lkernagh's 2015 Reading Charter - 5th Section

Image source: http://www.walkforpeace.eu/play-it-again-king-john-reflections-on-magna-carta/

Hello Everyone! I am back for another fun-filled year of reading, crafting, baking and pretty much whatever else that may crop up on this thread. If you are wondering about the choice of thread topper picture, well, 2015 marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, so I thought it would be fun to start each of my threads in 2015 with images loosely related to this historic event.

Most of my 2015 reading will be focused around all of the various reading challenges I have committed to, here in this group with the British and American Author Challenges as well as my continued efforts to read books off my TBR bookcases for my ROOTs Challenge and my ongoing tour of Commonwealth countries with my Commonwealth Challenge, and of course, I cannot forget my 2015 Category Challenge. ;-)

As I had so much fun tracking my books read and pages read in 2014, I have brought back my "Luck 'O the Irish" Race to see which horse will come in first in 2015. Will it be books read "Pot of Gold" or will the reigning champion from 2014, pages read "Lucky Shamrock" command the track? It is anybody's guess!

"Luck 'O the Irish" Race






As with last year's race, the finish line will be considered crossed whichever comes first: 75 books or 25,000 pages read.

My 2015 Category Challenge (Art theme):

1. Street Art - Alternate Reality / steampunk / fantasy / dystopian themed books
2. Happening - Books that fit the 2015 Category Groups CATs, KITs and DOG challenges
3. Minimalism - Books with one word titles
4. American Realism - Books that fit the American Author Challenge
5. The London Group - Books that fit the British Author Challenge
6. Books made into Art - Books that fit my ROOTs Challenge
7. Edinburgh's Commonwealth Games of Art - Books that fit my Commonwealth Challenge
8. Art - Books that fit my 75 Group Challenge (aka my "catch all" category!)

My 2015 Category Challenge discussion thread can be found here.

American Author Challenge list:

January - Carson McCullers
February - Henry James
March - Richard Ford
April - Louise Erdrich
May - Sinclair Lewis
June - Wallace Stegner
July - Ursula K. Le Guin
August - Larry McMurtry
September - Flannery O' Connor
October - Ray Bradbury
November - Barbara Kingsolver
December - E.L. Doctorow

Books read:
JAN: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers -
FEB: The Aspern Papers by Henry James -
MAR: Wildlife by Richard Ford -
APR: Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich -
MAY: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis -
JUN: Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner -
AUG: The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry -
OCT: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury -

British Author Challenge list:

January - Penelope Lively & Kazuo Ishiguro
February - Sarah Waters & Evelyn Waugh
March - Daphne Du Maurier & China Mieville
April - Angela Carter & W. Somerset Maugham
May - Margaret Drabble & Martin Amis
June - Beryl Bainbridge & Anthony Burgess
July - Virginia Woolf & B.S. Johnson
August - Iris Murdoch & Graham Greene
September - Andrea Levy & Salman Rushdie
October - Helen Dunmore & David Mitchell
November - Muriel Spark & William Boyd
December - Hilary Mantel & P.G. Wodehouse

Books read:
JAN: The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively -
FEB: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh -
FEB: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters -
MAR: The City & The City by China Mieville -
APR: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham -
MAY: The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble -
JUL: A Society by Virginia Woolf -
AUG: The Third Man: The Screenplay and The Living Room, a play in two acts by Graham Greene -

Books Read:

JANUARY
1. Alphabetique by Molly Peacock -
2. The Paper Moon by Andrea Camilleri -
3. The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively -
4. August Heat by Andrea Camilleri -
5. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers -
6. The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri -
7. The Firebird Mystery by Darrell Pitt -
8. I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton -
9. The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke -

FEBRUARY

10. The Aspern Papers by Henry James -
11. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley -
12. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh -
13. Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman by Eleanor Updale -
14. Wife of the Gods by Kewi Quartey -
15. The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Two and The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Three by David Ashton -
16. The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Four and The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Five by David Ashton -
17. The Witch of Napoli by Micheal Schmicker -

MARCH

18. The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Six and The Inspector McLevy Mysteries - Series Seven by David Ashton -
19. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher -
20. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters -
21. A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison -
22. Longbourn by Jo Baker -
23. The Babylon Contingency by Clifford Longley -
24. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel -

Books Read:

APRIL
25. The City & The City by China Mieville -
26. Wildlife by Richard Ford -
27. How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell -
28. How To Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell -
29. Bayou of Pigs by Stewart Bell -
30. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich -
31. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd -
32. Light Boxes by Shane Jones -
33. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion -
34. The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life by Dr. Robin Zasio -

MAY
35. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham -
36. Pelquin's Comet by Ian Whates -
37. Guyana by Elise Turcotte -
38. The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble -
39. The Rosie Effect by Graham Simsion -

JUNE
40. J is for Judgment by Sue Grafton -
41. The Finish by Angela Elliott -
42. Fables: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham -
43. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett -
44. The Wars by Timothy Findley -
45. Halcyon Days a play by Steven Dietz -
46. The House Among the Laurels by William Hope Hodgson -
47. K is for Killer by Sue Grafton -
48. Incantation by Alice Hoffman -

Books Read:

JULY
49. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton -
50. Redshirts by John Scalzi -
51. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma -
52. The White Rhino Hotel by Bartle Bull -
- A Society by Virginia Woolf -
53. Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner -
54. Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth -
55. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis -
56. Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat by William Braden -
57. The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson -
58. The Ghost Mountain Boys by James Campbell -
59. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel -

AUGUST
60. The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry -
61. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost -
62. The Little Free Library Book by Margaret Aldrich -
63. The Third Man: The Screenplay and The Living Room, a play in two acts by Graham Greene -
64. The Lost Garden by Katharine Swartz -
65. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton -
66. Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost -
67. The Given Day by Dennis Lehane -
68. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo -
69. Pure by Andrew Miller -
70. Mariana by Susanna Kearsley -
71. Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina -
72. Crazy by William Peter Blatty -

SEPTEMBER
73. Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski -
74. Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko -
75. Tragedy at Second Narrows: The Story of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge by Eric Jamieson -
76. A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer -
77. A Winter Wrong: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation by Elizabeth Ann West -
78. To Rescue General Gordon: A Clockwork Imperium Short Story by J.P.Medved -
79. The Gray Lady of Long Branch by Maura Satchell -
80. A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman -

Books Read:

OCTOBER
81. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury -
82. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon -
83. The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri -
84. Shoot! by George Bowering -
85. The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri -
86. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips -
87. The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri -
88. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell -
89. The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri -

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Next one's yours! Welcome to my "Fall" thread, which is now open for business!

Hey! I'm first one to post! Yay me. Congrats on your new thread!

Re Lady of Devices from your last thread, I never blame anyone for giving recommendations for great series that force encourage me to get more books.

Happy new thread, Lori!

Love the new thread, Lori. I started mine today as well. We are both closing in on our 75th book. Do you have yours picked out?

Hi, Lori - Happy New Thread!

Hi Lori, great new thread!

Love the thread topper. :) Can you believe it's September?

Happy new thread, Lori!

I was looking to see what LeGuin you read in July for your author challenge - but I know from the challenges I've set for myself how hard it can be to cram them all in! I see, too, that you liked Galileo's Daughter which, for some reason, I could not read.

Here's to new threads!

Oh, lovely thread topper, Lori!

Must go back to see what you had to say about Sex Lives of Cannibals, as it's waiting for me...right here in the house.

Great opening, Lori. Happy New Thead.

Great opening, Lori. Happy New Thead.

Nice, fallish new thread, Lori.

Nice new thread. Love the Autumn leaves (although hoping that there will be some sunshine here before that).

Happy New Thread, Lori!

Love the topper!

Happy new thread, Lori. How far have you walked now? Did the weather the last few days slow you down?

Thank you for the new thread wishes >10 Storeetllr:, >11 katiekrug:, >12 Donna828:, >13 lyzard:, >14 lit_chick:, >15 nittnut:, >16 Copperskye:, >17 sibylline:, >18 Matke:, >19 Ameise1: and >20 Ameise1: (I know, double posts happen), >21 BLBera:, >22 charl08:, >23 connie53:, >24 thornton37814: and >25 Familyhistorian:. I am overwhelmed and overjoyed at all my wonderful visitors stopping by!

>10 Storeetllr: - YAY, First! I always wanted a first place ribbon for something, so I am going to hand out a first place ribbon to you, Mary!


>12 Donna828: - I will have to be honest and say that I haven't picked out what will be my 75th read. Darn! I should get on that!

>15 nittnut: - The thought that it is now "officially" September scares me..... that means the countdown to Christmas is just around the corner. I am not a fan of holiday pressure! ;-( It is going to be another one of those years where is just 'wing it'. I know it.

>17 sibylline: - Hi Lucy! I popped by your wonderful new thread and... yah... I kind of skipped LeGuin. I will probably go back and read something later this year, but what? That was part of the reason why I skipped LeGuin. I am just not sure what I might like reading. Do you have any suggestions? As for Galileo's Daughter, that could have been one of those "right book, right time" reads for me.

>18 Matke: - Hi Gail! Happy to give you my Cliff notes impression of Sex Lives of Cannibals right here: Fun and offbeat travelogue/memoir. Good for laughs and some insightful comments.

>25 Familyhistorian: - Ha, good of you to mention the walking, Meg! I completely forgot to post my weekly update. You are correct, the weather has slowed my walking down a bit.... good news is that I am now back to working on jigsaw puzzles when I cannot get outside on the lunch hour for a walk, so less physical exercise = more mental exercise. All good. ;-)

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Here it is already Tuesday and I have just discovered that I forgot to post my weekly walking update. I will be posting that, along with a new Vegetarian Adventures update and my Current Reading.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 7

Kilometers walked this week: 51.1
Kilometers walked in total: 416.50
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Still in BC. Currently due south of Canyon Alpine, north of North Bend.
Points of interest along the way:
This week's walking journey doesn't boost my confidence an awful lot as the entire 51.1 KM has been walking North, and not East. One of the possible problems of deciding to use the Trans Canada Highway as my walking trail - it doesn't always travel longitudinally across the country. ;-) Continuing to hug the Fraser River, this week's walk would have seen me passing through Yale, Spuzzum, Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park, passing Hell's Gate and carring on through Boston Bar and skirting North Bend.

NOTE: I am pretty sure I will be in BC until the Canadian Thanksgiving. There is a LOT of interior to cross!

Vegetarian Adventures - Update
Attempted a new recipe this evening and while I wasn't completely impressed with it, I think it has the potential - with a number of tweeks by yours truly - to be a really good winter comfort food. The recipe: this Brussels Sprout-Potato Hash is the experiment and the impetus for this post. Not much to the recipe - just Brussels sprouts, potatoes onion, garlic, oil and some seasoning. After experimenting tonight - and making a number of changes on the fly - I have come up with the following "adapted" recipe:

The following recipe will serve 2-3 as a main course

INGREDIENTS:
~ 16-20 larger sized Brussels sprouts, quartered
~ 4 cups (half a bag) of frozen uncooked hash brown potatoes
1 small onion, diced small
1 TBSP garlic, minced
2 Roma tomatoes (or a handful of grape tomatoes), diced
1/4 cup salsa - optional but really makes a difference flavour wise
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP cooking oil of choice

Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1 TBSP fresh thyme, whole leaves removed from stems

PROCESS:
1. Prepare Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, onion and garlic. Set aside in separate dishes.
2. In a large skillet or frying pan, heat cooking oil at medium heat. Add Brussels sprouts and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, then cover and let cook medium to medium low.
3. While Brussels sprouts are cooking, melt butter in a nonstick medium-sized skillet or cast iron frying pan at medium-high heat. Add hash browns and cook until browned or cooked through (approximately 8 minutes). Remove from heat.
4. Add tomatoes, tarragon, thyme and salsa to Brussels sprouts. Blend ingredients and recover. Allow to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until Brussels sprouts are tender.
5. Add cooked hash browns to Brussels sprouts pan and stir through. Salt, Pepper and season to taste. Cover and let cook for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Currently Reading:


Audiobook:
Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko; narration by Claudio Alick - as a Nigeria read for my Commonwealth Challenge
ebook:
nothing at the moment
Physical book:
Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski; translated from the Polish by Danusia Stok - an Eastern European Noir crime/cop read set in between the two World Wars, and first book in the series.

Oh! Thank you for the 1st Place Blue Ribbon! I'm honored! I've never gotten one before, so it's a treat!

Interesting recipe there, Lori. Not sure it's for me, because I'm not a huge fan of Brussels Sprouts, though I do love potatoes...

Aha, there's your walking update! There is a lot of province to cover before you're out of BC, Lori, being that you're on the island. And, good grief, wait until you get to Ontario! I'll always remember a trip west with my parents/sisters when I was a teen … driving from Ottawa, we moaned and groaned for days, When will we be out of Ontario? LOL!

Brussel sprout-potato hash recipe sounds very good : ).

Happy new thread, Lori!

I'm slow to arrive, but Happy New Thread, Lori! Cool topper (is it okay to call the Magna Carta cool?)

I might have missed your comments last month, but isn't Cry, The Beloved Country a good one?

>27 lkernagh: There is a LOT of interior to cross!
It's probably fortunate that your virtual journey doesn't have to deal with interior weather.

Happy New Thread Lori! I haven't been good at keeping up this year, but I see you've been doing lots of great reading. Just a few more to hit 75, good going!

Love your new thread, Lori!

>30 Storeetllr: - Glad to be the first to award you a 1st Place Blue Ribbon then, Mary! Brussels sprouts seems to be one of those veggies that fall into the love/hate camps. ;-) I grew up on the 'steam and serve' method for cooking Brussels sprouts, which did not go down well with me. Now that I am the cook, I find them rather versatile for seasoning. My favorite way to cook Brussels sprouts is to pan fry them in a little oil with onion, garlic, smoked paprika and a little salt. Sooooo good!

>31 lit_chick: - I keep forgetting how big the province of BC is. I guess that comes from having lived so long on the island. It has actually been approximately 10 years since I last drove across BC.... maybe overdue for road trip. ;-) Thank you for the warning about Ontario. I maybe there for months trying to walk across it on the map!

Yay! You are my first visitor to either of my threads that has not stated some kind of reservation regarding the Brussels sprout recipe. ;-)

>32 scaifea: - Thanks Amber!

>33 jnwelch: - You are not slow at all, Joe. I find that I miss some threads completely before they move on. Yah, I think it is safe to call the Magna Carta cool. ;-) Cry, The Beloved Country is a good one. Short recap of my comments: Paton uses clear language and a gentle voice to convey his story. There is a lot of pain and sadness in this story but there is also a glimmer of hope, as if Paton had written this story with that end hope in mind.

