Susan (quondame) remains bookish in 2022 - Part the Second

I am still in my 70s, doing little beyond fooling about on the Internet and reading. I play with the dogs, do occasional food things with my daughter, occasional visits with friends, occasional movies with my husband. Oh, and buy lots of dolls and doll related toys, and more clothing than I need, but then I have enough to last me decades, so that isn't a lot.

Today's fortuitous arrival was the Panda version of the dolls above so I was able to give it to Becky as an April Fools present. At first she utterly rejected it. Ugly. Then she had to take pictures to show her friends. Only then did she find out it was an official Mattel™️ product and claimed it was on a par with Earring Magic Ken, the only Mattel™️ doll of mine she's ever expressed any interest in. I don't think I'll have to find it an alternate home. She refuses to discuss Furries with me.

>2 quondame: Why on earth do they all have long, loose hair underneath this kind of costume? Humans (as compared with dolls) wouldn't do that.

>1 quondame: I'd love to live on that street, Susan!

Happy new thread. x

>3 ArlieS: True, that's not how it's done. But Barbie must have hair, long, beautiful hair
shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen......

Becky has decided the doll is a keeper.

>4 PaulCranswick: Right!?! We can sort of imagine it's LibraryThing Boulevard.

>5 quondame: One of the big disappointments in my life was that when my sister and I found Barbies under the tree, mine had a short blonde bubble-cut. That was back when Barbies were one per girl.

>7 2wonderY: My first was a brunette bubble cut, but I don't remember any disappointment - well, until the dog mauled the foot. I was more into the clothing than the hair.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Susan. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

>9 figsfromthistle: >10 drneutron: >11 alcottacre: Thank you Anita, Jim, and Stasia.

Happy new thread, Susan!

>1 quondame: What a lovely bookish topper, I like you calling it 'LibraryThing Boulevard'.

>8 quondame: My grandmother made clothing for them, and taught us how to do the same. The results were both better and cheaper than the doll clothes in toy stores. (Well, maybe not always better, when the doll owner made them without grandma's help.)

LibraryThing Boulevard, eh? Apt name and attractive bindings. Why yes!

The street where we live...

Hi Susan my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

>13 FAMeulstee: Thank you!

>14 ArlieS: I was was over 10 when Barbie came out, and on my own for making her clothing. It was maximum fiddly, but I did manage some.

>15 weird_O: The life of the imagination can have whatever surrounds suggest themselves!

>16 johnsimpson: Thank you!

68) Crowbones



We return to Sproing and The Jumble with Vickie and associates as malign human influences threaten the growing town. Well before the climax it's fairly clear who the bad actors are though there are twists. And the Others are very accommodating and helpful even in smaller matters in a way that erodes the impact of their menace for friendlies.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book whose title includes a closed compound noun

I did get to watch Respect tonight. Powerful if a bit on the manipulative side. Mike let slip something he shouldn't and we went into choruses of "We don't talk about _______" The Furry (>2 quondame:) was a moderate hit.

69) The Last Shadow



Yawn. If you're interested in the artificial emotional growth of Bean's grandchildren and how badly Cincinnatus stayed wrong, well you'll be assaulted with over evolved avians and arbitrarily, stupidly belligerent humans where, really, no humans should be. It completes both the Ender and the Bean storylines and, well, I wish he hadn't bothered.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book with a tie to a book you read in the first quarter.

Wishing you a great week ahead, Susan.

>21 PaulCranswick: Thanks Paul.

Hiya, left you a PM reply when I got home... visiting here (having simply skipped to your most recent thread) to say "Had a fabby time reading and beach-walking. In my very relaxed objectives this year, I am up to book #26, reading one by Lucy Foley ~ The Paris Apartment. It's kind of creepy but I can't put it down!"
Love your topper photo.

Hi Susan, and a belated happy new thread.

>1 quondame: Excellent pic. Heh. You’re still in your 70s, and I’m still in my 60s, but barely, turning 69 this year.

>5 quondame: I love the Hair reference… and in my opinion, long hair is the thing because many men love long hair on women. I’ve got a Pandemic Ponytail going right now, but it’s definitely not for Bill. *smile*

>8 quondame: My one and only Barbie was in 1961 with the blonde ponytail. My sister got the platinum blonde bubble cut.

>14 ArlieS: My grandmother made a beautiful mid-calf black satin skirt for Barbie, which I still have. She beat me with a hairbrush after I made Barbie pregnant with tissues under the skirt without having married Ken. She was born in 1882, so I can sort of understand it…

>24 karenmarie: I made Barbie pregnant with tissues under the skirt ~ LMAO!

>23 SandyAMcPherson: Thanks for dropping by!

>24 karenmarie: >25 SandyAMcPherson: Getting Barbie preggers wouldn't have seemed interesting after playing with The Visible Woman with the alternate organs and belly plate. Besides Karen, if your grandmother hadn't bought the wedding set for you, it was hardly your fault that K&B were boxed together immorally.

>24 karenmarie: roflmao

70) Wheel of the Infinite



Intermittently interfering gods and a 100year ritual really complicate life, as disgraced Voice of the Adversary makes her way back to the center of worship only to find the problems aren't just hers but threaten the entire reality. But she picks up a sarcastic hunk who has her back, so that's cool. A rare middleaged protagonist with attitude and angst who just keeps dealing with what's in front of her. Also a wicked puppet.

I'm hoping this
Meets April TIOLI Challenge #4: The "One in a Million" Challenge: Read a book that has a number that is a million or greater in the title or subtitle

>28 quondame: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation - who can resist a wicked puppet??

Huh. I was attracted by the middle-aged female protagonist. Is she dealing with menopause? I’ve only come across one author that braved that issue.

>29 alcottacre: The cursed puppet is, mostly, a MacGuffin, until it is briefly more interesting.

>30 2wonderY: No, mostly her age is required for the way the mechanics of the plot work and have some effects on her resiliency and level of aches and pains. I'd guess she's under 50, but near in any case. She's a bit kick ass.

My second attempt at cheese biscuits was edible. Not much more. I won't try to improvise with Honey Kettle Biscuit Mix again. It has sugar and some amount of shortening included. The biscuits spread more than they rose and browned way more than expected, which, as they required extra cooking time meant they almost burnt. Pretty much wasted a hunk of good sharp cheddar.

>32 quondame: If you're looking for a cheese biscuit mix, I'd recommend Red Lobster's version (here's an Amazon link but I've seen it in grocery stores), it tastes pretty good.

A slightly belated happy new thread, Susan!

>31 quondame: Ah, OK. Thanks for the clarification, Susan.

Hi Susan.

Sorry the cheese biscuit experiments haven't panned out. I had a pretty tasty cheese biscuit recipe from a former co-worker, Michelle - not a mix - but pretty easy to make anyway, and without the cheese makes a great plain biscuit, too. I didn't keep the cheese version, but I just posted the plain biscuit recipe on my thread in case you want to check it out, and I've sent an email to another former co-worker to see if she has it. Sadly, Michelle died of Covid last September, and I don't want to bother her husband.

Happy Wednesday, Susan. Happy New Thread. I hope your week is going well.

>33 kgodey: I'll check for it. Thanks for the link. I want to make sure my next attempt doesn't include any sugar or other sweetening, sweet biscuits being a bit of a turn off for me.

>34 bell7: Thanks Mary!

>35 alcottacre: You're welcome!

>36 karenmarie: Thanks, I'll check it out. So far the two cheese biscuit recipes just include adding 4oz grated cheddar and some pepper and chives to the base. I figure I can probably substitute chili powder and jalapenos for pepper and chives and it's worth a try. However not perfect last night's attempt was, they are gone now.

>37 msf59: Hi Mark! So far pretty well, I've signed up for my 4th Covid vaccine tomorrow. I haven't had any sever reaction so far so I hope it doesn't mess with my Friday dinner at a friend's table for an award ceremony.

71) The Maid



This is a clever piece of work and readable - though it does flag a bit in the middle, but entirely artificial. Molly the Maid's mental differences and capacities are entirely at the service of the plot and many other repeated or single incidents were flat out unbelievable. This is using an individual on the spectrum pretty much for kicks and giggles for all its pretense that it portrays her sympathetically.

It's now a day overdue, so I'm glad it
Meets April TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book where the numbers in the number of pages are in sequence

>39 quondame: I bought this in the secondhand shop in the town where we were visiting en famille. Now I know why it was in such like-new condition. I believed too many 4- and 5-star reviews on both LT and Goodreads.

>40 SandyAMcPherson: It's a decent read if you turn critical facilities and your adherence to your observations at better hotels to low.

72) Star Mother



Queue up the heavy, and I mean heavy violin track as spirited Ceris takes on the always fatal role of Star Mother to save her sister or her fiancee's actual love. And don't be too surprised when ...
Well schmaltz isn't my favorite shortening and this is just dripping with the sacrificial romance of it all.

This is due today and is, alas, going to be days* late for whoever has it in their holds, but it wasn't going back without me reading it as it
Meets April TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with a link to Star Trek

*The library it's checked out from is closed Fri-Sun. Well, maybe open Sat, it is once a month. I'll check.

73) Edith & Little Bear Lend A Hand



When the dirt and noise of NYC prompts Mr. Bear to leave for the country, Edith and Little Bear are unhappy and become active in doing what they can after their protest in front of city hall - dressed as hippies! - is ignored. The photos are lovely, but somehow much less sharp than in earlier books.

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book published in the 1970s OR aimed at the under 8s

I got my second Moderna booster this afternoon. I feel like I should have been in bed a couple of hours ago. But that may be because I was up late reading and the wee 4-legged darlings woke me by rattling my bedroom door - about 2 hours earlier than they usually indulge in that activity, but my brain was too sleep-slogged to figure out I should just climb back in bed.

