lkernagh (Lori) Reads Her Way Through The Months in 2017

Hi everyone. This will be my eighth year participating in the Category Challenge. Boy, does time fly! When I was planning this 2017 challenge, life was throwing some unexpected and unwanted punches my way, so I designed the challenge to be all about flexibility, not wanting to be tied to a challenge I might not be able to commit to. I am looking forward to - fingers crossed! - a calmer and more stress-free year in 2017. My 2017 category challenge theme is loosely designed around monthly birthstones, flowers, colours and meanings, derived in part from this table of birthstones, flowers and colours.
This challenge has been designed so that I don't feel pinned down to the same categories each month. Also, because I am super bad about starting a new series and then never following through with the further books in the series, this challenge will give me the opportunity to dive back into series reading while also continuing my love for tracking my page count reading. Each month will have a "Miscellaneous" sub-category for tracking purposes of any books read that don't fit any of the monthly theme sub-categories. For the purposes of the title word count sub-category, words like "A" and "The" will count as words for the purposes of word count. The goal will be to read a minimum of three theme-reads each month, but if I read more (or less), it is all good. As the saying goes, it is all about the reading.

I will be back in January to kick off my 2017 challenge reading!

ETA - Books read will be allowed to count for more than one sub-category (but not allowed to count as multiple books read!). For example, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (should it become one of my January reads) would actually count for a Hat Trick as a book that fits "1st book in series", "Books with Carnation in Title" and "Books with Pink mentioned in the book title". Can you guess what one of my January reads will be??? :-)

1st book in a series:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)
- The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - (review)
- Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with One (1) in the title:
- The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen - (review)

Books page count (1-100 pages):
- Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley - (review)

Books with One-Word title:
- Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley - (review)
- Paris by Edward Rutherfurd - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of January:
- Syrian Notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising by Jonathan Littell - (review)

Books with January, Carnation or Garnet in title or author/main character name:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)

Books where main theme is Loyalty, Constancy:
- Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics by Jacke Huba - (review)

Books with either Black/Dark Red or Pink cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)



Miscellaneous books read:

2nd book in a series:
- The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)
- The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig - (review)

Books with Two (2) in the title:
- 11.22.63 by Stephen King - (review)

Books page count (101-200 pages):
- The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Two-Word title:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)
- Look Again by Lisa Scottoline - (review)
- Office Girl by Joe Meno - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of February:
- Office Girl by Joe Meno - (review)

Books with February, Iris or Amethyst in title or author/main character name:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)

Books where main theme is Sincerity:
- Sincerity: How a moral ideal born five hundred years ago inspired religious wars | modern art | hipster chic | and the curious notion that we ALL have something to say (no matter how dull) by R. Jay Magill Jr. - (review)

Books with Purple cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)



Miscellaneous books read:
- The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson - (review)

3rd book in a series:
- These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon - (review)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)
- The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig - (review)
- At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Three (3) in the title:
- Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - (review)

Books page count (201-300 pages):
- Matylda, Bright & Tender by Holly M. McGhee - (review)
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Three-Word title:
- Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - (review)
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - (review)
- The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of March:
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)

Books with March, Jonquil (Daffodil) or Aquamarine in title or author/main character name:
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)
- Daffodils by Alex Martin - (review)

Books where main theme is Courage:
- A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage by BJ Gallagher - (review)

Books with either White, Yellow or Light Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - (review)
- Daffodils by Alex Martin - (review)
- The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - (review)



Miscellaneous books read:

4th book in a series:
Books with Four (4) in the title:
Books page count (301-400 pages):
Books with Four-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of April:
Books with April, Daisy or Diamond in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Innocence:
Books with White cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

5th book in a series:
Books with Five (5) in the title:
Books page count (401-500 pages):
Books with Five-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of May:
Books with May, Lily or Emerald in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Success in Love:
Books with Green cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

6th book in a series:
Books with Six (6) in the title:
Books page count (501-600 pages):
Books with Six-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of June:
Books with June, Rose, Pearl or Alexanderite (or variation on name) in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Good Health:
Books with Cream cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

7th book in a series:
Books with Seven (7) in the title:
Books page count (601-700 pages):
Books with Seven-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of July:
Books with July, Larkspur or Ruby in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Happiness or Contented Mind:
Books with Red cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

8th book in a series:
Books with Eight (8) in the title:
Books page count (701-800 pages):
Books with Eight-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of August:
Books with August, Gladiolus or Peridot (or variation on name) in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Friendship or Conjugal Felicity:
Books with Light Green cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

9th book in a series:
Books with Nine (9) in the title:
Books page count (801-900 pages):
Books with Nine-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of September:
Books with September, Aster (or variation on name) or Sapphire in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Shrewdness, Love or Clear Thinking:
Books with Dark Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title :



Miscellaneous books read:

10th book in a series:
Books with Ten (10) in the title:
Books page count (901-1,000 pages):
Books with Ten-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of October:
Books with October, Marigold or Opal in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Hope:
Books with Yellow cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

11th book in a series:
Books with Eleven (11) in the title:
Books page count (1,001-1,100 pages):
Books with Eleven-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of November:
Books with November, Chrysanthemum or Topaz in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Fidelity or Faithfulness:
Books with Orange cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

12th book in a series:
Books with Twelve (12) in the title:
Books page count (1,101-1,200 pages):
Books with Twelve-Word title:
Books set predominantly in the month of December:
Books with December, Poinsettia or Turquoise in title or author/main character name:
Books where main theme is Prosperity:
Books with Greenish-Blue or Red/Green cover or the color mentioned in the book title:



Miscellaneous books read:

What a lovely set-up!

Great to see you here, Lori. I love how you've set up your Challenge - very creatiive!

Very nice and easy challenge. Hope it is stress free for you!

Very cool challenge! Looking forward to seeing how it all fills up!

This is a wonderful idea!

Very colorful theme. Love the pictures. Can't wait to see how this works out for you.

Wow, this is really creative! I hope you have a much less stressy year in 2017, both life and reading-wise!

How fun! Looking forward to following along as always.

That's a great way to set it up - nice and loose too! :)

That's a beautiful challenge, both the set-up and the illustration. I hope life will let you enjoy it!

What a great set up Lori! It's flexible but there is some thought that will need to be put in. Just perfect.

A beautiful theme! I'm looking forward to seeing what books you choose.

Checking in. Great set-up!

What a beautifully organized challenge! I like that it's both specific, flexible, and wide open for life (and new books) to interfere.

Thanks everyone! I have spent an enjoyable afternoon bouncing through all of the threads already posted in the group. It kind of reminds me of the Festival of Trees here in town where one can walk around and admire all of the trees - some with absolutely amazing themes! - decorated by companies and various organizations. Love the diversity that is displayed with everyone's planning!

December is going to be another busy month for me so I have already lined up my short list of possible January reads. Because I am allowing myself to let a book read fit more than one sub-category, I could "technically" fill each of my subcategories for January with the following five reads:

Proposed January Reads:
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen*
Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley*
Syrian notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising by Jonathan Littell - fits the books sets predominantly in the month of January
Monster Loyalty: how Lady Gaga turns followers into fanatics by Jackie Huba - fit the books with a central theme of loyalty

* represents books on my TBR pile that will qualify as 2017 ROOT reads.

As with any proposed or planned reading, this is subject to change but I am still happy to see that filling the sub-categories can be easier than I thought it might be! ;-)

Omigosh! This thread is gorgeous!!! I look forward to stopping by frequently. It was so soothing just scrolling through those images. I can't wait to see what you read in 2017!

I hope you like The Secret History of the Pink Carnation! If you want to continue with the series, there are 12 books total, so it would fit with your month-oriented categories perfectly! :)

Wow, I admire the planning you've done. I'll bet you're going to have fun with this...and so will those of us that follow along!

This looks like a lot of fun! I'll be curious to see how the year fills out :)

I love this! I will come back here frequently to look at the pretty flowers! I'll also be interested to see what series you may decide to read.

Great theme! Very creative.

Thanks everyone! Now that I have a plan for my January reading, I am feeling more settled into my challenge and looking forward to 2017's reading.

Beautiful theme Lori! Looking forward to seeing what you choose to read.

Love the flowers and the way you put your challenge together.

>36 The_Hibernator: and >37 hailelib: - Thank you both!

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Poking my head in to add books and pages read tickers to the opening post. 14 more sleeps before starting my 2017 challenge..... getting excited!

Wow, very creative!

Quite original Lori. I will pop in and see how you are going with interest.

>38 lkernagh: I love the tickers! Very pretty (like the rest of the thread.) I'm glad I'm not the only one who is excited and rarin' to get started on next year's Category Challenge!

>39 Tess_W:, >40 Roro8:, and >41 Sace: - Thanks! I am really looking forward to ringing in 2017. ;-)

>42 lkernagh: It's been years since I stayed up until midnight, but I'm considering doing it this year!

>43 Sace: It's been decades since I went to bed before midnight ;)

Between the blooms and the gems you arguably have the most beautiful challenge of us all! I hope the books that fill your months mirror the beauty. Here's to 2017 and another fun year of books!

Lori, I loved the gems that I used in the ROOTS challenge in 2016. Your thread makes me want to use them again.

love the set up!

>43 Sace:, >44 kac522:, >45 mamzel:, >46 cyderry: and >47 BBGirl55: - Thanks everyone! Going through some last minute packing in preparation for the flight home early tomorrow morning. I will be off-line during the holidays so I will close off this post by wishing all of my visitors a



"See" you all in 2017!

Merry Christmas, Lori! Have a good trip.

Happy Travels and happy reading!

Have a good trip home, Lori and a Merry Christmas. See you in the New Year!

Have a wonderful trip!!

Have a good trip, Lori, and a Merry Christmas. Stay warm!

Safe travels!

I'm looking forward to following your thread in the new year. it's so pretty and well thought out!

>49 rabbitprincess:, >50 Tess_W:, >51 DeltaQueen50:, >52 -Eva-:, >53 VivienneR:, >54 Sace: and >55 RidgewayGirl: - Thanks RP, Tess, Judy, Eva, Vivienne, Sace and Alison for the happy travels and happy holiday wishes! Trip home was lovely. Some details have been posted on my 2016 Category Challenge thread.

Super excited to ring 2016 out and bring 2017 in! Wishing everyone a safe night and best wishes for 2017!

What a fun year it looks like you have planned. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Lori!

Happy New Year, Lori!

>57 virginiahomeschooler:, >58 luvamystery65:, >59 The_Hibernator: and >60 Sace: - Thank you for the Happy New Year wishes! "First Night" celebrations were held in the Inner Harbour this year but the weather wasn't the best - in fact, it was down right cold! - so we decided to stay indoors and have a quiet New Years. Was able to see the fireworks at 9:00 pm (my idea of a reasonable time for a lights display!) and then I took a nap until midnight, when my other half and I popped the champagne cork and danced to ABBA's Happy New Year. My kind of end to 2016 and welcome to 2017!

Woke up this morning to a new dusting of snow on the ground. Looking forward to a lazy day at home!

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Currently Reading:

>61 lkernagh: I am very curious to your thoughts on this one. It's 180 degrees from book 1.

Lore, Great theme! Well done!

This thread is gorgeous, Lori. I, too, will look for your thoughts on The Absent One; I've found the even numbered ones in this series to be the weakest.

Happy new year, Lori. Lovely thread!

Nice looking challenge. I've also had some unexpected curve balls that flew my way in 2016, so I know the feeling. I'll be interested to see what comes from your challenge, good luck and hope 2017 is a good one.

>62 luvamystery65: - Good to know, Roberta! I am only 20 pages in so far, and already smiling at Assad... I had forgotten how much fun he is as a character!

>63 mysterymax: - Thanks! I wanted bright and colour and something that wouldn't be too challenging. I think I have struck a good balance.

>64 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! Interesting to read your and Roberta's comments about The Absent One. Now I am even more curious to read it!

>65 tymfos: - Thanks Terri!

>66 bookwormjules: - Thanks Julie. Here is hoping that 2017 is a smooth sailing year for both of us.

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Lovely to wake up this morning and encounter all of the new posts here, especially as the weather outside has turned nasty. We are experiencing a wind warning so I am glad that today is still a holiday and I don't have to venture out expect to get in some groceries, which I will do later.

In the meantime, I have a very small update to my walking journey and I have pulled together my 2016 book meme, which I have been happily reading on some other threads.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEKS 76 and 77 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 7.60 (0 on Week 76; 7.60 on Week 77)
Kilometers walked in total:3,026.25
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Fort Frances and heading for Nickel Lake.
Points of interest along the way: With only 7.6 km logged over the past two weeks - Yes, I was lazy over the holidays! - I really have nothing new to report except that the walking will resume in earnest in January. I am aiming to hit Thunder Bay before the end of the month.

2016 End of Year Book Meme:

Describe yourself: A Beam of Light
Describe how you feel: Like a River from Its Course
Describe where you currently live: A Town Called Forget
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: A Month in the Country
Your favorite form of transportation: Driftmetal
Your best friend is: Clarissa Harlowe
You and your friends are: The Flight of the Maidens
What’s the weather like: Wicked
You fear: Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers
What is the best advice you have to give: Little Ways to Keep Calm and Carry On
Thought for the day: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd
How I would like to die: At Paradise Gate
My soul’s present condition: Where Angels Fear to Tread

>68 lkernagh: What a great idea!

Stopping by to say "hi!" and drop a star. I hope you have a Happy New Year!

Lori, the colors & flowers are beautiful. And what a great ideas to track your walking and pin it to the distance of the Trans Canada highway!

>61 lkernagh: - Just got that one for Christmas! Can't wait to read it, happy to hear you're enjoying it so far.

You're already in Ontario!

Happy New Year!

I dig the way you've set up your categories. Should make for some interesting reading. :)

Happy New Year!!

I'm forever impressed by the interesting challenges that people set! (like yours) They are so well thought out.

>70 clue: - The walking journey has been great for motivating me to log my walking. It is fun to virtually see the progress!

>71 inge87: - Hi Inge! The new years was lovely. I hope your new years was equally fine!

>72 markon: - Thanks Ardene! Mapping my walking has been a great incentive to get me "butt" out of my chair and I do love a splash of colour to look at and it does brighten things up on this thread. ;-)

>73 LittleTaiko: - I am continuing to enjoy The Absent One, I just seem to have difficulties finding the time to sit down and read it.... kind of makes me wish I had the audio-book version. ;-)

>74 RidgewayGirl: - I know! I am stunned myself.... of course, looking at how large Ontario is (going west to east), I think I am going to be in Ontario for quite a while. ;-)

>75 andreablythe: - Thanks and Happy New Year, Andrea!

>76 VictoriaPL: - Thanks Victoria! Happy New Year's to you!

>77 LovingLit: - Getting to admire all the creativity in this group is half the fun! Of course, creativity helps when one doesn't want to read 17X17 books in 2017!

Happy Sunday everyone! I have survived the first week of 2017 with not too much hassle. Work took off like a bullet on Jan 3rd so no easy coasting back into the work mode. On Wednesday I managed to come down with a bout of food poisoning - didn't feel too good after lunch and by the evening the body did what it is meant to do (rid itself of the intruding substance). It has taken me a couple of days to get back to feeling "normal" so my diet has been of the easy to digest and keep down variety, but happily was able to enjoy our usual Sunday morning breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash-browns with gusto so I can happily put that experience behind me. Ironically, one of my New Year's resolutions is the proverbial "lose 10 pounds" by the end of February. Thanks to the bout of food poisoning, I do not anticipate any difficulties in completing THAT New Year's resolution. ;-)

On the walking front, I have managed to return to walking routine and have the weekly update ready for posting.

