Ellen reads in 2017 - Chapter 3

Grand Tetons National Park

My Rating Scale:

= Breathtaking. This book touched me in a way that only a perfect book can do.
= A wonderful read, among my favorites of the year.
= A great read; truly enjoyable.
= Not quite great but I'm truly glad I read this.
= A solid read, with a few things done particularly well.
= Average, and life is too short to read average works.
= A bit below average. A waste of time.
= Nearly no redeeming qualities. Really rather bad.
= Among the worst books I've ever read.

Honestly, I'm rarely going to complete any book earning fewer than two stars but I reserve the right to rate them based on my experience.

Top Reads in 2016

COMPLETED IN JANUARY 2017

1. The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
2. Nutshell by Ian McEwan
3. Lilith's Brood** by Octavia Butler
4. A Serpent's tooth by Craig Johnson audio
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. The Mortifications by Derek Palacio
7. I Will Have Vengeance** by Maurizio De Giovanni
8. News of the World by Paulette Jiles
9. Blackballed: The Black & White Politics of Race on America's Campuses by Lawrence Ross

COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY

10. The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
11. Snow Angels** by Stewart O'Nan
12. The Round House** by Louise Erdrich
13. The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America** by George Packer
14. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
15. Local by Brian Wood
16. The Assault by Harry Mulisch

COMPLETED IN MARCH

17. Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald**

** Off my shelves

TENTATIVE plans for 2017

Rachel's Group Read: The Rise of Populism and Related Current Affairs

February: The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer - COMPLETED
April: Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
June: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
August: Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? by Thomas Frank
October: The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics by John B. Judis
December: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

I'm also thinking I'll finally read The New Jim Crow which has been on my radar for a while.
And I have Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis to read.

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I will host the 2017 Unregulated REREAD Challenge, for which I will reread at least four works.
Some ideas for rereads:
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The Color Purple by Alice Walker - COMPLETED
My Name is Asher Lev by Chiam Potok
Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie

American Author Challenge IV

January- Octavia Butler -- Lilith's Brood -- COMPLETED
February- Stewart O' Nan -- Snow Angels -- COMPLETED
March- William Styron -- The Confessions of Nat Turner -- currently reading
April- Poetry Month - undecided
May- Zora Neale Hurston
June- Sherman Alexie -- I've read a lot of his work and this may be another candidate for my reread challenge, maybe Indian Killer.
July- James McBride
August- Patricia Highsmith -- The Talented Mr. Ripley and maybe Strangers on a Train and/or The Cry of the Owl
September- Short Story Month
October- Ann Patchett -- Maybe Bel Canto, which is on the TBR shelves.
November- Russell Banks -- I LOVED Cloudsplitter so maybe that will be a reread for me. Or I have Lost Memory of Skin on my shelves.
December- Ernest Hemingway -- Maybe A Moveable Feast

I have also said that I want to read, more intentionally, books by/about marginalized or oppressed peoples, diaspora, global regions that tend not to get represented in "mainstream" publishing circles. I don't have a clear picture of this yet but it is an intention that will guide my reading selections in 2017. I'm anxious to read A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz.

Three more books that I believe fit into my 2017 plans to read toward greater understanding of the political landscape:

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics by George Lipsitz
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

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In April, I'm hosting the CultureCAT Challenge (gulp). My topic is Religious Diversity & Freedom.
I'm tentatively planning to read Islam: A Very Short Introduction and Judaism: A Very Short Introduction, both editions from the Oxford Very Short Introductions Series.
And maybe A History of God or The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong.

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There are also a handful of authors by whom I have read one or two (or three) works and collected several others. I would like to dig into them in 2017, as well. They include:

Haruki Murakami -- I've read After the Quake.
William Trevor -- I've read The Story of Lucy Gault, The Hill Bachelors, and Felicia's Journey.
Mario Vargas Llosa -- I've read The War at the End of the World.
Penelope Fitzgerald -- I've now completed Offshore.

Recommendations from an excellent NPR article about fiction works that might help us better understand current events:

Jennifer Haigh's Book Recommendations:

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Burning Bright by Ron Rash
Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish
World and Town by Gish Jen

Nickolas Butler's Book Recommendations:

Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser
The Round House by Louise Erdrich ~ COMPLETED
The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

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Book Riot Around the Globe in 80 Books which I may use to guide some of my reading

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Tentative Erdrich Reading List:

February: The Round House - COMPLETED

March (optional): LaRose (because I have it and want to read it sooner rather than later)

April: The Master Butchers' Singing Club

June: The Birchbark House

August: The Beet Queen

October: The Bingo Palace

December: The Antelope Wife or The Painted Drum

Personal Reading Challenge: Every winner of the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969
(For some reason, the touchstones won't work for this post.)

1969: P. H. Newby, Something to Answer For
1970: Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member
1970: J. G. Farrell, Troubles (awarded in 2010 as the Lost Man Booker Prize)
1971: V. S. Naipaul, In a Free State
1972: John Berger, G.
1973: J. G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur
1974: Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist and Stanley Middleton, Holiday
1975: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust
1976: David Storey, Saville
1977: Paul Scott, Staying On
1978: Iris Murdoch, The Sea, The Sea
1979: Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore
1980: William Golding, Rites of Passage
1981: Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
1982: Thomas Keneally, Schindler's Ark
1983: J. M. Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K
1984: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
1985: Keri Hulme, The Bone People
1986: Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils
1987: Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
1988: Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
1989: Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
1990: A. S. Byatt, Possession: A Romance
1991: Ben Okri, The Famished Road
1992: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient ... and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger
1993: Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1994: James Kelman, How late it was, how late
1995: Pat Barker, The Ghost Road
1996: Graham Swift, Last Orders
1997: Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
1998: Ian McEwan, Amsterdam
1999: J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
2000: Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
2001: Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
2002: Yann Martel, Life of Pi
2003: DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
2004: Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
2005: John Banville, The Sea
2006: Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss
2007: Anne Enright, The Gathering
2008: Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger
2009: Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
2010: Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
2011: Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
2012: Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies
2013: Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
2014: Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2015: Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings
2016: Paul Beatty, The Sellout

Currently reading:



Currently listening:

Is it safe? Happy new thread.

Happy new thread! Hopefully, this one will bring you better health soon!

Happy New Thread. Fingers crossed you begin to feel better and up to reading soon. Love your thread topper, some very happy horses there :)

>12 charl08: Safe indeed, and you are my first visitor, Charlotte!

>13 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley. I'm about to put my laptop away (it needs recharging in any case) and see if I can fall asleep for a little while.

>14 lunacat: Thanks Jenny. I am hoping that I'll feel up to reading after a little nap.

Lovely photo in your topper, Ellen! And thank you for keeping the "In This House" plaque it never fails to lift my spirits when I visit your thread.

Happy new one, Ellen! On your previous thread, you asked, "Paperwhite or Oasis?" I think you can't go wrong either way - they are both fabulous. I gave Abby my Paperwhite when I got my Oasis. For me, personally, I like the Oasis because it is ergonomically designed to be easier to hold, which helps my carpal tunnel out tremendously. I like that the print flips so you can hold it comfortably in either hand. I like that it has a charging cover, giving you additional hours of charge. They are both excellent for reading outdoors (no glare) or in bed at night (backlit). The Oasis is lighter to hold, if that matters. I know you will have fun choosing - can't wait to see what you pick!

Happy New thread, Ellen!

>1 EBT1002: Agreed. That topper is fabulous. I love the symmetry of the different colors!

Happy New Thread, Ellen! I think I will start a new one tonight. LOVE the topper!

I am so glad you are enjoying The Round House. I was crazy about that one too. I want to get my mitts on The Fire This Time.

We LOVE our Paperwhites!!

If you're considering a Kindle, I'd recommend my Voyage. I had a Paperwhite and find the Voyage much more user friendly. I love that I barely have to move a muscle to turn a page, and the battery time etc is exceptional.

Don't we have a The Round House thread somewhere?

I wish you were sick enough to stay home but not so much you didn't feel like reading. I know what that's like. Perhaps tomorrow?

Happy New Thread, Ellen!

I know Mark's a big fan of Knockemstiff. I read Karen Armstrong's Buddha and liked it, and have thought about reading her History of God.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread! Hope you start feeling better soon!

Happy new thread, Ellen. My class will start reading The Round House in a couple of weeks.

I hope you feel better soon. Take care.

Ellen--Happy New Thread! And I am sorry you have the crud as well. Loved The Round House, well anything by her really. I am planning on hearing Matthew Desmond talk about Evicted in March (It's the 9th if you want to come down twice!), and I loved Why Be Normal When You Could Be Happy?, two of your faves from last year. So, yeah, I think we can be buddies. First we have to get well!

The Grand Tetons look....well, grand!

Happy new thread, Ellen. xx

Happy new thread!

Another new thread? I know there's a reason I'm having trouble keeping up this year! Hope you are feeling better and love your toppers, as usual.

>4 EBT1002: you know I still haven't read Pax. I blame its popularity, it is always out from the library :)

>10 EBT1002: you know (again), I don't know how I missed it, but I believe I actually failed to hear about the 2016 Booker Prize winner!!! So it was The Sellout by Paul Beatty huh? Good to know. (I can't really call myself a Booker fan now, can i!)

Begone, yonder cold!

Happy new thread, Ellen!

Happy new one, Ellen.

Feel better soon.

Fingers crossed that you're feeling much better this morning and the cold has moved out of the dreaded day 2 phase.

Hope you are feeling better, Ellen!

I have a Paperwhite, which I love, but I am thinking of upgrading to the Oasis for all the reasons Mamie has mentioned. That said, it might be worth getting a Paperwhite or similar simpler model to see if you even *like* reading on it. Some people really don't, and the price difference is somewhat significant.

>16 rosalita: Thanks, Julia, and thanks for the feedback about the "in this house" image. I was worrying that I should back off the political for a bit, but it's so all consuming these days.... Thank goodness for The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Atlantic.....

>17 Crazymamie: Hmm, the Oasis sounds like it would work better for a lefty, yes? (P is a lefty).

>18 brodiew2: Morning, Brodie. I'm glad you like my thread topper. I'm thinking I'll stick with a National Parks theme throughout the year. I know it's been done before (thank you, Mark) but I am personally so renewed by nature and natural beauty, it just seems to resonate for me.

>19 msf59: Hi Mark. I will come visit your new thread today.

I am loving The Round House and expect to make some more progress on it today since I am once again home sick.

Good to know that both of you love your paperwhites.

>20 lunacat: Hi Jenny. You know, I had not even been considering a Voyage. I will go look at the specs. Is it one that also functions kind of like an iPad (in addition to being an e-reader)?

>21 Morphidae: Indeed we do have a a Group Read thread for The Round House by Louise Erdrich.

Morphy and I are reading it together in February. Join us!!

>21 Morphidae: I think today is going to be more conducive to reading, Morphy. I am staying home and I am still pretty miserable, so we'll see.

>22 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! I don't have a copy of Knockemstiff but should probably see if my library has a copy.

I have had a couple of books by Karen Armstrong around here over the years. She is someone whose work I have long wanted to read. So, hosting the CultureCAT Challenge thread in April will give me an opportunity to do so.

>23 thornton37814: and >24 ChelleBearss: Thanks Lori and Chelle!

>25 BLBera: I would love to be able to participate in a class discussion of The Round House, Beth. Last night I was realizing that it's the second novel I've read this month that is narrated from the POV of an adolescent boy, and that centers around family trauma. Snow Angels by Stewart O'Nan was fine, but Erdrich's facility with language and subtle storytelling are exceptional.

>26 Berly: Hi Kim! I would love to come down to Portland twice in March ~~ to see you and to hear Matthew Desmond speak! Of course, that seems unlikely given that I'm already traveling to both San Antonio and New Orleans that month.

Last night as I was reading The Round House, the narrator mentioned another family member, LaRose and I looked over at my dresser where there sits a copy of Erdrich's novel, LaRose (thank you, Beth). I may read it next just to keep the interwoven thread of the extended family fresh in my mind. If I weren't so distractible, I could well imagine a binge read of Erdrich works.

>27 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul and thank you! I have seen the Grand Tetons once and they are indeed, um, grand! :-)

>28 banjo123: Thanks Rhonda!

>29 ronincats: Thanks, Roni. It felt a bit soon for a new thread but I let the last one go on forever so this felt like a compromise. I usually try to start a new one around post 250 or so.

