Ireadthereforeiam || three ||

Aviation chart- I am interested in these for a potential art project, as think they are aesthetically interesting.

2018 reads

January
1. On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky (2013) NF 142p
2. The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver (2017) 122p (tally 264p)
3. Lighthouse Family: Coastal New Zealand, 1941-42 by Philippa Werry (date published tba) 240p (tally 504p)
4. The Pearl that Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi (2014) 440p (tally 944p)
5. Social Theory by William Outhwaite (2015) NF 129p (1,073p)
6. Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946, reissued with last chapter 1985) NNF 196p (tally 1,269p)
7. Tell me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli (2017) NF 106p (tally 1,375p)
8. How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (2011) NF 312p (tally 1,687p)

February
9. Almanac for Noise and Politics 2016 (2016) NF 40p (tally 1,718p)
10. Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (2005) 506p (tally 2,224p)
11. If This is a Man and the Truce by Primo Levi (1958/1965) NF 398p (tally 2,622p)

March
12. Barkskins by Annie Proulx (2016) 717p (tally 3,339p)
13. Nobody's Mother edited by Lynne van Luven (2006) NF 226p (tally 3,565p)
14. Mountains Without Handrails by Joseph L. Sax (1980) NF 113p (tally 3,678p)
15. The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (1984) NF 212p (tally 3,890p)
16. Discursive Psychology: Theory, Method and Applications by Sally Wiggins (2017) NF 240p (tally 4,130p)
17. I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein 2006 NF 197p (tally 4,327p)
18. Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell 2017 NF 310p (tally 4,637p)

April
19. Blindness by Jose Saramago 1995 309p (tally 4,946p)
20. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay 2014 NF 320 p (tally 5,266p)
21. Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky (2x short stories)

BOOKS ACQUIRED
1. The Pearl that Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi $17.50 (brand new!)
2. The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver $17.50 (brand new!)
3. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve $5 (1st of the Mortal Engines quartet)
4. Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve $5 (2nd of above series)
5. Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve $5 (3rd of above series)
6. A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve $5 (4th and final of above series)
7. Hiroshima by John Hersey $3
8. Discursive Psychology by Sally Wiggins $42 (brand new!)
9. Bomb Book and Compass by Simon Winchester $5 (Uni bookshop sale)
10. Mountains without Handrails by Jpseph L. Sax $5 (as above)
11. The City by Deborah Stevenson $5 (as above)
12. A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence $3 (Library book sale)
13. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (as above)
14. Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev by Robert Dessaix (as above)
15. I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein (as above)
16. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay $16
17. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep $11

2018 FILMS
1. The Last Jedi (2nd viewing)
2. Ferdinand
3. Peter Rabbit
4. Red Sparrow

Currently reading:

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi; Nobody's Mother by Lynne Van Luven; Discursive Psychology by Sally Wiggins

Saved for responses to last comments from last thread, which I abandoned with this brand spanking new thread in mind!

karenmarie: now you don't have to worry about catching up with the last thread, as that is yesterday's news :)

majleavy: "a wolf in cheap clothing": I believe I will take that as my fashion inspiration when I rebuild my wardrobe for the next school year.
Ha! That was one of my faves too :)

Crazymamie: My fab weekend might have to start tomorrow, as today has been written off with a rare headache. One of the few Saturdays I've not worked and a headache!

jolerie: Right now I'm still the be all and end all......
Aw, that is a lovely phase, or maybe for you it wit just be a phase! *fingers crossed* I've been getting eye-rolls from W for years now, but Little Len still loves his mumma.

RD: screamless, kind of! Yes! They have, however been screaming at each other, so you know. Such is life, etc.

How am I going reading 2017 and 2016 acquisitions??

BOOKS PURCHASED/ACQUIRED 2017
1. The Smell of Apples by Mark Behr $6 (2nd hand)
2. Last Orders by Graham Swift $7.25 (new)
3. there is one more, I can't remember it! (what is the world coming to!!??)
4. Old Devils by Kingsley Amis &16.25 (new, an impulse book depo buy)
5. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena (gift from neighbour)
6. Ravelstein by Saul Bellow (gift from mum)
7. City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan (gift from Chatterbox/Suz)
8. Hell's Bottom, Colorado by Laura Pritchett (gift from Nittnut/Jenn)
9. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf $11 (new)
10. The First Touch of Light by Ruth Pettis .50c
11. Le Bal by Irene Nemirovsky .50c (Aka The Ball)
12. If This is a Man, The Truce by Primo Levi .50c
13. A Body Undone by Christina Crosby $32.98 (new)
14. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie $13 (new)
15. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann $2
16. Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance (gift from mum)
17. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson $2
18. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro $22 (new)
19. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov $22 (new)
20. The Melancholy Hussar: and Other Stories by Thomas Hardy $5
21. No is not Enough by Naomi Klein birthday pressies!!
22. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte- as above
23. Christchurch Ruptures by Katie Pickles- as above
24. Barkskins by Annie Proulx- as above
25. A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas $1
26. My New Zealand Story: Lighthouse Family by Philippa Werry $1
27. The Book of Fame Lloyd Jones (free from book swap at uni)
28. Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd $2.50 Maybe in March??
29. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima $2.50
30. Beethoven was One-Sixteenth Black by Nadine Gordimer $2.50 (short stories)
31. Human Acts by Han Kang $22
32. The Ragman's Daughter by Alan Sillitoe (free from book swap scheme)
33. Bread Giver by Anzia Yezierska $5
34. The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard $5 (gave away as a Christmas present)
35. Social Theory: Ideas in Profile by William Outhwaite $22.99, but I spent $17 on it as had a voucher (brand new!)

BOOKS ACQUIRED 2016
1. Daphne du Maurier: A Daughter's memoir by Flavia Leng $1
2. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel (second hand, first edition!) $5
3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (new) $16
4. The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (thoughtful gift from Nittnut)
5. Infidelities by Kirsty Gunn (new) $2
6. The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Menfetsu
7. To Save Everything, Click Here by Evgeny Morozov STILL CURRENTLY READING
8. Liberty in the Age of Terror by AC Grayling
9. Freedom Next Time by John Pilger (4 in a row all gifts from roundballnz)
10. Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe $4
11. Jernigan by David Gates $23 (new)
12. The Iron Woman by Ted Hughes $15 (new)
13. The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom $3
14. Neuromancer by William Gibson (free from Uni book swap)
15. A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin $6.67 (new)
16. Great Jones Street by Don DeLillo $6.67 (new)
17. The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don DeLillo $6.67 (new)
18. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagirhara $15 (new)
19. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys $2
20. The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpenter (gift from Jenn/Nittnut)
21. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles $2
22. The War of the Worlds by H G Wells $2
23. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by by Ayana Mathis $2
24. Everland by Rebecca Hunt $2
25. The Women's Room by Marilyn French $10
26. A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin ($25 new)
27. The Vegetarian by Han Kang ($23 new, with the above, a $30 discount applied, so really $9 each)
28. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane ($6 new)
29. A Beautiful Young Wife by Tommy Wieringa ($24 but free for me with birthday voucher!)
30. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler ($24 but free for me, as above)
31. A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White ($25 but free for me, as above)
32. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter ($14 new!)
33. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis ($1)
34. The Gathering by Anne Enright ($3)
35. Light Years by James Salter ($3)
36. The River Between Us by Richard Peck ($3)
37. The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman ($2)

Can I come in yet? : )

>6 LovingLit: Why yes, please do! Welcome to my thread the third :)

Megan--Are you talking to yourself again. LOL

^ maybe to you it might look like that, but to me it looks like i'm talking to you. Durn finicky numbering :)
Eta: OK, now it looks like I'm talking to me! What the?

Snerk.

No catching up although I think I'd enjoy your old news, Megan.
Hope the life of this thread finds you reading and enjoying and commenting! I also look forward to the continuing saga of rearing Wilb and Len!

Happy new thread Megan!

I spend a large part of my day talking to boys who aren't really listening even tho they nod their heads accordingly so I guess I really am just talking to myself too. :)

Happy new thread Megan!

>11 Berly: I do that!

>13 jolerie: and that, too!

(These days, I’m trying to give a teenager life advice. Ha! Waste of breath.)

#267 last thread: Berly, that list was a crack-up, wasn't it? My dad is not a grammar man, so I usually send him Gary Larson cartoons which we both love.

#268 My nephew (aged 8) is referred to as Google in his house, as every time anyone wants to know anything, he reckons he knows :)

>11 Berly: (*crosses fingers that is the right post*) Heh! Good one. You know, I used to talk to myself a lot whenI was a solo traveller....I caught myself having a good old chat in the bathroom mirror! Once I realised I was doing it, turned out it happened a lot ;)

>12 LizzieD: Old news? You mean same one news :)
Kids, uni, work, dishes and dinner is about all the new I have these days!

>13 jolerie: I live in a house of boys too, Valerie. Along with boy's listening- you know the kind where it isn't!-, I frequently encounter people having a 'boy's look' for something, usually socks ;)

>14 humouress: teenagers! *runs away screaming*
Srsly, I cannot comprehend that that period in life will soon apply to me.

For those who approve of human classification.

>15 LovingLit: Ah, yes, 'look for something'. If I ask my eldest to look for something in a particular place, he'll say he can't find it so I'll ask him to look around the house. Eventually, I'll have to find it - in the place I told him to look for it. If I haven't given him a place, I'll ask him for the first place he looked.

>16 LovingLit: That last one is my husband. And the second last is me (hey, I'm a Libran. We like to be balanced.)

Love the topper map Megan. For a while one of the local shops was selling bits of maps cut up and made into coasters - really tempting.