74) 10 Chaises



A popup book containing 10 chairs, in French.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #10 : Read a book with fewer than 100 members listed on LT

75) When you Trap a Tiger



On the way to her grandmother's home Lily sees a Tiger in the road. She is happy to be with her halmoni again and listen to stories but her sister resents moving away from her life and her mother is burdened with seeking work. About identity, death and the stories that give meaning to them and to life itself. I just felt a little too distanced from Lily and her choices to get fully involved.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book for the Twenty Questions Rolling Challenge

The Writers & Illustrators of the Future annual awards dinner was relatively painless and even a bit of fun. All but one couple at our table were in our SF social group and unfamiliar couple, about 20-30 years younger, shared some of the same fandoms. Presenters included Nnedi Okafor, Larry Niven, Robert Sawyer and Jodi Lynn Nye. Aside from every contestant dutifully thanking L. Ron Hubbard, and a truly bad poem of his being featured, it was a pretty innocuous event, though with 32 thank you speeches, not short.

There was a special tribute to David Farland/Dave Wolverton who wrote On My Way to Paradise, which I remembered for years bare of the author and title, and which was found for me either here or on GR. My memories were pretty far off, but it couldn't have been any other book. Quite a number of the writers who won gave great tributes to his mentorship.

I don't play, but

76) The Kingdoms



Starting in an alternate 1900 London, 93 years after the British lost to Napoleon and England became a backwater colony of the Paris and many English live as bonds slaves to French masters. Joe arrives in London with no memory, a sever case of an amnesia that is more mildly affecting many. We follow him through a series of encounters which become more and more adventurous and do learn much of what has happened and why in this strangely involving story of two damaged and displaced men and some intense women. Some disappearances and deaths are overly convenient for my taste, and I might have rated it as high as 4.5 if the obstacles were elegantly rather than arbitrarily banished.

BB from @souloftherose

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with a maritime setting

>48 quondame: You'd have gotten me with that one except that it's already on my list! 😀

>49 drneutron: I'm glad I read it, but trying to hold onto its logic makes my brain fuzz.

77) Blue Skinned Gods



The blue skinned boy Kalki is raised in an isolated ashram with his parents, aunt, uncle and cousin and spends his days providing healing prayers and instruction. While he appears to pass the three tests of his godhood, what makes more of an impact are the three losses - his cousin, his love, his mother. Finding what he really is he is still left to find who he might be. The end is rather abrupt.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #10 : Read a book with fewer than 100 members listed on LT

>51 quondame: Congratulations on reaching 75, Susan!

Hi Susan my dear, Congrats on reaching 75 books read for the year dear friend.

Hurray for 75 already!! You are doubling my reading pace. : )

>52 FAMeulstee: >53 johnsimpson: >54 Berly: Thank you Anita, John, and Kim!

I think I am going totally crazy. I could have sworn I made reservations for dinner tonight early in April. There aren't that many restaurants that do Monday night service, so I had checked on a couple of new places and there were available reservations at the second. But no where in all my records could I find anything though I recall assuring Mike I had gotten a confirmation. The closest message I can find is a confirmation from the reservation service that I am confirmed as registered. Well, I couldn't get the time I preferred, but there is still an almost as suitable opening, so I guess that's fine, but from now on I'll have Mike do the reservations as this is the second time one has evaporated out of my reality.

Oh, the occasion is for our 35th wedding anniversary, which is kind of amazing really, considering what gnarly, cranky folk we are. But we do laugh and love Becky and the dogs.

Congrats on #35!! We celebrated #31 last week. : )

Congrats on hitting 75 and 35!

>56 Berly: Thank you Kim and Congratulations on your 31st!

>57 drneutron: Thank you!

That was some dinner. The richest "Italian" I've ever had that wasn't covered in melted cheese. One appetizer was two huge pieces of a lightly sourdough bread that had been deep fried. I had 4 huge head-on prawns with a tangy sauce and Mike had a pasta that somehow seemed to concentrate both the intensity of the meat sauce and the richness of cheesy pasta and square it. There were a few too many salt crystals scattered about. I entered aware of my largeness and left feeling monumental.

As a bit of amusement, the hostess asked if I'd been before and when I said not, but I had chosen it because it was open on Monday and had Mediterranean food, I was told that, sorry, they served Italian food, but with a modern interpretation. The on site description states: "By utilizing old-world ingredients and styles of preparation, Chef Fiorelli has drawn inspiration from the coastal classics of Italy, Greece, France and Spain to create a menu of contemporary dishes with a Californian sensibility. The menu captures the spirit of being on holiday while fully celebrating the exquisite locally sourced ingredients found here at home."

78) Althea



A light, slight, pleasing visit to the Regency realm with out glaring anachronisms and some almost interesting characters going through some almost interesting variations on couples getting together.

Ricochet from @jjmcgaffey

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book set in a country that is a member of the British Commonwealth

Congrats on reading 76 books!

>60 figsfromthistle: Thank you!

79) One Last Stop



Would you like to spend months in Flatbush with August in a paradise for 20something LGBTQ folk, with an apartment shared with 3 creative and caring roommates, across the hall from an accountant/drag queen? August gets a job at Pancake Billy's house of Pancakes and commutes to Brooklyn College via the Q train on which she cute meets Jane. Yes, there are long bits of angsty is "she into me" pages, but there are major kinks on the rails to true love, and the story and setting are delightfully absorbing and out there.

This was on the NYT list of best F&SF of 2021

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book whose title includes at least three one-syllable words

Arrgh! Two (at least) of the people sitting at our table Friday night have tested positive for Covid.

>58 quondame: Sounds really wonderful. LA is such a foodie town but seeking out those restau gems is probably a talent for the locals.

>63 quondame: I hope you and Mike are clear of this insidious virus. We get our second booster next week, but with all the mask mandates being lifted (stupid stupid political decisions), and apparently not re-engineered vaccines, I'm not sure how effective this will be.

>62 quondame: Great review! I enjoyed the story of One Last Stop, but even more so just enjoyed the setting and side characters.

>63 quondame: Oh no! I hope you escape it. My brother tested positive Christmas morning after 10 of us shared Christmas Eve dinner with him. Somehow we all managed to escape and nobody else got sick -- sending you that same energy!

>64 SandyAMcPherson: I have found the last two "special event" restaurants by googling. There are all sorts of best-of lists, and while I remember that there was one restaurant that was a complete dud, the others have been memorably good. I do solicit recommendations, and there was the great taco hunt, never absolutely concluded, that Becky and I went on that revealed the gem we had been overlooking all along. Really good carnitas.

>65 curioussquared: Yes, the cast was a delight and the feeling of place as well as Billy's and Delilah's.

>64 SandyAMcPherson: >65 curioussquared: Thank you both. I got tested today. I am feeling a bit draggy and drippy, but also I'm running on 6-7hrs sleep, so that and mild hypochondria might account for the offness.

Well, Mike's test came back negative. I should know no later than Sat. afternoon what mine is.
Mike has been binging on older albums - I remember several days in a row of Frank Sinatra. Most of them didn't catch my attention, but he had on something tonight that sounded like the tone arm had repeatedly stuck on an unfortunate grove - repeatedly. It turns out Tiggers don't like Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Now it's a return to Fred Astaire.

>63 quondame: *hugs* and best wishes for not having it yourselves.

>68 ArlieS: Thank you! So far no sign of illness at least.

80) Oh, the Thinks you can Think!



Mostly things that I wouldn't think, alas, but fun to view them passing by!

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with a repeated title word

81) The Final Revival of Opal & Nev



Almost the opposite of a mockumentary as the new, and first black woman editor of the music trade publication Aural seeks to understand the duo Opal and Nev, and the label that produced the concert 45 years earlier, where her drummer father was killed in racial violence shortly before her birth. The largeness and smallness of the individuals, the capacities, limitations and betraying flaws set against the early 70s Manhattan create a compelling story. And the 2016 frame is not a loser either, rare in split timeline books.

BB from @raidergirl3

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book with a birthstone in the title

Yay! My Covid test was negative.

>71 quondame: What a relief, Susan!

>72 FAMeulstee: Yes. Though it's scary how few people wear masks when it's such an easy thing to do.

82) Miracle



The Christmas season is almost the ideal setting for Coniie Willis's going through the rapids frantic pacing and several of the stories are in that mode. A couple are closer to horror stories. But it helps to like Christmas stories and be Christian, which I don't generally and am not.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a title in which the middle letter is also a letter in the word APRIL

I'm rather behind, Susan, but congratulations on 75 and 35!

>75 humouress: Thanks Nina!

83) Reconstruction



Dystopias, rooted in vampires, space aliens, greed, war, repression are the backgrounds for Johnson's tales, but unlike most, her characters, while victims, aren't the innocent as much as the compromised. A rich tapestry of disturbing images and limited if any hope.

I've had one or more copies of this book checked out from the library for over two years, auto-renewing until I had to return only to put on hold once more. I'm glad I boosted it up on the read queue as it

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book whose title or author's name includes Abraham, Martin, or John

84) Moonlight & Vines



These stories with their often grim urban setting folded lightly with a whip of fantasy do bear up under repeated readings. Charles de Lint can almost make one feel that even when all real hope is gone, say after death, a step in a positive direction is still possible.

Another book I've had checked out for a long, if not quite so long, time, I read these stories as leavening between those of >77 quondame:, though I may have confused some vampires from one to the other. At least it

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book whose title includes a closed compound noun

>2 quondame: I so enjoy seeing the posts regarding dolls. Sadly, both my daughters do not understand my obsession with them. I haven't added any for awhile. There are some in the attic that need to be carried down soon. I've run out of room, but don't want to store them in the hot attic.

