Ffortsa crosses her fingers for 2022 part 2

picture pending

READ:


January:
1. @Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
2. ♬An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn, read by Bronson Pinchot
3. @The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
4. @10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak


February:
5. ♬1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014-11-18 audio) by Eric H. Cline
6. @Hiss of Death by Rita Mae Brown
7. ♬Immensee by Theodor Storm
8. A Deadly Cliche by Ellery Adams
9. @A Nest of Vipers by Andrea Camilleri
10. @Black River by S.M. Hulse
11. @↩The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

March:
12. @The Sky Took Him by Donis Casey
13. @The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
14. @The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
15. @Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

April:

16. @The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
17. @Chat by Archer Mayer
18. @The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten
19. Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw
20. ♬The Jew's Beech Tree by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
21. @The Likeness by Tana French

May:
22. @Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
23. @The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs
24. ✔Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black
25. ✔Gilgamesh translated with commentary by Stephen Mitchell
26. @Middle Passage by Charles Johnson

June:
27. @XThe Good Soldier Schwiek by Jaroslav Hasek
28. @The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina
29. @The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder
30. @Strip Jack by Ian Rankin
31. Travesties by Tom Stoppard
32. Say Dance, Say Night by Abbot Cutler
33. @The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

July:
34. @Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon
35. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
36. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
37. @The Old Success by Martha Grimes
38. @Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kourkov
39.♬The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber
40. @None So Blind by Alis Hawkins
41. @Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

August:
42. Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
43. @Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
44. @The Door by Magda Szabo

September:
45. @The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

October:
46. @To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson
47. ↩@A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre
48. @A Guilty Thing Surprised by Ruth Rendell
49. @The Beige Man by Helene Tursten

November:
50. @Uniform Justice by Donna Leon
51. @The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
52. @Faithful Place by Tana French
53. @River of Darkness by Rennie Airth
54. @How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K. White
55. @The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

December:
56. ♬True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt
57. @No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell
58. @Don't Look Now by Daphne Du Maurier
59. @Murder Being Once Done by Ruth Rendell

DEACCESSIONED:



35 books given to my favorite thrift shop 04/27/22
Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black

A 20 volume set of Charles Dickens' work given to my favorite thrift shop 6/27

About 8 books I hadn't even catalogued, about a month ago.

To the Finland Station, when I replaced it with an ebook. Print was just too tiring in a small paperback.

10/26 Two more books out: An Incomplete Education and The Loom of History, the first for being unnecessary, the second for having tiny type.

12/28 Three Alexander McCall Smith books which I hadn't read. I thought all his work was of the mystery genre, and once I read one of his others, I was decidedly disappointed. So someone else can enjoy them.

Icons modified from Bianca's list
♬ audiobook
✔ off the shelf
@ e-book
✿ TIOLI
↩ reread
✗ Never-ending.

DNF - The Leopard by Jo Nesbo

I got this from the library, but it was gruesome enough for me to put it down until it was due for return.

Happy new thread, Judy. x

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Judy!

Hi Judy, and happy new thread!

>2 ffortsa: I read one or two by Jo Nesbo, but Harry Hole is a deeply flawed character and I just couldn't continue with the series.

Happy new thread, Judy!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Judy.

Happy new thread Judy!

Thanks for the new thread cheer, everyone.

>6 karenmarie: Oh, I don't mind Harry Hole's deeply disturbed character. It's the incredibly bloodthirsty imagination of the author I've come to dread. Jo Nesbo creates such evil villains, such horrible ways to kill people, that I don't need that in my dreams.

IN OTHER NEWS:
I've thrown out all my old New Yorkers. Finally realized I could read them online if I wanted to, and reading them wouldn't be an obligation hanging over my head. It was a bit of a frenzy, I will admit, but I didn't stop to even look at all the lovely covers.

And I finished Hamnet last night. Very affecting. We will be discussing it in our reading group on Zoom tonight. I shall report back.

Happy New Thread, Judy! I hope you are doing well. And hooray for Hamnet!!

I loved Hamnet and recently reread it for my book club as well, Judy. Everyone loved it, so it wasn't a great discussion. After people talked about how much they loved it, there wasn't much conversations. :( Next time, I'll be prepared with questions.

>13 BLBera: I've had that "problem" in book clubs, too! When you read something everybody likes, there's not as much to talk about.

Happy new one!! And good job cleaning house! It's hard to get rid of collections like that, but yeah. And another high five for Hamnet. Bring some questions or ask people what they liked least about it. ; )

Congratulations on throwing out all of those New Yorkers plus finishing Hamnet. Can you breathe more easily now? :) (and Happy new one, too)

>16 RebaRelishesReading: There's a lot more to get rid of before the breathing easy starts, but this was a big thing. There's no room in Manhattan apartment setups for yard sales, so even though I'm quite active in my Buy Nothing group, it's piece by piece, not a thumping cleanout. I have fantasies of waking up to an entirely empty apartment after the burglar faeries have whisks away everything but my computer and, maybe, a lamp.

A friend of Jim's who was a great collector of things once watched as his house burned to the ground. He said it was at once a terrible and a freeing thing. I do understand.

>11 ffortsa: I've thrown out all my old New Yorkers.
Wow. Your magazine thread has you approaching the end of 2010, so that's a lotta magazines.

>18 qebo: yep. The overhanging ledge had gotten too big. Can you imagine being crushed under a stack of 12 years of New Yorkers???

And thanks for noticing. I may finish up notes on 2010, just as a commonplace book exercise, but anything else I read will be either current or online - or both!

Ahem. >15 Berly: How did the bookclub discussion go?

>20 Berly: It turns out people had a lot to say, and commented especially about O'Farrell's use of the present tense even while switching back and forth in time. I liked the book far more than I expected to, but it's not exactly a rewrite of the play, is it? The opening, with Hamnet coming down the stairs and looking for the family, is breathtaking.

Happy new thread, Judy. Good for you for getting rid of all those New Yorkers. I have stashes of genealogy magazines all over the place. Maybe it's time that I freed myself of them too.

happy new thread! And congrats on The New Yorker purge.

23. The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

After a while I realized this was not my kind of book, but I finished it anyway. If you are in the market for a modern romance, you might give it a try. I found it painfully predictable, including the return home, rescue by the right man, discovery of the treasure in the basement, etc etc. If that's your thing, enjoy!

Well, I can't prove it (no pictures) but we were up in the Boston area and visited Marianne (MichiganTrumpet) and Caro (Cameling) and their husbands over the weekend. We also saw the Turner exhibit at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston - highly recommended. Not much book talk, but wonderful food, mainly provided by Marianne.

Hi Judy.

>11 ffortsa: Funny – I can handle the bloody thirsty ways of killing people, but am impatient with Harry Hole. Different reasons, same result.

Wow, getting rid of all your old New Yorkers. Impressive. Weren’t you still reading in 2010, possibly 2011? So much physical room restored. I remember doing that with my old Bon Appetit Magazines, gaining half a shelf or more.

>26 karenmarie: Oh, it's more than a shelf. I still have some intervening years in the storage locker, which I hope to clear today or tomorrow. I am suddenly in something of a frenzy to clear out things I don't want.

Speaking of which, a book off the shelf!
24. ✔Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black

I must have picked up some Cara Black mysteries from the downstairs swap shelves, because I wouldn't have bought them, especially this hard-cover. This one is later in the series than any I've read before, and I had hoped that the style had matured, but it's still rather florid. Maybe if I were familiar with Paris and could imagine myself in the surroundings it would have been more interesting.

25. ✔Gilgamesh: A New English Version translated with commentary by Stephen Mitchell

I had read Mitchell's lengthy introduction a while ago, but last night I read the translation itself. It's so much a rite - with iconic repeated phrases and images. It could be chanted, which is perfectly apt for a story this old, and this deep. Very spare and clear.

I've been trying on summer tops and blouses, with an eye toward trimming the collection, but it's hard - since I've lost some weight, most of the stuff looks pretty good. I may buy some multi-level hangers and put most of them in the closet.

There's more in the locker space, of course. I think I'll make an appointment for a free 'taxi' service and take all the clothes home, swapping the winter stuff for storage. Maybe there's more that can be given away.

I suspect going forward I'll have more need for summer rather than winter clothes, alas. My sister in San Antonio has already had a series of August days in May. Not a good sign.

Happy Friday, Judy! I hope you and Jim have a wonderful weekend!

>30 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia. And thanks for stopping by.

>29 ffortsa: Interim result of the closet eval - I gave away 10 shirts, some of them lovely silk things that were just too big, a couple I'd never worn (retirement, pandemic, laziness, etc.). I felt so virtuous. I suspect the boxes in the storage locker will yield a similar pile.

And I've decided that books I want to read or reread are the only things I'm going to hoard from now on. The yarn I have squirrelled away? Use it or give it away. The fabric from years ago in my storage locker? The same. The games we have on the top shelf of the closet that we never, ever play? Someone else will love them.

While I was at the thrift store donating my blouses, I saw a couple of lovely dinner sets. One was white with subtle grey striped on square dishes, the other a rather exuberant floral design. If the latter hadn't been priced by the piece I might have asked Jim to take a look, but as it was it was exorbitantly expensive. I looked at the label, but it meant nothing to me. Still, it was a surprise that I liked it - not my usual taste at all.
Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I'm impressed with your purging, Judy!

>32 katiekrug: Well, it's not DONE yet, just determined. But I am determined!

Reading: Middle Passage by Charles Johnson
about an hour to go, according to Kindle.

Nicely done on the purging!!



And jealous of the meetup. : )

Good job with the purging, Judy. I am counting on you to be an inspiration for me! I am also going through closets now.

A semi-crisis. My LG cellphone is acting strangely, and it seems to be a general crisis with LG on the T-Mobile system, at least. LG isn't making phones anymore, so they have washed their hands of updates, and T-Mobile says it's not their software, so I'm temporarily stuck with the weird behavior. Since I am fond of saying I live on my phone, I'm worried.

I actually make calls on my cellphone, along with text, reading emails, playing games, and in general distracting myself. Can I wait for the Pixel 6a in July? Don't know.

In the meantime, I've finished Middle Passage by Charles Johnson, and we were supposed to discuss it tonight in one of our groups, but the person who pushed for it is suddenly unavailable, so we are trying to postpone. There's a very interesting review over on the book page here. I'll reserve other comment.

More non-book news. I finally retrieved my summer clothes from the storage locker, and oh my do I have clothes. So glad I didn't go out and buy summer dresses, because I'd forgotten what I had - how strange. Most of the items are in the closet, except for an unusual number of pants, and the skirts. So I know I have room, but gee, how much do I need?? At the end of the summer I'll have to do another evaluation based on what I actually wore.

And the last of the New Yorkers are gone. We didn't have room to drag home the set of Dickens that's falling apart, but that will be next. Then to explore what else I have in all those boxes. I looked last time, but now can't recall which box has what. One at a time.

>38 ffortsa: Sounds like you're making good progress, Judy. We moved to a bigger place 1 1/2 years ago (backwards given our ages) so now I have lots of new storage and less need/desire to purge.

>39 RebaRelishesReading: Yeah, devoutly glad I don't have a basement or attic, although the storage locker does serve that purpose, but it's small. I'd like more space so I could dedicate a room to crafts or music or guests(!), but not stuff.

>40 ffortsa: Actually we don't have a basement or attic either, just more closet space and more rooms -- including two guest rooms which is great because there are a lot of people who want to visit the NW. No craft room however, but I mostly knit these days so I just have a bag for the current project next to "my" chair and the stash in a guest closet. We do have a huge garage attached which gives me lots of room for buying staples in bulk :)

To consolidate our nerd credentials, we've seen three productions of MacBeth in two weeks. The first was the Denzel Washington version, 'The Tragedy of MacBeth' with Francis McDormand as Lady MacBeth. The second was a Red Bull Theater YouTube video of a production wherein 7 girls in school uniforms work out the play in a vacant lot. And the third was yesterday's, the Broadway production with Ruth Negga and Daniel Craig. (For those who've only seen him as Bond, he is a marvelous Shakespearean actor as well.)