>16 LovingLit: depends what's in the glass!

>16 LovingLit: Oh, I love that one. I would be the half fool/half empty one. Depends on the situation. :-)
Happy new thread and happy weekend, Megan.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>11 Berly: Ha!

Hope your head is now headache free! I woke up with a whopper but it's starting to fade.

Happy New Thread, Megan!

If you do create an artistic aviation chart, I hope you post a photo here.

>11 Berly: LOL! Been there.

>16 LovingLit: Love this. I think I'm the 5th type, pouring it over my head and saying, "This feels great!"

I go to sleep for a few hours and wake up to 22 messages and a new thread...I'm getting old. It's unsettling.

>11 Berly: HA!! Oh how I wish I had no idea what you're talking about.

...now what was I saying when I so rudely interrupted myself?

Happy new thread, Megan.

Most of the funnies on the previous thread went over my head, but the few I understood were funny :-)
>1 LovingLit: Ohhh, I love maps, all kind of maps!
>8 LovingLit: >9 Berly: >10 LovingLit: Just change the 6 into a 7 in post 8 and you aren't talking to yourself ;-)

>24 FAMeulstee: She/we know, but then none of my following kidding would make any sense!! LOL

>16 LovingLit: Hi, Megan. Happy Saturday. I love these personality types! >22 jnwelch: Joe's made me laugh, too. I am probably closest to the half-full guy although I prefer to call myself a realist. ; )

>17 humouress: My sister is the same, so I can't really call it a boy's look! She would run about the house looking for her car keys on a daily basis when we lived together!!

>18 charl08: I have seen those too- and little pieces of maps under glass as pendants, very cool, especially if the map location is local to you

>19 Ameise1: I think I am the third one, full, no- empty, uh oh, I'm confused ;) I love the last guy though, hey! I ordered a cheeseburger! Ha!

>20 figsfromthistle: Thanks!

>21 ChelleBearss: I hardly ever get headaches, and whenever I do I tell every one about them, they suck so much! That and backache, they both seem to permeate everything you do, and feel inescapable. Hope yours departed!

>22 jnwelch: My artistic projects are often all talk and no action, but I have been saving cool aviation chart images to a file, so hope to replicate one somehow! They are so confusing looking, I love how to some they are all the answers one needs, but to others, just a jumbled mess.
I think I'm the 5th type, pouring it over my head and saying, "This feels great!"
Ha! So you're more a tactile person, huh? You would make a good toddler, they love to pour liquids over themselves, just because ;)

>23 richardderus: I can't believe my thread moved so fast without you either. Humph, how impolite of it. Lucky you are here now. Talking to yourself and us is what this thread is all about ;)

>24 FAMeulstee: mmmmm, maps. I love them too.

>25 Berly: I am definitely a realist, which some people equate with being a pessimist. I say humph to that!

Another cool example of an aviation chart.

I see wallpaper when I look at the aviation charts. Like, wall-wallpaper not monitor-wallpaper. Agree that they're visually rich and involving.

Happy new thread Megan my dear.

>29 richardderus: yeah! A busy, busy wallpaper ;)

>30 johnsimpson: Thanks JS.

Happy new thread, Megan :-) I hope you're feeling better now.

In our house, whenever something "lost" was found (inevitably by a parent) the words "And what's this - a pork chop?" would follow. I tried this on my office roomie a while ago when I found something she'd "lost" and she looked at me like I was nuts. So maybe it wasn't that common...

Happy New Thread, Megan. I hope you had a nice weekend. I enjoyed my first Vlautin and look forward to reading more of his work. I wish you lived closer, I would pass my copy on to you.

>32 susanj67: We don't say that in our house, but we would understand where you're coming from. On the other hand, we probably wouldn't want to admit it in public ...

Happy new thread - all of these kid stories are making me feel much better I've got to say, although mine is on the sensitive end of the spectrum, and more likely to cry at the drop of a hat than scream - which has it's own frustrations. And at 7yo, he's another google, any time I tell him anything "I knew that already!" - well fine then!

>32 susanj67: That seems vaguely familiar, but maybe just because I spent a chunk of my childhood being accused of "carrying on like a pork chop" whenever I was being overly dramatic.

Happy new thread, Megan!

>32 susanj67: I think that whole "I can't find it" thing has become a clever tactic by my eldest to get me to look for it. Which is *so frustrating*. If I say, just go to school wearing no socks then, there are invariably tears (sheesh, talk about strategic crying!) followed by the evil eye. You'd think I was the worst parent out there according to mr. 9!!!

>33 msf59: Ah, Vlautin. Glad you dug him :) You can always bring the book as carry on luggage when you visit!! If I haven't read it by then, which is highly unlikely ;)

>34 humouress: I guess the pork chop thing is like the chopped liver thing in the States? ("what am I? Chopped liver?")

>35 evilmoose: Every aspect of child-raising has its frustrations. I remember a friend *complaining* that her baby slept so much she could never leave the house. I wanted to throttle her, of course, as my baby at the time barely slept, so... you know.
But yes, crying at the drop of a hat, and screaming at the drop of a hat both involve (hat-dropping, and) very loud and dramatic scenes which we could do without!

>36 Crazymamie: Thanks Mamie!

Book haul!!



Mountains without Handrails by Joseph L. Sax
Bomb Book and Compass by Simon Winchester
The City by Deborah Stevenson
All $5 brand new, from the uni bookshop mega-sale.

>37 LovingLit: If I said ‘go to school with no socks’ my kids probably would, quite happily and I’d be the one who was stressed.

It would probably help if I stopped dropping hats unnecessarily; we were supposed to go for a family swimming event yesterday but my eldest came down with tonsillitis. Why did I tell my youngest that he had to race for two laps instead of one? I didn’t even realise the words had come out of my mouth until everything started to fall apart a couple of seconds later. Not that he can’t swim two laps; they have classes twice a week and all they do is swim laps for an hour. But his brother wouldn’t be racing (and I had to convince him he wouldn’t be getting into the pool) and we were leaving a barbecue with friends where he was enjoying himself and he’s the one who burns energy and gets cranky when he’s tired and, of course, is always right. So it was easier all round to sleep in instead of getting a 7am start on a Sunday. :0)

>38 LovingLit: MEGA HAUL!! Me likee.

>38 LovingLit: Nice haul! And only $5 New!?! Wow.

Happy new thread!

Nice haul, Megan! I had hoped the Stevenson *City* was a novel - love the cover - uh, no.
As to pork chops --- I was such an ugly child that Mama had to tie a pork chop around my neck to get the dogs to play with me.

>39 humouress: aah, that old chestnut: convincing kids to do something you know they will actually like. I have given up (then I remember to *not* think aloud) advertising plans. I get them in the car any old how and then when we get there, we are there. Yesterday I said we were "going out for sushi" when we were actually going to a Japan Day festival. I just didnt want the drama of questions, money requests (they came later) or refusals to depart!

>40 richardderus: How do ya like them apples!!!??? I love the look of that first one, and have already rung dad to announce it is his (as soon as I have read it).

>41 nittnut: Wow alright! Specially for NZ. Unfortunately because the book part of the uni book shop is closing down. I will go back Wednesday for a second look!

>42 drneutron: Thanks Dr N!

>43 LizzieD: No indeed. The city one looks heavily theoretical. I reckon I can squeeze that one in at some stage between heavily theoretical reading required for my thesis, fun reads for pleasure, and everything else I want to squeeze in! Right? ;)
You had me worried with the ugly comment til I got it was a joke!!!

Yay for a book haul! Lovely!

My kid is convinced he doesn't like potatoes. We have had many, many discussions about how much he doesn't like them. Me trying to bribe, cajole for him to try it. Except the kicker? One of his favourite dishes is Shepherd's pie, which is covered in a layer of guess what?? Potatoes. Oh and lets not forget potato chips which also has the offending word in in as well!! I give up. :/

A mega sale! And you restrained yourself to three? Impressive stuff!

>46 jolerie: Well I’d say “Oh, you don’t like potatoes? Well I’ll eat the chips then”. They usually change their tune pretty fast.

Except my Mr.Google would probably give you a whole treatise on how he can eat the chips but not the potatoes. *sigh*

>38 LovingLit: Very restrained Megan, dear.

I am something of a laggard these days but I have finally gotten here to wish you a (sort of) happy new thread. xx

OMG
I think I have been using espouse in a number of situations where I have actually meant expound!
*panic*
Why didn't anyone tell me? Surely it read badly? Maybe they are both too archaic to use at all....hints? I do feel like my writing has changed since/while reading Barkskins- her eloquent, and sometimes ye olde constructions have affected me! Is it OK to use expound in an academic piece of writing?

This reminds me of my friend's 40th a year or so ago. We were waiting for guests to arrive and happened to be talking about the words harass and harangue, and what the difference between them is. We debated for a bit, and then quizzed people as they arrived. Must have been a swanky clientele, as the first guest practically gave us a definition of both, then proceeded to use them both in a sentence. I LOVED it. What a great party!!! (It ended with dancing too, so wasn't all full nerd).

Back soon to respond to comments, still calming down after my linguistic drama ;)

>50 LovingLit: I'd avoid espouse I think, mostly because I'm not 100% sure I'd be able to define it! I worry about writing unnecessarily confusing / complex academic language. But on the other hand sometimes 'argue' gets repetitive!

>50 LovingLit: Sorry I can't help with the espouse/expound conversation but I hope no one notices if it was incorrect :)

I love hearing other people's language fun. Love your party fun! My FIL is a bit of a prankster and told my MIL that "facade" was pronounced as it looks "fa-kade" instead of how it really should be pronounced "fe-säd". She went around saying it that way for years! Now whenever I see it written down I think fa-kade and have to remind myself that is wrong!