Where do you store all your dolls?

>79 Whisper1: Most of my dolls are in cupboards we had built in our attached garage. I do worry about whether they are being damaged by the temperature fluctuation, but it's there or no where. TMI below!
The cupboards share a wall with the house, so they aren't as hot as an attic would be. Some of the more recent acquisitions are in boxes in shelves in the garage and some in my sewing room closet, and a few, my beloved Madame Alexander 8" Maggie Mix-ups, are on display in my bedroom. My vintage Barbies and Repros are in a ceder trunk in the bedroom. And most recent acquisitions are in the living room in boxes lining the wall with the fireplace (never used) or in my Big House in Paris doll house.

It's good to see you out visiting threads. I'm sure you'll soon be enjoying reading and other pleasurable pursuits.

85) On Fragile Waves



Mostly told from the viewpoint of pre-teen Firuzeh, we follow her Afghan family through their halting escape to the island refugee prison maintained by Australia. The long detention is followed by a difficult time in Melbourne where all the bitterness of their limited life finally surfaces for her parents. This can't be close to the worst that refugees from the war torn regions suffer but it make it seem miraculous that any functioning human beings emerge from such hell.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book recommended on Facebook or another public forum, name the forum

Susan, Do you have a favorite doll? I may have memtioned that when I was a child, my sisters and I longed for a Chatty Cathy doll. Alas, my dolls voice box did not last long. I did some research to learn that it was a defect Mattel produced. Years later, Penny stories sold a reproduction doll. I believe the price was $100.00. I bought one for myself and my two sisters. They were in heaven when they received their dolls just in time for Christmas. Another favorite group is my Sasia dolls. No longer produced, they are very special.

It is so good to know another member who loves books and dolls! I think we are a rare breed. I'm guessing this, and not sure.

>82 Whisper1: I was so absorbed by the early Barbies and later in the 50s not involved with dolls anymore so that while I knew about Chatty Cathy and Sasha, I was never much interested. I do have one brunette Sasha, the simplest one with the blue drop waist dress.

My enthusiasms vary year to year, but since I owned versions of the two Maggie Mix-ups on the right, and because I have collected many more, I'd have to say they are an enduring favorite:


Since dolls displays can compete with book shelving and both for storage, there may be some conflict and so some rarity of the dual enthusiasm!

Did you know you can size the pictures by including height=300 or whatever you like after the <img ? I'd appreciate if you could edit your message to make the doll photos in your message somewhat smaller.

86) How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House



Not long but dense. The west Indies environment of rich tourists set among the desperately poor locals is all the violence required, well that and the history of enslavement, to generate the seething violence which pulverizes so many of the lives in this book.

I checked out Remote Sympathy for #9, but found out it set at a concentration camp, so nope and chose this to
Read for April TIOLI Challenge #9 : Read a book Longlisted for the Women's Prize this decade

>83 quondame:, Hi Susan, I know how to make images the same size. At the time I posted, I was in a hurry. I'll go back and make the two uniform. Thanks. I have a very large cabinet that contains many of the Julie Good Kruger dolls. I am tempted to obtain the entire collection, but have no more room. It doesn't make sense to but them to store them in boxes, yet, I so want the entire collection. And, you are so very correct in your comment about books and dolls conflicting for space. Thus far books are winning. I haven't read a lot in March and April. But I am trying to read those I currently own rather than obtain some from the library.

I've been a member of the group since 2008. This year it seems that there are more excellent book recommendations. I'm adding many to my TBR pile than ever before.

>85 Whisper1: Thanks for fixing that. Even though I can only display a small fraction of my dolls, patterns or miniature tools, I still like knowing I have them. Though it is annoying when I've found I've unknowingly purchases something I already have. With the mini-tools I do it on purpose, sometimes for pairs for earrings or other jewelry, sometimes because of variations, so that they really aren't duplicates for me, or because I can get a piece with provenance.

87) Charmed Life



Fanciful tale of two orphans, the elder a witch, in a Victorianesque world of magic. It went quite well until Gwendolyn left then dragged until the final action. I'm not a fan of villain driven plots as this turned out to be.

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #9 : Read a book Longlisted for the Women's Prize this decad

Another doll collector here, although in a very limited way. I have several older china dolls, and love miniatures. I never cared much for dolls I could play with, even as a kid. I think it may have been because a dear "Auntie" (actually my grandmother's cousin) gave me a bridal party of slightly smaller than Barbie-size dolls, with non-removable clothes she had crocheted when I was 7 or 8 years old, and I adored them. (This was before Barbie came along--I did rather enjoy dressing her, Ken and Skipper later on.) Maybe we should have a Doll Fanciers' thread!

Hi Susan!

>63 quondame: and etc. and >71 quondame: Yay! So glad the test was negative.

The only doll I was ever interested in was my Barbie, although I do remember getting a Betsy Wetsy doll and being totally disgusted with it eventually. I still have Barbie, Ken, and my outfits and some accessories. My sister wanted a Chatty Cathy one year but Santa didn’t oblige for some reason.

glitter-graphics.com

Congratulations on hitting 75!!

>70 quondame: Adding Opal & Nev to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Susan!

>71 quondame: Glad to hear that your test was negative.

>78 quondame: I have that one sitting next to my bed to read. I wonder if I can sneak it into April's TIOLI Challenges. . .

Have a wonderful weekend!

>88 laytonwoman3rd: I destroyed every doll I was given that could not be undressed. It's always been a wardrobe thing for me, first Cissette, which my friends had with all sorts of outfits and furniture and then the 8" Betsy McCall which I was about to get for myself when I let myself be persuaded to get something different. I did get a Barbie and a very minimal # of outfits and sewed for her, but not for all that long - I was 10 when Barbie was introduced, and it didn't take that long for me to stop playing with dolls.

If the miniatures thread is any indication, I doubt a doll thread would be very active.

>89 karenmarie: Thanks Karen! Baby dolls of any sort really weren't my thing, probably because I liked noticeable wardrobe changes.

>90 alcottacre: Thank you Stasia. Both are very readable, though quite different except for the deeply urban texture.

I found images on Sasha dolls. Here is one image:

What a lovely array of redheads. Are they yours? The only one I have is this model, though I don't recall the hair having quite so much wave. I do have some clothing (of course) for her.

88) The Outside



It went on too long. Just because things are happening for the characters doesn't mean the plot stays involving. The author stating she is autistic should validate the use of an autistic MC and supporting character, but I'm already overloaded with autistic MCs. It might be worth it for a Lovecarft subversion collector and it isn't bad, just not sufficiently absorbing for me to have enjoyed reading it.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book with a tie to a book you read in the first quarter

Dropping in to wish you a wonderful Sunday :)

>94 quondame: I think I will give that one a pass.

Have a wonderful week, Susan!

I put off making an optometry appointment forever, but finally called today and my choice of appointment is today or May 24. It looks like I'll be going out again. I was able to pick up Harbinger, White Silence, and Ogres earlier this afternoon.

>91 quondame: But I've posted new pics of mini books in another thread in that group. Take a look:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/152479

>98 2wonderY: I starred that thread - strange I somehow thought the miniature thread was in 75-BPY.

This afternoon was devoted to a meeting with one of my long term friends who was visiting from her retirement in NH where her husband grew up. First a bit of tidying and cleaning and then the visit and dinner. I met her in 1980 when we were assigned to a 6mo project and we've kept in touch, though much more occasionally as the years drifted by. While we worked at the same company we were favorite lunch buddies, alternating from her place to mine to a restaurant. Food has always been a major topic of discussion, but also books as we send each other Kindle favorites a couple of times a year and reading lists in which her husband also participates as his reading tastes have a larger overlap with mine than hers do.

89) Isolate



If you really like Modesitt's day by day, meal by meal, every outfit described, righteous man who respects women who has perfect female associate/wife, well this book is for you. It is not a patch on The Hands of the Emperor despite some superficial resemblances. It is also too long, but other than previously specified caveats, relatively painless. Well, unless heavy constant dosing of liberal agenda politics in a made up universe is personally painful, then the book would be positively agonizing.

Meets April TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book with a title in which the middle letter is also a letter in the word

90) Eight Million Gods



It's not so much that this has more going on than some other of Wen Spencer's novels, just that it was harder for me to connect to the characters and to believe that the relationship between Nikki and Leo was even slightly probable in the time frame and what was happening. It felt very much as if connecting emotions didn't make it to the page. This was a re-read and not one thing felt familiar nor does it feel like any aspect of the story has sticking properties after this read.

Read for April TIOLI Challenge #4: The "One in a Million" Challenge: Read a book that has a number that is a million or greater in the title or subtitle

>101 quondame: Eight million Gods - surely a few too many?

>102 PaulCranswick: It's refers to a Japanese way of expressing too many to innumerate.

For some reason I've again caught the 1001 BTRBYD bug. The second half of the 20th century is almost all books I've never heard of. And I'm sure many books I've heard great things about are missing. But what?

I'm still working the spreadsheets to figure out how many of the official list I've read. If I want to make a stab a substantial portion I'll see what can fit into challenges at the start of each month. The months AAC should be straight forward.

My first impression is that the list is heavily weighted toward book written in English of and or of European origin, though I've noticed some outliers after the 18th century.

>103 quondame: I keep a running total, Susan, but it gets complicated by so many editions of the book now.
I find this List Challenge site good fun and it helps me keep a permanent track. Now with all editions it states that there are actually 1,306 books.
https://www.listchallenges.com/1001-books-you-should-read-before-you-die-complet...

Hi Susan.

>99 quondame: Nice to have a visit with a long-term friend.