>34 qebo: - Ha, ha, ha. You have hit the nail squarely on its head with your comment, Katherine! I commented over on my other thread (in the Category Challenge group) that I probably started my challenge at the wrong time of year. The interior of BC can get really hot temps during the summer months, but we were talking about the idea of walking through the Rocky Mountains during winter. if its not the winter chill of the mountains, its the blizzards on the open prairies or the flippin' cold temps of Manitoba.... I confess, I have become an island wimp when it comes to Canadian winters. ;-)

>35 Smiler69: - Hi Ilana! I admit to being terrible at keeping up with threads this year and have become a bit of a lurker as opposed to a poster so lovely to see you posting here! At least I don't have any worries about reaching my 75 books goal for the group this year.... that goodness for audiobooks!

>36 EBT1002: - Thanks Ellen!

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This week's walking has taken a bit of a dip in the klicks because we have been blessed with rain. I did manage to get in some walks today because the rain conveniently dropped down while I was at work and clear skies during my commute and my lunch. Gotta like it when the weather is that accommodating. ;-)

Now off to go curl up with a book and have a peaceful evening reading.

Hope you're evening reading was as peaceful as planned. We have also been blessed with rain (ha!) So I'm watching the roses' last gasp, hoping that they survive...

>26 lkernagh: I have a FB friend who keeps posting "countdown to Christmas" memes and it's kind of stressing me out. Lol

What a great opening image!!! Happy Day to you!

I'm a bit late but happy new thread, Lori. I hope your long weekend is off to a good start. :)

>27 lkernagh: Yep, there is a lot of interior to cross in BC. I remember that from our drive from Vancouver to Halifax. Just wait until you get to Ontario - it goes on forever! It is faster after that though, I can remember driving straight through from Ottawa to Halifax and it only took 17 hours.

>39 charl08: - The evening reading was peaceful... so much so that I fell asleep with the book in my hands! Yay for rain! I know....Such a crazy bit of weather to be happy to see. I hope the roses were revived by the rain!

>40 nittnut: - Nooooo! That is so wrong. I am already starting to feel guilty that I haven't started my Christmas shopping. I don't need guilt like that in August/September. ;-)

>41 Whisper1: - Thanks Linda!

>42 MickyFine: - Never too late, Micky! The long weekend has been one of the better ones and.... we still have Monday! Very happy about that. I hope you have had a wonderful long weekend!

>43 Familyhistorian: - I am starting to think that getting to Alberta by Thanksgiving may be a bit optimistic. Good thing Thanksgiving is in the middle of October this year. *whew!

WOW.... you drove from Vancouver to Halifax? Double kudos to you! that must have been quite the journey.

--------------------------

Stopping by to wish all a happy Labour Day long weekend if you are in North America or you if it is a holiday where you are located.

The cooler fall weather showed up on Monday and has stayed all week. I do believe our record breaking summer has now come to an end, and I am okay with that. It was wonderful to wake up in the middle of the night last night to the steady drumming of rain on the roof. Plans are to take advantage of the holiday Monday and relax.

Onwards to the weekly walking report and a couple of book reviews.....

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 8
Kilometers walked this week: 42.2
Kilometers walked in total: 458.7
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Still in BC. Currently North of Lynton - and now finally heading 'Eastish' (although still a lot of north to travel) - and about to enter Skihist Provincial Park. Points of interest along the way:
This week saw a return of more rainy, temperate weather here in Victoria and as I am a bit of a "fair weather" walker, my walking took a bit of a nose dive. Even with a mere 42.2 KM for the week, I am happy to see on the map that I now say goodbye to the Fraser River and now say hello to the Thompson River. I don't get to start making true eastward progress until I hit Cache Creek.

Book #73 - Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski - translated from the Polish by Danusia Stok
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Hard cover
Original publication date: 1999
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 256 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book listing:

Occupied Breslau, 1933: Two young women are found murdered on a train, scorpions writhing on their bodies, an indecipherable note in an apparently oriental language nearby ...Police Inspector Eberhard Mock's weekly assignation with two ladies of the night is interrupted as he is called to investigate. But uncovering the truth is no straightforward matter in Breslau. The city is in the grip of the Gestapo, and has become a place where spies are everywhere, corrupt ministers torture confessions from Jewish merchants, and Freemasons guard their secrets with blackmail and violence. And as Mock and his young assistant Herbert Anwaldt plunge into the city's squalid underbelly the case takes on a dark twist of the occult when the mysterious note seems to indicate a ritual killing with roots in the Crusades ...

Review:
I will start off my review by stating that I only very rarely dip into crime Noir novels so please do not accept my thoughts as being those of a seasoned reader of the genre. This is a very dark, brooding type of read. On a presentation/emotional level, it is kind of a strange read. The emotions of the characters - and their actions - are very emphatic in expression. There is a lot of brute force, angry shouting and exaggerated gesturing going on in this story. The very unstable political time period is pronounced here, as is the sweltering hot summer the story take place in. For me, this story had more of a pulp crime feel to it, given that the police - and the Gestapo - were prone to doing their own things and resorting to rather interesting interrogation strategies that really had me squirming uncomfortably in my chair. Looking at the mystery/crime aspect of the story, I do have to say that Krajewski did a fine job with the details and the reveal, but I still cannot get past the rather stilted impression I have of the characters and the story as a whole. This could be due, in part, to the translation.... it just had an overall jarring feeling to it that made it difficult for me to become absorbed in the story. From a purely psychological perspective, one could analyze this story for years and still only scratch the surface of all the possible meanings embedded in it. Maybe that is part of the problem for me: too much all jumbled up in this story, making it difficult for me to extract the substance from the garble.

Overall, definitely a different read for me and intriguing enough that I will consider reading the second book in the Inspector Eberhard Mock Investigation series.

Book #74 - Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko - audiobook narrated by Claudia Alick
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, Commonwealth
Category: Edinburgh's Commonwealth Games of Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 352 pages / 10 hours, 19 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book listing:

Spirited and intelligent Morayo grows up surrounded by school friends and family in busy, modern-day Ibadan. An adoring little sister, their traditional parents, and a host of aunties and cousins make Morayo’s home their own. So there’s nothing unusual about her charming but troubled cousin Bros T moving in with the family. At first Morayo and her sister are delighted, but in her innocence, nothing prepares Morayo for the shameful secret Bros T forces upon her. Thrust into a web of oppressive silence woven by the adults around her, Morayo must learn to protect herself and her sister from a legacy of silence shared by the women in her family. Only her Aunt Morenike provides Morayo with a safe home and a sense of female community that sustains her as she develops into a young woman in bustling, politically charged, often violent Nigeria.

Review:
Nigerian-born Kilanko has written a novel that really brings home some harsh realities of a nation plagued with violence, political unrest and an abhorrent abuse of power that knows no boundaries: The rape of female children by male members of their family/community known to them. For a debut novel, Kilanko manages to convey the good with the bad. The strength to move forward in the face of adversity. The ability to climb above and shine when the world seemed so dark and unfriendly. She also does a wonderful job presented a very conflicted Nigeria: A world of denim jeans and penny loafers, of university educations, of cell phones and expensive cars along with very traditional customs, beliefs and stigmas. The story follows Morayo over twenty years, starting when she was a young girl of five, greeting her albino sister into the world. The voice of the young Morayo is well done. I struggled a little bit with the older Morayo and found her less accessible as a character. Overall, this was a good read. It could have been a very depressing read given the events that play out, but Kilanko keeps a ray of light shining through the turbulence, as a reminder that even in the darkness, hope and belief in yourself can make a difference.

Excellent review of Daughters Who Walk this Path, Lori! This one sounds just like my cuppa. Going to see if I can find the audiobook at my library. *Nope, no such luck.* I really miss BC's Library2Go!

Daughters WHo Walk this Path has been on my list for a while... thanks for the review, I need to get to it.

Very slow to get to your new thread! Great topper! And by the way, I'm so glad that you enjoyed Daughters Who Walk This Path. I really loved it when I read it a couple of years ago - it grabbed my interest right away for some reason. I hope you can help popularize it!

Great to see your walking progress. I have started introducing walks into my life again now. I think the lighters evenings is helping (its not dark til 6:20pm now, which will soon be 7:20pm with daylight savings coming up at the end of this month). Walking is gooood. :)

Walking is great. I just got a Fitbit and it's amazing how much more attention I pay, and how many more walks I go on. Like Megan said, it being lighter in the evening sure helps.

>48 lit_chick: - Thanks Nancy. I now.... I also miss BC's Library2Go. Has your local library considered adding e-book and audiobook services like Hoopla? Of course, I have no idea what those third party services cost the library and budgets are always front and center in those types of discussions.

>49 banjo123: - Rhonda, it was a powerful read without being overwhelming, and I was really impressed how Kilanko pulled that off with Daughters Who Walk this Path. I would be most curious to learn what you think about it.

>50 vancouverdeb: - Always lovely to see you stopping by, Deb! I will do what I can to get the word out there about Daughters Who Walk this Path. It is a good message statement read without preaching the message, just telling it like it is. Plain truths always make the best statements.

>51 LovingLit: & 52 - Hi Megan and Jenn, yes the walking continues... in fact, thank you both for mentioning it and reminding me that I still need to record my walks for today! That's right.... you are both heading into the longer days of summer while I am about to enter the shorter days of winter. I don't mind so much the later mornings and earlier evenings as I can stick to busy, well traveled routes for my walks. I also love the cooler temps. I find it rather difficult to convince myself to walk when the heat and humidity has me dripping wet halfway through my walk. ;-) The test will be the rain.... it is always the rain.

>52 nittnut: - Yay for Fitbit and the fact that it is motivating you to get out and walk further than you probably would if you were walking without it. The map and the weekly klicks walked are what drives me forward to take the scenic route to the grocery store or to add to my morning walk to the office. I never seem to add to my evening walk home, I have noticed, so I take advantage of my morning energy to get in more klicks.

-----------------

Happy first day after Labour Day and one day closer to the official start of.... Fall. I go through the same thing at this time every year: I wish and wish that I lived somewhere were the four seasons are clearly marked. I miss the wonderful colours of autumn leaves and the crisp cool air that makes for boots and sweater weather. Of course, I don't miss the four seasons when in the dead of winter I am still able to walk to work in rain gear as opposed to snow gear, but still. Allow me my little whimpered miss of autumn in all its natural glory.

>53 lkernagh: When I get back home, I promise I'll crunch through some leaves for you, Lori.

Thanks Micky! *sniffles*

Hi, Lori. I'm a little late to your latest thread. Good progress in your reading. Next book is 75!

I can understand your missing having clear demarcation of the seasons -- on the other hand, I wish I didn't have leaves falling already here where I live.

No leaves yet here although garden clearing has begun. I'm quite enjoying getting rid of the old growth and clearing up.

>56 tymfos: - Thanks Terri! I would offer to come rake your leaves - can you tell I miss tasks like that! - but I may find myself raking leaves in another location so I will instead wish you the best of luck with those leaves!

>57 charl08: - Hi Charlotte, thanks for the reminder (re: garden cleaning). I probably should look into what may need to be done with my various herb plants. I just don't have the energy for that right now. ;-)

--------------------

A quick note for everyone that I will be offline for the next little while. In the meantime, two more books have been read, reviewed and will now be posted below.

Book #75 - Tragedy at Second Narrows: The Story of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge by Eric Jamieson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Hardcover
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 301 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com website book listing:

On June 17, 1958, Vancouver experienced the worst industrial accident in its history when the new bridge being built across Burrard Inlet collapsed into the flooding tidal waters of Second Narrows, killing eighteen workers. Photos of the two broken spans tilted into the sea went around the world and provided the city with one of its iconic historical images, still familiar to school children half a century later. The shocking thing was that the bridge was not an old, decrepit structure, but a new one just in the midst of being erected with all the support and security modern engineering could provide. That somebody had made a colossal error seemed obvious, but it would take a Royal Commission to discover how and why. Even then, some mysteries will never be solved. Author Eric Jamieson reconstructs the tragic event, introducing the entire cast of politicians, construction bosses, engineers and ironworkers while presenting readers an insight into the world of big-time bridge building and clear picture of precisely how this great disaster took shape and plunged to its inevitable conclusion.

Review:
This was a good read, keeping in mind that my interest in the topic stems from a desire to learn more about local BC history. Jamieson really dives into the nitty-gritty details of bridge design and the details of the construction specifications like a forensic civil engineer. Some of the engineering details were a little over my head - I can appreciate the necessity for schematic numbering when building a bridge, but continual references to piers and what not by number had my non-engineering mind struggling a little bit to keep the image all straight in my mind. I now know more about cantilevered-truss bridge construction, cofferdams and falseworks than I ever thought I would know, which has a personal plus side for me in that I have a better appreciation for the current bridge work I walk past on a daily basis. If you are worried that this book is geared towards more engineering-minded individual, I can state that for like-minded readers like myself, the story nicely balances the construction details with the human interest side of the story: the workers involved with the bridge construction and that fateful day. I could never do an ironworker's job - I have a thing about heights - so I bow to the men, and women, who aspire to this type of construction high trapeze work. What really stood out for me while reading this story is how young certain members of the bridge construction team were and the horrifically low wages the ironworkers earned for such a high-risk job. Even taking into account that we are talking about 1958, 2 dollars and change an hour for such high risk, high skilled labour to construct a 1,292 meter long 6 lane bridge with a centre span of 335 meters (1,099 ft) as a major replacement traffic artery between Vancouver, Burnaby and North Vancouver.

Overall, this is a well written, well researched and well documented book with numerous archive photos to help communicate the events as they unfolded. I can definitely recommend this one to civil engineer/bridge enthusiasts and to readers like myself who just want to learn more about the details of the bridge collapse, the findings of the royal commission after the collapse and a glimpse into part of BC's past.

Footnote to review: As my 2015 thread theme is a celebration of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, I cannot close out this review without noting here that the Magna Carta made an appearance in this book. The Magna Carta was raised as an argument in a court hearing involving striking ironworkers refusing to return to the job after a court injunction was issued in line with the, at that time, new 1959 provincial Trade Union Act (Bill 53). The young lawyer, Tom Berger, facing a judge known for his distain for unions, argued that chapter 15 of the Magna Carta decreed that "No free man shall be distrained to make bridges" and that no statute of the province (BC) can infringe the rights or liberties granted free men by the Magna Carta. Jamieson goes on to mention in the book that "The judge begged to disagree, advising Berger that Magna Carta could be repealed by both federal and provincial legislation, but the introduction of such an unusual defense made him (the judge) pause. Rather than face a lengthy constitutional debate, he elected to not sequester to union's assets."

