Lucy's (Sibylline) Quarterly Report: Summer into Autumn 2020

Definitely Autumnal, first September, then October, pretty much same view:

Currently Reading November 2020

♬

Currently Reading in October
ROOT Nora: The Real Life of Molly Bloom Brenda Maddox bio
new South Riding Winifred Holtby fiction, Virago
E The Sword of Forbearance (Pelbar Cycle 7) Paul O. Williams sf post apoc
♬ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (5th of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry classic mys
♬ Death Comes to the Nursery Catherine Lloyd cosy mystery

Read in October
96. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (4th of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry mys*****
97. Tropic of Creation Kay Kenyon sf ****
98. ♬ Death Comes to the Village(1) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
99. ♬Death Comes to London(2) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
100.!! new The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England Graham Robb history ****
101. ♬ Death Comes to Kurland Hall(3) Catherine Lloyd regency mys ***1/2
102. (ER) Fire Logic Laurie J. Marks fantasy ***
103. ♬ Death Comes to the Fair (4) Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
104. new I Will Have Vengeance Maurizio de Giovanni mys ****
105. ♬ Death Comes to the School Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
106. ♬ Death Comes to Bath Catherine Lloyd cosy mys ****
107. E The Song of the Axe (6) Paul O. Williams sf post apoc *****

Reading Tally 2020

Series Tally 2020

Currently reading 2020
Kurland St. Mary Mystery(7) Catherine Lloyd Death Comes to Bath (6th of 7)
Pelbar Cycle(7) Paul O. Williams READING (7th) The Sword of Forbearance

will continue
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle (6) Next up (5th of 6 in audio series)
Lady Hardcastle mysteries (4) T. E. Kinsey NEXT UP (3) A Picture of Murder (Audio)
Galaxy Outlaws (16.5) Listening to #2
Cass Neary(3) Elizabeth Hand NEXT UP (2) Available Dark
The Craft Sequence(6) Max Gladstone NEXT UP: (2)Two Serpents Rise
The Invisible Library(6) Genevieve Cogman NEXT UP (6) The Secret Chapter

Finished/Caught Up in 2020!!
James White (5) Sector General series (about 12 books)
Murderbot Diaries Network Effect (5) Martha Wells

Inda Sherwood Smith (4)
Revenger(3) Alastair Reynolds
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (15) Louise Penny READING (15) A Better Man
The Kencyrath Chronicles (6) P.C. Hodgell
Terra Ignota(3 so far. . . ) Ada Palmer
The Chronicles of Kazam (3 so far) Jasper Fforde

Probably won't continue?
Constable Evans (6) Rhys Bowen READING (1) Evans Above
Oxford Medieval Mysteries (1 of 6) Ann Swinfen
Roma sub Rosa (12) Steven Saylor NEXT UP (2) Arms of Nemesis

Books Read in July
72. ROOT Mark Twain: Man in White Michael Sheldon bio ***
73. ✔Treason's Shore Sherwood Smith fantasy ****
74. new Network Effect Martha Wells sf *****
75. new The Final Solution: A Story of Detection Michael Chabon contemp fic ****
76.ROOT Hospital Ship James White Bk 1 in Alien Emergencies sf classic ****
77.ROOT Sector General James White Bk 2 in Alien Emergencies sf classic
78.ROOT ✔Star Healer Book 3 in Alien Emergencies James White sf classic ****1/2
79. ✔ROOT Code Blue-Emergency bk 1 in General Practice James White sf classic *****
80. ROOT ✔ Looking for Spinoza Antonio Damasio ****

Stats
Total: 9
Men: 7
Women: 2
M/W writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 2
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 1
SF/F: 7
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 0
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 2
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 0
New (to shelves): 2
e-book: 0
Off Shelf/ROOT: 7
Pearled: 0

Books In July
NONE

12.

E.
17.

audio:
17.

Housekeeping:
physical books (for year) IN = 12
e-books (for year)=17
audio (ditto) =17
ALL IN: 46
(Physical) Out July= 7
(Physical) TOTAL OUT= 28

Books Read in August
81. ROOT ✔ The Genocidal Healer bk 2 in General Practice James White sf classic
82. E The Velvet Rage Alan Downs ****
83. ROOT Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction Christie Yant ed.***1/2
84. ♬ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2nd of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry ****
85.. new Sand Wolfgang Herrndorf contemp fic ****
86. new In Praise of Paths Torbjorn Ekelund walking ****
87. ✔ ROOT The Galactic Gourmet in Tales of Sector General James White ****1/2
88. ♬ Evans Above Rhys Bowen mys ***

Stats
Total: 8
Men: 6
Women: 2
M/W writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 2
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 1
SF/F: 2
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 2
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 4
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 2
New (to shelves): 2
e-book: 1
Off Shelf/ROOT: 3
Pearled: 0

Books In August
13. Mycelium Running Paul Stamets
14. In Praise of Paths Torbjørn Ekelund

E.
17. The Velvet Rage Alan Downs

audio:
17.

Housekeeping:
physical books (for year) IN = 12
e-books (for year)=17
audio (ditto) =17
ALL IN: 46
(Physical) Out July= 7
(Physical) TOTAL OUT= 28

Read in September
89. new Where I'm Reading From Tim Parks essays literary ****
90. ✔ ROOT Final Diagnosis in Tales of Sector General James White sf *****
91. ✔ ROOT Mind Changer in Tales of Sector General James White sf *****
92. ♬ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (3rd of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry mys*****
93. new The Lantern Men Elly Griffiths mys ****
94. new The Age of the Vikings Anders Winroth hist ***1/2
95. new Elysium Fire Alastair Reynolds sf ****

Stats?
Total: 8
Men: 6
Women: 2
M/W writing together: 0
Non-fiction: 2
Contemp/Classic/Hist Fiction: 1
SF/F: 2
Mystery/Rom (inc hist mys): 2
YA or J: 0
Poetry: 0
New author: 4
Reread: 0

Book origins/type:
From library or borrowed: 0
Audio: 2
New (to shelves): 2
e-book: 1
Off Shelf/ROOT: 3
Pearled: 0

Books In September
15. The Age of Vikings Anders Winroth

E.
18.

audio:
17.

Housekeeping:
physical books (for year) IN = 14
e-books (for year)=17
audio (ditto) =17
ALL IN: 50
(Physical) Out July= 3
(Physical) TOTAL OUT= 32

Happy New Thread, Lucy!!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Peonies!!!! We can't grow them here, but yours must have been wondrous. What a pretty place!!!!!
Happy New Thread, Lucy!

Happy new one Lucy. Are those your peonies? And your beautiful bridge? We can't grow peonies here either but I do love them.

Happy new thread :)

Hi Lucy. I love peonies, so rewarding and long-lived.
Is that topper a view in your yard? Or nearby? It looks so peaceful and serene there.

I just this afternoon posted a photo of one in our garden. It's close to my favourite, and fragrant!

Happy new thread, Lucy.

Happy new thread, Lucy!

