Fourth into Fall - streamsong#4

I'm Janet. Welcome to my thread!

I've been a member of LT since 2006.

I retired in the fall of 2016 from my career as a technician in an NIH research lab. I'm now enjoying all the things I never had time to do.

I live in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana along Skalkaho Creek. I'm about half way between Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks - so if you're traveling or vacationing in the area, I'd love to meet you.

What do I read? A bit of everything. I enjoy literary fiction, mysteries and the occasional feel good cozy. I'm slowly working my way through 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (actually 1300 + books since I use the combined version spreadsheet). I'm also working my way around the world in a global reading challenge. About half the books I read are non-fiction.

I have Appaloosa horses and raise a foal or two each year.

Link to last thread of 2019: https://www.librarything.com/topic/313018

My only foal of the year - Cruise at approximately three months.



And more of the crew: Broodmare Angel, two year old Dare and yearling Goldie:



Here's a google earth view of the northern side of my place. You can just barely see the roof of my house with the three skylights. Note the creek to the North, and the ditch running across the right side from south to north. The strong vertical-ish line where where creek and ditch meet is actually a 12 foot high dam - the lovely sound of the man made waterfall gives me my user name.

The ditch actually flows through a tunnel under the creek so that the waters don't mix. This helps perpetrate one of the purest Cut Trout trout populations in Montana.



I have lots of of wildlife here including eagles, hawks, mule and white tail deer, families of wild turkeys and Hungarian partridges (or California Quail if you'd rather), coyotes, foxes, and even the occasional Mountain Lion.

FIRST QUARTER BOOKS READ

January

1. Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoptopion - Susan Devan Harness - 2018 - library
2. Only the End of the World Again - Troy Nixey - Neil Gaiman - graphic novel - 2000 - library
3. Blow-Up - Julio Cortázar - 1960 - ROOT 2019 ROOT #1 2019
4. The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) - N. K. Jemisin - 2018 - library
5. The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead - 2019 - library
6. Heal Yourself With Sound & Music - Don Campbell - 2006- audiobook - library sale 2019; ROOT #2
7. The Moravian Night - Peter Handke - 2007 -November Literature Seminar; 2019 Nobel Prize - Global Reading: Austrian author/location begins & ends in Serbia; - Kindle (Unfinished Challenge Pile Book); ROOT #3 - 2019
8. The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries - Emily Brightwell - 1993 - MysteryCat: historical mystery; ROOT #4 - 2008 (Part of omnibus)
9. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid - 2007 - GeoCat "stans' & others; Global Challenge: Pakistan; 1001; ROOT #5 2015
10. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
11. Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Kent Nerburn - 1994 - library
12. Grass - Keum Suk Gendry-Kim - 2017 - graphic non-fiction; global reading: South Korea - library

FEBRUARY

13. In The Frame - Dick Francis - 1976 - Group Read - Root #6 acq'd 2019
14. News of the World - Paulette Jiles - 2016 - audiobook - library
15. The Singing Bones: A Novel of the Life and Times of Naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller - Stephen Spotte 2019 - LTER; ROOT #7- Kindle app
16. Still Waters - Viveca Sten - 2008 - Kindle App - group read - Global Reading - Sweden (translated Swedish) - ROOT #7 acq'd 2018
17. American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment - Shane Bauer - 2018 - PBS/NYT Now Read This- Kindle app - acq'd 2019 ROOT #8
18. Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive - Stephanie Land - 2019 - audiobook - library
19. A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith - Timothy Egan - 2019 - library
20. Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi - 2018 - Fantasy February - ROOT #9 - 2019

MARCH
21. The Company of Cats - Marian Babson - 1999 - Mysterykit - Furry Detectives- ROOT # 10 - acq'd 2008
22. Broken Places, Outer Spaces - Nnedi Okorafor - 2019 - library -
23. Women of Copper Country - Mary Doria Russell - 2019 - library
24. Three Bags Full - Leonie Swann - 2005 - MysteryKit - Furry Detectives - audiobook - library
25. Tracks - Louise Erdrich- 1988 - Group Read - acq'd 2020
26. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love - Dani Shapiro - 2019 - PBS:Now Read This - library
27. Mermaid in the Mountains - C. M. Arvish - 2018 - outdoor book club- purch 2020
28. Cleaning Sucks: An Unf*ck Your Habitat Guided Journal for Less Mess, Less… Rachel Hoffman - 2020 - audiobook - LTER 2020
29. Whose Body - Dorothy Sayers - 1923 - MysteryCat Golden Age Mystery and March Murder and Mayhem- library

SECOND QUARTER BOOKS

April
30. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday - 2007 - GeoCat:North Africa; Global Reading: Yemen; ROOT #11 - acq'd 2014
31. Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey - 2020 - LTER audiobook 2020
32. Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer - 2019 - 75'ers April Adventure Read - Global Challenge: Mongolia - library -
33.Disappearing Earth - Julia Phillips - 2020 - April PBS Now Read This - Global Reading - Kamchatka - acq'd 2020
34. One Goal: A Coach, A Team and the Game That Brought A Divided - Amy Bass - 2018; 75'ers NF - Refugees and Identity; Global Reading: Somalia; library
35. The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan - 1915 - Mysterykit-Espionage; 1001; library
36. The Dutch House - Anne Patchett - 2019 - April RLBC via Zoom; purchased 2020

May
37. The Butterfly Girl - Rene Denfeld - 2019 - library
38. A life on Gorge River : New Zealand's remotest family - Robert Long - 2010 - GoCat New Zealand & Australia' Global Reading: New Zealand; ROOT #12 - acq'd 2017
39. The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow - 2019 - library
40. When the Mob Ran Vegas - Steve Fisher - 2005 - 75'ers April NF crime and justice; acq'd 2020
41. The Street - Ann Petry - 1946 - PBS Now Read This; purchased 2020
42. The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of - Kent Nerburn - 2009 - library
43. High Country - Nevada Barr - 2004 - Geocat: Somewhere you want to visit (Yosemite) - ROOT #13 acq'd 2016
44. Talking to Strangers - Malcom Gladwell - 2019 - RLBC - purchased 2020 - Kindle app
45. All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - 2017,- 75'er's Group read - space -Kindle download 2020

June
46. Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard - MysteryCat - made into a movie; 1001; ROOT #15 - acq'd 2017
47. The Hollow Kingdom - Kira Jane Buxton - 2019 - library
48. The Starch Solution - John A. McDougall - 2012 - ROOT #16 2019
49. Nairobi Noir - Peter Kimani - 2020 - acq'd 2020
50. Darwin Comes to Town - Menno Schilthuizen - 2018 - Global Reading: Netherlands (author, partial location); library
51. Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries - 2018 - Martha Wells - GeoCat: Space: The Final Frontier; acq'd 2020
52. Closed Circles - Viveca Sten - 2009 - MysteryKit - police; Global Reading - Sweden; Kindle app - acqd 2020
53. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson - 2019 - PBS Now Read This; Global Reading - Burkina Faso - acq'd 2020
54. The Overstory: A Study Guide for Book Clubs - Kathryn Cope - 2019 - (89 pages) preparing for RLBC - acq'd 2020

THIRD QUARTER READING

July

55. Hospital Station - James White - 1962 - Acq'd 2020 (Part of Beginning Operations omnibus - 75'ers group read - acq'd 2020
56. Go Tell It on the Mountain - James Baldwin - 1952 - 1001 - library
57. Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine - 2014 - July PBS Now Read This - purchased 2020
58. The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson - 2012 - Global Reading: North Korea (location; US author) - library
59. Invasion - Robin Cook - 1997 - MysteryKit - Cross Genre mystery; ROOT #17 acq'd 2008
60. Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury - 1957 - 75'ers July Juveniles; ROOT #18 acq'd 2016
61. They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers by Sarah Scoles - 2020 - LTER - audiobook - 2020
62. The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom - 2014 - library
63. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett - 2001 - GeoCat Latin and South America; ROOT #19 acq'd 2016
64. This House of Sky - Ivan Doig - 1978 - RLBC - Reread - ROOT #20 acq'd 2016
65. Smokescreen - Dick Francis - 1972 - DF group read; Global Reading- location South Africa; library

AUGUST
66. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman -Erica Armstrong Dunbar - 2019 - library
67. The Eye of Zoltar - Jasper Fforde - 2014 - July Juveniles - library
68. Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells - 2018 - library
69. How to Be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi - 2019 - acq'd 2020
70. Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2020 - Global Reading: Dominican Republic - YA -
71. Guiltless - Viveca Sten - 2010 - Viveca Sten group read; MysteryCat International mystery; Global Reading: Sweden; Kindle 2020 purchase
72. Possession - A. S. Byatt - 1990 - 1001 - 75'er's group read: Romance; - Root #21 - acq'd 2011
73. What Rose Forgot - Nevada Barr - 2019 - library -
74. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - acq'd 2020
75. Beijing Payback - Daniel Nieh - 2019 - PBS Now Read This - Library
76. A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me - Jon Katz - 2002 - library

SEPTEMBER
77. Star Surgeon - James White - 1970 - group read; part of Beginning Operations omnibus purchased 2020
78. The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - 2020 - library
79. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg - 2016; acq'd 2019 = ROOT #22
80. The South Pole Ponies - Theodore K Mason - 1979 - GeoCat Arctic and Antarctic; ROOT #23 acq'd 2017
81. The Bitterroots - C. J. Box - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club (RLBC) - library
82. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LibraryThing Early Reviewer - audiobook
83. Tonight You're Dead - Viveca Sten - 2011 - Viveca Stenn group read; MysteryCat series - Kindle acq'd 2020
84. Boxers (Boxers & Saints) - Gene Luen Yang - 2013 - Global Reading: China; Graphic Novel - library

FOURTH QUARTER READING

OCTOBER

85. Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past Present, and Future of American Labor - Steven Greenhouse - 2019 - PBS Now Read This (August) - library
86. New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E. Erdrich - 2018 - library
87.Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield - 2019 - library
88. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell - 2020 - library
89. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - 2020 - library
90. Book Love - Debbie Tung - library
91. The Ungrateful Refugee - Dina Nayeri - 2019 - Global Reading: Iran - library

NOVEMBER
92. In the Heat of the Moment - Viveca Sten - 2012 - Viveca Sten group read; Kindle acq'd 2020
93. Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - 2020 - LTER book - Kindle - acq'd 2020
94. Major Operation - James White - 1971 - James White group read; acq'd 2020
95. Helping Children Succeed - Paul Tough - 2016 - PBS Now Read This (October) - library
96. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout - 2008 - ROOT acq'd 2017
97. The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2018 - Reread - Nov PBS Now Read This - purchased a copy for myself 2020
98. Olive Again - Elizabeth Strout - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
99. Miracle Country: A Memoir - Kendra Atleework - 2020 - audiobook - LTER - Aug 2020
100. The Edge - Dick Francis - 1988 - Dick Francis group read - library (reread?)
101. The Eighth Detective - Alex Pavesi - 2020 - library
102. Empire of Wild - Cherie Dimaline - 2020 - library

DECEMBER

103. Exit Strategy - Martha Wells - 2018 - library

**** 102 BOOKS COMPLETED IN 2020 ****

YEAR CATALOGED OR ACQUIRED

1 - 2006
3 - 2008
1 - 2011
1 - 2014
1 - 2015
4 - 2016
4 - 2017
2 - 2018
7 - 2019
30 - 2020
48- Library

FORMAT
9 - Audiobook
83 - Print
10 - Kindle App

GENRE

- 66 Fiction (may fit into more than one category)

12 - general fiction
6 - historical fiction
8 - literary fiction
19 - mystery/thriller/crime
2 - short stories
9- SFF/dystopia
6 - SF
2 - supernatural

5 - 1001

2 - novel in verse
3 - graphic novels


- 37 - Non-Fiction (may fit into more than one category)
1 - Alternate Healing
4 - Animals
2 - Biography
1 - Business/Labor40 - black experience
1 - cleaning/organizing
1 - Cooking/Eating/Health Recipes
1 - Education
1 - Environment
1 - Global Reading
4 - History
1 - Horses
1 - Literary Criticism
1 - Graphic Non-Fiction
16 - Memoir
6 - Native American
1 - poetry
1 - prisons and justice
1 - psychology
1 - Refugees
2 - Science
2 - Sociology
1 - spirituality
1 - Travel
1 - True Crime

AUTHORS

45 - Male Authors
54- Female Authors
2 - Combination of male and female

60 - Authors who are new to me
39- Authors read before
1 - Combination of authors new and read before

Rereads:
- The Edge - Dick Francis - 1988
- Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
- The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2018 - PBS Now Read This - purchased 2020
- This House of Sky - Ivan Doig - 1978 - Reread for RLBC; acq'd 2016

Multiple books read in 2019 by same author:
- Viveca Sten - Still Waters; Closed Circles; Guiltless; Tonight You're Dead; In the Heat of the Moment
- Martha Wells - All Systems Red; Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries; Rogue Protocol
- Dick Francis - In the Frame; Smokescreen; The Edge
___
- Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge; Olive Again
- Nevada Barr - High Country; What Rose Forgot -
- N. K. Jemisin - The Stone Sky; The City We Became -
- Kent Nerburn: Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder; The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of
- Viveca Sten - Still Waters; Closed Circles; Guiltless
- Martha Wells - All Systems Red; Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries; Rogue Protocol
- James White - Hospital Station; Star Surgeon; Major Operation

Nationality of Author:

1 - Argentina
1 - Austria
2 - Canada
1 - German
1 - Iran
1 - Ireland
1 - Kenya
1 - Netherlands
1 - New Zealand
1 - South Korea
1 - Pakistani
5 - Sweden
15 - UK
70 - US
2 - US/Nigeria


Birthplace or residence of Author if different from nationality:
Julio Cortázar - Argentine author; born in Belgium; lived in France
Robert Long - New Zealand; born in Australia

Setting of book if different than author's nationality:

1 - Antarctica
1 - Burkino Faso
1 - Canada
2 - China
1 - Dominican Republic
1 - Mongolia
1 - North Korea
1 - Russia - Kamchatka Penninsula
1 - South Africa
1- Yemen

Language Book Originally Published in:

90 - English
2 - German
1 - Korean
1 - Spanish
5 - Swedish

Original Publication Date

1 - 1923
1 - 1946
1 - 1952
1 - 1957
1 - 1962
1 - 1967
1 - 1970
1 - 1971
1 - 1972
1 - 1976
1 - 1978
1 - 1979
2 - 1988
2 - 1990
1 - 1993
1 - 1994
1 - 1997
1 - 1999
1 - 2000
1 - 2001
1 - 2002
1 - 2004
2 - 2005
1 - 2006
3 - 2007
2 - 2008
2 - 2009
2 - 2010
1 - 2011
2 - 2012
1 - 2013
3 - 2014
3 - 2016
3 - 2017
11 - 2018
27 - 2019
13 - 2020

The Global Challenge: Read five books from each of the 193 UN members plus a few additional areas. (Ongoing project over **Many** years!)

Thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/188308

COUNTRIES VISITED IN 2020


visited 20 states (8.88%)
Create your own visited map of The World

ALL COUNTRIES VISITED


visited 93 states (41.3%)
Create your own visited map of The World

As always, I'd like to think that I should focus on books that are currently sitting unread on Planet TBR. I keep hauling books home faster than I can read them and the piles keep growing larger.

These numbers include the library books that I have at home.

