ffortsa retires to read in 2017 - second reading chair

Ah, I had such lofty goals last year! My shelves are as full as ever, and my two face-to-face book clubs totter on taking up my time. But that's ok with me. I got to 66 books - 67 if I count The Shipping News, which I finished listening to this morning.

I retired last May, but it didn't increase my reading time by much. I had a lovely summer vacation, topped by a trip to Alaska, a rather busy autumn and end of year, and here I am, ready for another round.

So what do I plan? Aside from the aforementioned f2f groups, I hope to participate at least part-time in some of the challenges (British, Canadian, American, Non-Fiction, etc.) as well as some of the group reads. I'm still working on catching up with my vast New Yorker collection, too. I'm all the way up to March of 2009.

And I hope to keep up with a few more of my fellow LTers this year - I lost track of so many of you in 2016! Of course, I'm already behind on that plan.

My ticker, as always, will be




(although at the rate I'm going, maybe I should have switched to the snail!)

1. The Five Books of Moses translated by Robert Alter - Genesis
2. @Erewhon - Samuel Butler
3. Love Songs From a Shallow Grave - Colin Cotterill.
4. @The Bible: A Biography - Karen Armstrong
5. The Dance of the Seagull - Andrea Camilleri
6. @The Last Coyote - Michael Connelly
7. ♬Sad Cypress - Agatha Christie
8. Better Than Before - Gretchen Rubin
9. ✔NIghtwood - Djuna Barnes
10. @Trunk Music - Michael Connelly
11. ♬October Light - John Gardner
12. The Ghost Runner - Parker Bilal
13. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd - Alan Bradley
14. @Buried (Twisted Cedar Mysteries) - C. J. Carmichael
15. @Talking To the Dead - Harry Bingham
16. Written in Stone - Ellery Adams
17. The Master Butchers Singing Club - Louise Erdrich
18. The Redeemer - Jo Nesbo
19. ♬Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right - Hochschild
20. @Sophie's Choice - William Styron
21. The Garden of the Finzi-Contini - Giorgio Bassani
22. @The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths - Harry Bingham
23. ♬Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
24. @Fatal Remedies - Donna Leon
25. @Secrets From the Eating Lab: The Science of Weight Loss, the Myth of Willpower, and Why You Should Never Diet Again - Traci Mann, Ph.D.
26. @Last Night at the Lobster - Stewart O'Nan
27. Arrow of God - Chinua Achebe
28. @Blackhouse - Peter May
29. @Slash and Burn - Colin Cotterill
30. The Mistletoe Murder and other stories - P. D. James
31. ♬Hillbilly Elegy - J.D. Vance
32. @The Water Room: A Peculiar Crimes Mystery - Christopher Fowler
33. @Justine by Lawrence Durrell
34. @$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
35. Orlando - Virginia Woolf
36. @This Thing of Darkness - Harry Bingham
37. The Burning Gates by Parker Bilal
38. Candide
39. Today Will Be Different - Maria Semple
40. How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind - Dana K. White
41. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting - Milan Kundera
42. The Seamstress - Frances de Pontes Peebles
43. @The Dead House - Harry Bingham
44. @The Playmaker - Thomas Keneally
45. City of Thieves - David Benioff
46. @The Crossing Places - Ellie Griffiths

I'm carrying over the icons from last year to denote ebooks, library books, off the shelf, etc. which Bianca kindly provided.

♬ audiobook
✔ off the shelf
@ e-book
✨ shared TIOLI
✿ TIOLI
✗ slow read

Here's to another fine year of reading for us all!

Happy new thread, Judy!

Happy new one, Judy! Hope you got out today to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Have I mentioned I'm not really missing Texas? ;-)

>2 alcottacre: AND >3 katiekrug: Thanks for dropping by!

Katie, my friend Shanni mentioned a political group that meets once a month for dinner in a town near you. It's a Yahoo group, and if you're interested I'll send you the details.

Sure, send it on and I'll see if it floats by boat!

Congrats on your shiny new thread, Judy and wishing you a wonderful start into the new week.

Happy new thread, Judy!

Happy new thread!

ETA: In belated response from your last thread, I have a wrist Fitbit—the basic Flex.

Happy New Thread, Judy.

Ellen has convinced me to try The Master Butchers Singing Club. You liked it, yes?

>9 jnwelch: I think I may have quibbled a bit when I reread it last month, but that may have reflected my f2f reading group discussion. It's very good.

Happy new one, Judy.

Happy new thread, Judy. xx

Happy new thread!

20. Sophie's Choice - William Styron

I missed reading this when it was published, although there was a lot of talk about it then. This read was for my Tuesday f2f reading group, and I'm very interested what they have to say. Some of this book feels very dated, and the point of view was sometimes a problem for me. But the elliptical shape of the narrative interests me, and maybe we'll leave some time to talk about that after we bash Stingo.

Happy New Thread, Judy!

>15 EBT1002: Hi, Ellen! Sort of sorry you won't be closer to us in the future, but I can certainly see the reasons to stay where you are. Great feedback, though.

We had a rather meager showing for Sophie's Choice at our downtown reading group last night. We've had some fall-off in attendance recently, and we don't know if it's the books that were selected or just a normal cycle. Investigation is certainly in order. Discussion was not as interesting as I usually find it, and I think that was because some of our more outspoken regulars were missing. Ah well.

Our uptown group read The Garden of the Finzi-Contini, which I will list shortly, and then we watched the film. I didn't find much of interest in either medium.

Next up for the book group readins: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury, and Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe. So two more books that are new to me. That's all good.

21. The Garden of the Finzi-Contini by Giorgio Bassani

Bassani's novel chronicles the life of the Jewish population in Ferrara in the years leading up to WWII, and how the 'racial laws' affected them. The focus is on the exceptionally rich family of the Finzi-Contini, secluded on their garden estate behind stone walls, and their involvement with a few select young men in the town. Central to the story is a friendship and attempted romance between the narrator and the daughter Micol Finzi-Contini.

The looming disaster of the war hangs over this story without ever becoming present, which denies the story any sort of expected climax. I read the Quigley translation, and I have no way of evaluating it against the Italian but I didn't feel particularly drawn into the story.

My book circle also viewed the De Sica film that was derived from the novel, and there De Sica makes the decision to show the beginnings of the deportation. 183 Jews were deported from Ferrara; few if any returned.

Hi Judy, and happy new thread.

I somehow unstarred your previous thread, but here I am again, all caught up.

22. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths - Harry Bingham

Another winner! Wow, what an engrossing story, in which Fiona, of course, gets herself into trouble for all the right reasons and all but loses herself in the process. Excellent details, characters, and plot, and from my knowledge of the IT world, entirely possible. Why didn't I think of that?

My basic arithmetic tells me I'm on track to make 75 if I read 1 book every 4 1/2 days. That's better than I've been doing, but a reasonable pace. Fiona gobbled up all my reading energy today, especially as I seem to have acquired Jim's nasty cold (I NEVER get colds - if he weren't so sick still I'd make him miserable all over again). And the worst is, when I get sick like this I get bored, and I was already bored, what I was always afraid of about retirement. (I know, sounds like a first world problem, as so many have been saying, but still...)

Now for some tea. Or brandy. Or maybe tea WITH brandy. Hm.

Feel better, Judy! I vote for tea WITH brandy. Kind of a tea toddy.

Yay for another winner! As you know, I love that Fiona Griffiths series.

Hi Judy! I'm sorry you're sick. Before retirement I always wanted to be sick enough to stay home but not too sick to read. Now I just don't want to get sick.

I just finished book 5 of the Fiona Griffiths series, now waiting on a new one. C'mon Harry Bingham, write fast!

I downloaded the first in the Fiona Griffiths series a while back and haven't gotten to it yet. The raves around here are persuasive!

I hope you're having a good weekend, Judy. Recovering quickly would be good....
>21 karenmarie: "Before retirement I always wanted to be sick enough to stay home but not too sick to read." LOL -- I can totally relate to that and I look forward to retirement so I can just enjoy reading all the time!

Take care of yourself Judy - brandy is a good tonic of course whatever your medical condition!

Have a lovely weekend.

>21 karenmarie: LOL My mother sometimes hoped the law would find some reason to toss her in the klink so she would have time to read. I can hear it now! 'But Mrs Astroff, why did you rob the grocery store?" "Your Honor, I need some uninterrupted reading time."

Being sick on my own time, on the WEEKEND, and too tired to do anything but sleep, is boring.

In spite of being sick, I went with Jim to see the NTLive showing of 'Twelfth Night' last night. A very funny production, but a little light on subtlety and depth. Very clear, but I've seen better. Oh well. If you've never seen the play before, it's a good production to start with.

I do need to start reading for my f2f reading groups again. They're on successive nights, AGAIN, which Jim and I dislike. Neither book is on my shelf, alas.

Thanks for all your good wishes. I hope to be ok by midweek.

Judy--Hope you are feeling better ASAP! And my Dad swears that red wine fixes everything. ; ) My RL book groups often meet close together and I wish they were more spread out. What are you reading for them next? I just finished Hillbilly Elegy for Wednesday and then I have America's First Daughter up next.

>25 Berly: I think I am better, still stuffy but otherwise my energy is back, so I count that as done. Stuffiness is eternal.

We almost exclusively read fiction in both of my f2f groups. This month we are reading the second (or third, depending on who's counting) component of Chinua Achebe's trilogy that started with Things Fall Apart - it's called Arrow of God, which makes me shiver a little.
For the other group we're reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, something else to make me shiver. Jim finally got his wish to read something from Bradbury. I like Fahrenheit 451, but this sounds more like a scary story.

Off to play bridge this afternoon. First, coffee.

Usually, my one group reads Fiction, but this is our one NF for the year. The other group seems to be reading a lot of NF and for the most part they have been contemporary ones and I have liked them, but we are due for some F again. I loved SWTWC, so I hope you enjoy it too!

Oh, this is not good. The disadvantage of having a comfortable computer setup is that I never leave. Sigh.

Anyway, yesterday I took pictures of all my shoes. Of course, since I was busy shooting before aiming, I took shots of both shoes of the pair, which made the pictures bigger than necessary, so I spent most of the morning resizing them for printing, so I could tape them to my translucent shoe boxes (supposedly transparent, but really..) and remember all the shoes I have. Since I've been living in two or three pairs and a pair of boots all year, I thought it best to remind myself.

To do this, I bought a photo editor called PhotoPad. It was pretty cheap, and seems handy. Does anyone use it? What is your favorite photo editor? I'm curious, especially if you do anything with your photos besides store them electronically. All advice welcome. Thanks.

I will be curious to see how people manage their photos! I seem to have billions, and many are repetitive, but I can't bring myself to delete. And organizing is beyond me... I tell myself that I will do it in retirement.

I have nothing to offer on the photo front. I'm terrible about organizing them. Right now, most are just sitting on a hard drive...

And I have no idea how to edit photos. I'm quite the troglodyte when it comes to graphics!

>28 ffortsa: At a glance, PhotoPad looks pretty good for most users. Photo editing software can have a pretty steep learning curve.

I use Adobe Lightroom, which is great for organizing your photos - you can import them into the Lightroom catalog and it will move everything into folders that are by year, and underneath that by date taken. I made the mistake when I first started out with it of not letting it do that, but it's really the best way. As for editing, it is great because all editing is always reversible. It doesn't change your original file, and you can then export a new copy with your changes. It's not entirely intuitive, but there are lots of tutorials out there to figure out how to do everything.

I also use a couple of the programs in the Google Nik collection. These are a lot of fun to play with, but they are the opposite of Lightroom in that they will overwrite your original file when you hit "save". So it's better to make a copy to start off with and then play around with filters on that copy.

>31 ursula: What a wealth of info! Thanks. I was afraid I'd have to head for PhotoShop, and even the Elements edition sounds intimidating just now. I'll check out Adobe Lightroom and Google Nik to see if they are any easier than PhotoPad and its attendant add-ons.