Good morning, Ellen. BTW, I forgot to mention that the photo up top is outstanding. The hi res quality is something else - I feel like I could walk right into it. And I sure wouldn't mind doing that. :-)

>30 LovingLit: Megan, you simply MUST read Pax! It's a children's book that will take just a moment, but it will be an exquisite moment.

The Sellout did indeed win the 2016 Booker, much to many folks' dismay. I appreciated both the satire and the narrative voice, but it was in some ways an uncomfortable read. I think that may be part of what led to its recognition as a standout in the crowd.

>31 scaifea: and >32 Ameise1: Thank you, Amber and Barbara.

>33 lunacat: Hi Jenny. I do think I'm now in Day 3 phase of the cold. Still pretty miserable to but more able to see that this too shall pass.

>34 katiekrug: Thanks Katie. Now there is a thought, to buy the paperwhite and, if I love love love reading on a Kindle and want to upgrade, that possibility exists. You've also hit the nail on the head as to why I'm even hesitating. My normal purchasing patterns would be to just buy the one I want but the price differential is substantial in this case -- the Oasis costs more than double the paperwhite. But I just looked at the comparison and now the Voyage is looking like an interesting alternative.

See, this is why I don't own a Kindle. This happens to me every time I come close to purchasing one. I just can't decide. Very unlike me, but it happens with this item over and over again.

>40 jnwelch: It's a great photo, isn't it, Joe? I just snagged it from the internet but it did come from a fun article in Rough Guides about their 40 favorite national parks.

>36 EBT1002: Consider me convinced. when I finally go to page two at my thread, I'll be going au naturale...er with a nature pic. :-P

>43 brodiew2: LOL, Brodie. I'll look forward to future toppers on your threads. :-)

I hate not being able to breathe through my nose.

>45 EBT1002: Dere's nudding word dan a code in one's node.

Isn't it awful? Make sure you've got plenty of chapstick around and keep up with the fluids. Have you tried a decongestant or an antihistamine? Both work a bit for me when I'm blocked up.

>36 EBT1002: sorry to hear you are sick Ellen, a reading recovery is wished for you. Great topper too.

I got The Round House out of the library last year, but didn't get to it. I might pull it off the shelf again on my next visit.

>46 rosalita: It is the truth!

>47 lunacat: LOL, Jenny! I was just saying last night that I always think a sick day sounds delicious ~~ lounging about in bed with nothing to do but read... It's easy to forget the overlay of feeling miserable. Heh.

I've been taking cold meds that include a decongestant. Honestly, I have never found a decongestant that actually works. I do use nasal spray but I try to be judicious and mostly save it for nighttime so I can sleep. Right now I would be easy to suffocate; one would only have to cover my mouth. Not that I'm asking anyone to follow that path, mind you.

>48 Caroline_McElwee: Thanks for the kind words, Caroline. I have been able to do some reading so that is a comfort. More about that in a moment.

I am finding The Round House to be a compelling read. I just finished a chapter that is sort of a story within the story. So touching.

Sorry to read you're still feeling grim. You've managed to make me want to reread The Round House and upgrade my kindle to an oasis (which I hadn't even heard of befo4e reading this thread). Nice work...

So, in addition to reading some in The Round House today, I decided to dig back into The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward.

I just read the essay by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, which is a consideration of the history of Phillis Wheatley, a poet who was kidnapped as a child from the shores of Africa and enslaved in America. Tracing the true biography of Wheatley is clearly an obsession of Jeffers' and she acknowledges the somewhat idiosyncratic nature of this interest. But the essay is also a wonderful commentary on the challenge of knowing the life of an African American when the sources of information are largely white people. She hones in on the power that racist stereotypes inevitably have had on interpretations of news clippings, third-party accounts, and other sources used to piece together the story of a life such as that of Phillis Wheatley. She is particularly absorbed by the accounts of Wheatley's husband, John Peters, accounts that paint him as a ne'er-do-well and an abandoner. Jeffers questions this story. She wonders if Wheatley and Peters might have been in love. After all,

American people of African descent did fall in love back then, and, if allowed by local power structures, they legally married. They did this in the midst of war, slavery, economic chaos, and/or posttraumatic stress over being torn from their homelands and sent over the horrific Middle Passage. I think it's logical to assume that many, many black folk fell in love with many, many other black folk. This assumption is a rational consequence of acknowledging black humanity.

Just so.

I'm so glad I picked up this essay collection again.

>50 charl08: My work here is done.

I always used to say, Ellen, that it's such a pity to waste a sick on actually being *sick*! Anyhow, hope you feel better soon!

Ellen--Misery loves company. Here I am!! Sniff. Cough.

Hey Ellen! I'm really sorry to read you are struggling with a nasty cold. Maybe this will help. Hope you'll soon be back to your ole self.

I read Round house a year or two ago and thought it quite good. I really need to read more of her.

>53 jessibud2: It's true, Shelley. These are such wasted otherwise wonderful hours for reading!

>54 Berly: God, Kim, this bug is horrible. I'm so sorry you have it too! I can only think of one human on whom I would wish this. (one guess - heh)

>55 Carmenere: Hi Lynda and thank you for the tea service. I did make a mug of hot tea in the hopes that it would help but this thing is tough. P will be home in a few hours with more Puffs Plus and she'll heat some homemade chicken-veggie soup for me.

Is The Round House the only Erdrich you've read?

I do recommend Love Medicine and its two companion novels.

>56 EBT1002: Ellen--Hmmmm...I guessed. And I'm right!! I hope we both feel better tomorrow. Waiting for drugs to kick in and a good night sleep. Best wishes.

Just hoping that you are thoroughly into day 4 mode by the time you read this, and feeling much better. Or at least that you can breathe through your nose on occasion. It always drives me up the wall when I blow my nose, can breathe through it for about a minute and then it clogs again - what's the point of it tempting me with normality, only to steal it away again!

Morning, Ellen! Is the cold any better? I sure hope so.

Morning Ellen. I sorry to hear you're sick. I hope you feel better soon.
I like your thread toppers and Happy new thread. I think I missed your second one entirely, sorry about that.

Ellen, I am thinking of you today and wishing you well.

Back to the Kindle discussion: Craig has the Voyager, and he is very happy with it. It has the manual page turn option, just like the Oasis, which I was so happy to see brought back (the Paperwhite does not have this). You asked about left handers - the Paperwhite and the Voyager will both work just fine regardless of handedness because there is no ergonomic design for holding it. If you are like me, though, you will want a cover for either of those to protect the screen when traveling, so that does add to the cost. The increased cost of the Oasis includes the charging cover, which I really love, and because it is ergonomically designed, it also has the flip print feature, so that you can comfortably hold it in either hand. For me, because of my carpal tunnel, the Oasis is the clear choice, but really all of them are very nice - just depends which features matter the most to you.

>57 Berly: Of course you're right!

>58 lunacat: Thanks, Jenny. I'm at work for a couple of hours this morning and then heading back home to bed. Ugh.

>59 scaifea: Only a wee bit, Amber. Enough that I could come to the office for a couple of hours to clear the decks some....

>60 thearlybirdy: Thanks, Birdy! So good to see you.

>61 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. I'm leaning heavily toward the Oasis....

I hope you're feeling better, Ellen.

Hey, I would be in for a binge-read of Erdrich. There are a couple of hers that I haven't read yet. It could be a yearlong project...

>51 EBT1002: Love it.

>64 BLBera: Hmm, I'm liking this idea of a year-long binge read of Erdrich. Which ones have you not yet read, Beth?

I'd be interested in a reread of The Beet Queen and Tracks.
I want to read LaRose (which I know you read recently).
I've never read:
The Master Butcher's Singing Club
The Bingo Palace
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
The Painted Drum
The Antelope Wife....

It seems there are a LOT of her works that I have not yet read!

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Oh good, I'm glad you read that excerpt from Jeffers' essay in The Fire This Time. It is a wonderful piece and I was particularly moved by that simple, self-evident, and radical observation (I say "radical" because it caught me up short and I felt my brain cells shift in that most wonderful way they do when an unconscious neuronal association is being altered).

Ooh, I like the idea of a "year-long binge read of Erdrich." Many of hers, I have still yet to read and I have never been disappointed, in one of her works.

Hi, Ellen. Hope you are feeling better.

>67 msf59: Hi Mark!

Of course, I'm feeling pretty tightly booked for this year (as always) but I'm still liking the idea of a year-long Erdrich thing. One a month for the remainder of the year? That's probably too ambitious.... Maybe one every other month....

I haven't read The Painted Drum and Tales of Burning Love. There is a nonfiction one I haven't read and I haven't read the young reader series, which is the Native American answer to the Little House on the Prairie books. Oh, and she rewrote The Antelope Wife, so I would like to read the new edition. I think I've read all the others.

I would reread almost any. I could probably do it for the rest of this year if I could add in some of the young reader books to take off the pressure.

I usually do not read that much by the same author, in any given year, but reading one, every 2 to 3 months would work.

I know it has been a few years since you read Silence, but one of the observations I discovered, was, amidst all the "silence", in the book, nature is always singing a song- doves, cicadas, waterfowl, ect...I find this very thought-provoking.

>69 BLBera: The idea of adding in some of the young reader books is good. I'm all for taking pressure off.

>69 BLBera: and >70 msf59: Okay, I'm going to think about this and put together a proposal for consideration. I've always wanted to do more intensive reading of one stellar author and I do think Erdrich qualifies. It may be that I designate one book every other month and we each just do what we can (and maybe some others will join in).

>70 msf59: That's a great observation about Silence, Mark. It beautifully raises the question of relative silence, and the distinction between the silence of the earth (which is perhaps less silent than peaceful) and silence in relation to human, um, noise.

Perfect, Ellen. I'm in.

Beth, which are the young readers books? The Birchbark House is tagged "children's literature."

So sorry you've been under the weather. That knocked me out but good, too! I had tons of hot tea with honey. The steam helped with the sinuses, it kept my fluid levels up and honey -- allegedly -- has some naturally curative powers. That and some Nyquil got me through it!

My RL church reading group attacked The Round House last year. It got a thumb's up from us!

>74 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne. Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words. I don't get sick often, for which I am grateful, but this bug has been a bear. Well, it's been a bug, but you know what I mean.

P brought home some "Breathe Easy" tea last night and I should brew up a mug. It does help for a little while.

The Round House is being a very successful read so far. In fact, I think I'll brew up that mug of tea and return to it for a little while. The only consolation to feeling like crap is that I am getting to read more than I usually would on weekdays. And I'm getting to keep up on LT MUCH more than is usual for weekdays!

Bill (WeirdO) and Charlotte (charl08 aka orange is not the only penguin) posted this great article and booklist, and I am reproducing it here because I want to remember the books.

Here's a link to the article in the NY Times: Teenagers Who Vandalized Historic Black Schoolhouse are Ordered to Read Books

THE READING LIST
"The Color Purple," Alice Walker
"Native Son," Richard Wright
"Exodus" Leon Uris
"Mila 18," Leon Uris
"Trinity," Leon Uris
"My Name Is Asher Lev," Chaim Potok
"The Chosen," Chaim Potok
"The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway
"Night," Elie Wiesel
"The Crucible," Arthur Miller
"The Kite Runner," Khaled Hosseini
"A Thousand Splendid Suns," Khaled Hosseini
"Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe
"The Handmaid’s Tale," Margaret Atwood
"To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," Maya Angelou
"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," Rebecca Skloot
"Caleb’s Crossing," Geraldine Brooks
"Tortilla Curtain," T.C. Boyle
"The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison
"A Hope in the Unseen," Ron Suskind
"Down These Mean Streets," Piri Thomas
"Black Boy," Richard Wright
"The Beautiful Struggle," Ta-Nehisi Coates
"The Banality of Evil," Hannah Arendt
"The Underground Railroad," Colson Whitehead
"Reading Lolita in Tehran," Azar Nafisi
"The Rape of Nanking," Iris Chang
"Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"The Orphan Master’s Son," Adam Johnson
"The Help," Kathryn Stockett
"Cry the Beloved Country," Alan Paton
"Too Late the Phalarope," Alan Paton
"A Dry White Season," André Brink
"Ghost Soldiers," Hampton Sides

>76 EBT1002: - I also posted that link to the article a couple of days ago. I think it's a wonderful *sentence* and really, what better way to redirect behaviour and help kids learn, than reading? I've read only 12 from that list, myself. Maybe I should keep it handy, too

There was a judge I used to appear before in Wareham Court, near Cape Cod. He would assign reading -- with book reports to some of the people who came through the system.

Here is some other facts about his literacy program:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changing_Lives_Through_Literature

>66 EBT1002: I would dip in and out of an Erdrich read!! Every other would be better. Otherwise I am feeling the pressure and reading is supposed to be fun.