Book #76 - A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer - audiobook narrated by Paul Boehmer
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, Commonwealth
Category: Edinburgh's Commonwealth Games of Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 400 / 13 hours listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 5.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the barnesandnobel website book listing:

In 1994, the world stood idly by as Rwanda was devastated by the most horrifying genocide since the Holocaust. Now this tiny, land-locked nation stands poised to stun the world again—but in a very different way. Killers and survivors have embarked on a breathtaking path toward reconciliation, and Rwanda has become one of the most promising countries in the developing world. How did this happen? A Thousand Hills tells the dramatic story of Paul Kagame, whose rebel army stopped the genocide and whose government has turned Rwanda into a new star of Africa. Kagame grew up as a wretched refugee, shaped one of the most audacious covert operations in the history of clandestine warfare, and then emerged as a visionary leader with radical ideas about how poor countries can climb out of their misery. Whether his experiment can succeed is a question that has begun to fascinate people across Africa and beyond. Kinzer recounts one of the great untold stories of modern revolution and filled with harrowing tales of guerilla warfare, heart-wrenching accounts of the genocide carried out by the government of Rwanda and inspiring stories of how a devastated nation can reinvent itself.

Review:
I highly, highly recommend this read. One can tell right from the start that this is not just some hero worship for Kagame. Kinzer has done his research, even examining how historically the Tutsi and Hutu had lived side by side peaceably until Belgian interference created a purely politically motivated differentiation between the Tutsi and Hutu and started the country down its genocidal path. The fact that France was anything but an innocent bystander during the 1994 genocides - and just how ineffective the UN is when it comes to managing peace keeping activities - leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. This was all information I really didn't know before reading the Kinzer book. Kinzer does a fantastic job of just presenting the facts, gleaned from extensive research, visits to Rwanda and interviews with numerous figures such as Kagame and General Romeo Dallaire. Nobody is a saint in Kinzer's eyes and he leaves the door open regarding Rwanda's 'Asian Tiger' approach to move the country forward. Rwanda still has a uphill battle a head of them, but as Kinzer has pointed out, they progress they have made - for the most part without the assistance of and against the expectations of the international community - is something that deserves attention.

My best read so far this year and if I had any say in the matter - which I don't - I believe this should be required reading for any politician. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the pages of this book.

>60 lkernagh: Oh, that looks well worth reading. Wishlisted for who knows when.

Lori, superb reviews of both Tragedy at Second Narrows and A Thousand Hills. Both of these sound like excellent reads, and ones I would enjoy. FYI, I went to thumb-up both of your reviews, and you've posted the review for Second Narrows at A Thousand Hills.

>61 qebo: and >62 lit_chick: - A Thousand Hills is an excellent read. Kinder does a fantastic job with the history and the politics.

>62 lit_chick: - Tragedy at Second Narrows might come across for some readers as more of a bridge engineer kind of story. The local interest is really what sold me on the Jamieson book.

Review has been fixed on the book page!

And thumb applied : ).

Lori, saw this photo of a living herb/spice rack and thought of you:

>44 lkernagh: Good to see that you are still walking across Canada, Lori. If you think driving from Vancouver to Halifax was a feat then I should tell you how I got to Vancouver in the first place.

There were 6 of us in a compact car who went from Halifax to Montreal, from Montreal to Florida, from Florida across the southern states, then up the west coast to Vancouver.

Congrats on passing #75! Those last two both sound fascinating. Excellent reviews!

Congrats on reaching 75, Lori. Well done :-)

Hi! I'm here to lurk for book recommendations a little bit as I get my LT thread-watching groove back under my feet. :) Congrats on hitting 75 books!

Congrats on 75!!

A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It sounds amazing. I used to do research for a couple of people and once I was in the library looking up something or other (actually about ocean liners) and I found references to Tutsi/Hutu slaughter in 1960 and was so surprised (there was currently a slaughter going on and no one in the news ever mentioned that it had such a long history) so then I had to go find out a lot more.

Congrats!

Woot! Way to go on 75, Lori! (I somehow missed that in my earlier posts)

Seventy-five books! Yeehah! Good for you, and thanks for the push. I'm at 72, with 73 almost done and 74 halfway. Gotta get at it!!

Congrats on 75 Lori. The Rwanda book sounds great.

Hurrah for 75!

Huzzah for reaching the magic number, Lori!

Congratulations on getting to 75!

A Thousand Hills just dropped onto my pile. :)

*High fives*

Happy weekend, Lori.

>64 lit_chick: - Love it!

>65 Familyhistorian: - 6 in one compact car... that is one "cramped" and looooong road trip! It must have been quite the adventure!

>66 tymfos:, >67 Ameise1:, >68 Kassilem:, >69 sibylline:, >70 drneutron:, >71 lit_chick:, >72 weird_O:, >73 BLBera:, >74 ronincats:, >75 MickyFine:, >76 nittnut: and >77 Ape:- Thanks everyone! It is always nice to hit a milestone and still know that I am not ringing in the New Year while at the same time!

>68 Kassilem: - Hi Melissa!

>69 sibylline: - Rwanda was one of those human failures of history where we should have known what was going on.... it is not like people were just mysteriously disappearing or something, although that probably would have made the news.

>78 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! Hard to imagine that fall is here.

-------------------------
The past 10 days were busy offline times for me. I traveled home to Calgary. Had a quick 24 hour layover visiting with some members of the family before hopping a plane south with my sister for 3 nights and 2.5 days in Las Vegas. We then returned to Calgary for more family visiting, including organizing a wedding anniversary open house one day and a family dinner the next day before winging it back home to Victoria. It is always great when the family gets together. Lots of laughs and fun antics. As for Vegas, last time I was there I was a mere slip of a girl at 3 years old and only remember it being hot and that there was a pool. Las Vegas is something else. The new strip is just one big mass of sensory overload with the glitzy lights, the 'over the top' displays and the nonstop throngs of people milling around, regardless of the time of day. Definitely a destination worth experiencing with great shows, restaurants and shopping, but I can see why short-term (2-3 nights) vacations are the norm. By the third day, I was bagged and ready to head back to Calgary and my parents place. This was most likely due to a combination of factors including: sensory overload, lack of sleep and the HUGE amount of walking we did over those 2.5 days. According to my sister's walking app, we walked some 8,000 steps our first night in town, 46,000 steps our first full day and 37,000 steps the second full day.

As you may have guessed, I didn't get in much reading time, but I did manage to take advantage of the travel time to read through a short story, a novella and a LTER book I have downloaded on my smart phone.

Book #77 - A Winter Wrong: A Pride and Prejudice Novella Variation by Elizabeth Ann West
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 2014
Acquisition date: August 23, 2015
Page count: 177 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com website book listing:

When Jane Bennet's illness at Netherfield ends up not being just a trifling cold, but an epidemic that sweeps through Hertfordshire, the lives at Longbourn are turned upside down. Elizabeth Bennet finds herself lost without a cherished loved one and the interferences of one Fitzwilliam Darcy most aggravating. Combating the bombastic behavior of Mr. Collins, Elizabeth runs to London for the protection of her aunt and uncle. But acquaintances and introductions bring Mr. Darcy back into her life and Elizabeth discovers he might just mend her broken heart.

Review:
I needed something light and fluffy for snatched reading time during my vacation and the discovery of this free downloaded and then forgotten about novella was the perfect airplane read. Having previously read Pride and Prejudice, I was able to pick up the pieces as this story dives right into Netherfield and assumes the reader has a working knowledge of Jane Austen's story and her characters. Overall a quick and fun read for me. The only warning I have is that the story is a prelude to more episodes of the Bennet family under West's pen. The author does admit at the start of the novella to being an Austen fan fiction addict and I think it is safe to say that A Winter Wrong does squarely wear the fan fiction moniker.

In closing, the title of the book, A Winter Wrong, refers to when an heir to an estate throws the widow and offspring out into the cold.

Book #78 - To Rescue General Gordon: A Clockwork Imperium Short Story by J.P.Medved
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: August 15, 2015
Page count: 38 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com website book listing:

Henry Emerson didn't plan on disobeying orders, stealing an airship, and facing down a savage army of religious fanatics led by a man who believes he's the Prophet reborn. But he's about to. The famous General Gordon is trapped in a city under siege by the Prophet's soldiers. Henry and his friend James, two young officers in Her Majesty's Royal Air Navy, along with the hulking Sikh, Raheem, decide to rescue him. Their methods aren't exactly "cricket." Their superiors call it insubordination. They prefer to think of it as following orders...creatively. The adventure will either bring them glory and fame, or doom them to a painful death at the hands of savage tribesmen… If their own commanders don't get to them first!

Review:
Continuing my search for quick reads while on vacation, I dipped into this steampunk short story and first story in the Clockwork Imperium series. As much as I like the idea of more steampunk stories being published - this one set in the alternate reality of 1880's Africa and the Mahdist uprising. I felt that this story limped along without ever giving the reader anything concrete to grasp hold of. Of course, at a mere 38 pages, it is kind of hard to mount a rescue operation and capture all of the important details so that the reader doesn't feel lost during the process. A good premise and a nice balance of characters that probably would have had a better chance of captivating me if the story had been written as a more fulsome novella or even a full novel. Oh well, they all can't be winners. On the plus side, great cover art!

Book #79 - The Gray Lady of Long Branch by Maura Satchell
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 2015
Acquisition date: September 9, 2015
Page count: 284 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.80 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com website book listing:

If walls could talk... A grand Victorian beach house in Long Branch, New Jersey is the setting -- and narrator -- of this novel that takes the reader on an emotional journey through time, weaving a rich and colorful tale of the home's owners. First, a prestigious blueblood banking family with a tragic secret, then, the flawed but charming DiStefano family make the grand Victorian their vacation home, celebrate milestones and make memories in the "Gray Lady." Their stories intertwine with those of some interesting vacationers that occasionally rent this Jersey Shore beach home. In addition to observing and reporting on the people that dwell inside, the Gray Lady takes the reader on a Jersey Shore journey down memory lane recalling historical events such as the Vietnam War, the 1960s, the death of Princess Diana, Y2K and September 11th, as these events relate to those who dwell within the stately home for a time.

Review:
Books that have narration from a different point of view always intrigue me so when I saw this book was on offer through the LT Early Reviewer Program, I requested it. I like the idea of a house being narrator and being privy to the secrets that occur contained within its walls. Satchell has chosen to write this story as a series of short and more or less interconnected stories, which are easy to read when one is able to grab snatches of reading time. A number of the stories are focused around the DiSefano family but some of the stories are focused on the previous owner of house and vacation rental guests who come and stay in the Gray Lady. This is a hard book to pin down. It isn't chick lit, and it doesn't have the vibe and feel of the meatier Olive Kitteridge. The stories are limited to what the house "sees" or "hears" and understands - although there were a couple of times where the store does veer outside of the vicinity of the house - so the scope of what the reader is privy to is limited. Outside of the first story, which is my favorite, the stories are a little to saccharin-coated for my reading tastes. Maybe I am really a closet gossip rag reader at heart. I was looking forward to more 'behind the scenes' drama stories than the cleaner PG-styled stories with their solid morals and values I experienced.

Overall, an okay light read but only skims the surface of what could be some really interesting stories.

Currently Reading:


Audiobook:
A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman - a Sri Lanka read for my Commonwealth Challenge
Physical book:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Micheal Chabon - for the September SFFCAT Slipstream and Intersititial read and as a ROOT read

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEKS 9 and 10
Kilometers walked this week: 104.55
Kilometers walked in total: 563.25
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Still in BC. Currently East a Cache Creek (and west of Walhachin), heading for Kamloops Lake
Points of interest along the way:
Not much to report except a lot of walking along side of the Thompson River. Passed through Goldpan Provincial Park. Name like that makes me think of gold panning but I don't know if that really happened in that area. Continues through Spences Bridge and Epsom Provincial Park, Boston Flats and finally through Cache Creek and the turning point from northerly travel to easterly travel. All I can say is thank goodness for vacation walking.

Welcome back, Lori! Sounds like a fun trip - I've never been to Las Vegas but when I do go, it will only be for a few days, I think :)

I hope you like Kavalier and Clay - it's one of my favorites!

Woot to Vegas and tens upon tens of thousands of steps, Lori. Have never been, but I can certainly imagine what you say about sensory overload. Honestly, I think that's why I've never been … too much is too much. But you sway me …

And you even got some reading done, too! You're a wonder!

Well, you have zipped past that 75th book since I last visited, Lori. How cool that the Magna Carte had a bit role in your milestone book. It has been 30-some years since I've been to Las Vegas! I tend to enjoy quieter places when I travel!

>79 lkernagh: WooHoo for such a lot of steps. Well done.

I own Kavalier and Clay and I'm totally going to read it...eventually...

Hi Lori! Sounds like a successful trip to Vegas. I've only been once, but I concur that it is best experienced in small doses! I had a girlfriend getaway/show trip a few years ago, and really want to go back with my husband who has never been.

Congrats on reaching 75 books (and beyond)! Wow! And wow, what a review of A Thousand Hills. You got me.

>89 Ape: me too. Totally, one day.

>79 lkernagh: That's a lot of steps that you clocked in Vegas! At that rate I though you would be out of BC by now!

*waves cast*

So many steps!!! That's truly impressive.

Glad you had fun in Vegas - I'd never go there on vacation - voluntarily. In my mind, it was the first In and Out burger joint we got to on our way home from University and that was the only good thing. Lol. Too crazy for me. We did stay there the night once on our way to a funeral or something when I was 15 or 16. My dad booked us in to the old Circus Circus and had vouchers for the all you can eat buffet. Eventually the staff asked us to leave. Could have been that all 8 of us including 4 pre-teen/teenage boys were too much, even for an all you can eat. Good times. :)

Happy Sunday, Lori.

>85 katiekrug: - Hi Katie, I think it is safe to say that one only needs a day or two of Vegas at a time. I like the description of "Disneyland for Adults" and think that is a really good description for the Strip.

The good news is that I have made it past the point in Kavalier and Clay where I had previously abandoned the book. Still plugging away at it when I find time to read, which seems to be few and far between these days.

>86 lit_chick: - Vegas is truly a destination vacation. I am glad to have experienced it and can recommend it as an 'experience'. Quite unique. My feet did not approve of the excess amount of walking we did while in Vegas but they have now recovered and I think, forgiven me. ;-)

As for the vacation reading... thank goodness for airplanes and the lack of things one can do on an airplane.

