Mary's (bell7's) Reads in 2022 - Thread #8

Welcome to my eighth thread of the year! This is the fastest I've ever started an eighth thread, so thanks for your visits, book recommendations, and general chatter.

If you've never met me, hello and welcome, my name's Mary and I live and work in western Massachusetts. I'm a librarian, a home owner, the oldest of 5, and Auntie Mimi to Mia and Matthew. I'm a fan of Giants football, Bruins hockey, and tennis. I read all sorts of fiction and nonfiction, though SFF and books about books are among my favorites. Horror is about the only genre I avoid on the whole (I am a wimp).

My 2022 reading goals:
-Read at least half books by authors of color
-Read at least one book a month in the Asian Book Challenge
-Read at least twelve books from countries outside of the US/UK

I scrapped the BookRiot Read Harder challenge officially, but I'm very happy with my progress in reading a wide variety of books this year.

Rough guide to my rating system:
I'm fairly generous with my star ratings - generally a four is a "like" or "would recommend" for me, while a 4.5 stars is a book I would reread. I break it down roughly like this:

1 star - Forced myself to finish it
2 stars - Dislike
2.5 stars - I really don't know if I liked it or not
3 stars - Sort of liked it; or didn't, but admired something about it despite not liking it
3.5 stars - The splitting hairs rating of less than my last 4 star book or better than my last 3
4 stars - I liked it and recommend it, but probably won't reread it except under special circumstances (ie., a book club or series reread)
4.5 stars - Excellent, ultimately a satisfying read, a title I would consider rereading
5 stars - A book that I absolutely loved, would absolutely reread, and just all-around floored me

I see it more in terms of my like or dislike of a book, rather than how good a book is. My hope is that as a reader I convey what I like or what I don't in such a way that you can still tell if you'll like a book, even if I don't. And I hope for my patrons that I can give them good recommendations for books they will like, even if it's not one I would personally choose.

2022 Book Club Reads

For work -
January - Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri - COMPLETED
February - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - COMPLETED
March - Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - COMPLETED
April - Pale Rider by Laura Spinney - COMPLETED
May - People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry - COMPLETED
Summer break
September - Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
October - Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
November - The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
December - Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

The Other Book Club with my SIL and friends -
January/February - The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal - COMPLETED
April - Taste by Stanley Tucci (skipped - couldn't make the meeting)
June - The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - COMPLETED (back in December)
July - True Biz by Sara Novic - COMPLETED

Random things I'm keeping track of -
Bookish articles:
1. Books Like AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (includes a Japanese book recently translated that may make an interesting Asian Book Challenge choice)
2. Japanese Books in Translation (BookRiot)
3. New and Upcoming Must-Read Memoirs by Black Authors
4. 16 Amazing Books Set in Korea (BookRiot)

How to make pretty block quotes (directions from Richard):
{blockquote}TYPE OR PASTE QUOTED TEXT HERE{/blockquote} and replace the curly braces with pointy brackets.

Number of books read since keeping count on LT:
July - Dec 2008 - 65
2009 - 156 (plus over 70 graphic novels and manga volumes)
2010 - 135 (Note: in June, I started working a second part-time job for full-time hours)
2011 - 150
2012 - 108 (Note: accepted a full-time job in February)
2013 - 107
2014 - 126 (plus 8 Graphic Novels)
2015 - 120 (plus 6 Graphic Novels)
2016 - 141
2017 - 114
2018 - 105 (Note: my first full year as Assistant Director)
2019 - 116
2020 - 153
2021 - 138

Asian Book Challenge

JANUARY - Europe of Asia - Turkish Authors
Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk
Dare to Disappoint by Ozge Samanci
FEBRUARY - The Holy Land - Israeli & Palestinian Authors
Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua
MARCH - The Arab World - Writers from the Arab world
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (Lebanon)
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi (Oman)
APRIL - Persia - Iranian writers
Read Dangerously by Azar Nafisi
MAY - The Stans - There are 7 states all in the same region all ending in "Stan"
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan)
JUNE - The Indian Sub-Continent - Essentially authors from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
JULY - The Asian Superpower - Chinese Authors
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamtress by Dai Sijie
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei
AUGUST - Nippon - Japanese Authors
SEPTEMBER - Kimchi - Korean Authors
OCTOBER - INDO CHINE - Authors from Indo-China
NOVEMBER - The Malay Archipelago - Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian and Filipino Authors
Fairest: a memoir by Meredith Talusan
DECEMBER - The Asian Diaspora - Ethnic Asian writers from elsewhere
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri (she was born in the UK to parents from India and grew up in the US; this book was written in Italian and set in Italy)

Other countries I've visited in my reading:
It can get a little dicey to figure out if a book fits as a "global" read or not, so here's how I'm counting it -
-The country I'll identify is that which the book was published in or the author is from, rather than the setting of the book
-The author currently lives in their country of origin, which for my purposes is not the U.S. or U.K.
-If the work had to be translated into English, regardless of where the author is currently living
-If the author is an expatriate, they had to move in adulthood (as a college student, refugee, or any other reason), and I'll count the country of origin as where the book is "from"

Portugal - Ballad for Sophie by Filipe Melo
Spain - City of Mist: Stories by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Ireland - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Trinidad and Tobago - When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
Australia - The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
South Africa - Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg (set in London)

Currently reading
The Winners by Fredrik Backman
Still Life by Sarah Winman

Bible reading/Devotionals
Isaiah, Galatians

August
82. More Perfect than the Moon by Patricia MacLachlan
81. Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O'Reilly
80. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
79. Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
78. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
77. Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (yes, a second time, this one with Mia)

July
76. Zorrie by Laird Hunt
75. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
74. Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper
73. 1000 Years of Joy and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei
72. The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
71. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
70. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
69. Caleb's Story by Patricia MacLachlan
68. A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
67. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

June
66. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
65. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
64. The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam
63. Skylark by Patricia MacLachlan
62. Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg
61. Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language by Nora Ellen Groce
60. Spear by Nicola Griffith
59. The Woman All Spies Fear by Amy Butler Greenfield
58. Apple Crush by Lucy Knisley
57. Between the Lines: Stories from the Underground by Uli Beutter Cohen
56. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
55. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
54. The Kids Are Gonna Ask by Gretchen Anthony
53. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
52. Bookish People by Susan Coll

May
51. House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
50. The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
49. True Biz by Sara Novic
48. Recitatif by Toni Morrison
47. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
46. Blended by Sharon M. Draper
45. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
44. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
43. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
42. The Guncle by Steven Rowley
41. Go to Sleep (I Miss You) by Lucy Knisley
40. Shadowshaper Legacy by Daniel Jose Older

April
39. Pale Rider by Laura Spinney
38. The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter
37. Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley
36. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
35. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
34. Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
33. The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick

DNF in 2022
1. Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
2. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
3. Frontier Justice by E. Fuller Torrey
4. All About Me! by Mel Brooks
5. War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi
6. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar
7. Hello, Molly! : a memoir by Molly Shannon
8. Virgin River by Robin Carr
9. On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman
10. The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe
11. Love, Chai and Other Four-Letter Words by Annika Sharma
12. Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain

Favorite Books of 2021 -
I couldn't narrow down my top ten titles of 2021, so here's a top ten fiction and a few more categories as well:

Fiction
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Nonfiction
This Time Together by Carol Burnett
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Graphic Novel
Umma’s Table by Yeon-Sik Hong

Poetry
The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems by Billy Collins

YA
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Middle Grade
Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Alright, the crackers, cheese, fruit and dip are out. What's everybody reading this weekend?

Can I barge in now? Happy new thread, which I'm sure you have launched just for me. You go away for a few days and discover upon your return that every thread here is pretty much maxed out. Just like your thread #7. I'm happy to rejoin your world.

