit of a mixed read but in the end the characters and the story won me over. It's not a cheerful read, mind you.

I'm a bit more than halfway through A God in Every Stone and so far it's a very good read. I have a minor quibble or two but I do think it's headed for a positive review. I'm feeling absorbed in it and that counts for a lot. :-)

It's the Wednesday of spring break and I'm taking the day off! I went for a nice 3-mile run this morning and have done a couple of loads of laundry. I'm going to spend about an hour reading (such luxury to do this in the middle of the day!) and then head to the dentist, massage therapist, and another self-care appointment. I wish I could take every Wednesday off!

Hooray for days off! Have a great one, Ellen.

^ Thanks, Beth!

Well, they lied, Ellen. It never hit 60 today. It barely hit 40. It was chilly.

Glad you got your run in. Sounds like a nice day off.

Nice weather for spring break! God In Every Stone sounds like a winner. I have to move it up the list.

Hi Ellen, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Hiya, Ellen. So sorry we're going to miss you and the meetup!

We did get back from NYC, but we're taking our daughter and her friend to a Bulls game tonight. We'll raise a slice of pizza in your honor. :-)

Oh definitely! I make up these reading goals and then I chafe under them! I'm reading all of Iris Murdoch, but I haven't read one in months!

Those cherry blossoms bring tears to my eyes. The scene here is just grim. We even have a return of driveway sinkholes - in a new spot, of course!

^With Ellen, at Half Acre Brewery. Happy Campers.

Had a wonderful visit with you, my friend. Hope the rest of the trip goes well.

Looks like some shady going-ons!

Spring is being very elusive this year in Missouri so the cherry trees in Seatlle are a welcome sight! You are lucky to work in such a lovely environment. I have been curious about A God in Every Stone. I'm glad you are enjoying it, Ellen, and look forward to your final opinion of it.

I think Lucy gave you excellent advice on Richard Ford. The Bascombe books are probably not for everyone, but I do think Frank is a very interesting main character whom I got to know very well through his inner monologues. I am looking forward to the latest one, and then might read something else by Richard Ford. The man can write!

Oh my, a meet up with Mark. Turn on the flash so we can see those happy faces!!!

Sorry we missed seeing you this time, Ellen! :-(

Hopleaf and Half Acre - great beer venues. Did you like them? Glad you had Mr. Mark to pal around with.

Sounds like the meet-up in Chicago was great. It is always good to see Mark, and I am sorry that you missed Joe, Linda, and others from the Windy City. Meeting friends in cities far away is a wonderful thing to do.

Great picture, Ellen ! Is Mark as wonderful in real life as he seems to be here on LT! :) I suspect he is! And yes, the used bookstore did give me a good credit. I had shopped there at least three time before and failed to take in my used books - and so finally I took in a bunch of books. Some books I am just too attached to , but one has to leave a little space in one's place! The books were piling up and some I can part with, as can my husband. Indeed, who knew the reading books could be so "dangerous?" LOL!

Happy smiling wishes for you!

Ellen--Beautiful pictures of the trees! I love this time of year here. And was today great or what?

Hi Everyone! I'm in southern Michigan at a work-meeting, trying to actively participate in the discussion. It was sleeting here yesterday and I understand that Seattle's weather was lovely. Today it's lovely here (now that I'm totally ensconced in a work meeting).

Mark and I had a wonderful time sharing food, beer, and conversation on Saturday. I wish more LTers could have been there (next time).

I finished A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie as well as Wildfire by Richard Ford. More about both of those later.

Now I'm reading Being Mortal and The Rosie Project.
More about those later, too.

Yay for LT meetups - always fun! Can't see the photo on my work computer - will have to check your thread again when I get home.

Fun times with meet-ups. I'm sure you two had a blast. Hope your trip is going well, Ellen!

>125 msf59: Mark, at least now the weather has improved in the region!

>126 banjo123: Rhonda, I ended up giving A God in Every Stone four stars. I mean to write some comments or a "review" but we'll see how my time plays out. I do recommend it although I think I missed some nuances of the narrative, allegories, historical references....

>127 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara!

>128 jnwelch: Joe, I totally understand although (of course) Mark and I would have enjoyed your company as well as Debbi's. I don't follow pro basketball but I hope the Bulls won for you.

>129 sibylline: Well, Lucy, I suppose our reading goals are our reading goals and we get to chafe under them, reject them, abandon them, take off on a tangent.... as we please. I did complete the AAC-II and BAC authors for March and I think April may be a bit easier (although I'm a wee bit unsure about Maugham).

I plan to read The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter and Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham for the BAC, and possibly one or three by Louise Erdrich for the AAC-II. I have a little fantasy about reading Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and Tracks, all three of which would be rereads for me. We'll see how that goes.

>130 msf59: Thanks for posting the photo, Mark! I had a wonderful time with you and look forward to the next time we can meet. Since you come to Oregon about every other year, perhaps we can organize another large meet-up in Portland this coming winter.....

>131 maggie1944: LOL, it looks more shady than it was in the Half-Acre brewpub, Karen. We had dinner and a couple of ales at Hopleaf, then went to Half-Acre for one more half-pint. It was standing room only. Mark and I had a lovely time.

>132 Donna828: Hey Donna. I feel very lucky to live in the Seattle area, already moving past the peak of tulip season. Right now I'm in southern Michigan, near the southeastern edge of Lake Michigan, and spring is not yet showing herself. But we did walk along the lakeshore a bit this evening and it was warmer than it has been. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I fly back to Seattle. I wish I had a few more days here with these colleagues, but I look forward to time on the plane (aka reading time!).

I recommend A God in Every Stone. I ended up giving it four stars. I haven't organized my thoughts about it yet but I feel comfortable with that rating.

I ended up reading Wildlife by Richard Ford and giving it 2.5 stars. I may yet dig into the Bascombe trilogy but, given how many works there are out there that I can hardly wait to read, I may just bag it. I think he is not the author for me. And you know, that's okay. In diversity is beauty and interest.

>133 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I had been to Hopleaf with Kerri last year and I still really like that venue and the beer list is excellent. Both Mark and I had a Zombie Dust and we each had one other thing. I had a delicious ham-and-cheese sandwich. I also liked Half-Acre and would have liked to have had the wherewithal to try one more ale. Alas, I knew my limit. And Mark had to drive home! Sorry we missed you but there will be a next time.