72. lit bio ***
Mark Twain: Man in White Michael Shelden bio

I love Mark Twain and have since I started reading to myself long ago. I still love Mark Twain and I learned a few things about him that I'm glad to know, but mostly, in this biography which covers the last few years of his life, I learned things I would rather not have known or didn't need to know. Nothing bad about him, he comes through as the marvelous being he was--enlightened through and through, funny, kind, brilliant, observant and full of a special kind of exuberance, a talent for living, you could say. In summary, after Twain's wife, Livy, died, he bought a house he didn't really like in New York, lived there with his daughter Clara, acquired a secretary/house manager and got on with things. His boldest move was to begin wearing white. He worked hard on his Autobiography, knowing large parts of it were unprintable until after his death. His closest friend was Henry Rogers of Standard Oil, he enjoyed the company of young girls -- but let me stop your eyebrows from rising right now -- there isn't a whiff of anything sordid in it. He wasn't a lascivious person, was faithful and loved his wife, loved having daughters, wished he had granddaughters, and generally, liked the female spirit (thought they should have the vote, btw.) Twain is a reminder that our own culture has become almost hysterical with fear of close friendships occurring between people of different ages and genders. The big story here is that Twain decided to have a house built in Redding, Ct, but he was too busy to supervise it and he set Isabel Lyons, the woman who ran everything on the project. Somewhere in there he acquired a secretary, Ashcroft, and with one thing and another Lyons and Ashcroft left to their own devices too much and with no supervision and full access to funds began cheating and scheming to get legal control of all of Twain's property. It's a sordid story indeed and a lesson to never trust anyone but yourself, really. Lyons didn't start out with any plans to cheat and steal, but bit by bit, she fell down a rabbit hole of a little here and a little there and then Ashcroft came up with a big plan and she went with it. The house, Stormfields, was beautiful, but only stood for about 14 years, most of the time empty, before burning to the ground. The death of his youngest daughter, Jean, (who had severe epilepsy) was the turning point for Twain and after that, he began to fail. Probably the one thing I am most intrigued and happy to know is that Twain was born on the day Halley's comet passed over and died the same day as it passed by 75 years later. So appropriate! I probably should have Pearled this bio, it took an age to get through! And it felt, yes, a bit gossipy rather than literary. And kind of sad. ***

I'm halfway to 144!!!!!

Re the above book, funny how a lesser book often requires a longer review. I didn't buy the book, someone gave it to my husband and he was never going to read it, and since I love Twain, it went onto my shelves . . . . for ages.

Thank you everyone who stopped by for stopping by!

Those are our peonies and my spousal unit made that bridge!

Lovely peonies and a lovely bridge! We have a peonie in our compact little urban garden. It was the only plant worth keeping from the old layout when we had the garden re-modelled. It's only small but it is astonishing when it's in bloom. My husband is really obsessed with it and guards its place in the garden very possessively. I could imagine him digging it up we ever move house, such is his love!

I think I want to pitch a tent in your garden for the summer! OK, not really because I'm too old to sleep in a tent but the garden is beautiful -- and I adore that bridge.

73. fantasy ****
Treason's Shore Sherwood Smith

The fourth and final book in the Inda series, and it's a doozie. (I have no idea how to spell that last word but spell check is accepting it!) The northern Venn (related to our Marlovans--who split of centuries ago), as warlike (if not even more warlike) as Marlovans have decided to make winning the control of the seas as their next move to conquer all the land south of their cold and rocky kingdom. Inside the Venn there are factions. The chief mage (dag) wants to use magic for offensive purposes which is strictly forbidden. Others believe this will bring ruin upon them and work in secret to overthrow him. Meanwhile the Venn move on the southern ports and Inda is called back to the sea as the Commander of all the fleets. As with book 2 the sea passages are very strong and engaging. The plot too, the tensions between Evred the king and Inda come to a head in an original dilemma, the seeds of which were planted long ago and have been steadily nourished all along. Really well done. When you read a series that is around 2800 pages it can be hard to say goodbye! ****

Happy New Thread, Lucy! Love the picture at the top - it looks so green. It was getting quite dried up and brown here, as May was the driest May on record and most of June was pretty much the same. But the weather broke a week or so ago, and since then it has been pretty wet with some torrential downpours so everything is greening up again nicely.

>17 sibylline: So only half-gross. Isn't it the truth though that explaining what didn't work for you always takes more words than This is great! Read this! with one or more of the following - funny, compelling, surprising, memorable.

I've read Twain's letters to wife-to-be, and was familiar with the Halley's comet co-incidence. I haven't read any of his works for decades, but I certainly remember him more than most authors from my previous life.

In this difficult year with an unprecedented pandemic and where the ills of the past intrude sadly upon the present there must still be room for positivity. Be rightly proud of your country. To all my American friends, enjoy your 4th of July weekend.

>16 sibylline: That was one heck of a fine review Lucy. I am so glad you mentioned about Halley's comet coincidence in his life. Almost a magical happening. Astrologers would have fun with that one.

And I liked your honesty and the 3*** seems fair. I have no desire to read this memoir because it is sad and I become a tad distraught with type of thieving you described. I adored Mark Twain's children's books and the short bios that went with them. I'm going with hanging on to those thoughts.

>18 HanGerg: >19 RebaRelishesReading: My brother actually will be camping in a couple of weeks -- on the other side of that bridge!

>21 SandDune: Nice to have you here! We were having a drought ourselves, but it ended last week. In the meantime, Vermont is generally waterlogged enough to stay green. (Really it is a northern rainforest -- moss and ferns partout.) The only ones who suffered were the farmers with big fields of crops they couldn't water and even so, I think they got just enough in time.

Glad you have greened up!

>22 quondame: There are some other remarkable coincidences like that -- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died within hours of each other on July 4. I read that wonderful bio of Adams a while back and by another unplanned coincidence finished it on July 4!! (I don't enjoy the parade,* fireworks, all of it, stay home look after the animals who get so upset by the fireworks.)

*I might enjoy the parade piece if I had VIP parking and a porch to watch from. We were always late, had to park too far away, and it is almost always boiling hot and sunny.

>23 PaulCranswick: thank you Paul. I suppose it is human nature, but our original sin was slavery and an acquired one, due to the extraordinary abundance of the part of the continent we inhabit is greed and arrogance. Let us hope we can learn. I'm not entirely sure about that at the moment.

>24 SandyAMcPherson: What is worth reading (or listening to) is the Autobiography -- that is really why I decided to give this book a try. Interesting though that while he was living these tough things he was working hard, most of the time, on the autobio which is full of his wit and exuberance and insights.

74. sf, sp/op *****
Network Effect Martha Wells

Murderbot 1.0 is kidnapped by some unknown corporate entity into a wormhole with part of his crew -- turns out the kidnapper is his friend ART (not that he'll admit ART is his friend). This corporate group is trying to take over an abandoned planet, but there's a big problem, alien remnants, mainly in the form of what organic code that can infect and take over both machine and human. ART and our SecUnit to the rescue!!!! Great interactions between Amena, Mensah's teen-aged daughter, and SecUnit. And many many fun moments as SecUnit struggles to understand humans. There's a nice surprise addition to the cast too. No spoilers! *****

Pearled


new Whiskey When We're Dry John Larison contemp fic

Nope, I'm going to quit this one. If you like the western, the tough spirited girl who will win through but also has a big heart sort of thing, go for it. Just call me a curmudgeon. I mean that, too. You might just love it. It felt to me like clichés were going to pile up and I don't have the patience for those at the moment. Or anymore. There is solid story-telling workmanship here though if this is your kind of cuppa.

_______

You know "the Covid" as we seem to call it around here is making it easier for me to Pearl books. I either have to be fully entertained or I have to be slightly in awe of the writer's ability.

Good for you for quitting an unsatisfactory book!
Curmudgeons Rule!

>26 sibylline: So happy you loved Network Effect--hard to follow Murderbot up!

75. fic
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection Michael Chabon

The first writer Chabon adored was Conan Doyle and the first story he tried to write was a Sherlockian Adventure. If you love Chabon and love Sherlock Holmes you don't want to miss this treat of a novella and if I say anything else, I would spoil it! A work of homage and well done. ****

>30 sibylline: Oh, I do. So I guess BB.