We were disappointed in the Denzel Washington film, although some of the directorial conceits are terrific (the Weird Sisters transforming to and from crows was the best.) Washington himself was playing the grim end of the play from the first, and the downward 'tragic' cycle was both predictable and too abrupt.

The all-girl production was really interesting, and aside from one oops (in the scene between MacDuff and Malcolm), was really terrific and imaginative. Seven girls played all the roles to great effect. It's well worth seeing, and one of the reasons we like this tenacious, daring off-Broadway company. They stream a lot of educational conversations and productions.

And the Broadway production. Wow. The director was smart enough to let the story take time. This meant that a) you could hear every word and understand every scene and b) there was time to witness the emotional journey that MacBeth takes. The principals were wonderful (Ruth Negga has been nominated for a Tony, and why Daniel Craig wasn't is a mystery to me.) Again, the conceits concerning the witches were clever, and many of the actors played several different parts. The stage was almost bare, the casting was thoroughly diverse, and while the director dared to cut the lines 'Double, double...', the effect of having MacBeth and Banquo drink what the witches had brewed up was truly in keeping with this hypnotic drama.

I don't know if this will be featured on NTLive or some other streaming venue, but if you can see it, live or streaming, don't miss it.

I was somewhat handicapped at the Longacre Theater because TALL people sat in front of us in the mezzanine, but at intermission, we were talking with the usher, and a woman turned around and gave us her front row mezzanine seats - she and her companion were leaving because she wasn't feeling well. It was so amazing! So I had an unimpeded view of the second half. Magic.

Central Park Everwalk had a special trip today, to a small memorial 'grove' of stones marking the sacrifices of the 307th Infantry in WWI. The stones had been set with accompanying trees, most of which have since died, so they are out in the sun now. Several years ago, vandals stole a number of them, and in 2018 they were replaced. It would be nice to see trees replanted as well. Most people, including me, didn't know about this site, which is not particularly hard to find if you know it's there.

I don't think any of my relatives participated in WWI, although my mother did lose an uncle, and he might have been old enough in 1917, just. My grandparents, and in one case great-grandparents, were all immigrants at the turn of the 20th century, and that was hard enough.

Hi Judy. I did some clothes purging in May, as well. I was dismayed at how many shirts I gave away and ... how many I still have! But it's a start.

You may have seen on other threads that I plan to be in NYC in October. We're seeing Hamilton and Tina. I am SOOOO excited!! I've never seen a show on Broadway and given how much I LOVE Hamilton, I finally took a deep breath and purchased tickets. We're staying at The Library Hotel (big surprise, I know).

I hope you are doing well!

>44 EBT1002: I saw your planned trip over on your thread. Will you have time for a little meetup? Let me know your dates. I'd hate to find we are out of town when you are in!

Hi Judy. I am hoping we can arrange for a little meetup. I have friends from Schenectady who will be wanting time with us (and who will be joining us for Hamilton), and P will want to connect with her cousin if that works out. We plan to arrive Monday evening, October 10 (I think that's right) and depart Saturday, October 15.

>46 EBT1002: I'll put that time frame on the calendar. Hope you and P. can fit us in!

The MacBeth plays sound great; I love to see different versions of Shakespeare. And it always seems that someone really tall sits in front of me that the theater as well. What is it?

Yay, Macbeth! One of my favorite Shakespearean plays---you can't lose in a play with a moving forest. I actually studied the play in a class a few years ago, and the thing that was a revelation for me was that Scotland was basically run by competing Warlords.

I watched the Denzel Washington movie of MacBeth. I found it to be very rushed. There wasn’t much time to develop the characters and the plot. Very striking sets, though, with interesting angles and shadows. I haven’t seen it on the stage in years. Lucky you!

>48 BLBera: After learning about the seat cushions available at some theaters (why hadn't I known about this before???) I asked for one on Sunday when we saw an early preview of 'Epiphany' at Lincoln Center. I could see ok without it - with it was great, and I'm sure I didn't bother the people behind me.

We were a bit sorry we saw the play so early, because it was still a little - um - blurry, I guess - too chatty in the first hour, certainly. But still interesting, and with great acting.

>49 banjo123: Moving forests! Yep! It's funny - the Broadway production left out some truly iconic lines usually spoken by the witches, but I suspect by now 'boil, boil' would give audiences the giggles.

>50 Oregonreader: Jan, I agree completely. Weren't the ravens marvelous? If only the character development had been the same.

In the Broadway production with Daniel Craig, the witches make Craig and Banquo drink their brew! What a wonderful idea - have some of this hallocinogenic stuff and see your future - ha!

27. The Good Soldier Schwiek by Jaroslav Hasek

Well, we read this for one of our f2f book groups, and I got about 2/3 of the way through before my eyes glazed over and I found myself falling asleep and dreaming the end of each sentence. Classic though it might be, it wore out its welcome with me. Schwiek is a con-man and otherwise a cypher at the start of WWI in the Czech-speaking part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and the book is a series of escapes from a beaurocratic, idiotic and mismanaged army and surrounding society. No one actually gets into battle by the book's ending, but the cruelty and mismanagement the erstwhile hero keeps subverting is a sarcastic look at a rotting system. Glad I peeked at it, not sorry I didn't finish it.

Good luck with all your purging, Judy. I'm in awe of all your theatre going. You're definitely making up for lost time!

We found a second exercise mat in the back of the closet, still wrapped in plastic. So I posted it on my Buy Nothing group and it was grabbed with unbelievable speed. Nice.

I've been reading the script for The Skin of Our Teeth, because we saw the play at Lincoln Center it is wasn't what we remembered of it. I'm about half way through, and so far, everything lines up. More after I finish.

Otherwise my reading has been in a funk. I can't seem to get into anything. Mystery stories feel without nourishment, and everything else makes me crabby. Sigh. I'm sure it will pass.

I know what you mean, Judy. I’m having the same problem. Mysteries are my escape reads but I’m having a hard time getting interested.

>55 Oregonreader: I've actually been reading this year's New Yorkers, which I kept when I tossed the rest of them. Even there, I have trouble getting through an issue. I feel like I'm looking for something in all the wrong places!

29. The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

As I said above, we saw the Lincoln Center production of this a couple of weeks ago, and were surprised by the darkness of the last act. But it's right there in the script, allowing the director to emphasize or not emphasize it. The edition I read has a Forward by Paula Vogel, which emphasizes the way Wilder departs from the conventions of theater in his day, and how that freedom of form affected the writers after him. And there's an afterword by Tappan Wilder, nephew of the writer, outlining the process and difficulties encountered in the creation and staging of the play, along with some photographs from the older productions.

I'm in the same boat, Judy. I keep picking up and putting down books. It must be the weather.

>58 BLBera: Probably, since it's been so gorgeous here these last two days, at least. And the rest of the week (except for tomorrow) looks to be just as good. The spring we were denied in May has come around for a visit. I had to get out and walk.

>75 ffortsa:. That sounds interesting... I haven't seen/read anything by Wilder since high school, but I like Paula Vogel....

30. Strip Jack by Ian Rankin

This was a pleasure. I'd forgotten how sharp the dialog and the literary references were in Rankin's work, or maybe I hadn't noticed before. In addition, it's a compelling mystery with surprising connections and lots of red herrings to turn around. A popular MP is set up in a brothel raid, and the burgeoning consequences involve his wild wife, his closest and oldest friends, among them a popular actor, a rare book merchant, a real estate developer, and others.I'm glad to return to the series; maybe it's cured my book funk.

>61 ffortsa: Hooray for probable book-funk-end! I love mysteries: I’ll have to give Rankin a look!

Karen O

>52 ffortsa: Oh, too bad about that one. I have it on my shelves to read yet. I think I will move it down the queue.

>57 ffortsa: Sounds interesting. I loved Wilder's Our Town when I read it eons ago. I will see if I can find a copy of that one.

>61 ffortsa: I think I may have read one of Rankin's books before he fell to the wayside when I went back to school a few years ago. I need to put him back on my radar! Thanks for the reminder.

31. Travesties by Tom Stoppard

I've seen quite a few plays by Stoppard, some wonderful, some riotously funny. The humor of this depends in part on your knowledge of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest and of Joyce's Ulysses which Stoppard bends to his own purposes.

But it's really a thought experiment wherein James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and the man who would become Lenin are supposedly in Zurich at the same time, just before Lenin travels in a sealed train through Germany to Russia. While the first act weaves in and out of the referenced plays, the second is an extended debate about politics. Naturally, I didn't remember the second act, and will have to read it again before discussing it with my uptown book circle.

It was really nice to revisit this text.

32. Say Dance, Say Night by Abbot Cutler

Wow. I actually read a book of poetry. This slim volume has been on my shelf for a long time, and I think I bought it because the cover was so interesting. Now that I've read it, the inside lives up to the outside.
Cutler's work is intensely visual and even tactile at times, while still easy to read. 4 stars, only because I need to reread it, I think.

33. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

The first in a series by Fluke, I gave it a partial pass for the necessary establishment of time, place and character, but it was still a little too light a mystery for me.

Big goings on chez Astroff-Held. We rolled up the rugs today to prepare for them to be taken to be cleaned, and boy do they need it. The only value of cream colored carpets is that you can actually see the dirt, I guess - and they look nice when they are down. I hope the cleaners can scotch-guard them.

It's an effort because we have a storage bed on one of them (aside from their size, of course). We've now got about three weeks to repair the bedroom wall, wash and wax the floors, get someone in to paint the bedroom, etc. Lordy.

We did discuss the Stoppard play Monday night, but as sometimes happens, a person who considered herself an expert did most of the talking, and I'm sure we could have worked on many other themes in the play. Oh well. Stoppard has a new play coming over soon. We will have to try to see it.

So when we prepare to get the bedroom painted, we have several bookshelves to take down (press-pole and board) and will have a chance to go through the books, reorder them on the shelves, and get rid of some. I think some of the learn-a-language stuff will go - so many other options now - and some ruthless pruning may take place. I'd like to have less clutter and a little room to display pretty things.

Next book up is Trust Exercise, for next Tuesday (yikes). And some library books whose clocks are ticking. And practicing for my upcoming chamber music workshop, which starts July 12th.

>67 ffortsa: Wow! You're really doing a major overhaul of your place. It sounds like a huge amount of work but I'm guessing you'll be thrilled when it's all done and fresh! Chamber music workshop sounds lovely too.

>68 RebaRelishesReading: Well, I don't know if I'll get the floors properly done - that will require a lot of moving of furniture back and forth. But I will thoroughly vacuum and dust in all the corners, and eventually put up new curtains with proper blackout backing to cut out the street lights and neon on my street at night.

I've been assigned to a trio (piano, cello, violin) in the workshop, no music assigned as yet. I guess we will sight-read in the first session, not my best trick.

One of my friends, who can no longer play his beloved wind instruments, is thinking about trying the cello, but is afraid of getting frustrated. OF COURSE HE WILL GET FRUSTRATED! What was he thinking, that it would just come easy?? He's a lefty, and my teacher thought he might try classical guitar, which is a great idea for him, since there is a lot of music to play alone, but he wants to play the Dvorak cello concerto. Yeah, right.

I recently donated all 20 volumes of the ClearType edition of Dickens, a set my mother was given for her engagement (she hated Dickens). Some of the volumes were not in good shape re the bindings, and I just didn't have room, even though they are fairly small and immensely readable. I later saw the same set in the Strand, in much better condition, for $150. I'm glad I donated them.

>69 ffortsa: My parents decided to have me take accordion lessons as a child :( At least I learned to read music...well, treble clef anyway). I would love to play an instrument that could be part of a chamber ensemble or an orchestra but at my age...don't think so. I do love the warm, rich sound of the cello though.

As to Dickens -- I agree with your mother.