>134 benitastrnad: Hi Benita. I admit that I'm a fan of meet-ups. :-)

>135 vancouverdeb: Deb, Mark is a wonderful companion for a meet-up. This is the third time he and I have had the pleasure of sharing food, beer, and conversation and I thoroughly enjoy his company. He is authentically as he is here on LT. :-)

I think we all struggle (is that the right word?) with which books to keep, which to pass along, which we want for a reread, and which we want just because we love them. Having books is one of life's great pleasures. I feel privileged to be able to have so many.

>136 richardderus: Hello Richard! Welcome back!!!!

>137 Berly: Hi Kim. It's a lovely time of year to live in our region. I was not home over the weekend or into the early part of this week. I fly home Tuesday night and then have to muster up the energy for a 3-day work week (into which I will have to squeeze 5 days' worth of work) before I get another weekend. It's okay. I will read on the plane home Tuesday evening. And I may sleep a bit. :-)

>139 SuziQoregon: Juli, as you may recall from last winter, Mark is a great meet-up companion. I hope we can railroad him into another Portland meet-up next time he visits his sister who lives in Salem.

>140 jolerie: Thank you, Valerie.
This work meeting is one of my favorite two days of the year. It's my last year on the committee (after six year working with these folks) and I absolutely love them. It's counseling center directors from all over the country and we do a 2-day think tank to develop "elements of excellence" programs for the autumn conference (in Salt Lake City this coming October). These are smart, funny, warm, authentic, dedicated folks. There are 15 of us here, a very diverse group and all committed to our profession. I have to rotate off and I will miss this mid-year meeting. Tonight three of the directors brought out their guitars and we sang (well, we tried) songs together. They did some good blues rhythm and we did the "Counseling Center Blues" -- extemporaneous and so perfect. Gallows humor. Love it.

Did I mention that I bought three books while in Chicago. Why? you may ask. Why buy books in Chicago when you can just as easily buy them at home.
Well, don't we all have a compulsion to buy book when in another city?

I bought:
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, which I will read almost exclusively on Joe's recommendation.
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald for my personal Booker challenge.
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón for the Global Reading Challenge second quarter.

I just read the next one, The Rosie Effect, which I enjoyed just as much as the first one! Enjoy.

>148 Berly: Oh good, another fan of The Rosie Project. I have to admit that I just figured I would never read these --- something about the fad-feeling of the popularity. But I'm giving it a try and I think it will be good plane reading for tomorrow.

So jealous - of both of you - about the meet-up, Ellen! Wishing you safe travels back home.

Hi Ellen! Glad you found time to check in. Once again, it was great spending time with you Saturday. Had a nice time. Hope the trip is going well.

It looks like you have some good books going. Enjoy!

Hi, Ellen, too or is it two? Welcome back to the rainy world. I think the weather predictions are for several days of typical Seattle spring: rain, gray, and moderate temps. Showers. Breezy, with a chance of thunder storms.

Lovely.

I have some spinach I need to get into the dirt as this is perfect spinach growing weather, I think.

Safe travels, Ellen. I'll be anxious to see what you say about A God in Every Stone; it was a four-star reading for me, too.

>150 scaifea: Hi Amber! I'm back in the Pacific Time Zone now and trying to dig out from under all the emails at work. The good news is that the days are getting nice and long. It's getting light around 6:15am and dark around 8:15pm.

>151 msf59: Hi Mark. I volunteered to take notes at this year's meeting so that cut into my LT time quite a bit. The meeting was good, though, and I do love that group of people. I'll miss attending the mid-year meeting next spring.

I finished Being Mortal on the plane last night and it is a wonderful read. I agree with Karen that it "should" be required reading for everyone. When I first started hearing about it, I thought it was a philosophical work with an existential angle. Not so. It's all about our medical industrial complex and its impact on how we navigate serious illness and the ends of our lives. It is wise and hopeful. Now I'm in a bit of a book funk, but more about that in a moment.

>152 maggie1944: Hi Karen! Is this perfect spinach-growing weather? I love this time of year but I haven't grown spinach. We usually buy the pre-washed variety....

>153 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I'm safely back in Seattle and trying to recover from the travel. I'll try to write at least a short bit about A God in Every Stone but I admit that I've let more time go by than I usually do.

21. A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie


"The space between dreams and reality was wider in India than anywhere else in the world."

Starting at the outset of WWI, this lovely novel follows Vivian Spenser, a privileged Englishwoman who travels to Turkey to participate in an archeological dig and encounters Qayyum and Najeeb Gul. Qayyum has fought for the British empire and lost an eye at Ypres. His younger brother, for whom Vivian becomes a teacher, develops a passion for learning and a passion for archeology. The trajectories of these three lives are destined to intersect more than once as the British empire struggles to maintain its hold in the Arabian peninsula. The characters and the setting are exquisitely rendered. A very worthwhile read.

22. Wildlife by Richard Ford


This short novel by our March AAC-II author is told from the perspective of a 16-year-old boy watching his parents' marriage disintegrate. His unemployed father heads into the Montana mountains to fight one of the worst sets of fires in history and his miserable and lonely mother "falls in love" with another man. I never bought it. Joe's inability to make sense of his mother's behavior might be due to denial or innocence but neither rang true for me. And in the end, I didn't much care what happened to any of the characters.

23. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande


"...having a place that genuinely feels like your home can seem as essential to a person as water to a fish."
"All we ask is to be allowed to remain the writers of our own story."
"At least two kinds of courage are required in aging and sickness. The first is the courage to confront the reality of mortality.... But even more daunting is the second kind of courage -- the courage to act on the truth we find. ... One has to decide whether one's fears or one's hopes are what should matter most>"
"Assisted living is far harder than assisted death, but its possibilities are far greater, as well."

This is what a nonfiction work should be. Through storytelling and analysis of our modern medical industrial complex, Gawande outlines the dilemmas of serious illness and old age and how we might approach them as a society. He doesn't pull any punches about the grim reality that we will, each and every one of us, finally die. But he also provides a hopeful prospect for how the later years, as our faculties decline and "things fall apart" can be lived. He draws on solid research to suggest that a shift from medicine's traditional goal of extending life at all costs to helping patients make terrible but necessary decisions about what matters to us, what goals we have, and what trade-offs we are willing (and not willing) to make may not only improve the quality of our final years but may, paradoxically, extend the number of years we have! I really couldn't put this one down. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves someone who is aging, or who loves someone who is seriously ill, or (indeed) who is themselves mortal.

And now I'm in a funk. I know it's exhaustion and jet lag, but I have several books sitting here beside me and none of them is calling to me:

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

I hate book funks.