On the reading front, I have only one "book" completed so far - a short story I had on my smart phone that I read when I found myself with some time on my hands and my current read not with me. Even though it is a mere 26 pages in length , I am counting it as a book read because Amazon sells the story as a stand-alone single. I am currently 1/3 of the way through The Absent One and hoping to find time to sit down and read a bit later this afternoon. Because of my walking - and the new craft project I will be reporting on - I started listening to Lauren Willig's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which I am currently 3/4 of the way through, so I will definitely have some book reviews to post at some point.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 78 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 40.55
Kilometers walked in total:3,066.80
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Nigigoonsiminikaaning (Red Gut) First Nation and continuing to head towards the Seine River Village.
Points of interest along the way: Not much to report for the mapping walk but happy to report that in me amblings this week in Victoria I came across another little free library!



Love what I discover when I am out walking!

Book #1 - Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with One-Word title" and "Books page count (1-100 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: e-Book
Original publication date: October 2012
Acquisition date: April 19, 2016
Page count: 26 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

Sometimes the young have no idea how good they have it… and sometimes that realization is acquired gradually along the precarious road to maturity. In a 9,000-word, nostalgia-steeped parable, Frances depicts the adventures that she, her brother Zander and their two cousins experienced years before. The cousins’ world, centered by their Auntie Winifred’s bakery, is a place of mouthwatering desserts, delicious exploits and enticing pursuits.

Review:
This story is big on nostalgia. The wonderful descriptions of the edibles available in Auntie Winifred’s bakery did have my mouth watering in anticipation. The adventures of Frances, her brother and their two cousins transported me back to my childhood and some of the innocent mischief my siblings, cousins and I could get up to when we would all gather at Grandma’s for an extended family visit. The descriptions of Auntie Winifred’s apartment over the bakery filled with old furniture as a play area for the cousins is one filled with the magic of childhood imagination.

A heartfelt story of childhood memories, the enduring bonds of family connections and how both shape our lives, even later on in life as adults.

…. And if you really want to know what the title is in reference to, “cupcakes” is the term of endearment that Auntie Winifred gives to the cousins.

Main Craft Project for 2017: Cross-stitch Sampler Wall Hanging

As the title states, this is going to be my main, or one of my main, craft projects for 2017. I should probably mention that all of the craft projects I will be undertaking will involve materials I already had on hand last year or, like this particular project, are from my Mom's sewing room.



I found not one, but two, unopened packages of this mini quilt project. It is rather a large sized piece, measuring 36-inches square. As luck would have it, the packages only contain the patterned fabric and backing for the quilt, not the embroidery floss. The reason I am glad of this is because: 1) I am not a big fan of the pinks and blues of the original design; and 2) I discovered the following stash of embroidery floss (also in Mom's sewing room) in colour shades more to my liking:



I am still formalizing in my mind the colours I want to incorporate and where to use them. Right now, I have decided on a deep emerald green embroidery floss for the borders around the sayings, which you can kind of see in the following picture (sorry about the low light levels - it is a grey sky day today):



Because I am doing this as a wall hanging and not a quilt, the quilting pattern around the sampler squares (see in close-up shot below) will also be embroidered and possibly will incorporate some beading:



When I started the project Friday night, my other half asked me how long I thought it would take. I told him "1 to 2 years" because I have no idea how long this will take me. I will post updates from time-to-time, either on a monthly basis or more frequently if I find the project is just flying along.

I should also probably close off by saying that if it hadn't been for "This" find - again, in my Mom's sewing room - I probably wouldn't be jumping into the needlepoint project so soon:



I probably would not have given up on needlepoint all those years ago if I had thought to purchase one of these wonderful wearable magnifiers!

Where to start?

I thought that book was a cookbook when I looked at the picture and I thought you would be giving us some tempting recipe from it.

Having had food poisoning myself, I can only say YUCK! I got it while on vacation with my husband many years ago and I had to beg him not to call the pari-medics in the middle of the night, I had it that bad.

I like your craft project. I actually bought one of those magnifiers when I was still doing counted cross stitch and my eyes started getting worse. I'm thinking of an embroidery project too if I can find my materials. I may have already packed them for the move. I find that not quilting is getting my antsy to do something crafty.

I can tell that thread box is from an old Whitman's chocolates sampler box.

>82 lkernagh: I look forward to following your project, looks like fun. I have a rather big one on my radar too and I planned to start it this winter. Don't know now if I'll get to it in the next few months because I'm behind on a research project I had thought I would have finished by now. It's been several years since I've attempted a project this big so I don't want to start it if I can't stick with it. Good luck!

Interesting challenge. Will you allow yourself to read outside the months? For example, could you read a first in a series in June, and record it under January?

Happy reading!

>80 lkernagh: What a cute Little Free Library! I would love to do one in my yard, but my husband is worried about liability issues if someone were to get hurt on our property. :( There is one in a neighborhood a few miles from us, but it is not well cared for (the door is falling off the hinges, and I seem to be to only person ever leaving books in it). I have to wonder if the people who built it perhaps moved, because I can't imagine putting the effort into building and erecting one if I wasn't going to keep it up.

I'm always so impressed with people who can do crafty things. Hope you post some pictures along the way of your progress.

I am looking forward to following your progress on your craft project, Lori. I used to love doing embroidery and you almost make me feel like digging my last unfinished project out!

>82 lkernagh: What a wonderful project to work on! Don't forget to post a photo of the finished product.

Your mother sure had an excellent method for storing embroidery floss. I'm going to copy the idea, if you don't mind. I always get the long loops tangled.

My mother taught me embroidery stitches and I loved it. I went on to discover crewel and needlepoint. Haven't done it in many moons, however. Whenever I think of checking at a craft store I don't see any kits that intrigue me. Maybe some day... I know full well that I am one of those who starts a project full of expectation and intent and run out of steam.

I like the way you structured your challenge this year! I'm also happy to see that you're continuing your cross-country walk updates. I wonder if you'll be near our nation's capital on Canada's 150th birthday.

I like your interesting challenge setup - and it makes for a very pretty page. :) And I've never heard of this idea of mapping your walking but it sounds like a great way to stay motivated. Hm ...

I'm so inept at anything to do with a needle! I admire your craftiness.

>93 Tess_W: me too, I couldn't darn a sock, never mind proper crafting! My husband does all that sort of thing in our house (and most of the cooking too. I am so lucky!).

>94 Jackie_K: I still take the mending to my mom! But I do all the cooking!

>83 dudes22: - LOL... I guess >81 lkernagh: does look like a baking book! Sorry, no tempting recipes to offer the group. I am that I was really only ill for roughly 12 hours... and not a day or two! I can totally understand how not quilting or doing anything else with your hands would make you antsy to do some crafting! My other half has learned that while I don't pull late nights when reading - reading tends to put me to sleep - I can sit up and cross-stitch into the wee hours of the morning (like I did last night. I crawled into bed at 3 am). Good eye.... yes, the embroidery threads are in an old Whitman's chocolates box! Even the tin is a keeper. ;-)

Good luck with your move!

>84 clue: - Oh, I look forward to learning more about your craft project, after you finish your research project, that is. Smart of you to focus on one big project at a time!

>85 pamelad: - Good question. I hadn't thought about allowing myself to read outside of the months so I have given that suggestion some serious thought. I have decided that I won't - I will restrict myself to recording the readings in the months the reading occurs in. That way I will have a clearner snapshot of how well I managed to work my way through my challenge, month by month.

>86 virginiahomeschooler: - I get all giddy whenever I encounter a new little free library! I must admit, I never gave much thought to any liability one may have if they have a Little Free Library on their property so I can see your husband's point. Maybe you could put the little free library close enough to the sidewalk or roadway so that, technically, while the library is on your property, the visitors never leave city/municipality property? Just a thought... Very sad to learn about the little free library in your area that is not well cared for. ;-(

>87 LittleTaiko: - Thanks Stacy! I will post pictures as I go with the project. I will have enough done to provide a good update for everyone at the end of the month... the only downside is, my reading is suffering a little bit. I am too busy crafting! I am going to have to come up with a more balanced reading/crafting approach to my spare time, I think. ;-)

>88 DeltaQueen50: - Oh Judy, do pull out your unfinished embroidery project! I tend to find during the colder months that I want to spend more time indoors which is perfect for both reading and crafting!

>89 VivienneR: - Thanks Vivienne! I am really enjoying getting back into embroidery, even if I am starting out with a stamped cross-stitch! I am already thinking about my next embroidery project... getting ahead of myself a bit, I think! Pictures will be posted. I will post a update at the end of January. By then, there will be a noticeable progress with the project.

>90 mamzel: - I love that your mother taught you embroidery stitches! Crewel work is something I have never attempted but I will at some point as I have a crewel kit from my mom's sewing room that I want to do. I am like you.... I don't like any of the kits that I see in the stores, but I think I will expand my search to online.

>91 mathgirl40: - Thanks Paulina! I am not sure I can make it to Ottawa in time for July 1st, but that is a great goal to aim for! Thanks for suggesting it!

>92 madhatter22: - Thanks Shauna! Mapping my walking has really helped motivate me. I don't mind walking similar routes over and over when I get to come home and see what that distance translates into on the map!

>93 Tess_W: - LOL... If it helps any, there are other crafting projects (beyond embroidery) that I am completely inept at - painting for example, and anything involving clay/pottery. ;-)

>94 Jackie_K: - You are lucky! My other half can't sew but he will attempt to cook, if pushed.

>95 Tess_W: - :-)

Another week down. So far, 2017 seems to be flying by! As you may have noticed, Sunday is my day for relaxing and is the day I will spend some time getting caught up on LT. This past week the weather has continued to be on the cold side (for Victoria, anyways) but I am not complaining as I love the crispy frosty air first thing in the morning and the colder temps give me the opportunity to take interesting pictures, like these pictures I took Friday afternoon of the fountain in front of the legislature:

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The last picture shows the ice that formed during the two days of high winds that probably drove the fountain spray from it usually gracefull upward arch. ;-)

This weekend has been lovely as we have been celebrating a birthday. My other half continues his tradition of giving me a dozen long stem roses for the special day. Usually he buys yellow roses - as they are my favorite - but the selection this year was sub-par (in his words) so he got me the following roses instead:



Such a rich, beautiful color and I am so glad that he didn't just default to red roses.... I despise red roses. Apparently, they had pale pink roses but he knew those would not go over well. My guy know my tastes!

On the reading front, I have managed to complete my audioread of Lauren Willig's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I now understand all the interest there is in this series. I cannot wait to dive into book 2! I continue to read The Absent One. I am about 2/3 of the way through this read with 140 pages to go. It is not bad but I can see why some readers have felt that this one isn't as strong - or as compelling a read - as The Keeper of Lost Causes. I have also started a new audioread - The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - and what a fantastic story this is turning out to be! I hope to have both of my current reads finished by this time next week.

Happy Sunday and wishing everyone a wonderful week!

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 79 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 34.28
Kilometers walked in total:3,101.08
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of the Seine River Village and heading - eventually - to Thunder Bay.
Points of interest along the way: Still continuing to work my way through the "lake district". Strictly as an observation, I find it interesting how Thunder Bay is usually referred to as a northern location in Ontario and yet, when you look at its location on the map, it is nearly on the same latitude as Victoria, and considerably south of most of my walking journey so far! Just sayin.....

Book #2 - The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - audiobook read by Kate Reading
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "1st book in a series", "Books with Carnation in Title" and "Books with colour Pink mentioned in Title" title" = HatTrick!
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: February 2005
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 449 pages / 13 hours, 31 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

Realizing romantic heroes are a thing of the past, graduate student Eloise Kelly is determined to focus on her work. Her first stop: England, to finish her dissertation on the English spies of the Napoleonic Wars, like the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. But her greatest conquest is to reveal the most elusive spy of them all, the dashing Pink Carnation. As she does, she discovers something for the history books-a living, breathing hero all her very own...

Review:
I am a big fan of the Regency romance novels by Georgette Heyer. I am also a fan of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series. Willig’s The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is a wonderful blending of the two: a fun adventure romp that strikes the right balance between the somewhat prim innocence of Heyer’s stories and the more lewd, bawdy nature of Carriger’s stories (and minus the paranormal aspect). The whole mistaken identities bit was a hoot to read! I really like how Willig allows us to see the story from both Amy and Richard’s perspectives. Napoleon’s France is captured wonderfully and I love how the story has its share of rakes, double-dealers and other fun character surprises to behold. Not surprisingly, Miss Gwen – the chaperone accompanying Amy and her cousin Jane to Paris – is the perfect dragon and one of my favorite characters. I love how she takes Napoleon down a notch or two and has her own interesting surprises for the reader. I did wondered if the story shifting between Eloise’s story set in present day England and Amy’s story set in Napoleonic-era France was going to be jarring and interrupt the flow of reading. It was jarring but only in that I always had to shake myself when sliding back in to Eloise’s story…. I was so involved with Amy’s story I never seemed to expect the transition each time it happened.

Yes, this story is what I would classify as “chick-lit” but don’t be swayed by that labeling. At its core, this is a great adventure/espionage/romance story, filled with humour and intrigue. The only downside I can report is that I made a promise to myself that I would not start the next book in the series until February…. I don’t know if I can wait that long!

Lovely flowers! They are a great shade of pink. Your other half knows his stuff! ;) Regarding division of household labour, I am fortunate that my BF does all the cooking, preparing meals on the weekend that we eat all week. In return I tend to do the dishes, which is also a great opportunity to chip away at audiobooks.

Cool photos of the frozen fountain!

>100 rabbitprincess: - I am pretty lucky my other half knows how to pick flowers! Sounds like you and your BF had a great sharing of responsibilities. As for the water fountain, when I sent the pics to my family in Alberta my brother mused what the ice on the fountain would look like if someone dropped an open package of KoolAid into the fountain water.... ;-)

Hi Lori, your roses are beautiful, such vivid color. I don't care much for red roses either, I like different colors of roses, like peach or yellow, or mixed. And you've reminded me that I have had The Secret History of the Pink Carnation forever! I think I even bought the next book after it,

>97 lkernagh: A belated Happy Birthday greeting! Your roses are beautiful (red roses are overrated).

>99 lkernagh: What wonderful photos of the Legislature fountain. I have sat on that rim often, but not on a day like this!

>99 lkernagh: I love your pictures of the frozen fountain. Having never lived anyplace where the average winter temperature dropped below the high 30s, those images seem like magic to me. I don't know if I could handle living in snow & ice, but it does make for some amazing scenery.

Happy Birthday! What lovely roses. Just gorgeous. Kudos to the other half for choosing them. The fountain picture is really cool!

I'm about to go "root" around my shelves for Lauren Wilig book. I know I have it somewhere. And a couple of the books in the series will work for my Category Challenge this year!

>99 lkernagh: - After reading your review and seeing your comment on my thread, this is a definite add to my wish list. Sounds like so much fun!

Happy belated birthday! Loved the pictures of the flowers and the ice. Both gorgeous in their own way.

So glad you enjoyed The Secret History of the Pink Carnation! It's a really fun series. Book 2 is one of my favorites, so I'm excited to see what you think of it! :)

I love your trans Canada walk idea. I feel I should so something similar!

I've been interested in 'The Secret History of the Pink Carnation' for a while; and your review reminded me to order a copy! Oddly, though other books in the series are readily available at my library and bookstores, the first-in-series seems to be MIA! I can't wait to dig in, though it may not happen for me this month owing to tottering nightstand stacks! ;-)

>102 lsh63: - Thanks Lisa! Like you, I really like the wonderful variety of colours of roses. The only thing I don't like about receiving roses - or any cut flowers for that matter - is that at some point they wilt and die. ;-(

>103 VivienneR: - Thank you for the birthday wishes, Vivienne! Lovely to see others here on LT share my opinion about red roses. I know what you mean about not sitting on the rim of the fountain pool with all that frozen water around. They did cordon off the area but I noticed that even outside the cordon area, the ground had seen more than its share of water, creating a frozen muddy grassy zone.

>104 madhatter22: - Thanks Shauna! Victoria typically doesn't see the below freezing temps hang around for very long so even the 10- day stretch we had seemed to be a really long cold snap, even if it is January (and in the dead of winter).

