bell7's (Mary's) Ridiculous Reading List for 2016 - part 2

Wow, already starting a new thread and only halfway through February! I've decided to start off new threads this year with pictures of my adorable niece, Mia (yes I'm totally biased). However, I haven't figured out how to copy a link to a picture on a Mac where I'm housesitting, so I'll have to update this in a bit with the pictures.

Here she is exploring snow for the first time:




Briefly for any who don't know me, I'm a 30-something single librarian in western Massachusetts. I read for work and pleasure, so you'll see a mix of book club books, fantasy, contemporary fiction, classics, YA, mysteries - whatever catches my fancy. About the only thing I won't touch is horror, and even that will have to change for a genre study in May. I'm really picky about romance. I also knit (you'll get random pictures of projects from time to time) and enjoy watching sports. This time of the year it's Bruins hockey and I often forget when they're on, so not a lot of commenting probably til baseball season starts!

Work books-
The book club list

January - Atonement by Ian McEwan
February - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
March - Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
April - Seek My Face by John Updike
May - A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
June - Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
July - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
August - The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown
September - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
October - Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
November - The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
December - San Miguel by T.C. Boyle

Librarian book club list (aka Western Mass. Reader's Advisory Round Table)
January - Mystery book with an amateur sleuth
Everyone reads: Murder, with Peacocks by Donna Andrews - DONE
2nd title (my choice): Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie - DONE

March - Mystery genreblends
Everyone reads: Storm Front by Jim Butcher - DONE
2nd title (my choice): The Last Policeman by Ben Winters - DONE

May - Horror
Everyone reads: Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
2nd title (my choice): leaning towards some H.P. Lovecraft short stories

Graphic novels:
1. Syllabus by Lynda Barry (1/4/2016)
2. Letting It Go by Miriam Katin (1/12/2016)

Picture books:
1. Where is Catkin? by Janet Lord, illustrated by Julie Paschkis (1/6/2016)
2. When the World Was Waiting for You by Gillian Shields, illustrated by Anna Currey (1/14/2016)
3. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena illustrated by Christian Robinson (1/16/2016)
4. Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (1/20/2016)
5. Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (2/17/2016)
6. The Library Cat by Karla Grant (2/17/2016)
7. Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Raul Colon
8. Help! We Need a Title! written and illustrated by Herve Tullet

January
1. Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews
2. The Prestige by Christopher Priest
3. Board Stiff by Piers Anthony - mine and e-book ARC
4. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson - mine
5. Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie
6. UnBound by Neal Shusterman
7. Atonement by Ian McEwan - re-read
8. If You Find this Letter by Hannah Brencher - mine and e-book ARC
9. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard
10. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien
11. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
12. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - mine and audio

February
13. Smoke by Dan Vyleta - mine and e-book ARC
14. The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
15. The 100 by Kass Morgan
16. The Last Policeman by Ben Winters - e-book
17. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - mine and re-read
18. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - half audio
19. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
20. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose - mine and audio
21. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
22. Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton
23. Love in Lowercase by Fransesc Miralles

March
24. Arcadia by Iain Pears
25. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
26. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson - e-book
27. The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher
28. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
29. Storm Front by Jim Butcher - re-read
30. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - audio and re-read (book is mine)
31. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - e-book
32. The Joy of Listening to God by Joyce Huggett

Currently reading:
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Collected Poems, Prose & Plays by Robert Frost - mine (basically paused)

Original publication dates read (through February):
2016 - 5
2015 - 3
2014 - 1
2013 - 1
2012 - 2
2011 - 1

2010 - 1
2009 - 1
2001 - 2

1999 - 1
1996 - 1
1995 - 2

1971 - 1

1908 - 1

Happy new thread, Mary!

I count myself a fan of Bel Canto, but I read it so long ago, I don't remember much about it. Maybe time for a re-read...?

Can I ask where in western Mass. you are? I grew up in New York State, close to the NY-MA-CT border, so I'm curious :) But if you're not comfortable saying, I totally understand!

Hoping it's safe to post. Happy new thread, Mary!

Ditto, Mary. Happy New Thread!

I'm another Bel Canto fan. They turned it into an opera that played here to mixed reviews.

You've got some great books on that book club list. Being Mortal is a life-changer, and should generate some great discussions.

I liked the writing very much in Bel Canto. It was almost poetic in places. I think the connection with music also helped. I thought it was an interesting exploration of the bond between her and her kidnappers also.

Happy new thread!

Hi there, Mary! :)

>6 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! I wonder if I would like it better with a reread? (much like Atonement) Not to be cryptic (I know a few people on here know where I am), but I'll PM you - there's a lot of my personal info on here already and that's my last attempt to be semi-anonymous! :)

>7 Crazymamie: It certainly is - welcome, Mamie!

>8 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! Being Mortal was a book I (anonymously) recommended and I was really excited it garnered enough votes to make it. Reading it for my birthday month is my reward for reading two tough books to start out the year!

>9 thornton37814: Lori, the writing was lovely wasn't it? I wonder if I would've connected better if I knew more about music. I sing in our church choir on occasion, but while I know some very basics in reading music and can carry a tune by ear, I'm by no means classically trained and a lot of that went right over my head. I did find myself irritated when she described a rook as having a horse's head in the chess game (that would be a knight...).

>10 foggidawn: Thanks, foggi!

>11 Ape: Whoops, you sneaked in while I was posting. Hi Stephen!

Well, I certainly wasn't trying to sneak in undetected or anything. That would just be weird... *awkward laugh*

Happy new thread! I'm another who really liked Bel Canto, but I'm a musician so that helped.

>12 bell7: - Totally understand!

19. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
TIOLI: Will have to check
Why now? The book came in at the library and I took advantage of the long weekend to read it before it filled a hold for my co-worker who comes in on Wednesday

*Second in a series and potential ***spoilers*** for Red Queen.*

Mare Barrow is now on the run from Maven, the prince who betrayed her, revealing himself as a schemer and king-killer. Farley, the Captain of the Scarlet Guard who dreams of revolution, and Cal, Maven's half-brother, are with her but Mare has never felt more alone. Who can she trust?

Imagine a world where Silver - the ones in charge with extra-special powers like strength or the ability to control metal - and Red - the regular old humans, who are impoverished and conscripted in the army - exist. Mare is something other, a "newblood" who is Red in blood but has a power even stronger than the Silvers. She can control lightning, and electricity itself, and her ability is growing along with her capacity to control it. Now she knows there are more out there like her, and she's determined to continue her old tutor Julian's work, with help from Farley, Cal and her newly rediscovered alive brother Shade or without them, should they choose not to follow her. Indeed, Mare is really hard to like in this book, absolutely ruthless and as distrustful as she was trusting in Red Queen. Her very mission entails jumping around and I was reminded in a way of both Mockingjay and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the way the story skipped around from place to place. Except this is still the middle of the story so we get a final showdown and a cliffhanger. 3.5 stars.

I'm on the fence if I'll keep going with the series though I probably will after I've had more time to process. At least there's no love triangle in this book.

Happy new thread, Mary! love the thread topper pics. Super adorable!

>14 Ape: *snort* Clearly ;)

>15 cbl_tn: Hi Carrie! I seem to be in the minority with my dislike, but I am willing to have my mind changed :)

>16 katiekrug: :)

>18 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! And to answer your comment from my previous thread, the writing in Bel Canto was gorgeous and while that particular story didn't really work for me, it's a big reason why I would try another of Ann Patchett's books in the future.

21 Happy new thread Mary. Your niece is indeed adorable!

>21 PaulCranswick: Thank you and thank you, Paul! She has me (and the rest of the family) wrapped around her little finger. I was able to Skype with my family a couple of days ago. Mia always gets very excited when we do this, but this time was a new one: she started looking for me behind the phone! I'll get to see her in April and I'm very excited.

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Mary!

Happy new one, Mary! LOVE the adorable little munchkin up top!

>23 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel!

>24 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl!

>25 scaifea: Isn't she precious? Even though she's young she already has quite a personality (mostly cheerful but also intense!) and I love getting to know her with every milestone.

Well, yesterday I gave myself a "do nothing but read day" (well, except for laundry and running the dishwasher but that hardly counts) and I'm making up for it in spades today. We had a little bit of snow and then ice overnight, just a couple of inches and not enough for the plow guy to come to where I'm dog sitting. But... we're supposed to get rain today. So I've spent the morning off and on shoveling, because a couple of years ago at the same place I did not shovel given the same circumstances, and promptly got my car stuck in the slush/ice when the rain/snow refroze overnight. I had to call AAA so I could get out of the driveway. Not wanting a repeat of that, I have already de-iced my car windows, shoveled the sidewalk (have to anyway for this town and not wanting my friends to get fined, that was first on my list) and have begun shoveling a car-width track down the driveway. I am not used to this kind of physical activity (yayyyyy renting!) and my muscles are going to protest heavily tomorrow. I don't have to be at work 'til noon, however, so pacing myself a little is working out. Once my toes warm up, I'll go out again to finish the track and shovel out the end of the driveway where the street plows have gone by.

I'm currently reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante and The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I've been eying my stack of books wondering if I brought enough along for the week, but I also realize that my reading will slow down substantially over the next few days and I'm probably getting a couple of DVDs on hold today (The 100 season 1 and the second half of the most recent Doctor Who season) so I will have plenty to keep me busy. Plus, I'm terribly behind on Downton Abbey so if I really do find myself running out of things to do, I can always catch up!

20. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose - mine and audio
TIOLI: Related to black history
Why now? It's been on my Kindle for awhile, downloaded as a free audio from Audiobooksynce, and I figured it would be appropriate to read during Black History Month

When the Montgomery bus boycott began, Rosa Parks may have been at the center of the protest, but she was not the first African American to refuse to give up her seat on the bus for a white person. Nine months before that, teenager Claudette Colvin had done the same thing, and was arrested and treated brutally for her troubles. Though largely forgotten by history, her actions and the subsequent court case in which she testified were instrumental in changing the laws about where white and black people could sit on the bus.

Drawing extensively on interviews with Claudette Colvin and quoting substantially from them, Philip Hoose does a nice job of shedding light on a nearly forgotten person in the civil rights movement. The narrator does a nice job with the sidebars and infusing Ms. Colvin's interviews with emotion. My rating on this one suffers a bit partially because it's for young readers and having the American court system's workings explained overmuch for me. There were elements I wish were explored more that just wouldn't have worked for a kid's book. Also, because I was listening to the audio before I fell asleep, it was sort of drawn out for me "reading" even though it was short and probably felt more repetitive than it was because I had to keep rewinding back to where I left off before falling asleep so that I didn't miss anything. 3 stars.

Happy new thread, Mary!

Your topper model is very cute. I love that technology means we can stay in touch with the dramatic changes in small children who can't yet speak.