>87 Donna828: - I was super happy to see the Magna Carta reference in my 75th book, Donna, considering that was totally unexpected! I can understand the desire to enjoy quieter locations for vacations. It was a nice change for me. If I go back, it will be to see a particular show or to do other things. I have a work colleague who will be going to Vegas next month to go, among other things, kayaking downstream of Hoover Dam. Now that is something that I would consider a return visit to Vegas to do.

>88 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara! As mentioned above to Katie, my feet have since forgiven me that excessive walking!

>89 Ape: - It is quite the doozy of a book, Stephen, but I have to admit I am enjoying the WWII New York atmosphere and the comic book angles to the story.

>90 AMQS: - Small doses does seem the best way to 'take in' Vegas, Anne. Thanks and I do hope you get a chance to read or listen to the audiobook of A Thousand Hills. Well written and researched books tend to resonate with me.

>91 LovingLit: - smiles

>92 Familyhistorian: - I would have thought I would have been on my way out of BC too but BC is rather big province, as they all are. By my latest calculations, I think I won't be exiting BC and entering Alberta until Halloween.

>93 ronincats: - Hi Roni!

>94 nittnut: - So many steps make the feet sore but are so worth the pain! I love that you would never go to Vegas on vacation voluntarily. I have a work colleague who also would never go to Vegas by choice and yet events have taken him there 3 times so far, usually family of sport team-related events. Seems to be hard to hid from Vegas. ;-) Glad to see that you have fond memories of Vegas. My first experience of Vegas is a family road trip when I was only 3 years old, so fo course all I remember are the family stationwagon, that it was super hot and that we found a place with a swimming pool. Ont his trip we did not encounter an "In and Out" burger place but I can now admit to having experienced - and enjoyed - my first ever White Castle slider.

Trip memories are fantastic.

>95 Ameise1: - What a beautiful dinner setting, Barbara!

Happy Sunday all! I have had a rather busy week getting back into the swing of office work (and getting caught up with all that landed on my desk while I was on vacation) and coming to the realization that we are now less than 3 full months away from Christmas. I hit the craft stores yesterday looking for some inspiration for some new Christmas tree decoration ideas and came away empty-handed. I think I will have to wait until after Canadian Thanksgiving - which is fast approaching - and Halloween before I can expect to find a good selection of Christmas crafting supplies on the shelves.

The weather continues to remain sunnier than usual but we are now experiencing the more cooler seasonal temperatures, which is perfect for walking!

On the food front, I made a fresh batch of tzatziki sauce yesterday and some cheddar chive and dill scones today. The two items make a perfect pairing - as my sampling this afternoon can attest to - so dinner tonight will probably be something light.

One the reading front, I continue to plug away at both The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay as my physical read and A Disobedient Girl as my audiobook read. My goal is to complete both books by the end of this month, which should be doable.

Now time for a bit of a slap-dab photo impression of my trip to Vegas.

ETA: I forgot to mention that one of my time-sucks this past week has been watching some new streaming programs on Acorn TV. They are currently streaming the BBC TV adaptations of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Partners in Crime novels, starring David Walliams (Little Britain) and Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife). I am also currently watching an adaptation of William Boyd's novel Restless starring, among others, Michelle Dockery of Downtown Abbey fame. Sooooo... not much reading happening right now.

While in Las Vegas, I found myself referring to the strip as being 'hypnotically tacky', which isn't, upon reflection, an overall positive comment to make. 'Iconic' is probably a better way to describe the Strip, as is 'Disneyland for Adults'. The following pictures convey the 'Disneyland for Adults' view of this rather fascinating destination:

The Luxor Hotel is a wonderful Egyptian-themed hotel that doesn't seem at odds with the desert landscape (forgetting, of course, that it is located in the middle of Las Vegas and not as its own desert oasis):




A shot of MGM Grand and part of New York, New York from across the street:



A close up shot of what I call the "Sleeping Beauty's Castle" approach to MGM Grand:



A shot of New York, New York with the roller-coaster that surrounds the hotel:

What I call an iconic shot of the Strip with the three-dimensional signage for shops like the M&M and Coca-Cola shops:



A shot of the Paris-themed hotel with its Eiffel Tower, Arc d'Triumph and air balloon electronic billboard display in the foreground, with Ballys, etc in the background:



A shot of the Venetian Hotel gondolier trip starting point:



One of the approaches to the Treasure Island-themed hotel with its pirate ship, wooden plank pier and the Senor Frog's restaurant:



A shot inside one of the many indoor shops attached to the various strip hotels. All of the indoor shops have digital ceilings that display weather patterns of sun, cloud, etc. This particular spot, with the pool, is where, at the top of every hour, a rainstorm display (with loudspeaker sounds of thunder and flashes of light for lightening) occurs, with 'rain' falling from the skies (ceiling) into the pool.



Overall things that caught my attention as 'different':
- the number of families with small children on the Strip, and the number that seemed to be out and about at 2:00 am, when I was.
- the fact that people, for the most part, are allowed to smoke in the casino areas. There are no smoking/non-smoking areas in the casinos that I could ascertain. In fact, one of the casino's even has a cigar girl I talked to who only job is to sell tobacco products to the players on the floor.
- That one could freely consume alcohol anywhere on the Strip, at anytime of the day or night. It was not uncommon to see people walking the Strips with alcoholic drinks in their hands.

A lot of fun but probably best taken in small doses for someone like me who does not have the university student stamina for all night partying. ;-)

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 11
Kilometers walked this week: 50.5
Kilometers walked in total: 613.75
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Still in BC. Currently east of Savena, south of Kamloops Lake and heading for Kamloops.
Points of interest along the way:
Not much to report except for Kamloops Lake being a popular summer vacation resort area in interior BC. On a personal walking journey note, now that I have hit 75 days of my walking journey, I have discovered a change in that I now notice when I haven't gone for a daily walk, almost as though I am craving a walk. Kind of neat, that and should make it a lot easier for me to continue my walking when the rainy winter weather arrives.

LOVE the photos, Lori. Whoa, talk about sensory overload! I'm with you: best taken in small doses for someone like me who does not have the university student stamina for all night partying.

Fabulous that you're craving your walk when you've not yet had one on any particular day! St John's here she comes! (ya, I know, you need to get out of BC first, but you catch my drift, LOL).

Great pictures, Lori! I confess I've never been to Las Vegas - a fun place to visit, but like you I don't have the stamina of university student ( says the creaky old mom of a 31 and 25 year old - had them as a child bride! :) Still up for a walk each day though.

Love the photos, but I suspect that that's as close as I'll ever get to the real thing, which isn't at all my, uh, thing. *grins*

>98 lkernagh: I have a whole stash of Christmas ornaments to cross-stitch should I take the notion. I keep meaning to pick up my cross-stitch again, but so far, I just have it out and haven't done anything. I'm taking it with me to Memphis because I suspect I might be more productive on it than on a book in the hospital, but I'm taking the book too!

Great photos, Lori.

*waves cast--6 more days*

I went to Vegas with a group of friends a few years ago and I have to admit once was more than enough for me. Glad you had a good time though, Lori. :)

Those are great Vegas photos, Lori. I've been, but it's not really my cuppa, especially since I'm not much for gambling. My wife went with gal pals a few years ago and liked best a Cirque de Soleil show they saw.

Back in the late '70s, my wife and I passed through Las Vegas...beat...beat...beat...New Mexico. :-)

I'm ecstatic you went to the better-known one in Nevada, Lori, and posted the photos, so I don't have to. :-)

>102 lit_chick: - Hi Nancy. Yes, Vegas has a lot for the eyes to take in, that is for sure. As for the walking, I have reached the point where I crave the exercise, without trying to get to that point. It is a good feeling, but I still have a long ways to go before St. John's.... I think I will still be in BC until Halloween. ;-)

>103 vancouverdeb: - Thanks Deb. Considering this is only my second trip - and I really use that term loosely since I have no clear memories of my previous visit as a three-year-old - it was really good and did what I needed the trip to do: got me to completely decompress from work. ;-) Good for you on the daily walks and who said you were a creaky old mom?!

>104 scaifea: - He, he... I get that Vegas is not everyone's idea of a vacation spot, Amber, so I am glad to share the pics with you so you can at least say that you have visited it 'virtually'. ;-)

>105 thornton37814: - It has been ages since I last tackled cross stitch! Sounds like a great idea to take it with you to Memphis... I know I find it easier to do craft projects with my hands when in an environment where I may be easily distracted by noises or have to just grab snatches of time.

>106 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara!

>107 ronincats: - Yay! Close the finish line to being cast-free!

>108 MickyFine: - I do believe that it is a place worth experiencing and going with a group of friends sounds like fun.

>109 jnwelch: - Thanks Joe. My handy dandy little camera doesn't always take the best of pics but it performed well this trip... the lightening was excellent. I am not much of a gambler - I am way to cautious with my money - but I did engage in a little flutter at BlackJack and Roulette. I just don't understand any of the other casino games. BlackJack is easier for me as the paternal side of my family loved to TwentyOne with pennies at family reunions and it was always thrilling when the adults would let us wee-ones play a little bit and not just watch from the sidelines.

>110 weird_O: - Ha! I did not know that New Mexico has a Las Vegas. I now have interesting visions of travel mix-ups, kind of like . ;-)

--------------------

Lovely to see everyone visiting and commenting about the vacation photos. I probably should mention that Vegas - the one in Nevada, anyways - has a lot on offer besides theme hotels and casinos. They are also a shopping mecca. I swear, the Strip has shops for all of the designers and famous brands. Fashion Shops has 250 well known stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy, TopShop, etc. The hotels all have shops of their own including a great mix of high end design labels. Vegas has everything from Tom Ford, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg, Barneys New York, Prada, Gucci, Louis St. Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, etc, etc. You name it, the store is on the Strip.



And if you are a foodie, Vegas is getting a fantastic reputation as restaurant destination. Gordon Ramsay's has three restaurants on the Strip, not to mention all of the other great restaurants on offer.

Book #80 - A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman - audiobook read by Anne Flosnik
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, Commonwealth
Category: Edinburgh's Commonwealth Games of Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 374 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the simonandschuster.com website book listing:

Two stories, told against the volatile backdrop of class and prejudice in Sri Lanka. Young Latha knows that she was not meant to be a servant. She was born for finer things, like the rose-smelling soap she steals from the family she has worked for since she was five, or the glasses of fresh lime juice she helps herself to after a long day. But the hard truth is that her life is tied to Thara, the family’s spoiled daughter, and for the next thirty years they grow up bound by love, betrayal, resentment, and an impossible secret. Then there is Biso, a devoted mother of three, who risks everything to escape from her tyrannical husband. Though her journey begins with hope, she navigates a disastrous path that ultimately binds her story to Latha and Thara’s in the most unexpected and heartbreaking way.

Review:
I will start off this review with some information about the author. According to a Guardian.com website book review, the author was raised in an aristocratic Sri Lankan family. Her grasp of the Sri Lankan caste system, the political tensions that have impacted her country and the details of the clash between a modern world of denim jeans/T-shirts and traditional coming of age rights of passages for girls, are poignant and captured well. What I struggled with was the characters, and in particular, Latha. I get that she is chaffing at the binds that tie her to the servant class status she has in Thara's household, and before that in the household of Thara's parents, but she just never comes across as anything more than a shallow individual who equates social position with owning good quality leather sandals. Seriously, you have to read the book to understand why I am saying this. Latha makes choices that I just cannot accept. I am not saying that the circumstances she finds herself in are deserved - this book has some great examples of a family that is prepared to blatantly lie, even to each other, to protect social position - but she just goes about trying to improve her life in all the wrongs ways. The Biso story is better - this is one of those books with two story-lines it keeps shifting back and forth between - and I found it easier to relate to Biso and her trials. Maybe part of my trouble with this one is the audiobook narration. Parts of the book seemed to jumble in my mind and the reader's voice as she pronounced Thara's name started to really grate on me after awhile... just a little to emphatic with the Thara's. I also struggled a bit in determining the time period for the book. I finally settled on the book covering the period from the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War in the early 1980s to the publication date of the book, 2009, but I could be wrong.

Overall, an okay read with great representation of Sri Lanakan society and class prejudices with minor glimpses into the Sri Lankan politics, struggles and geography. Aptly titled.

SEPTEMBER RE-CAP:

BOOKS READ (ranked from most to least favorite):
A Thousand Hills by Stephen Kinzer - 5.00 /
Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko - 4.20 /
Tragedy at Second Narrows by Eric Jamieson - 4.00 /
A Winter Wrong by Elizabeth Ann West - 3.30 /
Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski - 3.20 /
A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman - 3.10 /
The Gray Lady of Long Branch by Maura Satchell - 2.80 /
To Rescue General Gordon by J.P. Medved - 2.20 /

August STATS:
# of Books Read: 8
# of Pages Read: 2,182 - Does not include the 474 pages I have read so far in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which is rolling into October.
Average pages read per day: 72.73
Original Publication Date Range of books read: 1999-2015
Largest Book read: A Thousand Hills at 400 pages
Smallest Book read: To Rescue General Gordon at 38 pages
Books still in progress at the end of the month: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

CHALLENGES:- as of August 30th
ROOTs Challenge:
Books read this month: 0 (20 in total)
Status: 80% completed (5 books still to go)

Commonwealth Challenge: - this is a multi-year challenge started in 2013.
Books read this month: 3 (26 in total)
Status: 50% completed (26 books still to go) Whoot! Halfway mark!

Category Challenge: Each category completed when 8 books AND 2,015 pages read is reached - *changing from original plans of a "whichever comes first" approach. Status as of August 30th:
Street Art - 7 books/ 2,185 pages read
Happening - 8 books / 2,626 pages read - Category completed August 22, 2015
Minimalism - 7 books / 1,918 pages read
American Realism - 7 books / 1,727 pages read
The London Group - 7 books / 2,966 pages read
Books made into Art - 9 books / 2,761 pages read - Category completed June 22, 2015
Edinburgh's Commonwealth Games of Art - 10 books / 2,689 pages read - Category completed August 3, 2015
Art - 17 books / 4,405 pages read - Category completed June 22, 2015
Status: ~ 93% completed (~ 4 books still to go)

Planned reads to complete Category Challenge:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay to complete my Street Art category
Shoot! to complete my Minimalism category (and as a tie in to my Trans Canada Walking Journey)
Something Wicked This Way Comes for my American Realism category + one other as I am going for both 8 books AND 2015 pages read.
Black Swan Green for my London Group category

75 Books Challenge: - My "Luck 'O the Irish" Race (books read versus pages read): Bringing this fun reading snapshot race back, my 75 group challenge will be considered completed whichever comes first: 75 books read or 25,000 pages read.



Even though Pot of Gold won the race on September 11th - a reversal from last year when Shamrock blew past the finish line at the end of November with 789 pages beyond target - the race will continue to track books read versus pages read for oveall year end numbers.