As of 7/1/2020: 520 books on MT TBR
As of 5/1/2020: 516 books on MT TBR
As of 4/1/2020: 522 books on MT TBR
As of 3/1/2020: 523 books on MT TBR
As of 02/02/2020: 517 books on MT TBR
As of 01/01/2020: 520 books on MT TBR

As of 01/01/2019: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2018: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2017: 481 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2016: 459 books on physical Mt TBR

The other half of whittling down Planet TBR is acquiring fewer books and making a real effort to read the ones I buy in a timely (open to interpretation) fashion.

39 Books Acquired 2020
✔ - 23 - Read (+2 in omnibus)
- 6 - Reading/Listening in progress
- 20 - TBR
- 1 - Previously Read

✔ 1. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann - 2017 - RLBC- Reread - purchased 2020
**Reading** 2. Beyond Babylon - Igiaba Scego - lit seminar
✔3. Nairobi Noir - Peter Kimani - LTER - 1/30/2020
✔ 4. Mermaid in the Mountains - C.M. Arvish - 2018 - 2/2020 RCKN Bookclub
✔5. Tracks - Louise Erdrich - 1988 - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/8/2020
6. Proof - Dick Francis - 1985 - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/12/2020
7. The Pilgrim's Progress- John Bunyan - Harvard Classics - gorgeous binding! - freebie - Bit Pub Lib 2/12/2020
8. A Wilderness Original: The Life of Bob Marshall - James Glover - Bit Pub Lib 2/14/2020
✔ 9. Cleaning Sucks: An Unf*ck Your Habitat Guided Journal for Less Mess, Less - Rachel Hoffman - LTER audiobook 2/17/2020
**Reading**10. Flights - Olga Tokarczuk - 2007 - lit seminar - Nobel laureate - Ammy 02/18/2020
✔11. When the Mob Ran Vegas - Steve Fischer - 2005 - from Jim 2/2020
✔12. The Dutch House: A Novel - Ann Patchett - 2019 - RLBC 3/05/2020
✔13. Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey - 2020 - LTER audiobook 2020
✔14. Disappearing Earth - Julia Phillips - 2020 - April PBS Now Read This -
✔15. The Street - Ann Petry - May PBS Now This
✔16. All Systems Red - Martha Wells - Kindle - 5/02/2020
17. Girl Woman Other - Bernardine Evaristo - passed along by friend - 5/5
✔18. How To Talk to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell - Kindle App; RLBC
✔19. Study Guide for Book Clubs The Overstory - Kathryn Cope
✔20. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson - PBS Now Read This
✔21. Closed Circles - Viveca Sten - Kindle 99 cents
✔22. Guiltless - Viveca Stenn - Kindle 99 cents
23. Strong Poison - Dorothy L. Sayers - Kindle special
✔ 24. They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers by Sarah Scoles - 2020 - LTER - audiobook - 06/07/2020
✔ 25. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LTER - audiobook
✔26. Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus: Hospital Station, Star Surgeon,… - James White - 2001 - group read - Ammy 06/07/2020 ✔Hospital Station; ✔ Star Surgeon;
✔27. Artificial Conditions - Martha Wells - 2018 - 6/10/2020
✔28. How to be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi - Chapter One 6/24/2020
Prev Read 29. The Overstory - Richard Powers - 2018 - Chapter One 6/24/2020
✔30. Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudine Rankine - PBS Now Read This - 6/24/2020
31. The Choice: Embrace the Possible - Edith Eger 6/24/2020
✔32.Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - 2020 LTER - digital 7/4/2020
33. A RECIPE FOR DAPHNE by Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2020 LTER - digital (Turkey) 7/13/2020
**Reading**34. Be Joyful - Warren W. Wiersbe - Phillipians NT Bible Study - 2008 - August 2020
✔35. Miracle Country: A Memoir - Kendra Atleework - 2020 - audiobook - LTER - Aug 2020
✔36. Tonight You’re Dead (Sandhamn Murders Book 4) - Viveca Sten - Kindle - August 2020
✔37. In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders Book 5) - Viveca Sten - Kindle - August 2020
✔ 38. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson - RLBC - Aug 2020
✔ 39. Cane Warrior - Alex Wheatle - 2020 LTER - Sept 2020
40. Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin - Kindle special Nov 2020
41. Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick - Kindle special - Nov 2020
✔42. The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo - prev read - bought for my library. Reread with Nove PBS Now Read This
43. A Bigger Table, Expanding Edition with Study Guide: Building Messy,… - John Pavlovitz - LTER Nov 2020
44. Nasty Women - Samhita Mukhopadhyay - Chapter One bookstore 11/2020

Here are my RL book club choices for 2020:

January: (Reread for me) Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI - David Grann
February: The Rent Collector - Cameron Wright-
March:
April: The Dutch House - Anne Patchett
May:Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell -
June: (Reread for me) The Overstory - Richard Powers
July: (Reread for me) This House of Sky - Ivan Doig
August: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim MIchele Richardson
September: The Bitterroots - C J Box - Woot! Our library director did the photograph that makes up the mountain landscape on the cover! I may try to some of the earlier volumes in this popular mystery series before reading this one.
: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia ... - Rachel Maddow
October: Olive Again - Elizabeth Strout (I'll read Olive Kitteridge before reading this. And Yay! I have a copy on MT TBR :)
November: Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World - Anand Giridharadas

Monthly Reading Maybe Plans

RLBC:
Mysterykit:
Geocat:
Nonfiction:
***Nonfiction 75'ers challenge
-----and/or
***Nonfiction Cat -
PBS Now Read This Bookclub
LTER
75'ers group read
(Finish a book started in 2019)

AUGUST Challenges and possibilities Need to review all August books :(

Still need to finish:
✔ - The Eye of Zoltar - Jasper Fforde - July Juveniles
- White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg - ROOT
✔ - How to Be An Antiracist -

Library Books:
✔ - Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells
✔ - What Rose forgot - Nevada Barr -
✔ - A dog year: twelve months, four dogs, and me
✔Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo

✔ - RLBC: The Book woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson
- Mysterykit: International Authors Viveca Sten - ✔Guiltless ; Colin Cotterill - Slash and Burn - ROOT
- Geocat: South east Asia - Colin Cotterill; ✔Beijing payback : a novel - Daniel Nieh
- Nonfiction Cat - History: ✔She Came to Slay; White Trash
- 75'ers group reads: James White - Star Surgeon
✔ - 75'ers group read: August - Romance/Thriller - Possession - A. S. Byatt - ROOT - 1001
✔ - Viveca Sten - Guiltless
- 75'ers NF - Journalism?
✔ - PBS Now Read This: Beijing payback : a novel - Daniel Nieh

LTER
**Listening** - Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace- Carl Safina LTER - audiobook
- Elephant Speak - Roger Henneous - 2020 LTER - digital 7/4/2020
- A RECIPE FOR DAPHNE by Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2020 LTER - digital (Turkey) 7/13/2020

Books Completed - 11

66. She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman -Erica Armstrong Dunbar - 2019 - library
67. The Eye of Zoltar - Jasper Fforde - 2014 - July Juveniles - library
68. Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells - 2018 - library
69. How to Be an Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi - 2019 - acq'd 2020
70. Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo - 2020 - library
71. Guiltless - Viveca Sten - 2010 - Viveca Sten group read; MysteryCat International mystery; Global Reading: Sweden; Kindle 2020 purchase
72. Possession - A. S. Byatt - 1990 - 1001 - 75'er's group read: Romance; - Root acq'd 2011
73. What Rose Forgot - Nevada Barr - 2019 - library
74. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - Kim Michele Richardson - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - acq'd 2020
75. Beijing Payback - Daniel Nieh - 2019 - PBS Now Read This - Library
76. A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me - Jon Katz - 2002 - library

Roots/Acq'd 2020/Library: 1/3/7
Female author/Male author/Combination 7/4/0
Fic/NF: 8/3
1001: 1
Countries: China, Dominican Republic, Sweden, UK

Publication Dates:

1 - 1990
1 - 2002
1 - 2010
1 - 2014
1 - 2018
5 - 2019
1 - 2020

September Monthly Reading Plans:

Library Books:
✔ The City We Became - N. K. Jemisin
**Reading**New Poets of Native Nations
✔ - Boxers - Gene Luen Yang - graphic novel

✔RLBC: The Bitterroots - C. J Box - library
✔James White group Read: Major Operation; Star Surgeon
Mysterykit: Series: ✔The Bitterroots - C. J. Box; Viveca Sten ; Slash and Burn - Colin Cotterill
✔ Geocat: Arctic/ Antarctic : South Pole Ponies - ROOT 2017
Nonfiction:
***Nonfiction 75'ers challenge: ✔Science and Technology: Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace
-----and/or
***Nonfiction Cat: Religion and Philosophy
**Reading**PBS Now Read This: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor- Steven Greenhouse
Dick Francis group Read: The Edge
✔ Viveca Sten - Tonight You're Dead - group read

8 Books Completed in September
77. Star Surgeon - James White - 1970 - group read; part of Beginning Operations omnibus purchased 2020
78. The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - 2020 - library
79. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg - 2016; acq'd 2019 = ROOT #22
80. The South Pole Ponies - Theodore K Mason - 1979 - GeoCat Arctic and Antarctic; ROOT #23 acq'd 2017
81. The Bitterroots - C. J. Box - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
82. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LibraryThing Early Reviewer - audiobook
83. Tonight You're Dead - Viveca Sten - 2011 - Viveca Stenn group read; MysteryCat series - Kindle acq'd 2020
84. Boxers (Boxers & Saints) - Gene Luen Yang - 2013 - Global Reading: China; Graphic Novel - library

Roots/Acq'd 2020/Library: 2/3/3
Female author/Male author/Combination 3/5/0
Fic/NF: 6/2
1001: 0
Countries and regions: Antarctica, China, Sweden

Publication Dates:

1 - 1970
1 - 1979
1 - 2011
1 - 2013
1 - 2016
1 - 2019
2 - 2020

October Monthly Reading Maybe Plans

Need to Finish:
**Reading** - Miracle Country - LTER audiobook
Be Joyful -

Library Books
✔New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E Erdrich

RLBC: Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth - Rachel Maddow -
Mysterykit: New to You Author - Slow Horses
Geocat: Great Britain, Canada, US:
✔Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield
✔Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
✔The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue
Nonfiction:
***Nonfiction 75'ers challenge
-----and/or
***Nonfiction Cat: The Arts:
PBS Now Read This Bookclub: Helping Children Succeed - Paul Tough - req from library
Viveca Sten group read: In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders Book 5
Dick Francis group read:
LTER:
**Listening** - Miracle Country
**Reading** - Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - Kindle
- A Recipe for Daphne - Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2020 LTER - Kindle;Global Reading - Turkey 7/13/2020
75'ers group read
- Cane Warrior - Alex Wheatle - 2020 LTER - Sept 2020

(Finish a book started in 2019)

Currently Reading:

I'm guessing it is safe to come in and wish you a happy new thread, Janet.

>15 streamsong: You're good, Paul, and always very welcome! Thank for being my 'first footer'!

Happy New Thread, Janet. You know what's funny? I almost posted (on your prior thread) a request for a current photo of your colt this morning when I dropped by. You must have read my mind!!

I hope you enjoyed the White and the Jemisin.

Happy new thread, Janet!

Thanks for sharing pictures of your horses, Cruise has a beautiful shiny coat!

Happy new thread, Janet! I love all the photos and info, but especially love the Google Earth View.

66. She Came To Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman – Erica Armstrong Dunbar -2019
– Nonfiction Cat: history
- library


“Harriet’s raid on the Conbahee dealt a devastating blow to the Confederacy. Causing nearly two million dollars in property damage and the loss of hundreds of slaves, Harriet became the first woman, black or white, to plan and lead an armed military expedition during the Civil War. Her strategy supported a force of combat new to the Civil War – a type of ‘’scorched” earth warfare that left nothing to chance. In Harriet’s mind, everything about slavery needed to be destroyed, and she felt no pity over the loss of property or Confederate life. Having come face-to-face with their cruelty, she knew that Southern slaveholders would never voluntarily end human bondage; they would need to be cancelled out.” P 94

This is a small book – not just a small format but only 176 pages in length. It packs into its small size a good biography of Harriet Tubman. Although she was best known as a conductor for the Underground Railway, she was also a Union spy, the first woman to lead an armed expedition during the Civil War, a suffragette, and an advocate for the aged.

Besides text, it contains historical photos as well as illustrations.

Although it's not tagged here on LT as YA, it would probably work on the junior/senior high level. I was happy to learn about Ms Tubman’s activism after the Civil War. This author is doing a series of African American biographies. I would be interested to read more of them

>18 ronincats: Hi Roni! Actually, not so funny. I've been promising pics for a while. I wish I could take wonderful action photos! Just need to practice, right?

I'll read James White's third book, Major Operation before September is through. I'm enjoying his series, but I always like to have other books interspersed.

It took me a while to get into The City We Became. Now, I can't wait for the next one to be published next year. I should know better than to read the first book of a series when it will be years until the trilogy is published.

>19 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita. Cruise is definitely living the good life.

>20 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen. The google view is actually several years old. Fences are changed, trees are cut back a bit so they don't overhang the house, although you still can't see the house from the road. I can't quite figure out the time of year it was taken. The trees are leafy but everything looks so bare, and there aren't any hay stacks.

The beautiful drone photo of your house inspired me to post the google image. :)

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Janet. Your place looks so gorgeous and I loved the explanation of your name here with your beautiful streams making music. Thank you for the updated picture of Cruise. He is a beauty and looks so healthy! Very smoky here on the west coast, another day that looks like fog but isn't. So very sad for those south fleeing their homes.

Happy new one!

>24 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

>25 mdoris: Thank you, Mary. It's very smoky here, too. Although we don't have any large fires in the area, the jetstream is pulling the smoke northwards from the fires on the coast, then east, and then looping south straight into Montana.

We have hazardous air quality again here today. I constantly run two large HEPA filters in the house along with a cool air humidifier since smoke particles are incredibly dry and irritating.

My favorite smoke hack is having a furnace HEPA filter in one of my windows with a fan on the inside of it. Living in the mountains, it cools down very nicely at night. This lets me open the window in the evening and blow in nice, cool HEPA filtered air.

>26 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Figs!

I went to the small organic farmers' market in town yesterday and stocked up on fresh tomatoes, peaches, strawberries, plums and a white melon. I will have to feast on fruit this week! There are only two more markets left until they shut down for the fall. There is a larger Saturday market which continues a few more weeks beyond, but it always has many more people, most who aren't wearing masks. :(

It looks like I will have to go to the jury duty selection tomorrow, but the trial may be vacated up until 5 pm tonight.

A poem by Trevino L Brings Plenty from the omnibus New Poets of Native Nations. I believe I have Joe to thank for recommending this book.

For the Sake of Beauty

On the phone I asked her to wear a full buckskin outfit and she could
be the beauty that would make me steal horses.

She said she didn't have a buckskin outfit.

I said I would make her one, but use pages from books.

A week later when she came over to my place, she asked if I had made
an outfit.

I said no. I couldn't bring myself to hunt the books on my shelf, even if
it were for food or clothing. I couldn't bring myself to kill, even for the
sake of beauty.

Happy new thread, Janet, and so glad to see you also liked The City We Became. I love the holographic cover, and the fact that you can use Google Lens to animate it/ get a video of the author. I read She Came to Slay 'way back at the beginning of the year (pre-Covid, which seems like a lifetime ago), and enjoyed it too. I also thought it could work for teen readers, though it's cataloged as adult nonfiction by my library.