>27 sibylline: "..."the Covid" as we seem to call it around here is making it easier for me to Pearl books"

I've found that as well. I also have been giving myself "permission" to binge read! I'm liking it. Kind of reminiscent of my summers when I was a kid.

>30 sibylline: Chabon fan here. Liked The Final Solution, as I have most things he's written.

>1 sibylline: Very nice bridgework. Top o' the hat to your spousal unit. (Is it human or bot? I mean, this...ah...item is a "unit." Juuust a bad joke.)

>26 sibylline: I believe your comments on Network Effect will push me to actually put it on my wish list. Don't recall a bad review of it, but I'm a bit dilatory about most such.

>30 sibylline: Congratulations on reaching 75, Lucy!

Congrats on hitting the 75 book mark, Lucy! So glad you are getting around better now.

75 and a good one! Congratulations, Lucy!

Pearled#5

The Wych Elm Tana French

It's probably blasphemous, but I've read 200 pages and I just can't care enough to go on. They say in TV that if you push viewers too hard, they quit watching. It can be a delicate balance, The skull in the tree -- I instantly knew what was coming. Someone close to Toby is the killer. I had a good guess who. I looked ahead and confirmed it. And for me it tipped over around page 180. it was enough that Toby gets beaten up, that his uncle is dying, but adding a murder? It's a shame because French's description of how Toby felt after being beaten up by the thieves and the weeks after is horrifyingly accurate, she really did her homework. Someone close to me went through something similar.

My feeling is that there is a distance in a mystery when the protagonist is a detective. In this case, the victim, -- well the living one -- is the protagonist and it was simultaneously too intense and somehow dull. The first person? A writer has to experiment and push boundaries, I'm all for it, but I don't have to read it, if it isn't working for me.

Plus I am deeply offended that the American publishers decided to change the spelling of a type of actual tree. What were they thinking??? I feel condescended to.

>37 sibylline: I stuck with this one, but it's not French's best. I far prefer her Dublin Murder Squad books. And YES YES YES to the condescension. I noticed immediately that you used the correct spelling in your touchstone. Did you hear my hearty applause? The title change is ridiculous, like US readers wouldn't be interested in the book without something "spooky" in the title.

Hope all is well with you & yours, Lucy!

Congrats on hitting 75!

Hi Lucy. I enjoyed the reviews and forgot to say earlier, yay for 75 books read. I'm on board with the comments about the The Wych Elm (@37 and 38). I had a thread topic myself about this title changing situation and Tana French's book has to be the best example of how asinine such title alterations can be .

I just started The Ten Thousand Doors of January today. I've stayed up too late tonight reading and then wanted to peruse LT to clm down my brain. I should know better, screens are the wrong thing to do in that respect.

Hadn't heard of this one! And it sounds as though it kept you up.

One of my SIL's ordered all the Harry Potter books from GB to avoid all the changes they made in the text. Are we too stupid to figure out that a jumper is a pullover? etcetera.

I think you will enjoy this if you can access it, Lucy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/travel/vermont-drone-photographs.html?campaig...

I saw those! They are extraordinarily beautiful. I do find the drone thing a bit creepy, however.

>42 ronincats: Those are amazing images.
But yeah, drones. I'm with Lucy on that sense of being spied on.

76. sf ****
Hospital Ship Bk 1 in Alien Emergencies James White

As promised the change from the early work to this later set of books, written through the seventies into the early 80's is dramatic. White can handle continuity, character development and a dramatic increase in humor. Conroy meets his match in Captain Fletcher when he is assigned to a space ambulance. Luckily Murchison, his friend and partner is there and Prilicla the empathic dragonfly-like being. Anyway, I am hooked, for sure. ****

Glad you are still enjoying Sector General, Lucy. I wasn't sure how they had aged, but I enjoyed them very much, some for the first time as I filled in all the ones I'd missed back when.

I'm really have fun, Roni. I'll go post over on the White thread.

>41 sibylline: Finished this afternoon:
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alix Harrow). It's my best read so far this year.
I'm running around the threads to say so because she has such an amazing way with words.

And yes, I would guess that most readers are indeed familiar with the idiosyncratic British slang. They / we don't need the text modified. I'm actually quite horrified that publishers believe their reading public can't look up the word in the copious urban-slang dictionaries that abound on the internet, if need be.

77. sf ****
Sector General Bk 2 in Alien Emergencies James White

The first story predates the hospital and explains its inception after an incident at a space station causes the Monitor Corps to reassess their ideas about alien interactions. In another story a hair-raising planet-side rescue takes place after a ship crashes in mysterious circumstances. Among other things, predatory thorn bushes! In the last story a giant segmented being is discovered scattered all over space--their ship hit by a meteor and now the whole in danger of being drawn into the gravity well of a sun. Conway and co. to the rescue! Fletcher and Conway are getting along a little better and a whole slew of battleships etc. get involved in the mission. Rather a lot of detail about how these being couple and uncouple . . . but oh-kay. . . the usual solid entertainment and humor. ****

>48 SandyAMcPherson: and >41 sibylline: I read Murder on the Links, my first Christie, when I was eleven or so. I confess that I was often confused because it was my first experience with English English, but I figured it out. "Links" was the hardest, but I was proud of myself for getting it, and I can't imagine that a 2021 child would have trouble with original *HP*. I need to look at my Scholastic copies and wonder what's been changed.

You GO, Portland Moms!

>51 sibylline: YAY!!!

78. sf ****1/2
Star Healer bk 3 in Alien Emergencies James White

White does get better and better!! Several of these stories were truly fascinating. Khone, from the previous book, is still in Conway's head-Conway has to figure out if that is a good or bad thing, the violent non-sentient Protector he saved earlier is ready to give birth and Conroy wants to save the sentient telepathic Unborn from descending into the Protector mode, and there is Conroy's possible rise to the status of Diagnostician, so he has five OTHER tapes from brilliant alien surgeons in his head too. What will this do to his relationship with Murchison? -- astonishingly imaginative, convincing in detail, and involving, a total page turner! ****1/2

>45 sibylline: >46 ronincats: I thought I might try some of those Sector General books as people seemed to be enjoying them. Then I saw just how much the price of them was in the U.K.!

Seems utterly bananas that that the books are so expensive on your side, I mean, White was from Northern Ireland, so UK. . . so . . . Maybe second hand stores in Belfast might have copies??

79.
✔ Code Blue-Emergency bk 1 in General Practice James White sf classic

I totally LOVED this one! Cha Thrat is a feisty "warrior class" surgeon from Sommeradva -- she does not fit in there, and when she gets to Sector General she somehow manages to get in trouble wherever she goes. Only problem being, she is smart, does excellent work, and is usually right which drives people even nuttier! She ends up getting involved with Conways Gogleskan friend Khone too. Just excellent fun! Just what the doctor ordered! *****

>56 sibylline: Excellent!! And you will love the next one as well. Guaranteed!

