Sibyx (Lucy) Reads in May

The flowers are hepatica, a very delicate spring bloom. Spring is here, but very tentatively!

***May Current Reads***

♬

✔ Nothing Sacred Angela Carter lit essays
✔ Transatlantic Colum McCann contemp fic
♬ Caveat Emptor Ruth Downie mys

Ongoing
Murdoch Marathon: See you in 2015! IM readers group is HERE
Virago Soon?
Reading the New Yorker 2014 Read my reviews here: HERE
Now reading The New Yorker 2015 no reviews yet: January 2015

58. ✔ Desolation Road Ian McDonald sf ****
59. new The Final Sacrifice Patricia Bray fantasy (3 Chronicles of Josan) ***1/2
60. new White Nights Ann Cleeves mys ****
61. new Moon Tiger Penelope Lively contemp fic ****1/2
62. ♬ Symphony of Echoes (2nd of 5) Jodi Taylor sf/ time travel ***1/2
63. New Yorker magazine, December 2015
64. ✔ Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life Natalie Dykstra bio ****
65. ✔ Local Custom (in Pilot's Choice) Sharon Lee & Steve Miller sf ****
66. ✔Scout's Progress Sharon Lee & Steve Miller sf:sp/op ****1/2
67. ✔ Mouse & Dragon Sharon Lee & Steve Miller sf:sp/op ****
68. ✔A Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume 1 Sharon Lee & Steve Miller****

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

***Read in April***

41. The New Yorker: November 2014 (nf)
42.✔ Slow Money Woody Tasch nf econ **
43. ✔ The Circle Dave Eggers contemp fic ****
44. ✔Chi Running Danny Dreyer nf health ****
45. ✔ Excession Iain Banks sf *****
46. ✔ Black Irish Stephan Talty mys ***1/2
47. ✔ The First Betrayal Patricia Bray fantasy ***1/2
48. ♬ How to Train Your Dragon Cressida Cowell fant ****
49. ✔ The Sea Change Patricia Bray(Josan 2) fantasy ***1/2
50. new Ancillary Sword Ann Leckie Imperial Radch-2) sf *****
51. new Raven Black Ann Cleeves mys ***1/2
52. new Hounded Kevin Hearne fantasy ***1/4
53. ✔ Freedom Jonathan Franzen contemp fic ***1/2
54.♬ Terra Incognita Ruth Downie (Medico Ruso 2) mys ****
55. ✔ The Idea of Perfection Kate Grenville contemp f ****1/2
56. ♬ Persona Non Grata Ruth Downie mys ****
57. ✔ Between the Woods and the Water Patrick Leigh Fermor memoir *****

Reflections
Zowee! I have no idea how I pulled off reading so many books this month! The continuing cold led to listening to audio while knitting or hemming pants I've been wearing with safety pins in! A long car trip, some choices of shorter books, some books that were very long and carried over from March, or books that weren't long but were slow reading and carried over from March . . . you get the picture. Perfectly reflecting the overall gloom, the month is skewed toward lighter fiction, sf/f, mystery, and audio. I also must confess that a few books were read very quickly (the Patricia Bray comes to mind)-- being pretty much all plot. Three five star books, two of them SF, a Banks and the latest Leckie, and the second volume of the Fermor memoir, my last book of the month (I'm posting the review on this thread too as it is the very last item on my old thread). A notable read was the Kate Grenville, an Orange prize winner in 2001, set in Australia. It wasn't just quantity either, the quality overall was reasonable. Two Enough Alreadys and while I always feel a little twinge when I make that choice, it also feels good, like throwing out that old sweater you never really liked anyway but kept because it was cashmere or something silly. I can't possibly read like this in May, can I?

Reading Stats
Total: 17
Men:8
Women: 9
Non-fiction: 4
Lit Fiction: 3
SF/F: 5
Mystery: 4
YA or J: 1
Poetry: 0
New author: 8
Months of NYers: 1

Housekeeping
*In: 5 2015 Total= 13
Out: 8 2015 Total=14
From library or borrowed:
Audio: 3
New: 3
Old: 10
Read it or Get Rid of It: 2 (Total=3)

* Books In
9. Let me be Frank With You Richard Ford
10. Ancillary Sword Jo Walton
11. What Makes This Book So Great Jo Walton
12. The Peripheral William Gibson
13. The Just City Jo Walton

ENOUGH ALREADY! I QUIT! 2015
1. ✔The Club Dumas Arturo Perez-Reverte mys (March)
2. ✔ In the American Grain William Carlos Williams essays/Am hist (April)
3. gift/new Archaeology in Romania Andrew Mackenzie nf (April)
4. ✔ In Sunlight and In Shadow Mark Helprin contemp fic (May)

Series Tally 2015

Started in 2015
Shetland Ann Cleeves (2 of 5) NEXT UP: Red Bones (3)
Medicus Ruth Downie mys (3 of 6 READ) READING Caveat Emptor (4)
Lady Trent's Memoirs (1 of 3) NEXT UP : The Tropic of Serpents (2)
Iron Druid Chronicles Kevin Hearne (1 of 9) NEXT UP: Hexed (2)

Continuing in 2015
Chronicles of St. Mary's (2 of ) NEXT UP:
Culture Iain Banks (10) NEXT UP: Inversions (5th of 10)
Walk to Constantinople Patrick Leigh Fermor (2 of 3) Next Up: The Broken Road
Liaden Universe (11th? 12th?) READING Local Custom

Completed or caught up with in 2015
The High Lord Trudi Canavan (3 of 3)
Cormoran Strike (2 of 2)
Pegasus 1 of 1 (more forthcoming.....)
Serrano Legacy Elizabeth Moon(3 of 3)
The Old Kingdom Garth Nix(4 of 4)
Imperial Radch (2of 2) Next Up - 3 coming out in Nov 15.
Chronicles of Josan (2 of 3) READING: The Final Sacrifice (3)

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

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

********* NEW!**********
Books on Offer
Come back and check the list from time to time.
( I'll try and mention when I add a book.
And I'll cross out any that get taken or if/when
I do get to Goodwill.)