>10 bell7: Sure thing, Bill! The threads do keep getting longer even when we go away for awhile, don't they? I'll be floundering myself next week when I get back from vacation.

Happy new one! Glad you got the title straightened out. You must have edited in the first 10 minutes. Past that, I can definitely help.

>13 drneutron: Thanks, Jim! I realized I'd forgotten to change it almost right away, but couldn't figure out how to edit it until I saw I could again when I edited the first message... Now I know!

Happy new thread, Mary. A top ten finish in the threads on the cards this year!

New-thread orisons, Mary me lurve. Have a lovely time away...I'll come back when I start my next thread and leave a link.

*smooch*

Happy new thread!

>15 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! Wow, that's impressive - I know I've had steady increase in numbers over the years, but this year really jumped ahead from the previous two (8 threads each) with just about a thread a month so far. I hadn't realized I was potentially in the top 10 though.

>16 richardderus: Thank you! I'm leaving Wednesday and I'm pretty excited :) I will be happy for the link to your new thread on my return.

>17 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

Happy new thread, Mary! I am reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys this weekend.

From your last thread: I'm so glad you enjoyed Out of My Heart! I have a colleague who reads Out of My Mind aloud every other year (he teaches a mixed-grade class). I was so excited to share Out of My Heart with him when I got it. It turns out a student had already given him a copy but he was reluctant to read it, as he was afraid he wouldn't like it as well. I realize now I never did go back and asked him how he liked it - I know he read it aloud. But it's Sharon Draper!!

Happy vacation eve, Mary! I hope it's a lovely break.

I'm currently reading Spoiler Alert and really enjoying it so far. Body positive romance with fan culture done really well (at least in the first 60 pages).

>19 AMQS: Oh, Salt to the Sea was a good one! I hope you're enjoying it, Anne. I really need to read some more by Ruta Sepetys one of these days. It's often hard to follow up a sequel, but I think Draper did a good job, and I hope the teacher thinks so too when he gets a chance to read it. Have you read any of Sharon Draper's other books? I somehow didn't realize there were a whole bunch out there, and I enjoyed reading Blended earlier this year.

>20 MickyFine: A little early, Micky, but I was confusing with my vacation this time - I took a week and a half off, so I'm working Monday and Tuesday, and off on Wednesday through August 6. Spoiler Alert sounds like a good one!

Wordle 401 6/6

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Very nearly missed that completely! It took a good bit of staring before I finally realized that there could be two e's rather than two O's. ADIEU, STORE, PHONE, SPOKE (to eliminate a placement), MYOPE (!), ELOPE.

Happy new thread, Mary! Have a marvelous Monday!

Happy Monday! Our heat wave is broken, and we're only supposed to have a high of 86 today, with storms this afternoon. I'm working 9-2 today, and then coming back to the dogs. I have a little bit of cooking (easy peasy stuff like a frozen pizza and frozen quesadillas from Trader Joe's) and tidying I'd like to do that would make Wednesday easier on me if I can do it today. We'll see how motivated I am when I get back from work. Tomorrow I'm working 12-8, and then starting Wednesday I'm off for a week and a half. Woohoo!

Remarkably Bright Creatures really hit the spot and I read over 100 pages of it just yesterday. I'm hoping to get some good reading time (and possibly knitting time - I started a baby sweater yesterday) in today too. I started The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson as an e-book, since I like to read on my Kindle with the white text on black background before I go to sleep.

I've of course started planning books for my vacation, even though I don't tend to read a lot at my sisters. On the plane ride down will be whatever book I'm currently reading when I leave Wednesday night. I have a library card for the library down the street from my sister's place, and I have several picture books for the kids and two books for me on hold - By the Book and Going Clear. These are also books I already have from the library up here, so if I don't finish them there, I'll return them and continue with the MA library books after I get back. And I'll pack one more paper book for the plane ride back - Afterlife by Julia Alvarez, which I'm co-reading with Mark if anyone wants to join us.

>23 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! Hope you have a wonderful day!

>25 bell7: Thanks, Mary. I appreciate it!

>24 bell7: Planning the books to take is one of the most fun bits of packing. I took far too many with me for five days last week, but was glad to have plenty of options.

I look forward to hearing your comments about Afterlife. It's on my wishlist!

Have fun planning the books you'll bring with you, Mary. I just bought a copy of Leviathan Wakes to bring on my trip in September. I've found one chunky paper book and a few ebooks on my phone are the best option for trips. Which, of course, doesn't mean I won't buy any books while away. :P

>26 alcottacre: :)

>27 charl08: Yes, having a lot of options is key, Charlotte! I don't like to put a lot of books in my luggage (carry on only), but I want a paper book for the plane, so there's usually two, plus the Kindle, plus whatever I get from the library in Maryland.

>28 MickyFine: I usually go for two smaller paper books (one for each plane ride, essentially), plus all the e-books available on my Kindle. And the library near my sister's allows out of state library cards, so I paid a one-time fee of $10 for it, and place holds ahead of time to pick up while I'm there.

Edited to fix my numbering.

Happy new thread, Mary!

>24 bell7: I also like to read a bit on my e-reader in bed before I go to sleep.
Enjoy The Hero of Ages, after reading Mistborn I became a Brandon Sanderson fan :-)

>30 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! Mistborn and the sequel were among my favorite reads last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the trilogy wraps it up and starting to read more of the Cosmere books.

Happy new thread, Mary! I have a library hold on Mistborn that I have been deferring for a few months now. One of these days I'll actually check it out...

>32 curioussquared: I hope you like it when you get to it, Natalie! Definitely need the time for a long book, which can make it tough.

Wordle 402 6/6

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Ugh, I hate a letter guessing game. ADIEU, MONTH, PINCH, WINCH, FINCH, CINCH.

Happy Tuesday! I'm working 12-8 today, my last day working before taking a week and a half off from work, and my last night dogsitting with a 45-minute commute. I've had my coffee and now I'm contemplating what to do with my morning. I did laundry yesterday and have some folding to do, but am mostly packed for bringing everything home and going on my DC trip. Tomorrow's plan is to get out of here fairly early and get back home to mow and finishing packing. I need at least one pair of shorts, which I neglected to bring to my dogsitting job, and I would like to pack earrings, as the kids and I have a tradition of having them pick out my dangly earrings each morning.

Remarkably Bright Creatures has been a compelling read, and I might just finish it before I leave.

It's a little early for planning August reads, but here's a sneak peek and some of what I'll be reading.

For the Asian Book Challenge (Japan):
The Great Passage by Shion Miura
The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
possibly a collection of short stories or The Book of Tea that my sister bought me when she was traveling in Korea and Japan

Reading with Mark:
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez

TIOLI challenge possibilities:
Challenge #2 a book where the first name of the author has more characters than the last name - Going Clear by Laurence Wright
Challenge #3 a book by an author you've heard speak about their work - Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor
Challenge #7 a book in your favorite genre by a new-to-you author - The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
Challenge #10 rolling challenge of who/what/where/when/why/how in the title - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente

And then though they don't fit in any categories for August (and true, I may finish one or more this month still), I have the following out of the library:
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Still Life by Sarah Winman
Zorrie by Laird Hunt
Atomic Habits by James Clear
How to Change by Katherine Milkman
Sovietistan by Erika Fatland

It would not be out of the realm of possibility for me to finish all 14 in a month's time, but we'll see what library books arrive in the meantime and where my mood takes me - I don't really tend to plan my reads too thoroughly because as soon as I set down what I *have* to read, I change my mind!

>35 bell7: I'm very glad you're enjoying Remarkably Bright Creatures!

>34 bell7: As is increasingly less common, the alphabet fetish paid off today. 4/6.