80. ROOT ****
Looking For Spinoza Antonio Damasio

Anything I write probably won't do justice to Damasio's book. In part because not being a neurobiologist when there is specific stuff about his or that part of the brain, my brain checks out. Same thing would happen with any technical discussion, really, of stuff I don't know anything about. But I got the gist of the argument about how and why feelings, as opposed to emotions (which are more basic) evolved and what they do for us. Also that Spinoza, in Damasio's view was the first to tackle the issue of what feelings are and if they arise out of the body or . . . what? In short, yes, feelings which are in some ways a refinement or further development of emotional response (say, terror, panic vs. guilt and shame, or ecstasy vs joy evoked by listening to Bach) and that all of what is in our minds, what we are aware of, arises out of the body. The evolutionary purpose of all is in the attempt to keep the organism in homeostasis, in balance with itself -- alive and thriving. Damasio does a good job in weaving technical information in and explaining the mechanics of the brain for the layman. I didn't get it all, but got enough, I think. Bringing Spinoza in, in the personal way he does, visiting his abodes, trying to get a sense of who he was adds a dimension to the book that was very welcome. The last section meant the most to me -- Spinoza made the point that humans don't have a lot of choice, but one of the gifts our complex system of emotions into feelings and self-awareness gives us choice. You can choose not to perseverate, in other words, choose to decide not to linger on the negative side -- you don't pretend it isn't there the way a Stoic would, but you don't wallow because why? Sounds simplistic, almost ridiculous? Try it next time you start excoriating yourself. Ask yourself: how will punishing myself help me or anyone? Of course, not everyone does have the ability to make this kind of choice, but most of us do. Anyway, this rational but compassionate approach did not even begin to gain any traction until the late 19th century. Spinoza offered it in the 1500's but was banned so successfully and totally that his work still hasn't surfaced or received the merit it deserves. He was not an atheist but he did not envision God as a reflection of humanity or even interested in humanity, but that a being or intelligence was evident in everything around us. I remember responding strongly to Spinoza in college philosophy class. An early humanist, really. ****

Sorry about the endless comments here. These ROOT books take months to read and somehow end up with these lengthy thoughts. I guess to balance things?

>58 sibylline: I certainly can't read this one now, but I'm glad that you did, and I'll remember it if my brain ever improves. I have a great respect and affinity for Spinoza too, having read almost nothing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY!!!!!

Happy birthday, Lucy!! I hope you're having a delightful day :)

Happy birthday!

Wishing you the happiest of birthday, Lucy!

You are all so kind to come over!

Have a very happy birthday!

Happy birthday Lucy! I hope you've had a lovely day.

🎉 🎂 🍰
Hope you had good cake and a sunny, not too hot day in your gorgeous garden.

Happy belated birthday (but it's your birthday weekend, right, so not so bad)!

Thank you so much everyone! >61 drneutron:, >62 ronincats:, >64 quondame:, >65 lauralkeet:, >66 SandyAMcPherson:, >67 bell7:

Weather here has been perfect. A brother who lives in Cambridge came up and camped. So weird not to hug!

81. sf classic ****1/2
The Genocidal Healer in General Practice James White

White tackles guilt and forgiveness and the effect of shame and despair on the health of an individual. Lioren, a Tarlan surgeon, made a decision about how to treat some aliens in desperate need and things didn't go so well (he did, in fact succeed at what he was trying to cure, but he didn't anticipate the consequences). He wants to be condemned to death, but chief psychologist Dr. O'Mara is having none of that! Mary Doria Russell is one of the only others who have put sf and religion together successfully. With truly breathtaking tact and intelligence
White takes on religious practices, ethics and you name it with grace and expansive common sense. White has learned to have moments of humor that bring to life the characters and make the deeper interactions fit more naturally. ****1/2

I'm going to take a little pause here with only one of the big volumes and a novel left to go -- yep, hoarding! I'll be sorry to finish.

Congrats on downing another omnibus, Lucy! I'll do well to read the last one in the first one this month, but I'll try. Meanwhile, I'll offer Lois McMaster Bujold as another who successfully combines fantasy with religion. (I'll have to think to decide whether this is true in the Vorkosigan saga, and thinking isn't on my to-do list for the day.) I especially like her treatment of the 9 gods in the Chalion books.

Yes, but that's fantasy -- sf is different, eh? If there are earthlings there is the whole entire thing.

>70 LizzieD: >71 sibylline: Yes, the world of the 5 (where did 9 come from?) gods is fantasy, but the take is not a usual fantasy take, and very informed by SF. I still think that Bujold hasn't given the Roknari and their religion a real examination - I think she'd find her novel of the father there for sure*. A search for religion in SF does produce more results, including Jo Walton's evisceration of The Sparrow which I liked more than she did while agreeing with her on all the 'details'.

*I'd think that different cultures would organize the basic in different ways, so that while the pseudo-europeans would see 5, there might well be other pantheons.

>69 sibylline: Probably my earliest exposure to religion in sf was James Blish. From Wikipedia:

Blish continued to rework older stories, and did so for one of his best known works, A Case of Conscience (1958). The novel originated as a novella, originally published in an issue of If, in 1953. The story follows a Jesuit priest, Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, who visits the planet Lithia as a technical member of an expedition. While on the planet they discover a race of bipedal reptilians that have perfected morality in what Ruiz-Sanchez says is "the absence of God", and theological complications ensue. The book is one of the first major works in the genre to explore religion and its implications. It was the first of a series including Doctor Mirabilis (1964) and the two-part story Black Easter (1968), and The Day After Judgment (1971). The latter two were collected as The Devil's Day (1980). An omnibus of all four entries in the series was published by Legend in 1991, titled After Such Knowledge.

A Case of Conscience won the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was collected as part of Library of America’s omnibus American Science Fiction: Five Classic Novels 1956-1958.

The next Sector General book up is one of my favorites, Lucy. It's on the lighter side compared to the last two, but still the adventures of a famous chef, somewhat of a diva, seeing Sector General as a challenge for his talents is well-done and worthy.

>72 quondame: Good point, the religion is at the core of the story and very well worked out, very solid. I liked The Long Price Quartet for the same reason.

>73 ronincats: Ah, James Blish. Do I sense another SF potential group read sometime? I think we have all of those upstairs in the SF collection. I probably read one or two in my teens and remember NOTHING, although that name Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez resonates. There is also A Canticle for Leibowitz. No desire to reread that one, I must admit.

A chef!? I can't wait, except I must. My ROOT read right now is the Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction which I think I have delayed reading just for the fun of seeing it on my bookshelves. Can't have two SF's at once, just too much for me. For my birthday someone gave me South Riding. How can I resist plunging into that! Another rule broken, two novelly novels at once, but they couldn't be more different so I'll survive it!

I'll be back to Sector General ere long.

Hi Lucy.
What happened to the bridge with peonies photo? For a minute I thought you had started a new thread...

Oh dear, Sandy, I usually try to change up the photograph each month. I can put it back if you want it there?

>75 SandyAMcPherson:, >76 sibylline:
I liked the bridge & peonies, but THERE'S A CORGI in the new photo, which I like very much!

Lucy, there's a new corgi pup in our neighborhood that we see occasionally on walks. It's the most feisty little thing, walking very jauntily and barking at just about anything, especially other dogs. So adorable, and seeing this dog always makes me think of you.

>76 sibylline: Is that Miss Po?

>76 sibylline: Not at all. I like your new topper. The monthly change up is cool. And yes, CORGI! Such lovely dogs, so don't worry about me and my questions!

I hope your weather is a treat, with not too much extreme swings. And also, that the mobility progress re: your ankle is satisfactory.

82. E psychology ****
The Velvet Rage Alan Downs

If you have any questions about how growing up gay in a straight world impacts adult behavior, this is a good solid read. Gay men aren't so very different from men generally (except in choice of partners). All men, straight or gay, have to face up issues to do with shame and authenticity but for straight men coming to grips with these issues is usually achieved by the late twenties or early thirties. For gay men overcoming shame is much harder as it is intensified and then reified by their experiences in the world from adolescence on. Gay men will do almost anything to avoid shame, from high achievement (hoping that will help), to dropping anyone (including a lover) who criticizes them. No self examination is possible for fear of coming apart totally. Downs divides the evolution of the gay man into three stages, wild, strategized denial and falling apart*--and rebuilding an authentic self. (The third stage doesn't always happen.) I'm simplifying this but this makes a lot of sense to me. This book would go well with Brene Brown's Daring Greatly where she addresses shame the ways shame drives us all. Here, however, Downs makes the case that many gay men experience shame squared. ****

*My take.