Re>28 bell7: I read the March graphic memoirs last year and was struck how little I knew about the struggles for equal rights.

(Glad I'm not the only one who falls asleep to audio and has to repeatedly go back).

>29 rosylibrarian: Thanks, Marie!

>30 charl08: Yep, technology is pretty amazing that way. There's some current research about babies & Skype - https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/growth-curve/whats-going-mind-skyping-baby - that will be interesting to follow. Mia certainly gets the idea of interacting with a person on the screen, though she hasn't quite figured out how it works. And of course, I love that I can get pictures and "see" her grow up even though I can't be there in person.

>28 bell7: I listened to this one recently, too, and was surprised that Colvin doesn't get more credit or attention.

So many people have recommended The 100 to me (someone else just on Friday). They all say that the first few episodes are dumb but then it suddenly finds its groove and gets amazing. Intrigued to hear your thoughts once you're into it!

Nice review of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Mary. It's a shame that history has largely overlooked her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

>32 scaifea: It sounded from the audio that she didn't quite "fit" the kind of person people were hoping to rally around, while Rosa Parks did. I wished that some of that could have been further explored, but I doubt that details about her unwed pregnancy, for example, would have really been delved into in a children's book. I'd love to get the perspective of a book for adults.

>33 dk_phoenix: I will most likely start it Friday, Faith. I'll let you know what I think!

>34 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. As I mentioned to Amber, I'd love to try a book written for adults and see if I can get a more fleshed-out description of events. Part of the trouble with history, I think, is that a textbook can only give us so much detail and eventually we leave out some of the important people and happenings, giving a simpler version of events. To a certain extent, we have to because to fit everything would take, well, as long as history is but it also shapes our narrative of events when things get left out. Books like this one can help us get a more accurate picture. I was especially interested in the court case in which she testified, as I don't remember it getting much attention at all (or maybe I just need to read more about the Civil Rights Movement!).

21. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
TIOLI: A book that was read for a previous February challenge
Why now? When the fourth book in the series made the bestseller list, my library patrons suddenly starting putting this one on hold, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about

When Elena gets a call from Rino, her friend Lina's son, that his mother has disappeared, she is not surprised. Lina, whom she always called Lila, wanted to erase herself: and erase she did, leaving no birth certificate or even photographs for her son. So, Elena sets out to write her story, recalling her friendship with Lila beginning with their childhood and adolescence growing up in a small, poverty-stricken Neapolitan neighborhood.

Elena and Lila's friendship is at the center of the novel, at times loving or competitive but necessary as breathing. Lila is fearless, nearly reckless, and a "bad friend," but Elena treats her with deference and can't imagine life without her. It seems as if not much happens as Elena and Lila grow up together, eventually their paths diverging as Elena keeps pursuing higher education and Lila cannot. Much is happening, however, under the surface where both girls dream of leaving their neighborhood behind, and conflicts arise between people and families in their neighborhood. The cast of characters in their neighborhood is daunting but - with a little help from the non-spoiler-filled list at the beginning - I eventually kept them straight. The short chapters are distinct memories of Elena's that tell the story chronologically but loop forward and back and are deceptively simple. I enjoyed the writing style (indeed, the translator has received many accolades for this series as well) and am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next stage of Elena and Lila's lives. 4.5 stars.

Yeah, I know. I didn't like Bel Canto for "not a lot happening" and I loved this book even though not much happens. I have no reasoning behind that, other than one worked and the other did not. It's also interesting to me that the author uses a pseudonym and chooses to call the narrator Elena. The story is really quite layered, and I think I would enjoy rereading it just as much as the first time.

As I went back to add tags to Claudette Colvin I discovered it was a Newbery Honor book. It was a fun surprise to discover I'd read a book on one of my lifetime "lists" especially as that one had such a poor showing last year.

Today is a relaxed morning reading before going into work 12-8. I've got a full agenda there with a phone conversation with someone about historical photos that will soon be added to the Massachusetts' Digital Commonwealth (www.digitalcommonwealth.org if you're interested) and book group tonight discussing Bel Canto. I still have to print out the handouts I give everyone (discussion questions for today, discussion questions for next month's book, recommended reads if you liked this month's book), but I've gone over the questions myself and feel reasonably certain the conversation will move along. I'll try to remember to report back on it soon!

Picture book #5: Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

"Mondays, there were hogs to slop, / Mules to train, and logs to chop. // Slavery was in no ways fair. / Six more days to Congo Square."

So begins this picture book that, in narrative that reads like a song, tells both about slavery and Congo Square, the place in New Orleans where every Sunday afternoon both slave and free would gather to meet, sell, play instruments, and dance. Both the foreword and the Author's Note give even more of the history, and reference the fact that this meeting place impacted the creation of jazz music.

The illustrations are colorful, bold and full of movement. I couldn't find information on it, but it looks like mixed media with a lot of thick paint (gouache?). I can't figure out how to add them directly to my post using this Mac, but here's a link to some examples.

Highly recommended.

Happy new thread!!

>28 bell7: I'm sorry that one didn't work quite as well for you as it did for me. I listened to it a few months ago and loved it. I thought the narrator did a good job with Colvin's voice.

>39 Kassilem: Thanks, Melissa!

>40 cbl_tn: The narrator did an excellent job for her voice, I thought. Mostly the rating was me, and feeling like it was simple and repetitive but again a lot of that is because I was reading it before bed and had to repeat portions of it myself! I would love to read more about her.

Picture book #6: The Library Cat by Karla Grant (I couldn't find a touchstone, so that's an outside link)

This is a print-on-demand local title about a library cat who lived in the library in Monson, Massachusetts. The font is green Comic Sans and the narrative tone a little grandparent-y ("Another thing that he hates is tail pulling. Who would do a mean thing like that to Buster? Would you?"). The illustrations appear to be watercolor and are really well done. Like Dewey, it's about a real cat and his story will mostly be of interest to those nostalgic about him, the library or the town.

A patron of mine recommended it, so I read it this afternoon before returning it for her.

Happy new thread, Mary!

>43 Thebookdiva: Thanks, Abby!

Well, book discussion went really well last night. Bel Canto is probably the book we've had that had the widest range of opinions, almost to the point of thinking, "Wow, did we read the same book?" One woman pointed out how funny it was, citing images like the vice president of the country taking his "host" duties so seriously he was cleaning up after the guests, and gardening, and washing their clothes. Another had a lovely reaction in which she talked about the feeling that all the characters were in a bubble and they could explore who they could have been or other elements of their personalities and interests that they couldn't because of the roles they took on "outside." One person loved it so much she said it was the second time she'd read it and she'd read it again. Me and one other person did not like it, and they others were somewhere in between. (There were seven of us total)

Probably the highlight of my night was when I asked the question (provided by a publisher) about whether or not Roxane and Mr. Hosokawa could fall in love without being able to speak to each other without a translator. One of the ladies I always picture as classic and put together said, "Well. Let's be honest. At the beginning of a relationship it's all about sex. But it has to develop, and if I couldn't talk to my husband now, we'd have problems!" One of the others chimed in with a supporting comment and I quipped that I felt like I was being given an education. (For background, I'm single and in my thirties and the lovely ladies in my discussion group are married or widowed and three decades or more older than me - I love the mix, it makes for such a broad variety of experiences.)

Our next book is Being Mortal, and I'm not only reading it with them, I'm also planning on discussing it with a friend of mine who's a few years younger than me. I'm really looking forward to it!

Mary, your book group sounds like fun. I read Bel Canto last year and really enjoyed it, but when you were asking about just what made it good, I couldn't really think of any one solid answer. I guess I just liked the writing and how the musical stuff was woven into the story. It was kind of like a fairy tale gone horribly wrong and off balance.

Hoping that your Thursday is full of happy!

>46 Crazymamie: My book group is one of my favorite parts of my job (along with local history, helping people find the perfect book/information, and other programming for adults!). I started it in May 2012, and many of the ladies who come have been there since the beginning or very nearly, so we've built up an excellent rapport and usually manage to keep things respectful even when we disagree. We would, of course, be open to men coming too but only one or two have ever come, and not for some time now.

Sometimes books either hit us perfectly or don't, and there's not always a concrete reason. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Sounds like a great discussion of Bel Canto! I think I will try to re-read it this year. I first read it before I discovered that I really liked opera, so I'm thinking it may have even more appeal for me now.

Love the comments that came out of your book group's discussion of Bel Canto!

Hi, Mary! Your little niece Mia is so sweet! I love the photos.

I read Being Mortal a few months ago, and I think it was my only 5-star read of 2015.

Book discussions are what sort of drew most of us into the group, Mary, so it is natural that we would be interested in your book group discussions! Being Mortal made quite an impression on me.

Have a lovely weekend.

*waves at Mary* Catching up. Slowly.

I read Bel Canto in high school and loved it but I remember very few plot details.

>48 katiekrug: Ooh, yes I bet you would have a greater appreciation for it now that you've gained some knowledge of opera. I looked up the meaning of "bel canto" and noticed that a lot of the songs used as examples in the article I read were mentioned in the book, but I've only listened to a couple of operas so my knowledge is severely limited.

>49 DianaNL: Hahaha thanks Diana.

>50 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! I enjoy discussing books with these ladies even when some or all of us don't love the book. I get such great insight into not only the books we read but also how they see the world through our discussions, and it's quite a privilege.

>51 tymfos: Thank you, Terri! My mom sent me a couple when she was visiting last week so I'm all set for next thread too :) Being Mortal just came in today so I'm just about ready to go (though I probably won't start it for another week and a half or so).

>52 PaulCranswick: That's very true, Paul. One of the things I enjoy most is talking books with the 75ers. I hope your weekend was a good one!

>53 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Well, I'd say the writing trumped the plot so I am not surprised you don't remember many details :) Just 'cause I didn't care for it doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to the right reader... my brother loved it and I'm hoping to pick his brain about it next time I see him.

Whew! Think I'm all caught up there - thanks for keeping my thread warm!

Friday was a library field trip to Darien, CT and a couple of other libraries on our way back home. I went along with the children's department, which has had some recent turnover (in a good way - the children's librarian retired and we've had some new hires) and subsequently they have some ideas about what changes they could make and wanted to see what other libraries are doing (particularly Darien, as they've been featured in professional journals as having some forward-thinking offerings).

Friday night and Saturday morning became a complete binge-watch of The 100 Season 1. Not even sorry. Oh, and the TV show is better than the (first) book, by far. Saturday... well, I guess it was mid-afternoon actually when I wrapped up the show. It was a gorgeous day, so I took the dog for a walk and then I finished Traveler. I liked it even better than Seeker. Sunday was busy with church, youth group, and a shopping trip with a friend. Dogsitting wrapped up too.