>76 EBT1002: I saw that list and it is a good one! There are several on there I really should get to.



Feel better soon! I think my meds are kicking in. And the only side effect I anticipate is the Prednisone insomnia. It is a small price to pay to be able to breathe!!

>76 EBT1002: Great list

I would call The Birchbark House a young reader, third or fourth grade level? But I would certainly bow to the expertise of our fellow LT librarians.

I agree with Kim, every other month would be fine.

>76 EBT1002: I've read 10 on that list, and should read some of the others, of course. There's a nice variety of difficulty and ethnicity in there.

And btw, I loved The Master Butchers' Singing Club when I read it some years ago, and one of my f2f groups is reading it for our April meeting.

>77 jessibud2: I agree completely, Shelley. I oversee our student conduct office (I'm not myself a conduct officer and have never adjudicated a student conduct matter, but I oversee them nevertheless) and I so appreciate the educational approach of professionals who do that work. Certainly there are times we just want to say, "no, thank you for attending our university but we won't be watching you walk across the stage on graduation day," but usually we want a student who has made a mistake to, well, you know, to learn something! I think the reading requirement for the vandals was a stroke of brilliance.

I myself have only read 13 of the books on the list. I may try to work my way through the rest of them. I've had My Name is Asher Lev on the shelves, hankering for a reread (after so long I hardly remember it).

I hope you're beginning to feel better Ellen!

>78 michigantrumpet: That is a terrific link, Marianne. I love it:
"Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) is a bibliotherapy program that offers alternative probation sentences to offenders."
We all know that literature changes lives, how cool to have one corner of the criminal justice system embrace the idea and put it to good use. I fear that our country has moved steadily toward a throw-the-book-at-'em mentality in recent decades.

>79 Berly: I'm definitely thinking every-otehr-week, Kim. And I haven't yet actually started making my list. I'm worried that my list won't work for others (yes, I have a bit of a people-pleasing tendency that can get activated in things like this). But I will make a list and folks can suggest edits or adjustments and we can go from there!

I would happily tolerate some insomnia for the opportunity to breathe right now. I am SICK of being SICK. Honestly, how long can this hold on for? I still feel like crap and I can't imagine going to work tomorrow for my very fully-scheduled day. Ugh. I'm definitely moving into crabby complaining territory.

I was just listening to a book podcast and they were discussing Little house on the Prairie and as a suggested alternate title/series, they mentioned The Birchbark House, which I had not heard of. Erdrich certainly kicks butt!

>80 BLBera: Okay, I'll include The Birchbark House on the list of reads for the year, one book every other month. If you want to suggest an alternative book - or an alternative order - please speak up. I know you have read (and taught!) many of her works so you may have a sense that they will work in a particular relation to one another. I'm just kind of guessing.

>81 ffortsa: Well, that helps with my paralysis at putting together a list. I will suggest The Master Butchers' Singing Club for April! Thanks, Judy!

Tentative Erdrich Reading List:

February: The Round House - currently reading

March (optional): LaRose (because I have it and want to read it sooner rather than later)

April: The Master Butchers' Singing Club

June: The Birchbark House

August: The Beet Queen

October: The Bingo Palace

December: The Antelope Wife or The Painted Drum

>85 msf59: That alternative perspective makes me especially interested in reading The Birchbark House, Mark. I didn't read the Little House series as a kid but P and I read them aloud to each other many years ago.

I'll be reading The Round House with my students in March. I've read LaRose recently, so that will work. Do you have a copy of The Master Butcher's Singing Club? I'd be happy to send you mine. I might do The Painted Drum in April and then The Birchbark House in June. Not sure about August, but I'll do The Bingo Palace in Oct. and The Antelope Wife in December. More or less... Plans subject to change... You have so many good reading ideas.

>87 EBT1002: Adding the list to my hopeful reading list on my thread so I can remember!!

>89 BLBera: I don't have a copy of The Master Butcher's Singing Club but aren't her works in the category of 'keep' for you, Beth? If not, of course I would gladly and gratefully accept your copy. :-)

In any case, "more or less... Plans subject to change..." is good enough for me. I do get all kinds of reading ideas but putting them into action is the challenge! As my mom used to say, my eyes are larger than my stomach (when I would take too large a helping of something that looked delicious)!

>90 Berly: Oh good, it will be good to have as many good friends join in the Erdrich love as possible!

Morning, Ellen.

>92 thearlybirdy: Morning Birdy!

I think I have turned the corner and it appears that I will live after all. One more day at home should do it.

My plans for the day:

Finish The Round House.
Start Part III of The Unwinding.
Maybe read a bit in Local by Brian Wood, a GN that Joe recommended and that I once again have out from the library.
Sleep.

Tomorrow night we have tickets to see "Well" at the Seattle Rep. It is billed as a dark comedy by Lisa Kron, the lyricist for "Fun Home." I'm glad I'll be, um, well enough to attend!

Morning, Ellen!

>76 EBT1002:, >77 jessibud2:, >78 michigantrumpet: Love it! As we know, reading expands our minds and draws us into the lives of people unlike us. Love this sentencing idea. Did they have to do book reports, or somehow otherwise confirm they'd read them?

P.S. >94 EBT1002: Wait a minute, Local?! Oh, I hope you enjoy it. I'm glad the library had it.

Ellen--Glad you are feeling better! I am off to brave work...we'll see how long I last. ; )

Hooray! Ellen is feeling better!

I may join in with some of the Erdrich's. I also have one of her late husband's, Michael Dorris on the pile which I've been meaning to read.

I think it's a good time to read some American Indian authors. t seems to have nothing but contempt for them.

>95 jnwelch: Yes, Joe, they had to read one book from that list and write a report on it. They also had to write a larger report about something to do with difference and diversity... I don't remember the particulars. I wish our "justice" system would move more in this direction, especially with youth "offenders."

Yes, you have encouraged me to read Local. I had it from the library a couple of months ago and never got around to reading it, so I checked it out again. Today might be a good day for it as I'm once again propped up in bed (but feeling better, thank goodness!).

>96 Berly: Don't overdo it, Kim. Maybe a half-day would be a good idea (and you can spend the other half reading and playing with me on LT!).

>97 streamsong: Hi Janet. Thank you. I am SO glad to have turned the corner on this bug. I'm definitely not 100% but 50% is pretty darn good after this week!

I hope you join in on some of the Erdrich reads. Truly, my selections are rather random (although I tried to pay attention to the "order" of the Love Medicine series, which is not really a series in the traditional sense). Yes, I think it's a good time to read works by American Indian authors. I'm looking forward to revisiting Sherman Alexie later this year for Mark's AAC, too.

I love this passage from The Round House:

That we have a real grocery store on our reservation is no small thing. It used to be that, besides the commodity warehouse, food came from the tiny precursor store -- Puffy's Place. The old store sold mainly nonperishable items -- tea, flour, salt, peanut butter -- plus surplus garden vegetables or game meat. It sold beadwork, moccasins, tobacco, and gum. For real food our people had traveled off reservation twenty miles or more to put our money in the pockets of store clerks who watched us with suspicion and took our money with contempt. But with our own grocery now, run by our own tribal members and hiring our own people to bag and stock, we had something special. Even though the pop machine out front was banged in, the magic doors swished shut on slow grandmas, and children smudged the gumball machine until you couldn't see the colors of the candy, it was our very own grocery. Trucks came to it, like a regular store, stocked it, then drove away.

It so straightforwardly captures the contempt the residents of the reservation felt when forced to shop off-reservation, and the power of something as simple as having their own grocery. It's also an example of Erdrich's magnificently simple and eloquent prose. "...the magic doors swished shut on slow grandmas..." -- I love that.

I have a confession to make. I have this lovely ARC of Birdy Flynn sitting here beside me. It arrived yesterday and I remember chiming in when one of you lovely LTers offered it up, but I don't remember who it was (and there wasn't a name on the return address, although there was an excellent Book Depository bookmark included within).... I have been thinking it would come to me but not so. Perhaps I can blame it on this dang cold that I've been under all week....
Help?
(I feel SO bad that I don't remember who sent this to me!)

>94 EBT1002: Hurrah for discovering life after a cold ;). I'm so glad it looks like you're going to survive. What a relief. It was a close call there for a while.

Glad to see you are starting to feel better! Enjoy the rest of the your sick day!

Ellen - I only keep the Erdrichs that I might teach or that are particular favorites. I will happily send The Master Butcher's Singing Club to a new home.

>101 lunacat: Yep, it's a better day. I even went outside and bumped the yard waste cart up the steps after they had come to empty it (yes, Seattle collects yard waste/compost from curbside on a weekly basis).

>102 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle!

>103 BLBera: Well, I suppose it doesn't bode well that you only keep your faves and you're willing to part with TMBSC, Beth, but I will still happily accept it and look forward to reading it. Erdrich is an author about whom I'd like to eventually be able to say "I've read everything." So thank you!

The Round House:

I just finished Chapter 10 and it about knocked my socks off. I'm sitting here in bed, reading it with my cat curled up next to me (she has now left, as the laptop is her nemesis), and I said out loud "They did it. I can't believe they did it."
This is a really excellent novel.

>84 EBT1002: Completely agree, Ellen: Reading-the-book always beats throwing-the-book!!!

Hi Ellen, so sorry to hear that you have not been well. I so totally know what you mean by "being sick of being sick". I am also so ready to get back to real life. I have only read one Louise Erdrich book and that was The Plague of Doves which is loved. I am definitely going to be on the look out for Round House.

Sorry you're still under the weather. Glad you've got The Round House for company though. Great read.

The talk about sentencing to reading programmes has reminded me that I have a couple of books about reading in prison on the wishlist. I will wait for my birthday and if they don't come, hit that purchase button!

>106 michigantrumpet: Ha! Well-said, Marianne! (why didn't I think of that??)

>107 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy. I am on the mend, starting to feel human again, which is a most welcome development. I read The Plague of Doves in 2013 and gave it 4 stars. I am trying to decide between 4.5 and 5 stars for The Round House, which I just completed. It is stunning novel. I loved it.

>108 charl08: Hi Charlotte. Thank you for the kind words. I am happy to report that I am returning from virus-land and emerging as a human again. Whew! And yes, The Round House has been an excellent companion through this illness.

Hmm, I'm interested in what those books are that are about reading in prison. I hope you get them for your birthday but of course, the purchase button is pretty easy, too (perhaps too easy)!

So, I just finished The Round House and all I can say is WOW. It was a breathtaking read. I'm still deciding on my rating, although I can feel that five-star image calling to me. I'm trying to decide, though, was it really a perfect read?

It may well have been.

More about all that in a bit.

Time for a nap and then I will dig back into The Unwinding while I wait for P to come home from work.

I'm glad to be feeling better but a bit bummed that I'll have to return to work tomorrow. I will fall behind again on visiting threads! :-(

Tomorrow is Friday.

The Master Butcher's Singing Club is good; I just prefer the novels set on the rez about the Ojibwe characters. This is about German immigrants. I read it twice, saw the play, will never teach it, so it is yours. And let's face, even a bad Erdrich is better than many other writers.

>111 BLBera: Indeed it is! And Monday is a holiday for us.

..."even a bad Erdrich is better than many other writers." Good point!

Sweet Thursday, Ellen! Glad you are feeling a bit better, although it is nice having you around the threads. Good luck going back to work tomorrow.

I might be joining the gang on a few of those Erdrich titles. I have LaRose & The Master Butchers' Singing Club saved on audio and in print.

I'm glad you''re feeling better. I can't wait until I see you in March. I see from Katie's thread that you might have some news...

Hurrah! I'm glad The Round House wowed you. Me, too. I need to read more by her.

I'm also glad to hear you're feeling better. Something's gone awry when you need to be sick to get reading time, but I'm happy there was a silver lining.

Yay for a stellar reaction to The Round House. I just loved that one. I also need to read more Erdrich (I've only read Plague of Doves and The Antelope Wife besides TRH, so I will keep an eye on your reading project and join in when I can.

I'm so glad to hear that you are finally feeling better, but BEWARE of doing too much too soon. I had a habit of heading back to work after a day of feeling better, and then being flattened for another week as a result.

Good to hear that you are feeling better, Ellen. Off sick for three days hmm, no wonder I had a hard time keeping up with your thread. Sounds like you got a lot of good reading in there. Not to worry, if you go back to work tomorrow it is almost the weekend.

>99 EBT1002: I haven't had such luck with Erdrich, but this passage is lovely.