Sounds like a great selection at the Farmer's market, and good luck with jury duty selection tomorrow!

It sure sounds like you have the filtration and quality air figured out. We are still in thick smoke today.

Sweet Thursday, Janet! Happy New Thread! I hope all is well in MT. Any fires plaguing your general area? Have you had snow all ready too?

Happy new thread, Janet. I love your photos; you live in a beautiful part of the world. How's the smoke there? I loved New Poets of Native Nations; It was edited by Heid Edrich, Louise's sister. I recently saw Heid in a conversation on race in Minnesota, and she has a new collection of her own coming out soon.

Found and starred! Love the photos, thank you for sharing them.

How did the jury selection go?

>30 bell7: Hi Mary! Whoops, I didn't know about the special features on the cover of The City We Became. Perhaps the library plastic cover made the hologram difficult to see? I wish I had known about that and the video. It was a 'short check out new book' with a ton of people waiting behind me, so I returned it right away. I missed the boat on those features.

>31 mdoris: Hi Mary! - The smoke is so nasty, isn't it? Although the air is pretty clean in my house, the orange absence of light is oppressive. I have a few N95 masks that I wear outside.

Actually, the masks I am using were made in China and are labeled KN95 which my brother the gastrologist jokes means Kinda N95. I have no idea how good they actually are - the healthcare workers I know are forbidden from using them around Covid patients, so I don't feel guilty using them for smoke.

>32 msf59: Hi Mark! We are under red flag - unhealthy conditions - for smoke. No fires close by, but we are sure getting the smoke from the west coast fires.

We're having a bit of rain today which will temporarily clean the air but until the West Coast fires are out or the wind patterns change, it will probably return.

No snow yet (thank God!) although that last weekend in August we were very close and it snowed in the mountains.

>33 BLBera: Hi Beth! Thank you for the info on Heid Erdrich, I had suspected that she and Louise were related, but hadn't yet looked it up. Sisters! What a talented literary family! I'll look on the net to see if I can find an interview with her somewhere. Thanks for the heads up on her upcoming poetry collection.

>34 fuzzi: Hi Lor! Glad you enjoyed the pics and are along for the ride.

>35 figsfromthistle: Hey figs! The jury selection took all day. I am on the jury, but there is a total gag order so that is all I can say about that. The trial is expected to continue all next week.

This weekend I will need to get together some quick fix food for the week - maybe a pot of soup? I will pick up some vegan burgers, salad supplies and other quickie foods. I am not entirely vegan/vegetarian (other options this week are frozen hamburger patties and a turkey breast that I could throw in the crockpot for sandwiches) but I'm leaning that way and am very intrigued by the reports of lower blood sugars with that sort of diet.

67. The Eye of Zoltar – Jasper Fforde -2014
- July Juveniles Group Read
– library

This is the third in the Jennifer Strange series of magical YA novels.

Jennifer lives in a universe where magic is not uncommon. She is a lowly orphan who lives as an indentured servant for one of the great magical houses. These houses are often hired for mundane matters like unclogging drains if they can provide lower fees than a standard plumber.

In the first of the series, Jennifer unexpectedly became The Last Dragonslayer. Now she is the dragons’ last protector as an evil wizard threatens the lives of the last two dragons in existence– adorable baby dragons at that. If she cannot find the legendary Eye of Zoltar, the enchanting babies will be annihilated.

I love Fforde’s humor and puns. This is such an entertaining series, but aaaaarrrgh! be warned! this one ends with a cliffhanger. This was written in 2014 and Fforde hopes the next one will be out in 2021. Who knows ? I absolutely hate books written this way.

Light, fun pandemic reading. 4 stars grudgingly given due to the cliff hanger ending. My recommendation would be to enjoy the first two in the series and wait for the 4th to be published before reading this one.

Hi Janet!

I'm sorry about the continuing smoke and/or eerie orange light issues. Heh. Kinda N95.

Good luck on the jury next week. I won't say any more because of the gag order. *smile*

>39 streamsong: Yes, I've been waiting for that sequel as well.

Kerry (avatiakh) reviewed this book on her thread (see below), and I thought of you.

122) Burn by Patrick Ness (2020)
YA

Loved this one. There's dragons, a prophecy, a teenage assassin, a dragon cult and some normal folk about to be thrust into a huge mess of confrontation. There's also a couple of FBI agents trying their hardest to stop all this from happening...all wrapped up in 1950s Montana, just as Russia is about to launch their first satellite.

>40 karenmarie: Hi Karen! We had a bit of rain yesterday which was a Godsend for the smoke. Yesterday evening was sparkling and clear. The smoke is supposed to roll back in as the week goes on, but more showers predicted this coming weekend. I think parts of Oregon got some rain, too, so perhaps the worst of the smoke is over.

Jury duty - alarm set for six, cats fed, oatmeal and a few minutes of LT before I go out to feed in the dark, then shower and head off. This is reminding me too much of the days before retirement. :(

Montana Covid cases are really on the increase with record number of cases almost every day last week. I hope your friend Karen is weathering the storm since a lot of them seem to be focused in the Bozeman area.

>41 ronincats: That sounds perfect, Roni! Thanks for thinking of me! (Darn messed up a pointy and it ate half my post!)

Fforde has way too many series going. In the blurb I read online, he said he has that sequel (Humans V Trolls) slotted in to be written 2019/2020 so I hope he's working on it. He wrote TEOZ in 2014 - Imagine having your writing plotted out for the next 10 years!

Happy New Thread, Janet.

I love the photos of your locale. It looks and sounds idyllic. I imagine it's tough in the winter months?

>43 jnwelch: Hi Joe and thanks!

Knock on wood our winter temps seem to be warming a bit - we used to be able to count on a week of -20 temps and haven't seen that for several years, now.

We get snow off and on. But this valley is known as the "banana belt" of Montana. So we mostly enjoy seeing the snow on the mountain peaks with usually only a manageable bit in the valley.

68. Rogue Protocol – Martha Wells - 2018
– library


From one of my previous reviews: “Murderbot is a SecUnit – a security unit designed by humans to be mostly enhanced robot and sophisticated computer with some cloned human bits. But although physically it seems to be more machine than human, it’s managed to disconnect its monitor and so is a being of free will. It’s actually a sympathetic, self-aware character that downloads reams of human media shows to binge watch when it is bored or stressed. It also has a lovely, snarky sense of humor, and is very shy when humans see it without its protective face mask, which hides all its emotions."

In this third novella, Murderbot returns to the bad guys in Book One to see if he can figure out what went wrong with his original mission.

He tags along with another mission to the same planet – hoping they accept him as additional security arranged by their company. Part of this group is a robot named Miki. Miki is so simple and child-like, Murderbot figures that the humans keep it as a pet. Miki has a big brother bro crush on Murderbot, who eventually realizes that the little guy can be quite helpful.

More quick, fun reading when you don’t feel like being an adult.. This one has a shocking ending, but even with that I had to review details when writing my review a month later.

>39 streamsong: I've been waiting on that sequel too. Jasper Fforde has had a very bad case of writer's block for several years and so he hasn't been able to keep up his previous one-book-a-year pace.

>45 streamsong: I have that one in my queue.

>46 norabelle414: That is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I became a little burned out with his Thursday Next series, but was very intrigued by Shades of Grey. I wish the second of that series would be released in the US.

>47 fuzzi: I hope you enjoy it, Lor! Thanks for stopping by.

**********

I've been coming home exhausted from jury duty each night. It's an emotionally grueling case. I've been reading Viveca Sten's Tonight You're Dead on my phone during breaks which is a nice distraction, (By that it's safe to infer it's NOT a murder case *smile*.)

We are off on Thursday as the court does other duties on that day. I'm looking forward to the break.

Hi Janet!

>42 streamsong: Karen’s still going out to Big Sky and Butte (not on the same day!) doing census work. So far so good, and she’s being cautious.

>48 streamsong: I’m sorry the case is so emotionally draining. Yay for having tomorrow off.

69. How to Be an Antiracist – Ibram X Kendi - 2019
- acq'd 2020


“Definitions:
Racist: One who is supporting a racist policy through their action or inactions or expressing a racist idea.
Antiracist: One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea. “( P1)

Ibram Kendi examines arguments about race including social and cultural constructs, gender, class, sex, degrees of color, black colleges and finally, survival.

He puts forth the argument that it is not enough to simply *not* vocalize racist sentiments.

If you are living within the current framework of American society, you are reaping its benefits. If you are not working to change policy that puts others at a disadvantage, you are a racist.

If you believe Bill Cosby’s sentiment that all blacks (and other minorities) can succeed if they work harder and behave themselves, you are racist.

It’s interesting and helpful that the author identifies his own evolution on these subjects and identifies that he himself held racist ideas in several areas.

It helped clarify ideas in other books I had read that I had not fully grasped.

There is an opportunity for thoughtful discussion with this book. I plan to suggest this one for my book group in 2021.

>48 streamsong: Fforde hasn't written a sequel to Shades of Grey yet. His two most recent books are Early Riser and The Constant Rabbit, both of which I think are standalones (I haven't read either yet). Since his writer's block he doesn't talk about what he's working on until it's ready to be published, so I'm not sure what's coming next.

That's nice that you get breaks in which you can read! I've gone to jury duty several times but never been selected for a trial.

>50 streamsong: Just picked up How to be an Antiracist from the Library this morning. It's still in the trunk of my car...

Hooray! My day off from jury duty. Tomorrow are closing arguments and the beginnings of deliberations.

>49 karenmarie: Hi Karen - I'm glad your friend Karen is being so cautious. The census is important work as well as being Covid-dangerous this year. Yay for her for doing it!

>51 norabelle414: Thank you for setting me straight that the sequel to Shades of Grey has not yet been written, either. I was fooled because, by looking at LT, it appears there are copies listed but I did not check into it in any deeper and just *assumed* that it was published in the UK already. Now I see that the copies are on wishlists etc. I would need to reread Shades of Grey before reading the sequel, anyway.

We have a twenty minute break every hour and a half. Since we have to stay in the jury room, and can't discuss the case, most people are on their phones. There are four of us who read. :)

>52 karenmarie: I'll be interested to see what you think of How To Be an AntiRacist, Karen!

70. Clap When You Land – Elizabeth Acevedo - 2020
- Global Reading: Dominican Republic
- YA
- Library


Carmino lives in the Dominican Republic with her Tia; her mother has passed away. It’s a hard life, but due to Carmino’s father, Papi, spending most of the year working in New York, their life is more secure than others in their neighborhood. They have enough to eat, Carmino can go to school, and they have internet, an unusual luxury for the area. Papi even pays off one of the neighborhood pimps to keep him away from his daughter.

Carmino dreams of becoming a healer like her beloved Tia. She plans to go medical school in the US one day.

The highlight of Carmino’s year is when her beloved Papi returns and stays an entire month.

Her excitement builds as she skips school to meet him at the airport.

But this time the plane doesn’t land. All aboard are lost at sea.

Reeling from this blow, there is another blow to come. Papi has another family in New York with another biological daughter almost exactly Carmino’s age.

It’s a turning point. Is there another way to go forward without the bitterness and lies that have marked the past? Or will old jealousies and resentment be too much to overcome?

Since I first read The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo has become one of my favorite YA authors. In Clap When You Land she returns to the novel-in-verse that I enjoyed so much. I’m already looking forward to her next book!

Hi Janet, love the pictures at the top of your thread. Cruise is a handsome dude. It's odd to think of being called in for jury duty at this time. Our courts are open but proceedings are modified due to Covid. Are the jury all wearing masks and social distancing?

I really loved The Poet X as well, Janet. I'll have to pick up this one.

I think How to Be an Antiracist would be a great book club book.

I am waiting for the first in the Wells series from the library; they sound like fun.

I'm glad you hear you've gotten rain. Stay safe. Since school started, our COVID cases are up as well.

Hi Janet! Thanks for posting all the pictures on top. Loved all the critter pictures especially the one of the funny looking partridges. And the Google view of your house, it looks lovely. A stream on top of a stream, very good that they have been so caring about the fish.

Good luck with your jury duty, emotionally gruelling does sound difficult.

Call me slow but I'm just making the connection that you raise Appaloosa horses. You know the root is the same as that for Palouse, yes?

>50 streamsong: Okay. I need to pick this one back up. I just got overwhelmed back there a few weeks ago.

Well, the trial is over. I have no satisfaction, but don't feel that we had any choice but to acquit. We **so** needed a professional witness to tell us the reliability of a six year old's memories of being touched at three years old.

>59 streamsong: *shudder*

>55 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

Montana has been blessed with very few Covid cases; unfortunately that is changing as we are increasing exponentially, hitting new records of new cases everyday. Far too many covidiots here believe that this is a hoax dreamed up by Democrats and that wearing masks violates some sort of constitutionally mandated freedom.

We had to wear masks in the courtroom. The jury box was *not* socially distanced. In the jury room, there were only two of us that wore masks - the other was another older gentleman who had also worked in science. In addition, the food they fed us was 'buffet style' bowls of fruit, cheese and cracker plates, large platters of veggie and dip - restaurant buffets are forbidden, but we didn't have a choice to have individually wrapped portions. :(

>56 BLBera: Hi Beth! I think you would enjoy Clap When You Land. I think of it as perfect Covid upbeat fare, although I did enjoy The Poet X a bit more.

I also hope you enjoy the Wells Murderbot series. I'm not a big science fiction fan, either, (exception for dystopias) but these are like eating popcorn - they hit the spot in between heavier works.

We seem to be into fall with another rainy stretch and cooler weather. The county commissioners have opened the county to do cleanup 'open burning' now. I have never done so, but may try to burn a small pile (well armed with hoses and a grass free area).

>57 EllaTim: Hi Ella! The large ditch crossing under the stream is very unique. I'm glad to have helped when they created it a few years back by giving up a large portion of pasture for most of a summer for their equipment. The ditch water comes from a lake that is dammed. The creek water comes from the mountain snows. The two types of water are chemically and temperature wise very different. This was a cool project which no doubt, would not have been done under the current administration.

Jury duty was emotionally gruelling for sure. None of us felt good about the case or the result.

>58 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! Yes, there is interesting history behind the Appaloosa horses and the Palouse. The Nez Perce came down this valley (the Bitterroot) during Chief Joseph's attempted flight to Canada. If you ever cross the river into Moscow, you might enjoy a quick walk through the Appaloosa Museum. A lot of the history with the Nez Perces and Appaloosas is quite factional with people coming down strongly both for and against the tribe ever having many of the spotted horses.

I have tons of books - many history books tagged 'Appaloosa related', Appaloosas, Appaloosa history, Nez Perces etc. About twenty years ago, I had an out of print website focusing on Appaloosa and Nez Perce books.

It's hard to stay focused on reading 'good for you' books while so much else is going on. Reading lighter fare is my escape from the news (and FB). I know you'll get back to HTBAA when the time gets right.

>60 karenmarie: For sure, Karen. There is a lot more that is equally shudder-worthy, but I'm afraid if I add details, it will show up in Google searches. It was a hugely controversial case - they called in 60 potential jurors to choose twelve jurors plus three alternates. As a jury, we did the very best we could; but in this small valley with everyone knowing so many other people and tensions running high, there could be recriminations against jurors no matter which way the verdict had gone. Lots of screaming and sobbing (from both sides) as the verdict was read out.

