Alcott Acre's Home, Room 7

Thanks for stopping by my seventh thread of 2022! All visitors are welcome - with the exception of spammers!

Excellent Reads from 2022 (thus far and in the order in which I read them):

5 Stars
The Writing of the Gods by Edward Dolnick
The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo
The Singapore Grip by J.G. Farrell
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Speigelman
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Walking with the Wind by John Lewis with Michael D'Orso
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Bewilderment by Richard Powers

4.5 Stars
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade
Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey by Özge Samancı
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith
A Mortuary of Books by Elisabeth Gallas
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Speigelman
Watercress by Andrea Wang
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe
From Left to Right by Nancy Sinkoff
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Fell by Sarah Moss
Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert
Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Wars by Timothy Findley
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart
Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey
Enchanters' End Game by David Eddings
The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty
The Heart of Race by Beverley Bryan, et al
The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb
Pollak's Arm by Hans von Trotha
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Zorrie by Laird Hunt

4.25 Stars
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed
The Fall of Light by Niall Williams
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Tamra B. Orr
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Still Life by Sarah Winman
The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson
The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith
Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson
Trailed by Kathryn Miles
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

2022 Goals - I am going to record the titles as I finish them:

Reading (or rereading as they case may be) all of Jane Austen’s novels this year
- Sense and Sensibility - Completed January 13, 2022
- Pride and Prejudice - Completed March 17, 2022
- Mansfield Park - Completed May 11, 2022

The St. Mary’s books
- Just One Damned Thing After Another - Completed January 14, 2022
- A Symphony of Echoes - Completed April 17, 2022

The In Death series - started in 2021
- Vengeance in Death - Completed January 9, 2022
- Abandoned in Death - Completed February 8, 2022
- Holiday in Death - Completed March 13, 2022
- Conspiracy in Death - Completed May 12, 2022

The Decker/Lazarus series - started in 2021
- Sacred and Profane - Completed January 23, 2022
- Milk and Honey -

The Outlander series
- Outlander - Completed February 12, 2022

The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series - started in 2021
- The Murder of Mary Russell - Completed February 16, 2022

The Murderbot series - started in 2021
- Artificial Condition - Completed February 20, 2022

The Three Pines series
- Still Life - Completed March 6, 2022

The Maisie Dobbs series
- Maisie Dobbs - Completed March 22, 2022

Classics - at least one a month; could be children's classics, modern classics, scifi/fantasy classics
1. Kim by Rudyard Kipling - Completed January 7, 2022
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Completed February 5, 2022
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - Completed March 6, 2022
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Completed March 12, 2022
5. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole - Completed March 28, 2022
6. The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope - Completed April 25, 2022
7. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf - Completed April 29, 2022
8. Heart of the Race by Beverley Bryan et al - Completed May 9, 2022
9. Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. - Completed May 12, 2022

Continuing my Civil Rights/ African & African American experience reading (at least one book per month)
1. How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith - Completed January 21, 2022
2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Completed February 5, 2022
3. Mighty Justice by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe - Completed February 23, 2022
4. Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood by bell hooks - Completed March 5, 2022
5. The Hands of Peace by Marione Ingram - Completed March 11, 2022
6. Black Birds in the Sky by Brandy Colbert - Completed April 3, 2022
7. Walking with the Wind by John Lewis with Michael D'Orso - Completed April 28, 2022
8. Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson - Completed May 31, 2022

Continuing my Holocaust/Jewish experience reading (at least one book per month)
1. We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter - Completed January 16, 2022
2. Sala's Gift by Ann Kirschner - Completed January 25, 2022
3. A Mortuary of Books by Elisabeth Gallas - Completed February 4, 2022
4. From Left to Right by Nancy Sinkoff - Completed March 10, 2022
5. The Boys: The Story of 732 Young Concentration Camp Survivors by Martin Gilbert - Completed April 26, 2022
6. While Six Million Died by Arthur D. Morse - Completed April 29, 2022
7. The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen - Completed May 21, 2022

Books on Berly’s Indie List:
1. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra - Completed February 1, 2022
2. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders - Completed February 6, 2022
3. Moonglow by Michael Chabon - Completed February 11, 2022
4. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan - Completed March 12, 2022
5. The Outlander by Gil Adamson - Completed May 4, 2022
6. The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell - Completed May 23, 2022

Monthly Nonfiction Challenge:
January - The Feather Thief by Kirk Johnson Wallace - Completed January 20, 2022
February - The Anthropocene reviewed : essays on a human-centered planet by John Green - Completed February 17, 2022
March - Avenue of Spies by Alex Kershaw - Completed March 30, 2022
April - Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron - Completed April 11, 2022
May - First Into Nagasaki by George Weller - Completed May 27, 2022

May TIOLI Challenges:

Challenge #1: Read a book by an author for whom you have read ONLY ONE other book by that same author before
From Stone Orchard by Timothy Findley - Completed May 31, 2022
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman - Completed May 19, 2022
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl - Completed May 5, 2022

Challenge #2: The "My Happy Place" Challenge: Read a book with the word "library" or "libraries" in either the title or subtitle
Improbable Libraries by Alex Johnson - Completed May 15, 2022
The Library of Entertainment Handbook by John Chilton Scammell - Completed May 7, 2022
The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith - Completed May 31, 2022
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - Completed May 6, 2022
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles - Completed May 8, 2022
The Writer’s Library by Nancy Pearl - Completed May 26, 2022

Challenge #3: Read a book where every word in the title starts with a different letter
Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan - Completed May 8, 2022
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - Completed May 17, 2022
Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson - Completed May 31, 2022
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Completed May 16, 2022
The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen - Completed May 21, 2022
Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb - Completed May 12, 2022
Day After Night by Anita Diamant - Completed May 28, 2022
A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie - Completed May 22, 2022
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Completed May 11, 2022
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - Completed May 19, 2022
The Outlander by Gil Adamson - Completed May 4, 2022
The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty - Completed May 6, 2022
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers - Completed May 3, 2022
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini - Completed May 4, 2022

Challenge #4: Read a book first published in the 1980s or set in school/college setting (not University/post 18 educational setting)
Enchanters’ End Game by David Eddings - Completed May 5, 2022
Heart of the Race by Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, and Suzanne Scafe - Completed May 9, 2022
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil by Reay Tannahill - Completed May 25, 2022

Challenge #5: Read a book that was published within 10 years before or after your birth year
A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle - Completed May 27, 2022
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - Completed May 12, 2022

Challenge #6: Read a book with a flying animal in the title or author's name
The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell - Completed May 23, 2022
Death Takes a Gander by Christine Goff - Completed May 6, 2022
A Game of Birds and Wolves by Simon Parkin - Completed May 22, 2022

Challenge #7: Read a book whose title comes from a Shakespearean play, by an author who shares their first name with a Shakespearean character OR that is set during Shakespeare's lifetime
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart - Completed May 28, 2022
The Year of Lear by James Shapiro - Completed May 20, 2022

Challenge #8: Read a book with a word in the title implying a number
First into Nagasaki by George Weller - Completed May 27, 2022
The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel- Completed May 7, 2022

Challenge #9 - Read a book by an author born in a country from where you have never read an author before
Human Acts by Han Kang - - Completed May 17, 2022

Challenge 10: Read a book of historical fiction having anything to do with the Titanic, state the connection
Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan - Completed May 8, 2022

Challenge 11: Read a book that you have owned for at least 5 years (and have not read before)
The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella - Completed May 20, 2022

Challenge 12: Read a book with a 5-word title
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James - Completed May 18, 2022
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - Completed May 27, 2022
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - Completed May 12, 2022
A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson - Completed May 26, 2022
A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss - Completed May 23, 2022
The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - Completed May 9, 2022
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller - Completed May 22, 2022

Challenge #13: Read a book with a character that is not a letter in the title
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay - Completed May 11, 2022
Pollak's Arm by Hans von Trotha - Completed May 19, 2022
Writers & Lovers by Lily King - Completed May 18, 2022

Challenge #14: Read a book from a genre you haven't read yet in 2022
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey - Completed May 14, 2022
Dark Demon by Christine Feehan - Completed May 23, 2022

Challenge #15: In Memoriam: Read a book by an author who has died in 2021 or 2022
Amelia’s War by Ann Rinaldi - Completed May 25, 2022
Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi - Completed May 7, 2022

Challenge #16: Read a book that has the word two or a word related to two in the title or author's name.
Two Under the Indian Sun by Jon and Rumer Godden - Completed May 10, 2022
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. - Completed May 12, 2022

June TIOLI Challenges:

Challenge #1: Read a book by a new-to-you author whose last name starts or ends with the letter "S"
Bewilderment by Richard Powers - Completed June 11, 2022
Brewster by Mark Slouka

Challenge #2: Read a book first published in the 1990s OR set in East Anglia, Texas, Nottingham or London
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Milk and Honey by Faye Kellerman

Challenge #3: Read a book set in (or about) Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, or Munich
Munich by Robert Harris - Completed June 9, 2022

Challenge #4: Read a book in which the total number of pages are even numbered and the total number ends with a 6 or an 8
The Art of War in the Western World by Archer Jones
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
In the Heart of the Seas by S.Y. Agnon
In the Midst of Civilized Europe by Jeffrey Veidlinger
Out of the House of Bondage by Thavolia Glymph
The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence - Completed June 16, 2022

Challenge 5 - read a nonfiction book with a one-word title
Calcutta: Two Years in the City by Amit Chaudhuri
Papillon by Henri Charriere

Challenge #6: Read a book about a main character whose paid job consists of taking care of animals (F/NF)
Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat

Challenge #7: "The What's in a Name?" Challenge: Read a book with a one-word person or persons name for a title - subtitles do not matter, but articles do.
Hodd by Adam Thorpe
Justine by Lawrence Durrell
Philida by Andre Brink
Pilgrim by Timothy Findley
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Taft by Ann Patchett - Completed June 16, 2022
Zorrie by Laird Hunt - Completed June 19, 2022

Challenge #8: Read a book in which something currently impossible or miraculous happens
Guardians of the West by David Eddings - Completed June 17, 2022
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Challenge #9: Read a book with the theme "What should I do with my life?"
Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles - Completed June 7, 2022

Challenge #10: Read a book about or set in an emergency department of a hospital
The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher - Completed June 4, 2022

Challenge #11: Read a book that has some connection to the constellation Gemini, especially twins
Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker

Challenge #12: Read a book that fits a category on the Seattle Public Library 2022 Summer Reading bingo card (list the category)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - Completed June 16, 2022
In An Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
Lost Classics edited by Michael Ondaatje, Michael Redhill, Esta Spalding, and Linda Spalding
The Secret Place by Tana French

Challenge #13: Read a book that has a person (human) on the cover
Killing Dragons by Fergus Fleming
Silas Marner by George Eliot

Challenge #14: First/Last rolling challenge
Nella’s Last War edited by Richard Broad and Suzie Fleming
Vera Brittain and the First World War by Mark Bostridge

Challenge #15: Read a Book Originally Published in the Spanish Language
The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan

Challenge #16: Read a book by an author who has the same initials for first and last names
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick - Completed June 20, 2022

Challenge #17: Read a book where at least one title word includes a double letter
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge - Completed June 16, 2022

My biggest challenge this year is for the Asian Authors Challenge. I am so stoked for this one. I want to try and read at least 3 books per month toward this challenge.