Then yesterday was a day off and I went with a friend, his girlfriend, her father, and a bunch of his buddies to a Bruins hockey game. We made a day of it getting food in Boston and hanging out until the game, and then we were in the absolute final row where there's basically a walkway and one row of chairs. This was my first time going and it was actually a pretty nice view of the rink from where we sat, plus because it was just the one row of folding chairs I didn't have to worry about people getting up for food or bathroom runs. Late night getting home, and then I came into work today for 12-8. So I'm getting back in the swing of things. And my Christmas tree is still up.

22. Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton
TIOLI: have to double check
Why now? The library due date approacheth

The Seekers were originally supposed to be forces of good in the world, but as Quin discovered in the first book, Seeker, they lost their way a long time ago. Now with the diary of a deceased former Seeker, she begins to delve into exactly where they went wrong and why - and what does the Middle Dread have to do with it? Meanwhile, John has started training under the Young Dread, Maud, and has to decide if he's going to continue on his path of revenge.

The first book had a few bumps in the road in that it took a really long time for, well, anything to be clear and I was a little, um, taken by surprise in how the love angle was kind of suddenly introduced. This one, however, I found really well done in both character, such as Shinobu still showing tendencies towards addiction, and plot, giving just enough information at the right time to remind me what had happened in the past and moving along steadily throughout. I almost forgive the cliffhanger, and will definitely read the last book in the trilogy.

I think by the time you finally get around to taking your tree down you might as well just keep it up for next Christmas. :P

>57 Ape: I don't see anything wrong with practicing my Easter choir music while I take down my tree :P

Hey, they key to happiness in life is embracing your own faults and accepting yourself for who you are, so good for you for not seeing anything wrong with that. :P

>59 Ape: Ha! I have perfected the art of procrastination to the point where I know exactly how long I can wait to do something so I have beneficial time pressure rather than crippling stress. But since the only thing that bothers me about having the tree up now is walking through my living room, there hasn't been much of an incentive (plus, I've been gone petsitting a lot).

Yesterday was a fairly steady day at work. I had been gone for a long weekend and had all the catch up that normally comes with that, plus I received a few things that meant some of my projects were moving forward and of course I wanted to get started going through them. Plus, Tuesday evenings have been very very quiet and I've gotten used to bringing things out to the reference desk to keep myself busy, but that's no longer something I can count on. We were pretty steady with people in from 5-7, and then I was off the desk for the final hour of the night.

I have a CD of burned .pdfs from our local paper that I went through a bit yesterday. We've been microfilming and then digitizing the originals so that people could access them here, but because of the cost I've been getting further and further behind. I finally contacted the editor to see if we could get copies of the .pdfs that they've kept instead, and that's what I received. So instead of having 7+ years work to digitize, I now have about two and a half years' worth and some random issues that didn't back up properly in the 2011-2014 range. I still have to go through the paper copies and toss what we no longer need, but I'm super excited that the money we've been using could potentially go to new projects once we fill the gap.

The other thing I discovered yesterday was that one of our collections of historic photographs is now up on Digital Commonwealth. It's just a nine photograph collection to start with, but there are some really unique images in there and now I have a spreadsheet I have been having a volunteer work on in order to add more collections over the next year or so. I'm so excited to have the project up and running!

>55 bell7: Yayyyyyyyy, The 100! Are you going watch season 2 soon?

>61 bell7: Very cool pictures! But I think that Santa mask is going to give me nightmares. More like Santa Cthu-laus.

>62 norabelle414: I thought it was really well done, and moving back and forth between characters makes so much more sense in the show than it did in the book. I was annoyed with how Wells died so suddenly early on... he was one of the main characters in the book and I kind of liked him but it was a sure sign that things would very quickly be different from the books so I've kind of separated them in my head at this point. (Except I totally agree with you that 300 years in the future makes a lot more sense.) I have season 2 on hold from the library and I am 12th in line to get the first copy available so we'll see when it arrives. I am too cheap (and I don't watch enough TV/movies) to get Netflix, plus I have the second part of the latest Doctor Who series at home to finish over the weekend so I'll keep plenty busy in the meantime.

The photo of the women and bearded man in the kitchen with the massive old stove is one of my favorite in our entire collection. And I agree with you about the Santa mask, I don't know what was up with that but I have like three different versions of the photo in the church in various collections in our local history photographs.

>64 DianaNL: Thanks, Diana! Happy weekend to you as well.

*Friday happy dance*

Yesterday and today were very productive days if I do say so myself. I spent a lot of time preparing for Summer Reading, setting up a BINGO sheet (four different ones, actually) and "Weekly Challenges." The challenges are to get people to try different computer-oriented tasks related to library resources - learn something new in the library catalog, download an e-book, use one of our online resources/databases that you've never tried - and to let them know that librarians will sit down with them for scheduled one-on-one sessions if they want to learn how to use a resource. There are eight total, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

Last night my ladies' Bible study group packaged 10 care packages for college students (kids of the ladies in the group) and I'm going to mail them in a few days. We had so much we had to make two envelopes for each kid! That was a blast but I came home exhausted and yep, that and work was all I did for the day. Today I'm thinking I'll grab takeout on the way home and depending on how brain dead I am I'll either read all evening or watch some Doctor Who.

23. Love in Lowercase by Francesc Miralles
TIOLI: Not sure
Why now? My co-worker recommended it, plus it was short and I was in the mood for something different from what I'd been reading.

Samuel is a lonely thirty-something living in Barcelona and content with his life just the way it is as a professor of German literature. Then a cat shows up and he gives it milk, setting off a chain of events that have him meet his upstairs neighbor, traipse off to the vet for help, and run into a woman he knew as a child.

This is just one of those stories that make you smile, much like The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry or The Rosie Project. It's easy reading in a way, with short chapters and delightfully quirky characters. I found it also surprisingly deep and philosophical though never heavy. The epigraph sums it up nicely: "Enjoy the little things, / for one day you may look back / and realize they were the big things. - Robert Brault." I had a huge smile on my face when I finished it. 4.5 stars.

What I'm reading now:
Arcadia by Iain Pears which I've only just begun but so far it's shaping up to be an intriguing fantasy.

>67 bell7: I like the look of Arcadia too Mary, but it is such a big book physically. If a more compact looking version turns up in the stores it will go on the shelves tout de suite.

Have a great weekend. xx

>68 PaulCranswick: Happy weekend, Paul! It is a big book and there's a lot of text on the page. So far I've actually read more of the e-book than the paper book (I have both out from the library), but I only have a few more days borrowing the e-version so I may be carrying the heftier book around soon.

>67 bell7: That one sounds very cute. It may just hit The List.

>70 MickyFine: Oh good, I hope you enjoy it if/when you get to it!

Picture Book #7: Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea by Robert Burleigh and Raul Colon

Marie Tharp was a scientist whose father was a mapmaker; her work with soundings and mapping out the ocean floor was groundbreaking, yet I hadn't heard much about her until I came across this picture book. It's one of those hard-to-characterize blend of fictionalized nonfiction - the story is narrated in first person from Marie's point of view, but it's very factual and includes great added content for further exploration. The illustrations, according to the verso of the title page "are rendered in watercolors, Prismacolor pencils, and lithograph pencils on Arches paper," which is much more artsy than I understand but I will say they're really striking, with lines like a comb through them and giving a feeling of movement and texture. An interesting story and topic make this great for kids interested in scientific exploration and oceans.

>67 bell7: I like the sound of this from your review. Hope the library has a copy!

>73 charl08: Hope you can get your hands on a copy, Charlotte! It was recently published here, but it looks like the original was published in 2010.

Not a lot to report on the life or reading front. I'm *highly* enjoying Arcadia, but I have so many evening commitments this week that I haven't had a lot of time to devote to reading it. Hopefully the weekend will bring enough downtime.

I mentioned on Friday that I've been working on projects preparing for Summer Reading. I'm very pleased with my progress and, in fact, just have a little bit of ironing out for a yoga instructor coming in July. I've planned weekly challenges, a bingo game, our regular book discussions and other monthly programs (coloring and knitting), and will introduce a cookbook club in June. I am finished or nearly finished all of the in-library handouts in time for tomorrow's staff meeting to share my ideas.

So this week I'm working on the day-to-day keeping up. I mentioned the project we finished in early January of pulling out our genre books and giving them their own locations. I made signs for the ends of the rows for everything, which is really helping with several folks who had trouble finding them before. The last thing I'm working on, slowly but surely, is going through a shelflist and figuring out where I want to put little shelftalkers to mention which authors are in multiple genres - and there are many more authors than I have room for shelftalkers, so I'm going to have to decide based on number of books/genres/general popularity who to call out. The rest of the week is going to be regular marketing stuff, like scheduling the library's Facebook and Twitter posts and writing press releases for April events.

Tonight is choir practice and I get to see how well I remember the alto part of the songs I've been singing along to in the car. I can't read music, and on one of them I think I keep hearing the tenor part and getting confused. If I can learn it by ear well enough that I know how I'm supposed to sound I'll be okay. One lady in the choir has never done it before and her coping technique is to sing the soprano part an octave lower, so it adds to the challenge to have to block her out. :(

February in review -
13. Smoke by Dan Vyleta - mine and e-book ARC
14. The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
15. The 100 by Kass Morgan
16. The Last Policeman by Ben Winters - e-book
17. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - mine and re-read
18. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - half audio
19. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
20. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose - mine and audio
21. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
22. Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton
23. Love in Lowercase by Fransesc Miralles

Books read: 9.5
Audiobooks listened to: 1.5
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 3
Adult/Teen/Children's: 6/4/1
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 9/2/0/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 8/3/0

Standouts: Both The Witches and My Brilliant Friend stick in my mind for very different reasons, with Love in Lowercase not far behind

Thoughts: The number of teen books is creeping up a bit this month, but except for Traveler I wasn't hugely impressed with any of them. Fiction, fantasy, and a little bit of nonfiction made for a pretty good mix, with a couple of translated books (one set in Naples, one Barcelona) thrown in to make it international. I only finished one of those e-book ARCs I've been trying to catch up on, and may make that one of my hopes for March to up that number a bit. I'm surprised by the sheer number I've read so far, as February is often a 4-8 book month for me. I don't expect this pace to hold up for the rest of the year.

Original publication dates read (year-to-date):
2016 - 5
2015 - 3
2014 - 1
2013 - 1
2012 - 2
2011 - 1

2010 - 1
2009 - 1
2001 - 2

1999 - 1
1996 - 1
1995 - 2

1971 - 1

1908 - 1

I thought I'd left a message several days ago, but I don't see it.

>66 bell7: I really like the idea of your "Weekly Challenges" involving computer-oriented library tasks. I might suggest that to our director, except that I'm not sure we have enough staff to offer the support needed for a lot of people who want help with a task all in one week.