A week and a half off work? Woo-hoo!

Enjoy your time off, Mary!

Hello Mary. Enjoy your time visiting with family!

>37 richardderus: I finished it this morning and will write a review soon. I thought of you with the alphabetical method lol.

>38 The_Hibernator: yes! A week to visit my sisters, and a coue more days tacked on for travel snafus and to recover 😊 Nice to see you, Rachel.

>39 katiekrug: thanks, Katie!

>41 mdoris: thanks, Mary!

It is gorgeous out after so many hot days, and I spent about an hour or so outside on the hammock finishing my book. I came in to discover that the power is out while some maintenance is done down the street. Thank goodness I'd already cooked and done the laundry! I'll run the dishwasher tonight after I get back from work.

Happy (actual) vacation eve, Mary! I hope the shift flies by tonight and all things go smoothly tomorrow.

Excellent stack of reads you've lined for next month. Have you read any Valente before? I really enjoyed the Girl Who series so I'm looking forward to seeing how you like it.

Hope your vacation will be as happy as mine was, Mary.

Mary? Still here? It's done now: https://www.librarything.com/topic/343132

>44 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Today was a good day, I let the last volunteer know not to come in next week and made my inbox less of a mess so when I... come back to a mess it will be easier to deal with lol. I have not read Valente, and this was one that Richard and a former co-worker of mine recommended over 10 years ago, so I'm looking forward ot it.

>45 weird_O: Thanks, Bill! I appreciate that.

>46 richardderus: I'm here, I'm here! I'll head over shortly.

Happy new thread Mary! Enjoy your vacation!

>36 bell7: I am already planning my August reads too, Mary. I will have to join you in The Hands of the Emperor which I started back in March and never finished.

Still Life and Zorrie are both excellent - and Zorrie fits into TIOLI Challenge #2, BTW.

I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

>48 tymfos: Thanks, Terri! It's nice to get up this morning and not have to rush anywhere :)

>49 alcottacre: Oh excellent, Stasia! I had to put a library hold on it, but a copy was available in my system, so I'm hopeful I'll get it in time. Thanks for the tip on Zorrie - I started it yesterday hoping to read it for the "name" challenge this month, but if I don't finish it 'til August, I'll potentially move it there.

As I told you on your thread, The Master of Go is one that landed on my TBR list after your recommendation some years ago. I don't know how you keep track of the Black Hole, but starting in about 2009/2010 I started writing down all the books I wanted to read, with the date I added it and sometimes notes about what put it there (a person's recommendation or a book magazine or simply "work emails" for the huge number of books I read about in various mailing lists for the library). Otherwise, I'd never be able to remember why I wanted to read a book when I added it! At some point, I moved the list from a notebook to a Google spreadsheet that now goes back about 12 years, because I found myself duplicating titles I'd already written down and not realizing it. Some of my co-workers are more of the attitude of "if I haven't read it in years, how much do I want to read it?" and will purge their lists every so often, but I can't quite bring myself to do that - yet. I've also tracked what I've read *from* the TBR list, and it usually ends up being a few dozen of my total, and books that I added in the last year... so now I'm trying to remember to look through it for books for the Asian Book Challenge, TIOLI, etc. and make a more conscious effort to purposely incorporate books from it into my regular reading. We'll see how it goes!

Good morning, all! First day of vacation, and it's gonna be wrapping up the dogsitting job, going home to mow my lawn (I haven't in... three weeks?), re-packing and generally getting ready for my trip. My flight is at 8:20, I've downloaded the app and got my boarding pass ready on my phone, and I'll head over my parents' around 5 to get dropped off at the airport. It's probably a little early for just having carry on, but I prefer to leave myself tons of time to get through security and then sit ready for boarding with my book. My youngest sister T will be at the airport to Uber from there to her place. I started Zorrie last night, and I have The Hero of Ages going on my Kindle, so those will be my reading choices.

And tomorrow is my niece's birthday! After breakfast with T, hanging out, buying birthday gifts (my sister A's birthday is also in a couple of weeks, so I'll take the opportunity to have that too), and stopping to pick up my library holds, I'll head over to A's and stay there through Tuesday. T, A, and I are planning on spending the day together on Friday, T will stay overnight and then I'll spend time with everyone on Saturday, before T goes back home and to work. The kids are 7 and 5, so they'll keep me hopping for the weekend, I'm sure. I may be left to my own devices on Monday and Tuesday while my sisters are working and the kids are at camp, so I'll decide what I feel like doing in the city. It's been awhile since I've been to the National Museum of American History, so that's on the list of possibilities. Tuesday night, T and I are getting dinner and I'll stay over her place again. My flight out is Wednesday morning around 11, so after breakfast I'll head back to the airport. Whew! I took the rest of next week off just to recover from all of that haha.

Oops, almost forgot to review this one!

75. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Why now? Originally added to my list by BookPage (a book review periodical that my library subscribes to), I think I put it on hold to read now because of Richard's review

At the age of seventy, Tova is a widow and her only son died tragically thirty years ago, but she still has a good friends group and a job cleaning at an aquarium. Cameron is thirty and still floundering in young-adulthood, not able to hold a job and resentful of his mom's abandonment and drug addiction. It takes an octopus, Marcellus, to bring them together.

The narrative switches back and forth between Tova and Cameron with a close third-person point of view, then includes Marcellus's first-person narration. I enjoyed this device in what otherwise was a very predictable book. And I don't mean that as a criticism - it's the sort of book you'd wrap around you like a warm sweater with a cup of tea and enjoy seeing everything made right in the end. This is a debut novel, and I'll certainly look out for anything else that Van Pelt publishes. 4 stars.

>51 bell7: Zoe and Mark and I went to a new museum called Planet Word, which is all about linguistics, and I think you would like it! It just opened during the pandemic. It's not on the Mall but it's downtown with easy public transit options. https://planetwordmuseum.org/

>52 bell7: Congratulations on reaching 75, Mary!

Congrats on reading 75 books!

>53 norabelle414: oh! Thank you for that reminder, I'd made a note to check it out when it opened and had forgotten. I will have an absolute blast checking it out.

>54 FAMeulstee: >55 figsfromthistle: thanks, Anita and Anita!

Edited to fix my spelling. Darn typing on a phone!

Wordle 403 4/6

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Starter word gave me nothing, but my follow up second was very helpful. ADIEU, MONTH, MOLTS, MOTTO.

>57 bell7: I haven't Wordled yet...not enough caffeine.

>52 bell7: Yay, you liked it, too! *happy dance*

...my god...it's full of stars!

Congrats on hitting 75!

Safe travels, Mary!

>58 richardderus: I see you got it a little faster than me! And thanks!

>59 thornton37814: thanks, Lori!

>60 katiekrug: thanks, Katie!

Saw this review of the new Persuasion movie and thought some here might enjoy it. Mind you, spoilers abound so it's better if you've read the book and have no intention of watching the movie (or already did).

>62 bell7: - That piece is excellent!

Such a dumb, terrible waste of film...

>57 bell7: I used the same words as you did in 2,3, and 4, but I had an extra guess at my #2. That’s not very clear, but it took me 5 guesses. Still enjoying Wordle v. much!

Karen O

Congrats on 75, Mary! Enjoy your trip and vacation :)

>63 katiekrug: I honestly completely thought of you when I read it, so I'm glad you liked it, Katie! (Brandon's a lot of fun to follow on Twitter, too.) It's too bad, really, 'cause something like Clueless is a lot of fun whether or not you know the source material, so obviously updates and cheeky takes *can* be done successfully.

>64 klobrien2: Oh nice! Something like MONTH has become my go-to second guess because it hits the remaining vowel and a lot of well-used consonants at the same time. I do still enjoy Wordle every morning. I generally forget the word right afterwards, though, so I wouldn't even mind if they started re-using some when the first bunch runs out...