34. Pietr the Latvian by Georges Simenon

eta on 7/3: Aha - it was Weird-O (aka Bill) who mentioned this early Maigret.

>69 ffortsa: I love the sound of the cello, but have never had any aspirations toward playing it! I played brass as a teen (E-flat alto horn), and was given piano lessons as a child, so I can read music, but not terribly proficiently. I sometimes toy with the idea of taking up piano again, just to be able to play basic things.

>72 ffortsa: I’ve got Pietr from the library, and plan to get to it soon. Will look forward to your take on it!

Karen O

>74 klobrien2: Let's discuss after you've read it.

35. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

to be discussed Tuesday

Hm. I seem to have let the Ruth Galloway series run on without me. Thank goodness the library has e-copies. Since I've finished the book for Tuesday's group, I can indulge myself with a mystery story or two.

36. The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

Tight, suitably misdirecting mystery in the Ruth Galloway series, involving all the usual characters along with the wild and archeologically rich Norfolk coast, a series of murders (of course), and an adult but dysfunctional family. The Night Hawks are 'metal detectorists' (how British) who scour the landscape for Bronze Age artifacts, and stumble across a body. And Ruth herself is challenged by a new job, a new hire, family changes, etc. Nicely done.

Update on Trust Exercise.

Well I didn't expect my Tuesday reading group to dislike this book, but they did, almost all of them. To my mind it's a wonderful and sneaky novel of perspective and betrayal. Choi starts with a lushly written story of a teenage love affair in the hothouse confines of a performing arts high school, but she doesn't stop there. Two changes of perspective later, the reader is left wondering what, if anything, is reliable in this novel, so the 'trust exercise' extends to the reader and author themselves. Big lies? Complex misunderstandings? One protagonist, or two, or three? One villain or many? Is the first lush writing supposed to be natural to the author, or is it a novel within the novel? If you are someone who needs a single truth and perspective, this book is not for you.

Choi says she finished this book shortly before the #metoo movement got hot, although the story does deal with power dynamics between older men and teenagers, and a lot of my group's discussion was at that level. But in my opinion, the author plays with the idea of 'story' in our political as well as personal lives, which I think is a much more universal and philosophical topic.

I loved it.

>38 ffortsa: What a fun treat though, unpacking forgotten about clothing from last summer.

We don't generally put clothes away here, in spite of having clearly defined seasons. It's just too patchy in summer to not need long sleeves from time to time. Plus, I wear dresses with tights in winter.

>80 LovingLit: It sounds like I should visit NZ just for the weather! I'd certainly have plenty of pants to pack.

>67 ffortsa: You and Jim have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. Good Luck.
My grief process is basically to make a lot of changes to the house. I over did it with attempting to paint an upstairs bedroom, and landed in the ER with severe pain. It was a short stay and after two infusions of a low dose of dilaudid, I came home. Lesson learned!!!

I think it is great that you and Jim can work well together on household projects.

>79 ffortsa: It sounds like you had an interesting discussion of Trust Exercise, Judy. What didn't people like about it?

Oh, I really liked Trust Exercise. I think Choi is such an interesting writer---I know folks have differing opinions on her, so glad you also liked it.

>83 BLBera: and >84 banjo123:

I don't think the group got that Choi was writing as her characters would write, and that while the power dynamic was central to the story, the STORIES themselves were only as reliable as the reader made them. We have no way of knowing who is sculpting the events, making up events, or otherwise crafting their view. It is the ultimate unreliable narrator situation, and makes the whole novel a trust exercise with the reader.

I was amazed that many in the group thought the writing was bad! Sarah's writing is like Sarah, Karen's writing is like Karen, and so evocative of her mental state, isn't it? And of course, Claire's story throws the other two sections into a completely different light.

Choi says she wrote the novel before the #metoo movement started, which also means mostly before Trump gained the presidency, but the idea of competing truths, big lies, and radically different perspectives is very much what we are going through today, I think.

Hm. I've forgotten how to modify my display styles. Can anyone point me to the right instructions?

Eta: found it. Nevermind.

So far behind, but Trust Exercise sounds really good. Nice review, too.

Good luck with the carpet cleaning and apartment overhaul. You are a busy woman!

Piano was my thing and I loved the classicals, but I am also not great at sight-reading. Much better at memorizing. Don't currently have a piano. No good space for it. I could take up the flute again, but I didn't like it as much. LOL Have fun with the classes!

>85 ffortsa: Thanks Judy. Trust Exercise does sound really good. I will have to suggest it to my book group.

Last evening's chamber music workshop was both better and not as good as I had hoped, but definitely good enough. The flute player is marvelous.

>89 ffortsa: as is the violinist I imagine :)

>90 RebaRelishesReading: Kind words, but not really. Tuesday's music is 'new' - very - and difficult to count. Oy.

The chamber music workshop will be next week, and then another evening in August. That's good, as a two-night-a-week rhythm makes me feel totally overscheduled, especially if the music is difficult. In the fall, if I decide to continue with this instead of trying to find an orchestra that will have me, it will be easier as it's only one day a week, for 14 weeks. But it produces a more definite feeling of commitment, and there are lots of days I just don't feel like fighting with the tough spots.

This coming week I also have to coordinate the painting of our bedroom. I'm trying to at least clean the floors, which haven't been cleaned in their entirety in a while. That may fall by the wayside, alas. May have to do it piecemeal as furniture can be moved here and there. I'm not a particularly good housekeeper (understatement of the decade) but once in a while I do take a whack at the big things.

Tomorrow I have my standard therapy appointment, time for practicing and PT-assigned exercises, a call to the painter, and laundry. And whatever localities of cleanup and organization I can squeeze into my attention span. After quite a lot of nights eating out or visiting with friends, I think we can cook too. Can the world please stop so I can get a week or so to catch up? Haven't kept up with threads, or books, or magazines, or TV or movies - too much to do! I need to give myself at least a day's vacation pretty soon.

Funny how retirement is just so dang busy, huh?! : ) Hang in there and don't forget to have fun! And read a book!

>91 ffortsa: Or maybe a little more than just a day. You sound pretty over-scheduled. Be kind to yourself, OK?

We need to move the books that are on the bedroom shelves so the room can be painted, and I started from the bottom today, knowing that there are precious few books there I even remember having. Result - about 10 books to donate, most of them in French or Spanish, or with type too tiny to read, or aspirational from another time (building your own furniture, for instance). So many left on the shelf. Sigh. I haven't scheduled the painting yet, but it will have to be a time when we can hire a Task Rabbit to pack up our books. We did it the last time, and it worked out very well.

Our various book groups are coming due: Death and the Penguin for one, Native Speaker for the other. And a session of Ovid on Saturday with my read aloud group.

Good luck with your book sorting/packing room painting project. I think you're very brave but expect you'll feel refreshed and happy when it's all done!

What a saga, and we are only half-way through.

We are renovating our bedroom, sort of. Fresh paint, probably new drapes, maybe even fewer books. The first step was sending the rugs out to be cleaned. That was three weeks ago. I wanted to get the painting done before they came back, but alas, not possible.

We had to prepare to receive our cleaned rugs today. Yesterday, I got the handyman to stop delaying (polite word used) and repair the wall in my bedroom that had plaster problems. To give him access, we had to disassemble the bed, which is a platform with drawers underneath. So all the furniture is pushed around and most of the bed is on end in various pieces, and we discovered that one of the corners, where it is held together by a clever plastic thingy, had broken so we had to glue it back together. (Will Elmer’s hold? Let’s hope so!). Last night we slept on the mattress in the livingroom.

Today I had to chase the handyman to get him to prime the patches, because the painter won’t be able to pay a visit until late August. I didn’t want to lose the advantage of the bed being away from the wall, so after the repaired spots were primed, I decided I had to prime at least the rest of the wall that would be behind the bed when we move the bed back. (Of course, we will have to deconstruct the bed again when it's time to paint.)

But Jim had a teledoc session at 2PM, so I wanted to wait until either the rugs were delivered or he was done. Of course the handyman’s helper rang the doorbell at 1:50, bucket in hand. As soon as he left, the guys were downstairs to deliver the rugs. Jim got connected, I raced up to Home Depot to get a new microfiber dust/wetmop recommended by Wirecutter, raced back, primed the rest of the wall behind the bed, which was remarkably discolored (discovering that I don’t really remember the best way to paint) and cleaned the painting stuff (getting paint on the shower doors of course) just in time for the landlord’s lender to come in and verify that the apartment was really the size he claimed it to be. Four guys and the handyman as escort in the mayhem!

I then dashed downstairs to meet someone in the lobby I was supposed to meet half an hour before to give her some items I had listed on Buy Nothing.

Later, we will reconstitute the bed frame, spread out the anti-slip guard for the bedroom rug, and the rug itself, and reassemble the bed. Move the mattress back, with clean sheets. Move the nightstands back. They will probably go too, but not right now. Much later, I may wash and buff the parts of the floor that are not covered by the rug - but not right away. Maybe when we prepare for the actual painting.

I have a bag of books headed for Housing Works, or our swap shelves downstairs if I am too tired to head farther. I have some other stuff I need to dump or bring to Goodwill. Once we get the bed back in the bedroom, we can spread out the living room rug, set the coffee table back where it belongs, and take a little more time to recover. We have lots to cook at home, but with the weather as it is, I think we may get something cold to eat!

And drink.

And I don't even own the place.

>96 ffortsa: Goodness, what a day!

OMG!!! What a huge job!! You will need a nice, quiet vacation when this is over -- although you'll probably be so pleased with the end result you'll want it to be a staycation instead :)

>98 RebaRelishesReading: Oh we are a long way from that. We didn't do anything today, not even rolling out the living room rug. Tomorrow. And I need to finish the priming of that dirty wall. At least we got clean sheets on the bed.

Tonight is the last chamber music session except for one makeup evening in August. I am aching for all sorts of reasons, some of them the difficult music which makes me break all sorts of ergonomic rules because of tension not the music itself. We will see how it goes tonight.

In the meantime, I'm reading Death and the Penguin, so far appealing. And it takes place in Kiyv, mostly, which is interesting for its sense of place, and foreboding.

Not much walking, because it's so hot here.

>91 ffortsa: I always disliked playing music that needed a lot of counting concentration. The rhythm always fell more naturally when everyone else got their rhythms correct ;)

Have a great weekend!

>100 figsfromthistle: oh, what instrument do you play?

39. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wenrock

Graeber and his late partner reevaluated our standard picture of ancient civilizations based on recent evidence, and found old certainties seriously lacking in support, and sometimes even logic.. What characteristics of a society, if any, are inevitable, and which just seem that way because of where we are now? Especially interesting are their views of hierarchy, the contributions of women, the variability of definitions of freedom, and the pursuit of material wealth. They are also really good at snark. A little repetitious, not surprising in such a long book, but the listening was easy. I learned a lot and might listen again next year.

>79 ffortsa: >85 ffortsa: I credit you, Judy, for the bb inflicted here.

But.

I'm slowly reading The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager, and Choi is one of the writers interviewed about her reading life and library. She was interviewed just after Trust Exercise was published. In their preface to the interview, the authors wrote: ...Jeff had just read and loved her new novel, Trust Exercise, a dazzling and stylistically complex story about high school theater kids, a charismatic but predatory drama teacher, and the damaging aftereffects of abuse. They add that Choi attended a performing arts high school in Houston. Reading the interview, I got to like Choi. Your comments on Trust Exercise sent me back to the interview and that sealed the deal. Onto the WANT! List™ it goes.

>96 ffortsa: Oh Lordy. Kudos to you and Jim for even attempting the work.

40. None So Blind by Alis Hawkins

Laura recommended this series, and I grabbed the first title without realizing it was a historical murder series, which takes place in Wales in 1850. This is definitely important to the plot, as class, religion, and conquest color every aspect of the story. The writing and the insight into the history of Wales kept me going. Thanks, Laura!

Thanks for the kudos. The livingroom is reset. The rug, older and much ignored, is not quite perfectly clean, but good enough.