Reading this week:

>62 streamsong: I love how you describe the Murderbot series. I just read someone comment elsewhere on wanting a longer Murderbot book, but I like the shorter stories. There's no need to "pad" a book just to make it a BIG TOME OF DISTINCTION. ;)

>66 fuzzi: Thanks, Lor! I'm glad you like my Murderbot reviews. I think the fifth one in the series is a longer novel. I've been enjoying the novellas, but the plots don't stick in my mind as well as longer stories. I hope to get to the 4th novella in October.

Your BIG TOME OF DISTINCTION description made me laugh! Thanks!

______

I finished Boxers last night, a GN about the Boxer Rebellion told from the perspective of one of the Chinese leaders. Now I guess I should request Saints, the other half of the story, told from the viewpoint of the Christians.

71. Guiltless - Viveca Sten - 2010
- Viveca Sten group read
- MysteryCat International mystery
- Global Reading: Sweden;
- Kindle 2020 purchase


This is the 3rd of the Sandhamn Murder series, written by Swedish author Viveca Sten and set on the Islands off Sweden’s coast.

Nora is taking a break from her marriage woes by spending time at her island home with her two sons. But their peace is shattered when Nora’s two young boys find a severed arm wrapped in plastic in the nearby woods where they are playing. Presumably, it belongs to a high school girl who went missing several months ago. Obviously, it’s murder.

Nora’s friend detective Mark and his boss Margit are called from the mainland to investigate the case. Of course, Nora gets involved, too, especially as she sees a dark figure lurking around her house and the victim’s family home.

There is a second timeline of diary entries of an abused boy from a hundred years ago. The two timelines come together in an interesting way. As this installment also delves more deeply into a death from a previous book, this one would be a hard place to start the series.

And arrrrrrghhh! It ends with a cliffhanger. I sincerely hope Sten doesn’t continue with the cliffhanger endings – I hate them so, especially if I have to wait a year or more to find how they resolve. At least the next book in this series is readily available.

I’m becoming quite invested in the characters, and their relationship progressions as the series continues.

I'm still 13 books (!!) behind in my reviews. I'm skipping ahead with this one since it's an LTER book.




82. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace – Carl Safina - 2020
- LibraryThing Early Reviewer
– audiobook


The description from the back cover: ”Some people insist that culture is strictly a human feat. What are they afraid of? This book looks into three cultures of other-than-human beings in some of Earth’s remaining wild places. It shows how if you’re a sperm whale, a scarlet macaw, or a chimpanzee, you too experience your life with the understanding that you are an individual in a particular community. You too are who you are not by genes alone, your culture is a second form of inheritance. You receive it from thousands of individuals, from pools of knowledge passing through generations like an eternal torch. You too may raise young, know beauty, or struggle to negotiate a peace. And your culture, too, changes and evolves. The light of knowledge needs adjusting as situations change, so a capacity for learning, especially social learning, allows behaviours to adjust, to change much faster than genes allow could adapt.”

This long (14 hour) audiobook is my favorite wildlife book of the year to date.

How can a a herd of wild animals find water in a drought year or know another source of food or shelter in the hard times? It’s often an elder of the herd that has been through the situation before than can recall where they went in a previous time of struggle. The older animal, often a matriarch, takes the lead, and by showing younger members the solution hands their hard won knowledge down through the generations. Such learning is not hard wired into DNA. This makes it more flexible, more easily changed and communicated and contributes to the survival of the group and is the definition of culture.

Although this book focuses on such diverse species as whales, Macaw Parrots, and chimpanzees, many other species are briefly examined, too.

It addresses emotions not always attributed to animals – love, grief, altruism and even a search for beauty and harmony.

It’s a fascinating book. Although my life in Montana makes me very familiar with domestic animals and wildlife, I won’t look at animals and birds the same way again.

>69 streamsong: Great review, Janet! I saw the cover you posted in >15 streamsong: and, even before checking it out for contents, thought I'd like to read it, and now am sure I want to read it.

>2 streamsong: Wonderful pictures! I know a lot of hard work is involve, but from the pics your life looks idyllic! :)

>69 streamsong: Cool review! Adding that to my list

>69 streamsong: That seems really interesting. Good review, Janet, and on the wish list it goes.

>67 streamsong: hahaha! You're welcome. It just came to me.

>70 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary! I really enjoyed Coming Wild and I hope you will, too.

Idyllic? Ha! You realize I only post the idyllic pics, right? (And not the broken fence, or the flooded waterer or the weeds ......)

But I do enjoy my life very much and I am thankful to be able to do what I enjoy so much.

>71 norabelle414: I hope you enjoy it!

>72 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. I really enjoyed it and I hope you will, too

>73 fuzzi: I always enjoy a good chuckle, Lor!

It seems I have a bit of a theme going here which probably isn't obvious since I'm so far behind in reviews.

Besides mysteries being my go-to Pandemic comfort, I seem to be reading more NF about animals.

I still need to review A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me and The South Pole Ponies.

The LTER book that I'm currently reading is Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd.

Last night I had just ten pages to finish the PBS Now Read This BookClub September book Beaten Down, Worked Up about labor in America. It's far more interesting than I imagined and giving me lots of heavy duty insight into issues, but I just couldn't do it. So that will (probably) be the first book finished in October.

Instead, last night, I went on with Once Upon a River which Ellen had recommended as a good Pandemic/distraction read.

8 Books Completed in September

77. Star Surgeon - James White - 1970 - group read; part of Beginning Operations omnibus purchased 2020
78. The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - 2020 - library
79. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg - 2016; acq'd 2019 = ROOT #22
80. The South Pole Ponies - Theodore K Mason - 1979 - GeoCat Arctic and Antarctic; ROOT #23 acq'd 2017
81. The Bitterroots - C. J. Box - 2019 - Library Brown Bag Book Club - library
82. Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace - Carl Safina - 2020 - LibraryThing Early Reviewer - audiobook
83. Tonight You're Dead - Viveca Sten - 2011 - Viveca Stenn group read; MysteryCat series - Kindle acq'd 2020
84. Boxers (Boxers & Saints) - Gene Luen Yang - 2013 - Global Reading: China; Graphic Novel - library

Roots/Acq'd 2020/Library: 2/3/3
Female author/Male author/Combination 3/5/0
Fic/NF: 6/2
1001: 0
Countries and regions: Antarctica, China, Sweden

Publication Dates:

1 - 1970
1 - 1979
1 - 2011
1 - 2013
1 - 2016
1 - 2019
2 - 2020

Haven't posted this in a while. The numbers of TBR seem pretty fixed, but at least they aren't still drifting upwards ....

As always, I'd like to think that I should focus on books that are currently sitting unread on Planet TBR. I keep hauling books home faster than I can read them and the piles keep growing larger.

These numbers include the library books that I have at home.
As of 10/1/2020: 517 books on MT TBR
As of 7/1/2020: 520 books on MT TBR
As of 5/1/2020: 516 books on MT TBR
As of 4/1/2020: 522 books on MT TBR
As of 3/1/2020: 523 books on MT TBR
As of 02/02/2020: 517 books on MT TBR
As of 01/01/2020: 520 books on MT TBR

As of 01/01/2019: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2018: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2017: 481 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2016: 459 books on physical Mt TBR

October Monthly Reading Maybe Plans

Continuing to Read:
✔ Beaten Down, Worked Up - Stephen Greenhouse - Sept PBS selection
✔ Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield
Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandall - LTER
Miracle Country - LTER audiobook
✔New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E. Erdrich
Be Joyful - Warren W. Wiersbe

Library Books
**Reading**The Ungrateful Refugee = Dina Nayeri
**Reading** Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell
The Pull of the Stars - EmmaDonoghue
Book Love - Debbie Tung

RLBC:
Mysterykit: New to You Author - Slow Horses - **ROOT**
**Reading** Geocat: Great Britain, Canada, US: Once Upon a River
Nonfiction:
***Nonfiction 75'ers challenge
-----and/or
***Nonfiction Cat: The Arts: Walking on Water:Reflections on Faith and Art - Madeleine L'Engle **ROOT**
PBS Now Read This Bookclub: Helping Children Succeed - Paul Tough - req from library
Viveca Sten group read: In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders Book 5
Dick Francis group read:

LTER:
- A Recipe for Daphne - Nektaria Anastasiadou - 2020 LTER - Kindle;Global Reading - Turkey
7/13/2020
- Cane Warrior - Alex Wheatle - 2020 LTER - Sept 2020
75'ers group read:

3 BOOKS COMPLETED IN OCTOBER

85. Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past Present, and Future of American Labor - Steven Greenhouse - 2019 - PBS Now Read This (August) - library
86. New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E. Erdrich - 2018 - library
87. Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield - 2019 - library
88. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell - 2020 - library

Roots/Acq'd 2020/Library: 0/0/4
Female author/Male author/Combination 2/1/1
Fic/NF: 2/1
Poetry: 1
1001:
Countries: Great Britain

Publication Dates:

1 - 2018
2 - 2019
1 - 2020

>61 streamsong: I’m sorry that the jury wasn’t required to wear masks in the jury room and that the food was buffet style. Covidiots is right. Wearing a mask is an I.Q. test, not a political test.

>64 streamsong: So awful for the victim/family and the jurors. I can understand your reluctance to say any more and we’ll leave it at that.

Lots of good reading, and your reading mysteries and books about animals are understandable.

>80 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks for the good wishes and empathy.

I have a cold (fall allergies?) and spent yesterday taking care of it with tea, zinc and Cold-Ease. Today I'm already feeling better.

It's a beautiful fall day out there, so I need to get out and enjoy it a bit. With a chainsaw.

Ha! Have you seen that meme where you take the last message from your phone or FB or wherever and add 'with a chainsaw' to the end of it?

But for me,I really do need to get out my little bitty battery operated chainsaw and do a bit of cutting before some friends come help me tomorrow.

72. Possession – A. S. Byatt - 1990
- 1001
- 75'er's August group read: Romance;
- Root #21 - acq'd 2011


Roland Michell seems to be at a dead end. He has a newly minted PhD, having continued research for his mentor on Randolph Ash, a Victorian poet. But it’s unlikely Roland’s mentor will offer him a job, and Roland’s marriage is failing. His wife resents having given up her own literary career to support them both.

Then Roland, doing a bit of research in a rare book room, finds a book that once belonged to the great poet himself. It has undiscovered marginalia – handwritten notes in the margins - and an original letter to an unknown lover. Somehow, against all his training, Roland steals the letter and embarks on his own research.

He is led to Maud Bailey, a researcher specializing in Victorian “fairy poetess” Christabel La Motte. Although La Motte’s works are fairly obscure, she is renowned in feminist literary circles for having a long-term lesbian relationship in the Victorian era. But what caused her lover to take her own life?

Roland and Maud’s quest for information lead them to a derelict mansion, rocky coasts, and even a séance. And eventually, they also discover each other. All the time they know their shocking discoveries cannot remain their own and must belong to the world of research and whichever of the tangled heirs truly own the papers and the story.

This novel took a while for me to warm up to and enjoy. There are two alternating time periods- the Victorian and the current mystery which at times reads almost like a detective novel.

The Victorian prose and poetry were hard for me to read and keep my attention “Oh No! Here comes another chapter of Roland Ash’s poetry!” I would moan to myself. But by halfway through the book, I was caught in the story and found it very satisfying after all. Still, I can’t see myself rereading it anytime soon.

3.7 stars

So after I read Nevada Barr’s High Country in May, Beth asked if Barr was still writing. I found this recently published stand alone mystery.



73. What Rose Forgot – Nevada Barr - 2019
– library


----------

Rose woke up naked and confused in a small clearing. She couldn’t remember how she got there. But she did know that her mind felt clearer than it had in weeks.

She started walking and was soon returned to the Memory Unit of a Care Home where she lived. Showered and tucked comfortably into bed, she still had the feeling something was wrong. When she overheard a nurse in the hallway saying she wasn’t expected to live through the week, her fears were confirmed.

She remembered her beloved husband’s death and her following debilitating depression. Eventually, concerned family members had suggested she take anti-depressants. Soon afterward, she became more and more muddled. This was diagnosed as rapid onset dementia and for her own well- being, her family placed her in the nicest Care Home in the area.

After overhearing the conversation, Rose determined not to take any more of the pills. Her mind became clearer and clearer. Could there possible be a plot in a nursing home? Who would believe a dementia patient? She knows she can trust an old friend who is an online whiz with computers as well as her teenage granddaughter, but she isn’t sure if anyone else among her family can be trusted. Her estate would be quite large. Would someone kill for it?

So begins her journey. She must escape the home and hide out safely, not just for herself, but to help other residents who may be victims of the same plot.

This is at times a bit over the top – my credulity was stretched when Rose broke back into the nursing home to overpower a nurse and gain access to the computer records.

And yet, I so wanted Rose to succeed …..

Fun read. 3.5 stars

What I'm reading the week of 10/5:

>84 streamsong: You are reading a nice selection of books this week, Janet. I like the cover on nr. 4, very intriguing.

I had to skip your reviews of Possession and the latest Nevada Barr, since I own the first unread and will probably have to catch up to the other.
But I'm sure they are trenchant.

Hi, Janet! You got me with a solid BB, with Becoming Wild. Sounds great. I also want to read New Poets of Native Nations. Touchstones not working.

HI Janet

I enjoy the photos of all the wildlife, and your horses! I imagine that it is a lot of work, but well worth it!

My yard has a very large population of squirrels. Will's cousin and her partner visited yesterday. We sat outside and enjoyed the sunny day. While they were here, the squirrels put on quite a show, jumping, eating while standing on their back feet with a slice of bread in the front paws. Then, there were squirrel dances and what seemed to be an avid game of catch me if you can.

There is a young buck who is eating the middle part of a bush, leaving the upper part swaying in the wind. He is very calm. I stand on the deck and watch him as he eats and then watches me. We have many herd of deer. It is my fear that they will be hit by a car. At night they travel in packs of 10-15, and because they locate near a slating road with people who drive fast, I say a prayer every time I see them.

A few years ago, Will and I watched approximately 25-30 speed in the yard between the condos. They seemed to know what they were doing because as they rushed past the road, they knew where the next space between the condos was so they could run and then jump over the fence in the back of the houses.

There are woods in back of my house, but this is not a rural area.

All good wishes. After a long period of MIA, I am slowly visiting the threads.

>89 Whisper1: good to see you!

>86 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella. I like having a variety of reading.

Miracle Country is an LTER book. It's a memoir of growing up in Owens County in California, but it's also a history of the area. I should make some progress today since I plan a trip to Missoula this afternoon. I'm going to be looking at cars - probably not new, but low mileage almost new.

>87 ffortsa: Thanks for stopping by! I'll be interested to find out what you think of both Possession and What Rose Forgot.

>88 msf59: Hi Mark! I think you'll like Becoming Wild. It's always fun to add to your planet of TBR books.

One of the interesting bits from New Poets of Native Nations was that in the last chapter, each poet gave a sketch of their life and their inspirations. Joy Harjo was listed many times. I did not realize the current US Poet Laureate was a Native American. Have you read any of her books? I have not, but will have to rectify that in the near future.

>89 Whisper1: Hi Linda! It's so good to see you. Many hugs!

I often wish I was a little less rural, and a little closer to the amenities of city life.

Your place sounds ideal with woods close enough that you can watch wildlife, but also more opportunities to attend interesting events.

We have a few squirrels, but they aren't native to the area. Many years ago someone imported them into town, and a few make their way out here. My huge pine trees in front of my house attract them with food, but with all the predators living along the creek, they don't last long. Coyotes, foxes, hawks, great horned owls and eagles are common and you might remember I've even had a couple visits from mountain lions.