>65 curioussquared: Thanks on both counts, Natalie!

>66 bell7: - Thanks for the tip about his Twitter. I've followed him now.

>67 katiekrug: :D

Alright, I'm officially closing the laptop and getting ready to leave my house pretty soon (a couple of errands to run on the way to my parents, and then I'm getting dropped off at the airport). The lawn is mowed. I still have stuff to unpack from dogsitting, but that can wait 'til I get back. I very nearly left without my Metro card, but fortunately I thought of running through the cards in my wallet and taking out ones I didn't need, and managed to find it in my desk. Phew!

I will check in daily on my phone (gotta Wordle, after all!), but will be somewhat limited on the threads because typing on the phone/Kindle is tough, plus just general busyness.

Happy vacation! Safe travels and have a lovely visit with your sisters and the kids!

Congrats on hitting the goal!

>69 bell7: Have a lovely time!

>70 Storeetllr: >71 drneutron: >72 richardderus: thanks Mary, Jim, and Richard!

Wordle 404 4/6

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Huh. ADIEU, MONTH, TROMP, STOMP

>50 bell7: The BlackHole never gets purged either, Mary. I am with you on that, which explains why the BlackHole has some 16K books in it. I have tried to write down who recommended what, but I tend not to do it and then try to backtrack, lol.

>52 bell7: Already in the BlackHole or I would add it again. Congratulations on hitting 75!




>69 bell7: Have a wonderful vacation!

>75 alcottacre: good morning, Stasia! Well, my TBR list is small potatoes next to yours then, I'm *only* at around 2800 books 😂 Thank you and thank you for the 75 congrats and travel wishes!

The travel down went about as smooth as a plane ride ever will for me. I wasn't sure what to expect, so arrived very early but security was a very short wait and I ended up with an hour and a half wait in the terminal. The flight was fine. My sister met me and we took an Uber back to her place, where we chatted a bit before heading to bed. I woke up at 5:30 just like the dogs had been wanting me to all week, but couldn't get back to sleep. I got to enjoy the sunrise and I'll read until T gets up and we decide what to do for breakfast. The goal for the morning is getting Mia's birthday present. I'm meeting up with my sister A at 2:30 and heading over to her house from there.

Happy New Thread, Mary. Congrats on hitting #75. Are you in DC? Enjoy. I am just starting The Cold Cold Ground, my first Sean Duffy and then I am thinking of starting Afterlife but I am flexible.

Glad to hear your flight went smoothly, Mary. Have a great time hanging out with the fam today!

>78 msf59: hi, Mark, and thanks! I am in DC and brought Afterlife with me figuring I could start it on the plane ride back Wednesday, but I'm also flexible. I'll probably try to finish Zorrie first though.

>79 MickyFine: thanks, Micky! It's been about three years since I've come down on my own and I'm so excited!

Edited to get touchstones to work

Hi Mary - enjoy your trip! That museum (>53 norabelle414:) sounds amazing! I'll have to go one day.

And congratualtions on 75!

>81 AMQS: thanks much, Anne! I'll check it out Monday or Tuesday for sure.

Wordle 405 3/6

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Well that was fun!

Glad to hear that your flight went well, Mary. I hope you have a wonderful visit with your sister and her family.

>84 alcottacre: thanks, Stasia!

Wordle 406 5/6

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Can't even blame lack of caffeine on flubbing up this one a little. ADORE, FLIPS, CLUCK, BLUNT, (oh duh...) BLUFF>

My path was only marginally shorter, I must say, and I was prepared for a skunking when my first two words returned ZERO positives!

*smooch*

>87 richardderus: I was much faster today

Wordle 407 3/6

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ADIEU, STORM, CRAMP

Good job on today's Wordle! I got it in 3 also (Adieu, stoRy, cramp). No idea how I managed to guess the right word with those clues.

Hope you're having a lovely time with your sisters!

>89 Storeetllr: thanks, Mary! It's been a good visit, if hectic. Today is back to work for the grownups, so I'm taking myself into the city to look around and coming back in time to get the kids from camp. Nice job on the Wordle! Getting it in three is very satisfying. Today took me my regular four.

Wordle 408 4/6

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ADIEU, SUGAR, MONTH (my regular guess #2 to eliminate more letters), QUART

>91 bell7: I was a step behind you. *sigh* That stupid letter.

Glad that it's a fun weekend!

I got today's in 3 too. Again! I almost got it in 2! (I swear I'm not clairvoyant.) I don't know how I managed it with only 2 letters, not in the right places, in the first word, but I'm takin' it! (AdieU, QUAck, QUART) (My usual is 4.)

Glad you had a good weekend visit with your sisters.

Hi, Mary. I just started Afterlife. I think it is going to be a good one.

>92 richardderus: having the U really helped because I knew it was a decent possibility.

>93 Storeetllr: oh nicely done, Mary!

>94 msf59: I'll queue it up next, Mark, starting it today or tomorrow at the very latest.

Wordle 409 X/6

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My first miss 😭
It was a tough one

Morning, Mary. I am flying through Afterlife, nearing the halfway point already. I am liking it.

>97 msf59: that's great to hear, Mark! I just started a little last night, but I liked what I read. I should make more progress today and tomorrow as I'm reading it on the Metro and the plane back home. I'll either catch up to you or be just a little behind.

>96 bell7: Sending you commiseration on today’s Wordle. I barely eked out a 6. It was a tough one, for sure. Now you get to start your new streak!

Karen O

>96 bell7: If I hadn't been really annoyed and used DOILY I'd've been skunked too.

>96 bell7: Sorry, Mary. It was a 6 for me. I only got it because I stared at it for 10 minutes trying to even come up with another possible word!

>96 bell7: - I skunked it, too. #solidarity

Wordle 410 X/6

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Skunked again, and a few guesses in there I didn't expect to be words. That letter can be of my blind spots.

I'm heading home in just a few hours and will catch up on posts then 😊

>98 bell7: I am reading along too, Mary. I just started the book last night - I only read the first chapter - and am hoping to dive in deeper today.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

>103 bell7: I haven't Wordled yet, still undercaffeinated, but "that letter" means Y doesn't it...hmmmmmmmmmmmm

>99 klobrien2: Oh well, two missed in a row. New streak starts tomorrow!

>100 richardderus: I thought of COOLY before the actual word so *shrug*

>101 curioussquared: Ah well, can't win them all, though I did have over 100 straight...

>102 katiekrug: Sorry to hear we had Wordle solidarity on a miss, Katie! Hope you got today's.

>104 alcottacre: Oh excellent, Stasia! I have only about 40 pages left after travel today and am hoping to finish it up tonight. Looking forward to hearing what you and Mark think in the end.

>105 richardderus: Yes, yes it did, as you so wisely figured out ;)

Well, I'm back!

It was a great trip overall, I had a great time getting a chance to visit with both my sisters and celebrate my niece's birthday. She was VERY excited to have me there. I won't run down every single day, but here were a few highlights roughly in chronological order:

-Birthday - of course! Mia got felt ("soft paper" she started calling it) and all sorts of craft supplies that she was thrilled to bits to use. She had a pinata and used a baseball bat that she got at a game - "I went to a baseball game, not just on TV, in real life!" (with her brother and my dad and sister T.)

-Had a sisters day at T's place, grilling and using her condo pool before she came back to A's with us and stayed over

-Went to Capitol Hill Books with Mia (I had promised her I'd try to take her to a bookstore the next time I came), scored an American Heritage dictionary there too so now I have all of the major unabridged dictionaries that exist.

-Took myself out to DC on days that my family was working, and got to go to Planet Word, Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Library of Congress reading room to renew my card, and the U.S. Botanical Gardens.