New:
Fiction:
In Sunlight and In Shadow Mark Helprin
Freedom Jonathan Franzen
Two new books of poetry:
(gentlelessness) Dan Beachy-Quick
The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison Maggie Smith
Another dupe found on the sf shelves!
Eyes of Amber Joan D. Vinge

These are still floating around too:
The Club Dumas Arturo Perez-Reverte
In the American Grain William Carlos Williams
Archaeology in Romania Andrew Mackenzie

Old:
Because I forgot to take them to Goodwill yesterday I still have:

5 David Eddings - Magician's Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, Queen of Sorcery, Enchanter's End Game, Pawn of Prophecy Please take them all!
The first 6 of the Michael Scott series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Please take all!!!
Josephine Tey Brat Farrar
Complete series: Patricia Bray The First Betrayal, The Sea Change, and after I read it, The Final Sacrifice
Sjowall Wahloo The Locked Room

*peeking in to see if it's safe to post yet*

Happy new thread, Lucy!

Me too. Happy New Thread! How did it get to be May?????

I'm pulling this review over here too, as it was the last thing I read in April. If you are a memoir-travel reader the Fermors are a MUST.

57. memoir/travel *****
Between the Woods and the Water Patrick Leigh Fermor

The middle book of Fermor's memoir of his walk across Europe to Constantinople at the age of 19, in 1934. After I read the first one, I couldn't bear to go on, knowing what happened to the people and countries through which he passed--but I finally got up the courage for the next book, and indeed, another idyll, as Fermor crosses into Hungary and then Romania. He makes a big circle through the mountains of Transylvania, traveling sometimes alone, sometimes with friends, spending nights with shepherds or alone. Towards the end as Fermor heads down towards the Danube and Bulgaria, I got so excited by his description of the Kazan and the Iron Gates, the footpath path hewn in the rocks, Trajan's bridge remains, the incredible wildlife . . . I was devastated to learn it is all gone, gone, gone buried underwater--a huge hydroelectric dam blocks the Danube there and while I am sure it brought prosperity to people who needed it (am I??) I cannot help but feel sickened by the costs--costs which may be higher than we can imagine. A lyrical introduction to a Romania that was and a time that is no more. *****

Why now? I've been eyeing it for awhile on my nf shelf. Also it was small and suitable for packing.

Loved the comments on Patrick Leigh Fermor on the last thread (ETA: and this one!). Such a beautiful book - I can't quite get my head round the fact that he remembered his travels so long afterwards in such detail. At least in the early 2000s some sections of Romania were still as he described - green, rural, full of wildlife.

>8 sibylline: I could tell from the scouting about on the internet that I did that this is true - I was mostly devastated by the dam on the Danube. As I get older and crankier I find I am getting rather anti-dam. I'd like to go to Romania!

It also brought to mind The Road Home - the Rose Tremain I read last year. No more wood to cut and mill so no more job, and then a huge dam going in.

Happy New Thread, Lucy.

>8 sibylline: I read that one years ago and loved it.

Happy new thread, Lucy!

Oh, I so love Patrick Leigh Fermor. If i didn't have so many books on my TBR, I would read about that journey again.

>9 charl08: Charlotte - I think Fermor did a great deal of research when he went back to write the books -- and it sounds as though he revisited more than a few of the places that he went through too. Somewhere in this one he remarks that the impression that a particular sojourn made on his mind and memory was so deep that as he turned corners he would know what the shape of a rock or tree ahead was going to be and there it would be.

Happy new thread Lucy! And have a happy weekend!

>15 sibylline: That revisiting makes more sense to me - I read an article by his biographer which gave me the impression he was conjuring a lot up from memory and a first draft written in the 60s, which just seemed incredible (e.g. the detailed descriptions of the food he ate). It also mentioned that many of his notes were destroyed by Harrods who had them in storage and just got rid of them when they weren't collected (!!).

Not to disparage the books in any way. I loved them - although my Romanian friend was mystified as to why I wanted a postcard of the hotel where he met the mysterious woman in Cluj (I think I still have this somewhere).

Happy new thread, Lucy and may your weather warm up quickly.

Happy new thread, Lucy!!

4. Enough Already, I Quit!
contemp fic

This is the third Helprin. I loved Winter's Tale. I did not love, but persisted with Memoir From An Ant-Proof Case but this time, I am not going to keep on. The tone is elegiac, the descriptions are detailed and I have little doubt lovingly researched and accurate, but the magic just isn't there. I love reading about 'old' New York, or what I think of as "E.B.White's" New York. The story that isn't going to work for me. Why? I can't really say, perhaps because the two protagonists, Catherine and Harry are elevated to the status of minor deities, one for courage the other for her beauty and it feels . . . like too much work to read it for 700 pages. They aren't people I can identify with at all. I'm sorry because Helprin writes so well. So far none of the pure magic that was in Winter's Tale seems to have made its way into his other fiction.

This is now listed up above in my 'on offer' spot. >5 sibylline:.

Oh, I like the idea of having an "on offer" spot, especially since PBS changed their policies. I'll have to set that up on my thread.

People, the David Eddings series really is fun. It's basic epic fantasy, especially because one of the goals of writing it was to include as many classic tropes as possible, but I love the characters and their interactions and the wry sense of humor. Unfortunately, other than the continuations of this series (and I've read them all), I don't like ANY of Eddings' other works. But this one will always be in my library because I do reread the entire thing every decade.