>105 Sace: - Thanks Sace! The Lauren Willig book is well worth the time to "root" it out. A fun read! ;-)

>106 LittleTaiko: - Glad to hit you with a BB for the Willig book, Stacy and thank you for the birthday wishes! I do love hitting fellow readers with fun reads. We all need a little bit of escapism from time to time.

>107 christina_reads: - Ha, I believe I have you to thank for introducing me to the Pink Carnation series, Christina. Thank You!!! Best BB taken to date!

>108 sirfurboy: - Mapping my walking has really helped motivate me to get out walking, even if the weather is not the greatest or I just don't feel like it. The inspiration actually came 4 years ago when my work area engaged in a summer fitness challenge. We were broken up into teams - balanced so that the each team composed of fitness fanatics and occasional exercisers. Each team recorded their fitness activity for the week which was translated into kilometers travelled, with the race being to see which team could travel the length of Vancouver Island the fastest. I can highly recommend it as a way to motivate fitness activity!

>109 Tanya-dogearedcopy: - Sounds like your library and mine have the same problem: first or early books in a popular series going missing. I don't know what your library does when that happens, but my library will replace a missing book if it is the first (or second) book in a popular series and they have the other installments available for borrowing.

Happy Sunday all! Doing my weekly LT check in. Sundays are the perfect day for me to relax in front of the computer to get caught up with my own threads and hopefully a good chunk of other threads that I follow.

The freezing temps have been replaced with more seasonal temps of highs in the single digits (Celsius). Of course, that means we are back to more cloud cover - good by lovely blue skies and sunshine! - but thankfully, the typically daily deluge of rain has been kept to a minimal. Here is hoping this does become the norm this winter as that can translate into some water restrictions during the warmer summer days.

On the reading front, I have managed to finish three books: The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye, Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith and The Absent One by Jussi Olsen-Adler. Some slap-dash book reviews to follow. Currently reading Paris by Edward Rutherfurd on audio - which should keep me busy until the end of January! - and Monster Loyalty by Jackie Huba as my physical read.

On the walking front, the lack of rain has made it easier for me to increase my walking. I am now back to 45 km a week and hope to push that to 50 km this coming week.

On the cross-stitch project front, I have made enough progress I think today is a good day to provide an update (with pictures).

Book #3 - The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - audiobook read by Stephen Boyer
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "1st book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback - audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: May 10, 2014
Page count: 428 pages / 13 hours, 10 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

Timothy Wilde tends bar, saving every dollar in hopes of winning the girl of his dreams. But when his dreams are destroyed by a fire that devastates downtown Manhattan, he is left with little choice but to accept a job in the newly minted New York City Police Department. Returning exhausted from his rounds one night, Tim collides with a girl no more than ten years old… covered in blood. She claims that dozens of bodies are buried in the forest north of Twenty-Third Street. Timothy isn’t sure whether to believe her, but as the image of a brutal killer is slowly revealed and anti-Irish rage infects the city, the reluctant copper star is engaged in a battle that may cost him everything…

Review:
I absolutely loved this one! Faye captures the very heart and soul of 1845 New York City - or more particularly lower Manhattan - and gave this reader the perfect antihero in Timothy Wilde. Wilde never planned on joining the newly minted NYC police force - known as the Copper Stars for the shape and metallic origins of their hastily crafted "badges" - and his relationship with his older brother Valentine is just one of many side stories captured in this enthralling, sweeping story of crime, religion, politics and friendship. Reading Faye's story, I found my senses of taste, sight, touch and smell responding to her wonderful descriptive writing. The descriptions of certain body mutilations are not for the faint of heart but the complex plot with its twists and detailed forensic analysis, and the well-rounded characters, kept me from shying away from this one. Bird, the homeless girl Tim encounters late one night, is a delight, as are the fast-talking pack of newspaper boys Tim befriends. At its core, this is a police procedural / crime story, but it is so much more than that. It is an exploration of Irish immigration, anti-Catholic sentiment and the essentially lawless state of a younger America and a rich historical fiction worthy of any historical fiction lover's attention.

.... so, am I happy to learn that Faye has written two more books focused on Timothy Wilde? You bet I am!

Book #4 - Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Paul Hecht
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "1st book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback - audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages / 3 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.ca website book listing:

The eminent (if shamefully under-read) philologist Professor Dr. Mortiz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute at Regensburg is unnaturally tall, hypersensitive to slights, and oblivious to his own frequent gaucheries. Even with these handicaps, von Igelfeld engages in a never-ending quest through a series of connected stories to win the respect he knows is due him, including when on a busman's holiday researching old Irish obscenities and when flirting with a desirable lady dentist.

Review:
Definitely not what I was expecting.... and not in a good way, either. Having fallen in love with Precious Ramotswe and the Botswana setting of Smith's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, I was kind of hoping for more of the same with this first book in his Professor Dr. von Egelfeld Entertainment series. Instead, I found myself reading a collection of loosely connected stories about a rather unlovable character focused on self-importance. Yes, the situations he finds himself in, usually of his own misguided contrivance, have the makings of good reading material - I admit, the battle of wits he engages in with Signora Cossi did have me raising an eyebrow or two! - but overall, this just didn't work for me. One reviewer has commented that this story is in a similar vein with A Diary of a Nobody where the focus of the story is to make much ado about mundane things and events and that may explain why this was a rather sub-par read for me. I really didn't enjoy A Diary of a Nobody when I read it a few years back.

Given that I do own the next two books in the series and in view of the fact that they are slim volumes, I will give book two in the series The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs a go and see if the Professor grows on me.

Book #5 - The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Book with One (1) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: December 16, 2013
Page count: 412 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

Mørck is back. He’s settled into Department Q and is ready to take on another cold case. This time, it’s the brutal double-murder of a brother and sister two decades earlier. One of the suspects confessed and is serving time, but it’s clear to Mørck that all is not what it seems. Kimmie, a homeless woman with secrets involving certain powerful individuals, could hold the key—if Mørck can track her down before they do.

Review:
Second book in the Department Q series gives us a somewhat tamed down Mørck. Not sure what I think about that. Thankfully, his civilian assistant Assad remains true to character and I found Rose, the newest member to the Department Q team, to be exactly the type of police help Mørck would receive. As for the crime, well, this is one of those psychologically-driven stories where there is no mystery to solve... just a lot of very disturbing people to read about. I was able to maintain my interest in the story only because of the portrayal of Kimmie, and the way Adler-Olsen unraveled her story.

Overall, an okay installment by I am not exactly chomping at the bit to dive into the next book in the series, if you know what I mean.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 80 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 46.63
Kilometers walked in total:3,147.71
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: Due south of Atikokan (and due north of the 4,760 square kilometre Quetico Provincial Park) continuing to head to Thunder Bay.
Points of interest along the way: Not much to report except for more wonderful lakes and that Atikokan, the doorway to Quetico Park, is called "The Canoeing Capital of Canada". The words "canoe" and "canoeing" bring back fond childhood memories of family camping trips. We had one of those green Coleman canoes, which matched the green Coleman camp stove (I am pretty sure they didn't start making them in other colours until I was older):



images from Google

Great memories!

Hi Lori, great comments on The Absent One; the next one in the series is better.

Main Craft Project for 2017: Cross-stitch Sampler Wall Hanging - UPDATE:


I have been finding sitting and working on the cross-stitch in the evenings to be relaxing. It also works well considering we have spent the past week engaging in a Hogan's Heroes viewing marathon. Lovely when one can stitch and laugh at the antics of the show at the same time! ;-)

Anyways, below is a picture of the project posted back on January 8th, and a comparison picture taken yesterday:

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I know, it is hard to see the detail given the size of the project. Below are close up shots of the large heart and basket of flowers:

..

The original design calls for a pink/blue colour scheme. I have replaced that with a purple and yellow colour scheme, replacing the dark pink the words are supposed to be in with a dusty antique rose color. I also gave the fabric a brief tea bath early on in the project as I didn't like the stark white look of the linen - and I wanted to dull down the stamped image on the fabric a bit. You cannot see the difference in the photos, except for the dulling of the stamped image, but it is noticeable in person. Still a long way to go, but making great progress!

>116 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! I remember finding The Keeper of Lost Causes to be more of a page-turning read for me. Glad to learn that book three in the series is better!

For some reason, the even-numbered books in the series have been duds so far. I've liked the odd-numbered ones. I've been watching the series on Netflix, too. It's very well done.

"Hogan's Heroes"! That is a flash from the past! I loved that show.

>119 BLBera: - For some reason, the even-numbered books in the series have been duds so far. I've liked the odd-numbered ones. Jeez, one could be lead to think that the books are ghost written by two different people, alternating between okay and good like that.

I had a great conversation with one of my work colleagues about the great shows from the past. They just don't make them like they used to. ;-)

I have The Keeper of Lost Causes and am hoping to start the series sometime this year.

>110 lkernagh: Thanks for the reply and detail on your challenge. I was tempted to just copy it (I have travelled a little of highway 1 on the West Coast and always loved the area), but I have decided to make my own version. Starting January 1st (i.e. I already started) I am going to walk on the EU long distance walking routes around the coast of Europe, starting in Palermo, Sicily on route E1. My actual route plan is to stick to the coast by using routes E1, E12, E4, and E9. I will then try to work that into something of a cultural experience with appropriate reading too.

It may or may not work out. Total distance is huge, so I am not even going to estimate how long it will take, but I will no doubt flesh out the details soon enough.

Thanks again for the idea.

>112 lkernagh:, I loved The Gods of Gotham. The books that follow are excellent as well. I hope you like them too.

>112 lkernagh: - I already had this title on my wish list after attending Bouchercon. The author must have been on a panel I attended. Happy to see that it'll be worth reading.

Hi Lori, your cross stitch project is really coming along. I love the colors you have used, can't wait until we get to see the finished product! Have a good week.

Lori I am so pleased you loved The Gods of Gotham! The entire trilogy is so very well done. Lyndsay Faye has become one of my favorite authors. I also enjoyed Jane Steele. She writes a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiches as well.

Book 3 of the Dept Q series is much better. Book 4 is a bit too long but the backstory it tells is really important in the history of Denmark and other nations histories as well. I really enjoyed Book 5. Book 6 is sitting on my shelf and I need to get cracking on it. I do love the gang. That part just gets better and the mystery of the nail gun murders just gets more muddled as the series progresses.

>121 dudes22: - I am rather new to the Department Q series but if you like police procedural stories, it appears to be a decent series, but as you may have noticed, there are other members of this group more knowledgeable about the series than I am. :-)

>122 sirfurboy: - Enjoy whatever challenge you create for yourself! Walking routes in Europe sounds perfect! I would have fun googling every location along the route. ;-)

>123 Roro8: - I am hearing great things about the Faye books, Roro and I have already decided to read the second book in the series, Seven for a Secret in July, as it would be a perfect book for my "Books with Seven (7) in the title" sub-category!

>124 LittleTaiko: - Personally, I feel you cannot go wrong with reading Gods of Gotham, Stacy and how cool that you were able to see the author in person!

>125 DeltaQueen50: - Thanks Judy. I seem to have becomes consumed with working on the cross-stitch. I just find it so relaxing!

>126 luvamystery65: - Happy to see more praise for the Faye books, Ro! I cannot think what made me leave The Gods of Gotham on my TBR pile for as long as I did. ;-) I am still intrigued that the Department Q books seems to alternate from very good to okay and back to good again.

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

Happy Superbowl Sunday for everyone who will be watching or just attending a Superbowl party for the fun of it. I know I have been absent for a bit from LTER... No particular reason to report. Just overall busy and stunned that we are already into February. Winter continues to be a tad colder than usual but with a lot less precipitation, which suits me just fine.

On the reading front, I have managed to finish reading the behemoth sage Paris by Edward Rutherfurd and two non-fiction reads: Monster Loyalty by Jackie Huba and Syrian Notebooks by Jonathan Littell. Reviews to follow.

I have been spending a number of evenings happily working on the cross-stitch project and have an update for posting.

Walking continues - quick update will be posted for this as well.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

Book #6 - Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics by Jacke Huba
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books where the main theme is Loyalty"
Source: GVPL
Format: Hard cover
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 224 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca website book listing:

Famous for her avant-garde outfits, over-the-top per­formances, and addictive dance beats, Lady Gaga is one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. But behind her showmanship lies another achievement: her wildly successful strategy for attracting and keeping insanely loyal fans. In Monster Loyalty marketing expert Jackie Huba explores Gaga’s biography and fan philosophy and isolates the seven lessons any business can learn from her. Love her or hate her, you can’t ignore Lady Gaga. And while not all businesses want to stand out the way she does, any business can win big by creating monster loyalty.

Review:
Customer loyalty – how to attract and retain it – is a topic that interests me, as does the connection Huba makes with customer loyalty and Lady Gaga’s fan base. Huba’s experience as a social marketing expert for businesses, where she focuses on the customer experience, shows as she walks the reader through what Huba defines as being the following lessons of loyalty that any business can learn from Lady Gaga:

Seven lessons of loyalty:

1. Focus on your One Percenters - the die-hard fanatic customers/promoters of your brand


2. Lead with values - make sure that you communicate that your business is about something bigger


3. Build community - make sure the customer experience is meaningful and memorable


4. Give fans a name - create or let your customers create an identity they can connect with and relate to


5. Embrace shared symbols - shared symbols give special meaning to "the IN group" and expands on the special personal connection customers want with a brand


6. Make them feel like rock stars - place the spotlight on your customers


7. Generate something to talk about - Don't play it safe when it comes to your business/product because no one talks about something that is just average

Each “lesson” has its own chapter where Huba breaks down what Lady Gaga does and provides one or two business case studies where the lesson has been used successfully by the business community. Huba admits that she never interviewed Lady Gaga or any of her team for the book. All information has been derived from public sources. The book does a great job summarizing the lessons but one will need to search further if they really want to get into the nitty-gritty details of how to design a customer loyalty program that works best with a given business model. Not all businesses can invest in creating and maintaining an online community for its customers like Lady Gaga’s littlemonsters.com or hire people to act like paparazzi to give a customer a “rock star for a day” experience, but Huba does balance her business case studies to range from the global businesses like Nike and eBay to smaller companies.

Overall, this book not only gave me some great ideas for designing a customer loyalty program, but it also gave me a new found appreciation for the brilliant business mind of Lady Gaga and her team.

Book #7 - Paris by Edward Rutherfurd - audiobook read by Jean Gilpin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with One-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2013
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 809 pages / 38 hours, 30 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from multiple sources:

Paris : City of love. City of revolution. Opening in the golden hedonistic age of the La Belle Époque and moving back in forth across centuries following the lives of 6 families. The noble family de Cygne have served king and country through the ages, while their ancient enemies the Le Sourds embody the ideals of the French Revolution and the Paris Commune. The two Gascon brothers come from the dangerous slums behind Montmartre, but while Thomas goes to work building the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower, Luc makes a living in the underworld of Pigalle, near the Moulin Rouge. The Blanchards, ruined in the reign of Louis XV, rise again in the age of Napoleon and help establish Paris as the center of art, literature and style that it is today. The American Hadleys, the father a painter, the son a friend of Hemingway, find romance in Paris, while the Jewish Jacob family of art dealers, expelled in the Middle Ages, try to survive in the Second War. A story of intimate and thrilling tales of self-discovery, divided loyalty and long-kept
secrets.