>29 banjo123: and >30 katiekrug: Yeah, the first grand pass on my father's slides was a huge undertaking. I tossed about half of them, sent the rest out to be scanned, organizing by event or carousel tags, along with ones I'd taken. Since then I've found some more slides (help!), but the big deal now are the albums and old photos. It takes merciless triage, and sometimes I remember that few if any of the people in my family are interested anymore. Not many descendants to laugh at the old folks when young. But some of the photos are objectively beautiful, and I do want to save those and perhaps set them up in electronic picture frame files or reprint for the walls.

Categorizing, of course, is an agony, much worse than organizing books.

Today so far has been fun but exhausting. Three of us from the League of Women Voters went to see our State Senator, Liz Krueger, to talk about early voting and other election reforms in NY state, and she gave us 40 minutes of her time! Amazing. A very good discussion. One of the women on our team is a bit compulsive, so the last minute review of our presentation was a bit exhausting to me (where do I find all these people?), but the discussion with Krueger was worth it.

Then I was just in time for an excellent yoga class at my health club, and now I'm just about falling asleep. Got to wake up, though. Jim and I are going to a discussion at the NY Public Library this evening, and meeting Katie and the Wayne for dinner afterwards!

All this activity sometimes gets my back screaming, and I was stretched out on it in front of the bookcase when I noticed a skinny book on the shelf. So I read it.
23. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenter - J. D. Salinger

This novella is a mix of fun and impending doom, as Buddy Glass attempts to attend his brother's wedding and gets tangled up with some other extraordinary wedding guests, listening to them criticize his brother, who has not shown up. The portraits of upper class, opinionated New Yorkers in the full throes of the intense fad of psychoanalysis were dead on, and amazingly funny, but Seymour (the brother), in his absence and in Buddy's reminiscence and love, is anything but.

We had a great time last night with you and Jim, Judy. On the way home, we were talking about how nice it is to (a) have great events like that to go to so close to us; and (b) intelligent people to attend them with and discuss them with afterwards!

We feel the same way. Jim was sort of asleep on his feet, otherwise we might still be there.

I do not organize my photos.

Actually, P had her brother here from Palau and her other brother who lives just about a mile from us came over. They were going through a HUGE box of photos that have been taking up space in our not-very-large basement for years. Joel, the brother who lives in Palau, had lived with their parents for about two years, the last two years of MIL's life, taking care of them. One thing he did while he was there was scan all the photos he could find. So many of these went in the trash. It's hard to throw them away (less hard for me as they are not memories of my childhood or my family history) but knowing Joel had scanned them made it easier.

"...I was just in time for an excellent yoga class..." Good for you! I keep saying I'm going to get myself back to yoga. I keep saying it.

Hi Judy! Stopping by for a much belated visit.

I really need to get the first Fiona Griffiths book.

My photos are a mess. At least I have them all backed up on Dropbox so I won't lose them but organizing seems daunting. It would take months for me to get them all tagged appropriately. What I really need to do is start now with tagging so I'm not just making the current problem worse.

23. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

I'm not usually interested in scary books, but this was a very happy listen. The narration was as lyrical as Bradbury's style, and it was quite captivating - I didn't even fall asleep when I was listening to it in the dark in bed!

More on this the first week of June when my f2f reading group discusses it.

I have fond memories of Something Wicked This Way Comes, Judy. I'm glad it worked so well for you.

>38 ffortsa: love that book. Who narrated the audio?

>40 SuziQoregon: Hm Don't recall the name. I got it from the library, so I'll check to see if the name is listed.

eta: Aha. Stefan Rudnicki. Excellent.

Have a lovely weekend, Judy.

I recently reread a long piece on Ian McEwan from the New Yorker, Feb.23, 2009. I guess I kept the issue around after reading it the first time partly because of this article, although I now can get it on their archives. For those of you who like McEwan, it's a very interesting portrait of him and his closest writer friends. I'm not sure how available the New Yorker archives are to non-subscribers, but I will find out as soon as I get my own access cleared up.

eta: for those who have access online, the link is here

hey, that works!

Before that, I read
24. Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon

The usual Brunetti police procedural, spiced up by actions that Paola takes to thwart sex-tourism. Lively as always.

I didn't get any walking in today, in spite of a bang-up challenge start yesterday. Rainy out all day, and I spent it doing volunteer work, housework, closets, reading. Now, of course, I have cabin fever.

Well, I just spent a very informative and annoying hour with Amazon, first in chat, and then on the phone.

Jim has an Amazon Prime account. He has added me in what I now understand is 'invitee' status. We were under the impression that by adding me, I got all the benefits of Prime that he had paid for. But NOOOOO.

As an invitee, I get
- free two day shipping
- free streaming video
- 30 minute advance on 'lightning deals'
- unlimited storage for photos
- access to the Kindle Owners Lending Library

What I don't get
- ability to borrow books designated as Prime for free
- ability to read selected magazines free
- ability to listen to Audible items for free

The only way I can get Prime status for ebooks and magazines is to buy my own prime membership. Or use Jim's logon.

So, folks, if you are thinking one Prime membership will do for all your Amazon needs, now you know the truth.

25. Secrets From the Eating Lab: The Science of Weight Loss, the Myth of Willpower, and Why You Should Never Diet Again - Traci Mann, Ph.D.

Well, I'd suggest saving your money. Any of us interested in slimming down have read most of this before. Mann outlines all the dishonest studies, all the evil effects of semi-starvation, all the tripe about willpower, and concludes with strategies to keep you at your low-end set point without too much struggle by changing your habits. Yawn. And, by the way, fat people face discrimination in any number of ways. There. I've saved you the read.

Lovely day today, real spring at last. I took a long walk with a couple on the upper West Side whom I have known for decades, but see too seldom. They live near Riverside Park, which borders the Hudson River, and after a little more than a mile we came back down via Broadway, through a street fair selling mostly food (but I did buy a new wallet), and I walked to a subway station and took the train home. I was especially eager to get out today because tomorrow rain is scheduled, which means I can read and go to a movie without feeling guilty about being indoors.

I'll probably finish Arrow of God tomorrow, and have some time to research discussion of it before next week's book circle uptown. And I'll have an entire week without planned reading!

A couple of photos from my walk yesterday. These are from the community flower garden at about 90th Street in Riverside Park.

26. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan

Peggy was warbling about this on her thread, and when I found it available as an e-book from the library I didn't resist. At first I was put off by all the detail O'Nan puts in, but that's really the point - his protagonist is a man lost in and comforted by detail, routine, checklists. And the details also make the snowstorm that ends the last night at a closing Red Lobster restaurant so real, I almost told my partner not to slip in the slush. So it became at the end a vivid, bittersweet story of real life, with all its small decisions and disappointments.

I am a big fan of Last Night at the Lobster - and most of O'Nan's stuff.... I am glad this novella found another fan!

I'm happy not to have warbled in vain, Judy. Apparently, I love details.
Hope you're completely well. I'm happy to read about your 40 minutes with your state senator. We just traded our older woman (fairly conservative, but open and thoughtful) for a brash young rifle-toting man. So much for us.

>48 ffortsa:, >49 katiekrug:, >50 LizzieD: I recently read "Last Night" and really loved it. O'Nan has a real gift for description.

Karen O.

>47 ffortsa: Gorgeous photos!! Spring has finally happened at my house. Loving all the blooms. : )

Thanks, Kim. My father always said 'if you want to take beautiful pictures, go to a beautiful place.' I don't always agree, but these just begged to be photographed.

Thanks to all you 'last night' fans for joining in.

Lovely photos, Judy!

Nice review of Last Night at the Lobster.

>47 ffortsa: What incredible flowers.

And, I'm glad you liked Something Wicked This Way Comes. In college (way back when), one of the literature professors was enthralled with Ray Bradbury.

I remember that we read a short story, There Will Come Soft Rains. It was/is Bradbury at his best. He is one of my favorite authors.

IMHO, no one can write so succinctly. He says in one sentence what other writers take a page to try to come near his quality.

Happy Summer to you and Jim!

>47 ffortsa: Beautiful photos, Judy.

>48 ffortsa: I liked that one too.

Happy Sunday.

Hi, >56 Ameise1:, >55 Whisper1:, >54 kidzdoc: and thanks for the praise. I had nothing to do with the beauty of the flowers, just the pictures! The beauty was all their own. Right place, right time.

I just spent a little time updating my series next list. The entries are all mysteries, and I'm forgetful about updating them and LT. Armed with a new list, I can request some from the library.

Meanwhile, two new books.

27. Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe

This is part of Achebe's trilogy of indigenous culture vs. colonial intrusion, the first of which is Things Fall Apart. And things continue to fall apart. I may have more to say after tonight's discussion.

28. Blackhouse by Peter May

A new series for me, recommended by (oops - now who did recommend it? Rosalita? Chatterbox? Quite a few have been talking about it.) Strikingly good, with a powerful presentation of the very north of Scotland, the Hebrides, and the people who live there. I was fussing about the backstory taking up so much space, but there's a reason for it, which I won't spoil by telling you. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

>57 ffortsa: The Lewis series is gorgeous. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

>57 ffortsa: I wasn't the one recommending Blackhouse but I know I've posted on more than one person's thread that I have the book and was glad to see their positive review. Consider this to be my repeat of that post for you, Judy. :-)

I bought Blackhouse in Powell's. It sounds like I should read it sooner rather than later. I think Ellen was the one who recommended it.

Hi Judy.

>60 BLBera: Yes, I think so!

My uptown book circle met Monday to discuss Arrow of God, and the opinions were quite mixed, some of us not able to care much about the characters, some of us more interested. I found the differences between the formal speech of the tribal society and the informal, practical bluntness of the British colonial society interesting, as was the story of a man caught in his determination to believe in the god of his community even when the rules of his religion would fail his believers.

The uptown circle is really rather more uptown than I generally go, and having spent a morning stalling doing anything useful, I was up for some exercise. So I decided to walk. Later I found out my route was just over 5 miles - and I made it with time to spare! I don't think I've walked that far all in one go before, and I was happy to discover no aches or pains the next day. Thank goodness for my new New Balance 860s. I've just bought a backup pair.

Of course, once I got there, I stuffed my face with bread (the rest of the menu wasn't so unfortunate), and the scale didn't budge the next day. But I was glad to have been able to make the trip so easily.

Next book assignments: Justine by Lawrence Durrell, and Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I think I've read both of them, but they are no longer on my shelf. We'll watch the film adaptation of Orlando after we discuss the book - Tilda Swinton, yum.

Yesterday our downtown reading group discussed Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury, and the turnout was a bit disappointing. Add to that about half of the attendees really didn't like the book, and a couple didn't even like Bradbury's language, which I found mesmerizing. Oh well. I thought it a lyrical parable or allegory (not up on my definitions) of good and evil and the choices we make in life and the value of living your life without rushing forward, or longing to go back. Glad I read it.

I have an extra week before the next meetings, because of the 4th of July holiday weekend, so I may squeeze in something else this month as well. So many book await!

I decided I should post something on Facebook so my non-LT friends can see what I'm doing. Today I walked across the Manhattan Bridge and took some pictures of Brooklyn. Take a look! Over there, I'm Judith Astroff.

>48 ffortsa: I loved this book! Your remarks really brought back the feel-good I experienced when reading it.

I don't know where I found out about The Blackhouse either, Judy. It was on my shelf thanks to a RL friend's downsizing, but I wouldn't have read it now if I hadn't heard about it here --- probably Ellen; oh! and Gail. Anyway, I'm waiting impatiently for Lewis Man to arrive, and I expect I'll jump right in.
Curiously enough, I think I found the origin of my great-aunt Ala's first name. It's pronounced Ay-lie, and I now think that it's an Anglicization of Eighleih (?) (Fin's mother's name). Anyway, we're descended from Highland Scots too, Isle of Barra to be specific.

>64 LizzieD: How cool! I have to add the next book in line to my series list. I found myself longing to take a trip to these islands, to see them for myself.