I have to second Roni's recommendation for the Belgariad – I would have snapped that up if I hadn't bought them all earlier this year.

I enjoyed the Eddings until suddenly I had had enough, many many volumes in. . . If I had more room I'd probably keep them around!

Kriti - so sorry you bought them all!!! If only I'd gotten around to the "On Offer" idea sooner! I don't mind mailing books to others, assuming they will do the same for me and that it will all, eventually, even out. I find managing PBS a bit tedious as well. These are all books I'm going to give away one way or another, so might as well have my chums at LT get first dibs, eh?

I may eventually move the Eddings to Kindle if some good deals come around on them. Actually, checking, IF they put out a Kindle version, and it looks like I did get rid of my copies of the Mallorean, but only because they were hardbacks I bought as they came out and they took up WAY too much space on my shelves. Do you know The Rivan Codex is the only one that's available on Kindle? I guess some of the books are available in the UK on Kindle. I would totally buy the Mallorean quintet for Kindle rather than replacing them with used paperbacks.

Just swinging through on a Sunday, Lucy, to say hello and enjoy your reviews, even when they're negative. I'm glad you talked about the Fermor books; I own them but have been a bit afraid to plunge in. You make them sound very engaging.

A dozen or so books left my house this week. Merely a token, but still it's a start.

Chiming in to whole-heartedly agree about the Eddings books - one of my favorite series of all time. Those characters feel like my best friends.

>23 sibylline: I love the "on offer" idea! I am still very reluctant to get rid of books, but my bookshelf space is filling up fast, so I will probably need to do that soon.

I still haven't read the Mallorean, but I'm saving it for when I need some familiar characters again.

>27 kgodey: But Kriti! After you read through the 5 books of The Mallorean, you get to go through the WHOLE story two more times, once from Belgareth's pov Belgarath the Sorcerer and once from Polgara's pov Polgara the Sorceress. So there's no sense in saving up for a rainy day. There is MORE! And I loved them all.

Another one who'd like to go to Romania after reading the Fermor. Of course, I had the ideal opportunity whilst living in Hungary, but alas, the relationship between those two neighbours is somewhat complicated and chilly, and a rather frosty welcome can be expected for travellers from Hungary, so we never did it then. Perhaps one of these days when we go to visit the in-laws we'll pluck up the courage to venture a little further East...

Loving the Miss Po adoration on the previous page. And I know it's not the point of the pic, but I am heartened to see students that look like PROPER students. I was beginning to despair at how wholesome and boring students look, after living in two big university towns. Exeter students are notoriously well-bred and all look like their parents - Barbour jacket and wellies twinned with pearls for the girls and chinos and deck shoes for the boys. Yeuch! The typical Manchester student is a little more interesting, but honestly, the times I visited campus to see the husband I looked like the one most likely to start a revolution out of the lot! That's surely not the natural order of things! Ok, fashion correspondent signing off!

You would LOVE the way the people, male and female, dress at Sarah Lawrence. Definitely on the wild side. You would NEVER see any chinos or pearls or deck shoes, maybe some wellies but they would be peculiar in some special way.

58. sf ****
Desolation Road Ian McDonald

Sometimes I have to be dragged along, semi-reluctantly, through imaginative science fiction. I say imaginative, because this is a 'verse where anything (really!) is possible if you want it badly enough. Do machines become human? Or do humans become machines? See how your view of it changes as you switch the words around? That sort of playfulness is the underpinning of Desolation Road. It is a place that comes into being . . . because . . . it has to, it was one of many possibilities on the time line, but more than that. Did I say it is set on a terraformed Mars? Just a couple of hundred (double our time) years old. During a fifteen year (Mars time) the town of Desolation, founded by one Dr. Alimantado by accident, comes to be. Families arrive, things happen, people leave, and a destiny grinds along. It's not 'easy' sf, it's simultaneously rather silly at times and full of serious ideas. Not for the inexperienced sf reader. There are other McDonald's that are far easier. ****

Why now? Beats me - the red cover attracted me? It wasn't the quite the right read for me at the moment, I had to make myself slow down and pay attention, but when I wasn't reading it, I mulled about things in it, the sign of a good book, eh?

From your prior thread: I love the room coincidence. And the photos of Posey are (as always) wonderful. She is very stoic, indeed, while being bathed. Maybe she knows on some level that the end result will be 2+ hours of love and attention by her adoring fans.

I'm trying to remember your rubric for "counting" issues of The New Yorker. Do you get one book's worth of credit for each month of NY completed? And I vaguely recall that you are self-compassionate, allowing yourself to make a good faith effort with the magazine but allowing yourself not to read everything.

I'm glad spring is finding it's way to your part of the world, Lucy.

>32 EBT1002: Ellen - that is exactly right about the NYers - one month=one book and I don't have to read every word. I rarely read the theatre or music reviews in the back, skim the movie reviews. I never read The Talk which has always put me in a bad temper (smug, NY as center of universe, etc). At the top of the thread is a link to my NYer threads - I am reading the last issue of 2014 at the mo'. A double, taking forever!