He also tried to call the grocery organics section the "orgasmic" section. She didn't fall for it, even though he was persistent for months!

>50 LovingLit: Ha! Sorry for laughing, but your linguist panic is kind of adorable.

And of course you can use expound (and espouse) in academic writing. I like both of them, to be honest.

Hi Megan and happy new thread! I love the aviation charts. I would not enjoy having to have used them in my job, but they are esthetically pleasing.

>50 LovingLit: That sounds like a great party! And I think both espouse and expound are fine for academic writing - although I of course have gone and looked up the definition of all of those words. So now I'll be ready in case any party I turn up at has a couple of people demanding I explain the difference between them before I'm allowed to enter!

>53 ChelleBearss: When I was 16 I was studying German at school - my history teacher knew this (it was a very small school, there were less than 15 kids in our year), and so checked in with me about the pronunciation of Goebbels. Now my history teacher really irritated me - and so I told her it was "GOY-bels", which she said in a hilarious way that made my study of high school Nazi Germany pass in a much more entertaining fashion, and made up in some small way for her being such a rubbish teacher (in hindsight she was still a poor teacher, but I do feel bad for tormenting her) (I also wonder how long she kept saying it wrong).

I think in academic writing makes sense. I think if used in everyday talking conversations most people would be like what are you talking about??? Haha.
It's like when sportscasters throw in big literary terms while commenting on a game and I'm thinking which thesaurus did he pull that one from... I wish I could think of an example but my caffeine deficient brain is not cooperating. :)

>45 ChelleBearss: >53 ChelleBearss: Hi Chelle, thanks for your support :)
The book haul is a pleasing one, and I surveyed the scene again this morning, and the remaining books are mostly about farming (my university is a land-based one, so there are lots about arable land, irrigation and crop yields etc!!).
You know, now I am going to say fa-kade in my head when I see it!!

>46 jolerie: >57 jolerie: Hi Valerie! My kids are fussy eaters, which I can get around fairly well, only, being opposites, they have opposite tastes. This was illustrated perfectly yesterday when I made Afghan biscuits (a NZ staple, I have no idea why they are called that). I hadn't made them for years: W took a bite and fell in love with them, Lenny licked the icing off then went- meh. I couldn't believe it. It's like they *have* to hate what the other loves.
I don't think I could pull off using "expound" in a sentence out loud without coming off as full nerd ;)

>47 charl08: >52 charl08: I was v restrained at the book sale, aided by the plethora of farming texts also on sale!
re: expond/espouse, I am so shaken (!!) by my misuse of the latter, I think I will avoid the former!!

>48 humouress: We have our ways of talking them into/out of certain foods, don't we!? I frequently shake my head in wonder when the lovely other offers the kids an ice block just before tea. I'm like- that was a golden opportunity to get them to eat every single think on their plates! File that under "what were you thinking??" ;)

>44 LovingLit: Whyfor would they shut the book part of the Uni bookshop? What kind of a shop will it be?!?

>50 LovingLit: LOL I have those moments, although more from pronunciation panics. I learned to read phonetically, and often read words before I had ever heard them. Therefore, I often pronounced them incorrectly. Think curriculum with a c like circle. So, sometimes, when I'm reading aloud, I see a word and have a brief panic attack about saying it wrong.

For what it's worth, it will be fine to expound on the views you espouse in your academic writing. *grin*

>49 PaulCranswick: Hey Paul- I have been noticing a distinct lack of PC-ness (and I don't mean political correctness) around here lately, but whenever I notice that stuff I just think its me that has been a laggard (great word, btw) :)

>54 scaifea: Hey Amber, thanks for your support :) I have a mortal fear of misusing a fancy word- I tend to throw them in intuitively, but every so often I check the definition to make sure it's correct usage. It mostly is, so I guess I got complacent ;) (Then I tell myself- never get complacent about language Megan!!!) :)
Also, stand by for a baking picture- inspired by yours!

>55 karenmarie: I love their look. And that to me they look like they would my any job much harder, rather than easier!

>56 evilmoose: I am so glad I have armed you with that particular piece of knowledge- let me know when it comes in handy. I will be here, holding my breath (ha!). I hope you get a quiz question, that would be perfect!
I bet the History teacher has figured out by now its not Goy-bels, and when she did she cursed you ;)

>59 nittnut: Hi Jenn
My views exactly on the bookshop. It is also the university printery, so that will be its main (only) function from soon. :( It is a real shame as our campus is about 1km from the township, so for many students who live (on campus) the bookshop was the only place to buy a pen, or a notebook or memory stick etc.
...it will be fine to expound on the views you espouse in your academic writing.I love this! It might even help me memorise them, in case I ever have the confidence again to use them ;)

Baking! Afghan biscuits.
Funny story- my boss yesterday mentioned he was thinking about Afghan biscuits (I asked "thinking? or fanaticising??"). Anyway, I went home from work and made some, and very meanly emailed him a picture (mwa ha ha). These are them.

>62 LovingLit: *DROOL* I must make some!

>62 LovingLit:, Hi Megan, nice biscuits my dear, licking of lips going on here.

>58 LovingLit: Sorry but misery loves company *insert evil laugh here*

>62 LovingLit: I have no idea what an Afghan biscuit is but those look delicious!

>62 LovingLit: Oh, I haven't made Afghan biscuits since I moved to Canada! They used to be a regular staple of my baking repertoire - apparently they are a NZ thing (according to Wikipedia anyway). But yours don't have a walnut on top :(

>63 nittnut: >64 johnsimpson: >65 ChelleBearss: Recipe so you can try for yourself!

Afghan biscuits.

• 200grams butter (softened)
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 2 cups cornflakes

Cream the butter and sugar. Fold in sifted flour/cocoa, and cornflakes. Form mixture into palm-sized balls (bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball). Flatten slightly onto a baking tray, allowing room to spread. Bake 170 deg C in a fan forced oven for 15 minutes.
Cool, then ice with chocolate icing. They really need half a walnut on top, in center, to be traditional NZ Afghan bikkies!

>66 evilmoose: Ha! I knew I'd get called out on the missing walnut eventually! (see>67 LovingLit:)
Not much around here goes unnoticed ;)

Those look lovely Megan, very tempting. Sad about your uni bookshop. We have a chain in the town centre but that's it (apart from the second hand ones, of course).

>62 LovingLit: AFGHANS! OMG, I want one right now :-) I would have picked the walnut off, as a kid, so I think my mother gave up on the walnuts. I haven't made them for ages. Even un-iced they are divine, and somehow even more chocolatey.

>67 LovingLit: oooh... that looks like a recipe my daughter would like - and could do on her own. Sold! Will see how hers come out.

>62 LovingLit: Ooh, like the cupcakes!

Hi, Megan. I am enjoying Saving Tarboo Creek: One Family’s Quest to Heal the Land. It is pretty detailed but you might like some of the biological and ecological information that he serves up. I had no idea these restoration efforts are so widespread. We are blessed that we have these caring souls around, tending to things are governments fail to do.

>67 LovingLit:, Thanks for the recipe Megan my dear.

>69 charl08: the city I live in has a tonne of bookshops, but the uni town (20 minutes away) will not now.

>70 susanj67: They were pretty good, I had one for breakfast yesterday :) My boss was pleased that I had enough left to bring him one too, this morning.

>71 BekkaJo: They have very few ingredients, which is easy. And perfect for when you have run out of eggs.

>72 msf59: cupcakes/biscuits, biscuits/cupcakes. All the same to me ;)
I had a look at that book, it looks interesting. Reminds me of my ex-boyfirend, whose parents went in with a few other couples and bought a whole tract of land in the late 1970s for that same purpose. I benefitted from that particular act as got to stay there a few times, and as a nature reserve, it is gorgeous. Miles of forest, some rosy outcrops, and a path to the ocean too.

>73 johnsimpson: I hope you make and enjoy them!

Afghans look decadent, and I myownself woulda fired your behind for emailing such a disrespectful, ill-willed, downright churlish provocation of a photo.

*smooch*

>75 richardderus: Heh, you wouldn't have had a leg to stand on in court! I brought the last two in to assuage any grievous intent to fire. And it worked! I still have a job.
But the all-seeing-goddesses got back at me anyway: today I wrote 375 words, in 5.5 hours. Can't you just see that blood pouring from the stone?!?!

A lovely day had by all today...me and the lovely other went on a bus trip (organised by his work social club) to a wine and food festival. The weather played ball, and it was a gorgeous day out.
Behold! There was sun, there were trees, there was music, there was wine, there was food, there were friends! (and there was the lovely other) :)

Eta: also, I took my book and got a little reading in too :)

Sounds lovely Megan.

All words help, right? But hope the next ones are a bit less painful though.

>77 LovingLit: That sounds like a great day! Wine, food, friends and book time! Wonderful

>78 charl08: today I will try and do some reading before writing, to get my brain in gear :) I am a bit slow today after a day drinking in the sun yesterday! I cleverly stopped for two hours for half time coffee and fermented fizzy drink. Feeling glad I did that now!

>79 ChelleBearss: It was luxurious. Child #1 went to his friends house all day (a big ask, but they are great mates and as W said "what *wouldn't* be fun about going to J's house all day??!!") Child #2 went with his cousins to my mum's. They entertain each other without fighting (which makes a change from my #1 and #2).
Funny thing was, they got to her house and cousin (aged 8) said lets play cricket! Lenny goes "I came out to Nana's to do art work!". Lol. Sure enough he came back with a lovely picture, of people playing cricket :)

Hi Megan! New recipe to try - I'd never even heard of Afghan Biscuits.