Proposed Books for June:
My Dateless Diary by R. K. Narayan
In An Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
Calcutta: Two Years in the City by Amit Chaudhuri
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - Completed June 16, 2022
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Proposed Books for May:
The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi - DNF
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini - Completed May 4, 2022
A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie - Completed May 22, 2022
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam - DNF

Shared/Group Reads:

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - shared read with Mamie - Completed May 12, 2022
Enchanters' End Game by David Eddings - Group read - Completed May 5, 2022
The moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham - Completed May 19, 2022
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Completed May 16, 2022
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - Completed May 17, 2022
The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan Spence - Shared read with Peggy - Completed June 16, 2022
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene - Shared read with Paul - JUNE
Pilgrim by Timothy Findley - Shared read with Peggy - JUNE
The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan - Shared read with Paul - JUNE
Taft by Ann Patchett - shared read with Mark - Completed June 16, 2022
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez - shared read with Mark and several others - JUNE
Guardians of the West by David Eddings - shared read with Nina - Completed June 17, 2022

On hold currently:
Bleak House by Charles Dickens - shared read with Paul - JULY
Plainsong by Kent Haruf - shared read with Mark - JULY
Waverley by Walter Scott - shared read with Mamie - JULY
Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac - shared read with Paul - AUGUST

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart Postponed at Karen’s request
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon Ruiz Postponed at Karen’s request
Here I Am by Jonathan Safron Foer Postponed at Kim's request

Pick a Shelf Challenge - Goal is 2 a month - I literally just chose a shelf in my library and emptied it of books. I will mark them as I complete them - and then pick another shelf!

The Art of War in the Western World by Archer Jones*
The Nautical Chart by Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Yard by Alex Grecian
Killing Mister Watson by Peter Matthiessen
Hard Evidence by David Fisher - Completed February 27, 2022
The Italian Boy by Sarah Wise - Completed January 27, 2022
Day After Night by Anita Diamant - Completed May 28, 2022
Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks - Completed January 9, 2022
Witness to a Century by George Seldes
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
The Maker of Heavenly Trousers by Daniele Vare
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill - Completed March 27, 2022
The Promise of Jenny Jones by Maggie Osborne - Completed March 31, 2022
Nursery Crimes by Ayelet Waldman - Completed February 9, 2022
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris - Completed April 14, 2022
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov - Completed April 16, 2022
A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson - Completed May 26, 2022

I have now chosen another shelf since I am getting so close to finishing the first one. I expect this one is going to take longer as it had more books on it!
Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft
All Hallows' Eve by Charles Williams
Almanac of American Women in the 20th Century by Judith Freeman Clark
"And I Was There" by Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton
Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volumes I-III, by Miriam Lichtheim
The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
The Bureau by Diarmuid Jeffreys
The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson
Dreams, Parts One & Two by Jayne Ann Krentz
Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
Eric Sloane's America by Eric Sloane
Execution's Doorstep by Leslie Lytle
Fall of the Roman Republic by Plutarch
The Glass Magician by Charlie Holmberg
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
A History of Western Architecture by David Watkin
History of the Second World War by B.H. Liddell Hart*
How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson
A Many-Splendored Thing by Han Suyin
The Master Magician by Charlie Holmberg
The Member of the Wedding and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Moonheart by Charles de Lint
The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg
Quiet Street by Zelda Popkin
Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg
Saving Childhood by Michael Medved and Diane Medved
The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens
Twist of Fate by Jayne Ann Krentz
The Upstairs Room by Johanne Reiss
When Egypt Ruled the East by George Steindorff and Keith C. Seele

*Due to the length of this volume, I will likely only read one book from this list in that particular month.

The next one is yours. . .

Happy new thread!

>9 alcottacre: Thanks, Susan. I am still trying to get all the Touchstones fixed ATM.

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>2 alcottacre: Happy new one!! Love how you listed your favorite reads of the year from 5 stars down. Some good ones in there!!

>7 alcottacre: You are a friendly reader! : )

Happy new thread, Stasia!

>11 alcottacre: Looks like you managed to fix all touchstones, and all pointing to the right book, as far as I could see :-)

Happy new thread!

Happy Friday, Stasia. Happy New Thread! Have a great weekend.

Happy new one!

Hi Stasia, and happy new thread!

From your previous thread, although I have Two Years Before the Mast on my shelves, as yet unread, I went to a junior high school in SoCal named after the author – Richard Henry Dana Junior High School in Hawthorne California.

Happy new thread, Stasia!

Happy new thread! Happy reading this weekend!

Hi...

>12 curioussquared: Thank you, Natalie! I am still working on The Blind Assassin, just so you know.

>13 Berly: I looked at my list of excellent reads for this year when I was prepping this thread last night, Kim, and thought to myself, 'If I just owned these books, that would make a fine library.' As far as my shared reads go, I love doing them. I love getting someone else's perspectives and opinions. Let me know when you are ready for Here I Am.

>14 FAMeulstee: Thanks for double checking me, Anita. I find that fixing all of the Touchstones is the most tedious part of starting up a new thread.

>15 figsfromthistle: >16 msf59: >17 drneutron: Thanks, Anita, Mark, and Jim!

>18 karenmarie: Two Years Before the Mast is a good one and there is a reason it is considered a classic. It was interesting reading it in fairly close proximity to The Sea Wolf by Jack London. I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it, Karen!

>19 jessibud2: >20 thornton37814: Thanks, Shelley and Lori. Lori, I have already pulled out the stack of books that I want to concentrate on reading over the weekend :)

>21 weird_O: Hi, Bill. How the heck are you?

Happy new thread, Stasia and happy Friday. Impressed the Kaijus have snuck into your house already. :)

New books in-house today for my personal library:

Bibliophile: An Illustrated Miscellany by Jane Mount
Gilded, Renegades, Archenemies and Supernova by Marissa Meyer - I bought Gilded for my daughter, Beth
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

>23 MickyFine: I had to get the book in-house before I forgot about it again, Micky!

Happy new thread Stasia

>26 WhiteRaven.17: Thank you, Kro! Happy Friday!

Happy new thread!

>27 alcottacre: Thanks, Arlie!

I have now added to my "Pick a Shelf" challenge (see post #8) by picking another shelf in my library. I am very much enjoying finding long-forgotten treasures amongst my books.

New-thread orisons, Stasia!

Hi Stasia, happy new thread. So fun to follow all your reading plans. You are well organized!

>30 richardderus: Thank you, Richard!

>31 mdoris: I am not sure it is well organized as much as a sense of desperation that I really need to read the books on my own shelves, Mary!

I enjoyed Blind Assassin when I read it and it ended up on my best of the year list that year. I hope you enjoy it as well.

>33 benitastrnad: Thus far, I have to say that it is not a favorite for me. I am over 400 pages in at this point, so I am hopeful that it will improve.

What did you like so much about it, Benita?

Happy new one, Stasia.

Have a wonderful weekend.

>35 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. BTW - I got in a new book today thanks to your nonfiction list, Sinister Twilight by Noel Barber.

>34 alcottacre: I read that one years ago and it almost turned me off of Atwood for good. I did give in for The Handmaid's Tale and liked that one but because of Blind Assassin I'm still very wary of Atwood.

Say, Stasia. A question. About that BlackHole you toss BBs into. Did you ever peer over the edge and see any Tupperware lids swirling around it there? The Good Doctor (drneutron) commented on his thread recently that there's a black hole in space that has all the Tupperware lids that people think are missing. Could that be the one you use?

Happy new thread! It's always interesting to see what you've been reading and gather more ideas for my own reading. I was planning to do the read a shelf challenge you mentioned but it's a bit overwhelming at present, as I get too easily distracted by something else I want to read and have a few other book challenges going on at the same time.

>37 RebaRelishesReading: I will admit that The Handmaid's Tale has never appealed to me, Reba, but I enjoyed Oryx and Crake and a few others of hers, so I guess Atwood is hit and miss with me. Still, I will finish out The Blind Assassin.

>38 weird_O: I think all of my missing socks are in the BlackHole too, Bill, but no Tupperware.

>39 kaida46: I have found that the TIOLI challenges are helping me greatly with reading off my own shelves. Maybe give them a try, Deb? I know what you mean about getting easily distracted though!

Finished this afternoon:

191 - Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey - Audiobook; Tey is one of my favorite mystery writers and Brat Farrar, is my second favorite of her books. I listened to the book this time around (although I do own a hard copy of the book as well) and the narrator, Carole Boyd, did a good job with the narration, especially in differentiating the voices of the twins, Patrick and Simon. Brat is posing as Patrick, who supposedly committed suicide at age 13, but Brat shows up just as Patrick was reaching the age of 21 and stating that he did not commit suicide, he just ran away to America. The entire mystery of the book is not whether Brat is actually Patrick or not - we know that from the very beginning - but what happened to Patrick and just who is Brat?; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

DNF: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler - just not doing anything for me over 50 pages in.

I think this is book #6 on my DNF list for the year. Ugh.

Happy Saturday, Stasia. I hope you are enjoying your day.