Yesterday I primed half the remaining bedroom wall, with Jim's help, before running out of primer. Tomorrow I hope to get more primer and finish the job.

It tickles me to do this. And would amuse my father.

You are going to be so happy with your place when you're done and proud of yourself for having done so much of the work yourself! Congratulations.

>103 weird_O: Bill we were like "oh, the Rug guys want $100.00 to install everything - we can handle it"

And afterwards we were like "You know $100.00 isn't so much to pay, really"

Tonight book group #1 is discussing Death and the Penguin. and tomorrow night book group #2 is discussing Native Speaker. In the meantime, we have finished all available episodes of The Old Man.

Enough to make anyone paranoid. The resonances among them are, for us, unplanned and disturbing.
A little bit of Smiley territory, and a lot of good writing and great acting.

Hi Judy.

>43 ffortsa: Three productions of MacBeth. Wow. And getting front row mezzanine seats for the second half was amazing luck.

I don’t have anybody to go to live theater with any more, and I’m still leery of the whole thing because of Covid anyway. Speaking of front row mezzanine, I did see The Phantom of the Opera in LA in 1990 with Robert Guillaume, front row center mezzanine with a college friend.

>69 ffortsa: Both my mother and her sister played cello. I think my 87-year old Aunt still has hers, but doesn’t play any more. My mother wanted to become a concert cellist but just didn’t have the musical chops as she told me once, gave up her dreams, and married my dad. Good for me, obviously, sad for her.

>70 ffortsa: Amazingly, I think I have the same set of Dickens, given to me by a friend. I have 19 of 20, so now need to figure out which one I’m missing and maybe need to acquire it.

>79 ffortsa: I’ve added this to my wish list. Interesting that they disliked it so much. I’m not up for it now, but it sounds like something for a time when I can focus more deeply on complex books.

>94 ffortsa: Jenna came home recently to regroup, so I’ve got my own personal Task Rabbit.

>96 ffortsa: Drinking sounds like the best reward, of course.

interesting about your cello-playing mother and aunt. I think it can be a graceful instrument for a woman. My sister always had an elegant way of sitting with her cello.

I did like that set of Dickens, but space and condition made the decision for me. And I look at all the other books I have, and every once in a while reappraise their type size and condition. More may leave after we take down the bedroom shelves.

no evidence to post, but I got Worldle in ONE today. How did I know the shape of Nicaragua?

We are back from Williamstown and the greater Boston area. One play (interesting but not really dramatic) and one stand-up comedy show with Alex Edelman, very funny. Too much food by far. A lovely trip to the Clark Art Institute to see a really interesting Rodin exhibit that detailed both his American connections and his process. And more food.

I thought I'd read a lot this trip, considering the train ride, but didn't even listen to any audiobooks. Oh well.

I've been practicing my violin music frantically today in prep for the last two sessions of my chamber music workshop. 5 days without playing really shows, alas.

>111 ffortsa: Good question! (do you have an answer?) Took me three and I wasn't too upset with that.

Just catching up with your thread, Judy. It looks like you deserved to take a break after all that work done on the apartment. Hope you enjoyed your trip.

The trip was good, although it was a lot of traveling in proportion to visiting, etc. Maybe next year we will stay longer in the Berkshires. It does require some planning.

We managed to make good on our resolve to see more museum shows on Wednesday, when we visited the Guggenheim to take in the Kandinsky exhibit. If you don't know the museum, it is mainly a long spiral ramp, which gives it a very open look at the expense of a lot of exhibit space. In this show, the curator mounted the pieces of art in reverse temporal order, so that we started from the most mature Kandinsky works and 'walked' backwards through time. That was a rather interesting way to see the art, but I wished there had been more audio discussion of the pieces they chose to feature. I didn't need a visual description, but I would have welcomed more artistic appraisal.

There are a few other shows we are eager to see, so I'll mention them as we go.

In the meantime, reading has not really been my thing these days. I've been doing a lot of walking, and listening, this time to The Early Middle Ages, actually a Great Courses download. It's not an era I know much about, and although the professor has been dwelling a bit too much on the names and dates variety of history, he does make it interesting.

I have a few books due back to the library, and two book discussion events are coming up, so more to come.

I'm a little behind on my book comments. Here's a recap:

41. Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

This first novel explores the experience of 'outsider' from both traditional and very specific points of view. The protagonist, John, is the son of Korean immigrants. While his father, who came from Korea with an engineering degree, was unable to practice in the U.S., he nevertheless provided well for his family in material ways, but was grimly and emotionally unresponsive to his son. John has had all the material advantages, and chooses (or is chosen for) a career as a sort of industrial spy, playing a role in each placement as he plays the role of American in the greater society. After an oddly disastrous assignment, he is reassigned to infiltrate the staff of a Korean American politician in Queens, N.Y., and has to confront his shifting identity, and that of others.

Complicating this, John and his non-Korean wife have lost a son to a freak accident, and their marriage is in trouble.

I found this novel totally fascinating, for its perspective on being the outsider, on being able to suss out the insider game, and on the cost of playing your life instead of living it authentically. Highly recommended.

42. Top Girls by Caryl Churchill

I found this play on the swap shelves downstairs and couldn't resist reading it, after having seen it several years ago on stage. Churchill explores the various ways women have coped with ambition and maternity in fable and history. At an imaginary dinner for a modern woman celebrating her promotion at an employment agency, famous characters from history join her to talk to each other and share their stories: Griselda and Pope Joan, Isabella Bird, Lady Niho, Dull Gret. Scene 2 brings us to the more concrete present, where we see what has earned her this promotion, how she treats and coaches the women she places. Act 2 reveals what her life has cost her, and others, and what it might mean to give up everything to be Top Girl. Very much of its Thatcherite time, but still relevant.

43. Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty

The sixth in the police series set in the Troubles in Belfast. Sean Duffy investigates a drug-related murder done, bizarrely, with a cross-bow, and finds himself involved with old crimes of the IRA, and some new ones as well. In the meantime he tries to hold on to his new family, and not get killed. Not my favorite, but still pretty good.

Tonight our uptown book group will discuss the first Maigret mystery, Pietr the Latvian, which I had coincidentally read earlier this year.

I really liked Native Speaker back when I read it in 2001. Quite a while ago! I just acquired another copy of that book recently and tried to pass it along to fellow Bookcrossers this past weekend, but I had no takers. I am going to release it into a local Little Free Library, one that my husband built and in a neighborhood with appreciative readers (I think!). :D

>117 SqueakyChu: Madeline, how nice to see you here! Let's hope it finds an appreciative audience.

I found a Little Free Library in Manhattan! It's in Stuyvesant Park just south of 17th St. I don't know who runs it or got permission to set it up, but it's being used, which is great.

Now I just have to pry some books out of my own clutches and bring them over.

>119 ffortsa: They are such fun! We’ve had ours up and running since 2013. As a matter of fact, there are four other Little Free stewards in my local BookCrossing group that have Little Free Libraries. My husband built the Little Free Libraries of all but one of these members. One of them even has two built by my husband!!

I register on BookCrossing all of the books that are donated to and go out in my Little Free Library so each of the books has a little travel history! Yes, my Little Free Library
is an Official BookCrossing Zone. :D

One of my zoom book clubs has decided to read To The Finland Station, not our usual fiction read. But I'm finding it really interesting, covering not only details of history but about the writing of history. It's pretty long - over 500 pages, and my old copy, picked up somewhere with good intentions, wasn't going to hack it, so I bought the Kindle edition, in which Wilson's introduction is an apology for his optimistic take as found in the text. Made me even more curious.

At the same time, I'm reading The Man Who Died Twice, and pretty soon I have to read The Door for my other zoom group. That one might revert to f2f soon - we are all hoping for that, even if we wear masks, and bring a laptop for the out-of-town members.

And I actually read an entire Scientific American issue last week, although I need some tutoring from Dr. Neutron on terminology, never mind the actual science.

>119 ffortsa: There are three in our neighborhood but not in a direction I often walk so have only used one of them and that one time I took a book. Still I love the idea.

Hi Judy!

>121 ffortsa: I’ve done that with several books recently – hard copy not hacking it, Kindle copy a better choice.

Yay for the Kandinsky, good books being read, and Little Free Library.

I usually listen to non-fiction when I walk, and the current book is The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science, by Michael Strevens. So far it's quite interesting, a history of science and philosophy of science that I hadn't studied at all. As it goes, it's debunking some of the standard myths about the scientists who shaped our world and the experiments they may or may not have falsified. Lots more to come.

Someone said she was planning to read from the National Book Awards list and I got curious and downloaded the list itself. Several of them I've already read, but there's lots to choose from. Can't remember who the suggester was, sorry.

>125 ffortsa: I believe it was me, Judy :)

>126 RebaRelishesReading: Aha! Well, we can keep track of our reading together then. I'm all for it, and may even suggest some of them to my book groups.

44. The Door by Magda Szabo
book club discussion Tuesday

45. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Another funny entry in the Thursday Murder Club series, involving a few too many turns, and a few too many endings, like a Beethoven symphony. This one involves a middleman who accepts insurance deposits as hedges for illegal activities, a man from Elizabeth's past, MI5 and the local police, and cocaine. Any questions?

>127 ffortsa: Sounds great, Judy. Let's do it. I've listed the ones I've read on my thread and will keep it up to date as I read more.

I'll be interested in your discussion of The Door, Judy.

Reba is reading through the National Book Award titles, and I think it's an interesting idea. I've read the following from the list so far:

The Man With the Golden Arm
From Here To Eternity ( I think, long ago)
Invisible Man
Goodbye, Columbus
The Moviegoer
Herzog (in college
Them ( I think, again long ago )
Sophie's Choice
Rabbit is Rich
Middle Passage
The Shipping News
The Corrections
Three Junes
The News From Paraguay
Let The Great World Spin
Trust Exercise
Interior Chinatown
A Stillness At Appomatox
Arctic Dreams
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
Life Studies ( in college )
Max Perkins: Editor of Genius (long ago)
Gone With the Wind
The Citadel
Rebecca
The Grapes of Wrath

Some of them, as indicated, are from long, long ago. There are a lot I'd like to read, and certain ones I actually own but haven't gotten to. Anyone reading something from the list that I've NOT read, please feel free to post here and I might be able to read along with you. I am not good at group reads (don't keep up), but maybe one on one I can do it.

>131 ffortsa: That's a much bigger list than my "read" list. Have you included some from lists other than "fiction"? I didn't look at those but I may have read some since I do read biography and history.

>132 RebaRelishesReading: I did include some non-fiction:

A Stillness At Appomatox
Arctic Dreams
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
Max Perkins: Editor of Genius

and the Lowell is poetry, of course.

Didn't mean to overwhelm you. I read a number of these when in college, long, long ago. I was surprised to see how many overall I'd read, but Jim picks really good books for our reading group, and that accounts for some. And then, I majored in English!

>133 ffortsa: All good reasons you've read more from such lists than I have (social sciences person that I am). I'm not overwhelmed, just impressed :) I'll keep my list on my thread and update it as I go.
Do you have anything in mind for your first addition?

>134 RebaRelishesReading: At the moment I'm reading To the Finland Station for a late September book group, and it's a bit of a slog just now. So no, no ideas. Just let me know what you pick, and if I haven't read it recently I might be able to join you.

>135 ffortsa: The one I had laid out for "next" is Goodbye Columbus and I have it in the car to start while I wait through D2's PT appointment this morning. I know you've read that one already. Since I've read far fewer than you, feel free to pick one and I'll see about reading along with you.

>136 RebaRelishesReading: please do read Goodbye, Columbus. I've got a few books already required by my book groups to get through. We can check back later.