-Read Sarah Plain at Tall to Mia over the course of the week.

-Played Othello and chess with Matthew (he completely beat me at Othello).

-The kids chose a "mystery" show on Netflix which turned out to be AlienTV about a group of aliens that go around Earth trying to figure out things like playgrounds, pizza, the gym, etc. and then give a report on it at the end - the kids were old enough to get the irony, and it was fun for the adults, too! I'll probably start watching it...

I had an absolute blast spending time with the kids. The weekend got... long, especially on Saturday when they started bickering in the car and Mia started picking on Matthew. But overall, it was a great time. My favorite interaction with Mia was when I said something, I've forgotten what, but I repeated the word and said I liked saying the word. She responded, "I like to say 'risotto'!" which completely made my day. She lost her first tooth while I was visiting, too.

Matthew asked me if he could marry me when he grew up. I told him that we were too closely related for that, but it was very sweet of him to ask me. He also wants to marry T., and when she was around on Saturday she was definitely the preferred adult for him. I'm sure Mia didn't mind, as she was my buddy that whole time and didn't have to share.

The kids are at the ages where they're super conscious about things being "fair", which can be hard to referee sometimes. Matthew didn't say anything to me directly, but he did ask my sister why I came for Mia's birthday and not his. I told him that not the next time I visit, necessarily, but the next time I visit for a birthday that it would be for his. I couldn't promise a particular year, as I'm not sure what life will be like any given May, but that much I can do.

Tuesday I went back to T's. We went out to dinner in Dupont Circle, and then I stayed at her place again. Got up this morning, got breakfast and coffee, then headed to the airport. My flights were both great - on time, no trouble - and I got back around 1 p.m. this afternoon. My dad picked me up, and I had lunch and a visit with my parents before heading home. I did a really quick for-necessities grocery shopping on my way, including $6 sushi (a regular special on Wednesdays) so I didn't have to cook. I'll relax a bit this evening, finishing my book and catching up on reviews, before getting back to my busy self tomorrow. I don't go back to work until Monday, but I have some yard and garden work to keep me busy over the next few days.

>107 bell7: A truly lovely trip, Mary! Such a lovely thing to be so close with all the family.

Enjoy your R&R from the vacation! *smooch*

>108 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I'm very pleased with past me for adding a few days to recover. *smooch*

76. Zorrie by Laird Hunt
Why now? Several LTers read this for a TIOLI challenge, and Paul's recommendation finally put it on the list

Zorrie Underwood has lived a long life in Indiana, growing up with her aunt after her parents pass away, working on radium dials, falling in love, surviving world wars.

This introspective, quiet tale beautifully illuminates a small but well-lived life of one woman in the midwestern United States through the 20th century. The writing is lovely but each piece needs the whole to stand together, so it wasn't one where I drew out a lot of beautiful quotes. I have a hard time reading this kind of book because I don't imagine things vividly and usually need more plot or dialogue to keep me going, but when I persevered it just "clicked" after awhile, and I enjoyed the not-always-peaceful ride of Zorrie's life and friends and neighbors. 4 stars.

77. Sarah Plain and Tall - Read with Mia over the week. I won't re-review it here, having just done so in June.

78. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
Why now? I met up with a friend back in June who was reading this book and recommended it - I decided to get it out of the library while I was at my sisters', thinking it would be a perfect vacation read

Isabelle has been working at A Tale as Old as Time for a couple of years, but she's already burnt out from often being the only person of color in the room and having to put on a happy face in a job where she's overworked and underappreciated. One of her duties is emailing Beau Towers, a notoriously spoiled celebrity who promised a memoir and then ghosted the publisher. Then she suggests to her boss she show up in person to give him a pep talk and offer some advice getting his memoir off the ground. They get off on the wrong foot, but soon Izzy is attracted to a man who turns out to be much nicer than his reputation.

What a fun ride! I am picky about my romances, but this Beauty and the Beast retelling hit all of what I enjoy: enemies (well, almost) to friends to lovers, complex characters, and a few nods to the original while standing very much on its own if you're unfamiliar with the source material. A couple of times Izzy's assumptions of what Beau must be thinking and consequent hurt feelings annoyed me a little, but overall it was such a joy to read that I'd pick it up again. 4.5 stars.

I didn't realize when I got it that this was the second in the "Meant to Be" fairy tale retellings series. The first was If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy, and I may just have to go back and read that one too.

July in review
76. Zorrie by Laird Hunt
75. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
74. Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper
73. 1000 Years of Joy and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei
72. The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
71. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
70. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
69. Caleb's Story by Patricia MacLachlan
68. A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
67. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Did Not Finish
Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words by Annika Sharma - couldn't get past the writing style
Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain - wasn't grabbing me after 80 some-odd pages

Books read: 10
Rereads: 1
Children's/Teen/Adult: 2/1/7
Fiction/Nonfiction/Plays/Poetry: 9/1/0/0
ABC Challenge: 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Iron Widow

Because I want to awards:
Had the best time reading - The Grief of Stones
Challenging but glad I read it - Zorrie and 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows

YTD stats - (Note: this includes the first 2 books of August too)
Pages read: 22,370
Avg pages a day: 104
Books by POC authors: 25 (32%)
DNF: 12

Thoughts:
A solid reading month. My lowest-rated book was When Women Were Dragons with 3.5, but everything else was 4 stars or above. I'm very pleased with 3 titles being by Chinese authors and fitting this month's Asian Book Challenge theme. About 10% of my reading this year has been books in translation, representing 9 different original languages, so I've been really successful at that goal for the year. Let's see what August brings!

Sweet Thursday, Mary. Welcome back. I really liked Zorrie. I had more mixed feelings about Afterlife. It didn't really take off the way I hoped. I was much more impressed with In the Time of Butterflies. I am still glad I read it.

Welcome home, Mary! Glad to see another thumbs-up for Zorrie - I may finally get to it this month.

Glad you had such a good visit with family.

>113 msf59: I ultimately will give Zorrie and Afterlife similar ratings, Mark - liked, but not loved, would recommend but not reread. In the Time of the Butterflies was a much better book imo. By the way, I have Still Life up next, which I know you read and loved last year.

>114 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! I'm glad to be back, though it's hot hot hot! I hope you like Zorrie when you get to it.

Edited to correct numbering and touchstones.

Wordle 411 4/6

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Whew! Back to normal. ADIEU, MONTH, HEMPY, RHYME.

>107 bell7: Sounds like a wonderful vacation! I am glad everyone had a good time.

>110 bell7: I am glad to see that you enjoyed Zorrie, although I enjoyed it slightly more than you did.

>111 bell7: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommdation, Mary.

79. Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
Why now? I loved In the Time of the Butterflies and decided to read it alongside Mark in early August (Stasia joined us too)

Antonia's husband died suddenly and now, a year or so later in the midst of her grief, an undocumented worker living at one of her neighbor's asks for her help bringing his girlfriend from Colorado to Vermont and freeing the girl from the coyotes who are demanding more money. Her relationships with her sisters, while important, are very draining for Antonia and everyone is concerned about the oldest, Izzy, who has sold her house and has yet another harebrained scheme, and then goes missing. Pulled in all directions, Antonia struggles with the right thing to do in all of this.

Though there's a lot happening around her, much of the focus is on Antonia's internal state of being, pondering the afterlife of her husband, Sam, what he would want her to do in these two situations, what the right thing to do is, what Antonia herself wants to do. It was compelling reading, but felt rushed in the end. Time does weird things: much of the story is focuses on a few days, and then towards the end accelerates months in mere pages. There are no quotation marks, blurring the external speech and internal thoughts a little. Giving about equal time to Izzy's predicament and that of Mario and Estela made me feel like neither were fully explored in the short length of this book, the resolutions of both very sudden. Ultimately, I thought In the Time of the Butterflies was a much better book, though I'm glad I read this one. 4 stars.