And it's thundering! This is a very rare occurrence in Seattle!!!

I hate book funks, too. I usually keep going through books until one calls my name. Good luck. Thunder! We're supposed to get storms later this evening.

I've just added The Blind Assassin to the stack of books. Maybe.

I need to remember to add this near the top of my next thread.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969.

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize)
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist and Stanley Middleton, Holiday
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
1976: David Storey, Saville
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Sorry to hear that you are in a book funk! I did really enjoy The Rosie Project and it's sequel, but of course the book has to call to you. It was an interesting , but fun book. I passed it to my sister and even my mom read it. It seemed to be a popular book among a lot of people. We were supposed to get thunder yesterday, but just a bit of windstorm came up and a bit of rain - and today was nice and sunny!

Your review of of Being Mortal is very good! I know it's a very popular book, but having lost my dad to cancer when he was 65 , 7 years ago, I feel fairly well acquainted with death. My family looked after him until he died, and he laid at my parent's home dead for about 8 + plus hours until we could get a hospice nurse in to declare him dead, and then wait for the funeral folks. My husband also lost his brother to suicide about 2 - 3 years prior to that, and we were part of cleaning out his apartment after the fact, and some how it's all to real to me. Well, that's an uplifting post, eh Ellen! :) I okay with it all now, but I don't suppose that has lifted your reading funk! ;p Read something fun!

Oh dear, Wildlife sounds to me like another Canada. I didn't buy the boy's voice in that one either. It happens.

>161 EBT1002: you've made great progress on your Booker Prize reading, Ellen!

I just perused your thread, Ellen, enjoying all the book and travel talk.

Being Mortal sounds perfect for me. I learned a lot about mortality while my husband went through the last few years of his life, and I'd love to read Gawande's take on it all. I don't fear death; it's that in-between part that can get incredibly messy that worries me.

If you're still undecided on Maugham, I can highly recommend The Painted Veil (what a story!) or The Moon and Sixpence if you'e in the mood for something quite dark. Mr. Maugham is not the most uplifting or cheerful of writers, but his work is excellent and sharp.

May your week-end be peaceful and calm.

Good review of Being Mortal, Ellen. I had the same reaction to it.

When I'm at 6's and 7's over what to read, I usually read one in a series I like. I just read the latest Joe Pickett mystery. Right now I'm enjoying Night Film, which our daughter has been pushing me to read for ages.

Well, I actually got kind of caught up in The Bloody Chamber. Ghastly and gothic, but a great read so far. Tomorrow I bus to work; I'll get some reading done.

Deb, Lucy, Laura, Gail, and Joe -- I'll respond more individually tomorrow.

Stopping by to wish you a Happy Easter weekend, Ellen.

>156 EBT1002: - Uh oh. I am halfway through my read of Wildlife - I am a tad behind with my AAC and BAC readings - and a little concerned that the book probably won't improve like I have been hoping it would. Oh well, at least it's a short read. ;-)

>165 Matke: So well said. 'the messy part . . .'

I'll be reading The Bloody Chamber too this month. I've been looking forward to it for a long time now. Ghastly and gothic is right up my alley, too! Hope you've gotten over you book funk by now Ellen. I'm glad to see you've also planned to read The Angel's Game this month. I've been putting it off for ages, not sure why, because I adored the first book; people didn't seem as eager about that one, but it might encourage me to know you'll be reading it too.

Hope you have a great weekend.

I am also planning on The Bloody Chamber this month. Though I am behind in my challenges, so we will see how soon I get to it.

Hi Ellen, I wish you Happy Easter.

Sorry to hear about the book funk, Ellen. I hope it isn't long lasting and you can give it the boot sooner rather than later.

Wishing you a wonderful, Easter!

Ooooh..another personal challenge. Fun! :)

Struggling to catch up a little Ellen.

Missed you all as life and especially work has gotten in my way recently.

Have a lovely Easter weekend. xx

>162 vancouverdeb: Deb, that is a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing about some of the losses you have experienced in recent years. I will say that Being Mortal is less about death than it is about how we, as a society with immense medical capabilities, have transformed the process of dying. It is a call for thoughtful and compassionate approach to dying with grace and dignity, using medical intervention with clarity of purpose..... Given your description of your dad's last days, I suspect you might like it. I won't say it's a fun read, exactly, but it's full of heart.

I will read The Rosie Project one of these days. People whose reading I trust have enjoyed it, including you!

>163 sibylline: Yep. I still have this used copy of The Sportswriter sitting about and I really loved your comments about how that trilogy unfolded for you. I'm not yet sure whether I'll bother with it, though, given the stacks of TBRs that are all over my house and office.

>164 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I hopt to make more of a dent in it this year. It's Atwood April, so I may read The Blind Assassin this month.

>165 Matke: Gail, if it's the in between that can get all messy that worries you, Atul Gawande's book is a must-read. See my comments above to Deb. I really think he wrote a masterpiece for all of us who fear the pain and indignity that can accompany the modern process of dying.

Thank you for the Maugham recommendations! I'll be at Powell's this Friday (Kim and I are having a little meet-up) and I'll see if they have either The Painted Veil or The Moon and Sixpence. I'm just not sure I'm in the mood for Of Human Bondage although I recognize that it's possibly his most highly acclaimed novel.

>166 jnwelch: Hmm, that is a good approach to book funk, Joe. I did have a Walt Longmire sitting here and it would probably have done the trick.

I was looking at Night Film at the bookstore Friday. I didn't purchase it; I will be interred in your take on it.

>168 lkernagh: To be perfectly honest, Lori, I ended up choosing Wildlife because it was short -- and Katie had given it an acceptable review. I'm determined to be a purist this year in the AAC and the BAC, so sometimes I will just have to dig in and approach an author who isn't calling to me. I do know that both Mark and Paul will "accept" completions in alternative months.... *grins*

>169 sibylline: Lucy, I agree! So perfectly put.
See my comments to Deb in >175 EBT1002:.

Hi, Ellen! I hope you are having a great relaxing and renewing weekend.

>170 Smiler69: Hi Ilana. I read and loved The Bloody Chamber. She writes exquisitely. I'll be making my comments in a moment. Ghastly and gothic -- that pretty much captures it.

I'm going to try to do more reading for this quarter's Global Reading Challenge than I managed in the first quarter. The Angel's Game is one of the books Darryl has on his planned reading list and I so enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind when I read it years ago.