Nature Notes

The mallards have decided to nest here and I KNOW where the nest is. Instead of clearing away all our brush we put some into neat heaps and leave them in the woods for wildlife. Anyway we have a small "feeder" pond (feeds the big pond) meant to catch silt and I noticed Mr. M. hanging about in that pond and then I noticed that one of the brush piles about ten feet back from it had a sort of opening that I didn't remember. Got out the binocs and I could just see Mrs. M's head inside. If there is anywhere relatively defensible around this pond, I think they've found it. The snapping turtle lives in the big pond at the very far end. Weasels could burrow in and steal eggs, but will they?. Crows would have a hard time getting in and out without being pounded hard by Mr and Mrs. So I think we will at least get a hatching. Those few weeks after when the ducklings are tiny will be tense! I never imagined ducks nesting in one of those piles. Our huge brush pile which tumbles down a big drop off is sort of Watership Down at this point. Full of rabbits and who knows who else.

I'll take a photo of the brush pile but you'll have to imagine the rest!

We had ducks in our (very small) garden who looked like they were in the nesting mood. I chased them off as we are a cut-through for about four different cats, and I was (am) in no mood for chewed ducklings. Sounds like yours have got a defence strategy in place :-)

That sounds wise. I put bell collars on the cats for the day and they only go out 9-5. They say bells don't work, but they must do something as both cats like to bring their prey to "share" with us, they never bring birds when they have their collars on. Shrews, moles, mice, frogs but no birdses. (I rescue frogs when I can.) And, again wisely, these mallards have chosen a spot where the cats very rarely go. It's near my writing hut, but I'm not using it much right now as I need to be plugged in endlessly to do the editing I'm doing these days--helpful because one cat does like to follow me out there and he takes a route that goes very near the pile. I don't think our cats would mess with the duck parental units--especially after having the rather intimidating Canada Geese around last year, but I'll keep them in possibly during that critical tiny ball of fluff week if I have to.

Ooh a mallard nest! Totally cool. Our Canada Geese hatched goslings earlier this week, which is an annual event. Can't wait to see your ducklings.

59. fantasy ***1/2
The Final Sacrifice Patricia Bray (3)

Perhaps I had time to grow accustomed to Bray's storytelling style, but I enjoyed this final book more than I expected to. If I had to specifically categorize this Josan trilogy I could call is military fantasy. Romance is subordinate, humor is pretty much absent, conversation is purposeful. The plot rules. And it's a good plot, I have to say that, and Bray follows it through. I've been harsh and I do still feel that all three books lack a certain core warmth which I cherish in all the genre reading I do. I can't wildly recommend these, but if you like military fantasy/sf and like an intricate story, these may work perfectly for you! ***1/2

Why now Completion. Closure. Started 'em, had to finish 'em.

I can't get a decent photo of the duck nesting spot. Maybe sometime Mr and Mrs are swimming around in the big pond I'll creep a little closer but I'm loathe to scare/bother anyone so I might just let it be.

So warm today that I have the garage door open at 9:30. The "heavy dusting" of snow was exactly two weeks ago! Today it might be 85. Incredible! Everything is popping out, leaves on most of the shrubs and trees almost visibly unfurling. A few early tulips blooming, lilacs coming along. Lovely.

Hi Lucy, I love your story about the mallards. It's so wonderful to see ducks breeding so close from home. I wish you a lovely weekend.

Congratulations on having Mallards nesting on your property. We have the swans on the backyard pond in a family way, too. There's almost always a sad ending for the cygnets, though, because we have some large snapping turtles who are partial to baby swan snacks. It is puzzling to me how the Canada Geese keep their young alive in the same swimming hole. We let our fence row grow over as a wildlife retreat, but our neighbors would probably object to a big brush pile.

I hope May is a quality reading month for you, Lucy. You sure did well in April due to that perfect storm of reading events.

Already May is looking like a 'normal' fair weather season month for reading. That is, we're a third of the way through the month and I have finished two books.

I'm hoping the mallards will do better than your swans - our big mama (we've seen her lay eggs) snapping turtle lives at the far end of the 'big pond' which is long and curved and narrow. I've never seen her cross to the feeder pond. Last year the geese lost at least one gosling to the snapper -- they quickly moved over to the feeder pond after that and then down to the lower field where there is a kind of marshy area, then they came back. Very complicated!

We've had the most fabulous heat but, alas, that is ending after today. Back to more typical Vermont spring weather. No snow, thank goodness! But rain and sun and wind and changeable. I'm ok with it because it should slow things down and help the flowers last.

Happy to see packs of bumblebees around the lungwort (very pretty blue flower).

I love watching how the book cover colors shift as I finish one and start another - here is what was up at the end of January:
***January Current Reads***
♬

And here is what is up now!
♬

Dark to light and all that lilac!

Ooh, Moon Tiger. Good book, that. I like the more seasonal colors too!

Happy to hear about the smart mallard mom! I wish them well and you, happy watching.
>43 sibylline: Are you planning greens for summer reading? *Echoes* would be a great transition book, but you're reading it too early for it to last until summer.
I begin to question whether I'm a reader at all. I have all this stuff I enjoy, and I'm just not getting into it. I hope that trend changes quickly!

Hmm, that would be an interesting way to choose books, seasonal colors on the covers. It's as random as anything! I like it!

>45 LizzieD: and >46 sibylline: - I love that method of choosing books. Filing it away for next year!

Lucy, happy May thread. I love it when you open your threads with photos from your beautiful property. The hepatica does look delicate, and lovely, and very much like spring.

>43 sibylline: How funny that your covers reflect the spring colours. I don't think I'd have noticed, but really striking when you point it out.

Stopping by my thread to say busy busy must be spring around here! Hope to visit everyone soon.