>34 alcottacre:
I loved the plot. Such hidden passion in the heroine. I also liked the story-within-a-story. Or maybe that is a novel-within-a-novel. I also liked the historical part of it. In fact I classed this novel as historical fiction. I think that Blind Assassin is more plot driven than any of her other novels. I remember being totally caught up in the story to the point that I was reading it late into the night. I have read Cat's Eye, Handmaids Tale and Oryx and Crake by Atwood. So far Blind Assassin is the best of the lot. I did not like Oryx and Crake at all, but thought that she did a great job with all the word play and double speak, but the plot was silly and I just didn't get it. I am not interested in reading another of those Madaddam stories as a result. Handmaid's Tale is read by everyone and taken to heart by few, so the message of it has been totally lost. I refuse to discuss it with anyone anymore because after the first few sentences uttered by most readers it is clear that they didn't get the message. Cat's Eye was all about the ways that women denigrate women, from the time they are very young and throughout life. It was a very cerebral kind of novel. The sort that they make you study in college. I think that is why fewer people read it than her other novels.

I think that Atwood is a marvelous writer and there was a time in my life that I tried to read one of her books per year. She has moved off of my radar in the present and I think she has moved off of many people's radar as well. I say that notwithstanding the success of the TV version of Handmaid. I think that she was cheated out of the Nobel Prize when she was at the height of her writing powers and was only awarded the Booker for the Handmaid sequel in acknowledgement of her body of work. I think she has other novels still to write and I hope she does so, but I doubt that any of them will suck me into the world of the book like Blind Assassin did. It may have been a case of the right novel at the right time in my life, but I think it was just good writing and a character that I loved.

I still have her book Alias Grace on my shelves to read and I want to read Robber Bride sometime as well as Penelopiad. I have been reading lots of retellings of Greek stories and have Penelopiad on my list of those titles.

>37 RebaRelishesReading: Heh. I've been wary of Atwood since I read The Handmaid's Tale.

>38 weird_O: - And socks. Don't forget missing socks!
never mind. I see Stasia got to it before I read further. I wonder if any of her socks match any of mine...

>43 msf59: Happy Saturday, Mark! It has been an enjoyable (if weird, with Kerry not being here) day!

>44 benitastrnad: I am very much enjoying the historical fiction, but the parts with the blind assassin, not so much. I have read The Penelopiad, but not Alias Grace, which is sitting on my shelves waiting for me to get to it.

>45 quondame: I did not realize that Atwood was such a divisive author!

>46 jessibud2: It is possible, Shelley. You never know.

Happy new thread and happy weekend, Stasia!

>48 bell7: Thanks, Mary! I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well.

>41 alcottacre: You got me with your review of Brat Farrar! Onto my TBR. Thanks!

Karen O

>50 klobrien2: It's on mine as well!

Hi Stasia! I hope your weekend is going well so far.

>40 alcottacre: I never wanted to read The Handmaid’s Tale, even when it was a RL book club choice. I loved Oryx and Crake and have the last two in the trilogy waiting on my shelves for just the right time. I also have The Blind Assassin on my shelves, and admit that I bought it solely for the cover but then kept it because it still sounds intriguing to me.

I have finally Figured Out Socks – I have 6 pair of the same heavy wool socks for winter and about 12 pair of copper fit low cut ankle socks for summer, although some of them require matching the color band across the toe. It makes things so easy, even if it does prevent sock fashion statements. *smile*

>41 alcottacre: I have quite a few by Tey, but I just looked her up and don’t have some that I’d like – Kif and The Expensive Halo being two.

>42 alcottacre: I think I saw the movie first and loved it, then read the book and also loved it. Ah well, DNF it is. I’ve only abandoned one book so far this year, which surprises me because I've usually abandoned more than that by now. Some abandoned books go back on my shelves for another day, but this one, The Winshaw Legacy has been culled, along with its sequel.

>44 benitastrnad: Alias Grace was the first book chosen for my RL book club’s first year and I loved it, Benita. Your comments about Atwood are appreciated.

Kerry is on his way home and should be here in the next hour or so. I will be back later tonight! Everyone have a lovely Sunday - or Monday, depending on where you are.

>53 alcottacre: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

>50 klobrien2: I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it, Karen!

>51 kaida46: Good! I hope you like it, Deb.

>52 karenmarie: If you ever want a shared read for the Maddaddam books, just let me know, Karen. I have read the first two, but do not mind re-reading them, especially since it has been a long time since my initial reads.

As far as The Jane Austen Book Club, I may give it another shot at a later time.

>54 richardderus: ((Hugs)) and **smooches** back at you, RD!

Finished tonight:

192 - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - This is the second book of Shafak's that I have read and hopefully it will not be the last. I was kind of concerned about the fact that the narrator of this historical fiction work is a fig tree, but that actually worked in the book's favor for me. After all, there are trees that are thousands of years old and who better to be called on as a witness to history than a tree? The story revolves around a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot who fall in love, but due to the war in Cyprus, the relationship dies until it comes to fruition years later; Highly Recommended (4.25 stars) Library Book

"A tree is a memory keeper. Tangled beneath our roots, hidden inside our trunks, are the sinews of history, the ruins of wars nobody came to win, the bones of the missing."

193 - Improbably Libraries by Alex Johnson - Nonfiction; This book is book porn at its best - pictures of libraries from all over the world, and very unconventional libraries at that. I do wish the book had a bit more text, but the pictures really do make the book stand out; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Happy Sunday on the acre, Stasia. I wanted to let you know that I received a card from the friend I'd recommended 84, Charing Cross Road to, and she was thoroughly delighted by the story and thanked me for the suggestion.

>56 alcottacre: Nice to see that Elif Shafak's book hit the spot, Stasia. I am hoping to get to it this month too.

>57 bell7: Hello, Mary! Thanks for dropping by. I am so glad your friend liked 84, Charing Cross Road. It just goes to show that she has good taste, lol.

>58 PaulCranswick: I hope you like the book when you get to it, Paul. I can see some people being put off by it, but it worked for me.

Hi Stasia. As always, your reading is amazing. All those lists took time to pull together. Thanks!

>60 Whisper1: Hello, lovey. Wonderful to see you here!

Finished this afternoon:

194 - The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoeyevsky - This is a reread for me as I read it for the first time several years ago. It was interesting reading this at the same time as I was reading Mansfield Park because both books have a main character that it is likely the readers would not think of as main characters - something that Dostoeyevsky points out right at the beginning of his book. Both Alyosha in this book and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park are somewhat understated characters which, I think, makes it harder for us as the readers to identify with and care about them, and that is what makes the genius of the 2 books - the authors make us care for and identify with them. If not Alyosha, who would you have chosen for the main character of this one?' Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

>62 alcottacre: You're fully Russianed up for the duration. One of those must-read furniture-of-the-mind books that live up to its reputation.

*smooch*

>63 richardderus: I have a weakness for the Russians, that is for sure, even though I am not an Anna Karenina fan. I forgive Tolstoy though since I love War and Peace, which is due for a re-read one of these days.

((Hugs)) and **smooches,** RD.

Hi Stasia my dear, Happy New Thread dear friend.

>65 johnsimpson: Thank you, John! I always nice to see you here on the Acre.

>66 alcottacre:, always nice to pop along to the Acre my dear.

>62 alcottacre: A rare five stars! (6% of your reads this year) - I must catch up.

>56 alcottacre: Stasia, you make me eager to read The Island of Missing Trees. I got interested in it when several people read it for the Asian Author Challenge and then actually checked it out from the library the day the shortlist for The Women's Prize for Fiction came out. We are going to Kansas City for Audrey's high school graduation this weekend so I may wait another week to get started on it. I have Great Circle to read first because it is due back in a few days and it's a chunkster!

Thank you for the good wishes on my thread. My second dance with Covid was much shorter than my first, thank goodness. Still, not a fun week and it may take me another few days to be back to full strength. I'm old and feeling it! Haha.

I realized when I read your reference to The Brothers Karamazov that I haven't read any of my favorite Russian writers since I was in college. I picked up another copy of TBK and I'm going to start it soon. I'm also planning to reread War and Peace. Thanks for the reminder of how much I liked both.

>64 alcottacre: I have the same weakness, Stasia, but slightly other taste.
I loved Anna Karenina, liked War and Peace, and The Brothers Karamazov are lower on the list.
My absolute favorites are Life and Fate, Doctor Zhivago, Secondhand Time, and The Story of a Life. Closely followed by Oblomov, Anna Karenina, Mother, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf, and The Seven Who Were Hanged.

There are lots of others waiting at the shelves.

>68 PaulCranswick: I do not know, Paul, 6% sounds like a lot! I have a pretty easy scale, I guess.

>69 Donna828: I have read Great Circle, Donna, and know what a chunkster it is, although I thought it went by fairly quickly. I do hope you enjoy The Island of Missing Trees when you get to it. I know it is not a book for everyone, but it worked for me. I hope you are back to full strength soon!

>70 Oregonreader: You are most welcome, Jan! I hope you enjoy them both when you get to them.

>71 FAMeulstee: Some great books and authors there, Anita! Isn't it wonderful that there is something for everyone amongst the Russian contingent?

Kerry left for Arkansas again this morning - less than an hour ago as a matter of fact. He will be back on Friday.

I did get some new books in-house today:

From the public library:
A Game of Birds and Wolves by Simon Parkin
A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss

For my personal library:
Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
Colonialism and Gender Relations by Moira Ferguson
Royal Blood by Bertram Fields - a recent recommendation on Paul's nonfiction list
Now You See Them, Smoke and Mirrors, The Blood Card, The Vanishing Box, and The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

I think this may be the last big batch for a while - not really sure on that though. I have put myself on a self-imposed "book diet" - until I get below 160 pounds, I cannot order any more books, lol. I figure that will give me incentive!!

>73 alcottacre:
I started Midnight's Children many years ago and Did Not Finish it. It bored me to tears. Most people like it, but it just didn't work for me.

>74 benitastrnad: Sorry to hear that, Benita, but like I always say, "Not every book is for every body." One of the things I truly appreciate about this group is that we can discuss books from all points-of-view and sometimes we just have to agree to disagree.

>74 benitastrnad:
As a reader I realize that we all don't like every book, but when a book is so popular it feels really odd to not like it. Or maybe to not understand it. I wasn't a fan of Handmaid's Tale either and most of my contemporaries, at the time, were nonstop talking about it. It somehow feels like you are outside of the mainstream. What was also odd about Midnight's Children was that I have read quite a bit about India's independence and yet that one book just didn't resonate at all with me. I also have not found any of Salmon Rushdie's book to be of much interest. I think he just writes about subjects that don't catch my interest. Again, it is a case of not every author for every reader. I find myself on the outside in that respect as well. The good thing about this is that there are lots of books out there and lots of authors writing those books. Fortunately, I find that I like most of the books I read and I am sometimes out-of-step with other readers. That's just the way it is in the book world.