>75 bell7: The issue of writers working in multiple genres was part of why we re-merged genres which had sections back into our main Fiction section -- that, and we really didn't have the shelf space for separate sections. We're quick to offer suggestions to folks who are looking for new authors in their favorite genres. What we get now are a lot of people looking for a "Christian Fiction" section, as it's all they read. Even though I'm a pastor's wife, it seems to me a rather narrow way to select reading material. However, these folks suggest by their comments that they don't want to be offended by anything they might encounter in a book.

Then there are the folks who won't touch anything with a hint of a "Christian" label, no matter how non-preachy it may be. . .

>77 tymfos: Hiya, Terri! Thanks, I had a fun time putting the challenges together. My director and I would field the majority of the in-depth questions, while some staff will be able to get the basics down. I was strategic about putting the easiest one the week I will be away! We only get about 20 adults for Summer Reading (compared to 300-400 kids) so I don't anticipate getting a huge demand. Maybe you could modify it with a scavenger hunt - use the catalog to find _ section.

The genres will really come down to how our patrons want to browse for books. I've been observing and we had a lot of complaints when the books kept moving/shifting - which I expected - and fewer now that they've "settled." We've put out handouts with genre descriptions and popular authors in each section, and that's been fairly successful as well. I'll continue to see how people respond to it, as it has been mixed, and it could be that we change it back somewhere down the road. Christian Fiction has been one people responded favorably to because of the same reasons you state - some people really like it to be able to try a new author without being offended by the content and others really like being able to avoid it (I'm more in your camp - I'd rather try something and if I'm offended I can always put it down!). I have been surprised by the number of general fiction readers giving comments, however - I would've thought it helpful to have fantasy, sf or other genres taken out, but generally speaking people aren't thinking of it in those terms. It's been more of "well, what genre is my author and how do I know?" or perhaps not realizing that we kept a general section at all. But by and large I'm noticing people getting used to the physical place, rather than a particular genre, and having signs on the endcaps has been huge (we didn't have them for 6 months because everything kept shifting).

having signs on the endcaps has been huge (we didn't have them for 6 months because everything kept shifting).

I remember when we did our last major shift. There were times when even the staff had a hard time keeping track of where things were!

>79 tymfos: We've had a lot of staff turnover in the last few years (well, for us - to put it in perspective I've been working here in various capacities for 16 years!), which on the one hand is great because new people mean new ideas and fresh perspective, but on the other hand there have been a lot of changes in a short amount of time which has been a bit of a whirlwind for us, not to mention our patrons! I really like some of what we've implemented - the children's department just finished a huge weeding project and moved the nonfiction shelving lower to be more accessible to kids, and pulled out all the Newbery awards to have their own shelves, for example.

23. Arcadia by Iain Pears
TIOLI: I've forgotten
Why now? The pre-publication reviews intrigued me, and I had it on hold to get as soon as the library got a copy - then it waited patiently until it was approaching it's due date and I had to get moving.

Arcadia tells three intertwining stories: one of Anterworld and apparently a story come to life of Henry Lytten who - two - lives in 1960s England and is sort of continuing the Inklings' legacy while three, a woman named Angela Meerson a brilliant mathematician somewhere in the future discovers the ability to either jump into alternate universes or back and forth in time and must protect her project from other scientists who want to get their grubby mitts on her data.

If that all sounds confusing, it is. This is an ambitious, convoluted story and I loved it. There's a fantasy world and lots of story references and heady scientific discussions all mixed in, and the storytelling is such that there's just enough of a cliffhanger or "aha!" moment at the end of the chapter that made me want to keep reading. It sort of reminded me of Thursday Next without all the most madcap elements, but it's an original story all its own and I plan on reading more of this author soon. 4.5 stars.

From what I understand, this is a bit of a departure for Iain Pears, who knowledgeable about art and history and wrote a detective series that looks intriguing too. I also loved the fact that the original British spelling was kept in this text: judgement, grey, etc. all retained. (It's the little things)

My weekend was nice and fairly relaxing. I finally took down my Christmas tree: that was the major accomplishment of the day yesterday. I also blocked a scarf I knit for my sister, and will have to unpin it tomorrow and see if it stretched sufficiently (this is my second attempt, and I give up after this!). Now that Arcadia is finished up I've been reading The Road to Little Dribbling. I'd had to return it unfinished and now have the e-book out - I'm already past the part I stopped at before and hopefully this time I'll finish it before the due date! I have to start Being Mortal soon for book club, and I'm looking forward to diving in to that as well. The other due date that approaches is for Shylock is My Name, and I'm planning on bringing it back to work tomorrow, seeing if there are holds on it, and taking it back out if there are not. Choir's eating into my mid-week reading time, so I now really only have time to read chunks on Monday, Friday and Saturday and it's looking like March will have significantly lower reading numbers for me.

>82 bell7: I finished War and Peace today so I'm returning to my read of The Road to Little Dribbling.

>83 thornton37814: How are you liking it, Lori? I brought it with me to nursery yesterday so I had a sleeping infant in my arms and the e-book on my knee. I'm enjoying it, and was the first time too, but sometimes my library stack gets a little out of control! Nice job reading War and Peace - it's on my "someday" list of 100+ books I own and haven't gotten around to yet.

Thanks for the tip on Arcadia, Mary. His Instance at the Fingerpost is aces, too, although you need to get to the end to realize what he's pulled off. I've added Arcadia to the WL.

I enjoy Bill Bryson, and also want to read The Road to Little Dribbling.

>83 thornton37814: So far, so good. I'm nearing the 100 page mark.

Hi Mary, still reading, and enjoying, Arcadia. My major book accomplishments this weekend were finishing a (2nd) listen of The secret place by Tana French and Strange Country by Deborah Coates. I also tried out a couple of new recipes.

I'm also loving The life of elves by Muriel Barberry, but I can't read this one rapidly and it's overdue!

>85 jnwelch: Thanks for the recommendation, Joe! I'm hoping to read more of Iain Pears' work in the near future. I enjoyed the complexity of it.

>86 thornton37814: Glad to hear it, Lori! I've been chipping away at it a chapter or so at a time in the evening before bed.

>87 markon: Thanks for stopping by! I tried a new recipe last night that turned out to be super easy and pretty good - I cooked up penne paste with spinach, drained it and added goat cheese to taste (though it was a little bland and I added salt - you could probably add whatever spices you felt like too). I hear you on the race against the due date! I work at a library and I still have trouble with my nightstand stack from time to time. Is it any wonder I barely read any of my own books?

Currently reading report:

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson - library e-book version and it's due in 8 days while I'm only a third of the way through. I shall have to pick up my reading pace or hope the book version comes in soon.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - going strong on my book club book and keeping myself to a chapter or two a day so I can think about it and let things sink in. I thought it was going to be more about end-of-life, hospice care type information, but so far it's been talking more about the stage before that - as people start to get elderly and frail, and what a good life of independence means. I'm halfway through the chapter on assisted living.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys - fascinating historical fiction, ostensibly for teens but just because the characters are young doesn't mean adults wouldn't find a lot to like here (kind of like The Book Thief or Code Name Verity. The short chapters and different characters' perspectives make the pages turn fast.

The Amulet of Samarkand - I was looking for an audio to listen to before bed, and thought I might reread this one because it's a favorite as both book and audio. I'm barely into the second "part" of my library audio and only 7 days away from its due date. I'm either going to switch to the book or stop listening entirely soon, depending on how my other reading goes.

It is Thursday, which means my day to be exhausted by the end of it and grateful for the weekend. This Saturday I don't work, so I'm hoping to Skype with my sister's family and a friend needs some help moving. I should be getting the second season of The 100 today or tomorrow, too, so I think my reward over the weekend as I get stuff done will be watching a few episodes of that per day.

And I still have to catch up on Downton Abbey...

>89 bell7: Varied reading there Mary. I really appreciated Being Mortal when I read it last year.

Liked your comment above above British spellings. All computers are default set to US English (if that makes sense) and I do get irked occasionally when I type colour and flavour and I get an ugly red dotted line underneath my word the spelling of which was perfect of course. xx

>90 PaulCranswick: I do like to keep a variety going, Paul, as depending on my mood I will pick up one of usually 3 books.

I like the spellings to reflect the country of origin, if that makes sense. I'm used to American spellings of favor and color, but cannot make myself spell grey "gray" despite being American (the first looks appropriately gloomy to my brain while the other looks too happy), and I simply like the visual reminder that a book's location or author is not American. After awhile the differences kind of fade away and I'm just reading, anyway. And I hear you about the dotted red line. I've used words or spelled them in an "alternate" way and get annoyed that my computer's dictionary can't keep up.

>91 bell7: Did you happen to read A Ring of Endless Light at a formative age? Vicky Austin has a whole rant about how "grey" is cold like Zachary Grey and his teenage attitude and "gray" is warm like Adam Eddington's eyes. I remember it so vividly and I always think about that rant whenever I'm trying to decide if I want to use "grey" or "gray"

Mary, I am eager to hear what you and your book group think about Being Mortal. It is one of those "Important" books about a topic we don't always wish to think or talk about; however, as you've probably discovered the author handles it in a practical and delicate manner.

I don't think I've commented yet about Mia's pictures at the top of the thread. She is so expressive. Such a beauty. I love the snow picture. Babies just seem to take things in stride most of the time. I think I would freak out if someone set me in the snow and took my picture!

Have a lovely weekend Mary.

>93 Donna828: Donna is right - Mia is an expressive little girl.

>92 norabelle414: It's possible I did, but if so I've completely forgotten it! I've owned the book for ages but haven't read it because I need to read the series in order, you see... (and between that and my spelling quirks, now you know quite a lot about my personality!) In any case, I completely agree with her. There's a certain dreariness to grey that comes out in one spelling and not the other.

>93 Donna828: Donna, I'm getting a lot out of the book and I've already recommended it to my mom and have discussed it with a co-worker who had read it as well. It's one of those books that I really hope we do more than just talk about, as it's a really important topic and one that touches most if not all of us in some way, even if we don't like to think about it.

Mia is very expressive. She is generally very happy and content, but can also get intense. Watching her on Skype is a blast. She's started to look for me behind the tablet and her eyes get big and she gets so excited to see a person. I hope that it helps her know who I am when she sees me in "real life." My sister tells me that about 30 seconds after that picture was taken, she put her hand in the snow and looked really confused.

>94 DianaNL: Thank you, Diana! A wonderful weekend to you as well.

>95 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, and happy weekend to you! I was so exhausted last night I cut my plans short and went to bed about 8 p.m. I woke up tired today, but so far I'm making it through the work day. I admit, I'm kind of looking forward to starting my next thread so I can share a picture of Mia that my mom sent me when she was visiting a couple of weeks ago... (I might break down and share it early, as I'm going down in three weeks myself and will have plenty to choose from then!)