Hi Judy. Just checking in here. : ) Off to take a look at your pictures on FB.

29. Slash and Burn by Colin Cotterill

Siri is ordered north to look for an MIA, and he manages to take his whole crew as well as his wife on what he presumes will be a little holiday. Of course, complications ensue.

I didn't love this Dr. Siri mystery as much as some of the previous ones - a bit too much preparation for me, until the real story began, and not nearly enough Ya Ming and other mysterious happenings. In fact, one of the biggest red herrings looked completely contrived. However, a satisfactory ending, of course, and some funny stuff in between.

>67 ffortsa: I found the supernatural elements in the second of the series a bit off-putting, Judy, and haven't yet got around to any of the others.

Best wishes to you and Jim. xx

30. The Mistletoe Murder and other stories by P. D. James

This is a collection of four short stories, two featuring Dalgliesh, that were written for periodical publications. Short stories are not James's best form, alas. This was moderately entertaining but unmemorable.

I recently obtained an audio of Hillbilly Elegy, and would like to talk about it when I'm done listening. Anyone else listen to it rather than read it in print? Anyone do both? I'm interested in a comparison on that point at least.

Jim and I are taking a little trip this weekend, so I'll undoubtedly fall even farther behind on threads. Ah well.

Hi Judy!

Have a lovely weekend.

You couldn't be further behind on threads than I am, Judy. :-)

Where are you going this weekend? May we anticipate photos when you return?

>70 ffortsa: I didn't listen to Hillbilly Elegy but finished reading it just last night. I have posted my comments, along with a variety of responses to others' comments, on my thread. I will be interested in your thoughts. Did Vance narrate it himself?

>71 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. It was an interesting weekend. Hope yours was good, and I'm sure it was, since you are back home.

>72 cameling: Caro, I'm sure you're right about at least a few threads (for instance, Mark's and Joe's and Mamie's and Amber's and...) I have one picture I may post later, but the weekend wasn't that visually lovely.

>73 EBT1002: I'll scoot over and read your comments right away. Vance did narrate it, and I don't think it was a good idea.

And just to catch up, we spent an overnight in Atlantic City courtesy of a timeshare pitch that we knew in advance we would turn down. AC is a combination of hope and reality, with cranes and construction everywhere and closed casinos on the boardwalk. I'd never been before, so it was curiosity that took us there, but we probably won't be back.

I did finish Hillbilly Elegy. We'll be discussing it at one of our f2f book groups the second week of July, so more after that.

Hi Judy--I read HE for my bookclub this month and we had a very good discussion about it. I am sure you will too! Have a great time on your little trip. : )

Good morning, Judy!

I'm glad you had fun in AC. My weekend was busy - Father's Day and my husband likes the attention. Cards, candy (M&Ms and Skittles), homemade chicken pot pie, fresh summer cantaloupe, Not Homemade pie. Home is good.

What'cha reading?

>76 karenmarie: I'm reading the second mystery story in the Bryant and May series (the name escapes me now, but it has to do with underground tributaries to the Thames in London). Of course, I should be reading Orlando and Justine. Tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been working all day at my computer trying to complete a document for one of my volunteer projects. Sigh.

Is there a Hillbilly Elegy thread somewhere in this group? I thought it was scheduled for May/June, but I haven't seen it.

You know, I could see that it wouldn't be a good idea for Vance to narrate his own memoir. I have enjoyed other memoirs narrated by the author themselves (Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming comes to mind) but I wonder how Vance would do....

ETA: and then I find myself wondering if my feelings about that represent my bias against a southern accent that is, I think, exactly part of what he is writing about....??

>79 EBT1002: I didn't find the accent at all annoying, but the cadence was pretty flat, and I found the style flat as well. It was hard to discern by listening when one paragraph ended and another began sometimes, although the 'main idea' had definitely changed. And I have to say that so much of the book could be read as 'poor me' before he got to the last four or five chapters where he did more self-examination and summing up. Overall, I think it's an eye-opening look at the perpetuation of dysfunctional behavior from one generation to another, involved with and maybe disguised by a conviction of cultural identity. When people are so self-isolating, it's hard to expose them to the ways other people order their lives.

A friend of mine talks about something called sensory integration, which many people accomplish just fine as children, but many also get stuck in, precisely because of the traumas Vance describes. When that happens, the flight-or-fight response can get stuck in the on position, and that's a lot of what Vance shows. Add cultural reinforcement of aggressive behavior, alcohol consumption, low expectations and shrinking economic opportunities, and you get a truly vicious cycle of self-destructive behavior. How can we ameliorate that, in this culture Vance portrays or even our own? Hard question.

>78 _Zoe_: I think you're right, but I don't know if it was set up. I read the book by the six-book schedule and didn't think to look for a thread.

32. The Water Room: A Peculiar Crimes Mystery - Christopher Fowler

A last mystery story before I plunge into my book club reading list. I thought this was the second, but might be the third in this series - I'm not sure whereSeventy-Seven Clocks falls. A good read, and I learned something about London history and geography as well.

>74 ffortsa: We're reading Hillbilly Elegy in one of our F2F book groups?

Have you started cheating on me with another book group?

>74 ffortsa: No, silly. I read it because it was on the Times list of books we innocent liberals should read to understand the election. There were six. I read Strangers in Their Own Land and that book by George Packer, the name of which escapes me. I have to check on what is next on the list.

eta: Ah, yes, the first one was The Unwinding by Packer. The next one is Listen, Liberal by Thomas Frank.

The Unwinding was a good book - more people should read it

>83 magicians_nephew: - Have you started cheating on me with another book group?

This made me giggle.

Hi Jim and Judy!

HAPPY SUMMER!

Not much on the reading front, in spite of a quiet day. What I did do is volunteer to try to register people to vote. Alas, not many non-registered citizens in Union Square Park (lots of tourists, though!). But it was a beautiful day to be outside.

I've started Justine. It will take some concentration.

Hi Judy!

Yeesh to Orlando. I read it and actively disliked it the whole time. Reading it inspired me to get rid of all the Virginia Woolf I had collected except A Room of One's Own and the Quentin Bell biography. I'm sure I'm in the minority of not appreciating her fiction.

I have the Alexandria Quartet on my shelves. Perhaps I can start it this year some time.

I tend to rely on LT's book information, and clicking on any title will identify if it's part of a series and where it is in the series. Clicking on the series/book number itself from that screen will take you to the entire series, including novellas (identified as x.5 in the sequence) and any short story collections. It will also place a green check to the left of the books you have in your catalog. A very nice way to see where you are in a series. The Water Room is 2nd, Seventy-Seven Clocks is 3rd.

>77 ffortsa: Busy lady. I anticipate getting more busy taking over the Treasurer's job of our Friends of the Library. I was away a month, the current Treasurer was away 2 weeks just as I was returning, and the new fiscal year starts July 1.

>83 magicians_nephew: *smile*

>87 ffortsa: Good for you! While in California recently cleaning out Mom's house and getting it on the market, I was asked perhaps 3-4 times if I was registered to vote, always in front of Walmart. I was always appreciative of the effort when telling them I was registered in North Carolina.

Hi Judy - You've done a lot of mystery reading lately. I would like to try the Fowler. I might check out the James because I do like her, even though you mention that the stories aren't as good as the full-length fiction.

Great walking going on here, too!

>89 BLBera: Yes, I've been escaping, although now I have to really spend some time over the Durrell. As for the walking, I must confess to an occasional inflation because of the jiggles when I take a bus. Shhh. Don't tell.

Still not much reading going on here, but I did have a very promising time at my 50th high school reunion. I discovered old friends all over again, and in at least two, probably more cases, these old friends are both nearby and interested in similar things. I hope to recultivate our friendships, not something I've been very good at doing in the past, but will endeavor to improve.

And my friend Ruta is in town to look for an apartment, which means that she will be here to join me in play and work at least half the year. I'm very encouraged.

>91 ffortsa: Good for you, Judy! I hope things go well with both the high school friends and friend Ruta.

>92 karenmarie: Thanks! I've become acutely aware of how much social and volunteer contacts stress me out, but developing a rewarding circle of friends is worth getting a grip on these stresses. More discoveries in my new retirement life.

Wednesday and Thursday are not scheduled yet(!) so I hope to have some recuperating time. And then Jim is taking next week as a vacation week, so we should be able to fit in some local adventures without time constraints.

And of course, I've got a couple of books to read for the f2f groups the week after.

You might be like me, don't know for sure, but once I didn't have to be around a lot of people every day, I realized how much I enjoy NOT being around a lot of people every day. After 1 1/2 years of retirement the people I socialize with are just friends, not work associates, and the thing we talk about are much more interesting. Plus I like our book club women a lot.

Yay for not scheduled days. Enjoy the recuperation time.

Edited to fix "book club woman" to "book club women".

>80 ffortsa: So interesting. The stuff about sensory integration fascinates me. Our understanding of the impact of early childhood trauma and how it affects actual brain development is still emerging as our ability to see brain images develops.

>94 karenmarie: "...once I didn't have to be around a lot of people every day, I realized how much I enjoy NOT being around a lot of people every day." That makes so much sense. I'm an extrovert who needs alone time every day and my work is very people-intensive. I am looking forward to learning how I navigate the terrain of solitude and social contacts in retirement. For now, I'm enjoying watching you all learn about it! :-)

Hope all is well Judy and that you're having a great weekend.

>96 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. I read through your latest events this morning, and all I can see is I hope you and Hani are breathing easier now that some of it has straightened out. And I hope for future success to at least partly ameliorate this experience.

I just wrote and deleted a long note describing my discomfort while in the lap of luxury at the beach this weekend. Sounded too much like a lugubrious rant. But I was in the lap, and while there I was reading $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, and the contrast just about killed me. The extremes of wealth and poverty are not hard to find in this country, in each state, even in each city or town. The wealthier your surroundings, the more remote your understanding of the hardships of others. I came home early.

33. Justine by Lawrence Durrell
34. $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

Touchstones are definitely wonky this afternoon.

$2.00 a Day sounds like a really difficult book to read, but one those of us who are fortunate enough to live in relative luxury should read, would you say, Judy?

I thought $2.00 a Day was excellent. And very eye-opening.

>100 cameling: and >101 katiekrug: yes and yes. I just couldn't read the details sitting in that place and with that particular crowd.

>98 ffortsa: Such a great book. I can definitely understand the problem of reading it in certain circumstances, though.

Hi, Judy. I'm back at work for a day, and re-connecting with work buddies, but it does remind me how much I enjoy now not being around a lot of people every day.

Judy, I do want to read it and have it on hold at the library. But it's not a book I'll be bringing for our weekend in Williamstown .

Hi Judy!

>98 ffortsa: Another book that shows 'how the other half lives' is Nickled and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. It was an eye-opener.

I seem to be developing some worn parts lately, although some of it might be bad habits. Reading more than an hour at a time (sometimes less) is difficult - my eyes get so tired. I suspect too much smartphone reading is the culprit, so I'm trying to cut back, but it's such an ingrained habit now. It's slowing down my reading of Orlando, due for Wednesday evening book circle.

And my right heel has developed a chronic pain, made worse, paradoxically, by sitting. So I'm off to the physical therapist as soon as I can get an appointment, just across Union Square. I'd travel some if I had to, but right across is a breeze.

Tired of this nonsense. I need a renovation.

Sending lots of healing vibes, Judy. Feel better soon.

Good luck with the tired eyes and the heel. No fun at all.

Yikes, so sorry to hear that the tired eyes are interfering with your reading. I never read books on my smartphone but I know the convenience must be so tempting and perhaps "addictive." And I'm sorry to hear about the heel, too! I broke or bruised my little toe walking through my house the other day (no one had actually moved that cedar chest, I just ran into it!) and it is purple and painful. What a pair, eh?

Have you read Evicted by Matthew Desmond? Not that you need another depressing read about the way the system works against the poor, but it is an excellent read (I listened to it and the narration was also excellent).