>90 fuzzi: I sure agree with you, Lor. It's nice to have a visit from Linda.

Another good upbeat book if you need to lift your spirits.



74. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek – Kim Michele Richardson - 2019
-August Library Brown Bag Book Club (RLBC)
- acq'd 2020


Description: Back Cover: “Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930’s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere – even back home.”

Cussy Blue and her father are some of the last of the blue-skinned Appalachian dwellers. It’s a rare genetic mutation that causes the hemoglobin in the blood to be blue, giving the skin its characteristic blue color.

As such, they are the targets of suspicion and prejudice. No one wants to marry a blue woman – even when Cussy’s father, who knows he is dying, offers his land as dowry.

After a brief but disastrous marriage, Cussy must find a new way. She does that by applying to the 1930’s Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians’ Project. As the people who receive the application can’t tell her color, she is hired.

And while there are those who try to thwart and belittle her, Cussy finds her way; not only enduring but triumphing.

I had no idea this was a real disorder until I read this book. The discovery of its cause happened much later than this book recounts, but changing the scientific timeline in no way takes away from the story.

Heartwarming story with an upbeat ending.



The Fugate family of Kentucky

No car shopping for me yesterday. The number of Covid cases in Montana has exploded over the last week. There were over 700 new cases yesterday and over 600 new cases today.

Many of the county schools have closed again.

So I finally did a bit of cutting with my little Stihl battery powered chainsaw yesterday instead. I'd highly recommend this model for small trees and branches. I had a couple of small diameter cottonwood trees that have blown down over the past several years and it worked beautifully.

If the weather is good on Friday, my helpers and I will do some burning.

But boy, are my muscles stiff today!

I also put together the auger that fits onto my electric drill to dig holes to plant bulbs. So cool! I don't have to bend over at all.

My brother and sister-in-law bought me an extremely generous birthday gift certificate for an online nursery. The first of the bulbs arrived - 25 Allium bulbs, which are supposed to be somewhat deer resistant.



I had meant to plant these yesterday, but collapsed onto the couch after using the chainsaw.

Power tools! They make me feel like a real Montana woman (although they scare me to death!)

From my position on said couch, I did watch the VP debate last night. At least I didn't feel like I needed to take a shower afterwards.

I finished this book at the end of August, so it's the 75th review; I've currently finished book 86. :)

I honestly don't know why this book was chosen for the August selection for the PBS/NYT book club.

75. Beijing Payback - Daniel Nieh - 2019
- PBS Now Read This Book Club (August)
– Library


When Victor Li’s father is murdered, there is every reason to believe that Victor and his sister will be financially care-free. Their father, an immigrant from China, after all, had started a small chain of very successful Chinese restaurants in California.

However, as Victor discovered, the restaurants are actually owned by a syndicate in China. There is no way to discover the true story behind his father and his partners except to go to Beijing and do some investigation.

What Victor finds is stunning. There’s a tangled web of brotherhood and hate, grudges and loyalty that began when his father and his friends bonded as street kids during the tough Communist years.

I enjoyed the Chinese history which included both the Cultural Revolution and the heavy hand of the Chinese Communist Party, but somehow this novel by a Chinese American struck the wrong note for me. Instead of immigrant success, there is actually a crime syndicate using American business as a way to legitimitze dirty money from China. Their latest scheme is truly horrific in a country where life is cheap.

In a way, it fits right into the current administration’s anti-Chinese propaganda .It’s probably no more than unfortunate timing for the first time author. The author envisions this as the first book in a trilogy. Others may enjoy the thriller/action sequences. Just not for me.

3 stars

Well, darn it all. My nifty auger attached to my power drill to plant bulbs wasn't so nifty yesterday. It caught the corner of an underground concrete slab which sent the drill spinning. The fourth finger on my right hand got a twisting rench. Last night I was sure it was broken. This morning it is feeling a little better and I can move all the joints, although it is swollen and bruised. I have it taped to the fingers next to it, and I am using ice and ibuprofen.

There is a bone and joint urgent care in Missoula. I hope I just have a bad sprain, but will go there Monday if it doesn't seem to be behaving itself. Since Covid is running amuck both here and in Missoula, this sounds like a much safer option than a regular ER.

>96 streamsong: Ouch, so sorry, Janet.
I hope the pain isn't so bad that you need medical care.

Ouch! I hope your finger gets better soon!

>97 FAMeulstee: >98 drneutron: Thanks Anita and Jim! It's doing much better today, although as the swelling goes down the bruising looks awful.

Yesterday the finger stuck pretty much straight out. Today I have a lot more flexibility, although I can't use it to hold my coffee cup. I think it is just a bad sprain.

My perscription is another day reading and pampering with warm drinks. After the horses are fed, I'll start reading Hamnet.

I was so embarrassed to have had another accident. I seem to be averaging one a year.

I still have about half of the Allium bulbs to plant. More bulbs are on order so I would like to finish getting these in the ground.

>96 streamsong: An unfortunate accident, Janet. I hope it heals soon.
Those alliums look lovely!

>100 EllaTim: Thanks for stopping by, Ella and the good wishes for my finger. I think it will be OK without treatment, but perhaps I will head to a local pharmacy to see if I can find a finger splint.

I've been so inspired by everyone's beautiful gardens that I have decided to up my gardening game a bit.

The bulbs and plants I've ordered are hardy for this climate zone, and even more importantly, deer resistant. That doesn't mean that the deer won't happily eat them, but perhaps at a slower rate than things like tulips.

Hi, Janet.

I'm so glad you enjoyed Clap When You Land. Like you, she's become one of my favorite YA authors, and I'm also already looking forward to her next one.

Possession really grabbed me back in the day. But I don't expect to be re-reading it either.

I loved Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I didn't know about the blue people/condition either, and was amazed it was real.

I saw your note on my thread about Once Upon a River. I have it on my WL, and I'll move it up now.

Jeez, your jury experience aggravates me. It's enough of a hassle to do our civic duty and show up for jury duty. Not providing social distancing, not enforcing mask-wearing in the jury room, a buffet meal - that seems disgraceful and uncaring about those who are interrupting their lives to help their community.

>102 jnwelch: Hi Joe! I think I need to read more of your books that you list as your favorites for 2020. We often seem to agree on the best ones.

I am currently reading Hamnet and the grief is about to overwhelm me. When I started reading it, I thought it a bit similar to Once Upon a River as the setting, lost children and the sense of a bit of magic reminded me of each other.

Hamnet is so much more deeply written. I'm not sure it's the book for me right now, although I can't begin to say how I admire the writing.

I'm fighting a bit of depression here. Covid isolation. Fall days, beginning to look like winter. Sore hand. All the political mess.

I need a vacation. A beach?

I'm pretty sure that fuzzi recommended this one. Thanks!

And hooray! This is the end of my reviews for books read in August. I am taking Karen's suggestions to make a few notes to myself when I finish I book to make review writing faster.



76. A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me – Jon Katz - 2002
– library


Jon Katz loves dogs. His two Yellow Labs are the epitome of mellow doggie good citizens.

But then a breeder calls and asks him to take a problem dog. The breeder is a fan of Katz’s writing and doggie philosophy, especially his book Running to the Mountain. She feels that Katz would be the perfect fit for a troubled Border Collie, Devon. Devon had already flunked our out of agility and obedience training and been returned several times.

And so, after initially refusing, Katz takes on the dog. This is a dog who believes it is in charge and smarter than the humans. While not a mean dog, he strongly objects to direction by humans.

Katz’s training is not so much training, as letting the dog lead and Katz gently coming to terms with it.

Katz says he learns as much about himself as the dog. His love and respect for his four dogs – they are joined by one more Border Collie – shines through. His methods are sometimes a bit bizarre; such as deciding to let the dog chase trucks safely on the other side of a fence.

It’s a story dog-lovers will appreciate, although I know I would not be up to the task of taking on this particular dog.

I did like his writing style which is both loving toward the dogs and still somewhat matter of fact. Warning: you may need Kleenex, which happens with stories of animals with life spans shorter than ours. Overall, I would read more by this author; I’ll probably start with Running to the Mountain.

>104 streamsong: you're SO welcome!

I've read a bunch of this author's books. Some people are too tender-hearted to read his books, as he doesn't shy away from facing hard realities. For that reason I've decided to not read A Good Dog but I'd recommend any of his others in the Bedlam Farm series.

It was a book cover on the new book shelf at the library that introduced me to Jon Katz: The Second-Chance Dog.

>105 fuzzi: Hi Lor! Have you read Running to the Mountain? What did you think of it?

This question//spoiler is actually about the further adventures of Devon, the troubled dog, not Running to the Mountain. After I wrote my review of A Dog Year, I skimmed through several of the other reviews. One review commented that Katz eventually had to have Devon put down due to his behavioral problems. Do you know if that is true and what the story was?

Are spoiler tags no longer working?

Snow in the high country and in several Montana cities like Butte and West Yellowstone, but no snow (yet) here. It's predicted for the weekend, though. We actually haven't had a killing frost here yet, although the trees are all turning and losing their leaves. We've had rain and wind the last few days.

In the meantime, my brother in the Phoenix area has just logged their 114th day over 100 degrees yesterday. Yikes!

My finger is still very sore. I overdid a bit yesterday in the yard with a bit of cleanup and planting the rest of the Allium bulbs (with a shovel, not my auger). I have not been to the doctor. I keep it taped to the finger next to it. My mistake was getting the tape dirty and wet, taking it off and then not replacing it while I finished my jobs. OOOwie! Won't do that again!

I bought a finger splint, but it's an uncomfortable angle and the tape works better.

I finished Hamnet yesterday. What wonderful writing! It will be a favorite of the year, although the grief is written so deeply, it would be hard for me to reread it.

I started The Pull of the Stars yesterday. Since it's about the influenza epidemic, it may not be the best followup. But Once Upon a River, Hamnet and The Pull of the Stars arrived at the same time and while I returned the other two yesterday, I decided to keep The Pull of the Stars even though it's now overdue. I'll try to read it quickly.

Our library has gone to a system with no fines. If you have a book more than two weeks overdue, you cannot check anything else out. Requested books are quarantined for three days before being released to the patron. Returned books are also held for three days before being checked in.

So it's been a bit of a mess. I had several books that I returned, but were quarantined and accruing fines.

>106 streamsong: not yet, thanks for hiding the spoilers!

So sorry to hear bout the finger sprain. Hope it heals quickly. I read Hamnet recently, too. I think I wasn't up for the sorrow of the book, although I loved the writing. sending you beach vibes....

>103 streamsong: It is depressing isn't it? The Covid situation, and all the other mess in the world. I listen to music when I need a pick-me-up. And I feel like I need some extra colours and light in the darker weather. Does music work for you?

>109 fuzzi: Hi Lor! My spoiler wasn't actually for Running to the Mountain but
about the further life of Devon, the troubled dog. My posts didn't seem very coherent yesterday, so I went back and edited several of them to make things more clear.

>110 Berly: Hi Kim! Thank you for the lovely beach! Perfect, perfect, perfect. I need that on a video loop, along with the appropriate audio and something lovely to drink.

I loved your zen garden on your thread. I may have to give that a try, too.

It sounds like we felt the same way about Hamnet. Lovely, but oh so rough to read.

>111 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Thank you for the music reminder. I need to turn to music more, instead of turning on the silly TV watching uninspiring shows. Some upbeat music may help with the badly needed - and long delayed - house cleaning, too.

I broke down and went to the doc yesterday and had my hand x-rayed.

Hooray! No fracture! And he showed me a way to tape it to the next finger that is much less painful than the way I was doing it. So, let the healing begin!

I need to work outside today and get the stall comfy and cozy for the mare and colt. It's supposed to start raining again this evening and turn to SNOW during the night.

The colt is old enough to be weaned, but I will wait until the weather moderates to make it easier on him.

77. Star Surgeon – James White - 1970
- James White group read (led by Roni)
- part of Beginning Operations omnibus purchased 2020

Star Surgeon is the second of the Sector General series.

Sector General is a hospital space station with an amazing variety of non-humanoid doctors treating a huge variety of non-humanoid patients.

In the first part of the book, the station, under the direction of hero protagonist Dr Conroy, must treat an alien that is so huge, long lived and powerful that it is thought of as god-like by the species that know it.

After the alien, whose name is Lonvellin, goes on its way, it contacts the station about a totally new uncontacted confederation of beings. There are a wide variety of treatable diseases on the planet Lonvellin visits. It contacts Sector General to send a crew to make contact and help the inhabitants.

What follows turns into an intergalactic war with a fascist empire lying about the motives of Sector General. Its citizens believe that they are doing the right thing by destroying the hospital ship and the destruction they wreak is terrible.

This one hits a bit close to the bone with a lying government and people happily falling into line to give their lives to defend it.

There is quite a bit of sexism in this novel; not uncommon for SF written in the early 1970’s. There are no women doctors or women in other leadership positions, although females of all species are wonderfully competent nurses and sexy love interests.

In many ways, it’s like stepping back in time fifty years – the good guys are impeccable, the women beautiful.

Still it’s an entertaining feel-good series and I plan to go on with it.

Hi Janet.

>95 streamsong: I don’t know if I commented on book #75 in August, but congratulations!

>96 streamsong: I’m sorry to hear of your sprained finger. Karen’s been telling me about Montana’s surge. Even Petroleum County got a case recently.

>103 streamsong: I think I’ll temporarily pass on Hamnet. I don't really need anything emotionally draining since there's enough in the real world right now.

I’m going to start the 5th in the Orphan X series Into the Fire– think Jack Reacher on steroids and with lots of high tech stuff – later today, having just picked it up from the Library. I also picked up the 2nd in the Isaiah Quintabe series. I am also enjoying Lionel Shriver’s newest – The Motion of the Body Through Space. I see in your catalog that you’ve read and rated We Need to Talk About Kevin. Have you read any others by her?

I’m sorry about the bit of depression. There’s just not much good news out there right now, and being injured certainly adds to it. Hang in there!

>107 streamsong: You and Karen with the snow.

>113 streamsong: Glad you went to the doctor and confirmed that it’s not broken, glad that he showed you a better way of taping it.

Music, brain candy books, LT, and old Perry Masons are doing it for me – along with some cooking and baking.

>106 streamsong: Devon did well for a while, but despite Jon's best efforts the dog became unpredictable, attacking a child without provocation. Jon said he couldn't take a chance with some child being attacked, disfigured, or even killed.

We do what we believe is best for all concerned, even if we hate doing it.

I'm glad that your finger is not broken. Hope that it heals quickly. Good that you got better taping ideas.

Happy Saturday, Janet. I am a big fan of Joy Harjo's poetry and she wrote an excellent memoir too. I highly recommend her. I have New Poets of Native Nations waiting for me at the library.

>115 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Hamnet is beautiful but tough. I totally respect your choice to skip it for now. I hope you read it eventually!

Montana is definitely having a tough time with Covid with skyrocketing numbers and some Montana hospitals being overwhelmed. I saw a FB post that Billings now has a refrigerated morgue truck.

It definitely adds to the isolation at a time when everyone is experiencing isolation exhaustion.

No, I haven't read anything else by Lionel Shriver. We Need to Talk About Kevin was an excellent read but traumatizing for me. Should I give this author another chance?