>130 BLBera: Beth, the discussion of The Door last night was really good. Overall, members thought the novel was great, but there was a lot of controversy and discussion about the nature of the relationship between the narrator and Emerence, the rightness or wrongness of the narrator's actions after Emerence's stroke and her equivocal relationship with the power structure that had ignored her work until just then. Were the narrator's actions justified? Why did Emerence keep the back room untouched? and why did she plan the mausoleum for herself and her family? Was she a saint or a traumatized woman? Was her morality, her attitude to work, the result of her trauma or something else? How much of this was a commentary on the Communist state? We reached no conclusions. But we did all feel that in spite of taking place in a city, in Pest, the whole story felt as if it were set in a village, Emerence's village.

Sorry you couldn't join us. What did you think of the book?

I loved it, Judy. I keep wanting to read more by this author. I am sorry I couldn't join you. Maybe next time, if I'm still invited? What are you reading next?

>139 BLBera: We are reading A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre. I'm not sure when we are going to return to face to face, but we will probably try a hybrid format with a laptop when we do. You are more than welcome!

It will be 7:30 PM October 11. You can get a little more info on Meetup.com Union Square Reading Group.

Thanks Judy. I will check it out.

Jim and I took part in a walk from 115th St. in Riverside Park heading downtown, maximum length 9 miles. We didn't make 9 miles, nor were we planning to, but I did think I would make 5 or 6. Instead I went home with Jim at about the 3.5 mile point, because my phone screen would not light up (suddenly) and I was scared that it had died. Instead, when we got home, I went over to the T-Mobile store where, once inside, I could see a faint image, and the T-Mobile person showed me how to make the screen brighter. Whew! No idea how that happened in my pocket! I was really scared, and then I felt like an old lady idiot, but all is well.

It was a gorgeous day for a walk, too. This was initiated by my Everwalk leader getting in touch with a man named Jonathan Stalls, who has walked across the U.S. and now walks everywhere promoting slow walking and awareness of nature and our environment. Given his mode of transportation, his last name amuses me.

Hi Judy! Your book club choices sound amazing. Both of my in person book clubs have stepped back a bit from literary titles. I understand the desire to be entertained, especially during these trying times.

In the meantime, I added The Door to my library wishlist.

>142 ffortsa: You are not an idiot. The people who designed the cell phone such that it routinely does things in response on being put in a pocket on the other hand? With no instructions for users on what to expect, how to fix it when it happens, or how to avoid it in the first place? Well, I'm not sure that they are idiots per se, as much as following the instructions of whichever set of selfish bastards are in charge of their employer, but the results are much the same.

A tip for the future - if you buy a case for the damn thing, the amount of spontaneous mischief from misinterpreted jostling will be reduced. If you buy the kind of case you can wear on your belt, it will be reduced to zero - at the cost of an increased chance of the phone being dropped, due to falling off your belt - sometimes into unfortunate places like your toilet bowl. (FWIW, I remember earlier styles of belt case that lacked this additional risk, but they don't seem to exist for modern cell phones.)

I also qualify as an old lady, and thus "not tech savvy" by modern definition, but I worked in digital tech for more than 40 years before recently retiring, and so refuse to accept the automatic assumption that these problems are somehow due to my own incapacity, cluelessness, etc.

>144 ArlieS: Thanks for the vote of support. I've gotten good at turning off my screen when I put my phone in my pocket or purse, and that usually avoids such odd problems. I do wish there were an easy way to know what is going on when the screen seems to be off, like maybe a diagnostic code you can speak into the phone? Anyway, now that I know where Google Assistant will put the slider, I should be able to handle this.

As for cases, I always have had a case that protects the back of the phone, but I don't want to have to open anything to see the screen, and I seldom wear a belt, so I'll pass on those options, good though they are.

And I'm also a 40 year tech veteran, but I resent having to learn the ins and outs of phones, tablets, even new home computer tricks. My head is full enough of that stuff. I'd rather learn something else!

FWIW, I told the story to my sister, who as a modern librarian knows a lot of tech things I never needed to learn, and it happened to her as well, although she did something (she can't recall what) that brought her screen brightness back before she drove to the phone shop. Made me feel a little better.

We took the subway down to the National Museum of the American Indian today, to catch the last day of a show of work by Oscar Howe, a Dakota modern artist who concentrated on portraying his heritage in bold colors and modern techniques influenced by Cubism and other abstract ideas. The museum, with branches in Washington and New York, is free for all.

In New York, the collection is housed in the U.S. Custom House, which was named for Alexander Hamilton during the term of George H.W. Bush. And the building itself is quite amazing, with an exquisite central rotunda with an oval skylight. There's even seating in the center!

I've gotten deep into Edmund Wilson's To the Finland Station, and reading it will stall my counter for a while. It's not terribly long, but it requires close attention, and I'm finding it interesting enough to give it that.

I'm also listening to The Knowledge Machine by Michael Strevens. It's pretty good walking material (I did 3 miles this morning - gorgeous day).

Once I finish the Wilson book, which I'm reading for one of my book groups, I will be able to indulge in series catch-ups. I'm way behind on the "...In Death" series, for instance, and they are excellent popcorn.

When I'm not reading, I'm trying to get control of the zillions of 'things' I have in this apartment. In arranging the pots and pans area under the stovetop, I discovered some items I will definitely not use, and they are going to people in my Buy Nothing group. I managed to find a space for my Instant Pot on the counter by putting the cereal containers on one of the cleared high shelves that only Jim can reach (that way I can't snack). It's good to remember what I have and know where to find it.

Can you come help me clean my stacks when you are done in NY? : ) I currently can't use one of my garage stalls because it is filled with my kids stuff from when they moved back in 6 months ago. Hope to get it cleared out before winter and rain hits here. Either they need to sell it, find a home in THIER inside space, or rent a storage locker.

>148 Berly: LOL. I don't have kids, but I do have our own memorabilia, which I'd love to dump, and some stuff from my parents which I would love to be able to put someplace reachable!

After I clear all the stuff out of the apartment, I'll have to check the storage lockers Jim and I both use (and where my mother's china has been languishing). Maybe if we are ruthless we can consolidate into one and save a few bucks. Storage is expensive in this burg!

I bet storage is very pricey where you are. And I know I am blaming my kids, but I do openly confess I also have a lot of SH!T. Its just that I have been working on downsizing mine and they are in the midst of acquiring more consumable as they get ready to strike out on their own again. Do I really need another kitchen table? Nope. And neither do they until they move out. So now it sits in the garage. Sigh.

>138 ffortsa: That sounds like a really interesting book!

Good luck with your apartment organizing and figuring out what to keep/give away.

>151 figsfromthistle: Thanks for stopping by, Anita. Yes, The Door is very interesting reading and nicely concise as well. Highly recommended.

I've been trying to declutter as well, Judy, and like you, I have "discovered" some things I'd forgotten. It's a slow process, and one I imagine will be ongoing.

In the midst of all this, I tripped and fell on a NYC street and ended up with an attractive 6 stitches in my forehead. The passerby help was astonishing. One lovely guy squatted down in front of me to clean off all the blood (head wounds really BLEED). Someone called an ambulance. I'm fine, if somewhat marked, and with a reinforced appreciation of my fellow city dwellers.

Adding to the decluttering discussion. I recently cleared out my garage, and the corner cupboard under the counter in my kitchen. Wow, I *discovered* a ton of stuff, some of which got tossed, some of which (including an almost never used toaster oven I forgot I had and clearly didn't miss) that ended up in 3 donation boxes. Also the heavy black dial phone from the house I grew up in, phone number still visible. I can't part with that one yet, but I did clean it up, lol. Decluttering is a full time job, isn't it?

Yikes about your fall, Judy. Glad you are ok, and glad your doctor is on top of things, Kim!

>154 ffortsa: Sorry about your fall, Judy, but glad you're on the mend.

I had a stupid fall as well last week. While looking at a bike my husband got for a neighbor, I decided to mount the bike and lost my balance. As I fell hard on our concrete driveway on my butt/spine, I didn't try to break my fall, but rather tried to protect the bike from getting scratched. It was all so stupid of me. After three hours in Urgent Care and x-rays, I decided to go home without seeing the doctor because Kaiser always sends preliminary lab reports to my email. I saw on that email message no dislocation and no fracture so I opted out of waiting another hour for the doctor to tell me that which I then already knew. I'm fine now.

Sorry about your fall, Judy. I'm glad it wasn't more serious and that you had help.

>156 SqueakyChu: Madeline, that sounds just like something I would do! Glad nothing cracked, but you must be pretty bruised in interesting places.

>157 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. It was the help that was so amazing, cheered me up that people could be so nice.

>158 ffortsa: No bruises (that I can see). Just a bruised ego. Haha!

So sorry about the fall---but glad you had helpful people around.

I am trying to clean out the basement, and it is hard to part with stuff at times! I have a child's tea set, from when I was 3, that I've held onto for years, but I think it needs to go.

>160 banjo123: Ahhhh! Tea sets. I remember playing with a tea set as a little kid. My mom didn't save any of my toys, but I bought one for my daughter which I kept, and even this week my four-year-old granddaughter offered us tea from that set while we were having real dinner. :D Yeah. Tea sets need to be played with.

>154 ffortsa: Yikes! I'm sorry you took that spill, Judy, but love hearing about the good samaritan who helped. Those of us who have lived in cities know how caring our urban neighbors can be, despite rhetoric to the contrary.

Our trip to NYC is frankly being a bit weird in scheduling. Honestly, I think P is ambivalent about the whole thing so I'm having a hard time getting her to participate in planning. I think a lot of stuff isn't going to get finalized until we're actually there. We have lunch with her cousin on Tuesday (our first full day in the city) and I think we'll rely pretty heavily on the cousin's advice about how to make the most of our limited time.

>162 EBT1002: understood about the time. We will continue to hope to meet for a breakfast, a drink, a walk, a museum, whatever. Our time is pretty free.

>154 ffortsa: OMG!! I've been busy with visitors and committee work and just read about your fall!! Glad there was help and hope you're healing well by now. Frightening event though I'm sure!

>164 RebaRelishesReading: I wasn't really frightened (after I was on the ground) until I realized I was covered in blood! Head wounds are a b***h. But I'm ok now. I'll probably have a third eyebrow until I get some plastic work done.

>147 ffortsa: a clear out can be so liberating! I hope you 'Marie Kondo' your place to the degree that suits you. :)

Today is a strange day for me. No appointments, no errands, no lessons. And a beautiful day. New York is so gorgeous in September.

So I read half an older issue of Scientific American, about the paleolithic evidence of the growth of mammals, and the differences between input-driven and random-hit theories of mind and learning. There's more, but I took a break to talk to my cousin Bonnie in Portland, and then take a walk around the area in the sunshine while listening to The Knowledge Machine. When I came back, we actually watched some TV IN THE DAYTIME. How decadent! An episode of New Tricks, and the first episode of Ted Lasso, which I really liked. Then some knitting, some thread reading, and I'll probably practice my fiddle in the near future. No plans for the evening aside from our addiction to Jeopardy and The Late Late Show (although as with most of my temporary addictions, the reward balance is wearing a little thin). And cooking - we have a refrigerator full of meals and won't be eating in between Wednesday and Saturday this week.

And why is that, you ask? One of our friends is turning 80 tomorrow, and her husband has gone completely over the top in planning a three and a half day extravaganza of surprises for her. Unfortunately, it will also be surprises for us, since he has kept locations and events a complete secret (hate that), although he has specified dress code (really??). All we know is when a car will come to pick us up, and when we head home. I've pried some info out of him just because I have some possible conflicts, but he's being very childish about it.

I've decided not to be angry. He's spending his money to mark my friend's birthday, and including us, and it might be a fun time. But I don't like the feeling of being kidnapped for half a week.

Besides, I'm only half-way through To the Finland Station and we meet to discuss it next Monday!

Sorry about the fall. Glad you are OK and that the people of NY rushed to your aid. : )

Have fun being kidnapped! IT's a worthy cause.

I forgot to mention that we are working around a huge dehumidifier the building supplied because of a wet ceiling in our bathroom. It takes up a lot of the meager floorspace available. When the area is dry, they will replaster. I just hope they adequately fixed the leak that is presumed to come from upstairs.