>81 sibylline: Great review, Lucy. I feel drawn to reading this book, that's for sure.
I think the other book you mention sounds good too (Brene Brown's).

>82 SandyAMcPherson: Thank you Sandy. I rewrote little bits of it, just now.

>81 sibylline: excellent review, Lucy. Sounds like a most interesting book. We live in a neighborhood known for its gay population and have a lot of gay and lesbian friends. You can still see the hurt in some of them quite clearly. I wonder too how the author would compare the gay male experience with that of lesbians.

>84 RebaRelishesReading: I wonder too how the author would compare the gay male experience with that of lesbians.

I wonder about that, too.

His take is that women's issues generally are different enough that lesbians have the skills to form strong relationships. That's it in a nutshell. He didn't claim that was always true. He also says repeatedly that while he is writing primarily for gay men, he is hoping that others will read and find not just the info about gay men's issues helpful, but maybe even some of their own issues. I found that to be the case.

83. sf anthology ***1/2
Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction Christie Yant ed.

I would say a third of the stories collected here are terrific, in particular the reprints. The stories written for the book (and there were many entries to choose from) are ok too and a few were terrific. The interviews (of the writers whose work is in the book) and the essays by women sf writers mostly approached the problem of the way men have struggled (or refused) to expand their view of what constitutes science fiction and women have had to figure out how to find a way in -- from that horrible moment (I had one) in your teens when you realize none of the adventure books you love except A Wrinkle in Time and one or two others, include girls or women who aren't passive -- or -- like Eowyn are utterly desperate in a way that has always made me uncomfortable (I could write a thesis on Eowyn) to being cornered at a Con and chewed out for not writing "real" science fiction (anthropology and sociology and psychology etc. don't really count -- or didn't). If you are into SF and how women are finding their way into the genre, and changing it, yes, but not destroying it, this is worth reading. Solid but, for me, not a total wow. ***1/2

>86 sibylline: Thanks Lucy, that's helpful.

84. ♬
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2nd of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry

I'm mainly bookmarking that I've finished the second chunk of six chunks (each around 300 pages) of the sublime Mr. Fry reading Holmes. In the last few months I've encountered a novel by Michael Chabon about Holmes in his elder years and a short story about Holmes in a steam-punkish story as a Victorian Cyborg. Holmes est partout! *****

I do plan now to take a little break from Holmes.

Driving around less means I am not moving through audiobooks as quickly as I used to. The heat and the ankle (and now the endless PT!) have kept me from being very interested in knitting, another time I am likely to listen!

85. contemp fic/suspense ****
Sand Wolfgang Herrndorf

The four stars are out of respect for the structure/plot of Sand, for the way the novel is put together, the setting, and the writing itself. That's a lot of praise -- but I must also confess didn't enjoy reading it. I appreciate it, yes. In 1972 or so, a young French/Arabic man, trained in France, has recently been assigned to a police station on the coast of North Africa (country unnamed). In a nearby town is a hippie commune and a young Arab thief, on the rumor that there is a suitcase of money, comes in and ends up shooting four people there. The policeman, name of Polidorio investigates - - - I can't say another thing without risking some sort of spoiler -- suffice it to say there is an international aspect to the crime - and a touch of Graham Greene humour despite some appalling violence.

My feeling is that this is a genuine hybrid between a literary and a thriller/suspense/mystery novel. Some of my discomfort came, perhaps, from the tension between just what sort of novel I was reading. Now that I'm done I can say the most important aspect is the structure, after that, the setting and the effect that this environment has on humans (not good).

This is one of the NYRB classics series which is brilliantly curated. I'm not "disappointed" by the choice, the book is brilliant, just not for me.****

It's a bit of a disappointment to leave a book with respect but not much enjoyment. May your next satisfy your every desire!!!

>91 LizzieD: Likely it will since it is South Riding!!!

>92 sibylline: Lucy!! South Riding is one of my all-time favorite books. Is this the first time for you, or a re-read?

>93 lauralkeet: First time!!!

>94 sibylline: Oh how nice. You are in for a treat!
The BBC produced an outstanding dramatization back in 2011. More here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y5gm3

You can't stream from here due to rights issues, but it might be available elsewhere.

Hmmm. I just checked YouTube, Laura. There is a complete 5-part series of South Riding available there from Yorkshire TV in 1974. It bears further investigation!! HERE

Hi, Lucy!

>96 LizzieD: oh my!

Are my pictures visible now?

>98 RebaRelishesReading: YES!!! And many thanks!!!

Ooh yes, South Riding. I read it a few years ago and was utterly bowled over. An amazing book. I just checked the BBC drama page posted and if it was available I would be able to watch it, but it says it's not currently available.

>100 HanGerg: South Riding has long been on my bucket list but I have still not yet gotten round to it.

I'm very much enjoying it so far. Albeit I am presently rather distracted by the convention and not reading much!

86. walking ****
In Praise of Paths Torbjørn Ekelund

The time Ekelund is remembering is childhood and from that time a path that he loved as a child. As an adult in his forties, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and can no longer drive. So he began to walk. He was haunted (in a good way) by memories of that path, and the book is shaped around the question of whether that path, as he remembered it, would still exist, but in the meantime we go on walking adventures from his young adulthood and from his new present. Some are very amusing, some are more serious, all are thoughtful. If you love to walk, if you love paths, you will enjoy reading Ekelund's experiences and insights. ****

>103 sibylline: Sounds like a book I would like, and I see there is a Dutch translation available. Added to mount TBR.

>103 sibylline: In Praise of Paths has gone on the WL.

>104 FAMeulstee: and >105 SandDune: I know you will enjoy!

88. ♬ cosy mys ***
Evans Above Rhys Bowen

Hmm. I enjoyed Her Royal Spyness a lot, despite overall silliness, so I thought, sure, let's try a little village in Wales. I don't know if I'll continue, probably I will for no good reason, but Evan the Fuzz is just too much of a big lunkhead so far. Much "tension" is (supposedly) generated in his personal life by two things: two women who like him (well, three, really, but the third gets no play is only mentioned) and a landlady who feeds him too much. These are tropes and they are fine when handled with flair and originality but they were not. Also in the end the "reveals" were a little too pat and there were few to no clues to lead the reader into solving the mystery. So I wasn't so much surprised as "hunh?". Now this sounds like a total condemnation I know, but the setting is so appealing I might not be able to resist and very often these mystery series start out shakily and then the writer finds the right approach. So, if you are a cosy mystery fan, you might want to try it. If not, I wouldn't. ***