Review:
What to say, what to say. La Belle Époque is one of my favorite historical periods along with the Regency period, so of course I was happy that was the French period Rutherfurd chose to start this story off with. I am a big fan of the attention to historical detail Rutherfurd brings to his stories. I was particularly captivated when the story focused on a younger Thomas Gascon and the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The inclusion of fictionalized appearances by Hemingway and Monet was also a delight to read. The downside, for me – because, there is a downside to this behemoth epic tale – is the characters. I found the characters representing the 6 families to be rather flat and under-developed. I also found it highly annoying that Rutherfurd seemed to be more focused on flying the reading back and forth through time and ricocheting around the families that I ended up being a bit frustrated by the whole experience. Would a more linear progression have worked better, given the fact that Rutherfurd was already wrestling with making interesting connections happen between the families? Possibly. It is definitely an ambitious novel for any writer to tackle on the scale that is Rutherfurd’s stock and trade – Paris spans an enormous time range of 1260 AD to the late 1960’s – but ambitious doesn’t always equate into a spellbinding or enthralling read. I especially hated it when Rutherfurd proceeded to wipe out what I thought were some key characters with nothing more than a few emotionally-devoid sentences, like they were an afterthought that needed to be mentioned just to ensure no loose ends were left hanging.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed my read of Sarum many, many moons ago, I found Paris to be a story that left me with just an “meh” feeling. Maybe my tastes have changed. I still have London waiting for me on my TBR pile so I will give Rutherfurd another chance, but not right away. I can only recommend Paris to readers that may have an interest in the building of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty or a Parisian point of view of the two world wars.

Book #8 - Syrian Notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising by Jonathan Littell - translatede from the French by Charlotte Mandell
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books set predominantly in the month of January"
Source: GVPL
Format: Hardcover
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 256 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

In 2012, Jonathan Littell traveled to the heart of the Syrian uprising, smuggled in by the Free Syrian Army to the historic city of Homs. For three weeks, he watched as neighborhoods were bombed and innocent civilians murdered. His notes on what he saw on the ground speak directly of horrors that continue today in the ongoing civil war. Amid the chaos, Littell bears witness to the lives and the hopes of freedom fighters, of families caught within the conflict, as well as of the doctors who attempt to save both innocents and combatants who come under fire. As government forces encircle the city, Littell charts the first stirrings of the fundamentalist movement that would soon hijack the revolution. Littell’s notebooks were originally the raw material for the articles he wrote upon his return for the French daily Le Monde. Published nearly immediately afterward in France, Syrian Notebooks has come to form an incomparable close-up account of a war that still grips the Middle East—a classic of war reportage.

Review:
Written more like a travelogue/journal, Littell admits upfront in the Introduction that he has reproduced the notebooks as a collection of his observations, thoughts and feelings from January 16 to February 2, 2012. Thankfully, the Verso edition I read includes and epilogue where Littell admits that as bad as he thought things were in Homs while he was there, it was after Littell was safely evacuated to Lebanon and back in Paris that "things in Homes really went haywire. I thought that what I had seen was violent enough, and I thought I knew what violent means. But I was wrong." If you have been living under a rock for the past few years and have no idea of the Syrian conflict, Littell does a great job encapsulating the various factions involved, the manipulations of the Bashar al-Assad government, and the countless senseless atrocities. The notebooks were used as a basis for the Le Monde articles Littell wrote - Littell went into Syria to record events for the newspaper - but I think the very raw, disjointed nature of Littell's notes do a better job of communicating the chaos and the horrors.

Recommended.

Main Craft Project for 2017: Cross-stitch Sampler Wall Hanging - UPDATE:


Continuing to enjoy relaxing in the evenings working on the cross-stitch.

Below is a picture of the project posted back on January 22nd, and a comparison picture taken yesterday:

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Below are a couple of close up shots:

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I have been having a lot of fun modifying the colour scheme and making some adjustments to the design. Because I am working with threads of my mom and grandmother, I have had to step back from the project and ponder colour options a bit - especially when I know there is only a limited quantity of a certain colour shade. Still a lot to do - I am planning on embroidering the quilting design between the squares, but I am still pondering how I want to accomplish that.

Given the current progress, I am already starting to think about what my next craft project should be. ;-)

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEKS 81 and 82 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 93.46 (Week 81 = 45.38; Week 82 = 48.08)
Kilometers walked in total:3,241.17
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: Due south of Burnt Island and Kashabowie Provincial Park and stillcontinuing to head to Thunder Bay.
Points of interest along the way: Nothing to report this update.

As a quick monthly recap, I am happy to report that I did manage to read a book for each of my sub-categories:



1st book in a series:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)
- The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - (review)
- Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with One (1) in the title:
- The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen - (review)

Books page count (1-100 pages):
- Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley - (review)

Books with One-Word title:
- Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley - (review)
- Paris by Edward Rutherfurd - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of January:
- Syrian Notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising by Jonathan Littell - (review)

Books with January, Carnation or Garnet in title or author/main character name:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)

Books where main theme is Loyalty, Constancy:
- Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics by Jacke Huba - (review)

Books with either Black/Dark Red or Pink cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig - (review)

------------------------------------
No. of Books read: 8
ROOTs read: 5
Largest book read by page count: - Paris by Edward Rutherfurd at 809 pages
Smallest book read by page count: - Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley at 26 pages
# Pages read: - 2,722 pages
Average # pages per book read: - 340.25 pages
Average # pages read per day: - 87.80
Audiobooks / eBooks / Physical Books: - 4/1/3 making note that three of the audioreads where listened to to get physical reads off my TBR pile.
Male vs. Female Authors: - 5 vs. 3
Fiction vs. Non-Fiction Reads: - 6 vs. 2

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

.... now, onto February reading!

Your cross-stitch project is looking great!

Thanks for the review of Paris. I am indeed interested in the Parisian viewpoint of the two world wars, so I'll look forward to that bit. Good to know about the jumping around in time, too. Maybe he's trying something new to change things up a bit from his usual formula? I don't think his other books jump around in time so much. London was good, but definitely a book to take your time with because it is very chewy and dense and historical-fact-laden... a sort of 12-grain bread book ;)

>131 lkernagh: It's looking great! I've been trolling internet sites like Pinterest for garden sayings so I can make a couple of small gifts for some Master Gardener friends. I've decided to use "We are so excited about the garden we wet our plants" and "Gardener wanted must look good bending over."

Just curious, what kind of hoop do you like to use supposing you do. I still like the old spring type that holds the fabric really tight. I've read all the negatives about using them but I've done so for years and don't see any problem.

I'll look for a copy of Syrian Notebooks. It sounds like necessary reading. Excellent review.

Your cross stitch is looking good. I was thinking it looked like it was almost done, but then I saw your comments.

Your cross-stitching looks beautiful! Well done on having that kind of patience - it would drive me nuts! :)

>130 lkernagh: >136 RidgewayGirl: Yes, I've added Syrian Notebooks to my wishlist too.

I love seeing your cross-stitch projects. I need to get back to some of mine.

>114 lkernagh: >119 BLBera: I've been curious about this series and was happy to find out there are some adaptations on Netflix. I usually like to read the books first, but I have so many books in this genre stacked up here, and I'm out of shows in this genre on Netflix :)

>131 lkernagh: Your sampler is looking lovely! I keep seeing cute cross-stitch projects I'd like to try, but I haven't done it since I was a kid. (And those were pretty simple projects.) I'm wondering how hard it would be to pick up again.

You've made excellent progress on the embroidery project! Nice job! And it doesn't seem to have cut into your reading time at all.

I love your cross stitch. Keep walking!

Hi, Lori, playing catchup after a month away from LT.

Looks like you're making some great progress on the walking and craft project. Some good looking reads, too. :)

>97 lkernagh:
Woah. Those frozen water fountains are beautiful. That's some cold weather, though. Aye.

>134 rabbitprincess: - Thanks RP! I have only read one other Rutherfurd book, Sarum and I seem to recall that one being a straight-forward chronological story so maybe he is trying something different in Paris. I love the way you compare his fact-laden writing to something chewy and dense! I made some pumpernickel rye last week and that is exactly what comes to mind for me when you mention chewy and dense. ;-)

>135 clue: - Thanks Luanne! Pinterest is such a great site for ideas! I love the gardening sayings you decided to accompany your gardening gifts! Good question about the embroidery hoop! I actually use my Mom's - and probably my Grandmother's - embroidery hoops which have the screw closure (below are pics of the one I am currently using for my cross-stitch project).





You may have an idea of how old the embroidery hoop is by the label on the hoop in the second picture. I have fond memories of going shopping with my Mom at Woolworths but I don't think I have seen a Woolworths store since the late 1980's.

>136 RidgewayGirl: - I hope you are able to track down a copy of Syrian Notebooks, or worst case, track down Littell's 2012 articles for Le Monde.

>137 dudes22: - Thanks Betty! I am hoping to be finished the cross-stitch project by the end of February. The trick is now to not over-due it with the embroidery. ;-)

>138 -Eva-: - Thanks Eva! It helps that I can cross-stitch and watch TV (or listen to audio books) at the same time. Makes the time fly by!

>139 Jackie_K: - Good to see the book is gathering attention here. ;-)

>140 thornton37814: - Thanks Lori.

>141 madhatter22: - Watching the series on Netflix sounds like a great idea to me! I tend to either watch a series or read it, I find I just don't have the time to do both! I love the Miss Fisher TV series based on the Kerry Greenwood books. Period pieces make for great viewing, IMO. ;-)

As for the cross-stitch, it had been a really long, long time since I had last done any needlework so I was rather happy how easy it was to slide back into it, as it were. ;-)

>142 VivienneR: - Thanks Vivienne! Audiobooks have been the key to being able to read and work on my project at the same time.

>143 BLBera: - Thanks Beth, and the walking is continuing although I see to be maxing out my walking at 45-48 km per week. Would like to get it over the 50 km mark, but I might have to wait until spring and the longer daylight hours.

>144 andreablythe: - Hi Andrea! Glad to see you stopping by. Walking and cross-stitch continues and thankfully, the fountain did not freeze over again this past week when winter made a re-appearance on the island. We just got snow for a day or two and then slush. ;-)

Happy Family Day for all of my BC visitors, and happy Monday for everyone else!

The past week winter blew through the area again, bringing a fresh storm of snow (which became sloppy slush the next day) so I can honestly say that I have made more use of my winter gear this year than I have in a number of previous years. Gorgeous sunshine today.

My other half and I have been busy going through cupboards, closets, trunks, etc re-organizing things we are keeping and purging things we no longer need. The good news is I now have all of my craft supplies stored in one steamer truck. Hoping to tackle two more of the steamer trunks later this afternoon.

On the reading front, I have completed two reads - reviews to follow. Currently listening to the audio-book version of Stephen King's 11.22.63, which is a whopping 30 hours of listening time. I am at the 2/3 mark and while I am enjoying the time travel aspect of the story, I am starting to groan a bit that I still have some 10 hours to go. My current e-book read is The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson, an LTER book from November that I am just getting around to reading now. I am really enjoying the 1980 coastal Oregon setting and the characters are interesting.

Book #9 - Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - audiobook read by Anna Fields
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books with a Purple cover", Books with Amethyst in title" and "Books with Two-Word title" = Hat Trick!
Source: Hoopla
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 1997
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 304 pages / 7 hours, 20 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

Seeking shelter from her own broken dreams, Hallie Knight answers a cryptic plea for help from Nicholas Trench, the grandfather of her dearest friend. Susan mysteriously disappeared from home one night off North Carolina's historical Topsail Island--and Hallie is Nick's last hope of finding her. But surrounding Nick is a family as headstrong as they are suspicious--for at the heart of the matter is a vast inheritance. And as Hallie is lured deeper into a mystery nestled in a quagmire of bitterness, dark betrayal, and subtle menace, she becomes certain of one thing: this sunny, seaside paradise harbors dangerous and profoundly shattering secrets. . .

Review:
Whitney was one of my “go-to” authors as a young teen. Loved the gothic feel of her stories with their blending of mystery and romance. Even so, I was stunned to discover that Whitney had written over 70 novels over the span of her long life, with 38 of those books being of the romance/suspense variety. Amethyst Dreams was the last book published before her death in 2008 at the age of 104.

The setting in this story is a good one – close-knit local community, suspicious relatives with secrets and a mysterious disappearance that no one but one person seems interested in seeing investigated. The characters are alright but the story lacks some of the building suspense that I enjoy in a good gothic mystery read. Parts of the story are a bit implausible, which tends to detract a bit from the enjoyment factor. The dialogue in the story manages to come across at times like an infomercial for Topsail Island (a true place located off the coast of North Carolina). The “reveal” at the end was one of those “Say what?” kind of low key endings that I tend to groan over but in view of the fact that this one was published when Whitney was 94 years old, I do have to give her props for pulling together a story that remains true to her writing roots at such a golden age.

Overall, probably a good read for those wishing to be a “completist” reader of Whitney’s works and an alright read if you are in the mood for a quick read.

Book #10 - The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "2nd book in series" and "Books page count (101-200 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: December 28, 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com booklisting webpage:

Welcome to the insane and rarified world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Von Igelfeld is engaged in a never-ending quest to win the respect he feels certain he is due–a quest which has the tendency to go hilariously astray. In The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, Professor Dr. Von Igelfeld is mistaken for a veterinarian and not wanting to call attention to the faux pas, begins practicing veterinary medicine without a license. He ends up operating on a friend’s dachshund to dramatic and unfortunate effect. He also transports relics for a schismatically challenged Coptic prelate, and is pursued by marriage-minded widows on board a Mediterranean cruise ship.

Review:
True to the character McCall Smith presents to readers in Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Professor Dr. von Ingelfeld continues to find himself in awkward situations of his own devising, all due to his ingrained belief in his own self-importance. The connected short stories in this book had a smoother flow to them as the stories seem to be more closely connected, more like chapters in a novel. It helped that my previous exposure to von Ingelfeld via Portuguese Irregular Verbs helped me to anticipate some of the inane behavior and decisions of our illustrious professor, but even then, McCall Smith manages a couple of “OMG” moments for me as I was reading. I still find von Ingelfeld to be a rather despicable individual but at least the author has now given von Ingelfeld the occasional bouts of conscience, tempering his self-importance arrogance, especially after the very poor way in which he treats his ‘dear’ (and possibly only) friend, Professor Dr. Unterholzer. As annoying as I continue to find von Ingelfeld, I have to admit that he is starting to grow on me. This is a character who consistently manages to dig himself a deeper hole when he attempts to get out of a situation, which lends to the comic side of things. The misadventures von Ingelfeld encounters on the Mediterranean cruise were quite funny and did give me a chuckle or two.

If, like me, you read Portuguese Irregular Verbs and consider not wasting your time with the other books in the series, I will gently nudge you towards The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs. It is a short read and may convince you, like it did me, to continue reading the further books in the series. Just be forewarned that the humour still continues to be very dry and might not appeal to all readers.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 83 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 45.38
Kilometers walked in total:3,286.55
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Shebandowan, north of Shabaqua and heading for the outskirts of Thunder Bay.
Points of interest along the way: Shebandowan, or at least the Shebandowan River, looks like a wonderful place for a relaxing summer based on this image:



and the time-lapse photography on YouTube the above image is taken from.

Thanks for sharing the time lapse. Very cool!

Way to keep trekking along!

>145 lkernagh: Woolworths only went out of business in the UK as recently as 2009. In North America, however, where the company started, they changed their name and closed all but their sports divisions in 1997. Foot Locker is the result of that.

If you want to visit a Woolworths, however, a few countries still have them. I think Austria, Germany and Mexico. A few other countries have stores called "Woolworths" but these were not F W Woolworth stores.

>145 lkernagh: Thanks for taking the pictures. This hoop may be old fashioned but it's what I like to use. I have a large one of wood, and then the smaller ones are plastic but basically the same type. I really like a tight tension.

>149 lkernagh:
He does have a way with titles! I've not tried this series of his yet, but it's on the list.

>150 lkernagh:
Great progress!! It'd be so great to do that trip IRL, wouldn't it.

Popping in to say hello Lori.

>151 andreablythe: - Glad you enjoyed it, Andrea. ;-)

>152 LittleTaiko: - Thanks Stacy! Some days - particularly the cold, damp ones, make it hard to not just "wimp out" and not walk. At least with the approaching spring, I am no longer walking to work in the dark. That helps.