Saw the most amazing cloud formation in front of the full moon last night so I snapped the following picture using the camera on my smart phone. Not as good as the real thing but still pretty amazing, I think.

Wow! That is a fabulous photo! So interesting! I've never seen such a cloud formation.

Excellent review of A Disobedient Girl, Lori. Can certainly understand your misgivings with what sounds like a very shallow character.

>116 lit_chick: - I was pretty cool to look at the sky last night. Thanks. I sometimes have to remind myself that I cannot (or should not) expect to like or connect with characters in all of the books I read. It was a bit of a disappointing read for me.

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It has been an interesting week, technology wise. I have a new tablet that we use at home for web browsing and as the computer that we connect to our living room TV for web TV watching (like Acorn TV). The problem I have with the newer technology is that the software and hardware seemed to be locked down and out of the control of the customer. We don't have the ability to stop the tablet (which runs the Microsoft software platform) from initiating software update installs. It is just not an option. Earlier this week, the tablet installed Windows 8.1 (and I had no way to stop it from doing so) with the end result that we lost the dual screen functionality we use for TV watching. When my other half finally got the dual screen function working, we had visual with no audio. Microsoft technical support did admit that this was their fault as a result of the Windows 8.1 install which pissed me off to no end. Why consumers are being sold devices that are locked down and do not allow the consumer to be in control of software updates just makes my blood boil. On top of that two days of fun, at work we are in the process of transitioning from a traditional PBX land line phone system to a web "voice over internet' phone system. Today was transition day. I am still getting used to the concept of placing and receiving calls through my laptop with a headset, but I can already see some interesting benefits of this new communications system. On the downside, I cannot help but wonder what happens to the phone system if the network goes down, which is why I am thankful that I still have my work issued cell phone to fall back on. ;-)

Nice shot of the moon!

>115 lkernagh: Nice!
>117 lkernagh: Ugh, technology. Can't live with it, can't live without it. I got a new computer a month ago to separate personal stuff from work stuff, and I'm still only partway through the transition because it's such a nuisance to get everything installed and connected.

Vegas doesn't really seem like my kind of place but I'm always amazed by the total over-the-top absurdity of it all. :)

I have a friend who lives in Las Vegas for the desert. I visited a few years ago and we walked through the casino strip cuz it's there, then spent a day in Red Rock Canyon.

Hear, hear! I'm absolutely with you, Lori! Why consumers are being sold devices that are locked down and do not allow the consumer to be in control of software updates just makes my blood boil.

>117 lkernagh: Sorry about all your technology problems. My iPhone gives me the option of downloading software, and I generally do eventually. But every once in a while I get some huge problem with the software - like losing my entire Audible library or the phone freezing or whatever. Sometimes I'm tempted to never download any updates again.

*waves cast--3 more days!*

>115 lkernagh: Looks like the sky had curdled, Lori - splendid.

Struggling to catch up as seems usual nowadays but time at least to wish you a lovely weekend. xx

Mandatory software updates are the worst. New technology is great and all, but "cutting edge" software is usually code for "broken garbage that will crash and ruin everything." I have an old phone and I haven't updated it in years because the updates aren't mandatory for it. Surprise, I've never had it break down on me.

Wow! Amazing photos, Lori. I've never been to Las Vegas, and now I don't have to go. Disobedient Girl sounds like something I might like.

was here...

Love all the photos of Vegas. You take great photos. :) It is such a crazy place, and what you said about families out and about at 2 am is one of the craziest things about it.

>126 Ape: Agreed. Case in point - iOS 9.0 which installed a lovely little thing called wifi assist. If it thinks your wifi connection is too slow, it will helpfully connect you to the 4G network. In a place like NZ where unlimited data is almost unheard of, it's just an expensive and unnecessary addition. Not a problem if you know about it and turn it off, but a majorly unpleasant surprise at billing time if you don't know and go over your data allowance.

>98 lkernagh: I am just catching up with your thread, Lori because I have had some WiFi issues while on my trip. I saw the first episode of Tommy and Tuppence on Acorn TV before I left. Isn't that a different take on the story? I will have to catch up when I get home. Great pics of Vegas - almost feels like I have been there by looking at them.

*waves cast--ONE MORE DAY!*

>118 drneutron: - Thanks, Jim!

>119 qebo: - Thanks! I do believe that technology should not be the tug-a-war it seems to have become. I want options! I was joking last week during our technology shift at work that we should have one day a month that is 'technology free'. Won't happy, but a lovely thought. I did get a chuckle at the fact that this past Monday there was a power outage for 1.5 hours that impacted pretty much everything as even the networks went down, so it didn't matter if one had their laptop fully charged. As you have rightly pointed out: "Can't live with it, can't live without it." ;-)

>120 Ape: - Hi Stephen! Absurd yes, but even absurd can sometimes have its appeal, dontcha think? ;-)

>121 qebo: - Red Rock Canyon would appeal to me, as would kayaking downstream of the Dam, which a work colleague will be doing later this month. What I loved about the area is that even on the hottest day we were there - it reached 31'C - it was bearable heat because it wasn't humid. And even more importantly, my hair behaved itself in the dry climate... humidity tends to frizz it out.

>122 lit_chick: - Always happy to see I am not alone in my battle against the evil technology empire, Nancy! Of course, I don't have any 'pull' in making a change happen, but it is good to vent. ;-)

>123 The_Hibernator: - Hi Rachel! I have accepted the fact that I will always be a loggerheads with the technology companies about something. If it isn't internet bandwidth speeds, it will be about lack of consumer choice/control or my really BIG bugaboo, invasion of privacy. The number of smart phone apps that seem to 'require' the ability to control/access your GPS location and the camera functions on your phone is downright frightening. I am soooo sorry to read about your Audible library! That is huge! OMG! Were you able to retrieve your library or was that lost forever?

>124 ronincats: - YAY, you must be cast-free by now! Congrats!

>125 PaulCranswick: - Curdled is a great way to describe that sky picture, Paul! I hear you on the struggles of keeping up with LT these days. Always great to see you pop by when you have a chance to make your way over here.

>126 Ape: - I am sooo not a fan of cutting edge technology. I don't understand the waves of people that feel compelled to rush out and purchased the latest and greatest as soon as it hits the market. I just don't get it. I think you were smart to stick to your old phone. I never had any problems with my old phone... and I didn't have any worries about data breaches, privacy invasion and overall technology 'hiccups' with it like I seem to have with my new phone. I so want to live off the grid but the world does not think that living off the grid should be an option. *Grrrrr!* ;-)

>127 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! Ha, Ha, Ha.... good point, even though I should warn you that the pictures I posted only scratch the surface of that unique place.

>128 weird_O: - Hey Bill, happy to see you here!

>129 nittnut: - Awe, thanks Jenn but I should mention that my camera is of the point-and-shoot variety so kudos could probably be extended to the camera manufacturer and the wonderful sunny skies of Vegas. ;-)

Wi-fi assist is evil! I do believe that the technology companies were in total cahoots with the cell phone providers on that little nugget!

>130 Familyhistorian: - Hi Meg, I have to admit, I have never read the Tommy and Tuppence stories Agatha Christie wrote, but I will take your word for it that they are different. Still fun to watch... which reminds me, I think I have another installment ready for viewing. Glad I was able to provide a Vegas experience for you!

>131 ronincats: - YAY, you should be cast-free by now!

----------------------

Wow - it has been a few days since I last posted. I took advantage of the wonderful warm, sunny weather we had this past weekend to do some of our major fall cleaning, like steam cleaning the carpets. Always a busy project as I like to move all but the really big furniture and steam clean the carpets myself... one of the joys of owning our own steam cleaning machine. That is now done. Also did some work and research about wintering my container herb garden. I have brought the basil plants indoors but I have decided to let everything else winter outdoors and we will see what survives come spring. According to my research, 80% of the plants I have are biannual so they should survive the winter outdoors.

On the reading front, I continue to be distracted by TV shows, fall cleaning and whatnot, but I can at least report one book finished and one book has 20 more pages to go before I can call it finished.

On the craft front, I continue to roam the shops and surf the web for some Christmas ornament craft ideas. I have some ideas percolating but I think I will have to wait until after Canadian Thanksgiving (which is this weekend) and Halloween to be over before the stores here go full on with their Christmas stuff.

Walking update and a book review to follow.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 12
Kilometers walked this week: 72.3
Kilometers walked in total: 686.05
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Currently west of Chase, skirting the southern rim of Little Shuswap Lake, heading for Squilax and Sorrento.
Points of interest along the way: The Kamloops/Shuswap region of BC is one that I do like, based up fond memories of visits to the area. I like how the entire week of walking would have been more or less alongside the South Thompson River. I am a big fan of rivers, lakes and what not. My fondest memories of the region go back a number of years to when I was still a teenager and joined the family for a clan reunion in the area. Picking luscious ripe strawberries right off the vines of a farm that offered "U-Pick" for visitors and devouring them lakeside. Soooo good.

As I think I previously mentioned - and I apologize if I have not - I will occasionally read books by authors or set in the regions/areas that my walking journey will take me. Yes, I did think about reading Richard Wagamese's Medicine Walk as a book set, partially, in interior BC, but my local library has a copy of the following historical fiction based on a true story set in Kamloops which has caught my eye:


Shoot! by George Bowering.

I will be starting my read of Shoot! as soon as I finish my current physical read.

Book #81 - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - audiobook narrated by Kevin Foley
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: American Realism
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 1962
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 304 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes. . .and the stuff of nightmare.

Review:
Now, this is my kind of scary read. Wholesome lead characters in a wholesome town and just the right amount of creepiness to tingle my senses. Carnivals seem to be the perfect fodder for scary stories - after old, broken down houses - and I love how Bradbury brings to life a carnival that can give both children and adults readers pause. The innocence of young Will and Jim, and their friendship, propels the story along it's mysterious, fantasy-driven horror. It is a classic tale of good versus evil, told in a voice designed to stir the imagination of the reader, and place the reader in the middle of the story to fight evil alongside Will, Jim and Will's father, Charles. The story has a timeless quality to it that appeals to me. It doesn't feel dated or come across as lacking in substance. I kind of like the "gosh, golly" language of the boys...that made me smile, especially as conveyed by the audiobook narrator, Kevin Foley.

Overall, a fantastic story with just the right amount of sinister creepiness for the non-horror reader like me to enjoy. I don't think I will ever look at a merry go round (or a house of mirrors) or smell hot dogs and cotton candy without thinking about this story.

So glad you enjoyed this classic by Bradbury--probably my favorite of his!

*Waves (cast-free) hand*

>135 lkernagh: Your walk has reached a nice bit of country to be walking through. Strawberries by the water: pretty idyllic.

Great review of Something Wicked. I haven't read anything by him except Farenheit 451, which I loved. I have two Bradburys to read this month. I'm starting with Green Shadows, White Whale, then probably Dandelion Wine.

>137 ronincats: - What a perfect autumn read Something Wicked is, Roni! I am sooo glad I chose to read/listen to it.

Lovely to see the cast-free wave!

>138 charl08: - I agree, Charlotte! The Okanagan region is fantastic for its fresh produce and beautiful weather. Now I want fresh strawberries.... ;-)

>139 nittnut: - Thanks Jenn! I have toyed with the idea of reading Fahrenheit 451, but something about that one daunts me. Now that I know you loved it, I may be more inclined to give it a try. Looking forward to seeing what you think of your Bradbury reads... I haven't read either of those books you mention in your post.

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The fog bank is rolling in after a full day of grey skies, which means we are back to normal Victoria fall weather. A good night for homemade pizza and sitting down planning the holiday dinner for the weekend.

Book #82 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, ROOT
Category: Books Made Into Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade Paperback
Original publication date: 2000
Acquisition date: May 4, 2013
Page count: 639 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the barnesandnoble.com website book listing:

A young escape artist and budding magician named Joe Kavalier arrives on the doorstep of his cousin, Sammy Clay. While the long shadow of Hitler falls across Europe, America is happily in thrall to the Golden Age of comic books, and in a distant corner of Brooklyn, Sammy is looking for a way to cash in on the craze. He finds the ideal partner in the aloof, artistically gifted Joe, and together they embark on an adventure that takes them deep into the heart of Manhattan, and the heart of old-fashioned American ambition. From the shared fears, dreams, and desires of two teenage boys, they spin comic book tales of the heroic, fascist-fighting Escapist and the beautiful, mysterious Luna Moth, otherworldly mistress of the night. Climbing from the streets of Brooklyn to the top of the Empire State Building, Joe and Sammy carve out lives, and careers, as vivid as cyan and magenta ink.

Review:
How to summarize my thoughts regarding this one. Well, Chabon has done a wonderful job capturing the Golden Age of comic books and the buzzing energy of New York in all its World War II and post-World War II glory. He has created solid, three dimensional characters in Sammy, Joe and Rosa. I am not one of those readers who seeks to uncover the "story within the story" or to understand the symbolism the author may have imbued within his or her story, but even I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Chabon makes some interesting choices here with the Golem, the comic book superheroes and the internal demons our lead characters struggle against. The story has an epic quality to it, starting off in pre-World War II Prague before landing in the teeming streets of Brooklyn/ New York and then off to the desolation of Antarctica, which was one of my favorite sections of the story, apart from the escape artist/magician angle. While I don't know much about the history of comic books, I was able to follow along and feel the vibe of energy and passion that may have driven the artists, writers and publishers who conjured up the superheroes who graced the pages of 10 cent comic books.

As much as the story has all of the desired character and plot development - with some unexpected twists - all captured in Chabon's descriptive prose, I never felt drawn in. I never felt a part of the story. It was easy for me to put the book down, even for the most mundane of household tasks, which is why it took my almost a month to read through it. Good story, but not a great page-turning read for me like Chabon's novel Gentlemen of the Road.

Hi Lori - good to see you liked Something Wicked This Way Comes, as I am planning ot read that this month, too!

Hi Lori - The Bradbury sounds good. I enjoyed your comments on Kavalier & Clay. I loved it, but one of my colleagues warned me that it started slow. When I read it, I loved the beginning and thought it was slow in the middle with all the comic book stuff. You have yet another take on it. It's so great to discuss books!

>132 lkernagh: Oh, yes, I was able to get all my books back. They were deleted from my phone - not from my Audible cloud, thank goodness. THAT would have been awful!

I really loved Something Wicked This Way Comes. I'm afraid it's one of the few Bradbury books I've read. I should really read a bunch more, because he's great.

Hi Lori! Getting caught up here. I'm currently reading Something Wicked This Way Comes and loving it so far. I listened to the audio of Fahrenheit 451 last year and really enjoyed it, too.