>108 Ameise1: and >109 Berly: Thanks for the visit, and the sympathy. It was just that not reading and not walking left me pretty miserable - my two dominant activities!

>110 EBT1002: I read about your little toe yesterday. Nasty. At least it was the little one. Big toe breaks are bad. I assume this will limit your running for a while? another nasty. Hope it calms down soon.

I did get in to see my doc yesterday, and he gave me some good advice and a prescription for physical therapy which I'm starting on Monday. We'll see how that goes.

And I'll have to go back to my eye specialists and ask them if they have any more magic. I don't know if it's the phone eyestrain (I don't read books on it anymore, but Facebook is a time-sink I should avoid), or more floaters - somehow I seem to have more of them. Last time I asked, there was the tiniest evidence of cataract activity in one eye, so maybe that has progressed, but it usually doesn't happen that fast. It seems all my friends are having cataract surgery and lens replacement. Not that I wish for surgery, but if it would solve the problem, that would be lovely.

In any case, I finished Orlando this morning, and I don't recall Woolf ever being so funny before. She does take some lovely shots at D.H. Lawrence and other writers, and the whole fairy tale quality to the story did amuse me. We'll see what my book circle thinks of it tomorrow.

Tonight my downtown f2f group will discuss Justine. That should be interesting. I'll report back as soon as I can.

Hi, Judy! Sorry, for my long absence over here. I did not have you starred. Bad Mark? I hope your summer has been going well. Sorry, to hear about the eye issues. Bummer. Hope they can get it sorted out.

How have the books been treating you?

>111 ffortsa: Orlando is one that I like a lot. There's some wonderful descriptions in it: the break up of the frozen Thames is one which comes to mind.

Hi, Judy.

I hope your tired eyes improve, and the nagging heel. Debbi can't believe I read on my smartphone (too small for her), but I only do it once in a while, when I don't have a Kindle or paper book on hand.

Hi Judy!

I'm sorry to hear about the health issues. This is going to sound crazy, but have you ever rested your eyes by putting cucumber slices over your closed eyelids? It's very refreshing and a good way to force a little bit of downtime. it's not a cure for what might be an underlying problem, but it sure does feel good!

I had cataract surgery 2 1/2 years ago and the surgeries went beautifully. Lots of eye drops for weeks after! The technology is so good now.

What about reading on a tablet?

>112 msf59:, >113 SandDune:, >114 jnwelch:, >115 karenmarie: Oh thanks for all the kind words and the visits!

Mark, no need to apologize for not stopping by before. I can't keep up with your threads, and always feel I'm missing the action, but once in a while I get to stop in to see whatever is the latest. Book remarks to follow.

Rhian, how nice of you to drop by. Yes, I liked Orlando a lot, and it made me laugh, which is not something I associate with Virginia Woolf works. And then we saw the movie with Tilda Swinton. Great evocation of the ice breakup in both the book and the film, I agree. Did the Thames ever really freeze over like that?

Joe, I did read books on my phone at first, to test whether I would want the Kindle at all, but that was some time ago. I'm pretty sure it's the combination of phone reading of Facebook and the like that wears me out, and then if a physical book's typeface isn't particularly easy on the eyes, I'm doomed. I'm reading a paperback mystery right now, and so far so good. And, my optometrist sent me a checkup reminder, so all is in place.

Karenmarie, I'm sure the cucumbers feel delish. As I said to Joe, I'm sure I've gotten into bad habits of reading the news on my phone first thing in the morning, and that can't help. Glad the cataract surgeries worked out for you. I also know a lot of people who've had them, but so far I don't have that diagnosis. A lot of floaters that are annoying and probably make my eyes focus and refocus to get past them, and I don't think there's a remedy for that, alas. But I'll ask, of course.

Now, to the books.

34. Justine by Lawrence Durrell

Our reading group was quite lively discussing this, with some people hating it and some loving it. The sort of expressionist or modern style of the first two thirds, non-linear and recursive, didn't appeal to many of us, and I confess I was beginning to zone out before the linear part of the book took over. Then it was a more suspenseful tale, as the actual outcome of the shooting party was in doubt. Some of the readers loved the language, and I think if I hadn't been in a hurry to read it, and could have read a little each day, it would have been a more absorbing read for me. So it goes on the 'reread someday' list. I also felt that the rest of the quartet would flesh out the story substantially, and that we were left with only the narrator's view of a very complex society.

A number of the group felt that the book was misogynistic, which is always a risk when reading authors writing in the 50s (Think Henry Miller, who was a good friend of Durrell's). I was frustrated by the view given to Justine's character as some sort of absolute seeker, instead of a women who we eventually learned was damaged in a very particular way.

But the book is also about writers and writing. And when I reread it, I would like to try to focus on that, and on the character of Alexandria and the nature of the expat life in a city and country where you and your circle are outsiders even in a cosmopolitan city. Alexandria is so wonderfully described in this book, you can almost smell it and see the narrow streets and the beaches and buildings as if they were photographed for you. It's a city that doesn't exist anymore, of course, as the colonialists and expats of this era have long since been kicked out.

It's good to read on Kindle, so that you can look up the more erudite language Durrell sometimes uses. I did resort to Google for translations of some of the dialog in French. Some people thought his use of language was pretentious, but I feel it reflects his academic and intellectual circle and the language they were comfortable. That he doesn't give us any quarter is beside the point.

35. Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Everyone in our book circle agreed that this was a funny book, not what you would expect from Woolf, but it is after all a gloss on Vita Sackville-West and Woolf's complicated relationship with her. What is impressive: Well, for one, the brilliant evocation of such different times across the four and a half centuries of Orlando's existence. As Karenmarie mentioned, the evocation of a frozen Thames and the celebrations on the ice, and then the breakup and disaster that came after, are beautifully realized. And this continues through the coming times, in England and in Constantinople and in the gypsy camp. Then there are the changing attitudes toward women in society that Orlando lives through and adjusts to. And there are the sly sideswipes and writers past and present, which in some cases were laugh-out-loud funny.

My edition had notes in the back to help readers who don't know the historical references. Sometimes they were a bit overdone, but often helpful.

Sometimes it feels a bit like an adult fairy tale, or a fantasy adventure. Sackville-West's life has something to do with that, but to read this only as a roman-a-clef would do it an injustice. So much daring in Woolf's time and before had to do with breaking conventions that deserved to be broken, it's hardly avoidable to see this as a social commentary as well as a romp.

Whew. Two books in a row that needed my intense attention and didn't get enough of it. But now, I've given myself a treat and am reading Vertigo 42 by Martha Grimes, with all the old characters and the requisite English country houses and of course - the dog! Delightful.

Hi Judy - I hope you resolve the eye issues soon.

Great comments on your book group books. I love Woolf but haven't read Orlando -- I'll have to move it up the list.

I love Martha Grimes; she must be about due for another Jury book, right?

Judy--I hear you are having a meet-up and some theatre? Very jealous; have fun!!

Hi Judy!

I've had floaters for years. There is surgery to replace the vitreous fluid, but what I read made it seem that the risks outweighed the potential benefits.

Excellent reviews!

Hi Judy... ooh, I have floaters too. Not a ton, but I'll probably develop more as I grow older and I notice them most if I try to read outside. Something about the way the sun hits a bright book page...Hope your eye and heel issues get resolved soon.

I wonder if I should try Orlando. I read Mrs. Dalloway for a college class and was entirely put off, but I've been meaning to try a different book by Woolf now that I'm *not* in class to see if I had a different response.

>117 BLBera: I am always hopeful that more Richard Jury is on the way, but she's written so many, I worry each will be her last.

>118 Berly: ah, someone blew the whistle on us. Yep, MichiganTrumpet has once again convened the annual Berkshires weekend group. Caro will be in attendance, as well as spouses.

>119 karenmarie: floaters are so annoying. I have one particularly opaque one I've had to train my brain to ignore. Thanks for your comment about the reviews!

>120 bell7: Thanks for the kind wishes. Don't let your experience with Mrs. Dalloway keep you from orlando. It's totally different from her other writing.

36. Vertigo 42 by Martha Grimes

My reaction on finishing this was " Waaa. It's over!! I want more." That said, I think Jury wasn't quite as brilliant as usual, and Wiggins more so. Nevertheless, yum!

Peace to you, Judy. I won't bother you with my aging pains. My doc did say at my last visit, "Your back is 72 years old although I know you don't think it is." Bah! Do the exercises and keep on keeping on!
Hmmm. I haven't read a Grimes in years and years. Nor a Woolf, come to think of it. Nor Durrell (one of the books I skipped meals to buy while I was at Chapel Hill).

Wow! Durrell and Woolf--some serious reading. I have TONS of floaters, but my brain mostly knows to ignore. Also, cataracts which will come out one of these days. I have taken to reading large print, when I can get it from the library, but the problem is those books are heavy.

I do think that a kindle could work, if you got something like the paperwhite with no glare.

Hi Judy! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

>124 banjo123: I like my Paperwhite Kindle and use it for particularly heavy books more and more, even if I have the paper book. But I still only read about 5-10% of books on the Kindle.

Back from a stirring and exhausting meetup in the Berkshires with Marianne (MichiganTrumpet), Caro, their spouses and a couple we knew before LT days. Good food, good plays at Williamstown Theater Festival, great museum visiting (I eventually had complete overload, but the special exhibits at the Clark and wonderful), and terrific discussions. Breakfast for eight was such a delight as the ideas flew around the table.

Now for books. We are reading Candide and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting for August, and we are very grateful the two groups don't meet in the same week this time. That's always a trial, finishing two books with enough attention to discuss them on successive days. As the first is very short and the last isn't due until the end of the month, I'm indulging my mystery appetite with the fourth Fiona Griffiths. That, plus my volunteer obligations and my physical therapy (starting today) and a guest arriving on Wednesday, should fill the week quite nicely. I'll have to run away some other time.

BTW Judy the "Great Freeze" described in Orlando is historically accurate

I finally got myself to the Brooklyn Museum today (only 6 months after I became a member, after all) to see an exhibit focused on Georgia O'Keeffe - and it strikes me that 'focused' is the right word. Many of the items were photographs of her by her husband Alfred Stieglitz, and other portraitists and photographers drawn to her elegant style and iconic face. Cecil Beaton, Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol and especially Yousuf Karsh are all represented. She was very much in control of her image and persona, so much so that I was shocked toward the end of the exhibit to see a shot of her smiling!

Some of her paintings are featured along side the photographs, and the show includes many of her clothes, the early ones all made by her, mostly by hand. She had the figure to suit the long, simplified lines she adopted, of course. I was sorry to hear that although she lived to 99, her last years were marred by macular degeneration, a cruel disease for such a visual person.

you can see some of the show here

>127 magicians_nephew: I was wondering about that. Amazing.

My Kindle died! What an affront!

Fully charged and all, it just won't turn on, alas. It's a Kindle Touch (so not exactly young), and I'm wondering if it's worth trying to fix it, or to research the newer models. There's an Amazon store up on 59th Street that must have the various models to hold and try out. Sigh. Not saying I wouldn't enjoy a lighter or snazzier version, but...

In the meantime I am progressing through This Thing of Darkness on my tablet, and Fiona is as damaged, determined and brilliant as ever.

I would invest in a new one. I love my Paperwhite, and a friend just got the Oasis and loves it...

>131 katiekrug: Yeah, I just have to have that visceral comparison, as well as the comparison of features. I may brave the heat and walk over to Best Buy today in case they have the various models on the floor.

In the meantime, nothing puts me in a good mood more than a three-hour read of a good mystery. And my eyes didn't even complain as I read on the tablet, which of course is backlit. The book, you ask?