>153 sirfurboy: - I had no idea that Woolworths had stores in so many countries, or that some of the stores still exist, even if some of them just carry the same name. Thanks for sharing! ;-)

>154 clue: - I have seen the hoops that have built in springs but, like you, I prefer to manually tighten the hoop around the fabric. It feels good to have some level of control over the tension the fabric is subject to, even if it is old fashioned. ;-)

>155 -Eva-: - The titles are very unique, that is for sure! If I could do the cross-country journey in real life, I would find areas that astounded me and areas that bored me to death! ;-0 I still remember making yearly trips from Calgary to Saskatoon and then Prince Albert (in Saskatchewan) to visit maternal and paternal grandparents and I have to say that drive is Boring! Even typical road games like "I spy" and "Duck the Lights" were dull, there was such a lack of diversity to the scenary (it was mainly farmland) and you could see a car approaching you from at least 1 mile off.... not the best roads to drive if you are tired as you are apt to fall asleep at the wheel!

>156 luvamystery65: - Hi Roberta!

I know..... I have been rather absent. Just RL and nothing very spectacular about RL, just busy. Winter continues to linger and bring the odd bit of true Canadian winter to my otherwise "I don't do snow" locale off the West Coast. Mid-February we got a blast of Old Man Winter that really did cause a fair bit of trouble, what with slick, treacherous roads and blowing snow to reduce visibility:

...

The first three shots were taken early in the morning on my way to the office after the snow storm of the day before. I am a huge sucker for lamp-light snow scenery and I really think the second image on the left - the one with the person walking down the sidewalk - would make a lovely cover image, for what book I have no idea. The last picture is a shot of Government Street by the Legislature at 4:30 the Wednesday afternoon of the storm. That street is usually chock-a -block with cars at that time of day so I found it interesting to have a lone vehicle and only two pedestrians in the shot. Of course, that only lasted for two- three days tops so I tend to run around snapping pictures when the opportunity presents itself.... that, and I have had to learn to cheer with my "inside voice" whenever there is a potential forecast for more snow. My work colleagues are not as keen of the white stuff as I am. ;-)

On the reading front, I have been trucking along. I have finished three books and have three more "in progress" that I hope to finish before March arrives. Review, walking update and project update (and preview) to follow.

Book #11 - 11.22.63 by Stephen King - audiobook read by Craig Wasson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Book with Two (2) in the title"
Source: TBR
Format: Tradepaperback / Audiobook
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 740 pages / 30 hours, 30 minutes of listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

Dallas, 11/22/63: Three shots ring out. President John F. Kennedy is dead. Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away...but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke... Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten...and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.

Review:
There are a ton of reviews out there for this one so I am just going to provide some very quick comments. Wasn't sure what I would think of this one, having never read a Stephen King novel before and not a big fan of the horror genre, having spent my teenage years avoiding the movie adaptations of Christine, etc. The voice King gives to Jake Epping is absolutely perfect. A wonderful "real to life" kind of character. King's portrayal of the early 1960's time period is excellent and I give King kudos for coming up with such a great ending. So why just a 3.7 rating? The story really dragged for me in the middle and I was pretty much ready to throw in the towel until the story reached that historical day.... that is when things pepped up and grabbed my attention again.

Overall, a decent read, just not the action-packed thriller I was kind of hoping for.

Book #12 - Look Again by Lisa Scottoline - audiobook read by Mary Stuart Masterson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Two-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2009
Acquisition date: January 22, 2011
Page count: 385 pages / 9 hours, 27 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 2.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a "Have You Seen This Child?" flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again… The child in the photo looks exactly like Ellen's adopted son, Will. But how could it be if the adoption was lawful? Everything inside her tells her to deny what she sees. But Ellen won't rest until she finds out the truth. And she can't shake the question: If Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? Ellen makes the wrenching decision to investigate, following a trail of clues no one was meant to uncover. And when she digs too deep, she risks losing her life?and that of the son she loves.

Review:
Scottoline does a good job navigating the legal, ethical and moral journey of the story's premise but beyond that, there really wasn’t a whole lot for me to love, or even like about this one. The writing is rather light-weight, more suited for a ChickLit or contemporary romance novel than a gut-wrenching thriller as this one is billed to be. Ellen as a character was impossible for me to accept. When she isn't day-dreaming about being romantically linked to Marcelo (her immediate supervisor at the newspaper) or engaging in some passive-aggressive office battles with her fellow journalist Sarah, Ellen is off throwing caution (and her job) to the wind when she decides that "she" needs to find out for herself Will's true lineage and embarks on a solo investigation to the point where she engages in behaviour akin to stalking and at some points in the story, comes across as a bit unhinged, and not in a very realistic way. I get that Scottoline is a single parent and may view things from a perspective different than mine (I am not a parent), but I found it very disturbing how focused the messaging is on mothers and how Ellen communicates that a mother's love is different, regardless of whether the mother is the birth mother. The story downplays male roles in general and IMO really takes a bit of a swipe at relegating the father to a secondary role as a parent and care-giver, which I found disturbing. I expected the story to have a bit more objectivity to it and not have such a "blinders on" female focus. It doesn't help that some of the dialogue was a weird mixed-bag of 40-something/20-something lingo and didn't always flow like a normal conversation would. There are also some continuity and just general common sense issues that if this had been a movie, would have driven me crazy.

Overall, this story probably works for readers who like their action-packed thrillers to be of the soap opera/romance beach read variety.

.
Book #13 - The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson
Challenge(s): 75 Group, ROOT
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: February 21, 2017
Acquisition date: December 2, 2016
Page count: 294 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com booklisting webpage:

Riptide, Oregon, 1983. A sleepy coastal town, where crime usually consists of underage drinking down at a Wolf Point bonfire. But then strange things start happening―a human skeleton is unearthed in a local park and mutilated animals begin appearing, seemingly sacrificed, on the town's beaches. The Mercy of the Tide follows four people drawn irrevocably together by a recent tragedy as they do their best to reclaim their lives―leading them all to a discovery that will change them and their town forever. At the heart of the story are Sam Finster, a senior in high school mourning the death of his mother, and his sister Trina, a nine-year-old deaf girl who denies her grief by dreaming of a nuclear apocalypse as Cold War tensions rise. Meanwhile, Sheriff Dave Dobbs and Deputy Nick Hayslip must try to put their own sorrows aside to figure out who, or what, is wreaking havoc on their once-idyllic town.

Review:
Rosson has woven an enthralling read creating an alternate reality/history of early 1980's in the small coastal fishing community of Riptide, Oregon and its citizens. Grief is a poignant and overarching emotion which Rosson accompanies with the dark, rain-filled atmosphere anyone who lives on the Pacific West coast knows to expect during the winter months. The town has a poor, almost destitute feel to it, fitting well with the Armageddon-like news of the Cold War era. The twist that I really like is how Rosson entwines the very human tragedy with local aboriginal/First Nations mythology, exposing his fictional community and its grief-stricken residents to a nightmare that is both horrific and spell-binding. The plot and the slow-building reveal has the depth of a seasoned writer. Rosson's character build is first rate. The crimes and grisly discoveries are described in good detail but I like how Rosson tempers their focus and instead focuses on delivering his characters to the reader, and what excellent characters they are! These are not cookie-cutter,
two-dimensional puppets pantomiming the author's wishes. These are characters that one can envision encountering walking down the street. My heart really went out to all the characters, although I have to admit that Nick is a character that dances a little to close to that fine line between brilliance and insanity, and the bed and breakfast owner/operator is just one very creepy strange dude.

Overall, a stunning debut novel and a perfect example of a story that defies being categorized as fitting into a single, ore-determined genre.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEKS 84 and 85 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 87.17 (Week 84 = 47.05; week 85 = 40.12)
Kilometers walked in total:3,373.72
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Thunder Bay (Finally!) and hading for Amethyst Harbour.
Points of interest along the way: I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Thunder Bay is at the northern head of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, and the first of three of the Great Lakes that I will be "walking" past (Lake Michigan and Lake Erie will not be part of my walking journey). While the Edmund Fitzgerald is an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior in 1975 was an American freighter carrying a load of iron ore between Superior, Wisconsin and Cleveland, Ohio, she sank in Canadian waters so I always find it somehow fitting that a Canadian song writer, Gordon Lightfoot, wrote a song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald about that sinking. Sharing this YouTubeVideo of the song. A haunting song that really speaks to the raw strength of nature.

Main Craft Project for 2017: Cross-stitch Sampler Wall Hanging - UPDATE:


I should probably start off by commenting that I was probably a bit premature when I labelled this project as my "Main Project" for 2017. I continues to make great headway and have now reached the point where I am trying to decide if I am finished or if I need to add any further details to complete the project.

Below is are pictures that show the transition of the project from start to "finish":

..

Here is a close up of the potentially finished project, now with some detail that would have been filled in as quilting stitching:



I have put the project away for now and will pull it out again in a month to see if I think any fine details need to be added. In the meantime, below is a sneak peek at my next project:

Project #2 - Sneak Peek:

Knitting!!! Or crochet? Will there be cables?? So many little clues! I can't want to see what you're making.

Your snow pictures are lovely and yes, that image would make a perfect cover. It may cause a lot of headaches, but the snow is so pretty. Your photographs are gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.

It seems you've been a busy bee. I'm envious of your industry. :-)

Hi Lori, your snow pictures are indeed lovely. The lamp lit ones make me think of the first Narnia book.

I too am curious as to your next project that includes knitting needles, crochet hooks and a beautiful shade of green wool.

>159 lkernagh: You really never read a Stephen King book before? Wow! I don't like horror now -- because I like to get some sleep at night and not be freaked out by what I've read--but I grew up reading King. King is best at writing believable characters and he is one of only two male authors I've read that I think are amazing at writing female characters the way women see themselves and not how men see them.

>160 lkernagh: Thanks for the review... the synopsis made me consider the book, but then your review persuaded me to give it a miss.

Also glad to hear you reached Thunder Bay. I would love to visit the Great Lakes one day.

>158 lkernagh: Yes, beautiful snow photos, definitely evoking Narnia!

Absolutely loved your snow pictures - I'm quite green with envy. Those lamps really do add to the beauty of the scene.

>164 Sace: - I admit to a bit of theatrics with all of the various needle accoutrements. The real truth is I am going to make a headscarf - what with all of the cold weather we have been having this winter - and I am still trying to decide between various pattern designs. Will report here when I have either narrowed down the options or have come up with the pattern of choice.

So happy you enjoyed the snow pics. Those types of pics are a rare breed where I live, all the more reason to capture them when they occur.

As for being busy.... it has been a weird mix of work and life that has left me wondering why we slave for the dollars we do, but accepting the fact that even my personal life is in a bit of an upheaval at the moment.

>165 DeltaQueen50: - I didn't think of Narnia when I took the pics but I can see how they convey that type of image. Happy to see I have managed to entice some interest with my next craft project "sneak peek'. ;-)

>166 VioletBramble: - I can swear on a stack of bibles that 11.22.63 is my first ever Stephen King read. ;-) I agree with your that King writes believable characters... he is an expert at that!

>167 sirfurboy: - Sadly, it was the synopsis for Look Again that made me pick up a copy. Glad to have read it and very happy to have been a service to future readers of the book!

Like you, I hope to visit the Great Lakes in person some day....

>168 VictoriaPL: - Glad to see you enjoyed the pictures, Victoria!

>169 LittleTaiko: - Usually I just shrug my shoulder at the "lamp light" effect that Victoria has in place, but the snow does put that lighting into a rather pleasant glow. ;-)

What lovely photos! Snow is so great in photos. :)

March is here and I am thinking "O. M. G."

At this rate, 2017 is just going to fly by. As a short recap, winter continues, via the lingering cold temps, which means that reading also continues as I am a wimp in the evenings and just want to stay in, even when the other half surprises me with a suggestion to head out to the movies. Work remains busy but I do need to vent some frustration so a rant is coming.... feel free to bounce on down to the next post... I just need to vent.

Rant: As you may recall, the exercise of clearing out my mother's sewing room at the end of 2016 has lead me to embark on a purge/re-org of various possessions here at home. Now, the majority of the purging is focused on my other half's obsession to keep various electronics boxes on the off chance we will need to return various products to the manufacturer for warranty work. We have accumulated some 20 years worth of stuff so I figure taking one year to review and purge seems reasonable. we had been ticking away quite nicely every second weekend tackling another "corner" so imagine my surprise (and total horror) when my other half (the hoarder) announced that we should go minimalist and have just one desk, one computer.... you get my drift. Now, I have to say that my other half does have a track record for being rather "black and white" when it comes to activities (he is either all in or waits for the work to be done), but his idea of going "minimalist" is just so 180 from his known habits - and the fact that this idea would involve purging some of my stuff that I am not giving up at this stage (like my own computer!) lead to some rather strong words by both parties. At 9:30 this morning, I was pretty much doing this:



End result: After a lot of angry words - he really wasn't getting it at first - he now has a better understanding of how much I resent his flippant mood/ideas when they are not grounded in common sense but it still became a highly valued weekend day lost because of his high handed and single minded approach to our possession purge project. I am still trying to calm down from THAT gong-show way to approach what should be a relaxing Sunday morning.

... end of Rant. Thanks for "listening"!

Book reviews for books read in March and a walking update to follow. I haven't gotten around to prepare a monthly update yet. Will try to get around to that tomorrow or later this week.

>171 -Eva-: - Thanks Eva! I love snow but my work colleagues.... not so much. ;-(

Book #14 - The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig - audiobook read by Kate Reading
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "2nd book in a series"
Source: GVPL
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: October 2006
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 464 pages / 14 hours, 44 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.00 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the amazon.com website book listing:

The Pink Carnation, history’s most elusive spy and England’s only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns, this time with the murder of a courier from the London War Office and his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen. Meanwhile, the Black Tulip, France’s deadliest spy, is in England with instructions to track down and kill the Pink Carnation. Only Henrietta Uppington and Miles Dorrington know where the Pink Carnation is stationed. Using a secret code book, Henrietta has deciphered a message detailing the threat of the Black Tulip. Meanwhile, the War Office has enlisted Miles to track down the notorious French spy before he (or she) can finish the deadly mission. But what Henrietta and Miles don’t know is that while they are trying to find the Black Tulip (and possibly falling in love), the Black Tulip is watching them.

Review:
Vacillating between "the heights of espionage to the depths of French farce" (or a Wodehouse-styled bungling with some assistance courtesy of Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh), Willig has produced another energetic and breezy rollicking romp through 1803 Europe and modern 2003 England. Romance continues to sizzle and thrum off the pages with our new romantic couple Miles and Henrietta providing just as much romantic misadventure as Richard and Amy did in the first installment of the series. Continuing the winning formula from the previous book, Willig presents readers with a formidable foe for Miles in the form of the brooding Lord Vaughn, a known rake of London society according to Henrietta’s mother, the Marchioness of Uppington. While the unmasking of the Black Tulip was no surprise to me, I found the budding relationship between Miles and Henrietta to be a delight. The fact that even Eloise has her own misadventures gives the two story-lines a parallel aspect.

Overall, a wonderful blending of Regency romance with swashbuckling Napoleonic Wars espionage anchored to the present via the modern day story-line of historian student/archivist Eloise Kelly.

Book #15 - Office Girl by Joe Meno
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books set predominantly in the month of February" and "Books with Two-Word title"
Source: GVPL
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: July 3, 2012
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 293 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from my local public library catalogue's online book listing:

Odile is a lovely twenty-three-year-old art-school dropout, a minor vandal, and a hopeless dreamer. Jack is a twenty-five-year-old shirker who's most happy capturing the endless noises of the city on his out-of-date tape recorder. Together they decide to start their own art movement in defiance of a contemporary culture made dull by both the tedious and the obvious. Set in February 1999, just before the end of one world and the beginning of another, Office girl is the story of two people caught between the uncertainty of their futures and the all-too-brief moments of modern life.