89. literary essays ****
Where I'm Reading From Tim Parks

I'm a Parks fan from way back, having stumbled into his memoirish books on living in Italy and the two (sort of) mysteries yonks ago. These are essays mostly written for the New York Review of Books about writers, readers and the contemporary state of books. They are written from his vantage point as a translator, long-time teacher, published writer, and as himself Tim Parks the ordinary reader. Overall Parks has noticed that there has been a shift in "serious" readers to reading outside of their own country but, of course, NOT in the native language of the country, and especially not if they are Americans. These books all have to be translated and he has noticed that the writers who get translated and are popularized outside of their own countries write a certain way, that is, less idiomatic and more easily translated, and often on big "important" social themes or even small ones but universal to all humans everywhere, like being shy. Writers who write about matters particular to their own country using language and idiom that does not translate well get left out. And anyway, the assumption is that an American reader wouldn't get much out of it, it would be too 'foreign'. This is just one of many thought-provoking points about modern reading expectations -- he leaves it open as well to the question of whether it is READERS who decide the shifts or the publishing industry deciding for us. Also left open is whether it is a "good" or "bad" thing, this simpler translatable more universal choice, on the part of writers about style and subject matter. (I'm now really thinking about Knausgaard.) Writers like James Joyce, say, are pretty much untranslatable, or David Foster Wallace more recently -- in his case because the subject matter is so particular to our American nuttiness. Pynchon, also untranslatable and for similar reasons. There is a wonderfully curmudgeonly essay on the British-American "translations" -- American editors feel a need to make some questionable changes as if Americans are unable to figure out, say, what a jumper is. I love the differences and have no problem looking stuff up. I'm with you, Tim! I highly recommend these essays to anyone who reads translated work a lot and also anyone who is interested in a sharp look at how writers themselves have changed, how books get chosen and published, and the writing scene in general. If you love Italy, you might like his earlier memoirs too. Oh and the mysteries. ****

The T. Parks sounds interesting but it will be on a reminder rather than a wish list for now. Thanks for a helpful review!
I liked the first Royal Spyness O.K. and inherited an omnibus with the first three, so I'll probably read more. I couldn't put up with Evans and quickly lost much interest in Hamish Macbeth. I'll take my light and fluffy some other way.

>107 sibylline: Thank you for the warning. I too thoroughly enjoyed Royal Spyness but I think I'll give this one a miss.

>109 LizzieD: Parks is a very good writer.

>110 RebaRelishesReading: Yep, you won't miss it. I'm listening to the whole Holmes oeuvre, but sometimes I need a break from it, trying to find a new cosy series, so far no go.

I should go check whether the writers of series I've loved (like Medicus have written a new one lately!

>108 sibylline: I read Where I’m Reading From a little while ago and found it fascinating. I find the idea that books need to be ‘translated’ from another English speaking country mystifying. Surely part of the pleasure of reading a book set in another country is to hear some of the differences in the language.

>112 SandDune: I'm so glad you liked it too! And I agree with you. I am basically insulted by the attitude of the American publishing industry.

I've got a snafu here -- misnumbering and also forgetting to put up in here! Tsk tsk!

So out of order: here are the two novels in The Tales of Sector General that I have finished! The first was an August read, the second I just finished.

87. sf *****
The Galactic Gourmet James White

In a word? WONDERFUL! Wow has White hit his stride. Gurronsevas, the most celebrated chef in the Federation and a Tralthan (big person) arrives at Sector General. And the fun begins. He's a classic chef type, brilliant and touchy and a bit odd . . .

From the same series:



90. Final Diagnosis in Tales of Sector General James White sf *****

White's favorite characters are the brilliant mavericks, in this case a fed up and very crabby Earth human arrives at the hospital sent out of desperation because no one can diagnose his problem. Another winner!

Happy Anniversary, Lucy!! And I'm so happy to see you are enjoying the later Sector General books--I just love them so.

I'm mostly through Mind Changer. The spousal unit is hoarding the last book! He loved them too. Sooo much.

Fun video for today!
https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeedNews/videos/2400805013558659

And may I recommend two books to supplement your Sherlock Holmes.

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry

I think you'd enjoy both of them.

Oooo -- onto the WL they go, thanks Roni!

Roni that is one talented corgi!!!!

Here is my fun video for the day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXhoW4EFVP0&list=PL6PE5ps8YJBUuOgdc_msj-tNXw...

I am actually into wild swimming (on the "don't overdo it" side -- I'll stop in a few weeks until late April). I am the Fourth Type. Actually I am hoping to make it into November, but we'll see. At that point it will be a matter of running in up to neck and screaming for a few seconds and running back out and into the house! :)

91. Below is the final novel in this Omnibus
sf *****
Mind Changer James White

Remarks forthcoming

92. ♬ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (3rd of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry

In this third installment Fry offers wonderful anecdote about his own love affair with Sherlock Holmes as an adolescent, even to joining a Holmes club and giving a paper at one of their meetings! The final installment here is about Holmes' and Moriarty's disappearance in (I think?) Switzerland in the mountains. (One problem with listening is not being able to thumb back through the pages!)

93. mys ****
The Lantern Men Elly Griffiths

I read this so fast that I never even put up the cover up top! Probably this should have only a 3 1/2. The plot was a bit too much in places, forced, and frankly unbelievable. Nowhere near enough sense of a local hullaballoo. But I still can't help loving Ruth and Nelson. ****

94. hist ***1/2
The Age of the Vikings Anders Winroth

A solid tour through the life and customs of the "real" Vikings in the period from about 800 to 1100 by which time the Vikings were a) politically organized into the three distinct regions they retain today (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) b) Christianized and c) through trade and cultural pressure had become more or less assimilated into the mainstream European culture. He covers the basics of religious practices, architecture, clothing, social structures, mores, and spends a chapter on women and what they were likely up to. All very solid and informative. Some might give the book four stars -- it mostly deserves them, but I was repeatedly puzzled by an aggrieved tone about the reputation the Vikings had for violence beyond all others. He feels obliged to point out that others were worse: Charlemagne for one. He is bothered by the disconnect between who, as an historian, he has come to see that Vikings really were (really, not all that bad dudes from a very poor and cold country who, once they had designed some terrific ships, went treasure-hunting) I couldn't help feel bemused. It wasn't so much the violence, I expect, as the shock factor that brought the reputation on -- when a pack of those big blond and hairy-- and no doubt very smelly -- guys appeared of nowhere and demanded all your money and goods that they could take or they'd kill you. Terrifying. It's not the same as the tribe over the hill who you knew already were a problem. He even tries to take the stuffing out of the berserking! I think Frans G. Bengtsson in The Long Ships does the best job of all at fully humanizing the Viking. (One of my top ten novels.) It is amazing though, how those lads got around from Newfoundland to Constantinople and probably further, we just don't know it. ***1/2

>123 sibylline: Interesting review. In fact, sounds like you highlighted the major points and your thoughts very succinctly. I'm curious about the Vikings but I don't think this is a history I'd choose. Not that I have one in mind, however.

I think I wanted to read it hoping for more insights, etc, into what I learned from The Long Ships. I learned a little?

And thank you for stopping by -- I haven't visited threads much, very overwhelmed by things large and small.

Great review of The Age of the Vikings, Lucy. Since having my DNA done and learning that I have a substantial dose of Norse (probably via Ireland and Scotland) I've become somewhat more interested in the Vikings. There's a great museum in York, U.K. based on archaeological finds there that a I recommend to anyone visiting the area and interested in Viking history.

>126 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you! I'm figuring you've read The Long Ships? If not I cannot recommend it more highly!

Well The Long Ships looks rather irresistible so I've put it on the Wishlist. Might be a good one for escapism from the gloomy and anxious days to come. I will also have to give the museum in York a visit, as I am a day trip's journey away from that lovely place, but probably not until next spring at the earliest!

>128 HanGerg: I am confident you will have a blissful time reading it.

>127 sibylline: No, I haven't read The Long Ships, Lucy, but it sounds like I should. I will put it on the wish list.