>76 benitastrnad: The Handmaid's Tale, even if you don't like it, which I did not, is an easy entry to lots of discussions. I think it brings problematic baggage to those discussions, but it does get them raging.

>76 benitastrnad: I am out-of-step at times too, Benita and quite often cannot give an exact reason as to why a book does not work for me. I think we all are all out-of-step at some time or other. You are right: "That's just the way it is in the book world" and a lot of other things in life too.

Finished this evening:

195 - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - I really liked the opening of this book and then it went downhill for me, then uphill again, and downhill, you get the idea. I did not much care for the blind assassin portions of the book as I felt that they interrupted the overall narrative of the book and I did not like to stop and have to kind of puzzle out what was happening in those sections, let alone who was involved. All is revealed near the end of the book and that helped to redeem the book for me, but not enough that I have a desire to read it again; Guardedly Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

"Trousseau came from the French ward for trunk.Trousseau. That's all it meant: things you put into a trunk. So there was no use in getting upset about it, because it just meant baggage. It meant all the things I was taking with me, packed away."

196 - Human Acts by Han Kang - This is one of those books that I cannot say that I enjoyed, but I could certainly appreciate it. The "Human Acts" of the title are not human acts of kindness, but rather the opposite. We see these inhuman acts through the eyes of several different characters - and a lot of the book does not make for easy reading at all, but almost like a car accident, sometimes you just cannot tear your eyes away even though you know what is coming is not going to be pleasant; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"She had no faith in humanity. The look in someone's eyes, the beliefs they espoused, the eloquence with which they did so, were, she knew, no guarantee of anything. She knew that the only like left to her was one hemmed in by niggling doubts and cold questions."

"We needed time to process that we'd experienced that morning. A scant hour's worth of silent despair, that was the last grace left to us as humans."

"Some memories never heal. Rather than fading with the passage of time, these memories become the only things that are left behind when all else is abraded. The world darkens, like electric bulbs going out by one by one."

>79 alcottacre: You're kind. I disliked The Blind Assassin so much I didn't read any more Atwood for years.

>79 alcottacre: what >80 RebaRelishesReading: said

I do absolutely *love* Alias Grace, however!

Stasia, dearest...would you like to earn $200 for reading and reviewing books someone sends you? https://wordsrated.com/bibliophile-at-large/

Eyestalks 8, 9, 11, and 14 could get some pin money this way.

>79 alcottacre: I think I ended up rating Blind Assassin a teeny bit higher than you, at 4 stars, and I mostly agree with your assessment. I feel vindicated about my decision to wait to read it until I had a couple of long flights -- being forced to sit and read it meant I couldn't really be distracted by the Blind Assassin parts and I think it worked better read in one or two long sittings. I think I'm glad I read it but it's not my favorite Atwood and I won't read it again.

>81 richardderus: I am in the same camp. Alias Grace is exceptional both in terms of being very good and in terms of standing apart from much else of her work for me.

I am not an Atwood fan at all. Like others, I did love Alias Grace, though. I listened to it on audio, read (thankfully, NOT by the nasal and monotone Atwood) by the wonderful actress, Elizabeth McGovern. The only other Atwood I read and finished and liked, was Cat's Eye. I remember liking it though I have exactly zero memory of what it was about except that it took place in Toronto. I read and hated an early book of hers, Surfacing, and attempted but DNF maybe one or two others. She is simply not an author for me. All that said, though, I have read some articles by her and I know she can be very funny and witty. I have also heard her interviewed on radio and, for me anyhow, it can be painful to listen to her speaking voice.

There is a lovely postage stamp of her, though, that came out last year. :-)

>80 RebaRelishesReading: Nope, not being kind. Just stating my opinion :) I am not sure that I am a huge Atwood fan by any stretch of the imagination, but some of her works I really enjoy, others not so much.

>81 richardderus: I have yet to have read Alias Grace, but I mean to get to it by the end of the year. Thanks for thinking of me, Richard, but I do not review books and the mere idea of doing so intimidates me no end!

>82 curioussquared: Yeah, like you, Natalie, I am not sorry I read it, but I am not ever going to read it again.

>83 PaulCranswick: Well, with both you and Richard touting Alias Grace, I am definitely going to have to get it read this year!

>84 jessibud2: Another Alias Grace fan! I will have to keep an eye out for Cat's Eye. Thanks for the recommendation of that one, Shelley.

Finished today:

197 - Writers & Lovers by Lily King - King is a new author to me, but I have seen very good reviews of her work here and this book did not disappoint. Casey is a struggling writer who has been working for 6 years on her book, earning a living (if you can call it that) as a waitress. Her mother has just passed away and her love life is in a shambles. She is being evicted from her apartment and is now trying to juggle 2 relationships. So basically, life is getting to her and she is trying to find a path to getting where she wants to be; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

198 - The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James - Another new-to-me author and very different from King, but still enjoyable. I described this book to my daughter Catey today as a murder mystery within a ghost story or vice versa. Shea, a blogger, gets caught up in trying to figure out if Beth Greer really committed the murders that she was accused of - and acquitted from - years ago or if Beth is hiding something in the old mausoleum of a house that she lives in; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. This young GHO was hanging out at the Rehab Center, while I was tidying up his enclosure and keeping a close eye on me.

Wow! You care really blazing through the books. I have not read hardly anything in the past couple of days. I did love Writers & Lovers.

I'm another fan of Writers and Lovers, Stasia. Glad it was a winner for you.

Hi Stasia! Happy Thursday to you.

>73 alcottacre: I read about your self-imposed book diet on …Paul’s?... thread. Good luck.

>74 benitastrnad: I have 5 by Rushdie and have never even cracked one. Sigh. One of these years.

>79 alcottacre: So I’ll keep The Blind Assassin on my shelves in a tbr status. 3.75 stars is not bad. I’ve read Alias Grace and Oryx & Crate, and will let you know when I want to continue the trilogy. Right now I’m in a bodice-ripper phase, enjoying Georgian and Regency Kindle Kandy.

>85 alcottacre: Me, too! Alias Grace is a stunner, IMO.

>86 alcottacre: You might want to look for King’s Euphoria. I rated it 4.5 stars in 2018.

>87 msf59: That GHO looks like he is staring right through you, doesn't he? You are obviously a suspicious character, Mark. Lol

>88 katiekrug: Just goes to show that we have great taste, Katie!

>89 karenmarie: Well, thus far the book diet is not working, Karen, because my diet is not working. *sigh* My local library actually has Euphoria so hopefully I can get to it when I am back from Longview.

Atwood fan. Bad dieter. I refuse to try book dieting!! : ) Happy Thursday.

>91 Berly: Lol, Kim!

Glad you enjoyed The Book of Cold Cases, Stasia! I've read all of the author's novels, and they never disappoint.

>93 aktakukac: It is the first book I have read of hers, but hopefully it will not be the last. Thanks for the input.

Nice to see you here, Rachel!

Thursday orisons, Stasia, and a smooth slide into weekending.

>95 richardderus: Thanks, Richard. I hope it is a smooth slide - Kerry is due back tomorrow from Arkansas!

Finished today - despite struggles with CFS all day long - I had 3 naps!

199 - The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman - This is the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series and just as enjoyable as the first one was. I truly appreciate that Osman does not portray his elderly characters as inept or otherwise stupid due to their ages, but he treats them as humans with all the foibles of other humans - just a little older. This book finds us meeting Elizabeth's ex-husband, who stole $20 million in diamonds, and the Club eventually having to work out who killed him for the gems; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"You're not going to shoot us?" says Joyce.

"Not if you behave yourselves," says Sue.

"Not really our specialty," says Joyce.

200 - Pollak's Arm by Hans von Trotha - This was a recommendation from Richard and a dandy one it is. This is the third novella (or short novel) that I have read over the course of this year that has really packed a punch. Richard's awesome review can be found here (https://www.librarything.com/work/26588103/reviews/212647439) and I really have nothing to add to it - do yourself a favor and go get this gem of a book!; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

"Bigwig is a word Pollak uses a lot. It signifies a species he has always wrestled with and rebelled against. Saturated with indignation and profound disdain, the word stands for a power imbalance as inappropriate as it is unacceptable."

201 - The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - I have been a Maugham fan for years now, but for some reason had never read this one of his, which is loosely based on the painter, Paul Gaugin. It is very much a character study of one Charles Strickland, who decides to chuck his family and his career as a stockbroker, to paint. He moves from England to France and eventually to Tahiti all for the sake of his dream. He abandons his wife and two children without so much as a backward glance and struggles to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach - all for the sake of his dream; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"Even I, in my colossal ignorance, could not but feel that here, trying to express itself, was real power. . .I felt that these pictures had something to say to me that was very important for me to know, but I could not tell what it was. . .They were strangely tantalizing. They gave me an emotion I could not analyse. They said something that words were powerless to utter. I fancy that Strickland saw vaguely some spiritual meaning in material things that was so strange that he could only suggest it with halting symbols. It was as though he found in the chaos of the universe a new pattern, and were attempting clumsily, with anguish of soul, to set it down. I saw a tormented spirit striving for the release of expression."

I enjoyed the first Thursday Murder Club and looking forward to more.

Congrats on hitting #200 already!! OMG!

Oh wow, 200! Congratulations!

>98 Berly: Yeah, I hope Osman publishes another book in the series soon. Thanks, Kim!

>99 quondame: Thank you, Susan!

>97 alcottacre: Oh, and #200 was a book I loved...and you called out one of the quotes I added into my commonplace book!

>101 richardderus: you called out one of the quotes I added into my commonplace book!

Really? Oh, that is just lovely!

Wow, Stasia!! 200!?! Very well done you!

Yay, impressive reading numbers Stasia.

Hi Stasia my dear, congrats on reaching 200 books read so far this year dear friend.

Happy Friday, Stasia! I have a copy of Pollak's Arm on my Kindle, also thanks to Richard. I will have to bump it up.

200?? WOW! Congrats, my friend.

200, well done Stasia! Impressive!

>103 RebaRelishesReading: >104 Caroline_McElwee: >105 johnsimpson: >106 msf59: >107 mdoris: Thank you, Reba, Caroline, John, Mark, and Mary!

>91 Berly: Book dieting. Hahaha Kimmers - I love that and agree it is not a good thing!

Congratulations on 200 up already, Juana.