>117 alcottacre: Hi, Stasia! The structure of Zorrie is just a tough one for me. My visualization is very faded and unclear when I'm reading, so it's hard work to read a book with much of the plot embedded in the description and almost no dialogue. But I'm glad I read it and that so many on LT enjoyed it, as I never would've heard of it otherwise. I hope you like By the Book!

I was planning a day at home of outside work and productivity, but the weather gods are telling me to take it easy with a day in the 90s and an air quality control warning for ozone. What fun! I originally thought I'd leave for the day to do some errands in air conditioning, then looked up the air quality control thing and saw that I should actually stay home and not drive. *sigh* I probably will drive the mile to my local library at some point this afternoon/evening though.

Otherwise my plan is to putter around the house and slowly but surely work on unpacking, folding laundry, checking my personal email, little things that need catching up on after being out of the house for three weeks straight. Other than that, streaming TV and knitting and reading is on the docket. I won't want to cook in this heat, so I may splurge for takeout too.

Welcome back, Mary! I just read By the Book last month and also really enjoyed it, though I think I have a slight preference for Guillory's other books.

Glad to hear your vacation was full of good things and pleased that the post vacation recovery days are giving you some good down time as well.

Good readings, Mary, and how lovely of you to read Sarah, Plain and Tall to Mia! It's so worth the investment of time to read to kids. But it's even better when one can enjoy the story, too!

Stay indoors. I went outside today because I **HAD** to but it's cooler here by the beach than y'all are and it was still horrible out there.

>121 curioussquared: Thanks, Natalie! Good to know about Jasmine Guillory - this was my first by her, and I'll look forward to trying the others.

>122 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I purposely added those days, knowing how tired I can be after "vacation".

>123 richardderus: I am looking forward to sharing chapter books with her, Richard. We've read some great picture books over the years: This Is Not a Book is still a favorite, and we like Mo Willems too. My mom was pretty excited when I said Mia seemed to like reading a few chapters a day and was thinking of bringing a Junie B. Jones book when they go down next. You'll be proud of me: yesterday I was quite lazy and I didn't do the outdoor work I'd originally hoped to before seeing the weather forecast. I did go out to the library because I don't have the AC set up (need some help getting it from the basement to where I can use it) and spent a few hours reading and knitting in the cool before getting takeout and going home.

Well, today will be hot again (high of 91F today, close to 33C) but a little more busy than yesterday. I'm going to go to up my OBGYN office to get some lab work done early this morning, and I have a funeral to go to at 10. Not really sure where the day will go after that.

My e-book of The Hero of Ages was expiring, so I put a hold on the book and it came in yesterday afternoon while I was cooling off at my local library. So I went to my work library and picked it up. I also started (just barely) reading Still Life. I don't like the lack of quotation marks, but we'll see how it goes.

Wordle 412 6/6

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Close call this morning. ADIEU, MONTH, BLURS, BUZZY, BUFFY, BUGGY.

Happy Friday, Mary. Good review of Afterlife. Iam glad we did a shared read of it. Ooh, Still Life. Now, you are talkin'! You are in for a treat.

>127 msf59: Yeah, your review gave it the final push to my TBR pile, Mark. I've been concentrating more on The Hero of Ages lately, but I'm looking forward to digging into it soon.

>126 bell7: I hope you survived the day's unpleasantnesses in fine fettle, Mary. *smooch*

>129 richardderus: Did my best to keep cool, Richard, reading, knitting and watching TV all afternoon.

Wordle 413 2/6

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ADIEU, ALIEN. Really the only other option with those vowel placements.

I had a feeling this would be your result given your starter word. Congrats!

>131 bell7: ...and I was feeling smug about my increasingly-rare 3....

>132 MickyFine: thanks, Micky!

>133 richardderus: this was definitely the luck of the starter word, Richard. This is only the fifth time I've got it in two. A three is excellent and becoming all too rare for me 🙂

I skedaddled out of here so quick this morning, I didn't get a chance to give a rundown of my day:

Left early to bring my recycling in on the one free day a month, then got a haircut and color. I came back for lunch, and I'll head out in an hour or so to watch my brother's band and hope to high heaven that the place they're playing has air conditioning.

>135 bell7: I love the blue!

LOVE the hair!

>136 curioussquared: >137 katiekrug: Thanks, Natalie and Katie! It's vibrant and great - I cannot wait to show folks over the next few days. I only warned a couple of people at work that I was gonna do it.

>135 bell7: Looking fabOO, Mary!

>135 bell7: Oooh, excellent ombre!

Fingers crossed for A/C tonight!

>139 richardderus: why thank you, Richard! *Smooch*

>140 MickyFine: thanks, Micky! It's been cooling down a little at night so I've managed. Things should break on Tuesday.

Wordle 414 5/6

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Slow and steady on this one - ADIEU, MONTH, FLAME, CREAM, SMEAR.

Happy Sunday, Mary. The haircut looks great.

Congrats on reading beyond 75! Love the hair, Mary!

In looking back, I can't see my congrats on your surpassing 75 either so I apologize for my negligence. The end of July into August was crazy for me so I can see how I did miss it.

>143 msf59: thanks, Mark!

>144 Familyhistorian: thanks on both counts, Meg!

>145 thornton37814: no worries, Lori, it's easy to miss on these fast-moving threads. Thank you!

Wordle 415 4/6

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ADIEU, MONTH, INPUT, UNFIT
May have been my normal four, but I was pleased with the progression on this one.

>147 bell7: I used TUNIC as word #3. It's a perfect word for this passage in history, isn't it.

>148 richardderus: yesterday's was an excellent word. Today's left me scratching my head.

Wordle 416 5/6

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ADIEU, MONTH, FLATS, CRYPT (I didn't forget the A, just wanted to eliminate some letters and was fortunate that it gave me the rest of them), PATTY.

>135 bell7: Love the cut and the color, Mary!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

>150 alcottacre: thanks, Stasia!

80. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
Why now? Third in a trilogy I was reading on a friend's recommendation

It's been a year since the events at the Well of Ascension where Vin, thinking she was doing right, actually let Ruin free from prison. The mists and ashfall have gotten worse ever since and she, emperor Eland, and their friends are now traveling around the empire uncovering caches that the Lord Ruler had stashed in case just such an event occurred.

If you've enjoyed the first two Mistborn books, this third wrapping up the story will not disappoint. The stakes remain high, and the culmination of all their fighting and research is a fantastic payoff. I'll definitely be reading more by the author. 4.5 stars.

I've hit the ground running this week, which will come to no surprise to those who have followed my threads lately :) Sunday after church, I hung out with my Little a bit, and then I came home to bake in the heat. A friend from church came over and helped me set up an air conditioner in the kitchen, but I didn't have a draining hose so had one more night of ick.

Monday was back to work, 9-2. I managed to go through 500+ emails, deleting, reading/responding, or moving into the appropriate folders to deal with later. I finished the annual report and submitted it to the state and gave the signature page and printed out report to my director. And I ordered the October fiction books (the list was already ready, I just hit the "order" button). Then I headed out to buy a hose and a few groceries on the way home. I got the AC set up and it's been working hard ever since, cooling the living room a mere 5 degrees, but at least making it so I can cook and sleep.

Today I have the morning free, and I'm going to mostly relax before working 12-8. I've just started Still Life and am hoping to dig more into that, as well as an ARC of The Winners, the final book in the Beartown trilogy by Fredrick Backman that's due to come out in September. I've also been watching Veronica Mars for the first time (it's on Hulu), and knitting while watching. I've got a baby sweater on the needles in really cute yarn and am planning on making matching hats and booties.