60. mys ****
White Nights Ann Cleeves

Detective Perez is called to a death scene, what looks like a hanging suicide . . . but it quickly becomes apparent it is much more complicated than that, involving the history of the tiny hamlet of Biddista on this Shetland Isle. The setting is wonderful, I like Perez and hope things keep going well with Fran, and found this lot of characters reasonably compelling although there were some odd parallels in the structure of the plot, and I wouldn't have killed off one of the characters, I will definitely keep on with the series. Hard to say much about a mystery without giving things away!****

Why Now? I'm committed to this series and I got them all from the spousal unit for Christmas, so that's what I read when it's time for a mystery in my round robin genre reading (sf, fantasy, mystery). So now it is back to sf. Who knows what that will be! Maybe I'll keep on with the seasonally appropriate cover.

I'd like to read the next Iain Banks but I keep forgetting to get hold of a copy!

61. contemp fic ****1/2
Moon Tiger Penelope Lively

I remember the anti-mosquito coil with the tiger face although I didn't immediately connect it with the title. As with every other aspect of Moon Tiger as I read it began to take on meanings until by the end I though, heavens! I could write a dissertation just on the choice of title! From the start, Claudia, a historian/journalist, who lies in bed in a hospice dying, promises that she will tell her history as she pleases, and because she is the world, her story no matter how she tells it, will be whole. Like the burning coil, events spiral, never quite touching again, but brushing by one another. The core time in Claudia's life was during the war (#2) during a few months in Egypt where she was posted as a journalist and where she fell in love fully and generously for the only time in her life. Much later, when a pompous (and famous) actor states that women don't have any decision-making abilities, Claudia chides him by mentioning the Fates, (and the Furies and the Muses) and he stops and stares at her appalled and intrigued, one of these damned intelligent women! But we all think only of the time when the Fates snipped one life and changed the course of another forever. And no matter what things happen, good and bad, the coil keeps burning. Every aspect of Moon Tiger is considered, from the seemingly random placement of Claudia's memories to the awkwardness of her relations with everyone but the very few, her brother Gordon (which has a shocking aspect) and, briefly, her lover Tom Southern, in Egypt; the latter being, perhaps, the one person in her entire life with whom she could be intimate, claws sheathed. I should add that other voices are heard, so we see Claudia from other points of view, and thus learn that she isn't 'right' about everything, some of her held notions are just plain wrong. There are surprises too, wonderful ones, not the least of which is her adoption of Laszlo the moody Hungarian refugee. Claudia's is a life lived full, and full of contradictions, ugliness, beauty, sweetness and no sentimentality at all, not one drop. Oh and funny too -- the visit to Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts with her brother Gordon, was a hoot! ****1/2

Why now I was at the F's in my strange alphabetical reading method and that is the book that jumped into my hands. I know that many of my LT buddies loved it, so perhaps that is why it jumped out!

Good. I'm glad that you also liked Moon Tiger, Lucy. I look forward to your review.
I'll also surely read some more Ann Cleves, thanks to you for spurring me on to my first one.

Hurray! Also looking forward to your review of Moon Tiger.

Uh oh, promising a review, puts on a little pressure, doesn't it?

Also here to report that I'm off in a couple of hours to go pick up the LD at school. She's had a wonderful year and I can't believe a) it's done b) she'll be home all summer!

The 'wall of green' that is Vermont in the summer is up and running. I love it! Was in my outdoor shower this morning, ducks in the pond, geese over head and all the other birds twittering and carrying on. Bliss.

Driving all day, not bliss, but I'm listening to the second St. Mary's and I have the fourth Medico book all lined up on my ipod. And it's charged up.

Okay now for the review.

Hi Lucy, I wish you a wonderful weekend and safe travel.

62.
A Symphony of Echoes Jodi Taylor

Another romp through time, while the overall plot remains the same one, the evil Ronan, rogue time-traveler, there are encounters with Jack the Ripper, the Hanging Gardens of . . . Nineveh, and a hot encounter with the sexy Bothwell, downfall of Mary Queen of Scots. Max and Leon have their own ups and downs, of course. A great listen, once again. Taylor once again can shift from the wide angle lens to micro-focus in the blink of an eye (by that what I really mean is the serious-ish to the mundane and even silly, but that is what makes it fun.) ****

Why now It was the next up on my listening list and I had a nice long trip in which to finish it!

Definitely making up some for the very slow start to May (compared to April, that is).

I also really enjoyed Moon Tiger, Lucy. Great review!

I agree with Nancy and think you ought to post that one on the book page.

Wow! Gobsmacked by your review of Moon Tiger! I'm glad I picked it up not long ago. I loved White Nights and need to go back, re-read the series to get up to speed, and move on to finish up. And I've been fascinated by the unfortunate Clover Adams since reading The Five of Hearts, a book about a close circle of friends, including Clover, a couple of years ago.

On the ducks: we had many mallards and black ducks, as well as two pairs of wood ducks (adorable and beautiful) in Florida. My late Dh built a feeder and we fed them for years. It was wonderful to watch them, especially when they brought the ducklings up.

Have a wonderful and restful Sunday, Lucy.

Lucy, what a great review of Moon Tiger! I read it earlier this year, and you have captured it perfectly. Did you post it - if so, I will thumb.

SO happy that you are getting the LD back for the summer - WAHhoo!!

You're all so nice! First I had to reread the review to see what I wrote, and then I obediently posted it!

I'm in Croton at my B&B - nice and humid here -- in an hour or so I head over to school for the packing up fun! I can't believe a whole year has gone by so fast.

Here's what I'm reading at the moment, I'm afraid the latest Medicus is spoiling the springly look.... but there is a light/dark theme at least.

♬

I should add, I am disappointed by the cover of Local Custom (I'm actually reading a different edition, two novels in one, Pilot's Choice but that cover stinks too. The woman should be MUCH browner and the man is just all wrong, period.

Loving Transatlantic so far!

Thanks for posting it, Lucy. I gave it my thumb!

You are right about the awfulness of the Local Custom cover. I also have the Pilot's Choice duology. I love the stories, though!