Finished today:

202 - The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella - This is like a rom-com movie in book form. James Gould has been sent to Italy during WWII to be the "marriage officer," trying to keep the enlisted men from marrying the prostitutes that abound and thus, stop the spread of venereal disease. The problem, of course, is that Gould himself falls in love; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

203 - The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro - Nonfiction; I found this book very interesting - there was a lot going on in England in 1606, both in politics (King James of Scotland has just inherited the throne upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England and is trying to unify the two kingdoms) and in Shakespeare's writing. The plague is also going on, at times flaring up worse than other times. The Gunpowder Plot is going on and Shakespeare is toiling away on King Lear. All of this I find interesting, but my one big knock on the book is the lack of a proper bibliography. Shapiro has put together what he calls a "bibliographical essay," but to me, they are not one and the same; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I have been fighting CFS big time for the past couple of days. Combined with the fact that I am going to be out-of-town next weekend and into the first week of June, it means that I am spending more time on reading than I am here. I apologize.

No apologies necessary, Stasia. Take care of you and pop in as you're able. *hugs*

>111 alcottacre: what >112 MickyFine: said

*smooch*

Well, on top of the CFS that has been dogging me the past couple of days - 2 more naps today! - my Chromebook is trying to die on me. Geez louise. It never rains but it pours.

>112 MickyFine: >113 richardderus: Thank you, Micky and Richard!

Finished tonight:

204 - The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen - Nonfiction; this book is based on the life of concert pianist Mona Golabek whose mother, Lisa Jura, was on one of the early transports for children on the continent into Britain - she was selected to go by her parents, who wanted her to be able to cultivate her musical ability in England. When Jura arrived in Britain, she found that the uncle who was supposed to take care of her when she was there, could not and so Jura was taken into what was a home for displaced children. Her beloved parents wanted to get their other two daughters to safety in England as well, but their oldest daughter Rosie was engaged to be married and, at 19, was too old for one of the transports. Their youngest daughter, Sonia, was able to get out on literally the last transport. The book takes the reader through a whole gamut of emotions, from triumph to tragedy and back again; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Congrats on flying by 200 books so far this year, Stasia. Sorry that your CFS has been acting up on you.

>116 bell7: Thanks, Mary. Yeah, the CFS is giving me a struggle right now. I have had 8 naps in the past 3 days and did not get up until almost 11am today. My life right now is gaming with Kerry, reading and sleeping. Ugh.

CFS begone! And Chromebook: BEHAVE!!

*smooch*

>72 alcottacre: I am enjoying The Island of Missing Trees, Stasia. I was telling my daughter (another reader) about it, but she was skeptical about the fig tree narration. Huh. To me, trees are kind of like immobile people with branches and leaves. LOL.

I gave you some false info on my thread. The Bell in the Lake was my No. 1 book in 2020 rather than last year. Time flies!

>79 alcottacre: I found myself skipping/skimming the book-within-a-book portions of The Blind Assasin. I gave it 4 stars for the parts that I read. I am an Atwood fan, although the only poetry I've read by her have been in the Louise Penny books! Like Shelley, Cat's Eye is my favorite. I hope you read it soon.

I'm sorry about your CFS flareup and your Chromebook meltdown. Still...200+ books. You are my hero(ine)! Get all the rest you need. xo

HI Stasia, I sure hope that you are feeling better soon and not needing so many naps. That must be very frustrating.

Like Donna, I really liked The Bell in the Lake. He also did a book on wood stacking Norwegian Wood that my husband loved. I am really looking forward to his book to be published next fall the 2nd in the trilogy The Reindeer Hunters and have his next book on reserve at the library The Sixteen Trees of the Somme.

I sure hope the CFS settles down and allows you to get back to your regular routine. You have to do that if you expect to ingest another 300 books before year's end. Good grief.

Feel better soon, Stasia!

Thanks, everyone. I finished 3 more books today - despite another 3-nap day - but I am too tired to type up the reviews tonight. I will do it in the morning :)

>118 richardderus: You tell it, Richard! I replaced the charger on the Chromebook yet again - this makes 3 times - and that seems to have fixed the problem for now.

>119 Donna828: I can see how the fig tree narration might not work for everyone, Donna. I am glad you are enjoying the book though! Maybe your granddaughter will come around to it in the long run.

>120 mdoris: Yes, it is frustrating, Mary. I am lucky though - some people with CFS cannot function at all. Another vote for Mytting! I really am going to need to read one of his books soon.

>121 weird_O: Nope, not another 300. I am only shooting for 400 books read this year, Bill.

>122 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley!

Finished last night:

205 - A Game of Birds and Wolves by Simon Parkin - Nonfiction; I really enjoyed this book about the games that the allies used to learn how to have their convoys work together and especially how to deal with the U-boats that were sinking ships at the beginning of the war - the way that the game is described in the book reminds me a bit of today's flight simulators without the technology. The people running the simulations were all women - the WRENS - and many of them were promoted to positions of authority, although the person who devised the games was male, Captain Gilbert Roberts, who was actually invalided out of the service at one point. The role of the women though cannot be understated. They were eventually responsible for saving hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. My one real knock on the book is that I could have lived without the love lives of the women being discussed. I would think that it was inevitable that some of them go on to marry and marry other servicemen (although at least 2 of the women were lesbians), but I did not see any reason it needed to be mentioned in the book; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

"This was Roberts' masterstroke. By repeatedly playing through recent action at sea and using a game to understand the situation from all angles, he would be in a stong position to see where the British commanders had misunderstand the U-boats' behaviour. The process would enable him to formulate the first universal set of defensive tactics for the navy to use against U-boats, encouraging escort ships to work together like teammates, rather than individuals."

206 - A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie - This was one of the books that I read for this month's Asian Author's Challenge and I am glad that I did. Set during WWI, this is the story of a young woman, Vivian Spencer, who goes to an archaeological dig in Turkey, but the outbreak of the war stops the digs progress, so she heads back to England. In the meantime, we also learn about Qayyum Gul who is serving in the British Indian Army, but after he is wounded, losing an eye in battle, he is bitter against the British. Spencer returns to the Middle East and takes a child, Najeeb, under her wing. Najeeb is Qayyum's younger brother and when years later, Najeeb disappears, Vivian and Qayyum both search for him; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"There are passages of time a person enters into knowing unshakeably that they will always retain a rare lustre, one that will gleam more brightly as disappointments attach themselves to life."

207 - When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller - Juvenile; This is the book that won the 2021 Newbery medal instead of The War I Finally Won - I found this information out on Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's website (https://kimberlybrubakerbradleycom.wordpress.com/), so I thought I would check it out. I enjoyed this mixture of Korean folklore, magical realism, and real life. Lily loves her grandmother, who has shared with her Korean tales throughout her childhood. Now her grandmother is dying and Lily is trying to use the stories she learned from her halmoni to help save her life. I think that at times this book tries to do too much, but overall, I can see why this one the Newbery - although I would have voted for The War I Finally Won myself; Recommended (4 stars) Library Book

" 'You do realize," Ricky says, "that, in theory, you'd be luring a tiger into your house and then into your basement. Which seems like not the best idea.' "

>125 alcottacre: Glad you liked When You Trap a Tiger, Stasia. I'll have to check out the Kimberly Brubaker Bradley books!

>126 curioussquared: I think you will like both of the books in the duology, Natalie. I know I did! Katie recommended them.

Finished this afternoon:

208 - Dark Demon by Christine Feehan - Audiobook; A brain candy book, but one of my favorites of this particular paranormal romance series. I enjoy the banter between Natalya and Vikirnof. I love the world building that Feehan has done throughout the series; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Finished tonight:

209 - A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss - I really wanted to like this book more than I did - and I also wish I had read Brighton Rock by Graham Greene before I read it - but this 3 Stooges as cops book really did not work for me. The characters were, for the most part, just plain unbelievable, especially the cops. Luckily for me, this was a light, fast read - I kept on reading in the hopes that it would improve; Not Recommended (3 stars) Library Book

210 - The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell - Another of the books from Kim's Indiespensable list and this one was definitely worth the read. This story of two sisters, who essentially have only each other even when their parents are alive, is very good. When we first meet Marnie and Nelly their parents have died and, not knowing what else to do, they bury them in the backyard. They are soon found to be abandoned by Lennie, their next door neighbor, who kind of functions for them as a substitute grandfather - until their real grandfather shows up and the girls do not like him at all; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

"Thinking a lot about God these days and I wonder if he's going to help the suffering children or punish them."

>129 alcottacre: The books keep getting swallowed down over here, Stasia. I am treading water and could do with some of your reading mojo for the time being. 210 books already!

Happy Tuesday!

Congrats on reading 200 books! Wow!

Hi, Stasia. Sorry about the CFS. I hope things are beginning to improve. Glad you are able to take some comfort in the books. A Game of Birds and Wolves sounds really good.

Hi Stasia!

>97 alcottacre: I’m glad you liked the second Osman. The third, The Bullet That Missed, is due out September 20th. I've pre-ordered it on Amazon.

Congrats on 200 books so far this year. Amazing.

>111 alcottacre: I’m sorry your CFS is giving you fits. I’m glad you can read and take naps.

>114 alcottacre: No dying Chromebooks! My PC died in March and I’m just now getting back online – thank goodness I had my old Windows 8.1 machine to tide me over.

>130 PaulCranswick: Sending reading mojo your way, Paul! Sherman > > > > KL

>131 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

>132 msf59: Well, I only took 1 nap yesterday, so that is something. We will see how today goes! A Game of Birds and Wolves is really good. I hope you can track down a copy.

>133 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. Yeah, if I was still working with these CFS flare ups, I would be going bonkers. Thank goodness for retirement!

Thanks for the heads up about the new Osman book! I did not even know that one was in the works.

The new charger seems to have fixed the problem. I just wish I knew why the chargers keep dying.

Are you buying the proper voltage of charger? Most Chromebooks need a 65V and using a 45V will cause the charger to expire pretty quickly. Rule of thumb: If you touch the heavy box part and can't keep your fingers on it for a count of ten without discomfort, get the 65V next time.

>97 alcottacre: Congratulations on 200 books!!

>135 richardderus: I checked, Richard, and according to both Amazon and the charger itself, it is 65W. However, I have no problem at all with discomfort when holding the thing.

>136 ocgreg34: Thanks, Greg!

Well, yesterday was horrible - I was sick all day and took at 3+ hour nap - and today has not been much better - two 2+ hour naps. Sorry I have not been around much, but CFS is really hitting me hard these days and I really need to finish my TIOLI books for May before June starts.