95. sf ****
Elysium Fire Alastair Reynolds

I adore Prefect Dreyfus, Sparver the hyper-pig and all the cast at Panoply as well as the conceit of the 'detective' story (he is more than that, of course) in the far future in space, which is, being inhabited by humans, vulnerable to the bad guy, full of innovations and venom. Not quite as fun as the first one but still plenty fun. I was less absorbed in the back story although I don't know how that was unavoidable and the two threads past and future came together reasonably well. I had figured some stuff out but not all. ****

Well this series looks fun. I have mixed feelings about Reynolds from the few I've read - he's never going to be my favourite writer, but he does do great concepts. On the wishlist it goes.

96. ♬
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (4th of 6) Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Stephen Fry mys *****

Book Four includes The Hound of the Baskervilles and Fry recounts some more marvelous reminiscences and also some tidbits about Conan Doyle. *****

Popping by to see what you are up to these days. I am behind on the threads! How's that ankle progressing?
You are well on the way to passing #100 and heading to #144. Hope Autumn is a delightful reading time for you.

>134 SandyAMcPherson: I don't deserve any visitors so I thank you warmly for stopping in. The truth is I am overwhelmed with many things, a stepped up PT scenario as I am ready to get serious about fitness and it all takes so much time! I finished a huge project (edit/proofing of the big MSS I've mentioned here and there, having written the last book in an unfinished future-apoc trilogy), but I put off EVERYTHING for the last couple of months and have to catch up. Plus the on-line zoom music season has taken off and I am signed up for way too many things but am having fun. Very little reading and I can't seem to wrap my head around fiction at all. Perhaps because of living inside a nightmare at present?

Hope you are ok and able to enjoy your reading! I am loving The Debatable Land, very entertaining and informative.

>135 sibylline: I've been lurking more and more on LT. I have a pandemic burned out feeling. So I've largely slacked off posting on threads. The American government seems irretrievably broken so all that discussion has been emotionally draining. A lot of eyeballs north of 49 looking worriedly to the south...

My reading is very much a fits and starts thing. And unlike you, I haven't been busy with big projects. However, as our family saying states, "This too will pass".

97. sf ****
Tropic of Creation Kay Kenyon

Eli Dammond, not a war hero because no one believes his story of what happened with the Ahtra is, like everyone in that region, on the lookout for a missing space ship and finds it on the planet Null. Crashed three years back. He is now captain of a freight ship, and is carrying the family of General Ridenhour to a conference (daughter, spouse, child). The planet is desertlike, no rain, water can be had from a certain banyany type of tree. But Eli senses a mystery. The strange hexadron machines are for digging. Why? No sooner does he take one and dig down than it begins to rain. He finds a hidden world of Ahtra and discovers too, that they have a complex relationship with the primary predators living on the surface (now coming out of dormancy with the rain)--and others. Kenyon does a good consistent job at inhabiting the ahtran minds. The story pivots around the concept of mercy. A good read. ****

98. ♬ regency mystery ***
Death Comes to the Village Catherine Lloyd

Happily, I've stumbled into a reasonable series that I can listen to while knitting/driving. Lucy Harrington is a strong character and the leading gentleman, Robert Kurland is a type that for some reason best left unexamined that I always enjoy. (Curmudgeonly, an intelligent blockhead, terribly in need of taming and so on). A housemaid has run off, two--in fact--presumed to be together. Also little items from the houses of the local gentry keep going missing. Are the two occurences related? Kurland is recuperating from having legs crushed by a horse at Waterloo -- Lucy as the rector's daughter and the only person competent to nurse him, has kept him alive and going but he is, of course, utterly obtuse about how much he cares about her. Since this is a series the romance will move slowly . . . The reader was ok, but for some reason when she does the servants she slows down and the result is that they all sound dull. I hope she does better in Book 2 -- I do see that after that the reader is different. ***

Hi Lucy. I've put the Catherine Lloyd series on my wish list. It doesn't indeed sound like the perfect thing to listen to while semi-distracted and I may be that more than usual in the coming months.

Enjoying your count-down on FaceBook :)

99. ♬ regency mys ***1/2
Death Comes to London Catherine Lloyd

Well, the Major sure is dense as a post about his own emotional landscape is all I can say, but we must drag out the romance part of this series as long as possible. Lucy makes it to London and even collects an admirer or two. The Major is going to be Baronetted (I'm making that up) and has to come up to London too, where he finds himself unable to leave Lucy alone, can't really stand seeing anyone else with her, but doesn't have a clue. The mystery involves poisons and pushes the probability limits, but I liked some aspects of it and enjoy many of the side characters. The reader has sped up a bit and that is helpful. ***1/2

Perfect for my present task: knitting a sweater I want to finish (or at least get close) by xmas. Also a startling amount of driving around for PT. I alternate now between the Holmes and these.

>138 sibylline:, >140 sibylline: My library has these, but I've got SO many library books out now that I'm putting them on the For Later list.

They'll be perfect for you when you have some project going where things are simple enough you need to occupy your mind some, but not overly!

Hi Lucy, I read your post on Sandy's thread and thought I'd pop over here to say how happy I am for you, that you will have three at Thanksgiving. Even in the best of times it's difficult to live across the continent, and obviously even more challenging this year. I'm sure you will have a lovely t8me together.

100. history, maps ****
The Debatable Land Graham Robb

If you are a Dorothy Dunnett fan this is a must-read. Also if you have a 'Romans in Britain' thing. And perhaps are a bit of a sucker for Arthur speculations. I have them all. The 'debatable land' is a little area on the west side of Great Britain that has been a 'border' and neutral land since humans formed tribes. The very word 'debatable' has no origin in squabbling about whose land it was, but from the word 'batable' which means 'good for grazing'. And from that tidbit on the delights are endless. Robb debunks the reiver mythology, but in a kindly way. Ptolemy all the way in Alexandria makes a map that is insanely accurate and helps open solutions to mysterious references to King Arthur . . . . Robb and his wife move to a little house on the English side of the border and he becomes fascinated with everything about this strange little area, now under siege by power companies etc and all those who can't bear to see land sitting idle. ****

No way I will make 144 but at least I made a century!

Congratulations on your 100!!!!!

I'm impressed and envious and now definitely wishing for The Debatable Land since I have all the symptoms of the disease that this book offers balm for.

ETA: Just ordered a copy from AMP and noted that this is the Graham Robb of The Discovery of Middle Earth, which I read on your recommendation and loved a LOT!

>144 sibylline: oh my you got me with this one, Lucy. I am thinking of buying the Kindle edition so am wondering: does the book include a lot of maps or other illustrations? My Kindle Paperwhite doesn't render those very well, but the Kindle app on my iPad is a viable alternative.

Congratulations on 100 books, Lucy, and I think you also hit me with a book bullet on that one!

>144 sibylline: Congratulations on your 100! And to do it on the grossth post is too cute!

>146 lauralkeet: Yes, the maps are ESSENTIAL. If you do have a kindle graphic disaster I would be happy to photograph them and send them on my phone to you? There are also some fun illustrations . . .

>147 ronincats: hehehe.

>148 quondame: total serendipity!

Thanks Lucy. I have a Kindle credit burning a hole in my pocket but this sounds like a book I'd prefer in a print edition. Thank you!

>144 sibylline: BB for me. Ticked all the boxes, especially Arthur speculations!

Only the environmentally-ignorant believe "land sitting idle" is useless.
*snort* I'm going to not get too wound up with Graham Robb's book, I hope. I need chilling out these days.

In the ancient British myth vein, I read Silver in the Wood this weekend. I loved the characters and imagery. It was a short story really, by Emily Tesh. I think it was a BB from either lkernagh (Lori), or scaifea (Amber). Will write a review tonight.