Note to self: it is dangerous to read a Bill Bryson book while on the reference desk.

I can read e-books on my computer when it's slow, and I've been taking advantage of that with The Road to Little Dribbling the last couple of days since I didn't have much I could be working on "on the desk." Today I came across a passage discussing the ferry to Tresco: "It wasn't tough but just slowly, cumulatively, peculiarly unsettling. The problem, as it was explained to me later, is that the ferry must have a flat bottom to get in among the shallows around St. Mary's, the main port of the Scillies, but this means that it sits in the water like a cork, which guarantees a lot of motion even on the smoothest days. In rough weather, I was told, it bounces so much you can have the novel experience of being sick on the ceiling." That and the passage I read yesterday about his need not to buy signs with sayings and other novelties because he's old (and also gets particular satisfaction from wearing out his clothes, except for that darn L.L. Bean shirt that won't no matter what he does) had me laughing to myself and trying to keep quiet.

>97 bell7: Ha ha, that book is rather funny. Bill Bryson always paints a funny picture. I imagined him in all these really worn out clothes and shoes with holes, but a crisp L.L. Bean shirt.

I try to read e-books on the ref desk every once and awhile, but it gives me a headache.

>98 rosylibrarian: I do it in spurts, and it definitely has to be the right book. I tried it with The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and it didn't take me long to realize I needed to read the book version, but Bill Bryson works well as an e-book. Most of his stories are short enough that I can be interrupted and keep up the thread, too.

I am enjoying many of his stories and his curmudgeonly persona, though I hear what people are saying about this one being a bit more grumpy (maybe because he's more willing to call people twits and f***s?). It won't be my favorite, but a decent Bryson book is still pretty good.

Well here, I have too many pictures to need to be choosy. My parents went down a few weeks ago to visit my sister's family and get in college trips for my youngest sister. My mom sent me a couple of lovely pictures of Mia (a little blurry for being from her cell phone):





I got to Skype briefly today. She's not yet crawling, but pushes herself up on her hands and feet with her butt in the air, then puts her belly down and starts kicking her feet. Maybe she'll be one of those kids who walks before she crawls... Looking for me behind the tablet has become a regular thing now, and she's very entertained by the fact that I can roll my tongue. She made raspberries back.

Aw. Beautiful! What a cutie.

25. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
TIOLI: Read a book that you're a bit panicky over - matched read
Why now? This month's book club read

Surgeon Atul Gawande discusses the ways in which elder care has worked (or not) historically, and new models of geriatric care, as well as the ways in which the medical field could improve in dealing with end-of-life care so that we can all live our lives to the fullest.

I thought I was in for a book essentially about hospice and the end of one's life. That's a small part of this powerful book, which takes a look at the ways in which medicine has evolved to treat, treat, treat while we live longer and our bodies just begin to break down. What does it mean to grow old and frail, and what role does medicine play, especially as more and more of us in developing countries live into our 80s? What kind of life a person wants and what is important to them changes as he or she grows older, yet nursing homes and most assisted living is set up in a regimented, "keep them safe" kind of way, ultimately failing to take into account an individual's needs and desires. There is so much more that can be done, and Gawande begins to explore other models as well. He also talks about his own patients and experiences, his difficulties in approaching the conversations about mortality. I sincerely hope that this bestseller doesn't remain on the "oh, that was good to think about" list but sparks us to think about critical approaches to our grandparents', parents', and our own mortality. 5 stars.

I think we're going to have a great, if perhaps painful, conversation on Wednesday. I'm glad we have a couple of years of being together and discussing books together before tackling this one, because we have a good enough rapport to have some challenging discussions.

>101 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte!

All caught up with you, Mary! Lots of reading, lots of work, and lots of "extracurricular" activities. I'm tired just reading about it all :)

Me, too, Mary - all caught up! I love those pictures of Mia - what fabulous expression she has. And what joy! Thanks so much for sharing.

>104 katiekrug: I confess when I get too far behind on some threads, I scroll through and just skim the latest messages. I love our chatty group, but it is hard to stay afloat!

>105 Crazymamie: Woohoo, Mamie! I love that little one. On Saturday my sister tells me she was "grumpy" but I still got a smile (I could tell she was tired, though, and she was out just a few minutes after we said goodbye), and on Sunday more of the family Skyped all at once. Basically my mom and I talked with my sister and brother-in-law while Mia was busy with baby gymnastics - my term for it, nothing official - she can roll and gets in a V trying to sit up 'til my sister helps her out, then dives down on her back or belly to roll again or kick her legs, so she ends up moving around quite a lot on the blankets they have out in the living room.

26. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
TIOLI: I'll have to double check (I've been very lax about it this year!)
Why now? I've had a hold on it since it came out, and had to return the paper book unfinished but this time around mananaged to finish the e-version.

Twenty years after Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson again tours England, only occasionally going to places he's gone before, and comments on the countryside, people, pubs, litter and history.

I generally like Bryson's rambly style of including just various things he finds interesting. I enjoy history and I loved my trip to London a few years back, and I've found a few more places I'd love to check out in part due to Bryson's accounts. This one continues that same style of traveling, bumbling around, and commenting - mainly in a very curmudgeonly manner, but sometimes deeming something good or "splendid" - on what he encounters. Some people have commented that he seems a bit more grumpy than usual, and I can see why. Most of the time I found it a humorous take and a bit of a persona, but occasionally I thought he went over the top, particularly in one recounting where he became so upset with a woman that let her dog poop wherever and then merely covered with leaves that, he says, he killed her and buried the body. And while I'll admit I grew up in a household that barely cursed so I may notice it more than average, there were several more f-words than I would have expected. He's a talented writer and could have found more entertaining ways of insulting people (if that's really what he wanted to do) than calling them f***s. On the other hand, some of his descriptions had me laughing out loud and I really want to see the Ashmolean Museum now. So a mixed bag, but a decent Bryson is still a worthwhile read. 3.5 stars.

106: Yeah, I do the same when I fall too far behind, I'm afraid. I comfort myself that, with a fresh start, I can can start re-following threads in earnest, instead of feeling hopelessly behind and not reading them at all.

>108 Ape: It's hard to stay well and truly caught up, and frankly I think most if not all of us understand and have our own methods for staying caught up in some fashion.

Right. Ours is just cheating a little. :P

>110 Ape: You may call it cheating, I call it keeping sane and having time to read, well, a book! :D

Sure, sure, I understand. However, I would like to note that skimming my thread could cause a person to miss out on vital information required for a happy and fulfilling life. Just saying. >_>

>112 Ape: vital information required for a happy and fulfilling life
You do have an interesting definition of that :P

27. The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher
TIOLI: Ummmm I'll have to look
Why now? I wanted to read something else by the author of Dear Committee Members and this is what I chose

Thea Gumman is nearly thirteen, from Minneapolis, and a self-confessed liar. When she goes to her grandparents' in New Jersey for the summer, her mother gives her a book and tells her to write "true things" in it. She arrives to a full house and discovers she's going to have to pitch in with her younger cousins. One cousin, Jocelyn is convinced their aunts have a secret, and pulls Thea into helping her discover what it is.

I think this book suffered from my high expectations and my age. I probably would have liked it much more if I were in the middle grades, but I'm so used to reading adult and YA fiction now that I end up being disappointed with books that may be written for younger audiences. It's about ten years old and already feels a bit dated with references to CDs and the secrecy surrounding...well, the secret that Jocelyn and Thea want to spy out. I was much more interested in the past that comes out in the list of 100 truths that Thea writes, and having the dual storyline meant that neither of those were fleshed out as much as they could have been. 3.5 stars.

The longer version of "Why now" is that I'd had the book out from the library for weeks, but now that I've finished The Road to Little Dribbling I needed a new e-book and had a really quiet last couple of hours at work. I read half on the reference desk and realized I could probably finish it. So I guess it's not all bad if I read it in a day?

I love the idea of being able to read e-books on the computer while manning a desk. I used to do a lot of temping where I would go into an office or similar and cover for someone off sick, sometimes long term, more often for a day or two. The reception and helpdesk jobs were SO boring. It was generally frowned upon to be reading a paper book because I was supposed to look busy, but, particularly on the very short assignments, there was no point learning the workings of the business so I couldn't do much useful work. If I was lucky they'd have solitaire or minesweeper on the computer....

>115 eclecticdodo: Some days are busy enough that it's not an option, but if it's quiet and I don't have other things I can work on while on the desk I like being able to read e-books or search our databases. It not only looks busier than reading a paper book, it helps me familiarize myself with our content so I can help patrons when they have questions or issues. I tell myself reading LT threads at work is also helpful because I can learn about books that I may not get to myself...

Well, today nearly started off with a bang.

I came in at noon today because my book group is meeting, and one of the first things on the desk was a call from someone - actually, his hard of hearing mother who shouted in my ear - to see if his "IMPORTANT BOOK" was in. I simply looked on the computer and said "Yes," but then when I got off the phone I went over to the holdshelf and looked - it was a picture book, not the home repair book he was expecting. Shoot. Thankfully one of my co-workers was quick enough to tell me to call him back, which I did. His mother picked up and after she informed me, "HE'S IN THE BASEMENT AND JUST TOOK APART THE DRYER. MY HUSBAND IS IN THE NURSING HOME AND EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART," she did indeed get him for me and I was able to tell him it looked like we had the wrong book. I figured out what he wanted (subject matter anyways, still not sure what the title was but it was supposed to be Home Depot, not a picture book with alligators on the front), and put a couple of new holds on to hopefully come in soonish for him. Crisis averted. *wipes brow*

Over the next few days, I'll only be reading Salt to the Sea and listening to Amulet of Samarkand. The next book on my "must read" list is Storm Front by Jim Butcher for my librarian genre read. I've read it once before but it was so long ago I definitely need a refresher before discussing it as a "genrebending mystery" in two weeks.

>117 bell7: I love it when crises are avoided! :)

>118 drneutron: Me too! Though I daresay my crises at work are not quite the same level as others, it would not have been fun if this particular patron was in a bad mood when he came in to pick up the hold and decided to shout at us for not having the right book (I'd say it was a 50/50 chance).

My book club discussed Being Mortal yesterday and it was a really good discussion. One woman, who generally likes to listen and sometimes has a few things to say, opened up quite a bit about her experience with hospice and a family member's death and I was thrilled she felt comfortable and could share all of that with our group. All of the women in my book discussion are, I'd say, at least 30 years older than me and while I could enter into some of the discussion based on my own experiences, it was really one where I listened more and learned a lot from them. They all knew about forms from the insurance companies, thought long and hard about DNRs, and had a "book of life" with all their contacts and meds and such on their refrigerators at home. I'm just starting to realize it's time for me to write out some of my wishes - for medical care and what few assets I have - and have a file I look at to update every year or so, but I haven't done it yet. At times it was very sobering, and we could have gone on except that one woman had to leave and was giving another a ride, so I made sure we wrapped up right at eight.