In the meantime, while our apartment is cool, the bathroom is a little like a sauna, quite comfy. Maybe we should install a heater after this is done! I just don't know where.

Still making my way through To The Finland Station. It's filling in so many holes in my historical knowledge. I immediately recognized the name Bakunin, because Ethan Hawke played him in Stoppard's 'The Coast of Utopia' a few years back. Wonderful trio of plays.

Glad your head is healing well. Bummer though about water damage from the unit above. I understand your concern about the birthday surprises but hope you have fun.

Ah, surprise birthday extravaganza day 1:
Dinner at Le Bernadine, one of the swankiest restaurants in NYC. It was a tasting menu, everything delicious, but every course with its own wine.

Consequence: HANGOVER. I think today I will skip the wine, at least at brunch. I was going to run over to the emergency facility where I was sewed up last Thursday to have the stitches removed, but I decided I could wait a day or two because I was none to steady when I woke up!

Poor Judy!! It's not kind when a pleasant evening comes back to bite you is it? Hope you're feeling better already.

Too much going on for me to catch up, but I've missed you, Judy. Your fall scares me to the depths. I'm much relieved that it wasn't worse. I try to be careful for myself and my mother (who is actually steadier on her feet than I am), but accidents.....
Oooo! I'm going to have to google Le Bernadine. I have no idea today what swank looks or tastes like. Enjoy the rest of the birthday celebrations!
And thank you for the E. Wilson BB. It sounds like something I need to read. (I wish myself luck with that.)

>173 RebaRelishesReading: Ah, hangovers don't last long. We had a lovely day yesterday, which I will detail after I recover from yesterday and today. We actually bailed on dinner at Katz's Deli because we were exhausted. One more day to go!

>174 LizzieD: The Wilson book is not at all bad once you get past the beginning section on French philosophers. I'm about 65% done, so I stand a chance of finishing before Monday evening. Wilson is very good at characterizing the people involved, and my head doesn't hurt too much contemplating the economic philosophy. I encourage you.

It's been reported that Hilary Mantel died yesterday or today, of a stroke, at 70. Too young, says I, and she had more to write, I'm sure.

I'm not going to get to list each day's itinerary for my friend's birthday extravaganza, so I'll just list the stops as I remember them:

Dinners:
Le Bernardin, tasting menu with wine
La Pavillon, tasting menu with wine
The River Cafe, fabulous dinner with views of Manhattan

Brunches:
three places I have to look up but they were great.

Events:
Summit (three level observation starting on the 91st floor of 1 Vanderbilt Place - best views I've ever seen)
A private magic show, close up
A private piano concert, close up
An outdoor production of 'The Importance of Being Ernest', in Nyack, on a gorgeous afternoon

And, great people I'd not met before, a terrific photographer to document it all, car service everywhere for everyone.

We did skip out on a dinner at Katz's Deli - just too much on that day. But we know the place well.

It may take me some time to recover! My friend Karen's husband loves Karen, good things, good friends, and sharing, and he didn't stint in giving all of us the best time.

Every once in a while I look at the 'recommended for' lists from other members, and while I've read many of the titles listed, that was before I joined LT, so they get re-recommended to me. One of these days I'm going to have to start entering them as read, even if I don't own them anymore (or ever). If I ever get the time.

>177 ffortsa: That sounds like a most fantastic series of events. Glad you enjoyed it and happy for Karen.

Sorry to hear about your fall Judy.

That sounds like an amazing birthday surprise for your friend, full of good food, wine and company. Something to be long remembered.

Judy, I just read about your fall and so sorry to hear about it. I’m glad your “kidnapping” turned out so well.

Your friend's birthday celebration sounds great, Judy. I'm glad it turned out well.

We almost always read fiction in what I call our 'uptown' reading group, but this time we tackled To the Finland Station, subtitled A Study in the Writing and Acting of History. Very interesting discussion followed, to my surprise and pleasure. Edmund Wilson writes marvelously clear prose, even if it's in an older, more subordinate-clause style. While his section on Lenin is too much a hagiography (as he himself admitted later), the history of socialist and communist origins and philosophy in Europe really filled a hole in my education, and his concentration on the history and personalities of Marx and Engels made them very vivid to me. If you haven't read it, take a look, and forgive the first chapter or so on the French philosophers (it is rather deadly).

I'm deep into A Perfect Spy but trying to pace myself because my eyes have been giving me trouble. Appointment on Tuesday with the optometrist because I need to replace my broken glasses AND my eyes get so tired reading. Wondering if the fall contributed in any way, too.

Next up for the uptown reading group is The Price of Salt, which I've meant to read before this, so I'm glad we chose it. But that's not due until the middle of November, so I'll have time to revisit my lagging series list.

47. A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre

Mesmerizing, but I'll hold other comments until after we discuss on Tuesday.

48. A Guilty Thing Surprised by Ruth Rendell

Not the best in the series so far (I think it's #5), rather obvious in its secrets. Or maybe I've been reading better writing and it just didn't match up.

Hi Judy!

I've drawn a line in the sand, and will try to visit more often. I hope you have a good week.

>186 karenmarie: Nice to see you here. Not to worry about visiting - we all have too many threads to keep up with.

49. The Beige Man by Helene Tursten

Next in the series. A good police procedural, although I guessed the final villain way before the end - it was how it came to be known that was interesting. Sad story, though.

Uh-oh. My sister has introduced me to a new game. It's a bit of a mind boggler. The website is semantle.com, and here's the pitch:

Each guess must be a word. Semantle will tell you how semantically similar it thinks your word is to the secret word. Unlike that other word game, it's not about the spelling; it's about the meaning. The similarity value comes from Word2vec. The highest possible similarity is 100 (indicating that the words are identical and you have won). The lowest in theory is -100, but in practice it's around -34. By "semantically similar", I mean, roughly "used in the context of similar words, in a database of news articles."

Secret words may be any part of speech, but will always be single words. It's tempting to think only of nouns, since that is how normal semantic word-guessing games work. Don't get caught in the trap! Since our Word2vec data set contains some proper nouns, guesses are case-sensitive. But I removed all but lower-case words from the secret word set, and if your word matches the secret word but for case, you win anyway. So if you want to know if the word is more like nice or Nice, you can ask about both.

The "Getting close" indicator tells you how close you are --if your word is one of the 1,000 nearest normal words to the target word, the rank will be given (1000 is the target word itself). If your word is not one of the nearest 1000, you're "cold". (By "normal" words", I mean non-capitalized words that appears in a very large English word list; there are lots of capitalized, misspelled, or obscure words that might be close but that won't get a ranking. Those get marked with "????").

You will need more than six guesses. You will probably need dozens of guesses. There's a new word every day, where a day starts at midnight UTC or 20:00 your time.

I tried yesterday's and gave up. But I tried today's and got there in 42 guesses. It may swallow you whole. Beware.

>189 ffortsa: Sisters are dangerous. The computer game my youngest sister introduced me to has consumed so much time that I only reached 75 books this year in October, instead of August as I'd expected. And if I'm still playing this game in 2023, I may not reach 75 books that year at all.

>190 ArlieS: Which one is it? (Dangerous question)

I should mention some reading. I'm a ways into Mrs. Caliban because a first edition (worth just about shipping cost) was still on my shelf. I've also started Paris Noir: The Suburbs, which I won as an Early Reviewer and haven't reviewed. Next up for one of my reading groups is The Price of Salt, which I have but haven't started yet. And Jim is planning on getting one of our groups to read Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, which I found on a list of books in translation. That should hold me for a while.

>189 ffortsa: Oh interesting... of to check that out and find out if it will be frustrating or a new time sink for me.

>189 ffortsa: Thanks to (and for) your recommendation Judy, I tried this yesterday...and gave up at about 15 guesses or so. I'll try it a few more times but I'm not sure...

Judy, I've missed a lot of your posts. Congratulations on your musical endeavors, and staying sane while painting and moving books back and forth. I'm sure it will look great when finished. Hang in there!

>191 ffortsa: Haven & Hearth at https://www.havenandhearth.com/portal/

It's a "persistent world" game - things change when you aren't logged on - which tends to result in me feeling I "have to" login. If I were raising livestock - I'm not - they might starve if I didn't log in to feed then, etc. etc.

>195 ArlieS: oh dear - not for me. Any time I can steal from my online activities is precious!

To my complete surprise I got Wordle in TWO today. Pure accident.

>197 ffortsa: Wordle in two? Congratulations, and, you rock!

Karen O

>197 ffortsa: After a total bust yesterday I got it in two today -- much to my surprise :)

>195 ArlieS: Sounds like good old "FarmVille" - I left a lot of cows to starve playing that one

>200 magicians_nephew: Farmville in a way, but with player-vs-player conflict and violence.

>201 ArlieS: In Farmville my sister was always trying to give me a sheep and expected me to gift her in return.

That was about all the conflict and violence i needed.

Hi Judy, the birthday surprise dining sounded interesting but a bit of a marathon. Have you gotten back to your normal self after that and your fall?

>203 Familyhistorian: Yes, Meg, I have, but going through some other stupid stuff at the moment. I hope to come out of it more myself than before.

The photographer caught a stunning romantic picture of Jim and me, which I hope to have subtlely edited and printed for our wall. We will still both be in it!

I've been trying to read Paris Noir: The Suburbs but as a reviewer mentioned on LT, it's a terribly depressing collection of stories. I may put it down for a bit and read something a little more positive about the human condition.

That word game sounds completely dangerous, if not fatal.

Awhile back I read Rachel Ingalls book about the safari gone wrong . . . Binstead's Safari. Such a combination of gruesome, funny and something deeper.

>204 ffortsa: Are you going to share the photo?

>207 RebaRelishesReading: As soon as I get the red off my chin!

Haven't done much reading, but I did put aside the Paris Noir book. So dark. Instead, I've been practicing my violin, and we went to a couple of shows this week. First, an odd ensemble reading of MacBeth at a theater at NYU, which was less than advertised (oh well). Last night we went to a Twyla Tharp show at City Center, which was mostly wonderful. I'm not an aficionado of classical ballet, but modern dance can be really fun, and this was.

However, I was nursing a sore throat and this morning woke up with a fever, so most events for the weekend are cancelled. Violin lesson by zoom in about 20 minutes, and then I think back to bed. I need to read Where the Wild Ladies Are by next Tuesday, and The Price of Salt for the middle of November. And then there are the mysteries borrowed from the library. The time won't go to waste!

Hope you feel better soon, Judy!

50. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

I read this all in one gulp last night, and found it very affecting. Jim reminded me that we had seen a play based on the book some years ago, with Laura Linney, but the book affected me just the same. I think many people who had undemonstrative or stressed parents, straitened circumstances without the consolations of loving expression, would connect to this story.

eta: Linney is doing or has done the audio book. Can't think of a better narrator.

eta: And of course I had to go right on to Oh William!. I haven't looked at any comments for Anything is Possible yet.

51. Oh William! More on Lucy and William, mainly William and his family and background. He is certainly a man in personal pain. As one character asks, "Is there anything -- you know -- wrong with him?" So now we get an inkling of that.

Grr. I seem to have lost my bluetooth earbuds (not the Apple kind, thank goodness). I have to stop looking in all the same places and just buy a new pair. So many ways I want to make my life simpler. For instance, I ditched almost all the little containers of salad dressing and spices that come with our order--in meals. What was I thinking? Too much room in the refrigerator, no dates - just nonsense. And a book plucked from the more hidden shelves, entitled An Incomplete Education, turned out to be little mostly nasty vignettes about various people and things one should have learned in school. Out. Magazines that pile up unread until they are too old to bother with. Out.

I have too much of everything, except for books, and it's making me crazy.

TMI?

>212 ffortsa: You sound much like me, except more advanced at junking stuff.