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

>81 AMQS: I just made another batch this morning! I can't wait to ice them, and plonk a walnut on top when I get home:)

That sounds like a lovely child free time, Megan. I live vicariously through you. I look forward to one day having a some kid free time..haha. We finally got S on the bottle so I'm beaming and full of hope at this point. Until he decides to change things up on me. :/

>83 jolerie: Feel free to live vicariously through me, I did the same when I was first on LT and saw someone talking about having 2 young kids, and spending leisurely evenings at the book shop with their husband while her mother cared for the kids. I was in shock and awe at the thought :)

Wow! Happy to read about a couple having happy time together! I also love the picture of cricket story; Lenny is a precious jewel!
Afghan Biscuits look yummy, but I've promised my bridge 3 my grandmother's apple cake with my DH's mother's lemon sauce on Friday.

Hello, Megan! All caught up here.

>77 LovingLit: Well, this sounds delightful!

>80 LovingLit: I love Lenny!

>85 LizzieD: A precious jewel :) That is lovely. He is rather a sweet chap (in between tantrums).

>86 Crazymamie: I just love it when all the planning was worth it- for the big day out, I mean. In the organisation stages it can feel exhausting, but when it comes off....*fist pump* The lovely other reckoned it was a great day too, so that's good.

Just ordered Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Bad Feminist from Book Depository, seeing as they emailed me a lovely "10% off books on your wishlist" email :)
*such a sucker*
But as I see it, it's a win/win! I get books, they get to stay operating so they can send me more books.

Yay for both! I loved Androids and I have Bad Feminist on my WL for this year!

>88 LovingLit: I am in *awe* of your rationalization skills. Truly. That is some world-class self delusion.

Does book depository deliver your items in a timely manner? I've pretty much given up on them even though their prices are good. :/

>89 ChelleBearss: I had heard about Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep for ages, and I even get the cultural references to it, so thought I better read the book :)

>90 richardderus: I *know*, right? ;)

>91 jolerie: They are slow, but I put that down to our failing postal system rather than them. I was just saying on someone's thread that the book I ordered for W was dispatched a month ago, and still hasn't arrived. The context was that he refuses to read anything else til *that one* arrives, such a stickler that one.

Anyhoo- I am off for the weekend, so- see you all later!
We are going to a cabin in the hills in the woods...solar/generator power only, and one bunk room for the whole family. I can't wait!

>93 LovingLit: Yippee ai oh kai ay.

*shudders off to centrally heated private room*

Have a great weekend!!

They were really good when I first started using them but over the last couple of years the shipping has gotten really ridiculous. At this point I have no idea if the hold up is at their end or our postal system. Several times I had to report items missing only to have them turn up in my mail months later so I end up with 2 things. It's happened enough times that I'm worried they think I'm trying to scam the system so I've just stopped ordering with them. Not worth the stress of playing shipping roulette.

Have an awesome time in the cabin cut off from the world..haha. :D

Did someone post a Hiddleston gif...? YES!

Hi, Megan!

Yay for a cabin in the woods! Have a great time.

Hi Megan!

Afghan biscuits sound wonderful. I just may buy some cornflakes at the grocery store today and make them.

Yay for the day with your lovely other and kids safely away doing other things.

Have fun at the cabin in the woods.

>77 LovingLit: Nice picture, Megan. It sounds like a wonderful day.

BOOK 13
Nobody's Mother essays edited by Lynne van Luven (published 2006) 226p

In spite of the back cover promising a variety of stories about women who decided to not have children, I found the essays in many ways repetitive. For example. so many of the authors seem to be teaching academics, who "parent their communities". I would have liked to have seen a story from a woman who wanted to but couldn't, and less from women who preached about the environmental costs of spawning children. There were two or three essays that stood out for me, but the body of work as a whole was too similar to give me a comprehensive picture of what it is like for the average woman who doesn't have/want to have children.

BOOK 14
Mountains Without Handrails by Joseph L. Sax (1980) NF 113p

This short book is a treatise on the value of wild, natural spaces where one can recreate. It is of its time (1980) and the author is convinced that his way of recreating is the best way, and as such, his work is infused with directives about how one should recreate. Even though I agree with him virtually wholeheartedly, I still cringe at the haughty way his views are laid out :)
Regardless of his tone, the book is great for its theorising on recreation, and its general support for places where people can go to immerse themselves in nature. Its early chapter on the history of nations parks was a great companion read to Barkskins, which outlined the destruction of forests in the US in its early stages of colonisation. Worth a look, and a good reference book.

We are back from our mini holiday!
The spot was gorgeous- why didn't I take a camera!!?? (Apart from that I don't own one...) The view from the lounge window this morning was of a craggy mountain peak, either side of which operates a small club ski-field in the winter time. Not a speck of snow at this time of year though, so above the tree-line it was all shingle and rock, warm brown in the early morning light. Below the tree-line it was all deep green beech trees. Lovely!
The kids don't settle well in a small house though, so it was go-for-walk, eat-food, play, fight repeat. It was tiring, and disappointing/frustrating (the fighting part). We would have loved to have read books and listened to the birds, just for 30 minutes of peace....but we will have to save that for another trip!

>94 richardderus: Don't worry, we had a fire to light! And we did last night too, as temps dropped when the sun went down.

>95 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle, we tried!

>96 jolerie: Well, the book that was shipped a month ago arrived on the day we left for the little holiday, so W got to take it and he actually read it too!!! About 15 pages, each of which he described to us in great detail. I loved hearing him do that. He is already lamenting finishing it as doesn't think he will ever find such a good book again. (he's has probably read 2 chapter books himself in his life!)

>97 scaifea: Hi Amber! Hiddleson fan huh? He is clapping for me on account of me being so good at justifying my book purchases. :)

>98 Berly: Cabin in the woods it was. There was power afterall- I wasn't sure if everything was gas operated. The oven and hot water and fridge were, but there was a solar panel for limited use of light bulbs and even a telly!

>99 karenmarie: We did do other things :0 A long walk was strangely my hight and low-light of the trip. It was beautiful, but Little L rebelled against having to walk so far. He lost the plot about the pointlessness of it, and left his mum and dad doing deep breathing through gritted teeth. *sigh*
And then today he has the gaul to say he wants me to buy him tramping boots!! Lol, as if!

>100 BLBera: Ah, memories! That was a week ago today. And I remember it so well.

Nobody's Mother struck me the same way it did you. I bought it as a gift for a childless-by-choice friend and ended up giving it to her with qualms...we discussed it a year or so later and agreed it came across to us as self-righteous and smug.

Welcome home!

>105 richardderus: I got it out from the library to give to a friend who hasn't had kids, and while reading it was thinking, similarly to you, that it might grate on her nerves instead of boosting her confidence in her childfree-life! Still, I will still offer it to her, in case she is interested.

>106 LovingLit: Just remain alert....

>107 richardderus: I'll be all eyes!!!

>103 LovingLit: Ooh, another reader!

Sounds like you need a child-free holiday to recover from this one. I can empathise. I’m currently gritting my teeth and holding on; my kids are having an ‘I can do whatever I feel like because it’s the weekend and dad lets us’ day (again) until my husband gets back from a 2 week work trip tomorrow morning.

>108 LovingLit: EEK! That does not help matters.

>109 humouress: I would love a child free holiday at the place we went to! It was *so* conducive to relaxation- birds singing in the trees, mountain views, not a sign of civilisation :)
I was fantasising about it, actually- we fully intend to go back!

Loved the account of W reading and telling you all about it page by page. Hope you get a chance to go back and enjoy the peace and quiet.

>101 LovingLit: Will be dodging this one!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend in the woods. Happy Sunday, Megan.

Sounds like a great place to vacation! Perhaps again when the kids get older and grow out of the current fighting stage?

>77 LovingLit: "There was sun, there were trees, there was music, there was wine, there was food, there were friends!" You sure can't beat that, Megan, although
I would substitute beer for the wine, of course.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend in the woods. Mountains Without Handrails sounds like a good one.

Hi Megan!

Ah, the joys of parenthood. Sorry that the walk was so stressful with L cranking about it. And wanting tramping boots. Made me laugh, but I deeply empathize with you. I'm one of three and I remember camping trips with tears and grumbling and us three fighting. Once I became a parent I was able to understand much more of what Mom went through with three little kids. We were terrors, I'm afraid, although we all did well in school for the most part.

>111 charl08: he is quite excited about the fact that the book has swear words in it, and comes running out to report the word and the context in which it is used ;) (as well as the actual story!!)

>112 Ameise1: Thanks! Sunday was good, we tossed the kids in be early, and chilled out with a wine and watched Blade Runner, the director's cut. It is one weird film! I loved it, even if I didn't actually understand it. I will watch it again.

>113 ChelleBearss: I reckon! Or, take other kids too, which seems like it might mean more drama, but without fail, more kids changes up the dynamic and reduces infighting.

>114 msf59: That wine fest was wonderful! I can't believe it was only a week ago, feels like a month ago already. We were surprised there wasn't more beer there, just as an option. Only one stall sold beer. I stuck to the bubbly, and loved it.

>115 karenmarie: We gave our parents heaps too, I suppose. I remember in the car- three in the back seat, everyone would be all "he came on my side!", "she touched me!!", usually followed by "no I didn't!!". Lol.
I usually kept my head down and teamed up with both at different times, quite the double agent I was!!

Dang it. I read a segment of a book on Lit Hub, and now I want to buy the book. This is why I should steer clear of el interweb! It is a decent chunk of an excerpt, so go on, read it.


Ask Me About My Uterus : A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain by Abby Norman. On my book depo WL, and not yet at my local library. So I will wait and see.