I had contacted an outreach librarian at a local hospital to see if she'd be able to give us a follow up program with information about end-of-life/geriatric care resources, and she came back with a proposal for a book discussion of Your Medical Mind (more general about making medical decisions, but end-of-life is one chapter) that she would run. I asked my book group which they would like to do - just write yes or no, I told them - and got back five yeses and two maybes for both options. So I broke the tie and I'm hoping to have her come for a book discussion in May. The subject definitely hit a nerve!

Picture book #8: Help! We Need a Title! by Herve Tullet

A bunch of half-drawn characters are really surprised when you open their book, because they're not quite story-ready. They call over the author and he supplies a bit more for the characters and the readers.

I find I rather enjoy metafiction in a picture book, and I like that this gives you a little glimpse of what goes into a story - some characters, drawings, a bad guy - and even in the "finished" portion of the story has some edits. The "unfinished" portion is pretty rough, outlines of characters and lots of "notes" on the sides of pages. The youngest kids probably wouldn't get it, but a kid who enjoys stories and would like getting a glimpse of "the author at work" would like this.

>120 bell7: Thanks for sharing about your book discussion of Being Mortal. I knew it would be intense, Mary. Lots of things to consider in that book. Now you need to read the memoir When Breath Becomes Air. Talk about intense. Also very well written.

Love the Mia pictures! She is adorable. It is so funny when they try to crawl and don't go anywhere.

>121 bell7: Oh my goodness that sounds delightful

>122 Donna828: It's on my list, too, though I'll probably wait until the holds list is a little shorter (I said that about All the Light We Cannot See last year - ha!). It is sooo much fun to see her grow. I'll be on my way to visit two weeks from today!

>123 norabelle414: It really was. Herve Tullet also wrote the interactive Press Here that I really loved, and I'm going to have to look for more of his picture books. Publisher's Weekly has an article about I am Blop which also sounds entertaining. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my review but the author himself shows up in Help! We Need a Title!

Happy Weekend!

>121 bell7: Charlie and I really like that one. Have you read is other stuff? Press Here and Mix It Up are both excellent for wee ones.

Hi Mary, and happy Friday!

>125 DianaNL: Thanks, Diana! I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well.

>126 scaifea: I read Press Here, but I don't remember reading any of his other books (and I don't keep track of picture books except on my threads so it would be hard to go back and look) before this one. I'll have to check out the others for sure; I think he's really creative and fun!

>127 Thebookdiva: Hi, Abby! Hurray for Friday! I have to work a few hours tomorrow for a program, but I am looking forward to a more relaxed Monday on my day off. Friday has become takeout night and I'm thinking I'll swing for pad thai for supper.

Edited to add: Nope, already too tired for takeout. Dinner is going to be PB&J and yogurt.

28. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
TIOLI: I've forgotten if it fits
Why now? My teen librarian read it and gave it to me telling me it was really good, I should read it, and it wouldn't take me long - it did take me a little to get to it, but finally the due date approached...

Four young people, refugees in World War 2 for various reasons, tell their stories. There's Joana, a young Lithuanian nurse of German heritage who had special permission to be here; Florian, a talented artist on the run and carrying secrets; Emilia, a pregnant Polish girl who looks upon Florian as a knight for saving her from a Russian soldier; and Alfred, a twisted German soldier who swallows the Nazi line whole.

Sepetys powerfully tells a little-known story of the refugees from all over who were fleeing on German boats due to Russian attack. I don't want to say more than that for fear of spoilers, but I will say any who are more familiar with that aspect of World War 2 than I was may realize where the story is going much earlier than I did. The title has been marketed as young adult but I think it is in the same sense as The Book Thief or Code Name Verity - the characters may be teens and young adults and it's possible that teens will read it, but it's just as much for adults. The pages turn quickly as the four narrators have only a few pages each, yet I never felt like I was unnecessarily jumping around. Each of their stories highlight the horrors of war even before the climactic turn the story takes. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I am having an enjoyable weekend so far myself. I spent the morning tidying a bit, getting some laundry done so I have socks to wear tomorrow, and knitting. I have a pattern for fingerless gloves that I have knit straight before and I successfully completed one in the round, so I'm pretty excited I figured out how to do that because I'm crap at sewing so it looks MUCH nicer this way. I think it will be a little small for my sister however (it barely fits me, and I have small hands), so I'm going to have her try it on tomorrow and see. I think I'll keep the pattern the same and just use a size bigger needle.

I also found a nice carry-on size duffel bag on Amazon, and bought it this morning. The free shipping only came if I could come up with over $25 in books so of course I had to make the sacrifice... books should be arriving sometime later this week (just in time for my birthday and my mother might kill me if she bought the same ones).

The afternoon was spent giving a program showing nine participants how to search Ancestry Library Edition. I had one poor lady searching immigration records alone though she didn't even know a birth date or place for certain, and another who looked up her husband's family and found a ton of information - naturalization records, ship's manifests, etc. - only to discover that they came from a completely different heritage than he'd thought! Other people had success or failures somewhere in between, but it was fun.

I finally got my pad thai for takeout tonight, and now I'm enjoying a bit of tennis (Nadal/Djokovic semifinal!), March Madness basketball and probably a couple of episodes of The 100 before I go to bed tonight.

I started Storm Front this morning before the program and had to force myself to put the book down. I remember it being a little on the gory side for me, but it was seven years ago I last read it and my librarian book group is reading it as our benchmark title for "genreblending mysteries." I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed P.I. wizard Harry Dresden's sense of humor. I'd meant to continue the series and never did, so maybe this year!

Few things Mary:

>100 bell7: I have said it before but that is one seriously cute child.

>117 bell7: I love my business and my work but quite envy you your job, loving books as I do. Seems like you handled the cock-up very adroitly.

>120 bell7: It would be quite something if I had a book club I could share ideas with on a regular basis. I don't and often its gets commented upon locally that I am never without a book as if it was some kind of handicapped sticker........so I guess y'all will have to do!

>129 bell7: I noticed that one has made the bookstore here. Excellent review, Mary.

Have a wonderful weekend. xx

Ohmygosh, now I'm completely hungry for Pad Thai.

>129 bell7: Nice review of Salt to the Sea. It's one I definitely plan on reading later this year.

>28 bell7: Hi Mary!

I confess that I didn't much care for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. I read it last year when I was reading a lot of Civil Rights books. If I remember correctly, I thought that Claudette Colvin had a huge chip on her shoulder.

Your niece is incredibly beautiful. What a smile!

>131 PaulCranswick: Thank you for all your kind comments, Paul. I am biased, but I do think Mia is adorable. I've only seen her "in person" three times, but I can already tell it's going to be difficult for all her aunts and uncles and relatives not to spoil her. If it weren't for my job being what it is, I don't think I'd have time for a book club myself! I am very fortunate to be able to talk about books on a regular basis, whether it's with patrons who have come in and are gushing about their latest read or the ladies in my book club or other librarians discussing the genres we're reading. It makes up for all the rougher patches like the wrong book coming in or the odd angry patrons. I hope you enjoy Salt to the Sea if and when you get to it.

>132 scaifea: Amber, do you have a recipe? If you do, I bet you make some wonderful pad thai yourself! I've only ever had it as takeout and the place I know of is a little out of the way. Completely worth it for my weekend, though. It was two meals' worth and delicious.

>133 aktakukac: Thanks, Rachel! I'll look forward to seeing what you think of it.

>134 Whisper1: Yes, Linda, she did a bit and that took away from my enjoyment too. She seemed to have the attitude that the leaders of the Civil Rights movement owed it to her to help her out in her personal life because she'd testified, and as the daughter of a lawyer I wanted to tell her, "That's not how this works." But that's also not something that was explored in depth and it was another reason I would be interested in reading a book for older audiences. Maybe she would come across differently if those things were explored in depth instead of glossing over things like sex and unwed motherhood in the '60s as it would for a younger age group?

29. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
TIOLI: Mentions Daylight Savings Time
Why now? It's the benchmark read for my librarian's book club (genreblending mysteries) and I needed to finish it for the 29th

Here's what I said back in 2006 when I first read it:
Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is just a wizard trying his best to pay his bills through a PI job. Sometimes he helps out the Chicago police force with those jobs that just can't be explained. When the cops call with just such a case - a gory murder that could not have happened by any means but magic - Dresden may be in over his head.

This first novel is something of a mixed bag. I liked Dresden's character and his sense of humor, though I sometimes found his first person narration awkwardly conversational. The violence was sometimes a little too graphic for me. The plot starts out pretty slowly, eventually building to a driving pace by the end. Having only read the Codex Alera series by this one, I enjoyed seeing the variety in Jim Butcher's writing. I plan to continue reading this series as well.

The "awkwardly conversational" narration I refer to is a habit of bending grammar rules to make it sound as if someone's talking, particularly in using sentence fragments. That didn't irk me as much this time, and I still found it as compulsively readable if a little too gory this time around. He tends to over-describe people (what they're wearing) and places, and I wonder if some of that goes away as the series continues. I always meant to get back to it and continue, so maybe I actually will this time...

Still 4 stars.

It's a day off for me for working Saturday, and I canNOT get myself motivated to do much. I finished my have-to book Storm Front, and started Europe in Autumn because it's due *cough*Wednesday*cough* so if I'm going to read it I'd better get moving. I also want to finish up a couple of knitting projects while I watch the end of the second season of The 100. It's still adrenaline-packed, following interesting characters with a variety of motives and ethical questions, but its violence is starting to get to me and I'm getting sick of war. The next TV show I binge watch will definitely be gentler and after a good long break maybe I'll still be interested enough for season 3.

Nora, Micky, anyone else want to chime in on what I should watch next? We're probably talking late April-May because of how busy I'm going to be over the next few weeks. I'm thinking I might try Gilmore Girls, as I've never watched it before. *ducks*

Never watched the Gilmore Girls? Ooh you're in for a treat.

>137 bell7: Watch Gilmore Girls. An absolute must. And an excellent time to join the party with the new Netflix episodes coming... sometime soonish?

And if you still want gentle viewing after that, Hart of Dixie is an excellent option also.

>137 bell7: Even I've seen Gilmore Girls, and I rarely recognize TV shows mentioned on these threads.

>137 bell7: Season 3 of The 100 is not any lighter than season 2, so I don't blame you for wanting to take a break. For those of us watching live it was over 10 months between seasons 2 and 3, so you should get a break too!