>212 ffortsa: I have dropped my Apple ear buds to many time I think and now the left one doesn't work. They're sitting right here on my desk so not lost but might as well be :(

Good luck with purging. It's funny how we tend to hold on to things, isn't it? In our house we tend to put any left-over food, even a couple of bites, into the fridge where it tends to languish until no longer eatable ... sometimes well past that stage ... before it gets tossed.

>212 ffortsa: I'm also working on purging, Judy. I read somewhere that one has to not think, "I might use this sometime." Instead, if it's been packed away for years, out it goes. I find doing small amounts at a time helps, a draw or a shelf.

>215 BLBera: small groupings are the easiest. I'm unpacking my winter things now, and some will go away, just because I haven't worn them, don't really like them, or have too many. Some will go to migrants arriving in this city at the start of winter. Some will go to thrift shops. I'll feel better still if I can fit both the summer and winter clothes in my closet and not have to use my storage locker for them. That's a pretty big incentive.

>217 magicians_nephew: - Oh my. Have I ever heard that before?..........(backs out quietly...)

>217 magicians_nephew: No kidding! :-)

In related news, I gave away couch pillows we no longer need, cold weather clothes that migrants might need soon, other clothes going to thrifts. My winter clothes are in place, most of my summer clothes are packed up, and my drawers are rearranged to suit. I feel like a superhero.

Of course, Sunday temperature high is predicted to be 70 degrees. Oh well.

Tomorrow is a double header dentist day, first to the periodontist for what is probably a neurotic's check-in, then to the 'regular' dentist to start work on a crown that I hope will ease the pain of a lower tooth. No idea why the tooth above it is screaming as well. I like my dentists; I hope they solve the problems. This has been a bad week.

Tomorrow we discuss Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda. It doesn't look like we have too much enthusiasm in the group. Oh well, a dud every once in a while isn't so bad. Maybe it will bestir people to suggest books themselves.

50. Uniform Justice by Donna Leon

Somehow I bypassed this one on my March through the corruption of Venice. It is very good at showing how good people who will not compromise are defeated by those who are interested in the advantages of crime. I don't know how Guido continues, except what else would he do that would not compromise him in turn? A fine and sad mystery.

So that is 50. Can I read another 25 in in 58 days? Not at my rate this year. Oh well.

>221 ffortsa: It's a goal, Judy, not a sentence. Enjoy your reading at whatever pace...but then, you know that :)

Hi Judy!

>189 ffortsa: I already play 2 match 3 games and Wordle on my laptop, and … 5?... match 3 games on my cell phone, so I’m going to stay away.

>212 ffortsa: Have you found the missing Bluetooth earbuds yet? Murphy’s Law of Missing Things would give a high probability that you have since found them. Yay for getting rid of all the little take out add-ons. I only keep ketchup, oil & vinegar dressing cups, and the napkins out of the fork/knife/S&P/napkin packets. It’s been oddly freeing to throw stuff away. Not TMI at all. You inspired me to also get all the egg cartons out of the pantry and into the car to take to the food pantry next Tuesday when I'm in that part of town.

>217 magicians_nephew: Gads. I know, I know.

>220 ffortsa: Sorry about the tooth pain. I hope the dentist visits were productive.

>222 RebaRelishesReading: Very funny!

>223 karenmarie: I did indeed find the missing bluetooth thingies, in my padded vest pocket. So all is well, although I don't think they are as balanced in volume as I like. Or maybe it's my ears.

I'm on a real get-rid-of-it tear, which of course didn't stop me from buying a couple of Charter Club cashmere sweaters on eBay yesterday. Can't really get enough of them for a comfy winter. and they were cheap and looked in good condition. And of course, unneeded since we are having a warm spell just now.

I've also been emptying the refrigerator at an accelerated rate. We use HelloFresh, which provides most of our dinners in, and tossing the condiments made a lot of room. I might even cook some of the chicken stuck in the freezer. What a thought.

Dentist at 12:30 today. I hope it's just an issue with the height of the crown, easy to fix. But my tooth feels squeezed - inflammation, of course. Oh well. Ultimately it will be resolved.

I've started How to Read Now, read the first essay. I am often a thoughtless reader, enjoying the plot and resolution without a really refined sense of any white privilege exemplified in the writing. Reading as a wallow. But I hope to be more mindful these days. Castillo comes from a Philipinx family, which makes her perspective a little different.

We've been captured by 'Succession'. Such good acting, and such bad parenting. Into season 2, and it's hard for me not to look ahead online for the synopsis of the next episode. Definitely a bingeable show, but we don't usually watch TV in the daytime, so no more than 2 episodes at a time for us. I like 'catching up' because I don't have to wait a week for the created itch to be scratched.

On the other hand, we are watching 'Magpie Murders' as the episodes come out. I'm ashamed to say that although I did read the book recently, I don't remember any of the details. That makes the show more fun to watch but it disturbs me anyway. I wish I remembered more of what I read.

I hope your dentist solves your tooth problems, Judy. I'll be interested in your comments on How to Read Now; some of the essays worked better than others, but I enjoyed her perspective.

I tried Semantle, but too hard for me.

>227 banjo123: I found it often illogical, at least in my brand of logic. too many side trips or obscure semantic connections. I'll find something else.

This seems to be my season for falling. Somewhat energized a couple of nights ago, I was walking quickly under a dark sidewalk bridge, texting a friend to let her know we were near the theater, when I found myself splayed in a city tree enclosure. I'd run right into the iron fence protecting the tree and over like an old Chevy Chase routine. No parts of me broken (glasses nose-piece slightly bent, thumb jammed, shin scraped), but the glass on my phone cracked right in half. And I noticed today that one side of my scalp was a little tender to the touch. Sheesh. I never used to text while walking, and caught myself doing it again today. Stupid stupid stupid.

The play was tender and sweet - 'Where the mountains meet the sea' - about a Haitian immigrant and his son - with excellent folk music.

Today we were back on the same block to see an Encores! production of 'Parade', a musical (!) about the Leo Frank case in Georgia in 1913. Look it up if you don't know about the case already. At intermission my stomach was so clenched Jim suggested we leave, but the performances, the direction and the music were wonderful so I said I'd stay. It is a particular horror of mine to think of good people hurt by the hateful, self-serving lies of others. You can imagine how today's politics echoes in this play. The production is good enough to go to Broadway, and I hope it does, but the story is terrifying.

Both performances sound good, but sorry about your fall! Ouch.

>229 ffortsa: Ouch! Take care of yourself!

I fear this will be totally obvious but I'll share anyway to underscore -- a couple of years ago I did a face plant on a sidewalk so hard my head actually bounced. It happened because I was trying to put something into my purse while walking. I made a rule (which I still generally abide by) to always stop if I need to do anything else while walking. You're important, your head is important, please take care.

That said -- the play sounds very important and very hard to watch. Sort of hard to imagine such a story being a musical though.

Thanks, all. Yes, Reba, I keep making that resolution, and mostly keeping it, but I find myself a little too careless these days. Must get back with the program.

The music for this play is actually very good, and very integrated into the story line. It's just tough.

I just spent a bit of time walking an older friend of mine, very frail and very stubborn, to and from her bank. It's an old story - she refuses to move, refuses to get rid of her stuff in any meaningful way, thinks she knows everything that's wrong with her and what to do about it. I've given up trying to get her to move - she keeps hoping for a landlord buyout of some meaningful amount or other arrangement, and it's been so long I'm pretty sure she will become incapacitated (at the least) before any such event. It's very sad, but there's really nothing I can do past the occasional favor.

It makes me acutely aware that I must take better care of myself (not falling, for instance!), and prepare for changed circumstances if they are necessary.

Hi Judy!

>229 ffortsa: I’m sorry about your fall, and hope that you’re recovered now, except for the phone and your glasses nose-piece, of course. I fell on July 30th because my foot had fallen asleep and I didn’t give it enough time to wake up before trying to walk. I’m trying to be more careful and mindful, too.

>233 ffortsa: You’re a good friend. And, mindfulness has to be at the forefront of everything we do.

I worked as an election pollworker yesterday, for perhaps the last time, as my hips and back were not happy with the hard folding chair and so much sitting (although I did stand as much as I could and walked around when not busy). We had a steady stream of traffic at our district table, which was heartening, of course. Now we just have to wait for the national election results to see if, as my table mate said, we should order a depression bagel or a celebration bagel!

>235 ffortsa: You could always order one of each. ;-)

>236 foggidawn: excellent idea, and probably representative of the results.

>229 ffortsa: Woman! Take care! No more texting and walking. No one can do that well. LOL.

>235 ffortsa: Thanks again for helping out the voting process. You da best! Still waiting on bagel choice?

>238 Berly: I've had celebration bagels with scallion cream cheese just this morning. I won't mind having more reasons to indulge when the rest of the dust settles.

We spent the weekend doing puzzles at Mohonk Mountain House. Just about to head home. I'll post pictures.

But before I post pix from my phone, there are book acquisitions to account:

Beth sent me her copy of On Rereading by Patricia Meyer Spacks. Can't wait to read it.

I won a contest over the weekend, which allowed me to scan the prize table, and I picked up three books:

Breakfast Tea & Bourbon by Pete Bissonette
The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp
Moral Calculations: Game Theory, Logic, and Human Frailty by Laszlo Mero

This last one might be a bit challenging!

Sounds like a most pleasant weekend plus winning some books -- congratulations!

A break in the mad rush of my schedule. Wow!

One of our reading groups met on Zoom on Monday to talk about #51 The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Not a whole lot of discussion of the book, but some very interesting talk about political correctness in casting. I missed a production of 'The Merchant of Venice' earlier this year, although Shylock was played by a Black actor who is terrific doing Shakespeare, and I regret the miss. How long will it take before we can say that 'minority' actors have been fully integrated into the profession, and we can go ahead to casting by talent again?

Regarding the book, which I've strayed from, I found it a bit strained, but then it is evocative of an earlier era, when anything other than the normative sexual relationships was grounds for deep harm. I found myself wondering which department store was mirrored in the one at the start of the book (Saks? Altman's?), and just how ambiguous, in terms of durability, the ending was. Highsmith struggled with the ending (and her publisher), so it's hard to decide what she was after.

52. Faithful Place by Tana French

I'm so glad I discovered this series. French writes of real people, and real pain. Frank is drawn back to his family, from whom he is long estranged, to solve a murder with profound repercussions for him and his family. A great read, although I guessed the killer early on. The way French works it out is masterful.

Other than reading, I finally got a cleaner in to do what I should have done to the kitchen and bath. No word from the landlord's painter yet. I might take the allowance, small as it is, and either paint the bedroom myself or find someone else to pay. We spent a very pleasant visit with friends in New Jersey who really can't come into the city anymore (Parkinson's makes mobility a problem), and attended my chamber music workshop in spite of the broken thumb (which hurts today in penalty.

We saw the NTLive production of 'The Seagull', with Emilia Clarke as Nina. First of all, she can definitely act! And the direction was very inventive, using a true box stage, and moveable chairs, and nothing else, no props, no decor, nothing. I doubted how it would work, but the bare bones let the viewer concentrate on the characters, and it was really terrific. If you have a chance to see an NTLive production of it in a movie theater near you, or online, I recommend it.

Tonight we are seeing a streaming production of 'The Duchess of Malfi', which I haven't seen in over 50 years, since I first went up to the Stratford Festival in Canada.
Then we have a concert on Friday, a surprise party on Saturday, and another play on Sunday, 'A Man of No Importance', with Jim Parsons. I intend to hide out until Thanksgiving.

pictures from Mohonk

>243 ffortsa: Very pretty!

Great photos, Judy.

It's a beautiful place.

>243 ffortsa: Beautiful -- you make me want to go there!

>240 ffortsa: Gotta love free books!

>242 ffortsa: Love me some Tana French. : )

>243 ffortsa: What a gorgeous place!! Wow.

>243 ffortsa: Stunning photos!

Happy weekend reading :)

We are flying to Florida this morning - family issues - returning before Thanksgiving dinner. I hope to get a lot of reading done. Thank goodness Kindles travel easily. Oops - forgot to pack the right charger.