I have another DNF though: The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi, which is a shame because it was to be one of my Asian Author challenge books for the month, but I found the writing pedestrian and the book was just not doing anything for me. *sigh*

>137 alcottacre: Okay...it's possible your Chromebook needs a 45V. Look on the bottom and see what it says there. I need a magnifier and strong light to see my unit's legally-required text. But it's worth it if it's this simple to make something that costs ~$30 last longer!

Wednesday *smooch*

Oh, my book reviewed today is one you'll very probably like.

>139 richardderus: I have been buying the charger that is specific to my laptop model, according to Amazon. The output shows to be Max 65W.

I will go and check out your review. . .

Finished tonight:

211 - The World, the Flesh, and the Devil by Reay Tannahill - I enjoy good historical fiction and this is a well-told tale that suffers from a couple of issues that make it suffer in my eyes: 1) I do not like political intrigue and this book, set in the time of James I is rife with it and 2) I never bought into the romance of Gavin and Ninian. Both of these issues are with me, not the writing. I think Tannahill did an excellent job in the writing itself; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

212 - Amelia's War by Ann Rinaldi - Juvenile; In the author's note for this book, Rinaldi explains the incident that is the basis for this book - the ransom of Hagerstown, Maryland, during the Civil War. I love how she took that one incident and built this entire book around it. However, there are problems in the book that brought it down for me, not the least of which is how some characters just disappear and then show up at the end of the book - or not. Some characters there was no resolution to their story. In adult book I would have a problem with that. In a middle grade book, I think it is a real stumbling block to a child enjoying the book because kids want to know what happened to their favorite characters!; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

Dropping in to say hello. I hope you are feeling a little better!

>138 alcottacre: Sorry to hear you continue unwell Stasia. I hope that improves soon.

Sorry you're having a tough time, Stasia. Hope you're better soon.

>142 figsfromthistle: >143 Caroline_McElwee: >144 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, ladies, for dropping by and wishing me well. It is very much appreciated!

*smooch*

>141 alcottacre: I wonder if it's possible to write about the court of James I and not get political. Not my preferred period for sure.

I hope you feel some relief from the CFS soon.

>129 alcottacre: Glad you liked another off my INDIEspensible list. The Death of Bees was indeed a good one!!

Sorry your CFS is acting up. Today is a crash and burn day for me as well. 9 hours of sleep and then after being up for an hour back in bed for a two hour nap. I think today is going to be a reading day. : )

>146 richardderus: ((Hugs)) and **smooches** back at you, RD!

>147 quondame: I guess Tannahill could have made the book into a straight romance set in the time of James I - and even then the politics would have crept into the book, I suspect.

Right now the CFS shows no signs of letting go. *sigh*

>148 Berly: Yes, I very much enjoyed The Death of Bees and am looking forward to Brewster in June. This challenge is going to keep me going for a good long while!

I slept about 12 hours or so, got up for an hour or to just as you say, and then went back and took another nap. Other than that, I have pretty much been reading today. We are twinsies in that regard, Kim!

Another DNF for me this month - and unfortunately, another one from my Asian Authors reads for the month: The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam proved to be just too violent for my tastes.

General Announcement: I will be heading out of town on Saturday to visit my mother. The Internet at my mother's house is pretty much nonexistent, so I will likely be out of touch until I return on June 5th or 6th. Hopefully by then the CFS will have ceased to flare up and I will be back to normal (or as normal as I ever get!)

Safe travels, Stasia, and hope that your CFS cooperates and stops flaring up.

Have a safe and healing trip, Stasia. Tell your mom I said, "Hi!"

>152 bell7:, >153 weird_O: What they said.

>152 bell7:, >153 weird_O:, >154 laytonwoman3rd: - And what they all said! ;-)

>138 alcottacre: Have a virtual hug, and some non-virtual sympathy.

>152 bell7: >153 weird_O: >154 laytonwoman3rd: >155 jessibud2: >156 ArlieS: Thank you all!

Finished tonight:

213 - The Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager - Nonfiction; This book is essentially interviews with noted authors about the books that they enjoyed as children, the books that are their favorites, and the books they are currently reading. I love this kind of stuff! I had never heard of some of the authors interviewed, let alone the books that they hold as favorites or are currently reading, so I expect the BlackHole is going to grow by leaps and bounds once I get energy enough to write down all of the books from here that I have not read; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

214 - A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson - This is a tough story to read, this story of 17-year-old Zoe, who is essentially an orphan. Her father is dead, her mother is a completely negligent alcoholic, her grandmother is a bully, her younger brother has been adopted by an aunt and uncle. She has no one who truly cares about her and it gets to the point that she moves out of her mother's house into a room of her own and thereby gain some freedom and some control over her own life; Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

"Both sides. Zoe wonders. Did she? She has Daddy's dark looks, but is there anything like her in Mama? Did she get something from both of them? Or when she was that little unwanted peanut in Mama's tummy, did she grow all on her own even then, without any help from Mama?"

>158 alcottacre: I loved The Writers Library Stasia. Anything about creativity is my bag.

Safe travels and a nice time with your mom.

>158 alcottacre: The Writer's Library is a book I'm savoring, Stasia. One writer a week (oh, alright, I've skipped to a couple of stars in my personal library, like Madeline Miller). My WANT! List™ is swelling and stretching to accommodate the additions.

I'm reeling from the Writer's Library BB, Stasia. My missteps will probably find me over in the Kindle store seeing what's what.
Please rest today so you'll be fit to drive tomorrow! (You know how I want to participate.)

Happy Friday, Stasia. Enjoy your visit with your Mom and I hope the CFS backs off to reasonable levels.

Yup, you got me squarely in the book basket with The Writer's Library.

>151 alcottacre: Be safe, get well, enjoy your Mom

Have a nice visit with your mom!

Adding to the mom-visit benisons!

>159 Caroline_McElwee: I think I may have bought the book based on your recommendation, Caroline. Thanks for the good wishes!

>160 weird_O: Yeah, I savored it too, Bill - I limited myself to 3 writers a night :) Watch out - your WANT List is going to turn into a BlackHole.

>161 LizzieD: I think you would greatly enjoy The Writer's Library, Peggy! I am trying to get some rest in (falling asleep at my computer is helping, right?) but I have a lot to get done before tomorrow - including finishing a couple of books yet tonight, just so I do not have to cart them to Longview with me.

>162 msf59: Thank you, Mark!

>163 laytonwoman3rd: I think you will enjoy it when you get to it, Linda!

>164 RebaRelishesReading: >165 curioussquared: >166 richardderus: Thank you, Reba, Natalie and Richard!

My mother and I are extremely close and I visit her as often as I can despite her lack of Internet. I am firmly convinced if it were not for her, I would not be on planet Earth any longer. You all are my friends and I miss you when I cannot be here - like when CFS is rearing its ugly head, but she is my family and she comes first. I know you all understand and I appreciate it!

HI Stasia, wishing you a wonderful visit with your mom!

Safe travels, Stasia, enjoy your time with your mother!

>168 mdoris: >169 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Mary and Anita!

Finished tonight, but I am not writing up my thoughts on them. I am just too tired:

215 - A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle - Recommended (4 stars) Mine

216 - First into Nagasaki by George Weller - Recommended (4 stars) Mine

217 - The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - A recommendation from Shelley; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Hi, Stasia.

Going back a ways on your thread, I also re-read The Brothers Karamazov a while ago And rate it highly. Ienjoyed your comparison of Alyosha to Fanny Price. Both understated characters, as you say.

I also likedWar and Peace much more than Anna Karenina, although with W&P I sure could’ve done without his “great man” treatise after the first ending. For AK, iI wish the primary novel had been “Kitty and Levin”, with Ak and Vronsky only a side story. I found K & L’s story much more interesting.

I hope you are enjoying your time with Mom. : )

I got Philida from the library today. I should be ready to start reading it this coming weekend.

>172 jnwelch: Completely agree with you about K & L, Joe!

>173 Berly: Thanks, Kim.

>174 benitastrnad: Nice! I will not be able to start for a couple of weeks yet though, Benita, as I am going to be visiting with my mother longer than originally planned.

General Announcement: It looks like I am going to be in Longview for 2 weeks, rather than the one week I had originally planned. Nothing is wrong, just a change of plans due to an unforeseen circumstance.

Completed in Longview (or on my way):

218 - This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart - Recommended (3.75 stars) Mine

219 - Day After Night by Anita Diamant - Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

220 - The Library of the Unwritten by A. J. Hackwith - Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

221 - Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B. Tyson - Recommended (4.25 stars) Mine

222 - From Stone Orchard by Timothy Findley - Recommended (4 stars) Mine

I just hope the internet here does not eat my post. . .

>176 alcottacre: Your post wasn't eaten, Stasia.
Enjoy your prolonged stay in Longview.

Dropping in to say hello. Lots of great reading going on!

Enjoy the extra week.

Hi Stasia!

I hope you're having a wonderful visit with your mother, reading a lot of wonderful books, and beating back CFS, at least for a while.

>177 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita!

>178 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita. My mother and I always have a great time together - tons of gaming going on here.

>179 karenmarie: Unfortunately, the CFS refuses to let me to. I am not getting a ton of reading done, but I am doing some. More board games than books currently. Thanks, Karen.

Finished tonight (yay, I finally finished a book in June!):

223 - The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher - Nonfiction; Dr Thomas Fisher has worked for years in the ED of a Chicago hospital, including during the height of the COVID pandemic. His book serves an indictment of the health care in America, before, during and after the height of the pandemic was over - and I got frustrated just reading it and realizing how futile he must have felt while writing the book and feeling that his hands were tied, especially trying to treat minority populations, mainly blacks, in Chicago; Recommened (4 stars) Library Book

I am going to finish up my current fiction read and am going to start Philida tomorrow.

>180 alcottacre: Screwed-up trip to take with CFS as your traveling companion! *smooch*

>182 benitastrnad: Benita, I will not be home until Saturday, so unlikely to start Philida until Sunday. I hope we both enjoy the book!

>183 richardderus: CFS is still dogging me, Richard. I wish I could say it was not. ((Hugs)) and **smooches** back at you!