>100 EBT1002: confession? *reads on* Nope, not one about potentially moving....but scanning gives nothing away. Was I dreaming it?

Edited to add: I see now I am here too soon :)
So, did you get your Chinese takeaway this evening? I made some venison casserole leftovers into a delicious Asian noodle dish this evening. I originally made it for just the kids (changed it up so they wouldn't complain about having to eat again what they didn't like last night!), but it was so good, I remade some more for myself. A hit!!

Yay for feeling better, Ellen!!

Morning, Ellen. I'm glad you're feeling better, and I hope you're back to 100% soon.

Ellen--Well, it was fun playing with you on LT as long as it lasted. Are you back to work today? I made it through most of yesterday and thank goodness today is Friday. Hoping you are feeling much better.

Glad to see you are starting to feel better. Do you have another day to rest or is it back to the grind today?

I believe I read somewhere that all of the Erdrich novels are connected. They all have to do with parts of her ancestry. If I get time I will try to look that up today and see if that is true.

Hi Ellen. It sounds like you're feeling better. :) I also really liked The Round House. I'll be watching to see how many stars go up.

>108 charl08: and >109 EBT1002: About a year ago, I read Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men's Prison} which might fit the bill!

Good morning, Ellen. I hope the weekend provides you with the chance to get rid of your illness.

Get better soon, Ellen. I am sure that much of it is a need for a bit of R&R.

Have a peaceful weekend. xx

I've started Love Medicine. I'll join you for sure for The Master Butcher's Singing Club. My mom's parents were German immigrant homesteaders in North Dakota, so that one sounds interesting, even if it is less about American Indians. I'll also join in for The Birchbark House and we'll see from there. :-)

I hope you didn't wear yourself out yesterday at work. Rest and heal - I'm assuming you have a three day weekend.

>126 michigantrumpet: The one on my wishlist at the moment is Running the Books but I'd also like to read more.

This is from a Guardian article on a British prison book club.
I’ve made a connection with books and people,” he says. “Oftentimes I pick up a book and think ‘oh, this is a waste of time, I really can’t be bothered with it’. Only it very rarely is. Thanks to the clubs, I always persevere with books, and I’m so pleased when I get to the end of them.

“But it’s the same thing I’ve got to start doing with people,” he continues. “You have to stick with them and then you might really like them. I think I need to start giving people more of a chance, I need to read a few more of their chapters.” I leave HMP Thameside feeling that nowhere has the connection between books and people felt so strong as it does in their library.
Inside stories from a prison book group

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/27/inside-stories-from-a-prison-book-...

^ Oh my. Isn't that just the truth. Sometimes people have to grow on us, just like books. Maybe more so.

I love the idea of bingeing on Erdrich's work. As soon as I finished The Round House this morning, I wanted to go pick another of hers off the shelf. I just hated to leave that world.

Hey everyone! I have two reviews to post but first I'll do some catching up.

>113 msf59: Hi Mark. I am glad to be feeling better but I missed you all as I re-immersed myself in work on Friday. Friday evening P and I went to the Seattle Rep to see the production of "Well" by Lisa Kron (she did the book for "Fun Home"). It was excellent!

I hope you do join in for some of the Erdrich reads. I know your docket is pretty full month to month.

>114 BLBera: I'm looking forward to meeting you in person, too, Beth. Yeah I may be getting ahead of myself with even mentioning that I might apply for a job in New York. I mean, how uncertain is that?! I haven't even talked with the search firm rep yet! But I do find myself feeling excited about the possibility. Not to give much away but it would be a small, liberal arts college. It would be a real shift from this behemoth of a flagship public university but I think it would be a good fit. Well, I need a lot more info before I decide that, but you can tell I'm having a good time thinking about it.

>115 jnwelch: I did love The Round House, Joe. I decided to give it 4.5 stars but if I did more slicing and dicing than I do, it would probably get 4.75. :-)

Well, as you know, I manage to get my reading in regardless but it was nice to have some extra time for it. I'd rather not get sick to have that wiggle room in my schedule but for another decade or so, that is just the way it will be.

>116 rosalita: Hi Julia. I do hope you join in for some of the Erdrich reads. I may even squeeze some extras in there. We'll see. I can tend toward over-ambition when it comes to reading plans.

>117 ronincats: Thanks for the words of caution, Roni. I was okay at work on Friday and even made it through dinner at one of our local pubs run by McMenamins (a Portland-based "chain" of pubs, none of which are the same but all of which are fun and funky!) and a show at the Repertory Theater. Today was a bit more laid back.

>118 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. Actually, I missed four days of work last week. I did go in for a couple of hours Wednesday morning but it was immediately clear that this had been a mistake. :-| Four days is a LOT for me; the last time I was out for that long due to illness, I had walking pneumonia. I didn't even take four days off after my stroke (which may not be something about which to brag).

>119 LovingLit: Well, Megan, I am an Erdrich fan but The Round House is one of my favorites. So, all I'm saying is that I hope you give her another try. And, of course, she may simply not be your cup of tea. :-)

You may have seen something on Katie's thread about a possible move in my future. This is SO in the realm of maybe. I haven't even applied for the job yet. Indeed, I haven't for sure decided to throw my hat in the ring, but I'm thinking about it.

I DID get my Chinese takeout! P stopped at Seven Stars Pepper, our favorite Chinese restaurant in the International District, and I felt well enough to drive there to pick her up so she didn't have to get on another bus for the remainder of her commute home. It worked out quite well and I had leftovers at work on Friday. :-)

Hmm, venison casserole. That's not something you see mentioned in a thread every day.

>120 scaifea: and >121 thearlybirdy: Thanks Amber and Birdy!

>122 Berly: Hi Kim. I very much enjoyed my interlude last week even though I felt pretty crummy. It was fun to be able to be on LT that much! I was back at work on Friday, got some things done, went out to dinner (McMenamins on Queen Anne) and saw a great play. Today was low key although we did go to the Seattle Art Museum for TWO excellent exhibits ~~ more about those in a bit.

>123 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle. Friday was indeed back to the grind but we have a three-day weekend! *smiles*

>124 benitastrnad: Hi Benita. All of Erdrich's novels are connected in that they are (or at least almost all of them are) set in the same region of North Dakota and have characters from the same tribe and family running through them. For example, LaRose was mentioned as a cousin a couple of times in The Round House. She is not a character with any real import in the story at all but she lives in the margins of the story as a distant family member. I haven't read LaRose yet but I plan to do so in March and I predict that I will see threads of connection with the characters in The Round House.

>125 nittnut: Hi Jenn. I landed on 4.5 stars for The Round House but if I was one to divide up the stars into smaller slices, I think I would give it 4.75. I can't say why I'm not giving it 5 stars (perhaps when I get around to writing my review, this will become clearer) but I think I got a little bored for about 20 pages in the third quarter there..... How is that for picky?

>126 michigantrumpet: I think that would qualify, Marianne. I will be interested to see what kind of list develops from considerations/discussion here.

>127 thearlybirdy: Good evening, Birdy! I think I am about 88% well. I went to work on Friday and today I slept in. Poor P (my spouse/partner) may have contracted this nasty cold from me. Hers doesn't seem to be as devastating (so far) as mine was.

>128 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I'm glad to say that I am feeling much better and will be able to fully enjoy days 2 and 3 of my 3-day weekend.

>129 streamsong: Hi Janet. Oh, I will be interested in how you like Love Medicine. It was the first I ever read by Erdrich and I loved The Beet Queen and Tracks (which I thought was the third in a trilogy but I was way off on that). I'm glad you'll be joining in on some of our reads. I will try to remember to create group read threads for them!

>130 charl08: Hi Charlotte. I followed your touchstone and have now added Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian to my wish list. It looks quite interesting.

And that is a great quote from the Guardian article ~~ I love the follow up to the initial thought that a book or a person will be a waste of time: "Only it very rarely is." Giving people more of a chance. That sounds like a conversation we had earlier on this thread....

>131 nittnut: I fully agree, Jenn. Getting to know a book, getting to know a person. Maybe we can figure out a way to adapt the Pearl Rule to people.... :-)

>132 laytonwoman3rd: I see that The Round House ended for you as it ended for me, Linda. I closed it and set it aside with that delightful blend of satisfaction and regret that comes with finishing a truly wonderful novel.

I have two book reviews to write but they may have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I want to write about my trip to the Seattle Art Museum today. Despite having caught my cold (which is not turning out to be as horrific for her as it was for me), P wanted to get out of the house today. So we boarded the number 14 bus and used our membership cards to go to SAM. There were actually two special exhibits there today that we saw. It was a lot of time standing but SO worth it. I took a few photos but my iPhone and my MacBook won't sync so I'll just tell you about them.

First, there was the "Seeing Nature" exhibit. From the website:
Seeing Nature features 39 historically significant European and American landscape paintings from the past 400 years. These diverse works offer a unique opportunity for visitors to see the natural world through the eyes of great artists.

The paintings are from the private collection of Paul Allen, and included a stunning group of evocative Venetian scenes by Canaletto, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, and J.M.W. Turner, among others. The exhibition also features a rare landscape masterpiece by the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, Birch Forest of 1903.

There is no way this will do it justice, but I will post this from the internet. This was one of the most breathtaking paintings I have ever seen.


"Birch Forest" 1903 by Gustav Klimt

Another favorite was this:


"The Clamdigger" by Edward Hopper

Thanks for sharing. That painting by Klimt is stunning.

My P just told me a story of a boat owned by Paul Allen that would come through the Vancovuer area. It was a mega yacht and had a 35 foot sailboat as a toy hoisted up into the side. P says that he talked to one of the captains hired on to navigate the inside passage, who told some stories concerning the owner and the guests......but said he would never work on that boat again. It's called "Octopus", 414 feet.

>142 mdoris: It was so incredible, Mary!

The second exhibit was Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series.

Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917. His parents migrated from the American South to the North during World War I. He was one of the first African American artists to be represented by a major commercial gallery and the first to receive sustained mainstream recognition in the United States. He exhibited regularly in New York throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, when many other African American artists were denied professional consideration. He painted a series of 60 small paintings chronicling in words and pictures the exodus of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North in the decades after the First World War. Usually, the paintings live in two collections: the even-numbered belong to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the odd-numbered reside as part of The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. but all sixty panels are being shown together for the first time in two decades. Lawrence lived in Seattle for the last thirty years or so of his life, so it's great that this exhibit is happening here.

There was quite the line to see this exhibit and we moved through relatively quickly out of courtesy for those still waiting. It's here until April 23 so we'll be going back again on a weekday!

Again, I can't sync the few photos I took, so I've nabbed a couple from the internet.


Panel 40


Panel 58 in which Lawrence rings an optimistic note about the educational opportunities the migrants (sometimes) found in the north.

>142 mdoris: I don't doubt it, Mary. The man has oodles of money (and he got out of Microsoft before it became nearly as big as it eventually became!). I'm sorry to hear that those who worked on his yacht did not have a good experience. He is, for the most part, respected around Seattle for his philanthropic works. On the other hand, I have friends who live near his "compound" on Mercer Island and it seems that his sense of entitlement is about what you'd expect from a billionaire.

In books... I mentioned that my reviews of The Round House and The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America will have to wait until tomorrow (partly because I'm too lazy to get out of my delightful reading chair and go get them from the other room for reference). In the meantime, I have started reading His Bloody Project and, while I don't think it's quite going to live up to those two most excellent recent reads, it's engaging enough so far.

What wonderful art, Ellen. Sounds like you are enjoying your weekend. We had our long weekend last week. I feel like I could use the extra day again. I found His Bloody Project quite good, but then, I am interested in the history of that part of the world as it is where I do a lot of research.

Thank you for sharing the art exhibits. I haven't been to a gallery for some time, although I do love Klimt. I got to go to the modern art museum in Prague and they have some spectacular work by him.

Lawrence's image of the girls at the blackboard is charming. Hope in education indeed.

>140 EBT1002: I like that painting. Happy Sunday, Ellen.

>140 EBT1002: I love 'The Birch Forest', not sure I've seen that before. Sounds like a wonderful day Ellen. Glad you are on the mend.

I got The Round House out of the library yesterday. May be a week or so before I get to it, but looking forward to it. I read Love Medicine last year.

The art is stunning, Ellen.

I knew you would love The Round House. :)

I'm glad you're feeling better, Ellen. That Klimt painting is just beautiful. I hav ea thing for birches. I may look for a poster print of that to frame and hang... Just lovely.

I look forward to your comments on The Unwinding!

>140 EBT1002: ah, I'd know that was a Klimt anywhere. How beauyiful!