>104 PaulCranswick: That was pretty painless - I got 190 there, a few more on other versions, but there are at least 10 titles of which I am very unsure, so 190 will do.

>105 karenmarie: Very nice. I've only had a few and two have died.

91) Hench



I expected a bit more hilarity, some goofiness really, but this is a smooth moving exploration into the costs of superpowers, revenge, monomania and told with some humor, yes, and with a scattering of building busting super-nastiness.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book with a flying animal in the title or author's name

92) Descender 1: Tin Stars



Interesting art and somewhat less interesting story of run in between civilization of several sentient species, including humans, and AI robots current and past. The aliens were interesting sort of - aside from one bluish elf-like sort they all seemed fantasy/ET/horror derived and of course the one that threaten our MCs are all ugly.

BB from @Crazymamie

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with a character that is not a letter in the title

>104 PaulCranswick: That list site might have been really dangerous for me, except it presents the list as a succession of cover images, which doesn't really do it for me. If the book is a classic, it's been issued with many different covers, and the one I read has approximately zero chance of being the one they show. Just give me the author and title, fit more on the page, and thereby make it searchable using the in-browser search function.

>108 ArlieS: I also prefer the list format. I have a suspicion that the cover format is to make copying the list a bit more of a challenge.
I haven't figured out how to extract LT lists into a format that's easy for me to manipulate, but while manipulating lists on computers was something I was a wiz at, I mostly stumble about these days.

93) Speak



Both humans and computers "speak" to us in this interleaved story which includes people whose speech is inadequate to connect well enough to those for whom they care. And some who find fear of or attraction to artificial speakers. The reaction against AI that is the force encompassing the later 3 narratives is unexplained in its severity or ubiquity, no part of the USA being in step with any other part. The Alan Turing letters are very poignant, though having a historical figure shuffled among fictitious ones is a bit disorienting. No position on the self awareness of any AI in the story is overtly given beyond the speech of the artificial entities being as coherent as the other voices.

I was introduced to Turing machines at a UCLA extension course of finite automata in which I enrolled 3 times before being able to complete it - the first time I dropped out due to an car accident, the second time it was canceled for inadequate enrollment. It gave me tools to tackle several of the assignments I was given over many years and deal competently with event driven software, so I have many positive associations with FA.

BB from @mahsdad

Maybe someone will add a challenge that fits it better but it
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book where every word in the title starts with a different letter

94) Felix The Railway Cat



For cat lovers. Felix is brought up and continues life as the station cat at Huddersfield, Yorkshire. Felix has cat sorts of adventures culminating in become a FaceBook favorite. I'm not a cat person.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book by an author for whom you have read ONLY ONE other book by that same author before

I'm still reading Cloud Cuckoo Land. I did manage to set up an appointment less than 2 weeks out for PT on my troubling left shoulder. Since hip discomfort won't let me sleep the night through on my right side I've been irritating the left shoulder past what I can live with during the day. I've rearranged the multitude of pillows and supports so I can sleep on my back without wrecking my it or courting owies in my big toes. After 5 nights the left shoulder is less generally painful but lifting my arm to apply antiperspirant or a fitted garment still hurts plenty.
My attempts at sun salutations are still mostly that, just attempts, but I'm getting in the 1 minutes of deep breathing pretty consistently.

Glad you didn't get COVID, but sorry to hear that you need PT. I am currently undergoing that for ankle and hip on the right and knee on the left. Hang in there! I'm trying. LOL Happy Friday! And have fun reading CCL. That seems to be a big hit lately on LT.

>113 Berly: Thank you - and as I write, my slightly feverish husband is off to urgent care to get tested. He's been out and about much more than I over the past 3 weeks. Not to any big indoor gatherings, but some outdoor ones and a couple of small indoor club administration meetings. Well, pooh!

Eieckes! Hip-ankle-knee damage is discouraging. I hope the PT is able to help a lot.

95) Cloud Cuckoo Land



A multiple time period, 15th, 20-21st, 22nd century tale connected by a 1st century story of transformations and journeys. About the power of story and the real treasures found on journeys.

BB by @jnwelch

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book with a flying animal in the title or author's name

96) Beezus and Ramona



I suppose that it's possible for an older sister to feel guilt because of not loving her younger sibling all the time, but it doesn't ring any bells. Now feeling inadequate for not receiving praise for something the little darling does, yep, that one hits. The resolutions are a bit overly sugared.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book by an author who has died in 2021 or 2022

Happy Mother's Day, Susan. I am into the second half of Cloud Cuckoo Land but it is going to take me a few more days to finish it.

97) White Silence



Elizabeth has always seen and been able to interpret auras, but her early experiences and her father's advice have cautioned her not only to keep that secret, but to mute it. Then she senses the her husband's boss is too interested in her - for her abilities. Her nightmare, or perhaps nightmares begins. The story moves well, but at the end leaves the impression that it wasn't all that well put together. And the action scenes are full of annoying repetitions.

Because Jodi Taylor and this was getting close to having to be returned to the library when @Berly fired this shot.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book where every word in the title starts with a different letter

>117 msf59: Thanks Mark. We're all just hunkered down here drinking our hot soup and hoping to feel better soon. Have fun with CCL!

>118 quondame: A second time book #93, Susan.

And then I also found >70 quondame: >74 quondame: are both #79

So you are at 95 :-)

>119 quondame: We're all just hunkered down here drinking our hot soup and hoping to feel better soon. I hope Mike tested negative and it's something else for all of you.

>120 FAMeulstee: Thank you. I'll get to it when I'm feeling a bit more clear headed.

>121 karenmarie: Alas no. He tested positive. But his fever broke and he is feeling better. I'm just dragging with sniffles and the palate portion of my throat sore. More fluids and hot soup in store.

So far The Library at Mount Char is not the comfortable sort, nor is there any likelihood of it becoming so.

I'm sorry Mike tested positive, glad his fever broke and he's feeling better. I hope you and Becky are Covid-free.

>124 karenmarie: I'm pretty sure I do have Covid. I just don't feel like going out and getting tested. Especially since my main complaint is being very dizzy.

So far Becky isn't feeling at all sick.

98) The Library at Mount Char



Not quite enough. There is some cleverness and some interesting world building but nothing complete and whole. And there is a good deal of nastiness and body count as the the ghastly apostles flail about in the absence of their one time monster in chief.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #2: The "My Happy Place" Challenge: Read a book with the word "library" or "libraries" in either the title or subtitle

>124 karenmarie: I read that one last year and what I remember, it was quite gory.

Anyhow, hope you are having a good week so far.

>127 figsfromthistle: The good news is that none of us is very sick at this point. The other news is that we are all a bit ill and thus stuck inside for at least a week. So I'm afraid that's as good as it has the potential of being.

Sorry you're all stuck inside for at least a week, and hope you all continue to not be very sick.

>129 karenmarie: Thanks. We all seem to be better today than yesterday. I have only a bit of dizziness and Mike and Becky have lower more intermittent fevers.

Nutmeg and Gizmo are quite happy with all the people time. Though they are now indulging in scattered, solo, napping.

So sorry to hear you are all ill, but good you are better today. I hated The Library at Mount Char--I think I got it as an ER book.

Being the same age as yourself, I also only had the one Barbie, the second edition, which did have the bubble hairdo instead of the pony-tailed original. Mine was a redhead and I still have her, but I always liked my Revlon doll better, and yes, my grandmother sewed clothing for both of them, as did I. But my Saucy Walker doll that I got when I was five--every year when my grandmother sewed my back to school and my easter dresses, she made a matching one for my Nancy, and those are lovely to still have as well.

>131 ronincats: I do envy you your grandmother. Mine was most charitably described as formidable. It must be lovely to have not only things she made but the memories. I have some nice flatware and a couple of remarkable pieces of jewelry that were my mother's in between.

>122 quondame: >125 quondame: Sorry to hear that you and Mike are suffering with COVID. Take care of yourselves! I hope Becky continues to be unaffected.

>133 alcottacre: Thanks. Well, Becky has been showing symptoms, but mild enough so that her WFH hasn't been interrupted. She and I are mostly just lower energy, while Mike has added a cough that seems to have settled in. Any fevers have been low and intermittent.

Becky and I both decided it was time to order in again. Shawarma. We did two whole days without, but that's enough. Mike doesn't get it.

Hope you three continue to feel better and better! Dang COVID. And glad White Silence was a decent read for you. I enjoyed it a lot.

99) Nightwood



Much of the language of Nightwood is impenetrable burl, root to branch, which curls around the subject in hints and suggestions but rarely points. Aside from the occasional thorns. We enter and perhaps exit a labyrinth of obsessions often erotic and all unsatisfied and leave the characters self-crucified there.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read it was
Read for May TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has the word two or a word related to two in the title or author's name.

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry that you are ill with Mike and Becky too. I know that you're taking care of yourself, but I have to participate by saying, "Do!"
Hope you're all feeling 100% by the weekend!

>135 Berly: >137 LizzieD: Thank you. We're doing pretty well. I'm bummed about having to re-schedule my appointments and got lost trying to in hold limbo today. Mike and Becky take their temperature 4 or more times a day and mostly it's not technically fever although a bit above their normal. I've noticed some dizziness but am mostly fine. Absent mindedness is really high though.

Also, those library books will have to be picked up sometime!

Hi Susan! I echo Peggy by saying that hope you're all feeling 100% by the weekend.

>136 quondame: That’s quite an intriguingly written review. But enough to warn me off.

>139 karenmarie: Thanks!

>140 2wonderY: When I can't find something I've already checked out from the library that meets a challenge I'm starting to choose titles from one of the 1000/1001 lists. I think this is the first so chosen because it looked short - in pages it was, but very dense. It did unfurl a noticeable bit about 25% in but re-furled intermittently, whenever the Dr. opened his mouth until he fell over drunk. It's both very early 20th century and not what you expect early 20th century lit to be.