>96 jolerie: I think a lot of the problem is with how slow things are to get through Canadian customs these days. Bookdepository isn't tracked, so you can't tell, but I've ordered innocuous things from the States that fly up to the border in no time, and and then sit in customs for 3 weeks or more. Some things seem to make it through faster, but I've had a few items be ridiculously slow in the past year.

>118 evilmoose: I wish I knew where the hold up is...not that I could solve it or anything. I loved BD and wish I could use it more but the shipping dives me batty...

So awesome that W is a reader. I think we read the same amounts to both C and J but for some reason C never really took to reading like J did. After a couple read throughs with him, he will pick up the book and proceed to "read" from memory and picture cues. It helps that the books are rhyming and about things he loves (cars), but it always amazes me to see how much he remembers and how he can just recite it verbatim.....

>119 jolerie: Apparently my cousin used to do that and my aunt didn’t even realise he wasn’t reading because he knew such things as when she accidentally skipped a page. But, hey, he ended up going to Oxford, so it’s all good.

>117 LovingLit: Oh, immediate BB for me.

>118 evilmoose: I am pretty sure the hold up for us is at our end too. Out postal service is being run down, less and less funding, fewer and fewer delivery days...I guess us book-buyers will have to keep the system going ourselves!

>119 jolerie: W is most definitely *not* a reader, this latest book I got him was another attempt to get him excited about books. He was allowed to choose one, and liked the sound of Sea of Rust (recently raved about by our very own RD). It is too old for him, which I think is most of its appeal for him.
He said something telling on our recent weekend away - and I think this is the crux for him and why he doesn't like reading. "I really liked standing up on the (bunkbed) ladder to read, I get too fidgety otherwise." He really is a busy boy, and sitting down for too long (not entertained by TV!) is too hard for him.

>120 humouress: My kids did too! Some of those books must have got a hammering, as they just seemed to learn them by heart. My MiL tells me that the lovely other used to complain if she tried to skip pages or words.

>121 charl08: I know, me too! It looks great. I love her discussion of the 1-10 pain scale, it is pretty arbitrary.

BOOK 15
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (published 1984) 208p

Is this my new favourite author? I think so.

This book is the first one I ever bought from Book Depo, and it sat looking pretty on my shelf for a number of years- what a mistake that was! In saying that though, now was the right time for me and this book to come together. I have recently read If This is a Man and the Truce, and my reading of the Periodic Table benefitted from that 'backstory'.

The book is really a series of vignettes loosely based around elements on the periodic table, apt for the authors career as a chemist. It is 'sciencey', but more than that it is human. Wow, does this author have the turn of phrase mastered! He throws together complex sentences that don't sound pretentious, outlines peoples poor behaviour without being judgement, and notices things and is able to describe them in such lucid detail that you want to read passages again and again. I highly recommend this one.

Currently reading:

Seeing by Jose Saramago.
My dad came around last week, bragging about his *amazing* book by a Nobel Prize-winning author, called Blindness. So I causally sauntered over the the bookshelf and selected two Jose Saramago books, waved one in his face, and started reading. That's how we roll.....Anyway, it is Seeing....and now we are kind of having a read-off. At some point we will talk on the phone and maintain that the one we are reading is the indisputable *best book ever*
:)
Ah, the games we play!!!

>123 LovingLit: Oh heck... LT is full of book bullets for me today!

Oooh, Blindness *is* amazing. I need to get back to Saramago soon...

>124 LovingLit: I love the idea of you and your Dad having a 'read-off'! I thought Blindness was a good book but not one I enjoyed if that makes sense - I found it very bleak. I would like to try more by Saramago though as I liked his writing style.

Catching up.... Great reviews of the Levi books here and on your last thread. I'll try to get to The Periodic Table in April. I read his The Drowned and the Saved recently and can say he's now among my favorite authors as well.

I copied the "whatevers walk into a bar", they're too funny and I can learn from them! :)

>124 LovingLit: I wish my dad could do that instead of telling me that fiction makes me blind for reality and that it's not normal to have more than one book on the go.
Oh, and I should get back to Saramago as well. Got some on my shelf, but hate the Italian editions - bad paper quality and tiny font. Reading a great but joyless book like Blindness from a bad copy wasn't a good experience.

>124 LovingLit: Love the read off with you and your dad. Mine's technique is to 'just browse' a book that I have left and then I come back the next day and he's several chapters in, and issuing spoilers left right and centre. I do like it that he reads though I envy the retirement time to do it!

You and your dad sound quite fun!

Oh that cover of Seeing makes it look like it would a comic book of some sort but I'm guessing that is not even close.

Now Blindness and Seeing need to go on my list.

Have fun with a read off. Maybe I should use that to encourage C to "enjoy" his reading more since competitions always revs his engine. :)

>125 BekkaJo: sorry (not sorry) ;) I hope you get to it as, in the right frame of mind, it is an incredible collection.

>126 scaifea: I hadn't heard of Blindness when my dad was talking about it, but it seems a few have read it. Is it quite new?

>127 souloftherose: See above comment! I am rather attracted to books about the dark side of human nature, so I wonder if I would like it. I was trying to recommend a lighter book to my dad one time, and actually couldn't find one on my shelf!!

>128 Deern: I just love his way with words, he seems to be able to throw together words in strange yet evocative ways, a real inspiration.
I'm sorry your father rains on your book parade! Those not in the know will never understand the pull of the book. You have your supporters here!

>129 charl08: Ha! Some "technique" ;) Can you fit him with spoiler-alert end brackets!?!

>130 ChelleBearss: Whenever he interacts with the kids it is always in a trouble-making way. They LOVE it (and him). He tells them tall tales, sneaks them treats and insists they are from the postie, had nerf wars with them and generally acts like my third child :)

>131 jolerie: It is a very light-hearted cover! The book is a bit black humour, a bit satirical (I don't know the genres well enough to label it correctly), so maybe that is why the cover is pitched light.

>77 LovingLit: Nice pic, Megan.
>123 LovingLit: The Periodic Table sounds really interesting. Onto the list it goes.

>124 LovingLit: I loved Blindness, so I guess Seeing is in my future. Love the story about you and your dad. It's great to have a reading family.

>134 BLBera: I am glad The Periodic Table is reaching new eyes. I love to resurrect those middle-distant books, ones that are neither old classic classics, nor recent rampant best-sellers. This is one that possibly will become a classic- hence its publication under the Modern Classics edition of Penguins!
Seeing is possibly not to everyone's taste, as it is written in rather a distinctive style....long paragraphs for one, and no speech marks for another.

>135 LovingLit: This one has been on my TBR pile for so long - I really must pick it up. Thank you for the reminder.

I didn't get very far with Blindness, the lack of punctuation was a bit of a struggle. I would like to get back to it and have more luck!

>136 charl08: my dad was reading by audiobook, so the lack of punctuation wouldn't have affected him :)

Good morning Megan from a sunny Walton, no idea what time it is with you my dear. Sending love and hugs dear friend.

>123 LovingLit: Megan, I have never read anything by Levi either. That one looks good!

>104 LovingLit: I sense that Lenny is some way off getting those tramping boots :-)

Hi, Megan. I, too, am a fan of Blindness, (the book that is) but sadly have not read anymore Saramago. I need to remedy that oversight. Hope your week is going well.

>132 LovingLit: I read Blindness in grad school, which was...oh...17 years ago? So, um, no. Not so new.

I'm trying to remember if at any point in school they made us memorize the Periodic table. I'm going to hazard a no because that seems like cruel and unusual punishment..haha

The Periodic Table is an excellent book indeed. So glad you're doing your literary reclamation duty so effectively.

Blindness sapped me of the will to live. It slid from my nerveless fingers, landed on its cover so as to form a permanent crease, and I was powerless to remediate the situation. Pas de Saramago pour moi.

>138 johnsimpson: to set you clear, the time of your post was 943pm on March 21 :)

>139 susanj67: Lenny is way off getting any tramping boots! He will get w's as soon as they are grown out of, so when that eventuates I am sure he will be happy.

>140 msf59: There is a lot of oversight remedying needing occurring around here- and sentence clarifying on my part too :)

>141 scaifea: Not new, no! I had assumed, because dad was listening to an audio version, and that there was buzz about the book, that it must have relatively recent. Which is why they say, when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me ;)

>142 jolerie: We had to, I am sure there was some poem or rhyme- nay! a mnemonic trick- that helped :) Ours started Harry he likes....but according to el internet, there are a few.

◾Happy Henry Lives Beside Boron Cottage, Near Our Friend Nelly Nancy MgAllen. Silly Patrick Stays Close. Arthur Kisses Carrie.
◾Here He Lies Beneath Bed Clothes, Nothing On, Feeling Nervous, Naughty Margret Always Sighs, ” Please Stop Clowning Around ” (18 elements)
◾How He Likes Bear By Cups Not Overflowing. Although Science Presents Some Clues, Are Kittens Cats?

Explanation:

Happy. – H Hydrogen
Henry – He Helium
Lives – Li Lithium
Beside – Be Beryllium
Born – B Boron
Cottage – C Carbon
Near – N Nitrogen
Our – O Oxygen
Friend – F Fluorine.
Nelly – Ne Neon
Nancy – Na Sodium
Mg – Mg Magnesium
Allen – Al Aluminum etc...

>143 richardderus: I see. Books on the depressing side can do that to a person. As I love the depressing ones, I will probably have to try Blindness myself! But I will take care not to let on to my dad if I like it more than Seeing. Again, it's how we roll.