We had the good fortune to see the Migration series at MOMA last year or so.

I'm glad you're up and around again.

And as for the NY idea, if it's a small college, that probably isn't my Alma mater the University of Rochester, but I could make a few guesses. I'll wait, but it does mean you'll be within striking distance!

Hi, Ellen.

So glad you loved The Round House. Wonderful book.

Those exhibits sound so good! We've seen the Migration series in pieces in NY and D.C., and I've love to see the whole thing together. I bought a book with reproductions and some of the story.

The Paul Allen exhibit sounds great, too. That's a new Klimt for me, and I love Edward Hopper's paintings. He's probably my favorite after the Impressionists and Van Gogh.

12. The Round House by Louise Erdrich




It's the spring of 1988 and thirteen-year-old Joe and his father, Bazil, realize that mom hasn't come home to start dinner as expected. Bazil and Joe pile into their vehicle to find her and find her they do. Geraldine has been brutally assaulted and will not, or cannot, say by whom. Clearly, their lives are never to be the same. As details of the assault emerge, along with pieces of the family and reservation history that may have bearing on the underlying reasons for the assault, we witness Joe's coming of age and coming to consciousness. He is determined to know what happened, holding firmly to a belief that justice (retribution?) is the most critical key to returning his secure family life to him. Joe is a lovable, flawed, deeply good, and believably adolescent protagonist and first-person narrator. His father, who "had a profile that would look Indian on a movie poster, Roman on a coin", is also lovable. He is a tribal judge and thereby represents both the hand of justice and the long-sighted role of tribal elders in navigating relations with a US government still determined to renege on promises, ancient and recent. The question of jurisdiction in this crime provides the perfect device for illustrating the tenuous position of American Indians living on reservation within a larger governmental administration physically and bureaucratically surrounding it. But this novel does not get lost in political statements. It is, first and most, a story of a family and a culture, beset by poverty and oppression but also thriving in their love for one another and their persistent hope.

That we have a real grocery store on our reservation is no small thing. It used to be that, besides the commodity warehouse, food came from the tiny precursor store -- Puffy's Place. The old store sold mainly nonperishable items -- tea, flour, salt, peanut butter -- plus surplus garden vegetables or game meat. It sold beadwork, moccasins, tobacco, and gum. For real food our people had traveled off reservation twenty miles or more to put our money in the pockets of store clerks who watched us with suspicion and took our money with contempt. But with our own grocery now, run by our own tribal members and hiring our own people to bag and stock, we had something special. Even though the pop machine out front was banged in, the magic doors swished shut on slow grandmas, and children smudged the gumball machine until you couldn't see the colors of the candy, it was our very own grocery. Trucks came to it, like a regular store, stocked it, then drove away.

This passage so straightforwardly captures the contempt the residents of the reservation felt directed toward them when forced to shop off-reservation, and the power of something as simple as having their own grocery. It's also an example of Erdrich's magnificently simple and eloquent prose. "...the magic doors swished shut on slow grandmas..." -- I love that.

We do learn more about the details of the crime as we watch Joe grow up. While he is obsessed with finding some resolution for his mother's assault, he is also a thirteen-year-old boy and Erdrich captures that with finesse and compassion. This is a novel about the terrible power of revenge, both for healing and for devastation, but it is also just a story of human love.

This is a remarkable novel, absolutely recommended.

>Ha! I gave you the first thumb for that wonderful review, but I bet you'll be getting many more!

13. The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America by George Packer




The Unwinding tells the story of the American economic and cultural shifts through the stories of a variety of individual Americans. He starts and ends with Dean Price, a smart white working class guy living in the piedmont of North Carolina, descendent of a tobacco-growing family in a tobacco-growing region which had, by the millennium, fallen into apparently permanent disintegration. Packer also follows Jeff Connaughton, a white upper-middle-class political strategist who spent much of his career shadowing Joe Biden, hoping for a crack at helping "his guy" earn a term in the White House. We meet Tammy Thomas, a relatively uneducated black assembly line worker from Youngstown, Ohio, who watched her community go into deep decline after the Steel jobs disappeared and who, later, found purpose and meaning in local politics as she poured herself into saving the town she loves. We also peek briefly into the lives of Newt Gingrich, Robert Ruben, Andrew Breitbart, Elizabeth Warren, and we follow the radically different trajectories of Tampa and Silicon Valley through the latter part of the 20th and the first decade of the 21st centuries.

Packer's story is that of a persistent unwinding of the American dream, and the role that big money (and I mean big money) has played in that decline. The influence held by the extremely wealthy few and the ineffectualness of even the most inspired leaders to nudge the direction of our plutocracy is, at best, discouraging. Packer calls out individuals who hold some bit of responsibility in creating our current economic and political mess, including Presidents Clinton and Obama, as well as (for example) banks that have lobbied effectively for deregulation even in the face of sound evidence that said regulations protect our economy from boom-bust cycles that tend to most adversely affect the middle and working classes. But this work is less about individuals than it is about a system. It is about a system that is vulnerable to manipulation and undermining, and it is about a system that has become so esoteric and complicated that it's difficult to see where actual individuals might alter its course.

Packer published this book well before the 2016 election but his work appears to have predicted the outcome. I was particularly struck by his description of Matt, Dean Price's lodger who found himself working for Wal-Mart, earning about $8 an hour:

What really depressed Matt was how monetary everything had become in America, how it was just the biggest profit at the lowest cost. It was all about me, me, me, and no one wanted to help anyone else. The lobbyists, the politicians -- they were all corrupt, taking everything from those who had the least. His favorite thing to do when he was alone in Dean's basement relaxing with a beer was to watch old episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. It was a better America back then. If he could have grown up at any time it would have been in the fifties, which was the last great time in America. He hated to say it but it was true.

And there is this, referring to Peter Thiel, who originally founded PayPal and has become a wacky but terrifyingly influential billionaire who is on the executive committee of Donald Trump's transition team:

Thiel was an elite among elites, but he directed his intellectual fire at his own class, or the people a couple of rungs down -- professionals making two or three hundred thousand a year. Elites had become complacent. If they couldn't grasp the reality of a tech slowdown, it was because their own success skewed them in an optimistic direction, and wealth inequality kept them from seeing what was happening in places like Ohio. "If you were born in 1950 and were in the top ten percent, everything got better for twenty years automatically. Then, after the late sixties, you went to a good grad school, and you got a good job on Wall Street in the late seventies, and then you hit the boom. Your story has been one of incredible, unrelenting progress for sixty years. Most people who are sixty years old in the U.S. -- not their story at all." The establishment had been coasting for a long time and was out of answers. Its failure pointed to new directions, maybe Marxist, maybe libertarian, along a volatile trajectory that it could no longer control.

I don't make that much money nor did I ever work on Wall Street, but I know he is speaking to and of me.

This book moved along at an easy clip: engaging, infuriating, terrifying, and fascinating. I learned a lot. I feel a deeper and more complex understanding of our political and economic system and how we have ended up where we currently are. I feel no more clarity about how we get out of this mess, but I'm also no less determined to join the chorus of voices demanding that the 1950s were not really the greater America and that a return to the cultural values of that time are not the answer to our apparently inexorable decline as a nation. Highly recommended.

>147 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. Yes, so far it's being a wonderful weekend. In the book I just reviewed, The Unwinding, he quotes someone (I can't find this but it's in there somewhere) who predicted only a continuation of the boom, as indicating that we would have 4-day work weeks by now, with something like 10 weeks of vacation, etc. Not so but I wouldn't mind the 4-day work week if we could manage it.

I am also very interested in the part of the world in which His Bloody Project is set. I have visited Scotland twice and am myself one quarter Scottish (my maternal grandmother was a MacDonald). I stayed up pretty late last night reading HBP and I'm quite enjoying it.

>148 charl08: I could have stood staring at the Klimt for an hour, Charlotte. What amazing depth and complexity his work has "in real life!"

And we'll definitely be going back to the Lawrence exhibit. It would seem silly, but I'd love to take a photo of every single panel. Of course, that will only help if I can figure out why iPhoto isn't syncing....

>149 Ameise1: I loved that painting, too, Barbara. And thanks for the Happy Sunday wishes!

>150 Caroline_McElwee: Hi Caroline. I had never seen the "Birch Forest" painting. I tend to think more of his paintings of women. This was remarkable.

You will see by my comments above that I absolutely loved The Round House. It is perhaps my favorite of hers so far.

>151 BLBera: Good morning, Beth. Yes, the trip to the SAM ended up being a highlight of early 2017.

I have upgraded The Round House to the full five-star rating. I just couldn't think why I was raving about it in the way that I was and denying her that honor. I had given Nutshell five stars and this one affected me at least as much as that one did.

>152 katiekrug: Morning, Katie. I almost purchased a poster print of the Klimt but I don't have a spot for it. I bought a few postcards instead. I can use one of them as a bookmark. :-)

You will see that I have finally written my review of The Unwinding. This was a hard book to review as it was so rich and complex. But one thing that writing a review does is help me remember the book I've read, so I'm trying to nudge myself to take the time to do the writing.

>153 ffortsa: Yes, Judy, Klimt's work is very distinctive. And beautiful indeed.

Nope, not your alma mater but I bet you have a few ideas. Actually, there are now two colleges in that region reaching out to me to discuss possibly applying for a job. One of them is, I think, a better fit but I'll take a look at both.

>154 jnwelch: Morning Joe! Yes, The Round House is a keeper.

I almost bought the book with the panels and story about Lawrence's work but resisted the impulse. I may not be so successful when we return later this spring.

I am also a fan of Edward Hopper's work and had not seen this one before. It was so lovely. I love his ability to capture mood.

>156 streamsong: Thanks for the thumb, Janet!

I was priviledged to see the entire set of the "Migration" paintings by Jacob Lawrence when they were in Washington, D. C. about 5 years ago. They were extraordinary. Like your experience, the lines were long and it was clear that the museum had a blockbuster event on its hands. It was good to see these paintings get the public recognition that they deserve.

I learned of these paintings many years ago because there were a spate of children's books published about him and about these works. It is amazing how powerful a 32 page illustrated children's book can be.

Sort of like the "short" films nominated for Academy Awards.

>162 benitastrnad: It was indeed a privilege to see the whole collection together, Benita.

I meant to add this.

Currently reading:

Well, if you do relocate you should get the snow you wish for, Ellen.

>135 EBT1002: "Hmm, venison casserole. That's not something you see mentioned in a thread every day. " Well, let's make it at least two days in a row! I attended a birthday party for two stalwart church ladies in my home town this afternoon. Luncheon was heavy on the German dishes, given their heritage, and one of them was venison sausage and sauerkraut casserole. Delightful. Wish I had some leftovers of that in my fridge.

When I first started reading this new(ish) thread (I'm behind) I thought the paperwhite/oasis discussion was about bulbs -- that's about where I am vis a vis the e-readers.

The raising race awareness list is tremendous!

Sorry you had a bad cold, hope it has lifted.

Erdrich is a wonderful writer! I haven't kept up with her more recent books, but I'll have to correct that.

Hi Ellen. I'm returning to LT after a week of mostly-disconnected vacation. No way can I catch up on all threads, so I'm just going to start fresh from here.

* waves *

HI Ellen, Great recent reviews. I read The Round House in 2012 and thought it was remarkable/wonderful and gave it a 4 1/2 stars. i loved Nutshell too and can completely see where the 5 stars are coming from.

>165 Familyhistorian: I'll probably get more snow than I want if I do relocate, Meg! Truly, it's early to even be thinking much about this but, you know, I get excited about things....

>166 laytonwoman3rd: Hi Linda. I have tasted Venison sausage once, made by a colleague back in Oregon who was a hunter (and, who knew? - a sausage-maker). It was quite tasty!

>167 sibylline: Well, as you may know, Lucy, I'm ambivalent about e-readers. I have gone back and forth on purchasing one over and over and over again. I did this evening put an Oasis e-reader in my Amazon shopping cart. I haven't yet clicked on "purchase."

I do love Erdrich and I hope you read more of her (not knowing which of her older works you have read). Clearly I recommend The Round House if you haven't read it yet.

>168 lauralkeet: This is as good a place as any to start, Laura. I hope your vacation of disconnection (that is the best) was excellent!

>169 mdoris: Hi Mary. I'm glad you liked my recent reviews. I swore I was going to be more stingy with stars this year but when I hit a skid of excellent reads, what can I do? I don't want to deprive a work of its deserved stars just because I'm trying to prove something to myself.