>171 banjo123: Rhonda, I hope you enjoy The Bloody Chamber. It took me a few pages to get used to her style and not every story worked for me but the overall collection was worthwhile. I'll post comments after I have some breakfast (P made oatmeal!). :-)

>172 Ameise1: Thank you so much, Barbara! We'll be having lunch with BIL and his wife, and FIL and his wife, and our niece and grandniece and grandnephew....

>173 jolerie: Thank you, Valerie. My book funk didn't last long at all, thank goodness. I've read The Bloody Chamber and other stories and Snowpiercer. I've now started reading Love Medicine and I can tell I'm going to love it (as I recall loving it when I read it about 25+ years ago).

>174 PaulCranswick: Paul! It's so good to see you! You know that I completely understand "life and especially work" getting in the way of LT connection. Thank you for doing a drive-by of my thread.

>159 BLBera: I missed your post up there, Beth. I got out of my book funk in a hurry and enjoyed our thunderstorm. Having lived the first 35 years of my life in Florida and the midwest where thunderstorms were frequent and ferocious, I actually enjoy them when they occasionally strike here. We get them no more than once or twice a year.

Time for breakfast.

Enjoy your day, Ellen!

>181 msf59: Thank you, Mark!

I've been fighting a chest cold for the past couple of days, really hoping it doesn't turn into bronchitis.... I took it easy yesterday and today I'm mostly trying to take it easy. We're driving down to Olympia for lunch with family. And, of course, I hope to read some. :-)

24. The Bloody Chamber and other stories by Angela Carter




This ghastly collection of gothic fairy tales is delightful and dismal. Carter's writing is beautiful and her imagery brilliant. White roses, cats, and desperate damsels figure heavily in these highly sexualized stories. I wasn't always able to match the story to the grim fairy tale from which she drew inspiration, but one more well-versed in fairy tales will likely be able to do so. I will likely try to read more by Angela Carter as her use of the English language is exquisite.

Snowpiercer, Volume 1: The Escape by Jacques Lob




The premise is an interesting one: in the last war someone (us? them?) set off a bomb that immediately and radically changed the climate so as to make Earth uninhabitable. Coincidentally (not), a train had just been completed that was designed to run forever -- a perpetual motion machine that had in its 1,001 cars everything needed to sustain life. Clearly, this train had been designed to save the wealthy class of humans at the apocalypse but, of course, tens of thousands of people rushed the train and managed to clamber aboard as it took off, as the Earth descended into a snowy frozen tundra. Now, years later, the train is very gradually losing momentum. For it to stop is a death sentence for all aboard. You can imagine the moral dilemma facing those lucky bastards near the front of the train....

I give the book two stars: one for idea and one for artistic drawing. But this is not a graphic novel, it's a comic book, pandering just a bit too heavily to adolescent male sensibilities for my taste. It's a fine comic book but the distinction matters to me. I won't bother with Volume 2.

Currently reading:



This is a reread from more than two decades back. I'm reading it for the AAC-II and so far I think I'm going to love it.

Hi Ellen and a very Happy Day to you and P!

I just got an email from Ammy about notable books coming out in April. This new one called Missoula from Jon Krakauer couldn't help but catch my eye and I thought it was a subject that would be of interest to you. I was somewhat aware of what was going on since DD works in an office on campus, but the chit is going to hit the fan with this one, I'm afraid.

Hi Ellen - The Bloody Chamber sounds interesting. On to the list it goes. I think I'll give your comic book a pass -- thanks for taking one for the team. It DOES sound like an interesting idea.

Can't wait to hear if Love Medicine lives up to your previous read. Tracks is my favorite.

Just started Round House, Ellen, and it's very good so far.

Hope your week gets off to a good start.

I am still trying to get through Rebecca. I do like the novel but just don't have enough reading time right now to get a novel that size done in a month. I picked up Love Medicine from the library a week ago and hope to get to it this month.

The heroine in Rebecca makes me want to shake her, but she is learning, and I think this is such a good story. I can't wait to read the twists and turns I know it is going to take.

>186 streamsong: Very interesting! I like Krakauer's work and I only hope he approaches this subject with less sensationalism than the current press. He is usually pretty even-handed, so I will remain cautiously optimistic.

>187 BLBera: Beth, I can send The Bloody Chamber to you. I liked it a lot but it's not one I need to keep on my shelves.
So far, Love Medicine is exceeding my memory. This is a good thing. :-)

>188 jnwelch: Joe, I think we're going to be glad that Mark selected Erdrich for this month. She's such a talented and interesting author and it will be good for folks to discover or rediscover her.

>189 benitastrnad: The heroine in Rebecca does grow and learn, Benita, but it takes a while. Her growth comes almost all at once, which is perhaps a bit less than fully believable. On the other hand, I do believe that each of us sometimes learns from the life-hit-be-with-a-two-by-four experience.

I'm very much enjoying Love Medicine so I do hope you get to it this month.

Hi, Ellen! Good review of The Bloody Chamber and other stories. I've never read Carter and I had not heard of her, before Paul picked her for the BAC, but this sure sounds good. I was not planning on reading her but I may reconsider.

>191 msf59: Mark, I think you should read something by Carter. I mean, this is the only work I've read but she is a talented writer and I imagine her other works are also worthwhile.

Well, this chest cold has been making me miserable. Luckily, today I could cancel a couple of afternoon appointments and come home mid-day. I'm propped up in bed trying to catch up with some of my LT buddies. I have also been doing a bit of reading in Love Medicine. What a pleasure.

Tomorrow I drive to Portland for a two-day conference, then Friday it's a Powell's run. Oh boy.

I will listen to more of The Martian during my drive down I-5. I am determined to finish that audio book.

Get well, Ellen, and enjoy your conference -- and Powell's, of course. Will you meet other LTers? You're making me want to reread Love Medicine -- I can go back to early Erdrich over and over.

I'll give The Blood Chamber and Other Stories a try if you're sure you don't want to keep it.

Carter's story collection is listed as Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories, in my library system. It is available but it is nearly 500 pages. Ouch.

Sorry, to hear about the chest cold. BUMMER!!

>194 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I did take a phone call from one of the directors who report to me which means I was working for about an hour, but it feels good to be propped up in bed. Abby has decided to join me. (purr)

I will send The Bloody Chamber your way, although it may take me a while.

>195 msf59: Mark! No! The Bloody Chamber and other stories is less than 200 pages!

Yeah, being sick is no fun but it did mean I got to come home early. My job is such that calling in sick is really tough for me to do, so I was pleased that today I was able to cut the day in half, anyway.

Hi Ellen, I need to mosey over here more often.