Jealous of the medicus book, I've not been able to get my hands on it yet!

Oh, I love TransAtlantic! I bought a hardcover of it for my permanent library and am looking forward to re-visiting it via audio one day soon...

AH------- I guess you're not on the road for home yet then.
I'm glad you're enjoying your books. The sentence fragments in TransAtlantic eventually drove me crazy if I remember correctly, but I certainly recall the story, so that's a good thing. *sigh* for Lee and Miller; likewise Downie. And I'm still waiting for PBS to find a copy of *5 of Hearts* for me.
Off to thumb the *MT* review!

I was a big fan of Let the Great World Spin but haven't tried TransAtlantic yet.

I also loved TransAtlantic : ).

Ah yes, the sentence fragments. Now, of course, I'll be on the lookout. I don't mind those things if they seem to fit. Creative license and all.

I am home. The car drove like a pregnant whale, just. so. full. But we took it easy and did the trip in about five and a bit hours. Unloaded, went off to Burlington to the DMV so the LD could renew her license so she can start in at her summer job without me chauffeuring. Not tomorrow, but she has to go in tomorrow to sort out her schedule. Happily too, the spousal unit is taking an intensive EMT class for the next month, so they will do some carpooling.

Did I say I was glad to be home?

Welcome home! You must be delighted to have the LD for the summer. Both of mine are home at the moment but the oldest will be here only two weeks. Still it's nice.

Welcome home to you and LD!

Wow, the LD has been at college for a year already!?! Where did that time go??? How lovely to have her back for the summer though! Enjoy!

Lucy, wonderful that you're home and have your daughter for the summer! Oh, I got such a chuckle out of your car driving like a pregnant whale, LOL.

That's right, I'd forgotten that TransAtlantic. Was the novel of the sentence fragments.

Wow, a year already. Welcome home to LD and a happy summer to you all :)

>75 lit_chick: heh heh heh

Now I am noticing the fragments, but they do feel intentional and part of the flow of inner thoughts of the characters. My rule would be, I think, that it needs to be a consistent choice and be an aesthetic choice with some strong intention behind it. I will try to think on this while reading.

Can I just say that it is 48 degrees out today? 80 one day and this the next. That's Vermont for you.

63. The New Yorker, December 2014

I am back to add that I have, miraculously, just finished the last of the 2014 of New Yorkers.
For a few months, anyway, I will be reading in the same year. Very exciting stuff!

Lucy, I am glad for your sake that LD's first year away from home went so quickly. I think you'll find the summer will also fly by. So good for her to have a job to keep her occupied. And you won't have to drive her back and forth! Congratulations on catching up to 2015 in your New Yorkers. I used to read them at the library but have gotten out of the habit.

64. bio ****
Clover Adams Natalie Dykstra

The life of Clover Hooper Adams inevitably summons up the image from her own photographs of a tree valiantly clinging to rocks in a brisk ocean wind, small and tortured, but valiant and determined to hang on and make the best of it for as long as possible. This is the sort of biography I read and think, "but for the grace of..." In our day, a woman of Clover's background goes to the college of her choice, chooses a career from a full palette of options, can consult doctors both for infertility and for depression . . . Talk openly with friends and spouse about all these matters and not be judged too harshly or shunned socially for ambition or problems-- For all the inequities that remain, just these life-giving, soul-saving changes give me chills to consider NOT having. Sure, plenty of marriages even now, can't survive two successful and fulfilled partners working together, but most can or at least strive to do so. The pathos of Clover's life, it seems to me, is the timing of it. And it is out of lives such as hers that the women's movement derived its impetus. That even a woman of such privilege and possibilities would be so trammeled and stunted by the lack of space to grow in is sobering. The book is painstakingly researched, competently written and, I think, Dykstra has made the attempt to stand back and let the reader make what h/she may of her findings. I've heard hints that somehow Adams was 'complicit' in her death, but Dykstra does make a compelling case that he was concerned, did what he could, but was a man of his time and the two as a couple had almost a fetish about privacy. The worst thing he can be said to have done is write the novel Esther--an all-too-obvious portrait of Clover, I would have been shattered if my spouse wrote a book like that about me, so I can't think how it might have undermined her work as a photographer (basic point of it that women can't be serious artists). Dykstra did an amazing job describing Clover's photographs--but I find myself wishing the book had been published in a 'big book' format with the text and ALL of her photographs. I have given Dykstra four stars, but I would like to express my extreme frustration that I had to settle for descriptions and not the photographs which are supremely important as evidence of just how talented Clover was. Not Dykstra's fault, obviously but a factor! I hope someone has published a full book of her photographs somewhere. ****

Why now? On my shelf FOREVER, since reading The Education of Henry Adams.

Great review - and what an interesting sounding book (I'd never heard of her before reading this). Tempted, very tempted.

65. sf:sp/op ****
Local Custom Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

More romping about in the Liaden Uni. It's romance, it's escapist entertainment and loads of relaxing fun and if you like space opera that's full of charm and smartly written, well, you are likely to like this. About book 11 this delves into the story of how Anne, the Terran and her son, the talented Shan, come to be members of Korval. ****

Why now? I need escapist reading more than any other at the moment, although I am valiantly reading some more serious books at a very slow pace.

Hmmm things have been a bit quiet around here - so here's is the latest Posey!

Photos of Posey are guaranteed to bring people to your thread to comment!

LOL, Posey making mud cakes! She is precious and priceless! And, like Roni says, guaranteed to bring traffic.

OMG she's adorable. Such a mud puppy!

>43 sibylline: What a great visual!