36. This Thing of Darkness by Harry Bingham

I'm madly in love with Harry Bingham. Fiona Griffiths is so flawed, struggles so hard, is such a survivor. And this is a story 'ripped from the headlines' of the electronic age, so to speak. It is wonderful how Fiona pulls the strands of different reported crimes into a coherent web, and Bingham is nice enough for us slow folks to have her explain it all to her managers toward the end of the book, and it doesn't feel old at all. The writing really lets the reader feel the physical surrounding, and in this book that's especially important. And of course, Fiona is desperately trying to be normal, not to go rogue, and she almost makes it.

I almost forgot to record that I've been to physical therapy and learned all sorts of things about my feet. My 'toe yoga' exercise involves standing and lifting my big toes but not my other toes, then reversing and lifting my other four toes. Seems easy, right? Except my right foot, the one that's hurting, has a really hard time translating my intentions into action. It's one of the mysteries of the brain, how we tell our body parts to do things, and this body part is a little deaf. I found myself saying 'come on, lift!'. So far it does most of the time, but without the dependability of the left foot, and the reverse action is especially hard. Who knew?

It's a miracle!

I looked at the various new kinds of Kindles and was dismayed to see they don't include support for audio books. So after great travail, I found a help number for Amazon, and called it, and a very patient woman on the other end walked me through what amounted to a reset of the Kindle software and I'm BACK IN BUSINESS! YAY!

With all thanks to those who like the Paperwhite and Voyager and Oasis, I'm glad to have my Kindle functioning again. If they ever restore full audio support, I might buy a snazzy new one, but for now, I'm in heaven.

ETA

Oops. I may have found the original trouble. The on/off button doesn't work. Can't turn it off. Which is why I probably couldn't turn it on in the first place. Sigh. But a button should be fixable.

I'm glad you're back in business, Judy!

It's difficult to find the Amazon customer service number on their website, but I've had to call a couple of times and they've always been very helpful.

Good luck with the on/off button.

>135 karenmarie: They were very helpful, right up until the time they said they couldn't help. Sigh. I'll keep looking in NYC, and see if anyone will tackle the switch. I may also see what I can find on eBay in the way of a similar Kindle, with 3G and WiFi. I really don't want the Fire - I'm looking for something lighter, and I already have a Samsung tablet anyway. So we'll see.

So sorry you are having problems with Amazon and your Kindle, Judy. The Fire is not great for reading because of the glare off the screen, much like most tablets. I've a few tablets, but still use my Kindle for reading when I travel. I hope you find a new solution.

>137 cameling: Thanks. Amazon definitely does not have its act together when someone complains about their service. That said, I've found a video on Youtube that shows how to open up the kindle and sort of prime the inner button, if it's stuck. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do that. But I am still looking for a repair place here in NYC. And there are some Touch offers on eBay for not much money.

HI Judy--How's the Kindle doing?

Interesting to hear about your toe exercises. For years I worked on spreading my toes for yoga and increased balance. Now that I am doing TKD, it's the reverse. I am supposed to keep them in tight so they don't get snagged during kicking and when I kick it is supposed to be with foot pointed but toes pulled back and up, but together. Struggling!!!

>139 Berly: Hm. Foot pointed but toes pulled back and up. I'm a little surprised, as that seems to make them more vulnerable to harm, but I'm sure there's a reason. Keeping them tight while kicking makes sense to me.

I'm pretty sure this exercise I've been given is to correct a minor overpronation that may have caused my tendinitis. And I do think, because of other comments regarding my tight (TIGHT) IT bands, that I may have tried to walk a little more to the inside, so I probably did this to myself. Sigh. In the meantime, I'm just wrestling myself to do the exercises as often as I'm supposed to. Isn't it all supposed to work the first time??

37. The Burning Gates by Parker Bilal

These books keep getting darker, or at least that's my perception with this one. Makana has evidently built a reputation that gets him hired by some not-so-good folks, and in fact there are many not-so-good folks in this book. The backstory starts with the first Gulf War, and the looting by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait before they were pushed out. But it's set after, maybe just after, the second Gulf War under the second Bush, and the spew of dangerous characters and disillusioned idealists from that war as well, out for prizes and even more for revenge. Makana must walk a tightrope over these violent men as they each try to use him for their own purposes.

I had a few quibbles with the story. An obvious moment of cellphone sabotage goes unnoticed because Makana is so unused to cellphones, but wouldn't he have picked up on the classic manner of the maneuver?
Some dialog at the end of the book is repeated unnecessarily, pointing to careless editing. Police corruption is almost a caricature. Or maybe not. (I've never experienced Egyptian police behavior.)

There's nothing here that will derail the series for me, but it was a bit of a pull to get to the end of the story.

Up next:
for my downtown reading group: Candide by Voltaire
for my uptown reading group: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera.

I'm feeling a little trapped by my reading group schedules these days, but will persevere and try to squeeze in some other texts.

I hope the therapy helps your feet, Judy.

Good luck with your technical difficulties.

Hooray for Richard Jury. I have some of the first ones; I may have to reread.

We try to read one "classic" a year in my book group. Otherwise, we shoot for a variety. I don't know if I could handle two groups.

>141 BLBera: Two groups is definitely not easy. It just takes up too much of my reading time. But I like both sets of people, so I persevere.

The therapy does seem to be helping me, slowly. Today started out without pain, so I'll keep doing my exercises and hope for the best. It's such good walking weather lately, but I've held back, of course. Thanks.

I have got to read the first Harry Bingham.

I agree about two groups being a challenge. I have been experimenting with book groups in the area -- there are oodles of them with all sorts of angles to their book selections -- and it got overwhelming quickly.

I'm glad the therapy is helping, even if slowly. I can totally resonate with the frustration of being sidelined when the weather is perfect for getting out there to walk or run. It's hard to hold back.

Hang in there and have a great weekend to the degree that you can.

>143 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen. To you too.

39. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

More later

Does reading Sparknotes count? Hm. I read through the Sparknotes on Candide today in the park. Not a revelation, but a nice overview of the goings-on during Voltaire's life and his involvement in the Enlightenment as it swirled through Europe. I'll see if it does me any good in tomorrow's discussion.

But the weather has been perfect for reading. Union Square isn't always quiet, but it's been green and cool in the shade. Lovely. Almost as good as my own backyard.

How goes the Kindle woes, Judy?

Glad to hear the exercises are helping with your tendinitis, keep up the good work and you'll be rollerblading in now time around Central Park!

Hi Judy!

Just a quick hello - I hope your foot exercises are helping. I know the pressure of book club reading although I'm only in one club. They're used to me saying I haven't read the book, though, and this year (November - October) I'll have read only 6 of the 12. Too many good books, too little time to waste on books that don't appeal.

Meet-up!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/266680

>140 ffortsa: TKD kicking. Ankle extended. Toes together and pulled back. It's so you kick with the pad of the foot immediately below the toes. Kicking with your toes hurts!!



Happy weekend. ; )

>150 Berly: yep, that's what I thought it would look like. Toes are definitely protected. Knowing me, I'd probably bust a metatarsal. Anyway, therapy is proceeding with not a lot of clear results, but I'm not half-way through yet. We'll see what happens.

40. How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K. White

No touchstone for this; even with the Amazon ESIN entered I couldn't find the book through 'add books', but that's ok. This derives from White's blog 'aslobcomesclean.com', in which she chronicles her experiments in what works for her to keep her house in order. As she says, most organizing books are written by people who love to organize, and she isn't one of them. But she has developed the mantras that work for her, and most of them involve the 'just do it' philosophy of life, starting with 'do the dishes'. Thank goodness that's a lesson I learned ages ago (and not from my mother), but her advice on de-cluttering is certainly worth the $1.99 on Kindle, and she's funny to boot. I can think of several people who would benefit from this book, people who are likely to see their home as an all-or-nothing project, who feel failures at keeping a reasonably orderly house, even though they are bright, hard-working, talented, etc. etc. A fast read, because the instructions are unphilosphically simple.

eta: I think I've found a way to avoid my underlying angst. Each day for the past week or so, I've been spending a few hours in the shade under the trees in Union Square Park. It's a small park, with lots of traffic and occasional community noise, but there are cafe chairs and tables under the trees and the weather has been more than bearable in the shade. And I read. What a concept. Just read outdoors. I have no idea what I will do for the winter, but right now, it's heaven.

>152 ffortsa: I could do with reading that one at least twice at the moment, Judy!

Have a lovely weekend.

>155 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, it's already happened, and was pretty nice. Jim dragged me to see 'Wonder Woman', but I can't say it was particularly memorable. However, Gal Gadot is wonderful to watch. As for the rest, I've been reading!

>152 ffortsa: I've added that book to my wishlist.

And reading out in the park sounds lovely.

Uh-oh. I'm in a bit of overscheduling. For one f2f group, I'm reading The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Kundera. For the other, The Seamstress by Frances De Pontes Peebles. The first is an ok length, and easy reading; the second is LONG. Add to that, I've sort of committed to reading Kafka on the Shore and The Master and Margarita this month. And it's already August 9th!

>158 ffortsa: Buckle down, woman, and get reading! What do you think? That we do this for fun? : )

Uh-oh, indeed. I hate that over-committed feeling. I hope you love and devour them all.

>159 Berly: Especially since I'm not doing any TKD, glass-blowing, mountain-climbing or other stuff at the moment.

>160 karenmarie: Hi, Karen. Yeah, I just need a few uninterrupted days to get through them (ha). And I've been remiss in not keeping up with you. Next round, for sure.

41. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

a lovely and intimate voice. More after discussion at the end of the month.

>161 ffortsa: Ha!!

>162 ffortsa: See. I knew you could finds one if you just put your mind to it. : P

>98 ffortsa: wow, that sounds intense. I feel the same way sometimes, I cant help but see people splurging, and think, couldn't you just find something a little....more useful to do with that cash??

I never caught up, but you read Hillbilly Elegy right? What did you think> I have a copy that I was given by mu mum- she found a 2nd hand copy, and I was thinking I'd have to wait at least a year before it showed up 2nd hand. *score* I might start it soon.

>165 ffortsa: Hi! thanks for looking back that far on my thread! Yes, it was peculiarly intense. Part of it was that the couple who hosted us had their own continuing issues - our mutual friend said it was generally like this and she was worried about their future. Part of it was that they were so mutually self-centered. Jim left after one day, I left after two.

As for Hillbilly Elegy, yes, I did read it. I found it a little repetitive, but then the writer is talking about his own childhood, trying to figure out what it did to him and how he escaped. At first I thought he was just poor-me, but his struggle to understand the culture he came from bears fruit toward the end. It's not a difficult read, no jargon, etc. but a bleak picture of a chronically dysfunctional part of the U.S.

And it was a bit after reading HE that I started $2 a Day. So the contrast to my gracious vacation by the sea was stark.

I've been having a great time this week reading The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles. It's set in Brazil in the late 1920s-early 30s, and tracks the diverging history of two sisters from the interior of Brazil, both in the interior and in Recife. So far, a terrific tale, and a fascinating look at a different country and culture. More after I finish - only about 150 pages to go.

>167 katiekrug: - Sounds interesting, Judy. Where'd you come across this one?

>167 katiekrug: I don't recall which of our book group people recommended it, but it's definitely worth reading.

On another note, I am the WORST PROCRASTINATOR in the world. I was finally picking up my new Epson scanner (yay - I bought it!) and on my way out of the store I saw a sign saying that eclipse glasses were available at the register. If I had had to stop at the register, I probably would have bought them on the spot, but since I was heading out prepaid, I didn't bother stopping. I thought, oh, I'll come back for them tomorrow.

IDIOT! The store is shomer shabbas, which means it's not open until Sunday morning! I was told B&H had them as well, and THEY are shomer shabbas and won't be open until Sunday morning! AAAAUUUUUUURRRRGGG. So now I have to wait until Sunday to line up in front of the store and hope they still have a pair of eclipse glasses, or else be stuck watching the partial eclipse on TV. DUMB!

And of course I feel even dumber not to have thought earlier to find a place to go to see the full eclipse. Friends of mine decided a long time ago to take a CRUISE from Florida to see the eclipse. Sheesh. I cannot plan my life at all.