The forecast snow did not show up this morning! Hooray! It's forecast again for next weekend. I hope we can skip it for a while, yet, though. October snow is nasty. The trees have not lost their leaves, so snow means broken branches and power outages. The horses do not fully have their winter coats which means I need to blanket the ones that are cold. And horses love to mess with other horses' blankets - chew, tug, tear.

I do not know how my friend who lives in West Yellowstone manages. Her FB pics show about a foot of snow. But she does not have livestock.

>116 fuzzi: Thanks, Lor. I totally agree. It's a sad reality with animals.

>117 mdoris: Thanks, Mary. Fifty years ago when I was in high school, I came off a horse during a jumping lesson. I landed on my feet, but did a 3-point landing touching down with the knuckles of my right hand. One finger broken, another knuckle chipped and the rest very ouch. So there were splints and everything was totally immobilized and taped to everything else.

What I learned, was that if there isn't a fracture, it's better to tape so the joints are free and not immobilized. Oh so much more comfortable!

I have more spring flower bulbs and roots (peonies, columbines and Astillbe) arriving from Holland from the amazing gift certificate my brother gave me. I'm getting quite anxious about them arriving in time to be planted. As soon as they arrive, I'll have to abuse my hand into getting them all in the ground.

>118 msf59: Hi Mark! I'll definitely have to look for some poetry by Joy Harjo and the memoir sounds perfect since I really enjoy memoirs.

I'm sneaking back into more serious reading.

My next real life book club selection is Rachel Maddow's Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth. Not sure if I'm up to that level of seriousness, but I love my book group so I'll at least give it a shot.

Janet, I am notoriously good at the purchase stage of bulb buying and retched at the planting stage. Most autums/winters here you can plant anytime as the ground remains unfrozen but maybe not this year. It seems colder than usual for October. Your plants will look wonderful when spring comes. My fall crocus are presently blooming and I have just planted some cyclamen.

>122 mdoris: Mary, I do that too with both plants and bulbs.

When my Mom passed away several years ago, she left wishes to have daffodills in her funeral arrangements. Unfortunately, she passed in October and there weren't any daffodils to be found. But there were bulbs available, so we put bulbs in little sacks for the mourners to plant if they liked. I remember planting mine during a thaw in December ... and although they were quite small the next spring, they did grow and bloom.

78. The City We Became – N. K. Jemisin - 2020
– library


I really enjoyed The Broken Earth trilogy, so I was excited for Jimisin’s newest.

This one couldn’t be more different. It’s set in contemporary (although pre-Covid19) New York City.

Cities are born. Some evolve and reach their full potential. Others sadly die and slip away, most often due to the efforts of The Enemy which exists throughout the multiverse.

Each city has an Avatar – a more-than-human that embodies the city itself.

New York City’s Avatar has vanished. To solve the mystery of his disappearance and save him and all of NYC, each of the five Burroughs have newly created avatars. These avatars are formerly humans living their average lives, but each one most represents the spirit of the individual boroughs. They slowly find each other, and with the help of the avatars of Sao Paulo and Hong Kong, they must come together to defeat the enemy and find the comatose New York City.

Hugely intriguing, even though I’ve never been to New York, so I don’t know the individual boroughs’y characteristics and spirits.

I found it wonderfully imaginative. As this is the first in a trilogy, there are many hanging threads.

I believe I’ll wait until the trilogy is complete to go with this series. In the meantime, I’ll certainly be exploring more of Jemisin’s works.

>123 streamsong: I love this, thanks for sharing.

I love Joy Harjo. Besides, being a poet, she also performs in a band. I've seen her perform and read and I have a few autographed copies of her books. Her memoir is very good as well.

I hope your finger is better.

I loved Hamnet. The grief wasn't overwhelming for me, I think because I knew before I started the book that Hamnet died when he was 11. O'Farrell's portrayal of Agnes and her feelings was so beautiful that I was able to read it without feeling overwhelmed. And the ending is just wonderful.

>125 fuzzi: Thank you, Lor. Many of Mom's friends from the retirement home did not have anywhere to plant them. I wish I had put some in paper cups with potting soil so they could have forced them

>126 BLBera: HI Beth! Thanks for sharing the Joy Harjo love. That's why I love LT. I miss so many authors that I think I would really enjoy and hear about them here. She's now firmly in my future. I'll see if I can find any of her talks or performances on YouTube. Lucky you to have heard her speak and have some signed copies!

I only have a few book-reading friends here in MT and none of them read poetry. :(

I was warned by an LT friend that even if it's only a bad sprain, my finger could take four weeks or even more to heal. So it's getting better, slowly, yet not quickly enough for me. Since it's my right hand, it's hard to chop things to cook, it's hard to do horse chores, and I still can't hold a coffee mug with it. But I am no longer sitting on the coach with ice and tears so it is doing better.

I couldn't agree more that Hamlet was beautifully written. I agree that it was a lovely ending.

I know my reaction to Agnes' grief speaks about my own unresolved issues. It hit me badly at a tough time. :(

79. White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America – Nancy Isenberg - 2016
- acq'd 2019 = ROOT #22


This was one of the selections that appeared on a list of books that was supposed to help explain why Trump won the election in 2016.

It has taken me this long to start it – and according to Good Reads where I keep track of when I started and finished a book, it took me from June 22 thru Sept 15 to read.

It’s not an easy or comfortable read. But it did take me through a lot of history that I was not familiar with – and the bottom line is that the US has never been the classless meritocracy many would have you believe it to be.

The most poverty-stricken classes have endured a variety of abuse and scape-goating and often are prohibited from accessing the opportunities to improve their situations.

Do I understand the election of Donald Trump? No. But I more understand the anger of stigmatized people.

A few quotes from the book to show that the more things change, the more they stay the same:

“But the message of Jackson’s presidency was not about equality so much as a new style of aggressive expansion. In 1818, General Andrew Jackson invaded Florida without presidential approval; as president, he supported the forced removal of the Cherokees from the southeastern states and willfully ignored the opinion of the Supreme Court. Taking and clearing the land, using violent means if necessary, and acting without legal authority, Jackson was arguably the political heir of the cracker and squatter.” P 113
***
“The Depression revealed that liberty for some – for the select, the privileged – was not liberty for all. In a remarkable article of 1933, titled “The New Deal and the Constitution”, a popular writer named John Corbin questioned the claims of Americans to an exclusive quality of freedom He posed a rhetorical question: “Can a nation call itself free if it finds itself periodically on the verge of bankruptcy and starvation in the face of the fact that it possesses all the materials of the good life?” He meant that freedom was compromised when a nation allowed the majority of its people to suffer devastating poverty and enduring economic insecurity. Regulation regional planning, and readjustment (the last a favorite New Deal term) were beeded to correct market abuses, control the exploitation of natural resources, and adjust class imbalance, and to do so in President Roosevelt's phrase, “not to destroy individualism but to protect it.” P 216

Crazy week! We now have about a foot of snow and once it stops it's supposed to plunge into the single digits. Such a quick change - the trees haven't even lost their leaves, yet.

>130 streamsong: uh oh. That usually means broken tree limbs...

>124 streamsong: There's a fun podcast with her from a couple years ago:
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-ezra-klein-show/e/55964162

>131 fuzzi: Thanks for the good wishes. Yes, and broken tree limbs mean loss of power. We have 13 inches of snow and it is a bone-chilling -5 degrees F.

So far the power has stayed on and the horses are all doing OK. My plan today is horse care and reading in bed with the covers up to my nose, and hot tea. I had very little sleep while the storm was blowing - this morning it has cleared off to a beautiful sunny (but frigid) day.

>132 qebo: Thanks, Katherine. It is so good to have you visit. I'll definitely listen to after later!

I chose to read this for the September Geocat topic of the Arctic/Antarctic. I had picked it up a while back at a library sale.



80. The South Pole Ponies – Theodore K Mason - 1979
– September GeoCat: Arctic and Antarctic;
- ROOT #23 acq'd 2017


Since sled dogs had ‘proved to be a disaster’ in the race to the South Pole, two of the early expeditions tried to pack across Antarctica with Mongolian ponies.

Mongolian ponies had apparently been used with some success in the Arctic. First Ernest Shackleton and then Robert Scott attempted expeditions using the ponies as pack animals. Unfortunately, both allowed the Mongolian herders to choose which ponies to sell to their expeditions – and several ponies in both groups were quite old and none had any training. (Perhaps the wily Mongolians were also anxious to get rid of some of the more troublesome beasts.)

The expeditions might have had better success if they had a Mongolian horseman or two with them; or indeed any horsemen since none of the men in either expedition were familiar with horses.

There was never a plan to return the ponies to the base camps. Both expeditions planned to take them as far as they could and shoot them. Very few ponies made it very far. Several had gruesome deaths along the way.

The men in charge of the ponies came to care about them, and did everything they could to keep the ponies as comfortable in their care as possible. However, there were such basic misunderstandings as what ponies could eat, and how hard it is for horses to travel through deep snow.

It’s an interesting footnote in history, but also a sad, cautionary tale of man’s disregard for animal life. The humans in the journeys signed up knowing they might well not make it back. The ponies (and later a group of mules) had no choice.

>134 streamsong: sounds interesting, but I'm not sure I could handle the suffering of the ponies.

Yikes: 13 inches of snow and -5°F?! I hope that it warms up a bit today.

I'm glad that your finger isn't fractured, although your description made me think that it was.

I'll have to get to Hamnet next year. My reading output has ground to a near complete halt, and I'll have to settle for finishing 45-50 books this year.

>135 fuzzi: Hi Lor! - The men were as kind as they could manage. For example, they would stop early and erect snow shelters for the ponies each night. As soon as a pony showed itself to be in distress, they put it down. It was definitely a very different time, with a very different view of animals. All in all, though, I'm glad to have read it.

>136 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl - well, it didn't warm up yesterday as yesterday was a second -5 degree F morning. But today is looking better - it was +16 when I first got up and the Arctic air mass should slowly start moving out. It's very unusual for October; the whole state has been setting both snow and cold records.

Three and a half weeks in, my finger is better, but still swollen and sore. For some reason it's also very very sensitive to cold. The first night of the storm, I was outside wearing only light gloves and my finger felt like a burning poker. Luckily, I had some of the chemical hand warmers left over from last year, so I'm able to cope with a combo of ski gloves and hand warmers.

I predict you'll love Hamnet.

This is my read for Thursday's RLBC Zoom meeting: Rachel Maddow 's Blowout.

I enjoy watching Rachel's show, I but was not looking forward to reading this book. However, it's amazing. I'm learning so much about the US energy oligarchs who surround the Trump administration. And Rachel writes like she does her show: clear, organized, a bit of snarky humor. I won't get it completed by the meeting, but will hope to be at least half way through.

At this point in my reading, I would highly recommend this book.

This was the September choice for my RLBC. I couldn't attend the meeting due jury duty, but hooray! this means I'm only a month behind on reviews.



81. The Bitterroots – C. J. Box
- 2019 – September Library Brown Bag Book Club (RLBC)
– library


A prominent ranch family is intent on maintaining their hold on both their ranch and the political dominance of the Montana county where they live. But when a son returns, old feuds and jealousies are renewed. Soon after returning from New York, he is charged with the rape of his niece. It seems water-tight until investigator Cassie Dewell is sent to look into the case..

I live in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley and this book was the choice of my book club. I enjoyed all the local flavor which not only included geography (although most of the story takes place in a fictional county), but also many local businesses.

But the premise seemed not dissimilar to a currently popular TV show being filmed in Montana about a prominent but twisted ranch family. And something about investigator Cassie didn’t ring true for me. She could just as well have been a male investigator with a quick change of her name.

It works as a stand-alone, but it’s actually the 4th of the series. I have not read any of the others. There were several good plot twists, but I won’t be continuing with this series.

Hi Janet!

I just checked out your weather, wondering how cold it was going to be (not hideously), but saw something I’ve never seen before – Air Stagnation Advisory. Just what you need, right?

>119 streamsong: I’ve also read Shriver’s The Post-Birthday World, A Perfectly Good Family, and Big Brother, all in 2014, and all rated 4 stars. I just ordered The Standing Chandelier, and she’s published 16 total so far.

When I read We Need to Talk About Kevin and it gut-punched me but didn’t traumatize me, if you get the difference. All I can say is that she’s a brilliant author IMO and well-worth reading.

>129 streamsong: On my shelves, need to read it… sigh.

>139 streamsong: I’ve got the first in the Joe Pickett series but so far it hasn’t called out to me. Karen’s enthralled with the ‘prominent but twisted ranch family’. I watched a bit of it with her in 2018 when I visited, and Bill and I watched the first S1 E1 recently, but I’m not inclined to continue watching it.

>140 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Yes, it's a balmy 28 F this morning. I hope it gets above freezing today so the snow starts to melt. I still have not received my last order of bulbs from Holland and need the ground to be thawed when they get here. The valleys often catch the layers of air, and without any breeze at all, the upper and lower layers don't mix. I'm guessing we have a layer of cold air trapped in the valleys, so our cold spell may linger a bit longer than the forecast. It also means that wood smoke from wood stoves (not uncommon here) and smoke from fall cleanup burn piles is also trapped.

OK, I'll get back to Shriver as long as she's not hiding more gut-punches. You're right, though, that it was a beautifully written book.

I think I posted that I went to a casting call for extras when the series first started filming here in the valley. I'm still on the FB group for extra calls, but mostly they want young and beautiful - and definitely no plus sizes. They do have a call out for a 60 year old woman today, but again only 'normal size'. Part of this seems to be that the extra must fit into the already selected wardrobe - but it seems a bit sizist, too. :)

>138 streamsong: Interesting! I'll be looking for it.

Hope you get your bulbs from Holland soon. It would be a pity if they arrived too late, and you can't plant them anymore.

>142 EllaTim: Hi Ella! Thanks for stopping in!

Rachel Maddow's Blowout continues to be really good. We had a great discussion on it yesterday for the RLBC. I was only about 60% finished. I am finally beginning to understand the Ukrainian situation (if that is possible).

Darn I miss seeing my BC friends and going out to lunch with them afterwards!

We're back above freezing and the snow is melting fast. I'll call the bulb supplier today. It may already be too late to get them in the ground. :( Perhaps they will give me a gc for spring plantings instead.

Two distracting events right now.

One is a neighbor's horse crazy 13 year old granddaughter here for the next month. She is helping me with various projects. Man, she can work me into the ground. Two hours with her and my tongue is hanging out. It's so good for me and the horses she is helping me handle.

The second is the World Championship Appaloosa Show live streaming from Fort Worth for the next ten days. There are two arenas going at the same time. The live streaming is free to watch this year. So if anyone wants to check it out (ha!) the link is here: https://www.321actionvideo.com/blogs/webcast/october-30-november-8-2020-appaloos...

83. Tonight You’re Dead – Viveca Sten - 2011
- Viveca Sten group read; MysteryCat series - Kindle acq'd 2020


This is the 4th in the Sandhamn Murder series.

Detective Thomas Andreasson is called to investigate what looks like a routine suicide by a graduate student. But something niggles at him, and against his superior’s wishes, he decides to dig a big deeper.

He is led to the student’s research project: an elite group of Coastal Rangers who trained in the 1970’s on one of the Sandhamn Islands. Following up on phone contacts, Thomas finds there are mysterious deaths within the group from one particular year.

Chapters of the current investigation are interspersed with a diary from one of the Rangers written in the ‘70’s while in training. It’s an effective technique that shows how fifty year old events effect current affairs. This is a technique Sten has used before, including in her third novel.