No worries, Ellen. I've got plenty to read here. Thanks.

Oh, no, sorry to hear about the chest cold, Ellen! I'm sending anti-cold whammies to loosen it up and flush it out of there.

>190 EBT1002:. Yes, it is very interesting. A few years ago, the Department of Justice came in and told Missoula to start prosecuting rape cases. Lawsuits were filed/threatened although eventually an agreement was reached. The book is being released without any advance review copies and not even the 'Look Inside' features at places like Amazon. Is it all hype or are there really bombshells in there?

You've got me teed up for reading The Bloody Chamber after the The Round House. Glad you enjoyed it so much. You're right, I think Erdrich is going to end up being one of the best picks for the AAC. I kinda wish Paul had picked Helen Humphreys for the BAC; I think there'd be a similar positive reaction.

I can't disagree with your take on Snowpiercer. As a former adolescent male, I probably slide into that POV too easily. I did think it was a terrific idea, and engrossing. The movie, with Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris and others, strips away a lot of that overloaded adolescent male stuff, and is interesting in its own right.

P.S Hope that cold goes away and leaves you alone. We've got a whiskey-loaded cappuccino set up for you over at the cafe.

>197 lindapanzo: Hi Linda. You are certainly very welcome to mosey through my thread any time but I warn you that my own presence comes in waves.

>198 BLBera: :-)

>199 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! I've told my conference buddies they are not allowed to make me laugh because it makes me cough. But I am feeling better so your whammies must be working!

>200 streamsong: Ugh. This terrain is *full* of land mines these days!

>201 jnwelch: Helen Humphreys is another whose work I haven't read yet but I have her on my list of authors I want to get to. I seem to recall that you highly recommended The Frozen Thames.

Regarding Snowpiercer, I bet I would enjoy the film. As you say, the idea was terrific and I think it would lend itself well to the large screen.

Thanks for the cappuccino and whiskey! It was just what I needed. ;-)

>202 EBT1002: Yes! I hope you can give The Frozen Thames a go some time. I think you'll be very happy with it.

>203 jnwelch: I'll add it to my Powell's shopping list!
It's a good thing I drove so it doesn't matter how heavy my luggage gets! :-)

I got a chance to visit Powell's last year and my goodness I would have camped there overnight if they would have let me. Have fun exploring and I can't wait to see your "haul". :D

>205 jolerie: Valerie, I admit that I'm as excited about Powell's as I am about this conference (and I love this conference -- these are some of my favorite people, and I can participate while simultaneously playing on LT). It's one of my five favorite places on Earth.

>204 EBT1002: :-) Smart planning!

>205 jolerie: lol, I can just imagine it.

>206 EBT1002: sounds like a guaranteed great time!!!

>207 jnwelch: :-)

>208 LovingLit: Yep, I'm all set.

Reading update

I am thoroughly enjoying my reread of Love Medicine. I also started Aya: Love in Yop City this morning. I didn't realize this was a compilation from later in the series (not the beginning) but I'm going to dig into it regardless. This violates my personal compulsive preferences, but I'm trying to be okay with that.

Hi, Ellen! I will look for The Bloody Chamber again. If I type it into my library website, it directs me to a different compilation. 200 pages I can bookhorn in.
I am really enjoying Dead Wake & Stone Mattress. B.A.G. Hope the week is going well.

Stopping by for a quick hi , Ellen!I've enjoyed Helen Humphreys Coventry and I purchased Evening Chorus. I'm scouring the second hand stores in my area for a copy of The Frozen Thames since my library used to have it , but no longer does ( got rid of it ). Have fun at Powelll's! Sounds lovely!

I forgot to mention that I listened to more of The Martian on my drive south this morning. It's good but I found myself thinking (around the Cougar Rock exit) that he wrote it with a movie contract in mind.

>211 msf59: Hi Mark! My conference is lots of fun so far. We're at a McMenamin's and we'll be drinking their beers this evening. Yay!

>212 vancouverdeb: Thanks for the quick drive by, Deb!

#213
I think I remember reading somewhere that the novel was actually written as a blog first. After it got attention from one of the big publishers it was converted into a novel. It does make me wonder if perhaps the format does dictate the way a novel is written.

I finished reading Rebecca tonight and thought it was a really fine novel. It reminded me of Jane Eyre and in some ways was a rehash of that plot, but it was so interesting. The author managed to make me care about what happened to a heroine that I didn't really like. (I thought she had about as much character as a wet mop.) It was very suspenseful but not in a macabre way - which I liked and appreciated, as horror isn't a genre that I like. I am so glad that I decided at the last minute to go ahead and try to read this novel for the B.A. C. This is the second time I have retrieved this title from the library stacks but the first time I never even cracked it open. Now I am sorry I didn't.

Hi Ellen! i hope you feel better SOON.

Nice review of The Bloody Chamber. I finished it today. It is only about 125 pages. Mark should DEFINITELY read it. And it is fun to read after The Stone Mattress; because both reference fairy tales and sex.

Hi Ellen!! Feel better ASAP. ; )

I'm sure it does affect how the novel was written. I didn't know that, but it makes sense. I think it would be hard to move away from when rewriting. It did suit the material in this case! Ticking clock and all that!

You will want to go back to the beginning in the Aya series, methinks, Ellen. I hope you can keep the characters sorted out all right in Yop City. I'm pretty sure Ilana (Smiler69) has read all of them.

Have a wonderful trip and a wonderful conference. And Powell's. Sigh. I haven't made it yet, but I will someday, yes I will. Can't wait to hear about your haul.

>214 benitastrnad: That's very interesting, Benita. I will have that in mind as I continue listening (on my drive back to Seattle tomorrow). I'm enjoying it and knowing that might actually increase my enjoyment.

>215 benitastrnad: I'm glad you enjoyed Rebecca! It reminded me a bit of Jane Eyre, too -- that sort of dark gothic romance (but more than a romance, too). And the setting was so palpably 19th century English.

>216 banjo123: Hi Rhonda. Thanks for the well wishes. My cough is actually a bit worse this morning. Ugh.

I agree that I think Mark would enjoy The Bloody Chamber and other stories. I haven't read The Stone Mattress. I think I'd like to read something a bit different by Angela Carter.

>217 Berly: Thanks, Kim! I'm worried that this cough is actually getting worse and turning into Bronchitis. But I am hanging in there!

>218 sibylline: I agree. Knowing that it was written as a blog makes the ticking clock piece fit even better.