BOOK 16
Discursive Psychology: Theory, Method and Applications by Sally Wiggins (2017)

This text book is amazing. Just what I needed, and at just the right time. I read the chapters quickly; as soon as I started reading one of the later ones, about writing up, I stopped reading, and started writing. Then about a month later, finished the book. This was a good strategy, I think, as the earlier chapters provided me with good general information about my chosen theoretical framework, allowing my analysis to feel like it was in its appropriate (or, an appropriate) niche.
The book is concise, and discusses the development of discursive psychology in a coherent and accessible way.

>144 LovingLit: Heh. Y'all're such cut-ups down there in Kiwiland.

>146 richardderus: yup- all of us. Every single last one of us ;)
Your ex-prez is here at present, meeting out current and past Prime Ministers, and other assorted members of the glitterati. Which is by the by, really.

I love that Obama is there meeting with Ardern on "pressing issues." I wonder if 45 could find NZ on a map.

*quizzical head-tilt* The *entire* population of the place is made up of cut-ups? Here I just thought it was y'all! (The Apses, of course.)

Opps, I bought some books. The library book sale, from all 12 (?) city libraries, in a stadium with trestle table after trestle table of book upon book. I only had 40 minutes to peruse, so speed-perused. I got:



A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev by Robert Dessaix
I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein

Plus a Lou Reed DVD for the lovely other, and an REM box set of Life's Rich Pageant (with "The Athens Demos") for moi.

>148 richardderus: According to our PM, the pressing issues were climate change, and parent guilt :) From the macro to the micro.

Currently reading:

Seeing by Jose Saramago, and I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein (purchased this very day for $3).

Potentially lined up:
The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, as my dad unreservedly recommended it. Maybe Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd, or The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

>149 LovingLit: Wunderbar!

>150 LovingLit: I wonder if 45 could comprehend either subject in more than the vaguest outlines. I*MISS*OBAMA*BAD*

Hi, Megan.

I'm another fan of Primo Levi's The Periodic Table. I'm glad you liked it so much. He writes so well, doesn't he.

>67 LovingLit: Thanks for the recipe! I kind of prefer them un-iced and un-walnuted, but that's just me. I do like walnuts, I just like them inside the biscuit.

>77 LovingLit: Oooh Your hair is getting long.

Good strategy for book collecting. Always supporting business, we are.

>152 richardderus: So wunderbar in fact that I already finished one! The last one, I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein. A lovely illustrated memoir of growing up the...wait for it...child of Holocaust survivors (the clue was in the title).

>153 jnwelch: He is a master! My latest read cited him, it seems I am in one of those literary feedback loops with everything referencing everything else. I just noted that a third of my reads this year are WWII related, so it's no surprise.

>154 nittnut: Walnuts, inside and afghan biscuit? Oh dear. I am not coping with that at all ;)
Or maybe you mean inside *other* biscuits or baked goods....yeah, that'll be it.
And yes, my hair is way too long, I desperately need a new 'do.

I spy afghans up there ....... classic kiwi bikkie indeed

Hi, Megan! I like your father story, but I LOVE W's reading and reacting.
I should read Levi - sometime. I'm in a rut with fun books at the moment.......poor me.
I can vouch for your M. Laurence. Read it soon!

We didn't make sentences out of the elements, just remembered them -- LiBeBCNOFNe -- and, yes, I had to know all of them! The book, Primo Levi's The Periodic Table sounds like one I will have to find. : )

>156 roundballnz: *dreaming of Afghan biscuits*

>157 LizzieD: I have my suspicions that W is going off the book! Well, he is reading it at school in his designated reading time, but nit much at home. I will ask him tomorrow how its going!

>158 Berly: I definitely remember saying Harry He Likes....in some chant. It was a good way to remember them....mnemonics, huh? They should bring them back :)

>155 LovingLit: Yes. Sorry. Inside other kinds of biscuits. Apologies for the stress. *grin* Per Afghans, I just pick off the walnut and eat it, then proceed with the rest of the biscuit.

Your dad reads? My dad turned his weekend couch-potatoing into a career once he retired. My family’s (parents and sis) response to my reading is to find something really ‘exciting’ to point at in the opposite direction to any bookshop we’re about to pass. My sister isn’t much of a reader any more, either, except for non-fiction; she’s contributed to official text books, too.

Mind you, I’m on the receiving end now, as my youngest has turned out to be a voracious reader, too. While my husband is enthralled by the idea, I would prefer it if he tidied his room, put his school things away, did his homework, walked the dog etc. first. But it would be nice to be able to talk about books to someone or have a read-off. (Right now, I’d lose against my son, though) How wonderful you do that with your dad.

Periodic table; we read it straight off, like >158 Berly: (but we started with hydrogen as in H,HeLiBeBCNOFNe etc) upto the transition elements and then it was the mnemonic Science on TV Creates Many Feelings Concerning Nice Cusins. I did do chemistry though (at O and A levels), so it was slightly necessary. :0)

>146 richardderus: eh? Cut ups?

Hoping L will be happy with his tramping boots when he gets them. (Mine’d probably forget about them by then). My 9 year old, who is 5 years younger than his brother, has got to the point that he doesn’t want hand me downs. At the moment, he’s campaigning for a new tennis racquet though his existing one is the correct size and in good condition and he did manage to wangle a new gi for judo by dint of going straight to the source, though I’m sure his brother’s old one would have been fine.

Belated Happy Earth Hour! I hope it was productive (or, rather, non-productive).

>160 nittnut: Phew. That was a close call. I tend to eat the Afghan biscuit the same way.

>161 humouress: cut-ups=crack ups. People who make people laugh- is how I took it.
I just started reading the one that dad recommended- The Diary of a Bookseller. It is light, entertaining, nicely written and not about the Holocaust. So it ticks a lot of boxes.
I didn't know it was earth hour! I hope I was reading with my torch, instead of the light bulb ;)

A crack-up is a psychotic break in proper English, unless you say "you crack me up" or similar. "He cracked up" is "he went doolally."

Oooh, that clever clogs, hiding her didactic purpose in writing a book about being a child of Holocaust Survivors so completely! One must give her props.

>163 richardderus: We don't do proper english here. For us, 'he cracked up' would mean he laughed his head off, and 'being a crack-up', is someone who makes people laugh. 'You crack me up', means you make me laugh; but, a 'cut-up' I had to make a guess at.

>164 LovingLit: No indeed y'all don't! I'm cognizant of the variant Englishes perpetrated in the former colonies that didn't toss themselves off the mothership.

Any road, I've poked a few bushes by the bye and discovered there *is* a sense of "crack up" meaning "bust out belly-laffin" in the US! I'd never heard it before, but it exists. I loves me some Eric Partridge.

>165 richardderus: I am reminded of the eccentricities of NZ English by my cubicle buddies at university- one is Indian, one Iranian and one Chinese. They ask me to decipher emails from their supervisors (who should perhaps know better), and interview transcripts of kiwis saying the darndest things!!!

>159 LovingLit: I have freshly baked scones which in my opinion trumps afghans .....

>166 LovingLit: I assume your cubicle buddies did not take the "New Zild" course then ?

>164 LovingLit: Yes, same here.

Re your holocaust reading - Wondered if you had come across this new Latvian linked one.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/23/among-the-living-and-the-dead-by-i...

>164 LovingLit: and Richard, as we all know, can’t spell. Hmph. *mutters* No “u” in “humour” my foot.

;0)

>167 roundballnz: students (it seems) are faced with a steep learning curve when they arrive as students from other countries. Get-to-know NZ courses are probably low on the priorities list. They do get plenty of academic related courses though.

>168 charl08: Wow- I hadn't heard about it! Thanks so much for the link. I have photos of my grandmother sitting at the kitchen table with her sister who she hadn't seen in 50 years, just like the one in the Guardian article you linked to. My Latvian relatives were nonplussed to hear that there was book written about his and his parents experience in the war- they noted that "everyone has a story like that". And it seems they do- reading the blurb of that book - which I have ordered, btw!!- it sounds like my grandmothers experience, only she fled to NZ after her husband was conscripted into the German army (from the Soviet army that he had been conscripted into from the Latvian army....). Her brother in law and family went to Siberia as enemies, and her sisters survived awful conditions in Latvia. The sad story of war, relatable for so many unfortunately.

>169 humouress: Uh-oh! More U wars.
To preserve my honour, and savour the colour and flavour of my local dialect, my behaviour must reflect the glamour of the 'u', (such as in the word harbour, and candour), and as such I will be the saviour of this particular spelling variation.
:)

>170 LovingLit: Yay! I mean hUrray!

Fearful this one might not be holding my attention...and my bragging rights to my dad might be voided by this inconvenient fact.


This one however, is a fun read, and is monopolising my time :) Recommended by my dad, so there is still book talk to be had.

>172 LovingLit: Oh dear - loss of bragging rights - hard call

Hi, Megan. Sorry, the Saramago is not ringing your bells, but hooray for Lou Reed & REM. I am a big fan of both!

The Diary of a Bookseller sounds interesting.

I sUppouse it is time tou bouw tou the U-vians. Hoouuray for Tibetan-level ourthougraphical nounsense!

>173 roundballnz: I will probably still brag, who am I kidding?

>174 msf59: Re: the Saramago, it's the relentless three page paragraphs! I liked the lack of punctuation (speech marks etc) first off, but now the words just feel like they are running into each other. With little in the way of discernible plot. I will work on it!

>175 richardderus: Finally you come the way of the archaic u! Bring forth the the honey mead and hogs feet in celebration!

BOOK 17
I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors by Bernice Eisenstein (published 2006)

Maybe I am less discerning this year, I seem to have awarded a lot of books 4 starts, and even 4.5. Something to ponder.