Oh well. This afternoon, the plan (!) is laundry and using my new scanner. And reading, of course. Let's see if I can stick to that. Sigh.

>169 _Zoe_: Meanwhile, I learned just this week that I'll have a full-day meeting on eclipse day, literally the one required meeting of the whole summer. Hmph.

>169 _Zoe_: Boo! Let's hope it's cancelled, like most of Jim's very important meetings.

Ah, big adventure. I set up and finally USED my new scanner, got all my medical papers scanned and shredded, and a few Playbills too. It does remarkably well for the playbills.

But I'm not sure I'll keep it. I want to use it over a few days before I decide. It's a little finicky about loading originals, and sometimes it produces slanted pages for no discernible reason, so we'll see. But it's much less work than the flatbed scanner we have.

There are higher quality scanners, of course, but they are a)bigger and b)much more expensive.

And after all this scanning you would think my desk would be clear, wouldn't you? Hah!

>167 katiekrug: There are gentlemen in the world. Specifically at a photo and electronics store called Adorama on 18th St in New York. They provided for all us procrastinators by having 15,000 pairs of eclipse glasses ready to go this morning, when the line was about 50 people long, and they were charging the plain retail price. I got 5 pair for $20. They have my business for life.

And it's a great store.

Yay for last minute saves!! Did you enjoy the eclipse? I posted photos on my 15 thread. Loved it!

Plans for the meet-up on September 9 are taking shape... http://www.librarything.com/topic/266680.

My heel continues to cause trouble. This weekend, my friend the OT and physical medicine magician came by and gave me a marathon bodywork session to try to chase the demons away. This afternoon, I had an acupuncture treatment, the first for this problem, from a stunningly attractive and interesting young man. Tomorrow, back to PT. I have to take this seriously, because it's ruining my walking time. I'd rather ruin my budget.

So just in case life wasn't interesting enough, my oven door EXPLODED tonight. There was glass, clear and white, everywhere. Good new: I had just finished cooking dinner, and the glass tended to fall down, rather than out and all over me (did get across to the sink, however). I'm asking the landlord for a new oven, preferably self-cleaning.

It might put a crimp in my new resolution to cook more.

Glad you survived the oven explosion!! Scary. Best wishes on healing the heel.

>177 Berly: Yikes!!!!! I'm glad you are alright!

"I'm asking the landlord for a new oven, preferably self-cleaning."
Um, yeah. At least that.

Heels and ovens, it's never a dull moment over here!

I hope the treatments for your heel are successful. I had plantar fasciitis in both feet twice within about 4 years and there's nothing like foot pain. I still have problems walking - for some reason the tops of my feet hurt and the doctor/chiropractor/massage therapist haven't been able to help me out there. Not so much walking for me these days.

>178 EBT1002: >179 karenmarie: >180 ffortsa: I stand corrected. It didn't EXPLODE. The safely glass SHATTERED. Bad enough for me, but since it was tempered glass designed to shatter into small bits rather than large swords of glass, no damage done. Looks like I'll get a new door to the oven. Oh well.

As I was sweeping up the shards today, the thought crossed my mind that they would be interesting mosaic material. I guess I need an artistic outlet.

Instead, what I'm doing now is scanning all the playbills I've saved over the years. I really don't need to keep them in shoe boxes, and the new scanner does a treat on them. I'm about half a box into a collection of three large shoeboxes (Jim's size 15s), and it's remarkably satisfying. Of course, that means I'm not reading, but that's ok for now.

As for the heel, my friend the OT with the magic positional release technique worked on me this Sunday for a long time, and then yesterday I had an acupuncture session (the cutest young man, and lots of intelligent information - I love when that happens). Today the heel feels somewhat better, so I think I have the magic combination now. And it's a grey day threatening rain, so I'm not tempted to walk.

As for cause, I hate to say it, but I think I damaged my foot in yoga class. Sigh.

And oh, my sister in San Antonio is so far ok and her house is undamaged. SA was just past the edge of the storm, it seems, and unless the monster regroups and moves again, everything there will be ok. Just a little rain. They could use a little more, but not like Houston.

>180 ffortsa:

After a few weeks with expensive new Orthodics, my right heel spur, plus plantar fasciitis, responded well to floor exercises, ice filled bottle, and increased daily walks.
Neither Medicare nor Supplemental Insurance would cover them.

Yet another of those needed medical devices that wouldn't get ten cents at a garage sale.

>177 Berly: yikes! That is not what you'd be expecting. I hope you don't develop a lifelong fear of ovens now...that would be inconvenient.

Hi Judy!

Hope you're recovered from the Shattering Oven and your heel is doing better.

>182 LovingLit: I'm optimistic that I can get these foot problems under control.

>184 ffortsa: LOL The Shattering Oven has acquired a new door, and so far so good. The heel, not so much. It might be time to bring in the big guns - i.e. a podiatrist or orthopedist. Sigh.

I hope any people we have in the Houston and Florida regions are safe and dry. These storms can make us feel very small indeed.

I haven't been reading much, chiefly because I've started scanning my playbills into my computer, and it's become something of an obsession. Right now, the scanner is having some trouble with really dark pictures and I've sent Epson a query as to what I might be able to do about it, since there are no instructions for some of the settings. Bummer. I've gotten half-way through the 'c's - playbills are organized alphabetically, except that I ignored 'the' and 'a', which the computer sequencing isn't good at, of course. But I'm mainly interested in scanning and pitching the paper. Just in time, too. Some of it is really old and the acid has begun to turn the pages orange and brittle.

And I've been watching a bit of tennis, from my unathletic perch on the couch. These folks must work so hard to be that fit. Even when I was 20, I couldn't imagine being in the shape they are in.

Reading will resume soon. Two new book group books: a novel by Rabindranath Tagore called The Home and the World, and Thomas Keneally's The Playmaker. And I haven't let go of The Master and Margarita yet, but the group read must be miles ahead of me.

I'm having a little trouble with the playbill scans. Some are too big for the CutePDF online service to edit, and they have ads I want to delete. Does anyone have experience using a different PDF editor? Free is preferable, but not-to-expensive would be ok too.

Jim and I went to a great meetup yesterday. You can see a picture on KatieKrug's thread - she put it together and did a great job. I had a chance to meet Reba and her husband, passing through on their trip back from Chatauqua (which sounds very interesting), and Liz (Eliz-M), who mostly posts on Club Read, and who lives right here in Brooklyn! I hope to see more of her. And of course, seeing all the other folks was great.

Today is more Playbill fussing, and some videos I have to watch for my work at the polls on primary day on Tuesday. The rules in New York make it a long, long day. Arrive at the polling place at 5AM to set up, stay until the last votes are tallied and the machines and ballots are locked up after 9PM. No split shifts, minimal breaks. I don't expect that much traffic, however, since this is not a presidential or even a gubernatorial election cycle. The city council seats are up, all 51 of them, and judgeships in various boroughs, and the mayoralty. I can't envision DeBlasio losing, even though there's a lot of dissatisfaction, because I don't see anyone else attracting attention.

It's a gorgeous day out. I may take M&M for a visit to the park.

Great to see you and Jim yesterday, Judy!

>181 m.belljackson: ..."scanning all the playbills I've saved over the years." Hmm, that sounds like a chore with some fun imbedded within. Perhaps some great memories of wonderful shows? One item on my bucket list is a trip to NYC to see some shows. I love theater and, though I have been to NYC, it was decades ago and I was a poor college student mostly overwhelmed by the city, and attending a conference so rather preoccupied. I do remember a slice of pizza, though.
I visited NYC one other time, too, my ninth Christmas. My parents, brother, and I visited dad's family in New Jersey and then spent a few days with one of my dad's best friends in the city. I remember lots of snow that year (and since I was growing up in Florida, that was a very big deal for me).

>188 ffortsa: You and P. would be more than welcome any time you want to come. We can get some deals on theater through our various memberships, and we'd love to show you around.

Hi Judy! Finally home and getting caught up on LT. Just wanted to say again how much we enjoyed meeting you and Jim and how much we enjoyed our lunch conversation. I hope you do get to San Diego sometime. We would love to show you around.

Yesterday I worked as a pollworker for the New York primary election for the Democratic and Reform parties. The Reform party name is very confusing, as there is a National Reform Party and a Reform Party and neither of them have much to say. The ballot had one candidate, who was also on the Democratic ballot, contesting the current mayor, and my table didn't get a single voter who wanted to use it. I think that was true of most of the 6 tables of election districts in my polling place, and probably across the city.

In spite of the fact that New York City (except for Staten Island) is heavily Democratic, the vote was infinitesimal. and we spent long stretches with nothing to do. I had a very engaging partner at the table, so it wasn't so bad, but the day started at 5AM and we didn't get out until after 10PM. Long day for very little.

Today I met with a new student at the place where I tutor reading and English. Nice young woman from Yemen, who does read and write Arabic, which is a big help when trying to read a new language. It was fascinating to watch her form her letters in the writing exercise. She starts each one from the right, although she starts the entire sentence from the left, as we do. It's like backing up the car each time, because she needs to leave room for the whole letter. I assume that is because Arabic reads from right to left like Hebrew. Odd to watch.

On the way home, I used the restroom and the metal zipper wasn't cooperating. So I had to ride back to Manhattan with my zipper down and my long t-shirt as defense. When I finally put down the Bingham at my stop, this very large man was sitting opposite me staring. I decided he must be concentrating on his headphone input, and didn't even see me, but still...

As a reward for all this do-gooding, I decided to read The Dead House. What a treat.

Go Fiona!

It was nice to see you again on Saturday. Just as well you opted out of the Brooklyn Bridge Park... The subway was on a weekend construction schedule that eliminated the route I'd expected to take, which I didn't realize until I got to the platform and meandered around reading signs while waiting (I'm sure there's an app, but I was doing just this one thing so I hadn't prepared), so getting there and back was a bit of an adventure. And the subway switch meant the part of the park that interested me, the native plant areas, was at the far end.

Sorry about the long, unproductive day Judy but glad you at least had someone interesting to talk to.

>192 qebo: And Fiona triumphs again. Of course.

43. The Dead House by Harry Bingham

Another wonderful mystery featuring Fiona Griffiths and Wales. We see everything through Fiona's eyes, through her thought processes and particular emotional frame. Bingham intensifies her perspective by writing in the present tense - have I ever read a mystery in the present tense before this series? I think not. And every once in a while, the reader comes across the most beautiful sentence or description, anything but hard-boiled police procedural.

At an empty cottage in a Welsh valley, for instance:

I stand in the doorway, looking out. Quiet pastures steepening to a little fringe of wood, the bare hills above. I don't know what a physicist would say, but time doesn't flow in these valleys the way it moves elsewhere. There's something so changeless here, something so little altered since the retreat of the glaciers, that I feel myself in a kind of permanent present. One that knits the modern, the medieval, the Roman, the pre-Roman.

The tremble of those many pasts is with me here. A faint turbulence that plucks at my skin, the hem of my coat.

The story this time is both modern and medieval, and by the time Fiona pieces it together, it's almost too late. Of course.

Wonderful book.

Hi Judy!

Long day for sure. A good deed, a civic duty performed.

>195 karenmarie: Yay Fiona! Excellent quote. I've loved these books, devouring them all. Now I have to wait for #7..... C'mon Harry.

>196 ffortsa: Me, too. I'm glad to have them on Kindle, so I can revisit them until Harry comes up with the next one. Fiona is so interesting, and the writing is so interesting, and sometimes terrifying. But knowing Fiona (and Harry), I know she will prevail, so a little terror is ok.

>188 ffortsa: Sometimes the memories come along with the playbills, sometimes not. After I finish, I may revisit some of them and put together a little memory-jogging synopsis, if my completeness fetish lasts that long.

Sometimes the memories are good in another sense. A neighbor had an extra ticket to Cats, years ago, and invited me along. At intermission, without prompting, she turned to me and said 'Sorry'. But we stayed until the end. I can chalk that one up to popular culture research, I think. (Am I being too snooty?)