>134 quondame: Yeah, Kerry and I did not have exactly the same symptoms when we had it earlier in the year either. I am glad to hear that Becky's symptoms are mild.

>142 alcottacre: Becky's main complaint is that she spent all those months being super careful because she was worried about me getting a sever case and I seem to have the mildest case of all. Of course I was the most recently boostered person as I got the 4th after Mike and she didn't qualify for it.

100) American Fire



A true crime set on the Virginia Eastern Shore, where people are born heres or moved heres scores of abandoned properties were burned down over a few months. The culprits story, so far as it is known, and the investigators story are interleaved after the history and peculiarities of the local are given. Sometimes absorbing and sometimes dragging, the narrative makes the obvious points.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book from a genre you haven't read yet in 2022

Becky was running a slight fever today and felt the need to borrow one of my lightweight down blankets to sit in my recliner. Ah well. Then she decided she needed her own lightweight down blanket - so off to Amazon. Well, it would be too much carrying her weighted blanket up and down the stairs. By the time it gets here I hope she's not feeling any need for it, nor do I want to encourage her to colonize my recliner. That thing was a major purchase to give my back regular vacations from holding me upright, something it complains about sharply when feeling badly used.

>145 quondame: Sorry to hear about Becky. I hope she remembers who the recliner belongs to when this is over and done!

>144 quondame: Sounds rather interesting. (The touchstone goes to an Oliver North title, however.)

>145 quondame: Whenever my daughter comes to visit, in full glowing health, she appropriates my recliner and the lap quilt that lives on it. Not her father's recliner....MINE. Age and motherhood are not respected as they should be, I feel.

>146 alcottacre: Oh, she does. She did extend her stint because the dogs had colonized her legs, but not for too long.

>147 laytonwoman3rd: It's not a bad thing for a daughter to expect her mother to allow some encroachment, but there are, must be limits. That chair is mine! My husband has a couch and a 70"+ TV, but no recliner. She takes over that rather more but understands that she has to give it up arbitrarily.

Checking my library loans I saw I had 12 books due this coming Tuesday, so I just dove into the one that I figured would be the most fun read even though it won't advance my TIOLI coverage. I don't think any of them would, worse luck.

101) Harbinger



Very much a middle of a middle book. We spend a few scattered chapters with the main actors, though the Harbingers are all off stage. Interesting developments, some backstories, and a huge cliffhanger of an ending.

Wen Spencer sends rough versions of her work in progress to Patreon supporters like me, so I've previously read one or more versions of almost every scene, but there were a couple of surprises, one of them rather a delight.

One of a dozen books with immanent due dates it
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book where every word in the title starts with a different letter

102) At the Owl Woman Saloon



Stories of relentlessly ordinary people most of whom live outside the urban sprawl. In each life is some exaggerated level of connection to and or observation of that which makes all of us resonate at life's edges and cracks.

BB from @laytonwoman3rd

Another one of a dozen books with immanent due dates it
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book with a flying animal in the title or author's name

103) Ogres



Told in second person to the protagonist who rebels against the Ogres, this is not a happy end of oppression yarn but a, thankfully not too prolonged, snark.

The third of a dozen books due today
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book where every word in the title starts with a different letter

>151 quondame: Thanks for the nod, Susan. I was here before, and saw your review before you edited me in there--I meant to post mentioning how much I enjoyed the collection, and then got distracted by realizing I hadn't posted my review to the book page, so I did that...and then it was time to go somewhere!

>153 laytonwoman3rd: You're welcome and thank you for bringing the collection to my attention.

Well, it was out and about day for Mike and me. He did some rather delayed shopping while I left books at a couple of libraries and went to my PT appointment after confirming that it was OK to do so. I seem to have irritated the connective tissue around the shoulder joint, but not likely to have torn anything in the shoulder or have any disc compression in the neck area. Still, it may take 6mo of stretches and manipulations before the left arm is as limber as the right.

>152 quondame: Hmmm, saw that at the library, looked interesting. Given the rating, maybe not….

>155 drneutron: It's not bad bad, just not to my taste.

Well of all the books due today, the physical books were either auto-renewed or returned, the eBook either re-checked out or placed back on hold. So now I have a slightly lower number of books due June 7th, including some I have intended for TIOLI challenges this month, so maybe there won't be quite such a lump in the TBR snake's innards in June. Ack! June 1/2 a year read away!

I'm still reading The Devil's Dance though I might be able to finish it tonight in spite of having wasted way too much time trying to pick up coffee - half the tiny parking lot for Peet's was taken over for construction and it was otherwise street cleaning day locally. 3 or more trips around the block failed to present me with anywhere I could park without adding a block just to get to the pay station for parking fees. And that was on the edge of what distance I might have been able to do.

Earlier I'd asked Becky and Mike if they'd like me to pick them up sandwiches from the Italian deli. They thought I was returning from that when I was just returning from the failed coffee venture and were quite disappointed. I'd scheduled the deli pickup for after the Santa Monica library opens at 2pm. That worked out well, although Mike had not understood that a sandwich with "the works" has rather a lot on it. Yes, onions, lettuce, tomato, mustard, dressing, giardiniera, pickles. And the hot giardiniera is really hot. Next time it's mustard, onions and lettuce for Mike. That's what Becky ordered for herself.

104) The Devils' Dance



A sometimes intense sometimes engaging account of the last months of the Uzbek author Abdulla Qodiriy interleaved with imagined scenes from his lost historical novel with many inclusions of Uzbek poetry which seems more self referential and generally opaque than anything from Tale of Genjii.

Having to read this on my iPad gave me a good deal of trouble as it is heavier and more difficult to handle than an ordinary hardback. Also Overdrive terminates library loans whether or not the device is online, so it's a good thing I finished it before tomorrow's due date.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book written by an author born in a country from where you have not read any previous authors

>151 quondame: I took that same BB but unfortunately my local library does not have a copy.

Have a wonderful weekend, Susan!

>159 alcottacre: That's too bad. It's rare that Los Angeles City library doesn't have a title, but sometimes it's one copy in the reference section. I ran up against that trying for 1001 list titles. But among LA City, LA County and Santa Monica City, I can usually get a title within a month or two, except a few really popular new ones. I love my libraries!

>93 quondame: Hi Susan. It's been awhile since I've felt well enough to post and visit threads. The image of the red haired Stasia dolls are not mine. I do have one with read hair and a white dress. I also have the same dark haired one you own. After awhile, the stringing of the dolls became lose. At the time, the cost was $70 to fix. I kept the doll (a male with a blue jumpsuit, and a read bandana) but didn't have the doll repaired.

Like my book accumulation, I am trying to stop purchasing dolls. I have so many objects in the house that it really is time to down size. Both require difficult decisions. I look back at the dolls I gave away years ago, and wish I still had, for example my first Patti Play Pal doll is one that I wish I kept.

>161 Whisper1: I do hope you'll begin feeling more the thing soon. At least there is some real prospect of that being the case.

I haven't yet restrung any of the dolls I have that need it, but it does not look terribly difficult or expensive for the materials. Nowadays some BJDs come unstrung and the buyer has to assemble them - there are many videos and while there are special tools some of the loops could be jury-rigged from wire and tape if it were only a doll or two to be done.

105) The Wolves of Willoughby Chase



I don't know if I would have liked this if I read it when I was young, but it did not appeal much at my age, I was just raging at the incompetence demonstrated by the parents. Who invites an unknown niece as a companion for their daughter to be supervised by an unknown cousin before departing on a months possibly years long journey!?! At least it did bother to clear up all the how could that have happened with a sentence or two, but nope. Barring a moment or two I just wanted it to be over.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge 12: Read a book with a 5-word title

106) Concrete



In the last quarter of the 20th century weren't the wails of intellectual midlife male anguish beginning to die out, dampened by the weight of themselves? Well we are caught for the brief pages of Concrete in a prolonged wail as disgust at nearly everything, self included, isolation and utter self involvement have compacted with a serious degenerative illness to render mentally paralyzed this volume's subject, the matrix of the concrete arbitrarily complicated with a inclusion involving a young woman of infinite misfortune in Palma.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die it was
Read for May TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book first published in the 1980s or set in school setting

>163 quondame: Ah, a classic of my childhood. You do have to suspend disbelief and just go along for the ride, and then it's fun.

>165 humouress: I can see the spunky girls and their supporters taking care of each other being very appealing. Though the fact that the literal wolves are dismissed as soon as the children need to travel, and don't really have any further impact was disappointing, though the human wolves were quite bad enough.

107) Voyage on the Great Titanic



An unconvincing diary of a young companion engaged by a wealthy woman returning without her husband on the Titanic. It is part travelogue, part social commentary lite.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge 10: Read a book of historical fiction having anything to do with the Titanic

108) The Third Man



Written before the script of the movie because the movie was in the works to provide character, mood and detail to draw from. It has peculiar framing techniques and one can almost hear narration. Anna and Frau Koch are pretty much ciphers as was period practice, though Anna, if not give character, is given interestingly expressed values.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read it was
Read for May TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book with a word in the title implying a number

>166 quondame: I meant to come back and add to my original post that it may not have been uncommon in times past that parents might 'invite an unknown niece as a companion for their daughter to be supervised by an unknown cousin before departing on a months possibly years long journey'. I have a vague impression that in the days of the British empire, children might have been sent back to England to go to boarding school under similar arrangements. Those were the heydays of the old adage 'children should be seen and not heard' and when children (of rich families) were brought up by nannies, governesses etc and only saw their parents briefly at dinner times.