>84 sibylline: Hello to dear Posey! I thought of you this morning when a woman got on the bus with a four-month-old corgi. He was very well-behaved (she said his litter mates had been a bit more wild) and just so darn cute! I hope my precious Abby lives a very long time yet but I also like thinking about getting a puppy sometime after we lose her.

I loved TransAtlantic. I hope you do, too.

That was a recent hot day! She was very happy when we found her a nice wallow!

OOOO! I'm so glad I happened by since you've added a new Posey Pic. What a darling!
Thanks for the Clover Adams review.

Brought the orchids back in last night as the forecast was for 42. However I don't think it got below 50. Tonight the forecast is for 34. So we'll see. I might even bring in the fig tree. Used to be we could EXPECT frost up to almost mid-June, no kidding, and another one early in September, but that doesn't seem to happen anymore.

Oh jeez, that's way too cold for May!

Posey! She looks like a happy girl.

I need to come back to catch up with all I've missed here.

66. sf:sp/op ****
Scout's Progress Sharon Lee Steve Miller

More romping around in the Liaden Uni. We learn how Ailleana and Daav discover one another and more about the origins of the catastrophic split among Liadens about their heritage and connections to the other humans, Terrans (that would be us) and the Yx-Trang. This story, more than any other, conveys the potential for brutality and abuse in the Liaden social system. It was a real page-turner from start to finish. **** 1/2

Why now The need for light escapism continues unabated.

After a sluggish start this month I seem to be getting some books read . . . Big question now is, will I read more Lee-Miller or move on to something else?

Well, in the scheme of things, perhaps a smallish question.

Sometimes "small" = "essential" (I'm not sure that's true, but I thought it sounded good.) Lee/Miller is always good, and there always seems to be more of it.

Do you realize that the recent publication Mouse and Dragon is a direct sequel to Scout's Progress, yes? Continuing Daav and Ailleana's story directly following that book...

Hi Lucy, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

>96 LizzieD: & >97 ronincats: Good thing I went to look things over. I have two left - and I immediately saw that Mouse & Dragon was a must.read.right.now. The other book I have is Vol 1 of Liaden stories. Hope there is a volume 2. It's possible there is one more novel out there. Have to see if I can figure it out.

>98 Ameise1: That is an especially lovely picture, Barbara. My great aunt actually had a 'narrow' garden like that and I loved it as a child. A different color in each section.

Roni - I'm scoping around and it looks like there is a new novel - Dragon in Exile? Have you read that one? It seems to be out. Once or twice I've bought something only to find it was in an omnibus and that I've read it or the opposite! So I'm checking! I like the Surebleak story arc, so I hope I haven't read it!

>95 sibylline: Sounds like you're having fun with your reading, which is surely the important thing (or is usually the key thing for me).

Dragon in Exile is out on June 2. It's a continuation, not an omnibus. I pre-ordered it back in January.

I've been meaning to read the Lladen books, I'm glad that you're enjoying them!

June 2!! Fabulous! Instant gratification!

TEN whole days! Ain't nothing instant about that...except relative to some waits for books.

>81 sibylline: I haven't really heard of Clover Adams (or Henry Adams) but your review makes me want to read that biography.

>84 sibylline: Posey! How muddy was she when she got out of that puddle?

I have Agent of Change on my kindle and light escapism sounds like where I'm currently at - perhaps I will start yet another series....

Instant, yes, when you think of George R.R. -- and waiting for the next Rothfuss has been tedious, although I am willing to have faith it is really coming out soon!

The current line-up. Nothing particularly striking about this color scheme! I've been having so much fun reading the Lee-Miller that I haven't been reading my other books, so they are languishing a bit!

♬

>106 souloftherose: The Lee-Miller books are great and best of all there are LOTS of them. And one coming out in ten days!

Ooh, I have that Carter, in that very edition too. I look forward to your thoughts on it.
I must get back into the Liaden universe at some point. I need to figure out where to go next after Agent of Change as that story was obviously not ended with that volume, but I think the next thing on the reading list started a whole new story arc which stopped me in my tracks a little.

Hannah, you have to go meet Shan and Priscilla in Conflict of Honors, and then the two stories come together in Carpe Diem. Well worth the diversion!

>110 HanGerg: So far it's very good.

>111 ronincats: So I've ordered up the next Lee-Miller!

67. sf:sp/op ****
Mouse and Dragon Sharon Lee Steve Miler

The rest of the story of Aelliana and Daav. Less of a romp and more of a cliff-hanger with a bittersweet ending. One could read them in chronological order and not know what I already knew, as this book was not out when I began my Lee-Miller adventure. Very satisfying story-telling. ****

Why Now? Well, I seem to be ripping through all the Lee-Millers that remain on my shelves and am tempted to reread a couple in prep for the new one that I'll receive in about two weeks! And yup, I'm jumping into the last one I presently have, a volume of short stories.

>111 ronincats:: They are duly added to the wishlist Roni, thanks!

Hi Hannah! We iz posting at the same exact time!

Yes, I thought that too! Uncanny!

>8 sibylline: My trouble with travel memoirs is that they make me want to travel. :-) The bug is slowly rising after last Spring's walk.

>81 sibylline: I'd never heard of Clover Adams. A quick hit on Wikipedia doesn't show much of her work; I guess it will take a bit more search to learn about her work. The surface story reminds me of Francesca Woodman, a photographer I like (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Woodman).

That's a bad sign - maybe her work has never been made fully public. Her main claim to fame has been as Henry's poor sad wife who killed herself.

Hmmm I'm just noticing I'm a bit behind posts for the month . . . so it is time to beg anyone who does pass through to say hello before skittering off. I know I've been a bit boring this month, but you should all know that I am truly in the home stretch with the book and hope to send it to the agency about two weeks from now. I'm about to finish an edit and this weekend I'll take a short break to visit family, then nose to the grindstone until I'm done. Anyway, that is why I am so absent around here and why I am mainly reading space opera and mysteries.