>219 jnwelch: Joe, I was already feeling a bit daunted by the characters in Aya. I may end up returning Love in Yop City to the library and requesting the first one in the series. That compulsive tendency is there for a reason, right? :-)

>220 streamsong: Janet, I hope you get to Powell's one of these days. It's a treat.

I'm thinking I might try to be ambitious and take a photo of my book haul and post that. No promises. I will promise to post a list of my purchases, though!

>222 EBT1002: Right! I do think the Aya characters will be easier for you to keep straight if you start with the first book.

Sorry to hear that the cough is still there. Get well soon, Ellen.
I loved The Bloody Chamber and it's great to hear that you like it, too.

Hi Ellen, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

>224 jnwelch: Done.

>225 Ameise1: Hey Barbara; thank you. I will tell you this: I am sick and tired of this cough! It's been over a week now so I will be going to the doctor this coming week. It's a gorgeous (if windy) Saturday in Seattle and I feel lousy. I will do laundry, read, rest. But I really wish I felt like going for a run or a long walk, making a trip to the wine shop, etc.

>226 Ameise1: Lovely spring blossoms!

26. The Martian by Andy Weir Audiobook




As usual, it took me quite a while to finish listening to this audiobook but I'm glad I stuck with it. Mark Whatney has been accidentally left behind on Mars, assumed dead. A botanist and engineer, he begins devising means for survival in the hopes that NASA will figure out some way to rescue him. He doesn't have any way of communicating with NASA, but you know, maybe they'll figure something out. R.C. Bray does an excellent job narrating this suspenseful speculative novel. Mark's log, through which we access most of his story, goes into scientific detail that might or might not be valid; surprisingly, this didn't make for boring narrative. Weir did a good job of interweaving humor, despair, hope, and other human elements into the scientific fiction --- or fictional science. I don't know which. My main quibbles are minor: First, I occasionally felt that the novel had been written too much with a screenplay in mind and this was distracting. It turns out that the novel was originally written as a blog, later developed into the novel. Once I knew this, the distraction faded. Second, I sometimes struggled with the stereotypic accents Bray implemented for characters with various nationalities, genders, or ethnic backgrounds. I don't know how else he would have managed the various characters and helped a listener keep them straight. I'm just acknowledging that this was noticeable and made me vaguely uncomfortable. Still, I'm giving it 3.5 stars and recommending it as a fun read listen!

27. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich




I first read this novel more than 20 years ago; my only memory was a vague sense of setting and that I had enjoyed it. I'm so glad I read it again for Mark's second annual American Author Challenge! It is the story of the Kashpaw and Nanapush families, members of the Ojibwe tribe living in North Dakota. Told from different perspectives and from different points in time, this collection of stories that read as a coherent novel are full of heart. Unsentimental and honest, they explore themes of family, love, longing, jealousy, and bitterness handed down through generations of oppression, poverty, and despair. It's not an angry novel, but neither is it a hopeful novel. It's just the story of two extended families with dreams and secrets. Erdrich's writing is beautiful. She moves fluidly between magical imagery, straightforward descriptions of events, individual and shared fantasies, and tragic realities. The characters will stay with me for a long time (especially as I know they reappear in other Erdrich novels and I absolutely plan to read more!). Highly recommended.

My Powell's Book Haul:

I have a stack of library books that will be due for return soon, so I think I'll read Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson next. I know a group of folks are reading the Walt Longmire series in alternation with Tony Hillerman's mysteries.

Kim(Berly) and I met for brunch and a Powell's excursion yesterday. I don't think I will be able to attend the April 25 Portland meet-up so I'm glad that Kim and I were able to connect. She was purchasing a book (I don't recall which one), saying that when she read it she would be completing a series. We were both lamenting how hard it is to do that because the author will keep writing more and new authors keep emerging!

I know that I have read the entire Travis McGee series (completed long ago), the 87th Precinct series (ditto), and all of Tony Hillerman's mystery novels. I also read all of J.A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont series way back when. And I'm pretty sure I read all of Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski mysteries while I was in graduate school in Illinois.

SO - perhaps I'll try to complete the Walt Longmire series next.

I hope you start feeling better after some rest this weekend, Ellen! I am doubly jealous of your time in Portland - Powell's AND Kim!!

As far as I can remember, the only series I've finished (I'm not counting trilogies), is Harry Potter. And I got such a ridiculous little thrill over finishing it :)

I'm so sorry that you still feel under the weather. It's probably the best to see a doctor. Sending you a load of healing vibes.

Great haul, Ellen. And how fun to meet with Kim. I finished The Mistress of the Art of Death series -- it's a short one, and the author died. I think there are five books?

I am about halfway through Paretsky's, which reminds me, it's time. I love authors who take a couple of years to write the next one -- it gives me time to catch up.

I hope rest this weekend helps you feel better.

GASP! You had cherry blossoms in March and we've got nothing but the first crocus of the season and now that the snow is completely gone we seen little tulip and hyacinth sprouts. *sigh*

Nice book haul from Powell's. Maybe one day I'll get to that part of the world and stop in at Powell's.
I hope to read The Martian but I'm not quite in the hurry I was in when it first came out. Lot's of meh comments.
Have a super weekend!

>232 katiekrug: Kim and I had a really great time, Katie. I just love getting to meet up with LT buddies in person. The only thing I'll warn you about is that she claimed she was going to blame me for every single purchase she made yesterday. I claim absolute innocence. Really.

"...I got such a ridiculous little thrill over finishing it."
This is interesting. I mean, I want to feel that. I think when I finished those series mentioned above (and all of these were a loooong time ago), what I remember feeling was sadness that I was done. No more Travis. No more Joe Leaphorn or Jim Chee. But, at the time, I was a bit narrow in my reading focus so I think it felt like I was "running out" of good things to read. I laugh at that now. What was I thinking????

>233 Ameise1: Yeah, I think the doc is in my future. I'm just not kicking this and I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. :-|

>234 BLBera: Beth, I bought The Mistress of the Art of Death based largely on your recommendations. So, with five in the series, maybe that's another one I can aim for. Of course, I'm sitting here thinking "Ellen. What you do >not need are more reading challenges."

The V.I. Warshawski series was one of those wonderful early female sleuth series. I loved that it was set in Chicago. I hated that she always went into dangerous situations on her own without letting anyone know where she was going, but the formula worked well in Paretsky's hands.

>235 Carmenere: Lynda, spring comes early to Seattle in a normal year and this year winter never really took hold. At this conference I just attended, we were all saying how guilty we all felt, wishing for rain and snow in January when the rest of the country was buried in record levels of the white stuff. Our tulips are at peak right now and most of the trees are in decline. Iris and rhododendrons will be next. :-)

I hope you get to this part of the world one of these days! Powell's is only one of our enchanting temptations.