I enjoyed the writing, the setting, the twists and turns, and especially the ongoing development of characters. Thomas’s longtime friend and resident of Sandhamn, Nora, had a smaller but necessary part to play in this mystery, but we do see her life progressing, too.

>144 streamsong: ooh! I checked out that Livestream, will go back to it later when I can actually WATCH it.

That young lady will probably remember her wonderful month with you for the rest of her life.

>146 fuzzi: Hi Lor - I hope you get a chance to check out the livestream.

Some of the more fun events will be the men's heritage costume class where riders and horses are decked out in thousands and thousands of dollars of authentic Plains and Nez Perce regalia. That one is estimated to start about 1:45 Central Time on Sunday. They usually only have just a few riders, but it's fun to watch.

On the evening of Friday Nov 6th, the Freestyle Reining will be held approximately 5:15 Central Time. Horses do complicated moves in time to music.

I am enjoying the young lady's company very much! It's the perfect antidote to my Covid isolation blues. This week her grandma is having knee surgery, so I'm sure I will see less of her while she helps out.

Once more I neglected to note who recommended this, but I believe it was Mary.



84. Boxers (Boxers & Saints) – Gene Luen Yang - 2013
- Global Reading: China
- Graphic Novel
– library

This YA graphic novel tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China from the viewpoint of a young Boxer revolutionary.

The Rebellion grew in response to whites overstepping cultural boundaries (an unknown notion) who viewed themselves as the rulers of the land. Missionaries contributed by over zealously destroying shrines which they considered idols and condemning those who refused to convert to Christianity. White government meted out harsh punishment to Chinese citizens, declared some cities off limits to the Chinese and in other ways treated them as second class citizens in their own land.

The Boxers believed they could channel the ancestral gods, making themselves impermeable to bullets and unbeatable.

Although I had read history from the western point of view, I enjoyed this well-realized view of ‘the other side of the story’. There is a companion graphic novel called Saints (Boxers and Saints) which tells the story from the Christian side.

Hooray! I'm caught up with the September reviews and ready to start reviews for books finished in October. I'd love to promise that I'll have the first written today, but it's a non-fiction called Beaten Down Worked Up about the labor movement in the US, so it may take be more than a day to write it. It was a great book - one that I enjoyed far more than I thought I would. It was the PBS Now Read This Book for September.

I will also try to get at least one more book finished here in October.

Currently reading:
Blowout by Rachel Maddow
In the Heat of the Moment - Viveca Sten
Major Operation - James White
Helping Children Succeed What Works and Why - Paul Tough (PBS Now Read This for October)
Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd - Melissa Crandell - LTER
Miracle Country - Kendra Atleework - audiobook in the car and I'm not driving much so I may need to bring this in to listen to it!

Hi Janet: We've also had colder than normal weather and some snow, but not as much as you did, so I will stop complaining.

The book about the Boxer rebellion sounds great. White Trash also sounds like one I'd like.

>144 streamsong: Hi Janet. I'm glad you found a help like that! Good for you and for her as well.

I've been watching horse videos on YouTube. Friesian horses, there's something very relaxing about watching those, but they are not shows, just shots of simple things on the farm.

Hi Beth! Thanks for stopping in! I'm glad you've had less severe weather. We have another storm predicted for this weekend. I'm hoping it will be milder.

I'll be interested to see what you think when/if you get to them. I read such a mismash of titles.

>151 EllaTim: Hi Ella! She's really helping me with some of the stuff that is just a tad too heavy for me. Together it's so much easier! And then we do whatever she would like to do. The horses are appreciating the extra attention.

Have you seen the equestrian vaulter Lambert Leclezio? This one came through my FB feed this am. Wowza!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZS3E2Oawc

85. Beaten Down Worked Up: The Past Present, and Future of American Labor – Steven Greenhouse - 2019
- PBS Now Read This
– library


Description on cover: “ Stephen Greenhouse, an award-winning journalist and longtime New York Times labor and workplace correspondent, shows us how crucial this fight will be for America’s future, just as he shows us key episodes and trends in labor history that are essential to understanding some of our nation’s most pressing problems including increased income inequality, declining social mobility, and the concentration of political power in the hands of the wealthy few.”

I had not expected to enjoy this book when the PBS Now Read This Book Club made it one of their selections. I had expected it to be rather dry.

I was wrong.

Instead of being a complete history of the labor movement, it was episodic, exploring key bits of history.

These included the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and of course, the 1968 Sanitations Workers’ strike that brought Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, Tennessee where King was assassinated.

It goes on to examine more modern strikes by nurses and teachers who are not just striking for higher wages or better working conditions, but for better care for their patients and pupils.

It also expands on the current issue for a $15 minimum wage. The author argues that a larger piece of the pie for workers who are not making even a subsistence living is what will create a healthy economy.

Well written and very informative.

>153 streamsong: Wow!
Vaulting has come a long way since I first saw it nearly 50 years ago!
I always admire the horses they use for vaulting, even temperd and constant in their movement.

Hi Janet!

>153 streamsong: Color me dumb – I didn’t realize there was such a sport. Beautiful animal, amazing performance. Thanks for sharing.

>154 streamsong: Laugh at it, or run screaming into the night…

I'm glad you have some help. Horse crazy girls are a force of nature.

>156 FAMeulstee: Hi Anita! That's an amazing video, isn't it! And such a great horse. As you say he's so calm and steady and downright beautiful. And tall! I would have trouble getting on him with a ladder, much less vaulting.

Do you think he's a Friesian?

>157 karenmarie: Hi Karen! I'm glad you liked it. I don't follow it as a sport. I think it's more common in Europe (?). But you don't have to know a thing about it to see that it's an amazing performance.

October Reads
- 7 books read:

85. Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past Present, and Future of American Labor - Steven Greenhouse - 2019 - PBS Now Read This (September) - library
86. New Poets of Native Nations - Heid E. Erdrich - 2018 - library
87.Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield - 2019 - library
88. Hamnet - Maggie O'Farrell - 2020 - library
89. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - 2020 - library
90. Book Love - Debbie Tung - library
91. The Ungrateful Refugee - Dina Nayeri - 2019 - Global Reading: Iran - library

Roots/Acq'd 2020/Library: 0/0/7
Female author/Male author/Combination 6/1/1
Fic/NF: 3/2
Poetry: 1
Graphic Novel/Comics: 1
1001: 0
Countries: Great Britain, Ireland, Iran

Publication Dates:

1 - 2018
4 - 2019
2 - 2020

As always, I'd like to think that I should focus on books that are currently sitting unread on Planet TBR - ROOTS - so called from the Reading Our Own Tomes challenge. I keep hauling books home faster than I can read them and the piles keep growing larger.

In October, I read ZERO ROOTS and ZERO books acquired in 2020.

Sigh. Oh well. The library books I read were outstanding.

These numbers include the library books that I have at home.

As of 11/1/2020: 512 books on MT TBR
As of 10/1/2020: 517 books on MT TBR
As of 7/1/2020: 520 books on MT TBR
As of 5/1/2020: 516 books on MT TBR
As of 4/1/2020: 522 books on MT TBR
As of 3/1/2020: 523 books on MT TBR
As of 02/02/2020: 517 books on MT TBR
As of 01/01/2020: 520 books on MT TBR

As of 01/01/2019: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2018: 510 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2017: 481 books on physical Mt TBR
As of 01/01/2016: 459 books on physical Mt TBR

>160 streamsong: I'm struggling with ROOTs, too.

I loved the vaulting, that was great!

I assume you're familiar with Tommie Turvey? Watching his "liberty" videos bring tears to my eyes; there's something so beautiful about horses performing, not burdened down with harness and trappings.

Here's one I just rewatched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRQhzepKWgY

Hi, Janet! How are things going in Montana? I always enjoy seeing what you have been reading and it is always an interesting stew. I have added Blowout to the list. I also really liked Maddow's last book on the military complex. I didn't care for New Poets of Native Nations as much as you did, but I am glad I read it.

>158 streamsong: No it is not a (full) Frisian. The horse has some white on his head, and sometimes it looks more dark brown than black.

Searching a bit more: the horse is Aroc, bred in Switserland, born in 2008, color bay, Sire: Aquilino Dam: Cora. I can't find his full pedigree. I think Aquilino is/was a KWPN (Dutch Warmblood).

>153 streamsong: That was quite something to watch, Janet. I'd never heard of this sport!
It's a beautiful horse, I guess Anita is right, and it isn't a full Friesian.

>161 fuzzi: Hi Lor! One thing about the limited access to Covid is that it's much harder to casually acquire books; the shelf of FOL books has not been open for sales, I haven't been browsing second hand books at stores, etc.

I ordered a copy of The Poet X from my local indy. It's the PBS bookclub book for November and I enjoyed it enough when I read it last year, that I decided I would like a copy of my own to reread.

Thanks for sharing the video. I was not familiar with Tommie Turvey. I think I'm spoiled by watching my horses playing. :)

>162 msf59: Hi Mark! Things are about the same in Montana. The election went red, red, red here, so we no longer have a Democratic Montana governor. He ran for senate and lost. We still have one Democratic senator. The state government picked up many Republican seats.

Marijuana was legalized, which was a surprise to me.

I'm getting ready for the next storm, which is to hit Friday or Saturday. Several inches of snow and below freezing temperatures are predicted.

I'm just writing my review for New Poets of Native Nations. Like any omnibus, I loved some of the poems, and others sort of passed me by (I wondered if I didn't have the right knowledge to access some of them.?) I do think I liked it better than you did. :)

>163 FAMeulstee: Thank you for looking that up, Anita! Gorgeous horse for sure!

>164 EllaTim: Hi Ella! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. It's not a sport I follow but this was spectacular, wasn't it? The video was actually from 2018.

I finished two books since my last comment about what I'm reading. The first is In the Heat of the Moment, the 5th book in the Sandhamn murders series. The second is an ER book: Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd by Melissa Crandall, a keeper at the Portland zoo.

Finishing the Rachel Maddow book Blowout seems a bit overwhelming to me right now. My political stress-o-meter is running rather high. :(

I have two to pick up from the library, which has had to go backwards in their services due to the increasing Covid cases in the state and the county. You can now request books, and they will deliver them to the front door. No more inside. The next-for-me Murderbot is waiting as is another animal story, Running with Sherman : the donkey with the heart of a hero.

I need to finish Major Operation by James White and then start Olive Kitteridge since the RLBC selection is Olive Again.

I posted a poem from New Poets of Native Nations at >29 streamsong:

Here is another I enjoyed. Both poems speak of the clash of cultures.

“You can’t be an NDN person in today’s world

And write a nature poem. I swore to myself I would never write a nature
Poem. Let’s be clear, I hate nature - I hate its guts

I say to my audience. There is something smaller I say to myself:

I don’t hate nature at all Places have thoughts –hills have backs that love
Being stroked by our eyes. The river gobbles down its tract as a metaphor
But also abt its day. The bluffs purr when we put down blankets at the
Downturn of the sun and laugh at a couple on a obvi OKCupid Date

and even more stellar, the jellybean moon sugars at me. She flies and
beams and I breathe.

Fuck that. I recant. I slap myself.

Let’s say I live in NYC. Let’s say I was the first person in my family to
Graduate college. Let’s say UGH I like watching New Girl on Hulu.

This is the difference:

Some see objects in the Earth, where I see lungs. Sky mother falls thru
a hole, lands on a turtle.

Hole is my favorite band. “ Tommy Pico p39

And finally my review:



86. New Poet of Native Nations – Heid E. Erdrick - 2018
– library


This is a collection of twenty one Native American poets from the Eastern seaboard to Alaska and Hawaii.

As with any omnibus, some of the poems really spoke to me; others less so. There were a few of the poets that I wondered if I did not have the cultural knowledge to appreciate their point of view.

It gave me many new-to-me poets to explore. I also appreciated the brief autobiographical notes that each author wrote at the end of the book. As each named some of their inspirations, it also provided another set of poets for me to explore.

Although I didn’t enjoy all the content, I give it 4 stars. It’s a treat as a jumping off place.

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/MerryEnergeticAmericanavocet-size_restricted.gif?fbcli...

There's an appaloosa track pony at the Breeders' Cup. 😁😳

Hi Janet!

>160 streamsong: Your Mount TBR is amazingly consistent – you may want it to decrease, but at least it’s not growing prodigiously.

>165 streamsong: Our FoL has cancelled two sales and were about 80% sure we’re going to cancel the Spring Sale. Heck, the Library isn’t even open yet and we can’t get to the donated books we have stored there. We're not accepting donations either, which makes me crazy even though I understand. I haven’t gone into a second hand book/thrift store since early March either.

>172 fuzzi: Hi Lor! I missed the Breeders' Cup. Ah well, thanks for the report. :)

>173 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Yes, that's true - at least MT TBR is not growing prodigiously. It was steadlily creeping upwards before I started keeping the statistics.

More unseasonaly cold weather, here. It was 11 degrees F this morning and we again have several inches of snow. Brrrrrrr!

The heavier weight of my boots have set off knee pain - and my hand is getting better, but for some reason still very sensitive to cold. So this am, I took my coffee, phone and ibuprofen back to bed until the ibuprofen kicked in. I was joined by my two cats. As I said on Karen's thread, I was surprised they joined me as usually they camp out by the propane heater once I turn it on in the mornings.

I'm feeling less painful now, so am off to do a.m. chores. Brrrrrr!

I may have to get a cortisone shot in my knee, as I'm not sure if lighter weight boots are a possibility. I also need to get back to the exercises that strengthen the muscles that protect the knee.

And oh dear. My FB feeds says that one of the library workers has Covid. I was in two days ago to pick up two books. I was very careful about masks and sanitizing, but did pick up an Impossible Whopper from Burger King on my way home, so I ate lunch soon after arriving home. My best wishes for the worker - they are all known to me at least by sight and name.

I'm having trouble settling down to read since the election. I'm sure Trump will not go willingly. This area - indeed this state - is known for everyone having guns - although I think they honestly believe everyone in the county is a Republican. We don't have many people to demonstrate against - I do foresee armed demos in Missoula, though if it warms up. :)

I finally found my copy of Olive Kitteridge so I can eventually start Olive Again. Funny, but old Olive was sitting right on the top of the stack. How was she missing for almost a week?

I read three wonderful novels in a row last month. Here is the first of the reviews.



87. Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield - 2019
– library


"They asked ..... how a father could cross to other worlds and bring his daughter home, and they realized there are no stories of children crossing into other worlds to find their parents, and wondered why." p455

In this historical novel beautifully set along the Thames River, the river is as much a character as any of the people.

One night a storm-battered boatman bursts into the door of a pub – not just any pub, but a pub known for its story-telling. He carries a little girl, who appears to have been drowned. The boatman cannot tell his story for several days as he lies unconscious. But in the meantime, the girl marvelously comes back to life – could she really have been merely unconscious?

Two little girls in the area have disappeared, presumed drowned. Both families claim the miracle child.

And then, of course, there is the mysterious boatman who is seen when people are in trouble on the Thames. He’s known to help those dying before their time safely back to the shore of the living, and help the others onward to the farther shore. He also had a daughter.

I enjoyed this well-written story of love, redemption and a whiff of the supernatural.

Hi Janet!

>154 streamsong: I love it!

I also loved New Poets of Native Nations. As with any anthology, I liked some of the poems more than others, but it introduced me to a lot of new young Indigenous poets. Tommy Pico was one of my favorites.

>177 streamsong: Nice review Janet! Boatmen and crossing rivers. Sounds like a good read.

Is it still so cold at your place?