This book felt like a gamble at the libraries book sale last week, so I put back a Keane CD, an Eels CD and a Gomez CD to assuage my guilt (they had a potential total of $9) and got this. I liked the illustrations, and that it was genre-bending, being neither a graphic novel nor *just* an illustrated memoir. And I am glad I did now (especially seeing as I just looked at another Gomez CD on my stack that I have only listened to once...).

Bernice tells her parents' stories, and her own. Hers involves tiptoeing about her parents', particularly her father's, hard to read emotional states. Theirs involve being prisoners at Auschwitz up until liberation- hence the emotional scarring. It is not as self-indulgent as it sounds, with the author really wanting to explore parents painful stories, without wanting to ask them so as to spare them the remembering. It is a nice portrait of post-war lives, and how the horrors committed upon people take generations to heal.

>177 LovingLit: I wonder if they ever properly heal, ever.

>178 richardderus: well, you couldn't really, could you? I don't think so.

*Lenny-ism*
(Buckle up, this one if off the cute-o-meter)
I just went to tuck him in right now (it being after 11pm), and he half woke up, saying in a sleepy voice:
"This is the place that's real good. This is the middle of sleeping."

The middle of sleeping! That sweet, sweet place :)

>180 LovingLit: Adorbs! I love half asleep kids!

FWIW I loved Blindness, but Seeing was nowhere near as good. It's been roughly a decade since I read the latter book, but it may be that reading the first book is essential to fully understanding the second one.

>181 ChelleBearss: That was one of the best Lenny-isms :) It was so cute my face crumpled a little bit.

>182 kidzdoc: That makes sense- are they actually related? Or companion books? I have Blindness on hold at the library- it was available, but at a library across town, so if I put it on hold they will transfer it to my library for the feee of $3 (which is OK by me, as the trip across town and back would be a hassle).

Email from my dad:
"After you threatened to repossess your books when you arrive in April, I frantically stared reading them!"
Ha!

>184 LovingLit: Do you have a list, or is this a mock threat?

>180 LovingLit: Awww.
Sorry about your uni time - hope you get to catch up soon.

>185 charl08: uni time, sacrificed in the name of family care- I will probably not regret it in the long run ;)

I have pretty much only one book I am going for, and he has had it since I got it delivered from book deep- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagirhara, he has had it so long he will think it is his. But I will get it back :)

>180 LovingLit: Megan, Lenny is so right! The middle of sleeping is the very best bit. Particularly when you're a grown-up and you wake up and wonder whether it is morning and it's only 1.30 and there are still many lovely hours to go :-)

>180 LovingLit: *melts*

>184 LovingLit: Hup hup hup! Hand them treasures back, oldster.

>187 susanj67: I like it too :) Luckily I am not afflicted with insomnia, so when I do wake up in the "middle of sleeping", I lie there and enjoy it.

>188 richardderus: And then this morning he pulls out he following.
I walk into the kitchen after hearing glasses clinking, wondering if he is making himself a cocktail of something out of the contents of the baking drawer, and he is painting and egg carton, and states:

"I am making an aeroplane. It will take 6 days."

He amended that 5 minutes later to, "actually I think I will finish it today", and then in the same breath announced it was done.

Saw Red Sparrow last night. Gorgeous movie poster! Jennifer Lawrence looks amazing, with cool costumes and a variety of looks. The film, however, was all over the show. Subplots, twists, gratuitous violence, sex and torture (during which the tortured person managed to look gorgeous....what the!!?!).
After over two hours, and it still want finished, we walked.

^Too bad. I really like Jennifer Lawrence, but she's gotten herself into some not-so-good movies recently.

>189 LovingLit: *baaawww*

>190 LovingLit: Oh HELL no. Way too much sitting for that little reward.

>180 LovingLit: *heart eyes* I also love the middle of sleeping. Off to make a start at sleeping now.

Thanks for taking one for the team, BTW, I will not go see Red Sparrow. 2+ hours? Yikes!

>186 LovingLit: Loving these bookshelf updates ......

Thought I, Tonia was pretty good, if you're in the market for a better film following Red Sparrow.

Looking forward to the long Easter weekend and plenty of those lovely wake-ups where you suddenly realise you don't actually need to...

>191 jnwelch: oh? what else has she been in recently that was less than amaze-balls? ;)

>192 richardderus: I can sit through a lot, but I just wanted it to end, and when new storylines just kept coming I just had to flag.

>193 nittnut: When he said the firs part (this is that place that's real good) I though, oh good, he is safe and warm and content- a mother's dream. And then the second part (this is the middle of sleep) it just got cuter, so better!!!

>194 roundballnz: It's bookshelf-mageddon. He always eyes mine for ones to steal- actually there was a noticeable gap the last time he stayed, and I couldn't figure it out! And I do the same to his.

>195 charl08: I do really want to see I, Tonya. Had missed it at the cinema, but have a pact with a friend to get it out on DVD and watch it together. She threatened to make it dress up, I really couldn't think of how to do that without leotards....which aren't my preference.

We are off on holiday for the Easter break! Again to a forested inland mountain area, this time 2 hours north of here. Mt Lyford here we come!
Praying for better behaved children this time, but going with friends, who will help us deal with occupy the kids (even if it is by providing vodka for us all to be merry with!!!). I am taking 3 books, since that worked out so well last time, but one is about Discursive Psychology so might need to be read in a deeply quiet place...we'll see!
Have a great weekend everyone.

>197 LovingLit: Safe travels, exciting (in the good way) holiday, and happy homecoming.

Hi Megan!

>180 LovingLit: and >189 LovingLit: Your Lenny cracks me up. When I was in high school I used to set the alarm an hour early just so I could fumble around, reset it, and know I had another hour to sleep. The middle bits are the best.

Have a lovely time at Mt Lyford, with well-behaved children, merry-making vodka, and lots of hiking and book reading.

Sweet Thursday, Megan!

Recent Jennifer Lawrence not-amazeballs movies: Passengers, Mother! and Red Sparrow. I saw Passengers - disappointing. She was paired with Chris Platt, but it was a bad concept.

Enjoy your weekend away!

>183 LovingLit: Seeing is the sequel to Blindness, as it features at least two of the main characters of the first book and is set in the same locale. Blindness is one of my all time favorite novels, and although Seeing wasn't bad, to me it paled in comparison to the prequel.

Have a great holiday!

>144 LovingLit:

For some really depressing reading, it's Samuel Beckett month on the Irish Thread - just choose THE END.

I've been awarding a lot of 4 stars this year too - I'm thinking it's because I've just chosen a lot of great books. And now I'm being tempted by Blindness too.

Ah. Holiday envy. I hope you get some reading done, even if it's not Discursive Psychology. Maybe don't read it with the vodka? Just saying. We are on school holidays for Easter, but the husband has to travel for work. I don't have the energy just now to take the kids somewhere - not that they are difficult - just the energy for trip planning and carrying out on my own isn't there. And I have to work a couple of the days. We are contemplating a day of tramping around Hanging Rock State Park and perhaps an excursion to IKEA for some file drawers, which is 3 hours RT driving, so a pretty full day. Other than that, there will be much sleeping in, video game playing and book reading.

>198 richardderus: Thanks RD! We passed a service station called RD Petrol, and I thought of you :) RD probably meaning rural delivery.

>199 karenmarie: What!? Setting the alarm in order to appreciate the chill time! Classic ;)
Re: holiday, we got the merry making, the walks...just not much book reading!

>200 jnwelch: The concept of Red Sparrow was pretty sound- if only the story was a little better contained. I felt like the initial story of the ballerina being forced into the life of a spy would have been a good film in itself.

>201 ChelleBearss: Thanks Chelle! It was a fab weekend, a great house, and great walks.

>206 LovingLit: Glad to hear it was fab Megan. Wishing you a good week. (We've had snow again this morning. Snow!)

>202 kidzdoc: That makes sense. And now i have to eat my words regards my dad, read Blindness, discuss it with my dad, and then go back to Seeing Thanks for clearing that up!

>203 m.belljackson: Well, I have to say I enjoyed my recent deprive from depressing reading. Read Diary of a Bookseller and it was the perfect fun book.

>204 evilmoose: Yeah- you can't downgrade a 4 star book just cos there were so many other 4 star books! Its a good run.

>205 nittnut: well, I didn't read the Discursive Psych book, but I did do a faux Mastermind competition, and my specialist topic was...you guessed it- Discursive Psych! I got 4/5 in the first round, and 3/5 in the second. My opponent's topic was (round 1) Star Wars: A New Hope, and (round 2) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. It was actually quite fun :)

>207 charl08: I am glad to report it was a fab weekend, it compared favourably to the weekend we had 2 weeks ago, that's for sure.
Fab weekend photos to come!

>199 karenmarie: I would just try to get as much uninterrupted sleep as possible. And then when the alarm went, try and sneak in some more.

I get very grumpy if I feel I’ve been done out of my full quota, especially since, for reasons unknown, I find it really difficult to get to bed in the first place.

Currently "reading"



Ridiculous!

>210 humouress: I too love the sleep- in particular the middle of it, like Lenny ;)

Ridiculous boys. When I sneak into my kids’ room to check on them in the night, they’re both in the most uncomfortable looking positions. A popular one seems to be with the chin up and one arm stuck out behind their back. But they toss and turn and rotate and revolve so much, I just cast my eyes to heaven and leave them to it. Myself, I sleep like a log. I get into a comfortable position, so I don’t wake up with a crick, and I’m pretty sure I don’t move until I wake up.

Easter holiday pics!
We got a bach (holiday house) at Mt Lyford, a small ski-field area, which because we visited off-season we got to experience in sunny splendour!
There was a great one of us all walking down a river bed, but it hasn't come through- we took an intrepid wander off the beaten track, and managed to find our way out alright. Pics not shown: the log cabin, the board games, the cider, and the log fire!