P and I saw "Pajama Game" at the 5th Avenue Theater this afternoon. With music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, it won the Tony for best musical in 1955. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where workers demands for a seven-and-a-half cent raise are going unheeded. In the midst of this ordeal, love blossoms between Babe, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the new factory superintendent. It was a delightful performance, a funny story about a wage dispute (go figure), and perfect for this rainy Sunday afternoon of a 3-day weekend. The dancing was particularly wonderful!

Looks like it was a lot of fun!

Great photos. I love musicals. I'm sure you had a splendid time.

>135 EBT1002: Hmm, venison casserole. That's not something you see mentioned in a thread every day.
We have a lot of venison in our freezer as know people who hunt. Deer are considered a pest here in our native bush, and alongside hobby hunters, there are even government funded culls from time to time. I'm more than happy to eat Bambi meat ( as my dad calls it!) instead of beef, just as when I was in Australia I was more than happy to eat kangaroo over beef.

I had no idea the pyjama game was about factory unions. Cool! Looks like a great play.

Edited for wayward italics ;

Ellen--Glad you enjoyed the Round House as much as you did. That is one of my favorites. And I see we were both cultural this weekend--you saw a musical and I saw a play! It was great to get out of the house. Also love the art exhibit. I was going to check out the Portland Museum to see if there are any particularly good exhibits for the meet-up. Did you make your hotel reservation? ;)

>171 EBT1002: That looks like a great play. I had heard of "Pajama Game" but had no idea it was about unions - fun. Do you have another day off? If so, enjoy the rest of your long weekend.

Hi Ellen - Your comments on THe Unwinding added to Ursula's makes me want to read it today. Some of your comments on the 1950s reminded me of an essay I've read with my students:
https://legalectric.org/f/2016/10/WhatWeReallyMissAboutthe1950s_Coontz.pdf

The 1950s weren't idyllic unless you were a white man.

I saw a one-woman play "Bad Dates," which was enjoyable. "Pajama Game" looks like a lot of fun.

Have a great week.

Morning Ellen! Big Thumbs for your reviews of The Round House & The Unwinding. I also loved the Erdrich and really want to read the Packer.

Hope your week is off to a dandy start.

>138 EBT1002: "can't find" .... Yes, that's my biggest gripe about Unwinding, which I really loved. An index would have been soooooo useful!

I've heard having it on an ereader would make it easy to search for a phrase. And actually, I often use the Amazon 'look inside' to find a phrase that I want for a review.

I'm also on the fence with ereaders. I have a hand me down Nook, but I haven't used it yet.

Good morning, Ellen! I hope all is well with you.

It looks like your reading production was high while you were sick. I hope you are feeling better.

>217 Caroline_McElwee: I love live theatre and I don't go as often as I'd like.

Hi Ellen! Two terrific book reviews. Thanks for recommending two other books by Erdrich back at >56 EBT1002:. My dance card is overflowing at the moment and not sure if I'm able to add them to my infinite book list but one never knows.
Glad you're feeling better and hope P is out of the woods too.
PS: Downright awesome paintings! I've always like Hopper!

Fun bit of trivia: you can recite the Robert Frost poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" to the tune of "Hernando's Hideaway" from 'The Pajama Game.' It's how I memorized it.

You can thank me later for that piece of uselessness ;-)

Great review of The Unwinding.

I am going to be interested to hear more about your thoughts in making a job/geography shift. It's hard to imagine you leaving the Pacific Northwest. But you would be closer to your sister, is that part of the draw?

>164 EBT1002: I hope you are enjoying that one.

I did it. I ordered a Kindle Oasis.

>188 rosalita: Congrats! I hope you love it. I cannot imagine life without my Kobo e-reader.

>187 EBT1002: - Excellent! I think you will get over your antipathy towards the e-readers, especially once you travel with it :)

>187 EBT1002: Very cool, Ellen. What is the special element of the Oasis?

>187 EBT1002: Good for you! I think e-readers are great for any book that is all-text (no significant pictures or charts), and especially the doorstops and books you know you will only read once - why take up real estate for them, hm? And it's such fun to buy the sharply discounted titles on Amazon. Have fun!

>187 EBT1002: ooh la la! A new toy! I have a Paperwhite and am using it more and more, especially to get Kindle books from my library. I can't wait to see how you like it.

Hi, Ellen. Good luck with the Kindle Oasis! I think you'll find it a handy complement to your paper books.

I really liked that review of The Round House, and thumbed it.

>187 EBT1002: Congrats! Yay for new ereaders!

Awesome!

>174 ronincats: and >175 Ameise1: Yes, Roni and Barbara, it was great fun and I am also a fan of musicals!

>176 LovingLit: Hi Megan. Well, deep down inside of me is a vegetarian hankering to be released into the wild (I was one for several years in my 20s, but that was a while ago now). Especially as I need to watch my cholesterol and such, I rarely eat beef these days. I'm not morally opposed to eating any animals, although I do believe our meat industry is adding to the desecration of our ecosystem.

I had no idea what the Pajama Game was about! It was quite good and very entertaining.

Thanks for fixing those wayward italics! :-)

>177 Berly: Hi Kim. We were uber cultural this past weekend! We saw a play and a musical and went to the Seattle Art Museum to see two special exhibits! I should probably eat some hamburger helper or something now. Ha.

>178 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg. I knew nothing about The Pajama Game, either. It was kind of cute that they were agitating for a 7.5-cent raise. :-)

I did have a 3-day weekend. On Monday we went to University Village shopping area (it's not a mall, it's not a plaza, I don't know what to call it!) where they have an Amazon store so I could actually try out the various Kindle options. Other than this purpose, I find the Amazon bricks-and-mortar store to be a waste of space, but it did help me make my decision!
Then we went to Ray's Boathouse up in Ballard. They have the best clam chowder on earth so that was fun.

Hooray for a Kindle! I'm sure you'll love it :).

I love the Pajama Game music, and used to play the Broadway CD before work. The kids and Debbi begged me to stop. I played a lot of different Broadway music before work, but that was the one they found way too chipper early in the morning.

>179 BLBera: That article is spot on, Beth. It's easy to watch something like The Andy Griffith Show and idealize the 1950s if one looked like Andy Griffith. I do recommend The Unwinding. Depending on your timeline for reading it, I can send you my copy. P wants to read it and I think she plans to take it to San Antonio and NOLA next month. It's a relatively quick read.

>180 msf59: Hi Mark. Thanks for the thumbs! I think you would be fascinated by The Unwinding.

It was great having a 3-day weekend and this Monday at work is frankly going better than Friday did.

>181 streamsong: Well, Janet, I bit the bullet and ordered a Kindle. We'll see how I like it. I expect to continue reading all my beloved dead-tree volumes but when I need to read at night (insomnia) and P is asleep, I'm hoping the Kindle will be less disturbing to her sleep! And it may be easier to read on the light rail, especially when I don't get a seat.

>182 brodiew2: Hello Brodie. Nice to see you! Yes, I did manage to do some reading while sick. It's the only up-side to feeling that lousy. (Abby the cat would beg to disagree; having a "mom" at home is the cat's pajamas!).

I also love live theater and don't go as often as I'd like. Living here in a city with such wonderful theater and arts resources, I'm trying to build it into my life more.

Uh oh. I'm falling behind on my own thread again.

But. It's time for bed. I need to finish His Bloody Project and my G&T (yes, hard day at work).

I want my Kindle to arrive NOW!! (imagine me as a 7-year old: are we there yet?)

>200 EBT1002: Yay! A decision has been made. Now the foot-tapping begins...or is it foot-stomping?! LOL

Hope it comes quickly Ellen. I do like mine for the travel side of things, although there are still kinks (not least that my library doesn't loan books in a readable format for my paperwhite). I love that I can read books on the phone through the app when I have a spare five minutes.

>199 EBT1002: >181 streamsong: That is the greatest advantage of the e-reader, I think, to read in bed without disturbing anyone. I use it most in bed, but it is also handy when traveling, only one small device with many books on it :-)

>144 EBT1002: How exciting to see The Migration Series! I've looked at it here, http://lawrencemigration.phillipscollection.org/the-migration-series
as a useful companion to reading The Warmth of Other Suns.

Hooray for new e-readers!!

>196 EBT1002: Is that New England style or Manhattan style clam chowder? Jim and I are at odds on that one!

Are you going down to Portland for the March meet-up? I'm debating spending some airline points and coming in for it, and to see my artist cousin.

>196 EBT1002: I guess it is all relative, Ellen. At the time 7.5 cents would have been worth something. I made $55 a week at one of my first jobs and that was pretty good money.

>199 EBT1002: I looked at plays presently running in Seattle and was pleasantly surprised to see My Man Godfrey! I would love to see it, but it's not likely.

I do like my e-reader for traveling. It cuts down on the luggage. I hope it arrives soon.

I'm in no hurry to read The Unwinding; if you want to send it my way eventually, that would be great.

I do like the essay; nostalgia can be deceptive.

>187 EBT1002: Whoot! I think you will be very happy with it, Ellen.

14. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet




Told through a journal written by the murderer, witness statements, the notes of a criminal psychologist, and the account of the trial, this is the story of Roddy Macrae, a 17-year-old crofter guilty of murdering three members of his local community. That community is Culduie, a tiny hamlet in Applecross Village in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland. And the year is 1869. There is no question that Roddy brutally killed the local constable, his 15-year-old daughter, and 3-year-old son. The novel centers around his motivations, his mental state at the time, and the possible outcome of the trial. The feudal system and the rigid class distinctions and assumptions are vividly portrayed here, as are the wild Scottish Highlands. The narrative is compelling and the characters richly conceived. And this was almost a 4-star read but for my frustration with Roddy's persistent passivity and the capricious destiny that the author, along with the residents of Culduie, would somehow have us believe had a hand in the events as they unfold. Of course, that is part of Burnet's brilliance - his fascinating depiction of the world view of the day along with the dreadful cruelty of what must indeed be seen as fate. One's station at birth determined much; the odds of shifting that circumstance inconceivable.

15. Local by Brian Wood




What a charming graphic novel! Megan McKeenan sets out from Portland, Oregon with nothing but her knapsack and her wits. She travels to twelve different cities over the next twelve years or so, trying to find herself and make her way. Tragedy and terror both find her, but so also do friendship and a sense of her place in the world. The art is magnificent, especially the vividly and accurately drawn locations including Portland, Austin, Chicago, Ontario, Brooklyn.... A worthwhile evening's investment.

Up next:



The Assault by Harry Mulisch

>211 EBT1002: Yay for Local! I'm mighty glad you had such a good time with it, Ellen. I hope word spreads. I really like Ryan Kelly's art. He and Brian Wood have teamed up on other good ones, like New York Four.

>210 EBT1002: Good review of His Bloody Project. Not exactly like dominos, but part of the fascination for me was how one thing led to another, starting with Roddy's mother.

I really admired your report on The Unwinding, so much so that I thumbed it on the book page. I've been waffling about re-reading it (having read it when it was first published). Reading all the reviews on the group read thread zapped my memory cells, but didn't charge me up enough to revisit the book.

I think your report is a tipping point. Thanks for that.

>211 EBT1002: Great review of His Bloody Project, Ellen. It really does capture the hopelessness of his situation, in fact his whole family's situation, doesn't it?

I'm glad the cold has left you, Ellen, and you can get out to art museums and such. I loved the pictures you posted about the museum and the play. We visited The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and found it enlightening. Thanks to our fun and interesting docent, I finally figured out some of the symbolism in his works. We were lucky enough to be there at the right time and also saw the Frida Kahlo exhibit. Makes me want to reread Frida.

I'm in for binge-reading Erdrich. I love her books and have read all of them except for the follow-ups to The Birchbark House. I've been contemplating which books to reread for your group. Problem solved!

>212 EBT1002: IMO The Assault is a very fine novel, I've read it a couple of times Ellen.

Happy Friday, Ellen.

Happy Friday!

I'm thinking of driving over to Seattle and then carpooling with Karen to the Portland meetup. I hope P's surgery will not be that weekend and you - or maybe both of you? - will be there. I'm still tentative since I'm waiting to see what my vision will do before committing to the drive.

I already have my audiobooks lined up for the Montana to Seattle drive ...

Good morning, Ellen. I hope all is well with you!

Happy Friday, Ellen! Hope you're heading into a relaxing weekend.

I'm not really here. You don't see me. (and I am once again WAY behind on my very own thread!)

BUT....

I just purchased my very first book for my Kindle! I got A Gentleman in Moscow.

Oh boy.

>222 EBT1002: excellent choice!

Enjoy that new Kindle, Ellen!