Review:
I really, really liked this one. Meno does a fantastic job capturing the transition between youth and adulthood, that period of life filled with uncertainty and angst while at the same time spiced with that wonderful freedom to experiment and push the boundaries of some of societies confining “norms”. Jack and Odile are the epitome of awkward young adulthood, when socially one feels spiritually devoid or at odds with familial and societies expectations, kind of like in adolescence when one is an uncoordinated mass of arms and legs during a growth spurt. Both have strong introvert tendencies which makes their stilted dialogue and emotionally restrained relationship a logical extension of their personalities. Both are drifting through a series of uninspiring jobs working the night shift taking phone orders for a company that sells instrumental music to doctor’s offices (that “Muzak” that is so annoying to listen to) that are at odds with their aspirations. Some may argue that Jack and Odile are rather flat, two-dimensional characters but I believe that Meno’s story is more an idiosyncratic artistic expression with poetic inflection than your typical character/plot driven story.

Meno brings an artsy edge to this wonderful whimsical quirky story with his two protagonists engaging in random public Situationist-like acts, like when they impersonate ghosts on a city bus or take random Polaroids of their body parts while cycling through the wintery streets of Chicago to turn into a “picture book” that is circulated throughout the neighbourhood. Weird, yes, but weird in a way that works for me as Meno is sympathetic to the frustrations his characters feel against the status quo, summed up nicely by the following quote

"We're celebrating the right to be stupid, which is probably the most important right we have in this country. We're staging an impromptu performance piece."

"It's jusst something, like a puzzle, for people to think about. It doesn't have some grand meaning or anything. It's just like a moment to be surprised by something. Kind of like a daydream. But something... real."

Even though Odile seems to be veering towards anarchy as art, and dragging Jack along with her, she is aware of her insecurities and realizes that she needs to make a break now or she will never leave the doldrums of dead-end telemarketing jobs and by extension, “give up” and not living a life their young adventuring minds want to live. Taking that leap of faith off the precipice and into the unknown is what makes this such a great story for me. Definitely a book that will not appeal to all readers, but a wonderful read for me and closing off with my favorite quote from the book:

"... there are all these moments, moments just like this one, there are all these moments, and how everyone lives their lives in these short, all-too-short moments. There are all these moments and what's so interesting, what makes them beautiful, is the fact that none of them last."

Book #16 - Sincerity: How a moral ideal born five hundred years ago inspired religious wars | modern art | hipster chic | and the curious notion that we ALL have something to say (no matter how dull) by R. Jay Magill Jr.
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books where the main theme is Sincerity"
Source: GVPL
Format: Hard cover
Original publication date: 2012
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 272 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.30 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

What do John Calvin, Sarah Palin, Jean-Jacques Rosseau, and Bon Iver have in common? A preoccupation with sincerity. With deep historical perspective and a brilliant contemporary spin, R. Jay Magill Jr. tells the beguiling tale of sincerity’s theological past, its current emotional resonance, and the deep impact it has had on the Western soul. At a time when politicians are scrutinized less for the truth of what they say than for how much they really mean it, Sincerity provides a wide-ranging examination of a moral ideal that remains a strange magnetic north in our secular moral compass.

Review:
While some of the historical aspects raised by Magill did make for some interesting reading, the whole book - except for the 11 page epilogue - really read like a research paper, filled with third party quotes. It isn't until the epilogue where we finally get to read Magill's opinion. The only quote I found worthy of mentioning here is the following broad declaration of insincerity:

"Insincerity pretends toward a democratic sympathy while engaging in aristocratic deceit."

Basically the 500 year recap of sincerity is that sincerity has oscillated along a linear spectrum. Some decades/centuries saw an embrace of sincerity as the norm. Other decades/centuries saw sincerity as a way to rebel against societal norms (the hipster chic of the 1980's-1990's). These oscillations include eras where insincerity/being radically superficial was the norm, such as late seventeenth-century France and America in the 1950's to the over indulgence in what some individuals view as sincerity with over exposure to Oprah, Dr. Phil, Jerry Springer, Howard Stern, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. As Magill correctly points out, society would never survive in an environment that exists at either end of the sincerity/insincerity spectrum:

"A world without any sincerity would embody the X-Files motto, Trust no one. Now imagine the exact opposite, a world where everyone was sincere all the time. Everyone would always say exactly what they were thinking or feeling, regardless of its unwantedness, inappropriateness, inaccuracy, relation to truth, poor entertainment value or consequences..."

For society to function on a level that does not provide for a miserable existence, we need to allow sincerity and insincerity to coexist. Sincerity, as an individual act, is something that is subject to personal to the personal evaluation of the individual. Yes, there will always be individuals who are more or less sincere then we may like, and that is when society, as a collective, should be able to maintain the middle path to the benefit of all.

Overall, an okay research-laden read but if you are strapped for time, you can pretty much just jump to the end and read the 11-page epilogue and forego wading through 221-pages of 500 years of history. At the half way mark while reading this one I couldn't help but think that the rather long title is an apt one, especially the last bit about we ALL have something to say (no matter how dull).

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


The goal: To walk - in three calendar years (1,095 days) - the distance that it would take me to walk the Trans Canada Highway from the Mile Zero marker located here in

Victoria BC to its end point in St. John's, NL, a distance of 7,821K (4,860 miles).







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

WEEK 86 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 48.75
Kilometers walked in total:3,422.47
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Ouimet and heading for Hurkett Cove Conservation Area and Nipigon.
Points of interest along the way: No time to research anything interesting to write about here. Maybe I will have something interesting next post.

>172 lkernagh:
Oh, dear. :) Well, happy Sunday to you!

>178 -Eva-: - Thanks Eva! The week is sure to be more upbeat!

>172 lkernagh: So sorry you had to deal with stress about your purge project. I hope it's all smooth sailing from now on.

>176 lkernagh: That sounds like an interesting read. I may have to see if my library has it. Thanks for the review.

>148 lkernagh: I was a Whitney fan as well, in my teens. I had no idea she lived into the 21st century.

I love your snow pictures; they are beautiful. That said, however, I am ready to be done with the stuff.

Your cross-stitch is beautiful. I can't wait to see it framed.

Nice progress on all fronts (walking, needlework, reading)! I'll watch for you when you come through Southwestern Ontario. ;-)

I enjoyed seeing your wintry photos but I am indeed surprised you got that much snow and ice!

>158 lkernagh: The snow pictures are wonderful! I would buy a book if it had that one on the jacket. Even though we get much more snow in the interior, I know from experience that snow in Victoria is a different situation entirely.

>172 lkernagh: Definitely feel for you with a hoarder SO. I live with a minimalist that might be just as bad - or worse. I have to watch for spaces where there were once things.

>158 lkernagh:
It's wonderful to be able to admire the beauty of snow from a digital distance. ;)

>159 lkernagh:
I was a hug King fan in high school and I read almost all of his classic horror novels. But I haven't been reading any of his work lately. I've heard a lot of fairly good things about 11.22.63 and other more recent works by him, and I keep thinking I'll try one out, but never get around to it. Mostly I want to finish reading The Dark Tower series.

>163 lkernagh:
You seem to be making great progress on the craft project. :)

>172 lkernagh:
Hah. Love your rant. Minimalist only works if it's functional. Glad you were able to work it out.

>180 Sace: - Thanks Sace. It is a challenge when two minds are involved in one project, as it is easy to have differences of opinion crop up. I "think" we are back on the same page but as I have given us one year for this purge project, who knows.... we may have other differences that crop up and will just have to deal with them when they arise. ;-)

The Magill book focuses a lot on how religion, philosophy, art and literature have played a role in society's acceptance/rejection of sincerity as a virtue or something to aspire to so from that perspective, it was quite interesting, but a tad to heavy on the "academic" presentation of the topic for me to really enjoy it.

>181 BLBera: - I admit to having read what I thought was a fair number of Whitney books in my youth so I was rather surprised to discover that I hadn't even scratched the surface of her prolific writing! I hear you on being done with the "white stuff". This has been a rather unusual winter and I think a lot of people will be very thankful to see Spring arrive!

I am debating about the framing of the cross stitch, whether I should have it mounted under glass or just tauntly mounted on a exposed wooden frame. Got to think about that a bit. It is the size of the finished project that makes the framing a "ponder-able" for me. Three feet by three feet makes for a rather large frame.

>182 mathgirl40: - Thanks Paulina! I seem to be stuck in a 45KM/week rut right now, what with weather and my lazy Sundays spend at home impacting my ability to log more "clicks".

Winter here in Victoria has been colder than usual - and snowier than usual - but nothing compared to the repeated blasts of winter that have hammered the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. I am pretty a lot of people out here on the coast are looking forward to winter being over with!

>183 VivienneR: - Thanks Vivienne. As you said, snow in Victoria is a different situation entirely, between the lack of drivers with experience driving in the "white stuff", the fact that we have no snow removal plan and that it is usually a weird combination of sleet/freezing rain/snow to make everything icy, which then becomes a slushy mess when the temps rise above 0'C. A recipe for disaster, I would say. ;-)

Oh dear.... I love the idea of a minimalist SO but that is probably me doing that "grass is always greener on the other side" kind of thinking. In all fairness to my adorable hoarder, he sees every purchase as having some form of resale value. He has been very good in the past at buying computer/electronics, using them for a year and then reselling them at either a good return (sometimes even a profit) because he takes good care of them and buyers seem willing to pay more for even used products when you are able to sell them with the original packaging, but that was in the past so there is no reason for him to retain the bulky packaging when we won't be reselling, that is my thinking anyways.

Good luck keeping an eye out for "new spaces" that crop up at home! That would drive me crazy as I would then have to spend time trying to figure out what used to be there that is now gone. ;-)

>184 andreablythe: - It's wonderful to be able to admire the beauty of snow from a digital distance. LOL! That did give me a chuckle!

I can appreciate how King has such a huge following and I may be tempted at some point to try the Dark Tower series but I definitely have no interest in reading Christine or any of those horror stories!

I have really enjoyed getting back into crafting. I find it relaxing and it helps me to flex my creativity muscles a bit by analyzing colour combinations, etc. Right now I am trying to decide on a headband pattern for the wool >163 lkernagh: and realizing that I need to re-learn some crochet and knitting basics!

Having a quiet evening tonight - which is rare! - and taking advantage to finally pull together my February re-cap, which is now ready for posting.

After a bit of a relationship-stressful Sunday, my other half and I are back sailing the waters hand in hand. He even surprised me by tackling something that I have been asking him to do for over 2-years: He gathered up all of his tools, went through them, placed the ones he wants to keep in his tool box and disposed of the rest. His tools had kind of taken over the house over the years to the point where one of my office desk drawers - along with a kitchen drawer and part of the front hall closet - contained nests of tools. So happy to know that all tools are now in one spot and that unnecessary duplicates and triplicates have found their way to new homes.

On the craft project front, I am still trying to decide on the pattern I will knit or crochet. This pondering may take a little while. Didn't expect to be so indecisive about something as simple as a wool headband design. ;-)

On the reading front, I have completed my first March book - Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road and will be posting the review shortly. Currently reading Matylda, Bright & Tender by Holly M. McGee, and LT Early Reviewer book as my evening/bedtime read. Currently at the half way mark and finding it to be a sweet, heartfelt story, even if there is a lizard involved. ;-) Current audiobook read for my walking commute is The Violets of March by Sarah Jio.

.... now for that February re-cap and book review.

As a quick monthly recap, I am happy to report that I did manage to read a book for each of my sub-categories, so I am "2-for-2" so far with my challenge!



2nd book in a series:
- The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)
- The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig - (review)

Books with Two (2) in the title:
- 11.22.63 by Stephen King - (review)

Books page count (101-200 pages):
- The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Two-Word title:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)
- Look Again by Lisa Scottoline - (review)
- Office Girl by Joe Meno - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of February:
- Office Girl by Joe Meno - (review)

Books with February, Iris or Amethyst in title or author/main character name:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)

Books where main theme is Sincerity:
- Sincerity: How a moral ideal born five hundred years ago inspired religious wars | modern art | hipster chic | and the curious notion that we ALL have something to say (no matter how dull) by R. Jay Magill Jr. - (review)

Books with Purple cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis A. Whitney - (review)



Miscellaneous books read:
- The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson - (review)

------------------------------------
FEBRUARY SUMMARY:
No. of Books read: 7
ROOTs read: 4
Largest book read by page count: - 11/22/63 by Stephen King at 740 pages
Smallest book read by page count: - The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith at 128 pages
# Pages read: - 2,416 pages
Average # pages per book read: - 345.14 pages
Average # pages read per day: - 86.29
Audiobooks / eBooks / Physical Books: - 4/1/2 making note that three of the audioreads were listened to as a way to get physical reads off my TBR pile.
Male vs. Female Authors: - 5 vs. 2
Fiction vs. Non-Fiction Reads: - 6 vs. 1
Average Decimal/ Star rating for books read: 3.53 out of 5 / - Without the Scottoline book, the average rating would be 3.75 out of 5.
------------------------------------
Hummmmm..... The February monthly summary stats looks very similar to the stats I reported for January. Time to see if I can mix things up a bit in March.

Book #17 - Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - audiobook narrated by Robert Ramirez and Ruth Ann Phimister
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, Root
Category: "Book with Three (3) in the title" and "Books with Three-Word title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2005
Acquisition date: December 17, 2011
Page count: 382 pages / 15 hours, 51 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.50 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

It is 1919, and Niska, the last Oji-Cree woman to live off the land, has received word that one of the two boys she saw off to the Great War has returned. Xavier Bird, her sole living relation, is gravely wounded and addicted to morphine. As Niska slowly paddles her canoe on the three-day journey to bring Xavier home, travelling through the stark but stunning landscape of Northern Ontario, their respective stories emerge—stories of Niska’s life among her kin and of Xavier’s horrifying experiences in the killing fields of Ypres and the Somme.

Review:
Some stories are crafted to just tell a story. Nothing wrong with that. With Three Day Road, Boyden has done more than just tell a story. He has crafted a journey. A literal journey in the three day canoe trip Xavier and his Aunt take to travel from town to their home deep in the bush country. A moral journey as we experience the fine line between heroism and homicide against the backdrop of World War I trench warfare and Cree folklore about the Windago, a monster that is a symbol of despair who comes to hunters who become consumed by an unceasing craving for what is unnatural (cannibalism, morphine addiction, human blood-lust). A cultural/racial journey as we experience, through Niska, the sad decline of Cree culture heralded by the creation of reservations and residential schools, with Niska representing one of the remaining traditional natives who live rough in the woods with their wits and traditional teachings to guide them.

I really liked this one. An awful lot to pack into a debut novel, but under Boyden’s pen, this merging of complex stories is handled with a skill and grace that works wonderfully.

>189 lkernagh: Sounds interesting! Thanks for the review.

>188 lkernagh: Congrats on the February accomplishments. I've added Amethyst Dreams to my library wish list. I may use it for my own challenge :-)

>186 lkernagh:
The Dark Tower series is fantasy/western/alternate reality, but it's also most definitely horror at some points. So, if that's not your cup of tea, then maybe don't try that one.

The kind of King you might want to try is Different Seasons, which is the basis for the Stand by Me and Shawshank Redemption movies. He has a some other books, too, that are less horror and more drama.

>189 lkernagh: I really liked Three Day Road. I keep meaning to read more by Boyden.

>186 lkernagh: If you'd like to try more Stephen King without the horror I'd recommend Dolores Claiborne. My favorite King is The Stand - the shorter, original version - for it's epic good vs evil story. But it does contain some horror elements and some fantastical elements.

>190 VictoriaPL: - Three Day Road is one of those "better than expected" kind of reads for me, Victoria. Sometimes the WWI trench warfare stories can seem a bit "done" considering there are so many books out that with WWI as the topic, but this is the first book I have read with a First Nations angle to it, so that made it more interesting reading for me.