I have a hard time imagining how The Martian would read (as opposed to listening to it). I found myself thinking that some of the scientific (pseudo-scientific?) bits would be boring, but Weir does inject a lot of humor into the narrative.

Currently reading:

Oh my am I caught up? Bwahaha!!!

Ellen I ordered a copy of The Bloody Chamber based on your review.

>215 benitastrnad: Wow if you ended up liking Rebecca then I will give it another chance. I tried reading it a few years ago and just could not get over mentally comparing the protagonist (will not call her a heroine at this point) with an unsalted soggy cracker.

^ Okay, truly, you just cracked me up, Roberta. Laughed. Out. Loud.

Another thing I like about Paretsky is that she centers her novels on issues. That reminds me, I'm due to read another one. I'm about halfway through. They work well on my Nook for the gym.

Well, I've got myself all confused. Another Man's Moccasins is the fourth in the Walt Longmire series and I have already read it. I read The Dark Horse (fifth in the series) in 2013. The earlier ones I had read before 2011 (aka Before LibraryThing or BLT). So, I'm thinking I must have read Another Man's Moccasins BLT, as well.

I'm marking it as such and moving along. I'll request Junkyard Dogs from the library as it is 6th in the series.

This is why I needed LT in my life.

>240 BLBera: Yes, I like that about Paretsky's work.

So, you have an e-reader that you read at the gym. What "machine" do you exercise on while reading from your Nook? Does the machine have a place for holding said Nook?

You know, I'm ever in the mode of trying to figure out "whether" I need a Kindle.... Ha!

I've been in rather a fickle book mood today. I'm finally landing on my next read.



This will advance my personal Booker Winner challenge and serve as my first time participating in Atwood April.

By the way, do you think Margaret Atwood knows about "Atwood April"??

I've to admit that I'm another Paretsky fan. I love her books.

I use different machines and most have a ledge for books. I could never read a book because the print is too small and turning pages didn't work for me. I like the elliptical. With the reader, I just have to tap to turn the page, and I can adjust the print to the right size. And if the book is really interesting, I extend my workout. A win, win.

Happy Saturday, Ellen. Nice book haul. Glad you had a nice Meet-Up with Kimmers. I told her, I plan on going to Oregon next year, so we will have to arrange some shenanigans.
Glad you got it figured out with the Longmire series. I think those books should be read in order.

"do you think Margaret Atwood knows about "Atwood April"?? She better!!

ETA: You have never joined us for AA? Really? Shuffles away...

I know what you mean about a fickle book mood! :) I never let on what I am reading until I am about 60 pages or more into my book. I want to make sure I'm not in the mood for the book before letting on that I am reading it. Long time ago I was a fan of Sara Paretsky series. Now I don't have a lot of series books going, but I did start a new series this year, The Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd. It's nice to have a series that you can " go to" when you are weary of your usual books , at least that is what I find. I guess I have more series going, but I have to wait for each new book!

My husband loves the Craig Johnson series. Nice haul from Powells! Oh I am jealous!

Sorry to hear that you are feeling unwell. We are having a beautiful weekend up here in Vancouver. Take it easy and get some rest. I'm headed out to walk the dog in the sunshine.

You'll have to let me know how you FIL knew of Farley Mowat. As I mentioned on my thread, I'm sure when my grandpa met him during WW11, during the war, Farley Mowat was just a young guy who had never written a book or anything, and was not a person of note. My grandpa was probably about 28 or 29 when he went into WW11 - shortly after he married and had my my mom. My grandma was none too thrilled with his choice. But I guess people were just swept away with the feeling that they had to go to war . I know my grandpa was on the old side, and also had a heart murmur and fixed flat feet, so he really did not have to go.

>244 Ameise1: It's been a long time since I read one of Paretsky's novels but I remember enjoying them!

>245 BLBera: Oh boy, that is tempting. I can never read books on machines for the reasons you say -- and I sweat too much to hold the book anyway! Just tapping it to turn the page sounds perfect.

*adds to the list of reasons for purchasing a Kindle*

>246 msf59: Hello, Mark! I am very happy that you'll be returning to Oregon next year. We were saying that the large group meet-up last year was really fun. I'm definitely in for the second installment!

Yes, I'm glad I figured out the whole Longmire thing. Sheesh.

It's really true. I have read Atwood, of course, but never formally for AA. I am about 60 pages into The Blind Assassin and I can already understand its Booker win!

>247 vancouverdeb: "I never let on what I am reading until I am about 60 pages or more into my book."
Now *that* is a great idea. Consider it borrowed.
Deb, I think of you as a series-reading guru! Maybe it's because you have completed so many series (which would contribute to the lack of any going at present). Or I'm just confused. That is certainly possible. :-|
I've read the first in the Charles Todd series and liked it. P is a big fan.

Thanks for the kind words, Deb. The only good thing is that I got some reading time in today. It was a weird weather day. Gorgeous one moment, raining the next, sunny and raining at the same time in the next moment. Mostly it has been lovely and I now have the front door open so I can hear the evening birdsong through the screen. I LOVE these longer and longer days!! Our tulips and lilacs are all abloom.

My FIL was a conscientious objector during WWII and served out his time working in a mental institution in Pennsylvania -- and "volunteering" for a research project on jaundice. They gave him hepatitis in a study that would never pass a Review Board these days. Now that I'm checking with P, the only "connection" may be that her mom, my MIL, really liked Mowat's books. They knew so many people of note that I tend to think they knew everyone.

Time for dinner!

Whew, I'm finally up to date here, Ellen. Glad that you enjoyed Angela Carter as I am a fan of her earthy writing. I seem to have more of a chance finishing trilogies rather than a series these days, but all too often, just when you are about to finish that third book, you find out this trilogy had suddenly become a quartet!

Ellen , I suppose I certainly have had series going on! Karin Fossum. I read several by Henning Mankell , but then I wearied of him! ;) also loved Arnaldur Indriðason, but then I think I've read the last in his series. I must admit if I find a series that I like, I can read 3 in a row! * blushes to self* . I do love Susan Hill and her fabulous series that takes place in Lafferton, but she only pumps out a book every 1 1/2 years or so! I also love Alan Bradley , but once again, he pumps out a book or so ,every year to year and a half. But you are right, if I find a series that I like, I can really go for it! ;)

We also had a weird weather day today. Initially it looked to be sunny, but then the minute I got out the door with the dog, it clouded over, so I wore my gortex. Then off course the sun came out shortly after. Later in the day I was out again - and what a cold , damp breeze was up. Brrr. So we had the same sort of weather that you did, which is no surprise.