Happy weekend, Lori.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori!

>142 katiekrug: - Something Wicked is a delightful read, Katie. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

>143 BLBera: - I am still amazed that I have never read a Bradbury until this month. What a great storyteller he is. Kavalier and Clay is a well researched and well written story, no doubt about that but as you say, it does have its slow bits. I love how different readers can come away with different impressions of the same story!

>144 The_Hibernator: - That is a relief to learn, Rachel. I am sooo leery about the cloud but as you say, it did save your audiobooks so maybe I should start thinking about cloud. Right now, I save everything to memory flash drives, so I do have backups in case something untoward happens. Like you, I am hoping to read more Bradbury now that I have finally 'discovered' him, thanks to Mark's AAC. ;-)

>145 cbl_tn: - I am looking forward to seeing what you think of Something Wicked, Carrie! I am still a bit leery about Fahrenheit 451 but I am encouraged that readers like you enjoyed that one. Maybe one day I will get around to reading it.

>146 Ameise1: - Happy weekend, Barbara!

>147 lit_chick: - Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy!

It is the Thanksgiving long-weekend up here in Canada - as you may have already guessed by Nancy's post above - so here is a quick Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian LT visitors!



We will be celebrating with dinner this evening. I did think about trying something different this year but went for a compromise in that I will be preparing a turkey breast roast and not an entire turkey. I attempted to make a pumpkin pie last night. It baked okay and probably turned out just fine but I had forgotten how grainy and pumpkiny pumpkin pie can be. I think I am going to mess around this afternoon and see if I can make some smaller pumpkin tarts that still pumpkiny but lighter and fluffier in texture. Will report back if I am successful. In the meantime, here is a picture of the pie I made last night:

Book #83 - The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri - audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 264 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book listing:

Inspector Salvatore Montalbano wakes from strange dreams to find a gruesomely bludgeoned horse carcass in front of his seaside home. When his men came to investigate, the carcass has disappeared, leaving only a trail in the sand. Then his home is ransacked and the inspector is certain that the crimes are linked. As he negotiates both the glittering underworld of horseracing and the Mafia's connection to it, Montalbano is aided by his illiterate housekeeper, Adelina, and a Proustian memory of linguate fritte.

Review:
I last visited Montalbano's Sicily 10 months ago when I read The Wings of the Sphinx. I love how easy it was for me to reconnect with the setting and the characters, almost as if I had never left. Montalbano and his team continue to amuse, especially the exuberant Catarella. This story is a bit more brutal than some of the previous stories in the series as there is some senseless animal cruelty here. On a very positive note, from my perspective, Ingrid, one of my favorite reoccurring characters, shows up in this story. Yay! Gardner does such a great job bringing her personality to life. I do shake my head at the corners Montalbano continues to paint himself into and wonder when he will finally go to far and not be able to recover.

Overall, another good installment in Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.

>149 lkernagh: Pie looks gorgeous. My one attempt at this just tasted of cream so I was unimpressed.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori!

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your Turkey Haze! :) Not a soy turkey this year? ;) We are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow . We'll be taking along our signature dish, broccoli casserole . Not healthy especially, very late 1970's, found by my grandmother . You know, parboiled broccoli . a can cream of chicken soup. grated cheese, and a topping of bread crumbs and a bit of butter. But it is very popular in my family, so we take a double batch each holiday - Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving etc. Makes me chuckle to think about it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Sunday, Happy Thanksgiving, Lori! I am so glad you enjoyed Something Wicked This Way Comes. It is one of my favorite Bradbury's too.

I would like to revisit Kavalier and Clay one of these days but I also have many unread Chabon books to get to first.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori. Your pie looks good. As the piemaker in my family, I have experimented with several recipes over the years. There is a pumpkin mousse pie that is lighter.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lori.

A little confusing to a Brit abroad realising that Canada and the US celebrate on different days.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Lori! You are a very talented photographer. Love the moon shot, and I really enjoyed your Vegas photos, though I think you are correct with your first description: hypnotically tacky sounds about right:)

Thank you all for the Happy Thanksgiving wishes! Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. I hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope everyone else has had a wonderful weekend. It is cold and rainy today, perfect for staying at home and relaxing this holiday Monday.

>151 charl08: - Thanks Charlotte. I tend to struggle a bit when it comes to pies/tarts so I consider anything that comes out of the oven that is not a visual ruin to be a bit of a success. ;-) The taste factor is what continues to befuddle me. I don't like overly sweet desserts - my favorite would be cheesecake or a deep rich dark chocolate cake - and cringe at some of the sugar amounts some recipes call for. At least I don't mind experimenting. ;-)

>152 katiekrug: - Thanks Katie!

>153 vancouverdeb: - Yup, the Turkey Haze was experienced and enjoyed. ;-) your family broccoli casserole has a lot of what I enjoy: broccoli, grated cheese, bread crumbs and butter. Some of those older recipes are keepers for a reason. ;-)

>154 connie53: - Thanks, Connie!

>155 msf59: - Hey mark. I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, with baseball watching if I am not mistaken. ;-) I am know an avid fan of Bradbury... something I did not think would happen! Chabon is a very good writer and I do want to read more of his books so I have my fingers crossed that another Gentlemen of the Road exists in his pile of published works.

>156 BLBera: - Hi Beth, thanks! Oooohhh... A pumpkin mousse pie sounds promising!

>157 PaulCranswick: - Thanks Paul. If it is any conciliation, the different Canadian and US holidays even befuddle some North Americans. I still confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day (Veterans Day coincides with Canada's Remembrance Day, which doesn't always coincide with Remembrance Day in Great Britain). ;-) One of my previous jobs involved working for a small company with offices in both Canada and the US. The company went to great pains to balance out the official vacation days between the two offices but that didn't stop the Canadians from bemoaning the 4-day weekend the American colleagues would get for US Thanksgiving or the American colleagues from bemoaning the fact that Canadian colleagues got Boxing Day and New Years Day off as official holidays.

>158 AMQS: - Thanks Anne! Considering I have a point and shoot camera, I will take your compliments on my photographic abilities to heart. I have a work colleague who is currently vacationing in Vegas for the first time. I am curious to hear her impressions of the place when she gets back. ;-)

-----------------

On the baking front, I did attempt some pumpkin pie tarts and they turned out really well. To make the pie filling part fluffier, I cut down the amount of pure pumpkin, I replaced the heavy cream (or evaporated cream) some recipes call for with a 50/50 mix of 'half and half' cream and sour cream. I also replaced the sugar with a combination of brown sugar and maple syrup. I then blended into the filling some baking powder/flour with the spices and continued to add flour by the teaspoon until the pie filling had the right amount of body to it. End result is a reasonably lighter pie filling with not as strong a pumpkiny flavour to it and no grainy texture. I forgot to take pictures and I didn't take any notes as I was messing around with the recipe. Next time I will take notes as I 'concoct'. ;-)

On the reading front, I have finished reading Shoot! and have a review ready for posting, along with my weekly walking journey summary.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 13
Kilometers walked this week: 44.7
Kilometers walked in total: 730.75
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Currently south of Glenden at the southernmost tip of Shuswap Lake, heading for Salmon Arm.
Points of interest along the way: Looking at the Google map, I was surprised to see mention of a Turtle Valley Donkey Refuge Society. Intrigued, I did some online research and discovered that the society has been rescuing donkeys for over 12 years and has been open to the public since 2007. They currently provide refuge for over 90 abused, neglected and unwanted donkeys on 80 acres of land. How cool is that!

As part of my walking journey, I have finished reading Shoot!, which proved to be a very good historical fiction read set predominately in the Kamloops, Cache Creek, Douglas Lake Nicola Valley region of BC. Review will be posted below.

Book #84 - Shoot! by George Bowering
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Minimalism
CAT(s): October HistoryCAT: 1850-1900 time period
Source: GVPL
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 260 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:

In the dry plateau country around Kamloops, brothers Allan, Charlie, Archie McLean and sidekick Alex Hare were known as the McLean gang. They were also known as "breeds"--outcasts caught between the cultures--Alex Hare, a Metis, and Allan, Charlie and Archie, brothers of mixed Salish and Scottish blood. They roamed the high Chilcotin ranch country of British Columbia in the 1870s, cattle rustling, stealing and creating high-spirited mayhem. Until one frozen, crystalline morning in 1879, when they crossed the line and shot two men in cold blood, one of them, Johnny Ussher, the local sheriff. Tracked down by a posse of over 100 men, the McLean Gang were eventually trapped and brought to justice. Or were they?

Review:
Shoot! started out as a slow and very confusing read for me. Bowering weaves historical fact with native legend and his own unique story-telling. The first 100 pages of the story was a bit of a challenge to piece together, bouncing around like a pinball ricocheting around in a pinball machine. Flipping narratives and timelines every page or so can get a bit unnerving for any reader, I think. Thankfully, Bowering finally settles into his story and calms down the narrative flipping to a more manageable level, allowing me to finally sit back and get drawn in. Bowering, Canada's first Poet Laureate, captures the dead cold of that 1879 interior BC winter with a practiced hand, communicating its terrifying raw, elemental beauty. In Shoot!, Bowering strips bare and exposes to the light of day the stories that have been relegated to the 'dusty basement' of BC's recorded historical past. While this story is on its surface a story about a gang of outlaws, the posse who tracked them down and the English justice that they they faced in New Westminster, it has a dark underbelly that I believe to be the thrust of Bowering's story. As mentioned by Sherrill Grace in her afterword to the story:

"Shoot! is a story about the HBC (Hudson Bay Company), its white businessmen, their Indian country wives, and their mixed-race children who would not be fully accepted by either white or native communities. These children were especially feared by those white colonizers who wanted to make fortunes and create a civilized English-speaking society of law, order and status out of a wild, rich, as yet unexploited land, and who definitely wanted to deny their past sexual alliances."

Unlike a number of the famous outlaw gangs of the American Wild West that I have read about, the McLean Gang, outside of Allan, were still mere boys. Allan, the oldest, was 25. Charlie and Alex Hare were 17 and young Archie was 15. Their rampage was fueled in part by the way they were treated as 'breeds'. For the McLeans, their suffering started at the hand of their violent father, a Hudson Bay Company Chief Factor and grew into one of community-wide disgust, disdain and indifference after their father's death in 1864 at the hand of a Chilcotin warrior when the family's Hat Creek ranch was taken away from their Native Indian mother by the white settlers, leaving the family destitute. For all members of the McLean Gang, their anger was also fueled by the fact that one of Kamloops richest white settlers, Mara, was having his way with the McLean brothers' young sister, Annie. Bowering's story hit a resounding nerve within me as a reminder of Canada's settlement past and how important it is for stories that are a legacy of Canada's past to be communicated and shared. At their trial in New Westminster, Judge Henry Pering Pellew Crease makes a statement that, as Bowering has written, may explain why the McLean Gang and their rampage are not widely captured in the recent written histories of the province: "You have caused great terror throughout the country, and by a campaign of robbery and assault and murder you have disgraced British Columbia." They do always say that history is written by the winners/victors. I believe that Bowering has brilliantly captured in his story the very fact that everyone has a story and it is all of the stories, not just the stories of the victors, that need to be heard and shared.

I can recommend this story to anyone who has an interest in outlaw gangs of the 19th century North American west. For me as a Canadian and a British Columbian, this story has extra meaning and really resonated with me. It has also left me with a lot to think about.

On a Related Note: For those of you who may be interested in the McLean Gang, their rampage, seige and subsequent capture, these did make the news in the newspapers of the time, such as the Daily Colonist in Victoria, as the paper was known at that time. As luck would have it, the old Daily Colonist newspapers have been digitized as part of a University of Victoria project. A search for McLean during the December 1879 period of the siege produced the following results. Not all articles are related to the McLean Gang but enough of them are to give one a really good impression of the events as they played out. The prisoners did not stand trial until three months later in the Spring of 1880, faced a second trial months later - the first trial was determined to have been conducted without the necessary commission - and were executed on January 31, 1881.

Oh! I missed wishing you a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving, Lori! Hope it was lovely.

Vegas sure has changed in the 30-or-so years since I last visited. I'll have to dig up a photo or two of it, as it was before it turned into the tourist mecca it now is.

It's been years since I read Something Wicked, and I think it may be a good time to revisit it, what with it being Halloween month.

>160 lkernagh: I might like your pumpkin tarts. I'm not a pumpkin pie fan, but The texture is a big part of my problem with it.

Fabulous review of Shoot!, Lori! I'm not familiar with this gang, or this piece of BC history, but I have no trouble believing that the McLean criminal activities fuelled by racist treatment. And this: You have caused great terror throughout the country … but no mention of the terror that is racism. Canada's settlement past is a dark one IMO.

Something Wicked is one of those rare books I've considered re-reading -- perhaps in audio this time.

Technology -- drives me crazy. The problem with updates is, even if you can skip them, it's risky to skip them because they so often are needed to address security vulnerabilities.

As for apps that require gps access, I'm especially outraged by the ones that want access all the time, even when not using the app. I generally say no to those. If it's something important where gps makes sense when using the app, I can always turn gps access on just when I'm using the app then turn it off again. I often keep location services off altogether, except when using something that genuinely needs them (like navigation).

>163 Storeetllr: - One is never late with Happy Thanksgiving wishes, Mary, especially as one is usually still enjoying leftovers from the festive dinner days later, like we currently are. ;-)

I would love to see photos of Vegas from back when you visited! My memories of Vegas from the 70's and 80's are only from TV shows like Vegas starring Robert Urich. Quite the glitzy place even back then if the show is anything to go by.

Something Wicked is a perfect October read and worth revisiting, IMO. It stands up really well as both and adult/YA read.

>164 cbl_tn: - Yay! It is not just me that has a bit of an issue with the texture of pumpkin pies! I feel vindicated. For years we have had pumpkin cheesecake as a seasonal dessert - because there is no grainy texture! - but this year I really wanted to try for pumpkin pie. If I perfect the recipe, I will post it here on LT.

>165 lit_chick: - See, there is where I get a little concerned with our education system. We - meaning Canadians - seem to know all about the American gangs that roamed the American west but mention of any Canadian gangs this side of the border, just doesn't happen. Stifling history because it paints a bad picture is just plain wrong. Look at the residential school situation and and how even today the apologies and retributions seem to come across as some form of whitewash, leaving a very bitter taste in my mouth. The story is excellent and one I can highly recommend!

>166 tymfos: - I can recommend the audiobook if you can obtain a copy narrated by Kevin Foley. Listening to the book made me want to watch the movie, which I assume there is a movie version out there, just hard for me to track down.