>168 humouress: Sure, but that didn't quite seem to be the case in the Willoughby/Green family.

109) The Kingdom of this World



An almost mellow, distanced telling of the life and times of Ti Noël in the late 18th early 19th century Haiti, during slavery, revolts, exile and always oppression. A few others individuals are briefly in focus, but while sad the book is remarkably unbitter on the failures of revolution.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read it was
Read for May TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a book that was published within 10 years before or after your birth year

110) Winter Rose



Are the important struggles visible or hidden, in this not-so stranger comes to town narrative crossed with an inverted Sense and Sensibility? A dream flight through what is certainly real to Rois and may have real life and death consequences to her family but is beyond their ability to sense.

I was planning to re-visit this and other McKillip favorites months before I heard of her death so it was ready to
Re-read for May TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book that that you have owned for at least 5 years

Yesterday we got ourselves masked up and went out to see the new Dr. Strange. It was strange. I really need my new glasses, but they haven't come in yet. Next up will be hearing aids. I only heard about a third of the movie, not that the dialog was a huge part of all that was going on, but what would I know.

111) The Man Who Lived Underground



The imagery of the central, underground, section with its immediacy of experiences in absurd materialism or material absurdity is quite haunting. For me the decoupling of the 3 sections with very different rhythms weakens the overall impact, but makes sense in light of the attached essay about the genesis of the novel.

This is due tomorrow and this is the 4th time I've checked it out so I'm glad it
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book with a 5-word title

112) You Sexy Thing



A fun space opera as the diverse multi-species staff of the restaurant who had retired from military service with the Holy Hive Mind escape with a food critic on the racing bioship You Sexy Thing. Only things are more complex than they seem and the ship has a mind which is not entirely its own.

BB from @2wonderY

It was time for something more frivolous and this
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book by an author for whom you have read ONLY ONE other book by that same author

>173 quondame: Check your touchstone. You Sexy Thing

>174 2wonderY: :0) I was a bit confused when I hovered my mouse over Susan's touchstone.

>174 2wonderY: >175 humouress: Thanks, fixed now. I have requested several other of Cat Rambo's books from my local libraries, but not one has been acquired yet. It may happen, a few other oddball books have eventually shown up as eBooks.

113) Hamnet



A fanciful, well told, absorbing, tale of the family in Stratford-upon-Avon from which Shakespeare came, the death of the boy Hamnet forming the central event. The concentration on the mystical element to add interest to Agnes character, had the opposite effect on me, jarring me from the historical recreation aspects.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a play by Shakespeare, a book whose title comes from a Shakespearean play, by an author who shares their first name with a Shakespearean character OR that is set during Shakespeare's lifetime

Arrgh! I checked out The Man Who Died Twice instead of The Man Who Died Twice. Definitely worse than getting the wrong touchstone.

Note: even when I entered [5914276::The Man Who Died Twice], when I saved the message it reverted to the touchstone for the Richard Osman title.

114) The Man Who Died Twice



A fun, well paced way over the top tangle of a mystery that just keeps getting more tangled and thinks that's a good look on it.

Read for May TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book by an author for whom you have read ONLY ONE other book by that same author before

115) The Man Who Died Twice



A potential heir must come to his uncle's estate in the Barbados as a condition to secure the inheritance. But there is some question as to whether the man who arrived is the nephew and the uncle is found dead the second morning after his arrival. Lots of suspects running all over the territory and several women to distract them. Assumed sexism and racism and the straight up protagonist of the lesser efforts of the period.

Obtained by mistake for May TIOLI Challenge #1: but it
Meets May TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book that has the word two or a word related to two in the title or author's name.

Well, I think I am in for the Osman version. LOL. I enjoyed #1 in the series, so someday!

Happy Sunday!

>180 quondame: Ouch! Sorry your last read was disappointing. May the next book be excellent :)

>181 Berly: Yes, it had lots of (inappropriately) funny bits.

>182 figsfromthistle: It wasn't actually painful and sexist 1949-1950 isn't universally as bad as 1955 on - some writers still had in their minds women who worked through the depression and war and so granted them skills to do more than keep house and dress pretty.

I may have to buy my own copy of The Writer's Library, but maybe not. It's currently a toss up. I mean no one has gushed about Frances Hodgson Burnett and there has been praise for both Atonement and Cloud Atlas which aren't to my taste, at all.

Also there have been a couple of times books or series have remained unnamed because they couldn't be praised, and while that isn't quite at the level of a broken stair, well, I think warnings are almost as valid as recommendations, first for parallax and second to maybe save us some valuable time.

116) The Writer's Library



So with only a couple of exceptions I haven't read these authors, so they aren't the "ones you love" for me, though they seem well selected. The books and authors that were most frequently brought up do seem worth following up on, though I felt there was a certain amount of preferential selection on the part of the Pearl and especially Schwager. A more interesting set of interviews might be derived by each of these interviewing/conversing with a younger author with much the same questions, but also a "what would you like asked about your reading" question for each of them.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #2: The "My Happy Place" Challenge: Read a book with the word "library" or "libraries" in either the title or subtitle

117) Bloodlust & Bonnets



Vampire hunting (but what for?) GN just barely amusing enough to get through with increasing episodes of is-they-into-me as the nonsense piles higher and deeper and a Walter Scott and Byron rivalry goes absurdly ballistic. The art's featureless faces get so strange some characters could be taken for headless.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book with a character that is not a letter in the title

I saw that there will be an AMC series based on Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee books that I very much enjoyed and have read at least twice. It looks like it has imposed the modern crime series tropes onto the material. I mean it is described as noir which nope. Zahn McClarnon as Leaphorn is both too pretty and too scowling, but I may actually make an effort to watch it.....

My eyes are still adjusting after being dilated. No issues with my retinas, which is good, but I will have to have cataract surgery if I live much longer. My left eye has blurring I notice a bit. My new glasses will take some getting used to and I'm not enthusiastic about getting yet another pair super soon.

118) Time and Again



I might have loved this had I read it in the 1970s, but I have long grown totally bored with the straight up guy protagonist and a totally plot driven narrative. And all the gushing at how wonderful life was in 1882 NYC seemed very shallow to me. Knowing your loved ones will be subject to smallpox and polio and all the other delights of pre-antibiotic medicine is such a horror show, and well, the 50 years after 1970 probably weren't much worse than 1882-1932.

Meets May TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a play by Shakespeare, a book whose title comes from a Shakespearean play, by an author who shares their first name with a Shakespearean character OR that is set during Shakespeare's lifetime

Finding a restaurant for Mike's birthday is complicated by the date falling on a Monday this year. He liked Olivetti which we went to for our anniversary, but didn't want to return although he wanted a similar experience to it and to the one, not open Mondays, that we went to for Valentine's day - posh feeling and rich inventive food, so his favorite, Lawry's was out. But then, it turns out the the restaurant I picked isn't really open on Monday - or even Sunday.
So Lawry's it is.

I was looking forward to Steak Au Poivre, a favorite from my mother's fancy dinners occasionally prepared just for family although usually without the Pomme Soufflé which the family only got while she was perfecting the technique.

119) Otters



Preachy little picture book about otters, with not much more information than a 10min film would give and with less cute.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a nonfiction book with a one-word title

120) Mirage



Very much a middle book. There is a good deal of verbiage stuffed into the seams at the begin to hint at the labyrinth of past books, and threads, sometimes ropes, dangling at the end. I'm failing to find the charm of impetuous webish youth overwhelming and could do with a lot less of it.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book in which something currently impossible or miraculous happens

There was no this morning. My daughter woke me up at 1PM from deep dreams after about 12hr of sleep. A bit later I heard her on the phone with Mike asking him to pick up some things, including pico de gallo, from TJs, and got my hopes up that she'd be cooking us something. Alas, she's been outed meal prepping for next week, which she probably did not want to discuss, when she required another lime and was too deep into raw chicken to go out for it herself.

I'm still lurching about. It will soon be tomorrow and maybe I will have read something before it is.

Hi Susan!

>187 quondame: Unless you have a complicated eye situation, cataract surgery is not a bad thing at all, IMO. I had it, right eye first."?210then left eye one week later in 2014 and except for the copious number of different eye drops and its taking some time to get back to a good prescription, it made life so much better for me.

>188 quondame: Interesting take on a book I remember loving as recently as the early 2000s. There are quite a few books I own that I should probably never/will probably never read again that I should release to the wilds. Looks like this author’s amongst them, as I don’t envision my daughter enjoying them.

>192 quondame: Twelve hours of sleep. My goodness. I hope you do read something more interesting than the otters book.

>193 karenmarie: Time and Again seems to have a lot of fans although often confused with Somewhere in Time, probably because of the lovely Christopher Reeve, it is certainly of its time, strange to say.

Oh, the otters book was a wee blip. The sleep was probably induced by my late late finish of Mirage a couple of nights earlier.

Congratulations on reading so many books!!! 118 books! Wow!

121) Pnin



It is the gravity of the language that enchanted me - direct and descriptive with the mass of the occasional metaphor forcing an image into view. Otherwise an almost insignificant tale of a once bourgeois Russian scholar seemingly oblivious to how mocked and minimally tolerated he is at a small New England university in the 1950s McCarthy era. The final chapter, told in an much differently focused fashion jars loose some of the certainties of all earlier ones.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and the Guardian's 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read it was
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #7: "The What's in a Name?" Challenge: Read a book with a one-word person or persons name for a title

>195 Whisper1: Good to see you here - even if your comment showed me I forgot to save my last review! At least >196 quondame: was easy enough to re-create.

>188 quondame: After the move, I’m having difficulties locating certain books. I thought I knew where the Jack Finney books were, but I found only From Time to Time, book #2.
I will at least glance through it. You know I’m in serious discard mode. Your comments may help nudge me with this one.