>222 EBT1002: agreeing about the good choice. Enjoy.

Yay for new books! Enjoy your kindle!

Congratulations on the new Kindle, and the first ebook purchased. When I first got my Kindle (2009), I added lots and lots of free classics, not all of which I've read yet, but I just like having them available just in case.

I loved The Unwinding when I read it a few years ago. Enjoyed your comments on it. I'm about half-way through His Bloody Project, and my reaction so far is similar to yours.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Great Portland LT Meetup in a few weeks!

Congrats on your new kindle and ebook. Happy Sunday, Ellen.

Happy Kindle-ing, Ellen!

I hope you enjoy The Assault as much as I did.

>222 EBT1002: The Kindle is loaded and ready to go. Whoohoo!!

>219 streamsong: Hoping your vision cooperates--looking forward to seeing you.

>227 arubabookwoman: And can't wait to see you, too.

: )

Hi, I have caught up with you which is an unusual accomplishment for me these days😆 Having a sleep break in middle of night .

Congrats on the Kindle!

>211 EBT1002: Local is on the WL.

Hope your eyes/vision cooperate.

Happy Sunday, Ellen! Hope you're having a relaxing weekend.

Re the Kindle:

Currently there is an offer for 100 books everyone should read--for free. See here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VTXZ9D2/ref=pe_385040_117923520_TE_M1DP

and here:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Before-Black-Horse-Classics-ebook/dp/B06WLQFJKM/ref...

Good luck with your Kindle, Ellen.

Happy Sunday, Ellen! I hope you had a great weekend. Yah, for Local! One of my very favorite GNs. I hope you enjoy The Assault as much as I did. Excellent read.

>211 EBT1002: I want to set out FOR Portland Oregon with nothing but my knapsack and my wits. Maybe I shouldn't read this one then.....or should I, and then start a savings fund for travel!

16. The Assault by Harry Mulisch




This is a wonderful short novel about the absurdity of notions of guilt vs innocence, especially in times of war. Anton is twelve years old, just trying to survive WWII with his parents and his older brother, when a police officer is gunned down in the street near their house. After the neighbors drag the corpse to the walk in front of Anton's family's house, Anton's parents and brother are murdered in retaliation. The novel explores the role this trauma plays in the rest of Anton's life, and we see the parallels between political and personal paths as they are determined by the vagaries of circumstance. The novel loses half a star for its too many far-fetched coincidences that enable Anton's unfolding consciousness, but the novelist can be forgiven for utilizing these devices in order to touch the reader as he does. In the end, the layers of paradox are simply stunning.

^ you had me with the first sentence of that review!!! WL'd.

>183 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda. I do hope you get to the Erdrich novels at some point as I think you would enjoy them, but there is no hurry.

>184 katiekrug: Katie, that may be the best single bit of trivia I have ever come across. Now I need to go find a copy of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," which I have admittedly never memorized but always have loved, and learn the song from "The Pajama Game," too. I love it!

>185 banjo123: Hi Rhonda. Thanks for the kind words about my review of The Unwinding. And as far as moving, it's hard for me to imagine leaving the Pacific Northwest, too. I am exploring this possibility but not without some trepidation. And yes, being closer to my sister is a significant part of the draw. That, and being able to sell our house here and purchase a house there outright with the equity (with probably a good chunk left over). Our mortgage is just so darn huge (and we don't live in a fancy or large house!). I want to retire in 10 years or so....

>186 thornton37814: I did enjoy His Bloody Project, Lori. Thank you!

>188 rosalita: Thanks, Julia! I love my little Oasis but of course I haven't really used it yet. I have a stack of library books that needed finishing and the house is FULL of already-purchased books that I truly want to read. But I imagine I will gradually build in e-reading as part of my overall process, especially when I travel and during my train commute.

>189 katiekrug: Yes, I think the travel experience will be the largest impact I'll notice, Katie. It's so little and light!

>190 brodiew2: The Oasis is the lightest of the Kindles, Brodie, although with it's cover/battery, not so. The battery has a super long life and it's shaped to be more ergonomically comfortable, regardless of which hand you're using. I haven't actually read anything on it yet but it's very cute. :-)

>191 ffortsa: Hi Judy. Yes, I think the Kindle will be especially useful for doorstop novels and for traveling. I look forward to taking advantage of some deals (although I have to admit to having some ambivalence about that -- even though I live in Seattle, Amazon feels a bit like it's taking over the world).

>192 lauralkeet: I know. I'm very excited, Laura. I wanted to get a book from my library today, just wanting to get started using the Kindle, and every book I investigated was not currently available. Hmph. I put myself in the queue for three books, I think, and purchased Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham for $0.99.

>193 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe, both for the thumb of my review of The Round House and for the encouragement about my new Kindle. Now that I have it, I wonder what took so long. It's so cute! ;-)

>194 ChelleBearss: and >195 drneutron: Thanks Chelle and Jim! I'm happy to have finally joined the ranks of e-reader owners.

>197 lunacat: Thanks Jenny. I look forward to my first reading experience with my new Kindle. I think I'm going to love it when I travel or commute on the light rail.

>198 jnwelch: Joe, I'm interested in this: that you played musicals before work. It has never occurred to me to do so, but it makes total sense as a thing for getting ready for the day. Other than the too-chipper "The Pajama Game," which musicals did you often play? Which did the kids like best?

I grew up listening to musicals, too. My dad would play them in the evenings, sometimes when he was reading and drinking. He would also play opera, which I enjoyed far less (and I'm just now realizing that his mood was different with the two: if he was playing opera, he was probably in a much more morose mood, so no wonder I didn't like it as much).

Anyway, some of my favorites along with which I could sing perfectly were Camelot, My Fair Lady, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music....

And Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends which is not a musical (but which is strongly associated with the same memories).

>201 Berly: The funny bit about ordering it and then tapping my foot, Kim, was that I could have just bought it at the bricks-and-mortar store where I decided what I wanted. For some reason, I thought I might get away with avoiding sales tax if I ordered on line. Silly me.

>202 charl08: Thanks, Charlotte. I think I can get books from my local library and they will work on my Oasis. I'm in the queue for a few, so we'll see how well it works. I am definitely thinking the Kindle will be most wonderful for travel and train commuting.

>203 FAMeulstee: Oh yes, Anita, I think you're right! I keep saying it will be great for travel but I also hope to have a book going at all times that I can read in bed so as not to disturb P. Sometimes my little reading light doesn't bother her, but sometimes it does ~ and I can't always tell which it is in any given night.

>204 nittnut: Yes, Jenn, the Migration series as a whole was a real treat and seeing it would be a perfect companion to The Warmth of Other Suns!

Well, I had hoped to get all caught up but it is time for bed. Tomorrow is Monday and the start of a busy week.

More tomorrow.

>205 ffortsa: It's definitely New England style chowder in these parts, Judy. And the chowder at Ray's Boathouse is second to none.

I do plan to attend the March meet up in Portland. I made a reservation for Saturday night, plan to drive down on Saturday and back on Sunday. I would love it if you would join us!

>238 EBT1002: Great review, Ellen. I have that one as an audio still waiting to be listened to.

>238 EBT1002: Good review, Ellen, I am glad you enjoyed The assault too.

Morning, Ellen.

Oh jeez, how many times has this happened? I'm on the fence about a book like The Assault, then you love it, and so I end up reading it. And loving it. Here we go again.

Mmmm....chowder. Lunch time! Hope your week goes well, Ellen.

>206 Familyhistorian: Exactly so, Meg. At the time that 7.5 cents could make a huge difference in a family's standard of living. The cast integrated a wee humor around it but with utmost respect and subtlety. It was great.

>207 brodiew2: I have heard of My Man Godfrey! but wasn't aware that it's playing in Seattle, Brodie. To keep up with the theater options here would be almost impossible!

>208 BLBera: I'll make a note that you'd like the copy of The Unwinding after we're done with it, Beth. It was a worthwhile read.

My Kindle has arrived and I'm slowly figuring out how to use it. I am still pretty much reading dead-tree books because I already have them! But it will be fun to take the Kindle on travels.

>209 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie. I think so, too. :-)

>213 jnwelch: Yes, Joe, I hope to spread the word about Local. As you had told me, Megan is a fun character and I loved the art. I will see if I can find a copy of New York Four.

>214 weird_O: Hi Bill. Thanks for the kind words and the thumb! I can resonate with your ambivalence about rereading The Unwinding. As much as I liked it, and as much as I think I learned from it, it's hard to imagine rereading. And --- I bet interesting new bits of it will stand out for you reading in today's context as compared with four years ago.

>215 Familyhistorian: Yes, Meg, and it was so hard not to scream at him "oh for pete's sake, speak up on your own behalf!!!" But the worldview of the time and place dictated against that.

>216 Donna828: Oh, I would love to see (and have guided for me by someone knowledgeable) the Dali museum and the works of Frida Kahlo, Donna!

I'm glad you'll join in for some of the Erdrich reads/rereads. Which reminds me, I'd better look again at my own list as March quickly approaches....

>217 Caroline_McElwee: I fully agree, Caroline. I loved The Assault. It is one I could imagine rereading. He packed a lot into a relatively short work.

>218 BLBera: A belated thank you for your happy Friday wishes, Beth. Now that it's Monday, LOL!

>219 streamsong: Hi Janet. I do hope you drive over and join us for the Portland meet-up. P's surgery won't take place until summer but she will be visiting our nephew in New Orleans that weekend, so I will be joining the book-and-food-and-conversation event on my own. I'm looking forward to it!

>220 brodiew2: A belated good morning back your direction, Brodie! I'm doing well and hope the same is true of you.

>221 jnwelch: Thanks Joe. My weekend was excellent and here I am back into Monday..... :-P

>223 lauralkeet: I have been wanting to read A Gentleman in Moscow what with all the love it's received in these parts, Laura. I may save it for next week's flight to San Antonio. :-)

>224 DeltaQueen50: and >225 Caroline_McElwee: and >226 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Judy, Caroline, and Chelle! Of course, as excited as I am about my new Kindle, I'm still finishing out some dead-tree books that I have had on my shelves. But I do enjoy looking at the Kindle. It's so cute!! (heh)

>227 arubabookwoman: Hi Deborah. I find myself feeling hesitant to download books. It's this weird thing I do with new things. I get them and then I look at them for a while. It's the same with my "adult" coloring books. Sometimes I think the idea of something is more compelling than its actuality. But I do expect to use the Kindle more and more, especially when I travel.

I'm glad you'll be joining us for the Great Portland Meet-up! It's turning into quite the gathering. We'll have to be good about posting photos to make all our friends jealous. :-)

>228 Ameise1: Thanks Barbara!

>229 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. And I gave The Assault 4.5 stars. About halfway through, I was enjoying it well enough but wondering what all the warbling has been about. Well. It was such a magnificent last quarter or so! Quite powerful.

>230 Berly: Thanks Kim, and yes, I'm looking forward hopefully to seeing Janet and Deborah. We'll be a merry meet-up!

>231 maggie1944: Thanks, Karen. I'll bring my Kindle to our next meetup so you can get introduced. Hugs to Greta.

>232 sibylline: Lucy, I think you'll enjoy Local. I'm glad Joe encouraged me with it. And it's Janet for whose vision we must cross our fingers. :-)

>233 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! Sunday was crazy house-cleaning day. P and I put in about 6 person-hours between us and the house feels SO much better! It was worth it.

On Saturday, I came to the office for a couple of hours and then met P at the basketball pavilion to watch our Huskies women play their last regular season game. Kelsey Plum, our star point guard, scored FIFTY-SEVEN points to break the all-time NCAA women's scoring record. FIFTY-SEVEN points in one game!!!! To provide context for those of you unfamiliar with basketball, #10 Oregon State beat #8 Stanford last week 60-57. Kelsey scored as many points in one game as a top-ten team scored in a whole game. It was SO fun to watch!

...

On Saturday, I came to the office for a couple of hours and then met P at the basketball pavilion to watch our Huskies women play their last regular season game. Kelsey Plum, our star point guard, scored FIFTY-SEVEN points to break the all-time NCAA women's scoring record. FIFTY-SEVEN points in one game!!!! To provide context for those of you unfamiliar with basketball, #10 Oregon State beat #8 Stanford last week 60-57. Kelsey scored as many points in one game as a top-ten team scored in a whole game. It was SO fun to watch!

>234 arubabookwoman: I looked at that, Deborah. Is it the actual works or the list of them?..... It's confusing....