>191 Sace: - Thanks Sace! February proved to be a rather productive reading month, which surprised me given the shorter month that it is.

>192 andreablythe: - Oh, sounds like I will hold off on reading The Dark Tower series then, Andrea. I am okay with fantasy and alternate reality but you are right, I am not a fan of horror. Thank you so much for giving me an overview and for the suggestion of Different Seasons.

>193 VioletBramble: - Oh, another King suggestion! Many thanks Kelly. I will add Delores Claibourne and The Stand to my possible future reading list, with the caveat that The Stand does contain some horror elements.

Sending all my friends rather groggy "Happy Sunday wishes". I have never been a big fan of Daylight Savings but I won't subject you all to my grumblings. I am still waiting for Spring to arrive on the island but at least the cold weather has not deterred me from my walking, not like rain with gail-force winds can do. Some of my plants have decided to ignore the cold weather and have started to sprout up again, like my chives:



I haven't decided if I want to get going with a herb garden this year. I may go low-key and just maintain my perennials - the thyme, rosemary and chives - but we shall see. I may get the gardening bug later when the weather improves.

On the reading front, I have finished two more books - audiobooks really make it easier for me to get books read! - and reviews are ready for posting.

On the craft front, I did spend some time last night testing a couple of the headband patterns and I am still not sure which one I want to make. Will need to ponder that a bit more.

Taking a break this weekend from our on-going re-org/purge project as we are both a little tired from a busy week so plan on taking things a little easy today.

.
Book #18 - Matylda, Bright & Tender by Holly M. McGhee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books page count (201-300 pages)"
Source: LTER/TBR
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 2017
Acquisition date: February 3, 2017
Page count: 224 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.com booklisting webpage:

Sussy and Guy are best friends, fourth-graders who share their silliest thoughts and deepest hopes. One afternoon, the two of them decide they must have something of their very own to love. After a trip to the pet store, they bring home a spotted lizard, the one with the ancient face and starfish toes, and they name her Matylda (with a y so it’s all her own). With Guy leading the way, they feed her and give her an origin story fit for a warrior lizard. A few weeks later, on a simple bike ride, there is a terrible accident. As hard as it is, Sussy is sure she can hold on to Guy if she can find a way to love Matylda enough. But in a startling turn of events, Sussy reconsiders what it means to grieve and heal and hope and go on, for her own sake and Matylda’s.

Review:
McGhee, who has authored three picture-books under the pen name Hallie Durand, has written a sweet, endearing story of love, loss, grief and healing experienced from the point of view of a ten-year-old child. McGhee authentically captures the rollercoaster ride that grief is and the amazing, lasting power of friendship. The adults in the story are relegated to mere support roles, but even so, McGhee has crafted them to be nurturing, attentive and supportive and very much a support system for the personal grief the story focuses on. I found the information about leopard geckos and their care as pets to be really fascinating, and I am not really a lizard kind of gal. ;-) Aptly titled, McGhee has written a heartwarming story about the heavy emotions of grief and suffering with a bright and tender touch.

Book #19 - The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - audiobook read by Lyssa Browne
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books set predominantly in the month of March", "Books with March, Jonquil (Daffodil) or Aquamarine in title or author/main character name" and "Books page count (201-300 pages)" = Hat trick!
Source: Hoopla
Format: audiobook
Original publication date: 2011
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 296 pages / 9 hours, 22 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after. Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

Review:
I am going to call this one a pleasant Gothic-lite type of beach read. Gothic for the haunting atmosphere of the mysterious family secret a handful of Bainbridge Islanders seem to know all about that Emily has to work to uncover. A good beach read in that recently divorcee Emily has not one but two romantic interests (or three if we include her ex in the count) with the escape from New York City to an island retreat, even if spending March on an island in the Puget Sound, Washington area isn’t exactly the tropical “sun and surf” locale other readers may prefer. Of course, the icing on the cake for me is the historical fiction aspect of the 1943 diary slowly reveals a haunting story of love gone wrong.

Jio does a wonderful job pulling tiny tidbits from the 1943 diary story and echoing them in present day for Emily to stumble across, twigging tiny “deja-vu” experiences. Jio accurately captures Bainbridge Island and has created some wonderful characters in Aunt Bee, Evelyn, Henry and Emily’s BFF Annie. The romantic interests were just okay as they came across as being a tad too contrived for my tastes. As far as protagonists go, Emily fits the bill as the typical contemporary romance lead but parts of her character had me eye-rolling, especially the fact that Emily seems to be financially well off considering she doesn’t appear to have any income except for the revenue from the sales of her debut novel (yes it was a bestseller and yes it was made into a movie but that was like 5 years ago). There are also a couple of discontinuity issues that the editor/proof-reader should have caught (for example, Esther arrives in a wool twin set but a couple of paragraphs later, the buttons on her dress are being undone).

Overall, I really, really enjoyed the family secrets mystery and the Puget Sound location but beyond that, this is a formula beach read just like thousands of other books of the same contemporary romance genre. A pleasant way to while away a rainy afternoon or a lazy Sunday.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 87 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 45.62
Kilometers walked in total:3,468.09
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Nipigon and due north of Ruby Lake Provincial Park, heading Gravel River Provincial Nature Reserve.
Points of interest along the way: I will say this about Southern Ontario - there are a lot of lakes parks to visit! While googling for images of Ruby Lake I found some really good ones... only to discover that they were for Ruby Lake on the Sunshine Coast of BC! Go figure.... I am actually learning more about my own province with this cross-Canada walking journey. I did not know BC had a Ruby Lake. ;-)

>197 lkernagh: That sounds interesting. I may see if my library has it. I'm enjoying keeping up with your walking progress!

>193 VioletBramble:
Seconding the Delores Claiborne recommendation.

>189 lkernagh: - I really need to get back to Three Day Road. It's one I started last year but put aside because it wasn't the right book for me at that time. Maybe this year...

>189 lkernagh: Great review! A friend gave me his copy of Three Day Road but I still haven't got to it. It will have to be soon or he might change his mind about sharing any more books with me.

>199 Sace: - Definitely a good book to check out from the library! Thanks. On the walking front I have had some struggles but happy to report that I do seen to be back in the "swing of things" and clocking more kilometers than I was last year. ;-)

>200 andreablythe: - Good to see both of you recommend Delores Claiborne! I will see if my local library has that one. If not, I can probably find it in one of the used bookstores but that will have to wait until next year.

>201 LittleTaiko: - Three Day Road worked quite well as an audiobook read for me. I find audiobooks can sometimes make a story more interesting due to the reader's voice and inflections as they read. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for all books. Good luck if you do decide to give Three Day Road another go!

>202 VivienneR: - Thanks Vivienne! Do you think there is a chance your friend has forgotten they loaned you their copy? ;-) Probably best to ensure the book sharing continues.

Happy Sunday everyone. I am not much of a sports fan so usually March Madness - the US college basketball tournament - is something that I only watch if I happen to be visiting family in Calgary because my sister and her family are avid March Madness fans. Anyways, this year my niece texted me on Wednesday that "The second most wonderful time of year starts tomorrow!" So I decided this year to cheer for a team. I went completely random with my choice and asked my niece if any team playing has a purple uniform. Apparently Northwestern University has purple uniforms and it is their first foray into the tournament in 78 years so I had my team. They won their first game! WOOT! I was texting my niece about the game yesterday during halftime, which lead to my sister's text "What this I hear? You watching March Madness???" (Always fun to keep the family surprised!) Northwestern played a great game yesterday but sadly they lost so they are now out of the running but they played awesome for their first tourney. Continuing my completely random choice for teams to cheer for, I then asked my niece if any team still in the tourney had green uniforms. Apparently Michigan State does so I am now cheering for Michigan. I love being random about things like sports. ;-)

On the crafting front, I have placed my current craft project on hold while I refresh myself on some basic knitting and crocheting skills.

On the reading front, I have managed to plow through two more books and have reviews ready for posting.

On the walking front, I finally managed to log over - okay, just over - 50 Km this week so I am super happy about that. The weather is beautiful this morning so I am going to take advantage of the sunshine and head out for a long walk with my iPod and my audiobooks.

Wishing everyone a happy Sunday and a wonderful week!

Book #20 - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - audiobook read by John Lee
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Three-Word title" and "Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the colour mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: May 16, 2010
Page count: 304 pages / 8 hours, 8 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the book back cover:

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life - having nothing but his own wits to help him along. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem - but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

Review:
As a social commentary piece, Adiga scores with this story depicting the huge inequalities of Indian life: from the shining “Light” of the prosperous and booming tech/ movie industry of the cities to the feudal hardships of “the Darkness” in rural India where brutal landlords hold sway over peasants and elections are routinely rigged affairs. Revolution and insurrection are topics Balram raises in his 7-day letter to the Chinese premier. As a parable, the story works quite well, excusing the fact that the characters are exaggerated caricatures of the different social classes that make up Adiga’s tale and making allowances for some of the rather overdone scenes. Balram makes an interesting anti-hero but I found the story to have a rather mean-spirited voice in Balram’s witty barbed observations, so that I was rather happy to see this satirical story come to an end.

Book #21 - These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon - audiobook read by John McDonough
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 1996
Acquisition date: May 15, 2011
Page count: 333 pages / 13 hours, 50 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: adapted from the penguinrandomhouse.com booklisting webpage:

Come away to Mitford, the small town that takes care of its own. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Mitford is a crazy quilt of saints and sinners — lovable eccentrics all. Seen through the eyes of Father Tim, the long-suffering Village Rector, Mitford abounds in both mysteries and miracles. In These High, Green Hills, Father Tim fulfills Cynthia’s conviction that deep down he is a man of romance, panache, and daring. Though his cup of joy overflows, his heart goes out to those around him who so badly need the healing aid of a loving heart. Chief among these is Dooley, his teenage ward, whose rough edges grate against the boarding school he both loves and hates. Can Father Tim face the much deeper needs of Dooley’s mother, Pauline, and the battered young girl Lace, whose childhood has been a horror story of neglect?

Review:
It took me a bit of time to re-acquaint myself with the town folk of Mitford as three years have past since my last visit to Mitford via A Light in the Window, Book 2 in Karon’s The Mitford Years series. Even with that time gap, my memory was able to place most of the characters easily, Karon’s characters are that memorable! While some of the circumstances come across as a bit contrived – I am thinking about the cave scene and Father Tim’s on-going ability to control his dog Barnabas by quoting scripture to the dog – the story does an wonderful job capturing the overall quaintness of small town life. Definitely a slow-paced story, which works well when dealing with routine activities of town and parish life but seems a bit out of step in the sections where Father Tim has to face urgent social services issues or a medical crisis and the story maintains that same sedate pace.

Overall, another quaint home style read I found to be a soothing balm as it hearkens back to a less complicated way of life. A life with no social media, flashy gadgets and where computers were big black boxes of mystery that were used, grudgingly, for only basic office functions like managing parish accounts and creating mailing labels.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 88 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 50.24
Kilometers walked in total:3,518.33
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: East of Gravel River Provincial Nature Reserve, heading for Rossport and Rainbow Falls Provincial Park.
Points of interest along the way: Nothing new to report except for the fact that it has been 35 weeks since I last broke the 50 km mark for kilometers walking in one week, so dance of joy for the 50.24 KM walked this past week!

Being random about your March Madness picks is a great idea! I pick out beer or wine fairly randomly as well -- if it has a funny name or an interesting label, it's in my cart.

Enjoy the sunshine! It is very sunny here too.

Two schools from our state made it in this year - Providence College (who lost in the very first preliminary round) and the University of RI which won their first game and are playing later tonight. But I think your way of picking teams is just as good as any.

I do love that you are going for uniform color when making your choice. When I was growing up, I was a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan solely because of their helmets. I'm not really a football fan now, but do still have a soft spot for them.

Good job on the walking, Lori. You're over halfway!

Have a great weekend.

>208 rabbitprincess: - I love being random but it doesn't seemed to have helped me choose any teams to cheer for with lasting power. ;-) I love picking beer and wine at random. Some beers (and one or two wines) have been a rather negative surprise on consumption - I still remember the rose that turned out to be a sweet and fizzy wine, which are both negatives for me as I tend to like my wines on the dry side and really only want fizzy when I am in the mood for champagne. ;-)

>209 dudes22: - Kudos to two schools from your state making it into March Madness, Betty! My way of choosing teams hasn't been a winning method this year but I do like mixing it up a bit and making chooses that are not based on team statistics. ;-)

>210 LittleTaiko: - Yay, another individual who cheers for a team for reasons that the average sports fan would find eye-brow raising. ;-) I can totally see cheering for a team based on the design on their helmets. I am not much of a football fan but I do like to cheer for the Ottawa Redblacks because I like the idea of a team name that also describes their team colours. ;-)

>211 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! I know I am behind my 3 year schedule to cross Canada but if it takes me 4 years, that is okay, too. ;-)

Hello everyone! Another week down. Hard to believe that there is just one more week left in March and then we are in April! It has been a great week on the reading and crafting front - not so much on the walking front as I under the weather for a couple of days earlier in the week.

As for March Madness, my second team didn't last very long either so I am thinking that maybe next year I will choose the team to cheer for based on team mascots. ;-)

Spring is super slow in arriving to the island this year. At least the cherry blossoms are starting to bud out and the daffodils have bloomed but usually at this time of year the lilac bushes are starting to flower and that is not happening yet. For my herb garden, the chives are going great guns:



and even the Greek Oregano is starting to come up:



With the Thyme, Rosemary and Sage as year round plants, looks like I will need to get around to growing some Dill and Basil to round out the herb basics. ;-)

.... now for the craft project update, walking update and a flurry of reviews.

Craft Project #2 for 2017: Crochet Headband - UPDATE:



So, I downloaded a number of different headband patterns - cable knits, shells, etc - and after a couple of attempts I realized that I needed to give myself a bit of a refresher course in the basics of knitting and crocheting, it has been that long since I last had needles or a hook in my hands! After some practice, I settled on this crochet headband pattern. Cute and simple is what I was going for. Of course, with everything I attempt, I decided I didn't like how Row 2 of the pattern was working out (basically, after the first row, one just repeats Row 2 until desired length is reached.) I liked the repetitive pattern of the first row and decided to make the band as a repetition of just the First Row instructions. That small change turned the layered shell pattern look into a tight waffle pattern look and one I really like!

.

Sorry, with the overcast weather we continue to have here in Victoria, I had a bit of difficulty taking some pics that will let you see the pattern effect. So far, I have crocheted 9" so I have a ways to go before the headband will be finished but the pattern is simple enough that I can mindlessly crochet while watching TV or listening to an audiobook. I am looking forward to having a new headband to keep my head - and more particularly my ears! - for next winter. ;-)

Book #22 - Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Lisette Lecat
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series" and "Books page count (201-300 pages)"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback/audiobook
Original publication date: 2002
Acquisition date: May 11, 2014
Page count: 227 pages / 8 hours, 11 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.40 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

Precious Ramotswe, founder and owner of the only detective agency for the concerns of both ladies and others, investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important “Government Man,” and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Yet her business is having money problems, and when other difficulties arise at her fiancé’s Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she discovers the reliable Mr J.L.B. Matekoni is more complicated then he seems.

Review:
The third installment in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is like slipping into an afternoon visit with Precious Ramotswe, her fiance J.L.B. Matekoni and her assistant detective Mma Makutsi. In this installment, the focus is more on Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. I enjoyed reading more about Mma Makutsi and loved how she handles takes on a case on her own while managing the apprentices at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and implementing some sound business changes in Matekoni's absence. As with the previous books in the series, it reads more like a collection of stories and the mysteries brought to Mma Ramotswe have more of a moral vein to them, which I enjoy as we get to see Mma Ramotswe assessing how to best solve the moral problems in a manner that is best for all parties, compared to more straightforward decisions of right and wrong from a strictly legal perspective. That being said, some of the sub-plots, like the mystery of the wild child found in the wilderness, seemed to be just unresolved filler.