Hi Judy!

I almost dread asking, how many playbills do you think you have?

I am in the middle of a Fiona! This Thing of Darkness. I do love her! Good luck with the Playbills. My in-laws have their favorite ones framed and they cover the walls of their guest bathroom. Very fun.

>198 Berly: I estimate about a thousand. But they go back at least three or four decades.

I'm hoping to get to the main festival day of the Brooklyn Book Festival (distinguished from the Boston Book Festival by a logo BKBF, including the K from Brooklyn - pretty smart). I've read almost none of the books listed and almost none of the writers speaking, but I figure the lists could be the impetus to read out of my comfort zone for a long time to come. The run-up was all over the city, but the festival itself is pretty much in downtown Brooklyn, which is very walkable, like the Boston Book Festival venues are. If I do go, I'll report back.

Part of my impetus is that Colson Whitehead is speaking to someone at one of the events, and I missed him up in Boston last year. I haven't read his book yet either.

>197 karenmarie: I had a similar reaction to Cats—I saw it this past year because it seemed like something one should see, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I spent the first half just wondering what I was missing—would I know what was going on if only I had been able to catch every word of the lyrics? It was only after reading up on it during intermission that I realized there really wasn't much plot to speak of.

>198 Berly: update on that scanning. I thought I'd finish the 'C' pile today, but found a bunch of 'A' and 'B' titles under the stack. So not quite finished with those three letter of the alphabet. So far, 230 playbills scanned. The first of two boxes is a little less than half empty. So maybe more than a thousand.

And of course we keep going.

Wow, Judy. I am absolutely amazed. Impressed, too. Will you keep any of them, perhaps framed as @Berly's in-laws, above? Perhaps not in a bathroom.....

>203 ffortsa: They are not really in that good condition to frame. Jim has some posters from shows he and I have seen, and they are framed. This whole project is just for my mad memory. Probably foolish, but at least I'll know if I've seen a show or not!

My own experience of the theatre are uniformly positive, Judy. I remember seeing Cats with Elaine Page in the main role and loving it but my absolute favourite musical is the very British, Blood Brothers. I also have seen Fiddler on the Roof a number of times.

Have a lovely weekend.

Good for you for keepin all those playbills! I wish we had done that, or else kept a list of plays seen. We did not, so that information is all in my increasingly porous memory.

>205 banjo123: glad your experiences were positive, Paul. I had no quarrels with the performers I saw in Cats, only the play itself. I never did see Blood Brothers.

>206 ffortsa: Exactly. I've already looked at some only to say what? What was that about? Who did I see it with? Who was that actor or actress? On the other hand, some spring to life immediately. And some titles, mainly the Shakespeare, I've seen many times. Interesting to line them all up.

I'm bushed after spending the day at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Quite a crowd - Brooklyn is probably our most literary borough, and people were out in droves. I'll write more about it tomorrow, and maybe post some pictures. Let's just say I did NOT come home with scads of physical books, but I did get a few. The discussions were pretty good.

The Brooklyn Book Festival (BKBF) happens in September in the area of the borough known as Brooklyn Heights. The main courthouse, the Brooklyn Law School, and some really old and beautiful churches serve as venues, as well as the main plaza in front of the Brooklyn Borough Hall, so there's plenty of space for vendor stalls and everything is close together, much like the Boston Book Festival.

Brooklyn is home to probably more writers per square foot than anyplace outside the Iowa Writers Workshop, plus a plethora of small press and other establishments in our reading world. There was, of course, much to much to see, unless you could be in seven venues at the same time, so Jim and I selected according to our taste and agreed to meet at the last session. More about that in a little while.

We started at a talk titled 'Migration and Memory', which had the interesting premise of talking to writers who were themselves exiles from their native land. Wioletta Greg (from Poland, no English) writing about Poland from her home in the Isle of Wight, Santiago Gamboa, writing about the reverse migration of Latin Americans exhausted by the struggles of being immigrants in Europe, Maja Lunde and Gabriel Sanders, whose stories escape me at the moment. The stories we heard were a lot better than the moderator, and we left early to visit the stalls.

I was heading to a talk on 'The Problems and Promise of Cities' when I was waylaid by 'Family Secrets', with Joyce Carol Oates, Karl Ove Knausgaard, and Lauren Sanders. This took place in St. Ann's Church, beautiful but hot. Oates was holding forth on the theme of her new book, which deals with abortion in evangelical families; Sanders wrote about secrets in a family that involved spying; and Kanusgaard of course has just written 'Autumn'. He was very affecting in his description of how he wrote, how he left things out that would hurt people, how he felt about his forebears and his daughter. Here's a picture. Notice that Oates found the spotlight.



Then we all got out and went to stand on line again for a talk with Lynn Nottage and Colson Whitehead, which was very interesting and forthright. They are two really centered people.



Then I came in late to the next session, which was 'Killer Crime Fiction' with Nelson George, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ben H. Winters, a very lively discussion of why mystery fiction and noir appeals to us, especially in times of trouble such as these. (No photo, alas) I definitely want to read these authors.

And finally, Jim and I met up at 'The Meaning(s) of Time', a discussion not about books but about time itself, with Oliver Burkeman, Alan Burdick, Jimena Canales, Jim Holt and Janna Levin. Levin is an astrophysicist, Canales has written a science history book that in part hinges on a meeting between Einstein and Bergman in Paris (wow), Oliver Burkeman and Alan Burdick write about science for the Guardian and the New Yorker, and Jim Holt is a philosopher and essayist.

They were fascinating. And I felt just a little stupid listening to these brilliant minds collide.

The rest of the time I merely felt unread. 'So many books, so little time' was never so true.

Hi Judy - sounds like a great day! I went last year and really enjoyed it but couldn't fit it in this year. I'm also feeling "so little time".....the longlist for the National Book Awards just provided NINE more to add to my very swollen list!

The Brooklyn Book Festival sounds fabulous! Thanks for the report, Judy.

>208 vivians:

Thanks for the photos - Karl Ove is looking happier than usual despite being seated next to (not one of my favorites) JCO.

Was he speaking in English? He once wrote that he wasn't planning to learn it.

Sure wish we ALL could have joined you for Colson Whitehead!

>211 ffortsa: Karl Ove was definitely speaking in English, and I would have been surprised if he hadn't, since English seems to be taught by default in all the Scandinavian schools. He was slow but articulate.

JCO isn't one of my favorite authors but she was definitely feisty yesterday, making very pointed political remarks and in general seeming to have a good time. I saw her in two events, and in both she seemed very comfortable and happy herself - and I don't associate her with happy anything.

Whitehead was a dream. I had seen him last year in Boston, but only for a small part of his presentation. Evidentally he had to reply to a very rude questioner and did it with both wit and grace, according to those who were there. The remarks he made about the structure of The Underground Railroad left me eager to read it.

Lynn Nottage was also wonderful. I'd seen her very powerful play 'Ruined' a few years ago, but not her newer work.

>209 rosalita: Maybe we can go together next year.

>210 m.belljackson: I assume it's not a good time of year for you to take a long weekend, but if you care to visit next year, let us know. We'd be glad to see you.

I'm so envious! What an exciting event. Thanks for sharing. Lauren Sanders - she wrote The Book of Love and Hate, right? I just panned it.

"So many books, so little time." Very true. That's why I abandon books with glee, including the Lauren Sanders one, even if it was an ER book.

>208 vivians: - The festival sounds great, Judy! I would love to go next year - will keep my eye out for the dates to get them on my calendar asap.

>212 karenmarie:

I totally loved the first volume of Knausgaard's My Struggle - even the boring parts were well shaped -
but had to give up on Autumn after a few pages.

It was so slow and repeated a lot that he had written previously with more compelling flair.
He may well view this next series as 'mellow' while readers will still be waiting for his philosophical artistry.

>213 katiekrug: Ha! I laughed out loud right into my computer monitor. Panned, huh? I'll have to look at your review.

>215 ffortsa: Interesting. I think he styled this book directly for his daughter. But I take note.

>208 vivians: The Brooklyn book festival sounds marvelous. I'll keep an eye out for 2018 dates...you never know :)

>216 RebaRelishesReading:

Yes, he makes his unborn audience very clear...and yet...

It will be good to read your responses - I'll go next to see if there are any LT reviews up.

Checked and there are two - one very short lukewarm in English and a REALLY long
and admiring one in Norwegian - is there a way to get a translation?

>218 ffortsa: Hm. There is a lot of love for Autumn on our threads. I'm surprised more people didn't post reviews.
No idea about translation.

eta: There are several books with that title. Maybe people are reading a different book.

Aha! The warbling has been about a book with the same title by Ali Smith. Interesting confusion there!

>219 m.belljackson:

It is confusing having two books with the same name in the same year -
it likely wouldn't have happened without an ocean between them.

Many wrote about Ali Smith, nothing yet about Karl Ove.

More like the North Sea between them, as Ali Smith is British!

>221 m.belljackson:

Yikes - thanks!

(though Knausgaard may STILL be on his U.S. book tour...?)

>222 ffortsa: Probably, since I saw him on Sunday.

Update on my quixotic scanning project. 341 playbills scanned, probably three times as many to go. But I'm deep in the 'F's. And I keep finding things I didn't remember. For instance, when we saw Follies at the Roundabout (can't find the year just now), we saw some understudies, among them Kelli O'Hara! One of our favorites for musicals these days.

>223 RebaRelishesReading: That sounds like a HUGE but interesting project you're doing, Judy. For a few years as a (very) early adult I kept playbills then in my 40's or so decided to toss them. You're making me sorry I did.

>224 ffortsa: Don't be sorry. This is quite quixotic, and if I could have figured out how to link to the Playbill Vault, that would have taken care of the majority of my scans (somehow I couldn't complete it and never called them for help). But it's like family photos. Do you get rid of them and then wonder - oh, do I still have that picture from 1954? - or scan them and never look at them again. Virtual possession.

Sometimes I labor to remember the play, and then it comes to me and I'm glad I looked at it again. Otherwise, well, maybe just a little example of the urge to keep everything that is 'mine'.

A dear friend of mine, Karen, turned 75 yesterday, and her hubby Michael arranged a surprise dinner for her at the restaurant Per Se. (She wasn't really surprised - she knows him too well.) He really put on the dog, sending limos for each party, encouraging our fanciest finery, etc. We were ten around the table in a private room with a swank wall of glass so other diners could see the special occasion, and a view of Columbus Circle Whew.

Per Se is the restaurant that chef Thomas Keller brought to New York from Napa, and it's designed around a rotating set of tasting menus. Michael had made sure no allergens interrupted our pleasure, so we had a one of a kind meal, with four waiters, our own maitre'd, our own sommelier, and who knows who else making the table perfect. Pictures of all dishes are supposed to come soon from the photographers who documented the whole megillah.

Hm. Tried to upload the menu, but it turns into a PDF. Will work this out. Suffice it to say there were 9 courses, six wines, and a little bag of chocolate to take home. The sommelier did a really good impression of a French accent - maybe he was French? Courses were flown down in front of us and the dishes and glassware whisked away in similar fashion. Everyone told stories of how they met Karen (a few in the Peace Corps), how they met Michael, how Michael met Karen (I was there!), and lots of other funny stuff. At one time I was even solicited to explain the difference between 'affect' and 'effect', so my night was made.

And a grand time was had by all.

Oh, that dinner sounds wonderful, Judy. I hope the photos turn up in usable form.

The sommelier did a really good impression of a French accent - maybe he was French? LOL! Good question. I'm sure some put it on to add perceived value. :-)

I was even solicited to explain the difference between 'affect' and 'effect', so my night was made. Jeez, I see that one screwed up a lot. How did that come up?

I keep the tickets from the theater performances we go to, and Debbi keeps the playbills. I suspect that when we start looking back and trying to remember the plays like you do, she's going to be able to do a lot better than I am.

>226 jnwelch: - *picks jaw up from floor*

What an experience!