>250 ffortsa: Hope you have a smooth, safe trip.

Safe travels! Love the photos.

Safe travels - remembering all the chargers is the downside of this connected age.

>243 ffortsa: wow! That looks incredible!
Happy Thanksgiving :)

Thank you as always for books, thank you for this group and thanks for you. Have a lovely day, Judy.

>243 ffortsa: Beautiful!

Hope you had safe travels to Florida, sorry for the family issues.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Judy.

Hi Judy!

>243 ffortsa: Beautiful photos.

>250 ffortsa: I hope you had a safe trip, hope you’re home safe and sound. Kindles for travel = heaven.

.

Hi, all. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was something to truly be thankful for!

Jim and I arrived in NYC yesterday and a kind friend picked us up and whisked us off to a Thanksgiving feast we had thought we might miss. We got home just before 11PM and fell into bed. How lovely to be in our own home, in our own bed, with our own things around us (even if we could use a little less of it!).

It was a taxing week, with family patterns on full display. Offers of help (in terms of cleanup, etc.) from Jim and me were dismissed, so what we had was a combination of difficult and boring times just being there while all sorts of things got decided without our input. That's ok. I just wish I had been busier.

I was able to refresh my driving skills, as we had a few cars to ferry around. That was a good thing - it had been 5 YEARS since I can remember driving. But the street signs were harder to read, something to discuss with my optometrist next time.

And I didn't get as much reading in as I thought I might. It was just too edgy a situation, and I couldn't do more than a mystery story and puzzles. Oh well. Home is a good place to be.

There is no place like home! Glad you got home safe and sound.

Glad you're home safe and sound and glad to be there :)

November was a #@%#$# month and I'm glad to see the back of it. Family crisis, gastritis, scratched cornea - the pits. So glad it's December.

>262 ffortsa: Wow! That's quite a list. I'm happy for you that month has ended and hope December brings all of the good things it always promises.

>259 ffortsa: Welcome home. Hopefully you can relax and decompress this weekend after all that!

Hi Judy.

I hope everything broken or abraded is healing or healed. (saw your posts on the Here's to Our Health in 2022 thread.)

>265 karenmarie: Getting there. The thumb is much better, and I was able to file the nail without pain yesterday, working carefully. The eye is also better, and I learned something about my particular biology while treating it.

And I'm trying to organize my life instead of procrastinating about it, which is my normal behavior. I note what has to be done, put it on a list, and it's as if I've already done it. I am ending my meetings with a nutritionist on the same grounds, that checking in with her, while motivating, is no substitute for doing what she suggests. What a concept.

I have to read True Grit for tomorrow's book discussion, and I have the audio, which I thought would be useful considering the corneal scratch, but I haven't listened to it, so now I have two days to get through 6 hours of narration. Fingers crossed that I don't procrastinate too much and , I plan to use it to get my steps in today.

>266 ffortsa: Sounds like a post for New Year's Day, Judy :) I'm glad your thumb and eye are better and wish you success with your good plans.

I've started a new topic in the Magazines!!!! group to chronicle the stories I find interesting in the magazines I read, such as the New Yorker, Scientific American, Smithsonian, etc. Not an exhaustive listing, just items I found of interest. It's here

Judy, the Gemache series is called Three Pines (imagine that) and is on Prime. They are releasing two episodes per week for four weeks -- starting last week. Each week's couplet is based on one book. If you like Penny I'm pretty sure you'll like the series.

>269 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba. I'm very interested to see what Molina does with the character.

53. River of Darkness by Rennie Airth

A mystery set in that very evocative era between the world wars, in which a police detective recognizes the kind of obsession a killer is driven by as he prepares for his victims. The psychology at the end is a bit heavy handed, but probably apt for the era, and I found the plot and writing very engaging.

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

This was a reread for me, in part inspired by the struggle of a younger relative who just lost her mother, and will soon have to move from her home. It's funny, rueful, instructive, understanding, and simple. I could use some of that.

55. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

Another entry in the Thursday Murder Club series, where we learn still more about Elizabeth, are shown the progress of each of the other characters, and have to find a way for them to NOT kill someone.

56. True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt

for discussion tonight!
eta:
I'm always baffled by people who don't really like the books I love. Two or three of the members of the book group were, at best, indifferent to this saga, or skeptical of Maddie's and Rooster's shared understanding of grit. I think this was a wonderful story, primarily because Portis got the voice of Maddie so right, as did the narrator. Stubborn, focused, determined to make sure justice was done, Maddie is our doorway into the specific, unsettled feel of the time of the territories, where rules were there but applied haphazardly, and people had to take responsibility for their goals.

And Portis doesn't make Maddie feminine. She is a product of her time, a tough and wily negotiator, and willing to take rough times as part of the process she has started. She will do for her father what she feels needs to be done, and she does.

As in many classic tales of coming of age, she loses something in this story, much as Odin traded an eye for his wisdom. It's the mark of a great quest.

fyi: Tartt's narration, which is after all a monologue, is terrific.

I hope December is better for you, Judy; it's starting out not so good for us but that leaves room for improvement, right?

I loved River of Darkness as well.

>272 BLBera: I hope your wrist and your family are on the mend.

I'm going back up a few posts to say something about True Grit after our discussion.

I visited my dentist this morning, and afterwards treated myself to a walk in Central Park. It's warm today, so lots of fog.

>274 ffortsa: Gorgeous photos!

Karen O.

Judy, the photos of Central Park are beautiful. You are a great photographer. I hope you are feeling better.

Love those photos! Wow. Maybe someday, I will get there to see it with my own eyes...

Thanks for the compliments. My father always said that if you want to take beautiful pictures, go to a beautiful place. Also, having a reasonably good cellphone in your pocket is an advantage (ok, he didn't say that, but only because he never had one!)

We are frequent viewers of the NTLive series in cinemas, and last night we saw their recent production of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I've seen the play countless times and wasn't expecting much, but it is terrific! Set in a seaside hotel in 1930s Italy, it is full of laugh-out-loud situations and terrific casting, without minimizing the dark side of the story. If you are in an area that has NTLive in a movie house, do go and see it. One of the best productions I've seen.

>278 ffortsa: Love the quote and love the photos!

>279 ffortsa: I'm strongly considering adding NTLive to my streaming list and dumping some other stuff to pay for it. I could see myself "attending" a play a week this way. If you're curious, the rate is $12.99 a month -- I agree, more fun to see it in a theater, but this way you have the flexibility of scheduling and choice. This may be my Xmas gift to myself!

Love the pics. As I (too slowly) get organized in the new place, I've been consolidating all of my physical photos. It amazes me that I could take such mediocre pics of what I remember as amazing sights, which makes me happier with the tiny handful of images that somehow did live up to my expectations! My father is/was a very good photographer (slides) but I don't have the talent (or perhaps the patience?) to translate what I see to a realized image. Oh well...

I'm slowly re-reading the Rennie Airth "Madden" series, and greatly enjoying it. He was very very slow to turn out book #3 in the series (which ends up with, if I recall, an almost unbearable level of tension/suspense in the final scenes, even more than #1). Speaking of TV detectives, I can't help feeling that these would make for excellent viewing.

I'm surprised that NTLive is quite that expensive. Can you drop in and out, paying for only a month at a time? Some of the shows are definitely worth it, but we enjoy seeing them in the theater on the big screen, for $20-25 a piece when the play is of interest. We are eagerly awaiting David Tennant's performance in 'Good', which I saw with Nichol Williamson decades ago. He seems to us well-cast.

>274 ffortsa: wow. Just wow (I seem to keep saying this on your thread!).

I love that image of the city and the fog.

>282 ffortsa: I suspect I can, up to a point. I've encountered some performing arts streaming sites (specifically) in the past that jack up the rate or impose a bigger difference between the annual payment and monthly rate if you dip in and out like that, but no idea if that's the case with the NT. I may give it a try over the holidays!

>274 ffortsa: I love your photos, Judy.

I enjoyed your book club comments. I am also sometimes surprised when others don't love what I do although I should be used to it by now.

Great Central Park photos!

One of these days I have to read True Grit. I think having seen the movie (which I loved) dropped it lower on my list.

>286 banjo123:

The problem with the movies (which one did you see?) is that they sacrifice the singular voice of Maddie, who in the book is the one who tells the tale. She may quote other characters, but the point of view is always her own. Well worth reading!`

Grrr. I'm beginning to be frustrated with the New York Public Library. As far as I know, there are no interlibrary loans attached to the system, and in the past, it usually had what I wanted, even if I had to wait for it. BUT, when looking for older mystery series titles, it has become a desert. I'm trying really hard not to buy books, even ebooks, and use the library, but there seems to be a triage happening. It's such a large system! I may have to start haunting used book shops. Even Bookmooch didn't have the titles I wanted. Sigh.

Maybe I have to get one of those Amazon free reading memberships for a while. Have to check their stacks.

We spent a few days in Saratoga Springs this week, meeting friends in a fairly new for us annual December tradition. Our LT friend MichiganTrumpet is the general planner and instigator, and it's always a pleasure to see her and her husband John, and a few more couples as well. The weather was not too cooperative (that dreaded wintry mix of rain, sleet and wet snow), but we shopped on the main drag and had a little more alcohol than usual and good food at nearby restaurants. The Amtrak trip back was a little fraught because of more serious snow north of us in Vermont, where the train originates, but we got home eventually.

My reading is not very productive these days. I read two Ruth Rendell police procedurals, both of which I solved before Inspector Wexford and crew, but I couldn't rev myself up for anything more serious.

57. No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell

A child disappears in a village where this has happened similarly before. Wexford's second in command gets involved with the distraught mother, definitely a no-no.
The solution to each disappearance is different.

59. Murder Being Once Done by Ruth Rendell

Wexford has been sent on a vacation to London by his doctor, and it's driving him nuts. In addition, his host is a nephew who is also in the police force, in London, and has an unusual case which he feels he must not discuss with his guest on doctor's orders. Nonsense, of course, and Wexford finally breaks through and assists. Poverty, sad circumstances, questionable adoptions, oppressive religious sects all factor in. I did miss the ultimate murderer, and was glad when it was revealed, as I didn't want it to be anyone else.

58. Don't Look Now by Daphne Du Maurier

Before our trip, I read this short story for one of my now-Zoom book groups. Du Maurier in a spooky mood, well written but not my particular interest.

Glad you had fun on your December Tradition trip and I LOVE your NY photos. Good luck finding a better way to get copies of the books you want. : )

Happy holidays to you and yours, Judy! Cheers!

Happy Christmas from my Christmas gnome!

>290 Berly: Thanks for the photo love. And I could always actually BUY the books.

>291 Carmenere: Thanks for the holiday greetings. I hope your holidays are joyful.

>292 SandDune: Love the gnome!

Malaysia's branch of the 75er's wishes you and yours a happy holiday season, Judy.

For some reason, I haven't been reading books lately, but I have been catching up on this year's New Yorkers and other magazines. Sometimes I find something in them that interests me or grabs me, and I note it on my magazine thread. I'll get back to books eventually - we have a reading group meeting the first week of January for Nobody's Fool, so I'll start that soon.

Thanks for the holiday wishes. I won't get around to everyone, but I do wish everyone happy holidays and a brilliant new year.

Ah, I see most people I follow have received the same fine holiday images as you see above. Time to take a little breather, I think. I haven't started my 2023 thread yet, but I'll get there by the New Year, and hope to see all of you there.

Hi Judy!

I never start a new year thread 'til January 1, so will see you over there in the new year. One of my resolutions is to be a better LT friend.

>298 karenmarie: A good resolution! I get overwhelmed with threads, and then I back off and lose track of everyone. Being more selective is difficult because there are so many people I like. So, see you on the 1st, and I hope to keep up.

The line is drawn. For those I lost track of, my humble apologies; I hope to say hello in the coming year. I haven't set a strategy yet for keeping up. Mainly, I want to read.

See you all in 2023.