>198 2wonderY: As always, my tastes and prejudices are my own, and I can see what the fuss was about.

122) Amongst Our Weapons



Of course a strange complicated dangerous case develops in the days before Beverley is due to have the twins. An angel like being exploding the hearts from members of a small long dissolved cult and the return, perhaps involvement of a betraying comrade are just the start. We get talking foxes, a deaf smith, canal boats, and the ghosts of long dead pilots, so really, no complaints, just no great enthusiasm.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book first published in the 1990s OR set in East Anglia, Texas, Nottingham or London

>193 karenmarie: I agree about cataract surgery. The lenses the doctor put in to replace my natural ones had some built in correction, with the result that I can now drive safely (and legally) without glasses.

There are differences, post surgery. Your eyes won't focus the way they used to. I have one eye tuned to distance vision, and one to conversational distances, and still need reading glasses - but in practice, I use progressive lens bifocals for everything. (Having *both* eyes contributing is much less tiring.)

Also, it's worth knowing that your eyes will continue to change. I didn't expect to find I'd still need prescription changes regularly, but I did.

Good luck with it.

>199 quondame: Yes, noted. I just see it as an opportunity to downsize, if I too reevaluate.

>201 ArlieS: Thanks for the information. I have checked that I can retain close focus, though not how close, if I like, but not gotten into any details. I can still read with either eye, though my left has a bit of blur at this point. I'm used to reading inches from my face, threading needles, and doing other picky tasks up close, and any change will be a major adjustment in how I go about my daily life. It's good to have accurate distance lenses again, though, that's for sure.

123) Boundaries
124) The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes



I read these two interleaving a few stories from the first with a few from the second. They are very similar in tone, with entirely feel good vignettes in the first and mostly save the interesting critter in the second. Neither distinguished by interesting or inventive prose.

Boundaries: Universally problem, solution, good feelies. Very little in the way of complications in these very short stories.

Due back at the library a couple of hours before I finished it after having been renewed 3 times, fortunately it
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #4: Read a book in which the total number of pages ends with a 6 or an 8

The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: Mostly here's how we saved animal X accounts, even the few stories that don't end well for the patient leave the vets wiser for the next problem to come. Some intriguing saves and treatments.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book about a main character whose paid job consists of taking care of animals (F/NF)

I spent a couple of hours at Kaiser today after spending sometime there yesterday for PT for my shoulder. First a visit to the GP to consult about my shortness of breath in light of the reasons for my CPAP recall, and Mike is all excited (for me) about the new type of weight loss medication.

So Xrays and blood work and prescription pick up and a couple of referrals for later finished out the day. Kaiser will probably not cover the multiple thousands per year that the drug companies are charging, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Oh, and I got shot 1 of the newer shingles vaccine. What with that and the PT work on my left shoulder and the blood draw my left arm is objecting to all activity.

123) Mrs. England



Educated and placed by the prestigious Norland school, Nurse Ruby May leaves her posting when the family moves abroad but financial considerations have her requesting a new placement when few options are available so she goes to remote Yorkshire and a troubled family. Well enough paced, this book wasn't my thing at all, with its naive protagonist with hints of a troubled past. I never felt any connection or menace, just a rote presentation of a personality much under current discussion.

BB from @PaulCranswick and due back tomorrow it

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book by a new-to-you author whose last name starts or ends with the letter "S"

After months of dealing with the widening yawning chasm on the edge of my rather expensive Purple mattress I mentioned it to Mike yesterday morning. He chose an inconvenient time to get the vendor on the phone - I was dressing to go to my Kaiser appt and had not spare time - things got handled today to the extent that photos have been taken and and the problem has been reported. What I really need is a lower bed so I don't have to dig my knee in and put my entire weight on it to clamber onto the mattress. I chose a high frame so I could shove more stuff under the bed only to find the structure of the frame doesn't allow it.

126) Nettle & Bone



At 15 Marra was sent to a convent to prevent her from producing a rival heir to the small city-state kingdom which her older sister's eventual child by the King of the large Northern Kingdom should inherit. Marra prefers her convent life to court life, but when she is 30 the death of her only niece makes her face the reality of the nightmare her sister faces and she leaves the convent to search for a magic to kill the controlling abusive king. This sounds all serious, but the cast of older misfits and a bouncy bone dog she collects, to say nothing of a demon inhabited hen, produce a very fun read.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book where at least one title word includes a double letter

>196 quondame: Very much enjoyed my read of that one several years ago and really need to get it read again. I love how Nabokov uses words.

>200 quondame: I really need to catch up on that series!

>208 quondame: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendation, Susan.

Have a wonderful weekend!

>209 alcottacre: I hope your weekend is going well! Good to see you.

127) First Time for Everything



Daniel Scudd is disappointed in his first relationship, out of a place to live and dealing with a nasty boss when when Jacob his friend from early childhood and the only other gay kid he knew in the small coastal town where his parents have a chip shop. Jacob lives in a house with a number of other young queer people and brings Dan to live there and convinces him to see a therapist. Almost immediately Dan is getting along with his other housemates better than he is with Jacob and changing rapidly. But is it for the better and is it in the way he wants and what will happen with Jacob? I would have liked a better sense of the personalities of all these people, but I felt they were all more roles than individuals, if interesting roles, leaving Dan's journey more interesting that he is in spite of his claim toward the end that he does have a personality, something that isn't established by comebacks and quips.

It starts off with balls front and centered, but moves away from genital details and continues that way for those of us who don't find what's between the legs the most fascinating aspect of people in the books we choose.

By default I entered this in Challenge #14, but it is so self-declared a "finding yourself" book that I had to shift it because it
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with the theme "What should I do with my life?"

128) Re-read of The First Very First Damn Thing

for June TIOLI Challenge #14: Read a book that has either "first" or "last" in the title

129) Fevered Star



Once I got over remembering only the slightest threads from the first book I enjoyed the adventures of the several POV characters as they continue to struggle with family and powers and ruthless enemies - or are the ruthless enemies.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #16 Read a book by an author who has the same initials for first and last names

>208 quondame: That sounds like one I'd enjoy. Adding to my wishlist.

>214 Narilka: It is well done and quite amusing.

Mike, Becky, and I just waddled in from Mike's birthday dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with salad, 2 creamed vegetables, after a start of potato leek soup and roasted artichoke appetizers and 3 type of dessert.
I had a forkful of Yorkshire pudding when Becky and Mike mentioned bread pudding as a possible dessert and am now convinced that I somehow must concoct Yorkshire (bread) pudding. Some other day. Maybe.

I just learned today of the death yesterday of a friend of many decades, Sáša, one of the few people in our social group who lived near us and who will be greatly missed. He had worked as a sound technician for the Beach boys, ran his family's Baskin-Robbins shop decades back treating friends, and hosted frequent parties, big and small for the last 2 decades. He had a huge variety of friends and gatherings at his place always offered something new in people and food. Our world is so much poorer for loosing this Czech whose mother pulled him to this country in her never ending flight from the Nazis and the concentration camp she and her cousin barely survived.

130) Monster Slayer



The real charms of this book are the collage like water colors which alternate majestic landscapes and the endearing awkward angles of the 12 yr. old twin brothers, Born of Water and (to be named) Monster Slayer.

This was one of several Native American and African illustrated folk stories we got for Becky as a child.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book that has some connection to the constellation Gemini, especially twins

Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey arrived today (I just ordered it yesterday) a good deal on a used book and Mike loves it as a belated birthday present though I kinda sorta ordered it because I wanted it.

>217 quondame: Sorry you lost your friend, Susan.

Hi, Susan. I am sorry to hear about your friend Sasa. He sounds like a special friend.

The Edward Gorey book sounds interesting.

I'm sorry for your loss, Susan.

>217 quondame: So sorry for your loss.

>220 FAMeulstee: >221 msf59: >222 kgodey: >223 Narilka: Thank you, all. He was about as over the top a character as I've ever met, and I know lots of people who wear all sorts of costumes for reasons or not. He was in both groups. Only at Labyrinth of Jareth might he seem a bit under dressed. But, in recent years, always in Crocs.

131) The Human Front



An alt-world 60s-70s where powerful bomber technology has enabled the capitalist forces to eliminate the USSR as a superpower before the start of the main action and the Scottish protagonist involves himself in communist organized resistance which, due to it's original genesis, ends up outside traditional topple the regime narrative. Motivation for John radicalization is somewhat scanty, but sure. I could not give up my bogglelization at Scottish flavored SF, my own limitation entirely as of course the alternate past, like the potential future is ubiquitous.

There are two essays about the story and the setting and an interview with the author. A bit of fuss about a novella that may not warrant all that unless it's exactly your thing.

It's due tomorrow and looked shorter than it in fact is and there is not only a person on the cover, there is "human" so it
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book that has a person (human) on the cover

The network was unavailable for the first 3 hours of my usual browsing time, so I'm only now caught up on FB, eBay, and most important LT! But I had some excellent lap time with Nutmeg and Gizmo, so there's that.
The Siege of Lisbon is moving along glacially. It's in no way a light read, though not quite ponderous.

>217 quondame: I am so sorry to hear about your friend, Susan. My condolences to you and his family.

I hope you have a great weekend in spite of the circumstances.

>217 quondame: I am sorry for your loss.

>227 alcottacre: >228 figsfromthistle: Thanks Stasia and Anita.

132) The History of the Siege of Lisbon



An exploration of the editing which happens to make history of events and to make stories of life and life of stories. Distanced and intimate the prose requires the reader to actively spool the sentences from the page rather than being pulled along by them and to keep track of the shifting foci to observe what it being said. Also a somewhat corny imbalanced love story.