It's been lovely seeing you pop up on the threads this past week. Do stay well and no disco dancing, OK?

101. ♬ cosy mys ****
Death Comes to Kurland Hall Catherine Lloyd

More improbable but enjoyable murders and interactions. The characters are solid and a few are even excellent, some seem to be developing and maturing in good ways. Lloyd enjoys writing these, so they have a fine energy. ****

102. fantasy ***
Fire Logic Laurie J. Marks

This is an ER book I've had around for yonks because I couldn't get into it. Having realized I never will, I did plow through in order to figure out why the story didn't take hold of me. The book is well written, the world-building is fine if dependent on the work of Moon, Hobbs and others (which is OK with me as long as there is some flair involved), the characters have plenty of potential . . . so why, for me, no spark? The answer is, I don't know. The best I can come up with is that I couldn't sense an underlying pressure to tell this particular story? Not only is that vague, but it feels like an unfair thing to say because of the work Marks has put into the story. I'm giving the book *** stars, mainly for craftsmanship. I suspect this is a story that will either work for you or it won't. ***

>153 sibylline: That's a very fair evaluation.
I've been having difficulty engaging with several different novels this past month and probably giving the review from a pandemic-tainted p.o.v.

I started a non-fiction book today by Gary Paulsen ~ Woodsong. I'm hoping his gentle self-effacing humour and stories of his sled dogs will provide a narrative that draws me in.

103. ♬ mys regency ****
Death Comes to the Fair Catherine Lloyd

It's official, I'm on a binge. Book 4 was the best yet, with more of a story backing up the mystery. One pattern of these mysteries is that the most unpleasant characters generally come to a bad end, very satisfying! A new reader who is not as accomplished as the one who read the first three, but who, by the end, was doing better. On to the next. ****

>155 sibylline: I am hooked, or actually, intrigued now with finding whether my library has these Catherine Lloyd mysteries. I've become really keen on historical fiction these days and especially in the Regency period.

I requested The Debatable Land after you posted a review but it is still out to other patrons. I don't know where I am in the queue. That's so frustrating, I always have to ask where in the wait list I am, but on the e-book loans you can see where your position is.

(Not as if I have nothing to read, of course...)

>156 SandyAMcPherson: Adding a caveat -- remember that I am bingeing because . . . my brain is good for nothing at the moment and I'm rolling with it . . . I'd say these aren't quite as sharp as CS Harris -- maybe about at the Rhys Bowen level? Better than most, I'm saying.

>157 sibylline: No problem. Recommending books is like recommending restaurants, all depends on the taste of the recommending person and the recomendee (if there is such terminology).

I my-own-self have Covid-Brain,, not because I am infected, but because I am not managing vey well (emotionally or intellectually ) with living through this time of the plague.
I need these cosy reads. Currently I am bingeing on some non-fiction stories written for older kids. Windsong by Gary Paulsen is one of my current reads. So I suspect I'll be quite happy to at least sample a Catherine Lloyd.

Hi Lucy, I feel like I'm monopolising your thread... but I wanted to drop by and see how your Catherine Lloyd binge is progressing.

I gobbled up the first two already (and am way behind on reviews). They're exactly what I needed right now. Engagingly-written, no eye-roll moments of illogical events (although the boating scene in Book 2 was rather contrived). I like the main characters a lot and as you said in >138 sibylline:, the major is indeed drawn as 'an intelligent blockhead'.

Thanks for the BB... how's the knitting going?

>159 SandyAMcPherson: I love it that you come here, Sandy, all the more so as I am a bit lax about visiting others these days. I am reforming or trying to. I really like to know what people are reading and I use the threads to keep track of my own reading -- can't tell you how often I have to poke around for a book someone is discussing because I know I read it but can't remember enough! It helps with series too.

Knitting is good -- there is a type of top down, all one piece "swing" pullover that I have knitted twice so far; the first was the wrong yarn somehow or other, too silky -- it drapes reasonably but is too heavy in some mysterious way (not hot, quite the opposite, just heavy to wear--and the neck turned out pathetically.) Then I knitted one that I wear in mid-winter that is great, but too warm! Kind of like the three bears. Anyway, I'm knitting this one for my daughter who loved the second pullover but it's too heavy for Oregon. This one looks to turn out just right!

>160 sibylline: ooh I enjoyed reading the knitting update! Photos would be really cool at some point too!!!

104. mys italian ****
I Will Have Vengeance Maurizio de Giovanni

First appearance of Commissario Ricciardi, a classic crime investigator in a classically styled detective novel. 1931 and a famous tenor, admired by no less than Mussolini himself, is found murdered in the San Carlo, foremost opera house of Naples. The pressure is on to find the murderer. Very enjoyable and well done! There are six more and I am likely to read them all. ****

105. cosy mys ****
Death Comes to the School Catherine Lloyd

Robert's leg is bothering him more and more, something is wrong for sure and, as well, Lucy is under the weather having suffered two "disappointments" (don't think it's really a spoiler . . . pretty obvious from the get-go) and it's Christmas and the Kurlands are hosting a ball for the gentry and a party for the villagers. Into all this comes the death of the schoolteacher. People have been receiving cruel notes; someone has been probing their secrets. Neither Robert nor Lucy are very good at expressing their emotional needs and so . . . you get the idea. Another good one! I don't love the reader but I've gotten used to her. ****

>144 sibylline: Yes to all of the "if you are" specifics. This is a great read and a better mystery in some ways than most over elaborate murder mysteries I've read recently. Also, the Archbishop of Glasgow's curse showed up in Cursed Objects, a recent read of mine.

That curse is really deliciously over the top!

>164 quondame: >165 sibylline: Hi Susan and Lucy
Was that book (Cursed Objects) really worth the read?
A friend who is very enthused these days about paranormal themes was excited about ordering it.
I am not much of a fan of this genre, but she said I could borrow it after she's read it. Our library doesn't seem to be acquiring new books right now. I think their budget was yoinked.

>165 sibylline: Yes, and the composition is credited to Cardinal Wolsey, patron of Thomas Cromwell of the Hilary Mantel books.

>166 SandyAMcPherson: Interesting, not vital. I found the tone a bit too uniform and distanced for an enthusiast, with a lot of filler.

>167 quondame: Seriously!? Wolsey!! What I read sounded thoroughly bonkers!

>168 sibylline: Apparently he was known for his command of a certain sort of language.

!!!!!!

106. ♬ cosy/regency mys ****
Death Comes to Bath Catherine Lloyd

Robert has an operation on his leg and survives and Lucy whisks him (reluctantly) off to Bath for some spa treatment, regency style. He strikes up a friendship with an older man who, you guessed it, ends up dead in the baths. The family, the Bensons, are also neighbors on Queen Street and so the fun begins. While full of the usual improbabilities, if you set them aside, it's fun. ****

107. E sf post apoc *****
The Song of the Axe Paul O. Williams

Well I love this series and am sad that I only have one book to go. 1100 years into the future after a nuclear holocaust, enough people have survived and thrived to reach out to one another. Williams explores the gamut of culture and community: from the worst slave-owning rigidity to organized, humane and pastoral, to hunting groups with a firm ethical base, to just plain weird and everything in between. The focus in this book is Tor, one of my favorites, and the lad, Tristal (his nephew) who travels with him to the Pacific Coast. Tor is resourceful, strong, smart, spiritual and unbelievably determined, but you gotta love him. Tristal has left a sweetheart behind who has promised to wait seven years, but the adventure, of course, goes wildly out of hand. Cliffhanger to the end. *****