Technology is really a "love 'em, can't leave them" kind of vice that drives me crazy. What I love is that my work issued cell phone notified me of updates, but I am not supposed to install any of the updates until the "all-clear" sign has been received from the IT folks. I remember an update that occurred about 12-18 months ago that actually proved problematic and IT was busy getting phones restored to their previous OS versions. Gong show central!

Apps that require GPS are my particular bugaboo, as are the apps that require access to your device's camera. It is really a very scary world we live in these days. Privacy doesn't seem to be allowed anymore, even though the talk is that it is your choice to download and use an app.

Book #85 - The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri - audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 277 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book page:

an unidentified corpse is found near Vigàta, a town known for its soil rich with potter's clay. Meanwhile, a woman reports the disappearance of her husband, a Colombian man with Sicilian origins who turns out to be related to a local mobster. Then Inspector Montalbano remembers the story from the Bible-Judas's betrayal, the act of remorse, and the money for the potter's field, where those of unknown or foreign origin are to be buried-and slowly, through myriad betrayals, finds his way to the solution to the crime.

Review:
Another great installment in the Inspector Montalbano series. This was a goodie, and not just because Ingrid makes a short, cameo-styled appearance. This time the two-fronted mystery involves unusual behaviour of one of Montalbano's own team, leaving Montalbano to not only try and make heads or tails out of the latest murder mystery, but to try and manage what is becomes an escalating team-dynamics problem. As a fun aside, I got a good chuckle out of Camilleri having Montalbano read an Andrea Camilleri story involving a police inspector and a puzzling mystery... very tongue-in-cheek and amusing to encounter while reading this one! As for the mystery itself, this is one of the better ones and I really liked how it all played out. Some interesting potential foreshadowing of what may come as Montalbano starts to make some mental musings about retirement life. My love for these stories continues. Onwards to the next installment!

>169 lkernagh: Glad you're enjoying the Montalbano series, Lori! It's such a good one. I always enjoy it when Ingrid appears, too.

>115 lkernagh: Amazing moon and cloud shot, Lori. I thought I was looking at a close-up picture of a mushroom at first!

I also loved your Vegas pictures. My last comment here had something to do with my lukewarm feelings about Las Vegas. As life often does, I got a real surprise when my daughter called a few weeks ago telling about her upcoming trip to Sin City and inviting me to go along with her, her MIL and several other "older" ladies from Kansas City. I jumped on the chance so I can see the amazing changes since I was last there in the 80s. We will be there three nights., starting this Sunday. Just the right amount of time.

>136 lkernagh: Oh, I loved Something Wicked This Way Comes when I read it last year. Like you, I'm not a horror story fan, but this one had just the perfect amount of creepiness. I'm going to try and fit another Bradbury in this month. Maybe a short one like The Halloween Tree.

>171 Donna828: Have you seen the animated version of The Halloween Tree? Highly recommend it if you have not.

>170 jnwelch: - Hi Joe! The Montalbano series continues to entertain. I will be sad when I get all caught up with the English translations. ;-(

>171 Donna828: - Thanks Donna and a big YAY! for your trip to Sin City! I hope you have a wonderful time. One great thing about Vegas is there is always something to see or do. Glad to see you also loved Something Wicked! What a great story! I must add more Bradbury books to my future reading list.

>172 Oberon: - *makes note of animation and off to check to track it down* Thanks, Eric!

--------------------

The weather out here on the west coast continues to amaze me. We are in mid-October and still experiencing rather mild temps and sunshine. On the reading front, I have finished another book for my ROOT and category challenges (review to follow). My current physical read is Black Swan Green as I continue to plug away at my AAC, BAC, ROOT and Commonwealth reads.

Book #86 - Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, ROOT
Category: Street Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2007
Acquisition date: May 12, 2012
Page count: 288 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book page:

Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse-and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ. Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees--a favorite pastime of Apollo's--is sapping their vital reserves of strength. Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

Review:
Having read Phillips' rather humorous take on Camelot and the whole King Arthur legend in her book The Table of Less Valued Knights, I kind of had an idea of what I was in for with Gods Behaving Badly and Phillips did not disappoint. A rather fun read to refresh my mind of the Olympian gods, their powers and their temper-tantrums. The presentation of the underworld was refreshingly different, even though the journey to the underworld had a slightly Harry Potter feel about it. I am not completely sold on the ending and I struggled a bit with both Alice and Neil's character personalities but overall, a fun bit of escapism reading.

>170 jnwelch: Joe, I think all red blooded males yearn for appearances by Ingrid!
Gods Behaving Badly sounds like fun.
Have a lovely weekend, Lori.

Yum! Pumpkin Pie! Looking forward to celebrating American Thanksgiving next month. Even if a can of pumpkin is $4 here. Sigh. And Don't even ask how much for turkey. Chicken works too. :)

>174 lkernagh: My local library has got an audio of this book. I've a look when I'll be there next time.

>174 lkernagh: I really enjoyed her book about Camel so will add this to my wishlist. Thanks for the review.

I enjoyed Gods Behaving Badly too, and was recently reminded of it when I read The Just City, though the Walton was not as much fun. I'll have to check out her book on The Round Table.

BTW, anyone (in the U.S.) who is interested in reading Gods Behaving Badly, let me know. I have an extra copy I'd love to send you!

>175 PaulCranswick: - LOL! Gods Behaving Badly is one of those fun, "don't tax my brain with anything too challenging" kind of fluff reads without having to resort to chick lit... although some have tagged this as being chick lit, which I find a bit of a stretch. I hope you have had a wonderful weekend, Paul!

>176 nittnut: - My jaw dropped to the floor at your mention of $4 for a can of pumpkin. Please tell me that is for a BIG can. I hear you on the turkey prices. Frozen turkeys are still pretty cheap but this year I decided to go with just a turkey breast roast, which also meant that I needed to by fresh, not frozen. I did have a momentary pause when the clerk at the meat department informed me that my fresh turkey breast roast was going to be $27 but it was worth it as we got a couple of great meals (and some lunches for work for me) out of it. It roasted wonderfully, but still, a bit of an ouch on the price tag. ;-)

>177 Ameise1: - Audio sounds like a great way to go with the Phillips book, Barbara. The humour in Phillips books have a bit of lewdness to it, just so you know, but still lots of fun and good for a chuckle or two.

>178 charl08: - The Camelot book was hilarious! I like how Phillips can take myths/legends and rework then with a comic angle.

>179 Storeetllr: - The Camelot book is goodie, Mary. I hope you enjoy it!

----------------

Happy Sunday, everyone! I am having a rather lazy day today in that I have no plans to leave home and venture out into the world. Doing a little bit of laundry. Later I plan on making some pumpkin millet muffins with some of the leftover pure pumpkin I had frozen. I am also in the process of attempting a bread experiment. I recently purchased some quinoa flakes and have added some to the light rye bread I am making. Curious to see how it turns out. I will then probably do a little more work on the herb garden, clearing out some of the annuals that will not come back next year. Because the herb garden is comprised of individual containers, I have migrated some of the plants indoors to see how they handle becoming indoor plants for the winter months. So far, I have brought indoors both basil plants (sweet and purple varieties), oregano, Spanish tarragon, parsley and purple sage. The mild temperatures we have continued to experience this month has slowed down any hibernation of the outdoor plants.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 14
Kilometers walked this week: 60.2
Kilometers walked in total: 790.95
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Currently east of Shuswap Lake and just west of Craigellachie, on the northern side of the Eagle River.
Points of interest along the way: Made some progress this week, and would have walked through Salmon Arm, passed Canoe, through Annis and Sicamous. I have now more or less hit my stride when it comes to my walking and I find that I am taking longer, more roundabout routes on my walk to work in the mornings, which is making it easy for me to more or less maintain the walking levels I had over the summer months. The shorter, dark days of winter may curtail some of my walking. We shall see.

On the related reading front, while I was scanning my TBR bookshelves I discovered that I own a copy of The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz.



The book is set in the Turtle Valley region of BC, the northern tip of which my walking journey passed through during Week 13 (last week). I plan on starting this book as soon as I finish my current physical read.

Hi Lori - Your culinary experiments make me wish I lived close to you - I'm excellent in the taste tester role. I read The Cure for Death by Lightning years ago and remember liking it but not much else. I'll watch for your comments to remind me about it.

>180 lkernagh: It is NOT a big can. It's the one that's usually 89 cents in the store around Thanksgiving time. Sigh. And I looked last year and smallish turkeys were $80. It's alright, they don't do that holiday here. We have chicken and splurge on pumpkin lol.

I've been cooking with quinoa flour a little bit lately. It makes a really nice GF pasta. I also made a yummy cheesy bread with tapioca flour the other day.

>183 nittnut: Chicken and dressing is pretty good too! We used to have chicken and dressing as a regular dish with only the turkey and dressing at the holidays. I've actually kind of been craving it, and thought I might do the chicken version if I get enough time to cook. There's a lot of prep time on that -- making the cornbread (at least for us Southerners) a couple of days ahead so it has time to dry out a bit. Then you have to have time for the chicken to boil and make your broth. Then the baking time when you put it all together.

Gods Behaving Badly is on my list. Once it's kindle price drops down I'm looking at getting it. I'm glad you liked it. :)

>182 BLBera: - Hah! I would love to have you as a taste tester... especially as I won't let anything leave the premises if it is suspect, as per my comments below. I have about as many food experiment successes as I have failures and yesterday's bread experiment was a resounding failure.

I am very intrigued by your memories of The Cure for Death by Lightening. Looking forward to finding out if I will be able to twig your memory of the story.

>183 nittnut: - OUCH! Those are insane prices. I find it rather interesting how cheaply we are able to buy fresh New Zealand lamb here in Canada and yet my mind is still unable to register the price you are expected to pay for turkey in New Zealand. Don't the planes that deliver the lamb return to New Zealand with something? It boggles my mind.

My first experience with adding quinoa flakes to my baking was a bit hit and miss (more below) but I am determined to keep at it. Your cheese bread sounds divine!

>184 thornton37814: - Sounds good!

>185 Kassilem: - If the Kindle price drops, Gods Behaving Badly is worth the read, Melissa.

-----------------------

So my baking plans yesterday were a bit "hit and miss". the bread with the quinoa flakes did not work out at all so that got chucked in the bin. I was rather upset when the pure pumpkin I was draining over the sink fell into the soap sudsy sink, which brought an immediate end to my planned pumpkin millet muffins. Because I already had the butter in a bowl softening, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to use up some leftover cranberry sauce. I made Sour Cream Chocolate Cranberry Sauce muffins (with quinoa flakes)m and can report that they turned out fabulous! I am still determined to figure out how to incorporate quinoa flakes into my bread making but in the meantime I have settled for making a routine batch of Kamut bread instead.... it is that or no bread in the house. ;-)

Today is federal election day here in Canada. Did my civic duty this morning. Curious to see the outcome later this evening.... and trying not to bite my nails in the process. ;-)

Book #87 - The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri - audiobook read by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 274 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com website book page:

The day after a storm, Inspector Montalbano encounters a strange woman who expresses interest in a certain yacht scheduled to dock that afternoon. Not long after she's gone, the yacht's crew reports finding a disfigured corpse. Also at anchor is a luxury vessel with a somewhat shady crew. Both boats will have to stay in Vigàta until the investigation is over and, based on information from the woman, Montalbano begins to think the occupants of the yacht might know more about the man's death than they're letting on.

Review:
Not one of my favorite Inspector Montalbano reads. In this one, Montalbano's behaviour and his repeated lies just dig him deeper and deeper into a hole of his own choosing, and all because he doesn't like to do paperwork. Sheesh, between that and the Inspector Belladonna attraction thing I spent a good part of the story rolling my eyes, to the point where I wasn't really paying much attention to the unfolding of the mystery. The story did evolve into a good mystery with a few nail-biting moments, but overall, just an okay read this time. Here is hoping the next installment is a good one.

>186 lkernagh: Interesting election results so far. I am happy that for once my vote seems to have counted because there is a close race between the Liberals and Conservatives in my riding. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cranberry Sauce muffins (with quinoa flakes) sound beyond fabulous, Lori! Yes, the election was something of a nail biter for a bit, wasn't it? New first family for Canada!

Glad you are still enjoying Montalbano. I can only get 2-3 more of his audiobooks from my library, so I'll finish off what's available before too long.

I was rather upset when the pure pumpkin I was draining over the sink fell into the soap sudsy sink, which brought an immediate end to my planned pumpkin millet muffins.

You've reminded me of the time my grandmother made 3 chocolate angel food cakes for my uncle's birthday. I can't remember what happened to the first one. I think she was interrupted while she was mixing it and forgot to put in the sugar or used salt instead of sugar. She left the second one to cool hung upside down over a soda bottle (her usual practice), but this time it hopped out of the cake pan and into the dishwater. After each failure, she called my grandfather at his station (just next door) and had him go to the small grocery store in town and pick up another dozen eggs. I'm not sure what she did with 3 dozen egg yolks. Incidentally, my grandmother was one of the best cooks and bakers I've ever known.

>188 Familyhistorian: - It is nice to have one's vote count for something that can make a difference. I am a happy camper with the results. Glad to see that the Harper era has come to an end. ;-)

>189 lit_chick: - The muffins were yummy without being overly sweet. I must remember to make them again. I am happy with the election results. New and younger blood is a positive change, IMO. I have been snickering at the 'hotty' comments that have been cropping up about the new PM. LOL!

>190 cbl_tn: - Wow, three angel food cakes in one day! Love the story, Carrie. Now I don't feel so bad about one baking idea going down the drain - pun fully intended. ;-) I have never had a chocolate angel food cake.... that sounds yummy!

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I was battling a bit of a head cold earlier this week but taking the day off of work on Tuesday to do nothing but sleep has gone a long way towards nipping the bug. Taking it easy this week on the walking front and finding the morning commute to be a rather dark one.... This idea of daylight savings not kicking in until the first part of November makes me wonder why we even bother. Should take our cue from Saskatchewan and not engage in the whole "Sprin Forward, Fall Back" charade. *grumble, grumble*

On the reading front, I am approximately 2/3 the way through Black Swan Green and really enjoying this coming of age story. Favorite quote so far is the following response to learning that our protagonist is thirteen years old:

"Ackkk, a wonderful, miserable age. Not a boy, not a teenager. Impatience but timidity, too. Emotional incontinence."

Sounds like an apt description of being thirteen. ;-)

Sorry to hear that my favourite vegetarian has been suffering from headcold. Like you, I am delighted with the results of the election! Sad to say that the Cons won in my riding , but only by 242 votes, so I feel my vote counted and I put the word out to my family! :)

>192 vancouverdeb: - Good news is I am happily on the mend and will be able to enjoy my weekend, instead of just crawling into bed. Sounds like you live in one of the more interesting ridings with the closer vote count. How exciting!