>153 bell7: Well, you are your usual slug-a-bed lazy self, I see. *pantpant*

>149 bell7: Today's irked me. Just...*growl*

>153 bell7: Ooh, yay for Veronica Mars! I was exactly the right age for the show when I it aired and continue to love it. I'll be interested to see how you like it on your first viewing.

Also, happy that you've got some cooling going on in your house.

>135 bell7: Great hairdo, Mary!

>154 richardderus: I took lazy days on Thursday and Friday last week when I'd meant to be productive haha. I've discovered that having my body feeling good and comfortable makes a big difference in how much I do - having the AC on in the kitchen really made a difference. Though the yard and garden stuff can wait 'til the weather changes... ugh.

>155 MickyFine: I'm not sure why I missed it when it was airing, as I would've been in college when it first started and right around the right age to appreciate it. I'm still enjoying it now, but something about being closer to parent-age than high school age makes me a little batty when she does some really unsafe things and I'm sometimes glad when the show makes it so that she sometimes means well but doesn't get everything exactly right. And I'm growing shorter on patience with catty high school behavior. All that being said, though, I'm enjoying much of it. I like the relationship between her and her dad, and I like that several of her friends, enemies and frenemies have complex characters and back stories. And I'm definitely invested in the mystery of who killed her friend.

>156 kidzdoc: thanks, Darryl! Glad you stopped by 🙂

Wordle 417 5/6

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Forgot on guess three to include one of the letters I knew. Oh well! ADIEU, MONTH, CRIPS, CLINK, CLING.

Happy Hump Day! I'll be exactly halfway through my week when I get out of work tonight, as I'm working on Saturday. But I should get some good rest time in on Sunday-Monday and the heat wave should break today, so those are two positives.

No exact plan for work today, though I will have to get some volunteer projects sorted out and print out new "best seller" lists and such to go out by the new books. I may "de-new" our March books to make room for new August titles on the shelves.

I might bring my recipe book with me to plan a grocery shopping and go after work. I realized when I woke up this morning that I haven't got anything for lunch today so it'll be takeout at the sandwich place on far from work. And I have to head out of here a little early to stop at the post office for a certified letter I received a notice for yesterday - no idea what that's about.

>152 bell7: I need to read more of Brandon Sanderson's stuff. I just read Elantris last month and greatly enjoyed it.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Mary!

>159 bell7: ...uh oh...they found you...better run quick!

After, of course, de-new-ing March. If libraries can re-new, it stands to reason they can de-new.

>160 alcottacre: Elantris is next on my list, as I figured I'd go through all the Cosmere books, so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, Stasia.

>161 richardderus: I know right? It turned out to be a notice that a neighbor had asked for permission to do something regarding a wetland in their application to have a cannabis distribution near me and I'm getting info as someone in the neighborhood. There's one meeting on Monday for the general application that I might go to, though I'm working on Tuesday when they'd discuss the wetland part of it. I'd go more out of curiosity than having any strong feeling so yes, in my retirement, I'll become one of those people who goes to every meeting and has strong feelings about town politics hahaha 😜

Re: de-newing I stole that description from librarian friends of mine because I think it a funny way to describe new books made regular fiction.

>157 bell7: Keith Mars is on my list of all-time favourite fictional dads. He's so wonderful.

Your heatwave breaks and we start ours today. Although we mostly avoid that whole humidity thing, thankfully.

>163 MickyFine: He really is a great character, especially coming from an era where usually the dad was the butt of the jokes. Sorry the heatwave made it your way, and hope there's some relief soon.

I love the new hairdo, Mary. Too bad about the heat and humidity. I'm glad you were able to hook up A/C in the kitchen at least. You might have to set up a cot in there if you have another heat wave. We would die in Missouri without air conditioning! Or at least I would want to die. We've had over ten days of 100+ temperatures...so far. Ick.

I hope you are liking Still Life. It took me a while to get into it, but I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of characters and locations. I'm also excited about the new Backman book. There are already 30-some people ahead of me on the library hold list.

>165 Donna828: thank you, Donna! I'm still really loving it and it's fun getting everyone's reactions. Fortunately my bedroom is off the kitchen, so I just leave the door open and it's bearable. I had the AC on last night even though the temperatures were cooler, and the house is *much* better today. I think I can go back to keeping it closed up during the day and opening windows when I get home from work.

I'm having a tough time getting into Still Life with the lack of quotation marks, which is a huge pet peeve of mine, but I'm interested enough in the characters and their stories to keep reading. The new Backman book is good so far. I'm amazed at your library holds list already being so long! The library where I work, there are a few patrons who keep up with books coming out and put advanced holds on, but many others wait til after it's out.

Wordle 418 5/6

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Good Thursday morning, all! My plans today are work, followed by meeting a friend for dinner at a local place. (Actually it's too informal to call it dinner, it's a place known for its bakery and breakfast sandwiches.)

I was right yesterday about much of the day being taken up by volunteer projects and making sure everyone had enough to do. I may have some of that today, too, but I'm hoping to also cross a biggie off my to-do list and email someone in Boston about some digitization projects. I've been putting it off since the conference I went to in May, because the lead up to summer reading was so busy and then I had my vacation, but now I have a stretch I can concentrate on any descriptions and prep for getting items out there.

Still reading Still Life and The Winners and now I've added Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? to round out a trio of reads.

>168 bell7: I hope you have a lovely meet up with your friend. Do you have a favourite bakery treat you're looking forward to getting?

Is the bakery the sort to do puff pastry? I've been craving my old stand-by pastry order, the fruit bouchée, and would love to hear your review of theirs.

I'm glad the heat's broken at last. More will come...it's August...but hopefully not that brutalizing blast-furnace of hothothot all day and all night.

I am beyond pleased you're enjoying Did Ye Hear... as much as I did, and Katie did, and the whole world would if they'd just listen to him being gently Irish.

>166 bell7: My library has an option called Favorite Authors where one can place an automatic hold on new releases by author. I like to live dangerously and take my chances. Plus I am working on delayed gratification. ;-)

The lack of quotation marks didn’t bother me. I started by listening to it, then got the print copy and switched back and forth. Winman did a great narration job, although Claude sounded more like a space alien than a parrot…or at least what I think someone from outer space would sound like.

I might be jealous about your bakery but I have a loaf of homemade banana bread to keep me happy.

Hi, Mary. I’m late with congratulations, but way to go on finishing 75!

I’m another fan of Salt to the Sea, and I just started Remarkably Bright Creatures. Elantris remains my favorite Sanderson.

Hope you’re having a good summer, and the never-ending house projects are going well.

Dropping in to wish you a happy Friday!

Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend, Mary!

>169 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I usually get a muffin top - basically a large, best part of the muffin in various varieties, some with cream cheese on top. I go for a raspberry, cranberry, or blueberry with cream cheese or - if they have it - a double chocolate, which is rich and delicious. My go-to sandwich is a sweet (includes maple syrup) egg sandwich on a croissant.

>170 richardderus: I don't think it's quite that fancy, but to be fair, I haven't looked. Much more muffin tops, sweet breads, and pies. The cider donuts in the fall are worthwhile, too. Yes, the heat has broken, my house is comfortable again, and I slept with windows open last night!

>171 Donna828: Ah, I like that Favorite Authors option, Donna! Yeah, lack of punctuation is a pet peeve of mine. I think it's related to the fact that I don't visualize what I'm reading very clearly, and need dialog to break up description. When I don't have the visual cue of quotation marks that someone is speaking, it slows down my reading. I could see starting with audio impacting that. Hurrah for the homemade banana bread!