>226 jnwelch: Wow and double wow. How wonderful! I'll look forward to the pictures.

Good food with good friends — that sounds like a night to remember!

>226 jnwelch: What a night! Very fun. I am so impressed you have scanned so many (and so many TO scan!) of your Playbills! Sounds like the Brooklyn Bookfest was a hit. You saw lots of great authors. I am jealous, in a good way. Happy weekend.

>231 ffortsa: Happy weekend to you too. Is there a Portland Book Festival?

>226 jnwelch: For those of you waiting with bated breath for the details of the high life at Per Se, here it would be if I could get the links to work. Any thoughts on why these links take me to a form to create a new topic? I'll keep nosing around to see if I can find an explanation. Maybe I can't link to them on my Google Drive?

tasting menu

wine list

I tried converting these pages to Word, and they do convert but they look almost unreadable. So I may be able to get pictures from the host. Eventually.

As long as I'm asking for advice, there was one picture I held back from the Brooklyn Book Festival until I could figure out how to use the spoiler tags to hide it from delicate eyes. Haven't figured it out yet. No text, just an image. The image shows in spite of the spoiler tags, so I'm still doing something wrong.

We are back to our very plebeian ways on this second day of Autumn, the farmer's market bulging at the seams, the air balmy. I wish the same for all.

Wow! That sounds like a fun dinner! And the Brooklyn book festival sounds great! We have a similar event here, it's called Wordstock. And you have reminded me that I need to get tickets for it! I think the big name this year is Ta'Nehisi Coates

We are back to our very plebeian ways on this second day of Autumn, the farmer's market bulging at the seams, the air balmy. I wish the same for all.

What a wonderful sentence, Judy.

From another Plebeian - have a lovely weekend.

>17 ffortsa: I read this back in June. I didn't really connect with the book either.

>186 katiekrug: Thanks for the kind mention! :)

>208 vivians: Seems like you planned your day well! I am not so good with the crowds and waiting in line, so my usual plan is to arrive right at 10 am, visit all the booths I want to see, and be done by noon. I should have gone to see Colson Whitehead, as my bookclub will be discussing The Underground Railroad next week. Ooops.

But I did get to stop by Archipelago Books to not buy their translations of My Struggle (not this year anyways), NYRB books where I accidentally bought a second copy of a book I own (I forgot which Henry Green books I don't own and didn't double-check my catalog), bought two books from New Directions -- the new translation of The Book of Disquiet, translated by the wonderful Margaret Jull Costa (it's beautiful! And it was $10 off!) and House Mother Normal, which they neglected to bring to the festival last year. I didn't find anything that caught my attention at the TCG booth and I forgot to go back to Melville House to pick up the titles I was interested in. I declined to buy anything from Soho Crime this year; I am disappointed with the new cover style which doesn't match my collection (although they did keep the spines the same, but still....) and bought Reservoir 13 from a small press I did not know.

>223 RebaRelishesReading: Did you see that Kelli O'Hara is performing at the Met Opera in Cosi fan tutte?

>226 jnwelch: ~jaw drops~ Woah.

>236 ffortsa: Thanks for the heads-up about O'Hara. I knew she was, shall we say, opera-capable. And I've never seen Cosi Fan Tutti, although I used to play the overture from time to time when I was playing the violin and the conductor wanted to inject some pace into a concert. Or maybe just into us.

Our schedule is getting just a little crowded, as usual, but I'll talk to Jim about it.

Hi Judy - Your life is very eventful, wonderful meet-ups, exploding ovens, book groups, reading in the park, great dinners with old friends. Usually when I get so far behind, I just wait for a new thread, but I decided to hop in.

I hope you're having a great week.

>238 ffortsa: Always nice to see you, Beth. I've gotten way behind on your thread too. But I'll dive in soon.

I was looking at that meme that Katie and some other 75ers did that shows at least one book published and read per year of your life. But when I tried to compile a similar list, I discovered three things:

1. I'm older than Katie, by a lot. Hence more years.
2. The books in my LT library show the year of the edition, not the year of first publication
3. I have a lot of books I haven't read.

Most of the last come from my pseudo-intellectual days during and after college. No wonder they are still unread. But there are others I should probably read or give to a more curious or deserving reader.

I think I'm better off reading than assembling lists.

>240 Berly: Exactly!!! I enjoy reading the lists, not making them. : ) Happy weekend, Judy.

Yep -- still resisting. Partly because I, too, have a LOT of years to do.

>241 RebaRelishesReading: AND >242 ffortsa: Ah, thanks for understanding. I must say the book titles I came across while trying to put together a list were very depressing - all those promises I made to myself, promises I don't know if I want to ditch or complete. Sigh. I'll have to figure out some criteria to apply to justify the space they take up.

<243 Good luck with that, Judy. Once or twice a year, I try to pass on some books, but it never makes much of a dent. Baby steps.

Once a month I attend a seminar on reading poetry aloud, at the library, led by VinniMarie D'Ambrosio, a professor emerita and a lovely lady. This group was originally held at the AAUW branch in New York City, but that branch ended up fraught with factions and was eventually decertified and our lovely townhouse sold. So we moved on, and Vinni found this meeting room at the Jefferson Market Library.

This month, Vinni expected to be out of the country and she deputized two of us to lead the group instead of her. My partner in crime has a plan to review poems where mythology influenced behavior, I think. I'll find out when I get there. I decided to bring in some poetry by Anthony Hecht, a Pulitzer Prize winner and professor of mine at the University of Rochester.

I just finished selecting the poems I'll bring in, all from his book The Hard Hours, which won the Pulitzer. And I realized I haven't been reading poetry. I haven't had the 'sitzflesch' (sp?) to devote to the immersive task of it. But this task has brought me back. And I see where I missed an opportunity to learn more from Hecht than I had. So many things I would have done differently, of course.

If I can convert some of the poems to text instead of pdf, I'll post them here and on the poetry thread.

Let's try this one (Not bad. I had to rearrange a few lines):

THE END OF THE WEEKEND

A dying firelight slides along the quirt
Of the cast-iron cowboy where he leans
Against my father's books. The lariat
Whirls into darkness. My girl, in skin-tight jeans,
Fingers a page of Captain Marryat,
Inviting insolent shadows to her shirt.

We rise together to the second floor.
Outside, across the lake, an endless wind
Whips at the headstones of the dead and wails
In the trees for all who have and have not sinned.
She rubs against me and I feel her nails.
Although we are alone, I lock the door.

The eventual shapes of all our formless prayers,
This dark, this cabin of loose imaginings,
Wind, lake, lip, everything awaits
The slow unloosening of her underthings.
And then the noise. Something is dropped. It grates
Against the attic beams.
I climb the stairs,

Armed with a belt.
A long magnesium strip
Of moonlight from the dormer cuts a path
Among the shattered skeletons of mice.
A great black presence beats its wings in wrath.
Above the boneyard burn its golden eyes.
Some small grey fur is pulsing in its grip.

Here's another:

THE THOUGHTFUL ROISTERER
DECLINES THE GAMBIT

I'm not going to get myself shot full of holes
For comparative strangers, like Richelieu or the King;
I prefer to investigate how a coward may cling
To the modest ways of simple civilian souls.
If I couldn't put down a little bit of the hair
Of the dog each day, I'd be as good as dead;
And it's nothing to me that a man will die in bed
Or under the table without the Croix de Guerre.
So as far as I'm concerned, you can drop the act
About the Immortal Fame and Illustrious End.
I shall die unsung, but with all of me intact,
Toasting His Noble Majesty and His Grace.
And if I die by the mouth, believe me, friend,
It won't be the cannon's mouth, in any case.

(AFTER CHARLES VION DE DALIBRAY)

Hecht was in WWII and saw both horrific fighting and the opening of concentration camps, all of which had a profound effect on him. His poems can be funny, but many deal with death, WWII, and sex as well as historical subjects and other poets. The book that won the Pulitzer is The Hard Hours, but there are several others both before and after that publication.

Hecht was a professor of mine at the University of Rochester. I wish I'd been prepared enough, adult enough to take advantage of his teaching. Sometimes education is wasted on the young.

>226 jnwelch: Well, for those of you foodies waiting with bated breath, here is the tasting menu from that marvelous dinner we attended for my friend's 75th birthday (the original is centered for a lovely presentation):


"OYSTERS AND PEARLS"
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar

SALAD OF FENNEL BULB CONFIT
Black Mission Figs, Endive Marmalade,
Pickled Beets, and "Sauce Ravigote"

CHARCOAL-GRILLED MONTAUK MAHIMAHI
Sweet Carrots, Radish "Emincé," and Garden Basil "Pudding"

PAN-ROASTED SCOTTISH LANGOUSTINES Cauliflower Cream, Marinated Concord Grapes, and Brown Butter Ernulsion

"BREAD AND BUTTER"
Applewood-Smoked Bacon & Onion Brioche and Diane St. Clair's Animal Farm Butter

DIAMOND H RANCH QUAIL BREAST
Brentwood Corn, Cornbread Purée, and Benton's Country Ham Jus

SNAKE RIVER FARMS KUROBUTA PORK LOIN
Purple Yam "Pierogi, " Melted Caraflex Cabbage, D'Anjou Pears, and Whole Grain Mustard

"GOUGÉRE" with Aged "Gruyere"

"ASSORTMENT OF DESSERTS"
Fruit, Ice Cream, Chocolate, and "Candies"

"MIGNARDISES "

Similarly, the wine list (just imagine it's all centered, with lots of space between - lovely presentation):

WINE ACCOMPANIMENT


"Kir Royale'

Schloss Cobelsburg, Crüner Veltliner, "Steinsetz, " Kamptal 2016

Sandhi, Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County 2014

Domaine Chislaine Barthod, "Les Bons Bâtons," Bourgogne Rouge 2014

Domaine de l'Horizon, Côtes Catalanes 2015

Gianni Brunelli, Brunello di Montalcino (En Magnum) 2012

Domaine Huet, "Le Mont," Sec, Vouvray 2016

Domaine Vial Magnères, "Rivage, Banyuls Ambré

44. The Playmaker by Thomas Keneally

The 'founding' of Australia by British soldiers and convicts seemed a fantastic struggle over adversity. The ships arrived at what is now Sydney Harbor, to find a land far more barren than reported 17 years before. The crossing had been more than miserable, the rations during and after were short, the thousand or so people housed at first in tents, then wattle-and-daub, for the most part. There were many more men, both convicts and soldiers, than women, and most soldiers were not allowed to bring their wives and families, with the predictable consequences.

And death was all around. From fevers and hanging, starvation and accident, fighting and murders. Among the natives, smallpox is devastating. Everyone was a captive of this exile.

To raise spirits, Farquahar's The Recruiting Officer is to be performed by inmates for the birthday of George III. No one notes the irony of celebrating the king of a country they have been thrown out of, a king reputed mad and possibly dead. Amid the circumstances of misery, boredom and menial work, the play offers something new and the casting call is long. The director is in no way skilled in this work, but his natural talent becomes evident, as do the talents of the often questionable people he selects.

Many events move this story along, many characters sometimes hard to keep straight in the beginning. Keneally drops in historical note from the American colonies and that war, still fresh, the struggles of colonists in Sound America, and other notes that sometimes startle the reader to realize how long ago this takes place.

This is accurate historical fiction. All this really happened, including the performance, the liaisons, the murders, the hangings, details drawn from diaries and reports. Keneally provides an epilogue where he lists, as much as is possible, the future of each of the main characters in this narrative. It can break your heart.

>246 ffortsa: That dinner sounds divine, Judy! And the Keneally book sounds like one for me, too. I very much enjoyed his The Daughters of Mars last year.

45. City of Thieves by David Benioff

Somehow I never counted or reviewed this when I finished it in February. I do recall liking it very much, but I never commented on it on my first thread of the year. Oh well. There's a nice review on magicians_assistant from the same time, if you're interested.

>246 ffortsa: Oooof, that’s quite the menu!