Selected from spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book set in (or about) Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, or Munich

We went out today to buy each of us a pair of crocs to wear with the tuxedo t-shirts we got for Sáša's funeral. Mike went with black, but Becky and I got something a bit more colorful. This has the full approval of his surviving partner as the tuxedo shirt was one of his standard party wear options, and the crocs were his only known foot wear since they were widely sold.

Hi Susan.

>216 quondame: Oh my. Waddled in for sure. It sounds absolutely marvelous. I rarely make Roast Beef, but the next time I do I'll see if I can have Yorkshire pudding ingredients ready for the requisite beef drippings and get them in the oven while the beef is resting.

>217 quondame: I’m sorry to hear about your friend Sáša. He sounds like a wonderful person.

>226 quondame: Lap time here is kitties, but the same satisfaction is achieved.

>231 quondame: A very nice way to honor your friend indeed.

>232 karenmarie: Yep, a warm body in the lap is the best accompaniment to a book I know, but I prefer one I'm not allergic to - and a baby is just too messy.

133) Fair Trade



We get to spend time taking tea and other beverages with the good people, watch them maneuver around the malicious or self-serving and progress toward their goals a few clicks of the gears. Oh, and norbears are on the verge of coming into the Liaden® sphere of influence by way of Jethri.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #12: Read a book that fits a category on the Seattle Public Library 2022 Summer Reading bingo card

134) The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER



What Fisher presents is anger sifted through years of practice in an ER, years in the insurance machine, and a start in academic medicine. Basically, when an institution is not allowed by law to turn away ill people it re-arranges itself to provide as little as it can, shredding the care workers between the institution and the community.

Read for June TIOLI Challenge #10: Read a book about or set in an emergency department of a hospital

Much of today was spent attending Sáša's funeral and the reception afterward, with a traffic slowed drive to and from the former.
Of those who greeted us half had to be reassured that our tux-teeshirt and Crocs were preapproved, and half castigated themselves for not donning Crocs themselves - except for the woman in bright yellow ones!
It was good to see so many that I haven't sighted for years, sad not to see ones I expected as well of learning of several who are planing on leaving LA.
And of course, Sáša with his shy but outgoing style and interest in nearly everything is a great loss.

135) The House of Ulloa



The story a callow, unobservant newly consecrated priest sent by the man in whose house his mother is housekeeper to assist his nephew run a dilapidated estate. The estate is controlled by a local peasant gamekeeper who accompanies the almost illiterate nephew in a continual hunt, having pimped his daughter to his master and intimidated the locals. The young priest, helpless to do more than straighten a bit of the paperwork proceeds to cause misery to those he cares for the most by the end of the main action. In this almost nothing interested me, as with most mid-19th novels I want to put everyone up against a wall and have special prejudice against the hidalgo. But the sly observations of the author preserve this from being a soap opera or morality tale but instead a portrait of erring humanity in a spare and unforgiving world.

It is included in spreadsheet of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die but that's not why it was
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #15 Read a Book Originally Published in the Spanish language

136) Chivalry



A sweet and amusing tale of an old woman who buys the Holy Grail from the Oxfam store and is visited by Sir Galahad on quest. I'm glad that 1) I didn't notice the illustrator's name when I first read it and 2) that I read it on my b&w Kindle so I could appreciate the lyrical lines of the illustration that are somewhat obscured by the coloring.
As to 1) months into reading A Distant Soil I found Colleen Doran's oh so pretty illustration style made me a bit nauseous. Here, her stated love of Howard Pyle's King Arthur almost had me forgiving her - even if her first encounter was not the self illustrated edition.
In Chivalry, Doran indulges in saccharine beauty sparingly and gives us a few delightfully realistic old ladies.
As to 2) I found the coloring very distracting in the busy scenes, but lovely in the simple ones, but still that's what cost the book half a star for me.

I had to take a break from reading Chaucer and this
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #8: Read a book in which something currently impossible or miraculous happens

>196 quondame: Thanks for including this link to great books!

>239 Whisper1: No problem at all. If I continue as I've been these last 2 months, always a significant if, I expect I will be including the links a few times a year if not per month.

134) Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes



An illustrated story about legendary volcano dogs in El Salvador in which the volcanoes interference to protect their pups doesn't seem to do quite as much damage as might be expected.

I took another short break from reading Chaucer since I checked this out to
Read for June TIOLI Challenge #15 Read a Book Originally Published in the Spanish language

137) Chaucer



An exploration of the life, times, culture, influences, and writings of Geoffrey Chaucer. Detailed and wide ranging, the writing is mostly compelling enough to bear up for about 600 pages, plus citations and index - and notes, lots and lots of notes. Only when discussing a handful of interrelated people does the writing bog down to the point where careful tracking is absolutely necessary.

If anyone knows which Middle English - Modern English side by side (annotated is good too) edition of Canterbury Tales (and other poems) is currently considered the best, I'd like to know. It feels a bit disrespectful not to have read that, though I certainly remember unfortunate details of The Miller's Tale. My dad used to growl out the opening lines when he was the right sort of tipsy.

I might go back and read the notes some day - some of them did seem to contain more than just source information.

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a nonfiction book with a one-word title

138) The Gilded Ones



Another supergirl and the evil empire story, mostly well enough put together, but with some how could anyone be taken by surprise that way moments of plot stupidity. Not much to distinguish it from other current iterations, though the balance on the side of women's friendships is less common in my reading but is right for this story.

BB from @jnwelch

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #9: Read a book with the theme "What should I do with my life?"

Hi Susan.

>242 quondame: Unfortunately, I only have a mass market paperback, so yet another book that I need to upgrade. In the meantime, I just got a Kindle version, free, of The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems. My mm paperback is in another room, but I seem to remember that the print’s too small or the pages too yellowed for good reading. A cull candidate.

>244 karenmarie: Thanks for checking. Mike downloaded a messy version with the "modern" shoved in at the end of the "original".

139) Peeps



Parasites are, and have been since pre-history, causing Vampirism. The young protagonist is a carrier, infected shortly after his arrival in NYC from Texas, and has been recruited by a secret City organization for tracking down and containing those more symptomatically affected. But wait, there's more - and not just that every other chapter is a short essay on parasites and their effects. Well paced, sometimes funny, and completely absurd.

BB from @scaifea

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book where at least one title word includes a double letter

140) Forensics



A survey of the development of forensic crime investigation and technological aspects separated in chapters. Just enough grit and gore to make the points not so much it splashes about.

BB from @laytonwoman3rd

Meets June TIOLI Challenge #5: Read a nonfiction book with a one-word title

>246 quondame: I recently re-read this in order to go on to the sequel. I was originally very much taken by Westerfeld’s originality on his vampire world. I don’t recommend The Last Days though. Different set of characters and it dragged in the middle.

Hi Susan.

>244 karenmarie: Boy, was I wrong. What I have is a hardcover, Canterbury Tales Rendered into Modern English by J.U. Nicolson. Cover is a dark blue-green, not leather, but with gilt scrolling and

Canterbury
Chaucer
International Collectors Library

on the spine. The font is a good size. I can’t resist – here’s the first verse of The Knight’s Tale in the original Middle English and in the translation I have. I’ve looked at a few other translations online, and this one, being in verse, keeps the sense of it to me.

Beginning of The Knight’s Tale (in Middle English) Lyrics

Whilom, as olde stories tellen us,
Ther was a duc that highte Theseus;
Of Atthenes he was lord and governour,
And in his tyme swich a conqueror,
That Gretter was ther noon under the sonne,
Ful many a riche contree had he wonne,
What with his wisdom and his chivalrie;
He conquered al the regne of Femenye,
That whilom was ycleped Scithia,
And wedded the queene Ypolita,
And broghte hir hoom with hym in his contree,
With muchel glorie and greet solempnytee,
And eek hir Yonge suster Emelye,
And thus with victorie and with melodye
Lete I this noble duc to Atthenes ryde
And al his hoost, in armes hym bisyde.

...
Once on a time, as old tales tell to us,
There was a duke whose name was Theseus
Of Athens he was lord and governor,
And in his time was such a conqueror
That greater was there not beneath the sun.
Full many a rich country had he won;
What with his wisdom and his chivalry
He gained the realm of Femininity,
That was of old time known as Scythia.
There wedded he the queen, Hippolyta,
And brought her home with him to his country.
In glory great and with great pageantry,
And, too, her younger sister, Emily.
And thus, in victory and with melody,
Let I this noble duke to Athens ride
With all his armed host marching at his side.

If I wasn't already immersed in Alexander Hamilton and The Federalist, I might consider this a project for this year. Maybe next year.

>247 quondame: I'm glad you enjoyed that one. And I love your last sentence: " Just enough grit and gore to make the points, not so much it splashes about." That's a perfect summation.

>248 2wonderY: In some ways it reminded me of S.M. Stirling's Shadowspawn, though that's genetic. Westerfeld does put together fun stories.

>249 karenmarie: Hey, I understood most of the first version. Thanks!

>250 laytonwoman3rd: Squee! Thank you!

141) The Last Uncharted Sky



Lots of adventure in store as the strange and capable crew of the earlier volumes go on a voyage more dangerous than they can imagine with others racing toward the same and diverse goals. While everyone has challenges to overcome, painful and difficult, the author is not quite so hard on characters and readers as has become epic fantasy norm.

Among several of June's TIOLI this
Meets June TIOLI Challenge #16 Read a book by an author who has the same initials for first and last names

I has new thread!

>249 karenmarie: I studied Chaucer in my younger days and some of it is incredibly bawdy as I recall.

Some great reading as always over here, Susan. >247 quondame: especially caught my eye.

>254 PaulCranswick: Well, the Miller's Tale is that.