>119 sibylline: It must feel good to being two weeks from the finish of the latest book. I hope everything goes as you plan.

Just catching up and dropping my hello, Lucy : ).

Ha! Excuses, excuses! Post some Posey pics and the company will flock in to see.

Exactly!
In the meantime, I've been reading a lot of fluff with no excuse at all except that I want to. There. That should make you feel better.

Yes, Posey pictures would do the trick if you want more posts!

Hope you've got something nice in the works to celebrate sending off the MS.

I have not been around much lately, Lucy.

But I see that I am just in time

to help out and have a bit of fun.

And I LOVE the photo of Miss Posey in the mud!

I think that I might have the first in that Liaden series in my stacks thanks to an earlier hit by you - perhaps a few years ago?

Sounds like I need to get to it, as I could definitely use some light escapism.

Happy Thursday, dear!

Thank you everyone! Thirteen posts!! Yowza. I think I can relax now!

It's wonderful that I can always count on you Mamie!! Liaden is a great place to go for escape.

Will do my best to post more of Miss Posey!! I can see it has already been an entire week since the last posting of HERSELF.

Hello Lucy, I hope you are having a lovely day. Is the LD having a nice summer so far?
I, too, look forward to a Posey pic. Muddy, wet, or basking in the sunshine -- any one will do.

Hi Lucy, happy Thursday!

I'm new(ish) to following your thread so I don't know anything about your book, but I'd love to hear more if you have the time.

Another faithful visitor hits the post button!
Edit! Edit! Edit! YAY!!!!
(I was a HS cheerleader.)

Just to tide us over until Miss Po makes another appearance......

I hope she doesn't get jealous.

Also, have a nice day, Lucy ;-)

Adding a hello to you, Lucy!

Okay folks, you asked for it!

Oh no, THAT doesn't count! That's just being a complete tease!

Awww! Does she play peek-a-boo?

>142 sibylline: We want to see Miss Po in all her glory and that won't do!

>142 sibylline: Great photo, I love it.

>142 sibylline: *Love* that photo! Beautiful!

That photo made me laugh! "HERSELF. Sitting."

Ah! Thank you Barbara, Amber and Mamie! I love this photo! The mystery! The allure!

I should also announce that yesterday I finished what I've been thinking of as the 'agency-ready revision' the book I've been writing, book 3 of Hiero's Journey which I have named Hiero's Answer. I'll be tinkering a wee bit with it next week and then off it goes to the agency that is interested in reading it. It doesn't mean they'll take it, there could be plenty of bumpy road ahead, but I have put my all into it over the last four years. I do feel a bit lightheaded, I must admit.

For those not in the know, I was invited to complete this post-apocalyptic tale by Sterling Lanier's widow. He was my godfather and we were great friends. It's been a real honor and I've had a wonderful amazing time. Four years!

>149 sibylline: Waving to be seen. What you are writing must be a real challenge with the expectations that you want to live up to.

>149 sibylline: Congratulations Lucy, that's quite a milestone. Good luck!!

I keep envisioning Po lying by the wood stove, sweating and completely dehydrating; but holding her spot so one of the cats can't have it! That was a good story! I told my sister about it, and we had such a chuckle : ).

Hmm, I didn't comment early so this thread dropped off my radar. Sorry I'm too late to add to the 150. But apparently just in time to offer congratulations for completing (this phase of) the book!

I am 100% sure that SL would be tremendously proud of your achievement and thinking "promise fulfilled and growing!"

I think she done him proud!

Thanks to all visitors! I am now three days ahead of schedule!

>153 qebo: nice to see you! I've been kind of hunkered down here, and hope that will change now.

>155 ronincats: That means a LOT to me.

Congratulations on being ahead of schedule!! Nearing the finish line is very exciting.

>149 sibylline: Congratulations!

Wow. Congratulations on the book!

Adding my congratulations on the book.

Let me add my congratulations, too, on finishing (very nearly) your book, Lucy! Impressive!

Okay, so June 1st is a bit late to check into the May thread (and going through the rest of April, too) - sorry for another long absence and thank you so much for sharing those lovely Posey pics with us! Those ears! *heartmelting*

And of course congrats on the book, you must be so proud! :))
And I'm determined to read that series, already got the #1 sample on my Kindle as a reminder.

68. sf:sp/op ****
A Liaden Universe Constellation Sharon Lee Steve Miller

Stories - neat ones - that fill in some gaps and widen view of Liad. Includes the story of Val Con's first encounter with the Turtle Clan, Moonhawk's (Priscilla) life before her banishment and lots of other goodies. Fun. I've ordered Volume 2!

Why now? Yah, Lee-Miller bingeing.

I'll start my June thread either later to day when I get home or tomorrow morning. I'm out in Western New York State at the moment, family do, but headed back to Vermont in an hour or so.

A bit late in responding to your request for posts, but I don't know--maybe it's still May somewhere in the world. I'm a bit jet-lagged having just returned from a cruise of the British Isles, including quite a few Scottish islands like St. Kildas, inhabited mostly by birds. We're spending a few days in the nyc area visiting sons, d.i.l. and Teddy.

How nice to have your daughter home for the summer. What is her summer job?

And congratulations on finishing the book! What a nice accomplishment. I'll have to search out the first volumes.

As soon as we get home to Seattle, I'm going to have to get busy since I'm leading Reading Globally's third quarter theme read on Nobelists writing in a language other than English. I have lots of research to do.

Posey is a cutie!