>178 BLBera: Hi Beth! I'm glad >178 BLBera: tickled your funny bone. Tommy Pico was one of my favorite poets, too from the book.

>179 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella! I think I got the suggestion from Ellen as a fun, not deep read. In other words, pandemic reading. :)

We've had more snow and temps are still hovering around the freezing mark. It's supposed to warm up enough to rain a bit this afternoon, turning to snow tonight. People are saying it's due to the La Nina current, which will bring colder weathers and more snow to this area this winter. Areas south of us are predicted to be drier and warmer.

I don't know that anyone has clicked on the link on >181 streamsong: I thought it was a fun take on the election with Aragorn being told to look for help from the East.

Quickie review of the second of the three amazing novels I read in October. Since this one was discussed a bit earlier in the thread, it seems redundant to review it ...... >103 streamsong: >108 streamsong: >110 Berly: >126 BLBera: etc.



88. Hamnet -Maggie O'Farrell - 2020 – library

After her mother died, Agnes’ father remarried. Her new stepmother despised her; so Agnes became a child of the fields, loving the woods and the natural herbal cures that her mother had pursued.

Until one day, her younger half brothers’ Latin tutor spied her walking with a hawk on her fist. Love followed, and so young William Shakespeare (although he is never named thusly in the story) married the slightly older Agnes, somewhat prematurely pregnant with the twins Hamnet and Judith.

It’s a story of love and family and of moving through life. It’s also a brilliantly written portrait of grief that had me in tears and would make it hard for me to reread this book.

Nevertheless, the story and the writing make it one of my favorite books of the year.

5 stars

Hooray for another Hamnet fan! I'm so glad you loved it. It seems like it will be on a lot of lists of favorite reading for 2020.

i must get to Hamnet soon. Glad you liked it!

H Beth and Mary! Hamnet is worth the read, but as discussed above, is a bit uncomfortable in its portrait of grief.

>64 streamsong: We drive over to Moscow all the time and have driven past that museum and wondered about it. I will put it on the "things to do before we move away" list.

I loved Hamnet. And I'm glad you also enjoyed Once Upon a River. Vivian sent that to me for my recovery reading and I really liked it.

>186 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! The Appaloosa Museum is rather small, but they do have a wonderful chief's head dress which is the centerpiece of the collection.

Horray for Hamnet and also Once Upon a River. I believe that I was Gotcha'd on your thread with Once Upon a River.

And here is the third of the three wonderful-novels-in-a-row from October.



89. The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue - 2020
– library


It’s just after World War I. Julia Power is a young nurse working at a Catholic hospital in the midst of the Spanish flu epidemic gripping Dublin and much of the world.

Julia is given a small ward in a former supply closet to run entirely by itself. It consists of women with influenza who are also about to give birth – and their infants once the birth occurs. She begs for help and is given a volunteer - a young woman named Bridie who grew up in the nearby Catholic orphanage and is now being told she needs to work off her debt for the nuns raising her. Bridie doesn’t have any nursing experience, but she is a quick learner and a fiercely independent spirit. She and Julia instantly are on the same side.

Julia and Bridie are fighting overwhelming medical odds. Without much in the way of medicine except poultices to fight pneumonia and cold packs to fight fever, the death rate is horrible. The epidemic story is grueling.

But the shear humanity of the characters will grab you: the patients, the orphan Bridie, Julia and her brother who is a former soldier suffering from shell shock, and the woman doctor whose politics have landed her on the wrong side of the law but who is the only professional help Julia can rely on.

Love and family are to be found in unexpected places. Wonderful twist of an ending – both incredibly sad and infinitely hopeful.

Just catching up...

A belated congratulations to achieving the 75 books read goal ( and beyond!)

>188 streamsong: That looks to be a good one. Not one of Emma's novels have disappointed me.

Hi, Janet.

I liked Hamnet a lot, and I'm about 3/4 of the way through Once Upon a River. in Once Upon, trying to figure out what the real story is with Amelia/Alice/Ann is driving me crazy!

>189 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! The Pull of the Stars was wonderful. The only other I've read by Emma Donoghue is Room. I will have to check out more of her books. Are there any you particularly recommend?

>190 jnwelch: Hi Joe! Dianne Setterfield really keeps you guessing, doesn't she? I hope you enjoy it. Not a deep book, but a good tale on a winter's night.

Last Wednesday during a Zoom meeting, I had an unexpected knock on the door. It was the owner of a storage unit that said there were items belonging to me in an abandoned unit.

At first, I thought the unit had belonged to the X. But no. There was a suitcase with my name and my Mom's name.

I checked it out yesterday and while there were only a few things that had belonged to Mom & Dad, a couple of them were significant. One was a smallish oak chair that my brother wanted but had disappeared. My father had taken it from his mother's house when she passed and then Dad had refinished it - one of his hobbies. Another was a sixty year old child's leather baseball glove with my brother's name on it.

We believe these items were probably 'mistakenly' bought by a dealer from the 'not for sale' stash during Mom's sale and then stored with lots of other people's stuff. I'll stop again on my way out of town and perhaps pick up a few tools hand tools and a battery operated drill. The owner of the storage unit said I could take whatever I wanted. What an amazingly generous offer!

And such an interesting development! I'm glad that the chair has come back to the family.

Today I am heading to Missoula to have my knee checked out and hopefully given a cortisone shot. I have been very lax - not doing PT type exercises, not walking much. By the evening, I can hardly walk on it. Not good at all. I need something to help with the ouchies so I can get back to exercising as it needs the surrounding muscles strong to protect it. I wasn't aware how bad it had become until I started doing horsey projects around the place with the neighbor's grandaughter. There's nothing like trying to keep up with an enthusiastic 13 year old to see just how out of shape you've become!

>192 streamsong: wow, what a wonderful find.

Hope your knee appointment goes well.

Hope things with your knee improve very soon.
Looks like some great reading going on over here!

Hi Janet!

>175 streamsong: I may have to get a cortisone shot in my knee. I had a shot in my left knee in January and a shot in my right knee in October, first time for cortisone shots in knees, and they both have been a godsend.

>176 streamsong: Yikes about the library workers having Covid. Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again are both marvelous.

>182 streamsong: It’s even harder to get library books in my county now – we’re on curbside service but the county experienced what they call a cyberattack and what I’ve heard behind the scenes is ransomware. They finally got the phone system going again, but the online catalog is not available for searching/availability and even the Librarians have to go to the stacks to see if a book’s available. Insult to injury. I just may ask for Hamnet for Christmas.

>192 streamsong: How amazing and wonderful that you’ve gotten some family things back that you thought were lost.

I swear my knee is feeling better already after yesterday's Cortisone shot. Whether it's a placebo effect or magic, I'll take it. I think I asked my helper to start feeding for me on Friday instead of today - brain fart. So I fed this morning, and it was much much better than yesterday. I even climbed the haystack and rolled down a few hundred pound bales for tonight and the am.

In 45 minutes, the library book club meets by zoom. There was huge confusion over what day it would happen since the usual date of the last Thursday of the month is, of course, Thanksgiving. Yesterday? Today? Wednesday of next week? I miss my friend who retired this summer and ran the book club flawlessly for so many years. :(

Anyhoo, we'll be discussing Olive Again. I read Olive Kitteridge from Planet TBR last week, even though I was told it would be OK without reading the first one. I think going back and reading it gave me much more context and appreciation for OA. And I was happily surprised to see The Burgess Boys and the Somali women make appearances in OA.

>193 fuzzi: Hi Lor! Yes the chair was an amazing find and so nice that the owner of the storage unit followed up on old suitcase tag and then offered me the items for free. There are nice people in the world!

>194 mdoris: Thank you, Mary. My knee is better already. I definitely waited too long to go in and have it done.

The odd thing is the PA was on a completely different page than I am about my knee. I believe the base problem is completely rupturing the ACL and MCL last year. He thinks the base problem is chronic arthritis. I suppose the injury may be causing the arthritis. I wish I had asked more questions! Either way, the treatment of cortisone and PT is the same. When I asked him if he thought I would need surgery to tighten the MCL, he was totally confused as to what I was talking about.

>195 karenmarie: Hi Karen! Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I feel very badly for our library worker with Covid although I haven't heard who it is or how they are doing.

I also have a friend from church with Covid. She is probably in her late 70's. She is feeling poorly enough that her daughter is doing updates on FB.

Yikes on the Cyber attack on your library. In these Trump years, our library is having enough budget problems without something like that happening. Sick people.

Hi Janet. I'm glad you're getting relief for the knee. You liked The Pull of the Stars more than I did, but I did love Akin.

>198 BLBera: Hi Beth! Thanks for the good knee vibes!

Yes, The Pull of the Stars hit the right spot for me. "but I did love Akin. Ok, you lost me with Akin. Maybe just not enough coffee yet this morning?

I see many of my friends have this listed in their catalog, but I think Mary/bell7 was the one who tipped me over into reading it.



90. Book Love - Debbie Tung – 2019
– library
- 3.7 stars

A light-hearted look at loving books by the author who wrote Quiet Girl in a Noisy World.

I recognized myself in every one of the comics. Did I find them laugh out loud funny? No, perhaps because they were too true to my truth, so instead they brought a wry grin of amusement and the feeling of "Doesn't everyone do that?"

Nevertheless, very enjoyable and a great stress reliever in this time of upheaval.

Last night the North Valley Library in the small town of Stevensville had a zoom talk with Larry Watson, the author of Montana 1948 and also the book behind the current movie release Let Him Go.

It's a teeny tiny town with less than two thousand people about twenty miles north of where I live. There were less than twenty of us attending including the zoom-ers and the in-person audience.

Watson was gracious and articulate. It was soooo cool of him to speak to this small gathering, with, as the librarian said, zero budget to bring in authors. Watson's previous gig just a few days ago was the Florida Book Fair in Miami with an audience of hundreds ( or maybe thousands!)

The pandemic is slowing down schedules and bringing authors via zoom to far flung places that otherwise wouldn't hear them talk. It's a trend I hope will continue.

This Saturday the same library is having a writing workshop by Missoula mystery author Gwen Florio. I'll be joining that one by Zoom, too.

>201 streamsong: Oh terribly cool to have a zoom with Larry Watson. I so loved Montana 1948.

>202 ffortsa: Hi Judy! One of the things that Larry Watson said was that Montana 1948 has been optioned by a movie studio for several years now. He's hopeful that one day the movie will be made. He also has a studio option on another book (can't remember which one).

I haven't read Let Him Go, but he said that although it's being marketed as a thriller, it really isn't, and that the movie stays pretty true to the book's themes of family and love.

91. The Ungrateful Refugee - Dina Nayeri - 2019
- Global Reading: Iran
– library
- 3.8 stars

“Kambiz Roustayi died at thirty-six, having wasted twelve of his strongest, hungriest years, the years when people crave to build and to give of themselves to each other, to their communities – years for work and family. …Living without perspective, like a worm. Waiting for Godot. Who can live like this? Humans need meaning. Kambiz broke because he need purpose and family and progress.” P 214, 215

When Dina Nayeri was a child, she, her mother and younger brother fled Iran. Her mother had become a Christian and it was no longer safe for her to remain in the Muslim country. Her father, chose to remain in Iran and soon remarried.

The family passed through several refugee camps, and eventually were sponsored by an evangelical family in Oklahoma – a state whose culture was so unlike upper class Iran, that Dina could not relate.

She alternates her family’s story with those of other refugees in other camps. Some wait for years and years trying to prove their worthiness for asylum to the host country. Some get caught in the in-between spaces where they have not found asylum but cannot go home.

She often feels judged by her host country. There are ‘good refugees’ and ‘bad refugees’; political refugees and economic refugees. She is disturbed by the attitude that western nations feel that all refugees should be grateful to be admitted – although she also does not believe that refugees should be expected to be admitted to a country to help improve that country.

This is an intensely told story, sometimes quite angry. At times I found it compelling; other times it bogged down for me. Nevertheless, I am glad to have read it and to hopefully understand a bit more of the refugees’ plight as they leave their beloved homelands behind into an unknown culture and future. Also, it made me look at the variety of refugees’ experiences both before and after they fled their homeland. It will help the reader see each refugee as a unique person with a unique story, rather than a faceless mass, all fleeing for the same reasons.

My knee is doing so much better! Completely overdid yesterday as my high school helper rode and the horse was being non-cooperative. But my knee is not at all bad today - I've started riding the exercise bike just a tad and have my first PT scheduled for next week.

I have a dentist appointment today. :( Just the six month cleaning, but still.

TG by myself this year. I plan to do some cooking (perhaps try some sourdough ww rolls?) , videoing with son and fiance, phone calls to friends. And praying that next year, things will be back to a more normal routine.

>205 streamsong: good news about your knee, happy for you.

>204 streamsong: Oh that quote. I read a similar one from one of the refugees on the island Moria. He said he felt like he was 90 years old, as he wasn't allowed to do anything, no work, no schooling, just waiting around. I thought it was awful. We shouldn't do that to people.

>205 streamsong: Glad your knee is doing better!

Hi, Janet. Finally catching up here--I was way too far behind. I'm glad to see you are continuing with James White, as I think the later books are by far the best. Glad the cortisone shot really helped your knee!

Happy Thanksgiving, Janet. Glad to hear your knee is doing better. Hooray for Hamnet! Probably my favorite read of the year...so far. I also want to get to The Pull of the Stars.

We just started watching "Yellowstone". Have you watched it? Thoughts on it, either way? A solid family drama, if it could tone down the bursts of unrealistic violence.

This Brit wishes to express his thanks for the warmth and friendship that has helped sustain him in this group, Janet.

Stopping by to say hello and dropping off a picture of my holiday tree for some inspiration on this dreary Monday morning. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

>211 witchyrichy: love it!

>211 witchyrichy: How do you make a book tree. I am interested. I'm not sure I can find the space, but after the Christmas tree is down, I want to try this.

Janet, you are reading some amazing books!

>206 fuzzi: Thanks for the good wishes on the knee, Lor.

>207 EllaTim: Hi Ella and thank you.

The refugee situation is horrific, isn't it? I hope our new administration will make things a bit easier, at least by increasing the numbers admitted to what they were before.

We have a refugee group in Missoula. I had looked into volunteering with them, but 40 miles seemed a long way to go and I wasn't familiar with things like the Missoula bus routes. Now, with all the virtual gatherings, there may be more options for me. I should recheck the situation.

>208 ronincats: That's good to know about the latter James White books, Roni. I'll keep going with the series. I'm also reading the Martha Wells Murderbot series. My current read is Exit Strategy which I started yesterday.

>209 msf59: Hi Mark! I've watched the first two seasons of Yellowstone. The first season was partially filmed here in the valley. If you look closely, all the scenes with forest fire smoke in the background were filmed here.

I did go to the cattle call for the extras for the first season. Unfortunately, they want pretty, young and slim.

The 4th season was also filmed here. They just wrapped it up except for the last episode, which they had to delay filming. I'm still getting the extra calls through FB, but no older, fat, equestrians needed.

>210 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I'm glad that you stopped by.

>211 witchyrichy: Thank you, Karen. We had a Thanksgiving family Zoom with my son and his fiance, my brother and his wife and their two sons. I loved it. It was the first family Zoom we've done.

I love your tree!

>212 fuzzi: Hi Lor- good to see you and I certainly agree about Karen's tree. I googled several Youtube videos, but none are as nice as Karen's. They look more like piles of books :)

I've had some excellent reading and just finished up two more : The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi and Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline. Must get going on reviews.

Onward to a new thread!