>213 humouress: Ours are funny too, W sleeps curled up and protected from the air around him, and Len is all over the show...arms and legs akimbo- totally open to what the night might offer!

Squirmers of the world unite :)

Great pictures! Looks like you had a great time

>214 LovingLit: Looks like you all had a good time!

>216 roundballnz: um, ok?

>217 ChelleBearss: It was great. We played this great game called Patchwork, a 2 person strategy game. I can't wait to play it again.

>217 ChelleBearss: Yessiree. The pond was lovely in the late afternoon light, the kids had a blast playing in the floating pool thingie.

And today my library book arrives: Blindness by Jose Sragmago. And then there were five (see >211 LovingLit:)

Love the holiday pics, Megan. Beautiful place and the weather looks perfect too. Love to see that cabin. Sounds perfect.

How those current reads coming?

Love the pics - my family hol isn't till August and I'm already yearning.

>220 LovingLit: Five! Ha! I may be even more insane than usual have well over ten on the go. Usually a sign that I'm going round the bend :)

Looks like a wonderful holiday. Happy you're able to enjoy the trekking with those NHS-cosmetically-altered feet that NZ's taxpayers funded.

(I had an argument with a Trumpet about Medicare and Medicaid being better than her private plan. She reminded me of your mother-in-law. I want a handgun and civil and criminal immunity while I rampage around executing these unmitigated assholes.)

>221 msf59: those current reads are coming slowly. Going for Blindness at present, hopefully followed by Seeing, and then the rest.

>222 BekkaJo: I am going round the bend, can't find one to settle on! But, as just posted to Mark, I will go for Blindness first :)

>223 richardderus: My cyborg feet handled the terrain beautifully, as did my bionic taxpayer-funded hip, and my extracted-from-my-uterus-via-taxpayer-funds children :)
Harrumph to the rule that says nasty right-wing selfish types get to enjoy/wreck our lovely earth!

LT be back!
Woohoo.

Blindness is *so* good. Don't tell my dad.

Howdy, Megan! Your holidays look so sunny and happy. I'm glad you had a good time.

>226 rosalita: the Easter holiday marked the start of Autumn proper! It is now the 3rd day of rain and we even got hail yesterday. It was amazing.

♥Lenny!♥
Your holiday looks wonderful - especially little boy wonderful!
I think that the only Saramago that I've read is a peculiar one, Baltasar and Blimunda. If I ever find my brain, I'll try another.
Hope all is well with all of you!

Hello to Autumn for you, perhaps hello to spring for us. Today was the first day that felt like it might be a possibility. :)

>228 LizzieD: Hi Peggy - I get a lot of little boy wonderful! The kids loved mucking about in that pond. And to have an adult friend (theirs too, but mainly ours) to play with them, and take photos!? Win win.

>229 nittnut: Yes, your Spring sprung, and out Fall fell!!! We are autumnal here, for sure, starting off with a winter storm bang. Hail fell, and even settled! We had the fire going, and it was quite nice :)

>230 LovingLit: Well it went from summer 24C to 9C - I think someone switched Summer off :) in other news Have had the power back on for 24hours (I think its staying on now, still many in the city without)

>231 roundballnz: This weekend we organised a mid-winter Christmas party! That is how close to winter we are.

This is getting ridiculous. Clearly I am all over the show, as I am currently reading around 8 books:

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (eta: nearly finished!)
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yokio Mishima
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky
Discursive Psychology (Inquiries in Social Construction series) by Derek Edwards
Seeing by Jose Saramago
Rugby's Great Split: Class, Culture and the Origins of Rugby League Football by Tony Collins

I am away today for work for the night. Get to stay in a hotel *by myself* and get some university reading done, and maybe some movie watching- I am going to wish the night was longer, I already know. :):):)

>234 LovingLit: Ooh! Fancy! :-)

you need a timey-whimey thing that slows time down .... just not too much :)

>235 charl08: oooh! it was :) Well, good enough for me, anyway. A huge bed, pay TV, a sleep in. Not too shabby.

>236 roundballnz: I know! I did complete two books this morning, one after the other. A great feeling. Stand by for reviews.

BOOK 19
Blindness by Jose Saramago, first published 1995 (309p)

An accidental starting of the sequel to this Seeing led me to back up the bus and get things done in the right order. The writing style is the same, which I initially found endearing, but there gets a point when three-page paragraphs with no speech indicators bar a capital letter here and there gets a bit much. Hence, I found the experience of reading a bit laborious.
However, the topic of the decline of civilised society is fascinating to me. And this story played out well, and in rather unexpected ways, which was nice. I would have liked to see one of the main characters do more (or do differently) to help her allies, but her story too was unexpected in that she didn't, so I guess I can't complain :)

BOOK 20
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (320p) (essays)

I loved the process of reading these essays, but something kept this one from totally ringing my bell. I got the feeling that some of the essays were a get-back-at-people-who-have-annoyed-me-online essay. Which make for great diary entries or blog posts, but in a published book I want more objective commentary and less "s/he said this but they are wrong, and I think this". One of the final essays- Bad Feminist- was one of my favourites, because it flowed so nicely and felt genuine. All up a solid collection, particularly if you are into popular culture.
PS Sheepish shout out to a fellow 90210 fan!!!

Megan, your night in the hotel sounded lovely, and congratulations on two finishes! (Also on reading the Saramagos in the right order :-) )

>240 susanj67: yee ha. I didn't go for a dip in the hot pools, as by the time I was finished surveying all of the people....I just wanted to get out of there, get Indian takeaway and put my feet up!

>241 LovingLit: Indian takeaway - yum!

I meant to post this link before - Jacinda and the cloak at Buckingham Palace. I love the photo of her with the Queen: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/20/jacinda-ardern-maori-cloak-bucking...

Hi Megan!

Yay for a night alone in a hotel room with books! Although I must say, 8 at a time would make me totally bonkers.

Hail to start off Autumn sounds fun to me - as long as it is small hail, not the damaging golf-ball-sized stuff that occasionally comes down here in the Southeastern US.

>242 susanj67: Thanks for sharing that, Susan! It is absolutely fabulous.

>242 susanj67: So cool!

Hi, Megan. Just checking in. That looks like so much fun up in >214 LovingLit:!

>239 LovingLit: Ugh. I think I'm going to pass on that one. I much prefer objective commentary.

>242 susanj67: What a great series of images. I love the one in the long hallway with the baby bump.

Great photos from your Easter VK! Love the newest Lenni-ism. The Middle of Sleep. Which is were I mostly hang out these days. LOL. Happy Friday!

>233 LovingLit: I am struggling in the same vein and a similar number.

Very diverse set of books there too, Megan. I have to say I found Blindness a very interesting though heavy going read.

Have a lovely weekend.

>242 susanj67: great pics huh!? I was struck by the red carpet/hallway/PM/korowai/baby bump/partner one :)

>243 karenmarie: our hail was small, and brief. Today the sun was long and strong, and last night the thunder was loud and punctuating. ;)

>244 humouress: pretty awesome huh? I am very proud of our Prime Minister- she handles herself so well on the world stage.

>245 jnwelch: It was a great Easter holiday, I was reminiscing about it this afternoon with my step mother (she wasn't there, but I was telling her about it on our drive home).

>246 nittnut: I like that image too! The baby bump has ben conspicuously absent in press images til now, I think the baby is due next month, so its about time it made an appearance.

>247 Berly: Wasn't that sweet- the middle of sleep. My baby is away with his cousin at their grandfather's this week, so I will miss him :(

>248 PaulCranswick: I knocked a few off the list this last week!
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay , Blindness by Jose Saramago, and Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky are all done. But I have picked up Interpreter of Maladies to read now :) And so the game continues.

Great to see your PM continuing to impress, Megan. Hope you like Interpreter of Maladies.

>251 charl08: I do love Interpreter of Maladies! Talk about a long time in the reading....

Hi, Megan. Sorry, Blindness wasn't a bigger hit for you. I loved that book.

I just finished Birding Without Borders and the record-breaking birder, made a stop at the North Island of NZ! He didn't expand on his visit, but it was cool, that he mentioned it.

Hope everything is going well.

>253 msf59: You know, I did enjoy the book, and continued to rush to get bak to it (it was one of 8 that I was reading at the time, see >233 LovingLit:!), so maybe I was a little harsh on it. I discussed it with my dad; he had a problem with the ending, and I heartily defended that aspect of it to him, so I might have to upgrade it a half star ;)
Great to hear NZ featuring in birder books! I though of you this weekend when on a whirlwind trip to my dads to drop Lenny off for a few days with his grandad (a 10 hour round trip by car). As you may recall, there are a tonne of birds there, as they have out sugar water for them. Tui, bellbirds, and heaps of other native birds.

*smooch*

just 'cause

Hi Megan!

>249 LovingLit: our hail was small, and brief. Today the sun was long and strong, and last night the thunder was loud and punctuating. Excellent! I read that out loud just because I knew it would be pleasing.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

>255 richardderus: Hey! It's RD!!!

>256 karenmarie: My point was that the weather is changeable lately :) I got distracted by the fun word play.
My week is playing out well, I had a sleepover at my sister's and we and our eldests watched the 1984 Nadia Comenici film and had Indian takeaway (second night in a row for Indian takeaway for me!!!). Now I am at the art gallery cafe about to do uni reading, while the eldests are attending a school holiday collage thingie. SO GOOD!

Saw The Killers tonight.
Wow...seriously wow. What a showman Brandon Flowers is, he played the crowd like a violin and we loved it. (Photo not mine, but he did put on this suit for the encore.)