Finished tonight:

224 - Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles - Nonfiction; Miles, a journalist, decided to look into the double murder case of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams, a lesbian couple who were killed on the Appalachian Trail in May 1996. There is a lot going on this book from the crime itself to the indictment of a seemingly innocent man for the crime to the question as to whether the murders would count as hate crimes. Miles at all times is respectful of the families and the victims and comes across as a fierce advocate for both. She makes a valid case for a serial killer being in the area of Winans' and Williams' murders and potentially responsible for them, although law enforcement never took this point-of-view. She discusses the pitfalls of the case and decries the fact that many pieces of evidence were never evaluated. This book is highly readable and (in my case at least) raises the blood pressure of the reader for many things!; Highly Recommended (4.25 stars) Library Book

Hi Stasia!

>185 alcottacre: I was just commenting on someone's thread that I had been dodging BBs recently because I'm still in my bodice ripper phase, but here you go and give me a BB! It sounds fascinating.

I hope your week is going well.

>185 alcottacre:, >186 karenmarie: You got me too!

>185 alcottacre: Ooh, “Trailed” sounds good! Onto my TBR, and I’ll see if I can track down a copy right now. Thanks for the review!

Karen O

>185 alcottacre: Oh my goodness! I can't...seem...to see...hm, must not be any text there for some reason.

Anyway. Thursday orisons, Stasia! *smooch*

> 186 >187 drneutron: >188 klobrien2: I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it, Karen, Jim, and Karen. I have put the book on the TIOLI Challenge #9 for June, if anyone is interested in a shared read for the month.

>189 richardderus: Uh huh. For some reason - could it be that your eyes are closed, RD? lol

Finished tonight:

225 - Munich by Robert Harris - This is one of those books that I wanted to like a lot more than I ended up doing. The story is centered around the Munich Agreement signed by Hitler and Chamberlain in 1938, but it takes a good while before we ever reach Munich and that is the main detraction of the book for me. The parts of the book that are actually in Munich are the best, but that it maybe 1/3 of the book. I seriously disliked the ending and did not find it believable; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Library Book

>191 alcottacre: Congratulations on reaching 3 x 75, Stasia!

Hi Stasia!

>191 alcottacre: Congrats from me, too. It's a good author to reach a significant read with, although I'm sorry you didn't like this particular one. I loved his Fatherland - it was the first alternative history book I'd ever read and although I don't have a copy of it on my shelves now, I was mesmerized by it. I have and have read Pompeii and The Second Sleep, both very good. I've also got The Ghost, to be read. Another one to add to the "I'd like to read it this year if/when I get out of the bodice ripper phase."

>191 alcottacre: Your triple point for reading reached! Yay!

I'm thinking it's the weekend you're heading home...? Am I right?

Wow, congrats on 75 x 3!

>191 alcottacre: Oh wow, 225! Yay!

Congrats on triple 75, Stasia!!

>192 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita!

>193 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen. Munich is not alternative history - it is very grounded in what actually happened in Germany when the Munich Agreement was signed with some artistic license on Harris' part, of course.

>194 richardderus: >195 bell7: >196 quondame: >197 curioussquared: Thank you, Richard, Mary, Susan and Natalie!

I am home - we got home about 90 minutes or so ago. I am dead tired. I will be online tomorrow at some point - I have a ton to catch up on here at home first - and hopefully coherent.

Welcome back, Stasia!

>199 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky. It is nice to be home.

>191 alcottacre: If you have any more time for it, there is a decent movie based on Harris's book, available on Netflix. Good cast. Unnecessary romantic subplot (was that in the book?). Same improbable ending. Still, we enjoyed watching it.

>201 laytonwoman3rd: I do not have Netflix, Linda, but I do appreciate your mentioning the movie. As far as the romantic subplot, Paul does have a romantic interest in the book, but it is over in the book in the space of about 10 pages. I am not sure if that is the romance you are referring to or not.

Finished this afternoon:

226 - Bewilderment by Richard Powers - I am not sure that I can do this book justice. For me, it was magical. It seems like a straightforward enough plot: A father and son, who is on the autism spectrum, are attempting to deal with the loss of their wife and mother. The boy, Robin, is angry and does not really know what to do with it - he ends up lashing out at his best friend, injuring the other boy, and with his father's blessing, goes into a special therapy that captures his mother's memories and integrates them into his own. I am sure there is a better way of explaining that. Anyhow, Robin begins changing with this therapy and along the way becomes a viral superstar - until the therapy is judged to be too experimental and shut down for further evaluation. The magic in this book, for me, is the relationship between father and son. Theo, the dad, is bewildered at this wonderful child he has and the wonderful wife he lost. Robin, the son, is bewildered by how humans are treating this wonderful planet we inhabit and the inhabitants themselves. One of my best reads of the year; Highly Recommended (5 stars) Mine

Well done for 3x75 already, Stasia and for the subsequent 5 star read.

Nice to see you back. xx

>204 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

>203 alcottacre: I am so glad you got to read Bewildered. I could not put it down. I bled for that father-son relationship that Theo and Robin had. I wanted nothing to ever happen to it. I would love to read other books by Richard Powers. His writing was so captivating.

>203 alcottacre: Hi Stasia. You sure got me with that review. On to the list it goes.

>203 alcottacre: I am next in line for this one at the library. Can't wait!

>203 alcottacre: I LOVE that you LOVED Bewilderment. Powers is maybe my most respected current American writer of fiction. I have it on my Kindle, but you know I can't get to it yet. I will though.

I'm glad that Blood Done Sign My Name was something that you enjoyed. Since I'm a North Carolina native, I guess I found it more moving than you did.

REALLY GLAD that you're home!!!!!

>206 SqueakyChu: Madeline, I can recommend The Overstory as well. I loved that one, my introduction to Powers' work. I know what you mean when you say you bled for that father-son relationship. I did too.

>207 mdoris: I hope you love the book as much as I did, Mary.

>208 figsfromthistle: Wonderful, Anita! I hope you enjoy it!

>209 LizzieD: I do hope you can get to Bewilderment soon, Peggy. I am REALLY GLAD to be home too :)

I finished one of the books I have been reading, so today is the day I start (really start) reading Philida. That means you may be hearing a few comments on it coming from me.

>211 benitastrnad: Great! I had not yet started it, so I will be doing that today.

CFS is rearing its ugly head again today - I already have one nap in - but I hope to be back at full strength tomorrow and this next week. We shall see.

>203 alcottacre: I loved this one too Stasia.

>213 Caroline_McElwee: Glad to see the book has another fan, Caroline!

>210 alcottacre: I already have {the Overstory on my wishlist. :D

>215 SqueakyChu: I hope you enjoy The Overstory when you get to it, Madeline! It was one of my favorite reads from last year.

Hi, Stasia! Welcome back. Funny, I didn't care for Bewilderment. I found it disappointing, especially after the fantastic The Overstory. A rare disagreement. How is Taft?

Another fan of The Overstory here :)

>217 msf59: Well, we will just have to agree to disagree about Bewilderment, Mark. As far as Taft goes, I am about 100 pages in and liking it thus far.

>218 RebaRelishesReading: Yay, Reba!

I am going to be heading to bed early again tonight. CFS continues to plague me - and I am sure that some of this is a response to being out of town for 2 weeks.

I'm glad you're home, sorry CFS is giving you fits.

>220 karenmarie: I am glad to be home too, Karen, but wish I could have left CFS back at my mother's!

*smooch* because it's Tuesday and you need one about now

>222 richardderus: You are so right, Richard. I am terribly depressed right now, dealing with CFS, weight gain, and (it feels like) practically no reading!

*there there, pat pat*

>224 richardderus: Thank you, RD. I think I am done with my pity party now.

>203 alcottacre: Well it looks like both Bewilderment and The Overstory will be going in the Swamp.

Congrats on your third 75, and sorry to hear you're going through a rough time.

Sweet Thursday, Stasia. Sorry to hear about your continuing CFS troubles. Bummer. It sounds like we have similar feelings about Taft. Looking forward to Arctic Dreams.

Hi Stasia! Happy Thursday to you, and I hope that you have a good day.

>226 swynn: Thanks for dropping by, Steve! I hope you enjoy both books!

>227 msf59: Yeah, I will be glad when this flare up, which seems to be lasting forever, is gone, Mark. I am also looking forward to Arctic Dreams.

>228 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, same to you!

Yoo-hoo! *smooch* incoming!

>230 richardderus: Keep them coming, Richard! I can use all the smooches I can get!

Finished this afternoon:

227 - A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge - Young Adult; I have read a couple of books by Hardinge, but they were for middle grades. This is the first YA book of hers I have read and it has so much of what I appreciate YA books for including a novel heroine and great world building in a dystopian future, but not one that is as hopeless as many authors with an adult audience write. Neverfell is abandoned in Caverna, with no memory of her past. She is adopted by Cheesemaster Grandible, who tries to protect her and teach her his trade. However, Neverfell must go masked because she has a face like glass - everything she feels is writ large upon her face and it leads to a ton of problems for her. There are multiple twists and turns in this story, but unlike some books I have read, they were not difficult to follow. Hardinge is an author to watch!; Highly Recommended (4.25 stars) Borrowed from my daughter Catey

Finished tonight:

228 - Taft by Ann Patchett - This was a shared read with Mark. I enjoyed the straight narrative part of the story - Patchett drew her characters well here, especially John Nickel, the central character of the story, but the asides where Nickel is dreaming(?)/imagining(?) of Taft, the father of his employee Fay and her brother Carl just did not work for me. Maybe I just did not get the point? I know some others in the group love the book (sorry, Katie!), so do not go by just my opinion; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

229 - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - This book has been sitting on my shelves to read for about 12 years now. I am so glad that the Asian Author Challenge finally got me to get it read. I loved this one. There is so much horror in this book - the real life variety, not the imagined one - and yet there is hope as well. Since I pretty much no nothing of India's history, I have no idea how many of the events portrayed in the book actually happened, but I have a feeling that they did - everything from the destruction of the slums in which many people lived to enforced sterilization; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

"Time, the ultimate grandmaster that could never be checkmated."

230 - The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence - This is a shared read with Peggy. I know that Spence was a highly regarded historian and writer, but the way in which he undertook to write this book did not work for me. Instead of writing a standard biography of Matteo Ricci, a Catholic priest who went to China as a missionary, Spence opted to use the 'memory palace,' with which Ricci was trying to help Chinese students memorize items needed for their exams. On its own, the memory palace is interesting to me. On its own, the biography of Ricci would have proved interesting to me as well. However, the way in which Spence intertwined the two, I did not care for. I mean, halfway through the book, Spence has already written about the death of Ricci. Why not leave that until the end - Ricci lived from 1552-1610, so it is obvious he is going to be dead before the book is done anyway. I learned some things from the book and am not sorry I read it, but the execution lacked for me; Not Recommended (3 stars) Mine

"In no sense was he (Ricci) an uncritical admirer of China, as he is sometimes taken to be; he was, in fact, profoundly torn about how to assess the country and its government, and he never reached a synthesis. He merely presented two sets of irreconcilable views which, between them, doubtless he felt approximated reality."