ETA: Okay, I saw the number of pages and it does appear to be all the actual works. I "purchased" both volumes. So I guess I have two volumes of works on my Kindle now, with 50 works in each volume. Cool! I will never be without something to read. Never.

THANK YOU for the tip and the links, Deborah!

>242 EBT1002: I also like the musical Chicago.

>254 EBT1002:, >255 EBT1002: Wow! That must have been wonderful to watch, Ellen. I'm going to see if I can find some highlights. She's sure in good company on that list she now tops.

>256 EBT1002: I looked at that collection as well, Ellen, and it is fantastic. I'm waiting to see how long it takes to download. Under a minute, even at something like 25,000 pages. Thanks for the info, Deborah.

Lovely comments on The Assault, Ellen. Duly wishlisted.

My grandmother was a music teacher, and I remember sitting on the piano bench with her, singing Rogers and Hammerstein songs. I remember she always laughed when I sang, "I'm just a girl who can't say no." Of course I had no idea why. Love musicals still.

And happy Monday to you.

I wish I'd been able to see Kelsey play. She's finished at the U. now, right? And I doubt she'll join the Storm. Darn.

I will love looking at your Kindle when we meet again. I am also looking forward to the trip to Portland. I'm "on the computer" in the middle of the night, so I'll cut the comment short.

I hope your week is going well.

Morning, Ellen!

We introduced Charlie to musicals a couple of years ago (I think he was 5, maybe?) and he LOVES them. Sings along at top volume. The King and I is his favorite so far, I think. He and I sing in the car in the mornings on the way to school, too. Usually Pharell (Happy) or Prince (he's a huge fan). It's just a good way to start the day, eh?

Morning, Ellen.

I'm starting News of the World. You liked that one, yes?

>255 EBT1002: Congratulations to Kelsey Plum! And thanks for posting the list of top scorers. Jackie Stiles is kind of a rock star in my town. It was fun to watch her play (and break the scoring record) and now she is the Missouri State Lady Bears' assistant coach. She had some nice words to say about Kelsey. Records are made to be broken.

I managed to catch you before you moved on to another thread!

Hi Ellen, just stopping by with a couple of Kindle-related tips for ya!

Wait times for library Kindle loans: same problem here. I have pretty much given up on requesting any recent releases. But my library is great for less-recent contemporary fiction and for catching up on series.

Kindle deals: Anne Bogel, host of the What Should I Read Next podcast and the Modern Mrs Darcy blog & book club, publishes a daily Kindle deals email. Here's a sampler with a link to subscribe: Great Kindle Deals. The other "deal" email subscriptions I use often miss the mark, but I have clicked to buy more times from this source than any other!!

Happy Kindling! :)

Stopping in to catch up with you and to wish you a Happy Wednesday, Ellen. Hoping it is kind to you. Enjoying all the talk of musicals - my mom loved musicals, and I know many of those songs by heart having listened to them over and over again through the years I was growing up. I have a soft spot for The King and I.

>1 EBT1002: Your opening image took my breath away!

We are fans of musicals too. Some of my best memories are of all the cousins piling on the sofas in my Grandparents living room and watching with my Grandpa. He would sing along. He especially loved Oklahoma! and would wake us in the morning with "Oh What a Beautiful Morning." My favorite is The King and I.

Ellen--Happy Wednesday! Have you cracked open your Kindle yet? I get to see you this month! SOOOO impressive about Kelsey Plum, and you were there to see it!!

Good afternoon, Ellen! I hope all is well in KindleLand.

It's been a weird couple of days on this end. I got sick on Monday after noon, had a sick day the following day, then confused today as the day I had a prescheduled doctor's appointment and missed my first three hours of work. I took the day off for tomorrow. C'est la vie.

>211 EBT1002: Oh Local sounds good. Need to see if it's available at the library.

I just found Local at the Bellevue library. Even though I shouldn't go back into downtown Bellevue, was just there, I am going to jump into the car and go get it.

I evidently have some energy to spare.

>235 BLBera: A belated thank you, Beth!

>236 msf59: Hi Mark. Yes, Local is now one of my favorite GNs as well. I'm really glad I checked it out a second time and made the time to read it. So worthwhile.

>237 LovingLit: Well, Megan, the truth is that Local might give you pause regarding the wisdom of setting out for Portland or anywhere else with nothing but your knapsack and your wits. It's a romantic idea but the realities are not always pretty.

>239 LovingLit: I ended up loving The Assault, Megan. I'm glad you added it to your wish list.

>246 Ameise1: Thanks Amber. I think The Assault would be interesting as an audio book.

>247 FAMeulstee: Thanks Anita! (or is this Frank? - heh)

>248 jnwelch: Joe, that post may be my very favorite. Ever. I love it.

And turnabout is fair play, after all. :-)

>249 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks, Linda! The chowder was yummy. I also had some delightful chicken Pho the other day..... It's been unseasonably cold in Seattle so soup has been a frequent item on the menu, both at home and when we eat out!

>257 Morphidae: Morphy, I fully agree. We have the DVD of Chicago and it's a delightful musical! But I didn't listen to it as a child. ;-)
I wish it would show up on the docket of one of our theaters here in Seattle. I've not seen it on the stage and I think I would love it.

>258 jnwelch: Joe, it was awesome! Here is A GREAT HIGHLIGHT REEL. I was there!!!!!

>278 EBT1002: I don't know if you have Netflix, Ellen, but Chicago was just added to the streaming service. Of course, that's not the same as seeing a stage version, which would be fantastic.

>276 EBT1002: I'm Barbara, but never mind. Sweet Thursday, Ellen.

>276 EBT1002: The books are owned by both of us, Ellen, it is Anita who is active on LT ;-)

Well, my Huskies lost last night so I will have a bit more time to catch up on LT in the coming days....

>259 ronincats: Roni, I was surprised at how quickly it downloaded! I'm starting to fall in love with my Kindle. :-)

>260 BLBera: Hi Beth. I think you'll appreciate The Assault. I don't know why but I wasn't convinced that I was going to like it but like it I did!

The story about singing show tunes with your grandmother is so sweet. Now you are the grandmother creating sweet memories for little Scout. :-) I don't have kids (and therefore I don't have grandkids) but I like the idea of being remembered years hence, long after one has left this world, by someone in whose life I might have injected a bit of sweetness and joy. It won't be as significant but I do hope my nieces and nephews, and grandniece and grandnephews, have that experience.

Thanks for the Happy Monday! Of course, now it is my favorite day: Saturday. Between work and basketball, I've been awol around here.

>261 maggie1944: Karen, you would have so enjoyed watching Kelsey play. Last night was the second round of the PAC-12 Tournament and the Huskies lost to the pesky Ducks by one point. It was a heartbreaking upset. I had a hard time sleeping last night, remembering the look on Kelsey's face when the final buzzer went off. This was not how it was supposed to go.

On the other hand (because there is always another hand), the Huskies MIGHT get to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. If so, P and I will be purchasing tickets through our season ticket holder privilege, but then we will be out of town (or part of it might be when I'm back in town in between San Antonio and NOLA, but then there is the meet up in Portland). Anyway, our plan is to purchase tickets and give them away since we won't be able to attend. If I'm in town and you want to come along, you could be my date for one of the games. If I'm not in town, I'd be happy to share.

Having lost last night, so early in the PAC-12 tournament, they might have lost the privilege of hosting except that the committee knows that Hec Ed will fill. Key Arena was packed for the UW-UO game last night and I know the organizers are disappointed that the Huskies went out so early. Fewer ticket sales and fewer butts in seats. No one wants to go watch Oregon play Stanford. (Well, okay, almost no one).

>262 scaifea: Hi Amber. This whole idea of starting one's day with show tunes is just new for me. And I can totally see how it would be a good idea! It might help me wean myself from coffee! (which, yes, I am thinking about doing -- or at least reducing from two mugs to one each morning)

>263 jnwelch: Joe, yes indeed, I very much liked News of the World! I think you will, as well.

>264 Donna828: Oh Donna, that is cool that you have a connection to Jackie Stiles. Her message to Kelsey when KP broke her record was so gracious. I remember watching Jackie play, even though I had no particular connection to Missouri State. Kelsey scored 36 points in last night's tough loss to the evil Oregon Ducks, and I'm sorry she doesn't get another game in this tournament to add to her career total. I agree with you completely: records are made to be broken. But I'd like hers to take a few years to get to. ;-)

>265 thornton37814: Hi Lori! I fell behind this week but I do plan to start a new thread this weekend. So, yes, you just sneaked in!

>266 lauralkeet: Laura! Thank you for the tips! Regarding the library, I ended up doing exactly what you described: I downloaded the second in a trilogy, The Lewis Man by Peter May. Now I just have to read it before it's due (and thereby disappears - although I know that I can turn off the wireless to keep it an extra day or two).

And thank you for the link to Anne Bogel's blog. The daily deals I have been able to find on the Kindle page have been completely uninteresting, so I will subscribe to her daily deal for an alternative.

>267 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie. You know, I have seen The King and I but it has never been one of my favorites. Maybe because I wasn't exposed to it as a child?

Thanks for the Happy Wednesday thoughts! I'm now having a delightful Saturday. :-)

>268 Whisper1: Linda, I'm glad you liked the picture. It left me momentarily breathless, too, so I had to use it.

>269 nittnut: Hi Jenn. Another Kind and I fan! You, Amber's Charlie, Mamie.... maybe I need to give it a listen.

You know, I'm thinking that musicals are conducive to sweet memories. Several people have shared some here. I'm remembering when I was a teenager and would spend spring break and one week each summer with my older sister and her partner. They are considerably older than I (my sister is 17 years older, her partner another 8 years older) so they were really important in my coming of age years. My home life was frankly a mess; visiting C and B was a respite and a sanity-booster. Anyway, I have wonderful memories of singing show tunes in the car with them on the way home from a special dinner out, and one memory of the two of them singing and dancing (!) around the living room to the soundtrack from A Chorus Line. I will have to remind them of that when I see them later this month.

>270 Berly: Hi Kim! I have now cracked open my Kindle and I'm starting to love it. I'm reading The Confessions of Nat Turner on it and I have a library book that I need to read, too. I'm getting to know its idiosyncrasies, what level I like the light on when I read in bed in the dark (so fun), etc.

Yay to getting to see you this month! I'm very excited!

>271 brodiew2: Hey Brodie! It sounds like the sickness got you very discombobulated! I hope you are feeling better now.

>272 lunacat: Jenny, I am also happy to give February the boot although winter is holding on tight here in Seattle. It has been colder than usual this time of year and I'm absolutely done with the windy conditions. Cold, wet, and windy. Yuck.

(That said, I went for a run in the sun this morning. It was still cold -- about 38F -- but at least it wasn't gray or raining!)

>273 SuziQoregon: Juli, being a Portlander, you would love Local. It only starts in Portland, but still.

>274 maggie1944: I love that, Karen! I think you'll enjoy Local. Megan is a memorable character and the art is really magnificent. I'm glad you had a bit of energy to spare. :-)

>279 rosalita: Hi Julia. We actually own the DVD of Chicago so I can watch the film any time I want. Honestly, I thought Richard Gere was brilliant in it. I would love to see it on the stage!

>280 Ameise1: Oh rats, I do apologize, Barbara. I wonder if I did that again today during my catching-up. When I'm waaaay behind, I can get on a posting roll, just trying to respond to everyone. But I should be sure I know to whom I'm responding! *hangs head sheepishly*

>281 FAMeulstee: That is what I thought, Anita (with a warm hello to Frank). :-)

Whew. All caught up here. Now I need to write a review for Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald, which I finished in between games at Key Arena yesterday. And then I need to start a new thread! And then I need to visit all of you!

Showtunes! Love 'em. I played in the pit orchestra for my high school's annual musical. I recently joined a community choir and our theme for the spring concert is "the evolution of musical theater". It's a lot of fun.

>288 EBT1002: Never mind, Ellen. Sometimes I have to look twice to respond correctly.
Sending you big spring waves over the pond and wishing you a happy weekend.

>290 lauralkeet: That concert theme sounds like a lot of fun, Laura. Are you an alto or soprano or ...?

>291 Ameise1: You're very kind, Barbara. And thank you for the big spring waves and the weekend well wishes. Sending both right back in your direction.

I can see why you love following the uni women's bb. Sorry that your team lost last night.. Daughter #1 played bb and vb at Gonzaga and we were just too far away to see most games but when we did, I was completely hooked.

>293 mdoris: It's a lot of fun, Mary, and this year was especially so. I will, of course, watch them during the NCAA tournament. They'll still get a place, hopefully they'll be able to host.