Gilmore Girls is great, and that way you'll be ready for the revival coming in Oct/Nov of this year. No shame for not having watched it! There isn't enough time to watch everything. I'd recommend watching Gilmore Girls first and then Hart of Dixie and Jane the Virgin, as I think the later two are quite influenced by Gilmore Girls. That should give you TONS of palate cleanser :-)

GILMORE GIRLS!!

(Sorry for the shouting, but I get excited.)

"What's the opposite of ennui?"
"HoCho"
"Oy with the poodles, already!"
"COPPER BOOM!"

Just a few of my favorite lines, and ones that get quoted tons at Scaife Manor... You are indeed in for a real treat, Mary.

And yes, I do, in point of fact, have a recipe for Pad Thai. I should dig it out soon.

Hahaha, knew you guys would come through with recs and Gilmore Girls support. Thanks!

>138 charl08: I hope so, Charlotte! I'm pretty solidly in the age bracket of people who were watching it while it was on, I think, but somehow missed it entirely. I don't watch a lot of TV other than sports and binge-watching on DVD, however.

>139 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I'll add Hart of Dixie to my "to watch" list (much shorter than my "to read" list). I watch shows somewhat sporadically so haven't broken down and had a Netflix account in a couple of years when I used the 30 day trial and kept it for awhile to finish off what I could watch of Supernatural at the time... mostly library DVDs and judicious placing of holds on the next season covers me now.

>140 qebo: Katherine, I don't watch a ton of TV so I'm often out of the loop with shows if I don't watch them myself. At least I've heard of Gilmore Girls ;) There were a couple of young ladies a few years younger than me that I knew and LOVED the show, and I'm pretty sure they watched and read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants just because one of the actresses was in it.

>141 norabelle414: Thanks for the recommendations, Nora! There's something to be said for spacing a show like The 100 out. I'm not even sure that I could binge-watch LOST too much (and that's one of my all-time favorites) because it would get to be too much for me all at once. Fortunately the real-time show is not a time that works for me (I don't have DVR), so I have no incentive to try to "catch up" to the current season. I can take my time and wait 'til I'm really in the right mood again.

>142 scaifea: Amber, the first time I read your quotes I thought it was a conversation from the show and I was really confused. Those are actually one-liners, right? :)
Somehow I'm not surprised you have a recipe for pad thai. Today's cooking will be an extra-simple quiche with garlic and onions and that will cover me at work for the next couple of days.

30. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - audio and reread
TIOLI: A reread
Why now? I was messing around looking for an audiobook to listen before bed and this was available. I've read and listened to it before and thought it would make a good reread

Bartimaeus, a djinni of long history and high rank if he does say so himself, is called up by a young magician's apprentice, Nathaniel, to take revenge on one Simon Lovelace by stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from him. Not realizing the amulet's power and what Lovelace has it for, they find themselves in a lot of hot water trying to stay one step ahead of him - and alive.

For me, the best part of this book is Bartimaeus and his witty, sarcastic narration. In the book, there are footnotes for his part; the audio read by Simon Jones is done seamlessly for these, and he has a particular tone that makes them sound like a parenthetical remark. Nathaniel also has a turn, but his are in third person and not nearly as funny. The story starts with Bartimaeus's arrival, and Nathaniel's backstory and reasons for wanting to humiliate Lovelace are revealed as the story goes on. Political intrigue, magician infighting, and a Resistance who want no magical rule factor into the story as well. The ending leaves a reader satisfied with just enough still going on to make you want to finish the trilogy. 4.5 stars.

I was surprised to find that I had not reviewed this book before, but apparently I last read it before I was reviewing everything I read. It didn't wow me quite as much this time as the first and second times, but it's a solid YA fantasy and one that I love to recommend to people if they can get past the length. Some elements (like Nathaniel's third-person parts) don't really make sense until the end, and while it has weak moments the trilogy as a whole is fantastic.

Alright, so far this morning one load of laundry in the dryer and quiche in the oven.

My sister gave me a flavor infuser water bottle and I'm going to cut up some lemon and lime and bring that to work today. My brothers and parents gave me books - the e-book version of the third volume of C.S. Lewis's collected letters is now on my Kindle and I got three of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, all of which I'm really excited about. One of my brothers - whom we've teased for years about his wrapping jobs or lack thereof - told me "I could've bought a gift back or another book. I figured you'd want another book." I was perfectly okay with getting my gift in the plastic Barnes & Noble bag.

Now I'd better practice some choir music. I've been listening in the car all along, but I really should go through it with the music in front of me especially since I don't quite know all the words to one song. I know the basics of reading music but have to learn the alto part by ear and just have it down so well I can sing it without looking at the music (which technically is what we're supposed to do anyway...). Sometimes I start to feel that I'm not good enough or don't know enough, but then someone else in the choir will ask a question that makes me realize I'm really not as bad off as I thought. Thursday is our last practice and I'm sure Friday and Sunday will go just fine. Even though no one will ever know if it was me messing up (this is why I'm in choir after all), I can't quite shake the jitters 'til we're up there singing.

Oh, let us know what you think of the flavor infuser - I've been thinking of getting one for Tomm...

>146 scaifea: So far so good, though I've been very simple and just put a few slices of lime in it today. I've got a hold on a new book that came in with "recipes" and have a few ideas of things I'd like to try (watermelon and mint leaves, mmmm).

Forgot to mention that on my "day off" yesterday (in quotes because I did finish a book I had to for work) I also finished up some knitting projects I'd been working on for awhile:



On the top is fingerless gloves for my sister that finishes the set I made of a scarf, hat and gloves in that lovely orange and grey yarn. I modified the knit flat pattern I'd used in the past to knit on double-pointed needles and I was super excited with the result.

The green blanket on the bottom is a baby blanket. I'd first intended it for someone who is due in April, and it may yet be for her, but I also discovered baby hats yesterday. Well, okay, I'd discovered them before that but it was the first time I sat down and knit a hat. And oh-my-goodness it is soooo much faster! Not finished yet, but soon to come is a picture of an adorable hat with a bow (hat is complete except for weaving in ends, bow is still on my knitting needles and doesn't look like much yet). So depending... if my friend in April has a girl, she's getting two hats with different color bows. If she has a boy, she's getting the blanket that I'd originally intended and I will look for patterns that will work for the July and August friends (July is definitely having a boy, August is not yet known). And I'm hereby switching to hats for 'most everyone and baby blankets less frequently.

Thanks for the infuser info - Tomm would LOVE mint-infused water!

And I love the fingerless gloves! I need to knit up some for myself for when I'm reading while waiting at Charlie's gymnastics class - that place is always freezing!

Oh! Your gifts are so beautiful Mary! I love those gloves!! And I can't wait to see the baby hats.

Just a slightly belated additional squee-vote for Gilmore Girls! Love that show.

Your knitting looks awesome!

>148 scaifea: You're welcome! The one she got for me is CoolGear and comes with a lifetime guarantee (I need that kind of thing...). It's super easy - the infuser comes out for cleaning or adding stuff, fill it up with water, screw the cap on and I'm good to go. I was afraid that I'd hit myself with the top when I go to get a drink, but it doesn't flip back on my face.

>149 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! I will probably get some hat work done tonight watching Supernatural.

>150 lycomayflower: Welcome, Laura - have you posted on my thread before? I think not. Anyway, glad Gilmore Girls could get you out of lurking mode and thanks for the comments on my knitting. Switching from baby blankets to hats may mean more time for new and different projects - usually I've got a blanket on my needles and it takes months to finish one of those!

As promised, the baby hat:



To give an idea of scale, it's about 5 inches (unstretched) from top to bottom. The bow is about 4 inches at the widest. I'm going to make one other one with purple.

Thais TOO cute, Mary! Adorable!

>152 bell7: Very adorable!

>153 Crazymamie: and >154 MickyFine: Thanks! I may get to work on the other one tonight but it depends on how exhausted I am when choir practice is over.

Today's major project was cleaning out the local papers. We've saved and digitized the small-town paper that goes to all residents free for years, but because of cost the papers have always wayyyy outweighed the number digitized and I've been years behind for... well, ever really, even before I was in charge of local history. Anyway, I contacted the current editor and asked if I could get copies of what they've saved in .pdf format. One of his employees came through and gave us a few years' worth. So what I did today was go through our physical papers, figure out the years left to digitize and pull out the individual papers that they had somehow missed archiving. When that's done (it's basically 2008-2010, and some random papers in 2011-12), we'll be entirely caught up. I go on their website every few weeks and download them to a folder so we're up-to-date and back them up to an external hard drive we keep in our local history section. Sadly I did discover today that I somehow misplaced February-July 2009, but still. HUGE undertaking almost completed!

>155 bell7: Hope the folk using the papers appreciate all that work.

Love the hat. Very cute.

Have a wonderful Easter.

Stopping by to get caught up and to wish you a Happy Easter!

>144 bell7: - For me, the best part of this book is Bartimaeus and his witty, sarcastic narration. That is the perfect review sentence to sell me on a book. I love sarcastic narration. Have you ever read the Johannes Cabal books by Jonathan Howard? A little on the dark side but the lead character is wonderfully sarcastic, in a snobbish, aloof way. Great stuff!

Wonderful job with your knitting projects!

Congratulations on the digitization work. That must be a huge project!

>156 charl08: Well, in all honesty they don't get used often but we do like to keep the archives for our history section. A generation or two from now they may get used more... in all honesty, the main reason I'm cleaning out is to make more space and try to organize more of the collections that are still in storage and not fully accessioned. And thanks, I was pretty pleased with how the hat came out.

>157 PaulCranswick: thank you, Paul! I'm singing in choir this weekend so it's a busy one but I'm looking forward to spending time with family. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

>158 DianaNL: thank you, Diana, a happy Easter to you as well!

>159 lkernagh: happy Easter, Lori! Oooh no I have not I'll have to check out Johannes Cabal. Yeah, local history is one facet of my job and could truly be a job all its own, I think. I was grateful to have the years of already digitized papers given to me, as now all I have to do is fill in the gap so to speak and keep up to date every month or so downloading the current papers from their website.

Love the knitting projects, Mary! And good job on the papers.

>161 ronincats: Thanks on both counts, Roni!

A quick "happy Easter" to those of my visitors celebrating this weekend. Between choir and work, I'm about done in already and expect I will not be able to get to any individual threads with wishes.

Definitely looking forward to having the day off on Monday!

Well, back in the swing of things after a busy Easter weekend and a day off yesterday! Yesterday was a day for cleaning, laundry, general organizing and packing for a weekend trip to my sister's. I had a friend come over in the afternoon for a visit and then spent a relaxing evening reading The Summer Before the War (Hmpf! touchstones are still down I see) by Helen Simonson - she's the same author as Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which I really loved and so far her second book is living up to any expectations I might've had.