Overall, another enjoyable visit to Mma Ramotswe's Botswana.

Book #23 - Daffodils by Alex Martin
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with March, Jonquil (Daffodil) or Aquamarine in title or author/main character name" and
"Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: e-book
Original publication date: 2014
Acquisition date: September 7, 2016
Page count: 352 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

Katy, dreams of a better life than just being a domestic servant at Cheadle Manor. Her one attempt to escape is thwarted when her flirtation with the manor’s heir results in a scandal that shocks the local community. Jem Beagle has always loved Katy. His offer of marriage rescues her but personal tragedy divides them. Jem leaves his beloved Wiltshire to become reluctant soldier on the battlefields of The First World War. Katy is left behind, restless and alone. Lionel White, the local curate, has just returned from India, bringing a dash of colour to the small village, and offers Katy a window on the wider world. Katy decides she has to play her part in a world at arms and joins up as a WAAC girl. She finally breaks free from the stifling class-ridden hierarchies that bind her but the brutality of 20th century global war brings home the price she has paid for her search.

Review:
I really like how the novel focuses on the village life of a manor house and its outside workers (gardeners, etc). A refreshing change from the inside servants POV of the TV series Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, and the like. The pacing of the story is slow moving. It is really more of a historical romance/family saga with a WWI focus kind of read. Some of the characters are well developed, I am thinking of Jem Beagle and Cassandra. Katy strikes me as a bit flighty, a bit emphatic with her emotions of grief and only partially developed as a character. As for Lionel, the local curate, Martin has crafted a character that seems to be far removed from anything realistic or believable. He acts more like a petulant child than a grown man trying to provide succor to his flock, be that flock the villagers or the soldiers in France. He just does not work as a character for me. For me, the best parts of the story are the chapters that focus on Jem's war experience. I really cannot accept Katy role in this story, which is a huge negative given that she is the lead character.

Overall, a okay historical fiction romance type of read but didn't capture my attention enough for me to consider reading the other two books in the trilogy.

Book #24 - A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage by BJ Gallagher
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "Books with main theme of Courage"
Source: GVPL
Format: Trade paperback
Original publication date: 1995
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 187 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.80 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca booklisting webpage:

A Peacock in the Land of Penguins echoes the dilemma facing businesses across the country -- how to manage the increasing diversity of the workforce and how to capture the talent, creativity, energy, and commitment of all employees. Written in a charming, engaging style, the book is a fable about a peacock who struggles to be itself while surrounded by penguins. Can these seemingly opposite birds work productively together?

Review:
I do enjoy when life lessons are conveyed through the use of storytelling. Gallagher has crafted a very clever fable focused on birds to communicate the importance of diversity and change within and across organizations. The personalities - Perry the Peacock, Edward the Eagle, Helen the Hawk, Mike the Mockingbird and Sara the Swan - all have unique personalities that make them "different" from the penguins. "Penguin" is the metaphor used throughout this book to refer to "anyone who is narrow-minded, tradition-bound, risk-averse, conservative, resistant to new ideas or different perspectives and tied to the way he or she has always done things.", making the Land of Penguins a hard place for the non-penguins to survive and thrive in. What I really like is that Gallagher points out that the Land of Opportunity - the opposite of the Land of Penguins - is a state of mind:

The Land of Opportunity is an attitude.
It is an openness to new ideas,
a willingness to listen,
an eagerness to learn,
a desire to grow,
and the flexibility to change.

Originally published in 1995, the 20th anniversary edition copy I read contains a "Tips and Tools for Feathered Friends" where on can assess their "Penguinesque" personality and that while there is a little bit of Penguin in all of us, even Penguins can be taught how to fly (change), but the favorite part of this book for me is the special bonus parable that examines the rise of millennials and the corporate downsizing years where even those older Penguins were cut adrift and Perry the Peacock coming to the rescue with the following words of advice:

• Business is all about relationships


• Getting good at getting along is essential


• Don't look for safety - look for opportunity


• The key to surviving and thriving in turbulent times is feel your fear and get into action anyways


• Don't judge a bird by its feathers - don't be preoccupied with visual diversity while overlooking invisible diversity


• Don't let what you can't do stop you from what you can do


• Focus on what you can do, not what you can't

A wonderful, and very short book packed with excellent advice on how the non-penguins of the world can help the Penguins to create a Land of Opportunity where "we stop judging each other by superficial criteria and begin to see and appreciate everyone as uniquely talented, capable and valuable."

Book #25 - The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig - audiobook read by Kate Reading
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category
Category: "3rd book in a series"
Source: GVPL
Format: Audiobook
Original publication date: 2006
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 387 pages / 13 hours, 53 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the Librarything.com book description:

Harvard grad student Eloise Kelly has gotten into quite a bit of trouble since she's been spying on the Pink Carnation and the Black Tulip--two of the deadliest agents to saunter the streets of nineteenth-century England and France. Not only has she been unearthing secrets that will rearrange history, but she's been dallying with Colin Selwick and looking for a romantic adventure all her own. Little does she know that she's about to uncover another fierce heroine running headlong into history. In June 1803, Letty Alsworthy attempts to prevent her sister's midnight elopement--only to be accidentally whisked away herself. The scandal forces her into a hasty marriage with Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe, who then decamps immediately to help the Pink Carnation quash a ring of Irish rebels let by the Black Tulip. Not to be outdone, Letty steals away to the Emerald Isle herself, ready to learn a thing or two about espionage--and never imagining she might learn a few things about love along the way.

Review:
After the fun, rollicking pace of the first two books in Willig's Pink Carnation series, this third installment had more of a muted build to the plot lines, the intrigue and the romance. The story did improve - especially with Willig bringing Jane and Gwen back as part of the main cast of characters for this latest espionage intrigue in Ireland. The forthright "call it like she sees it" Gwen is one of my favorite characters.... such a hoot and love how she brandishes her parasol and her tongue with barbed, non-nonsense acidity. Willig has a keen eye for drawing her historical heroines as intelligent, witty and feisty individuals capable of holding their own against unwanted advances from both society rakes and devious, deadly spies. I really like how each installment so far has involved a different "couple" to represent the historical espionage and romance part of the story, while the present day story consistently follows the "hopefully" budding romance between Eloise and Colin.

Another delightful adventure in 1800's Europe paired with a charming modern day chick-lit romance.

Book #26 - At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith - audiobook read by Paul Hecht
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "3rd book in a series"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2004
Acquisition date: April 30, 2016
Page count: 128 pages / 3 hours, 54 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the local library catalogue book listing:

Von Igelfeld is quite pleased with his role as a visiting scholar at Cambridge, even if his English colleagues can be difficult to comprehend. They frequently speak in metaphors and make peculiar assumptions, saying such odd things as "I take it your journey went well, " when that is not the case at all. But von Igelfeld settles in the best he can, and is soon deeply embroiled in some shady political scheming at the university. After returning to the comfort of his perfectly rational Germany, von Igelfeld is invited to Colombia for a special fellowship. But while there, he gets caught up in some decidedly unscupulous behavior.

Review:
As much as von Ingelfeld struck me as an unlikable character in the earlier installments in the series, I have to admit that he does have some likeable traits (like importance be places on being true to the family motto Truth Always which leads to interesting awkward moments for von Ingelfeld as he struggles to not lie while at the same time steer a visiting professor from learning of the whereabouts of the washroom facilities located across the hall from von Ingelfeld's Cambridge quarters. The fact that most if not all of von Ingelfeld's attempts for preferential self glory tend to backfire on him makes the stories in this installment entertaining. If the story has a moral message it is that "The grass is not always greener on the other side." I found the episode in Colombia to be rather far-fetched but still entertaining and I did enjoy von Ingelfeld's bafflement at the oddities of his Cambridge colleagues. Nothing better than having a von Ingelfeld appear rather "normal" compared to the behaviour of the Cambridge master!

Overall, this is a series that has grown on me and I am really glad that I did not let the tepid experience of Portuguese Irregular Verbs deter me from continuing with the series.

My Trans Canada Walking Journey


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







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

WEEK 89 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 41.33
Kilometers walked in total:3,559.66
Current province: (ON)
My current location on the map: West of Schreiber and heading for Terrace Bay.
Points of interest along the way: Continuing to follow what is known as the "scenic lake drive", it is not surprising that the predominantly rural communities of Rossport and Schreiber are set up to accomodate tourists, with Rossport even boasting of having gourmet dining. The area looks like a lovely place to get away and unwind:


Rossport, Ontario - Source: Wikipedia


Schreiber, Ontario - Source: Wikipedia

Love the old Main Street look of Schreiber! According to Wikipedia, Schreiber was named after Sir Collingwood Schreiber, a railway engineer, founding member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, and deputy minister of Railways and Canals 1892-1905 while Rossport is named after John Ross (c1820-1898), construction manager for the north shore of Lake Superior route of the Canadian Pacific Railway from August 1882 to June 1885. The legacy of the building of the railway to connect the Canadian territories is a strong one.


Schreiber Railway Station circa 1900 - Source: CPR Archives

>218 lkernagh: Glad you are enjoying the Pink Carnation series!
I enjoy seeing your Walking tour, very nice...

Hi Lori, I am also a fan of the Pink Carnation series, they make great escape reading. :)

You are so talented.

I love the herbs!

>213 lkernagh: My chives are coming up again too! I must admit I grow them as much for the flowers as the actual chives, but I'm always happy to see them returning each year!

Enjoying your reviews!

I'll take a book bullet for A Peacock in a Land of Penguins; I think this is something I could use at work as we continue to emphasize diversity and inclusion.

>221 VictoriaPL: - Hi Victoria, and thanks! Yes, I am loving the Pink Carnation series. Such fun!

>222 DeltaQueen50: - They sure do, Judy!

>223 BLBera: - Aw, thanks Beth! I am so happy every spring when the plants I 'abandoned' during the winter months come back and let me know that it is time to grow again.

>224 Jackie_K: - Chives do produce beautiful flowers, Jackie.

>225 LisaMorr: - Thanks Lisa! I have been raving about A Peacock in a Land of Penguins to anyone who will listen to me, so happy to see my review caught your interest.

Wow.... the last day of March. Where did the first three months of the year go? I am looking forward to a hopefully relaxing weekend.

On the reading front, I have finished one more book and have two others on the go. I won't be finishing any more books tonight so now seems like a good time to wrap up the March and quarterly reading stats.

On the craft project front, I have finished the headband (I will get around to posting a proper project update probably later this weekend) and because I still have a lot of yarn left, I am now attempting to make a pair of finger-less mittens.

Now for the review, the wrap up and I should probably get around to creating a new thread.

Book #27 - The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - audiobook read by Dan Stevens
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2017 Category, ROOT
Category: "Books with Three-Word title" and "Books with either White/Yellow or Light Blue cover or the colour mentioned in the book title"
Source: TBR
Format: Trade paperback / audiobook
Original publication date: 2008
Acquisition date: September 9, 2011
Page count: 544 pages / 15 hours, 30 minutes listening time
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.60 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:

In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martin, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city’s underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed — a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

Review:
Really, really difficult to come up with a rating for this one. On the one hand, Zafon delivers another fantastic tale imbued with evocative writing, atmospheric feel and solid Gothic quality, shrouding the mystery playing out on the pages. Zafron’s depiction of 1920’s Barcelona is a Gothic reader’s delight, filled with crumbling Gothic piles, labyrinthine streets, damp cemeteries and eccentric architecture like the tower house where David lives. As with Zafon’s previous book, The Shadow of the Wind, literary references abound, with Great Expectations – my favorite Dickens novel – receiving repeated references throughout the story, exemplifying David’s Dickensian like childhood, making it easy for this reader to glimpse similarities between Dickens’ London and Zafron’s Barcelona. The concept of a writer possibly making a pact with the Devil is not a new idea for a story-line, but Zafon handles it with a flourishing finesse, giving the idea a refined quality.

So, what not to like? Well, my main complaint is that in the second half of the story Zafron gives up all pretense of eloquent, refined brooding Gothic atmosphere and slides the story squarely into pulp fiction madness mode with a barrage of rather absurd subplots and an escalating dead body count that seems completely superfluous to the main story. Even the ending – via a rather strange epilogue – leaves me wondering if Zafron started out writing one story and midstream decided to head in a different direction. As for the characters, Isabela is a delight and the perfect feisty counter to David’s detached manner, but none of the other characters stand out as amazing or memorable. Even Corelli, our villein, takes second fiddle as a character to the mystery that surrounds him.

Oh…. did I mention that the audiobook is narrated by Dan Stevens (Matthew of Downton Abbey fame and the Beast in the latest reboot of Beauty and the Beast)? Stevens does a fabulous job reading the story and is one of the reasons the story is receiving a rather generous rating from me.

Overall, I am a bit disappointed with how such a fabulous story deteriorated into such a pulp fiction mess. This story is probably not for readers who steer clear of pulp fiction and senseless violence. This has not deterred me from looking forward to reading more Zafon... I just now know that I cannot expect the reaction I had when reading The Shadow of the Wind.

Happily, my challenge setup has made it possible for me to read a book for each of my sub-categories. "3-for-3" so far with my challenge!



3rd book in a series:
- These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon - (review)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)
- The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig - (review)
- At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Three (3) in the title:
- Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - (review)

Books page count (201-300 pages):
- Matylda, Bright & Tender by Holly M. McGhee - (review)
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith - (review)

Books with Three-Word title:
- Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - (review)
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - (review)
- The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - (review)

Books set predominantly in the month of March:
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)

Books with March, Jonquil (Daffodil) or Aquamarine in title or author/main character name:
- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio - (review)
- Daffodils by Alex Martin - (review)

Books where main theme is Courage:
- A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Fable about Creativity and Courage by BJ Gallagher - (review)

Books with either White, Yellow or Light Blue cover or the color mentioned in the book title:
- The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - (review)
- Daffodils by Alex Martin - (review)
- The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - (review)

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

JAN-MAR 2017 (1st Quarter) RE-CAP:



# of Books Read: 27
. . . Largest book read: Paris by Edward Rutherfurd at 809 pages
. . . Smallest book read: Cupcakes by Daniel Kelley at 26 pages
. . . Male vs. Female Authors: 15 vs. 12
. . . Fiction vs. Non-fiction - 23 vs. 4
. . . Audiobooks / eBooks / Physical Books - 17 / 3 / 7 - In fairness, 12 of the audiobooks were books I already had on

my TBR bookshelves so one could say that I have "read" 19 physical books
. . . ROOTs Read: 16

Original Publication Year Range: 1995 to 2017
. . . . . . 1900 - 3
. . . . . . . . . 1990 - 3
. . . . . . 2000 - 24
. . . . . . . . . 2002 - 1
. . . . . . . . . 2004 - 3
. . . . . . . . . 2005 - 2
. . . . . . . . . 2006 - 2
. . . . . . . . . 2008 - 2
. . . . . . . . . 2009 - 1
. . . . . . . . . 2011 - 1
. . . . . . . . . 2012 - 6
. . . . . . . . . 2013 - 2
. . . . . . . . . 2014 - 1
. . . . . . . . . 2015 - 1
. . . . . . . . . 2017 - 2

# of Pages Read: 8,984
Average pages read per day: 99.82
Best Reading Month: March (11 books finished / 3,382 pages read) - March seems to be a good reading month for me.

Last year, March was my best reading month in the first quarter with 10 books finished / 2,959 pages read.

Top 5 Reads:
A Peacock in the Land of Penguins by BJ Gallagher - 5.80 /
The Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye - 4.60 /
Syrian Notebooks: Inside the Homs Uprising by Jonathan Littell - 4.60 /
The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson - 4.60 /
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - 4.50 /

New thread is up. Come on over!