I really admire your father in law, for being a conscientious objector. I think the powers that be were even worse to the C.O's. than the wars might have been . I just know of two C.O's - one a friend of mine's father. He was Mennonite, but he went to war, but only in a non- combat role as a medic . The other person I know of is a friend's grandfather who was a conscientious objector in Germany in WW1. He was sent to a " work camp" and nearly starved to death .

Good Sunday Morning, Ellen. I hope your cough is becoming less frequent, and less powerful. Or if not that, I hope your visit with the medico brings some effective help.

I looked at The Crystal hotel in Portland for the meet-up and unfortunately they had no rooms for Saturday, the 25th, so I booked a room for Thursday night, the 23rd. I guess I will miss meeting up with people but I should by then have a credit on my account and will be able to in leisure pick out a book haul. Looking forward to it, and I'll probably get to visit with my friends who live there, too!

Thanks for mentioning The Crystal. It looks like it will be a hoot to stay there.

I'm still reading Going Clear and it is so weird I needed a counterpoint, so I purchased The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House from Audible. It is a relaxing, and pleasant peek into the lives of the staff which serve the first families. I'm finding I have to put Going Clear down every so often, and the white house book is a good antidote to the weirdness of the Scientology story. Although, it is also weird in its own way. The description of LBJ's desire for a shower with sufficient water pressure and hot water to turn him into a lobster was so strange.

I am looking forward to the f2f book group on Monday, I think the discussion should be a good one.

Hi, Ellen! I hope that your cough has improved today. I agree with the general consensus that a visit to your doctor or clinic is in order.

I'm thrilled to see Nada and The History of the Siege of Lisbon in the pile of books you bought from Powell's. I loved the Laforet, and I'll read the Saramago very soon.

>250 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I love your description of Angela Carter's writing as "earthy." Spot on.

>251 vancouverdeb: So, a few series in there, Deb. I also wearied of Henning Mankell before finishing the series, but I do like the PBS series based on his work. Very dark.

My FIL is a Quaker (the liberal branch) so he was not going to fight. I agree that the service and other ways they found for COs to be "of use" were fairly brutal. I wonder if there are any good novels with that as a story line....

>252 maggie1944: Karen, I'm glad the Crystal Hotel turned out to be a place to stay, although it's too bad it won't overlap with the meet-up. I assume the meet up is scheduled for that Saturday. I wish I could drive down for it but I will be participating in a suicide-prevention awareness walk on the UW campus. Assuming I can walk 5K by then. The cough is no better. I sent an e-message to my doc just now, sort of hoping she'll Rx some antibiotics without seeing me (although probably not). In the past half-dozen years I have developed a spring bronchitis thing. One year it morphed into walking pneumonia. I'm fearful that it's done that again. *sad face*

I thought of you as I walked past the Scientology storefront in Portland the other day. Weird. That's all I have to say. Weird.

Despite the cough and tiredness, I plan to be at f2f book group tomorrow!

>253 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl. I've e-messaged my doc and figure she'll squeeze me in somehow this week. I hope so. Nine days of coughing, wheezing, and just wanting to sleep is, well, too many days.

Your comments about Nada were what landed it on my wish list and I was pleased that Powell's had a used copy. Also, so many people have praised The History of the Siege of Lisbon. It sounds like a must-read.

Last evening I was perusing my downstairs bookshelves and noticed that I actually own copies of The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis and Death With Interruptions! I had no memory of acquiring those, but there they sit next to my beloved copy of The Elephant's Journey. I loved that novel so I'm optimistic about the others by Saramago. I also read Blindness several years ago and thought it was brilliant and brutal.

Happy Sunday, Ellen. I am getting a few things done around the homestead but I am also getting some book-time in. Grins...

Hope you are enjoying your day.

I hope you're able to get that nasty cough treated soon, Ellen. It sounds like more than just a mild annoyance.

#234 & 236
You guys aren't done with those series. Ariana Franklin wrote four books in the Mistress of the Art of Death series and now her daughter has written a fifth. Supposedly, from the extensive notes her mother left for this fifth novel.

Tony Hillerman has stopped writing the Leaphorn/Chee novels but now his daughter is writing them. The first of her novels was published last summer and it continues the Leaphorn/Chee series.

Publishers encourage this kind of continuation because it means money their pockets. There is a ready made readership and a proven plot points that advertising campaigns can hinge upon. That is why so many of the best seller series titles are being continued even though the author has died. Or the reason why somebody wrote a sequel to Gone With the Wind.

Nice book haul Ellen! And what a wonderful treat that you got to meet up with Kim as well. :)

I have The Time In Between sitting on my TBR mountain but that book is a monster so we will have to see.

Yay for Atwood April. I hope you enjoy The Blind Assassin. That is sitting on my TBR mountain. I think that line is getting old....haha!

I hope you feel better soon. I am in the middle of an annoying cold myself. Can't wait to shake these germs off.

>256 msf59: Hi Mark! A Sunday with some book time -- that is a good thing. I have read about 100 pages in The Blind Assassin. This may be a 5-star read.

>257 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura. I hope I can get in to see my doc tomorrow. Oddly, she and I will be in a meeting together at 10am. That may be weird.

>258 benitastrnad: Um, Benita, I have not yet started that series! All I've done (so far) is purchase the first. But I'm looking forward to it.

You know, I know it's not entirely fair, but I have a bias against family members continuing a well-established series. For me, the series died with Tony. I know, I know. His daughter may be a better writer and, as our sensibilities have evolved, her tales may have a more modern sense of social justice. So, I should probably give her a try.

I have issues with Gone With the Wind. I admit to having loved the classic film with the ever handsome Clark Gable, but the depiction of slaves as happy.... Well, I just can't stomach it now. So a sequel written by a relative -- not for me!

>259 jolerie: Hi Valerie! My meet-up with Kim and my book haul are indeed good things. P read The Time in Between and recommended it. BIL read it in Spanish and liked it, as well.

Valerie, I highly recommend The Blind Assassin. I'm almost 2/5 through it and it's truly a remarkable read. I can hardly put it down. I did take a break to watch last week's "Call the Midwife" but now I'm back to it. Take it off that mountain and read it!

P is looking up the recipe for gingerbread cake. Happy sigh.