>172 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe! Good to know that Elantris is good - it's probably up next now that I'm clearer on the larger-world series. Summer is going well and I'm saving up for one of the larger house projects. Have a great Friday!

>173 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita, same to you!

>174 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! I hope you have a great weekend.

Wordle 419 5/6

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ADIEU, MONTH, PARES, BAGEL, LABEL. Yesterday I didn't use my usual second word and later wished I had to get a different letter, so I tried it this time and got the blank. Five is catching up to 3 as my second-most common result, annoyingly.

Happy Friday, Mary. I hope you are enjoying Still Life and thanks for the reminder on Bachman. I never did get to the second Beartown book and I loved the first one. Have a great weekend.

>177 msf59: I have been slow about reading Still Life, but I'm hoping the weekend and a little time to concentrate will rectify that. I hope you do continue reading and enjoying the Beartown series. I didn't like Us Against You *quite* as much, but it's still an excellent read.

TGIF! Well, it's not quite the last day of the week for me - I'm working 9-2 tomorrow. I might have a dogsitting job for the weekend (they might bring the dog to me), I might go to a benefit concert on Sunday, I might have plans with friends on Monday. I hate everything being up in the air haha. But I'm hoping for a fairly quiet weekend. I have some cleaning and just general tidying I'd like to do at home, not to mention some knitting and reading.

Tonight I'm planning on making chicken marsala.

>179 bell7: I can sort of go one better and say just before you TGIS!

Have a lovely weekend, Mary.

>180 PaulCranswick: happy Saturday, Paul (I don't quite know the time difference, but it might be Saturday for both of us at the moment). Hope you're having a good weekend.

Wordle 420 3/6

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Now that's more like it!

I hope all the mights have settled into more concrete plans for you, Mary. Good luck being a #saturdaylibrarian.

>182 bell7: Me too! Me too! *smooch*

>183 MickyFine: thanks, Micky! Things are starting to fall into place. The dog is definitely coming to my place, and my brother is definitely not playing at the event on Sunday, so I'm not going. Monday will be up in the air until probably the day of, but that's what I expected in that case. The day's going by quickly, so can't complain ☺️

>184 richardderus: yours was very impressive with his the two letters! *smooch* back

>185 bell7: I learned something from your "troublesome letter" issue. I now make sure I include it in my third guess! And that, plus only having one vowel left after 1 & 2, led straight there.

>186 richardderus: smart! I've been a little better about including it in my thought process but definitely still get tripped up sometimes.

Wordle 421 5/6

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As you can see, guess four was a frustrated elimination of letters. Got it though. ADIEU, MONTH, CHAIR, GLOWS, KHAKI.

Wordle 422 5/6

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Did it this morning and forgot to post. ADIEU, MONTH, LOVER, POSER, POKER.

81. Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O'Reilly
Why now? Katie and Richard both highly recommended it - I originally was going to get the audio while I was dogsitting with a 45 minute commute, but it didn't arrive in time for me to do that, so I listened after returning from vacation

Seamas O'Reilly is the 9th of 11 children, and his mother died when he was five. These two facts may have defined his childhood, but only give you the bare facts of this hilarious and poignant memoir.

Told in anecdotes of growing up Catholic in Northern Ireland just after the Troubles, the memoir feels like a friend coming up to you and sharing some personal stories. Despite the title, Seamas' father features quite prominently, raising his children successfully after the death of their mother. There are moments of sadness and reflection, but the entire book is shot through with humor, whether it be a riff on how terrible fruit cakes are, or a child being a child at a funeral (I remember one of my own cousins doing something that had us giggling in the church pews). If you are inclined to read audiobooks, I highly recommend this one read by the author. He has an even, straightforward way of telling it that makes the emotional all the more poignant, and I appreciated hearing his accent and pronunciation of his siblings' names.

I haven't given out many this year, but this one gets 5 stars.

>190 bell7:-WOOHOO!

So glad you liked it as much as I did!

My weekend - yesterday and today - turned out to be pretty quiet. After work on Saturday, I picked up a dog that I watched for the weekend at my house. Sunday, I had to be at both services, but then came home and relaxed. Today I took the dog home, stopped at my parents' to dig up a couple of plants to move to my garden, and came home for the day. My plans to possibly have a friend over fell through, so it was a quiet afternoon. The dog was really good, a lab that even a 2-mile walk yesterday couldn't tire out, and I kinda miss having her in the house.

I finished a book, and watched a lot of Veronica Mars. I'm getting towards the end of Season 2. At first I wasn't sure the stakes could be high enough after last season, where the final episode was really intense, but I'm invested now. I thought the side story with Duncan and Meg's baby was a bit over the top and weird. And I by turns like and loathe Logan though mostly as, I admit, the parental type I generally feel sorry for him but I'd never want him to date my daughter. Also I really don't like how many relationships are creepy adult/high school student. I just finished the episode where Gia has someone spying on her and they arrest Lucky the janitor who was about to spill dirt on the mayor.

And since I knit it front of the TV, I've finished an octopus toy, a baby sweater and booties, and have a baby hat about halfway done.

>191 katiekrug: It was SO good. I love memoirs that let me really feel like I got to know a person, and it was just well done all around.

>192 bell7: Yeah, the over the top plot is very soap-ish. But it does have a solid season ending. I'll be interested to see how you feel about Logan by the end of everything.

>190 bell7: BB for me!

Happy Tuesday :)

>194 MickyFine: It is that, but I'm invested enough in the main thread that I want to see how things end up.

>195 figsfromthistle: Oh good, glad to pass it on to someone. I hope you like it, Anita!

82. More Perfect than the Moon by Patricia MacLachlan
Why now? Reading/rereading the series that started with Sarah, Plain and Tall after the author's death. But more practically, I picked it up last night because I knew I could read it in one sitting and I wanted to return another book to the library today because my stack is tall and starting to stress me out.

Cassie is now eight, living with her parents, brother Caleb, and Grandfather. It's now her turn to keep a journal, and in it she adds a little fiction to their lives, as well as her hopes and dreams, and worries when Mama suddenly needs more sleep and doesn't feel well.

Adult readers will figure out pretty quickly that Sarah is pregnant, and much of the story is Cassie not wanting a new baby in the house. Another quick, generally comforting read in the series from Newbery-award winning MacLachlan. It didn't quite have the sparkle of Sarah, Plain and Tall and Skylark, but it's a solid read. 4 stars.

I... think I might have read it before? A lot of the plot felt familiar, and I couldn't tell if I'd actually read it or if the adjusting-to-a-new-baby story is so common in children's literature that I knew the framework. The book came out in 2004, which means I had a short window of time that I would have read it between publication and when I started tracking my reading mid-2006. It would've been when I was an English major in college and easily would've been something I'd pick up at the library, read quickly, and not remember that I had.

Wordle 423 5/6

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I can't even be mad about that. ADIEU, MONTH, LURES, CRUEL, GRUEL.

Your 4 & 5 are identical to mine!

Happy Tuesday. *smooch*

>199 richardderus: Had to laugh that we did that *and* made the same comment on each others threads.

Today I spent the morning finishing up some laundry, doing dishes and cooking. Unfortunately the dishes happened before the cooking, and now it looks like I didn't do dishes at all, but I can't quite be bothered to force myself to do more this morning.

After cooking was done, I sat down with Still Life determined to make a decision if I was going to keep reading it or DNF based on a mismatch between mood and book. But I did start to get into it, so I'm keeping it for now and will just try to give myself chunks of time to read it instead of trying to sneak 15 minutes here and there which really doesn't work for this book. I've been reading The Winners as an e-book before bed, and am about a third of the way in and really enjoying it. And finally, I'm planning on bringing The Great Passage to work today to start my first book by a Japanese author of the month (I'm hoping it doesn't take quite as much concentration as Still Life).