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It is Friday, it is the start to the weekend and I get the evening to myself. Wahoo! Other half is off helping crew a sailboat up the peninsula this evening so I get to sit back and just relax. Lovely way to end the work week. ;-)

Hi Lori, sorry I haven't been round for a long time. I definitely owe you a catch-up visit, though I see at first glance that we've both arrived at about the same spot in the Montalbano series, as The Age of Doubt is next up for me.

I know of course that you are already well aware of the upcoming CAC, but I thought it might be news to some of your visitors, so here goes:



After some discussion on Paul's thread recently, where the excitement of the 2016 BAC planning is going full tilt, it was suggested we run a Canadian Authors Challenge in 2016. I've put together the Canadian Author's Challenge (CAC) 2016 Planning thread here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/201195

Come one, come all to discuss which authors you'd most like to see represented!

>194 Smiler69: - No worries. Always glad to see you when you pop on by, Ilana and thanks for posting the CAC here. I made a point of posting a link to the CAC 2016 planning over on my Category Challenge thread so that the members over there knew about it but I completely forgot to post a link over here.

>195 lkernagh: That's awesome about you posting it on the Category Challenge thread, thanks!

Happy weekend, Lori. I'm glad to hear that you feel better.

>187 lkernagh: Sometimes I get the impression that Camilleri is making fun of himself, Montalbano and the readers all in one go. Can be a tad twee sometimes but always fun.

Have a great weekend, Lori.

Hi Lori, glad you're feeling better. Yep, Montalbano can sometimes be an eye-roller! Have you watched any of the DVDs yet? I quite enjoyed the ones I've seen, only the first 3-4.

Hi Lori, I managed to hold my own in Vegas which just means I waited until the end of our long days of overstimulation to collapse! We had a great time.

I'm glad your pumpkin disaster turned into something yummy. My mishaps usually go in the garbage!

>197 Ameise1: - Happy weekend, Barbara! I am feeling like my old self and back to normal. Love the doe drinking picture!

>198 PaulCranswick: - So true, so true. Camilleri has a very wry sense of humor that I do enjoy but there are times when I have to remember that he is laughing at all of us.. something a person of his age is entitled to, IMO. ;-)

My weekend is going swimmingly. I hope your weekend is equally wonderful.

>199 lit_chick: - I have not watched any of the TV adaptations.. although I had a good chuckle when Camilleri made very pointed references to the shoes in my current audioread, The Dance of the Seagull. He makes some interesting remarks in the story about where the TV series is shot and I get the impression he is using his Montalbano character to poke fun at the actor that portrays Montabano in the shows - apparently 'Montalbano' is not impressed that the character is bald, whereas Montalbano has a whole head of hair. ;-) I really do need to find the time to watch the shows, especially now!

>200 Donna828: - YAY! You had fun in Vegas! I have to admit that I would go back. Like you, I had a great time there. Looking forward to learning more about your trip over on your thread!

As for the baking disaster of last weekend.... this weekend was a baking paradise.

Had a relaxing evening last night. Today has been a day of grocery shopping, some herb garden work to prep some of the biannual plants and to deal with the pots of annual plants that have died off as we approach winter. The cooler - and at periods rainy - weather put me in the baking mood so I spend the afternoon futzing around in the kitchen. I found two apples in the crisper that were starting to wither so I made 6 apple tarts. I finally managed to make my pumpkin millet muffins (with oatmeal) using up the last bit of pure pumpkin I had in the freezer. I then decided that cookies were needed and came across a great recipe online for brownie-style chocolate cranberry drop cookies which I just had to make. End result:



Can I offer anyone a baked treat? ;-)

If you are interested, the chocolate cranberry cookies are based upon the following Dark Chocolate Cranberry Brownie Cookies recipe. I made some tweaks to the recipe in that I did not bother with the chocolate chips and I amended the dry ingredients to include 1/4 of quinoa flakes. Oh, and I used dried cranberries instead of fresh. Awesome recipe.

Nice lot of baking you've done, Lori. I was out and around all morning, and when I came home, my sweet baker was rolling out pie dough for an apple tart. And WOW! was it good. Tomorrow we must run down to the orchard for more apples. I expect your treats turn out just as tasty.

Oh, and glad you stopped by. It's always nice to have visitors. Especially those who like the digs.

>202 lkernagh: Yum!

>202 lkernagh: Mmm, those look good. I don't know what to choose.

Oh, Lori, your baking looks FABULOUS!

*Drools*

>202 lkernagh: One of everything, please!

Are there any sweet treats left over?! Look wonderful.

Hi Lori, Glad to see that you are a recipe amender too! I am a major amender. Your cookies look delicious. I made a carrot/coconut loaf today with reduced sugar and melted coconut oil instead of veg oil and a smattering of whole wheat flour instead of white. It was yummy!

>202 lkernagh: Lori, your baking looks superb! I wish I could reach into the screen for one of those chocolate brownie cookies in particular.

Yum - I'm stopping by for treats.

>203 weird_O:, >204 thornton37814:, >205 Familyhistorian:, >206 lit_chick:, >207 Ape:, >208 ronincats:, >209 charl08:, >210 mdoris:, >211 susanj67: and >212 BLBera: - Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments of the results of my Saturday baking! I tend to not follow recipes when I bake (or cook) so the results can be a bit "hit and miss". Saturday was a triple header win day on the baking front for me. ;-)

>203 weird_O: - The apple tart sounds divine! I have to admit that this morning I had an apple tart with whipping cream for breakfast, because one can do things like that. ;-)

>210 mdoris: - I am totally a recipe amender... in fact, I have an awful time staying true to any recipe. I use them more for inspiration. Sometimes I experiment a little too much and the result is not so great. Carrot/coconut loaf sounds amazing!

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: http://tinyurl.com/p8vu9n3

UPDATE: WEEK 15
Kilometers walked this week: 35.7
Kilometers walked in total: 826.65
Current province: (BC)
My current location on the map: Currently east of Three Valley Lake and heading for Revelstoke.
Points of interest along the way: Because I was feeling under the weather for part of the week - and the daylight hours are getting noticeably shorter! - I haven't made much walking progress. I did get a chuckle when I discovered that my Day 101 walk of this walking journey stopped me right outside The Enchanted Forest, which is a tourist attraction that has been open to the public since the 1960's.

I may still make my goal of leaving BC and entering Alberta by the end of October. May be off by a day or two because I am feeling lazy today and don't feel like going for a walk. ;-)

ETA: I just checked the map and it would appear that I have 230KM to go before I reach the Alberta border. Looks like I will be in BC for a good part of November.

Book #88 - Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category, ROOT
Category: The London Group
CAT(s): N/A
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date: August 3, 2014
Page count: 304 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from various sources:

January, I982. Thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor – covert stammerer and reluctant poet – anticipates a stultifying year in his backwater English village. But he hasn’t reckoned with bullies, simmering family discord, the Falklands War, an elderly bohemian émigré, a threatened gypsy invasion and those mysterious entities known as girls. The yer of 1982 is going to be a year of a lot of firsts for Jason as he moves through the black hole between childhood and adolescence.

Review:
Having been one of those shy, awkward kids that never really fit in while growing up, I can really appreciate Jason's view of the world. A world where kids can be unbelievably cruel and adults just don't understand the social rules of being a kid and surviving the crowds. This is a bittersweet coming of age story. There is both good and bad to be found in Mitchell's created village of Black Swan Green. Being a huge fan of Dicken's Great Expectations - the only Dickens story that I never tire of - I could not help but see some interesting parallels between the experiences of Dicken's young Pip and Mitchell's Jason. Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, the elderly bohemian émigré of the story, has a slightly Miss Havisham feel about her that I really found quite charming, if you can make the leap I can and consider Miss Havisham to have any charming qualities, so you will probably not be surprised that I also saw the 'luscious' Dawn Madden as Mitchell's version of the cold Estella (poor Jason!). One of the better coming-of-age stories I have read so far and the perfect read for me as my entry into Mitchell's storytelling world.

>202 lkernagh: They look professional. I do not have the skill to amend recipes.
>214 lkernagh: daylight hours are getting noticeably shorter
Sigh, yes, a walk after work is about to become unfeasible.

>215 lkernagh: Great review, Lori. I liked it, too.

Morning Lori! I hope you had a good weekend.

Good review of Black Swan Green. I have this one in the audio stacks and have been looking forward to it for ages.

Nice review of Black Swan Green -- another Mitchell to read.

Hi Lori, just to let you know, Diana (Wilkiec) is back with her new username DianaNL.

>216 qebo: - Thanks! I do not have the skill to amend recipes. LOL, it is probably more accurate to state that I tend to be rather cavalier about my cooking/baking and have made some pretty spectacular disasters as part of my recipe tweaking. ;-)

Winter months and less daylight hours are the one thing I am not keen about while living in northern latitudes. Of course, I totally love the longer days during the summer months. ;-)

>217 Ameise1: - Thanks Barbara. It took a little bit to get my mind set in 1982 small village England but once I got there, I was really enjoyed my visit to Black Swan Green.

>218 msf59: - Evening Mark! Weekend was lovely. I really need to think about how I can have 3-day weekends every weekend, but in the meantime, I will take advantage of even the 2-day weekends.

I can recommend Black Swan Green and would love to learn what you think of the audiobook.

>219 BLBera: - Thanks Beth!

>220 Ameise1: - Diana is back!? WHOOT! Thanks for the info, Barbara!

I see I'm not the only one with baking mishaps. I also almost never follow recipes 1:1 (and I found that the usual credo that baking is all about exact measurements is a myth). But as you saw on my thread, the options to reducing and substituting are limited in the end and not all experiments work out well.
Your baking looks super-delicious and I wish cranberries were easier to find where I live and I could copy those cookies. But I'll buy pumpkin again this weekend so the muffins are an option. Which reminds me... it IS Halloween on Saturday, isn't it? Never know if I should buy sweets or not. Last year two groups of kids showed up, but the two years before none. And it's dangerous to have that many sweets in the house over the weekend.

Hi Nathalie, sorry to learn cranberries are hard to come by where you are. Yup, its Halloween this coming Saturday. I have been rather bad this year and haven't even bought any Halloween candy. Wait, maybe that is a good thing as my other half and I usually consume it all. Where we live we don't get any trick-or-treaters, being an older neighborhood. The unfortunate thing about Halloween falling on a Saturday is that the adult parties will probably be starting Thursday and will continue right through until Sunday so there are bound to be some late night yahoos roaming around being noisily drunk. *sighs*

Hi Lori! Just passing and waving!

Hi Connie!

Stopping by for a quick hi! I have not had time to get back to my thread, but I had to let you know that lucky me, I had Daddy Lenin out of the library and I'm forcing myself to read the short story volume ( really not too bad so far) as like you, I noticed that the book had won the Governor General's Prize. I suspect you would enjoy Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis, which I had just finished reading when " Betsy " got stolen . I will just warn you that is quite dark and disturbing most of the time, but very worthwhile. Perhaps a new version of Animal Farm or Lord of the Flies. A powerful read , and if you love dogs like I do , perhaps all the more disturbing.

Great review of Black Swan Green!

Hi Deb! Yes, I am rather happy to see that Guy won his third GG. The thought of Fifteen Dogs being a modern take on Lord of the Flies does intrigue me. I can do disturbing, up to a point.

So happy that 'Betsy' is back!

Book #89 - The Dance of the Seagull by Andrea Camilleri - audiobook narrated by Grover Gardner
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2015 Category
Category: Art
CAT(s): N/A
Source: Hoopla
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 277 pages / 5 hours, 41 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.uk website book listing:

Inspector Montalbano is awake at dawn, sitting on his porch, when his attention is caught by a seagull which falls from the sky, performing a strange dance, before lying down to die. Montalbano is perplexed by what he has witnessed and the scene hangs over him like an omen. About to depart for a holiday with his girlfriend Livia, Montalbano makes a quick trip to the police station to tie up loose ends. But when his dear colleague Fazio is discovered missing - and it transpires that the policeman has been involved in his own secret investigations - Montalbano instead launches a desperate search for his lost friend, as time begins to run out . . . Navigating a shadowy maze of smuggling, blackmail and the darkest murder, and moving from the docks of Vigàta to its deep, dry wells where the mafia hide their terrible crimes, Inspector Montalbano must have his wits about him to unravel this tangled mystery.

Review:
I liked this one for a number of reasons. The story is back on solid footing as a police procedural. It also has a more somber feel about it. The story stays more or less focused on the case at hand and Montalbano even tries to minimize the number of falsehoods he tells to his boss, the Commissioner. Camilleri continues to play around with little intrusions of reality that true Montalbano fans will appreciate, like the tiny playful gab he takes at the actor who play Montalbano in the TV series by having Montalbano comment that unlike the actor, Montalbano does have a full head of hair. Cute. ;-)

Overall, a better story and a more solid police procedural piece. Onwards to the next book in the series.

>115 lkernagh: wow, those clouds are amazing. I have not seen anything like them before.

>215 lkernagh: interesting comparisons with Great Expectations!

Ya know, I really must get back to the Montalbano mysteries. I read the first one years ago but just never continued with the series, and I have no idea why, since I love Italy and remember enjoying the book. Too many other distractions, I suspect.

Good to know that Dance of the Seagull is back on solid footing as a police procedural. I wish my library had more of these audiobooks.

>229 LovingLit: - Hi Megan, Lovely to see you here! The night sky tends to fascinate me, and make me wish I had a more professional camera to take pics with!

I thought maybe I was reading the whole Great Expectations angle into Black Swan Green and then the mention of Pip pops up in the story and I decided that Mitchell must have seem how he could work a parallel in his story.

>230 Storeetllr: - Mary, I think the main reason why I am plowing through the Montalbano books is because I can access all of the audiobooks through my library system. They make for great listening while I am out walking. ;-)

Like you, I start a series, get distracted and find I never seem to make it back to read the further installments. Too many books, too little time. *sighs*

>231 lit_chick: - I wish your library had more of the audiobooks too, Nancy. I started the next book in the series, The Treasure Hunt but I have been so distracted this week at work I wasn't focusing on what I was listening to so I will restart the audiobook this weekend.... after a good long lie-in tomorrow!

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Not much to report this week. Work has been busy with a lot of computer reading that has left me feeling rather brain dead at the end of the day. Last night I was so exhausted I ended up crashing on the couch and watching the most recent episode of the Neil Patrick Harris show, Best Time Ever. My kind of TV viewing when I am too tired for anything else. ;-)

Looks like it is time for a new thread. Give me a few minutes and I will get that set up.

New thread is up.... come over!