Today the morning was spent at a reader's advisory round table - what I half-jokingly call my librarian book club - where we discussed mystery genreblends. Storm Front was what we read for that, discussed how it used both hard-boiled detective genres and fantasy to good effect, and what kind of readers we might recommend it to, or what other books we would recommend to readers of it. Then we each talked about a second title we read, which ranged from Seanan McGuire to The Last Policeman by Ben Winters to Aunt Dimity. Our next discussion will be Horror which most of us are not thrilled about - but recognize that this is also exactly what this round table is all about. In addition to the touchstone read of Horrorstor, I'm planning on dipping into some short stories of H.P. Lovecraft and possibly Frankenstein.

On the way home, I took the long way 'round thinking I knew a couple of roads that connected - they might, but I turned the wrong way down one and was wondering why I was in the Berkshires all of a sudden if you know western Mass at all - and ended up a bit out of my way, and with less than half my battery left in my phone pulled up the Maps app to take the toll road I was trying to avoid and got home an hour later than I should've. *sigh* But the good news was, since I was on that road, I saw a sign on the side with the reminder to renew your car registration and suddenly remembered - oh yeah, I was supposed to do that. I got home and couldn't find the letter went through a bit of a song and dance trying to renew it online (the first time it told me the registration had been canceled!) but finally did that successfully. So an hour out of my way ended up possibly saving me from completely forgetting to renew altogether in the busy coming month.

I go back into work in about an hour or so, but I'm going to relax and read and knit a bit. I showed my sister the newborn hats that I made and she was all excited and thought one was for Mia - so now I'm working on one for my niece. Pics to follow of course! (But probably a few days out)

31. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
TIOLI: I don't think it fits
Why now? I needed an e-book and this was available, plus I've been meaning to read one of Malcolm Gladwell's books - I think this one may have been reference in Superfreakonomics, which I listened to late last year so it was fresh in my mind.

If asked, I bet you could name a few successful people. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and other computer gurus. Nineteenth century businessmen like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. What would you tell me if I asked what they all had in common? Would you say "a fierce competitive spirit, a will to work," or that in some way because of the culture they grew up in or the place they lived or the time they were born - they were lucky?

Malcolm Gladwell doesn't discount the individual drive to succeed that impacts success, but he does systematically make the point that these so-called "outliers" aren't really all that strange after all. A body of factors from birth date (most pro hockey players were born in the earlier part of the year, closest to the cutoff date for young players and thus the oldest in their age bracket) to culture (how hard you're expected to work or how you speak to a superior) can and does have a profound impact on the success or failure of individuals. He convincingly argues that by being aware of some of these factors and being willing to make changes, we can better the chances of more people to reach success. 4.5 stars.

If anything, I would complain that the book was too short and left me wanting more.

Today's agenda (borrowing from Amber):
Dentist appointment is successfully completed with no cavities (I've got really good genes, apparently).
Working this morning on the desk, and then running to the next town over for a workshop - "Marketing Salon" - with ideas for promoting library services and programs. Really looking forward to that one! While I'm there, I'll probably get a call back from the registry of motor vehicles from yesterday- I'd called because i was having trouble renewing on the website - and I'll be able to tell them I'm set. Woohoo! Then tonight I need to finish up my hat for Mia because I'm leaving to see her (and my sister and brother-in-law) tomorrow, and watch the latest Supernatural episode.

All in all a somewhat busy morning but relaxed otherwise, and I'm very much looking forward to my weekend trip. I may not check in much over the weekend, but I'll be sure to have updates and new photos midweek next week!

32. The Joy of Listening to God by Joyce Huggett
TIOLI: I don't think it counts
Why now? A Bible study on Jeremiah I completed recently recommended it

Joyce Huggett became interested in contemplative prayer, even though it was very different from her own Christian denominational background, and writes in this book about her journey, the methods she used to reach "silence," and ways in which God speaks today.

This is a tough book to describe because it covers so much both about prayer and about Joyce's own life as what I would call a pastor's wife (she lives in England). She's real about her struggles and comes across as humble. I've been wanting to add a few minutes of just a quietness at the end of the Bible studies I've been doing, so I found the timing of this to be very good. I don't expect myself to follow in her footsteps, say, of putting aside an entire room as a prayer room and scheduling an hour a day to devote myself to silence. But a lot of the advice she gives is practical, and she draws heavily from many sources that give anyone interested in studying prayer many options for further study. 4 stars.

I'd been reading a couple chapters a night and didn't want to bring it with me on the trip just to read the final chapters.

Have a wonderful and safe trip, Mary!

Mary, wishing you safe travels. Have fun!

>168 scaifea: and >169 Crazymamie: thanks Amber and Mamie, I'm enjoying myself so far!

I'm not a big fan of flying, but will take a plane in lieu of driving by myself for seven hours on a road trip that culminates with the beltway in DC. My plane was without incident though having just finished Outliers and thinking of the chapter on Korean Air and pilot communication (or miscommunication) I was probably even more nervous than usual. My brother-in-law picked me up, and when we arrived my sister was sitting up with a sleepy baby. Poor Mia has been under the weather with something she caught at daycare, so yesterday was a pretty relaxed day at home - we did take a blanket out in the backyard for a bit to enjoy the beautiful weather, however. My sister took Mia's socks off, and shesat on the blanket wiggling her feet in the grass and checking out some dried leaves and violets. She's very much a tactile learner and loves investigating the feel of things.

Last night was a really tough night for her, so I'm currently hanging out in the guest room trying to let Mia and her parents sleep as much as they want. I'm sipping coffee from the Keurig and reading The Summer Before the War. I didn't expect to be finishing any books over the weekend, but if we stay this low key I just might. When I was holding Mia yesterday afternoon, I started reading aloud and put her to sleep. It amazes me that she'll sit still and just enjoy listening to the flow of words and to my voice for a book with no pictures. She did the same at Christmastime, though that was after a nap and after several pages she did get restless.

I'm sorry that little Mia isn't feeling well, but it does sound like you had a lovely day. I remember very fondly the days when Charlie was wee and I could hold him in one arm, hold my book in the other and read him to sleep. I strongly believe that sort of thing helps to make kids love reading - they associated books and the flow of words, as you so aptly put it, with love and comfort. At any rate, it seems to have worked with our little reader...

>171 scaifea: Hi Amber! We had a pretty relaxing weekend overall. I'm a little tired from a late flight out and getting in at 2 a.m. this morning but glad to have a few days at home and recuperate before driving down again Friday. (Thank goodness my dad is driving.) Yeah, she definitely loved just sitting there with a book and me reading to her - whether it was from my book or hers. My sister says when she reads to her, she's much more interested in eating the book, so this is our special thing and I love it!

Well, folks, had a great time visiting my sister despite poor Mia having a rough couple of nights with her sickness. My sister and brother-in-law took her to a clinic because her fever spiked Friday night / early Saturday morning and she was full-on heartbreak crying (she tends to fuss more than actually cry so this was very unusual for her).

Saturday the family slept in, with Mia going strong till close to 2 in the afternoon. I met Nora for lunch at Eggspectations and while there wasn't any book purchasing, we had a nice visit. When I got back, Mia was awake and seeming to feel a little better. We took the whole weekend easy - we'd been going to go out and sight see - but it was nice to get a relaxed visit in all to myself. Lots of singing and reading happened. Mia was delighted that I knew the same songs her mom did. She would look from one to the other of us with her eyes all wide and fascinated. I read to her from her board books, and she'd pore over the pictures while I talked to her. A couple of times I read allowed from The Summer Before the War because I was reading it and we were just sitting cuddling or she was playing with her own toy on my lap. Once when we did this, I stopped at one point figuring she wasn't paying attention and she rather promptly gave me a "Enh!" kind of grunt. "Oh okay, should I keep going?" I went on for another page or so before she got bored.

Mia was also fascinated with my glasses and became really sneaky about grabbing them off my face. She'd curl in like she was looking for a cuddle and lift her hand up as if for a kiss (yes, she really does do that) but then she'd slip her hand up my nose and grab the bridge to yank them off my face.

All the pictures are currently on my phone, but I promise I'll share some when I start my new thread (soon to come!) and I will stop blabbing on about my niece for the moment :)

Belated March in review
24. Arcadia by Iain Pears
25. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
26. The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson - e-book
27. The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher
28. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
29. Storm Front by Jim Butcher - re-read
30. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud - audio and re-read (book is mine)
31. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - e-book
32. The Joy of Listening to God by Joyce Huggett

Books read: 8
Audiobooks listened to: 1
Graphic novels/Manga: 0
Picture books: 1
Adult/Teen/Children's: 6/3/0
Fiction/Nonfiction/Poetry/Plays: 5/4/0/0
Library/Mine/Borrowed: 8/1/0

Standouts: Being Mortal by far. Arcadia and Salt to the Sea are also books I'd easily recommend.

Thoughts: I began the year with a surprising number of reads, and am not surprised that this month dropped off a little - I did keep it to my average 9-10 books a month, however, so not too shabby. April will probably be the same or fewer. I had a pretty good mix of adult and teen, fiction and nonfiction genres represented. I have a stack of library books on my nightstand that's starting to stress me out and after that I'm hoping to slowly but surely "activate" my library holds and focus on reading them down and the ARCs that I've already downloaded on my Kindle (let's face it, probably a May project...). I also read a pretty good number of "years," adding five new ones to my year-to-date tally. This year and last year are still strong, so we'll see if the latest five years continues to dominate my reading as in years past.

Original publication dates read (year-to-date):
2016 - 6
2015 - 5 (counting Arcadia here even though I think it was published in the U.S. this year)
2014 - 2
2013 - 1
2012 - 2
2011 - 1

2010 - 1
2009 - 1
2008 - 1
2006 - 1
2003 - 1
2001 - 2
2000 - 1

1999 - 1
1996 - 1
1995 - 2

1986 - 1

1971 - 1

1908 - 1

>173 bell7::The niece chatter is lovely imho. Fascinating age as they change so quickly.

Publication dates calls for some kind of graph, I feel.

Thanks, Charlotte. Good to know I'm not boring everyone with baby stories :) I know some folks love kids and stories and photos and others not so much so I try not to overkill.

Hm, I should play with graphs and see what I get.... Perhaps will post in the new thread.

>107 bell7: Mary...I too am usually a fan of Bill Bryson, and had been anxiously waiting for this one to come before my pending trip to UK next month. However I found I just could not hang on through the rambling, roving style this time. I wanted to grab him, throttle him, and tell him to take some ritalin and stay on task. Gave it up. Too little time, too much other good stuff to read.

>177 tututhefirst: Yeah, his style does have a lot of tangents and it either works or it doesn't. I tried to listen to A Short History of Nearly Everything and found I was losing track of what was going on so had to read it, in which format I really enjoyed it.