OK, 4 finished in a day. I feel almost like me again. CFS has left me alone today too, so hopefully this last flare up is now gone!

So good Stasia that you had a good day without the horrible CFS visiting. And to be able to finish 4 books in a day is a WOW!!! Well done.

>233 alcottacre: 4 is quite enough to establish that you're back to reading, so that's great. I hope you remain CFS free for the foreseeable.

>234 mdoris: To be clear, Mary, I started all of those books days ago, but it felt good to get them all completed on the same day.

>235 quondame: Thanks, Susan!

No worries about Taft. As I said to Mark, I don't even remember why I liked it so much - just that I did. And of course, not every book is for every person.

>237 katiekrug: Totally agree that "every book is for every person." It would be so boring if we all liked the same things!

>233 alcottacre: I enjoyed Taft, with some reservations about the climax, as I recall. My review says I couldn't suspend my disbelief, but I didn't spoil anything, which means now I don't remember specifically what I objected to! Like you, I let A Fine Balance linger a long time on my shelf before reading it (mostly due to its length), but absolutely loved it when I got to it.

Hoping with you that the CFS has found something else to do and won't be visiting again soon.

And all the YAY for finishing four books! You're right, it really makes one feel like one's old self again to get the mojo back.

>236 alcottacre: Yes I figured that out. i know that A Fine Balance is a bit of a whopper but still finishing 4 in a day must feel good.

>239 laytonwoman3rd: Yes, I regret letting A Fine Balance sit there for years before I read it. I am trying to read more off my own shelves these days and it is paying off - mainly due to recommendations from people here in the 75ers.

>240 richardderus: Yeah, this bout of CFS stuck around a lot longer than I wished - which is pretty much any time beyond a day, lol.

>241 mdoris: A Fine Balance is the shortest of the 600+ page books that I am reading this month (the other two, The Art of War in the Western World and A Suitable Boy, will likely take me until the end of the month to complete, but just getting one of them finished feels very good - and to finish up 3 others on the same day makes it even better :)

You're making me feel guilty for letting A Fine Balance languish away on my shelves! Maybe I'll select it as a book I want to read for next year.

I have started reading Philida but only have read about 35 pages. I forgot I have a couple of other books to read this month, so I am only making slow progress on it. You and I should be in sync when you finally get to reading this book because I am a slow reader and you are a fast reader once you get started on a book.
>233 alcottacre:
I had the privilege of hearing Spence lecture. He was a fine lecturer but I haven't managed to finish any book he wrote.

>242 alcottacre: I know I have been delaying (for years) reading the Hilary Mantel whoppers. Maybe this summer will be the summer I launch into them.

>243 curioussquared: I hope you enjoy the book when you get to it, Natalie!

>244 benitastrnad: Benita, I thought you were far ahead of me in the book. I had planned to finish it tomorrow as I only have about 100 pages left. Would you like me to stop until you catch up?

>245 mdoris: Oh, you are in for a treat, Mary! I have read the entire trilogy and, once I got used to the narration style, I loved them all.

>232 alcottacre: I've liked almost everything I've read by Frances Hardinge, particularly The Lie Tree and Cuckoo Song.

>244 benitastrnad:
No. You don't have to stop reading it. I will catch up with it. I had slowed down because I thought you were reading other things. I will have lots of time to read this weekend so will get to it. Besides, spoilers don't bother me. If you are on a roll with it, just continue. I will catch up and then we can discuss it later.

>247 SandDune: My local library has Cuckoo Song, but unfortunately does not have The Lie Tree, which is already in the BlackHole. Glad to know you enjoy her books too, Rhian.

>248 benitastrnad: OK, works for me!

Finished this afternoon:

231 - Guardians of the West by David Eddings - Eddings picks up in this new 5-book series (following the Belgariad) pretty much where the other left off. Garion, now installed as the King of Riva, is trying to learn how to be a good king. Word soon comes that there is another threat and Garion has to start investigating when tragedy strikes. One thing leads to another and soon Garion is on the road with his old friends trying to track down his son who has been kidnapped. This is a good first installment into the new series, keeping with it a degree of familiarity by having a lot of the characters from the first series show up and not overwhelming the reader with a lot of new ones; Recommended (4 stars) Mine

Happy Friday, Stasia! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

>223 alcottacre: Keep your chin up, Juana!

>233 alcottacre: I am so pleased that one of my absolute favourites got 4.5 stars. C'mon Rohinton please write another one!

Still struggling with my recovery. After very clear breathing since I tested positive, I have suddenly developed a really irritating cough.

>251 Carmenere: Thank you, Lynda! Same to you!

>252 PaulCranswick: Trying to, Paul. It is much easier since the bout of CFS seems to be gone now.

Sorry to hear about the cough. I do hope it leaves you alone soon.

I am off to bed early tonight, folks. I am not even getting any reading done tonight. After weeks of struggling with CFS, I got less than 4 hours of sleep last night, and I am tired. Things are back to "normal" now.

Hurrah for no CFS!

Sweet dreams, Juana.

I read Arctic Dreams some years ago. I thought the chapters on Arctic wildlife were excellent, but I got a little bogged down in the chapter on European expeditions. Lopez also has a slightly romatised view of Eskimo life. If I may, I would recommend Duncan Pryde's Nunaga for its warts and all account of life in Eskimo communities in the 1950s and 60s. Pryde worked for the Hudson's Bay Company at several trading posts in the Arctic and became immersed in the local culture. If I remember correctly he became the foremost expert on Eskimo languages and dialects and began writing a dictionary and grammar but only got as far as the end of the letter A before he died.

Edited to add that this book kept me engaged from the first page.

Edited again to add that, somewhat incongruously, when he died Duncan Pryde was running a gift shop on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England.

Hi Stasia my dear, a belated congratulations on reaching 3 X 75 for the year so far, wishing you and the family a really lovely weekend, sending love and hugs from both of us dear friend.

>254 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul.

>255 meanderer: Thank you for recommending Nunaga, Tony. I will see if I can track down a copy as my local library does not have it.

>256 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. It has been a great weekend so far!

Finished tonight:

232 - Philida by Andre Brink - I will say flat out that I did not care for the style of writing of this book. All too often I found myself wondering who exactly was narrating the chapter I was reading - now, that could be my fault as an inattentive reader. However, the biggest failing of the book to me was the inexplicable exclusion of a glossary. I do not speak Afrikaans and quite often in the book the Afrikaans word just mentioned did not have enough context for me to figure out what was meant. Again, this may be just me. The story related in the book is good and probably very accurate to the times based on the "acknowledgements" section of the book where Brink talks about how the story is actually based on his family history; Guardedly Recommended (3.5 stars) Mine

"I'm not there just for the taking, says Philida. I make one mistake with that and it won't happen again."

Hi Stasia!

>233 alcottacre: I’ve had A Fine Balance on my shelves for a mere 7 years. I’m leery of starting it because I tried to read A Suitable Boy several years ago for a shared read and bailed. It’s still on my shelves, too. I see, further down thread, that you're reading it this month. I'm impressed, as always, with the variety and volume of your reading.

I neglected to congratulate you on 75 x 3, way back on June 9.

And, finally, I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

>258 alcottacre: I think it's annoying when no glossary is offered for Anglophone readers in a book published in a majority-Anglophone culture. Which this is.

*grump*

Well, *smooch* for your Sunday, Stasia.

>259 karenmarie: Thank you for the Sunday wishes, Karen. I hope you and Bill had a wonderful Father's day! I urge you to read A Fine Balance. It is excellent and certainly shorter than A Suitable Boy!

>260 richardderus: Thank you for the Sunday smooch, RD!

I finished this one last night, but was too tired to type it up:

233 - Zorrie by Laird Hunt - The first time I heard of this book was on Bonnie's thread last year (thank you, Bonnie!) This book is one of those small, spare books that packs a wallop. The entire book centers on the life of Zorrie Underwood, an orphan who ends up taken in by an aunt, who subsequently dies, so Zorrie is on her own. She lives a quiet life, nothing much goes on, but even still I never lost interest in Zorrie and by the end of this short book, as Bonnie says, " I knew Zorrie like I'd known her all my life." All I can add to that is, if you have never read this book, get hold of it and read it. It will pay off for you in the end; Highly Recommended (4.5 stars) Mine

>262 alcottacre: Hi Stasia, so glad that CFS is becoming a thing of the past. Sometimes I wonder if that is what plagues me, but I think it is the 75 years (almost) I've been living at full blast that are finally catching up to me! Having had Covid twice this year hasn't helped, either.

It's funny, I just now finishied typing my comments on Zorrie which I finished over a week ago. I loved that book!

>263 Donna828: Oh, I will have to look for your comments on Zorrie, Donna. I am glad to hear that you loved it too!

Having COVID once this year has not helped me, so I cannot imagine how your having it twice has helped you!

Hi, Stasia. Yes, A Fine Balance was heart-rending and a punch to the gut, at times, but it was also one of the best books I have read in the past 10 years.

Another book pal loving Zorrie? I gotta get to this one. I am nearly done with the first essay in Arctic Dreams. I am enjoying it.

>265 msf59: Yeah, I would not call A Fine Balance an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. It will be a book that I go back to though, I think.

I really think you would like Zorrie, Mark. I hope you get a chance to read it soon.

I have not started Arctic Dreams yet, but it is on the agenda for tonight.

Finished tonight:

234 - The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick - This was a re-read for me (I originally read the book in March 2017) and I liked it marginally more this time than I did in my initial read, although I could not tell you why. This is the story of Arthur Pepper, whose wife Miriam passed away a year earlier. He has decided to finally get rid of her clothes and things and in the process discovers a charm bracelet the he knows nothing about - and he sets out to discover where all the charms have come from. In some ways the book reminds me of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, although it is not as well-written or well-paced as that one, which I loved. Still, I am not sorry that I gave this one a re-read, thanks to TIOLI; Recommended (3.75 stars) Library Book

New thread is up here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/342471